Beginning Song: "You and Me" by Lighthouse

Ending Song: "Never Be The Same" by Red

Chapter Ten

An Invitation?

Naruto skipped the rest of his classes for the day and went straight home after his encounter with Hinata. Not only his head hurt, he was also feeling lethargic. Even Sakura noticed that he wasn't looking quiet well this morning.

He arrived home at the apartment, hearing his old man chatting with someone at the kitchen.

Rushing towards the place, he was surprised to find a blonde woman (who had noticeably huge busts), having a cup of coffee in the kitchen. She was wearing Jiraiya's shirt. One of his whores? Probably? Jiraiya was sitting on the dinner table while reading a newspaper. The two stared at him in agape when he arrived — like he was some cat burglar who got caught sneaking inside the apartment.

The blonde woman looked at Naruto, then glanced towards Jiraiya.

"I didn't know you had a son." she said.

"He's my foster son." Jiraiya corrected her and folded his newspaper in half. "Tsunade, I'd like you to meet Uzumaki Naruto my adopted son. Naruto, she's my boss at work, Senju Tsunade."

"Hi." Tsunade beamed a smile towards Naruto while holding a cup of coffee in one hand.

But Naruto bolted straight to his room, shutting the door behind him without even bothering to greet the guest.

"He's the silent type I assume?" she asked.

"No. Just the angsty type." Jiraiya stood up from his seat. "Give me a minute with him."

Hinata's morning didn't start out that great, no thanks to her 'talk' a while ago with Naruto that made her stomach tie in knots.

She won't deny it. She still likes him.

But god, he is such an idiot.

Solving Physics problems in class seems to be a great way to forget about the drama she had with him this morning at the hallways. She forced herself to get excited about mass and acceleration and inclined planes as she rapidly punched numbers on her scientific calculator, trying to solve the problem on her Physics Question Sheet as if her whole life depended on it.

She thanked her lucky stars that the blonde jock didn't do Physics. Or better to say — wasn't capable of doing Physics.

"Has anyone figured out the answer to question number three?" their Ebisu-sensei called out at the back of the class.

From the corner of her eye, Hinata could see the pinkette Haruno raise her hand from the other side of the row.

"Yes, Sakura?" Ebisu noticed the pinkette.

"Is the answer 2,456 miles per hour?" Sakura read out from her paper with confidence.

"Wrong." the sensei replied flatly.

Hinata glanced at the Haruno and she could see the disappointment on her face. The Hyuga already knew what the answer to the question was, having done it several minutes ago.

"Anyone else?" their sensei asked. "How about I call out a name and you give me the answer." Ebisu proceeded to get the list of the class' names from the front table and scanned the whole document, looking for a name to call. "Which one of you here is Hyuga Hinata? I haven't heard from you before. Care to share your answer with the rest of the class?"

She snapped her head up.

"Hyuga HInata, what's your answer to number 3?"

The whole class turned towards her, making Hinata conscious that she was being stared at.

"I got 2,782.5 m-miles per hour r-rounded to one decimal p-place?" God, her stuttering habit again.

"Aaaand," Ebisu pointed at her. "You got it RIGHT!"

BAM! Just then, she heard Sakura slam her calculator on her desk. What's her problem?

"Did anyone else get the correct answer?" Nobody else raised their hand. "For question number three, a lot of physical forces have to be taken into consideration. Air resistance, friction and gravity are the factors which affect the velocity of the…" Ebisu went on and on, explaining the rest of the concepts behind the question that HInata had just answered correctly.

After her Physics class ended, Hinata was about to head out of the room but a bright voice had her head jerk up.

"Hey."

Haruno Sakura stood in front of her.

Bright pink hair, glossy lips, a shorter-than-average mini-skirt. And Hinata knew about what the pinkette was calling her behind her back during Maths class. For some reasons, Hinata felt quiet uneasy in her presence. She wondered if she should be running — maybe Sakura would beat the crap out of her right here in the classroom?

Plus, Hinata made up a list in her head for the reasons why she can't trust her:

1. Sakura calls her a 'lesbo'.

2. Hinata saw her flirting with Naruto during Maths.

3. Because she has pink hair.

"H-Hi?" the Hyuga's eyes widened.

Sakura was smiling at her suspiciously. "You must be Hyuga Hinata. Gosh, I've always wanted to introduce myself to you. I'm Haruno Sakura by the way."

The pinkette extended a hand, to which Hinata shook awkwardly.

"N-Nice to m-meet you." the Hyuga replied, shaking her hand.

"So how's Naruto? Does he treat you nicely?"

"I d-don't know what y-you're talking about."

"Oh sorry," Sakura sat on the seat beside her. "I don't mean to pry into your business, but I thought you two were dating. You and Naruto have been always together for the past couple of days in the library."

"N-Naruto-kun and I? N-No! You have it all w-wrong! We're not d-dating."

