Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. *sob* I also don't own any songs used.

Chapter Twelve

Sakura was awakened the next morning by her cell phone's annoying ring tone. She'd spent the entire summer begging her parents for one so she could keep in touch with them without having to resort to the ancient art of writing letters or using the payphone in the lobby, but now she was regretting every plea she gave them. Needless to say, she ignored it and pressed herself closer against Naruto's chest and smiled contently when she felt his arms tighten more around her.

Of course, nothing happened last night. It just so happened that after they finally got a cab to take them home, they were both soaked to the bone and Naruto had ushered her into his room since it was closer and she could dry off sooner. She borrowed some of his smallest clothes and they'd both cuddled up on the bed waiting for their clothes to dry while watching a movie. And of course, they'd ended up falling asleep. Not that Sakura was complaining. Naruto's clothes and his arms around her were the most comfortable thing she'd ever experienced.

"That's the second time your phone rang, Sakura-chan. Maybe it's an emergency," Naruto's morning voice rumbled against the back of her neck, sending shockwaves of shivers running down her spine.

"I doubt it. Probably just my parents wanting to yell at me for disappearing last night. It can wait," she assured him without even opening her eyes.

Naruto sighed and his arms pulled away from her and his body shifted to sit up in bed. He stretched over her and grabbed her phone, flipping it open to see that there weren't just two missed calls, but five. They must've slept through the other three. "Only one is from your mom and dad. The rest are from your friends," he said with a yawn, handing her the phone.

Sakura groaned and unhappily snatched the phone from him, focusing on the screen. She frowned when she saw the calls accompanied with about ten messages from her friends. Curiously, she sat up and ran a hand through her hair as she went through her messages.

Sakura, where are u? do u need a ride back to school? we have room. -Hinata

Forehead, everyone's saying u went AWOL after the function. Reply ASAP! -Ino

Are u dead? -Ino

Oh no, ur dead! Sakura, pick up! -Ino

I'm assuming you're with Naruto. Just call when u get a second. Ino's freaking and threatening to call the police. I'll restrain her. -Tenten

It's 12am and I'm not staying up much longer. If ur in a ditch somewhere, ur just going to have to sleep there until the morning. -Ino

It's morning and there's still no sign of u. We're worried, Sakura. Call soon. -Tenten

Oooo I get it! Neji says he was kicked out last night ;) Don't worry, call when Naruto gives you a minute. -Tenten

FOREHEAD! Are you losing your virginity while I'm slaving over here worried about u? Ugh, ur so selfish! -Ino

P.S Some friend you are! we're supposed to tell each other stuff like this! -Ino

The further into the messages Sakura got, the more embarrassed she got and the bigger her blush became. She turned to Naruto, narrowing her eyes at him when she discovered him reading the messages over her shoulder. He sported a little blush of his own. She slapped his shoulder. "Stop peeping. When did Neji come in here?" she asked.

Naruto shrugged. "He and the guys came in after we fell asleep. I didn't want to wake you so I told them to find somewhere else to crash for the night."

She instantly felt guilty. "I didn't mean to put them out," she mumbled.

Naruto kissed her cheek. "Don't worry about it. You didn't put them out, I did." He shrugged again and climbed out of bed. "Come on, I'll deliver you to your friends."

Sakura's cheeks burned at the thought of the kind of teasing that would ensue if Naruto walked her back to her room. AND she was wearing his clothes? She would never be able to do damage control on the situation. "Actually Naruto, I can walk back by myself. It's not too far."

Naruto frowned. "I can't let you do that, Sakura-chan. It's no problem, really." He grabbed his shoes and put them on, despite still being in his pajamas.

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Trust me, you don't want to be around them when they're like this. I'm saving you. I promise to call you when it's over. We can hang out once I get myself together, okay?"

