Hey! So I realized what with all the jumping around these characters do when it comes to relationships it might be making some people uninterested. Basically I just want to iterate that the pairings SasuSaku, NaruHina, InoSai, NejiTen, and ShikaTema will totally be happening in this fic. So even if it seems like Sakura and Sasuke are on the verge of breakup and that Neji might be gay (?), fear not! It'll all work out in the end. :)
Additionally, I'm considering combining some of the previous chapters with one another just so the story's a little more readable. It's far from finished, but I don't want it to seem inaccessible. If anyone has opinions on numerous, shorter chapters vs. fewer, denser chapters, then shoot me a review.
Finally, sorry for the erratic posting. That's probably annoying. Imma work on that.
"Wait, you're taking Temari's advice on guys again?"
Tenten took a swig of water from her bottle and shrugged, looking up at Ino from where she was sitting on the floor. They were in the middle of the 5 minute break from cheerleading practice and Tenten had taken this as an opportunity to fill Ino in on her and Temari's run in at the mall. "Um… yeah?" Tenten said, smiling weakly.
"The last time you took Temari's guy advice you fake made out with her brother and went on a date with a felon," Ino said bluntly, stretching out her legs. "I mean, I love her, but the girl has shit sense when it comes to guys."
Tenten set aside her water bottle and stood, shaking her arms and shoulders out. "I don't know Ino… they seemed nice enough. They didn't look too much older than either one of us and I've been looking for a big of, um… adventure?" Tenten said, her voice rising up into a question at the end of her sentence.
Ino made a face. "Well, if they turn out to be serial killers I'm sure that'll be an adventure," she said, walking towards the middle of the gym.
"Don't be a pessimist!" Tenten protested. "Me and Temari will be together."
"It's 'Temari and I'," Ino corrected.
"No… I'm pretty sure it's 'me and Temari'," Tenten said, frowning.
"No, it's-"
A loud clap broke up their argument as the coach, in a booming voice, drew all the cheerleaders together again to get on with practice. Coach rubbed her hands together vigorously as she looked over the athletes. "Alright team," she finally barked, "get to work!"
Elsewhere
Hinata buried herself as far under her covers as she possibly could, the comforter and additional two blanket providing her with a warm cave to burrow in to. She peered through bleary eyes around her room and let out a tremendous cough that sounded like someone was dying. She sniffed loudly before hearing a small knock on her door. "H-hello?" she croaked.
Hanabi poked her head into the room and peered over at her older sister. "You look terrible, Hinata," she finally commented. "Do you want some hot tea?"
Hinata sniffed again. "I think I'm s-sick..." she said, her sore throat transforming her voice into a rusty hollow imitation of her usual tone.
Hanabi nodded sagely. "Yeah, you look pretty bad. I'm going to make you some hot lemon and honey, okay?"
"Okay," Hinata said quietly. Hanabi quietly closed the door and Hinata could hear her go thumping down the stairs. She shivered slightly as a chill managed to make its way through the thick layers she was bundled in, and so, her body protesting the movement, she crawled out of bed and over to her thermomater. Shivering, even though the room was mostly warm, she cranked it up to higher than she reasonably would want it, before shuffling back to bed. She readjusted her covers and pillows so she was propped up a little before turning on her desk lamp. She sunk back, trying in vain to clear her nose as Hanabi came back in.
"Here's some ibeprofen too," Hanabi said, setting the lemon and honey as well as the pills down on the table. "Neji's making you oatmeal. Need anything else?"
"M-maybe... some emergen-c and water?" Hinata asked, sounding deadfully pitiful as she took the ibeprofen and started sipping her juice.
Hanabi nodded, bounding out and back downstairs. Hinata shook her head to try and clear it, regretting it as it began to ache. She continued to slowly sip her drink, sighing as it started to ease the pain in her throat.
Neji tapped on the door lightly as he walked in, holding a tray with oatmeal, emergen-c, water, and applesauce on it. "Here you go," he said, wincing slightly at the heat in the room. Hinata looked at him, squinting slightly.
"Th-thank you, N-Neji-sama," she said, reaching out to take the tray.
He looked a little alarmed at her appearance. "Uh... you don't look so good Hinata. Do you have a fever?" He asked, helping her put down the tray.
Hinata shrugged, her eyes watering slightly from the steam rising from the oatmeal. "I-I don't th-think so," she said. "I th-think it's just a c-c-cold." She took a tiny bite of oatmeal, sighing as it slid soothingly down her throat.
