Hey. So here is another chapter. I apologize, again, for taking so long to update. I also apologize for any mistakes I miss. Well, that's all I have to say. I will not rant on and on this time. :)

I do not own Naruto.

Hinata's POV

"How about we get them to stop being so popular?" Sakura suggests.

"Isn't that the reason why we're here? Nice plan, Sakura," Shikamaru says sarcastically.

Sakura then flips Shikamaru off, without showing any emotion in her face.

"Ouch. Burn," Gaara says.

Matsuri giggles.

"How about we get two of us, one guy and one girl, to become friends with them?" Ino says.

"What? Who would be stupid enough to be friends with any of them?" Temari asks.

I remember how close I've gotten with Deidara, Sasori, Konan, and Nagato. I don't think I've told any of my friends about them. It's been bothering me ever since Monday when they decided to follow through. A few hours later it hit me that I'm friends with a few of them.

I really think it would be wise to let my friends know that not all of them are bad people, like Karin, and that they should leave those four out of their plans. They haven't done any bad…at least to me.

Still, I keep my mouth shut.

I also start to wonder if they know about the party and how we hung out with them? If so, why haven't they yelled at us yet? By "us," I mean Ino, Sasuke, and I. Oh, and Kiba too.

"Nice, Temari. You just called Hinata, Sasuke, and I stupid," Naruto says.

Temari looks confused.

"What are you talking about, Naruto?" Tenten asks.

Uh oh, I guess they really don't know then. All hell is going to break loose now. I can feel it.

"I'm friends with Kabuto, who's one of them," Naruto says.

"Deidara, Konan, Sasori, and Nagato treat me like their little brother. My brother and his best friend were friends with them before they graduated, remember?" Sasuke adds.

Then eyes are on me.

"No offense, but why would they want to hang out with you, Hinata?" Temari asks.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru says, referring to Temari.

"I have Art with Deidara, Sasori, and Konan. They introduced me to Nagato. We…hung out last Saturday," I say quietly.

Temari thinks about it for a second. Then she puts two and two together.

"You were at that stupid party last weekend, weren't you?" Temari says in an accusing voice.

"Sai was there too, which means…you were there too Ino," Tenten says.

I look at Ino.

"Guess I left the part about the party out, huh?" Ino says, innocently. She shrugs.

"You said you weren't hanging out with Karin again. I thought you learned your lesson about her? So you lied?" Sakura questions Ino.

"You also know how we feel about those types of parties, so un-youthful," Lee says.

"And you had the decency to bring Hinata along, too and corrupt her?" Temari says.

"Whoa. I didn't invite Hinata," Ino says defensively.

"Deidara invited me," I say.

"And Sasuke. you said something about picking Ino and Kiba up from somewhere, but you were kind of vague about where," Tenten says.

"That means you and Kiba were there, too," Neji says.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. So what if they're friends with some of them? Maybe this means that not all of them are bad," Matsuri says.

"Or may they have poor judgement," Temari says back.

There's an awkward silence in the room.

"Ok, Sasori and Kabuto, I suppose, I can tolerate," Sakura says.

"Sure, but Konan is very cold person, Deidara is kind of a jerk, and Nagato is an insensitive jock. People don't call him "Pain" for nothing," Tenten says.

"Ok fine. To make Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and Kiba happy, we'll leave just those five out of our plans," Shikamaru suggests.

"None of those people are my friends, so I don't give a damn what you decide to do with them," Kiba says.

"Okay, excluding Kiba," Shikamaru revises.

The others, reluctantly, nod, agreeing with Shikamaru.

We then continue to brain storm.

Or, rather, the others continue to brain storm, while I silently listen.

"Anyway, going on with my plan, we could get a person or people to befriend them. Then they become popular, then eventually dethrone Karin," Ino says.

"That sounds kind of cliché," I hear myself say.

"How so?" Ino asks.

