Sakura saw the boys first. She tugged on the person behind the pillar. "Hinata, come on. I wanna see the boys become nonverbal idiots when they see you."
"I-I-I don't – Can I hide, p-please? This dress is so... so revealing." she folded her arms across her chest. "I f-feel exposed."
"No, it's not revealing," reassured Sakura. "You look gorgeous. Show them what they're missing out on!"
Hinata took a deep breath. "Okay," she squeaked.
Sakura pulled Hinata along with her, and had the satisfaction of seeing Naruto's jaw drop. Chouji, Shikamaru and possibly even Shino looked Hinata over in admiration, while Kiba let loose a low whistle.
"Hinata, you look fantastic," said Chouji sincerely. Shino nodded agreement and sat a little straighter in his chair.
Hinata fiddled with the folds in her deep indigo satin dress. The thin jeweled shoulder straps set off her fair skin, and the empire cut enhanced her curves. She wore a simple chain with a deep blue gem that brought out the sparkle in her eyes and, increasingly, the red in her cheeks.
"You look... wow, Hinata, you look stunning," Naruto said, his eyebrows raised.
"Always knew you were a babe, Hinata," Kiba added, "but I didn't know you're a knockout!"
Hinata blushed bright pink and scuttled into her seat, head bowed, arms locked about her midriff.
At least she's not fainting, thought Sakura, rolling her eyes expressively. "And what about me?"
"You look great too," assured Naruto. His eyes ticked over Sakura's leaf-green calf-length dress, a strapless chiffon frock that flared out from her slim waist. "Really great."
"Thank you, kind sir," Sakura smiled prettily as she sat down. "I think Ino's gonna be late; she was still fretting about her hair before Hinata and I left the suite."
Shikamaru sipped his own drink. He was waiting for someone else; the conversation between his peers washed over him.
"Chouji," said Sakura. "How did you tame your hair?"
"Plenty of hair wax and hairspray... it wouldn't behave otherwise. I can't wait to wash the gunk out though; it's really uncomfortable."
The waiter deposited several more drinks for the group. A man meandered through the milling crowd to come to the table.
"Ero-sennin!" Naruto called out. Jiraiya smacked his errant pupil across the back of his head. His wheelchair squeaked in between Shino and Naruto.
"Jiraiya-san," the others greeted the newcomer more politely. Sakura passed him a glass of juice.
"No alcohol?" he asked pensively. Sakura glared at him and nodded to Tsunade at the top table. Jiraiya shrugged and smiled impartially at everyone. "You ladies look awesome. Care to be in my next novel?"
"Emphatically no," answered Sakura. She'd grown used to his teasing although the respect she had for her teacher's ex-teammate remained strong. The crippling injuries that would have killed a lesser man hadn't diminished his spirit or his confidence. Even though Jiraiya was now stuck in a wheelchair, he remained optimistic, to the point of asking for Tsunade's hand. The proposal was unexpected; Sakura hadn't imagined that the ex-Hokage would accept. But then, they were right – at their age, it didn't really matter anymore.
Naruto scratched the back of his skull to check for fractures. Jiraiya passed Naruto a thin stack of notes. "Don't forget to pass them to Kurenai-san when you get back to Konoha, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
-------
"Tenten, Lee and Neji are here. Don't they ever travel apart?" Kiba huffed. He snagged another drink from a passing waiter's tray.
Lee led the way to their juniors' table. "Wow, Sakura-san, you look wonderful!"
"He didn't say that to me," groused Tenten. She turned, mock petulant. "Neji, do I look good?"
"You look good." Duty dispensed, Neji nodded at his cousin. "Hinata-san."
"Neji-kun. I l-like your outfit," she stammered. Neji looked very handsome in his off-white coat, the mandarin collar and hem richly embroidered. He smiled briefly at his cousin and led his jounin team to their own table. They heard Lee telling Tenten to keep alcohol away from him.
-------
The music started. Sakura glanced around the large hall but could not see her best friend. Naruto materialized beside her, holding two cups of fruit punch.
"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said absently. She downed the drink in one long gulp.
"Hey, easy there, Sakura-chan, it is a little alcoholic," chided Naruto. "Thank goodness Tenten found out before Lee drank anything."
The two stood people-watching for a while. Then a lavender gleam near the doors caught Naruto's attention. "It's Ino."
They strolled over. Ino was receiving some very appreciative looks from the men around the entrance, she seemed to be in no hurry to find her friends.
"Hey Ino, you look wonderful." Sakura gave her a hug. "Your hair is perfect."
"Thanks. I did spend two hours getting it to curl just right," preened Ino. "Where's Shikamaru and Chouji?"
"Chouji's still at the table. Shikamaru is possibly still with him."
Some more heads turned to admire Ino as she sashayed past. She had on a purple, form-fitting dress with a thigh-high slit, and her hair was curled to show off her fair shoulders. The deep-v cut also showed off her creamy white cleavage to great advantage. As Ino wound her way to the chuunin seats, the central space cleared for dancing.
-------
The music stirred them into movement.
Tsunade accepted Kankurou's invitation to dance. Gaara and Shizune followed, Gaara a little awkwardly. The posse of Gaara fangirls glowered at the medical jounin, but subsided when Gaara threw them a quelling glare. Shizune was nervously glancing about until she saw Iruka's reassuring smile, and then proceeded to lead Gaara into the fine art of dancing.
"That was generous of you, Iruka," muttered Kakashi, leaning against a pillar nearby.
Iruka shrugged. "I can dance with her later. Now it's just diplomacy."
Kakashi sipped his drink, politely declining a Suna jounin's invitation. Iruka grinned at him. "You're still with two left feet, Hokage-sama?"
"Please call me Kakashi," the newly appointed Hokage said. "Nah, it's just that if news leaked back to the wife about my dancing with someone else, she's gonna cook my goose."
"Call it diplomacy then."
"Then she'd call it the 'diplomatic goose'," deadpanned Kakashi as he topped up his drink. "Anyway, I'll be headed home on the double after the fireworks. The baby's due anytime these few days."
-------
Hinata wanted to remain sitting, but was pulled out of her chair by Kiba. "You're not acting the wallflower today, Hinata!" Kiba said to his teammate. "Tonight," he gave her a little twirl, "you're gonna be the belle of the ball."
Hinata blushed furiously but resolved to enjoy herself if Kiba was going to take care of her. She didn't notice a pair of eyes fixed on their passage across the dance floor.
Soon others followed. Naruto bowed theatrically low to Sakura, who laughingly accepted. The two whirled out to the dance floor, narrowly missing Tsunade and Kankurou.
"When did you turn into suave Naruto?" Sakura teased as they waltzed around the circle. Other Suna couples joined the dance, but Naruto was ably maneuvering them through the crowd.
"Since I had to form the rest of Team 7, Sakura-chan," Naruto replied with a faint smile. Sakura's buoyant mood sunk a little; they had been avoiding the painful topic ever since it happened. Six months was not long enough.
"Let's not talk about it now, Naruto. I'd like to enjoy myself tonight."
"Your wish is my command."
Naruto swung Sakura around, and they continued to dance silently until the end of the first waltz.