Sorry this took so long! Life happened.

Anyway, here it is.

Please enjoy.

March: With Hope on Our Lips

"It's okay, just take a deep breath. I'm here for you." The sound of Hinata's honeyed voice was a temporary cure for the shakiness of his legs and the pinballs he had been sweating. He squeezed her hand in apprehension and she returned the favor in reassurance. Cerulean eyes scanned the list for a particular number: 10976.

A minute had passed, and his eyes wavered slightly. So many numbers had been skipped – what if it had been the case for him as well? All that hard work would have been for naught, making him a ronin; a masterless samurai. It was the name given to students who graduated high school, but failed to get into college.

There was nothing wrong with students who failed the exam and had to re-take it, he knew that. But he would be a liar if he said that failing to get into college hurt his pride. On top of that, there were so many people who went out of their way to help him do this, he couldn't let them down.

He couldn't let himself down.

Feeling another one of Hinata's reassuring squeezes, Naruto searched more intently. It was difficult not to be discouraged, especially when all of the numbers between 10945 and 10958 were missing. Soon, it was as if Naruto had found the light at the end of the dark and desolate tunnel.

10976.

He was able to stand upright again as his eyes widened and his lips parted slightly. It was there. His number was there. "Hinata…" He spoke breathlessly. "It's there."

She let out one of the tiniest gasps he had ever heard. "Where? Where is it?"

Naruto lifted a finger to point at the white paper tacked onto the wooden board. "10976. It's there! Hinata, it's there!" He cried, the feelings of joy and triumph finally washed over him as his arms found themselves wrapped around his girlfriend's waist.

He spun her round and around as she let out a gasp of surprise before laughter arose from the pit of her stomach. "Oh, I'm so happy for you Naruto-kun!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around her neck. "Congratulations! I'm really proud of you."

The spinning had stopped, and Hinata placed a small kiss upon her boyfriend's lips. Naruto's cheeks reddened ever so slightly upon hearing that she was proud of him. "I… I'm proud of you too. You got into your school of choice too, didn't you?" He beamed.

She did. It was odd to her that she didn't have to go out to find her number on a list like everyone else did. Instead, she had to wait on a letter to make its way to her home. When Ko brought in the mail yesterday, she swiped the letter the first chance she got and held it hostage in her bedroom.

It took her a long time to open it, and when she read the word "congratulations" the thin paper slipped from her hands and slowly descended to the wooden floor as she rushed downstairs to tell her father the wonderful news.

Naruto set her back down on the ground. "Let's meet back up with everyone, okay?" He offered her his hand and she graciously accepted it, entwining her slender fingers between his. Their friends had been waiting for them, some displaying their nervous habits.

Sakura squeezed her hands tightly while Ino chewed her bottom lip. She had quite the grip on Sai's hand. Kiba couldn't keep from fidgeting as Shino periodically glanced at his watch. They hadn't been gone for very long; the minute hand only moved twice. However, those two minutes were starting to feel like an eternity.

Neji gripped the sleeve of his jacket, but it wasn't in annoyance this time. Lee and Tenten noticed, and gave their best reassuring smiles. "Don't worry Neji."Lee spoke up. "I'm sure Naruto-kun and Hinata-san will be back soon with good news!"

The Hyuga's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am not worried."

"Could've fooled me." Tenten mumbled.

Apparently Choji was quite the over eater while nervous, as he quickly munched away on his favorite chips. "You think he'll be okay?" He asked Shikamaru between munches. His lazy friend shrugged, and the word "hopefully" was all he uttered.

Sasuke was looking as calm and collected as usual, idly playing with his cell phone. Although a few minutes had passed, he felt that Naruto was taking quite a long time to get back. It shouldn't have taken anyone that long to find a number on a list that went in numerical order.

Unless that person was looking for a number that wasn't there.

The Uchiha tensed, tightening the grip on his phone before he heard the raspy voice that belonged to his best friend. "I found it! I found it you guys!" He cried out, with Hinata in tow. The group was finally able to relax, giving Naruto their congratulations. Some did so via fist bumps and hugs.

"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto flashed his trademark grin, "aren't you gonna congratulate me too?"

A devilish smirk played upon Ino's lips. "Yeah Sasuke, you were looking pretty worried there."

He scoffed. "There was no way that idiot wouldn't pass. He had three of the smartest people helping him cram and I was among them." Sasuke gave a haughty smirk and Hinata watched him intently.

Oh Sasuke-kun. You say that, however… She thought as she looked at Sasuke's hands, your hands are trembling…

(^o^)

Ichiraku's certainly was crowded with lively teenagers right now. Business had been going slow for most of the day, but as soon as Naruto had run in screaming he had gotten into college, a bunch of kids ran in after him; not that Teuchi minded. He was beyond elated for his number one customer – boy, how time flies. Just the other day, that little blond scamp was running around and chatting up customers at random. Now he was off to college, and that made Teuchi's heart swell with pride.

"This one's on the house, Naruto! Congratulations on getting into college!"

One would think Naruto's grin couldn't get any wider, but it did. "Thanks old man Teuchi!" A large bowl of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet was placed right in front of him, and the blond wasted no time digging in.

"My, my, Naruto!" Ino grinned. "Getting free food, getting accepted to college and you've got a cute girl by your side? I'm envious!" A pink hue arose on Hinata's cheeks while Naruto gave a sheepish grin. "And you too Hinata – going to school in New York. Isn't that the capital?"

"The capital of America is Washington D.C." Shikamaru grumbled.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but is it the fashion capital? I don't think so! I want to visit! It'd be so nice to go shopping there!"

Hinata giggled before answering. "Yes, New York City is the fashion capital of America, but I'm not there to shop – I'm there to study."

