Hey again!

First of all, thanks to all my wonderful readers and reviewers! Luv yah guys!

And, yeah, Hinata's been quite OOC lately. I'll do something 'bout it, but she'll have her OOC moments, just to make it a little funnier.
Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other things that are completely obviously not mine that I might mention (like songs, movies, etc…)

'Inner self'

'Thinking/talking to inner self'

Chapter 10: Flu and romance problems

"Tenten, wake up."
I groaned and turned to my side. Geez, this was starting to get old…

"Tenten, it's two o'clock. If you sleep any longer, you won't be able to sleep tonight."

"Well, then I won't sleep tonight."

"Tenten-"

"Seriously. I'm tired now, so I sleep. And if I'm not tired in the evening, then I don't sleep then. It's completely logical."

"But then you'll be tired tomorrow and can't concentrate on your lessons."

"Whatever, Mother."

Someone rolled their eyes. Probably Neji, since he was the one who had spoken. Sasuke snickered in the background.
I sighed.

"Fine, I'll get up…" I mumbled and threw the blanket off of me. It surprised me when I realized that I was fully dressed. I raised an eyebrow.

"You fell asleep before you could change", Neji explained while he walked back to his own bed.

"Huh", I said, furrowing my eyebrows. Then I shrugged and got up, just to fall right back into the bed. I grimaced and clutched my forehead with one hand while supporting my weight with the other arm. "Ow…" I moaned.

"Are you alright?" I jumped when I heard the anxious voices just next to me. I looked up to see Neji and Sasuke both stand there next to my bed, looking worried.

"Uh…" I said, blinking. "Sure…"

"You have a headache", Neji said, looking at the hand on my forehead. It was a statement, not a question.

"A little", I said, making an attempt to grin that came out as a grimace thanks to the ache. "Guess the hangover came one day late, huh?" The two rolled their eyes. Guess they hadn't quite gotten over my and the girls' little adventure yet.
Suddenly I got a very unpleasant feeling. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was, and then I was running.
I pushed past the two guys, hurried into the bathroom and over to the toilet where I kneeled and… yeah.

"Ugh", I said, grimacing again. I flushed the toilet and stood up on shaky legs. I walked over to the sink and turned the tap, then rinsed my mouth with the water. I turned off the tap and leaned against the sink, wiping cold sweat off my forehead.
Then I carefully walked back to the bedroom, where the two boys waited.

I made a new weak attempt to grin.

"Hi, guys", I said, sitting down on my bed again. They said nothing, just watched me. It was like that for a few minutes.

"Uh…" I said when the silence started to bother me. "Wazzup?" They gave me a dull look.

"Get dressed, Tenten", Neji then sighed. "We better take you to Shizune-san." I blinked.

"What?" I asked. "No, no, there's no need for that." They gave me another dull look.

"Tenten, you just threw up. I think there's reason to believe that you're sick", Sasuke said.

"But I'm not", I objected. Neji rolled his eyes.

"Just obey, Tenten", he sighed. I but my chin in the air arrogantly and folded my arms.

"Make me", I said. Neji and Sasuke both raised their eyebrows at this, and I realized a few seconds too late that I had made a huge mistake.

xDxDxD

I pouted deeply as I sat on the chair outside Shizune's office, waiting for her to let me in. My arms were folded and my head bowed in full sulk-mode, and I refused to look at either of the boys that sat on either side of me.
Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Stop playing a martyr", he said, giving me a dull look. I death-glared him in response.

Neji sighed.

"You know, you only have yourself to blame", he said. "If you would have just followed us willingly-"

"What are you, a cop?" I asked angrily. "You didn't have any right to just drag me here, you small sons of-"

"'Carry' would fit better as an explanation", Sasuke interrupted.

"What?" I asked rudely, annoyed.

"We carried you here", he said, "not dragged."

"No", I said, glaring at him, "Neji carried me here. You just walked beside us and smirked like sumkinda moron. Which you are." Chicky glared at me and was just about to respond when Shizune's voice interrupted.

"You may come in now, Tenten-chan", she said kindly, leaning around the door of her office. I glared at the two guys one more time – and they glared back, probably warning me for not being honest to Shizune (honest, yeah right) – before I entered the office.

I sat down opposite from Shizune. She smiled at me kindly.

"So, how can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Well…" I said, sighing, "I kinda threw up this morning and my roommates freaked out and forced me to come here." Shizune raised her eyebrows.

"You threw up?" she asked. "Have you eaten any bad food, or anything you might be allergic to?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No, not lately at least", I responded. "Only thing I've eaten since lunch last Friday has been salmon, potato and sumkinda vegetables I eat almost every day." Shizune widened her eyes.

"You haven't eaten except one meal since lunch last Friday?" she asked, chocked. I shrugged.

"I sleep late", I responded. "And I just missed the dinner on Friday and yesterday." Shizune sighed.

