Chapter 4- A Troublesome Experience
RING! RING! RING!
"Argh, go away! This is my weekend!" Tenten said from under the covers. Of course, that didn't stop her phone from ringing.
"God, who did I kill in my past life to deserve this? I need my sleep," she said, talking to herself. "It's barely six o'clock."
RING! RING! RING!
Tenten groaned and left from the warmthness of her bed and walked to where her phone was. "Hello? Do you have any idea wh-."
"Tenten, what took you so long to pick up your phone? Anyways, Ino and I are coming over, " Sakura said.
"Huh? For what?" Tenten asked, not fully awake yet.
"Did you forget already? We're helping you fix your apartment, remember?" she said.
"Oh...that was today?"
"Yeah. And the sooner we start, the faster we'll be finished. Then we can go shopping!" Sakura said. Now Tenten was completey awake now.
"Shopping? Why didn't you say so? Hurry up and get here fast!" Tenten said and hung up. She ran to her room and took a quick shower. She got dressed in jeans and a t-shirt (and her usual two buns). Tenten heard a knock on her door and opened it.
"Hey guys," Tenten said, letting them in.
"Ohmigod Tenten, there are no elevators. Me and Sakura had to walk all the way up here carrying all this stuff," Ino said. Tenten now noticed they had buckets of paint, towels, bedsheets, and kitchen appliances in bags.
"Oops, sorry about that," Tenten said.
"So, this is where you live," Sakura said looking around. "It's a bit small and untidy, but I like it."
"Thanks. At least someone appreciates my messiness," Tenten said.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
"Who's that? Are you expectig anyone else?" Sakura asked.
"Um no. It must be-."
"Yo Tenten, do I have to invite myself in?" Toshi said, opening the door and letting himself in.
"Don't you always?" she said. "Anyways Ino, Sakura, this is my EXTREMELY rude landlord Toshi."
"Aw, do you have to give me a bad introduction before they'ev got to know me?" he said. "So, what are you ladies up to?"
"We're gonna help Tenten fix this place up," Ino said.
"Three girls fixing an apartment? This oughtta be interesting," Toshi said.
"So are you going to stay and watch or are you going to help us?" Tenten asked.
"Stay and watch. Maybe watch my soap opera as well," he said, sitting down on the couch.
"Is he always like that?" Sakura whispered to Tenten.
"Unfortunately yes. Anyways, let's get started!" she said as they opened the paint bucket. It was a pastel yellow color with a faint gloss. Twenty minutes later they had finished paintig the small kitchen and were moving to the living room.
"Toshi, get your ass off the couch. We need to move it," Tenten said. He got up and went to the kitchen, raiding the fridge.
"I heard they're having a super sale at the Destiny Mall," Ino said, gliding her paintbrush over the wall.
"No way! They have one here too?" Tenten said.
"They have one like in every major city and in some towns as well," Sakura said.
"Yeah, but this one is HUGE!! Over 150 stores and 20 food courts," Ino said.
"Hey, what kind of person has low-fat cream cheese in their fridge? It tastes like paste," said Toshi.
"What kind of food do you have at your house?" Tenten asked.
"I don't keep food in my place."
"Why would you." He's hardly at his house anyways, Tenten thought.
"Exactly. And by the way, you're all out of jam. All you have left is grape jelly," Toshi said. Tenten rolled her eyes and continued painting.
"So Ino, what are you going to do to get Shikamaru to notice you?" Sakura asked.
"What makes you think I wanto Shikamaru to notice me?" Ino said. Tenten and Sakura laughed at that part.
"Come on Ino, it's like totally obvious you like him," Tenten said. "You go by his office everyday just to see him, hoping he'll see you too."
"No I do not!" Ino exclaimed, blushing.
"Are you girls talking about relationships? You know, I can help you since I'm a guy and, you know, I think like a guy," Toshi said, eating a sandwich.
"No!" Ino said.
"Yes!" Tenten and Sakura said at the same time.
"You want to hear something interesting? I once had an intimate encounter with a lady who was entirely green," Toshi said.
"Why was she green?" Sakura asked.
"I didn't ask," he said.
"Why not?" Ino asked.
"I thought it'd be too rude." Tenten, Ino, and Sakura all sweatdropped.
