W.I.T.C.H. fan: Hey guys sorry for the update delay, but with school, rehearsing for the play I'm in, and having a case of writer's block, it was kinda hard to find inspiration. But hopefully this chapter will make it up to you. And just a heads up there will be some fluff coming your way!
Chapter 10
"So are you okay after what happened with Neji?" Taranee asked Cornelia.
"Honestly I'm not sure how I am right now," the blonde replied.
"What's up?"
"Well that kiss reminded me of Neji and mine's first kiss under the mistletoe at that Christmas party. And that was when I began to fall for him in the first place. You remember that dream I had that night," the earth guardian said.
"So what you're saying is that your feelings for him are coming back?" Taranee asked.
Cornelia ran a hand through her hair. "I don't think they ever left. I was just too stubborn to admit it. But I'm not the only one falling back in love with my ex, am I Tara?"
The dark skinned girl flushed. "I-I uh-"
"Oh don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been looking at Lee. It's obvious that you still love him. Well it's obvious to everyone, but Lee."
Taranee groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Well what are we going to do about this?"
"I think that we should just wait and see what happens after Hay Lin talks with Naruto," Cornelia suggested. "That'll probably be the best way to go. Unless you want to go talk with them before then anyway."
"Why are we the ones who have to deal with all the drama?" the fire guardian asked.
"Hey you can't talk about drama. You make a fool of yourself by being a brat around the guy you love when you think he's is involved with another girl and then we'll talk!"
"You got me there," Taranee said with a giggle. "Seriously though, I know you can't want to wait until after Hay Lin gets back. So what do you really want to do about this?"
Cornelia sighed and folded her legs underneath her on the couch. "I know what I want to do, but it has two very different outcomes."
"And those are?"
"On one hand, things between me and Neji go up in flames and we both end up burned. On the other hand things could turn out well…pretty good. Unfortunately option number 1 is more probable," the blonde said.
Taranee rubbed her head feeling a headache coming on. "And to think we thought this whole mission was going to be simple."
"And now it's turning into something we can barely handle," Cornelia added. "I guess the best thing we can do now is to wait and see what happens."
"You know I was afraid you wouldn't come," Naruto said as Hay Lin sat down in front of him. "I thought you would be too mad at me."
"I admit that I was a little mad, but we needed to clear the air," Hay Lin said. "I know this might be a stupid question, but where do you want to start?"
"Well you could tell me how you've been these past few years," the Hokage said with a friendly smile.
"I've been fine," the black haired girl said a little surprised that that was his first question. "I've started working as an intern for a fashion magazine."
"Sounds cool," Naruto said.
Hay Lin raised an eyebrow before smirking. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"
The man rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. "Not really, no."
"So what about you? Is being Hokage everything you thought it would be?" the guardian asked.
"Everything and more. The day I became Hokage was one of the best days of my life! Believe it!"
"I'll bet it was. I can't imagine what it must be like to have all your dreams come true," Hay Lin said with a large smile. "You know even after I left I knew you would become the Hokage."
Naruto was about to respond when he suddenly got a mischievous look on his face.
'Oh no what is he thinking,' The air queen thought, her body preparing to bolt the second the chance arose.
"Have you heard about the festival tonight Hay Lin?" he asked.
"Festival?"
"Yeah it's a big party that goes on every year and I as Hokage, have to have a date. Unfortunately I do not so I maybe you could come with me."
Hay Lin's eyes had gotten very wide the second Naruto said the word 'date' and she looked nervous. "Me? Go with you? On a date?"
"Hold on Hay Lin, don't be so worried. Look this won't be like a romantic date or anything. It'll be more of a 'just friends' kind of thing. Besides do you know how embarrassing it would be to show up to the festival alone? Please Hay Lin, I'm desperate."
The girl mulled over his words. 'Just friends? Well that doesn't sound too bad. And it is just for one night.' She sighed. "Okay I'll go with you."
