Author's Notes
Hello to everyone who is reading this, I know that I have not done author's notes for the previous chapters of the story, and I may not do them often at all, but I decided that perhaps now would be a good time to put this in.
I want to use this to thank the people that are reading my fan fiction and that are giving me reviews. I understand that the chapters are short and I have come to realize that in comparison to some others peoples' stories, mine, in my opinion, falls short. Still, I welcome any comments, whether good or bad, helpful or otherwise, on my progress so far. I am really making an effort to make the duration of my chapters longer, but I don't really have too much time to write these things as I have many things to do during the day and sitting down in the evening when I am tired and bushed to write this, relaxes me in a way, but can also add to my tiredness.
Still, I really want to finish this story and I love to write even if it is only for myself to read. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I also thank you all again for the reviews and I hope that you will continue reading the story I enjoy typing for you and myself.
I hope to put something of interest in this chapter of the story, even as much as I enjoy the fluff, I also like a good battle and such from time to time.
I should also put that please don't post reviews or send me messages saying that you don't approve of something that I put in the story. I think that if I'm right I may get some reactions to it, but I won't spoil anything before you read. Let's see if you guys can figure out what I am talking about. I don't think it'll be that big of a deal, but some people do get touchy on the subject. It's a fanfiction people, just a warning ahead of time. ;)
Besides these things, I would also like to apologize for the lack of Temari's last name. I do not know what it is and I tried to look up Gaara's last name thinking I would find something(you know they are related so they would share the same last name), but everyones' best bet is Sabuku. Since I am unsure I just didn't put anything.
Also, I feel like I should probably mention that I may put some other couples in this story other than that of Naruto and Hinata. I haven't fully decided on it yet though. Keep reading to find out. ;)
Hearts! Vanessa
On to the story... ;)
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Chapter Four: A Christmas Celebration
Fourth Day of Winter...December 25th, Christmas Day,
As Hinata snoozed peacefully, her head on the hard wood of the desk, a small puddle of drool under her mouth and her yellow diary and party invitation sitting open for prying eyes to look. She did not stir, why would she when it was only about six in the morning? There still was someone awake though and they were quite intent on prying into the Hyuuga's things...
The velvety book slowly removed from under her hand and brought up into the hand of an intruder in the Hyuuga mansion. No emotion crossed his face as he read the pages from the very beginning of the personal book, only when he got to the latest entry did his interest pique.
A knock was heard at the door and the young man's head snapped around towards the wooden barrier. His gaze hovered back over to the navy haired kunoichi who was stirring slowly awake. Quickly snatching up the invitation and scanning it, logging the information in his head for later use, he returned the book to the desk and excused himself through the open window.
Finally, Hinata awakening from her peaceful slumber, did not bother going to the door. She instead just started on preparing herself for the party in the afternoon, she knew that it was hours away, but preparing herself would take a large amount of time and then perhaps she will go around to asking if her fellow squad members were invited.
Her outfit picked out consisted of a tight fitting kimono that was lavender in color to match her eyes. A light yellow was delicately fitted into the arrangement of the outfit, giving her an elegant and bright look. The only thing that she did not like about her attire was the fit of it to her body, exposing her shape, as it made her feel embarrassed and she did not think herself very attractive, despite the fact that she is. She decided to take her hair from the duck style and bring it down so that it was long and flowing, it reached just below her shoulder blades. Observing how her hair looked in that way, she gave a small smile and proceeded to brush it gently so that it was soft to the touch, but had a marvelous shine. Slipping her small feet into a pair of two and a half inch heels, she looked over herself in the mirror and despite her low self-esteem, Hinata was quite pleased with her appearence. One last thing she needed though and looked over to the flower that Ino had given her the previous day. She picked it up and placed it into her hair, smiling at her reflection brightly.
