Hello again! I'm so happy that you all seemed to enjoy the previous chapter to this story! =) Now I'm not really sure how long this is actually going to be. It will probably range anywhere between four chapters and ten. The reason being that I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this story. A part of me feels like it will be like Therapy, another feels more like Life is a Highway. We'll have to wait and see! For now, just enjoy this beautiful chapter!
Oh! Before I forget, I've been asked to promote a story for one of my readers. Her penname is PshhAnonymous and she tells me her first story will be posted sometime this weekend. I remember how nerve wracking it was to post mine up here, so I hope everyone is as amazing to you as they were me. Best of luck to you PshhAnonymous!
Now here we go!
Warning: Nothing too graphic here, just warning of what to come!
Disclaimer: After careful review of the situation, I have decided that I do not in fact own Naruto. That is all
Chapter Two: Let the Mind Games Begin
"It's not that bad." I glared over to the optimistic blonde in front of me who was now slurping on a strawberry shake. After finishing her gulp, she met my gaze and proceeded to roll her eyes. "It could have been Chouji."
"That's how you want me to look at this? Woman, if I wasn't raised properly, I'd smack you." And honestly I meant it. How could she even kid about something like this? Just hours ago, I had been told that I was going to share the controversial spot of 'should've been a couple' with my best friend. And since that was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, a boy, I wasn't swallowing it as well as she seemed to be. "What if this was you and Sakura?"
"Well that would never happen, stop being ridiculous," Ino said, dismissing my anger by waving her hand. I could feel my eye twitching, only calming myself down by picturing Ino choking on her shake. With her lack of sympathy, she deserved it.
"How are you and Sakura any different than the bastard and me?" She paused at my question, tapping her lower lip with her fingertip. I took the time to look around the deserted ice cream shop, realizing that we were the only two here. Despite my knowledge that it was October, I still expected to see other people.
"I can't explain it. Me and Sakura are just friends. There's nothing about us that screams "gay couple", you know?" Then again, maybe it was better nobody was around for this particular conversation. I nearly fell off my stool at her reasoning.
"That'syour explanation?!"
"Well, yeah. You and Sasuke could probably pull off being gay." Ino blinked once as she stared at my shocked expression, seeming confused. "What? You've never thought about it?"
"No! What normal person thinks about turning gay for their best friend?"
"Well it's not like you're really normal. And from the way you and Sasuke act, I always thought that…well, that you two had a thing for each other. And apparently I'm not the only one." I groaned, pressing my palms into my eyes and praying for this day to end up being a nightmare. Just what were people saying about me? I got that I was extremely social and friendly, but that didn't mean I was gay! And Sasuke was even less likely to like guys.
"Shit!" My sudden exclamation made Ino jump, nearly knocking her shake over. She sent me a glare that had little effect as I scrambled to grab my phone.
"Jesus Naruto, can you give a girl some warning before you go crazy? Last time I checked, I didn't enjoy dropping shakes in my own lap." I ignored her whining to open my text messages, clicking on Sasuke's thread while I continued to swear. "What is going on with you?"
"I was so caught up in how I felt that I didn't even talk to Sasuke about it! He's probably freaking out just as much as me. And it's not like he's going to have a heart to heart with anyone but me." I held the phone up to my ear as it started to ring, tapping my foot against the bottom of the stool in impatience.
"Like I said…not normal." I paused at her quiet muttering, focusing back on the phone call when Sasuke's voicemail picked up.
"Hey bastard …uh, it's me. I know that school was weird and whatever. But if that's why you aren't picking up your phone I'm going to kick your ass! So you better come over sometime and talk to me, otherwise I'll make you regret it." I shut the phone and sighed, tossing it back into my pocket before leaning my elbows on the bar in front of me. "This is all messed up."
"Really, you're making a big deal out of nothing. So half of the school thinks you're gay with Sasuke. And for all we know, people thought it'd be funny to put two guys together now that we don't have gender rules."
"Yeah, you're right! It must just be a senior prank on me and Sasuke, right?" She smiled at my optimistic question, leaning closer and ruffling my hair. I closed one of my eyes, wondering why she was giving me such a motherly look.
