(oh. my. GAWD. this chapter was pardon me a BITCH!! Ugh! Ten pages long... /cry. I never intended for it to be so long, but since I want to keep it within a ten chapter range... yeesh. Happy reading : to those of you that reviewed, your reviews are much appreciated, and spurred me to finish this more quickly. Loves to ya! If it weren't for you guys, this chapter probably wouldn't be done right now, heh.)

Chapter 1: Let's go bowling

"Hey, Hinata. Let's go bowling. You know, down at the bowling joint near that one club. We won't go into the club, I promise; just bowling."

Hinata smiled shyly at Sasuke and he kissed her forehead. It was something he enjoyed doing, kissing her forehead, and she liked it too.

'He's always s-so gentle with me.'

"Well, o-okay. When will you pick me up?"

"Around seven. That okay?"

"Yes."

"Good," he walked off down the sidewalk, toward his home which was only a twenty minute walk from Hinata's – eight minute drive – and waved at her, "I'll see you soon."

Hinata smiled and waved back, then walked into her family complex. Her father stood on the deck, under a light. His lavender eyes were illuminated by the yellow lamp, and his mouth was set in a firm line.

"Still with him?"

Hinata look down, "Father, I know you don't like him but... he-he's a r-really nice guy..."

Hiashi sighed, then took Hinata's hand and smiled at her, "I'm sorry, Hinata. It's just that his older brother, Itachi, is in a gang. I don't want you to get hurt. Where is he planning to take you?"

"He w-wants to take me b-bowling, Father. Down by t-that one club," upon seeing her father's expression she quickly added, "b-but we won't go i-in the club! I promise, Father!"

He smiled again, and led her inside, "good. I believe you, Hinata."

Hinata smiled coyly before departing from her father's side to get ready for bed.

The next day Sasuke asked Hinata if tomorrow night was alright to go bowling.

"Naruto, Sakura, Temari, Ino, and the rest of the gang will be there. Gaara and Kankuro might come but that depends. What better way to go bowling then to spend it with friends?"

Hinata was speechless for a moment before replying, "uh, s-sure. Tomorrow's F-Friday right?"

Sasuke patted her on the head and smiled, "yeah. But, Hinata. Ino might... well, she might go into the club. And if she does..." his voice trailed off. Hinata nodded her head in understanding, "y-you might have to g-go in a get her, r-right?"

Sasuke looked down at his feet, his hand dropping from her head, "yeah... but I won't, like, drink or anything I promise!"

She merely made that cute expression that he loved so much.

Classes were a bore, nothing really interesting happened. After school though, Hinata had to keep Sasuke from getting in a fight with his older brother, Itachi.

"Why don't you just – just not go!?"

Itachi glared at his younger brother, the red contacts he wore making him look terribly vicious, "I can go if I want to, litter brother. Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?"

Sasuke made no response, instead clenching his teeth. Hinata dashed over to him and wrapped her arms around one of his, "S-Sasuke-kun! D-don't fight with him, p-please."

Sasuke looked at her, before complying and taking a step back, hanging his head. Itachi glared at him for a few minutes longer until the tall man standing next to him tugged on his arm. Itachi turned and walked off. As he went around the corner Hinata watched as he and the other man were joined by several others. She breathed a sigh of relief and led Sasuke away, smiling at him to show her appreciation that he hadn't gotten into a fight. His chest swelled a little.

Friday came galloping around and Hinata was a bit nervous. Currently she was holding up several dresses, all of which Ino wouldn't approve of. Hinata bit her lip; she could already hear Ino chastising her about her oh-so-modest dresses.

"Geez, Hinata! You need to get dresses that like, show a little more skin! There's nothing wrong with showing a little bit of skin!"

'But when you c-come from a t-traditional family...' Hinata thought, carefully hanging some dresses back in the closet, 'e-even a l-little skin is b-bad.'

Hinata decided, as she pulled on a black frilly dress, that Ino just didn't understand. There was a knock on the door and Hinata heard Neji call out, "coming!"

