Last time :

He knew he wouldn't have to worry about her now. She'd taken a liking to Shikamaru, and that just made one more obstacle in the way of Uchiha getting to her. He hummed to himself, walking a bit quicker to catch up. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he made an apologetic face. Her lip twitched, and she moved a little closer to him and caught his hand and gave it a squeeze, then proceeded to look the other way as if he wasn't there. He smiled.

Yeah, things were going to be okay.

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Chapter 7; Friends, foes, and carefully laid plans.

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Shikamaru leisurely strolled down the side walk friday morning, sipping at his travel mug of coffee, thinking to himself. He was curious as to whether he had made a good impression the other day, and whether or not he indeed had someone to talk to today apart from his regular friends. He sighed. It was too cold out and way too early to be thinking so deeply. He pulled the scarf tighter around his neck and cursed the weather. He was startled out of his thoughts soon by someone shouting his name. He glanced back to see Naruto and Gaara down the street behind him, and paused for a minute so they could catch up. Obviously his thoughts hadn't been all that positive, but really. Being the smartest kid in school doesn't always give you the best reputation.

He smiled at them as they came closer and waved a bit. They both greeted him warmly, which was nice, though a little surprising from Gaara. He knew firsthand now that Gaara could be quite pleasant; as long as you had nice things to say about his love interest, of course. He inwardly smirked at that thought. Not that Gaara didn't still have an intimidating presence, especially when other people were around and he refrained from showing emotions, which Shikamaru didn't understand at all. Suddenly Shikamaru realized Naruto was talking to him.

".. later today?" Shikamaru made an apologetic face.

"Sorry, could you repeat that? I was miles away." She grinned.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out with us again later?" Shikamaru shrugged, and made a vague gesture with his hand.

"As long as I don't have any plans by 3:30, then that sounds fine." He glanced at her warily. "What did you have in mind?" Naruto grinned at him and said in a sing-song voice;

"It's a surprise~!" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and shot Gaara a look. He merely smiled and shrugged. He waited until they had gotten farther up the street and Naruto made a quick apology and ran up to meet Hinata, who was walking out of her house about half a block ahead of them. He then turned to Shikamaru.

"I don't know what's going on either. Though knowing Naruto, probably a movie night." He glanced at Shikamaru. "If you don't feel comfortable hanging out at our houses yet it's okay. I'll most likely get her to crack before the end of the day so you'll have some warning if you want to make an excuse." Shikamaru shrugged.

"I don't really care one way or the other. As long as I'm not imposing I'm fine with whatever she has in mind." Gaara smirked and nodded. They walked in silence for a minute, before Shikamaru's curiosity got to him. "So how are things with you and her?" Gaara gave him a look that said 'not now', seeing as they were drawing close to the girls. Shikamaru nodded and went along with it.

"Come on you guys, hurry up!" Naruto shouted at them, even though they were only a few feet away. Gaara glared at her.

"Oh shut it. You're the one who is always running late." She glared back and stuck out her tongue.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want to get there later then Kakashi!" She huffed and walked off, leaving Hinata in the dust. She blushed and looked down when they guys both looked at her.

"Good morning." She mumbled timidly. They both greeted her back, and they continued on their way to school. She was trailing behind them a bit, not wanting to intrude, lest they started talking about something that didn't concern her. Soon enough though Gaara paused until she was walking beside him, then gently hooked his arm through hers and pulled her into stride with them. He smiled down at her.

"No need to be shy Hinata, we're all friends here." Hinata blushed and looked away, accidentally catching Shikamaru's eye. He smiled tentively at her, and she returned it hesitantly. After a minute she realized he was still watching her, so she gave him a questioning look. He grinned.

"You look really nice today Hinata san." She flushed and looked away, before muttering a quiet, but still meaningful 'thank you'. Shikamaru grinned, and tried to remember what else they had told him in the restraunt last night. You see, shortly through their meal, while Naruto had gone to the restroom, Shikamaru and Gaara had started talking about ways to get Hinata to notice him in the first place, because with how timid she was all the time, he wouldn't be able to just walk up to her and ask her out like any other girl. Shikamaru agreed, it made perfect sense. He knew Gaara was only being realistic, but was still a little miffed at not getting a date straight away. But if it was for Hinata, he'd wait.

