School Entanglements

Pairing: Sasuke & Hinata
Rating: T
Summary: I got accepted at my high school of choice, Village of the Leaves High School. I'm starting in a few weeks but being so excited to attend school, I went there just for the sake of exploring the place. Unbeknownst to me, I'll find more than I expected.
Disclaimer: please see author's profile. In addition, this story's plot was not originally mine but from a one-shot manga I read some time ago. I wasn't able to take note or remember its title but as I was reading it I couldn't help but put certain characters from the Narutoverse in their stead. If anyone does find it similar to a manga they've read, please tell me the title so that I could disclaim it accordingly.
Dedication: heights1231 (Sorry I wasn't able to put it in as a one-shot. This probably would be 3-5 chapters in all depending on my free time and availability of the PC cause of my little bro hogging it.)

Chapter 4 - The Purpose of the Visit

It was 1:20 pm. Neji came back to his classroom earlier than he should, to the surprise and disappointment of the students because it would mean that its again time for exam drills. They all started to rise from their seats to greet him.

"Good afternoon, Hyuuga-sensei!" They all said together and bowing.

"Rest easy. Class won't officially resume for ten more minutes. continue to go about yourselves. I'll call your attentions when we have to continue." He said as he sat down and waved them off. "Is Himura-san here yet?"

A girl in the front row of class raised her hand. He realized it was Tsuchi-san from earlier. "Gomen, sensei. She's not here yet but she is on her way. It just seems that she's taking longer than she thought she would."

"That's fine. Just tell her to be on time." Neji was disappointed but he had a feeling as if something shouldn't be or a foreboding feeling.

"Hai sensei." Kin then went back to texting on her cell phone with some of her friends.

He proceeded to look at his own cell phone for a reply from Hinata and saw two, the first from his Uncle and the other from Hinata.

To: Neji
I will not be able to come home on time later. I'll probably get home around early in the morning. I trust you to take care of your cousins for tonight. I've already texted Hinata that she will be in charge of cooking dinner. I've also called Hanabi about it and do make sure she makes her friends bring order back at home. From what I'm hearing on the phone, they seem to be enjoying themselves too much. Text me once you get home later.
From: Uncle Hiashi
12:36pm

'At least he made sure not to let Hanabi make dinner so that there won't be a repeat of last time. Too much chilli and burnt food is never appetizing.' Neji's thoughts ran and he shuddered at the last one. He opened Hinata's message next.

To: Neji
U didn't have 2 check up on me Nii-san. I'll have u know that my friend & I are having our lunch as of now so don't worry about me going hungry. B4 u say anything, yes, I remembered 2 steer clear of their pudding. I don't think I could forget how u couldn't even get a few hrs away from d toilet 4 almost a week. We haven't been 2 many places at school, just d eastern side & d rooms we passed 2 get 2 the cafeteria. I'll tell u how it went at home. And u don't have 2 pick me up. I'll take d train with my friend. C u l8r!
From: Hinata
12:55pm

He sighed. 'I guess I was worried for nothing. It must really just be a coincidence. Tenten must be a popular name for females nowadays.'

After replying to his messages, he checked the time and it was already 1:32pm. Time to resume class, he already wasted two minutes. He cleared his throat and stood up. Just as he was about to speak, the door to the room opened suddenly and in came a girl with dark brown hair flowing down her shoulders and back looking a little worse for wear due to her run. She was crouched with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She has a pink Chinese sleeveless tunic with red sleeve-trimmings and yellow straps that connect the buttons in front for her top that fit her chest and waist perfectly. She is also wearing black slightly loose trousers and a pair of sandals with a half-inch heel. On both her wrists are black hair ties that could easily pass for simple bracelets. On her right hand, she's carrying a large white plastic bag. Inside is probably the things she bought as per her parents' orders. Her body bag was strapped to her body. The weight of its contents incidentally helping to accentuate her chest more.

After a few seconds she has regained her breath and noticed that the whole class was staring at her. She straightened up before bowing her head to Neji.

"Gomen, sensei! I apologize for being tardy. It was unintentional and I did my best to make it on time. I can assure you that this won't happen again."

"It is alright, Himura-san. You're just on time. I was just about to start with my instructions. I will let you off this time since you were one of the five people who were able to pass the first test." She flushed a bit at his appraisal with her head still bowed a little. "I will hold you to your word that you don't plan on being late for class again, however; I would still need a word with you during break time. You may take your seat."

