Chapter Eight

  "You can't get back into this stuff just to impress some girls Dad." Sasuke said while helping Naruto warmup for his boxing match that was in an hour. "She's not just some girl. Besides, I have missed it a little."

He shook his head in disapproval, "What are you gonna do when you show up to the party with bruises everywhere?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders while pulling off his practice gloves, "I'll figure it out. I shouldn't lie to her though." Sasuke nodded in agreement, "I'll just tell her the truth."

"How?" His friend asked,"I don't know yet, but it'll be fine. Her father will love me, and she will too." Sasuke just shook his head, "How's Sakura? I didn't really talk to her today."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "She's okay. She had something to do with Ino that she was really stressed about." "Did you know that her and Shikamaru dated?"

Sasuke shook his head, "And he cheated on her. Crazy huh?" He nodded, he didn't care honestly, he was more worried about his friend. It's not that he questioned Naruto's skill, because he was really good, it just seemed as though this was the beginning of a cycle between him and Hiashi. Naruto wasn't easy to manipulate, so it confused Sasuke as to why he cared so much to gain this man's approval.

"Wild. I'm gonna grab some things, do you need anything else?" Naruto shook his head, "If you see my trainer, tell him I'm ready." Sasuke nodded before leaving the locker room.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, he saw a missed call from Sakura. He called her back, but it went straight to voicemail after one ring. "You ready for this?" Sakura asked while putting her phone in her purse.

Ino nodded, "As ready as I'll ever be." She was trying to be positive, but it was hard. Nothing about this was positive.

"Well it'll all be over soon enough, just try and relax, I can see that you're tense, and I'd be too, but there's good coming out of this." Ino nodded while closing her blue eyes, trying her best to hold it together. Her and Sakura had been friends for most of their lives, but she still hated crying in front of her.

Crying was Sakura's thing, not her's. Not that she was emotionally unavailable, she just hated crying in front of people, because although she didn't see it as a sign of weakness in other's, she thought it made her appear weak.

Before she realized it, they were in the clinic parking lot. Sakura placed her hand out, and Ino grabbed it. "I love you." Ino laughed a little, "I love you too."

Opening her door, Sakura expected Ino to do the same, only she didn't. She sat in the car, staring at the shining sun through the lenses of her expensive sunglasses. Her brain made everything seem to be moving in slow motion.

A part of her couldn't believe that she was even in this situation, the other couldn't believe that she was going to go through with this. She knew that she had to, because she didn't want a child this young, she wasn't ready to be a mother, neither was Shikamaru to be a father. Regardless of if he knows it or not.

Getting back in the car, Sakura asked her, "Would you rather Shikamaru be here?" Ino sighed deeply, "I-I think so." "I can call him." She shook her head, "No, I still have to tell him. I'll tell him tonight."

Sakura nodded, "Okay, then let's get you home." Looking at her best friend she asked, "Is this the right decision?" "I think it is. If you're not ready to commit to this then you're going to regret it, we still have plenty of time, so let's just take it day by day, alright?"

"Okay." Ino said, "Let's just go to Hinata's to help her set up." Sakura nodded before putting her seatbelt on, and heading in the direction of Hinata's home.

"Naruto, are you ready for this?" Sasuke asked him as he watched him stretch his arms, "Always." He said while looking out into the crowd of people, seeing Hiashi up in the gallery, he nodded in his direction, making Naruto do the same.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes before fist bumping his padded hands. When the bell rang, signaling round one, Naruto delivered harsh blows to his opponents abdomen. Watching from above the rambunctious crowd, Hiashi nodded as he intensely watched the boy who claimed to love his daughter. "Kid has great technique, but I don't understand how he isn't getting destroyed."

Although he didn't tell Naruto who his opponent would be, Hiashi knew that it was an undefeated boxer, who was obviously more muscular than Naruto. He wasn't sure what Naruto's record was exactly, but he assumed that he wasn't possibly good enough to beat Eiji. He seemed to be proving him wrong though, as Eiji proved he couldn't keep up with Naruto's speed.

