Okay, so I finally updated the story. Sorry about the little title discrepancy here, but this sort of just popped up in my head after I discovered a lost file. It really helps the flow, rather than me just going from big drama to bigger drama, to HUGE drama. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

EDIT: fixed formatting problems. Sorry for the needless update.

The rest of the night was just as boring as the day that had preceded it, with not a wink of rest to speak of. I crawled out of bed at around two AM to go the bathroom, then went back. I couldn't sleep. Hinata was cute and all, but I just couldn't do it. It was like Chinese water torture, except I wasn't tied up on the floor with a dripping bucket over my head. I felt like bashing my face into the mirror, as if that would help anything. Though, if I did and I started bleeding enough, I could pass out and get some Z's. I pushed the thought out of my head before I did anything stupid. Then, out of the blue, I heard the buzzing.

I patted around my butt, trying to find the source, my phone, until I realized that I was only wearing boxers and my pants were on the other side of the room. Reluctantly, I clambered out of bed again and went over to the wad of denim. I grabbed the hunk of plastic and flipped it open, cursing under my breath.

"I swear to God, Sasuke, if you're calling me at this hour, I'm going to march my ass down to Hot Topic tomorrow and beat you to a bloody pulp."

A small envelope flashed on the screen and I forced myself not to snap the thing in half as I opened it. It was Naruto. I sighed, "What does this loser want now?"

The message answered that question for me:

Hey saku, you wanna go sumwere tonite?

I hit the reply button and typed in a response, muttering as I did so. "Go somewhere? It's two in the morning. Where could I possibly want to go this early? . . Back to bed, that's where."

His response came quickly, reading:

idk, sry but i just thought u mite wanna go to a party or sumthin

I replied for him to call me back in a minute or two, going to the bathroom. I figured the sooner I got it over with, the better. As expected, after I'd finished slashing some water in my face to wake up a little more, Naruto's ringtone played. I answered almost instantly.

"What is it Narutard?" I asked, sounding much more alert than I'd expected.

He laughed, "I was just wondering if you might wanna come to my house for a bit. We could go to a party tomorrow and like . . skip school and stuff." He sounded really happy about the whole thing.

"Well, Hinata's sort of over at my house and I probably need to be home for the next few days. You know how my side of the neighborhood gets." I paused, "Where'd you hear about a party anyway?"

"Well, I just finished talking to Sasuke like . . ten minutes ago and he said there was going to be this huge party on the east side of town. I wanted to ask you though." I couldn't help but laugh.

I changed the subject, "Yeah, have you guys even talked in person yet?"

He chuckled embarrassedly, "Um . . no, actually. He sorta just calls me . . a lot. When we get so school he's always busy kicking the crap out of Lee and this Neji asshole, so we don't really talk much."

"Sasuke kicking someone's ass? That's a new one... and since when did you let anyone beat up on your lovemuffin?" I asked, joking.

I could almost see him shrugging on the other end as he said, "Eh, I dunno. I don't even think Lee likes me. Why should I care that Sasuke beats him up all the time?"

I made my voice as sarcastic as possible. "I dunno. You don't suppose those two events could be related?"

"No, why would they be?" He asked stupidly.

I sighed, "Sasuke likes you, dumb ass. It's obvious."

"You really think so?" He sounded excited.

"Yes, Naruto, I really think so," I repeated. The girlish squeal on the other end confirmed that he got the message.

He was giggling like a school girl. "This is so awesome! I've never been liked before!"

"Yeah, yeah. So do you want me to come over in the morning or what? I can't just leave Hinata here all alone." I sat down on the floor, seeing as the conversation probably wouldn't be ending any time soon.

"That'd be great. You wanna stay home and play video games instead of going to the party? . . or maybe invite Sasuke over?" I imagined him in the same situation as me, sitting in the middle of a tiny room, playing with his hair and switching hands with the phone every few minutes.

"Sounds good to me," I said, yawning, "You guys better be prepared to get an ass kicking when we break out Guitar Hero though... or Rock Band . . I fucking own at that game."

He laughed, "Yeah. Bring some ramen. I ran out last week and all the maid cooks is this rice and butter crap. It's not like I don't like rice, but I just want some freaking ramen!"

