Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
All I Want for Christmas
Sakura Haruno sighed as she smoothed the hem of the beige skirt she had worn to work that morning.
Perched on a purple chair and surrounded by the busy chit-chat of some nosy teachers, she had to wonder what Ayumi had done to get her into this predicament once again.
"Ms. Haruno?"
Turning over to see Ayumi's teacher smile expectantly as she held the door, Sakura hesitantly smiled towards the tall prim woman, before making her way across the colourful fourth-grade classroom.
Ignoring the sense of uneasiness that was settling within her, she sat down on the familiar cushioned seat facing the worn battle-scarred desk.
The room was empty of students mainly due to it being a Friday afternoon before Winter Break, though it still smelled of blackboard markers and old textbooks, evoking pleasant memories. Although the pinkette had a wary feeling that the meeting was going to be anything but pleasant.
"Thank you for dropping by, Ms. Haruno, with your busy schedule." The older woman began, offering an apologetic smile.
"No, actually I was hoping for a break from all the hecticness at the hospital." The pinkette replied, forcing a light-hearted laugh. "But what seems to be the problem Mrs. Kurenai?" She asked, wondering what Ayumi could have done or didn't do.
"Is she not turning in her work again?" Sakura asked absently, recalling what their previous meeting had been about.
Mrs. Kurenai straightened herself on her chair, "She's been improving there, I'd like to see some improvement in test scores…but that's not exactly why I called you in today," she paused for a moment and skilfully extracted a single piece of paper out of a particularly messy stack of papers and handed it to Sakura, "Here, take a look."
Sakura stared, it was an English paper, and even more surprisingly there was a big fat A written across the top. It was probably Ayumi's first A, which should've been a good reason to celebrate. Except Mrs. Kurenai's sober expression urged her to read Ayumi had written.
-All I want for Christmas-
By: Ayumi ?
Sakura frowned at the question marks, "She wouldn't put her last name?" She asked, not quite getting what was wrong with the paper.
"Read it." The teacher gestured impatiently.
Confused, Sakura returned her attention to the small, cramped writing.
Christmas. It's the most magical time of the year, family, friends, everyone gets together, right? So I guess you would expect to hear that Christmas is my favourite time of the year. That's what everyone else is saying. There's Santa Claus, presents, happiness down in every street corner. So why am I finding this stupid paper so hard to write? I should copy someone else, someone normal. I should ask for an iPod like most of the normal people in my class. I can hear people all around me. I want this… I want that...I hope I'll get a doll, PSP, a new laptop... Money. I wish it could buy what I want. I want to be satisfied with an iPod or new clothes, but I want something Santa can't give me. I want a real last name. I want to know who my father is. And ask him why he loved my mother enough to make me, but didn't love me enough to stay.
By the time she had finished, Sakura's throat had constricted and she doubted she could even speak.
Feeling tears fill up her emerald eyes, she nodded appreciatively as Mrs. Kurenai rested a reassuring hand over hers.
"It's hard isn't it?" She asked softly.
Sakura gave weak nod, surprised at the evident empathy in usually strict woman's voice.
Despite the obvious concern that had been invoked from the paper, Sakura speculated on the reason she had been called in to read it; she couldn't give Ayumi what she wanted. Ayumi's dad didn't know she existed and after what had happened 10 years ago, she couldn't really tell him.
Now it doomed upon her the fact, no matter what she bought for Ayumi, the girl would never be happy.
Mrs. Kurenai decided to break the awkward silence, "Have you from her mother lately?"
"No, not for a few months." Sakura had barely contacted Ayaka since she had begun prostituting to support her drug habit. She had managed to track her down a number of times to take her off the streets, but during their last encounter Ayaka had spent the night with them and took off with her bag. Her new Louis Vuitton one too, without so much as a 'Good bye' for Ayumi.
The accident had unsettled Ayumi so much she had refused to come out of her room for a week. It was then Sakura had decided she couldn't have Ayaka disrupting on their lives whenever she felt like it which is why she was selling her house.
"And the father? Do you have any idea where he is?" Mrs. Kurenai pressed on.
"I'm afraid not… according to the mother it was a one-night stand, she didn't even know his name." Sakura lied.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she shook her head, "it's unfortunate."
"Yes." Sakura felt guilty lying to the older woman when she seemed to have Ayumi's best interest at heart but she had promised - she would never tell.
"She's a deep child," Mrs. Kurenai said, reaching for the paper.
Sakura smiled, "she is."