Another knock came to the door, about an hour and a half had passed, she still had quite a while to go until the party began. She answered this time and Neji stood on the other side. When getting a full look at her, he made a small sound in awe and then cleared his throat with a smile. "Hinata, you look magnificent. I assume that it is for the Christmas party that you were invited to attend?" he said with a small bow to her.
Hinata returned the bow and put her hands together happily. "I am glad that you like it Neji, yes it is, do you think that I am over dressed?" she asked him then frowning, worries finally popping into her head.
"No, you have overdone nothing. I hope that you enjoy your evening there." he told her and took a moment to look at her again and then smile before finally taking his leave.
Pleased once again, Hinata then thought of something, she didn't want everyone to see her before the party, well besides Kiba and Shino so she went into the hallway and looked to Neji walking.
"Neji! Wait, if I may please ask a favor of you!" she called as she shuffled to him in her heels.
The Hyuuga male turned around to look at her and nodded. "Of course you may." he said and folded his arms to his chest, watching her with an expressionless face.
"Okay, please, may you find Kiba and Shino and ask them to come here? I request to speak to them." she asked him and smiled.
"I will go right away." he told her and started to take off already.
"Thank you Neji!" Hinata called to him as he disappeared behind the Hyuuga estate's entrance doors. She sighed and then returned to her room where her attention was returned to the desk. A frown played across her lips as something seemed off to her. Placing the thoughts in the back of her mind, she sat on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, humming absentmindedly. Not too long after, a loud voice was heard through her walls.
"It's too early for this!" came the all too familiar voice of Kiba and a bark that belonged to Akamaru no doubt followed in agreement.
"Please, keep you voice down." Neji's voice was heard as a knock came to the door.
"Ack!" was all that was heard when Hinata answered the door and stepped aside to allow them in. Kiba and Shino entered and Neji excused himself, closing the door behind him.
The Inuzuka clan member and the Aburame clan member both looked around to the young Hyuuga heiress and one had a grin plastered to his face and the other bore the same facial expression as he usually did. Hinata brought her hands together behind her back and smiled shyly.
"How do I look?" she asked them quietly, looking at the ground and not noticing Kiba's expression.
Shino shrugged and made no comment. He did not really pay attention to her much as to the inside of her room.
Akamaru barked happily and approvingly from atop his companion's head. Kiba smiled to her. "Hinata! You look great! Better than great! Is this all for the Christmas party later on?" he asked her, he couldn't help but stare at her somewhat, his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, you guys were invited too? I'm glad." Hinata said and smiled brightly, she giggled somewhat.
Kiba scowled. "No, Shino wasn't invited, but I'm bringing him as my plus one." he said and grinned over to the bug speacialist. When he got no response back, he shrugged and looked back to Hinata. "You bringin' anyone?" he asked curiously.
Hinata didn't know if she should tell anyone else her guest because of the reaction she got from Ino the previous day.
"I-I'm bringing Naruto..." she said and made sure to whisper the last part so that it was barely audible.
Kiba frowned. "Come again?" he asked, but Akamaru made a bark to him and then he scowled again. "Ack! That baka? So he wasn't invited eh? I figured." he said and then snickered a bit.
Hinata didn't say anything, she merely looked to the ground with a somewhat hurt expression on her face. She backed up a bit and sat on her bed and sighed.
Shino eyed her and then looked to Kiba. "You're very rude do you know that? I'm surprised that you were even invited..." he said and then glanced to Hinata who looked at him with a small smile, seeming to feel better.
"Ack, what do you know?" Kiba growled and made a rude gesture towards Shino and the white dog on his head joined in with a yip of his own.
The Aburame boy rolled his eyes and headed to the door. "I'm leaving, see you all later on." he said and walked out of the room by himself.
Kiba looked after him with an angry expression to his face. "Ack, I wonder why I even invited him to come with me." he said and crossed his arms to his chest in a huffy way and then turned back to the beautiful kunoichi on her bed. He sat at the desk and Akamaru hopped off of his head and proceeded to sniff around her room. "So Hinata, what do you think I should dress in for the party?" he asked her with a bright smile.
