Naruto had decided to leave by the back exit of the Hyuga Manor since he would end up closer to his house anyway. As he walked away down the street to his house Hinata slowly walked up behind him her heart pounding. She had followed after she had heard Naruto leave with Hanabi giggling behind her. She had ignored her sister's snickering knowing this was as good a time as any to maker her feelings to Naruto completely known. She would lead him to asking her out on a date and see how things went from there. She followed him for a few minutes hiding behind bushes, fences, and trees until she finally worked up all the courage she could and ran out toward Naruto saying, "Naruto! Wait!"

Naruto turned around and smiled when he saw Hinata coming towards him. "Oh hey Hinata!"

Naruto had finally stopped thinking of Hinata as a creepy girl who constantly fidgeted in front of him and always acted really uncomfortable. He had been beginning to think Hinata was afraid of him or something. Luckily she had loosened up around him. She was smiling at him as she caught up and asked, "Can I walk with you Naruto?"

Naruto looked surprised at first and Hinata's heart sank. Then he smiled at her and said, "Sure!"

They walked on in silence for a few minutes before Hinata said, "How have your missions been going Naruto?"

Naruto grinned and said, "Great! Kakashi-sensei's been giving us some really good ones! How about you?"

"Oh, well I've been getting by." Hinata said. She didn't want Naruto to think she didn't do anything exciting or that she was shying away from tough missions.Being a Chunin she didn't get as many tough missions as Naruto was getting as a Jonin.She got closer to Naruto and said, "So what are you doing tomorrow Naruto?"

Naruto thought about it and said, "Well...as long as Kakashi-sensei doesn't saddle us with any missions I'm not really doing anything. Why? Oh! Do you want to do something tomorrow?"

Hinata could've sung with happiness! She smiled and said, "Sure! That would be wonderful!"

As Hinata and Naruto walked to Naruto's house, Sakura was waiting anxiously by the door of the Hyuga Manor. She was nervous since she didn't know how Neji would take to the idea of dating her. She wasn't even sure whether or not she wanted to date him.

"But I have to keep my options open." Sakura told herself sternly. "Naruto and Sasuke aren't exactly undesirables. There could be a chance that both of them already have their eyes on someone."

As Sakura ruminated the door opened and Neji appeared surprised to see her. Sakura smiled and said, "Hello Neji. Can I come in?"

Neji nodded and said, "You know, Naruto came by just a few minutes ago to talk to me."

Sakura looked shocked and said, "Really? W-what did you talk about?"

"It seems he was worried that relationships between squad members could cause the bonds they shared to break." Neji said, showing Sakura into the same room he had talked with Naruto in.

"Really..." Sakura said quietly sitting down.

"It seems that he has his eye on someone on his team." Neji said. "But he's willing to put these feelings aside if it means the happiness of the person he loves."

Sakura could almost feel tears welling up in her eyes. To think that Naruto cared that much about her feelings that he'd step aside and let her be with Sasuke if that's what she wanted. Neji handed her a handkerchief and she blew her nose on it. He smiled at her and said, "I think I've answered any questions you may have needed to ask."

Sakura sniffed and said, "Oh no, I was wondering something completely different. Now I'm not so sure I should ask but...would you ever consider going out with me?"

Neji considered Sakura's question. He knew she probably was only looking for a little security but he had never really considered going out with Sakura before. He had looked at her over the years as a capable shinobi but his feelings had never developed beyond that. Now that he thought about it...

He looked her in the eye and said, "Yes I would Sakura. If things don't work out with Sasuke or Naruto I would be willing to go out with you. However, I'm not going to wait around while you decide whether or not you have feelings for your squad mates. I have a life of my own after all."

Sakura looked a little embarrassed as she said, "I never expected you to. Anyway thanks for talking with me Neji. It really helped."

Neji showed Sakura out and watched as she walked out of sight. Things could get very interesting around here...