A/N: Before you begin this chapter I just want to say sorry to any of you who will be upset with the outfits that I picked out for the ball. Wanted to do something a little different then what we have been seeing through this story.
ENJOY
Hinata woke up the next morning cold and uncomfortable. She then realized that she was not wrapped in Sasuke's arms like she had been the past couple of days. Instead he was sleeping his back facing her. She let out a deep sigh.
The almost kiss that they shared had put an awkwardness between them. Neither has said a word to one another since then and it was driving Hinata crazy.
She felt like she should apologize but for what? They never actually kissed. Naruto had interrupted them before they could. Hinata was actually a little upset with the blonde for it. If she was being honest, deep down she had wanted to kiss the Uchiha. Part of her knew it was insane. She had never talked to him before this mission and he was Sasuke Uchiha the man that could have any woman in the village so he would never be interested in boring her. But there was another part that wanted nothing more than to be held in his arms and be kissed.
"Why do I always mess things up?" Hinata asked herself. She then took a deep breath and got up to head for the shower.
What Hinata didn't know was that Sasuke was already up.
He had actually been up for a long time. He didn't get much sleep that night. He sat up when he heard the bathroom door close. Sasuke let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his hair. He was being a complete jerk to Hinata. It wasn't her fault that he almost kissed her. And yet he decided to not talk to her for the rest of the night.
Once again he was pushing people away.
And now she thinks it's her fault. With most people he wouldn't care. But with her it was different. He needed to talk to her soon to clear things. Sasuke was broken from his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door. With a moan he got up to open it.
"What?" He looked to see Naruto with his hand ready to knock again.
"Morning! " The blonde looked into the room. "Where's Hinata?"
"She's in the shower."
"Oh okay well I just wanted to let you know that the tailors will be here soon."
"Tailors?"
"Yeah, apparently the Daimyo is doing something different. He wants all his guests to wear some kind of foreign clothing. The fashion is apparently from far away."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Fine. Anything else?" But before Naruto could answer the bathroom door opened.
Hinata walked out drying her hair with a towel and still dressed in her sleepwear; which consisted of her short shorts that were hidden under none other then Sasuke's shirt.
Naruto's eyes went wide. "Is that your s-sh…"
Sasuke slammed the door in the blonde's face before he could finish the sentence or continue to stare at Hinata.
The noise made Hinata look over at the Uchiha with a confused look. "What was that about?"
"Tailors are coming to fit us."
"What for? We already have formal attire for the ball."
"Apparently the Daimyo is going for something more exotic."
"I see. I wonder what they will look like."
Sasuke shrugged. "Beats me. As long as it doesn't hinder us in case of an attack."
"I'm sure it won't be any worse then a yukata." Hinata smiled.
And with that, the tension between the two seemed to ease and they could go back into their usual routine. This was good because they would need to be on high alert for tonight.
About half an hour later, a group of women arrived to begin taking measurements for the group's clothing.
Hinata spent some time talking to the seamstresses to learn about the clothes that they were making. Apparently their inspiration was coming from the west and consisted of the men wearing a completely different outfit then the traditional yukatas.
Luckily Hinata already knew about this new fashion craze. Thanks to her father, she had met with many influential people from all over the world and learned a lot about the different fashions. So Hinata actually to the incentive to pick out and design the outfits that everyone would be wearing for the ball but she did not tell anyone what they would like.
An hour before the Grand Ball was about to begin a seamstress came to give them the final outfits.
Hinata took a deep breath in front of the mirror. This was it. This ball was going to be the best chance for the Daimyo to be attacked so they all needed to be on the alert. She made sure that her weapons pouch was fastened securely to her leg, just in case. Once she made sure that and her hair and makeup were good she headed out to the sitting room.
Sasuke sat on the couch and pulled on the collar of his shirt. How did people deal with these things?
The outfit that he was wearing was definitely foreign to him.
He was wearing a pair of black pants, a white button down long sleeves shirt, over that was a black jacket, and around his neck was weird thing that they called a tie.
Even though the outfit was a little bit weird and a bit uncomfortable it was much better than a yukata for fighting. Pants beat a dress anytime.
The Uchiha looked over to the other guys and saw that they were just as uncomfortable as he was. Naruto was wearing something similar to him but instead of a white shirt his was a burnt orange and he had a black tie instead of silver.
Kiba's outfit did not have the jacket. Instead over his red shirt was a black buttoned down vest. And Shino's outfit had the jacket but he had a light green shirt but instead of the tie he had something called a bowtie but to Sasuke it looked like a butterfly was on his neck.
"What is taking the girls so long?" Naruto asked. "If I could figure this outfit out I would think that they could figure out theirs."
"Girls always take long when it comes to getting ready." Kiba said. "Just get used to it man."
