The Party Begins!
A few minutes before the Hyuga Mansion's doors opened to the party that lay beyond, the boys were all arriving in their tuxedos. A few people had to rent them, since they didn't have the money to actually buy one, and formal dress was mandatory. Everyone's was black, the standard color, except for Naruto's and Lee's. Naruto was wearing a bright orange suit with a blue tie, much like his regular outfit. Everyone tried to avoid looking at it, since it could effectively blind you for a few minutes. Lee's was green with a red tie.
The remaining Sand Siblings had also arrived, both with their weapons still on their backs. When the others gave them an appraising look, Kankuro explained. "Hey, you never know when someone's going to attack you."
"Neji looks like he might snap any minute," Gaara added under his breath. Neji was breathing heavily, and his hair was still in disarray, much to Lee's disappointment. They had been brushing it for hours, but Neji knew from the start that it was no use.
Finally, Sakura opened the doors, welcoming the boys in. She had put her hair up in an elegant bun for the occasion, and was wearing a green dress that matched her eyes perfectly. "Welcome, guys! Wow, I didn't know you were all coming!"
Everyone said hello as they walked into the room, which had been decorated with all kinds of colorful things by the girls. Ino, who was wearing a purple dress, ran straight to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, you look great in a tux! How do you think I look?" Ino said, her arm tossed around his shoulder. He only huffed in reply.
Lee went straight to Sakura, much to her contempt. She had wanted to get to Sasuke before Ino. "Sakura, you look beautiful tonight!!"
"Um, thanks Lee. It's nice to see you in something other than your spandex once in a while." Sakura replied.
"Huh? Oh no, I'm still wearing it underneath!" Lee pulled down his collar an inch to demonstrate his point. Sakura glimpsed a hint of green before Lee started talking again. "You never know when you will have to defend yourself! Neji tried to spring a surprise attack on me on the way here, but I was prepared! He is such a good rival and teammate!" Lee frowned suddenly remembering something. "Speaking of teammates… where is Tenten?"
"What? You mean she's not down yet?" Sakura turned toward the stairs, and yelled, "TENTEN!! GET DOWN HERE NOW!!"
"No way!" Tenten's muffled reply came from farther up the stairs.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for a second." She ran up the staircase, and the slamming of a door and yelling was heard. This had attracted everyone's attention, and they all stared as Sakura wrestled Tenten out. Tenten fell off the side of the railing, and landed face down on the floor. Everyone was wondering if it was appropriate to laugh, but then they all gaped when Tenten got up. She was wearing a red dress with slits down the side of the lower part of the dress, partially revealing her legs, with her hair down.
The room was completely silent, everyone still gaping. Tenten narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "If any of you laugh, I will kill you."
That snapped everyone out of their reverie, and they meekly nodded. Tenten walked awkwardly towards Hinata, who was smiling at her. All the boys absentmindedly wiped their nosebleeds away on their sleeves.
"Tenten, you look great in that dress!" Hinata exclaimed, as Tenten approached her. "Every boy here has a nosebleed now, you know."
"Come on, they're all just trying not to laugh at me." Tenten looked around the room self-consciously.
"Are you kidding? Here look, I'll show you!" Hinata pulled Tenten over to her fellow teammates, Kiba and Shino. "Hi guys!"
Kiba and Shino turned to face the two girls. "Hey Hinata and… um… who are you again?"
"TENTEN!! I'm Tenten!!"
"Oh. Sorry, I couldn't recognize you under all that make up." Kiba explained, slightly blushing.
"So, Kiba… how do you think she looks?" Hinata asked.
"Uh… um… y-you look great, Tenten! So do you, Hinata!" Kiba blushed even deeper.
Hinata gave Tenten an I-told-you-so look, which she ignored. She was watching Temari, who had just come down the stairs in a stylish black dress. Sakura, who had a visible bruise on her cheek from when she wrestling with Tenten, escorted her. Tenten said a quick goodbye to Hinata, wanting to get out of the awkward situation, and walked towards Temari. On her way there, Lee joined her.
"Hi Tenten! You look great!" Lee exclaimed.
"Thanks Lee. You don't look too bad yourself." Tenten surveyed her teammate, and mentally noted his evident nosebleed for later elaboration. "Are you and Neji still going to sing tonight?"
"You bet! We are both very excited! I am sure everyone will be impressed!" By this time, they had reached Sakura and Temari.
"See? Aren't you glad I pulled you down here?" Sakura asked Tenten.
"No." Tenten scowled.
"Sakura, did you just get that bruise?" Lee pointed at the mark slowly darkening on Sakura's face.
