The morning came quickly in the forest. A few members of the group were starting to stir, the first of them being Naruto and Hinata. Naruto opened his eyes, and was greeted by the warm rays of the morning sun. Hinata stirred as he started moving.
"Good morning Naruto," she said with a smile.
"Good morning to you too," Naruto said. Then he kissed her. From the top of the tree, Itachi looked down on the two of them.
"Hmm, the Hyuuga girl," Itachi thought. "The boy must have an incredible amount of luck to end up with her. From what I've heard, Hiashi Hyuuga is incredibly protective of his daughter." He continued to stare down at them, now focusing mainly on Naruto. "Still, that is not what matters. We've come for Naruto, and that is all that matters."
While Naruto and Hinata went to a small stream near the clearing to wash up, the rest of the team started to wake up. Sasuke and Sakura were up first, followed closely by Temari and Kankuro. Sasuke kissed Sakura good morning, while the other two wiped the sleep from their eyes. Naruto and Hinata just came back from the stream.
"Morning guys," Naruto said using a towel to dry his hands. Then Hinata asked, " Did you guys all sleep well?"
"Considering that we slept on the cold, hard ground, yeah, pretty well," Sakura said. The sarcastic tone in her voice was pretty obvious.
A small drop of sweat appeared on Temari's forehead. "Heh heh. Don't worry, we'll be staying in the next village we come to tonight." Then she thought to herself, "Good thing too. I hate sleeping on the ground myself."
"Hey Temari, is there anything going on in the next village that we should know about?" Sasuke asked. "Like maybe another festival?"
"No, not his time," Temari said. "But there is a cool dance club in this village. Big place, loud music, and all the fun you could ever want."
"Cool!" Naruto nearly shouted. "We've got to check it out!" The rest of the group agreed with him.
At the top of the tree, Itachi thought, "Are these fools really ninja? They seem more concerned about having fun than completing their mission."
"Hey, Gaara!" Kankuro shouted from the ground, catching Itachi's attention. "C'mon down! It's time to get moving."
"Fools," Itachi thought. Then he jumped down, and started walking with the rest of them.
They're on the move," Kisame said, watching the group through a set of binoculars. "They don't even realize that it is Itachi with them." He smirked as he said this. "Tokiko!"
"Yes, Master Kisame," Tokiko said, bowing to him a little bit.
"It's time for us to get going," he said. "Have you given the boy his shot?"
"Yes master," Tokiko said. "His demon side shall give you no trouble."
"Good," Kisame said. Then he strapped his sword across his back, and picked up Gaara.
"Master Kisame, I have a question," Tokiko said.
"What is it?" Kisame asked. He hated being asked questions.
"Well, I was wondering, why are we after this Naruto person?" she asked. "What makes him so special?"
Kisame stared at her for a minute, and then said, "I'll tell you later. Right now, we've got to follow them." Then he jumped away, carrying Gaara over his shoulder, and Tokiko following behind.
The journey for the group that day was as uneventful as the first. There was almost no conversation, and the girls held onto their boyfriends like they might disappear if they didn't. They came to the next village in the early evening, and checked into the inn with no problems. Before they went to their rooms, they all talked over one matter.
"So we'll change and meet back here when we're ready to go, right?" Temari asked them all.
"Yeah," they all said nodding. Itachi said nothing though, just closed his eyes on the matter. They all headed to their respective rooms.
Naruto and Hinata arrived at their room, still grasping each other.
"I wonder what I should wear?" Naruto thought to himself when they went in the door. "I don't think my orange jumpsuit would be appropriate for a dance club."
"I think you should wear jeans," Hinata said "And maybe a shirt with a collar. They would look good on you." It was like she had read his mind.
Slightly surprised, Naruto said, "T-thanks. What about you? What are you going to wear?"
Hinata looked embarrassed by the question. Turning red and bringing her hand to her lips, she said, "I-I don't know yet. Is there something that you want me to where?" She looked even more embarrassed when she asked the question. Her face turned deep red.
"N-no, the-there isn't," Naruto stuttered. It was his turn to turn red now. "You don't need to wear anything special for me. You look great in anything." He smiled when he said this. Then he thought to himself, " Man, that was the corniest thing that I could ever say."
However, Hinata didn't seem top think so. She had leaned up and kissed him out of nowhere. When they parted, she said, "Thank you Naruto." Then she hugged him around his mid section.
Looking down at her with a smile, he embraced her and said, " You're welcome Hinata." She looked up at him, slightly teary, and then they kissed again.
Meanwhile, in Temari's, Kankuro's, and Itachi's room, Itachi was having a few troubles of his own. Temari had started to change her clothes, and he was still in the room. Without batting a lash, he asked, "What are you doing?"
"Changing my clothes. You don't expect me to go to a club in my ninja outfit, do you?" She continued to change while she said it.
