Hey there! I don't know what came up to when I was writing this chapter. I just wanted to update this before going out-of-town. Oh well, hope ya all like NejiTen! :D

Clichés

you just can't live without them

Tenten watched the clouds morphed themselves to silly imaginable things from her seat. She just felt so bored that she had the urge to look away from the ugly writings (yes, those freaking formulas nearly burned her poor eyes) on the blackboard. Thankfully, she was assigned to the corner desk beside the huge window, beside him too. Feeling a blush creeping to her cheeks, she quickly shook off his (gorgeous) face from her head. Stupid summer, the heat must have gotten to her head.

The bell rang, signaling for the second round of their pre-test. She sighed and cussed under her breath, making the guy beside her look at her in the corner of his pearly eyes.

"Okay class, next up: Biology," their teacher announced as she passed test papers to the students in front. Biology. Tenten groaned. Ugh, she hated the subject since the start of high school. Partly because of the bone-breaking book they were required to bring. And partly because she was just no good at distinguishing which microorganism was which.

Okay, you can do this, Tenten. Calm down, she said to herself, twirling her ballpen between her fingers.

First question: What do you call the ability of a living organism to maintain internal balance?

"I know this," she whispered. Tenten racked her brain, searching for some kind of keyword she thought through in class. The answer seemed to have home and rhymes with basis...

Oh yeah, homeostasis!

She sensed a feeling of relief for a while but it soon faded away when she realized she had 99 more questions to go in 85 minutes. With an encouraging huff, she set her paper burning while swiftly answering the test. So much for the youthful influence of Gai-sensei and Lee. She noticed that every stroke she made resulted to small contacts with her seatmate's elbow. She glanced at Neji, looking for some hint of discomfort, but it didn't seem to bother him. She went back to question number 54 but felt a little uneasy and conscious. The heat was on and so was the sexual tension.

***_oO0Oo_***

"Last 10 minutesss!"

Well, that was quick. The pre-test was a piece of cake...for Neji anyway. What would they expect from a family of geniuses? He put his pen down and rested his arms on the desk. He looked around the room; the others sure were pressured, especially the brunette beside him. Her chocolate-brown eyes intensely looked at her paper, her hand gripping the pen so tightly like it was her only life source.

Wait. Was that a mirror reflecting the other student's paper in her hands? He noticed a smirk forming on Tenten's lips as she started copying the answers. Give me a break, Neji sighed. If she gets caught...

When Tenten just finished the last question, she blinked and noticed that her petite hand (the one that was holding the mirror) was trapped in his. And then her eyes were locked unto those glaring pearl eyes. He was pissed all right. I'm dead. She saw his mouth open-obviously going to scold her or something.

CRINGGGG!

Saved by the bell. Yeah, it was cliché but what's important was Tenten was out of danger.

"Tenten!" The teacher shouted in front. Now that sent her shudders. "Turn off the fan before leaving." Phew. Right, she was the nearest to the appliance.

"Sure, sensei."

The sound of chairs being pushed back were heard. The other students rushed out of the room, leaving Tenten standing on her desk as she reaches for the darn switch.

"Who in their right mind would put the switch almost at the ceiling?" She was at the tip of her toes. Just a little more...CRACK!

"Oh shit!"

Tenten lost her balance as the desk wobbled beneath her. She accidentally kicked her bag which was sitting on another desk near her. Her hands were spread out, hoping to grab on something to break her fall. Aha! The curtains! She quickly seized the pure white fabric but they were ripped off immediately.

Thump!

She opened her chocolate eyes which she shut close during her fall. She didn't feel anything at all. Her back didn't hurt nor did her bottom. She just felt strong arms around her that made her face burned. This was getting more cliché than ever. The curtain was all over her-

"Could you at least get this thing out of my face?"

-and her savior, too.

Tenten shifted her body and got off her rescuer. She took the fabric off revealing a hot guy to die for. "Sorry 'bout that, Neji." She willed her blush away, hoping the Hyuuga wouldn't notice it.

"Sorry won't get you anywhere now, Tenten. Why did you have do that again?" he said sternly. The girl shuddered at his tone. He wasn't used to it either. But he can't let this incident pass by.

Tenten wasn't like those other girls at Konoha High. Boyish, aggressive, a bit of a trouble-maker she was. When they were assigned to be groupmates with Lee, she gradually changed and became tamed-all thanks to Neji. He wasn't fond of her when they were in middle school though. Whenever she blowed things up, she would either tell that they were all in it together or blame him and Lee for the mess she made. Well, she frequently used the former. But no one did judged her because she was doing well in school, and being extremely good at martial arts with Sakura.

The brunette gulped before she spoke. She calmed herself and acted cool but her shaking laugh gave her in. "Aw, c'mon! Cut me some slack, Neji! It's Biology! You know it's my weakness." But she immediately stopped herself from saying another word. Neji hated those excuses. Tenten had this fear that maybe he hated her guts too. She scolded herself for being so stupid. What was the week's worth of studying for if she would just cheat in the end? How could I be so mindless!

The two of them remained silent for a while when Neji sighed as he relaxed his face. He couldn't be mad at her for long. Sure they had some cat-fights back in middle school but things changed and they were finally in good terms. "This is the last time, got that?"

Well, so much for mischievous girl friends and disiplined guys. Almost the opposite for those cliché stories about a goody-goody girl trying to change their devil of a boyfriend.

"Yeah," the girl whispered staring at her shoes. Sometimes she would still act like little girl. "Promise." She picked up her bag and followed the Hyuuga who was already leaving the room.

The janitor can clean the place up.

***_oO0Oo_***

It was a lazy afternoon for the gang. Droplets of sweat were forming from their temples as they sat on the mats facing Hinata's garden. Lush greens covered the ground with different species of flora crawling. The small pond seemed so inviting with it's fresh cool water flowed from the pot situated a little higher.

Sakura took a bite at the slice of the mouthwatering watermelons Shikamaru bought. It tickled her lips as she sucked for the juice. After letting it melt, she removed the seeds from her mouth as she blowed them off. She remembered the times they did this on the summers before. It gradually became a tradition and it was great to feel like a child again.

/?/?/?/

"So you like watermelons."

Little Sakura nodded at the teen beside her at the porch and smiled with her lips covered with seeds. "Uh huh."

The teen with the short auburn hair smiled back but it was kind of sad. She continued to watch the blissful child as she ate away the juicy treat.

"Nee-chan, when will mommy and daddy come back?"

"I don't know, Sakura. I don't know."

/?/?/?/

"Where the hell are they?" She heard Naruto whined. Oh yeah, Neji and Tenten were not yet here.

"Their pre-test was supposed to be over an hour ago," Shikamaru said.

"Maybe they were caught in traffic," Ino suggested as she redid her long hair for who knows how many times.

"Hn." Sasuke's body leaned on one of the posts. He was enjoying his slice when he heard footsteps running towards them.

"Sorry we're late."

Oh, they're finally here. The brunette was breathing heavily beside her ever so cool companion. They composed themselves before sitting down.

"Hey, an invitation arrived." Hinata's head popped out of the door as she held out a fine scented letter with a lace ribbon on it. She was smiling like a kid who got a key to the secret candy place. "Guess who's getting married."

And everybody grinned at the Hyuuga, except the confused Sakura.

I wanted to leave a cliffhanger. Yeah. The suspense is up. Nyahaha.

See ya all in 2 weeks or so...:D

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