Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, blah, blah, blah. Ya'll get the picture by now.

A/N: Alright! You guys asked for it, so the rating of this story is officially changed to M! This chapter is a little more Hinata heavy, but don't worry…there's no way in hell I'd let her mess up Naruto and Sakura's blooming relationship! Set your minds at ease! Here's a nice, long chapter in exchange for the awesome reviews:

"Please…quiet!" Hinata meekly whispered to the classroom full of rowdy students. They didn't pay any attention whatsoever and chattered happily away.

"Class, pl—" she started again in a slightly stronger voice before Shikamaru strolled through the doorway and cut her off.

"Pipe down!" he intoned lazily, and leaned against the desk. The children fell silent immediately. Hinata sighed to herself and moved to stand beside him. They went through this ordeal every morning—she would arrive first, but he would be the one to achieve order. The class just wouldn't listen to her! The students all liked her well enough, but none of them took her seriously. They respected her position as the Hyuuga heiress, but knew that she was too meek and gentle to reprimand their ill behavior and took advantage of that knowledge.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to teach today, kids," Shikamaru said. "Hokage-sama has given me some business to attend to."

A collective groan of disappointment arose from the class. Hinata knew that despite Shikamaru's disinterested behavior, they all liked him very much and respected his intelligence. She also hated the days when he was unable to teach, because it meant a whole day of covering lessons on her own. Tsunade had assigned her as Shikamaru's teaching partner for two reasons. One, he was horrible with children, while she was very patient and forbearing. Two, Tsunade thought that having to speak in front of a class everyday would help Hinata gain more confidence and people skills.

So far, she had gained neither.

"Shikamaru-sensei, where are you going?" asked a small redheaded boy in the front row.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," came his deadpan reply. The class giggled.

"Well, when are you coming back?" asked the little boy with a pout.

"I should be back late this afternoon," he said, rising from the desk.

"That's ok," called a rosy-cheeked brunette girl from the back row. "Hinata-sensei will take care of us!" Several heads nodded in agreement and Hinata smiled back at them. Despite her misgivings, she truly did love working with the children

"One more thing," Shikamaru said, heading for the door. "You'll have a guest instructor today. Haruno Sakura is coming to talk to you about field first-aid techniques."

"Who's she?" asked the redhead.

"She's the pretty lady with the pink hair," answered the boy next to him.

"Oh, yeah!"

Hinata felt only a slight twinge of jealousy before Sakura herself came barreling through the door.

"Yo," Shikamaru said, holding the door for her.

"Yo," she replied breathlessly as he exited.

"Sakura-san! Won't you come introduce yourself to the class?" Hinata requested politely, making room for her up front.

"Hai!"

Hinata studied Sakura carefully as she introduced herself and began explaining to the class how to suck poison out of an open wound, hoping to find some sort of indication as to whether she and Naruto were dating. She didn't expect to find a sign written on her forehead that read "NARUTO'S GIRLFRIEND," but surely something about her manner would give it away. After a few moments of fruitless contemplation, however, Hinata began to compare Sakura to herself in looks. The latter was a little taller…with slightly smaller breasts, but her overall proportions seemed more harmonious than Hinata's (to her eye, anyway). Sakura's skin was fair, but it made Hinata feel as if her own were a sickly white next to it. Her short pink haircut was so cute and stylish too…no wonder Naruto liked her better.

Wait…you don't KNOW that he likes her yet! The sensible part of her mind reassured her. I'll just wait until lunch and straight up ask her if there's anything going on between them!

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Sakura stretched and sighed with relief as the kids all filed out of the classroom for lunch. She liked children well enough, but trying to explain difficult concepts to them while knowing that most would forget everything she'd painstakingly spelled out within a few days just seemed like a waste of time. I wonder if Tsunade ever felt that way about me, she wondered wryly. Smiling at Hinata, who was gently reprimanding a bully that had tried to push his way through the crowd, Sakura envied her patience. She found it difficult to understand why guys didn't fall all over Hinata; to Sakura, she seemed quite the ideal woman (from a man's point of view). She was pretty, feminine, and soft-spoken…with that fair skin and long dark hair; wouldn't she be considered a classic beauty?

Perhaps guys couldn't get used to her quiet, excruciatingly shy manners. Sakura always figured that men preferred retiring women, but she could be wrong. Ino was far from retiring, and she had men crawling all over her day and night (not that this behavior wasn't sought and duly encouraged by the flirtatious blonde). Who in the village would be well-suited for Hinata? Kiba was too loud and boisterous; Shino was quiet, but creepy; Neji was her cousin, Chouji was too self-absorbed, and Naruto just thought she was weird. Shikamaru? No, Sakura suspected he had a thing for that girl from the Sand Village. What about Lee? No, he was too focused on his training at the moment…

"Sakura-san, didn't you bring any lunch with you?" Hinata asked timidly, after the last child had left. She took out her own dainty lunch, which was in a carefully arranged box.

