Summary: Hinata transfers to Konoha High, only to be greeted with a project involving her, created by another girl. Meanwhile, boy problems arise, visitors from the past come, and five girls wonder just how strong their bond is. Pairings revealed in time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Any other works to which I reference are the property of their creators/owners.

XXX

"Yo, Hinata," Inuzuka Kiba greeted, "What happened? You're usually never this close to the second bell."

"I got stopped by a hall monitor," Hinata said, sliding into a seat next to Kiba.

"Huh? What could they stop you for? Well, if they bother you again, let me know and I'll smack them one for you, 'kay?" Kiba grinned. The blue-haired girl smiled at him.

"Thank you, Kiba, but that's really not necessary. A girl on her way to class stopped and helped me out (1)," Hinata replied.

"A girl? Who—" But just as Kiba was going to ask, Kakashi stepped into the room, late as always. The students of fourth period art scrambled into their seats as they hurriedly cut off conversation with their friends.

"Good morning, class. So sorry I'm late, a lady was about to give birth and I had to rush her to the hospital." Of course, everyone knew this was a lie, simply based on the fact that Kakashi was always too busy reading to notice anything.

"Anyways—" But he was cut off by the opening of the door, and in poked a head.

"Uh, this is art class, right?" Temari said, peering into Room 34.

"Yeah, and I take it that you two are…" Kakashi checked his roll call sheet, "Temari and Gaara, right? All right then, I'm Instructor Kakashi. I think there're two seats for you in the back. Right there, almost in the corner, you see it?"

"They look kind of intimidating," Kiba commented, eyeing Temari's height and Gaara's cold face as they made their way to the back.

"That girl's the one I was telling you about," Hinata whispered, not wanting to be overheard by Kakashi, who gave out horrible punishments if a student was caught talking – and smiled while he informed him or her of their fate. She checked over Temari's appearance once more to make sure she was the one who helped her out. Yep, there was no doubt about it. No other person Hinata knew wore their hair in four ponytails. Kiba raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"Her? Doesn't really look like the type to do that sort of stuff, does she…" he said.

"Well, I don't know, but she seemed really nice—" But alas, their conversation was once again interrupted by Kakashi. The instructor fumbled through his notes and found his plan for the day. Clearing his throat, he looked at the class and spoke:

"Alright! I'm assigning a project to you as of now!" He heard 40 "thumps" as each person in the room fell down anime-style.

"But it's only the first day of school!" a girl called out.

"Oh, don't worry! It'll be due in four months, right before second semester begins! And, you'll be working in pairs so you won't have to do everything by yourself.

"The project will be about different art styles, ancient, modern, whatever. Focus on the aspects of that art style, notable artists who used it, and when and where it was used. Try to include examples. It is worth 100 points and is 50 of your first semester grade, so if you do badly on it, you can expect a C or lower on your report card," Kakashi chirped, crushing every last bit of each student's hope for a good year. Well, at least they would be able to choose partners, right?

"Oh yeah, and to prevent any unproductive work time going on, you'll be choosing who your partner is by this fishbowl!" The members of Room 34 groaned, silently wondering if Kakashi could read minds.

"If I call your name, come up and choose a name from the fishbowl: Yamanaka Ino, Gaara, Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba, and (insert 16 random names here)," declared Kakashi. The said people marched up to the fishbowl in a somewhat melancholy manner.

After extracting white slips of paper from the glass fishbowl, everyone just stood awkwardly at the front of the room. No one seemed to be willing to go to his or her partner. Kakashi waited impatiently, and finally whispered, "Extra credit to the first one to go." That was the only motivation people needed, as twenty suddenly stampeded to the other twenty, jostling people in their way.

Hinata looked around the room, craning her head to see if anyone was advancing towards her desk. But thirty seconds passed and still no one was there. Had there been a mistake in writing the names for the fishbowl? Maybe there were an odd number of students? Endless possibilities echoed through Hinata's mind. She tried to concentrate on something else, and decided to see what the other new girl, Temari, was doing. Turning around in her chair, Hinata could see that Temari had been paired with Yamanaka Ino. She wasn't sure how they would get along, given that she had only just transferred to Konoha High. Then she realized that there was a redhead – Gaara, Hinata remembered – who was saying something to Temari. The Hyuuga froze when she realized that Temari was pointing at her and that Gaara was coming towards her. Hinata's body went rigid and she hastily snapped around and stared at the wood of her desk. Oh, why does now have to the time that I'm not seen as invisible? she thought with dread.

