UPDATE TIME!

I went back and fixed the error in the previous chapter where it said Sasuke left and then Gaara and Sasuke followed. Also, a few people seemed confused about seating arrangements around Hinata's bed so I will clear that up. Sasuke was sitting by himself on the left side of the bed while Sakura sat closest to Hinata on the right side with Gaara near her on the same side. I HOPE THIS HELPS AND I'M SORRY FOR THE LACK OF CLARITY!

THANK YOUS:

FallenInDreams- I appreciate your review! I have a plan in mind for the whole Gaara/Sakura thing. A small hint, I guess, is that the chapter that they go to the club is going to be eventful! Stay tuned!

dzii00-Thank you, as always, for reviewing and reading. I appreciate your loyalty!

Sakura-Fairy-Tail - Same goes to you! Thanks!

jacpin2002-Yes, her dad is such an ass! I actually personally like Hiashi the later the show goes on when it shows him not being quite so hard on her, but SOMEBODY has to be an antagonist, right?

tanuki- Thanks for reviewing! My reply to you is pretty much the same as the first reply up at the top! The club-going chapter is where stuff is going to go down!

Wandering Ship- Thanks for the review! I went back and fixed the leaving the room issue and clarified the seating arrangement up above. The reason I had Hiashi so eager to threaten the company is because Suigetsu is already going to be taken care of. On top of that, his main goal is to get Hinata to come home. He knows that she is kind of heart and would rather leave her passion than watch the agency that she cares for be ruined: she'd take one for the team. He may not personally care about the agency, but wanted to have leverage in swaying her decision to stay or come home. Hope this helps!

pinksakura271-Thanks again for reviewing! Please look forward to the club-going chapter! A lot of you questions will be answered then! It's coming soon!

Splaaash-attack-Thanks as always! Please continue following!

I was released shortly after father's visit so I could return to the agency. Kakashi had Tsunade and Jiraiya come to Sakura and I's room for practice so I would be near my bed and kitchen should I need to rest, along with having them bring me a large bouquet of flowers with a sweet handwritten card from the Hatake himself thanking me for preventing my father from acting on his threats. I honestly felt back to normal, minus the slight damper in my mood, so I didn't see any reason for the special training arrangements.

Tsunade and Jiraiya both programmed their personal numbers in my phone and assured me that I could call them at any time if I run into trouble like that again. Since I'd only lost a few hours of training, I wasn't very far behind schedule and decided to just make up for it by going to the extra classes overnight, as planned. I tried my best to put maximum effort into my training and it seemed to be fruitful.

By the time my daily training was finished, I'd finished learning the choreography and notes for every song I'd be taking part in on our first album. All that was left was to perfect them. The two adults left to attend other matters while Sakura rushed out of her bedroom with an exaggerated sigh, "About damn time!" She flopped down on the couch as I went to change out of my sweaty dance clothes. "Hinata, we're friends right?" I pulled my new shirt over my head and shoved my arms through the holes, "Of course, Sakura."

There was a pause, which had me walking to my bedroom doorway to look at Sakura curiously. She had turned onto her back and was staring at the ceiling with a hard expression to read. "Sakura?" Whatever trance she was in was broken and she glanced over at me with a sheepish grin, "It's just...all of this stuff going on and Suigetsu almost, you know...I don't want to try and start anymore drama. There's so much of it right now with our debut coming and training, I don't want to be a burden." I sensed that this would be a serious topic and sat down on the floor with my back to the couch she lay on. It may be easier for her to talk if she doesn't have to look me in the eye. She noticed that I was waiting for her to continue and did, albeit slowly, "So my mom and dad got divorced about two years ago and Dad moved to Hawaii with his new girlfriend, so I don't see him anymore. Mom got a new boyfriend, Sam, about a year ago and he just moved in about six months ago."

I had a bad feeling about where this was going, but kept my mouth shut as she struggled to explain with a straight voice. I could hear it waver every once in a while with emotion, "Sam is great and he make Mom happy, but Sam has a son named Garrett who is twenty-one who's not so great. He's a big muscle-pig guy who bullies me when they're not around." I didn't look at her, but I could tell by her panicked voice that she had to be crying by now, "I tried so hard to be friends with him, Hinata, I did! He took me having manners as flirting with him and he keeps trying to- He-"

My whole body turned to look at her as she broke into weak sobs. Her arms were crossed over her face, but I lay a comforting hand on them, "It's oka-" She threw her arms down and sat up, face blotchy and eyes red, "It's not okay, Hinata! I don't want to tell my mom because I haven't seen her so happy in a long time and it would ruin things for her with Sam. I've managed to get away from Garrett a few times now, but he's so strong!" Her voice suddenly dropped to barely a whisper and her voice became raspy, "I don't want to have it taken away from me. I want to give it to someone willingly."