"Umm…no," Sakura replied, hopping onto the desk and crossing her legs. "I was kind of in a rush this morning and didn't have time to pack anything." There probably wasn't anything edible in Naruto's kitchen anyway.

"You can have some of mine if you'd like," Hinata offered shyly, coming to sit next to her. "I prepared it myself this morning."

"It looks delicious, but no thank you," Sakura declined. "I'll just go grab some ramen or something. Besides, I still need to prepare the next part of my lecture on emergency bone-setting and makeshift splints."

"Before you go," Hinata said with a slight blush, "I wonder if I might speak with you about something…"

"What is it?"

"Well, I…um…"

Sakura stared at Hinata, curious. What subject did she want to address that was so difficult to breach? The girl's face was pink and she shifted nervously back and forth, lunchbox forgotten at her side. Hinata rarely spoke to anyone, much less to her…what was this about?

"I-I wanted to ask you about…about N—"

"Yo, Sakura-chan!!!!!!!!!!" Naruto burst through the door noisily, holding a to-go bowl of ramen in each hand. "I brought us lunch!"

"Naruto! Quiet! This is a school, for heaven's sake! Why the hell are you shouting at the top of your lungs while there are classes going on down the hall!?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Geez, you're the one shouting!" he said with a grin, handing her a bowl and chopsticks.

Sakura sighed and gave a little laugh in spite of herself. His blue eyes were twinkling as he helped her down from the desk, and she smiled as he self-consciously ran his fingers through unruly blond locks.

"Hey, Hinata!" he said, finally noticing the young lady whose plans he had unwittingly interrupted. "So, how're the brats treating you?"

"N-Naruto-kun," she stammered, with a face like the setting sun. "I—"

"And where's Shikamaru? That lazy ass…I can't believe he became an instructor!"

"He's on an assignment from Hokage-sama," Hinata mumbled, involuntarily shrinking away from his presence. Sakura noticed it, and, assuming that Naruto's big mouth and bad manners were too stressful for the poor girl's sensibilities, began to drag him out of the room.

"Sakura-chan, where are we going?" he inquired when they reached to door.

"Somewhere where we can eat alone and leave Hinata-san in peace!" she said matter-of-factly, not noticing the crushed look on Hinata's countenance as they took their leave.

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Naruto felt somewhat apprehensive as he and Sakura stood mutely in the hallway. He was bursting to ask her all kinds of questions, especially the all-important "are you my girlfriend?" question. Unfortunately, all he could do was stare at the floor.

"So, where should we eat?" Sakura asked, looking up and down the hall.

"I know a place," Naruto replied. "It's an old classroom. I used to eat there sometimes when we were at the academy…" When I wanted to be alone…to get away from everyone's reproving glares. He chose not to mention that last part. Nor did he mention that he had to give up his "secret spot" in his last year, because Sasuke discovered it. The popular young shinobi had begun eating there alone, so as to escape his bevy of admirers. Present company included, he thought, frowning at Sakura.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head. Sunlight from the open window shimmered in her hair, and Naruto snapped back to reality.

"Nothing…It's this way," he said, heading down the hallway.

"Okay." Sakura followed him around a corner and up the stairs in silence. Naruto listened to the sound of their footsteps echoing dully on the wooden floors. He tried to screw up to courage to ask Sakura to be his girlfriend, but he couldn't manage to even look at her.

"Where is this room?" she asked curiously, rushing up a few steps so she was level with him.

"It's on the top floor. Third door on the right."

They reached the door in question, and entered the musty room. It was just an old classroom that was never in use; the dull blue wallpaper was peeling slightly, and rickety desks were strewn about in uneven rows. A large window opened onto the playground below, and a lone desk was pushed up against it. Naruto stared at the little desk and blinked. For a moment, it was if he saw a young Sasuke sitting there, eating his solitary lunch and staring out the window at his classmates.

Naruto swallowed hard and led Sakura into the room. As an afterthought, he flicked the locking mechanism on the door. The air smelled musty and stagnant, as if not a soul had entered the old room since he'd last left it. Dust covered the floor in a thin layer and he could almost make out the faint impression of old footprints across the weathered surface. Flecks of dust also hung in the air, lighting up like glitter from sunbeams filtering through the window.

"Thanks for getting lunch, Naruto," Sakura said with a smile. She moved to sit on the teacher's desk, just as she'd done in Hinata's class, and patted the space next to her. "Come sit with me!"

