Author's Note: It's Sunday and you all know what that means. Enjoy the new chapter everyone and please review. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 9
NRRRD GRRRL
"She might seem shy in person, it's no lie
She's always nervous
But the verdict is she's worth it..."
~" NRRRD GRRRL" by MC CHRIS~
Primping the sweater worn over the dress the girl in front of her was wearing, Sakura stepped back and gave Hinata the once over. The girl looked stunning in the clothes that Ino let them borrow. Sakura pouted her lip, looking for anything else that needed her attention. Lifting some of Hinata's long hair so that it framed her face, Sakura combed the girl's bangs with her fingers. She smiled and let the Hyuuga look at herself in the mirror. The reaction on Hinata's face alerted Sakura to the fact that the other girl liked how she looked. Linking arms with Hinata, the rosette ushered her towards her car outside. As they drove, Sakura noticed Hinata tugging at the clothes she wore as if they were making her uncomfortable. Sakura reached over to stop Hinata from messing with them.
"If you keep doing that," Sakura said. "Then it'll get messed up and wrinkled."
"I realize that Sakura," Hinata replied. "But why does Ino own such itchy clothing?"
Sakura chuckled. "They're not itchy, you're just nervous about this little scheme we put together."
Hinata didn't say anything else and hid her redden face by looking at the road. The plan to get Hinata and Naruto together was rather simple. The girls decided that the two would have dinner together and would then go see a movie. All Hinata had to do was display some of that Hyuuga charm that is, if she could get over her nerves. Knowing that Hinata probably wouldn't feel comfortable doing this by herself, Sakura opted to go with her and dragging a reluctant Sasuke along for the ride. Sasuke would bring Naruto to the restaurant, unknown to the fact that he was on a double date. Then they would all go to the movie theater, making sure that Naruto would have no choice , but to sit next to Hinata. If the plan came out a success, then Naruto might want to see Hinata again. And if it failed, then there was always a Plan B.
The girls pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant of choice for the date. Sakura looked around for either Sasuke's or Naruto's car. Seeing that neither car was there, she gestured for Hinata to follow her into the building. They got a booth for four and sat down to wait for the guys to get there. Sakura pulled out a compact mirror and out of boredom, checked to see if her makeup was okay. Putting it down, she noticed that the young Hyuuga in front of her was nervously twiddling her fingers. She was breathing heavily, the red on her cheeks that had developed in the car never went away and was intensifying. Sakura said her name, but the other girl was simply too nervous to answer. Sighing, Sakura snapped her fingers in Hinata's face and the girl jolted in respond. She then looked away like she was ashamed.
"It's okay to be nervous," Sakura told her. "I mean, everyone is nervous on their first date."
"How c-can this be a first date if one p-person doesn't even know that he's o-on a date?" Hinata asked.
"Good point," Sakura took into consideration. Then she smiled. "How 'bout I show you some techniques to help calm your nerves?"
"That would be great."
The first thing that Sakura did was switch their drinks; Hinata's soda replaced with Sakura's water.
"Caffeine heightens anxiety, so stay clear of it if you start to feel nervous," Sakura started off. "Next, take a deep breaths or mentally count to ten. These will help focus you and relieve any tension."
Hinata nodded, listening to everything that Sakura was saying.
"Finally, smile and laugh more," Sakura explained with a large grin. "It puts you into a good mood and helps you forget that you're nervous."
Hinata smiled. "Thank you Sakura. I'll be sure to try these things that you suggested."
"Looks like you're doing it already," Sakura pointed out.
The shy girl slightly snickered, "Looks like it."
A waiter came over asking if they were ready to order and Sakura told him politely that they were still waiting for their friends to arrive. He said that he would be back later and the girls started talking. They first discussed what movie they thought they were going to see. Sakura had put Sasuke in charge of choosing the movie. By allowing him to choose the movie, it was in a way a test. If he picked the right one, then it meant that he knew what Sakura wanted to see. And since Sakura was having a friend join them at the movies, it was also somewhat of a test to see if he knew what both girls wanted to watch.
The door of the restaurant opened and Sakura strained her neck to see who had walked in. She didn't have to wait long to find out. It was impossible not to hear Naruto's loud mouth. When he and Sasuke came into view, Sakura waved them over to their booth. Before they got there, the rosette turned to Hinata.
"Okay," she whispered quickly. "It's show time Hinata. Remember those calming techniques I told you about and you'll be fine. Also, don't be afraid to strike up a conversation with him. Ready? Here they come."
Sasuke slid into the booth next to Sakura and she greeted him with a peck on the cheek. Hinata gulped as Naruto sat next to her. She scooted a little closer to the wall next to the booth, but found out that she was still really close to the blonde. The table was silent despite the noise of the other restaurant customers around them. Sakura decided to break the silence for Hinata's benefit.
"So, what movie are we going to see guys?" she asked both Naruto and Sasuke.
Sasuke smirked like he's been asked the same question over a million times before. Naruto narrowed his glance on Sasuke and pouted.
"Teme has refused to tell me," Naruto grunted. "No matter how many times I have asked him."
"Well, I'm sure that it'll be a good one," she responded. "So Hinata and I were discussing the types movies that we liked before you guys got here. Hinata was wondering what movies you like Naruto."
The rosette looked to the shy girl and saw that she wasn't really paying attention. Sakura gently kicked her underneath the table and subtly nodded her head towards Naruto.
Hinata turned pink and mentally counted to ten before asking, "Y-yes Naruto, w-what movies do y-you like?"
Naruto scrunched up his nose as he thought. Then he turned to her and smiled.
"Well, I guess anything actiony is good enough for me," he said. "A good scary movie once and awhile is also nice. What about you?"
