Rumours and Assets
The rumours at Konoha Gakuen High have been confirmed and Itachi Uchiha is indeed pursuing the new Hyuuga girl. And for the sake of defeating him, Sasuke wants to win her affections first. With his good looks and "too cool for you attitude", it couldn't be too hard, right?
A/N: For some reason, I feel somewhat nervous writing up this chapter... D: Additionally, I pushed myself to finish this in time... Anyway... here we go with another installment of RaA! (AHAHAHAH! I just wanted to say that because it sounds amusing! XD) By request of codegal (my Gaara obsessed sister... XD), I've added a little more Gaara but as a consequence, this chapter's been lengthened past the usual amount of words I use... so please endure the length, sorry. D:
Onto chapter six! :D
...
It was early Friday morning and yet Sasuke had woken without the "aid" of his older brother. He dragged himself out of bed, having nothing else to do and headed for the bathroom, turning on the tap and watching the water gush out of it. Sasuke dunked his head under the rushing water, staring down at the clear liquid through wet lashes, swirling as it ran down the drain in the sink.
He had to admit it to himself, that whenever his brother was around, he became irrational, instantly acting only with the aim to destroy his brother; rushing ahead without thinking of the consequences just like the water that poured heavy and fast against his head. Sometimes, Sasuke would regret the way he acted around others in those situations. Did they think badly of him? Did they see him as childish, pathetic or stupid?
He felt around for the tap handle and found it, turning the water off before straightening up and glaring at his reflection. The face he hated glared back at him, the same face that others revered as perfection. It was disgusting.
Snatching up his towel that hung on the bathroom rail, Sasuke pulled it up to his face, intending to dry it slowly. It was then that he felt the wet sticky substance being rubbed into his face and pulled the towel away to see what it was.
Needless to say, Itachi was already up, the corner of his mouth twitched up as he passed the bathroom on the way to the kitchen to prepare his lunch, the other corner of his mouth twitching up at the sound of Sasuke's yelling and cursing.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Sasuke's voice echoed, bouncing off the bathroom tiled walls and floors.
Itachi began to scoop some porridge into his bowl for breakfast, a very small smile on his face. "They call it breakfast," he said aloud to no one but the raven-haired Uchiha, stomping about in the bathroom, who could not hear him anyway.
...
It was a Friday morning and Hinata found herself racing to her school, crying hysterically about how late she was. She had slept in and had woken up, distressed at the digits 8:10 flashing on her alarm clock and ran madly to school, however, the bell for Homeroom had not sounded yet. She was relieved by this fact as she walked into her Homeroom, sighing thankfully as she headed over to her usual seat amongst the Akatsuki. It was a bad start, yet she was sure she'd be able to overcome such a "small" detail that she had previously been stressing over.
She did not however, notice the strange tension in the air when the bell sounded later for the beginning of classes and she stepped into her classroom, greeting the familiar faces of her Designated Class. An excited buzzing resounded throughout the room and Hinata noticed it was because of all the murmuring occurring from around her as she took her usual seat beside Sakura. She leaned over to her bubblegum-pink-haired classmate, whispering, "What's all the commotion about, Sakura-san?" she asked, her eyes roaming over the faces of her classmates as they continued to chat excitedly, ignoring the teacher, Kurenai as she walked in.
Sakura leaned back to her. "The fundraising play that our class will be acting out has already been decided and during this class time they've allowed Gaara-kun and Neji-kun to discuss with us the issues concerning the play, such as, who will be assigned which roles and etcetera," she explained in hushed tones as Kurenai raised her hand for silence.
"May I please have your attention. I'm sure that the news has already reached you as things around this school circulate fast, so I am well aware that you are all very excited, but please remain silent unless prompted to speak by your class or student council president, Gaara and Neji who will be taking this lesson time to inform you of the play that has been selected for you to act and will take care of all the issues that are related to the fundraising event. So please come up, Neji, Gaara," Kurenai said quickly, nodding to both presidents before taking her chair and placing it in the corner of the room, where she sat to observe the class discussion.
Neji-nii-san! Hinata thought, her attention instantly captured at the sight of her cousin.
"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei," Neji said in acknowledgement before turning to the class, his face grim and serious. "As Kurenai-sensei has just explained, the play that will be acted has already been selected and approved by the Principal, thus, Gaara shall be going around the class now, handing each of you a copy of the script, after which I will give you a brief moment to skim over it and shall then give you a short overview of the overall plot and characters."
Hinata stared in awe at her cousin, thinking of how wonderfully organised he was when Gaara reached her table, placing a stapled booklet of sheets on her desk before brushing past, continuing his duty of handing out a copy of the story to each class member. Blinking, Hinata picked up the booklet to stare at the large font title on the front.
