Fallen Leaves Magazine
January 27th, 1989
The Konoha community, particularly that of Konoha Preparatory Academy, grieves in the wake of the gruesome murder of Dan Kato, 30, and Nawaki Senju, 11. Dan was married to the granddaughter of the Headmaster of Konoha Preparatory Academy, Hashirama Senju. Nawaki was Mr. Senju's grandson. The two were reported missing seven days ago, along with his granddaughter, Tsunade Senju, who was wed to Kato in 1987. Senju was known to be 37 weeks pregnant at the time of her disappearance.
Senju was returned unconscious but alive this past Wednesday, the 23rd after Mr. Hashirama paid a ransom in exchange for the safe return of his grandson, granddaughter, son-in-law, and unborn great-grandchild.
Tragically, Police Chief Uchiha reported that only Ms. Senju was returned at the planned exchange. Details of the ransom payment and trade have not been made public at this time.
Early yesterday morning, the remains of Dan Kato and Nawaki Senju were found by two honeymooners hiking. The distraught couple told reporters they stumbled upon a garbage bag with "body parts spilling out." In a statement from the Konoha Police Chief, the body was found to be wholly dismembered, with all vital internal organs removed. Chief Uchiha stated this was "one of the most grotesque murders ever to occur in Konoha."
Konoha is generally regarded as a very safe place to live, with Leaf County being one of the most affluent counties. No motive has been found at this time. Still, given the social prominence and relative wealth of the Senju family, the possibility that the kidnapping was premeditated and targeted has not been ruled out.
Mr. Senju requests that the community respect the family's privacy as they grieve the loss of their beloved family members. No official statement on the status of Kato and Senju's unborn child has been given.
August 30, 2017
It was Thursday, and Neji had become slightly panicked about his team's debate tomorrow. Keeping Lee and Tenten focused had proven to be a demanding task, and he'd come close to getting up and leaving ethics class several times throughout the week. He loathed group projects for this very reason. He'd inevitably be stuck with some weirdo or some vapid girl. Or, in this case, both.
Okay, fine. Tenten didn't exactly seem vapid, but she engaged in Lee's inane chatter more than he thought was necessary.
The group decided to meet at the library Thursday night to tie up loose ends, and Neji wasn't particularly glad to be there. In addition to a full day of classes, he'd endured a sweltering scrimmage to prepare for tomorrow's game.
When Neji arrived at the library at precisely 7 pm, he was irritated that neither Tenten nor Lee was there at the designated time. At 7:05, Tenten casually ambled toward the table he had claimed. Neji raised an accusatory brow at her but said nothing. Tenten just smiled and pulled her laptop out of her backpack.
"Hey, Neji." He nodded at her before returning his attention to his laptop screen. Neji prayed Lee would arrive quickly. He was raised to be polite, but he hardly had the energy for small talk.
A cloying silence drifted between the two as the minutes passed on. Neji willfully ignored it, but Tenten was anxious to fill the quietness.
"So I hear you guys have your first game tomorrow. Do you all feel ready?"
Neji shrugged in response. "I supposed so," he added after a moment, forcing himself to tear his eyes away from his screen for the sake of decorum. "We won against this team last year."
"Well, it's my first KPA game." Tenten smiled, "I'm excited to see you guys play."
By the grace of God, Lee walked over to their table, "I apologize for being late. I stumbled across the most extraordinarily youthful woman I have ever seen."
Tenten and Neji gave each other looks of confusion and mild horror. Hmmm… maybe Lee's arrival wasn't such a relief after all.
"That's... um... What do you mean by extraordinarily youthful, Lee?" Tenten asked.
"Just that she has blossomed into the most supple flower in the springtime of youth. She is the most breathtaking woman I have ever seen."
Neji's face looked pained, and Tenten bit her lip to suppress a laugh. Did springtime of youth refer to puberty?
"Wow. She must really be something, Lee. I admire how, um, forthcoming you are." Tenten grinned.
