Snow Angels

by DeisuiNeko

The Fourth Shinobi War has been over for more than 2 years and now it is the holiday season and Naruto is not looking forward to yet another year alone especially now that Sakura and Sasuke are an item. Will a certain pale-eyed girl be able to save him from his self-destructive path before it is too late?

53. How do you do it?

A/N: Sorry about this chapter being posted and then pulled after only a short time. I had someone point out that there were some spelling and sentence structure errors, more than normal for me, in the original release of this chapter. After reviewing that section and then looking back over more of the chapter I decided to pull the whole thing for an overhaul rather than do a patch job.

Just insert the usual excuses for my shoddy job on the first release. Those same excuses of my recent promotion at work requiring more of my time, and on top of that we are doing mandatory overtime to meet some deadlines, plus family responsibilities with what is left over of my day has left me with very little time to do anything but catch a few hours of sleep. That is why this overhaul has taken as long as it has to get done. My time has gone from 2 hours a day for writing and editing to barely over 2 hours a week. With that all being said, the next chapter will be delayed till next month some time as I take a short break.

Ironically as I am writing this note I saw a post that one of the Naruto Shippuden animators, Kazunori Mizuno, passed away a few days ago. The reports say that he was feeling ill and went to take a nap in his studio and died in his sleep. Some of his friends and colleges say that they wouldn't be surprised if his death was due to exhaustion. I forget sometimes how much work and dedication it takes from the people involved in manga and anime to keep the tight schedules they have to satiate our hunger for their product. His work was not just with Naruto, but also with several other series and movies that I have enjoyed over the years. Rest is peace sir and thank you.

Naruto, ignoring the increasing ache in his legs, takes the stairs in twos and threes as he makes his way up to the top of the Sand Village's high shield wall. After being cooped up in the cramped confines of Kankurō's giant serpent puppet for an entire day his leg muscles are protesting against this sudden burst of activity.

He can feel his excitement building as he senses the air's temperature begin to change, because he knows that his reunion with Gaara is now just moments away. It had taken him longer to reach the base of the long zig-zagging staircase up the shield wall due to all of the people stopping him on the streets wanting his autograph or even to have a photo with the well-known shinobi from the Leaf Village.

Taking every chance he can to socialize with the citizens of the Sand Village is one of the things that he and Hinata had talked about as they made their way towards the village. This should help to alleviate any concerns people might have after his sparring incident with their popular Kazekage. Naruto had even stopped himself from making a couple of shadow clones to help speed up the photo ops with the growing crowd. He is really not sure how much time has passed since he left Hinata to get some rest before they have to start getting ready for tonight's celebration. He just hopes that he has not kept Gaara waiting too long.

When he breaks through to the top Naruto has to momentarily shield his eyes from the glare of the midday sun. As his eyes adjust he can see a familiar figure standing alone near the edge of the wall. There, looking out over the desert like some sort of guardian statue, is the young Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village.

"So how did you like traveling inside of my brother's new puppet?" Gaara says as Naruto comes to stand beside him to look out across the vast desert that surrounds the Hidden Sand Village. There amongst the dunes erupts the enormous head of the serpent as it crashes down narrowly missing a fast moving man-size figure. After taking a moment to look closer the moving figure can be distinguished as another puppet that is dancing about the giant snake. "My brother is working on evaluating his reaction time with such a large puppet against a fast moving adversary."

Naruto stands quietly beside Gaara for a little while watching the lopsided match. "I will have to say that big snake is quite intimidating when it suddenly erupts from underneath the sand, but it is not nearly as creepy as those smaller human-like puppets he uses. I guess it is something about the eyes, you expect a serpent's gaze to be unnerving, but something that looks like a person should blink." Naruto scratches the back of his head as he thinks about how dumb he sounds to somebody who has been around puppets his entire life. "I do think that Hinata enjoyed riding inside, it was something neither one of us has ever experienced before. I know that I enjoyed just being able to sit with her beside me and talk, even if it wasn't so private due to the cramped quarters."

"How do you do it?" When Gaara sees the confused look on Naruto's face he momentarily berates himself for his slip. He hadn't planned on saying anything, but seeing such a dramatic change in Naruto from the last time they had talked tugged the question to the surface.

