Author's Note:

Yuri is actually a character I created. Her name is Japanese for 'lily', like Sakura's name really means 'cherry', or 'cherry blossom'. I wanted this story to be a stand-alone, and it's been haunting me for quite a few days, so I decided to get it out. Basically, Yuri is from the Land of Waves (for some reason I kept calling it the Village Hidden in the Mist, but that would be entirely wrong). Anyway, Yuri is the granddaughter of a merchant from the Land of Waves, and is sent to train as a ninja in Konoha. It'd be easiest to say she was forced to go against her will, but she eventually warms up to the idea. After training in Konoha, she, literally, gets kidnapped again, this time by the Hokage's orders. I won't tell you what she does after that, but it'll certainly lead to some sort of love. Cause we all love fluff. Lots and lots of FLUFF.

Let the story begin!

The Konoha Festival Ball: Chapter 1...

Yuri looked at herself in Sakura's mirror. The two girls had grown considerably close, almost to the point of siblings. The young blonde shook her hair away from her shoulders, hoping it would fall naturally. When that didn't work, she tried pulling it up into a bun, and then twisted it. This time, when she let go, it curled and framed her face.

"You look lovely, and the way you hair looks really shows off your earrings!" Sakura loved to dote and dress up her friend, although it rarely ever happened. The two had totally different styles, but sometimes Yuri was able to let go of her sporty side and relax in the girly clothes that Sakura liked to pick out for her.

Yuri bit her lip and worried the soft, pink petals before turning to Sakura. "Are you sure it looks all right? I mean, it's not like I have a date or anything, but--"

Sakura just laughed. "Baka! You're calm and collected in any dangerous situation, but you're worried about looking good for a silly festival dance!" Sakura managed to ease Yuri's worries, just a bit, but the blonde didn't want to ask her other question. Maybe later, as they were walking to the dance. "Besides," Sakura added, rummaging around in her closet, looking for the two dresses she and Yuri had picked out the week before to wear at the dance. "Nobody can say no to you, right? Even Gaara-kun can't help but admire you, that's got to be worth something in the beauty world, right? Aren't I right?"

Yuri giggled, taking her dress from Sakura's outstretched arm. Her friend had been so nice to her, giving her a room of her own, and helping her when she went shopping. When she thought about it, Yuri had to reason that Sakura had picked out her entire outfit for this evening, and would no doubt help her with her hair and makeup.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Yuri said wistfully, staring at the baby blue dress in her hands. "You're the best."

Sakura noted the look on her friend's face. "What's the matter?" Pulling out her own dress from the closet, she dropped it on the pink bed and motioned for Yuri to sit down. "Are you nervous? This is your first real dance, right?"

Yuri nodded. Back in the Land of Waves, she had been too small to go to any of the real "dances" the adults held, but she had still been stuck in a room with a bunch of other kids, a stereo, and some refreshments. "I guess, I don't know. I feel nervous, but it's like my body won't let me admit it. I just kinda want to get it over with, I suppose."

"Oh, don't worry. You'll start to feel a lot better when we meet up with the guys. But, you better start getting ready, otherwise we'll be late." Sakura stood up and turned so Yuri was looking at her back, and she began to strip so she could get into her dress. Yuri also stripped and struggled into her problem of a dress. It was a halter-top, and it almost scared the poor girl to think that the only thing holding it up was a few pieces of material tied together. Making a mental note, she thought I'll be sure to tie it in a hard knot, and check it several times during the dance.

"Oi, Yuri-chan, can you help me?" Sakura had gotten her dress zipped up past her lower back, until she reached that evil spot where you can't reach over or under your shoulder to get at the zipper. Yuri walked over and zipped the dress the rest of the way up; Sakura's dress was a bit plainer than Yuri's but she insisted it was all the better. Yuri's smiled to herself when she thought of Sakura's real excuse for the plain dress. Ino and Sakura had had a fight at the dress shop, and Ino had thrown out the comment, "The fancier, the better!" Even though Sakura must have known it was a complete lie, she had insisted on being the complete opposite of Ino, and picked out the plainest dress she could find - a cute corral pink a shade lighter than her hair. Without hesitation, the pink-haired youth had handed Yuri a blue dress, and although the color was right, the style wasn't, and the two eventually decided on the baby blue halter.

Yuri tied the top of her dress, and then followed Sakura into the bathroom, where each was given a light layer of appropriate makeup, and they finished the final touches, like earrings, hair, shoes…whatever they thought looked cute. Yuri actually would have traded Sakura dresses, because she preferred plain, so she wore only a pair of small diamond earrings, and baby blue heels to make up for her lack in height. Sakura was plenty tall enough, but she insisted on wearing heels too, and picked out a pair of strappy pink shoes from the back of her closet.

Yuri looked at the clock and squeaked. They only had 10 minutes until they had to meet the guys! "Sakura-chan, come on! We have to hurry!" Sakura and Yuri hurried out the door, not bothering to lock it.

At the Dance:

The men were waiting for them at the entrance to the dance. Shikamaru, Rock Lee, Shino, Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Choji, Kiba, and Neji were all wearing suits, each with a different colored tie. Beside them were the only three girls: Hinata, Temari, and Ino. Tenten was on a mission with a few of the Jounin.

