Chapter 3: An Invite

Third Day of Winter...December 24th, Christmas Eve

Instead of waking up on her own this time, the young navy haired kunoichi was aroused by sharp knocks on her door that came in rapid succession. She sat up hurriedly and looked to the clock with tired eyes. It only read about 5:15 AM and she groaned unhappily. Removing the covers from herself and dragging her feet to the door, she opened it to find Neji. She brought a hand to cover her mouth as she yawned widely.

"...Good mornin Neji..." she said to him, her eyes drooping slightly from awaking so early. She was curious to why Neji was waking her up so early and why he was so eager to speak to her.

The Hyuuga shinobi had a sealed parchment in his hand and let himself into her room. He turned to her, his arm outstretched, and smiled slightly. "This came for you last night. I did not read it, but it is not often you get letters." he told her and sat at her desk where the little velvet yellow diary sat.

Hinata eyed the enveloped letter warily, not sure if she wanted to read it or not. Curious, she took it and carefully removed the seal, taking out the parchment inside and reading it. It was elaborately decorated and written in large, neat letters. Even more curious, she read the cover which said;

"Merry Christmas."

It was simple, but the way it was designed looked so colorful and beautiful for such a small message. Glancing at the lavender-eyed boy who was watching her with interest, she proceeded to open the card and read the contents inside.

"Dear Hyuuga Hinata,

You are cordially invited to attend a Christmas party that is to be held tomorrow at the household of Yamanaka Ino. There will be refreshments, food, party favors, and perhaps music depending on how the parents feel. Games also may be included in the party. We hope that you are able to come, RSVP is not needed, but feel free to do so. ONE guest per person may accompany you to the celebration. See you there and Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Yamanaka Ino"

It had really slipped Hinata's mind that Christmas was the following day and she felt herself blush slightly at her thoughts. "I wonder if Naruto was invited..." she thought and then looked to Neji who had his cheek rested on his palm. He met her gaze and smiled.

"So, what was it about?" he asked her with a curious tone of voice. He stood from his seat at her desk and folded his arms to his chest.

"I-It's an invite to a Christmas party..." Hinata replied and then looked away from him, she wondered why Neji was not invited.

Neji nodded. "I see, well, I assume that you are going?" he asked her and started for the door.

"...Yes." Hinata answered and watched him as he smiled and then left the room without another word. She frowned a bit, she thought he would have some reaction to the idea of her being invited to something that she wasn't. Apparantly, he didn't care much. She placed the invite on her the desk while she got ready for the day. After she was done, she pocketed the invitation.

Leaving the house with a content look on her face, she headed towards the outskirts of the village of Konoha, where she usually found herself alone and without anyone. It was a place where sometimes she collected her thoughts, or just went to relax. To her surprise though, she found someone else already occuping the space. Being careful, she inched foreward to take a look at who was there. Another surprise for her, it was Naruto.

He was laying down in the grass, hands under his head and he seemed to be taking a small nap. Seeing no harm in walking over, the kunoichi sat in the grass as well, keeping a pretty wide space between them. She watched him with a small smile and a light pinkness to her cheeks. He looked so at peace and adorable when he was asleep and the light breeze that ruffled his hair made Hinata shy up a bit more than she already was.

Unfortunately, a sneeze came out of Hinata and she looked quickly to Naruto who stirred and opened a drooping blue eye. He sat up and stretched his arms out, yawning widely. His eyes looked around to see Hinata nervously sitting next to him. A smile played across his face. "Hey..." he said quietly and pushed over to close some of the gap between them. "What're you doing here?" he asked, yawning again.

The lavender-eyed girl poked her index fingers together her cheeks turning a rosy color. "I-I come here sometimes to be a-alone. Sorry for waking you N-Naruto..." she mumbled and looked at the ground.

Naruto smiled. "No, no, I'm glad you did...I slept here overnight it's a wonder nothing happened to me." he said and grinned to her. He then cocked his head to the side and looked to her. "How come you need to be alone Hinata? Your mansion is huge I can't imagine that you get no privacy there." he asked her curiously.

