---
Chapter XI: The New Girl ♥
---
"Hey, guys!" Temari suddenly beamed one day when it was lunchtime. The others blinked at her in surprise.
"Hi, Temari", Tenten greeted. "I haven't seen you for quite some time. What've you been up to? Normally you hang around us!"
"Yeah, sorry about that", she apologized, "But I've been with Shikamaru lately. But I just wanted to introduce my friend to you! She's new here, and she's German, and she's my cousin! Say hello to… Gabrielle!"
The new girl stepped forward, looking totally gorgeous with long, auburn hair, deep ocean-blue eyes and wearing fashionable clothes that fitted her perfectly.
"Konnichiwa", she greeted with a thick European accent. "And oh, hello, hottie", she added with a flirtatious look at Neji which made him blush slightly. Tenten's eyebrow twitched dangerously. "What's your name?" the girl continued, walking around the table and flopping down on the empty seat next to Neji.
"Uh… Hyuuga Neji", he said, embarrassed.
"Do you've any girlfriend?" Gabrielle wondered, flapping her eyes an uncountable amount of times.
"Eh… no", he laughed tensely. "Uh… but I've a very good friend who's a girl", he added, smiling nervously at Tenten, who avoided his glance and turned away.
The others were just too stunned to say anything else.
"So… eh… Gabrielle", Sakura tried. "Hi. My name is Haruno Sakura."
"Hi. Do you like Neji?" Gabrielle asked directly, looking threatening.
"Uh… no."
"You're not lying, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
"Good", she replied satisfyingly. "And who're you?" she added, staring daggers at poor Hinata.
"I-I-I'm N-N-Neji's co-cousin", she stammered nervously, flushing.
"Really." Gabrielle's expression softened. "Well, hello to you."
"Hi, guys", Ino began cheerfully as she approached the group together with Chouji and Shikamaru, "What're you up –"
She stopped dead as she stared at the girl sitting close, and I mean close to Neji.
"Eh, Neji, seems like you've got yourself a girlfriend, ne?" Ino teased, and a vein popped on Tenten's forehead as she abruptly stood up and said:
"I'm going to the library, see you later."
"Ah… chotto matte, Tenten! I'm coming too!" Sakura replied, pursuing her friend as she took her tray and walked towards the exit too.
"What's with Tenten, she seemed angry?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know", Temari smirked, "But she sure seemed jealous. Right, Shikamaru?" she added and winked at him… much to Ino's dismay, who immediately 'hmph'ed and told him loudly (she always talked loudly when she was upset):
"C'mon, Shikamaru, we've other things to do than stand around here and see you flirt with girls!" And then she dragged him off, making everyone sweatdrop. (A/N: I don't know if Ino really DOES talk loudly when she's upset, but normally people do when they are, right?)
---
A week passed. Or two? They didn't count. No, everybody was just so caught up with everyday life that they didn't count how many days passed of it.
Gabrielle stayed in Sakura's (and everyone's) class, much to Tenten's dismay, since she occupied at least 98 percentof Neji's attention and spare time, both in school and out of it. Not that she'd admit it, but she was jealous. Dead jealous.
Ever since Tenten and Neji had been kids, they had hung about together. The cool guy and the cool girl. Tenten was known as the 'fighting' mistress (A/N: I changed it because they don't use weapons here), and Neji was known as the 'fighting' master. So of course they hung about together.
To begin with, they had never gotten along. Tenten thought he was a rude brat and Neji thought she was an interesting idiot. It was kind of comical that their parents believed them to be friends. So their parents kept inviting them to each other, so that they got to know each other better. Slowly, they developed a friendship, and as they reached puberty, Neji became Tenten's punching bag. And though Neji easily could've hit her unconscious, he preferred to be chased, and everybody knew why – they were so good friends anyway, why hurt each other?
Hinata had always been the peacemaker when they were younger. Back then, Neji would've put his efforts into the fight. Later on, he had softened, and unlike Sasuke, become much more social and funny. That had of course fuelled Tenten's fire to have a real fight with him as back then, but now she mostly just hit him for fun with her famous notebook.
But just lately, she had not hit him at all. How come?
Well, that godforsaken… thing had just made him blush every single minute.
Why was it her who made Neji blush?
Why wasn't it her, Tenten?
"Eh, Tenten? You seem kind of distant today", she heard Sakura's voice say, and she awoke from her angered trance.
