Author's opening Rant- Ohhh, my gosh, you guys are far too kind! o0.0o I was so happy to read your reviews after the last chapter, I can't even begin to thank you all enough. Thank you, thank you, a million times, thank you all so much for supporting my little ficcie. It means so very much to me.

Anyway; this chapter will be—surprisingly!—mostly about Hinata! I wonder why! Mostly, but not entirely! I do need to get some comedy out of my system after that fight, you know!

Chapter 10- After The Storm

"And then! And then, and then and then, she asked me if I would MIND going to the dance with her, Gai-sensei! If I would mind!! So then I said yes!! Well…at first, I said, 'hummina hummina hummina hummina…' but, but THEN I said yes!" it hadn't been more than a few hours since Rock Lee had agreed to go with Haruno Sakura to the Leaf Festival dance, and this was already his sixteenth time retelling the tale to his sensei. Tenten and Neji stood off to the side of the Green-clad duo, scowling, already very sick of hearing this story.

"Ohhh, Lee!" for the sixteenth time, his sensei was driven to tears of joy, "Your hard work and persistence have paid off! I am so very proud of you!"

The sight of his teacher in tears only drove Lee into tears, "G-Gai-sensei…"

"Lee…"

A sunset. Waves crashing against the shore. Teacher and pupil exchanged a teary hug—for the sixteenth time—sobbing with happiness.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Tenten could just feel the bile rising in her throat, and she gagged at the pair of them. Why…why in the name of heaven did they always, always have to carry on like that?! Neji had just closed his eyes in some desperate attempt to shut them out. Eventually, the two sobbing ninjas pulled themselves away. Gai straightened up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve before he could speak, "That's the youthful spirit, Lee! When you go to this dance with your most precious person, you dance until your heart is flooded with emotion!"

"Oh god…" Neji was beginning to catch the same feeling of nausea that had Tenten gagging. Gai and Lee were just so…so…so Gai and Lee-ish.

Lee stared up at his teacher for a good long while, inspired as usual. But at once, a thought hit him like a ton of bricks, "Ohh...Ohhhhhhh…uh-oh."

Now that the two of them had calmed down somewhat, Tenten was able to address them without feeling sick, "Something wrong, Lee?"

"Heh…I was so caught up with asking Sakura-san to the dance…" Lee smiled nervously over at his teammates, a slight sweat drop sliding from his head, "That I forgot…that I don't know how to dance!" Lee laughed at his own foolishness as his two teammates stared at him, wondering how someone could actually forget that they didn't know how to dance.

But, just to be sure this was specifically a Lee thing, Tenten leaned over and whispered in Neji's ear, "Uhh…you know how to dance, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Neji whispered back, "Do you think I'm as dumb as him?" Pale eyes went back to the still laughing Lee as Tenten shook her head to answer.

"There's no need to worry, Lee!" Gai gave his mini-clone a big thumbs up, his teeth sparkling with an audible 'ping', "Let your Sensei teach you another lesson! Dancing no Jutsu!" Lee turned back to his teacher with newfound hope shining in his eyes.

"Dancing…no Jutsu?" an eyebrow rose on the Hyuuga's face, curious as to what his insane teacher was thinking, but pretty sure that it would turn out horrendous as always.

"Behold!" Gai shouted as he hopped back to place some distance between himself and his pupils. Lee watched, flipping a tiny notebook out so he could take notes on the supposed 'Jutsu'. Tenten's eyes locked on her teacher in severe interest; she had never heard of a Dancing no Jutsu before. Gai chuckled to himself, knowing that he now had the full attention of all thee of his students. And then came the dance. Both arms went into the air, flailing, almost like a willow's branches in a breeze. Gai twisted at his hips, back and forth, his rear sticking out with the motion. Every so often, a foot lifted to move. And apparently, facial expressions were a vital part of the dance, because Gai's face was twisted right along with his body.

The first thought in Neji's mind was that he looked like some poor, dying ostrich.