"Kay, but all I got is chicken flavored. Me and Hinata ate all the beef kind last night. Sorry about that."

"It's cool. Any ramen is good ramen."

I smiled, agreeing, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Ino likes all that western stuff, but not me." I caught myself before I said anything else. The awkwardness of the moment made me frown.

It was about a minute before Naruto said anything again. "So Sakura, you really think he likes me?"

I brought a hand to my forehead, annoyed at having to repeat myself so many times. "Yes, Naruto, I'm sure that he really likes you."

"Wow . . Well, I guess it's better than nobody liking me." He chuckled, "So how're you going to get Hinata home? I can get the maid to drive her to school and pick her up later, if that's cool with you."

My hand returned to its previous activity of chin stroking as I spoke. "Fine with me. She'll drop me off at your place first, right? . . or she could just bring her over too and we could all play Rock Band. That would be nice."

He piped up, "That's a great idea! Sakura, you're a genius!"

"I know, I know, but if I don't get some sleep, I'll be braindead. Tell the maid to come by at about six. Tell her to wait as long as it takes . . and blow the horn.. hard. I'll hide the bike in the back yard..."

At that moment, he burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?"

I could swear he was crying. "Sorry Sakura, that was just hilarious. I'll talk to you later, okay? I gotta call Sasuke anyway."

"Yeah, bye Naruto."

"Bye Sakura-kun."

I flipped the phone closed and got up to walk back to my room again, smiling. Hinata was still asleep as I sneaked my way under the covers. Purplish light filtered in through my window as I closed my eyes and finally fell into dream world. My sleep was rather peaceful that night, warm and comforting – unusual, but comforting nonetheless.. until the dreams started rolling around.

"Sakura-chan . . Sakura-chan, wake up," a light voice called to me. The world was black, and I had a vague sense of floating. "It's me, come on . . wake up!"

I felt hands gripping my shoulders. Someone was straddling me. My face was hot, but I couldn't open my eyes. Over and over, they tried to rouse me. I tried to speak, but nothing happened. I could hear the sound of running water and a vague sense of heaviness, like I was made of lead. Then there was the sense of being wet, not to mention cold. I would've figured it was some sort of strange 'mense' dream, but the fact that I knew I was dreaming stood against that possibility. A loud honking noise blared in some far off universe, echoing.

"Sakura, come on, get up! It's cold and I want to go inside!" the feminine utterance washed over my ears like the ocean over a sandy beach front. I knew that voice.

Almost as if by accident, my mouth spoke of its own accord. "Ino, how did you get here?"

Her dainty laugh shadowed my question as if the answer was entirely simple, her hair brushing my cheek as she spoke. "How did I get here? I could ask you the same thing. Now open your eyes, sleepy head!"

I let out a breath, relaxing into the sopping wet texture that I believed to be ground. "I can't."

"You can't?" She laughed at this too, playing along. "Of course you can. Just give it a try – and hurry up, the bed's getting all wet. You should really close your window."

"Huh?" I asked, thoroughly confused. Ino was always one for nonsensical bullshit.

My world was instantly filled with color, leaving me looking up at an amused and slightly concerned Ino. She quirked an eyebrow. "Sakura, it's raining and you really need to wake up. Hinata doesn't know CPR; she can't save you if you start drowning in your blankets, you know."

I squinted vigorously. Ino's hair seemed to be doing a Medusa, like someone turned on an industrial grade fan and twisted it around multiple little airplane propellers. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Ino opened her mouth to speak, but the only sound was that of a very large, obnoxious horn. I cringed, but she didn't seem to mind. She smiled, saying, "What I meant to say was, you should really get up now. I'm pretty sure that was your ride. Good luck, Sakura."

"W-wait! Ino!" I called, but then she was gone.

I opened my eyes to a very unpleasant scene. Just like Ino had said, it was raining outside and water was pouring into my window like the falls of Shomyo-daki. Hinata was above me, shaking me awake, and my alarm clock was beeping repeatedly. I groaned, sloughing off the wet covers. It was going to be a long morning. I told Hinata to go ahead and pick some clothes to wear from my closet as I wobbled my way over to the window to grab the undoubtedly soaked phone. I saw Naruto waiting down below in the maid's car. Sasuke was probably in the back. I sent him a text that I'd be down in a minute or two and shut the window. Was it open last night, or was I just going crazy?