"Tenten-chan, that's not healthy", she said. "How have you managed through the weekend?" I grinned.

"I'm tough", I responded. She smiled a little.

"Well, I doubt the sickness is about food, then", she sighed. "I think the only conclusion is stomach flu. Do you feel bad in any other way?"
I was about to deny, but then I remembered the guys outside the door. They would probably find out what I'd said in one way or another, and force me – physically – to come back here.

"Well, I have a little headache", I sighed. "And I'm a bit cold." I then sneezed, as if to prove my words.
Shizune frowned. Then she stood up, walked around the desk and over to me, putting her hand on my forehead.

"You're warm", she stated. "We better take your temperature." She got a thermometer from her desk and put it in my mouth. I frowned. God, how I hated this.

A few minutes later Shizune took it out and looked at it. She raised her eyebrows.

"Well", she said, "you are obviously not going to classes tomorrow." I raised my own eyebrows.

"I have a fever?" I asked anxiously.

"Yes", she said. "A pretty bad one, too. You'll have to stay in bed at least three days, I'm afraid. Plus the stomach flu. What have you been doing?"

"Nothing special", I said innocently. Shizune didn't look convinced, but she let it go.

"This will go over by itself, I believe, so you won't need any medication", she said. "But be sure to stay in bed for at least three days, as I said. I'm sure Neji-kun and Sasuke-kun will help to look after you." No doubt of that…
I sighed. Shizune seemed to understand that I didn't like the idea of lying in bed all day, because she frowned and said sternly:

"And make sure you do as I told you to. If you want to get this over with fast, you have to rest. If you don't, it'll get worse. I will ask your roommates about you."

"Sure, sure", I quickly said. "Thanks. I'll obey." Shizune smiled at me again.

"Well, you should get to bed", she said. "I'll make sure you get something to eat up to your room, something you can save until you're hungry. I'll also tell your teachers that you won't be coming to classes until Wednesday by the soonest." I smiled at her.

"Thank you, Shizune-san", I said, getting up.

"My pleasure", she responded, smiling back at me. "And do contact me if you need anything."

"Thanks", I repeated. "I will." With a last smile in her direction I got out of the office and back to the boys waiting outside. I walked past them, not even bothering to look at them. I could hear them roll their eyes and follow silently.

With them walking behind me like that, on either side of me but a few steps behind, it felt just like they were my bodyguards. The thought pleased me for some strange reason. Maybe it was because it felt like I was some kind of celebrity, or something.

So, we came to the elevator and I pushed the button. It came soon, and I and my bodyguards entered. The elevator ride was just as quiet as the rest of the journey had been. Heh, my bodyguards are very professional…

We eventually made it to the room, and I again threw myself at my bed lazily. Now that I thought of it, I really was unusually tired and cold… I wrapped my blanket more tightly around me and lay my head on the pillow, all the while ignoring my roommates.

It was silent for a few minutes. Then:

"So… You're sick then?" It was Sasuke who spoke. Sometimes he reminds me a tiny bit of Naruto – or Kiba. Now too; it was just that little 'so' that made it Naruto/Kiba-like. If he just would've let that be, then he would've been himself.

I frowned.

"I have a little flu, so what?" I snapped. They raised skeptical eyebrows.

"I'm pretty sure it's more than that", Neji said.

"Well, too bad", I said, annoyed. "You can think what you want, I don't care."

"You know, we can just go down to Shizune-san and ask", Sasuke said. "It'll just save a lot of time if you told us now." I scowled and turned to face them, glaring.

"Okay, so I have stomach flu and a pretty bad fever, and I have to stay in bed until Wednesday. Happy now?" I snapped.

Neji sighed. "Thought so…" he muttered and walked over to his bed. "You probably don't want us to get any food to you, then?"

"Naah, Shizune-san said she'll send something up that I can save for later."

"Good."

It was silent for a moment.

"But hey, why don't you have a separate nurse here?" I asked. "I mean, Shizune-san's Tsunade-sama's secretary already, why's she the nurse, too?"

"She's good at it", Sasuke stated simply. "And she was nurse before she became secretary, I think. Itachi told me something like that." I could hear his smirk when he mentioned Itachi's name, and I smiled, too. Neji also smirked.

"Well, goodnight, guys", I then said, yawning, and I didn't even hear their responses before I faded into unconsciousness once again.

*-*-*-*

I slowly opened my eyes. It was pretty dark in the room, and I could hear faint whispers behind me. It seemed like someone had come on a visit, since there were four feminine voices and five male voices.
I yawned and stretched my arms before slowly raising my upper body and leaning against my elbows. I looked around me and saw that Hinata and Temari were sitting on my bed in front of me, Sakura and Ino shared the window-bench, Kiba sat in one of the chairs in front of the desks, Naruto sat on one of the desks, Shikamaru was lying on Neji's bed lazily, Neji was sitting on another chair and Sasuke sat on his bed, leaning against the wall.
It surprised me that they could be so quiet.