"And this helps me how?" Ino asked.
"It doesn't. I just thought it was an interesting story," Toshi said, biting into his sandwich. "Tenten, you need to buy some more bread. Guys can't stand an empty fridge. It's a huge turn-off."
"Go watch your stupid telenovelas and get out of my kitchen!" Tenten said.
"Yes m'am!" Toshi said, turning on the T.V.
"I think I'm deaf now," Sakura said.
"Whoa Tenten, you sure can yell," Ino said.
"What can I say, I've had years of practice," she said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Yay! We're finally done!" Tenten said. Besides painting the kitchen and living room, they also painted Tenten's bedroom. The walls were now a light blue.
"Hey Toshi, what do you think?" Sakura asked. "Toshi?"
"Zzzzz...," Toshi snored. He was asleep on the couch.
"WHAT?! He fell asleep!" Tenten said.
"Come one, let's go! The sale isn't gonna last all day! I need to buy some shoes and everyone knows size 7 always go out first," Ino said, dragging Sakura and Tenten.
"But...," Tenten began.
"Oh, let him sleep. You can yell at him later," Ino said.
"To the mall!" Tenten said, leading the way. Once they were outside, they tried flagging down a taxi. "Urgh! It's hopeless! They never stop!" Tenten said.
"Watch and learn," Sakura said, walking towards the edge of the sidewalk. She put her thumb and forefinger in her mouth and whistled. A cab immediately pulled over and stopped. "See? It wasn't so hard," she said smiling.
"Wow! You definitely need to teach me that," Tenten said as she got in the passenger seat. Ino and Sakura sat at the back.
"Where to?" the cab driver asked, adjusting his mirror.
"The Destiny Mall," Tenten said.
"And step on it!" Ino added. The driver nodded his head and quickly drove to their destination.
"Thanks," the three of them said, each paying their share.
"Holy shit! This place really is huge!" Tenten said. The Destiny Mall was four stories high and the parking lot was ludicrous. Finding your car would be difficult.
"Told you I wasn't lying. Now let's go," Ino said impatiently. They entered through the big shiny doors, their mouths wide open.
"OH," Ino said.
"MY," Sakura said.
"GOD," Tenten finished.
The inside of the mall was completely packed! Hundreds of people were coming and going, hands full with shopping bags. It was a pandemic place to be at the moment.
"Okay, we won't get lost if we just stick with each other," Sakura said. "Right?"
"Yeah, of course," Tenten said uncertainly.
"What do you say Ino?" Sakura asked. "Ino?" She looked around. "Don't tell me she left already?"
"That girl is a shopaholic," Tenten said.
"Tell me something I don't know. Do you see her anywhere?" Sakura asked.
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're taller."
"I knew my tallness would come in hand one day," Tenten said, searching for Ino over people's heads/ She spotted a blonde head. "There! I think I see her."
Sakura and Tenten walked over to the shoe store where Ino was. Sure enough, Ino was already trying on some shoes, admiring how they looked by the full-length mirror.
"Hey Ino, did you miss us?" Sakura said with sarcasm.
"Sorry about that. But look, everything is like 40 or 50 off," Ino said, adjusting the straps to her shoes.
"Don't you think the heels are a bit high?" Tenten asked. The shoe had a five-inch heel.
"Nonsense. I wear these kind of shoes all the time," she said. "Oh, would you look at those! I have to have them." Ino was pointing at a pair of leather red shoes with a six-inch heel and little diamonds encrusted on the straps.
"Ino, they cost $235, even with the 50 taken off," Sakura pointed out.
"And would you look at the size of those heels! You're going to be tripping a lot...or at least I would," Tenten said.
"Don't tell me you've never worn heels before?" Sakura asked.
"Once, but I ended up in the hospital with a sprained ankle. My foot was really swollen. It was the size of a tennis ball!" Tenten explained.
"Ew, gross!" Ino and Sakura said at the same time.
"Then in that case, we need to buy you some heels," Ino said.
"Did you not hear me? Ankle swollen like a tennis ball," Tenten said.
"I think you're overexaggerating. It can't be that bad," Sakura said.
"Oh, it is," Tenten said.
"I need those shoes," Ino said again. She walked towards it and put her hand on it. At the same time, another girl touched is as well.