A moment later Sakura walked out of her room with a large smile on her face.
She was wearing a halter top rose colored gown. It fitted tightly against her body and went out slowly as the dress touched the ground. Around the bottom of the gown there were light pink sakura petals. Giving the gown a bit of tradition.
"Isn't this dress amazing?" Sakura spun around allowing the dress to fly around her. "I think I might have to buy clothes in this color now."
Naruto groaned. "Not more shopping."
Instantly Sakura was next to him to hit him on top of his head. "Is Hinata not here yet?
"I-I'm here." Hinata peaked out of her and Sasuke's room.
"Well stop hiding and come on out then." Kiba encouraged.
The door started to open and Sasuke, for some reason, jumped his feet. When he saw Hinata it felt like all the air left his body.
Hinata stood before him wearing a strapless white gown that fit to the curves of her body and then slowly flared out as it went down the floor and it had a small train that followed behind her. The only accent it had was some delicate silver beading that went around her waist just below her breasts. She wore a pair of diamond chandelier earrings and a diamond bracelet. And when she walked in the light the fabric seemed to shimmer like freshly fallen snow. On any other person the gown would look simple but not on Hinata. It just helped to show her natural beauty.
She truly looked like a princess.
"Wow you look amazing Hinata." Naruto said. "Doesn't she Sasuke?"
But Sasuke did not respond. He just stood there stunned. Slowly Hinata walked over to him with a light blush. "Y-you look very n-nice Sasuke."
This broke him out of his trance. "You too." Was all he was able to mumble but it was enough to make Hinata smile.
"Shall we go then?"
Everyone nodded and headed for the ballroom.
Sasuke offered Hinata his arm receiving another smile from her before she took it.
The two walked behind the rest of the team, keeping up their appearance of royalty.
"So is your outfit better then a kimono?" Sasuke asked.
"Hard to say. I had to make some adjustments to hide my weapons pouch. Hopefully I won't have to use them though."
"We will just have to see."
The two stood in front of the grand doors of the ballroom. The others had taken a side entrance. This set was so that the guests could be announced to the audience.
Sasuke turned toward Hinata. "You really are beautiful."
Hinata felt her heart do a flip. "T-thank you. You look very h-handsome as well."
"You really do look like a princess Hinata." Sasuke insured her. He then pulled something out of his pocket. "And as a princess you deserve a crown." He unclenched his hand to reveal a small delicate necklace with a pendent the shape of a crown.
Hinata covered her mouth with her hand. "That's the necklace I was looking out in the city."
Sasuke nodded. "Figured you should get something for once."
Hinata shook her hand. "Oh no. I couldn't."
"You can and you will." Sasuke gave her a look telling her not to argue. "Now turn around."
Hinata nodded and did as she was told. She pulled her hair up as Sasuke clasped the necklace around her neck. She then turned around and held the pendent in her hand. "Thank you Sasuke." She looked up at him and smiled.
That smile was something that Sasuke wanted to look at all day long and it made him feel good knowing that he was the one causing it. But suddenly he felt rather awkward. Taking a move from his blonde friend he rubbed the back of his head as a light blush came to his cheeks. "So you ready to save the Fire Daimyo from an assassination?"
Hinata giggled lightly. "Just another day's work for us shinobi." She then took his hand and the doors opened.
"NEXT UP IS PRINCE SASUKE SENDAI AND PRINCESS HINATA KOSHIMIZU FROM THE LAND OF ICE." The announcer called out to the people at the bottom of the steps.
The room suddenly became hushed as they watched the two godly looking couple descend down the stairs.
But the two made it look like they were used to such attention. They acted like they did this everyday of their lives. They made the audience believe that they were truly royalty and not the powerful ninja of Konoha.
When they came to the bottom of the stairs Sasuke and Hinata walked over to where the Daimyo was standing with his wife.
They bowed to their hosts.
"Now don't you two look absolutely stunning." Madam Shijimi noted.
"Yes. This western style seems to fit you both very well." The Daimyo smiled in triumph.
"Thank you for the invitation. We look forward to the rest of the night." Sasuke nodded his head.
"You're welcome and I would keep an eye on your lovely bride to be." Shijimi whispered for only him to hear.
Sasuke gave her a smile. "Always."
And with that they left the two to allow the other guests to say their thanks.
"What did Madam say to you?" Hinata asked.
"Nothing." But Sasuke thought the complete opposite. Shijimi was right. He was would definitely need to keep his eye on her. He could tell as soon as they walked into the ballroom how many of the men were looking at her. Their hungry eyes staring her down like a piece of meat.
Those men should know better then to look at his Hinata like that.
Sasuke tried not to think about the fact that he had called Hinata his. "One of us needs to be near the Daimyo at all times."