Naruto shrugged but nodded. "Alright. I'll talk to you later then." He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. He would have liked to turn it into a make-out session but Sakura pushed him away by his chest and jumped off the bed before he could get a chance. She stuck her tongue out at him teasingly, grabbed her clothes off the heater, and disappeared out the door.

Naruto groaned and flopped back on his bed, although he ended up smiling up at the ceiling. Despite the evening's poor start, the night was just... amazing. His time with Sakura, even though they were caught in the rain and only ended up watching a movie for the rest of the night, made for the best night of his life.

He tucked his head back under his pillow and had every intention of going back to sleep, but his phone buzzed before he could get an eye closed.

"Dammit," he grumbled, snatching the phone up and flipping it open without looking at the Caller ID. "Hello?"

"Naruto? Are you up?"

"Dad?"

"I'll take that as a 'no'." His dad sighed. "Well, get up and get dressed. I need a favor from you."

Naruto sat up again, fully alert. "Why, what's wrong?"

"I need you to find Nagato this morning. It's important, alright?"

Naruto's mood instantly soured. "Why, what do you need with him?"

"Just do as I ask, alright Naruto?" The line went dead.

Naruto stared down at his phone in confusion. His dad almost never called him just Naruto. And he was never that dad-like with him. What was up?

XXX

Sakura inhaled deeply before she mustered up the courage to push open the door and face the wrath of her friends. And as soon as she opened it, she regretted it.

"Billboard brow! Look who's back from her walk of shame!" Ino shrieked from her bed, tossing a pillow at her head. Sakura was lucky enough to catch it before it made contact, glaring at her friend.

"Shut up, Ino. You don't even know anything," she muttered, shutting the door behind her.

"We know you're wearing clothes that are about two sizes too big for you. Naruto's?" Tenten guessed from her perch at the desk.

Sakura's cheeks exploded with a tint of red that could rival Hinata's infamous blushes. And that was all her friends needed to explode into fits of laughter.

"Wow forehead, I never would have thought you had it in you," Ino chortled, earning the same pillow to the face that she'd tried to throw at Sakura. It didn't seem to bother her very much. She simply pulled it off and continued with her teasing. "Ms Goody-two-shoes-vice-president spent the night with her rock star!"

"Shut up, Pig!" Sakura shouted, going over to her bed and plopping down face first. "Nothing happened last night."

"What is your definition of 'nothing'?" Hinata asked, joining in on the inquisition.

Sakura rolled over on her back, raising an eyebrow at her. "Et tu, Hinata?" she pouted.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Answer the question."

She sighed. "We didn't have... sex... or anything. We got caught in the rain after dinner with my parents and I spent the night in his room." At the girls' skeptical look, she tossed her arms in the air. "I swear, we fell asleep cuddling and watching a movie! We didn't even kiss until I kissed him goodbye this morning."

Tenten's excited look fell to a disappointed frown. "My boyfriend had to sleep on the floor of his little cousin's room for cuddling and a movie?"

Sakura blushed. "It wasn't my fault. Naruto didn't want him to wake me up."

As Hinata 'Aww'ed, Ino continued to glare. "You couldn't pick up your phone? We thought you were dead!"

Sakura shrugged, looking sheepish. "Sorry. I was too comfy to check my phone. Naruto's the one that looked at it this morning."

Ino pretended to gag herself. "It's starting."

Tenten nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, it's started."

"What's started?" Sakura asked.

"The total disregard of your friends in order to focus completely on your significant other. We're just lucky Naruto was able to remove himself enough from your bubble in order to see we were trying to reach you. Otherwise, we'd never see you again," Tenten answered with a sorrowful look, though it was obviously fake.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Shut up. That isn't what's happening."

"Oh yeah? Then what are you doing today? We were thinking we could have a spa day in the room."

The pinkette looked down, rubbing her shoulder. "Actually, I kind of promised Naruto-kun that we could-"

"IT'S STARTED!" Tenten and Ino exclaimed before she could finish.

