Author's Opening Rant-Wow! I didn't realize just how many reviews I had! Omg, thank you thank you thank you all so very much from the bottom of my heart! Your reviews are what keep me going on this fiction, and I am eternally grateful to you guys! THANKS!
But I'm sure you're all very anxious to get to—THE DANCE! So, let's dive in, shall we?
Chapter 15- Dance of the LeavesThe stars sparkled like rare diamonds through the velvet curtain of the night. It was finally the moment that all of Konohagakure had been waiting for, the Leaf Festival Dance. Festival goers lined the streets, all dressed in very formal and very fancy outfits, all giggling and happily taking their loved ones by the hand. The main stage of the dance was situated underneath the Hokage monument, but the jubilation in the air was so intoxicating that many people just danced wherever they could find a little space. The younger children of Konoha who had no interest in such mushy junk had their own way of entertaining themselves. Konohamaru, Hyuuga Hanabi, and a whole pack of the little ninjas in training had torn open several of the bags of leaves and were thrashing about excitedly in their pile.
Seeing this, Iruka felt the need to exercise his authority as their teacher, taking a moment to pat down his formal outfit before screaming at the top of his lungs, "YOU BRATS! GET OUT OF THERE OR ELSE WE'LL SET THE PILE ON FIRE WITH YOU STILL IN IT!" The younger ninjas scattered at the threat, spilling dead leaves all over. Iruka took a moment to catch his breath before turning back to enjoy the festivities of the dance, hoping he wouldn't have to keep an eye on the kids the whole night long.
He only had a brief moment to think about this as Uzumaki Naruto came bounding over to him in his still crinkled green outfit, "Iruka-sensei!! Iruka-sensei!! Hey, over here!" The hyper blonde came to an abrupt stop in front of his former teacher, his face beaming, and strands of bright yellow hanging loosely over his eyes because of the absence of his headband.
"Ahh, Naruto. Good to see you came after all." Iruka smiled sheepishly, his eyes playing up and down the wrinkled garment. Clearly, the boy had never heard of an ironing board before.
"I'm glad to see you too, Iruka-sensei!" those wide cerulean eyes went from Iruka's face to quickly scan the immediate area, "Wait a sec. Who'd you come here with anyway, Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka shook his head slightly, "No one, Naruto. I came by myself."
"What?! How come!?" Naruto pouted up at the teacher, refusing to believe that he wasn't able to find a date either.
"Well, you see…" Iruka placed a hand on the back of his head, "I…I just didn't ask anyone. It isn't really a big deal, though."
Only half of what he had said reached Naruto. The little fox-boy's face twisted in thought, arms folded tightly across his chest. Slowly, his bright orbs came across a face in the crowd, and an evil little thought struck him. Naruto jumped around behind Iruka, shoving the teacher forcefully forward, "This way, Iruka-sensei!"
"Na-Naruto?! What are you--"
"Don't you worry!" That fox-like grin caressed the young boy's face, "I'll take care of it! You just nod and smile when I tell you to, okay?!" Naruto would not stand to see his favorite person in all of Konoha spend the night of the famous Leaf Festival dance all alone, and he was resolved to set Iruka up. Lucky that Naruto had caught her face in the crowd when he had, or else the thought would have never occurred to him. He continued to push the flustered Chuunin through the masses of people, smirking over how cunning he could be sometimes.
Not very far from them, Hatake Kakashi was slowly making his way over to his target of attention for the night. Kakashi's formal outfit was less than formal; just a long black outfit, complete with his slanted headband and mysterious mask. Kakashi had the perfect speech in mind, and Shizune was directly in front of him. Cautiously, the white-haired Jounin stepped past a few dancing couples and made his way over towards the medical specialist. He was fully prepared to ask Shizune to dance.
That was, until Naruto and Iruka cut him off.