She stood up straight and looked to him with grateful chocolate-colored eyes and smiled. "Hai! Thank you sensei." She then proceeded to her seat which is second to the last on the left-side isle.

He shook his head and instructed his class on the next exam they will go through.

***With Hinata and Sasuke***

"Are you sure you don't want to try the pudding? I'll even buy it for you if you want."

"No! I mean, no thanks. My cousin had some of the pudding here and I saw the effect it had on him. I can assure you, it wasn't pleasant. And I wouldn't want it to happen to me or even you."

They were making their way towards the basins and trash bins to dispose of their lunch and to relinquish their trays and utensils.

"Well, I'm not the type who likes sweets but I figured that girls like those stuff, right?"

"To some extent, yes. Although, not all the time since each of us has their own preference. I would think you knew that since almost every female we pass swoons at the sight of you. " Hinata replied before waving her hand towards the female population that certainly is fixated on him. "I'm not surprised if you have a girlfriend right now."

He waves at the girls and just chuckles when some of them faint while the others fight over who he waved at. "Actually, I don't have a girlfriend but I wouldn't mind if she looks like you."

Hinata blushed at that. "Stop teasing me already, please. It's not nice." She looked down and twiddled with her fingers.

Sasuke liked seeing her blush as she did. He had been hinting at his interest in her but she kept brushing him off. He kinda felt like he was losing his touch before finding that out. "I'm not teasing, just being honest. And when is it not nice to call someone beautiful. Last I remembered, a girl would be grateful to be called that."

"Umm...Thank you." Still blushing, she replied after some thought. She has been trying to fight down her blush from surfacing but has been unsuccessful in the presence of Sasuke. She won't deny that she is attracted to his charms but she surely won't tell him straight out that she is.

"You're welcome. See? That wasn't so bad." he said with a smile to his face. They were back at the corridors but there aren't other people around.

Hinata made it an excuse to look at her phone and go through some messages. "Mm. I guess. Wait a moment. I need to reply to some messages on my phone."

When Hinata opened her phone it read:

2:00pm
Two new messages

"Go ahead." Sasuke took this time to watch Hinata and think about his time with her. As they have been talking while they went to the cafeteria and had their lunch, he has gotten to know more about her. He found her weird at first when he noticed that she wasn't all over him and maintained a safe distance. Even from the first time when he kept her from falling from the stairs, he was fascinated by her eyes that would seem like they could see nothing but could see more than expected. Her childish yet angelic face is a nice change from the girls who cake their face with cosmetics and dress older than they should. In the end, he realized that she was just the type to respect personal spaces and was not really good with meeting new people. He might already be getting ahead of himself but he really liked her already, more than any girl he's ever met and that's saying something.

"So shall we get on with the tour? You did want to familiarize yourself with the place, right?" He stopped to face her.

"Well...Actually, I- Nevermind. Could you just show me around?" She said a little sheepishly.

"You hesitated for a while there. What was it you were supposed to say? You'll be starting high school soon. You need to be more assertive and you need to voice out what you want to say to be heard. So, what is it?" He looked at her pointedly, waiting for her to say something.

She still hesitated, looking to the side.

"We're not going anywhere unless you tell me straight out what it is you were supposed to say." He then crossed his arms in front of his chest.

She looked at him then to the side and back to him then away from him, debating on telling him or not. This went on for a while. She chewed her bottom lip unconsciously.

Sasuke stared at her with an impassive face as Hinata chewed her lip. He was concentrating on her lips, his thoughts running in a direction that isn't all too innocent and he needed to shake it off. It may not look much on the outside but he was very rattled on the inside. He has not been attracted to a girl this much before.

Finally relenting, she sighed in resignation which snapped Sasuke from his thoughts. "Okay. But you said so yourself, I'm technically not your student as of yet. So I won't get in trouble if I did something wrong before then, am I right?" She looked to him for confirmation.

He was puzzled as to where this could be leading to but what the heck. He nodded yes.

She twisted her fingers for a while and breathed deeply before telling him. "Okay. I'll trust you, not as my teacher but as a confidant." She closed her eyes then breathed in and out again before speaking. "I kind of...wrotesomethingonmydesk...when I took my exam" pausing for a while "and...I want to see it again." She opened her eyes then and looked to him.

Sasuke was not able to get a thing from what she said. "Look, I didn't understand a thing you said. All I got was a 'desk' and 'exam'. So repeat it again but slowly. Alright?"

"Well, I-"

"Slowly." he interjected.

