Sorry all, this was going to be up so much faster but then there was some kind of conspiracy amongst the English teachers at school - I got three serious essays to do this week on top of my usual homework and revision from all my other subjects. I haven't had a lot of time, but I have finally managed to get this chapter up to update-able standard! So here it is, for your enjoyment! Thank you to Aiko of the Akatsuki, demon lilith, missmridvika, loves-emo-guys-with-hair and deathrosekitty. I'd hand out cookies, but I hear they're bad for your computer, so I'll give you all virtual cake instead. Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer:

Don't own Naruto.

Study In Contrasts

Well I can tell you something for nothing, I wasn't asleep anymore. Had he really just said what I thought he'd just said?

"Uh," I whispered, "could you repeat that last bit?"

"Didn't quite catch it, hm?" Deidara teased.

"I don't know."

"I love you."

"... Serious?"

"Dead serious."

Oh wow. Oh wow.

"You're supposed to be going to sleep, yeah."

"You just told me you love me," I accused, "how am I meant to just go to sleep?"

I heard a faint snort of laughter down the phone, "Maybe I should have waited until tomorrow, hm?"

"No, this was too perfect a way of hearing it."

"I was hoping you'd think so, hn," his voice giving away his amusement. "Do you want me to carry on the story? It might take you a while to get back to sleep."

"You don't have to. I think I might be drowsy enough still that it won't take hours."

"I want to, yeah. I didn't get to the bit where the curse gets broken yet."

"Did you actually plan a whole story?"

"Of course I did," Deidara sounded affronted, "I knew that was what you'd want, and I didn't want to be making it up on the spot. Now, close your eyes and try to go to sleep, hm?"

I did as he said, trying to let my whirling thoughts settle enough for me to drift off again. Deidara carried on with the story, weaving in rival princes, dangerous monsters and funny little friendly animals to keep the plot going. After a little while of being right on the edge of oblivion I realized what was keeping me from sleep. There was something I had to say first.

"Deidara," I breathed, hearing him pause.

"Yes?"

"I love you too."

Deidara didn't speak for a couple of seconds, then he let out a short breath. "Careful," he said casually, "you're giving away the end of the story, hn."

After a little thought he picked up where he'd left off, and within seconds I was fast asleep, a smile on my face.

And woke up the next morning still smiling.

I stretched, checking my clock. Five to seven. Which meant that for the first time in weeks I'd had over eight hours of sleep in a night. I all but jumped out of bed, humming to myself as I got ready and going downstairs for breakfast with a spring in my step. My 'good morning' to mum could only be described as chirpy. No wonder she looked alarmed.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes I am," I poured myself some cereal, "I slept fantastically well," and my boyfriend said he loves me, which might have kind of contributed to my good mood.

"Well that's good," she eyed me warily as I ate, "have you got a fun day lined up at school?"

"Pretty much the same as every day. I'm looking forward to art," with Deidara.

"Okay," she stood up, still looking somewhere between concerned and suspicious, "I have to go to work, so I'll see you later."

"Cool."

"Oh, and I won't be able to pick you up after school today. I have a meeting. Have a good day," she grabbed her coat off the back of the chair and left, giving me a quick wave before she closed the front door.

A meeting? Or a date? Difficult to say, not that it mattered. What really interested me was that, for one day, I wouldn't be picked up after school. What to do with that information? I could spend time with Deidara, I could go to Kiba's house, I could meet up with Ten Ten or Temari. Oh, or I could be good and respect my mother's wishes, I could simply go home and study or something.

Yeah. Or not.

I texted Hinata on the way to school, letting her know that I had news, and then debated whether or not to tell anyone else about last night's confessions. Obviously I'd tell Kiba, and probably Temari. Ten Ten would be interested, but I'd have to pick a good moment so it didn't look like I was trying to just turn the conversation away from her and Neji. Which was a point, she'd be at his house that afternoon. That was bound to make an interesting story later.

Getting to the common room with fifteen minutes to go before the first lesson, I was ambushed by Hinata. Well, as much as Hinata can really ambush anyone. She jumped up from the beanbag she was sitting on and waved me over.

"What's your news?" She asked as soon as I was seated.

"You don't want to hear that right away, do you?" I said, totally deadpan, "Why don't you tell me about your evening first? How did you sleep last night?"

Hinata shook her head stubbornly, "Don't be like that! Just tell me. It's good news, isn't it?"

I couldn't stop myself from grinning, "Very good news indeed."

"So tell me!"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed, "Yesterday in art I told Deidara about how I have trouble sleeping, and so he decided, although he didn't say anything there and then, to help out. So last night he called me and, how sweet is this, told me a story until I fell asleep."