"But you'll be making tons of pretty clothes. You'll have to do lots of fabric shopping, no?" Sakura asked. She caught a glimpse of Sasuke rolling his eyes and smiled. "Aren't you going to the same school, Sasuke?"

Naruto drew a sharp gasp before wrapping his arm protectively around Hinata. "You better take care of her Sasuke! I mean it!"

The Uchiha scowled. "What do I look like, her bodyguard?"

"Actually, Hinata told Ko that she didn't want him to come with her, despite Hiashi's protests. I guess you're the next best thing." Neji stated before having some of his ramen. Sasuke could only shoot him an incredulous look. Why did her family treat her the way they did? It wasn't as if she would be kidnapped!

"Naruto's right for once." Sakura said. "If anything happened to Hinata, I'll never forgive you."

"And that goes for us too, right Shino?" Asked Kiba, and Shino nodded.

Soon after, the rest of their friends seemed to chime in with "take care of her, or else", much to Sasuke's annoyance. "Excuse me!? Why is everyone ganging up on me!?"

Tenten, who had just finished her bowl of ramen, smirked. "Because Hinata's the princess of the group. She's gotta be protected." Sasuke's eyes left Tenten to focus on Hinata. Surely she didn't feel the same way about –

"Ah, I feel so loved." She smiled, placing her hands on her pink cheeks. The Uchiha could feel his eyes narrow at the sight of her. She was enjoying this attention a little too much if you asked him.

"So, I hear Sakura got into a really good medical school. That's incredible." Choji said before ordering another large bowl of Ramen.

Lee gave a laugh. "Of course she would. As expected of Sakura!"

"Heh, what can I say? I tried my best." Sakura smiled, scratching the side of her blushing cheek sheepishly. Her tone changed into something Hinata would describe as wistfulness. "I'm so envious of you guys though. You all are going to the same school, but I'm going to be by myself."

Ino gasped. "But I did promise I'd see you most days; it's not far from where I'll be going to school."

Sakura waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. I know, but I'm just thinking out loud."

This caused Sasuke's eyebrow to raise in question. "What are you talking about? Karin got accepted to the same school."

"We're not friends!" She cried out a little too quickly with a light blush dusting her cheeks. Ino and Hinata chuckled at her outburst while Sasuke smirked.

"That's not what she told me."

"Why do you listen to her?" She whined. As much of a pain it was to have Karin around sometimes (with her constant teasing), the two of them were actually able to hold decent conversations at times. Sakura learned that she was actually pretty insightful. It wasn't too hard for her to believe they had gotten into the same school.

However, if Karin got word that Sakura considered her a friend, she'd never shut up about it and tease her mercilessly.

Naruto, who was on his fifth bowl of ramen, turned to look at his pink haired friend. "See? You won't be alone then. You'll be fine! And it's just like Ino said – our school isn't so far from yours either." Yes, he said "our" school. He, Ino and Kiba as well Shikamaru, Lee and Choji were all attending the same school.

If Hinata remembered correctly, Sai was going to a very prestigious art school not too far from where they currently lived while Neji and Tenten were attending the same school. It also seemed like the two of them were a little sad that Lee wouldn't be joining them; though Neji would never admit it. Shino would be all alone again, but it was understandable. Not many schools held his passion for entomology.

"I can't shake you guys off for the life of me." Shikamaru commented offhandedly.

His blonde best friend made a face. "You say that, but you're actually happy that you'll be with us. What would you do without us?"

"Sleep." He answered simply. She brushed it off.

"But you know, it's really great that the two of us got in, Ino." Naruto said. "And to think we had that curse looming over our heads in the beginning of the year."

Ino's eyes narrowed, and her lips curled into what looked to be disgust. "How did you know about the fortune I got?"

Naruto began to sweat underneath her gaze. "Huh? Er… that? I think… I think Sai might've told me!"

"I've done no such thing." He answered quickly.

He could have at least covered for him! Ino slammed her hands down on the counter; rather infuriated at that moment. "You were the one who put that stupid fortune in my purse! I ought to kill you!"

As Hinata watched her friend berate her boyfriend, she couldn't help but feel that Naruto's great curse for this year would be his big mouth.

"Here." Sasuke mumbled, practically shoving the blue box in her hand. "It's one of those disgusting cinnamon rolls you like so much." Hinata, although happy with her White Day present, thought Sasuke could stand to be a little kinder about it. Presents should be given with the utmost respect.

Not forced onto someone as you tell them their present is disgusting.

She wasn't particularly fond of getting used to this for another four years, so she was going to change that attitude of is. "That's all you have to say?" She asked. Sasuke's onyx eyes bore into her white ones. Slowly, and uncharacteristic blush spread across his face. He turned away from her.

"Thanks… for being a friend… and putting up with me, I suppose." His voice was barely audible and Hinata had to strain her ears to hear it but she definitely heard it alright. A huge smile spread across her face, and when Sasuke turned to look at her again, he scowled. "What's with you making that ridiculous face? Stop it."

That didn't stop the joyous feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach. He had tried to say a few other mean things to wipe the smile off of her face, but it was too late. Then she let out a giggle, much to Sasuke's chagrin.

"Mornin' Hinata!" Naruto called out as he made his way over to her desk. When he got there, he looked from her smiling face, to Sasuke's slightly red one. He blinked. "Did something happen?"

Hinata let out another laugh and Sasuke looked away, not even wanting to bother with the two of them anymore. "Nothing really." Hinata answered. "Sasuke-kun just gave me his White Day present." Her boyfriend let out a snort before donning a rather confident look.

"I bet my present'll be a million times better!"

Sasuke found himself turning back around to look at the two of them. "Of course if should be. If you have to compare yours to mine to make yourself feel better, then maybe you didn't get such a good present." Sasuke said, his tone dripping in snide.

