Ok, so you all are probably wondering the same thing. 'Where on earth have you been??!'. Weeeelll…I've been having school exams, piano exams, school assignments, school camp etc. etc. all dumped onto me at the same time. In short, things have just been extremely hectic.

BUT. I am proud to now present you with the sixth chapter xDD! Enjoy

Chapter 6 – Bonding…?

A loud beeping came from an alarm clock, causing the figure curled up inside the bed to stir slightly before stretching out a hand to chuck the clock onto the other side of the room where it crashed unceremoniously onto the floor.

After five minutes of grumbling and sheets thrown onto the floor a girl with indigo hair sticking up everywhere slowly sat up and dragged herself across the room to open up the curtains, allowing the morning sunshine to stream into her black and dark room.

Blinking to adjust the sudden change of light she yawned and went to her desk where she had thrown her school uniform on. Her eyes strayed to the calendar and she noted absent-mindedly that it had been nearly a month since all this craziness had started.

Nearly a month since her life as Hyuuga Hinata had been turned upside-down and inside out.

And all just because of three guys…

Damn Tsunade.

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Sasuke looked up from behind a newspaper when he heard the now familiar and heavy footsteps that signalled Hinata coming down the stairs in the mornings. Surely enough after a few seconds later she entered the kitchen and greeted them all with a sort of grunt.

"Morning Hinata!!!" Naruto exclaimed with his mouthful of ramen. Kiba simply gave her a nod; his eyes were glued onto the TV screen.

She started her usual morning procedures of fumbling for the cereal and milk. Sasuke started to break into a cold sweat, should he? Should he not? They were going to ask later anyway.

It was now or never.

He cleared his throat…which no-one heard.

He cleared his throat again, louder this time.

Naruto looked up from his bowl of ramen and regarded Sasuke with a concerned look.

"Sasuke are you all right?? Did you catch a cold or something?"

The vein on Sasuke's head started to bulge.

The commotion though had grabbed Kiba's and Hinata's attention (by now she was more awake). Sasuke cleared his throat again.

"I errr…won't be home for dinner tonight…"

There was silence for a while and Sasuke returned to reading his newspaper …

"TEME GOT A GIRLFRIEND BEFORE MEEEEEEE???????!!!"

Damn.

Sasuke braced himself as both Naruto and Kiba loaded one question after another onto him, filling his ears with their loud voices and shouts…oh god.

Hinata gulped when she felt the almost tangible waves of killer intent that Sasuke was emitting. Acting fast she grabbed Naruto and Kiba and pulled them back, giving Sasuke breathing space. The pair started to protest but stopped immediately once they saw the killer glares that Hinata was giving them.

After the commotion died down, the four sat at the dining table, all eyes glued onto Sasuke. Kiba bravely made the first move.

"Soo…who's the girl?"

Sasuke glared.

"It's NOT a date. Me and Sakura are just going to go to the library to work on the designer class assignment…"

Naruto grinned slyly. "OOooohhh…so it's me and Sakura now?"

Suddenly both Kiba and Hinata got up and ran to the living room. Naruto looked after them, confused. Dismissing it he turned back to Sasuke and saw why Hinata and Kiba made a break for it. Sasuke's face had turned an interesting shade of red and numerous veins were starting to bulge from his head…Even his dark blue hair seemed to have started to bristle.

Did he mention that Sasuke could be really really scary when he was pissed? And that the last time he got pissed he had managed to punch a hole into the wall?

"I'M SOORRR-"

Kami-sama…

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"Don't move!"

Naruto pouted and gingerly touched the bruise on his face…courtesy of Sasuke. "But it hurts!!"

Hinata sighed exasperatedly and pressed the cold cloth over the bruised area again…with a bit too much pressure

"ARGH!"

Naruto's hands instinctively went to drag Hinata's hands away from his face.

Hinata blushed when his hands touched hers. It reminded her all too much of that night at the shopping mall.

When they had got back that night Kiba and Sasuke were waiting at the front door. They had immediately noticed the fact that Naruto and her were holding hands. When Kiba had smugly pointed that out, they had instantly jumped a metre away from each other. Even Sasuke had that stupid smirk on his face. Afterwards, she had made sure that Kiba and Sasuke would never ever say anything about it. They were extremely polite to her afterwards. But god…what was she doing that night?? How could she act like that??? THAT was not her.

