Sasuke: Today, I'll be hosting this…ahem… "party."
Ino: -blinks- Why?
Sasuke: Mshinata is crying in her little corner.
Mshinata: I AM NOT! –Sniff-
Sasuke: You're sniffing. Yeah…she just got banned from YouTube. So…just add her new YouTube name, mshinatahyuuga. She doesn't own Naruto. If she did, none of this would have happened.
"So…I'm riding a bike?" Ino asked as she readied herself on the bike.
"Guess so." Sai said.
"What about you?" Ino asked.
"I have nothing." Sai sighed dramatically as he ran a hand through his hair, sparkles dazzling around his face. "I'll have to run."
"I s-see…" Ino replied, sweat dropping. Sai made it seem so dramatic.
"I get rollerblades!" Sakura exclaimed.
"This is like a backpack full of weights…!" Naruto said, adjusting the bag that he was wearing.
"Because it IS a backpack full of weights, baka." Sasuke said, also adjusting his bag full of weights.
"I'm…wearing normal weights on my legs and hands." Hinata said as she lifted her hands.
"Are you copying Lee or something?" Sai asked nervously.
"S-Sakura-san made me…" Hinata sweat dropped. "But…Neji is…" They all looked over to Neji who was conveniently tied up against a tree.
"…Sakura…" Neji said darkly.
"This is fair!" Sakura said happily.
"How the hell is this fair when I'm tied up against a tree?!" Neji shouted angrily, trying to free himself from the tree's evil clutches.
"Sai-kun, Ino, and I are the first starting to race. Then it's Sasuke-kun and Naruto at thirty seconds. Next, it's Hinata-chan at a minute. And then finally, it's the loser…Neji-senpai at two minutes." Sakura said evilly.
"Okay…LET'S GO!!" Sakura said as she started rollerblading while Sai started running and Ino started riding her bike.
"Ino," Sai said after a while of running.
"Nani, Sai-kun?" Ino replied. Sai sighed. (Lol. That sounds…weird.)
"This is useless. You know we're not going to win. Let's just quit." Sai said.
"Eh?! But…" Ino trailed off.
"Think about it." Sai said as he slowed down. Ino stopped her bike.
"Eh…you're right!" Ino smiled. "Let's ditch!"
Naruto started panting as he was carrying the backpack full of weights. Sasuke just continued to run.
"These weights are pissing me off." Sasuke said, irritated.
"Me too, teme." Naruto panted as he slowed down.
"Wait who's…" Sasuke looked over where he found the backsides of Sai and Ino sitting up against a tree.
"SAI-TEME! INO!" Naruto cried dramatically, running to their side. "I…I couldn't do anything! I'M SORRY! JUST PLEASE DON'T HAUNT ME, SAI'S GHOST AND INO'S GHOST!" Naruto said dramatically as he pounded the ground with his fists, tears flowing out of his eyes. Sasuke walked towards the three and sweat dropped.
"Baka, they're asleep." Sasuke said as he put a hand on Sai's chest.
"WHAT?! THEY'RE UNCONSCIOUS?!" Naruto cried, more tears flowing out of his eyes. Sasuke's mouth slightly parted but he decided not to speak as he removed his hand from his chest. Naruto couldn't get it through his thick head. "SAI! SAI!" Naruto held Sai in his arms. "SPEAK TO ME!"
"Na…Naruto…kun…" Sai said weakly, his hand holding Naruto's.
"Y-yes…President?" Naruto said, tears shimmering in his eyes.
I feel like this is a gay moment…Sasuke thought to himself and sweat dropped.
"I…I…was tired." Sai said, returning to his cheerful self. Naruto had a few angry marks on his forehead and quickly stood up.
"YOU…YOU TRICKED ME!" Naruto pointed in accusation to Sasuke.
"Nani? What did I do?" Sasuke asked, covering his ears.
"YOU SAID THEY WERE UNCONSCIOUS!" Naruto said, still yelling.
"I…said they were asleep…don't make me blow up your ear drums." Sasuke said threateningly, also standing up.
"You guys are so nosy!" Ino said as she rubbed her eyes and stood up. "But Sasuke-kun's right. We were sleeping. Sai-kun was just messing with you." Ino sweat dropped and sighed.