Naruto hopped up and down behind his former teacher, peering out from behind the older ninja as he spoke, "Hey, Shizune-nee-chan! Nee-chan! You're not all alone tonight, are ya!?" It was only by pure chance that Naruto had spied Shizune in the crowd, and she seemed to be by herself as well. It couldn't have been more perfect if Naruto had set it up himself!
Shizune blinked in surprise at the abrupt introduction, glancing back and forth from the Chuunin to the hyper-active Gennin, "Well…well, yes, actually. Why do you ask?"
Naruto gave Iruka a final shove, nearly knocking him right into Shizune, "Good!! You can dance with Iruka-sensei! He's all alone too, and he's a nice guy so he won't try to pull anything!"
"N-Naruto!!" Iruka's entire face was engulfed in an embarrassed blush.
Shizune, on the other hand, smiled softly up at the stuttering Chuunin, "Ohh, well…I wouldn't mind. That is…if you would not mind, Iruka-sensei."
"Ahh…Ahh…w-well…" Iruka slowly allowed a grin to pull at his lips, "Well…s-sure. But, you can just call me 'Iruka'."
Kakashi was sure his face had fallen onto the floor. His eye twitched like mad, in severe frustration, and his hands instinctively balled themselves into fists. How was it that his whole week of planning had come unraveled so easily!? All he could do was shudder with anger and stare with astonishment as his planned date went skipping off with someone else. Naruto smiled, pleased with himself for having thought of it as he watched Iruka and Shizune link arms before starting off towards the main dancing area. The little blonde felt very contented with the results, despite Iruka's flustering, and even chuckled; until he felt a hand very roughly grip his shoulder, "Naaaaaaaa-ruuuuuuu-tooooooo!!"
"GAH!" Naruto whirled around, coming eye to eye with one of the most impressive battle auras he had ever seen, "Ka-Kakashi-sensei?! D-don't do that! You scared me to death, you know!"
"You little brat!!" Kakashi waved his arms to avoid striking his student, "You are going to run laps until your legs break when this is all over!!"
"…Huh?" Naruto stared up at the enraged Jounin, wondering what the hell he was getting so red in the face about.
Nara Shikamaru took a minute to straighten out his dark burgundy outfit for about the one-thousandth time as he made his way towards Ino's house. The nervous little shadow shinobi kept checking over his shoulder, a neurotic mess of twitching and fidgeting accompanying the movement. It wasn't that he had any great anxiety over meeting up with Ino; he had known the girl since they were children, and hanging around her left him with an uncommonly tranquil feeling. His nervousness was over the not-so-irrational fear that Temari might jump out of some dark alleyway and beat him to death for ditching out on her. He shivered, just imagining what that massive metal fan might feel like being smashed against his face, and again checked behind him to make sure that he was alone on the wide street. Shikamaru turned back around as he shuffled down the street, grateful to see Ino's house quickly approaching. He allowed himself to breathe a short sigh of relief. Once he reached Ino's house, he'd be home free; Ino was just crazy enough to defend their date to the death if Temari randomly showed up and tried to cut in, so Shikamaru knew for sure he'd be safe from any further girl problems.
But Shikamaru's stomach dropped as he wandered over to the massive tree on Ino's front lawn, their agreed meeting place, and saw Temari of the sand sitting calmly in the grass. The sand kunoichi smiled and waved, the sleeve of her lavender yukata limply wriggling with the motion, "Nara! You're late."
The shadow shinobi stared in dumbfounded shock, instantly jumping to conclusions, "Oh my god, you killed Ino!" Temari chuckled at the look on his face, and Shikamaru nearly bolted for safety. This was becoming more and more of a trouble mess as the seconds went by.
A second voice called over to the shaken Shikamaru just before he tore away to flee for his life, "There you are! You lazy bum!"
"Ino?" dark eyes curiously eyed the white-clad kunoichi, "But…but I thought…then…then why?" He pointed back and forth between the girls, wracking his brain as he tried to figure out just what the hell was going on here.
