Disclaimer: I do not own NARUTO, its franchise or anything related to it. The only thing I have with Naruto's name on it is the "Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2" DS game I bought some time ago. I couldn't pass up the chance to use Gaara on a RPG game. I make no profit out of any of this.

A/N: Stop right there, open a second window and go to my profile. In there you'll find a link that will lead you to a fanart Sodapops did about the Sasuke vs Hinata scene in chapter ten. It had me laughing so go there, comment on it and +fav it. Thanks!

On a Side-Note: YES! HELL YEAH! *hugs manga chapter 458* I don't want to antagonize SasuNaru but TAKE THAT! Naruto is straight and he LOVES Sakura because he is THE MAN. Even clueless Sai was able to see it. *does a happy dance* *waves hands to the air* *does the moonwalk* *strikes a victory pose* HELL YEAH! I feel bad about Hinata though.

-x-x-x- (I just have to look good I don't need to be clear) -x-x-x-

(^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)

"Why do I have to go there anyways? You'll just ignore me." Shikamaru asked. He knew he wasn't going to change her mind but he would at least get some answers.

"That's exactly why it has to be you!" Ino answered, grabbing both of his hands, "You're not unfortunate looking, which makes me look good. Also people will know we'll just be going as friends, that way Sasuke-kun won't get the wrong idea and he'll know that I'm still available."

"Then why not ask him? Why ask me?"

"Because I know Sasuke-kun won't want to go to that party anyways."

"It's always Sasuke with you girls. What's so special about him anyways?"

"Take that back! Sasuke is the coolest! And I'm the coolest too, it just makes sense."

"What a drag," Shikamaru thought, looking away from Ino, "I just say one little thing about Sasuke and she gives me the evil eye."

" C'mon Shika, I'm in a hurry. I still have other people to lure out."

"Lure out? Ino, what are you getting yourself into and who are those other people?"

"Aww, Shika," She said giving him a small hug, "It's so nice for you to worry about me but don't worry," she smiled, "I won't get hurt."

Shikamaru gave her a deadpanned stare. It wasn't her he was worrying about and he knew she knew that. "Troublesome Ino"

(^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)(^_^)(T_T) (^_^)(T_T)

Chapter Eleven: "Somehow I can't become honest" (Oh well)

-x-x-Wednesday Morning 6:20AM-x-x-Today the students had their Blue Day schedule-x-x

It was early. The Sun was just barely beginning to rise when the gates of Konoha High opened for those early rising students. The majority of those students always came early either because they needed to copy off the paper sheets of another student who had actually done his/her homework or because their parents dropped them off early on account of work schedules.

That was not the case for two certain students, one a junior and the other a sophomore.

The sophomore was slouched against the outside wall at the right side of the opened gate. He wore dark jeans, a white buttoned up shirt opened to reveal his broad torso, a long black coat that adjusted loosely to his frame and a long black bandana around his head, making him look like a punk who was looking for a fight. He ran a hand through the chunky spikes of his golden hair because it was starting to itch a little. Maybe he should've taken that morning bath. Still, he had to admit that even his smell served to make him look tough. His name was Naruto Uzumaki.

Right beside the tall standing blond sat the junior alumni, with his back straight against the wall and his long legs spread across the sidewalk. He wore tight jeans that were just a little loose around his hips, revealing to the onlooker that he was not wearing any underwear. He also wore a small black t-shirt that rode up his defined stomach every time his framed pecs would breathe, which was all the time. His jet black hair, combined with the dark colors he was wearing, made his white skin look almost translucent. He had a small smile on his face as he drew on his sketch book. He referred himself as Sai.

It didn't really bother Naruto that the guy beside him left little to the imagination with how he was dressed. It didn't bother Naruto that the guy was sitting just five millimeters away from him. Naruto could deal with those things. What he couldn't deal with was the way the artist would poke his elbows against Naruto's legs with every swing of his pencil.

Running yet another hand through his golden hair (this time in a conscious effort to calm himself), Naruto turned to the guy that was sitting way too close for comfort.

"Do you mind?" Naruto asked but the painter didn't answer. He just kept sketching like if the delinquent looking blond hadn't spoken. "I was talking to you." Naruto said with a little more edge to his voice. Again, he was largely ignored by the painter who kept poking him with his elbow. Naruto was poked again once… twice… but by the third time he kicked the elbow away. "Stop poking me already!" he shouted.

That got the attention of the pale artist who rubbed his injured appendage before moving his gaze to meet with the deepest blue he has ever seen. "Is there a problem?" he asked politely.

"Yeah, you!" Naruto retorted, pointing at the distance between them, "why are you sitting this close to me?"

Sai blinked twice at the question, not really understanding what was it he did to get the guy with the deep blue eyes so irked at him. Sai answered the question nonetheless as honestly as he could. "I always sit here at this hour." He informed before continuing with his sketch. As an afterthought he added, "It's you who is never here this early."

Naruto wanted to retort but he figured that the upperclassman did have a point. The blond was never here this early. The only reason he was here was because he wanted to talk to Sasuke face to face about what might had happened with Hinata. The short tempered sophomore didn't get a chance to talk to Sasuke yesterday because of Sakura and Ino. Naruto knew that Neji was angry about the incident and that he demanded names. But Naruto didn't want Sasuke to take the heat without even being certain that his friend had something to with Hinata's reason for crying.

The thing was that Naruto didn't exactly know at what hour did Sasuke usually arrived. All he knew was that Sasuke was always there before him. That's why Naruto had arrived so early today. Sure he didn't have time to bathe but it didn't really bother him that much.

Yet going back to the blond's current situation…

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, rudely pointing an accusing finger to the junior. Sure, Sai had a point when he said Naruto was earlier than usual but that still didn't explain the painter's needless invasion of personal space. "That doesn't excuse you from sitting so darn near."

Again, Naruto got no response from the upperclassman. "Maybe he's deaf or something." He thought, sighing as he let his weight fall so that he was seated next to the painter. But with a little more distance between them. He tried to not be so hot-heated this time when addressing the junior. "Hey mister, I'm talking to you." the underclassman said softly, still getting no response from the other.

Naruto slouched forward to inspect the face of the other but Sai didn't even bother to send a curious glance Naruto's way. "Maybe he's mad at me." The younger one pondered. He really wasn't the type who enjoyed being silent, and since the other had already spoken once, Naruto wanted him to speak again.

Folding his hands behind his golden hair, he tried to start conversation again. "Look, sorry 'bout kicking you and stuff but you just kept poking me, I mean, it must've bothered you too, right?"

Sai didn't answer at first but then he perceived how the deep blue eyes were focusing expectantly on him. He responded out of courtesy. "No, it doesn't bother me," he answered, "or to be more precise, it doesn't affect me whether you are there or not."

Naruto felt his jaw slackened when he received that answer, "eh?" the blond eloquently asked furrowing his brows together, "What do you mean I don't affect you?"

Sai's blank face was then masked with a false, cheerful yet transparent smile when he answered. "I mean that I don't really think anything of you."

"…okay," Naruto said with awkwardness, moving a couple of inches away for the pale artist. Something about him was giving Naruto the creeps. So much for killing time with conversation, even Shikamaru's was more responsive and welcoming. And that was saying something because the Nara would probably fall asleep half way through the conversation.

Naruto was so bored now. He just wished the prick would arrive already. That's when destiny tried to be funny and two elegant feet stopped right in front of Naruto. The blond looked up to meet the person and internally groaned, wishing he had been more specific when he wished for a prick.

"Uzumaki," Neji said, "This is early for you."

Naruto had to look away for a moment because the damn Sun was rising just behind Neji, making him shine like some sort of Greek God, except something told Naruto that this God did not come to absolve him from his sins.

"Oh… um… heh heh, Hi Neji." Naruto said smiling, hoping it would be contagious.

"Don't you 'Hi Neji' me, Uzumaki. I assure you I am not in the mood for such a casual greeting". Neji said seething but still extending a hand to the younger one of the two to help the other stand up. Even when furious, Neji would never forget to be courteous.

Once Naruto was at eye level, Neji sanitized his hands with his always handy anti-bacterial gel before eye-balling the blond. "Even though you are unexpectedly early I suppose meeting you is not unfortunate." He said, now glancing at his surroundings, "You have ten seconds to tell me where to find the prick that made Hinata cry."

"About that," Naruto started, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "can you not confront Sasuke about this?"

The Hyuuga's eyes immediately landed back on Naruto. "Are my ears playing tricks on me or did you just asked me to pretend yesterday's events never happen?"

"It's not that, it's just that…"

"Your ten seconds are up and I must say I am highly disappointed in you, Uzumaki". Neji announced, this time eyeballing the blond slowly, just to let him know he was about to get scrutinized. "Were not you the one who claimed that you'll be able to attain your farfetched goal and with it earn the respect and acknowledgment of many?" he asked but there was humor on his voice. Almost as if he was telling a joke he did not believe himself.

"Yeah but—" Naruto tried to answer but Neji cut him short.

"It was a rhetorical question, Uzumaki." Neji informed matter-o-factly, moving to stand right in front of the sophomore. Naruto fought the urge to stand on his toes just to match Neji's towering height. "Now here is another rhetorical question. Is turning a blind eye to those who help you attain that goal the way you show gratitude?"

