Email 2:

She wrote back!

He was actually somewhat surprised. After her nervousness the day before he'd had his doubts. He'd kind of been expecting her to ignore him in hopes of escaping the clutches of a possible stalker.

Not that he was one, but she didn't know that. He'd been wondering if he'd been wrong not to sign his name, and trying to figure out what had inspired it.

Oh well. He shrugged the thoughts off, opening his e-mail.

It was late Saturday afternoon, the sun beginning to drop behind the houses setting a pleasant glow over his room. He smiled. He liked this time of day.

But anyways…

From: Violeteyes24

To: Noodlefox49

Dear You,

Why won't you tell me your name? It bothers me a little that I don't know, even though you know who I am.

I know that you're someone who goes to my school (which makes me feel a little better ) and you know Sakura, Ino, Sasuke, Tenten and Kiba… or at least you know of them.

As for sending Ino after Kiba, I don't think he's really her type. Besides, you already said he had someone he liked. Wouldn't that just make it pointless for Ino to try?

I'm sorry I missed seeing Tenten dancing, it does sound funny…

…You said you knew someone who wanted to go out with me…

Did you mean you?

Best Wishes,

Hinata

He frowned. So she had been worrying about that. Sure, some of it had definitely been the whole introduction to sex thing, but …

He hadn't meant to scare her.

He should fix that…

~*~*~*~

From: Violeteyes24

To: Sakurablossom133

Dear Sakura,

I sent him ( I'm pretty sure it's a " him" ) an e-mail. One actually meant for him this time. Was that the right thing to do? I mean, I still don't know who he is.

I did ask him though…

Hey, I didn't say so at school but… he said that there's someone who likes me…

I'm confused.

Best Wishes,

Hinata

From: Sakurablossom133

To: Violeteyes24

Hinata,

Relax. I'm sure it will be fine. We don't exactly have any serious, rehab-bound, juvenile delinquents at out school okay. I'm sure there was nothing wrong with e-mailing him. He's probably our age, what's he going to do? Besides, if you get sick of talking to him than just stop. It's not going to hurt anything.

All that aside, someone likes you? Who?! I need to meet him. Do you think he'll ask you to Homecoming? Oh, what if it's your mystery guy?! That would be so romantic! *sigh*

Did you tell Ino? We could use her to help figure out his identity!

Oh, and did you hear what Monday's theme is? Ino and I both missed it.

Love and Luck,

Sakura

Hinata sighed. She'd moved her laptop from the desk to her bed and was sitting with it on her legs, her back against the wall, hoping Sakura was right.

Sakura usually was. It was a gift of hers, along with good looks and perfect grades.

Really Hinata had yet to figure out just why it was Sasuke wasn't interested in her. A lot of other guys were.

A lot of the girls were jealous, even Ino, but Hinata wasn't. She couldn't be even if she wanted to. Sakura was too good a friend, and besides, she'd accepted long ago that she wasn't like that. She wasn't the kind of girl who sent off an aura and drew guys in like a moth to flame.

No, Sakura was that kinda of girl, not her.

Not that she minded really…

She moved to respond to Sakura's e-mail, when a box appeared on the screen.

You've got 1 new message

Could it be…?

She felt a tingle run up her spine…of what? Excitement? Nerves?

Clicking on the box, she felt a jolt when she realized she'd been right.

To: Violeteyes24

From: Noodlefox49

Hey Hinata,

I'm sorry, but I don't want to tell you my name yet. Sorry, but I kinda like it this way. Less pressure.

But how about this. I'll give you clues about who I am okay? You can guess and if you get it right I'll tell you. No lies. Promise. This is my second e-mail, so I'll give you 2. Um... The first one is…um… yeah. I do know Sakura, Ino, Sasuke, Tenten and Kiba.

Let's see…um, ok what else. Oh! Ok, I like noodles! You probably already know that from my screen name, but hey it's a clue!

Um…no, I wasn't talking about myself when I said that. It's someone else. (Sorry?)

Oh, and I was just joking about Kiba. It would be pretty funny though. Haha!

