Hey all, just a new Naruto fanfic… hope ya'll don't mind… BTW, this FF has no OCs whatsoever… yet anyways… and is going to be going over the Holidays that I find important to celebrate… which is… a lot. New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, July Fourth, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas… remind me of any I forgot by PMing me. Also the Naruto couples included in here are: NaruHina; SasuSaku; ShikaIno; and TenNeji. Just to reassure you, I'm not a big fan of ShikaIno, I like ShikaTema more, though Temari is celebrating New Years in Suna with her family, Gaara and Kankurou XD
You know… it's almost Halloween… and I told my dad that I was going to be Kiba… so I showed him a picture of him and my dad was like, "You're going to be a guy with bitch-slap marks on his face?" I started laughing my ass off. My sister… Hell to Haters, is going to be Hinata. No Kiba Hina when we're together! She's going to be with one of her guy friends that's going to be Naruto and my friend, Shades (nickname) is going to be Shino.
Anyways… for this chapter… I strongly, strongly, STRONGLY suggest that you listen to the song 'My Best Friend' by Weezer. It's a sweet song and it really explains kinda what goes on in this story. Well… either that song or 'You Make Me Smile' by Blue October for this chapter as well. Thanks.
Chapter One
Happy New Years
Naruto, Chouji, Kiba and Lee were walking down the cobbled pathways of Konoha, their arms filled with white boxes that were filled with colorful ornaments and decorations. Sakura, Ino and Tenten were in the front, directing the boys where to put the old decorations so that they could use them for the next Christmas that came around.
"C'mon, Sakura-chan… are we almost there yet?" Naruto whined, the boxes steadily growing heavier and heavier. Naruto's arms were shaking with the increasing weight and was anxious to get the boxes out of his hands.
"Hey, you're the one who volunteered to do this, Naruto." Sakura scoffed, placing her hands on her hips and continuing to walk ahead. Tenten looked back to see Chouji veering to the left, she ran back towards him and straightened him towards the path that he was supposed to be walking.
"Ne, Naruto? You're giving up that easily? Jeeze, you're so lame…" Kiba panted, himself also getting tired of holding onto the boxes. Lee was the only one that was enjoying all of this.
"C'mon! With attitudes like that, you'll never get this finished, see this as training! The Springtime of Youth lives on!" Lee cheered, smiling while holding all the boxes above his head and continuing to follow the girls' with a smile on his face. The group neared the Hokage's building and walked in, Tenten and Ino ushered the boys in. Sakura walked ahead and up the stairs, looking for the storage room.
"Hey, over here!" Sakura called down to the others, waving her hand to show them where at. All the boys except for Lee, were staggering up the stairs, cautiously putting their foot on the next step they came to. Sakura smiled and opened the door, pulling out another box labeled, 'Fireworks.'
The boys made it to the top of the stairs, Ino and Tenten following after them. The two girls walked up to Sakura and looked inside the storage room. Tenten walked in and called out, "Okay, Chouji, you first! Put the box you have over here!" Chouji walked towards Tenten's voice and placed the box gingerly on the floor so that he didn't break the contents. Ino and Sakura motioned for the others to come in as well; Kiba, Naruto and Lee.
After a few minutes, they finally finished what they had to do and Sakura clasped her hands together joyously then started jumping up and down. She looked over to the group that helped and told them all, "well, now we can get ready for New Years!" she was giddy. Sakura picked up the fireworks box and handed it to Lee. Naruto smiled and thought happily about that night.
"Man! This New Year's is going to be a good one!" Kiba shouted, throwing his fist into the air and smiling. Naruto nodded and agreed, "yeah, tonight before the party begins, I'm going to spend time with Hinata-chan!" Sakura looked up at Naruto as he said that.
"Hinata? But I thought…" Sakura started, looking up at the ceiling and starting to think. Naruto smiled big and put his arms behind his head and replied, "nope! After spending some time with Hinata-chan… I finally realized that she isn't the person I thought she was!" Sakura looked back at Naruto and smiled, "that's good for you, Naruto!"
Inner Sakura"Shanaroo! Finally! I can be with my Sasuke-kun and not be disturbed by this annoying pest!"
Naruto smiled and dashed forward, his thoughts soaring and bounding with each thought of Hinata that past through his mind. Kiba shoved his hands into his pockets and looked after Naruto, sighing. Chouji pulled out a bag of barbeque potato chips and started snacking away at the crispy snacks.
"Since when did he and Hinata start hanging out together on a daily basis?" Ino asked, looking at Sakura and smirking to herself. Sakura turned towards Ino with a sheepish smile on her face and admitted, "honestly… I don't quite know myself…"
"I'm off! I'll see you guys later tonight at the party!" Kiba called out at the others. Akamaru jumped out of his owners jacket and both he and Kiba took off down the stairs back outside. Lee looked at the girls then to Chouji, he shifted the box so that it was more comfortable to hold then walked downstairs carefully, not wanting to miss a step. He stopped at the center step then looked back up at the others with a smile.
