Ino was inside the air conditioned art room heading towards the corner of the room where she and Hinata had left their duffle bags. 'It feels so great in here!' she thought to herself happily. She grabbed the end of her skirt and shook it away from her hot legs. The air from the dress felt heavenly against her skin. Reaching her bag, she rummaged through it to find something more appropriate to where for art rather than her adorable new ruffle skirt that she wore to her dance class.
"I'd die if I got anything on this. It's still brand-new." She said out loud as she pulled out a pair of green Capri pants. "Good thing me and Tenten are the same size, these pants will look so cute around my butt!" delighted, she quickly looked out the windows to make sure no one was around while she quickly changed out of her 'big flirt' skirt and into the pants.
"Hmmm, I wonder if there is a mirror nearby." she began to look around at the walls to see if any of them had a reflection, that's when she realized the art room's closet was ajar.
"OOHH! I bet there's a mirror in there!" she began to walk over to the closet.
Shikamaru ran back to the art room to grab the last bag of feathers. He snuck in through the back door again just like he had done before.
A smirk tilted on his face. 'Too easy.' He thought to himself.
He found the bag in the corner of the closet like he had left it. So he picked it up and headed for the door but froze when he heard the front door slam itself shut.
'OH NO!' he mentally yelled 'Please let that be the wind!'
Shikamaru peeked around the closet door to see a girl with long blonde hair going through a sports bag on the floor.
'Oh, maybe she's just looking for something and then she'll leave.' He hoped.
"I'd die if I got anything on this. It's still brand-new." He heard her say.
Shikamaru saw her pull out pants, and then he took in her skirt. His eyes involuntarily lingered down to her legs and then back up to where pink fabric hugged the rest of her. He couldn't help but blush but the strange thing was he felt as if he was blushing from the first moment he saw her.
"Good thing me and Tenten are the same size, these pants will look so cute around my butt." The girl said again as she stood up with said pants in hand.
'It'd probably look good in anything.' Shikamaru found himself thinking.
(AN: This is what goes on in the mind of a genius)
She looked around the room a little then outside of the windows.
'What's she looking for?'
The girl began to untie the ties around her skirt and was about to pull them off. Shikamaru quickly took a small step back before he could see anything.
'OH MY GOD! I SHOULDN'T LOOK; SHE'S A PERSON AND DESERVES RESPECT! I DON'T WANT TO BE A PEEPING TOM! Well….'
Shikamaru took a small step forward again to peer outside the door so he could see her. Her skirt was already off and she was just about to pull up her pants, and Shikamaru was staring at her cute butt in pink underwear.
'I think I'm starting to get a nose bleed.'
The girl now had her pants on and was putting her skirt in her bag.
'She was right; her butt does look good in those.'
"Hmmm, I wonder if there is a mirror nearby." Shikamaru watched her eyes closely as she looked for the mirror.
'Blue eyes and blonde hair, my one and ONLY weakness! WAIT A MINUTE SHE'S COMING THIS WAY!'
Shikamaru looked all around for a hiding spot, but everything was stacked nicely on the shelves and in clear view.
'What a drag, this is not what I meant by give me a challenge'
'That's it; I'll hide in plain view behind that! Man but it's risky.' He went behind his hiding spot and the door swung open!
Ino opened the door to the closet, and felt the walls for the switch.
Click, it went on and she looked from where she stood for a mirror.
"Oh, great, a full length mirror!"
She went to the back of the closet to see a big mirror on wheels, which was also Shikamaru's hiding spot, and then she began to pose in front of it.
"WORK IT, INO! WORK IT!"
'Ino, huh? That's funny since her name means wild boar and her looks are far from it.' Thought Shikamaru as he peered through a tiny whole that was on the frame of the mirror, He smiled as he saw all of her posses, and when she started to blow kisses it almost looked like they were towards him.
'If only.'
The entire time Shikamaru still had the bag of feathers in his hands but now he was squeezing them for dear life!
Ino quickly turned around and left the closet and went towards the front again. Shikamaru felt it was safe to come out again and peer through the door to watch what she would do next.
Ino just sat in a chair by her bag waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
'Come on; get out of here so I can leave. Is…is she starting to sleep?'
Ino had her eyes closed and they stayed that way for a while.
'Maybe I can sneak out of here while she's not looking.' He measured the distance between him and the door out, and it was really only about five feet. 'It's worth a shot.'
Slowly Shikamaru tip-toed towards the door as to not make a sound. All he had to do was push open the door slowly and pray to GOD that it didn't squeak! He turned his back so that it was against the door and he was facing Ino. He began to push it open, so far so good. He could already stick out his entire foot; he was going to make it! With out any warning at all Ino jumped out of her seat fuming mad!
"COME ON ALREADY!' she yelled
Shikamaru had no idea if she was talking to him or not because she wasn't looking at him and was heading for the door.
'THANK GOD! SHE'S LEAVING!' Shikamaru took full advantage of this precious moment and ran out of the door not caring if it made a noise after he left. He was almost at the back entrance of the dancing hall and then heard Ino yelling.
'Is she yelling at me? Does she see me?'
"YO ROBIN HURRY UP AND GET OVER HERE!"
"HERE I COME!" yelled another voice
'Where's that other voice coming from?' thought Shikamaru as he walked in the back of the dancing hall practically out of breath.
"I'LL BE HERE!" yelled Naruto as he waved goodbye to someone
"Naruto, who are you talking to?" asked a breathless Shikamaru "Did someone come in here?"
"YEAH BELIEVE IT! THIS GIRL DID, AND SHE WAS HOT. She was the prettiest girl I've ever seen!"
'I beg to differ.'
"Did you even get her name?" asked Shikamaru as he opened up the new bag of feathers.
"Yeah, Robin!" Naruto said with a blush as he walked towards Shikamaru happier than he had ever been in his entire life!
"Whatever, just hurry up with this bag before she comes back!" Naruto took it.
"Actually, I don't know if she'll come back. The entire time she was backing up to the door."
"My guess is she was either shy or nervous since you have your shirt off, baka!" Shikamaru said gesturing towards Naruto's bare chest.
