I don't own Naruto or Mystikal

"Shake ya ass… but watch yourself. Shake ya ass… show me what you're working with!"

Hinata was bent over, everything from her head to her mid-torso under the hood of Ino's car. Ino was dropping it like it was hot a little ways away, dancing to the music blaring obnoxiously from her radio. "Thanks again for fixing my engine Hinata," Ino said, grinning at her and swishing her hair around as she danced.

"N-no problem," Hinata said weakly, glancing at the radio with a tired expression.

"I mean, I was sooo surprised when it just gave out!" Ino exclaimed, crossing her arms and coming to a standstill. "It really blows. I mean, how am I supposed to get to rehearsal? Take public transportation?" she said with a snort.

Hinata stifled a giggle as she continued to work.

"Um… sorry, Hinata?"

Hinata banged her head against the underside of the hood, startled. Ino snorted. "God Hinata, you are such a spaz." Hinata looked behind her and saw Naruto standing there, looking worried.

"N-Naruto?" she asked, confused. She turned around so she was facing him, a wrench forgotten in her hand.

"Naruto? Why are you here?" Ino asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you, like, stalking Hinata or something?"

"No… but Sakura told me she was here and… well… listen… is there something wrong with Neji?" he asked, frowning slightly.

Hinata bit her lower lip. "He h-has been k-kind of… g-g-grouchy lately…" she said. Her eyes widened. "Why do you ask?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "He sort of… cussed me out in the mall. I mean, I accept that Neji has this thing with hating my guts and all, but it seemed weird that he'd act on it like that, so suddenly I mean."

Hinata's mouth fell open. "He d-did?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch in her distress.

"Woah, calm down Hinata," Ino interjected. She then looked over at Naruto. "Ever since the Neji-Tenten debacle we've kind of been… goading Neji. Just a little payback, but I didn't think he'd actually concentrate his anger at other people," she said, pursing her lips. "For someone who's supposed to be so level-headed he sure has been grouchy lately."

"Grouchy is one way to put it," Naruto said, giving a pointed look to Ino. Ino smirked and turned, sauntering towards her house.

Hinata still looked worried. "I c-can't believe he j-just… w-w-was it out o-of the b-blue?" she asked, her tone anxious.

"Uh… yeah, pretty much," Naruto said with a shrug. "Don't worry about it. Compared with him practically breaking my nose it wasn't much," he said, grinning. Hinata looked down, still looking anxious. "Hey, Hinata, it's ok," Naruto said.

"I k-know. But I f-feel so bad for y-you. I can i-imagine this is n-not the sort of th-thing you w-wanted to h-happen when you started… d-dating someone," she said, drumming the wrench against her leg nervously.

"And I can imagine you didn't want to have a stutter," Naruto said good-naturedly. "It's not like I hold what Neji does against you." He looked down at the wrench she was holding. "Hey, were you fixing Ino's car or something?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

Hinata nodded, brightening slightly. "Yeah. She was having some engine trouble so I'm just repairing it for her."

"I didn't really peg you as a repairing cars-type person," he said, moving a little closer. "It's kind of a turn-on," he said with a grin.

Hinata widened her eyes. "Oh," she said simply. She also moved forwards, only instead of just stopping like he had she stood up on her toes to kiss him.

The Next Day

"It really went that badly?" Sakura asked Tenten nervously.

Tenten nodded, her expression grim. "Oh yes. Yes it was. Remind me never to listen to Temari ever again."

"Check. Never listen to Temari again," Sakura said, leaning against her desk in homeroom. "You know… I think I have a better idea then Temari's," Sakura remarked lightly.

"Really? What?" Tenten asked eagerly.

"Just… move on. Like, don't let him bother you. Just enjoy life and ignore him," she said.

Tenten opened her mouth to respond before stopping. "You know," she said after a moment's silence, "that actually sounds a lot better now that I'm reflecting on last night."

Sakura smiled triumphantly. "Yes! Just do that. You'll forget about Neji in no time."

"No time," Tenten echoed. She grinned, swaying slightly where she stood. "That definitely sounds good. No more hiding in upstairs bedrooms or crouching by tables in my underwear!" she exclaimed.

"Um, what?" Sakura asked, looking confused.

