Konoha High

5 - Hinata

Ino Yamanaka

New Text Message

From: Amaya

I'm in c:

She's in! Mall. Tomorrow. Definitely going to be interesting. Amaya seems pretty cool, but she's pretty quiet. When I met her, she was with Naruto and his friends. The only girl with them, actually. Maybe she likes one of them!

Compose New Text Message

To: Amaya

Okay! 1 o'clock in the afternoon, k? (x And who knows what time we'll finish? O:

I flip my phone shut. If she likes one of them, I'm definitely finding out. I might even try to set them up… But I'm just looking forward to hanging out with her tomorrow. Sometimes I get tired of hanging out with the same people over and over, even if they're my friends, so having a new person with us is always a nice change, unless they're annoying..

[…]

I wake up a little before noon. My laptop's sitting next to me on my bed, upside down. Last night I must've fallen asleep watching some shows again.

Wait… I think, It's almost noon! I have around an hour and ten minutes or so to get ready.

I start by walking to the bathroom and washing my face, then I go back to my room. It always takes the longest to pick an outfit… It's winter, so I need something to keep me warm, but I can't just wear an oversized jacket and jeans- that's just…ew.

After digging through my closet for a couple of minutes, I have found three different long-sleeved blouses, two pairs of pants, a skirt, and four cardigans. I think I'll wear the white blouse with colorful floral prints on it, with the black ruffled skirt and a black long-sleeved cardigan.

I know it's winter, but this outfit is just…kawaii! I'll just put on black leggings and a light-pink scarf. I'll wear almost-knee-length brown leather boots, too. Outfit complete. P-e-r-f-e-c-t!

Now to start walking to the mall! I grab my brown shoulder bag (they match my boots,) and walk through the door.

Sakura Haruno

When I get to the mall, (hurriedly dressed in a red long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans,) I search for Ino and TenTen. Hinata should be with them, too. I know Amaya's coming, but I don't expect her to be with them because she doesn't know all our meet-up spots.

"Sakura, over here!" I turn around and see Ino and TenTen waiting by the entrance. How did I miss them?

"Oh, hey, why are you waiting here? Not the food court, or like, the fountain?" I ask.

"Because Amaya doesn't know that we usually wait there," she answers.

"Then why didn't you just tell her that when you texted her last night?"

"I forgot, okay?!" She glances at the doorway and her face brightens. "Amaya!"

I don't know why she's so excited, I mean, I'm glad Amaya's with us, but I don't think it's something to get that excited about.

"Um… Hi," Amaya mutters. Her outfit isn't much: A black elbow-length cardigan over white t-shirt, tucked into blue skinny jeans. Gray Converse. Gray scarf. Black cross body bag. Phone in hand. Simple clothing, but somehow, she makes it…work.

"Hey!" I smile at her and wave. She smiles back.

"So…what do we do?" She asks.

Ino looks like she's about to say something, but I interrupt her anyway; "Well first of all, I think we should show you the usual spots we meet up at."

Ino angrily glances at me for a millisecond then smiles back, wider, at Amaya, "Yeah, totally! We'll do that!" It's so obvious to see how hard she's trying to make a good impression of herself on her. Dressing all cute, (well, I guess she always does…) trying to attract all attention to herself once Amaya turns to someone else… Ugh, Ino! Stop being such an attention whore!

We walk to the cafeteria, Ino talking to Amaya the whole time, probably telling her a bunch of random crap about herself.

But looking at Amaya, the way she looks, the way she acts, the way she seems so quiet and calm… I can understand why someone would wanna impress her. She's cool…, but not in a conceited, vain, or self-centered way.

"Sakura!" I'm pushed out of the way of a group of teenagers walking through the cafeteria entrance. Despite how large the entrance actually is, I was too caught up thinking about Amaya and Ino to notice that I was walking straight into another group of people.

"Sorry," Amaya apologizes to them. They walk away, smiling back and waving saying it's alright.

"Sorry…, I got distracted."

Amaya stares at me for a moment. "Oh. Right. Nah, it's no problem, really."

"Uh, thanks."

Even though I do feel really awkward talking to her after the stuff I just thought, I also feel…at ease, when she's talking to me. What is it about her?…

Ino Yamanaka

Sakura almost walked into a group of high school kids from a different school than we go to. And Amaya just pushed her out of the way. Sheesh, did she do that on purpose or something?! Like, seriously, what the heck! I was talking to her and we were having a nice conversation, but like the attention hog Sakura is, I guess she just had to go walking into other people to get herself saved by Amaya! That is so. Low.

Well, we're sitting down in the cafeteria now, at the table closest to the exit that leads to the fountain. Amaya wears a small, (probably fake,) smile on her face as she "listens" to Sakura blab on and on about school and other boring crap.

