The bell rang loudly throughout the school. Students quickly left their classrooms to head to their final class.

Eighth period gym was finally over for the freshmen. All they had to do was receive their lockers to put their clothes in. After that, it was relatively boring.

"Finally! Only one more class left!" Sakura groaned.

"Yeah, but it is math now," Shierra said. The pinkette instantly hunched over in sadness.

"Darn…why couldn't we have study hall ninth period? That would be amazing," Sakura said.

"I th-thought that you l-l-liked m-math," Hinata stuttered as she looked at Sakura.

"I do, but math after gym class is just annoying. By the end of the day, I'm too tired to focus on adding and subtracting," Sakura complained.

Shierra laughed. "C'mon, let's just go to class," she said as she nudged her friend along.

Together, the three girls exited the locker room and out into the hallway. Since the gym was on the opposite side of the school from the normal classrooms, these particular corridors were pretty empty. As they walked and talked, they failed to notice that there was a group of guys walking directly behind them.

Hinata was the first one to notice. She squeaked when she recognized who they were and when she realized they were walking faster to catch up to them. "Um….g-guys?" she stammered as she looked to her two friends.

"What's wrong?" Shierra asked as she turned to look at the pale girl. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw them.

The Lightning Bulls.

Sakura turned to look as well, and she inhaled sharply when she noticed that the gang of seniors was staring right at them.

"Don't make eye contact," Shierra hissed.

Quickly, the three girls faced forward again, trying to not look back. The footsteps echoed behind them, getting closer and closer. The suspense was excruciatingly painful as the girls tried to pick up speed to get to a more crowded hallway.

Suddenly, just before the girls could round a corner, they felt strong hands grip their shoulders. Before any one of them could react, the guys had the girls pinned up against the lockers.

"Well, well… it looks like we've stumbled upon some very pretty freshmen ladies," the guy named Nadare said with smirk.

"Look, I don't know what you want, but please just leave us alone," Shierra said in a tone that she hoped sounded firm.

"Oh don't worry. We're not going to hurt you girls. Well, at least not yet anyway," Nadare said as he stared at the three girls. Then his face hardened. "You're friends with Uzumaki. That brat needs to be taught a lesson. And what better way to teach that lesson than with some assistance from his friends?"

"If you think we're going to comply so easily, you've got another thing coming!" Sakura screamed as she kneed the nearest guy in that place where… well, in that place.

Her captor fell to the ground, moaning in pain. But being that there were ten guys in the gang, Sakura was easily caught again. This time, the thugs dragged her and the other two girls away towards the doors that led outside. They gagged them with clothes to make sure they couldn't yell for help.

But no one noticed the girl hiding behind the corner. She took a deep breath when she was sure the Lightning Bulls were gone. But a feeling of fear crept over her when she realized what she had just witnessed.

The second bell rang, signaling that all students should be in their classrooms. The girl sighed, heading to her math class. Her long blonde hair swished behind her as she ran.

"Sakura Haruno," Yamato said as he took attendance.

No reply. The brown-haired teacher made a mark on his sheet, saying she was absent.

"Hinata Hyuuga," he continued.

No reply again. He made a second note on his teacher.

Sasuke looked around the room. Indeed, the pinkette and shy brunette were nowhere to be found. Shierra was gone as well. And Shierra was never late to class.

The Uchiha looked over at Naruto, who was sitting beside him. The blonde was as oblivious as ever. He was attempting to balance a pencil on his nose. When Yamato wasn't looking, Sasuke reached over and slapped Naruto in the head.

The pencil flew off of Naruto's nose, rolling onto the floor and out of his reach. Scowling, the boy looked over at his friend. "What?"

"Where are Shierra and the other girls?" Sasuke asked.

"How should I know?"

"Well, I figured since you're in love with Shierra, you would keep tabs on her whereabouts," Sasuke replied.

"I saw her during last period gym. But that was it," Naruto shrugged.

"And you don't think it's odd that she's not here now?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked around the classroom, seeming to realize, for the first time since class started, that the girls weren't there. He shrugged his shoulders again. "Maybe they got lost."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the blonde. He was about to retort when the classroom door opened.

It was Ino. And the poor girl looked traumatized. She didn't even brighten up when she noticed that Sasuke was staring at her. She only glanced at him and then turned her blue eyes to look at Naruto. At the sight of the whiskered boy, she quickly stiffened.

"Excuse me, but you're tardy. What was your name?" Yamato asked.

The girl looked as if she was trying to remember something that was long forgotten. Then she replied, "Ino Yamanaka."

"Well, Miss Yamanaka, you're late. That's a green slip," Yamato said as he handed her a green piece of paper. Absentmindedly, Ino took the note and sat down in the empty seat beside Naruto.

Once attendance was over, class officially started. It wasn't anything important. Yamato was only going over class rules and what the students would be learning during the year, just like every other teacher had done in the preceding classes.

Class seemed to go on forever. The clock seemed to be going in ultra slow motion. But then finally, the hands turned to three o'clock. The bell rang, and all the students quickly fled from the school.

The group of freshmen was standing with Naruto at the blonde's locker as he threw his books inside of it in annoyance.

"I can't believe I got detention on the first day of school!" Naruto said in irritation.

