Although it couldn't be seen, all three girls had their eyes opened up wide. NO ONE was dancing AGAIN! Some people were swaying to the music but not a person was in the middle of the floor trying to start the dance that was supposed to have started twenty minutes ago.
"I don't understand." Ino said as she looked around the room. "Do these people really not know how to start up a dance?!"
Sakura put her hands on her hips as she scoped the room. "I can't find Sasuke." She disappointingly said.
"Well then look for Naruto." Ino said as she put her two hands over her eyeholes to better her search for Naruto. "Just look for bright blonde hair."
"Or if we don't go anywhere they'll see us since we're probably making a scene." Hinata put bluntly.
"You're right." Ino smirked as she made a pose. "We are the hottest people here. I'm sure when we walked in through those doors the room's temperature DROPPED!" she said as she made another sexy pose.
"Um….don't you mean the temperature rose?" Sakura asked.
"I didn't mean that Ino." Hinata said ignoring Sakura's comment. "I meant how we just SLAMMED into the dance, I'm sure they noticed us come in. Even if they didn't they'll see Sakura's pink hair, or your long blonde hair."
"So our good looks have nothing to do with it?" Ino asked.
"Nope, that's just a plus." Sakura said giving her the thumbs up.
"Well my woman's intuition tells me they're probably by the table with the most food." Ino said knowingly. "So I say we go find that!" she put her hands on her hips to make it final, and before any protest was heard she walked away.
Hinata sweat dropped. "Fine Ino. Let's do it the hard way." Grudgingly she and Sakura walked right after her as people began to eye them, and it wasn't just the boys who were checking them out. Some of the girls were admiring the outfits and masks they were wearing. They didn't have time to listen to the compliments since they were on search and find mission for the guys.
Neji, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke all stood at the table with the most food as they stared at the doors watching a wide flow of girls stream in. They didn't say a word but all kept staring at the doors to see if they could see four certain girls bob their heads right by them.
(Looking at the snack table) Shikamaru was on the far left standing sideways with his hands in his pockets. He had on a forest green cotton shirt with black pants, and his silk tie was black. Neji stood facing forward with his arms crossed and his eyes lazily looking at the door to a person to the door to a speck of dust back to the door to no where at all and at the door again. He had on a white cotton shirt with black silk tie and black pants. He also had his hair pulled back into a low ponytail. The only difference from his current outfit to the one he wore in the beginning of the summer was he wasn't wearing his blazer. Naruto stood next to him looking like he was bored or he didn't really feel like being there at the moment. His hands were back behind his head and he was leaning up against the table while wearing black pants, a light blue shirt with sleeves already rolled up and a navy blue tie that had the Konoha symbol on the end. Sasuke was next to him looking like he was leaning back against Naruto, even though he wasn't, in black pants, and a red shirt with a black silk tie. On the end of his black tie was the Uchiha crest sewn right in. At random moments in time he kept blowing a piece of hair that was in his face away, but somehow the damn thing made its way to in front of him again.
'Hair gel…damn it.' He thought to himself coolly. 'Should have used some.'
'This is it.' Neji thought to himself as he kept squeezing his fists and shaking his fingers, also making very unnoticeable to the guys around him. 'This'll be the last time I see her. I don't know what to say.' "…hmm…" Neji sighed as he continued to stare anxiously at the door.
Naruto had his hands in his pockets and continued to stare down at the ground gloomily. He was rethinking about the phone conversation he had had with Chouji right before they all came down to the dance. It was so unexpected for him to hear, and it was almost so upsetting he almost felt like not coming to the dance. His upset mood was even contagious to the rest of his friends who were feeling pretty bad for him as well.
FLASHBACK
"SHIKAMARU!" Naruto yelled from upstairs. Shikamaru was sitting on the couch with his head thrown over the back.
"whaaaaat now?!?" he yelled clearly annoyed with Naruto keeping them all late.
"I hate all of your ties! There isn't one cool one I can borrow!" Naruto yelled making Shikamaru sweat drop.
"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke. "Why aren't you using one of your own ties?"
They all waited for a response but heard none. Instead, they heard the footsteps of Naruto running back to his room to go through his stuff to find a tie.
"You mean he didn't even think to check his own suitcase before he asked to borrow somebody else's tie?" Neji asked.
Sasuke and Shikamaru both sighed as Shikamaru's cell phone began to ring in his pocket.
"Hm?" he took it out and looked at the screen.
"Who would be calling you now?" Neji asked as he stood behind Shikamaru. Shikamaru opened up his cell phone.
"Hello? OH Chouji! What's up?"
"Isn't that the pudgy kid Shikamaru hangs out with sometimes?" Neji asked as Sasuke stood next to Neji behind Shikamaru. They both stared at Shikamaru as he stood up to walk around a little as they listened to what seemed to be a one way conversation.
"So did you loose any weight?...Because of the paper job you took over for Naruto…….you got WHAT?" Now Neji and Sasuke were trying to hear more intently. Shikamaru began to pace around the room rapidly. "BUT….how…..are you sure?...when did this………..I see…..I'll have to tell him……………..don't worry about it, but now I have to go………I'll talk to you later. Bye." Shikamaru shut his phone and threw it at the couch. He ran his hands over his head as he let out a loud sigh.
"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked.
"That was my friend Chouji. He was taking over Naruto's route for him while Naruto was at camp, but. Well, Chouji's not exactly the most physical person around so he was always behind in his deliveries. They fired him within the first week!"
"That's a shame." Neji said almost sarcastically.
"Yeah, but that won't effect Naruto right?" Sasuke asked.
"Actually….they found a replacement for Naruto. This guy does the work just as well as Naruto does, and they don't get any complaints from any of their clients." Shikamaru explained.
"So he…." Sasuke paused what he was going to say when they all heard Naruto run down stairs with his tie around his neck.
"Hey remember this thing?!" he asked them as he proudly held the end of the tie up to show the Konoha symbol that was sewn in red. "Man this thing sure has been through a lot!" he said turning the tie to look at the symbol himself. "I remember buying it!"
"It was too big when you first got it." Shikamaru laughed as he remembered the day Naruto showed them all a tie he bought with his very own money when he first started his paper route. It was too big on him but he really only wanted it for the Konoha symbol. He told them all it would help him find the road to being Hokage, and he had to start loving his home more before he could be one.
