Hinata's POV:

After my first day of school the rest of the week was pretty uneventful, except for what happened that Thursday, but that wasn't a big deal. The next week was a little more exciting. I showed up to class on Monday to see the school's atmosphere was completely different, everyone was more energized and excited and when I couldn't figure out why I asked Naruto and he told me it that this week's game was against the school rivals who had beaten us last year and now it was time for pay back apparently.

So here I am standing in the bleachers with almost everyone in the school, with my face painted black and orange I might add, screaming my head off as the game clock counts down to the final seconds.

"Timeout!" Kakashi-sensei called.

*Whistle blows*

We were winning 14-13 but the other team had the ball with just enough time to run one more play and they had the ball on the 30 yard line which is well within range of their kicker. Our only hope was for one of our players to block the kick.

*Whistle blows*

Come on guys you can do it.

They left the sidelines and lined up to block the kick. But something was off about the formation.

That's odd. Normally Naruto-kun lines up on the outside so he can rush the edge.... But now he's directly across from the center and backed away from the line... what's going on?

Naruto suddenly started sprinting towards the line. He timed the snap perfectly and launched himself into the air, over the center. The ball was up and-

"He tipped it! He tipped it!" I screamed as the ball popped straight up into the air only to be caught by Sasuke who started booking it down the sidelines with Naruto leading the way.

"TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOUNTAIN TOADS WIN MOUNTAIN TOADS WIN!" the announcer's voice rang out over the speakers as we all cheered and stormed the field. "Final score: Mountain Toads – 20, Purple Cobras – 13," he announced excitedly.

"Come on let's go congratulate them," Tenten said happily.

We ran down to the field looking for our friends in the crowd.

"Hinata!" I heard Naruto shouting nearby and started looking around when I caught sight of some messy blonde hair. I made my way towards him and he suddenly picked me up in a big hug. "Hinata-chan we won! Did you see it we won!" he shouted, his voice full of pride and happiness.

"I s-saw Naruto-kun, I saw! Y-you were great, I'm r-really happy f-for you, b-but could you p-please put me d-down? You s-smell really bad," I said only half joking.

"Oh right sorry," he said with his signature smile still stretched across his face and his beautiful blue eyes sparkling with pride.

He's so cute when he's excited.

"Let me just change and clean up a little bit and then we'll go," he said as he rushed off and jumped onto Sasuke's back and threw his fist in the air as he let out an animal-like howl. Surprisingly Sasuke didn't throw him off and was smiling too as they went off towards the locker room to change.

Baka.

I shook my head and went over to the girls who were just as excited as the boys. Sakura gave some wipes so I could take the paint off of my face. We met the boys in the parking lot once they had showered in the locker room and put on some regular clothes, then we drove to the school's party house.

It might sound kind of odd for the school to have a party house but it was actually a pretty good idea. They bought it a few years ago as a way to prevent drinking and driving and other similar accidents from happening. It was a way everyone could go and have a good time and not have to worry about getting hurt. The school knew it was next to impossible to keep people from bringing alcohol in, so they had taxi's waiting outside all night in case anyone needed a ride home. And the house, which was actually an old barn that had been converted to better suit the school's needs, was only fifteen minutes from the nearest police station and ten minutes from the nearest fire station.

When we got there everyone was already having a good time so we didn't waste any time in joining them. We were all dancing, joking, and laughing for about an hour when I decided I needed to go to the restroom. When I walked out and started looking for my friends, my way was suddenly blocked by a large boy with a mean face and the thick smell of alcohol on his breath. He looked me up and down, lingering on my chest, and then a disgusting smile made its way up his face.

Pig.

"U-um excuse m-me please," I said avoiding eye contact as I tried to go around him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Woah there, where do you think you're going doll?" the pig asked.

"Please let me go," I might have said "please" but I put an edge to my voice that made it so I definitely wasn't asking.

He started laughing and his smile grew wider as he said, "You got some fight in you... I like that."

"Let. Her. Go." A familiar voice growled.

Naruto-kun!

I turned to see him but who I saw wasn't Naruto. I mean it was, but not the Naruto I knew. This Naruto was terrifying; his blue eyes that were normally a beautiful cerulean blue were now bright red, his cute whisker marks were much thicker now, and his normally happy face was contorted into a terrible sneer. He looked like a wild animal about to attack.

