A/N: Hello, hello! Yeah, this is kind of a slow update but at least I updated right? This chapter took me ages to write. Don't ask me why, it just did. I actually had the scenes playing out in my head but it took a long time to write out. This is a longer chapter than the last one, because it took so long to update.
By the way, you guys can still tell me if you like ShikaIno or SaiIno better.
At the moment SaiIno is winning.
I saw that one of you voted for ShikaIno four times in a row using different anonymous names. Yes, that's right. I saw that.
And thankyou for that, I'm actually not being sarcastic. When I saw that someone had done that I had a huge smile planted on my face. I have no idea why but I was just happy that someone wanted ShikaIno that badly in my story.
If any of you are reading 'Welcome to Team Taka', I would like you to know that I have not given up on that and I'll try to update that soon. I've already written like half of it, I've just had writers block for a while but I'll break out of it soon.
Please review this chapter! I didn't proof read this one as many times as I usually do because I wanted to post it up ASAP!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, dattebayo!
"What's the matter Hyuuga? Are you going to fight me or not?" Sasuke taunts me. I huff as I climb into the ring and assume my normal fighting stance.
This is new. The princess trying to slay the dragon.
"I'm gonna kick your ass up your throat" I mutter under my breath as I glare at Sasuke.
He's probably strong. After all, Father was going to put him against Neji and Neji's insanely skilled.
Okay Hinata, you can do this. You just have to play it smart.
Don't get distracted and keep your calm.
Sasuke tightens the valcrow of his gloves and slips his mouth guard into his mouth and I follow in suite.
Father raises an eyebrow at me.
"Are you okay with this Hinata? Sasuke's known to be quite brutal in the ring, he's almost as talented as Neji" He warns me.
I remove my mouth guard.
"Don't worry father. I'm sure I'll be fine, I've beaten Neji before so he shouldn't be a problem" I reassure him and Father nodds and pats me on the back.
"Show him that Hyuuga's aren't to be made fun of"
I flash him a grin and I place my mouth guard in my mouth again and father blows his whistle.
"Match Commence" He announces and Sasuke smirks.
Sasuke's face is unreadable at the moment, usually I can tell if my opponent's planning on punching first or not but he sure is putting up a hell of a poker face.
My aim is to land a punch on his face.
The face that he is so proud of.
I want to be the girl who gives Sasuke Uchiha a black eye.
Oh yes, Imagine the sweet glory of my knuckles plunging into his socket-
"What are you waiting for Hyuuga? Hit me" He taunts me and I suppress my frustration. He's so aggravating! Keep your cool Hinata.
During a fight you should never let yourself be provoked by your opponent, no matter what they say to you.
I shift my weight on my left foot, then my right foot.
If he's skilled he's probably looking at my feet to see which foot I plan on kicking him with so this'll throw him off course a bit.
I wonder if Sasuke is right or left handed.
He's using his right hand as the main blocker for his face so he must be right handed.
"Come on Hyuuga, I'm waiting"
I swing my leg around, gathering momentum before striking my foot into his right arm.
As expected Sasuke blocks this kick easily and I draw my fist back before smashing my fist into his shoulder, unfortunately his left hand is still guarding his face so that's all I can manage at the moment. Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise and he retreats a metre or so into the corner.
He didn't expect me to hit him. Hah! Take that!
Princess: 1
Dragon: BIG FAT ZERO!
Unfortunately the dragon must have noticed me basking in my glory and within seconds he had me pinned to the ground and me wriggling out of his vice-like grip. His muscley arms are locked around my neck and his knees at either side of my hips, I can feel his chest rising and falling.
It's so distracting! This is so unfair!
He knows wrestling! I suck at fighting wrestling types! I'm used to fighting with my fists.
Father's counting how many seconds I'm on the ground for. I need to get out of this quickly!
"Stuck?" His breathe lingers down my neck and it sends a shiver running up my spine.
Okay, this is starting to get incredibly uncomfortable; I need to get out of this hold quickly.
What am I going to do?
I know, I'll do a reverse pin, Neji taught me once during class. I was particularly good at it but I still know it.
I inhale deeply in order to withdraw all the calm I have left.
I prop myself up on my elbows and roll myself and the Uchiha over so I'm pinning him to the floor.
I quickly scramble to my feet and he quickly springs to his feet after me.
As soon as he is on his feet a punch is hurled in the direction of my face and I dodge and sweep my foot at his ankles. He avoids my foot and crunches my leg with his foot.
I yelp in pain.
Fuck that hurts, he's crushing my leg!
