A/N: Heh heh, a cliffhanger probably was NOT the best way to gain forgiveness from my readers, now that I think of it…-hurriedly runs to bake more cookies- Wow, if I keep going on this track, all of us are going to be very obese by the end of this fan fiction.
Here you go, without further ado!
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Day 26
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The main courtyard of the Compound was filled to the brim with people. About a fourth of them sported the familiar opal eyes and dark hair of the Hyuuga clan, but the rest were obviously guests. A string quartet was visible on a raised platform. They were still setting up, so nobody was dancing yet.
Tenten stroked the long, silky fabric of her forest green dress. The bottom swirled down in long folds of shining fabric, and the bodice was sleeveless with a corset style lace-up front. The inside layer was ivory colored, with tiny white sparkles covering the skirt. Her mask was the same forest green to match, covered with deep green feathers around the eyeholes.
So far, there was nobody discernable as anybody she knew. Sakura would be a dead giveaway because of her hair, and Ino was too tall not to be spotted easily. Hinata should have been there already, but she would blend easily with the crowd of her similar-looking relatives.
Naruto coughed and let go of Tenten's arm. "Um, Tenten-chan…I'm going to go find Hinata." Tenten grinned at him under her mask in a very un-ladylike manner.
"She's very pretty, Naruto. No need to feel embarrassed."
Needless to say, the blonde immediately flushed red all the way up to his hairline. "Shut up, I'm not embarrassed," he muttered, slipping away into the crowd. Tenten turned to walk in the opposite direction, looking for somebody to hang out with until the music started.
It was strange to be walking among dozens of strangely dressed people, all with their faces hidden behind some sort of mask. She had come across a few with especially extravagant ones. A few of the younger kids were wearing clown masks with their button-up shirts.
Tenten drew in a breath. There was Neji. She was sure of it.
His back was towards her, and he was talking to some other Hyuuga, so she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around…it wasn't Neji. God, all of those Hyuugas looked the same from the back. Tenten quickly muttered an apology and made her escape.
She ended up wandering into a slightly smaller, adjoined courtyard where a few couples were walking. Sighing, she sat down on the stone edge of a circular gardening plot, trying to avoid dirt stains on her dress. The mask was starting to itch a little. Carefully, she pulled it over her head and laid it in her lap.
Somebody sat down next to her. She didn't think anything of it until he said her name.
Tenten jerked up in surprise. "Neji, don't do that to me!"
His face was covered by the same sort of black mask that Naruto had been wearing. He wasn't wearing a jacket with his white shirt and black pants, although it did suit him. He stared at Tenten in her dress and let-down hair for a full minute before replying.
"I apologize."
Tenten sighed. "How'd you find me? I was looking for you."
"You are easy to find. At first I looked for the girl with buns and wearing a pair of jeans, but when it became evident that she was nowhere to be found…"
"Haha, Neji."
"…I searched this courtyard for somebody sitting alone and bored."
She glared at him. "Gee, thanks a lot. You have got to learn how to talk to girls better. Seriously. You're never going to get a date."
Neji stared at her for a moment with his white eyes, startling behind the black mask, and then he stood. In an unexpected move, he held out his hand to her. She gaped at him, until he smiled slightly. "You are supposed to take it, I believe."
Tenten put her hand in his and stood. She put on her mask again. Now she didn't feel like they were Tenten and Neji. They were merely two masked dancers in a crowd of more masked dancers.
Dancing with Neji was a bit like dancing with a statue. His shoulders were all stiff and he didn't seem to bend his knees at all when he walked onto the dance floor. She put her arms around his neck and he hesitated a moment before putting his hands on her waist. Tenten rolled her eyes.
"I don't bite. As long as you keep your hands where they're supposed to go, anyways." She knew that there was no need for the warning. Neji wasn't the kind of guy who tried anything. Tenten was quite positive that he was born without hormones.
The string quartet had struck up a song, and the two of them danced to the music, if you could call what Neji did "dancing". They were just one pair among what seemed like millions crowding the courtyard. Most of them were hugging each other very, very closely. Neji didn't seem to notice, and Tenten chose to ignore it. They kept a good half-foot of space between them.