"There is no hiding my enchantment for Sakura Haruno." Lee looked off into the distance dreamily.
"The freshman?" Neji asked, his face returning to its expressionless mask.
"Ohh, so that's what you meant by youthful," Tenten chuckled.
Neji coughed and cleared his throat. "Let's get started."
The team spent over two hours preparing arguments and counterarguments before they felt prepared. It was Lee who stood up first. "If neither one of you mind, I will be leaving now. I see Sakura packing up her bags, and I'd like to offer to walk her back to her dorm." Lee had already stalked away when Neji sighed, "she's probably going to find a random guy's offer to walk her back creepier than walking alone at night…."
Tenten shook her head and smiled, "probably, but it's sweet in a way." They wordlessly gathered their things and headed out of the library into the dark. The campus's historic architecture felt disconcerting at night. Sparse lighting cast shadows on the old stone walls and the canopies of large oak trees hid the moon's light.
"I might take it back. This campus is high-key spooky at night." Tenten murmured.
Neji shrugged and continued walking silently toward the dorm buildings.
"I guess I'm just getting used to all the trees and shadows," Tenten spoke again, unwilling to make the entire trek in silence. "It's so flat and open in Suna, and the moon and the stars light up everything." The silence continued to stretch, and Tenten wondered if Neji would ignore her. After a few moments, he finally spoke. "Why did you move to Konoha?"
"My parents just moved out of the country for business. I didn't want to leave the States for my last few years of high school, so they let me pick a boarding school."
"Where did they move?"
"Saudi Arabia. My dad's in oil. They've always made trips back and forth but felt they needed to make it home base for a while." Tenten took note of Neji's unfazed demeanor. He nodded as if everyone's parents abandoned them to move to the Middle East.
"Why didn't you want to go? It sounds like it could be interesting."
"I just wanted the high school experience I had always envisioned." Tenten thought for a moment. It had been a gut decision for her. She wasn't sure of the exact logical reasons but staying in the States felt right. "I want to travel and explore eventually, but not now. Moving from Suna to Konoha is enough exploring for me for now." Again, Neji was quiet and simply nodded in understanding. "And women aren't allowed to drive there. It would suck to move there right as I turn sixteen," she said as an afterthought.
"Do you already have your license?" He asked.
"No, my birthday isn't until December. Do you?"
"Three weeks," he smiled. They walked in a slightly more comfortable quiet after that. Tenten thought to ask him how long he'd been at KPA, but they were nearing the point where they'd need to split up to go to their respective dorm buildings. The dorms were twin buildings made of weathered stone, separated by gender. They were next door to each other, so Tenten would only go a few steps on her own before making it inside.
"See you in class tomorrow," Neji said quietly as they parted ways.
"Night, Neji."
Sasuke glared at his feet resting on the bleachers in front of him. He would combust if he heard the sound of crunching Flamin' Cheetos any longer. Sakura and Naruto had fretted that he wouldn't know anyone at the game to hang out with since Naruto would be playing and Sakura would be cheering. He assured them he would be fine spending the night in his dorm. The two had been incredulous at that, sputtering reasons why he had to go to the game. Naruto's hands waved in the air like a deluded bird, and Sakura's eyes widened as if he had just declared he kicked puppies for fun.
"But it's the first game of the season!"
"You have to cheer me on, bastard!"
"You can't just spend Friday night alone."
When Sasuke realized he wouldn't have a choice in the matter, he told them he would be fine at the game alone. Unfortunately for him, Sakura's nosy friend Ino had been listening to the conversation and felt the need to butt in.
"I can totally set him up with Chouji and Shikamaru! I'm sure they'd love each other."
Sasuke had resisted, but in the end, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino had gotten their way, which was why he was now sitting on the bleachers next to the guy who complained a lot and the guy who never stopped eating.
Chouji had tried to make friendly small talk, but between the lack of effort by Sasuke and Shikamaru, his genuine interest in watching the game, and his desire to stuff his face with Cheetos, his efforts were dwindling.
