A/N: First off, I would like to apologize to everyone for such a loooong wait for this story to progress. To tell you the truth, I've just been lazy. Whenever I tried to write this chapter I would give up so easily. So I guess I lied in the other a/n. D: I hope you will forgive me. Its a new year so I'm going to try harder than ever to get this story moving! RAWR!

Also I would like to point out that...THERES NO GAAHINA-ness in this chapter OMG! NOO! I'll have to make up for that in the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Do not own! So sad.

A Touch of Insanity

Chapter 7

Whenever someone has the nerve to open their mouths about rain the weather always seems to have a quick change in events even if it were the sunniest day ever. Most of the time when it rains it pours which is exactly where we find our little friends as of this very moment all taking shelter under a small wooden platform the leads to the bright yellow plastic slide in the park. They had clearly arrived but no sooner had it started raining.

"I told you we should have gone to the arcade...But did you listen? No! Of course not!" Naruto rolled his eye and crossed his arms as he glanced back at Ino. Currently the five where sitting back to back though Gaara took the end position. Ino frowned and tapped the back of her head against Naruto's of whom was against her back.

"Oh just shut it! I don't want to hear you complain or try to rub the fact that you may have been right this time."Ino let out a sigh then hung her head in defeat. The rain clouds made the sky darker than it should. She really did take into consideration of whether there would be a thunderstorm or not. Of course as of now that wasn't her major concern. Why had Sakura put this stupid operation onto her shoulders in the first place? Ino just wanted to sit back and watch the pink haired girl fail but now it somehow became her duty to follow everything through.

"U-um...Don't you think we should head home. It kinda looks as though its getting worse." Hinata quietly pointed out. She was next to Ino with her back against Sai's while Gaara sat cross legged to her left with his back towards them all. Ino frowned and sighed for what seemed like the millionth time.

"I suppose you're right. This day just keeps on getting from bad to worse..."

"I believe the only thing that could make this worse would be--" Sai began speaking but was quickly cut off by a soft rumble of thunder. "Never mind." he finished with one of his famous smiles.

"Good job, Sai! You went and jinxed us!" Naruto stated loudly as he brought his knees to his chest while wrapping his arms around his legs. "...I hate thunderstorms. They bring back..bad memories."

Everyone had fallen silent unsure of what to do now. Clearly the best choice of action would be to go home however none of them seemed to be in the mood to move. Gaara gazed out at the nearby sandbox as it got drenched in the rain. Sand is always rendered useless when wet, thats what Gaara thought. He let his shoulders fall. Out of all of them he seemed to be the calmest but in truth he was just as lost as them. He disliked water in general so it was rather understandable as to why he hadn't budged yet.

A loud clap of thunder was heard followed by a bright flash of lightning. Afterwards a small squeak could be heard causing almost the whole group to turn to it's source-Hinata. The petite girl had her knees close to her chest and her hands firmly clasped over her ears along with her eyes closed tightly. Ino was the first to speak up being the closest to her.

"H-hey, are you okay?" she asked cautiously putting a hand on the raven haired girl's shoulder. At the sudden touch Hinata jumped but when she realized what it was she opened her eyes and looked over at Ino.

"Huh? U-um...I..." she bit her bottom lip and began chewing on it lightly trying to hold back any tears that may start forming in her eyes. "I'm going to go home!" she said quickly as she crawled out from under the shelter and began running away. She wasn't even sure if she was heading in the right direction she just wanted to find somewhere safe where she wouldn't see the lightning or hear the thunder.

"Hinata! Wait! You can't go alone!" Ino yelled as she too emerged from the shelter with Naruto close behind. Sai poked his head out allowing his dark hair to get soaked in no time. Another rumble of thunder caused Naruto to back down slightly. Ino stopped the urge to go after Hinata when she noticed Naruto's back down. She groaned and wished this whole day would just burn out of history. The next thing she knew Naruto had his head clutched in one of his hands.

"Naruto, this isn't the time for you to have another one of your head aches! Stop fooling around!" she begged hoping he was only faking. One advantage came from her words though-Gaara came out from the shelter as well to assist Naruto.

"Aw man, Sakura better not want me to take this situation and use it for her stupid little operation! Everyone is breaking down!"

Sai now stood next to Ino in thought. They watched as Gaara spoke quietly to Naruto, neither knew what he was saying but whatever it was it was clearly helping.

"Okay, we have some serious problems here. First we have to get Naruto home. Second, we have Hinata. I get the feeling she's not doing too well on her own. From the looks of things...I'd say that Gaara is the best fit for taking Naruto home." For some reason she just knew that Sakura would hate her later for making that decision but nonetheless Gaara nodded and began walking with Naruto away from Ino and Sai. Everyone was soaking wet and uncomfortable which didn't help with the situation at hand. "So Sai, will you assist me in looking for Hinata?" Sai simply nodded his head and for once didn't have a strange smile on his face. The duo dashed off in the direction Hinata had gone hoping she hadn't gotten far.

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Gaara seemed to be shrinking down to the ground with each rain drop that hit his head. He really did hate the rain but he was only doing this to help Naruto. They were the same in their own way that no one else could really understand. Gaara looked up at the dark ominous sky as he walked next to Naruto out of the park. Naruto's dislike of thunderstorms was all Sasuke's doing, that thing inside him only contributed to turn it into a fear.

"Hey...Gaara," Naruto began looking over at Gaara's current pathetic form. Rain really reduced the red head's tough-guy act. Said red head looked over at his companion, the flash of concern in his eyes wondered if the blond would need anything. "-thanks. You know for helping me. I'm really glad to have a friend like you. You're always helping me out." with that Naruto smiled widely obviously trying to lighten the mood and Naruto's smile always seemed to help.