Hinata gave him a nod. "The others are blending in with the crowd but I can easily find them if need be."
The ballroom was soon packed with people and soon the band began to play music. People quickly made their way to the dance floor, including the Daimyo and his wife.
Sasuke inwardly groan. The last thing he really felt like doing was dancing but they needed to stay close to their target.
"Would you like to dance?" Sasuke offered his hand to Hinata.
She looked at him in surprised but then saw who was walking towards the dance floor. "That would be wonderful."
The couple took their place and soon the music started to play. They glided across the floor perfectly in sync with each other like they had been dancing together for years. People couldn't help but turn and look at the prince and princess. The lovely couple just gravitated attention.
A blush started to rise in Hinata's cheeks when she noticed. "Everyone is staring at us."
"Let them." Sasuke kept his eyes on his partner. Hinata stumbled but Sasuke quickly caught her and kept on going. "Don't focus on them. Just pretend its just us."
Hinata smiled up at him and soon her movements became fluid once more. The two kept their gaze on one another and it really did feel like it was just to two of them. But the moment was soon gone when the song ended. They separated and applauded the musicians.
The Daimyo walked away and so did Sasuke and Hinata. They tried to follow him but were stopped by a young woman a few years younger then them.
She had brown hair that was styled into two rather large buns on the side of her head, much like Ten-ten's but a lot bigger. She had them tied with red ribbon. She was wearing a odd looking dress that was tight uptop and went out around the waist. (Think ball gown) It was a light green color uptop and changed to a light pink as it went down to the bottom.
"Is it really you Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked at the girl with a confused look. She looked semi familiar but he couldn't place her.
Meanwhile keeping watch a little further away was Sakura and Naruto and they were watching the whole thing.
"Crap!" Sakura said under her breath. "You know who that is?"
Naruto squinted his eyes. "No but she had no taste in fashion. How does she even walk in that thing?"
"It doesn't matter. That's the girl that we guarded a long time ago, she was the one that had a huge crush on Sasuke."
"So? Pretty much all you girls have a crush on the teme."
Sakura had to hold back from hitting the blonde across the head. He could be so dense sometimes. "So…she knows him as Sasuke Uchiha not Prince Sasuke Sendai. She could ruin his cover."
"That's not good. What should we do?"
"For now we just stand by." Sakura advised.
"You don't remember me?" The girl pouted.
Sasuke looked over to Hinata for help.
"Hello there. My name is Hinata, I'm Sasuke's fiancé." Hinata bowed.
The girl gave her a look but kept up with her manners and bowed back. "Hello, my name is Naho. I am a member of the Fire Daimyo's family."
"It's a pleaure to meet you Naho. Now how do you know Sasuke?" Sasuke was thankful that Hinata was there to help him out with this.
"Sasuke along with some annoying pink haired girl and a dumb blonde protected me once when I came to Konoha."
Both Hinata and Sasuke went into panic mode. This Naho girl knew who Sasuke really was and that could mess up everything.
Naho put her hands on her hips and looked at them funny. "But the weird thing is I don't remember you being a prince."
"It's um…something I don't like telling people." Sasuke tried his best to keep his cool. "People tend to treat you differently when they find out the truth."
That seemed to relax the girl. "I can understand that." She smiled. "But you were rather rude to me and you have to pay me back."
Sasuke raised a brow. "And how am I supposed to do that?"
"With a dance!" Naho then grabbed Sasuke's hand and started to drag him to the dance floor.
The Uchiha looked back to Hinata for help but instead she was giggled and waved. "Have fun."
Hinata covered her mouth to keep from laughing to hard. The look on Sasuke's face at the moment was priceless. Naho was leaning rather closely against Sasuke's chest and he kept trying to pry her hands off him. It was quite comical.
"That was a close one."
HInata let out a small eep when she turned around she bumped into the chest of the person. He caught her before she fell.
"My apologies. I did not mean to surprise you."
Hinata looked up and was shocked. Holding her waist was a man with bright red hair and green eyes.
"Kazekage-sama." Hinata regain her footing and bowed.
"Just Gaara is fine." He smiled. "It's been awhile Hinata."
"It has. Um…Naruto is around here somewhere."
"I'll run into him soon enough. I wanted to see how you are doing."
"I'm fine. And about the princess thing…"
But Gaara put his hand up to stop her before she started. "You don't have to explain. Tsunade already did. She has briefed me all about the mission." That seemed to put Hinata as ease. "You and Sasuke seem to be doing a good job."
"We are trying but it is getting hard to keep up appearances as well as protect the Daimyo."
"I would be happy to offer an extra pair of eyes."
"Really? Thank you so much."
Gaara face may have looked expressionless to most people but Hinata could see the faintest movement of a smile.
