"It's more boys!" Ino stretched out the syllable on boys, grinning enthusiastically.
"Neji!" Hinata rose from her seated position when she saw her cousin standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?"
Neji cleared his throat and directed his eyes towards his cousin instead of the girl eyeing him up and down. "We thought we might escort you and your roommates to the Mess Hall."
"We?" Tenten jumped up from her seat to come peer over Ino's shoulder. Sure enough there were three boys standing down by the stairs: Hinata's 'ramen' boy, her bored seatmate from the bus, and one of the guys who hadn't immediately rushed for the room assignment board.
"Sure! It would be nice to get to know a few extra people before activities start tomorrow. I'm Tenten." She reached her hand around Ino and Neji shook her hand politely. His hand was cool to the touch, probably since the night had turned chill, and they were rough and calloused, much like hers. She smiled at him and he grinned back.
"Are you two just about done there?" Ino was grinning mischievously at Tenten.
She blushed and pulled her hand back to her side. "Right! Well we should get going! Don't want to be late."
"FINALLY!" Naruto sounded almost in pain as he yelled out. Tenten turned just in time to see Hinata's eyes widen in fright as her hands flew up to clutch at her chest. Feeling bad for the shy girl, Tenten grabbed her bag from next to the doorway and tossed it onto the couch near Hinata.
As she dug through it looking for a jacket, she whispered, "Don't worry, Hinata. Just stand by me." Hinata relaxed a bit, smiling in thanks at her new friend.
Ino and Sakura were also rummaging through their luggage by the time Tenten pulled out a maroon zip-up jacket. Hinata was already wearing a dark purple sweater. As Ino slipped on a lavender leather jacket and Sakura pulled on a pink sweater, the four girls each grabbed their activities forms and filed out of the cabin.
…..
It wasn't until Ino had walked down the three steps that she recognized the spiky ponytail. She had originally been headed for the cute boy from earlier who was standing off to the side, both hands shoved in his pockets, when she came to a sudden halt. Leaning up against the cabin wall, his eyes directed towards the darkening cloudy sky, was her old childhood friend.
Or to put it more accurately, the first boy she had ever loved, even if she had only been a child at the time. He looked exactly the same as he had all those years ago, only taller now and with more masculine features.
Her whole body felt like it was frozen on the spot and she was relieved when Sakura looped their arms together and began to drag her towards the path that led to the main camp. "Is that Shikamaru?" Sakura whispered quickly, glancing back behind them inquisitively.
"Mm-hmm…" Ino just kept allowing herself to be dragged along, lost in her thoughts.
Shikamaru and her had been inseparable at one time. He was born one day before her and they had been next to each other, joined at the hip, for the first eight years of their lives. Since their parents were close friends, the two had played together as toddlers, and even back then he was always a sharp kid. They even attended the same elementary school, and when all the other boys teased him for playing with a girl who had cooties, Shikamaru would just tell them that he was immune. It was in first grade that she started to tell him that she loved him, and even though he didn't say it back, she knew he loved her too. She was loud, but intuitive, while he was lazy, preferring not to use words when he knew none were needed. Even at that young of an age she knew what he was thinking without him ever uttering a single word.
But Ino could never forget that day when they were only nine. The two came home from school to find their parents arguing in the kitchen. As hard as she tried to think back to that day, Ino could never remember what they had been arguing about. She had just grabbed Shikamaru's hand and dragged him into the backyard to play. She remembered he had been resistant, pulling his wrist back and staring into the kitchen with an intensity that most nine year olds don't possess. She remembered that moment because of that face. And it had been burned into her memory ever since.
Less than a month later, his family packed up and moved.
One day he was there, and the next he was gone. She had cried and begged her father to tell her where her Shika had gone, but he would only ever say that it was for the best. Even now, her father never talked about the Nara family and only grimaced if she mentioned his name. So she had taken all of their memories and photos and treasured secrets and buried them in the back yard along with her heart. She hadn't even thought of him since entering high school; he had been just a distant memory.
"Ino….Ino!" Ino's eyes snapped open as her best friend shook her arm. They were still only about a third of the way there. "Go talk to him."
"What!?" Ino looked shocked and terrified at the prospect of talking to her old best friend, a guy she hadn't seen or heard from in so many years. What was she even supposed to say?
