I do not own Naruto

"Hinata?"

Tenten looked around for Hinata, but couldn't see her anywhere. They must have gotten separated coming into the party. She sighed. Ino ran off and now Hinata had disappeared. Tenten doubted that she would know a single person there.

She pushed her way into the kitchen, elbowing people out of the way. "I really should be home studying," Tenten muttered to herself as she reached the kitchen and leaned against the counter, trying to stay out of the way of the people trickling in and out. It was quieter in here, thankfully so, but the food and drinks were drawing a few people, who came in, grabbed a handful of something, and dashed out again.

Tenten moved to pick at the cheetos, carefully avoiding the bright punch, remembering the last time she drank a little too much "party punch". Tenten sighed and started stuffing cheetos into her mouth. She had felt like everything was slowly falling apart lately, and she'd started eating her feelings and had already gained a couple pounds. She groaned and withdrew her hand from the bowl. She wasn't used to eating so much crap… but it tasted soooo good!

She hesitated, grabbed a couple more cheetos, and popped them in her mouth as she scuttled from the room, determined to put as much space between her and the snacks as possible.

Suddenly something very cold went trickling down her head and a girl gasped. Tenten gasped, tensing and the people around her froze. She reached up and felt her head, ending up with a handful of soaking wet hair. "I am so sorry!" the guy behind her said, holding a cup tightly in one hand, a look of horror on his face. It became obvious to Tenten that he had accidentally dropped the contents of his drink on her head.

"It's… fine… just a mistake," Tenten said, trying to sound gracious but just sounding annoyed.

"Do you need some help? A wet rag? A towel?" he asked, looking around for something frantically.

Tenten just shook her head. "No, I was just leaving anyways," she said, heading for the front door.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Tenten said, nodding to him and walking with as much dignity as she had to the door. She opened it and started down the front path. It wasn't just the drink that had made her leave. She really wasn't in the mood to party. She reached into her pocket and dug her phone out, dialing Ino's number. It rung and rung before going to voicemail. Tenten wasn't surprised; it would take a superwoman to hear a phone ringing in that house. "Hey Ino, it's Tenten. Listen, I ended up just going home, so don't wait up for me or anything. See you and Hinata tomorrow at school!"

She pocketed her phone and walked briskly onto the sidewalk and down the dark streets. She shivered as she walked, the cold air making her hair just a misery. "I hate walking home at night," she murmured.

Tenten turned onto one of the main avenues and speed walked down it, heading towards where her house was. She paused when she reached the intersection, looking back and forth between the turns. Either going straight or turning right would get her home, but both routes looked very dark and rather threatening.

"Why me…" she groaned, turning left. She'd just have to take the long way around.

She padded up the huge hill that the road led up. She started sweating under her winter coat, though her cheeks and nose were still stingingly cold. She rubbed her hands together to warm them, before holding them up to her face to try and keep the heat of her breath against her face.

She instinctively reached up to check and see if her hair was drying yet before feeling crackly, sticky hair. "P-punch…" she gasped. It wasn't just any drink he had spilled on her. It was fruit punch. "Goddammit!" she yelled, forgetting that it was late at night in a neighborhood.

"Tenten…?"

Tenten whirled around. "Hello?" she called.

Neji was peering at her from a little ways away, looking uncomfortable. Tenten grimaced, trying to smooth it into an impassive expression. "Oh… Neji… what are you doing out here so late?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Just… walking home. What about you?" he asked.

"Same."

They stood awkwardly on the sidewalk, facing one another and trying not to make eye contact. Tenten stared down at the ground, hoping he would give her a way to leave the conversation. "It's… really late," Neji finally said.

Tenten nodded. "Uh… yeah… I had been out with Ino but decided to leave early… but, I have to get home." She said, turning to go.

"Maybe I should walk you…" Neji said awkwardly.

"Why?" Tenten asked, turning slightly to glare at him. He looked taken aback, before sneering slightly.

"Well, it seems whenever you decide to walk around at dusk that you get in some sort of trouble," he said, his voice annoyed.

Tenten stiffened. "Oh really? I can take care of myself," she said, before marching back up the hill.

She was happy to hear no response and she continued to the top of the hill before turning right. Another dozen or so blocks and she turned left, happy to realize she was nearing home. Suddenly she heard something behind her, and she turned to see Neji following her at a decent distance. She stopped dead. "What are you doing?" she growled as he neared.

"Making sure you get home," he said stubbornly.

"Why?" she asked, shoving her hands into her pockets.

"Because I want to."

She opened her mouth to reply before faltering. It really wasn't worth her breath. "Do what you want. I don't care," she said, beginning to walk again towards her house. She still heard his footsteps behind her as she finally reached her house. She climbed over the gate, not bothering to fumble in the dark for the bolt, and walked straight up the path and through her front door, not looking back.

She leaned against the door, kicking her shoes off and staring moodily at the ground.

