Bait
(April Fools)
Summary: Naruto and Hinata have been happily married for two years now… Or so everyone thinks. As much as Naruto tried to convince himself otherwise, he always knew something was missing from his life. Now he must come to terms with this as a meeting between him and Sakura rekindles forgotten emotions, and mistakes of the past are corrected. Will Naruto be able to hide his affair, or will he confess and leave behind the wife and son he never wanted?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
APRIL FOOLS! ! ! ! ! Did I get ya? Let me know in the reviews if I did, a day late but SO worth it if it worked! Anyway, here's the REAL summary!
Summary: Naruto is prepared to celebrate his favourite holiday – April Fools – but when a blue-haired Hyuuga does not go for the bait and threatens to foil his plans, how will he figure out how to lure her in? Or will he find out something far more shocking?
A/N: Yeah, sorry I'm late again, heheh… I really gotta start finishing these further in advance. I sorta got caught up in a… thing… Yesterday that took up a lot of time, so I didn't finish on time. And I spent a good portion of my day today either in class or on a bus, so this was the fastest I could get this out. Btw, I didn't proofread this like I usually do because I got laz – er, hurried diligently to please all you fans – hopefully it's ok, but if it's in real bad need of editing, lemme know. Don't forget to leave a review! :D Enjoy!
Anyone visiting Konoha on this day would swear the village was under siege. Everyone seemed on edge, expectant of some sort of personal attack, their untrusting eyes shifting across the crowds warily. Those were just the people who dared to walk outside; a suspicious amount of the civilians were shut in indoors. All of the shinobi clans had increased their security, both the Hyuuga and Yamanaka compounds protected by twice the normal guards on duty. The Inuzuka grounds were littered with a mass of free-roaming, snarling ninken, and the Aburame compound… No one stepped near the Aburame compound. The indicative buzzing of their chakra-eating companions was audible from well before one reached the gates, deterring any potential visitors with a shudder.
Despite appearances, the village was not at war. Not that their situation was much better. Today was a day that had the citizens of Konoha feared year after year.
April first, aka: April Fools.
In other villages, this day is not a day of terror. It is met with joy and laughter. But other villages did not house the infamous prankster, Naruto Uzumaki. Since the boy was strong enough to hold a bucket of paint, he had been playing pranks on the town's residents. His jokes were not something the villagers were not used to, but on this day his jokes had much more… collateral damage.
The others were irked enough as it was by his normal antics, but on this day his pranks were simply devastating. He was like a prankster werewolf, and this holiday devoted to tricks and shenanigans was his full moon.
But there was no fear in the eyes of Sasuke, the last Uchiha, as he strode down the streets of Konoha. Instead of searching his surroundings for any potential dangers, his onyx eyes were set on something else. Someone else.
"Hey, Ino-chan," he called out in a suave tone. Ino was in shocked to come face-to-face with the Sasuke Uchiha, his dreamy eyes staring back into hers.
'He called me Ino-chan!' "S-Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?" She mentally berated herself for sounding so lame and caught-off-guard.
"I'm here to ask the prettiest girl in the village out on a date." There were hearts in her eyes and the mindwalker felt faint as he lovingly cupped a hand on her soft cheek. She had to point to herself just to make sure, her voice absent in lieu of her amazement. He simply nodded smiling, as if to say 'yes, you.'
"So what do you say?" Ino could only nod dumbly in response.
Sasuke smirked. "Great. Why don't you meet me on the roof of the academy in two hours?"
He walked away smugly, leaving the girl to swoon for a moment before bolting to her house to get prepared. Unknown to her, her crush had some preparing of his own to do. Just around a couple of corners, the boy met his next errand.
"Hey, Sakura-chan," he said as he tapped the pink-haired girl's shoulder from behind. She spun, sprining to attention.
"S-Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to ask the prettiest girl in the village out on a date." She pointed to herself mutely, to which he nodded and cupped a heated cheek delicately.
"So what do you say?" The kunoichi bobbed her head giddily.
"Great. Why don't you meet me on the roof of the academy in two hours?"
Sakura rebalanced herself from her sway as Sasuke walked away with a wink, and ran back to her home with urgency.
Now, to anyone who knew the last Uchiha – except maybe the love-blinded girls – this womanizing behaviour would have set off warning bells in their heads. And they would be right to be suspicious, because this was not actually Sasuke.