Shikamaru and Chouji diverted their attention to the rapidly intensifying game as the game continued. Sasuke actually enjoyed the increasing noise of the cheering students as it drowned out Chouji's obnoxious crunching.
Right before halftime, the home team made a field goal. As the players started to move off the field, Chouji announced that he was going to get more snacks, and Shikamaru's said he would go with him. Sasuke was happy to be left alone for a few minutes.
His eyes were drawn to the only two people he knew on the field. Naruto was jogging toward the jumble of cheerleaders, and Sakura slowly walked in his direction, beaming. When Naruto made his way over to Sakura, he lifted her playfully and spun her around. Sakura's arms wrapped around Naruto's neck, and she laughed happily.
Sasuke was surprised. The dynamic between the two had clearly shifted since he had last hung out with them. A few years ago, Sakura would have punched Naruto immediately for that kind of contact. She had always hated his relentless advances toward her. Now she seemed so happy. Did she like him? He felt an unwanted twinge of emotion pool in his gut.
He wasn't jealous or anything. Sasuke didn't like Sakura. He didn't like anyone. He just couldn't help that seeing Naruto and Sakura so close made him more and more aware of his own isolation. A small part of him was comforted by their attempt to bring him into their friend group. Seeing them together made him realize they were much closer to each other than they were to him. He had never been very good at bonding with others outside his family. With his family now gone, the three closest people to him were Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. The reality, though, was that he didn't have strong relationships with anyone anymore.
Hinata sat on the highest bleacher. She had been alone for a few minutes now, but she didn't mind. She glanced in Kiba's direction. Until halftime, he had been sitting next to her. Unfortunately, a girl had caught his eye, and he had stepped away to flirt shamelessly. Hinata couldn't tell if the girl was genuinely interested in him or if she was just being nice, but they had been leaning up against a nearby fence for a few minutes.
Shino usually kept Hinata company when Kiba went after a girl, but he was busy playing his clarinet. It was his first year in the marching band, so Hinata knew she couldn't depend on him to hang out with her at football games this year. She contemplated returning to her dorm, but she was content just sitting with her thoughts for now. She was trying to be more social, so while sitting alone wasn't a significant step, it was better than secluding herself in her dorm.
She smiled when Kiba climbed the bleachers to find her at the top.
"How'd it go?" Hinata asked, doing her best to be a supportive wing woman.
Kiba grinned wolfishly, "I convinced her to come to the party tonight, so I guess we'll see how it goes later."
The Inuzuka siblings had been using their parent's nearby house as a venue for parties for years. Hana had graduated the year before, but she had established their house as the designated party house for the past four years.
Mr. and Mrs. Inuzuka bred show dogs, and almost every weekend, they would travel the country to attend different dog shows. In the past, when Kiba had not been old enough to board at KPA, his parents had asked Hana to come home to stay with him over the weekends. They didn't need to beg Hana. They simply left her with one-thousand dollars and told her not to have too much fun with a suggestive wink.
With her parent's subtle blessing, she began throwing parties almost every Friday during football season. She put their money towards a cleaning service, and they were none the wiser.
Typically only high schoolers attended the party, but Hinata had gone to hang out with Kiba many times when they were in middle school. She never drank or joined in on much of the partying but was happy to attend as a wallflower.
Since they were now in high school and Hana had graduated, the party would be full of their classmates for the first time. The upperclassmen would still go since they had been going for years, but Kiba had officially inherited the host job.
"That's awesome," Hinata smiled. She looked down at her hands which were nervously moving in her lab. She hadn't even noticed…. "Kiba, w-would you care if I missed this one? I'm feeling kind of tired."
Kiba frowned and wrapped a hand around her own to keep them from moving. "You want to skip out on my first party?" Kiba watched as she smiled back weakly and rolled her eyes. He wasn't sure how someone could look sweet rolling her eyes, but Hinata managed. "It's hardly your first party…." She muttered.
