I think I want these updates to move a little faster than my other story, only because of the lack of chapters so far. When I get around the nine to ten chapter mark, the updates will probably slow down. But until then, I'm not comfortable or satisfied with this measley amount of chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. *sob* I also don't own any of the songs used.

Chapter Five

Naruto left Tsunade's office feeling like he'd just sold his soul to the devil. Well, that may be an exaggeration. Tsunade wasn't a devil exactly. She was just trying to help his dad, who was going through rough times with his health. But dammit... why did he have to be the one who was sacrificed for his dad's wellbeing? Why him? He knew it was selfish to think it, but why couldn't his mom and dad have had another son before she died? It was... unfair.

Naruto sighed and looked down at the class schedule in his hands. Tsunade had just given it to him and told him to get to class. But as he looked at it and the words and bell schedules blurred in his eyes, he decided against it. He wouldn't be up for learning in his current mood. He had a hard enough time concentrating when he was up for school. So instead of education, he chose to pursue another form of productivity. His music.

He snuck around the school and thankfully avoided the school's anbu guards well enough that he reached the music room without much hassle. As soon as he stepped inside he felt like his troubles washed away. Music. It was his savior.

He walked back over to the chair in the middle of the room where he'd been sitting when Hinata walked in. He plopped down and removed the guitar case that was still strapped to his back and pulled out the guitar Sasuke'd bought him. He smiled to himself and strummed a few chords. Simple chords that Sasuke taught him to play when he was first learning. Simple, like he wished his life was...

"I knew I'd find you in here," A sweet voice spoke from the doorway, deliciously pouring over his ears like honey and wrapping around his brain like a python. It had been so long since he'd heard that voice in real life, it took his breath away.

Naruto turned around, jaw slightly slack as he took in the image of his Sakura-chan up close and personal - not staring at her creepily from across the cafeteria. "Sakura-chan... Wha-what are you doing here?" he asked, standing up abruptly.

She swept a pink bang behind her ear and away from her bright green eyes. "I've been looking for you. I saw you in the cafeteria earlier but..."

"Yeah I was late for my appointment with Tsunade."

They both looked awkwardly at one another before letting their eyes fall to their own feet. Naruto shuffled his weight back and forth with his feet and Sakura just came fully into the room. Neither one of them said anything for a while and the room was soon overcome with an uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Sakura looked up. "How's your dad?" she asked him meekly.

Naruto looked up and rubbed the back of his head with his hand. He didn't know how to answer, given that he didn't know how much the student body knew about his dad. He didn't want to tell everyone if Minato wanted to keep it a secret. "He's fine," he answered simply. It was vague, but gave just enough information to keep from seeming impolite. "He's taking some time off from work, just a little while."

Sakura nodded. It looked like she wasn't really interested in the answer, but was just trying to make small talk with the boy who should have been her boyfriend. It was never this hard to talk to Naruto before... "How are you?" she asked, looking into his eyes and seeming genuinely interested.

Naruto bit his lip. "I'm good. You?"

"Good. I'm good."

Silence creeped over them yet again.

Sakura cleared her throat. "So do you want to talk?"

"Aren't we doing that already?"

She fidgeted where she stood. Her expression said it all - she thought this was a bad idea and should never have come looking for him. "It's just... We haven't... really talked in so long," she stammered quietly, playing with her hands in front of herself.

Naruto watched her critically. Sakura was different. She wasn't the same confident girl that he left - she was fidgety and nervous, even when speaking to him. Maybe that girl in the cafeteria was an illusion, something he imagined just because she was the student vice president. Sakura changed, and not in the positive way that he thought.

He bit his lip. "We can talk tonight. Get together with everyone or something. But right now isn't a good time. Some kids have already asked the band to play at a get-together soon and I gotta practice...," he lied, looking down at his feet. He felt bad about it, but he didn't want to let his vision of his perfect Sakura deteriorate anymore. He didn't like shy, fidgety Sakura.

Sakura's eyes got wide and she opened and closed her mouth a few times, but eventually said, "D-Don't worry about it, Naruto. I'll see you around." She back towards the door, turning and leaving. He didn't notice as she shut the door behind her that the pretty green eyes that he'd just been admiring were now filled with salty unshed tears.

Hinata found herself in the Health room with Kurenai as the older woman sat rubbing her baby bump while sitting in the large teacher's chair behind the desk. Ever since the pretty teacher had gotten herself pregnant (with a baby who she still refused to name the father of), she didn't move around very much. She couldn't stand to stay standing for very long and complained if she was required to move to any area of the school where she couldn't roll her desk chair- which was everywhere outside of her classroom. Once she'd confiscated a wheelchair from the nurse's office for herself, but Tsunade forced her to give it back in case a student needed it for some reason or other. Pregnant Kurenai was quite the complainer and most people found it a little frustrating to be around her. But not Hinata. She was goodnatured about the whining, knowing that the normally kind and sweet Kurenai couldn't help it.