'That's eight down, one to go,' Naruto mentally counted down.
It had taken him nine months of practicing, far more time than any of his classmates, but the young Uzumaki had finally been able to succeed in the henge jutsu. And now, on his favourite of holidays, he was going to put it to use. The boy was enough of a pest before, but with the ultimate disguise now in his arsenal, he was a downright menace. Perhaps if the village had known the things he intended to do with this technique, they would have petitioned to have it removed from the shinobi academy syllabus and stop teaching irresponsible children the easiest method of identity theft.
Naruto had many plans today. Big plans. He did every April Fools; it was the day he used to show the village what he was capable of, and that he was not to be messed with. First he would get his academy class, then the Inuzuka, then the Hyuuga, then the village elders, then the market district, then…
But he was getting ahead of himself. He had to use his time efficiently if he wanted to get through the whole list, and that meant no distractions. Probably the only time the blonde used his head and thought strategically was when he was playing pranks.
The girls from his class were the easiest to round up; with his (flawless, if he dare say so himself) henge of Sasuke, they would all jump straight off a cliff if he said he would meet them at the bottom. Afterwards he would accomplish the tougher task of gathering all the guys too, and from there the prank was already prepared and ready.
Coming out of his scheming, he spotted and approached his final target of the group. Hinata Hyuuga.
He would need to play his cards carefully on this one, she had a tendency to get nervous around people and faint, and that would set him back if he had to wait for her to come to. Perhaps he should ease it on the physical contact.
"Hey there, Hinata-chan," he greeted, reciting the scripted line once more.
"Oh, Sasuke-san, hello. How are you?"
'Great,' thought Naruto, 'She doesn't seem so nervous right now. Maybe she won't pass out on me.'
"I'm doing great, because I'm actually here to ask the prettiest girl in the village out on a date."
"Oh? Who would that be?" Hinata asked, hoping she was not prying too much, since he was the one that brought it up. Even though she did not gossip, she could not help but be curious who the object of the entire class' affection finally chose.
'Sasuke' gave a low chuckle. "Who do you think? I'm talking about you, of course." He punctuated that statement with a cool grin.
Hinata began pressing her fingers together, looking away. "Sorry Sasuke-san, b-but I cannot go out with you."
"Great. Why don't you mee – NANI?!"
Hinata looked back up at him at his outburst, but her eyes shied away again with a regretful look in them. She really did not want to have to hurt her poor classmate's feelings. He had the entire rest of the class to choose from, why did he have to pick her?
"I am sorry Sasuke-san, but I just d-don't like you in that way."
"What do you mean?! Why not?!" 'Sasuke' shouted, getting a little to close for comfort. Naruto was in shock, and needed to make sense of this turn of events.
Hinata backed away a few steps, feeling worse for how he seemed to be taking the rejection. "Because I… I like s-someone else."
"Who is it?!" he practically screamed into her face, mad with disbelief.
Hinata blushed a light pink. "I… c-cannot s-say… " she stuttered. "Look, I think it would b-be best if we just end this conversation now. I r-really must be going."
The quiet Hyuuga was incredibly uncomfortable, and rushed to take her leave before the displeased Uchiha could question her further.
Naruto just stood there in a daze, staring as the girl scurried around the corner, a poof of smoke returning his appearance to normal once she was beyond eyesight.
Now, he could have let this one person go, and settle for fooling the rest of his classmates. But he was a perfectionist, dammit! Even if it was a very frustrating trait to have given his perpetual struggling in nearly everything else, when it came to his jokes, it was all or nothing.
'I can't believe it… It's just not possible…' This one timid kunoichi was going to ruin his entire plan! Everyone loves Sasuke! All of the girls are at his feet, praising him all day long! Well… He could not recall any moments of Hinata specifically gushing over him like the rest of the fangirls, but he thought that was just because she was always so shy and quiet!
He had to work fast if he did not want to completely mess up his schedule.
Hinata was just stepping out of a weapon shop where she usually stocked on her equipment, when another one of her classmates approached her.
"Yo, Hinata," a pineapple-haired ninja drawled. "What's up?"
"Not much, Shikamaru-san. I was just getting a new set of kunai; how about you?"
The Nara sighed. "Just walking around, it's a real drag. If it wouldn't be too troublesome, I was wondering if you would go out with me?"