XXX

Hanabi sat glaring at her older cousin while he slept. It was already eleven and the big lug was still curled up in her extra blankets on her floor, drooling on one of her pillows. Neji might be able to fool everyone else that he was prim and proper but the guy slept like a slob.

Scowling, she stood up, drew her foot back, and gave him a harsh kick in the ribs.

That did the trick. Neji jumped out of his sleep, flailing around and looking around for an intruder. When he turned and met Hanabi's smug face, he glared. "Hanabi, what the hell?" he growled, sitting up and running a hand through his tangled black locks.

"Get out," she said simply, crossing her arms.

The older Hyuuga's glare increased. "You couldn't figure out a gentler way to wake me up?" he asked, rubbing his side. "Ow..."

"Get out, Neji," she repeated, raising her foot again. "I have somewhere to be."

Neji scrambled up, grabbing his socks and shoes and hopping around as he hurriedly tried to put them on. "You're violent for a little kid, Hanabi... Ow!" Hanabi'd stepped on his foot. "Where are you going anyway? It's a Saturday and I'm sure you don't have friends," he deadpanned. Around the rest of the family, Neji was coldly formal towards his two younger cousins but when they were alone at school this way, he was strangely more affectionate. Like a big brother. It had only increased since he became a senior, much to Hinata's chagrin since being a big brother meant Neji had a right to harass her Inuzuka boyfriend.

Hanabi raised her chin up high. She couldn't deny the fact that she was a tad bit antisocial, not that it was her fault. She intimidated people. "I'm going to start making friends."

"With who?" Neji's face suddenly darkened and he narrowed his eyes as understanding came across him. "I saw you talking to Uchiha last night. Stay away from him, Hanabi."

The girl gave an innocent look, complete with folding her arms behind her. "Whatever should you mean, Neji-nii-san? Why should I stay away from him?"

"I don't want you trying to make friends with him. He doesn't do 'just friends' with girls. He's eventually broken every heart of every girl he's come into contact with since middle school. Sakura, Ino, even Tenten before she realized he was a jerk."

"What about Hinata-nee-chan?" Hanabi continued, keeping up her innocent charade.

Neji faltered. "Well, no. But she's an exception."

Hanabi shrugged. "Maybe he's not attracted to us Hyuuga girls. Could be the eyes. Or maybe we're immune to his charm." She winked at her cousin and grabbed a jacket, heading to the door.

"Hanabi!" Neji called after her.

"I want you out of my room by the time I come back, Neji-kun," she called sweetly as she slammed the door behind her.

Neji slouched. "Dammit."

XXX
Naruto stood outside the door of the Akatsuki's personal lounge, still wondering why his dad wanted him to see Pain. He tried calling him back a few times but his dad's phone was apparently off because it kept going to voicemail. So, here he was, going in blind. Sighing, he raised his hand to knock on the door but it swung open to reveal none other than Pain on the other side. He was dressed in the school uniform with the Akatsuki blazer, even though it was their day off. And, Naruto noted with pleasure, he still had a bruised eye from their fight.

"I was wondering when you were going to knock and stop standing there like an idiot," Pain said dryly.

Naruto forced his anger not to show on his face. He still didn't know what his dad wanted from Nagato. Maybe it was business related or something, though Naruto couldn't think of how... "My dad wanted me to talk to you."

Pain smirked. "Actually, your dad was pretty adamant last night about not wanting me anywhere near you. I'm glad I was able to change his mind." He stepped aside, making room for Naruto to step in. "Come in."

Naruto walked into the lounge, not being able to help himself from finding interest in the place. Akatsuki hosted killer parties almost everywhere on campus, but they almost never invited anyone into their exclusive lounge. It was a privilege to see it, really.

Pain led Naruto down the front hallway and into a bigger room at the back, furnished with floor to ceiling windows across the back wall, a wide screen television on the left wall, and a black couch facing the TV with a coffee table littered with game systems and controllers in the middle. On the right side of the room were four comfortable armchairs that matched the black couch facing one another in a circle. Pain led him over to that area, plopping down. Naruto plopped down in the seat across from him.

