A/N: Hey there! Seems like ages since I last updated. I hope that the sixth chapter (this one) suits the entire plot of the story. As always, read this chapter and review! Arigatou!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I only own a couple of the DVD's and that's it.
Chapter 6 – A dance in the moonlight part III
"Lee! Quick, there's your chance! Go up to that girl and act like you own her!" Gai-sensei ordered.
"Yes Gai-sensei!" Lee cried and walked up to the girl.
"Youth is the best time of a man's life," Gai whispered to himself.
"Will you dance with me," Lee said in his gentleman tone.
"Yuck! Not you again Lee! I'm waiting for uh...my boyfriend to come! Yeah, that's it!" The girl lied quickly and ran off.
Lee, who again was rejected, walked back slowly to Gai. He felt hot tears starting to well up in his eyes. All he wanted to do this week was go to the Paper Lantern Night festival and dance with a girl. Any girl, as he wasn't picky. But, almost every single girl that he asked had said they either were waiting for someone or were too tired to dance with him. This just wasn't fair!
Gai sensed that there was some trouble in the atmosphere turned and saw his prized student crying. Of course, Gai had seen Lee struggle many times as he couldn't use any ninja's arts except for taijutsu which was normal combat. He'd never seen Lee struggling with love before. This was totally new to Gai. It hurt him to see his prized student in pain.
"Gai-sensei! Why does it have to be me?" Lee wailed.
"Lee, it just happens. Those girls are just stupid. They don't know what they're missing out on," Gai said grinning.
"Really?"
Meanwhile...
"So, why'd you decide to cut in on my dance?" Sakura asked.
The guy smirked. "Do you really need to know?"
Sakura shook her head. This guy sure acts more mysterious than my first dancing partner. What's his problem anyway? She thought.
He tightened his grip around her waist. "Ouch," he heard her mumble.
"Hinata? Is that you?" Naruto asked when they both stopped dancing.
Oh my gosh! How'd he know that quickly? He wasn't supposed to know who I was until midnight on the last day of summer! Hinata thought quickly.
She blushed madly. "Naruto-kun, how'd you know that it was me?"
"Easy Hinata! If any of the other flirty girls were dancing with me, they'd be sending dirty looks to Sasuke to get him jealous so that he'd be sorry for not liking them. You never even looked at Sasuke tonight. Ino would never dance with me and same with TenTen. Sakura would dance with me, but she doesn't want to. So that leaves you," Naruto explained happily.
She blushed madly again. So, he knows a lot about me...
"Who are you?" TenTen said looking into his chocolate brown eyes.
"Well, that explains the point of the masks doesn't it?" He said.
TenTen giggled. This guy was so much easier to talk to. When she had a crush on Neji, there wasn't a single topic that interested him. So she kept on having bad conversations with him. Then she got to the point where she realised that he would never ever like her for who she was. That caused her to try to leave Konoha. But her best friends in the world made her understand that leaving wouldn't make a difference and that they'd miss her like crazy!
Flashback
"Neji! There you are!" TenTen called out.
Oh my god. It's her again. When will she get the message that I'm not interested in a relationship? Let alone a relationship with my team mate? Neji thought.
"What do you want now?"Neji asked coldly.
"To talk to you, duh!" TenTen said.
"Not happening TenTen. You're nice as a team mate, but not as a girlfriend," Neji pointed out.
TenTen felt tears coming out of her eyes.
End flashback.
Now why am I thinking of that moment? I'm meant to be having a nice time with the guy of my dreams! At least, I hope he is...thought TenTen.
She's got a pretty cute giggle. I think I recognise that cheeky smile...
"Look, if you want to know who I am, you gotta be here for the final summer dance. Then at midnight, everyone reveals their masks. Get it?" He explained.
"Yeah. It sounds so simple once you explain it," TenTen said dreamily.
"Asuma, I think we're the only pair of instructors actually dancing with each other," Kurenai whispered.
"Are you getting embarrassed Kurenai?" He asked curiously.
She turned red. "Not at all Asuma! It's just that it's embarrassing when your students, ex-students and colleagues are watching your every move," Kurenai replied still blushing.
"Then let's give them the surprise of the night!" He said and when those words came out of his mouth he leaned down to give Kurenai a swift kiss on her lips.
"Go Asuma!" Choji yelled.
"Someone's blushing; I wonder who's the reddest?" Anko teased.
"Good on you Asuma!" Iruka cheered.
Kurenai blinked. Did Asuma just kiss her? She took her delicate white hand out of Asuma's grasp and touched her lips. This was way too good to be true.
