(A/N): I'm terribly sorry for making you all wait for so long with no notes or messages about my leave of absence. I just finished my senior year of high school, which was VERY taxing on me, which many of have already experienced, and it was just a matter of me not placing this story high on my priority list. Even when I would have free time, which I did, I could never bring myself to write because I felt so terrible for leaving and I would like to apologize.

It's been almost an entire year, but I am planning to continue this fic at a very controlled rate. Since this was my first big project, I set myself up for failure by promising you guys a 10 page+ chapter every week and I overwhelmed myself. I will be uploading and updating much more slowly, but I assure you that content will be put out. And if for some reason that I decide to hiatus again, or even cancel this project (which I hope will never happen) then I will make sure that you all know.

Thanks to all the ones that have stuck it out waiting for this long awaited chapter. Because I hadn't touched this fic in so long I had to re-read it to catch myself back up on it, and I can't imagine why I ever abandoned this in the first place You may or may not see a difference in my writing style or something like that in the story. I am not sure if I improved or got worse over the course of a year but I know the old chapters feel like they were written by someone else 0.o

I will do my best to continue to put out quality work but please bear with me! Right now I'm taking classes at my college (yes, one week after I graduated) but I am not nearly as busy as I once was. I am really sorry once again but I will make it up for you all!

I just now realized this but forgive me if some people's POV seems longer than the others. I unconsciously write more in each POV the longer the chapter is but I'm trying to fix that.

I'm a big sports fan so for me, we're finally starting to get into the good stuff 8D

I keep forgetting to do this every chapter but:

Shout out to my newest (now old :/ ) reviewers- izzy825, Hrizantema, and the OtakuMageofAwesomeness!

Chapter 4: Combine

NEJI

"So let me get this straight," Nara said irritably as the group entered their dorm building. The lobby had groups of furniture and tables scattered around the room. Several doors at the back of the room lead to the girl's dormitories, while the staircase and elevator are on opposite sides of the room.

"Tomorrow we're going to be Scouted?"

Neji sighed and nodded. The entire trip back from orientation was spent catching him up to speed on the announcements made the two hours we were there.

"Since this is KPA's first year, each team is going to start off brand new, and this is the fastest way to build each sport. The coaches are going to scout all potential athletes in each grade at different times tomorrow. We juniors, boys and girls, are to be at the football field at 1."

"You baka! Maybe if you didn't spend the entire orientation snuggling up to Ino-pig you would've known that by now!" Sakura said while smirking at her best friend. Ino froze in mid-step while Shikamaru cocked an eyebrow.

Neji gave Hinata a mirthful look. So there was something going on between those two.

"Hold on, back up," a confused Tenten said, stopping in the middle of the lobby. "These two were cuddling in the middle of orientation? In front of the whole school?" she asked in disbelief.

"Hell yeah they were!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Sakura," Nara said calmly. "I fell asleep in my chair as soon as the PowerPoint came on."

"Oh really? Well that's not what I saw," Sakura said unconvinced.

"Well you must have seen wrong," Nara protested. "Ino would kill me if I touched her, much less cuddle against her."

Sakura said nothing and instead pulled out her Galaxy phone. She swiped around a few times before she turned her screen towards Nara, a picture on the screen. "I'm not so sure about that Shika." Sakura said smugly. Neji and everyone else piled around behind him to see.

Ino gave a mortified look to the rosette. "I'm going to kill you Sakura!" she screeched. The blonde snatched it from her grasp but not before they got a chance to get a good look at the image.

Choji whistled.

Tenten gave an apologetic glance towards Ino.

Shikamaru looked stunned.

Neji smirked.

Hinata clasped her hands together and gave a small sigh. "They're so cute" she cooed.

On the screen was a picture of Nara and Ino, taken at the orientation. Despite the poor lighting in the auditorium, it was easy to see that they were indeed cuddling.

The armrest between them was lifted so that Nara was leaning almost entirely on Ino. His head was resting on the blonde's shoulder while one of his arms was tightly wrapped around her waist; his free hand lay on top of her thighs. His eyes were closed with a calm expression on his face, leading Neji to believe that he was indeed asleep.

However, Ino was a different story. Although she had her eyes shut, a small smile had danced on her lips when the picture was taken. Her head leaned against Nara's head as both hands lay gently on top the hand in her lap.

"What were you saying again Shikamaru?" Sakura asked innocently.

"I…how..?"

"Why don't we ask Ino what happened?" Hinata quietly suggested.

