02:48

Ah! Please forgive me! I know this story has been really slow lately but life in general has been pretty crappy for me. Since February is finally over, I think I'll have more time on my hands. I'll try to upload as often as I can, really. I'm so sorry about this. Thanks to all my previous reviewers for your support. I hope all of you will keep reading. It's a fairly short chapter but I've been on writer's block as well and my multiple plot bunnies ran away (I can't even write a decent school essay right now).

So enjoy….

Tenten woke up in the morning, her dark hair loose. The first thing she saw as she blinked open her eyes were the confusing doodles and words from the night before. She frowned, trying to figure out where the hell she was. She lifted her head slowly from the pile of papers and saw the other band members asleep around her. Not exactly a new situation for the girls. Paper littered the floors and three guitars still connected to amps lay next to the girls. Tenten looked down to find herself still gripping a pen and drumstick in her left hand. She let them clatter to the floor. The sound woke Hinata, who sat up abruptly and rubbed her eyes.

"Man, what the hell...?" she asked, looking around in a dazed state.

Tenten shrugged as she stretched. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed in relief. She leaned back and rubbed her temples, grinning. Hinata blinked, looking mildly confused.

"What?" she asked.

"We're not late for anything!" Tenten replied cheerfully.

"Okay," yawned the female Hyuuga. "I'm just gonna go back to sleep then"

Hinata collapsed and was immediately asleep. Tenten grinned at her friends and stood up. She winced as she walked over to the door. Falling asleep in a chair really was not a good idea. She limped out into the hallway, cursing under her breath. On their way back yesterday she had seen a convenience store and was prepared to stock up on sugar. A whole shitload of sugar. She tried to walk as normally as possible but with one leg completely numb and the other half asleep, it was hard. She closed her eyes but kept walking, breathing in and out in slow intervals. She was about to open her eyes, keeping her composure together when she realized something.

There were stairs in front of her.

And the fact that she was falling.

Her numb leg gave out under her as she snapped out of her daze. The staircase seemed long and as she jolted forwards, her foot slipping off the landing and onto the several first steps. As it contacted with the step she could hear a slight crack and a flash of pain ran up her leg. She cried out quietly as the rest of the staircase came into view. The brunette shut her eyes and waited for the impact of the edge of a stair.

'This is gonna hurt like shit' she thought, already wincing.

But there was no impact. There was a slight pressure on her back to confirm it. Tenten wouldn't dare open her eyes. The pain was still there and if she opened her eyes then an unstoppable amount of tears would probably pour out. She hung limply as the person position her so that she was in a more comfortable position.

"Are..you all right?" asked a slightly confused voice.

Tenten stiffened. She knew that voice. She knew it too well. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes slowly. Sure enough, familiar pale lavender eyes stared right back at her. The brunette closed her eyes again and cursed.

'oh for the love of kami..." she growled, under her breath.

Neji smirked as he walked up the stairs and set Tenten down so that she was leaning against the wall.

"Why the hell were you walking with your eyes closed?" he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

Tenten growled as her ankle moved.

"I have my reasons and my ankle hurts like a fucking elephant stepped all over it."

Neji looked over to her ankle to see that it had already swollen to a considerable size. He gently prodded it, immediately stopping when Tenten cursed in pain.

"Its sprained pretty badly." he announced. "You probably won't be able to walk properly for a few days"

Tenten nodded.

"Feels like it."

Then she suddenly opened her eyes, gasping from her ankle.

"Aw shit, the finals!" she yelled her pain boosting her voice level even louder.

Neji rolled his eyes.

"Shut up. You're a drummer so you wont have to stand for most of the time anyways. And we can just use the platform again."

Tenten sighed in reluctant relief. Of course he would think of something in two seconds flat. Then she felt herself being lifted up.

"Wait-Whoa!" she yelped as Neji lifted her up bridal style. "What are you doing?"

Neji raised an eyebrow.

"You think I'm going to leave you in the middle of the hallway?"

Tenten looked away, clearly pissed off.

"Your probably would" she shot back.

Neji sighed in mock annoyance.

"Fine"

He walked over to the stairs and held the brunette over the edge.

