"Oi, Naruto! Look who I brought this time! She is a very nice woman, so be nice to her…" Then he noticed Hinata.
"You're not Naruto. Who are you?"
"M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata."
"Naruto didn't tell me about you. But as I see it, he's starting to learn from me!"
"Wrong, I just had a project together with Hinata, nothing more," said Naruto.
"That is a pity."
"You're here soon, Pervy Sage."
"Don't call me that in front of your lovely classmate!"
"It does not matter. Who did you bring this time?"
"Her name is Elizabeth, she's very nice."
"Fine." Naruto was a little depressed, and Hinata noticed. But Naruto escorted her home so he wouldn't have to be there with them.
"It's getting cold," said Hinata.
"Here." Naruto handed her his jacket.
"But now you will be cold…"
"I owe you."
"Your godfather is very nice," said Hinata.
"Probably yes…"
"You are sad. Is something wrong?"
"I don't want to burden you with that…"
"I'll be glad if you tell me!" said seriously Hinata.
"Huh? All right, it's because Pervy Sage is still gone. He doesn't care about me at all. I don't have anyone and that's why I need him enough, but since he works in the bar, he comes home in the evening and always makes a ladies' visit. It's annoying that he pays more attention to them than me, dattebayo."
"Simply put, you miss him." He nodded.
"You know, I have it like that too. My mother died during the birth of my sister and my father has been behaving completely differently since then. I doubt he still loves me…"
"I’m sorry."
"You don’t have to be…"
"W-well, I have to go."
"I see. See ya on Monday."
"Umm." Hinata agreed and went home. She forgot to give back Naruto his jacket. Well, her father wouldn't be too thrilled… That's why she tried to hide it as best she could. Fortunately, her father was already asleep or doing something else... He just wasn't in sight.
… On Monday, all students had to submit their projects. Sakura and Sasuke were the first.
"I bet Sasuke-kun says it all. Sakura can't do it when he's in a group with her!" said Ino.
"Do you trust her so little?" asked Sai.
"N-no, but she has a crush on him, it’s obvious!"
"Maybe you shouldn't underestimate her so much, look." Ino looked at Sakura again. She worked great with Sasuke and she said half the project. The two were the smartest in the class and got A.
"Well, you pleasantly surprised me, Sasuke-kun," said Orochimaru, looking at Sasuke curiously. It looked weird.
"You were good too, Sakura-san..." He didn't say that so enthusiastically.
"I honestly don't care about other projects anymore, but there is one I have to listen to. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata, submit your project to us." He smirked.
"Great, another F... Wait, I worked on it with Hinata... It can be even better, she's smart after all," thought Naruto. Hinata approached the board, though a little nervous. It's pretty stressful for her and she couldn't get anything out of her.
"Start," said Orochimaru.
"All right! Our project is that... that... I think there was oxygen... and... and…" Orochimaru face-palmed.
"Please, can't someone more capable say that?"
"I-I’m sorry!" apologized Hinata.
"Now I will explain our project to you…" Hinata fluently explained the essence of their project. Naruto just held the pictures and Hinata pointed at them.
"Great! You have A! And you…" he looked at Naruto.
"Please no F, please no F…"
"B, I would give you F, but you're lucky it was a joint project and you had such a great partner. I'm not interested in other projects anymore, so that's all."
"What a drag… Well, anyway it was a drag for me to do the project, so I didn’t even do it," thought Shikamaru.
"Hinata, that was awesome!" said Sakura.
"S-S-Sakura-san?" This was perhaps the first time Sakura had spoken to her.
"Hmm, your hair… They look normal, no weird ponytail." Hinata was embarrassed and blushed.
"She’s right! And ever since you dropped those glasses and that old sweater, you look like us! … Except for those eyes…" said Ino.
"W-why are you being so nice to me? You always told me I didn't belong among you and I was a disgrace to the girls…"
"That was before, but now you look beautiful, almost like us. What if you joined us? We would be friends," said Sakura.
"F-friends?"
"Of course! In addition, we would look better like a three-member association!" said Ino.
"Friends…" Hinata had never had friends before, so she didn't think much about it.
"I-I want to be your friend!"
"Great! After school we want to look in the mall, come with us! We will definitely find something for you!" said Sakura and Hinata nodded. She was happy she has finally some friends.
"We have to do something with her," said Ino.
"Definitely, do you understand that she does not wear makeup?" said Sakura.
"In addition, she is still sitting alone or with Naruto, it will come out almost the same, but her popularity will increase with us," said Ino.
"I hope she doesn't fall in love with Sasuke either, we would have to rule her out!" said Sakura.
"You are right!"
"But first we will do something with that makeup, in addition she could wear stockings. It's attractive."
"And pumps, her shoes are awful!"
"Even a better purse, have you seen hers? And I've heard she's from rich family, hardly." They looked at her again. Hinata was talking to Naruto.
"Do you understand that she is talking with Naruto? It will have to stop! It could tarnish our reputation!" said Sakura and Ino agreed.