Chapter Three
Author's Note: Russel Peters reference, yay!
"Five and six and seven...GET IT RIGHT, FOREHEAD GIRL!" Ino shrieked loudly.
"I'M TRYING, INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled back as a vein popped out of her forehead and throbbed painfully. Honestly, why she ever asked Yamanaka Ino to choreograph her little number was beyond her comprehension.
"Roll your body, like this," Ino instructed as she erm…rolled her body. (I can't describe it…)
Oh wait. That's why. She could dance.
Someone's gonna get a hurt real bad, Inner Sakura growled menacingly.
The Byakugan master and the weapons mistress walked in silence towards the Hyuuga compound. Neji's face was stoic as usual. If he had any regrets about rashly saying that he'd dance with Tenten, he didn't show it. His brief little show of emotion back at the training ground, which no one thankfully noticed, had troubled him. He needed to distance himself from his teammate...which would be difficult as they had to dance a number together.
Tenten was ill at ease and it showed. She was twirling a kunai around her finger as she walked, a nervous habit she had developed.
"Neji, what exactly are we going to do?" she asked finally.
"Dance."
"But how? And what?"
"A waltz," Neji answered simply. "I'm familiar with it and it's not that difficult."
"I'm not graceful enough!" Tenten whined. She had been hoping for something fun and energetic. If he wanted to ballroom dance, he could've picked swing…or cha cha…or the hustle…
"Stop, stop, STOP!" Ino roared for the eighth time during the rehearsal.
"What now?" Naruto demanded wearily. Her constant screeching was giving him a headache.
"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled. Why Ino had asked him to be her male assistant also escaped Sakura's comprehension. Perhaps it's because that Sand chick was in Konoha again.
"You're not popping correctly. It's a pop; not a jerk," Ino answered as she demonstrated the two moves.
"Hmm…I see no difference," Naruto grumbled as he considered Ino's actions in his classic eyes closed, bottom lip jutted out, arms crossed across his chest thinking pose.
"Pop, not jerk!" Ino snarled. "Now go!"
Naruto popped his chest.
"No, you jerked. Shikamaru, show him how to pop!"
"Do I have to?" the lazy nin asked.
"Yes! Pop!"
Shikamaru popped.
"See? That was a pop!"
"I still see no difference, dattebayo!" (Just thought I'd stick that in there because I can…)
"ARGH!"
"One two three, one two three," Tenten muttered under her breath as she struggled to learn the basic waltz step.
"Don't forget to tip toe," Hinata said softly as she watched her cousin and his teammate dance.
"Now spin her," Hiashi commanded.
Neji cued Tenten, who awkwardly twirled, lost her footing, and staggered sideways before Neji straightened her with a tug on her arm.
"Tenten, be more graceful! Even though you are dancing and unfamiliar with the steps, you are also a konoichi. They must be as graceful and elegant in killing and being a woman; like the poisonous flower they are named after," Neji chided softly.
"I told you I'm not graceful," Tenten spat through gritted teeth.
"Hn, you know that's a lie. When you flip through the air during your soushoryu, you are graceful with the chakra strings. It's the same thing except that you're not trying to make your partner into a human pincushion."
Hiashi and Hinata blinked in surprise. Did Neji just complement this young teammate of his? Of course she was a couple of months older, but still…any complement was very rare.
Tenten grunted in acknowledgment.
"Again," Hiashi commanded.
"One two three, one two three…"
Author's note: Yes, a waltz! A Viennese waltz…Americanized. Slightly AU. I got my inspiration from "So You Think You Can Dance." Read and review please!