'Oh no, not twice in one day,' Hinata thought. She looked away, unable to look back into his eyes as she turned him down. "Sorry, but no."
"What a drag."
"I hope w-we can still be friends though," she said to make sure there were no harsh feelings between them, since they did sit beside each other, after all. Even if they did not talk much, between her social anxieties and his napping, she did not want to be on bad terms with her classmate.
She looked back when she received no response, only to see Shikamaru had already disappeared. Hinata sighed. She must have really hurt him to get a Nara to move that fast.
The heiress barely made it three steps before Kiba came barreling toward her from behind.
"Hiya, Hinata!"
'Dammit! There has to be an easier way!' the troubled boy cursed. He had already cycled through five of his classmates, all of them rejected by his target. If he could not figure out how to bait Hinata fast, the girls would arrive at the prank location before he could lure the guys, and his first prank of the day would be in disarray!
'If only I could just ask her…' A lightbulb went off in Naruto's head. He was determined not to let this one girl thwart him! Casting his next henge, he raced in the direction that he last saw the Hyuuga heiress heading.
Hinata kept her hands on her tea cup to avoid fidgeting her fingertips. She sat across from Ino in a small tea house, consumed by an awkward silence. The ponytailed kunoichi had caught her on her way home and spontaneously dragged her here, saying the two of them needed to hang out and have some 'girl time'.
Naruto, henged as Ino, shifted awkwardly. He did not really know much about what girls liked to do, but he thought going to a tea house would seem normal. It was either that or clothes shopping, but that would not give him as much opportunity to talk.
"So… Got any new clothes lately?" 'Ino' asked, beating around the bush. He was afraid it would seem suspicious if he cut straight to the chase.
"I have not…"
"So who do you like?" 'she' blurted with much grace and tact, after Hinata had barely finished her nervous answer.
Hinata choked on her tea. "W-why do you ask that?"
"You know… Just curious. So who is it?"
"I c-can't say…" The reddening Hyuuga tried desperately to avoid answering the nosy girl's question and giving away her biggest secret.
"Come on, you can trust me! I won't go around telling everyone!"
'Yeah right.' "I would r-rather n-not…"
"Have you told anyone else?"
"No…"
"…Have you even told the guy you like them?"
Hinata did not respond verbally. She simply looked down, shaking her head ashamedly.
"Well if you can't even tell me, how're you ever gonna be able to let them know?"
Hinata regretted to admit Ino had a point.
"Just consider it practice."
'Yeah, practice…' she reasoned. She wanted the first person she told to be the boy himself, but at her rate that may never happen. If this could actually help her conquer her nerves… Well, it would be worth a shot.
Letting her guard down momentarily and gathering her resolve with a deep breath, she let loose the identity of her crush.
"I like… I l-like… N… N-Naruto!" she stammered. The blonde across from her had bugged-out eyes and a gaping mouth in reaction.
Hinata saw her disbelief, and knew what was coming. She spoke up again before Ino could ask her "Naruto?! Are you serious?!" or "How can you like the baka!" or something along those lines.
"Look, I know what you are going to say. I know Naruto-kun is not the b-best in the class, b-but he is the hardest working, and h-he refuses to let anything get the better of him, because he n-never loses hope. And he is v-veryk-kind, and always s-so happy and fun…"
'Ino' was shocked.
"…A-and c-cute…" she squeaked into her hand.
'Ino' was shocked and red.
Naruto was pacing on a rooftop, trying to collect his thoughts. After the surprising revelation, he had made up an excuse to leave – working at the family flower shop, or training, or something. He could not even recall as his mind was too invested on his internal battle.
On the one hand, he now knew the bait he needed to fool the last of his female classmates. And it was him. On the other hand – someone liked him! There was one girl in the class with enough taste not to go after the introverted Uchiha, and she liked him! A nice, smart, talented… and cute… kunoichi had a crush on him – but if he got her with this prank, she would probably end up hating him!
The Uzumaki was more conflicted than he had ever been in his life. He had the prank thoroughly thought-out, set up and ready to go! …But he could not turn the only girl who liked him against him! But it was April Fools! Pranking is tradition, she could not hold one harmless joke against him! He could ask her out for real another time! …But she would probably never trust him next time!
Naruto sagged at the headache he was working up.
He had made up his mind. He knew what he had to do.