The Sharingan Princess.
She seemed to stare at the title for a long time. For some reason, it didn't seem quite right.
Who on earth was the Sharingan Princess?
Hinata's eyes quickly scanned down the first page and found that it explained the Sharigan Princess to be a young maiden, under a curse of some sort, who (as she skimmed through the next few pages) sought help from the neighbouring kingdom to rid herself of the curse, only to find herself falling in love with the cold-hearted Prince who had a curse of his own. The young Prince was cursed to have the Kyuubi, a nine-tailed demon, possess him at every full moon. Unfortunately, Hinata found as she continued skimming through the text, the Kyuubi Prince already had his eyes set on another and the Sharingan Princess had been put into an arranged marriage.
Although it was told differently, Hinata did manage to recognise the story to be based upon a rather disturbing urban legend that surrounded Konoha Gakuen High yet had been censored (it previously had much more gore) and written so romantically that she wasn't so sure it had much to do with the urban legend as she continued reading it. She had heard the urban legend from Deidara on the first week, who thought it would be amusing to scare her with the urban legend about the nine-tailed demon and succeeded in doing so-Hinata had fainted in fright and horror much to Deidara and Kisame's amusement. Deidara had been scolded by Tobi for that incident, accused of intentional harm towards his "Pet-chan".
As Neji began to explain the story's main plot and the characters within it, Hinata began to wonder to herself why Tsunade had not noticed where the inspiration for the story had come from. She not only wondered that, but she also wondered how they would successfully act the play out without it being embarrassing as nearly every line in the story had a cheesy feel to it.
"Oh, Fuujin, hold me!" cried the Sharingan Princess, Kushinada, to the Kyuubi-possessed prince, her arms out-stretched, reaching towards the man she loved.
The muscle under Neji's eye twitched convulsively. "There are various roles within this play for people to volunteer for." He paused as he glared back down at the sheets of the story in his hands. "There will be a male and female lead protagonist in this play and we will also need someone to play the part of the male lead antagonist. Now for the role of the Prince, we would like some volunteers," stated a calm Neji as he scanned the room, waiting for people to raise their hands.
"Me," Naruto said with a grin, standing up and placing his foot on his chair, allowing him to lean on his knee. He pointed his thumb at himself. "Naruto Uzumaki for the lead!"
There were several boos from the members of the class and Naruto looked around indignantly at them.
"I vote Sasuke to be the Prince!" said Sakura, rising out of her seat and raising her hand.
"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto gasped in shock, feeling a wave of betrayal.
"As much as I hate to agree with Sakura, I second that," Ino said, raising her hand as well.
"Me too!"
"I would like him to be the lead also!"
Sasuke sighed. His stupid fan club was using that ignorant brain that they had to share amongst themselves due to their immense stupidity. He didn't even want to take part in a pointless play. There were no benefits in it for him and it certainly wasn't going to help him defeat his brother in the future.
In spite of these thoughts, an idea suddenly struck him and he smirked. It was indeed a pointless play but it would, however, allow him an opportunity to get closer to his prey.
Gaara adjusted his glasses. "Sasuke Uchiha," he grunted, obviously displeased with the class' choice. "Do you accept the lead role?" he asked, glaring at the Uchiha from over the top of his highly polished glasses.
Sasuke smirked and leaned back into his chair leisurely, a few of the girls in the class squealing in delight. "Sure, why not?" he said coolly, the smirk never leaving his face. "And may I suggest who I would like to volunteer to play the female lead?" he asked, spinning the pen between his thumb, index and middle fingers.
Every student in the class had their eyes on him now, all of the girls whispering excitedly amongst each other, each wondering whether he was going to volunteer them to play the lead role.
Neji narrowed his eyes. "Everyone is permitted to speak," he answered vaguely, not wanting to openly give the Uchiha any approval.
"Well then," Sasuke began, his smirk widening, "I would like to volunteer Hinata Hyuuga."
It seemed that at the same time Hinata's face grew hot and she screamed "EHHH?" the entire class in unison had cried "WHHAAATTT?" All the eyes in the class room were wide with shock and surprise at who Sasuke had chosen to play opposite him. And before Hinata could hide, every head in the room turned to stare at her and she almost felt like she might melt into a puddle from how hot she suddenly felt.
"Hinata-sama," Neji repeated, as shocked as the rest of the class at Sasuke's suggestion. He turned to address his madly blushing cousin, his mouth hardening into a frown. What was the Uchiha planning, wanting his cousin to play the lead female role? Neji's frown deepened as he thought. There was no possible way he could allow Hinata to play the part of the lead female role because not only was she lacking the confidence to do such a role but there was also a kissing scene in the play... Neji's frown turned into a scowl and he clenched his fists tightly, willing to knock the Uchiha genius' lights out. But as it had been suggested, he would have no other choice but to ask Hinata whether or not she agreed to play it. He gritted his teeth and turned to his cousin whose head was down, her hair falling over her red face. "Hinata-sama, do you choose to accept the role?"