"I'll be putting these where they belong so that we can use them tonight!" Lee told Tenten, Ino and Sakura. Chouji still stuffed his face with handfuls of potato chips and looked up at the girls, wondering what they will do next. Sakura turned towards Tenten and Ino and winked at them, "I supposed we should get ready for tonight?" Chouji stood up and crumpled the empty potato chip bag in his hands. He and the three other girls made their way down the stairs and back into Konohagakure.
NarutoNaruto neared the Hyuuga mansion and walked through the gates, staring at the enormous house. He walked towards it, feeling somewhat intimidated by the massive size of the house.
"W-wow… such a big place…" Naruto stuttered to himself, reaching up to knock on the wooden part of the paper door. Naruto's fist hit the wood three times and he stepped back a bit, waiting for someone to answer. Naruto looked up at the door at it slid open slowly, it was Hyuuga Neji.
"N-Neji…" Naruto stuttered in surprise, he didn't really expect Neji to be home at this time. The male Hyuuga looked at Naruto with his milky gaze and walked outside of his home, heading towards Tenten's place.
"Hinata… has been waiting for you…" was all Neji said before he disappeared behind the stone wall. Naruto stood there, stunned to what just happened. He gathered up his wits and went inside, feeling even more intimidated by the darkness and eeriness of the house.
"W-w-wow… Hinata lives here? I was thinking more of an elegant place instead of a creepy dark place…" Naruto said to himself, walking down the dark hallway. A fast pace set of footsteps neared Naruto and he turned around to be looking at Hinata running towards him in a navy colored kimono with white and lilac flowers on it. Her obi around her waist was a white color with purple and blue lines running across it.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed, stopping in front of Naruto and smiling at him, "I've been waiting for you to come for a while… I-I didn't think you would…" Hinata told him, bringing her hand to her mouth.
"No, I always keep a promise, Hinata-chan! Just that I was helping Ino and Sakura move old Christmas decorations back to the storage area." Naruto truthfully told Hinata, holding out his arms for an embrace. Hinata raised her white gaze to meet Naruto's sapphire one, smiled and began to walk towards him, wrapping her arms around him.
"Heh he, Hinata-chan… are you ready for tonight?" Naruto asked Hinata, looking down at her. Hinata smiled and nodded, breaking away from Naruto and taking his hand, leading him out of the Hyuuga manor.
TentenTenten waved to Ino, Sakura and Chouji and entered her house, greeting both her mother and her father. She ran upstairs, went into her room and took her purple kimono from her wardrobe then took her hair out from their buns. Her long, wavy brown hair fell down over her shoulders and along her back. Tenten looked into her mirror and winked to herself.
"Tonight is going to be a fun night!" Tenten reassured herself, walking towards her window and watching the villagers of Konoha setting up booths and concession stands for the New Years party. Tenten drew her curtains and began to change into her kimono, first wrapping her white cloth over chest, then pulling the silken garment over her body and last tying the pink obi around her waist. She looked back into her mirror and started to braid her hair, being careful not to have them uneven.
"Tenten!" her mother called up, getting her attention. Tenten looked away from her mirror and walked towards her room door, opening it slightly.
"What is it, Kaa-san?" Tenten asked, still not ready to come downstairs due to not being ready for the New Year's festival.
"Neji's here to see you!" her mother called up to Tenten. The girl blushed and smiled, peeking her head out of her door and calling back down, "I'll be down in a few… I'm not ready yet!" Tenten closed her door and tied her hair up in braided loops hanging from the sides of her head like pigtails. Tenten hurried away from the mirror, put on her reed zori and slung her silk, dark purple kinchaku on her arm. Tenten walked out of her room and down the stairs to see Neji.
"Konnichiwa, Neji!" Tenten greeted, placing her hand on the rail and walking down the rest of the stairs gracefully. Neji smiled up at both his teammate and most cared for person. He thought she looked marvelous for the New Year's festival and held out his hand for her to take as she reached the bottom step. Tenten giggled and took it, being led out of her house by the Hyuuga.
SasukeThe Uchiha sat on the campus bench fiddling with his fingers to past the time away. Sakura had told him to meet her there, though she was a tad late and he didn't know what to do. Sasuke looked up and around himself seeing if anyone was coming. No one just yet, though he raised his head and looked to the left of him as he head the clopping of traditional geta nearing towards him.
Sakura had her hair done up with hair sticks and small ornaments. Her kimono was a maroon color with pink and while sakura petals decorated on it. The obi that was tied around her waist was a sunset pink color, though had the white Haruno crest on it. Sakura also had a maroon, pink and white uchiwa concealing some of her face, though not her radiant green eyes.
Sasuke's mouth drooped open a bit though he quickly shut it when he realized what he was doing. He picked himself up from the bench and walked over towards Sakura with a warm smile on his face. He was too embarrassed to tell her that she looked brilliant in the outfit that she was wearing. In fact… he was too embarrassed to say anything, he thought that Sakura looked lovely in the traditional wear that she had on.
"Is something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, lowering the uchiwa away from her face and looking up into Sasuke's onyx gaze. Sasuke snapped out of his trance and looked at Sakura and shook his head.
"E-everything's just perfect…" Sasuke quietly told Sakura, holding out his hand for Sakura to take. The pink haired girl smiled and took it, feeling extremely happy that Sasuke had accepted to go with her to the New Year's festival. A thought then raced through her head as she remembered Ino.