Naruto made her act in ways that she had never acted before.

"Eerr…Hinata are you there? You've kinda zoned out for a while now…"

Naruto's voice broke her chain of thoughts. And once again, she found herself staring into those piercing blue eyes again.

She grimaced, removed her hands from his and applied the cloth again…this time, much harder…much more harder.

"AARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!"

Hinata sighed happily as she moved her brush in careful strokes across her canvas. She belonged here. Lost in the world of paints and colours and…

"Hey, Hinata, have you seen Temari lately?"

Ok so maybe not that lost…She glanced up briefly at Tenten to answer her question.

"Ano, no I'm sorry"

A brief look of worry flitted across the other girl's face before she gave a nod and resumed her own painting in an unnatural quiet manner.

Hinata tried to concentrate on her painting again but found it hard to do so. She glanced at Tenten at the corner of her eye. Her face seemed to be furrowed into a frown and she was absent-mindedly brushing her palette and creating strange swirls of colours on it.

Hinata sighed inwardly. Even though she had admittedly grown closer to Tenten and the rest of the group she still found it hard to get the right words past her mouth. Questions would seem to arise when she tried to make conversation with them; what should she say? Would they hate her if she said this? What would be interesting to talk about?

In the end, Hinata would just choose to remain quiet and instead listened to the every one else's conversations, not adding unless she felt the urge to…which was rare. It wasn't that she didn't like her new friends, it was just that she lacked, what do you call it?

People skills.

This was why currently she was stressing out on how she should perhaps be able to question what was troubling her brown haired friend.

She swallowed nervously.

"Ano…Tenten, is something wrong?"

The girl in question looked up at her in surprise. It was the first time that Hinata had tried to start a conversation herself.

"Eh? Oh no, it's just that well…Temari's family has a bit of…domestic problems"

Hinata's eyes widened fractionally. Temari seemed to act so carefree. She and Kankuro never seemed to act like there was anything going on back at home.

But perhaps, this would explain Gaara's…issues.

Speaking of which…Hinata glanced to the spot where Gaara usually occupied and found that it was empty. She looked back to her friend again and saw that she looked even more troubled.

"Ano…perhaps Temari is just sick?"

Tenten gave her a smile.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but I'll be fine."

Hinata gave her a small smile in return and the two returned to painting in silence.

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"See ya later Hinata"

Hinata returned Tenten's wave and then resumed to packing up her equipment. The classroom was empty as everyone else had already packed up and left.

Finally pulling up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder she left the classroom, closing the door behind her. She began to hum, something which she only did when she was in a really good mood. Which was rare. Extremely rare. And why was she in such a good mood? Because there was a horror movie marathon tonight.

Yes a horror marathon.

What more could a girl ask for?

Well maybe for her only.

She began to walk down the empty corridor…

"Well, isn't someone in a good mood today, Hinata-chan"

Oh god.

Hinata plastered a fake smile on her face and slowly turned around.

"Hello Ino" she said in a fake cheery voice.

The blonde snarled.

"Stop with the act"

Hinata instantly dropped her mask and she smirked.

"Where's the rest of your little posse group today?"

She could see the veins starting to appear on the blonde's head.

"Don't you even dare-"

"What do you want from me" Hinata cut in.

Ino glared at her before she smirked and took one step closer to the lavender eyed girl.

Hinata refused to take a step backwards.

The blonde began to circle Hinata like a predator would do before it would strike its prey.

"Well you see Hinata-chan I couldn't help but notice that you seem awfully close to Sasuke-kun"

Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"What's your point? We're just friends"

Ino gave her a death glare.

"Friends who walk to school and back together, everyday?"

Oh crap. Hinata started to panic. She hadn't told anyone that she actually lived with the three most popular guys at school.

"We…live close to each other" she replied awkwardly.

Ino spun around and faced her.

"Not only do you steal my Sasuke-kun, you go and hang around Naruto-kun and that…caveman as well"

Hinata assumed that the caveman referred to Kiba.

Ino's eyes were slits now, making her look like a snake.

A dangerous snake.