"What do you mean?" Naruto can see that Gaara seems to be struggling to find the right words and decides to bring up what he needs to say to give Gaara a chance to collect his thoughts. "I really need to apologize for what happened the last time I was here in the Sand Village. I know that on the day I left I said I was sorry, but looking back I feel like I was being insincere. Plus, you are letting me and the others stay in your home during our visit, and I bet that didn't go over well with some people."

Naruto pulls his hands out of his pockets, places his right hand over his heart and stares down at his feet in shame. "I am truly sorry that I put you in such a predicament. It was not my intention to put such a burden on you, I just wasn't thinking straight and…" Naruto looks up to see Gaara holding out his right fist towards him in a friendly gesture.

"There is no reason to ask for absolution, I feel that no crime was committed that day. I saw that you were in pain and my own lack of empathy kept me from helping you like I should have done for a friend." Gaara lets a rare hint of a smirk decorate his face. "Also, I was enjoying the challenge of our match that day. It is rare for me to be able to cut loose with the full force of my power and not fear for the safety of my training partner. I was so caught up in enjoying the challenge that I did not see the danger until it was too late."

The two friends bump their fists together as they silently agree to put the incident far back in the past. Just like Naruto and the rest of the Leaf Village has let the incident of Gaara and the Sand Village's part in the attack during the chunin exams become just a distant memory.

The two walk over to the other side of the wall and look down at the bustling activity of the village below, watching as the villagers are making their last minute preparations for tonight's celebration. Naruto inhales deeply and lets out a loud sigh as the smells wafting up from the street vendors below are starting to work their way up from the streets to the top of the wall. "Man, all the food smells mingling together are really making me hungry. I might have to go get some ramen before the party tonight or the only thing anybody will be hearing during the party will be my stomach growling."

Naruto glances over to see if his comment had any luck in making Gaara smile, but no dice, so he says the first thing that comes to his mind to fill the silence. "Shikamaru was telling me on the trip out here that you guys don't hold your foundation festival on the same date every year."

Gaara nods in affirmation and gestures out over the expanse of the village. "Yes, the night the founders came together and formally formed the Hidden Sand Village was under the total darkness of the spring's new moon. Even though we know the exact date, it was decided generations ago that we would honor the spirit of the night instead of the date. So we celebrate on the first new moon following the spring equinox." He goes on to explain that the fireworks will not be set off until the stroke of midnight to celebrate the start of a new year for the Hidden Sand Village and that the festivities can go on all night, sometimes until dawn the next day. Tomorrow is a day that people quietly reflect and take it easy before the second night of celebration. It will be tomorrow morning during the lull in the festivities that the gathering will be held with the representatives of the Five Allied Nations.

Naruto nods as he remembers the gathering details from the mission scroll he was given by the Hokage. "Yeah, they got smart this year and sent Hinata with me instead of that guy from last year. You know, the one me and Killer B drunk under the table. I wonder whatever happened to that ANBU guy? Hopefully he isn't doing punishment details for being unable to keep me out of trouble." Naruto decides that once he gets back to the Leaf Village he should find the guy and apologize to him as well.

Gaara looks over at Naruto with the same look as before. "That is what I was asking about earlier. After what you were going through the last time you were here, how did you find the strength to try again?" Seeing the same confused look on Naruto's face Gaara steels himself to open up in a way that he has never done before with anyone. "How were you able to take another chance and open your heart to someone again?"

As soon as he realizes what Gaara is trying to get at, Naruto start chuckling. "Well, I didn't consciously open my heart, nor was I even looking for somebody to fill the void in my soul. Hinata just came out of nowhere and wrapped herself around me, not just in a physical sense but spiritually as well." He thinks back to the night he bumped into her and how he ended up curled in a ball and crying in her lap. "I ran into her one night after I returned home. I was like a length of rope tied into a bunch of crazy knots, so many that there was really no rope left just a big ball of knots. A few soothing words, along with her gentle presence, and the knots fell apart like they were nothing but slipknots and only needed to be pulled in the right way. To be honest I am not sure anybody other than her could have found the right place to pull me out of the dark hole I had fallen into."