Naruto smiled widely. "Great! Thanks so much Hay Lin. And to make it up to you I'll sign the treaty first thing tomorrow!"
"So what exactly will I have to wear?" Hay Lin asked.
"Uh it's kind of a more formal thing. If you don't have anything, you could always ask Ino. I'm positive she'll have something for you in that monster she calls a closet," the blonde man said with a laugh.
Before Hay Lin could respond Konoharmaru, Moegi and Udon burst into the room. "Hey boss!" They all greeted enthusiastically.
"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.
"We came to ask you something for a news article we're working on," Udon replied.
"Another news article?" The Hokage asked in disbelief. "Sheesh how many have you twerps done so far?"
"Well I'll just be going now," Hay Lin said standing up and walking to the door.
"Okay. Meet me here at 7 tonight for the festival," Naruto called after her.
"Alright," the girl said, just before closing the door behind her.
After a few seconds Konohamaru smirked widely. "Alright way to go boss! You got her in the palm of your hand now!"
Naruto smirked and put his hands behind his head. "I'm must lucky she even showed up. Have you guys told the others?"
Moegi nodded. "We just got back from doing that. Ino, TenTen, and Hinata are in."
"Chouji and Shino are in too," Udon added.
"And so are Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai," Konohamaru finished. "And they all promised they wouldn't tell the other guys anything."
The young Hokage smirked. 'This is gonna be one heck of a night!'
As Hay Lin walked away she couldn't believe what she had just agreed to. 'Why, why did I say yes. Oh man Will, Irma, and Cornelia are going to kill me for sure this time. How am I even going to tell them about this!'
Elyon let out a frustrated sigh as she walked back into her apartment. Operation confront Kiba had not been so successful. She hadn't been able to find him anywhere, the only place she hadn't looked was his house and she was pretty sure if she went there it would end badly.
'If I ever want to talk with him it has to be either today or tomorrow. Hay Lin's gone to talk with Naruto and if everything goes well then the treaty will be signed soon and I'll have to leave. Why did Kiba have to cause this mess in the first place?'
When she walked inside she saw Will and Irma sitting on the couch. They both looked just as frustrated as Elyon did and there were no signs of that changing anytime soon.
Plopping down next to her friends the queen gave a deep sigh. "You were right, Irma. We're screwed."
Irma didn't even make a comment, still shaken from her encounter with Shikamaru.
"This is not how I wanted this mission to go," The redhead guardian said. "I just wish there was some way that we could talk to the guys without it turning into an argument."
Before Irma or Elyon could reply, Hay Lin walked in.
"Whoa you're back already?" the short blonde asked in surprise.
"Did something go wrong?" Will asked.
"Is Naruto signing the treaty soon?" Irma put in.
Hay Lin held up her hands. "Whoa whoa, one at a time guys. Don't worry everything went find. Naruto's going to sign the treaty first thing tomorrow morning. There's one little thing though."
"What?" her three friends asked in apprehension.
The air guardian took a deep breath and explained to them about her "just friends" date with Naruto that night at the festival.
The water guardian's head fell backward and she slapped her forehead. "I cannot believe you actually agreed to that."
Will who had been quiet throughout Hay Lin's explanation, suddenly had a huge Cheshire cat grin on her face. "This is perfect! Ladies we're all going to the festival tonight!"
Irma, Elyon, and Hay Lin looked at the keeper like she had sprouted two extra heads. "Say what?" they asked in perfect synch.
The guardian leader nodded vigorously. "Think about it. Whenever we've tried to talk to the guys alone it ends in disaster. If there's a lot of people around then maybe we can all stay civil with each other. I know that the guys probably won't want to cause a scene so this is perfect!" Jumping up she continued on her rampage. "Alright, first we go and tell Cornelia and Taranee the new game plan. Then we're going to go see Ino."
"Why Ino?" Irma asked.
"Well she has to have some stuff we could wear tonight," Will replied.
"Why would that be important?" Hay Lin asked.