"Well, then maybe you shouldn't have made enemies by making yourself so annoyingly loud to the whole school," Shikamaru said.

"Fine! I'll remember that when some big thug wants to beat us up! You can defend yourself next time. I won't get in the way!" Naruto said as he turned to the lazy student.

"Oh please. You weren't doing it for us. You punched that guy for Shierra," Kiba said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So? You got a problem with that?" Naruto shot back.

"Actually, has anyone even seen Shierra? And Sakura and Hinata for that matter?" Chouji asked.

"No. They missed last period," Sasuke said expressionlessly. Even though he wouldn't show it, or admit it to anyone, he was actually very worried for the sake of the three girls.

"That is definitely not like them," Sai added.

"I'm sure you guys are overreacting. Seriously, it's only the first day of school. It's not like they missed anything important. There's really nothing wrong with cutting one class," Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Says the person who has detention with the principal," Shino said.

Naruto glanced at the clock that was at the end of the hallway. "Speaking of which… I have to go now," he said solemnly. "See you later, guys."

"See you," the group called after him.

Naruto walked sadly down the hallway. As other students were exiting the school, he was walking into the principal's office.

"Ah, Mr. Uzumaki. Good to see that you were smart enough to come to your detention, unlike Mr. Yama," Lady Tsunade said when she saw the younger blonde walk into her office.

It was then that Naruto noticed that Nadare was, indeed, nowhere around. "So… does that mean I get to leave early for being good?" he asked hopefully.

"Haha, nice try," Tsunade chuckled. "Sit down."

Naruto sighed in defeat. He took a seat at one of the desks in the office. He rested his head in his arms to prepare for a nice nap.

Ino was standing outside of the principal's office. Having received a green slip from Yamato, she was supposed to hand it in to the principal as punishment. Lady Tsunade would then record it in the school records.

"Great…" Ino muttered to herself.

Before she walked inside, she glanced inside the office. Beside the door was a large glass window that showed the inside of the principal's office. Ino glanced in to see Lady Tsunade filling out paperwork at her desk. And sitting at one of the student desks was Naruto.

Ino instantly stilled. Ever since she had witnessed the Lightning Bulls take Shierra, Sakura, and Hinata away, she had felt immediate guilt for not trying to stop them. And she didn't even tell Naruto or Sasuke or any of the other guys who really cared about the three girls.

And for the life of her, Ino couldn't understand why she felt bad. She had never liked Sakura; they had just never gotten along…probably because Sakura was always hanging out with guys, especially Sasuke. She had always found Shierra weird; her intelligence was such a turnoff…but the real reason she disliked her was probably because Sasuke actually liked talking to Shierra. And she had always thought Hinata was annoyingly shy; it was kind of annoying how shy she was and how much she stuttered when you asked her a simple question.

All in all, Ino never really cared for any of those girls. They just weren't the type that she would hang out with.

So why did she feel guilty?

And then it suddenly clicked in Ino's head.

Maybe she didn't really hate those girls as much as she thought. Maybe…maybe she was… jealous of them.

Yes, that had to be it. She was jealous of those girls because they had everything that she wanted. Sakura was a friendly person; she was friends with practically everyone. Shierra was so smart, and that opened so many doors for her in the future. Hinata was shy, but it was actually adorable because it also showed her caring nature.

In reality, Ino wished she could be like those three.

"Darn it," Ino sighed.

She quickly started digging through her purse and whipped out a pen and a piece of paper. She scribbled something on the paper quickly, and then she took a deep breath. She slowly entered the office and looked over at the principal.

Naruto looked up to see who had entered and frowned when he saw it was only Ino.

Tsunade looked up and folded her hands in front of her face. "Hello. What can I help you with?"

"I, um, received a green slip last period," Ino said as she handed the green piece of paper to the older blonde woman.

Tsunade sighed at this. "A green slip on your first day… that's disappointing," the woman said as she eyed Ino up and down.

"I know," the girl said quietly.

Tsunade began to record the green slip into the school records. As the principal was distracted on the computer, Ino slowly walked over to Naruto's desk. He raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed that she was now standing in front of his desk. Without Tsunade noticing, Ino placed a folded piece of notebook paper on the desk. Naruto stared at it and then looked at her, but he took it nevertheless.

"Well, that green slip has been added to your record. You had better stay behaved, because if those green slips continue to pile up, you'll be suspended," Tsunade said.

"Don't worry, My Lady. It won't happen again," Ino said. She bowed respectfully and then headed towards the door. She glanced at Naruto quickly before she exited the room.

The room was left with Naruto and Tsunade again. Careful to make sure the principal wasn't looking at him, Naruto pulled out Ino's note. He read it carefully, and his eyebrows shot up until they disappeared into his hairline.

Nadare's got Shierra, Sakura, and Hinata somewhere. The Lightning Bulls are holding them hostage somewhere. You have to find them!

Naruto didn't know if Ino was telling the truth or not. But considering the three girls were missing during ninth period, and Nadare wasn't in detention with him right now, this bit of info certainly made sense.

Without even bothering to tell Tsunade, Naruto stood up and ran out of the room. Surprised that he had just run out, Tsunade stood up and yelled at the now open door. "Naruto! Where are you going? Get back here, now!"

But Naruto was already running down the hallway, out toward the student parking lot.