Author's Note: I'm back! Finally, I finished Golden, so this is officially my major story! That is unless I start getting really into my new Ouran High School Host Club fic. Haha ::sweatdrops:: Well anyway, I have a kind of vague idea where I want to go with this story now, but I think it'll take a while.
Chapter 9: The Morning After
"Trade shirts with me!"
Sakura blinked, not understanding what Tenten had just said to her. She understood the words, in so much as she knew each one's individual meaning, but all together they didn't make much sense.
"Wha . . ." she said intelligently.
Tenten rolled her eyes and growled in frustration. Letting go of Sakura's shoulders she grabbed the younger girl's hand and dragged her up the stairs and inside the school. She crashed through the door of the first bathroom she saw and shoved Sakura into the biggest stall, usually meant for disabled students. She locked the stall door firmly behind them then turned, panting, to face Sakura.
"Trade shirts with me," she repeated, calmer this time but no less urgent. "We don't have much time before the bell rings, so make it fast!"
"Why do you need me to . . ." she trailed off, catching sight of what Tenten was wearing for the first time. She was wearing the same clothes she'd worn yesterday. Which meant she hadn't changed clothes since yesterday. Which meant she hadn't been at home to change her clothes. Which meant that she hadn't been at home this morning. Which meant that she hadn't gone home last night. Which meant . . .
Sakura's eyes widened in shock as she finally realized what was going on. She stared at the older girl in disbelief, and Tenten buried her face in her hands. "I know!" she whined, "I know ok! It was stupid, I get it, can we please move on? And like, trade shirts?"
"You . . . last night . . . with who?" Sakura stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Temari Sabaku's little brother," Tenten admitted, looking off to one side.
"Garra?" Sakura asked, both eyebrows disappearing into her hair.
"No!" Tenten waved one hand as though to shoo away the very idea, "her other little brother."
Suddenly Sakura's eyes widened again as she realized something. Catching Tenten's arm she looked the brunette directly in the eye. "Did you use protection?" she asked seriously.
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Of course I used protection, do I look stupid to you?"
Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly down at Tenten's, slightly wrinkled she now realized, shirt.
Tenten sighed wearily. "Ok, point taken, but will you please switch shirts with me? I don't . . ." she paused, biting her lip, "I don't want Gai-sensei to know that I . . . you know."
"Really?" Sakura asked in surprise, "Gai-sensei is the one you're worried will find out?"
Tenten looked off to the side again. "Its just . . . well, I don't have much of . . . at home, its kind of . . ."
Sakura's jaw dropped. "Are you being . . ."
"No!" Tenten snapped, "Its just, well, my mom left when I was little, and my dad's kinda, you know, always working, or off doing something else. Most of the time its just me in the house by myself."
Sakura nodded her understanding.
"Gai-sensei's always just kinda been there for me. He's that way with a lot of the kids who are serious about music. Like Lee. Ok, especially Lee, but me and Neji too. He's always thought I was pretty responsible, so he's always said that I, I don't know, set some kind of example."
Tenten looked at the floor. "I just don't want him to know I did something so stupid."
Tenten looked up, and Sakura smiled sympathetically. Tenten let out a deep sigh, passing a hand over her eyes as though in exhaustion.
"So," Sakura asked, grinning slightly, "this has nothing to do with you not wanting Neji to find out what happened last night?"
Tenten turned pink. "No!" she said, a little to quickly, "of course not! Why would I care if he found out?"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just take your shirt off."
The girls arrived in the music room before the bell rang, not much later than they normally would have shown up. Tenten was hoping she could just take a seat somewhere far away from Neji and not have to talk to him at all, but no such luck; as soon as the girls walked in they were greeted by a solidly present and very angry Neji.
"Where the hell were you last night!" he demanded, loudly enough that some of those closest to them turned their heads in surprise.
"N-none of your business!" Tenten replied, her voice going much higher than she would have liked.
"You took my cousin home without telling me!" he half shouted.
"So?" Tenten shot back, "there was a creepy guy outside the school, I didn't want to just drive off and leave her there. Didn't she call you from the house?"
"Yes," Neji replied, a little less confidently, "but after that I couldn't get a hold of you all night! I called your cell, I called your house, where the hell were you!"