Shikamaru sighed. Asuma was giving him that look again. The look that told him 'if I can do that, you can too'. That means he expects me to kiss my dancing partner? If Ino found out about that, then she would never forgive me let alone talk to me ever again. And I mean ever!
"Naruto-kun? Did you see Kurenai-sensei and Asuma kissing?" Hinata pointed to where Asuma and Kurenai were dancing.
"Huh? What's wrong Hinata? Are you tired of me already?" Naruto asked.
That was what Hinata liked most about Naruto. Most people would get frustrated and angry when Naruto acted clueless, but she loved it. His confused look only made him look cuter than he already was.
"Never mind...Naruto-kun,"
"Hinata? Want to take a break already? I'm hungry," Naruto said.
"Sure Naruto, but I definitely want to see everyone else dance tonight, ok?" Hinata whispered.
Willingly, he took Hinata's small lily white hand and held it in his own hand until he found a table for them to eat on.
"What do you want to eat Hinata?" Naruto asked.
"Umm...I don't mind Naruto-kun. You can choose," Hinata said softly.
"Ok Hinata! If you say so!" Naruto said gleefully. And when he said those words, he ran over to the huge buffet table and grabbed two plates and some cutlery. Then he walked swiftly over to each part of the buffet table to quickly take some food. By the time he came back, both the plates were piled so high with food that you could've skied off of them!
"Oh my god! I've never seen so much food in my life Naruto! How am I going to eat all of that?!" Hinata said in shock.
"Aw, come on Hinata! I didn't even take the tempura yet! Or the noodles! Or the deep fried vegetables! All I've got here is rice, sushi, some cakes and fried seafood!" Naruto pointed out.
Hinata let out a small laugh. She was going to have to get used to eating this much food if she wanted to date Naruto anytime in the future!
"Hmmm? Sasuke why aren't you out dancing with other girls?" Kakashi asked curiously.
"I was just about to ask you the same," Sasuke replied coolly.
He just wants to dance with Sakura! How romantic, too bad the Hyuuga guy is dancing with her. I'm so bored without my novels, Kakashi thought.
"Kakashi-sensei, if you're interested, Tsunade is still looking for a guy to dance with. Why don't you ask her instead of bugging me already?" Sasuke asked.
"Sasuke! The Fifth Hokage is twice my age! Plus, she looks young, but she is a 50 year old grandmother!" Kakashi said sighing with relief that Naruto told him that piece of information about Tsunade's age.
"Just in case you want to keep your options open sensei," Sasuke replied smirking.
Sasuke walked over to the huge buffet table. He filled a cup with some water and ice. Cheers, Hyuuga Neji.
Sasuke was looking around for Sakura and Neji, when he finally spotted a pink head in the dancing crowd. He swiftly made his way through the crowd and dodging people. He was just one metre away from Neji and Sakura. All he had to do was make sure that when he dropped the water Neji was to be near him. Otherwise the water and ice might wreck Sakura's kimono.
"I like this song, don't you?" Sakura asked her dancing partner.
"Yeah. Whatever," he replied.
God! Can this guy actually talk in a normal conversation? Or is he anti-social? I definitely liked my first dancing partner better than this one! Sakura thought.
Neji saw the scowl on her pretty face and he quickly changed the subject.
"So who's your instructor?" He asked.
"If I told you, you'd know who I am!" She replied giggling. At least he's acting differently now then he was a couple of seconds ago.
Neji felt something wet on his head. It felt like it was raining. This would totally wreck the scenery! Rain at the beginning of summer? Isn't that bad luck or something?
Sakura got her hands out of his grip. She put her hand over her mouth and began laughing. Someone was pouring water and ice on his head! Who was that person pouring though? Was it her first dancing partner?
Yes! I finally got him when he was totally vulnerable! Sucked in Hyuuga!
Neji turned around to see who the prankster was. It was definitely going to be Naruto. Naruto was exactly the type of person who loved getting attention. What the heck was he thinking pouring water and ice on his head? But he got the shock of his life when he turned around to meet Uchiha Sasuke's onyx eyes.
"Hey Naruto! Can I join you?" a voice called out. Naruto and Hinata turned to see who it was, but they saw no one.
"Hey Naruto, behind you,"
Naruto turned around again, only this time there was a huge face right in front of him. "AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" Naruto yelled.
"What the hell was that for Naruto? You could've turned me deaf!" He asked rubbing his ear.
"Choji? Is that you?" Hinata asked.
Choji turned around quickly to Hinata. "Girls are so smart these days. Even Ino figured out who I was and I was wearing this stupid mask!" Choji shrieked.
Naruto was clueless. What on earth was Choji going on about?
"Now that I found you guys, I have a favour to ask," Choji said helping himself to one of Naruto's sushi.
"What is it?" Hinata asked quietly.