Tenten glanced around nervously. "Pretend I didn't say that," she said.

"Yeah… ok," Sakura responded, still looking at her funny.

Tenten nodded. "Yeah… so… I'm just going to go sit down… now… yeah," she said, trailing off as she walked off to her desk.

Sakura blinked several times before looking back down at her own desk. "Crouching by tables in her underwear?" she muttered, utterly confused. She shook her head and started rifling through her notes.

"Omigosh! Did you hear?" A girl asked. Sakura looked up, startled.

"Um, what?" she asked.

"Karin tore her rotator cuff in cheerleading practice! They're having tryouts!" she squealed before running off.

Sakura stared after her. "Do I even know her…?" she wondered aloud.

Later That Day

"Ino, I swear to god, you are the only one who can take her place."

Ino stared mulishly at three girls in cheerleading uniforms. They were around the back of the school and Ino leaned against the building as she surveyed them. "Seriously Ino," another one of them said. "You were a cheerleader since middle school. You have more experience then Karin did and there is no one else who has the qualifications and the confidence to captain the squad."

"There's a reason I quit cheerleading," Ino said. "You guys are kind of mondo bitches and I actually have stuff I'm doing now! Important stuff!"

"More important than captaining the state-winning cheerleading team to regionals?" the first girl asked.

"Maybe," Ino responded.

"Ino, practices are only a couple times a week. Anyone can make that schedule!" they exclaimed.

"I have rehearsal most weeknights and why would I want to do cheerleading practices and work on figuring out the routines and work on team spirit and all that?" Ino demanded.

One of the girls looked at her earnestly. "Ino, you loved cheerleading. We may be a bit… snotty at times, but that doesn't change that we're a team and we need you. Please."

Ino stared at her, trying to think up a quick response. Finally she threw down her hands in exasperation. "Fine! I'll do it!" she exclaimed. "This better not get in the way with rehearsals."

"Nooo," they said quickly. "Practice totally ends before your rehearsal would start!"

"Whatever," she said.

"Thank you so much!" They squealed. One of them hugged her before freezing and backing off.

Ino smiled slightly. "You guys must be freshmen. Everyone else on that team knows enough not to approach me about cheerleading stuff."

They grinned. "Yep! Total frosh," one of them piped up.

Ino sighed. "Ok. First things first, get me a full roster of the team. I want to know the complete scores from state and all routines you guys have been working on. I'll talk to coach about how team morale is going. I trust I can depend on you guys to grab me a spare uniform from storage until I can order a fitted one?" They nodded vigorously. "Good. Get me a small, try not to let it have any spares. Have there been any drastic changes in uniform color since I left?"

"Nope!" The tallest of the three said.

"Good. That means my white shoes and hair ribbons will still work. I'm a little out of shape but a few extra hours in the gym will fix that up," she muttered, now talking more to herself than them. She started and looked back at them. "Ok, I need time to look over everything and talk with coach. Can you guys survive until next practice?"

They all nodded, huge grins covering their faces. "Awesome. Well girls, go tell your team that they've got a new captain and she is definitely planning on getting to nationals this year."

That Night

"You rejoined the cheerleading team?"

Sakura sounded shocked. Ino had waited until she got home from school and rehearsal to inform Sakura about her decision. She knew Sakura would be surprised and she had wanted to wait to let herself work up the patience to tell her. "Yeah… and not just rejoined."

"What do you mean?" Sakura sounded surprised.

"I'm the new team captain," Ino said, chewing on her lower lip.

She heard a gasp from the other end of the line. "Omigosh! Really?"

"Uh, yeah," Ino said, flopping down on her bed, still holding her phone to her ear.

"Um…. C-congratulations." Sakura sounded like she was being forcefully cheery.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "How touching," she remarked wryly. "Listen, I know you aren't a fan of the team, but to be honest, some of the members of the science club aren't exactly a basket of roses and I know how overprotective you are of your science club nerdos."

"They're not nerdos!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Sakura. You're a nerdo too," Ino said affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said. Ino could practically hear her eyes rolling.

"Love you too," Ino said, with a touch of snootiness in her voice. "Anyway I got to go. I really need to get some sleep before the test tomorrow."

"Kay! Night!" Sakura said chirpily.

"Yeah, night."