Crimson Love


A.A.A. was a success! Yay!

Oh, yeah, Kage wanted me to put this in… The donut thing with Sasuke and Itachi was her thing, she just let me put it in there because I is her twin separated from birth, dammit! (Kenshin grin) (glomp) So she gets credit for that, Okies?

Someone (I forget who) told me to do a sequel for Apprentice… Hmm. I'm not sure about that. I love(d) writing Apprentice, I really did, but I don't want to drag it on and on until it loses the original story plot, you know? If I do get an inspiration for a sequel to that, I'll let you all know. But for now, there won't be a sequel… sorry if I disappointed anyone!

Oh yeah, I was watching eps. 120-something of Naruto, and you know what? Ukon's voice is SCARY! Like, yikes! I nearly fell off my seat! Totally not ready for that. You think Sakkon's voice is deep? No. Ukon's voice is even deeper. Esh. Oh well.

Speaking of the twins… Frequently Asked Question: Why is Ukon more popular in this fic? Well, it's kind of weird, actually. See, in Apprentice, he only got mentioned like, 4 times, and I felt bad, because he's such a cool character. Plus, Ukon has a crush/girlfriend/major role in the plot of this story, and his crush/girlfriend happens to be a main character. So yeah. That's why he's more popular now.

Actually… 'popular' isn't exactly the right term (although people are starting to say they like him more now)… 'Important' is more like it, ne?

P.S.: In honor of Valentine's Day (even tho that holiday sucks) I give you… A MUSHY CHAPTER!


Chapter Ten: Uncomfortable Positions

"I'm still a little confused," Sakura mused. She, Shizuka and Kimimaro were sitting on the floor of Shizuka's room, playing CLUE (Ukon left an hour ago to hang out with Sakkon because he thought he was being ignored by Sakura).

"About what?" Kimimaro asked, checking off Col. Mustard on his little sheet.

"Why's there so much security for you two? I mean, you're teenagers, right, can't you take care of yourselves?"

Shizuka and Kimimaro looked at each other, then at Sakura, then back at each other.

"If we tell you…" Shizuka said firmly.

"…You have to promise not to tell anyone," Kimimaro finished.

"Ok," Sakura promised, already interested.

"Come on, binding-forever pinky-swear," Shizuka said, holding out her pinky. Kimimaro extended his, as well, and Sakura locked both of her pinkies with theirs.

"Ok. Now that that's done." Kimimaro lowered his voice. "Shizuka's father, Orochimaru, is the owner of an international business shipping goods from foreign countries."

"Drugs," Shizuka finished casually.

"You're dr—!"

They both clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shh!" Shizuka hissed, glaring. "Listen! We had information that someone in our old house was going to try and other-throw us, so we moved here. The reason why Ukon and Sakkon and the others are all in my and Kimimaro's classes is because they need to protect us in case someone from one of the company's competition tries to kidnap me or Kimimaro in an attempt to get the deeds and rights to the company from Daddy, because Kimimaro is the heir and I'm Daddy's daughter, obviously, and righteous blackmail."

"So…" Sakura reasoned slowly, once they removed their hands from her mouth. "Ukon and Sakkon are like… your body guards?"

"Yes."

"And… you're part of an illegal dr—"

"We prefer the term 'unapproved by law'."

"…And… there are people out there who could be kidnapping you at any given moment?"

"That's basically accurate."

"…And you're going on dates with a freak like Itachi every five minutes?" Sakura shouted at Shizuka, causing the black-haired girl to jump. She was still a little peeved at Shizuka for getting her Ukon in trouble… Whoa, 'her Ukon'? Where did that come from?

"But now that you know, you can't tell anyone," Kimimaro added firmly. "Because if someone from one of the rival companies overhear you, Shizuka or I could get kidnapped and probably killed."

"Killed?" Sakura repeated, color draining from her face.

"Well, not really, but if it makes you be quiet, yeah, we will be," Shizuka said, nodding.

(Next morning)

Neji starred out the window of the car, watching the yellow lines on the street zoom by while his mom rattled.

"...And you be sure and behave yourself, alright?"

"Sure, Mom."

"That means be nice to the other kids."

"Sure, Mom."

"And be sure and call me when you get there, ok, honey?"

"Sure, Mom." What am I, like, four years old?

"Alright, then." She suddenly reached over and ruffled his hair, grinning hugely. "My little Neji, all grown up and going on dates!"

"Mom!" He ducked under her hand. "It's not a date!"

"Sure, it is."

"It's not!"