Ino glared at his cousin while Sakura gave her a triumphant smile. "Great idea Hinata!" she said beaming, then turned around to give Ino a wicked grin. "So Ino, what went down during the PowerPoint?"

Sakura led everyone to a group of sofas and chairs organized in a small circle.

"We have plenty of time for to hear you out Pig," She sat down on a dark loveseat a patted the spot next to her, which Ino unwillingly took. Choji and Shikamaru sat on a couch in front of the girls while Hinata took the large armchair at the head of the circle.

A small, plush beanbag chair across from Hinata caught Neji's eye. He immediately set out after it. It reminded him of the one he left back in his room at the Hyuuga Mansion.

A small gasp escaped from behind him. He glanced back to see Tenten staring at the same beanbag. My beanbag.

The two locked eyes.

Neji took a small step forward and sent a clear message to where he was going to sit.

For he was going to sit in his new beanbag chair.

Tenten narrowed her eyes and suddenly bolted for the cushion.

Neji gritted his teeth and took off after her. She was much quicker than her appearance led him to think. As they neared the beanbag, Tenten was mere steps away and Neji grabbed one of her arms in desperation and yanked hard. Tenten squeaked as she was suddenly pulled backwards. The momentum caused her to lose her balance and Neji easily dived on his beanbag chair.

He sat up on his throne and gave the brunette a triumphant smirk. Tenten glared at him.

"Cheater," she spat.

"'Winner'," he corrected. Tenten gave him a huff then walked over to the beanbag.

She slapped his leg lightly. "Scoot over, will ya? She asked the prodigy. "There's enough room for both of us to sit."

Neji thought for a second, then leisurely stretched out as far as he could, taking up all the space with him.

Tenten huffed then crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I guess I'll just have to make room." She hissed.

Tenten turned around and promptly sat in his lap, crossing her legs over each other stubbornly.

Neji sat up as soon as she made contact and growled. Warmth flooded into his body as he felt Tenten pressed against him, her naked calves lightly brushing his legs.

Soft, his body confirmed about her. Her track shorts gave him a perfect view of her tanned thighs, which he desperately tried to ignore. Neji caught his breath when she started shifting around in his lap.

For the first time in his life, Neji had absolutely no idea what to do. Tenten began humming some unknown tune and began to examine her fingernails, which further began to drive Neji crazy.

She sighed. "If only there was room for two people on this beanbag," she said absentmindedly. Hinata giggled from the sofa across from him as she gave him a knowing smile.

Neji clenched his jaw. He was not going to let a girl single-handedly turn the Hyuuga Neji into a helpless fool.

He calmly placed his hands on her waist. "Fine. You win," he said grudgingly as he slid her off his lap onto the fluffy bag. He scooted over to give her more room.

She smirked at him. "Why thank you Neji-kun," she said sweetly as she adjusted herself in the bag. He grunted, desperately trying to keep a look of composure. He casually draped an arm across his lap to ensure that his blood had indeed rushed everywhere except a certain area.

When she finally settled in, Neji was unpleased to find out that the brushing of their thighs was unavoidable.

"Well Pig," Sakura said expectedly, oblivious to the situation that just transpired at the beanbag. "We're waiting."

"It was an accident!" Ino immediately explained. "He just looked so uncomfortable, his neck bent in that awkward position- and I just- you know? Just moved the armrest out the way. I was just trying to give his head a little support on my shoulder! You know?"

Neji always thought that his cousin had quite a stuttering problem, but compared to this girl? Ino was quite horrible under pressure.

"And that's how you ended up in his arms, huh?" Sakura tutted. Ino opened her mouth to reply but Nara cut her off.

"Jeez, just give her a break Sakura," he complained. "It's not that big of a deal anyway. She was just being helpful."

"Oh I believe she was being more than helpful." Sakura grinned.

"You're just mad cause we saw you checking out that Sasuke guy," he retorted. "So just drop it, please? Or maybe we can talk about Uchiha some more?"

Sakura snorted. "I couldn't care less. He's an asshole," she muttered, but couldn't hide the small blush that tinged her nose. Ino looked absolutely relieved to for the shift in attention to be off of her.

Shikamaru changed the subject. "So what else about this, Combine, do I need to know?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. Did he actually play a sport?

He decided to speak up. "Nothing much really. When we get to the football field, we'll split up to our individual sports that we choose. The coaches who don't have enough athletes are gonna watch potential players at different sports," she explained. "It won't really be scouting if every sport has enough students."

Beside him, Tenten piped up. "But know that you can go to other sports during tryouts if you want," she informed him. "I'm going to be at volleyball and softball tomorrow."