A moment later and she heard him yell, "Hinata! Time to go!"

"H-hai!" Hinata quickly slipped on a pair of black ballet flats before hopping down the stairs. Sasuke stared at her, unblinking. She poked him in the forehead, "Sasuke-kun?"

He shook his head, "uh, yeah. Hi. Uh, you look great."

Hinata blushed at the comment, "well come along," Sasuke said, taking her hand, "let's go bowling."

Hinata smiled. There was great ruckus in the car, as Naruto was playing some head banging music and Sasuke was yelling at him to change. Hinata merely covered her ears and leaned against Sakura, who was shaking her head and also covering her ears. Poor Neji was stuck in the front, and Hinata felt immensely sorry for him. Finally she got tired of it.

"S-Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, p-please stop."

Both looked at her and Naruto – the driver – turned the music down and Sasuke stopped yelling at him. Neji appeared very thankful from his place in the front.

Sakura sighed in exasperation and jumped out of the car without waiting for it to come to a complete stop, "ugh, finally here," she stretched and pulled Hinata out. Hinata couldn't help staring at Sakura. The pink haired girl was wearing a black leather skirt that reached just past the middle of her thighs. She had a red spaghetti strap shirt on and a black vest over top, with black high heels.

'I feel so simply d-dressed,' Hinata complained to herself while following Sakura. Neji came up to stand behind her and the other two guys rushed to catch up. Hinata surveyed the area around her.

There really was no parking lot; people just parked where they wanted to. The bowling joint was right next to a club called "Tech", and from inside Hinata could here strange music. She guessed it was techno. The bowling joint itself was a typical bowling joint, with huge neon outlines that shaped the word 'Bowl' along with flashing pins and a bowling ball.

Once inside the bowling joint, Hinata took in all the different people around her as Sasuke took a hold of her hand. She saw some people that were dressed like they were going to go clubbing sooner or later. She saw a group of students in school uniform; they had been too lazy to change. Finally, her eyes drifted over to the bar and pool table side of the joint. She stood frozen for a moment as she stared at a group of men and one woman.

The woman had blue hair and amber eyes. Her shirt looked like it left her back exposed and it was done up down to the middle of her stomach. It opened up at the bottom to reveal a slightly toned stomach along with a belly piercing. There was a piercing under her lower lip as well. She was wearing tights that were pitch black, and sandal boots that had white heels on them.

Next to her sat a man with spiky orange hair and several piercings on both ears, on his nose and his lips. Hinata wondered if the piercings under his lips were snake bite piercings. He wore a simple button down shirt and dress pants, with leather shoes on his feet. His eyes were gray and... ringed.

'Contacts?' Hinata wondered, her eyes drifting to the two guys playing pool. Her eyes widened as she recognized one of them – he had been with Itachi at the school. His hair was a stunning blue color, and his eye s were a royal blue color. He had a bandanna of sorts wrapped around his head, with a typical hip-hop liking guys attire: baggy pants and a too-big shirt. He was currently laughing at the man playing against him, who had funky green eyes and crude looking stitch-like tattoos on his face. He scoffed at the blue haired guy and knocked the red ball into the corner pocket. Said blue haired man stuck his tongue out at him.

The stitched guy was wearing a button down t-shirt, and had it tucked into his dark trousers. A black belt secured these pants to his hips. Suddenly he stiffened and his bright green eyes flicked in Hinata's direction. She quickly looked away and followed Sasuke – after much tugging – to the desk where they would get their bowling shoes from. She glanced back over at the group of men again and spotted Itachi. When he moved out of her line of sight, her eyes widened.

A young looking man was sitting on the chair that Itachi had been standing in front of. He had a piercing in his lower lip and one in his eyebrow. He was wearing a short jacket and a net like shirt Hinata had seen Shikamaru wear before. His hair was sliver and slicked back, except for a few strands that were defiant and fell against his forehead. Suddenly she was staring into bright violet eyes, and his lips tugged up at one corner in a smirk. Hinata blushed and immediately looked away, instead focusing on the music and Sasuke's voice.