"Oh, I remember my first date," she said in a dreamy kind of voice.

"Eyes on the road, Mom!"

"It was with Kyushu Hyo. Oh, was he dreamy!"

"Ew… Mom…"

"What's that word you kids use now? Sexy?"

"Mom!" he shouted, feeling slightly ill. "Are you going to do this every time I go anywhere?"

"Oh, come on, honey, I'm just kidding."

"We're here," he said, looking outside and seeing Shizuka's house. Finally… His mom stopped the car next to the gates and he got out, going over to the intercom, pressing the button. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" the voice cackled over the speaker.

"Um… Hyuuga Neji? Shizuka's expecting me."

"Oh. Go on in."

"Thanks," Neji said as the gates rolled open.

"Oh, my, what a nice big house!"

Neji turned, eyes wide. "Mom! Who said you were coming?"

"You don't expect me to let my little boy run off with people I've never even met before, do you?" She grinned at him. "Let's go."

Neji groaned inwardly, silently cursing whatever god was so against him that they would will his mother, his mother, to follow him. He also cursed whoever had given him such a weird mom, too, while he was at it.

Instead of the normal doorman, Shizuka herself opened the door, sporting the usual sunglasses. "Hey, Neji!" She noticed his mom. "…And family!"

Trying not to look like he wished he was dead, Neji said, "This is my mom. Mom, this is Shizuka."

"Hi, Mrs. Neji's mom," Shizuka said, her grin widening at the agonized look Neji had on.

"Hi, honey, dear." Neji's mom smiled, taking the hand Shizuka offered. "Aren't you a cute one?"

"Um… thanks?" Shizuka tried to pull her hand away, but Neji's mom wouldn't let her.

"You are a cute one!" Neji's mom bubbled. "Isn't she a cute one, Neji honey?"

"Mom!"

"Hi, Mrs. Hyuuga," Sakura said, coming up behind Shizuka.

"Oh, hi, Sakura honey, how are you?" Mrs. Hyuuga asked, forgetting about Shizuka for a moment. Shizuka took the time to snatch her hand back. "Oh, your hair looks so cute like that, Sakura honey!"

"Thank you." Sakura smiled. She'd known Neji's mom for a while, having seen her when she visited Hinata. She hadn't changed at all.

"Ok, bye Mom, we have to get going," Neji said hurriedly, pushing his mom towards the gate again.

"Ok, honey, have a good time!" Mrs. Hyuuga waved energetically, heading back to her car.

Shizuka raised an eyebrow at Neji once she was gone. "That's your mom?"

"Isn't she great?" Sakura asked with a grin.

"Oh, shut up," Neji said coldly, crossing his arms huffily.

"Oh, come on, Neji, you're mom's cool!" Sakura protested. "A lot cooler then my mom, anyway."

"You enjoy torturing me, don't you?"

"'Course I do, Neji honey."

"Shut up!"

"Did you bring your baby pictures?" Shizuka asked curiously.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes." He showed them the photo album he had under one arm. The two girls squealed and snatched it up, running away down the hall with it. Neji grimaced, shoving his hands in his pockets and following them towards Shizuka's room. When he got there, they were already sitting in the chair, looking through the album and giggling to themselves.

"You were so cute, Neji!" Sakura cried, pointing to a picture of a big-eyed, black haired boy starring up at the camera curiously.

"Ooo! I had one of those!" Shizuka pointed to a stuffed bunny Neji was holding in one of the pictures. "Except mine wasn't so dirty. Didn't you ever wash yours?"

He glared at them. "Please die."

"Now, is that nice?" Shizuka asked, shaking her finger at him, rebuking.

"Is what nice?" Kimimaro asked curiously, coming in Shizuka's room carrying an armload of sweaters and other thick clothing. "Orochimaru wants you guys to wear these," he added, dropping them on Shizuka's bed. He, too, was wearing extra warm clothes, with a sweater and turtle neck shirt. "Hi, Neji."

"Hey."

"Don't you dare even think about coming in here," Shizuka said coldly, going in the walk-in closet with Sakura and the clothes.

"Like we'd want to?" Neji asked, scoffing. After they closed the door to the closet, he pulled uncomfortably at his turtle neck. His mom hadn't let him set foot out of the house without making sure he had on both a hoodie, a turtle neck shirt and long, warm pants. He knew he'd appreciate the warm clothing once they got to the rink, but right at the moment, he was boiling.

"You can take your hoodie off," Kimimaro pointed out, noticing Neji's obvious discomfort, "and just put it back on when we get there."