Naruto grinned. "Well I am intimidating!" he said proudly as he pulled the ladder to the next empty fan. Shikamaru only rolled his eyes. They loaded up the next fan with feathers, which was not an easy task for Shikamaru. One: he couldn't breathe heavy or else the feathers would fall to the ground. Two: Naruto couldn't manage to keep his feet still for more than a few seconds causing the ladder to shake. Three times Shikamaru had to yell at him to hold the ladder still, but Naruto seemed too happy to pay attention.
Meanwhile, Naruto was thinking that it was good thing he knew some dance moves. The idea of dancing with Robin made his mind wander into a place full of music, and his feet, which were stuck in reality, refused to be left out of the fun.
"Naruto!" yelled an irritated Shikamaru. "If you keep moving around…"
"Wha? Are you sayin' something?" Naruto yelled up being pulled out of his trance.
Shikamaru still having patience by this point was indisputable proof that they were best friends. "Apparently I haven't been." He mumbled to himself.
Once that fan was complete, because Naruto had finally managed to stay still, they moved to the last one where they finished the bag off.
With their last part of the plan complete, and not a single feather poking its head over the brim of the fans, Shikamaru felt a sense of relief. "Perfect, now let's get rid of the evidence." He said meaning the empty plastic bags.
"No problem! We'll just throw them out in the trashcans." Naruto said still drunk off of his meeting with the beautiful girl.
"Uh, no dobe. We need to take them with us, so go shove them in my book bag. I'm going to fix the air conditioner." He said flipping out his pocket switch.
"FINALLY!" yelled Naruto as he picked up all the bags and opened up Shikamaru's backpack, 'I can't believe they never questioned Shikamaru about his book bag.' He thought as he carelessly put the bags inside not noticing a very important paper falling out.
Shikamaru headed back towards Naruto after fixing the air-conditioner. "Perfect and not a moment too soon, look. Here comes Iruka now, right on schedule." He smirked. Checkmate.
"WOW GUYS, this room looks amazing!" exclaimed Iruka as he took in the amazing work the guys did on the ceiling.
"Thanks!" replied Naruto as he put his shirt back on. "Um, hey Iruka sensei, we're still coming here tomorrow, right?"
The concern in Naruto's tone caught Iruka's attention. "Um…yes Naruto, why?"
"Well I just don't think I hung those streamers straight enough." He said looking at his work while rubbing the back of his head.
'Quick thinking Naruto, I'm impressed.' Thought Shikamaru. 'But do you really think you'll see that girl again? You'd have a better chance at getting struck by lightning…twice.'
"Everything looks fine Naruto, but we'll be coming back here tomorrow, too, so don't worry." Iruka didn't understand Naruto's change in mood since he last saw him, but he rolled with it. "Now let's hurry and get to the bus. It has air conditioning."
They all headed to the bus, Iruka figuring Naruto would rush to it first since he was really hot, but Naruto was looking out in the distance for something.
'I figured saying that the bus was air conditioned would make Naruto come faster, but what is he looking for?" Iruka wondered.
Shikamaru threw down one of the windows and leaned out, arms dangling. "Hurry up Naruto, its hot out here!" he complained as he let in the heat from outside in. He also couldn't help but stare at a certain art building.
"Uh..sorry." Naruto said distracted as he reluctantly turned back to the bus.
'A simple sorry? No calling me any names, not making an excuse? What did this girl do to him?' thought Shikamaru. 'Women do have this power over men that makes them act differently.'
The entire bus ride was in silence. Shikamaru was thinking about Ino, but tried to stop knowing it was a bad idea.
'AH, troublesome woman, now she's got me thinking about her!'
Naruto was thinking about "Robin" and what he should wear tomorrow when he comes back to decorate.
'This girl has me planning my wardrobe for the next day! Robin….Whoa!'
Iruka was watching the boys fixedly. He could see Shikamaru was staring out the window again, nothing unusual, but he was smiling, too! And Naruto wasn't talking! Is that even possible? But there he was, staring out the window with a smile on his face and a dazed look in his eye.
'Decorating sure got these guys quiet, I wonder why. Hmmm…..maybe they're just really tired. Yeah…that must be it.'
Being satisfied Iruka closed his eyes the rest of the way down to the camp.
Hinata ran all the way back to the art room, her heart was pounding madly! She tried to calm herself with even breaths, but she couldn't even manage those! She finally got to the front door to the art room, but before she went inside she calmed down a bit more to get rid of her blush. She opened the door to see a not so very happy Ino inside.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" she yelled at her angrily "How long does it take to just check out the room and come back? I was all alone!"
"S..Sorry!" Hinata tried to say apologetically, but to no avail. 'CRAP, did I just stutter a little? I haven't done that in years! This boy is making me stutter!'
"WELL….hey, are you okay? You look red or is that just from running? Are you getting over heated? OH NO! I'm SOOO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU RUSH! Here sit down I'll get you some water! No, not there over on the couch by the door." Ino rushed over to the water fountain and grabbed one of the paper cups nearby. Hinata sat down trying to calm herself again, and this time it worked when Ino gave her some cold water to drink.
"Good, you feel better now?" asked a worried Ino. "Because you're looking better!"
"Mmhmm! Thank you, but it's not your fault I'm so hot." Realizing what she said, even though Ino wouldn't understand it, she decided to add on, "It's that darned sun!"
"I know, but thank God for air conditioning."
"Oh! I like your pants there, but they look like Tenten's"
"That's because they are! She let me borrow them, I DIDN'T STEAL THEM!" Hinata laughed at Ino's freak-out.
"I never said you stole them!"
"I know. I just want you to know." Hinata went over to her bag to grab her pants.
"Is there a bathroom in this room?" she asked looking around the walls for a bathroom sign.
"No, but just go in the closet over there, it has a full length mirror."
Hinata walked into the closet and indeed a mirror was in there. She put on some black shorts and held her skirt close to her chest as she looked at herself in the mirror.
'He liked me in this skirt!' she giggled 'he kept looking down at my legs.' Then a terrible thought came into mind. 'What if he was staring at them because they aren't shaved?' she gasped and felt them.
Smooth. She was in the clear.