"I wonder… who Ino will be going with tonight…" Sakura wondered out loud. She knew that Shikamaru was currently seeing Temari, and that Ino liked Sasuke probably as much as she, herself did. Sasuke looked over then smiled a bit.
"She asked me… but then I told her that I was going with you… she then said that her only two options were Shino and Kiba." Sasuke told Sakura, trying to make her cheer up about Ino. A thought entered Sasuke's mind and he decided to pitch it to Sakura, "well… you could always ask her… to come with us…"
Sakura looked up at Sasuke quizzically and replied, "take her with us? You wouldn't mind?" Sasuke's face hardened for a split second and it returned to it's natural state and he shook his head.
"Mainly because we're probably going to be with a group anyways…" Sasuke told Sakura, thinking of Naruto and Hinata. Sakura looked ahead and smiled, "yeah… we'll just be together like that, well, then I guess we should go over to Ino's place…"
Kiba"Mom, Hana! I don't need to be dressed up in traditional wear for this event…" Kiba complained, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes irritably. His sister, Hana, was washing his jacket and his mom, Tsume, was giving Akamaru a bath.
"It would be better if you were though!" Hana protested, looking up from washing Kiba's jacket. Tsume took Akamaru out of the bath and dried him up in a towel, handing the small dog to Kiba. The youngest of the Inuzuka Clan took Akamaru from his mother and continued to softly dry Akamaru from his dampened state.
"It's only the girls that are dressing up for this…" Kiba replied, taking Akamaru out of the towel only to have the small dog shake the rest of the water off and all over Kiba. He took the towel and wiped his face, smearing the Inuzuka Fang crest on his cheeks. Hana held in her laughter as she cleaned the rest marks off of Kiba's face and painted new ones on.
"Fine… but take a shower.." Tsume told him, not noticing that Kiba had just gotten his markings put back on by Hana. Both he and Hana sighed and Kiba slid the chair he was sitting on out from under the table. Akamaru jumped from the table and followed after him, stopping to sit and lay down in front of the bathroom door. Kiba shuffled in and undressed, turning on the water and stepping into the shower.
"Kiba…" came a familiar voice, Kiba looked up to the wooden window above his bath to see Shino and instantly Kiba pulled a towel from the rack and put it around his waist defensively.
"What do you want?" Kiba growled, a little angry that Shino just decided to show up with no warning at all. Shino looked down at Kiba and adjusted his dark glasses.
"Naruto… and Hinata are waiting for you outside your gates…" Shino notified Kiba, turning and looking towards his other teammate and someone he considered an annoyance. Kiba's eyebrow twitched and he looked at Shino with an annoyed look plastered on his face.
"Then why are you here?" Kiba asked, looking at Shino through the wooden bars. Shino turned his attention back towards Kiba and disappeared, leaving Kiba's question unanswered. Kiba turned back towards the shower and cleaned up his appearance, still feeling annoyed that Shino popped out of no where. The Inuzuka poured a fair amount of shampoo in his hands and rinsed his hair, thinking about the festival tonight. He was looking forward to it, sure he didn't have a date, though being with his childhood friends was good enough for him. He closed his eyes and a smile came across Kiba's face as he lifted his face towards the falling water.
'Naruto… Shikamaru… Chouji…' Kiba thought, opening his eyes and turning the knob to the shower in the 'OFF' direction. He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, the same smile on his face from thinking about the old days he used to spend with Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji. He and Naruto would always find a way to sneak out of class, he and Shikamaru would always doze off during Iruka's lessons and he and Chouji would share potato chips with one another.
Kiba pulled the gray bathrobe from the hook beside the sink and slipped it on, opening the door to the bathroom and walking towards his room with Akamaru awakening and following after him. Kiba opened his room door and walked in, pulling the recently washed and dried jacket off of his bed and putting it on.
"Oi, Kiba!" Naruto had opened the window in his room and poked his head with a wide smile on his face. Kiba's eyebrow twitched and he shoved Naruto back out of his window.
"Dammit! Doesn't anybody here in this village have any consideration to someone else while they're trying to get ready!?" Kiba yelled, slamming his window closed and dragging his curtains over the glass. Kiba pulled on his boxers and then his dark brown pants, finally ready to be going to the festival. The Inuzuka walked towards his door then remembered something… the Inuzuka Fang crest markings. He looked back towards the mirror and waved his hand as in 'forget-it-one-day-won't-hurt.'
He and Akamaru dashed out of the room and down the halls of the house, and outside to meet Naruto, Hinata and Shino.
"Oi… Kiba… you don't have your markings today?" Naruto asked, noticing that the Inuzuka Crest wasn't on his cheeks. Kiba smiled and replied, "nah, one day won't hurt."
Shikamaru"Tch… Temari's staying in Suna for the New Years…" Shikamaru sighed, laying down on the bench on top of the roof that he has hung out at ever since he was young. Shikamaru stared up at the clouds and closed his eyes, thinking about Temari. She said that it was important to stay with old friends and family members on New Years and Shikamaru finally bode her farewell as she made her trip back to the Country of Wind.
