Chapter 15: The Ball

"Every girl pretends she is a princess at one point, no matter how little her life is like that."
― Alex Flinn, Beastly

Hinata smiled lightly at the people, trying to cover up her nerves, and wrapped her arms around Sasori's as he ushered her down the long steps. For a moment, she had forgotten he was the rude, repulsive man that she had known, and dreamed that he was her Prince Charming, all dressed in white with his fiery red hair and his beautiful, hazel eyes.

"Look at them, already waiting for their master to arrive.", said Sasori with smugness. Okay.., so maybe that dream was shattered, but it didn't make Hinata feel less of a princess.

The ballroom was stunning. All around, vintage gold patterns decorated the wall and the ceiling, which highlighted due to the large chandelier above. On the sides of the room, golden-patterned tables took up the side and many little yellow flowers had been put around on each of them, making the lining pop out. And then, there was the many servers running around with glasses on their trays, scattering around the ballroom floor. Wait...the floor.

Hinata turned her face towards Sasori. "W-Why is the middle of the floor empty?"

Sasori smirked at her a little before whispering back at her. "Well, this is a Ball, so there is bound to be some dancing.."

That's when the girl started to panic. She didn't know why, but all her life she had had two left feet, which meant that she couldn't dance at all. At senior prom in high school, the girl literally tripped and knocked down a line of people. At her reception of her wedding day, she literally almost tore the toes off of Fugaku during the 'Father-in-law-Daughter-in-law' dance. Now she was going to be forced to dance in front of the many rich and famous.

Once they sat foot on the floor, she walked slowly so as to not trip on the ends of the gown. She had grown nervous again when Sasori had told her not to, but who wouldn't when there was a possibility that you could fall all over their face?

"Sasori, my good sir!" A large man approached the pair with a smiling woman at his sides. They both smiled brightly at Sasori, before giving him and hug while the woman kissed him on both cheeks. Hinata smiled when he turned towards her and gave her a small peck on each cheek as well as the woman. So this is the way of the french? No wonder they called it french kissing.

"What a pleasure it is to see you son! I haven't seen you since Chiyo was dragging you around all over the country!", the old man's porky belly jiggled as he laughed. Sasori gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, the good ol' days when I was young and playing with dolls that I had gotten from you. You're a sick man, Eli." The man laughed again and slung his wrist around his wife.

"Looks like you prefer to play with the ladies instead, eh?" Hinata blushed a terrible red, while Eli got a reprimanding look from his wife. Sasori chuckled, much to Hinata's discomfort. "I'm so glad that you could come! Go one, mingle with the guests for a minute, then we can have that 'talk' if you know what I mean!", he winked at Sasori and carried onto other guests.

When the couple was faraway, Hinata looked up at the smirking man in question.

"What does he mean by 'talk'?" He stopped and looked down at the girl before tucking a stray strand behind her ear and caressing her face. The bluette became more confused by his action. He lifted her chin a little and smirked.

"That man is the key to opening up new doors to Akatsuki and Sabaku. Looks like we hit the jackpot." Hinata looked at him with a blank stare.

"I don't get it.."

Sasori came a little closer to her face then, disrupting Hinata's personal space.

"When he says he want to 'talk' that means that he wants a cut with Akatsuki. Meaning that once he jumps on board, you'll be popping up in every magazine and catwalk there is. Get it?" Hinata stared a little more into his hazel eyes before nodding obediently and letting him whisk her away to a table.

Kushina's glass broke when she saw the redhead caressing her future daughter in law's face. She felt a vein pulsing in her head when she saw him tilt her chin a little. A waiter soon came by and offered her another drink, one in which she grabbed off roughly, nearly knocking the whole tray down. Madara sighed at the woman across the table from him, wanting to save himself the embarrassment of watching her make a scene.

