"Where is my cousin?" Neji Hyuuga growled fiercely as he grabbed Kiba by the collar, pulling the slightly scared freshman closer.
"I told you, Neji! I don't know!" Kiba yelled in his defense. Unfortunately, it only made the pale-eyed boy angrier.
The freshman boys had gone to the courtyard in hopes of finding the three missing girls. There was no sign of them. Neji, being the overprotective cousin who was supposed to drive Hinata home, was not happy when the younger boys admitted to not knowing where their friends were.
"Neji, please calm down," Rock Lee tried to persuade his friend.
"I will not calm down," Neji snarled back to his bowl-haired friend. "These stupid freshmen lost my cousin!"
"Hey! Get off my brother!" a very tough female voice screamed.
Everyone turned around to see Hana stomping up to them, Zuko following. The brown-haired girl shoved Neji over, making the normally graceful boy stumble to catch his footing. Kiba brought a hand to his throat, covering it protectively. There was a moment when he was sure Neji would end up strangling him.
"What's your problem?" Hana screamed at Neji.
"Your brother has the audacity to tell me that my cousin is missing, and he didn't even bother looking for her," Neji said. He turned back to glare at the brown-haired boy. "And you call yourself a friend to Hinata." His eyes looked over all the freshman boys. "You all are worthless if you don't keep track of your own company."
Zuko looked over at the group of boys, and he instantly grew nervous as well. "Wait…where's Shierra? Sakura and Hinata… all three of them are missing?" Zuko asked worriedly.
Kiba looked reluctant to answer, for fear of another choking session. He glanced at the other five guys, hoping for someone else to be brave enough to be the bearer of bad news.
Sasuke sighed and took a step forward. "All three of them are gone," he said emotionlessly, even though on the inside, he was really concerned.
Zuko's eyes widened considerably. Then he glared at Sasuke. It just appeared to be a trend that the one who was brave enough to break the bad news was the one who would feel the wrath of the overprotective relative.
The senior pulled Sasuke over to him by grasping his shirt. "How the heck do you lose three girls?"
"We saw them go into the girls' locker room to get assigned gym lockers during eighth period. But they never showed up for ninth period math," Sasuke replied stoically. He gently removed Zuko's hands from his shirt.
The older boy's face had gone even paler than normal. He had stopped breathing, and his lungs were screaming for oxygen. But he ignored them. His only thoughts were about his missing sister. He placed his hands on his face and moaned into them in frustration.
Hana thought it necessary to intervene before Zuko decided to slaughter the freshmen. "Are you sure they didn't say anything about where they were going?" she asked calmly.
"No. They didn't say anything," Shikamaru replied.
"Where's Naruto? He would normally know where Shierra is," Zuko said hopefully.
"We asked him, and he said he didn't know. He's in detention now with that Nadare kid anyway," Chouji said.
Zuko instantly stiffened. Hana's mouth fell open. "Did…did you just say Naruto's in detention…?" Zuko asked.
"With Nadare?" Hana added.
"Yes," Sai said. "Lady Tsunade placed the two in detention for fighting before school started."
"Shit!" Zuko cursed. He proceeded to stomp around and release a variety of curses.
"Um…did we miss something?" Kiba asked cautiously.
"Nadare Yama gets in trouble all the time," Hana explained as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Lady Tsunade has given him detention almost every day of his high school life. And he skips nearly all of them."
"What?" the freshmen boys shouted in unison.
"Why on earth does Lady Tsunade let that go then?" Shikamaru asked. "Why doesn't she just expel him?"
"She suspends Nadare all the time. The only reason why he hasn't been expelled is because his parents are powerful figures in Konoha. They act as advisors to the mayor. The first and only time Tsunade tried expelling Nadare, his parents nearly had the school closed because of it," Hana said.
"So you're saying that Nadare probably had something to do with the fact that the girls are missing?" Shikamaru asked.
"Not probably. He is the reason they're gone," Hana said.
"We have to find them," Zuko said, regaining himself enough so that he could talk without slipping some foul words into his sentences.