"You probably don't want to stay in here, Neji," Hanabi said, poking her head into the room. "She'll infect you with the plague."
"I d-don't have the p-plague," Hinata protested, taking another huge sniff to try and clear her sinuses. This didn't seem to reassure Neji, however, and he began edging out of the room.
"Need anything else, Hinata?" Neji called from the doorway.
Hinata shook her head, looking pitiful as she took another bite of oatmeal. "N-no, th-thank you," she said.
Hanabi and Neji left, closing the door quickly in their urgency to leave the overly-hot, virus infected room. Hinata slowly made her way through the meal Neji had made her, grateful for the small servings; her appetite wasn't enormous. She set the tray aside as she began sipping her tea again, pulling a book towards her. 'Bad luck to be sick on holiday break,' she thought dully.
After about 30 minutes she was hit by a wave of exhaustion, and she set her book aside to switch her light off, sinking back into her pillows and falling asleep.
"Uh... Hinata?"
Hinata stirred from her nap, slowly looking around the dark room. "N-Neji-sama?" She asked, sitting up and turning her light on. She glanced over at her alarm lock and saw that she had been asleep for about four hours.
"Yeah, you have a visitor," Neji responded, sounding sour.
Hinata frowned. "Wh-who?" She asked. "I-is it S-Sakura? I know sh-she was talking a-about Christmas sh-shopping with me, b-but..." she trailed off, readjusting her blankets a little as she sat up straighter, her head pounding.
"Hey Hinata!" Naruto poked his head in.
Neji threw him a look as Hinata sat up stock straight, pulling her covers up automatically. "Oh no! I f-f-forgot to c-call you about t-t-today!" She whisper-croaked, her voice giving way a little.
"That's cool," Naruto said, edging around Neji to enter her room, oblivious to Neji's annoyance. "We can work here."
Before Hinata could protest, Neji cut in. "What? Are you still using my cousin as a tutor aide?" Neji sneered. "School isn't even in session anymore. You can't be that desperate."
The pair looked back at him. "Um..." Hinata said. "I'm n-n-not actually h-helping Naruto-kun. He's h-h-helping m-me with s-something." She frowned a little at Neji before looking over at Naruto. "B-but, N-Naruto-kun. I-I'll get you s-s-sick if you st-stay here," she said, looking worried.
Naruto grinned. "I've got an immune system of steel!" He exclaimed. "Besides, this is important. As long as you're not too tired," he suddenly said, looking a little concerned. Neji scoffed at this, walking away, the door swinging a little so it was mostly closed.
Hinata bit her lip. "I'm n-not. B-but I st-still d-don't want to g-g-"
Naruto cut her off. "It's fine!" He said, plopping down onto her floor. "I haven't been sick in years! Besides, you're cute when you have a cold," he said teasingly. Hinata smiled at him, sniffing feebly, shaking her head a little. "Totally," Naruto said again. He dug around in his backpack, pulling out notebook and pencil. "I'll take notes this time!" He said, opening it to a blank page.
The notebook was full of Hinata's neat handwriting, but now Naruto's joined it. To put it kindly, his handwriting was similar to that of a medical professionals. Hopefully it would get the job done. "So, Operation Figure-Out-What-Hinata-Wants-To-Do-With-Her-Life-So-She-Stops-Being-Sad, meeting three," he said. "Let's start!"
The Next Day...
"So, going out on a date with two guys we met in the mall doesn't sound a little sketch to you?"
Tenten looked over at Temari worriedly, gradually becoming more and more nervous about the upcoming evening.
Temari grinned and looked over at Tenten, pausing adjusting her eyeliner in order to respond. "Tenten, it'll be fine! We're just going to go out for karaoke. There'll be people there and everything. Besides, for all you know whats-his-name is your soul mate," Temari said, chuckling slightly as she gazed back in her mirror, adding a little cat-eye wing to each eye.
With a sigh, Tenten watched Temari expertly apply her makeup. Tenten had no where near the precision Temari did when it came to makeup, but then again she didn't really have much interest in makeup anyway. She added a swoop of mascara to her lashes before stepping back, giving her appearance a once over. She was wearing a thin, grey off-the-shoulder, tunic-style sweater and some comfy black leggings with a pair of riding boots. She had opted for comfort over high fashion.