Shikamaru sat back up and took one last longing gaze at the clouds that drifted by slowly then got up from the bench he was sitting at. He was thinking of Ino and asking her if she wanted to go with him or not, he knew it was last second, but he didn't want to stay home for New Years and he didn't really want to go to the festival without someone. He walked away from his spot and headed down the stairs with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"I guess… Ino is the only one choice… she can't go with Sasuke because Sakura had already asked him first." Shikamaru muttered to himself. He saw a light blond haired girl in a dark blue kimono with jade butterflies decorated across it, walking slowly with her head bent down towards the ground. Shikamaru walked up to her.
"I-Ino…" Shikamaru stuttered, looking down at the Yamanaka. Ino looked up at Shikamaru and smiled slightly then looked back at the ground in a sullen state.
"I-is something wrong, Ino?" Shikamaru asked, walking alongside his teammate. Ino shook her head though kept her gaze locked onto the cobbled pathway below her. Shikamaru looked ahead of him then back at Ino.
"C'mon… it's New Year's Eve, Ino… you're supposed to be happy!" Shikamaru tried to cheer up Ino by smiling as he said that sentence to her. Ino looked back up at Shikamaru with a new sense of burning determination in her eyes.
"You're right! Just because Sakura is with Sasuke doesn't mean that this night is going to be a bad one!" Ino yelled, jabbing her finger to the front of her. Shikamaru sighed then smiled, raising his arms and then resting them behind his head. He looked back down at Ino and noticed that there was a jade hairclip with small blue orchids on it holding her bun in place. He also noticed the small details of white tear-drop shapes lining her kimono sleeves.
"Hey Ino…" Shikamaru started, looking up at the clouds once more. Ino looked up at her teammate and replied, "what is it?" Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets and told her, "you look really great in that outfit…" Ino blushed and looked back down at the ground.
"Thank you…" Ino told Shikamaru, placing her hands together and entwining her fingers together. She looked back up to see Sakura and Sasuke walking towards them. Both Ino and Shikamaru raised their hands to wave at the duo.
"Shikamaru… but I thought you'd be going with Temari…" Sakura told Shikamaru as she and Sasuke neared Ino. Shikamaru smiled slightly then replied, "Temari's staying in Suna for the New Years… to be with her brothers, Gaara and Kankurou, and to spend some tome with her other friends."
"So that's why you're not with her right now…" Sakura said, raising her uchiwa and kind of fanning herself off with it. Shikamaru nodded and looked over at Ino with a smile on his face.
"Ino's my friend, which is why I'm going with her to the festival." Shikamaru told Sasuke and Sakura. The Uchiha stayed silent and Sakura smiled, feeling happy for Ino now that she had someone to go with to the festival.
Ino smiled up at Shikamaru then looked at Sasuke and Sakura. She dug into her blue kinchaku and pulled out an uchiwa very similar to Sakura's though was a dark blue at the bottom and became lighter and lighter till it was white at the top.
"Well… I guess we wait for the rest of the vendors to put up the paper lights before we begin at the festival." Ino smiled looking up at her friends then starting to walk towards the center of Konoha.
LeeLee was on top of the Hokage monument and was looking around to see if everything was alright. He smiled to himself and began working on the fireworks, picking up the box again.
"I hope this year's New Year is going to be better than last year…" Lee set down the fireworks box and began to get everything ready, setting out the fireworks and planning which ones were to be shot out first then finally for the grand finale. Lee turned around when he heard the familiar sound of a potato chips bag being opened.
"Hey Lee… I was just wondering if you needed any help with this…" Chouji explained, grabbing a handful of chips and stuffing them into his mouth. Lee smiled and nodded, "yeah, there are a lot of fireworks here… though this is excellent training!" Lee placed more fireworks out in a row. Chouji looked into the box of fireworks and pulled out some more, hading them off to Lee and setting up some others along where he thought they would go great at. They both set up the fireworks from where the various ANBU members were going to set them off. Lee clapped his hands together and Chouji brushed his hands on his pant legs.
"Well, we're done for now. We should go and join the others." Lee suggested, looking from the Hokage monument down to all of Konoha. Chouji nodded and stuffed his mouth again with potato chips and followed after Lee as he started walking.
"I've gotta meet Shikamaru over at Ino's… that's where he said he would be." Chouji told Lee, eating more of the potato chips that he had left. Lee walked down the rest of the steps with Chouji at his side, eating his potato chips.
"I understand… I also have to meet Neji and Tenten." Lee replied to Chouji, looking out to Konoha as he walked down stairs. Everybody was getting ready and now they had to for the big New Years night. The boys both smiled to themselves as they thought of what would be going on in Konoha. They'd actually have time off of missions to actually spend time with their best friends and teammates without having to risk their lives in combat.
Ichiraku's RamenNaruto, Hinata, Shino and Kiba sat in the Ichiraku Ramen shop before dusk fell. They were just sitting in there to pass time away. It was rare for Naruto not to order any ramen, truth be told though, he was too excited about tonight that he wasn't really hungry… not even for ramen.
