I'D LIKE TO DECLARE THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOU READ IN THIS CHAPTER CONCERNING THE GUY'S FEELINGS FOR THE NEICES, THE GUYS WILL NOT AND NEVER WILL BE PAIRED WITH THEM! Ever. I would have to drink cyanide if I did that. So don't worry if you see a lot of guyxneice action here, because the guys WILL end up with the good girls! I never pair anyone with an OC in my stories. Just a heads up so there's no panic. Read up!!!
Chapter 7:
The Nieces Work their Magic
"Hurry up!"
The girls were running, no, fumbling down the snowy sidewalk as they sprinted to the academy.
They were approaching a crosswalk, and the walk sign had been green for a while. And the girls could tell it was going to turn red at any minute.
"MUST…GET THERE…" Tenten said as all the girls ran to it with all they could, closing the gap faster and faster, just a few steps left and…
RED.
Right there. The girls groaned as they slid to a stop, waiting for vehicles to pass (AN: there will be cars in this story).
"Great, just great." Ino was breathing fire. "How late are we now?"
"Five minutes at this point," answered Hinata, dreading the time upon the face of her watch.
The girls groaned further.
"We seriously need cars guys," said Sakura.
At the academy…
The boys could not tear their eyes away. Oh yeah, they tried, but couldn't.
"How you doing?" asked one of them cutely, doing a small curtsey. "My name's Mollie."
"F-f-fine!" stumbled Naruto, his eyes feeding upon the small black haired girl who was wearing a long blue flowwy skirt, complete with a white polo.
"What's up?" asked a sporty brunette coolly, as she made eyes at Neji. "Courtney." Neji hated girls making eyes at him. No, he flat out despised it. But at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to argue with it.
"Hey," chirped a perky average lengthed purple-haired girl. "I'm Clarissa." She smiled an alluring smile at Sasuke as she leaned on her hip, hooking a thumb on the pocket of her jeans. Sasuke grinned back the grin he only used with one other person (guess who?)
"Hello there," said a long flaxen-haired girl flirtatiously to the boys, but quite obviously pointedly looking at Shikamaru's biceps. "I'm Whitney!"
The boys just stood there as they gulped. They all managed a tolerable 'hey,' back, but no more. They were too dazed by the attraction. If not that, then their hatred toward the attraction they were feeling.
"Ooh, looks to me like you'll hit it off just fine!" pestered Kakashi, nudging the guys knowingly.
The boys tried as they might to push the thoughts out of their heads, but to no avail.
The girls just flashed incredibly bright smiles as they giggled at the boys.
And so they went on staring at each other.
"Ahem?" Kakashi cleared his throat to get their attention. They all snapped out of it and looked at him. "Yes, well we should get started now I believe. How about…"
Kakashi squinted his eye and stroked his chin thoughtfully as he looked at each of them, then to the areas that needed work.
"Ah," he said as the thought struck him. "How about Sasuke and Clarissa work on the cakewalk part," he began, pointing to a corner of the auditorium. Sasuke felt his saliva catch in his throat.
"Um, boy girl?" he asked questioningly. Kakashi shrugged.
"Well, I thought it would give you guys a good chance to get to know one another. Well, that is until the girls come," Kakashi answered, looking at the door hopefully. But no girls. He simply sighed and continued. "Alright, so off you two go…Naruto and Mollie to the Holiday Hoops set up…" Mollie smiled and batted her eyes at Naruto, who just grinned sheepishly back. "Neji and Courtney to the See Your Future stand…" Courtney made her (stupid) love eyes at Neji again, who just averted his eyes from her, not wanting to get sucked in. "And Shikamaru and Whitney to the dance floor and music part. At the end, we'll all work together on the Winter Walk through!" He concluded this as he walked away with more bounce in his step now that he had little minions to help him.
Leaving the guys behind with the nieces. The nieces just smiled at the guys they were paired with, a silence drawing out.
"Let's like, go!" chirped Mollie, breaking the silence as she practically pounced on Naruto.
"Oh uh…Right!" Naruto said, as he followed her step away from the group to the back corner of the room.