The lavender-eyed young lady gave him a surprised look and then bit her lip. "You're asking me for something like that? Perhaps you should go see Ino or Sakura for attire advice." she said and giggled a bit.
Kiba cocked his head to the side and frowned. "What are you talking about? You did really well dressing yourself, why not me?" he said and then returned to his smile.
Hinata blushed somewhat from embarrassment. "Thank you...I really don't know though Kiba, I don't really know your style and what you would like to dress in and such." she said with a small smile and then an apologetic look.
He shrugged. "Alright, but if I end up looking like a bum at the party then I'm blaming you." he said and then chuckled, standing up and returning his hands to his jacket pockets. "Come on Akamaru!" he said to the white dog that was sniffing around Hinata's diary.
"Rrrarf!" Akamaru barked and then jumped up Kiba's arm to rest on his head. Kiba turned back to the kunoichi and smiled. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder grinning. "Oi, you better not change your mind about coming to the party alright? See ya!" he said and ran off and out of the door, closing it tightly behind him.
Hinata sighed and then looked to her diary which she kept getting the feeling that someone else had read it. "Maybe I only feel that way because Akamaru was sniffing about it...?" she thought to herself with a frown. She stood up and went over to it, placing the small velvety book inside of the draw where she thought she should keep it from now on.
Hours later...
More knocks to the door, Hinata was getting pretty tired of all this knocking already, it was all she heard everyday. She went over to the door a little nervous, she wondered if it was Naruto. Finally she pulled the door open and outside stood an impatient, but handsome blonde young man in the door.
He was tapping his foot and had his arms crossed in front of his chest. He seemed to dress for the occasion though as he had a long sleeved, buttoned down black shirt and clean, crisp black pants. He sported black boots and he looked more ready to go to a fancy funeral then to a Christmas party. His shirt was buttoned all the way up until the first two top buttons and his collar was down as intended. It fit nicely to him, not too snug, but not exactly loose either, same with his pants. When he finally noticed an embarrassed Hinata standing at the door, he put his hands behind his head and grinned.
"Hey, you look wonderful." he complimented and watched as she swayed slightly in her spot, hanging onto the door for support it seemed. He frowned as she was very red. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked her.
The navy haired girl smiled and shook her head. "I-I-I'm fine...Thank you for the compliment...You look h-ha-handsome as well." she told him and bowed her head.
He gave a small pinkness to his cheeks and chuckled. "Nah...Anyway, we should get going then, come on!" he said and offered her his arm to take with a smile.
Her lavender eyes traveled slowly to his arm and back up to his face and then back to his arm and etc. She bit her lip and didn't know if she should take it or go with her instinct and strong urge to faint. She shook her head and decided it best just not to think and go with the flow. Taking his arm a little nervously, she looked to him with a smile and then turned back to facing foreward.
"Sh-Shall we go then?" she asked quitely and he nodded as they started to walk.
"You know, your hair looks really good like that Hinata." he told her and they made light conversation all the way to Ino's house.
When arriving, Naruto took the liberty of knocking on the door and waiting for someone to answer. A blonde young girl came to the door smiling but soon frowned a bit.
"Merry Christmas. Oh, hey Hinata...Naruto." Ino said and stepped aside, opening the door wide to let them in. They stepped in and looked around, everyone was dressed up like Hinata assumed and the house looked very lovely, elaborately decorated.
Snowflakes that sparkled mischeviously hung down from the ceiling and the lights were dimmed to give a winter night effect. The ground was covered with a soft blanket of fake snow and it was annoying Naruto as it clung to his black clothing. There were cookies and cakes and even sandwiches in various shapes like pine trees and snowninja. Punch was at every table as were an assortment of plates, utensils, cups and napkins.
Ino watched them walk arm in arm with a slightly sour look and then spoke cheerly. "Make sure to pick up your party favors before leaving okay? They are in the little bags on that table." she told them and pointed over to the table where, sure enough, a bunch of little bags decorated nicely were sitting waiting to be taken home.
