Surviving a Boy's Boarding School

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei, Nakajo-sensei and... Disney(-sensei?) would have made this fic a lot better if they were writing it. So no, I do not own Naruto, Mulan and Hana Kimi.

Wow... it's already the sixth chapter. On with the story!

Chapter 6: Secrets of the Night

-recap-

All three of the students outside of the door looked up when a voice sounded from the other side. "Okay, you three can come in now," said Tenten's voice from the other side. Neji was the first to react and he turned the knob on the door, flinging it open. He walked in, but he came to an abrupt halt. Taiyou, who was following right behind him, bumped into the prodigy.

"Ow! Hyuuga, don't stop without warni..." Taiyou trailed off when he figured out what caught his attention and his jaw dropped. "What... what the heck...?" Lee bounded in after them, but he also stopped as his already large eyes became rounder.

"How do we look?" asked Tenten grimly as he stood next to Tsuki. But that wasn't all.

They were wearing dresses.

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Everybody could just hear the crickets chirp from outside as the two cross-dressers (well, technically, at least one isn't cross dressing, but still) looked at their friends, anticipating an evaluation. Even though they desperately wanted to chuck the dresses into a fire or something, they were infinitely amused by the looks that were slapped across Lee, Taiyou and Neji's faces.

Tenten was wearing an indigo strapless ball gown under a mahogany sweater trimmed with fake black fur around the neck and sleeves. Her arms were adorned with matching indigo gloves that reached to her elbows, though most of them were covered by the sweater. She was holding a brown wig that she probably would have put on if she had the time. Under her long dress, she wore a pair of black dress shoes. There was an acidly sweet smile on her face, indicating that she was probably going to murder the next person who made her mad.

Tsuki was wearing a silvery dress, with sleeves, that eventually faded into black near the bottom with gray lining around the sleeves. Over the dress he wore a red sweater as well, but it was longer on one side than the other on each sleeve, making them look like a 'V'. On the tip of each 'V' was a crescent, pale yellow shape. The bottom of the sweater had the same effect. There was a metallic blue drop pendant hanging around his neck. He wore a pair of navy blue high heels. Tsuki, unlike Tenten, didn't even try to hide his contempt for the dress and glared at the wall. Oh, and his hair was down as well.

Taiyou's jaw had dropped slightly and he stared at the two as if they were growing wings or something. He then proceeded to close and open his mouth a few times, but no words came out so he just shut his mouth tightly. Neji just stared, with a mixture of amusement and shock, though being the stoical person he is, he hid it effectively. Lee was paralyzed and his jaw had dropped straight to the floor, his large eyes getting even larger.

"...you guys look like girls," stated Taiyou as he came out of his shocked state and smirked, most notably towards Tsuki. That earned him a glare and Tsuki was about to go over to him, but found that high heels were hard to move in. Muttering something about how he did not understand how other girls were able to wear them, he just continued to glare at his old friend.

"Miyamura! You look most youthful!" shouted Lee, looking like he was about to cry. From what, nobody knew, but that's Lee for you. Tenten's mouth twitched and she resisted the urge to produce a kunai and pin the boy to the wall.

"Hn," grunted Neji. Obviously, he looked the most indifferent on this, but he looked slightly... disturbed... to see his roommate and teammate in a dress. Very disturbed, seeing how his face twitched when he eyed the silvery garment.

Tsuki and Tenten exchanged glances. Oh, Tsunade was going to be dead...

-Flashback-

When Tsunade's grin grew, the three students instinctively stepped back. "Well, the thing is, we'll need to see if these dresses are appropriate for you three and that you all actually look feminine enough in them," she said with obvious amusement.

"What do you mean, Tsunade-sama?" asked Haku in the most respectful tone he could get out.

"I mean... that you have to wear the dresses tonight and ask your friends their opinions on it," answered Tsunade, her grin turning into a smirk. Tsuki choked on his own spit while Tenten and Haku stared at the Sannin as if she had gone mad. This was NOT part of what they signed up for when they came to Konoha Boy's Boarding School.

"WHAT?!" shouted Tenten and Tsuki in unison. Haku did as well, but in a softer tone. "Why do we have to wear it tonight?!"

"Because it'll help us get feedback and see if we need to make adjustments before Christmas," said Tsunade, rolling her eyes. Tenten made some incoherent sounds that clearly showed protest; Tsuki beat her to the talking.

