Crap, crap, crap! Tenten cursed to herself as she charged up the stairs of the History building with a notebook in one hand and a sandwich crammed into her mouth. Sakura had better never find out that I was late to my class because I was meditating in Way. In my defense, though, I just added this elective to my load this week! Urgh, what a way to make a first impression. Good job, Higurashi.

Tenten skidded to a halt outside one of the smaller, more neglected lecture halls tucked into the corner of the building. Is this even the right hall? After she confirmed that it was, she peered through the tiny window in the door and spotted one open seat in the back row, one seat over from the aisle, right beside a girl with long hair.

Score! Tenten cheered to herself as she slowly cracked open the door and snuck through to the back seat as inconspicuously as she could manage. Tenten surreptitiously waved to get the other girl's attention so she could squeeze by to get into the last empty seat in the back, but when her would-be seatmate turned to her, annoyed at the interruption, she realized her mistake.

Her would-be seatmate was a guy. One that she recognized - unfortunately.

"Hyuuga-senpai," She whispered, "Can I sit beside you?" I can't exactly climb over him...

He glared icily at her and just said, "No."

Asshole! Her impression of Hinata's cousin worsened. She scowled when he turned back to watch the lecture and ignored her very existence. She was starting to get looks, standing awkwardly in the aisles like this, so she quickly scanned the lecture hall to find another seat. All the other empty seats were in the front row. No way am I sitting in one of those, especially since I'm late!

Looking behind the row, Tenten realized that, since the lecture theatre was a traditional descending amphitheatre shape, she could just squeeze into the tiny space behind Hinata's asshole cousin and climb down into the seat, over the back of the chair. With that plan in mind, she started executing it, slipping behind the seats and swinging her leg up and over with her flawless ninja skills...

... so flawless that she whacked Hinata's asshole cousin in the back of his head with her notebook. He turned violently and glared at her. She tried her best innocent smile.

Doesn't look like it's working. Oh well. She ignored the dirty look Hinata's cousin gave her and fell into her seat.

"SQUEAK"

Tenten froze. The entire lecture hall turned to look at her and the squeaky seat that shifted under her. She tried her best innocent smile again. She wasn't sure if it worked, but the professor resumed his lecture anyways.

Trying not to even breathe very loudly, she slowly put her notebook on the desk and got ready to take at least some notes. As she reached into her back pocket to pull out the pen she'd stashed there in her rush to get out the door though, even with her tiny movement, her chair squeaked a little.

She froze again. Hinata's asshole cousin looked over at her in disapproval.

Well shit. My apologetic smile is getting a workout this class.

She bit the bullet and pulled out her pen as fast as she could, but the chair still let out a moderately loud protest. Obviously, the professor was used to lecturing in the hall because he just raised his voice a bit when she moved, but a couple of people in the class still turned to look back to her in disapproval.

I guess my abs are getting a workout this class... She gritted her teeth and started to take notes, but even the tiny shifts of her body as she repositioned her arm to get into a comfortable note-taking position still made some small noises.

"Do you mind keeping your movement to a minimum?" Hinata's asshole cousin hissed at her.

"I would if I could," Tenten whispered back with a forced grin.

Squeak, squeak.

They continued arguing under their breaths.

"You should be taking notes. Why in the world are you shifting so much? You sound like you're going down the slide in a child's playground."

"I am trying to get comfortable!"

"Well, it's not working very well is it."

"Oh, shut up!"

"After you!"

"Mr. Hyuuga!" The professor finally interrupted their whisper-shout fight by glaring at Neji. "I expected better from you."

"My apologies, professor, I forgot my decorum," Hinata's cousin said stiffly.

"See that it doesn't happen again," The professor said before he turned his attention on Tenten, "As for you, Ms., I assume you're new to my section, because I warned everyone not to sit in that seat during the first class. Kindly cease moving or come sit in the front row."

"Uh, I'd prefer to stay here, thank you Professor," Tenten laughed nervously, "This seat is fine." As she said the last word, she surreptitiously put pressure on the flimsy piece of plywood whose shoddy construction started this whole thing and cracked it clean in half, kicking it behind her. She was now sitting on the bar supporting all the seats in the row.