Nara sighed. "The whole thing sounds really troublesome," he groaned. "Is there anything else about the orientation that I missed?" he asked, glancing around the circle.

"Well," Hinata said slowly. "Breakfast and dinner is from 8-8:30 in the morning and 8-9 in the evening. School is from 8:40 to 3:55."

"Now about curfew," Sakura began. "The gates to the campus will open by your ID badge, but at 10 P.M. on weekdays the scanners are shut off, so if you're off campus after curfew you're screwed. On the weekend they're open all night long."

Sakura suddenly smirked. "The same goes for your dorm rooms. Make sure you two end your snuggle sessions early during the week, okay?" She teased, briefly making eye contact with Nara and Ino.

Nara simply rolled his eyes in return. He slowly rose to his feet.

"Is that all I need to know?" he pleadingly asked. Sakura giggled, and nodded her head. He sighed in relief.

"I don't know about you guys, but I need to go finish unpacking. Thanks for the info." Nara said while yawning.

"Liar. You're going right back to sleep as soon as we step into our room." Neji stated more than asked. Although he barely knew him, the Nara was too easy to predict.

"You're probably right," he said, smirking as the girls chuckled. Everyone began to stand from their chairs. Hinata made her way over to Neji and gave him a brief hug.

"I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?" she asked when they separated.

"Of course," Neji answered. "I'll text you later if I decide to come to your dorm."

Hinata nodded and she and Tenten began walking to wait by the elevator.

"See ya at dinner boys!" Tenten called behind her shoulder. She turned around long enough to give Neji a playful wink. She laughed as he scowled at her. Sakura waved as she walked past him.

The prodigy turned towards Nara to see him talking in a low voice with Ino, Choji standing a few ways off.. She looked quite unconvinced at his words and she shook her head miserably. He gently grabbed her shoulders and whispered another sentence before giving them a little shake.

"Are you coming Ino?" Tenten called and the blonde chuckled and smiled. Ino pulled away from Nara and she and the large brunette walked towards the elevator. Neji strode over to the Nara and they both made their way to the stairs.

"So,-" Neji began as they neared the second floor.

"If you're gonna bring up Ino and I then I'm gonna bring up you and Tenten," Nara said, cutting him off. "I'm not blind. I saw her wink at you."

Neji immediately shut his mouth. Touché.

"All I have to say is that there is nothing going on between Tenten and I." Neji said. He didn't need any imaginary dirt for Nara to kick up on him.

"And the same is with Ino and I," Nara explained as he swiped his badge on their door's scanner. He opened the door and immediately headed towards the bedroom.

Neji untied his shoes and placed them by the door then followed Nara.

"What sport are you going to tomorrow?" Neji asked curiously. Nara lay on his back in his bed, his arms brought behind his head.

"Basketball," he grumbled.

"Me too," he said, a little surprised, and sat down at his desk. Nara was the last one he thought would ever play a sport. "Position?"

"Point Guard."

"Shooting Guard."

Shikamaru grunted and closed his eyes. If he was surprised that Neji played also, he didn't show it.

"Are you any good?"

"I'm okay."

Neji gave up. It was clear that Nara couldn't care less about the sport.

After making it into the playoffs at his old school, Neji couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about his future team. The prodigy took the sport very seriously, a trait he inherited from his deceased father. For as long as he could remember, Hyuga Hizashi had adamantly encouraged his partaking in basketball.

He had no idea what was in store for them tomorrow at tryouts. Thoughts of a losing season constantly crossed his mind but he steadily pushed them away. There was no point in worrying about a team he's never even seen play yet. He should be more concerned with himself; Neji absolutely had to have a starting spot on the team. Not that he was particularly worried that anyone could ever start over him, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Neji rubbed his forehead tensely. He needed to go to the gym. Since his past few weeks were spent packing and preparing for his move to KPA, he had broken out of his training schedule. He hadn't worked out in so long that he could practically feel his muscles deteriorating.

Neji opened his laptop on his desk and checked the time. He grimaced. It was worse than he thought.

It had been exactly 26 hours and 42 minutes since his last workout.

"Hey Nara," Neji suddenly asked. "Would you like to get a quick workout done with me? I think we should get our bodies warm for tomorrow, don't you think?"

Nara emitted a particularly loud snore in response.

Neji sighed heavily and closed his laptop.

SASUKE

Sasuke was sliding his last empty suitcase under his bed when he heard a knock on the door.