"Well, I guess that's all for now, we'll continue to see what we can do, thanks for coming today."
"Yes, of course. Thank you." Sakura replied, rising from the warm seat.
"Have a merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," the pinkette responded as she stepped out of the bright classroom.
Making her way speedily through the corridor, she sighed and took a gulp of fresh air as the mid-December coldness engulfed her, and thoughts clouded up her mind from the conversation earlier.
Uchiha Sasuke.
The name had popped various times in her train of thoughts but she had never considered the possibilities, maybe it was time to pay him a visit, it had been 10 years.
And maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance to give Ayumi what she wanted most for Christmas.
"Not yet?"
"Hm…we should be almost there."
"We've been driving for two days now, the scenery is getting boring."
Turning down the cheery Christmas music that had been playing since the trip had begun, Sakura sighed, "Why don't you try counting how many trees we pass before we reach town?"
"That's so pointless…oh fine…it's not like I have anything better to do anyways."
Relieved from Ayumi's lack of resistance, Sakura quietly observed the girl who was seated in the back. Her dark blue eyes were moving lazily across the window, probably counting, Sakura mused. Her sleek black hair was tied into a messy ponytail. Her pink lips curved into a small pout. She was cute. Not exceedingly gorgeous or beautiful, but no doubt pretty.
Well, she does have the Uchiha Sasuke's genes, she thought dryly.
"Saki! Saki! I think we're here!" Ayumi shouted excitedly, pointing outside the window.
Sakura felt waves of nostalgia hit her as familiar buildings stared down at her, and all thoughts of the Uchiha immediately flew out of her mind. "Saki? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing really, I guess it's because I haven't been back for so long."
The dark-haired girl nodded understandingly, "I bet your friends will be surprised, you're still so pretty."
Sakura smiled, she had been a late bloomer, getting teased for her overly large forehead every once in a while; but she had grown into it. She knew how to apply a hint of eyeliner and mascara to accent her jade eyes. And her rather curvious figure didn't hurt either.
"Hey, Saki? Why'd you move to Suna anyways? Konoha seems more colourful, well at least it seems like they don't have sandstorms every 5 minutes."
"Well, your grandmother had wanted a change," Sakura replied," and I went to help take care of you."
"...since SHE can't do anything." The young girl quietly grumbled.
Sakura mentally winced; she never complained about Ayaka, well maybe when she took her bag, but she never overreacted when Ayumi made an occasional derogatory comment. After all, she had every right to be angry, Ayaka had let them down in the worst way possible.
The silence ensued for several moments before Ayumi had decided to break it.
"Saki, do you want to get married?"
"Well, it depends really; I don't even have a man..er... suitor yet."
"Why won't you date, then?" Ayumi asked, her blue eyes staring accusingly at her.
"I'm busy at the hospital."
"Suzuki-san doesn't seem to mind." Ayumi countered.
"He's…he's not the right one for me, okay?" remembering the brown-haired man who had been nothing but sweet to her made her feel guilty for rejecting him the day before.
"Why are you so keen on my love life anyways?" The pinkette asked, raising a delicate brow.
"Your nonexistent one, you mean." The younger girl corrected.
"Ayumi."
The black-haired girl quickly averted her eyes, "I know you feel like you owe grandma for taking you in but I don't want to be the reason that you have no life."
Sakura frowned, "What do you mean I have no life? I happen to have-"
"Work doesn't count." Ayumi interrupted, "Besides you shouldn't have to deal with all this, you're not the one who got pregnant at fifteen." Ayumi had mumbled the last part but Sakura had heard her.
Sakura groaned as she reached over her seatbelt to pull Ayumi into a rather awkward hug, "I love you Ayumi, you're a part of my life. I didn't feel forced to take you in, I chose to."
"Really?" Ayumi asked carefully.
"Really." She answered, realizing for the first time it was true she didn't want anyone to take Ayumi, her only family away from her.
"Really, why am I here again." Sasuke Uchiha asked to no one in particular as his current company indulged himself with bowls of ramen.
He currently sat with his long-time rival/best friend or "frienemies" as the idiot liked to call it, Naruto Uzumaki at Ichiraku.
"Why'd the fuck did you bring me here?" Sasuke asked, his voice dripping with annoyance.
"Because I was hungry," Naruto replied, "And everyone knows you can't eat alone, that would make you a loner."
Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "And you're 25?"
Naruto just grinned, "You're never too old to be awesome, believe it!"
