Konoha High School (A Naruto Fan Fiction)

Part XIII

Part XIII

~Hinata~

It's so nice to see Ino and Sakura talking again.

The two of them swing by my house so we can all walk to the mall together to look for dresses for the dance. I hear a knock at my front door and answer it, seeing the two girls asking me if I was ready to go.

It really was a picturesque Sunday afternoon. The air is chilled and the sun is bright. The sounds of young children playing ring out as we walk through some neighborhoods. Ino talks the whole time about how excited she is for the dance even though she doesn't have a date.

"But it's totally cool to be independent and all and show society how I don't need a boyfriend to have a good time with my friends," she says.

Suddenly, I remember quiet Sai and our revelation at lunch earlier this week. "So even if someone asked you to the dance, you'd say no?" I ask.

She thinks a moment. "Well, I don't know, I guess it depends who it is," she says. Then she looks at me. "Why? Do you know someone who's going to ask me?"

Sakura laughs. "I think you want a date to the dance more than you let on," She giggles. I know Sakura would like to see Ino and Sai together at the dance as well. "Just keep an open mind," Sakura advises.

The only concern I have is that some other guy will beat Sai to asking her. Ino's pretty, and is well known for her beauty. It wouldn't surprise me if boys other than Sai have their eye on her.

We enter the mall and go to the store that we know have suitable dresses for us. The dresses we look at are stunning and go three quarters down our thigh. Ino isn't buying a dress because she bought one long ago. She chooses dresses and requests that we try them on, however her style is much different from that of mine or Sakura's. Everything she chooses for us is embezzled with glitter or rhinestones or sequence of some sort. In each dress, Sakura and I would stand out ridiculously. Ino's taste is glamorous and extravagant. Sakura liked a few of Ino's selections, where as I could not imagine myself in any of them. I am not the type of girl to stand out.

I find a dress I like immediately. Ino urges me to continue trying on dresses, but her efforts are futile. Within fifteen minutes my dress is decided on. It takes an hour to decide on Sakura's perfect match.

We walk out of the boutique carrying our dresses on hangers with plastic bags around them for protection.

"Is that Naruto?" Sakura wonders?

My heart skips a beat at the mention of his name. I look to my left through the glass display and saw a glimpse of Naruto and Jiraiya sensei in the shop that sells men's suits. However, it's only a glimpse because Ino grabs Sakura and me by the wrist and drags us away in a hurry. When we're a considerable distance away and out of eye sight from the store, Ino releases us. I rub my wrist and look up confusedly at Ino. Her grip was like steel. Sakura appears to be doing the same thing as me.

"Under no circumstances can Naruto see Hinata's dress," informs Ino. "It's bad luck."

"Um, I think that's the rule for weddings, not high school dances," Sakura says.

"Either way," Ino brushes off. "You can't let Naruto even glimpse at it. It's, like, a rule or something."

I blink. I'm not as good at this stuff as Ino is. It all seems so confusing and pointless to me. "But what if he asks me what it looks like?"

"Then you tell him the color. But you don't describe it," she informs me.

Why does it matter? He's going to see it anyway. I smile to myself, for even though being a girl, I suppose I'll never fully understand my own kind.