Jump Then Fall - Nejiten school au

Chapter 1

-I like the way you sound in the morning. We're on the phone and without a warning, I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard-

Tenten Pov:

     One morning I was sitting on my bed and talking to my best friend, Neji. Usually when we're on a call, I'm looking out the window and admiring the beautiful Japanese maple trees behind my apartment, but this time I was distracted by the thing I had taken for granted for so long.

     His laugh.

     I was so distracted I didn't even hear what it was he said next, until he said,

     "Tenten, did you hear what I just said?" I heard him ask suddenly.

     "Huh?! What? sorry Neji. What'd you say?"

     "I asked if you heard that Lee and Guy-sensei were planning on bringing those spandex suits for everyone at gym tomorrow." he chuckled through the speaker.

     "THEY'RE WHAT??!!!!" I practically screamed, "I DON'T WANNA WEAR THEIR WEIRD SUITS!" 

     "Ow. Try not to make me deaf, ok?" He said, grimacing.

     "Sorry Neji." 

     "Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow."

      "Yep." I said before hanging up. 

      I don't know why I was so distracted today. We talk a lot, so I don't know what was different about him today. I pushed the thought out of my head and just sat there for a while, until it was time to head to Ichiraku to meet with Ino and the girls, just like every Sunday, we met for lunch at Ichiraku Ramen to eat and hang out. 

    When I got there, I saw that all the other girls were already there. I sat down in between Ino and Hinata and ordered a bowl of ramen. 

     "Hey Tenten! How has your morning been?" Sakura said energetically, leaning over to see me. I turned to look at her. 

     "Good, I guess. Though I've been really distracted this morning." I replied, rubbing the back of my head. Ino eyed me suspiciously as I grabbed my chopsticks and started eating my ramen. 

     "What exactly have you been distracted by, Tenten?" Ino asked. 

     "I don't know. I think it wasn't until I had called Neji this morning. It's weird because we always call or talk, but this morning I couldn't get my mind off of his laugh." As soon as I said that I froze. As I realized what information I had just given to Ino, I slowly turned my head to look at the blonde who was already 2 cm away from my face. 

     "Tell... Me... More." Ino pried. Ino is very passionate about matchmaking. When she sees you with someone, she will decide whether you will end up as friends or if you will end up together. She had never told me who she liked to "ship" me with, but I know that she does because she has a "ship" for everyone.

     "That's all, I swear!" I said, trying to justify myself. 

     "No. There's more to it than that. You've never done this before, so this is something new. Temari write this down 'Tenten's first love. May 30th, 2023." Ino commanded as Temari nodded and jotted it down in the notebook from her purse. I looked around, confused. 

     "...Love?"  I asked, slowly. I never thought of that. I had known Neji since middle school, and we have been amazing friends ever since 7th grade. I suppose it would only make sense though. He was one of the people that all of the girls in school fawned over. I mean, he had an entire fan club of girls that would do anything for him. 

     "Yes, love. See I told you that they would be good together. They were alwa-" 

     "Ino I think she needs time to process this." Hinata interrupted, before Ino could finish her sentence.  

     "Just sit down Ino. Eat your ramen. It's going to get cold." Sakura piped in. I wasn't really listening anymore because I was busy thinking of when Neji and I had first met. It was on my first day of my sixth grade....

(Fancy flashback noises)

     Today was the first day of my sixth grade. Normally I wouldn't be worried about stuff like this, but today was my first day in a new grade in a new school. I walked down the never-ending halls until I found my classroom. When I walked in, the teacher wasn't there yet but most of the students were. I sat down next to two boys, one who was energetic and the other who was silent but had a cold look in his eye. As I sat down, the energetic one leaned over to see me and said, "HELLO NEW PERSON!! I AM ROCK LEE AND THIS IS NEJI HYUGA, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" 

     "Oh, pipe down, will you?" The boy, Neji, said, keeping his eyes closed and arms crossed but I could clearly see his eyebrows twitching. Sheesh I know we're going to get along great.... If you're uncultured or couldn't tell, I was being sarcastic. I don't think we're going to get along at all. 

     "Good morning students." I'm assuming that man was our teacher, said. The man had very dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail, and a scar across his face. He continued on and by the time class was over I was already ready to be done. 

     I walked into my next class only to find the same two boys I had met earlier. This is going to be a long day. I sat down next to them again and tried to pay attention to the lesson.

     Much later, It was time for gym. When we got to the gym there was a man who looked exactly like Lee but older. As soon as we were all in, he yelled, 

     "ALRIGHT LET'S GO STUDENTS!! WE'LL START WITH 100 LAPS AROUND THE GYM THE LAST PERSON TO FINISH WILL GET TO DO 100 PUSH-UPS WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!!" I wasn't happy about it, but I also didn't want to have to do 100 pushups, so I started running. The entire time Neji was ahead of everyone, and he seemed almost smug about it.  I wanted so bad to punch that smirk right off of his face, but he was too far ahead of me. I sped up a bit, trying to get closer to him but to no avail. We all finished our laps, and by then I was completely exhausted. I leaned on my knees and was breathing heavily when Neji came over to me.

     "Please. You couldn't handle that?" he scoffed. 

     I just left him be. If he wanted to be a jerk that was his problem. For many months we were arguing but we didn't ever stop hanging around each other, no matter how much we argued. But I also respected him, in a way. He was smart and good at everything he did. But then one day in our seventh grade, after a big school fight between him and one of the new kids, he was suddenly different. He was still quiet and brutally honest, but he wasn't as much of a jerk to everyone as he used to be. I was grateful that he didn't make fun of me anymore, but instead he helped me, and we became even the best of friends.

(End of the fancy flashback, noises)

     I had never fallen in love before, so I didn't know what it felt like or what to expect but there was no doubt now...

     I was in love with my best friend.

(1253 words)

I'm so sorry about that taking so long to get the first chapter out.

thanks so much for your patience.

see y'all in the next chap