She looked up to her reflection and saw how silly she had just looked. 'Come on Hinata, you're never going to see him again. OH WAIT! YES I AM! Tomorrow if he comes back to decorate. Well, he is since he yelled to me that he was.' Hinata continued to look at herself in the mirror and saw that she had a wide grin on her face. 'I wonder what I should wear.' She thought as she left the closet to put her skirt back in her bag.
"So now we just chill in here I guess, right?" asked a lazy Ino.
"Yup!" said Hinata as she walked back to the couch she had been sitting on earlier. She looked out the window that was just beside her head, and looked at the dancing hall. There was a bus in front of it and someone had just gotten in. She was focused so much on the actual bus that she didn't even realize the guy she had been talking to was standing right at its door. When she recognized him she let out a yelp. 'He sees me staring!'
Before hyperventilation could ensue, she realized that the sun was aimed directly at her building leaving it impossible for anyone to see right through the windows. So she kept staring at him and he kept staring back. A blush started to form on Hinata's cheeks. But finally he entered the bus and shortly after it drove off.
"HINATA!" yelled Ino for what was a third time.
"HUH? What?"
"What's outside that has your mind in other places?" She leaned over Hinata to see a bus pulling out of the camp. "Is…is that the guys? Hinata. Are you…blushing?"
Hinata just stared at her blankly trying to think of something to say, but couldn't think quickly enough.
"SOOooo… what did you see in the dancing hall?"
Neji and Sasuke were playing on the x-box 360. This was their form of relaxation after a hard day's work. It had been really quiet in their cabin when Naruto and Shikamaru got back. Shikamaru went directly towards his favorite chair in front of the big window and stared out of it. Naruto went to sitting upside down on a couch with a grin on his face. Sasuke noticed it but didn't want to comment since he figured Naruto was waiting for him to ask why he was so happy. But after Sasuke died a fifth time by Neji he finally spoke up.
"So, how'd the plan go?"
Shikamaru let out a yawn. "Fine."
"BETTER THAN EXPECTED!" yelled Naruto who turned himself right side up on the couch.
"Really? How?" asked Neji who just turned the game off.
Naruto relaxed back on the couch, arms behind his head. "Well, you guys know me. I'm not one to kiss and tell." He smirked.
"You mean you kissed Shikamaru?" asked Neji at the same time Shikamaru said "You kissed her too?"
"I DIDN'T KISS HER!" yelled Naruto nervously
"YOU KISSED A GIRL!" yelled Neji and Sasuke at the same time
'And I thought I would be the first one in the group to kiss a girl.' Neji and Sasuke both thought.
"So then what happened?" asked Shikamaru.
"Yeah, and start from the beginning." Said Sasuke.
Naruto began to explain everything to them. How the plan went, how it was hotter than hell in the dancing hall, a girl walked in, and now he's enormously happy.
"Intimidated by you!" Neji threw his head back and laughed.
"You probably smelt like B O!" Sasuke joined in.
Naruto became defensive, his good mood fading. "Well that's what Shikamaru said!"
"No, I said she was probably a nervous girl." He corrected. But before they could butt heads, Sasuke changed the subject to more important matters.
"So you guys got rid of the evidence right?"
Shikamaru nodded and reached into his bag. "It's in my book bag, here Naruto," he handed Naruto the plastic bags "Go cut them up and throw them out in our trash can."
"No problem." He said taking them into the kitchen. His good mood returning gave him more spring in his step. Shikamaru continued to rummage for something in his book bag. His search became more frantic when he couldn't find it. The worry coming off his face alerted Sasuke, who then stood up.
"Shikamaru, what are you looking for?" he asked as he and Neji went over for a closer look.
"NARUTO!" Shikamaru called out. "Did I hand you the plans by accident?"
"UHHHHHH…NO why?" yelled Naruto from the kitchen.
"I don't see the plans and I left them in my book bag." Anxiety colored his tone as he repeatedly searched his bag.
"WHAT? Why would you even bring those with you!" yelled Sasuke outraged.
"You just made a very wrong move." Neji said calmly.
"Just…let me think." Shikamaru began to go through the movements of the day when it finally hit him. "NARUTO, come here!" Naruto walked back to them.
"What?" he asked scissors in hand.
"When I asked you to put the evidence in my book bag, was there a piece of paper in there?"
"UHHHHH….probably because I think a piece of paper did fall out whenackacakcakcac!"
Shikamaru jumped towards Naruto and wrapped his hands around his neck.
"NARUTO YOU IMBASIL! THAT PAPER WAS THE PLANS AND IF THE GIRLS FIND THEM WE'LL BE IN CAUGHT!" Sasuke pulled Shikamaru off of Naruto.
"Calm down!" he yelled even though he himself was about to strangle Naruto. "Look I'm sure the girls would just look it over as a piece of paper with doodles on it. It might be too complicated for them to understand. BUT, we still need it since it has ALL of our names on it."
"So what do you recommend we do?" asked Neji.
"I say, we sneak over tonight to the dance hall and get it."
"YOU WANT US TO WALK ALL THE WAY BACK THERE?" yelled a disbelieving Naruto.
Sasuke ignored his tone. "Yeah, that's the plan."
"It could work too, we would just have to take the back way in." said Shikamaru who was now calmed down.
"Where's the back way?" asked Neji.
"Actually, it's conveniently right behind our cabin since it's the last one. If we cut through the woods we'll be in the girl's camp in a matter of 15 minutes, plus 10 since its dark. From there we'll just go straight to the dancing hall and I'll pick the lock." Shikamaru's face began to look far off as he ran everything through his head.
Neji let out a sigh. "Thirty minutes of walking through the woods before we even get to the dancing hall, this is going to suck!"
"It actually adds up to 25, Neji." Shikamaru corrected.
"Yeah, but plus five more since Naruto will probably get lost."
"HEY!"
Sasuke took out his phone and looked at the time. Then he looked up at Shikamaru. "Okay Shikamaru go on the computer and make a map for us, what time should we leave?"
"1:00AM"
It was 6:46 and the girls were surrounding Hinata's bathroom banging on the door so she would let them in, and also to show how mad they were that she wouldn't spill.
"HINATA TELL US ABOUT THE BOY!" yelled Sakura.
Flashback
"SOOOooo… what did you see in the dancing hall?" asked a very sly Ino.
