Temari stood at the post-office drop box, staring at it wide-eyed. She had just put her submission to the photography contest in and now she was starting to hyper-ventilate with nervousness. "Oh god… oh-god-oh-god-oh-god…" she whispered.
"Excuse me," an old lady said, trying to get around her to drop in her letter.
"S-sorry!" Temari gasped, moving out of the way and walking back to her car. She wasn't sure when she would find out if she had made it into the semi-finalists. If she had ended up making it into the top 25, there would be one last round where the 10 finishers would be picked. She had butterflies in her stomach already. Only 5 percent of the current 500 photographers would be chosen, and that number was scarily low to her.
She climbed into her jeep and shut the door, breathing heavily as she sat with both hands on the wheel, her eyes open wide. Finally she opened up the mirror above the windshield, staring into it. "Calm the %& # down!" she commanded, making a face that was supposed to be serious but ended up looking more terrified. She slammed the mirror up and started up the jeep. She supposed she should get home to change for Ino's party. She had finished up her finals today, thank god. No more school for three weeks.
She pulled up in front of her house and parked, not bothering to pull fully into driveway seeing as she'd be heading out soon anyways. It was pitch black outside as she god out of her car and walked into the house. She took the stairs two at the time, still full of nervous energy. She refreshed her makeup quickly, applied another coat of lip gloss, and went to change into something a little more party-appropriate.
She walked out of her room having exchanged her skinny jeans and t-shirt for a high-waisted mini-skirt with tights and a crop-top bustier. She grabbed a jacket from her closet and clomped downstairs, picking up her purse from where she had left it by the door. "Hey Temari, I'm coming with you," Kankuro said, coming downstairs and getting his own coat.
"Cool. You got a date or just trolling for girls again?" she asked with a grin.
He rolled his eyes. "Witty, Temari, so witty," he responded.
They heard a thud and looked up to see Gaara on the second floor landing. "Hey Gaara, you want to come?" Temari asked, grinning.
He sighed. "Sure," he said. "Nothing else to do."
A few minutes later they were all piled into the jeep and on their way to Ino's. It wasn't a long drive, so they pulled up in front after a few minutes and they all climbed out, heading up to the door. Temari could hear music thudding from inside the house, cutting through the dark night. They pushed their way into the house before splitting up, Temari on her way to go find Ino.
Temari heard a crash and looked up to see a girl standing at the top of the stairs with a crutch, apparently having just thrown her bag at a guy standing on the bottom. "Kenji! I told you to leave me alone!" she yelled, turning to storm down the hall. Temari spotted Tenten standing near the stairs, watching with a startled expression. "Hey Tenten!" Temari said, shouting slightly so she could be heard above the music.
"Hey Temari," Tenten responded, still watching where the girl had gone.
"What was up with that?" Temari asked, also looking up.
Tenten sighed. "Melissa and Kenji are at it… again. I swear to god it's like a soap opera with those two."
"Uh… does she need our help or anything?" Temari asked.
Tenten shook her head. "No, they'll be fine. I actually feel kind of bad for Kenji this time," Tenten said with a sigh, turning to walk towards the kitchen. Temari shook her head, following her. "Hey, have you seen Ino?" Tenten asked.
Temari shook her head, frowning slightly. "No… that's weird. It's not like her to not be playing hostess." She reached over to grab a chip. "We should probably go find her…" she said. They went upstairs. They heard Kenji and Melissa arguing in one of the guest bedrooms, so they ignored that one. Ino wasn't in her room, nor any of the other guest rooms. They did, however, end up stumbling across Hinata and Naruto making out in one. They both promptly sprang apart, Hinata's face burning bright red.
"Sorry!" Tenten said, as Temari giggled behind her. Tenten swallowed a smile. "Just… uh… go back to whatever you two were doing," she said, closing the door quietly.
Temari chuckled as they walked downstairs. "I feel like those two never really left the honeymoon phase in their relationship," she said.
"Yeah," Tenten said as they walked outside. It was freezing cold, but they figured that was the only place Ino could be if she wasn't inside. They walked down towards the private beach, avoiding the garden, where there were sure to be more couples taking advantage of the romantic, if frosty, winters night. "Wouldn't it be weird if Ino wasn't even here?" Tenten asked, making a face.
Temari raised an eyebrow. "Yeah… that would be really strange," she said.
They reached the beach and finally spotted Ino sitting on the sand along with someone else. "Who's that? Doesn't look like Sai," Temari whispered.
They hesitated, not sure if they should go back up to the house or not. However before they could decide Tenten slipped on the sand and fell with an audible "oof!". Ino glanced back at them, looking surprised.
"S-sorry!" Tenten said, clambering up.
The other figure looked back and they saw it was Sakura, who grinned at them. "Sakura?" Temari asked, a little confused. Ino and Sakura hadn't been getting along lately.