"Why don't you go for 30 minutes? It's gonna be fire. You'll regret it later if you're not there." Kiba knew that was completely untrue as he said it, but selfishly, he wanted her there. "Or you can hide out in my room."
Hinata nodded, unwilling to disappoint her friend. She knew it would be longer than 30 minutes since she couldn't drive herself.
"Okay, I'll go. If you bring a girl back to your room, though, and I'm in there, I'm never coming again."
He laughed, "that's what guest rooms are for."
"Shikamaru, if you guys aren't waiting by the door in 15 minutes, we're leaving without you," Ino exclaimed bossily as they all made their way to the dorms after the game.
"I'm pretty sure none of us would care but you." Sasuke huffed under his breath.
"We're ready to go, Ino. You're the one who wanted to go back to the dorms first." Chouji stated calmly.
"You are not ready, Chouji. I literally refuse to walk in with you if you wear that shirt." She retorted, looking over her shoulder. She often felt it was up to her to keep her two oldest friends from being downright embarrassing. She was hard on them, but she did it for their own good.
Shikamaru sighed. "Stop being a bitch to Chouji. He looks fine." Chouji was staring at his shirt, rubbing what appeared to be some kind of condiment stain with the palm of his hand.
Sakura could tell Ino was about to make another sassy remark to Shikamaru, so she spoke before the comments could escalate. "Okay, sounds like a plan. We'll meet Ino's driver in 15 minutes outside the door. Come on, Ino." She said, tugging the blonde girl's hand.
Sakura pulled Ino inside the dorm building entrance, and they walked briskly to their room. "Ugh, I really want to get out of this skirt, Ino. Are you sure we can't change?" Sakura gestured to her red cheerleading uniform.
"We have to wear it, Forehead. It's a status symbol."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "People know we're cheerleaders. I doubt they need a constant reminder. Mine probably smells. I've been sweating in it all night." She wrinkled her nose.
"Only the other freshmen and some sophomores know who we are. If you want cute upperclassmen to notice you, you better wear the uniform." Ino said, tossing perfume haphazardly toward her pink-haired friend. "Put this on."
"Thanks, Pig, but I'd rather not smell like a pastry," Sakura smirked, grabbing her own preferred scent from her makeup bag.
"I'm getting rid of the bow," Sakura stated adamantly, looking at the reflection of the red atrocity in her hair. It was nearly the size of her head, and it made her look like a five-year-old.
"Suit yourself," Ino said nonchalantly, putting a final swipe of gloss on her lips. She continued inspecting herself in the mirror, pouting and pulling her hair in front of her shoulders. "I should have done matte gloss, shouldn't I have?"
"Sounds like an oxymoron," Sakura muttered, grabbing her own tube of gloss.
Tenten gasped when they pulled up in front of the Inuzuka estate.
"It's wild, isn't it?" Sasha chuckled, unbuckling her seatbelt.
The roommates slid out of their Lyft and walked closer to the house. Tenten was used to large homes, but the Inuzuka household was different. It was gaudy as hell. The front yard was separated from the street with a tall wrought iron fence gilded with gold. The front yard featured several water features illuminated with colorful LED lights. As they approached the stately door, Tenten appraised the unique decor. There was a sculpture of a dog lifting its leg to pee positioned next to a rose bush.
"Charming," Tenten muttered. Sasha grinned As they entered the house. It was already crowded, with students holding solo cups. Tenten could feel the bass rumbling.
"Come on, let's go find people," Sasha said, grabbing her hand.
Tenten's roommate, Sasha, had taken it upon herself to introduce Tenten to all the sophomores at KPA. Tenten enjoyed meeting people, but it had been an exhausting week.
Sasha was extremely friendly and wouldn't rest until she was positive Tenten was comfortable at her new school. She was a peer leader, which meant she had volunteered to room with a new student to act as a mentor and friend. Tenten was grateful for her enthusiasm but was ready for a break. Hopefully, she could have a quiet Saturday night tomorrow.