When Naruto scowled, he smirked, reveling in the fact that he could never fail to get under Naruto's skin. "They say White Day presents should be ten times better than Valentine's Day ones. Hinata did all that work for nothing."

It was obvious he was only trying to goad him, but her boyfriend was all riled up, crying that he did get a good present. "And I'm returning the favor by cooking for her tonight. Better boyfriend than you'll ever be!"

Sasuke shot Hinata a look of concern. "Yikes. Be ready to get your stomach pumped."

"Ugh! You're such an asshole!" Naruto ranted and raved while Sasuke leaned back in his chair, pleased with his work.

Hinata sighed. Maybe it was a good thing for Naruto and Sasuke to have some time apart.

-x-

There weren't that many people in the art clubroom today. Hinata supposed it was because everyone was off doing something for White Day, like fretting over the fact that they forgot White Day was coming up, and were being berated by girls who handed them chocolates.

Sai, however, was looking quite focused on some type of painting. Maybe this year he had a really special present lined up for her, unlike last year's White Day gift. Hinata did find out that Ino actually does wear the lingerie. Surprisingly, it was a perfect fit.

Either Sai was a lucky guesser or he had been paying a lot of attention to Ino before they got together. "Sai," Hinata called out, causing him to look away from his canvas, "what are you making?"

The artist motioned for her to stand by him, and when she did she was absolutely taken back by the beauty Sai had captured on that canvas. It was an oil painting of Ino, and she had such an ethereal beauty about her. Her hair was let down, and a plethora of flowers surrounded her bare shoulders. "This is my White Day present. Last year's wasn't well received, so I thought I'd do something that I'm good at. I know it's a bit unconventional but…"

"It's absolutely beautiful Sai." Hinata said in awe. "But, why paint Ino for Ino?"

The artist blinked. "Because Ino loves to look at herself. A lot."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Hinata mumbled. Sai was right. Ino could be very vain at times; this would be another mirror for her. Speaking of her blonde friend, she practically slammed open the door to the club room open with the biggest of smiles on her face.

"Hinata! You're waiting for Naruto to be finished with basketball, right?" Before Hinata could answer, Ino spoke up again and motioned her to come over. "Come on, let's hang out together while we wait!"

The dark haired teen nodded, whispering a small "good luck" to Sai before grabbing her belonging and joining Ino. Sai never looked up from his work. "Ino?"

"Yes dear?"

"Come back when you're done hanging out."

She grinned before blowing her boyfriend a kiss. "Don't I always?" With that, Ino took Hinata by her wrist as the two of them practically ran towards the gym. Hinata questioned why they were running, but Ino never gave her a clear answer.

Once they reached the doors to the gym, Hinata was too tired to even notice that the rest of the girls were all there as well. "Sheesh Ino. What'd you do, marathon it down here?" Tenten asked, her arms folded.

"I'm sorry, I was just really excited." She laughed.

Hinata, who caught her breath, tilted her head in question. "Excited for what?" The girls exchanged looked before Sakura took out from behind her a rather lovely bouquet of vibrant purple and blue flowers.

"Happy White Day!" The four of them chirped. Hinata gasped, cupping both of her hands over her mouth. "You baked us treats last month, and you're such an angel – we wanted to return the favor." Karin grinned.

"We went to Ino's parent's shop everyday to grow them ourselves! They're extra special!" Tented added.

As Sakura handed the bouquet off to Hinata, Ino draped her arm around her shoulder. "See, these purple ones are Irises. They symbolize friendship – our friendship. The blue one's here are called Forget-me-nots. That one's pretty self-explanatory."

"What we're trying to say is that no matter how far away you are, never forget that we're your friends, and we'll always love you." Sakura's smile was the warmest Hinata had ever seen it. These people… were people she would have never dreamed of talking to. They were all pretty and cool; that alone was intimidating to her.

Yet, here they all were, giving her flowers; telling her how much they loved her. Who would have thought such wonderful people would actually consider her their friend? Hinata was touched; so touched that she began to cry. "Ah, Hinata! What's wrong?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Oh good job Sakura. Your little speech made her cry." Karin mumbled as Sakura shot her a "not right now" glare.

Ino had taken out her handkerchief, and wiped away the tears that rolled down Hinata's cheeks. "We didn't mean to make you cry." Her smile was apologetic, and Hinata shook her head before sniffling.

"No, that's okay." She said shakily. "I just… You all are great friends. I've never had any girls I could call my friends before actually getting to know the four of you, and I'm so glad that I could experience what that kind of friendship feels like. It's a beautiful feeling… It's like having four more sisters." She laughed along with the rest of her friends. "Thank you so much you guys. This really means a lot to me."

"If anyone's to say thank you, it should be us, Hinata." Tenten gave a small laugh. "That's why you've got those flowers."

Then, Ino's eyes began to gleam. "We should take a photo to commemorate this moment! When we get it developed, we can give it to Hinata. The actual flowers will die soon, but a picture will last a lifetime!"

Deeming it a nice idea, the girls all huddled around Hinata as Ino dug her camera out of her bag. Once she positioned the camera, they took about six or seven pictures. On two of them, Ino was sure she blinked. On another one, all you could see was Sakura's forehead. Ino didn't comment on whether or not she did it on purpose. Tenten made a weird face in one and Hinata couldn't stop laughing in another one.

The picture that Hinata loved the most the one where Karin had her arms stretched out towards Sakura, in an attempt to kiss her cheek. Tenten was absolutely caught off guard and her face looked distraught (as did Sakura's) and Ino wore quite the impish smirk on her face. A genuine smile graced Hinata's lips as she watched Karin's attempted attack on Sakura, as she clutched her beautiful bouquet of flowers.

