A/N: Thanks SO much to all of you who review on every chapter, (or at least try to, lol). It means a lot to me. (Me, being a lazy person, realize who difficult it is to press that purple button and type out a review that makes sense to the writer).
It boggles me that anything that comes out of my head and into the computer could mean something to anybody else. Really. So thanks, very, very much. It proves that I have a bit of a brain!
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Day 20
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"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," Ino sang.
Tenten groaned and lashed out instinctively with her arm, her mind still fuzzy with sleep. Ino smartly ducked out of the way, caught Tenten's arm, and stuffed it back under the army-green blanket she was using. "Whoever says that has got some serious issues," Tenten moaned, pulling the blanket over her head.
"Actually, his name was Benjamin Franklin, an American man with glasses and strange hair," Ino said. "I think he did have some issues. He invented the rocking chair, you know."
"I don't care," Tenten muttered, her voice muffled through the blanket. Ino shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Hinata told me about him, or rather, one of her history books told me. They're actually pretty cool. Ben Franklin also invented bifocal glasses."
"Are you usually this interested in history during, say, the school year?" Tenten sighed, sitting up and rubbing her eyes in defeat. "Isn't that a novel idea, Ino?"
Ino blinked. "History's boring when you're forced to study it."
"No, history isn't torture," Sakura interrupted, coming over with a towering, bright blue towel wrapped around her head, an orangewood stick between her teeth and painting her nails black with white card symbols. She was doing a spade now.
"So what is?" Ino asked.
"History is fine," Sakura said airily, dropping the orangewood stick distractedly. "School is easy. It's one of the more effortless things in life: they give you work, you do it, repeat process."
Ino scowled. "It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" said Sakura.
"Hinata, could I borrow that book on the Shoguns again?" Ino said loudly, getting up and ignoring Sakura. The green-eyed girl of the two smirked.
"Oooh, I got Ino mad," she taunted, one of her nails turning a gleaming jet black with a graceful stroke of the brush. She retrieved the orangewood stick and began drawing a heart.
"I'm not mad," Ino said stiffly.
"Yeah, you are. You're jealous that I'm smarter than you," Sakura said smartly.
Tenten was half-tempted to just go back to sleep and pretend that this had not been the start of her day, and wake up again in two or three hours when the rest of them were all gone and the room was going to be quiet.
Ino slammed the door to the bathroom while Sakura gloated, applying a last coat to her left pinky nail. Tenten inched out of bed and stretched. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, making the glass almost burning hot to the touch. The golden tint settled over their entire dorm, making everything seem brighter. It didn't do much to raise Tenten's mood. The inside of her nose prickled slightly, like a nosebleed was going to come on.
"I'm going down for some water," she said shortly to Sakura, who had draped herself across Tenten's bed without permission.
"You going to the Hyuuga's place after that?" Sakura said in a voice that signified she was still absorbed with painting her nails.
Tenten considered for about a second. "Yeah, I am. See ya."
"Ja ne."
O0O
"I would like to show you something today," said Neji.
Tenten blinked in pleasant surprise. "Is it another curry restaurant?"
"No." Neji smiled slightly in that way of his. "I believe you will eat me out of house and home eventually."
"I paid!" Tenten protested indignantly, and then saw that he must have been joking, and let her cheek muscles pull into a slight smile to mirror his, though no less sincere. He motioned for her to follow him, and stepped out back into the hallway.
"Are we going to the courtyard again?" Tenten asked as their feet made gentle pattering sounds against the ancient wood of the floorboards. A few creaked, but all gleamed like they had just been freshly waxed and polished. Neji briefly shook his head no, a long strand of brown hair falling into his face.
"Another place."
"Where?"
"You will see."
"I hate it when you do that, Neji-kun."
"…"
She sighed and let him walk in silence for a while, trying to idly memorize the pattern of the hallways, just in case she should ever wander down here again. Then, she wouldn't lose her way and have to knock on somebody's bedroom door to ask where she was. But soon, the maze was jumbled in her mind, and the hallways all seemed to look pretty alike. Tenten gave up and just followed Neji.
He led her through a door leading outside, into a courtyard much smaller than the main one they had previously visited. This one had a pond, but with fish swimming in it. It had a bench, too, made of stone and with green moss creepy up the claw footed legs. It was surrounded by a black iron grille, crafted with intricate designs.