There was an awkward moment of silence as Naruto realized that there was a race going on and he ran back to the race track. Sasuke stood there, totally wowed by the fact that Sai and Ino were as stupid as to fall asleep in a middle of a challenge. Sakura was rollerblading right behind Naruto. Hinata ran with her weights and tried to catch up with Sakura and Naruto.
"Um…Neji?" Hinata sweat dropped. "Are you sure you don't need my…help?" She gulped. "It's actually scaring me that you're tied up to a tree…" Neji didn't respond. "Oh! I can loosen the ropes."
"Forget it. I can do it on my own." Neji replied, obviously irritated.
"Haha…" Hinata laughed nervously, "so…so c-confident?"
"Actually…yes." Neji smirked.
Hinata sighed. She hoped Neji would be okay. She had no ambition for winning anyways, right? So…if she gave up…
No. She couldn't!
It would be like backing down from a challenge from Neji. She sighed once more as she slowed down. She didn't know what to think anymore.
"Sakura might have beastly strength…" Neji muttered under his breath as he loosened the ties in the back with his hands, "but she CANNOT tie ropes." He smirked as the ropes fell slowly to the ground. "Time to catch up with the competition." He said as he dashed onto the race track.
"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata called from behind him.
"G-grr…" Naruto's teeth clenched. She already caught up with him?! "Hinata-chan!" Not to mention…she still ran with such a powerful speed even with the weights. "I am…also a genius…of some sort. I can't lose to her." He muttered.
"Nani?" Hinata called out again, blinking.
"NA-RU-TO!!" Sakura said angrily as she came down from a tree and kicked him in the face with her rollerblades.
"Na…NARUTO-KUN!" Hinata's jaw dropped to the ground.
"Hinata-chan will win!" Sakura glared at Naruto as he stayed unconscious. Sakura and Hinata continued running when suddenly they heard something above them.
"I-impossible…" Sakura muttered, looking at Neji who jumped down from a tree. He had an evil look in his eyes and a menacing scowl. Sakura and Hinata started to run faster.
Sakura stopped to catch her breath while Hinata tried to run her fastest. Neji ran faster than her and dashed past her.
W-why…why are you so much stronger than me, Neji? Hinata thought to herself. She slowed down and entered the club room again. She saw Neji already sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed.
"Guess I win again, Hinata." Neji smirked. She got an angry mark on her forehead.
So in the end, Neji agreed to whatever Hinata agreed and she agreed to whoever came in third.
"I want to stay at home!" Sai announced as he gathered everyone into the club room. The competition was over so…no hard feelings, ne? Surprisingly, Sai came in third. Everyone's expression darkened.
"NANI?!" Sakura grabbed Sai's shoulders and hardly pinned him to the ground. "YOU'D RATHER STAY HERE THAN GO TO EUROPE WHERE I CAN DRESS UP MY HINATA-CHAN?!" She went berserk while he was struggling under her grip.
Hinata nervously smiled while Neji didn't care. Ino didn't really care either but giggled from the little brawl instead. Naruto was immensely depressed, wanting to go somewhere else.
"Eh? I can't believe it's the new semester. That went by fast. Don't you think, Hinata-chan?" Ino asked as she admiringly caressed her violin.
"Hai. Actually…it seemed to go too fast…" Hinata said, ghosting her fingers over the keys of the piano with warm eyes.
"Tch. I just wish that Naruto and Sai-kun would stop acting like idiots…and act more mature like Sasuke-kun." Sakura's eyes sparkled as she rubbed her cheek against her flute.
A knock interrupted the girls' conversation. Ino and Sakura blinked as Hinata went to go get the door.
"Hai?" Hinata answered, opening the door.
A first year with short brown hair with a few bangs covering his eyes looked at Hinata with surprise and quickly averted her gaze. His nature seemed shy and gentle. That was rare to see in a guy nowadays…well…for Hinata. She always had to be around with cold, stupid, and arrogant guys…not that she thought any of the guys were any of those. (Haha. xD) His hands were trembling with a pretty bag. His bangs covered his facial expression, hard to decipher what he wanted.
"H-Hyuuga-senpai…here." He was about to give it to Hinata when a person suddenly came in between them and he snatched the bag away. His menacing eyes gave the "Go-away-or-I'll-kill-you" expression.
"Neji-niisan! How rude." Hinata defensively said.
