Thank you for the review, KaRiSa!

I was thinking of adding another chapter in front of this one, but I couldn't figure out what to write without making it sound boring.

You'll also see the appearance of other characters later on.

Don't own.

Chapter 2

Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto were sitting, respectively, side by side at Ichiraku's Ramen Place after school. Hinata and Sakura each had their meals and were quietly eating. Naruto, of course, was inhaling his ramen with obnoxious slurping noises.

After he slammed his empty bowl down on the table and burped, he turned to face the two girls.

"Hey, I have a joke to tell you guys!" he shouted, suddenly very excited.

The girls looked up from their food. Sakura glared at him while Hinata blushed and smiled softly.

Naruto didn't wait for either of them to say anything. He commenced the "joke" right away.

"Alright, so there are two penguins in the bathtub. One of the penguins says 'Please pass the soap.' " He was quiet, stifling giggles, and adding dramatic tension all at once, "and the other one says 'What do you think I am, a typewriter?' " he then lost control and disintegrated into a fit of hysterical laughter, rolling around on the floor with tears leaking from his eyes.

Sweatdrop, anyone?

"That…didn't make any sense," Sakura spoke slowly, cautiously. It was hard to tell what Naruto would do next when he was in this state. Nearly as bad as when Rock Lee was drunk.

"I KNOW!" Naruto stood, still laughing but not as hard. "That's why it's so funny." he spoke the last words under his breath, as if it was a secret.

Hinata started to chuckle along with Naruto. She was beginning to understand that it was the confusing and irrelevant aspect that made this joke funny. Then it was really quite hilarious. Hearing Hinata laugh, too, Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sakura.

"See?" he teased, "At least someone has a sense of humor!"

"The funniest part of that joke was when you got on the floor and made a fool of yourself in front of everyone else in here!" Sakura retorted, her tone teased as much as Naruto's did. Even though they were the only people there. Hinata was relieved Sakura hadn't come down on her.

Who was she kidding? Sakura was her friend. Hinata knew that Sakura wouldn't purposely do anything to be cruel. To Hinata, anyway. Naruto was another story.

He set his arms across his chest and sulked. Sakura ignored him.

"Hinata-chan, if you're done we can go. To save ourselves from further embarrassment," Shot Sakura with a sharp sideward glance to Naruto. "Anyway," she added in Hinata's ear, "I still need to ask you that question."

"What question, Sakura-chan?"

"None of your business, Naruto! Get lost!" instead it was Sakura who put her money on the counter and strolled out. "You coming, Hinata-chan?" she called from behind that white curtain-y thing.

"Y-yes!" Hinata set her money on the table as well and turned to Naruto. "U-um, bye, N-Naruto-kun. S-see you t-tomorrow." She managed to stutter before getting off the stool and following Sakura.

"W-what was it y-you w-wanted to ask me, Sakura-chan?" Hinata inquired once they were a safe distance from Ichiraku's.

"Hinata-chan, do you like…"

For a second, Hinata thought Sakura was about to say the name of a boy, like Naruto or someone. Anyone. Yet, she didn't.

"American cuisine?"

Hinata was, in a not-so-simple word, flabbergasted. Not only was the question set up to be asking the name of a boy, she suspected Sakura, out of all people, would be most interested in Hinata's (lack of) love life. She could swear she felt a bug fly into her mouth as she gaped.

"Y-yes, I s-suppose. W-why ask?" Nope, it wasn't a bug. Maybe a piece of dirt or something…

"My parents are letting me do something special for getting such good grades last semester, and there's a new American restaurant opening downtown. I'll invite you and… and… and everyone!" Sakura took a deep breath and calmed down, sensing herself getting a little too enthusiastic. 'God, I'm more and more like Naruto every day'.

"Hmm," she continued, stroking her nonexistant goatee, "Well, maybe not everyone. Afterwards we can all go over to my house, since my parents agreed that I would be able to do whatever I wanted, they left for a night."

Hinata's eyes widened and Sakura smirked.

"Don't worry, I think they took all their sake with them," As if that would help. Hinata had only gone to 2 sleepovers in her life! And neither of them involved teenage boys who would probably bring their own sake.

"I-I'll see i-if I can m-make it. When i-is it?" Hinata had to say, Sakura's whole idea did sound pretty fun. She could always tell her father she was going out to a sleepover with Sakura and Ino, because that really was the truth.

"I'm thinking about next Saturday around 5 or 5:30, to the Sunday after whenever we wake up!."

"S-sounds good. S-see you th-there, Sakura-chan!" Hinata turned to leave, but was stopped by Sakura's hand on her sweater-covered arm.

"Hinata-chan, wait! I want to ask you one more thing."

'Now is she going to ask who I like?' Hinata pondered quietly.

"I want you and Ino-chan to help me… decide what to wear. Because, I sort of want to bring Naruto as a, you know… date," she whispered the last word, but Hinata heard it loud and clear.

"A-a date? I-I thought you h-hated him, a-and liked S-Sasuke" Hinata tried not to sound too selfish, but jealousy was close to getting the best of her.

"That's the thing, y'know? To tell the truth, I only act like I hate him because I do actually like him. A lot. And I only pretend to like Sasuke because I think it's fun to piss him off more than he already is," Hinata felt another surge of jealousy pass over her. Not because Sakura liked Naruto, but because she was brave enough to confess it. Deciding she was too nice to ruin her friendship with Sakura, Hinata smiled.

"O-of course I'll h-help,"

"Great! Oh, and if you wanted to, you can get Kiba to come. Like, as your date!" that said, Sakura skipped off, leaving Hinata standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a plethora of emotions running through her mind.

Jealousy because she wanted Naruto to be with her. Happiness because she had been the one to make her friend so glad. Excitement because she couldn't wait for the sleepover. Anxiety because she had to think of something to say to her father.

Last of all, confusion because Sakura had mentioned Kiba.

So there's chapter 2. I'm also working on 3 now.

The nonexistant goatee thing is another silly inside joke.

You know how a lot of other stories that don't star Sakura make her the bitchy antagonist? Frankly, she's not my favorite character (Hinata is!), but I wanted to make her sound nicer because I'm annoyed with seeing her portrayed as a slut.

I really don't care if anybody reviews or not, they would be appreciated, but if you do, don't flame.

- jiao