Temari, on the other hand, was dressed a little nicer, clad in a high-waisted leather pencil skirt with a tucked-in peasant top and a pair of heeled oxfords. She fluffed up her hair a little before putting on a coat of lipgloss. Tenten, after a moment of reflection, followed suit, blotting the excess gloss of so there was only a subtle shine. "You ready?" Temari finally asked, grabbing her purse and peacoat.
"Yup," Tenten said, smiling bravely. She pulled on the anorak she had brought and slung her bag over one shoulder. The two girls traipsed down the stairs and into the foyer. Temari took a moment to call out a goodbye to the almost creepily quiet house before the two headed outside and over to Temari's jeep. "Which karaoke bar are we going to?" Tenten asked, climbing into the passenger seat.
"The one on the corner of 50th," Temari said, starting up the vehicle. "You ever been?"
Tenten shook her head. "I don't think so...?" She responded. "I don't do much karaoke anyways."
"Karaoke is fun!" Temari exclaimed, backing the jeep and heading towards the city center. "I love it!"
Tenten chuckled. "That's probably because you're a good singer."
Temari shook her head solemnly. "Not really," she said. "I have a really weird singing voice, so I can sing men's songs and not much else," she said.
Tenten chuckled, gazing through the windshield at the road. It wasn't late, but seeing as it was december it was already pitch black outside. She leaned back, letting her head lean against the headrest of her seat as they drove towards the karaoke bar, chatting about cheerleading practice and Temari's photography project.
"Cheerleading sounds hard," Temari said, pulling into the parking lot. Tenten had just been regaling her with the workouts the team had been doing lately to prepare for regionals. Temari suddenly let out a laugh. "God, who would think I'd say cheerleading sounds hard?" she asked, giggling. Tenten grinned. "It really does though. I never would have guessed," Temari finished as she turned the jeep off and both girls climbed out.
"Yeah, I didn't realize until I started," Tenten said, making a face. "Spotting and stuff especially, because whenever they slip or fall I have to catch them. At least all of the flyers are little-ish. Though…" Tenten started laughing. "The other day Sasuke stumbled when he was lifting Atsuko and I had to brace him and then catch her." Temari started giggling once more. "Boy is heavy!" Tenten explained as they walked towards the doors.
Temari chuckled, as they approached the building. "Oh, there they are," Temari said, pointing and waving. Tenten followed the direction of her finger and smiled, a little nervously. "Calm down girl. If something goes wrong, we can take 'em," Temari said with a wink.
Tenten smiled as Hidan and Kakuzu walked up. "Hi," she said, greeting them.
"Good evening," Kakuzu said. Hidan nodded, paying more attention to Temari than to Tenten. Temari chuckled.
"Jeez, so formal," she teased, grinning.
Hidan grinned. "Yeah, he's just that way," he said, giving Kakuzu a sideward glance.
Tenten's gaze flickered between the two before she walked towards the doors to the karaoke bar. "Shall we?" She asked.
"Sure."
Elsewhere...
Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, glancing out the window of the diner. She fiddled with the tea in front of her before taking a sip, looking across the table to meet Sasuke's eyes. She sighed, setting her mug back down in front of her. "Well, this isn't awkward or anything..." she said, reaching towards the middle of the table to grab a fry from the platter that sat there.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, leaning back and crossing his arms. His expression and posture made it obvious he wanted her to speak first. Sakura sighed, scooping up a little tartar sauce with her fry before eating it. "You know," she said, her tone light, "maybe you should say something? You're the one who wanted to talk about "trust" and everything anyways..."
With a sour look, Sasuke reached forwards to grab his drink. He took a long sip before setting it back down in front of him. "Okay," he finally said. "I'm happy you're not moving and all that, but I fail to see the point in a relationship if you don't actually trust the other person with your issues."
Sakura blinked. "Okay... that was upfront," she said, her voice a little quieter than before.
"That makes one of us."
Sakura winced. She had walked right into that one. "I... I know I haven't been great at the whole communication thing lately, but..." she said, trailing off slightly.
"But what?" Sasuke asked, taking another sip from his drink as he looked at her, his expression cooly blank. Sakura chewed on her lip slightly as she looked at him. When she had first met him she had thought that was just his way of trying to stay distant from someone. However, she had learned that that was actually the expression he adopted when he was feeling hurt or angry. Her expression morphed into one that was tinged a little with regret.
