Authors Note:
Well, it's official. I absolutely despise that fact that sometimes decides to just remove any italics or bold I've put in my stories (and don't give me that 'Microsoft Word doesn't work' crap . I so know you guys are compatible). Just know, sometimes there should be italics in places that will make my writing seem so much less… drama-queen/teeny-bopper. ;)
Also, thanks you guys for all of the reviews I get! I have to say, those reviews actually are the reasons I've started posting chapters again, so thanks for the motivation. :)
I do not own Naruto
"I can't believe soccer season is almost over!"
Tenten nodded, stripper off her mud-coated jersey. "Yeah. It really sucks. We've got, what, one more game? And then nada."
Another member of the soccer team, a tall black girl with really curly hair, nodded. "I know. I'm going to miss it so much."
The team captain, Cecilia, strode over to where they were standing, getting out of their wet clothing from practice so they could shower off. "Don't be such drama queens girls," she commanded. Everything Hoshi said was somewhat commanding. It was probably her excessively British accent and the fact that her parents could literally buy the town if they wanted. She was a good sort of person though and very quick to tell if the team was having a problem. "I mean, aren't you guys going to sign up for a winter sport?" she continued.
Most of the girls nodded. "I can't," said one dejectedly. "I'm a horrible swimmer, so no swim team, and my doctor told me to take my ankle easy for a few months so that rules everything else out." A few girls gave their apologies and Cecilia patted her soothingly on the back. "Don't worry Melissa. You'll be good as new by spring."
"Well," started Tenten, deciding to break the silence. "I'm definitely signing up. I'm a horror at basketball though. I was thinking swim team, or maybe volleyball because they practice year round."
A couple girls groaned. "Oh god Tenten, if you sign up for winter volleyball they'll want you for the rest of your high school career," a red head piped up.
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Bullshit."
"Whatever! Girls! Shower off," Cecilia said, walking towards the showers.
Tenten was getting her hair down before Melissa spoke up. "So Tenten, how are things going with you and Neji? Have you guys… sorted everything out?"
Tenten looked over at Melissa, glaring slightly, though she didn't know it. Melissa's face fell. "Can I take your expression as a no?"
Tenten sighed. "I've decided just to move on," she explained, digging through her bag for shampoo.
Melissa smiled slightly. "Good job," she said encouragingly.
"Yeah, who needs Neji right?" Tenten said weakly. She grabbed her towel and walked towards the showers.
'Who needs him…'
At The Same Time
"The thing is Ms. Hyuuga, you've got great grades here, but you are woefully lacking extracurriculars."
Hinata sat nervously, fidgeting around in her seat. She was meeting with a high school counselor about college applications. He was looking over her high school transcripts with her to show her her weak spots and stronger areas. "W-what do you m-mean?" she asked quietly.
"Well, you were a member of the math club in middle school and freshmen year before you quit. You aren't on a sports team, in student government, in a club, involved in a society… it says here that you volunteer every Saturday at your local library and that you take dance classes. That's good, but I can't see anything on here that clues me into what you're really passionate about," he said, placing her transcript down in front of him.
"P-passionate about…?" Hinata echoed.
"Yes. What is it that you want to do in college after high school?"
Hinata stared at him, opening and closing her mouth several times before he spoke again. "I see… Ms. Hyuuga, colleges look at your transcripts not just because of your grades. They're looking for things you are passionate about, things you care about, to show that you are a hard-working person who has a goal in mind. You take dance classes but you don't do anything else involving dance. You volunteer at your library, but why? Before you do anything else you need to figure out exactly what you are going to go to college to do." He started neatening his papers and sliding them into a file.
"When you've figured it out come in for another appointment," he said, making it clear that she could go. She stood up silently, picked up her jacket from the back of her chair, and walked wordlessly out of his office.
What do I want to do…
What do I want to do…
I don't know.
I have no idea.
Hinata felt like crying. She didn't have the tiniest bit of an idea about what she wanted to do with her life. All she had concentrated on was getting good grades. She practiced tai chi with her father, took ballet classes a few times a week at her parent's insistence, and practiced her instruments, also at their insistence. But nothing she was passionate about. Nothing she thought about that was accompanied with a surge of happiness. The only things that she thought about when that happened were Hanabi, her friends, Naruto… people.
She slid on her coat as she walked down the hall, towards the parking lot. There were fliers on the walls, one reminding people of the winter tolo coming up, a few from the various winter sports teams looking for players, a couple advertising books and instruments for sale.
'Bright blue electric strat, good condition, extra pack of strings included, CHEAP!'
'Girls Volleyball Winter
LOOKING FOR PLAYERS
Contact Team-Captain Katie Witley for information'
'Don't Forget: The annual winter tolo is coming up! December 2nd, doors open at 7 p.m. Guests allowed by permission only. Tickets 15% off until November 20th!'
She could hear the drill team practicing off in the distance as she banged through the double doors and walked towards the parking lot. She would be busing home but the quickest way to the bus stop was to cut straight though the parking lot. At this point in her journey to the stop she was starting to hyperventilate as the reality of what the counselor had said sunk in. She had no deciding qualities and only two years to make herself stand out as a human being. She felt lucky that there was no one in the parking lot as she moved quickly through it, walking around pickups and Subaru's and the occasional foreign luxury car.
She saw the bus start to pull into the stop in the distance as she walked and she broke into a sprint for it. It started to drive off, not noticing her as she ran right up to it. "W-wait!" she called desperately, still sprinting, trying to keep up as it drove off. She stopped, her coat starting to fall off one shoulder, as she stared at the bus driving away.
Later That Day
"What do you mean do I have anything that I want to be doing in college?" Sakura asked, confused, as she reorganized her textbooks. She had a phone held to her ear as she organized her already tidy desk. Hinata was on the other end of the line and was being very cryptic. She hadn't explained why she was asking these weird questions and Sakura was thoroughly confused.
She heard Hinata mumble a response and Sakura sighed. "Nevermind. Yes, I know what I want to do. I'm going to study astronomy and astrophysics. I thought I told you guys that already," she said, still confused. She stood on her toes to put her math book where it belonged, pushing it in so it wouldn't fall out. "Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"Uh, no reason I g-guess. I'm j-just trying to think of w-what I want to s-study…" Hinata said on the other end of the line.
"Oh… well I always figured you'd end up doing something with math," Sakura said matter-a-factly. "I mean, weren't you in math club for four years or something?" she asked, finishing up working on her desk and going over to flop down in her window seat.
"Yeah, I s-suppose," Hinata said quickly. "Anyway, I-I got to g-go. See you t-tomorrow, S-sakura." The line went dead and Sakura blinked a few times.
"That was weird," she muttered, turning the phone off and laying it beside her on the seat. She stared out of the window at the sky, which was already quite dark. She had no idea why Hinata was suddenly thinking about college. She had never struck her as someone particularly preoccupied with that part of her life. Sakura however, had had her degree picked out since grade school when her dad had gotten a telescope and she had almost broken it staring at Jupiter.
She supposed that might be a tad obsessive, but the fact that for a while she had wanted to be an ice cream taste tester for a while and at one point a book critic just proved that when tested against other careers that involved either sitting around eating delicious creamy ice cream or reading books and breaking the writers fragile spirits, her current aspirations to be an awesome space scientist (her own words) won out.
Nerd for life.