I sighed, walking over to where Hinata was standing, So much for hiding the bike...

"W-who's that d-down there?" she asked, filing through the rack with me.

I grabbed a pair of black pants before answering, "It's Naruto and the maid. I was gonna tell you last night, but I'm going to his house today. You were just too cute for me to wake up." She blushed at the compliment before returning to the rack again. I slipped the pants on and plucked a random shirt from the mess, turning around and tossing the ones I had been wearing on the floor. As I was putting it on, my phone buzzed. I squeezed into a hoodie and picked it up. It was Naruto. I didn't bother reading it, but instead went back to the bathroom. Hinata followed.

"What am I s-supposed to do, Sakura-chan?" she inquired sheepishly.

I shrugged, offering as I started to brush my teeth, "You can come along if you want. Naruto wants to play Rock Band and we could always use a singer."

Her face lit up, but she hid it quickly. "B-but Sakura, I c-can't really s-skip school, c-can I?"

"Pfft, Hinata, you haven't missed a day in like three years. A little skipping here and there isn't going to hurt anything. Besides, it's getting close to Golden Week – nobody cares about school this time of year." I rinsed out my toothbrush and splashed my face with some water. Hinata was next in line to do the morning ritual as I finished up, combing my hair. She did the same and followed me to the car.

"So I take it you're going to Naruto's with me?" I asked, opening the car door for her. She nodded and sat next to Sasuke, who was texting some guy about why he wasn't going to the party. I read all about it while I was busy cramming myself into that tin can. My mind wandered as the maid started the car, going from Naruto's unnatural hairstyle, Sasuke's nose, the deformed trees on the side of the road, Hinata's 'assets,' the carpet, all the way to the maid's new manicure, which made her all the prettier. For a live-in housekeeper, she wasn't half bad. She looked so young. You wouldn't guess that she'd been taking care of Naruto for nearly a decade and a half. I wondered if she knew about the time me and Naruto drove all over town to get Ino that one time. That would be a real pisser.

Her name was Shizune, and by my estimate, she had to be about thirty or so; there wasn't a single grey hair on her head, and I looked hard, believe me. Nope, nothing but a sea of black, that's all. She was quite the mystery, I tell you, made all the more interesting by my extreme boredom and obsessive compulsive tendencies, not to mention all the weird circumstances just floating around, waiting to be exploited. Naruto was always talking about how she was friends with his 'grandma,' Tsunade, and how it was such a sweet deal because he ended up getting spoiled like hell... and then there was the of how those two names always came up on the subject of lesbians and titties, our favorite conversation topic, incidentally. The thought of that made me laugh, and I laughed hard, so hard that Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, and the maid all looked at me like I was crazy. I just shrugged sheepishly. The moment soon passed, leaving me to my inner ramblings. Hinata's hand played with mine loosely.

So . . Shizune's probably a closet bisexual and Naruto's grandma talks to Hinata's dad . . who's coincidentally the principal of my school... What an interesting life I live...

Fantasizing about your best friend's mother figure? Someone's got their mind in the gutter.

You again? I thought, rolling my eyes.

It made a chortling sort of noise. Yes, it's me again. Who else would enjoy tormenting you like this?

Hmm... Oh, about two thirds of the population, apparently. Could you spare me some peace, just once? I rested my head on the window and squeezed my eyes shut. We were about five minutes from Naruto's house by now.

You always say that.

Shut up.

Before the thing could respond, Shizune interrupted with a worried look. "Sakura, are you alright?" she asked.

"Hnn?" I raised my head, "Oh, yeah, just a little sleepy." It was only a half lie. She didn't seem to buy it.

The 'sleepy' lie again? What is this, your staple? The thing asked. I could imagine it just staring at me, crossing its arms and making faces, just to piss me off.

I sighed again, Yes, now would you leave me the hell alone, please?

"Oh, well, let me know if you need anything," she chirped, returning back to her quiet driving state.

I replied, "Sure thing, nee-san," thankful that the annoying voice had finally decided to stop, but just when I thought it was over, something else happened.