"Uh…, H-Hi," says a small voice from behind me.

Amaya Shimizu

"Uh…, H-Hi."

Ino turns around to see who said it- a girl with light skin, light blue (almost white, even,) eyes, and long, straight black hair, with a bluish tint, bangs cut straight across her face. She wears an outfit that consists of a blue blouse with a white floral design on the side, a white button-up hoodie, a striped scarf with different shades of blue and gray, light blue jeans, and white Converse. She's pretty, and seems really shy as she blushes and tries to say something to me.

"Hello, I'm Hinata Hyuga." She smiles and extends her arm to me, which I gladly shake.

"And I would be Amaya."

Ino points to a seat next to her so Hinata can sit down.

"Sorry I'm late," she says as she scoots her chair into the table. "I was busy at home."

"Oh. I'm sorry if I forced you to come. I didn't know you'd be busy…," I tell her.

Hinata shakes her head, "No, it's okay, I wanted to come."

"Okay…, so what are we going to do?" I turn and ask Ino.

"Uhh, go shopping? Like…, duh."

Shopping, huh? Maybe I should start shopping for Spring clothes.

"So where are we going to shop?"

"Probably…, Konoha's Hot Topic, or Hidden Leaf Fashions, or… Well they have a store supplying old ninja tools and combat outfits, it's themed like, 'Konoha during war; twenty years ago or so.' You know Lee? Rock Lee?"

"Uh… Yeah…?"

"He and his uncle"-air quotes around the word "uncle"- "Own and run that shop. They were really into those days…, and his uncle, Might Guy, kinda just encourages him to like it, too. They're so weird."

I nod, and we just sit in silence for a while.

Sakura stands up. "I'm gonna go get some ice cream," she says, "Anyone else want some?"

Ino stands, too. "Okay! Tell me what flavors you guys want. It's on me."

"I'll take cotton candy with chocolate shavings or hot fudge," I say.

"Okay, I guess I'll have strawberry cheesecake," Hinata tells her.

TenTen, who has been unusually quiet, raises her hand, "I think I'll take rocky road."

[…]

Sakura and Ino return with five bowls of ice cream and distribute them among us. We all thank them and begin eating.

"I should mention before we go anywhere else," Ino says, "If we split up to go to different shops or something, we meet up here or at the fountain, basically always. But we call or text first, k?"

"Alright."

"So like… Can I see your phone real quick? I need to uh…, check the time."

I hold out my phone, "But don't you have your own?" She doesn't say anything, and quickly snatches it from my hand.

"Got it! Okay…" Bleep. Boop. Beep. Beep. She's typing something into it, then passes it to Hinata, who types something else, then passes it to Sakura, who passes it to TenTen.

"Sheesh, what did you do to my phone?" I ask.

"Nothing…" She giggles.

"Okay then." I remember what Shikamaru did to my phone. "Let me confirm that."

I open the contacts list and scroll through it…

Contacts:

Aiko

Hinata Hyuga

Ino Yamanaka ^o^

Sakura Haruno :D

Shikamaru Nara

TenTen c;

"Dude. You've filled my contacts list…"

"Oh really? How many contacts do you have now?" TenTen asks.

"Uh… Six."

"Are you kidding me?!" Ino's mouth seems to hang open for a second. "That's nothing! Seriously, didn't you have any other friends at your old school?"

"No…"

"Well… That's why we're here," Hinata softly adds.

I smile, "Thanks. So wait… Ino, how did you get my number again?…" I never considered it until now.

"Oh! I stole Shikamaru's phone the other day and so I kinda stole it from there. I don't think he noticed."

"Ah…, okay, so where are we gonna go?" I hold out my empty bowl of ice cream.

"Hold on! I'm like halfway done!" Sakura shouts.

TenTen elbows her. "Slow poke!"

[…]

Sakura Haruno

I throw away my bowl and ask Amaya, "So what store do you wanna check out first?"

She's looking around, then points to one that's right across from the table we're sitting at.

"That one?" I ask, trying not to sound too harsh.

"Are you sure? That's the one we were talking about earlier," Ino adds. Amaya nods anyway.

"Why?" I ask, but before she answers, she starts walking towards it.

Amaya Shimizu

They keep questioning my choice of a store, but they're the ones to asked me, right? TenTen and Hinata are the only ones who don't make me feel like I'm being criticized for everything I do. Hinata's been quiet…, I wish she would talk more. I wanna know about her; she seems so gentle and kind, but so shy.

