A Night On The Boardwalk

OMG!! It's an update!! :P

Alright!! Please enjoy!!

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"Alright, guys!!" Anko said at a calm tone. "We have 40 seconds left on the clock, and we're down by 2 points."

Everyone in our team huddle nodded.

Yup, that's right. The school's power was finally restored!! Thank god. I was starting to get the feeling that I was never going to be able to graduate.

Too bad that they decided to hold a basketball against Suna, the day that we were able to return. We never had any chance to prepare. Trust me. Anyone that plays against Suna HAS to be prepared. Otherwise, they'll kick your asses.

Losing by two points isn't good when you're facing people this good.

"Don't forget who you represent. You represent yourself. So, go out there, and show those brats that we're no stick in the mud!! You hear??" Anko spit out.

Everyone nodded again in unison. Anko sure does have a way with words.

"Alright, here's the plan. Sasuke will start out with the ball, and dribble towards half. Then, he'll pass it to Naruto, who will be in the far end of the gym. Tenten," She nodded in my direction as she said my name. "Be prepared. Naruto will chest past it to you, and you get yourself ready to send the ball flying to the net. Remember," She glanced at all of us. "Guard your players."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with the plan.

"Good? Fine. On three." Everyone placed their hands in the center of the circle.

"One, two, three. PANTHERS!!" We all cheered.

I started running to my position. Sasuke stood at the other end of the court, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. Once the whistle was blown, Sasuke darted as hard as he could, managing to avoid anyone who tried to block his path. Once his feet were planted firmly on the half line, he chest-passed the ball to Naruto, who thankfully, was open. Naruto received the ball with ease, and sent the ball soaring in the air for me.

This was it.

I had my hands out, ready to receive whatever was coming at me. The ball landed forcefully in my hands. My knees were bent.

I was ready.

As I was about to let the ball roll off of my fingers, a sudden blur appeared in front of my face. I got indrotuced to Kankuro, the tank of Suna.

Yes, he is a tank. He's like, 6 feet tall.

…And he's probably 6 feet wide too.

There was a dark feeling in my stomach.

I was never going to be able to score those points now.

"Tenten!!"

My mind went completely blank. I knew exactly who was calling me, so there was no need to look at him.

I knew the voice so well, because it's the very same voice that I've been stuck living with.

10 seconds left.

"You represent yourself."

Without even thinking, I bounced the ball in between Kankuro's legs. Thankfully, the ball never hit his balls. (Because if it did, I'd probably get a foul.)

The ball managed to bounce its way over to Neji's feet. He grabbed it, and placed his feet firmly on half.

7 seconds left.

"NEJI!!" I hollered. "SHOOT!!"

As usual, he never answered. He just carefully examined the distance between the net, and the half line.

Yeah, Neji's a dork like that.

It's so creepy, he can tell how much of a push he needs to add to his motion in order to make an accurate shot, just by looking at the distance between himself, and the net.

Wow, try saying all that in one breath.

"No, he won't!!" Kankuro hollered, just as he was about to jump on Neji.

Neji smirked. "Heh." He jumped in the air, letting the basketball gracefully roll of his fingers.

You know how in those cheesy soap operas when the characters have those hideous expressions on their faces?? That's how everything looked at the moment.

3, 2,…

The ball managed to fall easily into the basket, scoring us an extra 3 points.

The buzzer sounded, and all of our fellow panthers started cheering.

Sweet.

I ran over to my other team mates, who were all bumping fists with eachother, and giving 'man hugs'.

Yeah, man hugs are those little things where boys like, shake hands, and give a brotherly hug at the same time.

"Neji!! Duuudddeee!!!" Kiba said. "That was rad!!"

Sasuke patted Neji on the back…don't worry. It didn't look as gay as that sounded. "Nice, Hyuga."

I sighed. I mean, hello?? It was called an assist. Which happened to be with me.

This really isn't fair. I'm not a piece of crap you know!!

Some things never change.

Neji must have noticed my 'change of emotions', because he cocked his face to the side, and smirked. "Nice assist."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really??"

"Yeah. You know, you could've tried to get the basket yourself."

I shrugged. "The risk was too high. Besides, you had a better chance than anyone."

"I guess. But still, good move." He left our little huddle for the changing rooms, leaving all of us bamboozled.

"Wow." Naruto said, apparently shocked.

"Creepy." Shikamaru said, in the same state of shock that Naruto was in.

"What is??" I asked them.

"That was the first time…ever, Neji complimented someone on an assist." Sasuke explained.

"Really??" I asked.

"Yeah." Shikamaru said, lazily.

I shrugged. "Anyways, great game, guys!!" I waved, then headed over to the changing rooms.

"…Wow…" Sasuke started.

"She really has no idea, does she??" Shikamaru asked to no one in particular.

"No. Not one bit." Naruto finished.

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"Yeah!! We're here!!" I jumped out of Sasuke's car, before he even pulled into the parking lot.