"I think that you are taking this too far.", is what he decided to say first while he sipped his drink. Normally, he would be dragged on this little missions without saying anything to the two demons, but right now, he felt like he was being bullied. Didn't Kushina and Mikoto get married to have their husbands be their 'best friend'? Why did he always have to be dragged along? Was it because he was like a son to them?

Kushina slowly turned her head to face the emotionless man, a narrowed gaze pointed his way. He simply looked the other way and sipped his drink again; he began to regret ever uttering those words.

"Don't say another word to me. Can't you see I'm in my thinking pose?" He scrunched up his nose and resorted back to the drink before looking around.

"So...what are you thinking about?" Kushina slammed her hand on the table, startling other guests, and glared at the young man.

"Thanks a lot for being quiet! Because of you, I've lost a good thought on how to save my daughter!" Madara sighed once again and slumped in his seat. He felt like a scorned child right about now. Where is Minato when I need him?Kushina pouted a little when she saw that they had taken a seat at a table on the other side of the room.

"You know, I hate to admit it, but she and him are cute together, but my Naruto and her would look perfect, right Madara?" Madara toyed with the yellow flower on the table with bored eyes.

"Sure. Perfect." The vibrant woman ignored his sullen and sarcastic response, and instead chose to stare lovingly at the bluette on the other side, who was currently chatting to another couple next to her table. Kushina smiled evil and let out a loud cackle, which the made the guests around her look at her with sudden awareness.

Soon, I'll have the cutest daughter in the whole city of Japan! And after that, my beautiful grandchildren will come, all blonde and indigo! She sighed dreamily at her dream. Now just how am I gonna get my son on board?

Madara watched her think to herself, an abandoned look in his red eyes. Even though he didn't want to be involved in their schemes, he still wanted to know about them. He watched her punch a fist in the air, a grinning smile on her face.

"Victory shall be mine!" Madara put his head on the table when looks were thrown at him and the redhead. He was embarrassed now, and silently prayed that Minato high-tailed it from his meeting and helped to stop his wife. Speaking of the man..

He looked towards Kushina. "Where is Mikoto?"

The four men quickly got out of the large black hummer and hurried into the building towards the elevator. Shikamaru cursed when he saw that it was already 9:08. They had been at the photoshoot almost the whole day, 6:00 a.m. To 7:00 pm. Sasuke grouchy pulled his long bangs out of his eyes and pressed the top floor button.

Naruto resorted to leaning against the cool, steel walls of the elevator, exhausted from his hectic day.

"I don't think I can keep this up...", muttered the blonde. Neji remained silent with the others, who were also feeling the same way as the knucklehead. When the doors dinged, they rushed to the hotel door and unlocked it swiftly. Each male walked to their designated rooms and began to change, not noticing the small figure sitting on the couch, legs folded and gaze stern.

After about fifteen minutes, the men emerged one by one, confused to see that the lights in the main room were on and that Mrs. Uchiha was on their couch. Naruto gulped at the aura that he felt around the woman, and hoped that Sasuke wouldn't think about leaving his room too soon.

The Namikaze gulped. Has she found out about Mondine and the drug business her son was running? Judging by how her eyes glared at the Uchiha's door, it seemed to him that she knew. Shikamaru, seeing as he was the only one close to the woman and to the Uchiha family in general, decided to greet Mikoto.

"It's nice to see you, . You come to have Sasuke escort you to the Ball?" All three men flinched when she turned her glare on them, but spoke otherwise.

"I came to see my son about some matters." Naruto's breath clenched a little. Sasuke was in deep shit it seemed.

Neji sat down on the couch next to her and gave her a small smile.

"You never cease to amaze us. We surely would have thought that you would be still in Japan with Fugaku sorting out all the ideas he has for Sharingan." Mikoto stared blankly at him, not biting on to the leash that he was throwing to her.

"I simply came here to see my son and make sure that he isn't causing any trouble of some sort." You have no idea..thought the Nara as tried to give the 'queen' a reassured smirk.

"He hasn't been causing trouble at all, though he could use a tune up in personality." Naruto decided that now would be a good time to join, and gave his biggest smile to Mikoto.

