Disclaimer Time

I in no way, shape or form own Naruto or any of its characters and am certainly not making any money off of them through this fanfic

Disclaimer Time Over

w00t

Now on to the fic and how to read it

Generally everything will be straight forward but ever so often I may insert a thought process in italics, kinda like the do in the show all the time…also more often than not I'll leave spaces in speech with a…in between them for sorta a pause for the character to think or just to break up what they're saying…well I guess that that's about it for the rules for how to read it so on to the FIC

Dance Dance

"…teach me to dance?"

Hinata, expecting the worst, was braced for what her cousin should never ask, but it wasn't there.

"Neji-kun," she said as the tears she was fighting began to disappear, "say that again. I'm not quite sure I heard you."

She wasn't being sarcastic either, while trying to enter her room her head was racing and trying to not conceive the impossible and trying to remove the thought of Naruto-kun still having feelings for Sakura-chan.

"I was wondering if you would teach me to dance"

"But why Neji-kun?" Hinata couldn't think of any reason he would need to know.

"Be…because of the festival next month. It's been heard that Tsunade-sama has decided to include a ball as part of the festival this year and I…," the last thing Neji said was so muffled Hinata couldn't hear.

"Neji-kun, you need to speak up. I couldn't hear that last part." Hinata had never seen Neji like this. It was almost like he didn't want to admit what he was about to say.

"I can't dance!" he shouted, maybe a little too loudly because heads peaked out of a few doors to see what the ruckus was about.

Neji had never admitted that he couldn't do something, it was out of his character. He held a little too much pride in that department and didn't really like to ask for help unless it was offered and even then he acted like he was doing you a favor by letting you help him. Hinata was still in a bit of shock because of all that Neji had just revealed.

A ball at the festival…so that's why Naruto-kun went to Sakura-chan's…but he could have went there to ask her to go to it with him

"Can we maybe talk about this inside somewhere?" Neji asked seeming a little nervous about anyone knowing that he couldn't do something.

"Ok," and with that Hinata opened the door to her room and motioned for Neji to follow her.

Hinata found a seat on her bed while Neji decided that sitting backwards on her desk chair that faced that way anyway would be more comfortable. They sat there for a moment, Hinata waiting on Neji's explanation and Neji to find the words for it.

Neji started again, "Well…see…with the ball coming up and all me and the guys were going to ask Tsunade-sama if she'd teach us since she decided that all of us were required to go but Naruto was afraid that she'd pummel him if he stepped on her toes so…well…we decided on the next best thing…we decided to ask you guys to teach us since we all know each other pretty well, especially you and me since we're cousins and well…we didn't want to ask anybody until we knew how."

Naruto-kun…could that be why he went to Sakura-chan's?

"So will you teach me Hinata?" he begged.

"Under one condition," she insisted. It wasn't like Hinata to make any sort of demand but Neji was desperate and didn't want to question it.

"Anything…anything you want." Neji had answered so quickly that Hinata had barely enough time to finish her demand.

"Was the reason Naruto was at Sakura's the same as yours for being here?"

"Yeah…he went to Sakura's since they're on the same team and Chouji ended up Tenten's and Lee went to Ino's. Shikamaru decided that he didn't need it because he's already been to balls held by the Hidden Village of the Sand with Temari. How those two get along I'll never know…"

Naruto-kun…I knew I should have never doubted you

"So now will you teach me Hinata-chan?"

"I'd be delighted," she looked at the clock above her desk, "but it'll be right after dinner, ok?"

"Ok," he said with a smile as he rose to get the door. Hinata had rarely ever seen Neji smile, not a real one anyway.

They had a rather peaceful and cheery dinner that night, ramen and pork miso to Hinata's delight. It reminded her of Naruto-kun. After dinner the two of them headed back to Hinata's room for the first lesson.

"Well Neji-kun," she paused for a moment to think while taking a seat on her bed, "what is it that you do know about dancing?"

"Well…umm…I know it requires a guy and a girl…," Neji blushed. Hinata giggled at this. She had never seen this Neji before. "…and that's about it really."

Hinata stood up and walked over to the middle of the room.

"Come over here and stand next to me." She made sure that she was heard and Neji acknowledged that he had by following her orders.

"Ok. Now there are several different ways to do this, I assume that you're referring to mostly slow dances since…um…you're so nervous about this." Hinata was trying to take this seriously for Neji but she couldn't help but let her mind drift and wish that it was Naruto-kun she was about to dance with.

"One way…for something like a waltz or something…is to take your right hand and her left and hold them out like this…" Hinata took Neji's right hand with her left and showed him how it was to be held to the side, "and then you put your other hand on her waist."

Hinata continued on with the description of the steps and other formalities. They painfully attempted to practice the movements for around an hour only to find that Neji, despite all of his ninja training, had two left feet.

"One, two, thr…ow," was all Hinata could get out before Neji had stepped on her bruised feet again.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan…I guess there had to be at least one thing that I wasn't good at and this happened to be it," Neji admitted.

An idea struck Hinata. It was a shot but it might just work because unless he was there it helped to calm her down too.