Later,

Me

She stared at the screen a bit, confused. He hadn't told her his name…

Did you really expect him to?

Yeah, actually. I had.

She could hear her inner voice rolling her (his?…no…it's? ) eyes.

But…this wasn't really as bad. And he was right in a way…it was less pressure. Sure there'd be even less pressure if he didn't know who she was but still. If she didn't know who he was, she had no reason to worry abut his opinion of her. What did it matter if some random guy ( she really needed to ask if it was actually a " he" ) thought she was a bitch. It wouldn't hurt her, not really. And besides, she wouldn't have to worry about the awkwardness of being around someone who did indeed think of you as a bitch, since she wouldn't know who it was.

But what about rumors?

Yeah, that was definitely a downside…

So I watch what I say. How much could it really hurt?

Maybe Sakura had been right as usual. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. She could play his game. She'd just be careful.

Really careful.

Yes, really careful. Jeeze… you're my inner voice aren't you? Doesn't that make you me…sort of? A lot? Um…

Yes.

Yes what?

Yes I'm you…technically. I like to think I'm smarter.

She chose to ignore this.

Either way, shouldn't you have at least some sort of confidence in me?

Why? I just got through saying you're the dumb one.

She frowned.

If I go to therapy, do you disappear?

You have bigger problems at the moment.

Such as?

" Hinata? Hello, Earth to Hinata! Hello?"

"What!?" she squeaked, shaking her head in confusion, a blush creeping over her face. "H-Hanabi! Um…hi, um…how long have you been there?"

Her sister raised one eyebrow, giving her a strange look that obviously questioned her sanity. "Long enough to watch you zone out" She looked towards the wall opposite Hinata. "What were you staring at anyways?"

"Um…"

" Whatever. We're going out tonight. Where do you want to go?"

"Um…" she tried desperately to orient herself to the conversation," Um.. Sushi, I guess."

Hanabi stared a moment longer before turning, with a deep sigh. She closed the door behind her with a soft click.

Great… She sighed. Hopefully Hanabi wouldn't mention this to their father. Hinata wasn't exactly the favorite child and Hiashi Hyuuga was often trying to fix her. If he ever suspected her of having the slightest problem he'd throw some of his excess money around and find her the best cure possible in an attempt to correct her.

No doubt I'll have an appointment with the best psychologist around by tomorrow.

Which would, of course, do nothing about the stupid little voice in her head that persisted to argue with her.

Sighing, she pulled the covers over her completely, and with the laptop still on her lap, started typing.

~*~*~*~

Naruto glared down at the book in his hands homicidally. If it could have, the poor little book would have started shaking, or possibly burst into tears of fright.

It couldn't however, and therefore didn't. But it wanted to, greatly.

What, you may ask, did an innocent book do to deserve such contempt? Nothing. Nothing at all, except that it had the misfortune of being a calculus book, hated by many and loved by a rare, psychotic, few.

How the hell did I get into calculus? He wondered, continuing to stare menacingly at the textbook. It wasn't as if he knew any of this stuff. Of course, Gaara had probably had something to do with it.

Quiet and anti-social he may be, but he was exceedingly good at math. And if you begged him enough he might indeed help you. Of course, it might have had something to do with the fact that it was Naruto who'd been begging.

For reasons unknown, Naruto was one of the few people in the school that Gaara didn't hold in contempt. This confused the majority of the school's population. Probably because since the first day Gaara had transferred to Konoha High his freshman year, he'd either ignored or glared at any and everyone. The few times he had spoken were to express his annoyance and wish for them to leave, and it wasn't like anything had changed by his junior year.

Naruto groaned, before throwing the book forcibly against the wall in defeat.

It bounced back and hit him in the head.

Textbook: 1

Naruto : 0

Death by calculus he groaned again, rubbing his head, not moving from where he'd fallen on the floor. It's an awful way to go.

He moved his eyes to stare under his bed, wondering how many pairs of socks had been stuffed under there by now. He was running out…

Iruka should stop telling me to clean my room…

Yes. The blonde had yet to realize that shoving everything under your bed, while temporarily effective, was not a proper way to clean ones room. He was contemplating just when he'd need to excavate under there again when he heard a Ding!

