Day 15: Star Wars AU
Summary: Fairly recently, in a movie theatre not that far away...
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Naruto jogged towards the cinema, an excited grin on his face, and his stomach light with anticipation. He had been looking forward to this day for weeks, months even. As early back as when the first trailer had dropped the year before. He slapped his hand lightly against his jean legs, making sure he could make out the shape of his wallet and keys through the pockets. One, two, three. Thankfully, he hadn't forgotten anything.
He and his friends had been camping out together for several days, swapping shifts to take turns going home to sleep, or shower. All so that they could be as close to the front of the queue for the midnight launch. Heading towards the complex, Naruto was glad they had done so. The line now stretched several blocks out from the cinema. At this point, it looked anyone not in a sleeping bag probably wasn't going to get their hands on a ticket. Not tonight, anyway. Luckily for him, and his friends, they were on break from school, otherwise their parents wouldn't have let them stay out so late. Boy, was Naruto glad they had. He didn't know how much longer he could wait to see this movie.
The newest movie in the Star Wars franchise. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
It had been the talk around their school for months now. One of the most popular current film franchises, finally reaching its conclusion. Naruto had always had fond memories of the series, from the moment he'd seen A New Hope for the first time with his father when he was ten years old. The film had easily captured his young imagination, immersing him in a vast, vivid world and leaving a lasting impression on him. From that day forth, he was hooked, and action figures, posters, even limited edition lunch boxes based on the franchise, filled his room.
Naruto would have liked to have gone to the launch with his father, seeing as they had bonded over the movies together. Unfortunately, his work hours were demanding, and he often came home exhausted. Staying up that late to see a two hour movie probably wouldn't be great for his sleep cycle, especially considering he would need to wake up early the next morning.
His father had promised that they would see the movie together at a later date, and while Naruto had a good feeling he was going to want to sit through several sessions, a part was concerned that his father wouldn't be able to find the time. He longed for the days when he was younger. When his dad didn't have to work so much, and they actually got to see regularly see each other. Bringing about nostalgic memories of a simpler, easier time.
He raced towards the front of the line; passing people wielding plastic light sabres and donning Wookie costumes; before eventually finding where Sasuke and Sakura were waiting for him. The tent they had pitched to stay in while holding their spot was now packed away, and they were standing in line normally. Sasuke had had the final shift throughout the evening and was stretching his aching limbs, glad that he wouldn't have to wait around for much longer. As Naruto approached him, he regarded him with his usual bored expression.
"Took you long enough to get here, dobe." He scoffed. Naruto, however, was in too good of a mood to be goaded by his friend's insults.
"I can't wait. This is going to be awesome, 'ttebayo… When are the others getting here?"
"Ino called before I left." Sakura answered, glancing down at her watch. "She, Shikamaru and Chouji should be getting here any minute now."
"Well," Naruto said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "We're going to be waiting awhile before we get in anyway."
"Oh no, how terrible for you." Sasuke drawled sarcastically. Sakura gave him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his hand gently. She looked up a second later, straining her eyes as she caught sight of a familiar figure. There had been a flash of dinstinct dark hair in her peripheral belonging to girl in a light lavender hoodie, who wandered by aimlessly.
"Isn't that Hinata over there," she asked, pointing the girl out to Sasuke and Naruto.
"Oh yeah," Naruto said, glancing in the same direction as Sakura. "I think you're right."
"Hey Hinata!" His voice boomed obnoxiously, while he waved his hand over his head. "Over here!"
"H-hello, Naruto-kun." Hinata greeted politely, as she approached them. "Sakura-san, Sasuke-kun."
"Where are Kiba and Shino? Naruto asked, upon noticing that was alone. The three were rarely seen without one another, having been friends since childhood. He'd been under the impression that they were going to be coming together.
"Kiba-kun asked me to go ahead without them. He'd said they'd be along later."
"Oh, okay. So are you excited?" Naruto asked with a grin.
"A little." She answered, her voice not quite sharing his enthusiasm. In truth, she'd actually been looking forward to seeing the film. She just wasn't quite as vocal as Naruto.
"Well, I know am. I could barely sleep at all last night." He chuckled.
While Hinata was very shy, and he had trouble understanding her at times; she was really soft-spoken; Naruto enjoyed her company. She . But she was always nice to him. She shared her notes with him in Kurenai-sensei's Biology classes and helped explain things when he was having trouble. Once, she even shared some ointment with him, when scraped his arms and legs trying to ollie over a park bench on his skateboard. Not surprisingly, something he'd done in an attempt to one up Sasuke.
Noticing Naruto and Hinata conversing rather pleasantly with one another, a mischievous smirk crossed Sakura's face, as an idea came to her. Seeing as none of their other friends had turned up yet, it was the perfect opportunity for her to leave them to have a moment alone together.
"I think I'm gonna use the bathroom before we go in. Wouldn't want to miss anything." Sakura announced, before turning Sasuke with an innocent smile. "Will you come with me, Sasuke-kun?"
"Why?" Her boyfriend asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion. "You're going into the girls' bathroom. It's not like I'll be able to go in with you or anything."
"Weren't you just complaining about having to wait in line all night? The walk will give you a chance to stretch your legs!" Sakura said, before dipping her head towards Naruto and Hinata, hinting at the real reason as to why she wanted to leave so suddenly. Sasuke sighed, but nodded reluctantly, pushing off of the wall he'd been leaning against and following Sakura towards the bathroom. It wasn't much of a secret that Hinata had a crush on Naruto, and Sakura had been trying her best to bring the two closer together, believing the relationship would be beneficial to them both. Unfortunately, Naruto wasn't exactly most competent person when it came to reading social queues.