Thump – thump. The soft sounds of his footsteps seemed greatly magnified in Hinata's perceiving of the situation, until she heard only the moderate chatter of students.

"I'm your partner for this assignment," Gaara stated shortly.

"O-okay…um…" Hinata stuttered, not knowing what to say. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Gaara pulled out a chair and sat down, hands folded and eyes closed. This is so awkward… why does fate have to be so twisted?

"Uh…s-so, which art style do you want to do?" she bravely asked after staring at her desk for about thirty seconds.

He did not reply. Hinata sighed and tried again.

"Where do you want to meet?" At this, Gaara's eyes slowly opened and he turned his head to look at her. Hinata cringed, averting her gaze.

"For working outside of…outside of school…"

"…My house (2)," the redhead finally replied. Hinata exhaled in relief. Now that's finally over…

Bee-p went the school's peculiar bell, signaling lunch to start. Students packed up their things and piled out of Room 34 at the moment the bell sounded. Hinata had just slung her backpack onto both shoulders when someone tapped her on the back. She looked behind her and saw Temari.

"Hey. Want to sit with my siblings and I for lunch?" she asked casually. Hinata was taken aback by this sudden offer. Well, I was going to sit with Kiba and Shino…but I guess it'd be kind of rude to turn her down, wouldn't it… she thought inwardly. I suppose I'll just explain it to them later.

"Well, okay, then…" Hinata ended up saying, nervous as ever when talking to someone with whom she was unfamiliar. Temari seemed to sense this.

"It'll be alright, my brothers are nice. Gaara's kind of quiet, but you get used to it after years of living with him," she said, pushing open the door. "He's your partner for the art project, right?"

"Yes…why isn't he with you right now?" Hinata wondered out loud.

"It's 'cause you're here," Temari replied, and laughed when Hinata made an odd "eep!" sort of sound. "Don't worry, he's just not so social. Didn't even try asking the teacher when he didn't know who 'Hyuuga Hinata' was, and came to his dear old sister instead."

"O-oh…" Hinata said, "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who's your other brother?"

"His name's Kankuro, a year younger than me, a year older than Gaara (3). We all usually stick together, but he didn't want to take art and I didn't want to take British Literature," Temari said, "so our schedules are kind of different now."

"I wish I had siblings so close to my age," Hinata said, "but I only have one, a little sister who's five years younger. I have a cousin who goes to this school, but we don't talk much."

"Ah. So your sister's in fourth grade now, right? I have a friend that I like to consider as the sister I never had," Temari said, looking a bit far away as she reminisced, "but she's still in Suna. That's where I moved from."

"I see…well, I'm sure you'll be able to see her soon!" Hinata assured her.

"Thanks," Temari smiled, "Oh, here's the cafeteria…"

It was quite remarkable how even within ten minutes, teenagers still managed to make a huge mess – and noise – in the cafeteria. Girls talked with each other animatedly about fashion, summer vacation, and school so far, while some of the guys made paper airplanes and throwing them at people's heads, getting caught by teachers in the process. A few troublemakers stared dejectedly at their trash bag, having been punished with picking up trash in the cafeteria until they filled their bag. Of course, some of them simply got the trash out of the garbage can, or got it from their friends directly instead of from the ground. In the corner, a few boys were whacking the vending machine to force their beverage to come out, ignorant of the sign that clearly read 'Out of Order'.

"So, did you bring your lunch or are you getting it from school?" Temari asked.

"I brought mine. I never really liked school lunches," Hinata replied.

"Yeah, same here," Temari said, scanning the cafeteria for her brothers. "Oh, I think that's them over there. Yeah, Kankuro's waving at me, thinks I'm blind, does he? Come on, Hinata, let's go." She strode off towards a table near the wall, Hinata following close behind, taking caution not to get lost in the sea of teenagers.

"What took you so long? And who's she?" Kankuro said once they reached the table. He eyed Hinata suspiciously, who was cowering, half hidden behind Temari at the moment.