Sasuke smirked and turned to Naruto expectantly. The dobe tried to play it off as if he didn't hear and he continued to stuff his clothes in his dresser.

A louder, firmer series of knocks sounded from the door.

"Get the door dobe," Sasuke demanded. "After all, y-"

"Don't say it." Naruto warned.

"You're-"

"DON'T."

Silence.

"You're the closest to the door,"

"ARGHHHHHGHGH,"

BAM BAM BAM. "OPEN THE DOOR YOU JERKS," a muffled yell said.

Naruto glared at Sasuke before grumbling towards the front door. His mood brightened instantly when he opened the door.

"Sakur-" Naruto began when he was suddenly bonked on the head.

"What took you so long to answer the door, huh?" a girl demanded. He recognized Sakura's voice. "Were you and Sasuke too busy making out, like in Summer School?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. Why the hell was she bringing it up? A memory flashed before him.

The dobe pissed at him for who knows what.

The dobe squatting on top of his desk, yelling into my ear.

That idiot Rock Lee tripping into the dobe.

The thing happened.

Sasuke immediately made his way into the living room towards Sakura. No way he was going to let her blab about this.

As he entered, Sasuke was greeted with the sight of an astonished Naruto, his jaw hanging open at a smug Sakura. Along with those two, several of their friends from lunch were seated in his living room.

"Wait, w-what?" asked the girl with lavender eyes. Hinata. She looked quite distraught for some reason. "You're gay Naruto?"

"Me and Teme?" Naruto asked incredulously. "No way! We're not, you know, homosexual or anything."

"Then what's this about you guys kissing? Ino asked suspiciously.

"It was an accident-"

Sakura piped up. "See, what happened was-"

Sasuke darted forward and swiftly clapped a hand over her mouth. Surprised, her large eyes questioningly looked up to his.

"Not. Another. Word," Sasuke hissed. "Got it?"

Sakura nodded slowly, her green-apple eyes never moving away from his dark orbs.

He removed his hand and she exhaled heavily. "Annoying," he murmured and he turned around to sit in the armchair closest to his room. "Why are you all in my dorm?"

"I invited them, Teme!" Naruto said, changing the subject smoothly. Sakura recovered quickly and glared at the Uchiha, who glared at her in return.

The dobe looked around the room as if he had just noticed something.

"Wait a minute. There's Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, Choji and Hinata-chan," Naruto counted. "Where's..umm..?" Naruto motioned with his hands two buns at the sides of his head.

"Tenten?" Ino offered. Naruto smiled and nodded his head. "She left for the gym as soon as we got back to our dorms."

"Oh okay, but what about Neji and that pineapple-haired guy?" Naruto asked. "I tried to call their room number but no one picked up."

"Knowing Shikamaru, he's probably napping," said an amused Choji. "I don't know about Neji."

Everyone turned to Hinata and she just shrugged shyly.

"Well that's okay! We can talk to them about our-" Naruto rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. "Schedules later! So what electives are you guys doing this year?"

Ino immediately paled as everyone else began searching for their schedules. She nervously clasped her hands together and pushed them between her thighs. The boy sitting next to her, Choji, noticed her demeanor and gave her a puzzled look. The two then exchanged a set of whispers. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at their peculiar behavior but didn't say anything.

Everyone began swapping schedules. Naruto was overjoyed when he learned that Hinata, like himself, was trying out for the tennis team tomorrow. Sasuke himself was surprised when Sakura mentioned she played volleyball. Although she was pretty rough with Dobe, she seemed to be too weak for him to imagine her diving for a ball.

Sasuke frowned as the conversation gradually grew louder. He honestly wanted to retire to his room but he knew the Dobe would be a pain in the ass if he tried. He then resorted to simply ignoring him but they were pretty rowdy. He couldn't help but hear that Hinata was on the Dance team and Choji played football. Soon questions were aimed toward himself, and the Uchiha grudgingly told them that he was trying out for the Basketball team.

It wasn't long, however, until people began to realize that Ino hadn't said a word about her classes.

"What are you taking this year Ino?" Naruto asked.

The blonde started stammering on about losing her schedule and Sasuke could tell Naruto was going to call bullshit until Choji backed her up.

Honestly, what was up with this girl? She was an even bigger loudmouth than Sakura, but now she was as timid as the Hyuga girl.

With all of the attention focused on Ino, Sasuke saw an opportunity to slip away. He silently eased out of his chair and took a smooth step towards the hallway.

"Where are you going Sasuke?"

The Uchiha froze and turned to see Hinata's pale eyes innocently trained on him, bringing everyone else's in the room.