"She invited me to her family's solstice celebration inside the Hyuga estate, and I just couldn't say no when I looked into her eyes. There were no expectations of me being anyone other than the same person she has known since we were together at the academy." Naruto gives Gaara a slight knowing smile. "Being the Kazekage I am sure you know what I mean about wanting to be yourself, and not what people expect or need you to be because of your title."

Naruto looks wistfully up into the bright sky. "The next thing I knew I was invited to take her out to dinner for her birthday so I could give her the gift I bought, which became our first semi-official date." Tenten's machinations had been involved in their dinner together being called a date, instead of two friend having a meal together. "After that things kind of started moving on their own. Then suddenly we were an official couple and not just two friends who were dating." Naruto shakes his head and blinks his eyes a few times as the realization of how far he has come in such a short time really hits home.

Gaara looks up into the same sky as his friend. "What… what is it like?" He places his hand over his chest as if he suddenly feels a sharp pain. "What does it… feel like to let someone get so close to your heart?"

Now that's a good question. How do you describe the happy sensation of when you see her face for the first time each day, or the loneliness you start to feel when you have to say goodnight? As Naruto thinks about how to describe just those two sensations alone it sounds more like he is coming down with some terrible flu rather than being… in love. He pauses and thinks about how being around Hinata can feel the same and yet completely different at the same time to those other people he cares about. Is this what people mean when they say that love comes in many different shapes and sizes?

Naruto scratches his head for a moment to try and come up with something profound and not sound profoundly stupid. "It feels nice. There is somebody that you can't wait to see each day and when you are apart seeing her again occupies your thoughts constantly. You realize that stuff you used to enjoy doing all alone is actually a lot more fun when she is there doing it too." He looks over curiously at Gaara and nudges him with his elbow. "Is there somebody that makes you feel the same way?"

This was the part Gaara was worried about. Now that he has opened up just a little to Naruto, his friend is starting to pry even more information out of him. "I… I don't know. I probably shouldn't feel this way about my former student, Matsuri, even though we are actually close to the same age." Gaara goes on to explain how his former student has become very important to him, so much so that he had to assign her to his sister's team. He felt his objectivity was being compromised as the Kazekage, since he would find himself wanting to go out of his way to assign her team to missions that had the highest possibility of success while also having the lowest chance of risk. Was that fair to the other teams that might have gotten tougher assignments because he was worried she would not come home. When she applied for an assignment that would put her in the Kazekage tower every day and in close proximity to each other, sometimes multiple times a day, he thought he was going to go crazy. He was angry with himself for liking the idea of seeing her so much, but the anticipation became its own sort of hell when he had to not look disappointed when someone other than her came into his office. Finally he had to find Matsuri assignments that kept her busy and not in the Kazekage tower as much, but that has come with its own complex emotions. "What was truly disconcerting was when she reached me some documents one day and she touched me."

Naruto is once again confused by Gaara's words. "So, does she have sweaty palms, or something like a wart on her hand?" He just shrugs because he cannot fathom why this would be such an issue if you really care about someone.

Gaara turns and looks Naruto directly in the eyes, his body visibly trembling. "No, you don't get it Naruto. She touched ME!" He holds up one hand and looks at it like it had turned against him somehow. "Whenever I touch anyone, like shaking hands, there is always a fine layer of protective sand between me and that other person. My sand reacts this way even to my siblings, but she is somehow different. When her flesh touched mine the sand actually moved out of her way so that I could feel the warmth of her soft skin unhindered and unfiltered." Gaara's eyes widen as if he is about to have a panic attack and his breathing becomes rapid. He cannot remember ever feeling so completely vulnerable in his entire life, as he did when her hand touched his that day.

Naruto presses his palm up against the Kazekage's chest and then pats gently a few times. "That is easy to explain. You heart is trying to tell you what you are too afraid to accept up here, Gaara." Naruto then taps one finger on his friend's forehead. "Trust me when I say that I know exactly how you are feeling. Lately, whenever I am about to become aggravated about something and lose my temper; a look, a touch, hell even the sound of her breathing changing its rhythm slows me down and makes me pause for a moment to think about what I am about to do or say." He turns and glances out over the desert in shock of his own admission. "That's right, me the number one unpredictable ninja can be brought to heel like a trained puppy by something as simple as a smile from Hinata. It makes me wonder about all of the powerful Hokages who had wives, like my dad and the Third; and who really was the boss in their relationships, or is it just me that has this weakness. I am not really sure that I want to know the truth since I have heard stories about my mom's temper."