"But what about Miyamura? His hair is too short, and he'd still look like a guy," reasoned Tsuki, though from the look on his face, he didn't completely mean that. Somehow, Tenten got the feeling that she looked more feminine even with short hair, but that's to be expected; she was the only girl among the group, right?

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Tsunade, nodding her head as she grabbed three plastic opaque bags from her desk. One of them was considerably larger than the others. "These are your accessories for the dresses; you know, clip-on earrings, shoes, and stuff. I recommend wearing these when you three dress up tonight."

She received three glares in return.

-End Flashback- (Sorry if I portray Tsunade negatively here! It's just a sad excuse for humor...-.-;;)

"Well, do we look convincing enough?" asked Tsuki, as he looked back at the three still normal-looking males. All of them nodded, though with drastically different expressions. Lee was grinning widely like it was normal for two "guys" (quotes inserted due to Tenten's predicament) to wear dresses, especially ones that are supposed to be worn to parties. Taiyou looked like, at this point, he was either going to burst out laughing or he was going to cower in fear. Neji looked indifferent, though still slightly traumatized.

"Okay," said Tenten sweetly, smiling. Everybody couldn't help but see that she looked a lot like a female. "Now that that's settled, GET OUT! WE NEED TO CHANGE!!"

Lee and Taiyou cringed, but Neji was out of there less than a second later. Tenten physically dragged Lee and Taiyou out the door due to their lack of response, and immediately stepped inside again when they saw a few passing students give her weird looks. After Tenten shut the door tightly, Tsuki went into the restroom again and they changed back to more comfortable (...normal...) clothes.

After bidding goodbye to Taiyou and Tsuki (Lee had already ran off), Neji and Tenten sat in the room quietly for a few moments. Neji, being the unpredictable person he was, spoke first.

"Hayaite..." he began, grabbing, Tenten's attention, "promise me you'll never wear a dress again unless it's absolutely needed." Tenten blinked, confused. "No offense, but you look way too much like a girl. It's scary."

Again, Tenten blinked, but then realization dawned to her. So the reason Neji looked so traumatized was because she had an unnerving resemblance to a girl! Ah, that explains it. Then, she suddenly smirked and got an idea in her head; she was going to tease Neji a bit... She widened her eyes until they looked large and innocent enough. This was going to be fun.

"But... what's wrong with that?" she asked in her normal voice, seeing that she usually used fake, deeper voices around the people. "What's wrong, Neji-kun? Does it bother you so much?" She drew closer to him, her innocent act complete with puppy-dog eyes and small pout. Neji raised an eyebrow but slowly scooted away from her with a small glare.

That's when Tenten lunged at him, tackling Neji to the floor. The prodigy's eyes widened. "What the heck are you do—" He stopped short when he was nearly blinded with a flash of light. When his eyes adjusted again, he saw a small camera in Tenten's hands and a huge grin on her face. His roommate has finally caught him off guard.

"That was priceless!" exclaimed Tenten, looking like she would have very much liked to display the 'Neji-is-shocked!' photo in the school newspaper. "You should've seen your face when I tackled you, Neji!" Neji glowered at her and was about to tell her to give him the camera, but he stopped just as he was about to scold her. His face was frozen, before he clamped his mouth shut.

"...hn," he grunted, and pushed Tenten off of him. Without saying anything else, he walked over to his table and continued doing his homework.

Tenten stared at him curiously for a few seconds before she shrugged. She went into the restroom and closed the door behind her gently. Well, at least she got back at Neji for saying that she looked like a girl even though she actually was one. However, he didn't need to know that. She did feel a little guilty about taking the picture, but she was too entertained to let her conscience take over. Sighing, she was about to use the toilet when she froze. There was a roll of bandages next to the sink, which reminded her of something.

She forgot to wear her bandages after taking off the dress.

She frantically took off her outer garment; fortunately, she had on a vest underneath it that should have hidden her breasts and only those who were looking closely would suspect she was a girl. Just to make sure, however, she opened the bathroom door and popped her head out.

"Oh, and sorry about tackling you," she said meekly, praying that she wasn't discovered.

Neji merely shrugged. "Don't show the picture and you live," he replied curtly, and continued his writing.

She sighed in relief and closed the door again. Looks like he didn't find out.

-----------------11 PM-----------------

There was a knock on the door in Tsunade's office. The principal, who was far from asleep, looked up from her desk and murmured, "Come in." Only one person would meet her this late at night.

