Last Time:
"Lord Dan," Minato spoke as he approached and made sure to give Dan a firm handshake, "I'm glad you were able to make it. I hope you're prepared to make a generous donation to any of the charities, organizations, or foundations represented here today."
"Of course," Dan answered. Dan heard the music change and a nostalgic smile came onto his face. He patted Minato's shoulder before coming around the table to Tsunade and holding out his hand. "Would you dance with me?"
"Oh," Tsunade looked at Dan's hand before glancing at Jiraiya who seemed unbothered, "sure." She squeezed Jiraiya's hand before taking Dan's and being led to the dancefloor.
"You would think he would've moved on by now," Minato commented as he stood beside Jiraiya.
Jiraiya grunted in response.
Opposites Attract: Chapter 24 – "Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy"
After another hour of drinking, eating, dancing, and chatting, the night's main events began. The beginning consisted of a video put together to highlight all the causes that all the money raised that night was going to go towards. Once the video was done, Itachi came out and took his place at the podium that'd been set up to the right of the screen.
"Good evening," Itachi began.
"Papa!" Inami, Itachi's eldest daughter at the age of two, cried out at the sight of her father on stage. The crowd laughed in response and laughed even more when Inami managed to wiggle out of Obito's lap and make her way to the stage.
Itachi laughed a bit himself before making his way off the stage and picking up his daughter before going back up and standing back at the podium. "You ready?" he questioned.
She nodded with a bright smile, the crowd beginning to gush over Inami's cuteness. Itachi chuckled again before adjusting Inami on his hip and looking back at the crowd.
"Good evening," Itachi began again, "on behalf of Uchiha Incorporated, The Sannin Group, and Hyuuga Enterprise, we thank all of you for joining us this evening. As you just saw, there are hundreds of charities, organizations, foundations, and causes that we're aiming to help this evening. But before we begin, I believe we owe a round of applause to all the men and women who are working this event and went through great lengths to make sure everything was in order."
Together, all the guests applauded the staff. Some of the wait staff was slightly embarrassed seeing as they were still serving drinks and foods along with taking orders but they paused and took the praise. Once the clapping subsided, Itachi continued.
"This evening, we are more than happy to present a variety of presentations and showcases on behalf of multiple benefactors here this evening but also representatives for some of the people we're aiming to help," Itachi explained. "We'll be getting an exclusive first look at A Rose's Thorne's Spring Collection – with all pieces being shown being available for purchase this evening as well – along with a performance by my younger brother Uchiha Sasuke alongside Lady Hyuuga Hinata. Not only that, but we'll get to see a short fifteen-minute play being performed by the local community playhouse along with a chorus performance, short films, and to close the events, auctions. There will be auctions for a variety of items ranging from hotel stays to specialty items. And after that, there will be an auction for people. As a reminder, you will only be renting these people for twenty-four hours," Itachi urged, the crowd laughing in response. He chuckled along before finishing up. "After that, there will be a gallery walk containing pieces made by local artists and everything you see will be for sale. I hope you all find it in your heart to provide generous donations and help those in need. Thank you."
The crowd clapped again and Inami clapped along with them. Itachi bowed towards them before stepping off the stage and joining his family at their table. Inami squirmed out of his hold and climbed into Fugaku's lap which Itachi slightly heartbroken while Fugaku gladly accepted his granddaughter into his lap.
"By the way," Minato looked to Naruto who sat just beside him, "you're one of the people being auctioned off."
Naruto blinked a few times before Minato's words set in. "Why am I being auctioned off?"
"Because you're popular with the older women here," Minato said with a smile. "I even saw you speaking with Fujikaze Yukie earlier too, right? She's one of the most reputable actress of your generation and she clearly has an interest in you so we'll be using your charms to our advantage."
"This feels like prostitution," Naruto argued.
Minato chuckled as he pat Naruto's cheek. "You'll be fine," he reassured him. "Plus, I'm sure Hinata isn't going to let you go to someone else; especially if it's twenty-four hours."
"Otou-san," Naruto whined.
"It's for charity," Kushina reminded him and Naruto immediately pursed his lips together. She giggled at her son's reaction before taking a sip of her drink and seeing the fashion show begin. She gently patted Minato's leg and looked at him. "There was a dress I saw that I really wanted."
"I know," Minato said as he kissed her cheek and began to watch the show with the crowd.
Naruto rolled his eyes and heard Sakura giggle at him. He stuck his tongue out at her and she did the same back, the two of them smiling at one another before continuing to eat and watching the fashion show. The show was halfway through when Naruto noticed his phone screen light up.
He absentmindedly grabbed it and unlocked it before looking down and seeing the text was from Hinata. Once he read it, he looked over towards the Hyuuga table and saw she was getting up from her seat and kissing both her parent's cheeks before squeezing Hizashi's hand and hugging Hanabi. He saw that she quickly glanced in his direction and blushed before going off with Sasuke.
"Naruto-nii?" Sakura noticed how long he'd been staring at his phone and raised an eyebrow when he let out a nervous laugh and tucked his phone away. "Who was it?"
"Gaara," Naruto lied. He cleared his throat before getting up from his seat. "Excuse me."
Naruto slipped away from his family's table and out of the party without having to make too many stops. He hurried over to the front desk and cleared his throat to gain the attention of the desk attendant.
"Ah, Young Master, are you here to pick up your key?" she questioned.
"My key?" Naruto questioned.
The desk attendant nodded before searching her desk and removing a keycard. "Here you go," she said as she handed him the small envelope. "The Chairman reserved a room for you the other day. I guess he forgot to tell you about it."
