Chapter 10

-Hinata's POV-

Kakashi had Tsunade and Jiraiya come to Sakura and I's room for practice on Thursday after being released from the hospital, that way my roommate could rest and I'd be near my bed should I suddenly start to feel bad. The tutors even brought a large bouquet of flowers from the CEO, another apology for the lapse in security.

I honestly felt back to normal, minus the slight damper in my mood, so I didn't see any reason for the special training arrangements. Everyone, me included, had been worried that I'd have a concussion, but the doctors assured us I'd be fine so long as I'm careful not to hit my head again.

Tsunade and Jiraiya both programmed their personal numbers in my phone and told me to text or call them if I run into trouble going forward.

Since I'd only lost a few hours of training, I wasn't very far behind schedule and decided to just make up for it by going to the extra classes overnight, as planned. I tried my best to put maximum effort into my training and it seemed to be fruitful.

I was surprised by how quickly I recovered from Suigetsu's attack, physically at least. Undoubtedly, I'd be plagued with nightmares about the event for months to come, but the agency has a team of mental health counselors for their idols and trainees and Kakashi insisted I go for at least a few weeks.

By the time my daily training was finished, I'd finished learning the choreography and notes for every song I'd be taking part in on our first album. All that was left was to perfect them. The two adults left to attend to other matters while Sakura rushed out of her bedroom with an exaggerated sigh, "About damn time!" She flopped down on the couch as I went to change out of my sweaty dance clothes.

"Hinata, we're friends right?"

I pulled my new shirt over my head and shoved my arms through the holes, "Of course! What's wrong?"

There was a pause, which had me walking to my bedroom doorway to look at my roommate curiously. She had turned onto her back and was staring at the ceiling with an unreadable expression.

"Sakura?"

Whatever trance she was in was broken and she glanced over at me with a sheepish grin, "Our debut is soon and I know we need to focus, but after Suigetsu almost…y'know, I can't help but-"

I sensed that this would be a serious topic and sat down on the floor with my back to the couch she lay on. It may be easier for her to talk if she doesn't have to look me in the eye. She noticed I was waiting for her to continue and did, albeit slowly, "So my mom and dad got divorced about two years ago and Dad moved to Hawaii with his new girlfriend, so I don't see him anymore. Mom got a new boyfriend, Sam, about a year ago and he just moved in about six months ago."

I had a bad feeling about where this was going, but kept my mouth shut as she struggled to explain with a straight voice. I could hear it waver every once in a while with emotion, "Sam's great and he makes Mom happy, but he has a son named Garrett who's not so great. He's really strong and harrasses me when they're not around."

I didn't look at her, but I could tell by her panicked voice that she was starting to cry. No wonder she needed to talk about this. It's so similar to what I'd just gone through.

"I tried so hard to be friends with him, Hinata, I did! He took my manners as flirting and keeps trying to- He-"

My whole body turned to look at her as she broke into tears. Her arms were crossed over her face so I laid a comforting hand on them, "It's okay- ''

She threw her arms down and sat up, face blotchy and eyes red, "It's not okay, Hinata! I can't tell my mom because I haven't seen her so happy in a long time and it'd ruin things for her with Sam. I thought moving into the dorm would keep Garrett at bay, but I still have to see him every time I visit home."

In the short time I've known her, I realized she has a short temper, but she'd never lost her cool like this. The situation must be more serious than she let on. Her voice suddenly dropped to barely a whisper and her voice became raspy, "I don't want to have it taken away from me. I want to give it to someone willingly."

Everything suddenly clicked: her eagerness to sleep with Sasuke and then how swiftly she got over his rejection and moved onto her plans for Saturday night. She thought that sleeping with someone she barely knew or didn't know at all would be a better option than losing something so important to someone like Garrett.

I understood why she didn't want to tell her mom. It was the same reason I'd been hesitant to tell anyone about Suigetsu. In her eyes, asking for help would be a burden and she also doesn't want anyone to get hurt for her sake.

"Sakura, losing it to some drunk at the club would be no bett-"

She yelled suddenly, "Yes it would be!"

I went silent. The girl was nearly hysterical, but I didn't take offense to her yelling. She was in a bad situation that neither of us knew how to handle. We sat there for a few moments, the only sound being her sniffling as she tried to get an apology out for snapping at me. It was obvious she'd been holding back this worry for a while. She was a great actress because I couldn't recall a single time of her seeming to be not okay.

