Konohamaru's Date

by Zehntacles

Konohamaru is on a special mission given to him by Hanabi; take her out on a date. But is something this simple really so?

2. Chapter 2

Naruto wasn't exactly the go to guy when it came to the dating scene. Over his sixteen years of life he'd mostly been focused on training in ninja techniques, training in fighting techniques, and otherwise trying to survive in a fairly hostile world. This world including girls who while attractive and desirable were just as scary (if not more so) than the majority of opponents he'd faced in the past. Fighting against enemies is easy; you know what they're after and you know what to do. Beat them up and move onto the next ones. Women were strange, confusing and seemingly natural experts of deception. All things Naruto was not too skilled at dealing with. He preferred punching problems till they stopped being problems. But this was a situation punching wasn't going to bring a resolution.

Since agreeing to go on this blind double date to chaperon Konohamaru's own little adventure he'd been growing more and more concerned if this was really a good idea. Konohamaru had assured him he'd get set up with a babe but that didn't make him feel much better. Well a little better, but it was still something he wasn't used to. What if he messed up, in front of the kid no less? If word got around that Konohamaru could handle himself better on a date than Naruto it would be the kind of thing his friends would never let up on. "Oh well... guess I gotta be a man and face this head on. Hope your looking out for me on this one, Pervy Sage." He gave a little prayer of guidance to his old mentor Jiraiya, one of the greatest ninja to have ever lived and one of the closest people to him in his life. The man claimed not only to be a master of ninja techniques but also when it came to picking up women. While the ninja skills part was true as far as Naruto could tell the old guy wasn't good at much more than spying on women and writing dirty romance novels about them. Regardless he'd be more than happy to have the support and advice now.

Naruto strolled out into the warm Summer afternoon, feeling a nice breeze as he went off on this mysterious meeting. With the warm season having rolled in the timing was perfect to play some festival games with friends and dates. Naruto was wearing an autumn colored yukata robe filled with orange and red hues, a traditional outfit for this kind of season. It wasn't the kind of thing he'd normally put on but Konohamaru had informed him they'd all be wearing one today so he had to go along. At least it was comfortable and casual, and it was better than having to try and think of what he'd wear to make a good impression. He was carrying a small fan with the Konoha leaf symbol on it as well for his blind date. Despite Sai's questionable advice he was willing to follow some of it and get his date a small gift. He continued through the town to meet up with his little buddy and find out exactly where they'd be meeting the ladies since Naruto had no clue. When he finally did discover Konohamaru it wasn't what he was expecting.

"I told you already this is a very important mission, why wont you believe me?" Naruto could hear him from a ways off already. Konohamaru was wearing a light green yukata robe as well with leaf designs over white as if they were blowing in the wind. Seemed the kid was taking this a bit more seriously than Naruto since in his hand he was holding a flower to give to his date. It didn't look like it was going well though as he was arguing with Moegi in the street. "It's not like I can make it any clearer!"

"You know Konohamaru, you could at least tell the truth!" Moegi was wearing her normal clothes and gear she was usually seen in when they go on missions. That was clue one she wasn't Konohamaru's date, and thankfully not the girl Konohamaru had set up Naruto with. "If your going to run around with this girl then fine but... don't just make dumb excuses!" Jeez, at this rate they were going to make a scene. Naruto normally wouldn't get involved in something like this but as the kids senior he felt obligated. Approaching from their side he tried to appear to them before they knew he was that close. His own teacher Kakashi pulled this trick all the time and he'd like to be the one to do it for a change.

"I'm not making excuses! If you'd just listen for once maybe you'd get it!" Konohamaru was getting frustrated and raising his voice along with her, getting glances from the crowd now but the kids didn't seem to notice or care. When he felt he was sufficiently close Naruto interjected.

"So... is everything okay here?" Both Moegi and Konohamaru jumped a bit hearing his voice which filled Naruto with a bit of satisfaction. No wonder Kakashi did this. "I couldn't help but hear you guys yelling." The two kids looked around a bit and straightened up right away seeing everyone was looking. Konohamaru tried to play it cool like nothing had happened.

"Oh there you are Naruto! I was waiting forever. No everything is fine here." Despite playing it off Moegi still seemed like she had a death glare of anger on Konohamaru and Naruto figured he must have done something to make her so mad.

"Yeah I just got here. So is Moegi coming with us?" When he mentioned it the two looked at each other and Konohamaru seemed like he was sweating bullets at the suggestion. "I could have swore you said we were picking up Hanabi though, right?" Apparently it was the wrong thing to say, which was a talent of Naruto's as he had quite a history of blurting statements out. When Hanabi's name was mentioned Moegi got more upset and actually pushed Konohamaru down onto his butt. The boys looked at her in disbelief as she was too frustrated to speak and ran away. "H-hey Moegi! Wait up, are you okay!"

"Let her go." Konohamaru said with a grumpy tone and dusted himself off. "She's acting totally crazy! She's been that way all week and I have no idea what's going on with her." Konohamaru gave his flower a double check to be sure it didn't get damaged and seemed satisfied with his inspection. Naruto was still suspicious though.

"Did you do something to her?"

"What! No way!" Konohamaru protested but Naruto wasn't totally convinced.

"I dunno, it seems weird she'd just get angry like that at you."

"I told you she's been weird all week. We should go so we're not late, okay Big Bro?" It was a nick name he'd earned with Konohamaru and his friends years ago. Naruto didn't have any real siblings, or family for that matter. So it was nice to have people like Jiraiya and Konohamaru to let Naruto know what it felt like to have one.

"Yeah, I guess your right. So you know where to go to meet them?"