"Who do you think you are?? Changing the way you look. Trying to look pretty. And now, trying to hit on guys"

The blonde smirked and inched her face closer to Hinata's.

"You're nothing but an ugly slut"

Hinata remained quiet but she felt like she could punch the nearest thing. Hard. Very very very hard. And the nearest thing was Ino.

Instead she plastered another fake smile on her face.

"I think that you would be referring to yourself then Ino-chan"

The other girl's face became an interesting shade of red and purple and she lifted up her hand in a very menacing and dangerous position.

Hinata braced herself and brang her arms up.

However, the impact never came.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a familiar figure with her hair tied up into four ponytails standing in front of her and gripping Ino's incoming hand.

"Temari?"

The honey blonde haired girl turned to give her a small smile. Hinata felt her heart sink when she saw an angry dark bruise on the other girl's cheek. Ino glared at Temari.

"Let go you bi-"

"I don't think you'd like to say that Ino" Temari whispered threateningly.

She let go of Ino's wrist. The girl looked rather intimidated and pissed at the same time.

Hinata stared at her Temari with her pale eyes.

Ino scowled and glared at Hinata.

"Don't think I'll let this slip by"

And with that she left, strutting down the empty corridor.

Temari sighed in relief.

Hinata stared at her.

What happened to her?

"Ano…why did you come here?"

Temari shrugged then smiled. "I was looking for Gaara"

Hinata remained silent before she gazed at Temari's face. The girl met her gaze and had subconsciously reached up to cover her cheek.

"What happened to your face?"

Temari winced.

"I…hit my face on the wall…"

The glare that Hinata was giving her indicated that the indigo haired girl did not accept that answer.

Temari sighed before she slumped down to sit and lean against the wall. She seemed so tired.

Tentatively, Hinata sat next to her friend.

There was silence for a few minutes before Temari broke it.

"My bastard of a father gave me it"

Hinata felt sickened. Sure, her father didn't exactly treat her that great either but he had never stricken her before.

"What…what about Kankuro and Gaara?"

At the mention of Gaara's name, Temari's aquamarine eyes darkened.

"Kankuro's fine…Gaara on the other hand…he left the house and never came back. I thought that he might have came here" she answered softly.

Hinata didn't like the way Temari was acting right now. It was so entirely different to her usual feisty and strong personality. The Temari she saw now seemed worn, tired and beaten.

Hinata hesitated but she pushed on.

"What happened?"

There was silence and Temari shifted uneasily. However Hinata was patient and waited for her to talk. Eventually when she did talk she told her about her father, how he would come back home from the company on random occasions (it turned out that Temari's father owned a rather large and successful company) only to abuse his three children; though he mainly targeted Gaara because he blamed him for the death of his wife…Gaara's mother had died giving birth to him. Gaara was raised up with the knowledge that HE was responsible for the death of his mother. HE was a murderer.

HE was a monster.

At least, that was what their father told him. Temari and Kankuro would try their best to coax Gaara that it was all lies, that she and Kankuro just simply thought that he was their little brother. But it was not enough to heal the wounds that all the mental and physical abuse that their father had inflicted upon the young child.

Slowly, he became withdrawn into his own world.

Hinata could only sit there and listen quietly as Temari went over the events, calming her sometimes when her anger looked like it was going to burst inside her. After Temari had quietened down the two friends sat in silence. Hinata was at loss at what to say. Damn her lack of people skills.

"Ano…I-I think that Gaara…would know how much you and Kankuro cares about him…"

Temari gave her a bitter smile.

"I hope he does"

There was silence again before it was broken by the sound of shuffling feet.

Temari's head snapped up before a look of disappointment settled over her face. It was just the school janitor.

"What are you girls still doing here?? It's nearly seven already!"

The girls muttered a quick 'sorry' before Hinata grabbed her bags and then both girls walked towards the school gates. They walked in silence until they reached the intersection where they had to split paths.

Hinata shifted uncomfortably before she gave Temari a quick and awkward hug; a gesture which she never did.

"You should come back to school soon. Everyone's worried about you…especially Shikamaru" Hinata said with a small smile.

A light blush fleeted across Temari's face before it disappeared almost immediately. After collecting herself she gave a brief nod.

Hinata gave a quick wave of goodbye before she began to walk along the dimly lit streets.

