Naruko pulled away from Hinata. "Are you okay?" She murmured. Hinata nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm just tired and I haven't been eating well. I always feel sick whenever I'm about to eat." She looked down, blushing. "And...I've been missing my period." Naruko froze.

Crap, I don't know how to deal with this. I'm in way over my head! Naruto moaned inwardly.

"Um, I'm sure you'll feel better in a little while. Have you gone to the hospital?" Naruko asked gently.

Hinata nodded again. "Mmm." She nodded. Hinata leaned on Naruko. "But I'm still on edge all the time. Especially around Naruto..." Naruko flinched. Hinata took no notice. "I've always admired and loved him, but I just feel like I have to be perfect around him." Hinata rested her head on Naruko's lap. "I feel like I can be myself around you...like you'll accept me no matter what." Naruko wrapped her arms around the girl.

"I'm glad." Naruko sighed.

There was long silence. To Naruto, it seemed awkward, but Hinata seemed comfortable at last, so Naruko kept quiet. It wasn't until Naruto noticed Hinata's breathing slow significantly that Naruko bothered to move. "Er, Hinata-chan?" Naruko shifted her leg, grimacing. Hinata shifted a bit, a slight smile on her still face, but otherwise didn't respond. "Hey, wake up. What if your father comes in?"

At that Hinata looked up, craning her neck around. "My father -" She began. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"It's fine. I was just trying to wake you. He's not here." Naruko interrupted, putting a hand on her shoulder. Hinata nodded let out a tiny sigh of relief. She sat up and rested her head on Naruko.

"Please don't leave." She murmured.

Naruko glanced at the clock on Hinata's bedside table and laughed gently. "It's only noon, silly."

Hinata turned her head back and forth, her exhausted version of shaking her head. "Don't leave me, ever." Tears soaked Naruko's shirt. "I can't imagine being alone. I didn't realize how much having a friend - not just someone to spend a night at a restaurant with, but someone I can truly reveal everything to - would mean to me. And I feel like you're slipping away. I can't face Naruto-kun, the other ninja, my father, Neji-nii-san, or anyone, really, without you."

Naruko ran her fingers through Hinata's hair, a sad smile on her face.

What the hell do I do now? Naruto demanded weakly.

:::

"Hey, Shikamaru-kun?"

The ninja turned, looking up from his game of Shoji. "Ah, Naruto-kun." He stood and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "What're you doing here?"

Naruto frowned and shuffled uncomfortably. Coming to his house made his visit seem too serious, but he wanted to talk to him privately. "Er, I have to ask you about something...a strategy."

Shikamaru glanced back at the game and shrugged. "Go ahead. What's on your mind?"

"If...there was, um...well...how do I put this?" Naruto grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "If...you had...an alliance with someone, but then you were...on a mission, and spying on the country you had an alliance with -"

"When would you spy on your own ally?" Shikamaru interrupted.

"Just go with it, okay?" Naruto grimaced. "So, you were spying on this country under the alias of another country, and your ally thought you were a different country, and wanted to be an ally with your alias..." Naruto trailed off. Damn, I'm confusing myself... "Do you understand?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru nodded. His eyes were narrowed, steely with a glare of concentration.

"So, do you tell your ally that your fake alias is fake, do you stop the alliance under your fake alias, or do you keep up both alliances, even if it's starting to hurt the other country?"

"Drop the fake alias. That's the way to do it with the least political problems." Shikamaru replied almost immediately.

"But what if the other country really likes your fake alias? And they'd be really upset if your fake alias disappeared?" Naruto returned.

"Then tell the other country about your fake alias. If your alliance is strong enough then all should be forgiven. Even so, everything can be smoothed over with some good diplomacy." Shikamaru sighed. "Can I get back to my game?"

"Diplomacy, huh?" Naruto murmured, already walking off. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and returned to the board.

A few hours later, Shikamaru was still staring at the board, though many games had passed. Sakura arrived in front of his house, glowering at his hunched form. "Shikamaru-kun!" She shouted.

He slowly rolled his head over, looking at her. "Eh?"

"Come here! I want to talk to you!" Sakura snapped.

Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and groaned. "What? First Naruto-kun, now you -"

"Naruto-kun was here?" Sakura exclaimed.

Shikamaru scratched his cheek leisurely. "Yeah. He was saying something about aliases and strategies...Why, are you looking for him?"

"Yes!" Sakura cried. "Something's been wrong with him and Hinata-chan for the past few weeks. What was he asking you about?" Shikamaru went over an abridged version of their conversation. "An alias...? What was he talking about?"

"I dunno, but I'd like to finish my -" Sakura was already heading away, chewing her lip, muttering to herself. "Again..." Shikamaru sighed, walking back to the game.

"An alias..." Sakura murmured. "What alias does Naruto-kun have? Or maybe, it's an alias Hinata-chan has? This is so confusing...I never thought Naruto-kun would get into something so involved!"

Suddenly, it clicked - the blond woman at the hot springs, the sheepish kiss she and Hinata shared, and Naruto's disguise when he'd tried to sneak into the hot springs before.

"Naruto-kun is...Naru-san?" Sakura whispered. The idea was almost too insane to believe.

At the worst possible time, Naruto was returning from a short stint at a training ground. Sakura narrowed her eyes and strode towards him. Naruto looked up and smiled briefly.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! What're you - ulp!" Sakura grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to a relatively enclosed alley way, scowling.

"Stay." She snarled warningly when he attempted to move. "What's going on between you and Hinata-chan?"

Naruto raised his hands in defense, grinning nervously. "Wha-what're you talking about? Hinata-chan's been sick but -"

"What you're doing is wrong." Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sakura didn't allow him the luxury. "Yeah, I know about it. Shikamaru-kun told me what you guys were talking about. Stop."

Naruto slumped against the wall. "But, what if she hates me when I tell her?"

Sakura clenched her fist and breathed deeply. "If she hates you afterwards..." She could feel Naruto's eyes on her. "...I'll...I'll go out with you."

His eyebrows jumped and he grinned. "Really...?"

Sakura glanced away. "Yeah...yeah I will."

But, Naruto's joy ebbed away after a few moment. "Actually, Sakura-chan..." She raised her head slowly, meeting his eyes with some hesitation. "That's okay. It's not right to drag you into this." She tilted her head, confused, and Naruto put a hand on her shoulder, flashing her another grin. "But thanks anyway!"

Sakura nodded distantly. "R-right..."

Naruto's grin faded and he put his hands in his pockets. "Bye then." He smiled gently and walked off.

Sakura leaned against the wall of the alley. "Naruto-kun...You grew up, didn't you?" She murmured, looking up at the sky. "And I didn't even notice."