Well…here it is! Chapter 2! I had no idea this fic would be so well received! Thanks for all the reviews guys!

Disclaimer: *checks* Nope…still don't own Naruto.

~~~~

Hinata was distinctly aware of the hot afternoon sun beating down mercilessly on her face. Groggily, she sat up, rubbing her pounding head.

"Wh-What happened?" she mumbled aloud. Taking notice of her surroundings, she let out a small squeak of shock to find herself sitting on the bench within the main gates of her house. The morning's previous events hit her like a sack of bricks.

Naruto! What had happened? She clearly remembered handing him his gift…and nothing else after that.

Well…that wasn't entirely true. Naruto had called her a good friend. Hinata smiled bitterly to herself. She probably made a fool of herself by passing out in disappointment and Ino and Shikamaru had to drag her home. That must have been what had happened.

"I'm so pathetic," she whispered to herself. Ino went through all that trouble to help her…and she could barely put a sentence together. For once in her life, Hinata had felt beautiful. She had felt confidant. And yet the moment she saw his face her knees shook and her palms sweated. She had made an utter fool of herself.

"Dammit!" She cried vehemently, pounding her fist against the cold hard stone of the bench. "Why am I so stupid!?" She punched the bench again and again, ignoring the bruise that was rapidly appearing.

"Hey stop!" Came a familiar voice, grabbing her hand. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

"N-Naruto-kun!?" Hinata stared at the boy kneeling in front of her, holding her bruised hand in shock. She looked away from him, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"You don't have to be angry at yourself over what happened," Naruto said, pulling a small bandage out and wrapping her hand in it.

"Yes…I do," Hinata said quietly. "No matter how hard I try, I always screw up."

"Hey, that's my line!" Naruto joked, and then shut his mouth when Hinata looked as if she were going to burst into tears. "Look," he said awkwardly, putting her hand down. "If anyone's stupid, it's me. I was the one who made you cry."

"I…what?" Naruto's words utterly baffled her. Had she cried before she fainted?

"It's my fault," Naruto continued. "I didn't realize until this morning what was really going on. I mean, now that I think about it, it was obvious, but I didn't become aware of it until you told me."

Naruto had completely lost Hinata now. Her mouth opened and closed as she stared at him in bewilderment.

"But when you…when you kissed me, and then told me how you felt, I was shocked. I didn't believe it at first…and I didn't say anything. I didn't mean to make you sad." Naruto looked apologetic.

"What!?" Hinata cried suddenly, horribly confused. She'd kissed him and confessed her feelings before she fainted!?

"I-I guess what I'm trying to say…" Naruto said, placing a hand behind his head to scratch it nervously. Is that I really like you too…" His face flushed darkly at these words.

Hinata merely stared.

He didn't say…what I think he said…did he?

"And you make really good ramen too!" Naruto added, grinning through his red face. "I didn't know you could cook so well!"

Something clicked in Hinata's head. Ino…could she have…used that one technique? That one that takes over a person's body? That would explain the Hinata's inability to remember past her shoving a present in Naruto's hand. Then…Ino must had told Naruto everything! And even kissed him!  

Hinata wasn't sure whether to strangle Ino or kiss her.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, worried by her silence.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, flushing. "I-I'm just really happy…"

Nervously, Naruto placed his hand on hers. "Me too!" He said with an embarrassed grin.  

~~~~

"Good move," Shikamaru observed as Ino captured on of his shogi pieces.

"I win!" Ino cried, jumping up and down happily. "I've never beaten you before today!"

"Well…I did go easy on you," Shikamaru said with the barest hint of amusement.

"Oh, shut up!" Ino chastised. "I beat you fair and square!" Giggling, she leaned down to peck a surprised Shikamaru.

"My my, what's going on here?"

Ino nearly jumped five feet in the air when she heard the voice of the Hyuuga successor. "Hinata!" Ino said awkwardly, a blush creeping to her face. Hinata's usual kind face was different than usual. She looked sort of…scary. Was she mad about her using the Shintenshin no jutsu?

Busted, Shikamaru thought. How troublesome.

"So you're awake! Did Naruto come to see you? Eh?" She jeeringly poked an elbow into Hinata's side, hoping to steer her away from the topic of her and Shikamaru.

"Ino! Who gave you permission to use my body?" Hinata asked, her eyes much darker than usual. She inched closer towards Ino.

Ino blanched. "Ah…well, I really wanted to help you out, Hinata-chan! I mean…Naruto was so dense…I couldn't just sit around and watch him hurt you!" she protested, holding up her hands in defense. "I had your best interests in heart! Honest!" As Hinata approached closer, Ino began to sweat, growing increasingly more nervous. Hinata's arms were outstretched, as if ready to grasp her neck and squeeze. Ino took a step back, trying to increase the distance between them.

"Hinata-chan, no!" Ino cried as Hinata charged towards her, her pale eyes boring into her own. She let out a sharp cry of terror as Hinata wrapped her arms around Ino's torso whist smiling rather evilly. Ino prepared to shriek until Hinata rested her head against Ino's chest.

She was…hugging her?

"Thank you, Ino-chan" Hinata said softly, squeezing Ino tightly. "You are a kind person."

"R-Right," Ino said, practically fainting with the realization that Hinata wasn't about to smash all her inner organs with her gentle fist. "I-I was a little afraid you might be upset…or something like that," Ino said cautiously. 