Gaara just nods in agreement, knowing that Naruto is probably right and they are not the first men to find themselves put in unfamiliar territory by the shy smile of a beautiful woman. Though, most men at least had some positive interaction with people as they grew up. He and Naruto for the first part of their lives only knew the look of fear and distrust on people's faces; that and people doing their best to keep their distance from the boys who carried a tailed beast inside their body. Both of them also knew of the fake people enamored with their new found status after they became heroes, and how those people were drawn to that power and not to them personally. Unfortunately, Naruto had a much worse time than he did, mainly thanks to the caustic tongue of a very protective sister keeping those kinds of people at a distance once he became Kazekage.

Naruto presses his palm against his own chest and sighs heavily. "To be honest, at first I was not sure if I was right about the meaning of this feeling in my heart. The only thing I was sure of, and still am, is that losing the source of this feeling scares me to death." Naruto bows his head and rubs his eyes as if trying to banish an unwanted thought or image. "What nobody, not even Hinata, knows is that I have been plagued by reoccurring nightmares over the last few years. I recently found out that I am not the only person having this problem, and that many of the people who fought in the war are dealing with the same issue."

Naruto looks over and notices that Gaara is nodding his head in acknowledgement, to show that he too has not been immune to nightmares from what he has experienced in his life. "The one that haunts me the most, especially over the last few months is the time that Hinata nearly died trying to save me from Pain. The difference from reality is that in the dream she dies in my arms." Naruto turns away as his throat begins to constrict in heartbreak. He tells Gaara about how something bad seems to happen to everyone that tries to protect his life, and that Hinata has shown that she is very willing to put herself in danger when his life is in jeopardy. This fact makes the impact of those nightmares potentially becoming a reality even more severe.

Gaara knows exactly where Naruto is going with the conversation. "It is like our lives were cursed in more ways than one when we were forced to become jinchūriki, and that letting ourselves open up puts those close to us in danger as well." The memory of Matsuri being kidnapped and used as bait in a plan to extract the tailed beast Shukaku from him immediately comes to mind.

Naruto nods and places his closed fist over his heart. "Exactly, and that's why I have had such a hard time telling Hinata… how I feel. I just didn't know if I wanted to put her life in even more danger. Part of me is still scared that I am wrong about them being just nightmares, and once things get even more serious between us… I might lose Hinata."

Gaara looks over at Naruto in confusion. "Wait… you have been dating Hinata all this time and you have yet to say a word about your feelings?" Even though he has far less experience than his friend in dating a girl, Gaara knows from having a very vocal older sister that girls do want to hear their boyfriend express their feelings, quite often as a matter of fact. Hearing that Naruto has been holding back seems cruel and very unlike his friend to do something like that to someone he cares very deeply about, even if it he thinks he is doing it for Hinata's protection.

Seeing Gaara's look of confusion morph into one of irritation increases Naruto's already guilty feelings on the subject. "Yeah, like I said I was afraid that if we got too close that she would be in danger, but I'm going to change that soon because I've realized that I am just being paranoid. I'm going to make it up to her by telling her at the perfect moment, so that it will be super special." Naruto punches a fist into the air to express his resolve in this promise.

Gaara sensing that the answer to his next question will probably not assuage his irritation at Naruto, gestures towards the staircase to show that he needs to return to his duties and is offering for Naruto to join him on his walk back to his office. "So exactly how long have you been trying to find this perfect moment?"

Naruto, as he falls into step beside Gaara lets out a sigh and scratches the side of his face. "Pretty much the whole trip out here to the Sand Village." He suddenly has a sheepish look on his face. "Well, actually I sort of told her I love her once already. It really doesn't count since she was asleep."

