Okay, before I get any crap about this, I know I said I wasn't going to be updating for a while, but I'm allowed to take my laptop with me to California, so I thought I'd type this up. I won't update too much, though. Anyway, why aren't people reviewing? Does the story suck? If it does, tell me and I'll make it better! I thrive on reviews!
Chapter Three
The girls trooped to the mess hall and sat down, Tenten glaring daggers at Temari for sitting on her and Temari sticking her tongue out at her. Hinata and Yuriko looked at each other and sighed. Their new group was insane, but at least they had a group.
"Yo." said Gaara, sitting down across from Yuriko. She blushed and Hinata giggled a bit. She was normally the shy one, it was entertaining to see her sister, who was the spotlight hog of the family, blush and act shy.
"What's so funny, Hinata?" asked a voice from across the table. She looked up and saw Neji. "Hey, nii-san, how's it going?" she asked. "Good. Mind if my group sits with your group? Gaara already made himself at home." Neji said, jabbing a thumb at the red head. "Girls, it okay?" Hinata asked, looking down the row. "Sure." they all agreed.
"By the way, this is Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto." he introduced. Hinata waved at all of them. Neji took a seat beside Tenten, Sasuke sat next to Sakura, and Shikamaru lazily plopped into a seat, which happened to be next to Temari. Naruto looked around and took the only seat left; next to Hinata. She glanced sideways at him and blushed, looking down.
"Uh, well, come on, let's go get food." Yuriko said to avoid the awkwardness. All of them nodded and went up to the line to get food. "Thank you Kami, this place has cheeseburgers!" Yuriko cried, piling her plate with burgers and fries. "Bless their souls!"
Hinata shook her head and got her food. "You're very easily excited, Yuri-chan." she said. "I know, I can't help it." she said, drowning her fries in ketchup. Hinata shook her head again as the group headed back to the table.
They all sat down and began eating. "So, Yuriko, I noticed you staring at Gaara earlier. What was that about?" Temari asked. Yuriko started choking on her fry. The group watched for a minute until Hinata palm-struck her on the back and the fry came flying out, right in front of Gaara, who had just started to sit back down.
He looked at it silently as the group watched to see how he would handle it. "Chew your food." he flicked the fry back at Yuriko, who caught it in her mouth and swallowed it. Hinata, Neji and Tenten wrote something down on their napkins and held them up. All of them read 10.
"Perfect catch!" Temari said, giving her a thumbs up. Yuriko smiled and the rest of the group irrupted in laughter, and even Gaara and Neji snickered a bit. Everyone was looking at them, curiously. Sakura glared at them all and they turned away, looking anywhere but at their table.
They all finished, talking about random stuff. They got up and threw away their garbage and went back to their separate cabins. Anko wasn't there when the girls got back, so they chilled for a bit.
"Seriously, Yuriko, why were you staring at Gaara, earlier?" Temari asked, flopping on the single bed. "I know why." Hinata said. "Tell!" Sakura said, looking up at her from the opposite bottom bunk. "I don't have to, it should be obvious." Hinata replied, flopping back down and putting her hands behind her head.
"Hina-chan, you traitor!" Yuriko shouted. Hinata just hung over the side of the bunk and smiled widely at her sister as the other girls got what she was talking about. "You have a crush on Gaara?!" exclaimed Tenten. "Maybe." she answered quickly. "Don't deny it, your face says it all!" Sakura replied. "I can see it now; one day, we'll be sister-in-laws!" Temari said. "Okay, ew. Just ew." Yuriko replied as Hinata started laughing.
"Alright, squirts!" the door slammed open suddenly, making Hinata fall on her head. "Ow!" she exclaimed, getting up. "Shake it off!" Anko commanded. Hinata sighed as she climbed back up into her bed. "Alright, continuing from before. Panda buns, you're up." she said. Tenten nodded and hopped off of her bunk and onto the rug in the center as if it were a spotlight and started singing:
Leaving everything at homeI headed out in the pouring rainKept thinkin' 'bout the two of usAnd how we ended up this way
It took you by surprise, babyWhen I told you yesterday'Cause you never thoughtThat I could be that strong
And I don't have a second moreI'm gonna waste on youAnd you can hate me if you need to
But I'm not anybody's girlAnd I will not conformAnd I won't play that good girlfriendYou pushed around before
And I'm not anybody's girlThat's how it's gonna beCan't tell me what to do or say or who to beAnd the only one I'll ever answer to is me
Wasted too much timeOn analyzing everything I doOnly to figure outThat I was wasting time on you
I don't really blame you, babyI'm a little guilty too'Cause I never even told youYou were wrong
And if you think that you gotta control meJust to be a manThen, baby, you will never understand
That I'm not any body's girlAnd I will not belongAnd there's nothing you can do for meI can't do on my own
And I'm not any body's girlThat's just the way it isAnd I will do exactly what I wanna doWith anyone and anywhere I choose
And I will choose what's best for meAnd do what comes most naturallyAs long as I am free
And when I fall in love againI'll take a vow to never bendTo someone else's vision of me'Cause I'm free
I'm not anybody's girlAnd I will not conformAnd I won't play that good girlfriendYou pushed around before
And I'm not anybody's girlThat's how it's gonna beCan't tell me what to do or say or who to beAnd the only one I'll answer to is me
And I will not belongAnd there's nothing you can do for meI can't do on my own
And I'm not anybody's girlThat's just the way it isCan't tell me what to do or say or who to be
Everyone clapped and Tenten bowed. "I like your style, too." Suddenly, a cell phone rang. Anko pulled hers out of her pocket and began talking into it. "Hey Kurenai. Yeah, their good. They could so beat your group. You don't think so? Wana make this interesting? Your one. See you in three days." she said, then hung up. "What was that about?" asked Yuriko. "One of my fellow counselors says her group can beat you guys. We're going to prove her wrong in three days by having a sing off. No questions asked, got it?" she said. "Yes ma'am!" everyone but Hinata chorused. "That mean's I have to sing." she said quietly.