"Ah." I'm starting to sound like Sasuke, she thought in irritation. "Yeah, I'm a bit tired", she lied.
"Really?" Kari raised an eyebrow.
"Mm."
"You said you had some news to tell us. Can you hurry up? I've some business to get done", Kari continued in impatience.
"'Business', huh? You've been hanging about that James for quite some while now", Tenten observed.
"Yeah, he's kinda okay to be with, y'know? I first thought he was a bastard, but I've changed my mind." She shrugged, and then glanced at Sakura, who ignored Kari's glance and beamed at Tenten:
"Well? Tell us!"
"Okay. Um, guys…" Ok, here goes, Tenten thought. "… I'll go back to Japan."
"WHAT!" the three girls shouted in unison, making everybody look at them.
"Uh, yeah", Tenten said, shifting out of discomfort in her chair. "My parents said I could come back and train karate if I wished to. Since they know this world-famous karate champion who's willing to teach me."
"Wow, that's superb, Tenten! But… you can't leave us!" Sakura replied sadly. She knew Tenten loved fighting sports, but she just couldn't let go of her good friend. "But then of course, if you really want to, we won't stop you."
"Of course we will!" Neji chimed in as he arrived to the classroom, followed by Gabrielle. "Tenten, you can't leave us!"
"But I intend to do so", Tenten responded coldly and glared at him. Neji winced.
"What's with you, Tenten? You seem so angry lately", he said cautiously, making sure that he didn't seem angry. If he did, Tenten would probably explode, and that wouldn't be good for any of them. Unfortunately for him, Tenten still exploded.
"Angry? Yeah, I'm angry!" she yelled. "I'm getting freakin' frustrated with your change, Hyuuga Neji! What the hell has happened to you? I thought you were normal, but now you turn out to be as perverted and freaky as James –"
"Hey!" James exclaimed in the background, but Tenten ignored him.
" – and then you just go about with a girl stalking you every single second! It's driving me freakin' insane! I could just throw my notebook away, I don't have any use of it anymore! Besides, I'm not staying here, I'm gonna leave! So forget all those 'friendship' stuff, our friendship is officially ENDED!"
And with those words, she stormed off.
"Hey… what's with her?" Neji asked, staring in disbelief at Tenten.
---
"Shikamaru?"
"Yeah, what?" Shikamaru looked up in annoyance from his notebook, and looked across the table at the gorgeous blonde who was, without a doubt, Yamanaka Ino, President of SUFC and one of Sasuke's #1 fans.
"You know, Temari's friend, Gabrielle."
"Yeah, what's with her?"
"Um… you're kind of… friendly with Hyuuga, right?"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Depends on which you mean." Then he groaned. "Oh, don't tell me. You want to start a new fanclub now, eh? The Hyuuga Neji Fan Club, right? You're so troublesome."
Even though Shikamaru acted so well, he still felt a sting of jealousy in his heart. Why could Ino never see him? They had known each other since they were kids, too. Why did she only see Sasuke and those other handsome guys? Yeah, Shikamaru wasn't the coolest or the handsomest, but he was the smartest. Why could he never like a guy for his intelligence?
"No", Ino giggled. "You don't get it. Gabrielle is head over heels in love with Neji, right? Do you know if he feels the same?"
"Giving up Sasuke, eh?" he tried to tease, though he felt more jealousy washing over him. Luckily for him, his best friend Chouji was ill. If Chouji had been here, he'd have noticed Shikamaru's change of mood and teased him for that the rest of the day. Shikamaru didn't like to admit it, but he had done so once to Chouji. He had a crush on Ino.
It was kind of laughable that he could have a crush on someone like Ino. They were exact opposites, and they kept arguing all the time – unlike when he was with Temari. Temari understood his nature.
But then again, so did Ino. It was just that she didn't approve of it pretty much.
"Yeah", she sighed. "But not for Neji." She winked. "I thought of matching Sasuke with Sakura. They're actually pretty good-looking together. I'm giving up on Sasuke."
"Really." He raised an eyebrow. "So why do you wonder about Neji, then?"
"Can't you see?"
"What?"
"Tenten", she said impatiently, waving her hand in the air. "She's jealous."
"She is? How troublesome."
Ino rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I think she has a crush on Neji. And I think we must help them together again. I've heard from Stella that she's leaving. For Japan."
"Gosh. That is troublesome for them."