"Sasuke-kun. W-what song is this?"

"Uh, Dangerous, I believe. Why? And what shoe size are you?"

"S-six. And I just w-wanted to know. I... kind of l-like how it s-sounds."

Sasuke made a face and pulled Hinata over to their lane, where Naruto, Sakura and Neji were waiting. Sakura was already bowling, and managed to knock six over.

"Nice roll, Sakura-chan," Naruto cheered, giving her a kiss. She giggled and settled herself on his lap.

"Oh, Sasuke. Ino and them are over there," she tossed her head to the right, as her arms were currently clamped down on by Naruto's hands. Sasuke shook his head as Neji went up to bowl, and got a strike, as predicted. He grinned, and Sakura accused him of being too proud. He stuck his tongue out at her as Naruto went up.

"I'll best you!" Naruto declared.

"Sure you will," Neji said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Sasuke and Sakura laughed while Hinata merely smiled. Her eyes drifted back over to the boy with silver hair, and she caught him staring at her. He gave her a smile before looking back at the guys playing pool, and immediately bursting into laughter.

"Argh! Kakuzu! Leggo' of my neck! Ow that friggin' hurts!"

Kakuzu was rubbing his knuckles vigorously against Kisame's scalp, his other arm wrapped securely around his neck. Finally he released Kisame, and Hidan regained his breath.

"Aw, man! That was frikin' funny!"

"It was not..." Kisame complained, rubbing his head. Itachi slapped Kisame's hand away and massaged his head.

"Oi, Itachi. You don't need to do that."

"Seriously, that looks so... well..."

Itachi glared at Hidan, "... never mind."

"That's what I thought," Itachi agreed, nodding his head. He sauntered over to the bar before tossing his head to look over his shoulder, "anybody else want some water?"

"I do, yeah," Deidara called back, sitting down heavily next to Hidan. His blonde hair was all pulled back into a pony-tail except for his fringe, which he left down to cover his left eye. He really didn't like it when people commented on his scar. He was still in uniform, since he hadn't been bothered to bring a spare change of clothes to school. Hidan tugged on the shirt.

"Deidara-chan. Why the hell didn't you bring a change of clothes? It's Friday for goodness sake!"

Deidara gave Hidan a tired look and accepted his glass of water from Itachi when the raven haired teen handed it to him, "too tired, yeah. I just couldn't bring myself to do it," Deidara then gave Hidan a look that said, 'you never wear a uniform'. Hidan glared at him as if to say, 'don't you dare spill my secret'. Deidara flinched and took a sip of water. A red haired kid suddenly walked over and plunked down on Deidara's lap.

"EH?! Sasori! Get off!" Deidara attempted to push off Sasori, also in uniform. Sasori gabbed the seat, refusing to move, "either I sit on you or you move. Hidan isn't an option."

Hidan chuckled when Deidara looked at him; he had pulled his knees up and hugged them. He sighed eventually and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"Hey, hey. How the heck am I supposed to beat you?"

"You're not," Kakuzu said in a matter-of-fact way, before giving Kisame a lop-sided smile as he chalked his cue. Kisame made a face and lined up for a shot. He burst into laughter and almost fell over when he pocketed the blue ball right before the eight ball went in. Kakuzu started laughing too.

"Wow! How in the heck did that happen?"

"Well..."

Kisame jumped up and fell half on top of the pool table, jabbing a finger at Kakuzu, "the blue one so went in first! I won! You already said, best two out of three! Set it up, old man."

Kakuzu seemed offended by the nickname "old man" but he set the game back up anyway. Pein shook his head and Konan jolted from her nap, muttering "what happened". Pein told her to go back to sleep, so she snuggled against his side. Hidan tugged on Itachi's sleeve and when Itachi gave him his attention, Hidan nodded at Hinata, "who's that chick?"

Itachi grinned, "that's Hinata. My little brother's girlfriend. Though, if you could steal her from him, Hidan, I'd be grateful."

Hidan was startled by this and gave Itachi a confused look, his brow furrowing

'What the hell is he talking about?' Hidan wondered. After a minute he asked, "what do you mean, Itachi?"