And not just any Ding!, mind you. The special Ding! that comes from a computer when "You've got mail!  "

Whatever happened to that little voice anyways???

Rolling over, he crawled over to the computer desk before leaning his upper body on the seat of the chair. Lazily he reached up and grabbed the mouse, clicking and opening his e-mail.

He had 2 unread messages.

Kiba e-mailed me? When did that happen?

Apparently while he'd been distracted by calculus. He pulled himself up to sit cross-legged in the swivel chair and opened the letter.

From: I_taste_like_dog162

To: Noodlefox49

Yo,

Did you get what Monday's theme is? I missed it.

Kiba.

Naruto smirked at his friend. A poet he was not. He went back to his inbox to check Hinata's message, curious as to her response.

I hope I didn't freak her out…

He didn't want to scare her…but he didn't want to tell her either. It was…

Hell, he didn't know. But he liked this, her not knowing. It gave him an air of mystery. Yeah, that sounded cool.

From: Violeteyes24

To: Noodlefox49

Dear You,

Alright. I'll try to guess your identity through your clues. That seems okay I guess… But there's something that I'm wondering about. Why? Why do you want to talk to me so much? Is there a reason why you don't want me to know who you are?

Oh…and no…the fact that you like noodles isn't really much of a hint.

Best Wishes,

Hinata

P.S. Did you get Monday's theme? No one seems to know.

Naruto snickered . God, had anyone heard the announcement?

Not that he was one to talk…he'd missed it too…

Damn.

Not that he thought, by any means, that the theme would make any more sense than years passed. It would just be nice to know.

His smirk vanished quickly enough though, replaced with a contemplative frown.

Why did he want to talk to her? He'd known her since elementary school, he'd had the chance before.

So why hadn't he?

He honestly didn't know.

~*~*~*~

"S-Sakura!" Hinata exclaimed, "What are we doing here?!"

"Shopping" she grinned, grabbing her friends hand. "C'mon, we're meeting Ino."

"Why?!" she squeaked, yanked forwards as Sakura ran through the mall, dragging Hinata behind her.

"Because!" Sakura called back giddily, weaving easily through the crowds of people, "It's the weekend before Homecoming!!!"

Struggling behind her, it was all Hinata could do to avoid crashing into a stroller. Spinning on her left foot, she barely dodged it before being rushed on towards the food court with little time to yell a quick apology. She wasn't sure if the mother heard her or not, but she did hear an old woman mutter her disapproval.

When they finally came to a stop in from of Popeye's, Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, willing the blush on her face away. It didn't work, it never did. She leaned against the wall, panting, he face red from exertion and embarrassment. She loved Sakura, truly…but…

She supposed this was just one of those things Sakura excelled at : running full speed through the mall.

This was never really a skill she'd bothered to acquire. She honestly hadn't thought it'd come up in life.

That's what you get for not being prepared.

Great. Her inner voice was being smug.

This just screamed normal.

Ignoring the small voice in her mind (great sentence, really. It sounds so sane…) she steadied herself. "Why are we here?"

Sakura gave her an odd look, as if wondering how it was she could possibly out of breath before allowing her face to blossom into an excited smile once more. "I told you! It's the weekend before Homecoming. If we don't get our dresses now, when will we?"

"But-"

"Come on let's go find Ino! Fatty said she's meet us here…" She looked around, grumbling about punctuality as she tried to locate her blonde friend, Hinata's protests promptly ignored.

Sighing in defeat, Hinata conceded to searching for Ino.

It wasn't as if it was a big deal really. She'd go and try on clothes with her friends. They'd laugh and act silly and talk about Homecoming and boys and who they were going with. Sakura and Ino would get into a fight over Sasuke, and maybe by the end of it she'd buy a dress.

But…

God… and you think I'm annoying. Try being in my shoes.

What?

You were going to say something right? Well, say it.

No, it's not important.

You don't want to be here.

I do too!