"Try to keep it to a dull roar then," The professor looked suspiciously at her but finally continued his lecture.

Tenten finally started taking notes on Medieval Casualty rates, a bit smug at her ingenious solution for the loud chair, but as she continued to try to take notes and pay attention to the lecture, a new problem arose.

The bolts are digging into my butt.

She shifted for the nth time, trying to find a new angle that didn't feel like she was sitting on a couple of marbles and leaned so far right that she accidentally ended up bumping into Hinata's asshole cousin's elbow.

"Oh for crying out loud, just sit still!" He hissed at her.

"I'm sorry, okay?" she whispered back, "Just let me-"

"You should've just sat in front," he muttered discontentedly.

"No way! I'm perfectly fine here!" she lied, to both him and herself. I really don't want to sit in the front row. I can see his sweat patches from here.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "You've gone from sitting on a slide to sitting on a pair of monkey bars, and you think you can sit comfortably on them for the next two and a half hours?"

"Absolutely!" Tenten said confidently.

(⌒ω⌒) (￣ ￣|||)

[Whisper] FriesWithThat: Did you interview with ROOT Corp today?

"Shannaro!" Sakura stared blankly at her screen, the forkful of salad forgotten halfway to her mouth. The lovebirds sitting at the other end of her table stopped cooing and feeding each other mac and cheese to look weirdly at her. Sakura gave them an annoyed look right back. If they can PDA in the middle of the cafeteria, I can exclaim whatever I want.

How in the world...? Her mind started whirling, reviewing every conversation she'd had at ROOT. She'd only said her username at ROOT in the bathroom - she hadn't even been asked that question in the interview. They'd been alone in the bathroom, too. Maybe someone who was passing in the hallway?

Wait a minute, Sakura remembered what Hinata had said after her interview.

"I-I think I a-accidentally used your m-main account, a-and I think Team Leader Shimura might have recognized it."

Did that mean that FriesWithThat was that Team Leader Shimura? Sakura pondered, slightly disturbed. When they'd first gotten married, she'd guessed that Fries was probably a working member of society since they only ever played together on the weekends and evenings, but when he'd started occasionally logging in during the day, she'd dispelled the thought. I guess I was wrong?

Still, given that Hinata had given her username during the interview, she should probably admit to it. It's not like she'd ever meet him in person again. She'd have to give Hinata a heads up, though, if Hinata did end up getting hired.

Besides, he's not going to hire someone based off an in-game friendship, is he?

[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: Yes I did
[Whisper] FriesWithThat: Interesting...
[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: Were you one of the interviewers?
[Whisper] FriesWithThat: Yes
[Whisper] FriesWithThat: Well that was an interesting way to meet up
[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: Haha

Sakura remembered Fries had awkwardly asked her to meet in person a couple of times when they'd been married in-game. She'd always made an excuse, partially for her own safety, and partially because she always worried that meeting her game friends in the real world would be like pulling off a curtain only to find a goat instead of the car she was promised. Besides, Fries might be a very good model with excellent mileage, but I'm more a bike with a backseat kind of girl.

Sakura shook her head to dispel her weird train of thoughts. The point was, it was better that Fries remained a name in chat and an avatar on the screen.

[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat: Oh I forgot to tell you
[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat: Ami and her friends are joining the clan this weekend
[Whisper to SakuraBlossom] FriesWithThat: You don't have a problem with that, do you?

It's not like I could say yes, even if I did have a problem with them, Sakura rolled her eyes at him. He'd always been like this - arranging the rational thing and ignoring any irrational feelings. Luckily, it was just a game, though; otherwise Sakura might actually have had some choice words for Ami's friends in real life.

[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: Of course not
[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: Wife joining the husband's clan is a very natural thing
[Whisper to FriesWithThat] SakuraBlossom: I probably won't be there to welcome them though
[Whisper] Chun_Lee: Sakura you gotta go look at the Forums ASAP.
[Whisper to Chun_Lee] SakuraBlossom: What's up?
[Whisper] Chun_Lee: Fries and Ami's video. Look at the last thirty seconds.