"Well…I uh…..ummmhahammmm…"
"OUT WITH IT WOMAN!"
"OKAY! I went over to check it out and well there was this guy-"
"A GUY REALLY! WAS HE CUTE?" Ino yelled cutting her off.
"NO, he was hot! And he had his eep!" Hinata put her hands over her mouth. Crimson began to color her cheeks.
"Tell Me."Ino said calmly. But Hinata knew she couldn't start to explain her story now. It was so embarrassing that this guy she met for a few minutes was making her blush so madly, and she knew she'd have to repeat it to her friends once she saw them again.
"I'll tell you later when we're back at our cabin. That way I can tell you all at once."
"No you won't! You'll hit the bathroom first chance you get!"
"I promise I won't run for the bathroom." She crossed her heart.
When they got home guess where Hinata went first!
End flashback
"DAMN YOU, HINATA HYUUGA! GET THE HELL OUT OF THAT BATHROOM! YOU CROSSED YOUR HEART THAT YOU WOULD'NT!" yelled Ino who was now slamming her fist against the door.
"NO I WAS JUST CROSSING SOMETHING INSTEAD OF MY FINGERS!"
"PLLLEEEAAASEEE SPIILL! We want to know about the boy!" yelled Tenten.
Hinata just laughed at them.
"Come on, Hinata, we would so tell you if we met a cute guy AND what we did with him!" said Sakura.
There was a small bit of silence.
The door unlocked but she didn't open it. They all waited for something to happen.
The door then swung open almost knocking over Tenten, but she was too excited to be angry.
"YOU GUYS THIS WAS THE HOTTEST GUY EVER! HE…HE MAKES ME STUTTER! HE WAS SOOOO HOT, AND AND AND… HE HAD HIS SHIRT OFF WHEN WE MET!"
"WHOOOOA!" yelled the girls who just got slapped with a bunch of information at once.
"He's the hottest guy you've ever seen!" yelped Ino in excitement.
"He makes you stutter? It took me for-ever to beat that out of you!" complained an annoyed Tenten. Sakura threw her arm around Tenten's shoulder and
"Are you in love?" sang Sakura, but then the girls realized the biggest part of the news.
"HE HAD HIS SHIRT OFF!" they all yelled
Hinata explained everything to them; from how she first saw him, to how she fell and he caught her, and how nice his upper body was, etcetera.
"SOOOO CUUUTEEE!" all three girls yelled with hearts in their eyes and happy thoughts in their heads.
"And I'm going to see him tomorrow!"
"YOU ARE?" asked Ino getting closer.
"Like a date?" asked Tenten.
"Where are you going?" exclaimed Sakura.
"NO, I mean he's going to decorate tomorrow too and so am I. you see?"
"OOhhh." They finally understood what she meant.
Ino clapped her hands together with delight. "Sweet, now I get to see him before any of you!" Sakura and Tenten stuck out their tongues
"Well, you'll need to show him to us at the dance." Sakura said while she plopped on Hinata's bed with her knees.
"Do you guys really want to go to this?" asked Tenten. "You know there will be kids younger than us there too, right?"
Ino couldn't believe her ears. "So?" she yelled. "There will be guys OLDER than us, too!" she exclaimed happily.
Tenten rubbed her arm uncomfortably. "I know, but…"
"Look." began Hinata "I know you don't want to wear the dress but..."
"I'm NOT WEARING WHATEVER YOU GOT ME! You CAN'T MAKE ME!" she yelled.
Ino crossed her arms over her chest and directed a determined glare at Tenten. "If you don't willingly put it on, I'll just force it on you! What do you have to say about that?" Tenten put her fists up and Ino copied the gesture.
"Whoa whoa stop!" yelled a frantic Hinata jumping in between Tenten and Ino. "Tenten they really don't know how to fight, you can't put your fists up here."
Bewildered, Tenten asked. "Then…why did she put up her fists if she really wasn't going to fight?" pointing at Ino who looked stunned at the moment.
"I thought we were joking." Said Ino cautiously. Tenten's face reflected that of confusion. "So, neither of you knows how to fight?" The pink and blonde haired girls both shook their heads no.
"THEN I WILL TEACH YOU RIGHT NOW! QUICK! GO TO THE LIVING ROOM!" Tenten pushed Ino and Sakura out the doorway. "Your training begins TODAY!"
Flashback: Five years ago
It was lunch, and Hinata was eating in her camp's cafeteria. Sitting alone was her own fault since she didn't try to include herself with an occupied table. But she was a really shy person, and didn't like to socialize with people.
'Why did Father have me come here?' she thought for what must have been the eight-hundred and sixty-fifth time. 'I know he wants me to be strong and build character, but I could have learned all that at home.' She pushed around her food with her fork. Beans. They felt greasy going down her throat and she no longer wanted to eat them.
Suddenly there was a tapping noise coming from behind her. "hey…YOU!" a girl shouted from the same direction as the tapping. Hinata turned around and saw three girls surrounding where she sat. The first girl continued to speak once she saw Hinata's attention. "This is our table every Monday, and I don't remember saying you could sit here."
"Oh,umm i..i'm s..s sorry. I d..didn't know." She looked for a way out, but the only way was a narrow opening through the girls who only left her so much room. Hinata picked up her tray and tried to walk away when an unknown object caught her around the ankle causing her to fall forward. She quickly regained her footing, but the food on her tray continued to fall without her and landed onto the girl's shoes and pants.
"HUH, I'm so…so so sorry." The girl cracked her knuckles and people in the cafeteria began to look over at the commotion. She lifted her arm and went to hit Hinata in the face, but as Hinata waited for the blow someone had stopped the girl. Hinata opened her eyes to see a girl with two buns in her hair block the punch.
"Back off, Missy!" she yelled "Your shoes were ugly to begin with! I think Hinata did you a favor!"
"TENTEN! You're going to be sorry!"