I knew she was talking about her virginity and suddenly everything made sense. She thought that sleeping with someone she barely knew or didn't know at all would be a better option than losing something so important to someone like Garrett. I understood why she didn't want to tell her mom. It was the same reason I'd been hesitant to tell anyone about Suigetsu. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. "Sakura, losing it to some drunk at the club would be no bett-"

She yelled suddenly, "Yes it would be! You don't understand, Hinata!" I went silent. The girl was nearly hysterical, but I didn't take offense to her yelling. She was in a bad situation that neither of us knew how to get her out of. We sat there for a few moments, the only sound being her desperate sobs that were only slightly muffled by her hands covering her face. It was obvious that she'd been holding back this worry for a while. She was a great actress. I'd never even noticed a single time of her seeming to be not okay. There was a soft knock at the door and I glanced at Sakura as she looked over with a panicked look.

She shook her head at me, trying to plead with me not to answer the door so we wouldn't have to explain the noises someone might have heard in the hallway. The walls were so thin that we could often hear the boys' conversations as well. I gave her a pleading look right back. If we could rally up our friends like we had when we were searching for Suigetsu, we might be able to come up with a plan to help her. The person at the door knocked again, this time more urgent.

I pulled my arm away from Sakura's shaky grip and opened the door. Gaara and Sasuke both stood there with blank faces. Sakura dove off of the couch and into her room, slamming the door behind her. The two didn't miss her disheveled form crossing the room and looked at me for an explanation. I pushed the door to the room open and let them come in. They looked hesitant. It had been nothing but drama drama drama since I'd been here and it honestly felt like a teenage television show. Soon they were seated quietly on the couch while I went to knock on Sakura's door. I could just barely hear her sobs. She must've had her face buried in a pillow. Everything in me felt wrong for invading her privacy, but I entered the room to see that my guess was correct.

She lay in a ball on her bed with a pillow between her legs and her face stuffed into it. She looked up at me with a bright red face, "W-Why did you let them in!" She was choking over her words. My heart ached for her. She must feel so desperate and hopeless. I climbed onto her bed and did my best to hug her with her balled-up form, whispering, "They can help. They're our friends." We lived in a world where young men weren't being taught well enough about how to treat women and young women were suffering because of it. I was soon able to coax her out into the living room.

She stopped sobbing, but still had tears falling from her face as she curled up on one of the beanbag chairs with a blanket and pillow to make her feel more comfortable. I explained what was wrong to the boys, with Sakura's consent. Gaara just stared at Sakura's still slightly shaking form with concern etched onto his features, while Sasuke was slightly more angry, "So that's why you-" He didn't finish that sentence, but started a new one, "These guys are lame as fuck. They can't get girls so they try to force themselves onto them." It was odd to see him actually visibly upset about something that wasn't solely about himself. I kept looking at Gaara, who seemed like he wanted to say something, but he never did. It popped up in my mind that he may want to speak to Sakura alone. He did seem to care about her. Anytime she did something questionable, he always seemed sad about it. With a blush dusting my face and all of the confidence I could muster, I stood from my seat near Sakura and did my best to give them some time alone, "Sasuke, let's go get some chocolate for her from the vending machine downstairs. I-It'll make her feel a little better."

He looked confused, "Why do two of us need to-" I gestured to Gaara and Sakura without them seeing and it was like a bulb lit up over his head, his mouth making an "o" shape. He jumped to his feet, "We'll be right back."

-Sakura's POV-

My throat and eyes were sore from crying. I must've looked a complete mess, but Gaara moved to sit in front of me with no words. I kept wiping at the stubborn tears that kept falling, but they wouldn't stop. My mother had been suicidal after her divorce. I hadn't seen her smile for a whole year until she met Sam. He was actually a very nice Southern gentlemen. He was from the United States. He had apparently been in the military and had visited Japan a few times while on duty only to fall in love with it and move him and his son here after his time was up. Both he and his son were tall and very muscular. Gaara's hand coming towards me broke me of my train of thought. He gently pushed my hair out of my face.

His fingers just barely brushed my skin, but electricity rushed through my body at the contact. "Sakura." He held eye contact with me for a few silent moments before I realized what he was about to say. Before I could interrupt, he presented an offer, "Let me do it." My face burnt bright red. I was suddenly very hot. My mouth opened and closed a few times as I tried to find the words to say, "G-Gaara, I-" He spoke over my sputtering, "As your friend, let me do this for you." His face had no hint of embarrassment on it, which startled me. He was dead serious.