Hinata and Naruto both nodded and then Ino went over to stand beside Hinata. "Can I talk to you a moment?" she asked with a bright smile and took Hinata's arm.
Hinata didn't really want to leave Naruto's side, but she looked up to look into his blue eyes. He nodded and took his arm back, going over to talk to Sakura who he spotted rather quickly.
The lavender-eyed kunoichi frowned, but allowed Ino to walk with her around the party. "So...You and Naruto here on a...you know...date?" the blue-eyed female asked Hinata innocently.
Hinata looked to her blushing. "N-No...He is just here as my fr-friend." she said and gave an awkward smile. "W-Why do you ask Ino?" she asked her.
Ino gave a laugh that seemed like she was hiding something. "J-Just curious Hinata! Am I the only one that knows you like him?" she said and brought her voice low when she asked her question.
Hinata found the Yamanaka's actions suspicious, but decided to brush it off for now. "T-To my knowledge, yes. Please don't tell anyone Ino, I don't know if I'd be able to show myself again here if h-he found out..." the Hyuuga heiress said and looked down to the ground with a somber expression.
Ino sighed. "Of course I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me..." she replied and released Hinata's arm and went off to answer the door. "Have fun!" she called back to Hinata who smiled a bit back to her.
Moving her lavender eyes around the room to search for Naruto, she found the blonde haired young man talking and laughing with the pink haired medical ninja in training. She felt a little heartfallen, but decided that perhaps she should try and make conversation with someone else, as not to appear lonely. She spotted someone that looked very familiar from behind speaking to Ten-Ten and walked over.
"Neji?" Hinata asked tapping the shoulder of the young man questioningly.
The navy haired male turned around and smiled to the Hyuuga heiress. He was very nicely dressed and it was odd for Hinata, but she smiled to him non-the-less.
"Hello Hinata. How are you?" he asked her, taking a sip from the cup of punch in his hand. Ten-Ten waved brightly to the young kunoichi from behind Neji.
"I'm fine...How come you didn't tell me you were invited?" Hinata asked with a slight frown.
"Because I was not invited, Ten-Ten took me as her guest." he replied motioning a hand over to his female squad member who smiled.
"I see, my apologies for misunderstanding. Have fun then." Hinata said and both her and Neji bowed their heads as she walked away from them.
Meanwhile, Ino was answering the ever ringing doorbell. Kiba was the first one to arrive after Hinata and Naruto.
"Merry Christmas. I though you bringing that bug freak?" Ino said and made a face.
Kiba scowled. "He said he didn't feel like dressing up for a stupid event." he said bitterly and Akamaru barked.
Ino shook her head. "Come on in. Make sure that dog stays out of trouble." she warned and the little white dog responded with a growl. He had a cute bowtie wrapped around his neck.
The next guests were a young man who appeared quite bored accompanied by a dressed up sand kunoichi.
"Merry Christmas. You told me you wouldn't dress up for my party, but when she comes you do!" Ino scowled and yelled to him.
The young man shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, hey, don't just assume things like that. Dressing up was troublesome, but be happy I bothered even showing up." he said and walked inside, the sand ninja walking in after him.
The ninja that came from the sand's normal attire consisted of a lavender top above a fishnet top. A skirt that was also lavender and a red cloth wrapped across her waist. Fish nets also were on her left thigh ending right above the knee and her right calf ending just below the knee. She bore normal ninja footwear except black in color and her Sunagakure forehead protector hung around her neck. Her blonde hair was up in four individual tails at two at the top and two at the bottom of her head and one two on each respective side. She had blue eyes and was a very formidable opponent. Known for carrying and battling with a large fan and air currents, she is very intelligent and strong. Her name is Temari.
