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Chapter 11: Gossip

"Oh, my gosh, Hinata, did you hear what those girls just said?" Tenten asked.

Hinata poked her head out from behind the dressing room curtain. Though the quiet girl didn't look they type, she was an avid gossip whore. "What?" she asked eagerly.

Tenten held up a dark gold kimono and frowned. Gold wasn't the Hyuuga's color, she decided. "The Kazekage's here from Suna for the Festival!" she announced.

The curtains of the dressing room opened to reveal the heiress in a pale pink kimono with silvery flowers on it. "I knew that already," she said. "Father told me this afternoon and told me to get a new kimono."

"That's why we're here?" Tenten asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Hinata shrugged and looked at herself in the mirror. For some reason, being around the weapons mistress relaxed the dark purple haired girl enough that she forgot to stammer or blush. "I honestly forgot. It's been ages since Father gave me permission to buy a new kimono," she finally answered.

Tenten gave the gold kimono to Hinata as she entered the dressing room again. "Then you'd better make it an expensive one," Tenten said. She didn't know why Hinata didn't act like this in front of other people. Personally, she thought it was much more interesting than the shy Hinata everyone else knew.

"There you are!" Ino ran into the back of Konoha's most expensive clothing boutique and grabbed Tenten by the hand. "Have I got the juiciest gossip for you! The Kazekage's here for the Festival."

"We know," Tenten answered. Hinata echoed the statement from behind the curtain.

"Hinata? Is that you?" Ino asked. "That's good. Now all I have to do is tell Forehead Girl after you guys."

"What's to tell?" Hinata asked as she left the dressing room again. Tenten and Ino's jaws dropped at the sight of shy Hinata in the dark gold kimono. The color set off her pale skin and dark hair to perfection. Tenten changed her opinion about gold not being the Hyuuga's color.

Hinata smiled at the looks on her friends' faces. The kimono gave her a boost of confidence like she'd never felt before. Maybe this year, if Naruto-kun is here, I'll tell him how I feel, Hinata thought.

"Gaara's the Kazekage!" Ino said.

The other girls looked at her like she was dim-witted. "Yeah, we know that," Tenten said.

"That's not all," the blonde insisted. "He married Kina-chan and they're expecting a baby!"

"Kina-chan?" Hinata repeated. "The girl you said was his girlfriend?"

"Yeah!" Ino sat down next to Tenten and sighed. "It was kinda cute the way he hovered over her during the Valentine's Day dinner. And now they're expecting a baby!"

"Who's expecting a baby?" a familiar voice asked.

"Sakura!" the girls cried.

The pink haired kunoichi stepped into the room and smiled. She tugged on her new vest and looked at her friends. "Well?" she asked. "Like my new outfit?"

The others noticed and squealed. "You did it!" Ino squealed and hugged her friend.

"Wow, first Shikamaru and now you," Tenten said. "I'm starting to get jealous."

"You know that they promoted me to chuunin only because they need medic nins out there as soon as possible," Sakura said.

"But you worked hard to get to the level you're at now, Sakura," Hinata smiled.

"Thanks, Hinata," Sakura said. "Wow, that kimono looks great on you!"

Hinata smiled again and blushed a bit, but managed to say thanks anyway.

"So who's having a baby?" Sakura asked.

"Gaara and Kina-chan," Ino said smugly.

Sakura waved her hand at that and scoffed. "Kina-san is no more pregnant that Naruto is," she said.

"Nani?" the others asked.

Muttering something about stupid servants, Sakura told the others what had happened. "I was there when Gaara opened that stupid mouth of his," she finished. "Kina-san was just tired from the trip."

"Are you sure she's not pregnant?" Ino asked, disappointed.

"Hello?" Sakura said, pointing to herself. "Medic nin…remember?"

"Oh, yeah…"

The blonde was about to open her mouth to say something else when the voice of the owner of the boutique drifted over from the front of the store.

"What are you doing here, boy?" the woman snarled. "This is a decent establishment!"

The girls were dismayed by the woman's rudeness. Their eyes widened when they heard the customer reply in a very familiar voice.

"That's why I'm here, madam," Naruto said calmly. "This is Temeki, handmaiden to Kinabuhi-sama, the Kazekage's wife. They've ordered me to help Temeki-san choose a locket for herself as well as an ankle bracelet we can attach the locket to."