Puzzled, Sakura opened another window and found the post on the game forum for their server. She didn't have to search very hard - it was already at the top of the page. A bad premonition rose in her gut. Even before she scrolled to the last couple of seconds, which took a bit with the cafeteria wifi, the mocking comments that had loaded made anger roil her stomach. That anger exploded when those last thirty seconds loaded, and she saw the caricature.

SHANNARO! Sakura saw red.

[Whisper] FriesWithThat: Is school busy for you?
[Whisper] FriesWithThat: ?
[Whisper] SakuraBlossom: FRIES YOU ASSHOLE

Slam!

(ﾉಥ益ಥ)ﾉ

I am absolutely not fine at all. At the end of the three-hour lecture, as everyone stood to gather their books and leave, Tenten stayed absolutely rooted in her spot. She couldn't move - her legs were numb, her butt was tingly, and she could feel the beginning of a world of pain looming when she finally levered herself off this damned bar.

Luckily, the person on the other end of the row had left relatively quickly, so everyone else in the row just left from that side, and Hinata's asshole cousin was sitting by the aisle.

As he gathered his things to leave, though, she saw him hesitate and look at her.

And wait.

Just leave, so I can limp back to my dorms and nurse my shattered dignity in peace. Tenten begged him silently. She gave him her best, bright "everything is absolutely okay so please leave me alone" smile.

It didn't work.

Why do my smiles never work on this guy?

"You are in a lot of pain, right?" Neji said instead.

"No," She squeaked. That would've sounded so much more convincing if my voice cooperated with me.

"Come. I will help you back to your dormitory."

Tenten stared at him suspiciously when he made the offer, "Why?"

"You are my cousin's friend. I cannot just leave you here. Otherwise, you will not return to the dormitory until tomorrow, and she may call me to help her find you because she will be worried."

"I thought you didn't like your cousin?"

"How did you get that impression?"

Is his EQ really that low? Tenten goggled at him.

He shifted slightly under her stare, uncomfortable, then snapped, "Would you like my assistance or not?"

"Sure... but no funny business," Tenten still didn't trust the guy. With his and Hinata's relationship, I'll be lucky if he doesn't dump me on my ass on the opposite side of campus.

She was so immersed in planning how to get back at him if he dumped her in the wrong place that she was not prepared for him to shift his bag behind him, reach one arm behind her, and reach the other....

Where is that hand going?! Neji's other arm went under her knees. Before she really managed to process this shock, he lifted her up in a perfect princess carry.

"HEY!" Tenten cried out in alarm as she got lifted up in the air. She gasped as every nerve in her legs cried out at once, making her involuntarily flail.

"Do not squirm so much," He ordered, but it was too late. Somehow, her foot connected with his face.

Oops.

(￣▽￣*)ゞ

I can't believe him! The NERVE! Sakura fumed as she stormed back to her dorm, still pissed off over Fries and Ami's video with the crappy cameo from SakuraBaka. Who even does that? What is this, freaking high school? Shannaro!

Sakura didn't notice that the other students seemed to give her a wide berth as she made her way through the residence's courtyard. She did, however, notice Tenten being supported to the doors of her dorm by possibly the last person she would've expected.

"Tenten-chan, is everything okay?" Sakura hurried over to her roommate, casting a suspicious look at Hinata's cousin. The look he gave her would've frozen a lava font. The feeling's mutual, buddy.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tenten tried to give her a reassuring smile but winced as she took another step.

"Since your roommate is here, I will leave you in her... capable hands. Goodbye," Neji, who had a smudge of dirt on his cheek, unceremoniously released Tenten in Sakura's direction, who caught her by reflex in a bit of an awkward position.

Tenten squeaked in surprise, her face on track to meet the pavement. Worried, Sakura caught the other girl in an impromptu princess carry before they fell over, making everyone around them stare. Yeah, yeah, stare all you want at the crazy strong girl. Shannaro! People should just mind their own business.