"Mornin', guys", I said, yawning. "What time is it?"

Hinata smiled at me.

"Half past seven", she said. I blinked.

"Wow", I said. "Really?"

"Yes", Neji replied, a small smirk on his lips. "Adding last night, you've slept in over twenty-two hours. How is that even possible?" I blinked again.

"Twenty-two hours?" I repeated, chocked. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm not", Neji stated, still smirking while the others snickered at my expression (staring into nothingness with wide eyes and my mouth hanging open).

I recovered after a few seconds, shook my head and raised an eyebrow as I folded my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall behind my bed.

"So, wha'cha guys doing here anyway?" I asked casually.

"We thought that we'll come and see how you're doing", Temari said, shrugging. "But you were asleep and we didn't wanna wake you, so we just stayed to hang out with each other."

"But how did you manage to keep so quiet?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Sakura smirked.

"You were sleeping like a pig", she said. "You wouldn't have noticed if someone had blown with a bagpipe in your ear." I frowned as the other snickered again, and I was just about to make a retort when Hinata continued:

"And besides, we're really not that loud, Ten-chan", she said, all the while smiling kindly in a very Hinataish way. "You're the one who makes all the noise." I dropped my jaw as the other snickered even more loudly.

"That is so not true!" I shouted. "I'm not loud!!" The others laughed harder. I blinked. What the hell was so fun-?

…

Oh.

I glared at them, and folded my arms over my chest again. I lay back down and pouted in the best way I could master, intending to childishly sulk for the rest of the evening.
(A/N: She was screaming when she said "I'm not loud", in case someone didn't get it, and this Author's Note destroyed the whole joke, didn't it?)

"Aw, come on, Tennie-chan", Kiba teased. "Don't be like that."

Okay, that just sounded wrong. If it was intentional or not I cannot tell, but it still sounded gross to me.
I blinked, realizing something. Then I sat up swiftly, scowling at Kiba.

"Not you too, Kiba!" I whined. "It's Tenten, not Tennie!" He shrugged and grinned.

"Whatever. So, now that we're all awake, why don't we watch a movie or something?" he asked. Everyone else approved, so I just shrugged even though I wasn't in mood for anything like that right now.
Instead I turned my attention to the plates on my nightstand. One of them was filled with fruit and the other one had two sandwiches on it, and next to plates stood a glass and a pitcher of water.
I grabbed an apple and took a bite, turning to the TV-screen, since I had nothing better to do.

Kiba had put on an action-movie. The whole thing started with bombs exploding in the middle of New York and some guys in black leather jackets, black jeans and black sunglasses running around with guns and shouting to each other.
I found the movie utterly boring. There wasn't even any blood there; it was just bang boom crash through the whole thing.
I like horror-movies much more. They at least are spooky, bloody and scary (most of the time) and all in all worth watching. This movie didn't even have a scheme, it seemed.

I watched it for half an hour before I got too bored and started watching the others in the room instead.
Temari lay across my bed with her feet dangling over one side. She rested her chin against her palms, watching the movie through half-closed lids. She seemed just as bored as I was, and just about to fall asleep.

Next to her sat Hinata. She seemed to try and look politely interested in the whole thing, and failing miserably; her eyes always flickered away from the screen to the clock on my nightstand and few times even to Naruto's face.

Naruto was literally lying on the desk, resting his chin in his folded arms and watching the screen with a grin. Apparently he seemed to see something worth watching in that piece a shit.

Kiba also watched the screen with interest. Well, I can't deny that those two seemed like the type to like these kinda films.

Neji looked utterly bored, but he does most of the time, doesn't he? It did please me though that he wasn't into this crap.

Sasuke didn't look quite as bored, but he was watching Sakura more than the film.
I looked at Sakura, and it wasn't hard to see why; her face was lit by the full moon shining outside the window, and her hair was over one of her shoulders. She was really pretty.
She was watching the screen but didn't seem to see it; her eyes were unfocused, as if she was daydreaming.

Ino entertained herself by kicking Shikamaru in the face. Said man had fallen down from Neji's bed when he turned in his sleep, and somehow, in a way I cannot imagine, he had ended up on the floor below Ino.
Well, that's what you get when you fall asleep, I guess.

…Hey!

That's what you get, when you let your heart wi-iin…

Recognize it? It's Paramore's 'That's what you get'.
(A/N: Which I – as said before – do not own.)
It's great! But I still like 'Misery business' the most.
(A/N: I don't own that either, as you know.)

I entertained myself for the rest of the movie by trying to remember the lyrics to all my favorite songs (that are pretty many), or by watching Shikamaru's pathetic attempts to slap Ino's foot away from his face.