Unfortunately, Naruto came back to the table without their notice, until of course, she asked loud enough for people three tables over to hear. "YOU LIKE HINATA?" Shikamaru, was of course, pretty embarrassed, but he let it slide, seeing as after Gaara tugged her down into the booth and hurriedly explained the situation, she jumped in with a few ideas of her own.

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She gave him a serious look from across the table. "You have to compliment her." He nodded and she shook her head.

"I mean more then you might usually compliment a girl. You know the rivrialy between her and her cousin's family, right? Well whenever she loses to Neji at something her father really rips into her. She really needs a confidence boost, and I think you can give it to her." Gaara was nodding along with him now. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Of course, what guy wouldn't want advice on how to woo a girl from the very girl they were after? Naruto saw his rolled eyes, but took it as a response to something she had said. "And make sure you only use compliments you mean. Never lie to her about something like how she looks or your opinion on something she's done. If you don't know any compliment to give her in regards to whatever, just be pleasant. It can't hurt."

Gaara cut in. "Try and give her a small gift here and there; just a little something to cheer her up, or something that lets her know you were thinking of her. Don't over do it, and try not to spend much money on whatever it is, unless you really think she'd like it." Naruto laughed, and Gaara looked a little ticked. "Hey now! That was good advice."

"Well, yes, but the spending money thing doesn't really matter. If you want to buy her some flowers, for instance, and you find that her favourite flowers don't bloom here at the time you want to get them for her, go to a specialty shop and buy her some. If you can find them growing wildly, pick a few instead. And mind you she's not one for extravagance. Three or four flowers is fine, don't go buying two dozen flowers or anything. Not only will you be wasting money, but she's bound to be suspicious and not accept it well." He gave her a look.

"Suspiscious of flowers?" She shook her head.

"Probably more suspicous of your intentions then anything else." He nodded, thinking. "And when you first ask her out, try and not make it feel too date-like. For instance, to a fair, where there are plenty of of people around, and you're bound to run into someone you know. Or invite her and a couple other friends to a movie, not too many, maybe four or five people in total." She winked at him across trhe table. "Me and Gaara here would be happy to escort you." Shikamaru laughed, and nodded.

"Sounds good." Naruto grinned.

"Sweet." They continued eating then, because if they waited much more their food would get too cold.

"Oh.." Shikamaru looked up. Naruto swallowed what she had in her mouth and took a sip of water. "When you do take her out seriously for the first time, don't make it too intense. Take her to a nice diner, not too expensive, and treat her. Then maybe take her to that park down on Watercrest, you know, that one that's near the forest? Take her for a walk through that, make sure it's not too dark out though. And walk her home, but don't get too serious on the doorstep mister." She shook her finger at him. "If you want to kiss her, feel out how the evening has gone. Did she seem uncomfortable? Did she like it? Love it? Say your goodnights depending on how she was, not on how pretty you think she is in the moonlight." She grinned at him cheekily. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not that dumb." She shrugged.

"I never said you were. Just keep in mind what I've said, and you should be fine."

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He nodded to himself. Step one; compliments. Easy as pie. And she really did look nice today. She had on a dark purple plaid skirt that stopped shortly above the knees, a dark shirt of some really soft looking material, and a cropped leather jacket on top, with some black flats. He thought she looked quite delectable, but thought it would be extremely uncomfortable for her if he would have said it aloud. ''Really nice' covers thatthough.. right?' He grinned to himself. It was close enough. Suddenly his thoughts took a different turn. Naruto wanted to invite him to watch a movie with herself and Gaara? Couldn't they just invite Hinata along, or would it be too soon? Then again, even Gaara wasn't that positive that movies were the plan for tonight. He sighed. 'I guess I'll have to play it by ear.'

It was about a block later that he realized Gaara was still linked with Hinata. He frowned inwardly, thinking. He knew that she had a crush on Gaara, and that Gaara was interested in Naruto.. But did they have something going on? He paused and conteplated it for a few moments. 'No,' he concluded. 'Gaara seemed like a guy who had a lot of honor. He wouldnt tell him that he was gonna hook him up with a girl if he was interested in her that way, would he..?'

'No.' He told himself more firmly. 'I have no reason to doubt him.' He mused silently for a while, and soon enough Naruto latched onto his arm and steered him into the schoolyard, seeign as he was too muddled up in his thoughts to noticed he had walked quite a bit past the gate. He vaguely wondered why she hadn't stopped him sooner.

"Really Shikamaru, I just don't know what I'm going to do with you!" She scolded in an authoritive tone. He rolled his eyes and subtley shifted out of her grip.

