was bored…very bored, so I wrote another chapter. It is spring break and I have nothing to do, not that I have a problem with that. I actually like just…relaxing. It is very nice, especially while listening to music. So, overall, today is (or was) a lazy day for me. Don't you just love those kinds of days? And thank you so much for everyone who has read and or commented on this. I didn't expect to get any readers o_o but thank you Anyways, Enjoy! And this chapter, just a heads up, just may be one of those depressing ones I was talking about last chapter, or it may not. You'll have to see :P

PS. I haven't been saying this throughout my story…so…here it goes…I do not own Naruto. Don't sue me…I have no money…xD

Hinata's POV

During Homeroom, Kiba and I make small talk. Shino is in this hour, but he is in one of his other classes, talking with one of his teachers about something.

I tell Kiba about my meeting with Ino. A small, barely noticeable blush appears on his face.

"Seems as if someone just may have a crush. Pay back!" I think to myself.

"Do you like her?" I ask, with a small smirk on my face.

"What! No! Shut up! You better not say anything. I don't like her!" Kiba yells.

A couple of kids turn to look in our direction.

"He and Ino are so alike, it's not even funny," I think to myself.

"Alright then…" I say to him.

During homeroom, I meet two more of Kiba and Ino's friends, Sasuke and Naruto. And get this- Naruto is the gorgeous blond-haired blue-eyed boy that returned my phone to me yesterday at the pizza parlor. He recognizes me too. I wonder why Kiba didn't tell me they knew each other, when he was teasing me about blushing over Naruto yesterday.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing here? Aren't you in Kakashi's homeroom?" Kiba asks.

"Hn," is Sasuke's heart-felt response.

"We came to visit. We actually ran into Shino, but he's…being, well, Shino. He kept mocking me. We couldn't find Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, or Shikamaru. Matsuri is hanging out with Sari, one of her best friends, in her homeroom, and Neji refused to talk and Lee's trying to comfort him. Tenten, for some reason, wanted to be alone and Sakura's PMSing…Well, I think she is. She's in such a bad mood," Naruto explains.

"So we're a last resort, Naruto?" Kiba jokingly asks.

I gently smack his arm.

He pretends to be in so much pain, while holding his harm.

"Huh? We?- Oh!" Naruto exclaims when he finally notices me.

Kiba laughs. "So dense…"

Naruto turns to Kiba and glares at him. Then, he turns back to me. "Hey, beautiful eyes. Never thought we would meet again," He smiles.

"He's hitting on you. Don't fall for it! Run!" The voice, once again, is back.

"We never officially met. I'm Naruto, believe it," Naruto says, as he holds out a hand.

I gently take it, shake it, smile, and say," Hinata."

"Such a pretty name," Naruto says, while smiling.

I feel myself blush. I hope it's not too obvious.

"Oh. And this teme's name is Sasuke," Naruto says.

"Dobe," Sasuke says to Naruto.

"Teme," Naruto retaliates.

"Dobe."

"Teme."

"Dobe."

"Teme-"

"Will you both shut up!" Kiba exclaims at them.

"Anyway, this is Sasuke," Naruto says again.

"Hey," I say with a smile on my face to Sasuke. "Nice to meet you."

"Hn…," is his response.

"Don't worry, he'll warm up to you," Naruto say, while glaring a little at Sasuke.

I smile at him again.

A few minutes later, Sasuke and Naruto decide to go, before Kakashi notices they're gone.

Even though I was a little disappointed at that, I have to say, I actually have a nice time in Homeroom.

During forth hour, I have Math with Iruka-sensei.

Hurray math…

But, it's not so bad because I find out that Naruto is in my Math class as well. Iruka-sensei, just like Baki-sensei, gives us time to settle in, socialize, and get to know each other.

When I walk into Iruka-sensei's class, I look around. I then remember that I will not see that Ino girl until lunch time. I sigh. Once again, I'm alone. At least so I think.

"Hey, Hinata! Over here! Come sit by us!" I hear a familiar, loud, energetic voice call.

I turn in the direction it came from and see Naruto waving at me. He's sitting next to a boy with red hair. His hair reminds me of Karin's hair, just because it's so red. He looks like a cold person. Then again, who am I to judge? Looks can be deceiving. In fact, Ino is a perfect example. I never thought someone like her would talk to me.