Yamanaka Ino just sighed and shook her head, "You see, Tema-chan? Didn't I tell you he was going to be late?"
"…Tema-CHAN?!" Shikamaru could feel himself beginning to sweat in fear.
"Yeah…" Temari stood up, tapping a finger against her cheek as she surveyed Shikamaru's outfit, "But at least he didn't wear something dreadful, Ino-chan."
"Wa-wa-wa-wait a minute here!" Shikamaru backed away from them both. He had just about figured out what was going on, and absolutely wanted no part in it!
Ino very calmly smiled and grabbed a hold of one of his sleeves to prevent fleeing, "Shikamaru, Tema-chan and I had a nice long talk yesterday, and we decided we've got a lot in common!"
"That's true." Temari nodded in agreement, stepping in closer to close the trap around the shadow-wielding ninja, "And we decided it would be better if we just got along instead of tearing each other apart over a good-for-nothing lazy little boy."
"So…so you're friends now?!" Shikamaru took a step back in an attempt at escaping, but Ino just tightened her grip on his outfit. Apparently, resistance was futile.
"Yup!" the Konoha blonde stepped in and took a hold of his arm, "And I was just thinking, we can't just let Tema-chan go to the famous Leaf Festival all by herself, can we?"
"Yes we can." Shikamaru could just feel the color running from his face. He knew exactly what Ino was leading up to. Having to attend the dance with one female was more than enough of a challenge for the laid back Shikamaru, going with both of them at once was likely to kill him.
Temari took a hold of Shikamaru's other arm, "Ohhh, don't be so mean, Nara!"
"She'll just hang around us at the dance, okay? Just because she has no one to go with!" Ino spoke as if it were still up to debate, but obviously, the matter had been decided long before Shikamaru had even arrived.
He squirmed like a bear caught in a trap, his eyes flying back and forth between the both of them, "N-now wait just a damn minute! This…this is--!" Shikamaru attempted to protest, but was sharply cut off by the two giggling blondes attached to him.
"Nara!"
"Shikamaru!"
"Let's get to the dance already!"
"Yeah! Let's have some fun!"
The poor whimpering Shikamaru was dragged away by his two captors, all the while squirming and muttering like a reluctant child being taken to the doctor. Temari and Ino practically squealed in his ears, talking happily between themselves about how much fun this was going to be, and how they would just take turns dancing with him until they were all exhausted. Shikamaru let out a loud groan as they hauled him closer and closer to the Festival dance, "Ugghh…I think I liked it better when they were just FIGHTING over me…troublesome women…" The poor tormented Nara heir could do little more than sigh and pray that the night ended quickly, before the girls wound up dancing him to death.
A short distance from them, in a different part of Konohagakure village, Haruno Sakura was making a few last minute adjustments to her yukata when she heard a very forceful rapping on her front door. Her bright green eyes left her mirror for an instant as she heard the front door open; meaning either her mother or father had answered the door and she still had a few moments left to spruce herself up. Sakura went back to admiring her clothing as she heard hushed voices conversing downstairs. Her yukata was soft and red, with floating cherry blossom petals imprinted all over the fabric. Her mother had laughed when the pink-haired kunoichi had tried it on, and made more than one remark about her name, but Sakura had decided that she liked the outfit very much and was resolved to wear it to the dance.
"Sakura!" her mother's voice shouted, "Your date is here! Hurry up! You're being very rude to him!"
"I'm coming!!" she shouted back, taking a moment to tuck some of her vivid pink hair behind an ear before she hurried out of her room and down the stairs. As she descended the staircase, Sakura was greeted by the glowing smile of Rock Lee. She flustered a little, still unaccustomed to being admired so thoroughly by someone, and smiled right back as she moved to welcome Lee, "Uhhh, hey."
Lee's smile only increased, "Good evening, Sakura-can. You look very beautiful tonight."
