I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
Bonjour people!
So I was surprisingly more busy in my week off school than I thought I would be. First day back and I've already had enough.
My updates will probably be less now that I'm back at school, but I'll try to add a new chapter at least once a week.
Again, I don't write for the reviews, but they would be appreciated because I want to know whether or not people like my story.
I think that's about it so goodbye for now.
Laterz
"Come on Shikamaru! Hurry up or we're gonna be late!" Naruto yelled as he tried to make Shikamaru walk faster.
"This is such a drag." Shikamaru complained but sped up anyway.
They reached the classroom just in time and then looked around. There was a big stage towards the end of the room with some instruments and microphones on it. All of the desks angled towards it so that people could see even if they were doing their work.
Tsunade noticed the boys as they walked in.
"Hello again" She smiled before continuing. "Today is the final performance so that I can determine the grades of my students for the term. We're a little behind and we'll be starting a new topic next lesson."
She paused to make sure they had understood her and then began again. "For today, you four will just have to watch."
"Okay" Naruto said while pulling the other towards some empty desks.
"Alright, who wants to go first?" Tsunade asked.
Karin and her two friends immediately volunteered. They put a Titanium karaoke version on the laptop and basically killed it. They weren't that bad at singing, it was just the fact that none of them could hit the high notes. Everytime one came, it sounded like a cat being run over - not very pleasant.
The class clapped, but only because of the glares that Tsunade gave them when they didn't. It continued like that; performance, clap, performance, clap Etc. Etc.
"Is that everyone?" Tsunade asked when the current person had finished performing.
Hinata, Sakura, Tenten and Ino kept quiet. It wasn't that they were scared of performing, because they were actually really good, it was the fact that people see the real them when they perform. That was a scary thing because it made them feel really vulnerable.
Tsunade didn't seem to notice and she was about to call the class to an early finish but then Karin spoke out.
"Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata haven't performed yet." She informed Tsunade.
Everyone turned to look at the girls, who were currently thinking of the many ways they could kill Karin.
Do they have stage fright? Sasuke asked himself.
I wonder if they're any good. Naruto thought.
Are they embarrased? Neji mentally questioned.
What a drag. Shikamaru sighed.
It took the four girls a while to actually get up from their seats. Hinata went to the keyboard and set up a microphone close enough so that she could sing and play at the same time. Tenten did the same with the guitar whilst Sakura and Ino just had a microphone. All four of them were stood up.
It was silent for a while and everyone held there breaths as Hinata and Tenten began the introduction.
Hinata and Tenten do the 'ahahahahahs' at the start.
Sakura
You trembled like you'd seen a ghost
And I gave in
Everyone looked in awe. Sasuke especially.
I lack the things you need the most, you said where have you been
You wasted all that sweetness to run and hide
I wonder why
I remind you of the days you poured your heart into
But you never tried
Hinata and Tenten
I've fallen from grace
Took a blow to my face
I've loved and I've lost
I've loved and I've lost
Naruto and Neji could only think one thing: wow.
All of them
Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
Sakura
But it will never be the same
Ino
It will never be the same
You left my soul bleeding in the dark
So you could be king
Shikamaru had actually decided to pay attention for once.
The rules you set are still untold to me and I lost my faith in everything
The nights you could cope, your intentions were gold
But the mountains will shake
I need to know I can still make
All of them
Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
But it will never be the same
Hinata
And as the floods move in
Naruto held his breath.
And your body starts to sink
I was the last thing on your mind
I know you better than you think
Tenten
Cause it's simple darling, I gave you a warning
Now everything you own is falling from the sky in pieces
So watch them fall with you, in slow motion
I pray that you will find peace of mind
And I'll find you another time
Hinata
I'll love you, another time
All of them
Explosions...on the day you wake up
Needing somebody and you've learned
It's okay to be afraid
But it will never be the same
"That was..." Sasuke began.
"AMAZING!" Naruto yelled. The girls looked his way but didn't show any emotion apart from the faint blush that was barely noticable on Hinata's cheeks.
"Thanks"
"Well, that's the end of the lesson, you all may go." She said before turning herself to the huge pile of paperwork that she had brought from the office. She sighed. The joys of being headteacher.
After everyone got out of school, Sakura, Hinata and Tenten headed towards their car. Ino stayed behind to give the boys general directions before catching up with the others.
"It doesn't sound that complicated." Naruto mussed.
"No, but we should still try and follow them incase we get lost." Neji said.
They all got into the car and tried to find the girls. It didn't take long, their car was the most expensive one in the car park.
"That's a nice car." Shikamaru commented with an appreciative whistle.
"Doesn't really surprise me. We were told these girls are rich." Sasuke told him.
"Still...nice car."
Said car was patently waiting for the guys to find them. When they finally had, Hinata pulled the car out of the car park and sped up as soon as she was on the main road.
