Chapter 7: Good Times and Bad Times

"Okay Ino, since you volunteered to go first—truth or dare?" Hinata said

"Dare" she said fearlessly

"I dare you to dunk your head in a bucket of ice water for ten seconds" sakura dared her

"Oh come on its cold enough because of the rain, now you want me to do that!" she complained

"Hey you asked for it" Tenten teased

"Alright fine" she gave in

She completed her dare but not without sending a loud scream through the house after she took her head out of the freezing water.

"I h-hate you g-guys" she shivered as she sat down next to Shikamaru

"We love you two Ino" said sakura

"Alright Tenten truth or dare?"

"Hm…dare" she finally answered

"I dare you to stay in your underwear for the rest of the night" Ino said with a sly grin on her face. Tenten rolled her eyes at them then went upstairs to get undressed—Ino never said anything about changing in front of the guys.

A few seconds later she returned in a white lace bra and black underwear as well as a knee length white gown. She took her seat next to Neji. Ino looked at the both of them; they looked pretty comfortable next to each other. Tenten saw Ino staring and understood her confused expression.

"It's not like we've never been in the situation before where I'm in my underwear; so it's not as bad as it was last time" she explained

Their game of truth or dare continued well into the night as it was 22:22 when they finished playing so they decided to change things up.

"I say we tell scary stories now" sakura suggested

"Sounds great, who'll start us off?" Naruto asked

"I have a story and it actually involves this house. About ten years ago a young newly married couple bought this house. Two years later they had son but he was quite an unusual boy—he never talked and the most distinctive and strangest thing about him was that he never blinked—ever. His parents had taken him to multiple doctors to found out what was wrong with him but none of them could come up with an answer. So they resumed their lives as normally as they could; they spent time with their son and tried to talk to him to no avail. Then one day—

"Okay this story is getting a little too creepy for me—I think I could use some hot chocolate—anyone else—no, oh well I'll be in the kitchen" Naruto quickly stood up and bolted to the kitchen to avoid listening to anymore of the story

"What a child" Sasuke commented

"What happened next Hinata?" Tenten asked clearly interested in the story

"One day during the couples' wedding anniversary they'd put their son to bed by playing a music box for him—it played his favourite nursery song— then they had a romantic dinner in the living room. An hour or so later they were about to get serious as they were making out on the couch—and suddenly the lights went out. The man went to check what happened to the power and when he got the power box he found an axe smashed into it—someone had cut off their electricity. When he reported this to the police they never found out who did it since this house had no neighbours.

When he went back inside his wife wasn't where he'd left her. He assumed that she'd gone to check on their son so he went upstairs to his room but when he arrived he found his wife dead on the floor in a pool of blood and their son was sitting upright in his bed with his eyes closed—the first time they'd ever been closed. The man –completely shocked and horrified— called the police again but when they got there the entire house was empty—the boy and his parents were nowhere to be found. All they found was a small music box in his crib, playing a children's nursery song.

To this day nobody knows what happened to that family and everytime it was investigated by police, the officers would say they heard music coming from upstairs—sounding like a children's nursery song. And it just so happens that tonight is their anniversary" just as Hinata concluded her story the lights went out startling everyone. The hairs on the back of Tenten's neck stood on end and she held on to Neji's hand.

"Why'd the lights go out?" Sakura asked panic in her voice. Clearly the story had gotten to her. A few seconds later the group heard a music box, playing a nursery song. Ino and Sakura screamed at the same time and that's when the music stopped.

Naruto walked back into the room laughing extremely loudly—he was barely able to contain himself

"It worked; you guys should have seen your faces. The plan worked flawlessly Hinata." He managed to say in between laughs as he sat down and put his arm around her.