Sasuke spewed the remainder of his morning frappé into his lap, "Woah, woah, woah. Since when did you call anyone 'nee-san?'"

I glared at Sasuke, "What? Something wrong with showing people affection?" Naruto turned around in his seat, obviously agreeing with him. I sighed, "Come on, you too? I call you guys 'kun' all the time and that's normal. Why can't I call her 'nee-san?'" Shizune chuckled to herself up front. Everyone else went silent for a moment

"I – I think it's n-normal, Sakura-san," Hinata said, twiddling her fingers.

I huffed, "See? Hinata here lives in the real world, unlike – wait a minute . . Since when was I 'Sakura-san?' We're supposed to be friends, not acquaintances. Sheesh, it's not like we're at school."

"I could change that, you know," Shizune said, grinning like she'd made the funniest joke of the century.

"Haha, I finally got your ass!" Bright videogame lights flashed around the room as cheesy fight music and punching noises delivered sheer punishment to Naruto's surround-sound system.

"Yeah, right after I kicked you through a fucking canyon. Talk about lame-ass comebacks. Anything else, mister anticlimactic-san?"

Shizune tiptoed past the screen as quickly as she could, picking up empty soda cans. "Weren't you guys supposed to be playing Rock Band?" she suggested, "I overheard you and Sakura talking about it earlier this morning."

"Yeah, actually, we were," I said, sitting on the end of the couch. Naruto and Sasuke were playing another one of his Dragon Ball Z games. I was pretty sure that it was one from the Tenkaichi series. Sasuke was failing miserably, but I had to give it to him; at least he tried. I would've given up hours ago.

Naruto agreed, "Uh-huh. Wanna pop it in? I'm getting kinda bored."

"Hey! What're you trying to say?" Sasuke yelled at Naruto, "I could so totally kick your ass if this was a Wii game!"

"Yeah, yeah, quit your whining," he said, "So, Sakura, are you gonna get the game or not?"

"Sure," I got up and walked over to the PS3, "Sasuke, get the controllers."

"Where are they?" he asked.

I pointed to the corner and started prying on the tray. As if just getting the disk out wasn't hard enough already, the eject button was broken on the system. "Naruto, I know you don't like people thinking you're rich and all, but you could at least pay to have this thing fixed."

He said something, but the standard PS3 theme drowned it out when I finally got the thing open. Just like I thought, DBZ Tenkaichi 3, one of our all time favorites. I laid it on the coffee table and started going through the muddle of cases on the floor. There had to be at least a hundred of them scattered around. "Naruto, haven't you heard of alphabetical order?" I yelled over my shoulder, "Hinata, I kind of need some help over here... Hinata?"

A form bumped into me from behind and knelt over the pile. I assumed it was her, still flipping through cases frantically. I noticed her starting to stack them out of the corner of my eye.

"Jeez Hinata, I didn't know you were OCD," I said, trying to lighten the mood a little. She had to be miserable, what with her not being included in anything and all.

"Hinata went to the bathroom."

"Huh?" I blinked, Since when did Hinata speak in third person, not stutter, and talk about personal matters? Then I noticed the manicure. "Oh. Sorry about that."

She shook her head, "No, it's fine. I'm glad I could be mistaken for someone young and beautiful."

"Eh, don't worry about that too much. You're pretty cute yourself." I laughed, picking up the stack of games that she'd just knocked over. I must've startled her a bit. Still, she looked sort of down.

"Just cute, huh?"

I put my hand on her shoulder, "Hey, don't go comparing yourself to other people. If there's one thing that I've learned, there's always going to be someone who's just a little better, and that's going to sting like hell until you teach yourself to stop looking at them and move on. Besides, for a chick that doesn't wear make up, you pull it off pretty nicely." I laughed, "As for compliments, keep in mind that you're asking a pessimist here. 'Cute' is about as far as I go. Most people are lucky to get an 'okay,' so don't sweat it, alright?"

She smiled, nodding. She seemed a lot happier. In fact, she went through the cases twice as fast as she had before. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Rock Band and Tenkaichi 3 came up.