"Hey Hinata"

She turned around and gave Temari a questioning look. The other girl smiled.

"Thanks for listening" and with that she waved and began to walk back her house.

Hinata smiled. Well, maybe you really didn't have to have people skills. She glanced at her watch and her eyes widened.

It was 7:25 which meant her movie marathon started in 5 minutes.

She began to run as fast as she could.

She could NOT miss the marathon.

Naruto was bored.

Extremely bored.

Kiba was doing some kind of weird designing thing, Hinata wasn't back yet and Sasuke wasn't back yet. He glanced at the clock and frowned. It was 7:34 already…Hinata should be back home. As if right on cue, the door slammed followed by a painful sounding crash and a string of curses before Hinata bursted into the living room looking extremely out of breath. She gave a nod at Naruto before she rushed up the stairs to her bedroom.

He could only stare at her dumbfounded. Well…that was weird. Hinata could be slightly weird sometimes but…in a good way. He reached to gingerly touch the bruise which had formed thanks to Sasuke. However, it wasn't as bad after Hinata had tended to it. He smiled and then winced. The process was rather painful however.

The front door slammed open again and a rather grumpy Sasuke soon trudged into the living room, dropping onto the seat on the couch next to him. Naruto glared at him and was about to angrily say a comment on a certain punch that a certain someone had landed onto him this morning. But he stopped himself and he asked something that he was extremely curious about.

"So…how was the date?"

Sasuke glared at him.

"It was NOT a date"

Kiba instantly appeared into the living room, a sly grin playing across his face.

Naruto looked at him and snorted. "I thought you were meant to be working on your design thingy?"

Kiba shrugged, "This is more interesting"

Sasuke glared at him and then smirked.

"Aren't you meant to be working with that girl?"

Kiba wrinkled his nose.

"I'll make Ino accept my designs"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Kiba plopped onto the couch as well. And Sasuke knew what the next question was going to be.

"Soo…how was th-"

"I DON'T want to talk about it" Sasuke growled.

Naruto and Kiba exchanged a glance. Something must have gone wrong. They smirked. Naruto was about to push another question onto Sasuke when the phone rang. None of the guys moved and the phone rang for a few more minutes. Finally Kiba rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded something like 'lazy bastards', he got up and went to get the phone in the next room.

Instantly Naruto began to eagerly question Sasuke about his 'date'. But stopped when Sasuke threatened him that he'd bruise the blonde's other cheek. He closed his mouth and the two began glaring at each other. Finally after 10 minutes Kiba walked back in, his face slightly pale.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Who was it?"

Kiba sat back down. "…Tsunade"

Naruto perked up. "Ehhh…what did Obaa-chan want?"

Before Kiba could answer they heard a scream which sounded from Hinata's room. The three instantly ran up stairs then sighed in relief when they realised that the sound was coming from the T.V in Hinata's room.

Naruto turned to Kiba. "So what did Baa-chan want?"

Kiba swallowed nervously.

"She's coming to check on…" he jabbed a finger inside Hinata's room.

Suddenly they heard Hinata laugh a rather scary and very evil laugh. Hesitantly the three guys opened the door and poked their heads into the room. Hinata was too absorbed into watching 'Silent Hill' to notice that the guys were standing outside her room. Currently she was laughing at the amount of blood that was splashing around everywhere in the movie. Her hair was in a mess and she was wearing her sweats.

The three guys retracted their heads and took some several steps back. That…was just way too freaky.

Naruto breathed shakily. "She wants to check on HINATA?"

Kiba gave a nod.

"So this visit might give us that free rent?" asked Sasuke suspiciously.

Kiba gave another nod.

"When is she coming??!" asked Naruto.

Kiba swallowed. "In two days"

They heard another one of Hinata's freaky and evil laughs. They winced.

She was far from a 'Perfect Lady'.

How were they going to change her in TWO days??

They stared at each other before they said the same thing.

"Shit"

Whew xD Well, there wasn't much naruhina fluff but that will come soon. And yes, 'Silent Hill' is a rather gruesome and freaky horror movie. (I've seen it before…it's gross)

Next update should be soon now that holidays is around the corner xDD

Thanks for reading! s2. everlasting.rainbow