Gaara resists the urge to give Naruto the punch he deserves, and instead stares straight ahead with his eyes half closed. He is not sure what is more surprising; that it took Naruto all this time to make the decision, or that he couldn't find the right moment in over half a week of walking between the villages. "So you couldn't find a single 'real' chance to tell her the whole time you were coming to this village? Surely Shikamaru and Choji would have taken a hint and left the two of you alone for a little while."

Naruto holds out his hands in frustration. "They did, but something always seemed to happen just when I was about to make my move. Like a big ass snake puppet erupting out the ground just when the morning sun was at its peak of colors and totally romantic." He gives Gaara a look, daring him to make a remark about the mood being ruined by his older brother.

Gaara nods as he concedes to Naruto's point about how things can occur at precisely the wrong moment. Especially since his siblings have done the same to him in the past, like when all he wanted to do was watch Matsuri from his office window as she was running down the street on an errand he had just assigned her to do. "All I am trying to point out is that just like in a mission you can completely lose your advantage by waiting too long for the perfect moment to attack. I know this has not been one of your problems before, so maybe it is time to be the reckless Uzumaki again. You need to be the unpredictable Uzumaki Naruto one more time, and do it before it's too late."

When Naruto looks at him in surprise Gaara holds out one of his hands and forms a small ball of sand in his palm. "As you well know the life of a shinobi is dangerous and often very short. How do you think you would feel if something happened to Hinata and you never got to tell her what is in your heart?" He crushes the ball which sends a spray of sand in every direction to illustrate how quickly a life can be extinguished.

Naruto absently rubs at the sudden ache in his chest. "I'd feel terrible." The feelings of guilt he has been having lately begin to magnify. As does his feelings of frustration at himself for not just blurting out how he feels like some idiot, because at least the guilt would be mostly gone and she would know the truth.

Gaara senses the sudden increase of tension in Naruto's body and can see in the young man's face a slow buildup of determination. It should only take one more push to get Naruto in motion. "More importantly, the life of a jinchūriki is even more dangerous, and very few are lucky to grow old. How do you think Hinata would feel if something happened to you and she never knew the true extent of your feelings?"

The image of Hinata old and alone like Lady Tsunade comes immediately to Naruto's mind. Didn't he recently tell Sasuke about how that sudden loss of love affected the Hokage for the rest of her life? He has been such a selfish bastard all this time, and has not even taken Hinata's feelings into account. Damn, he has not been treating his girlfriend much better than Sasuke has his own, and he will be damned if he is going to be the cause of Hinata being sad and alone the rest of her life. "Dammit, I got to go."

Naruto begins running down the stairs, three and four at a time, nearly knocking a surprised Shikamaru into the wall as he comes around a corner. "Sorry, I have to go talk to Hinata."

Shikamaru lets out a big sigh knowing that what he is about to say is probably going to make Naruto even more agitated than he already seems to be. "Well, she is not at the Kazekage's place anymore if that's where you are heading."

Before the dark-haired shinobi can say anything else Naruto reaches out, grabs his collar, and lifts him off of the ground by an inch or more . "What do you mean she is not there, where did she go?"

Shikamaru places one hand on top of Naruto's and gently squeezes to get his attention. "The last time I saw her she was with Temari and they were going shopping for…" He stops talking when he notices that Naruto is no longer listening and instead has closed his eyes.

Naruto opens his yellow frog-like eyes and slowly turns his head till it comes to a quivering halt like a divining rod that has just found water. "Found her, and she is on the move." Without another word he lets go of Shikamaru's collar and resumes going down the stairs, nut now he is taking a whole flight at a time.

Gaara watches in amusement as his friend quickly disappears from sight. He had asked Naruto to join him up on the wall to help him solve his own troubled heart. In the end his answers were found by helping Naruto pull the scales from his eyes and see the danger of actually being cautious for a change. "You can know him for years and still be surprised by the strange effect he has on the people around him, and by how helping him you end up helping yourself." He turns his head to the side and notices that Shikamaru is looking at him strangely.

Shikamaru reaches up and lights a cigarette, a habit that he picked up from his old sensei and one that irritates his girlfriend. "I'm guessing that you had something to do with that sudden frantic look on Naruto's face?"

