Does anyone mind if I update every other week? I never knew how hard it was to balance writing for fun and 11th grade homework…. Are there any strong objectors to this? Also am I giving to many details should I just move on with the plot here or do you guys like this slow pace…. TELL ME cause I'm writing this story for you! YES you specifically! The person reading this right now.
In Over Our Heads?
"Naruto, here!" Sakura yelled setting the ball towards her friend.
"I got it!" The boy leapt into the air and smashed the ball to the other team. Ten Ten and Neji both dove for the ball but, collided into each other instead. In that split second, the referee blew the whistle to signal that the game was over.
"And the winner is team Naruto!" The entire gym roared with applause. Then Sasuke and Kiba lifted up Naruto to celebrate his winning spike.
"Naruto! Naruto!"
"Oh thank you you're too kind!" He shouted back to his fans blowing kisses and waving. Naruto noticed a petite figure among the crowd waving him over and he asked his friends to put him down. He then opened his arms wide for Hinata to jump into.
"Naruto- kun you were so cool," she whispered into his ear. He suavely lifted her chin with his finger and leaned in for a kiss. Naruto swore he could taste cotton candy in his mouth after the kiss with Dream Hinata.
"Ah….," he moaned and tossed in his bed trying to get back to sleep. The groggy boy squinted his eyes when sun light shined through his windows and into his room. Today was Friday, the day of the assembly. Naruto had a wonderful dream in which he was the star of the game; he was fairly certain that wasn't how things would go. Turning back towards his night stand, Naruto stared aimlessly at the mess of papers and wrappers. He slowly sat up in his bed and began shifting the trash off of the table and onto the floor.
"Where is that stupid alarm clock?" he mumbled still feeling sleep deprived. Frustrated, he finally got up in search of the clock only to crush it under his size 10 feet.
"Aw crap!" Not bothering to clean up the shards of plastic, the blond left his messy room behind and slowly trekked over to the kitchen.
"Cereal, milk, pour, spoon, eat," he said in monotony. He slowly lifted up the spoon to his mouth and slurped up the bland breakfast. Two bites in Naruto choked a bit, startled from a loud banging coming from his door.
"Dobe! What are you doing in there?! Get out!"
"Naruto you baka! Get out here before I break the door down!"
Naruto yelled back to the voices," Calm down I'm coming!" He quickly swiped the crumbs from his mouth and shuffled to the door. The moment he unlocked it Sakura was pulling his ear down and facing him with a pissed expression.
"What's all the-"
"Shut up Naruto do you have any idea what time it is?! The volleyball match starts in 15 minutes! Sakura yelled into Naruto's face while Sasuke stood off to the side glad he wasn't the one in trouble.
"That's- I- But," Naruto stammered. He didn't know he had overslept that much.
"Kiba and Ino are back at school trying to stall everyone so let's not waste time," Sasuke commanded knowing that if Sakura got started he was the only one who would be able to intervene. Naruto just nodded still shocked about the problem he caused.
"I'll be right there!"
~~~~~1 hour earlier~~~~~
"Hanabi you're not coming. You have lessons to attend. In fact your first tutor will be here in 25 minutes." Hanabi glared at her sister and cousin from across the table. They were all enjoying another perfect breakfast when Neji brought up the volleyball match. After a lot of questioning, Hanabi realized that her two siblings would be spending the entire day having fun at their Welcome Back Ceremony. For twenty minutes the three went around in a circle debating whether or not Hanabi could tag along.
Finally, Neji stood up and made his position crystal clear.
"Look, you're not going. Hinata and I both have other things to do so we can't babysit you and-" Hanabi rudely interrupted her cousin.
"I didn't want to be this way but you leave me no choice," Hanabi rose from her seat and reveled an envelope. She flashed it in front of them and they sunk instantly. Hinata hated when her sister used embarrassing pictures as a way to get what she wanted. "Anyway, Hikaru will be with me so it'll be okay," she said smiling coyly. Neji turned to Hikaru and noticed her embarrassed expression as she bent down to collect their plates and hustled back into the kitchen.
Does this girl have dirt on EVERYBODY?
Five minutes later the three of them were in Neji's car on their way to the school. Neji had to park the car on the side of the street like many other students to make way for the booths set up for various school clubs in the parking lot. The three teens walked a small distance to school from the car. The second Hinata walked through the school gates she was mesmerized. Unfamiliar smells of unhealthy foods she never had the chance to try filled her nostril and made her mouth water. She tentatively stepped on a painted path way of splattered colors and swirled designs and made her way to each of the booths slowly.