Hinata jumped at the question and raised her mortified gaze to Neji's, shaking her head violently in refusal. "N-NO!" she practically shouted, clenching a handful of her skirt underneath her table. She was quivering in fear.
The smirk left Sasuke's face and he nearly cursed her demure nature. He turned back quickly to Neji. "Is it necessary to ask for their agreement?" he asked swiftly, not wanting his plan to fail.
Neji turned his cold gaze to him, wondering what the Uchiha had in mind that he was persistent in having Hinata play the female lead role. "Yes, it is necessary," he replied coolly, dismissively. "We do not aim to force people to act if they do not wish to."
Sasuke grumbled incoherently, slouching back into his chair, annoyed that his plan would not go through after all.
Although jealous that Sasuke had volunteered Hinata to play the Sharingan Princess, Sakura nudged her Hyuuga friend, hissing across to her. "What're you doing? Agree and play the part! It'll be great for your shyness and it'll probably boost your confidence!"
Hinata's eyes were as wide as saucers and it seemed that her eyes would never return to their normal size as she stared in disbelief at the confident Sakura who was attempting to encourage her by chanting "you can do it!". She shook her head vigourously, unable to say anything in reply.
Sakura frowned, leaning across her table even more. "But why not?"
Squeezing her eyes shut, Hinata knew that there was only one way to prevent Sakura from continuing questioning her and raised a trembling hand which Neji regarded with shock before permitting her to speak. Red-faced and sure that every eye was on her now, Hinata hurriedly stammered, "I-I-I v-v-volunteer S-Sakura as th-the f-f-female l-lead!" She had the sudden urge to faint from all the stares she was receiving and had almost choked on her own words several times as she stammered.
Sakura's eyes widened in shock and Sasuke scowled at Hinata's volunteer choice. The last thing he needed was a member of his fan club to act out the Sharingan Princess. There was sure to be a riot if this continued.
"Sakura Haruno," Gaara spoke, pushing his glasses up. "Do you accept the role of the female lead?"
Having been temporarily numb and stunned with shock, Sakura's face suddenly broke into a wide grin. "Yes! I accept it for sure!" she cried in absolute delight, grasping the edge of her table tightly to contain herself. She was going to be acting opposite Sasuke and what was a double bonus was that there was a kiss scene between the two main protagonists of the play which Sakura silently rejoiced over inside her mind. Not only that, but it was her opportunity to shine as an actress and show the entire school her acting ability.
"That's unfair!" Naruto cried, jumping out of his seat and pointing accusingly over at Sasuke. "He gets to play the Prince? But then I demand the next lead character of the play!"
"Ahh yes, you may have it then," Neji said, smiling wryly.
"YES!" Naruto cheered in excitement, pumping his fists. "So what is it? What part am I playing?"
The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched up as he realised what role Neji had agreed to assign to Naruto. "You're playing the lead antagonist, the evil Snake King, Yamano Orochi," Gaara answered, his mouth twitching as if he were tempted to laugh (he suppressed the urge, knowing it would do harm to his awe provoking appearance if he were to suddenly burst out laughing).
Naruto's face fell. "WHAT? THAT'S A JOKE, RIGHT?"
Snickering was heard from several students around the room and Sasuke sighed, no longer caring to pay any further attention. His plan had backfired and now he was stuck in a role acting opposite a member of his fan club.
Neji cleared his throat to regain the class' attention. "Now that we have assigned the main roles, we will now begin assigning the minor acting roles and stage crew."
Rising out of her seat, hand raised, TenTen grinned at Neji. "I say that because of Hinata's generosity, she should play a minor role in the very least for having kindly given her lead role away."
Hinata's head snapped up and she stared at Tenten's back in horror as she and Sakura sat behind the senior. Generosity? Kindly given away my role? NOOO! They don't understand Kami-sama! I never wanted the role anyway! I don't want any role! sobbed Hinata's mind as she went into panic mode.
"I shall second that!" declared Lee suddenly, rising out of his seat also. "Such a kind-hearted soul should be rewarded!"
"Me and Shino agree with that also!" Kiba said with a grin in Hinata's direction.
Oh no, Kami-sama, nooooo...
"Right, it is agreed then," Neji said, coughing lightly into his hand. "Hinata, you may play the Blossom Medic that appears to restrain the Kyuubi Prince during each full moon," he said, reading the character description from off of the sheet he had prepared for the lesson.
