I hate this holiday.

The large ballroom was crowded with people, most of whom were dancing, and it was decorated with multiple shades of pink and red hearts, some dangling from the ceiling, others glittering on the tables around the candles. There were a few bowls of red punch on several of the tables, with small desserts on plates around the bowls. It was quite an impressive display. Most people would have been fully caught up in the Valentine’s Day mood at the sight of them.

However, a certain blonde haired shinobi wasn’t paying any attention to the decorations, the food, or the music that was slowly playing in the background. Naruto didn’t care about any of it. His entire focus was directed at a certain pink-haired kunoichi, who was currently wrapped in the arms of a black-haired shinobi. Sakura was a girl that Naruto had had a crush on for several years. Sasuke was Naruto’s best friend and had been his rival for almost as long. And while it wasn’t doing Naruto any good to watch them, he couldn’t pry his eyes away from the pair. He was too pissed. He wasn’t exactly mad at them; he was actually a bit glad that Sakura had finally got her wish. And they both seemed really happy, as well. No, Naruto was more frustrated with the holiday in general. Holidays were usually Naruto’s least favorite days; they always reminded him that he didn’t really have anyone to share them with. He had no family and few friends. But on holidays, these friends always spent time with their respective families, so Naruto had nowhere to really go. He had started to spend them with his old teacher Iruka, who had taken up a role somewhere between surrogate father and older brother.

But Valentine’s Day was different. It wasn’t a day to spend with family; it was a day to spend with those especially close to you. Naruto didn’t have anyone like that. He just sat on a bench by one of the walls watching his friends enjoy the company of their respective dates. He brushed some of his blonde hair out his face. Usually his spiky hair was restrained by his forehead protector, but since this was a bit of a formal occasion he decided to leave it off. Not like anyone notices me here anyways, he thought to himself.

On the far wall to Naruto’s left, a quiet, indigo haired girl sat on a bench, nervously fidgeting with her hands. She was wearing a light purple dress that went down to the middle of her calves. It was sleeveless, and it had a very subtle pattern in it. The dress was very slightly loose on her, but it followed her curves well. And curves she had. Much more so than most of the girls present.

Her long hair fell down to about the middle of her back, and there was a jeweled clip in the back of her hair. The clip was decorated with a jeweled flower, with purple gems for petals and a while gem in the center, and it was more for decoration than anything else. Her hair framed her face well, and it contrasted with eyes. Her eyes were something special. They had no pupils and essentially contained only pale lavender irises. These eyes were generally focused down at her hands. Every now and then, however, Hinata would glance up at the blonde ninja directly in her line of sight and then her gaze would return to her hands.

She picked up a small, cube-shaped box next to her and started fiddling with it. That’s his 16th trip to the punch bowl now. But who’s counting? She smiled ruefully to herself. It had been close to six years since she acknowledged to herself that she was enamored with the boy. Despite all that time, she still hadn’t managed to tell him. It wasn’t hard for her to see why she admired him; he was everything Hinata wasn’t. He was loud, confident, and capable of almost anything, yet he had been born an orphan and had been dealing with the angry glares of the adults in the village for years. She was shy, quiet, and severely lacking in self-confidence. She was the heir to the Hyuuga clan, the most powerful and influential clan in the village. Yet her father constantly rubbed her face in the fact that he was disappointed with how “weak and incapable” she was. Leading the clan was never something she particularly wanted to do. She hated the arguments, conflicts, and rules that came with the clan system. She would have loved for a way out of it. Hinata looked back up at where Naruto was sitting and watched him for a moment.

Naruto got up from the bench he was sitting on and headed around the corner towards the bathroom. He was a bit glad for the distraction; if he kept watching his two friends any longer he was going to break something. When he finished, he headed back to his seat and almost dropped himself on it when he noticed something was there. There was a small box, with light pink and lavender wrapping, with a tag on it.

For Naruto-kun.