"Should I leave?" he asked her. Then he thought to himself, "I may be emotionless, but there is only so much that I can take." He could feel a nosebleed coming on even as they spoke.
"Why? Temari asked. "We're siblings. It's not like you haven't seen me naked before." The thought didn't help Itachi. Then Temari asked, "Shouldn't you be getting ready too, Gaara?"
"Why?" Itachi asked. He thought, "Surely this boy doesn't go to places like this."
"Because you're coming along with us, aren't you?" Temari asked. "You usually do."
Itachi was almost dumbfounded. The demon of the sand village went to clubs, a place where Itachi would never go in his life. Itachi though never showed a bit of surprise. He just stared at her and said nothing.
Getting up, he went to Gaara's bag to look for a pair of clothes to wear. Looking through it, he thought to himself, "Blending in with them could be harder than I thought. I've never been to a club before. What the hell do I where?" He pulled out a shirt and jeans; he looked at it, and thought, "This will have to do."
"Is this the place?" Hinata asked later from outside the club.
"Yep, this is the place," Temari answered.
"It's huge," Sasuke said, overlooking the building. The place was at least two stories tall, making it pretty big by most standards.
"Wait until you get inside," Temari said. "It's even bigger. Plus, shinobi get in for free tonight."
"Yes!" Sakura thought.
The group started toward the door, and was met by a guy at the door, who asked, "Are you shinobi?"
"Don't we look like it?" Kankuro asked. The guy wasn't sure if he should answer that, but truthfully, none of them looked like it. Naruto was wearing blue jeans, a short sleeved, unbuttoned, black collar shirt, and necklace with the symbol for "fox" hanging from it, while Sasuke had on the same kind of jeans, and a long sleeved black collared shirt. Kankuro had taken off his hood, exposing light brown hair, and was wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt and cutoff black jeans. Itachi had on black jeans and a red and black shirt. Finally, the girls looked like they could be a matching set. They all were wearing black tube tops and miniskirts. Over top of their tops, they had on a net shirt. They all also had a pair of earrings in their ears. However, the entire group all had one thing in common. They were all still wearing their headbands.
The guy must have finally noticed, because he opened the door and said, "Sorry. Please come on in."
The group entered the club, and Naruto let out a whistle. "Wow, this place IS huge." The club had three stories to it, one on top, one down below, and one in the middle. Each floor was packed with people, who were either, laughing, drinking, dancing, or just having a good time. Loud music filled the whole place with sound.
"We'll see you guys later," Kankuro said. "We're heading off to the bar to get a drink. C'mon Gaara." Itachi looked like he wanted to protest, but he went along anyway.
"You guys are on your own again tonight," Sasuke said to Naruto and Hinata.
"Yeah, so make the most of it," Sakura said. Then they walked off, leaving the couple where they stood.
After a few seconds, Naruto said, "What more could we ask for." Then he put his arm around her shoulder, getting her full attention. "So, you want to dance?"
Hinata looked at him for a second and said, "Naruto, I can't dance very well."
"Neither can I, but I will anyway." He sounded so sure of himself.
Hinata stared at him for another moment, and then said blushing, "Okay." With that, they walked out onto the dance floor.
"It's easy to dance," Naruto said. "You just start moving, and soon you will be fine." He started to dance after he said it. Hinata followed his lead. Pretty soon after, she was moving flawlessly to the music, and having a wonderful time.
On the outskirts of the town, in a clearing in the woods, a small fire burned, illuminating the clearing. Kisame was up in a tree, keeping watch on the area around them, while Tokiko rested against the trunk of the tree. Gaara was still unconscious, and was currently tied to the trunk of the tree opposite of her. Opening her eyes, Tokiko looked across at the boy. Getting up, she walked over to get a closer look at him. "It is hard to believe that this is the terror of the Hidden Sand Village. He doesn't even look all that strong, and he went down so easily." Getting closer to him, she examined the mark for love on his forehead. She was about a foot from him when he opened his eyes. This surprised her so much that she nearly fell on her butt.
"Who are you?" Gaara asked. Tugging at his ropes a little, he realized that he wasn't able to get free.
"It's pointless to do that," Tokiko said. "Those ropes are tied so tight that not even master Itachi could get out of them. And don't even bother trying to use your sand. It won't work for you."
Gaara had tried this anyway, but to no avail. The sand in his gourd remained still. "Hmph, so you were able to suppress my inner demon. Impressive. Now again, who are you?"
"I am Tokiko Unohana. I serve master Itachi." She sounded serious, but Gaara chuckled a little.
"Master Itachi, huh?" Gaara asked. "Why would you serve a man as evil as him?"
Tokiko looked like she was ready to explode at the question, but she restrained herself. "How can you call such a good man evil? Out of the goodness of his heart, he saved my life. I owe him my entire existence."
"They goodness of his heart? Don't make me laugh," Gaara said. His hooded eyes stayed on her for the entire conversation. "He probably saw potential in you. That's why he saved you. He did it for his own gain."
