Chapter 13: Sasuke and Tenten's Temporary Alliance
"See you tomorrow, Naruto!" waved the ever-so-cheerful Sakura, as she slammed her locker shut, and practically skipped down the stairs, into the front foyer, where she usually met the Hyuuga siblings in their normal walk home. Everything just fell into place that day. It was the ideal school day…or as ideal as they got. "Ah! Hinata-chan! Neji-kun!"
"S-Sakura-chan," Hinata acknowledged, and her cousin simply nodded, their usual responses. "Y-you're in a-a good mood, Sakura-chan," the usually silent one made some attempt at a conversation.
"Yes! Glad you noticed!" she replied brightly. Well, it was kind of hard not to notice. Who was ever happy on a school day? Sakura apparently, but aside that. She continued once they'd exited the premises. "I'm actually only really happy because I made the tennis team. I knew my weird sport would do me good later." She slipped gloves over her cold hands.
The winter break was nearing, and it seemed to be getting to everyone. More people started to procrastinate, which wasn't exactly the best of ideas, with exams only a couple of months away. But they'd worry about that when the time came.
"Hinata!" Kiba called, zipping up his jacket and running towards the threesome, "can I talk to you for a moment?" The girl nodded and joined him a few meters away.
Being silent was never something Sakura was too good at. "Did you get that lesson Asuma-sensei was teaching us in class? I mean, I think I understand it, but he explained it a bit weirdly."
Neji nodded, "Yes, I was somewhat confused at first too. Want me to explain it better later?"
"That would be great! Thanks a lot!"
He shrugged, "It's nothing. Let's say we make it Friday evening. About 5."
Her smile turned into a small frown. "You aren't still on about owing me, are you?" she waited for a response, which didn't come. "Listen, I don't know what's the big deal, but I don't want to go out if it counts as 'payback'."
He suppressed a sigh, "Fine. We'll go…" the next part was so un-Neji-like, "as friends, classmates more like."
There was that grin again, "Alright. 5, you're on. Fire Country."
Hinata came back, "S-sorry, Neji nii-san, S-Sakura-chan. I won't be available to train t-this F-Friday anymore. I-I have to help K-Kiba-kun a-and Naruto-kun with some homework. Sorry."
"Nah, don't worry about it. We had plans then anyway," Sakura said all too casually.
The other nodded, eyeing her cousin and friend. They'd been doing a lot of things together lately, now that she thought about it. Something was odd between them, and she couldn't put her finger on it as of yet. A fleeting thought crossed her mind for a split second, which she dismissed as crazy. Were they…going out? Yes, that was the thought that made her want to crack up and just die laughing about. But that was very un-Hinata-like, so she refrained from doing so.
"Neji!" wow, after school was just bustling with commotion, wasn't it? Tenten jogged up to them rubbing her cold hands together. "Lee just asked if we were going to train with him on the usual day. What do you say?"
"Oh…listen, about that," Neji wanted to put it lightly. He'd never canceled plans with his training partner before. "I have plans this once. I'm afraid I can't make it. Will you inform Lee of this?"
The brown haired female looked slightly crestfallen. Then she put back up her smile, "I see. I guess I'll see you on the weekend then." She waved to the three who set on their way home.
When they were out of sight, she let out a deep sigh, seeing the white gas appear magically in front of her. That Hyuuga had been acting weird lately. He didn't seem as 'free' as he had a few months back. And she bet that a certain head of pink hair had something to do with that.
Friday came in a flash, which meant, unfortunately for Sasuke, work commenced again. Well, for a few hours anyhow. It got rather busy those evenings, but not with the usual young crowd that showed up on the weekends. This required a ton of patience. So as a result, the Uchiha boy used all of that virtue for his job, and therefore was left with none to deal with other people.
People such as Sakura, who oh so happened to walk into the café at that moment, accompanied by his martial arts rival, Hyuuga Neji. Surprisingly, they were together, which was something he never thought he'd see. They sat down at a window booth, and began to talk about something.
With a quick run through his raven hair, Sasuke made his way towards them, abandoning his post at the bar. "Yo," he greeted monotonously.
"Good evening, Sasuke-kun," Sakura greeted, while Neji simply nodded. "Let's start with our usual."