There was a soft knock at the door and I glanced at Sakura as she looked over with a panicked look. The girl shook her head frantically, trying to plead with me not to answer the door so we wouldn't have to explain the noises someone might have heard in the hallway. The walls were so thin that we could often hear the boys' conversations as well.

I gave her a conflicted look in response. If we could rally up our friends like we had when we were searching for Suigetsu, we might be able to come up with a plan to help her. The person at the door knocked again, this time more urgent. I pulled my arm away from Sakura's shaky grip and opened the door.

Gaara and Sasuke both stood there with blank faces.

Sakura dove off the couch and into her room, slamming the door behind her. The two didn't miss her disheveled form crossing the room and looked at me for an explanation. I pushed the door to the room open and let them come in. They looked hesitant. It had been nothing but drama drama drama since I'd been here and it honestly felt like a teenage television show.

Soon they were seated quietly on the couch while I went to knock on Sakura's door. I could just barely hear her crying within. She must've had her face buried in a pillow. Everything in me felt wrong for invading her privacy, but I entered the room to see that my guess was correct. She lay in a ball on her bed with a pillow between her legs and her face stuffed into it.

She looked up at me with a bright red face, "W-Why did you let them in!" Her voice was just above a whisper as she undoubtedly tried to keep the two sitting on the sofa from hearing. My heart ached for her. She must feel so desperate and hopeless.

I climbed onto her bed and did my best to hug her with her balled-up form, whispering, "They can help. They're our friends." We live in a world where young men aren't being taught well enough about how to treat women and many young women suffer as a result.

I was somehow able to coax her out into the living room. She stopped sobbing, but still had tears falling from her face as she curled up on one of the beanbag chairs with a blanket over her shoulders and a pillow in her arms. I explained what was wrong to the boys, with Sakura's consent.

Gaara just stared at Sakura's still slightly shaking form with concern etched onto his features, while Sasuke's anger was more unfiltered, "So that's why you-" He didn't finish that sentence, but started a new one, "What the fuck is wrong with these guys?!" It was odd to see him so genuinely upset about something that concerned anyone other than himself.

I kept looking at Gaara, who seemed like he wanted to say something, but he never did. It occurred to me that he may want to speak to Sakura alone. He did seem to care about her. Anytime she did or said something questionable, he always seemed sad about it.

With a blush dusting my face and all the confidence I could muster, I stood from my seat near Sakura and did my best to give them some time alone, "Sasuke, let's go get some chocolate from the vending machine downstairs. I-It'll make her feel a little better."

He looked confused in his angry state, "Why the hell do two of us need to-"

I covertly gestured to Gaara and Sakura and it was like a bulb lit up over his head, his mouth making an "o" shape. He jumped to his feet, "We'll be right back."

-Sakura's POV-

My throat and eyes were sore from crying. I must've looked like a complete mess, but Gaara silently rose from his seat to crouch in front of me. I kept wiping at the stubborn tears that kept falling, but they wouldn't stop.

My mother had been suicidal after the divorce. She didn't even smile for a whole year. It was likely she would have succumbed to her depression if Sam hadn't come along. He was actually a very nice southern gentleman. He was from the United States.

He'd apparently been in the military and visited Japan a few times while on duty only to fall in love with it. Once his military contract ended, he moved himself and his son here. Both father and son were tall and muscular. Even if Garrett couldn't physically get to me while I'm living away from them, he still harassed me with calls and text messages almost daily.

Gaara hesitantly raised a hand toward me, tearing me from my thoughts. He gently pushed my hair out of my face. His fingers just barely brushed against my skin, but it was enough to steal the breath from my body.

"Sakura."

Teal eyes searched mine in silence for a long moment before I realized what he was about to say. He spoke over me as I tried to stop him, "I think you should wait, but if your mind can't be changed: let me do it."

It suddenly felt very hot in the room, my face being the warmest. I tried to form some sort of response, but was too stunned by his offer, "G-Gaara, I-"

"I mean it. There are a million other ways I think you should approach this so you can save yourself for when you're ready, but I know you well enough now. You're stubborn, so let me do it."

My brow furrowed and I tried to argue again, but he cut me off once more, "As your friend, let me do this for you."

The seriousness of his expression startled me. There wasn't even a hint of blush on his face because he was so serious. His selfless offer does sound tempting, at least on paper. I could never do it, though, not to him.