Again, before Naruto could even voice his thoughts, Neji continued with is monologue. "That might be so to you but I assure you that us Hyuuga won't feign to be blind."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Naruto shouted, trying to make his stance, "You told me Hinata was crying then if that is true then I'm gonna fix it but I wanna talk to Sasuke first and hear it from him."

Neji gritted his teeth at that. "Frankly" he said, running a hand through his long brown hair, "I don't know if I should be more disappointed in you for wanting to needlessly prolong the inevitable or maybe should I be disappointed in myself for actually starting to believe in your dream". The brunet had actually said that in a sad condescending tone before taking a breather to take the sight of the man in front of him. "Once a loser, always a loser, I suppose. It is your destiny after all".

This time it was not the name-calling what affected Naruto. It was what came before it. "You believed in me?"

"Believed as in the past tense, Uzumaki" Neji answered, shaking his head at himself, "No, calling you by name is not a privilege you are deserving of. Now out of my way, trash, you're a hindrance to my sight. You are beneath me"

This time it was Sai who spoke up. "What do you mean by beneath?" the pale artist asked curiously. The fact that he had the audacity to eavesdrop on Neji's conversation made the brunet whipped his head at the direction of the intruder. The fact that in said motion Neji's long hair whipped Naruto in the face was not considered an accident. Neji did not believe in accidents. He did, however, believe in sharing his irrefutable knowledge with his uneducated classmates.

"It means his kind is like the dirt beneath my feet," Neji answered, "abundant and meant to be walked on."

Neji then walked passed Naruto, purposely bumping his shoulder against the younger. "I will say this out of the little respect I had for you once," he said to Naruto in a voice that demanded his full attention. Anything less would be unsatisfactory. "If you expect me not to approach the Uchiha then you will do the same and not approach Hinata. Call it a trade if you must. But do not delude yourself into thinking anything you do will make a difference."

And to make matter worse the damn breeze decided to blow at that moment, making Neji's exit nothing short of grandiose looking.

The gracious bastard

Sai, for his part, didn't quite understand what had just transcended. He'll have to admit it was not the first time he had eyed Naruto. It was not hard to notice someone like the blond with the scars on his face. Nobody wore so much orange like him on a daily basis nor was as loud and unpredictable. Naruto was known for his continuous pranks and for how loud he got whenever somebody disrespected him. It was because of this that Sai always wondered about the size of Naruto's penis. The prankster was a person who thrived for the respect and recognition of others so "why?" Sai asked aloud. He couldn't comprehend what could've motivated Naruto to allow himself to be humiliated like that for the sake of Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto sighed loudly once Neji was gone. That hadn't gone exactly as he might have wanted but at least Neji would be off Sasuke's case for the time being. He glanced to his right and saw that the pale artist was still there, but instead of focusing on his sketch like he had been doing earlier this morning, his dull onyx eyes were focus on him.

"What'd you looking at?" Naruto asked with a little edge to his voice.

"What motivated you to defend Sasuke Uchiha like that? Were you ordered to do so?"

"…no…," Naruto answered with uncertainty since Sai looked genuinely curious about getting an answer, "It's just that I didn't want this happening to him."

"Really…," Sai said, pressing a fist lightly on his chin as he studied Naruto's answer, "So because of this Sasuke Uchiha you decided to buck up your ass and take the heat for him?"

"W-What?" Naruto stammered, slightly caught off guard by how vulgar Sai had phrased what he saw. The lid on Naruto's temper went off. "Say that again!" he threatened holding a fist to Sai's face.

Sai observed the fist. It was just as he thought earlier. When somebody insulted Naruto the blond would be quick to retaliate. But when Neji Hyuuga practically spat on Naruto, he didn't raise a fist to defend himself. Just for Sasuke Uchiha?

"I see," Sai replied while gathering up his art supplies, "I guess I have an opinion about you."

"Really?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious about what the other thought about him. Did Sai think he was heroic for standing up for Sasuke? Bad Ass? Cool?

Sai only closed his eyes and with a little smile responded, "I think you're a pussy."

-x-x-Thursday Morning 6:20AM-x-x-Today the students had their Red Day Schedule-x-x-

It was another early morning and Naruto stood to the right of the school gates, wearing nothing but some old jeans, a black t-shirt underneath his black and orange jacket with a red swirl on its left sleeve, and his long black bandana still tied around his head. Yesterday Sasuke had been absent so Naruto never got a chance to speak to him face to face. Today would be different, Naruto was sure of it.

Just like yesterday, Sai had arrived a minute after Naruto had and made a move to sit himself beside the blond. But unlike yesterday, Naruto was quick to sprint to the left side of the gate, away from the pale alumni. Naruto heatedly glanced to his right to see that Sai was sending him a little smile. A creepy little smile, Naruto decided. Just yesterday Naruto had left a black eye on the painter's right side. Nobody called him a "pussy" and got away with it.

Luckily Naruto punched him outside of the school gates and so did not get in trouble for it.

Sai was wearing something similar to the other day, except that this time he had a tight t-shirt of green pastel colors with 'Kiss Me' written in bold red letters.

"No, thank you" Naruto thought, creasing his face into a scowl. He pocketed his hands in his jeans hoping he would look more intimidating as he closed his eyes to wait peacefully for Sasuke.

The smell of flowers invaded his senses.

Ino was casually walking into the gates when she noticed Naruto. She was quick to walk towards him since a matter of utter priority had to be discussed. "So, asked a girl out yet?"

"Not yet." Naruto shrugged innocently. In all truth he had forgotten about the dance.

"No kidding," Ino said to herself after taking one good look at the way he dressed. There were so many things wrong with it she actually obliged to its silent call of 'help'! A part of her felt enraged as she wondered why Sakura didn't ever do something about his wardrobe. Didn't she claim Naruto was just her friend? Ino for her part made sure Shikamaru and Chouji always looked their best so why couldn't her rival do the same for her supposed friends?

"Just as always I have to fix forehead's mistakes" she thought bitterly.

She unzipped his jacket after deciding that having it zipped only made him look pudgy. Then she rolled the sleeves of said jacket until they were just beneath his elbows. That way the girls would appreciate his strong forearms. Plus it didn't hurt to show generous amounts of that sun-kissed skin of his. She grabbed his black t-shirt and pulled it out of his jeans. Quickly inspecting his jeans, she grabbed two fistfuls of it and tore it open in front of his knees. It didn't take much brute strength. She could easily tell that the jeans had seen better days.

If Naruto was about to complain, he was shushed when Ino placed her hands on his unruly hair and ruffled it angrily before combing his golden spikes with her fingers. She then confiscated his headband and wrapped it around her waist. That way she would make sure he didn't put it on when she wasn't looking.

"There," she said proud of her work, winking with approval, "Now you look badass".

She playfully slapped him before going inside the gates, looking over her shoulder to say demandingly, "You better have a date before lunch hour."

Naruto frowned because his headband was taken away from him but perked up nonetheless. He knew exactly who he wanted as his date for the dance. The girl would be beautiful, intelligent, somewhat short tempered, aggressive, strong, and she would have the biggest most kissable forehead he has ever seen. "Sakura-chan!"

"No, dobe, I'm Sasuke."

"Eh?" Naruto quickly came off his cloud when he noticed the smug smirk on his dark haired friend. The love-struck teen chuckled and apologized, "Sorry about that, it's just that I'm inviting Sakura-chan to the dance. You going?"

"No," Sasuke answered, "But anyways, dobe, I've never seen you up this early."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto said, jumping in front of Sasuke to grab his full attention, "Ne Sasuke… I just wanted to ask you something. On Tuesday, did you tell Hinata not to study with me?"

If Sasuke was caught off guard by the inquiry he didn't show it. "Not that I'm aware of," he said uncaringly, "I've never spoken to her." He said truthfully.

"You sure?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the right, "Neji said she was crying and it happened when she was supposed to study with me, except she didn't study with me and you told me she had something else to do".

There was a pressing silence between them. A silence labeled 'The Awkward Silence'

"What are you accusing me of, dobe?"

"Did you or did you not sent Hinata away?"

The silence returned, now labeled 'The Awkward Silence 2: The Return'

"Why do you ask questions you already know the answers too?"

"Why would you do something like that? I don't get it."

"Hn," Sasuke let out while thoughtfully searching for an answer. It was true he wanted to get rid of the Hyuuga heiress as she was a nuisance to him but he guessed there were other ways to do so. It's just that glaring the girl away seemed like the fastest and easiest way to get rid of her. "And it was" he thought with a smirk. "But she actually went home crying?" Well that was to be expected from someone as weak as her. What she had, Sasuke decided, was a fairy tale dream. A false vision where she was the Jasmine to Naruto's Aladdin; The Fionna to Naruto's Shrek. Sasuke, on the other hand had a goal, an ambition he needed to make reality.

When his ambition met with her dream it was only natural Sasuke would overpower her. But still, why did he feel the need to scare her away? He only had one answer.

"I did it on a whim."

"You… sent her away because of a whim?"

