Chapter Thirteen

I had barely walked into my room when I was tackled by Sakura, who, apparently, was just waiting to ambush me, and Ino, who just had to know all the latest gossip.

"Tell me everything!" The pinkette exclaimed, trapping me in her tight grasp, "All the juicy details; don't skimp out on anything!"

Hinata trailed behind the pinkette, nervously poking her fingers together and looking at me apologetically. I sighed and motioned for the three girls, as well as Deidara and Temari, who were looking on with amused expressions, to sit, though this task proved difficult, seeing as Sakura still had a death grip on me. Without wasting any time, the five girls arranged themselves in a circle, with a small space in between Ino and Sakura for me. Deidara quickly pulled out her remaining food, and, after I settled into my spot, the six of us began to feast on Oreos, Chef Boyardee, and chips.

"Can you believe a month has already passed? We have the Chamber Music recital tonight!" I started, trying to steer the conversation away from me and Neji.

"I know!" Temari exclaimed, saving me from Ino and Sakura, who looked murderous, "We barely got to practice! But I know that we'll do awesome! I mean, we had Anko, didn't we?"

I laughed and nodded, glancing at the formal white blouse and black dress pants that I had laid out on my bed.

"You know what?" Deidara asked, throwing an arm around Hinata, who looked nervous, on one side, and a scheming Ino on the other, "We should have a slumber party tomorrow. Us and the boys. After all, it will be the last day."

Hinata looked unsure, "Isn't that forbidden? Boys aren't allowed in girls' dormitories after hours…"

Deidara snorted and Sakura giggled. "Hinata, honey. No one follows that rule. Why, I've been in Sasuke's dorm room more times after dark than I care to remember!" Sakura replied, not at all ashamed of what she had said. Hinata squeaked and hid behind her hands.

"Then, it's settled. Us and the boys, that is, Sasuke, Shika, Naruto, Sasori and the rest of the Akatsuki, Gaara, Kankuro, Lee, and Neji in our suite?" Temari asked, nibbling on the side of a chip.

Hinata came out from behind her hands long enough to ask, "Will your dorm be big enough?"

"Course," Temari answered at once, "We fit all of the Akatsuki plus my brothers here once, didn't we?"

"True…" The rest of us agreed.

"Now, all that's left is to invite the boys. Oh, and Sakura?"

The pinkette looked up from her phone, which she had already pulled out to text Sasuke.

"No sex."

Sakura cursed and lowered her head to continue texting, this time, with much less gusto.

I laughed and she turned towards me, eyes gleaming with a mischievous glare. I couldn't help but gulp as I saw the glint of her smile.

"Tell me what happened with Neji."

The rest of the girls looked on with renewed interest.

"We kissed. But you saw that."

Temari gasped, placing a hand on her chest and pretending to sway delicately.

"Tenten! You kissed Neji and you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends!"

I punched her in the shoulder, "Shut up."

Sakura rolled her eyes at my response. "You know what I mean. Tell me what happened leading up to it. Was it romantic? Did he ask you to be his girlfriend? Did he use tongue? Was it good?" Here, she stopped her barrage of questions to gasp, eyes filled with wonder, "Did you guys have sex after we left? Is that why you shooed us away?"

"Sakura!" I exclaimed, shocked by her lack of modesty and flustered by her bluntness, "No!"

She laughed and slung her arm around my shoulders, "Give me the details, woman!"

"Okay, okay! It was romantic, he didn't ask me to be his girlfriend, he did use tongue, and it was the best kiss I ever experienced."

Cue the awww.

"Wait, wait, wait." Ino stopped the festivities to ask, "You're telling me that he kissed you, but you're not dating?"

The girls looked confused, as if the very notion were a foreign concept to them.

"He didn't exactly ask me out…" I paused for dramatic effect, enjoying the expressions of my friends.

"For god's sake, woman, tell us!" Deidara shouted, unable to wait any longer.

"Alright, alright. He wrote me a song."

Cue the awww x2.

"I am so excited about this! When camp is over, you guys have to double with me and Sasucakes!" Sakura exclaimed, stars in her eyes.

I snorted, "You call his Sasucakes?"

"Well, not to his face." Sakura smiled an evil smile.

For the next three hours, the six of us just kind of hung out, spilling secrets, having pillow fights, and finally, getting ready for the Chamber Music recital. Within the three hours, I found out that Temari was so hopelessly head-over-heels in love with Shikamaru that if he were to just apologize just one more time, she would not only forgive him, but she would jump him and attack him with hugs and kisses; that Hinata was angry with Naruto letting it slip to Neji that they were dating; that Deidara had sex with Sasori in a tuba locker; that Ino was thinking about dumping Chouji, the chubby flutist from Shikamaru's band, because he just didn't seem to care about what she said; and that Sakura enjoyed sneaking into Sasuke's room while his roommate was out to have hot, steamy shower sex with him. I could have gone my whole life without knowing the last part.

When it came time for everyone to get ready for the recital, Sakura and Hinata ran back to their respective dorms to grab their clothing, and the rest of us started on hair and makeup. Luckily for me, there were more people, so I got away with the slightest hint of eyeliner and mascara and my signature buns. When everyone was finally finished and beautiful, the six of us headed towards the concert hall together. When we got there, we split up, Deidara and Hinata going off into the audience-they would not play until near the end, Sakura and Ino running for the wings of the stage, and Temari and I going to the practice room.

When we got there, Shikamaru wasted no time in grabbing Temari's hands and apologizing profusely to her, and Temari wasted no time in wrapping Shikamaru in a hug. When the two finally broke apart, we ran through our piece a few times and Anko gave us a pep talk. Before long, we were up on stage and setting up to perform.

Now, I had performed many times before, in crowds much bigger than this, but to be in front of my friends, my peers, performing a piece I barely had time to practice alone, let alone with the group, the mere thought of it made me freeze up. Looking around the audience, I struggled to find a face-any face that I could focus on. I knew that Temari was waiting for my tuning note, and I knew the audience was waiting for us to start, but I simply could not move. I was paralyzed. Luckily, my eyes quickly found Neji's, in the front row, middle. He gave me a calm, small smirk, and instantly, I was at ease.

The rest of the recital went without flaw, everyone doing so well. My Chamber group made very few and small mistakes. In fact, we liked working together so much that we decided to stay a group. Everyone exchanged phone numbers and agreed to stay in touch. As Naruto and I typed our numbers in the others' phone, I whispered to him, "Hinata is angry because you told Neji about your relationship. Just explain to her why you did it." He nodded at me and bounded away, shouting for the indigo-haired girl.

As I watched him bounce away, I felt Neji's presence behind me and I fell into his open arms. He pecked my forehead and smiled. We didn't discuss the recital-we had no need to. I knew he was proud of me and he knew I was proud of him.

"Neji?" I asked, turning in his embrace to face him.

"Hm?"

"Where do we go from here? I mean, we have one more day, which by the way, we are having a slumber party for and you're going whether you like it or not, and I need to know what we are."

He looked me deep in the eye and rested his forehead against mine.

"Tenten, when I first met you, I found you fascinating. I hated you , but I was attracted to you. I never would have predicted how I feel about you."

"What are you telling me this for?"

"What I'm trying to say is that life throws so many unexpected turns at you and you never know where it will take you. I think that if we were destined to be together, it will happen. So we won't worry about it. After camp, we can keep riding this wave of romance together and see where it takes us, if you want."

I smiled and kissed him straight on the mouth. "I'd like that."

A/N: THIS IS NOT THE END! I have one or two more chapters, so it's getting close! But I'm not sure where to take InoChouji… should they break up or not…. hmmm…..