"I thought this was just some scrawny kid, Hiashi." One of his colleagues said while blowing his cigar smoke from his lips, "I did too."

Naruto knew that he'd be fine, no matter his opponent. Sure he had taken his three year hiatus, but he never fully stopped training. In those three years he had only gotten stronger, and faster, practically making him unstoppable.

As Sasuke watched him from the crowd, he saw just how good his friend had gotten. He was good before, but now? Now he was unbeatable.

"And the winner, by total knockout is the Red Fox." The referee declared, while holding up Naruto's arm as the entire crowd cheered. In that moment, Naruto with his sweat covered face, and bruised ribs couldn't help but wonder why he had ever stopped boxing.

"So, she didn't go through with it?" Sakura nodded, "She definitely wasn't ready, she wants to tell him." "Well that's good." TenTen said, "Hopefully."

"I'll be right back you guys, it's Lee." TenTen said while looking down at her phone and walking out of the kitchen. "You know you don't have to stay for the party. There's going to be alcohol and stuff everywhere, so I understand if you don't want to be around all of that."

Sakura shook her head, "No, I'm fine." Hinata looked at her, "Okay. I have to stay sober myself to make sure everyone is behaving, you know?" She nodded, "Okay, I'll help clean up and stuff." Hinata smiled a little while saying, "Okay, it should be fun." ~ "Thank you for this, you guys." Neji said while draping his arms over Hinata and TenTen. They both smiled, "Of course. You deserve it." Hinata said while patting his stomach, "Yeah, anything for you, Babe." TenTen said before kissing his cheek.

"You guys are too cute! I'm taking a picture." Ino said with a smile on her face, and her Polaroid camera in her hands. Taking a picture of the smiling trio, Ino gave the picture to Neji, who put it into his wallet. Hinata smiled at it before going off to the kitchen where Sakura was.

"Hey." She said to her friend that had a bright smile on her face while talking to the drunk boys who surrounded her. "Thank goodness you're here." Sakura said while pulling her next to her, "They're about to make me play spin the bottle. I'm sorry but I can't kiss Lee if I'm not drunk."

Hinata laughed, "Why are you happy that I'm here?" Sakura sighed, "I forgot you have a boyfriend now." Hinata nodded, seeing him walk through the front door as they spoke. He smiled at Neji, before making eye contact with her from a room away. Sending a wink her way, she blushed and smiled at him. "How are you and your boy toy?"

"We're fine. He's really been there for me." Sakura said while watching him from across the way. Her Emerald eyes watched him smile while telling his friend congratulations, and handing him a gift that was wrapped horribly.

"I can tell. You've actually been sleeping, and we can all tell you're getting better by the day, Sakura. We're so proud of you." She said with a smile on her face while placing her hand on top of hers, Sakura smiled. "Don't make me cry."

They laughed cutely, before hugging each other. "I think he's always there for you because he cares a lot about you. The fact that he's choosing to be so attentive says a lot."

Sakura nodded, "You're right, but I want to be there for him too, we're just not there yet.""I get that, I still haven't brought up the topic of Toneri." Sakura nodded, "That's okay, that was something traumatic for you."

Just as they pulled away from each other, the two boys approached them. Hinata smiled at her boyfriend, "Hey, Babe." "Nice of you to finally show up."

Sakura said to Sasuke while his hand rested against her lower back. "Were you missing me?" He teased making her roll her eyes while a blush came to her cheeks, telling him everything he needed to know.

"Can you make sure everything is handled down here?" Hinata asked her friend, and she nodded. Hinata grabbed her boyfriends hand, and led him up the staircase.

"Where are we going?" He asked with a small smile on his face, "My room, you've like never seen it before, wanna see it?"

"Y-yeah, of course." As soon as they walked into the dimly lit room, Hinata watched him walk around the lavender painted room.

"You have a nice room." He complimented, making her smile a little. Sitting on her canopy sleigh bed, he watched her lock the door, before walking toward him. "I never got a chance to thank you for being so nice yesterday."

