Chapter Fourteen
After the crowd dispersed, everyone made their way back to their suites, wanting to grab their pajamas before joining Temari, Ino, Dei, and I in our sleepover. The four of us meandered back to our suite, chatting aimlessly along the way.
"That went pretty well…" Deidara said, her cheeks tinted a light pink. And I knew why. Just after my performance- three groups before hers- I caught the blonde in a heated moment of passion with Sasori backstage, their hands being places that I didn't want to know. Upon hurried and frantic questioning, I found out that the red-head had broken up with his girlfriend, defying his father and getting disowned in the process, to be with Deidara.
"Yeah, though it was pretty funny seeing Ino all covered with the flowers her parents and Chouji sent her." Temari nudged the other blonde, earning a playful shove, "By the way, what do you think you're going to do about that? You said you were thinking about breaking it off?"
The platinum blonde shook her head and shrugged, confusion and guilt clouding her face. "I'm not good enough for him."
"Bullshit!" I exclaimed, rubbing her back, "You're wonderful!"
She shook her head even harder, "No, I'm not! I'm a whore! Always have been and always will be. Before him, I was a whore, and no matter how much I tried to hold back, even with him, I'm a whore!"
Stunned by her excited response, the two blondes and I stopped to stare. It was a full minute before anyone said anything, the four of us just standing in the cold, dark night staring at each other. Ino's face was bright red as she sputtered, trying to cover up what she just said.
"Ino…" Temari said softly, laying a comforting arm around the younger girl and prompting the group to move forward, into the dorm building and out of the cold air, "What happened?"
"I- I cheated on Chouji."
The three of us gasped lightly at the confession and Temari held Ino in her arms, though she looked a little disappointed.
"Why?" I asked, voicing the question that no one else dared to. "With who?"
She looked up at me, eyes slightly red and sniffled a little. "I didn't mean to, it just happened so fast! He just came on to me, and my hormones just kind of went crazy! I-I regretted it immediately after and I- I just don't know!" She sputtered, frantic to try and explain herself.
"Who was it, though?" Deidara asked, eyes shining with concern.
"K-Kiba." Ino hung her head in shame.
"Oh, Ino," The three of us seemed to sigh at the same time. Said girl hiccupped in Temari's arms.
"Is this why you want to end things with Chouji?"
She nodded, "He deserves a girl who would treat him right. One who won't let her hormones go out of control. Better than me."
It was silent for a moment, and, without addressing the tense silence, Deidara ushered us up to our suite, on the grounds that we needed to get cleaned up before everyone arrived. In the elevator up to the dorm, the three of us comforted Ino, not condoning her actions, but offering advice as to what to do.
"You need to tell him," I said, rubbing her back, "And let him decide whether he deserves better or not. I know it's going to be hard, but you need to let him decide."
Ino nodded and wiped her eyes, her actions telling us that she no longer wanted to talk about it.
When we reached our dorm room, Sakura and Sasuke were already waiting, both in pajamas and making out in front of Temari and I's door. Ino rolled her eyes and pulled the two apart, reverting back to her old self. The rest of us took the hint and would not speak of her mistake again.
We invited the two lovebirds in and the four of us scurried to get changed and organized before anyone else showed up. While changing clothes, Temari shoved Sasuke into the corner and demanded he close his eyes. He grunted that he had seen a girl's body before, eyeing Sakura. Temari punched him.
After about ten minutes, almost everyone had shown up. The only ones missing were the Akatsuki, aside from Sasori, Gaara and Kankuro. I half laid in Neji's arms, feeling comfortable in his warmth, and played with his long hair. Looking around, I noticed Sakura and Sasuke cuddling, Naruto being fed cup ramen by Hinata, Shikamaru napping on Temari's lap, and Deidara and Sasori in a sweet embrace. Lee was just reading in his own corner, feeling slightly awkward amongst all the couples.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door, which disturbed the sereneness of the scene. Lee looked relieved at the interruption and I pried myself away from Neji to open the door. Almost immediately, I was greeted by the rambunctious Akatsuki, with Hidan in the front. He swept me up in a bone crushing hug and did not let go until he heard Neji's protective growl. He rolled his eyes and put me down.
"Hackles down, bro. I ain't fucking her."
Neji looked murderous.
As everyone wandered into our room, I counted heads. It looked like everyone was finally here. I gave Kankuro a high five as he walked by and swept Gaara up into a hug. He looked slightly uncomfortable. Almost immediately after I closed the door, I felt Neji's arms snake around my waist and his long hair tickled my neck.
"Relax." I said, feeling his tense shoulders, "We're just friends."
He did as I asked and we made our way back through the crowded room. Temari put in some music and I silently thanked the gods that our rooms were sound proof. It didn't take long for everyone to start feeling comfortable around each other, mingling and messing around, as teenagers do. Before long, everyone had split up into pairs, going off to different rooms. Sakura and Sasuke were the first to go, as expected, slipping out to. presumably, have sex in his dorm. Ino was next, sneaking out with the two lovebirds to spend the night in Sakura's empty dorm. She didn't want to be tempted to hook up with another guy. Deidara, after a while, said she felt crowded and pulled Sasori through the bathroom and into her dorm, where from they did not emerge again. Once Sasori and Deidara left, the rest of the Akatsuki decided to go, with violent protests from the rest of us. They really were the life of the party. On his way out, probably to spite Neji, Hidan messed up my hair and kissed me on the cheek, telling me to keep in touch with the rest of them. Neji growled at that and the Akatsuki quickly left. Surprisingly, Lee and Kankuro left together, talking about doing some running exercises. I sensed a wonderful bromance coming on. Feeling a little awkward amongst all the couples, Gaara had left alone soon after. But not before a word of warning to both Shikamaru and Neji to treat his sisters, both blood related and not, right.