It seemed to happen on a daily basis now, the sound of Hinata's life shattering about her, reverberating only in her ears. Kami-sama, she thought numbly, a cold wind blowing past her, what have I done to deserve this?
And despite what Neji had stated previously, Hinata found herself forced into the minor role. She still was unable to come to grips with this when the lesson was coming to an end and hardly paid attention as she sat numbly in her seat.
"...of course, some alterations can still be made as we run through the scripts if we deem it suitable. Class rehearsals shall commence next week on Monday. If you have an acting role, please read over the script lines during the weekend," Neji explained as the bell sounded throughout the school. "I guess that would mean class in now dismissed, Kurenai-sensei?" he asked, turning to the dark-haired teacher who was rising from her seat.
"Yes, that would be right, thank you very much for your work Neji and Gaara," Kurenai said with a brief smile before turning to the rest of the class. "Head to your next class please!"
Before anyone else was able to leave, Neji and Gaara both strode out of the room, having left their next class' textbooks in their locker as it was conveniently close to the classroom they would be in for that period.
"So, student council president, what do you think of the alterations I made to the story?" Gaara asked as he walked down the hallway beside the stern-faced Hyuuga.
"I'm glad that you changed the story to be based on something other than that over-used fairy tale that was appropriated into it, however," Neji paused, grimacing, "you left in the names of the characters and all the disturbingly sentimental dialogue."
"I thought the dialogue was suitable to the storyline. It is, after all, a romance story-"
"That's why I don't like it!" snapped the annoyed Hyuuga.
"Ahh... so our president is bent against romance," Gaara concluded, an amused smile on his face as he readjusted his glasses. His glasses sparkled at a sudden mischievous thought. "And I thought you were involved with that tomboy who attends your martial arts dojo. Yes, that bun haired girl in our class..."
Neji's loosely tied hair suddenly slapped Gaara square in the face as he whipped his head around, intentionally aiming to harm the Designated Class' president (who now held a hand to his face in pain) as he glared murderously at him. "Don't you dare breathe a word about that to anyone," he ordered darkly.
"Ahh... yes..."
They continued along the corridor in silence before reaching their lockers.
"By the way..." began the Hyuuga as he opened up his locker. "You volunteered to play one of the minor roles in the play..."
"Yes, I did."
Furrowing his brow, Neji drew his textbook from his locker before turning to Gaara. "But why did you chose that role?"
Gaara smirked, his glasses sparkling-and Neji's eyes narrowed as he had come to know the sparkle to be something of idiocy (such as Gai and Lee's sparkling smiles)-before saying in an expressionless tone as he gazed off into the distance, "It's a mystery."
"Why don't you tell me a straight answer, idiot!" Neji snapped, knowing that the class president was intentionally giving a dodgy answer.
But Gaara remained vague with his answer and it seemed like the student council president would not be able to understand why until the class rehearsals next week.
...
"A play?" Itachi repeated.
A smile lit Hinata's face as she ate her lunch. "Y-yes and Uchiha-san is playing the lead male character and Sakura is acting opposite him," she explained as she brought more rice to her mouth.
Itachi appeared to chew on his sandwich thoughtfully. "What role are you playing?" he asked suddenly, studying her expression.
"O-oh, only a m-minor role but I tried to avoid any of the major roles..." Hinata replied, blushing as she stared at her shoes, excitement dying at the question.
"And why the hell would you do that? Those roles are the best fucking ones in the entire play!" Hidan growled, prodding her in the shoulder to emphasise the word "best".
"And I heard that Hinata-chan declined a leading role, hn," Deidara added, clicking his chopsticks in disapproval at the blushing Hyuuga.
"What the flying fuck?" Hidan yelled, prodding Hinata once more in the shoulder, causing a small "ow" to issue from her mouth. "Why the fuck would you do that?" he demanded, another prod bruising her already abused shoulder.
"Stop abusing her, Hidddaannn!" whined Tobi, dragging Hinata away from the foul-mouthed Akatsuki's reach. "Never fear Pet-chan! Even if the whole world were to turn against you, I would remain by your side and protect you!" he vowed dramatically, clutching Hinata's head to his chest.
"Don't you have anything else better to do, Tobi?" Pein asked in a bored tone as he flicked through a book in disinterest.
"How could you say such a cruel thing Pein? Are you not concern about our Pet-chan's safety?" Tobi asked, aghast.
Pein's eyebrow twitched. "Why are you referring to her with an "our"? I have no interest in having a part of the ownership over her-it'd just be burdensome-and secondly, I am not in the very least concerned about her safety."
"Cruel!" Tobi cried, pointing accusingly at the indifferent Akatsuki member.
