Ten Things I Hate About Neji

Four

Several hours later, Tenten arrived home, having fulfilled all of her duties of "pretending to study" with Temari at the coffee shop. It wasn't that she didn't intend to study, she just always got off topic when she was with her friend. There were just so many things to rant about in her daily life!

As she positioned herself comfortably on the couch in front of the TV, Mr. Haruno himself walked into the living room, shifting through that day's mail as he did so.

"Ah, Tenten." He said. "Have you made anyone cry yet today?"

Tenten contemplated this for a moment. "No," She finally decided. "But the day's still young!"

Kizashi Haruno chuckled at the comment from his slightly sadistic daughter, satisfied enough with her individuality and spunk. He at least never had to worry about her being taken advantage of. His younger daughter however....

"Hi Dad!"

Right on cue, Sakura Haruno ran through the front door. She hugged her father and plopped next to her older sister on the couch, immediately taking the remote and changing stations from the Discovery Channel documentary that Tenten had put on to something more suitable for a teenage girl to watch in her free time. ("Hey!" Tenten exclaimed).

Mr. Haruno stopped in his tracks. It seemed that one particular letter had caught his attention.

"What's this?" He asked aloud. "A letter from Suna University?"

Tenten immediately stopped the pseudo-argument she was having with her sister over the TV, and jumped up, snatching the letter, and ran off to a corner to violently tear it open.

The corners of her mouth turned more and more upwards as she read, creating a bright smile that rarely anyone ever saw on the girl.

"I got in! I got in!"

Mr. Haruno looked confused. "Well.... congratulations sweetie, but isn't Suna pretty far away from here?"

Tenten nodded excitedly. "Exactly!"

Her father pursed his lips even more. "But I thought that you would be staying in Konoha, and go to the university here. I didn't even know you applied to Suna."

Tenten huffed. "I never said that, that's what you and mom have been saying. I want to go somewhere new!"

"Oh, so you're just going to move out?!" Her father exclaimed.

Sakura laughed aloud from the couch. "Let's hope so." She said.

Tenten looked at her sister evilly for that comment. "You wanna speak up about who drove you home, Sakura?" She asked.

Their father's attention was immediately reeled back to the couch where his youngest daughter sat. "Who!" He demanded, sounding quite alarmed.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but nothing could conceal the blush on her cheeks. "Relax dad. It's just a friend. His name is Sasuke." Sakura hesitated, before starting up again. "But I think he might like me, and I was wondering-"

"No!" Their father exclaimed, already knowing the question and its subsequent answer.

"Come on, Dad!" Sakura whined. "I'm almost 17! Do I really have to stay a nun forever?"

"I don't see what the problem is." Kizashi responded. "Your sister doesn't date and she seems fine with it."

Tenten nodded in agreement. "The boys at that school are a bunch of unwashed miscreants. They're not worth my time."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well they're worth my time!"

Mr. Haruno seemed to ponder this statement for a little bit. "Fine. Sakura can date." He said. Sakura cheered loudly before her father soon interrupted her again. "When Tenten does."

"What?! But she'll never date!"

Kizashi seemed very satisfied with himself. "Then you'll never date either." He stared off into space for a while, daydreaming about a world where neither of his daughters would date until they were ripe adults and he would never have to worry about them getting pregnant until marriage..... Ah. One can dream.

His cell phone began to ring, and Mr. Haruno quickly left the house in lieu of some new pregnant girl he had to attend to. As he walked out the door, he called out to Tenten. "Our Suna discussion isn't over!"

Tenten gave her father a lazy wave as he walked out the door. In that moment, she and her sister were both thinking the exact same thing, but for different reasons.

"Well this sucks."