Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Save Your Last Dance For Me ❯ Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Dance

 

Neji, Tenten, Naruto and Hinata went down the carriage as soon as they reached the school gym. The Christmas spirit could be felt there because of all the coldness in the air and the decorations the dance committee have planned about. The gym looked like it wasn't a gym at all but some ball teenagers would like to go to. Most of it was inspired by Ino's ideas. The four parted ways - Neji and Tenten went to the refreshment table and Naruto and Hinata went to find the others.

 

Sasuke and Sakura reached the gym about a few minutes after the four arrived. The gym was already packed with people from different year levels. Sasuke held Sakura's hand tightly, fearing that some other boy from the lower sections which he didn't know would take her away. Sakura felt that way for Sasuke too. When they entered the gym, most of the girls' eyes were on Sasuke and they giggled then frowned after seeing Sakura. As they went through the crowd, Sakura searched for familiar faces and saw Naruto and Hinata.

 

“Wow, Naruto! You sure do look good.” Sakura praised as soon as Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and she have settled down on one side of the gym. “Thanks. You look good too. That's the first time I've heard that from you.” Naruto said. He still remembered how much he had once had a crush on Sakura. And now, everything's gone. He's happy with his love life and had no interest in looking back at the past. After all, he and Sakura had become good and close friends and she no longer quarrels him.

 

“And you, Sasuke. You look so ugly right now that all of the girls are staring at you.” Naruto teased ironically. Sasuke frowned at him then they all burst out laughing. “Anyway, Hinata and I might visit the refreshment table for awhile. I'm getting hungry. Let's go, Hinata.” Naruto teased, and went towards the table. Hinata followed and waved a small goodbye to Sasuke and Sakura. The two waited for awhile in that side of the gym - yet not letting each other's hand go.

 

Shikamaru let Ino down once they have reached the school. Other fellow schoolmates giggled about them when they saw the scene. Ino seemed to care but Shikamaru did not - he was proud that he was holding his girl in his arms. They both entered the gym about some more minutes after Sasuke and Sakura arrived. They walked around the gym, looking for their friends and they spotted Sasuke and Sakura together. Sakura had told Ino about what had happened between Sasuke and her and Ino felt happy about both of them especially that she saw them holding hands.

 

“Sakura! You look so great… And you too, Sasuke.” Ino greeted as she saw both of them. There was no doubt that Sasuke was the best-looking boy of the night. He was so noticeable. Sasuke smiled a little. “Well, thanks. You look pretty too! I hope you and Shikamaru would have a fun time tonight.” Sakura said. She worried a bit that Ino and Shikamaru might quarrel since it was the usual routine when the two were teammates. “Don't worry, Sakura. Nothing wrong's going to happen tonight. I'll take care of your best friend.” Shikamaru said, putting an arm around Ino. She did not refuse and felt so comforted. Ino and Shikamaru went away to join some members of the dance committee. They were still in charge of the whole dance.

 

Sakura and Sasuke finally went to the refreshment table. It was so sweet of Sasuke to get Sakura a drink and they sipped a Coke together as they enjoy the happiness in the air. They started talking about some things, commenting about the gym and everything else. Christmas carols started playing and after a little while, Sasuke noticed Miss Kurenai and a somewhat very familiar guy in the other side of the refreshment table. “Itachi?? Miss Kurenai??” Sasuke exclaimed at the two figures. Sakura looked and giggled at what she saw. Miss Kurenai turned red. Itachi smiled sheepishly. “What the heck - Itachi?! Oh… good evening, Miss Kurenai.” Sasuke both greeted and exclaimed at them. He wanted to burst out laughing since it would be rude to laugh at your teacher who gave you an A in the project and is supposedly going out with your older brother. Sakura tried to be polite and greeted both of them. “Good evening, Sakura and Sasuke. I hope you two have fun tonight.” Miss Kurenai greeted back, trying to be at ease. “Same with you. Let's enjoy the night.” Sakura said cheerfully. Sasuke pulled Sakura from the refreshment table and went to the side of the gym. He let out a laugh. Sakura laughed with him also. “I can't believe it. My brother would really take Miss Kurenai at the dance and well, proudly. Haha… A college guy going out with an Academy teacher.. can't believe it. Sorry if I'm being wicked.” Sasuke said. Sakura just chuckled back.