Naruto-kun?

"What'd you say to me punk," the pig said.

"I said... let her go. Now!" Naruto barked.

"Or what?" the pig asked.

Well that's a stupid question.

"Or," Naruto paused and looked at me before looking back at the pig, "I'll kill you." His voice was deadly calm and by the look in his eyes I could tell he was serious, and apparently the pig could tell too cause he let me go and quickly walked away.

Naruto covered me with his arms and quickly walked me outside and didn't stop until we were standing under a nearby tree. When we stopped he wrapped me in a hug and started stroking my hair as I cried into his chest. I could feel his heart racing from adrenaline as he held me.

"Are you alright Hinata-chan? Did he hurt you?" he asked still holding me to his chest. His voice still had a sharp edge to it.

"I'm f-fine N-Naruto-kun *sniff* th-thank y-you f-for s-saving m-me," I said as tears fell from my eyes.

"Always."

When he spoke his voice was so low it was almost a whisper. All he said was a single word, but that one word was so full of emotion and truth that it held more meaning than a thousand words.

We were like that for about ten minutes when I finally finished crying and was finally able to appreciate and enjoy the fact that I was standing there in his arms. When he spoke his anger was gone and I could tell my Naruto was back.

"Do you want to leave?" he asked. I didn't want to speak so I simply nodded my head in response. "Do you want me to take you home?" this time I shook my head. "Where do you want to go?" he asked. My response was muffled by his chest so he couldn't hear it. "What'd you say?" he asked as he loosened his hold and pulled me away a bit so he could look at me.

I sniffed and wiped my eyes before looking up at him and saying, "I s-said I w-wanted to g-go to McDonald's."

"McDonald's it is then," he said as he looked at me with a small grin which caused me to smile back a bit. "I just have to go back in and tell Sasuke or Sakura that we're going," he said. "Are you ok to go in?" he asked with concern in his voice.

I wiped my eyes one last time before giving him a small smile and nodding my head yes.

When we went back in to look for our friends we heard some noise coming from the front of the house, so we went to investigate. When we got there we found Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Gaara face to face with four players from our rival school. The guy who appeared to be the leader had pale skin and floppy white hair, to his right was a blonde with hairdo similar to Ino's, to the leader's left was a boy with slicked back grey hair and another boy with a young face and red hair. We saw Sakura, Ino, and Temari standing together close by watching so I went over to them as Naruto joined his teammates and faced the supposed leader.

"What seems to be the problem here?" he asked.

Naruto's POV:

Oh great, these guys.

I left Hinata with the other girls and walked over to face the group's leader Toneri.

"What seems to be the problem here?" I asked with a fake smile to try to calm everyone down.

"Problem? What problem? We just came to have a good time. Nothing wrong with that right?" Toneri asked with an equally fake smile.

I looked at who he had brought with him: he had Deidara to his right, and Hidan and Sasori to his left.

"Well I'm sorry Toneri but you'll have to go somewhere else to do that," I said. I wasn't going to say anything else but I remembered that guy that was trying to hurt Hinata and how I didn't get to hit him. "After all, this is a party for people who don't need to bribe refs with daddy's money to win games," I added with a smirk.

His face contorted in anger for a split second but then he composed himself and said, "Very well, I guess we'll be go then." As he turned away I heard him mumble something under his breathe.

"What did you just say." I said knowing full well what he said.

"Oh, I just said at least I have a dad. And a mother too. Where are your parents? Oh that's right they're dead-" before he could say anything else I smashed him in the face with a hard right cross. He looked up at me from the ground and then he launched himself at me and all hell broke loose. Shikamaru and Kiba took on Hidan, Sasuke took on Deidara, Gaara was fighting Sasori, and I was beating the crap out of this floppy haired bastard who dared to talk about my parents.

My guys were clearly starting to take the upper hand in the fight when someone yelled, "Cops!" Once we heard that everyone scattered. I grabbed Hinata and we drove to the park a few blocks from my apartment.

"Ow! Hinata that stings," I winced as she patched me up.