"Well, think about it. You see this story line everywhere. There's a popular group. Everyone hates them but secretly wish to be friends with them and be just like them. Group of "geeks," "nerds," "losers," ""outcasts," whatever you call them, decide to find a way to, using your words, "dethrone" them. They decide to use one of the members of their group, usually someone fresh, new, and sometimes naïve, to help them with their plan. This designated person then ends up rising to the top and befriending the queen bee and her friends. Then, eventually, the queen bee loses her crown. The "geek," is now the "queen." But, they end up not being any better than the last queen bee they just dethroned. The "geek" ends up losing their real friends and sometimes their new popular friends. The "geek" realizes what they've become and changes their ways. They end up winning their friends back and, if there is any, getting the guy or girl. Everyone lives happily ever after, the end," I explain.

"That sounds like the plot to a movie that Naruto, Sasuke, and I saw two months ago," Sakura says.

"Sounds like the plot to a book I finished reading last night," Matsuri says.

"You see?" I ask.

"She has a point, guys," Naruto starts to say, "Kind of predictable."

"Fine, we'll put this plan on hold for now," Ino says.

We all nod in agreement.

We end up watching some movie from Ino's many selections.

We all squish together on the couch with blankets and popcorn.

The lights are off, with the surround sound system on, giving the whole movie theater experience.

About a third way into the movie, Ino, Tenten, Neji, Gaara, Shino, Kiba, and, of course, Shikamaru are asleep.

Neji and Tenten were snuggling together before they had fallen asleep. Kiba was sitting criss cross apple sauce (what? I still say that :P) with his hands behind his head, when he fell asleep. Gaara, who is next to Kiba, has both his feet stretch out on the floor in front of him. He was leaning back on the couch before he fell asleep. Ino fell asleep on her back. Her butt is on Kiba's lap, which I plan on teasing her about later on. Her head is on one of Gaara's thighs, which, before falling asleep, Kiba made a very inappropriate joke about. Ino had shoved her feet in his face right after.

Her feet are now in Sakura's lap.

Shino, for some reason, opted for sleeping on the floor. He's covered in a blanket.

Shikamaru has his head in Temari's lap. Temari her elbow on the arm rest of the couch. Her cheek is in her hand. Every now and then she looks like she's drifting off. Then she quickly will open her eyes, shake her head, watch the movie, and repeat.

Naruto was the one who had pointed out that everyone was falling asleep.

Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed.

He and I were trying not to laugh too loudly, so we wouldn't wake any of them up.

Naruto is in between Sasuke and I. Sakura has her head on Sasuke's shoulder, while Sasuke has his hand on her knee.

Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if they have finally started going out.

Every time one of us asks, they both get defensive and deny.

Their reactions, of course, make the rest of us still skeptical.

At one point, during the movie, I have my hand on the space between Naruto and I.

I take my hand away for a brief moment to check my phone, making sure Hanabi has a ride home from soccer practice.

When my hand returns to its spot on the couch, I don't feel couch.

Whatever my hand lands on felt too smooth and warm to be the couch.

I move my hand back and forth, still puzzled.

Then I realize that my hand was not on the couch.

My hand was one someone else's-

"Hand?" I hear Naruto's voice. I see him staring at me.

"Huh?" is my oh-so-brilliant response.

"I asked why you are stroking my hand." Naruto repeats himself.

If my eyes aren't deceiving me, I swear I see a mixture of a smirk and a smile on his face after he asks me this.

I feel my face heat up.

Luckily, it's dark, so he probably can't see me blushing.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to," I stutter.

"It's fine, I'm just teasing," Naruto says, while winking.

I feel myself blush once more.

"Hey, do you want to talk outside? Unless, you're still watching the movie," Naruto asks.

The movie? What mo- Ah yes. We're watching a movie. I kind of started getting lost after about twenty minutes into the thing.

All I picked up from it was it was about ninjas and had a lot of fighting in it.

"Sure," I say, trying not to sound to happy, even though I'm ecstatic. He always manages to make me feel that way.

Just thinking about him makes me crack a smile.

Anyway, Naruto stands up, turns to me, and holds out a hand.

I gently take it and let him pull me up.

"Going somewhere?" Sasuke asks, smirking.

"J-just outside to talk," I hear myself say. Darn my stuttering.

"Yeah, teme," Naruto says to Sasuke.

As we walk past Sasuke, I hear Sasuke mumble, "Dobe," under his breath.

Before Naruto can say anything back, I gently shove him.

"Keep moving," I say in jokingly stern voice.

"Yes, miss," Naruto says back to me. He gives me one of his famous, goofy grins.

