Hey guys! Look who's back! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but I was toying with ideas on how to end this chapter and ended up changing a couple things. Plus, school of course. I just finished the chapter so the second half has not been proof-read, but please if you find mistakes, tell me so I can fix them. I'm just seriously exhausted right now and need to go to bed. I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter though, so here is chapter 27!

            "Sasuke-kun."

            He hadn't changed a bit since she'd seen him last except for the fact that he looked—if possible—a bit paler than he usually was. His obsidian eyes glittered in the dim lighting of the room, and his dark eyebrows were furrowed. He was clamping his hand down on Lee's shoulder so hard a vein was popping out of it, and his bright white fangs were on display, his lip curled.

            "Get. Your hands. Off of her," he snarled.

            Sakura's heart skipped a beat in her chest.

            "S-Sasuke," Lee whimpered.

            "Did you hear what I said?" he growled, his eyes started to take on a reddish hue.

            Lee swallowed hard, and a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face. He looked back and forth between Sakura and Sasuke, the confusion evident on his face. He looked to Naruto for help, but the blonde simply shook his head at him, looking slightly amused and maybe a little proud. Although Lee clearly didn't understand the connection, he clearly knew Sasuke well enough that he immediately let go of the pinkette's hands and stood up straight, staring the Uchiha head on. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and nodded at him instead, before walking away. Sasuke stared after him until he was out of sight, apparently trying to burn a whole in the back of his head with only his glare, then turned back to her. The red faded from his eyes, and tey turned back to their chilling obsidian. He took a step closer to her until they were almost touching, and breathed lowly, "Sakura".

            Well, it was time to say goodbye to any shred of self-control she had left.

            "Uh... look! Ramen!?" Naruto exclaimed, ushering everyone away from them.

            "No way! He's her m—" Kiba started before Shino, thankfully, clamped his hand over his mouth, dragging him away.

             Naruto clapped Sasuke on the back as he left, Hinata following him as she winked at Sakura. The pinkette flushed and with tremendous effort, turned her head away from the Uchiha.

             Damn your pretty face, Sasuke!

            An outstretched hand crossed her line of vision, and she looked up curiously. The music suddenly slowed down, and the people around them coupled up and swayed to the rhythm.

            "May I have this dance?" Sasuke asked.

            Sakura looked around at the pairs of mates dancing together and then back at Sasuke. Had he done this on purpose? No way, right?

            Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her lips in a pout. She had every right to be difficult with him. "Why should I?"

            Sasuke frowned and swallowed visibly, holding her gaze.

             "Please?"

             Sakura stared at him in disbelief. For a moment, he had sounded desperate. His eyebrows were tilted upwards apologetically, and his onyx eyes sparkled at her.

            Oh my...

            "Ok," she murmured.

            She slipped her hand into his, and the coldness of them came as a comfort to her, sending tingles up her arm. He gently placed his other hand on the small of her back and pulled her body to him. He led her expertly as they swayed to the rhythm of the music together. She took a deep breath in through her nose, smelling his scent for the first time in at least a week, and she swore that she could feel him breathing her in as well.

            "Listen, I um," he started, his breath tickling her ear. "I—my God, I can do this—I wanted to um..." His heart raced against her ear. "I want to apologize!"

            Sakura's breath caught in her throat, and she tilted her head upwards slightly so as to hear him better.

            "I acted like a complete idiot and a jerk. I am really sorry." The words spilled out of him as if he'd been waiting forever to say them. "The truth is I wanted to kiss you since the day I laid eyes on you!"

            Her heart fluttered in her chest, and her head snapped up, knocking him in the chin.

            "Ow!"

            "S-sorry!" she yelped.

            "No, no, it's ok," he said, blinking several times.

            They stared at each other, and Sasuke's cheeks flushed at the same time as Sakura's.

             "Am I—" he cleared his throat. "Am I forgiven?"

            Why is he so darn cute?

            "You were a big idiot," she said sternly.

            "I know."

            "And a jerk."

            "I know."

            "And really, really dumb."

            "... I know."

            "Then yes, I forgive you, Sasuke-kun," she said, the corners of her lips turning up in a smile.

            Maybe she should have stayed angry at him longer–God knew what he had done certainly deserved it–but she was so tired of being angry at him. All she wanted was to be with him.

            He blinked at her before his face broke out into a fanged grin. Sakura was so surprised, she stopped dancing.

             "Wh-What? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked worriedly. "Did I do something wrong?"

             "No, no, God no! You just—I've never seen you smile before," she said softly, smiling in turn.

             "Well, I uh..." he spluttered, eyes darting away.

              She let go of his hand and cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at her.

              His cheeks flushed. "Wh-What are you—" he started.

              "Can't you take a hint?" she murmured, staring into his eyes.

              The obsidian eyes that were previously so closed off and cold, now seemed to be wide open and warm.