"I...When I took the entrance exam, I kind of, um" she cleared her throat before whispering "I wrote something on my desk." She looked for his response but just got a raised brow instead of a reprimand then she continued. "You sort of promised that you wouldn't turn me in for it so if word got out I would know who told. Anyways, I forgot what it was I wrote but I thought I could try to find the desk and see it again. I know it's stupid but-"

"It is pretty stupid. But I guess just going on a tour would be pretty boring so I'll humor you just this once." He turned around and gestured for her to follow him.

"I believe they hold the entrance exams at the southern part of the school building because it is quieter than the rest. Do you remember the classroom you took your exam in?" He stopped as they were near the southern corridors.

She shook her head no. "I do remember that we were in the third floor though. I was too nervous about the exam to take notice of other things."

He proceeded to go up the stairs to the third floor. "Well, that narrows it down to ten classrooms then. Each classroom seats about 30 students or so, that makes it just about 300 chairs. Not to mention that they would usually take the dilapidated desks to the outside storage to be replaced. If we won't be able to find it here, it could be there but that would mean going through about half a thousand desks, just saying."

She was shocked to hear that. She hoped it was still in the classrooms because she felt that it would mean a lot if she found what she wrote even if she can't remember.

"Here we are! Third floor, Senior grounds."

She groaned as she looked at the classrooms. Then a thought struck her. "I thought the whole southern wing is the Senior grounds. That's what my friend told me. She's a senior this year."

"Well, yes, it is. Now that you've mentioned it, I believe they even move some of the desks to other floors when they are lacking in other classrooms." He told her whilst chuckling a bit. "I'll take left side, you take right."

"Fine." This is going to be a long day. Hinata thought before sighing and heading to the first classroom with Sasuke.

***Back with Neji***

The clock on top of the chalkboard read exactly 3:00pm.

"Alright, pencils up! Pass your papers. I'll give you five minutes bathroom break then we'll discuss the answers and I'd like to go through the parts which you found difficulty in answering from the test this morning." Neji told his class. Some of the students groaned and banged their heads on the table in protest.

"Sensei! Can't we please have a longer break to eat a snack and rest our minds for a bit? We do wish to pass but we just have started these prep classes and it's starting to overwhelm us. I'm not even sure if everything you've told us is sinking in." Kin said as she raised her hand to get his attention. Most of her classmates agreed with her and put in some outbursts of their own.

"Yeah!" a boy with wild dark hair added in the back of the room.

"Please sensei!" a girl with blond hair in four buns pleaded.

"We are dying here!" another boy with wild brown hair and purple paint marks on his face voiced as if agonized.

Neji rubbed his forehead before putting his hand up for them to cease. "I guess Tsuchi-san does have a point and I should always consider your state of mind. I'll give you a 20 minute break then." The class cheered and some even threw some papers and pencils up in the air in enthusiasm.

"Well, your 20 minutes are running and Mr. Sabaku," Neji said as he neared his desk and filing the papers neatly on his table. "You clearly aren't dying seeing as there is nothing physically wrong with you and you seem to be in good condition though I unfortunately could not say so mentally." Some of the class snickered as he shrunk in his desk. "Still, I urge you and everyone in this class to please go through the outline I have provided everyone and feel free to approach me if there is anything I could clarify for you. Enjoy your short break."

The students went and chattered with their friends. Some took out food which they could snack on. Others went out to stretch their legs and buy food from the cafeteria or head to the restrooms.

Neji sat in his desk as he was going through the class schedule and adjusting the times to give his students' minds enough rest. Next, he went through the list of topics he found his students need improvement on. He was scanning their papers from this morning and came across Tenten's paper again, which made him remember his curiosity. He looked up towards Tenten's seat and she was turned around talking to a the girl with blonde hair who had it in four buns.

"Himura-san?" he called to get her attention.

"Hai!" She turned in her seat and stood up suddenly to look at him, surprised.

"A word, please." he gestured for her to approach. She nodded and told her friend she'll be back and walked towards him.

Neji took this time to study her more. She had her hair tied up in two buns now with her bangs parted in the middle. Her beauty is better appreciated without her hair in the way, the profile of her face more defined. Her smile seems to radiate around her and makes you want to smile along with her, though he has kept himself from doing so. He never lets his guard down around people other than his family, only they have the privilege of seeing him smile.

"What did you need to talk to me about, um...sensei?" She stood in front of him, clutching her hands together. She has never been good with remembering names with just first introductions. But not recalling her teacher's name could be attributed to her not listening he introduced himself since she was secretly texting Hinata. I can't remember his name!

