Up Until Now
Chapter 6
Inner's Wisdom
The next morning Sakura entered the school, feeling oddly out of place and temporarily foreign to her surroundings. The previous day replayed over in her mind like a recording stuck on replay. It still felt so unreal to her – like some messed up dream that was taunting her about reality and where her place was inside of it.
Momentarily alone, Sakura walked down the familiar hallways of Konoha High. Reaching her locker, she mechanically unlocked the door and piled books in her bag as her thoughts lingered on a peculiar boy boggling her mind.
Vaguely, she registered that two special things were happening today. The first was her mother going to take the job at the University and make arrangements for Sakura and her to sell the house and move out. This somewhat excited as well as saddened Sakura. The exciting part was, with the money left over from the sale, they could possibly afford a better quality car for Sakura in the near coming future. The sad part remained, inescapably, the fact that her entire household had been disrupted and her family might break apart because of it.
Her green eyes paused on the ground, mind swirling in an uneven mixture of thoughts, worries and fears. For minutes, her gaze focused on her brown sneakers, hand still limply clinging to her locker's door.
She expected to be more saddened by it, maybe even fall into long-term depression or resort to cutting herself. These ideas weren't very appealing to her. On the contrary, Sakura felt like she had taken yesterday off solely to grief. Now that day was over, and so was her sorrow. Despite this, the upcoming future for her family still left her worried but even through the sudden difficulty life threw upon her, Sakura felt more than mature enough to be able to handle it – albeit unsure as to how she had acquired this sudden development in her growth.
She didn't know why – if anything, her parents' decision wasn't accurately final. She still wanted to hear her father's side of the story. What exactly had been going on? What were they fighting about? How on earth had they managed to keep it hidden from her for so long?
Sakura shook her head, scolding herself for her lack of concern towards their feelings. In all honesty, she didn't feel as close to her family as she saw most of her friends were.
Ino, for instance, was adored by her parents. Sakura could understand why. Ino was as good daughter, after all, as she was a good friend to Sakura herself. The blonde may come across as slightly conceited, but still held the purist intentions, especially when it came to the better things in life; like friends and family. In fact, now that Sakura finally took the time to think about it, Ino was never open about her family's reputation or flaunted her wealth for the public to see. On the whole, Sakura thought she was pretty modest and openhanded.
For some reason though, Ino had never opted to invite Sakura over to meet her parents so Sakura had no idea what they were like. Sure, Sakura and the others had been to her house many times before, but the house was normally devoid of any close relatives of Ino. Whenever Sakura had asked about it, Ino had just brushed it off like Sakura would do herself and say her parents were hard-working business people – they had a company to run.
Hinata, on the other hand, had it a bit trickier. It had only been a week after Sakura had officially started to get to know her when she found out about Hinata's wearisome family. Ino, of course, knew the whole story, but kept it to heart to only tell Tenten and Sakura on the grounds that they would respect Hinata's privacy and not interfere. Taken aback by Ino's out of character consideration, both agreed and listened to Ino's shakily detailed story after agreeing.
Apparently, Hinata was the heiress to her family's multi-millionaire company. But, her father, probably the strictest and most feared businessman in the country, aside from Fugaku Uchiha himself, had wanted to disown her, outwardly deeming her a disgrace and failure to the Hyuuga family.
Much to Sakura's (and of course Tenten's huge) surprise, it had been Neji Hyuuga himself who had stood up for Hinata and insisted she be given another chance to prove herself to the family and earn her right as heiress. These were the only details Ino had known but speculated further that Hinata could be kicked out of the family any day or minute. The thought left all three of Hinata's friends greatly concerned and from then forth they made an agreement to try and teach Hinata to try and stand up for herself and find a way to build her confidence. So far, they weren't making much progress.
Tenten's story, however, touched Sakura the most. Though Sakura would always consider Ino her childhood rival and best friend, she'd always have a special place for Tenten in her heart. Tenten only ever told them once, but her mother had died giving birth to her and her father had abandoned her at the nearest orphanage, disappearing from her life forever. At first it had sounded so very dramatic and didn't seem to suite the past of someone like Tenten, but when she got into the details of her childhood, one would understand how she grew her passion for self-defense. By the way Tenten had explained it; it had been day and night survival 101.
After six years of enduring painful beatings, emotional neglecting and nutritional fault, Tenten had finally caught the attention of a sweet old lonesome woman who thought it a shame for a lovely young girl like herself to grow up in such harsh conditions. After being adopted, Tenten soon learned to accept her new grandmother, who was still alive and well, although nowadays Tenten looked after her more than anything.
