New Found Attraction

Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter! Yay! I received a review asking whether a fight would break out between Naruto and Kiba…

Well, Kiba is of course very cautious of getting into a serious fight with Naruto because he is aware that Naruto would most probably beat him. Much later in the story, however, he begins to feel that he has a chance of winning and then there is a possibility of a fight breaking out.

Lets just say that the two do end up in a fight, but not in a way you'd all expect. He he…

Now then, I enjoyed writing this chapter because it is another angle that I can relate to; I just hope that I've done the characters justice, so please let me know what you think. :-)

If anyone would ike to know ayhting else you're welcome to E-mail me or just leave a review and I will reply to it. :-)

Well, it's party time!

Chapter Twelve

Party at the Masamune

Naruto sat himself down at the long counter in the middle of the room, waving at the bar lady who was standing on the other end, chatting to another customer.

"What can I do you for honey?" she asked as she made her way over to him, swaying her large hips as she walked.

"Just make it a soda and lime," Naruto asked, and her face fell in disappointment. The Masamune was an under-aged club, and the majority of the youth in Konoha hung out there at night. It was a nice place; the walls were lined with couches and booths where people could order food during the day or night or just hang out with their friends. On the right hand side of the room, amidst the many booths, was a large dance floor and a DJ booth right next to the entrance, which could be flipped and turned into a make-shift stage for special occasions. The bar stretched from the middle of the room towards the other end, and small tables and stools were packed on the one end, with pool tables on the other end. It sold alcohol, of course, but Naruto wasn't very big on drinking and neither were most of his friends, so the bar wasn't too popular amongst the youth.

The bar lady placed the drink down before Naruto, who fished into his pocket for the money and took a sip of his drink. It was still early; the place only had a few other people occupying the booths or the bar area, and Naruto watched some of them with glee. Here and there he spotted a familiar face, and he greeted them hurriedly as they made their way in or out of the doorway. The dance floor was empty for this early in the evening, and Naruto sighed, wondering when Shikamaru and Temari would arrive.

After about half an hour, Naruto saw another familiar face enter through the doorway; Choji edged his way through the doorway and made his way immediately towards Naruto, who greeted him with a large grin.

"Yo, Choji!" he called, and the two of them grasped hands before Choji took a seat next to him. The bar lady came over expectantly, and was happy when he made a large order of barbeque for himself.

"Hey Naruto, how are you doing?" he finally asked.

"Great and yourself, pal?"

"Ah, same as always," Choji said, sighing slightly, "I've got my own troubles…"

"What troubles could you possibly have?' Naruto asked, taking another sip at his drink and considering whether he should order another.

"No troubles that are worth discussing tonight. The reason I'm out here tonight is in order to forget those troubles."

"Man, something must be eating at you then…or is it the other way around?" Naruto asked, as Choji's food arrived and he began to gulp it down as quickly as he could. It seemed as though Choji didn't hear him though, and Naruto sighed and turned back to the door. Another half an hour passed, in which time Choji had ordered another platter of food and he and Naruto had engaged in conversation about how quiet the village had been lately.

"I'm becoming bored," Choji admitted, "I have nothing to work up my appetite anymore…food doesn't taste as good without missions."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "And I've become bored of training by myself as well…I'm in some real need of some action!"

"I swear, the next person who gets a mission…I'll steal it right from under their noses!" Choji exclaimed, grabbing a piece of meat too enthusiastically and causing it to slip out of his grasp. Naruto looked away guiltily; little did Choji know that Naruto already had a mission to occupy him.

As Choji dived after his precious piece of meat, Naruto stole another glance at the doorway, through which Shikamaru ran in an apparent huff.

"Naruto!" he said in relief as he caught sight of him.

"Hey Shikamaru, where's Temari?"

"That's a very good question!" he shouted, throwing his hands into the air, "I lost track of her as we were leaving the apartment and now I can't find her anywhere! You haven't happened to see her, have you?"

"Nope," Naruto said, as Choji reemerged from behind the counter.

"Choji!" Shikamaru yelled desperately, "Have you seen Temari anywhere?"

"I thought she was supposed to be with you?" he asked.

"She was but…oh never mind! Have you seen her or not?"

"Well, I saw her about forty-five minutes ago on my way here. I passed her at the hospital, I'm not sure where's she's gone from there."

