Fireworks


Hinata grabbed her coat and hurriedly pushed her arms through the sleeves, trying to get it on before she stepped out into the cold. Once her arms were through, she zipped it up and pushed open the door. At once, the wind blasted against her face and she felt a few snowflakes stick to her lashes. She squinted in the bright daylight. The sun was high, and the snow covered ground did nothing to dim its light.

She walked down the steps that led from the trailer where she slept, holding to the railing tightly as a precaution. When her feet crunched on the ground, she smiled. No one had expected snow. While most everyone else had been upset about the sudden snow, Hinata loved it. Snow made everything seem fresh and new. And it made a bare parking lot look beautiful.

" Hey, Hinata!" Hinata turned to see Sakura heading towards her. She smiled at the other girl and returned the greeting.

"Hello Sakura." She said in her small sweet voice. Sakura stopped in front of Hnata slightly short of breath. "What is it?" Hinata asked.

"Kakashi is taking us to a local restaurant for breakfast and Naruto refuses to leave without you." Sakura replied, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting." Hinata said. Sakura shrugged.

"We only decided a moment ago. Don't worry." The two walked a little way before they saw something coming from a distance. A small golf cart with three inhabitants zoomed past before making a hurried u-turn. It then came up from behind and stopped beside the two girls. A silver haired man with a high scarf on waved to the two.

"Hop in girls. I'll take you for the ride of your life!" Hinata smiled a little at the man's antics, but jumped onto the back seat where Naruto was sitting. Sakura sighed and slid into the open place beside Naruto.

"Must everything you say be dirty Kakashi?" Sakura asked. Kakashi chuckled and in an answer, gunned the gas, nearly throwing Naruto Sakura and Hinata off the back. Sasuke, who was sitting in the passenger seat, rolled his eyes.

"So Hinata," Naruto began. "How do you like the snow?"

"I love the snow." She said earnestly. Sasuke snorted.

"Yes, well you can love the snow all you want, but if it keeps us from doing the show you shouldn't be to fond of it. We don't get paid if we don't have fireworks." Naruto turned around so he was facing Sasuke.

"Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine on a cloudy day!" He said with sarcasm. He turned back to Hinata. "Don't mind the bastard. He's just upset that there's something paler than him." Naruto said with a grin. Hinata laughed softly while Sakura merely smiled.

"Calm down now children." Kakashi said. "Let's play nice while we're in the golf cart." They continued to speed down the road and talked of the show that was to happen later that night.

"So everything is all set up with the computers?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded.

"I got some help from Garra with the new letter rockets. Everything should be on time. Are you finished Sakura?" Sakura smiled.

"When am I ever finished? The package with what I needed came last night, so I should be able to finish after breakfast." Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"And are you and your team done with the set up?" She asked. Sasuke nodded.

"We were done yesterday." He replied simply. Sakura leaned back so that she was able to see Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're always so uptight Sasuke. Loosen up. Have a little fun! Isn't that why you work with fireworks, because it's fun?" Sasuke glared at Sakura.

"I work with pyrotechnics because if I had any other job my parents would track me down and send me off to some Ivy League college." He replied flatly. Sakura smiled.

"So you think this is fun. Point taken." Sasuke remained silent while Hinata and Naruto laughed. The golf cart stopped as suddenly as it started, causing everyone to grab onto something to keep from falling out. Kakashi took the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the cart quickly. The other our followed him as he walked into a small café. They sat down in a booth in the corner that was big enough to fit all five of them.

A busty waitress came by with a small notepad to take their orders. After they had all ordered Naruto jumped into conversation.

"So I was thinking that for the New Years show, we could bring in some of Garra's team to help us set up the new equipment." Kakashi shook his head.

"I've told you before Naruto. No one from other teams can come in. I've managed to keep secrets that other teams would kill for. We do not let the in our perimeter, or within a mile of it." Kakahsi said flatly. Naruto frowned.

"But we need them. Sure Sasuke's group does a great job, but we only have three days to get to the new location, set up and the put on the show! If we just had a few more people we would be done with enough time to do a daylight check."

"I'm not changing my mind. They can't come in." Naruto scowled and crossed his arms, but said nothing more. The waitress returned with plates full of pancakes, waffles, and all sorts of breakfast food. Naruto began eating right away, while the others took their time with breakfast. When the waitress returned with the bill, Kakashi whispered something in her ear. She giggled slightly and nodded to him, winking as she left. Sakura looked disgusted.

"Kakashi! I can't believe you! Do you have to do this every time we go into a café? Pick up some waitress and then dump her out of your trailer just before we head out!" Kakahsi shrugged.

"My business is none of your concern Sakura." In just a moment the waitress returned with a steaming piece of pie with a single lit candle in it. She placed it on the table in front of Hinata with a smile.

"A piece of pie for the birthday girl. On the house." She said before walking away. Hinata was surprised that Kakahsi had cared enough to tell the waitress that it was her birthday.

"Thank you." She said with a small smile. Kakashi merely nodded.

"Don't worry about breakfast, I've got it covered." He said to her. "You three on the other hand are going to have to pay for your own."

"I knew it was too good to be true." Sakura said, fishing out her wallet. Naruto looked incredulous.

"What? You never bought us breakfast on our birthdays!" Naruto shouted. Hinata placed her hand on his arm and shook it gently.

"It's okay Naruto. If you want we can share my pie." She said. Naruto stopped yelling and grinned widely at Hinata.

"You sure?" He asked. Hinata smiled.

"Of course." She replied. Naruot sat beside her and took his fork.

"I love you so much right now." Hinata blushed as the two began to eat the pie.

One long golf cart trip and an afternoon later found Naruto and Hinata once again sitting on the roof of Kakahsi's trailer, waiting for the show to start. The two sat right next to each other, trying to share what warmth they had on the cold winter night.

"Who in the world decides to have a fireworks show right before New Years?" Naruto asked. Hinata sighed.

"It's some town holiday. And they contacted me to see if we could do fireworks. You were the one who said that we could do this and the New Years Eve job." Naruto sighed.

"Yes, but I didn't think that it would be this cold." He said. Hinata laughed. She put her arms around Naruto and hugged him tight.

"We'll just have to keep each other warm then." She said in a whisper, and leaned against Naruto. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah." He simply said. It was only another minute until the fireworks started. At once the sky was illuminated with all sorts of fireworks. The show wasn't as long as a normal show, because the small town did not have the money to pay for a large one, but it was still magnificent.

After the finale the sky darkened again. Hinata sighed longingly. She always wanted the fireworks to go on forever. Just as she was about to get up, Naruto spoke.

"Wait." He said.

"What is it?" Hinata asked, curious. Naruto grinned at her.

"Just watch." Hinata looked at the sky. Just as she did, some fireworks erupted from the place where they had been set up. Hinata gasped. She turned to Naruto and smiled.

"Thank you." She said. In an instant the two were kissing, neither caring that it was far to cold out to be doing anything but trying to get inside. Overhead three bright purple words faded from the sky.

"Happy Birthday Hinata!"


I can't believe I forgot to post this! It was my December entry for DateMe last year. The theme was 'Happy Birthday Hinata!'.

If you're confused, that's because this is a sequel to my previous one shot, "Pyrotechnics". I just love the idea of the Naruto gang as fireworks specialists who travel the country putting on fireworks shows. ~Must resist urge to begin multi-chapter fic I will eventually abandon due to boredom~

Thanks for reading! Reviews make me a better writer and better writers make readers happy!