'The Awkward Silence 3: The Trilogy'

"What does it matter to you anyways?" Sasuke asked uncaringly, stepping within the gates. He was going to say something more but then he felt the earth shaking. "Shit," He face-palmed himself. He could already tell that the instant he stepped inside Konoha High the silent alarms that only females could hear started ringing, warning the girls of his arrival. This was exactly the reason he was absent yesterday. He had hoped that with his absence he would give the girls enough time to find someone else to ask for as a date. Apparently that was not the case. He only had time to send a look that said "we'll talk later" to Naruto before he got swarmed by girls, all screaming, "Sasuke-kun! Wanna be my date for the party?"

"Hey!" Naruto shouted as the girls shoved him into the concrete, away from Sasuke. His bottom had taken a rough landing, courtesy of the Sasuke fangirls, and his conversation with the other had taken a back seat.

Taking a huge intake of breath, Naruto forced himself to glance at the direction were the painter was, and just as he had suspected, dull onyx eyes were focused on him. "What?" Naruto said, raising a fist, "Got something else to say?"

Sai glanced at the fist, then at the almost cannibalistic rampage the girls were having over the Uchiha, and lastly at deep blue eyes of the blond before answering with another small but no less creepy smile. "Women walked all over you. You really are dickless."

POW!

Now Sai had matching black eyes.

-x-x-Thursday 6:55AM-x-x-

"Hola, Kiba," Ino said strutting her way like super models did on the catwalk: Hands on her hips, her bust jumping with each step, her hips swaying and her long legs always walking in a thin straight line towards him. She had the feline power of 'RAWR' on her side. She accommodated herself on his lap and told him, "I was looking for you." As she did so she rubbed herself against him. The red signals in Kiba's head shot up. He knew she wanted something. He didn't have sister for nothing. He was already aware of how some girls tried to use their physical arsenal to lure men into doing something they didn't want to do. Kiba had learned from personal experience because he has fallen one time too many to those tactics, seeing as his sister's friends did that to him all the time when he was thirteen of age.

"Cut to the chase," Kiba said, not once surrendering to her approaches.

"Funsucker," Ino said, sticking her tongue at him. "I was just playing." She said sitting next to him like if it was the most casual thing in the world. Which wasn't because the only two times she has ever sat next to him Naruto had always been around. Kiba shot her a look and Ino sighed at it. "It's just that I found out that Naruto wants to go to that formal dance." She revealed while pretending to examine her nails.

"And?" Kiba said, pretending to not be interested in the least but he really was.

"Well, you've seen where he lives." She said, not sugar-coating her words, "that place is a shit-hole and you seen how he dresses. I don't think he has an outfit for the dance, do you?"

"Uhh… not that I know of," Kiba answered not really knowing where this was heading.

"Yeah, poor whiskers," She said with a pout, "If I were a boy I would lend him some of my clothes but oh well. I wonder if there's any boy here Naruto's size".

"Well, there is Sasuke… but I doubt Naruto would ask him for something like that. It would feel like charity and it will hurt Naruto. And then there's…" "Shit!" Kiba just realized what Ino intended all along.

She smiled, clapping her hands together, "That's so sweet of you Kiba. You're such a great friend." She said cutely and kissed him on the cheek goodbye before he had a chance to say, "But I didn't agree!"

He cursed himself, that's what he got for underestimating Ino by believing that her flesh was her only weapon. He should've already known that the best weapons were always kept hidden, and underneath Ino's obvious sexual powers layed a very devious mind.

Pfft, but just because Ino brought the idea up didn't mean Kiba would follow through it. No way. Even if the idea benefited Naruto, Kiba would stand his ground.

Oh who was he kidding, he has never been one of much self control when it came to Naruto. But he will consult Shino first. There was no way he would just give into Ino's wishes blindingly.

-x-x-Thursday 8:55AM after Kakashi's Class-x-x-

Sakura was looking really deflated when she rested on her desk. She knew she had to go to Mrs. Ayame's Cooking Class but she just couldn't find the will in her to move. Just five minutes ago her date requests were denied by Sasuke. His words were, "I'm not going. Stop insisting. Not interested. Ask someone else for a change." 'But to ask someone else?' Sakura didn't understand what Sasuke meant by that. If not him then who? There simply was no other.

"Why is Sasuke-kun being so damn difficult?" Inner Sakura raged.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura was shot out of her reverie when she noticed the guy she had been ignoring all morning in favor fighting over Sasuke. There was Naruto, wearing the same thing he wore almost every day but somehow it looked different than before. For one he had never worn his jacket like that, unzipped and with his sleeves rolled up. His exposed flesh made her appreciated how strong those arms looked. And his legs, what originally made her focus on them were the openings the jeans had, but once she found herself staring she couldn't look away as those muscled legs made their way to her. She tried to look up from them only to be captivated by the way his package was framed on those jeans. "His what?" Inner Sakura gave a mental kick to her tenant.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Sakura thought as she clutched the fabric above her heart, "Was I just ogling Naruto?"

"Hey Sakura-chan! You heard 'bout the dance?" he asked excitedly.

"Duh Naruto, who hasn't?"

"Well…" he said pointing at himself, "How 'bout going with this hot stuff?"

She was going to say "no" automatically but her other presence urged her to deliberate on it. The pros were that she would have a date with a guy that's obviously interested in her. A guy she could pound if he tried to get his hands on her, and she guessed it did feel nice to know she would be going with someone who actually asked her to the dance, not the other way around. Meaning she had the power to act all mighty while the other had to squirm in insecurity.

The cons, however, were that he was Naruto. He'd probably wear something embarrassing and she wouldn't want to be seen with him. He probably had two left feet and would step on her continuously. She was already planning to wear heels, and those things hurt a lot. She wasn't sure she could deal with the added pain of someone stepping on her. Like hell she was.

But Naruto would probably go out of his way to try to impress her. She gave him that much. But when it came down to what really mattered, which was pretty much herself, did she really want to be Naruto's date?

She had to be honest with herself. The answer was no.

"Fine, Naruto," she answered, "I'll go with you."

"Fine, I understand," Naruto said depressed, he really wanted to go with Sakura but she… she…, "What? Sakura-chan! Did you say yes?"

"Yeah Naruto," Sakura said waving it off like if it was nothing, "I said I'll go with you."

"Sakura-chan!" He scooped her up from her desk and twirled her around in the air before embracing her in a hug. "You won't regret it, I promise!"

"Sure, whatever. But we're going as friends, get it Naruto, friends." She said closing her eyes as she assured herself of her decision. The point of the "couple" themed dance was to be seen entering elegantly in the arms of another. Hence, she needed a guy for it to happen. She already heard the other girls say that Ino was going with Shikamaru so if Ino was going with a friend then Sakura didn't see the harm in also doing the same.

She opened her eyes to witness how Naruto was shaking. "Whoa, I've never seen Naruto like this. He must be nervous. Well it's not everyday he gets to walk down an aisle with me. But this isn't like him. I guess I'll be the bigger person and cheer him up a bit."

"I'm such a wonderful person!" Inner Sakura said, and Sakura had to agree with her inner-self. She patted Naruto gently on the back and said, "Hey Naruto, don't get so down. I already know you don't know how to dance but…"

"Hey everybody!" Naruto shouted for everyone to hear, completely oblivious to what the pink haired girl was saying to him, "Sakura-chan is going to the dance with the great Naruto Uzumaki. In your faces, bastards!" The he pointed at random people and let out a pompous laugh.

Sakura deadpanned. "He's too stupid to feel down."

"This stupid jerk is going to get us is trouble for yelling that loud!" Inner Sakura raged on.

"Hehehe," Naruto grinned, pointing at another random guy who was picking his books up, "Hey, douche, guess what? Sakura-chan is my date!"

"You idiot!" Sakura shouted, smacking him hard on his head with her history book, "We're just going as friends, don't get the wrong idea."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, you don't have to feel embarrassed." Naruto said, surprising her by kissing her forehead. He had always wanted to do that. He then grinned and wiggled his yellow eyebrows at her, "So what if other girls get jealous because you bagged me as your date. You still have me to love you."

That did it.

"CHA!" Naruto was sent flying across the room by Sakura again, but even as he tumbled down along with a few chairs he couldn't stop laughing every second of it. Sakura had said "yes" to him. The world could end tomorrow and he would still die a happy man. He was as happy as he was that day when he was twelve. The day he decided that he would make Sakura his wife in the future.

Naruto left, probably to spread the news, and Sakura sighed in relief. What had she gotten herself into? She wondered.

It was at that time another sophomore decided to make her presence known by throwing a paper ball straight into Sakura's wide open forehead. It was Ami, and she was looking every bit the wannabe plastic that she was.

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura," Ami teased, pulling a face of disgust as she said, "Naruto?" she shivered, "for real? As usual you can't make good decision without Ino making them for you."

"And as usual your breath reeks of ass and dicks," Sakura said back, grabbing her things. She never enjoyed being around Ami.

"Ouch, that hurts," Ami said with a roll of her eyes before spitting her usual venom. "But at least my date won't be dressing from a charity house. I respect myself at least that much"

Sakura stammered a little, she had already given thought of the possibility of Naruto embarrassing her. That's why she informed him they were going just as friends. But still… no, she couldn't show hesitation around Ami. "Well excuse me for agreeing to go with him," Sakura said, flipping her lustrous pink hair as she thought about a way to get out of the situation with her reputation intact. She got it. "Besides, as Naruto's friend I want to help him gain some popularity. I'm going with him as favor, nothing else."

