(Last time:)

"Of course we know who we're voting for. And it was most obvious when it came to the Queen category," Kiba laughed.

Tired, Yuri asked, "Oh, and who's that?" She buried her face into the shoulder of Neji's dark blue tux, and he turned a darker shade of red.

A moment of silence came from the group, causing Yuri to look up from "her" shoulder. All of the members of the group were looking at her with grins on their faces. Without hesitation, they all shouted, "YOU!"

Yuri squeaked. "M…me? Ah, um, are you…sure?" Her death grip on Neji tightened, and the poor guy tapped on one of her hands to make her let go.

"The question," Kiba continued, "is who you are going to vote for." Yuri released Neji and wavered on her feet for a bit, before walking over to Gaara and leaning on him.

"I dunno," she said, putting her arms around her replacement sensei. Gaara seemed unfazed by the younger girl's actions, so she leaned even more on him to make him frown.

Kiba tried to keep down a laugh. "Well, does that mean you're going to vote for Gaara-kun? What about a Queen?"

Yuri stood on her tiptoes so she could rest her chin on Gaara's shoulder. "Like I said, I dunno. Sakura-chan maybe? She looked really good when she was dancing with all those other guys. Or, oh, I have no clue. You guys can decide for me, or maybe I just won't vote."

"It doesn't matter, we all know who the King and Queen are going to be," Gaara said, tugging at Yuri's arms to get them away from his stomach.

"Oh?" Kiba asked. "Did you see into the future or something, Gaara? So, suddenly, you now know what the outcome is going to be?"

Yuri looked excited. "Gaara-chan! Who's it gunna be? Come on! Tell me! Tell me!" Despite Gaara's attempts at escape, Yuri just held on tighter. A few of the guys winced – then they remember that it was Yuri, and she was immune to most anything in their little group of friends.

Gaara sighed and stared at Yuri, finally breaking into a chuckle coupled with a smile. (Several of the guys had heart attacks here.) He put a hand on her head and said, "You're too cute, Yuri-chan. But you're also way too naive." Yuri looked up into Gaara's eyes. They were filled with that big-brotherly kindness she had seen in her own big brother's eyes.

Stepping away from the red-head, she crossed her arms in a half-hearted pout and commented, "I don't know what you just said, but I'm gunna take it as a bad thing." Mumbling, she added, "Plus, you didn't tell me who the King and Queen are going to be."

"Ah, there you are Yuri-chan! Come on, the girls are going to get a drink. Come! With! Us!" Sakura tugged at Yuri's arms and managed to haul her over to the girls' side of the building, not giving the poor girl any time to protest her abduction.

Kiba turned to Gaara after watching the kidnap and asked, "Oi, whad'ya mean by 'you're too naive'? What's up your sleeve, Gaara?"

Gaara still had his eyes on Yuri, and he watched as she was dragged over to Ino, Hinata, and his bigger sister. "Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? When you think about it, Kakashi and Yuri-chan got the biggest, well, what would you call it? Approval-rating maybe? Anyway, you saw how she had to escape from those damn fan girls. It was almost like the main event of the evening, except for that the main event is really to come."

Silence. "You always could see the truth in things. And when you put it that way….I suppose you're right."

Gaara turned to grin at the group. "Is there really ever a moment I'm not right?"

Yuri didn't want to go to the drink stand. Kakashi-sensei was at the drink stand, probably along with several other of his new-found fangirls. But, it wasn't like she had a choice. And besides, she had been the one that wanted to dance with Kakashi-sensei, even though she hadn't known about the repercussions at that time.

"Come on, Yuri-chan! We're getting something to drink, you HAVE to come!"

"But I'm not thirsty!"

Temari gave the little blonde girl a whack on the head. "What the fuck ever, you just don't want to have to talk with Kakashi-sensei. Aren't I right?"

Yuri blushed, but there was no way she could deny it when her friend put it so openly. "Alright," she sighed, crossing her arms in reluctance. " I suppose I could accompany you there, but don't expect me to drink anything. I already had a drink tonight. I'm not thirsty."

The last sentence earned her another whack on the head. "Like I said, what the fuck ever. One more drink can't hurt, can it? Not unless you got a tiny bladder, right?"

Yuri was really getting pissed. Beneath her cute expression (which was now one of pain, because those whacks hurt!), the girl was screaming in the head to show Temari what fists are for, but it was earlier stated that Yuri didn't like to cause a commotion (a.k.a., doesn't like crowds or too many people looking at her), and a fist fight would certainly count as a commotion.

"Right, Temari-chan, you're right. I guess I could just get a drink to sip on." Temari grinned her I-knew-you'd-say-that grin, and took the younger girl by the arm and continued to drag her across the room.

Yuri sighed in her head. Now she was convinced…somebody was 'up there' pulling strings to torture her.

When the girls arrived at the drink stand, Kakashi-sensei greeted them with, "Hello girls. Having a good night? Would you like something to drink?" Temari nodded and asked for two punches, one for her and one for the ever-reluctant Yuri.