"Don't worry Ma'am, we've got him under control!" She looked between the men and their smiling faces. Ok...Now I know something is wrong.

All eyes turned to the door that the male Uchiha had opened. He in an all black suit; Mikoto questioned if he ever wore anything besides the color. At least it suits him well..

Sasuke's eyes went to his mother, blank and unresponsive. "Mother." He greeted in a monotonous voice. Mikoto stood and walked towards Sasuke and started to adjust his tie.

Shikmaru looked at the scene and ushered the other men to follow him, but called back out to Sasuke.

"Me and the guys are gonna head out. I'll tell Karin to wait for you." With that, Shikamaru closed the door.

Mikoto tried to focus her eyes on the tie in front of her, but her mind wandered the the name that she had just heard. She had heard it before, but wasn't sure where. She frowned slightly as she fixed his tie.

"I remember when you were little, how you used to watch me adjust your father's tie. You'd always want to have yours tied the same way.", she smiled sadly at the thought and pulled away from him. He remained quiet and watched as she backed away from him and walked towards the window.

She seemed to be contemplating something, trying to find the right words to say and when to say it. Her mind raced and finally she looked back into his eyes.

"What happened to that little boy?", she choked out. Still, he face didn't break, and she started to wonder again if this was herson.

"He grew up." His icy voice stung and Mikoto looked back at him in disbelief at his tone. He had never spoken to her like this. He was always charming, respectful, and kind. She was stunned by this side so much that she had to grip the chair behind her and sit down. She tried to grasp the situation beforehand, but Sasuke interjected.

"Why are you here?", he asked in distaste. That was what caused her to snap. She looked at him bewildered at him and became angry.

"Don't you dare talk to your mother that way, Sasuke!",she yelled, but only received a turned back from him as he started to grab his cell phone and keys. A sigh came from him and he soon turned back to his mother and saw that he eyes were slowly turning red.

"What in Heaven's name is wrong with you?! Why are you acting like this?" She had wanted to know where her son had gone.

"This is who I am mother. It would do you some good if you came to realize this." Mikoto glared at him and stood back up and approached him until she was close enough to smell the colonge on him.

"Your behavior is outrageous.", she muttered but gave him a small smile nonetheless. He looked at her once and turned away. Mikoto sighed inwardly in relief when he did that. She had thought that he was being serious for a minute. He was always stubborn, but she had never thought that he would have perfected on that negative attribute. It was comforting to see that the boy that she had was still here.

"Why are you here, mother?", asked the Uchiha. Mikoto smiled when she saw that he had moved entirely away from her.

"I came to spy on you and tell you off.", she said in a happy voice. He looked at her in question, but then realized the information his father had found out. He sighed.

"What did father tell you?" Mikoto looked at him in confusion.

"What did Fugaku have to tell me?" Good. She doesn't know.He figured that he could easily evade her now, seeing as though she knew nothing of his 'underground' work. But how she looked at him with those penetrating orbs right now, he knew that she was about to bring up something crucial, or more importantly, something he didn't want to hear. He watched her pace around and stare at things on the wall before she started to speak.

"The divorce court was rescheduled for next week. Did you have anything to do with that?" Sure he had; he had requested to the judge and pulled a couple of strings to make it happen earlier that expected to please his fiance Sakura, who was having little fits about not being able to get married soon. He nodded, which caused his mother to groan. She clutched her head and looked back at him.

The tension was high in the room, and Mikoto couldn't handle it that well.

"So you've decided that you're going to marry Sakura?", is all she asked. Sasuke was slowly becoming annoyed with her constant question, especially questions he couldn't seem to answer himself. Was he going to marry the gorgeous pinkette that had caught his eye? That he had concluded that he loved?

He didn't know, so a shrug of his shoulders is what was given. That was when Mikoto knew; she smiled .