Anyway, I walk over to them. The desks are grouped in an interesting way. Each desk is in a group of four. In each group, two desks are right next to one another, with the other two facing them. Since Naruto is sitting next to red-head, I sit across from Naruto.

"How are you, even though I saw you about half an hour ago," Naruto says, with a grin on his face.

I laugh. "Good. You?"

"I'm great! This is Gaara, by the way," Naruto says while pointing to Gaara.

"Naruto, it's impolite to point," Gaara says while slightly smirking at him.

"You sound like my mom," Naruto says while pouting.

"I feel like her too, sometimes. Poor thing," Gaara says.

"Oh shut up…" Naruto says and crosses his arms. "Anyway, Gaara, this is Hinata. She's new. Hinata, this is Gaara. Make friends. Whoop-de-doodle-do."

I laugh. "Nice to meet you, Gaara."

"Same with you," Gaara says.

I assume he's not one to smile much.

"Just like Neji." I think to myself.

Sasuke seems as if he doesn't smile much either.

I wonder what their stories are.

I never knew I could actually have fun in Math. Naruto made me laugh the whole time. I also loved Gaara's sarcastic remarks to Naruto and Naruto's exaggerated responses to them. Maybe Math will actually be interesting this year. Iruka-sensei, seeing that everyone was being well-behaved and actually socializing and getting to know one another, he decides to just make today a free hour.

"Don't expect this to happen every day though, class," he says to all of us.

During fifth hour, I have History, with Asuma-sensei.

Unfortunately, I don't have this class with Naruto or Gaara. Ino, like I said before, I will not see until lunch. I am very bummed out. I would have even settled for Sasuke, even though he probably wouldn't say much to me. At least I know him (sort of at least).

I search the room for an available seat. As I look around the room, I see something that makes me want to vomit. Karin, along with most of her friends, is in my History class. Part of me wants to turn and run. This is the last thing I need.

Well, maybe she changed. I haven't seen her since what- sixth grade? Surely she, and her friends, couldn't have managed to stay so mean. Maybe she was in a bad mood this morning, when she snapped at Ino.

"That's a load of bull, girl, and you know it." Where is this voice coming from?

Anyway, I calm myself down. I'll just sit away from them.

Unfortunately, though, the only vacant seat, coincidently, is in front of Karin and her posse.

I slowly make my way to the seat.

"Maybe they won't notice me," I think to myself.

Nope. I was wrong. As soon as I sit down, I hear Karin, in a snarky voice, say, "Um. Excuse me?"

"You're excused," I reply, without even realizing it, until the words come out of my mouth.

"Crap," I think. Now all hell will break loose.

"Who the hell do you think you are, bitch? You've got some nerve," Karin says.

I make the mistake of turning around. Why? So I could apologize. Apologize to Karin for not taking any crap from her. I'm such a weakling.

"No way!" Karin stands up from- no- practically jumps out of- her seat and points at me. "Suigetsu, Juugo, Tauya, Kidomaru- look!- it's the gloomy freak with the eyes. I thought you left in sixth grade. I thought we finally got rid of you."

"Wow, she hasn't changed a bit. I thought your looks are supposed to get better in time. Four years have gone by, and she looks the same," scoffs Kidomaru.

I blush.

"Yeah. You're right. She did change. They ALL changed. They're such good people now," the annoying, now sarcastic, voice says.

I hear a bunch of my classmates snicker at their comments, which makes no sense. They're as far down the totem pole as I am when it comes to popularity. Maybe they're laughing because now Karin and her friends aren't picking on any of them, for now at least. At the moment, they're not the ones receiving the insults.

Still, they're snickering, and it kind of hurts.

"Alright class," Asuma-sensei says, "Time to begin."

He doesn't even bother to point me out as the new student, like my other teachers have been the entire day. Not that I care. I think they already know who I am now. I have Karin and her stupid friends to thank for that.

Or maybe he doesn't notice me? Like I said before, though, I don't care.

I turn to face the board.

"Loser," I hear someone behind me cough- probably Tayuya.