 

After a little while, Haku got in front of the microphone and started the opening remarks. She first greeted everyone a Merry Christmas and hoped that everyone would have a fun time tonight. She continued on and on. Haku was very pretty in her black signature gown and her hair pretty arranged in such a neat way. When she finished, Kakashi emerged from somewhere and joined her. He held her hand. Naruto, with Hinata who had joined Sasuke and Sakura, pointed to that scene. He couldn't help laughing. Teachers were also too funny and mysterious. When Kakashi and Haku passed in front of them, Naruto could hardly contain himself. “Good evening, Kakashi-sensei. Good evening and have fun tonight! You're not telling us that Haku is…” Naruto did not continue his sentence. Kakashi frowned at him and Haku greeted them all. Even the Hokage was not left with the love in the air. It could be assumed that Tsunade was so in loved - with two escorts, Jiraiya and Orochimaru at each side. She was very proud of herself and walked with poise in her glittery gown. Everyone who saw them smiled at the scene.

 

Everyone in the group stayed together in one side of the gym except for Shino, Temari and the VG Three. Of course, the three video game addicts were at their favorite shop planning to spend until dawn playing video games. After waiting for so long, the music started to play. At first no one at the group wanted to dance, but after some time Neji asked Tenten to dance. Tenten gladly agreed. He took her hand and they both went to the dance floor to slow-dance. They were looking at each other's eyes and after a few minutes of silence, they started talking even when the music was fast. Everyone in the group envied them especially Shikamaru who can hardly contain himself and asked Ino to dance with him. Ino couldn't believe it. It was her first dance and she was so excited about it. They went next to the dance floor and danced to some fast music.

 

Naruto was unsure of asking Hinata to dance. He didn't know how and he was nervous that he would cause embarrassment to Hinata. But he had the courage to dance. “Hinata, would you dance with me? Even if I'm not sure that I know how to?” Naruto asked nervously. Hinata blushed and smiled. “It's okay, Naruto. It's easy and I'd love to dance with you!” They both went to the dance floor. At first, Naruto was so clumsy about it but then after a few seconds, he was so good at it and the romantic scene went on between him and Hinata.

Sasuke on the other hand, was still a weakling after all. He wanted to dance with Sakura but didn't have the courage to ask her. Yeah, he knew that they love each other so much yet asking her to dance was a very nervous thing to ask. Like Naruto, he also didn't know how to dance. This weakness caused Sakura to have another first dance. Lee approached her so fast. “Sakura my love! Would you dance with me? You promised me, right?” Lee asked. “Could I borrow your girlfriend for awhile, Uchiha Sasuke?” Sakura glanced reluctantly at Sasuke and he nodded uncertainly. Lee took Sakura to the dance floor and she pretended that she was happy, though unsure that Sasuke might be jealous anyhow. When they finished dancing, the happiness across Lee's face showed. “Thank you, Sakura. The night is done. It's the thing I really look forward to. You made me really happy. Have fun with Sasuke tonight!” Lee said cheerfully, going away. Sasuke sighed. He was practicing how to ask Sakura while they were dancing and now he had to. They waited for a few moments.

 

But before Sasuke could even say the first word, Gaara approached Sakura. Sasuke sighed again and Sakura and Gaara took her to the dance floor. I lost her again, he thought. Suddenly, somebody nudged him from behind while he was thinking these thoughts. “You coward! Why can't you ask Sakura? You are so… hmph, why are you like that? Ask her, Sasuke! If you already had the courage to confess your feelings, how much more in asking her to dance? I really don't understand you.” It was Itachi, giving another sermon to his younger brother. He was still with Miss Kurenai and she just smiled. “Go Sasuke, ask her before she would dance with another. But hope that she can save the last dance for you.” Miss Kurenai said. The sweethearts went away.

 

Sakura returned. Sasuke saw that Gaara was smiling. “I hope you're not mad at me, Sasuke-kun…” Sakura mumbled. Sasuke gave her an understanding smile. “It's okay, Sakura. Let's just…” Sasuke was going to ask her to dance but was interrupted by Ino's voice who was announcing at the microphone.

 

“We have to take a break for awhile. First, the gift-giving time has arrived. This is the right time to give your friends and your loved ones your Christmas gifts. After that, you may vote for the dance prince and the dance princess. This pair would be the one which you think should be the highlight of the night. After the pair would be awarded, the last dance would take place. It is the most important. Now continue having fun and share your gifts!” Ino explained about the activities of the night.

