Chp.9- Shall we Dance?

Naruto was nervous, to say the least.

No, nervous didn't fully describe the way his knees began to quiver slightly, how his stomach seemed to tie itself in knots, and it came nowhere near close to describing how his hands were shaking. He stood in front of apartment #1210, anxiously waiting for it to open so he could grab Hinata and scram before Hiashi had a chance to stop them.

Being the daughter of such an affluent businessman, Naruto always wondered why Hinata lived in an apartment when her family could just as easily get a huge house right outside the city. He had asked her this often, but she always managed to change the subject on him. He began to wonder if being rich was worth the trouble, judging by the way it seemed to fluster her.

When he heard a soft female voice from inside, his nerves relaxed a little bit. "Oh, you're early… come on in, Naruto-kun! I'll be out in a second!" Naruto slowly opened the door and crept inside, closing it behind him, sealing himself inside a room where a no doubt livid Hiashi would be waiting to greet him… but when he turned around, there was nobody there. Instead, he felt an odd sense of deja-vu.

This apartment was no doubt nice, but it was nowhere near a size for Hinata's family, this was a place for one person, maybe two people max. He saw an opened envelope on the side table near the couch, which was also like his, albeit much less messy and beat up. He picked up the envelope and opened it up to reveal a bill for rent, addressed to Hinata. If she was paying rent… that meant only one thing…

Hinata was living by herself as well.

"Make yourself comfortable Naruto-kun, I just need to finish getting ready!" Hinata's voice sounded from inside what Naruto thought to be her bedroom. He took a seat on the couch, being sure to handle everything in the room with care. He rubbed his temples in deep thought. "Why would Hinata be living by herself? She has a freaking millionaire for a father… she has a family, why leave it before she has to?"

He heard Hinata's door opened and made to confront her about it, but the words died in his throat and he felt his heart stop. Naruto had made his best effort to clean up for tonight without making it seem completely formal, but soon realized that Hinata seemed much more in tune with her inner sense of style. The first word that came to his mind upon seeing her was knockout.

Her dress seemed simple enough. Nothing too dressy, but nice enough to show that she was going out. The low neck line revealed her pale neck and fair skin, it reached to just a centimeter or two above her knees. It was a far cry from the big sweaters and baggy clothes she usually hid under. Naruto knew she probably had a nice body, and he turned slightly pink upon seeing he was more right than he could've ever imagined. He couldn't stop his eyes from traveling up and down Hinata's body, tracing along every curve, from head to hip, down her milky legs and right to her small feet. The dress shone of a light lavender color. Her long hair was still let down, but it seemed to shine in the light.

"Dear lord above… is SHE my date!?!?"

He was so lost in his thought that he didn't notice how Hinata was eyeing him in the same manner. She blushed deeply upon seeing him. Naruto seemed a little more casual than her, but she couldn't stop herself from thinking, "God, this boy is hot…"

Naruto wore a pair of slightly worn black jeans, a pair of black shoes on his feet that seemed to have been shined recently. His burnt orange button down shirt was closed with the exception of two or three buttons near the top, giving Hinata the slightest glimpse of the toned chest underneath the cloth. His hair looked as untamed and spiky as ever, but Hinata didn't mind. She liked it that way, in all honesty.

It was a long while before either of them found their ability to speak again. Naruto finally managed to stammer out, "Hinata-chan… you… you're gorgeous…" Hinata blushed fiercely, if that was even possible, and stuttered, "Th-thanks… you d-don't look half b-bad yourself…" She cursed her stutter to the deepest reaches of hell. "Way to kill a mood, Hinata… I thought we were supposed to be confident tonight!?"

Naruto looked at his watch and found that it was about ten minutes until the dance really got underway. He offered his hand to Hinata and smiled, "Shall we go, my lady?" Hinata smiled shyly and gave him her hand, "We shall, good sir." As they left the apartment and Hinata locked the door, Naruto resolved to himself that he would confront her about her living alone… but later. Right now, he felt like the luckiest guy on the entire planet.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Isn't that Neji Hyuuga's cousin? With Uzumaki!?"

"Why is she with him… she could've done better, couldn't she?"

