"Hotaru-chaaann!!!"

The kunoichi lazily dragged herself out of bed, grumbling about irritating visitors and man-eating pies. She tramped downstairs, and yanked the door open, cursing Sasori and the visitor down to the pits of hell for making her get up this early.

"What?" she asked grumpily, squinting in the natural light, and Naruto frowned.

"Hotaru-chan, you should be up by now. It's midday!" the blonde scolded, and Hotaru sighed, moving to let the boy in. He shook his head.

"I'm just here to give you an invitation." Naruto said, smiling wide. "It's a friend of mine's birthday today, and I'm inviting people for her surprise party. She's new around here and doesn't know many people, so it would be great if you would come down and introduce yourself?"

Hotaru was sorely tempted to slam the door in the blonde's face, but instead sighed. "Where and when?"

Naruto grinned happily, "So you're coming?!"

Hotaru nodded grouchily; she just knew she would regret this. "And who is this friend?"

Naruto blanked a moment, "Uh, h-her nam is- I mean, uh.."

Hotaru rose an eyebrow, okay, something was definitely going on here.

"Never mind who she is!" Naruto cried desperately, "It's at my house at eight tonight! Be there!"

Then the jinchuuriki turned and sped away down the road, leaving a very suspicious Hotaru on her doorstep. She fast decided that she didn't care, and retreated inside to go back to sleep for another two hours.

---

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. That was close.

He was actually hosting a party, he still had to invite everyone though. Luckily, most girls in the village would go, even if just to see Sasuke (the thought made Naruto want to growl and rip their pretty little heads off of their shoulders, but he was doing this for love, so calmed himself for the moment), and most of the guys would go because the girls would be there. And in any case, most of the old Konoha 12 would go if Naruto explained why they were doing this. The hard part had been getting Hotaru to go; she was not a party person.

Naruto laughed to himself; so far so good! Now all he had to do was get Kiba to agree to go, and then make a shadow clone to transform into the rigged spin the bottle game. Then it would be set!

Speaking of, there he was! Naruto took a deep breath for mental preparation, then jogged over to catch Dog breath before he disappeared around the corner of the street.

"Kiba!" Kiba halted and turned, spotting Naruto and stopping. Naruto noticed that something seemed off about him, a sort of vibe of depression emanating from him.

"What is it Naruto?" the brunette asked, and Naruto immediately brightened.

"I'm holding a party for my friend tonight, and I want you to come." before Naruto could react, Kiba had turned once more and was walking away.

"No thanks, I'm not in the mood for a party." Naruto screamed inside his head, and raced to keep up with the other boy.

"B-but! You have to come!" Naruto struggled to think, then was hit with an idea. If he knew Kiba, this one would work. "There'll be a load of pretty girls there!"

Now the brunette seemed irritated, but kept walking. "Not interested!"

"But Kiba! You can't just ditch us like that, it's bad enough that-"

"Will you shut up if I go?!" Kiba growled, and Naruto dropped the guilt trip and grinned.

"Be at my house at eight!" then Naruto ran away before Kiba could change his mind.

Naruto did a fist pump as soon as he was hidden from Kiba's view. Now, he just had to invite some other people, and update Kurenai-sensei. And find someone to be the friend that was new... hm... that one would be difficult.

"Naruto-kun!" or not.

"Hey Suzume-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, running to the Hyuuga girl faster than you could say the word 'Sparrow'*. The brunette girl just looked wary as she noticed the look on the blonde's face. He definitely wanted something.

"What is it?" she asked bluntly, eyes narrowing in suspicion. Naruto clasped his hands and gazed at her imploringly.

"I have a favour to ask..."

---

Hotaru sighed and closed her eyes as she sat in front of her dress mirror, brushing through her mess of red curls. They were deciding to behave for once that day, at least, so fell in pretty ringlets of ruby over her shoulders and down to her hips. Hotaru also knew exactly what to wear, since Sasori had came up to her room a few minutes ago and pretty much blackmailed her into wearing something pretty, then given her something that belonged to their mother.