It was her favorite one because it showcased her friend's personalities in a nutshell. "So, are we seriously going with this one?" Sakuka asked dryly. She and Ino were looking at the picture from Ino's new digital camera.

Tenten shrugged. "I don't see why not. It's Hinata's favorite after all."

Sakura sighed in defeat as Karin punched her fist in the air with a grin."Haha! I always knew Hinata had good taste!" Soon the doors to the gymnasium opened up, and the basketball team were piling out little by little. "Oh look, the boyfriend is here." Karin giggled, as she lightly nudged Hinata.

When the two of them locked eyes, Naruto sprinted towards her. "Hey, I told you I'd come get you today. You didn't have to come down here to wait for me." The rest of the girls let out small laughs, and it was at that moment that he realized Hinata wasn't alone.

"Well, hello to you too Naruto." Tenten said with a laugh. "Nice to know we're practically invisible while standing next to Hinata."

Naruto waved his hands about frantically. "Wait a sec! I didn't mean –!"

"It's fine, it's fine." Ino waved her hand dismissively before turning to Hinata. "When I get a chance, I'll send you that photo, kay?"

She nodded, and the rest of her friends bid her a goodbye along with suggestive winks as they told her to have fun. Sheesh, it wasn't as if they were going to be doing anything dirty. When she turned to look at her boyfriend, his eyes were practically glued to her bouquet of flowers.

He pouted. "So, what guy gave you flowers for White Day?" Hinata blinked. Then she bit down on her lip to keep from laughing but was unsuccessful. Naruto's eyes widened in shock and narrowed shortly after. "Don't laugh, I'm being serious!"

"I know! That's why it's funny!" She laughed, before wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye. "You're so jealous."

A large blush colored Naruto's cheeks. "That's not true! I just… er…" Well, it was true. Hinata looked awfully happy with those flowers in her hand. She wore one of the prettiest smiles he'd ever seen, and it slightly ticked him off that he wasn't the cause of it.

Hinata's lips met his own for a quick second before she let out the giggle that never failed to make his heart stir. "You don't have to worry about things like that. No one's going to steal me away from you. The girls gave these to me just now because they think I'm a wonderful friend."

"Because you are. But you're an even better girlfriend." He chuckled, draping his arm around her shoulder. "Now come on, Ma taught me how to make cinnamon rolls, so I'll make 'em as best as I can for you!"

Naruto's cinnamon roll was a little burnt, but Hinata still loved it anyway.

"Wow Hinata, you're really good at this. This is the third time you've won." Naruto said in awe as he watched his girlfriend place the drumsticks back into the holder on the side of the game machine. Since they weren't required to go to classes this week, Naruto thought it would be a good idea to invite all of their friends to hang out at the arcade. It would be one of their last moments together and now that school was practically over, everyone had some free time on their hands.

Hinata smiled. "Kiba-kun is really good at this game. He'd teach me how to play when we were in elementary school." She was never able to beat him, however, but she swore that she would beat him someday. In the television shows, the student always overpowers the master by the end, right?

Naruto shifted his weight on his right foot, shoving his hands in the pockets of his orange hoodie. "Speaking of, where is he anyway?" Hinata pointed to one of the fighting game machines where a few of their friends were crowded around. When the two reached, they could see the large pixelated word "loser" on Shikamaru's screen.

"Are you kidding me? I lost again?" He said incredulously as Kiba snickered from the other side of the game machine. "How do you keep winning? All you do is press buttons sporadically."

"Excuse me, it's called button mashing," Kiba retorted with a snort, "and yeah, duh! That's the whole point of the game."

The lazy teen cringed. "I refuse to believe that. There has to be some strategy to this game, and I'm going to find it. We're playing again."

"Suit yourself!" Kiba laughed. "But prepare to get your butt smacked again!" They all watched for about a minute or two as Kiba defeated Shikamaru again with ease. "That makes five to zero! Sure you wanna keep going?" He taunted.

The annoyance on Shikamaru's face was prevalent, and he was about to take Kiba up on his offer again until Tenten ushered him out of his seat. "Oh no you don't Shikamaru, you had several chances. I think it's my turn now." Once he was standing on his feet again, Shikamaru muttered something about the game being too troublesome anyway as Tenten slid into the seat. "Alright Kiba, let's see what you're made of."

The shaggy haired teen gave a grin. "Oh, so Tenten's my opponent? You may be good at real martial arts but this game is my territory."

"We'll see about that."

"You can do it Tenten, I believe in you!" Lee cheered on as the two of them started their match.

The martial arts expert was finding it quite difficult to keep up with Kiba – this game definitely was his territory. "How are you so good?"

"That is because he spends all of his free time here." Shino answered, causing Kiba so violently whip his head around to yell at his bug-loving friend. The rest gave good-natured laughs and Tenten took this opportunity to strike as her opponent wasn't paying attention.

Once Kiba heard the 8-bit loser music from his game machine, he turned his attention to where it should have been the entire time. "Ah! You cheater! You play dirty!"

Tenten laughed. "One must always pay attention on the battle field."

"That one doesn't count! Remat- huh? What're you doing!?" Kiba cried as Sai gently pushed him out of his seat.

"You said earlier that the loser moves their feet while everyone else tries to defeat the champion. I'd like to try now, it looks like fun." Kiba grumbled about how unjust he was being treated as Sai and Tenten started up another match. Hinata tore her eyes away to look at the cutest white bunny sitting inside of the crane game.

She tugged lightly on her boyfriend's jacket to get his attention, and when she did, she pointed to the game she had been eying for a while. "I want to try that one. There's a cute bunny in there and I'd love to have it." A goofy smile spread across his whiskered face and he held Hinata's hand, lacing his fingers between hers. "Don't worry, I'll win it for ya!" He jabbed a thumb in his chest with pride and in that moment, Hinata knew that she'd never be able to talk him out of it.