The dance ended, and again, Neji held out his hand and Tenten took it. They walked off of the dance floor.
"Hm, Neji-kun?"
"Hn."
"I think I'm going to leave you alone for a while. I have to go and find Sakura and the rest. Do you mind?"
"No."
Tenten smiled. "Besides, this will be a good way to see if any other girl would dare ask you to dance."
Neji's lips twitched slightly. "I doubt it. We shall see."
O0O
Sakura was dressed like an angel of death. Seriously.
Her dress was black, of course. It went to her knees, the top hugging her body and the bottom loose. She had sewn silver beads onto the back in the shape of tiny wings. Her mask matched: plain black, but with long, pointy edges. She had worn her black Converse that laced up all the way to the thighs. She had perched a tiny little top hat onto her pink hair.
The pink-haired girl wandered into the courtyard wondering what guy would dare to ask her to dance. She smiled at the idea. Well, she didn't mind dancing alone, even to a waltz. She pretty much preferred it, really.
She wandered over to the snack table, reaching out a pale hand to grab a couple of pretzels. A Hyuuga that was standing by the table stared at her black fingernails and then at the rest of her. Sakura smiled sweetly at him.
Sakura just stood there munching on the pretzels when she felt a chill go down her back. She got that sixth sense that there was somebody watching her. She tried walking a few steps away from the table, and then dashed behind an arrangement of trees that made a small forest to hide in. There was nobody behind her.
Puzzled, she was about to come back out from behind the foliage when somebody leaned over and whispered into her ear from behind her.
"Hello, little cherry blossom. Enjoying yourself?"
She whirled around so fast that she nearly twisted her neck. "You?!"
Uchiha Sasuke smirked at her. His mask was black, but it looked a bit like the one from Phantom of the Opera: it covered half of his face completely. The shirt inside of his jacket was black. Everything he was wearing was black, except for the white rose in his buttonhole.
"Who gave you that?" Sakura asked, noticing the flower. She had better things to ask him, but hey.
Sasuke's smirk grew wider. "Jealous?"
"In your dreams. What the hell are you doing here? You're not invited."
Sasuke shrugged. "I'm your guest, aren't I?" He studied her outfit. "You can be the angel of death, and I will be your escort. How fitting."
Sakura snorted. "Right."
Sasuke reached out a hand and brushed back a strand of loose pink hair, "Nice top hat." Sakura shivered a little when his fingers brushed against her neck, but there was no way she was going to admit it. From his smirk, she knew that he had felt it.
"Just…leave me alone, okay?"
"Ah, but that would be impossible. You're too…" he trailed off. His lips twisted into a feral sort of grin. "I'm accustomed to getting what I want, Sakura…" He took a step closer and suddenly took her into his arms. Sakura made a little noise of surprise against his chest.
"Hey! Let go of me!" she protested. "I'm going to get you for this—" Her eyes widened as he leaned over and placed a kiss on her jawbone, his onyx colored hair brushing against her cheek. Sakura sighed, every muscle in her body relaxing. Sasuke smirked against her skin.
"I win."
The pink-haired girl scowled. "You cheated."
"Oh? I wasn't aware that there were rules." He gently kissed her neck.
"Stop it," she breathed. "I'm serious."
"But I can't. You're addicting," he murmured, tracing her jawbone with his nose. Sakura was seriously considering head butting him at the same time that she was secretly enjoying the moment.
There was a moment of silence, and then she pressed her face into the silky fabric of his shirt. "Sasuke-kun…"
"Hn."
"You make me feel scared…more scared than anything else. But at the same time, I feel completely safe with you. How's that possible?" He smelled like dirt and pine trees and metal and the rose in his buttonhole and just a little bit like herself.
He breathed out against her neck. "I don't know."
Sakura smiled a little and pulled back from his embrace. "Sasuke-kun…would you care to dance?"
O0O
Hinata was desperately trying to find Hiashi.
He was usually easy enough to find, he seemed to tail her everywhere. His white eyes seemed to watch her every move. Usually, Hinata despised it, (and there wasn't much that the heiress could bring herself to despise), but right now she would have welcomed it.
She didn't know if she could do this. She had never defied her father's will before. But she had to. Or she would regret it for the rest of her life.