A bunch of classmates snicker again, this time there's more that join in.

"Class?" Asuma-sensei stops writing and turns around. "Hush. That's enough. It's time to learn." He turns back around and continues writing.

Twenty minutes later, a crumpled up note lands on my desk in front of me.

I, foolishly, un-crumple it and read it:

You're pathetic and always will be.

I crumple it back up and shove it in my backpack.

I hear snickers, this time from only directly behind me. I immediately know the note is from Karin, or one of her friends.

I want to sink in my desk and never come out.

During sixth hour, I have English, with Kakashi-sensei. When I walk into class, I see a man with gray hair, who is sitting at a desk at the front of a room. The way it's spiked makes me think he belongs in a science lab, rather than an English classroom. He is too absorbed in his book to notice that I walked into the class, not that I care.

I look around the room. Again, no one that I know or met at all today is in my class. I see an empty seat by a brown-haired girl who is busy writing in a notebook or something. I go over to it and sit down. I can't help but study the brunette.

She's wearing a teal-colored, long-sleeved, off the shoulder top that is tucked into a black knee-length skirt. The strap of a white tank top is exposed on her left shoulder. She has on a pink belt, black knee high socks, and a pink pair of converse shoes.

"Interesting outfit…"

"Shut up! I think her outfit's cute. I like her style," I say back to the voice.

Gosh…I think I'm going mad.

Anyway, besides noticing her outfit, I also notice her movements, not to be creepy or anything.

Her body language makes me guess that she's, most likely, a shy type of person. I can tell this just by the way she's sitting, her posture, and the way she holds herself. Who knows, though? She probably just seems shy at first, but is actually bursting with confidence when you get to know her.

But, who cares? Maybe she and I can be friends too. One of my kind.

Geez…"one of my kind." What am I? An extraterrestrial?

The brunette must feel me looking at her because she looks up from whatever she is writing. She stares right at me. I feel myself blush from embarrassment and immediately look down. I pretend to be busy with playing with my hair and stare ahead of me.

"Um…hey?" I hear a soft voice greet me, with an unsure tone to it. The voice sounds as if it's from the girl beside me.

I turn to back to her and say back, "Hey," with a smile.

She smiles back. "I'm Matsuri. I'm guessing you're new here, otherwise, I would have seen you at least once in my life here."

I nod and smile again.

Matsuri fiddles with the pen in her hand.

Cue the awkward silence.

"Say something," I think to myself.

But what can I say? What can I ask? Anything to lessen the awkwardness.

I then recall Ino and her list of friends. Matsuri was among them.

"Do you know a girl named, Ino?" I ask.

The brunette nods and smiles. "Yeah. She's one of my good friends. She's kind of loud at times- all the time, to be honest. But, she's a very nice person. She's also good at giving advice, especially when it comes to friends and clothes."

I smile. "Yeah, she seems great. I met her earlier."

"Really? Cool. Did she mention my name or something?" Matsuri asks.

"Yeah, she-" I start to say, before Matsuri interrupts me.

"What'd she say? Oh my God! She's been trying to play cupid ever since school let out last year," Matsuri says.

"Oh. Well she-" I start to say, but Matsuri interrupts me again.

"I don't like Gaara and he doesn't like me! I'm not in denial! I can't believe she would, no offense, tell a person she barely knows that!" I sense panic starting to rise in Matsuri's voice.

"Usually, when a person says no offense, it's because they realized what they said offended the person. They just say that in an- often pathetic- attempt to save their sorry butt," I think to myself. But I don't bother saying this to Matsuri. She's in too much distress to notice anyway.

"Calm down," I say in a surprising, firm way.

She takes a deep breath. "Sorry, I tend to do that, but on rare occasions."

I shrug it off. "No biggie."

She smiles and I smile back.

So much smiling today. I swear, my face is going to be so sore later. Can't I just not smile? Can't I be as stoic as Neji is a majority of the time?

"Alright class," Kakashi-sensei says as he places the book he was so absorbed in on his desk, "Let's begin."

