66-AU Parallel Parking Lessons

Inspired by my hatred of parallel parking on the Driver's Ed test. I miss high school.

Neji stared out of the window in the second floor Driver's Ed classroom. His white eyes trailed his best friend, watching nervously as she walked out of the school and to the curb, where the Driver's Ed car was parked. Before Tenten got into the driver's seat, she glanced up at the window of the classroom. She knew he would be watching. He mouthed good luck to her through the window pane, and she smiled at him before getting into the driver's seat.

He watched the dented car roar to leave and take off down the street. A pang of worry hit Neji. Today Tenten was taking the final driving exam, and while Tenten was a great driver overall, she had trouble parallel parking.

"Why don't you just tell her about your feelings already?"

Neji turned away from the window and was face to face with the pink-haired hall monitor, who was dating one of his friends. More importantly, she was one of Tenten's closest friends.

He didn't even try and deny it. Sakura was too intuitive. She already knew.

"I know, I know. You don't have to explain it to me, Hyuuga. Tenten has been your best friend forever. You love her, yet you just can't tell her."

He fixed a glare on her. She seemed to be unaffected by his glare.

"Tenten's going to fail the Driver's Ed test. Now is not the time," Neji stated worriedly.

"Actually, Neji. Now is the time.," Sakura said, grinning from ear to ear.

His eyebrows furrowed. He really hated it when all of Tenten's female friends teased him about his feelings for Tenten.

"What exactly do you mean?"

Sakura shrugged. "I think you know exactly what I mean. Tenten gets two more tries to retake the test before being forced to take the class, right?"

Neji's eyebrows furrowed further. He still had no idea what she was trying to tell him. "What exactly do you mean, Haruno?" he asked.

"Your uncle got you professional parallel parking lessons when he learned you were having trouble, right?" she queried.

Neji nodded. "What exactly does this have to do with Tenten?"

"You'd say you're a parallel parking professional, right?" Sakura questioned.

Suddenly everything clicked for Neji. He finally got it.

"Oh."

"You got it? I knew it wouldn't take long for a genius like you to figure out what I was getting at. I should get going now; I can't hang out in classrooms when I'm supposed to be monitoring halls. See ya, Neji. And more importantly, good luck."

When Sakura left the classroom, he returned to staring out of the window. She had been gone a long time. Was that a good sign or a bad sign? It meant she didn't fail outright. Lee was only gone five minutes during his driving test. Apparently, Lee talked about youth so much that Mr. Hatake failed him outright.

Suddenly, he was snapped out of his thoughts. The Driver's Ed car pulled up next to the curb at school. The car didn't seem to have any more dents. A definite good sign. Relief flooded him. Perhaps she passed after all.

Then, he saw her get out of the car. She was grimacing as she stepped onto the sidewalk. Grimacing was definitely not a good sign. Then, he saw Mr. Hatake get out of the car.

Mr. Hatake walked up to Tenten and put a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head at her, and Neji instantly knew. He watched her posture slump in disappointment when she walked into the door to the school.

When Tenten walked back into the classroom, Neji could barely look her in the eye.

"You saw, didn't you?" she asked.

Neji simply nodded.

"Of course. Those eyes see everything," Tenten remarked.

"Well, you still have two more tries before you retake the course," he told her.

"Easy for you to say!" she snapped. "You passed. Plus, you're great at parallel parking!"

He remained quiet, allowing her a moment of anger.

"Neji, what am I going to do?" she inquired, putting her head into her hands.

"You're going to pass."

He said it with such certainty that he hoped the statement was reassuring.

Instead, she was skeptical.

"And how am I supposed to do that, genius?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to help you," he stated, smirking.

Tenten and Neji were standing in the middle of the abandoned parking lot. Neji was setting up the cones, and Tenten was leaning against the bright red sports car.

"I can't believe you drove here illegally!" Tenten yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

He shrugged and continued to place the orange cones in the formation. "Tenten, I have my permit, and I happen to be an excellent driver."

Tenten rolled her eyes.

"I know you are, but I still don't approve. What is your uncle going to say when he finds out you stole his brand new sports car?"

He placed down the last cone. "Tenten, I did not steal Hiashi-sama's new sports car. I borrowed it."

Tenten scoffed. "Stole, borrowed. It's the same thing really."

Neji stood up and walked over to her, until his face was mere inches from hers. "People who steal items have no intention of returning them. I have every intention of returning Hiashi-sama's sports car."

"That's not even the real problem here, Neji. What if you had gotten caught on our way here? I would never want you to get in trouble because of me."

He gave her one of his rare smiles. "I did it out of my own free will. I want to help you, even if it means taking a risk. I'd do anything for you."

Tenten's heart rate increased dramatically. She thought her heart was going to leap right out of her chest. The moment was so real and so right.

Right when Tenten thought Neji was going to kiss her, he smiled another small smile and turned away from her. He walked over to the car and got in the passenger's seat.

"Well?"

Tenten got into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Okay, Tenten. You know the drill. Pull up in front of the space I chose for you, next to that invisible car."

She flipped on her turn signal, then followed Neji's directions. She swallowed thickly as she put the car in reverse.

"Hey, don't be so nervous," Neji said to her.

She smiled him then slowly took her foot off the break.

Tenten turned the wheel quickly while backing into the space. Her car's front door seemed to be even with the bumpers of the invisible car in front of her, so she turned the wheel in the opposite direction.

Neji seemed surprised. "You're great at this! You were overexaggerating when you said you were terrible."

She continued backing into the space, and then straightened the wheel. Tenten put the car in park, and Neji got out of the car.

"You didn't hit any of the cones," he stated.

"I did it, Neji! I did it!" she said, walking towards him until his face was close to hers.

It was a situation just like before, except their lips met in a short and sweet kiss.

"Thanks for teaching me how to parallel park, Neji."

"Don't be daft, Tenten. You were just nervous, that's all."

"Um, Neji? When does your uncle's car have to be back in the garage?"

"Not for another hour. Why?"

To answer, Tenten pulled him into another kiss.