"Well yeah, we got to pick Hanabi up at her house first." Made sense to him. With Konohamaru leading the way the duo made off for the Hyuuga compound. Yes, compound was the right word for it. The Hyuuga were one of the wealthiest families in the village they all lived in and their family owned a sizable portion of land to live on. Only a few families in the village had such a right to claim so much territory for their own, so Hanabi's family stood out as one of the most important. It was visible within two blocks of walking there and before long the boys were within sight of the front gate. Naruto wasn't exactly comfortable with entering, even with being friends with two of the family members here. Luck would have it though that they wouldn't need to. "I think that's them in front of the building now."

Naruto could tell Hanabi was standing by the front gate of the building. The smaller girl was facing them but there was another person right in front of her. It was a woman in a yukata robe as well but this one had deep colors of blue and purple mixed into it with the outline of a crane stitched in. While the robe was nice what it was wrapped around caught Naruto's attention first. The woman was knelt down in front of Hanabi fiddling with her hair and primping her, which gave Naruto quite a generous view of the curves she was hiding under that cloth from behind. He wasn't sure if this woman was a maid or even Hanabi's MILF of a mom with womanly curves like that but he wouldn't mind if she was the blind date.

"They're here." Hanabi's voice spoke up in an oddly straight forward tone for a kid and the woman who was tending to her straightened up suddenly with the realization. Getting to her feet she turned around to face them.

"Thank you for being so prompt in arriving Konohamaru. I hope you wont mind if I... Naruto?" The woman blinked looking forward at him. Naruto was confused for a moment when she seemed to recognize him. Then it dawned on him.

"Hinata?" It was Hanabi's older sister. Naruto didn't recognize her right away since she had her own hair tied up as opposed to it hanging long down her back. She was going to be his date?

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Hinata began to blush and stammer a little. It was weird, she was always like this. Well... at least she was always like this whenever Naruto was around. When they were younger Naruto had often caught her standing behind trees and telephone poles spying on him. He didn't understand what her deal was then and he still didn't really follow why she had acted that way to this day.

"Well um... what are you doing here?" Okay that was stupid, she already asked you the same question. Still surprisingly she gave in and answered him first.

"I was supposed to chaperon Hanabi on her date. My father wouldn't allow her to go out with a boy otherwise." Okay well that made sense, considering how rich and important the Hyuuga were he was sure that her dad wouldn't just let his only daughters go out with any old kid unsupervised. But wait... if they already had a chaperon then why did Konohamaru ask him along in the first place?

"Hold on a second please." Naruto tried to smile politely as he grabbed Konohamaru by the back of his robe and drug him off for a quick conversation. Once they were out of ear shot of the now perplexed girls he set the boy down again. "So... Hinata was Hanabi's chaperon... and she's also my blind date?"

"Worked out pretty well huh?" Konohamaru smiled innocently but Naruto wasn't buying it.

"So if you knew all along she was going to have one with you in the first place why did you ask me to come along?"

"Well your the one that said it was lame to have a chaperon watch us all night on a date didn't you?" Well... yeah that was true but... "And I said I'd set you up with a hot babe, didn't I?" Well yeah... okay Hinata was a little weird sometimes but she was indeed attractive. "So I figured this way it would all work out for the best. Why, your not complaining are you? You seemed happy enough when you were checking out her butt on the walk over here." Smart ass kid. Naruto grabbed him by the robe again with a threatening fist.

"I was not staring at her butt!" Okay so yeah maybe he was but he didn't have to admit to it. Deep breaths now. Calm down, your the adult here. "So if this was your plan all along why all the subterfuge? I mean you couldn't just tell me what was up?"

"Well if I did that you might have chickened out, so now your stuck and I can get my date." Konohamaru was grinning like a clever little monkey, causing Naruto to flick his forehead to teach him a lesson in manners. Holding his head in pain Konohamaru gave a glare at the older boy. "This isn't going to be a problem is it?" Was it a problem? Damn complicated question. Even Naruto was aware at this point that Hinata had feelings for him. She'd essentially confessed it to him in a life or death situation they were both in at a previous time ago. It wasn't like Naruto didn't even like her himself. Fact was she was very pretty, she was kind to people, and her curves in front were just as complimentary as the curves in back. Still it was so awkward. No one had ever told him they loved him before, least of all a girl. Now that she was right in front of him did he have the guts to go through with it?

"... no problem at all." Sure he could, he was a man after all. Konohamaru seemed quite happy to see Naruto's resolve return and led the walk back over to the girls who had been patiently waiting for them. Hanabi still had that cool and collected look on her face that was eerily mature for a girl her age. It sort of reminded Naruto of Neji Hyuuga, the girls' cousin. Always the serious and determined warrior. Hinata was the opposite, she actually looked like she might faint from this unexpected situation.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." Konohamaru was quick with the apologies to the girl, which was a nice change of pace from how he had been handling Moegi earlier. "We were just talking about where to go first on our date all together." At the mention of them all going out together as couples Hinata's face was seized with a small panic as she met eyes with Naruto.

"We-well I... that is... if you already have a chaperon... maybe I should go?" Hinata seemed like she was trying to shrink away back into the main gate of their home and Naruto was a bit disappointed. If there was one thing about Hinata that really bothered him it was her lack of confidence. She once told him that watching himself made her feel more assured but he wished she could pull that strength up from inside. It didn't seem like it was going to be a problem though since Hanabi was quick to grab her sister's wrist before she could run.

"You can't go Sister. Father wont allow me to go out without you supervising us." Hinata looked down at her sister and back at the boys and seemed helpless. She clearly didn't want to disappoint Hanabi but was becoming too flustered. Okay, once again Naruto your the adult. You can make this situation better, right?

