Hiashi closed his eyes and nodded, "I understand."

He stood up, so I did as well. Hiashi asked me to take a seat, so I sat on the couch next to Neji. I sat up straight and closed my eyes while Hiashi was out of the room. I could sense the awkward mood and opened my eyes to see Neji staring at me. I wasn't sure how to start a conversation with him just yet, so I only stared back at him until the other three reentered the room.

"Hinata," I said as I got back up. Now that she had changed, and her arms were finally bare, I could see how bad they really looked. I took almost everything I had left not to turn back and glare at Neji. I lightly grazed her arms with my fingers.

"Are you okay?"

Hinata nodded, "It's just my skin. I bruise easily. They don't hurt that much."

Then, she suddenly embraced me, "Thank you, Rori."

"Um, it's no problem Hinata," I replied while patting her back and looking between her and her parents awkwardly.

"Thank you, Rori. You may go now."

"Uh, yes, Sir."

I shook her parents' hands, hugged Hinata, gave Neji a concerned and wary look, then I was escorted out. Once I neared the limo, I noticed Naruto and Gilroy leaning against the vehicle while talking and joking around.

"Shall we head out?" I asked. Gilroy nodded, and I turned to Naruto.

"You live across from me. Do you want us to take you home?"

"You're not going back to the dance?"

I nodded to Gilroy as we all got back into the vehicle. Naruto looked confused, so I began.

"I wasn't allowed to go back in because of the fight, but ... Illia's still going," I smirked.

"Okay. What's your point?"

"Illia doesn't exist. I'm just doing this to mess with Sasuke's head and piss him off."

"Wait, so you are the same person! I knew it!"

"So... Will you help me out?"

A devious smile grew on Naruto's face, "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be awesome."

We discussed our plan, and Gilroy dropped Naruto off at his home. He began walking back to school right away. I returned to my room to wash up and get ready once again. First, I took a shower. Next, I fixed my hair. Then, I noticed the gash in my leg and the cut under my bottom lip. So, I ran to my mother's room where she was lying in her bath robe and watching television.

"Mom, where's your, uh, airbrush makeup thingy? I have a cut on my leg, and the dance, and a girl," I spoke as I ran into the bathroom, assuming it would be somewhere in there. What I meant to tell her was that I was going as a girl, but I couldn't get it out properly since I was rushing. Thankfully, she knew me enough to know what I was talking about.

"It's in my closet in the bottom drawer of the loose chest."

I ran over to get it, then remembered another detail.

"Oh Mom! Can I use one of your-the hell is this?" I cut myself off as I whispered about some indistinctive piece of clothing I couldn't recognize.

"What, honey?"

"... Oh, um," I continued while sifting through her things, "Can I use one of your strapless bras?"

"Yeah. There should be a black one hanging over the dryer."

"Thanks Mom!"

I ran out of her room and downstairs to the washroom. Luckily, I was wearing flip flops to keep my feet clean, so I wasn't going to slip anywhere while running. I headed back out to the living room to head upstairs and heard a click.

"Miss!"

I heard Gilroy's voice stutter. That was weird... I didn't hear the bell ring, yet sure enough, Gilroy had let in a guest. He had shut the door just after I stepped into the room. I forced myself to turn around, even though I knew I'd regret it. I just wanted to know who was there. I chuckled nervously, "Ah! Is it nine already?"

Scratch that. Gilroy hadn't just let in a guest. He let in three! Itachi, Kisame, and Tobi were in my living room, and I was in a towel! I noticed the horrific look on Gilroy's face as he looked between me and the boys and struggled to speak.

"Hey Itachi! I thought you said you were taking some girl named Illia to the dance, not Rori," Tobi exclaimed, "Wait. ... Oh..."

Gilroy was still frozen in place, and I couldn't run upstairs because they'd be able to see up my towel! All of our faces were red, save Gilroy's, and it felt like time had stopped at the most awkward moment possible. I had to do something! Well, the only something I could think of at the moment was...

"Gilroy!"

"Boys," Gilroy yelled just as loud as I had almost instantly after I called his name. He ushered them into the kitchen, and I bolted it up to my room once they were through the double doors. I passed the girls on the way.

"Rori, is everything alright?" Lilah asked.

"Oh my god. I don't want to talk about it right now. I have to get ready," I replied, my redness deepening in shade. I got to my room finally, and slammed my door shut quickly. Holy crap, and they saw me with the bra and the thing. I sighed, then airbrushed my skin in the necessary places and finished dressing myself. It took about twenty minutes. I finally arrived downstairs in a long, silky grey dress and black flats. I wore a thin and medium length black scarf to cover up my magatama and a few pieces of silver jewelry to accent my choice of dress. The boys looked to me with what seemed like slightly wonderous expressions.

Kisame made a low wolf-whistle and turned to Itachi, "Hey, I just might have to steal your date."

Itachi smirked as he got up, "Don't even think about it, Kisame."

He approached me and put out his arm for me to take. I took it gladly, and we went on our way out. Once out, Tobi opened his mouth again, "Rori, why did you change your name? Howcome you dress like a boy?"

Kisame and Tobi stepped in front of me and Itachi. I stuttered a bit before answering, "It's kind of a long story, but I like dressing like a boy. It's a lot more comfortable, and it's fun to confuse people. Don't tell anyone just yet, okay?"

The two boys looked at each other, grinned, looked back to us, and nodded. They got into their vehicles while I followed Itachi to his mother's car. Once we got there, I noticed the security keeping a wary eye on us. The Akatsuki sure have a bad rep around the place. Too bad ...

"Hey, are Pain and Konan coming?"

"Yeah," Itachi answered, "Konan took a bit longer to get ready. They should be here in a bit."

"I'll be right back okay? I'm going to go talk to Karin. You should go eat."

Itachi didn't really say or do anything but nod. I ran over to the table where Karin was drinking something by herself.

"Hey, Karin. I love your dress. It looks really good on you."

"Uh, thanks. Do I know you?"

"My name's Illia," I said as I held out my hand for her to shake, "By the way, I'm a girl."