Gaara shrugs and turns to fully regard his sister's boyfriend. "I only pointed out something to Naruto that should have been obvious." He lets a faint hint of a smile return to his face as the two men look at each other knowingly, thinking about Naruto's well-deserved reputation for being thick-headed at times. "Where is your friend, Choji? It is unusual to see you about without either him or my sister by your side."

Shikamaru takes a drag of his cigarette and lets it out slowly. "Like I said, Temari and Hinata ran off to do some shopping for the party, and it is lunchtime so Choji is probably checking out the food scene." He knocks off the burning tip and puts the remaining cigarette into his pocket. "Actually, I was hoping to find you alone, and I took a chance that you were here at your favorite place to think."

Gaara chides himself for becoming so predictable that even Temari's boyfriend knows where to easily find him when he is free. He really should start changing up his routine before someone trying to assault the Kazekage uses this to their advantage. He leans up against the stone wall and relaxes his outward appearance. "Oh really, what is it that you want to talk about?"

Choji, who is walking through the center of the Sand Village's shopping area, stops at an intersection to inhale deeply at the rich mixture of smells floating around him from every direction. Most of the food stands have signs stating that they are serving a limited menu for lunch while they are getting ready for tonight's big celebration. His belly growls in objection, knowing that he will be unable to come down and sample most of these wonderful foods because he will be stuck at the big party till late into the evening. Added to the fact that he will be missing out on sampling tasty festival foods is the reality that most of the foods available at big parties are tiny little bites being served by some jerk who will only let you take one or two at a time. Each one, though tasty, is so small that it only ends up making you hungrier after it is swallowed. He needs to have a big lunch now or he will be so distracted by hunger tonight at the party that he might accidentally ignore Yukata in his hunt for the next server.

'Great, now I have gone and made my mood even worse.' He lets out a long sad sigh as he thinks about Yukata and how it would have been nice if she had not been on patrol and they could have eaten lunch together. 'I get hungry when I am sad and lonely.' He looks up when he notices that a pair of small feet have stopped right in front of him and are pointed in his direction. He slowly raises his eyes to enjoy her womanly shape, but quickly becomes confused as he realizes that the outfit does not match Yukata's normal mission gear. When at last he sees a pair of bright amber eyes staring at him in amusement, his mouth drops open in surprise. Her richly tanned skin seems to make the yellow of her eyes stand out like a pair of golden rings.

"So, you finally found my eyes." The woman runs her fingers through her dark red hair and brushes a few strands over her right ear. The gesture might have been a benign one so that her golden earring could catch the light perfectly, or it could have been to draw his attention to the sword sheathed on her back.

Choji, totally flabbergasted at being accused of something inappropriate, shakes his head a little to clear his thoughts and to deny his guilt. "My apologies, I was so caught up checking out the festival that…"

"You couldn't help yourself, I get it." She gives him a confident smile as he begins to blush brightly. "Don't worry, you can it make up by showing me a good place to eat around this village. I saw you a couple of streets back walking like you knew where you were going so I followed along until you stopped all of a sudden. Killer B-sama always says if you are someplace new never ask a skinny man where there is a good place to eat."

Choji, hearing the obvious comment about his weight straightens up and glares down at the small framed woman standing in front him with that confident smile still on her face. "Just what do you mean by that remark?" He barely notices that people are beginning to give the two foreign shinobi extra room just in case they are about to start a fight right in the middle of the street.

The woman's eyes do not veer away or show any hint of nervousness as she steps right up, nearly chin to chest with Choji. She slowly raises her left hand and pokes him in the stomach with her index finger as he stands there transfixed by her bright yellow eyes. "I am saying that you look like a man who is not shy about his enjoyment of good food. Am I wrong about that, and instead you only eat junk food like potato chips?" Karui has spent her whole career as a kunoichi around large framed men like the Raikage, Killer B and Darui, so she will be damned before she lets some guy try to intimidate her with his size. Those who have tried and persisted have gotten taken down a notch or two with her sword.

Choji is used to people backing down when he challenges them about comments to his weight, so having somebody get right in his face is actually unsettling. Also, her spot on comment about his love of potato chips is like a hard slap to the face and he takes a step back. "Yeah, I know of a good gogigui place nearby that I was planning to go to for lunch. They are best known for the spicy boneless pork ribs they serve, but I should warn you that they do mean spicy." Choji has to pause and swallow as his mouth begins to water at the thought of the spicy marinated ribs sizzling as they are being flipped on the grill.