Using my leg that isn't being slowly crushed into fragments I give his shin a good boot with my heal.
He topples off balance for a moment and I clamber to a stand, using the rope framing the ring for support.
My leg hurts but it's nothing serious, probably only bruising.
Sasuke throws a punch in the direction of my stomach and I only just manage to block it. Dammit, my reflexes are wearing out, I'm too slow.
Punch by punch, I barely manage to block them.
Sasuke smirks.
"What's the matter Hyuuga? You're getting slow, weren't you gonna kick my ass up my throat?" He mocks me, still continuing to hurl fists at me.
"Why did you even start learning Mixed martial arts?"
I swallow. Why did he have to go there?
I know why I started learning Mixed Martial arts. Kids used to pick on me. They used to say I thought I was better than them just because I'm the heiress to Hyuuga corp.
They'd call me 'that snobby little rich kid' or 'Spoilt Hyuuga brat'.
I finally got sick of them calling me names and I couldn't do anything about it because I was weak. That is why I asked father to teach me Mixed martial arts, so I'd never have that defenceless feeling. So I wouldn't feel timid.
"You're scared of being weak. That's it isn't it? You're scared of being trapped and not being able to do anything about it. You hate being weak don't you? That's you're biggest fear" He hisses and a wave of rage washes over me.
Scared of being weak? The nerve of him! How dare he say that I'm scared! He's making it seem like I joined mixed martial arts to run away from my fears, not face them!
He hardly even knows me! He doesn't know a fucking thing about me!
I'm not a coward for gaining strength, joining martial arts is how I faced my fears and he can't tell me otherwise.
I try to muster up words to say but I can't find the right ones.
Anger is rising in my stomach so I just spit out the first words that come to mind.
"You're wrong!" I shout, catching his fist in my hand, my power levels raising because of the adrenalin in my veins.
"Do you want to know what my worst fear is? My worst fear is that somebody out there hates me just as much as I hate you!" I growl at him, venom oozing from my words as I raise my fist to smash it square into his vulnerable face but Father latches onto my wrist.
"That's enough for today, we'll have more fights next training session. Until next week all of you better keep up your fitness levels, go for a run everyday and practise your combat moves. You're all dismissed" Father says and Sasuke is still silent, not knowing what to make of it.
Sasuke's staring at me in disbelief. He opens his mouth to say something but no words flow out.
Within a minute the gym is empty except for a few slow students, Neji, Hanabi, Father, Sasuke and I.
"You two" Father hisses, frowning at both Sasuke and I.
"You both got carried away. A match should never have that much talking.
Next time I want to see less taunting and more fighting. You both took the match far too personally, and you.." Father glares at Sasuke.
"If you insult my daughter, you're insulting me. Apologise to her instantly" Father orders and Sasuke mumbles an apology.
"I don't care what you two have against each other but if it's affecting your focus so it needs to stop. Also, Hinata, stop taking everything to heart. Sasuke was only taunting you and he was using a psych out tactic, I don't want that in my gym but in tournaments that's what a lot of opponents use. Anyway, Sasuke, I'll see you next time and Hinata you can ride in Neji's car home"
"Ugh, Seriously! I might just quit being cheerleading captain!" Ino wails as she snaps her cell phone shut.
It's been three days since I first met Ino and I've found that we've gotten really close in such a short amount of time, already we're complaining to each other like we're childhood friends.
At the moment it's lunch break and we're sitting at our usual table in the cafeteria, Ino has a pained expression on her face.
"What's the problem?" I ask as I crack open my can of coke.
"Tayuya can't cheer at the football game this weekend, she has to go to her flute recital" Ino tells me, massaging her temples.
"Just change the routine around a bit, should be pretty easy" I shrug and take a swig of my coke.
Ino furrows her eyebrows together, worry lines appearing momentarily on her forehead.
"It's not that simple! I planned out the routine perfectly and I can't just change it, I'd have to make up whole other routine, it doesn't work without Tayuya!" Ino pounds her fists on the table in frustration and I pat her on the back to sooth her.
"Calm down Ino, why don't you just tell the football coach that wont be cheering at halftime? There. Problem solved." I suggest and Ino shakes her head rapidly.
"No. I refuse to let something as stupid as a flute recital stop us from cheering on Saturday!" Ino declares stubbornly and I roll my eyes.
"What are you going to do then?" I ask and Ino taps her chin in thought.
After a few seconds her eyes light up and she raises an index finger.
"Idea! You can replace Tayuya!" Ino claps her hands together at this solution and I frown.
"Ino, I don't do cheerleading. MMA fighters don't do cheerleading." I inform her and Ino pouts.