Itachi sighed, pressing two fingers to his forehead, "what I mean is, I know how my little brother can be. He's a good kid, don't get me wrong, but when he loses his temper..." Itachi shook his head, then continued, "her family, the Hyuugas, aren't on good terms with mine. But that's not because of Sasuke, that's because of me. Her father, Hiashi, thinks I'm doing drugs, drinking or both. Truth is... Sasuke's the one with the drinking problem."

Hidan gaped at him and Itachi nodded, closing his eyes, "I like Hinata, I really do. She's so innocent. In my opinion she could do better."

Hidan couldn't believe his ears. Hinata could do better? Wasn't Sasuke good enough?

"I believe that if Ino, being the pig that she is, will go over to the club next door with Karin, and if Sasuke goes in to get Ino the two girls might convince him to have a drink with them. I just wish he wasn't so cold toward me."

"Why's he cold, yeah?" Deidara asked, giving up on trying to get Sasori to move. Itachi's red eyes flicked to him, "because I've been trying to make him be a good kid. He thinks he's good enough, but someone who refuses to accept their weaknesses doesn't deserve a girl like Hinata," his eyes flicked back to Hidan, who stared down at his shoes in embarrassment, "you accepted your weaknesses a long time ago, didn't you, Hidan?"

"Yeah..."

Deidara stared at Hidan for a moment before quietly asking, "do you need, ya know..."

Hidan quickly shook his head once. When he looked up, however, he found green eyes burning holes through his head and he shifted uncomfortably, "what? Stop staring at me like that, seriously."

Kakuzu's eyes turned to Deidara next, and the blonde pressed his lips into a thin line. Kakuzu straightened instantly, "out with it."

"Out with what?" Deidara asked innocently, shooting Hidan an apologetic look. Hidan was biting his lower lip, "it's nothing, yeah," Deidara said quickly, licking his lips.

Kakuzu's brows furrowed, "then why won't you tell us?"

By this time the other Akatsuki members perked up. They were all staring and Konan wore a worried expression. Hidan bit down on his lip harder, 'damn it all...'

He knew Deidara was just trying to help, and the blonde had tried to be quiet. It wasn't either of their faults that Kakuzu just happened to hear most of what everybody said. Kakuzu wouldn't relent in his staring, and Hidan never did very well under pressure. He felt Deidara's hand on his shoulder and the blonde squeezed once. Hidan took a breath before muttering, "I can barely pay for my tuition. That's why I don't have a uniform, seriously."

Konan gasped and Pein's eyes widened unnaturally. Sasori turned his head to look at Deidara, "is that why you've been down on cash? 'Cause your helping Hidan?"

Deidara looked away, "yeah..."

"You don't get your work done for class because you're working right?" Itachi prodded. Hidan fisted his hands against his sleeves, "no."

Deidara's eyebrow narrowed before he whipped his head in Hidan's direction, his hand tightening its hold on his shoulder, "Hidan, you're already working overtime!"

Hidan clenched his jaw and Deidara's statement was followed by a series of questions and other comments.

"Why didn't you tell us!?" Kisame.

"You know we'd help you out!" Sasori, who tapped Hidan's cheek with two fingers.

"We're like your family. You can tell us anything; that's what we're here for," Itachi.

Hidan glared at the space between his chair and the set that Konan and Pein occupied. Konan suddenly got up amidst all the ruckus the other guys were making – Kakuzu was just staring in fury at not knowing – and she kissed Hidan's forehead.

"Darling, Itachi's right. We're here for you. Don't keep these things from us."

Sasori's voice suddenly escalated as he over thought the current situation Hidan was in. He toppled over to one side, his head in Hidan's lap. Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Oh my gosh! If you can barely pay for your tuition that means you can barely pay for your rent which would explain why Deidara is always going over to your place which means that the land lord is totally harassing you which makes me mad and will ultimately lead to -!"