"Well uh... you know it's not like we're really going on a date." Naruto spoke up getting everyone's attention. "I mean it's like I'm watching Konohamaru to be sure he behaves, this kid has to have someone mature around him so that he doesn't act up." Naruto nudged Konohamaru but he didn't seem to appreciate the comment. "And you have to watch your sister, so it's more like we're all just out, watching them on their date... but together. So it's not like a real date." It wasn't the most well thought out of explanations, frankly it made no sense. All the more reinforced by the glares he was receiving from Konohamaru and Hanabi after that rant.

"Well... I guess that makes it alright." Hinata finally spoke up, relieving all the tension and making Naruto feel grateful that his ramblings made her more comfortable. She was still blushing pink in her cheeks as she came closer to the group again. They stood there quiet for a while, Hinata was fiddling with her fingers at her waist and Naruto was holding his fan awkwardly. Oh yeah, the fan.

"I uh, got you something for while we were out." He held up the fan and handed it to Hinata who seemed delighted by the gift. When she took it she immediately hid herself behind it letting her eyes peek out with a small thank you. Somehow that was a lot cuter than she must have intended it to be. The kids were watching and this sparked the idea in Konohamaru's head to do the same.

"Oh yeah. Here you go." Konohamaru present the flower to Hanabi who took it and held it delicately but didn't seem to change her expression. "I like your yukata." Dropping a compliment too, kid was trying to play it smooth. But he was right, hers was very nice too, a lighter version similar to Hinata's but it instead looked like ocean water colors with decoratively colored fish designs. Hanabi took the compliment with the same polite, indifferent expression but it didn't seem to deter Konohamaru much.

"Thank you, so where are we going on our date first then?" She was so blunt it was amazing she was related to Hinata.

"Oh yeah, well we decided that we were going to go to the movies first so that all the festival games would be open when we got out." We did? Well apparently Konohamaru did anyway. Kid had already planned so many steps of this date that it didn't surprise Naruto. He just better not have any more tricks up his sleeve during this night out.

"That sounds like a good place, should we head there sister?" Hinata had been gazing at Naruto over the fan and felt embarrassed when she was addressed in the middle of her adoration. Smiling sheepishly she nodded to the girl and the two younger shinobi led the way. Naruto and Hinata stayed a few steps back to give them some space and still keep an eye on them.

"Um... Naruto." He looked up when she called over to him but as usual it took her a few seconds to get the courage to continue. "I just wanted to say that... I hope tonight is fun for you... and for all of us." She really was trying, which made him want to try as well and not just blurt out some idiot statement like usual. Naruto thought it over a bit and finally came up with,

"Yeah, I think it will be." Not the best but he wasn't done. "Hinata, you don't have to be worried." She looked a little puzzled by the statement so he helped clear things up for her further. "I mean there's no need to be nervous, we'll be fine." He smiled confidently, which made her smile in return.

When the group finally did arrive at the movies there was a debate as to which they should go to. Since the last time the village had suffered an attack from an enemy nation the towns people had been working hard to restore things back to normal. Something like entertainment wasn't the highest priority for what was essentially a military base of a city, but bless the villagers they still worked hard to bring it to the over-worked shinobi. The cinema owner had managed to recover some of the films for the reopening of the theater and while most were a little old Naruto never had a lot of time for movies to begin with, so everything was new to him. Amongst the choices left there were two that stood out to him. "I heard Deception was a good movie." Naruto commented offhandedly trying to hide that he'd really like to push the group to see this one.

"Isn't that the movie that's about shinobi that are trapped in an illusion technique that's in an illusion technique... that's in a dream or something?" Konohamaru was scratching his head like the very concept was too much to bother considering.

"I heard the story was really good, I'm interested." Well at least when Hanabi spoke there was no mincing words. One vote for Naruto's side!

"Well what about Baku Versus Tengu? It's both of those movies that finally combined their franchises for one big super action movie!" Konohamaru was going for the obvious action movie, which was expected considering his tastes. It was true, the famed Baku series of action/horror movies combined with the Tengu series of monster movies to make a super action movie. Frankly the story sounded stupid but it was a pretty big deal of an action flick and Naruto wasn't against it.

"It looks dumb." Once again, no mincing words with Hanabi. "I don't think I'd want to see that." Konohamaru looked shot down but Naruto was still pushing for Deception and with any luck he was going to get it. Just one more person to sway the vote, and he was pretty positive he'd get his way.

"So Hinata, which one of these do you want to check out?" He grinned confidently at her but she wasn't paying attention, instead she was looking at one of the movie posters on the side of the building. A bit curious Naruto walked over to read the title. "Lamplight?" The poster showed a hand holding onto a red paper lantern but it didn't really give him any idea as to what it was.

"Sister collects the books, but I don't think she's seen the movie before." Hinata came to the realization everyone was standing around her now where she was and smiled apologetically.

"Oh um... did everyone decide what we were going to see?" He guessed she hadn't been paying attention to them when they were going over the selections, she must have really been entranced by this poster.

"We were just talking about it now, what did you want to see Hinata?" She glanced over at the poster once more but quickly brought her eyes back to the group.

"Well I... I can go along with whatever anyone else wants." The same indecisive nature of hers. Naruto rubbed the back of his head trying to figure out how to actually get an opinion out of this girl.

"Well we're still kind of undecided, so if you could cast the tie-breaking vote that would help us out." She was shyly trying to figure out which one of the movies illustrated that she wanted to go to but it was hard to pick for her. Naruto decided to ease up her tension. "Were you interested in that Lamplight one?"

"Only if you want to see it." Ugh, same indecisive answer! Still it was pretty apparent that it was the only one she'd been looking at seriously.