When we walk past Sakura, I hear Sakura mumble, "Get some, Hina-chan," as she nudges me with her foot.

I feel myself blush.

"You better not be getting anything, or there shall be dire consequences," I hear Neji say.

Wow, even in his sleep he is his protective self.

"Oh, leave them be," I hear Tenten say this time.

I look in their direction and see that he and Tenten are wide awake.

I giggle nervously.

I then realize that I'm still, somehow, holding hands with Naruto.

Part of me wants to let go and apologize over and over, but the other part wants it to stay like this…forever.

"Who's getting what?" I hear Temari ask.

"Can we go outside now?" I ask Naruto.

"Hell to the yes," he says back.

We then make our way outside.

As Naruto is closing the sliding glass door to Ino's backyard, I hear Temari shout, "Use protection! "

"Yeah, we don't need any babies up in here!" I hear Kiba add.

Speaking of Kiba, I've started talking to him again.

The look of relief on his face when I caught up with him in the hall today at school made me feel guilty.

He was so happy I was talking to him again.

We hugged and went on as if nothing happened.

So, I guess we're good again.

"Shut the hell up!" Naruto yells.

He then finishes closing the door.

"Oh my God," Naruto says.

I giggle.

"Those people," He continues on.

"Did you see Sakura and Sasuke?" I ask.

"Yes. I'm going to annoy him later tonight about that," Naruto says, while grinning.

"Do you think they like each other?" I ask.

"Hell yes," Naruto says, "Well, I know- wait. You can keep a secret, right?"

I look at him like he's insane and ask, "You're actually asking me this? Haven't we gotten close enough for you to know you can tell me anything?"

I'm surprised at how much I mean it.

"Oh right, sorry," Naruto says, flashing me another goofy grin.

"So, do tell," I say.

"Well, Sasuke likes Sakura," Naruto says slowly.

"I wouldn't have guessed," I say sarcastically.

"Really? Was it the way that he always looks at her or how concerned he gets whenever she's late or absent? Or was the way his hand was on her knee this entire night?" Naruto asks, pretending to be shocked.

"I know! What was up with that?" I ask.

"I know. He keeps telling me that I better not tell anyone or how he'll kill me, but it's obvious he likes her. Well, obvious you're really good at reading people, which I think you are," Naruto says.

I blush.

"I'm always told that I notice things other people tend to not think twice about," I say.

"Bragging, much?" He says, jokingly.

I smile at him.

"Well, since you're so good at reading people, what do my pages say?" Naruto asks.

"That's so cheesy," I say, laughing.

He laughs with me.

He then inches closer to me, "Seriously though, I'm curious."

He looks me right in the eyes.

His eyes are so mesmerizing.

I can barely speak.

They're full of mischief, determination, kindness, warmth, and…is that love? And correct me if I'm wrong, but I also see a bit of doubt as well.

I blush.

He inches even closer to me.

For some reason, I feel myself inching towards him.

It's like a gravitational pull.

It's like we're both magnets.

It's like we have opposite charges. My guess is he would be the positive one and I the negative.

Whatever force is causing this, we're both inching closer and closer to one another.

I see him close his eyes and I do the same with mine.

I start to get butterflies in my stomach.

As we are about to meet in the middle, my phone, just like any cheesy romance movie, goes off.

What makes it even worse is it's on vibrate, which startles me to a point that I find myself jumping ten feet in the air. I feel myself stumble.

I brace myself for making contact with the cold, cold floor, but instead I feel myself being steadied by a pair of strong, warm hands.

I look at him, blushing.

What the hell just happened?

"You alright?" He asks, sounding concerned.

I avoid making eye contact with him, still in shock about the fact we were about to kiss.

Does this mean he likes me too?

"I um…uh…um…w-w-we should go inside, it's…it's getting chilly out here," I say, trying to hide my embarrassment.

This is totally bull though, since it's like seventy-eight degrees out tonight.

"Um…yeah?" he says with uncertainty in his voice. He looks conflicted and a little confused.

I'm feeling conflicted and a little confused.

We walk inside to join the others.

We see that the lights are all on. The dreaded movie isn't playing anymore. The television is off.

Our friends are sitting in one huge circle, talking.

I take seat in between Sakura and Shino.

