SasuHina: Beyond The Camera

Chapter 3

Tenten erupted into what seemed to be chaos in its physical form. The taller girl started jumping up and down and squealing and dancing and shaking me by my shoulders with a large grin. My reaction was quite the opposite as I stood in a trance of disbelief, most likely with my mouth hanging open in shock. "You made it! This is going to be so awesome!"

I managed to somewhat shake myself out of my stupor to notice Tsunade crack a genuine-looking smile before excusing herself. At the same time, Jiraiya and Kakashi watched Tenten shake me excitedly by my shoulders with amusement on their faces.

I...made it? I did it! There's always been a small, sad part of me that believed the terrible things my father says about me. That part was nowhere in sight once the pride and happiness of my achievement began to set in.

Before I could tell what was happening, I was being pulled along by Tenten as we followed Kakashi out of the room and through a few halls. Tenten was going on and on about how she knew I would make it, how we would be so close, and how she thought I'd fit in well with the others in the group.

I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience with a smile glued on my face and an ever-nodding head at her energetic babbling. I was still mentally trying to wrap my head around the fact that I, Hinata Hyuga, have done what no Hyuga has done before. I've taken the first step in quite the opposite path of what the Hyuugas are famous for, which proved fruitful.

The cell phone in my dress pocket began vibrating, and I pulled it out to see I had two missed calls, one from the school and one from Father.

Typically, I'd have a full-blown anxiety attack at such a sight, but this day marks a change in my timeline. No longer will I be the submissive older Hyuga sister who silently takes her family's berating comments. No, this new Hinata will do what suits her, and she'll do it all by herself.

After slipping the phone back into my dress pocket, Tenten started talking about how she noticed how cute my clothes were, how cool it was that my dress had pockets, and how annoyed she was at how small or nonexistent pockets are in female clothing. "You know why they make them like that, right?"

I noticed she had a habit of making loud gestures with her hands when she spoke, "So we'll be forced to buy handbags! It's an evil ass money scheme!" Her humorous yet incredibly true statement knocked me out of the remainder of my stupor and pulled a small laugh from my lips. She took that as a sign to continue on her tirade.

She talked to me as if we'd been friends all our lives. I learned a few things about her in the short period that we followed Kakashi through the halls. Her favorite color's green, she hates wearing makeup, loves to drink, and writes most of her own music.

What comforted me most was that she didn't mind if I just listened to her talk. The singer didn't try to make me speak when I didn't want to. It still blew my mind that one of my favorite singers was so down-to-earth and normal. The way she talked nonstop made me feel like she was alone a lot and was desperate to interact with others.

I watched her flawless tan skin start to blush lightly as she described some guy that's still a trainee that she found hot. It's even odder that someone as incredible as her wouldn't just go up to whoever she likes and ask them out. She's the whole package. Anyone, male or female, would be lucky to even be in her presence, much less go on a date.

Finally, after nearly ten minutes of dodging people in the winding halls of the agency, we made it to an elevator and stepped inside. The background noise of people bustling around on the first floor disappeared as the metal doors slid shut. Tenten quieted down as if she knew Kakashi would then start talking.

"You'll be sharing a dorm with Sakura, the other girl in your group. The two of you are in room 111 on the sixth floor. Sasuke and Gaara, the boys in your group, will be in room 113, right next door."