"You love Hinata?" He didn't know. Her questions were starting to bother him to no end; he felt like strangling something, anything. Expect the little woman in front of him, who was causing this uncomfortable atmosphere. His mother had always intimidated him, even now when he was taller than her and stronger, he still couldn't match up to her intimidation.

Mikoto didn't need for him to answer the question at that point, because she already knew her answer.

Right before his eyes, his mother's beautiful smile turned to a low, devious smirk. Her laughed echoed through the room, lighting up the darkness that it once had. He started to pout at his mother's mocking laugh and soon his obsidian eyes turned red. The Uchiha female noticed this and stopped her laughing, but couldn't help but let tiny giggles rack her frame.

"Don't flash those eyes at me, son!", she said in amusement. "I find it so ironic that you hurt the girl that you care for deeply. Tell me, just what did you accomplish in your marriage at all? To me, it seems like you aren't ready for any kind of commitment-"

"What did you expect mother, I was married at nineteen, unwillingly. I was immature and irresponsible." Mikoto arched an eyebrow.

"And you still are now. Nothing about you has changed." He glared at his mother. She ignored it and looked back at him with her smirk. "You've lost her, Sasuke. She hates you. And I'm sure Sakura would hate you too if she ever found out about this 'Karin' woman." She gaze hardened. "So tell me, why would Hinata hate you, besides you walking out on her with another woman?"

A long silence passed with no words from him. He just simply stared at his mother, trying to figure out a way to avoid answering that question.

Why would she hate me?

-I tricked her

-I cheated on her

-I humiliated her

-I ridiculed her

-I didn't show affection towards her

-I hated her

-I was in love with someone else...

He was forced to marry her, which had caused him to hate her. Mikoto and Fugaku had made a pact with the Uchiha's to combine their clans and thought that tying the knot between their children would be the answer, and that was what angered the Uchiha so. They were playing him, manipulating him into their plan. That was why he was so angry; he was being used and forced to live a life that his parents wanted.

Was that why he hated the girl before? Or did he just love to see her crystal tears come from her lavender orbs when he committed the crimes of adultery, when he talked down on her? Sasuke shook his head and looked back at his mother's waiting stance.

"That is not your concern, mother. Do not try to intertwine within my personal life." With that, he left, leaving the woman to stand in the room for a minuted before sighing. Soon, she left, not seeing the photo on top of the counter of a crying blonde woman.

"...and Temari is such a wuss that she cried when it ended." Hinata giggled at Kankuro's conversation. Temari and he had also come to the gathering in the place of Gaara, much to Sasori's annoyance. Temari glowered at Kankuro a little before looking at the laughing bluette.

"If you had seen it, you would have cried too. That is why I don't like Titanic." The redhead rolled his eyes and picked at the table cloth.

After about ten minutes, the two had settled down and were waiting for the men to enter in order for the mission to actually start. Sasori was glad that Hinata had relaxed, but told her to keep her guard up. It seemed now that she had forgotten his teaching.

Temari waved Kankuro off and gave Hinata a wide smile, one that Hinata thought suspicious.

"I heard that you and Sasori are dating. Panada-kun won't like that.", Temari sniggered. Hinata blushed and looked at Sasori, who looked nonchalant.

"Stop teasing, Temari. As if I would tie myself down when there's so much to explore...", his voice drifted off when he started to stare at other women around. Hinata shook her head and smiled. Same old perverted Sasori, as always.

"You're disgusting, really.", the dirty blonde muttered so as to not appoint any guests. Sasori shrugged.

Pretty soon, waiters started to come out in rows with trays that were filled with tall glasses. Around the huge room, people started to receive their glass. Hinata looked on in interest when a waiter stopped and gave her and Sasori a tall wine glass filled with the goldish liquid. She gulped and started to look around. Everyone had held their glass in their hands and were waiting for Elipope to come to the middle table with his wife.