Hinata smiled, "That's really nice," but I could see that she was slightly wondering why I was making quite such a big deal out of it.

"Oh," I added, "and he told me he loves me."

Hinata's reaction. Was. Priceless.

Her pale eyes opened wide, her mouth fell open and someone must have pressed the pause button because she stayed like that for a good three seconds before finally recovering the power of speech.

"He... really?" I nodded and Hinata beamed at me, "That's amazing!"

"I know. I haven't been able to stop smiling."

"And do you, um, love him?"

"Yes," I said slowly, "well, I definitely more than like him. And I care about him more than I've ever cared about any other guy, not that I have a lot of comparisons. The fact is that I've never been in love, so I don't really know what it feels like."

I twirled the end of my ponytail round one finger, "But if I had to guess? I'd guess it probably feels a lot like I feel now."

Hinata held up a hand, her expression serious, and I frowned. "Ino, high five."

I laughed and slapped her hand, "High five indeed."

Hinata broke into giggles, unable to keep a straight face, and then the bell rang. We stood up, then I remembered something.

"Hinata, are you going to Kiba's again today?"

"Um, maybe. Why?"

"Mum's not picking me up after school today so, if you were going, the three of us could hang out."

She looked uncertain, "Aren't you still grounded?"

"Technically, yes. But I haven't seen him since, what, Friday? I haven't even been in direct communication with him. I'm used to chatting with him every other day, at least. So basically, yes I'm grounded, but I have my priorities."

"As long as you don't get in trouble," Hinata smiled, "but in that case wouldn't you rather go on your own? You don't want me there."

"Actually, yes I do. So if you're free, that'd be great! Now unfortunately I have to go to chemistry."

/\/\/\/\

I saw Deidara at break. Walked into the common room with Choji after Spanish and saw him sitting there, involved in a heated discussion with Sasori. Hinata, already comfortably sitting in between Shikamaru and Lee, glanced from me to Deidara and back again.

I was halfway over to Hinata when I saw Deidara turn around, lifting a hand to wave as he caught my eye. I smiled shyly and waved back, then Deidara muttered something to Sasori and stood up, coming over.

"Hey," he said as he stopped in front of me.

"Hey."

"Sleep well last night? Hn."

"Incredibly well, thanks."

Deidara ran his eyes once over the common room before taking my hand. "Come on, yeah. Let's go for a walk."

We wandered around the school, hand in hand, until we got to one of the less-used staircases. I sat down on one of the stairs and Deidara leaned against the handrail.

"Thanks for last night," I said, "you know, talking to me until I could get to sleep."

"I'm glad it worked, hn."

"And," I bit my lip, not really sure what to say next.

"Look," Deidara said after a moment, "so you know, just because I love you it doesn't mean you have to say it back, yeah. You're not obliged to. I don't mind."

"What, you don't want me to?" I looked up at him.

"Not if it's not true, hn," he was smiling, but there was a hesitant look in his eyes.

"So... if I don't actually love you, you'd rather I didn't say anything," I said slowly, and he nodded.

"Well then," I paused "I love you."

Deidara slid down the wall to sit on the same stair as me, "I love you too, yeah," he grinned and slid an arm round my waist. I let out a happy sigh, leaning my head against his shoulder. I felt him rest his head on mine and closed my eyes. I could have sat like that for hours.

I didn't, of course. We had to go to art, and then I had to get through the rest of the day without getting in trouble for my endless daydreaming. When four o'clock eventually rolled around Hinata and I met at the bus stop.

We talked a little about Deidara on the way to Kiba's house, then I told her about Ten Ten going to practice sparring with Neji.

"She might even tell him she likes him," I finished.

Hinata looked concerned, "Does he like her?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "and neither does she. But I think she'd like to just get an answer at this point. Besides, he did invite her to his house."

"Mmm," Hinata pressed the tips of her index fingers together, something I hadn't seen her do in a while, "I don't think Neji is very socially aware," she warned.

"Yeah?"

"He may not really appreciate the implications of inviting a girl to his house," Hinata explained, "and although he may well have noticed that she has feelings for him, it won't necessarily affect his thought process. As in, he may not know of or care about the possible emotional impact on her. What I think I'm trying to say is that f she tells him she likes him and he doesn't have any feelings for her he's... unlikely to be tactful."

We got off the bus and I got out my phone, wondering if I should text Ten Ten. But maybe it would be better if she didn't know? I mean, if she just told him and got it over with? Because if I scared her out of it she'd just be back to square one, liking him from a distance, whereas if she just 'fessed up she'd find out for sure one way or the other. My mind made up I put the phone back in my bag. Besides, we'd reached Kiba's house.