The young shinobi on the other hand was a Konoha ninja. He had his hair up in a spikey ponytail and like Ino, wore earrings. He had a lazy and uncaring look and air about him. Ascending to the rank of Chuunin earlier than anyone else in his group, his normal attire consists of the normal chuunin jacket and he wears the Konoha band around his left forearm. He wears black pants and the normal ninja footwear. Part of the Nara clan known for attacking by controling shadows, he has a great intelligence and could easily do anything he put his mind to, but he is extremely lazy to put his smarts to much use in his everyday life. He would give anything for his friends and loves to watch the clouds. He is called Nara Shikamaru.
The next knock that came to the door was a heavier ninja who was dressed up, but snacking on a bag of potatoe chips rather hungrily.
"Hey, Merry Christmas." Ino said and twitched as he spoke a piece of a chip landed on her face.
"Merry Christmas to you too Ino!" the ninja said happily and walked inside immiediately heading for the snack tables.
Spikey brown hair stuck out of the ninja band worn as somewhat of a helmet on his head. This shinobi's normal appearence consisted of an ear piercing on his right ear and red swirls painted onto his cheeks. He wore a long scarf around his neck and a green coat over his shirt that bore the kanji for 'eat' and 'food'. Navy shorts and bandages on his arms and running up to his elbows. His legs also bore the bandages up and into his shorts. The normal ninja footgear, he is part of the Akimichi clan known for using their larger sizes to enlarge body parts and attack with their access body weight. His name is Akimichi Choji, a loveable ninja that is very sensitive to remarks about his weight.
"Choji! You better not eat all the food!" Ino yelled to him angrily and shook a fist in his direction. He seemed to disregard her though and continue eating.
Another guest arrived, knocking on the door in rapid succession.
"Alright, alright!" Ino said and opened the door to reveal a rather strange looking ninja.
"Merry Christmas, come on in." she said and stepped aside to allow the ninja in. She had invited him purposely to bother Sakura and grinned as that was the last person she invited to the party.
"Merry Christmas to you as well Ino!" the shinobi said loudly and gave her a thumbs up and a big smile.
"...Oh I'm sure I'll have one alright." the blonde kunoichi muttered under her breath as she went around to talk to people.
The unique looking ninja, as he was reffered to, had a strange bowl cut hairstyle done with his jet black hair. He had extremely large eyebrows that deemed him the nickname of 'fuzzy brows' from Naruto. He normally wears a green jumpsuit and wears his Konoha band around his waist proudly. He wears orange pant sleeves that are removable and run up to the knees, to conceal extremely heavy weights that he uses to train and already having an amazing speed with the weights on, when taken off he is merely a blur to the eye. Since he is unable to use his chakra, he specializes in taijutsu and believes that with hard work, he can surpass those that can use chakra and ninjutsu as well as genjutsu. An aspiring and polite young man, his name is Rock Lee.
Spotting Sakura almost immiediately, he ran over to her and smiled. "Hello Sakura, you look magnificent tonight, as you do every other night of course." he said and bowed his head to her.
Naruto frowned and folded his arms, but Sakura gave a small blush and giggled a bit. "Thank you Lee." she said and offered him a cup of punch. He accepted gratefully and drank it cheerfully. While making conversation with them to which Naruto tried to tune out.
A few hours passing into the party and Ino started going around with miseltoe in her hand. Some people groaned, but others just remained silent and tried to show that they did not care much. "Come on guys! What's a Christmas party without miseltoe?" she said simpily and smiled cheerfully.
She went over to random groups of people and her first destination was to the little circle of Naruto, Sakura and Lee. She put the plant over Naruto's head and stood under with him. "Looks like it's me." she said and smiled somewhat.
He gave a sour look and scowled loudly, but finally just kissed her lightly on the cheek so she would move on. Hinata watched a bit hurt that Ino would do something like that even after knowing how the lavender-eyed girl felt about him, but she just assumed it was all in the spirit and tried not to let it get to her.