A blush came to her face, as her hands started to pull her hair into a loose ponytail. The simple action of her doing so, while walking toward him, made him hard in his jeans. "You definitely don't have to." He said while she leaned down and laid light kisses along his neck.

"I want to." She whispered in his ear, with a smile on her lips, before unbuckling his belt, and placing her hands underneath his shirt. As her hands lightly grazed his bruising side, he prepared himself for the questions that would come once his shirt came off.

In one swift motion, the questions came followed by a dramatic gasp. "What happened? Are you okay?" He nodded, "I'm fine." She applied a slight amount of pressure and it made him wince. "No you're not, who did this?" "I just boxed a round at the gym." Her eyebrows rose in surprise, "You're a boxer? Since when?"

"I stopped for a while, but I used to when I was a kid." He could see the worry in her face, so he smiled while pulling her down on the bed next to him. "I promise you it's safe, I hardly get hurt most of the time, besides I'm pretty good."

A sigh left her lips, "I feel like I know nothing about you." Naruto was dumbfounded, because he didn't picture this conversation going this way. If it were up to him they'd be doing what she brought him to her room to be doing, but he knew that he should actually listen to her concerns.

"Okay, then let's talk. What do you want to know, Princess?" He said with a smile, making her ask, "For starters, boxing?" He laughed a little, "You're so cute when you're worried, but yes I started when I was maybe fourteen just for some extra money, and then I got good." She nodded, "Why'd you stop?"

"It stopped being fun after a while, and I became a completely different person. I used to instigate situations, just so I could have a reason to show off. Honestly I just wanted to prove to everyone how good the poor orphaned kid was."

Her heart ached as he said that, and he watched her bottom lip pout. "But yeah one night I got into a fight with Sasuke, and he put me in my place." He said with a short laugh, "I just stopped after that."

"Then what made you go back?" He had been debating whether or not to mention the fact that her father had asked him to, but as he stared into lavender eyes, he couldn't bring himself to tell her another lie. "This might sound weird."

She nodded for him to continue, "Your father said he needed an opponent for one of his colleagues boxers, because he owns an agency. I guess he heard that I used to fight, so he asked me." She rolled her eyes, "That sounds like my father for sure. I'm sorry to have gotten you roped into this, I can talk to him if you want."

"No! I loved it, Princess. Besides, if your father wants me to box in a ring with a few guys in order to keep him off our backs, I'm not complaining."

A giggle left her lips, "Well I don't like seeing you with bruises." Pecking his lips, she asked, "Really, are you okay?" "I'm so good. If you think this is bad, you should see the other guy."

He bragged, "So I'm guessing that you won." "Of course." She smiled a little, "Good job.""Thank you, Princess." He said while kissing her cheek. "Well does it hurt to breathe?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm fine.""You probably shouldn't move too much though." She said while cupping his chin. Naruto's eyes looked from her eyes to her lips, "Lay back."

Downstairs sat the remaining group of friends in the living room, telling stories of their first time meeting Neji. They were all drunk except for Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke. Ino and Sakura for obvious reasons, and Sasuke simply because he thought he'd have to be designated driver for himself and whoever else needed it.

"Gosh, you had just moved in with Hinata, and she had me over for a sleepover. I remember being so nervous because everyone said how mean you were." TenTen said while the girls laughed, Sasuke smiled alongside them.

It would seem intimidating to be in the presence of a group of people that had known each other for so long, but it wasn't, it was actually quite nice to feel included. "I'm sorry, but he was douche." Sakura said, and Neji laughed. "I was like fourteen, and my mom had just died, give me a break."

Sakura nodded, "You're right, it couldn't of been easy. But my first time meeting you was the day you moved in. I wish you could've seen, Sasuke. I was riding my bike in the middle of the road to go to Hinata's, and I literally stared at him for so long that I didn't notice a gigantic moving trunk parked right in front of me."