I sighed mentally, Damn, pep-talks is something I thought I'd never do... Weird . . and did I just call Shizune pretty? . . even weirder... and since when did I talk like that? . . I hope this Tsunade chick that everyone seems to like so much doesn't mind, haha.

After I was done thinking, Shizune had already found the cases, swapped the games, and started cleaning the filth we'd accumulated in the living room since we'd arrived. I went and sat back on the couch with Sasuke and Naruto, waiting on the game to load. By the time it did, Shizune was stretched out between us and the living room was practically spotless. It was amazing.

I propped my feet as the disk spun up to load the character models on screen. "Hey guys, where'd the drum set go?" I asked, noting its presence, or lack thereof.

Naruto shrugged. "Sasuke?"

"I didn't find it," he answered, standing up and slipping a guitar controller over his shoulders. Naruto looked around the living room and shrugged.

"Did you check his room?" Shizune asked, uncomfortably close to bursting my personal space bubble as she sprawled lazily over the cushions.

"Sasuke, can you please go get it?" I asked, not wanting to do it myself. The last time was enough of a disaster. My nose was running for weeks.

"Could you?"

I nearly spewed my coke, "And leave you two alone? Not happening." I tapped my foot against the table for emphasis. Naruto just giggled.

"Hey, Shizune-san's here - we won't be alone!" Naruto said.

"Not a chance in hell. I know how tricky you guys get."

"Well, I'm not going up there. Those stairs are probably made of greased glass or something." He crossed his arms and made a sullen face. The start screen appeared on the TV screen.

Now, I smiled. I knew this was going to be good. "Yeah, the last thing you need is more stuff to cut yourself with, huh?" I said, and with that, I laughed, Naruto cried, and Shizune spilled her tea on my foot, but I didn't care.

"No fair! That's not even funny!" Sasuke shouted, jumping up and down like an angry chimp.

I waved it off, "Come on, you set yourself up for that one and you know it. Now go get the damn thing, scaredy cat."

"No way."

"You know the stairs are made of wood, right?" I asked, still giggling.

"Shut up."

I'd ended up being the one to get the drum set. Somehow, I convinced myself to go up and grab the thing, which is funny, considering that last time when this happened, I was afraid to even open the door. Naruto's room reeked of old gym socks and beef bouillon. I had to hold my breath. I snagged the plastic drums and dashed out as quickly as possible. Thankfully, I didn't trip over my feet on the way down. When I got back, Naruto and Sasuke were already playing a song. Hinata was sitting on the couch. I sat down next to her and turned on the wireless controller.

Naruto and Sasuke both screamed as the sign in screen popped up and paused the song. I grabbed the sticks and spammed the green drum head until it went off and and a new track sprouted in the center, hoping for the best.

"What song is this?" I asked over the music.

Naruto shrugged up front, "I dunno, something by Metallica. The drum part is impossible on expert."

I gulped, looking down at the set. At least it had two petals, so I had a small chance of making it. The beginnings of what would become my worst gaming nightmare peeked from the top of the screen. When the time came for me to start actually playing, I struggled to keep up with the flurry of notes. Not to mention, as with all the Rock Band games, accuracy was definitely an issue. By the time the song ended, I'd failed at least twice. Thankfully there was a big break in the middle, or there would've been more than that. The animation sequence ended quickly and our scores were on display for all to see. I was surprised by the results, to say the least.

"Eighty-nine percent?" I gaped, "More like thirty. I sucked!"

Sasuke made a dismissive noise, "Right, and I could totally do better . . Yeah, when pigs fly."

"I think Ton-ton has that covered," Naruto said, "Then again, I've never seen that happen."

"Who?"

"Tsunade and Shizune's pig thing... don't ask," he said sheepishly.

"We won't."

"Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this," I said, walking arm in arm with the others.

Sasuke sighed, "I can't believe you're doing this. I thought you were gonna go crazy when we asked you."

"Me too, I mean like, usually, you're all like 'no I don-wanna go to da mall' or 'oh my god I'm like gonna kill you man,'" Naruto added, unlinking his arms to make claw-like gestures. The mexican accent added a strangely adorable light to the situation. We all laughed.

"Hey, I'm not really like that am I?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Sasuke shoved his hands back into his pockets, answering in his casual voice, "Um, yeah, pretty much."