"Pleeeeaaassse Hinata-chan! I really need you to help me with this! Besides, who said you can't cheer and fight at the same time? Kim Possible managed to do both!" The blonde begs and I shake my head.
"Kim Possible has nothing to do with this! Anyway, I've never done cheerleading before! I don't want to humiliate myself!" I insist.
"I'll teach you! Besides, you do martial arts don't you? You should know how to do the splits, backwards and forwards handsprings and you're fit, you're perfect for the job!" Ino exclaims.
"Ino! Can you please just find someone else to replace Tayuya! I'm not cut out for cheerleading!"
"There's no time! Please! This is just a one-time thing, you don't ever have to do it again!" Ino pleads, giving me her best puppy dog pout.
Ugh! I don't want to be a cheerleader! But look at the face Ino's giving me!
Curse her for having such large eyes!
"Fine, I'll do it" I grumble and Ino squeals with delight.
"Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Come to practise after school today on the field!"
RIIINNNNGG!
"Oh, we better get to P.E class otherwise Gai-sensei will make us run laps"
"Alllllll righhtty! Let's start up with the role!" Gai sensei announces as he taps his pen against his clipboard.
He begins reading out names and they all respond with 'Present', until he reaches the dragon's name.
"Sasuke?"
No response.
I wonder where the dragon is today, I haven't spoken to him since the first day of school.
It's quite strange, I expected him to be the persistently-annoy-the-shit-out-of-you type but he's been suspiciously quiet lately.
Maybe it's because I told him I hated him.
Stupid dragon, I don't hate him. I just happen to dislike him. A lot.
Whatever, He owes me an apology for being so mean to me while we were fighting. I hope he doesn't expect me to apologise to him. Like that's ever going to happen.
Pinkie and girl with bright cherry red hair start bickering over Sasuke.
"I hope my Sasuke-kun's okay, I'm going to visit his house after school to see if he's alright" The girl with glasses says, twirling a lock of red hair around her finger and gazing dreamily into space.
"He's my Sasuke-kun! Besides, I'm going to bring him his English homework so don't you worry about checking up on him!" Sakura snaps at the red haired girl and the red haired girl glares at her.
"Who said he was yours? Yesterday we were making out behind the bike shed! That means he's officially mine!" She retorts, pushing her glasses further upon the bridge of her nose.
"Pfft! That doesn't mean anything! I've made out with Sasuke-kun thousands of times behind the bike shed, I bet you haven't gone further than making out!" Sakura clenches her fists together and tension rises in the air as everyone goes silent to listen to their argument.
Hmm… Do I sense a fight breaking out?
How annoying. Damn that dragon! Even when he's absent everyone makes a fuss about him.
"Well….We haven't gone further than making out yet but we're making our way up to it! The only reason why we haven't is because I'm not a gigantic slut like you!" I red haired girl points a manicured finger accusingly in the direction of Pinkie's face and she slaps her finger away.
"You're the gigantic slut! Who do you think you are, unbuttoning your uniform blouse like that so have a full view of your cleavage!" Sakura growls and The red haired girl huffs, puffing her chest out.
"At least my tits are real, not just cups!"
"My tits are real, unlike your hair colour. I'm sure you can buy that cheap hair dye at the $2 shop"
"You can talk Miss. Fluorescent-pink hair!"
"Ladies! You two have both earned yourself 20 laps around the field! Now, go! Before I make it 30!" Gai sensei interrupts their babbling as the two girls groan and start jogging around the field.
"Hinata-san, could you do me a favour?" Gai sensei asks as he gestures for me to come to him.
I reluctantly stroll over and he hands me a sheet of paper.
"I need you to deliver the attendance sheet to Lady Tsunade, usually I'd do it through email but my laptop's not working so I require a trust worthy student such as yourself to give this to her. Can I trust you with this?" He asks and I nodd my head hesitantly.
Geez, you'd think that he wanted me to deliver his most prized possession or something by the way he's talking about the attendance sheet. Ss
"Can Ino come with me?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"No, you should be fine. You've been attending Konoha academy for three days now and you should know where the principals office is. I'm sure I can trust you. Do not lose my trust Youthful flower!" He cautions me and nodd my head.
Gai-sensei is the weirdest teacher I have ever met.
"Okay then" I agree as I saunter towards Principal Tsunade's office.
How hard could this be?
WHOOSH
My hair whips at my face as the wind thrashes against my body.
It's so windy today, it's like walking through a freaking hurricane!
Only a little bit more to go before I reach Tsunade's office. If I can remember correctly her office is just around the corner.