"And now I want you to help."
Shikamaru moaned, as though he was in pain. "Not again! I knew it was something as troublesome as this. You want me to do some 'romantic' stuff, right? Like putting roses in her locker and then write a note and say it's from Neji?"
"No, not that. She'd see through it all. They've known each other as long as…" Ino blushed. "… we've known each other."
Shikamaru was silent.
"So I want you think out stuff. You've high IQ, so prove it to me!" she giggled.
"Or else?" he asked in amusement.
"Or else, I will…" Ino thought for a while. "I will… steal Tenten's notebook and hit you as she did with Neji!"
"OK, OK." Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome. Well, I guess I'll help you then."
"Awesome!" Ino exclaimed. "Thanks so much, Shikamaru! That was so nice of you", she added, gave him a peck on the cheek, and ran off.
Shikamaru only stared after her. For a long time.
---
Tenten was sitting alone.
It was unbelievable. Tenten, who was always surrounded by her cheerful friends, alone? The girl who never had a loss of companions, sitting all alone by a table, as some kind of geek?
But she didn't want to see them. She didn't want to look her friends in the eyes. Maybe they'd see the truth within her then. They knew her all too well. They'd see the tears that threatened to fall, they'd want to know what was going on, why she was so angry with Neji.
She snorted bitterly. Yeah, why was she so angry?
Because she loved him. She really did.
After all those years together, she could no longer push away her feelings, say that it was a temporary illusion. It wasn't. She was in love with him, and she knew it too. Those deep white-blue eyes of his that'd pierce into her chocolate-brown ones… his soft black hair she just longed to touch… his strong embrace, that fierce hug he only granted her when she was hurt and cried… and his protectiveness of her.
Once, when a gang of bullies had hit her in town, he had walked by out of an accident, and he had been so angry he had beaten all of them. They had even become scared. She had been there on the ground, sobbing, helpless. And he had pulled her up, and hugged her. And she hadn't pulled away.
Those moments she cherished deep in her heart still lived. She treasured them, and relived them whenever she was down. Every time she felt depressed, she knew Neji was there for her.
But this time, he wasn't. Because the main source of her pain was he himself. He had caused her this.
"Tenten!" she heard Sakura's voice burst out as they found her. She attempted to move away, but Sakura got hold of her wrist. "Tenten, please sit with us! We just want to keep you company. You mustn't talk if you don't want to."
Slowly, Tenten sat down again. She could feel Neji look at her with concern, but she didn't meet his eyes. She was too afraid she'd start crying if she did.
"Weeeell, Tenten. May I ask why you were so angry?" she heard Gabrielle's voice say. Oh, she hated her so! If just Gabrielle could disappear, all would be fine!... Or, it wouldn't. Maybe Neji would still like Gabrielle then… "Are you jealous, eh? Jealous of me and of the love that Neji shows me?" As Neji opened his mouth to protest, Gabrielle pushed her lips to his with a smirk. That was enough for Tenten. Hurriedly picking up her tray, she left despite her friends' shouts.
---
"We've just gotta help them back together!" Naruto said as the gang had an emergency meeting (without Tenten, Kari, Sasuke and Neji of course, since Tenten was still mad, and Neji was being pursued by Gabrielle who was not allowed at the 'gang meetings', and Kari was having a 'meeting' with James, and Sasuke never participated in those meetings). "Or else we're dead meat!"
"Yeah", Temari agreed. "We can get Shikamaru's and Ino's help, too. They offered to help. And maybe Chouji, once he gets well. I can't believe it – first he gets one hell of a fever, and then he breaks his leg! Not particularly smart of him…"
"Speaking of the former, aren't they dating now?" Sakura smiled. "I saw them holding hands in the corridor."
"Y-yeah, m-m-me too", Hinata stammered in agreement.
"Yup", Temari grinned broadly.
"Weren't you dating Shikamaru? I heard from Gaara that he's at your place a lot", Naruto asked in disbelief.
"Nah, we were just friends. Besides, we were speaking of techniques how to make Ino fall in love with him", she snickered. "He really has one hell of a brain, I'm sure he can come up with ideas concerning this."
"Hey, we can throw a party! I'm sure she'll be so touched by it so that she'll stay", Sakura suggested.
"She isn't really that type", Hinata responded normally, forgetting for once that she was in Naruto's company. Then she flushed as she realized this.