He nodded, and tuned on his heel back to the counter. He returned several minutes later with the shakes, and took down what they'd have for dinner. Then back off they were to their previous conversation. Sasuke put the order sheet on a spinning rack, with similar papers already attached. Then it was back to patrolling the counter area once again.
It was somewhere around that time when another familiar face entered, lone this time, and took a seat at the counter. It was someone who he never really interacted with, unless for class reasons. "Yo."
"Hey," Tenten replied coolly, folding her arms on the tabletop, "can I just have a strawberry one?"
"Aa." She eyed him place all the ingredients into a blender that resided on the opposite side of the bar. She was completely out of, and didn't even notice when he placed it in front of her. "Hey, you're spacing," he remarked blankly, "you waiting for someone?"
"No…well, yes, I am," she replied.
"Okay."
An hour later, and things were getting busy. Neji and Sakura were still there, engrossed in whatever they were talking about. Tenten still sat alone at the counter, and Sasuke thought he'd go knock some sense into the girl by now. She was annoying him.
"I hate to say, but whoever you're meeting doesn't look like they're coming," he said, resting one hand on the wooded top. She had that abnormal spacey look in her eyes. "Are you even listening?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes…" she rubbed her eyes, feeling all down like this wasn't her.
This spacey-ness was getting on his nerves, "Does whoever you're waiting for know to meet you here?" No response. "Who are you meeting anyway?" he asked getting straight to the point.
When no answer came once again, he mentally called himself an idiot for even bothering to help in such a trivial matter. "I guess you could say he doesn't know," she said once his back was turned, "because I'm waiting for you."
Sasuke turned back around, using the most quizzical expression he could muster, which looked like more of a glare then anything. "Me? I don't remember even talking to you lately."
Snapping out of her trance, the usual girl came back around. "No, but you were expected to know." The Uchiha raised an eyebrow, still completely lost. "I'll get to the point. It's about them."
"Them?"
"Don't play stupid, you moron," she barked daringly, speaking at Uchiha boy in such a manner, "I mean them." And she pointed towards the couple near the window (who astoundingly hadn't taken a notice to her yet). Black eyes gazed to the two, then back at the infuriated woman, still not entirely getting where this was going. "Doesn't it make you sick?"
Oh, so that was it. "What they do in their spare time is of no concern to me. You should worry over it either. Now if you'll excuse me." He went over to a middle-aged man, and refilled his beer with one of the taps. In exchange, he was handed a coin, which he pocketed.
"Oh, it'll concern me if I want it too. Just look at them! I've never seen Neji talk so much in all his life. I swear it's unhealthy."
"Just let it go," he said, taking a few more empty glasses, and refilling them.
"I won't. Aren't you even the least bit concerned for Sakura as well? Isn't she close?"
Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Only in her mind."
Tenten continued regardless, "Well I still don't like it. Before you know it, we're going to have a relationship on our hands. I won't have that with Neji there." Then she stopped to collect her thoughts. She was jealous of pinky over there? How sad… "I've got an idea, and you're going to help me. If it works, we should have the two back to normal in no time at all."
"Hn. What makes you think I want any part of this?"
An idea crossed her mind. "Don't help me and the whole school finds out who your grade 5 crush was." Oh, she had an evil mind. The chocolate eyed girl looked on teasingly, as looks of horror crossed the Uchiha's face.
"You…wouldn't dare…"
"Watch me." There was a staring contest for awhile, and then she extended her hand.
Sasuke eyed it, as if it was a deadly snake for a moment, then shook it. Good, now, the fun began. Operation: Separate Hyuuga Neji and Haruno Sakura.
A pair of dark heads and 4 dark eyes peered over some bushes that Saturday afternoon. One was black, the other was brown. They were in the park, eyeing a couple stroll slowly down the path. Nothing special was happening between them. They looked like ordinary friends conversing about old times.
"This is so stupid…" commented Sasuke, boring holes through their backs, "they aren't even doing anything. Why'd you drag me out here anyway?"
Tenten scowled, "I don't trust him. He's different then normal."
"Uh…Tenten, we need to talk," Neji said that Saturday morning.
"Yeah, about what?" she questioned, though knew exactly what was coming.