She just smiled a bit and said, "Well m-maybe if y-you'd stop squirming s-so much it w-wouldn't hurt as m-much."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I mumbled. I couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked in the moonlight.

Stop thinking like that you perv. I've been hanging out with Jiraiya too much.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Ino asked.

"McDonald's," I said excitedly as I gave Hinata a wink, and everyone agreed.

When we got there, we all ordered our food. I got a double quarter pounder with cheese, a ten piece nugget, a large fry, and a chocolate shake. Once we got our food we sat down and started eating in silence, but not an awkward silence. It was like the silence that happens on Thanksgiving when everyone is too busy enjoying the food to say anything. When we had all finished we started talking about the game and the fight and anything else that came up. Then everyone left and I drove Hinata home.

"Sorry about tonight," I said as we were driving.

"What d-do you m-mean?" she asked in that voice that made my chest ache.

She has the voice of an angel. Weirdo stop thinking like that.

"Well there was that guy and then you had to patch me up after I started a stupid fight. It's just that I know this isn't how you planned on spending your Friday night," I explained.

"It w-wasn't all b-bad," she said blushing a bit.

I was confused about what she meant and then I thought about how I held her when she was crying and a small smile crept up on my face. "Yeah, I guess it wasn't all that bad after all."

Not bad at all.

"Hey it's still kind of early, if you aren't too tired we could go do something?" I asked realizing it was only 11:00.

"I'm n-not tired," she said with a smile.

"Ok great. What do you want to do?" I asked happily.

"I d-don't know," she giggled as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well there's a lake close by, we could go swimming?" I suggested.

"Y-yeah that s-sounds fun," she answered.

Ten minutes later I had parked my jeep and was taking off my shoes, socks, and jersey. When I was just in my athletic shorts and compression shirt I ran down the pier and jumped into the cool water.

*Splash*

I stayed under for a few moments just letting the water cover me in its cool embrace. When I surfaced for air I saw Hinata sitting on the edge of the pier with her feet dangling in the water.

"You have to get in the water to swim ya know," I teased as I swam over to her.

"I kn-know," she answered nervously.

"Hinata-chan is everything alright?" I asked curiously.

"It's j-just I d-don't have anything t-to s-swim in," she said blushing.

"Oh, would borrowing some of my clothes work?" I asked and she nodded. I pulled myself up onto the pier and ran over to my bag and dug around until I found a small pair of athletic shorts and a loose-fit Underarmour running shirt. "Here, will these work?" I asked.

"Y-yes those will w-work," she said blushing a bit as she went behind the Jeep to change.

Why is she blushing so much?

When she came back I couldn't help but think she looked cute.

"All better?" I asked.

"Y-yes," she answered with a smile as she blushed a little deeper.

"Good," I then picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder and started running towards the water.

"N-Naruto-kun w-what are y-you doing!?" she yelled as I jumped in with her still over my shoulder.

*Splash*

I surfaced laughing like an idiot... she was less amused.

"That w-wasn't f-funny Naruto-kun," she said pouting a bit.

"Oh come on Hinata-chan it was a little funny," I said still laughing. She swam over to me and dunked my head underwater, making me take a big gulp of it. I came up coughing and gasping for air. This time it was her turn to laugh like an idiot.

She's so cute when she laughs.

"So that you find funny?" I asked with an amused smile.

"V-very much, y-yes," she answered as she nodded and was still laughing. "Y-you should h-have seen y-your face w-when you w-went under! Y-your eyes l-looked like they w-were ab-bout to pop out of y-your head! You l-looked like a s-scared little k-kid," she was laughing so hard now that she could barely breathe.

I couldn't help but admire how blissfully happy she looked. It was nice to see her finally come out of her shell. When she calmed down she had to wipe tears from her eyes but she still had a big smile plastered on her face.

I don't think I've ever seen her smile that big before.

Her smile was intoxicating and I started smiling too. We were both smiling at each other and staring into each other's eyes when I felt a twisting feeling in my gut.

What's this feeling? Am I sick?

Hinata's POV:

"S-so Naruto-kun d-do you h-have a d-date for homecoming yet?" I asked.

"What? Oh no, not yet, but there's someone I'm thinking about asking. What about you?" he answered.