"He still hasn't grown into it." Sasuke smirked.
"Hey SHUTUP! It fits me just fine." He said as he straightened it out. "So are we ready to go?"
No one responded to him and tried to avoid eye contact with him.
"…Hey guys…who died?" he asked confused.
"Do you remember Chouji?" Sasuke asked him.
"Well yeah, he's taking over my route for a while. Why? What about him?"
"Here." Shikamaru said handing his phone over to Naruto. Naruto took it and could hear it already ringing. "You better ask him about your job."
"Hello…Shikamaru?" asked Chouji's voice.
"Hey..this is Naruto."
"Yeah, well sorry about the whole job thing. It wasn't my fault but I hope you'll be okay."
"Okay? Okay with what?" Naruto asked confused.
END FLASHBACK
"So does anyone else want to know where they are?" Shikamaru asked snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.
"Yeah what could be taking them?" Sasuke asked.
"You know," came the cool voice of Kakashi who appeared near Shikamaru wearing a dog mask, "You're all in dress code violation. You might want to put your masks on now." All of the guys did as they were told and stuck on their masks. "A fox Naruto? Well that one couldn't be more perfect for you."
"Huh…and what's that supposed to mean?" he asked hotly.
"Uh…never mind. SO do any of you want to start the dance for us?" he asked them.
"How can they?" asked Asuma who approached them wearing a plain white mask with four red lines coming from the eyes. "They don't have their partners."
"Oh yes….those four." Kakashi said as he rubbed his head. "I just saw them a while ago."
"So they're here?" Sasuke asked.
"Does anybody see Kurenai?" Kakashi asked as he looked around.
"I'll show you." Asuma said as the two men walked away.
"Pft, so much for that." Sasuke scoffed.
"So if they're here should we look for them?" Naruto asked
"Just hold on." Said Shikamaru. "Just look for them from where you are."
"Hmp. You'll do anything that involves the least amount of effort." Naruto scoffed.
As they stood there looking with their eyes three girls came up to them with their hands folded right below their chests. They were each standing in front of Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji who each were all thinking the same thing, 'SHIT!'
'What a drag. Even with masks on they all get the girls.' Shikamaru thought. 'huh…story of my life.'
"Any of you guys want to help us start this dance up?" the girl in front of Neji asked.
"Actually we're quite against this dance. We think we'll just stand here until the whole thing is over." Sasuke said very bluntly.
"GREAT!" the girl in front of Naruto said as she lifted her hands to her face. "We'll hang out with you guys!" Each guy sweat dropped as a bunch of stars and hearts formed around the girls who stared admiringly at the three.
"Is it me," Shikamaru said as he leaned in near Neji. "Or do these girls sound like they're a year younger then us?"
Neji sweat dropped even more.
"Huh?" the girl in front of Naruto said as she turned around to face the front doors that had just slammed open. "HEY! Those girls!" she said alarmed. Her companions, along with the guys, turned to look at what she reacted to. All of they're eyes grew wide at the sight they were seeing.
"Hey they're masks!" the girls in front of Sasuke squealed. "They're not just white and a color; they have many cute colors on them!"
"Not fair!" stomped the girl who was in front of Neji.
At the front doors were three girls who were wearing three very different masks on. The girl with the cat mask had pink glitter designs around it and also made a tongue sticking out of its mouth and eyelashes. The girl with the bunny mask also had a tongue sticking out of her mouth in black glitter. Her mask also had eyelashes and little swirly marks around the cheeks. The girl wearing the dove mask gave her a dove a nose ring with a drop of blue glitter paint and she made her left eyehole look like it was winking by adding an upside down "U" and she too gave her eyes eyelashes. The four guys automatically knew who the girls were, but were confused why there were only three and not four.
"Who the hell do those sluts think they are?" the girl in front of Naruto asked.
The guys all gave them cold glares from under there masks, but instead of saying anything they just left them all standing there. Each girl stood bewildered.
"Hey where are they going?" the girl in front of Naruto asked.
"Pft, that was RUDE!" the one in front of Neji yelled.
"So troublesome." Shikamaru murmured as they made their way through a bunch of people.
"Did you guys see Tenten?" Neji asked them as they made it closer to the front doors.
"No." Sasuke put simply.
"Last time we were at the dance we had people missing too." Commented Neji.
"Really?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, Hinata and Sakura." Sasuke told him. "And you too since you ran away from us. Idiot."
"I thought they were there, that's why I ran away." Naruto told them.
"Well can we just get to them before they disappear." Neji asked as he pushed through people.
"…great…too late.." Shikamaru sighed as they approached the entrance that was empty.
"So where do you think they all went?" Naruto asked as they all turned to stare at the herd of people in front of them.
"To where they thought we would be, which is where we used to be." Shikamaru explained very nonchalantly.
"What makes you think that?" Naruto asked even though he soon remembered this was Shikamaru, the guy who predicted the moves of everyone and their mother.
"Five bucks says it was Ino's idea." He wagered.
"Bet." Sasuke and Neji said at once as they one at a time slapped his hand making it final.
"Debt!" Naruto said putting both of his hands up. "I owe Kiba some more money."
"So do we go back to the table then?" Neji asked.
"Such a drag." Shikamaru said in a boring tone as they all walked back to where they came from. As they walked to the snack table they saw two of the girls they were looking for with one missing.
"So Ino where are they?" Hinata asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. Thank goodness she was wearing a mask so Ino couldn't see her annoyed expression on her face.
"Well…..maybe they went to the smaller one since it would probably be less crowded." Ino thought as she stroked her chin intelligently. Hinata and Sakura both hung their heads with an additional sweat drop. "So let's go there!" Ino said very chipper.
"Hold up!" Sakura yelled to grab Ino's attention. "For a second could we please go with some Hinata logic and not Ino logic?"
"Hey! What's wrong with my logic?" Ino demanded.
"I'll show you." Hinata said. "You want to go to the other table? Watch how staying in one place helps." Without any further argument Hinata left them both and disappeared into the sea of people.
"Dollar and a quarter says she's right." Sakura said as she stared off in the direction Hinata just went.