"Good movie, huh?" Kiba asked, grinning, as he turned off the TV. Naruto grinned too and nodded excitedly, so Kiba didn't notice the grimaces of almost everyone else in the room.

"It's over ten o'clock already", Sakura sighed. "We better go back to our rooms now. I'm at least dead tired." She yawned and stretched, and I think, just think, that Sasuke gawked at her when she did that. I'm not sure, though. I have to ask him later.
If he blushes: yes.
If he looks at me like I'm insane: …yes. Know why? Coz I am sure, so hah!

Sorry. I get like this when I'm sick, it'll pass, promise.

…

Phew, yeah right. Like anyone would believe that.

Anyway:

"Night, guys", I said, yawning. "I'm tired, too." I felt nine pairs of eyes stare at me. I looked up innocently. "What?" I asked.

"Tenten, you've slept in twenty-two hours", Ino said slowly. "How in Earth can you be tired?" I shrugged.

"I'm sick. Goodnight." They were silent for a while, but then shrugged, wished me and my bodyguards goodnight, and left.

After a moment I frowned down at my clothes. Now that I thought of it, they were really uncomfortable to sleep in.

Now, you should know that when I get sick I use to forget stuff. So now I forgot that two teenage boys were watching me as I unbuttoned my jeans, awkwardly pulled them off and threw them at the floor before I took my arms out of the sleeves of my t-shirt – still keeping the t-shirt on, just with my arms out of the sleeves, ya know – slipped my arms out of the shoulder-straps of my bra, and reached back to unhook it before I threw it on the floor next to my jeans.

Yep, I forgot about the guys until after I had thrown my socks on the floor too and snuggled into my pillow, smiling a satisfied smile at the new comfortableness.
I didn't make any sign I'd realized this, though; I was just listening to the sounds of my roommates. For the moment both were staring at me, wide-eyed and frozen.
Then, suddenly, Sasuke started snickering uncontrollably. I raised an eyebrow and heard Neji do the same.

"What the hell are you laughing at, Uchiha?" he asked in a somehow strained voice.

"A-at your expression", Chicky managed to choke out between the laughs. I heard a sound from Neji that I'd never before heard from him. Though I had heard it from his cousin a several times.

…Oh god. He's blushing!

I quickly put my fist in my mouth not to laugh. In the meantime Neji was making very uncharacteristic attempts to explain himself to a still laughing Sasuke.

I never thought I'd say this, but… I sure have crazy roommates.

xDxDxD

"Be sure to stay in bed for the rest of the day", Neji said for the, what, thousandth time this morning?

I sighed. "Sure, sure. Where would I go anyway…?" Both the boys gave me a warning glare, and I sighed again and rolled my eyes. "Seriously, guys, do you really think I'd walk around the school when I'm sick?"
Their raised eyebrow each was answer enough: yes, they do.

I pouted and looked down at the bed I was sitting on. "Don't you trust me?" I asked silently in the cutest voice I could master, which was pretty cute if I can say so myself.

It didn't affect the ice-queens too much, though.

"No", they replied in unison, and I looked up to glare at them, all cuteness gone.

"Fine", I then said, crossing my arms and putting my chin to my chest while pouting. "Don't." Yeah, I was childish. But what's new there?
They seemed to think so too, since they rolled their eyes.

"We'll come to see you at lunch", Sasuke said, but it seemed more like a warning than a comforting promise, if you ask me. I stuck my tongue out at them in goodbye, but they just smirked at me and left.

I sat and glared at the door many minutes after it had slammed shut. I hated to be sick; I couldn't do anything! When I lay in the bed without being allowed to move, I always just wanted to scream on the top of my lungs and start throwing things at the walls.
Though, that last part doesn't have so much to do with the sickness. I want to throw things at the walls most of the time.

What? It's fun! You should try it! (Or not…)

"Oh!" I suddenly exclaimed, putting a finger in the air and widening my eyes while grinning. "I know! I'll do my homework, and then I'll be a looot ahead of Chicky and Neji, and then they'll have to ask me for advice, and stuff, and yeah…"

I jumped out of the bed, thrilled by my genius idea. I quickly rushed over to my bag, dragged it to the bed (yes, dragged. It was pretty heavy with all the crap I'd stuffed in there) and jumped up back on the bed. I opened the bag and started throwing out all the crap I had in there.
I suddenly picked up something from the bag, looked at it for a minute and then beamed.

"Oh, here's my Pikachu-cap!" I said happily. "Now I can finally blackmail Sasuke to wear it!" I put the cap on my head and continued to throw out the junk so I could reach my books. When I finally had thrown out all the crap (and a few kunais, they're not crap, see) I took a hold of my History-book and grinned.
I took off the cap and put it on my nightstand next to the glass of water, opened the book and started reading.

Two minutes and forty-five seconds later

"I'm booooored!" I exclaimed, leaning half my upper body over the edge of the bed. I started at the door - that now looked up-side-down - through narrowed eyes.

