Author's note:
Ahh! I am so sorry for not updating sooner! It's been really busy lately… Homework and school interfere too much, ne? Oh well. Here's your next chapter of Losing Control!
Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Naruto? I didn't think so.
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Losing Control: Chapter 4
By: Maiyuko-chan
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Tenten stood at the door of the Aburame quarters, slightly intimidated. It was slightly bigger than normal houses, but, of course, a whole clan lived here, so that was necessary. A door opened and a woman stood at the door, looking down at her,
"You're Tenten-san, correct?" she asked in a low voice. Tenten nodded and the woman let Tenten inside, telling her to keep her things with her until they got to her room.
The woman had black, straight hair and dark eyes. Tenten tried pathetically to make small talk, but she had given up after awhile. The woman was married into the clan to one of Shino's distant relatives. Tenten looked around the house. It was… very clean. It was almost unnerving.
The carpet was a dull color of gray, and the walls were very white. There were no pictures or anything on the walls, only a coat rack. The woman, named Komastu, led her into a small room to stay in.
"Tenten-san, I hope you enjoy your stay here." said Komastu quietly, and left. Tenten sighed and sat on the bed, her bag beside her.
The bed was already made, with gray sheets, and there was a small window seeing out into a garden. Tenten really didn't care. She loved Tsunade to death, but this was just evil of her. She had thought she had seen a bug on the floor already! (Although it was only a small string of black thread that had been rolled up into a little ball.)
The house seemed quiet right now. Was anyone even home? She opened the door and walked through the halls meekly, looking to see if anyone was around. She was almost afraid to make any noise, it was so quiet. She looked in the kitchen and saw a few girls there speaking quietly of their day.
"Hello?" she asked quietly, earning the attention of all three women. They all had black hair and dark eyes.
"Hello." one of them greeted silently. The others nodded. "I am Aburame Miura. I have not seen you before." she stated blandly.
"Oh… umm… I'm Tenten." answered said girl. "Umm… I don't really know my way around and where everyone is." she said, hoping that the girl didn't think she was completely idiotic.
"Not many people are here right now." said another girl. "They will be here during dinner. That will be at six. Are you the girl that may be married to my cousin?" she asked. Tenten nodded.
"I am Miharu, and these are my sisters, Hamano and Miura." Tenten nodded and smiled at them. None of them smiled back.
Tenten could already tell that this was going to be rough.
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Shino sighed silently as Kiba and Hinata walked on either side of him. It was annoying, with Kiba so in love with Hinata and Hinata so clueless. He could feel the tension. Kiba wasn't talking to Hinata, more like stammering and somewhat avoiding her, and Hinata was afraid that she had done something wrong to make him angry.
He sighed. There was no way he was going to try to help Kiba. The last time Kiba had asked him for help, Shino had simply said to just tell her his feelings. Apparently, that just didn't work.
"Okay, guys, come back tomorrow at the same time, we have a D-rank mission, so don't be late!" called Kuranai, packing up her things to go home. The group of three walked toward Hinata's house first. Over the years, they had gotten into the habit of walking home together, making sure to see Hinata home first. It was a sort of unwritten agreement that they first walk Hinata home, then Shino and Kiba continue to Kiba's house, and then Shino go on to his house.
The trip was unusually silent, and, surprisingly, Hinata spoke up first.
"Umm… Shino-kun… I heard that T-Tenten-chan would be at your house for awhile…" Shino stopped abruptly. He hadn't heard this.
"Who told you that?" asked Shino flatly, when he started walking again.
"Tsunade-sama told Sakura-chan."
Shino walked on in silence. He really didn't care. He would do whatever his clan thought was best. He adjusted his sunglasses and nodded in goodbye when Hinata went inside the Hyuuga complex.
Kiba sighed.
"This sucks." he said blatantly, yawning.
"She thinks that you are angry at her." said Shino.
"I'm not, though!" protested Kiba, Akamaru whining. "I just don't know what to say!"
"Hn." was all that Shino said, somewhat reminded of a book he had once read, called Romeo and Juliet. In the beginning of the book, one of the main characters, Romeo, was acting just like Kiba. Irritating and love-sick. Shino decided that he didn't like his friend when he was like this. It just wasn't like Kiba.