"As a favor?" Ami said to herself, loving how fickle that statement sounded. She could use this.

-x-x-Thursday 10:05AM after Orochimaru's Class (For Naruto, Kiba and Shino and some others)-x-x-

Kiba was nervous, there was something he had to tell Naruto but he didn't know how to approach him about it. But Kiba wasn't a wimp! He was the man of his house. Fun loving, athletic, boisterous, sure he was tender with Akamaru, but he was a damn 'MACHO'. He wore the pants.

"Oi, Naruto!" Kiba said to call his attention, but when Naruto faced him Kiba did an 180 degrees turn to leave and escape but Shino grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him back to Naruto.

"You have to take responsibility for your actions." Shino informed him. Now Kiba was face to face with Naruto whose blue eyes were eyeing him curiously. Kiba turned to Shino and tried his best to pull the 'puppy eyes' look. He looked anything but cute. With a few curses under his breath he pumped his chest out and faced Naruto.

"So… Naruto," Kiba said but when his slit eyes locked with Naruto's blue orbs he lost his ability to speak.

Shino sighed. "Kiba means to say that the word got around and now everybody knows about what happened between Neji and you".

"Anyways," Kiba continued, "I asked Hinata 'bout it and she says it's not your fault but she won't tell me whose fault it is."

"Hinata is not the type of person who would point an accusing finger even if the person deserves it." Shino explained from behind the Inuzuka.

"So Shino and I went to Neji for some answers…"

"Liar," Shino interjected, "He told Neji to stop being such a prick and to apologize to you. Just not in those words. I was only there out of coincidence"

"Yeah, what he said. But thing is… it didn't exactly go well."

"Kiba ended up on the receiving end of a very brutal verbal smack down." Shino detailed.

Kiba sent Shino a very evil look that clearly said "stop helping!" before facing Naruto again. "So as I was saying… we'll be seeing a lot of Neji more often."

Shino ignored Kiba's glare in its entirety. "What Kiba means to say is that because of his impulsive actions Neji has requested special permission to once again be able to eavesdrop on our classes. Because Konoha High does respect the cultures of the foreign, and because Neji has proven himself very capable of excelling on his classes even without attending them, this permission has been granted to him".

This time it was Naruto who spoke up for the first time in this conversation, "What foreign culture?"

This time Kiba said nothing, waiting for Shino to explain it. When Shino didn't Kiba figured that Shino finally didn't have a say in the matter. "Well I don't know much of it myself," Kiba confessed, "but Hinata is like the heiress of the Hyuuga family and apparently Neji is supposed to always protect her."

"More specifically," Shino said, making Kiba want to growl, "Even though Neji and Hinata share the same root, theirs roles stemmed from different branches. Hinata is regarded as a member of the main family, whereas Neji belongs to the branch. All members of the branch families are instructed since birth to protect and serve the main family. Because of the relatively insignificant difference in the ages of both Hinata and Neji, the latter was assign to watch over the former. Am I correct to assume you found it odd when you realized that Hinata and Neji lived in the same house even though they're cousins?"

"But," Naruto asked now genuinely curious about the Hyuugas, "If what you say is true then how come Neji stopped coming to class in the last few days?"

Both Shino and Kiba looked away not wanting to answer that particular question. The answer should've been obvious. Neji had stopped eavesdropping on Hinata's classes because he deemed Naruto, the boy Hinata liked, as trustworthy enough. Of course Naruto wasn't aware of Hinata's feelings but he figured that it was somehow his fault.

Being respected and recognize by others. That's what Naruto wanted, and he realized he had obtained that from the Hyuugas a day after he lost it. Because of something Sasuke apparently did. But Naruto wasn't worried about it. He was sure that once he got a chance to speak clearly with Sasuke all will be better in no time. Yet this also brought another revelation to Naruto that made him grin wholeheartedly. His blue eyes met once again with the uncommon slit eyes of Kiba.

Kiba took a step back, expecting Naruto to blow up on him and blame him for everything. He was surprised when Naruto only smiled and thanked him for standing up for him. "You're a real buddy." He said.

Shino, sensing 'a moment' was going to occur between Naruto and Kiba, decided it was his time to leave. And so he did.

"Well, you know me," Kiba said, scratching awkwardly the back of his head, "I'm what people call loyal." 'like a dog' was left unsaid.

With the Neji thing out of the way, now came the hard part. There was another thing the brunet wanted to tell Naruto and he cursed himself for allowing Ino to ingrain that idea into his mind. He knew it was like walking into a landmine, once he stepped on it the chances of moving on without getting blown were next to nothing. Naruto could take this in two very different ways. He would be angry at Kiba for even suggesting lending some clothes to him for the dance. Or he would be very depressed because he would think everybody thought he was a charity case. None of the different scenarios painted a positive picture but Kiba had to admit, and Naruto would too, that there were things he would just have to take as a man. Even if it wounded his pride a little.

"Um, so Naruto…"

"Naruto," Shino appeared behind the blond, catching both him and Kiba off-guard, "Kiba has something he wants to show you at his place. Could you come along after classes are over today?"

Naruto started at Kiba to confirm it was true, when he did, he eagerly accepted.

"Thanks pal," Kiba muttered to Shino. Sometimes it helped that Shino always rephrased what Kiba wanted to communicate.

-x-x-Thursday 11:15AM after Kurenai's Class but before Lunch Hour starts-x-x-

Ino made her way to her locker in search for her purse. It was already lunch hour and she needed caffeine on a stick or something. She was so sleepy she was about to keel over at any moment. She also had to ready herself for when Naruto walked in disappointed because he was rejected by Sakura. Then Ino could console him by telling him that he really didn't need a date to attend the party. Coming with a date was just a formality to make sure there were an even number of boys and girls there.

It was the perfect script. She had stayed all night planning how the events would turn out. She figured Naruto wouldn't be able to get a date, and she also knew that Kiba wasn't going with Hinata because Shino had asked the Hyuuga first. Meaning that there would be two lonely boys at the dance, both vulnerable to her ploys.

Still, pulling an all-nighter did nothing for her energy reserves. Of course, being who she was she put a perfectly poised front for everyone to see on the outside but in the inside she was battling her nerves to stay awake. All she really wanted right now was peace and quiet in the embrace of her queen size bed.

"Heheheh," she heard someone snicker, but she couldn't pinpoint from where. It turned out she didn't have to search much because when she opened her locker the perpetrator came jumping out of it shouting "Surprise!"

Ino fell on her behind and looked up to see a wide grin on her fellow blonde's face as he said, "Whoa, I didn't think you'd get that easily scared." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, he liked her reaction and was already thinking of all the possibilities and pranks he could pull on her.

She felt the need to back up a little and warn him otherwise, "Don't even think about it, whiskers. Pull another stunt like that and it'll be war!"

"Yeah, sure," Naruto said, taking a seat on the floor next to her, obviously not the least concerned about her threat. She felt the need to pout at that, he was so comfortable around her he didn't believe she could pull a fast one on him. She briefly wondered how he got into her locker but he chose to speak up before she had a chance to ask.

"Hey Ino, guess what?" he said in a soft voice, his eyes glazing over as he thought of a happy memory. He gave her a brilliant smile and she felt the need to cover her eyes. He was shining like the sun, happy and warm. "Just why the heck is he so sunny anyways?" Ino thought upset with his radiance. According to the way she had schemed everything, Naruto should be sulking about now. His loudness was the last thing her sleep deprived self needed right now.

"Guess what." He said, grinning happily. She wanted that grin off.

"What?" she droned, "A girl actually said yes?" she said mockingly, hoping it would make him go into the depressed state she had envisioned for him. When he nodded yes she felt her mouth open in disbelieve. "A girl actually agreed?" She was surprised, but not really impressed. So Naruto had a date, it still didn't ruin her plans for him. After all, all she needed for her plan to work was to make sure that Sakura rejected Naruto in front of everyone at the dance while Ino strategically positioned Kiba next to Naruto for her plan to commence. "That's fine," Ino said, thinking she might as well learn who the nameless girl was. "So, who is she?"

"Sakura-chan!"

"WHAT?" She felt like a ton of bricks had just descended on her. She couldn't believe it! She refused to believe it! How the heck did that happened? That wasn't going along with her script. Not at all. Sakura was supposed to say no. "That ugly forehead of hers is trying to sabotage me!" Ino's plans wouldn't come to fruition if Sakura behaved nicely around Naruto. Of all times Sakura could've chosen to be nice to Naruto, that two-faced bitch had to choose now?

"Hey, Ino," Naruto said, noticing the creepy look on Ino face, "You're okay with me going with Sakura, right?"

"NOOOO!" she inwardly screamed.

"Yeah, I guess," She lied through her teeth, an ability all popular girls had. It was actually quite sickening how easily she could fake what she was feeling. She then noticed the super happy grin on his face. "Seesh, you're really excited about this one. God, that's the biggest shit-eating grin I've seen on you so far"

"Hey! You got a problem with the way I smile?"

"Relax, whiskers, it was a compliment, seesh."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted happily, waving Ino goodbye before making stops to every ear that would hear him out. He had to tell everyone Sakura was going with him, he couldn't contain himself. Naruto jogged away happily.

