Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto..
Author's notes: Sorry for the short chapter. I truly want to write longer chapters, but I'm afraid the only thing I actually like to do is to edit. And edit. And edit. Edit what, you say? Edit the little bits that I've written, sadly. Sigh
Chapter 3
As Tenten turned around, a loud, cacophonous yell sailed towards her. "You! New kid!"
Now fully facing the hallway, she bemusedly scanned her surroundings. Who had yelled at her? Just a while ago there had hardly been anyone there, but now, however, there were many boys standing around in the hallway. Tenten supposed that they had just been let out from a class. Still, she knew she should have been more aware; after all no real ninja would have been surprised by someone yelling in an academy for boys. What if she hadn't been completely ready? Carelessness was one of her worst traits, and in a place like this, she knew she had to shape up, and shape up fast. Her new classmates and future fellow ninja wouldn't allow her much time to adjust, she reluctantly admitted to herself.
Once again, someone shouted, "Kid! I'm talking to you!" This time, however, as she glanced around, she discovered who had spoken. Scrutinizing the boy closely, Tenten noted his dark brown hair and grey eyes. Perhaps he could have been quite handsome, but his face held a sneer that gave him a nasty look and demeanor. "You, short kid, you from some backwater village?" He gave a derisive laugh.
"What's it to you?" Tenten retorted. Couldn't he even speak with proper grammar the first time he met someone? Still, she had no idea why in the world he was picking on her, but she certainly wasn't going to stand for it. Her stubborn nature and somewhat hotheaded temper (once she got incensed) wouldn't let her back down anyway. Though that, she reflected, was probably something else she needed to change about herself.
A harsh laugh jolted Tenten out of her thoughts. "Ha! I was right. You don't even deserve to be here, much less have the chance to become a ninja." He replied condescendingly. "Until I say you gain the right to even call yourself a student, you should start addressing me with the honorific –sama. I'm way superior to you. Oh, and the name's Taheki. That's Taheki-sama to you."
Tenten was frankly stunned by his supreme arrogance and egotism. That came out of nowhere! Then anger overcame her shock. How dare he tell her what to do? He was a kid, just like her! What gave him the right to judge her?
"You-you pile of crap!" She growled, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "Taheki-sama my ass! Taheki-teme suits you way better!"
Though surprised at the insult, he quickly became infuriated and did not delay in attacking, kicking her in the shins. Greatly irate, he yelled, "You! You'd better start learning to respect your betters! Taheki-sama is what you'll always call me because I'll always be better than you, you little country bastard!"
"I'll Taheki your sama!" Springing up from his attack, she punched him as hard as she could in his gut. Not finished with his assault, however, Taheki soon recovered and tackled her into the wall, raising his fist for another blow.
"What's this? Fighting again, Taheki?" a smooth voice spoke. Jerking back from Tenten as if struck, he dropped his hand to his side and raised his eyes slowly. Tenten, wondering what exactly made the bully just stop like that, looked in the same direction.
A boy, it seemed, was the cause. He had a fair complexion and a thin build. His eyes were an icy blue-gray color and his hair was pale blond. He had an authoritative air about him yet did not seem overly haughty. He's like an ice prince, Tenten thought. I wonder who he is?
The boy spoke again. "Kaito," he said, nodding at a boy standing nearby, for the fight had attracted quite a few spectators, "mind telling me what happened?"
So, the ice prince asks his underlings rather than commanding them, thought Tenten, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
"Well, from what I saw, Taheki tried to bully to new kid," here Kaito glanced quickly at Tenten, "by making him call him Taheki-sama." He spat out the last word, rolling his eyes at Taheki's antics. "The new kid refused point-blank and called him a "pile of crap", saying that Taheki-teme would suit him much better."
Tenten reddened a bit, just a little bit, as the boys standing around grinned at the spunk of the new kid, for Taheki was a head taller than her. Even the pale blond kid's mouth twitched a bit.
"Then, Taheki kicked the new kid, and the new kid punched him in the gut. Taheki proceeded to tackle the kid into the wall. Then you came." In the last part, of course, he referred to the pale-blond. "Oh, and all the while, they exchanged friendly words of goodwill." Kaito smirked.
As Tenten listened to Kaito recall their mock fight, she became rather irritated at the school, or at least the people who attended it. First, a random boy from nowhere started bullying her. Then, he started hitting her, and finally, another random boy started recounting the event to yet another random boy that she didn't know, and he also continually referred to her as "the new kid."
"I have a name, you know." Tenten twitched involuntarily when Kaito turned to her with a blank expression on his face.
The pale-blond haired boy spoke again. "Yes, I'm sure you do," he stated calmly, gazing at her with an impenetrable stare. "Would you like to tell us all what it is?" He waved a hand, indicating that 'us all' meant everyone present.
"It's Tenrai." Then, on an impulse, (for she didn't want the authoress to have to refer to the kid as a pale-blond haired boy until he decided to reveal his name), she asked, "And what's your name?"
He stared at her coolly, showing no sign that he was about to answer her question any time soon. The hallway was filled with a heavy silence.
She waited, not intimidated by his response, or lack of. Someone standing behind him twitched (for twitching was so obviously in at this time of the year). Tenten shifted her gaze to the boy that twitched out of curiosity. Who could be so unaffected by the atmosphere as to twitch in such tense conditions?
The boy, it seemed, was another blond with blue eyes. However, this blond's hair was a vibrant yellow with streaks of orange mixed in. Tenten momentarily wondered whether or not the streaks were natural. The boy's blue eyes were also lively and bursting with energy. They were a deep blue tinted with purple and were a great contrast to the light blue-gray hue of the other boy's eyes. There also appeared to be light marks on his face that looked like… whiskers? How interesting…but back to the problem at hand.
Darting her eyes back to the pale-blond haired boy, Tenten waited as patiently as she could, which was not very, but luckily for her the boy would soon decide to relieve her of the pain of waiting.
Suddenly, or maybe not so suddenly, but nevertheless, the pale-blond haired boy smiled. He turned his head towards the other blond, as if telling him to answer her question. Happily, the boy who had twitched earlier obliged.
"Kohira, Yoshikuni Kohira!" He smiled widely, implying that there was more to it. Tenten raised her eyebrows at the fact that the pale blond haired boy had not giver her his name himself. Still, now that she had his name…Kohira. It sounded familiar to her, as if she had heard it before. Or perhaps, at least Yoshikuni…
"He's the Daimyo's son, you know." He winked at her, waiting for her reaction at this new bit of information.
Tenten felt her stomach turn in a strange way. "Oh."
