That night Asuka sat in silence as she ate her ramen and almost obsessively thought about when Neji smiled. It was almost a playful boyish smile but also carried a sense of dignity with it. I would love to see him smile again. I wonder if there is any way I can coax it out of him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She set down her noodles, got up, and answered the door. To her surprise, it was Sakura.

"Hey, I heard you just got back from a mission. How was it?" Sakura asked casually.

"It was good." Asuka said awkwardly.

"That's good."

Asuka didn't know what else to say. She never was good around other girls.

"Anyway, I came by to see if you wanted to join the rest of us for a much needed trip to the bath house." Sakura offered.

Asuka thought about it long and hard. It would be really out of my comfort zone but maybe that's what I need. Besides these girls aren't like the ones from my past. Plus if I stay home I'll probably just obsess some more.

"Sure," Asuka finally answered, "I'll meet you there in about ten minutes."

"Alright then, see ya there." Sakura said as she waved goodbye.

Asuka closed the door and walked back to her ramen. Once she finished scarfing down her noodles she headed down to the bath house.

When she went into the change room she was relieved to find it empty. The other girls must already be in the bath. If anyone gets out before I do I'll just have to check and make sure nothing has been tampered with. Asuka thought as she stripped down, wrapped a towel around herself, and headed into the main bath room.

Sure enough Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and Ino were all sitting in the bath soaking. Asuka swallowed hard and walked over to them. Sakura was the first to notice.

"Hey, glad you could make it." Sakura greeted.

"Thanks for inviting me. I really needed to get out."

"But weren't you just on a mission?" Ino asked.

"Well, yeah, but when you live alone its easy to get a little cabin feverish."

"Neji also said something happened between you two but he wouldn't fess up what it was." Tenten said.

Suddenly the other girls got curious.

"I'm surprised he admitted that much." Asuka responded.

"Ordinarily, he probably wouldn't have said anything but Lee kept hounding him about every detail." Tenten clarified.

"So what happened between you two?" Hinata asked.

They all moved in closer eager to hear what Asuka would say.

Asuka started to feel panicky and was feeling like she did all those years ago. As the girls looked at her expectantly, the feeling only intensified. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Asuka leaped from the bath, ran back to the change room, threw her clothes back on and ran out the door. She didn't stop running till she was back home and safe behind the locked door. She sat with her back against the door and her forehead on her knees as she cried.

*Flashback*

Asuka was starting a new day at a new school... again. She had gotten used to moving around because her mom worked as a mercenary. Her mom never told Asuka what the mission entailed but that was okay with her. As she walked to school her pony tail bounced and waved with every step. Once she arrived at the school, Asuka noticed that there was a group of girls standing near the entrance to the school. Asuka was used to introducing herself so she figured this was just as good a place as any to start.

"Hi there, my name is Asuka Nakamura. I'm new here so I just wanted to introduce myself and say that I hope we can become friends. The girls all looked at her with surprise to, what Asuka assumed, her openness and forwardness. After a moment the girls responded in kind.

"Hi Asuka. I'm Amaya. I'm so glad you're here. You came to our school at just the right time."

Asuka never remembered the other girls names as Amaya was the girl that stood out to her the most. Even if Asuka had put effort into remembering the other girls names it would have only made things worse.

As the weeks went on Asuka thought that Amaya and her were becoming best friends. Asuka told Amaya everything about everything. She even told Amaya about the fact that her father left when she was a baby and that was something very few people knew about. Then one fateful day everything backfired.

When Asuka arrived at school one day, all eyes were on her. She couldn't figure out why until she got inside. The walls were lined with posters that an embarrassing photo that Asuka never knew existed and the words "Asuka is such a freak her own father left her!" As Asuka walked the halls she heard whispers of things she had told Amaya in confidence and things that weren't even true. Things like "I heard her mom is a whore."

The month that followed, things only got worse. Amaya would "apologize" only to get new dirt and spread more rumors. When that wasn't going on Amaya did things like glue her books to her desk, shove her into mud, she even went so far as to get her in trouble with the teachers by making it appear that she had done something she really hadn't.

Asuka was now terrified to go to school. There was always something waiting for her. Then finally the torture was over. Asuka's mother told her that the mission had been completed and it was time to move again. Asuka cried. Her mother hugged her because crying was Asuka's normal response, but this time the tears were for a totally different reason. Once they had moved Asuka kept to herself and any girls who wanted to call her a friend was kept at arms length.

*End Flashback*

Asuka let the tears roll down her face freely. She was so wrapped up in how she was feeling that the knock at the door startled her.

"Go away Sakura! I don't want to talk to any of you girls!"

"Good thing I'm not Sakura then." came Naruto's voice.

Relieved, Asuka stood up and opened the door to let Naruto in. They went and sat in the small living room.

"So, you wanna tell me what's going on? Its not like you to just run past me like that without saying hi."

Asuka collected herself and told Naruto what happened with Sakura and the girls. She also opened up about her past and how it was hard for her to trust any girl that wanted to be her "friend".

"Honestly, I'm amazed I can be this open with you Naruto."

"I'm not. Didn't ya know? I'm awesome!" Naruto joked trying to lighten the mood.

Asuka smiled and was glad that she felt she could trust Naruto.

"I've known Sakura and those other girls a long time and I know they would never do anything like what happened to you. Believe me when I tell you that you can trust those girls with your life." Naruto comforted.

Asuka was feeling better and gave Naruto a smile. Maybe it is time I learn to trust girls again and make room for some friends in my life.

"So what did happen on the mission? You promised you would tell me." Naruto prodded.

"You sure you're ready for it?" Asuka teased.

"You bet! Just lay it on my already!" Naruto said growing impatient.

"Alright you asked for it... Neji and I kissed."

"WHAAAAAA!?" Naruto's eyes got big and his jaw dropped.

"Like I said you asked for it." Asuka said with a giggle.

The two of them stayed up late as Asuka told Naruto more about the mission and how this kiss happened. Naruto was still flabbergasted at the fact that she and Neji had in fact kissed. Finally they were both tired and Naruto went home. Asuka went to bed hoping that tomorrow would be better and that she could work up the guts to talk to Sakura, but for now it was time to sleep.