Ino sighed at his behavior, admitting to herself that Sakura had her hands full with that guy, that's for sure.

But that really put a damper on her mood. Now what was she going to do with her scheme?

She needed caffeine to think, she decided, making her rounds to the cafeteria when she heard some girls giggling over Naruto's name. That got her attention.

"Hey girls," Ino said, trying to sound ditzy to communicate with these girls, "What's the FYI?"

"OMG Ino, have you heard?" the girls responded through their giggle feat, "Naruto's going around school all cheerful and stuff because he believes Sakura was actually serious about dating him."

"Huh?" now that bit of info really got Ino's attention, "Sakura isn't going with him to the dance?"

"Oh she is," the girls giggled some more, "but it's a pity date, only that Naruto doesn't know it. It's kinda cute actually how he thinks it is. We heard it from Ami."

"That's horrible," Ino thought, and still the girls were on Sakura's side. Well it did make sense. People always sided with the more popular one. "But damn," Ino thought again, remembering the shit-eating grin on Naruto's face. She almost felt pity but then she quickly remembered that was exactly what she wanted. To make it seemed like Naruto was suffering because of Sakura. She rubbed her hands together as she conjured up what the next phase of her plan should be.

Sure, Ino knew that if the rumors came from Ami's mouth then it must've been a lie. Ami probably just twisted Sakura's words or something. But Ino wasn't going to stop those rumors, oh no, far from it. She was going to help spread them.

"Thank you billboard-brow, you just made my life so much easier."

-x-x-Thursday 12:15PM before Iruka's Class-x-x-

The happiest blond was making his way to Iruka's class when a swift hand emerged from the janitor's closet and pulled him there. Before he could even say anything another swift hand covered his mouth and a "shhh" sound came from his capturer.

"S-Sasuke?" muffled the blond incredulously, even in the dark confines of the janitor's closet Naruto could still make out the out-lined shape of his capturer's chicken-butt hairstyle.

"Keep your voice down, dobe," the other responded, taking his hands off Naruto.

"What'd you doing?"

"Hiding," Sasuke answered, "these girls will be the end of me."

Naruto chuckled at Sasuke's situation. It was nice to see the down-side of being extremely popular, and he was glad Sasuke allowed him to see it. In front of everybody else Sasuke would just feign disinterest at his situation.

"Anyways" the Uchiha said calling to the other's attention. "I recognize that I might've overstepped my boundaries. I apologize for being so controlling of your time."

It took Naruto a moment to progress that his friend had actually apologized for causing trouble. And the Uchiha did it on his own account, without being forced by others. That earned the Uchiha a grin from the Uzumaki.

"Great!", Naruto said accepting Sasuke's apology at face-value. There wasn't a need to hold grudges between friends. "Now let's go find Hinata and Neji."

"The Hyuugas?" Sasuke said with a little reluctance on his side, "I have nothing to say to them."

Naruto squinted his eyes. "C'mon Sasuke, we need to apologize to them too."

"As if" the Uchiha scoffed at the suggestion, "Don't make decisions for the two of us."

"But"

"You got your apology, be grateful for it and let it go. I'm not going to march up to them, hold their hands, and kumbaya if that's what you're expecting."

"Oh c'mon, its call sticking out for a friend," Naruto smiled, remembering the events from earlier. "Kiba did it for me."

"So what? Did that make you feel special?" asked Sasuke, already feeling like if he was going to lose his cool. The mention of that friend stealer's name, as Sasuke had already labeled Kiba, did nothing to lighten his mood. "I already apologized once to you so don't expect another one of those for at least ten more years."

"Fine, then I'll apologize for you."

"Don't you dare, dobe," he threatened, "There's no way I'm throwing an apology to those pretentious Hyuugas."

"Then here is my apology!" Naruto said, raising his voice in retaliation, "I'm sorry but I don't accept your apology! And until you agree to apologize with me to both Neji and Hinata I'm not going to talk to you anymore!" Naruto crossed his arms, end of statement. "Find me when you stop being such a bastard!"

"You can't be serious!" Sasuke shouted as Naruto abandoned the janitor's closet. The Uchiha face-palmed himself. "Of course he is serious" he thought gritting his teeth in annoyance, "once that idiot gets something inside that thick skull of his it's pretty difficult to change his mind". Sasuke couldn't believe Naruto would pull an ultimatum on him. But the blond wasn't known as unpredictable for nothing. But if Naruto wanted to play it like that then so be it. He was sure Naruto would come around first because one thing was for sure. Hell will freeze before an Uchiha ever apologizes to a Hyuuga, especially to a girl that couldn't even speak up for herself.

-x-x-Thursday 1: 25PM after Iruka's Class but before Asuma's (For Ino and some others)-x-x-

Ino was drowsily making her errands around the campus because the seniors had just requested all class representatives to inform their peers about the dance's tickets, dress codes and all of that stuff. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and take her long deserved beauty sleep. Between her scheming, rumor spreading, school work and blackmailing, she was already worn out. But because the seniors have given her this last minute assignment, resting was not an option.

Something like this was categorized as 'school activities', meaning that the perfect time to inform her classmates of everything dance-related would be at their homeroom hour. But their next homeroom would be on Friday morning, the day of the dance. She couldn't afford to be so irresponsible as to inform her peers of this the same day of the dance. Especially when she needed to make sure a large sum of people attended it to witness her stunt.

Damn the seniors for giving these last minute instructions so late in the day.

Ino, as could be expected from her, had already informed the majority of her peers yet there was one she was in no rush to approach. She saw him standing by a bulleting board. The people around him making sure they didn't accidentally bump into him.

His name was Gaara

She pitied whoever thought that being class president was all fun and games, because in reality it was life or death. And she was sure Gaara was that death. But the red headed psychopath was in her class so she was obligated to inform him of the dance. But who would be dumb enough to approach that!? Certainly not her, she assured herself.

Everything about Gaara conveyed the same message. "Mess with me and I'll fuck you up." except she was sure that the 'fuck' didn't mean 'sex'.

What she needed was an escape goat. She needed someone who would take the fall for her. That's when she saw green colors, a shiny bowl cut hairstyle, and unflattering eyebrows. Her escape! It made sense in a way. The only one who could tackle the embodiment of the certain death (Gaara) was the embodiment of Youthful Life itself, Lee.

She patted him on his right shoulder.

"Yosh!" Lee said loudly, "What is wrong? Fair lady who is the class president of Naruto!"

"The name is Ino," she informed doing her best to smile flirtatiously, "have you heard about the dance?"

"Yosh! Tenten informed me."

"Good because there is this person that hasn't been informed yet but I just don't know how to approach him. He his a tad," she searched for the word, "un-youthful"

Lee's eyes widen to the size of saucers. "Do not fret, girl who is second to Sakura's beauty!" he said taking his 'nice guy' pose, "just tell me who this person is and I'll inform him myself."

She felt like crippling him for comparing her to Sakura but she held her own. Killing him would be counter productive to her plans so she settled to pointing at the direction of the homicidal redhead.

"Yosh! Gaara of the Funk!" Lee said bolting to Gaara's side, earning his attention. "It has passed quite some time since we last spoken." The nice guy informed, stopping to recall when was the last time they had exchanged words. "I believe it was after you defeated me at Dance Dance Revolution. And even though I lost to you and you harmed my beautiful Sakura I hold no grudge against you. Ever since you have entered this school you have reformed your evil ways and have not caused harm to others. That deed is indeed admirable!"

Lee closed his eyes and nodded to himself three times, but the third nod was a millisecond slower than his first two nods. So to make up for his mistake, he nodded thirty more times with a speed that made the onlookers fear his head might just pop off. Once Lee was pleased with his nods, he opened his eyes and continued speaking loudly.

"I am here to inform you of the dance tomorrow! It will be a most youthful gathering and it will give us the opportunity to…"

Lee never got to finish that sentence. In the time it had taken him to nod thirty times, Gaara had hovered measured fingers on one of the pressure spots on Lee's neck. When the loud student starting speaking again, Gaara pressed his fingers there and when he released them the loudmouth fell limp on the floor.

The students who just witnessed what happened were soon to escape, afraid that Gaara might do the same to them.

"Finally some quiet," Gaara grumbled, massaging the temples in his head. Now with the silence he could actually hear himself think. And now he found himself curious about this dance. "Will there be funk in there?" He needed to know, but who should he ask? One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to wake the guy with the bowl haircut. Gaara could only tolerate his youthful shitload to some small extent. He'll have to ask someone of authority.

He closed his eyes to recall the name of the pony-tailed girl who showed him around the school premises on his first day.

"Ino Yamanaka. Yes… I'll ask her".

Somewhere not too far away, Ino felt a chill running down her spine.

-x-x-Thursday 3:14PM at Kiba's House-x-x-

Kiba had been worried about how Naruto would react when he learned the real reason Kiba wanted him to come over. He should have known he had nothing to worry about. All Naruto said was, "great, I want something orange!" and then the unpredictable blond walked into Kiba's house like if he owned the place or something. He even went as far as opening the fridge without permission. Kiba playfully scolded Naruto for that, saying, "you don't go into other people houses and open their fridges. Have some manners!"