Naruto was spending quite a lot money, and Hinata was steadily growing more and more concerned. "Naruto-kun, you really don't have to keep doing this." She reassured him. "I don't really need it, so…"

The blond shook his head, placing another coin in the machine. "No, I said I'd win it for you so I have to!" The game started back up again, and Naruto mover the crane right over the bunny once more before pressing the red button so the crane could grab it. It tugged on the bunny's ear, and lifted it up from the pile of stuffed animals briefly before dropping the bunny in a different spot.

Naruto cried out in exasperation before putting yet another coin in the machine as Hinata gave a long sigh. "What's he worked up over now?" Hinata turned to see Sasuke, Neji and Sakura walking over to them, genuinely curious about what was going on.

"He's trying to win a stuffed animal for me, but it's not working. I keep telling him that he doesn't have to, but he just won't listen." Hinata explained. She watched Sakura walked up closer to the machine and hip bumped Naruto out of the way. She cracked her knuckles. "Now let me show you how a pro does it." She said as she pushed a coin of her own into the coin slot. "Now which one was it that you wanted?"

Hinata pointed to the white bunny and Sakura carefully maneuvered the crane over the stuffed animal. She pressed the red button to lower the crane and it snatched the bunny by its head and carried it to the drop off section. The pink haired teen crouched down to retrieve her prize and handed it to her dark haired friend, who stared at her in awe. "Oh wow, Sakura-chan! That was so amazing!"

"Nah, it was nothing." She waved her off, but was taken by surprise when Hinata grabbed hold of both of her hands. "Oh, but it was everything! You're so cool! Thank you so much!"

A light blush colored Sakura's cheeks and she smiled sheepishly as Hinata went on about how amazing she was. Naruto could feel his eye twitch and Neji and Sasuke shared similar smirks. "I guess Sakura's more of a boyfriend than you are." Sasuke teased, and Neji gave a small chuckle.

The blond scoffed. "A-as if!"

(^o^)

"Are you done yet? I'm tired of holding your stuff." Choji mumbled as Ino moved around on the dance machine. "Why don't you ask Sai to do it?"

Ino didn't miss a beat, and was focused on getting the highest score she possibly could. "He's busy over there being king of martial arts or whatever. Naturally, I have to be queen of something, so why not the queen of dance? Besides, it's just my coat and purse. You can handle it."

"Oh, I see Ino-pig doesn't pass up the opportunity to shake her ass." Sakura teased as Hinata and the rest followed.

The blonde was silent for a moment, focusing on the game. "Fight me, Forehead." She sneered. When the song was over, Ino was a little disappointed that she didn't top the highest score, but she placed top ten, and that was still an accomplishment.

"Wow, Ino you're really great at this game." Hinata said. Ino flipped her hair and gave a haughty laugh. "Well, of course."

Sakura gave her a jaded look. "You sure are humble, aren't you?" She said sarcastically.

"Hey Forehead. Let's have a dance competition!" Sakura rolled her eyes and Ino was positive she was going to deny her. She opened her mouth to speak but her blonde friend cut her off. "I mean, unless you're too afraid I'll kick your butt…"

The pink haired teen grimaced before taking her place at the machine next to her best friend. It sure was so easy for the two of them to get under each other's skin, wasn't it? The same thing happened with Naruto and Sasuke not too long ago while playing a driving game. Naruto actually won that game and wouldn't let Sasuke hear the end of it for a solid hour.

Hinata was watching the girls try to best each other in competition when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. She looked up at Naruto who had his eyes on Sakura and Ino's dance competition. "You wanna try dancing like that too?" She shook her head violently as a small blush lingered on her cheeks. Naruto laughed. "I'm kidding. Hey, there's a photo booth over there. Wanna take a few pictures together?"

The only time she had ever taken pictures in a photo booth was with Kiba and Shino, and that was way back in the 6th grade, right before they entered middle school. Hinata gave him a nod and they entered the booth not too far from the dance machines. It was quite spacious, bigger than she remembered it.

Her boyfriend pressed the button to start it, and wore the goofiest grin on his face, causing Hinata to laugh. "These pictures are gonna come out so great. You're not giving a fake smile." Hinata covered her face. "But then I'll look weird!"

He chuckled and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Nonsense. You always look so pretty. C'mon, you have to pose for the camera." The couple took some of the silliest photos ever; they made blowfish faces, stuck out their tongues, and stretched their mouths open. There were a few cute ones in there too, like when Hinata placed a kiss without warning on Naruto's cheek, or when he returned the favor shortly after by placing a kiss on her forehead.

The two of them took one last picture with their lips locked together, and as soon as the picture had been taken, Kiba shot his head between the curtains. "And just what're you two up to? Hmm?" He asked playfully.

Hinata gasped and Naruto scowled. "Can we have a moment, please!?" He scowled. Just then, Ino poked her head in from the other opening. "Oh! You guys are taking pictures? I wanna join!" Then she proceeded to seat herself next to Hinata and threw up peace signs. "Naruto, hit the button! I'm ready!"

He was about to tell her to get out when Kiba sat himself next to him and Choji took his original place with his head in between the curtains. "Oh! Are we doing group pictures?" He quickly poked his head out to call everyone over, causing Naruto to groan in annoyance. One by one, all 13 of them squished into the photo booth that Hinata thought wasn't so spacious anymore. Sai hit the start button for the camera to start, and the group took a bunch of very… lively photos.

"Hey look," Sakura said, "We can add stickers on them. I'm totally putting this pig nose on Ino!" She grinned, dragging the pig nose on the screen to the blonde's face. She gasped in horror. "Where's the forehead enlarger button on this machine!?"

