Hey guys! Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Man, I am so proud of myself for getting this done this weekend!!! Yay me! Alright, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Next one is gonna be even better, so I can't wait to write it. Also, thank you guys so much for 7.5K reads! I am honestly astounded that this story has this many people reading it in this short amount of time! So thanks a lot, I could not have done it without you guys. So this is for you guys, here's chapter 26!

            Sasuke pushed off the tree branch, landing swiftly onto the next one.

           Wow, the stubborn, prideful Sasuke is making a move! I'm shocked! His inner said with a mock gasp.

           Sasuke rolled his eyes.

           Shut up, idiot.

           No can doooo~ he sang.

           Sasuke refrained from making some snarky remark. He could feel the happiness flooding in waves off of his inner, filling his entire being, and with every leap he took the feeling grew. Sasuke couldn't help the smile that was stretching across his face. It seemed everything the people he cherished had said had finally sunk into his thick skull.

           Screw pride. Screw fear. Enough was enough.

           Ok, so maybe not saying anything to his inner was a mistake because Sasuke's head was filled with his inner's singing the entire way back to his house. As he approached the back of the house, he finally lost it.

           IF YOU DON'T SHUT YOUR TRAP RIGHT NOW, I AM PUSHING YOU TO THE BACK OF MY HEAD FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG!

           You wouldn't!

           I would and you know it!

           Jeez! No one appreciates music anymore...

           I appreciate music, just not yours.

           Ouch.

           His inner stayed quiet from thereon out though.

           He landed on the last tree close to the massive building and realized a little belatedly that he was nowhere near his room. He had planned to sneak in there, change his clothes, and appear in some cool way looking super handsome in front of Sakura, hoping his appearance would calm or at least momentarily stun any anger she had long enough for him to apologize as much as he could.

           He jumped up onto the ledge of the window nearest to the tree, trying to figure out if it was one of the many spare rooms of the house. A sweet smell wafted to his nose, one that instantly made his stomach growl and his heart rate quicken.

           He hadn't seen her in so long, he couldn't help himself. He twisted, practically gluing his face to the glass. Blood rushed to his cheeks immediately. A towel was strewn haphazardly on the bed, and wet footprints were clearly outlined on the hardwood floor. Standing at the end of the trail in front of a mirror, completely naked aside from undergarments, was Sakura.

           Sasuke knew the decent thing to do would be to look away, but from everything he'd done so far, it was pretty clear he wasn't a decent person.

           He gawked openly at her enticing figure. Even though she wasn't as endowed in the chest, saying she wasn't curvy was a blatant lie. She was slender, and—this had to be new—she was well-toned. Her skin was smooth and pale (although not paler than his), and all he could think about was the last time he had touched her.

           Not that I don't like this, but I feel kind of creepy, his inner said, a little uncomfortably.

           R-Right.

           Sasuke swallowed hard and focused instead on what she was doing. She was trailing her hand down her front, down from the middle of her ribcage to her left hip. Sasuke glued his face fully against the window to see better. What he saw in the reflection of the mirror made him practically fall off the windowsill. He clamped his hand on the side of the window, and blinked, wanting to make sure that what he was seeing was real. But it was still there: a bumpy, pink stretch of skin that Sakura had traced down her body.

           The scar...

           I told you. Your inner's never wrong, his inner said, although he seemed a little dazed, too.

           Suddenly, Sasuke's sharp ears picked up the sound of a door opening, and a voice Sasuke identified as Hinata's said, "Man, that was a nice shower."

           Sakura turned around, and Sasuke hurried to flatten himself against the side of the window, hoping she wouldn't look in his direction.

           "Ready to get dressed?" she said.

           Sasuke was ready to melt at hearing her voice again, and his entire body ached to be near her.

           That's what you get for ignoring the mate bond, his inner said reproachfully.

           I get it, alright. That's why we're here tonight. To fix things.

           Well, let's hope it's not too late.

           Sakura looked at herself in the mirror, eyes wide. She was genuinely shocked.

           "Well, what do you think?" Hinata asked, putting her hands on her shoulders and cocking her head to the side.

           "I feel... beautiful," she murmured.

           The Hyuga giggled and blinked her beautiful pale eyes.

           "That's because you are," she said, her long dark hair falling against Sakura's arm.

           Hinata had really dolled Sakura up. She had taken charge of her hair and makeup and had even brought a couple pieces of her own jewelry for her to borrow. The makeup she'd applied was light, as she'd expected of someone as gentle as Hinata, but it was beautiful. She had done her best to bring out Sakura's eyes with a smooth line of shimmery black eyeliner that ended in a wing. Her lips were a glossy pink, accentuating her hair, and her cheeks shimmered, her cheekbones prominent.