"Yes! Dance with all of your youthfulness, Lee!" Gai managed to shout through changing facial expressions, Lee jotting down every last detail and even sketching a few stick figures to show exactly what dancing looked like.

The taijutsu master glanced up from his notes and finally noticed the increasingly sick looks on Neji and Tenten's faces, "This…is dancing?"

"This is NOT dancing." Tenten's tone was deadpan. She even shivered as Gai did something of a twirl in front of them.

"This is madness." Neji added, fairly sure that Gai needed to be locked away in a padded cell somewhere. The crazed Jounin paid no attention to their discussion, only continued his little display.

Tenten shook her head out, hands limply falling palm up as she sighed in exasperation. She reached over and grabbed the notebook from Lee, tossing it over her shoulder to Neji, who barely caught it out of surprise, "Lee. No. NO! Do not dance like this!"

"But, Tenten…" both thick eyebrows rose sadly.

"Come here." She sighed again, taking hold of Lee's wrist and pulling him along behind her. Neji watched them, both pale eyes wide as he still clung to Lee's notebook. Tenten made her way over to Gai, giving her sensei a shove to get him to stop 'dancing'. Once Gai had moved aside, she turned to face Rock Lee, "Okay. One hand on my hip, the other one holding my right."

"Huh?" Lee's eyes fluttered in surprise, his face turning slightly red.

"You want to learn how to dance, or what?" she reached over and pulled his hand onto her hip, taking a firm hold of his free hand with her right.

By now, Neji had crushed Lee's notebook between his hands. Not that he was…jealous or anything. Never. It…had just surprised him--that was all. Gai came over to Neji's side, smirking, a thumb tapping against his chin, "Ahh, you see? None can resist the cute and charming Lee!" This earned him a hard look from Neji, the notebook getting one final tear to finish it off.

"Now then," The lesson went on between the meticulous Tenten and the flustered Lee, "I'll lead for now, but the guy is supposed to lead. It's really simple. Just step to the side, then bring your feet together." She demonstrated by taking a step, pulling Lee along with her. She took another step, backwards this time, "See? Easy, right? Just make sure you don't step on her feet, and don't be so stiff. Relax."

A few more steps into it, and a wide smile spread across his face, "I think I get it!"

"Good." Tenten couldn't help but smile back. This earned the shredded pieces of Lee's notebook another few tears. Not jealous, though. Definitely not.

Just behind the Hyuuga and his beaming teacher, a tiny voice spoke up, "Neji no nii-chan? You…asked to see me?" Neji and Gai turned, both catching sight of Hinata shyly peeking out from behind a tree. Hinata had found a note tacked to her door early this morning from Neji, asking to see her. It had taken a better part of the day, but she had finally tracked her older cousin down.

"Ahh, Hinata-sama." Neji smiled lightly, shoving the remains of Lee's notebook into Gai's hands. He wandered over to the shy kunoichi, checking a few times to make sure that no one in his cell was eavesdropping before addressing his cousin, "Hinata-sama, I need you to meet me somewhere the night of the dance."

"Huh?" Hinata's wide pale eyes fluttered a few times.

Neji's smile slowly seemed to melt into a smirk, "The night of the dance. Meet me under the black cherry tree, by the fish catching booth."

Hinata stared up at him for a moment. She knew exactly the spot he was talking about, but it seemed very strange for him to ask that,"…why?"

"You will see when you get there."

"Ohh…" it was sounding stranger and stranger all the while. Hinata's eyes focused on Neji's face, trying to figure out just what he had in mind.

But both Hyuugas' attention suddenly went back to Lee, "OWCH! Tenten! That was my foot!" Neji felt the color run from his face as he caught sight of the weapons master's eyes locked on him as if he were a red and white target. Tenten hadn't accidentally stepped on Lee's foot; she had stomped on it. Clearly, she had much better hearing than Neji had thought. Hinata took that as her cue to leave, hurrying back over to the festival grounds before a flurry of kunai could catch up with her.