"Thank you Choji!" Shikamaru shouted and he dashed out of the doorway again, almost knocking Sakura off her feet as she tried to enter.

"Watch it Shikamaru!" she shouted after him, and he ran off shouting a quick 'sorry' in her direction.

"Sheesh, what's his problem?" Sakura asked Hinata, who shrugged her shoulders helplessly and stood at the side of the entrance in shadow.

"Well, aren't you coming in?" Sakura asked her, and Hinata nodded slowly.

"I will in a bit…" she said, and Sakura shrugged her shoulders and entered, saying over her shoulder:

"If you're not inside in five minutes I'm going to come and drag you in!"

Hinata took a deep breath, smoothing the creases out of her dress as she stood outside the doorway, listening to the music which blared inside.

"Sakura-chan!" she heard a familiar voice shout, and her heart began to beat ten times faster. Naruto was inside…what would she do? Her breathing came out heavier and heavier, and eventually she gritted her teeth, telling herself to act natural and not to be such a coward. She took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, into the building.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto called as the pink-haired ninja walked through the doorway, "You're here!"

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said, and she gave her friend a huge hug as he ran up to her, "Of course I'm here silly! I'd never miss out on a party!"

"He he, that sounds like the Sakura I know!" Naruto said happily, as the DJ changed the song into an upbeat tune meant for the dance floor.

"Ne! Ne, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, returning to his old self for a split second, "Want to go dance with me?"

"Naruto, I've just arrived! Can't you give me a second to-?"

"Please! Come on Sakura, we haven't been out for ages! Isn't this your favourite song?"

"Well," Sakura said thoughtfully before breaking out into a huge smile, "Yeah, it is, come on!"

She grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him to the dance floor where the two of them began to move to the beat of the song. Naruto's back was turned to the doorway when Hinata entered, and the first one to recognize her was Choji.

"Hinata!" he said, surprised, and Hinata made her way over to him shyly, her eyes darting around, searching for Naruto.

"What are you doing out here Hinata? I never thought this was really your scene," Choji asked curiously.

"W-Well, Sakura invited me out with her…" Hinata mumbled, "Where is Sakura?"

"Out on the dance floor with Naruto," Choji answered simply, jerking his thumb towards the two which had now become the centre of attention. Sakura swayed her hips seductively, and her arms rose into the air loosely as she pressed herself against Naruto. Naruto's hands hovered around her hips, but he was too cautious of Sakura's temper to actually hold her. His feet moved appropriately to the beat and he was laughing at the wolf whistles the two of them were receiving.

Hinata sat and watched, transfixed. She had never had the courage to dance in front of people before, and she marveled at the way that Sakura and Naruto were able to do it without worrying about what others thought of them. She watched them happily as Choji took the liberty of ordering her a drink. As it was placed alongside her she looked up at Choji, taken aback.

"On me," he said, winking, and Hinata smiled, "You look really beautiful tonight, you know? You deserve at least one guy to buy you a drink, even if he is just your friend."

"Thank you, Choji…" she muttered, and delicately took a sip of the drink he had purchased her. It tasted sweet and sour at the same time, and she took a larger sip, draining almost half of the glass.

"Whoa! I wouldn't drink that too fast if I were you…there is some alcohol in there, even if only a little."

Hinata blushed and put the drink down again, not wanting to seem too inexperienced at what she was doing. Her eyes wondered over to Naruto and Sakura again, who were still dancing in much the same manner. She heard a sigh behind her and turned to find Shikamaru sitting alongside her, his face buried in his hands.

"Shikamaru?" she asked attentively, and he groaned lightly in her direction, "What's wrong?"

"Sheeshgon," Hinata heard him mutter, and she asked nervously:

"What was that?"

Shikamaru lifted his head up to reveal a distraught, nervous face, and Hinata recoiled slightly.

"She's gone," she heard him say more clearly, "I've lost her and the Hokage is going to have my head for it."

"Who's gone?" Hinata asked daringly, and Shikamaru shook his head.

"Temari; I think I must've upset her or something cause she just disappeared and now I can't find her. I've looked everywhere…"

"I'm sure she'll turn up Shikamaru; she knows the village really well already, I'm sure she won't stay away too long."

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he said, and he took a sip of Hinata's drink without really noticing.

"You couldn't have upset her that badly, could you?" she asked him, and Shikamaru shook his head again.