Everyone in the car hummed in approval as the wind swep through their hair. There was just something about speed that made the four of them happy.
"Hmm...these girls are quite the speed demons." Neji commented.
Sasuke grunted something before speeding up himself to catch up with the girls.
They seemed to make it too the woods in record time.
"So the rumours were true. They do live in the woods!" Naruto shouted.
"Shh! We're in a car Naruto. We can all hear you without the shouting." Shikamaru told him. He was the unlucky one who had to sit to Naruto today.
"Ooookkkkaaaaayyyyy" Naruto emphasised every letter of the word in an obnoxious way. "Look!" He shouted again, completely forgetting that he had just agreed to stop yelling. "That's not a mansion, that's a palace!"
For once no one told his off as they were all too busy staring at the huge house. They all got out of the car still in awe at the sight before them but they didn't move away from it.
The girls waited, but after a while they got impatient.
"Are you guys coming or not?" Ino asked.
That seemed to snap them out of it. They followed the girls through the garden and into the mansion.
"Woah"
"Amazing"
"Beautiful"
"..."
The girls inwardly smirked at their reactions. Yes, they had a very nice house.
A splash diverted everyone's attention towards the indoor 'river'. Hinata's dolphins stared at the newcomers in wonder. When the guys noticed the dolphins they were once again amazed.
Dolphins as pets! COOL! Naruto thought.
Tenten made a loud whistling sound with two of her fingers and after a moment, the sound of paws could be heard from outside.
The wolfs and lions came running in while the eagles flew through the doors.
There's more? Neji asked himself.
"Cool!" Naruto shouted not able to contain himself any longer.
Tenten introduced her wolfs first.
"The wolfs are mine. This is Mischief and Rebel."
"Promise and Oath are the dolphins. They're mine." Hinata told them.
"This is Pride and Courage." Ino said gestering towards the eagles.
"And Majesty and Royal." Sakura finished as she pointed out the lions.
Who are these people? Majesty asked the girls.
They answered the question by introducing the boys.
"Now we're done with the introductions, I think we should start our projects." Hinata said.
Everyone else muttered an agreement of some sort and followed the girls up the stairs.
They all split up once they got to the top, going to their respective bedrooms.
When Naruto saw Hinata's room, he instantly got excited.
"Woah! Your room is so cool!" He exclaimed.
"Hmm" Hinata answered not really paying attention as she got her laptop from her desk.
She opened the balcony doors to let some fresh air in.
Naruto noticed the water slide at the end of Hinata's balcony that lead down to the pool below.
"You have a waterslide!"
"Yes and you aren't using it." She said as she shut the balcony curtains, hiding said object away from Naruto's view.
"Why?" Naruto whinned.
"Because we have a project to do." Hinata answered and then sat in her bubble chair with her laptop.
She expected Naruto to sit on the floor or the sofa. What she didn't expect was for him to climb into the chair and sit next to her.
"Umm...what are you doing?" She asked.
"I can't do the project if I can't see the laptop." He told her.
She thought for a minute. "Your logic makes no sense."
"Well I don't care. I'm not moving so get used to it."
She sighed. There was always the option of moving away, but she somehow knew that he would follow her regardless of where she sat. "Whatever"
Naruto grinned, happy that he had won and made himself comfortable by snuggling up close to Hinata and casually putting his arm behind her.
Hinata noticed this. "You do realise that this chair is really big. You don't have to sit so close."
"I know"
Hinata huffed in annoyance. This boy was unbelievable. Trying to ignore him, she powered up her laptop and open up a word document.
As she was about to type, she realised that they hadn't decided what their project was going to be about.
"Well" Hinata said.
"Well what?" Naruto asked.
"Well, what are we going to do our project about? We need to decide on a topic." She explained.
Naruto thought about this for a while. "How about love and hate?" He suggested.
She thought about this. Love and hate. Interesting. They can definately be compared against one another. Hinata looked at the boy next to her. Maybe he's not as dense as I originally thought.
"Love and hate. Hmm...I like it." She concluded.
"Great!"
"Don't get too excited." Hinata told him. "We still have to present our idea in a creative way, and actually explain why we chose it."
"Easy!" Naruto shouted, not letting anything put a damper on his mood.
His enthusiasm is infectious. I'm starting to actually like the idea of working with him. Hinata thought.
They continued working on the project for about an hour before Hinata realised that Naruto had been silent for a while.
He's oddly quiet.
She turned away from her laptop to look at him and realised that he was asleep.
"Well that explains that." She said as she tried getting out of the chair.
Naruto had other ideas though, because as soon as she shifted he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Are you kidding me!" Hinata yelled and attempted to get out of Naruto's grasp.
He must have been really strong considering the fact Hinata herself had amazing strength.