Akimichi Chouji was a man on a mission. A man on an IMPOSSIBLE mission, it seemed. He had asked just about every female in Konoha to be his date, and when he wasn't being laughed at or screamed at, he was being beaten to a pulp. But he wouldn't give in that easily! He had sworn to bring a date with him to the dance and he'd do it, even if he had to kidnap some unwilling girl. As he trudged through the streets, Chouji noticed Haruno Sakura making her way through the crowd. He hadn't asked her yet, had he? Chouji smiled to himself, figuring this could very well be his last chance for a date. He waved over to the pink-haired kunoichi, hurrying past a few villagers, "Sakura! Hey, Sakura!"

She perked up at the sound of her name, offering a nervous wave back to the chubby shinobi, "Uhhh, hi, Chouji."

"Sakura! Will you go to the festival dance with me?" he fidgeted, waiting for an answer.

"Ohhh." Sakura stared at him for a second, then pleasantly smiled down at him, "I'm sorry, Chouji. But, I already agreed to go with Lee-san."

A grimace quickly overtook Chouji's face, "Awww! You too, Sakura?!" He turned to leave, shoulders slumped, heels dragging on the ground, head bowed against his chest. He heard a faint apology from Sakura behind his back, but waved it away without looking at her. Slowly, the chubby ninja made his way over to the bridge. There he found Shikamaru again leaned against the railing, staring down at the water. Chouji stepped over to his friend, sighing as he leaned his back on the rail to stare sadly up at the sky, "Pick one yet?"

"Nope." Shikamaru answered, not looking up, "Find one yet?"

"Nope." Chouji replied without looking at his friend. The boys exchanged a mutual sigh, Chouji beating Shikamaru to his favorite word, "Troublesome."

Into this sad scene of pity stepped Iruka, out for a calming walk away from the boisterous festivities that had consumed most of Konoha. He stared over at his two former pupils as he crossed the bridge, "Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. Haven't seen you both in a while. Hello there."

"Hello Iruka-sensei." They answered in unison with all the enthusiasm of zombies.

Iruka propped himself up against the railing along with them, "Something the matter, boys?"

Shikamaru just scoffed. He doubted anyone could understand or help out with his decidedly strange relationship problems. But Chouji glanced over at his former teacher, "Sensei…? How do you get girls to like you?"

"Ahh, I see." Iruka's face flustered ever so slightly at the question, "I'm afraid you're asking the wrong guy, Chouji." Iruka scratched at his nose, a little embarrassed to admit that he had had absolutely no luck in finding anyone to attend the dance with him as well.

Chouji's eyes went to his feet for a second. Then all at once, the plump ninja took in a deep breath and straightened himself up, both hands balling into fists, "Well, there is ONE girl left!" Fire sparked in his eyes as Chouji stormed off of the bridge, muttering something about women. Both Iruka and Shikamaru watched him carrying on in awe.

Once the Akimichi heir was out of sight, Iruka turned to Shikamaru for an explination. The shadow-wielding shinobi looked just as clueless, "What…the hell was that all about?"

In the thick of the festival crowd, Shino was preparing to keep his promise. Hinata needed help asking out Naruto, and damn it, he was going to figure out a way to do it. His plan thus far was to transform himself into Hinata, then find the oblivious blonde and ask him out. It seemed simple enough, and it would spare Hinata all the blushing and fidgeting of asking him herself. Shino turned a street corner, eyes playing over the crowd behind his dark lenses. Soon enough he spotted Naruto, standing around doing nothing in particular, not a scratch on him, not a hair out of place. Shino ducked quickly out of sight, sighing as he made the hand signs for the Henge no Jutsu, "Hinata…you had better appreciate this." A loud popping sound and a plume of smoke as the Jutsu went to work. Shino, now disguised perfectly as Hinata, gradually made his way over to Naruto, fighting the urge to stick his hands into his pockets as he walked. He cleared his throat, able to even impersonate Hinata's voice flawlessly, "Uhm…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's head jerked quickly onto the Shino/Hinata. A wide grin spread across the blonde shinobi's face as he frantically waved over to him/her, "Hinata-chan! Over here!" Shino paused a moment. Hinata-chan? Since when did Naruto call her that? "Hey, hey! Hinata-chan! You got a sec? I wanna talk to you!" Naruto called out as he came bounding over.