"What are you talking about Naruto, what plan?" Tenten asked still a little scared

"Hinata and I planned this"

"And what about the lights going out?" Ino asked

"That was me, that's why I left earlier. I pretended to be afraid and left the room to time the lights to go out at the end of Hinata's story" he slyly grinned—not that anyone could see it since they were sitting in the dark

"Sheesh Hinata you've become a lot more devious ever since you started dating Naruto. First you two set up the whole Valentine's day thing and now this" Shikamaru spoke up

"So when are the lights coming back on?" Sasuke asked

"They should come on any second now" as he finished his sentence the lights came back on, then immediately turned off again

"Alright Naruto you got us now stop playing with the lights" Sasuke got annoyed

"That wasn't me" he said starting to get nervous "Hinata that story you told wasn't true was it?" he was starting to get afraid

"No not at all, I made it up" she cleared it up

"The power must have tripped, I'll go check" Neji stood up

"I'll go too" Tenten stood up and left with him

"No guys don't go; it might be a real ghost or something!" Naruto panicked but they were already out of the room

As soon as Neji and Tenten got to the power grid Neji noticed something strange about it

"What on earth?"

"What's the matter Neji?" she asked and walked towards him

"All the switches are facing up, everything should still be on" he looked closely at each switch

"That's strange" suddenly she heard a whisper from behind her

"Neji did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I could've sworn I heard…never mind it was probably nothing" her heart began racing in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to get the lights back on and get out of there. The pair suddenly felt a chill and jumped as they heard something crash to the ground. Tenten walked over and retrieved the fallen item. It was a photo frame with a photo of Neji and Hinata as kids. The glass covering the picture was now cracked.

"How did this frame fall off the table if it was nowhere near the edge and there's nothing in here to make it fall?" she was officially scared

"I don't know but don't panic, let's just get the lights back on and get out of here" as if on cue the lights came back on. After deciding that what just happened was too strange Neji and Tenten decided not to talk about it.

They then headed back to the group and took their seats. After Naruto and Hinata's little trick they decided to forget about the idea of telling scary stories and went back to their game of truth or dare but this time due to everyone's fatigue and disregard for the rules—this round of the game was a lot different to how they played earlier.

"Alright Hinata I dare you to seduce Naruto" Ino dared her

Hinata looked hesitant at first but then she changed completely into a different person. She slowly straddled Naruto's waist and winked at him which threw him off guard. She then slowly slid his gown off of his shoulders and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips barely brushed the surface of lips before she pulled away and sat back in her normal position. Naruto exhaled heavily after she pulled away—things got a little steamy for him.

"Man Hinata it's actually kind of scary how good you are at that" Ino commented "Who would have thought, the innocent and shy Hinata was a natural at seduction"

"Okay Tenten truth or dare?"

"Dare" she answered but immediately regretted it when she saw the gleam in Ino's eyes

"I thought you'd never ask. I dare you to make out with Neji"

"Wouldn't you rather make me do something else?" she asked

"Don't you want to kiss your boyfriend?" she smirked

"Oh it's not that I definitely want to kiss him just not on your schedule. But a dare is a dare" she straddled his waist and looked at his smirking face before she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her and intensified the kiss. It was hot and passionate—she'd only made out with him in her dreams but this was better than any dream. His soft lips against hers felt great. He was an amazing kisser and his hands went from her waist to rest on her thighs. A few moments later they separated and she sat back in her place with a triumphant look on her face.

"Satisfied Ino?" she smirked

"Obviously not as much as you, but yes"

"Sasuke truth or dare?"

"Truth, I'm too tired to do anything" he had a good point as it was already 01:31 in the morning

"Okay…" she thought of a question "How many times have you had thoughts of you and Sakura in bed together before you two started dating?"

"Too many times to count" he simply answered which surprised everyone

"And now?" Sakura asked growing curious herself

"About twice as much" he smirked at her making her blush

By 02:30 Neji and Tenten were the only ones still awake. She was lying in his lap while they were talking.