"Hey, guys!" a voice shouted out towards the group. Everyone turned around to see Naruto and Ino running up to them.
"You," Zuko growled at Naruto as the boy jogged up to them.
The blonde boy furrowed his eyebrows at the older boy as Zuko decided to channel all his rage at him. Zuko grabbed Naruto by his black jacket and pushed him to the ground.
"This is all your fault! If you hadn't been your stupid obnoxious self, the girls wouldn't be missing right now! Because of you, Nadare could do unimaginable things to them!" Zuko yelled in frustration.
Naruto scrambled to his feet and tried to put a bit of distance between himself and the angry senior. "Look Zuko, I'm sorry that I brought this on them. I'm sorry. But that's not important right now. What's important is that we find them. Ino told me that she saw Nadare take the girls away. They were gone for a whole class period, which means they could be anywhere by now."
"Ino told you that?" Kiba asked in surprise.
"Why would you help us?" Chouji asked as he turned to Ino. The blonde girl instantly blushed as everyone turned to her, wondering the same thing that Chouji had asked.
"We'll worry about that later," Shikamaru interrupted. "Right now, we have to find the girls."
"Let's split up," Sasuke said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
Shikamaru and Chouji went to check inside the school, just in case the Lightning Bulls decided to be sneaky and try to throw everyone off their tracks. Kiba and Shino went to the soccer field, which was on the north side of the school grounds. Sasuke and Sai went to the baseball field, which was on the east side of the school grounds. Zuko and Hana decided to check the parking lots. Lee and Neji headed toward the track, which was on the west side of the school grounds. Naruto and Ino went to the football field, which was on the south side of the school.
They all separated and ran at a rapid speed, hoping to find their friends.
"Holy crap, this is one big school," Ino panted as she and Naruto finally made it to the gates of the football field.
The school grounds were, indeed, rather large. All the fields seemed to be largely distanced apart. The actual school was in the middle, and the parking lots and sports fields required a bit of a walk. Ino now had her hands on her knees, trying to suck in deep gulps of oxygen.
"Maybe if you spent less time doing your hair and more time staying in shape, you wouldn't be so tired right now!" Naruto snapped impatiently as he trudged forward, leaving Ino to glare at the back of his head.
"Are you calling me fat?" Ino shrieked.
"Well, your name does mean boar, which is a type of pig," Naruto said, not bothering to turn around to look at the killer intent in the girl's eyes.
"You know, I would've thought you would be a little nicer to me! I didn't have to tell you about the Lightning Bulls kidnapping those three stupid wenches!" Ino screamed.
The whiskered boy immediately turned around and stomped over to her. He walked right up to her, and his blue eyes seemed immensely darker than usual. "Don't you ever, ever talk about those three like that again," he growled threateningly. "You pale in comparison to them, so don't talk like you know anything. You know nothing!"
Ino's face instantly grew into one of pure terror. She had never seen an angry Naruto up close before. It was rather intimidating. Actually, it was really terrifying. The normally hyper boy looked incredibly frightening when he was angry. His lips were pulled back into a snarl, and his teeth looked sharper than humanly possible. His whiskers seemed darker than usual, and any sign of friendliness was completely wiped off his face.
"I'm…I'm sorry, Naruto," Ino whispered. "I…I didn't mean to upset you like that."
The boy's expression slowly eased out of the ferocious snarl that had been plastered on his face. He looked down at the girl in front of him sadly. "Apology accepted."
Naruto turned away to continue walking, and Ino cautiously followed. The display of protectiveness she had just witnessed was still circulating through Ino's mind. She had never seen anyone stand up for another person like that. She didn't have friends who would do something like that for her. Actually, she didn't have friends…at all.
She didn't have any girlfriends because most of the girls in her grade were obsessed with Sasuke. And in her mind, anyone who was in love with Sasuke Uchiha was an arch rival. In addition, she didn't know many guys to hang around with. Since she only had eyes for Sasuke, her vision blocked out all other guys, even if they only wanted to be friends with her.