Sasuke smirked; dobe was dobe no matter how old he was.
"Shit! I totally forgot that Hinata told me to go pick Momofuko from kindergarten." Naruto shouted, jumping up from his seat.
Sasuke shook his head, "I still can't believe you would name your son after some old man who invented instant noodles."
"Do not call him old man! He is the Saviour of Ramen, because he made it possible to have ramen wherever you go, but he is still not as great as the one who actually invented ramen!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde's ranting about the God of Ramen.
"Yo, teme, why don't you get settled down too?" Naruto asked, running his hand through his spiky, blonde locks of hair. "It's not bad; you know to come home with someone waiting for you."
"Hn. Just mind your own business... idiot."
The blonde scowled, "Bastard."
"..."
"What about Karin? Don't you go to her for your urges?" Naruto wasn't really fond of the bitchy red head but it was Sasuke's choice who he wanted to see, so he wasn't about to butt in.
"Not anymore." Sasuke replied, coolly. The moment Karin started talking about marriage he had backed off. Karin was nice enough for an occasional release but he didn't want to make their relationship permanent.
"Ever the nice guy, eh, Sasuke?" Naruto commented, through mouthfuls of noodles.
"Hn. Let's for a couple of laps later." He needed something to keep his mind off of these troubles. Dobe always made a formidable opponent in their weekly trainings.
"Sasuke, you know I love you and all, but sometimes me and Hinata need some alone time."
"...hn."
"Aww... don't be like that Teme, I promise I'll try to spend some more time with you tomorrow."
Sasuke scowled and was about to tell the blonde to shut up and eat when a woman had stepped into the stand.
She had waist long hair and smooth, pale skin, she was gorgeous but that wasn't exactly why she caught his attention, for one thing she had pink hair, but he was pretty sure he recognized her.
A girl with black hair trailed beside her. And they started towards some seats near where Naruto was.
He watched her from the corner of his eye. It's been eleven years since he'd seen her but he was sure she had lived with Ayaka Kuromoto when they went to Konoha High. What was her name? It was some kind of flower. Sakura? That was it- Sakura Haruno.
"Teme?" Naruto said, trying to figure out why Sasuke had suddenly gone quiet.
"What?" Sasuke snapped, irritated to have been distracted from his thoughts. He didn't want Naruto to get some unwanted attention from her. Their last meeting before she left with the Kuromotos hadn't been good.
She had been there when Ayaka had caused him to lose the only girl he'd ever loved. He was sure it had something to do with Sakura, he wasn't sure how or why she participated but he wasn't about to confront her. Besides he didn't want to seem as if he was still caught up in past events.
"We should get going."
Naruto held on to his half-finished bowl of ramen as though he'd rather part with his left hand. "What?"
"Let's go," he grunted tossing some bills on the counter. Naruto stared. "Sasuke is paying for my ramen," his blue eyes suddenly lit up, "I know, today's my birthday, right?"
Onyx eyes twitched in exasperation. "Today. Is. Not. Your. Birthday. Moron."
"It's not? Then what's the matter? You hit your head or something?"
"...let's go already."
"Hey, Teme, is that Sakura-chan?"
The man stiffened, "Sakura?"
"You know the girl who was always with that Ayaka girl." Naruto pondered thoughtfully.
"Hn. I don't think so..." The brooding man inwardly flinched.
Are you sure? But it sure looks like it-SAKURA-CHAN!"
Sakura felt unusually light-hearted as she stepped into the familiar ramen stand, "They've got great ramen here," she said to the dark-haired girl trailing behind her.
Ayumi nodded enthusiastically, obviously hungry from the long car ride.
They sat down at the edge of the counter, near two men who look seemingly finished. Well, at least one of them.
"What ramen do you want?" Sakura asked as they settled down.
"Miso's fine." The girl answered absently.
"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, noticing that Ayumi kept glancing over at the two men.
"Saki, that man was staring at you when we came in." Sakura knew what she was trying to suggest and was about to retort that after so long, chances were very slim that they knew each other. But she had caught a better glimpse of him and felt her jaw drop. Fuck.
With that chicken ass hair, dark brooding eyes, flawless skin and arrogant smirk. No doubt it was the one and only Sasuke Uchiha.
Sakura mentally groaned they had just got to Konoha and things were already looking bad.
"Do you know him?" Ayumi asked, blue eyes brimming with curiosity.
Sakura forced an awkward smile. "Yeah, he went to my high school, Konoha High."