           Her hair was curled, two locks framing her face. Two braids held the rest of her free curled hair back. She loved her dress even more wearing it now. The black fabric was snug against her skin, the skirt splaying out at her waist. It accentuated her assets perfectly and actually made her chest look bigger, which was never a bad thing in her case. Pearl studs adorned her ears, and a pearl choker decorated her neck. In short, as she had already said, she felt beautiful.

         She turned to Hinata and hugged her tight.

          "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed.

           "You're welcome!" she laughed.

           "You look gorgeous, by the way," Sakura said, looking her up and down.

           Hinata blushed and tried to hide behind the curtain of her hair.

          "Th-thanks."

           It was true. Hinata looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress held by a black ribbon tied around her neck. The dress was made of silk and was pinched at her waist with a black ribbon before it flowed straight down to her feet, just showing her toes poking out of strappy black heels. Her black hair cascaded down her back freely, and silver hoops dangled from her ears. Hinata hadn't put a lot of makeup on, just some blush and lip gloss, but she honestly didn't need it. She had long dark lashes that curled upwards naturally, her skin was flawless, and her eyebrows were perfectly shaped.

           Naruto was lucky to have such a kind and beautiful person by his side.

           "Are you ready?" she finally asked as the blush subsided from her cheeks.

           Suddenly butterflies erupted in Sakura's stomach at the prospect of meeting all the Hinata, Naruto, and well Sasuke had grown up with.

           "Totally," she squeaked.

           "Don't worry, I promise they won't bite," Hinata said, grabbing her hand and starting to drag her out of the room. "Most of them anyway."

           "Hinata!"

           Before she knew it, she was downstairs and in a throng of people, music blasting. She tightened her grip on Hinata's hand, her stomach twisting. Thankfully a whiskered face immediately popped up in front of them, grinning.

           "Hey! You're finally done!" Naruto exclaimed. His eyes roved over Hinata's figure, and he practically purred as he said, "You are breathtaking."

           Hinata's face went beat red, and her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Naruto laughed at her reaction and kissed her, effectively closing her mouth.

           Boy did Sakura feel like a third wheel right now.

           They pulled away from each other, and Naruto turned his head to look at her. Finally.

           "Wow, you clean up nice!" he exclaimed.

           "Thanks," she said.

           "Come on, let's introduce you to some people!" Naruto said, looking extremely excited.

           "Already? I—"

           Naruto didn't even let her finish before he was dragging her and Hinata, since she was holding her hand, along behind him. They came to an abrupt stop, and Sakura slammed into Naruto's back, as Hinata did into hers.

           "Team 10 is all here! Glad you could make it!" Naruto said, greeting three people Sakura couldn't see.

           She was suddenly yanked out from behind him and put in front of the three people that apparently composed Team 10. They all blinked at her, then looked at Naruto and back again. Thankfully, the beauty in a blonde ponytail and purple mermaid dress came to the rescue, as Naruto didn't seem to be volunteering any help.

            "And who might you be?" she inquired, blinking her perfectly curled black lashes at her.

           "I-I uh..." Wow was her mouth dry. "I'm S-Sakura. Sakura Haruno."

           Might as well start introducing herself with her last name to get used to it.

            "She's my childhood friend," Naruto chimed in, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Sakura, this is three-person team known as Team 10. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. I've known them as long as I can remember."

           A man in an untucked button-down shirt and spiky black hair pulled back into a ponytail, Shikamaru Nara, eyed her, small brown eyes examining her. Although his whole demeanor seemed laid-back and relaxed, his eyes were bright and shrewd. He nodded at her in acknowledgement.

           Another man stood beside him. Chijo Akimichi was definitely on the bigger side. He seemed to have put in as much effort as Shikamaru in his clothing and was currently stuffing what seemed to be barbecue chips in his mouth. He had long spiky coppery hair held back by a Konoha headband. Red swirls adorned his cheeks; Sakura couldn't tell whether it was face paint or birthmarks.

           "Yo," he greeted between a mouthful of chips.

             The blonde, Ino, smiled at her, looking her up and down. She was probably one of the most beautiful women Sakura had ever laid eyes on. The people really were different looking here. The people back in her village had all just seemed bland and the same colors of the earth they tended to. Here everything was vibrant and alive.

           She smiled shyly at her.

           "You have a very large forehead," she said matter-of-factly.

           The music blared.

           "Ino!" Hinata scolded, hitting her on the arm.

           "What? It's true, she has a large forehead!" she protested.

           Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and drawled, "Ino, we've talked about this. You can't just go around saying whatever crosses your mind."

           "Well, I'm sorry, I just noticed it, ok?" She said, crossing her arms.

           "It's nothing personal, she just doesn't know when to shut her mouth," Shikamaru said, lightly hitting her upside the head.

           "Ow, Shikamaru!"

           "You and your mate are definitely made for each other," Shikamaru commented.