"Wow. I didn't know you had another courtyard," Tenten said. "My house barely has a garden."
"Many Hyuugas live here," Neji replied. "Generation after generation, with all of the branches…we all dwell here, excluding the few that choose to leave. The Hyuuga Compound has housed us for many centuries. It dates back-"
"That goldfish is huge!" Tenten interrupted, her brown eyes wide as she stared over the edge of the pool.
Neji sighed. "Your interests puzzle me, Tenten."
"Sorry," she said quickly. "It's a very nice courtyard."
Neji's half-smile was back. "It is not what I was meaning to show you. Come." He pointed out a smooth patch of grass a few feet away and sat down cross-legged in the middle of it, for a fleeting moment looking like the little boy he must have once been.
Tenten sat down, too, facing him. "So…now what?"
"Pray with me," Neji said, his white eyes serious.
"Pray…?" Tenten said quietly, confused. "For what?"
"Anything you desire," Neji replied just as quietly.
"Um. This is a bit…"
"Strange, perhaps?" Neji asked. "Yes…but please, grant me this one favor."
Tenten shrugged. "Well, okay, then…" She took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, thinking hard. She had not bothered to really pray for anything in a long time, not since she was a little girl. For a moment, she wondered if she had forgotten how to do it right. But was there any right way to pray? She was tempted to sneak a peak at Neji, and gave in to the overwhelming temptation.
He sat with his hands on his kneecaps, his face tranquil with eyes closed, brown hair around his shoulders. He seemed to be murmuring something very quietly to himself, almost like singing without a tune. It was so unlike Neji, all of the marks that worry had left on his face gone…and it made her feel almost ashamed to have been watching him.
Quickly, she closed her eyes again.
What do I want to pray for?
She thought hard. Aki, her mother, of course. Tenten prayed that she was having a good time on her vacation and enjoying herself, whatever she was doing now. Maybe she would bring back a book of postcards, all excited, spreading them over the kitchen table to share with her. Tenten would probably roll her eyes after a while, but she usually thought the pictures printed on the cards were pretty interesting.
She prayed that Naruto would always stay as happy as he was now, half for his sake and half for her own. She slipped in a side prayer for Hinata: that maybe Naruto would learn to appreciate her a bit more.
She prayed for a new outfit for Lee.
Her breathing was relaxed and deep. Tenten smiled to herself. Yes, Lee deserved a new outfit. Perhaps Kiba too. And best wishes to Hana.
I hope that Sakura will go home and somehow, everything will work out for her family. She paused and thought for a moment, almost hesitant, and because she was feeling in a good mood, threw in a wish for Uchiha Sasuke. And let Sakura realize that she doesn't have to be in denial all the time.
Let the Yamanaka Flower Shop go back into booming business…or at least give them enough business to keep the store open. I hope that Ino gets that pink blouse she's been wanting…the one with the dragonfly. Or was it just a dragon? Well. She'll probably get it anyways, no need to be too specific with that one.
Tenten lifted her eyelids just enough so that through the crack of an opening, she could see Neji. His white eyes were open again, staring passively at her with a blank, nonjudgmental expression. It was comfortable, sitting there in the grass with him, and she discovered that she no longer felt uneasy when he stared at her. She had gotten used to it.
So she closed her eyes fully again, and offered a last prayer for Neji.
Oh, and please…give Neji-kun something too. I'm not really sure what, he's really a bit of a jerk sometimes. He's not too specific. But something. He at least deserves some sort of happiness, no? Perhaps not the same as Naruto's or Kiba's or Sakura's…but some sort of happiness. Maybe ease his mind a little. He thinks too much.
Tenten found that praying wasn't so hard after all.
O0O
"Back already?" Hinata looked up from her book at Tenten as she entered through the door. The black-haired girl was the only one there.
"Ino-san and S-Sakura went out to s-shop," she explained. "I think Ino-san m-mentioned something about a p-pink blouse with a d-dragonfly on it."
Tenten grinned in amusement. "Oh. Okay."
"Is something f-funny?" Hinata smiled at Tenten's expression.
"Nah, not really," the brunette shook her head. "It's just…I was praying for Ino to get that blouse." Hinata's ebony eyebrows furrowed together slightly in confusion, but her lips were still pulled back into a smile.
