Chapter Nine:
Tenten open her eyes and blinked a few times trying to figure out where she was and how she had gotten there. Her head started to throb as she looked to find the different shades of green that made up her room. 'How did I get here?' she asked herself and tried to remember what had happened. 'Oh, I remember. We got beaten trying to help those jerks and then they took us home. If I remember correctly they carried us home. Wait…WHAT!' with this thought Tenten shot up which caused pain to sear through her side and her head to throb harder. "Oww," Tenten muttered rubbing her head trying to get it to stop from throbbing.
"You should lie down," an aloof voice from her left said. There was no emotion in this voice, and right away Tenten knew who it was.
Taking Neji's advice Tenten lay back down slowly so as not to cause any more pain. "Why are you here?" she asked the quiet boy next to her.
"Looking after you," Neji said and she could make out a hint of concern in his pale eyes.
"Really?" Tenten asked surprised. Neji had never ever shown any sort of emotion except cold dismissal or annoyance around her, and she was amazed that he was actually concerned about her.
"Only because Kakashi said to, and it's part of the assignment," Neji said and looked away.
"Oh…well thanks for looking after me, and carrying me home the other day. By the way…how long have I been out?" Tenten asked her mood quickly changing from quite excited to distant. 'He is a popular, he doesn't, wouldn't, care about a loser like me,' she thought and frowned.
"Only a day, it is Tuesday morning and about 9:30," Neji said facing her again. He frowned at the disappointed look on her face.
"Oh, well than I should probably get up. Are Sakura, Ino, or Hinata up yet?" she asked fear evident in her voice and face. He was once again reminded about how much she cared for them.
"Ino and Sakura woke up last night and I believe Hinata woke up earlier today. Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto are with them, respectively of course," Neji said watching as her face went from frantic to relief and back to the disappointed look again.
"Good," Tenten said and sat up again but this time more slowly. She pulled back the covers, swung her legs out from the bed, and stood up. A wave of dizziness came over her and once again the floor came into her view. And once again strong arms wrapped around her and kept her from falling. "Thank you," Tenten said breathless. A faint blush appeared on her face and it did not go unnoticed by Neji.
"No problem," he answered smoothly with a smirk on his face. "Were you thinking of going somewhere in particular?"
"Yeah, I am very hungry! Do you think you could help me down the stairs to the kitchen?" Tenten asked in a pleading voice. At first he looked like he was going to refuse her and she frowned but he didn't.
"Sure," Neji said and escorted her out of her room. He didn't touch her but stayed close so whenever she felt like she was going to fall he steadied her.
"Thanks for all of this. I didn't think you could be so nice. A grand popular helping a little old loser like myself," Tenten said and smiled warmly at him. It made him wince.
Neji chose not to answer.
Ino was sitting in one of the gardens in the back yard, it was filled with flowers and her head was spinning in the scents. Shikamaru and she had decided to work on the assignment and at her request they did it in one of the gardens. It had taken some pleading on her part but Shikamaru had given in when she reminded him it was his fault she was hurt.
Ino was looking around totally enchanted by the flowers, and muttering things under her breath. Shikamaru was laying down staring up at the clouds but her small sounds brought his attention to her.
"What are you saying?" Shikamaru asked amused. She clearly didn't know she was saying anything out loud and was staring intently at the flowers.
"Oh, nothing," Ino said knocked out of her 'flower' trance.
"Really? I don't think it was nothing, but you don't have to tell me. Do you like flowers?" Shikamaru asked. This was the civilest of conversations they had had with one another.
"Yea, a lot. Why do you ask?" Ino asked confused at where the out-of-the-blue question had come from. Sure they were in a garden but she really didn't except him to be paying that close attention to her or the flowers. Guys just didn't like that kind of thing.
"You seemed to be entranced when you were looking at them, I just thought that you might like them," Shikamaru said and then turned his attention back to the sky.
"Do you like watching the clouds? You seem to be looking at them a lot," Ino said also turning her gaze up at the sky.
"Yes I do," Shikamaru said.
"Well, you being a guy and all, I start out telling you something about me. My mother and father own a flower shop which is mainly the reason why I like them so much. I know the name to practically every flower there is out there. I hope that one day I can own that flower shop, but that might not happen me being a ninja and all," Ino said and then looked over at Shikamaru who had his eyes closed. Ino's temper flared and she whacked him on top of the head. "Are you even listening to me?"