Glancing around the stand, Yuri noticed her sensei had completely abandoned the thought of reading Itcha Itcha Paradise. Smirking, she looked back out to the dance floor. She thought, Next time I get my hands on that book, I'll burn it.

Temari handed Yuri a cup, and the two girls stood to the side of the stand so Temari and Kakashi could converse, while Kakashi served the other girls and boys in the line. Yuri tried her best to stay out of the conversation, but sometimes she would be sucked in, and had to struggle to escape.

At some point, Yuri watched as the group of boys got in line to vote for Queen and King. She wanted to know whether they were really going to vote for her…and if they did mean to, why. Maybe they knew she didn't like to many people watching her, and if she became Queen, she would have the attention of the entire building. That would probably kill me, to have so many people looking at me!

"Right, Yuri?" Temari elbowed the girl standing next to her, and frowned when she realized the other hadn't been listening.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Could you please say that again?" Yuri wasn't sorry at all, Inner Yuri growled every time Temari would distract her from watching other people dancing, but she had to be patient. Anxiety weighed the little girl down, but she had to look and appear fine. It was against Yuri's personality to be dark and gloomy!

"I said," Temari repeated, probably getting as frustrated as Inner Yuri was, "you danced with Naruto and Sasuke right?"

Yuri stiffened. She knew her sensei was most likely listening, even though he was paying attention to the drinks he was pouring. "Yeah? So?"

"Who did you like dancing with better? I mean, who seemed like the better dancer to you?"

Now Yuri got it. Kakashi-sensei and Temari had probably known she wasn't paying attention, and they had most likely made a bet or something. Something not good.

Yuri made her voice as cold as her cute, innocent girl personality would allow. "Sasuke was smothering me so much I thought I was going to run out of air, but Naruto was ok."

"So, you liked Naruto more?"

"I guess. I mean, I think it's just that I get nervous when I get close to people, and Sasuke and I were never very good friends, so when he got that close to me, I guess…I kinda panicked." Yuri paused for a breathe of air, and then she continued. "But on the other hand, Naruto and I are…better friends, I suppose. I'm comfortable around him, I guess. Oh, I don't know! Why are you even asking me?" she ended crossly.

"No reason," Temari giggled. "But, out of all the dances you've had today, what person did you like dancing with the most?"

Yuri didn't answer that question. Temari was not the person to give the answer to. If she had said it? Aw, what the hell? Why not, even if she did get a few bruises…

Yuri pretended to put on a thoughtful face, and answered, "Your brother," she stated simply, and then walked away, throwing her empty cup into the garbage can. She headed over to the voting booths, and got into the Queen line. There were only two other people still voting, and when she got to the person and slip of paper, she hurriedly scribbled down a name and stepped over to the King's side. She took more time to write this name, putting several curves and bold strokes into it. When she handed the paper to the man behind the desk, she stretched and looked around the room.

Several people were standing around and talking, instead of dancing. The music had died down, and Yuri scanned the crowds to find her pink-haired friend. Her target was easily found, and Yuri made her way over.

Sakura waved and smiled when she saw Yuri coming. "Yuri-chan! Did you just vote? Who'd you vote for?"

Yuri smiled and said, "Guess. I'll give you a hint, she's my best friend."

Sakura didn't get the joke at first, but when she did, her eyes opened wide and she wrapped Yuri in a huge hug. "Guess what? I voted for my best friend too! Oh, and Ino and Hinata voted for you too, they told me earlier."

Yuri felt a sick lump in her stomach. "Did you really?" she asked, feigning surprise. "Oi, Sakura-chan, did the guys tell you who they voted for?" Those bastards…

Sakura frowned, "No, they just laughed and said I'd know soon. I wish I knew too. Hey, look!" Sakura was looking at the drink stand. "Temari's waving at us, let's go over there!" Sakura tried to drag Yuri like Temari had, but Yuri put all of her body weight into her feet, and refused to take one step.

"That's ok, I'm going to go talk to Tsunade-sama. I think I'm going to request a song," Yuri lied, twisting her wrist out of Sakura's grasp and stalked in the direction of the DJ.

Yuri walked around one of the huge speakers to find Jiraiya sitting on a chair, Tsunade in his lap. "Eh, Tsunade-sama," she asked. "Can I request a song?" Tsunade looked up from tickling Jiraiya's chin, and Yuri could see the red tinge on her cheeks that showed she had been drinking.

Tsunade waved in the direction of the laptop, and Yuri sat down to skim the song titles. She saw a few good songs, and added them to the play list. They were all slow songs, so she added a few 'ok' fast-paced songs to mix up the selection.

"Thanks Tsunade-sama," she mumbled as she walked past the older couple. On her way back to the dance floor, Yuri ran into the man who had been in charge of collecting the King votes, and she just managed to avoid walking into the holder of the Queen's votes.

Smirking, she thought, Looks like we'll hear the results soon. I'd better go find some place to hide.