Gaara was everything that I'd ever looked for in a boyfriend. He was sweet, caring, attentive, and looked great. I couldn't consider being intimate like that with him or it could possibly ruin our friendship forever. We could never be in a relationship while we were in the same group. There'd always be far prettier and more talented women around, not to mention adoring fans who wouldn't take it well if their idol was actively dating.

There was no way Gaara looked at me that way, anyway. He was just an amazing person, an amazing friend. What he was offering to do was so selfless, but I would undoubtedly end up falling for him if we went through with it. I'd tried to hook up with Sasuke because I knew I wouldn't want anything more from him than sex and that he'd feel the same way. It was different with Gaara. I'm too jealous of a person to even consider it.

The tears that'd slowed suddenly quickened pace and I lightly pushed his hand away. "I can't let you do that for me, Gaara."

Through my tears I noticed a hurt look across his features. His hand hovered for a moment more before he withdrew it.

"Why ask Sasuke and not me? Does he offer something that I don't?" He wasn't accusing me of anything or attacking me with his tone of voice. Instead, he sounded honestly hurt and curious.

Confusion swept over me. Gaara didn't strike me as the type to get jealous over things like that. I tried my best to explain before he jumped to the wrong conclusion, "It's not what he has that you don't. You're…different. It's what you have that he doesn't." My face was burning brightly, but my response only seemed to confuse him further.

He seemed about to reply when we both heard Hinata's voice approaching the door. She was probably trying to be loud to signal their return so they wouldn't walk in at a bad time. I was grateful for it because Gaara quickly moved back to his spot on the couch just before they entered the room.

Sasuke sat next to him and Hinata sat next to me, her pearly eyes reflecting her concern as she handed me some snacks from the vending machine downstairs. I gave her the best smile I could manage before accepting her gift and leaning forward to hug her.

It was painfully obvious to us all that she's new to socializing, but it was also clear that she was trying her very best to be a good friend to both me and the boys. After that, we all sat around and brainstormed ways to try and solve this issue for a while, coming up empty-handed in the end, before an alarm went off on Hinata's phone.

She gasped and shot to her feet, "I've gotta go!"

I mirrored the action, "Right now? Where?" It was nearly midnight. Where could she possibly be going?

She quickly pulled some shoes on and grabbed her keys before turning to face us with a sheepish grin, shrugging, "I, um, p-picked up some extra training time with Tsunade so I won't fall behind."

It wasn't healthy to be doing as much activity as she was, especially since she just got out of the hospital, "It's the middle of the night, Hinata."

The boys' heads bobbed back and forth between us as we spoke to each other.

"Y-Yes, well it's only for today so it's no big deal." Despite my concern, she left to attend her dance practice.

I turned to the boys, "I think I'm gonna call it a night, unless you guys want to hang out."

Sasuke jumped to his feet, "I'm outta here, then," and he walked out the door without even waiting for Gaara.

The redhead stood and walked up to me with an odd look in his eye, "Whatever your reasoning may be, my offer still stands." He didn't give me a chance to react before following Sasuke's footsteps and leaving the room. Once I was sure they were both gone I locked the door behind them and flopped down on the couch.

My face was heated and embarrassment crept up on me. I couldn't help but think about what it'd be like to have sex with Gaara. If it was anything like how he normally is, he'd be sure I was comfortable.

You could say I've had a small crush on Gaara since I first met him, but that's exactly why I can't think about him in a romantic way. It's in our contracts to avoid romantic relationships with other members of the agency and it's even more forbidden for a member of the same group.

I wasn't set to see my family until they attended the debut next weekend. Garrett will be there. I need to figure out what I want to do before then. Heaven forbid he somehow gets me alone, then it'd be too late. With such a great dilemma weighing down on my shoulders, I flipped through some channels on the tv as I waited for Hinata to return.

-Hinata's POV-

By the end of my practice, which had gone way over on time and ended at a whopping three thirty in the morning, I was pretty fluent in every song I was taught. Tsunade had expressed her happiness at my progress before ultimately dismissing me. I trudged back to the room while fighting to keep my eyes open.

I tried to be as silent as possible when unlocking the door. Upon entering, I saw Sakura curled up in her blanket on the couch, fast asleep. The tv was turned down, but still playing some old murder mystery reruns. A smile tugged at my lips. She tried to wait for me.

After taking a quick shower, I put on some pajamas before grabbing my own pillow and blanket from my bed and laying on the plush rug right in front of the couch. That same smile stayed on my mouth until the moment I fell asleep.