Me: Hello my peoples, and welcome to the next chapter of my story, Love And Breakdancing.
Hinata: We hope that you're enjoying the story so far.
Sasuke: …
Me: Sasuke, that's your cue.
Sasuke: Why do I have to say it? Actually, why do any of us have to say this in every chapter?
Me: Because it's, unfortunately, true. Plus I want this story to actually stay posted, you know. Now say it!
Sasuke: Ugh, this is so stupid… Anaghia-san doesn't now own Naruto or any of its characters. There, happy?
Me: Very. Thank you for cooperating for once. Now, my readers, enjoy!
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I can hear the DJ beginning to announce the two groups of competitors in the main room, the crowd suddenly quieting. Knowing that there's no reason to stay in an empty room, I quietly slip out into the room and settle among the anticipating crowd.
"Alright people," says the disk jockey, who has turned down all of the music for the moment and is in the middle of the floor with a microphone, "to my left, we've got the visitors- the Mist-Ellaneous group!"
There's a polite cheer from the crowd, and a few boos from some delinquents in the back corner. When the crowd quiets down, the DJ continues. "And to my right," he says dramatically, "we've got our hometown heroes- the Konaha Killers!" An uproar from the crowd. I cheer with them, although halfheartedly.
"First things first- leaders, shake." he commanded. Sasuke comes out from the group and up to the DJ. Then a particularly big guy from the Mist-Ellaneous crew, one with bandages covering his face bellow the nose and camouflage pants (A/N: Sound familiar?), follows suit. Sasuke was shorter than the leader of the M.E group- short enough to have to look up a bit at that. The two looked at each other squarely in the eye and shook the other's hand firmly. Then they parted.
"Okay, let's get it on!" says the DJ, jogging back to his booth. He puts his headphones on and lets them rest around his neck, and then he starts the music back up. It's something catchy, and the crowd is quiet no more. It has begun.
The Killers, technically being the hosts, allow the other group to go first. The Mist-Ellaneous take up on it and they begin with a few of their dancers doing what I know is called Top Rock. The rest of them start pulling off some basic moves for the warm up. After they finish, it's the Killers' turn.
Like their opponents, the guys also start with Top Rock. Then they flow into some elaborate moves. Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru all sweep one leg in front of their other leg and seem to trip themselves while everyone else is doing freezes (A/N: Sorry if my descriptions suck, I'm still learning and I'm doing the best I can).
When they give the floor back to the other group, I decide to turn away for a moment and to get another drink. Luckily for me, there's not many people left at the bar, just a few guys and the bartender himself. "Ah, back for seconds, huh?" says the young bartender. I nod. "The usual?" I nod again, still considering an alcoholic drink that'll make me forget my encounters with Sasuke.
The bartender leaves, leaving me to my thoughts. That guy has a lot of nerve, telling me I don't belong here! Not to mention he told me that I should keep away from him when I just met him! Hmph…
I look back toward the area where the Killers are standing. It's hard to see past all of the people watching the battle, but I catch a glimpse of - of all people- Sasuke. He's intently watching their opponents battle it out on their turn. And although he's watching them closely, he seems relaxed.
That's when he looks away from them and at the crowd. For a fraction of a second, our eyes meet, and he winks. I blink quickly to see if I imagined it, but he's not looking anymore. What the hell was that?!
The bartender comes back with my drink, bringing me back to reality. I take it, practically thrust the dollar bills into his hand, and drink it heavily (really good thing it's not alcohol).
"Oh, excuse me, miss."
I look up at the bartender, finally putting my drink down. "Yes?"
"Um," he says, embarrassed. He's older than I am, but he's still young enough to become easily flustered. "The gentlemen down there" - he tilts his head towards the guys I mentioned earlier- "promised me they would double my tip if…" he trailed off.
"'If'?" I encouraged.
"-If I acquired your number for them."
I sit there, shocked into silence. Against my better judgment, I turn my head towards them. There are three of them, all of them staring at me. They smile at me. I try to smile back, but I can't form a smile from my pursed lips. That doesn't really matter though, because while one of them has enough courtesy to look me in the eye, the others aren't even looking at my face, if you catch my drift. I can feel my skin flush.
"Well," I say a bit hotly, slipping the poor bartender an extra tip, "you can tell them that not only am I not giving them my number, that if they want to court a lady, they have to look at her face, not her chest." When the bartender gave me a horrified look, I add, "Or you can tell them my number is 867-5309 (A/N: It's a song by Tommy Tutone), which ever works for you." The bartender quietly moved away from me and towards the boys.
