Tenten sat facing the end of her closet, where old Tenten met new Tenten, where blue met pink. Long and baggy shirts met tiny and tight tank tops. Tenten sighed, falling backward until her head hit carpeted floor.
Staring at the dim light above, Tenten could hear her phone buzzing beside her, but couldn't even bother to check it. She just lay there and watched the light, as if she waited long enough, it would
The door opened and Tenten could see Ino hovering above her. "What are you doing?" she asked, sitting next to her, picking up her phone.
"Uh, Tenten, you have seventeen texts." Ino said, handing her friend her phone.
Tenten sighed, and held her hand up for the phone.
"What's up? You don't look too good." Ino said, looking at some of the clothes in her reach.
Shaking her head, Tenten started looking at some of her messages. Since when did her mother text her? With each one she read, she could see that her mother was very upset. When she landed on one from Neji, Tenten heavily released a breath.
Quickly briefing over other texts from her mom, Tenten shut her phone, dropping her face into her hands.
"Uh... hey Tenten?" Ino asked, moving a bit closer to Tenten, a look of worry on her face.
"Don't worry. I'm great, just, my mother is making me a bit mad. Sakura and Hinata still asleep?" she asked, looking up at Ino with a big smile.
Ino half smiled back, shaking her head a bit. "Nah, they're awake."
Tenten nodded and stood, holding her hand out to help Ino. Ino sighed, taking Tenten's hand as they both walked out into Tenten's room, to find Hinata and Sakura on the bed, talking about where they wanted to go out.
"Hey! Tenten, Ino, I say we should go to the mall and like, go shopping and watch movies. But, Hinata wants to hang at the library. Where should we go?" Sakura said, looking between Tenten and Ino.
"Who's at the library?" Ino asked, jumping onto the bed too. Tenten followed suit, wondering the exact same thing.
"Well, no one. Honest. What movie do you want to see?" Hinata asked, looking back at Sakura expectantly.
Sakura shrugged. "Hey, Tenten, do you think I could wear something of yours? I also need a shower."
"Go for it. There are already towels and what not in my bathroom." Tenten said, smiling.
"Thanks." Sakura quickly stood up, and pranced off into the bathroom. Once they could hear that the shower had started, Hinata looked at the both of them.
"Naruto told me that he and the guys, including Sasuke were going to be at the mall. That, Sasuke is waiting to see her." She explained quietly.
Ino and Tenten nodded. "Well, we have to go somewhere." Tenten said, looking between the two.
"What about Shikamaru? Is he with Naruto too?" Ino asked, looking at Hinata.
Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "I'll ask."
Tenten stood up and went to her closet, trying to come up with something to wear herself. She stared only at one side, but eventually ended up staring at where the two sides connected. Grabbing some old black slightly faded and mildly ripped skinny jeans off its hanger, Tenten held them against the front of her body. Tenten searched for one of her newer shirts, finding a deep purple tube top with a printed black rose on the front.
Putting them on, Tenten looked at herself in the mirror on the back of the door.
Tenten smiled a bit, liking it, and then quickly grabbed a studded belt Ino told her to buy. Quickly grabbing a black wristband with a skull on crossbones on opposite each other, while around the edges, was a red line with spaced out studs. For the other arm, she grabbed six gel bracelets, two black, two pink, and two blue.
"Wow that looks great." Ino smiled, clapping her hands a bit.
"You both can borrow some clothes too if you like." Tenten said looking at the two still in their PJ's.
"Thanks." Hinata smiled tentatively walking into the closet with Ino.
Ino hurried out wearing a pink baby doll dress. "Wow, how did I not notice you and I wear the same size of clothing?" Ino asked, looking down at the perfect length of the dress.
Tenten shrugged her shoulders, sitting down at her computer desk, twisting in the chair to face Ino, who had plopped down a bean bag chair.
"Shikamaru isn't with Naruto Ino!" Hinata called from inside Tenten's closet.
"I know where he is. I'll drive." She said, half answering Hinata, half deciding where they were going.
"Tenten, you need a necklace." Ino said after a moment.
Tenten raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Watching Ino fish through her box of jewellery, which mostly consisted of stuff she used to wear a lot.
- - - -
"Are you sure Shikamaru is here? I mean, I thought this was just a smoker's hangout." Hinata said as Ino parked the car in one of many open spots around the man-made lake. Mostly, people would jog around the perimeter or even choose spots to get wasted or high while avoiding getting caught.
"Positive." Ino said as she got out, stretching her arms above her head.
Tenten looked around. The afternoon sun made it look like a happy place. She could see a park on her left through some of the trees, and there were people in twos running, or alone with a dog.
"What's so scary about it? It looks perfectly fine to me." Tenten said as she helped Sakura out from the back.
"Obviously, you are really a new kid." Sakura laughed as she looked up at Tenten. "How did I not notice how great your clothes are? If there was a neat combo of the two, I'd be first in line to get them."
Tenten raised an eyebrow at Sakura. 'Great?'
Ino chuckled. "Exactly! Like, sexy and bad-ass while still sweet and confident." Ino had raised her hand and was currently moving her hips as if she were dancing in a club with a fast beat.
Flipping the hair from her face, Ino laughed and started walking off toward the path that ran along the perimeter of the lake. "C'mon! Shikamaru always hangs around on the island." She said as she kept walking, head straight forward.