Shinamaru gave a jaded look. "Why would the machine have that?"

"You can just add sparkles to her forehead if you want it to stand out." Tenten said nonchalantly and Sakura cried out in terror as Ino wasted no time dragging sparkles all around her exposed forehead. "Why would you tell her that!?"

Tenten shrugged. "Just felt right."

"Ah, look! They have whiskers! Naruto-kun and I look the same now!" Hinata chirped.

The blond chuckled. "You pull those off better than I do."

"Oh wow," Lee said in awe, "Sasuke-san looks unexpectedly good in cat ears." The Uchiha's eye twitched. "Take it off right – what do you mean unexpectedly?" He actually sounded offended, which caused the rest of the group to laugh as Lee apologized. "I will also put cat ears on myself to make it fair."

"Or you could take them off." Sasuke muttered.

They spent what felt like forever in there, just goofing off. Tenten stuck a pair of very fuzzy eyebrows on Neji's face (which Lee thought looked very youthful) and he retaliated by placing an even larger pair of fuzzy eyebrows on her face.

Kiba placed a pair of blue sparkling eyes with a rosy blush underneath them on Shino's face, but the bug-lover didn't mind at all. He claimed that he looked quite pretty with them on. When they were all somewhat satisfied with their strange pictures, Sai hit the print button and everyone rushed out to retrieve the photos.

Deciding that they were done with the arcade for the day, they all took a walk through one of the nearby parks. Hinata didn't think they'd spend such a long time in the arcade but the sun was starting to go down. Then, an idea struck her. "Hey everyone. Let's watch the sunset together."

They walked to the shallow river that cut right through the middle of the park – the same one Ino remembered playing in with Shikamaru and Choji in the summer and the same one Hinata remembered sitting by while she, Kiba and Shino had picnics in spring. Neji stared at it when he, Tenten and Lee all rode their bikes during autumn. Naruto remembered initiating snowball fights from the other side with Sai, Sakura and Sasuke during different stages of his life in the winter.

To think that they wouldn't be able to do many of those things anymore after graduation. They were going to be adults now – they had new responsibilities to take care of and playing around like children wasn't one of them. Still, that didn't stop their hearts from yearning for those days to become their reality again.

The orange light of the sun and the purplish color of the night sky began to meld together. Another day was about to be over, and the reality of just how little time they had together hit them hard. They uttered not a single word to each other as they watched the sun slowly descend into the darkness with the hope of being together again still lingering on their lips.

"Is everyone here?" Kakashi asked, never raising his eyes from his clipboard. One student raised their hand. "Um, no Sensei. Actually, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san and Uzumaki-san haven't arrived as yet."

He sighed, slapping his hand on his forehead. Leave it to those three to come late on the day of graduation. He reminded everyone countless times that they should have gotten into the classroom at least five minutes early to assure that they looked appropriate and that he would be able to assure Principal Tsunade that she'd have nothing to worry about. As if on cue, the three in question burst through the front door to the classroom, huffing and puffing violently.

"I… I'm sorry!" Naruto managed to say. "It's my fault! I woke up late and Sasuke and Sakura waited for me." Although Kakashi wanted to be mad, it would be the last time he'd ever have to deal with those troublemakers, so he let them slide. "Hurry up and get ready. You all look sloppy."

Sakura frowned. "Sloppy?"

"Your hair is sticking up all over the place, Forehead." Ino said. The pink haired teen gasped. "Oh no! It took me forever to get my hair just right!"

The blonde let out a good-natured laugh. "I've got a comb in my bag. Sit at my desk and I'll fix it for you." Sakura sighed in relief, thanking her best friend for her reliability.

Naruto wished Hinata a good morning and she stood from her desk to button up Naruto's uniform jacket. "You should've fixed this before you left the house." While she was lightly scolding him, she gave him one of her warmest smiles, the ones that always made him melt. He smiled sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well yeah but I was running a bit late…"

"You're such a kid Naruto, having your uniform all sloppy in graduation day." Kiba teased him.

Hinata, who was still buttoning Naruto's jacket, gave a soft laugh. "Kiba-kun, yours isn't buttoned up either." The shaggy haired teen pressed his index finger to his lips and attempted to shush her, but was met with Kakashi's "no nonsense" gaze. Kiba groaned.

"But Sensei, I look stupid with all the buttons buttoned up." Even though he was wearing a mask, you'd have to be stupid not to realize that Kakashi was frowning at this point. Kiba sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fixing it."

Naruto chuckled at his friend's predicament before turning to Hinata. "So, today's the big day. Are you nervous?"

She was nervous, but only just a little bit. Excitement was a better word to describe what she was feeling. She hardly got any sleep the night before just at the thought of receiving her diploma for all of her hard work. "I've got a few butterflies in my stomach, but it's not so bad." She admitted. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Kind of. I mean –"

"Alright everyone, we're leaving now." Kakashi called out. "We're already behind schedule; let's go."

Class 3-2 piled out of their classroom, and Naruto promised Hinata that he'd talk to her once the ceremony was over.

-x-

Singing.

That's what most of the graduation ceremony was comprised of; singing. After the graduating seniors walked to their seats, all they've been doing was singing. The national anthem and the city song had already been completed, and parents were turning their programs around to follow the lyrics of the school song.

Hinata had always loved this song, it was so different from the rest. Usually, school songs were about upholding the prestige of the school or something like that. This song however was about the individual, and the friends said individual came across.

And as she sang, it felt as if a wave of emotions came along and knocked the wind right out of her.

Your smiling faces, your angry faces, everything keeps me walking on.