"Oh," she said, surprised. Tenten thought she looked familiar but couldn't tell because she had sunglasses on. "I think I grabbed it first," she said, tugging on it.
"Oh no, I think I did," Ino said, tugging it as well.
"Look, I don't want to cause any commotion," the girl said in her quiet voice. 'Where have I seen her before?' Tenten thought.
"Then let go of it!" Ino yelled. It soon became a game of tug of war.
"You guys, stop it! You're going to break the shoe!" Sakura exclaimed. Other shoppers were looking at them too.
"Hey Hinata is something wrong?" a ablonde guy said, coming over to them.
"You're Naruto Uzumaki!" Tenten said, recognizing him. "Which means that you must be-."
"Hinata Hyuuga," Ino said, still holding on to the shoe.
"Shh! We're trying to keep ourselves on the DL. You know how hard it is going outside with people taking pictures of you?" Naruto said.
"No," Tenten, Ino, and Sakura said in unison.
"Naruto, I think we should go. People are looking," Hinata said.
"Are you Neji's sister?" Tenten asked.
"No. I 'm his cousin," she answered. "Wait, do you know Neji-niisan?"
"Yeah, me and him go waaaay back," Tenten said.
"You do? Funny, he never mentioned you," Naruto said.
"We're not that close. We're as close as two people can get when one person calls the other person a jackass," Tenten said.
"You called Neji a jackass?" Naruto asked. "And you're still alive to tell the tale?"
"He must have a soft spot for you," Hinata said. Tenten snorted.
"I doubt it. I just work for him."
"You work at Hyuuga Interprise?" Hinata asked.
"Not really. We're interns there," Sakura said.
"Yeah. Can you let go of the shoe now?" Ino asked Hinata.
"You're not going to back down are you?" Hinata said. Ino shook her head in no. "Well, they weren't really my style anyway," she said, letting go of them.
"Ha!" Ino said gleefully.
"Kiba didn't say anything about you guys. Neither did Shino. But then again, Shino doesn't say anything," Naruto said.
"True," Tenten said, laughing.
"Ohmigod, they fit perfectly!" Ino said, referring to the shoes.
"Wow, they look so much better on you than they would on me," Hinata said.
"Thanks!" Ino said.
"Hey Hinata, we gotta go. We promised your father we'd have lunch with him," Naruto said, putting his arm around her waist.
"Okay," she said. "Bye... I don't even know your names." Tenten, Sakura, and Ino quickly introduced themselves.
"You girls seem pretty cool. Well, see ya later!" Naruto said, waving as he and Hinata left.
"They look so perfect together," Sakura said dreamily.
"Yeah, they do. I wish someone would look at me the way Naruto looks at Hinata," Tenten said.
"They are so going to end up getting married," Sakura said.
"Sakura, Tenten! It's your turn to buy some shoes," Ino said.
"I don't think so," Tenten said.
"Oh yes you are," Ino said.
"Look, I found this in your size," Sakrua said.
"Do you want me to trip and immediately die? I'm like a hazard to myself with heels on," Tenten siad. "Hey, where are ya'll going?"
"Cash register," Sakura said. She had picked out a pair of shoes for herself as well.
"What? Nooo!" Tenten said.
CHA-CHING!
"Thank you and have a nice day," the cashier lady said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Ow. Ouch. Ow. Ouch. Ooo, double ow!' Tenten thought as she walked to the intern lounge the next day. She was wearing the black pumps she bought yesterday. Right now, her feet were in pain!
Tenten was busy walking steady when her heel dug in some guy's shoe. He winced in pain and Tenten quickly took a step back. "I'm so sorry!" she said. 'I forgot to mention to Ino and Sakura that besides being a hazard to myself, I'm also a hazard to other people.'
"Sorry isn't going to help me," he said, massaging his foot.
"Um...well... bye!" Tenten said, walking away.
"Oh Tenten, there you are!" Ino said when she entered the lounge.
"Those shoes are so kawaii!" Sakura said.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that I may be suffering, but at least I look cute," Tenten said sarcastically.
"Tenten, Neji called. He wants his coffee," Chouji said.
"What am I? His coffee girl?" she said.
"Unofficially, but yeah, you are," Kiba said.