"N-Naruto-kun…" something seemed very off about this. Shino stared at Naruto, eyes scrutinizing every last detail. 'Hinata-chan', and so anxious to speak with her, plus he was standing in the middle of the festival without causing any kind of trouble. A slow smirk of recognition came over Shino's disguised face as he allowed himself to burry his hands in his pockets. "Heh." Even more disturbing, Shino spoke with his own voice, still using the face of shy little Hinata, "You are not Naruto at all, are you?"

"GYAHH!" Naruto backed away at the eerily deep voice coming from tiny Hinata. Very unexpectedly, a puff of blue-gray smoke encircled Naruto: it was a transformation being dropped. Once the smoke cleared, it was revealed exactly who was parading around as Naruto: Inuzuka Kiba, "Who the hell are you?! What did you do to Hinata?!"

Shino's eye twitched, and he also allowed his disguise to drop away, "Kiba…"

"Shino?!" Kiba howled at his partner. Clever as he was, Kiba had thought that if he went around posing as Naruto, Hinata would eventually ask him out. Then he could let his disguise slip, and Hinata would be all his. But it seemed his plan wasn't as clever as he had thought, "You jerk! What do you think you're doing?! You're messing up all of my plans!"

The bug shinobi felt a sweat drop slide down his head as Kiba continued to growl at him, "This…is going to be harder than I thought…"

Truth be told, the real Naruto was far from the busy crowds of the festival. He was at the training grounds, the place where he, Sasuke, and Sakura had first officially become ninjas. Bright cerulean orbs watched as the sun set, leaning up against one of the training logs for support. Naruto was still a mess from his fight with Sasuke. His shoulder ached uncontrollably, his left leg was dragging for whatever reason, there was a very sharp pain in his ribs, and he was covered with scratches and both his and Sasuke's blood. Naruto just watched as the sky turned golden. He felt that somehow, he had let Sakura down. True, Sasuke was probably more pissed off than anything at him right now, but…Naruto hadn't actually won that fight, had he? The little fox-boy let out a sigh, wincing at the added pain that caused. "Stupid fox…" he thought bitterly to himself, "You're never around when I need you, huh? Hurry up and heal me already…" Naruto knew well enough that one night's sleep would have him good as new again, but the Kyuubi could lend a little help just to get him home. He continued cursing out the demon sealed within him, watching the sun sink lower and lower.

By sheer coincidence, Hinata had decided to cut through the training grounds on her way home from meeting Neji. She didn't even know why; it took longer to go that way, anyway. And that was when she caught sight of him, beaten and sulking, bathed in the dying sunlight. Whatever shyness that sprang up at the usual sight of Naruto was quickly shoved aside. Hinata hurried over towards him, both of her arms held up defensively in front of her, "Naruto-kun? Are…are you okay?"

"Huh?" Naruto slowly came out of his daze, turning to see Hinata. A smile came across his face as a reflex, "Hinata! Hey! What're you doing all the way out here, huh?"

"You're…all bloody." She pointed out to him, just incase he hadn't noticed. It took a great deal of self-control to keep her fingers from poking timidly together as she spoke.

"Eh-Heh, Ohh yeah." Naruto's eyes squinted into happy little crescents as his smile widened, stretching those curious little whisker marks on his cheeks, "That's nothin'. Got into a little fight. Doesn't even hurt." He was lying, of course. For whatever reason, Hinata always seemed to get so upset when he was hurt. While he didn't understand it, he certainly didn't want to upset her, so he figured a few lies here and there wouldn't do any harm.