"So then put your hands up!" yelled Tenten as she put her hands in front of her. Missy did the same and everyone in the cafeteria began to chant 'fight,fight,fight,fight'
Later that night Hinata and Tenten were sitting together on a bench by an open field. Tenten came out of her fight with nothing but a bandage on her cheek, and unsurprisingly to her that was all. They were having what seemed to be a one sided conversation with Tenten highlighting everything Missy had done wrong during their fight and how easily deflectable all her moves were. Still animated from her fight, Tenten kept swinging her legs back and forth while Hinata just sat still; hands folded.
"That was really cheap of Missy for going for my buns. Talk about below the belt! Luckily I dodged the way I did and she only scratched my face!" her laugh was full of unconcealed pride as she momentarily stopped talking to replay the fight through her head once again. Her arms tensing as she thought of the moves she had pulled with them earlier.
Hinata never interrupted Tenten's story, after all she did witness it for herself and didn't need to be retold everything in detail, but at the moment where she stopped talking Hinata took the opportunity to thank her for earlier before she could continue on another breathless rant. "Tenten." Hinata's hands tightened together with nerves. "th..thanks…for d..d defending me."
"Stop talking, Hinata." Tenten rudely said, "If you really want to show me thanks, than let me help you fight. I mean, that is why you're here at this camp anyways. But I'm also going to get you to stop stuttering!"
"uhhhh…w..well..i.."
"Hinata, don't talk unless you're not going to stutter." Hinata kept her mouth shut. Tenten took this as a sign that Hinata was on board for the training. She nodded her head and jumped up off the bench. "Alright. Then your training starts TODAY!" They both walked over to a nearby field.
Tenten showed Hinata the basic moves which Hinata already knew. She tried to teach Hinata some more experienced moves but she couldn't because Hinata knew them as well. Tenten was quickly frustrated.
"Hinata I don't get you, why do you go off as weak when you know the moves? You could've taken Missy on by yourself." Hinata cleared her throat.
"Well, I'm just shy."
A glitter of triumph twinkled in Tenten's eye. "OH GREAT, you did it without stuttering. Maybe that's all I should do, is beat the stuttering and shyness out of you."
"What… AH!" Tenten through a few punches at Hinata. She was off guard, but she managed to block them sloppily.
"Tenten…st stop!"
"NO STUTTERING!" she landed a blow in Hinata's stomach. She refrained from making a frustrated grunt. With trying to focus on Tenten's blows while controlling her Hyuuga calm, Hinata was getting completely annoyed. She should have told Tenten that she didn't want to fight her, but it was her own fault for not speaking up earlier.
Their fight lasted for about 8 minutes, and then Tenten stopped. She only had to catch her breath a little but Hinata was close to being winded.
"You didn't even try to hurt me, WHY NOT?" demanded Tenten who stared down at the Hyuuga on her knees.
Hinata put her hand on her heart and took a breath. "I'm trying to stay calm!" she yelled back with a little crack in her voice. Tenten took note of this, so she took on a kinder approach. Kneeling in front of Hinata and tilting her head a little to the side, Tenten spoke softer.
"Hinata, I'm trying to help you out here. I can see you're angry, but why aren't you fighting back?"
"My father says ALL Hyuugas' have a special ability to keep calm and not show any emotions. Being the heir he says I need to solve problems with my words and not with violence."
"But…then.. WHY would he send you here?" confusion ran through Tenten.
Hinata stared down at her palms that rested open on her lap. "To build character." She explained. "I'm too weak, but I know how to keep calm."
"Who tells you that you're weak?" demanded Tenten. Hinata stared past her palms to the grass. "Does your father?" Hinata nodded. "Well, believe me you're not weak, you're just shy."
Hinata pulled her knees to her chest. Tenten, while still keeping a good distance, sat right next to her resting her hand on Hinata's shoulder.
"Look Hinata, let me fight with you every day. We'll get rid of your shyness, it's pretty easy." She told her confidently. "You just always have to believe that everyone is shyer than you. Your father won't be calling you weak if you can do this. I know you can be calm when you need to be, but now you NEED to un-shy." Tenten was right about everything, but Hinata was still unsure.
"I guess." Was her only response.
So Tenten and Hinata fought every day for the rest of the summer, and it really had helped Hinata. Within the last weeks of the summer she had learned that she was stronger than even Tenten who was voted number one female fighter at Camp Jutsu. Hinata slowly lost her stutter with the help of Tenten, her new best friend. She became more comfortable with herself over that summer that everyone at the camp almost didn't recognize her. She had actually talked to people without stuttering ONCE, even when she felt SOO shy deep down in her stomach she found that it wasn't as scary as she had thought it to be.
At camp's end, when Hinata came home, her father was surprised to find that his daughter had returned with such a bubbly personality. Not only that, but she walked with a confident stride, gave her opinions more frequently, and could meet new people without cowardice. He was so pleased by his daughter's transformation that he not only allowed her to return to camp, but encouraged it. And that was okay with Hinata since that was where her new best friend was.
End flashback
Hinata was out on their deck looking over the woods. The view was as good there as it was on her own balcony, but from the deck she had a better vantage point of watching her friends learn to fight from Tenten. They had been at it all day long, from 6:55 to now being 1:10. Hinata was happy that Ino and Sakura were learning how to defend themselves, everyone should learn, not to mention they were enjoying it themselves. Hinata just continued to hang out on the porch, it was a real warm night and the moon was almost full.
'It should be full tonight at the dance' she thought as she sat back in the swinging hammock. It was so cozy that she fell asleep in it.
Hinata began to dream about the guy she saw in dancing hall. In her dream he was at the bottom of her balcony yelling for her to come down.
"Hinata, you need to hurry down here so we can leave together in a sunset."
"I can't! My tree is gone, and so is the pole!"
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
"With my life!" she yelled back.
"Good, cause it might cost you that. I bet you I can catch you if you jump down here."
"How much are you betting?" all of a sudden they were gambling each other at a poker match.
"I'll bet you my heart!" he said as he started to unlock his chest. When he opened it up it was empty.
"Where's your heart?" asked Hinata as she started to cry.
"You stole it!" he said as he leaned over to unlock her chest too. He opened it up and found his heart was with hers.
"Well to be fare then you can have my heart!" she took it out and put it in his chest.