"Well, that was kind of weird." Naruto said, with a shrug.
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It wasn't long before the rest of their friends turned up. Kiba and Shino were first, followed shortly by Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji who had been held up at the candy bar. They filed into the theatre together once the doors opened, quickly finding a group of nine seats in the middle row. Sakura and Sasuke sat down first, taking the seats furthest left, and Naruto came after them. Kiba and Shino shadowed her deliberately, choosing seats to the right of her, followed lastly by Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino. This however, went unnoticed by Hinata, who just realised that she was going to be sitting next to Naruto, for the entire film.
Suddenly, she was begging to feel slightly nervous. She hoped that she would be able to focus on the movie and become immersed enough in the story that she could forget about the anxiety clawing at her. The lights were dimmed slowly, following the previews of coming events, the screen before them illuminating the otherwise complete dark theatre. Naruto held his breath, clenching the armrest of his seat as his body shook with excitement. The Star Wars theme kicked in boldly and abruptly, an exhilarating soundscape to the film's opening crawl.
Hinata, however, had some difficulty concentrating throughout the movie. She couldn't help but feel distracted, constantly catching sight of Naruto out of the corner of her eye. His reactions were actually rather endearing, cute even. He was completely enthralled, his expression shifted accordingly to whatever he saw on screen. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in awe at the film's effects and incredibly detailed sets, they darted wildly across the scene following the wild action scenes. He was ensconced, absorbing every little detail. There was really something quite captivating to her about the innocence and childlike wonder of his reaction.
Hinata's gaze fell, seconds later, from the screen completely, down to his hand, resting just a few inches away from her. Hinata hadn't noticed until now, being too engrossed in the film herself. But, at some stage during the movie, he'd positioned his hand onto her armrest, his fingertips almost touching her own.
Normally, Naruto being in such close proximity to her, would be cause for Hinata to become overwhelmed, perhaps even faint. Yet, in this moment, she was strangely drawn to it, overcome by the temptation to reach out and take hold of his hand; something she had always longed to do. They were shrouded in darkness and he wasn't exactly paying attention. Perhaps a part of her thought she might be able to get away with it.
She gradually edge her fingers closer towards his, practically feeling the warmth radiating from his skin. Naruto, unaware of what she'd been doing, lifted his hand to stifle a yawn, his arm accidentally bumping into hers in the process. Hinata's heart lurched uncomfortably in her chest, and she ripped her hand flew back as if it had been burnt, terrified that Naruto had just caught her.
"Oh, sorry Hinata." He whispered, flashing her a brief, apologetic smile, before moving his arm away and turning his attention back to the movie.
Hinata could only nod, a small squeak escaping from her lips. She couldn't believe what she had been doing, almost been caught trying to do. What had she been thinking? Hinata kept her gaze trained directly on the screen in front of her, hoping the darkness of the room would be enough to conceal the blush on her face.
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"So, what did you think?" Naruto said, turning to her after the credits had rolled and people were beginning to file out of the cinema in droves. From his overjoyed tone of voice, it was already apparent that he'd loved the film. "Wasn't it just amazing, 'ttebayo!"
"Yes, Naruto-kun." Hinata answered with a giggled, endeared by his childlike enthusiasm.
Hinata was surprised that she was the first person Naruto had decided to speak when the film ended, but understood why when she noticed that the other person directly opposite him; Sasuke; was still engaged in a rather heavy petting session with Sakura. She looked away quickly.
"How would you know, Hinata?" She jumped as Kiba placed a hand on her shoulder, his voice teasing. "You didn't seem like you were watching much."
Channelling her father, Hinata looked over her shoulder and addressed Kiba with the fiercest glare she could manage. He backed off slightly, and let go of her shoulder, trying to play it off with a smirk, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he knew he'd fucked up.
"Really? Is that true, Hinata?" Naruto asked, oblivious to the silent engage between the two.
"I- I guess I was just a little bit distracted."
"What? Oh no." Naruto cried dramatically, fisting his fingers into his hair. "It wasn't because of me, was it? I'm sorry I bumped you."
"It's alright, Naruto-kun." Hinata reassured, waving her hands. "It isn't your fault."
Well, technically it was, but not in the way that he thought. Naruto shook his head.
"No, it isn't Hinata! You're going to have to see it again now!"
"Eh, I am?"
"I know, what about tomorrow? We could go to another session."
"W-we could?"
Wait, was Naruto saying that he wanted to see a movie with her? Alone? Like a date? But… that was so sudden. There was no way she could do that!
"Oh boy," Kiba begun, and suddenly Hinata felt Shino taking her by the shoulders and steadying her.
"I mean, it might be a little hard to get some at such short notice, but I'm sure if maybe we went to one of the later ones there might not- Hinata?! Are you okay?"
"Why do you always faint when you see Naruto?"
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A/N: So, I probably don't have a good enough grasp of Star Wars to write a good AU story set in that world. Sure, I've seen the movies (though not the newest one… yet) and I think they're great, but I'm not exactly what you'd call a buff. So… I went in a slightly different direction. I'm hoping it still technically falls under the parameters of a 'Star Wars AU'. If not, well... I tried.