"That's a lie."

Naruto sighed, "No, he's right, you act like Iruka on coke usually . . or maybe just Anko."

"Definitely Anko," Sasuke stated matter of factly, spawning an annoying conversation between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Yeah, definitely Anko." Naruto agreed. I started to fume.

"Totally."

Here comes the list, I just know it.

And just like I thought, Naruto went and did it. "Yeah. I mean, you're angry, socially awkward, strange, demented, perverted, criminally insa-"

"Would you just cut the crap already?" I yelled.

The rest of our walk was pretty boring, besides the whole banter, banter, girly scream pattern. We arrived at the mall just in time to catch the 'rush hour' traffic. The whole place was crowded with people. I winced, hoping that none of us got lost. Other than that, it was rather pleasant. Of course, we went to Hot Topic, as always. I was surprised to see who was behind the counter. Naruto jumped for joy, greeting the boy enthusiastically. It was none other than Kiba Inuzuka. In the back, I could see a red headed boy, sulking. He looked familiar.

Kiba grinned smugly as I approached the counter with Sasuke and Hinata in tow. "And what can I do you lovely ladies for?" he asked, smirking widely at Sasuke's face.

I sighed, "Oh please, spare me the booty calls, Fido. I just want some new pants, not someone in my pants." Kiba looked like he didn't know whether to be hurt or afraid. "Relax, I was just kidding. Damn, can't you people take a joke?"

"Geez, don't be such a femi-nazi, Sakura. It's kinda creepy when you do that... So what about those pants? You gonna need some help with those?" He asked, his previous smirk returning to his face.

I laughed, "Nice try, dog-boy. I'm pretty sure I can find a pair of jeans just fine on my own. Save the puppy love for Akamaru, or whatever that mangy mutt of yours is."

"Jerk ass," he muttered as I turned away.

"I heard that."

With that, I made my way to the racks, beginning my ritual flipping. As usual, I'd already bought all of the clothes that I could afford. There were no clearance sales today, unfortunately. That didn't mean that anyone else had to know that though. I jumped a little as Hinata came to stand beside me.

"H-hi, Sakura-chan," she murmured sheepishly.

"Hi Hinata-chan," I answered, smiling at her. She looked away, as usual. "You feeling okay? You look a little . . sad," I said, for lack of a better word.

"Y-yeah," she replied, looking down, "I – I just feel like . . that maybe I shouldn't be here."

My face contorted itself on its own, twisting into some complicated expression that I didn't understand, or care about for that matter. I asked, "Why not?"

If I thought she couldn't put her head down any further, I was wrong. "I feel like I'm stealing."

"Stealing what?" Now I was just confused.

She paused, looking me in the eyes. "You."

I didn't know what to say.

Well, this is going to be an awkward subject later on tonight.

I sighed, Would you just leave me the hell alone already? I have enough problems without you!

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

There wasn't much to say during the rest of our shopping mall excursion, at least on my part. The Hot Topic incident sort of ruined it for me. I'd been silent for about an hour and a half since. I'd catch Naruto and Sasuke giving me worried glances every now and then. Hinata was trying her best to avoid eye contact. It was getting a little creepy.

I caught Naruto staring at me for the fifth time in the last three minutes. We were at the Starbucks across from Joe Muggs together. It all started when we ordered our drinks. Everyone else got frappes, but not me. Even the cashier noticed when I ordered a simple black coffee, no sugar. She looked at me like I'd just shaved my eyebrows. I ignored the looks and sat down at the table with the others, sipping on my disgusting drink.

"Sakura, are you . . alright?" Sasuke asked, eying my cup. I wanted to puke.

I nodded, trying to put on a happier face, "Yeah, sure, I'm fine. I'm always fine." It didn't come out how I'd wanted.

"You're sure? I mean, I can call someone to get you, if you want," he said, making a bit of a sour face afterward, the kind when you really want to slap yourself after you've just said something stupid. Maybe it didn't come out how he'd wanted either.

"I'm sure. I'm just tired is all," I said. It was a nice little white lie; he bought it. Naruto didn't look so sure though.