"But I didn't want you to feel bad," she finally mumbled.
Sasuke stared at her for a second before he responded. "What...?" He finally asked, his voice a mixture of annoyance and confusion.
"Don't get annoyed," Sakura pleaded.
"I'm not."
Sakura pursed her lips. "Sureee," she said. "You're totally not annoyed." She scrunched up her face as she realized how pissy she had sounded. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it like that. It's just... I don't like talking about this."
Sasuke sighed. "Sakura, why do you find it so hard to talk about yourself? You listen to me, but you never want to talk about anything difficult going on in your life. Don't think I haven't noticed." He was struggling to keep his exasperation out of his voice, but he couldn't keep it entirely from his eyes.
"Sorry if I don't want to talk about my problems," Sakura said, sounding a little angry. "I didn't know you wanted to listen to me whine."
His eyebrows flew up. "How is talking about you moving halfway across the planet whining?" He asked, sounding taken aback.
Sakura wracked her brain for a response, growing more and more agitated the more the conversation progressed. She felt it heading into dangerous territory and she was desperate to steer it to any topic other than herself. "I... I... I just don't want to seem self-absorbed," she said, laughing nervously.
Sasuke leaned forwards. "You have a weird definition of 'self-absorbed'," he said, sighing slightly. "Why do you think you'd sound narcissistic?" He asked.
Sakura shook her head. "I don't want you psychoanalyzing me," she said.
Saying he looked annoyed would have been an understatement. He practically threw his arms up in exasperation. "It's not psychoanalyzing when you're talking about your frikken relationship," he said, glaring a little bit.
"Well that's what you seem to be doing," Sakura said mulishly. She stared down at her now lukewarm tea, examining the liquid inside. She couldn't bring herself to look back up at him. She was being childish; she knew it. But he was closing in on a whole plethora of things she didn't want to talk about with him. Holding her breath slightly, she looked back up at him to see his reaction. He sat across from her, staring at her in what only could be described as disbelief.
"So you don't want to talk about this at all?" He asked, his voice flat.
She laughed nervously. "Look, I said I was sorry. Can we just leave it at that?" She asked.
He stood. "No. We can't," he said, grabbing his coat. "I'm not interested in a relationship with someone I don't know anything about. If I wanted that I'd just go ask Karin." Sakura blinked, looking taken aback, and Sasuke winced slightly. "I mean-"
"Fine!" Sakura exclaimed, standing suddenly. "Fine! Go ask Karin. I'm sure she'd just love to tell you whatever you wanted to hear." Anger was plain in her voice as she snatched up her purse. The waitress hurried over, looking worried.
"Um, I need to get your receipt before you go," she said, glancing between the two of them. Sasuke looked a little regretful over what he had said, but Sakura was seething.
Reaching into her purse, Sakura snatched out a twenty dollar bill and shoved it at the waitress. "Keep the change," she said, hurrying out of the booth and towards the door. Sasuke followed her, jogging slightly until he fell into step besides her.
"Sakura," he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just that-"
"Just what?" Sakura demanded, interrupting him again. She turned to face him, stopping even though they were now standing in the middle of the parking lot. "I don't want to talk about this with you. I don't want to talk about this with anyone." Her voice caught a little as she said it, surprising Sasuke. "It's my business; just leave me alone."
His expression went from regretful to blank in a split second. "Fine," he said, a note of derision in his voice. He shoved ten dollars at her. "My share of the bill." With that he walked away from her, crossing the parking lot towards his car. Sakura watched him go, a feeling of panic rising in her chest as he got into his car. She had driven, taking advantage of the liscense she had finally managed to get, and now she walked towards the car she had borrowed from her mother. She sat down in the front seat, locking the door, and leaning forwards onto the steering wheel.
She felt an anxiety attack coming on, something she hadn't experienced in over half a year. Her breathing grew quick and shallow as she shook slightly, holding onto her arms slightly. She had had enough moments like this that she knew it wasn't just caused by something as trivial by fighting with a boy. This was the feeling she got when people got too close to her and too close to the huge array of things she spoke about to almost no one. Tears welled up in her eyes as she gasped for breath, her shaking growing more and more violent. She accidently pressed on the horn with her forehead, letting out a shriek as the honk echoed through the parking lot, a couple tears leaking out of her eyes.