"O-oh, I could never s-sit through a s-scary movie," Hinata stuttered. "T-they're too s-scary for me."
"They're not scary if you really think about it," Naruto assured her. "If you think about it, what are the chances of anything in the movie actually happening in real life. You know what? If you saw a scary movie with me, I could prove it to you that they're not bad at all. It's just the sound of the music and the acting in the scenes."
"Oh, okay N-naruto," Hinata said.
Sakura watched the two interact for a little bit and turned to talk to Sasuke. She whispered into his ear, "You're not taking us to a scary movie are you?"
Sasuke smirked. "Hn."
"You better not be," she told him.
"Why? You too scared to go to one?" he asked.
She swatted his arm playfully. "Not at all. Hey look, here comes our waiter."
Their waiter took their orders and came back in thirty minutes later with the food. As Hinata sipped the soup she had asked for, Sakura wondered why she wasn't talking to Naruto more. If she wanted to be with Naruto, Hinata was going to have to talk to him more so that they knew each other better. To remind her of her task, Sakura kicked her again. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized the force of her kick. Hinata jerked forward after receiving the blow and her spoon, full of soup, dribbled over her. The soup left a large spot on the white sweater she was borrowing from Ino. Hinata looked up at Sakura who had her hand over her mouth in shock. Both knew that if Ino knew that this had happen, she would skin them alive. Hinata could feel the stain start to seep in further and knew that she had to take off the sweater. She really didn't want to, being self-conscious about herself. The dress underneath the sweater had thin straps and somewhat of a low heart-shaped neckline. Hinata wasn't comfortable showing that much skin. Well, that and it was also a bit chilly in the restaurant and outside.
Not wanting to ruin the dress as well, Hinata removed the sweater. Sakura held out her hand, stating that she'll do what she could to remove the stain. Meanwhile, Hinata wrapped her arms in front of her chest out of embarrassment. The air conditioning in the restaurant then kicked up and it was suddenly colder. Mentally pleading with the air conditioner to turn off, Hinata rubbed her arms to get warmer. A hand tapped her bare shoulder and she practically jumped. Naruto chuckled at her side and held up his jacket towards her. She simply stared at it, as if she was dumbfounded to why he was handing this to her. Then it became clear. He was telling her to use it. She slipped it over her shoulders, the jacket still radiating the body heat after it had been used by its previous owner. Hinata blushed and bashfully thanked him.
Sakura watched them the entire time. She could have sworn that Naruto was blushing as well.
After leaving the restaurant and arriving at the theater, Sasuke had finally revealed his movie choice: A Murder at the Lake House. It was supposed to be the scariest movie out there, or at least that's what the trailer said. He knew that Sakura wasn't too fond of going to this movie and after listening in on Hinata's conversation with Naruto, he knew Hinata was definitely not going to be into this. However, there was a reason to why he had chosen this movie in particular. He wasn't stupid and had heard enough from other friends that if you take a girl to a scary movie, they will more than likely cling onto you when they get scared. If this theory was true, then Hinata would cling onto Naruto and Sakura's plan would soon become a success.
Naruto had once told Sasuke that he was somewhat interested in the Hyuuga girl, but wasn't sure about if he wanted to pursue her. It only made Sasuke's and even Sakura's job easier by mentioning this.
Sasuke made himself comfortable in the movie theater seat with Sakura by his side. Hinata was next to her and like Sakura wanted, Naruto was seating with a nervous Hinata. Sasuke had chosen the end seat to prevent Naruto from sitting next to him. The lights in the theater dimmed and the screen began to play the movie. When the first suspenseful scene came on the screen, the audience jumped. Sasuke noticed that Sakura had wrapped her arm around his and squeezed it as she turned away from the movie. With his free arm, he caressed her shoulder to tell her it was okay to look again. However, whenever he did this, another scary part of the movie would come on and she would be back against him him again.
"I hate you for this," she said into his shoulder, after seeing another scene.
"You'll thank me later," he told her and nudged her to look beside her.
She did so and saw Hinata covering her eyes with her hands. Naruto extended his arm over her shoulder and guided her to his side. The shy girl did not seem to care that his arm was around her or for the fact that she was creating a sanctuary with his upper body. When the scene ended, Naruto whispered something to Hinata and she peeked through her fingers to watch the rest of the movie again. Sasuke saw Sakura smile at this and laid his arm over her shoulder to pull in her.
"It's working," she said softly. "It's a miracle."
"Hn," was all that Sasuke said.
The movie ended about an hour or so later and the four of them walked outside. They stood outside the theater in two separate groups, both talking about the movie. Sasuke was only half listening to what Naruto was telling him and almost missed the last bit that came out of the blonde's mouth.
"Sorry, what was that?" Sasuke asked.
"I think that I might want to see Hinata again," Naruto softly stated.
"Then why are you telling me?" Sasuke told him. "Tell her that."
And that he did. Sasuke watched as Naruto went over to the girls. As he talked to Hinata, Sakura looked over towards Sasuke and rose a slender brow. Sasuke smirked and the rosette's face lit up. The plan that she and the other girls had come up with worked.
Author's Note: Hope you like the chapter. Now, next chapter will be the Valentine's Day chapter and should have some SakuSasu moments in it. Sasuke is supposed to be giving her something in that chapter and I'm unsure of what I want it to be. If you guys have any ideas, let me know. Also, I don't know if anyone really cares but last chapter's song couldn't be found on the website that the playlist is on. Look the song up on youtube or something if you want. And this chapter's song sort of goes with the chapter, but I thought that one part I put down at the beginning works. Anyway, once again I hope you like the chapter and please review. :)