Fortunately, Tenten had found one foolproof way to distract the girl. Sasha was obsessed with food. She must have had an outrageous metabolism because Tenten couldn't imagine keeping up with the volume and frequency that Sasha ate. Tenten decided to humor Sasha for a while and continue to meet her new classmates. She figured when she was ready, she could distract Sasha with some snacks and sneak outside for a few minutes of sweet solitude. It wouldn't last long, but it would get her through the night.
Despite his general annoyance with the blonde, Sasuke was relieved when Naruto arrived at the party. Naruto had ridden with some of the football players since there hadn't been enough room in Ino's car. This had left Sasuke with Sakura and her god-awful roommate and friends. Though he didn't completely hate the Nara kid. Sasuke could appreciate the witty quips he muttered while the girls prattled on about nothing on the drive over.
"Naruto!" Sakura squealed, her drink sloshing a bit as she greeted him. "We missed you!" If they hadn't only been there fifteen minutes, Sasuke would have sworn the girl was already a bit drunk. He watched Naruto grin and wrap an arm around her waist.
"Since when did you two stop hating each other?" Sasuke asked before he had a chance to stop himself.
"We never hated each other!" Naruto shouted indignantly over the music.
"You're right. I should rephrase that. When did Sakura stop hating you?"
Sakura laughed but didn't answer. The cynical part of Sasuke (the largest part of him) assumed it had to do with his jump in social status since joining the football team.
"Hey, Chouji? Will you hold my drink?" Ino asked sweetly.
"Uh, yeah, why?" He asked, taking it and shifting his own to his other hand.
"The ice was making my hands cold." She whined. Chouji frowned slightly but continued holding both cups.
"Are you kidding, Chouji?" Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief. He grabbed Ino's drink from Chouji's hand and shoved it back to Ino. "Troublesome…" he muttered.
Ino glared at Shikamaru, "you're just jealous Chouji is a gentleman, and you're a chauvinist asshole." She scoffed.
Shikamaru raised an indignant brow, annoyance evident by the set of his jaw. "I'm sorry? I'm a chauvinist because I think you're capable of holding a cup?" He bit back.
The rest of the group stepped away from the bickering friends. This could continue for a while, and no one wanted to risk getting involved. "I'm gonna go get a snack," Chouji said, sneaking away from his increasingly loud friends.
Neji had only been inside the house for five minutes before he wanted to leave. Unfortunately, he had been talked into coming to the party by his teammates and was getting a ride with one of the juniors. He would have to entertain himself for a while or find a new ride. He walked out the large glass doors to the back porch. The expansive patio featured massive marble columns with dogs ornately carved into their bases. There were a handful of students smoking joints and a few couples hiding in the dark shadows, but aside from them, the backyard was relatively quiet.
Walking down the stairs, he noticed a familiar face sitting on the bottom step. The girl jumped when he tapped her shoulder.
"Hinata?"
"Oh, Neji, I'm sorry you s-scared me."
"What are you doing out here?" Neji glanced at her, concerned. He hated that she was sitting out here alone. Even though he was very excited about the prospect of doing the same thing himself.
He was different, though, he reasoned. He had been hanging out with people all day. He just needed some quiet. Hinata was shy and didn't have many friends. Not to mention he didn't love the friends she did have.
"I was hanging out with Kiba, but the girl he invited showed up, so I guess he went upstairs," Hinata spoke quietly as he eased himself down onto the step next to her.
"Jackass." Neji scowled lowly.
Hinata shook her head, "N-no, Neji, it's okay. I told him he could go. It's not like he ditched me." Neji raised a brow because that's exactly what it sounded like. He seriously could not stand the Inuzuka kid. He was stupid, perverse, and a bad influence on his little cousin.
Hinata was very naive, and he couldn't even imagine the disturbing life lessons the lazy excuse of a friend taught her.
"Are you going back to campus soon?" He asked, trying to keep his hatred to himself. He and Hinata had fought enough about Kiba in the past.
"I was planning to sleep here. There are plenty of rooms."