"This is for Hinata-sama?" Neji smiled innocently.
"H-hai." The boy cowered in fear. It was always bad when Hyuuga Neji smiled…
"I guess…you're added on as my rival." Neji said bluntly.
"Neji-niisan!" Hinata scolded, "You don't go around scaring kouhai like that!" She said. (Kouhai means underclassman.) She switched her attention to the frightened first year. "I hope Neji-niisan won't cause you any trouble anymore." She noticed that he started to tremble even more and quickly ran off before she could say anything else. "I…wonder what he wanted."
"Something stupid." Neji replied, looking the other way.
"Hey you guys!" Sakura called out after she and Ino put away their instruments. "Let's have some tea, ne?"
Sakura sighed in pleasure.
"I'm so happy to have all new furniture for the club room!" She exclaimed with ecstasy. "Arigato, Naruto." She sweetly sang.
"…I'm guessing she forced you to rearrange things." Sasuke sweat dropped, facing Naruto. Naruto sweat dropped and nodded.
"Let's celebrate!" Sakura said.
"U-um…shouldn't we go to the ceremony?" Hinata pointed out.
"Who cares?!" Sakura said, flipping her hair. "Drinking tea is more important."
"Iie…I have to go to represent all the top students." Hinata said. "Gomen!" She started to leave the clubroom when Naruto chased after her.
"Naruto?" Sakura blinked.
When Hinata reached outside of the clubroom, Naruto called out to her.
"Hinata-chan!" He said, running after her. She stopped as he slowed down.
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" She asked.
"Can I…tell you something?" Naruto asked desperately.
"Go ahead." She said with an innocent smile. His mouth parted open but then he saw Neji a few feet behind Hinata. Naruto's face darkened.
"It's…it's not important." He said, sweat dropping.
"In the end…Neji-niisan stopped me from participating in the ceremony…" Hinata sighed as she walked down the halls.
"Hyuuga-san." A guy about Neji's grade stopped in front of her. He had thin-framed glasses with long gray hair tied back in a low pony tail. The glare from the glasses made it so that you couldn't see his eyes.
"Hai? Do you need something, senpai?" Hinata asked.
"You shouldn't be playing in the halls when you have class to attend to." He said. "But then again…you don't have to participate in class." She twitched. Was he mocking her? "I wonder how you guys maintain such a high grade point average…is it because you play instruments? They always say people are smarter when they play instruments…" He observed.
"Who…who are you?" She managed to ask, gulping.
"Kabuto. That's all you need to know." Kabuto replied with a scary smirk that would make even Neji shiver.
"Ah! Are you the Kabuto that is only second to Naruto-kun?" She pointed at him.
"Shut up! Don't compare me to that imbecile!" He shouted back.
"…I was just saying…he is one more ranking than you." She said. He cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
"Is it because Naruto is your friend? Is that why you guys are always on the top rankings?" He asked with his arms crossed.
"Onegai…don't say such nonsense." She replied firmly.
"Would you like to prove it?" He asked, his smirk widening.
"Hai." She smiled back.
Sasuke sweat dropped and sighed.
"Stop staring at me, Hinata." He said, turning to her.
"E-eh?!" She realized she was staring and quickly averted his gaze. She blushed from embarrassment. "It's…it's nothing." She said, a bit panicked.
"Ah…Hinata-chan." Naruto made a curt wave as he entered the clubroom. He quickly scanned the room…as if looking for something. "No one's her except Sasuke, Sai, and Ino…" He muttered to himself.
"Do you need something, Naruto-kun?" Hinata blinked.
"Well, actually-" He heard the door slam close and turned to look behind him. He saw Neji carrying his bag over his shoulder, slowly walking to his direction. He sweat dropped. "Never mind!" He said, running off.
"What's wrong with him?" Hinata asked herself. Neji dropped down to a seat next to Hinata.
She inwardly sighed. She had to do something about the challenge from Kabuto. She needed Sasuke…if not then…
"Eh? Neji-niisan! Y-you…startled me." Hinata said after a few minutes that Neji had sat down next to her.
"Hn." He replied, sitting closer to her.
"You know…there are other chairs." She replied.
"But…Hinata-sama is occupying this one." He replied coolly, his face getting closer to Hinata's. Her sweat dropped and her face started to turn red.