My school shoes slap against the pavement and I make an abrupt halt as I see not what I am expecting.
Wait a sec, I'm at the front lawn of the school.
How the hell did I get here?
Where's Tsunade's office? Ugh! I hate having no sense of direction! I should have brought a map!
Stupid Gai-sensei with his 'After attending this school for three days I should know where the principals office is' ideas!
This is why you should never trust a youth maniac wearing green spandex!
I raise my arms in the air, ready to let out an enormous groan of self-pity when suddenly the wind nips the sheet of paper out of my grip and carries it along about three metres above the ground. Completely out of my reach.
Crap.
"No! Don't leave me!" I plead as I chase the attendance sheet, trying to jump up to catch it but having no such luck.
I'll be running laps around the field for the rest of my life if I don't save that stupid sheet of paper!
The sheet of paper sails along in the air, dropping slightly then bobbing higher again as if to taunt me.
Darn you! Why must you mock me?
It then comes to a stop and decides to perch itself at the top of a tree.
Great. Tsunade just had this huge speech yesterday about why students shouldn't climb the trees at the front of the school and said anybody that tried would have an automatic double lunchtime detention. For climbing a tree. I know. It's ridiculous.
I imagine myself telling Gai-sensei about the losing the sheet of paper.
I think I'll risk the double lunchtime detention over what Gai-sensei will have in store for me,
I check my surroundings.
Good, no teachers in sight. I quickly haul myself onto the first branch of the tree and scramble to my feet to stand on the branch.
I give the branch a cautious stare. It's not exactly the sturdiest thing I'd stand on, I doubt it can hold much weight. It's not making any snapping or creaking sounds though so I suppose it's trustworthy enough.
I release a sigh of relief as I glance upwards to find the next branch I'll stand on.
I hear a muffled chuckle.
"I can see up your skirt"
I let out a startled yelp as I notice The dragon himself lying at the foot of the tree.
I begin to make an attempt to tuck my skirt between my legs to block his view but then I realize that I'm fine because I'm wearing shorts underneath my skirt.
"Whatever, I'm wearing shorts" I reply and he smirks.
"Yeah, I can see up your shorts too. You should think about wearing tighter shorts. Nice panties by the way, lavender goes nice with your skin tone"
I glare at him and plonk down on the branch, crossing my legs to prevent any other inappropriate glances. The branch makes a warning slight cracking sound but it doesn't snap completely.
"You're such a perve. What are you doing here anyway, aren't you supposed to be in PE?" I question him and he raises an eyebrow.
He looks as if he just woken up from a nap. His school shirt is crinkled and his voice is a lot more relaxed than usual. He's lying down and staring right up at me, his hair splayed out on the roots of the tree. How can you lie down on roots and make it look like it's as comfortable as lying on a marshmallow.
"I could ask you the same question" He replies and folds his arms across his chest.
"I'm doing an errand for Gai-sensei" I say, rather matter-of-fact-ly.
"I can see that's going well for you" He replies sarcastically as he sits up and leans against the tree trunk.
I stick my tongue out at him childishly before beginning to clamber up the tree, branch my branch.
Leaves scratch my face and the rough bark scrapes against my palms but I continue to climb, higher and higher until I am arms length away from the sheet of paper.
I reach for the sheet of paper but no matter how much I stretch, I can't seem to grasp it.
I mutter a curse underneath under my breath and I sneak a glimpse at The Dragon who is being entertained by my struggle.
Even though I can't fully hear him I know he's laughing by the way he's covering his mouth with his sleeve. It's actually kind of cute…WAIT.
The dragon is certainly not cute! Get your head on straight Hinata!
I shake that thought out of my head and focus on the sheet of paper.
How am I going to retrieve it? The branch is far too thin for me to shimmy up, no doubt it'll break.
Hmmm….I suppose I could try shaking the branch.
I wrap my hand around the branch and swing it from side to side, the paper eventually floats down into my hand and I smile triumphantly!
Yeah! Hinata Hyuuga can overcome any obstacles that come her way!
With an enormous grin plastered on my face I begin to clamber down the tree, to the safety of the ground before I feel a painful yank on my hair.
"Ouch" I pout as I rub my sore head.
What the hell?
I twist my head around to see that a large proportion of my hair is tangled in between some of the skinny branches and it refuses to release me.
Ugh! This could not get any worse!
"Stuck?" Sasuke asks, in an amused voice and I glare at him.
I retract my statement. Now, it couldn't get any worse.
Not only am I tangled in a tree, the only person who can help me is that egotistical dragon!