Slowly, the door slid open to reveal a girl with a silver ponytail. Her eyes glimmered at Tsunade before she shut the door and sat in the chair next to the principal. For a while, the two females sat in silence, the only sounds being from the clock and the scratches of the papers as Tsunade shuffled through documents.

"What are you doing here? It's rare for you to appear on any day other than the moon festival," commented the sannin, grinning at the other, Gin. She produced a bottle of sake and poured some for herself, but Gin declined when she offered to give the (older) woman some too.

"Well," began Gin, propping her head on the desk, "I forgot to mention some things that I saw in the vision; you know, the one from a month ago." She looked up with a bored expression on her face. "I just remembered while I was talking with her. Mentally, of course, since we can't verbally communicate with one another, but we were still talking. Anyway, we realized... that one of your students is in danger in the near future."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked. The other sighed and shook her head. "You don't have a lot of details from that full-moon reading, do you?"

"No," confirmed Gin. "I admit that this year will be more amusing than the last, but that's it. There is an impending danger on the loose. But that was the only bad part of the vision that I could put my finger on. Of course, she didn't think that was the only danger, but still."

Tsunade smirked. "So you told her about the dance thing?" she questioned. Gin nodded, her smile lined with mischief.

"She was pretty mad," Gin commented with amusement evident in the very core of her statement. "I didn't warn her, of course, because I wanted to annoy her a bit."

Tsunade's smirk dropped, replaced by a measured frown. "Speaking of her, something strange is going on. Ever since our last meeting, I started to get the feeling that we aren't the only females here, apart from Shizune. I have a feeling that she's involved somehow, but I'm not sure how," voiced Tsunade. Gin laughed heartily.

"You bet there's another female here," chuckled the woman. "Don't worry though; she won't turn this place upside-down due to her arrival. I was talking to my brother the other day about this and the truth is, we knew she was a female since the second she stepped foot on campus. And no, Tsunade, I won't tell you who it is." Tsunade didn't seem to be fazed when she didn't use honorifics.

"Well, it obviously is someone who's either a first year or a new student," reasoned Tsunade. "How many people know of her identity?"

Gin leaned back on her chair, and scrunched her face in concentration. "Well, let's see... she knows because it's herself, then there's the obvious two, and I think that her roommate would have found out by now. I'm pretty sure some of the more perspective students have noticed too, but many of them aren't loudmouths. No worries; none of the secrets will get out and cause an uproar," assured the silver-haired woman.

"Good," mumbled Tsunade. "The last thing I need is to have a pandemonium in this school because they realized that it's not completely a male population." She fixated her eyes in the strange golden ones that Gin had. "But how do you know of this? Did she tell you?"

"If you're referring to my holder, then yes," replied Gin, nodding her head. "But I wasn't sure until I saw her near that pond. Not many people can see me; I told her and her roommate that two of the requirements would be doujutsu or the ability to see spirits. I didn't mention the last requirement." Tsunade smirked at this. She knew that last requirement; that was what enabled her to see Gin.

"So they don't know that the third requirement is that the viewer has to be female, right?" asked Tsunade. Gin smirked as well and nodded. "You're playing the part of a secret keeper now, aren't you?"

"Yup, and you can count on me!" Gin said playfully, mocking importance as she clenched her fist dramatically. "I will not tell a soul about her predicament!"

"That's encouraging," stated Tsunade, and glanced at the clock. "Hm, eleven thirty already, huh? You visited me on around two a.m. last time."

"I should be going back," said Gin, and walked to the door. With a small smile, she added, "See you next year, Tsunade. Good luck figuring out who the girl is." With that, she glided off, down the hall.

Tsunade leaned back on her chair, sighing, as she poured another cup of sake. "First, that Gin comes to this school with her, and now, there's a cross-dressing girl running in the halls of this school. What's next?" she murmured. "Hm, but I think I know who it is... ah, what the heck, I'll just see how she'll deal with school." She smirked. An interesting year it will be, then.

-----------------Midnight-----------------

-Fire-Tamer- has signed on

-Solitary-Crescent- has signed on

-Star-Lord- has signed on

-Fire-Tamer- ...What am I doing here, again? And at this time?

-Solitary-Crescent- Don't blame me; it was milord's idea.

-Star-Lord- Hey! You two agreed to this, though, so I'm not to be entirely blamed!