After letting the miseltoe hover over Sakura and Lee, the blonde kunoichi looked over to a sad looking Hinata and sighed. "Damn me for having a heart..." she thought to herself and then turned to Naruto. "Hey! The person who invited you looks rather lonely! Why don't you go and join her?" Ino yelled at Naruto.
The blonde haired ninja looked over to where Hinata was standing and shook his head. He walked over to her and leaned against the table. "Hey Hinata, having fun?" he asked her with a smile.
She looked over to him and smiled. "Yes." she replied simpley.
"You know, if you were standing here all alone, you could have just come over to talk to me, Sakura and Lee." he said and frowned somewhat, he could tell she wasn't really having a good time.
"I, well, I didn't want to..." she started with a small blush. She wanted to say she didn't really want to hang around him when he was around Sakura, but she couldn't bring herself to admit she had a problem with his one-sided affection for her.
"Didn't want to what Hinata?" he asked her and tilted his head to look at her face. They were interuppted though at a loud yell from Shikamaru.
"No! Get that thing away from me!" the Nara shinobi yelled and pushed Ino's hand away from the top of his head.
"Come on Shikamaru! Everyone else did it!" Ino yelled back fighting against him and looking angry.
Temari stood with her arms folded to her chest and frowned somewhat. "Gee, I didn't know that I was so disgusting." she said and looked away from Shikamaru and the struggling Yamanaka kunoichi with an upset face.
Shikamaru let the blonde ninja fall to the ground and looked to the sand kunoichi with an exhasperated expression. "I don't think you are disgusting! Troublesome, yes, but not disgusting." he told her and folded his arms as well.
When she did not answer, he sighed and cursed. "Shit, screw it, fine!" he said and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to him and putting his lips against hers, taking the sand ninja by surprise.
Everybody watched, Naruto trying to contain his laughter, it looked really awkward and when Shikamaru pulled out he had a small blush to his face. Temari was still taken aback and couldn't bring herself to say anything. She settled for leaving the spot and getting something to drink from the tables.
"Gee Shikamaru, you didn't have to kiss her on the lips." Ino said and smirked, putting her hands on her hips and looking at the Nara shinobi with an amused expression.
Shikamaru looked angry for a moment and then made a gesture to Ino. "Damnit! You women are so...troublesome!" he yelled and stormed out of the party, not before taking a party favor for himself though. He slammed the door behind him, causing a shining snowflake to fall on Naruto's head.
"Watch it!" Naruto yelled rubbing his mass of spikey blonde hair. He turned back to Hinata though and then everyone else returned to their previous conversations as well. "So, what were we talking about?" he asked with a smile.
Hinata sighed in relief that he forgot. "I don't remember truthfully Naruto...That must have been embarrassing..." she said and looked to Temari with a sympathetic expression, but the sand ninja didn't look entirely upset, she looked more shocked and confused than anything.
"Yeah...Oh well though, I'm sure they'll get over it." the blue-eyed shinobi said and smiled happily.
Ino felt bad for Choji who had lost his talking buddy and headed over to him with the miseltoe above their heads. "Merry Christmas." she said cheerfully and gave him a light peck on the cheek before proceeding. This did seem to make the chubby shinobi feel a bit better.
The Hyuuga heiress noticed Ino coming towards Naruto and herself and felt her heart jump in her chest. She turned to Naruto and pretended she didn't notice, acting surprised when Ino approached them with the plant hanging over their heads.
"Come on...You don't want to make a scene like Shikamaru did do you? Cause I have no problem with that." the Yamanaka kunoichi said cheerfully and looked to both of them.
Hinata smiled back to her and Naruto merely shrugged. He was about to give the crimson red lavender-eyed girl a kiss on the cheek when the ceiling came down suddenly, everyone bounding to one side of the room.
"What the hell!?" Ino yelled as the smoke started clearing to reveal a young man standing up from the pile of rubble on the powdery floor.
He brushed himself off and looked to everyone. "Am I too late for the party...?" he asked in a deep and emotionless voice.