The scent hit her face and made her stomach churn. She had never tasted alcohol before. She wasn't old enough too. The girl looked over a Sasori and the others to see that they had their attention to the front of the room. The glass in her hand trembled slightly. She couldn't drink this! She wasn't even 21 yet!

"Sasori-san..", Hinata whispered and tried to keep her focus on the front. Sasori glanced down at her.

"What?", he whispered harshly.

She looked into his eyes for a moment before blushing hard. "I-I can't drink this.." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why not? It isn't poison." He looked down at the glass in suspicion. "I hope." She looked up at the front and back at him.

"I-I'm underage. I'm n-nineteen." Sasori almost gasped aloud when he heard her proclamation.

"So you're a virgin and you're nineteen? Is there anything else that you need to tell me before I go to jail for messing with a minor?" She glared at him.

"Bite m-me."

"Can I choose where?", he winked at her and she turned a scarlet red.

Temari wrinkled her nose up at the two, obviously hearing every word they said. Hinata jumped when a flash came from her left, and that's when she noticed that there were cameras and live television cameras shooting them. She gulped and sat down her glass before combing at her bangs. She was going to be on live television and didn't even know it.

Hinata looked around for a mirror, asking the dirty blonde and even Sasori, to which they shook their heads. She sighed and then looked down at her dinnerware. An idea popped in her head and soon she grabbed the plate and started to look at her reflection. She sighed in relief inwardly when she saw that everything was in place, and even thought that she looked really pretty.

The bluette noticed something on her neck and casually brushed it off

….

….

...only for it to sting slightly. A dark, purplish bruise was on her neck and she wondered where it had come from.

...

…. That's when she remembered. Sasori and the night in Paris.

Hinata half-screamed half-squeaked before putting both hands over the mark and looking around to see if anyone had saw it. People started to stare in their direction soon, and Sasori frowned at the girl's displacement.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She wanted to cry; had this been showing the whole time. Without hesitation she scooted closer to Sasori and turned her whole body towards him, showing him his work. He stared at it for a while before that smug smirk came on his lips.

"Oh, so you want another one?" Hinata glared at him harder this time. Had he done that on purpose? Temari looked back at the two, and gasped at the girl's hickey when she saw it. Kankuro looked at his sister before following her gaze; he made curious face.

"Just how many bedbugs were in your hotel room?" Hinata blushed and started to question if anyone took her serious anymore. Temari reached over and took down the pins from the bluette's hair and fluffed it out, making it thick and long. Hinata pouted when she felt the mass of indigo go down her bare back; she bet now that she looked like a mistress of some sort.

When she looked around at the tables, she saw that most women had worn elaborate dresses, but it had some sort of modesty to it. Her's however showed the outline of her body and literally squeezed her. She prayed that she wouldn't have to take any pictures here..It would be embarrassing.

She heard footsteps and the scattering of chairs from behind her and became nervous when Eli and his wife soon made it up to the stand.

The chatter in the room ceased and all focus was on the couple up front. Eli looked around and gave his jovial smile.

"Welcome everyone to our 75th Anniversary celebration! I will tell you, I can hardly recognize any of you, probably because throughout the years my eyes have been giving up on me! Or it is probably because of all the drinking I've done the night before!" A string of laughter came after that and Hinata couldn't help but smile at his warm tone.

"Before we get this party started, I would like to thank all of the workers of the Hotel Ritz Paris for putting up with all the bull crap I've been giving them for the past two days. I would also like to thank my entourage and my colleagues for taking over some of my work for me to be here, I would have never thought to have been here in Paris without their help and excellent responsibility.

"And next, I would like to thank my wife, Anna." Said woman blushed and smiled up at the large man holding her.

"I would like to thank this lady for being able to put up with my crap for the past 75 years. I want to thank her for accepting me and forgiving me for all of my wrong doings in this life. When I am out of line, she will straighten me out, and when I am going through something, she was always there with me. Without this woman right here, my life would be meaningless. So..thank you Anna for loving me."