"You're wrong," Tokiko whispered. Then she shouted it. "YOU'RE WRONG!"
Kisame jumped down from the tree at this point. "Anything wrong Tokiko?" he asked. She looked at the ground and said, "No, it's nothing." Behind her, Gaara smirked a little.
Naruto and Hinata had danced for almost an entire hour. Tired and sweating, they headed for a free table in a corner of the club. When they reached it Hinata sat down, and Naruto asked her, "Do you want anything to drink?" The were both short of breath, and something cool and refreshing sounded good to both of them.
"Just some water," Hinata said with a smile.
"Coming right up," Naruto said. Then he kissed her on the lips and headed off, leaving Hinata sitting there by herself. All around her, guys were either staring at her, or whispering something in their friend's ears about her.
"Maybe I should have worn something different," Hinata thought looking down at her clothes. "This outfit is drawing too much attention." Just then, a couple of guys walked up to her and said, "Hey, would you like to dance with us?'
Hinata looked at them nervously, then looked back towards the ground, saying, "No t-thanks. I'm taken."
"What? You mean by the loser with the blonde hair? Heh. Ditch him. He's not worth your time," The one guy said in a sneering voice.
"Naruto's not a loser!" Hinata yelled at them.
The guys looked at her like they couldn't believe what she had said. Then they started to glare at her. "Boy, this one has quite the attitude," the one guy said, and then his friend said, "Good, I like them like that." Then he grabbed Hinata by the wrist. "You're coming with us." They both said. They started pulling on her arm, and then they heard the sound of glass being set on the table. The two of them looked around to find Naruto with two glasses in hand. The top half of his face was hidden in the shadows.
"Would you look at this guy," the one guy said. "He must really think that he can take us."
"Buddy, back down while you can," the other guy advised in a cocky tone. "We're Jonin from the Waterfall village, and we're the strongest ones." Naruto ignored what he was told and turned to face them. The guy and his friend smiled devious smiles. "Fine. It's your funeral." With that, they both ran in to punch him.
"Naruto!" Hinata yelled. She closed her eyes, unable to watch. Then she opened them a little bit to see what had happened. When she saw, she opened them fully. Naruto had caught both of their fists in midair, less than a foot from his face.
"What the?" Both of them looked confused. Suddenly, the air around Naruto started to glow bright red. The two Jonin looked a little scared. Then Naruto lifted his head so that his face was in the light. The Jonin looked terrified now, mainly because Naruto's eyes had become red and slitted, the lines had thickened on his face, and his canine teeth had become even more pointed.
"Would you like to know what I do to guys who try to hurt my girlfriend?" Naruto asked. His voice was raspy and scary. "I gut them like fish."
"W-we-we're s-so-sorry! We didn't anything to her! We swear!" The two of them looked like they were ready to cry.
"Good," Naruto said. "Now just so you get the message…" With lightning speed, he punched them both in the stomach, and sent them across the club, crashing into the wall, where they left an indent when they hit. Nobody really noticed what had taken place, or cared for that matter. They were too busy having fun.
"Jerks," Naruto said changing back to normal. When he turned around, Hinata hugged him around his middle.
"Thank you Naruto," she said. Small tears had welled up in her eyes. "If you hadn't come back when you did, then they would have…" She didn't even finish the sentence, just buried her face in his chest.
"It's okay Hinata," Naruto said, embracing her. "They won't be coming back to bother you. I promise." Just then, the music in the club started to slow down. "Hey, it's a slow song. How about a slow dance?" Hinata didn't say anything, but nodded into his chest. He led her out onto the floor and put his arms around her waist, while she put hers around his neck. She kept her head buried in his chest the whole time. Leaning down, he buried his face in her hair, taking in the flowery scent of it. "She smells so good," Naruto thought as he closed his eyes.
"He feels so warm," Hinata thought with her head still buried in his chest. "I want to be with him. I don't care if we have to stay like this forever. I want to be with him." They both lifted their heads up and stared into each other's eyes. Then they shared a long kiss with each other. Looking down from the upper level, Sasuke and Sakura had seen everything that had happened.
"Do you think Naruto went a little overboard?' Sakura asked Sasuke, who was enjoying a glass of Pepsi. He had decided to lay off sake since the party for Naruto and Hinata.
"No," Sasuke said looking down at the couple. "Those guys deserved what they got." Taking another sip of his drink, he said, "I probably would have done the same thing." Sakura walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you Sasuke," Sakura said, and then kissed him deeply.
Meanwhile, at the bar on the same level as Naruto and Hinata, Itachi sat drinking shots of sake staring at the couple. He had seen the whole event too.
"Incredible," Itachi thought, taking in another shot of sake. "So much power, and it's wasted on this boy. Not to worry though. Soon it shall be ours." Taking in another shot, he started to look a little tipsy, and proceeded to party with Temari and Kankuro.