"I don't know… they look kinda cute together."

"Yeah right… Naruto Uzumaki is about as cute as a roach."

"Uhh, have you looked at them!? He is one fine piece of…"

Naruto and Hinata fought to hide their blushes as they passed by students on their way to the gym. Naruto was slightly embarrassed by the sudden praise he seemed to be garnering from girls whispering wildly to each other, one or two occasionally casting him a sly wink.

Hinata was past embarrassed and onto angry. Between the girls suddenly eyeing him ravenously, and the guys looking down at him incredulously or laughing at him behind his back, she suddenly felt very protective of Naruto. Her grip on his arm instinctively tightened, so much so that her knuckles began to go white.

As soon as they were past the majority of the gossip community, Naruto quietly asked, "Could you lighten up on the grip, possibly? I can't feel my lower arm…" Hinata instantly loosened her hold and blushed, causing Naruto to laugh. "Don't worry Hinata-chan; I'm flattered that you're so protective of me."

Hinata blushed again and smiled shyly. They finally pushed through the doors of them gym and gawked at the mass of students inside, whether dancing out near one end or sitting and chatting with friends at the scattered tables. They began trying to find an open place to sit when Naruto's eyes caught a pair of flailing arms near the opposite side of the gym. Tenten was waving her arms wildly, signaling for the two to join her and Neji, who appeared to be alone at their table.

They quickly wove between chairs and students and took a seat by their friends, much relieved to be out of the hectic maze of dancing students. Tenten practically squealed and said, "Hinata, you totally are rocking out this dress, I told you that you would look great! And Naruto-kun… I have to say, you clean up really good!"

Naruto blushed slightly and smiled, Hinata still managing to beat his blush with hers. Neji smirked upon noticing this and he traded a knowing glance with Tenten. "Eh, Tenten-chan… didn't you need to introduce Hinata to your friends or something?" Tenten smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I did, didn't I? C'mon Hinata, you've got to meet these girls!"

"B-but Tenten…"

It was too late; Tenten pulled her away from the table, leaving behind a smiling Neji and a confused looking Naruto. They finally stopped at another table, Hinata looked around and saw Sakura and Ino seated there, seemingly expecting Tenten and herself. She instantly knew what was coming, and didn't like the prospect one bit….

Ino started off the barrage, "So you're really here with Naruto?"

Sakura followed with, "He cleans up good! Have you seen his place?"

"Does he dance?"

"When did he ask you out?"

"Can I get a dance with him?"

"Do you really like him?"

"Do you know his number?"

Hinata tried to interrupt, but always found herself outmatched by Sakura's and Ino's aggressive interrogation. Tenten finally managed to stop the two and quickly said, "Hinata was asked last week, she has not been to his apartment, and Ino, you will not get his number, and he'll be far too busy enjoying his date with Hinata to bother getting a dance with you, got it?" Sakura instantly shut up and Ino made to snap back but Tenten glared back at her and quashed her unvoiced retort.

She turned to Hinata and said, "Hinata, we know how some of those girls were eyeing Naruto on your way here. Sakura, Ino, and I, along with our dates, have agreed to keep an eye out for anyone who could try to interfere with your date. Naruto is yours and yours alone."

"B-but we're not even…"

"It doesn't matter if you're officially an item yet, but we know how much you like this guy and we want you to get your fair shot at him. Don't we?" Sakura and Ino nodded vigorously.

In the meantime, Neji was explaining a similar situation to Naruto back at their table. "So, if any guy, a.k.a. anyone on my football team, tries to muscle in on your night with Hinata, you can count on me and the guys to help you out."

"You and the guys? What guys?"

As if in answer, Neji pointed behind Naruto and he turned to find Shikamaru and Lee standing behind them, Lee cracking his knuckles and smiling, and Shikamaru looking… bored, as usual. Tenten finally returned with Hinata and grabbed Neji's arm. "C'mon, Neji-kun! Let's leave these two be!" Neji got up and followed Tenten out onto the dance floor, and Sakura and Ino both laid a claim to Lee and Shikamaru, respectively.

Naruto and Hinata watched them leave, and then gave each other a rather inquisitive look. Then they both burst out laughing, finally feeling some of their nerves lift. They began chatting as well, finally getting a little more comfortable around one another.