"Better to talk to him now than to ignore it and have things be awkward the whole summer. Anyways, you always used to wonder what happened and where he went. Now is your chance to get some answers." And with that Sakura unhooked their arms and gave Ino a small push towards the back of the group where Shikamaru was walking by himself, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky.
Ino took a deep breath and as he walked past her, she fell into step beside him.
"Shikamaru?"
….
Hinata stuck to Tenten's side like glue as the group started the long trek to the Mess Hall. Ino and Sakura were in front of everybody, with Naruto and the dark haired boy trailing a little bit behind them. Instead of standing next to her, Neji had taken up walking on the other side of Tenten.
She snuck a glance at him. He was acting odd. Normally he would complain ceaselessly about the girls who followed him around at school, so it was peculiar that he seemed so drawn to the brunette beside her. She made a mental note to ask the two of them if they knew each other later.
Hinata happened to catch Naruto glancing behind at them as she turned her gaze back to the path. When their eyes met, he quickly snapped his head back to the front and her eyes dropped to the floor. But in her peripheral she saw him glance back again. He must recognize her too. She blushed at the thought.
…..
Sasuke watched curiously as the two girls he had met earlier whispered back and forth. He kind of figured one or both of them would start flirting with him, but when the two glanced back, they weren't even looking at him. That was fine with him. He didn't need anymore annoying girls hitting on him.
Just as he settled his guard though, the pink haired one pushed the blonde, Ino, back in their direction. He started to sigh in annoyance, but was baffled when she let him pass and instead began walking alongside one of his roommates, Shikamaru.
The pinkette smiled in satisfaction before looking around awkwardly. She was now walking at the front of the group alone. She slowed her pace and fell into step next to Naruto.
"Hey. We met earlier, remember?"
She giggled. "Umm yah. You almost hit me in the face."
"Sorry about that!" Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Anyways…like I said earlier, I'm Naruto, and that guy probably won't introduce himself, but his name is the great Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke glared at his blond friend. It was annoying how Naruto always took it upon himself to introduce him to other people. Though he was probably right. He wasn't likely to do it himself. But adding on 'the great' was definitely uncalled for.
"I'm Sakura. What makes him so great?" Sakura smiled at the two boys, giving no inclination of recognizing the name. Uchiha normally struck a chord with people seeing as how it was one of the most influential names in his city.
"Wow Sasuke. Someone doesn't know you! I never thought I'd see the day!" Naruto laughed even louder when Sasuke punched him in the arm.
"Shut up, dobe."
Still, he was glad too. He liked it better when people didn't care or know if he was an Uchiha. That's why he was friends with Naruto. Status and money meant little to the obnoxious blonde. He had a different means of measuring a person's worth.
"I'm Sasuke. Just Sasuke."
"It's nice to meet you Just Sasuke." She smiled warmly at him, and his eyes softened as he gave a genuine smile back. As far as girls go, this one wasn't so bad.
…..
Shikamaru held his breath as he walked slowly beside Ino. He hadn't seen her since he was nine years old (they are all 16, except for Tenten and Neji who are 17).
"Shikamaru….?"
He sucked in a big breath of air, trying to calm his racing heart. It had little affect, but nevertheless, he dropped his gaze to the girl beside him.
She was just as beautiful as he remembered. She had grown her blonde hair out even longer, and she had it tied up into a high ponytail with a strand of it falling over her right eye. He was still taller than her, something that used to annoy her when they were younger. And her eyes. They shone in the moonlight, but they didn't hold the happiness in them like they used to. Her face was etched with worry and he felt bad for making her feel this way; for dredging up old memories just by being there.
"It wasn't our fault."
She tilted her head, confused by his words. "What…?"
"All those years ago. My family moving. It wasn't our fault. I know that's what you're curious about. My dad doesn't really talk about it, but the company our dad's worked for had an open position in the main office. Better title, more money. Both of our dad's were up for the position, but they gave it to mine. That day we found them fighting, your dad had been angry that mine had accepted the job promotion, saying that it wasn't fair to separate us. My dad argued back saying that yours was just jealous. Neither were willing to bury their pride, and so we left. My dad wouldn't even bring me to your house to say goodbye."
He kicked a pebble with his foot and watched as it bounced along in front of them. Ino remained silent, and so he tilted his head back up, getting lost in the endless expanse of clouds. They had just broken through the tree line to enter the clearing when she finally cleared her throat.