"God!" I then yelled after a few minutes and sat up quickly, which resulted in me feeling very dizzy and me hurting my neck. I groaned as I rubbed it. Then I looked around the room for a few more minutes before I let out another frustrated scream and kicked my legs up on the bed, pushing myself against the wall while crossing my arms and scowling.

After another moment I picked up an apple from the plate next to me and examined it carefully.
Have you ever noticed how interesting an apple actually can be to look at? I mean, this particular one had a several different shades of red that mixed together pleasantly, it had two leaves that were exactly on the opposite side of each other and it was very smooth and nice-

…

Oh god. I think an apple is interesting to look at.
I don't need to rest.
I NEED A FUCKING PSYCHIATRIS, DAMMIT!

I groaned again and leaned my head against the wall, throwing the apple away.

"Where's I.T. when you need her?" I mumbled, closing my eyes.

'Right here, honey!'

"No!" I yelled out loud. "No! I didn't mean it!"

'Too late, Tennie-chan. And besides, you wanted company, didn't you?"

"Not yours!"

'Please don't talk out loud. I get a headache listening to you.'

"How can you get a headache when you don't even have a head?"

'What, don't you have a head?'

"Well of course I have a head, you little idiot!"

'Well, then I have too. Since I'm YOU, you little moron! When will that sink in?!'

"But I don't have a headache."

'You don't?'

"…"

'…'

'Whatever. What do you want?'

'Hah. Thought so. Anyway, you know what?'

'What?'

'Sasuke-kun might have an Inner!'

'…please, please, PLEASE, don't call him that.'

'Then what should I call him? Chicky?'

'Yes, thank you.'

I think she just made me roll my eyes.

'Whatever. Anyway, I and I.S. are planning on try and go talk to I.S! Hope he exists!'

'You know, I won't be able to know who you mean when both their names are I.S.'

'Whatever. Well, what do ya want to talk 'bout?'

'Nothing with you. I want you to go tell I.S. – Sakura's Inner – to force Sakura to grab Hina-chan, Ino and Temari, drag them here and together with them ditch the rest of the day.'

'…Naah. Too troublesome.'

'…Lazy-ass…'

My lips curved into a smug smile. Argh, it was so frustrating when she did that!

Suddenly the door opened. I widened my eyes when I saw Sasuke come in and quickly shut the door after himself.

"Sasuke!" I said in a horrified tone. "Are you ditching?!" He turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

"Like you care", he said. I shrugged and leaned back casually.

"Meh. I don't." He rolled his eyes, and then his expression suddenly became awkward. I raised an eyebrow at this.

"Wazzup, Uchiha?" I asked. Sasuke didn't even give me a raised eyebrow about my choice of words! Okay, something's really wrong. I quickly sat up straighter and folded my legs. "Seriously, Sasuke. What is it?"

"Well", he began awkwardly. "Um, you're a friend of Sakura's, aren't you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, no, of course not", I said sarcastically. "I totally hate that bitch." Sasuke gave me a dull look before he walked down to my bed and sat down at the foot of it.

"Uh, well…" he said again. "I don't really know where to begin…"

"What about the beginning?" I asked nonchalantly, examining my fingernails.

"Tenten, could you please stop interrupting me all the time?" Sasuke asked, annoyed. "This is already difficult enough." That caught my interest.

"Alright, I won't interrupt you", I said. "Just spit it out, I promise I won't laugh." I went silent while I thought for a minute. Then I shrugged and rolled my eyes. "Oh, who am I kidding? It's making you awkward, of course I'll laugh! I have a hard time not laughing right now."

Sasuke glowered at me slightly before he started speaking:

"Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about this. Not even the Hyuuga." He paused and then said: "At least not the Hyuuga."

"Yes, sir!" I said while saluting him. He rolled his eyes but continued:

"I'll start at the beginning", he said, and then took a deep breath. "I don't know if you've heard, but Sakura was a few years back one of those… 'fangirls', as you like to call them. One of the worst, I daresay. She got over it though, and became the reasonable woman she is now.
But, as you know, she is not particularly fond of these… 'fangirls', and the fact that she once was one… doesn't exactly please her. And because of this, she couldn't even look at me for over two years.
Now she's gotten more used to me, though. But I'm afraid that all this might have changed her so that she doesn't like me. At all. And, well, there is where the problem lays, actually."

I watched the boy for a long moment after he was done. I could tell my staring was a bit unnerving, which made me continue doing it a little longer than necessary.

Eventually I spoke:

"So… you're telling me that Sakura used to be your fangirl, which makes her embarrassed now, which makes her hate you and that's a problem because you love her?" Sasuke choked in his spit.

"I-I wouldn't say love…" he stuttered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" I asked. "Then what would you say?" He didn't answer and I sighed. "Sasuke, I'm really not the right person for this." He sighed, too.

