A Ninja's Guide to Surviving High School
By: JAJapster
Copyright Notice: Ninja's Guide is mine. Naruto isn't. Pickle surprise!

Summary: AU- High school is tough, but it gets a lot tougher when a demonic fox lives inside you and all your friends are ninjas. It's a world of angst, rivalries, friendships and romance inside the halls of Konoha High, but outside, trouble is brewing. A dangerous world awaits a new generation of ninjas after graduation…assuming they all don't kill each other first.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Notice why a Ninja's Guide HASN'T been cancelled to follow chapter. This chapter is GUEST WRITTEN by Nick "Sparta's Ghost" Lee. Not me. You'll notice that his writing his a lot better than mine, which I assure you, it probably is. With that being said, enjoy and be sure to listen to me make stupid excuses at the chapter's end.

Chapter Thirty Seven: Unexpected Proposals

News that Naruto would return quickly got way through Konoha High, and it seemed to be the topic of the day in students' conversations, much to the dismay of one Hyuuga Hinata. By now she'd heard everything. She heard of how Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Ino, Tentent, Neji and even Sasuke and many others had come to his aid the other night. Neji had told her of this, and he also told her there was still an undescribable amount of pain in the blonde ninja's heart, even if he was grateful they had all been there for him.

Your absence caused his pain.

No, that was not what Neji told her, but he didn't need to say it. She really wanted to be there that night, but she also feared for both her and Naruto's safety from her father. Nobody but herself and Neji could understand what that man was fully capable of. Hinata cared for Naruto's safety much more than her own, and that was one of the reasons she did not end up going that night.

"Coward" that annoying voice inside her head repeated. Hinata did not fight the voice. Deep down in her heart, she knew it was right. The ringing of the class bell didn't help to liven her spirits. She took a glance at the lonely hallway and with a sigh, she tried her best to shake it all off. She knew she was late for her next class, but it didn't matter to her. She had always been on time for classes, so what would one tardy be anyway? With a heavy sigh, Hinata continued to take slow, silent footsteps to her next class.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As the annoying glimmer of the sun came up, a beam of light caressed Naruto's face and prodded him to slowly open his eyes, glaring at the sun for its intrusion of his rest. Reluctantly, he rose to his feet and slowly got up of the bed he had been resting on. He groaned in pain as his heart felt like it was on fire. His back wasn't treating him much better either. To put words correctly, every bone in Uzumaki Naruto's body was in searing pain. Yes, the Kyuubi would always heal the wounds in time, but due to last night's beating he was sure it would take a while. Naruto sighed. It was always the Kyuubi.

The villagers' hatred seemed to add so much more pain than the original scars themselves. Yes, he had thankfully gotten away from last night's closest encounter of death thanks to his friends, but that still didn't mean he walked away unscathed. He had felt the blade of the scythe scrape his back many times through the rescue mission, and he also felt many rocks thrown at him. One of the most painful things of all was that amidst his friends, there was one missing. One of the most important people gone, almost as if she had already told him she thought of him just as the villagers did. As a demon. Not as Uzumaki Naruto, but as the murderous Kyuubi.

"You should thank me for even bothering to heal those wounds of yours." The demon fox grunted.

Naruto ignored it, and would not talk to it for the rest of the day.

After a nice, long shower, he felt somewhat refreshed. His nose caught the aroma of food, and it followed him to the kitchen, where he saw two bowls of fried rice laid down. He looked at Sakura, who had a few stains of grease on her shirt, which meant that she had done all the cooking.

She gave him a sheepish smile.

"Mom and dad had to leave for work, and they let me stay home to take care of you. But we're both expected to go to school tomorrow."

Naruto opened his mouth to say thank you, but Sakura stopped him.

"Don't mention it. I know you would have done the same for any of us."

"I didn't know you cook," Naruto said, genuinely surprised.

"Mom was the one who taught me. It's something I enjoy doing in my free time. Hope you enjoy," she added with a smile.

Naruto gave her a smile, but Sakura knew something was missing from that normal huge and childish smile of his. She sighed to herself.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than most people who just escaped from a brutal mob of villagers hungry for their blood," Naruto mumbled.

Sakura wanted to say something, but no words came to her mouth. The rest of their meal was eaten in silence, last night's conversation overplaying in her head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well?"