"You're a good guy, Naruto. Don't let this thing with Sasuke ruin your year, okay? Didn't you promise all of us that this was going to be the year everyone talked about for the rest of their lives? We can't really do that if our president is in a tizzy over something like this. And who knows, maybe there's a reason for this nomination." I nodded, knowing she was right. So what if me and Sasuke had gotten punked? I was the class clown after all; I should be able to handle a joke. Sasuke may not like the situation, but the damage was said and done. All we could do was entertain the people who played the joke on us and carry on with the nomination.
"Let's just hope the asshole doesn't get too bent out of shape about this. We all know he doesn't know how to appreciate a good joke," I said, scrunching my nose when thinking about how Sasuke was going to react. I could already see him finding every person that voted for us and making them 'mysteriously' disappear. Then again, with the amount of kids that were in our class, it would have taken a good amount of votes to get us nominated. How did they plan this without either one of us noticing it? Between the two of us, we knew every senior in out class. Still, if Kiba could get a girlfriend, I guess anything was possible.
The bell above the ice cream parlor chimed, both of glancing back to see two very familiar faces.
"Hey Sakura, hey Sasuke!" Ino's chipper greeting seemed to annoy Sasuke, but Sakura quickly recovered with a wave and smile of her own. I frowned for a moment at the unusual couple. As far as I knew, the two of them had never hung out after school unless I was involved. Since when had they gotten so close? And why did I even care? The fact that Sasuke was able to be social with more than just me should have been a relief. I chalked it up to the fact that it was Sakura, and my instant need to guard her from Sasuke's cruel words still affected me several years later.
"Hey guys; we figured we'd find you hiding out here." Ino shrugged at Sakura's observation, glancing to me and winking.
"They figured us out, now where are we supposed to go for our 'alone time'?" I laughed at her implication, though played along to humor her.
"Don't worry; I'm sure the pool table in my basement is just as durable as the ice cream bar."
"You're so disgusting Naruto!" Sakura was never one for dirty jokes, and would always hit me when making sexual suggestions to anyone around her. This time was no different, and I had to jump off my stool to get away from the fist she swung at me. In an attempt to save myself I hid behind Sasuke, grabbing his arms to use him as a shield.
"I was just kidding! You've got to learn to live a little; you've been hanging out with teme way too much for your own good."
"Why are you hiding behind me?" I looked up at Sasuke, sending him a charming smile.
"Because I know she won't hit you. You're like anti-Sakura spray." Sakura huffed before she moved onto the stool I was just at.
"Seriously, Ino, why do you play along with him? If I didn't know any better, I would say you enjoyed it." Even when talking about our sexual side, Sakura sounded disgusting. Instead of following her friend's lead, Ino shrugged and leaned back on the bar.
"I don't mind his sense of humor. Between you, Hinata, and Shikamaru, Naruto is a huge breath of fresh air." From the list she just gave, I could understand why. Sakura had not one perverted bone in her body. Hinata blushed if you said the word 'sex' anywhere near her. And Shikamaru was far too lazy to make a joke. Though each one of them was special to me, I would never take them out to a comedy club and expect to have a good time.
"Speaking of Hinata, you promised to go see that movie with us tonight, remember?" Ino snapped her fingers, seeming to know exactly what Sakura was talking about.
"Sorry, I kind of forgot when Naruto offered to buy me a shake."
"Hey! Is that all I'm good for?" The two girls laughed before moving away from the stool, Ino leaning over and kissing me on the cheek before moving toward the door.
"I'll see you at school Naruto. Sasuke, keep him out of trouble will you?" If Sasuke responded I didn't hear it, the chimes signaling that the two girls had left. I sighed in relief, happy to get out an encounter with Sakura and remain in perfect health. It was a rarity I savored.