"Hmm. Wait, I'm sure Tenten likes Neji…", Sakura began mischievously.
"'Course she does. You can see it, it's so obvious", Temari responded, rolling her eyes.
"… so does Neji like her too?"
"Yeah, he must. He's like… always talking about Tenten. Tenten this, Tenten that", Naruto grinned. "The other day we watched a movie, and I said the main actress was beautiful – she looked like you, Hinata! – and he was like, 'Nah, Tenten is prettier.'"
Hinata blushed pretty much because of this. "Th-thanks, Naruto-kun", she managed to stutter with a weak smile, as though she was about to faint.
"Hmm, then we can make Neji do something during the party", Sakura grinned. "Like… kiss her?"
"Sure about that? She might slap him", Temari remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmm, yeah. That's a problem", Sakura sighed. "How about… tell her… ah, I don't know! Let's just throw a party anyway. Maybe that'll work. If not, then nothing works. I don't think talking will convince her", she added miserably.
"That's true. But where to hold the party?" Naruto asked. "My place isn't big enough."
"We could have it at my house, but my parents wouldn't be pleased", Hinata frowned.
"Neji's place perhaps?" Temari tried.
"Nah, it must be a surprise party, right?" Naruto said. "If so, then she'd refuse. She'd immediately recognize his house. It must be a place she hasn't gone to yet."
"And that'd be…? She has been to every person's house in the class already!" Temari exclaimed in frustration.
"Hey, wait, I know a place she hasn't gone to", Sakura said suddenly.
"Which?" everybody asked at the same time.
"Sasuke's house. She said Sasuke doesn't invite girls home, so that must mean she has not been there?"
"That's actually true", Naruto agreed thoughtfully. "Only guys have been at Sasuke's place. Ew, that sounded gay!"
Temari laughed. "OK, that makes the deal. Somebody ask Sasuke that favor. Someone?" She looked pleadingly around. Nobody said anything.
"Sasuke-teme hates favors", Naruto excused himself.
"I-I'm b-b-bad at a-asking", Hinata apologized.
"He'll turn me down", Sakura sighed.
"OK, let's make it fair and square." Temari ripped off a paper from her notebook and parted it in four equally big squares (how did she do that?) and wrote 'You do it' on one of them, then she folded each of them prettily and put them on the table. After mixing around with them, she did a gesture towards the papers. "To show that I'm not cheating, you guys will pick first and leave me with the last one. That way, I can't cheat beforehand."
"Okay!" Naruto said cheerfully, picked up a paper and unfolded it nervously. "YAY! I DIDN'T GET IT!" he cheered.
Hinata was next. She took a paper, unfolded it breathlessly, and then sighed out of relief.
The third was Sakura. She frowned as she eyed the two papers, before taking the closest one. And sighed. "OK, I got it", she said disappointedly.
"Hey, don't worry, girl, I'm convinced that he won't say no", Temari tried to cheer her up, but to no avail…
Tsukiko: So Tenten is going back to Japan, eh...
Inner Tsukiko: WHY IS THERE NO SASUSAKU IN THIS CHAPTER!
Tsukiko: Whoa, calm it o.O; There'll be more SasuSaku coming soon.
Inner Tsukiko: Good for you. Hmph. -snorts-
Tsukiko: Well, the next chapter is published August 11th. (Oh no, the summer holidays are almost over!) Ja ne:)
Reviews Corner (ONE HUNDRED FRIGGIN' REVIEWS! HUZZAHWHOAYAYBANZAIWOOT! -goes insane and begins to dance randomly-)
silverkage-chan: Yeah! Yay for the Inners! ;D The KakaKure coming soon... but I just realized, there won't be any serious KakaKure in this fic, just some fluff... :( Unless I do another bonus chapter, that is... maybe I should? ;P
Crazy Gal42: So You Think You Can Dance is a tv program about a dance tournament, but I don't know who's eliminated or not because 1. I can't remember their names XD 2. the country I live in is a bit slow on showing episodes of the tv program, the episode last week was aired in USA June 20th or something, so... x.x But you can just search on Google, then you'll know ;P Hmm, well, whether Cindy is bitchy or angelic you'll see further on ;D
nickygirl: Thanks :) Is Kari evil? XD
frienz4ever: Thanks :D
nightmare car:Thanks, I'm glad that you like it ;)
Zuan: YAY! Cookies!Arigatou:D
Shy-Princess: Thanks :)
HeartAngel: Mwahahaha. Am I confusing you? I love confusing people. -smirks- Mwahahahahaha! Anyway, -cough-, thanks:D And yeah, poor Neji... XD And OMG! You're the hundredth reviewer... so therefore I let you decide if you want a bonus chapter in this fic or not, and what pairing you want to dedicate it toif you want one (but remember, you can only dedicate it to pairings that are in this story, for example,you can't requestNejiSaku because it's already SasuSaku and NejiTen);) If you don't wanta bonus chapter, you can always wait with that and request a bonus chapter in one of my other fics. Private Message me with your response, please:D (PS. You can also decide some minor details in the bonus chapter, like what you'd like it to be about, but not too many details because I want it to be a surprise for everyone, including you XD)
drenchedinblood: Thanks:P And now you got the answer, ne?;)
OMFG! 100 REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU, MINNA-SAN! KEEP ON REVIEWING! Okay, maybe I should turn off the CAPS LOCK now. XD
Sneak Preview of Next Chapter: SOS Someone Rescue Me
Sakura was blushing furiously, feeling as though she had just come down from a wild rollercoaster, since she felt dizzier than ever.