"Sounds good to me, so what are we waiting on?" The woman gestures with her thumb that he should show her the way. "How about a little bet? The first person to cry from the spice buys both meals?"

Choji smiles as he sees his chance to get a little revenge for how she had gotten in his face and made him back down. "Well, I hope you brought plenty of money with you… uh?"

"You can call me Karui, but after you buy both our meals you will have to call me Karui-sama." She puts her hands on her hips and looks around at the decorations still being hung along the streets before turning back and immobilizing him with her gaze again. "Your name is Choji, right?"

"Uh... yeah." Choji looks at her a little closer to see if he has actually met this person before and has rudely forgotten the encounter.

Karui gives him a victorious smirk and then shrugs slightly. "Don't sweat it, I was in the war too and it's hard to forget a giant walking around on the battlefield punching monsters in their face."

As he holds open the door to the restaurant Choji chuckles at the truth of her statement. The Akimichi clan is the only clan he knows of that is able to increase their body size, so it does kind of make sense that people would remember seeing something like that, but for him it's just something that he takes for granted as being normal.

After making his way through the village, and this time doing his best to avoid as many people who might want to talk with him as possible, Naruto arrives outside the door of an apartment. After a quick glance at the nameplate he sees that it belongs to Gaara's sister Temari. Before knocking on the door he takes a moment to slow his breathing and check his outfit. This is going to be an important moment so he should try not to look like a slob.

Temari is not actually that surprised when she answers the door and sees the familiar blonde haired shinobi trying to look past her as soon as the door opens. Seeing a chance to have some fun she grips the top of her yukata tightly and pushes the door back till only her face can be seen like some sort of shy girl trying to protect her virtue. "Can I help you with something, mister?" Temari says in a trembling voice like a girl afraid of being assaulted by some strange man she has just met.

Naruto, oblivious to Temari's attempt to make him blush continues to move his head around to see if he can spot Hinata somewhere behind Temari. He can hardly see anything around her head and those weird ponytails she puts her hair into. "Uh… yeah. I need to talk with Hinata." He rises up on his tiptoes in hopes that the extra height might allow him to see farther into the room.

Realizing that her attempts to make Naruto blush is not working Temari looks over her shoulder and calls out. "Some guy with spiky blonde haired is here looking for a girl named Hinata. Any of you know somebody by the name? Or should I just call the cops on this creep?" The sound of girl's giggling can easily be heard in the background and after a moment or two Temari is hastily pushed aside.

Hinata, her hair held up messily by a couple of bamboo hairpins, steps into view. "Naruto-kun, is everything alright? I was planning on sending a message that I was going over to Temari-san's place to get ready for the party, but things got a little crazy and I haven't gotten the chance yet. I hope that I did not cause you to worry when you came back from your meeting and I was gone." She can see a strange look in his eyes, but it quickly softens as his blue orbs dance about her face and hair.

Naruto is too caught up in the simple beauty of his girlfriend to register her words at first. "Oh, no everything is fine. To be honest I haven't been back to Gaara's place yet, so even if you had sent a note I wouldn't have seen it yet." He licks his lips as he gets ready to blurt out what he came to say, even though part of him is unhappy that he is going to do this through a crack in a door. He reaches out and pulls Hinata's hand from the doorframe and wraps his hands around it gently.

When he takes hold of her hand Hinata opens the door a little further to reveal that she is wearing a dark blue yukata. She was about to start putting on her formal kimono when Naruto had knocked, and had quickly put on the yukata that Matsuri had thrown to her to wear when she heard Naruto's voice at the door. As he tugs gently on her hand the material slides off to one side revealing a creamy white shoulder along with a peek of her even whiter bra strap.

The sight of her oh so kissable shoulder; along with the surprise of seeing the strap of her bra causes the blood in his body to rush in two different directions at the same time. Should he reach down and cover his crotch, or pinch his nose? Probably both, but that would mean completely letting go of Hinata's hand.