Tenten didn't show the slightest surprise at Sakura's strength, though.

"Man, what kind of pheromones am I putting out today?" She grinned, greatly amused by the whole situation instead, "First Hyuuga-senpai, and now you. As much as I would like to stay in your arms Saku-chan, you better put me down. Even you can't carry me up all those stairs."

"Hyuuga-senpai?" Sakura echoed, confused, but she followed Tenten's instructions and helped the other girl find her footing. She kept one arm around Tenten's waist just in case.

"Long story, don't ask." Once they were steady, Tenten craned her neck like she was looking for someone, but Neji had already left. "I didn't get to apologize or say thanks. Oh well."

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she helped Tenten up the stairs slowly, "Was he bothering you?"

"No, I, uh, sat weirdly in class and lost all feeling in my legs, so he was helping me back to the dorm," Tenten said, trying not to elaborate on the embarrassing bits.

"You what?!" Sakura stopped abruptly on one landing.

"I told you, it's a long story," Tenten waved it off, "What about you? You looked like you were ready to take chunks out of the next person who talked to you when you were coming over. What happened?"

"I've had the worst day." Successfully distracted, Sakura started to rant as they slowly mounted each step to the third floor where their dorm was, "First the interview debacle, then tutoring, where Sasori was at his absolute worst. Then I found out he was the one who hacked the video camera on the convenience store and took pictures of me getting out of his great uncle's car to imply that I had a sugar daddy on the school forum. But when I went to talk to his grandmother, she fired me! Can you believe that?!"

"What the heck? Wasn't he the one who slandered you?" Tenten was startled.

"She didn't want his precious reputation getting ruined, so she fired me and gave me a huge severance to keep my mouth shut," Sakura scowled, "So now I gotta look for another tutoring job. I have some time, with the severance so that's not the biggest issue though. The biggest issue is that now I have to explain to Tsunade-shishou why she'll have to start looking for another student to tutor that demon."

"She'll understand - our dean isn't an unreasonable person. Plus she must have sent dozens of students to tutor that demon over the years. The fact that you lasted a term and a month must be some kind of record," Tenten reassured her.

"That's true. But that's not the end of it!" Sakura was all aboard the rant train now, "Then I went to the cafeteria for some comfort food, but the cafe was out of chicken wings!"

"Horror!" Tenten teased.

"And then, my in-game ex-husband and his new wife posted a video and made fun of me in it! The entire Way of the Ninja forum is probably mocking me." She sighed, all her rage draining out to leave her a tired shell.

"Aw Saku-chan, that sucks," Tenten patted her shoulder with the arm she'd slung around Sakura for support, "I hope you beat him bloody."

"I kind of want to," Sakura muttered, "but I'm really not in the mood to deal with this shit today. Shannaro!"

"C'mon, girl, where's our favourite take-no-shit Haruno-san?"

"She took a nap and wants a hot cup of milk," Sakura muttered as they finally reached their dorm and opened the door. As they went into the room, Sakura blinked in surprise when Hinata didn't even look up. "Hinata-chan, are you still playing?"

Hinata jumped up from her computer when she saw Sakura supporting Tenten, who was still wincing with each step, "I-I finished a while ago - Ramen-san had to leave in a bit of a hurry. I'm just browsing the web. Tenten-chan, what h-happened to you?"

"Weird seat in class," Tenten groaned as she limped towards their bed and fell face-first into Sakura's lower bunk, "Don't ask, I need to piece together my shattered dignity right now. Go help Sakura-chan get some revenge. Saku-chan, don't you have a date night with your current hubby or something?"

Hinata and Sakura exchanged worried looks as Tenten fell face-first into the pillows on Sakura's lower bunk, but at her reminder, Sakura jumped.

"That's right, I promised Meister I'd do couple quests with him tonight!" Sakura cried. She pulled out her laptop and sat down at the large table in the middle of the dorm, but frowned as she loaded into the game.

"Wh-what's wrong Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, worried.

"Fries and Ami made fun of me in a video. You can find it on the