-Fire-Tamer- Fine, but you're to be blamed mostly.

-Star-Lord- Geez, fine, I admit that. But anyway, Tamer, Tenten is in hot water. We saw her in a dress and apparently, she's going to fill in a girl's part for that upcoming dance.

-Fire-Tamer- ...Oh, God. Don't tell me it's a strapless ball gown.

-Star-Lord- Uh, actually, yes, but she's wearing a long-sleeved sweater on top... I think.

-Fire-Tamer- ...

-Star-Lord- Tamer?

-Star-Lord- Tamer? Are you there?

-Star-Lord- TAMER! IT'S BEEN TEN MINUTES!! ANSWER ALREADY!!

-Star-Lord- Tamer, Crescent, I DEMAND THAT ONE OF YOU ANSWER THIS INSTANT!!!

-Star-Lord- OI!

-Solitary-Crescent- Hold your horses, milord. I'm here. As for Tamer... I think he either fainted, he had a seizure, he's in a daze, he left the room, or he became too stupid to comprehend words.

-Fire-Tamer- HEY! -vein-

-Solitary-Crescent- Good to see you're not dead. Don't worry, we all know that you're consistently the top of your grade level. But seriously, don't think that you're the only one who was surprised about the dress deal.

-Star-Lord- Oh, he should've seen the look on your face! It was of pure shock and trauma that one time.

-Solitary-Crescent- Zip it, lord of idiots.

-Fire-Tamer- Back on topic, what are we going to do now?

-Solitary-Crescent- The only option would be to watch and wait. We'll need to pay closer attention to Tenten, and make sure she doesn't reveal her identity, especially during that dance.

-Star-Lord- Sounds good to me.

-Fire-Tamer- Okay, as long as she is able to conceal her identity.

-Star-Lord- Now that that's settled, why don't we get some sleep? We'll be tired if this keeps up.

-Fire-Tamer- THIS WAS YOUR IDEA!!

-Solitary-Crescent- WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO CHAT DURING MIDNIGHT?!

-Star-Lord- has signed off

-Solitary-Crescent- GET BACK HERE, YOU DOLT!

-Solitary-Crescent has signed off

-Fire-Tamer- ...Crescent must be really mad to use exclamation points... and caps...

-Fire-Tamer- has signed off

-----------------12:30-----------------

"...we need to keep an eye on Miyamura," stated Tsuki, leaning back on the headboard of the top bunk as the moon was at its zenith. Taiyou raised an eyebrow. "He's getting more and more edgy lately, and with that dance coming up, he's going to explode sometime soon. From the size of that dent in the wall I saw, his anger is turning into raw power."

"Yeah. We need to be there if anything happens to him," agreed Taiyou. "Otherwise, he may go into depression or something." There was a short silence between the two old friends. "You weren't as mad about the whole dress business as you let on, were you? I could tell that your glares weren't as potent. Don't tell me that after all these years of rejecting your aunt's pleas to wear a dress for her, you're actually listening to that little voice in your head."

Tsuki scowled. "Why the heck would I want to wear a dress? You know that she just wants to get a laugh; she loves teasing me. 'Look, the asexual child of my brother is wearing a dress!'" he said mockingly. "No, it's because it was going to be warm enough to wear through the dance. I feel sorry for Miyamura; he has to wear a strapless gown underneath that sweater." Suddenly, he looked up at the ceiling. "Looks like we have a visitor."

Taiyou, too, looked up, and smirked. "Why hello there, my dear cousin," he said, his eyes slowly following something from the ceiling until he was looking at something invisible at eye-level. "What brings you to this side of the door?"

"Quit teasing him," sighed Tsuki, propping his head on his arms. "But I have to say that this visit is unexpected. Have you some information?" The two sat in supposed silence for a few minutes, staring at the spot the entire time. At one point, the two winced, but still stared.

"Ah, thank you," sighed Taiyou. Then, he quirked an eyebrow. "You're leaving so soon?"

"Give it a rest; he can't stay long," grumbled Tsuki along with a quick goodbye. Then, he sighed. "Geez, this is going to get complicated now, huh? I'm glad we can see spirits." Taiyou nodded in agreement.

-----------------12:48-----------------

A figure sat on his bed, a hand held out slightly as something circled around it. Evidently, he understood this little thing as it made movements.

"And what next?" he asked quietly, looking intently on the black thing. There was more circling before it went off.