Sasuke cursed. He barely even took a step before her sharp eyes caught him. Naruto glared at him when he realized what he was attempting.

"Oh no you don't Teme! You're staying in here with the group!" Naruto growled. "We haven't even talked about our Summer Vacations yet!"

The dobe stood and marched his way over to the hallway and planted his feet in front of the entrance with his arms crossed.

Sasuke cursed and sat back down.

TENTEN

Tenten struggled to control herself as she finished her last set of crunches. She relaxed her body and briefly stretched out her limbs before rolling over on her stomach for pushups.

She absolutely hated workouts like this. Because of tryouts tomorrow, Tenten was forced to only partake in light exercises to ensure that she performed at her very best the next day, but she felt frustrated that she couldn't go all out. It was alien for Tenten to never work her very hardest all of the time. The brunette had to constantly remind herself that no, she was not being lazy but smart, but guilty thoughts kept pushing their way into her mind.

You could have easily done another 200 crunches, Tenten reminded herself angrily, but quickly pushed the thought away.

"Focus," Tenten whispered. "Save it all for the court."

Tenten had no doubt that she would earn a starting spot on the team but she wanted to make sure she did her very best and impress the coaches. She inwardly smiled as she imagined their jaws dropping as they watched her serve. Tenten was extremely accurate.

As she began her first rep of pushups, Tenten silently grimaced at the site in front of her. The jocks wasted no time finding their way to the gym and flaunting off their muscles in their tank tops. Although Tenten had nothing against them she couldn't help but feel agitated as they strutted around with big, meaty swings of their arms as if they owned the place.

There was a line of boys, presumably football players, who were all doing the same type of workout: Dumbbell Curls, all of them grunting and heaving as they lifted as much weight as they probably could in front of the girls.

As she finished a set, one of the boys who caught her eye had shaggy black hair and peculiar green eyes. He wore an old T-shirt that he had cut the sleeves and nearly half of the shirt so she could see nearly his entire torso. Feeling her gaze, the boy casually flexed as he met her eyes and winked at her.

Tenten rolled her eyes. She could practically feel the testosterone emanating from him.

And the girls. Ugh. Most of them hadn't been in the weight room for more than ten minutes before they started taking selfies in the mirror.

Tenten glanced down at her watch. Since it was nearing 7, she figured she would finish her workout with a light jog on the treadmill. She rose from her mat and grabbed her towel and water bottle, making her way past a teen with purple tattoos on his face chatting it up with a girl by the water fountains.

To her surprise, the treadmills were all vacant except for none other than Hyuuga Neji himself. The young man jogging at a controlled pace with his long brown hair held together by a small tie at the end. Although he was better than most of the boys about his dress code, Tenten noticed Neji's tight compression shirt that he chose to wear.

But how could he not? Even Tenten had to admit that he was semi-gorgeous. Semi.

Tenten was overall pleased to see Neji jogging and taking it slow. He seemed to be the only boy with some common sense in the entire building. Which was more or less true, as Tenten watched a freshman lifting, or at least trying to, lift the bar on a bench press.

Tenten normally wasn't the one to talk or even associate with anyone while she was in her zone, but she figured a friendly hello wouldn't hurt on her light day. The brunette casually made her way towards the prodigy and hopped onto the machine next to him.

"Hi. Neji, right?" she casually asked. The Hyuuga began to turn his head towards the brunette until he suddenly flicked it back to the front, keeping his eyes trained directly forward. He made no other movement, besides a noticeable stiffness in his posture and form.

"Hello Tenten," Neji replied slowly.

Tenten raised a brow in confusion then shook her head.

"You're weird," Tenten concluded as she powered up her treadmill. Soon they were both jogging at a comfortable pace.

After several minutes of her incredibly taxing jogging, Tenten decided to increase the tempo just a little, so she raised the speed a few notches. Out of her peripheral vision she saw Neji shoot a quick glance over her way and soon he was now running at a pace slightly faster than hers.

Tenten narrowed her eyes and without giving herself away, raised the speed a few levels higher. Neji followed suit, frowning.

Tenten turned and gave the Hyuuga a small smirk and he retorted with an icy glare.

Simultaneously, the two placed their hands on the controls, preparing to jack the speed up on high and play a dangerous, intense, high-speed game of chicken.

However, the two quickly powered down when a boy in green spandex, who seemingly appeared next to them from nowhere, flew off his out of control treadmill.

(A/N): Pretty short but I promise you more will be coming! Also, special thanks to my friend KyanChi for encouraging me to continue this!