"Well, I couldn't find someone to dance with, so I'm depressed. So can I dine with you guys?" Choji begged revealing some seaweed stuck on his teeth.
"No way! Go find Shikamaru and dine with him instead!" Naruto shouted.
"That's the problem. I can't find Shikamaru. Ino's disappeared too. And Asuma is dancing with Kurenai. So I have to dine with you!" Choji said proudly.
"This can't be happening to me!!!!!" Naruto yelled.
"Looks like they don't need any matchmaking any more Iruka," Anko whispered into his ear.
"Yeah. They're acting as if they're the only two people dancing in the square. The way that Asuma stares into Kurenai's eyes proves that he really cares about her," Iruka whispered back.
"Hey! They song changed again. It's a slow dance one. Want to dance again Iruka?" Anko said with a small smile.
"Why not? Let's show the two lovebirds that they've met their match!" Iruka said cheerfully.
Kakashi leaned back against the wall again. This was so boring to him! If only he had his book with him, then he could read about Tori and Lilaca's love adventure part two. This is the worst night of my life! But then again it was kind of amusing when Sasuke dropped water and ice on the Hyuuga guy's head. He he, Sasuke's got guts.
"Are you going to stand there being a wallflower all night Kakashi?" a voice from behind asked.
Kakashi looked around. Was that voice part of his imagination? Or was it for real?
"Kakashi. It's Chizune. The Fifth Hokage's assistant," Chizune said.
"Oh. Nice to meet you," Kakashi said absentmindedly.
"We already met remember? At the hospital when the Fifth healed you?" Chizune said snorting.
"Ok then. I forgot. What's that pink thing you're holding?" Kakashi asked.
"Obviously it's a pig. It's the Fifth's pet pig Ton-Ton," Chizune replied.
They continued on having a casual conversation.
"What the hell? Kakashi actually having a normal conversation with a woman?! Oh my god!" Naruto shrieked and tipped his rice with vegetables and meat all over Choji.
"What the hell was that for Naruto? Even if the rice tastes nice, you kind of wrecked my kimono!" Choji yelped.
Hinata giggled again. Watching them two was like watching a comedy show.
"So how's life going for you?" Shikamaru asked her.
"It's actually good. Except that I suffered heartbreak. Other than that, life's cool," She replied energetically.
Then she rested her head on his shoulder.
Oh my god! If Ino saw her dancing with me, then she'd freak!
"Want to take a break? Dancing to five songs in a row really tires you out," TenTen said exhaustedly.
"Yeah. Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.
TenTen smiled. He was so caring and gentle. "Yes I am," She said and gave him a friendly hug. He obviously hadn't hugged a girl before so he didn't know what to do. Soon he hugged her back.
"What the hell was that for?" Neji said trying to be calm.
He shrugged. "You deserved it,"
Sakura laughed a little harder. This was so unbelievable!
Neji said more swear words under his breath and walked off.
Sakura walked over to the guy and tapped him on the shoulder. "Want to dance?" She asked him.
He turned around and smiled warmly at her. He put his hands around her slim waist. "Why not?"
"Asuma, that kiss took me by surprise. I didn't know that you'd have enough courage for that little stunt you pulled," Kurenai teased gently.
"I had some help before. Besides, you don't kiss and tell do you?" Asuma said jokingly.
"Let me check. Nope, I don't," She said and they both laughed.
On the other side of the square...
"Gai-sensei, I've made up my mind," Lee said confidently.
"What is that Lee?" Gai asked curiously. What was he up to now?
"I'm not going to go around begging for girls to dance with me. I'm going to take after you and let the ladies come beg me," Lee said proudly.
Gai smiled showing his perfect white teeth. Lee did the same.
"Thanks for getting me out of that dance," Sakura said smiling.
"No problem. He kind of deserved it though," He said and they both laughed softly.
"You know what? This is a great festival. I used to love watching other people dancing..." Sakura said and then smiled.
She's changed a lot since the last time I had an actual conversation with her. Is she the same annoying, fangirl that I used to know and hate?
He smiled kindly. "Your eyes really sparkle underneath the lantern sky, you know?"
She blushed. "I'd love to stay underneath the lantern sky with you,"
He stopped dancing. Was it something that I said? Isn't he ready for a relationship? Sakura thought.
He held his finger up and pulled her chin up slowly. He smiled at her. He leaned closer and closer to her. Soon he was so close that if Sakura moved, she would've ended up kissing him. She did not want to kiss a mystery guy. Not yet anyway.
She moved closer to him. She closed her eyes and he closed his. She felt his lips touching hers.
AN: How was that chapter? Sorry if it sucks!
Next chapter: A kiss below the lantern sky.