"My bad. I didn't know." the pinkette dug her hand into her pocket to pull out her phone. "But you know, I saw you having an intense convo with him a while ago at the hallways, so I thought that —"

"It was n-nothing." Hinata interrupted before she could finish her sentence. The Hyuga slung her bag unto her shoulder and got ready to leave the room.

Of all the people in the world, Sakura saw her drama with Naruto a while ago. Great. Just what she wanted, Hinata thought sarcastically.

"Wait. Before you leave." Sakura got her bag as well and stood up with the Hyuga.

What does she want? Hinata asked herself.

"I'm having a party at my house next week on Friday after-school." Sakura handed a piece of crumpled paper towards Hinata. "It's supposed to be Saturday but the girls and I changed our minds. I was just thinking that maybe you should come to my party, too."

Her? Going to a party with sociable people and a crew of airhead whores to actually interact with people her age? Hinata's eyes widened after hearing the invite, causing her to fidget awkwardly.

No one has ever invited her to parties before.

"M-Me?" Hinata had to make sure she heard it right.

"Yes. You. The party will be a great place for you to make new friends too, considering that you're a new student here in Konoha High." Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned in. "Also, Naruto is coming to the party. It's an opportunity for you two to sort out whatever your argument was." the Haruno whispered.

Argument? What does this Haruno know?

"W-We weren't argu—"

"It's okay, Hinata. I won't tell anyone. Think of it, alright? My address is on that paper. I'll be expecting you to show up." Sakura said to her. "And oh, you should come an hour earlier at my house too."

"An h-hour earlier? Wh-Why?"

"I'll help do your make-up and style your hair before the party to get you ready." then the Haruno whispered. "I'm sure Naruto won't be able to resist you."

After calling her a "lesbian" behind her back, Sakura now wants to help her do her make-up?

Hinata studied Sakura's expression whilst she said those words. Had her interest in Naruto been that obvious? Was she really looking like an "overly-attached-Naruto-fangirl"? Or maybe Sakura was just observant enough because she's jealous of Naruto's attention to her?

"I'll be expecting your decision on Monday. I'll be there at the library with the girls. You can just come by and see me once you've made up your mind." Sakura said.

Hinata nodded in response, speechless. She tried to imagine what it will be like. Being trapped at a party, surrounded by drunk people, party-crashers, the loud music, the drinks, and if the girls would start acting bitchy, she could just leave the party and never come back.

God, can I really do that?

But Naruto's going to be there. Him. That blonde jock. She felt the profound sincerity of his apology a while ago. Too sincere that he looked like he was going to burst into tears or something. Naruto was indeed sorry. But he walked away from her before she got the chance to make up with him.

"See you around, Hinata." Sakura waved her goodbye before exiting the classroom ahead of her.

The door to his room creaked opened, Naruto could hear it. His face was pressed on the pillow, but he knew that it was Jiraiya who entered.

"Why aren't you in school? Care to explain?" Jiraiya closed the door behind him.

"No." Naruto replied a muffled response, his face still pressed on the pillow.

"Go back to school."

"No." the blonde pulled his blanket up higher.

"Don't test my patience." Jiraiya walked closer to him and punched his arm lightly. "I'm serious about this, Naruto. Go to school."

"It's Friday. No exams. Don't care." Naruto replied lifelessly.

Suddenly, Naruto felt a hand touch his neck.

"You're feverish. Are you sick?" Jiraiya said, feeling his skin temperature which turned out to be quiet high.

He shrugged. Am I? Yeah. Probably sick.

Sick of life.

But it's not because it's Friday, or that there were no exams, or that he didn't care at all — Naruto wasn't feeling so well and most of all, he felt like he no longer had the guts to look at Hinata Hyuga in the eyes after his scene with her this morning. But he can't tell that to Jiraiya. What would his old man think of him? Acting all emo because he had an argument with some girl whose father branded him a rapist? Boy, that sounds pathetic.

"Do you have any problems? Anything bothering you or whatsoever?" his old man read his mind. Even though Jiraiya wasn't his real father, the old geezer knew Naruto very well.

"No." he denied.

Jiraiya heaved a sigh. "You've been acting quiet strange lately. I'm just wondering, that's all." He lifted his hand off of the blonde. "You're probably dealing with flu. I suggest you get some rest while I give Tsunade a ride home."

"Gee, you probably rode her hard last night." Naruto lifted his face from the pillow and turned to Jiraiya with a weak grin on his face. His old man snatched a pillow from the bed and slammed it on his face. Despite being weak and sick, the blonde Uzumaki managed to crack a dirty joke. Growing up with a man like Jiraiya? The old hag couldn't blame him for inheriting his dirty and dark sense of humour.

"Jesus, we didn't do anything last night. She was drunk and needed a place to stay." Jiraiya hit Naruto with the pillow one more time before leaving him. "Get some rest, asshole." he left the room with a wicked smile on his face.