New Girl- A Konoha High School Story

Chapter 22- Road to Suna

Neji's POV

With one week left until our annual winter match against Suna, I really pushed the team during our practices. I could tell many of the players were having a rough time with my increased intensity, but I had no choice. Suna was definitely working just as hard, and they were just as good. What made matters worse, is that we were going to be playing against them at their home stadium, which is not only to our disadvantage but also dangerous. Suna High was notorious for their cruelty when playing any sport, and the high school was also not very safe. Since Tenten was our only non-returning player from the spring, I decided to talk to her as we walked back to the dorms after Tuesday practice.

"Tenten."

"Yup?" She smiled. I couldn't help but smile back, until I remembered the topic of discussion and positioned my face back to a serious expression.

"Listen, this next game is going to be away."

"Ya, I know. What about it?"

"Um, well, listen." I scratched the back of my head, not really sure how to put my point into words. How do I tell her this without being offensive, or weird, or ugh.... Okay. Just say it.

Tenten snapped in front of my face and jolted me back to earth. "Um... Hello? Is there a brain in that pretty-boy head of yours? What are you trying to say?" She asked.

"Ok... Well... Suna is dangerous. Really dangerous Tenten." She nodded, paying attention now. "They won't play nice to any of us, but especially you, because you're a girl. Um... also, the school in general isn't very safe... I know you can take care of yourself. I just want you to be careful..." I could tell my face was very red but I gave up trying to hide that.

"Awwww!" She said, which I have to admit surprised me, a lot. "Are you worried about me?" She asked in a teasing voice.

"I... um...."

She laughed and slapped my arm. "Well thanks, you don't have to worry about me. In fact, I feel like you should be more worried about yourself Ms. Hyuga."

I glared at her for using my forbidden nickname, but, unfortunately, she was right. Wouldn't be the first time I was hit on for looking like a girl.

As for school, we were in the exam review period, since our midterms were at the end of next week as well. Naruto and Hinata were spending a lot of time together, both because Naruto needed an adequate tutor and because they were officially dating now. I didn't exactly mind their relationship, as long as they weren't doing anything to ruin Hinata's reputation, but Hinata could do better than that knucklehead in my opinion. Everything seemed to be coming up so fast. Not only did we have our soccer match and exams, but there was also that stupid dance at the end of next week as well. 12 girls had already asked me, and I said no to all of them. Not because I didn't like them, but because I didn't know them, and the dance was at the very back of my mind. Ino however, kept reminding me about it, which I found really annoying.

Overall, the week went by quickly. Way too quickly, and when our last practice rolled around on Thursday, I felt like it blew by and we hardly got anything done. This of course wasn't true, which Tenten and Lee reminded me of, but I still felt unsure. I ordered the rest of the team to do at least two hours of cardio over the weekend to prepare themselves for Monday night's game. Tenten and I went on a run again, which we had come accustomed to doing every once in a while. She was pretty much a perfect match for me speed wise, although I hated to admit it. Sasuke always gave me suspicious looks whenever I left the dorm, but that was about the only I hate I got. Besides, running with Tenten was much more enjoyable than running alone.

The weekend came and went, and suddenly, it was Monday-the day of the big game. Do you know how when you're dreading something, the wait seems even longer? Well that's exactly what today felt like. Every second was an hour, and every hour seemed like an eternity. By the end of my first period English class I felt like I had just finished the entire day already. My P.E. class was the worst. We were supposed to leave right after our last period, and I could tell that everyone was on edge during that class. Tenten seemed especially nervous, while Lee was especially rambunctious. I just hoped he would save some of that energy for the actual game.

We finally boarded the bus. I sat in the back next to Tenten. For the whole hour long bus ride, I was pretty fidgety, even though I usually keep my cool. I counted on the fact that my expression was still pretty stoic, because if I got nervous, the rest of the team was sure to freak out. Tenten saw right through that immediately though. She smiled at me, and put her hand on my knee. She tried to comfort me, even though I could tell she was equally nervous. "Don't be nervous! We'll crush those assholes to pieces!" I can't exactly say that those words helped, but the thought was nice. She then fell asleep on my shoulder for the rest of the bus ride, which only made me infinitely more jittery.

Calm down Hyuga. You're supposed to be the composed one.

I decided to take a page out of Tenten's book (which I really wouldn't suggest doing unless it's an absolute emergency) and closed my eyes and tried to sleep for the remaining half hour or so until we got there. Unfortunately for me, that meant lots of blackmail photos from Kiba.