Hinata's face turned the shade of a healthy tomato. He was smiling at her, and being so kind to her...and damn if that sunlight didn't make him look even more handsome. She rapidly turned her back on him, her head sinking between her shoulders, eyes clamping shut. She wanted to run away and hide! She wanted to faint! It overwhelmed Hinata to see him like this, clearly covering his wounds for her benefit. Was it possible that, somewhere in that empty blonde head, Naruto actually did have some feelings for the Hyuuga girl? The thought only increased Hinata's reluctance to turn around and continue the conversation. Behind her, Naruto made an inquisitive little sound of curiosity. He wondered why he was suddenly facing her back. Weird girl. Hinata mentally commanded her feet to keep still, moving her hands away from her face to shuffle though her pockets. She finally found the little container of ointment in her pocket, holding it out as she turned back to face him. No chickening out this time, right? "H-H-Here…N-Naruto-kun…"

"Ahh! I remember this stuff!" he instantly recognized the tiny white container. "Thanks, Hinata." Naruto reached a hand over to take it, but quickly withdrew it in pain. Damned, stupid Sasuke. Naruto's eyes closed lightly for a moment to concentrate. Hopefully, that would help alleviate the pain, even slightly.

His eyes snapped open as he felt a finger very gently place some of the ointment onto a cut across his cheek. He glanced over at Hinata, who was so red in the face that she seemed ready to boil over. "I…you…pain, and…I thought…it…. uhmm…" words came tumbling out of Hinata's mouth without any kind of form or cohesion. Her gaze went immediately to her feet so she wouldn't have to face his curious blue eyes.

Slowly, a smile came back to the fox-boy's face, "Thanks." Somehow, he had understood what she was trying to explain between all those little nervous, stuttering pauses. Hinata smiled back at him, still staring at her feet as her fingers began poking together. Naruto watched the familiar motion, knowing that it meant she was very nervous about something. But, what did she have to be nervous about? Her eyes went back onto the blonde as he let out a short giggle, "You don't have to act so shy all the time, Hinata! I'm not gonna gnaw your arm off or nothing like that, you know!"

"Naruto-kun…" this of course only increased the color in her cheeks. That strangely fox-like grin came over Naruto's face, and Hinata felt her own smile growing. Her pale eyes then fell on his shoulder, which he seemed to be nursing more than anything else. Very hesitantly, Hinata stepped in closer to get a good look at his arm, all the while, Naruto's wide blue eyes watching her every movement. "Naruto-kun…? D-does…this hurt…?" a hand lifted to gingerly touch his shoulder, and she received a muffled 'oww' in response. That was a pretty clear yes. Luckily, being in a cell with Kiba had taught Hinata to carry bandages around with her at all times, just incase. The timid Hyuuga pulled a spare roll of gauze from her shuriken pouch, creating a makeshift sling for Naruto's arm. Once she had tied it securely around his arm, Hinata paused. The sling would have to be tied around his neck to keep his arm aloft, and that would mean getting much closer to Naruto than she had expected. The blonde shinobi understood this as well, and innocently leaned over, stretching his neck to make it a little easier for her. It felt as if a golf ball had lodged itself in the back of Hinata's throat as she leaned in towards him, and her hands shook so badly that it was difficult to tie the gauze. The shy Hinata felt her cheeks burning as she realized just how close they were; his breath was warm against her, and he smelled like a forest full of autumn leaves. Even Naruto flustered, turning his eyes away as if there was something terribly impressive behind the training logs. He did like hanging around Hinata after all, she was a nice girl, and she never seemed to judge him like the others did. And now she pretty much had her arms around his neck, and…his face was practically on her chest. Naruto gulped slightly, hoping his eyes didn't wander back towards her. Once the gauze was tied off and Naruto's arm was set, Hinata pulled herself from his side. She leaned back against one of the other logs, her face so red that it burned, taking very deep breaths and trying to keep her heart out of her throat. Could she help it if she was this shy?

Naruto rubbed at his face with his good arm, trying to rid his own cheeks of whatever flush was left behind. His voice was unusually nervous sounding as he let out a little laugh, "Heh! That feels a whole lot better! Thanks again!" Hinata couldn't even try speaking; she just nodded back at him and gulped at the nervousness overwhelming her. The sun sank ever lower, and the two Gennin stood in a peaceful silence, watching as the sky's light faded from gold to purple.