"Hi! My name is Ino Yamanaka! It's nice to meet you!" He snapped his head to the side to look into her eyes. Some of the light was coming back into them and she had a sincere smile on her face.
He smirked, stretching his hand out between them. As his hand enveloped hers, he introduced himself. "I'm Shikamaru Nara." He liked it better this way. After all of these years, they were strangers. He wanted to be her friend again.
…..
"FOOD!"
"Shut up, dobe!"
Naruto ignored his friend as he burst through the double doors to enter the Mess Hall. There was a table set up right in front of the doorway as they entered with a rather eccentric looking counselor grinning at all of them, his teeth flashing as he struck his good guy pose.
"Welcome new campers! My name is Might Guy and I will be the one guiding your youthfulness in a positive direction for the short time that we will be together!" All eight teens sweat dropped, and a couple of them (Neji, Tenten, Sasuke, and Sakura) were slowly backing away from the green clad man towards safety.
"Yah, yah, where's the food, Bushier Brows." Naruto could feel his stomach grumbling and was starting to get annoyed that there was yet another delay. He heard a soft giggle coming from his left and he turned his head slightly to see the raven-haired girl covering her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter.
He flashed her a wide smile. It wasn't often that people would laugh when he was being funny. They mostly just told him to shut up or they would ignore him. He also thought it was kind of cute the way she ducked her head to hide her face with her bangs whenever he looked at her.
"Wouldn't you rather hear more about the youthful journey you shall all be taking as one this summer? We can discuss which activities are most youthfully beneficial for nurturing your young minds!"
"Right now my youthful stomach is full of youthful hunger and I wish to fill it with some delectably youthful food!" The girl was giggling again. Naruto liked that.
Might Guy clenched his fist near his face as tears streamed from his eyes. "What an excellent display of youth! I shall hold you back no further from your destination! Enter through the door behind me and you will find that which you desire!"
"Uh-huh. And where do we turn in our activity forms?" Tenten sounded weary as she asked the question.
"YOSH! Make a pile here, my youthful flower!" Tenten scowled at the name and was glad to see that Neji shared the same look, his eyes squinting closed and his mouth set in a firm grimace. Avoiding this guy for the summer was at the top of her to do list.
The eight teens filed past the strange counselor, each setting down their papers in turn. Naruto was the first to the doors again, only this time he held it open to let the others through. It was out of character for him, considering there was food just ahead, but nobody seemed to notice. Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Neji, and Tenten passed by, with the dark haired girl bringing up the rear.
She smiled up at him politely. "Thank you, Naruto."
"Huh? You know my name."
The girl blushed and began to poke her two fingers together nervously. "Y-yes. We attended the same private elementary school."
"We did?" Naruto tried to think back, but most of his memories from those days were painful to remember. No family. No friends. And the teachers were almost all unpleasant towards him because of his propensity for pranking. "I suppose you do look vaguely familiar, but I can't really place you."
She looked a little crestfallen when he said that and he immediately felt bad for not being able to remember such a pretty girl. "That was a long time ago though. Maybe you just look different now. What's your name?"
"Hinata. Hinata Hyuga. My hair was really short back then. And I was-well I am- quiet."
"See! That's why you had no problem recognizing me! I was the loud one always getting into trouble! I can't say I had the best attention span and I don't really remember any of the kids from back then." She was still looking awkwardly at the floor so Naruto blurted out the first thing that popped into his head. "You have a pretty name, Hinata." He smiled in triumph as a blush quickly spread across her cheeks and she smiled shyly up at him.
Naruto hadn't noticed yet, but while they were talking, they had reached the front of the line. Hinata grinned up at him. "Look Naruto!"
He whipped his head back and forth, trying to figure out what she was talking about when his eyes landed on what the cafeteria was serving. "RAMEN!" For once, he couldn't tell what made him happier: his favorite food or the pretty girl giggling next to him.
…..
Thank you for the nice review PurplePrincess1147! Sorry it took me so long to update last time. I've got the next couple chapters written so I'll try to publish more often!
I'm open to any suggestions about my writing style or if there is anything in particular that y'all like to read! I'm happy to throw in any bonus scenes if there's something people want written out! I'm still partially in the character introduction phase, but the next chapter will start up with the actual story line!