"Neji-kun, Hanabi-chan what do you think this is? She accepted a shish-kebab of meat from a student behind a booth and curiously but, elegantly bit into it. The boy behind the table watched her to see the reaction to his cooking. Hinata gasped.
"What is it too salty?! Gosh I knew I shouldn't have added that extra…." The boy stopped talking when he noticed her expression. Her eyes were closed and her eyebrows were scrunched up as if she was hurt. "Are you okay? I,"
Hinata's eyes shot open and she reached into the booth and grabbed the boy's hands. "Never, ever stop cooking!" She commanded. Then she skipped across the pained path to a new booth. Neji and Hanabi watched Hinata float around childishly and laughed at the boy's taken aback expression.
"Please excuse her she's new here," Neji said handing him money for her snack and smiling towards his cousin's direction.
Once Hinata entered the school she heard Tsunade's voice on the intercom addressing all of the students.
All 9th grade homeroom teachers please report to the Assembly Room with your students at this time. In 5 minutes 10th grade homerooms will be going to the Assembly Room. All grade 10, 11 and 12 students participating in the Welcome Back Ceremony report to the Assembly Room or the Gymnasium; you should all know where you're going.
About 10 seconds later Hinata was swept into a sea of students she didn't know. She followed the crowd to the meeting place and glanced around for any of her posy.
"Oy Hinata-chan over here!" Hinata turned toward Kiba's voice. Standing in the corner was Sasuke, Sakura and Ino along with him. Relieved to have found them so quickly, Hinata trotted over to her friends.
"Hinata we can't find Naruto anywhere!" Sakura started not beating around the bush. Hinata took a moment to digest this and the replied.
"He probably overslept," she guessed receiving nods of approval about her conjecture from everyone else. "How much time do we have before the match?" Ino glanced at her phone.
"About 30/40 minutes," she estimated. Hinata thought once again and then hit her palm with her fist; the universal sign for an instant fix.
"Okay Sakura and Sasuke you guys go and get him while we stay behind and stall if necessary." Hinata smiled to herself.
There is no way this day is going to go wrong! I just have to stay composed.
~~~~~20 minutes later~~~~~
"So once again I hope that this year you really make the school yours. Take charge because it's your future. Thank you." Itachi concluded his speech as the President of the 12th grade and kindly requested for the all the students to exit by homeroom and go to the gymnasium for a 'special event'.
"I got a call from Sakura, they're on their way with that baboon Naruto," Ino explained setting the ball to Kiba. Both teams were getting warmed up for the game on each side of the net. Ino glanced wearily at the students slowly filing in.
The game starts in 5 minutes and we're missing half of our team!
"Wow Ino where is the other half of your team?" Karin asked mockingly from the other side of the net. She was wearing super tight and super short spandex with a black tee that said "super hot" on the back in all capitals. Ino resisted the urge to spit on the floor near her. She wouldn't have minded doing it in front of all her peers but, the Welcome Back ceremony is always broadcasted live to the local Konoha channel and seen by a lot of people. The juniors and seniors usually watch the ceremony and events from the junior/senior lounge but, they can come see it live if they don't have class or their teacher doesn't mind.
"Shut up Karin, I don't want to see hear your high-pitched voice any more than I have too," Ino retorted turning away before things got ugly. Hinata saw Itachi and some other guys she recognized from the council approach the teams. He quickly glanced at Hinata and gave her and warm smile and then turned to everybody and was back to business.
"Are we ready to start?" Itachi scanned the court on the student council side and saw nods of agreement. When he turned to Hinata's side the three members all avoided eye contact.
"Where is the rest of your team," he asked Hinata. The girl slowly lifted her head to meet his oxen stare.
"There on their way," Ino answered for her friend. Itachi turned toward Ino and then glanced at the crowd of hundreds of chatting students.
"Well, tell them to hurry up." Just then Naruto burst through the gymnasium door obnoxiously, panting with Sakura and Sasuke behind him. Kiba grinned at his friend.
"Look who decided to show up! Come on let's go people!" Kiba clapped for his friends to hurry over. The Student Council President acknowledged Naruto with a slight nod and tapped on the announcers shoulder to begin addressing the crowd.
"Who is ready to witness the most historical volleyball match ever?!" The crowd roared with impatience.
~~~~~after the game~~~~~
"I can't believe we won!"
"I was just about to say that."
"Hey I knew we would win."
"Says the guy that couldn't get here on time!" Everybody laughed at Sasuke's comment except for Naruto who was fake sulking. The excited bunch was lingering around the gym waiting for the students to leave. The other team had left earlier except for Neji and Ten Ten who stuck by to converse with their friends.
"Yo princess!"
The group turned to see two unfamiliar faces approaching them. Naruto, Neji, Sasuke and Kiba bristled when they heard 'princess.' They all shared the same thought.