Hinata was walking back home from a very tiring and strange morning of errands. She just wanted to get inside, have a light lunch, and lie on the couch with the novel she has been reading through the past few days and relax.
But it seemed relaxing was not in her cards as her whiskered crush came striding around the corner just a few feet away from her clan's compound.
She went rigid and red, looking for an escape route, but the blonde saw her before she could run, whether out of nervousness or fear, she was not sure. When he waved, with his bright, wide smile, Hinata gave a timid, small wave back.
"Hey Hinata!"
"N-Naruto-kun…"
"…You okay?" he asked, somewhat concerned.
"O-Of course. Why d-do you ask?"
"Cause you're shaking a lot." That one was new.
Hinata tried to contain her tense body. "S-Sorry, it is nothing."
"Good. Cause if you're interested… I was hoping maybe you would like to go out tonight?"
Hinata could not believe her red ears. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. Was this really happening? Was Naruto really…
Hinata narrowed her eyes, in suspicion and impending sorrow. "Wait… How do I know this is not o-one of your p-pranks?" She may love him, but she was no fool. The heiress had been witness to the many practical jokes her crush enacted on this day, and she had no desire to become the victim of one.
Naruto sighed. She was too smart. So it came to this. He stared her straight in the eyes, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm not doing any sort of pranks. Promise; kay?" 'There's always next year… Besides, at least I might be able to enjoy Valentine's Day for once instead.'
Hinata's eyes tried to jump out of their sockets. This was even more unbelievable than when he asked her out. She knew he meant it, because he always kept his word.
"So will you go on a date with me?"
"…Yes," she answered, gazing to her right, but with a dazzling smile.
"QUICKLY! ETRACT HINATA-SAMA! GO, GO, GO!"
Four Hyuuga guards landed between the children, byakugans flared. Two grabbed their leader's eldest, checking for signs of 'KICK ME' signs, paint and/or stink bombs, itching powdered clothes, glued-coated sandals – anything. The other two flanked the boy in gentle-fist stance, daring the jinchuuriki to make a move.
Naruto leaned to look past the shinobi, but kept his feet rooted and hands to his sides. "I guess we're gonna have to change that date to tomorrow, huh?" he called, grinning sheepishly.
"I guess so," Hinata shouted back as she was being hauled over the gates.
"See ya tomorrow!"
"Yes. Bye!"
Later at the Academy
A puzzled group of young kunoichi all stood atop the roof of their school. They all wore their nicest clothes and makeup, and matching clueless expressions. They were all awaiting one boy to come and sort this problem out, but he never showed.
"What the heck?!"
"Did he just stand us up?"
"He stood you up, not me."
"Yeah; he couldn't stand you up because he asked me out!"
"You're crazy!"
"UGGHH! No, but I am aboutto be if that freaking buzzing doesn't stop! What even is that!"
Focusing for a second, Ino followed the annoying noise to a ventilation duct, and took a peek inside.
"What the hell?! Who left a bucket of molasses and a jar of bees in here?!"
"…Was this a trap?"
The villagers rose with the sun the next day, yawning in waking and relief. They had survived.
Getting up and dressed, everyone tread lightly through their respective homes, assessing the damage done.
…But there was none. April Fools had come and went, and there were no graffiti-ed walls, no marble-covered floors, no shaved or dyed cats or dogs, no tacks on chairs, no buckets of ink above doors, no dye in shampoo bottles, no plastic cockroaches on food, no jello filled toilet, no whoopee cushions on coaches, no pre-shaken cans of cola, no masking tape barriers in doorways, no flang-foodlers in timmiwickers, no uberwoobies on cahoozlers. It was like someone had just stolen April Fools completely from the village.
All around Konoha, people stepped out of their houses, adjusting their eyes to the light of the most beautiful day they had yet to see. And along every street, neighbours came together and joined hands, singing songs of joy and merriment in a delighted chorus that could be heard for miles.
And as this all happened, a new couple of young lovers cuddled atop the Hokage mountain, watching the sunrise as a song seemed to sound from nowhere, just for them.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Like the ending? It was inspired by the Grinch Who Stole Christmas – wrong holiday, and random, but I thought it fit. (The Heiress Who Stole April Fools? …Nah, was tempted to name the fic that for a second lol) Sorry it was late again, plz comment fave & follow!