Emerald eyes quickly skimmed across his profile and she had to acknowledge he had improved quite a bit. With lines that have matured through the years, fit build perfectly holding out his light shirt, Sakura struggled to tear her eyes away from the view.
Ayumi seemed to have noticed this, too. "He's pretty." She said, her voice lit with amusement.
Sakura chuckled and tried to contain her uneasiness.
"Shouldn't you go say something, they were your classmates, right?" Ayumi urged.
"Right. I probably should." He can't possibly know, after all he had only been with Ayaka only that one night when they were fifteen and he didn't even have a choice. Sakura thought determinedly, trying to convince herself.
"Saki, they're coming this way." Ayumi whispered.
Ayumi's words registered and Sakura instinctively turned, as she did she realized that she recognized the second man as well. He was a leaner and more muscular version of the blond boy she had seen with Sasuke all the time in high school—Naruto Uzumaki.
A grin was on his tan face as he made his way towards them. Sasuke looked reluctantly towards them but followed the blond man anyways.
"Hi," Sakura said warmly as she stood up, trying to hide how shaken she was to see them here.
"Long time no see, Sakura-chan!" Naruto swept her into a bone-crushing hug as if they had been good friends in high school instead of mere acquaintances.
"When did come back to Konoha?" Naruto asked as he released her.
"Actually, we just got here. Just thought we'd drop by for some ramen after the long car ride." Sakura replied, offering a small smile to the two men.
Naruto beamed,"You have great taste Sakura-chan! Ichiraku definately has the best ramen in all of-"
"Dobe, no one asked for your opinion." Sasuke said darkly.
Naruto smiled good-naturedly, "Sorry Sakura-chan, I sort of got carried away, ignore the teme over there, he's always a grouch in the morning." Sasuke glared at the sunny blond but didn't rebuke like Sakura had expected he would.
"So where are you guys planning on staying?"
"We're probably going to stay at the Yamanaka Hotel." Sakura answered, recalling that the hotel was owned by Ino's parents. Ino had been Sakura's long time best friend since elementary, but they had lost contact when Sakura moved to Suna.
Neither men said anything for a second as Sakura wondered if Sasuke had married her ex-best friend that he had dated so long.
Naruto seemed to notice the awkwardness of the subject and waved a hand towards Sasuke, who seemed perfectly happy staying in the background. "You remember Sasuke, right? He went out with Ino all through school."
Does that mean he wasn't with her now? Sakura thought they had reconciled after the incident at the party, but if their relationship hadn't progressed after high school, Ayaka was probably a large part of the reason.
"Hi Sasuke." Ignoring the warning bells that were going off in her head, she held out her hand. Sakura knew that Sasuke wasn't the one for close body contact such as hugs.
He bored his dark charcoal eyes at her for a moment, before taking her hand, "Good to see you again."
I can tell you're thrilled about it. Sakura thought sarcastically. But she didn't push the fact, she knew that because of Ayaka, her presence was probably difficult on him.
Sakura put a hand on Ayumi's shoulder. "This is my daughter, Ayumi."
Nodding her head shyly she carefully wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist, she was more relieved than shocked, Sakura knew that her real mother was an embarassment to her.
Naruto grinned at the girl and she giggled, "Hey, you call me Naruto onii-chan and that over there is- well it doesn't really matter what he is."Sasuke scowled, giving Naruto his famous death glare, which Naruto skillfully ignored.
"So Sakura-chan, how long will you be staying in Konoha?" Naruto asked, turning his attention over to the pink-haired woman.
"Eh, uh... a couple of weeks, I guess." The pinkette carefully responded, eyeing Sasuke's reaction to this information, she had wanted to see what kind of a man Saske had become before bringing Ayumi in direct contact to him, but seeing the way things were going; she'll just have to improvise.
Naruto shifted on his seat to make room for Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't come any closer.
"Are you going to visit anyone else?"
"Maybe after I show Ayumi around the town first."
Naruto chuckled, "Be sure to check up on Tsunade-no-baa-chan, she misses you like hell, you were always her favorite."
Sakura grinned,"Thanks, I will."
"You live in Suna, right Sakura-chan?"
The woman nodded. "I'm a medical doctor there."
Naruto shook his head, "You were always into all that dissecting stuff back then."
Sakura playfully rolled her eyes, "And what are you supposed to be?" She asked, glancing at the neat suits that the two men embodied, "a ramen salesman?"