"Yes, I am stuck. Now stop standing there laughing at me, come and help me!" I say impatiently and he smirks and runs his long fingers through his raven black hair. His hair is so shiny. He must use a shit load of conditioner.
Or it's natural. Lucky bastard.
"If you be polite and say please I might think about. Oh, it might also help if you apologise to me about the other day" He casually stands up and looks at me with ice cold obsidian eyes.
I fold my arms and frown at him suspiciously.
"Apologise about what? If any has to apologise, it would be you!"
"I don't see what I have to apologise for. You're the one who told me you hated me. I want you to take it back." He folds his arms across his chest and even from this distance I can see that he's unconsciously pouting like a child.
He's sulking.
Seriously? I have to apologise to him for something I hardly regret?
I suppose there's no other way, I think the bell's going to go soon for afternoon break and I definitely don't want students laughing their asses off at me or Tsunade to see me in the tree.
I take a brief moment to swallow all the pride I have left and take a deep breath.
"I take it back. I don't hate you. I just….don't particularly like you" I say honestly and Sasuke scowls.
"You're the least charming girl I've ever met, you know that?"
"Whatever, I apologised. Help me now?"
Sasuke sighs. "Fine. Stay there"
I roll my eyes. "I don't really have much of a choice"
Sasuke yanks off his school jacket and effortlessly leaps upon the first branch, he continues to scale up the tree moving so quickly, it seems like he's springing off each branch. It's like watching a monkey.
Eventually he manages to climb up to where I am tangled and he wedges himself behind the two skinny branches and begins to un-knot my hair.
I shift around uncomfortably, I've been sitting in this position for a while and Im starting to get restless.
"Hold still Hyuuga!" He commands, tugging on my hair slightly.
"Ouch! Stop pulling Uchiha! And don't call me Hyuuga, you're making me sound like my Dad. Hinata-san is just fine"
"Okay, then you have to stop calling me Uchiha. Sasuke-sama is just fine" He says and I frown.
"I think I'll just stick with Sasuke-san. Are you done yet with untangling me? You're untangling like a grandma" I criticize him.
"Why don't we just snip your hair off? It'll be quicker that way"
"Okay, go at your own pace" I say quickly and I hear a quiet triumphant chuckle.
After five more minutes of complaining, commands and hair pulling I am finally released from the tree.
Crap, I hope Gai-sensei wont punish me for being late back to class.
Sasuke starts to clamber down the tree but he climbs down a lot slower than he climbs up.
"Hurry up will you? I've got to get back to class, some of us don't want lunch time detentions for skipping class" I grunt as I try to climb down the tree hastily.
"Don't worry Miss Goody-two-shoes, I'm sure you'll get back to class on time" He says in that annoying snarky voice of his as he takes his time, stepping onto the branch below him.
Who does he think he is? Calling me Miss Goody-two-shoes! Just because I don't like skipping class doesn't make me a goody-two-shoes!
"Don't call me Miss Goody-two shoes" I mumble, trying not to shout at him.
"Why are you so sensitive over that, Miss Goody-two-shoes?" He asks and I look down the tree to glare at him.
"I told you not to call me th-" I begin to growl before my foot slips against a branch and I start to plummet towards earth.
Warm arms wrap around me and I crash to the ground, surprisingly without a scratch.
I open my eyes to see Sasuke on top of me, rubbing his sore head.
"Ouch! Look what you did Hyuuga, if you weren't so clumsy then I wouldn't have wacked my head on that bastard of a branch!" Sasuke complains and I suddenly become aware of his weight on me.
His knees are on either side of my hips and from another persons view this position would look extremely dodgy but somehow I don't feel like shoving him off. Instead I sit up and scowl at him.
"You idiot, I never asked you to hold onto me to break my fall! Anyway, when a guy saves a girl aren't they supposed to act heroic afterwards? Not tell her that she's clumsy and complain about having a sore head!" I bark at him and Sasuke rolls his eyes at me
"Be quiet and be grateful that I took a lump on my head just to save you. Now, what are you still sitting there for? Go and deliver that stupid attendance sheet that I now have a lump on my head for!" He orders me.
"I can't, you're sitting on me" I say as I try to knock him off me, his eyes widen in realization and he rolls off me. I scramble to my feet and frown at the now incredibly tatty sheet of paper on the ground, then at Sasuke.
"Where's the principals office again?"
A/N: Read and review, tell me if you like it or not!
Also, you can still say if you like SaiIno or ShikaIno and if you want Sasuke POV.
Thanks for reading ^_^