"It's a really long way until the bottom, isn't it?" he mused blinking innocently.

Tenten twisted and struggled to punch him in the face.

"You asstard!" she yelled, moving around a lot for someone who was supposed to be injured.

Neji couldn't help but smile.

"Give it up" he said. "You fight like a panda"

Tenten's eyes narrowed,

"How the hell would you know anyways?"

Neji sighed and turned, walking down the hallway while being careful not to move Tenten around so much.

"Now what are you doing?" Tenten asked, indignant.

"I'm taking you back to your room, you idiot" he replied.

Tenten stopped struggling. He acted as if that was something he did every day. Something he considered his duty.

"O-oh" she muttered, turning somewhat red.

Neji looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. She really was a weird girl.

"Yeah" he said as he kept walking.

Tenten felt her face heating up. Her body relaxed and she closed her eyes again. She felt strangely comfortable. Her eyes snapped open as she started shaking her head back and forth.

'No way!' thought as she mentally slapped herself.

Neji blinked as Tenten started shaking her head, eyes shut tight. He was slightly annoyed that he ended up in this situation but the more he walked, the more he grew used to it. He blinked uncertainly and stopped at the room the girls were all supposed to be staying at. Tenten kicked it violently with her good leg and after a few shouts, a sleepy looking Ino opened the door.

"What the hell do you wa-oh!"

The blonde's sleepy eyes immediately glittered. Sakura stumbled up behind her, looking dazed. A sparkle replaced the dead look in her eyes as well as the two stared at the scene in front of them.

blink

blink

blink

"Ah.." Neji started "...Is it alright if I set her down here?"

Ino and Sakura both snapped out of their fantasy worlds and made way for him to enter. He gently set Tenten down on a bed and promptly walked out. Before he was out the door, he turned back.

"Take care of her ankle and Kakashi-sensei wants us all to meet at 2" he said.

The door shut behind him.

Silence

"Well that was nice" mused Matsuri, her arms crossed.

Tenten waved a hand randomly in the air, struggling from yelping out in pain.

"Ya, is there any medical supplies here?' she asked.

Ino and Sakura looked like they wanted to tie her to a giraffe and make it pull her through an ocean of pudding until she told them what the hell had happened but Hinata, being the sensible one, rushed to a closet and immediately started tending to her friend's ankle.

"I really can't imagine how this happened" she murmured as she expertly bound the swelling ankle.

Tenten facepalmed.

"I don't think you'd want to know" she said, wincing as the tape pulled a little too tightly.

Hinata loosened the tape as Matsuri, Ino, and Sakura rushed over.

"Well no matter" said Sakura cheerfully. "Just tell us everything and it will all be fine"

Tenten groaned and glared.

"I could say the same for you Uchiha Sakura-sama"

Sakura jumped and all of them could have sworn that they saw a blush. Sakura regained her composure somewhat quickly and struggled to turn the conversation back to Tenten.

"I'm sure that Neji-nii-san has taken some interest to you" Hinata mused quietly.

Tenten laughed as she sat up.

"He's a stuck up bastard! What else can I say, and I'm sure you're reading to far into this Hina-chan"

Ino shook her head and leaned in.

"Have you ever noticed that he's the only girl, besides sometimes Hina, that he ever talks to?" she pointed out.

Tenten shook her head blankly.

"Why the hell does that matter?" she asked.

Matsuri just smiled.

"It will someday" she said.

"No, not really." said Tenten, obviously annoyed, "I can't see what you guys are saying. I really don't."

Ino whined exasperatedly.

"Come one Ten-chan! He's helped you more than once; he's caught you more than once! And you two look good together!" she concluded, throwing her hands up in the air and dancing.

Tenten grinned. Ino was such a spaz. It looked like she was doing some strange variation of a rain dance at the moment. Matsuri started cracking up and dancing with her.

"I think that's just how he is. He's an aristocrat, after all. His family's gone and he was just raised by his uncle so I'm sure he's grown up like that"

Sakura Ino and Matsuri paused for a while. Some of this could be possible but they all couldn't help but let their minds run on.