"I'm not tired yet, what about you?" she looked up at him

"I am starting to get tired. All of that kissing took a lot out of me" Tenten just rolled her eyes at him

"How are you tired when I was the one doing all of the kissing?" she raised an eyebrow at him then he suddenly leaned down and kissed her for a few seconds then pulled away. She just looked up at him with a blush on her cheeks. He smirked at her then laid down with his arms folded behind his head. She sighed with a smile on her face before she spoke up

"You're really something else Neji Hyuuga" she sat up and saw that he had fallen asleep. She couldn't help but smile as she looked at his relaxed face and watched his chest rise and fall. She moved a little closer to him and kissed him on the forehead before lying down next to him.

"Maybe it's a good thing you're not awake right now. You've heard me say some of these things and some things you haven't. We've been friends for how long now and I never would have imagined that we'd end up together. There are so many things that I like about you; the way you look at me, the way you talk to me—even when you're flirting, the way you always make me laugh—even when it's not intentional, the way you say my name and most of all the way you smile at me. You rarely ever smile and when you do it's really amazing. I could literally talk about how great you are for hours. I can't emphasise enough how important you are to me; you really brighten up my life. You know me better than anyone else—the true me and you've never asked me to change anything about myself. You even have this unwavering trust in me and most of the time you see the positives in me that I myself struggle to see. And I think I can safely say that I…love you" she turned to her side with the biggest smile on her face and fell asleep

11:46 a.m.

Tenten woke up and squinted her eyes as the mid-morning sun blinded her as it intensified the brightness of the white carpet they were all asleep on. She looked behind her to see Neji was still asleep with his arm around her waist. She slowly broke away from him to go to the kitchen; but on her way there she saw the rest of her friends had slept quite closely next to each other.

They'd all pretty much ended up the same way she had with Neji. She was in the kitchen with a plate of croissants and making a cup of tea when Sasuke walked in, helping himself to one of her croissants. She just gave him a sarcastic look.

"Well good morning to you too Sasuke; yes you may have one of my croissants" she just smiled at him when he gave her a blank look "So how'd you sleep?" she sat on the counter waiting for the kettle to finish boiling.

"Well enough, I guess"

"I could tell by the way you were holding Sakura" she smirked at him

"Like I was the only one of us who slept like that"

"Yeah well I didn't wrap my arms around him; I woke up with his arms around me"

"Whatever you say Tenten" he helped himself to another croissant

"Hey stop eating my breakfast!" she yanked her plate away from him

About half an hour later everyone was awake and eating their breakfast—except Sasuke and Tenten because they already ate—outside on the patio.

"We should start packing this evening and set out early in the morning just like when we came here" Hinata spoke

"What! Has it already been two weeks already?" Naruto exclaimed

"Unfortunately yes, today's Monday and school starts on Wednesday, so we need to head back" said Sakura before she took a sip of her orange juice

Xxx

It was late evening when Ino was packing her clothes into her suitcase; someone knocked at her door.

"Come in" she yelled as she continued packing her mountains of clothes away "Oh hey Shikamaru, done packing already?"

"Yeah I just finished" he took a seat on the edge of her bed. He watched her while she packed and noticed something "You're still wearing the earrings I gave you"

"Of course I am, they were a really great gift and I love them. Did you expect me to just leave them in the box forever?" she turned around and faced him

"Did you ever think it would up like this? Us together?" he asked

"No I really didn't; I mean being around you was so natural; only up until recently did I start noticing that I had feelings for you that were much deeper than friendship." She walked over and sat next to him on the bed "And I realised that they've been there for quite a while but I only noticed them when the whole Valentine's Day thing happened"

"I'm in the same boat as you. I always just thought that we'd stay friends for the rest of our lives but I'm really happy with how things turned out now" he placed his hand on top of hers

The next morning arrived and the gang began their drive back to school. They would begin the new term with newly formed bonds.

The gang arrived back at school at 13:00 and went to their rooms. Hinata unlocked the door to their room and walked inside.