"Yeah, Tenten gave me that when I tried pulling her down. Ino has a similar one on her arm. Man, Tenten, you hit hard!"
"Tenten, I do not think you should hurt your friends that way. Please apologize to Sakura right away!" Lee demanded.
"Lee, are you asking for a matching one?" Tenten glared, tensing her hand.
"Tenten—"
Suddenly, they heard Temari break out into laughter. Sakura let out a sigh of relief at the diversion. She didn't want to be in the middle of an argument between teammates. She looked at what was making Temari laugh so hard.
"Oh…oh gosh!! Tenten… you… you gave my brothers nosebleeds!" Temari pointed to her two brothers, who were starting to blush as Tenten scrutinized them. They did indeed show evidence of previous nosebleeds, but they had wiped it away pretty quickly.
It was becoming increasingly uncomfortable between everyone, so Sakura decided to save the day. "I-I see that you came armed. That's really unnecessary, you know."
"Well, you always have to be prepared for battle." Kankuro quickly jumped into the conversation, glad to get rid of the embarrassing moment. Lee nodded, agreeing.
"Y-yeah, Sakura! Being a weapon-specialist, I'm also armed right now!" Tenten smiled, unaware at what she was admitting.
"What? You are?" Everyone asked at once, bewildered.
"O-Oh! Well, yeah…" Tenten stared at her feet, blushing. There was another gauche pause, and everyone wondered where she was hiding her kunai and who knows what else.
To the group's relief, Ino made an announcement at that moment. "HEY, EVERYONE!! Thanks for coming!! Now our first event is a ballroom dancing competition! You may choose your partners, or you may sit out. You have two minutes to make your decision. I HAVE DIBS ON SASUKE!!" Ino rushed towards Sasuke and clutched his arm.
"Dang it!" Sakura stomped her foot, and almost trampled Naruto.
"Hey, Sakura, want to be my dance partner?" Naruto inquired eagerly, beating Lee to the punch.
Sakura considered this for a moment, and then realized that if she doesn't accept Naruto's offer, then she'll have to dance with Lee, so she reluctantly agreed. They went off to talk to Sasuke and Ino about how they were totally going to beat them.
"I'm out." Gaara stepped to the opposite side of the room.
"Right behind you." Kankuro followed his brother out.
"Hmm… whom should I dance with…?" Temari wondered, and then spotted Shikamaru. He'll do. She approached him, and passed Hinata, who was feeling a little defeated about not being able to dance with Naruto at her party, like in all her dreams.
"Oh… it looks like you missed your chance with Naruto. Sorry about that, Hinata." Kiba said from behind Hinata, who was staring wistfully at Naruto.
"O-Oh… yes, well… I'm not sure I would be even brave enough to ask him anyway… Well, I'll get out of your way." Hinata was about to leave, but then Kiba abruptly put his hand on her shoulder. She turned quizzically. Kiba held out his hand, his head turned the other way. "Kiba…?"
"Well… do you need a dance partner, then? I know you've been practicing and all… And I'd hate to see all that practice go to waste!" He turned to face her, and gave her a huge smile.
"Um… you don't have to…" Kiba frowned, and then Hinata quickly added, "…but I have been practicing for a long time!" Kiba grinned again, and they went to the other side of the room.
Meanwhile, Temari had reached Shikamaru, and turned him to face her. "You are going to dance with me."
"No way! That's such a drag…" Shikamaru started to follow Choji to the other side, but Temari pulled him by his tie and brought him only inches away from her face. "Let me be a little clearer: YOU ARE GOING TO DANCE WITH ME OR I WILL KILL YOU."
Shikamaru murmured, "Troublesome woman…" But let himself be dragged to the side with couples.
Lee was devastated that he had missed Sakura, but turned hopefully towards Tenten, the only girl left. "Tenten, would you please dance with me? I have been practicing, and I want to win!"
"No way! You know I'm an awful dancer!" Tenten took a step back.
"Please?"
"No!"
"Please Tenten?"
"No, Lee!"
"It would be an honor!"
"…Fine. But if you're going to dance with me, you better make me look good!"
Lee chuckled, "I do not think you need any help with that tonight!" Suddenly realizing what he said, he slapped a hand over his mouth.
Tenten smirked, secretly enjoying the compliment. "…I'm just going to pretend you never said that."
"Said what?" Lee questioned innocently, his face completely blank as he pulled Tenten towards the couples' side.
Ah ha ha! I'm probably the only one laughing right now… Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter and keep reading! I just realized that Hinata was a little OC in the beginning of this chapter, but like Sakura said, she's being corrupted by Ino.
