Youth Dance

"And that's the last of them!"  Gai shouted as the final decoration took its place on the wall.  The student volunteers let loose an energetic shout, which was good considering they had all been working for the past three hours straight.  Looking at his watch, Gai checked his mental timetable before speaking.

"Okay, the dinner is in two hours and the dance afterwards.  Mitarashi Sensei is in the girl's locker room with Inuzuka Hana and will help you girls get ready.  You young men, your things are waiting in the shower room by the northern fields.  I'm proud of your hard work, now get ready so you can enjoy yourselves tonight."

After the last of them exited the room, Gai grabbed a broom and began sweeping the floor, which was littered with the remnants and leftover scraps of decoration.  All sorts of paper designs hung from string suspended four meters up.  Along the walls were traditional lanterns, which were overpowered by the normal electric lights, but when those were turned out gave the room a soft glow.

"But there's no mirror ball."  A familiar voice called from one of the doorways.

"Ah Shizune," Gai turned to regard the Vice-Principal, who looked as though she had just come from the kitchens "we just finished setting up everything.  How does it look?"

Shizune walked into the converted gym and raised her right hand to her chin, but paused.  She looked at her hand, which was dirty, and wiped it on her apron.  Her gaze went up to the stage, where the DJ was setting up the sound system off to the side as the live band's instruments took up the majority of the space.  Her eyes then turned upward.  Above the stage were five banners, each marked with the symbol of one of the major schools in the district.

"Each banner was made by students from its home school.  There's a lot of youthful pride in those."  Gai said smiling at all the hard work that had been put into each detail of the decorations.

"I am amazed that you were able to pull this all off in time Gai.  The rest of the staff thinks you are a miracle worker."

'Miracle worker?'  Gai thought to himself.  It had only been two months ago that Principal Tsunade had told him to oversee an experimental, multi-campus, activities committee.  The idea had grown out of a desire to have more interaction between schools outside of sports and other competitions.  In those two months the committee had grown from eight members to seventy-four, with three sub-councils on culinary arts, cultural education, and a community outreach program.

"They say tonight is going to be a gamble, Shizune.  No fewer than twenty people, some from each school, have told me that too many things can go wrong with having so many kids here tonight.  But I have to say, I rather like that thought."

By the look on her face, Gai could clearly see that Shizune was puzzled by that statement.

"They say it's a gamble; that it will end in disaster.  But I like to think that I'm betting on the kids.  We made it our career to work with young people; so I say we should have a little more faith in them."

"You're right." Shizune said with a soft smile on her face.

'That smile really suits her.' Gai thought to himself.

"Oh great," Shizune's expression changed as she looked at her watch, "I've got to get those rolls out of the oven."  She bowed slightly before running off towards the kitchens.

"Let me help you." Gai nearly yelled running after her.

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Gai dropped into a seat as the last trays of food exited the kitchens.  From his seat he saw the outdoor dining area with tables kept warm in the evening air by gas lamps.  Standing next to him, Shizune offered him a towel that he used to wipe his brow.

"Thanks again."  Gai said, feeling refreshed already.

Shizune took off her apron and set it on the counter.  Sitting down in the chair across from him, Gai saw that she was clearly at the point of 'too exhausted to think about all the work still left to do'.

Gai shot up to his feet and took Shizune by her hands.  Despite her minimal resistance, he pulled her to her feet. Grabbing a clean towel, Gai surprised Shizune by tying it around her eyes.  Leading her blind, he escorted her back to the gym.  On the stage Gai noticed that the band had finally arrived and was tuning their instruments for the dance later.

"Gai, what are we doing in the gym?"  Shizune had guessed their destination, her voice clearly tired.

"You had expressed your disappointment that there was no mirror ball in the gym."  Gai let go of Shizune's hand and walked over to the controls by the stage.

"Yeah, so what's this about?"  Shizune's tone was showing signs of her curiosity, even through her fatigue.

Pressing the right button, Gai waited for just the right moment before telling Shizune, "Okay, take off your blindfold now."

Her eyes opened to descending light, hanging from pulleys on the ceiling that could be raised or lowered.  A thousand white lights slowly fell from the darkness until she found herself surrounded by a sea of stars.  She reached up with her hands trying to touch them, despite knowing they were too high to touch in the first place.  She turned around to see the effect all across the gym, which had been transformed before her eyes into a magical ballroom.  She giggled and spun in circles, her feet shedding their aches and cramps as she turned.

Gai nodded at the lead guitarist of the band before walking out onto the floor.  The bassist started playing an old, familiar tune from years ago.  Walking up to Shizune as the band leader began singing the slow song, Gai bowed and held out his hand.

"May I have this dance, my lady?"

After managing a curtsy, Shizune offered Gai her own hand and guided his right hand to her waist.  Starting out slowly, they danced gently across the floor.  Despite the slowness of their impromptu waltz, they found themselves really exploring the floor and moving quite freely.  

"You know Gai," Shizune said quietly, despite the increased volume and tempo of the music, "for all your grand gestures, and often awkward encounters; you have a simple grace to you."

"I am a simple elemental man… the problem is that I am not always in my element."

Before Shizune could respond, Gai spun her around and pulled her close to him.  Though a typical end to a dance, for some reason they both felt that it meant something more.  Shizune felt Gai's breath through her hair and slowly pulled herself back.  Only then did she realize that the band had stopped and the din of student voices was growing louder from outside.

"Thanks for the dance Gai."  Taking a step backwards, Shizune breathed deeply feeling her exhaustion had fled away.  She felt as though she could dance all night, but she knew it was time to get back to work.

Before she turned back towards the kitchens, she felt Gai's hand reach out and grab hers again.  Pulling it towards his mouth, he gently kissed it before lowering it massaging it with his own hand as he did so.

"We shall have to continue this dance later."  Gai flashed his winning smile before walking away.  Before reaching the door, he jumped up and clicked his heels together.

As Shizune walked back to the kitchens, she could hear Gai's voice over the microphone talking to the students in the gym.  From their cheers, she could tell that things were going very well.  Through her dish glove she touched the back of her hand where Gai had kissed her.  Taking the moment to muse that even though this night was planned for the kids, she felt that she was really the woman of the evening.