Hinata smiled. "W-Well, it is large indeed, but it isn't as peaceful as here...And this place is not as confined and, well...I really don't know how else to explain it..." she said and folded her hands together on her lap, still avoiding Naruto's gaze.

"Oh, it's okay, I get it Hinata. So...What did you come out here to think about?" the blue-eyed shinobi asked her innocently. He brought himself to lay down again to look at her face which was down.

She blushed. "You..." she thought to herself, but knew that she could not possibly tell him that. Instead, she reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out the invitation that was sent to her by Ino. "A-Actually Naruto, I-I got this invitation to a Christmas party. Were you invited?" she asked him while handing the envelope to him.

He looked at it for a moment and then took it, opening the card and reading its contents quickly. "Ack, I didn't get this...Figures, why would Ino invite me to her party?" he scowled and then his expression grew a little sad as he handed her back the invitation.

Hinata took it and returned it to her pocket. She watched him as he sighed and started to play with a small blade of grass. "Oh...Naruto wasn't invited...That is terrible, I really wanted to see him there too, and he looks like he really wants to go...Wait, I can bring one guest with me! I should bring Naruto! But what if he thinks I'm trying to ask him on a date or something? Or what if he rejects the offer...? Well, I should try, he looks so upset..." she thought to herself and then finally decided on what she was doing.

She looked at Naruto with a smile and he returned it. "N-Naruto, I-I can bring a guest with me to the party and I was w-wondering if y-you would like to accompany m-me there...?" she asked him, her face a light red color, she could feel her neck becoming hot and she poked her index fingers together.

Naruto looked surprised. "Are you sure? Why would you want to waste your guest spot on me? You should bring someone else..." he said and sighed a bit, but gave her a reasurring smile to show that he was okay with it.

Hinata shook her head and smiled kindly. "N-No, I would like it very much if you came with me..." she said and tried to avert her gaze from meeting his, afraid she might faint or say something involuntarily.

Naruto's face lit up and he grinned brightly. "Thanks Hinata! I can't wait to go! Whoo ho! Party!" he yelled and brought a fist up in the air. He stood up and did a sort of embarrassing little dance to himself.

Hinata remained sitting on the ground and watched him with a giggle and smile. "...I'm so happy that you're happy Naruto..." she thought to herself and then gave a surprised look when he plopped back down next to her.

He looked at her for a moment and when she was about to ask if anything was wrong, he brought his arms around her shoulders and held her to him in an embrace. "...Thanks Hinata. I really appreciate it." he said to her while tightening his hold on her.

The Hyuuga heiress didn't know what to do. Her face was a bright red and she could feel herself burning up. A powerful urge to lose conciousness for a moment came over her, but she fought it. Hesitantly and slowly bringing her arms up and around him as well, she placed her chin on his shoulder. "Y-You're w-welcome Naruto..." she whispered to him as she couldn't feel any happier.

An awkward minute went by as they stayed there in silence and then Naruto broke the hold. He put a hand behind his head and laughed a bit embarrassed. "W-Well, I guess I should get going eh? See ya around Hinata!" he said brightly and stood up putting a hand on her head before leaving back towards Konoha.

Hinata watched him leave and finally exhaled the large breath caught in her chest. She could feel her heart racing and her emotions running wild. "I-I can't really believe what has just happened...I can't believe I'm going to a Christmas party with N-Naruto tomorrow...I-I-I...need to stop thinking before I go insane..." she thought to herself, laying down in the grass and looking up to the dimming sky.

Upon heading home, the young kunoichi collided with another kunoichi in front of the flower shop.

"Hey! Watch it! Oh, how are you Hinata?" the young girl said turning around at first angry and then smiling brightly.