"Okay, okay... okayokayokay," she mumbled, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." She reached for her bag, accidently tipping some of the contents out as she frantically rooted through it. Her fingers finally closed around her phone, much to her relief, and she yanked it out of her bag, letting the purse fall to the floor. It took her longer than normal to dial the number, her fingers shaking so much she repeatedly pressed the wrong number and had to erase it. Finally she pressed the call button and held the phone up to her ear, leaning forwards again as it rung. She tried to slow down her breathing as she waited for an answer, scrunching up her face. "Come on," she said. "Pick up. Please pick up."
Finally she heard a little static. "Hello?" Ino's voice filled Sakura's ear, sounding cheerful, as per usual.
"I-Ino," Sakura said, her voice coming out much more ragged and quiet than usual.
"Sakura?" Ino asked, sounding alarmed. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
Sakura let out a tiny noise that sounded like a choked sob as she tried to answer. "I-" Sakura started, before cutting off, her voice shaking a little.
Ino's voice came through the line, clear and calm. "Where are you?"
It had taken half an hour of talking before Sakura was able to calm down to the point where she could drive. Ino made her promise to follow her back to Ino's house, which, as usual, lay deserted as her dad was on yet another trip. Ino helped her into the house and made her some cocoa to warm her up with. Sakura sipped it placidly, exhausted from the outpouring of panic and emotion. Ino tucked a blanket around her, not unlike what she had done when they were little, and settled into the armchair across from the couch Sakura was on. "Sakura," Ino started, looking worried. "Sakura, I really think you need to talk to someone about this. Someone who has experience with stuff like this."
Sakura looked worried as she made eye contact with Ino. "W-what?" She asked, sounding alarmed.
"Sakura, calm down," Ino said soothingly, standing and moving over to sit next to her. "This happens too much. You can't keep pretending it doesn't and that everythings okay, because once every few months you call me from your car or a park struggling to breath."
"I'm fine," Sakura protested. "I'm fine. I'm just a little stressed out."
"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed. Sakura looked over at her in alarm, her eyes wide. "No. You're not fine. You need to talk to someone!"
Sakura shook her head. "Like a therapist? No way."
Ino settled back a little, looking at her. "There's nothing wrong with going to a therapist."
"'Anxiety'," Sakura said, looking down at her mug bitterly. "I just need to try and calm down more. There's plenty of people who have it worse than me. There's no reason why..."
"Okay, stop!" Ino said. Sakura met her eyes, despair plain in them. "A lot of people have social anxiety. But Sakura, this is dangerous. Stop making excuses," Ino said, her voice filled with worry.
That sent Sakura back over the edge, and she desolved into a puddle of tears once more. Ino plucked the cup out from her hands and rubbed her back as Sakura tried to get herself under control again. They sat like that for a few minutes, Sakura bent over, hiding her face in her hands, and Ino pressed against her, holding her shoulders. Finally Sakura shifted, wiping some tears and snot from her face. "Sorry," she said.
Ino shook her head, but Sakura continued. "There's no good reason why I should feel like this. There's nothing wrong with my life."
"Maybe it doesn't have to do with that. Maybe it's something else," Ino suggested.
Sakura looked over at her, her eyes red and swollen. "Like what?" She asked simply.
Ino shook her head, at a loss. "I don't know. But someone else might. Maybe you should talk to your parents about it."
"I don't want them to worry," Sakura said. "They're about to leave for London. They have enough to think about."
"Believe it or not," Ino began, a little wryness seeping into her voice. "You're more important than London."
A little life came back into Sakura's eyes at that. "I think most of the UK would disagree with that," she said simply.
"Fuck the UK," Ino said. "You're my friend, and we've been friends since we were babies-"
"-Except for 8th and 9th grade-" Sakura interjected.
"-except for 8th and 9th grade," Ino said, making a face. "You are much, much more important than London."
"Still..." Sakura said.
"I'll come with you," Ino said. "I'll help. But you can't ignore this anymore."
Sakura reached for the mug and stared at the chocolate. She finally drank, chugging it down in a couple gulps. She shivered a little from the sugar, setting the empty cup down on the coffee table once again. "Okay," she said after a few moments of silence. "Okay. I'll talk to them about it."
Ino leaned over to hug her. "Thank you," Ino said, sounding relieved.
"Thanks Ino..."
So that was serious and everything. Just wanted to add a little postscript to apologize to anyone who lived in the UK and read this. London and the UK seem pretty cool... so, yeah. Just wanted to say that. :O