"Why did you want to talk to me so bad in the first place?" she screamed.
Neji didn't reply, just looked at her blankly. He didn't seem to have an answer. The entire class was holding its breath, watching them intently. Sakura was staring, wide-eyed, between the two of them, her mouth hanging open.
"Out, ok?" Tenten murmured, apparently aware of all the eyes upon them, "I went out."
"Where?" Neji whispered harshly, "with who?"
"Why do you care?" Tenten hissed, "You don't have any right to dictate where I go and who I hang out with!"
"Yes, but . . ." again Neji trailed off. He kept his mouth open, as though he was waiting for the words to tumble out like ice cubes in a backed-up ice maker.
"Look, Neji," Tenten said firmly, not waiting for him to continue, "I can do what I want. I am a big girl, and I can take care of myself. You're not my father or my big brother, and you're certainly not my boyfriend, so whatever I choose to do with my time, you have no right to question, complain, or try and stop me."
Neji opened his mouth, apparently about to argue, or at least say something, but at that precise moment Gai bounded into the room.
"Good morning my youthful students!" he boomed, "why has no one taken their seats yet! We must not waste a single moment our youth, onward to musical education and achievement!"
Walking toward the cafeteria to have lunch with Ino after second period, Sakura thought back on the events of the last few days. In less than a week her love life had somehow gotten infinitely more complicated and, frowning, she tried to remember exactly how that had happened. After being taken home by Lee the first day of school, Sakura had immediately called Ino.
"He did WHAT!" Ino had screamed into the phone, making Sakura wince and hold the receiver away from her ear.
"Calm down Ino," she muttered, picking through her pile of colored gel pens to find one suitable for the purpose she had in mind. Selecting a beautiful gold one rather close to the color of Naruto's sun-kissed skin, she wrote in neat, flower letters on her stationary; Dear Naruto-kun,
"My best friend was sexually assaulted by a psychopath, how am I supposed to calm down!" Ino demanded.
"I'm ok," Sakura assured her, biting the end of her pen gently, "this really nice guy I met in music class showed up and found us. He kinda saved me. And then he showed me this cool place to practice my singing. It actually made me feel a lot better." Frowning at the page, she tore it out and started again. My beloved Naruto-kun,
"Yeah Sakura, but this is serious business!" Ino protested from the other end of the line. "He could have raped you!"
"But he didn't," Sakura pointed out reasonably, "and anyway now I know for sure what a creep his is. I just have to steer clear of him from now on and I'll be fine." How long have I loved you? Too long for love to go unrequited, my Golden Prince. Oh, how deeply I long for you. "Besides, if he ever comes near me again, now I don't have to feel guilty about blinding him with pepper spray."
"You should press charged," Ino suggested seriously.
"For what, unlawful creepiness and invasion of personal space?" Sakura asked doubtfully. With my heart, my soul, and all my body, I want you. How my skin aches for your strong, gentle touch.
"Try sexual assault and attempted rape!" Ino supplied, "you know I bet you could get some money."
"His family's rich," Sakura said idly. My knees go weak at the very sight of you, and when you look at me my heart beats so fast I feel as though it were trying to fly out of my chest, just to be closer to you.
"You could get a lot of money." Being around you makes it hard to breath.
"Or his family could hire a barracuda lawyer and I could wind up with a black spot on my record." Your scent makes my body feel so hot. How I wish to know your taste as well.
Sakura frowned again, then shook her head and tore out that page as well. Too slutty.
"New topic," Sakura suggested, "like maybe something to do with you and your life. How'd it go with the Pack? Did you find out anything?" My dearest love,
There was a pause. "Well . . ." For so long my heart has belonged to only you.
"Yeees," Sakura prompted, raising an eyebrow even though Ino couldn't see it. My love for you is as boundless as the ocean and sky. How can it be that one can love so deeply?
"Well, I didn't find out anything . . ." Ino trailed off, leaving a pregnant silence.
"Buuut," Sakura egged, grinning mischievously to herself as she wondered what Ino could be hesitating to say. You are my love, my Prince, my Knight, my hero . . .
"Something weird happened," Ino continued, sounding almost confused.