The girl had blonde hair that was up in a short ponytail and had blue eyes that seemed happy. She wore a purple shirt and dress, and her stomach and thighs were bandaged and she looked very thin. Around her waist also rested her Konoha ninja band which she had only used around her forehead once in combat with Sakura. She was one of the only ninja to wear earings and she sported the ninja foot gear and wore white sleeves on her arms that were removable and came at her wrist and ended just above her elbow. She was part of the Yamanaka clan which is known for their abilities to use mind control techniques by putting their own mind into anothers. Her name was Yamanaka Ino, none other than the party organizer herself.

"My apologies Ino, I will pay more attention next time." Hinata said and bowed her head to the blonde kunoichi apologetically.

Ino shook her head and put a hand on the Hyuuga heiress' shoulder. "Don't worry about it. So are you coming to the party tomorrow?" she asked her with a smile, going back to tend to the flowers outside the shop.

Hinata nodded her head with a small smile as well. "Yes, I look forward to it. I thank you for inviting me." she replied and once again bowed her head.

Not looking up from her work, Ino replied, "Good, good. Are you bringing a guest along? If so, who is it?" The flowers seemed to be very reluctant to go into the pot Ino was trying to place them in.

"Yes...It's...N-Naruto." Hinata mumbled, looking away from the Yamanaka ninja a bit embarrassed.

Ino stopped doing her work, she looked at Hinata and put her hands on her hips with a frown on her face. "I didn't invite him for a reason! Why would you go and do that?" she asked her.

The lavender-eyed girl started to blush and poke her index fingers together. "I-I felt bad and I-I-I..." she started, but was cut off by a gasp from Ino.

"You like him don't you!?" Ino exclaimed with a bright expression and put her hands to her face excitedly, one leg in the air.

"Ino please! N-Not so l-loud..." Hinata said and cringed as Ino made a small squeal.

"That is so cute! But why couldn't you like someone besides him...Ugh, you have strange taste Hinata. Well, whatever makes you happy I guess, just make sure he doesn't ruin my party!" Ino warned and the picked a flower from the pot in front of her shop. "Here, put it near your bedside or something. See you tomorrow Hinata..." she said and went back inside of her shop.

Hinata took the flower and looked at it a bit fondly. It was rather cute and a nice color. She placed it in her hair and then started to walk towards her home. "I have strange taste when she obsesses over Sasuke...Even after he betrays us and hurts Naruto they still are infatuated over him...I have strange taste..." she thought to herself a bit bitterly, but soon got over it.

That night, sitting in front of her small diary, she wrote about what had happened earlier.

Decemeber 24th, Christmas Eve

I got an invitation this morning, Neji woke me up extra early to make sure I got it. He was curious about its contents as well apparantly. When I opened it, I found that it was an invitation to a Christmas party sent by Ino! I was very excited and when I told Neji, I thought that he would react to not being invited, but he didn't. I suppose it isn't that strange. So, I went out to the field I usually go to, just outside of Konoha's gates, and there I found Naruto. He looked so cute snoozing there...I accidently woke him up, and told him about the party. He looked really upset to not being invited, so when I told him that I could bring a guest and invited him to accompany him, he cheered right up! He even gave me a hug! It felt like it lasted for so long...It was only a minute or so though...Anyway, when he took off to go home, I was relaxing for a while and then decided to leave as well. I bumped into Ino who was still working and she asked me if I was going to the party. When I said yes and told her who I was bringing, she got pretty upset telling me that she didn't invite him for a reason. When she questioned why, I was about to tell her something when she cut me off saying that I liked him! How did she know? Was it that obvious? If it was, how come Naruto can't tell? Anyway, she told me I had strange taste and sent me off with a cute flower. All I can think about though is how does liking Naruto make me have strange taste when they like Sasuke, a traitor and someone who didn't even care for them? Well, I guess it is none of my concern, you can't help who you fall in love with...I can't wait until tomorrow!

Good night,

Hyuuga Hinata

Hinata felt very drained for some reason and ended up falling asleep at her desk, leaving the diary ajar.