"Ok, Neji, let's try this one more time but this time we're going to do something different. This time I want you to close your eyes."

"But if I close my eyes how am I going to see if I'm going to run us into anything or if I'm going to step on your feet?"

"Just trust me on this, ok? Now take my hand and close your eyes and just listen to me."

Neji did as he was told and stepped next to her and closed his eyes.

"Now before we do anything else I want you to imagine something. Imagine the girl you want to ask…the one you really want to go to the ball with and describe her to me."

Hinata figured that if he could focus more on something else other than the surroundings and his feet that hers wouldn't be quite as bruised in the morning. Besides, a little prying wouldn't hurt.

"Now describe her…what's she wearing…how's her hair done…is she wearing perfume?"

Neji paused at first, reluctant to reveal anything, but ultimately yielding defeat.

"She…she's wearing a pink and black dress…mostly black but the pink's in the embroidery…she's wearing her hair down with a strand in front of her face…she doesn't wear it down much because she says it gets in the way and can get tangled in her weapons but today it doesn't matter and…and she smells of…of wild roses."

Neji started to drift off into his mind, losing track of reality.

"Neji-kun," Hinata shook him a little to bring him back to earth, "now keep your eyes closed and her in your mind and let's try this again."

Hinata began to count again and Neji began to lead. Five minutes and less than one toe stepped on later he had perfected it.

"Well that seems to have worked Neji-kun," Hinata said with a bit of a giggle as she and her cousin spun about the room. Neji opened his eyes and blushed a bit when he realized that she was right.

"Well now I think we can move on." Hinata paused nervously as she realized what was next to come. "N-now if they played something t-that we would listen to," Neji's face grew with concern as his cousin's face began to grow ghostly white, "umm…you would have to take both hands and place them on her hips and she'd put them around your…your shoulders." Hinata's mind was drifting again as she was beginning to imagine Naruto-kun standing there instead of Neji and the two of them beginning to dance like that. "And if…if you really want and she acts like she doesn't mind then you can pull her really close and…and…," Hinata started to turn incredibly red just imagining it, "I guess we don't have to go over this one since it's kind of self-explanatory."

"That's alright Hinata," he said as he placed his hand on his cousin's shoulder, "we can stop here for tonight."

"Neji-kun…you and Tenten will be a nice match," she blurted out as he began to walk away.

"Hinata…how did you…how did you know?"

"Simple…you told me…when you were describing her as you would like her to look at the ball…I…I could just tell."

"All that huh?...well I guess perceptions of the heart run in the family now don't they?" He smiled another one of those smiles he used when he thought of her. Hinata knew that was what fueled that smile now.

They continued their routine for about a week before Neji had become quite good at all that Hinata needed to teach him. This was true for all the girls except Tenten, surprisingly enough, Chouji proved to be quite graceful and an excellent student and mastered everything quite quickly. He finished his "training" in less than four days.

"…and that's about it. For such an occasion there really isn't much else you need to know," Hinata concluded.

"Hinata-chan I can't thank you enough…now all that's left is the hard part huh?"

Hinata blushed just thinking about how Tenten would react if she only knew but before she had left for the shop on the second day of lessons Neji made sure that she swore to silence about his feelings for Tenten, he wanted it to be a surprise when he asked her to the ball.

"There is one last thing…we decided the other day that to show our appreciation that we wanted to take you all out for dinner tomorrow night…you know…a sensei-student sort of thing."

"Ai," she responded, "tomorrow it is."

Neji nodded his head, turned and headed out the door to his room.

It was late, around eleven or so, so Hinata decided that it was time for her to strip off and crawl into bed.

Dinner with Naruto-kun…maybe I…maybe I'll get to dance with Naruto-kun…if his date doesn't occupy him all night or he doesn't have one…I hope he doesn't have one…just…one dan…

Hinata's mind didn't make it any farther. It soon found her dreams.

Beep beep beep beep be…

Every time there's a good dream…sigh…I guess it can't be helped

And with that Hinata entered her same habitual routine for the morning before heading out to the shop. Hinata still didn't have any missions or training because Kurenai-sensei still hadn't returned from her mission, last report said that they were having trouble tracking someone down and it would take a little longer than expected. As Hinata was about to head out the front gate Neji called out to her.

"Hinata…you're going to the shop now right?"

She nodded her head, "I should be there most of the day since Kurenai-sensei isn't back."

"Ok…just make sure that you're all still there at around four…the guys and I will be there to pick you all up and go eat."

"Ai," she blushed just thinking about dinner with Naruto-kun, even though it wasn't really withhim,and headed off to the shop.

Hinata arrived there just a few minutes after Ino and her mother opened up the shop. They didn't have to wait but half an hour before Sakura and Tenten showed up with breakfast in tow. Hinata had already had toast that morning but she figured a little something else couldn't hurt since they had went through the trouble of getting it. Over breakfast the four of them couldn't help but gossip about where they thought they were going to take them tonight and all hoping that it would be the new restaurant that had just opened up with the rooftop dining. Granted it was the person they had been teaching that was taking them out on a friendly date but they still knew that the person they really wanted it to be with would be there and that made it all worthwhile. Orders came in and orders came out and lunch time finally arrived. Just in case they were going somewhere well worth it it was decided that lunch would be a light one so they would be sure to have an appetite. Four o'clock crept closer and closer and the girls grew more and more eager. Gong...their attention shifted to the sound of the grandfather clock next to the door…Gong…Gong

One more…come on…one more

Gong… ding ding

The door swung open and entered the four boys that they had all waited on all day long for.