Everyone laughed, while she rested her head against Sasuke's shoulder, and his hand rested on her knee. No one questioned it, because they naturally assumed they were dating, only Ino and TenTen knew that they definitely weren't.

"Everyone thought Neji was the hottest boy in school." Ino said with a smile, "We all hated Sakura for the three weeks that they dated." TenTen said, "I forget about that sometimes." Sakura said while laughing, "I'll never forget how we had our first kiss underneath that very staircase."

She scrunched her eyebrows, "No, our first kiss was on Hinata's balcony." "Idiot, our first kiss was underneath that staircase." Ten said while slapping him on the arm, "You're right!" Neji laughed making everyone laugh.

"And you weren't my first kiss, remember when we got Sasori to buy us beer?" The boys all looked at her, "He was your first kiss? He's like four years older than us."

Kiba said, "Exactly! He was like seventeen, and it was so creepy. I never liked him." Ino said with a sigh, "Some of us didn't have the luxury of falling for our best friend." She blushed while laughing a little, "We were so young and stupid." Ino said while looking at Sai with a smile on her face.

Shikamaru's gaze was upon her as he said, "We were." Sakura noticed the both of them, "Who'd knew that we'd be here." Kiba said while laying against the tiled floor. "I love you guys."

"We love you too, Kiba." They said while laughing, "He's so drunk." Ino said, "You two haven't drank all night." Sai said, making Ino and Sakura shrug their shoulders.

"I'm not in the mood really." "We missed you yesterday." Lee said to Sakura, making her smile at him. "I'm all good now."

Hinata and Naruto finally joined them back in the living room. "Took you guys long enough." Hinata blushed, "What are you all talking about?"

"Just how we met Neji, and how big of a douche he was." She nodded, "Yeah he was mean, but that's okay. We've all grown a lot."

They all nodded, "We don't know much about you guys, what was it like growing up for you both?" TenTen asked. They both looked at each and blushed from their separate memories.

"We didn't meet until we were about thirteen. I was an orphan, and that says enough, you know?" Naruto started, and they all nodded. "After I was adopted, I met Sasuke, and he's been a pain in my ass ever since." He said making them laugh.

"It was about the same for me, I lived with my actual family until I was five, and then became an orphan, then I was adopted.""Well when was your first kiss?" Ino asked, he blushed deeply. "Twelve? If that counts."

"Hardly." Sakura said, "Well then my first was when I was fifteen, after a school trip."

"Was that's what you guys were talking about?" Hinata asked, and they nodded making her blush. "Please don't tell me my story came up."

They all shook their heads, "We decided to leave it to you." She groaned while Sakura laughed, "It was the summer before freshman year." She started making Kiba groan from his place on the floor.

"She threw up all over me." He said making everyone laugh, and Hinata blush while throwing a pillow at him. "You threw up on him? Princess." Naruto said while laughing hysterically, "I-I had just been gotten over the flu! And I was really nervous." She said with a sigh, before laughing herself.

"He was so nice about it too, I was legit just going to cry in my room for the rest of the summer, but he decided to bring me ice cream, and redo our date." Kiba smiled at the memory, "Did you throw up the second time?" Naruto teased, making her playfully hit his arm.

"Shut up. I didn't and it was magical." He smiled while wrapping his arm around her, and kissing her temple.

"Have you all like dated each other?" Naruto asked, and they thought for a second, before nodding. "Somewhat."

"Makes sense, we've never been in a big friend group." They nodded, "We could tell, you guys tend to stick to yourselves, but that's okay, we should earn your trust."

Naruto smiled, "And we'll earn yours too." He said to Ino while playfully winking at her, though it shouldn't have, it made Hinata jealous. Her friends were undeniably gorgeous, smart, and nice.

  It sucked, she thought she was confident, she thought she had bounced back from where she had been before, but it was obvious that she hadn't, and the trauma from her past relationship was now affecting her current one. She tucked her hair behind her ear, before resting her head in the palm of her hand. Sakura noticed her playing with the holes in her ripped jeans, but she didn't question it as she smiled at Sasuke while he talked about a childhood memory.