Kiba and Akimaru started home. "What a jerk!" Kiba muttered to Akimaru, who was now nestled inside his jacket.
"Woof!" Akimaru barked in agreement.
"If Sakura hadn't been there, I would have beaten him to a pulp!" He thought of Hinata crying and running through the streets. Just the thought of it made him clench his fist and grit his teeth. "She is too sweet of a girl and deserves better then that!" he said aloud. Akimaru barked in agreement again. Then they walked home in silence, fuming over the way Naruto hurt Hinata.
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As sunlight shown through Naruto's window, he sat up and yawned. Man, what a dream, he thought. He had dreamt that Orochimaru came back and took Sakura this time. If that ever happened, Naruto wouldn't know what to do with himself.
Naruto got dressed and then got some instant ramen for breakfast. After eating, he went outside to look for Sakura and Sasuke, since they were supposed to hang out today for their day off. He spotted Sasuke walking with Neji and Tenten. Neji was holding Tenten's hand. When did they start going out? Naruto wondered. Sasuke looked over and spotted him. Naruto waved and ran towards him.
"Do you want to hang out with Sakura and me today? It'll be like the old days, as team seven." Naruto asked
"Sure, whatever." Sasuke shrugged. So Naruto waved to Tenten and Neji and ran off to find Sakura. Sasuke walked behind him a little more slowly. Sakura was walking with Tsunade when they saw Naruto running towards them.
"Hey Granny Tsunade! Hey Sakura!" Naruto yelled at the two.
"STOP CALLING ME GRANNY!" yelled Tsunade. Sakura just waved.
"Sorry Tsunade-sama," Muttered Naruto, "Are you ready to go Sakura? We should go to our normal meeting spot on the bridge and figure out what to do for our day off." Said Naruto as Sasuke walked up behind him with a sigh.
"Sure." She said with a smile. The three of them walked up to the bridge with Naruto and Sakura talking excitedly. Sasuke just walked behind them and listened.
"By the way, Sakura, are you going to talk to Hinata today?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I was thinking that we both should talk to her. Maybe that would be more effective. I mean, after all, you haven't officially asked me out yet anyway." Sakura said. Sasuke stopped in his tracks.
"Asked you out?!" he asked. Naruto laughed and explained what happened the previous night. Sasuke just sighed and walked on.
"What's wrong Sasuke?" Asked Sakura.
"Nothing," muttered Sasuke, sounding rather annoyed.
"Well, anyway, now that I think about it, I haven't officially asked you out." Naruto said.
Sakura giggled girlishly. "yeah I'll go out with you." She said and kissed him on the cheek.
"tch" Sasuke snorted. He didn't sound too happy.
"What is your problem?" Naruto asked.
"Ummm, you're just a loser, that's all." Sasuke retorted.
"I think that you're jealous!" Naruto yelled.
"Am not. Why would I be jealous? Sakura's annoying! I pity you!" yelled Sasuke.
Naruto lunged at Sasuke. "Take that back you jerk! How dare you!" he yelled, as Sasuke held him back with one hand and a bored look on his face. Sakura just shook her head and walked on muttering about how some people just don't grow up.
"Wait up Sakura!" Naruto yelled as he ran to catch up. He put his arm around her shoulder.
"You know, I think we have wasted enough time here, Naruto and I should find Hinata and talk to her. We should hang out some other time though, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said
"Whatever." Sasuke replied with a scowl.
Sasuke continued walking toward the bridge, and the other two turned and walked away with Naruto's arm still around Sakura who put her head on Naruto's shoulder. As they got closer to the place where Hinata and her team trained, they separated from one another so Hinata couldn't see how close they were to one another.
When the two finally got to Hinata's training ground, they saw Hinata sitting on the ground holding her knees, with Kiba rubbing her back to comfort her. Akimaru nuzzled her cheek and Hinata gave him an appreciative smile through her tears. They walked up and Naruto tapped Kiba on the shoulder. Kiba looked up and moved away for him to sit next to her.
"Hinata…" Naruto started. He tried to think of what to say to make things right with her. She looked up at him. Her big lavender eyes showed surprise.
"N-Naruto-kun?" She said quietly. Her face turned tomato red upon seeing him. She then saw Sakura standing behind her. "S-S-Sakura-chan?"
Sakura smiled warmly and sat on Hinata's left side. "We thought we should talk to you about last night." She said with a sympathetic tone to her voice.
"Oh." Hinata said quietly and hung her head.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know that you felt that way. You are really cool Hinata. And you are a pretty girl! And sweet too! Just because me and Sakura are together, doesn't mean you can't find true love. Who knows, it might not work between me and Sakura. Don't give up!" Naruto said. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And besides," he added, "you and Kiba seem pretty friendly. I think he might actually like you!" He whispered the last part, hoping Kiba, who wasn't standing too far away, wouldn't hear that. Hinata blushed at that. She had also blushed wildly when Naruto kissed her on the cheek.
"T-Thank you N-Naruto-kun!" she said and hugged him. That talk had helped her get closer to getting over Naruto. She ran over to Kiba. He looked to Naruto and smiled. Naruto gave him a thumbs up.
"Let's train Kiba-kun!" She exclaimed. He wiped what was left of her tears from her face and looked in her eyes with a hint of concern.
"Are you Ok? Are you sure you want to train?" Kiba asked. She nodded happily. Kiba gave her a hug, and when he realized what he was doing, he pulled away and blushed. "Let's go work on some moves!" he said excitedly, still slightly blushing.
"Let's go!" she said and they ran back into the training grounds to start.