It suddenly hit her that she was alone. She didn't have people who would defend her like Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were trying to do for Shierra, Sakura, and Hinata. She was so focused on herself and her infatuation that she didn't attract other people to her.
Ino frowned to herself. Man, she was pathetic.
Naruto's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey, Ino."
"Huh?"
"I want to thank you," the boy said without turning around.
Ino's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "What?"
"You were right when you said you didn't have to tell me about the Lightning Bulls," he said. "But you did anyway…so thank you." He turned around to look at her for the first time since he had yelled at her, and a big smile was stretched across his face. "You're not as bad as I took you for."
Ino was so taken aback. She was so surprised that she just had to smile back because Naruto's grin was that contagious. "Y-You're welcome."
"You know what? We were all wrong about you when we said you were a shallow vixen. Obviously, you're not that shallow," Naruto continued.
The girl's smile faltered for a moment before it turned into a frown. When what he said registered in her head, her eyebrows furrowed at him. "You guys say stuff like that about me?"
"Well, no offense or anything, but it's sort of hard not to talk about you when you practically visit us everyday to talk to Sasuke," the blonde boy answered.
Ino's eyes widened at this new bit of info. "Great…" she thought to herself sadly. She hunched her shoulders in depression. "I'm just a joke to Sasuke and his friends…"
The two walked through the gates, which led to the side of the bleachers. As they walked, something in the center of the field caught their eyes.
"Duck!" Naruto hissed as he pulled Ino under the bleachers.
In the center of the football field were the Lightning Bulls. The gang of ten guys was standing in a circle around something. After looking closely, Naruto and Ino suddenly realized that the seniors were standing around the girls that everyone was searching for.
Shierra, Sakura, and Hinata were standing next to each other, their backs against the others', trying to stare down the older boys. But the Lightning Bulls were only snickering at the bravery the girls were trying to show.
"Ino, text someone and tell them to hurry over here," Naruto ordered, not taking his eyes off of Nadare.
"Why can't you do it?" Ino countered.
"Because my phone died this morning. It's at home charging," the whiskered boy said. "Just get on the phone and tell the others to get over here!"
"Um…that might not work out…" Ino said nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't…have any of their numbers…" the girl replied sheepishly.
"WHAT?" Naruto yelled loudly.
Ino slapped her hand over the boy's mouth and shushed him. The two glanced out toward the seniors; luckily, no one had heard Naruto's loud outburst. Deeming it safe, the girl removed her hand from Naruto's mouth.
"What do you mean you don't have anyone's numbers?" Naruto hissed.
"I mean exactly what I said!" Ino murmured.
"I thought you would at least have Sasuke's!" Naruto said. "You mean you didn't stalk him down and steal his cell number?"
Ino raised an eyebrow at him.
Naruto nodded. "Right. Never mind. If you had his number, I would still be hearing him complain about how you're constantly texting and calling him. Then he'd say he needs to change his number."
The blonde girl glared at him. She shook her head to clear the clobbering intent that was filling her mind at the moment. "Alright, so what do we do then?" she asked.
Naruto stared at the Lightning Bulls, almost as if an idea would appear in the spot where they were standing. After a few moments, he came up with a plan. "Ino, you have to go back and try to find someone. They'll text the others, and then you can all come back here to back me up to save the girls."
"What will you do?" Ino asked cautiously.
"That's not important," Naruto replied mysteriously. "Just do as I say. Hurry and find the others."
Ino looked at the boy beside her uncertainly. "Okay…" she muttered hesitantly. She took a step back to leave, but then she turned back to look at him. "Naruto…" He turned around to look at her. "Please…don't do anything stupid."
Naruto flashed Ino his signature fox grin. "Ino, do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
"Yeah…that's why I said don't do anything stupid," she answered.
"Just go," he ordered. She watched him for another moment before she turned on her heel and ran off back towards the school.
After watching her go, Naruto turned back to look at the Lightning Bulls. She had told him to not do anything stupid… honestly though, his friends told him that all the time. And he never listened to them. No offense to Ino or anything, but if he didn't listen to his friends, there was no way in hell he was going to listen to her.