Even with a female authority figure, Tenten never grew out of her aggressive and rational habits and her adoptive grandmother struggled to tame the girl into acting more disciplined. At the time, Tenten told them she had been very stubborn back then, until her grandmother had gotten the inspiration to introduce her into martial arts. It did not only teach her discipline and control over her actions, it gave her the opportunity to earn a scholarship at Konoha High and she'd been winning every tournament for the school since.
What shook Sakura the most about this story, was when Tenten told them that for a long time, she'd only wanted someone to be proud of her and when she received a letter from the principal herself, her grandmother had burst out into proud tears and had claimed that adopting Tenten was possibly the best decision she could ever hoped to make. This had been the final straw and Tenten's walls had been broken through and now she was the strong independent girl Ino, Hinata and Sakura knew her as today.
Sakura smiled when she thought of the family she would still have at school. It calmed her a great deal and she held unto the feeling, hoping it would always be there to soothe her in her time of need. At the moment, she couldn't imagine school (or possibly life) without them.
Another few people sprang into her mind. Naruto, along the way, had also crawled into her heart. He was such a goofball, so self-assured and energetic – always positive and determined. No wonder Hinata held such deep admiration for him. Sakura just thought he was silly but enjoyed his company so much, it felt like she had known him for years.
Then there were distant friends she wasn't too close to. Classmates like Sikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Neji and even Lee – they were all a comfort in some way. Now about Gaara, she wasn't too sure . . .
For a moment Sakura felt like she was forgetting one person, and mentally counted every classmate off her fingers once more to check if she had missed someone. Her head shook in confusion. She would figure it out later.
Another thought popped back into her mind and she suddenly remembered, faintly giddy, about a certain Uchiha member she had come in contact with the day before. Of course! How could she forget him?
The second special event of the day was of course her lunch with Itachi Uchiha. Part of her kept thinking it might have been some stupid daydream and fantasy she had cooked up after taking in the largest dose of alcohol she had ever taken in her short life – it was only two beers, but still.
It faintly smelled like Inner Sakura kept blocking out any doubts she might have been experiencing and only paid attention to the excitement and nervousness build up in her stomach when she thought of the older Uchiha taking her out. Not only that, he was picking her up after school.
Now, what with the possible separation from her husband and the sudden change in professions, Sakura wasn't sure if her mother was ready to accept the fact that she was going out with a boy almost three years older than her. The excuse Sakura offered was that Tenten had merely asked her to help her with her math and Sakura didn't want her failing another test – the last part wasn't really a lie though.
"Sakura."
Startled out of her thoughts, Sakura unintentionally jerked her shoulder and her bag slipped off the bridge, sprawling all her books across the floor when it hit the ground. Sighing tiredly at the mess at her feet, Sakura looked up to see the person she had only a moment ago been thinking about.
"Sorry," Tenten offered gingerly and both girls bent down to collect the fallen books. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything."
Sakura offered her a small smile without looking up. "No, it's okay. I was spacing out."
Tenten's eyes flickered to her friend's green ones, noticing the distress in her behavior and also the lack of cheerfulness. They lingered for only a moment, before she continued to gather all the books. After everything had been neatly stacked and piled, Sakura stuffed them securely in her bag and turned to close her locker wordlessly.
"Uhm, Sakura?" Tenten hesitated as her pink-haired friend turned to her with a black stare. "Are you alright? Where were you yesterday? We were pretty worried."
Sakura felt unsure for a moment and suddenly felt the people in the hall begin to multiply gradually. Casting a few glances over her shoulder – not too sure what she was cautious about – Sakura gripped her bag tighter when she turned back to Tenten, a concerned look plastered across her delicate features.
"I'll explain everything at lunch," she replied, wanting all three of her friends present when she told her about the weekend's events.
Tenten, curious and still feeling slightly anxious, only nodded understandably and both girls fell into step next to each other, making their usual way to the homeroom of class no 7.
"So, how was your weekend?" Sakura asked mechanically, only sparing the girl next to her a minutely interested look.
Much to Sakura's surprise, a faint tint of red coated Tenten's fair skin at the question and Sakura saw her fidget with her fingers for a moment. This was all very strange and out of character for Tenten, who honed a fierce personality, along with a strong opinion not many were willing to argue with. Through most of the time Sakura had known her, she'd never seen Tenten illustrate any vulnerability or any show of weakness ever. Naturally, the sudden embarrassment prickled her interest a little more.
"Oh, you know. It was . . . fine," Tenten voiced somewhat uncomfortably and Sakura unknowingly smiled to herself.