"I know", he agreed. "It's just that… well, you're the only girl I know who I trust not to gossip about this." I grinned.

"Gee, thanks, Sasuke", I said. "How flattering." He rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, do you think you can somehow… make her a little bit more… positively inclined to me?" he asked. I sighed again and lay down.

"I can try", I said. "But I can't promise anything." Sasuke sighed in relief.

"Thank you." I rolled my eyes.

"Lame, man", I muttered, but he didn't seem to listen. It was silent for a moment.

"Anyway!" I exclaimed, sitting up quickly and clapping my hands together once. Sasuke jumped, startled by my abrupt movement and I snickered. "We have to come up with a plan", I told him at the same time as I looked around the room. "Pick that up", I then commanded, snapping my fingers once and pointing at my schoolbag on the floor. Sasuke rolled his eyes bit obeyed.
Clever guy.
Yeah, that's right! I might be sick, but I can still beat anyone's ass I want, so HAH!!

"Tenten, why are you glaring at me like I've killed somebody?"

"Coz you probably have", I said lightly, grinning. "Anyway, gimme that." I pointed at the schoolbag in his hands and he gave it to me.
I started throwing out crap again (well, not really crap, but ya know what I mean), and finally I got out an exercise book and grinned again.

"So, what plans do you have?" I asked casually. "If you want to skip the psychical part, we can always ambush her, knock her out, kidnap her, tie her to a chair and blackmail her into liking you. If you are against the ambush-knock out-tie to chair-part, we can always simply blackmail her. Though that's more risky, since she might go to the police."

For some reason Sasuke was staring at me with a blank look on his face, that soon turned into exasperation.

"Please, Tenten", he sighed. "Can you be serious for once in your lifetime?"

"I'm always serious!" I said, very insulted. "That was just… rude!" He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. What're your…'plans'?"

"I was just asking you that!"

"…Tenten, this is serious."

Now it was my turn to I roll my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Got it." I grabbed a pencil, opened the exercise book, pulled my legs up to my chest, leaned the exercise book against them and started chewing the pencil while thinking. "If this is gonna happen today or tomorrow, we'll have to get Sakura to come over here", I said.

Then I looked up at him with hopeful eyes, the pencil still in my mouth. "Unless…" I said slowly.

"No."

"Dammit! Okay, so, we'll get Sakura to ditch school today - coz we can't do this with Neji around, apparently - so she can come over here, right? Wow, it's getting tricky already in the beginning… Anyway, any plans at how that'll work?"

Sasuke shook his head. I rolled my eyes.

"Gimme my cell phone", I ordered, extending a hand, palm up, and snapping my fingers impatiently again. Sasuke looked from my hand to my nightstand – where the phone lay - and back again.

"It's closer to you than it is to me", he pointed out then. I narrowed my eyes.

"Sasuke, you have plenty of reasons to do what I tell you to", I said in a low voice. "One: I'm the one who helps you to get Sakura in love with you. Which also means that I have pretty good blackmail on you. Two: I'm sick. People are nice to sick people, it's a rule. Three: I'm dah best while you're just lame, so you have to do what I say, so HAH!"
All of this I managed to say in a low and threatening voice – aside from the last 'HAH', of course.

Sasuke wore the same blank face as before. Then he sighed, leaned over to my nightstand and got the phone before he threw it to me.

"Thanks, Chicky!" I said happily while grinning. He rolled his eyes at the nickname but didn't comment. I frowned.

'He's getting used to it… I have to make it worse.'

'Jeez, that's just so childish.'

'Do I look like I care a fucking shit?'

'Dunno. Look in the mirror.'

"Tenten? What is it?"

"Oh, nothing!" I said, grinning still. "Just talking to my Inner! Do you have an Inner, Chicky? Mine suspects you have." Sasuke stared at me like he was questioning my sanity.

Like I said before, clever guy.

For questioning my sanity, I mean.

…There's, like, reason to do that.

"No, then!" I chirped happily. "Anyways, let's get back to operation SHS!"

"…SHS?"

"Yeah! Like, Sasuke Heart Sakura!"

"…Shut up."

"Naah. Where was I anyway, before you so rudely interrupted?"

"I haven't interrupted you, Tenten."

"Yes, you have. And now you did it again. Soo… QUIT IT, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A KETCHUP-BOTTLE!!!"

"…What the hell?"

"I said: quit it, you pathetic excuse for a ketchup-"

"Yes, yes, I heard it!" he interrupted me. "You were about to call someone, by the way."

"Oh, that's right!" I exclaimed, holding up a finger and widening my eyes. I ignored Sasuke when he muttered, "Lunatic…" under his breath, and started dialing the number.

"Talk to me."

"Hi, Ino! It's Tenten!"

Sasuke looked up at me, surprised.

"Oh, hi, Tennie-chan! Why're you calling, all of sudden?"