'Awws' and cooing started to occur in the crowd as the two shared a kiss. Hinata's heart clenched at his words. That was her dream; to here those words uttered to her.

Eli looked up at the many tables and smiled. "And last but not least, I would like to thank you all for coming. Without all of you, I would be broke and in the dog house." Another round of laughs surfaced before Eli raised his glass. Everyone at their tables stood and soon, Hinata realized that she also had to stand.

Just as Hinata stood up, one of her earrings feel out of her ear. She quickly gave her drink to the peeking Sasori and bent down.

"CHEERS!"

RIIIPP!

Hinata could have cried when she saw that she had ripped the side of her dress, creating a slit that stopped right above her upper thigh. Sasori put down his empty glass and bent down to the stunned girl. Fortunately, no one had heard the loud rip due to the glasses being put down at once. Sasori ushered the girl to stand up and began to examine the split.

He tutted. "Looks like I got your hip measurements wrong. Temari, do you think you can help?"

Temari put down her glass and looked towards the two and saw the problem.

With swift speed, she grabbed the bluette and rushed to the restroom.

Temari pushed the girl to the wall and examined the split. "Damn, there isn't any possible way to sew that up. I was wondering when that dress was going to part ways."

Hinata looked at the split again. "I-It isn't that bad, is it?" Temari looked up at her for a moment before looking back at the split. It was bad, it was medium and showed some of the girl's thigh. The dirty blonde shook her head before putting her hand through the slit and tearing through it.

Hinata squeaked at the sound and looked down to see that she had a long slit in her dress now. Temari stood and admired her work.

"Now THAT is what I call a dress. It looks terrific!" The little hole was gone now, all left in it's place was her leg. Hinata blushed hard at her bare skin. It did look good, but to Hinata it showed to much skin.

Temari smiled at her fondly. "Ready to do some dancing?" D-DANCING? Suddenly, the thought's of her wedding day occurred and she instantly felt like she was going to be physically sick.

"I-I thought that dancing was after the meal!" Temari shook her head and started to pull some of the girl's hair over her shoulder to cover the hickey.

"It's a greeting dance, sort of like a contra dance, but instead of square dancing, we'll be ballroom dancing.", Hinata hung on to every word she said, but only became more nervous. So not only would she have to dance, but she would have to dance with other people?

She started to fan herself, her nerves going all over the place. "I-I can't d-dance! I can't dance!"

Temari grabbed her shoulder and stilled the girl. "Don't worry, usually the men lead the dance, the women just follow." It still didn't help that she couldn't dance. Hinata moved away from the girl and faced the mirror, pulling her hair.

"T-This is my wedding ceremony all over again! No one's going to have any toes, no one!" Temari pondered on what she could do to pawn the girl's nerves, and eventually thought of an idea.

"A good way to not fuck up the whole dance would be to stare at your partner's face, not your feet. I'm sure that pretty soon you will get used to it. Didn't you dance at Hyuuga Balls when you were little?" No, she hadn't. She was too shy and usually hid behind her mother or father at such things.

A knock on the door sounded and Sasori's voice was heard. "Come on, the dance is about to start."

Hinata's heart jumped and started to beat fast at his voice. Temari sighed and decided that now was the time to remind the girl of her mission.

"You have to get out their Hinata. Once the dance starts, Sasori will guide you until you switch. When you get another partner, he will slip out and go with Deidara. That's where you come in. Your going to have to catch Sasuke's attention."

"How am I going to do that?", she asked the pretty woman.

"It should be fairly easy. When you dance, you dance with each male in the party, so you're bound to dance with Sasuke as well." Hinata gulped and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"W-What if I don't get a chance to dance with him?"

"That's highly unlikely, but if time persists to interrupt the dance, then you can always grab his attention some other way. I mean, he is at the table behind us." What! So that was the scrapping sound I heard? MGC is behind my table! Hinata's palms became sweaty at that.

"You can do this, Hinata. I have faith in you."