             His gaze flicked to her lips, and she knew he finally understood. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, their lips meeting. And this was a hundred times better than their first kiss. Their lips moved in sync, and Sakura moved her hands to the back of his neck, grabbing fistfuls of his hair as she pushed herself closer to him. Sparks flew, and Sakura never wanted to come up for air. His hands traveled up and down her back and pulled her closer against his torso.

            Eventually, they had to separate to breathe, unfortunately. Sasuke rested his forehead against her own as they both panted.

            "Well," Sasuke panted, the corner of his lip twitching up. "I can't believe we haven't done that sooner."

            "And who's fault is that?" Sakura panted, smirking up at him.

             Just because she had forgiven him didn't mean she wasn't going to tease him about it for a bit.

            He winced, but it seemed that he was too happy to care.

             "Thank you," He said suddenly, his tone serious again.

             "For what?" she asked, peering up at him through her lashes.

              "For forgiving a bastard like me," he said, his eyes filled with remorse.

               She smiled sadly at him and pushed her face closer to his until their noses touched.

              "What are mates for?" she asked softly.

             He blinked in surprise, his eyelashes brushing against her own, and he stared at her with wide eyes.

              "What did I do to deserve a mate like you?" he sighed, a smile flickering across his features.

             "Hmm," she hummed, closing her eyes. "Who knows?"

             "I'm gonna make up for everything," Sasuke said, his warm breath fanning across her face.

            She opened her eyes, and onyx clashed with jade. Determination blazed in his eyes, and his jaw was set firmly.

             She nodded.

            "I prom–"

              A huge boom sounded, and the ground shook beneath them. Screams echoed, and the impact of whatever had caused the sound sent everyone tumbling to the floor. Sasuke fell on top of her, and her back hit the floor. The air was knocked out of her, and she gasped for breath. Her ears were ringing. Sasuke had pulled himself into a protective crouch above her. One of his hands was held against his own ear while the other propped him up. His mouth was moving, clearly trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear a thing he was saying.

                When she was finally able to breath properly again, she pushed herself up with difficulty. The ringing was slowly fading, and she could now hear muffled voices around her. Two familiar heads of blonde and midnight hair were already heading out the door. She gripped onto Sasuke, nodding her head in their direction, and he hauled both of them up. They headed outside to joi Hinata and Naruto and looked out the window with them, her hearing now fully restored, and received the full brunt of the chaos that had been unleashed around them. A huge crater lit aflame lay in front of them a block away. The force of the explosion had destroyed the nearby buildings, and bloodied people were struggling out of the demolished homes.

              The sounds of several other explosions echoed in the distance, similar to the one that had just occurred, screams accompanying them from every direction. The imposing walls of Konoha came crumbling down before their very eyes, and over them climbed white humanoid figures. She felt Sasuke and Naruto tense on either side of her.

            "Zetsus," Naruto growled.

            "So that's why they haven't attacked in so long. They wanted to catch us off guard and ambush us." Sasuke gritted out, the anger rolling off of him in waves.

            "They must know that all the Kages are here to have a meeting," Hinata said in a far-off voice.

            Sakura observed the carnage around her with a vacant stare. The beautiful village of Konoha that had come to be her new home was being destroyed before her very eyes. And the culprits were racing towards them, jumping over rooftops and into the streets. Sirens wailed into the night, and the Hokage's voice echoed over the Village.

             "Citizens of Konoha, we are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack by the Zetsus. I am hereby placing Konoha in a State of Emergency level five! All available shinobi, execute level five procedures!"

            Tsunade-sama.

            "We are proud citizens of Konoha and we will not stand by and watch our home be destroyed! For Konoha!"

            Shinobi suddenly seemed to appear from everywhere, and everyone from the party poured out of the house, most of them tying their leaf headbands around their foreheads. To either side of her, Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata were doing the same, pulling their headbands out of nowhere. Sakura looked ahead of her, at the shinobi jumping across rooftops into battle, at the ones helping the citizens to safety, at the fires burning across the village, and then back at her friends. It didn't matter that she didn't have a leaf headband. Konoha was home as well for her now.

            "Well, ready to get out there?" a voice drawled from behind them.

             All of Team 10 had come out behind them, all three of them smirking.

            "It just didn't feel right to not be out there fighting," Ino remarked, flipping her still perfect hair over her shoulder. "Makes me kind of glad they brought the fight to us."

             "It's time to pound some Zetsus into the ground," Choji said, pounding his fists together.

             A howl echoed behind them and a fanged Kiba came out, Akamaru on his tail with Shino following behind.

            "Team 8! Gear up from battle!" he called.

             Hinata squeezed Naruto's hand and kissed him, before walking over to join her teammates. She discarded her heels and her earrings and stood at the ready, a fire set ablaze in her pale eyes.

            "Hey, don't leave Team Guy out of this!" Lee said, striding up to them, flanked by Neji and Tenten.

            "Well, seeing as Sai is somewhere else at the moment, it seems Team 7 is incomplete, eh, Sasuke?" Naruto sighed. Helooked pointedly at Sakura. "Would you like to join our team, Sakura?"