After she had recovered from being so very close to Naruto, Hinata let her gaze wander back over to him, "Naruto-kun? Have…have you found…a-anyone to go to the d-dance with, yet…?"

"Nah." Naruto's expression saddened. This dance was turning his whole cell into such a wreck that even he was starting to detest the idea of it, "I don't think I'm even gonna go." Hinata's lip quivered. That was certainly not the answer she wanted to hear. Again, pale white eyes trained on the ground sadly. Naruto shifted as best he could manage, turning to face her, "Hey, Hinata? How come you keep asking me that?"

"H-huh?" nervously, she met his gaze. She tried to be strong, to not stutter and shiver bashfully, but Naruto had the most hypnotizing blue eyes, she thought to herself, that she had ever seen.

"You keep asking me about who I'm taking to the dance. How come?" clueless as ever, Naruto stood there to await an answer.

It was too good to be true. That was the first thought in her mind. The second thought was that she now had to manage to ask him without melting into a puddle of ninja goo. Hinata forced her hands to her sides to stop herself from fidgeting, then turned to Naruto. She mustered every last ounce of courage she held within herself, trying to smile as she spoke, but she never got the chance. Once again, Hinata's efforts were thwarted as another voice called over at them, "Naruto! There you are!"

"Sakura-chan…?" Naruto's gaze went from one kunoichi to the other, wondering what the pink-haired Haruno wanted from him.

That was it then. Hinata figured that Naruto's attention would be completely gone now that Sakura had shown up, just like always. She sighed miserably to herself, leaning against the log a little while longer before slinking away. Not that he would notice. Hinata felt her stomach churning in disappointment as she headed back home.

Sakura hadn't even noticed Hinata, or the bandages, as she came bounding over to her teammate, "Naruto! I have been looking all over for you! Is it true? Did you and Sasuke really have a fight?"

"Sasuke…?" Naruto eyed her a moment; where was the 'kun' at the end of his name? "Well, yeah. We did."

Not that it was new for the boys to be fighting, but from what she had heard and from what she could see, this hadn't been one of their usual fights, "Are you out of your mind?! What did you do that for, Naruto?!"

"…I…did it for you, Sakura-chan." He blinked innocently at her. Had she so easily forgotten about how Sasuke had made her cry, or was revenge something that simply never crossed Sakura's harmless mind?

Sakura caught her breath in her throat. He didn't…really mean it the way it sounded, did he? The pink-haired ninja just sighed and shook her head, "Oh, Naruto…you idiot."

"Heh!" Naruto just smirked. He knew damn well that his feelings for her were one sided, and he knew that nothing he did would ever change that. But still, a 'thank you' would be nice to hear after tearing your shoulder out of the socket for a girl. Smiling over his rotten luck, Naruto turned to where he thought Hinata was still standing, "You hear that, Hinata? She treats me like—huh?" Bright blue eyes scanned the training ground quickly, a little surprised that she had left so suddenly…and, perhaps a little upset about it, "Where…did she go?" Naruto grimaced to himself as he felt an unfamiliar twinge in his heart. What more could he screw up today…?

Author's Ending Rant- LONGEST-CHAPTER-EVER! O.o;

::Dives out of range of the rocket launchers:: Don't shoot me! I know, I know, why can't Hinata and Naruto just get together? Because that isn't how the story goes, silly rabbits! And sorry if this chapter took so long to get out; Fluffy scenes take me much longer than funny ones. And I still don't think I got it right! u.u ; Dang it! Please Review and tell me if I've screwed it up too much!

Yes, yes, The "Teaching Lee to dance" idea is far from original, I know. But...damnit if it isn't funny! I just had to! And Neji and Tenten have some severe jealousy issues, huh? n.n

"Neji no nii-chan" means older brother Neji. Yes, technically they're cousins, but Hinata always calls him that.

Ohmigosh! I have over 50 reviews?! ::Just realized this!:: Ahh!! I can't believe it! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Until next update then!