"You can let go of me now." I jumped slightly at the voice, realizing that I had yet to release Sasuke from my grip. I noticed the way that Sasuke's head was turned must not have been comfortable but necessary in order to speak to me. Did it really have to be so close though? If I wanted to, I could butt heads with him with a slight tilt of my head. Quickly I let go, but Sasuke didn't move his head away from mine. Feeling warmth pooling in my stomach, I felt myself drawn to his dark stare. I had known him for years, yet never before had the little things about him distracted me. Like his eyes were in fact dark brown, not the black everyone assumed they were. In fact, I bet if his skin wasn't so fair, the color would look much lighter. Had Sasuke always been this much taller than me? It was pissing me off and I couldn't figure out why. I took a slow step back, coughing to break the weird atmosphere and bring us back into reality.
Knowing that the shop closed at sundown, I paid for Ino's treat and walked outside with Sasuke to the bench just outside of the shop. He sat beside me, both of us watching the evening traffic caused by the rotary in front of us.
"Why didn't you answer my phone call? I could have been dying you know," I mumbled, leaning back to cross my arms and pout like a kid.
"I'm sure if you were dying, you'd have other people to call first," he replied, not noticing the slight wince I gave in response.
"What the hell are you talking about? You know it's always going to be you," I said, knowing it was the truth. Hell, whenever I had a problem he was the first one that I went to. Even if it was something sexual or private, I trusted nobody better than him. He had to know that. The way he was looking at me made me feel like I was speaking a different language.
"Are you sure?" Just what was his problem right now? I wanted to strangle him at how cold he was being.
"I think I know myself a little bit better than you do, asshole! And what's with the snarky attitude anyways? Last time I checked, I didn't do anything to you today." You're kind of hurting me ran through my head, but I shoved the idiotic feeling down. I was a man, and men didn't rely on other men to make them feel better! Unless they were gay, in which case it was totally acceptable since they could just use make-up sex. At the thought, I suddenly realized why I had called him to begin with. "This doesn't have anything to do with the superlatives, does it?"
"Why would you think that?" It was true Sasuke had handled the situation much better than me. I mentally groaned as I remembered tearing up the paper, dropping about twenty swears, and storming out of the room without any of my stuff. That was the whole reason why Ino had showed up at the shop, hence I offered to buy her a shake. No, I probably could have handled that about ten times better. But I was upset, and my family always encouraged me to express myself. In fact, I had been so wrapped up in my temper tantrum that I didn't even remember what Sasuke had done.
"It's kind of been a crazy day, hasn't it?" I blew out a long breath to show just how drained I was.
"Nothing out of the usual when being around you." I glared over at him, irritated with his smirk. Well, at least he wasn't being so snappy. If I hadn't known for a fact he was a boy, I would assume he was PMSing.
"We really got ourselves into something deep this time, huh?" At my question he remained silent, glancing out across to the highway. I watched the orange glow of the setting sun wash over his face, the stress lines on his forehead showing. He was barely 18 and already took on more than most adults did in their entire lives.
"If you're this uncomfortable with the situation, I'm sure Jiraiya will remove the superlative from the yearbook." Well that was kind of a weird answer. I frowned, noticing that the way he said it left an uncomfortable ache in my mind.
"It's not like I hate you or anything you know. It's just…aren't you kind of freaked out that people saw us this way?"
"I don't care about what people think about me. Their opinions hold little value." I should have expected a mature answer like that. Shaking my head I laughed, leaning back while outstretching my arms on the back of the bench. Faintly I felt my fingertips brush the side of Sasuke's arm, enjoying the heat that his back spread into my forearm.
"For once, you're right. I guess we shouldn't bother talking to Jiraiya; he wouldn't listen to me anyways. Besides, we'll probably never talk to these people again after high school."
"If I'm lucky, you as well." I punched his shoulder at the comment, knowing full well he didn't mean it. Hadn't we just had a discussion about this earlier in the stairwell?
"Love you too, bastard." He didn't respond to my sarcastic answer, not that I really expected him to. Instead, we allowed silence to surround us as we watched the fading sun meet up with the darkened night sky. This had always been my favorite time of night, and I ignored the chilled air to try and map out the constellations that I knew. It didn't take long for Sasuke to butt in, prompting me into a challenge to see who could name the most. By the end of it every trace of the light and heat from the sun were gone, thought I hardly noticed with Sasuke's body so close to mine. When I shivered he said nothing, but moved closer while pointing over my body at another group of stars. Maybe this level of comfort was what made people think we should be together. But at the moment, I didn't care.