Ino crossed her arms and let out a "hmpf" noise, but before she could protest against what had just happened somebody tapped her on the shoulder causing her to turn around to see herself surrounded with four guys wearing masks.
"Mind if we finally dance?" asked the guy in the deer mask.
Common sense didn't kick in at first and Ino was about to decline his request, but then she began to take in the whole picture that she was looking at. Spiky brown hair, lazy posture, and through the holes on the mask she could make out dark eyes looking at her with warmth.
"Oh…Shikamaru!" she said growing more delighted with every passing second.
"Were you all waiting long?" Sakura asked as Sasuke came and put his arm around her waist like it was no big deal. Her cheeks burnt up at the sweet gesture.
"Not at all." Sasuke assured.
"Where did Hinata go?" asked Neji. "She was the other girl that came in right?"
"Yeah. She went that way." Sakura said pointing towards the other snack table. "She was proving a point to Ino."
"Hey!" Ino protested.
"What was she trying to prove?" asked Neji.
"Well we were going to wait at the door for you guys to come and get us but INO decided that the smarter thing to do was to find you at a snack table." Sakura explained.
"Looks like I win the bet." Shikamaru smirked.
"Me too! You're lucky that it was only a dollar and a quarter Ino." Sakura told her.
"I don't think I'd ever want to gamble against Sakura or Shikamaru." Commented Sasuke as he squeezed Sakura's waist a little.
"So where is Tenten?" Neji asked finally getting the courage to ask where she was.
"Oh she's…hey where'd Naruto go?" Sakura asked as she turned her head to look around.
"Oh I didn't even see him." Ino said.
"Probably to get Hinata. I guess he went in the direction Sakura pointed." Shikamaru suggested as he slouched closer to Ino.
"So then where's Tenten?" Sasuke asked. "She didn't walk in with you, did she even come?"
Sakura was about to explain the whole Lee situation when the doors opened up again causing her to gasp. Her friends all turned to see who had just slammed open the doors and were surprised at the phenomenal sight in front of them. A beautiful couple had just walked in, arms linked, striding as if they had practiced this entrance for weeks. The guy, who had every female eye on him, was wearing a bear mask and his outfit of choice was almost questionable. He wore what could have almost been called casual clothes, but with the added blazer it was considered acceptable, and his perfectly spiked hair would have won him 'Most Drool Worthy Award'. He was arm candy to a stunning young woman with wavy brown hair that dazzled even more with the diamonds placed in it. She wore a Chinese styled dress that shaped her delicate looking body, and nearly every guy grew weak in the knees. At first the couple just stood there only looking around when the bear mask noticed Neji.
'Is he….looking at me?' Neji thought to himself. It was confirmed when the bear mask pointed at Neji and lead the girl towards him. 'They're both coming this way? But who is that guy, and who is she?' It all became clearer when Neji got a better look at the girl's mask. It was of a bear, or more accurately a panda. It had added designs on it in pink glitter like a tongue that was sticking out, eyelashes and a couple of hearts. 'If she has the same designs as Ino and Sakura….wouldn't that make her?...Tenten?' Neji gulped and his brow began to sweat. He watched her body sway as she walked towards him. He knew she had an amazing body, he already saw a lot of it when she was in her bathing suit for crying out loud, but now she seemed to look so much more stunning then before. His heart picked up a few beats as the two had reached the group. Most noises were blocked out of his head, like the wolf whistling that had been going on as she walked by groups of hormonal boys.
'Stunning.' Neji thought to himself.
"Now why didn't I make an entrance like that?" Ino asked as she nudged Tenten in the side playfully.
"Well…" began Tenten's voice.
'It sounds like her. But. She sounds totally different. So much more elegant.' Neji thought as his heart began to quicken even more. It was almost as if Tenten wasn't even there.
"…brunettes do it better!" she laughed.
There she was. Neji then began to relax. Good old Tenten was still here.
"Hey!" Ino and Sakura both yelled.
"Do what?" Shikamaru asked. "What do brunettes do better?"
"Asked the genius." Laughed Sasuke. They all joined in with his laughing as Tenten pulled up her mask. On impulse Neji lifted his up as well, why he wasn't exactly sure. He felt as if it was the proper thing for a gentleman to do, like when a lady stands up from her seat the rest of the men do as well.
Tenten looked directly at Neji with a smile. Neji didn't even try to hide his blush.
That was Tenten's smile, but it was on the face of a dolled up super model. It was strange, and yet, pleasing to Neji. It was her, and yet, it wasn't her. Regardless, Neji returned the smile equaling the same exact warmth as she had shown him. Tenten opened her mouth to speak to Neji but Ino quickly pushed her mask right back down.
"Heyheyhey!" Ino yelled. "You need to preserve that beautiful face Hinata gave you."
"But then how will she show it off?" asked Lee who stood there almost unnoticed.
"Le…Lee?" Sasuke asked stumbling over his own words. Lee lifted his mask to reveal his smiling face.
"WOAH! Lee?!" Shikamaru yelled shocked.
"Where did your eyebrows go?" Sasuke asked. Neji then realized that they had been waxed off, and….didn't he walk in with Tenten?
'Oh no! Oh GOD no!' Neji thought to himself. 'This is dork Lee, but now he looks more…more like….'
"He's almost as hot as Sasuke no?" Neji heard Ino whisper to Tenten who giggled in return. Just as Neji had feared. Tenten came in with him so she obviously had some sort of feelings for him if she did that. Was he loosing her to Lee? Did he even have her to begin with?
No.
Neji Hyuuga lost to know one beneath him, ESPECIALLY not Rock Lee. Time to tear him down.
"It's about time you did something to your face Lee, too bad it doesn't look good at all."
Yeah that's what he would say. Neji cleared his throat and got ready for his attack when he was interrupted by Sasuke.
"You waxed your own eyebrows?"
Okay now he would jab him.
"Actually no." Lee said before Neji had a chance to speak. "Tenten did all of this, she insisted." Lee shrugged.
Neji paled.
If he had said one word about Lee's new look he would have had to face the wrath of Tenten, not to mention she would probably want nothing to do with him for the rest of the night and spend most of it with Lee. He praised whatever god had been so merciful towards him as he went back to his cool composure.