"Yeah." Neji pulled his arms in the hoodie and pulled it over his head, careful not to mess up his hair, which he'd tied back Legolas-style.

"Are they ready yet?" Ukon asked grumpily, sticking his head in the room.

"They just started changing." Kimimaro pointed to the closet.

The older boy grumbled something about needing coffee as he walked away. Definitely not a morning person, Neji mused, sitting down on the chair.

A few minutes later, Ukon came back with a rather large mug of black coffee. "Are they ready yet?" he asked, but in a much more sane voice.

Kimimaro shook his head, not taking his eyes off the manga he was reading.

Ukon rolled his eyes, going over to the closet door and rapping his knuckles on it. "Come on, seriously, everyone is ready but you two!" he called into the closet.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're ready," Shizuka snapped, opening the closet door. "Jeez. Go get some more coffee, grump."

"One 'yeah' is enough," he muttered, taking a swig of his coffee. "Are you sure you'll be warm enough? There is going to be ice there, you know. That means 'coldness'."

Shizuka glared, putting her hands on her hips. Both girls were dressed in thick sweaters (Shizuka in red and Sakura in pink) and had on jeans (Shizuka in black and Sakura in blue). "We have scarves and things to put on later!" she snapped, showing him that she did, indeed, have a pair of scarves, one of which she promptly gave to Sakura.

"Ok, fine." Ukon gave his nod of approval at the attire, then added, "Bring coats just in case."

"Neji, I didn't know you could skate," Sakura said, throwing the scarf around her neck.

"I'm starting now."

"…You can't skate." Shizuka raised an eyebrow. (You know how limited her damn expressions are because of those sun glasses? Esh…)

"Nope."

"Then why did you agree to come?" Kimimaro asked curiously.

Neji instantly repressed a blush that they all saw, and muttered quickly, "Didn't feel like sitting around all day."

(That means he wanted to spend the day with Shizuka, duh!) Sakura smirked at him, pulling on her shoes.

"Are we all ready yet?" Ukon snapped. He seemed rather grumpy. He quickly drained the coffee. "Ah. Ok, I'm awake. Are you all ready?" he ended in a different tone. (Ah, the magic of coffee…)

"Yeah, we're ready now." Shizuka, totally used to his morning mood swings, threw her scarf over her shoulder and she led the group down the hall to the foyer, where Kidoumaru, Tayuya and Sakkon were waiting for them. (Jiroubou's not there because… yeah. He's a useless character. I can't think of any scenes to put him in.)

Instead of riding in the limos, like usual, everyone crammed into a nine-seating mini-black van so they could all travel together. Ukon sat in the driver's seat, Sakura sat in the passenger seat, Kimimaro, Shizuka and Neji sat in the middle row with Shizuka between them, and Kidoumaru, Sakkon and Tayuya sat in the back seat.

"Rammstien!" was the general outcry from the back seat as they set off down the road.

"No!" Shizuka shouted at once, reaching forward and grabbing the CD out of Ukon's hand before he could put it in. "I am so sick of Rammstien!"

"Eh…" Ukon gestured for Sakura to look through the CDs so he could focus on the road. She got out the CDs and spread them on her lap, looking through them and reading the titles.

"Coal Chamber?"

"No."

"Marilyn Manson?"

"Nah. He gets old after a while."

"Adema?"

"Nah. I only like one of their songs."

"System of a Down?"

"YES!" everyone in the car instantly shouted, causing her to jump.

"Told you System of a Down rocks," Ukon pointed out as Sakura put the CD in.

(At the Ice skating rink)

"Eight, please," Sakura said, after doing a head-count. The guy at the counter gave her eight wrist bands and tickets for the skate counter, and she handed them out. "We pick up our skates over there," she explained, having known the place well from being there when the rink was used as a soccer field for one of Neji's indoor games.

"This was a bad idea," Neji said as soon as he had his skates on and was on the ice.

"Oh come on, skating is fun!" Shizuka cried, skating in a half-circle around him as he clung to the wall like it was the only thing between him and certain death.

"I liked this place better when it was a soccer field."

"Come on, let go!" She pulled at one of his arms. "A fifteen year old of any gender clinging to a wall is just pathetic!"

"I'd rather be pathetic then die."

"Skating won't kill you! It's cardiovascular!"

"I don't care. I'm not doing it."

"Oh, yes you are," she snapped, giving an almighty pull on his arm, yanking him off the wall and pulling him into the middle of the rink.