"He did forget," Naruto said as he checked the back of the envelope. "708? 708," Naruto repeated as he tapped the envelope against his hand. "That's an executive suite, isn't it?"
"Yes sir," she answered. "Did you want us to do anything to the room before you went in?"
"No, I'm sure everything is in order," Naruto said with a smile. "Thank you," he slid the key into his inside jacket pocket before walking back into the party and sitting beside Sakura.
"Where'd you go?" Sakura questioned as she poked his cheek with her chopsticks.
"I had to pick up something at the desk," Naruto said as he waved her chopsticks away and focused back on the fashion show.
For the remainder of the fashion show, Naruto couldn't help but feel anxious. He wasn't entirely surprised by Hinata's text but he couldn't help but be caught a little off guard. "Let's get a room" was what Hinata had said in their text before she went to warm up. He couldn't deny he hadn't thought about possibly sneaking away with Hinata and finally getting actual alone time but the fact that tonight was quite possibly the night was what caused his anxiety.
Once the fashion show was over, the audience gave a round of applause and shouted praises towards Yamanaka Mari as she came out onto the stage and bowed towards them. All her models for that evening lined the edges of the stage in their final outfits and she gave a brief statement thanking Minato, Fugaku, and Hiashi for allowing her to display her designs that evening along with thanking them for their work for preparing the evenings event. There was another round of applause before Mari and her models exited the stage and Hinata and Sasuke came out.
Sasuke had helped roll out the piano before shaking hands with the staff and taking a seat on his bench. Hinata came out from the other side of the stage with her violin in hand and took her place at center stage. Naruto kept his eyes fixed on Hinata and as she brought her violin to her shoulder and rested her chin onto it, their eyes met. He smiled. She smiled too before bringing her bow to her strings and beginning to play.
It was a light and playful tune, the two of them wearing smiles on their faces as they performed. The way they performed, it was almost as though they were trying to out play the other but that added to the performance. While they played, Naruto made sure to keep a keen eye on Sasuke and more especially on his left hand. Sasuke had expressed some worries about it just the other night but now that he was sitting there at that bench, he was playing as though nothing had changed.
And when they finished, Tsunade seemed to let out a slight sigh of relief. Naruto was the only one who noticed as they all stood and applauded the duo, the two of them coming forward and holding each other's hand before taking a bow. Naruto whistled as loudly as he could which led to Sakura elbowing him in his ribs while Sasuke wore an annoyed expression and Hinata wore a slightly embarrassed one.
"Come on," Sakura said as she grabbed Naruto's arm. "Let's go." She pulled Naruto away from the table as Sasuke and Hinata exited the stage and the next announcer came out to introduce the series of performances that was about to occur.
"How is your hand?" Hinata questioned as she held onto his violin and waited for Sasuke to answer.
"It's a bit numb," Sasuke answered as he flexed his hand a bit. "I think I may have overdid it a bit but I'll go and see Lady Tsunade once her office is available again."
"Good," Hinata said as she gently tapped Sasuke's shoulder with her bow just as Sakura and Naruto approached. She giggled as Naruto took her into a big hug and rocked with her while he sang her praises.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura sang as she skipped over to him and gave him a sweet smile, "you did great."
"You think so?" Sasuke questioned as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I thought I messed up a bit while I was up there but I guess that was just my imagination, huh?"
"Definitely your imagination," Sakura told him as she adjusted his tie. "I'm glad I was able to hear you play again."
"I'm sure I would've figured out how to play with just one hand," Sasuke said as he tickled Sakura's lower back with his right hand and smiled when she hit his chest. "Maybe I could've learned how to play with my toes? I see Izumi do it all the time and I have to say, she's pretty impressive."
Sakura rolled her eyes as she took Sasuke's face into her hands and pulled him down. She pressed her lips against his and giggles when Sasuke held her closer and seemed to lean into her. While they were lost in their own little world, Hinata had packed up her violin and already slipped away with Naruto.
"I'm glad Sasuke's still able to play," Hinata said as she strolled alongside Naruto, the two of them making their way through the lobby and towards the elevators.
"Me too," Naruto said. "Though the new arm can be a bit strange at times."
"Really?" Hinata questioned.
He nodded in response. "Sometimes I'll feel my hand go numb or I won't feel it there at all. Oba-chan said that it wasn't going to be perfect though for a little while but to let her know how things are for the next six months. She's even making us keep a log of our activities."
"All of them?" Hinata blushed a bit.
"Ah, I'm sure I don't have to be extremely detailed," Naruto said as they reached the elevator. They climbed on once the doors opened and he pressed the button for their floor.
On the ride up, they were silent. Hinata took Naruto's arm into her hand, her hand clenching around his bicep while she stood closer to him. His elbow bumped her chest slightly but when Hinata didn't jerk away, Naruto couldn't help but swallow hard and glance down, the top of her chest visible to him and causing his cheeks to turn pink.
At that point, the elevator felt agonizingly slow but when the doors open, Naruto glanced down at Hinata again and saw her flustered she was herself. Without saying a word, they stepped off the elevator and Naruto led her towards their room. He removed the key from his pocket and from its envelope before swiping the key and seeing the light turn green and hearing the lock click off.
"Are you sure about this?" Naruto questioned as he gripped the doorknob.
Hinata nodded. "I'm sure."
Naruto eyed her for a moment until she looked up at him, her eyes wide and saying a lot more than he was sure Hinata would ever say. He nodded and opened the door. He allowed Hinata in ahead of him and let the door shut behind him.
To Be Continued…