"HUH! Tenten!?" gasped a voice that made the entire group turn. They turned to see two tall girls with the masks of a weasel and a mouse. The mouse had curly green hair and a simple blue sun dress on with white flower designs in it. The weasel had four blonde pigtails and a simple little black halter dress.
"Livvy? Temari?" asked Sakura.
"Oh my GOSH! Look how nice your hair is!" Livvy cried as she hugged Tenten.
"Ino." Whispered Temari. "Who's this hot guy Tenten is with?"
Ino laughed. "That's Lee." She whispered back. Temari paled.
'GROSS! I just thought Lee Rock was HOT!' Temari then mentally died.
"Temari!" Lee said excitedly. "You look positively stunning! And you Livvy look absolutely radiant!"
"Thank you Lee." Livvy said as she slightly blushed under her mask.
"You're sweet kid." Temari said remaining cool.
"So where's Kiba?" Ino asked as she looked over at Livvy.
"Haven't seen him." She put simply. "He could be any of these masks."
"Tenten?" asked a male voice. Everyone turned around to see a brown haired guy with a shark shaped mask.
"Uhhh….yes?" she asked him.
"It's me, Yashiro!"
That name brought a sour taste to almost everyone's mouth, especially Neji's.
"Oh…hi there." She said remaining polite.
"What do you need help with?" Neji asked in a very threatening way. His two friends backed him with pissed off looking postures.
"Hey, hey, I'm just here to see if Tenten would start this dance up with me. I have no business here with you." he spat.
"Her business is my business." Neji said in an almost motionless tone. "I suggest you just leave now."
"What do you think you'll do about it?" Yashiro hissed. "There are councilors everywhere; you won't even be able to lay a finger on me." Neji clenched his fists in rage, but Yashiro was right. He couldn't do anything about it, well, not now anyways but he was an inch away from doing just that.
Before any more words were spoken Tenten laid her index finger on Yashiro's shoulder.
"Neji might not be able to lay a finger on you, but remember.." she then made her voice more hushed. "..I can."
That was warning enough. Yashiro wasn't going to bother them anymore and without anyone else threatening him he turned and departed from the group.
"Man! I wish I could have seen the bastard's face!" Sakura whined.
"Nice work there Tenten." Temari congratulated.
"You go girl!" Ino cheered.
"No big deal, that jerk was getting on my nerves. I'm just glad that I was the one who finally shut him up." Tenten said proudly. "Neji! Will you! Dance with me?!" she blurted out next.
Everyone stared at her a little curiously.
"I…uh…" Neji's body was then pushed towards Tenten, courtesy of Ino.
"Sounds like a yes to me!" she yelled as the two went for the dance floor. "Shikamaru come on!" she yelled as she grabbed his hands and pulled him after their friends.
"But…Ino I….!"
"Come on Shikamaru!" she laughed as she pulled him past people.
"Sakura," Temari began. "Didn't you and Hinata start off the last dance?"
"Yeah we did!" she said happily as she put her arm around Sasuke's waste.
"Then why don't you go join your peeps?" Livvy asked.
"Woe! Last time I started it was with a tipsy Hinata." She explained.
"She was tipsy?" Livvy asked surprised.
"She was drinking?!" Sasuke asked a little alert.
"Oh no!" Sakura yelled making sure that they didn't get the wrong idea. "She was drugged up."
"Oh." They all responded.
"Wait...WHAT?!" Sasuke yelled.
Hinata had left her friends and made her way to the snack table to where Ino had suggested they go. Hinata knew that her idea was definitely the right one to do, but then she realized half way to the snack table that doing what she was doing now was just plain stupid. However, she decided to hit her destination anyways and then do a 180 back to her friends. On her way to the table she could hear guys making little remarks about her, and since Hinata was always a little self-conscious she wasn't sure if they were bad or good.
'Just keep walking, just keep walking.' She kept telling herself. 'At least I have this mask on. No one can see my face so that's good.'
'You just always have to believe that everyone is shyer than you.' came the voice of the younger Tenten who told Hinata that when they first met at Camp Jutsu.
Hinata put her hands on her hips and began walking with a more confident stride. She could do this. Hell YEAH she could do this. She didn't care if any of these guys thought she looked like shit or if she was looking banging, the only one she was hoping to impress was Naruto.
Touch
She put her hand down on the snack table and smiled at it.
'Made it.' She thought to herself. 'No guys in sight. There you go Ino!' she thought as she laughed in her mind. She turned around to head back to her friends who were probably with the guys, just like she had predicted, but a tall male was standing right in front of her. She took a step back since he was tall to her and the lights and small holes in her mask also made it hard for her to see him. She couldn't make out his mask right away but she knew she didn't know him since his hair was blue and spiky.
"Oh excuse me." He said to her as a loud song began to play. "Did I scare you?" he asked since she backed up when she was next to him.
"…uuuuhh…" Hinata shook her head no. She began to act like she was shy again.
"Sorry anyways, you just looked a little shaken up is all. My name is Sebastian by the way," he said giving her his hand. "so who might you be?"
Fast on her toes and putting all the acting skills that Ino had taught her to use Hinata grabbed his hand and began to shake it in a very polite manner saying in a British accent,
"I might just be Isabel..la. Isabella!" she decided.
"So I couldn't help but notice how you looked lost. Are you?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his light blue shirt and navy blue tie with the Konoha symbol on the end.
"Just looking for some of my mates!" she lied. 'That was more Australian then British. OOPS!'
"Were you at the first dance? I don't remember seeing you there?" he asked her.
"Well maybe you did! How can you know if we're all wearing masks?" Hinata asked as she inwardly giggled at her lie.
"Hmp, good point. But I must have danced with you. I made sure I danced with all the hot girls."
Hinata blushed. "Well I'm not really that pretty so you probably didn't dance with me then." (AN: just a reminder, she still has an accent going on.)
"Hmm." He began to think to himself.
"Besides, wouldn't you have remembered my accent?" she asked. 'Ha, now I got him.' She thought proudly of herself for tricking him.
"That's true." He said admitting to that fact. He then lowered his head closer to hers making her a little uncomfortable. "But last time you didn't exactly have an accent…did you?" he asked her slyly.
Hinata's heart almost stopped. It was almost scary to her that this guy knew she was lying to him, and it made her even more nervous to think that he probably knew who she actually was.
