Author's Note: I'm like super excited today…don't know why I just am. Any way…one thing is for sure….I'm so curious to know what you all think about this story…since it is the long a waited sequel to "Stuck in an Elevator". Well…here you go…enjoy…don't forget…the little purple button…on the left hand corner all the way in the bottom…when you finish…It will be waiting for you…do what you do best people! I more reviews I get the quicker I will update. Now on with the show!
Disclaimer: I heard from a grape vine…that I don't own Naruto…then I took an ax and chopped it down….hehehehe….
P.S. The two main parings in this story are Sasuke and Sakura as well as Naruto and Hinata…there is some mention of other couples…
Chapter 1 "Meet Matchmaker Sakura!"
Sakura looked at her two friends who sat next to each other a couple of tables away from her and her boyfriend. Her eyes were narrowed and a look of complete concentration was written across her face. Sasuke looked at his girlfriend and gave her a questioning look. Since they got there…about 15 minutes ago…she was paying more attention to her friends then to her own date.
Sasuke decided to break the silence. "Their ok…at least they might be having a more interesting conversation then us…" He said trying to catch the pink haired koinchi's attention.
Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as she brought her attention back to Sasuke. "Huh?" She question as she tilted her head.
Sasuke shook his head. "I would never have thought that there would be a day when I wasn't the person that you were thinking about…" He said plainly as he took a sip of his cola.
Sakura slightly shook her head as if to shake off what ever thought she had before. "Sorry about that Sasuke-kun. It's just that I'm so nervous for them…" She looked back at the couple, this time Sasuke looked back as well. He then turned back to Sakura. "They're ok Sakura…it's us that I'm worried about." He said as he took another sip of his soda. That of course caught Sakura's attention.
"What about us?" She asked worried.
"I know that you have a good heart and all…but once you get into that mode of hooking people up…you go at it all of the way." Sasuke said as he took a bit out of the cheeseburger in front of him.
Sakura sighed as she like wise took a bit out of her burger. "But…it's just that I want Neji and Tenten to be as happy as we are." Sakura said with a dreamy smile. Sasuke gave her a small smirk.
"Right…and at this point there is nothing much for you to do. They finally made it this far thanks to your help…" Sasuke said informatively.
"Yea…guess you're right." Sakura whispered as she brought her full attention back to her table. "So…how are things going with you?" She asked with a smile.
"Great…there's a short mission that we have to go on tomorrow…I'll be back after 5 days." He said as he drank the last of his soda. He then stood up and pushed his seat in. Sakura looked up at him in confusion.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked with widen eyes.
"I've got to head over to the headquarters to get any final information about the mission. Then I have to go home and get ready. Don't worry I'll see you before I leave." He said as he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.
That kiss was enough to satisfy Sakura. She returned his smile and waved him a good bye as he left thought the doors of the dinner. About 5 minutes later Tenten walked over to her table. Sakura looked up as her friend walked up to her.
"So…how is it going? Are the two of you hitting it off?" Sakura asked with a huge smile. Tenten returned the smile as she sat down across from her friend.
"Sakura…I don't know what I could do to thank you." She said excitedly.
"I'm glad that things are working out for you." She said as she took another bit out of her burger.
"Yea! Anyway, I wanted to stop by to say thank you and I also wanted to let you know that we are going off on our own..." She paused as she looked around "By the way, where is Sasuke?"
"He went to the headquarters to finalize on the mission that he is going on tomorrow."
"Oh…how long is he going to be away for?" Tenten asked.
"He's going to be away for 5 days…" Sakura sighed as she continued. "It's better then other missions that he has gone on where he's gone for at least two weeks or more."
Tenten nodded her head in agreement. "Yea, I guess you're right." She stood up and pushed the seat back in. As she did so she looked over her shoulder and saw Neji walking towards them.
"Thanks for inviting us Sakura." Neji said as he made it up to the table.
"No problem." Sakura said with a smile.
"Well we should get going…let Sasuke know that we hope that he gets back safely from his mission." Tenten said as both of them walked towards the door.
"I will…thanks. See you later and have a great day." Sakura said waving goodbye.
"later!" Tenten called out over her shoulder as they both left the restaurant.
For about another five minutes or so Sakura sat by her self, finishing the food in front of her. She stood up, left a tip and walked out of the restaurant. As soon as she stepped out side the warm spring sun hit her fair skinned face. She took a moment to enjoy the warmth before continuing on her way.