Hinata quickly changed into her normal clothes and the girls shuffled into the front of the store. Considering the fact that they were just gossiping about the Kazekage and his Lady, they found the prize of talking to the Lady's handmaiden too tempting to pass up.

"How do I know that you aren't lying so that you can buy a locket for your girlfriend?" the shopkeeper asked, rudely.

"Saihoushi," Hinata interrupted dropping the respectful '-san' that she normally used. (1)

"Hinata-sama!" the shopkeeper said, turning to the heiress. "How may I help you?"

Hinata looked over at Naruto and the girl beside him. Temeki looked uncomfortable, embarrassed, angry, and out of place. She looks like I feel most of the time, Hinata realized. She turned pale eyes to the shopkeeper and for the first time in her life acknowledged the power she had over people as the Hyuuga Heiress.

"You can start by returning each and every one of the kimonos I have chosen to the back of your store," she said sharply. "I will not purchase another piece of clothing or jewelry from your establishment. And neither will any Hyuuga from now on."

Ino, Sakura, and Tenten cheered their friend on silently while Naruto and Temeki looked at the newly confident Hinata with awe.

Hinata felt her friends' approval and kept talking. "I have no desire to shop in a place that shows its customers with disrespect."

"But he's Naruto—" the shopkeeper lamely defended herself.

"And he is here at the request of the Kazekage and his Lady," Hinata continued. "Come on, mina-san, I've recently heard of another shop a few streets down that specializes in formal clothing for the younger generation."

"You can also expect the women of the Haruno Clan to refrain from entering your shop," Sakura coldly stated.

"The same goes for the Yamanaka Clan," Ino added.

As they left the shop, the owner sank down to her knees as she realized her mistake. By refusing the demon, she had offended the Kazekage and ended up alienating three heiresses of Konoha's oldest shinobi families.

"I'm ruined…"

00000000000000000

Naruto was amazed and impressed by Hinata's guts. "Hinata-chan!" he yelled as he hugged the girl. "That was great! Thanks for standing up for us! Temeki thanks you too, don't you Temeki?"

Temeki looked down and nodded. She was surprised by the shopkeeper's anger and rudeness to Naruto and the fact that Hinata defended them. Have people always treated Naruto this way? she asked herself.

Hinata blushed and smiled at the shy looking Temeki. "It's okay," she said. "I can't stand to see people treat other people like they're dirt. It happens too often in this village."

Tenten snorted and started walking down the street. "That's for damn sure."

"Peaceful, friendly village my ass," Ino added.

As other's followed the two kunoichis, a thought suddenly came to Temeki. Pitching her voice higher like she practiced in the Kazekage's apartments, she asked, "But what about your Clans? Will they go with what you said?"

Sakura and Ino looked at each other and bit their lips. They obviously didn't think that far ahead. Luckily, Hinata did.

"We'll tell them the truth," she said. At the curious faces before her, she elaborated. "We'll say that the shopkeeper was too much of an uppity bitch and refused to honor the request of the Kazekage and his wife."

Temeki was shocked by Hinata's foresight and cunning. It was no less than the truth.

The others were just shocked by the Hyuuga's choice of words.

"H-hinata!" Naruto cried, pointing. "You said 'bitch'!"

The girl blushed one of her trademark blushes and looked down. "W-well," she stuttered. "That's what she is."

Ino and Sakura just looked at each other before crushing the red faced girl between them. "Congratulations, Hinata-chan!" they chorused. "We're so proud of you!"

Tenten looked at the trio and laughed. "Come on, you guys," she said, opening the door to a new store. "We're attracting a crowd."

The girls stopped hugging and went inside the store. Temeki and Naruto were the last to enter.

"Do I have to get the stupid locket, dobe?" Temeki asked in her normal voice.

Naruto choked back his laughter at hearing the deep voice of Sasuke come from the mouth of the delicate girl in front of him.

"Yes," he answered. "Tsunade-baachan's orders."

Temeki frowned and kept frowning until Naruto said, "Gaara's picking up the check. Make sure you pick out an expensive one, ne? As long as it can hold locks of hair from all four of us, it should be fine."

Temeki thought of the possibilities and smirked. Oh, yeah…he thought. Gaara's gonna pay.

A/N:

Okay, more stuff! Kinda short compared to some chapters but…eh…

I know Hinata's ooc in this, but people grow and change…and you can never underestimate how much a good-looking outfit can boost your confidence!

(1) Saihoushi means 'seamstress' in Japanese