Hinata blushes as she sees the excitement in Naruto's eyes from just getting a glimpse of her white undergarment and shoulder. "Was there something you wanted to say, Naruto-kun?" She reaches over and demurely pulls the material back over her shoulder with her free hand and then pinches the top closed to help him regain his focus. Hinata begins to wonder if she should just go ahead and put on the special lingerie that she has in her pack, and not worry about the teasing from the other girls when they see what she has brought as a special surprise for her boyfriend.

Naruto stands there blinking slowly while retaining a firm hold on her right hand. Words, there were words that he was planning on saying to Hinata. He blinks a few more times to try and clear his mind, but all he can see with each blink is a replay of a blushing Hinata standing there with one porcelain shoulder laid bare for him to worship. Those words seemed really important just a moment ago, but now they have been erased from his mind as the blood in his brain rushed to other parts of his body. He is able to refocus when he feels Hinata shake his hand and leans a little further out of the door to stare directly into his eyes.

"Did your meeting with Gaara go well?" Hinata smiles as she sees Naruto's eyes begin to focus again. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?" So it seems that the meeting with Gaara was more than just a private social meeting between the two friends.

Naruto shakes his head as what he wanted to say comes back clearly to his mind now that Hinata has mentioned Gaara. "Yeah, something did come up during my talk with Gaara and I…"

"Dammit Matsuri, hold still or I swear you will be going to the party bald." Temari's angry voice breaks the moment and startles both Hinata and Naruto. "Hinata, give your boyfriend a kiss and tell him he will see all of you in just a little while. I need you in here now, or so help me…" She leaves the phrase unfilled as a promise that she will come up with something very imaginative as a punishment if she does not get full cooperation from Matsuri.

Hinata sighs and looks at Naruto apologetically. "I am sorry, Naruto-kun. I made a promise to someone earlier today. They need my help and I…" She shrugs as a way of reminding them both of their shared nindo.

Naruto just looks at her dumbfounded as he nods in understanding. "Uh, I…"

After another yelp of pain from inside Hinata pulls on Naruto's hand so that his face can come into contact with her own. She lets the kiss linger for as long as she dares put Matsuri's scalp into danger. "You can tell me all about it tonight and I promise I will listen to every word. Tell the other guys that we girl's will meet you all there near the entrance tonight." With that she ducks back into the apartment and rushes to help Temari with a struggling Matsuri, who happened to earn the blonde kunoichi's ire when she tried to lean closer to the door upon hearing Naruto mention Gaara's name.

Naruto stares at the door for a minute or so trying to decide whether he should just kick it in or not. He stops when he wonders if any of the girls inside are not completely dressed, one of which is not only his friend's sister, but also the girlfriend of another friend. Plus Matsuri is in there as well, it would be bad if he saw her naked, especially before the Kazekage has his chance. 'It would be best if I avoid causing an incident on the eve of the Sand Village's Foundation Celebration.'

Hanging his head in resignation Naruto turns and walks down the hall a little way before stopping and pounding on his head. 'Dammit, dammit, dammit. This stupid party is going to be full of people who will want to talk to me, probably about stupid stuff too, so I am going to have to wait who knows how long now. I just needed like 10 seconds to say I love her, that's all.'

'YOU ARE AN EVEN BIGGER IDIOT THAN USUAL IF YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST BLURT THAT OUT AND THEN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT TOPIC OF CONVERSATION.' Kurama growls in annoyance at how his sleep is being disturbed by Naruto's wound-up emotions. 'YOU DON'T NEED A PERFECT MOMENT, BUT PLEASE DON'T DO IT AT A STUPID MOMENT EITHER. I REALLY DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO YOU BEAT YOURSELF UP AFTERWARDS IF YOU DO.'

Naruto hangs his head in defeat and walks down the stairs towards the street. He now has some time to kill before the party is supposed to start. It won't take him long to get ready and even he can't eat ramen for that long. He should probably let the guys know that the girls are meeting them at the party, but that won't take long either. He begins walking towards the Kazekage's house, taking in the decorations and stuff for the first time today, and comes to a stop as an idea pops into his brain. His face broadens into a big smile as the one idea becomes two and then three. He starts running realizing now that he might not have enough time to do it all before he is supposed to meet Hinata.