"I love you Hinata!" he declared triumphantly. The heart in her chest began to beat rapidly "Oh sorry about that, I guess I'm just excited," he said apologizing for his thumping heart. "but your heart is beating fast too, feel." Hinata put her hand on his chest and it was pounding rather hard. She then leaned her ear against it and swore she heard the heart speaking, so she leaned closer. It didn't just have one voice, but multiple, and they were all speaking in hushed tones.
"AGH! SHIT!"
Hinata woke up at a yell that was outside her dream.
'What was that?' startled she rolled off of the hammock and laid on the ground so whoever it was couldn't see her. She crawled over to the edge of the deck and peered over. The bushes were rustling, and a second later a person emerged! 'That…does not look like a girl.'
"Hurry up!" it whispered to the bushes. Three other guys came out of the bushes up to the other shadow. Regardless of the dark, Hinata could tell the last three were amused by something. "Which way to the dancing hall?" asked the first guy who, despite the distance he was from Hinata, sounded both annoyed and embarrassed.
"Follow that path and we just go down the hill till we get to the front of the camp. I'll recognize it when we get there."
"Hurry up and let's do this already." Said another shadow, the guys continued on their way and then they disappeared into the night.
Hinata quickly went back inside to her friends who were now out of breath and drinking gallons of water. Sakura and Ino seemed the most collapsed over the couches completely wiped-out while Tenten sat hunched over, elbows on her knees. She looked very pleased with herself.
"YOU GUYS, WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"
All three of the girls became alert but it was Sakura who spoke first. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I was outside! Then I heard a noise! Then I saw these guys come from the woods! Then I heard them saying they were going down to the dancing hall to "do" something." She told them frantically.
"OH NO! What if they destroy it?" cried Ino, "Even though we didn't get to put anything up today and just got to make the decorations, well…your cute guy did all that work!"
"OH NO!" The situation had become more personal for Hinata. Not only were the decorations going to be destroyed, but they'd be the very decorations that the guy from earlier had done himself! "We need to stop those douche-bags!"
"DOOOooown girl," said Tenten "We can't do anything to prevent what they're going to do now, so instead we should catch them on their way back!"
"BRILLIANT!" yelled Sakura as she jumped up and down.
"Good, now we'll need to make a net out of something to grab them in. We can figure out where to lay it." Said Ino as she began to plot the plan out in her mind.
"Few things," began Hinata "ONE, they're probably going to come back the same way they came. Meaning we'll just look for their footprints and lay the trap there. TWO, remember my trunk of tricks, just in case we make enemies?"
"Do you have something we can use for a net?" asked Ino
Hinata smiled. "Yeah. A net."
"Fine that works, too. So here's the plan," they all huddled around Ino to listen "We'll set the net for them and when their ALL ON IT Hinata will catch them. IF she doesn't get them we'll tackle them to the ground, sound good?" They nodded and began their plan.
Shikamaru had broken into the dancing hall again with his pocket knife. Neji found the lights and they admired the work that Naruto did. Not the decorations, but the things needed for the plan.
"Look over here!" said Neji as he lifted a piece of paper up off of the floor. "Looks like they didn't even come in here." He observed folding the paper into halves. Naruto wasn't listening, just staring at the spot where he first saw "Robin". Sasuke passed by him but not before hitting him on the shoulder.
"You're a lucky soul," said Sasuke as he started to go back out the door. "If we didn't find that it would have been on your head!"
"So let's hurry and get out of here already." Complained Shikamaru "Thankfully it's Saturday and all activities are cancelled." He let out a yawn that expressed why he was so happy that they would not be doing any strenuous activities.
Once they were all outside, back door relocked and no traces of them anywhere, the four began to walk up the hill they had just walked down. Three of them couldn't believe that they didn't run into counselors while one of them couldn't believe they hadn't left the camp yet.
"Are we THERE yet?" complained Naruto. None of them wanted to dignify his complaining with a response, but Sasuke noticed the last cabin coming up and decided to appease Naruto before he went crazy and annoyed them all to death for not responding.
"We just need to go by this cabin and then we'll be in the woods for another half hour walk." Shikamaru and Neji both laughed but muffled it behind their hands. Naruto glared at them and shoved Sasuke over. Sasuke laughed and pushed Naruto so hard that he stumbled three paces ahead of all of them.
"I TOLD you that I didn't get lost!" hissed Naruto. "And if nobody could tell, SasukeeeAAAAHH!" Naruto had just gotten grabbed in a net and was pulled into the air. "HEY! HEY! HEY! WHAT'S THIS?" he yelled as he struggled against the binding rope.
Despite their situation of being in another camp and possibly getting caught and thrown out of their own camp, all three of the guys practically fell to their knees laughing. Tears filled the brims of Neji's eyes and Shikamaru used his hand to brace himself on Neji's shoulder so he wouldn't fall over. Sasuke held in his right side.
"Look at the dobe, he got caught by a net!" laughed Sasuke who at the last second got tackled by Sakura. Before Neji and Shikamaru could react they also got tackled by Ino and Tenten.
"HAHA! You guys got caught by GIRLS! Who looks more pathetic now?" he started to laugh like a mad man forgetting he was the one still in the net.
Hinata, who had just finished tying the rope tightly around a branch, froze. 'I know that laugh. Could it be my…paperboy!' She stepped out of her hiding spot and in front of her prisoner.
"Are you a paperboy?" she demanded as she glared at the struggling figure.
"HUH? HEY, what kind of sick joke are you trying to pull here?" he yelled as he tried to maneuver around so he could see who he was talking to.
"Answer my question first! Are. You. A. Paperboy?" Hinata was growing impatient.
"Fine, I AM a paperboy. What's it to you?"
"Is part of your rout 'Byakugan Drive'?"
'WAIT! That's where my cousin lives.' Thought Neji who decided to stay pinned so he could hear the conversation.
"Yeah, it's my last house that I nail with the paper, and two girls always yell at me every morning. WHY?"
'Moron, even I know why after what you just said.' Thought Shikamaru.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she yelled as she started to kick Naruto repeatedly, he was totally helpless since he was stuck in the net.
"HEY…What... the…STOP!" Hinata was so furious, and started to swing the net into the tree multiple times. All of the guys, even the girls, cringed at watching Naruto's beating.