Naruto grinned and hopped up on the desk next to her. They began eating their ramen in companionable silence.

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Hinata sank into the chair behind the teacher's desk and tried desperately not to cry. Why couldn't she ever say what was on her mind? This whole mess with Sakura could be straightened out so easily…all she had to do was ask a simple question. I'll just have to wait until next time.

Absently running her fingers through her long hair to untangle it, she leaned back in the chair with a sigh. She knew she should eat, but her appetite seemed to have left her entirely. So, instead, Hinata settled for idly tracing the wood grain pattern of the desk with her fingertip and willing herself to think of anything but Naruto.

As if in answer to her prayers, a flash of white on the floor at the corner of the desk caught her eye. Curiously, she picked it up and examined it. It was a piece of paper, folded in half twice, with her name scribbled on it untidily. For one wild moment, her heart leapt at the thought that it might be from Naruto, who could have dropped it there for her on purpose before he left. No, it's only a note from Shikamaru…it must have been accidentally knocked of the desk. The note read:

Hinata,

I need you to stick around for an hour after class. Hokage wants you to be here to receive the people I'm picking up, because you have pretty manners (What, like I don't?). Anyway, they're going to be doing some activities with the students here. I actually have no idea what the plan is, but meet me here at 4pm.

Shikamaru

Hinata groaned inwardly. She had no idea who these people were, but she was definitely NOT in the mood to play hostess! Will this day never end!?

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Naruto slammed his empty ramen bowl down on the desk (he'd practically inhaled his food), and jumped to his feet. Throwing his arms in the air, he stretched casually and made his way to the large window.

Sakura had also finished her lunch, but remained seated.

"Naruto?" she asked cautiously.

"Hmm?" He turned back to her, with the usual smile in place, and unconsciously began pacing the room. His mind was torn between wanting to devote all of his attention to the beautiful girl there with him and wanting to stubbornly brood about the past. Those were the same floors he'd paced as a child. If he looked hard enough, he could imagine an extra set of footprints next to his…no, Sasuke rarely paced. He was more the stationary type when anxious.

"Is something on your mind?"

"Nah, not really," he lied, coming to a halt in front of her.

"Oh?" Sakura carefully arched an eyebrow, and Naruto's stomach flip-flopped. Man! She's hot when she does that! I can't believe that after all these years, just one look from her can make me feel so…on fire. "There's nothing you want to discuss?" she continued calmly.

Here it is…she's giving me an opening. Naruto swallowed nervously and stepped forward. She was so close…it was hard not to stare at her, uh…face. He silently swore and cursed himself for being a normal teenage boy.

"I, uh…" he began awkwardly, letting his eyes wander to the ceiling. His face was burning!

Sakura continued sitting calmly with that Sphinx smile of hers. Damn! What the hell's my problem?

He swallowed again, and considered turning to pace the room some more. There really was not enough space between him and Sakura for to allow clear thinking, anyway. That small smile playing about her lips…he shut his eyes as if in prayer.

All of the sudden, he felt Sakura wrap her arms around his middle and lean her head against his chest. His eyes snapped open and he stood…as if in a trance. This was too good to be true! Wait! I need to talk to her about this!

"Naruto," she began, momentarily preventing him from beginning the dreaded conversation.

"Yes?" he replied instead. His throat felt dry and scratchy. His voice, too, sounded distant and strange to his own ears. He knew his heart was beating rapidly.

"I can tell when you're worrying about something, you know," she said softly. "I've known you for a long time."

Naruto remained silent for a moment. Then he looked down at her. Once again, all of his feelings for her rose up into his chest in a rush and he remembered how long he'd loved her.

"It can wait," he said, lifting her chin so their eyes met. He repressed another nervous swallow and leaned down to kiss her. He felt her lips smile as she returned his kiss, and brought her hands to his neck, pulling him down toward her. Sweet!

Encouraged, Naruto deepened the kiss and cheered inwardly as she matched him for intensity. It was as if his blood began to boil all of the sudden, and every single thought rushed out of his head like birds taking flight. Somewhere in the very back of his mind, he took a moment to marvel at the fact that Sakura, the love of his life, was actually kissing him. For the second time that day, he experienced the odd sensation of not knowing whether he was dreaming or awake.

Sakura wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, now kissing him fiercely. Definitely awake, he thought, moving his hands down to her hips. His mouth attacked hers, feverishly pulsing his tongue in and out. The taste of her…he wanted more! You don't have to go so fast, you know, said an annoying voice in the back of his mind. It's ok! You're just making up for lost time! insisted a much more agreeable voice. He moved his lips to her neck and latched on, hearing her moan slightly as she tilted her head to give him better access. Her hands were everywhere, running up and down his back, and over his chest…he shivered when she raked her nails across his hips.