"WOW Sasori! Get a grip, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed, clamping his hand over Sasori's mouth and jerking him back up into a sitting position. He stared out unseeing, blinded by his sudden burst of rage toward Hidan's idiotic land lord. Hidan knew that the last words Sasori would have said were "his untimely death!" which was very much like Sasori.

'They're just worried about me; they don't have to be so worried,' Hidan muttered in his head. Pein's voice put an end to all the questions and what not of the others, "I'll pay for your tuition."

Hidan was about to argue but Pein was up in a jiff, his finger against Hidan's lips, "I won't have any arguments from you. I'm paying for your tuition and that's final."

Hidan glared at him before nodding his head and staring down at his hands. Deidara wrapped the hand that had been on Hidan's shoulder around Hidan's wrist as the others finally calmed down and Sasori removed himself from Deidara's lap to go to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry..." he muttered. Hidan gave him a smile before standing, "it's fine. They would've found out sooner or later anyway, seriously."

He walked toward the bar to get some water. He sat down on one of the stool's while the bar tender went to get him a glass. Hidan's thoughts were all muddled, and he rubbed his fingers against his forehead in an attempt to think better.

'Now Kakuzu's gonna' be pissed that I didn't tell him... and Pein... oh gawds I won't even start with him...'

After taking a sip of his water Hidan felt a hand touch his shoulder before a voice said, "can't believe I drive you home everyday and I never figured it out."

Hidan rolled his head to look at Kakuzu, "that's because you only ever know if some thing's wrong when I make it frikkin' noticeable, seriously."

"Well, that's true," Kakuzu admitted, leaning against the bar. They stayed in silence for a moment before they heard Kisame call, "I set up! Get yo ass over here, old man!"

Kakuzu scoffed before looking at Hidan with gentle eyes. Hidan was confused by the look, "w-what?"

"You... don't have a family do you, Hidan?"

Hidan looked away instantly, furious at himself for making it obvious.

"That's why you try to stay around us as much as possible?"

"... yeah..."

And suddenly Hidan was being hugged. He relaxed in Kakuzu's grasp, closing his eyes.

'Dad never hugged me... mom never did either...'

Kakuzu pulled away and walked back over to the ever patient Kisame after having muttered, "I'll be here for you, so don't go thinking you can't trust me."

'Those words,' Hidan thought, smirking and getting up, 'he'd never say if other people could hear.'

Kisame appeared to be trying hard to beat Kakuzu and Hidan commented, "you know, Kisame, when you aren't trying, you do a better job."

Kisame looked up from his position, "I do?"

"Damn right."

So Kisame blinked a few times and mindlessly shot, burst into laughter and fell over.

"Ow..." he managed to gasp out through his laughs. Kakuzu had a depressed expression on his face, "why did you have to tell him that?"

Hidan was currently gaping at the fact that Kisame had just sunk three balls, "uh... well, shit. That was seriously not what I thought was gonna' happen. Seriously."

Sasori and Deidara were both wiping at their eyes from laughing so hard and Hidan leaned against the wall since Sasori had taken his seat. He would have finished his glass of water but couldn't because suddenly Kisame was running around the pool table being chased by Kakuzu, and Hidan burst into laughter, leaving his glass half-full.

"Best two out of three! Two out of three!" Kisame was yelling, grinning like mad. Kakuzu was also grinning, and said, "you know, I'm impressed that you beat me but... there's going to be hell to pay when I catch you!"

"Ooooh, frak," Kisame bolted off to the men's room. Kakuzu glared in that direction and after a moment Kisame poked his head around the corner and decided it was safe. He walked out and sauntered over to Itachi, whom was staring at the currently bowling Hinata with a thoughtful expression. He turned to Hidan.

"If I distract my brother and Naruto, Hidan, will you do the honors of working your skills on Hinata?"

Hidan cocked an eyebrow and smirked, making a motion to set his half empty glass down. Sasori took a hold of it and when Hidan nodded the red head downed the rest of the water.

"I'll need..." he looked Hinata up and down then licked his lips, "ten minutes."