Neji took advantage of the distraction and flipped the girl holding him over so that he had her pinned. "HINATA! Is that you?" Hinata looked up towards the very familiar voice.
"Neji?" she asked as she stopped swinging (SLAMMING) Naruto against the tree.
"Neji?" asked Tenten.
"TENTEN!" he quickly jumped ten feet away from her.
"Wait, Hinata….is that you?" asked Sasuke as he got up, Sakura allowing this because he seemed to know Hinata.
"Yeah. Uh, who are you?"
He made an awkward gesture to himself. "It's me, Sasuke."
Her hand went to her mouth as she let out a gasp. "SASUKE?" The familiar name felt so foreign on her lips.
"And Shikamaru is behind you." he added pointing passed her. She turned around and stared at her old childhood friend whose stunned expression reflected the one that she had on her face.
"Hinata, is that really you?" asked Shikamaru stupefied.
"Of course it's really her," Neji smirked. "I think I would recognize my own cousin."
"Hinata, that's your cousin?" asked Ino.
"You're cousin's here?" asked a really confused Sakura who had no idea what was going on.
"WHO'S OUT THERE!" yelled the voice of a counselor who was in the distance with a flashlight.
"SHIT! You guys we need to get out of here FAST!" whispered Hinata. "Tenten take the guys to our cabin quickly! Ino go with her, and Sakura help me get this guy down." They all did as they were told and made their way to the cabin, but Sakura and Hinata were having a hard time cutting through the rope.
"I should just leave you here!" Hinata hissed as she continued to cut at the rope.
"Hinata, she's getting closer!" whispered Sakura.
"Okay, so go throw some rocks in another direction so she'll follow in that direction."
"Roger!" Sakura swiftly left without a noise leaving Hinata with her task. If her situation was different and not as dangerous as it was at that moment, she would have been very impressed with her rope. It was worth every nickel and dime at the camping store.
"Would you hurry up already?" whispered an impatient Naruto.
"Shut up paperboy, I'm not done with you yet!"
"Look. I'm probably stronger than you, so give me your knife and I'll cut the rest."
"FINE!" she handed him the knife and began to look around for the counselor. 'Good job Sakura! She's going another way. I hope you went back to the cabin!'
"DONE!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell out of the net. Hinata grabbed his arm and dragged him to her deck's stairs where she saw Sakura already at the top. They went inside their cabin and shut the door. Everyone was panicking.
"We need you all to go upstairs." Ino told the boys. "If the counselor comes up to the deck she'll see you all through the sliding door!" Sakura grimaced. If that happened all four guys would be sitting ducks…and they were the ones harboring those ducks.
Gulp.
"She's right! Hurry upstairs!" Sakura anxiously yelled, worry coloring the edges of her voice.
"This way!" Tenten directed.
All the guys quickly followed her, while pushing each other out of their own way. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata tailed right behind them. Once they were upstairs, and whether it was from nerves or exhaustion, all of the guys collapsed on the floor feeling momentarily safe. But despite the situation they were all in, all of the guys were really anxious to talk to Hinata.
Ino, Sakura, and Tenten all looked at the guys collapsed on their floor. If someone had told them twelve hours ago that around one the next morning they were going to have a bunch of guys in their cabin, they would have rolled their eyes and laughed. And possibly would've wore cute clothes. But as it was, they now had four guys inside their cabin with no clue of what to do with them. And even though there were four of them there, Tenten only watched one.
She hadn't seen Neji in a year, she thought she wouldn't see him for another, but there he was in front of her. Sitting on the ground where she had tackled Ino earlier that morning for the bathroom. He had his eyes closed so she could openly look her fill of him, and boy was she making up for a whole year without him.
He wore casual clothes, jeans that were baggy enough and Hyuuga acceptable, tan and white polo sneakers with that silly man on the horse, a white cotton t-shirt, and a light tan jacket. Everything fit him perfectly, 'That cotton shirt is doing nice things to his chest.' But Tenten's eyes finally dared to linger at what she wanted to see most. 'His face!' she mentally squealed. Currently the plains of his face were looking rather relieved, and even his eyebrows, which she knew sat always slanted in annoyance, were relaxed.
Everything seemed to be left where it was a year ago…that is…except for… 'oh…my gosh.' For the first time since Tenten had known Neji, this was never different and always the same.
'His hair. Usually it's perfectly in place, but now there are pieces falling on his face. That looks so…' she couldn't finish thinking her thought since she quickly became aware of two things.
One: there was a lump in her throat and Two: Neji's eyes flicked open. Swiftly she looked away to another random person, but not before she noticed both his eyebrows rise in surprise or confusion. It was too fast for her to make out, and she was not about to look back to check which one it was.
She could feel the heat rising on her neck as she pretended it wasn't there. 'How embarrassing. Now I look creepy! Or maybe I shouldn't have looked away! Gah!' She blinked twice to help get herself out of her head and back into the room. The person she was now staring at was Hinata, but it was easy to not get lost back in her thoughts when she saw the face Hinata was making.
Her face look nearly horror stricken and her jaw had dropped down half way as she stared off in the distance at something. 'A window? Does she see the counselor?' Tenten quickly looked in the direction of Hinata's distress only to see one of the guys, the blonde one who was in the net, have the same kind of confused expression on his face while staring right back at Hinata.
Tenten let out a quiet, and confused, "Whaaat?" slip from her lips.
After his friends collapsed on the ground from their race up the stairs, Naruto's anger forced himself to look up to find the girl who trapped him in the net and brutally attacked him. He knew his attacker was wearing Capri sweatpants, so he surveyed the legs of all the girls. Three of them were wearing shorts, but the one near him… 'Gotcha.' He looked up at the rest of the girl till he got to her face, and then…
His anger deflated into confusion, and from what her face was telling him, so was hers. 'But it couldn't be…the same…' Except it was too convincing to deny and he was instantly one hundred percent sure.
Naruto then heard one of the girls make a noise of confusion. "Hinata, do you two…know each other?" she asked. But he couldn't explain this to himself let alone an outsider, and from the look on the face that his eyes refused to look away from, neither could she.
All the rusty bolts and rubber-bands in Naruto's head were working together, and he then began to realize that "Hinata" was "Robin". At the same time Hinata noticed the "paperboy" was the cute guy from the decorating hall.