"W-well actually Kiba-kun asked m-me last Thursday, and I s-said y-yes," I said blushing a bit.

(A/N: Hinata does not tell Naruto about the following information, it is solely for your benefit)

-Flashback-
I was sitting in the bleachers doing my math assignment when I heard a commotion coming from the field, so I looked up to see Guy-sensei had collapsed. I looked at my phone to see it was 4:30.

"Crap! Looks like I h-have to d-do Naruto-kun's Biology h-homework," I said to myself as I went back to doing my homework.

I had started making bets with Naruto about when Guy-sensei would collapse. If he won I would do some of his homework and if I won he would buy me cinnamon rolls. I was in the middle of a problem when I heard footsteps coming towards me.

"H-have you c-come to b-brag?" I asked with a slight grin, not bothering to look up.

"Brag about what?" a voice asked.

Wait. That's not Naruto-kun?

I looked up to see Kiba looking up at me.

"Oh Kiba-kun, I th-thought you were N-Naruto-kun coming t-to b-brag about w-winning our b-bet," I explained, "Is th-there something I c-can d-do for you?" I asked confused about why he was here. Don't get me wrong, Kiba had quickly become one of my best friends, but he never visited during practice because he wanted to stay focused.

"Actually yes, I guess there is," he said scratching the back of his head.

"Well w-what is it s-silly?" I giggled and rolled my eyes a bit.

"Oh right, hehe. Well, um, you can, um, youcanletmetakeyoutohomecoming?" he said the last part so fast I almost didn't catch it.

He's asking me to homecoming?

"U-um, I'm s-so s-sorry Kiba-kun b-but I d-"

"Just as friends I mean... well not really... kinda... ok let me start over. The thing is you and I are friends, but I, um, I kinda like you," he said nervously.

Dog boy say what?

"But I, well actually our entire group, knows that you like knucklehead. Well not our entire group since he doesn't know. Anyways, I like you, you like him, and he definitely cares about you, but no one knows if that means he "like-likes" you or not," he continued.

"Um o-ok? Is-is th-there a p-point t-to th-this?" I asked still feeling confused and shocked and a hundred other emotions I couldn't figure out.

"Oh right, well I was thinking you go with me and two things come from it. The first thing is that I get the chance to get you to see me the same way I see you and if by the end of the night, if you still just want to just be friends, then so be it. The second thing is that you get the opportunity to help Naruto find out how he feels about you by making him jealous or something. So what do you think?" he asked.

I sat there in disbelief thinking about what he said and trying to sort out all of this information.

"W-well I g-guess that all m-makes s-sense, b-but Kiba-kun are y-you s-sure ab-bout this? I d-don't w-want t-to h-hurt y-you or w-worse, lose y-you as m-my b-best friend. Are y-you s-sure w-we c-can still b-be friends if I d-don't f-feel the s-same by the end of the n-night?" I asked.

"I'll admit it's going to hurt like hell. But it'd hurt a thousand times more to not know at all, and live the rest of my life asking "what if?" The truth is, that more than anything I want you to be happy. And if you being happy means stepping aside and helping you get the knucklehead's attention, then that's what I'll do," he said truthfully.

Well it sounds like he's telling the truth. And he is my best friend so at least it'd be fun.

"So what's your answer?" he asked.

"Y-yes," I said with an awkward smile.

-Flashback End-

Naruto's POV:

She's going with... Kiba? Does that mean she likes him? Wait why do I care? They're my friends, if they like each other then I should be happy for them.... Right? So why does my chest hurt so much?

"Oh... that's... that's great. Kiba's a great guy," I said with a forced smile.

"Y-yeah, he's n-nice," she said quietly.

"We should probably get you home," I said a little sad.

"O-ok. N-Naruto-kun are y-you alright?" she asked as I got out of the water.

"Yeah, I think I might be getting sick or something," I said.

When she climbed out I noticed how the wet clothes hugged her curves and how the moonlight made her eyes glow.

Woah... Hinata's hot.

I shook the thought out of my head and scolded myself.

Shut up you perv! She likes someone else.

I gave her a towel to dry off with and then I drove her home. After I dropped her off I went home and got in bed.

I hope I didn't get her sick.

-Chapter End-