"Would you like to dance princess?"
The question surprised Hinata. "Excuse but what did you say?"
"I asked if you would like to dance,"
Hinata blushed. The Kazekage was actually asking her to dance. She knew that she couldn't refuse such an influential person and he was also a friend. "I would love to."
"This has to be the longest song there is in the entire world." Sasuke wanted nothing more than to have the song end. This Naho girl would not let go of him. He vaguely remembered her. She was annoying back then too. And currently she had her arms wrapped around his neck.
Sasuke and Naho were spinning around the dance floor when Sasuke caught a glimpse of red. That when he saw him. Gaara, the Kazekage, was currently dancing with someone. Sasuke was so focus on Gaara that he paid no attention to his partner.
He gritted his teeth. "What is he doing here? He better not ruin this mission for us. We just finished dealing with Naho."
Sasuke kept his attention of the redhead. And if the leader of Suna noticed him, he did not show it. His attention seemed to be focused on his dance partner. Curiosity for what person could keep Gaara's attention for so long got the better of Sasuke and he finally looked towards the woman. And who he saw nearly made him trip over his feet.
Dancing with the Kazekage was none other then his fake fiancé. Another man was currently holding Hinata in their arms. And Gaara no less. Sasuke did not have much interaction with the sand master since the chunin exams so long ago but that did not mean he wouldn't kill the guy for touching Hinata.
Hinata was here as his fiancé and no man touches her without punishment. What made it worse was the fact that Hinata looked like she was having fun. She was laughing and smiling with the man and it made Sasuke sick. Soon the song ended. Sasuke ditched his dance partner and made his way towards Hinata and Gaara but was stopped in his tracks when he was suddenly swarmed by women. They were all begging him to dance with them next. Never in his life had Sasuke hated fangirls more than at the moment and he was furious when he saw the new person that Hinata was talking too.
"Thank you for the dance princess." Gaara bowed. "You are quite graceful."
Hinata blushed at the compliment. "Thank you Kazekage. I was honored to have you as my partner."
"Now if you will excuse me, I think its about time I found my rather loud blonde friend."
Hinata giggled. She had a feeling she knew which loud blonde he was talking about. She watched as he disappeared into the crowd and soon someone came to stand next to her.
"Were you just talking to the Kazekage?"
Hinata was starting to get use to his surprise entrance. "Hello Sanji and yes. We have a bit of a history."
"I see. I saw that you two had danced together."
"Yes. He asked me."
Sanji then surprised her by giving her a deep bow. "I hope you are not to tired and would honor me with another dance."
"I don't know." Hinata looked around the crowd. "I should be getting back to Sasuke."
Sanji rose back up. "I thought you said once that you two don't always have to be together." He then looked over her shoulder. "And it seems that Sasuke is currently busy."
Hinata followed his gaze and saw that Sasuke was back on the dance floor. This time he was dancing with none other then Madam Shijimi. The look on Sasuke's face made Hinata want to drop on the floor with laughter. She hoped Naruto was seeing this as well.
Suppressing her laughter she smiled at Sanji. "Then in that case I would love too."
Sanji smiled back and the two headed to the dance floor and took their positions.
"So how are you enjoying the night?" Sanji asked as they moved across the floor.
"Its quite lovely. Your father knows how to throw a ball."
"I guess so. But I do not understand what he was thinking with these clothes."
Sanji was wearing clothes similar to Sasuke's but he was wearing a green tie that really brought out his eyes.
"Although I will say that you look very stunning in this type of attire." Both blushed and couldn't meet the other person's eyes.
"T-thank you." Hinata mumbled.
"Hey." Hinata looked back up at her partner. "Before I forget I want to apologize for yesterday."
It took Hinata a moment to recollect what he was talking about. Then she remembered the little exchange she had with Saburo at the tea party. "No need. It was Saburo and I who were having the discussion."
"He means well. Saburo is a good man. He can just get a little to intense about things."
She nodded. "I understand."
"So do you get like that when talking to Sasuke?" Sanji teased.
"We have had a few moments but nothing serious."
"If you don't mind me saying, you two are quite the opposite from what I've seen. May I ask was this marriage arranged?"
"Um…I guess you can say that." Hinata wasn't about to say that they were assigned to be together for the mission.
"So how do you feel about Sasuke? Do you love him?"
Hinata's eyes grew wide. For some reason the question made her extremely nervous. She really didn't know how to answer it.
Yes or no. Hinata didn't know which one was the truth and which one would be the lie.
She opened her mouth to respond but before she could a piercing scream ran through the ballroom.
And another chapter done. This story is finally getting interesting. The next chapter has a lot happening so be prepared. Also Naho, from the research I did, appeared in one of the filler arcs of Naruto (not Shippuden) when team 7 was still together.