Naruto was talking with Hinata with a big smile plastered on his face. Hinata was laughing at some of the things that Naruto brought up. Kiba seemed to be bored, leaning on the table with his head resting in the palm of his hand. Shino was staying silent with his hands clasped together and his eyes fixated no where in particular on the counter top that he sat at.
"Are you guys going to order or sit here all day?" Ichiraku asked, looking down at Naruto and the group he was at. Naruto patted his stomach and replied, "sorry Old Man, but I had a lot of ramen this morning… and we're all waiting for the festival to start!" Naruto also held up his wallet, "also… Gama-chan is flat…" Both Ichiraku and Ayame laughed at Naruto as he put his wallet back into his pocket.
Kiba got up from his seat and poked his head from the hanging curtains over the shop to see if the festival was about to start. The paper lanterns were still getting hanged and most of the shops were beginning to open. Kiba sat down at his seat and looked over at Naruto, Hinata and Shino.
"It's almost time." Kiba told them, a smirk on his face. He was doing his best to conceal the excitement from him though failed miserably everytime he talked. Shino got up from his seat and stuffed his hands into his pockets, still staying silent.
"Naruto-kun, we finally get to spend New Year's together!" Hinata exclaimed, smiling at Naruto. The blond-haired ninja got up from his seat and held out his hand to Hinata. The Hyuuga took it and Naruto helped her from her seat. She and Naruto walked out of Ichiraku's Ramen followed by Shino and Kiba. They all wandered the cobbled pathways that were now lined with shops and vendors.
The sky above was darkening with each passing minute and the multi-colored paper lanterns lit up, illuminating the pathways. Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and Shino passed the Yamanaka Floral shop and saw Ino, Shikamaru, Sakura and Sasuke standing in front, obviously waiting for something or someone. Sakura looked up at Naruto and the others, waving at them and smiling.
"Naruto, over here!" Sakura called out to them, motioning for them to come over. Naruto returned the smile and turned towards them, nearing them. Shikamaru sighed and lazily put his hands into his pockets. Ino smiled up at the group and looked back out to the rest of Konoha, admiring the lights and what was going on. Sasuke just turned his head to the side, not really caring what happened.
"You really did go to see Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed, watching Hinata wrap her arms around Naruto's right arm and latching onto him. Naruto laughed and replied, "you should know me by now, Sakura! I keep my promises!" Hinata laughed and nodded, agreeing with Naruto. That's when Kiba laughed, "during our free time, me and Shino were wondering why Hinata was always bailing on us!"
"Actually… I already knew…" Shino replied, killing Kiba's laughter and mood. Kiba glared at Shino and hotly replied, "so you neglected to even tell me!?" Shino stayed silent then finally answered, "the problem is already over… quit overreacting…" Kiba clenched his fist and gritted his teeth, holding back. Naruto, Hinata and Sakura found what was going on to actually be amusing to them. Sakura turned to Naruto and remembered something.
"Have you seen Tenten, Neji or Lee yet?" Sakura asked, looking up to the Hokage's building. Naruto looked up in thought then replied, "I saw Neji while picking up Hinata today… he was headed in the direction in which Tenten lives… so they might be together when we see them… and the last time I saw Lee was when I left you guys today after helping out."
"Oh…" Sakura sighed, looking up at Sasuke, seeing if he was in need of at least something… which he wasn't. Naruto looked down at Hinata and smiled.
"Why do I feel invisible?" Kiba muttered to himself, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring up into the darkening sky and the stars that started to speckle the sky. Shino ignored his self-question and looked down the street, spotting Chouji coming down towards them.
"Chouji is here…" Shino notified everyone, adjusting his glasses. Naruto looked at Shino and pointed at him, "aren't you going to take off your glasses? It's getting dark…" Shino snapped his attention to Naruto and narrowed his eyes at him.
"Do you have a problem with me wearing them?" Shino stiffly asked, his gaze boring down on Naruto. The blond flinched and staggered back a little, feeling intimidated by the Aburame.
"N-not really…" Naruto replied, 'man, I REALLY don't get along with him…' he thought, looking back at Hinata and putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Hey Chouji, you're late!" Ino scolded placing her hands on her hips and looking at Chouji. Chouji looked to the ground and muttered, "sorry, I was helping Lee with the fireworks." Ino sighed and smiled, "what does it matter? You're here, that's what matters!" Chouji smiled up at her and agreed.
VerandaNeji and Tenten stood at the Veranda together, waiting for Lee to hurry and meet them. While they were waiting, Tenten was leaning on the railing and admiring the lights that emitted from the lanterns. Neji was leaning on a pillar with his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed.
"Hey Neji…" Tenten started, looking away from Konoha and turning her attention to the male Hyuuga. Neji looked up at Tenten to let her know that he heard her and replied, "what is it?" he asked, unfolding his arms and placing them at his side. Tenten smiled and walked over to his side, placing her hand in his.
"How do you think tonight is going to be?" she asked, her brown eyes looking into Neji's white ones. He stayed silent for a few seconds then his mouth cracked into a smile. He looked down at Tenten and replied, "I think it's going to be a good one…" Neji then dropped his voice to a whisper and continued, "especially if we're like this." Tenten blushed as Neji said that to her.