Still speaking in her fake accent she took a few steps back away from Sebastian. "I…uhh…have no idea what you are…talking…?" Hinata then noticed Sebastian's blue hair more closely. The front was blue for sure, but then the back was yellow. Her eyes then looked behind Sebastian to where a guy, who had his mask off, was being yelled at by Iruka Sensei, who had his mask on the side of his face. He was shaking around a can of blue spray paint in a can as he wagged his finger at the boy. The boy also had blue hair, the same as Sebastian who now had Hinata's attention again.
"So how many girls did you dance with last time?" she asked him slyly.
Hinata could almost feel him smirking behind his mask.
"Just one." He said extending out his index finger to show her one.
"And uh…wasn't your hair a little less blue?" she shrugged as she dropped her accent.
"Maybe a little." He said lightheartedly.
"A fox huh?" Hinata said commenting on "Sebastian's" mask. "Fits you like a glove…" She laughed as she went and hugged him. "…Naruto."
"So tell me what's with the accent." He asked her as he hugged her tighter.
"Tell me what's with the blue hair." She laughed.
"That guy over there is running by people with a can of spray paint." Naruto said as he put his left arm around Hinata's shoulder so he could point at the guy who was still getting yelled at by Iruka with his right hand. "He got me as I was fixing my mask so my whole forehead is blue!" Naruto laughed.
"I didn't even know that was you!" she told him. "I wasn't sure of your voice either since the music was getting louder." Hinata told him.
"So the accent?" he asked her again.
"I guess you caught me at a bold moment." She told him. "Or to put it another way, what happens at Camp stays at Camp." Naruto laughed when the doors slammed open. "Huh, Look!" Hinata pointed as she began to jump up and down excitedly.
Naruto turned and looked at the two people who had just walk in. The girl he didn't seem too interested in; it was the guy who made Naruto's eyes grow wide.
"Isn't that Lee?!" he yelled.
"Yeah, how'd you recognize him?" Hinata asked confused.
"The bear mask. He said he would give it to me when I grabbed the mouse mask."
"You were….originally a mouse?" Hinata asked in disbelief.
"Yup, sure was. Then Lee said he'd give me his mask, but being the noble guy that I am I let him keep it." He said as he pointed at himself with his thumb.
"Oh! That was so great of you Naruto." Hinata said with stars all in her eyes.
"Weeeell, I try to help others!" he said as he modestly rubbed the back of his head. Hinata then grabbed one of his arms which almost cause him to fall over. "AAAH!"
"Come on! Let's go back over with the others." She laughed as she dragged him threw people. Naruto then pulled his arm away from her pull and stopped following her. "Hm?" Hinata turned around confused why Naruto stopped walking with her, but she grew even more confused when he grabbed both of her hands and pulled her closer to him.
"I don't want to share you." he told her quietly.
Her eyes grew wide under her mask and her breath was soon made short. Her knees began to quake and the rest of her upper body wouldn't move. Naruto moved a little bit closer to her and looked down at the ground, if it was in shyness Hinata couldn't tell because of his mask. His right hand slid off her hand and onto her wrist. The entire right half of her body was soon covered in goose bumps. The six words he spoke made such an emotional impact on her that she couldn't say anything.
"Hinata?" he asked her.
"…Naruto." She almost whispered since that was all she could muster out.
"Is...it just me…or do you have butterflies too?" he asked her. Hinata let out an almost nervous laugh.
"Mine are dive bombers!" she said as she squeezed her hands a little tighter around his hand and arm.
"I've never been in love before." He said as he held her hands now squeezing them tightly. Hinata tried to gulp but her throat had suddenly dried up completely. Her arms started to shake and her heart was so loud it was in her ears!
She wasn't responding and knew that was probably concerning Naruto, but not only couldn't she talk she didn't know what to say. His hands loosened and he began to take them away from hers when some unknown source from the middle of her chest exploded.
"Naruto!" she yelled as she grabbed his arms right at his elbows. Her heart raced even more, but it only raced because she was scared. She was scared that Naruto was letting go of her forever and that made her whole entire body shake with nerves.
Naruto was still surprised that she had just yelled his name like that and grabbed his arms. Her head was facing the ground but then she looked right up at Naruto which sent more butterflies into his stomach.
"Are..you sure?" she asked putting her face down to the side to hide her shyness, even though she was still wearing a mask.
"…uuuuuhh…" Hinata looked quickly back at him.
"That you're in love." She said louder. "Are you sure you're in love?"
"Hinata." He said quietly. "I'm sure."
It took her breath away again. She couldn't believe that someone could love her, not in her wildest dreams could she believe this. She just kept denying this, it couldn't be true. Not at all could any one love her right away! Her father never loved her right away; Ino sure didn't like her right away along with Tenten, Sasuke, Neji, and her own sister.
"Really?" she heard herself whisper.
"Yes!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed her arms almost shaking her. Her mask fell off since Naruto pulled her over so fast. He could see her face completely wide eyed and confused, and surprised and scared. He could read every emotion she was having at that moment. "I love you! I'm sorry, but I LOVE YOU!" he yelled trying to get it threw to her. He then took his own mask off and dropped it on the ground not caring one thing about it. He stared at her eyes. His face almost looked frustrated and it was upset, nearly crying? "I know," he continued. "that I don't deserve you. I get that you should probably be with someone from a noble clan, but I just can't help still loving you. I think…I might….always love you." he said now sounding more depressed with each word that reminded him of how he couldn't be with her and yet would always love her. "I wish I could make myself better for you, but I can't. I mean….I have almost little to nothing to prove I'm even worthy of your time but..."
"Naruto…" Hinata said sounding surprised.
'Is this the part where she lets me down easy?' he thought glumly to himself. He was waiting for her to look regretful and sorrowful for his sake, but instead Hinata's facial features took on a different appearance. She smiled warmly at him and was already tearing up in the corner of her eyes.
"I…umm….You..well…you make me really shy and I feel like myself completely around you. I seem to stutter more often when I'm with you, and I feel safe, and I think I'm rambling now but…"
"Hinata." He asked her being straightforward. "What are you saying?"