Kiba went inside his home and waved goodbye to Shino and he continued the uneventful walk to his house.
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Tenten sighed and looked at her new home. She had left the kitchen and gone off to wander. This place, she had decided, was just way to clean. She needed to get out of here, because it was starting to give her a freaking' headache. She stood there in a hallway and sighed. There was no one around that she could see, so she was surprised when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She twirled around and saw Miura.
"Oh! H-hey, Miura-san." said Tenten, trying not to let on that Miura scared the crap out of her. These people were so quiet, it was scary. Miura nodded in response.
"It is almost time to eat. Everyone will be here, then you can meet them." she said silently. Tenten almost envied her voice. It was… really pretty. Like she'd have a really good singing voice. Miura started to walk away.
"Oh, Tenten-san… I'm… sorry about my sisters." she said, turning around. "They were somewhat rude, while you were trying to be polite. I apologize." Tenten smiled.
"It's alright." she said. "I look kind of weird, anyway." Tenten hadn't meant for that sentence to sound like that. She had meant to say that she looked a little different from everyone else here, but she didn't mind when she saw Miura let out a silent laugh. Said girl led her to the dining room.
"It's quite early right now," said Miura. "Everyone should be here in about half an hour." Tenten nodded and watched Miura set the table.
"Would you like me to help you, Miura-san?" asked Tenten holding out her hand to take some plates. Miura only nodded and gave Tenten half of the plates she had, and some silverware. The two girls started to set the table, and they had the job done in about five minutes.
"Miura-san, may I ask you something?" said Tenten as the two sat down at the table together.
"Yes." said Miura mildly.
"How are you related to Shino-san?" Miura looked at Tenten.
"We are cousins. Our fathers are bothers."
"Oh." said Tenten. Intelligent.
A few people walked into the room. They were all dressed in heavy coats (that looked a lot like Shino's) and sunglasses (like… um… Shino's.). They all looked at her and that's about all the acknowledgement she got. She smiled and then looked down. She was already beginning to feel awkward… At that point, a few children walked in, and startled her with their silence. She had assumed that they would at least be noisy; they were kids. She figured that she shouldn't have been surprised.
A small child sat on Miura lap and snuggled with her, murmuring, "I love you, cousin…" Miura smiled lovingly and stroked the boy's hair.
Tenten smiled. That was a cute little scene. She discovered that it wasn't rare for one of the children to do this. They were very loving and they often strived for attention from the older ones, even if they weren't loud at all. Some of the kids looked at Tenten strangely and walked past her to go to a different table.
Shino walked in through the door and looked at her. If he was surprised at her being here, he sure didn't show it. He quickly looked away from her as someone who looked almost exactly like him (his father, Tenten was guessing) said something to him in his ear. Shino nodded and walked toward where Tenten was sitting. Tenten's face flushed slightly, and then she understood why Hinata always used to wear that over-size jacket of hers.
She wanted to hide her insecurities.
Shino sat next to her, with Miura on her other side.
"Tenten-san." acknowledged Shino.
"Shino-san." said Tenten in response. As soon as everyone in the room settled down, dinner was served. Vegetables and neat. A very ordinary meal. There were also mashed potatoes in there somewhere at one point, but the author stole them, because she happened to be hungry and potatoes are her favorite. Ahem.
It was… quiet. As always. Tenten avoided looking at Shino. Some people were speaking silently to each other. Tenten looked at Miura, hoping for some kind of female moral support.
None. Tenten sighed and ate the rest of her meal. Not much happened at the dinner table. There was one incident where one of the kids started screaming and setting kikai bugs on the other, but that seemed like a normal occurrence.
Later that night, Tenten discovered a wonderful room. It was a bath house located outside. Fortunately, when she went out there with her clothes, no one was there. There was shampoo and conditioner and towels, body wash… How wonderful!
That night, Tenten soaked in the bath house and forgot about everything that had happened that day.
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Shino walked into the Yamanaka's shop, having supposed to meet Kiba there. Ino was talking to the boy, trying to give him advice about asking out a girl.