"Thank god, because last year it was me and this other intern," Chouji said.
"What happened to him..or her?" Sakura asked.
"He quit. He couldn't handle, what did he call it, Neji's 'bossiness.' Poor guy didn't last three weeks," Chouji said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about him. he sure could make a good cup of coffee though," Kiba said.
"That he could," Chouji said. By now, Tenten was walking out with a mug of coffee in her hand. She had to be EXTRA careful not to trip and spill coffee all over the place. She used the elevator, just to be safe.
"Come in!" Neji said when she knocked on his door.
"Yo Neji, my homie! Here's your coffee," Tenten said with a smile.
"Could you bring it to me?" he asked, typing on his computer.
"But that would involve walking."
"It would."
Tenten looked down at the shiny tile floor. Itas a perfect floor to slip and fall. Tenten gulped as she made her way to Neji. She took small, baby steps. Neji, noticing this, smirked with an amused look on his face. It was clear she couldn't walk in those shoes, yet she was.
The more Neji noticed her walk, he couldn't help staring at her legs. They were long and lean with a light tan. This was ruined by Tenten stumbling all of a sudden. Neji, out of instinct, quickly got up and caught her before she could fall. The cup, however, smashed into tiny pieces.
"Uh...," Tenten said, lost in his clear eyes. This was the closest they've ever been.
"I think the word you're looking for is thank you," Neji said, still holding Tenten in his arms. She was blushing at how close they were.
"Ye- Neji Hyuuga, is that your hand on my butt?!" Tenten yelled in his face. He smirked before letting go of her. He could still smell strawberries in her hair.
"I see you still use the same shampoo," he said.
"What?" Tenten asked, confused by his sudden change of topic.
"Do you have a hearing problem?"
"No."
"Then how come I tell you something, you always say 'what?' I don't like to repeat myself," Neji said.
"I'm not deaf, if that's what you're saying. I'm just wondering why you said what you said," Tenten said.
"Well, it's true, isn't it? You still use the same shampoo from two years ago."
"Yeah. How do you know? Are you like an expert on hair Mr. Because I'm worth it?"
"So it was you who entered my room in the inn while I was gone," Neji said. "I thought something was out of place."
"At least I don't use women's shampoo," Tenten said.
"Loreal is not just a women's shampoo."
"Oh yeah? Then how come in all the commercials I see, there's always women advertising them?"
"Can you come and clean a mess?" Neji said, speaking on the phone to the cleaning department. "It's a coffee spill. There are pieces of a broken mug everywhere. Thank you," he said, hanging up. "You were saying?"
"Argh!" Tenten said, stomping away and almost falling again. "Calm down Tenten, there's no need to get so worked up about this."
"Are you talking to yourself?" Lee said, who was about to enter Neji's office to give him some documents.
"Yeah. And I can't stand these fuckin' shoes! They're killing me!" Tenten said and took them off. Out of anger, she threw them and they accidentally hit Lee. He fell dramatically to the floor.
"I'm okay," he said in the distant background. But by then, Tenten was already long gone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can't believe you were about to kill it," Shino said as he touched the spider in his hands. Ino had seen in crawling on the wall and screamed. Kiba was about to squash it when Shinio intervened.
"I can't believe you're stroking it," Chouji said.
"I can't believe we're even having this conversation," Sakura commented.
"Hey, what do we even do around here?" Tenten asked, bored. She was lying on the couch, barefoot.
"Whatever they tell us to do," Kiba answered.
"Kiba, give me a foot massage," Tenten said. He sighed and pretended not to hear her. "I said I want a foot massage! A G-rated foot massage!"
"No! Why don't you look around the building if you're so bored?" he said.
"Hmph, fine!" Tenten said, getting up.
"In that case, I'm coming as well," Ino said. "You too Sakura."
"Like I have a choice," she said.
"Wait, you can borrow my map. It's really easy to get lost around here. Take my word for it," Chouji said, giving Tenten the map.
"Um, okay, I guess," she said. The three of them left and Tenten unfolded the map. "Oh look! There's like 18 floors in this biulding."
"Who cares? There's a fashion desgin room on the 10th floor. You know what that means: clothes!" Ino said.
"Let's go there!" Sakura said, excited herself.