Naruto takes a seat between Sasuke and Kiba.

I see Sasuke whisper something to Naruto.

Naruto shakes his head.

Ino is giving me a look that is a mixture of suspicion, confusion, and a smirk.

Neji and Tenten are looking at me too.

I decide to busy myself with my cell phone.

I then remember the phone call from a few minutes ago. Frickin phone call…

Hm. I find out that it was just a text message.

Frickin text message…

I check it.

It's from Tenten.

I look at her and scowl.

She looks back at me, with a confused look on her face.

I open the text.

1 New Message from Tenten:

This is Temari. Too lazy to get my phone out of my backpack. The girls plan on interrogating you later. Be prepared :-D

I look up again, this time at Temari, who know has her own phone in possession. She must feel me staring intensely at her because she looks up at me. She smiles and waves.

I reply: Screw you D:

She gives me a puzzled look.

I shake my head and start a conversation with Sakura.

"So, what happened," Sakura whispers.

"Nothing," I say defensively and a little louder than I wanted.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," Sakura says, smiling.

I feel my face heat up.

"I'll bother you later, then," Sakura says, winking at me.

I just sigh.

I make the mistake of looking at Naruto.

He looks right back at me for a brief second.

I don't know if it's my eyes or not, but I swear I see his cheeks turn slightly pink.

He quickly looks away and talks to Sasuke.

"So, the dance is coming up, anyone as excited as I am?" Ino asks.

"You have to come dress shopping with us, Hina-chan," Sakura says.

I hear Temari and Tenten groan.

I see Matsuri shaking her head and mouthing something along the lines of, "Don't do it."

"You two are insane when it comes to clothes," Tenten says.

"And make up," Temari adds.

"And boys," Naruto says, while rolling his eyes.

"Especially you, Ino," Shikamaru says.

"Oh, hush up," Ino says.

"Yeah," Sakura contributes.

"Just don't go too crazy with my cousin, alright?" Neji says, slowly.

"How about all of us go to the mall together?" Matsuri suggests.

"Okay!" Ino shouts.

"I like that idea," Sakura says, while smiling.

"I'll be there, believe it," Naruto says.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru says.

"Hn," is Sasuke's excited response.

"Ew, I don't want to go shopping when Ino and Sakura are around. I learned my lesson last time," Tenten says.

Flashback-

"No flashbacks, please…" Gaara says.

"Ugh, fine," Tenten says.

"I don't want to go either," Temari says.

"Me neither," Lee says.

"Please, you guys?" Sakura pleads.

"We promise we won't go crazy," Ino adds.

"Ugh, fine, just wipe that look off your face," Temari says.

"Yea!" Ino exclaims.

The rest of my friends reluctantly nod, signaling they'll go too.

"So, Hinata? What do you think?" Ino asks.

"I guess I'll come," I say, smiling.

"Yea! Okay, we'll decide on a day later," Ino says.

"This is going to be fun," Sakura says.

After that, we all continued talking.

Then at about nine thirty, people started to leave.

The girls were welcome to sleep over.

Tenten had to go because she starts work tomorrow.

Temari had to go because her family is going to Suna tomorrow, bright and early.

The guys, of course, go home eventually as well.

Then it's just Ino, Sakura, Matsuri, and I left.

Eventually, Ino falls asleep.

Sakura, Matsuri, and I keep trying not to laugh.

Ino talks in her sleep, that's all I have to say.

The three of us decide to go outside so we don't wake her up mistakenly.

We squish on her hammock in the backyard and talk.

"So, what happened with Naruto?" Sakura asks.

"Nothing. Besides, it doesn't matter. He doesn't like me," I say.

"You don't know that he doesn't," Matsuri says, encouragingly.

"You don't know that he does," I say back.

"Hinata, sometimes you have to take chances. I think you should tell him, since he's too dense to realize it on his own," Sakura says.

"But, what if he doesn't like me and I just end up embarrassing myself?" I ask.

"Then forget him. He'd be an idiot not to give you a chance," Sakura says firmly.

"I don't know," I say.

"Think about it, alright?" Sakura suggests.

I only nod.

"So, is there anyone you guys want to go to go with the formal? Or, a person you want to at least have a dance with at the formal" Matsuri asks, obviously trying to change the subject, which I'm thankful for.