"In what country was the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of world war one?" Thank God I knew this answer! Racing to the front of the class, my teammates cheered me on as I quickly grabbed the marker and started to write 'France' on the white board. I slammed the marker down as soon as I was down, turning to the silver haired teacher and holding out a peace sign.
"Done you pervert! Check my answer!" I grinned while Kakashi glanced to the board and nodded. In an attempt to get us ready for our next exam, Kakashi had made up a challenge called 'board bash'. He split up the class into two teams, giving each team a marker and half of the white board to write on. Taking questions from the test itself, he would read each question out loud to the class. Each team then sent up a person to write down their answer. Whoever wrote the correct answer first got a point for their team. At the end of the class, whoever had the most points would get two points added to their final score on the exam. Though it didn't seem like much to most, I needed any help I could get. I wasn't failing, but I knew that if I got anything lower than a C my parents would not be happy. So I was determined to bring my team to victory.
"Very good, Naruto. Bonus question for you." Wait, what? Since when were there bonus questions in this game? I glanced to my team, watching everyone giving me supportive cheers except for a particular Hyuuga. He could care less about the game since he knew he would ace the exam. Taking a deep breath, I looked back at him and nodded.
"Alright, give me what you've got."
"The treaty was signed exactly five years after which Archduke's assassination?" Of course it was a person he asked about. Dates and places were easy to remember, but people were the hardest part about history. I bit my lip nervously, knowing a bonus point would keep us in the lead right before the bell. My whole team was counting on me, but my mind was drawing a complete blank. Where was Sasuke when you needed him?
"It's your second favorite band, idiot." My eyes lit up as the band's name instantly came out of my mouth.
"Franz Ferdinand!" As soon as I said it, I turned to look at the boy leaning in the doorway of the classroom. The other group groaned, a few mumbling under their breath about Sasuke's interference. My team, on the other hand, was more than happy to cheer for the assistance. I glanced to Kakashi, who was nodding his head at my answer.
"Very good Naruto." The bell rung , Kakashi clapping his hands together and looking over to the scoreboard. "That puts your team in front. Two points will be added to everyone on Naruto's team for the exam on Monday. Don't forget to study the sheets that I gave you. Oh, and Naruto?"
"What is it now?" I groaned, pulling my book against my chest and turning to him.
"I'm very impressed with you improvement in this class. Keep going and you'll get far." For some reason, hearing a compliment for Kakashi was not something I expected in the least bit. I shifted between my feet, brushing my nose with my hand while mumbling my thanks. I turned away from him, making a quick exit to Sasuke. I knew that Sasuke was irritated with our short conversation, but as I glanced back to Kakashi I couldn't help but smile. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all…
"What did he say to you?" At Sasuke's question I shrugged, the two of us walking toward the lunch room.
"Nothing really. Just told me to keep doing well in his class. You know, for all the trouble you put me through not taking his class, he doesn't seem so bad. He even seems to like me, which is more than I can say for you on most days." I glanced over to him, trying to decipher just what it was that Kakashi did to piss Sasuke off. Normally with people Sasuke didn't like, he allowed me to make my own opinions of them. This one, however, was a clear no. Especially now, seeing Sasuke glare down at me.
"He's a wolf in sheep's clothing. Do not get close to him." When Sasuke wanted to, he could be scary. Even I felt the need to step back at the fire in his look. All of this anger because of one person? It almost made me want to find out from Kakashi just what his relationship was with Sasuke. The thought was tempting, but I refused to betray my best friend like that. Instead, I nodded and dropped the conversation while we entered the lunch room. I mentally sighed as we walked, instantly feeling eyes on us. Ever since news got out about our superlative, people had been more interested in us than ever. Not like I wasn't used to the stares being Sasuke's best friend. But now even guys were giving us weird looks that we honestly didn't deserve. We weren't mutants or anything!