Itachi smiled maliciously, then turned on his heel and stalked toward Sasuke and Naruto. Kisame followed, while Hidan waited on the sidelines.

'I'm gonna' have a helluva good time.'

Hinata perked up as Sakura waltzed toward her, hips swaying, "Hina-chan!" Sakura giggled at the nickname she'd given her best friend, "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Want to come with me?" she asked, holding out her arm. Hinata covered her hand with her mouth and giggled, "S-Sakura-chan! I'd l-love to but... I-I'd rather stay here."

Sakura smiled sweetly at Hinata then walked off toward the bathroom. Hinata leaned forward to check and see if Ino was still with Shikamaru and the others - whom Neji had joined - and unfortunately she saw them arguing about something; Ino wasn't present.

'I-I better tell S-Sasuke-kun,' she decided and turned to speak to him. She found, however, that Sasuke was glaring at someone quickly approaching. Suddenly he was pulling her to her feet, and he turned her around.

"Hinata. Go stand by the wall."

"B-but -!"

"Please. This might get out of hand, with the way Itachi is strutting over here. Don't try to stop anything; I don't want you getting hurt."

He gave Hinata a push as she stuttered, "h-hai!"

She bit her lip and leaned against the wall, watching with fearful eyes as Itachi poked Sasuke in the forehead and Kisame held Naruto at bay.

"I thought I told you not to come," Sasuke growled. Hinata failed to notice that she was being approached.

"It's not that I wanted to come. My family wanted to come, and I came with them. You have a problem?" Itachi sneered, dodging the punch Sasuke aimed at him. Kisame raised an eyebrow at Naruto and his attempts to hit the larger man.

"Hey," a voice spoke next to Hinata's ear and she jumped, her hand flying to her mouth to keep from crying out. She looked over to her left with wide eyes and saw that the silver-haired man was leaning against the wall next to her, his hand resting in a loose fist against the wall above her head. Her lips quivered beneath her hand.

"H-hi," she managed to say, after finally lowering her hand, the scuffle that was slowly unfolding before her completely forgotten. She wanted to know who this handsome stranger was and why he had suddenly taken an interest in her.

"I'm Hidan," he tilted his head to one side, scrutinizing her more closely now that he was near. She nibbled on her lip, "I-I'm Hinata. Hinata Hyuuga."

"Mm, pretty name."

She blushed and looked down at her feet. She felt something against her hair and realized that he was fingering a strand. Her blush deepened.

"A-ano, Hidan-san..."

He seemed surprised by the honorific, "eh? Hidan-san? You... don't need to call me that, seriously," she could tell he was biting his tongue against other words when she looked over at him. She felt the sudden urge to defend her upbringing.

"I-I was raised to r-respect people o-older than me."

He gave her the cutest smile she had ever seen on anybody, her blush resurfacing, "really? Wow... I guess the Hyuugas are well raised."

"We are," she admitted in a quiet tone. He rested his hand on her head then leaned more fully against the wall. She was suddenly interested in his well-toned stomach.

'Eh...' a part of her muttered, 'he knows you're staring.'

Hinata squeaked and immediately looked away, blushing madly. She was surprised she hadn't fainted yet. Hidan tapped her on the shoulder.

"Nani?"

"Hey, do you go to Konoha High?"

"Hai."

"That freakin' explains it then," he turned his body to press his back against the wall, "I've seen you at school before."

Hinata actually gaped, "you g-go to my s-school?!"

"Yep."

"Ah," she clasped her hands in front of her mouth, "I-I never knew."

"Well," he planted a hand on the wall and outstretched his arm, "we dont' have any classes together, seriously."

"A-ah."

He glanced over at the lane Hinata had been bowling in, "well, I've gotta' go. Maybe I'll see you on Monday?" he focused those delicious violet eyes on her, and she couldn't help blushing.

"H-hai."

He laughed a little then pushed away from the wall and sauntered off, back to the pool tables. When Hinata had regained her composure Itachi and Kisame were also making their way back toward the tables, Itachi inspecting his ripped sleeve. When Sasuke approached Hinata she frowned at him. He bowed his head in shame, a part of his brother's sleeve clenched tightly in his hand.