Sakura shyly bit at her bottom lip, a foot tapping lightly against the ground, "Ohh, thank you, Lee-san. I…Uhm, I mean, you look very nice too." The words felt somehow awkward, almost like a forced compliment. But Lee certainly did look a whole lot better in normal clothing as opposed to that bright green leotard he was seen in every other day of the year.
"Sakura-san, you are far to kind." Lee dipped in a formal bow, then very courteously offered her his arm like the little gentleman he was, "Shall we go?"
"Sure!" Sakura gradually reached over and linked her arm with his, waving a quick good-bye to her mother as she and Lee went off towards the festival grounds. On the walk there, the pink-haired Haruno glanced over at the taijutsu master "Oh! I almost forgot! There's something I have to do before we dance, okay Lee-san?"
"Of course." Lee blinked down at his date, hoping he wouldn't hear either the word 'Uchiha' or 'Sasuke' in the next sentence out of her mouth, "What….is it exactly?"
"I just have to meet up with Naruto really quickly." Sakura grinned secretly to herself.
Lee just sighed with relief. Naruto was not threat what so ever, and odds were that Sakura just had to tell him something or make sure he was behaving himself. A smile came over Lee's face as he escorted Sakura into the thick of the crowd, "Yes, that is no problem at all, Sakura-san! I am sure that I will still remember how to dance no matter how long you need to meet with Naruto-kun!" Sakura returned the wide grin that Lee had trained on her and allowed herself to be led by the arm. It was so sweet, the way he treated her and the way he spoke to her. Maybe she'd be able to spend the whole night without thinking about Sasuke after all.
Just a little closer to the monument, Sakura ran across her sensei. She asked Lee to stop for a moment so she could ask Kakashi if he had seen the short blonde, but the miserable face on Kakashi as he spoke to his fellow Jounin deterred any hope of having conversation with him.
Kakashi pouted behind that mysterious mask, his eye glaring at Asuma's wide smile, "But…you told me that she had said 'NO'…"
Asuma chuckled to himself, "Yeah, well. I just didn't want you to rag on me for it!" Kurenai glanced at the both of them with those shockingly red eyes of hers—from her spot at Asuma's side—her eyebrows furrowed lightly. The female Jounin didn't much like the thought that Asuma was discussing their relationship with Kakashi behind her back, but just for the dance, she'd let it go. Still chuckling, Asuma led Kurenai off to dance as Kakashi dragged himself over to a booth, hoping they sold sake by the gallon.
Sakura quickly realized that her sensei was not going to be much help. But as luck would have it, a loud crash and someone screaming out curses caught her attention, as well as the attention of many of the other villagers. Lee caught sight of it first because of his height: the wrecked booth, the irate vendor, and the foxy little thief running off with an armload of stolen goods. None other than the infamously mischievous Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto tore away from the scene of the wreck, but soon caught sight of his pink-haired teammate and jogged up to her and her still grinning date, "Hi-ya, Sakura-chan! You came to the dance afterall! And you got the Fuzzy-eyebrows to take you!"
A vein popped on Sakura's forehead as she reached over and belted Naruto on his shoulder, "Don't call him that!" Naruto rubbed sadly at the not-so-painful wound on his shoulder as Lee smirked further, happy that she had actually defended him. Sakura shook her head a little, trying to ignore the urge to scream at her teammate and focus on the task at hand, "Anyway, I'm glad I ran into you, Naruto."
"You are?" the blonde shinobi squinted his eyes in confusion.
"Yeah. I want you to follow me for a second."
"You do?!" this time it was Lee who spoke up, afraid that he might actually lose his date to the single biggest dope in Konoha.
Sakura smiled nervously to her date, slowly pulling her arm away from his, "I'll be right back, Lee-san, I promise! I just want Naruto to do something for me, okay?" The bowl-headed ninja's bottom lip quivered tensely, but he nodded his head and planted his feet, resolved to stay put until Sakura returned from whatever on earth she had planned. Sakura smiled up at the elder Gennin, and quickly reached over to pull Naruto away by his dark green sleeve.