"Jeez, sorry mom. Won't happen again." She laughed and walked up the steps with him, and noticing he was looking around, assumed he was aware that Gaara and Hinata weren't around.

"They went ahead. Come on, or we'll be late." She shifted through the crowd, people making room around her. He slowly ambled along behind her, snickering when she'd huff and make impatient motions for him to hurry up. It was comforting, having someone act so relaxed in his presence. The only people he normally got that from was his parents and Chouji. His teachers and peers were usually awed by his 'genius' and mildly unconventional way of speaking (meaning that he usually used proper grammar and didnt talk like a fool), that they acted as if he were someone greater in years then he actually was. It was nice soemtimes, having that bit of respect, but it usually left him with a feel of lacking in his emotional state..

"..sit with us again? Hello?" He broke from his thoughts to see Naruto standing in front of him waving a hand in his face. He scrunched his nose, but said nothing. She sighed, "I know you and Gaara both have the respected-genius thing going on, but at least give us a sign you're going into robot-mode." He raised an eyebrow.

"Robot mode?" She nodded and made a vague gesture towards him.

"You know, when you zone out and it looks like you're contemplating the meaning of life? Robot-mode." He snorted, and glanced to the back of the room to see Gaara watching them attentively.

"And Gaara does this too?" She nodded.

"Sometimes. Not so much lately." She lowered her voice, "Not since.. you know.. Sasuke came." Shikamaru saw Gaara's eye narrow a fraction and wondered at his hearing capasity. He was obviously listening to the whole conversation. Talk about no privacy. He nodded and looked back to Naruto.

"Don't worry about him anymore. You havent even seen him lately, right?" She shook her head, and smiled.

"Right. No worries. So. As I was saying when you were off in the clouds.. Are you gonna sit with your friends, or with us again?" He opened his mouth to answer, but noticed Gaara stiffen, and stand up. He was curious as to why, when a voice rang out behind him.

"I'd love to sit with you Naruto. Thank you for the gracious invite." He turned to see Sasuke Uchiha standing a little ways away from them, staring at Naruto in such a way that could only be described as disgraceful. "Of course, I only know a few people at this school intimately, and seeing as you're on of them, I'd assume you would know I don't have many friends here yet.."Naruto stiffened beside him and give him a slightly worried glance.

"Uh, actually, I was talking to Shikamaru.. Maybe another time?" He grinned slyly at her and moved closer towards them, only stopping when it was clear that Gaara was about to explode. He gave a cheeky grin that was obviously directed at Gaara's fury, but kept his eyes on Naruto and kept talking as if it were nothing.

"Why, Naruto, I can see from here that there's an empty seat beside yours today. I'd love to sit with you, and perhaps have a chat?" Naruto looked flustered, and unsure of how to answer. Sasuke grinned wider, noticeably reveling in her discomfort. Shikamaru took hold of her arm, and directed her away, while talking to Sasuke.

"Unfortunately, I told Naruto I'd help her with some questions on the assignment from yesterday, so I'll be sitting beside her. Thank you though for your kind manners in requesting a seat with the lady." He said in the most dismissive tone he could muster. Sasuke just turned and glared at him, but Shikamaru promptly turned from him and continued to the back of the room. As they sat, Gaara only sighed and brushed his finger tips against the back of Naruto's neck.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled quietly. "Couldn't do anything." She turned towards him and smiled, takiing his fingers and squeezing them.

"Don't worry about it. The last thing I wanted was you two to start fighting and Kakashi to walk in on it. You don't need the trouble." He nodded, looking slighly angered still. He turned to Shikamaru and nodded.

"Thanks." Shikamaru gave him a nod and pulled out his binder, and spared a glance at Naruto.

"Might as well go over the assignment eh? As I recall you had quite a few words to say on how Gaara ignored you yesterday." She grinned.

"Thanks." As she rummaged through her back to get out her notebook, Shikamaru shot a look at Gaara.

"On another note. Where'd Hinata go?" He looked at him for a second, thinking.

"Oh! She said she had to go give something to a teacher. Something about being overdue. I always assumed she would be more organized than that. I told her we'd save her a seat though." Shikamaru nodded, and was quiet, except for the few comments to Naruto when she'd ask a question. Gaara just sat and sketched in his notebook. They heard the door open, and Hinata walked in and paused as she noticed people watching her. Naruto shot up in her seat, scaring the crap out of Shikamaru and a few students around her, and yelled to Hinata to come over. She started blushing furiously and stumbled her way to the back of the room. When Hinata walked up, timidly shuffling her feet, it was obvious she had wanted to sit beside Naruto. Gaara patted the desk beside him.