Hinata led the way this time, calling out a polite 'hi' to Hana before heading upstairs. When we got up to Kiba's room he was sitting up in bed and playing with Akamaru. He looked up as we opened the door, looking surprised when I came in.

"Ino! I thought you were still grounded?"

"I am, but I made an exception. Just don't tell my mum."

"This is so cool!" Kiba got up and came over, giving me a hug. "And it's great to see you again too, Hinata."

"You must be bored of me by now," Hinata laughed, her voice a little timid.

"Not even a tiny bit," Kiba replied definitively. "Now, what are we gonna do to entertain ourselves?"

We talked about what Kiba had been up to (not much) and how his sister was being (overprotective) and how he was feeling (mostly bored) and as the three of us chatted I started to notice something interesting. And that interesting something was Hinata.

Kiba was talking at one point about dying his hair. "I think I'd like to go dark," he said, grinning, "maybe like your hair, Hinata?" He leaned over and put his head to hers, turning to me.

"Whaddya think? Does it suit me?"

I laughed, shaking my head, but my attention was captured by Hinata's fantastically red face.

"I think that... you should keep the hair colour you have now," she said, looking down and doing her index finger thing, "I, uh, think it suits you... K-Kiba."

See what I mean? A very interesting something indeed. Irritatingly, I had to leave after just half an hour. I wasn't sure what time mum was getting back and I didn't want to risk getting caught breaking the terms of the grounding. I stood up, looking expectantly to Hinata.

"Um, I was thinking I might stay here a little while longer, since I don't exactly have to get home soon," she turned to Kiba, "if that isn't a problem?"

"No, it's great to have company," Kiba replied easily, "See you soon Ino, hopefully!"

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Bye Hinata!"

Again. A very, very interesting something.

So Hinata liked Kiba did she? I was glad that I'd noticed this time, after my ridiculously long time catching on to the fact that she liked Naruto. But I wasn't sure how I felt about the actual fact. Kiba had never really had a girlfriend, what if when he did he stopped having as much time for me? What if he liked his girlfriend more than he liked me? Then I might not be his best friend anymore!

Fine, so maybe I was being hypocritical. And getting ahead of myself too; I didn't even know whether or not Kiba was interested in Hinata. But the thought bugged me anyway.

Mum wasn't back when I arrived at home, so I'd managed to avoid that particular nightmare scenario. I went up to my room, working through some chemistry homework. At about half five mum got back, calling up a stressed hello. She probably had a tough meeting. Then at six I got a text from Ten Ten.

"I couldn't tell him, I was too nervous. But he really seemed to think I was good and he invited me back for tomorrow! Do you really think I should tell him? If you do, I will."

Oh great, leave all the responsibility to me, that's a good idea.

What was I supposed to say? I sent her a text back.

"Sounds promising. I say go for it."

Well I stuck by my earlier reasoning. She'd liked him long enough, it was about time she found out whether he'd be interested in a relationship with her or not. And if he wasn't... I'd be happy to give her a hug and remind her that he was a waste of space, and hopefully she wouldn't remember that I was the one that encouraged her to tell him. My phone buzzed and I opened the message, expecting a reply from Ten Ten.

"so much 4 wantin 2 tlk. u gona w8 around 4eva? let me no wen ur dun bin a cowrd and redy 2 meet.

-Kin"

Oh yeah, I'd managed to forget about that. I looked at the message, trying to read between the lines. I considered texting Hinata to see what she thought of it, but dismissed that idea. Hinata would just freak out, much better to simply tell her the plan, when I actually had one, and reassure her that it would all work out fine. So maybe Ten Ten? But she was all wrapped up with Neji, she wouldn't be able to focus. Temari would be a good bet, but she hadn't replied to my text the other day and if she was in a mood with me she wouldn't want to help me. Sakura was out, we hadn't spoken a word in chemistry today.

Which left me with one option really. Deidara. I started a text message, then changed my mind. I'd tell him at school, then we could have a proper discussion about the different options.

Eventually ten o'clock rolled around and I got into bed, suddenly wishing I'd thought to ask Deidara to call me again. Maybe it would have sounded a bit cheeky, but I didn't want to spend another night stressing rather than sleeping. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to find patterns in the various marks and small cracks. Like seeing patterns in the stars, but a whole lot less romantic.

Maybe it was about time I thought about Sakura's situation some more. I felt awful that I'd given up on the idea of being able to help her. Just because my life was going well for once it didn't give me a free pass to ignore my friend's problems. But then again, I reminded myself, it wasn't like I'd never tried. I'd done my best to talk some sense into her and it hadn't had any effect whatsoever. What more could I do?