"You should really take a break from all this training. Gai-sensei thinks so too. Take this weekend off," he stated bluntly.
"Oh…okay, I get it. I had plans anyway. Thanks, Neji." And with that she left his house, in attempt to find Sasuke and threaten him. Like hell Gai-sensei told him that. All just a damn cover up…
"Yeah, only because he's with a girl. You get worked up over the smallest things with this bastard."
"It's the principal of the thing," she retorted, and crawled along the ground, trailing behind them. "Get moving, slow poke, or they get to be the first ones in on our secret."
Glaring daggers at the evil-minded girl, he trailed slowly behind. "So what exactly is your brilliant plan to ruin their…conversation." Sheesh, was his pride really valued this much?
"Um…well…the thinking part actually comes now," she grinned sheepishly, and snickered at his annoyed face, "well what can we use with our resources…?" Looking around, there was a rock…yes, rock would do. Hit them hard enough and it'll render one unconscious. But that would solve much…
There was a stick, a tree, another tree, more trees, more sticks, a ton of rocks…and a cat. Hold on…a cat? "Ah ha! I have the idea! Grab the cat!"
"What? Why?" Sasuke scowled at someone else (other then a teacher) give him orders. Then Tenten gave her 'don't-question-me-just-pick-the-damn-thing-up' look. Sighing, he reached for the black and gray fluffy creature. It struggled at first, and relaxed in his grip as he stoked its back gently.
"I have the greatest idea! Cats like to chase after things! We'll throw a stick, and then it'll chase after it, landing right before the two. Sakura will be so scared that she'll scream and jump into his highness's arms. That'll totally turn him off of her. Don't you see? It's the master plan!" then she started to chuckle to herself, imagining it in her head.
Some master plan that was, was what ran through Sasuke's mind. But if there was ever one thing that he'd ever learned from that lazy ass Shikamaru, it was that women were freaky when they didn't get their way, so it was just best to shut up, and go along with it. "Sure."
"Alright, I'm counting on you kitty," she whispered, and attracted its attention to a stick. Their targets were now sitting on a bench. Perfect, they weren't moving. The cat's yellow and black eyes went back and forth with the swing of the stick. "Go fetch!"
With precise aim, it landed right at Sakura's feet, but she took no notice. The cat leapt out of the Uchiha boy's arms and dashed after its desired object. It skidded to a halt at the pink haired girl's feet. Green eyes stared down at it. "Ah!"
Sasuke was actually surprised she had screamed. He always had thought she was some sort of animal lover. The female on his right seemed to be enjoying it though.
"What a cute kitty!" Sakura continued.
So he had been right, she was an animal lover. The female on his right didn't seem to be enjoying herself anymore though.
"Neh, isn't it cute, Neji-kun?" she asked, petting the glossy fur down and listened to it purr.
"Sure," was the Hyuuga's reply.
While all this was happening, Tenten got a funny feeling. "Uh…oh…"
"What is it now, other then your plan miserably failed?"
Her eyes started to water, "I'm allergic to cats…" Sasuke's eyes widened, oh crap! "Ah…ah…" He pushed her head down out of sight. "Achoo!" The bushes moved slightly, and they both waited, praying that they hadn't noticed the noise.
Neji looked up and at the spot he thought he'd heard a sound. "Something wrong, Neji-kun?" Sakura asked.
"No…nothing," it was probably a bird or something.
"We still going? We'll miss that movie if we don't hurry." The other nodded and they both got up and left.
Once out of earshot, Sasuke got up and brushed the leaves from his raven hair. "Good going genius. That went well. I'll do this again for you, but this time, we're doing it my way." He picked up the still sneezing girl, "Get up, let's go."
"Isn't this like something out of a stupid comic book?" Tenten asked, as the two stood in the corner of the crowded theater, "and you're sure they picked this movie, right?"
"Of course," he said, clutching a bag of popcorn, "and why is it out of a comic? I wouldn't know. I don't read that crappy comedy shit. At least they had taste and picked a horror movie to watch."
"More importantly," she interrupted, "how are we going to do this without being noticed?"
"You aren't that stupid, figure it out. I have a hat, so I'm fine. You…uh…tie your hair in one bun, instead of two." While she was doing so, he continued, "all we have to make sure is that we sit behind them, and it'll all work out from there. The theater is crowded enough so they won't be able to change seats."
