The air was cool and moist, making the fallen leaves stick to the teen's boots as he walked down a path filled with memories. Nothing could change the past; all he could do is observe it as if it were a play or book. Things could have turned out better than they did, but they could have been worse too. Not disappointment, but bliss fell over the longhaired blond traveler as he made his way past half empty trees of orange and red leaves.
Naruto was getting prepared for the party, trying to find an orange suit that made him look best. "I definitely should have taken Hinata's advice..." thought Naruto, as he observed the messy looking person in his mirror.
A knock came on the door; Hinata was there to pick him up. Naruto imagined what would have happened if he went to pick her up instead, then shuddered at the image of his beat up and motionless body being dragged out of the Hyuga estate. He quickly put some cologne on and rushed over to the door.
Opening the door, allowing the delicate, yet dangerous Hinata walk inside. He watched her in awe as she let herself in. She wore a light-violet dress, slits on the sides, open shoulders, and very revealing. Hair flowed back in a glossy river, and high-heeled shoes to match her dress. She giggled at Naruto's stunned expression, "You're going to make me blush,"
Naruto snapped out of it, "Sorry." He turned around and got jumped away from the mirror, being terrified by its reflection. "Hinata, can you help me? I can't find anything good to wear.
The girl walked over to his wardrobe, only to be frozen with shock. Nothing but orange suits and black t-shirts. "Why didn't you get anything presentable?" Asked the girl, turning to Naruto, who was too embarrassed to reply. "Never mind, we'll have to improvise."
"How?"
Hinata took out an orange jacket and put it over Naruto's shoulders. "We have to do something with your hair..." Naruto looked over his current attire. His usual jacket, hanging loosely over his shoulders, emphasizing the cool in his black t-shirt. Hinata got some water and combed his hair back, into a tidy hairstyle. "This is definitely you," giggled the girl, and kissed him on the cheek.
Naruto felt warm; nobody had ever looked after him the way Hinata did, somewhat resembling the care of a mother he never had.
The night grew, the couple left Naruto's residence to go to the party, and pick up several people on the way there. Many people refused; Shino considered the whole idea of parties to be silly, Shikamaru refused to go for a reason he wouldn't tell them, and they had to drag Sakura out of her bed with Ino's help. The night brewed, the deep, ground shaking music could be heard and felt from miles around. There wasn't any need to go to the party, people stayed home and still felt like they were there, dancing with their friends.
As the group of four headed to the source of loud music and fun, they heard the melody change into something familiar. The sound somewhat resembled drumming, bass and violins, they followed the rhythmic beats to Konoha ninja academy's front doors. Their mouths fell wide open after they saw what happened to their former school; the whole school was changed into a big concert, roof was the stage, big speaker in front of the doors, people dancing in any empty space they could find.
They looked up on the roof to find even more amazement; Choji was beat boxing, creating the best background beat a rapper would ever want. They looked around for the rapper who hadn't stepped in yet. A voice took up the empty spot in the song, a familiar voice that Hinata used to hear every day back when she was on her team; Kiba's voice.
To everyone's amazement, Kiba made an amazing rapper, and an even better singer when the song turned into that of the rock genre. Choji took up the drums, as Lee stepped up with a swinging electric-guitar solo, softening the music into a slow-dance song.
Naruto couldn't help but snicker at his friends, and yet be slightly jealous of their never before seen talents. He decided to break the ice. "Shall we?" asked the boy, offering his hand to Hinata for a dance.
"Sure," smiled the girl.
Sakura and Ino watched the couple disappear into the vast crowd. "What do we do now?" asked the pink-haired girl.
Ino patted her head, "Time to go hunting for a guy."
Sakura chuckled, "So much for the mature Ino..."
"No... Not a guy for me," replied the blonde, "A guy for you."
Sakura tried to run away, but found herself caught by the collar and dragged into the crowd. "Let me go Ino! I don't want any guy but Sasuke!"
Ino shook her head, "I wish Sasuke was here, so that we could get rid of her crush on him... like we did with Naruto," thought the girl.
Sakura screamed and kicked, but her friend wouldn't let her down. Eventually the hauling came to a stop and she found herself tossed into the arms of a boy, "Damn it, Ino..." thought Sakura before looking up at the guy holding her, and giving off a sweet smile of satisfaction. "Thanks."
A chill went down Ino's spine, one she hadn't felt in a long time. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was out of place. Not knowing whether it was good or bad, a smile crept over her face; instinct told her that she wanted this chill for a while now.
The soft rock session was coming to an end, yet nobody knew. The guitar and singing were fading, until only a solid beat from Choji's drums could be heard. The percussion started becoming intense; hard kicking blows, and brushing hi-hats came in, setting the mood up for what came next in line.
Nothing happened but Choji's changing hard beats. No change until a series of short, tempered turntable scratches started to fade into the musical composition. A cloud of green smoke exploded on the rooftop, initializing the deep, raving melody that was nobody's but Sai's.
Smoke cleared, revealing the emotionless boy, pressing his headphones down with one hand, the other in charge of a pair of turntables and big boards of knobs, which were his DJ set.
Loud cheering from the crowd was overwhelmed by the deep and loud club techno music that was the combination of Choji's beats and Sai's melody.
Naruto turned to Hinata and smirked, now was their chance to show the crowd what they were capable of. Their fighting style which could be easily interpreted as a dance, fit into the music with ease.
Hinata smiled back and nodded, indicating her approval to start the show. Naruto stepped back and stretched his hands out to the sides, making the people around him nervous and step back. He calmly leant forward and jumped up into the air, creating several back flips.
Hinata ran in, catching his hand as he was still going up, and pulled him back down in a spring-like retraction.