Hinata was surprised at the blonde's serious tone. She was geniune and honest; she really believed that Hinata could do it. Before Hinata could thank her, she was hugged by the woman. The bluette waited for a moment before wrapping her arms around her and returning the hug.

That was what sparked the bluette's confidence and lit her fiery tomb. She had someone who believed in her, she couldn't let Temari down. Hinata pulled away and gave the woman a smile and followed her out the room.

Outside the bathroom stood Sasori with that usual smirk on his face. He held his arm out to her.

"Shall we?", he asked in a smug voice.

Hinata gave him a smirk of her own, slightly knocking the redhead off his game.

"We shall."

"Oh Sasuke-kun, I'm so happy that you picked me to accompany you!", squealed the redhead as she lovingly squeezed his arm as they walked to the center of the ballroom. Everyone was getting ready for the greeting dance, and Sasuke was not looking forward to it.

He had came in late and saw that his friends had saved him and unfortunately Karin a seat. He let his red eyes gaze around and a the front of his table sat Kankuro, Gaara's older brother. Sasuke had seen him many times during his visits to the Sabaku's household. Great, he was going to be seated near his former-friends brother.

But that wasn't who he was looking for.

"Okay everyone, I would like to have everyone on the floor with their significant one. I don't want anyone holding the walls, got it?" Every single person started to come closer with their partner, and Sasuke inwardly cursed when the woman came closer to him grabbed his hands.

Why did Kakashi have to set him up with her of all people? When he thought about it, he didn't even know her name that good. What was her name again? Kirun? Koten? Kria?

Maybe he should ask her.. "So, what do most people call you?" He wanted to grimace when she looked up at him in adorance and batted her eyelashes at him.

"You can call me yours.", she winked at him and smiled seductively. Damn.Despite his sick feeling, he gave her a small smile and waited for everyone to get on the floor.

His eyes looked around until they stopped on the colors of indigo and red. He felt his mouth go dry when he spotted her.

She was smiling while chatting to the damned man. He noticed that he dress was unlike her; it was tight and showed every curve she had. His eyes then went down to her hips and he noticed that she had gained weight, a big difference from the thin, and frail wife that he had known her to be. Then the slit that started from her hip down aggravated him to no end; it was teasing him. And then the bloody dress was ironically white, a color that meant purity that she sported well. It mocked him to no end, and slowly his irritation increased when he saw how that little bitch wrapped an arm around her waist.

His heart started to beat faster when he saw that she and that man were only a few feet away from him. Sasuke turned away, feeling his blood boil.

How dare he touch her? Did he not know that she was still a married woman? Ironic.

"Sasuke-kun, are you listening?", asked the redhead in a somewhat seductive voice. Sasuke ignored her and turned his head to face Neji, who was also staring at the couple with distaste.

"Sasuke! Listen to me!" Sasuke looked back at the woman with a frown.

"Okay, Kimie, I hear you." Karin looked at him in shock and hurt, but he didn't notice.

He was too busy undressing the bluette with his red eyes.

"I'll be leaving after our dance.", said Sasori as he grabbed her hands in his. Hinata found it funny how he can be a repulsive jerky pervert one minute, but switch and become Prince Charming another.

"Temari told me." He looked at their intertwined hands before looking back into her eyes.

"I see that you aren't stuttering as much around me as you used to. I'm beginning to think that you aren't interested in me anymore.", said the redhead in a amused tone. Hinata playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"Maybe I just see you as a close friend now." His hand gripped her waist and his face neared hers.

"A close friend, hm? Just how close?" Hinata blushed at him and turned her head away. His flirty comments made her heart race just a bit. During her dating experience with Sasuke, he never threw out such things, he merely just talked to her. This was a different experience for her indeed.

Hinata looked back up at him under her eyelashes. "As close as you want.." Sasori drew back, shocked at her sudden boldness. He moved his hand up her back and smirked at her.