"Eep!" He instantly fell to his knees, clamping down on her waist to keep from falling completely, starring at the ice like it was hell on earth.

"Hey!" She tried to pry him off, since she was losing her balance.

"Don't you dare!" he cried, tightening his grip.

"NEJI? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Oh god… please not…

Lee suddenly appeared at Neji and Shizuka's side, wearing a green turtle neck and green jeans (Dude… do they even make green jeans?). "Why are you clinging to Shizuka-san like your life depended on it?" Lee asked curiously.

"Because," Neji snapped, glaring up at Lee. "I… am going… to die!"

"Well, this is rather sudden, why's that?" Lee asked as TenTen skated up.

"Hi, Neji!" TenTen cried, waving.

"How many of you are actually here?" Neji asked, looking agonized.

"Well," Lee said thoughtfully, "Originally, TenTen and I were going to come here by ourselves, because, obviously, exercise is more important then life. But then, TenTen called Ino, who called Sasuke, who called Naruto, who called everyone we know, so, basically, everyone's here except Hinata, who can't skate. Why?"

Oh god… more people to witness…

"Let go of him!" TenTen cried at Shizuka. "You're scaring him!"

"Who's got who, exactly?" Shizuka countered angrily.

"It's ok, TenTen, I—"

"No, it's not ok!" TenTen interrupted, pulling on Neji's arm. "Come on, I'll teach you to skate!" (Note: SNG really hates TenTen)

"What makes you think you can teach him better then I could?" Shizuka snapped, putting a hand on Neji's arm around her waist to keep him there for the time-being.

"Says me!" TenTen countered, glaring.

"Oh really?" Shizuka growled.

"Yes, really!"

"You wanna race?" Shizuka pushed Neji out of the way.

"Yeah!" TenTen snapped.

"Ok, let's go!" Shizuka got ready to race.

"SHIZUKA, IF YOU DON'T CATCH ME, I'M GONNA FALL!" Neji shrieked, waving his arms frantically in an attempt to regain his balance.

Shizuka-.-'

Meanwhile, across the rink, Ukon was having much more success with teaching Sakura to skate next to him. However, she was not at all at ease when she didn't have a death-grip on his hand (note he's not complaining).

…Actually, he wasn't having any success at all, since she just sort of stood there, pigeon-toed, letting him pull her.

"Don't keep your feet so close together," he ordered. "If you do, you'll just topple over like a lolly-pop."

"Yes, but you're not going to let me fall because you're not going to let go, are you?" she said threateningly, through chattering teeth.

He smirked at her. "No, I'm not going to let go," he reassured her.

"HIYA, ALPHA-KUN!" Sakkon shouted, zooming past with Kidoumaru.

"Huh?" Ukon looked down at the empty space that had once been Sakura. He looked up.

Groan.

Sakkon and Kidoumaru, obviously thinking that Sakura had become a pro in a matter of a few seconds, had each grabbed one of Sakura's hands and were skating at top-speed down the rink.

Oh, man. Ukon groaned, skating after them. After he finally caught up with them, he plucked the traumatized Sakura out of their hands and clamped her under one arm. "Don't ever fuckin' do that again," he said coldly. They just shrugged and skated off to do the same thing to Tayuya. "Let's go get some hot chocolate," he suggested guiltily to Sakura, who nodded, ready for any reason to get off the ice and away from the Ice-skaters From Hell.

"I guess it'd be kind of stupid to ask if you were having a good time yet." Ukon asked, once they were sitting at a table with a hot chocolate each.

"No, no, I am," she reassured him, sipping the hot chocolate. "You know," she said thoughtfully, blowing the steam off the hot liquid. "I don't really know that much about you."

"Well, I'm not exactly a fountain of knowledge about you, either."

"Well, you answer my questions, and I'll answer yours," she said, grinning.

He smirked, sipping his hot chocolate. "Ok. What do you want to know?"

"I already know about your job," she said, giving him a pointed look to which he raised an eyebrow. "I want to know, like, where were you born, how long have you known Shizuka and Orochimaru-san, things like that."

"I see. So this is story time, then."

"Yes, and don't you dare leave anything out," she ordered. "You don't have to worry about my feelings or anything, if there's anymore ex-girlfriends, and I know you remember your mom, so don't leave her out, either."

Something moved behind his eyes, but Ukon repressed it, grinning. "Ok, I see." He took another sip of hot chocolate, thinking for a moment, as if contemplating where to begin. "I was born in Mizukagura (1)," he began, starring off into space. "Sakkon and I were my parents' only children, so we were pretty much pampered. When we were four, my parents sent us off to nursery school. It was just a block away from our house, and everyone in the town knew each other, so they let us walk home by ourselves."