"What happened, Tenten?" she asked with a little giggle at the end. "Why do you look like you did something naughty?"
"I didn't do anything like that! You know me by now!" Tenten exclaimed, upset by Sakura's teasing. "Something happened to take me off guard this weekend, is all," was her final mumble before folding her arms and looking away from the other.
Sakura took it upon herself to poke the other in the arm lightheartedly. "Come on, Tenten! What's with the sudden . . . turning-awkward-moment?"
Tenten's eyes dropped slightly. Sakura knew this meant Tenten was genuinely confused and she was trying to figure things out herself. Soon they reached the door marked '7' and entered to find a class room only occupied by Kiba and a boy she did not recognize.
"Hey Sakura, Tenten," Kiba greeted from his seat, raising his hand in a wave and flashing the pair a smile. Both girls greeted back friendlily.
Sakura always liked Kiba. In her opinion, you'd never find a more laid back guy. Not like Sikamaru, who was always seen as lazy and bothered by the prospect of working, but more chilled and relaxed. He was so comfortable with himself and Sakura couldn't help but admire him for that, maybe even envy.
"Hi Kiba," Tenten greeted him after Sakura did. "Who's this?" Smiling, she pointed to the boy sitting next to him with.
'Ol' Tenten, always ready to make friends,' Inner Sakura laughed fondly.
He was wearing a thick jacket with an eccentrically high collar, nearly concealing the entire lower part of his face. Sakura found it strange and to add to it all, he wore dark rounded glasses. Other than that, his hair was the only thing that would ensure one he was human – it was brown, spiked and poking in different directions.
"This is Shino Abarume," Kiba inclined with his hand to the boy next to him. "He just transferred here. Shino, this is Tenten, our martial arts master," Kiba introduced the brunette casually, barely blinking at the compliment. To him, it was mere facts. He's seen on more than one occasion how guys that riled Tenten got a hard beating and decided from an early stage he would never get on her bad side.
Tenten, however, took it as a well-meant flattering remark and deviously crossed her arms with a small smirk.
"Yep," she confirmed to the Shino boy, who raised an amused eyebrow at this.
"And this is Sakura Haruno. Our class-braniac," he added, again, as casually as Tenten's introduction. Flattered, Sakura smiled embarrassingly and nodded to Shino.
"Hi Shino. Nice to meet you," she said friendly and the other boy nodded in their direction.
"Nice to meet you two," he said, nodding to both girls. Sakura found it hard to read the emotion in his voice, seeing as reading any emotion on his face was next to impossible. She was about to make further conversation with him when Tenten pulled her away from the boys to take a seat in the back.
"I need to tell you what happened this weekend," Tenten hissed urgently, sitting on Sakura's desk after she took her seat. "It's driving me insane! I just need to tell someone."
Sakura blinked at the urgency in her friend's voice.
"Tenten, you know you can tell me anything," she soothed her friend with a reassuring pat on her hand.
"You promise not to tell Hinata or Ino? Especially Ino?" Tenten inquired skeptically, keeping her voice low as to not let the pair of boys in the front of the class hear. They were moderately uninterested at the girl's presence and Kiba only continued to explain all about Konoha to Shino, who only nodded in response to everything he said.
Sakura nodded. "Sure. Just tell me already, before they get here."
Tenten leaned in closer, voice almost down to a whisper. "Well, it was after my Saturday training session with Anko-sensei and I was walking home."
She threw one glance over her shoulder to check if the boys were still occupied. Relieved, she turned back Sakura.
"And well, I had to go get some stuff for Nana at the Mart," she continued to explain, voice growing higher. "And I sort of ran into . . . a very unlikely person there." She finished rather lamely, reluctant to tell Sakura the person's name.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Who?"
Tenten suppressed a shudder and whispered into Sakura's ear the forbidden words.
"It was Neji Hyuuga!" She pulled away from Sakura, expecting at least some form of reaction that would suite her urgency in the matter. To her complete annoyance, Sakura lightly started to giggle to herself.
"So?" she asked, still stifling a few giggled when Tenten crossed her arms to give her an annoyed look. "What was the damage to the store?" Sakura asked jokingly, lying back in her seat.
"Let me finish," Tenten urged, eyes growing panicky. "You won't believe it but no fight broke out."
Sakura took a moment to register this sentence.
"Are you sure it was him?" she asked with a frown. Tenten nodded, almost looking like she was ready to panic.
"It was definitely him. Trust me. I'd recognize him anywhere," she pointed out seriously, almost narrowing her eyes.
"Well, if you guys didn't fight, what happened?" Sakura pressed, interested. Tenten hesitated, not sure she should reveal the rest of what happened, partially embarrassed.