"You've been hanging around me too long. I would be lying to you if I didn't say that that just turned me on." Hinata jumped and made some distance between them when she felt his fingers trace down her back, making her feelthat feeling again.

Sasori chuckled at her and pulled her back to him, their noses touching. "Little minx."

The violinists and flute players in the balconies started to play and soon Hinata and Sasori bowed to each other before she wrapped her arm around his neck and he put his arm around her waist. With their hand's outward, they started to dance and mix in with the crowd.

The music was slow and smooth, like a Cinderella song. Hinata felt all her nervousness go away once Sasori started to twirl her around. She wasCinderella in this moment.

When the music stopped, they bowed to one another. There was only a thirty second pause between each dance, so Hinata decided to say her goodbyes.

"G-Good luck, Sasori-san." He came forward and did something she would have never thought he would do..

….

...

He kissed her...

…

...

...neck. He kissed her neck.

He smirked at her before disappearing in the crowd. Hinata didn't even have a chance to react to her anger of him mocking her before she was taken by the hand.

The bluette was spun around several times before she stopped and bowed before said person. When she looked up, she saw ocean blue eyes smiling back down at her. She blushed deeply when she looked up her past-crush's father and CEO of Namikaze e-tech, Minato Namikaze.

His height was slightly taller than Sasori, which made her have to look up and strain a bit. She suddenly began to become nervous when she heard the music start again. She prayed to God that she didn't relive that 'Father-in-law-Daughter-in-law' dance.

"So you're the girl that my Kushina can't seem to leave alone?" Hinata liked his voice. It was nice and smooth, which miraculously comforted her. She blushed a little and stared down at her feet, but snapped her head back up when she remembered the advice Temari gave.

He chuckled at her. "I can see why. You're like a doll." He gave her a charming smile that made her heart flutter. "I'm sure that you already know me since you used to hang around Naruto when you two were in high school together." Hinata smiled and nodded at him. If he remembered her, then he probably remembered the love notes Naruto used to bring home from 'anonymous' .

"It's a pleasure seeing you again, Minato-san." Minato smiled and suddenly a confusing look crossed his face when he looked to the right. Hinata followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. A sweat-drop appeared on both of their foreheads when they saw Kushina along with many other photographers snapping pictures of them.

"Oh brother.",muttered Minato as he watched his happy wife wave frantically over at them with a wide smile on her face.

….

….

Kushina squealed happily at the scene before her and snapped another picture. She was definitely going to put that in Hinata and Naruto's Snapbook under 'Father-in-law-Daughter-in-law' dancing.

…

…

"So Hiashi exiled you from your clan did he? I'm going to have a few words with the old coot when I get back." Hinata frantically shook her head as he twirled her again and moved around the ballroom.

"M-My father didn't exile me. It was another member of the family." Minato gave her a confused look before dropping his next question, the girl seemed uncomfortable talking about it. With a new thought in his blonde head, Namikaze gave her a smile.

"Since you're a sweet girl and my wife seems to love you so, how about you join our family? I'm sure Kushina and our other members would be excited to see you." She looked up at him with wide eyes. Could anyone do that? "You could keep Hyuuga as your surname if you wanted."

"I-I don't know.." She squeaked when he swung her around to the other side and she saw his smile turn to a low smirk.

"It's not a choice. It's a demand." She gulped when the music stopped and they both bowed to each other. So Minato could be just like his wife. He kissed her hand and grabbed another waiting lady before whisking her away.

A hand grabbed hers and Hinata eagerly turned around

...

...

To see her husband staring back at her with a smirk on his lips. She gasped as his hand trailed down her back slowly to her waist. He pulled her towards him, so close that she could here his steady heartbeat. Soon, the music started again...

There you all go! I hope all of you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! I want to thank everyone for their continued support and Aya-Sai for her beautiful fanart! Are you as stoked as I am about the next chapter? :) REVIEW and thank Aya-Sai for inspiring me with her art to write another chapter for you all! :)

*Sigh* This story is far from over...