During seventh hour, I have lunch. As I stuff a few books into my locker and shut it, I think about where I would find that Ino girl or any of the people I met today. I have a feeling lunch with Tenten and Neji will be awkward, due to whatever "thing, as Tenten called it, they are going through. Lee, Neji's best friend, wouldn't make matters any better either. He would probably go on about how "unyouthful" Tenten and Neji are being by fighting. Though, I'm not sure if they are fighting or not because Tenten didn't give me details.

I'm just not in the mood to deal with all of that now.

I walk through the hall with my nose buried in the map of the school, trying to figure out where the cafeteria is. I mistakenly bump into someone, lose my balance, and fall backwards onto my butt.

"Ouch," I think to myself, but out loud, I apologize to whoever I bump into.

"I'm so sorry!" I exclaim, refusing to look up, due to my great embarrassment and shame at my clumsiness.

"No worries," the person says.

I look up so I can get a good view of the mystery person.

My heart sinks when I see a way too familiar pair of emerald eyes looking at me. The mystery person fixes her bubblegum pink hair and holds out a helping hand.

I feel the same nausea I felt when I saw Karin and her friends are in my History class. Memories of elementary school and betrayal saturate my thoughts. I feel my eyes sting with tears that are on the verge of falling.

Why, of all the schools in this town, did she have to go here? Why? Her and Karin and Karin's friends. Why? The last thing I need is another repeat of sixth grade.

"I recognize those eyes and hair…Hinata? Holy shit…is that you?" the mystery person asks, "Take my hand. Let me help you up."

I reject her offer help myself up. I then run as fast as I can away from the person. When I'm sick of running, I spot a supply closet. I knock on it, just to see if anyone is there. When there's no reply, I take that as a no, open the door, step inside, shut the door, and lock it. I lean against it and slowly slide down it until I'm sitting on the floor. I draw my knees to my chest and reflect on my past years to the present. To all the times I was hurt, betrayed, insulted, bullied, you name it. Now I have to deal with all of that again. So much for a fresh start.

All the forgotten feelings that I used to have slowly start to return. All of this is overwhelming.

So, I start to cry. All the feelings that I have held in and pushed away come with the tears that fall.

Usually, when I'm depressed or upset, Tenten, Kiba, Neji, or Shino manage to find ways to cheer me up. Since they're not here, and probably don't know where I am, I'm left to deal all alone. Not that I care, though. In fact, I don't want to be comforted. I don't want to always be the weak person who always needs someone in order not to feel alone. The person people always find ways to walk all over on. The person who bottles up how they feel. The person that isn't good enough to have friends or ever be worthy enough for their family.

I cry to the point where I'm actually choking on my own tears. I try to calm down, taking deep breaths. I sigh.

You know that feeling you get after you cry your heart out? That sort of…relieved feeling. It doesn't make your situation any better, but crying helps ease the pain. Or is that just me?

Well, I have that feeling after I finally manage to quiet my pathetic sobs.

I turn on the light in the abandoned supply closet and pull out a small, compact mirror from my backpack. I look at myself. Of course, I look awful. Not that I ever consider myself to look "good," but still, I look awful.

I decide to wash my face in the bathroom, before I get my lunch. I walk to the bathroom. Slowly, though, because I'm in no rush.

I'm thankful that the hall is deserted, so no one has to see my ugly face.

When I walk inside the bathroom, I make my way to one of the sinks. I wash my face, fix my bangs, and reapply my lip gloss. I then take a long, deep sigh. The bathroom is vacant, probably because everyone is in the cafeteria or eating in the courtyard. Or so I think.

I hear a few, light sobs coming from one of the stalls. Sounds like another person is upset.

"Should I go see if they're okay?" I ask myself. What if, whoever it is, wants to be alone?

As I argue with myself, the sobs die down. I hear the flush of a toilet and the stall door creaking as it's being opened.

"Crap! Get out of there!" The stupid voice commands me.

Before I can even decide on what to do, I hear the footsteps of the person

I am shocked to discover that the crying person is Ino.

Why am I so shocked, though?

"Even people like her can cry," I think to myself.

She's looking down, not noticing her surrounding and, most likely, not noticing me.