"I need to talk to Sakura. Can you make her come up here ASAP?"

"Uh, I don't really know, actually. I mean, next class is just 'bout to start, and it'll be pretty hard to convince her to ditch. You know how she is, all responsibility…"

"Yeah, I know. But if you told her it's about life and death?"

"…I don't think she would believe that…"

"Yeah, you're probably right. So, do you have any blackmail on her, or anything? I know I have, but I'm afraid to tell you."

"Really?! What?!"

"…I just told you I was afraid to tell you."

"Well, you're gonna have to. I'm out."

I sighed. "Okay, okay." I looked up at Sasuke. "Get out", I told him. He blinked.

"Why?"

"Because I tell you to. Now, shoo!" Sasuke blinked, but then shrugged and left the room.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Sasuke."

"Why's he there?"

"He needs to talk to Sakura. He made me help him get her here."

"Really? Why?"

"Can't tell ya. Secret."

"…Seriously?"

"Yup."

"You're not kidding?"

"Nope." Wow, the girl's fast when it comes to this stuff. Heh, Sasuke's gonna (try to) kill me.

"…Okay! So, what's the blackmail?"

"She made out with Hidan on Friday."

"WHAT?!"

"It's not true, of course. But she can't prove that. I've thought it all through, and I've come up with some nice details." No need to embarrass both Sakura and Hidan further by telling the truth. Only I, Temari and Konan will ever know, and we can move on from that truly very traumatic experience.

"…You're cruel, Kira Tenten."

"Thanks, you, too. But send her up, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure! I'll come check on you at lunch, 'kay? See how the… secrets are going."

"Sure. Bye."

"Bye!"

She hung up. I grinned and put the phone on my nightstand before leaning back against the wall. I sat there a moment before I remembered my chicken-haired friend. I sighed and got up, walked over to the door and opened it. I stuck my head out.

"Sasukeee! You can come in now!" I called through the hall.

"Okay." The voice came from behind me and made me scream and jump at least three feet.

"GOD, Sasuke!" I yelled and put my hand over my heart. "I could've had a heart attack! You could've said something, jerk!" Sasuke gave me a blank look before he pushed past me into the room.

I've never noticed how silently he moves… And he just appeared behind me like a vampire, or something!

…Oh god. Vampire.

My roommate's a vampire! And so is probably Neji, since they're both so weird! And they're weird in the same way!

HELP MEEE!

…I've been reading too much Twilight. Not that you can ever read too much Twilight, of course.

"Anyway, Sakura's on her way", I said casually as I walked back to my bed.

By the way, I didn't mention it, but I had put my jeans on before I went to get Sasuke. I mean, naturally. Though it would've been funny to see his face if I hadn't… Wouldn't it?

Anyway.

"So, what are we gonna say to her?" I asked as I jumped up on the bed, and put my legs in a meditation-position while I took the exercise book and put the pencil in my mouth again.

"I am not going to say anything to her today", Sasuke said while folding his arms. "She hates me. You're the one who does the talking." I frowned and dropped the pencil on the bed.

"So unfair", I said. "I wanna see your pathetic attempts in making a conversation with her." He glared at me – harder than usual. I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest. "If you do that again I'm gonna tell Neji!" I said, putting my nose in the air.
He rolled his eyes for, like, the thousandth time in these… ten minutes? It feels longer than that.

"Anyway, what am I gonna tell her?" I put the pencil back in my mouth and leaned against the wall again, looking at the ceiling. "Aha!" I then exclaimed, grabbed the exercise book, opened it and started scribbling not-so random things in it.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Notes", I replied, then looked up and grinned. "I have the perfect plan! I'm gonna ask her about romance and her ex-boyfriends, and then ask her what kinda guys she likes. Maybe I'll even bring you up, who knows? Anyway, today's just for making sure what she likes. Tomorrow we're not gonna do anything, and on Wednesday, when I'm up, we're gonna start working! Now, hide in the closet. She ought to be here any minute."

Sure enough, someone knocked on the door just after I was done talking. I franticly mouthed "Closet!" to Sasuke, pushed him inside when he was too slow, and ran over to the door.

"Hiii, Saku-chan!" I chirped happily as I slammed the door open, almost hitting her in the face with it. She stared at me weirdly before she started glaring. I blinked.
She then did something that surprised me; she stabbed her finger in my shoulder and started pushing into the room – me walking backwards – while speaking in a low and threatening voice.

"If you dare tell anyone about the Hidan thing, I am going to rip your throat up with my bare hands, Tenten", she hissed. "It's over and forgotten, okay? No one will even think about it again, got it?"

It took me a while to understand what she was talking about. But then, as I blinked again, I understood.

"Ooh… Yeah, that thing." I grinned at her sheepishly. "No worries, Saku-chan. My mouth's locked up!" She glared at me for one more moment before she sighed and sat down on my bed.

"What do you want, Tenten?" she asked.