"Oh. A-Alright then."
"Are you reading histories again?"
"No, t-this is Ino-san's d-diary."
Tenten whirled around and stared. "What?" She might have expected this type of thing from Sakura, but Hinata?
Hinata laughed slightly at Tenten's incredulous expression. "S-She gave me permission to r-read it, don't worry! She says that she d-doesn't really use it to write secrets. It's t-true, it's mainly w-wishlists and school n-notes and things."
Tenten exhaled in relief. At least the world hadn't gone mad.
O0O
"Could I borrow a quarter?" Ino asked.
Sakura raised her eyebrow and fished the silver coin from her pocket. "Yeah. Why? Hey! Where're you going?!"
Too late. Ino had dashed into the hallway leading to the elevators, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. Sakura sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning against the wall to wait, her green eyes following random shoppers as they passed by on their errands.
Ino located a public phone that was not being used, and breathlessly stuck the quarter into the slot, her fingers shaking as she pressed the silvery buttons. One ring. Two.
The answering machine picked up and she exhaled in relief.
"Hey, Shika. It's me, Ino. No wait, don't delete this yet. I know that you're really mad at me, and that you probably never want to speak to me again, but, I've gotta say but I've gotta say," Ino said quietly. "I'm really, really sorry. I'm pretty sure you're past the point where you'll accept an apology, and this is pretty random I guess, but I needed to say it. I'm just really sorry for what I did. I suppose it would ruin the moment if I mentioned that I'm completely innocent and that this entire mess is the fault of my roommates, and you wouldn't believe me anyways…" she sighed.
"What I basically called to say was that and-" BEEP. The answering machine cut off. She kicked the wall in frustration, and went back out of the hallway to find Sakura.
"Could I borrow another quarter?"
"What are you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously, handing her the quarter. "And a third one's going to cost you, you'll have to pay me back," she warned as Ino dashed back down the hallway.
"…Shika? Hi, Ino again," she said into the receiver once the quarter had disappeared into the designated slot. "Sorry about that." She took a deep breath.
"Well, I just want you to know that I really like you. You're one of my best friends, so I won't push it because I know that you don't feel the same way about me. But I won't get in between you and Temari again." She sighed sadly. "You have no idea how hard it is to give in to that…oh, right, I'm not supposed to badmouth her." She rolled her eyes.
"See ya, then."
She came back out of the hallway. Sakura had her hands on her hips.
"What was that all about?"
"Just something I needed to do," Ino said vaguely.
O0O
There was a knock on the door. Hinata rose from her reading chair, murmuring, "I think that they're b-back." Tenten sat up in her bed a little higher, putting down her own book as well. The night outside their windows was black.
"Naruto!" Tenten exclaimed in mild surprise as the door was opened and her blonde friend stood their, grinning cheekily. "Why are you here this late? I thought that it would be Sakura and Ino!"
Hinata's face turned bright red and she hurriedly stepped to the side so that Naruto could enter. He didn't seem to pay much attention to the mess around the room, (Tenten knew for a fact that Naruto's own room was much messier). "Hey, Hinata-chan," he smiled brightly at her. Hinata smiled tentatively back.
"Oi, Tenten, you borrowed my board," he said matter-of-factly.
Tenten smacked herself in the forehead. "Oh yeah! Sorry, Naruto…" she climbed out of bed and rooted around under the bed for a while before coming up with one of Naruto's backup skateboards. "Here you go."
"Heh heh, sorry, I just remembered," Naruto scratched the back of his head. "That's why I came by so late, so that I wouldn't forget."
"Couldn't you have just written yourself a post-it?"
"Yeah, I could've." Naruto shrugged.
Tenten sighed. "Yeah. Get out, get out, you reek of ramen."
Naruto knew her old routine. "Okay, okay, I'm going." Tenten grouchily allowed him to give her a hug, and then he jokingly bent and kissed Hinata's hand, (Tenten smiled at the expression on her friend's face).
"See ya, then, ladies," Naruto pretended to doff an invisible hat before closing the door behind him.
"Moron," Tenten shook her head.
"He's a-amazing…" Hinata murmured.
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A/N: How did you like it? Some mild NaruHina and ShikaIno there…