The flashing lights, and the energetic music quickly filled an important part to the environment.

Hell yeah. We were going clubbing.

See, Hinata said that this new teen club called 'The Cove' opened, so she was wondering whether we all wanted to check it out. Since it was a Friday night and everything. And, since we wanted to celebrate our awesome victory against Suna, we all willingly agreed to go.

I waited for everyone to get out of Sasuke's car, before I tugged on Neji's sleeve like a four year old.

"Come on!!" I said, determined to get in.

"Hn." Neji…umm…'hned' at me.

Sorry, I just don't know how to describe it, since it's not really a grunt, nor is it a word.

Anyways…

"Alright, gang!!" Ino said. "Let's go in and party!!"

"OMG!! YEAH!!" Sakura added with a clap.

Shikamaru casually walked over to the door, and opened it.

Immediately when you stepped into the club, you could tell you're in for a treat. Hundreds of teens were scattered everywhere. Dancing, at the juice bar, karaoke, or some just chatting. But, everyone was having fun.

Everyone scattered in their own ways once we all were inside. Neji, Sasuke and I decided to head over to juice bar, Naruto dragged the sleepy Shikamaru over to the dance floor, Sakura and Ino were 'attempting' to sing, and finally, Hinata was with dancing with Kiba, close to the center of the dance floor.

Things were going to get wild. I could just tell.

I slipped into a bar stool, in the middle of Sasuke and Neji.

"Hey! Welcome to the Cove!! Anything I could get you?" One of the bartenders asked.

"Yeah. I'll have a mango smoothie." I said.

"And you??"

"Water." Sasuke replied.

"Sure. And you??" He asked, tilting his head to Neji.

"Apple juice." Neji said.

The dude nodded, then pouted. He looked back at Neji.

"Are you Neji Hyuga??" he asked.

Neji raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Oh. Nothing." He said, quickly. Soon, he disappeared to get some more water.

One of the girls beside Neji, stood up, following the bartender.

She's probably gonna screw the poor guy.

Sasuke sighed. "Well, this is fun, isn't it?" He said, with sarcasm in his voice.

"Damn straight." I replied, not exactly listening.

The waiter/bartender or whatever you want to call him, approached our table, and distributed our orders.

All of us sat quietly, sipping our drinks.

…

"So, you're Neji Hyuga, eh?" The girl sitting beside Neji asked. She had her hair in four pineapples evenly distributed on her head.

"Yes." Neji replied, sipping his juice.

…wow…that sounded …gross.

Neji made a disgusted face, just as she drew out her hand. "Hi. I'm Temari. I heard that you scored the winning basket against Suna."

I rolled my eyes. God, I helped too!!

"Yeah." Neji mumbled, remaining as anti-social as ever.

Temari batted her eyes. "My brother's on the team."

"Oh??" Neji said, though you could totally tell that he didn't give a damn.

"Yeah." Temari said. "Kankuro."

I choked on my smoothie. She's the tank's sister!!??

"Aha." Neji replied. He coughed a few times, then continued drinking his apple juice.

I rubbed his back gently. "Hey, you ok??"

"Yeah, I'm f--"

"You know…" Temari said, cutting him off, taking her finger, and twirling little circles on Neji's upper arm. "I love a man that takes charge."

I snorted. Takes charge my foot.

Temari pouted. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know that you were his girlfriend."

Sasuke snorted. I frowned. Neji smirked.

Ugh. I hate it when he smirks.

"I'm not his girl—" I started.

"Anyways," Temari cut me off. "It was nice meeting you!! Maybe we'll meet again!!"

"…" The three of us watched Temari walk towards the door.

"…Well, that was odd." I said.

"Oh, yeah." Sasuke mumbled.

Neji mumbled something, but got caught off, as he had a coughing fit.

I swear though, I've never seen anyone cough so much in my life. His usual pale face was turning as red as a tomato, his deep pupils were decreasing by the second. And, his neck was completely swollen up.

My eyes widened.

"Neji!!" Sasuke said sharply.

"Neji!!" I said, shaking his arm a little bit. "Neji!! What's wrong!!??"

People were now coming to see what the commotion was. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were just standing there like idiots, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba were trying to get the people to back off.

"Neji." I said at a firm tone. "Answer me."

Neji's face practically blew up with the next cough.

I felt completely helpless. I couldn't do anything to help Neji.

To help my rival.

To help my friend.

"SASUKE!! SAKURA, INO, HINATA!!" I hollered. "GET IN THE CAR!!" Sasuke nodded, while the three girls scurried to follow him.

I whipped my head in Shikamaru's direction. "SHIKAMARU!! NARUTO!! KIBA!! GRAB HIM!!"

The boys immediately rushed to Neji's side, and helped him stand up.

"T-Ten…ten…" Neji whispered softly.

I grabbed his hand, giving it a small squeeze. "It's ok." I whispered. "We're taking you to the hospital, ok?"

"No." Neji replied sternly.

"What do you mean, no?" I asked.