"Well, I was at first," Hinata said. "But, it's not like you showed him my panties or anything indecent like that," she smiled as if this thought were ludicrous.

"O-Oh! Yeah…I'd never do that, that's just messed up," Ino lied, secretly grateful for Naruto's obsession with ramen.  

"If you hadn't helped me yesterday…I wouldn't have done anything." Hinata continued. "And…and I wouldn't have a friend."

"A friend?" Ino repeated, confused.

"We're friends now, right Ino-chan?" Hinata asked, looking up at her hopefully.

"Of course!" Ino agreed, pulling Hinata down on a cushion. "Now you have to tell me everything that happened when Naruto came to visit!" Ino commanded. It must have gone well if Hinata wasn't going to kill her. If Naruto did fall for Hinata, then Ino was a genius!

"Nope," Hinata answered slyly. "I want to know what happened between you and Shikamaru," she added, causing Ino and Shikamaru to both start in surprise.

"Uh…" Ino started.

~~~~

Four months later…

"Ah, what a beautiful day," Ino exclaimed to the person who's hand she was clutching tightly.

"I suppose so," Shikamaru said, giving Ino's hand a playful squeeze. He leaned over to kiss her gently.

"Oh no, we're late!" Ino cried before Shikamaru's lips could reach her. She glanced at her watch. "We were supposed to meet Naruto and Hinata at the barbeque grill ten minutes ago!"

Shikamaru suppressed his groan and allowed himself to be dragged by Ino. He might have once objected to being as whipped as he was, but he discovered Ino wasn't that overbearing all the time. Those times…they were nice…nice enough to make him not care about being whipped. He did love that girl…no matter how she treated him.

Upon reaching the restaurant, Ino and Shikamaru took a seat to the already seated Naruto and Hinata. It seemed they hadn't noticed their tardiness, as the two were obviously not paying attention to anyone other than themselves.

"Ahem," Ino cleared her throat, causing Naruto and Hinata to hastily unlock their lips from each other.  

"Couldn't you have been a few more minutes late?" Hinata asked Ino in mock annoyance. Naruto laughed embarrassedly.

The Hyuuga girl had loosened up noticeably or the last few months…probably hanging around Naruto and Ino as much as she did had some sort of effect. The confidence that she had in herself now practically made her shine. The shy, unsure little girl that Hinata had once been was slowly disappearing.

Why, she'd even almost beaten Neji last week in a match.

"Sheesh you guys don't have to go at it all the time," Ino complained. "Get a room or something!" Secretly she wondered why Shikamaru didn't kiss her like that in public. Damn that boy and his modesty.

"Shall we order?" Shikamaru said quickly, recognizing the look on Ino's face as something not good.

"Hey look!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise, motioning to the door.

Everyone spun around to see the distinctive face of Rock Lee, who had just entered the restaurant, looking rather dejected. His arms hung below him as if they were trying to reach the floor, and his back hunched over as if it were deformed.

"Hey, thick-brows!" Naruto called, waving him over. Lee's shuffled over to them, his head staring at the floor.

"Hi everyone," he said lifelessly as he took a seat. Everyone exchanged a glance. This was very unlike the usual boy that was annoyingly full of life.     

"What's wrong?" Ino asked. "You look like you just lost your best friend."

"Oh, it's just the usual," Lee said, stealing a piece of meat from Shikamaru's plate. He chewed unresponsively. "I asked Sakura-san out on a date and she said no."

There was a brief moment of silence, until Ino pounded her fist on the table very loudly, causing everyone to flinch and stare at her in surprise.

"I-Ino?" Shikamaru asked, wondering what was wrong with her. Then he saw the look in her eyes.

Crap. Not again.

"Lee…you don't have to worry anymore," Ino said, and Hinata gasped at the look in her eye that she recognized all too well. Lee looked up at her in surprise, blinking absently.

"It is now my life mission to get you and Sakura together! I will succeed even if it costs me my life! This will be my ultimate test!" Ino grabbed Lee's shoulders and practically shook him senseless.

"I-Ino-san," Lee cried, his eyes bright with tears.

"We'll make sure that forehead girl can't say no to you!" Ino said, cackling as if she were mad. "Just lay all your worries on Ino-sama!"

"I-Ino, let's not be hasty," Hinata said in vain.

"Love will prevail!" She shouted, grabbing Lee by the arm and dragging him out of the restaurant.

"Well…there goes lunch," Shikamaru grumbled. 

"She's scary," Naruto said, shivering.

"Y-you don't think she'll do a mind switch, do you?" Hinata asked, worried. Ino in Rock Lee's body would be *so* wrong. And there was no telling what she'd do. She glanced at Shikamaru nervously.

Shikamaru shrugged. Ino was Ino. That's why he loved her so much. Sighing, he got up and shuffled after Ino and Rock Lee. At least he could keep her in check. Even if she was rude, loud, and demanding, there was still that side of her that he hadn't seen until now. The part of her that kept him coming back for more.

Shikamaru finally understood why his dad stayed with his mother. Women…they weren't as bad as they seemed. Life would certainly get a little more interesting, that's for sure.

~owari~

And there's the end to this little fic! I hope you all enjoyed it! ^_^