"I loveyoutoo!" She said letting the words that had been held up in heart for a while finally escape. She had no idea where that courage came from. It was this spark in her heart that gave birth to a million more butterflies in her stomach.
Naruto's face then transformed from a patient waiting face to an overjoyed face full of the most amazing happiness. Right as his smile cracked he let out a lot of laughter.
"Are you sure?" he laughed. Hinata wasn't sure if he was just making fun of her or not but she playfully hit him in the chest with her right hand. Naruto, still laughing, grabbed her right arm and pulled her into a great big hug. "…..Hinata." he said breathing her name.
"Naruto." She breathed. "I have to tell you something."
"Okay. What?"
"I like you just the way you are." She whispered while giving him a tighter squeeze. She let him go loosely enough so she could look at his face, which was looking pretty confused. "You don't have to make yourself any better. You're already perfect." She said with all honesty.
'Hinata?' Naruto couldn't believe someone would say such a thing about him. He was perfect? He couldn't accept this. He was always treated like trash and now somebody told him that he was perfect, which meant faultless. 'I guess that's how it is; when somebody loves you.'
Naruto let out another hardy laugh, an emotion completely opposite of what he was thinking. "You don't have to make me feel better Hinata."
"Naruto!" she laughed. "I never lie!"
His face went right back to being shocked and puzzled. She really did think he was perfect the way he was. Naruto hugged her again wrapping his arms around her even tighter and more possessively. The aroma of her hair filled his nostrils and sent a sensation to his chest.
"Hinata? Will you dance with me?" he asked still embracing her.
"I thought you'd never ask." She said till holding onto him.
"Are you on drugs still?"
"Huh?" Naruto and Hinata both went as they both looked at the other and then to where the voice had come from.
Standing in front of them was what looked to be Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke had his arms crossed around his chest and stared Hinata down, or so it appeared do to his mask hiding his facial features.
"WHAAA?!" both Hinata and Naruto both asked.
"Sasuke!" Sakura whined. "I told you, that's not what I meant!"
"Sakura, what's going on?" Hinata laughed.
"Remember how at the last dance the nurse gave you some stuff to make your ankle feel better?" asked Sakura. Hinata nodded. "That's why you were a little tipsy at first when we got here remember?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry Sasuke to worry you, but I hurt my ankle and the nurse gave me some strong pain killers. I think they were made for cows or something cause they were so strong." Hinata joked.
"Well alright." Sasuke said. "But I wouldn't tell Neji this story, he might take it the wrong way too."
"Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, hey Sakura!" Naruto laughed as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Trying to look like me?" Sasuke smirked.
"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled. "First of all my hair is blue not black! Second of all….be right back." Naruto said as he ran threw the crowd of people.
"…Where..?" Sakura began to ask when Hinata and Sasuke answered her unasked question.
"Bathroom." They both said.
"Oh!" she said sounding silly. "Hinata, you should see Livvy and Temari. Both of them look really cute."
"I'll have to go find them later." She said as she picked her and Naruto's masks up.
"Might as well go find them now before Naruto comes back." Sasuke lazily suggested.
"Oh! You're right. I'll go find them now." She said as she began to walk in the direction from where they came from, but not before she elbowed Sasuke in the arm and throwing him a wink. He blushed a little since Hinata thought that that was his plan. To get him and Sakura alone again, and although it wasn't his plan at all he still used this to his advantage.
Sakura felt his arms go around her from behind and he gave her a warm and loving embrace. She grabbed his arms and hugged them tighter around herself.
"So that was your plan." Sakura laughed. He didn't say anything which gave her the idea that she was correct. "I hope they start dancing soon so we can get this dance going before we all have to."
"Hey Sakura?" Sasuke began to ask her. She couldn't hear him since the music began to blare louder and people were cheering.
"HEY! Sounds like they started!" Sakura said as she took Sasuke's hands. "Do you want to go over and dance now?" she asked with big jade eyes.
Sasuke smirked under his mask. Normally a girl would have just grabbed his hands, just like Sakura had just done, and dragged him over to dance. Sakura was different from most girls. She asked him sweetly before she did anything, most of the time.
"Whatever you want." He told her as nudged her towards the dancing that was going on.
The two girls alone gathered most of the attention, whether it was because of their fabulous dresses on their beautiful bodies, their glittery masks that made them standout, or their partners that most girls envied. Ino and Tenten took in all the attention and their confidence meter was 100 percent off the charts. Being with these two girls also made Neji and Shikamaru feel important since, in their opinion, they were with the most beautiful girls at the dance. Starting up this dance, knowing that they had these beautiful partners, would be a piece of cake. They just needed a fast pace song to get them going.
Just as they were all thinking this, "Chicken Noodle Soup Remix" began to play.
"NO WAY!" Tenten and Ino both yelled as they jumped up a couple of times do to their explosive excitement.
"What?" Shikamaru regrettably asked.
"This is our favorite song!" Tenten told him. "But not many people have heard of it, so we were both surprised that we knew it."
"It's as if the gods themselves gave us this song on purpose to start the dance." Ino joked. "Let's go!"
Both girls then went to their partners ready to dance/grind it up with them, but to their complete shock the guys seemed to turn the tables on them. Shikamaru, surprisingly, started first but the guys were the leads as they took them dead and center of the dance floor. People began to cheer them all on as they hit it up on the dance floor. Their audience made them get into the music even more, but even though they could hear the screams it was as if the bodies they belonged to were no longer in existent. Each couple only focused on their partner. Their eyes never lingered off of the others and even when they would drop down low or spin their eyes went right back as if they had never even moved. After the song had finished the next fast song had started and still no one had joined the two brave couples who were still dancing in the middle of everyone.
"Look Out!" came the voice of Sasuke who, while laughing, pulled Sakura over with his friends. Each of them broke out of their trances and looked over at their friends who had finally joined them.
"About time!" Ino laughed.
"Where's Hinata and Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.
"They're coming!" Sakura yelled. She figured that was the best thing to say since Neji was there, but taking a closer look at him she noticed he was too entranced on Tenten that she could have yelled 'Hinata was pregnant!' and he wouldn't have noticed.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke laughed as he noticed Sakura staring at Neji and Tenten.
"Oh nothing!" she said as she put her one hand on his right shoulder. "I was just thinking that they look cute together."