"What's it even about anyway? I've never even heard of this. Hanabi said it was a book too right?" Hinata nodded shyly that some of her personal information had been leaked out about being a fan of the series. "When I was with Pervy Sage I never heard him mention these books, we stopped through a lot of book stores too."

"Well um... it's about a girl who falls in love with an Oni." Oh, a chick flick. "Since they're from different worlds, they try to have a relationship despite being so far apart in their respective societies." Naruto was looking at the poster now with dissatisfaction, he already had trouble focusing on things and a romance story would be hard to keep him. Hanabi was kind enough to interject for her sister.

"It all ends with the Oni clans having a battle against one another to decide whether or not they can stay together." Hmm, big battle huh? Well that sounded cool. Oni's and romance with a possibly hot actress all ending in a battle? Plus it seemed to make Hinata happy.

"Hey, BVT has a battle too!" Konohamaru was on the far side of the building trying to get everyone to pay attention to the movie poster he wanted to see. He managed to earn a few glances his way before everyone dismissed his choice again.

"So do you really want to see this Hinata?" Naruto turned attention to her again, Konohamaru was looking dejected but no one seemed to mind. "If it's a good movie I don't mind seeing it." She was fidgeting again having trouble deciding.

"O-only if you do." Couldn't she decide on her own? "If you wanted to see something else... I'm okay with it. I'm sure I'll see it... sometime... " Naruto exchanged glances with Hinabi and the two let out a sigh of surrender. It seemed the decision was pretty apparent. Naruto proceeded to buy four tickets for Lamplight. Konohamaru would just have to take one for the team on this. Thankfully seating was actually the soonest available for this choice and it wasn't long before they had a few snacks and were ready to watch the movie. Naruto tried to be optimistic. A chick flick on a date was generally the most appropriate anyway. It seemed to make Hinata happy and Hanabi didn't mind, at least as much as he could tell with her near consistent straight face. Who knows, maybe this would be awesome.

Moegi was sitting on a bench and kicking the dirt absently with the toes of her sandals. Here she was doing something that she never considered herself to be the type to do; feeling sorry for herself. She didn't get it. Konohamaru was suddenly spending so much time with this new girl. What was so special about her anyway? So her family was rich and important, but she had those weird white eyes. Maybe that's what he liked? He never mentioned anything about liking girls before really so it all seemed kind of sudden. Once he would though she was sure that if it was about a girl their age that... you know... it would have been her.

She wasn't even really wanting to date anyone, she enjoyed things the way they were and was happy to be on a team with her friends. But sudden situations have a way of bringing out feelings you didn't even know you had. The more she focused on the subject the more it depressed her. "Is it her hair?" Moegi felt the long, almost vertical pig tails she wore her hair in. It was cute wasn't it? Not dark and long like Hanabi's but she liked it. "If not that then..." She put a hand on her chest. They were only twelve so the girls didn't have a lot in the way of feminine curves to speak of to begin with. Still somehow Hanabi was able to beat her in this area as well with her noticeably larger... "It better not be that, you pervert." Moegi crushed the thought before it made her upset. She grumbled to herself, this wasn't getting her anywhere. She should do something, anything.

"Moegi, you okay?" The young girl blinked and looked up to see two emerald green eyes looking at her.

"Sakura!" It was Naruto's team-mate on their ninja squad. "I didn't even see you!" The pretty teenage girl smiled at Moegi. Sakura was one of those girls that a lot of the younger kunoichi looked up to. She was pretty, her short pink hair was the kind of color you couldn't get right even if you dyed it, and she was one of the more talented ninja in the village for her age. She was the kind of girl in essence Moegi wished she could be.

"Sorry if I snuck up on you, but you didn't seem like you were paying attention to anything." Moegi must have been in such a depression that she didn't even see the girl approach her. "Everything okay, you seem like your down." Moegi wanted to respond but she didn't know how to make the words come out without it sounding pathetic. Sakura had a sympathetic smile as she sat on the bench next to the girl. "Okay, you can share with me. Is that alright?" Moegi looked up at her trying to sort her feelings out. She and Sakura never really talked before but she was a friend of Naruto's so she must be trustworthy.

"Well... okay. But it'll sound stupid."

"Try me anyway." Sakura still had a comforting smile so Moegi relaxed a bit.

"Well, it's just... Konohamaru's been acting really annoying lately." Sakura nodded a bit like she understood. "Before he used to be all about our team and doing more important missions. He really wanted to go out and do more together. But now he's been focused on... other stuff." Sakura noted Moegi's words carefully.

"What kind of other stuff?" This was the part that was going to sound stupid because it made her sound jealous. But she wanted to talk about it with someone, anyone else. So here it comes.

"He's been talking with Hanabi Hyuuga a lot lately."

"Oh, I see. So he's hanging out with another girl now instead of your team?" Moegi nodded in admittance. "So it's bothering you that he's spending so much time with another girl besides you?" Moegi noted Sakura said "you" and not "your team" but she didn't feel like hiding things anymore.

"He wont even tell the truth about it! He just went off on a date with her, but every time I ask him why or if he likes her he just keeps telling me he's doing a mission and not to worry." Sakura looked a bit puzzled now but she was clearly interested. "I mean why bring her flowers if it's a mission? Naruto even went along with them."

"Naruto went on the date with them?" That sparked Sakura's interest. "What exactly was he doing while he was with them?" Moegi shrugged, she hadn't really thought of it because she didn't really care at the time. There was one part of this that was really on her mind.

"Sakura... am I pretty?" The words came out a little sadder than she intended and unexpectedly Sakura gave Moegi a little hug with one arm. Moegi leaned against the older girl feeling kind of calm now that she'd had the opportunity to talk to someone.