Talk to Sasuke?

Oh yeah, that would work. I could just picture how that conversation would go.

"Hey Sasuke, how are you?"

"Hm."

"Great, me too. While I'm here, could I ask you a favor?"

"Hm."

"Thanks. Could you stop beating up my ex-best-friend?"

"Mind your own business, nosy bitch."

"Kay thanks, see you round!"

Yep. That would definitely fix it. I sighed, maybe it was time for me to just take Deidara up on his offer and get Sasuke beaten up himself? He could probably do with being hauled down a peg or several, and perhaps that would be enough to... to what? Piss him off to the extent that he started being even more violent?

Why was I so completely useless?

Oh. And there was that feeling again. With the logical part of my brain I noted that I hadn't had it this bad in a long time. There was just something about Sakura that could affect me like almost nobody else.

It was a familiar feeling. Like being squashed into a tight, airless space and having the walls shrink further around me, pressed so small that I just disappeared. Only I didn't disappear, it just went on and on. I was trapped. I felt tears well up in my eyes and let out a couple of experimental sobs, wondering if that would help, but all it did was make me feel even more pitiful.

I gave up on fighting it, curling up into a ball and allowing tears to run down my face, soaking into the hair that had stuck, matted, to my cheek.

Then my phone rang and I still had enough presence of mind to answer it quickly, before mum heard.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, hn. Dad held me up. You okay? Cough once for yes, twice for no, yeah."

I laughed weakly and coughed twice.

"Wait, what's up? Damn, this no talking thing is really inconvenient, yeah."

"I was just in the middle of a self-indulgent breakdown," I whispered, "nothing to worry about. Are you at your house?"

"Yeah, thought I'd give it a try. Now, as it's already," he paused to check, "half past ten, I figure we ought to get straight to the business of falling asleep, hn."

"Fine by me."

"Do you want another story, hm? Remember: cough, don't talk! I don't want your mum walking in."

I laughed again and coughed once.

"Okay then." And he was off, creating a new world where people lived in the sky, in clouds. There was something about a kid who wanted to see the land up close, and a giant rainbow colored bird, and a secret magic spell, but I lost track of the plot very quickly. I was asleep before he even got close to the ending.

/\/\/\/\

I walked into English the next day with a sense of purpose.

"What do you think of Kiba?" I asked Hinata as I sat down. I couldn't help but laugh at the blush that spread across her face, quick as a flash.

"I... wh-what do you mean? I... uh, enjoy his company."

"You like him," I said with confidence, "right? You can just say so."

"I... um," she bowed her head, "I like him."

I had thought that it might bother me, but Hinata was so sweet that I forgave her instantly. Not that she'd done anything that needed to be forgiven, but you know what I mean.

"Cool. Do you want me to find out if he likes you?" Hinata looked like she was about to faint. "Subtly of course. I could just do a little poking and prodding, see what I come up with?"

She shook her head violently, "No, Ino. There's no way I could... date him. So there's no need to find out if he... if he likes me."

I frowned, "Why not? I'm pretty sure you'd get over your shyness."

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

Or-ugly-maru's typically irritating timing meant that he walked in right at that moment, just as Hinata was opening her mouth to explain herself. We turned our attention to the front of the classroom as he talked us through our instructions, then I tore a page out of my notebook and scribbled across the top.

So why is it that you couldn't date my best friend, even if he liked you back? -Ino

The paper came back a moment later, looking like this:

So why is it that you couldn't date my best friend, even if he liked you back?

I frowned.

Sorry, what? -Ino

I wouldn't want it to look like I was interfering in your relationship. I know you two don't have romantic feelings for each other, but I would hate it to feel like you and I were competing for his time and attention. All this is irrelevant, since the chances of him liking me are miniscule! -Hinata

I know that first bit was pretty much exactly what I'd thought when I'd first realized Hinata's feelings, but seeing it written down made me realize how ridiculous I'd been.

That's seriously illogical. You said it yourself: there are no romantic feelings between me and Kiba. My friendship with Kiba wouldn't impact your girlfriendship (it is so a word. As of now) with him in the slightest, and vice versa. Sometimes I'd hang out with him, sometimes you'd hang out with him, sometimes the three of us might hang out together, maybe we could even double date – I know he and Deidara get along okay. And that thing about him not liking you is also dumb. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but I think the chances are much higher for the first option. You're sweet and pretty and incredibly nice, I think you'd make a great couple. And I intend to try and make it happen. -Ino