"Sure…but he'll still recognize me. Isn't there something else I can wear?"
Sasuke fumbled through his pockets, and pulled out a really big and ancient-looking pair of glasses. He shoved them into her hands. "Uchiha Sasuke! Where did you get these?" she demanded, now sounding an awful lot like Sakura. He didn't answer her. "Don't tell me you swiped them off an old woman as we entered the theaters!" Again, no reply. "That's wrong!"
"They won't be so missed. They're outdated and ugly anyway," he shrugged off his crime, "just put them on."
Sighing, the brunette popped the lenses out of the big frame, letting the thick glass hit the floor, but not shattering. Not like the old lady would be getting these back anyway. "Here they come…" she said, and they were both like statues in the corner, and the couple took no notice of them. "Let's go."
Neji and Sakura had sat somewhere near the middle of the theater, which made it easy for the two 'stalkers' to sit behind them. Of course, the theater was crowded, so Sasuke had to use forceful tactics (the Uchiha death glare) to move a middle aged teen from his seat, so they could be seated directly behind them.
The stage was set, as the lights dimmed, and the commercials started to roll. Sasuke placed the popcorn on the floor, and placed the cap over his eyes. Tenten put on the glasses. "I still don't get it," she whispered.
"Take the gum from your mouth and place it on the armrest in between them," he ordered and got a quizzical look back, "just do it without them knowing." She followed his plan anyway, and he did the same. "Who'd try and hold hands if there was gum there? I'm not saying they will, but just to satisfy your paranoia."
"Genius, Sasuke."
"Shut up, no names here," he cautioned, "just follow your instincts for the rest of the plan. After this, I'm out of here. I can't take another day off work anyway."
The movie started to roll, and that's when Sakura noticed the gum. "Eww. My goodness, who'd leave gum in such a place? How inconsiderate!"
"Yes…" the other agreed, "but it can't be helped, the theater is full. Just don't touch it."
"Right…"
Well, plan one of Sasuke's had worked. She'd give him credit for that much. And he was already in role too, pretending to be sleeping. Well, time to put his plan into action.
"It even starts out scary…" whispered Sakura, as a shiver ran down her spine. No need to get scared, it was just a movie after all. She could just see that Uchiha make fun of her, commenting how much of a scardie-cat she was.
Sasuke held in a sneeze. Someone was gossiping about him. And if he ever found out, they'd pay dearly!
So the couple was contently (or somewhat) watching the horror flick, when something hit each of their heads. Neji chose to ignore it, but it made Sakura subconsciously touch the back of her head, and she felt another thing hit it. Popcorn? Looking behind her, there was a man, fast asleep. 'How could he sleep though such a loud movie?' she thought, and turned her head back to the other. It was a girl with big glasses.
She looked at her weirdly, "Mãy nơi cái gí?" the girl asked in a bitter tone. A foreigner? Or maybe she just used a different language when she was mad…or annoyed. She was sort of staring at her for no reason; she didn't have popcorn with her anyway.
"Something the matter, Sakura?" asked Neji, who noticed her confused look.
"Eh…nothing really…"
For the length of the movie, it seemed to be going in their favors: Sasuke and Tenten's anyway. They both seemed quite annoyed at whoever was throwing the popcorn, and whenever they turned around Sasuke would be 'sleeping' and Tenten would make her remark in Vietnamese, another language she was fluent in. No one ever thought about how the popcorn might be out of sight, hidden on the floor.
That is, until the really scary parts of the movie started to play. Such as one scene, when the suspenseful music started to play…and then in an instant the character had been stabbed. This was the part where half the theater screamed, including Sakura. She also seemed to forget about the gum, and reached over and clung to Neji's arm.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I just…well…"
"Scared?" he cocked an eyebrow.
"Of course not!" she retorted, and then blood shed on the screen, causing her to bury her face in his arm again. Her antics seemed to amuse the Hyuuga, though.
Oh, that hadn't pleased Tenten one single bit. She restrained herself from dumping the remaining contents of the popcorn bag on Neji's stupid head! That would be an instant give-away though. So it was back to popcorn flicking.
