Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
7 Days, Come What May
Chapter XXV: Bachelor and Bachelorette Corner
"…Did I ever tell you that I liked your hair?" Ten Ten remarked, her nimble fingers busy braiding Neji's hair.
"…Yea…you did, tons of times…But I still don't understand why you like braiding it so much, just because you like it," came Neji's blank reply.
The two were sitting on Neji's bed in the room that he shared with Lee and Shino. Since Lee and Shino weren't there, Ten Ten and Neji had the room to themselves.
"Aww, come on…it looks cute, actually," Ten Ten pouted a little. "…What do you say we go down and chill at the springs after this?"
The Hyuuga nodded, unaware that Ten Ten had tied a pink ribbon to the end of the braid.
"Sure…" his voice had a perverted tint to it.
Ten Ten recognized the Hyuuga's perverted tone it immediately. Truth be told, she didn't mind it much when he wanted some making-out done, but…
"Don't even think about it Neji…" she said trying to keep her voice even. "…Especially after practically everyone witnessing that we were…doing that…"
Neji turned around a little to look at his girlfriend.
"I don't remember that being a problem, Ten Ten," he said.
"What! But, I just saw you go a bit red in the face when you discovered that they were spying on us!" she sounded exasperated.
The Hyuuga now shrugged.
"Now that I think about it, I'm not that embarrassed any more…" he replied her coolly.
Ten minutes later, the two found themselves at the Hot Springs. To Neji's ultimate dismay, the rest of the gang was also chilling in the pool. He had secretly been hoping for the pool to be empty, so he could do some fun, intimate stuff with his girlfriend…
"Cheer up, Neji!" Ten Ten nudged him in the side and smiled.
"What? Do I look sad to you or something?" Neji didn't want Ten Ten to know what he was thinking.
However, it was highly unlikely that Ten Ten didn't know what the Hyuuga was thinking. After all, they'd been teammates since forever.
"Whatever, Neji…" she laughed a little. "Let's get in the pool!"
The save himself all the dignity that he had left, he just nodded and followed her in.
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On the other side of the pool, eyeing them was Shino. He had by now given up on trying to hit on Ten Ten, not that he was really sad or bitter about it anyway. He couldn't really care less. His brief attention with her before was more or less entirely because of the bikini she was wearing that other time. Unknown to the bug-guy, Lee was also watching Shino very carefully. Apparently, the Green Beast of Konoha still didn't seem to trust the bug-guy. Lee thought that Ten Ten was best off with Neji.
On the other side of Lee sat Ino, and next to her sat Chouji. Kiba and Kankurou were also relatively close in that area. Lee, (being observative as he was), noticed a pattern in the places where people sat in the pool. Couples were sitting together, and, well, singles were huddled over at this side of the pool, where he was. For a brief moment, the thought crossed Lee's mind that he must really be pathetic, but he brushed it away quickly.
However, Lee was not the only one that noticed the obvious pattern in of sitting in the pool.
"…We're in the bachelors' corner over here…" Kiba spoke up (he was sitting in front of Lee).
Lee could here a barely detectable hopeless sigh from the dog-boy.
"Yea, and bachelorette…" Ino added, hearing Kiba's remark.
"Shame," Kankurou added, although his eyes were still glued to every movement Shikamaru was making near Temari.
By now, everyone in the 'bachelor's corner' seemed to have been tuned in to the conversation. On the back of each and every one of the bachelors' (or bacherlorette)'s minds, there sprouted a little feeling of pity for themselves. It really didn't help them, seeing four successful couples sitting here right in front of them…
First, they could see Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was in a white bikini, trying very hard to strike an interesting conversation with the Uchiha. Sasuke occasionally replied the pink-haired girl, but never once looking her in the eye. The Uchiha looked a little redder in the face than usual. It kind of looked like he was trying to convince himself that, no, Sakura didn't look cute in a bikini and no, he didn't like the fact that she was talking to him…but obviously, he was failing quite miserably. From time to time, the Uchiha stole glances at his newfound girlfriend (although over in the bachelors' corner, nobody knew that they were a couple yet), only to turn away rather quickly. Sakura didn't really seem to notice any of this, she was just happy with occasionally striking a successful conversation with him.
Then, they could see Naruto and Hinata. They hadn't announced yet that they were officially a couple, but everyone (with the exception of Hyuuga Neji) had a slight hunch that they would soon, seeing as they'd never seen Naruto been this intimate (or as intimate as he could be) with the Hyuuga heir before. Naruto was currently telling random jokes to the Hyuuga girl, with her blushing and laughing occasionally. As everyone from the bachelors' corner watched, now Naruto whispered something in Hinata's ear. She looked slightly worried for a second, but then a determined look came to her face and she nodded confidently. A moment later, Naruto stood up.
"Hey, everyone! I, as the birthday boy, have something to announce!" he blonde said loudly.
"What is it, dobe?" Sasuke said in a cold voice (although he looked slightly relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with looking at Sakura in a bikini any longer…).
"Shut up, idiot!" Naruto said to Sasuke. "I, for once, have something you don't have now."
The Uchiha raised his eyebrows.
"…And what might that be?"
"Well, I'm going to announce that," here, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her to stand up (which she did rather sheepishly). "I now, have a girlfriend. Me and Hinata-chan are now a couple."
The fox-boy stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha. Neji's eyes practically popped out of his head.
"…That's it, dobe?" Sasuke didn't seem a bit fazed.
The Uchiha was not one to give up to his lifetime rival.
"…And, what makes you think that you had a girlfriend before I did?" Sasuke retorted, his voice icier than ever.