"She's Hyuuga Hinata, a new freshman. And she's going to be eating with us today," Temari said, stepping aside so Hinata's face could be seen. She stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do or say.

"Um, hello…I'm Hinata…" she said, almost in a whisper. With three people's concentration on her, she couldn't help but think that she was going to pass out at any moment from nerves.

"I think we knew that much already, Hinata," Kankuro smirked. Hinata's face flushed and she stared at her feet.

"Aw, stop it Kankuro, you're embarrassing her," Temari said, pulling out a chair across from Gaara. She motioned for Hinata to sit in the seat next to her. She took it and muttered a "thank you". Just as Hinata was about to take the first bite of her lunch, a yellow blur came bounding down to their table.

"Hey! How'd you guys like to join the drama club?" he practically yelled at them, attracting the attention of the surrounding tables. A girl with carnation-pink hair came running after him, looking livid.

"Naruto! Why'd you have to go running off to the other side of the cafeteria just to find people to sign up?" she said, stopping to catch her breath.

"Eh-he-he…sorry, Sakura!" Naruto replied, scratching his head nervously. "But no one else on that side looked like they wanted to join, and plus, these people look nice!" Sakura sighed deeply and took out a clipboard. Hinata caught a glimpse of the paper attached to it and saw that there were many lines, but only five or so names.

"Oh well. Anyways, I guess we went to the trouble of running here, we might as well ask these people to join," she reasoned, and set the clipboard on the table. "So, do any of you want to join?"

"I'll pass," Temari said without missing a beat, "I think drama's a waste of time." Upon hearing this, Sakura "hmphed" and turned her bright gaze onto Kankuro.

"Then, will you join?" she inquired hopefully. Kankuro snorted.

"Like I ever would. Temari's right, drama's a waste of time," he said. The pink-haired girl turned to Gaara and opened her mouth to speak, but Naruto interrupted her.

"He's not gonna answer you, I was in one of his classes and he never talks," he told her. His cerulean eyes found Hinata, who was fiddling with her thumbs with her head facing the ground, and swiftly moved towards her. "You seem like a more reasonable person! Will you join our club?"

"She's not going to join a club like that, Hinata has more common s—Hinata, what are you doing!" Temari raised her voice ever so slightly as the blue-haired girl wordlessly took the pen and started on the curly 'H' of 'Hyuuga'. Naruto saw this, and let out a cry of joy.

"Yes! Thanks, uh, Hinata, was it? Yeah, thanks, Hinata!" he yelled, throwing his arms around Hinata's neck. He didn't notice as her face flushed the color of Sakura's hair. He rambunctiously ran off, Sakura trailing behind him.

Temari looked at the flustered face sitting at her side, seeming as though she were contemplating the situation. It was a bit amazing how someone could develop a crush on someone so quickly, even a hyperactive boy like Naruto. The spilling of some juice interrupted her thoughts. Hinata let out a small gasp and jumped up.

"I-I'm going to go and clean this up," she said, heading off in the direction of the restroom. Temari nodded and returned to her thoughts.

Reaching the restroom, Hinata pushed open the door and went directly to the sink. She twisted the knob clockwise and wet a paper towel. The Hyuuga dabbed and rubbed and wiped, but to no avail, for the pesky stain had seemingly locked itself inside the fibers of her shirt. What in the world was put in that drink to make the stain so hard to get rid of? Hinata silently wondered. Deciding her efforts were fruitless, she resolved to just wear her navy jacket over her shirt and wash the stain when she got back home. Hinata made for the door, but let out a small scream and fell backwards onto the grimy tiles, fairly surprised at what she saw.

"Hello, Hinata," said the looming figure above her. It was a girl, a towering girl – or perhaps it seemed so because of Hinata's being on the floor – who sported a long, blonde, ponytail. She had seen her somewhere before, hadn't she? Maybe in one of my earlier classes? Hinata thought, but waved it away as she remembered the situation at hand.

Hinata tried to speak, but her mouth opened and closed uselessly as a byproduct of her fear, creating no sound whatsoever. She looked away. How could she have gotten herself into such a quagmire? It was only then that she noticed the girl standing behind the other one.