"… and then you should give her flowers!" she was saying when he walked in the door. "Oh, hey, Shino-san!"
Shino nodded.
"Hey, Shino!" said Kiba. Shino, once again, nodded in response.
"So how's it going with Tenten, Shino?" asked Ino, interested. She had always been one for gossip.
"Nothing has been going on."
"Aw, that's too bad." said Ino in mock disappointment.
Kiba smirked. "Come on, Shino, you know you want her." Shino looked at Kiba. Ino giggled slightly.
"Aw, come on," put in Ino lightheartedly. "She is pretty cute."
"…" was all Shino could say. What were these two… getting at?
"You know, Shino, if you're having so much trouble with this whole engagement thing, then why don't you try to think of her in a sexy way?"
Wait…
"Oh, Kiba, don't be so crude!" scolded Ino, despite the fact that she was giggling uncontrollably now. Shino looked away. These two were hopeless.
"So, Kiba, what are you going to do for Hinata-chan?" asked Ino cheerfully, leaning over the counter. Kiba looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I'm not sure." he said helplessly. He set his head on the counter. Shino pulled up a chair and watched the two brainstorm. Ino lit up.
"I know!" she said happily. "You can write her a love letter! That way you won't stammer uncontrollably and pass out." The blond kunoichi smiled smugly. "I'm such a genius. Just be sure to let me see it before you give it to her. Knowing you, you'd probably have a whole bunch of grammar mistakes."
"Would not!" protested the dog-user. Shino nodded.
"I don't believe we've ever seen you write." he said.
"Well, I have great grammar!" said Kiba proudly.
"Whatever you say, Kiba-kun." said Ino, setting a misplaced flower back into it's vase. Shino got up to leave.
"Is this all you wanted me to come for?" he asked blandly. How troublesome. It was even worse that he was beginning to sound like that lazy-ass Shikamaru…
"…" Ino started. Kiba didn't hesitate.
"Yup, that's about it!" he said, ignoring the obvious irritation of Shino. Shino waved them goodbye and left to wander about the village. Kiba suddenly ran out behind them.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you that the hokage wants to see you at noon! Tsunade-sama told me when she saw me on the way here." Akamaru barked happily. "Good boy Akamaru." said Kiba, petting his dog in praise.
"I'll bet he was the one who reminded you!" called Ino out the door. Shino snickered and left.
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Tenten woke up late. She was glad, because no one really seemed to care around here, but she really didn't like it. She stretched and yawned and undressed. She put a dark maroon Chinese-style shirt on, with dark blue pants. She brushed her hair into the usual buns and fastened her forehead protector. She was going to train with her team today, so she strapped on her shuriken holster and her kunai pouch to her thigh. In the pouch, she set her weapon scrolls.
Morning routine.
She yawned silently and opened the door to go out of her room, when she saw a very tall and scary looking version of Shino standing in front of her door about to knock. She shrieked and fell backwards. The man held out his hand to help her up.
"I'm sorry…" said Tenten. "You just startled me."
"I see you are already awake." said the taller version of Shino.
"Yes! I, uh, I meant to be up earlier, I'm so sorry..." said Tenten, trying not to ramble. Not that it helped.
"I see." he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Tenten smiled nervously.
"I have to go and train with my team today… I've had two weeks off… Umm, bye!" Tenten ran off. Shino's dad snickered slightly.
Tenten ran to her team's training grounds, unable to wait to get there. She was ready to train, do five hundred laps around Konoha, anything! Well… maybe not that… but in other words, she was ready to start training again!
Lee and Neji saw her, and Lee cried out happily.
"My sweet Tenten! You're back from the Wintry Depths of Death and back into the Springtime of Youth!" he hugged her and she hugged back happily. She was happy to see her team again.
"Hey, Tenten." was the most excitement that she got out of the Hyuuga prodigy. She happily greeted Neji as well.
Suddenly, she felt some hands cover her eyes. "Guess who?" said the voice of a pink-haired kunoichi.
"Hmm…" said Tenten. "I don't know? Sasuke?" a scoff came from her left, where she figured Sasuke was standing.
"I know Sasuke sounds girly, but really, Tenten." A very insulted shinobi ignored a laughing Naruto.