At this, Naruto's eyes widened. "WHAT! DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME—"
"Yea, I do mean that, dobe," Sasuke smirked.
Naruto looked absolutely shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered.
"I don't believe you, you idiot! Show me the proof!"
The Uchiha continued to smirk.
"See this annoying girl sitting over here next to me, dobe? Well, that's my girlfriend," Sasuke shot but a ferocious look back at Naruto.
The rivals seemed to have forgotten all about the people around them.
"Hey!" Sakura cried out, protesting against being called 'annoying girl'.
"HAH! See over there, idiot? You really don't have a girlfriend! You're just too afraid of losing to me, so you just randomly point to Sakura and say that she's your girlfriend!" Naruto shouted, a triumphant grin on his face.
"Shut up, dobe!" Sasuke was looking more and more pissed very moment.
"HAHAHAHAHA! You can't even prove to me that Sakura is your girlfriend! You loser!" Naruto taunted.
"Fine, you want proof, dobe? I'm gonna give you proof, and stick it up your ass," Sasuke said angrily, and yanked Sakura close to him.
He gave her the angriest, most forceful, and hot French kiss ever. In front of the whole audience. Sakura was shocked. Naruto was mortified. Everyone stared. After something about like 30 seconds, the Uchiha let go of Sakura.
"…See that, dobe? That's the stupid proof you want," the Uchiha smirked, half over his triumph over Naruto, and half over Sakura's burning face.
"Whatever, idiot! I bet I got Hinata-chan before you did!"
"Don't make me laugh, dobe—"
"STOP. RIGHT. THERE," a dangerous voice said.
Naruto and Sasuke turned their heads to see Neji, who had now stood up.
"Explain this to me, Naruto. How, exactly, did you get Hinata to be your girlfriend?" Neji had walked up to Naruto now, a fierce look in his eyes.
"U-Uhhh….I….hehehehehe," Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "I…uhhhh………."
Neji looked forcibly calm (but dangerous, no doubt).
"N-N-Neji?" Hinata spoke up quietly behind Naruto. "I…I…t-told h-him that I liked him….P-Please don't blame him for this, N-Neji!"
Neji looked stunned. His face expression softened when he saw his cousin. In a moment, he had composed himself again.
"Fine then, Hinata," the Hyuuga male finally said. "…But when we go back to Konoha, you must inform your father of your current status with Naruto…"
"I-I u-understand, Neji!" Hinata quickly said. "I-I will do so!"
Then, Neji felt someone tug at his arm. It was Ten Ten.
"Don't be too serious about it, Neji!" Ten Ten said cheerfully. "We're also a couple too, just like them, aren't we?"
Neji flashed her a small, but uncertain smile. "I believe so…."
"Yea, don't be a hypocrite, Neji! Your cousin's safe with me!" Naruto said cheerily.
"Yea, she better be," Neji stated.
Well, that scene, in spite of being very good and cheery in Naruto and Hinata's view, just made the mood in the 'bachelors' corner' gloomier.
"Yea, and there goes another successful couple…" Chouji remarked, obviously feeling very sorry for himself.
Kankurou and Ino nodded.
"…And just look over there," Shino spoke up and cocked his head in the direction of Shikamaru and Temari.
"…Yea, well, I'm glad Shikamaru's happy…but I kind of feel sorry for myself, you know?" Chouji chuckled a bit.
Ino giggled and nodded. "I know! Well, it's not always good for Shikamaru though! 'Cause he has to watch his back, or Kankurou or Gaara could seriously hurt him!"
Hearing this, Kankurou snorted. "Well, yea, he better watch his back…And speaking of Gaara….I haven't seen him any where…have any of you guys seen my brother?"
Lee, Kiba, Shino, Ino, and Chouji shook their heads. However, they didn't have to wait long for the redhead to show up. Gaara showed up with three girls practically hanging onto him. Two of them were the same girls that had flirted with him since the night of Naruto's party, and one of them was a new girl. Ino spotted that the blonde girl was wearing a bikini that had the words "I've Been Pimped" on it.
"As I said before, Kankurou, your brother is quite the pimp," Chouji said.
Everyone in the 'bachelors' corner' watched Gaara give each of the girls a kiss on the lips. Obviously, the redhead's 'social skills' really have improved.
"Seems like he had a lot of practice since last time…" Ino remarked, remembering last time, when Gaara didn't even know how to start a conversation with the girls properly…
Kankurou nodded. "…Well, Gaara always was a fast-learning boy…"
"Why is he hooking up with those girls now? Today's our last day at the Konoha Hot Springs…we're leaving tomorrow, anyway," Lee said.
Kiba turned to give Lee and incredulous look. "…Does that even matter, Lee? We're dealing with girls here, Lee…just dump them anytime."
At that remark, Ino gave Kiba a look so sharp that he winced.
"…That is horrible, Kiba! We must be gentlemen!" Apparently, Lee thought the same thing that Ino did.
"Yea!" for once, Ino agreed with Lee.
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Well, the bachelors (and bachelorette) really did have reason to feel a bit sorry for themselves, for even the dogs were going lovey-dovey. Unknown to all of them, in Naruto's room, Akamaru was snuzzling happily next to Ramen, the dog that Kiba had given to Naruto for his birthday. Obviously, the two cute dogs were very, very much in love. O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.O.0.
Joyce: Hope you like this one, and please read and review:D I think the next chapter will be the last, unless plans change:) Well, I thank you for all your support again, and reviewing for my last chapters would be very good to me indeed:D I loved every one of your reviews:D