"Naruto!" I glanced up and grinned when seeing our group of friends, waving back to Sakura before turning to Sasuke. He still looked upset about my earlier comment, so I threw my arm over his shoulder and dragged him down to my level. He silently protested by glaring at me, but I ignored it as I wrestled him over to the table, Kiba and Ino sliding to make room for us.
"Hey guys! Sorry we're late; Kakashi had to talk to me about something." I sat down, looking up to Sasuke when I realized he didn't follow. "What are you, an Uchiha tree? Sit down already, you're making me nervous."
"I have something to take care of." Was it cold in here or was it just me? Without so much as a bye, the bastard left little time for argument. I wanted to go after him, but the conversation at the table was directed at me.
"Kakashi? You're on first name basis with teachers now?" Kiba asked, making me roll my eyes.
"I don't even want to get into it. What I do want to make sure is that you two are still coming early to help at Konoha beach tonight. Hinata has put a lot of effort into the first annual fall bonfire, our first fundraiser for our senior year. If we don't get underclassmen to participate, then expect a shitty prom. "
"With a promotion like that, how could we not be excited?" Ino asked sarcastically, shaking her head while laughing. "I also put up fliers all over the school and invited everyone I could on the school's facebook, so that this idiot isn't the only one getting the word out. Hinata told me earlier that the chaperones were all set, and she got the okay from the fire department to have a bon fire. And, with my charismatic smile, I convinced the fire science boys to come help us tend to the fire so it doesn't get out of control."
"I was planning on coming early and helping set up with Hinata anyways, so count me in," Kiba said.
"I'll be there too, since I'm catching a ride with the girls. This really sounds like it could be a fun time so long as you've got some good music." At Sakura's suggestion I nodded, grinning from ear to ear.
"Got it under control. Did you know Chouji knows how to DJ? I told him I'd give him fifty bucks and he's got his own equipment. It's barely costing the senior class anything and with tickets ten bucks each, we're planning on making over a thousand dollars."
"Not to mention I talked to Shikamaru's dad about food, and he's going to make a ton of sandwich platters from his sandwich shop. I'm picking them up right after school. That way that food is beach friendly and we can make more money on refreshments," Ino added, proving we knew what we were doing.
"We really should run for president one day. We could make a lot of change in this country, one finger sandwich at a time." I put my arm around Ino as I let my presidential voice take over. She nodded and we both had a good laugh while Sakura glanced between the two of us.
"Maybe they should have nominated you two for biggest flirts instead of most gullible." I shrugged, glancing to Ino who seemed even less concerned.
"It's just easy to be like this when we've been working this closely for the past couple years. We don't really mean to do it," I explained, though not really sure why. Neither one of us was in a relationship. Ino had feelings for Shikamaru, but nothing was official. And me? With the stupid rumor of me and Sasuke going around, no girl wanted to talk to me. Not because I was 'into guys', but because of the guy I had stolen from them.
"Wait, what's Neji doing for the event?" Kiba asked. I paused, realizing that Neji had not offered to help once with Hinata's event.
"He's probably just going to take care of the money aspect of it." Kiba didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but he remained quiet. Though Hinata was his girlfriend, Kiba knew better than to get in-between the family problems that the Hyuuga cousins had. They didn't even know him and Hinata were dating. But I knew it ate him up inside every time Neji failed to support his cousin.
The rest of the lunch period was uneventful, and school seemed to go by quicker than I expected. When I reunited with Sasuke later in foods class, he refused to tell me what he had to do during lunch. I tried to press the situation, only to end up accidentally lighting my apron on fire. The fire alarm went off, and I spent the rest of the school day outside with the entire student body. Sasuke escaped my questioning, but got sucked into a promise that he would go to the bonfire later that night. For some reason, knowing he was going made me work twice as hard to get everything together. What was wrong with me?
Whatever it was, any thoughts involving Sasuke disappeared an hour before the bonfire started. From then I was racing around, doing my best to be eight people at once. If only that were possible. I had just finished going over the playlists of music I wanted Chouji to use when Hinata came over to me.
"I-Ino let the first group of people in. Are you sure th-this was a good idea?" At her obvious nerves I smiled, nodding excitedly.