"Moegi, you are pretty. In fact, I think your certainly prettier than that other girl."

"Really?" She looked up at her hopefully and Sakura nodded.

"In fact, do you know where they were headed tonight on this date?" Moegi thought about it but Konohamaru had been pretty protective with details when they had been fighting... I mean talking to each other earlier before Naruto showed up.

"Well... they were both wearing yukatas so I guess they were going to the festival?" Sakura looked like she was thinking about something and smirked to herself.

"The festival games don't really take off until later tonight. Moegi, do you have a yukata of your own?" She nodded a bit, remembering she had one at her house that should still fit her. "Then lets head by your place and pick it up, then head back to mine. We're going to have a little make-over session and go out tonight for some games. Does that sound okay to you?" It was pretty clear she had a plan in mind but Moegi didn't care, this was certainly better than being depressed. She followed the pink haired girl, feeling energy come back into her step.

"This is so lame." Konohamaru earned a smack across the back of his head for the comment being made aloud in the theater... but Naruto couldn't deny he was right. This was pretty lame. What was this? So far the Oni guy (who by the way was waaaaay too good looking for a monster) walked around looking entirely uninterested in the world around him. The action scenes there had been were few and far between and padded by large amounts of romantic... stuff. It wasn't even good romantic stuff, Naruto had traveled with a writer for three years and he felt he could at least tell good romantic stuff when he saw it. He wasn't seeing it.

i"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Enichi was an Oni. Second, there was a part of him-and I didn't know how potent that part might be-that thirsted for death and destruction. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him." /i

Oh my god, oh my god that was a line from the movie he was watching right now, it was painful. Someone got paid to write that. And he glittered! The Oni glittered in the sunlight! It was too much. Naruto gave a pained gaze over at Hinata but she seemed pretty entranced by the whole thing. Maybe she was watching with rose-tinted glasses due to being a fan of the books. The written stories had to be better. Naruto's only real entertainment had come from his battle between himself and Konohamaru for the popcorn. The boys had sat next to each other and their respective dates on either side. Naruto ended up surrendering the popcorn to Konohamaru but was given free reign to stick his hand in for what he wanted. It was a good truce, plus Konohamaru had finally stopped complaining which made things more tolerable. Maybe by the end of this thing the movie would make up for itself. He took another handful of popcorn to get the energy to survive it.

Once the credits started rolling Naruto was met with a sense of relief he hadn't known before. Wow, that went on way too long. The big battle Hanabi had talked about at the end was just two of the Glitter Oni's fighting each other over that girl. Who's face looked like she was in pain at all times by the way. Seriously why fight for this woman? They couldn't have gotten a better actress for this role? The books had to be better right? He wanted to ask that of Hinata but she looked just pleased as could be for having watched the movie. Naruto figured she must have gotten out even less than himself so it was satisfying in a way to have done something to make her smile like that. Well his sacrifice wasn't in vain at least. She glanced over at Naruto. "So did you like it?" Crap, she would ask that. Naruto put on the best fake smile he could muster and responded.

"Oh yeah, it was pretty good." Thank you Kakashi-sensei, your amazing techniques in bullshitting have rubbed off on your student and it was allowing Naruto to deliver these lines believably. Okay, lets take the pressure off himself. "Right Konohamaru, you liked it didn't you?" He turned to face the kid that had been holding his popcorn all through the movie for him, but got something he didn't expect. "Dammit! He did it again!" Naruto blurted out aloud as Hinata leaned forward to see what was the matter. Next to Naruto in the seats were a wooden log and a straw dummy. Konohamaru and Hanabi must have used the Ninja Replacement Technique to escape the theater without being noticed by their chaperons. Naruto was a bit relieved to have something to distract Hinata from asking him about the movie but he was going to beat that kid when he found him.

The teenage couple ran out of the theater doors looking for the two little escapees, thankfully it didn't take long. In the lobby Konohamaru and Hanabi were sitting at a table talking with one another. They ran over to where the two were sitting and approached them at the same time. Hinata put a hand on Hanabi's shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. "Oh thank goodness. Hanabi, where did you run off to? You scared me half to death."

"Where the hell did you run off to!" Naruto grabbed Konohamaru by both his shoulders and shook him a few times, nearly scaring him half to death. When he recovered from the sudden shock he pointed over to Hanabi.

"She wanted a soda!" The young girl was currently sitting in the chair calmly by her sister, sipping on a straw as if nothing was the matter. "She told me that since I'm her date I had to pay for it, so she made me come along." Naruto gave the two a glance, it made sense a bit but they were gone for probably the whole movie.

"Well okay but why didn't you come back then?" Naruto inquired further not letting Konohamaru go but Hanabi was the one to speak up this time.

"I wanted to go see Deception." Traitor! She snuck off to go see a better movie. Naruto had wanted to do that! "Sister was so happy to see her movie that I didn't want to bother her. So I made him sneak off with me so she could enjoy her date." It was kind of sweet in a way and Hinata seemed touched by her sister's words. She leaned down next to her.

"Well... I'm glad you thought of me Hanabi, but don't go running off without telling me where you are okay? It makes me worried." Hanabi nodded her head in agreement and all seemed well. Naruto didn't want to rant all night so he let Konohamaru off the hook for now. Still he gave him a little motion with his eyes that he was keeping a look out for him. "So um... should we go to the festival?" The younger couple seemed pleased with this suggestion and honestly Naruto didn't mind going out to have a little fun as well. He could use something to get the memories of that movie out of his head. The group moved out once again together in formation with the younger in the front and the older trailing behind. Hinata was smiling behind her fan again and glanced over at Naruto. "Naruto... thank you." He looked a bit confused at the statement.