"He passed me in one of the aisles. At first I was going to ignore him because I thought he was ignoring me, but then our eyes locked and he . . . he . . ." she sputtered, face burning red and eyes glistening with confusion.
"He what?" Sakura edged on, not even noticing she was leaning in forward and her voice had carried into a whisper.
"He smiled and . . . winked at me," she deadpanned, setting both her feet on Sakura's table so she could cradle them to her body. She was on her way to rocking herself for comfort when Sakura scratched her head in confusion.
"And," Tenten continued frantically. "On my way down, I could have sworn he was checking out my ass."
"What did you do?" Sakura asked gravely, eyes wider than she intended them to be.
"Nothing! What the hell do you do in a situation like that?" the other asked frenetically, clenching her fists.
"Well, did you at least smile back?" Sakura asked politely, trying to make sense of the happenings. By the comment, Tenten seemed seriously astounded for a moment, but then dropped her head in disappointing realization.
"No, I guess didn't," she mumbled in what Sakura could have sworn was a disappointed tone. "You think I should have?"
"I'm not sure. What do you think would have happened?"
Tenten raised her eyebrows curiously. "That's an interesting question. You think he was just teasing me? Or trying to embarrass me or something?"
"Tenten, this is Neji Hyuuga we're talking about," Sakura reminded her seriously. "We all know he has more, eh, efficient ways of teasing and embarrassing you."
Tenten tapped her chin in thought. "You're right. Usually he makes some sarcastic remark or messes with my look. In fact, now that I think of it, he's never smiled at me before. It was pretty tiny, but I could make out it."
"And the wink? Where'd you think that came from?"
Tenten shrugged, mostly to herself. "I dunno. Maybe he was feeling spontaneous."
"Maybe he didn't recognize you?" Sakura suggested. Tenten considered this for a moment but then shook her head, dismissing the thought.
"No, I looked the way I always looked," she uttered and Sakura was genuinely starting to share her confusion.
Sakura had never really conversed with Neji, mostly out of respect for Tenten, who normally couldn't stand his 'hostility' towards her. Though, along the lines, Sakura had always noticed that whenever Tenten's attention was on another boy, whether it be friendly conversation or a good old fashioned smack down, Neji would spring out of nowhere and jibe at her with a comment she couldn't help but react to and all her attention would turn to him.
Of course! Why hadn't she seen it before? It was all there in front of her!
Deviously, Sakura felt the corner of her mouth twitch up.
"Tenten," she began with a mischievous glint in her green eye. "I think Neji Hyuuga is attracted to you."
At these words, Tenten fought very hard not fall of Sakura's table. "W-what?!"
Kiba stopped talking for a moment to glance over at Tenten and Sakura, who had in the absorption of their conversation, forgotten all about him and Shino. He signaled to Shino by inclining his head to the girls and both listened as they carried on talking.
"Think about it, Tenten," Sakura reasoned. "He's always teasing you when you're busy with another guy. It's like he wants all your attention to himself. And what happened this weekend proves it! I'm sure he has it bad for you."
Tenten, not sure whether to be revolted or completely flabbergasted, gave her a friend a horrified look.
"Are you sure?! He treats me like dirt! The scumbag . . ."
Sakura shrugged. "I don't think he wants to treat you soft. Would you want him to?" she asked and Tenten took a moment to think again, still not noticing both boys eavesdropping on their conversation.
"No, I guess not," she finally admitted, eyes scanning the table. "But he can be harsh sometimes."
"Well, why don't we test it then?" Sakura asked with a smile and a pat to Tenten's shoulder. The brunette raised her head to her friend's determined smile.
"What do you have in mind?"
'Mind if I share my wisdom?' Inner Sakura asked politely.
'Why not? When it comes to Tenten, you seem more considerate' Sakura admitted. Perhaps that had been where Inner Sakura had originated from – Sakura's admiration for Tenten's free spirit and strong personality.
"Okay, here's what you do," she began and lightly tugged her friend down to whisper the plan in her ear. While listening to the plan, Tenten slowly broke out into a grin.
"You think that will work?"
"If anything, it will set things straight about how he feels about you."
"May I interfere?"
Both girls turned to see Kiba turned in his seat, smirking charmingly at both girls. Shino glanced over his shoulder.
"You girls look like you're up to something," Kiba remarked slyly. "Can I know what it is?"
Tenten gave Sakura a questioning look and after exchanging glances, gave her a nod.