Unable to hold off any longer, he moved his hands to her shirt and tugged at the zipper. Good thing I locked the door, he thought, distantly, as he reclaimed her lips and stroked the naked skin on her back. By then, he had pushed her back onto the desk surface and her legs had wrapped around his waist even tighter. His cautiously brought his hands to her breasts and was rewarded by a small gasp. Feeling her hardened nipples through the lace, he decided that all barriers between his hands and her skin needed to be removed.

But, just as his fingers hooked around the clasp of her bra, the bell rang loudly and made them both start. For a moment, they just stared at each other in shock, with Naruto still on top of Sakura and with his fingers still pinching the clasp of her bra. Both short of breath, they just looked at each other, motionless. Her green eyes were huge with shock, and Naruto felt his face burning.

"I have to go," she finally whispered, pushing him off her and zipping up her shirt. Naruto shook himself mentally and tried to smooth his hair, which was now sticking up wildly.

"I'll be there at three to walk you home," he said faintly. She hovered for a moment between him and the door, before walking up and giving him a slow, sweet kiss. She then rushed back to class.

Naruto groaned and lay back on the desk. He hadn't meant to let things go that far, but…well, he wasn't the only party at fault. Did Sakura think they were moving too fast? Naruto stared up at the ceiling for a moment before flexing the fingers of his right hand. He could almost feel the softness of her breasts lingering on his skin. Grinning foolishly, he sat up. Over all, he was certainly making progress with her, but he wanted it to be more than…physical…progress. He still hadn't addressed the dreaded "girlfriend" subject with her. Sighing again, Naruto stood up. She always left him elated, usually, but now he felt frustrated…in more ways than one.

He walked over to the desk where he used to sit by the window before he'd relinquished it to Sasuke and ran his fingertips over the wood surface. Naruto grinned widely. There, etched in the wood, a message read: "Uzumaki Naruto was here!" It was dated six years ago.

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Four o'clock at last! Hinata swung her eyes to the door in expectation, but couldn't help remembering Sakura barreling through it for the second time that day. She'd looked very flushed and unkempt…unusual for Sakura. It was also unusual for her to be late again like that, and she'd seemed very subdued for the second part of her lecture. If Hinata let this behavior confirm her suspicions, then the time to give up on Naruto was now.

I'm not giving up until I know for sure! Hinata told herself for the umpteenth time that day and tried to put the whole situation out of her head. Turning, she let her gaze rest on the classroom window and watched the tree limbs outside swaying slightly in the wind. The rustling sound of leaves always calmed her thoughts, and she missed it in the winter. She rose to open the window, and admired the sheer white curtain rippling and dancing in the icy breeze. It reminded her of the white silk kimono that had been her mothers and was now hanging in her own closet…a bridal kimono. Her father had forbidden her to touch it until her wedding day, but she couldn't help sometimes lovingly caressing the cool silk. Whenever she missed her mother most, she'd pull out the gorgeous white kimono and almost remember a time when the beautiful lady who had worn it was still with them. When her father was still happy…

Hinata frowned. Something seemed…off. The bare tree branches looked stark and ominous against the gray sky. There had been no wind outside all day, but it was now blowing through the playground with gentle force. She leaned out of the window and inhaled…the breeze smelled strange…spicy almost, and her face stung in the cold air. She watched the seesaw totter up and down for a moment. The swings in the playground were swaying faster now.

Shaking her head, Hinata returned to her desk.

She waited for half an hour when, finally, footsteps could be heard in the hall. Automatically smoothing her hair, she headed for the door. As she reached for the doorknob, it turned from the other side and the door swung in on her. Hinata stumbled back and inhaled sharply as she looked up directly into the face of Gaara, Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know this chapter wasn't that great…it was tamer than I'd planned it to be, too (I cut out, like, three pages of more "explicit" material). I was looking at my outline though, and Naruto and Sakura really would be moving too fast (I think) if they just all of the sudden started going at it. It may seem like they're moving slow…but I remember when I was sixteen. That would have seemed fast to me back then. At this point, it felt like I was just writing pointless smut. You gotta build up to that stuff! I did feel kinda bad about interrupting him like that though! Damn bell! ; P

Next chapter: Hinata has a heart attack (j/k! hehe), we find out why, exactly, Gaara is at the academy; NaruSaku fluff. I'm sorry everyone hates Hinata so much, but she'll only be in a couple more chapters. No worries! You see, this fic is actually a prequel for a another fic I'm writing. It'll provide the necessary exposition about Hinata.

(Phew! This is the part where I shamelessly beg for reviews. Come on! The more positive feedback I get, the faster I update!) :D