           "Okaaaaay, well we're gonna go make our rounds," Naruto said hurriedly, guiding Hinata and Sakura away with a hand on each their backs.

           They could still hear Shikamaru and Ino bickering as they walked away before they were drowned out by the music.

           "I am so sorry," Hinata started as soon as they were out of earshot. "Ino just can't—"

           "Can't shut her mouth, right?" Sakura said bitterly, pulling at one of the curls dangling in front of her face.

           "Oh, Sakura..." Hinata said, looking at her sadly.

           "Is my forehead really that big?" she asked, touching it self-consciously.

           "Who cares?" Naruto shrugged. "You look amazing and that's all that matters."

           That made Sakura feel slightly better and she smiled at him gratefully.

           "Thank you."

           "Anyway, I promise you the others are much nicer. Well, except for one guy..." he said, looking to the side.

           "What? Who?" Sakura inquired.

           "Let's just hope we don't find him today. No one can handle that guy. Moving on!"

           They made their way through the house, Naruto greeting each person with a nod of the head or a smile. The dance floor was apparently the large living room where people were swaying their hips and jumping up and down. Having never been to a party herself, this was the first time she'd ever seen people dancing or listened to this type of music. Hell, she wouldn't even know how to dance if her life depended on it. She shivered at the image of embarrassing herself on the dance floor.

           They worked their way over to the kitchen where the delicious smell of Mikoto's familiar cooking wafted, dishes covering the counter.

           "Oh man, that smells delicious!" Sakura said, her mouth watering.

           "I know," Naruto said, drool actually dripping from the corner of his mouth.

           "Naruto," Hinata scolded, though she too was staring intently on the food, her byakugan apparently having activated unintentionally.

           "You guys could just eat, you know," a masculine voice remarked.

           All three of them looked up. Hinata was the first to react as she yelped happily and skittered around the corner to hug the person. Then Naruto yelled, "Neji!" which she assumed was the man's name and walked around to hug him. The first thing she noticed were the familiar pale eyes that she knew to be characteristic to the Hyuga family. He had long brown hair pulled loosely back into a ponytail with the familiar leaf headband covering his forehead although the rest of his attire was casual.

           "It's been so long, Neji nii-san!" Hinata said, scanning him over. "How was your mission?"

           "Well, good since we're all still alive," he remarked wryly. "But I'm glad to see you in one piece, Naruto. I heard you went missing during a mission?"

           "Yeah, we were ambushed, and they've developed new weaponry that stopped my regeneration. I was in pretty bad shape until well—Oh! Neji, this is my friend Sakura!" Naruto said, suddenly remembering her.

           "Hi," Sakura said walking around the counter. "I'm Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you."

           "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Neji Hyuga, Hinata's cousin. It's nice to meet you, too," he said, bowing his head respectfully in greeting.

           "Yeah, so, like I was saying Sakura here saved me. We actually know each other from when we were kids since I used to run away a lot," Naruto said, unconsciously touching his abdomen.

             Neji looked at her with renewed interest, examining her. "Is that so?"

            She straightened and cleared her throat slightly, trying to calm her nerves a bit. "I was a doctor back where I lived, the only doctor actually."

            "And where exactly did you live?" he asked. "I haven't seen you around here before."

           "Well I—um—lived in a village out-outside the forest," she said, disgeting slightly with her fingers.

           His eyes narrowed.

           "You don't look like a Normy," he said, eyeing her hair.

           "Well, she's a Healer," Hinata jumped in. "And a pretty good one from what I hear."

           "And she lived in a Normy village?" he asked, more curious than wary now as he looked at Hinata.

           "It's a long story, but basically she ended up there after the first attack by the Zetsus on the village," Naruto said.

           His eyes widened and he looked back at her with a gentler look in his eyes. "I see. I'm sorry for that. It seems we've all been affected by the Zetsus then."

           "Yeah..." she breathed out, relieved that this had gone better than her encounter with Team 10.

           "Hey, where's the rest of your team?" Hinata asked, looking around.

           "They should be around here somewhere," he said, turning to look through the doorway to the kitchen. As if on cue, a cute tan girl appeared in the doorway, two buns on either side of her head. Her brown eyes glittered as they landed on Neji, and she made her way towards them.

           "Tenten!" Neji said, his voice rising slightly as the corners of his lips turned up. "You look great."

           "Hey, honey," she smiled, a small blush staining her cheeks. "Thanks."

           "Hey," he said, blushing as well at her affection.
She came over and pecked his cheek before greeting Naruto and Hinata enthusiastically. She looked at Sakura, interest sparkling in her brown eyes.

           "Hi, I'm Tenten. I don't believe I've seen you around," she said, smiling at her.

           "H-Hi, I'm Sakura," she stuttered, dazzled by the confidence this woman exuded.