Her voice didn't respond, but she could feel it mocking her. But it was wrong! She did want to be here! She liked going out with her friends! She just…

She didn't like shopping with them. They were both so pretty, able to wear anything they wanted. Clothes shopping with them was like stumbling onto the runway at a fashion show. Two tall, attractive girls changing clothes with reckless abandon, never worrying about whether or not something would fit or look good on them.

They looked good in everything.

They got checked out by the sales clerk, both literally and figuratively.

She didn't.

And almost as bad was that she couldn't hate them. They'd do their best to include her, trying to get her into slinky dresses or frilly, lacy, blouses. And she always felt horrible about refusing.

She wanted to, deep down, but just couldn't… She couldn't bring herself to.

Because she couldn't bear to see how she looked in the dress. It was one thing to know you weren't attractive, but completely another to see it.

"Hey Fatty! Where are you?!" Sakura called loudly, leaving Hinata with the desperate urge to shush her. To clamp her hand over her mouth and tell her not to yell in the mall, that it was rude.

Not that that would do any more that her protests had, but still…

"Hey Fat-"

"Who are you calling fat?!!"

Great she groaned, resisting the urge to sink into the floor, more yelling.

Angrily , Ino stalked over, engaging Sakura in their customary greeting fight. As usual, it involved a lot of yelling, drawing the attention of random passerbys.

Hinata, also as usual, watched on with a mix of awe and horror. Part of her was appalled by their behavior, it going against everything she'd been taught growing up. And yet another, somewhat foreign part of her was fascinated.

What would it be like, she wondered, to do things like that? Things so completely outrageous and attention-drawing without a care?

What would that be like?

~*~*~*~

"There it is!"

"Grab it quick!"

He pounced, and in a flash of yellow and orange he was upon it!

"I've got it!"

"Success!!!"

"…You guys are so retarded"

Kiba and Naruto looked over with skeptical glares.

"You say that out of ignorance" Naruto insisted, clutching the video-game to his chest.

"You just don't understand" Kiba agreed, huddled around the game with his friend.

Shikamaru shook his head, "I don't think I want to." He glanced at the game. "Kingdom Hearts 2? You realize that's been out for years, right?"

"Yeah!" Kiba snapped.

"We just hadn't finished 1 yet", Naruto mumbled, stroking the game like a kitten.

Shikamaru just shook his head again, turning away.

"When you two are done stalking the games, I'll be in the book store."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at his friends back until he exited the store. "It's a shame really", he sighed, "He just can't appreciate us."

"That's alright", Kiba replied sagely, "It's not his fault he's boring."

"Shall we forgive him then?"

"We shall"

"Shall we cease to speak in this odd, British manner?"

"That'd be sporting old chap."

"Jolly good then."

"Yes, jolly good."

The guy at the register gave them each a strange look as they approached and made a show of releasing the game from their grasp, making it look painful to do so. The guy stared at the game a moment as if considering the thought that touching it would infect him with something. With whatever poor ailment these two boys had contracted that was slowly eating away at their brain cells. After a while however, he seemed to deem his job more important that his health because he grabbed the game in two fingers and rang them up, wishing them a nice day, in a somewhat strangled voice, as they left.

Naruto smiled as the two of them left, laughing at the cashier. Kiba was definitely more fun today. This was the Kiba he knew and loved.

"Where did Shika say he'd be?", said friend asked.

"Um…that way, I think" he replied, pointing to the right.

"Right -O-then!" he exclaimed, once more adopting the British accent. Laughing, the two of them ran off to find their missing amigo. They'd almost reached their destination when Kiba was sharply distracted. He'd been in mid-sentence too.

"So, yeah! And then-"

He froze.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "And the what?"

When he didn't respond, he followed his friend's line of vision into a girly clothing store.

"Um, Kiba., is there something you want to tell me?" he asked, concerned. And really he had every right to be. After all, in the 11 years he'd known the guy he'd never known him to stare at women's clothing… it was a little disturbing. Especially the level of concentration he was demonstrating towards that purple tank top…

Kiba shook his head.

"Um…dude.." he moved to stand in front of him, waving his hand in front of his nose. He blinked as the air stirred, but that was all. "Hello? Kiba, dude are you alri-"

Before he could finish he'd been grabbed with one hand over his mouth, and pulled behind a nearby kiosk. He yelled muffled words as his friend held him down, fighting against Naruto's struggling.