He better not be talking about who I think he is.
"Sasori-sempai, Deidara-senpai what are you guys doing here?" Hinata happily stepped forward to greet her new friends unaware of the expressions of her male friends behind her. Deidara bonked her lightly on the head.
"Did you forget? Our plan is on in 15." He reminded her with his finger pointing to the imaginary watch on his wrist. Hinata cutely cupped her cheeks and gasped.
"Its fine, come on," Sasori comforted her and grabbed her hand pulling her towards the exit.
Hinata let herself be dragged away but she turned around, waved to her friends and said, "I have a surprise for you guys so make sure you come to the stage!" When the door was shut and Hinata was out of sight the friends' immediately began chatting about what just happened.
"How do you think Hinata knows Sasori-san and Deidara-san?!" Ino began.
"Well they met at the student council meeting. They were all over her then," Ten Ten chimed in.
"I think that they would make a cute couple," Sakura imagined.
"Hinata with Deidara or Sasori," Ten Ten asked. All the girls stood in silence while they pondered both scenarios. Kiba interrupted their dreams.
"Hey! Don't give this serious thought! Hinata is way too good for both of those losers. Besides did you see how they controlled her?" Kiba ranted with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
"For once I'm going to agree with Inuzuka," Neji concurred. Naruto nodded silently with his hands on his hips. Sakura let out a ha-ha directed at the possible romance opposition squad.
"Neji you're just over protective. In your book no one is good enough for Hinata-chan. And Kiba? Don't even get me started! You've been hitting on Hinata since the first day." Kiba lifted his finger and opened his mouth to counter but he had nothing to say.
At this time all students interested in watching this year's special closing ceremony please report to the auditorium.
Saved! Kiba thought relived.
Minutes later, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kiba and Ino were standing close together smushed in by a hundred other students in the stage room.
Naruto groaned," Why did she want us to come here? It's nothing but a bunch of smelly stu-"
"Um excuse me… everyone could you please…"
"Shut the hell up you little fucks!" Naruto heard Hinata's soothing voice trying to hush the crowd followed by Deidara's screeching yell and then dead silence. He turned to the stage to see an angel and two devils on either side of her. Deidara handed the mic back to Hinata and she continued.
"Thank you all for coming. This year Deidara-senpai and Sasori-senpai wanted to make a…." Naruto was mesmerized by her simple beauty. Skinny jeans and a fitted sleeveless graphic tee was all it took to make his heart beat uncontrollably? No. He was looking at her lips and her eyes and her beautiful long hair that has been simply ruffed up a bit for style.
"So please bear with my voice because-" Hinata was interrupted from shouts of encouragement from the crowd.
"Go Hinata-chan!"
"You can do it."
"Give it your all!"
She smiled and looked at Deidara on the drums to count her in.
Hanabi by Ikimono Gakari
Kirameite yurameite aoki yume mai hanatsuhana moe yuku
At first it was just her quiet voice and a simple bass accompaniment. Then the music picked up and so did she.
The students were astounded by her voice. They danced. They couldn't help it. Their bodies moved with her voice in a ways they couldn't control.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke and Kiba who were equally taken aback.
"Did you guys…." Kiba asked not bothering t finish his sentence.
"I new she could sing but this is…." Sasuke answered.
Naruto just listened.
My heart hurts! It feels heavy yet I… I
Neji smirked at their reaction.
They don't even know half of what she's capable of.
Kirameite yurameite aoki yume mai hanatsusakihokore haruka takakumamori yuku sono omoi hitasura nari hibikehateru made semete tsuyokukono hana moe yuku
The song was over.
Even though the students had been yelling at the top of their lungs during her performance, their cheers at the end almost doubled the volume. Hinata smiled and bowed and waved at her classmates. As if planned, Sasori and Deidara both kissed one of her cheeks simultaneously and lifted her up to receive more applause. She laughed and waved more enjoying the praise.
"Neji nii-san did you see onee-chan!" Hanabi asked grabbing his hands and jumping up and down happily. "She chose that song for me I know it!" Neji smiled at his younger cousin and nodded while patting her head. Then he looked up and spun her around to face her sister.
"Onee-chan!" Hanabi hugged and congratulated her sister.
"Kiba, Sasuke I've been thinking," Naruto began watching the sweetness from afar. "This game, is it actually winnable? I mean… with her… with Hinata as the target." Sasuke looked as his friend; his brother. He looked at him look at her, his eyes full of something the Uchiha never wished to feel again. Love.
You should check out the song if you don't know it its really good. And does anybody mind that I didn't include the v-b match? Gimmie feedback. I eat it for lunch.