Oo-kay. Time to start lying. You can do this, Tenten! Woo! Trust yourself!

"Well, I kinda need some help with… guy problems, ya know?" I spoke with just the right amount of embarrassment in my voice, and I suddenly felt very smug about it.
Sakura raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Guy problems?" she repeated.

"Yeah! I'm not too good at that, you know! So, tell me, how many boyfriends have you had?" I sat down next to her, acting very interested. Coz I really wasn't, as you know.

Sakura watched me a moment with a raised eyebrow, but then shrugged and said:

"I haven't had any boyfriends."

"Have you ever been in love with anyone, then?" She blushed a little.

"Well, I wouldn't call it love…" she said, looking away.

My eyes widened eagerly.

"Who?" I prompted.

"Tenten, seriously, it's not a big deal. Teenagers and persons a little younger than that tend get these small crushes all the time on the most random persons. It's nothing to care about, really." I frowned. Something told me I wasn't going to get any answers on that question.

"Okay, then", I sighed. "Anyway, what kind of type do you like?"

"…What?"

"What type of guys?" She blinked.

"Um, well…" she said. "I don't know if you could call it type exactly. I just want someone who cares about me, is kind and polite, can make me laugh, someone I can trust, someone who comforts me when I'm upset or something… Pretty much the cliché."

I frowned again. Oo, that was so not like Sasuke. He would have to work. Hard.

"What about you?" Sakura suddenly asked. I blinked.

"What?"

"What kind of guys do you like?" I blinked again.

How the hell was I going to answer that when Sasuke's hiding in the closet, listening?!

"Um, well, pretty much the same as yours, I guess", I said unsurely. "But he can't be too perfect, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know. Same for me." It was silent for a moment while we were embarrassed of being so out of character. Then Sakura spoke again: "Anyway, who's the guy you want help with?" I blinked again.

"Oh", I then said when I realized what she talking about. "Oh. Oh, well, he's a jerk, now that I think of it. I think he ran over a kitten yesterday." Sakura gasped.

"That's horrible!" she said, truly horrified. I nodded, sighing gravely.

"And he did it on purpose. He kicked it many times before, shot it, stabbed it, tried to drown it… Just coz it drank a little milk."

Sakura didn't even gasp now, but her eyes slowly started tearing. Mine did too, though I knew it wasn't true.

I swallowed so I could continue.

"It's amazing the kitten survived", I said, shaking my head. "It's with Shizune now, but it's gonna be alright. Tough little fella. I heard it clawed the guy's eyes out." Now Sakura grinned.

"That's great! Anyway, if this was all, bye! I have Anko next; she'll kill me if I'm late!"

"Yeah, bye." Sakura hurried out the door and slammed it shut after her. I grinned to myself and lay down on the bed, closing my eyes.

Suddenly someone cleared their throat. I snapped my eyes open and sat up to see Sasuke stand in front of me.

"What the hell was the kitten thing in the end?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Puh-lease, Sasuke", I said. "It was some smooth lying, of course. Excuses. Stupid." He raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment further.

"Well, you're in for a hard time", I then said, sighing. "You're not one of the things she described, except for not perfect. So good luck."

Sasuke glared at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you're not caring, funny, anything at all", I said simply. His glare intensified.

"I do care about her", he said angrily. "Very much so. Why do you think I go through with all this nonsense? And I'm kind and polite, at least when I want to, and I always want to be kind and polite to Sakura. She can trust me with her life, I assure you that, and I will always be there to comfort her when she needs it. And, besides, I can make people laugh."

My face was completely blank by the time he finished. I think we stood/sat there for at least five minutes, he glaring, me staring, before I voiced my clever thoughts:

"Ew, Sasuke."

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going back to class."

"Okay! Bye, and if ya see Sakura, don't talk too much to her, so you don't ruin anything, 'kay?" He didn't answer, just walked out.

I frowned after him for a long moment before I shrugged and pulled off my jeans again, so that I could lie more comfortably. I pulled out New Moon from somewhere and started reading it for the at least tenth time in my life.

Meanwhile I was working out ideas in my head to make Sakura luv Sasuke.

And I came up with a few.

Heh. I almost pity him.

Keyword: almost.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Hey! Yeah, I really have to start updating faster, don't I? And this chapter pretty much sucked, didn't it?

Nooo worries, people! It's gonna get better when the little drama appears. Yeah, there'll be a little drama, too. I was planning that to come after maybe one chapter, or something…

And, by the way, sorry 'bout the… cliché thingy in here. Heh, that was kinda pathetic. Well, anyway.

So, yeah, hope you enjoyed! I will (try to) update faster, but I'm pretty busy at the moment, so yeah…

And isn't Twilight great? And no, I'm not planning a Twilight fanfic. But if I come up with something good, maybe…

Review! Review! Review! Pleeaase!

Metal-Blondie