"How do you know he's always on the island?" Sakura inquired as she hurried up beside Ino.
"I've hung out with him before. And he told me, if he's not at home or school, he's on that island." Ino said smartly before glancing back at Tenten and Hinata behind her and Sakura.
"Is that girl from Suna with him?" Hinata asked lightly, not wanting to hit any nerves. "What's her name...?"
Sakura looked back at Hinata. "Tem-"
"I doubt it. After the party at Hinata's she probably went... home..." Ino had been explaining, before noting an error, looking quickly at Sakura, a look of apology in her eyes.
"Don't worry about it. I'm fine now." Sakura said, annoyance tinting her reassuring tone.
Tenten sighed, and started to look around. It didn't look as though there was anything even bad about the place. Smoker's hangout? She couldn't even see a single person smoking. Tenten scoffed as the four walked across a weathered, wooden bridge.
"Hi there Shikamaru!" Ino yelled suddenly, waving her hand enthusiastically.
Tenten vaguely remembered him, seeing he was with two other people, and seated beneath a very large tree. In fact, there were a lot of trees such a little "island".
"Temari's here." Hinata whispered to Tenten. "She and Ino act as if they hate each other."
Tenten gave Hinata a quizzical look, making Hinata smile a bit. "You know how two people, can be complete rivals, and basically hate each other, but they know each other so well, they actually really like them, but being rivals, would never admit it?" Hinata explained as they had completely stopped walking any closer, so neither Ino or Temari would hear her.
Nodding a bit, Tenten looked at the three seated on the ground, Shikamaru leaning against a tree, with a cigarette between his lips, and the blonde Tenten could only assume was Temari, as she was the only girl of the three, and then a bulky guy who was currently wolfing down a large bag of chips.
Temari looked up at the girls, her eyes landing on Tenten, she stared for a moment, then quickly snapped her gaze at Ino.
"Hello Ino. How's life as a pest of a bug?" she asked, leaning back as she lit a cig, inhaling the smoke.
"Pretty good, how's the brothel?" Ino replied. "Shikamaru, can I talk to you in private?"
Shikamaru sighed. "That means I have to move..." he groaned as he looked at ground, up to Ino as she stared down at him.
"Please?"
"...Fine."
Ino squealed as he followed her over the wooden bridge, stopping to talk there.
"I saw you at the party." Temari said looking at Tenten.
Tenten blushed a bit, and started to talk aimlessly, "Uh, hi. I'm sorry, I don't really-"
"Remember me? Don't worry. You seemed pretty wasted." Temari smirked as she blew out some grey smoke from between her glossy pink lips.
"Can I buy a smoke off you?" Sakura asked, holding out four quarters to Temari.
Temari raised an eyebrow but grabbed her dark green bag off the ground, after digging for a few seconds, she pulled out a pack and handing one to Sakura, Temari smiled. "I had no idea you girls smoked."
"Well, I never have, and I just figured, why not? I mean, I do almost everything else." Sakura said, giggling as she struggled with lighting the stupid thing.
Temari chuckled as she watched.
After several unsuccessful tries, Sakura had finally managed to light the thing, sucking up grey smoke, only to immediately cough it back out.
Tenten laughed a bit as she watched Sakura cough crazily.
Sakura hit Tenten's shoulder lightly, "Oh, you think you can do better, huh?" she laughed, pushing the butt of the smoke to Tenten's lips. "Try not to cough."
Tenten breathed in, sucking in the thick, ugly grey smoke. It was like breathing in flames, burning her throat and tasted funny against her tongue. The fire in her throat only grew, and the urge to cough was so great, her eyes began to water.
Coughing, Tenten shook her head as she held the vile thing back out to Sakura.
Sakura laughed as Tenten failed in trying not to cough. "I told you its hard!" she giggled as she passed it along to Hinata.
After her coughing fit, Tenten moved back a bit so she was no longer immediately close to either Sakura or Hinata.
Temari smirked at her as she held her hand on her chest. "What?" Tenten asked, feeling strangely self conscious.
Temari's smirk grew into a grin and she shook her head, turning back to watching Sakura and Hinata laugh at each other cough.
"Are you and Shikamaru-"
"Dating?" Temari turned to face Tenten again. "No."
"But, I thought-"
"I don't hate boys." She said, sounding very sure of it.
Tenten's eyebrows knit together as she processed what she'd heard. "Hate? Why don't you like boys?" she asked, feeling stupid for not catching on right away.
Temari smirked, blowing smoke into Tenten's face, who coughed a bit.
"Eh, Tenten!" Ino called as she ran back up to the group.
Tenten turned to see Ino give her a questionable look as Temari had promptly turned around, walking off over by the guy who was still eating.
"You know Tenten; I think we should go get your nails done." Ino said as she grabbed Tenten's hand, inspecting her nails.
"My nails?" Tenten asked, inspecting her other hand. They looked completely fine to her... Suddenly, Tenten understood what Temari was talkign about, she felt mildly interested and also completely stupid for not catchign on so quickly. Feeling her face darken to a deep red, Tenten dropped her head. Feeling utterly ashamed of herself.
A/N: I wasn't exactly finished, heh heh, oops. But it's been so long, I had to submit it. It was actually starting to be a real bother. Hope you enjoyed and I hope to finish next chap SOON!!