Sakura watched as a sudden, small smile formed in his face as he remembered.

"We had little uniforms," he said, grinning. "Kind of like a sailor's. We had weird, stupid collars and little scarf-bows. Sakkon has a picture somewhere. Anyway, one day in about mid-March, we were walking home, and I smelled smoke. I was only four at the time, of course, but I'd poked candle flames enough to know the smoke is bad. I told Sakkon to wait there while I went to see what was wrong, but of course, he wasn't going to stand for that, so I tied him to a tree with my scarf and went to go see what was wrong. When I got to the house, everything was burning."

He paused for a moment, starring down at his hands around his cup. Sakura reached across the table and touched his fingers, not sure what she was supposed to do, since he was obviously struggling inside. He tensed slightly, then let her slip her hand into his palm.

"I couldn't find my dad," he said softly, his eyes in shadow. "I'm not sure he was even in the house. I found my mom, though… her lower body was… crushed under a beam that had fallen in the fire… I tried to pull it off her, but I was too little…"

He lifted his palms upright to show her, his eyes still cast down. She looked accordingly, and noticed, for the first time, like pink burn scars on the finger and palm pads of his hand. Oh… where the beam burned him…

"She told me to get out, before I got burned, too…" Ukon continued. "But I didn't want to leave her, so she made me make her a promise…"

"To protect Sakkon," Sakura finished, watching Sakkon and Kidoumaru skate in circles around Tayuya, who was steaming at the ears.

He nodded. "I knew how important it was to her, and I knew she wanted me to go so I wouldn't get hurt, so I ran outside before the house could collapse, and I got Sakkon from the tree and we went over a neighbor's house. They only have one daughter, a little older then us, so they let us stay for a few months until my mother's will was found. In it, she said something about Orochimaru-sama, I forget what, so our neighbors helped us find him, and he agreed to take us in, even though he didn't even really know us."

Maybe Orochimaru does have his good sides, Sakura contemplated, her fingers running over the burn marks on his palms.

"He explained to us at an early age, just after he adopted Kimimaro, and after Shizuka-sama was born, that he wanted us to protect them, in exchange for him keeping us there. We agreed, since we decided that was fair, and he started teaching us stuff, like martial arts and how to shoot. He even taught us a little kendo, in case we would need it. Over a year or so, Tayuya and Kidoumaru and Jiroubou came, too, and Orochimaru-sama told them the same thing he told us: if we protect Shizuka-sama and Kimimaro, he'll let us stay. So, obviously, we all worked hard together, and eventually become friends, more or less."

"When did he start… you know…?"

"Oh." He starred intently at his hot chocolate. "That started when I was about nine."

"What happened?"

"We were at school," he explained. "Elementary school. Tayuya, Kidoumaru, Jiroubou, Sakkon and I were in fourth grade and Shizuka-sama and Kimimaro were in kindergarten. All the classes were on the playground for recess, and Shizuka-sama, Kimimaro, Sakkon and I were playing in the sand box, and a fifth grade came over and started picking on Shizuka-sama."

"Why would he pick on Shizuka?" she asked, wondering who in their right mind would pick on Shizuka, regardless of age.

"Her eyes," Ukon answered, looking up at her for the first time, pointing to his own left eye. "They're different. Kids made fun of her for it. You'll have to ask her. Anyway, Shizuka-sama is not one to take something like that lying down, as we both know, so, of course, she had to fight him. But she was only five, and I was nine, so I figured I had to step in for her, because I was supposed to protect her. So, I pulled Shizuka-sama out of the fight and went in myself, but when I was throwing her away, she hit her head on the sand box and got knocked unconscious."

Sakura winced, as people normally do when they picture themselves in that kind of situation.

"We took her to the nurse, and she regained consciousness, but of course, Orochimaru-sama found out from Shizuka-sama, who thought it was cool, but, of course, Orochimaru-sama didn't think it was cool at all." Ukon put a hand over his forehead, starring down at the table, and was silent for a few minutes.

"What did he do?" Sakura asked steadily, taking his other hand in both of hers. "I know he did something."

"Sticks," was all Ukon said, not looking at her.

Her jaw dropped. "He hit you with a stick?"

He nodded.

"How big was it?"

"…." He used his index finger and thumb to make a circle about as big as an American quarter.