"Actually Kiba, I was thinking you'd be perfect to help Tenten with the plan," Sakura suggested with her own grin. Both girls then walked over to share the plan with Kiba and Shino. Shino agreed, thinking it would be amusing and Kiba – surprisingly – was all for it.
"Oh yeah, it's payback time for when Neji and Sasuke left Naruto's gym sock in my bag. I had to burn everything, you know?" Kiba told them, making Tenten laugh.
At that moment, the door opened and a red-headed boy walked silently through the class to take his seat in the back.
"Good morning, Gaara," Tenten dared to voice. Not wanting to leave her friend hanging, Sakura felt inclined to do so as well.
"Good morning, Gaara," she said, almost in the same tone as Tenten. Gaara raised his gaze from the table and gave both girls a look before slightly nodding and then promptly looking away.
There was a moment of silence before Tenten turned her attention to Kiba and Shino. "Okay, you boys ready?"
Both nodded and Sakura and Tenten smiled at each other before Sakura left the classroom to go find Ino and Hinata on the way so they can hear the plan. Tenten's full attention was then shifted to both boys in front of her and, much like the brunette did before, seated herself comfortably on their table.
"By the way Shino," she said with a smile as the other boy raised his head at her voice. "Welcome to Konoha High."
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"Morning, Hyuuga."
"Hn, Uchiha."
"You know," Sasuke voiced dryly as he walked with his team member down the hallway. "That's usually my line."
"Then you shouldn't have greeted me first," Neji smugly shrugged as they continued down to their class. "Where is Naruto?"
Sasuke snorted, stuffing his hand in his pockets out of habit. "Probably overslept."
"Shouldn't you call him?" Neji inquired curiously.
"I'm not his mother," the darker boy commented in a monotone, before breaking out into his smirk and smugly closing his eyes for a moment. Neji only rolled his clear white eyes.
"So, tell me Captain," the Hyuuga began casually. "Did you ever sort out your thing for this girl?"
Sasuke would've liked very much to trip Hyuuga right there in then in the hallway for most of the students present to see, but knew it would prove useless. One of Neji's sharpest skills and traits was his incredible knack for spotting movement and his incredible speed to reacting to it. Of course Sasuke would know. As captain of Konoha's top team, he had to know his team inside and out.
"What girl?" Sasuke stated blatantly, avoiding the other's gaze whilst scowling. "There is no girl."
"I can see it, Uchiha," he pressed on, sighing as he shifted his bored expression to the ceiling of the school.
Sasuke resisted the urge to cringe. When Hyuuga Neji saw something, it was almost a hundred and fifty percent of the time there. He didn't know what in hell's name made Neji so inapt for surveillance of human behavior, but it somewhat disturbed him that he was personally surveying Sasuke.
"What's it to you?" Sasuke asked, voice low, eyes narrowed in a bored manner as he glanced at the other. Hyuuga shrugged.
"I don't want you lashing out on the team again and lose focus before the play-offs. Just come to terms with it. You don't have to necessarily do anything about it just now. It might even die away," Neji suggested, watching Sasuke's reaction.
Sasuke sighed, almost groaning. "Trust me. This isn't going away so easily."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't tell you. I made a . . . bet, of some sorts," Sasuke voiced carefully, watching Neji stare at him blankly. "Besides, did yours die away?" Sasuke asked, raining an eyebrow skeptically.
Neji smirked. "No, and I'm pretty content with where it is. This weekend I may have even stepped it up a bit."
"I don't know what you mean, and quite frankly dude, I don't care," said Sasuke when they finally reached the door for class no 7. Neji shrugged, not caring in the least.
Just when Sasuke opened the door, Neji heard a familiar laugh emit from inside the room and his stomach produced a familiar lurching sensation.
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Thinking quickly, Tenten knew she wouldn't be able to fool Neji with some fake innocent girl façade. Besides, if he really wanted her attention on him, he would want her to be her and not some fake girl who smiles at everyone and doesn't do a thing. Heck, none of her friends were even like that.
Sakura was the brains, Ino the personality, Tenten the strength and Hinata the . . . eh, peace? Yeah, that fit her pretty well. So, Tenten decided that being herself would be the best answer here.
Satisfied with her revelation, Tenten made sure to rest all her attention on Kiba and Shino, who didn't seem to mind in the least, most of all Kiba. Tenten then suddenly remembered Kiba being rejected by Ino sometime in the year and felt some sympathy for the guy. Ino was, after all, a hard catch and he could see why he fancied her. She was easily the most beautiful girl in the school. It was no wonder she attracted guys' attention.