"For what Hinata?"

"For staying with me... during the movie. It's not much but I still enjoyed it." Heh... yeah well... I guess that makes it okay then.

It was already dark out when they got to the street where the festival games were set up but the lights in the area made it so that it didn't matter. All the booths were alive with games and participants trying to win prizes for themselves. The quartet of shinobi walked up the street looking over the games trying to decide which one to stop at. There was a large selection of old and new but there was one that caught Naruto's eye that stood out from the rest.

"Is that a target practice game?" The group stopped in front of what was probably the largest of the booths. There was a very elaborate set up of wooden targets that seemed to move and appear and disappear behind curtains and wood walls. It looked exciting! The attendant running the booth spied the group and immediately went to work.

"Well there I see some strong men who look like they could tame my wild beast of a contraption." It was unusually phrased like a come on line but Konohamaru and Hanabi didn't seem to notice so Naruto didn't react. "Why don't you boys step up and give your hand a try! Don't be shy, win some prizes for the lovely ladies your out with tonight!" Konohamaru was the first to run up to the desk, taking a spot in front of the man and looking over the set up. Naruto filed in next to him and observed what must have been a little over a dozen ninja star shurikens laid out before them. It was pretty easy to guess what to do from here, some of the targets already had marks in them from being hit. "Now boys the rules are simple. You'll take these shuriken here which I hope you've handled before and toss them at your targets. The big targets are one point, the medium targets moving in the middle are three, and the small ones in the back are five! Manage to get enough points, you get prizes! Are you all set?" Naruto smirked to himself pulling out some money for him and Konohamaru to play. He wasn't the most accurate with throwing weapons but he was pretty decent and figured some carnival game had to be next to nothing for him. Taking his position he got ready with Konohamaru. The girls stood behind each of the boys for encouragement. Hinata happily cheering Naruto on in her quiet tone and Hanabi informing Konohamaru that he should be certain to pay attention or he'll screw up. Each boy took some of the weapons in hand and got ready. "Ready folks? One two three lets go!"

The attendant pulled a lever and the game began. It was actually a lot more difficult than Naruto had given it credit for. The big targets were slow and easy to hit but the smaller ones were fast! Especially the high ranking targets in the very back. The two boys put a pretty valiant effort forward but those fast moving targets were just too difficult to land on! What's more they moved in an opposite pattern to one another making them dizzying to watch. By the end of it Naruto had wasted most of his shuriken trying to hit the criss-crossing middle targets and Konohamaru had given up and focused on the larger ones. The attendant pulled the lever again to stop the game and declare the winners, or losers in this case. "Well boys that was a good shot but don't fret, it was built to give the best a run for their money. Here's your consolation prizes for playing." They were both handed small, wooden kunai that were painted a metallic color. It was a pretty cheap toy and they could see why they were being passed out. Konohamaru's only satisfaction was that at least he had done just as well as Naruto. The two turned back to their dates with the prizes they had won for them a little embarrassed. Hinata seemed happy enough to get anything at all and Hanabi was of course straight laced as always. Turning to her sister the girl pulled at her sleeve and motioned at the game.

"Sister, want to play with me?" Hinata was a bit surprised that Hanabi had asked but she smiled and nodded to her. Come to think of it Naruto never really saw the two girls do anything with each other so it was nice that they were spending time together. Naruto pulled out his wallet to rummage up the money for two more games but Hanabi was already hitting up Konohamaru. "Hey, pay for my game." Konohamaru looked more shocked then Hinata this time around.

"What, why do I have to pay!"

"Because your my date, you have to." The laws of dating seemed to be undeniable and Konohamaru conceded to them, giving up what dollars he had to her so that she could participate in the game. The boys backed up and took the supporting positions behind the girls this time, Naruto eager to see how good they were in comparison to him. The attendant was talking up the ladies and complimenting them of course, probably more eager to have their money than their patronage. When he laid out the shuriken in front of the girls Hanabi was looking straight ahead the whole time. "Sister, you know what to do right?" Hinata nodded in response but had the same stature as she was looking directly ahead too, never tilting to either side. When the lever was pulled and the game began the two siblings went to work. Unlike Konohamaru and Naruto who had taken the time to line up each shot and try to hit their targets the girls didn't hesitate once. In fact they never even looked down at the shuriken they were tossing, instead their hands moving in sweeping motions as they picked up each weapon and tossed them effortlessly. When the lever was pulled again there wasn't a single target of the middle or back row that didn't have a shuriken in it. The boys and even the attendant were left with blank stares as to how easily it had been performed.

"We... we have a winner!" He tried to sound excited but there was obvious apprehension in his voice that the girls managed to beat his game so easily. As he walked to the back to get their prizes Naruto heard him mumble something about how it was always girls, but he didn't quite understand the statement.

The group now back to walking on the path again Naruto was holding a highly decorated, gold painted kunai that Hinata had won. It was considerably more impressive than the small wooden one he'd earned himself and Hinata had been insistent he take it as a gift from her to him. She explained she was more than happy with her smaller one and that she wouldn't even know what to do with something so big. Well at least it was cool looking. Hanabi had taken a wooden replica of the Hokages hat, which was a long circular hat with the words "Fire Shadow" written in kanji on the front. Naruto had to admit he was a little jealous of her but didn't want to say anything out loud and seem like a child. Funny enough she had been insistent that she keep both the hat and the wooden kunai since she was the girl and Konohamaru should be the man and get her gifts on their date. He could see it was wearing the boy down a bit but Naruto was finding it endlessly amusing. "So Hinata, I had no idea you and your sister were so good with throwing weapons." The girl blushed behind her fan at the praise.

