Now poor Naruto had been distracted when trying to keep up with Hinata, delayed by those kiss ups who hoped to curry favor with him once his father was dead.

But now...now he found himself in the ballroom intended for the basic merchants and those who were not privy to his station.

Finding himself thoroughly frustrated he shouted, "My name is Naruto, and I am the Hokage's son, now let me pass!"

Startled the hanger-ones and other passerby's alike let him pass as he chased after the love of his life.

What he didn't think to realize that was a lot a people who were around to hear his outburst were the very people who knew him, but didn't know who he really was.

Many people knew Naruto, but they did not know that he was the Hokage's son. With the working class he had earned his own respect and they now only admired him further for they knew that he truly wanted to know the people of his kingdom.

The Hokage was thoroughly enjoying his time with Takara-san, she was beautiful, engaging, educated, and well...fun!

At some point he finally realized that this was supposed to be work, in a way, and that he needed to work the crowds.

After a bit he looked up and saw his son, he was dancing rather elegantly with a lovely young lady, it made him happy as the whole point of this dance was for his son to meet a nice young woman who wasn't prejudiced against him.

Happy at the sight he was content to continue to enjoy his time with Takera..

Naruto was thoroughly annoyed with the jerks who kept getting in his way! Finally he found himself at the main entrance/exit for the ball and searched he didn't see Hinata at all!

Head down and wanting to just hide somewhere, he saw something...coming closer he realized that it was a shoe!

It was her shoe, he knew it! Clutching it close, he vowed that he would have her back soon, to enjoy the palace, to enjoy life with him.

When her mother went skulking off into the crowd Hanabi gave a great sigh of relief and found a way to slip away from her father with the excuse of finding the nearest powder room.

She was forced to deal with rigid decorum and her mother's strict discipline all day every day, but not today! Tonight she was going to at least explore and experience something new. In a crowd this large, surely, no one would take notice of another curious girl looking to explore what she could of the palace and have a good time for once!

Wandering about a bit she found herself among a group of young people dancing. There was one young man standing to the side with a rather distracted look on his face. Really she shouldn't be wandering around alone, she needed to either introduce herself into a group of girls or find an escort. The dark haired man was closest so she headed towards him.

Really Sasuke wanted to talk to either Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei, he wasn't sure how he should deal with the whole Hinata-Naruto situation.

He was still pondering when a lovely young woman approached him. She actually looked a lot like Hinata but a bit more petite and slimmer. She looked rather determined.

Steeling herself she walked up to him, curtsied, he bowed. Smiling she asked him to dance.

At this point Sasuke realized that he was basically acting like a stick in the mud and ought to make use of all of the wretched dancing lessons. Taking her hand he led her into the next dance.

When Lady Arisu was led back to her husband by Iruka-sensei she was all polite smiles and charming exterior; however, it wasn't long when she realized that Hanabi was not with her father.

"Hiashi-Sama, where is Hanabi?"

At the moment he was deep in conversation with his cousin Osami-san, who was their relation who lived in the city and always had a lot of interesting information about the running of the government and mercantile class.

It was with barely veiled annoyance that he turned to his wife, "She went to find the powder room, I'm sure that she can find her own way back."

Fuming inside she did her best to cover up her rage and began to make small talk with the other wives present.

After Sakura managed to get Hinata into the carriage and off, she had to deal with the damage control afterward.

Poor Naruto was standing at the top of the stairs exiting the palace with Hinata's missing shoe clutched in his hands...

Smiling gently she broke the ice, "Naruto-san, it wasn't anything personal."

Gripping the shoe he smiled and nodded, "I know, but I wish that she could trust me to protect her."

Sakura frowned at that and understood that Naruto was afraid that Hinata didn't trust him, that was until he spoke again.

"But I will protect her from whomever in her family that she is afraid of!, Hinata will no longer live in fear of anyone!"

Smiling, Sakura took hold of his arm and led him back into the palace; they had a lot to discuss.

Sasuke was dancing with his new partner when he witnessed a hurried girl running through the ball room and not long after Naruto chasing after her. Not knowing exactly what was happening he followed after Naruto not even noticing that his dance partner was following him.

After Naruto had found Hinata's shoe and Sakura was reassuring him, Sasuke suddenly came upon the scene.

'Naruto!...Naruto-kun..." It was a silent moment after that. Naruto realized that he should have trusted his friend, and Sasuke suddenly came to realize all that his friend had kept from him.

Despite that, however, he knew his duty. 'Naruto-sama, I know that we have a lot to discuss, but can I help you with anything!?'

Hanabi, who was merely following for the hell of it piped in, "I can try to delay my Mother if that will help?"

They all turned and looked at her as if they had seen her for the first time, she thought to herself that they probably had.