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Chapter 14:Dinners

He makes me want to punch him in his stupid arrogant face, that teme! Naruto fumed as she stomped towards the Tanake residence. Arrggh!

"Naruto-sensei? You look b-beautiful tonight."

Nichiro's voice jarred Naruto out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see that she had already arrived at her destination, and the Hyuuga twins were waiting for her, as agreed yesterday.

Naruto shook her head a little and forced herself to forget Sasuke and his irritating, infuriating, arrogant…

Forget him.

"Yo, Nichiro, Ichiro. Didn't wait long, did you?" she greeted with a grin, and continued at their nods, "You guys are looking good!"

The twins were clad in similar shirts and slacks, and had blazers on. Ichiro had on a dark blue shirt, while Nichiro's shirt was of a dark grey. Naruto had actually expected them to come in something more traditional, seeing as their clan were so traditional, and voiced her opinion.

"Iie, Keimei-sensei. Our okaasan allowed us to dress this way, seeing as Eriko informed us that you would be wearing a dress instead of a yukata, and her family is more westernized than ours," Ichiro answered. Beside him, Nichiro blushed a little.

"You look b-beautiful, N-naruto-sensei," he stuttered.

Naruto looked at him in amusement. "You sound like Hinata-chan six years ago, Nichiro. Heh. Thanks for the compliment, but I know I'm not beautiful," she said, smiling at him. "In fact," she continued, tugging on her dress self-consciously, "I feel kinda naked in just this dress. I have a few weapons on me, but I'm just not used to having only one layer between me and the outside, you know?"

Ichiro blushed, and Nichiro's eyes widened, before he quickly turned around with his hands to his face. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The elder twin quickly said, "Nothing, Keimei-sensei. With your permission, I'll ring the doorbell?"

Nichiro seemed to wipe his nose, then slipped a red handkerchief into his pocket and turned around, but didn't look Naruto in the eye. Naruto nodded at Ichiro, and stared at her students in confusion.

"Konbanwa, minna-san," greeted an adult male voice, and Naruto looked up to see Teruo. His hair was slicked back again with the few strands framing his face, and was also dressed in a shirt and slacks. He smiled disarmingly at them, and his eyes widened a little when he saw Naruto.

"Naruto-san. You look lovely this evening," he complimented her, and stood back to allow the trio to enter. Naruto just grinned at him.

"That's the second compliment tonight. Any more and I might start believing it," she laughed.

Nichiro covertly glowered at Eriko's elder brother behind his back as he led them up the path in the well-tended garden to the house.
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Eriko had squealed upon catching sight of her sensei, and that had brought her parents into the living room. The three guests greeted the hosts politely, and Naruto had almost smiled in relief to note that their eyes weren't cold. She had relaxed a lot after the introductions.

They were now in the dining room. Tanake-san occupied the head of the table, with his wife, Katsumi-san on his left and Eriko and Nichiro next to her. Teruo sat on his right with Naruto next to him and Ichiro next to her. Dinner was pleasant, with pleasant conversation about current affairs in Konoha and a few surrounding minor villages, their training, and a few funny stories. Naruto fervently thanked Hinata-chan for teaching her proper etiquette earlier that day, after she had finally managed to get rid of Ino and Eriko. She hoped she hadn't made any embarrassing mistakes; she still couldn't really remember everything Hinata-chan had taught her, and was really amazed at Hinata-chan's knowledge.