He stealthily removed himself from behind the bleachers and snuck out towards the football field. Since there was nothing to cover him, he was now an open target. Rather than continuing to try to hide, he decided to hold himself with dignity. He stood tall as he walked towards the Lightning Bulls.
The seniors immediately noticed him as he walked over to them. When Nadare saw him, he smirked in a malicious manner. "Well, well…if it isn't Fishcake…"
The girls turned their heads to look at him, and they instantly grew hopeful. "Naruto!" they all shouted in unison.
The thugs quickly grabbed the girls and roughly pulled their arms behind their backs. "Hey! Watch it, buster!" Shierra yelled as she tried to kick the boy behind her.
"You had best be nice or else I'll have to break these arms of yours," Shierra's captor hissed.
"Don't touch her!" Naruto yelled. "Don't touch any of them."
"Oh, so you're going to play tough guy again, are you?" Nadare asked. He crossed his arms in front of his chest to show how superior he was over the freshman. "Just show us how tough you are, Fishcake."
"If it's another beating session you want, I'll gladly give it to you," Naruto countered.
"Just try it," Nadare smirked.
The whiskered boy ran at the gang leader. He raised his fist, ready to punch him in the face. But just as he neared Nadare, the man holding Hinata squeezed her shoulder harshly, causing her to scream out in pain. Naruto skidded to a stop, and he stared worriedly at the fragile brunette.
Nadare's smirk grew into one of pure malevolence. He nodded his head to his gang, and the ones not holding the three girls ran over to the blonde freshman. Naruto suddenly realized that he was at a giant disadvantage. If he fought back, his friends would get hurt. But if he didn't do anything, then-
He was brought out of his thoughts by a punch to his left cheek. He stumbled to the side but caught himself before he fell. He looked around and suddenly noticed that he was surrounded by six guys.
"Naruto! Are you alright?" Shierra yelled in concern.
"Hehe, don't worry about me, Shierra," Naruto said as he rubbed his now sore cheek.
"Naruto, don't take that from these punks! Fight back!" Sakura ordered.
"Shut up, wench," the man holding the pink-haired girl said as he placed his hand roughly over her mouth. Sakura bit his fingers in response. "Ouch! She bit me!"
The girl spit into the ground. "Ew, gross. That was gross," she said, referring to the fact that she had just sunk her teeth into the guy's disgusting skin.
"You little brat!" the guy yelled. He wrapped his arm around her neck, cutting off her air supply.
"No, stop!" Naruto yelled out.
The six guys encircling him chose that moment to pounce on him. Three punched him in the gut while the other three pushed and kicked him to the ground. Naruto used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth; his lip was bleeding now. From his position in the dirt, the blonde glanced up to see the senior release his choke hold on Sakura. But he continued to hold her shoulders ruthlessly, causing pain to shoot down her arms.
"I assume you know how this is going to work out," Nadare said as he stepped over to kneel in front of Naruto's face. "As long as you don't fight back, the girls will be fine."
Naruto glared at Nadare. If looks could kill, the older boy would be dead in a millisecond. But glancing over Nadare's shoulder, Naruto could see the three girls being held forcefully by the goons. Shierra was attempting to pull herself free, but she was actually close to dislocating her shoulders by squirming so much. Sakura was attempting to kick her captor in the knees to make him collapse, but he just continued to squeeze her arms, making them go numb. Hinata wiggled a little, but her small form did little against the big bulky senior.
The freshman boy's face instantly fell. He really wasn't in any position to fight back. All he could do was hope that Ino found the other guys and brought them here soon. But it was such a big school… it could take forever for her to find them.
Naruto didn't have time to dwell on it as someone was pulling him by his collar, forcing him to stand up. As soon as he found his footing, he was delivered another blow to his gut, causing him to stumble backwards. Then someone punched him in the back of the head.