"Hinata you did an awesome job thinking this up! Because of you, the class is going to have a great start for their prom fund." Despite my encouraging words I could see that she was still worried. I took a deep breath as I looked around the bonfire, completely satisfied with what we had accomplished. The fire was roaring, benches and tables set up in sporadic places for people to relax and socialize. We had cleared out an area for a dance floor, knowing all too well just how teenage girls' minds functioned. Why do you think I threw in random slow songs? If there was one thing I knew, it was how to entertain a crowd.
"Ne-Neji doesn't seem to feel this will be worth the cost." Ah, there was the problem. Ever since I have known the two, Neji had criticized and watched any move that Hinata made. At first I thought it was because he wanted her to get better, but every time she made a step forward Neji seemed to scare her two steps back. No matter what me or Ino said to her, she always was too scared to talk at meetings because of his harsh words. But when Neji wasn't there, her creativity was amazing. She understood people and how to make the most relaxing and welcoming types of events. She paid attention to the smallest details, such as color schemes and types of flowers during each season. She was amazing, if only she could see it.
"I'll take care of Neji. Don't worry about him; everyone is going to love this bonfire."
And true to my word, the people started to pour in like wildfire.
"Naruto, this is amazing! Great job!" I grinned as Tenten ran by me a few hours later, heading straight to the dance floor. I had to give it up to Chouji; he was doing a great job with the music. A good amount of people were on the dance floor, including Kiba and our class secretary. At least Hinata was finally having a good time, seeming to even forget about her cousin and all her family responsibility. That was how high school was supposed to be. And when she looked over to me from across Kiba's shoulder, I gave her a knowing smile before holding a thumb up. She blushed and hid her face into the taller boy's shoulder, but I knew she was happy. And that made me happy, sort of. Now the only thing I wanted was to see a certain bastard who had yet to show his face.
Needing some fresh air, I walked away from the fire and toward the front of the event, seeing Neji dutifully handling the money from the event. Realizing how almost none of Chouji's powerful equipment could be heard on this side of the event, I understood now why Neji had placed the entrance here. Really, all that could be heard was the crashing water from the dark ocean beside us.
"How are we looking so far, oh God of Treasure?" No matter what humor I tried to bring into Neji's life, he never seemed happy. Instead, he finished paying out a pair of freshman before handing them their wrist bands and looking up to me.
"So far we've recorded two hundred and thirteen people." Instantly I saw money signs at his statement.
"So we're doing really good! Man, if Hinata keeps coming up with ideas like this we'll be rolling in the money." At mention of his cousin's success, Neji scoffed and looked to the water.
"Hinata has been nothing but lucky tonight. If we had been rained out or someone got hurt at this ridiculous event, you would not be praising her so much. Plus we have yet to even add in the costs of the firewood or the renting of the beach. That's at least six hundred dollars right there. Poor planning on her part."
"Whoa, Neji. Give her a break here. Your cousin may not be as business suave as you, but she's trying her best. And it's just a school fundraiser, not an industry." He stood up, turning to face me with a face that read pure disgust.
"My family owns the highest grossing automobile production in the country. My grandfather has chosen Hinata to take over the family business simply because her father was the eldest of his children. Though I am smarter, stronger, and a male, Hinata is expected to become the heir while I simply fetch for her like some pathetic dog. She is not fit to run the business. She can't even choose the right type of male to stand beside her."
"You know about Kiba?" I asked, the name seeming to only anger him more.
"If she had chosen Sasuke, or even someone with some caliber such as yourself it would be different. But she decided to settle with that low life. What could he possibly bring to the family business? His grades are atrocious, his speech impossible to understand, and his goals for the future are nothing more than laughable. I have stood by her side all of this time, not because of love. I am ashamed to call that weak woman family. But I am duty bound by my grandfather's orders to keep her on the right track. While I watch her take what should be mine!"