"I know!" said Tenten with mock excitement. "It's Sakura!" Sakura uncovered Tenten's eyes and laughed.
"What are you guys doing here?" asked Lee.
"Well, Kakashi-sensei is always late, so we decided to have a sparring match with you guys until your sensei came!" said an exited Naruto.
"Dobe, you have to ask them if they want to spar first." said an annoyed Sasuke.
"Hey, Tenten, do you know if Ino is training too? I mean, we can ask her team if she wants to come and spar with us…" Tenten raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Ino's team isn't training today. She has to look after the flower shop today… Why do you want to know?" Sakura smiled widely.
"Hey, does Naruto have a crush on Ino?" she asked. Naruto blushed fiercely and shook his head. Tenten and Sakura hugged each other and started to sing.
"Ino and Naruto sittin' in a tree-- K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage…" Sasuke started chuckling at the dope and Neji smirked. Lee joined in and laughed about the power of youth.
"Okay, you guys, you can stop, now…" said a voice from up in a tree. The whole group looked up and saw Kakashi-sensei. Sakura and Narrator's jaws dropped.
"How did you find us here?"
"Simple." said Kakashi, his one visible eye curving upward. "I followed you the whole time."
"What?" asked Sakura. "You mean…"
"Oh, I was late." said Kakashi cheerily. "I could here you singing. You really are too loud to be ninja."
"Great!" said Naruto. "Let's go and train! The day's-a-wasting'!"
"Aw, Naruto, you just don't want to hear me and Sakura tease you!" said Tenten. Team seven waved and raced back to their training grounds.
Gai-sensei suddenly appeared in a poof of smoke.
"Hello, my youthful charges!" he exclaimed. "Tenten! The youthful blossom of Team Gai is back!" he cried. hugging Tenten happily. "It's a call to celebrate! Tenten, a hundred laps around the training grounds!"
Tenten sighed. This was what Gai apparently thought of a 'celebration'. She started to run as Lee cheered her on.
"Go, Tenten, you can do it! The flames of youth will help you!"
Neji rolled his eyes and began to do stealth exercises.
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Shino stood in front of Sundae's door and knocked. He heard a "come in!" and he entered. He saw two other men standing in front of Sundae's desk. He stood in front of the desk as well. Tsunade smiled at him and then looked at all of the suitors.
"Hello, kids!" she said happily. "As you already know, you are all suitors for Tenten. Aburame Shino of Konoha, Nakashima Yasashiku, or Shiku, of the Falls," she quickly added, "And Kougu Naoto of the Stone."
The three nodded.
"But that is the problem. There are three of you. Therefore, I've decided that she will make the decision, but remember, my judgment will not be ignored. You will each take her out and get to know her. She will report to me afterwards how it went. Naoto-san, you will take her out first." The Kougu smirked.
"The next day, Shiku will take her out. Then you, Shino." said Tsunade. "Also, you'll need to sign these release forms. Just kidding." she said, looking at the horrified looks on Shiku's and Naoto's faces. "Naoto, you will pick Tenten up after her training."
"Of course…" drawled the black-haired boy, "I will do so. Where shall she be, then?"
"She is apart of Team Gai. She'll be at Training grounds G-14. Be sure not to be late!"
"Never." said the boy haughtily. Tsunade didn't like him, and it seemed obvious to Shino. The blond haired boy, Shiku, had picked up a porcelain trinket of a doll and started to mess around with it, humming. Naoto left to go pick up Tenten, and it suddenly got very quiet. Shino watched Tsunade's reaction as Shiku nearly dropped the doll. He set it down quietly and Tsunade sighed in relief. She had been convinced that the kid would break it.
"Oh, sorry, Tsunade-sama. I guess I spaced off. I tend to do that a lot. My friend said that my mind was in the gutter, but I looked and it wasn't there. Just kidding."
"Oh. I took you seriously for a moment, there." said Tsunade dryly.
Shino studied the young man. He looked nice enough; maybe Tsunade would pick him and Shino wouldn't have to be troubled with marriage.