"Come on, Sasuke was it?" Clarissa asked Sasuke sweetly, tilting her head obliviously. Sasuke nodded without a word. "I got your name right! Go me!" she clapped her hands a little before running off toward the Cake Walk setup. "Come on!"
Sasuke sighed and followed. Don't look at her ass, don't look at her ass…
"So Neji…let's go to the Future thing shall we?" Courtney said this in a surprisingly smooth voice, one that almost held a candle to Neji's except for the fact that it was feminine. Neji was taken off guard and yanked his head up.
"Uh, sure," he said, keeping his cool and he followed Courtney to the future thingamajig.
That left Shikamaru and Whitney, on the dance floor. Whitney looked where they were, then back up at Shikamaru, pretending to have no clue.
"Oh my God! Who knew? We're, like, on the dance floor together!" Whitney chirped this in a very valley-girlish voice. Shikamaru sweat down his temples. Well that's just great.
Shikamaru could see Whitney leaning in on him, inching closer, and he knew right away what she was trying to do. One thing ran through his mind.
Ino.
Before Whitney could pull it off, he backed away smoothly and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Um…let's start with the music?" he offered, hitching a thumb towards the box by the speakers.
"Sure…" answered Whitney, obviously let down by his resistance.
Shikamaru walked towards the box before her. He wiped the sweat away that had formed at his temples.
I didn't give in to it…but why do I feel like such a traitor? With Naruto and Mollie…"Wow Naruto, you're a natural at this!" Mollie said in a high-pitched voice as her hands gripped Naruto's upper arm. They had just set up the net and the rollback pad, and were testing it out.
Naruto felt proud for a second, as he caught the basketball that rolled back to him after making a swish.
"I try," he said, pretending to be macho (AN: Hate it when guys are like that…particularly when it's with another girl…)
"Quite obviously…" Mollie's fingers crept slowly up Naruto's arm to his shoulder, giving him chills.
"Y-y-yipes!" Naruto said, as her fingers were cold and he was ticklish on that part of himself.
Mollie quickly pulled away, obvious frustration in her looks that she was trying to hide. "What is it?"
"It's n-nothing it's just…" Naruto bit his tongue. Why was he still stuttering? Her hands weren't there anymore.
Then he knew what it was. It was Hinata. He was so accustomed to hearing her everyday stutter, though she had grown out of it since they met again, it felt like he had to…pretend it was there just to feel like Hinata was. Naruto's smile dropped.
"What is it, really?" Mollie repeated, picking the front of her foot into the ground.
"Nothing, honest!" Naruto said, brightening up. Mollie smiled back.
"Good," she said, now putting her elbow on his shoulder instead, as if it belonged to her. Naruto let her do it, but couldn't help his guilt as he did.
With Sasuke and Clarissa…"So, do you like cake?" Clarissa asked Sasuke, twirling a sparkling piece of ribbon around him flirtatiously. It annoyed Sasuke, but he didn't stop her.
"Eh…It's ok I guess," he sighed back, trying hard not to look at her, knowing his gaze would only prolong itself if he did. Clarissa stopped twirling around and fell into the chair next to him.
"I don't like it either," she said, scrunching up her nose. "So many calories!" she threw her shiny purple hair behind her shoulders. Sasuke watched it flow.
It somehow reminded him of a certain 'other's hair. Both the unique color of it, and the way it moved.
"Why, do you think you're fat or something?" Sasuke asked, pretending to be casual as he tried to forget what he was really thinking about. Clarissa smiled, happy she had successfully led Sasuke into the conversation she was aiming at.
"Well," she began. "My thighs are simply dreadful, and my stomach could be flatter, and-"
"Then exercise or something," Sasuke resolved simply, shrugging before he stood up and walked to a table to get a glue gun.
Clarissa's mouth was open wide in shock. Never before has guy reacted to her little scheme the way Sasuke had. Usual, her responses included praise such as "Are you kidding? Your stomach and thighs are perfect!", "But you're so thin!", and "You so don't need to worry about that, honey."
But Sasuke…Sasuke had been sharp with her. He'd dismissed her trap completely. He was devious.
And that was the way she liked her men.
She smiled evilly as she stood up from her chair and walked over to him seductively. His back was still facing her as he glued a strip of paper to another.
She started massaging his shoulders from behind.