Naruto was in a vertical and motionless handstand, Hinata standing over him in a battle stance. A moment passed before the two started their action; Naruto spun around, legs together and stretched out upwards, standing on the ever-shifting fingertips.
Hinata went low and tripped him off his hands with a sweeping kick, flinging him upwards through the air, still spinning. While her boyfriend was airborne, she spun around, lifting her feet off the ground with sweeping jump-kicks that went in all directions. Yet still remained under the airborne Naruto.
Naruto stretched his fists out to the sides as he fell back down to the ground, spinning in a dangerous fury of attacks. Falling down, headfirst, he relied on Hinata's concentration to execute the next move. But he wasn't worried; they had been training this beautiful battle-dance for the past two months, they were separate, but at the same time they were one in spirit.
Hinata saw Naruto falling down several feet to her left; she changed the course of her next move several degrees in his direction, and back flipped. Clinging on to his hands in midair and making them spin around eachother, they created something resembling a ying-yang.
Everyone around, watched the couple in awe; a dance that's best described as team break-dancing. Tsunade watched the event from the above in amusement, "I'd love to see that style in actual combat... looks very promising."
A ninja appeared at her side, "Tsunade-sama, we have a problem."
Tsunade didn't turn away from the dance of a ninja couple, "Hm?"
"Tsunade-sama, this is serious!" exclaimed the guard.
"What is it? I'm listening," replied the Godaime, still watching the events below.
"We have an intruder! This guy used the village dance to their advantage! We need to find and dispose of him!" yelled the ninja.
"Estimated age?"
"He is in his late teens." Replied the man. Tsunade looked up from the crowd and did something that the ninja couldn't grasp with logic; she smiled. "Tsunade-sama... what are your orders?"
"You're back..." thought the Tsunade. The woman looked down at the ground again, "Don't do anything, there's no need for commotion over that kid."
"But Tsunade-sama!"
"I said go back to your post and keep watch! This kid is a friend."
The ninja didn't understand her reasoning, but followed her orders never the less. "Hai!"
Tsunade couldn't help but smile, "Have you gotten over her? Did you come here looking for a home again?"
Naruto and Hinata kept their movements going, supporting each other's otherwise impossible moves. It was time to take it to the next level; Hinata tossed her boyfriend into the air, as he summoned a couple dozen clones and fell back down to join Hinata's side. They used the group of clones as an obstacle course, creating death-defying flips and spins, thus making the crowd dizzy.
The longhaired boy in a trench coat walked down the dark streets of Konoha, drawn by the raving sounds resembling those of an underground club. Walking and thinking of the various thoughts he had earlier; the things he changed and the people he saved, for better or for worse, he killed other human beings. He felt like the grim reaper, yet an event he experienced a month earlier proved his feeling to be wrong. Someone stepped into his life, changing him once again.
Ino's chill turned into a heart-warming sensation, whatever brought it on was nearby, and she wanted to know who or what it was. She forced her way out of the crowd.
Naruto and Hinata kept going until a dark figure stepped up. The cloaked person grabbed them by the ankles and tossed them up into the air.
Hinata turned to look at Naruto, he nodded. The stranger offered hostility, he would get a hostile reaction in return. They flipped over and fell back down towards the cloaked stranger. Instead of landing, they skipped directly to the attacking, both swinging their kicks into his face.
The stranger, hood covering his sight completely, blocked the counter-attack, but didn't toss them up into the air again, he didn't have enough time. His movements were much like theirs, he evaded and moved their attacks off to the side, before they turn around and engage again.
Nobody knew whether this was a part of the show, but wouldn't want to interfere in either case. The band watched the fight below, speeding the beat up to see if the three dancers could keep up.
Naruto was oblivious; this was just another opponent for him and Hinata to take down, but more difficult.
Hinata's stomach started tingling in anticipation; the fight gave her a feeling, a feeling that she had felt a few months before. Still not able to remember whom this opponent was, she concentrated on trying to take him down. The more they tried to take this person down, the more he matched their speed and agility. She finally remembered who he was, the only boy she ever knew to hold his attacks back in order to balance the fight. "It can't be..."
The stranger lifted his head, revealing a smile under his hood, "I see you went far with this style."
Naruto and Hinata jumped back, landing several meters away from him to watch him remove his cloak.
Before Kiyoshi could take his disguise off, a blonde girl ran up to him and hugged him. She didn't need to see him to know that he was Kiyoshi, she remembered the chill she had before, the chill brought on by the thought of Kiyoshi's death. "Never leave again..."
Naruto still didn't know who this person was, but the girls seemed to know him. "Who are you?"
Kiyoshi threw the cloak off, "still don't remember me?"
Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. The guy who changed his life, opened his eyes and mind, had come back from the dead. "What happened to you?" Asked the whiskered boy, examining Kiyoshi's scars.
Kiyoshi looked up, revealing three long scars running from the bottom of his jaw and down the neck. "The explosion cut up my throat pretty badly."
Hinata flinched from the thought; it looked as if there were three metal plates that entered his neck diagonally. "Don't do that again..."
It didn't take long before Naruto and Hinata went back to the dance, Ino went home, and Kiyoshi found a bench he could sit on and talk to himself. Tsunade watched the boy, "So you're back... and even less sane than you were before."
Kiyoshi's eyes widened for no reason, he reached inside his coat and pulled out something rectangular. "Tsunade-sama! Catch!" yelled the boy, tossing a box of chocolates to the hidden Godaime.
She caught the box, "How did he notice me?" thought the woman.
The party went deep into the night, making everyone sleep in the next day. An unsanitary method of reunion on Kiyoshi's behalf, but an effective appearance to the public.