Neji frowned. It didn't seem very proper even if she got her own room. What would his uncle think of this? He was tempted to ask her that very question, but he stopped himself. She looked upset about something, and he didn't want to make anything worse.
Neji nodded wordlessly and sighed. They sat quietly on the steps for several minutes. The stone steps were cold, and the breeze had begun to pick up. It was still a warm summer night, but the draft was enough to make a shiver run through him with his short sleeve shirt and shorts on. He looked at Hinata. She was covered up. Perhaps more than necessary for a September night.
After a few minutes, she stood up. "I'm going upstairs. K-Kiba said I could hang out in his room if he ended up with a girl. He has Netflix if you want to come." She smiled half-heartedly. Hell no. Neji thought to himself. No way would he spend time in Kiba Inuzuka's room. It was probably full of diseases. Not to mention, he preferred HBO. Like always, Neji kept his composure despite his thoughts.
"That's very nice of you to offer, but I think I'm going to stay out here a bit longer."
He watched as she walked back toward the house and sighed. He hoped she was okay.
Tenten's plan had worked- even better than she could have imagined. Sasha was animatedly talking to a husky-looking freshman she had met by a bag of chips. Apparently, they had bonded over the limited edition flavor she was holding.
Sasha had been buzzed enough to keep a conversation about a potato chip going, and the guy she was talking to looked entranced. "Game-day chili was my favorite flavor too!" The boy exclaimed joyfully, crunching on his own handful of chips. Tenten scrunched her nose... it didn't sound too great to her.
Taking advantage of her distracted roommate, Tenten walked quickly into the foyer and out the ostentatious back doors. The summer breeze felt amazing on her bare legs. It had become hot inside with all the people, and she took a deep breath of the fresh air. The patio had to be at least 500 square feet. It was surrounded by short steps that led into their sprawling backyard.
She had only walked a few paces before she saw a familiar pair of eyes. She did a double take when she saw the dark-haired girl walk toward the door. She had the same pearlescent eyes and dark hair as her ethics partner. Her eyes scanned the area the girl had walked away from, and she saw her partner's serious face and smiled. He must have a sister.
She walked over to her classmate sitting on the edge of the steps. When he noticed her, he took out one of his earbuds and nodded at her. Not exactly friendly, but not rude either.
"Mind if I join you?" she asked. He nodded again, and she sat down next to him on the cold stone steps. "What are you doing out here?" She asked.
He shrugged. "Just waiting out the night until my ride's ready to go." She nodded and gestured toward his headphones. "What are you listening to?"
He shrugged again. "Nothing," he stately blandly.
Tenten nudged him. "Really, nothing? You're just hanging out in the dark wearing headphones with no music?" She leaned over to grab a bud from his ear. But before she could touch it, he grabbed her wrist and stopped her. He frowned, quickly pulling the buds from his ears and stashing them in his pocket.
Tenten burst out laughing. "Well, now I really want to know what you were listening to if you're going to be so secretive about it." She could tell by his face that she was annoying him. She couldn't help it, though. She was buzzed, and something about his seriousness made her want to rile him up a bit.
He let her wrist go but didn't say anything else.
"You guys killed it tonight." She grinned, referring to the football game.
Neji smiled weakly, "thanks,"
Tenten put a hand on his shoulder, something she never would have risked with the stern Hyuuga without the help of a little liquid bravery. She put down her drink and turned her knees toward his.
"Are you okay, Neji?" When he wordlessly nodded again, she wondered if he knew how to do anything else. She sighed heavily and took a sip of her drink.
"Do you want some?" She asked after a pause. He shook his head, and she smirked. He did know how to do something else.
"I don't drink." He responded.
"It might help you forget whatever it is you're moping about."
"Very healthy." He muttered dryly.
"Well, sitting here not talking can't be much healthier." She nudged him. She didn't actually think drinking was a good way to deal with any kind of bad mood, but with her inhibitions lower and her desire to get him talking, she was pretty much saying whatever was coming to mind.