"I don't bite, you know." She flushed, but sat down anyways, though she refused to meet his eyes for a while. "Sorry, but Shikamaru's just helping her with the homework. Surely I'm not that awful?" Hinata shook her head and muttered quietly.

"I didn't want to bother you." Gaara frowned a bit, but smiled when Hinata looked up at him.

"I told you this morning. We're all friends here. It's fine." She smiled tentively at him.

"Okay."

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At the front of the room, Sasuke sat down next to a skanky looking girl and ignored her attempts for his attention in favour of glaring towards the back of the classroom. He'd corner her soon, and that was what mattered. As soon as he had gotten rid of that redhead and that other bodyguard who seemed to have sprung up over night, He'd have a clear shot at getting her. He glanced one more time at her sleek blonde hair and her long legs, before turning forward and pulling out a small note book, and jotting a few ideas down in it. His plan wasn't fool-proof yet, but soon enough she'd be hanging on his every word, displayed on his arm for all to see. He grinned maliciously to himself. And if she was still persistant after all that, he'd have to take some drastic measures. It didn't matter either way. He turned and looked over his shoulder and caught her eye and winked. She flushed and looked down. He grinned to himself.

'I'll have her in the end.'

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Later in the morning, Naruto was walking down the halls alone. She had just left Gaara at gym, and was heading to the library to study a bit. He had warned her to keep an eye out for Uchiha, but she was honestly just hoping that he wopuldn't show up around her at all today. She wasn't in the mood for his mind games. 'Even though he is really good looking..' She stopped and shook her head. 'No. I do not like Sasuke.' She scolded herself for even thinking that, and continued on. As she was walking towards the library, she got a prickling feeling on the back of her neck, the kind you get when you feel like you're being watched. She paused and looked behind her slowly. All she saw was a teacher heading in the opposite direction, and a blonde girl getting something out of her locker, speaking to a short brunette who looked pissed off. No one was even looking in her direction. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, but shrugged it off and continued to the library. She turned the corner, and soon the hall cleared of people. The hall was silent for a moment, before Sasuke slinked out from behind a row of lockers and sauntered after her slowly.

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When she got to the library she headed to the back to her favourite table by the history section. Since she was basically in the middle of the history section, it was usually pretty quiet here. She sat down, and pulled out her text and her notebook and got to work. After about ten minutes, she got stuck on a question, and sighed, putting her head in her hands. "I'm so useless at doing my own work. Where's Gaara when I need him?" 'Not like he'd give me the answer, that stubborn jerk. He might be able to explain how the hell this is supposed to be relevant to the topic though.' She sighed again heavily, and jumped when she noticed someone sit across from her. She looked up into the eyes of Sasuke. "Oh!" She started, almost falling out of her chair. He smiled at her.

"Having a little trouble?" She frowned and pulled her notebook out of his line of sight. His eyes narrowed almost inperceptively, but it made her wary all the same.

"No, I'm fine. Just a little tired." She gave him a sheepish grin. "You know, stayed up late watching tv." She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. He frowned, and looked concerned.

"You should make sure you get proper rest. You cannot get a proper education if you're half asleep in class." She shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to me really. Gaara always makes sure I get caught up if I start falling behind." She looked up to see him staring at the table. He looked up at her.

"Naruto.. Do you think.. we can be friends?" She frowned, looking thoughtful.

"I don't know." She seemed a little startled by the sudden topic change. He frowned at this, and he looked back down at the table.

"Well.. you know. I just moved here, and I know what I did the other day was out of line, but you seemed really sweet and approachable, and I.." He trailed off, looking kind of miserable. "I just don't know how to act around people alot of the time. When I was growing up I was homeschooled, and when my mother finally let me enter public schools, people tried to use me when they found out about my money." He paused and looked up at her. "But I thought you seemed different. I've heard around school how unapproachable Sabaku is, and you guys seem to be best friends. And well.. I was wondering if you would.. I've never had one.." She raised an eyebrow, curious.

"Never had what?" Sasuke looked down, not meeting her eyes.