Kiba opened the door, as we walked out.

"I mean no. I'm fine. I probably just ate something gross. Trust me, I'm fine."

"No, Neji." I said, squeezing his hand a little tighter. "You're not fine."

"I am."

"God, dammit, Neji!! You're not!! Your face is swollen red!! Don't you even give me that crap! Do you have any idea how much you're scaring all of us!!??"

"Exactly. I'm alright. I don't want to worry you all over nothing." Neji coughed about 50 times again.

"No! Neji!! I'm not going to let one of my fam—" I paused, and thought about what I was about to say.

Family members.

I took a deep breath, then started over again. "Think of it this way. With you going, you'll let us think a bit more peacefully. Please?? Do it for us? For me??" I practically choked out those last two words.

Neji sighed in defeat. "Fine. For you."

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"Drugged!!??" I hissed at Tsunade. "How the hell!??"

"Probably, yes. I know, it's very unfortunate. We're not quite sure what exactly the substance is, but we've managed to drain it from his body. He's sleeping right now." Tsunade chuckled, as she looked at everyone else sleeping in the most awkward position.

Kiba was leaning on Sasuke, who's head was in Naruto's lap. Naruto feet were in Ino's lap, who was sitting cross-legged in between Shikamaru's legs. Sakura was on the other side of Shikamaru, leanin on him. Finally, Hinata was in between Kiba and Shikamaru, snuggled in Kiba's shoulder.

I giggled along with her. "I guess he isn't the only one sleeping."

"Oh, I wouldn't blame them!! It's almost 4:00 am!!" Tsunade said. She frowned. "Didn't you sleep??"

… "No…"

She laughed. "Well, you're a tough one!!"

I smiled.

"You handled the situation so well, Tenten. I'm really proud of you." Tsunade said, winking.

"Thanks. Do you think I could see him??" I asked.

"…Well…"

"Please??"

"Fine. Just promise you'll be quiet."

"I promise." I said.

"After, I need you to answer some questions for us. Ok?" Tsunade said.

"Alright."

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I absolutely hate the smell of hospitals. Especially after I've been in one for over 6 hours.

I walked into the hospital room, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Neji layed there peacefully. His long locks were scattered around the bed, and a small smile was plastered on his face.

I smiled, and let a tear roll down my cheek.

I frowned. Why was I crying!!?? Neji's fine now!!??

Then why…cry??

"Family members." I whispered to myself.

"Ten…ten…?" Neji mumbled.

I moved a strand of hair from his face. "Hm?"

"What…what are you still doing…?" Neji asked.

"What do you mean??" I asked.

"Wh-what are you doing…still here??" Neji whispered.

I chuckled. "What do you think??"

"…Why..? I thought you hated me."

"…That could never happen, no matter how it seems." I smiled weakly, and then grabbed his hands. "I have no idea how cheesy this will sound, but my world would be a lot different if a part of it was taken away."

I closed my eyes, and then cried.

I don't know why. Maybe I was tired. Maybe I was stressed.

Or maybe I was worried.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again." I mumbled.

"Heh." Neji said, smirked. "Tenten…you're a softie."

"I don't care! You seriously almost made me pee my pants!!" I wailed softly.

"…Didn't need to know that." Neji replied, smirking.

I smiled, then closed my eyes, and leaned back, still holding his hand as Neji did the same.

Half an hour later, Tsunade walked in.

"Tenten! It's time for y—" She paused, then chuckled. "Wow, how much I've longed for this day." She walked over to us, and placed a blanket over my body.

"Tenten…no matter how you try to deny it…you care for Neji. A lot."

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Friday, April 26.

Holy crap.

I have never been so scared in my life before.

Ugh.

I'm just glad that Neji's alright now.

Anyways, Tsunade woke me up, to talk to me about what happened at the club.

I told her every second of the night.

About the bartender.

About Naruto's gay dance moves.

About that creepy Temali or whatever her name is girl.

Anyways, I think you get my point.

Tsunade said that she'd have people look into the whole thing, and let me know later.

Over all, I'm going to have to say that today has been very crappy.

Except for our victory.

That was totally awesome.

We hauled ass!!

Tomorrow's the dance.

I already called my parents to let them know about it.

They seemed really thrilled.

I'm happy for that.

Anyways, I'm writing this in the hospital, and I have to go wake up the others to make them help Neji to the car.

Yeah, Tsunade said that it was a chemical reaction, since the drug was endured into his body so quickly.

So he can go home now.

I'm happy for that too.

Anyways, byee!!

Tenten

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Haha!! Well, how was that!!??

Yeah, sorry. But Neji had to get drugged. :P

Again, sorry if it sounds rushed at some parts.

Try to guess who you think drugged Neji. (I think I made it a bit too obvious, though.)

The truth will be revealed later!!

Wow, I am so excited to write my next chapter!!

Because it finally gets juicy!!

But, in order for that to happen, I need reviews!!

Review, please!!

Thank you, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!!