It was at that point in the song that she had stopped singing. The feelings of excitement and apprehension were long gone now, as the feeling of saudade swelled in her heart. All of her memories with her friends came back to her one by one, and although they were happy memories, all she could think about was how she would miss doing those things.

The conversations she and Ino shared over lunch no longer made her laugh. Spending an entire day with Kiba and Shino didn't bring a smile to her face anymore. The memories of the quality time she and Neji spent at home together left a pang in her heart.

And Naruto…

Oh Naruto.

Every memory of the way he spoke to her with his low voice, the way he held her in his arms when she really needed it, but never asked, even the passion he put into their kisses were breaking her heart. She'd be going without all of that for so long. She'd be going without him for so long.

Hinata felt as if she were about to cry when someone took hold of her left hand. Her glassy eyes looked over to see Neji looking straight forward, still singing their school song. His grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly, and she couldn't help but to smile at his kindness. He had said back in July that he wouldn't always be around to save her, and that statement would be true soon.

Right now, she could care less. He was attempting to save her one final time, and it worked. Hinata found her voice again and was able to complete their school song.

When the songs were over and diplomas were distributed, Principal Tsunade gave one final speech before it was time to head back to their classrooms. Hinata clutched onto the cylinder case that held her diploma. She was finally a high school graduate. The words seemed so foreign to her and yet, she felt like they belonged.

"That was a wonderful ceremony, wasn't it? It's not every day that I get to be the homeroom teacher of a graduating class." Kakashi spoke, looking over the rows of students from the podium. "I'd like to say that while you all were pretty loud and rambunctious, you all showed promise and determination; not just in your studies but in your day to day lives. I'm glad to have been your homeroom teacher this year, and I'm proud that I've had the chance to call you all my students."

Their homeroom teacher placed his arms behind his back. "Well, class is dismissed. For good."

"Sensei." Neji called out, surprising Kakashi just a little bit. "All of us from class 3-2 would like to present you with a gift."

"We all chipped in to get it for you, so you better like it!" Naruto cried out, and most of the class laughed. Neji presented Kakashi with a small, square box.

He opened it, and his eyes widened upon seeing the present. "A watch?" It didn't look like they cleaned their wallets dry trying to pay for it, but it wasn't cheap looking either. The watch was silver, and pretty stylish looking if he said so himself.

"Now you won't be late for anything anymore." Ino grinned. "I think we're doing your future students a favor."

Sakura scoffed. "Oh please. Knowing Kakashi-sensei, he'll come up with some excuse about how he forgot to set the right time or something."

Kakashi gave a light chuckle before returning his attention to his new watch. "Thank you. I'll treasure this always." The students were finally able to walk out of their classrooms and roam around the building freely. Some friends huddled around each other and began crying their eyes out over the fact that they wouldn't see each other anymore while others took pictures with their family and friends.

Ino was practically dragging her father around by his ponytail, having him take a picture of her and all of her friends. "Dad, make sure it's perfect! I wanna be able to look at these 20 years from now and still love them!" She cried before draping her arms around Hinata and Sakura.

"Okay, okay my little flower petal." Inoichi laughed, readying his camera. "Is everyone ready? Say cheese!" The girls did just as Ino's father said, and as soon as the flash went off, Ino raced over to him to see if the picture came out alright. "Ah! It's perfect! Girls look!" Sakura and Hinata giggled. Ino could be such a child sometimes.

When the two of them okayed the picture, Ino ran off to look for Shikamaru and Choji, her father trailing right behind her. Hinata thought she was the definition of "Daddy's little girl."

"Yo, Sakura, Hinata!" Karin called out. The two of them were surprised to see a very pretty man with her. If Hinata remembered correctly, Karin did say that she had a caretaker instead of parents, so it was normal that this man looked absolutely nothing like her. "This is my caretaker, Orochimaru. He really wanted to meet you guys."

Hinata and Sakura bowed. "It's very nice to meet you." They said in unison.

"Ah, it's so wonderful to meet some of Karin's friends. She talks about you two so much. Thank you for taking care of her."

Sakura didn't have the heart to tell him that they weren't friends, even if Karin was giving her one of the most smug grins in the history of smug looking grins. "Yeah, it's no problem at all." She laughed just a bit awkwardly. She stopped however when Karin's caretaker pulled out a digital camera. "How about a picture, huh girls?"

The three of them obliged, and Orochimaru shot a few pictures of them. As Sakura and Karin went to check them out, Hinata could see her father out of the corner of her eye. He was standing next to a woman with red hair and she knew exactly who that was. Hinata quickly excused herself before rushing over to her father.

"Oh, Hina–"

"Hinata-chan!" Kushina cried, completely cutting Hiashi off as she wrapped her arms around the petite girl. "Congratulations on graduating! I'm so proud of you!" Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as Kushina comically pressed her lips to Hinata's forehead.

Hiashi folded his arms and directed his stone cold glare to Minato. "Does she usually do this?"

"Yes." The blond answered, silently praying that his wife would let Hinata go. He breathed a sigh of relief when she let go only to tense back up again when he heard his son's booming voice call out to Hiashi's daughter. Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata and Hiashi cleared his throat.

"Boy…" He growled and Naruto let go of Hinata, slowly backing away. "S-sorry sir." The Hyuga guessed that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. He suddenly felt a light slap on his shoulder.

"Oh come on!" Kushina laughed. "My Naruto's a good kid! You've got nothing to worry about! C'mon you two, how about a picture?" The two of them nodded, standing next to each other with bright smiles on their faces as Kushina snapped a few pictures of them. "Ah, these are so cute! I'll send these to you too if you want, Hyuga-san."

"Uh, hey mom. Hinata and I are gonna go say goodbye to club members and stuff." Naruto said. Hiashi was a tad bit skeptical, for good reason, but his mother seemed to understand. "I got it kiddo! Just remember to come back home before dinner. I'll make your favorite ramen tonight!"