"Wait, wait, wait! Sakura-chan!" Naruto stared at her back as she led him vehemently through the crowd, "Tell me what this is all about, okay?!"
"Just shush!" Sakura very suddenly stopped, glancing the area over as Naruto stumbled to avoid knocking into her. The kunoichi smiled, wagging a finger in the air as she addressed her shorter friend, "Okay Naruto, listen very carefully! I want you to WAIT RIGHT HERE!"
"…huh?" curious azure eyes studied her face, but only got a wider, and almost sinister, grin as a reply.
"I need you to wait here. You're waiting for…someone. NO! Not there, HERE! Under this black cherry tree!" Sakura grabbed Naruto's collar with a hand and sat him under the skinny tree, making sure he was firmly seated before she started fussing over his wrinkled outfit, "You understand? Wait right here, someone is going to show up. Then you have to take it from there!"
"Sakura-chan…I have no idea what you're going on about…" Naruto bit his lip to avoid saying it out loud. He stared up at her as she smiled, obviously pleased that she had gotten one of his sleeves more or less straightened out. He shifted slightly on his spot under the tree, eyes glancing over the crowd nearby. Naruto figured he might as well go along with it, just so that he didn't seem like a complete idiot, "Uhh, yeah. Sure thing, Sakura-chan. I…got everything under control?"
"Good!" Sakura turned and skipped back towards Lee, her tone practically giggly as she waved to Naruto, "I'll see you later, then! Have a good time, Naruto!"
Naruto watched her leave, still unsure as to what in the hell had gotten into her. Maybe the Fuzzy-eyebrows' craziness was contagious. He settled himself into his spot to wait, bright orbs catching sight of a fish catching booth just off to his side. Naruto smirked as a young boy dropped a goldfish for the third time, and then started to play with the idea of just strolling up to the booth and cheating to win a bunch of those fish. It would piss the vendor off, which he just loved to do, and it would make this waiting go much quicker. But all of a sudden his wait ended as soft footsteps crunched over the dirt towards him. Naruto turned, a little more than curious as to just who he had been waiting for.
The fox-boy came face to face with a flustered Hyuuga Hinata, who looked more like a deer caught in headlights than anything else.
Elsewhere at the dance, the cleverest plan of the week was slowly being revealed to Tenten. Since the plan had been launched into action and there was no more need for secrecy, Neji decided to clue the weapons master in, and finally clear the air between them of this all-consuming jealousy.
"So…so wait a minute!" Tenten's jaw was practically on the floor as she listened to the details, "So THAT was why Sakura was so hell-bent on talking to you?!"
"Yes." Neji nodded, a light smile across his face, "It was all a set-up. Sakura-san figured all along that Hinata-sama would be too shy and Naruto would be dumb as concrete, so she came up with a very intelligent way of getting them together without either one realizing it and backing out. I asked Hinata-sama to meet me, but really, I sent her over to where Sakura-san and I had agreed to leave Naruto." He glanced sideways at Tenten, nearly breaking into giggles at the continued look of shock that had fixed itself on her face.
"So I've been worked up all week long over nothing?!" Tenten had to look away from Neji for a moment. That cocky smirk on his face just made her feel even more embarrassed about not having figured this out long ago.
"Sorry." Neji barely stifled a laugh, reaching a hand up to scratch at the back of his head, "I never intended for you to…get so worked up. And neither did Sakura-san. It was…just a sort of unfortunate side effect."
Tenten leaned over and buried her face on Neji's shoulder. Her mind instantly replayed all of the foolish things she had said and done over the past week because she had been thinking that Sakura was trying to steal Neji away, and her embarrassment multiplied. The humiliation bubbled up in the form of little giggles as the chocolate-haired kunoichi shook her head against the royal blue fabric on Neji's shoulder, "I feel like such an idiot!"
