School Entanglements

Pairing: Sasuke & Hinata
Rating: T
Summary: I got accepted at my high school of choice, Village of the Leaves High School. I'm starting in a few weeks but being so excited to attend school, I went there just for the sake of exploring the place. Unbeknownst to me, I'll find more than I expected.
Disclaimer: please see author's profile. In addition, this story's plot was not originally mine but from a one-shot manga I read some time ago. I wasn't able to take note or remember its title but as I was reading it I couldn't help but put certain characters from the Narutoverse in their stead. If anyone does find it similar to a manga they've read, please tell me the title so that I could disclaim it accordingly.
Dedication: heights1231 (Sorry I wasn't able to put it in as a one-shot. This probably would be 3-5 chapters in all depending on my free time and availability of the PC cause of my little bro hogging it.)

Chapter 3 - Enter Male Lead

Hinata's watch read 10:45 am as she was entering the school building. The walk towards the building took some time and with the sun out with no clouds to disrupt its intense rays, Hinata was quite thirsty. Luckily, the school provided drinking fountains along every hallway. Upon spotting one, she made to walk towards it but suddenly heard a guy's voice approaching and made to hide instead. She ran back outside the doorway from where she entered and leaned against the wall beside it, listening to the people talking as they passed.

"You always say next time! But what would happen if there wasn't a next time?" A young man's voice said irritatedly.

"You shouldn't joke about things like that. You know that I will visit when I have free time but seeing as there are a lot of preparations to be made I need to live at an apartment nearby to finish everything in time. You should understand. And I went there just last week. You were the one who wasn't home when I arrived and left." The same voice reprimanded and reasoned.

If you weren't able to see for yourself, one would think it was only someone doing a monologue since they have the same tone of voice. That is what Hinata was thinking incredulously. Since Hinata couldn't peek to see at who was talking and not reveal herself, she focused on the footsteps. She could distinctly hear two sets of footsteps so she deduced there were two people, Male A and Male B.

"Yeah but we haven't been able to do stuff together this summer. And with the preparations, among other things, we haven't been able to talk at all. I even had to go here today just to be able to do that." Male A countered with a sad tone to it before adding in his defense. "And how was I supposed to know you were arriving that particular day? I didn't have plans that day originally but rather than be bored to death at home, I was forced to go on a date with an annoying girl." Hinata could easily imagine Male A crossing his arms in front of his chest in arrogance while Male B would shake his head at his companion's antics.

She heard one of them give a sigh of resignation. "Alright, you have a point. I'll be busy doing things here at school but I'll finish as soon as I could and then I will visit for a while. Sound good?"

The voices seemed to be growing fainter as they were drawing farther from where Hinata was hiding. She still heard the next sound the younger one produced.

"Hn."

She gave a sigh of relief then checked to see if the coast is clear. When she found it was, she headed for the fountain and drank some water to quench her thirst. As her thirst receded, she cleaned her mouth with her sleeve then, she stared at it for a while before looking at the rest of her uniform and then slapping a hand to her forehead.

She just found out just how stupid she could be at times. She forgot that she shouldn't be afraid of being seen by anyone because she was in the proper school uniform. She saw other students also wearing their uniforms as they went about their business when she was walking towards the soccer fields and also when she was headed for the building, although others have foregone either their blazer or vest or even both.

Thinking to herself, she might as well get over it since what's done is done and it's already in the past.

She then looked around for a map of the building but had no luck in finding it. She remembered she to text Tenten and took out her phone.

To: Tenten
Hey! U know, d weirdest thing happened 2 me 2day? I was supposed 2 surprise my best friend with a visit at school during their soccer practice 2 have her give me a tour but then wouldn't u know it? I wasn't able to foresee that she wasn't gonna b there. So I figured to do this adventure on my own since plan A fell thru. I forgive u. BUT! I need a huge favor. If my dad or Neji or Hanabi, texts you & asks then please tell them that u did give me a tour of d school. It will mean a lot! Tnx Ten! I promise to tell u everything that happened. Just a while ago, I think I kinda eavesdropped on an LQ, the unexpected type of people. Anyways, GTG.
From: Hinata
11:00am

After seeing that her message was sent, she proceeded to start her journey. She suddenly remembered the day she had her exams and wanted to see the desk in which she sat. So she started to retrace her steps from her exam day.

Which hall was it again?

This is gonna be a long day.