"Yes, yes it does. But, don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll do good." Anko said. Hinata nodded. "Will all counselors please report to the main office? Thank you." said a voice over the intercom. "Well, later, squirts." Anko said, leaving.
"Come on, why won't you sing?" asked Yuriko. "Because I'm not good enough to even be in this camp." Hinata said. "You so are! Stop putting yourself down like that!" Yuriko replied. "But…"
"Stop it. Come on, your normally not like this." she said. "I know, but…I just feel so…intimidated by all the people here, and I can't help it." Hinata replied. "Trust us, girl, some of the people here are only here because their parents paid there way in. Except for that boy Naruto, I hear he's really good, and doesn't have parents to pay his way in." Temari said. "I heard that he won't let anyone hear him because he doesn't want to be made fun of." Sakura said. "Hm, sounds like they would get along well." said Yuriko, looking at Hinata slyly.
Hinata caught the message. "No way, Yuriko. It's not gonna happen." she said. "You never know. It might."
Later that night, while everyone was asleep, Hinata snuck out onto the porch and sat cross-legged on the floor. She looked around and, once she was sure no one was there, began to sing softly:
Dai kirai, anata itsumo waratte ite
Tsuyoku te kawaikute ninkimono de.
Dai kirai, watashi, GUZU de noroma de
Dare nimo hitsuyou to saretenai.
Atama mo yokute itsumo suki ga nakute
Watashi nado kitto baka ni sarete ru
Hontou wa hanshi kakete mitakute
Tomodachi ni naritai to omotte te
Urayama shiku omotteta anata ga
Hitori kata furuwasete, naite ita yo
Neh, anata mo hitori obiete iru no?
Minna mijime de yowai no kana...
Motto yuuki ga atta nara
Watashi, anata, dakishimeteta
"Hanashitai koto takusan arunda yo" to
POTSURI to ano tokitte kureta no ni
Doushite kikoenai furishitan darou
Tottemo ureshi katta no ni...
Koware souni naite ita anata ga
Itsumo no youni waratte iru no o
Tatta miteru yo
Neh, watashi mo hitori obiete iru yo
Chippoke de nasakenain dayo
Motto yuuki ga atta nara
Watashi, anata, dakishimeteta
Souzou shiyou hitori jyanai to.
Mimi o sumasou, kanjite miyou
Hora, kyou mo dareka no namida ga
Kaze ni natte kimi o tsutsumu yo.
Neh, anata mo hitori obiete iru no?
Minna mijime de yowai no kana...
Motto yuuki ga atta nara
Watashi, anata, dakishimeteta
Neh, watashi mo hitori obiete iru yo
Chippoke de nasakenain dayo
Motto yuuki ga atta nara
Watashi, anata, dakishimeteta
Neh,
Minna onaji dake kodoku de
Onaji youni obieteru nara
Nanimo kowagaru kotonain dane
Watashi, anata, dakishimeru yo
"You have a pretty voice." said a voice from no where. Hinata jumped and saw Naruto leaning against a tree. "N-Naruto-kun! H-How l-long h-have you been s-standing there?" she asked. "The entire time, Stutterbug." he said, pushing himself off of the tree and sitting next to her.
"Why come out here to sing? In the middle of the night?" he asked. "W-Well, I g-get a bit self-conscious when it comes to my voice, so I don't like people listening to me." she said. "Well, gomen nasai, but I couldn't help myself. I was up and taking a walk and I heard you singing, and I wanted to find out where the music was coming from." he said. "Oh. My friends told me you don't like people hearing you sing also? Would you mind giving me a reason?" she asked. "I got teased a lot when I was younger. My parents, before they died, always encouraged me to practice my talent, but I got so secluded after they died, and didn't talk to anyone for a while." he said. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she said. "Don't be, it's been a while, so I guess I'm used to it by now."
Naruto tilted his head back to look at the stars. "Sometimes I think they're looking down on me, right now. I hope they are, anyway." he said. He closed his eyes and sighed. Hinata put a hand on his shoulder. "If it helps, I lost a parent too, so I kind of know how it feels." she said. He looked at her and smiled. "Thanks. I better get going. See you at breakfast tomorrow." he said, getting up. Hinata nodded.
"And, by the way…you look cute in your pajamas."
With that, he was gone.
She turned red and did the most Hinata-ish thing you could imagine.
She fainted.