"I think you know," Sakura says while blushing.

Matsuri giggles.

"Well, how about you, Matsuri-chan?" Sakura asks.

"I um..no one really," Matsuri replies.

"Liar," Sakura says, while laughing.

I just smile.

"We know you like Gaara," Sakura continues on.

"What? How'd you know- I mean. No! Who told you-" Sakura interrupts Matsuri's panicking.

"Don't worry, I think it's cute," Sakura says, while smiling.

Matsuri blushes a little and says, "Please don't tell him."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he already knows," Sakura says.

"Sakura!" Matsuri exclaims, her blush growing deeper.

"Just kidding," Sakura says, while smiling.

Matsuri pouts.

After a while, Sakura goes back inside because she was starting to fall asleep on the hammock.

Now it was just Matsuri and I.

I'm not as close to Matsuri as I am to the others.

Heck, I'm closer to Sasuke than I am to her, which is why I was surprised when I saw her text last week on Sunday morning. You know, the day after all that crap that happened.

So, I decide to take this opportunity to get to know her even more.

What do I already know about her?

Well, I know she's best friends with that girl…what's her name?

Oh yeah, Sari. She's best friends with Sari.

I also know she has a crush on Gaara and hates shopping with Ino and Sakura.

So, that answers my question.

Not much…

Oh yeah, I just remembered another thing.

She's not a native of Konoha.

So to break the awkward silence, I ask, "So, where did you say you were from?"

"Sunagakure," Matsuri replies, "Most people call it Suna for short."

"Oh, cool," I say, "I've been there a few times. My family's older generation goes there a lot."

"Oh, really? Cool. Maybe we can go there together sometime. Maybe over the summer? That would be fun," Matsuri says, while smiling.

So far , so good.

"Yeah, I agree," I say, smiling back.

We're silent for a few moments until Matsuri asks me, "So how long have you lived here in Konoha?"

"Practically, my whole life," I respond.

"Wow, that's cool, but crazy. It's weird that most of us are just meeting for the first time this year," Matsuri says.

"I moved around A LOT growing up," I explain, "My family swore that this is the last time we'll ever move, but like it matters."

"What do you mean?" Matsuri asks.

"Well, up until now, I always have had trouble making a lot of friends. Pretty much, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, and I suppose Neji, have been my only friends. Well, until this year. I've gotten used to the whole moving thing. Also, I'm afraid something will happen and you guys will…" I don't finish my sentence.

"What? Abandon you?" Matsuri asks, sounding a little offended.

"I…" I start but don't finish. How did she guess?

"We would never do that. We love you too much, promise," Matsuri says, while hugging me.

I hug her back and say, "I know, I just can't help but worry all the time. That's the problem with me."

"Well, don't worry anymore about that, okay?" Matsuri says, firmly.

"Okay," I say, even though I still will worry.

She smiles.

"So, how long have you been in Konoha?" I ask her.

"Quite some time, actually," Matsuri says.

"Oh. What made you move here from Suna?" I ask.

Matsuri doesn't answer.

She lets go of me and lies down on her back on the hammock.

Another awkward silence.

Have I don't something wrong?

"It's getting late," I say, trying to pretend that I never asked that question.

I get out of the hammock slowly.

"Yeah, we should get to sleep…" Matsuri says.

She gets out of the hammock as well.

We both walk inside and walk up the stairs to Ino's bedroom.

Since this sleepover wasn't planned ahead of time, the four of us- Ino, Sakura, Matsuri, and I- are sharing Ino's large bed.

Ino is on the edge of one end of the bed with Sakura lying down next to her.

I let Matsuri get in first.

Then I follow suit.

"Good night," Matsuri says.

"Good night," I say, while turning off Ino's lamp that's on her side table drawer.

I just lay there in bed, thinking about all that happened tonight.

I almost got kissed by the guy I like.

Almost. Dang it, Temari.

Then I remember what just happened with Matsuri.

Why didn't she answer my question?

Wonder what her story is.

Do our other friends know?

I yawn.

Guess I'll have to find out later.

I close my eyes and slowly drift off.

I think I like writing long chapters nowadays because I have more of a chance to get my point across xD Anyway thank you for reading.

Until Later,

Daydreaming Soundly ^_^