"Y-you can sit next to Sasuke-kun." She pointed to Sasuke. Neji and Sasuke twitched. Neji then turned his face away from her. "U-um…what's wrong?" She asked him.
"Hn." He replied again.
Naruto was sitting under a tree, sleeping. His eyes were closed, the eye lashes adding on to his perfect handsome look. His head was a bit tilted back, making the tree a good thing to lean on. His bangs covered his face, making it seem like he was just looking up in the sky.
"Ah…so the mighty Naruto-kun is sleeping comfortably." Since Naruto was a light sleeper, he automatically awoke. He was faced with one of the most annoying guys in school. Kabuto. "Naruto-kun…you should be studying."
"Ah…thanks…but I don't need guys to worry about me." Naruto replied sleepily, returning to his comfortable place of sleep. Kabuto twitched.
"The rules are simple, Hyuuga-san." Kabuto replied with a sly smirk. Her fists clenched and she was ready for action. "You see…I will give out a test."
"A test?" She asked in surprised.
"Yes, a test. But of course…I will be making them. It'll be more fun that way." He replied. "If you are to get a B or higher, I will accept that you and your friends are worthy to be admirable."
"Eh? I thought you were going to make something…more challenging." She blinked.
"Ah but…Naruto-kun is the only one taking it." He continued.
"Nani?! Naruto-kun?" She asked. "Then why did you have to inform me about it?"
"He is the lowest of the top ranking students that can skip classes. Of course…it'd be easier if you told him." Kabuto smiled sincerely. She twitched.
Hinata sighed as she sat at her desk at home. She leaned on her palm and her arm was leaning on the table. She just didn't know what to do. Naruto wasn't the type of person to like competitions…he'd do anything to avoid them as much as possible. Or, he would just let the other members of the Musical Club handle all the work.
What if he refuses? I can't let him do that! I already…accepted it. She sighed once more. I've been causing a lot of trouble for people lately…especially Neji-niisan. Speaking of Neji-niisan, what would he do?
"It's your problem." Neji replied coldly, dramatically turning and walking away from her.
Her sweat dropped. She just knew Neji would say something like that.
"So heartless." She huffed, crossing her arms.
"Are you talking about me, Hinata-sama?" Neji called out from his room. She was shocked that Neji could hear that well! Well…he did say that his hearing was good, so she guessed it was true.
I need to get some sleep. It's best if I just think about it tomorrow. Hinata stood up from her chair and turned off the lamp. "Maybe…I should talk to Kabuto-senpai again."
"Hinata-chan," Sakura called her attention as she poured tea into her tea cup, "the talent tests are coming up…you're acting…well…not excited."
"R-really?" Hinata stuttered back, nervously sipping her tea.
"Not to mention, Naruto is quieter than usual." Sakura put her index finger to her lips, looking at the anxious/nervous Naruto.
"If talent tests aren't getting Hinata-chan excited, I guess that means that she doesn't care for Neji-senpai anymore." Sakura nudged the male Hyuuga while he was sitting down, typing on his laptop. Neji glared at the pink-haired girl but she just giggled.
"You can't intimidate me!" Sakura said nervously and hid behind Sai.
Really…I should confront Kabuto-senpai again. Hinata thought to herself, brushing aside whatever was happening at moment. But…white-pearled eyes of a certain male were watching her every move.
"Nani? Come to surrender?" Kabuto said, smirking as the lights from the halls were glaring up his glasses.
"We need to talk." Hinata said confidently.
"Change the conditions?" Kabuto said in surprise.
"Hai. Even though Naruto-kun doesn't attend class, he doesn't cheat or bribe the principal to be in the top rankings." Hinata said defensively. "Also…I will be the blame…since I didn't consider Naruto-kun's feelings about wanting to be in the competition or not." She said, suddenly sad.
"Tch. How touching." Kabuto crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "I'm just testing the top ranking students. I don't expect you to do anything. You were the one to come to me for a challenge."
"But…it would be better if you talked to Naruto-kun about it. And besides, you were the one who confronted me!" Hinata said. A small smirk slowly appeared on his face.
"Everyone knows that Naruto-kun hates competitions. You are always the easiest to manipulate and you always accept the challenges." He answered obviously.
"Heh…how interesting." The male Hyuuga glared at Kabuto as he appeared from behind Hinata out of nowhere.