Naruto excused himself sheepishly but not really meaning it as he searched the rooms for Akamaru, again without any permission to go into the rooms. The brunet had to stifle a laugh at how easily the blond had made himself at home. What Kiba didn't know was that this was the first time Naruto has been permitted to a friend's house. Sasuke never wanted to invite him on account of his parents and Sakura's parents had a 'no boys in the house' policy. Sure, Naruto went to Hinata's house once but that ended pretty badly.

So in reality Naruto wasn't aware of what his behavior should be in other people's houses. He just treaded the place like he would do at his apartment.

"Hey, where's Akamaru?" Naruto asked and got Kiba curious too. The dog owner looked around but didn't see Akamaru either. He went to the kitchen and saw his sister Hana still drinking her three in the afternoon coffee.

"Oi, Sis, where's Akamaru?"

She glanced his way and noticed the blond cutie beside her brother before answering, "Well since you weren't here I took him to the vet."

"You did what?" Kiba growled, "You know Akamaru hates going to the vet alone! If he needed attention why didn't you do it yourself?"

"Date tonight," she shrugged, "needed the day off"

Kiba didn't say anything else. He didn't have to. It was obvious he was pissed.

The dog loving teen marched up to his room, grabbed one of his pet's chewing toys and started pacing around angrily in circles. He was furious that his sister would do something like that to his Akamaru. What if his dog didn't want to go alone? What if they found something on his dog? Who would be there to tell Akamaru that everything would be alright? Certainly not the vets, they didn't understand Akamaru like Kiba did.

The angry brunet's march came to an abrupt halt when he felt two strong arms circling around his waist and a strong chest pressing itself to his back. Hot breath was on his ear and teeth were scraping their way from his earlobe to the upper part of his ear. "Naruto?" he asked breathlessly before he felt the full force of teeth clenching his flesh tightly.

"Yeeaaaaaoooouuuuch!" Kiba shrieked, jumping to the furthest corner of his room before turning to angrily ask Naruto, "Just what fuck was that for?"

"Dog trivia," Naruto said, grinning widely, "I read it on the internet. Bite a dog in the ear to calm him down."

Kiba deadpanned. He carefully made his way back to Naruto and placed his hands on the ear-biter's shoulders. He then spoke slowly to make sure the blond understood him. "Naaaruuutooo... I'm not a dog. You know that, right?" he asked unsurely.

"Pfft," Naruto said crossing his arms to defend himself, "Well it worked, didn't it?" He said, grinning proudly at his achievement.

"Cheeky little bastard" Kiba retorted, gently touching his bitten ear before a heavy blush took over him. "Naruto just bit me," he thought blushing harder, "that's kinda kinky". His face was beet red, the same color of his triangular tattoos. The fact that Naruto just licked his own lips didn't help cool down the heat in Kiba's body. The brunet knew he needed to do something before his body betrayed him even further.

He pointed to his walk-in closet and said, "Mom goes kinda overboard when she buys me these kind of stuff, even though I hardly wear it." he informed, "You're around my size so we should find something in there for you. How 'bout we impress Sakura, eh?"

The next few minutes were passed with Kiba rummaging through his suits and Naruto rejecting every one he saw.

"Ne… this is black. Don't you have something brighter like… ah… orange?"

"No, Naruto, formal suits are all dark."

"Figures" the blond complained, glaring at he suits he found boring.

"Oh don't look so down," Hana said, entering the walk-in closet and grabbing something she liked before explaining to her guest, "The suits are dark but the dress shirts don't have to be."

That made Naruto's eyes lit up.

Kiba gave a low growl with his throat before confronting his dog-stabbing-sister. "Why are you here, sis?"

"Thought I help out," she shrugged, picking out a bright orange dress shirt, some black shoes, some slacks and a necktie. "Here, there's a bathroom over there. Naruto, was it?" she asked and he nodded. "Well Naruto, take everything here and change."

"Okay," Naruto said, quickly disappearing into the room. Once he was well out of sight she automatically turned to Kiba who automatically looked away from her. They waited for a few moments of awkward silence before the eldest decided to break it.

"So…" Hana started knowingly, walking around her brother, "Whose idea was it to lend your friend some of your clothes. I know it wasn't yours."

"I might have been influenced," Kiba admitted, still looking away from her, "but I'm doing it because I want to"

"Thought so," she said, "but this is what I don't get. You're lending Naruto your priciest stuff. Your older stuff is in the trunk beside your bed so aren't you being a little too nice?"

Kiba was saved from answering when Naruto returned sloppily dressed. "I can't figure this out." the guest admitted.

"Seesh Naruto, let me fix it for you," Kiba said, unbuttoning the suit so that he could fix Naruto's tie. As he adjusted said necktie, his fingers lingered around the sun-kissed neck for quite some time. Hana noticed the odd behavior. Her brother's hands were usually only gentle when treating Akamaru. The brunet buttoned the suit again and took a good look at the man before him. "Looking good" he said, 'My Man' was left unsaid.

Naruto started to tug on the necktie, "Do I really have to wear this?"

"Yeah you do" the Inuzukas said simultaneously.

"But we could give you a clip on." Hana suggested. Naruto grinned, he liked the idea.

Hana elbowed her brother with satisfaction on her face. Kiba growled because he knew his sister was trying to be the better host. But their brother and sister banter came to a halt when they noticed that their guest was shamelessly checking himself out in the mirror. The blond grinned even more, "I like it but won't Sakura-chan have trouble undressing me like this?"

"Idiot!" Kiba snickered, smacking Naruto playfully in the head, "You better not have sex on my clothes you stupid fox."

The hit accompanied with the name-calling triggered a slumbering memory to awaken on the blond.

-_-_-Brief Flashback-_-_-

"You know," Kiba wheezed out, trying to make conversation with the other, "calling me dog breath isn't really an insult."

"Really?" Naruto replied, turning his head sluggishly so he could see his friend, "how so?"

"Because dog's mouths are actually cleaner than humans'" Kiba answered with a know-it-all smirk on his face, "it's been scientifically proven."

"Wow, you really are good with dog trivia." Naruto commented as he sat up straight, staring at his friend in awe before developing a confident smirk of his own, "Well in that case, calling me fox boy isn't offensive either. Because when someone is a fox is because they are either sly or hot."

"Hm," Kiba offered in reply, sitting up straight as well but turning his face away from Naruto's, "then by default I guess that means I think you're hot."

-_-_-End of Brief Flashback-_-_-

"Heh heh heh," Naruto started laughing nervously, backing away from Kiba, "T-Thanks for the outfit, you're the best b-but I have to go now, something important. Bye!"

Both Inuzuka's lifted a hand to hold the blond but Naruto was gone in a rush. They wanted to ask him if he needed a ride but figured Naruto must've known where he was going because of how fast he left.

"So…," Hana started, eyeing her brother curiously. "This dance… is the couple's dance, right?"

"Yeah, Naruto will go with Sakura."

"And you with Hinata, right?" she deduced.

"Eh…. No." Kiba revealed, "I was too slow and Shino asked her before me."

"That's a lie," she said giving him the 'I'm-your-big-sister-you-can't-pull-a-fast-one-on-me' look, "You're always fast and Hinata always goes with you to these kinds of things. And Shino wouldn't have asked Hinata out if he knew you wanted to go with her."

"Damn" the brother thought, of course Hana would know how Shino behaved. Kiba has been inviting Shino over ever since they were both twelve.

The brunette let out a sigh before sending a serious look to her brother. "Am I right to assume you wanted to invite someone else?"

Kiba looked away, he didn't like were this was going. But Kiba not answering was all the answer Hana needed to ask her next question.

"Was that someone Naruto?"

Kiba again refused to look at her, but she could pick some light shaking on his part.

"Wow," Hana admitted, staring in mild shock at her usually wild and boisterous little brother, "I always pictured you with Hinata. I never thought you will turn out to be"

"I'm not!" Kiba shouted, this time meeting her eyes, "I'm not." He repeated.

Hana sighed, "But you like Naruto don't you?" He again didn't answer, "Kiba, Naruto is male. If you like him then…"

"Just don't tell mom," Kiba sighed, not admitting nor denying her claim. He knew she already figured him out. She was his sister and closest relative after all.

"Kiba…"

"If mom freaks out on me, I'll get scared" he admitted, taking a stance and speaking with all seriousness. "And if that happens I'll abandon this house just like dad did."

-x-x-Friday 2:35PM after classes were over for the day-x-x-Today students had their Green Day Schedule-x-x-

Sasuke hated today's schedule. For him it was the most physical demanding day of Kohoha High's five colors system. Konoha didn't assign classes to specific days like Mondays or Tuesdays, instead, it had a five day color system that went in the blue, red, green, orange and yellow cycles, meaning that if for some reason Green Day couldn't be taken on Friday, then Green Day would just roll off to Monday. That way no classes would be skipped on account of a holiday.

Today just happened to be the Green Day and hence Sasuke had to deal with Wood Ed (Yamato's Class) and Lab (Orochimaru's Class), both classes exhausting his hands. Then he had to deal with Maito Gai in P.E and that was always extreme. The only physical relaxation Sasuke got today was at Kakashi's class, which opposed to the other colored days, on Green Day social studies was given after lunch period.

But the teachers weren't the only ones that had exhausted Sasuke. Neji had glared at him the whole day. "Pretentious bastard, if he has something to tell why doesn't he just say it?"