I slip a look over there at them. The bartender is relaying my message. Whether it's one, or both, I'm not sure, but the guys down there don't look too happy. One of them sends me a slightly venomous look, probably for being a bit of a smartass and turning him down in one foul swoop. Despite knowing this is probably gonna come back to me eventually, I chuckle into my glass as I take another sip, celebrating my small victory.
Neji's right, I have become bolder. And I like it.
***
The battle is over, and the crowd's going wild. The Konaha Killers have won, and they're now respectfully shaking hands with the Mist-Ellaneous group.
After they were done with the competition, everything went back to normal, people dancing to booming music and all. Tenten is walking towards me, but then she stops to talk to someone. I can't see who she's talking to, but she's already starting to laugh up a storm. While I'm waiting, I decide to buy her a soda since she must be thirsty from the battle.
When she finally makes it over to the counter, she leans against it, not even bothering to sit down. "Thanks," she says as I hand her a glass of Sprite. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"I just talked to this really hot guy who goes to our school! I've seen him around, and I like him a little bit, but I didn't think he would be interested."
"That is until tonight." I clarify for my benefit.
"Yeah!" She says, sipping her drink. "And by hot, I mean really hot. Hot and sexy. And a good personality too. He even offered to give me a lift home…" she looked up at me with pleading eyes.
"You wanna go, right?" I say matter-of-factly.
"Yeah…"
"Go ahead, I'll be fine." I know that Tenten rarely acts girly or anything like this, so this must be something special. And she's my friend, so she deserves the night off from baby-sitting me.
"Are you sure?" She asks kindly, but both of us already know my answer.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Oh, thank you Hinata!" she says as she squeezes me tightly. "I'll see you tomorrow- bye!" She walks off, giving me the biggest smile I've seen from her in a while. Not knowing where Kiba is, I decide to go outside and find Neji to see if we can go home together.
He's no where in sight. I ask the other bouncer where my cousin's gone. "He left here a little early," he tells me, "but he told me that you should wait here until he comes back to get you."
Was he serious? "It's ok, I can just walk home."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but he told me to make sure you stay here and wait for him." The bouncer suddenly looks even bigger now that he's told me he's been ordered to make sure I don't leave.
"O-okay." I stutter as a walk back through the door, discouraged. How could Nehi just leave like that? He was told by Father to watch me, and he always listens. Well, technically he did watch out for me, just not the entire time. But I don't want to stay here anymore! I just wanna go home- there's no sense in me staying now that my friends have all gone home (plus the music is starting to give me a headache). But how do I get home?
Suddenly, it hits me. There aren't any bouncers at the back exit. Mostly because it's a door that'll only unlock from the inside. Against my better judgment, I head for the back exit.
I make my way through the crowd, just going through quickly enough so I won't get bumped as much as I did earlier.
When I arrive at the door with the bright neon red "EXIT" sign over it, I turn around and do a friend scan with my hand on the door. I can see a few group members from the Killers dancing not too far away from me. I could always ask them if they've seen Kiba, but I'm anxious to get home for some reason. I push on the door and make my way out.
I have no idea what time it is, but it's gotten a bit colder outside. I shiver a little - starting to regret that I didn't bring a jacket- as I look around. I've never been back here before, and it's kinda creepy. It's a small two-way alley that has a garbage and recycling bin. It smells a little rancid, but it's bearable.
I make a left as I pull out my phone to call and tell Father I'm on my way. I open it up and, figures, it's dead. Of all the days I forgot to charge it…
"Hello again, missy." I turn around to see two of the guys I turned down back inside. They're all staring at me with ominous grins.
Oh God, maybe I should've stayed inside.
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Sasuke: Another cliffhanger? Why must you torture these poor readers?
Me: I'm building suspense, not torturing them, you nut.
Sasuke: And what about poor Hinata? You're not going to kill her, are you?
Hinata: *stares at me, clearly horrified*
Me: Sasuke, stop trying to make a scene… and you're trying to make me reveal what's gonna happen next! It's ok Hinata *pats her on the back* it's just a story, you're still alive talking to us right now, aren't you?
Hinata: Y-yeah.
Me: As for you Sasuke, I can't guarantee your safety here and now. Scaring Hinata like that- not to mention the readers!
Sasuke: Fine. I apologize to Hinata… and the readers… but not to you.
Me: Whatever. Alright, that's all for Chapter 3, sorry to leave you all hanging like that- I mean well. Chapter 4 will be posted ASAP, so look out for it! Please read and review! =D