She makes her way over to one of the sinks. She sets her backpack on the counter beside the sink she's at and reaches inside. She pulls out a little, dark purple pouch. Still not realizing I'm in the bathroom with her, she pulls out a toothbrush and a miniature tube of toothpaste. She proceeds to brush her teeth.

I want to say something- anything- but I don't want to startle her. I want to ask her if she's okay- no- I want to ask her what's wrong. Usually, if someone asks another person if they're okay, of course they're going to say yes in order to avoid the subject, at least from what I've experienced with, say, Neji or even Tenten.

My main concern, though, is the risk of giving Ino a heart attack, since I would probably alarm her.

Before I can react, Ino puts her little hygiene kit away, puts on her backpack, and turns around, in my direction, since I'm right next to the door.

When she finally acknowledges me, she screams.

I jump about twelve feet in the air.

"Oh my God!" she exclaims as she puts a hand on her chest, "Sorry about that. You scared me. I thought the bathroom was empty."

I study her. Her eyes are red, most likely from the crying. I also take note of the fact that some of the blood vessels around her eyes are broken.

Ino stares at me.

I stay silent and stare back at her.

"What's your damage?" Ino asks.

"Nani?" I ask.

"You heard me. What's your damage?" Ino asks again.

I must have looked confused because Ino sets down her backpack, sits on the bathroom floor, motions for me to sit next to her, and says, "You've been crying."

"No I haven't!" I exclaim, defensively.

"Bull crap," is Ino's response.

"I might ask you the same thing," I retort.

"Nice comeback." The voice snorts. Maybe I am going mad.

Ino sighs. The expressions on her face change from curious to shameful to downright depressed. She doesn't say a word and just stares at her feet.

I decide to change the subject, for the sake of both of us.

"Why don't we get lunch," I suggest, even though I'm not in the mood to eat anything right now.

Ino shakes her head. "No thanks, I..." she, for some reason, looks at one of the bathroom stalls before continuing on, "already ate."

"Oh," I say.

"Fine with me. The last thing on my mind is food," I think.

I decide to sit next to Ino on the floor.

She sighs and gives me a small, sad-looking smile.

She then takes out a little mirror from her backpack and looks at herself. She has a mortified expression on her face when she takes in her reflection. She immediately pulls out some make up from her backpack as well. She then goes to work on herself.

I watch as the magic of makeup helps the broken blood vessels around her eyes vanish, at least temporarily. Ino sighs with relief. "Much better," she says.

She then asks me, "Want to go see our friends?"

"Our?" I ask.

She nods. "I'm sure they'll want you as their friend as much as I do. I mean, from what I've heard, you've met a few of them already on your own. So far, they all like you. Well…I know most of the ones you met do. When I talked to Sasuke, all he said was, 'hn,' and then he and Naruto got into their whole 'dobe, teme' thing and Temari shut them up." She laughs.

I laugh.

"So, do you want to?" She asks again.

"Sure," I say while smiling.

She gets up and then helps me up, even though I don't ask for it.

She puts on her backpack, while I double check that I have mine.

We then make our way to the cafeteria.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Ino asks.

"You just did, right this second." I think to myself.

But to her, I say, "Sure. Anything. Shoot."

"Promise you won't tell," she pleads.

"Tell what?" I ask.

"That I was crying in the bathroom…" she responds.

"Uh sure…but trust me, they wouldn't judge you if they knew, if they're really your friends. You shouldn't be embarrassed to cry. Everyone does," I say.

"I know, but that's not it…" Ino says slowly.

"Then what?" I ask, "You can trust me…"

"I know, but…it's just…just complicated, that's what," Ino says.

I wait for her to say more, but she doesn't. I don't bother to push on and on. If she ever wants to tell me, that's her choice. I won't ask her twenty-one questions.

The rest of the way to the cafeteria, we walk in dead silence.

So…how was that? I had a lot of time, so I made this one very long. I'm not sure how often I will write chapters this long, but here you go haha. I apologize for any mistakes I missed. Also, was it too long? I felt it jumped around a bit, for some reason, but that's just me. But anyway, thank you for reading. I'm feeling productive (plus I can't sleep :P) so I may, or may not, have another chapter up in a bit. It all depends. Well, that's it for now.

Until Later,

DaydreamingSoundly ^_^