"Yeah, but let's take the stairs so it can seem like a little adventure. The room can be the X on the map and the clothes are our lose treasures," Tenten said smiling.
"Speaking of lost treasures, where are we?" Sakura asked. They had been walking into a dark corrider without realizing it.
"I don't know. This part of the floor isn't even on the map," Tenten said. "Wait! Let me see the back of this." She turned the map over and gulped.
"What?" Ino asked.
"This map was made in 1997! We're doomed!" Tenten yelled.
"1997?! This shit of a map is ten years old?!" Ino said.
"They weren't even done constructing this building in 1997," Sakura said.
"Hey, is that a door I see?" Ino pointed out. "Maybe it leads to somewhere...where there's people." The three of them quickly ran to the door and opened it. The room was dark and yet they walked in. No sooner were they inside when the door closed and they heard someone locking it.
"Hey, let us out!" Tenten yelled. It was so cramped inside and it smelled really bad.
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Temari said from the other side.
"Ugly Temari, it that you?! Open up bitch!" Ino said, pounding on the door.
"Hm, what was that? I can't hear you," she said, an evil smile on her pretty face.
"I know you can hear us!" Sakura said, feeling claustophobic.
"Temari, open this door this instant!" Tenten said.
"Hahaha!" Temari laughed. "Buh-bye darlings! I wonder when they're finally going to find you." She walked off, swinging the key around her finger.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was true that Shikamaru was a lazy guy, but he hated not getting things done on time. For example, right now he was supposed to read a document Neji faxed him. He didn't feel like reading it, so he was going to give it to Temari to read it. Problem was that she wasn't at her desk.
He sighed and walked to the intern's lounge. His best bud Chouji would have to do it. "Hey Chouji, would you mind reading this for me?" Shikamaru asked.
"Sure," Chouji said, grabbing the papers from Shikamaru's hands. "Uh...on second thought, I'd rather not," he said, noticing the small text and big words.
"Fine, I'll have one of the Troublesome Trio read it," Shikamaru said.
"If by Troublesome Trio you mean Ino, Sakura, and Tenten, then no. They're gone."
"Gone?"
"Yeah, they left like two hours ago and never came back."
"Isn't someone looking for them?" Shikamaru asked.
"No. They're turn up by the end of they day," Chouji said, opening a bag of chips.
"There you are! Shikamaru, didn't you hear? Neji wants us in his office. It's an important meeting concerning the new ad," Naruto said, popping his head in the room.
"Idiot, that was supposed to be a secret," Sasuke said beside him.
"Important meeting? Ugh, Temari never gives me the memos," Shikamaru said. "I'll see you later Chouji," he said, leaving. They hadn't been walking for a minute when Neji appeared.
"What took you so long? I've been waiting for ten minutes," he said impatiently. He had a folder with him.
"We had to go get Shikamaru," Sasuke said with a bored expression.
"Hey do you guys hear that?" Naruto asked, who had keen hearing.
"Hear what? I don't hear anything," Neji said.
"That thumping noise... it gets louder if I go this way," he said, walking more and more to the right.
"What about the meeting?" Shikamaru asked, although no one paid attention. They were following Naruto. "Argh, this is too troublesome," he said, following them as well.
"I can hear it now," Sasuke said. "I hear voices as well."
"It sounds like muffled screaming," Naruto said. "Hey Neji, is this place haunted with ghosts?"
"No it's not haunted. Stop asking stupid questions," Neji said.
"...HELP!..."
"GET US OUTTA HERE!"
"...OPEN THIS DOOR!"
"What the hell?" the four of them said in unison. They could now hear bangings on a certain door.
"It's this one!" Naruto pointed out.
"Hey, I think I heard someone," a girl said from inside the door (Tenten).
Naruto turned the doorknob, but it was locked. "The door's locked."
"Thanks for stating the obvious! Is that you Naruto?"
"What? How do you know my name?" he asked.
"It's me, Sakura!" she said. "Ino and Tenten are here too!"
"That bitch Temari locked us in!" Ino said.
"Temari locked you girls in?" Shikamaru said.
"Yes! Now get us out of here!" Tenten said.