Neji sighed and looked off into the distance, "I'm not moping. I'm just worried about my cousin, and I'd love to go home and get some sleep."
"The girl that looks just like you? I figured she had to be your sister."
Neji was used to Hinata and Hanabi being mistaken for his sisters. "Our dads were identical twins, so technically, we share the same amount of DNA as siblings," Tenten noted that Neji had said they were twins-past tense- and her interest was piqued. Fortunately, even in her mildly inebriated state, she knew asking wasn't appropriate. "And I live with them, so we're kind of like siblings that way too."
"Why are you worried about her?"
He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Her only friends are these two guys. One is super weird and only plays his clarinet and talks about insects all the time, and the other is the scumbag who lives here.
"Kiba?" Tenten asked. She hadn't met him yet, but Sasha had told her about him and his sister before they went to the party.
"Yep." He confirmed.
"Why is he such a scumbag?" She questioned.
"Well, tonight, for example, he left her all alone, stuck in his room while he hooked up with some chick he barely knows. Hinata is super shy. She literally only came to the party to be with him."
"Does she like him?" Tenten wondered aloud. "-like have a crush on him, I mean."
Neji shuddered. "I seriously hope she'd never stoop that low. I don't think it's like that, though. She's been friends with these guys since they were little."
"It sounds like she needs some girlfriends," Tenten said, looking at Neji. "Is she more of a tomboy? Why does she not have girlfriends?
"Nah, definitely not a tomboy. She's actually kind of stereotypically girly. She used to have a few more female friends when she was younger. She's always been shy, but it has gotten worse with age."
"You're a little bit shy, right?" Tenten mused. He certainly wasn't chatty.
Neji looked at her and smirked. "Why do you say that?"
"I don't know, maybe because I have to ask you a million questions to get you to talk." She gave him a look.
"I don't think of myself as shy." He admitted, looking at her brown eyes before dropping them back to the stone steps. "I just don't like superficial conversations."
Tenten thought this over for a moment. "How do you expect to have deep conversations if you don't break the ice a little first?"
Neji looked thoughtful but didn't answer. Finally, he laughed. "I think I may prefer no conversations, actually." He stated in a joking tone.
Tenten took the last sip of her drink and looked into the darkness. The Inuzuka property went far back, and she could hardly see the wrought iron gates separating their yard from the thick forest in the night.
"I have an idea..." Tenten looked up at Neji. He gave her a questioning look. "Since I'm new here and trying to make friends, and you 'don't like conversations,' why don't I find your cousin instead. It sounds like she needs a female friend."
Neji gave her a strange look. "So you're just going to go up to her and say what? You heard she has no friends?"
Tenten rolled her eyes. "I'll be subtle, Neji. I'll just pretend I'm looking for a bathroom or something and start chatting. It'll be a piece of cake. You said she's in his room right?"
He laughed uncomfortably, "that sounds super awkward."
"That's because you don't have a drink in your hand." She winked at him and stood up. "Wish me luck making friends."
He shook his head and hid a small smile. He watched his classmate walk back toward the warm light and loud music emanating from the house. He allowed himself a moment to admire her. Her body was backlit, creating an ethereal silhouette of her long, toned legs and soft curves. "Hey, Tenten," he yelled after her and watched her turn back toward him. "You killed it today too."
She gave him a questioning look.
"The debate." He clarified, referring to their win earlier that day. She gave him a smug grin and turned back around.
He forced himself to look back at his feet firmly planted on the stone steps. He had his doubts, but he hoped her little mission might be a success. Tenten seemed to have a way of charming people, and compared to him, Hinata should be a piece of cake.
AN:
I think things will start moving faster after this. It's been a lot easier to write later chapters than these first few. I'm hoping enough of the foundation is set to get things moving.
Constructive feedback is always welcome. This is literally the first thing I've written for fun since I was a child. My creative writing took a hit when I went into science lol.
Please review and let me know what you think.
Also- the Kiba, Shino trash talk was pure Neji. I love all the characters! Except the creepy ones.