Ignoring the bickering that occurred around him, Deidara turned to Sasori. "Sasori-sama, how is that painting of Hinata-chan going, hn? It's due in three weeks time, just after the Fundraising Festival."
Sasori bit into his rice ball calmly. "I'm still working on it. It'll be finished in time for the due date," he replied in an equally calm way.
"Oh! What are you doing for your assignment, Deidara-senpai?" Hinata asked curiously, having managed to get away from Tobi.
Deidara grinned, placing a finger to his lips. "That is a secret, Hinata-chan. You'll just have to be surprised when you finally see it, hn."
"My bet is that it's something completely idiotic like exploding clay," Kisame put in, casually taking a bite out of his sandwich as he leaned back on the wall behind himself.
Whipping his blonde-head in the blue-haired senior's direction, Deidara let out a venomous hiss, like one would expect from a cat who's tail had been trod on.
"Hey, don't become hostile towards me, you're the predictable one," Kisame said flatly.
Hinata cocked her head to the side quizzically. "Exploding clay?" she repeated blankly.
"Yes, it's something absurd that Deidara has been failing to successfully create for most of his high school life," Sasori added, bored.
Now, Deidara whipped his head in Sasori's direction, hissing, "It's not absurd! It's called art, hn! And besides, I have not been failing this entire time, I've simply been attempting to refine my creating skills in concern of my exploding clay."
"You don't call pointless things, such as exploding clay, art. Besides, what is the difference between "refining" and "failing"? Nothing. You're simply trying to sound fancy and not so inept in art."
As the two Akatsuki artists continued to bicker, Hinata's mind drifted into imagination mode where she attempted to picture Deidara's exploding clay artwork and immediately thought of Kurenai failing him because his artwork was similar to that of a bomb...
"...and having the nerve to put that in our school is the same as being a part of a terrorist organisation, attempting to blow up our school!" Hinata could almost hear her Homeroom teacher's scolding voice.
Eventually her imagination led her to a stranger string of bomb-threat thoughts until Kisame nudged her knee with his shoe, finally catching her attention. "Come on, it's time to go to class-the bell's rung. Are you going to go late to your class, or what?" he said, grinning in amusement.
Hinata's eyes widened and she quickly jumped to her feet. "Ahh! I'll be l-late to PE then and Gai-sensei may force me to run extra laps around the oval!" Hinata sobbed mentally at the thought of her having to run laps of humiliation around the rather large school oval whilst accompanied by her sports teacher (and Lee), who was so enthusiastic about his subject that he was the coach for every single sports team. PE was simply a period to taste the cruel and unusual punishment that the sports team were forced to endure.
She thought of this as she briskly walked alongside Itachi, managing to keep up for the first time, though not noticing this as she was more concerned over how Gai-sensei would react upon her arriving late. It was the Uchiha's deep voice that brought her out of her thoughts.
"Sasuke is playing the Kyuubi Prince, is he?"
Turning to him in surprise, Hinata simply nodded mutely. Silence enveloped them and Hinata found herself wondering about a question she had always wanted to ask yet feared that if she did, she may be interfering in other people's affairs. She had been told since she was young that it was ill-mannered to nose around in other people's business which was why she refrained often from questioning people about things. She gulped and summoned her courage, her curiousity getting the better of her.
Itachi, who seemed to have noticed her inner-turmoil, turned to her, somewhat expectant.
"Why d-does Uchiha-san not..." she paused, hesitating, suddenly uncertain of what she was doing. "Wh-why doesn't he like you?"
Itachi stared at her in seemingly mild surprise before turning away, his back facing her as he answered quietly. "That's none of your concern."
Startled by his cold response, Hinata stared at his back before lowering her eyes, biting her lip guiltily for attempting to intrude into his personal life. "I'm s-sorry... that was rude of me..." she said softly, bowing in regret for having asked her question.
His back continued to face her and she began to worry that he may no longer wish to talk to her because of her ill manners. After a few moments of tense silence, he spoke, his voice quiet and icy. "You have class to attend to."
"Y-yes."
Without another world, Hinata turned and headed the rest of the way to her class, scolding herself all the way for her naivety and utter stupidity.
...
It was a relief to Hinata when she arrived and found that Gai himself was running late to class having been held up in an "intense battle of strength between him and his eternal rival, Kakashi" (or at least, it was how the dark-haired PE teacher had put it) and so, the Hyuuga had narrowly escaped the extra laps she would've received.
She stepped out of the girl's sport locker room, clothed in her PE uniform and was surprised to hear someone urgently calling her name.
"Hinata!" called the pink-haired teen and classmate, Sakura Haruno, hastily making her way towards the quizzical Hyuuga. Upon reaching her, she instantly flung her arms around the Hyuuga and pulled her into an embrace, alarming the blushing indigo-haired teen. "I love you!" she cried happily, squeezing Hinata in her arms. "I love you so much!"