Tenten started to lean towards Neji with her mouth slightly parted. Neji cupped her face in his hands and stared to lean in as well, getting into the mood. Tenten wrapped her arms around Neji and planted her lips onto his, feeling extraordinarily happy and caught up in the moment.
"Neji! Tenten! Sorry I'm late!" came Lee's voice as he was running up the stairs to meet them. Tenten and Neji broke away before Lee saw and turned their attention towards their teammate, breaking all intimate contact. Lee smiled up at his two teammates as he walked through the archway to the veranda.
"Now that we're all here… we should go and meet up with Naruto and the others…" Tenten suggested, putting her hands behind her back and smiling at Lee and Neji. The Hyuuga nodded and Lee replied, "yeah, Chouji told me that he saw them all at Ino's family shop." Lee started back down from the veranda and Neji took Tenten's hand. The girl looked over at the Hyuuga and smiled, being led to the stairwell by him.
Lee was ahead of his two teammates while Tenten and Neji were holding hands and giving each other warm smiles. The team reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way to the Yamanaka Floral shop, not really saying a word to each other.
Ino looked up from talking to Shikamaru and waved to Tenten, Neji and Lee, motioning for them to come over to the group that was waiting for them. Naruto smiled as they approached and Hinata hugged onto his arm again. Tenten looked over at Kiba and didn't recognize him because he was wearing a different jacket and he didn't have the Inuzuka Fang crest markings on his face.
"Kiba, is that you?" she asked, pointing a finger at him. Kiba furrowed his brow and crossed his arms then replied, "no, I'm just another young Inuzuka male that neglected to put his markings on and has a dog that looks just and is named Akamaru… of course it's me!" Tenten laughed and looked over at Neji who had a slight smile cracked on his lips.
The sky was officially dark and the cobbled pathways of Konoha were now lit with colorful paper lanterns and vendor shop lights. The pathways were also filled with Konoha residents enjoying the night and starting to bring in the new year.
"Well, it's time to get started to celebrate New Year's Eve…" Sakura told everyone, reaching down and holding onto Sasuke's hand. The Uchiha didn't seem to mind, cos he closed his hand around Sakura's and entwined his fingers with hers. Naruto nodded and agreed, wrapping one of his arms around Hinata.
"What time is it? I mean… before we split, that way we can comeback so we don't miss the show." Kiba asked, looking around at everyone. Shikamaru looked over at the clock inside Ino's family shop and it read; eight fifty-seven.
"We have about three hours to do all the things we want to do before the New Year is finally here." Shikamaru replied, looking down at Ino and starting to walk down one of the paths, Ino following him shortly after.
"Well, Hinata-chan and I will meet you guys up over here when we are done." Naruto told the others that were remaining. He and Hinata left towards the vendors that were closest to the Hokage's building.
"Hey wait, I thought we were going to do this as a group…" Tenten stated, looking at who remained there; Kiba, Shino, Sakura, Sasuke, Chouji, Neji and Lee. Sakura laughed and fanned herself with the uchiwa that she had.
"It's tonight that we're staying as a group… when the night show begins." Sakura replied, a smile on her lips. Sasuke looked over in the other direction then looked over to Sakura, "hey, are we going, or what?" he asked, not wanting to be in a big group. Sakura looked up at him and smiled, her way of tell him 'yes.' The two walked off, hand-in-hand.
Akamaru whined up at Kiba from the inside of his jacket and the Inuzuka male looked down at him, "yeah, I know… we'll get moving pretty soon Akamaru." Kiba assured his companion, patting the small dog's head. Kiba looked over at Shino then to the others, "well, I guess I'll meet you here when the New Year's a few minutes away." Akamaru jumped out of Kiba's jacket and they both ran down a pathway, a canine smile on Akamaru's face and a joyous one on Kiba's. Shino looked after them and stuffed his hands into his pockets, starting to stalk off somewhere.
Lee looked over at his teammates, Neji and Tenten. He also noticed how close they were in the moments that he saw them. Lee hung his head a bit and turned away from them, walking towards the academy campus and waving back at Tenten, Neji and Chouji.
"I'm going to see if I can hang out with Shikamaru and Ino because they're just here as friends." Chouji told the Hyuuga and Tenten. He walked where Ino and Shikamaru walked towards to, pulling another bag of potato chips out of his bag.
"Guess it's just you and me again…" Tenten told Neji, looking up at him and smiling. Neji lowered his milky gaze to Tenten's chocolate one and smiled down at her. He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers.
"To be honest… I really don't feel like being here in the streets…" Neji told Tenten, looking up at the veranda where they were before they were taken to meet the others. Tenten looked up at him and giggled, "I feel the same way…" The both of them started to walk back towards the veranda, Neji's arm around Tenten's waist and her head on the Hyuuga's shoulder.
Hinata and NarutoNaruto and Hinata walked together, admiring the festival lights, sweet smells of candy and kids having a great time and playing games. A small geisha doll made of china sitting on a wooden shelf caught Naruto's eye and he looked down at it.