"I don't even know if he likes me anymore," Hinata revealed in regards to Kiba. "We talked while he was on tour a lot and he sent me a lot of postcards and letters, but the ones he sent most recently started to seem to me like he was only seeing me as a friend. The way he wrote to me was almost... too easy." The young Hyuga made a face.

Kurenai continued to rub her belly, thinking to herself for a moment before she said, "Well, did you consider he might have just gotten comfortable with you as his girlfriend? That can sometimes be misunderstood as friendship when a boy has really just stopped feeling like he has to hide one side of himself from you. It's a good thing."

Hinata shrugged. "I guess so."

"You aren't sexually active, are you?" Kurenai asked, narrowing her eyes at the young heiress.

Hinata jumped and her eyes grew wide. "What!? No! What would make you ask that!?"

"Good. Stay that way," Kurenai ordered, waving her hand in the air carelessly. "If you have sex you'll get pregnant with some idiot man's big headed baby that sits on your bladder for almost six hours of every day and makes it impossible not to have to pee every two minutes. And don't get me started on the cravings that said father of said child refuses to help you satisfy in the wee hours of the morning. Not like you wouldn't have satisfied his wee morning urges before the stupid baby..."

Hinata raised an eyebrow at the ranting older woman. "Do you want to talk about it, Kurenai-sensei?"

"Hm? Talk about what?" Kurenai asked innocently.

"Your baby's father troubles."

"I don't have baby's father troubles!"

"Seems like it."

"I don't."

"Do you want to tell me who it is yet?" Hinata asked with an uncharacteristic smirk.

"No!"

"Say it again," Shikamaru commanded of his girlfriend who was currently seated in a corner of the library with his head in her lap. He would have preferred to go outside to sit in the courtyard, but Ino had insisted that teachers would less likely suspect skipping students to be in the library than in the courtyard. 'Who skips class just to go to the library?' She'd said.

"I love you," Ino replied, leaning to kiss his lips again. He leaned down to meet her halfway and her long platinum blonde hair fell over their faces like a curtain. It was becoming a game to them now. Kind of like "peek-a-boo".

"Say it again," he repeated before they even had the chance to pull away from one another.

Ino giggled. "I love you," she said softly, kissing him again. She pulled away from him, tucking her hair back behind her ear. It had been in a ponytail when they first got there, but some time afterwards, Shikamaru had loosened it to the point that the band disappeared on the floor somewhere. "Why don't you say it to me for once?" she asked, running her finger down his face. During his tour he had actually started to grow a bit of stubble on his chin and although it was barely noticeable, the skin wasn't smooth anymore. It was like rubbing a peach.

Shikamaru smirked. "Are you doubting my feelings for you?"

Ino shrugged. "I mean, you've only ever said it once to me and that was right before we got together. How do I know that you actually love me and weren't just saying it before so I wouldn't go out with Sai?"

The lethargic Nara stretched his arms out lazily and snuggled deeper in her lap. "Because I wasn't worried in the first place. You didn't like Sai anyway, so regardless if I said I loved you or not, we would have ended up together at some point."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "If that was my only goal, saying 'I love you' would have been a bad move on my part. That means commitment and you women become a drag when commitment's involved."

"A drag? Am I a drag?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I won't lie, sometimes you are. But most of the time you aren't."

Ino furrowed her brows. "Most of the time?"

"Ninety percent."

"Are you serious, Shika? You just called me a drag!"

He shrugged like it was no big deal. "So? I call everything a drag. But of all the things that are troublesome, you're the least."

Ino frowned. "You just killed the mood." She pushed him off of her lap, crossing her arms over her chest. Shikamaru, shocked, rolled over to face her with wide eyes. What had he done?

"What did I do?"

"All you had to do was say you loved me! Instead you call me annoying!" she almost shouted at him. If they hadn't been in the library, she would have yelled. But regardless of the volume of her voice, she was annoyed with him. Pissed even.

"I said you were the least annoying thing in my life. What's wrong with that?"

She facepalmed. "It means I'm still annoying, Shikamaru."

"That's not what I meant at all," he protested.

"It's what you said."

"Why do you have to be so troublesome?"

"See!" she groaned. She stood up and grabbed her violet purse, heading towards the door. "I'm leaving before you end up choking on that foot in your mouth."

Shikamaru threw his hands in the air. "What did I do!?" he hissed.

She waved goodbye to him, still walking off. "Maybe I'll go find Sai. He'll cheer me up. He's a sweet boy."

At that, the normally lazy boy jumped up from his spot and darted after her. "Ino, don't you dare!"

She ignored him. "Oh Sai... Wanna hang out?" Ino sang throughout the library, just wanting to get on Shikamaru's nerves. She knew that the black haired artist wouldn't be in the library that period. Although he was studious, she knew from searching him out while Shikamaru was gone that he liked to spend his free periods in the art studio. And the bell would be ringing for Sai's free period very soon. She would meet him there.

"Ino!" Shikamaru hissed behind her.

A/N Poor Shikamaru, Ino messin' with his thoughts and things. But she just wants to be loved :)

So tell me what you think guys! Constructive criticism is MOOOOORE than welcome. Key word is constructive. Love you allll.

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