"E-EH?" was Hinata's muffled reply, unable to find any suitable words to say in response to Sakura's rather shocking love declaration. She wasn't aware that a member of the female species would hold such feelings for her.
"Hey, hey, Sakura, calm down. She might misunderstand you," snickered Ino Yamanaka as she approached them. She winked at Hinata. "Hinata, what she means to say is that she's really grateful that you gave her the lead female role."
"I'm more than grateful! I'm in love!" Sakura said with a dreamy sigh, pulling back from the flushed Hinata who still found no words to say in what she considered to be an awkward moment. "Say, why don't you sit with the girls and I for today?" the pink-haired teen asked cheerily, tilting her head slightly as she smiled at the Hyuuga before her. "We've been meaning to invite you to our group for a while now, so why don't you come?"
Join their group and leave the Akatsuki? Hinata thought, eyes widening as she was filled with sudden hope. Escape the Akatsuki's forever and finally be considered normal by other people by spending the rest of my school days happily with actual girls from my class? A blissful expression lit Hinata's face as she thought happily of spending actual "girl time" with her new friends and no longer having awkward (often bizarre) and tense moments with the members of Akatsuki. Her head hung. There's no way the Akatsuki would let me go so easily, she thought gloomily.
Ino tilted her head to look at Hinata's dismal expression. "What's up? You'd like to hang out with us wouldn't you?" she asked.
Hinata raised her head slightly, still gloomy. "U-uh... yes... I-I would like to b-but..." Both Ino and Sakura looked her at expectantly as she continued, "...b-but... the Akatsuki..." she trailed off, hanging her head in defeat again.
"Oh, don't worry about that! It's only for today!" Ino laughed, waving away the issue as if it were meaningless. "I mean, they shouldn't mind if we only borrowed you for a day, right? I mean, how badly could they miss you if you were gone for only one lunch time?" The blonde laughed once more, amused by Hinata's anxiety over something she thought to be trivial.
Uh... Tobi-senpai would actually surprise you... Hinata found herself thinking as she raised her head.
Sakura clasped one of Hinata's hands in hers, grinning brightly, eyes wide and hopeful. "So, you'll join us for lunch right?"
How could Hinata refuse?
So that was how the Hyuuga wound up following behind Ino and Sakura, who led the way to where their group sat in the school for lunch, quite a distance from the rooftop that the Akatsuki sat and thankfully (Hinata was relieved by this) out of their sight.
Oh Kami-sama, what was I thinking? Why did I allow them to easily persuade me into skipping my usual lunchtime with the Akatsuki to sit with their group for today? I feel like it's that scenario with Neji-nii-san again where he asked me to enrol into this school. Ahh! Why don't I ever think things through before making these life-changing decisions?
It was as Hinata thought this that they came to an abrupt halt beside a bench situated directly in front of the side of one of the school buildings and seated upon said bench were three teenagers that Hinata recognised from her class and Homeroom.
"All right! I get to introduce you to everyone!" Ino cheered, dragging Hinata forward by the arm to stand beside her and gesturing to Temari. "She's in your homeroom and our class, so I'm sure that you already know Temari." Her hand moved to point towards TenTen. "Well, she's in our class but I don't think you've ever been properly introduced to TenTen. She's a tomboy," Ino said, cupping her mouth to say the last part in Hinata's ear yet intentionally speaking loud enough for TenTen to hear. "And, we think she's infatuated with your cousin."
"Shut up, Ino!" snapped TenTen, slamming the table indignity, her cheeks coloured somewhat.
"Anyway, moving along... this is Karin and I'm sure you know her from your Homeroom."
Karin raised her hand and gave a small wave.
"And then there's me and Sakura and you already know us anyway!" Ino said as she beamed at the Hyuuga beside her. She turned back to the girls before her and placed her hands on her hips. "All right girls, let's give her a good welcome!"
"Hey," Temari greeted with a small smile.
"It's good to meet Neji's cousin," Tenten said, bowing her head in acknowledgement.
"Hi," Karin simply said, waving again.
"What kind of greeting was that? That was half-hearted, half-hearted!" yelled Ino, pointing at her group, affronted.
"Yes, yes," Sakura said with a smile, pushing Hinata gently forward toward the bench. "Just ignore her, she's just excited to have another person here," she added quietly to Hinata who felt utterly confused as to what she should do.
"Take a seat, come on!" TenTen urged, leaning over and tugging Hinata's arm to sit her down in the spare seat beside her. "So, Hinata," TenTen began conversationally, "what made you give away your role to Sakura?"
"Eh?"