"That goes for you as well, Hinata. " Hiashi spoke before eying Naruto. Minato quickly cut in. "I think you've frightened my son enough for one day." Surprisingly, Hiashi smirked. Naruto noticed that he looked a lot like Neji when he did that and silently thanked God that Hinata was nothing like her father.

-x-

"Finally, we made it." Naruto grinned. As soon as they left their parents, Naruto told Hinata that they were going to hang out on the roof together. She had only been up there a few times to have lunch with Shikamaru and Choji when the weather was warm. The thought of being alone up there with Naruto made her heart quicken.

The view from the roof was absolutely beautiful. Hinata could see houses up on hills and a few tall buildings in the far distance. Even though it was pretty cold, the sun was up high, shining on them. The contrast between warm and cold felt oddly pleasing.

"So, what were you going to tell me this morning?" She asked, staring straight ahead.

He shoved his hands in his pocket. "Oh yeah. About why I was sort of nervous this morning." He could see his girlfriend tense up, and she never took her eyes off of the view in front of them which kind of bothered him. "I was excited about being able to graduate with everyone. You all really helped me out, I couldn't have done it without you guys. You wanna know why I was late this morning?"

"Wasn't it because you overslept this morning?"

Naruto shook his head. "Well, yeah. But I couldn't sleep last night." Hinata didn't say anything, but he knew her silence meant that she wanted him to continue. "I stayed up all night thinking about graduation and about you… about us. I know I said we'd do this till the last second but… who knew three months could go by so quickly?

"But it was fun, wasn't it?" At this, Hinata quickly turned to face him. Her opalescent eyes widened at the familiar grin plastered on his face. Everything was terrible, she'd hardly see or speak to him anymore, and yet he was grinning as if everything was okay. "Don't you think so, Hinata?"

Her eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to meet his gaze and he reached out to hold her hand. "Remember our class trip in May? It was so much fun getting to take a ton of pictures with you. I still carry it actually." He laughed. "And then, when we hung out at Ino's summer home. Watching fireworks with you was amazing!"

His happiness was infectious. Hinata couldn't stop the smile tugging at the corners of her lips as he animatedly spoke about their time together. "I still have that note you gave me during cram school when you asked if I wanted to go for ice cream." She giggled.

"What? Throw that out, my drawings are terrible!" He whined.

They stood hand in hand, recalling all the memories they shared together. Naruto recalled how absolutely beautiful he thought she looked on Tanabata and how they won Kurama during the summer festival. Hinata remembered how cool she thought he looked at his basketball game and fun it was baking that chocolate cake together.

"Oi Hinata. Don't be such a crybaby about it." Naruto chuckled as he wiped away some of the tears that had rolled down her cheeks.

She pouted. "But you're crying too." He quickly removed his hands from her face to wipe his own tears away with the sleeve of his uniform jacket. "Wh-what are you talking about? I'm just sweating from my eyes, that's all!"

She laughed and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye. "You never fail to make me happy, Naruto-kun. I was… feeling sad during graduation about leaving everyone behind. So sad that thinking about all the good times we shared made me want to cry. But you always find some way to make me smile. Thank you so much for that."

All of a sudden, she felt her boyfriend pull her into a warm embrace. The couple stayed like that for a while, and it wasn't until Hinata heard Naruto sniffling that she broke away from him. "Naruto-kun, wipe your nose." She said, attempting to search for her handkerchief in the pockets of her school skirt.

Naruto wouldn't let her go so easily. He grabbed her by her waist, trying to nuzzle her neck as she struggled to get away. "Hinata! Stay with me!" He whined, and Hinata shrieked. "Snot! You're going to get snot on me!" His gross sobbing turned into playful laughter.

"Ah! The snot monster's gonna get you!"

"Stop it! That's gross!" She cried as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. Even though she gave terrified shrieks, a large smile was prevalent on her face. Once she was able to grab her handkerchief from her pocket, she slapped it on his nose. "Here, blow."

He did as he was told and gave Hinata a sheepish smile. "Hehe, I get carried away sometimes." She cast him a look that said "I know" and he chuckled before placing his arms around her waist once more. "Even though I'll miss you, it'll be okay. You'll always come back to me, right?"

Hinata placed a chaste kiss on Naruto's lips. "Always."

I'm so proud of myself for finishing a story. I feel complete now.

Thanks for sticking with me through this whole ride. I'm glad people actually liked this story. High school fics aren't very well received and are very hackneyed, but I just had to do it. Now, I'm probably going to get a lot of questions about an epilogue. I might do one. I dunno.

I don't want to write an epilogue because I kind of planned on making a sequel to this. It's not confirmed though, so don't kill me if it doesn't happen. The ideas for a sequel have been floating around in my head since last month but I haven't written anything down. I'd first have to plan out everything from beginning to end (that way, the chances of me abandoning it are lowered).

If I do plan it out, I won't post anything until I've written the story completely. I'm doing this because I won't have a lot of time to be writing since I go back to school in late August and don't want to update haphazardly. If the story is complete, you'd be getting a scheduled update, and that's neat, right?

Also, if I write it without posting each chapter and decide I don't want to write it anymore, I can just post everything I've written so far and tell you I'm not going to finish it and disappoint you all then instead of having you get your hopes up with some ultra-dramatic cliffhanger chapter I pulled out of my ass and just leave you hanging years down the road.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm trash. Don't expect stuff from me. I will disappoint you. After I finish up the collaboration with Kae, I'll just be lurking around FF and Tumblr, reading cute/smutty stories. Feel free to say hello!

Again, thanks for your continued support! It means a lot to me, honestly! See you around!