"What the heck was that for? Of course I am listening to you. You want to take over your parents flower shop when you get older, and you know the name to every flower there is out there," Shikamaru repeated lazily.
"Good…ok tell me something about you," Ino commanded waiting for him to respond.
"This is very troublesome," Shikamaru mumbled sitting up and refusing to meet Ino's gaze.
"Please?" Ino said and put her bottom lip out in a pout.
Shikamaru turned and saw her face and smacked himself in the forehead. "Fine, fine. Um…my father is a ninja but my mom has complete control of the house. I have an older sister who is an astronaut," Shikamaru said and yawned.
"Ok, well I know that you like to watch clouds and you know that I like flowers. What else do you like?" Ino asked.
"Um…sleeping?" Shikamaru said sheepishly.
"Is that all?" Ino asked as she sweat dropped. "I mean you have to like something else right? Can't you think of anything?" Ino asked.
"I like to play shogi," Shikamaru said. "I have since I was little,"
"Really? That is cool. I like to shop. I also love to write stories," Ino said and blushed slightly.
"You? Write? I would like to read one of your stories if you would let me," Shikamaru said. He hadn't known that Ino like to write, but he guessed that was what this assignment was for.
"Only if you teach me how to play shogi," Ino said smirking.
"Deal," Shikamaru said.
"Deal," Ino said.
"Um…ok what do you want to talk about?" Sakura asked the motionless rock…I mean Sasuke…sitting next to her.
"I don't know," Sasuke said looking at her.
"Ok…how about: what do you want to be when you get older?" Sakura asked looking excited and at the same time a hint of fear in her voice. This caught Sasuke's attention and the eager look on her face was too hard to ignore.
"I don't really have a choice. I will inherit half of my father's company and fortune and then I will have to run it," Sasuke said the anger arriving in his voice at the thought of what his father had planned for his life.
"Be happy that you just get that kind of thing handed to you, most of us have to work all our lives for something like that. And then we are too old to enjoy it," Sakura said with a sad expression on her face.
Sasuke was shocked at her reply to his fate, usually people would say something along the lines of 'Oh I am so sorry,' or 'Is there anyway you can get out of it?' They had always had pity on their faces when they said that, but Sakura had sadness not for him but for the other people she had talked about.
"And what do you want to be when you grow up?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed at her response from earlier.
"I don't really know. I guess I will probably end up sitting in some dusty old room reading a bunch of books or something like that. I was thinking of maybe a lawyer or something like that," Sakura said sadly and frowned some more.
"What is wrong with being a lawyer?" Sasuke asked puzzled at her reaction to the question she had asked in the first place.
"Oh…nothing. It's just that everyone expects me to uphold some sort of job that requires them to be really smart. My parents want me to be a lawyer, and there is some reading in it so I guess it won't be that bad," Sakura said and attempted to smile up at him. Sasuke saw the pain behind her eyes, the pain of being forced into something that you didn't want to do.
"If you didn't have to be a lawyer, what would you want to be?" Sasuke asked.
"I could ask you the same question," Sakura said.
"I asked you first," Sasuke said.
"Ok, ok, fine. If I was able to do anything I wanted I would be a publisher, editor, or a designer of some sort," Sakura said looking at the floor and not meeting his eyes. "Now tell me what you would be if you could be anything," Sakura said with a smirk looking up at him.
"If you must know, I would like to either be a professional basketball player or an engineer of some sort," Sasuke said meeting Sakura's eyes in a steady gaze.
"Really? If I wasn't sore I would like to play a game with you," Sakura said.
Sasuke was surprised at this "You know how to play basketball?" he said in disbelief.
"Yeah a little bit. Have you ever read the novel by Joesphy Spindle called A Hero's Dream" she asked excitement filling up her face again.
"No," Sasuke said flatly. Sakura's face fell for a second but then lit back up again.
"You can borrow it. I have it around here somewhere," Sakura said standing up from the chair she had been occupying earlier and going over to one of the six bookshelves in her room. "I know it's here somewhere…where did I put it? Ah! I found it!" Sakura said and Sasuke didn't know if she was talking to him or herself.
"Here you go," Sakura said handing him a small book. "I think you might like it,"
'She is a little bit weird, but she is interesting,' Sasuke thought and smirked.
Hinata awoke with Naruto's grinning face a few inches from her own. With a squeak she shot back and smashed the back of her head on the headboard. She brought her hands up to the bump that was forming but her hands were pulled away.