I couldn't do it, though. Gaara was everything that I'd ever looked for in a boyfriend. He was sweet, caring, attentive, and looked great. I couldn't consider being intimate like that with him or it could possibly ruin our friendship forever. We could never be in a relationship while we were in the same group. There would always be far prettier and more talented women around, not mentioning adoring fangirls who would not take it well if their idol was dating someone. There was no way Gaara looked at me that way, anyway. He was just an amazing person, an amazing friend. What he was offering to do was so selfless, but I would probably end up falling for him if we went through with it. I'd tried to hook up with Sasuke because I knew I wouldn't want anything more from him than sex and that he would feel the same way.

It was different with Gaara. I'm too jealous of a person to even consider it. The tears that had slowed suddenly quickened pace and I lightly pushed his hand away. "I can't l-let you do that for me, Gaara." He was so selfless. Through my tears I noticed a hurt look cross his features, "What does Sasuke offer that I don't." Confusion swept over me. Gaara didn't strike me as the type to get jealous over things like that. I tried my best to explain before his feeling were hurt, "It's not what he has that you don't. It's what you have that he doesn't..."

My face was burning brightly and the confusion I'd felt was showing up on his face. He seemed about to reply when Hinata and Sasuke suddenly jiggled the handle to the door. I knew it wasn't locked and Hinata was probably just trying to be loud to signal their return. I was grateful for it because Gaara quickly moved back to his spot on the couch just before they entered the room. Sasuke sat next to him and Hinata sat next to me, her pearly eyes reflecting her concern as she handed me some chocolate.

I gave her the best smile I could manage before accepting her gift and leaning forward to hug her. I could tell she was new at socializing, but it was painfully obvious that she was trying her very best to be a good friend to me. After that, we all sat around and brainstormed ways to try and solve this issue for a while, coming up empty-handed in the end, before an alarm went off on Hinata's phone. She gasped and shot to her feet, "I've gotta go!"

I got to my feet, "Where are you going?" It was nearly midnight. Where could she possibly be going? She quickly pulled some shoes on and grabbed her keys. She turned to face us with a sheepish grin, shrugging, "I, um, picked up some extra training time with Tsunade so I won't fall behind." It wasn't healthy to be doing as much activity as she was, especially since she just got out of the hospital, "It's the middle of the night, Hinata."

The boys' heads bobbed back and forth between us as we spoke to each other. " Y-Yes, well it's only for today so it's no big deal." Despite my concern, she left then to attend her dance practice. I turned to the boys, "I think I'm gonna call it a night, unless you guys want to hang out." Sasuke jumped to his feet, "I'm outta here, then, " and he walked out the door without even waiting for Gaara. The redhead stood and walked up to me with an odd look in his eye, "In spite of everything, please reconsider my offer. Let me know."

He didn't give me any time to react before following Sasuke's footsteps and leaving the room. Once I was sure they were both gone I locked the door behind them and flopped down on the couch. My face was heated and embarrassment crept up on me. I couldn't help but think about what it would be like to have sex with Gaara. If it was anything like how he normally is, he'd be sure I was comfortable and cared for. I wasn't set to see my my family until they attended the debut next weekend. If I can learn to keep my feelings to myself, I may have to reconsider his offer.

I decided then that if I hadn't found someone to do it before then, I would change my mind. I really didn't want to do it, I mean I did, but I didn't. You could say I've had a small crush on Gaara since I'd met him, but that's exactly why I can't think about him in a romantic way. With such a great dilemma weighing down on my shoulders, I flipped through the channels on the tv as I waited for Hinata to return.

-Hinata's POV-

By the end of my practice, which had gone way over on time and ended at a whopping three thirty in the morning, I was pretty fluent in every song I was taught. Tsunade had expressed her happiness at my progress before ultimately dismissing me. I trudged back to the room while fighting to keep my eyes open. I tried to be as silent as possible when unlocking the door.

When I entered the room, I saw Sakura curled up in her blanket on the couch, fast asleep. The tv was turned down, but still playing some old rerun teen drama show. A smile tugged at my lips. She'd tried to wait up for me. After taking a quick shower, I put on some pajamas before grabbing my own pillow and blanket from my bed and laying on the plush rug right in front of the couch. That same smile stayed on my mouth until the moment I fell asleep.

Even if negative things were going on around us, we still had each other.

THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE A LONG ONE! PLEASE GET READY FOR IT!

THANKS FOR READING!