***With Neji***

"And if you'll remember to always write your name first and the techniques I've mentioned to be able to shade the best answers then you'll do just fine. That will be it for this morning. You can have your lunch break but be back in an hour." Neji concluded his morning class and proceeded to arrange the papers in his desk.

Sifting through the papers to assess the abilities of his students. He sighed as most of them didn't even get the passing grade of 75. Being a prep school teacher is just as hard as any regular teacher. Continuing to scan the papers, most of what he could see were 60's. There were even 50's. But at least a select few reached 70's. As he read the name of the person who had been lucky to reach the passing grade, he can't help but feel that the name was familiar. He called out to his students before the rest could head to the cafeteria.

"Which one of you is Himura Tenten?"

Most of the students who were still in the classroom and heard him either looked around to see who she was or shook their heads saying they didn't know her. One girl with long flowing black hair and eyes approached Neji. Thinking she was the aforementioned Neji was about to ask her something but was beat to it with the girl's words.

"I'm not her, Hyuuga-sensei. But we're from the same school. I'm Tsuchi Kin. She was one of the first students to head out. She said that she had to buy something at a nearby store that her parents asked her to do as an errand but she'll be back for the afternoon class. Was there something you needed to tell her, sensei? I could text her to come back immediately."

"Oh. Well, thank you for telling me that but telling her to come back when she is probably in a rush won't be necessary. I would just want to commend her for her grade is all. You may proceed to the cafeteria now, Tsuchi-san."

"Hai, sensei."

When he was left to his own devices, he pondered for a while.

'Hmm. It could just be a coincidence since I know that Hinata won't be saying that she'll meet her friend if she wasn't sure she was there.'

Neji finished arranging the papers at his desk and left the classroom to eat his lunch. But not before texting Hinata.

To: Hinata
Didn't mean to intrude on your quality time with your friend but I just wanted to know how your school tour has been going? And I was thinking a while ago, it suddenly crossed my mind, so I was just curious as to what your friend's, Tenten, last name is. Anyways, Don't forget to eat lunch. I know how you are when you are excited, you always seem to forget the basic human needs. lol Take care over there. Text me if you need a ride home.
From: Neji
12:00nn

***With Hinata***

She received a text from Tenten about five minutes ago, apologizing a lot and said she'll make it up to her somehow. Tenten also agreed to cover for her and had been one of the few people who urged her to live more. She received Neji's soon after and was now just finished reading it.

"Thanks for reminding me Neji-nii-san. Now I really feel hungry. If only I could make my way to the cafeteria." Hinata sighed.

'Isn't it really weird for a school not to have mini-maps in their halls? Maybe they renovated or something that they had to take all the maps down and put up new ones. Yeah, that could be it.' Hinata shook her head to clear her thoughts as she made her way up the stairs.

She thought she heard people talking and didn't realize until late that there was a small puddle of liquid and sure enough, she slipped backwards. She tried to reach out to hold onto something but the railings were too far. She closed her eyes for the impact she expected to feel.

1 second.

2 seconds.

3 seconds.

Then 4 seconds.

And finally, 5 seconds passed.

Was she floating? Did she really just die because she didn't notice the puddle she slipped on?

She opened her eyes and felt her whole body freeze and the next second her whole face flushed crimson red.

Onyx eyes.

It was the first thing she saw the first second. The next she saw those eyes were part of a very handsome face with a small smirk. His body was lean and built but not too bulky. This she knew because she saw the outline of his arm, the muscles of his arm. His left was straining as his hand grasped the railing of the stairs for leverage while the other was outstretched in front of her, the hand connected to it was the one thing keeping her and him from falling. The middle soles of her shoes were the only parts of her still planted on earth, touching the ledge of a step.

At the third second from when she opened her eyes, she was pulled towards him. Her body snug against his made her think if she was already developing a fever from the heat her body radiated with the contact. She was wondering why she hadn't fainted from the ordeal but attributed it to the shock of the moment.

The male thought the girl was quite peculiar. He also found her intriguing. Her lavender eyes were unique, made him think she was blind for a moment but saw that her eyes focus on different parts of his physique that made him smirk. But as much as he didn't mind a girl's body pressing against him, it would look scandalous if someone saw them, not to mention awkward.

"You think you can stand steadily by yourself now?" She felt his voice vibrate from their chests touching and his breath brushed her ears, which made her alert again and aware of how it might have looked like to an outsider who didn't know what happened, as if they were lovers in an embrace. Not only that, he was either Male A or Male B. She couldn't tell which. She pushed away from him with a small squeak and almost fell over, now forwards, but was again in the stranger's arms.