Distantly, Tenten wondered whether she ever caught the attention of boys now and again. Once, Lee confessed to her that, had he not met Sakura, he would have gladly fallen in love with her and then he went on about youthfulness and joy and all that. Now, on the whole, Tenten guessed she should have been flattered, albeit the statement kind of creeped her out, if not relieved her for Sakura being here.
It upset her though. Not that she was in to Lee – actually, she thought of him as a good friend and committed athlete. But the sole fact that someone had been better than her, actually been a better choice, sort of left a dent in her ego and it sort of hurt.
But here came Neji Hyuuga himself, throwing her a flirtatious look while they passed each other in a Store and then winking at her and then purposely checked her out. On some level, this left her feeling a little violated and mortified, but, in all honesty, she could not deny her obvious flattered state towards the acknowledgment she was not used to.
"You know," Kiba began, jerking her out of her thoughts. "I bet you more than anything old Hyuuga will be the next one to come through that door."
"I take it you don't like him?" Shino asked, somewhat curious. Tenten listened in.
Kiba shrugged, grinning. "No, it's not that. It's just a pride thing, you know? And let's say Neji does have a thing for Tenten here. Well then, I'd be honored to steal his girl's attention from him. It might make him open those eyes a bit wider than they already are."
Tenten only nervously snickered at the mention of 'his girl' but succeeded in hiding her blush. She heard the door swing open and rapidly looked over her shoulder to see Sasuke Uchiha walk in with Mr. Hyuuga himself following.
Kiba then shot Tenten a knowing look when she returned her gaze and she found it somewhat funny. Unexpectedly, she broke out in laughter. Damn, if she'd have known Kiba was this fun to mingle with, she'd have hung out more with him ages ago. She didn't get why Ino turned him down though – he was exceptionally attractive . . . and pretty cool.
She felt tension behind her when Sasuke passed and a certain boy didn't.
"Tenten, aren't you afraid the table will break under your weight?" came the smug voice.
It took every ounce of strength and self composure she had built up over the years, but Tenten still struggled to keep her back to him and not jump up and attack with brutal force. Kiba seemed to notice this and leaned in closer to Tenten.
"Pfft, whatever. You can sit on my desk anytime you want, Tenten," he voiced smoothly, somewhat surprising Tenten. It left her mildly flustered.
She giggled shyly, not knowing who the hell she was at that moment. Awhile she felt like she was forgetting something when she heard someone stomp past her and take a seat somewhere in the room. For a time, something seemed to twirl around in her head and then she felt like she was forgetting something again.
She mentally shrugged it off, completely forgetting about the plan and the other boy and sat down and enjoyed Kiba and occasionally Shino's company.
Up until now, she didn't think she'd find something a boy would say so utterly ridiculous and yet so funny at the same time.
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When homeroom started and everyone took their seats – with Shino waiting at the front of Kakashi's desk – their teacher did not enter the room until ten minutes later. He walked in, completely aloof.
"Sorry, I'm late. I had a fortunate run in with an old friend of mine and we took some time to catch up."
Some people resisted the urge to groan, many rolled their eyes and few even made incoherent noises in disapproval. They'd heard that one last week.
After introducing Shino, who took a lone seat at the back of the class but did not seem particularly bothered, the bell rang and classes went on like any other day.
Throughout the day, Sakura didn't get much of a chance to speak with her friends. They tried passing along notes, but in Sakura's opinion, there was too much to write down. Talking in between classes was difficult too, because Sakura insisted on having everyone together when she explained her weekend.
Lunch soon came, much to Sakura's relief and once all of her friends were seated around her at a table, she began telling her story right from where she met Itachi until the point where he asked her out to lunch. She didn't look like she was leaving a single detail out, but Hinata noticed something very subtle about her whenever she spoke Sasuke's name. She politely glanced over the table and saw letters written out in washed out ink on Sakura's arm.
"I'I'm sorry, Sakura, but what written on y-your arm?" Hinata asked curiously. Sakura smiled embarrassingly and lifted her arm to show the table. All three her friends examined it carefully.
"Oh, it's where . . . Sasuke wrote his name, I almost forgot," she remarked a little softly and Ino quirked her eyebrows.
"I can't believe both the Uchiha brothers were in your house! And you crush wrote his name on your arm! And you're going on a date with his even hotter brother!" she practically squealed out in a whisper but Sakura only shook her head.
"I don't like . . . Sasuke anymore. At this point, I'm pretty sure I have this thing with Itachi," Sakura said after stealing a look from her arm.
"I-I'm sorry about leaving you this weekend, S-Sakura," Hinata mumbled softly, eyes drifting to the ground. Sakura patted her hand and gave her a smile.