"Don't mention it. We're alike. There's nothing to it." Gaara replied plainly with a hint of care behind his words. Naruto nodded understanding what he really meant. Soon enough the two had almost completely forgot about the rumbling thunder, pouring rain and the fact that they were soaking wet. Someone was going to have a cold tomorrow.

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Hinata ran swiftly down the empty streets Konoha. It almost seemed like she was the only one on the whole block until-. "Hey, watch where you're going little girl!" came a low gruff voice. Hinata had fallen onto the ground and quickly looked up at the voices harsh remark. She had accidentally run into a large man who had two tall thin men beside him; one holding an umbrella over the large man's head. When she realized what had happened she quickly stood up to apologize.

"I-I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was-" she was cut off when she was thrown down to the cold wet ground once more this time into a puddle. She looked up cupping her cheek that seconds before had be roughly hit.

"Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? A simple apology won't cut it, girl." As soon as those words came out of the large man's mouth one of his lackeys moved forward with a grin on his face. The other who was holding the umbrella adjusted his sunglasses as he watched on with fake interest. Hinata was confused. Who were these people? It was all an accident. This day really was one of the best and worst days in history.

The tall thin man bent down and picked her up by the collar of her shirt. She winced at the force and would have fought back had she not been so confused at the moment. The man drew back his fist ready to hit her far worse that his 'boss' did when a flash of lightning lit up the sky and a heroic voice called:

"Hinata-sama!!" Out of seemingly nowhere came Hyuuga Neji almost flying through the air and kicking the tall man in the face. The man fell back with a splash in to a mud puddle, his sunglasses broken on his face. He seemed to have lost a few teeth in the process. Hinata fell on the man with her eyes closed shut. When she opened them she came face to face with a toothless, black-eyed man that had recently been her attacker. Her eyes widened and she scurried away from him with a silent squeak.

"Hinata-sama! Are you okay?" Neji hurried over to his cousin bending down to her level when he got to her. The younger Hyuuga could only nod in confirmation but Neji didn't seem to agree. "You're face!" he began cupping her wounded cheek, "Did they do this to you?" Hinata had almost forgot about that wound and her eyes seemed to grow a size before she tried to explain.

"NEJI!! Dammit! Wait up!" came a female voice behind them. There, soaking wet was Tenten carrying a red bag in her hands. She was panting heavily when she finally caught up and clearly was confused.

"You, kid! You'll pay for this!" Came the large man's voice once more. They were ignoring them completely. Neji glared behind him at the two remaining men. The two cowered at the Hyuuga's glare of death.

"You're still here? I thought you would be smart enough to leave after seeing your friend need a trip to the hospital. Would you like to join him?" Neji questioned standing up to face them. "Tenten, watch Hinata-sama for me." Now normally people would have time to get ready, get their guard up put up a good fight. Oh no, the poor men hardly had time to turn around to run before they were both knocked out by the angered teen.

"Gawd Neji, you just had to go an abandon me back there. Because of you I lost my umbrella. You must have some kind of 'Hinata-Sama senses' or something." Tenten pointed out kneeling down next to Hinata. Neji turned around quickly with a shocked look on his face as he looked at Tenten's cheeky smile. A slight blush graced his cheeks but he quickly put his sturdy mask back on.

"Please TenTen, its my responsibility to watch over Hinata-sama. You could see what was happening a mile away if you were paying attention." Neji replied coolly.

"Right, sure whatever you say Neji." Tenten said full of sarcasm. In this weather it was almost impossible to see more than five feet ahead of you putting Neji's excuse down the drain. He scowled and knelt down in front of Hinata once more to examine her face. She was soaking wet and her eyes looked as though she had been crying and was ready to do so again. He couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her. He found it slightly strange that she hadn't said anything yet but he soon remembered her fear of thunderstorms. His shoulders dropped when he saw her lips start to move as if she was trying to talk. A hum of question sounded in his throat. He couldn't quite make out what she was trying to say.

"Neji-niisan...I was so frightened!" with those words out the poor girl lunged forward and held her cousin in a much needed hug as she broke down. Both Tenten and Neji were surprised by her actions. Tenten hadn't known the girl long but she just knew she wasn't the kind who would let her guard down and fall apart easily. Was this because of the storm or the goons? Either way all three were soaking wet and in serious need to go home. Neji hugged her back and quietly tried to reassure her that everything was okay now.

"Come on, lets go home. Tenten, would you rather head home yourself or would you like to come with us?" Neji asked looking at the slightly nervous brown haired girl. In truth she was kinda jealous that Neji liked Hinata so much but she would always hide it. She smiled at him and tilted her head to one side.

"I'll just go home. I need to pick some stuff up for my mum anyway and you're going to need your rest. Thanks for today Neji, I'll see you in school tomorrow. Bye!" with that she turned around and began to run away from them slightly hurt but kept up her strong spirit. Neji watched her go and sighed at her quick retreat.

He loosened his grip on Hinata ending the embrace. They both stood up together. At first all Neji could do was helplessly watch Hinata shake as she wiped away her remaining tears. It was then that he remembered what she was doing out in the first place.

"Hinata-sama, were you not with your friends? What happened to them? Did they abandon you?" Of course knowing Neji he could only think of the worst things that could have happened. Hinata shook her head slowly.

"I ran away. We took shelter because of the rain...but the storm started so...I ran." Neji sighed and put his arm around her as they walked in the pouring rain to the Hyuuga residence.

"How am I ever going to explain that bruise to your father...?" Neji said quietly.

"Sorry..." was Hinata's only response.

TBC...