The whiskered boy nearly passed out at that point. His vision was filled with black spots, and his balance was terribly off. He had to struggle just to stand up straight. He reached his arm out to try and grasp something to help steady himself. But of course, there was nothing in the middle of the football field except for the Lightning Bulls, the three girls, and himself.
One guy grabbed his outstretched arm and twisted it behind his back, nearly pulling it from its socket. Naruto hissed in pain.
"Naruto!" Hinata screamed in terror. She watched painfully as he was being delivered the most terrible beating any one of them had ever witnessed.
"Fight back, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, trying to knock some sense into him. But she knew it was useless as he ignored her. He was trying to save them from getting hurt. But as a result, he was being beaten to a pulp.
"C'mon, Naruto! I know you can take these guys on! Don't just stand there!" Shierra shrieked in a worried panic.
Naruto continued to ignore the cries of his friends. He didn't even look at them. He didn't want to see the fear and pain in their eyes. He would do whatever it took to save them. And if they didn't approve of his methods, then so be it. But he would be damned if he let anyone continue to hurt his friends. If that meant that he could take their pain for them, then he would do this a thousand more times.
The one holding Naruto's arm behind him shoved him forward. The freshman didn't even get a chance to regain his balance before someone brought their leg up and kicked him in the side, pushing him back down to the ground. Naruto landed roughly on his left side, right on his ribs.
"Stand up," Nadare ordered as he walked over to stand in front of the fallen boy. Naruto ignored him. "I said stand up. Or do you want those pretty little girls to have their arms ripped off?"
The blonde stiffened at that last sentence. He slowly dragged his body together and pulled himself up so that he stood, shakily, in front of the leader of the Lightning Bulls.
Nadare smirked. He slowly walked around Naruto's unsteady form. He sneered at the beaten boy scornfully. Naruto's now black and swollen eyes carefully followed the older boy as Nadare continued to circle around him like a lion ready to kill its prey.
"Look at yourself now, Fishcake," Nadare mocked. "All bruised and battered… do you now know where your place is?"
Naruto didn't answer.
"I asked you a question," Nadare growled. "Do you know where your place is?"
Still, there was no reply.
The senior grabbed the collar of Naruto's black jacket, dragging him closer to him. "Answer the question before your friends pay the price. Do you know where your place is?"
Naruto took a deep breath to steady his nerves. This part was humiliating. Nadare was trying to taunt him. But the blonde really didn't have another option at this point.
"No," Naruto answered simply.
"Wrong answer," Nadare snarled angrily.
He pulled his fist back and punched him just beneath the chin, causing Naruto to nearly be lifted off the ground from the impact. Then Nadare kneed the younger boy in the gut, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap.
Naruto's vision was almost completely gone at this point. Not only was he seeing black spots, but now his eyes were so badly swollen that they were barely able to open. He started coughing vigorously, and he brought his hand up to his mouth to calm it down. He pulled his hand back, and he inwardly flinched.
Blood was covering his hand.
He was coughing up blood.
This wasn't good. This was really not good.
He placed his blood-soaked hand in the ground, staining the green grass. He suddenly felt someone pull him back up by the collar again, and his puffy eyes met Nadare's deep scowl.
"Do you know where your place is now?" Nadare asked.
Naruto couldn't even find his voice. His throat was so sore from the coughing. His body was so weak and beaten that he barely had enough strength to even nod.
Nadare was not happy with not being answered to again. "Answer the question!"
The blonde slowly nodded his head, causing a shooting pain to fly up his neck and into his cranium. If he could move his hands, he would be grasping his head. But he couldn't, so he was forced to deal with the suffering.
"Say it out loud!" Nadare yelled.
Naruto took a slow intake of breath, trying to find enough strength to speak. "Yes…"
"Yes, what?" the senior asked harshly.
The blonde was about to fall over from the dizziness in his head. He forced himself to stay standing as he spoke. "Yes…I know where my place is."
"You had better!" Nadare shouted.
The senior jabbed his knee into Naruto's chest, and more blood leaked from his mouth. The blonde freshman clutched his chest. His lungs were screaming in protest, trying to tell him to stop being an idiot. He refused to listen to his body. His brain was shouting at him to turn around and run and call 911 or something. He refused to listen to his brain. The only thing that was keeping him there was his pure, stubborn will. And that was enough to override all his other senses.