Looking at the tiny group of girls compared to the great cluster of boys, Yuri was sure her heart skipped a beat. Yuri could hear Sakura's breathing next to her, and she managed to mutter, "Looks like we're the last ones here, huh?" Sakura could only nod, as the two had had to run all the way through the town to get to the dance on time.

Naruto had spotted the two girls and waved to them. "Hey! Sakura-chan! Yuri-chan! Over here! We're getting ready to go in! Come on, hurry UP!"

Yuri waved back to let the hyper-active ninja know they had heard. "He's right, we should go," she gasped to Sakura. "We can catch our breathe in there." She and Sakura composed themselves, then hurried to catch up to the other girls as the walked into the large building the dance was being held in.

Inside the Dance:

The decorations were nothing Yuri had ever seen before. Multi-colored light bulbs flashed at different intervals, and mirrors set up around the room multiplied the light, making 10 beams of light seem like 20. Little bits of confetti were sprinkled over the dance floor and tables that were arranged on the skirts of the dance floor for people to sit at and rest in-between songs.

Sakura clapped her hands together when she stepped into the room! "Oh, it's so cool! Look at all that confetti! Oh, and there's Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hm?" Yuri looked in the direction Sakura was pointing in, and sure enough, there was team 7's sensei, apparently manning the drink stand. When she looked closer, Yuri could see he had his copy of Itcha Itcha Paradise. Tsking under her breathe, Yuri looked around. Ino and Sakura were already out on the dance floor, moving to a vibrant, fast-paced song. Yuri spied Hinata watching the two from one of the long tables, so she went to go stand by her.

Hinata saw Yuri coming. "Oh, h-hello."

"Hello, Hinata-chan. Having fun?" Hinata blushed, was it something Yuri had asked? Yuri tried to follow Hinata's gaze, and it ended somewhere near Naruto.

"Oh! Hinata, you want to dance with Naruto, don't you?" Hinata blushed even more, and nodded her head in the tiniest of motions. Yuri chuckled, but she stopped when Hinata asked, "Ah, um, is there someone you want to dance with, Yuri-chan?"

Yuri thought hard. She had spent a lot of time with most of the guys here, and she thought of them as her friends, and most likely nothing more. Although…she could see the wild red hair across the room, on the guys' side of the room (Note here: At most of my dances, the guys and girls choose sides, hence the guys' girls' sides. Basically, it's where they stand with their friends while not dancing, and they only switch sides if they are asking someone of the opposite sex to dance. End Note.) and thought instantly of, "How about Gaara-kun?"

Hinata nodded, the red fading slowly from her face. "He's nice, too." Yuri had to agree; with all the time she spend with him this and last year, training and traveling and whatnot, she had come to like and admire the tough, emotionless red-head.

Yuri was going through several flashbacks in her mind when Hinata broke in. "Ah…um, Yuri-chan! Look who's coming over here!" Yuri looked up and saw Gaara himself winding his way through the dancing ninja over to the two girls.

Gaara stopped in front of Yuri, and held out his hand awkwardly, as if he didn't know what he was doing. "Er, would you…like to dance?" he asked almost shyly. Hinata giggled in the seat next to Yuri, and Yuri took Gaara outstretched hand. "Ah! Uh, I guess."

Gaara led Yuri out to the dance floor just as a slow song was starting. They were awkward at first; they held each other an arm's length away, Gaara with his hands on Yuri's tiny hips and Yuri reaching her arms up to clasp then around the taller boy's neck. Yuri had to mentally congratulate herself – just when she had been talking about dancing with Gaara, the boy had come and asked her himself!

Gaara and Yuri mostly looked away from each other, but when one looked at the other's face, they would make eye-contact, smile, and then look away again. Yuri tried to make small-talk by saying, "Jeez, I'm so glad I wore heels, otherwise I'd be hanging by your neck, you're so much taller than me! Gaara smiled, and took one of his hands off of her hip to brush it along the top of her head. When he pulled it levelly towards himself, his hand was barely to his shoulders.

"Haha! You don't have to make fun of it, you know!" Gaara smiled again, placing his hand back on Yuri's small form.

"Well, there's really a lot to make fun of," he commented, a smile playing on his lips and in his eyes. Well, isn't that something, Gaara's all smiles today! Yuri thought.

Yuri and Gaara nodded to the two couples that came onto the floor next to them. Temari and Shikamaru and Ino and Kiba were on either side of the original couple. Before they could realize it Gaara and Yuri were being pushed closer and closer together. More and more couples were coming out to dance. Yuri was beginning to think, Why is the DJ playing so many slow songs?

Yuri began to look around. She noticed that she and Gaara, with the exception of Temari and Shikamaru, were the only ones who weren't holding each other as close as possible. And Yuri wasn't the only person to notice it, either. Temari, with her distance from Shikamaru, could easily see all of the dance floor, unless a couple was in her way, of course. But she had a view of Yuri and her little brother perfectly. She began to mutter into Shikamaru's ear, and they slowly made their way over to the awkward couple.

"Are you two okay?" Temari whispered to Yuri. Yuri nodded, and Gaara was looking right over Yuri's head, as though he hadn't heard. "Well then," Temari said, pulling one of her arms free from Shikamaru, "get a little closer!"

!Hehe, cliffhanger! What shall happen next? Be sure to read it in the next chap!