"I don't know what I did! There she was, standing in front of me looking so drop-dead gorgeous, and my mind just stiffened up. I couldn't think, I couldn't talk…I could barely breathe…next thing I knew she turned her back on me and ran off. I'm sure I didn't say anything to hurt her...I barely said anything…"

Hinata sat deep in thought, contemplating the situation that Shikamaru had just told her. If Naruto were to see her the way she looked right now and he said nothing, she was certain she would also be rather hurt. Perhaps this was the problem that Shikamaru was unable to figure out.

"Shikamaru," Hinata said quietly, and he leant towards her in order to hear, "Maybe the problem is that you didn't say anything. If there's one thing I've learnt from Sakura in the past hour, it's that girls love to be complimented. Maybe Temari was looking for one, and you didn't realize it."

Shikamaru's face seemed to light up as realization hit him.

"That…that sounds just about right!" he exclaimed, "That would explain everything! And, if I could just find her, I know how to fix this! Thank you Hinata!" he exclaimed, and he stood up abruptly, rushing out of the building once more. Hinata watched him leave, a confused expression on her face. Had she just offered advice on how to mend a relationship? She wasn't the best person to ask for advice in that field, and yet, there she was…

"Hinata-chan?" she heard behind her, and she froze, too scared to look around, "Is that really you, Hinata?"

She swiveled her seat around to face Naruto, who was busy devouring her appearance with his eyes. His eyes strayed over her body from top to bottom, lingering here and there, and Hinata felt her cheeks burn red hot beneath the make-up Sakura had applied to her skin.

"H-Hello, Naruto-kun…" she said quietly, and a silence fell between the two as they stared at each other, their eyes locked. The silence was broken a few seconds later by Sakura, who appeared at Naruto's side with a drink in her hand.

"Doesn't Hinata look pretty, Naruto?" she asked him, linking her arm with Naruto's and smiling at Hinata happily. She was pink faced from the dancing and took a rather large sip from her drink to cool herself down. Hinata's heart rate quickened as she waited for Naruto to answer. Would she receive a compliment from Naruto…or would she be disappointed like Temari was? She looked over at him expectantly, and her heart pained as she saw him shake his head.

"No, Sakura," he said, "She doesn't look pretty," Sakura's jaw fell and her face filled with anger as Hinata's eyes began to grow wet.

"Naruto! You need to learn how to treat-"

But Sakura was cut off as Naruto exclaimed breathlessly: "She looks down-right beautiful."

Hinata caught her breath and Sakura stopped herself from landing a punch, grinning in approval. She righted herself, winking at Hinata from the corner of her eye and turning towards Naruto again.

"And what do you think of me tonight, Naruto?" she asked shyly, tucking her hands behind her back as she often did when younger. It was clear that she was looking for Naruto's approval, but he only had eyes for Hinata and barely even noticed Sakura speaking.

"You really do look gorgeous Hinata-chan," Naruto said, his eyes glued to her face. Hinata couldn't help herself. Her heart filled with happiness, and a big silly grin spread over her face; the happiness seemed to bubble up stronger and stronger until it finally burst and she flung herself forwards, wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck with glee. Naruto caught her, hugging her tight and spinning her around.

Sakura sprang out of their way and stalked over to Choji, placing herself down next to him with her arms folded.

"It's about time he noticed her," Choji said between bites and Sakura agreed with him. However, she couldn't help but feel a strange tingling at the bottom of her stomach as she watched Naruto spin the happy girl around the room.

Hinata felt as if she was in heaven, and Naruto held on so tightly to her, as if he was afraid he would lose her if he let go. Her loose, flowing hair swung around with them as Sakura and Choji eyed them from the bar. Choji sighed and went back to stirring his drink, thinking back on his own problems in the romance department, while Sakura wrestled with the new feelings erupting within her heart. Her memories drifted back into the past and she suddenly felt sad, despite the happy scene before her.

Hinata finally felt her feet touch the ground again as Naruto placed her down. She was red in the face from happiness, and her head was dizzy, and she was thankful to still be in Naruto's arms. A slow, magical song began to play, and Naruto smiled down at her.

"You want to dance Hinata?" he asked her shyly, and Hinata nodded, allowing him to lead her towards the dance floor, her embarrassment suddenly gone, almost as if it had been whisked out of her by the spinning.

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Hope you all liked it, so please drop a review or two for me to let me know what you think. 

Nix