"Hey, you wanna play? If you win you get one of these beautifully, handmade geisha dolls!" the vendor offered to Naruto. He looked up at the vendor and thought, 'if I win one for Hinata, she'll be happy!' Naruto smiled and nodded, reaching into his pocket and giving the vendor fifty ryou for playing. Hinata stood by Naruto's side, watching him carefully. The vendor happily took the ryou and gave Naruto five small rings.
"Now all you have to do is ring two bottles over there, and you win!" the vendor explained, looking at Naruto with a warm smile on his face. Naruto nodded and looked down at the bottles, grasping the rings. He took a breath and tossed a ring, having it go around one of the necks of the bottles perfectly. Hinata smiled and encouraged Naruto some more.
"Naruto-kun, that was an excellent throw!" she told him, clasping her hands together and hoping Naruto would make another one. Naruto placed his hand to toss the next one. He took a breath and threw it, having it only dink against one of the rims and falling to the ground.
"Aww…" Naruto groaned, holding the other three rings, "I'll be sure to make the next one!" he tossed another one, this one doing the same as the last one. Hinata giggled and looked at Naruto.
"It's okay… you still have two shots…" she told him, Naruto smiled back at her and looked back at his targets. Again he took a breath and tossed a ring, 'c'mon… go around one of the bottles…' he thought to himself. The ring caught around the rim or the bottle and swung around falling around the neck. Naruto jumped up, throwing his fist into the air. The vendor laughed and looked at Hinata.
"Which one would you like?" he asked her, knowing that Naruto was playing the game to win for her. Hinata turned her attention to the vendor and looked at the large collection of china, geisha dolls. The one that he gaze lingered on had black hair with ornaments in it. It also had an elegant kimono in many colors and with butterfly and lily flower patterns on it. The vendor noticed and brought it down for her.
"Thanks a lot!" Naruto told the vendor, wrapping one of his arms around Hinata's shoulders. Hinata smiled and held the small geisha doll, cherishing it. She was glad that Naruto had won it for her.
Sakura and SasukeSasuke and Sakura were back at the Ninja Academy campus sitting on the benches that they both usually hung out at. Sakura was wondering why Sasuke had led her back over here and didn't want to go to the festival and celebrate there. Sasuke sat on the campus bench and Sakura sat next to him, looking up at him.
"Sakura…" Sasuke started, not really knowing how to word his sentence. He was nervous around her, usually it was always Sakura following him around like a little love-struck puppy… now Sasuke was having trouble telling Sakura how he really felt about her.
"What is it, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, leaning towards Sasuke, wondering what he was going to tell her. Sasuke looked down at her then swallowed, trying to push down his nervousness, 'what is wrong with me? I don't normally act like this!' Sasuke thought, clenching his fists and still trying to find away to tell Sakura that he liked her.
"I…" Sasuke started, biting his bottom lip. He took in a breath and exhaled, "I…" he paused and turned to face Sakura, then continued with what he was going to tell her, "I… actually… have liked you… Sakura…" he finally told her. Sakura looked up at Sasuke, surprised to what she was hearing, she was happy… very happy that Sasuke had finally told her this, but she honestly didn't know how to react.
"Well… you know… that I have liked you a lot…" Sakura replied, fiddling with her fingers, "but what girl doesn't?" she laughed nervously, she could only think of Tenten and Hinata as the only girls that haven't fallen head-over-heels for Sasuke. The Uchiha smiled and looked down at Sakura. Her bright, yet pleading green eyes made Sasuke feel differently in that moment in time and her turned towards Sakura, leaning towards her slowly and closing his eyes. He parted his lips and placed against Sakura's moist and smooth ones.
Sakura was surprised that Sasuke had made the first move on her! She closed her eyes and started to slowly wrap her arms around Sasuke, embracing and savoring every passing minute that she and Sasuke sat there like that. Sasuke reached up and gingerly placed his hands on Sakura's hips, allowing the warm sensation to course through his body.
The two finally broke away after what seemed like hours. Sakura smiled up at him and leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling very happy that she and Sasuke were finally alone together and both enjoying each other's presence.
Shikamaru and InoShikamaru and Ino walked together, not really saying a word. Chouji finally caught up with them and smiled at the two of his teammates.
"Chouji, what are doing with us?" Shikamaru asked, looking at his best friend since childhood. Chouji simply smiled and replied, "well, I knew that Temari's in Suna and that you were going to be with Ino just as friends here, so I wanted to hang out with you two as friends." Shikamaru smiled and turned to Ino.
"You're okay with that, right?" he asked looking back from Ino to Chouji. Ino looked up at Shikamaru and her other teammate, then replied, "we're all friends, and we hang out on a daily basis, why would I not like to hang out with you two?" she giggled a bit and looked ahead, watching some small kids play with each other with fake ANBU masks on their faces.
Ino then looked up at the moon that was glowing brightly in the sky and sighed, feeling excited though sad at the same time. She never really had anyone go out with her and here she was hanging out with Shikamaru and Chouji formally. In that moment, she was actually envying Sakura and how she got to stay with Sasuke.
"Is something wrong… Ino?" Shikamaru asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking over at his friend. Ino jerked her attention back to Shikamaru and smiled at him, "no, everything's really fine… just that I'm bored just walking around and doing nothing." Ino laughed, looking around her once more then back to Chouji and Shikamaru.
