Naruto was talking with Neji and Choji about the mission to recover Sasuke. Neji and Choji were still in the hospital when Naruto left with Master Jiraiya three years ago. I could see Shikamaru still felt guilty about it, but it seemed no one else besides me, Ino and Temari noticed. I was pretty sure Choji would have if he weren't so engaged in describing to Naruto how he defeated and killed "the fat Sound Ninja," his words.

Ino was about to speak; my guess was to either tell Naruto, Neji, and Choji to stop bringing that failed mission up or to try and cheer Shikamru up herself, but just before she opened her mouth, I held her hand to stop her and gestured my head in the direction of Temari. She leaned in and whispered something in Shikamaru's ear. After that, he gave a smile and seemed to perk up. If he was still bothered about discussing his first mission as squad leader, he didn't let it show.

I was still nervous about Hinata, so I decided to pass the time and distract myself with gossip.

I whispered to Ino.

"I wonder what she said to him to make him smile. I thought you might have been reading too much into it, but maybe you were right about them. What exactly happened between them?"

She whispered back.

"All I know was a few weeks ago, when she first arrived for the exam prep, all of the exam organisers went out for drinks after a long day. They were seen whispering to each other, and when the night ended, they were spotted headed back to Shikamaru's place. Considering Temari didn't return to the hotel, which was paid to house the visiting Sand Ninja by the Hokage's office, she clearly stayed the night with him."

"Is it serious? Or just a fling?"

"I'm not sure, but he came to my shop a few days ago to buy flowers. I asked him who they were for, but he dodged the question, so I just dropped it."

We stopped whispering to each other, and Ino tried to make polite conversation with Temari. Ino and Shikamaru lost their virginities to each other and became friends with benefits. I joined them for a few threesomes, one foursome with Choji that the boys made us promise never to talk about it again, and also had a few encounters with Shikamaru alone. I wondered if Ino had more romantic feelings for Shikamaru than she let on to either him or me. And that maybe she was jealous. We both know that Shikamaru was too honourable to cheat on anyone. So unless Temari was into group sex or open relationships, we both knew neither of us was going to sleep with him again until if or when they broke up.

After gossiping and reminiscing on past group escapades, Hinata, Shino and Kiba finally arrived. To my relief, Hinata wasn't wobbling like a drunk. She did stumble a few times on her heels, but that was likely due to her inexperience in walking in them. She was in front of the group, and I could see Kiba staring at her ass in her tight-fitting dress while whispering something to Shino. Shino didn't seem to care. I had fucked Shino once, but afterwards, he confided in me that he was gay. It appeared Kiba either didn't know or didn't care as he continued to, I assumed, secretly praise Hinata's ass to him.

Hinata's dress was tight-fitting, red and gold, with a floral pattern and a 'boob window' that showed much of her cleavage. It also showed off one leg like Ino's, but it was the other one. Her heels were also black and gold to match the dress and were as long as mine. In hindsight, maybe too tall for a beginner, but considering I only saw her stumble a few times coming towards us, Hinata was adapting to them finely and would get the hang of it shortly.

Before they arrived, I got up, quickly walked over to Shikamaru and Temari, and whispered to them.

"Could you two each move up a seat and let Hinata sit next to Naruto?"

Shikamaru smiled and said, "Sure thing." Temari looked confused but didn't protest. Luckily Naruto didn't hear us or even notice them move. He was too busy talking to Neji about him and Tenten "hooking up", as he put it. Tenten was going into surprising detail that clearly made Neji uncomfortable. Nothing 'X-rated', but one could fill in the blanks when she said things like "one thing led to another" and "luckily I was on birth control."

Shino was wearing a tuxedo with a beetle print tie and shades. Kiba had a matching tux, a wolf-head print tie, and his usual clan makeup. When Naruto turned around and saw Hinata, his jaw dropped. But he quickly composed himself and greeted Shino and Kiba; he had already seen Hinata briefly that day.

"Yo! Kiba! Looking good! You too... erm..."

Like with Tenten, I had to nudge his side and whisper, "Shino."

"Erm... Shino! And you look r-really good, Hinata!"

"I like your suit too, Naruto. Even if it is a bit too big for you."

She said in a playful tone, not a rude one. Naruto didn't take any offence and just laughed.

"Yeah. Had to get it made on short notice, so they just resized one off the peg."

"My dress was a rush order too. But I ordered it early this morning and paid a lot to ensure it was finished on time. I will wear this as much as possible to get my money's worth."

"Glad to hear it."

Naruto said with a smile. It seemed that sake made Hinata a lot more confident. Her stutter was gone, and her tame flirting was good enough. Hinata didn't need any prompt from me and sat down right beside Naruto in Shikamaru's old seat. Naruto was so enamoured by her that he didn't even notice Shikamaru had moved.

Naruto was sandwiched between me, to his right and Hinata, to his left. Hinata effortlessly talked with Naruto, asking about his time with Master Jiraiya over the past three years, as I suggested. While they were catching up, I started talking across the table with Kiba.

"Kiba, where is Akamaru?"

"He's with his bitches tonight."

I started laughing, imagining him sitting with a cigar and whiskey in each hand, being pampered by dogs in scantly clad clothes.

"Hey, that's the correct term for a female dog. It's our clan's job to breed capable Ninja Hounds, three of which are in heat at once. So we wanted him to rut all three of them. Besides, he'd just be bored if I brought him along."

Now that everyone was here, Ayame came out with drinks and took the last of the orders before going back to tell her father. Soon the food would be brought out. Everyone explained what they ordered, talked, laughed and caught up with Naruto. All the while, I rubbed Naruto's knee. Eventually, I moved to his crotch and felt Hinata's hand already there.