A gold (as in the metal) band, simple but pretty, designed to be worn on the head over the hair and around the forehead. It gave Hotaru's look a sort of indian vibe, and the gold went with her bright red hair nicely.

She then just had a simple, short black cotton strapless dress, with a loose skirt, and then black strappy death-trap heels.

"I hope you're happy, Nii-san... I'm probably going to kill myself in these heels." Hotaru said irritably, and Sasori just smiled, taking a picture with a camera that Hotaru hadn't noticed.

"Yes, I am happy. Very happy that my imouto is being girly for once." Sasori said, and Hotaru puffed out her cheeks in a scowl, then managed to walk to the front door without breaking her neck. She sighed. Getting this dressed up for a party that was probably fake was ridiculous.

"Nii-san, teleportation please?" Hotaru asked, and Sasori sighed mockingly.

"Fine..." he said, but couldn't keep the smile from his face. He put his hand on her shoulder, and full-out grinned. "You look gorgeous, Imouto."

Then Hotaru was suddenly outside Naruto's house.

The floor was vibrating with the beat of the music pumping inside, and multicoloured lights were glowing from the window of Naruto's top-floor flat.

"I bet his neighbours love him." Hotaru muttered sarcastically, then knocked on the door. Naruto answered it with a mile wide beam.

"Hotaru-chan! You made it!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes roving her form appreciatively. "You look great!"

Then Sasuke appeared, wrapping his arm around Naruto's waist (YAAAOIII!!) and smiling at the redhead. "Yeah, you do, Hotaru-chan."

Hotaru allowed herself a small smile as she accepted the compliments from her friend and ex-roommate. "Thanks."

Naruto laughed a little, "Those heels look impossible to walk in though."

Hotaru smiled wryly, "They are. I had Sasori teleport me here."

The two boys laughed, and Hotaru joined in quietly. Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad.

"Uah!" once again, the floor disappeared from underneath Hotaru's feet, and she glared at the grinning blonde, "Naruto, put me dow-ah!!"

Hotaru grimaced as she realised that she had squealed like a little girl as Naruto started up the steps. The two boys snickered.

"Shut up..." she muttered, blushing slightly, then used the hand that wasn't gripping Naruto for dear life to keep her skirt from riding up.

When they finally got inside, the party was wild. People were dancing, eating, talking. Hotaru didn't know that Naruto knew so many people, let alone could fit them all in his flat.

"Hotaru-chan, meet Suzume-chan! This is the girl I was telling you about earlier!" The (evidently) Hyuuga girl looked nervous, but otherwise friendly.

"Hey," she grinned, sticking her hand out, "My name's Hyuuga Suzume. Nice to meet you."

"Same to you, I'm Hotaru. And happy birthday." Hotaru said, smiling and shaking Suzume's hand.

Suzume smiled, but something was a little off, "Y-yeah, thanks.."

They all chatted for a moment, before Suzume went off to mingle, and Sasuke went somewhere or another, neither Hotaru or Naruto understood what he'd said when he went.

"Naruto?" Hotaru asked, puzzled. The blonde had suddenly started staring off over her shoulder, looking horrified. "Naruto, what's up?" no reply.

What was he looking at? Hotaru turned her head to look, only for Naruto to suddenly dive in her line of sight, a wobbly smile on his face as he grabbed her am and started to talk really fast.

"I'mthirstyareyouthirstylet'sgogetsomepunch." he said and dragged her away to the beverage table. He handed her a cup of red/pink liquid and took one himself, then kept glancing over his shouler, a gesture which did not go amiss to Hotaru. He was obviously trying to hide something from her.

"Okay Naruto, exactly what are you trying to hide?!" she demanded, pushing him out of the way with her free hand, then gasping and dropping her punch in shock.

Kiba sat on the couch in the corner, kissing Ino.

---

DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!!!! :O

Kiba!! How could you?! D:

Is it just me, or does Kiba seriously deserve a kick in the balls right now? >:D I need volunteers to do it!

Lol anyway, what do you think of this chappy?

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