"A friend.." Her eyes widened, and she almost didn't believe it. Surely he was kidding. She thought about it though, and it kind of made sense. From what she'd heard, he was a child prodigy of sorts, coming from a very wealthy family. Makes sense people would see him for his money and not for himself. She frowned, but reached across the table and touched the back of this hand with her fingers. He flinched a bit, but didn't look at her.

"I could be your friend." He lifted his head then to look at her, and was surprised by her deeply sad eyes. He was expected her to lash out and tell him to get lost, that she didn't believe him, but the look in her eyes was one that he used to see in the mirror daily. "I know what it's like to not have anyone. I have a sister, and I have a group of friends here at school, but sometimes when you're surrounded by people that's when you feel the most lonely." He nodded, looking down. "I'm not sure how exactly we're going to do this, because Gaara is really upset with you. And sometimes he's kind of an idiot when it comes to things like this. But I promise you I'll try to be your friend, okay?" He nodded, looking up at her hopefully.

"So we're friends?" She nodded.

"But, try not to act so.." She made a vague gesture with her hand. "I don't know.. like you did this morning. It made me really uncomfortable." He smiled kinda apologetically at her.

"Sorry. I guess I picked up some unhealthy habits from my father." She frowned at that, but brushed it off as something to think about later. "I promise I'll be a good friend Naruto. I could tutor you too, you know." Naruto looked away and shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess so. Do you want to.. maybe meet in the library later next week? We have a history test, I think. I could use all the help I could get." He grinned at her.

"Sure. Sounds like a plan." He looked at the clock then, and noticed it was getting close to lunch. Time to disappear. He nodded to Naruto. "Almost lunch time. I gotta go talk to Tsunade. I'll see you later, okay?" She nodded and started getting her stuff together. He waved to her and turned to head out of the library. As soon as he turned from her, his face broke out into a maniacal grin. He grinned to himself all the way out of the library, where his face fell into a pleased looking mask. It'd be best not to draw attention to himself. Yet.

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Hinata, who had been hiding in the history section since she noticed Sasuke sitting with Naruto, clutched her hand over her mouth in fear of making a noise to alert him. She quicly dashed down the aisle before he could walk past her. She leaned against the end of a stack and clutched her hands in front of her. 'Oh my god, oh god.. He's crazy. Hes manipulating her!' She had just come here to get a book for a project, and all of a sudden she's witness to a horrible plot against her friend. Suddenly she had the urge to do something brave, for once. "I'll save you Naruto." She whispered to herself in a voice that sounded a lot braver then she was feeling. She nodded to herself and looked around quickly to make sure neither of them were around, and made a mad dash to the door.

She needed Gaara's help, and fast. It looked like Naruto had believed every word Uchiha had said, and though Naruto's childhood had been anything but pleasant, that didn't mean she had anything in common with Uchiha, no matter how awful his childhood may have been. They obviously turned out to be completely two different people, and she'd be damned ashamed if she let anything happen to Naruto after everything they'd been through.

She flew around the corner, and slammed into someone, almost falling flat on her back, but luckily someone caught her. Her breath caught in her throat as she looked up into his eyes, and a hand pressed over her mouth before she could scream. He chuckled darkly.

"Well now.. We can't let the little sheep go and tell the big bad wolf what I'm planning to do, now can we?" He tightened his hold on her and pulled her into an empty classroom, after making sure the halls were still clear.. As soon as she was released she spun away from him.

"What are you planning to do?" She trembled, scared of not only the fact that she had just shouted at someone that was obviously a danger to her, but of what he was planning for Naruto. Sasuke laughed, and met her eyes with a cold glare.

"The question is, what aren't I going to do."

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A/N: So, not as long as I wanted it to be, but I guess this will have to do. Sorry for the little bit of a cliffhanger there, it seemed almost too much to finish the scene, so I left it there. Don't worry about Hinata though. She's a tough cookie when it comes down to it.

So! Just letting you guys know, I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but there will be character death in this one. It doesn't happen until the very end, and it won't be graphic, so no worries there. I may up this to an M rating though.. I won't say who dies, but honestly,who would stick around if I told you the ending?

ANYWAYS. I updated decently fast this time eh? And I'm sorry to any reviewers that have been expecting replys to their reviews or questions they voiced. Honestly, I'm just a timid person in general, so I probably won't answer many reviewers until I've become accustomed to this place. :)

Well. This is it. If I dont update by chritmas, (which I will try to do),

Have a happy holidays! :D