Sasuke observed her change in behavior, and knew she was going to do something she'd regret. "Hey, calm down, idiot. Either that or dump the damn thing on their heads and run."
"Thanks for the tip…" she said through clenched teeth. She needed to get a grip. Regular Tenten was rational, thought things through…well, regular Tenten didn't get jealous either.
"Oh my God!" Sakura shut her eyes again, not bearing to look at the gruesome pictures on the screen any longer. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. It made her feel somewhat better.
Too bad that was the last straw for the brunette watching them. This was making her sick. So sick it wasn't even worth throwing popcorn at them anymore. "You're free to go. See you at school," she spat out, and stormed out of the theater, not caring that people were complaining at her for blocking their views.
Sasuke sat there for a few moments longer. It was stupid of him to follow the two anyway. He didn't really care what happened to the both of them in any case. He in turn left the movie he'd only half been watching, hands stuffed in his pockets. What a stupid waste of a day.
No matter how anyone looked at it, things were changing bit by bit. And by all means, it wasn't only the weather. Now nearing the Christmas holidays, everything seemed to move by in a blur. Teachers were all stressing about exams, and college courses, and so on. Even work was becoming more hectic for the Uchiha.
He sat in front of his locker that spare, like he spent most of them now. It seemed still strange, that no head of pink hair was ever around to bother him. The Hyuuga also had a spare, and it was obvious that she'd taken a great liking to him. Still, it was almost too quiet without her.
But like he'd admit that aloud.
After his and Tenten's failed attempt to separate them a week ago, the brunette hadn't spoken to him since. It was weird, since she seemed to be changing too, but for the worst. Well, nothing he could do about that. Best to leave it.
Footsteps approached, and without thinking, he looked up. Now there was a familiar person…
"Uh…hi, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said nervously sitting next to him. He returned to his Hellsing comic. "Don't be like that, Sasuke-kun! I want to talk to you for a second."
Oh, what a shock there. "Don't you have your boyfriend to go bother?"
She blushed, "Neji-kun isn't my boyfriend! He's just…we…"
"I get it. Make it fast, Sakura."
She was a bit jumpy at his bark. Spending less and less time with him…she'd forgotten how cold he could get when he was annoyed. "W-well, the break is coming up, and I just wanted you to know that I won't be home. I'm going back to my old town to spend the break with my friends."
He didn't say anything and continued to flip the pages of his comic. The silence meant that she was expecting an answer though. "So? I don't care."
"Well I thought you would in case you were looking for me." He didn't even seem to be listening anymore. "Fine, sorry for wasting your precious time. I'll see you in class, Sasuke-kun." With that, she marched off.
Things were just going from bad to worse around here. He'd gotten involved with things he now wished he hadn't. Things by the names of Haruno and Sakura. Life was so much simpler without her. Yet, lately he'd been a bit more on edge, and he knew it too. It was like a rock at the pit of his stomach. It was a sickly feeling, a strange feeling.
"Shit!" he cussed frustrated, slamming his fist into a locker.
AN: Okay, is anyone else feeling sad that school's starting soon? (For us that live in Ontario, Canada anyway.) That's why this chapter comes out today, because I dread the fact that school's almost here. Funny, school's starting for me, yet they're going on winter break here!
Anyway, a slightly longer chapter for you here, and a bit on the humorous side I'm hoping. I know Tenten's actually smarter and less touchy then she was in this chapter, but remember, she is jealous, so anything can happen. (By the way, cats actually do fetch. Mine does it all the time, such a smart kitty!) Also excuse my Vietnamese. My friend translated, and I sort of interpreted, so sorry if that didn't make too much sense.
You know, since people have been asking me for a long time to make more NejiTen moments, it sort of inspired me to write this really short one-shot (because I'm not at a NejiTen part in this fic for at least another 2 chapters) so if you get the chance, maybe you'll wanna check it out…haha!
Well I think that basically covers it, so for next time: After the long two-week break is nearly at its end, Sasuke and Sakura share a short moment, and there's something the pink haired teen doesn't quite understand. Afterwards, it's the first sleepover of the new year at Ino's place! It's a perfect time to spill juicy secrets about those they like. What does Sakura say? Forget that, what does Tenten say?