"Oh it wasn't anything really..." She modestly took the compliment with color in her cheeks. Hanabi was quick to interject.

"Well it's easy when you know how to cheat." Naruto blinked looking at the girl, who had even startled Konohamaru with the statement.

"You guys cheated?" Konohamaru was looking between the girls extremely confused. "How did you even do it? I couldn't figure out any way to get through that thing other than tossing the shurikens. Right Naruto?" It was true that the game seemed pretty straight forward.

"We just used our Byakugan." Konohamaru still looked confused and even Naruto didn't really understand. He knew that their pure white eyes could see through stuff and things like that but how did it beat the game? Hinata could see the questions in everyone's expressions and decided to explain.

"Well um... it's like this. The targets were moving in a way to make you dizzy. So um... me and Hanabi... we just used our eyes to look where they were coming from and going to." Naruto was following along but still had trouble understanding. "When you can see the targets moving without the walls and curtains blocking them, you can tell where they're going to be. Since we could see through the walls, it wasn't so strange. That's um... that's not weird, right?" Hinata seemed bothered that Naruto might be upset that she had cheated to win when he couldn't do the same.

"Well... actually it's pretty cool." Naruto stated reassuringly. "I mean if he set it up to trick us in the first place, why not use it against him?"

"A ninja's job is to succeed without your opponent knowing how." Konohamaru recited. "My grandpa used to tell me that. I guess that means if they're going to cheat us we should look for ways to cheat them back."

"You'll never be a great ninja if you can't." Hanabi stated to the boy, almost expectantly of him. "Your going to become a great ninja, right?" She was looking at him pretty intensely and Konohamaru seemed a bit flustered. Naruto could hear Hinata giggle a little behind her fan and it was fun to watch the two interact.

"Well.. yeah, yeah I will be! I'm going to be the seventh Hokage!" Konohamaru was puffing out his chest now with a sense of pride. "After Naruto gets to be the sixth I'll be the one to take over! We'll be the greatest ninja this village... the world has ever seen!" Hanabi wasn't reacting too much to his boasting and Naruto felt a little embarrassed over his declarations to the entire festival. Was that how he had acted as a kid?

"Well you got a ways to go don't you?" The groups attention was turned to a familiar female voice that had come forward to them after Konohamaru's announcement.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Naruto was a bit surprised to see her out. Indeed it was Sakura, the pink haired field medic of his own ninja squad. She was dressed up for the festival, sporting a pink (of course) yukata robe of her own that was decorated in colorful flower petal designs of light pink to red shades. Her hair was pulled up in the back with two red chop sticks that were clearly used for decoration over actual utensils. "I figured you had rounds at the hospital tonight." She was looking good, real good actually. Must have taken the time to dress herself up tonight. Sakura had pretty much been Naruto's first childhood crush and she'd only become prettier over time. She'd turned him down countless times in the past when he'd shown interest in her. To see her all dressed up reminded him why she'd caught his attention in the first place.

"Nope, tonight was a free one for me. You should pay more attention to your team mates habits, Naruto." She had a light tone of scolding in her voice. Sakura was one of those girls that wasn't afraid to speak her mind, a strong will and even stronger punch. Her eyes were a sparkling emerald and gave off an air of maternal care but strength. Even though her strength was at amazing heights due to her ninja techniques, her body was still a very lithe, slender figure. In many ways she was the opposite of Hinata. "Since our night was free we decided we'd enjoy the festival together." Once she started speaking of herself with another Naruto took the time to look around and saw Moegi was buy Sakura's side, and she was looking considerably dressed up as well.

"Hey Konohamaru, how are you doing?" Moegi waved over to the boy who looked at her in disbelief. Like all the others Moegi was in a yukata as well, a yellow one that had a cute scenery stitched into it of a sun and sunflowers. That wasn't really the most startling change though, as her long pigtails had been braided down into two tails behind her. It was actually pretty cute considering such a drastic change in style and she wasn't wearing the over-abundance of blush on her cheeks either. "Enjoying the festival?" Konohamaru seemed a bit confused as to how he was supposed to react, which reminded Naruto of the argument he'd walked into that the two of them had earlier that day. He was wondering what exactly was going on here.

"It's kind of unusual to see you and Moegi together, I didn't think you guys were such good friends." Naruto commented to Sakura but she wasn't bothered by the statement.

"Well we didn't have anyone to go out with so we decided to walk together, nothing out of the ordinary to that is there?" The heck there wasn't. "Were you going to play any of the games? It looked like some of you had already won a few." She was referring to the kunai Naruto was holding and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well actually it was Hinata who..."

"Hey Konohamaru, do you think you could get me one of those prizes?" Moegi was pulling Konohamaru's attention over to one of the booths that had several large stuffed animals. It seemed like she was trying to keep his attention pretty focused on her but Naruto didn't have much of a chance to dwell on it.

"Oh Naruto, are you any good at those gold fish games? I was thinking of getting a few for myself." He found his own attention being pulled towards another. Hinata was looking back at her sister as she was sticking by Konohamaru's side but she didn't really want to leave Naruto. "It's kind of difficult for me. Do you think you could help?" This smelled like a set-up somehow, and Naruto wasn't the brightest of detectives so it must have been pretty obvious. Still he couldn't figure out for the life of him as to why they would go to the effort. The kids were still in sight so he didn't worry too much but it still felt weird.

Approaching the game both where the gold fish tank was set up Naruto prepared to wing some fish. "So uh... yeah can I have a try?" Naruto awkwardly asked the woman running the stand. The tank in front of Naruto was filled with fish, some gold fish and others of a few different types he didn't really recognize but they were colorful. She handed him a paper scoop and asked if he'd played before, which he responded yes, just try to scoop out as many fish as he could without the paper tearing. He was handed a bowl with some water in it and got ready to begin.