Neji looked at her speculatively. He did notice that she hesitated a bit but didn't know the reason behind it so he just shrugged it off for now. He needed to phrase his question appropriately because it would seem awkward if he was wrong but if he was right... he didn't really want to think about it because he trusted Hinata and knew she was responsible enough than to out on her own. She wouldn't do that. He knew she wouldn't.

While Neji pondered, Tenten took the time to observe him up close. She found him aesthetically pleasing. Who wouldn't? He exuded a calm and composed aura yet he doesn't give anything about him away, Mr. Mysterious is what the other girls call him. The type who always wants to be sure and in control of situations as he has presented with how he handled their class. But there is still the matter at hand. She wasn't in trouble, was she? He did say that he let her off easy this once. She was nervous and there was a bad feeling that's lingering but she wasn't sure why. She wanted to get this over with.

"Sensei?" Tenten's inquiry pulled him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat before addressing her again.

"Yes, well. What I am going to ask is not really related to your studies or testing skills. But I'm just asking out of curiosity. Your first name seems very familiar and I just want to know if it's a coincidence or not." He paused for a breath before continuing. "I need to ask you first, which school do you attend?"

"I'm not really sure I understand what you meant and what you're getting at." She was confused since Neji seems to be skirting along and not getting straight to the point. And he perceived Tenten's thoughts are along that line so he figured that he should just come out with it.

"This is quite personal so forgive me if I am wrong but I have a cousin who has a friend with the same name as yours. Her friend is graduating just like you are this year. I was wondering, is it possible that...?" He gestured didn't really feel the need to continue since he saw Tenten reacted which had to count for something.

Tenten's eyes have started to widen and her mouth seemed to have dropped open slightly in shock as he went on. She already tuned off from Neji as the gears in her head started to turn. She started to get snippets of Neji's introductions and the word 'Hyuuga' rang loud in her mind. Neji. She remembered the name just a second afterwards. Hinata mentioned from time to time about her cousin named Neji. She never met him but she has met Hanabi a few times. Something would always come up or he already had plans when there was a chance for Hinata to introduce him. Could it be him?

"Umm..Is your first name Neji?" There was something about Neji's look hardening that made Tenten suddenly figure out why she had the dreadful feeling when he called her.

"If you are here then who is touring Hinata?" He stared at her willing her to answer.

Tenten knew better than to lie to a relative of a friend's that she just met who incidentally is her teacher at prep school, an attractive one at that. She was debating on breaking Hinata's trust by telling the truth or lying and getting found out anyways. Her thought for Hinata's safety won out in the end. She answered him, looking at the table.

"Okay. She sent me a message sometime when class started earlier this morning saying that she was going to explore the grounds herself. She also made me promise not to tell but I'm worried about her too."

Neji was puzzled. "She mentioned in her text that 'a friend' is with her. I didn't think it was deliberate when she used 'friend' instead of your name specifically." Neji closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his right hand in frustration.

"She must have said that to make it look like we were together." Neji opened his eyes and sat up at that.

"No. I don't think so." That made Tenten look up straight to his eyes. "Hinata is not the lying type. You should know that. If ever she wants to deceive someone she gets away with it by bending the truth but never outright making something up. She's with someone."

"She didn't tell me that. She just said I had to cover for her when asked."

Neji sighed and noticed that the students were starting to file in the room. Neji looked to his watch. It read 3:28pm.

He took out his phone to text Hinata that he was picking her and her 'friend' up as he spoke again. He lowered his voice so that only Tenten would hear as the others passed by to get to their seats. "Class is about to resume. This talk is not over. Don't tell Hinata that I already know. You'll come with me to get her later. You may return to her seat." Tenten stared for a while then nodded and did as she was told. Her friend was on her before she even sat down but Neji was trying to get the class in order and was already handing out papers for them to correct.

"Alright, get one of these answer sheets and pass. You'll be correcting someone else's paper as we discuss the answers to the test you took a while ago. I'll have you know that we'll have go through this quickly because I have an urgent matter to attend to so that means I'll let you go earlier." The class cheered but both Neji and tenten had one thought in mind.

Hinata's in big trouble.

***With Hinata and Sasuke***

They spent the next hour and a half looking through more than a hundred desks in 17 classrooms. Sasuke was going about it from front to back and then back to front while Hinata went from left to right and right to left. They weren't able to find the desk in the third floor so they started to look for it in the second floor. If they can't find it here then they'll have to check in the outside storage and they both most certainly wouldn't like that.