Sasuke for one was glad that the school week had ended, for him at least. He was growing tired of his peers lollygagging about how the dance was going to be 'the dance' because it started up at seven and ended at two in the morning.

The Uchiha went to store his books and again did his best to ignore the perfume scented letters that piled out of his locker. He has considered burning them on more than one occasion but there was a law that prohibited him from causing fires indoors.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Ino coming out of the 'newspaper' club. That was odd because she didn't belong to that club. Not that he cared where she belonged.

But then Ino rushed pass Sasuke and entered the 'camera & film' club. That was also odd because not only did she not pay any attention to him but he was also sure she didn't belong to that club either. Not that it was any of his business but either way that clubroom happened to be in the direction he had to take to get off the school premises.

But just as he was leaving he distinctly heard Naruto's name. Of course, he heard people mentioning Naruto's name quite often but what caught his interest was the person who said it. He recognize that voice anywhere, it belong to the one girl who had been acting odd.

Ino Yamanaka.

He clenched his teeth, swallowed his pride and pressed his ear against the club door. "The things I do for the dobe" he thought bitterly. That's when he heard it, or more specifically, that's when he heard her saying, "And that's when we set Naruto up. Make sure the lights are on him. Sure he'll be humiliated but he'll endure. Get Kiba in there too".

"I knew it!" Sasuke muttered through gritted teeth. He told Naruto Ino was bad news when they were skating but did he listen? No! Who listens to reason nowadays? Obviously not Naruto, Sasuke brooded.

The dark haired teen move away from the door and when he deemed his distance safe, he called Naruto via phone. Sure, they weren't exactly on speaking terms but this was an emergency. He needed to warn him that Ino was planning something. Sasuke wasn't sure what Ino had in mind but it definitely wouldn't bode well with him since it came at his friend's expense.

"Ne, Sasuke! Ready to apologize?" Naruto answered full of optimism.

"Fuck the apology!" was Sasuke's response, "This is more important. Ino is scheming something and I think Kiba is in cahoots with her."

"What?" Naruto asked enraged, "First Hinata, and now Ino and Kiba? You have something against my friends?"

"Friends? Dobe, open you eyes already!" Sasuke leered, "They are probably using you to get to me".

"And why would they do that?"

"Ino because she wants me and Kiba because he jealous of me or something."

"Later, Sasuke!" Naruto responded, hanging up. The Uchiha called him again but he blond didn't answer.

Sasuke felt the need to curse. "Damn his stubbornness". He should just let his friend get humiliated, that'll make him stop thinking so highly of himself. But the thing was Sasuke couldn't when he himself could do something to prevent it. Sure, Naruto has been humiliated a number of times, but that's been in front of his classmates. In the dance he would probably get humiliated in front of the whole school. That was like a whole different ball game of humiliation. He knew that Naruto more than anything wanted to be respected. Being humiliated in front of everybody would probably take its toll on the blond.

Sure, if that happened Sasuke would have the luxury to tell him, "I told you so," but did he really want to deal with a sulking blond?

"I have to prevent it somehow." The Uchiha told himself, "That way Naruto will see who his real friends are." But Sasuke wasn't going to make a scene and grovel for Naruto's attention nor get on his knees for forgiveness. It simply wasn't going to happen. Throw that idea out the window 'cause there was simply no way.

Drastic measures had to be taken to get Naruto's attention long enough for him to listen to reason. He won't allow Ino to toy with his best friend any longer. That's why he decided that the drastic measures he had to take had to be pink.

He dialed the number, readying himself for what he was about to do.

"Sakura, can we talk?"

He knew he was going to hate himself the next day.

-x-x-Friday 7:35PM at Naruto's apartment-x-x-

He was happy. He was dressed to impress. His black shoes were spotless and comfortable. His black slacks adjusted to his legs perfectly, even though they were a little loose, perfect for movement. He sat down on his bed and was happy that his slacks didn't go up to reveal his socks. His slacks were really the right size. He also loved the way the bright orange dress-shirt looked on him. Ino had come two hours earlier to make sure all of his clothes were ironed. He had complained about her intruding but now he was happy she did it. He looked good. He clipped on his black neck-tie and then put on his black suit. It was like if it was costumed made for him.

He checked his hair in the mirror for the third time that night. He had tried to mousse his hair back much like the way Mr. Hidan did his hair, but there were some blonde spikes that wouldn't let themselves be combed, particularly those at the front of his frontal hairline.

It wasn't often he wished for it, but sometimes he wished he didn't have six scars across his cheeks. For once in a lifetime he wanted to look perfect for Sakura. For him, she was always his independent princess. He wondered if at least once, just for tonight, she would take one look at him and think of him as her prince. There was little he wouldn't do to make her see him in that light.

He picked up his wallet, his phone and his car keys. With Jiraiya away on a trip, Naruto now had exclusive use of his car. He couldn't wait to pick up Sakura in it. So what if he didn't have his driver's license yet?

It was already 7:40, time to pick up his date. Speaking of his princess, he was receiving a call from her right now.

"Oh hi, Sakura-chan!" he said happily, "I'm gonna pick you up now, okay?"

He heard Sakura take a deep breath before she responded. "Yeah… Naruto… about that."

-x-x-Friday 7:55PM at Ino's house-x-x-

"Okay daddy, I'll behave," Ino said waving goodbye to her father because he had a late meeting at the office. The only reason Inoichi was going to the meeting at all was because one, Ino was wearing a very conservative outfit that showed no amount of flesh other than her face, neck and hands; And two, because it was Shikamaru the boy who was going to pick up his daughter. He trusted that kid to know Ino was off limits.

When Inoichi left, Ino grinned victoriously. She ran to her room and stripped herself from that outfit that made her look like a Nun, replacing it with a little black dress cut just the way she liked it.

Backless

She shook her sexy behind in front of her mirror. Yep, she was going to turn some heads with that outfit. Now all she needed to do was wait for her date to pick her up but not yet. She would call Shikamaru when the time was right. After all, she had to be fashionably late. She would call Chouji however, she had instructed him to be there early because she needed an update of everything that was going on there.

"Hetho DIhno" Chouji answered over the phone, and she could clearly tell he was talking with his mouth full.

"Hi Cho," she said nonetheless, "any commotion?"

She heard him swallow before he answered "Not much". She immediately heard him munching on something else.

"Is Kiba there?" she asked. Chouji answered something but she couldn't understand him. She felt then need to reprimand him. "Chouji! Stop eating while talking it's disgusting!"

"Fine!" she heard him say. Seconds later he cleared his thought to announce he had already swallowed his food.

"Cho, is Kiba there?"

"Yeah,"

"Is Naruto and Sakura there yet?"

"Nah.. no wait. I see Sakura but she's in the arms of Sasuke. I don't see Naruto anywhere".

"So Sakura is with Sasuke then?"

"I think so but it's weird though, because I thought Naruto was Sakura's date."

"Yeah, that is weird… wait a fucking minute, run by me what you said before that"

"Sakura is in Sasuke's arms?"

"WHAT?" she took a deep breath before pouring out her feelings. "SHIT!"

Ino couldn't put her mind around it. She felt like if Sakura had just pulled the rug from right under her. "That two-faced harpy!" she yelled. She needed to go over the info again.

"Sasuke and Sakura together? At the dance? How the heck did that happened? Sasuke wasn't even supposed to attend the damn party!" she could feel her tears threatening to pour out. This could not be happening to her. Having Sasuke and Sakura as a couple was to Ino what kryptonite was to Superman. A completely unfair and shitastic disadvantage!

How the heck was Ino's popularity supposed to compete with the combined popularities of that duo? People weren't going to pay attention to her if those two were together. Sasuke was like an unattainable trophy, a gold medal. With him in Sakura's possession Ino didn't stand a chance. Sakura parading herself with Sasuke was a big no-no in Ino's book.

"Damn her!" she wailed, "She and her stupid ugly ass forehead were supposed to go with Naruto!"

Naruto!

She had forgotten about him. She quickly hung up on Chouji and called Naruto.

"Hey, whiskers! You there? How come you're not at the party yet? What the heck do you mean you're not going? Don't you dare hung up on me. Whiskers! Whiskers! Naruto! Damn!"

He hung up on her but she redialed and waited for him to pick up the phone again. He didn't. Then she sent him a text message and waited for three minutes for his reply. When she didn't receive any, she threw her phone against her door. Now she could feel her tears starting to pour out. Only one thought repeated itself in her mind. "I lost to Sakura."

She slowly made her way to her nightstand and pulled out her 'all things I have to do before the dance' list.

-Make Shika take me to the dance? Check!

-Trick Kiba into agreeing to lend some suits to Naruto? Check!

-Spend hours conniving and spreading rumors? Check!

-Seduce the president of the 'camera & film' club into taking random pictures of Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and myself so that his club could Photoshop them to my liking? Check!

-Bribe Shiho, the president for the 'newspaper' club, with baby pictures of Shikamaru just so that Shiho would get her team to cover my version of what will transcend at the dance? Check!

-Prepare a freaking Power Point Presentation where I could prove how Sakura's bullying ended up throwing Naruto into the arms of Kiba, fully utilizing the Photoshopped images of them together in compromising positions? Check!