Ino jumped up, slipping slightly to land on her knees, but her expression didn't falter from enthusiastic at all. "Sakura's staying!" she said, her voice sounding a little stuffed up. She reached over to hug Sakura, who looked like she was being strangled a little by Ino's arms.
"You're staying?" Tenten asked, looking surprised. Then she grinned and went over to hug Sakura. "Ah! I'm so glad! Does this mean you and Ino will stop fighting now?" she asked.
Sakura and Ino glanced at each other. "We've reached an… understanding," Sakura said, causing Ino to giggle quietly.
Tenten and Temari exchanged looks. "I don't want to know…" Temari said, sitting down on the icy sand next to the other three. "But I'm glad you're staying. But, what are you going to do? Are you staying at your house by yourself? You can stay with me if you don't want to be alone," Temari offered.
Sakura shook her head. "It's okay. I'm staying with Okako. He's staying in the house until next fall quarter anyways, so it'll work out great," she said with a smile.
"Wow… you'll be almost completely on your own," said Tenten, her mouth opened in a small "o".
"Yup," Sakura said, absentmindedly playing with the hem of her tunic. "It'll be an adventure," she said with a grin. "And I'll get to go visit mom and dad in London a couple times."
Tenten grinned. "Sounds like it all worked out then!" she exclaimed. Then she paused, looking thoughtful. "Has anyone told Hinata?" she asked.
The four of them hesitated, before Sakura shook her head. "Uh… I don't think so…" she said, trailing off.
Temari snorted. "Yeah. Maybe someone should. She's been avoiding everyone like the plague."
Tenten nodded. "Hinata gets so weird when this sort of thing happens," she said, giggling a little. "I'll go let her know that she doesn't have to walk on eggshells anymore," she said, standing and brushing the sand off of herself.
"'Kay!" Ino said as Tenten went climbing back up the stairs towards the mansion. She took the long way around the garden again, and then pushed her way through the guests at the party so she could climb back upstairs. She paused outside the room where they had last seen Hinata, it dawning on her that maybe she didn't really want to see what was going on in there. She shook her head and turned to go back down the hallway. She'd tell Hinata later.
"Oh, hey Tenten," Kankuro said, trying to scoot past her.
"Hey Kankuro," she said with a smile. "How're you?"
He shrugged. "Fine. Glad school's done," he said.
She nodded. "I hear you…"
"You look cheerful," he commented.
She grinned a little wider. "Well, I just found out Sakura isn't moving and isn't fighting with Ino anymore, which means I can talk to them now without them complaining about one another anymore," she explained, leaning up against the wall.
"Ah, that's a good reason to be happy," Kankuro said, nodding sagely.
She rolled her eyes. "Ah, you're so wise!" she said, shaking her head. "How are you then? Still keeping tabs on other's love lives, or trying to cultivate your own this time."
He leered at her. "I'm always working on cultivating my love life," he said, waggling his eyebrows.
Tenten snorted. "So I can see. Well, good luck with all that," she said, stepping around him and heading downstairs. She didn't want to head back into the cold so soon, so she headed for the kitchen, but found herself getting herded into the den by the movement of the crowds in the main hall. She sighed, turning to sit on the couch, until she saw a couple sprawled over it making out.
Her face turned a little red and she stuttered an apology before shoving her way back out, closing the door behind her. She shook her head, pushing her way to the back door. Maybe it was cold outside, but at least she wouldn't be constantly walking in on people getting physical with each other.
Meanwhile…
"…but, I don't know if I should have gone with "b" instead of "a" because "a" was more conditional, though I don't think "b" applied to the situation as well. And then, of course, the next problem set was based off of the equation I figured in the previous one, so if it really was "b" then the next five problems I calculated incorrectly… do you think he'll give partial credit as long as the calculations were done correctly, just incorrectly applied?"
Hinata stared at Naruto, waiting for his answer. He sat next to her on the bed, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "Well?" she asked, fidgeting nervously.
"Maybe?" he answered. "Uh… does he normally?"
She nodded. "He does on quizzes and the midterms I think, but I don't know about the finals." She sighed. "I'm so nervous. I wish I could just get my results right now, instead of having to wait until next Wednesday," she said, shaking her head.
Naruto chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think your tutoring probably helped me to not fail my first quarter of algebra II," he said.
She smiled. "Oh, yay! You remembered to use the flashcards then?"
He nodded. "Yeah. They were really useful."
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm glad I could help," she said.
They moved a little closer, and their conversation fell to pieces almost immediately. However, just a couple moments later they both sprang apart as, not for the first time that evening, the door swung open. Hinata and Naruto both looked over at the door and saw Neji, standing there looking rather uncomfortable. He cleared his throat.
"Sorry, didn't know there was anyone in here," he said, backing out of the room. Hinata caught a glimpse of a girl standing with him, right before the door swung shut. She looked over at Naruto, frowning slightly. "Who was that girl?" she asked, looking confused. He shrugged.
"No idea…"