"No, not at all. I'd never stay mad at you, Hinata," Sakura said cheerily. Honestly, she wasn't particularly angry in the first place. If anything, she should have considered thanking Hinata – Sakura did get the chance to go to Itachi's mansion.
"So, what about your parents? Is your mom really going to take the job?" Tenten asked fervently, poking at her salad as she shot Sakura a wide-eyed look.
Sakura sighed. "Yeah, it pays better."
Ino took it upon herself, from where she was seated, to give Sakura a hard smack on the back, causing her to nearly slam her face into her own salad.
"Well, I have never been more proud of you Forehead! You have a date with Itachi Uchiha!" she exclaimed, face positively ecstatic. Sakura ducked her head in embarrassment, praying to any god willing to listen that no one heard that.
"Oh my gosh!" said a rowdy voice behind her. "Are you serious? Did you hear that Teme?"
Sakura turned to see Naruto standing behind her with absolute awe written over his face. From next to him she saw whats-his-face glare fixedly at the ground, clenching his fists together in quiet rage. Naruto, not noticing this, poked him in the side and then pointed at Sakura with interest.
"Teme, she has a date with your brother?! Weird," he stretched out while standing right in front of Sakura herself. 'Teme' made no verbal response, but Sakura could make out he was upset and that he was pointedly avoiding her gaze.
"You know, Naruto," Sakura began. "I'm sitting right here. There's no need to act like I don't exist," she told the blonde, elbowing him in his stomach.
Naruto only grinned and nervously scratched the back of his head while not even flinching at Sakura's contact, though almost dropping his tray in surprise.
"Hehe, sorry Sakura," he said. "But I didn't know you and Teme's brother were dating! Oh, hi Hinata!"
Hinata's face burned furiously and she started to fidget. "Hi N-Naruto."
Sakura flushed, ignoring her friend's discomfort. "We're not dating! He's just taking me out to lunch, is all!" she made clear, dropping her fork. She made a grab for it but a pale hand got to it before she did. Looking up she saw 'Teme' hold her fork between his fingers whilst staring her down fixedly.
The world around her became bigger and Sakura felt herself shrink in significance. He towered over her seated form, twirling his fork between his fingers.
"Uhm, thanks," she said uncertainly, briefly self-conscious.
He raised an eyebrow. "Thanks who?"
"Uh . . ." she tried very subtly to glance at her arm. "Thanks, Sasuke."
Unfortunately, he noticed and disappointedly sighed while putting on a scowl when he handed her back her fork.
"Whatever." He turned his back on their table, Naruto trotting after him like a loyal puppy dog.
Ino let out an awkward whistle. "What was that all about?"
Sakura shrugged and turned back to her plate. "I don't know."
"By the way," Ino went on, crossing her arm and turning to Tenten. "How did the plan go?"
Tenten grinned to herself softly, but held out a little longer than necessary. Briefly ignoring her friends, she threw her head over her shoulder to see a brunette with spiky hair converse happily with Shino, Rock Lee and Choji. A slight flustered look swept over her face and she turned back to the table, seeing her friends expecting an answer.
"Uh, not entirely as planned," she said, lowering her head. Ino noticed.
"Did Neji go insane with jealousy?" she asked, a satisfied smirk on her beautiful features. Tenten shrugged.
"I don't know. I think Sakura's wrong. He might not like me," she suggested, but the thought didn't seem to bother her as much. Sakura gave her a look.
"Well, I think he does," said Sakura. "And you could like him too, you know."
Tenten snorted at these words. "Why would I like him? He's so stuck up. I can barely have a decent conversation with him before he jumps out at me and insults me. Besides, I can think of a lot of better guys."
"Like Kiba?" Ino and Sakura deadpanned simultaneously. Tenten pulled up her nose snootily.
"Yeah, like Kiba," she agreed and nodded stubbornly. From next to her, Hinata shifted in her seat.
"N-Neji isn't all bad Tenten. You should r-really get to know him first," Hinata said, laying a hand on Tenten's shoulder. Tenten gave her a grin when she saw Hinata standing up for her cousin.
"I'll give him a chance if he makes an effort to get to know me first. Then I might show some interest, if you guys are so sure he likes me," said Tenten, shooting each of them a look and they nodded to her agreement.
"Deal," said Ino, flipping her hair as if to make it final. Then she stood up, leaving her tray on the table. She then got a knowing look on her face and left the table.
"What's she up to?" Tenten asked, starting to get worried and suspicious when she saw Ino make her way to the table occupied by Naruto, Sasuke and Neji.