"Great" She sighed but stopped trying after she realised that it was futile.
She sat there for a few minutes thinking. It was oddly comforting being in Naruto's arms.
He's so warm. Hinata was aware that she had snuggled closer to him but didn't make any effort to move. Might as well get comfy. It doesn't look like I'll be moving any time soon.
She listened to the rhythm of Naruto's heartbeat for a while. It calmed her and made her tired. It wasn't long until she drifted to sleep as well.
Naruto's eyes opened and he glanced at the clock that was conveniently right across from him.
7:30pm. I've been asleep for about two hours. Funny, I don't remember falling asleep.
It was then that he noticed the blue haired beauty that was asleep in his arms.
Wonder how that happened. He thought. She looks happier when she's asleep. Like all of her problems have dissolved away.
Naruto didn't want to wake her but as soon as he moved, she stirred.
Her lavender eyes opened and met azure blue ones. She stayed in a sleep-induced daze for a few minutes before finally snapping out of it.
"What time is it?" She asked him as they both sat up.
"Just after half 7" He answered.
Hinata yawned and streched before getting out of the chair and heading to her bathroom. She splash cold water on her face to fully wake herself up and fixed her hair so that she didn't look like she had just been asleep.
When she came back into the room, Naruto was still in the chair.
"You can use my bathroom if you want." She told him.
He took her up on her offer. While Naruto was in the bathroom put her laptop on charge.
"Your bathroom is as amazing as the rest of your house!" He exclaimed.
"Thanks, I guess." She said as she made her way towards the door.
Naruto followed her. "Where are we going?" He asked.
"To the kitchen. I want to make a start on dinner."
At the word dinner Naruto instantly sped up.
When they made it to the kitchen, they found Ino and Shikamaru already in there.
"You didn't have to start dinner without us." Hinata told Ino as she began to help her.
"And yet I'm assuming that's exactly what you were planning on doing?" Ino accused.
Hinata grinned sheepishy. "Fine you got me."
Naruto sat down next to Shikamaru and watched how the girls interacted with one another.
"Where are Tenten and Sakura?" Hinata asked.
"Dunno" Ino replied. "Probably still in their rooms trying to decide what they're doing their project on."
Hinata thought about how stubborn those two could be.
"That could take a while then."
"Yeah, we got lucky." Ino started, refering to herself and Shikamaru. "We went with one of the first ideas we had."
"Same" Hinata told her.
"Really?" Ino asked genuinly surprised. "You're as stubborn as them you know. I was convinced that it'd take at least a hundred suggestions before you agreed on one."
Hinata folded her arms, clearly offended. "That's a bit of an exaggeration. I'm not that bad." She defended.
Ino snorted but made no effort to reply.
The two boys raised their eyebrows at each other. Did they act like this all of the time?
Dinner didn't take that long to prepare and all they had to do was wait for it to cook.
While they were waiting, Naruto decided to ask a few questions.
"Why is there a mini river running through the whole house?"
"So that the dolphins can go where ever they want." Ino answered.
"Why do you have dolphins as pets?"
"Because I like them." Hinata said.
"How many rooms does this house have?"
"Never counted them."
"Do you all have waterslides leading to the pool?"
"No, just me."
"Why?"
"God you ask too many questions." Ino said before Hinata had a chance to answer.
"I'm sorry?"
"SEE! That right there. A question!" The ping of the oven stopped Ino from going into a full blown rant.
Naruto was glad. Something told him that he did not want to be subjected to any of these girls' anger.
"I'm assuming you're staying for dinner?" Hinata asked them.
"Really? We can!" Naruto said getting excited again.
Hinata sighed but nodded.
"Cool, what're we having?"
"Chicken chow mein and prawn crackers." She answered before heading back into the kitchen.
While Naruto was going on and on about how he loved chinese food, Shikamaru was deep in thought.
They didn't have to invite us to stay for dinner but they did anyway. They're so different from how they are at school. These girls are kind, honest and actually really cool.
He thought back to when he and Ino were in her bedroom.
FLASHBACK
Ino grabbed her notepad and sat on the edge of her bed. Shikamaru plopped himself down infront of her.
"So...what are we doing this project about." He asked after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know." Ino answered. "I haven't really put much thought into it."
"Well how about we list things that contrast and pick the pair that we like the best?" Shikamaru suggested.
Ino shrugged. "Might as well."
"Okay...how about truth and lies?" Shikamaru started.
Ino made some sort of noise to indicate that she didn't like that idea.
"Bullies and victims?" He asked. "Black and white? Light and dark? People and-"
"Wait!" Ino shouted effectively cutting him off.
"What?" He asked.
"Light and dark. That could work." She explained.
Shikamaru thought for a moment. It had only been a suggestion, but when he thought about it, it did seem like a really got idea.