With just Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru, Temari, Neji, and I left, the party quickly died down.
"This wasn't much of a sleepover, was it?" I asked, giggling slightly.
"Well, it sort of was… Just not all together. I mean, Sasori and Dei are sleeping over, Sakura and Sasuke, and such, you know?" Temari reasoned, looking sleepy and cuddling into Shikamaru's chest.
"I can't believe it's already been a month… What are we going to do from here? I mean, aside from Temari and Shikamaru, none of us go to the same school." Hinata looked concerned and held onto Naruto as if it was her last chance to do so.
"We'll keep in touch! Everyone has phone numbers and a good number of us can drive! I promise we will." Naruto assured his girlfriend, unusually calming. Everyone smiled and let that be good enough. Soon, we had all fallen asleep.
oO0Oo
Before we knew it, it was time to go. Neji, who could drive, offered to send me home, and I accepted. We were saying our last goodbyes and I took one last look at the camp. Although I was planning on coming back next summer, I sure was going to miss this place. Scanning the parking lot for people I recognized, I found Ino crying in Chouji's arms, the chubby boy stroking her head and looking slightly hurt, though forgiving. I smiled at the resolved conflict. Hinata and Naruto were going to ride with us, in the back, seeing as Hinata lived with Neji and Naruto needed a ride.
"Tenten!"
I spun around just in time to see a flash of pink and feel the impact of Sakura tackling me to the ground. Her eyes were red and I could see that she had been crying.
"I'm gonna miss you so much!"
Laughing a little, I patted her head and tried to comfort her, promising to keep in touch. It took ten minutes to pry her arms off of me and another five foe Sasuke to lead her away. I waved and felt myself tearing up as well.
I took one last look around and saw Temari and Shikamaru talking with Deidara and Sasori. Pulling the Hyuugas and Naruto along with me, I approached them, finding both the girls a bit teary eyed as well.
"Sakura got to you to, huh?" Dei asked, wiping a tear away.
"Yeah." I laughed.
The three of us hugged and separated, exchanging phone numbers and crying.
"Wait." Deidara said, with a light smirk on her face, "There is something I want to do."
And, leaving us slightly confused, she had Sasori, with a knowing smile on his face, help her onto the top of the Akatsuki's van and stood tall. Konan emerged from the van and tossed a microphone up to the blonde who smiled and nodded in thanks. She tapped the microphone and the sound resounded through the lot, probably from amps that were inside the vehicle. The taps grabbed everyone's attention and Tsunade started making her way towards us, set on making Dei get down. Anko intercepted her and gave us a wink, and I realized she was in on it as well.
"Excuse me, I'd like to have everyone's attention."
Dei's melodious voice grabbed the attention of everyone left in front of the School. Sasori inched away from us and in front of the van. Dei jumped down from the hood and stood next to Sasori, smiling widely.
"I'd just like to say, to all the close minded men out there, who think being transgender is unnatural, that I saw more naked chicks than you. That's right, I used to be a fucking man! Aiaiaiaiaiai!"
And with that wild cry, she was swooped up by Sasori and into the van, which promptly drove away from the gasps and protests. There was even a Coke bottle thrown at the spot where the van used to be.
"Well, that was amusing."
I turned around and saw Anko with a smirk on her face. Immediately, I threw my arms around her, and surprisingly, she hugged back. When I pulled away, she wagged a finger at me playfully.
"Now, you'd better keep practicing well, or I'll hear of it. Understand? Maggot?"
I laughed a little and nodded.
She really wasn't as bad as they made her out to be. I thought as she ran into Kakashi's arms.
Temari and I said our last goodbyes and, with that, I got into Neji's car and he started to drive me home.
The ride was silent, but not uncomfortable, with Naruto and Hinata in the backseat cuddling and enjoying each other's company for as long as they could. When he pulled up my driveway, I could see my mother and father standing on the porch, just waiting for my arrival. After unbuckling my seatbelt, I hesitated, looking at Neji, who nodded at me, telling me to go. I grabbed his hand and he nodded in understanding, unbuckling his own seatbelt. We both exited the car and I ran into my mother's arms. I had missed them more than I'd expected. After some time, when my mother finally pulled away, I greeted my father, and walked to Neji, who was standing uncomfortably to the side. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to meet my parents. My mother looked pleasantly surprised and my father looked protective, albeit happy that I finally was acting like a teenage girl.
"Mom, Dad, this is Neji. He's my…" I trailed off, not knowing what we were, as he never gave me a confirmation.
"I'm her boyfriend." He finished for me, looking at me gently and squeezing my hand. My mother squealed and my father started on a tirade of threats and warnings. When he had finished, he smiled, clapped Neji on the shoulder , and told him to treat me well. My boyfriend nodded, excused himself from my parents' presence, kissed me, and left to drive Naruto, then himself and Hinata home.
Neji is my boyfriend I thought to myself as my mother squealed on about how happy she was, Who would have thunk it?
A/N: Whew! I finished my first multichapter story! Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope to write even more. :)