- 6 Days -

"You idiot... What were you thinking?!" Sakura scolded the Uzumaki as she helped him into her house.

"Sorry... I was just keeping a close eye on Hinata... Like we said..." Naruto coughed as he still clutched his stomach, "geez, I feel like I drank a carton of spoiled milk, you know?"

"Oh please..." Sakura rolled her eyes as she shut the door behind her and walked Naruto to her bedroom.

"Thanks again, S-Sakura..." Naruto strained as she opened her bedroom door, then his eyes bugged out, "S-Sasuke?! What are you doing he--"

"He came over as soon as he heard what happened to you." Sakura explained.

"Right now, we're just worried about you." Sasuke said as he got up off the bed and let Naruto lay down.

"What are you doing running risks like that? You know you have no chance against a football star like Hidan..." Sakura sighed as she checked the huge bruise on Naruto's stomach.

"Eh... It's not bad..." Naruto cringed as he fibbed obviously.

"You loser..." Sasuke shut his eyes, "you just couldn't hold back, could you?"

"Nope."

"You're fine. Nothing's broken." Sakura said, "just a bad bruise."

"Good." Naruto sighed, but clearly not satisfied.

"What did he say to you?"

Naruto only stared into space and shook his head, "We should've stopped her before it was too late." Naruto murmured, "he has the power to do what he wants to Hinata. He warned me to stay away from her, but of course I won't, even if he threatened to kill me."

"You really got yourself in a deep hole, didn't you, Naruto?" Sakura rubbed her forehead.

"It's also Hinata's fault she got herself into this." Sasuke stated, "what was she thinking, dating Hidan?"

"She wasn't." Naruto groaned, "he tricked her into it all. It's not her fault, it's his."

The three sat in silence until Naruto remembered what he meant to ask, "oi, Sasuke. Where did you hear about what happened?"

"Oh. Hinata texted me, actually." Sasuke smirked, "I guess she said she told Hidan she went to the restroom, where she texted me that you got into a fight with Hidan. I called up Sakura and she told me she was on her way to pick you up, so she said to come here."

"Wow..." Naruto rubbed his knee, "she did that, huh?"

"Yeah." Sakura smiled.

"She really has changed, hasn't she?" Naruto grinned.

"Oh yeah." Sasuke agreed as he across the room to the window, "so the party's in less than a week. What are you going to do?"

"With Hidan?" Naruto asked, "well, he's going, that's for sure. So I need to go, to be with Hinata."

"Have you learned nothing?! You idiot!" Sakura shouted, "if you go, you're gonna end up in this same state you're in right now!"

"Sakura's right, Naruto. He'll be pissed if he sees you in the same building as Hinata."

"But--"

"No buts." Sakura stood up, "we can give Kiba your congratulations, but you're not going. It's for your own good."

Naruto pursed his lips, but sighed in defeat, "okay."

__________________________

- 3 Days -

"This is my ninth Vlog, and it's Friday. TGIF. I've been dreading school all week. Now I can kick back and relax, maybe go out and meet with Sakura again. Yesterday, after school, she, Ino, and Tenten brought me out to an evening at the mall where they picked out an outfit for me at Kiba's party. While we were there, Sakura bought another frisbee, then told me maybe we can go over to Sasuke's house this weekend to pass it around. Oh, and invite Naruto, of course. Speaking of Naruto, I felt so bad about the incident between him and Hidan. The least I could've done was text Sasuke about it. Then the next day, I did go to visit him, and I was relieved to see he was doing so much better. I really wasn't at all worried about Hidan as much as I was worried about Naruto. He sacrificed way too much for me. I invited him out for ice cream after I went to visit him. It was really different to not have to wait for him to tell me what to do and what not to do. Then imagine my surprise when I was so ready to pay, but Naruto had beat me to it. He was the one that was hurt, I felt it would only be right to pay for him. But it's really different. Anyways, I'm headed out to Sasuke's house. I've never met his parents or his brother. I only heard stories about his brother, but never actually seen him." Hinata shut her laptop and got dressed in more active apparel, relieved that she didn't have to dress to impress anyone. She slipped on a ball cap over her long ponytail and headed out the door, not even bothering to call to Neji that she was leaving. All she had in mind was having fun with the people in her life that she never realized could mean so much to her. All she had in mind was just being free for once, with no one holding her back.