"Stand back," Sasuke siad. He lifted his leg and kicked open the door with so much force. Sakura, Tenten, and Ino came tumbling down, taking Neji down with them. The papers in his folder flew everywhere.
It was an advertisement for a perfume Shine by famous designer Ami Ishida. In the ad there was a beautiful model wearing shiny, sparkly clothes and next to her was a guy model checking her out. It was your basic perfume ad, but with a touch of Hyuuga Interprise magic, it looked over the top.
"Get your hands off of me!" Neji said.
"RAPE! RAPE!" Naruto said, laughing.
The girls got off Neji and saw the ads lying on the ground. "No way, Ami Ishida is coming out with a new perfume!" Ino said.
"You guys aren't supposed to see the ad yet," Sasuke said, picking the papers up. "Ms. Ishida still doesn't know which company she wants to use for advertising her perfume."
"Although Hyuuga Interprise is ther top choice. You can't tell anyone that you saw the ad sample," Neji said.
"You know what, pretend you never even saw them," Naruto said.
"Why?" Tenten asked.
"Bacause we don't want other companies to steal our idea," Shikamaru explained. "I gotta go and find Temari. She is so in trouble," he said, walking away. Sakura and Tenten turned around to look at Ino, who was smiling.
"Speaking of companies, there's going to be a party next week where all the local business companies can socialize. It's going to be a big get-together. You three are all invited," Naruto said, handing them envelopes.
"Cool. Can we bring dates?" Sakura said.
"No, it's only for the workers," Naruto said.
"I think we should get going now. The meeting's been dalayed long enough," Neji said. He looked down at Tenten's bare feet. "You're not wearing any shoes," he stated.
"What? Oh. Hehe, well, the heels were really hurting my feet... and other people," Tenten answered. Neji smirked.
"Yeah Tenten, you're banned from ever wearing heels again," Ino said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"...and that is why I can never look at a banana the same way again," Toshi said. He had invited himself over to Tenten's house for dinner. She had just gotten home from working at Panda Express and had brought take-out.
"Interesting," Tenten said, stuffing a piece of chicken into her mouth.
DING-DONG!
"Did you invite someone over?" Toshi asked.
"Besides you inviting yourself over, then no, I didn't," she said.
DING-DONG!
"I'm coming! Geez!" Tenten said, opening the door. "Neji? What are you doing here?"
"You actually live here? I thought Ino and Sakura were only joking," he said.
"Answer the question."
"I came here to return these," he said, revealing her heels that she threw. "After Lee woke up, he told me they were yours. You're lucky he's not sueing. He has a big bump on the side of his head."
"Um...thanks," Tenten said nervously, grabbing the shoes from Neji. He looked so out of place standing at her doorway with his expensive suit.
"Yo Tenten, how come you never introduce me to your friends?" Toshi said.
"You live with this guy?" Neji asked stiffly, eyeing the two.
"No, he's just my landlord, more like my uncle really. He comes and goes like he pleases," Tenten said.
"I'm Toshi by the way," he said, shaking hands with Neji. He could see his own reflection on Toshi' s bald, shiny head.
"Nice to meet you Toshi...?"
"Oh, you don't need to know my last name."
"I'm Neji Hyuuga," he said.
"Rings a bell," Toshi said, playing with his goatee.
"Ok, now that you've met, you can leave now Toshi," Tenten said.
"Fine, but I'm taking my food with me," he said, grabbing his take-out box and leaving.
"So...are you going to the party next week?" Neji asked, trying to sound casual.
"Are you asking me to be your date?"
"No," he said, looking insulted. "I was just wondering so I could know whether or not to wear my boots. I wouldn't want you to step on my feet with you pointy heels."
"Believe me, I'm laughing on the inside," Tenten said sarcastically.
"Well, see you tomorrow Panda Girl," Neji said.
"Yeah, see y- wait, I am NOT a Panda Girl!" Tenten said.
Neji touched one of Tenten's buns. "Yes you are," he said, walking away. For some strange reason, they way he said it made Tenten blush. He had been looking straight at her and smirked that annoying (yet sexy) smirk of his.
Tenten mentally groaned. She shouldn't have been thinking about Neji in that way at all. He was a jackass after all, wasn't he?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Sorry for the late update. It's been like almost a month. You see that "GO" button? Click on it! It wants you to click on it!