"I'm sorry Hinata I... I didn't mean to let it go that far. He just wouldn't shut up about how much I didn't deserver you..." he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck. She timidly wrapped her arms around his back.

"I-it's okay but... Ino-chan... I t-think she's in the club."

Sasuke's head jerked up, "aw, crap. Naruto!"

"Hai!?"

"Ino's in the club! Operation Get Ino Out Of Club starts now."

"Oh drat..." Sakura mumbled as she walked over, followed by Shikamaru, Neji, Tenten and Temari. All were shaking their heads and Neji commented, "Karin's probably there. Oh well. Let's go. I bet you I know where she is."

It had been at least half an hour since everyone had gone in the club to find Ino. Hinata was the only one outside, nibbling on her thumbnail and looking around herself nervously. People were staring at her, and sometimes guys would walk closer but back off. She finally decided that entering the club might actually be safer than standing outside it. She dashed inside.

Everywhere she looked there were people. There was no way she would be able to find anybody she knew in this crowd.

'I-I should l-leave.'

She turned to make a quick exit only to have a hand close around her bicep. She was turned back around and found herself standing face-to-face with someone she didn't know. She immediately tried to pull away, the smell of beer reaching her nose.

'I don't know this person. I need to g-get away. I need to get away now!' she yelled to herself. She tried a pressure point and the man grunted, grabbing her other arm with his free hand, smiling a little.

"H -!"

Her back touched something solid and for a second she was afraid it was a wall. However, an arm wrapped around her shoulders and an angry sounding voice growled, "back off punk."

The man glared at her savior and said something. Hinata couldn't understand him because his words were slurred. The person behind her understood him though and socked him in the jaw.

"You punk-ass son of a -!"

Hinata decided she had never heard such colorful language before. Her eyes slowly grew wider at her savior's continued colorful vocabulary. The man hurried off, a look of fear in his eyes and Hinata was led outside. She struggled to turn around and looked up to see that her savior was Hidan. He smiled sheepishly at her, rubbing the back of his head, "sorry you had to hear my intelligent vocabulary, seriously."

Hinata couldn't help but start giggling at his sarcasm when he said "intelligent vocabulary". She blushed deeply when she heard him mutter, "damn, you're cute."

"Uh..."

He gave her a small wave, "you wait there. I'll go get your dumb-ass of a boyfriend."

Hinata was about to object to Hidan's nickname for Sasuke but he was already in the club.

Hidan was surprised that Sasuke wasn't very hard to find. The whole group of them was trying to get Ino and Karin to leave the club but the two snobs didn't want. Both of them were very drunk. He clamped a hand onto Sasuke's shoulder and coughed loudly, getting everyone's attention. He looked down at Sasuke who glared at him.

"Hey, dumb-ass. Your innocent girlfriend was in here. You're lucky I followed her. Some dunce had his hands on her, seriously."

Sasuke's eyes went so wide that Hidan was sure if they went any wider they would pop out of their sockets.

"Hinata was in here?!" Sasuke exclaimed before charging out of the club. There was a silence in the group and suddenly they were all scrambling, dragging the complaining Ino and Karin off their seats and out of the club. Hidan sighed and sat down on the stool. The bar tender turned to him and brightened up when he saw who it was. Without even being asked the old man shook up a cocktail that Hidan usually got, then set it down in front of Hidan after placing a pretty purple lady's slipper in it. Hidan blinked at the drink.

"I -"

"I haven't seen you in a while, Hidan-chan. It's on me. Enjoy."

Hidan smile genuinely at the old man, "hey, thanks, pops."

Besides the Akatsuki, this man was as close to family for Hidan as family got.

(dies of writing way too much so late at night. urgh. Chapter 3 of VAMP will be up soon as well, and chapter 4 shall be completed with chaper 5 quick to follow. For those of you that like the pairing KisaSaku, keep an eye on my Top Sixteen story. It might be up today, might not be. depends on how long my friend can hold out :P)