"You know, was it an act of kindness or pure intuition?" pressed TenTen, openly interested. At Hinata's still confused expression, the bun-haired teen sighed and shrugged. "In actuality, I'm just curious to know because there's so many members of the Sasuke fan club that it's not funny in the least. A bit weird if you ask me, seeing as Sasuke is rather arrogant in appearance. And well, you rejected the role rather than accept it." TenTen patted her shoulder. "Good on you, you saved yourself from a cruel and unusual punishment that Sasuke would've been sure to have given you."
Hinata stared at the senior with surprise; surprised that she had said such a thing in front of certain fan girls that she knew.
"Well, I'm actually thinking of leaving the Sasuke fan club," Sakura said casually, taking a seat beside Hinata.
"Really? Have you finally admitted your defeat in our rivalry?" both Ino and Karin cried triumphantly.
Sakura smiled. "No, I'm just not really interested in being in the club anymore... it's been 3 years since I joined the club and I can't say any of us have really achieved anything. But, with this opportunity to act as the lead female protagonist... Well, I think that it would be a great chance to get to know Sasuke's character," Sakura said optimistically. "I mean, none of us have never really had a chance to be really close to him, so it would be a great opportunity to see what he's really like!"
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea to me!" Ino nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement.
Hinata wondered whether it would be considered impolite if she burst their bubble by informing them that Sasuke's character was moody, rude and that he enjoyed making fun of others. Deciding that it would be, she opted to ask Sakura how she had first come to know of Sasuke and what influenced her to join the Sasuke fan club in the beginning.
"Oh, that was when Naruto introduced him to me," Sakura explained with a fond smile as she recalled the memory, "I thought his calm and collected genius character was appealing."
"Mm, I agree!" chorused Ino and Karin, to which both Temari and TenTen rolled their eyes.
The Hyuuga wondered whether the three teens had taken Sasuke's moody disposition into account when they were thinking of "appealing", which had been something she had done upon meeting the younger Uchiha.
"So basically," Ino began, "we'd really like to see what Sasuke is really like and through this play, since Sakura, Karin and I have roles, it can allow us to observe Sasuke. It may be fun, it may make us fall in love with him more or it could even end with disappointment-though, I highly doubt it's the latter," Ino said with a confident grin. "Whatever happens, I guess it'll be the end of our membership at the Sasuke fan club."
Sakura turned to Ino in surprise. "Are you considering quitting too?"
"Yeah, all the members are either noobs or fan girl-tards anyway, so what's the point of staying there? It's too much of a hassle talking to the 'tards. They're real thick-headed and stupid to boot," Ino replied airily.
Karin shifted her glasses, the lenses gleaming in the sunlight. "Although that is true about most of the members, I, however, will remain in the club and refuse to accept this 'tard title."
"I think you're the biggest 'tard of all," Sakura said with a bright smile.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
As the pink-haired and red-haired teen began to argue, Hinata thought how similar this situation felt to the usual fights and arguments she had whenever she sat with the Akatsuki and the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't help but smile.
Kami-sama... I've met some strange people in this school...
…
Meanwhile, as Hinata was enjoying herself, Tobi sat in a corner on the usual rooftop, a dark cloud of depression hovering over his head. "My Pet-chan is not here... my Pet-chan is not here..." he muttered repeatedly to himself as he hugged his knees.
"So, what're we going to do about that loser, hn?" Deidara asked Pein (the second in command) nonchalantly, referring to the gloomy Akatsuki leader.
"Ignore him," Pein said in his usual bored tone as he continued to read his book, unconcerned.
...
It was the weekend. Hinata loved the weekend. It was undoubtedly her two favourite days of the week where she was able to take a break from school. Although it did not necessarily guarantee she was safe from the Akatsuki (especially since she had not sat with them the day before), she was still glad that at this moment, she felt like she could have a time of peace all to herself, where she could relax and not worry about whether she was being watched, judged or hated (which was something most of the girls in the school had come to do, Hinata had taken a painful mental note of that).
Stretching widely, she turned on her radio and was pleasantly surprised to find a song she liked playing. Golden Oldies. She loved them. And so, Hinata found herself singing and dancing freely to the song. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she had not noticed her front door opening and someone stepping in.
As soon as she noticed the two figures standing across the room from her she instantly froze.
"K-Kisame-senpai! T-Tobi-senpai!" she stammered in alarm, her face rivaling a tomato. Her palms began to sweat and her shoulder twitched in her frozen position. If they were here, were the other Akatsuki as well? And not only that, but how long had the seniors been standing there watching her dance and sing before she had actually taken notice of them. And then, it suddenly clicked in Hinata's mind. "W-wait! H-how did y-you get in h-here?" she asked, her eyes wide as she glanced from the two Akatsuki members and the now wide open door which she was she sure she had locked before she had gone to sleep the night before.