He stood up from the table, grabbing his frappe and yawning, "Yeah, me too. It's getting late. We should probably start walking home." Hinata looked relieved. I took another swig of liquid crap, making a mental note to grab some sugar packets on the way out. I didn't want to have twenty-four ounces of unsweetened black coffee in my fridge for five months. I knew how that went last time. It wasn't pretty, especially after the bottom of the cup broke and I didn't have anything to clean it up with. I woke up the next morning with my head caught in a folding chair.

"Naruto, it's only six," Sasuke said.

He shrugged, "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Hinata needs to get back to her house before it gets dark or something, right?"

Hinata was about to say no, but I cut in, "Yeah . . right." It wasn't very convincing.

"It won't be dark until eight... and she's been going home with Sakura for like . . a week."

I bit my lip. Sasuke was indeed one of the sharper tacks in the box.

Naruto did the same, glancing around, "Well . . uh, it could storm – the weather man said so this morning!" And that brought a smile to my face. I loved Naruto, always coming up with excuses on my part, no matter how hopelessly ridiculous. Sasuke didn't seem pleased.

"He's right," another voice chimed, just in time to cut him off mid sentence. I recognized it as Kiba's. The brute continued, somehow having the nerve to slip his arm over my shoulder, "Hey guys, I just got off my shift and figured I might grab a few coffees before the big storm tonight rolls in. It's gonna be one hell of a flood."

I shrugged it off, swallowing down another gulp disdainfully, "And getting coffee just so happens to require you invading my personal space? Really, Kiba? Really?"

He laughed it off, "So you call me by name now? That's an improvement. I was serious about the storm thing though." He turned his attention to Naruto, "You guys really should be getting home. I know to hell that's where I'm going. Screw my other job. I don't wanna be stuck up here all night without my trusty buddy Akamaru."

"I know what you mean," Naruto replied, pulling Sasuke up into the little circle we'd managed to form. "How'd you know we were over here?"

"It was sort of obvious. I could hear you guys screaming at each other from a mile away. How could I not know?" He asked, grinning.

"Yeah, and the next time this happens, Naruto, I'm getting you a muzzle," I said, looking pointedly at Kiba.

"What did I do?" the blonde asked, flipping out.

I didn't answer, loving how Sasuke seemed to be the only normal person in the room. Kiba ruffled his hair, "I guess I'll see you guys next time then, right?"

"Sure, whatever floats your boat there, dog-boy," I said. He gave a wave before getting in the already growing line. "So I guess we're leaving now, right?" I asked. Naruto and Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah," Sasuke droned, "You're lucky I have to fix my hair now or I'd still be sitting here. Thank slobber-tard for that."

Hinata put a hand over her mouth in amusement.

"So, are we leaving or what?" Naruto asked. I dumped an entire cup of sweetener packets into my hoodie.

"Yeah." I lead the way, but when we got to the exit, I was pissed to find that it was already raining. I thought about walking home in it, but it was really pouring down. I stopped out under the glass dome, looking back to my friends. Sasuke and Hinata stared at the sky, mouths open. Naruto was gaping at the water splashing onto the street.

"Wow... That is a lot of water." Sasuke said.

"Uh-huh," I chewed my cheek, "We're supposed to walk home in this?"

"No way. Like you said, not a chance in hell."

"This is just like . . Wow."

"Yeah."

"Naruto, call Shizune . . and tell her to bring a boat."

It would've been funnier if I'd said that during a 'normal' rain session, but not a full blown deluge. It wasn't just raining cats and dogs, no, more like cars and trucks and road signs. I was really, really happy when Naruto finally got Shizune on the phone, and I was even happier when I got home and Hinata and I settled in bed together later that night. My parents would be home soon, but even if they found me like this, I didn't care. It would be awkward - and probably violent, but it'd be okay in the end. Those were the last thoughts in my head as I relaxed and fell asleep.

Ending note:

Sorry about any format problems with this and the next update. I've been having lots of problems with my PC and file transferring is getting to be hell. I'm trying to keep the editing better though and improve. I thank all of you that are still following the story, and just for your loyalty, I'm updating twice in one day.. or week.. or whatever. :)

Tell me if you spot any errors! I had to stop writing several times because I was so tired that I couldn't see anything!

Cheers!