"Don't worry about it." Neji wore one of his rare smiles as he coaxed Tenten from his arm, "I…should have told you sooner, but I was afraid that Hinata-sama or that moron might get wind of the plan."
"But, wait a minute!" Tenten's head snapped back up, her dark eyes training on Neji's pale orbs, "You said Sakura was beautiful! You said it before you guys ever had that weird discussion!"
"…so?" He blinked at her, wondering what she was getting at.
"So?!" she practically squealed back at him, a look of hurt quickly sparking up in her eyes, "So you've never said that to me!"
"Tenten…" Neji allowed his eyes to shut for a moment, "I didn't mean it like that. And so what if I said she was beautiful? The truth was, I had been intending to ask you to the dance all along, but after that, you seemed more angry with me than anything, so I figured asking you would only get me into deeper trouble with you." He paused a moment, letting the statement sink into her mind before he spoke again, "But you certainly beat me to asking, didn't you?"
She stared up at him, awestruck, a finger playing absently with a lock of her hair as she searched for some kind of come back that might still validate her anger, "Well…well, I…"
"But," Neji went on, reaching over and lightly taking a hold of Tenten's hands, "if it's so important to you, I'll say it now. Tenten, you look beautiful."
"…N…Neji…" the kunoichi stared up at him, a blush etched across her face. It was the first time he had, or anyone had for that matter, told her that she was beautiful, and it left her somewhat breathless.
Those pale eyes smirked right back, "So then, shall we dance?"
Tenten finally permitted her lips to twist into a happy grin. Before she answered, she leaned in slightly, moving a hand to very slightly lift the bottom of Neji's headband. She placed a soft kiss on his forehead, transferring the breathless silence from her to the Hyuuga genius as she leaned back to respond, "I would love to dance, Neji." He stared back at her a moment, almost as if he had forgotten that he had asked. Tenten just giggled at how easily the great Hyuuga Neji could come unraveled, and gave his arms a few tugs to bring him out of his stupor. Eventually, Neji let that rare smile creep back over his face, and gave Tenten a twirl as the pair began their dance.
Hinata had absolutely no idea what to do next. She had just left her house, on her way to keep her promise with her cousin and meet him at the Festival Dance as he had asked. That was all she was doing. But instead of Neji-nii-chan, she had come across Naruto sitting in the exact spot where Neji had asked to meet with her. As stunned as her mind was, Hinata quickly realized that this had been a set up, but at the moment she wasn't sure if she was grateful to her cousin, or completely pissed off. Her wide, pale eyes just gazed and gazed and gazed at Naruto, terrified to talk and too numb from the surprise to run away. True, it was the opportunity she had been waiting for all week, free of any Kibas or Sakuras, just the two of them at the dance, either without a date. But what on earth was she supposed to do next?! Hinata clenched her hands together as she begged her shocked brain to think up something to do now.
Naruto watched her a moment, slowly standing up under that skinny black cherry tree. She seemed like a nervous wreck, for whatever reason. Was this who Sakura had wanted him to meet up with? Slowly, the blonde's mouth curled into a pleasant smile as he spoke to break the silence between them.
"Hinata! I guess…I've been waiting for you!"
Author's Closing Rant- MWAAA-HAAA-HAAA!! That's right: This chapter ends right there! ::Dives as all of her reviewers launch rockets at her:: But I have a reason for it! I wanted to shove an entire chapter aside just for Naruto and Hinata! Heh, I'll bet you're all pretty sorry that you were angry at Sakura now, huh?! n.n
Yay for my NejiTenten fluffiness! O.o; I can't believe it turned out as good as it did, OOC-ness aside. I'm actually very pleased with it! And the torture of Shikamaru is now complete! Kukukukuku!!!
'Nee-chan' means older sister, and Naruto called Shizune this more than once on the show.Remember to read and review! The more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will go up! Wahhh-haa-haa! Yes, blackmail! I am an evil little Fox! ::Smirk::
See what happens next update, minna-san! (Everyone!)