"Whaa-aat?" Sakura whined, "Tell me, tell me! Quit stalling Ino!" I feel so safe around you, knowing you'll protect me from anything.
"Well," a slight pause during which Sakura held her breath, "my house is the farthest from the Quad, you know? So when we got there, it was just me and Choji."
Sakura grinned slyly. "Ino, did something happen?" The feeling of your strong arms around me.
"No," Ino replied forcefully, "nothing happened. Nothing at all. But . . . well, he just . . . he offered to walk me to my door."
"And you said yes?" The soft, sweet sound of your voice.
"Well its not like I could say no," Ino grumbled, "but then, when we got up on the front porch . . . he . . ."
"He what?" Sakura pressed eagerly.
"He, um, he kissed me," Ino mumbled, just loud enough for Sakura to hear her.
"He did WHAT!" Sakura shrieked, then, "where? On the lips? Did he . . ."
"No," Ino replied, and Sakura was surprised to hear her voice sounded almost glum, "on the cheek. Afterwards he looked kinda like he couldn't believe he did it, like, I don't know, he didn't mean to, or something."
Sakura shook her head, then went back to her letter. Your big, deep eyes. "So? Did you feel anything?"
"Weirded out," Ino muttered, "I wasn't expecting it." Your glossy black hair.
"But also," Ino continued after a moment, "I guess, kind of . . ."
"I have to go!" Sakura said suddenly, cutting Ino off. Without waiting for a reply she slammed down the phone, staring incredulously at the paper in front of her. Strong arms. Soft, sweet voice. Big, deep eyes. Glossy black hair.
When exactly had she started writing about Lee?
Standing in the lunch line, Sakura thought back on that letter. What exactly did it mean? Was it possible that she might have felt something for him? She had buried the letter in a drawer, and hadn't thought of it since then, but now she began considering her interactions with Lee over the past few days. He had, once again, defended her from Sasuke. She had sat next to him, every day in class, and somehow hadn't felt the slightest bit awkward. Did that mean she didn't have feelings for him? She felt comfortable around him, but in much the same way she felt comfortable around Ino. She had to admit, he was a pretty good friend. And after all, she had written that letter right after he had saved her. Maybe it was just that she was thinking about an awesome new friend she'd made, who just happened to be a very chivalrous, heroic boy.
Let's keep it that way for now, inner Sakura advised, and see how things develop. We still need to find out whats going on with Naruto-kun and Hinata, after all.
"This way!" a voice suddenly hissed in her ear as she broke off from the line with her food. She turned, and suddenly found Ino tugging at her arm, leading her off around the wall of the cafeteria.
"Wha . . ." she said, just as intelligently as the first time that day, but Ino shushed her, eyes fixed on a table towards the center of the room.
"Look at that table over there!" Ino hissed, pointing animatedly at it as she and Sakura sat themselves a table in a corner, not far from the one where Hinata usually sat with Neji and a couple of the other band kids. Hinata wasn't in band, but she usually sat with Neji and his friends simply because he was her cousin. Currently Neji was looking tactfully off to one side, as Hinata spoke quietly to Naruto, who was kneeling by the table.
"I can't hear what they're saying!" Ino whined, craning her neck out over the table like it would help her hear over the general buzz of chatter that permeated the lunch room.
"He looks so dreamy like that though," Sakura whispered, making Ino nod excitedly in agreement. Naruto was down on one knee, on the floor beside Hinata's table. The angle at which his legs were bent made his dark jeans hug his muscular thighs, and the sleeveless, tight orange shirt showed off ever ripple of muscle in his back as he reached out a hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.
Wouldn't it be so awesome for him to kneel down like that for me? Inner Sakura sighed dreamily, Naruto-kun is way too sexy to give up crushing on so easily. God, look at those arms . . .
As they watched Hinata turned slightly red, and Neji seemed to fight the urge to turn around and watch himself. Then, after a few heart pounding moments, Hinata smiled brightly and nodded, making both Ino and Sakura whine loud enough that some of the people nearest them turned to look at them in alarm.
Naruto and Hinata were going on a second date.
Damn it!
Author's Note: Damn, I need to quit having so much happen in so short a space of time. Next chapter we have a major time skip. The climax of this story is supposed to be Homecoming, but at this rate I'll never get there!