"So…got a girlfriend?" She asked. Sasuke didn't turn to face her, but he stopped gluing as he thought.
Sakura…This crossed him mind, but didn't say it. He wished Sakura were his. But she wasn't. She wasn't open to the option anymore.
Which is why he felt slightly less remorseful about answering the way he did.
"No," he said. "Why?"
"Just…wondering." Clarissa smiled at him as she released her hands from his shoulders in a job well done. Sasuke couldn't help but ask himself why he was wishing for her hands back.
With Neji and Courtney…"I've aced astronomy every year since seventh grade," Courtney boasted to Neji, as she set out some templates.
"Have you really now," he asked, laying out Tarot cards.
"Mmhmm. I can read just about anyone's horoscope," she answered. She walked around the table, closer to Neji. "What's your sign?" she asked alluringly.
"Huh?" Neji asked, more aware of the situation.
"Your zodiac sign," Courtney cleared up.
"Oh," he said. "…Gemini." He said this as if he didn't care, though he was actually interested in what Courtney was getting at.
"Right, well," Courtney said, as she took out some constellation templates and studied them around, moving the wheel. "According to this, your holiday horoscope says that you will accomplish something significant, and find love by time the holidays begin." She looked at him with this meaningful look as she said the last thing. Neji looked the other way. Find love?
Unlike what Courtney had in mind, Neji's mind wasn't on the girl in front of him. It was Tenten. Tenten, the only girl he had ever really talked to and admitting things to, Tenten, the girl he had known for seven years…
…And here he was, completely opening up to a girl he had only just met an hour ago. So what was up with that?
Whatever the reason, it made Neji's eyes sting.
At the entrance…Kakashi was sitting on a chair by the door, checking off a list of things. That is, until a noise was heard that sounded much like a door being fallen onto and opened.
"SORRY WE'RE LATE!" said the voices all in one breath as they tumbled in. They all fell smack down on the floor.
"…I told you guys, it was a revolving door!"
"I forgot, all right?"
The girls didn't happen to notice the peculiar look they got from Kakashi as they laid there strewn on the floor.
"Agh! Sorry Kakashi!" Ino noticed this force, and leapt up to her feet in embarrassment. Her friends did the same. "We were just…what's this?" Her sentence grew muffled, as she happened to catch a glance at the guys working with the girls at each station. These girls they didn't recognize, who they were ashamed to admit, were a thousand times prettier than they were, even with all those morning preparations.
Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata all knew what was going on. They saw the boy's faces, which were half filled with bliss, and half filled with seriousness as they discussed things with each niece. However, each of them knew they were entirely more caught up with the first option. And it made them feel like crumbling there and then.
But they weren't about to give the situation that satisfaction.
"Bad morning?" Kakashi asked them, standing up as he broke the awkward moment of silence.
"YES." Each girl chorused this at the same time, looking at one another.
"But…who are they?" Sakura asked without hesitation, pointing at the nieces.
"Um," cleared Kakashi. "You girls were late, and I decided to get a leg up on things. I introduced the boys to my four soon-to-be-nieces, who very kindly volunteered to lend a hand with the project," he explained. The girls were wide-eyed and open mouthed. "Well, err," Kakashi noticed their lack of chitchat, and figured it must be some personal thing not to get into. "Go on ahead and got to whichever station to help out. I'm sure you and my soon-to-be-nieces will get along famously!"
Without another word, he pushed them forward, further into the cafeteria, gesturing them to disperse as they liked.
But the girls didn't. They just stood, looking at the guy's interaction with the girls. They had no seen the guys act that close to girls since…
Well, since they were with them.
They felt blatantly down, but put it behind them. After all, it wasn't as if they were coupled or anything to begin with…nothing was ever official…no matter how much they wished it were.
"So…we should go, well, help out," said Tenten, sighing as she walked to the table Courtney and Neji were at.
"Yeah," the other girls said at once, as they each walked to the station their interests were manning.
They tried to ignore the pain they were feeling in their stomachs. It could have been because of the fact that they had barely eaten that day. Or it could have possibly been their hearts breaking.
Right then, they thought the latter.
I know it sucks right now, but it'll get better, I promise! I hope you're liking the competition; things will get more catty in the next chapter! R and R!