"Why the hell are you blaming Hinata?" He opened his mouth to respond to me, but I wasn't done. "I get it. You're all pissed off because your family is way too traditional and thinks that the oldest automatically means they're the best. So yeah, go ahead and be mad because I would be too. But that's not Hinata's fault. Do you really think she wants that job anyways? Probably not. You are right, you're probably perfect for that job and she knows that. She's forced to take extra classes and do all of these activities that just come naturally to you. For what? Just to benefit your family. She's only seventeen years old and her life has already been determined for her by someone who won't be around in ten years to see it happen.
"She's stuck in the same messed up web you are, Neji. She is forced to take on a task that is probably too much for her without the option of failing. So for someone like you, who knows exactly how to save her, to instead push her further into the water shows that you are the one who's wrong here. She likes Kiba, so what? It's her right to try and find happiness. All Hinata wants to do is be the best person she can be, which may not be the cookie cutter expectation of your family. But no matter what life throws as her, I see Hinata try way more than anyone else in this school. You should be proud to call her family, not spit on her name like this."
"You know nothing about this matter." I stared at him for a moment, watching his eyes pulse with pure anger and hatred. Even now, he still seemed to hold himself back. A part of me felt sorry for both Hyuuga cousins. Maybe even more so Neji than Hinata. At least she had found some sort of happiness.
"I know all this pain and hatred between the two of you could just be done with if you realized who the real problems are. Maybe you should be standing up to your grandfather instead of picking on a little girl. At here in school you act like you're better than everyone else, and I finally figured out why. Because when you get home, you get treated like the lowest human on the totem pole. But that's not Hinata's problem, that's yours. Fix it, or shut the hell up about it." The two of us shared a heated look, neither one of us backing down. So it kind of caught me off guard when the normally reserved Neji punched me straight across the face and into the ground. I groaned and grasped at the sand, my left cheek throbbing as I struggled to push myself up. I could hear Neji heaving next to me, understanding all of the emotion that he had just used to motivate that hit. Slowly I chuckled while rubbing my cheek, praying that he hadn't knocked any teeth out in the process.
"You should just stay down so I don't kick the crap out of you." Finally, Neji was speaking like he had something he cared about.
"Yeah, you're right. I probably shouldn't be getting up." Still, I pushed myself up and brushed my shirt off while looking over to him. I smiled in a way that showed the punch had done nothing to my perception of him. "But I'm going to. Because no matter what you throw at me, I'm not staying down."
"You're a fool. Why don't you strike back at me? Why would you continue to let me punch you?" He fisted his hand again, probably intending to beat me senseless.
"I don't know; why do you keep letting other people make up your fate?" At my question, Neji's eyes widened before his hand slowly unclenched and dropped to his side. Once I felt like my words had hit the mark, I moved over and dropped my hand onto his shoulder, smiling despite how painful it was to move my cheek. "You remember the first year we were on the class council together?"
"You're impossible to forget, Uzumaki," He replied, though the anger that was there before was gone.
"Back then you didn't think so. You took one look at me and tried to decide my fate for me. You said I'd get nothing done and someone else would become president the next year. I took your words, and fueled them to make myself better. You said I wouldn't get too far, but I did. I made you respect me. Now you need to do the same. If your family doesn't want to give you the company, make them. Become a force they can't ignore."
"My family—"
"Needs to understand that it's a new era. And sometimes it takes someone as strong as you to make that change." He looked away from him, staring into the darkness of the sea while trying to sort out everything we had talked about. Knowing that it was a lot to process, I stepped back and pointed to the bon fire. "Why don't you go hang out with the others? I think Lee and Tenten are in there; you should join them. I'll stay here in case anyone else wants to come late."
"You're the president, I won't argue with your orders." Back to that again. If only he had felt like that before he punched me across the face. Then again, I did deserve it for provoking him. He smirked as if knowing what I was thinking, giving me a sarcastic salute before leaving. Well, at least I had made an indent on his view of hierarchy. I watched him walked towards the event, leaving me alone with the sea and my throbbing face. Still, it felt kind of nice to have that kind of breakthrough with Neji.