Neji and Tenten looked on from the dance floor, both smiling broadly at their work. "See, I told you this would work, Neji-kun. You need to start trusting me more."

"I do trust you! I just don't know why we're getting so involved in their business…"

"Neji, do you trust your cousin with Naruto?"

"Uhh… yeah."

"Do you trust them together at homecoming dance?"

"Yes."

"Now, do you trust a few of the guys on your team not to give Naruto a hard time in a public setting?"

"…no."

"Exactly. Now relax, enjoy yourself. After all, this is a dance."

Neji smiled and put his arms back around Tenten's waist, her own arms lacing about his neck. In the meantime, Ino and Shikamaru were surprisingly out on the dance floor as well. Ino grinned madly and said, "See, Shika-kun? Now is this whole dancing thing really that troublesome?"

"Quite frankly, yeah it is."

Ino glared at him and he instantly shut up. He remembered an old saying his father had introduced him to, "Hell hath no fury over a woman scorned." Shikamaru was lost as to why he had a crush on such a troublesome female. It didn't help that she was a knockout… not one little bit. But Shikamaru would not bend to her, oh heavens no. He was far too smart and proud to end up whipped, as he liked to refer to it.

And yet, when Ino finally lost her glaring look and smiled that troublesome, gorgeous smile of hers, Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder if being whipped was such a bad thing…

Lee and Sakura were having far too much fun dancing to really pay attention to anything else, at least that's what everybody thought. In reality however, the two eccentric teens were stealing glances in Naruto and Hinata's direction, making sure nothing was going to happen to spoil their big night.

Naruto and Hinata had found themselves quite content to sit at their table and talk to each other while the rap and pop music blared and laugh at couples who looked ridiculous trying to "grind" with their partner. But then Naruto's eyes found Neji and Tenten, and he fought to suppress his laughter, merely pointing out to the dance floor as he began to snort and chuckle.

Hinata followed his finger and laughed outright. Neji and Tenten seemed to be rather into the music, and the funny thing was, they were good at it too. Neither of them had expected Neji of all people to be any good at dancing. But they were obviously proved wrong, and Tenten's intense gaze directed at him definitely proved it. Hinata giggled madly and Naruto laughed.

"Well, who would've known, eh Hinata-chan? Looks like Tenten finally pulled the stick out of Neji's butt…" Hinata giggled some more and nodded. Neither of them noticed the three girls that had slowly crept up behind Naruto, and they didn't even know they were there until they all flung their arms about Naruto's neck and cooed, "Hey there stud!"

Unfortunately, all of Naruto and Hinata's friends had seen this. Tenten, Ino, and Sakura all had a similar train of thought upon seeing this, which could be summed up by "OH NO THEY DIDN'T!" Neji, Shikamaru, and Lee also had very specific thoughts, although not that similar in nature…

"Those three had better get their hands off of him, because if they make him ditch my cousin I will be PISSED."

"Oh great… this is going to be so troublesome."

"How dare they interfere with the blossom of love between Naruto and Hinata! In the name of the fires of youth, I must stop this!"

The girls looked at their respective guys and nodded. The guys left the dance floor and within ten seconds were behind the women accosting Naruto. Neji smirked and said, "Ladies, if you wanna dance, we're game." A particularly nasty redhead snapped back, "Get lost, we wanna dance with Naruto-kun…"

Lee tried to interrupt, "But Naruto is…" A brunette next to the redhead gave him a withering glare and he paled visibly. Shikamaru sighed and said, "This won't end well…" The girls began tugging at Naruto, all pleading for a dance. The redhead got bold and grabbed his wrists, pulling him from the chair onto his feet. Naruto managed to wrench his fists from her grip, and she reached for him again.

A hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed the redhead's wrist tightly and a female voice rang…

"LEAVE… NARUTO… ALONE!"

A/N: Me and my cliffhangers… I'M SO EEEEEVIL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! XD So who stopped the nameless redhead? Does she want to help Naruto and Hinata or take Naruto all to herself? Found out next chappie! And remember, the more reviews I get, the more motivation I get to update quickly!