            She blinked. He wanted her to be a part of their three-man team?

            "What? Absolutely out of the question," Sasuke interjected. "She'll be destroyed out there!"

            Irritation coupled with anger at the destruction of her home mounted in her, and her body starting thrum with the sensation of power she'd grown accustomed to over the week. She turned to him, power coursing through her and her eyes glowing green. "With all due respect, Sasuke-kun," she said. "You have no idea what I'm capable of." He blinked at her in surprise, since that was apparently now his reaction to everything she said or did.

            She turned to Naruto, grinning. "I would be honored."

            "Good, because I have this for you," he said, digging through his pockets. He pulled out a strip of red fabric with a metal plate sewn in the middle. Sakura's eyes widened as she took in the symbol etched into it.

            "A leaf headband?" she gasped.

            "Tsunade-baachan wanted me to give to you. She had it made for you especially. She said you deserved it," he said, grinning at her.

            She took in gingerly in her hands.

            "She said that she wanted you to know you were home," he said softly.

            She looked up at him, tears stinging her eyes.

            "I am home."

            She pulled her hair free and placed headband atop her head, tying it tightly under her head. A renewed sense of purpose seemed to have instilled itself within her along with the headband and she grinned in excitement.

            "I will not let anyone destroy my home."

             "This is very touching and all, so can we please get on with it. If we want to save our home, we should probably get a move on," Neji said, crossing his arms over his chest. Sakura threw her heels to the side, and discarded Hinata's lovely jewelry.

            "Let's go," she said.

            "Well, Team 7! Let's go teach those Zetsus a lesson, shall we?" Naruto bellowed.

            Everyone cheered, and that's when all their powers started becoming apparent. Shino opened his mouth, and thousands of insects poured out of him, surrounding his body and he took off into the air.

            Kind of gross but kind of cool

            Kiba climbed on Akamaru's back and shook out his hands, claws appearing at the ends of his fingers. He wove a series of hand signs, and suddenly, him and Akamaru disappeared and in their place were two swirling bodies that clashed against each other, spiraling off towards the onslaught of Zetsus. Veins popped around Hinata's pale eyes, unleashing the Byakugan. She flexed her wrists, and claws shot up from her nails, not going into full wolf form. She launched off from the ground and took off across the rooftops.

            Neji mimicked the actions of his cousin and took off, Tenten following suite with two scrolls in her hands, as well as Lee. Choji pounded his fists together twice, and suddenly he was ten times his original size. He marched off into the city, the ground shaking with every step he took. Ino and Shikamaru ran off behind him.

            She turned to her own teammates and saw that Sasuke had already drawn his familiar short katana. His eyes were blood red and the familiar three black marks of what she now knew was the sharingan swirled around his pupil. His lips were curled back in a snarl as he slashed his sword through the air quickly. Naruto on the other hand, was grinning wide, his fangs glistening in the moonlight. His eyes were changing: his round pupil was narrowing to a slit, and the normal clear blue of his eyes was darkening to a bright crimson. "Easy, Kurama," he growled low in his throat. A transparent red substance started to seep from his skin, covering his whole body. He bent over, landing on all fours as tails formed of what she now knew to be his chakra sprouted rapidly from the base of his back. Sakura counted nine before orange fur suddenly erupted in place of the cloak of chakra, clothes ripped, and Naruto transformed into an enormous nine-tailed fox. Sakura looked up at the hulking form in awe. He roared into the sky, and Sakura was sure it was powerful enough to shake the heavens themselves.

           He looked back at them and opened his mouth. "Let's head in the direction of the Hokage's building." His voice was double as he spoke, as if the voices of two separate people were overlapping. "They'll probably head there first. Plus, Tsunadde-baachan and Gaara are there."

            Sasuke nodded beside her, and Naruto took off ahead of them. Sasuke made to follow suite, but paused, looking at her guiltily. He cleared his throat and looked back at her.

            "I, uh... It's been a week since I... Can I?"

            Sakura tilted her head at him before it finally dawned on her. So, that was why he looked paler than he usually was. She nodded and brushed her hair back from her neck. He smiled gratefully at her and approached her. There was none of the hesitation of last time. They didn't even have time to hesitate. He sunk his fangs into her neck, and as before, it hurt only a moment before her body relaxed. He pulled back panting after he'd had his fill, his red eyes bright. She reached up to swipe the dribble of blood off of his mouth.

             "You ready?" he asked.

            "Readier than I've ever been for anything in my life," she responded, the strength flowing in steady waves throughout her body.

             "Then let's go," he said, holding his hand out to her.

            "Let's go fight our war," she said, taking his hand. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Again, any corrections and even suggestions for better writing (since I had trouble describing their powers) are welcome. Thank you so much for your patience for this chapter and thank you for reading my story. I hope to see you guys next time! Good night. Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z What? I wasn't done typing?? Well, see you next time, guys. Ja ne!