Sakura stared at Ino in annoyance, after they had all gotten Naruto safely to her home, the two girls were alone while Naruto and the guys were having a conversation of their own.

"Well what?" Sakura asked in annoyance.

"Ask him out!"

Sakura still looked confused.

"Sasuke?"

Ino rolled her eyes.

"I'm talking about Naruto."

"Naruto!?" Sakura said incredulously.

"Naruto."

Sakura could always tell that by the tone of her voice, Ino was not joking around.


"You're serious."

"Of course I'm serious. Sakura, if I didn't already ask Shikamaru, I would have immediately jumped on the chane to ask Naruto right now,"

"What's with the sudden change of heart?"

Sakura could see Ino's eyes glimmer with admiration, and she couldn't understand while a small feeling of jealousy was in her own heart as she spoke so fondly of a certain blonde ninja.

"Do you know how much cooler he's become after tonight?"

"I'm still not following."

"Come on, forehead girl! The fact that he's been battling something like the Kyuubi all these years, much less even been able to confront it is incredible. Plus, the fact that he still holds no resentment to the villagers shows how strong his heart really is."

"Remember when you said he had no redeeming qualities, Ino-pig?"

"That was you, not me."

Sakura shut her mouth.

"Think of it, I'm sure any girl after witnessing just a little bit of the amount of torture he's had to face with his whole life has come out of this situation in a whole new light, isn't that right, girls?"

Sakura and Ino weren't alone. They were also with the group of girls who had helped rescue Naruto. Some of them she knew fairly well, and others she didn't even know their names. But she couldn't deny that many of them were gorgeous and were also nodding their heads, with hearts in their eyes. Some were even a bit older and held a deep admiration for Naruto. She did have to admit that it had taken her a while to admit Naruto had many redeeming qualities. And after tonight, she saw him in a completely different light. Sure there was still Sasuke, but even she knew that there was no way he would ever swallow his pride and ask her to the winter dance, which was a few days ago. She knew Naruto was originally to be released days after the dance, but he ended up being released days before the winter dance. She still wondered if he had his heart set on asking Hinata, but maybe something called fear was holding herself back. Maybe fear of rejection was holding her back from asking. She really wanted to do it, but she was so confused now.

"I-I'll think of it."

"Better come to a conclusion soon Sakura, 'cause there's millions of girls that would be dying to ask him out," came from the voice of Ayaka Yukihiro, who was one of the prettiest girls in their grade.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura was still confused of her feelings for Naruto, because she always considered him to be her friend. She knew he had something going on with Hinata but still, she couldn't help herself…

She took a deep breath.

It was now or never.

"Ah… Naruto?" she asked, a shade of a beautiful crimson added to her face.

"Hm?"

"I was wondering… well…"

Oh just ask him already!

"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" she finally finished, trying her best to avoid Naruto's gaze.

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Author's Notes:
I'm not going to lie. I am flattered. Very much flattered. I think every author on this site thinks that their story is maybe read by one or two people who maybe read the last chapter, but never have any serious fans. I certainly did. You guys have proved me wrong. Some of you guys were pretty brutal on ripping me a new one for dropping the story so abruptly, but it was an ass kicking I sorely deserve.

I apologize for abandoning the story that people clearly want to be continued, and I can only hope none of you have decided to follow suit. Sparta's Ghost was enthusiastic enough about seeing a Ninja's Guide continue that he volunteered to take over the reins, and while I'm confident that he could do a spectacular job, I don't think I'm willing to turn it over quite yet. After reading this chapter, I'll let you guys decide if that's for better or worst. Be sure to PM him telling him how much you enjoyed chapter thirty seven though! It's loads better than what I'm writing at the moment. :P

In other news, I'm busy writing chapter thirty-eight which will be up within two weeks of chapter thirty seven hitting the interwebz, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. I kind of like the idea of doing guest writers. Sparta's Ghost has explored some different plot potentials that I did not before consider, and I am certain that some of you guys could do the same for Ninja's Guide. The story has always thrived on your inputs; I can only imagine how much better it could be if a few of you take an active part in it.

I'll be doing most of the writing still, but I would not be the least opposed to letting a few of you take a crack at it too. If interested, PM or email me with a lengthy writing sample demonstrating your mad skills.

Thanks again for your guys constant support. You have no idea how much it means to me, and how flattered I am by your guys faithful readership.

Yours,
JAJapster