"Shut up" he hissed, " Shhh!"

"Lebbe gaa!" Naruto shouted, his mouth muffled by Kiba's hand.

Some people think a sign of true friendship is the ability to read each other's mind. To know what the other person is thinking without having to communicate verbally. Sadly, those people are mistaken.

A sign of true friendship is actually the ability to understand what the other person is trying to get across to you even though what came out was nothing like what was intended.

And Naruto and Kiba are truly friends, thus proved by the removal of his hand and the release of his limbs.

"Shhh", he shushed, "and look."

Naruto followed the pointing finger of his friend to the clothing store. At first he didn't see anything, but realization soon hit him at the sight of three girls exiting, two with overstuffed shopping bags.

"Hinata."

"Yeah."

"Um, excuse me…", came a cool voice from above them. Looking up, they saw that they were getting weird glances from the lady manning the kiosk, trying to sell Proactive to anyone who happened to pass by.

"Shhh" Kiba shushed her, "we're hiding"

"It won't be long" Naruto promised, as the two of them returned to their spying.

"Um…" The lady seemed at a loss for words. What was one to say when two strange ( and I do mean strange ) teenage boys were hiding behind your cart of skin care products? This scenario certainly never came up in business school. "Um…alright.."

Grabbing the strong box with the money, she moved to the other side of the booth, casting curious looks at them intermittently.

They ignored her and her less than discreet observations.

"What's she doing here?" Kiba hissed in Naruto's ear.

"I'd go with shopping."

"She doesn't have bags."

She was indeed, empty handed, walking alongside her two friends, smiling faintly.

"Do you think she saw us?"

Naruto sighed. " Well you were kinda just standing there…"

"Really?!" He looked horrified.

"Yes. But no, I don't think she saw you." He grinned, "She didn't run in terror."

"Asshole."

They watched from behind the booth as the girls chattered their way out of sight, lost in crowds.

"Let's go." Naruto started to stand to dust off his pants, but was quickly yanked back down.

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his shoulder, hoping it was still in its socket, "Dude, what?"

"What if she sees you?!"

"She's not even over here anymore!"

"She might come back!"

Damn…he sighed, still rubbing his poor shoulder. His friend had it bad. He also had it odd…I mean, its one thing to like a girl. It's another to hide from her like she's a terrorist.

"You do realize she's not going to hurt you, right?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed, overloud and blushing. He looked away. "I just…"

Damn he thought again. He felt the stab of guilt return as he thought of his inbox, possibly in possession of another e-mail from his best friends crush.

He was a horrible friend… A good one would have told him before…

But…He didn't want to? How much did he suck? Really?

He looked over at his friend, hiding behind a kiosk and peering through crowds to try and catch a glimpse of her. Yes, he had issues, but he really liked her.

One more e-mail he decided, just one…and then I tell him. No matter what.

He had to.

"Should I even ask?"

Looking up in surprise, they found themselves being stared down at by Shikamaru, holding a book in his hand, no bag in sight.

"No." Naruto replied, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind. He pointed to the book. "Did you just buy that?"

He gave him a look. "Yeah, where else would it have come from?"

"Don't they usually give you bags when you buy stuff?"

He shrugged. "It took too long."

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Naruto looked back at Kiba. "Hey Kiba."

"Huh?" he looked up as if dazed, surprised to find himself the only one still sitting behind a kiosk. "What?"

"Remind me…"

"Remind you what?"

Say it, say it so that it can't be taken back.

"Remind me there's something I need to tell you."

***********************************************************************************************************************************

Hey guys!!! This chapter was mildly exhausting, probably because I wrote it all in one day. Good old Veterans day, gotta love it. Haha. The funny thing is that Grimmgray did the same thing with one of her fics. We Imed a lot of that time too…anyways, I make an appearance in the end of the second chapter of her latest fanfic. Frozen Insanity. If you're into Bleach check it out, it's really great.

Wow…she was working on chapter 2 too…odd….* insert Twilight Zone music here