Nadare kneed his victim in the chest a second time, and when Naruto was hunched over in pain, Nadare proceeded to bring his elbow down on the back of his head. For who knows how many times, Naruto fell to the ground.
Sobs racked Hinata's body as she watched this horror. She looked away, unable to bear to watch any longer. Sakura sniffled, wishing she could look away. But something compelled her to watch; maybe it was her heart telling her to watch him, hoping that he would stand up and pummel all these guys to the ground. Shierra was numb inside. Unshed tears pricked her eyes, but they wouldn't drop. Her best friend was being beaten to near death, and she couldn't help him… it was killing her inside.
"Your place is right where you are now," Nadare said with a disgusting sneer. "You belong at my feet, crumpled and beaten into a worthless pile of shit. Because that is what you are, and that is what you will always be."
"Shut up!" a voice screamed. Nadare turned around to see Shierra glaring at him, tears staining her cheeks. "Shut your mouth, you worthless sack of nothing! Naruto is twice the man you will ever be! It's disgusting and repulsive how you think you're so superior. If this is how you show your worth, then I hope you rot in a prison cell for the rest of your pathetic life!"
The senior narrowed his eyes dangerously at her. He slowly stormed over to her. With each step he took, a knife of fear was stuck into the girl's being. But she refused to show any trepidation. If Naruto could stand up like how he had just done, then she would do the same.
Nadare was now standing directly in front of Shierra. "Do you want to say that again, brat?"
Shierra took a sharp intake of breath. There were so many things running through her brain at that moment, telling her what to do. Curse him out, kick him between the legs…there were so many different things that she thought of doing. But none of them seemed good enough.
So she chose to spit in his face.
Nadare was so shocked that he took a step back as he flinched. He brought a hand up and wiped the saliva off his face. When he opened his eyes to look at her, they were full of malice and danger.
"You're going to pay for that," he snarled.
He reached his arm back, ready to slap her across the face with the back of his hand. Shierra closed her eyes, ready for the beating.
"Shierra…" Naruto whispered as he looked up at the scene. He wished he could force his body up, but it was no use. He couldn't move at all.
The sound of flesh being slapped reached everyone's ears.
But it wasn't Shierra's cheek.
Cautiously, she opened her eyes a fraction. At the sight in front of her, she let her eyes open all the way.
Nadare was on the ground, and he was rubbing his now bruised jaw.
Shierra looked to her right. Sasuke was standing beside her, his arm outstretched from his punch to Nadare. When he noticed that Shierra was gawking at him, he flashed her the famous Uchiha smirk.
Then the raven-haired girl felt her captor stiffen behind her. She glanced behind her and smiled in relief. Her brother had his arm in a choke hold around the thug.
"Let my sister go," Zuko ordered. The guy instantly did as he was told, and then Zuko proceeded to knock him unconscious with a blow to the back of the neck.
Shierra glanced around, and her smile widened. Everyone was there. Kiba had punched Sakura's captor out cold, and Neji had hit a series of pressure points to leave Hinata's holder in immense pain.
Lee, Sai, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino were taking care of the rest of the gang while Sasuke continued to glare down at Nadare. It appeared that the new arrivals had surprised the Lightning Bulls so much that the gang of seniors was losing terribly. They were all knocked down to the ground in seconds.
Nadare, however, refused to go down without a fight. "I will not lose to a bunch of brats!"
"Give it up, Yama," Zuko snarled. "You don't have your gang to back you up now."
"I don't need them! I don't need anyone! I run this school!" Nadare roared loudly.
"It's over," Sasuke growled fiercely at the Lightning Bull leader.
Nadare glanced around frantically. He was surrounded by all the other guys. All the boys who had come to rescue the kidnapped girls were staring at Nadare fiercely, ready to tear him apart.
"Can I please rip his face apart?" Kiba asked.