"Oh, Ukon…" She went around the table to sit in the empty seat next to his, rubbing his back gently while he remained in a choked silence for a while longer, until he was ready to talk again.

"After that, everything just started becoming my fault for some reason," he continued. "Everyone else's mistakes would somehow get piled up on me, even if I wasn't involved. If Tayuya and Kidoumaru messed up in gun practice, it was my fault because I didn't help them. If Shizuka-sama or Kimimaro got in trouble in class, it was my fault for not being five years old and being there. Just like when Shizuka-sama went on a date with Uchiha, it was my fault for letting her go."

"What about these?" Sakura held up his wrist, showing the thin cuts.

"Oh…" He looked down at them with a grimace. "When I was thirteen, I started to…"

"Cut yourself," she ended, looking at the thin little cuts. (2)

He nodded. "I didn't want to tell you before, because… well, I thought you'd think it was dangerous. Which it is, that's why I'm trying to stop."

"Why are these ones a little fresher?" She pointed to a few scars on the side of his wrist.

"Uh… well, sometimes, when I get hit, I cut myself, so, that day when you first came over, I had cut myself when I got back to my room."

"Why do you do it?" she asked, since the procedure didn't really make sense to her.

"It's supposed to focus emotional pain on physical pain," he explained. "I highly recommend you never start."

"What kind of emotional pain?"

"…Well, it's kind of hard to explain," he said, looking a little uncomfortable. "Sometimes, I have nightmares, so I do it then."

Sakura blushed furiously as he reached around her, putting an arm around her shoulders and holding her against him, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"But for the past few nights, I've had the best sleep I've had in years," he said softly. "So thank you."

"For what?" I didn't do anything…

"For being there," he answered. "For taking care of me when I was hurt. I've never been able to tell anyone this stuff, and I'm glad it's you I can tell."

"Y-You're welcome…"

They sat in a rather comfortable silence for a while, disturbed only by shouts from the rink and the sound of peaceful breathing and the sipping of hot chocolate. Then, after about twenty minutes, Ukon turned to her, smiling, and said, "Ok, do you want to try again with skating? I promise it's not that hard."

She nodded as he stood up, and took the hand he offered. They hadn't taken off their skates to get the drinks, so she had some difficulty moving around, but, of course, he helped her.

(Meanwhile)

"I'm going to sit over here and rest, ok?" Neji waved Shizuka away. She'd tried for the past fifteen minutes to teach him to skate, and so far, he could go forward slowly without falling. Stopping was still a problem, but that's what the wall was there for, so he skated over to the wall, slamming against it, and inched his way to the nearest door thing. After that, he collapsed on the nearest table and got ready for a possible nap.

"Neji!"

Never mind. "Yes, TenTen?" He looked up as she slid across the tile floor on her skates.

"Neji," she said again, blushing furiously and looking away, her hands behind her back.

"Yes."

"Would you… um… w-would you l-like to… you know… go out with me sometime…?"

"…."

"I know this seems sudden, but it really isn't," she said quickly, her blush deepening.

"…."

"It's just, I've had this crush on your since, like, first grade, and since we're actually kind of alone for once now, I just had to—"

"Sorry."

TenTen dragged to a stop, starring. "W-What?"

Neji sat at the table, slumping over and resting his chin on his arms. "You're a nice friend and everything, but I'd like to keep it that way. As friends."

Her look of shock turned into a glare. "You like that Shizuka girl, don't you?" she snapped. (I hate it when girls do this, it's so annoying… just take 'no' and leave!)

He gave her a blank look.

TenTen scoffed, putting her hands on her hips and looking away for a second. "Fine," she snapped, turning to glare at him again. "You go ahead and like that freak. See if I care."

Obviously, you already do, he thought absently, not bothering to look at her anymore. He figured talking back would be pointless now, which it was.

He was spared having to answer any annoying questions, however, as she suddenly made an "ohh!" sound and stormed away towards the rink again.

Women should burn, he thought, before contemplating whether or not he should go get some hot chocolate. Deciding he shouldn't, since he would probably fall, he settled down for a nap.

(Afterwards)

The contents of the car were silent as they drove home at about six in the evening. Ukon didn't play any music, since Shizuka, Kimimaro, Sakkon, Tayuya and Sakura were all asleep.