"I want a hot shower…"

The Next Morning

Hinata was packing up her lunch. A sandwich… some little tomatoes… some black olives… a couple mandarin oranges… all packed neatly into her bento box. Hinata sighed darkly as she closed the lid, drooping over the counter.

Neji paused by the sink, staring at Hinata as he finished his orange juice. "Hinata…?" he asked, confused. 'What's wrong with her?' he thought. "Hinata, are you alright?" he asked, putting his empty glass in the sink.

Hinata let her head fall forwards. "I'm w-worried about T-Tenten…" she finally muttered.

Neji frowned. "Tenten? Is she alright?"

"I…" Hinata started, before cutting off. She hadn't been able to track down Tenten last night, but Ino had told her that Tenten had already gone home by the time Ino was ready to leave. But making out with random guys? Possibly drinking spiked punch? Next Hinata knew, she'd probably be hooked on some hard drug and in a gang! Hinata let her fist land on the counter. No way! She thought desperately.

Neji watched wordless as this inner, very exaggerated, conversation happened over the course of a few seconds. "Hinata…?" he asked, staring at her.

She looked over at Neji, desperation on her face. "T-Tenten's in a downward s-spiral!" Hinata exclaimed. "W-what if she ends u-up in the Y-Yakuza?! Running a g-gang! It would b-be horrible, and a-all because I didn't d-do anything!" Hinata exclaimed.

Neji blinked. Oh yeah, he had almost forgotten the weird pre-exam jitters Hinata got. She always got very… strange right around exams. He'd better try and just defuse her. "Uh… Hinata… I don't think Tenten's going to join a gang. I saw her last night and she seemed fine," he said.

"N-Naruto said," Hinata started, "That h-he saw Tenten w-with some random g-guy last night. And t-then I couldn't f-find her. I b-bet she's all torn up o-over everything with S-Sakura and y-" Hinata cut off. "Uh… y-you know… e-exams and stress and e-everything," she finished quickly.

"That's her business," Neji said, walking into the living room.

Hinata watched him go. 'Neji's… much less wound up about Tenten than before…' she thought. 'That's good… but it doesn't change the fact that Tenten needs help! And I'm just the one to do it!' She thrust a fist in the air.

'Yes! I will help Tenten!'

At School

Sakura slunk out of the classroom and sped down the hall, glancing around nervously. She had been conspicuously avoiding Sasuke, Ino, Hinata, Tenten, and Temari since that Saturday, especially at school. She had decided to start eating lunch out of the cafeteria. First she just had to get in, grab her food as quickly as possible, and book it outside. It may be freezing, but that didn't change the fact that Sakura didn't have to deal with anyone else out there.

She jogged into the cafeteria, determined to make it in there before the rush. She grabbed a tray and started piling food onto it haphazardly, not caring much about what she was grabbing. She ended up with a bowl of chili, a piece of banana bread, and a bowl of celery. She paid and slipped out the back, walking over to the outside tables. She shivered as she sat and started eating, grateful for the hot chili.

Sakura supposed she was being a little cowardly, avoiding her friends like this. But she absolutely didn't have the emotional capacity to deal with anything right now. She was barely getting by as it was. Her mother was still angry over Saturday and had barely spoken to Sakura since. The fact that this was happening right around exams also wasn't much of a help.

She absentmindedly shredded the banana bread. She barely noticed when the bell rung, but after some hesitation, she decided to just stay outside. It was only reading day, hopefully the teacher wouldn't notice, but she was with Sasuke in that class and she couldn't handle that right now.

She shivered and started nibbling on the strips of bread. 'It's so cold…' she thought, leaning over onto the table top as she chewed. She pushed the tray away from her and laid her head down right on the table, her cheek pressing against the freezing plastic.

"Sakura…"

"Sakura."

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke staring down at her, a frown deeply set on his face. She swallowed. "Sasuke," she acknowledged.

"Sakura."

"I don't want to talk to you, Sasuke."

"Why?"

Sakura shook her head. "I can't handle whatever you want to say right now," she said, shivering slightly.

Sasuke just stared at her mulishly. Sakura looked away, her face blank. "I said I don't want to talk to you," she said.

"I think we need to talk, Sakura," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke… I don't want to talk," Sakura said. She stood, leaving her tray where it was. "Please just go away," she asked.

Sasuke's frown deepened. "You can't punish me because you don't want to work through this, Sakura," he said.

"Sasuke! Just go away!" Sakura said. Instead of waiting to see if he would, she went stomping off towards the parking lot. Screw reading day. She absolutely did not want to be in that school a moment longer, with Sasuke throwing her reproachful looks and Ino stomping around the halls. If she stayed there any longer she thought she would just break down.

She walked past the rows of cars and up to the bus stop. Normally Ino would drive her home… but for obvious reasons, that wasn't the plan today. She sat down in the shelter and buried her head in her folded arms, leaning over onto her knees. She was absolutely miserable. Sakura knew very well that there were much worse things in the world then what she was going through, but that didn't make it sting any less.

Absolutely miserable.