"Heh." Kisame jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to the doorway behind him with a grin. "Through the door of course."
"A-ah... of c-course... b-but I meant..."
"It's just me and Tobi here today since everyone else is busy," Kisame interrupted, talking as if she had asked another question (which I hadn't... Hinata mentally sighed). "Oh yeah, we asked Itachi-san if he wanted to join us but he turned our offer down, saying he had more important things to deal with," Kisame added.
More important things...? Maybe he's trying to avoid me... Hinata thought miserably.
"Do another dance for us ppllleeeaasssee, Pet-chan!" Tobi chimed in, hands clasped together in anticipation.
"E-eh?" Hinata quickly turned off the radio and brushed back her hair nervously. "U-uh... why're my senpai here?"
Before Tobi could proclaim how adorable Hinata was, Kisame spoke, his usual grin never leaving his face. "Well, I heard from Itachi-san that my story was selected for the play yet they had made some alterations to it, am I right?"
"Alterations?" Hinata repeated, her brows raised in confusion.
"Yes, allow me to look at the script," Kisame said, holding his hand out expectantly.
"Ah! Yes, let me just get it from my room!" Hinata replied, hurrying to her bedroom. A few moments later, she returned with the script in hand and handed it to the blue-haired senior.
As soon as he read the opening lines of the play, his grin widened. "Well, they've decided to keep the characters as they are and how the play runs," Kisame said, nodding his head in satisfaction as he skimmed through the rest of the play.
"U-uh... is that all you wanted to check, Kisame-senpai...?" Hinata ask, confused as to why her two senpai would be at her house if it was only to check on how the school had edited Kisame's story.
Lifting his gaze from the pages before him, Kisame grinned from ear to ear. "Well, this is the fun part I suppose. I thought as the writer that it would best for me to help you get into your character since Itachi-san informed us that you have a role," Kisame explained. "So, which role do you have?"
Scratching her head, Hinata tried to recall the role that Neji had assigned her-she had been too overwhelmed with horror at that time to be able to remember it. "Ah!" Hinata exclaimed, clapping her fist into her hand as she remembered. "Th-the Blossom Medic! I-it's only a minor role though..." she trailed off, her knuckles touching her lips in one of her nervous habits.
Still grinning, Kisame waved that detail away as if it were unimportant. "Although it is a minor role, you still have an interesting character to play."
Hinata's brows raised. "Interesting? In what way, senpai?"
There was a hint of mirth in the senior's voice as he replied, "You're the Kyuubi Prince's love interest."
Without warning, Hinata's knees buckled beneath her and her eyes rolled back into her head as she fainted-because she was well aware of who was acting as the Kyuubi Prince.
"AHH! KISAME, LOOK WHAT YOU DID! PET-CHAN! PET-CCCHHHAANNNN!"
...
Sasuke's eye twitched as he glared at the older Uchiha who stood opposite him, his face impassive as he stared coolly back. "Say that again," Sasuke growled, his brow twitching.
"Hold me, Fuujin," Itachi repeated in a dull tone, straight-faced.
A vein popped out on Sasuke's head. "You sound like an idiot rather than a Princess in love! And why am I rehearsing this with you again?" Sasuke complained in irritation, feeling the urge to tear out his hair.
"Because foolish little brother, you may not have realised it as of yet, but you have no talent for acting," Itachi replied never lifting his eyes from the script in his hand, ever so calm.
"Neither do you!" Sasuke shot back vehemently.
"Then allow us to try this again. Hold me, Fuujin."
"HELL NO, I WON'T! SCREW THIS PLAY!" an enraged Sasuke shouted, flinging his copy of the script to the floor before stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind himself.
There was a moment of silence where Sasuke's stomping echoed throughout the house.
"Hmm... did I push him too far?" Itachi mused aloud.
Yes, Itachi Uchiha did have more important things to do. Namely, torturing his younger brother.
(Just for fun.)
...
End of chapter 6.
A/N: PHEW! That chapter is finally done! And hopefully you like it? D: The "just for fun" is in brackets because I didn't want to put it actually into the story because it kind of felt out of place for some reason when I typed it up...
Anyway, the upcoming three weeks, I'm going to be really busy with assignments and exams so if updates are later than a week, it's because I'm really overloaded, but I'll make sure to update still! D: And, after chapter 7, for anyone who's interested, I can post up a story summary on my livejournal for The Sharingan Princess for those who want to know what it was about, the characters, the mythology relating to it and the links to Naruto it has... and yes, the play they're doing is my own original idea as well that I just tried to tie together with mythology and Naruto. XB
But enough of that, thanks to you awesome reviewers! And please kindly leave a review! :3