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Tenten wiped some sweat off of her forehead. Sparring with Lee was hard. Lee had offered to help her in training to get fast. Currently, she couldn't see where he was. And he hadn't even taken off his weights! He was getting good. Some said that he could even rival Gai, but that wasn't important right now.
She brandished a kunai in her hand, her knees were bent and she was looking around for Lee. Neji was sitting down, taking a break and watching his comrades spar.
Tenten suddenly saw a flash of green and she ran toward it. She instinctively threw her kunai behind her once she reached the point where she saw him, earning a satisfying, "Hey!"
Tenten had scratched Lee on the arm.
"Geez, Lee, sometimes I don't think I even hold a candle to you or Neji!"
"You still got me!"
"I know, but it isn't that bad." Tenten ran over to Lee and looked at the scratch on his arm. "Sorry, Lee-kun…"
"It's alright, Tenten-chan! It is apart of hard work! And youth!"
Tenten laughed at her friend's optimistic attitude and started picking up her weapons.
"It's almost time to go, you guys. Let's pack up, before Gai-sensei gets back and makes me run more laps." Gai-sensei had gone to see Jiraiya about some business. Tenten and Neji had had a brief conversation about that, wondering if Gai-sensei was a pervert, like Kakashi. They decided that some things should just be left undiscovered.
"Who here is named Tenten?" a voice said. Tenten whirled around and saw a boy with dark hair and eyes.
"Umm… That'd be me!" she said, taking her bag on her shoulder. The boy walked up close to her and looked her over.
"You're sweaty and dirty. Why is that?" he said in an accusing tone. Tenten's face flushed.
"Hey! I train! Unlike some people who aren't shinobi!" she said defensively, noticing the lack of forehead protector on the boy's forehead.
"I train," said the boy haughtily. "I just don't train with others, such as yourself. I have a private trainer." Tenten narrowed her eyes. Who did this guy think he was?
"Any private trainer would never be as good as Gai-sensei!" cried Lee. "Tenten-chan, Neji-kun and I have the best training ever!" he cried enthusiastically. The black-haired boy only rolled his eyes. Tenten and Neji were irked at his behavior. Who was he to roll his eyes at their teammate? Neji stepped forward.
"If you have no business here, then I suggest you leave." he said angrily.
"I have business here." said the boy. "I am Kougu Naoto. I've come here to pick up Tenten on a… date."
Tenten fell over. "Kougu!"
"Yes." he said, folding his arms. Neji glared at the boy in a protective (brotherly) way. Tenten was like a little sister to him. That way, I don't have to deal with love triangles.
"Fine." said Tenten. "A date?"
"Yes. Your hokage said so." Naoto drawled. Tenten already hated his attitude.
"Let's go then." said Tenten, slinging her bag over one shoulder. "Bye, Neji, bye, Lee! See you tomorrow!"
"Goodbye, my youthful flower!" cried Lee.
"Bye." said Neji indifferently.
Naoto led Tenten into the village. They weren't talking, and Tenten decided that it was time to try to give this boy a chance.
"So… Kougu-san. What do you like to do in your free time?"
"I like to…" Little did Tenten know, that when this boy started talking… there was no way to get him to stop.
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Meanwhile, Sakura was using her brilliant mind to think of ways to hook up her blond teammate and a certain blond kunoichi.
Sakura wasn't sure if Ino liked Naruto or not. There were certain irrelevant hints that could have indicated so, but Ino liked to flirt. Also, Ino certainly didn't flirt with Naruto as much as other boys, so it wasn't easy trying to figure it out. Actually, it seemed that Ino didn't flirt with many people at all lately...
Sakura thought of why that could've been. Perhaps she had matured and grown out of that stage. Or that Ino had settled down and set her eyes on one boy-- hopefully Naruto.
And then the light bulb went off in Sakura's head, Inner Sakura yelling victoriously.
They wouldn't know for sure unless Naruto did something! And Sakura knew exactly what that something would be.
A wonderful, maniacal, mischievous grin spread across Sakura's features.
Author's note:
Hey, guys, how's it going? Alright, I finished the chapter! Sorry nothing interesting happened. The next chapter will be much better. I just needed this chapter to set kind of a foundation for better things! Trust me, the next chapter will be great!
Review! You know you want to.