Hinata walked through the crowd not really seeing where she was going, until she bumped into somebody. "Hey, watch where you're going!" said a familiar voice.
"Ino-san?"
The blonde widened her eyes behind a white mask. "Hinata? Wow, I didn't think I'd find you so fast! You look good!" Ino sounded impressed. Hinata's dress was pale ice blue with white flowers on it. She had on gold ballet flats and a plain mask to match. There were blue ribbons tied around her wrists and ankles.
"A-Arigato!"
"So where are you going?"
"…have you seen my f-father anywhere? I can't s-seem to f-find him…"
Ino's face took on a serious expression. "Oh, are you going to talk to him about…?" Hinata gave a weak nod, biting her lower lip nervously and twiddling her fingers together like she usually did when she was uncertain. Ino smiled reassuringly at her, giving a thoughtful tug on her long, blonde ponytail.
"Then I'm going with you," she said firmly.
Hinata's white eyes widened. "You would? B-But, you don't have to…Ino-san, you should g-go and enjoy yourself. S-Shouldn't you be d-dancing with your date?"
Ino laughed. "What date? I brought Shikamaru, but he doesn't dance and we're not exactly here on a boy-girl sort of basis. I'll come with you. You look like you could use the help."
Hinata's face betrayed how grateful she was to Ino. "Domo A-Arigato, Ino-san!"
Ino waved off the thanks. "Just doing my duty. C'mon, let's go."
The two girls set off through the crowd. Ino smoothed down her dress a little and checked her make-up in a compact mirror. "So…was this whole ball a set up so that you could talk to your dad?"
Hinata reddened slightly. "W-Well, I suggested to the elders that w-we hold a celebration f-for one of m-my cousin's coming of age…but it e-evolved into a…well…" She gestured to the crowded courtyard. "I thought it w-would provide an opportunity to s-speak to my father, because he is usually s-surrounded by other Hyuugas. T-Tonight, everybody should be away enjoying th-themselves."
Ino nodded in understanding. "Ah. Are you scared?"
Hinata bit her lip again. "Yes…but I h-have to do this." She looked around over the heads of all the people. "Sakura-san knew that I w-was planning to talk to my f-father tonight…she was g-going to help me, but I haven't seen her anywhere."
Ino laughed. "I wouldn't worry about her. She probably found the snacks. I'll take her place."
Hinata smiled slightly.
Just then, Naruto made his appearance and ran over. "Hinata, would you like to…er…"
Ino stared at the blonde in surprise. "Wow. Hi."
Naruto ignored her. "Like to….to…"
"Just spit it out, boy," Ino barked.
"Dance with me?" Naruto suggested meekly. Hinata turned beet red all the way to her hairline.
"Erm…"
"Go!" Ino whispered, giving her friend a little push on the back. "Hiashi can wait. He's not going anywhere."
Hinata bashfully accepted Naruto's offered hand, and they disappeared into the horde of dancing people. Ino sighed. "Ah, young love," she said happily.
O0O
"Tenten?" Sakura said uncertainly.
"Sakura," Tenten said with absolute certainty once she saw what the girl was wearing.
"Nice dress," the pinkhead said appreciatively.
"…Is that the Uchiha?" Tenten whispered to her friend. Sakura giggled.
"Obviously."
Tenten grinned. "I knew it."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "So where's Neji?"
They were standing at the edge of the dance floor near the snacks, so Tenten looked around. "Don't see him." She shrugged. "I'll find him later."
"No, you'll find him now…isn't that him?" Sakura pointed to a guy that was dancing with a girl in the dance floor.
Tenten stared. The guy did look suspiciously like Neji. But it couldn't be. Nobody asked Neji to dance. Nobody. It was utterly impossible.
He wasn't only dancing. He was smiling. But just a little. The little smile that he had only ever given Tenten.
Sakura, seeing Tenten's expression, took a little step away. "Um. Try not to shed blood," she called as the brunette marched towards Neji and The-Unworthy-Girl-Who-Got-To-Be-Smiled-At.
This was going to be a long night.
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A/N: BWAHAHAHA ANOTHER CLIFFIE!!