They both began to dance to the music and to Sakura that meant that the conversation was over, but Sasuke continued on the topic. "Did you know Neji lives near me?" he asked her curiously.
"Ummm…yes." She said. 'Is he just trying to make conversation now?' she thought to herself.
"Well Hinata told me that Tenten lives up that way too." He continued. "I think she said she's forty minutes away from where I live."
"Isn't that funny?!" Sakura laughed. "I guess that means they can see each other still."
'Didn't she understand where I was going with that?' "That's what I thought too." Sasuke said with his excitement level decreasing. Sakura looked at him confused. "Then I remembered how Neji lives thirty minutes in the other direction. Also, Neji's a busy person. It's hard for us to ever get a hold of him."
"Hm! Really?" she asked as she looked back over at Neji and Tenten dancing.
"He does a lot of sports, I mean we do most of them with him, but he also has tutors and he's always studying." Sasuke said looking over at his friend who was enjoying himself greatly. "Look at him now. He never looks that way."
"Tenten must make him feel really happy. It must feel good knowing you make someone that happy." She said smiling at them. She didn't see it but Sasuke sadly smiled at her.
The dance had finally begun with almost everybody in the room dancing. No slow songs were played yet since the DJ didn't want to slow things down just yet.
"This is always a saddest day." Asuma said. He was leaning against the wall with Kakashi who was reading an orange book.
"For all your girls?" Kakashi asked as he stuck his small book away.
"For ME! It's hard getting them all back on the bus and on the way there they're all crying! It's the most annoying thing ever."
"That explains why you smoke." Kakashi smirked. "And why you drove down here with Kurenai. Speaking of Kurenai…" Kakashi began to say suggestively as Asuma interrupted him.
"Look over there!" Asuma said pointing through a clear space through the dancers to the other side of the room where Iruka and Shizune were having a casual conversation. "You putting them together was a good idea."
"Is that Iruka?" Kakashi asked. "It's hard to see through these masks since the holes are so small."
"And whose fault is that?" came the voice of Kurenai who sashayed over to the two guys. They both stood up straight immediately as she came over. "Masks weren't my idea!" she said throwing them a flirty laugh.
"My father liked doing this sort of thing every now and then." Kakashi told her. Asuma and Kurenai held their breaths at the mention of Kakashi's father. He never talked about him for some reason, and they never exactly knew why. They knew they all wore those green vests because it was also something that his father had all councilors do on the last dance of the summer. They didn't understand that either. The only thing they could tell you was that Kakashi inherited the Camp from his father, but that was the only factual thing they knew.
"Kakashi…I…"
"Kurenai." Kakashi said interrupting her. "Why aren't you dancing with Asuma yet?"
"Well there isn't exactly a slow song yet." She said as she blushed behind her mask. "And we need to keep supervising over these kids. If they see us dancing they'll think it's okay to fool around."
"Nonsense, you need to dance. The very next slow song I better see you out there." He said as he took his leave from the couple.
"Well we probably should dance together!" Asuma said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"R..really?"
"Yeah! It's been a long time since we last danced together. So we should, if you want to."
"That would be nice!" Kurenai smiled.
After washing out the blue that was in his hair Naruto and Hinata met up with their friends in the center of the dance floor where there was now much activity. Sakura was holding closely to Sasuke and they were both moving with the beat of the music. Ino had her back to Shikamaru and he had his arms wrapped around. They were grinding with each other, but the rest of the room was doing it along with them. Neji and Tenten were definitely dancing intensely since they would occasionally bump into other people. Everyone seemed to have a partner and they all made their way to the center definitely making it a tight squeeze.
"I'm starting to feel like a sardine!" Ino told Shikamaru. "Is it okay if we sit down till the first slow song comes on?" she asked as she turned to face him. His mask now sat side ways on the top of his head.
"Tired already?" he asked her as he threw her an incredibly sexy grin. Ino looked at him shocked that he still wanted to dance. "Actually…I am getting pretty tired. Lead the way." He told her.
"So you'll let me lead now huh?" she teasingly asked him as she pulled him through and around people. Sakura noticed her friend leaving the floor.
"Sasuke, do you want to take a break for a minute?"
"You tired?" he asked.
"Just a little, and they haven't even played a slow song yet." She said as she stood on her toes aiming to kiss him. At the last second Sasuke swept her off her feet, literally! He, surprisingly, picked her up bridal style and carried her through the crowd of people towards an empty table. "Sasuke!" she gasped at the suddenness. He placed her on a chair and bent down to be at her eyes which were looking at him in a complete shock along with an utter sense of surprise. "What was that?" she laughed.
"Didn't you say you were a little tired? Don't want you to be exhausted come the first slow dance." Sakura finally understood and smiled at him warmly when a male hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Is this seat taken?" asked the owner of the hand.
Sakura turned and her eyes glowed even more with happiness. "Shikamaru!" Ino was taking the seat next to Sakura and threw her arms around Sakura's shoulders with a burst of energy.
"I'm having so much fun!" she squealed into Sakura's ear.
"Really? I couldn't tell!" she laughed as she leaned into her friend.
Sasuke pulled his chair over closer to Sakura and slouched in her direction while Shikamaru sat in the chair next to Ino.
"HEY!" yelled Tenten who ran over to the group excited and almost out of breath.
"Where's your partner?" Sasuke asked her.
"Grabbing punch. I saw you all over here and thought I would grab those last two seats before Naruto and Hinata did." Tenten told them as she sat down on the farthest chair from the group and putting her legs up on the other one. "This feels reeeeeeeal good." She said throwing her head back in exhaustion.
"You sure were working it out there!" Ino told her as she leaned on the table.
"Well, Neji likes to dance!" she shrugged as she looked right back at them.
"Tenten." Said Shikamaru. "I don't think you had to worry about Naruto or Hinata taking those seats." Everyone looked and saw through a gape in the crowd Naruto and Hinata dancing, however, their dancing wasn't as outrageous as their friends'. You could almost call their dancing 80's esc. Naruto and Hinata were holding hands and they would come together and go apart. He did the occasional spin of course, but at some point in their dance one wasn't enough for him and he spun her several more times. They all watched wordlessly as Naruto spun Hinata and dunked her on occasion.
"That is so cute." Sakura mentioned as she leaned on her hand in an admiring way.