"So... What is it that you...?"

Pain leveled his eyes on him, stopping Naruto in his tracks. Once he was sure the blonde was going to be quiet, Pain continued. "We haven't talked in a long time, Naruto. Why is that?"

Naruto, confused, furrowed his brows in confusion. Was that all that Nagato wanted? To talk about family ties? "We aren't close. Why does it matter?" he asked suspiciously.

Nagato leaned back in his chair, his eyes never leaving his. "That's strange. Because we were pretty damn close when we were kids. Before Kushina died."

Naruto tensed. "Nagato~"

"Did you know that your mom was my legal guardian, Naruto?" Pain continued, ignoring or pretending to ignore him. "When my parents died, she was all the family I had and she took me in. She didn't want me to be alone."

This was a shocker to Naruto. He never remembered Pain living with them. "I don't remember that."

"Yeah well, you don't remember a lot of things daddy dearest doesn't want you to remember," Pain said, standing up and walking around to the back of his chair. "But I do. Actually, I know a lot of things that Minato doesn't want me to know. It's kind of why I don't live with you anymore. Minato doesn't keep anyone around who knows who he really is."

"Says the guy that won't let anyone call him by his real name."

Pain didn't look like the insult phased him. He shrugged, pulling a box out of his seat and tossing it at Naruto. "It's important to me. Not everyone can go around using it willy-nilly. Unfortunately for your dad, his name is pretty important to him, too."

Naruto opened the box and frowned when he saw what was inside. He lifted out an Akatsuki blazer, frowning. "What's this? Why are you giving it to me?"

Nagato smirked. "Minato's got some secrets that he doesn't want to get out. He especially doesn't want you to know. So in return for daddy's secrets, you're going to do as I say. And my first order is for you to put that jacket on and be my pledge."

Naruto's eyes got wide. "Y-Your pledge? Does that mean..."

"Welcome to Akatsuki, Naruto."

XXX

It took Hanabi a while to track down the Uchiha since she really didn't know anything about him, but eventually she found him in the library sitting - of course - by himself near the windows. Without a sound, she moved and plopped down beside him.

Th Uchiha looked up from the book he was reading - something about martial arts - and raised an eyebrow at her. "You again? I thought this game was over," he said dryly.

"The friendship game is never over," she replied with a hint of a smile.

Sasuke's shoulders slumped. "I don't want to be your friend," he muttered, closing his book and walking off.

The smile disappeared. She followed him. "Why not?"

"You're annoying. Just like every other freshman girl in this school."

"You don't know me."

Sasuke stopped, turning to face her. "I know you've efficiently stalked me since you met me. The hall, the Function, and now you miraculously turn up here while I'm reading?"

"I was walking, I'm a Hyuuga, and I can't read?"

"You were looking for me. I saw you," Sasuke replied in his monotonous voice. "You came right over."

Hanabi squared her shoulders, trying to make herself look bigger than she felt. Sasuke really knew how to make someone feel small... "You're a familiar face."

"Yeah? Well unfamiliar-ize yourself with it." He turned, walking away again. This time, she let him go, feeling the sharp pang of rejection in her chest. Damn, there goes her first real friend. Well, maybe they weren't friends, but it was the closest thing she had here.

"Yo, Hanabi-chan?" a voice interrupted her.

She sighed, turning around and immediately forcing herself to perk up when she saw who it was. "Konohamaru? You're not supposed to be here yet."

A/N sorry it took so long to update. If you wanna know why, you'll have to check my other story because that's a long and depressing tale. And, as you know, I'm a lazy bunny.

Next chapter, meet Konohamaru! YAY!

And poor Naruto, being played on all sides here.

Anywho, Comments, Questions, Concerns? REVIEW!