She walked up to their table and all three boys looked up when she saw her looking at them expectantly. Then, after flipping her hair again, bent down to whisper something in Neji's ear. Tenten raised an eyebrow suspiciously while all three surveyed the blonde intently.
Whatever she said to Neji seemed upset him badly and he told her off rather rudely before she laughed to herself and turned on her heels to make her way back to the girls' table. When she took her seat again, she emitted a triumphant air around her.
"What did you say to get him all pissed?" Tenten asked, crossing her arms and grinning at the blonder across her.
"Oh, I just let it slip that he could never be man enough for our little Tenten," she said smoothly, also winking. Tenten's face steamed up in rage.
"Are you serious?! Ino!" she nearly shouted. A few people stared in interest and then pointedly looked away when it was evident who was making the noise – one thing you should never do is stare at Tenten strangely.
What Sakura noticed was that, Neji stared fixedly at their table, blatantly insulted. Naruto was already bugging him about it, but the Hyuuga ignored him like he was deaf. Sakura only snickered when he glared.
"T-That's not n-nice Ino! Why would you insult Neji like that?" Hinata asked, trying very hard to sound outraged but failed recognizably.
Ino only scoffed. "I wasn't insulting him, just challenging him, I swear! Besides, it does a boy's ego good to get a dent in now and again. Trust me Hinata. I did him a favor."
Sakura was willing to bet Neji thought otherwise.
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Good lord, she was nervous. Her stomach twisted and churned in the most unforgiveable means as she made her way to the front gate of the school alone.
Hinata had already left with Neji, Ino was still cleaning off in the bathroom and Tenten was sent to detention after a teacher caught her shouting something indecent in the cafeteria at Ino . . . before proceeding to dump milk all over her blonde hair.
Ino didn't find it very funny and the two were ready to head into a full-out brawl until Sakura took initiative to hold Tenten back by the arms. Hinata, stuttering nervously as an enraged Ino made ready to pounce, tried her best to soothe her blonde friend. Ino was very close to losing her usual self-possession and tackling Tenten fully to ground, had Naruto not made a grab for her at the last moment.
Tenten was strong however and nearly knocked Sakura to the ground. Out of nowhere and suspiciously fast, Kiba was already helping her hold the martial artist back. He was about to try and calm her down when Kurenai walked in and heard her shout something a girl her age should not be caught shouting. Inevitably she was given detention and angrily marched out the room to head to the principal's office to where Kurenai was pointing.
The scene was then left silent and mildly awkward. Ino stomped off to go wash herself and, not wanting to deal with her foul mood right now, Sakura motioned Hinata to go calm her down instead while she would reprimand Tenten for it later. Ino then stuck in the bathroom throughout the rest of the day while Tenten missed two periods. School had ended almost an hour later.
Sakura sighed as she thought of the fight between her two good friends. No doubt they would stay mad at each other for at least a few weeks, only two if a miracle happened and maybe one if one of them swallowed their pride and apologized.
'Doubt that happening pretty soon,' snorted Inner Sakura and Sakura found herself agreeing as she made it to the gate and scanned the parking lot.
Her eyes found his figure leaning against his gleaming car in the far corner and he somewhat smiled when he spotted her too. Putting on her most confident smile, Sakura gave a little wave as she made her way to him. The walk across the lot was painfully long as she saw a few people leaving. Some even stared and pointed at Itachi as they went along.
Finally, Sakura reached him and smiled up at him.
"Hi Itachi," she greeted, proud that she hid the shakiness of her voice in the nick of time. He nodded friendlily back at her, face glowing charmingly.
"Hey," was all he said and then after realizing a few people were staring, opened the door for her to climb in.
"Let's go, shall we?" he asked and she only nodded, hopping in the car, mildly excited.
As they drove out the parking lot, Sakura felt the faded ink on her arm begin to itch.
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A/N: I'm evil so I'm cutting it off right there. I worked the whole freakin day on the thing. You people better appreciate it.
I love Tenten, and she and Kiba/Neji will be the secondary focus for this fic. I like it that way.
AKATSUKI COMING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! Most of them this time anyway . . .
Phew, this story isn't going too bad. I'm having fun poking at Neji's pride! Ah, the joy.
So I still haven't gotten response for a possible Gaara scene. You're requests are welcome (as long as they don't involve tomatoes – I hate tomatoes).
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Review Responses:
Winoa fuuko huel 13: Oh gosh, sorry about the mistakes. I've gone through this chapter four times, just to make it up to you!
All-Is-On 4eVa: Better late than never, hey? :D
TeenageCrisis: I know, I LOVE ItaSaku, but SasuSaku feels like a MUST in my head. To be honest, I'm cheering for both of them!