- The Day -

"Hey, Hinata!"

Hinata turned to see Tenten walking towards her, "oh, Tenten."

"You heard about Kiba's party tomorrow night, right? So, you going?"

"I'm not sure..." Hinata replied, "Hidan did ask me to come, but I don't think it'll be a good idea."

"Come on." Tenten chuckled, "you don't have to go with him! You can stay with me the whole time!"

"Yeah. Thanks but no thanks." Hinata smiled a smile that seemed too happy for her. It was fake, "I'm going with Hidan."

"O-Okay. See you later, then!" Tenten made her way back from the bench Hinata sat at to a group of bushes not too far from it.

"Well?"

"She's going with Hidan."

"Damn it..."

"Neji, I tried to offer to go with her, but I don't think she trusts me enough."

Neji rubbed his chin, "then who? She did tell me she'd do anything to go with Naruto, but Hidan would kill him if he showed his face within a mile of her..." He sighed, then smiled, "Perfect."

Tenten tilted her head in confusion, "... What?"

"He can keep his distance from her and Hidan wouldn't notice, making it easy for him to spy on her."

Tenten crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "oh please, Neji. Spying on a girl is improper... And rude."

"Did I say spy? I meant watch... Closely." Neji corrected himself.

"NEJI!!"

Neji and Tenten turned suddenly to see none other than their most energetic friend, "Lee!"

"What is this I hear about spying? You're not peeping on the girls again, are you?" Lee stood before Neji with his fist clenched, "if that is true, I shall never forgive you for--"

"Will you shut up?!" Neji slapped his hand over Lee's mouth, "I would never do that! Now be quiet before Hinata hears!"

"Doesn't matter." Tenten sighed, "she's already gone."

"Crap!" Neji dropped Lee on the grass, "now where'd she go?!"

"Better keep her on a leash..." Tenten chuckled.

"Tenten!" Neji turned to her, "this is not funny!" He turned away and started running, "Hinata!!"

_______________________

Hinata scrolled through her recent messages and missed calls, every single one from Hidan.

Hey, Babe. How bout u come over and we can hang?

She could practically feel the shrill of his voice scraping her spine. She only sighed, Sorry. Can't. I need to finish homework.

She didn't have to wait too long to see his reply.

Aw That's too bad How bout tonight? At Inuzuka's party We'll have a blast, there. ;)

Hinata felt her heart beating faster. She just wasn't sure from what, exactly. Excitement? Fear? Anger? She couldn't put her finger on it.

Fine then.

Just as she sent it, her head suddenly hit something hard as she ran into a passerby on her way home from school, causing her to fall back and drop her phone.

"Oww..." Hinata rubbed her head.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Here..."

The stranger held her arms and pulled her up.

"Thank you." Hinata was still rubbing her head and regaining her vision. But she didn't even need her full eyesight to recognize the bright yellow hair, "N-Naruto?!"

"Hinata! I thought that was you!" Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "so, uh, you okay?"

"Yes. Thank you." Hinata said quickly before rushing away.

"Wait! You..." Naruto tried to stop her, but she continued to run, not looking back, "geez, is she avoiding me now?" He sighed and gazed down at the ground to see her phone. He picked it up and caught sight of the messaging screen, "hm, Hidan, you bastard..."

He suddenly felt his own phone in his pocket buzzing, "hello?"

"Naruto. This is Neji. I need a favor for tonight."

Naruto glanced back down at Hinata's phone for a moment, then nodded, "I'm listening."

_________________________

"You idiot! What are you saying?!"

"Look, Neji and I just need a favor... Please Sasuke, I promise I'll make it up to you later." Naruto pleaded with his best friend, the party only a few hours away.

Sasuke crossed his arms, "well, I never wanted to go to that stupid party in the first place! I don't... 'Do' parties..."

"Aw, come on." Naruto groaned, "look, just for tonight. Just this once."

"What's so important anyways?"

Naruto's pleading face grew cold, "it's Hinata."

Sasuke dropped his arms and listened intently.

"She's going with Hidan. And you know how I don't trust the guy."

"Then why make me do it? You're the one who cares about her so much."

"You know why. Neji said I could just watch her from afar. But I need to be able to be with her right there if I want to keep her safe. I don't even think I could show my face at the party with Hidan there without getting beaten up again."

Sasuke stared at him, but sighed in defeat, "fine. Whatever. But if anything happens, it's all on you."

Naruto smiled, "yeah. Thanks so much."

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged as he and Naruto headed to his front door, "make sure you don't go too far, though. I'll need to be able to contact you if anything bad comes up."

"I'll just be at my place. Besides, I need to go talk to someone in the meantime."

"Okay." Sasuke nodded as he opened the door, "I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah. See you. Good luck." Naruto nodded as he stepped out and headed towards his car.

Sasuke shut the door behind him, then sighed, "how long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, not long."

"What do you want, Itachi?"

"Who's this girl?"

"Hinata Hyuga. Her dad owns the Hyuga Corporation."

Itachi followed Sasuke to the kitchen, "them? Really? You know, their corporation is the Uchiha Organization's competitor. If we merged the businesses, we could--"

Sasuke snapped, "what are you getting at, here?!"

"What I'm saying, little brother..." Itachi set his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "is that you should marry her."

"What?!"

"You're taking her to that party, right?"

"I'm seventeen!"

"Hey, when you're older. Start with dating."

"Are you stupid?! I would never marry for the business, and you can't make me! What do you think the whole purpose of marriage is?!"

"Look, Dad's been talking to me about it, and we think it'd really be a good idea for the family business."

"You really are a heartless human being...." Sasuke scoffed as he walked right past his brother, grabbed a can of soda, then headed to his bedroom, "now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready for some dumb party."