"Well we're back" Tenten said as put her stuff down by her bed "It feels like we've been gone forever, I'm going to go take a walk." She headed to the door and left

Tenten took a walk around the school grounds for about an hour before taking a break under a large shady tree. She rested her back against the trunk of the tree and closed her eyes; easing herself into relaxation. She enjoyed the breeze that swept past her and found herself drifting off; leaning in one direction and with no one to catch her, she would surely hit the ground—but that wasn't the case.

As soon as she leaned too far someone caught her and she ended up leaning on their shoulder. She quickly looked up to find Neji Hyuuga sitting next to her.

"Neji, when did you get here?" she spoke with her eyes closed

"Just now. You're really tired"

"Yeah, I didn't realise until I started dozing off just now. If it weren't for you I would have fallen asleep on the ground" she chuckled

"Well you can rest easy now" but she hadn't heard his last words as she had already fallen asleep

Xxx

The sun was going down when Tenten opened her eyes. She was still under the tree and Neji was still sitting next to her.

"Whoa, how long was I out for?"

"About five hours"

"And you're still here?" she sat up and looked at him

"It's not like I could just stand up and leave"

"Oh right" she looked away "Well thanks, how did you know I was outside anyway?"

"Let's just call it a coincidence" he smirked at her

"And you just happened to be at the exact spot I was at. Boy that's some coincidence" she raised an eyebrow at him

"We'd better head back inside" he stood up and helped Tenten up

Just as they were about to leave Tenten pulled Neji towards her and kissed him for a few seconds them separated

"What was that for?" he looked at her with confusion

"No reason" she smiled up at him and began walking back

Xxx

Tenten was on her way to her room when she crossed paths with Naoya—she still hadn't forgotten Naoya's little stunt to keep her away from Neji. She had half a mind to fight her right then and there in that corridor

"Naoya, to what do I owe this displeasure?" she unkindly stated

"Still a little upset about how your first date turned out I see" she smirked; Tenten clenched her fist and walked closer to her—close enough so she could talk normally

"I have half a mind to take you down right now but I'm not going to do that. I just want to say one thing; you have no idea what your little stunt caused. You almost cost me my best friend and if you ever do anything like that ever again I will make you regret it"

"Say whatever you want Tenten, because this is just the beginning. You don't deserve him and I'll make him see it too" she spat, Tenten countered with a smirk

"I actually ought to thank you; because of what you did, Neji and I are actually together" she looked at Naoya with a smug face.

"What are you talking about?"

"You heard me, we're dating" she looked at her one last time before heading to her room but not before getting a death glare from Naoya which she returned with just as much hate.

Tenten walked into her room and went straight to her bed to lie down. The rest of the girls were relaxing—namely Hinata and Ino and as for Sakura—according to Ino—she was spending the evening with Sasuke. The group of girls had dinner then turned in early to be prepared for school the next day.

Wednesday morning arrived too early for the girls as they prepared themselves and headed downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast. A few minutes later they were joined by the guys before heading to class together.

Xxx

The girls were sitting at their usual table in the cafeteria eating their lunch.

"I can't believe it's only three weeks away. I can't wait for the school dance" Ino practically yelled

"What, you can't wait to show off your boyfriend" sakura smirked at her

"Well yes that too but I also can't wait to get that perfect dress. We need to plan a trip to the mall and get ourselves some showstoppers."

"You're right Ino" Hinata spoke up

The rest of their school day carried on pretty uneventfully—a few tests here, some homework there and assignments everywhere. Neji and Tenten were at the library together doing some research on an assignment they had for class but they'd decided to take a break on the library's balcony.

"Ino's really looking forward to the dance and now she's planning to take us girls out shopping to find the perfect dress. I've got to say that I'm quite excited to surprise you" she took a chip out of the packet and popped it into her mouth

"If it's anything like the other surprise I got regarding your clothing—or lack thereof—then I'm excited as well" he smirked making her blush

"You did not just say that" she playfully pushed him "Well we better get back to our assignment"