"Okay, let's go with that then." He agreed.
They talked for hours about the project. After a while, Ino noticed the time.
"It's almost 7, I have to make a start on dinner." She said as she got up.
"Alright" Shikamaru also got up and followed her out of the door.
They went down to the kitchen and Shikamaru sat at the breakfast bar while Ino got out all of her ingredients.
"You're really smart." Ino said nochalantly as she started chopping some vegetables.
"Thanks" Shikamaru was astonished that she had willingly said something nice to him.
Actually, now that he thought about it, she had seemed less and less like the girl he'd met at school as he spent more time with her.
They were silent; lost in their own thoughts and after a while, Naruto and Hinata came down.
END FLASHBACK.
"SAKURA! TENTEN! DINNER'S READY!" Ino shouted as she and Hinata set the table.
First they brought out the chow mein and crackers, and then they brought out a huge chocolate cake.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "Do you guys have meals like this everyday?"
"We cook almost everyday if that's what you're asking. We generally only have small desserts though. Tenten and Hinata made this cake this morning as an apology." Ino told him.
"Apology for what?" Shikamaru asked.
Ino didn't have chance to reply because Sakura and Sasuke had just entered the kitchen.
"You two didn't have to do dinner on yourselves. Tenten and I could have helped." Sakura said but then changed her mind. "In fact, it should have been Tenten and Hinata who made this, seeing as they owe us an apology."
"See this cake?" Hinata asked. "That is our apology. Drop it, move on, stop living in the past."
"What did they do?" Sasuke asked, genuinly curious.
"Nothing" Hinata answered quickly.
"Doesn't sound like nothing to me." Naruto muttered but shut up when he saw the glare that Hinata was giving him.
Tenten and Neji then chose that time to walk into the room.
"Thanks for making dinner. It took a while to finally decide on an idea." She said as she grabbed some glasses out of the cupboard.
Hinata and Ino shrugged and helped Tenten carry the glasses while Sakura got them drinks.
"What do you guys want to drink?" She asked.
Neji asked for water, Sasuke coke and Shikamaru and Naruto wanted orange juice. They watched as the girls get everything ready.
Sasuke looked closely at the girls. They move in unison, like they're in complete sync with each other.
Each of them knows what the other is about to do. It's like they've been doing this they're whole life. Neji observed.
It's easy to tell that they all love each other. A bond like that is hard to get. Naruto thought.
Shikamaru was having some doubts. They keep becoming even more of a mystery. I'm starting to think that we aren't going to be able to solve them.
They were all lost in their thoughts as the girls sat down at the table. It didn't take long to finish the food, and afterwards Hinata and Sakura took the dishes away.
Tenten went into the kitchen. The boys assumed that she was going to bring plates for the cake. In a sense she did. Instead of actually bringing them, she threw the plates to Ino, who catched them with ease. If that wasn't surprising enough, after that, she threw a knife.
"You guys are so cool!" Naruto told them.
"So we've been told." Tenten said.
Ino cut the cake into eight pieces. Four of them were slightly bigger than the other four. She put the bigger onces on plates first and handed them to the boys.
They thanked her and started to eat the slice.
"This is delicious!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Hmm...thanks" Hinata and Tenten said while the girls started to eat as well.
After dinner, it was quarter past nine. The boys decided that it was time for them to leave, so they said their goodbyes and made their way to their car.
"That was interesting." Sasuke said as they got into the car.
"Very" Neji agreed.
"They're so cool." Naruto told them. "I mean, they have awesome pets and an awesome house and they all act so different to how they are at school."
"Yeah, it's like they dropped the facade entirely, and I don't think they really care that we saw the real them." Shikamaru added.
Naruto was really listening anymore. He put his elbow on the windw and rested his head on it. He was thinking back to how good Hinata felt in his arms.
Is it weird to think that she fit perfectly into my arms? She looked so small and fragile and adorable. When she woke up, she didn't even ask why we were like that. She just acted normal, like it didn't bother her. He would have happily continued his thoughts, but Sasuke interrupted his mental ramblings.
"We're here" He announced.
Everyone got out and shouted their goodbyes. They all lived next to each other so it wasn't a long walk from the car.
When Sasuke got in, he dropped his keys on the counter.
"What a night"
He got dressed for bed and tried to get to sleep. He thought out what he and Sakura were doing for their project.
Dreams and reality. I'm not exactly surprised with Sakura suggesting that. I bet she thinks everything she wants in life is a dream.
He wanted to prove her wrong. The first step was gaining her friendship. He thought of ways to do that while he was falling asleep.
It's not as long as the last one but it seemed like a good place to end.
Some NaruHina and I suppose slight ShikaIno. Don't worry, I will include SasuSaku and NejiTen at some point.
Lemme know what you think about it so far.
Au revoir. ;)