The Cinderella Make-over – Naruto Style

(AU-Modern) When Hinata's best friend, Naruto said that she wasn't the type of women men fall in love with, she bet him $1000 she'd have a marriage proposal in 3 months. She turned her tomboy self into a sexy siren, the world's most eligible bachelor moved in next-door… and Naruto realized he'd make a big mistake!

Disclaimer: I'm tweaking the orignal characters' personality. No harm in doing that, because I do not have full ownership of them :(

Author's Note:

Setting: Modern

Place: Some place with the $ currency

Character info: So, some characters would be sporting major OCC-ness (namely Hinata who is not THAT shy doormat anymore; she actually MOUTH's back). And Kankuro/Neji pairing:P I like the occasional odd pairing!

Age: Late 20s: between 25 - 29 (for main Naruto Characters)

And Temari, Gaara and Kankuro are Naruto's siblings.

Chapter 1

"You bet me!" She pointed a finger at him. You bet me a month's worth of car washes that I couldn't keep up with you." Just saying that made Hinata shudder as she cleared her throat to stop the rise of the acidic vomit, which threaten to go against the gradient; she regretted drinking last night since she rarely drink.

"In the name of Female honor, I had to pop that inflated ego of yours."

"Female honour? Oh, right, that's it," he said, laughing. Uzumaki Naruto then smiled mischievously at her. He looked handsome, as usual, Hinata noted in disgust. That gorgeous summer tan he kept all year long held no tinge of post-party green. His cerulean eyes weren't bloodshot, but lit with devilish humour. His golden hair and pearly smile made him look like he ought to be on the cover of a magazine. He looked as if he'd passed the previous evening curled up with a book and a glass of warm milk, when she knew perfectly well how he'd spent his night. He'd spent it making sure she'd be miserable in the morning!

"Shut up." Hinata eyed him balefully. "Or I'll throw up on your Armani suit."

"And wouldn't that go gorgeously with the décor," he quipped, glancing ino the church. "I think Temari's got every gardenia crammed in here."

Hinata stepped into the small foyer of the church and stopped dead, assaulted by the overpowering floral scent. In her hungover state, the smell almost knocked her off her feet.

"Oh, no." She started taking quick shallow breaths. "Oh, God."

"Huh? Oh, nuts. Hold on, sunny." Naruto was at her side in a flash, the teasing look replaced with serious concern. He anchored her with on strong arm. "Take it easy, you're going to be fine. They can wait a few more minutes," he assured her, his voice low and comforting.

Hyuuga Hinata was bridesmaid to Temari and Shikamaru's wedding. She sported curls and a restricting pale pink one-piece bridesmaid dress. She never liked pink.

"How does Temari look?" Hinata asked, mre to get her mind off puking.

Naruto shrugged, "Like she was caught in a lace factory that exploded. Feel any better?"

Hinata chuckled appreciatively. "Not tremendously," Hinata sighed, "but it would have to do. My only goals for today are not throwing up on anyone and avoid the killer question."

He snickered, "You mean," he said, mimicking a nasal feminine whine, " 'So, when are you getting married, Hinata?'"

"Exactly." Even so, Hinata tried to ignore the pang the question caused, even asked as a joke. It seemed as if she'd been facing questions like this forever.

Hinata reminded herself that was single by choice.

She then curiously noticed the small smile that haunted the corner of Naruto's lips.

When they stepped into the church, she saw ten pairs of eyes snapped toward them eagerly. All of Naruto's and her aunts homed in on her, calculating smiles on their faces.

"So I guess you won't bet me a month's worth of laundry that you can successfully avoid my and your aunts at the reception?" Naruto whispered gleefully. "Before you got here, I sort of suggested that you might be interested in their advice in the man-hunting department."

"Make it two months," Hinata said through gritted teeth, "and remind me to kill you when it's all over."

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"I'm looking for Hinata," Naruto yelled over the din of the speakers and the laughing, boisterous couples on the dance floor. "She disappeared on me right after we took pictures. Have you seen her?"

"Nope, I haven't," his brother, Gaara replied, looking at the crowd of guys near him for a response. They all shook their heads. "If you see her, though, tell her we're having a poker match tonight at Kiba's."

Naruto nodded. "If anything that would get hr out of hiding, it's a good game of poker. Thanks."

He continued his slow tour of the large ballroom. He was so intent on tweaking Hinata out of her gloom and giving her something to do at this reception other than focus on the "killer question", that he'd forgotten he was the target of the same question himself… not from his aunts. He'd been cicling the reception hall for more than two hours, looking for Hinata, while trying to avoid being singled out.

Emphasis on "single".

Ordinarily, he wouldn't mind a room filled to the roofs with pretty single women. But this was a wedding, and that changed the rules. Suddenly, asking a woman to dance was tantamount to handing her a wedding ring. It is a dedicated bachelor's nightmare, Naruto reflected.

If he had Hinata by his side, at least he'd a better chance at fending off the hungry stares and blatant invitations. It figured that the girl he was searching for was the one girl in this whole sea of single women who wasn't looking for matrimony in general, or him in particular!

He sighed. She might say that she was ready to kill him, but that wasn't what was keeping hr hidden. He sensed that threre was more to Hinata's avoidance than just being frustrated with his family's gentle pressuring, or their inability to accept her tomboy ways. If she avoided him for this long, she wasn't angry, she was upset. And he was going to find out why if he had to drag it out of her… or bet it out of her.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and tensed.

"There you are, bro'."

Naruto turned, grinning in relief. "Hey, Shika. So, how does it feel being married to my sister?"

Shikamaru smiled, his brown eyes lighting up like candles. "I've never been happier in my life."

"So, you say now," Naruto joked, giving his new brother-in-law a friendly punch on the arm.

"Trust me," Shikamaru said, "when you find the right girl, there is nothing in the world that feels more perfect. Nothing at all."

"I'll take your word for it." Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Weddings seem to cause some weird chemical changes in women. If I asked any one of these single women here if they'd run off to Vegas to get married tonight, I think they'd do it in a heartbeat." He gazed around the room, shaking his head. "And they don't even know me!"

"Was that Hinata?" Shikamaru craned his neck to squint at Hinata's disappearing form.

"The hangover didn't help," Naruto added, trying in vain to track her. "I dragged her to the bachelor party last night and bet her she couldn't drink as much as I could."

Shikamaru scowled. "You brought a woman to my bachelor party?"

"No, I brought Hinata. There's a difference." When Shikamaru didn't look mollified, Naruto shrugged. "I kept her off in the corner, Shika. Besdies, she's been one of the gang for years, and we didn't do anything even remotely shocking."

"It's the principle of the thing, Naruto. You know, No Girl's Allowed?" Shikamaru shook his head, finally laughing a little. "And Hinata's not a bad-looking girl, either, when she gives it a shot. I can only imagine what she looks like when she's not green. Of course, it might help if she didn't look like she was plotting your murder, either."

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oOOOOOOoooooooo... Did'ja like it?

Sunny - Hinata's name meant sunny anyway