"Sure" Sakura said, flipping onto the bed. "When are the finals?"

Matsuri shrugged as she too let the subject go.

"I forget but we should go meet everyone"

Ino looked over to the clock. The one on the wall read 1:15.

"I must get ready" she said cheerfully before grabbing some stuff and locking herself in the bathroom.

"Oh no" groaned Sakura as she pounded on the door. "Don't take so long this time!"

"Long?" Ino asked innocently, placing a hand on her chest in mock surprise.

Matsuri sighed and joined Sakura.

" 2 hours last time Ino. We don't have that much time left"

Ino just answered by singing an extremely fast pop song. While the 3 fought over the bathroom, Hinata came to sit by Tenten. She set a bag of ice on the ankle and let it sit there.

"How's you're ankle now?" she asked kindly.

Tenten smiled. "I'm sure it'll be fine by tonight."

Hinata nodded.

"A-ano...Tenten...you see...Neji-nii-san..."

Hinata trailed off. Tenten looked up.

"Yes?" she asked.

Hinata put her fingers together nervously.

"Well...he...he changes when he's around you...and he's never told anyone about his parents...almost...none of the guys knew about it until a year ago...he told you so...he..."

Tenten blinked. He told her? Why? The brunette shook her head. She didn't care. She was sure of it. But was she? He was always so...different. She looked out the window and sighed. She didn't want to care. But now she found herself caring.

Damn it.

Neji walked down the hallway, a strange look o his face. It was a mixture of confusion, annoyance, and frustration. He shook his head and blinked rapidly. Maybe it was just a fever…because for some weird reason, he suddenly felt very hot. He reached the door to the guys' suite and knocked politely.

"Room service!" yelled a voice from inside.

The male Hyuuga facepalmed as he heard Naruto scrambling for the door. Several seconds later, it flew open.

"RAME-" the blonde yelled.

He stopped mid 'ramen' and paused, a look of disgust written all over his face. His face twisted with betrayal.

"You…" he said, pointing "…you disgust me!" he yelled, flinging himself on a bed.

Sasuke kicked Naruto in the side, narrowly missing Shikamaru who had been sleeping on the bed.

"Shut up!" he said, annoyed.

Shikamaru sat up suddenly and glared.

"Will you both shut the flipping hell up?" he yelled in a un-shikamaru-esque way.

The brunette slapped a hand to his forehead and fell back, grumbling about 'troublesome people'.

"What's up with him?" Gaara asked, coming out of the bathroom, steam trailing behind him.

Sasuke smirked as Naruto hurried to back away from the angered Nara. Neji closed the door behind him and ignored the urge to poke at Shikamaru.

"I dunno" he said.

Gaara shrugged and hung the towel over the back of chair as he shook his red hair out. Water droplets spattered the desk as well as Sasuke's laptop. The Uchiha jumped up and wiped them off, muttering about how sensitive it was. A loud ping echoed through the room and Gaara reached for his phone.

He clicked through the message and read it thoroughly, the area where his eyebrows were supposed to be, shooting up.

"Kakashi-sensei says that we need to be down in the lobby in 10 minutes or our asses will be walking back to Konoha in a few hours."

Shikamaru rose to a right angle. Naruto turned to stare weirdly at him as Sasuke sighed.

"Right" Neji said, grabbing his own phone and tucking it into his back pocket "Lets move"

THE GIRLS

"Ah!" Tenten yelled as her phone vibrated crazily.

It fell off its perch on a desk and Sakura had to lean over to retrieve it. She whipped it out of Tenten's reach and read the newest message.

"Whoa, Sasuke?" she asked, eyes still on the screen, face burning red.

Tenten lunged for her phone and wrenched it out of the pinkettes grasp.

"I see jealousy!" she sang, grinning maliciously.

She leaned over the screen and read the message.

From: Duckbutt

Kakashi-sensei says for all of us to meet him in the lobby.

Now.

Or else we're all screwed.

Matsuri read from over her shoulder, her eyes blinking worriedly.

"I hope it's nothing to big" she murmured.

"Same" declared Tenten, flipping her phone shut.

Ino emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and prepared.