Will let out a laugh. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I think we should all look absolutely fabulous. If it's our last night in the village, then we're going out with a bang gosh dang it!" she exclaimed running out the door.
There were several seconds of silence as Irma, Elyon, and Hay Lin processed what had just happened.
"Well she's lost it," the water queen said.
"Oh yeah," the air guardian and the queen agreed.
Across the village in her flower shop, Ino clapped her hands in utter delight. "This is going to fabulous!" she squealed.
Sitting next to her, TenTen laughed. "I know right. I still can't believe Naruto came up with this whole plan by himself."
Kurenai smirked. "Hopefully they show up soon. I could use a little excitement around here."
"I can't believe we're doing this," Hinata said with a giggle.
"I just hope the guys don't find out about our part in all this because if they do we're dead," the weapons mistress pointed out.
The spunky blonde scoffed. "Oh please, honey, when this is over they will be singing our praises!"
Their former sensei glanced up and her smirk grew. "Ladies, time to go to work."
Seconds after the words left her mouth, the door flew open and in walked the guardians and Queen Elyon.
"Hey what are you guys doing here?" Ino asked, acting ignorant.
"We need your help to find some clothes to wear for the festival tonight," Cornelia said.
TenTen arched an eyebrow. "You guys are going to the festival?"
"Reluctantly," Taranee said glaring at Will.
The redhead ignored her dark skinned friend. "Well Ino will you help us out."
"I would love to," the purple ninja said. "I'm positive I'll have something for each of you."
"We can help too if you would like," Hinata suggested. "TenTen and I can do your hair and Kurenai sensai can do your make-up."
"Sounds good," Irma said.
"Alright then let's just go upstairs and start getting you girls ready. We only have four hours till the festival after all."
As they all made their way upstairs W.I.T.C.H. and Elyon completely missed the triumphant smiles that were passed between Ino, Kurenai, Hinata, and TenTen.
"THEY'RE WHAT?" Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee all shouted.
It was four hours later and the five of them, plus Naruto, Chouji, and Shino were all gathered outside the Hokage monument to go to the festival and Chouji had just informed them that Ino had told him that six certain girls would be joining them shortly.
While his friends were shocked, Naruto was having a very hard time keeping the smirk off his face. 'Man Hay Lin coming was a long shot, but all six of them? This worked out better than I thought it would!"
"Hello my friends!" Ino greeted loudly as she appeared out of nowhere, throwing her arms around her husband in a hug.
"There you are. I was worried you wouldn't make it on time," the Akimichi head grinned.
"Actually I wanted to arrive fashionably late, but the latest members to your group insisted that we come on time," his wife replied.
"So where are those girls anyway?" Sasuke asked, not at all happy with how this night was turning out.
"Oh a little impatient to see Will are we?" the blonde woman asked with a smirk.
Her only response was a glare, but she shrugged it off. "Never fear my friends I just wanted to present them properly. So without further ado, I give you the Guardians and Queen Elyon!" she exclaimed gesturing towards the stairs.
When the guys followed her gaze, they were not expecting the sight that greeted them and it took most of their self control to keep their jaws from dropping. The six women in front of them were absolutely gorgeous and the men had to quickly look away from them as they approached.
Naruto was the only one who smiled and waved at them. "You guys look fantastic!" he cried. "I barely recognized you."
They smiled halfheartedly at Naruto's compliment, nerves rattling around in their stomachs. This was the first time that they were all seeing each other again and it was quickly becoming, was it usually was this days, awkward.
"Well now that we're all here why don't we head towards the festival now? After all the Hokage can't be late to things like this," Ino said in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," said hokage replied offering his arm to Hay Lin, who hesitantly hooked her arm with his.
It was almost completely silent as they made their way towards the festival. Ino, Chouji, Naruto, and Hay Lin tried to get a conversation going, but nothing had worked. As they continued on their way, all of them were sure of one thing.
It was going to be a very interesting night.
END OF CHAPTER