"I didn't mean to scare you. I am sorry. Is your head ok?" Naruto asked softly, parting her hair and gently rubbing his hands over her scalp. Hinata face lit up like a red Christmas light.
"I-I am f-fine," Hinata whispered but Naruto heard.
"That's good. How do you feel? I brought you breakfast. I thought that maybe afterwards we could maybe try to work on that assignment Kakashi gave us yesterday," Naruto said removing his fingers from her hair and handing her a tray. On the top was ramen.
"D-do you l-like r-ramen?" Hinata asked slightly amazed that he had brought ramen for breakfast.
"Yes I do. Don't you? I mean it is like the best thing in the world," Naruto said grinning at her.
Hinata smiled shyly back and ate the ramen. True it was instant ramen but it was good and Hinata was hungry. Naruto watch with a smirk on his face as she dug in. When she was finished she handed the tray back to him with a shy 'thanks.'
"Your welcome, now what do you want to know about me? I mean I have some questions for you but I thought I would let you ask me any questions you wanted to first," Naruto said.
"Um…I c-can't think o-of any. W-why don't y-you go f-first and I might b-be able to think o-of s-some when y-you are d-done," Hinata said playing with her fingers.
"Why that's a great idea! Ok, how long have you known Ino, Sakura, and Tenten?" Naruto asked.
"Um…about seven years I guess," Hinata said.
"And where did you meet them?" Naruto asked.
"I met Ino and Sakura at school where they introduced me to Tenten. So I guess you could say we met in the fourth grade and have been together ever since," Hinata said.
"And why do you guys trust each other so much?" Naruto asked.
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked back.
"Well, it seems to me that you guys trust each other more than most people trust anybody in their entire life. You guys rely on each other and would do anything for each other. And I want to know why," Naruto said.
"Um…we have gone through a lot together. We have gone through some tough times and some happy times but we have always been together. Being a bunch of losers also made us stronger, and we had to believe in each other," Hinata concluded thinking back to her history with her friends.
"Cool…I mean the four of us guys have only known each other about four years, and there are a lot of rivalries between us but I guess you could say we trust each other like you guys do. We just don't show it like you guys do," Naruto said also lost in thought.
The silence stayed for a few minutes and then Naruto remembered something.
"Oh yeah…do you have any questions for me?" he asked giving her his fox grin.
"Not right now, I think you answered mine," Hinata said.
"Oh by the way, Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"Yes?" she said wondering what this could be about.
"You didn't stutter during most of that conversation. Why do you do it normally?" Naruto asked.
Hinata just gasped and her mouth dropped into an O position.
"So do you even talk? Because if you don't then this is going to be one hard assignment to finish," Tenten said looking at Neji's meditating form sitting next to her. They were in a store room where Tenten had put some of her weapons. She was currently sharpening her twin katanas that were her favorite. Dragons were engraved in the hilt.
Neji had been slightly surprised at the amount of weapons stored in the room. Yes Tenten had always been known as the weapon master at school but he hadn't seen any weapons lying about except for the ones on her person. Hiding his surprise he watched her take out assorted weapons then clean and sharpen them. He had been impressed by the craftsmanship of the weapons especially the katana's in her hand.
"Who makes all of these?" Neji asked. Tenten was taken aback by his sudden question and almost dropped the weapon in her hand.
"I make most of them myself, but some were made by…my mother," Tenten finished quietly and suddenly found a stain on the blade that they both knew wasn't there.
"So your mother was a weapon master as well?" Neji asked.
"Yes," Tenten said.
"Was your father a prodigy like you?" Tenten asked.
"No," he stated flatly.
"Do you enjoy being a prodigy?" Tenten asked.
"No," he said looking at her.
"Why? I mean if I had that much potential, and skill then I think I would love it. But of course I will never know what it is like," Tenten said meeting Neji's eyes in a defiant glare.
"You wouldn't like it. After you recover I would like to see what you can do with those blades," Neji said looking at the blades lying in her hands.
"And I would like to see what you can do with those famous eyes of yours," Tenten said.
"Deal, we will have a match after you get well. Your steel against my bloodline limit," Neji said and smirked "If you do well I might even let you train with me,"
"And why would I want to do something like that?" Tenten scoffed at him. Neji's smirk only got larger.
"Because, wouldn't you like to see if you can beat a prodigy?" Neji said.
Tenten only smirked.
A/N: I am so tired! T r y i n g t o s t a y a w a k e! Please read and review otherwise I am going to have to go to sleep and never right on this story again………….just kidding.