"Let's go!" she said cheerfully, grabbing a jacket and heading for the door.

Sakura and Matsuri followed quickly, bickering about who was more of a ninja, Sasuke or Gaara, while Hinata helped Tenten. The brunette leaned heavily on the Hyuuga as she limped out into the hallway.

"Elevator!" she yelled, eyes flashing.

She jam-pushed the button until it came. It opened with a pleasant 'ding' and they all piled in. Ino pressed a button and a loud explosion made them all jump. Matsuri blinked happily and teetered back and forth. The next time Hinata pushed a button, another exploding sound erupted. This continued until they reached the first floor. Sakura fell out of the elevator, glad to escape the sound.

"Ya!"

The girl turned to see Naruto waving at them. Kakashi and the rest of AD were surrounding a table. Tenten could just barely see the pieces of paper overflowing from it.

"Hey" Ino said, smiling.

The others nodded in greeting, turning straight back to the situation at hand.

"Well that wasn't very nice" grumbled Sakura.

Kakashi waved the girls over with an impatient hand. He was dressed in jeans and a gray shirt, a white surgeon's mask covering his lower face. The girls crowded around him as he handed out papers to everyone.

"Okay" he said, putting his hands together "Everyone's here now. The thing is…that we've had some break ins at the smash off. So now they require papers to be filled out."

Tenten glanced at the papers in her hand. They looked complicated and bothersome. The guys were already all over the place, scribbling and filling in the blanks as fast as they could. Naruto was practically rolling while Neji bit the tip of his pen, deep in concentration. Shikamaru lazily flicked off whatever box he saw first and Sasuke stared intently at the words. Only Gaara was taking this calmly and seriously. He was the first to hand in his completed stack, Neji being a close second.

"What's the hurry?" Hinata asked.

Kakashi glanced down at the watch on his wrist.

"Well, you see...you've got about…15 minutes to fill it all out"

A silence filled the area as the girls deadpanned.

"Really?" Tenten asked, annoyed "Seriously?"

"Yes" Kakashi replied, 'duh' oozing off his voice.

They all grabbed pens and started filling the form out. Tenten started talking to herself as she wrote.

"Tenten…16…Konoha Boarding Academy…drummer…female…Ignorant Bliss…wait…town of origin?...er…Creeper!...hell no!"

Sakura stalked over to Kakashi, Ino and Matsuri close behind.

"How is this relevant to the smash off?" she demanded, pointing at the paper.

Kakashi shrugged.

"It's not. Just fill it out. 7 minutes girls."

They all got back to writing as Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto finished theirs. The guys wandered around for a while before a loud ringtone started playing.

" OH, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MORNING~"

Neji jumped as the sound of chirping birds and bells erupted from his phone.

Naruto cackled as he hurriedly pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Sorry!" he called back to the group of annoyed/amused people as he rushed out of the room.

Once he found an empty place, he brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Neji." Addressed a formal voice.

Neji froze. He knew that voice all too well. Too well for his liking. He coughed once before replying.

"Yes, Hiashi-sama. Is there something you need?"

Hiashi sighed, as if something was nagging at him.

"Neji, a situation has come up. I'm afraid that it involves you and your future."

Neji was confused. As long as his future didn't involve anything with Hyuuga Hiashi, he was fine. His voice took on a bitter tone as he spoke curtly.

"What is it?" he asked.

Hiashi's voice sounded strained when he replied.

"Neji, I know you're father wouldn't have wanted this. And I've tried to keep this future away from you as long as possible, but I can't avoid it anymore. "

"What?" Neji asked.

What would his father not have wanted? What the hell was Hiashi talking about? He actually sounded like he was stressed out. Stressed for Neji's sake. The Hyuuga Hiashi that Neji knew despised him and only seemed to care about social standing. Hiashi paused for a while.

"I hate to do this. I really do. But Neji. The time has come."

"Hiashi-sama…." Neji growled, getting annoyed.

Hiashi let out a sigh of defeat.

"Neji. When you return you'll have to meet your fiancé. Be prepared"

Review for the return of the plot bunnies. Reviews are their food, and they defected because they were starving. Thanks everyone.