"Hinata's going to kill me, but I took pictures!" Ino cheered as she swung her camera around.
"Kill you?" asked Tenten. "You should sell those bad boys to her."
"Or make her pull a prank on someone we all hate!" laughed Ino.
"IIIINOOOOO!" Tenten nearly growled. "Not another word."
"I hate being left in the dark." Admitted Shikamaru.
Just as he was saying this Neji appeared with two cups in his hands full of punch.
"Saved your seat!" Tenten beamed as she moved her legs off the chair. Neji put her punch in front of her and sat down in the chair as if he hadn't taken a seat in years.
"Where's mine?" Sasuke asked.
Neji took off his mask and then slowly drank his punch while ignoring Sasuke's question.
"Thanks Neji!" Tenten said as she let out a huge breath after downing her drink. "It was getting hot in there.
"All thanks to you." Sasuke told her as he placed his mask on the table. "You started it, congratulations."
"Did I just hear Sasuke throw Tenten a compliment?" asked Naruto who appeared with his mask on the side of his head and Hinata under his left arm. She was holding her mask.
"You're on a role Tenten!" Ino laughed.
"You having a good night?" Hinata asked her.
"The best!" Tenten cheered as she threw her arms back.
"Looks like all of our masks are off now." Sakura observed. "These things are so hot!" she said fanning herself off with her very own mask.
"Look around," said Ino. "A few other people took their masks off too."
"We can't get into trouble can we?" Hinata asked.
"They might kick us out." Shikamaru told her. Hinata rubbed the back of her head nervously.
"I'm not getting kicked out." Tenten said as she put on her panda mask. "This has been the best night ever!"
"Tenten come over here for a picture, Hinata you too!" Ino said as she put her camera out in front of her. All the girls bent in and made a cute face. "Now Sakura move in with Sasuke!"
They both did as they were told and posed for the picture. Ino had a bunch of them pose together hoping it would pass the time until the first slow dance, and she really liked to scrapbook.
"Come on Hinata!" Naruto said getting excited. "Let's get back in there." Hinata was sitting on Sakura's lap when Naruto pulled her up by her hand.
"Uh, alright!" she said going along with his excitement. As they scurried back into the crowd Neji stood up.
"Tenten, would you like another drink?" he asked her.
"Yeah thanks! I think I'll go with you." she said jumping up and putting her arm around his. "If you guys want something please don't tell me!" Tenten laughed as she and Neji headed for refreshments.
"Man, not a single slow song in this entire dance." Ino whined.
"Ino," Sakura said trying to sound reasonable. "If you really want a slow dance so bad why not go up to the DJ and request one?"
"Huh! You're right, duh!" she said as she hit her forehead. "Will you come with me?" she asked Sakura with puppy dog eyes.
"Inoooooo!" Sakura moaned as she leaned on Sasuke. "I'm so content right here. Shikamaru?" Sakura looked over at Shikamaru.
"I guess I have nothing better to do." He said as he stood up, stretched and yawned. It was however interrupted by Ino's abrupt grab at his arm. She then dragged him towards the DJ.
"Be right back!" she yelled as she winked to Sakura.
'Hm...did she just wink at me suggestively?' Sakura pondered as she lifted up her head to look at Sasuke. She smiled at him. It was all she could think of to do. There was a small awkwardness between them as they both stared at each other smiling.
"What?" Sakura asked laughing nervously. Sasuke smirked more and tightened his eyes a little. To Sakura it looked like he wanted to whisper something so she leaned in a little closer. "Is something wrong?" she asked with giddiness in her voice. His body leaned in a little closer to hers. His mouth opened up slightly to speak Sakura thought but he didn't make a sound. "Sasuke?" she asked her voice showing she was less giddy and more concerned.
As soon as her guard was down Sasuke hurried his lips to hers before another word was spoken. Her eyes were shot wide open at the spur of the moment kiss he had given her, she knew it wasn't her first kiss ever from him but it was still surprising. He managed to role his tongue around with hers and they began forming their own little rhythm, one that seemed to match the beat of the music, until they slowly stopped. The music had finally became slower and more relaxing. The First Slow Dance had begun.
"ABOUT TIME!" yelled an obnoxious voice.
"Are you well rested, cause I think I wanna get back in there." Sasuke said as he stood up and gave her his hand.
"Dying to show off your dance moves?" Sakura laughed as she took his hand. He pulled her into his chest causing her to let out a small gasp.
"Dying to show you off." He whispered to her.
So they both walked back to the dance floor but didn't even bother heading for the middle or looking for their friends. They both seemed to have a wordless and mutual agreement that said that they wanted to dance without everybody else. It was definitely a perfect ending; at least it looked that way to Sakura. Being in the arms of an amazing guy who had just given her an amazing kiss, dancing to a slow song with him, it brought tears to the edge of her eyes as she thought about it. It was nice that on the night before she felt absolutely miserable she could feel treasured and blissful with Sasuke who never, not once as they danced, took his eyes off of her or even faltered his smile. As she stared right back at him with warmth in her smiling jade eyes she knew then that it was true, the hottest romances have the coldest endings.
Was it worth the wait? Someone gave me that last quote, and I couldn't find out who so i'm sorry I can not properly thank you. THANK YOU!
I do not have a picture of Sakura's dress. sweat drops and shrugs sorry! nn'
Was that a good ending? No I have more chapters for you, and the reason it took me so long to get this chapter to you was simply things got in the way. I had a boyfriend but he broke up with me a month ago, after that I like hated life and couldnt do much. But i'm BACK, and i ain't dead(or a zombie). You can't get rid of me or this story so if ya'll keep reviewing i feel better about myself and more Inspired!!
Thank you to the threats too! It only shows me that you care and I love you all who write them, and thanks to those who kept on throwing me reminders! Thanks guys!
Oh, and can you believe this? I sure can't but, 1000 REVIEWS! If you are reading this June 24 at night like i said i would at this very moment i am continueing to write the next chapter. I don't want ya'll to forget this story because i am lazy, and i'm letting you down by not being frequent. HA i remember once i sent in a chapter and the VERY NEXT DAY i sent in another. BUT when i delay i get more reviews(even if some are threats) what can i say? I'm greedy!