As she walked down the street, she noticed a certain bluish black haired Kinotichi walking towards her with her face to the ground.
"Hinata!" Sakura called out as she waved her hand to her friend.
Hinata's attention was drawn towards her friend and away from her thoughts as she looked up. A small smile formed on her petite face.
"So what are you thinking about?" Sakura asked when she reached her friend.
"Thinking about?" Hinata echoed as if she had never heard those words before.
"Yea…you look like you've got a lot on your mind…" Sakura paused before she continued. A huge knowing smiled formed on her face. "…Or someone."
Hinata face turned a slight shade of red. Years had passed and Hinata became less shy and more open…although she did have her moments when she acted like she was 13 again.
"S…someone? I…I…I wasn't thinking…about anyone…why would you say that?" Hinata stuttered nervously.
Sakura stood in front of her friend with her arms crossed over her chest. A huge smirk was plastered across her face. She knew only one person who would cause her friend to get all wounded up like a doll. "I knew that it was Naruto…no other person could cause you to stutter like that…" She said knowingly.
A look of defeat fell across Hinata's face. Since the cat was out of the bag there was no need in denying it…not that she even had a chance to…but if she did...she highly doubted that she would have walked away unscaved.
Hinata sighed as she sat down at a near by bench. Sakura followed as Hinata began to speak. "I'm still into him. Even thought I'm less shy then I once was…I'm still a nervous wreck around him…we're really good friends and all…but I don't just want to be friends with him any more…I want us to be together as a couple." She looked over at her friend who sat next to her. "I'm at a lost at what to do." She said as she hung her head low.
Sakura smiled excitedly….matchmaker Sakura…to the rescue! "Well…you've come to the right person." Sakura said happily.
Hinata looked over at her friend with her head tilted, not a word came from her mouth.
"I am Kohona's unofficial matchmaker. First it started with me and Sasuke-kun more then 6 months ago, then soon after there was Ino and Shikamaru… Kiba and Sasame … Neji and Tenten …" Sakura continued to list off almost everyone in the town that she knew and who she hooked them up with. Hinata raised an eyebrow at her friend's extensive record. She kept herself busy…if only this was a side job…she'd be rich.
"Wow…" Was all that Hinata managed to say when Sakura finished. "You've kept yourself quite busy."
A proud smile adorned Sakura's face due to the comment. "Yep…I just want everyone to experience the love and joy that me and my Sasuke-kun now enjoy."
Hinata slowly nodded her head in agreement. As she thought about it, she would love to have what her friend now has…with Naruto-kun of course. But even though years had passed and she was more mature…she didn't think that her shyness towards him would ever change. "I want that feeling too…" Hinata voiced. "The only problem is that I'm still too shy around him." She paused for a moment before she continued. "You…would you be able to help me? At least help build up my courage so that I could ask him out on my own." Hinata looked down as she twittled with her fingers. Gosh…she hadn't done that in years!
Sakura smiled warmly at her nervous friend. "Girl…I was going to help you before you even asked!" Hinata looked up at her friend surprised. "Just meet my by my house at around 6pm tonight and we'll work out a plan ok?"
Hinata finally had a smile of her own. Soon she would get Naruto-kun! Things were looking quite bright for her. "That sounds great!" She said excitingly. She stood up and started to walk away. She then turned back to Sakura. "I'll see you later Sakura…thanks again."
"No problem…see ya!" She waved to her friend.
Mission: Help Hinata Build Up Confidence To Win Naruto's Heart…begins tonight! Sakura thought happly to herself as she stood up and walked back home.
Later on that night at 6pm…sharp…
The door bell to Sakura's house rang at exactly 6pm. She hurried over towards the door knowing who was on the other side. When she opened the door, a huge smile formed across her face.
"Hinata! Glad you could make it. Come in, come in." She said excitingly as she ushered the girl to come inside.
Hinata did as she was told and walked into the house. As she waited for Sakura to close the door she took the moment to look around where she was at. To her right was the living room and straight ahead was the door way to the kitchen. On her left hand side was the dining room witch had a connection to the kitchen and right in front of them was the spiral stair case that lead to the second floor.