"Wait a minute your name isn't Robin it's….Hinata, and you're related to Neji?"
"You're that guy that I met in the dancing hall?"
'Oh my God, the guy I like is the paperboy!'
'Her name isn't Robin, its Hinata! And she's Neji's cousin! AND she's the girl who put the rotten…!'
"So it was YOU that threw buckets of fish on me that day!" yelled Naruto as he pointed an accusing finger at Hinata.
Three fists crashed into Naruto's skull simultaneously. "Don't yell at her!" yelled Neji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.
Hinata's face went from 'wonder' to a no-nonsense look that even Hanabi would be proud of. "No, that was my little sister, my plans involved attack dogs."
"Oooh." Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously.
"Look I'm a little lost right now," said Tenten. "Could someone please explain what's going on? How Hinata knows everybody?"
"Well Sasuke and Shikamaru are old friends of mine; we all went to school together." Began Hinata.
"We haven't seen Hinata in years, since we both moved." Sasuke said gesturing to Shikamaru who kept taking covert glances at Ino.
"Neji is my cousin." Hinata supplied for Ino and Sakura.
"Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto and I are all going to camp Shinobi." Neji explained.
"WAIT! WAIT! Which one is Naruto?" asked Sakura.
"The dumb blonde." Sasuke told her.
"Oh. We just call her Ino."
Ino threw her a sideways glare. "Watch it, billboard-brow." She warned in a low voice.
"Sorry," Shikamaru apologized to Ino. "He means that blonde, except he lives up to his stereotype."
"HEY!" said blonde yelled appalled.
Ino gave Naruto a once over and then stared at Hinata with a sly look on her face. "So this is that guy, the one you were telling us ALL about?"
Sakura caught on quickly. "The one with no…" she placed her hand over her mouth quickly to hold back her laughter. Ino tried this too, but it was to no avail.
"What are you both laughing at?" demanded a pinking Hinata. 'Oh God. PLEEEASE don't let them say anything!' Somehow that message was sent to Tenten instead of God because she threatened to beat them up if they spoke any more.
"Feisty as ever, Tenten." Said Neji with a smirk.
"You know Hinata's cousin?" asked Ino.
"Well yeah! He just said he went to Camp Shinobi, and so did I. With Hinata too." She looked back towards Neji who was now standing up. "I can't believe you're here though, I thought I wouldn't see you again!"
"Why's that?" asked Ino and Sakura slyly, Tenten blushed a bit as did Neji.
"becaaauuuse, I still have his SWEATSHIRT!"
"YOU HAVE HIS CLOTHES!" yelled Ino and Sakura.
"He lent it to me because I was cold, that's ALL!" defended Tenten.
"Where were you that made you oh so cold?" teased Ino.
"Thanks, you can give it to me later." Said Neji interrupting the interrogation coolly. He was well aware that Tenten had his sweatshirt, only it had been a couple of years since he lent it to her. Not that he minded, but he always wondered when and how she would give it back to him.
"Does Hyuuga have something to hide?" smirked a now amused Sasuke.
"Drop it, Uchiha!" Neji all but snarled.
Naruto threw back his head and laughed. "HAHA, Neji! Is she the girl you were thinking about in the car ride down here?" Neji punched Naruto in the arm.
"I'll take that as a yes." Mumbled Ino to Sakura, they began to giggle.
Sasuke looked over at the gigglers, but before they noticed he replaced his gaze with his old friend. "Hinata, how have you been? It's been a real long time. You seem less shy." He noticed. He also hoped that she took it as the compliment that he meant it as.
"I know I've changed, but look at you guys! You're both so much taller than me! Or maybe you were always taller than me. I can't remember!" Hinata laughed.
"I like that you let your hair get long." Said Shikamaru in his usual lazy drawl. "Looks nice."
"I'm glad that you left your hair in its regular style too, Shika!" Shikamaru smiled warmly at the familiar nickname Hinata had for him.
It was nice that Hinata was meeting her old friends from years ago, but there was still something that was confusing Tenten. "Sorry guys, I'm still lost in a few things like why Naruto thought Hinata's name was Robin." Sakura and Ino nodded their heads in agreement.
"WAIT!" yelled Neji, his face a mixture of realization and horror. "SHE'S the one that you don't 'kiss and tell'?" Sasuke and Shikamaru quickly connected the dots and came to the same conclusion as Neji.
Feeling the rage vibrate off his three "friends", Naruto looked around for an exit.
"Kiss and tell? Hinata did you forget to tell us something?" asked a sly Ino.
She had nothing to fear, but the way all three of her friends looked at her made her feel like she just might.
Trying to escape them, she backed up into Naruto who backed up into her.
'I found my escape!' she thought. "Naruto! What did you tell them we DID?" The three guys, who'd known Hinata to be like a sister to them, began to crack their knuckles.
"HEY WAIT A MINUTE! I never said we did anything, I just said I wasn't going to tell you!"
"But your direct words were 'I don't kiss and tell, believe it!'" quoted Shikamaru.
"I didn't say BELIEVE IT!" he defended.
"Sorry, habit." Apologized Shikamaru as they moved in closer towards him. Just before more distance could be closed between them and the cornered Naruto, Hinata swiftly slid in front of him.
"Guys, hold on, you can't beat up Naruto." she told them realistically.
"Thank you! Voice of reason you guys!" Naruto told them all as he felt his soul reenter his body.
"We really need to get you out of here," she said looking at the three in front of her. "And once that's over then you can beat him up."
"WHAAAAT?"
"Sounds good to me." Sasuke shrugged and he and Shikamaru walked away from them.
"Okay, fine." Said a reluctant Neji. "But I'm keeping a close watch on him."
Sliding his back against the wall to sit down, Naruto rolled his eyes. "You and everyone else at camp." He told him.
This has been revised as of AUGUST 29 2010. There're probably still spelling errors...you know me!...but i did take this chapter from 26 pages to 35 and wanted to bring a little more Neji and Tenten into focus here since Hinata isnt the only one who is seeing a friend from long ago.
to the readers of have read this multiple times...is this newer version alright? lemme know if its good i'm super nervous YIKES~