Glancing over his shoulder he saw Hinata who seemed just as confused by these events as himself, Sakura however seemed in perfect composure. As he got ready to make his first scoop Sakura spoke up again. "So Hinata, are you and Naruto enjoying your date together?" Naruto gulped a bit and dipped the scoop directly into the water when Sakura asked that, tearing the paper immediately. He sighed and paid the booth attendant for another scoop while the girls conversed behind him.

"Oh it's um... it's not a real... d-date." Hinata was of course stammering with embarrassment at the question. "It's just t-that... Hanabi needed someone to watch over her... so I, I mean my father asked that I keep an eye on her... on her date." Sakura let out a little humming sound as if she were processing the information.

"Well that's sure kind of you as a big sister. So if your their chaperon why is Naruto here?" This line of conversation was starting to make the boy sweat but he tried focusing on his task of catching the fish instead of feeling the two women of his affections talk behind him.

"Well it's... kind of a funny story. You see Naruto was supposed to be Konohamaru's chaperon. But he didn't know I was supposed to watch Hanabi, so we both... sort of ended up. Like this." There was a tone of happiness to Hinata's voice and Sakura was still making that low hum of understanding as she thought about Hinata's words.

"Oh, so you didn't intend to go out together, but it was just a random occurrence, right?" Hinata nodded silently hiding her face behind her fan again as she was being interrogated. "By the way Hinata, that's a pretty fan you have there. Did you get it at the festival?"

"Oh no, Naruto got it for me." Naruto gulped a lump down his throat but managed not to break the paper of his scoop. "Right before we went out to the movies." He felt like there was a heavy aura behind him, looking over his shoulder he caught a glance of Sakura's face. She was smiling and looking pleasant but Naruto recognized those eyes. They weren't the eyes of a happy woman; they were cold and calculating. The smile was plastered onto her face in a better display of false happiness than Sai could ever hope to do. "It is nice isn't it. All I was able to get him so far was a prize at one of the booths."

"Well you two seem like your really enjoying your time together." Hinata made a happy noise as she smiled in agreement to Sakura. "So are you planning on doing this together again?"

"GOT 'EM!" Naruto shot up from his crouched position over the fish tank to the girls. He was holding two bags of fish for each one of the ladies. Even if he'd failed at the shuriken game Naruto was actually a fairly skilled ninja so it didn't take him long two get two decent sized bags before giving up. Handing them to each of the girls they looked over the fish.

"They're pretty." Hinata was observing them swimming around in the bag, Sakura was doing the same, but not before comparing her bag against Hinata's and seeing that the dark haired girl had a slightly large selection of fish than herself. She kept the smile up thought with those same eyes and bowed a little to Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto, they are pretty! I couldn't have gotten so many on my own."

"Yeah well always glad to help oh look there's Konohamaru hey lets check on him HEY Konohamaru!" Naruto walked away from the booth in a quick step to the boy who was walking towards them himself. Both girls were carrying large stuffed toys of a monkey, Hanabi's was a bright, almost obnoxious color of pink while Moegi was holding a light blue one. Seemed Konohamaru had done pretty well for himself too. When they met up Naruto was able to see that the girls seemed like they were keeping a fair distance from one another while Konohamaru was stuck between looking a bit distraught. "Hey guys, seems like you won some nice prizes yourself."

"Konohamaru got them for us." Moegi offered up the information. "He managed to get the biggest prize there." Konohamaru smiled a bit at the compliment and seemed embarrassed from the praise. Naruto thought he saw what must have been the first real emotion in Hanabi's eyes as she didn't seem very pleased with Moegi. She grabbed a hold of Konohamaru's arm in her own and looked at Hinata.

"I'm getting hungry Sister. Can we stop some place to eat?"

"I guess it has been a while hasn't it?" Hinata was looking around now for a place that served food and didn't seem to catch the eyes of animosity between Moegi and Hanabi. "I wonder where we should go to?"

"I already know where I want to go, can we head there now?"

"Oh. Well I guess we can, if that's alright?" She looked to Naruto for approval and he shrugged in agreement. Hanabi always seemed to know what she wanted to do and when she wanted to do it, no sense in arguing now. Besides she'd have Konohamaru sneak them both off again and it wouldn't do any good for him or Hinata if they took off. "I'm sorry Sakura, I know we just got together here." Sakura shook her head still keeping up the perfect performance.

"Not at all, Moegi and I had planned on spending tonight together anyway. We'll look for you after your done at dinner." Hinata nodded happily to her as they were off, Hanabi already on the move and Naruto having to follow behind quickly in pursuit. This time however Hanabi was walking ahead of Konohamaru without him, holding onto her stuffed animal. Hinata walked up beside her to find out where it was they were headed while Konohamaru hung in the back with Naruto. The two boys exchanged glances and when they were out of earshot of Moegi and Sakura he finally spoke up.

"She was mad, huh?" Naruto blinked in surprise.

"You could tell?"

"Oh yeah, those eyes. Uncle Asuma once told me about it. I guess he made Aunt Kurenai mad once and she had the same look." Well good for him to be able to spot it. A man doesn't learn about that kind of thing unless it was through experience. "Did you do something?"

"No! I got no idea what that was all about." Naruto grumbled crossing his arms, he really couldn't understand what was happening here. "Well what about you and Moegi? She seemed like she forgave you for whatever it was you guys were fighting about earlier."

"I told you we weren't fighting." Naruto gave him a look like he knew better but Konohamaru stuck to the story. "We weren't. She seemed okay.. I guess."