The store's sign reads "Shinobi: Tools & Attire". This is definitely the store they were talking about. I picked this store because: 1) I wanted to see how Ino and Sakura would react if I went into a store they didn't recommend, and 2) I kinda have a knack for all the "Ancient Shinobi" stuff.

"Hello, ma'am!" A boy wearing a green vest over a green shirt and green pants shouts from the register. Within two seconds, he's standing in front of me with a questionable expression on his face.

"Don't I know you?"

"Yeah. I'm Amaya…, I go to your school."

"Ohh, yeah. Okay, well welcome! Take your time looking around, friend."

Friend? I don't dislike him or anything, but does he really think we're already friends?

"Calm it, Lee." Ino is standing beside me now, glaring at him. "Amaya like, barely knows you, so um, you know, back off with the whole 'friend' thing, yeah?"

"I-It's fine, Ino, he's just being polite," Hinata spoke up.

"Yeah, Ino, it's okay I guess. I'm just.. Gonna.. Look around now."

I walk between the shelves of clothing. Fish-net leggings and undershirts, normal knee-length black leggings, ninja tool-belt. I pick up a black kimono- it's knee-length and its sleeves are short. It's lined with yellow. I like it.

"Do you like it?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah…"

She smiles. "I can buy it for you."

I shake my head. "No, no. It's okay, I can afford it."

"It's a gift," she takes it from my hands, then brings it to the register, along with other things I can't really distinguish. Hinata hands Lee money, and Lee happily takes the clothing, but doesn't place it in a bag. Instead, he takes it through a door behind the register.

He comes back with the items in a bag, which is odd, because there are clearly a dozen of plastic bags hanging near the register. "Thank you! Have a nice day, and uh see you at school I guess."

Hinata takes the bag and hands it to me. "Don't look until you get home."

[…]

"What are you looking at, now?" Ino asks. I'm looking at a shelf in the store Hidden Leaf Fashions, it's lined with colored knit- scarves. I pick up a pretty navy-ish/lavender color.

"Well, it is winter…, but I have plenty of scarves."

"Then don't buy it." Ino grabs my arm and tries to drag me off to a different area of the store, but I shake her off dismissively.

"Wait…, I'm not done with this area." Ino sighs, annoyed, but I don't care. She and Sakura have been dragging me around all day, and the only thing I've had any say in was Lee's shop.

I look over and see Hinata looking at a rack of blouses.

"That one looks nice," I say and point to one that seems to have caught her eye.

"Yeah…," she smiles, "But did you find anything you like?"

"Eh…"

"Oh hey, I'll be back soon. You can keep looking," she starts walking through the store's entrance, "I'm just going to the restroom."

The blouse Hinata was looking at really was nice. Its sleeves were elbow-length, and it was flowy with a white and lavender lacy floral design. I think I'll buy it for her…, as thanks for buying something for me.

I'm walking to the register, but then I see more accessories. A navy-blue beanie, the scarf I was looking at, and a simple purple-and-blue beaded bracelet are placed on the counter along with the blouse.

"Do you mind wrapping it?" I ask.

The clerk takes out a box, wrapping paper, and ribbons and starts placing the items inside. "Christmas present, huh?" She smiles. "Cute outfit. You're friend will love it!" She's about to place the lid on the box, then asks, "Did you want a gift receipt in there?"

…Maybe I should get one. What if she doesn't like it? I mean, she likes the blouse…, but maybe it's weird for someone she's barely met to buy her a Christmas present!

"Yeah, but just let me keep it."

"Alright!" The process is over within ten seconds: she swiftly smacks the lid onto the box, wraps it, and tops it off with a big blue ribbon.

"Thanks and have a nice day!" She shouts as I walk through the entrance holding a red plastic bag to hide the present.

"Hey! Amaya!" Sakura screams from behind me. "Did you forget about us?"

Actually…, yes.

"What did you get?" She asks as Ino walks to us and looks at me for the answer, too.

"Just…, that scarf."

Ino rolls her eyes.

"Sorry! There was a line for the restroom…" Hinata runs toward us, but she takes a glance at the red bag in my hand and her face brightens. "You found something!"

"Uh…, yeah. Just some winter stuff."

She still seemed happy for me though.

[…]

Shopping with Ino and Sakura is so exhausting. I'm glad to finally be home.

I haven't given Hinata her gift yet, and I haven't opened mine either, but I should already know what it is. I take both plastic bags to my room and shake out the contents of the one from Lee's shop onto my bed.

The kimono is now spread out on the bed, along with a yellow belt, fishnet leggings and an undershirt, and a pack of colored headbands, bows, and ribbons. Hinata made it an outfit, too.

Considering the fact that I only met her today, this is really kind of her. Hinata, huh?… I wanna get to know her better.