-Make sure the seniors cooperate with the lights and the Power Point Presentation to make it seem like if I had nothing to do with it so that I could then jump in and 'rescue' Naruto and Kiba from the oppressive Sakura and the homophobes that would try to beat the boys up? Check! That way Ino could even be featured in the local newspaper as a heroine.

-Make Chouji go early to the dance to utilize him for spying purposes? Check!

-Look incredibly fine in my little black dress? Check!

Everything on her freaking to do list was checked and done. So why didn't it work? After all that hard work, what did she have to show for it? Nothing! That's' what. Nothing!

"Why didn't anyone follow through with the script I prepared for them?" She asked to no one in particular. Sure, the others had no idea of the script she designed for them but to Ino, that still didn't excuse them for not following through with her whims.

"No!" Ino yelled resolutely, "Not this time, Sakura. You're not going to show me up in front of anyone ever again."

She decided she'll just have to do what all great showmen did when everything that could go wrong went wrong on stage. She'll throw caution out the window and improvise.

She went out of her house and spotted a taxi driver dropping the neighbors up. Excellent timing

-x-x-Friday 8:30PM at Naruto's apartment-x-x-

Knock! Knock! Boom! Boom! BOOM!

"Open up, whiskers!"

Naruto shot up from his bed. "I-Ino?" he asked, making his way to answer the loud banging at his door. When he opened it Ino threw herself in before slamming the door close herself and locking it. She pressed herself against said door and continued breathing sporadically. She looked like if she had just seen a ghost. Naruto has never seen Ino this scared before and he wondered if something was wrong. Once Ino recovered her breath, she locked eyes with Naruto and started yelling at him.

"What the fuck, whiskers, a prostitute came on to me down there. A PROSTITUTE! And she even looked younger than me!" She cried clearly upset by it, "Why the heck do you even live in this place?"

Her reaction made Naruto chuckle, even if it was a little. He was fully aware that there were lots of drug dealers and whore houses in the street he lived in. This was strangely enough the reason why he lived there. How else would Jiraiya be able to do research for his book otherwise? Both the drug dealers and the prostitutes, although they didn't exactly make an honest living, respected Jiraiya's craft and where one of his biggest fans. There was an unspoken law between them, promising that no matter the situation no one there would mess with Jiraiya and the boy he housed, Naruto.

"Don't worry," Naruto said, chuckling when Ino gave him an incredulous look, "They only come out at night time." He assured.

The female of the two sent a searing look at the male. She could see he was still well dressed even if he had taken his suit off.

"Okay, whiskers, give it to me straight. Why aren't you going to the dance?"

"Why does it matter," he answered, stepping into his room and letting his weight fall on his bed. Ino tried to ignore to the best of her capabilities the uncanny resemblance Naruto's pillow had to their social studies teacher, Mr. Kakashi Hatake. She had more pressing issues to deal with, like convincing Naruto to attend the dance.

"Whiskers," she pressed on, "does your staying have anything to do with Sakura being Sasuke's date?"

Blue eyes stared directly at her for only a split second but it was enough for her to see the hurt in them.

"Whiskers?"

"We were just going as friends," he muffled into his Kakashi-like pillow, "Sasuke asked her out and she accepted knowing I wouldn't mind." He buried his face deeper into his pillow, "because we're just that, friends."

"That's bullshit and you know it!" Ino yelled, ripping the Kakashi-like pillow away from him, "She isn't just a friend to you. You, I and everybody else can see that!" she was frustrated at how weak he seemed. This was not the hyperactive and always smiling idiot she had seen earlier today. "Why are you here?" she asked demandingly, "Go to where Sakura is and tell her that!"

"I can't!" Naruto shouted back but then looked away in shame, before whispering "I can't" again.

"Why?" she shouted, "Why can't you?"

"Because…" he trailed off, looking like if he wanted to tell her something but not knowing how to word it. For a moment, time seemed to stop before Naruto started laughing a little. He scratched the back of his head and sent Ino his usual stupid-happy grin, the goofy one, the one she hated seeing. The one that told her everything would be alright even when he clearly didn't believe so himself.

"So what if I like her?" he said smiling, "I'm not going to be selfish. She likes Sasuke… and I'm happy seeing her happy."

"Damn you!" she yelled slapping him hard across the face. And she slapped him again every time she threw the curse at him. "Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!"

"Stop!" he shouted, grabbing her hands and forcing her into his bed. He pinned her hands up and held her down. She glared at him but instead of seeing anger in his face like she expected to see, she saw hurt and confusion. She sighed loudly, no longer trying to hit him. "Damn it whiskers, why are your facial expressions so easy to read?"

He chuckled a little at how she always asked him about that. But that little chuckle reminded him of how his cheeks were burning because of Ino's abuse.

She sighed when she noticed him flinching and rolled her eyes. "Well, don't look like me like that. Sakura hits you all the time and you still love her."

"That's not fair," he answered, loosening his grip on her hands but not moving off her. He looked upset, but she could easily tell he was more upset with himself than with her.

"What's not fair?" she asked.

"That you're here trying to cheer me up." He answered softly, shaking his head at her. "Why?" he asked, "Why do you care? You don't even know me that well."

This was one of those few times were Ino had to stop, clear her mind, and remind herself that Naruto was more than some disposable pawn. He was a human being with emotions, dreams and insecurities of his own. If only his value as a pawn wasn't so high.

"Well Naruto," she answered, looking up at him, "to be fair, you don't know much about me either." She searched her mind for the most effective way to deal with this situation. The answer was to be as honest as she could be without giving her intentions away. She continued speaking.

"But that's what we've been doing lately, right? Getting to know each other!" she gently cupped his reddened cheeks with her manicured hands before continuing. "Do you know what I thought about you when I saw you fight with Gaara? Do you know what I thought of you when you got that A in social studies? I thought to myself, 'you know what? Whiskers never gives up and always comes back strong'."

She noticed that Naruto was no longer trying to avoid her gaze, quite the contrary, he was searching for it. He was hanging on her every word and she knew right then that her next choice of words would tighten the strings around that crest fallen boy, and she also knew that deep within her the remnants of her conscience was telling her not to do this.

But no one ever remained popular by being nice.

"Naruto," she called him by name, "I thought being president was your goal. Are you seriously going to miss this opportunity just because you had a set back?" She locked eyes with him, in order to deliver the blow. "Was I wrong about you?"

Slowly but surely he started to shake his head 'no', for that moment not trusting his ability to speak. She felt his hands on the small of her back, gently pulling her up to sit on his lap as he rested his head on her shoulder. Because of their closeness she could feel him shaking involuntarily. He spoke to her ear, "You're really nice." He said this more to himself than to her, "but I can't go anyways" he joked sadly, "Don't have a date to look cool with."

"Nice"

That was the word Naruto kept using for Ino. She shook her head at it but wrapped her arms around him to return the embrace, allowing him to nuzzle on her neck. There was no going back. "Don't worry whiskers," she whispered soothingly to his ears, "I'll fix that. After all, what are friends for?"

-The Premise: To become popular you have to step on a few of your friends. Just make sure you don't step on your self-

-x-x-Friday 9:05PM at the Nara Residence-x-x-

So there was Shikamaru, giving himself one last look in the mirror before deciding that he frankly didn't care if he looked passable or not. Anytime now Ino would call him to tell him to pick her up. His mother was already downstairs with her camera and car keys in hand. Yoshino Nara got so excited when she learned that her son had gotten the balls to finally ask Ino to the dance. It was actually Ino who roped Shikamaru into going but Yoshino wasn't going to fret over the details. All Yoshino cared about was about the wedding bells she could hear in a not too far off future.

Shikamaru's phone rang. "Finally" he said before answering.

"So Ino is it time? What do you mean you're going with Naruto? How is that an emergency? But I'm already dressed up!"

She had already hung up on him.

"Perfect," he let out sarcastically, "Just perfect."

Here he was dressed to go to a dance he didn't want to assist in the first place, with the demon of his mother waiting for him to come down stairs so that they could pick up his date for the night. Except that Ino wasn't his date anymore and so he had no one to go with. Now just how was he going to tell this to his mom without her nagging him for getting dumped? The last thing he wanted to receive was relationship advice from his mom. And now that he thought about it, the suit he wore was also rented. His mother would surely throw a hissy-fit if he didn't put it to good use.

He pulled the covers off his bed and layed there. All of this was too tiring and frankly he didn't ask for any of it. "Dealing with women is too draining for my health. I don't know how dad does it." He told himself.

He pulled the covers on him and yawned. "Fuck it all. I need my sleep."

-x-x-x- (Chapter Eleven: "Somehow I can't become honest") -x-x-x-

A/N: Hell Yeah! I finished this character heavy chapter! I feel like if I should say another catch phrase or something. "Booyah?" *laughs* Anyways, as you could see, Ino has plans and Sasuke intends to spoil them. It's just that neither of them are doing it in a "nice" way. So the real question is "Team Ino" or "Team Sasuke", which one are you? SasuNaruSakuness or KibaNaruInoness? Oh and don't worry too much about Shikamaru *smiles* Temari is on the next chapter.

EDIT: Of course there is always "Team Hyuuga" (NejiNaruHinaness) Neji is like the strict older brother to them, isn't he?

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