"Now that I've solved everyone else's problems, where the hell is Sasuke?" I figured he would have been here by now. In fact, looking at my watch, I realized that the event would be over pretty soon. I leaned my hand onto the table next to me, wondering why he was taking so long. Didn't he understand how important this was to me? No, probably not since he skipped out on lunch today. And why did he do that anyways? He had yet to answer me. I had been so busy trying to fix the bon fire and the Hyuuga cousins that I never stopped to think about Sasuke's weird behavior. I had barely seen him at all today! Was he trying to avoid me? No, because he came to my class to see me today. So that didn't make sense. Then what was his deal? "Gah, he's giving me such a headache."
"You talking to yourself again, dobe?" For the second time that day, Sasuke had snuck up on me without my knowledge. Looking up, I instantly grinned when seeing Sasuke. Only it disappeared when I realized what he had said to me.
"No! Not really, anyways."
"Yeah, right." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his money and holding it out to me. "I pay here, right?"
"Are you going to tell me why you decided to show up so late into the night? With only a half hour left of the bon fire? "
"I was busy." My eye twitched at his answer.
"Busy? I told you about this hours ago! Why wouldn't you tell me you were busy when you promised you'd come earlier? God you are such a jerk!" I glared away from him, focusing on the water that lapped at the sand. He had no consideration for me or the things that were important to me. He didn't tell me when he was randomly made plans, and never let me into his private life. What was I getting out of this relationship? Or friendship. Or should've been a relationship, whatever they wanted to call us!
Either one didn't matter when I felt a delicate finger sliding against my bruised cheek. I winced, pulling away from the touch. Sasuke's other hand cupped my right cheek, forcing me to look up at him. I instantly blushed, the touch far more intimate than I expected.
"Who hit you?" I didn't respond for a second, not sure exactly sure what his motive was. Sasuke and Sakura both had been known to beat me up when I said something stupid, so he should have been used to me looking like this.
"Me and Neji got into a fight about his treatment of Hinata. I said something dumb and he…kind of socked me right across the face," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head at how stupid that sounded. He didn't seem pleased with my answer, pulling me closer to him to inspect the damage. His touch was so tender against my skin, that I shivered instead of winced. I watched him from the corner of my eye, amazed at the concern I saw reflected in his face. Just why was he paying such close attention to me when he didn't seem to give a damn about me all day?
"Something that makes Neji lose his temper must have been stupid, even for you." So much for caring. I could have gotten more sympathy from a sociopath. "You need ice."
"Thanks, I think I can take care of myself now." But when I tried to pull away from him, but he slinked an arm around my waist to keep me from moving.
"Obviously you can't. Otherwise you wouldn't have gotten hit." His smirk was pissing me off more than normally. He was actually taunting me for doing a good thing? That was not acceptable!
"If you don't let me go I swear I'll—"
"You'll what?" I stopped at his challenge, unsure of where to go next. Both in this situation and with our friendship. Just what were we talking about here? Or was I just reading into this entirely too much? Was this superlative thing just getting to me? From the arched eyebrow Sasuke sent me, I assumed it was. Did that mean I was the one being weird? This was getting more confusing by the second.
"Naruto! Hurry up and get over here, there're going to put out the fire in twenty minutes!" Thankfully I heard Ino calling for me, giving me a reason to break away from the unexplainable contact.
"Coming!" I looked back at him, hesitating before speaking. "You coming bastard?"
"I just paid ten bucks, why wouldn't I?" Well that was true. I wanted to make a comeback, but Sasuke unexpectedly continued. "You did well tonight, idiot."
"Huh?" I looked over to him, but he didn't stop walking toward the bonfire. I wanted to feel angry at just how cryptic he was being today, but somehow hearing him praise me allowed me to smile.
Damn him for that. And damn these unexplainable feelings he caused in me.
Got to love that blond's heart, he sure takes a beating for everyone else. So, how did you like it? I've only really skimmed over Neji's character most stories, so I figured I'd bring him and Hinata into some of the main story line. But this is just the beginning! I can tell that this story is going to get verrrrryy interesting from the plot bunnies jumping around in my head. So, what was Sasuke doing all day? Will Neji ever support Hinata? Will Ino and Naruto's friendship cause rocky waters? And just how many sandwiches do you think Chouji ate? You'll find out some of these answers next time….if you review =)