The other girl had a soft, gentle face that sort of calmed Hinata naturally. Her hair was, at the moment, tied into two buns at the sides of her head.

"Ino, look at her, you're scaring her!" she berated. Ino gave an exasperated sigh.

"But, if we're just all nice and whatever, she'll think we're pushovers!" she complained.

"Who...who are you?"

Ino and her friend were distracted from their bickering for a moment. Even Hinata was surprised at this sudden line.

"Oh, what a cute voice!" Ino squealed, taking Hinata aback. This was definitely not the reply that was expected. "Come, come! You're coming with us to our table!" With that, she extended her hand to the quivering girl before her.

It was just then that Hinata realized she was sitting on the grimy tiles of the girl's restroom. She sprang up, not wishing to befoul her clothing any longer. Should I go with them? I did promise to sit with Temari, after all…plus, my backpack's there… Ultimately, she decided to also extend her hand and place it in Ino's.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ino said jubilantly, and marched off, Hinata and Tenten following in her wake.

No one talked during the (seemingly) long walk to…well, wherever they were going. Ino jauntily sported a satisfied face while she led the other two girls to a table with a familiar face.

"Huh," said Sakura, "haven't I seen you before?"

Before Hinata could say a word, Sakura started again.

"Oh yeah, you were that girl who signed up for the drama club, aren't you? Thanks for that, by the way," she said.

"O-oh, you're welcome," said Hinata politely. Ino waved a hand around pointlessly.

"You guys, let's get to the point here!" she said impatiently. Tenten stared at her.

"Well, Ino, would you care to tell us exactly what your point is?" said she.

"Well…" Ino began hesitantly, "you kind of have a good point there."

"So, your point is that you don't have a point…and you're pointing out that I have a good point for pointing out the fact that you didn't say your point yet, which is that there is no point?" Tenten said.

"Whatever you said!" Ino cheerfully exclaimed.

"Anyways, why'd you abduct her?" inquired Sakura.

"It wasn't abduction! It was voluntary arrest (4)!" protested Ino. "And I voluntarily arrested her," she said, stressing the third and fourth words, "because we need someone else in our lunch group!"

"But why her? Why not some other poor, clean soul who has yet to be infected with the Ino-plague?" Sakura pointed out to Ino's indignation.

"Don't sound so full of yourself, Sakura!" she said loftily. "And isn't it obvious? We can make her popular!"

"What?" Hinata uttered, surprised.

"Yeah! We can help her be pretty, and, popular, and…and…and so much stuff! It'll be so much fun!" squealed Ino, now so caught up in her great plan, she didn't even notice Hinata's small protests. "Of course you'll assist me, right, Sakura? Tenten?" However, before the others could answer, Naruto came bounding by.

"I just talked to Kurenai, she says we have enough people now for the drama club to continue! It's not going to die! It's not going to die!" he cheered, pulling Sakura out of her seat and bouncing around in a sort of victory dance. "Oh, and, hi. Oh! You're Hinata, aren't you!" Naruto stopped and looked at her while Sakura flopped to the ground exhausted. "Thank you so much for joining drama! Without you, our club would've been discontinued!" He hugged her for the second time that day, still unaware of the color her face turned. When he left, Ino looked at the spot on which he once stood, and then studied Hinata. A devious grin started to form on her face and she turned so she faced all three girls.

"So, everyone, are you with me on my idea? I think, maybe, this turn of events has led us to see the light of my plan, has it not?"

"I still think this is weird – " started Tenten, but Ino now turned to Hinata for support.

"You agree with me, don't you, Hinata?" Ino said sweetly.

"Well, sure, but I really should be getting ba – "

"Excellent!" Ino said, but was interrupted as the bell rang throughout the cafeteria, prompting the hundreds of students to pack their things up and hurry to their fifth period classes. "Meet here tomorrow for the continuation of Project: Popularity! This meeting is officially adjourned!"

XXX

Phew…that took a long time to finish. Time for footnotes!

(1) There originally was a part at the beginning in which Temari helped Hinata out after a hall monitor unjustly stopped her, but it was kind of weird so I took it out.

(2) Because he does not like unfamiliar surroundings.

(3) I know the ages are different from canon, but it needs to be this way for the storyline.

(4) An in-joke for Melancholy fans.