"N-Neji-niisan!" She turned around to face him.
"No worries…we accept." Neji replied with a confident smirk. "Of course…don't think that if you lose, you will get off easily. I don't like giving weaklings mercy." He said coldly with a dark aura around him that said "Don't-mess-with-me." Kabuto was intimidated and power-walked back into his classroom.
"Neji-niisan…" Hinata turned her attention to Neji. "Why did you follow me?"
"Hinata-sama…for you to put everything on your shoulders is…unacceptable." He said, looking at her with the sides of his eyes. She had an angry mark on her forehead.
"My question still stands. Why did you follow me?" She asked.
"You were acting strange." He crossed his arms. "You weren't even excited about defeating me this time."
"O-oh…" Her sweat dropped.
"But this time…" Neji took her hand and held it close to his lips, "may I challenge you?" She was a bit shocked. His warm breath tickled her skin with her blushing in response. "If I win, I get you for a whole day." He gently brushed his lips on her hand.
"U-um…" She quickly took a step back and pulled her hand away from him. She slowly started to run the other direction, blushing madly with her heart thumping against her chest.
"Eh…fine." Naruto said his hands crossed behind his head. Kabuto sweat dropped. Naruto obliged to the test without any complaints!
"H-here." Kabuto gave Naruto the test as he led him into an empty classroom.
"Thanks." Naruto smiled genuinely. Kabuto sweat dropped again. Naruto sat down in a desk and flipped through the test. He grunted in response. "You know…I thought you were better than this, Kabuto-senpai." Kabuto twitched. "Some of the questions are misspelled and misinformed…not to mention…guitars don't have keys, they have strings. Do you think I'm stupid or something?" Naruto glared hard at Kabuto. "Wow…this was a set up…ne?" His expression changed into a happy one, making him smile again. "And I was about to take this? Haha…oh well." He shrugged. Kabuto twitched but was amazed by Naruto's ability to figure things out. "So I guess…I win?"
The results of the talent test were in and Hinata was nervous. She took a deep breath. She just had to win! What Neji said earlier was just…weird! She glanced at the papers with her results and twitched after everyone in the Musical Club announcing their results.
And of course…Neji was first again.
"Hinata-sama," Neji called her attention. She twitched, "I win…again." He smiled at her. "About my prize-"
"NEJI-NIISAN!!" A brown long-haired girl with white-pearled eyes about in middle school slammed the doors open with glittering tears in her eyes.
"H-Hanabi?!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh?!" Everyone in the Musical Club except for Sasuke said in surprise.
"Neji-niisan! Please come to my assistance!" Hanabi said, running to Neji with open arms. He had an angry mark on his forehead and pushed her away by holding her back with his hand on her head. "I don't want to inherit the company! I don't want to! Please…take my place and go to the business meeting! Or at least…come with me!!" She pleaded.
"Nani?" Neji said with dark eyes. Hanabi snapped her fingers and suddenly bodyguards appeared from behind her. They were trying to hold him back. "What the hell are you trying to do?!" Neji said as he started to kick and punch the bodyguards out of his way.
"T-this is…" Everyone except for Sasuke said in unison, "…madness."
"Now that the monster is gone, things will be quieter tomorrow." Sakura said with sparkling eyes. Yes. Neji was the monster.
"I'd rather not interfere into Sakura's…happiness." Sai said to Sasuke and Ino. Ino nodded in fear and Sasuke just "hn"-ed like usual.
I guess Hanabi has a cousin complex? Hinata thought to herself.
"Hinata-chan," Naruto called her attention.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata blinked, "you've been trying to talk to me lately…is something wrong?"
"I thought he'd never stop showing up…" Naruto muttered to himself as sweat drops appeared.
"Eh?" Hinata blinked.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the wall. "Onegai…be my girlfriend!"
"N-n-n-nani?!" Hinata stuttered as she blushed furiously.
Somewhere not safe…
"I feel like beating up Naruto." Neji said while he was in the elevator, going to the business meeting.
"I'm surprised, Neji-niisan." Hanabi said, beside him. "You accepted to come along to the business meeting…even if you and Onee-chan left the family."
"It's…because of personal reasons." Neji replied.
To be continued…
Mshinata: I swear! I thought I could NEVER finish this chapter! Please give me awesome reviews!