AH! SOMEBODY HELP ME! she screamed in her mind.
Fanfictions Coming Up!
Hi guys:D I'm glad that you like This Is (Not) My First Time so much, and I'm grateful for all the reviews I've gotten :) Anyway, to the topic... I want to ask you guys of a favor; can you please vote on which fanfic you want to see written next? I've a couple of ideas, but I don't know which one I should begin with...
Replacement - Obito asked Kakashi to take care of Rin in his place, and to grant his best friend's death wish, he obeyed. But what happens when Rin runs away because she thinks Kakashi's protectiveness is only for Obito's sake? And what happens when they meet, seven years later, both successful and skilled jounins and teachers of two teams, both called Team 7? KakaRin Minor SasuSaku
Genre: Romance
Don't Forget Me - During their last year in high school, we meet funny, kind and always late for class Haruno Sakura with her four friends, Naruto, Tenten, Neji and Ino. Then a new student arrives, ice prince Uchiha Sasuke, who Sakura's friend Ino immediately claims to be 'hers', and warns them not to try to 'steal' Sasuke. Then, to everybody's horror and surprise, something throws (well, roughly expressed) Sasuke and Sakura together, and just as suddenly as they're announced to be a couple, just as suddenly they're torn apart.. and once again thrown back together, in a cruel game of Hide-and-Seek, guessing and tag. Based on the Korean TV series, Dong Ji Lian Qu (I don't know its original title, tho, only the Chinese translation), which can be translated into something like 'Winter's Romance Tale' or 'Winter's Romantic Tragedy' or something similar (I suck at Chinese). NaruSakuSasuIno Slight NejiTen
Genre: Romance/Drama
Forbidden Memories - In order to free Sasuke from his curse, Sakura finds Orochimaru's henchmen who possess the power to granta wish for a high price... your memories that you must regain in order to make the wish come true, but you have a time limit... thus, Sakura becomes Orochimaru's test for Sasuke (who is forced to take care of her) to prove his loyalty and the fact that he has broken all bonds. But will Sasuke be able to pass the test? SasuSaku
Genre: Romance (mostly, it's slightly angsty here and there but it's mainly romance)
NEW! Dance With Me - When tough guy and hiphopdancer Uchiha Sasuke and bittersweet ballerina Haruno Sakura were thrown into a wild dancing tournament where they were forced to cooperate, they never knew what awaited them. SasuSaku, minor NejiTen, NaruHina and ShikaIno
Genre: Romance(maybe angsty?)
NEW! Princess Sakura - She's a princess who has just run away from the castle. He's a normal guy who looks like any girl's dream prince. She's cheerful and talkative. He's cold and quiet.So how the hell did things get like this? SasuSaku
Genre: Romance (mostly, a little bit humor here and there, but..)
(A/N: If you find errors such as words pasted together likethis, sentences that are in bold or italics when they shouldn't be or sentences that are repeated even though they're not supposed to, please tell me. This happens a lot out of some unknown reason, and it isn't because it was like that from the beginning - no, when I edit the chapters after uploading them, they get like that. I don't know why, maybe it's my dad's computer being weird. And also, do the symbols ' and ... look weird? Because on dad's computer, it does.)