           "It's nice to meet you, Sakura," she said, nodding at her respectfully.

           "Nice to meet you, too," she blushed.

           "Sakura's a good friend of mine that recently moved to Konoha," Naruto grinned, slinging an arm around her. "And I want her to meet everyone tonight, so we'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"

           "Yeah, no problem. Welcome to Konoha," Tenten said, and Neji nodded at her, wrapping an arm around his mate's waist.

           They went back around the counter, piled some food on paper plates, and went back out into the crowd.

            "Man, food makes everything better," Naruto said before stuffing his face.

           "Can't disagree with you there," Sakura sighed happily.

           "Hey, Sakura," Hinata said, tugging her arm. "I see my teammates, let's go meet them!"

           "O-Oh ok."

           "Don't be nervous, they're very nice," Hinata hurried to assure her. "In fact, it'll really only be like you're meeting one person because Shino doesn't even really talk."

           Sakura raised her eyebrow and looked to Naruto for confirmation.

           "It's true," he shrugged. "Sometimes, we don't even realize he's there."

           "Well, that's not really nice," Sakura said.

           "Unfortunately, it's true," Hinata said apologetically. "Sometimes he really has no presence."

           "You'll see when you meet him," Naruto said.

           "Ok..."

           They crossed to the edge of the dance floor, weaving between people as best they could while Sakura protected her food with her arm. In Sakura's book, food was precious. As they approached two people chatting in the corner, the first thing Sakura noticed was a giant white dog sitting at their feet. She blinked once. No, he was still there. A dog that seemed to be as big as a person.

           One of the mens' noses twitched, and he looked in their direction. A fanged grin made its way across his face, and he called amiably, "Hinata!" The dog raised its head at the mention of the Hyuga's name and barked happily, running over to greet her.

           "Hey, Akamaru! Long time no see," Hinata said, bending down to scratch behind the dog's ears.

           He barked again and licked her hand. The two men came over and the man with the ever-present fanged grin made his way over. He had spiky brown hair, and dark eyes, red triangles decorating the skin underneath them, though she didn't know if they were birthmarks or face paint.

           "Hey, Naruto! Man, we were worried about you, you were gone for a while," he said as he came over, clapping the blonde on the shoulder.

           "Yeah, I know," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry for worrying everyone."

           "We're just glad you're ok," he said.

           "Well, that's only thanks to Sakura over here," Naruto said, taking the chance to introduce her.

           "Sakura, this is Kiba," Hinata said. "My teammate. And this is Shino."

           She pointed to the man besides Kiba who, for some reason, Sakura hadn't noticed before. Wow, he really had no presence. Shino was a rather tall person, which made it even more mystifying that she hadn't noticed him, with spiky black hair and round black lenses that covered his eyes. He nodded at her and muttered a "hi".

           "Hi..."

           "Hi, I'm Kiba. Oh, and I'm also single," Kiba said, smirking.

           "Kiba!" Hinata yelled, smacking him on the arm.

           Sakura flushed but managed to reply, "Uh, sorry, I already have a mate."

           "Pity," he shrugged. "Who is it?"

           "Umm..." Sasuke, the person whose house this was, and who hadn't shown up in a week since she'd kissed him, that's who.

           Thankfully, she was saved the embarrassment of responding when a loud voice yelled, "Is everyone enjoying the spring of their youth?"

           What?

           They all turned around, and saw... well, a strange looking man. For one, he had a very shiny bowl cut, as in his hair was shining even in the dim lighting of the party. He had large eyes and very, very thick eyebrows. He was also wearing a bright green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers... to a party. Now, Sakura didn't know much about parties, but she was pretty sure you didn't come in a jumpsuit.

           "Naruto! I am so glad you are well and back in Konoha!" he said, clapping him on the back. "What do you say tomorrow we go around the Village on our hands and then do some parkour—why hello, angel!"

           The man was now staring at Sakura intently, his bushy eyebrows also looking as if they were staring at her.

            "Uh, Lee? What?" Naruto said, raising a brow at him.

           Lee suddenly dropped to his knees and grabbed Sakura's hands in his own. "My beautiful angel, you are the most beautiful being I have ever had the pleasure of laying my young eyes on. Would you do me the pleasure of informing me of your name, o' beautiful one?"

            "Uhhh... I...." Sakura struggled, her brain failing to comprehend what was going on (fault of no one having shown interest in her in her entire life).

           A hand clapped down hard on Lee's shoulder causing him to physically shake. He looked behind him, and Sakura looked up. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and her throat constricted. Her voice came out in a breathy whisper.

           "Sasuke-kun."

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please tell me your thoughts, and leave your guesses about next chapter. Next chapter is going to be... interesting. So look forward to it. I don't know what else to say honestly except that I woke up with a fever this morning. TˆT Anyway, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for next chapter. See you soon! Ja ne!