"Go for it," Zuko replied.
Immediately, Kiba, Lee, and Neji ran in and delivered the final blows. Kiba kneed Nadare in the gut, Lee karate chopped him in the back, and Neji elbowed him in the back of the neck. The leader of the gang fell to the ground. Blood started seeping from his nose, and he quickly grabbed his nose to stop the bleeding. His attempt to stop the blood flow did little.
Sakura stomped over to the boy's fallen body. The senior looked up at the fuming pinkette. She glared down at him before she brought her foot up and stepped forcefully on his head, pushing it into the dirt. Nadare moaned in pain before the aching finally took over his body, and he fell unconscious, along with the rest of his gang.
Everyone stared at Sakura, eyebrows raised. The pink-haired girl shrunk a bit when she noticed that all eyes were on her. "What? Shierra got to spit in his face… I wanted to have my turn…" Smiles broke out at her words. "Hinata, you want to have a turn?"
"Um…n-n-no t-t-thank y-you," the brunette stammered nervously as she looked at the unconscious Nadare.
"Are you all alright?" Hana asked the three girls.
"We're fine," Shierra said dismissively. Her arms were a little stiff, but they could wait. Ignoring everyone, she ran over to Naruto's side. She kneeled beside him and gently nudged his shoulder. "Naruto? Can you hear me?"
Sakura and Hinata joined Shierra and kneeled down to see their savior. "Hey, Naruto? Are you alright?" Sakura asked in a surprisingly gentle tone.
"N-N-Naruto?" Hinata stuttered quietly.
The blonde slowly opened his eyes to look up at the three girls. When he saw them there, looking at him with concern, he smiled. "Hey, ladies."
"Idiot! Do you have any idea how much I was worried about you?" Sakura screamed at him.
"Sakura, you know me. When have I ever made you think things wouldn't work out alright?" Naruto asked in an amused tone.
"Right then, I thought you were going to die! You're such an idiot!" Sakura shrieked angrily. And then she frowned as tears started to spill out of her eyes. "You idiot…" she whispered before she reached down and hugged him.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch," Naruto hissed.
The green-eyed girl instantly backed away. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
"Nah, don't worry. It's the good kind of pain. C'mon girls, I need a hug from all of you!" Naruto smiled as he struggled to open his arms in a welcoming gesture.
Shierra and Sakura beamed down at him and gently pulled him up so that he was in a sitting position. Then they hugged him tightly. Hinata just smiled as she watched.
"No, no, no, Hinata! You have to get in on this too!" Naruto said happily. The pale girl's face instantly grew hot as she blushed madly at the idea of her hugging her crush. But she didn't have a chance to refuse as Naruto pulled her in, and she and the other two girls were hugging Naruto closely, happy that he was alright.
"That is one lucky dude, right there," Kiba said, shaking his head as he watched Naruto hug all three girls at the same time. The other guys nodded at that remark.
Sasuke walked over to stand in front of Naruto. The girls let go of the blonde, and he looked up at the raven-haired boy. The Uchiha was staring down at him, expressionless as always.
Then Sasuke let a small smile grace his lips. "You did good, Naruto," he said as he held a hand out to his friend.
The whiskered boy smiled. Even through all the cuts, the bruises, and the pain, his brightening smile lightened everyone's mood. "Thanks, Sasuke." He took the outstretched hand, and Sasuke pulled his best friend to his feet. He put Naruto's arm around his shoulder, letting him lean on the Uchiha.
"Good job, Naruto!"
"That was reckless, but you did it!"
"You're the man, Naruto!"
The others proceeded to praise Naruto for his brave yet irresponsible idea. But since he was able to help prevent pain from being inflicted on his friends, everyone couldn't help but admire him.
Ino watched from the side. Even though she had told everyone about the kidnapped girls, and everyone had seemed to accept her when it came to looking for them, she still felt that she didn't belong here. They weren't her friends. She didn't want to intrude on this moment, where everyone was happy to be together. The friendships in the group were so strong, and Ino felt that it wouldn't be right to impose.