Actually, if one were to look in the back seats of the car, one would have the uncontrollable urge to go "awww…" In the very back seat, Kidoumaru sat in the middle, with Tayuya and Sakkon both sleeping peacefully with their heads on his shoulders, and he himself was nodding off. In the middle seat, Neji sat by the window, starring out at the dark sky (Note: It's September, so the sky gets darker faster), with Shizuka asleep on his shoulder and Kimimaro asleep on Shizuka's shoulder. Sakura, meanwhile, had fallen asleep with her head against the glass of the side window.

"That was a date," Ukon told Neji, the only other conscious person in the car.

"What?" Neji snapped out of a daze to turn to look at him. "Oh, we all knew you and Sakura had a date, don't worry."

"I'm not talking about me and Sakura, I'm talking about you and Shizuka-sama."

…Pause. "What?"

"Well, she asked you to come, and you two spent the better part of nine hours together. I think that counts as a date, don't you?"

"Kimimaro was always there," Neji said defensively.

Ukon gave him a look.

"It's not a date!" Neji hissed, so as not to wake the other people in the car.

"Sure. Ich weiß, dass Sie geheim verliebt in Fräulein Shizuka sind, Sie Idiot." (T: I know you're secretly in love with Shizuka-sama, you idiot.)

"What?"

"Nothing."

(When they got to Shizuka's house)

"I'm guessing you had a good time," Orochimaru said from where he was waiting patiently for them in the foyer.

"Yes, indeedy," Shizuka said through a yawn as her cell phone rang. "Hang on," she said as everyone else came in a zombie-like state. She took out her phone. "Hello? …Now? You… Ok… Ok… Ok! Fine." She hung up.

"Who was that?" Orochimaru asked curiously.

"No one, just a friend from school," she answered, turning to Neji, who, besides Ukon, was the only one more then half awake. "Neji, can I go over your house and work on my English homework?"

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow. "We can do it—"

Stomp. She glared at him.

"Uh… sure… ok." Still a little confused at exactly why she had to do the homework over his house, he shrugged, biting back the pain shooting up from his foot.

"Be back by eleven, alright, Shizuka?" Orochimaru said as Ukon headed to his truck with Neji and Sakura. "Or until Neji's parents tell you to leave. Then call Ukon and have him pick you up."

"Ok, bye, Daddy," she said, giving him a quick hug and running towards the truck.

"Call your mom and say you have a ride," Ukon said, giving Sakura his phone.

"Oh, yeah." She shook herself awake enough to dial her home phone number. "Hi, Mom? …Yeah I had fun… Yeah… You haven't left to pick me up, have you? …Oh yeah I forgot to give you those… Well, don't worry, I have a ride, I— Shut up, Mom… Just… Ok, bye." Rolling her eyes, she gave the phone back. "My mom's a dork. Gee whiz."

"Ha ha ha!" Shizuka said mockingly, pointing at her from the back seat.

Sakura smirked and threw her sweater (she has a shirt on underneath) and scarf at her.

(At Hyuuga House)

"I don't see why you had to come over my house to study," Neji said with a frown as Ukon pulled away.

She scoffed at him, pulling off her sweater and scarf. Underneath, she had a red tank top and black fishnet shirt. "Don't be stupid," she told him, getting out her cell phone and dialing a number.

"Then why are you here?" he asked, his imagination running away with him for a few minutes.

"Shh!" she ordered, waving him be silent. "Hello? 'Chi-san? Yeah I'm at Neji's, come pick me up. Ok, bye."

Neji's jaw dropped. "You!" he cried, pointing at her accusingly.

She looked at him. "What?"

"You're going to go out with him again, aren't you!"

"Yeah?"

"And you're just using me as an excuse so your dad won't wonder where you are!"

"And your point was?"

"Who do you think you are?" he cried, wishing he could just strangle something.

"Oh, please." She rolled her eyes. "Look, if my dad calls, just tell him I'm in the bathroom or something, ok?"

"I'm not going to do that! I'm going to tell him you're with that asshole!"

"I'll pay you if you want."

"No! You think money will make my conscious not bite me in the ass for letting you go somewhere with him, alone?"

"Yes," she said, as if he were stupid, as a car pulled into the street before the house.

"Come on, love," Itachi called, rolling down the window. He was driving a red Firebird this time, since his other car was probably in the shop after Neji's little disagreement with it.

Shizuka sighed at Neji's death glare at Itachi. "Look, just please do this just this once? For me?" she begged. "I promise it'll never happen again."

Neji glared at her for a few minutes, then sighed angrily and said, "Fine. Just this once, alright?"