"Come on…we've got a lot of work to do!" Sakura said as she grabbed Hinata by the hand and lead her to the stair case. When they reached the top, they made a left and then another left…they walked down the short hall way to Sakura's room. They stopped at a door that was on the right hand side and Sakura opened it. Hinata liked what she saw…it has been a long time since she came to visit Sakura and her room had changed from the last time she saw it. The size of the room was 15x15…it was descent size in Hinata's option. The walls were a cream color instead of the pink that she had when she was younger. The trimmings were a sage green and she had a wooden floor. Across from the door was a full sized bed with a four post frame that had a white antique finish to it…a white sheer canopy hung from the top and gracefully fell down on all four sides. On both sides of the bed were large bay windows that allowed much light to shine though and each had burgundy curtains tied back on either side of the widow. She figured that burgundy was the accent color because she didn't see much of it in the room.
As they both walked in further, Hinata noticed that on the right hand side was her closet that took up most of the wall space and on the far right across from her bed was a small arm chair and foot stool. The arm chair was a cream color with a stage throw blanket draped on it. Right next to the door on the right side was her dresser and on the left was her desk. She had a small entertainment center next to the desk. Finally the was a glass sliding door that lead to her own balcony and next to that door was a vanity table.
"Wow…" Hinata gasped as she looked at her friend. "It's gorgeous!"
"Thanks…" Sakura said as she walked over to the right side of her bed and sat down. "I was a project my mother and I completed last summer. I really love the change."
"Yeah…" Hinata said as she made her way over to the arm chair. When she sat down she looked over to her friend. "So…what do you have planned?" She asked hesitantly.
A mischievous smile crossed over Sakura's face at the question…this in turn almost made Hinata regret asking the question…heck…it made her regret the thought of coming here in the first place! "Sakura-chan…what do you have planed?" Hinata asked in a small cautious tone.
Sakura immediately pouted at her friend's tone. "You don't trust me?" She asked as her pout deepen and her eyes widened to a….
"Oh no! Not the 'Sakura's got to get here way or the highway' Puppy dog look! Gosh…that's just murder!" Hinata moaned in defeat.
"Get's them every time…" Sakura said under her breath with a snicker.
"What was that?" Hinata asked in question.
"Oh…nothing…nothing at all…" Sakura said with a smile. "Now let's get down to business…we don't have much time to waste!"
"What do you mean?" Hinata asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If I told you…you might kill me…"Sakura said as she slowly got up and walked towards her balcony.
"Kill you? Why would I kill you?" Hinata asked confused.
"Well…you see…there was a reason why I asked you to come here at 6:00….I made a couple of phone calls…" She said cautiously.
Hinata sighed…something told her she wasn't going to like what she was going to hear. "Sakura…"
"Well first I called Saskue-kun. He owns a large house in the snow country…it's his vacation home. We went there a few times…not alone of course…even Naruto has been there." Sakura paused as she turned to her friend who only looked back at her silently. "Well, I asked him after he returns from his mission…if we could go up there…for about a week…a vacation. After much pleading he agreed…so next Friday we're going to the snow country."
Hinata continued to look blankly at her friend. "Nice to hear…but what does that have to do with Naruto-kun and me? " She asked.
"I'm getting there…I'm getting there…" Sakura said as she sat down on the chair in front of her desk. A look of mischief sparked in her eyes. "After I spoke to Saskue-kun…I called Naruto. I told him about the trip to the snow country and he agreed to come…"
Hinata gasped in horror as she put all the pieces together. "Oh no!" She gasped.
"Oh yes!" Sakura said excitingly. "Next week the four of us are going to the snow country for a vacation….and that's when you're going to confess your love to Naruto!"
All of the color flushed from Hinata's face. No way! She didn't think that Sakura would pull this one on her! "No…no…Sa…Sakura…" She started to stutter. "I….I…can't…d…do…th...th…this."
"Yes you can…that's why I planed it for next Friday. We have a little over a week to get your self ready. With my help I know you could do this!" Sakura said reassuringly.
"What if this doesn't work out? I would be so embarrassed!" Hinata said with a worried expression across her face.
"Aw…don't worry about it. Since I've been matching people up, I've always had a 100 hook up rate. Everyone was happy with my work." Sakura said with a proud smile on her face.
Hummm…maybe I should give her a chance. I mean I'm also friends with those who she has hooked up and many of them have been together for as long as her and Sasuke. Besides…she's my friend and I know she wouldn't purposefully do anything to hurt me or Naruto-kun. After much thought, Hinata smiled. "Well…if it will finally make Naruto notice me as more then a friend…then let's go for it!"