"Are you all about ready to go?" asked Neji who had come through the door first.

"Yeah…we are," Tenten answered with a small blush as she saw "her man" come through the door.

"Well we have a small stipulation first," Neji added. The four boys walked over to their "dates" and held out a blindfold.

"No blindfolds equal no dinner Sakura-chan," teased Naruto as he waved his small token of power in front of her before receiving a smack to the head.

"Please wear it Tenten-chan…I haven't eaten since lunch today and I don't think I can make it much longer," Chouji grumbled while rubbing his growling stomach.

"Here you go Ino-chan…the Springtime of Youth's dinner awaits us!" Lee shouted in his usual manner as he handed Ino her blindfold that strangely looked a lot like one of Lee's arm bandages.

"We want this place to be a surprise tonight," Neji revealed as he began wrapping the blindfold around his cousin's eyes.

After the blindfolds were around the girls eyes they were taken by the arm by each boy and led out the door. Ino and Lee were the last out.

"We're gone Mom…I'll see you at home tonight," Ino shouted not knowing that her mother was standing by the door to hold it open.

"What sweet boys," she said to herself as she turned and began to ready the store for closing at five.

The girls walked in darkness for around ten or fifteen minutes while hearing "I never would have guessed"s and "I never would have thought"s before they stopped.

"Tada," the boys shouted in unison as the removed the blindfolds from their eyes.

The neon sign that rested on the front of the five story building in front of them read "Akimori's" in bright red letters.

This wasn't a place that any of the girls were familiar with.

"Where is this place Lee…I've never heard of it before?" Ino looked back and asked.

"I'm sure you've heard of that new place with…"

"THE ROOFTOP DINING!" the girls shouted as they clung together jumping up and down.

"So you have heard of it," Lee concluded as he watched the girls' excitement envelop them in a rather dramatic matter.

"Come on…we've got a table reserved for sixth floor," Naruto gleamed as the girls realized what that meant.

They entered and gave the name they had left the reservation under and were immediately led to a glass elevator that took them to the top. Upon reaching the top they were led to a table and told that their waiter would be with them shortly. Each boy took a place behind a chair and pulled them out. The girls took this as a sign that somewhere along the line they had learned some manners, even Naruto, and took their seats which were pushed up against them. The seating arrangement looked something like this…

The seating arrangement

-----Neji, Hinata

Tenten---------- Naruto

Chouji---------- Sakura

--------Ino, Lee

After some chitchat between them and looking over the menus their waiter showed up to take their orders. All the boys ordered a steak of some kind that came with baked potatoes or fries even though Naruto had asked if they had any ramen of any kind, he took what he could while Chouji ended up ordering two 16 ouncers for his light dinner. The girls on the other hand ordered a wider variety of things, Ino ordered chicken and broccoli over steamed rice, Sakura decided on a mild curry chicken, Tenten chose to have a small hamburger steak with whole potatoes and Hinata ordered the fried shrimp and chicken. The dinner was rather typical, even after their rather delicious food came. They mostly talked about the missions and training, or lack there of, that they recently had been doing. The guys would break off into discussions about the new jutsu they were learning while, if only to keep themselves from staring at the boy they were almost sitting next to, the girls ran off into their usual drabble that excluded their talk about their company. Eventually the girls found that it was about time to "go powder their noses" and they excused themselves from the table.

"We'll be right back…we have to go powder our noses," Sakura said as the four of them rose to their feet and headed to find a restroom.

"Alright…we'll be right where you left us," Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder and watched the girls step into the elevator. They didn't take long seeing as they were headed back to the elevator in less than five minutes.

"What took you guys so long…you took forever," Naruto asked as they were reseated by the boys.

"We so were not," Sakura interjected as she looked up to notice that Naruto hadn't yet taken his seat, neither had Neji, Chouji or Lee. Hinata had noticed it too and she hadn't taken her eyes off of him since she had noticed how he was looking at Sakura now.

"There's something we wanted to ask you girls," Lee said as he took Ino's hand, the others followed suit as they took the hand of the girl they were seated next to.

Hinata couldn't help but begin to feel disappointment and grief as she tore her eyes away from Naruto to look up and see her cousin looking at her with eyes that she had only seen him direct one other place.

This can't be…Neji-kun…Neji-kun s-said that he liked Tenten-chan…he knows how I feel about Naruto-kun…Naruto-kun…I thought you…I thought you had finally noticed me

Rasengan2theface: Heart wrenching ain't it…AHHH…wait wait wait just a minute…before I'm disemboweled please read the next chapter…ok…BloodOb…easy now…that vein doesn't look too good…well I'm gonna run before I get killed so read the next chapter and review so I can know how much you hate me now…until then…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…run away...umm…I mean…later daze…AHHH