He sighed and laid down onto his bed. "Didn't see that coming."

-----------------12:53-----------------

In another part of the school, another person was scribbling down into a journal, though with slightly lousy handwriting. After he finished, he lifted up the journal and flipped through its pages. He leisurely stopped at a few specific entries. He blinked. Something was up with the entries; they were connected somehow. He marked the pages that seemed to link together, and then wrote down the items. After he finished, he stared at the list he produced.

They were all accounts of different times of different items all linked to one concrete thing. And there was only one realistic conclusion out of all of the ones he could come up with.

He shook his head. Great, another problem for him to face. These people just wouldn't keep their secrets safely to themselves, could they? They better be lucky that he's not one to tell secrets... this situation is getting to be too much for him. This is just one huge bother to him.

-----------------1:09----------------- (CHANGE POV)

Strange. That was the first thought that came to my mind after that incident.

It's well past the usual time that I fall asleep, but I cannot help it. I have discovered too much tonight, and for once, thoughts are whirling around my head, and I'm making an effort to think straight. To put some logic into the situation.

Hours ago, I had discovered a secret that I know that I shouldn't have discovered (but, then again, that's what secrets are), but I had no choice. I cannot say that I am glad that I discovered it either. Sometimes, people say that ignorance is bliss, and I am sure that this is one of those few times where ignorance is bliss. However, I am pretty sure that this secret would have been found out by me sooner or later anyway. Finally, I am able to apply logic to the situation, even though the secret defies logic itself.

Why is my roommate really a female?

That is the question that had plagued me for a while now, preventing me from sleeping. The moon's light seems to be a bit too bright, and I'm getting restless.

Well, now that I think about it, pieces are starting to come together because of that fact. Now I know why Hayaite… or should I say, Miyamura (I'm not sure whether or not her real name is Hayaite) had that blood on her pants; it was her time of month. That also explains her recent mood swings and how a dent had appeared on the bathroom wall after today, or should I say, yesterday. She had always been on the more feminine side, and what Inuzuka said on her first day here should have tipped me off. But Kurayami also said that on his first day here, too…

Evidence had pointed to that more people may know about her secret. I'm sure that the woman… her name was Gin, I think, knows about this. She looked at Miyamura with an 'I-know-your-secret' look that my roommate didn't see. Lee… he may know, but I highly doubt it; even though he correctly called her a 'flower' on her first day, he looked genuinely apologetic when he realized his 'mistake'. As for Kurayami and Hikari, it's possible that they know too, but again, I doubt it. I think it'll be a matter of time before Gai-sensei finds out too; he's the doctor, after all.

I let a small sigh out of my mouth; things were really going to complicate from this point on, and I'm not sure if I'm going to like it.

I might as well not tell anybody until I figure out what to do.

---------------------------------- (OUT OF FIRST PERSON)

While all of this happened in the span of one night, Tenten was left peacefully ignorant of all these going-ons. She did not know that Tsunade was catching onto her case. She did not know that her twin had posted two of his friends to watch over her. She did not know that Taiyou and Tsuki talked to spirits and were worried about her well-being. She did not know that two other souls were getting themselves mixed into this mess by their own methods.

And, most of all, she had no idea that her best friend, in this school, knew that she was a girl.

The moon and starlight seeped through the window, onto her sleeping form. Her body was glowing in the light and yet she slept on, like a peaceful child in the presence of its mother and father. A peaceful child knows not that its life is a lot less simpler than it seems and that life doesn't offer smooth works.

This is all the beginning of the calm before a storm, yet the peace will last just a little bit longer. When the child opens its eyes, it will forever be changed, from its viewpoints in life to its values. It will eventually learn that it cannot run to mommy and daddy for everything that happens. It eventually controls its own life and movements.

While all of this was going on at night, as memories were reflected upon, Tenten still slept peacefully in her bed. Wrapped in ignorance and put in the dark by her comrades, she will one day find that she is not the only one who knows her secret, and most definitely not the only one with a secret.

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I got a few reviews that asked about Tsunade, so here it is. She just found out that somebody in the school isn't a guy (Tenten), and there's a mentioned female involved as well. Who can it be?... I can tell you that it's somebody you've already met in this fic.

Eh, anyway, I'd appreciate reviews even if it's criticism (constructive criticism). Reviews help me get ideas and I may change the course of the story accordingly.