 

Everyone stopped dancing and went to the side of the gym. Before anything else, Ino started helping Sakura to distribute the chocolates to the boys. They all said thank you except for those who weren't there. Sakura then gave her gifts to her friends. Her friends did the same also. The sweethearts gave their gifts to each other. And finally, Sakura gave her gift to Sasuke. It was a simple gift Sakura had planned for a long time. It was a small music box with a cherry blossom moving along to the tune of `Harmonia' (a Naruto themesong), the song Sakura dedicated to Sasuke. Inside the music box were pictures of Team Seven and Sasuke and Sakura together. It was something she has treasured for a long time. Sasuke opened the box and was so amazed at the same time thankful of his gift. Now he realized how Sakura really valued him so much. “Did you like it, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura asked after noticing how speechless Sasuke was upon seeing the gift. Sasuke shifted his contented look to Sakura. “I do, Sakura. Thank you… I realized how much you really valued me. Now I don't know if you would like my gift. It's something simple and you know that I'm not good at choosing and giving gifts especially to girls.” Sasuke said. “As long as it's from you, Sasuke-kun, I'd love it.” Sakura replied, being so happy that Sasuke would give him a gift.

 

Sasuke pulled a small box from his pocket. He opened it and brought out a silver-chained necklace with the Uchiha fan pendant dangling from it. Sakura's eyes filled with tears of happiness as Sasuke wore it on her. “I hope you like it. It's for you to remember me always. Now don't cry. I don't want to see those tears in your eyes again…” Sasuke said. He wiped her tears. “Oh Sasuke-kun…” Sakura mumbled. She hugged Sasuke so tightly. She loved her more than ever.

 

After being thankful of their gifts, everyone got their paper to write down their candidates for dance prince and princess. Sasuke and Sakura decided to vote for Naruto and Hinata since they were really proud of their teammate. The others however decided to vote Sasuke and Sakura because finally, they both went together after waiting for such a long long time. After they submitted their papers to Ino who gathered it, they waited a long while for the tallying of votes. It was the most exciting part.

 

Finally, the result came up. Ino and Haku was the ones assigned to announce it. “Hooray for our dance prince and dance princess… Sasuke and Sakura!” they both announced. Sasuke and Sakura hugged each other. Everyone really thought that they were both the highlight of the night. They looked good together. Everyone cheered as they went to get their homemade awards. They felt so happy. Sasuke kissed Sakura right then and there.

 

And finally, the last dance came up. It was what everyone had waited for and it's the most important dance of the night. It had been said that the person you last dance with during the Christmas Eve would possibly the person you are going to live with for a lifetime. Many believe that and this was the moment. The slow and romantic music started playing. Neji and Tenten, Shikamaru and Ino, Naruto and Hinata went to dance.

 

This was Sasuke's chance no matter what. He had to take it or leave it. Everyone was dancing including Miss Kurenai and Itachi, Haku and Kakashi and Tsunade who is dancing with both her escorts. He glared at Sakura who was simply enjoying seeing so many lovers happy together. This was the moment.

 

“Uh… Sakura? Would you dance with me?” Sasuke asked nervously. Sakura brightened up. “This was the moment I've been waiting for, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura answered softly. Sasuke held her hand gently and took her to the dance floor. This was Sakura's greatest dream - to dance with the boy she had loved all her life. Her eyes were filling with tears of happiness again but she shook them away. They looked at each other's eyes and felt so contented and joyful in their hearts. “I'm glad I saved the last dance for you.” Sakura mumbled. Sasuke smiled widely, the way he had never did before. “I love you, Sakura.” He said. “I loved you too, Sasuke.” Sakura replied. And they dance to the end of the night…

 

-at a far corner of the gym-

 

Shino, wearing a shirt that wasn't exactly suited for the dance but wore a pair of pants instead of the usual shorts, noticed a sad familiar girl resting on a corner of the gym. He knew it was her. “Temari, are you okay?” he asked, noticing Temari with a sad face and clothes not for the dance like he had. Temari looked up. “Oh hi, Shino. The VG Three threw me because they said it was a boys' night out and I don't even know anything about video gaming. I really hate them.” Temari said sadly. “So you ended up here?” Shino confirmed. Temari nodded. “Why are you here, Shino?”

 

“I didn't really plan to go here. But it got so boring at home playing with my bugs that I decided to visit the dance for awhile. You know, find some food and something interesting but all I can see are lovers gazing into each other's eyes.” Shino replied tiredly. Temari nodded. They spent some time together observing around and talking about interesting things. After all, they didn't argue.

 

After some time, the moment for these two hopeless people came. Shino decided to ask Temari. “Would you dance with me, Temari?” Shino asked. Temari was surprised. She did not know what to say. She did not expect Shino to ask her. But she surprisingly agreed. He took her hand and they went dancing on the dance floor - the last dance of the night. They needn't say anything to each other. They knew they were happy or so, not hopeless. Temari began feeling like she was starting to like Shino after all and Shino did too.

 

After all, everyone was so happy… Happy, that the last dance was saved for their loved ones!