287, 288, 28- Sasuke was counting in his head as he checked the desktops when he saw one with writing on it, the 15th one he saw for the day. "Hey! This one has writing on it." Sasuke was smirking.

"Really? Let me see." Hinata jogged over to the desk and peered at the writing.

The desk read: Kin loves Uchiha-sensei Forever! (AN: the 'loves' should have been a heart but it wouldn't show up.)

Hinata blushed and looked at Sasuke pointedly. "Surely, that's not mine because I'm not Kin and I just met you today. Plus...I'm not the type to write something like that." She walked back to her side to resume looking at the other desks as Sasuke checked the others. He was near the back and Hinata was at the middle row.

"I seem to be seeing a lot of those, only the name before the heart is different every time."

"Oh really? How come you didn't tell me? I didn't see any of those in the chairs I looked at until that one I showed you."

"Need I remind you that we were looking looking for something I wrote?"

"How many did you say that was? You know, the one with the hearts and my last name."

"If you must know, probably around...20 plus."

"That few?"

Hinata laughed at that. "Now that's what you call arrogance. Maybe you're already losing your touch." Sasuke was finished with his side so he sat at a desk in the last row as he replied.

"Not me, no. I can assure you of that." He smirked at his proclamation and Hinata looked at him confused.

"How are you so sure?" She asked before going back to work.

"I just know these things."

"Hm" Hinata just nodded to his weird reply. "Are you really sure it's okay helping me look for a vandalized desk which was my doing? You are a teacher here so I find it slightly disturbing that you're willing to help."

"We're all students for almost half of our life, not just at school."

"Pretty quote-worthy."

"It is, isn't it? What's taking you so long?" He stands to stretch for a bit, Hinata not really taking notice because she thought she saw something written on top of the front row desk, which is two seats away from where she's at .

As she approached it, she suddenly remembered that she wrote it at the upper part of her desk just as she was waiting for the others to finish their tests.

"I think I found it!"

"That's great! Finally! So what did you write?"

Hinata got there first. She was at the left side of the desk. She placed her right hand on top of it, remembering when she took the test before reading what she wrote, her eyes widening and a blush forming. She didn't feel Sasuke approach from behind.

When I get into this school, I wish to get my first kiss

"First kiss, huh?" Hinata jumped at his words and turned abruptly, leaning on the desk and her face the shade of an overripe tomato. Sasuke was looking straight into her eyes, his eyes smoldering. He leaned closer ever so slow, his stare was holding her in place. Her mind has closed off on her. The only thought resounding in her head was that Sasuke was in front of her and staring at her.

"We'll have to fix that, then." He whispered as they were a mere two inches apart, him leaning over her with his arms trapping her. He didn't wait for her reply as he tilted his head a bit and closed the distance between their lips. Both their eyes closing just a second before his lips was on hers. It was merely a chaste kiss, lips pressing against the other. It lasted for about 10 seconds but it felt much longer than that for the both of them.

As Sasuke leaned back a bit, both their eyes slowly opened. They stared at each other for a while before unconsciously smiling at each other with Hinata's blush faintly coming back.

"Congratulations, Hinata on getting accepted to the school and getting your wish granted."

Hinata laughed and hid behind her hand as Sasuke looked on, smiling and admiring the beauty that is her and her laughter.

Unknowingly, her phone suddenly lit up in her pocket, as it has been every 10 minutes for 30 minutes now, and it read:

4:01pm
One new message - Neji

AN: Sorry for the super late update! And my only excuse is life so there. Anyways, I'll have you know that I'm not encouraging people to vandalize school property even if it meant a great deal to this story so don't go getting ideas.

And just to be clear, the parts that came from the manga I said I read but didn't remember was about (1) the girl getting accepted to her dream high school and wearing the uniform all the time, (2) her exploring the school alone, (3) her meeting the guy by the stairs, (4) the guy helping her find the desk which she vandalized, and (5) how the kiss happened. There's one more but I wouldn't give it away until the last chapter coz it would spoil the beauty of it. Yeah, so most of the other parts added were all me.

I've noticed my chapters got longer every update. It feels nice to get long chapters. The next chapter will be the final conclusion to the story. And I'm actually debating on rewriting this once it's finished coz, I have to admit, the first chapter sucked like a lot! There was nothing very interesting about it at all, wouldn't you agree. So should I rewrite it as a oneshot all together or still a mini-series?

I would love to hear your thoughts, both good and bad, in a review. I thought the second to the last few sentences were a bit corny but I still thought it was nice, wouldn't you think so?