She nodded vigorously, backing away towards the car. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, putting her hands together and bowing with every 'thank you'. "Most wonderful, divine, glorious, magnificent, amazing, astonishing, astounding, beguiling, cool, egregious, enigmatic, extraordinary, fabulous, fantastic, fascinating, groovy, heavenly, incomprehensible, incredible, indescribable, marvelous, miraculous, peachy, phenomenal, sensational, signal, splendid, splendiferous, stupefying, stupendous, super, superexcellent, superfine, superior, swell, terrific, unparalleled, unprecedented, unspeakable, wondrous Neji!"

"Just go," he said angrily, walking back towards his house, turning his back to her. He heard the car door close, followed by laughter and the sound of said car driving away. Dammit! he thought angrily, trying to ignore the ache in his chest.


Yay! Finally done! Ok, review responses… Yikes… 17… ok hang on… sigh.

RedLotusNin and IceHunterNin: (hands over Kimi plushie) I tried to put the other characters in this chapter a bit more… I promise they'll come in later, ok? And yeah, it'd be funny for Ukon to check out the 'competition'. Lol. I don't personally like Hanabi, since she took Hinata's place as the heir in the manga… sigh. Oh well. I like writing her in this (torturing Neji rocks!)

Riyo Shiban: (hands over Kimi plushie) Gaara will make an entrance when they get back to school! Don't worry! Ok? Kamikaze is based on my step dad's cat, Thumper. Lol, he's such a lazy cat, that he is.

xl-twisted-lx: (hands over Kimi plushie) Yes! Fast up-dating rocks! Lol, ty.

Inusaiyan: (hands over Kimi plushie) Neji rocks! (glomp)

AlphaC: (hands over Kimi plushie) S.O.A.D. OWNS, DAMMIT! What, you never heard of them? You suck. Lol, j/k.

Kie-san: (hands over Kimi plushie) Yes! Ukon and Sakura are finally together! Yay! Well… not really finally, since it's only the tenth chapter but… yeah. Lol. Uh… not sure how to comment on the rest of the review, you kinda lost me, but my Yahoo messenger ID is sand (underscore) nin (underscore) gurl. It'd be cool to talk to you! Lol.

Crazytreeotaku: (hands over Kimi plushie) Gaara owns… sometimes. Neji is my fav character, tho. Lol. DEATH TO YAMIKO! (stab stab stab)

Mika: (hands over Kimi plushie) O.o SNG-sama…? Hm, it could catch on. BTW, my e-mail changed, go see my profile to get the new one… e-mails don't show up here. Sob.

Jazzy Uchiha: (hands over Kimi plushie) Ok.

xl-black-tears-lx: (hands over Kimi plushie) Wow another xl person… what's that stand for? Oh well, anyway, ty!

Jasmine: you reviewed three times… oh well, more for me!

Jazzywolf: reviewing three times won't get you three plushies, you know.

Sten: (hands over Kimi plushie) Don't worry… Sakura will do… something. My imagination exploded when I read your review. Ty.

Ginka: (hands over Kimi plushie) You printed it? Wow. Ok. Let me know how big it gets, ok? I is curious! (Like, what size of binder does it fill up or whatever if you put it in a binder) I should print my stories and put 'em all in a big binder, that I shoulder… oh well. Too lazy.

Dragonman180: (starts to hand over Kimi plushie) Er… do you want one? I mean, I know you're a guy, so… yeah… Anyway… Neji shall get his revenge, dammit! I have embarrassing photos of myself, too, alas. My mom says she's going to show them to all my boyfriends (she hasn't yet, so I'm good). Orochi is a baka! Lol.

Hinata's Biggest Fan Boy: Uh… Here's a Hinata plushie. (gives) Nothing whitty to say? Ha ha! (point and laugh!)

Yay! All done (sits back and takes deep, cleansing breaths)

Oh, yeah, those note thingies…

1. Sakkon and Ukon's former village in the manga isn't made clear, but I had a thought. Remember in vol. 2, when those two Mist Nin assassins snuck up on Kakashi and cut him up? Well, it sort of looked like they were of the same body, so I thought, "Oi, Sakkon and Ukon's think must be a Bloodline Limitation thing, right, so what if those two had it, too?" and so I made Sakkon and Ukon be from the Mist village (sorry if I spelled it wrong, I couldn't find the right word). Just my opinion…

2. CUTTING IS WRONG! It does NOT work, it is a totally almost fatal procedure! Ukon makes it very clear that cutting is a harmful and dangerous thing to do. If you have a problem with cutting, or know someone who does, talk to a school counselor, and try to help that person before something very serious happens to them!

Ok, now I'm done.