"Is that right?" Shikamaru asked, looking around as well then spotting a game stall, "how about that over there?" he asked, averting Ino's attention to what he was pointing at. Ino looked at the stall and noticed that the game was to throw little discs through sheets of paper held up by a wooden frame. Ino smiled and walked over towards it.
As they neared the stall, the vendor looked up and smiled at Shikamaru and Ino, "you two lovebirds here to play a game?" the vendor asked, smiling up at the Chuunin and the Genin. Ino's opened her mouth to say, "'lovebirds?' We're just friends!" she giggled a bit and looked at Shikamaru, who looked like he was blushing. Though Shikamaru's attention was diverted elsewhere.
"Just friends? Well, no matter, you two should still play, after all… the night is still young!" the vendor laughed, looking at Shikamaru. Ino giggled as well and looked up at Shikamaru as well, "what do you think? You're the one that called this to my attention!" she laughed, looking at the targets and the small, round discs.
"Well, if you really want to… Chouji's over there, getting something to eat… we should at least do something while waiting for him to come back over here." Shikamaru replied to Ino, shoving his hands into his pockets and pulling out fifty ryou and handing it to the vendor. The vendor smiled and handed both Ino and Shikamaru three discs each. Ino looked up at her teammate and picked up the first disc, inhaling then throwing the disc as she exhaled. The cream-colored disc tore through the paper marked fifty points.
"Yeah, look at that!" Ino cheered, bringing her fist up as she saw the disc go through the paper. Shikamaru smiled and picked up one of his discs and threw it at the separate targets, it grazed one of the wooden frame boxes, though still went through. The Nara male smiled sheepishly and watched Ino throw another disc clean through another target.
The vendor looked optimistic and smiled, "wow, you girl is really good at this!" she laughed, watching Ino throw the last disc she had and having sail right through another target. Shikamaru laughed and nodded, "though she's not 'my' girl… she's my friend." Shikamaru picked up the last two discs and threw them at the same time, hitting both targets he was aiming for, though they both still grazed the wooden frame. The vendor chuckled at the two ninjas, though raced back and pulled a small deer figure and a small boar figure and gave them to the Yamanaka and the Nara.
Shikamaru looked at the small figure that he had skeptically and laughed, "how ironic…" He put the small deer into his pocket and Ino put her little boar into her kinchaku. Chouji met back up with his two teammates with a bag full of food that he had just bought.
Neji and TentenThe Hyuuga and Tenten made their way back up to the veranda, knowing that no one was following them. Tenten had her hand in Neji's and her head resting on his shoulder as they both walked silently back up the dark stairs to the veranda. Neither of them had really had the time just to hang out like this, that's why they always enjoyed the holidays.
Tenten and Neji both walked to the balcony and looked at the stars in each other's arms, happy to be there and happy to be celebrating the evening of a special night together. The both of them looked at the stars, admiring their beauty in the velvet night sky.
"Tonight is definitely going to be a good one…" Tenten whispered, her mouth still in a sight smile. She was happy to be with Neji for the night to bring in the new year. She also didn't really know what to do other than enjoy the night, hoping that the Hyuuga would make the first move on her instead of the other way around.
"That it is…" Neji replied to Tenten, looking down at her then cupping her face in his hands and staring into her brown eyes. Tenten could feel the heat of the blush working it's way across her face as she stared back at Neji. The Hyuuga leaned down and Tenten closed her eyes as Neji pressed his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around Neji slowly as he did the same with her.
Both Neji and Tenten broke apart as they heard the whistling sound of something being shot up, then it exploded into a vibrant shower of blue and white. Tenten smiled more cheerfully and Neji wrapped his arms around her once more, smiling and staring into the sky as the fireworks shot off more and more.
"I think we should meet up with the others… only because we all agreed to watch the light show together." Neji smiled, looking down at Tenten. The black-haired girl smiled and nodded, wrapping one of her arms around Neji's waist and walking with him back down the stairs of the veranda and back to the Yamanaka floral shop.
"Heh, took you guys long enough! Let's go!" came the voice of the evermore exuberant Inuzuka Kiba. He was already running ahead with the little puppy, Akamaru by his side. Naruto couldn't agree more with his childhood friend, though took Hinata into consideration and didn't take off just like her teammate did.
"Heh… sorry to keep you guys waiting, didn't really keep track of the time." Tenten giggled, apologizing to all her friends. They too went in the direction that the Inuzuka ran off to followed by the others.
Naruto and Hinata were holding hands though also very close to one another, they were leaning their heads together and talking quietly to each other. Sasuke and Sakura were also very close, though the Uchiha had his arm around Sakura's waist while she leaned her head on his shoulder.
The group continued on till they were at the hill that they usually hung out on to gaze at the stars on. Fireworks still sailed and whistled into the sky, exploding into bright, attractive colors. The group all sat on the grass, admiring the light show that they were currently seeing.
They enjoyed the rest of the night being together and bringing in the New Year.
A/N: Um… I guess it wasn't that good… but um… please tell me what you think. And if you people are going to tell me it sucks, just tell me what I'm not doing to please you. Anyways, I worked hard on this… and this story is probably going to have the longest chapters that I have written XD