Even through the giant crowd that was surrounding him, Naruto could see Ino, standing off to the side. He looked at Sasuke, who was still holding his arm around his shoulders. "Sasuke," he said, getting the other boy's attention. The Uchiha looked up, and when Naruto's swollen eyes glanced over in the blonde girl's direction, Sasuke nodded.
The raven-haired boy helped Naruto walk over to Ino, and she was stunned when she realized they were coming over to her. The other members of the group watched as Naruto flashed a giant beaming smile at her.
"Ino…thanks for everything. You're really a good person," Naruto said. "If it wasn't for you, things might not have turned out like they did just now. We owe you a lot. So thanks."
Ino was so shocked that she couldn't even find her voice. She glanced around at the group of people. Everyone was staring at her, but instead of giving her glares like they usually did, they were smiling at her, much like Naruto was. They were all appreciative of her display of assistance.
Hinata smiled sweetly at her, glad to know that there was a caring person inside Ino. Sakura grinned at her, showing her acceptance of her. Shierra smiled comfortingly at her, showing her that they all were grateful to her. And all the others were giving her accepting grins and nods, telling her that they agreed with Naruto's words.
"You know, if you want, you can sit with us at lunch anytime," Naruto offered kindly.
Ino's eyebrows rose in astonishment. She glanced at the others to see if they disagreed, and they didn't. She politely returned Naruto's smile. "Sure. Thanks…Naruto."
The whiskered boy grinned cheekily at her. Then he turned to look at the others. "Well, I think it's time that we head out. Tsunade is probably still really mad that I left detention."
"Well, after she finds out about this, I don't think she'll care so much about your ditching detention," Shikamaru said.
"Only one way to find out," Chouji said with a shrug.
And with that, the group turned and left the football field behind. The Lightning Bulls were left there, fallen and unconscious.
Sasuke and Sai were helping Naruto walk, his arms around their shoulders as they supported his weight.
Neji had his arm protectively around Hinata's shoulders; even after knowing that she was fine, he was too worried to let her alone. Hinata smiled warmly at her cousin's behavior.
Zuko was the same way. He had his arm affectionately wrapped around Shierra's form. The girl lightly punched his stomach, trying to convince him that he didn't have to hold her, but she enjoyed the hug anyway.
Hana ruffled Kiba's hair, praising and telling him how impressed she was with his display of strength when he had help take down Nadare and his gang.
Lee was running ahead, jumping up and down and cheering about how the power of youth had helped them to defeat evil.
Shikamaru and Chouji were walking side by side, glad to have this whole ordeal finished with. While Shikamaru was muttering about how troublesome that had been, Chouji knew that his friend was happy to see that everyone was safe and together again.
Ino walked beside Sakura. The blonde glanced at the pink-haired girl before speaking what was on her mind. "How can you guys accept me so easily?" Ino asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"Sakura asked in confusion.
"I mean…I've never been nice to any of you. How can you accept me into your group after all the terrible things I've said to you guys?" Ino asked, not daring to look at Sakura, for fear that she would yell at her.
"Well, after being friends with all these guys for so long, I've learned a little something about friendship," Sakura said as she glanced at her group of friends. "It's not about what you say… it's about the actions that you take."
Ino looked up at the pinkette, and the two girls locked eyes.
"We all have our differences. Sometimes, we get along great. Other times, we argue and say stuff we don't mean. And that's okay. Friendships aren't defined by what we say. They're defined by the measures we take to keep those friendships in tact," Sakura explained. "When you came to help us, that move triumphed over everything else that you have ever said to us. That's why we accept you."
Ino smiled. "Wow…thanks…You guys…are really something."
Sakura smiled back. "We look out for each other. There's really nothing more to it than that."
As the group of kids headed back towards the school, they conversed and joked about random things. It had been such a long day, and everyone couldn't wait to go home and rest. It had certainly been a very eventful day. For the freshmen, they could only imagine what the rest of their high school days would feel like. Then, the same thought entered everyone's minds. The first day of school was finally over. One down, 179 more days to go…