'She sure is quite clumsy and unsteady on her own feet. Wouldn't want my effort to go to waste and end up still having injured her.' His thoughts ran.

"Here. Why down we go to level ground first because we can't risk you actually falling over and hurt yourself now, do we?" He steadied her for a moment then whisked her in a bridal carry but not with a few protests from her.

"Wait! I- You don't have to- Just put me down!" She was restlessly fighting and trying to get him to let her down, a complete 360 degrees from her frozen state a while ago. She even slapped him in the cheek and punched a shoulder with her hands moving about. Him being able to keep them balanced amidst her squirming is a miracle in itself. He was only helping her and this is what he gets in return.

"Hey! Stop that! Do you want us both to fall down the stairs now? If you don't stop squirming, that's what will be happening." She stopped moving altogether at his stern warning. The handsome guy continued to move down the stairs and let her place her feet on level ground once he reached the last step to make sure she wouldn't panic like she did before.

"Umm...Thank you. Sorry but I think I unintentionally slapped and punched you a while ago." She was only trying to defend herself from a stranger. I mean, who would just suddenly sweep a girl off her feet as if she weighed nothing when they don't even know each other. That only happens in fairy tales that is, for a fact, far from reality.

"Are you sure it's unintentional?" He said trying to roll his shoulder from where she punched him and then proceeding to rub his cheek that was slightly stinging. For a girl, she was quite a force to be reckoned with.

"I wouldn't know what to think with you just suddenly doing that. Sorry, sensei." She called him sensei because it was ingrained in their mind to always show respect. She figured he was a teacher since he was wearing casual clothing and not the usual uniform. He was dressed in a simple navy button down short-sleeved shirt with black stripes at the shoulders and black jeans and the inside school shoes which were white. She also thought she overheard that both Male A and Male B are doing preparations for the upcoming school year. Before he could say anything else, someone butted in.

"Uchiha-san? Everything alright there?" Someone with silver hair covering his left eye and a mask on the lower part of his face was peeking from the upper part of the stairs. Hinata was sure that he was not the one the Uchiha was talking to a while ago because he had a different tone of voice.

"We're fine Kakashi. This girl almost slipped on the stairs and I helped stop her from getting hurt." He answered monotonously.

"I thought that you were already causing trouble again when school hasn't even started. Great catch Sasuke!" Kakashi had this mischievous look on his face, Sasuke could tell even with the mask but Hinata was none the wiser, and just looked on at the interaction but blushed when she heard the last bit Kakashi said.

"Think what you want Hatake." Sasuke just brushed it off because he knew that he was only trying to get a rise out of him and it would only make him tease more. "Just ignore him." Sasuke muttered to Hinata.

"Ah hai, Uchiha-sensei." She whispered and just followed as he said then Kakashi left, already feeling ignored.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" When he saw Kakashi head back up the stairs he asked her, not really knowing if he's angry or exasperated by the situation.

"Well, I was taught to always show respect. What else should I call you then?" The girl was confused by his question because she was taught to always follow orders from those older than her. She had her head looking down.

"What's your name?" He asked Hinata, facing her. She debated telling her name but it would seem suspicious to not give her teacher her name.

"It's Hyuuga Hinata." She said shyly looking up at him.

"Hinata, just call me Sasuke." He smiled slightly at Hinata, to seem friendly.

"But you're a sensei. It would seem disrespectful."

"You're not really a student yet."

At that she nodded. "I guess you're right, Sasuke-san." She blushed.

"You're not really from here, aren't you? I mean, you'll be a first year when school starts." He continued and explained better when he found her eyes widen and was about to protest.

"Ah, hai. And I know I'm not supposed to be here yet but I wanted to tour the school with my friend but when I got here she wasn't at her soccer practice where I was supposed to find her. I was going to tour the school myself instead." She replied, explaining her predicament. "But how did you know? I'm in uniform just like the other students."

He chuckled a bit before answering. "It's the way you have your blazer all buttoned up and the perfectly tied necktie and proper skirt length."

"Oh." Now that he mentioned it, she noticed the previous female students she saw wore their uniform differently even the male population of students. Then her stomach suddenly growled, reminding her of her earlier problem. She suddenly flushed and Sasuke laughed.

"Come on, I'll treat you to lunch and show you the cafeteria. I'll give you the tour afterwards. Sound good?" She nodded and followed him.

The clock in the hallway read 12:45pm.