OMG, guys, I am so sorry! Life has been so busy lately, but I should've tried to find time to sit and write. Hopefully it won't be so long again.

But as an apology, I added Tenten to the story, since I know a lot of people have been wanting to see more of her in it. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Sad face.

Sakura was worrying.

That wasn't such a rare event, Ino mused as she sat curled up on the couch, watching her pink-haired friend pace back and forth. Sakura was a compulsive worrier, and always had been, but this was… different.

Worse.

As if to verify her thoughts, Sakura suddenly stopped pacing and grabbed one of her huge medical textbooks off of the coffee table and threw it across the room with a violent yell. It hit the wall with a crack and then fell to the floor, it's pages askew and rumpled.

"Feeling better?" Ino asked mildly. Sakura sighed.

"Much," she replied, her smile wry. She moved to sit next to Ino on the couch, putting her head on the blonde's shoulder. Ino stroked her hair comfortingly.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked. Sakura nodded.

"I've just been so… stressed," she said, her voice tight, "I mean, school was hard enough, but suddenly we find out about this whole other world. I mean, vampires? Seriously? Who ever thought that they actually existed?" She laughed, a touch hysterically. "Oh yeah, and we now have superpowers and are waging war against a freaking vampire cult. It's freaking fantastic."

Ino patted Sakura's hair lightly. "Yes, it's all been pretty surreal," she said, understanding lighting up her eyes. She smiled faintly. "But that's not all you've been worried about, is it?"

Sakura stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. Ino laughed.

"Like hell you don't!" she teased. "I may not be a doctor-in-training like you, Forehead, but even I can see that you've got all the symptoms. You're stressed, and moody, exhibiting sudden fits of violence. And," she added, poking Sakura on the shoulder roughly, "You've eaten all of our ice cream! Even the questionable container of Ben and Jerry's that was in the fridge when we moved into the apartment."

Sakura flushed. "It was only a little freezer burned," she muttered.

"You're lovesick," Ino concluded, "Which leads me to think that all is not well in Sasuke-land."

Sakura frowned, running a hand roughly through her hair. It was a gesture she'd picked up from Naruto, Ino noticed, and a habit she also found herself unconsciously doing when she was stressed. She wondered absently if any of their habits had rubbed off on the boys, too; she'd never noticed.

"Something's wrong with him," Sakura finally admitted, "He had just started to, you know… open up. Even flirt, in his stoic way- at least, that's what Naruto told me. But for the past few days he's barely even looked at me. He's actually started to leave when I'm in the same room with him." Sakura sniffed, her eyes welling up with tears. "I don't know what I did!"

"You didn't do anything!" Ino said with surprising viciousness. Sakura leaped in surprise.

"Boys are idiots," Ino muttered, "Look, as different as they seem, all of our boys are cut from the same mold. They're honorable, which is nice, but it also come along with that ridiculous chauvinism. No matter how much we prove ourselves, they're still going to think that we're weak little girls that need to be protected." Sakura frowned.

"I don't understand," she said, her voice quivering. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Think about it, Billboard Brow. Why did Shikamaru stop talking to me?"

"He was trying to protect you," Sakura said, "Ino, I still don't see how this applies to me and Sas- oh." She paused. "Oh!"

Ino smiled, her eyes flashing in the dimming light. "Exactly. Your boytoy is trying to protect you by avoiding you… We just need to figure out why." Her smile widened, and a scheming look crossed her face, the look she always got when she thought of a Bad Idea.

"Alright, girly," Ino said, leaning closer, "Here's what you're going to do…"

A girl was leaping across the rooftops.

The wind rushed across her face as she ran and jumped, ran and jumped, her feet hitting the ground as silently as a whisper. She was a shadow-girl, a specter.

She was on a mission.

"Don't worry, Lee," she said, the wind stealing the sound from her lips with its wild gusts, "We'll find you. I promise."

Neji didn't want to ask for help. He said they could do it on their own. But Tenten knew that if they wanted to save Lee, they'd need an army.

Or a miracle.

Luckily, she knew where to find both.

It would be worth Neji's anger to save Lee, Tenten thought. She continued her silent journey across the rooftops.

Hinata was dying.

Figuratively, not literally. At least, she hoped. Maybe she had finally, after so many years of flushed faces and fainting, come to the point where she would actually die of embarrassment.

Of course, it was all Ino's fault.

"I'm kicking you and Naruto out of the apartment tonight," Ino had said when she flounced into the apartment with her spare key, a nervous-looking Sakura trailing behind her. Naruto and Hinata looked at her blankly from their spot on the couch.

"But…" Naruto said, his voice distressed, "We just made popcorn!"

"Gossip Girl is on," she chimed in.

Ino and Sakura stared at them in shock. "You two are so sad," Ino finally said, "I was doing this for Sakura, but I think you need my intervention even more than she does." Naruto glared at her.

"You wouldn't kick us out if Sasuke was here," he grumbled, "He watches it with us too, even if he denies it." Sakura bit her lip.

"Where… where is Sasuke?" she asked. The blonde boy shrugged.

"Beats me," he replied, "He's been wandering off for the last few days, but he always comes back by dinnertime." He looked between the two girls, his blue eyes surprisingly shrewd. "I think you should talk to him, Sakura. Get his head on straight. It'd be best coming from you."

"B-but why?" she asked weakly. Hinata surprised everyone by speaking up.

"He cares about you," she said quietly, a soft smile on her face, "And you care about him. Don't let the hard times scare you away from what you could potentially have."

Everyone stared at her in awe, and Hinata felt herself flush red. Ino laughed and pulled the two girls into a hug, waving Naruto in.

"Hinata's right!" Ino cheered, "Sasuke's pretty much an emotionless robot when it comes to anyone except you, so you're obviously the only one who can figure out what he's upset about. So you're going to ambush him here tonight, looking totally gorgeous I might add, and make him tell you what's going on!" Sakura laughed.

"All right, all right!" she said, pushing them away, "But… what are you two going to do? Just go to Ino's?"

Hinata looked at Naruto questioningly and was surprised to see the range of conflicting emotions flickering across his face. For a moment, he looked at her with a heartbreaking sadness, made so much worse by the resigned expression that took its place a moment later. But then he smiled at her, so bright and happy and Naruto that she figured she had just imagined it.

"Nah, Ino can keep her place tonight," Naruto said, throwing an arm over Hinata's shoulders, "Hinata and I are going on a date!"

Yep, Hinata decided a second later, she was most definitely dying.

But in the best way possible.

Okay, there we go! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. In the next one we'll see Ino's plan unfold with the confrontation between Sasuke and Sakura AND Naruto and Hinata's date... with a little bit of Tenten thrown in. I'm also going to try my hand at writing Angsty!Sasuke. Which I kind of hate. So it probably won't turn out the way I want it. But oh wells! Until next time... and please review!