"Actually I'm working for mister CEO here at the Uchiha Corps, but hey, we should totally bring THAT up at the next meeting, teme!"
Sasuke snorted and Ayumi looked curiously at the man.
Sakura tried to not to notice that Sasuke was even better-looking up close. He had always been attractive; a large part of the reason Ayaka had wanted to ravish him, but the last 10 years had really polished him up even more.
"So... is your husband stuck back at Suna, working over the holidays?" Naruto asked.
Sakura shook her head, "Actually, I'm not married. You?"
"Well, this Friday's my 5th anniversary." Naruto grinned sheepishly.
"Let me guess... Hinata-chan, right?" Sakura teased, remembering the shy girl who had always been chasing after the hopelessly clueless boy.
"How did you-"
"Everyone knew it would happen, you two were the only ones that didn't."
"EH... really? Then why didn't anyone say anything.. I mean-"
Sakura chuckled, Naruto was still the hyperactive loudmouth from high school. "But that's great, Naruto! I'm so proud of you... what about you, Sasuke?"
"No," he didn't bother elaborate, but Naruto quickly filled in for him.
"The poor bastard just can't get anyone to put up with that lame excuse of a personality."
Naruto looked so sorry for the brooding man in the back, both Sakura and Ayumi started giggling, though they stopped a bit after recieving a very scary glare from the mentioned man.
"How's your friend?" Naruto asked, trying to break the ice around the subject,"What was her name... Kuromoto?"
Sakura felt Ayumi's hand tighten around the sleeve of her cardigan, and Sasuke lowered his gaze. "...She's fine."
Naruto nodded, "That's good to hear... is she living in Suna too?"
"Well, um... she moved to Ame, actually, a few years back."
"Oh, Ame, I see- I hear it rains a lot," Naruto replied, looking a bit unsure of himself.
There was a moment of silence before Sasuke spoke up. "We should get going, dobe, our break's over."
Naruto pouted, "But I don't wanna go ,yet."
Sakura gave him a friendly pat and grinned, "It was great to see you guys again." Though she wasn't sure how felt about seeing Sasuke again, she was glad to have seen Naruto.
"Oh yeah, Sakura-chan, wanna have dinner with my family tomorrow? I know Hinata would love to see you again. And Sasuke's going to, right, bastard?
Sasuke blinked, as if Naruto's question had him by surprise, before he recovered and gave his usual grunt.
Sakura didn't miss the twitching in Sasuke's face, but she chose to ignore it, and gave a knowing smile, "Sure, as long as we're not having cup ramen for dinner."
Naruto's huge grin he had plastered on his face fell a bit, but soon lit up again,"Don't worry Hinata's a great cook, even if we don't have ramen, I'm sure it'll still be great!"
"Dobe, I thought you were supposed to pick up your son?" Sasuke interuppted, looking slightly impatient.
"Son? Oh... oh shit. Sakura-chan, I gotta go! Hinata's gonna kill me!" Naruto yelled as he ran outside with Sasuke following him throwing impatient glares at everyone who came his way.
Sakura smiled softly. Same old Naruto. Same old.. Sasuke.
As soon as they were out of earshot Sasuke pulled Naruto to a stop. "What the hell were you doing, you idiot!"
"What's wrong Sasu-chan?" Naruto asked, his blues eyes widening as if he really was as innocent as he pretended to be.
"Don't play dumb with me. That Haruno, why the fuck did you invite her?"Sasuke growled.
"I was doing your ungrateful ass a favor. Didn't you see how hot she was?"
Though Sasuke had been reluctant to acknowledge it, he grunted. But the fact she was beautiful didn't change the uncomfortableness to be around her, Sasuke had suspected that she and Ayaka must have slipped him something that night. At the party.
"I'm not going."
"Why not?" Naruto asked, looking suddenly down, "I know you're still thinking about what happened. I was there, too, remember? At least I was there when Ino came in... but that was ten ago. It's time to move on with your life. Ino's already married to Shikamaru with a baby coming. Besides Sakura-chan's not attached, you heard her."
"She said she wasn't married. That doesn't mean she's not attached."
"I got the impression that she's not seeing anyone."
Sasuke scowled, "She doesn't even live here, it's totally pointless, dobe."
"You never know, Sasu-chan, she could if she had a reason to." Naruto replied thoughtfully, giving Sasuke a meaningful look.
Sasuke swore under his breath.
"I should really fire you some time."
"You wouldn't do that."
Sasuke smirked, "Give me one good reason not to."
Naruto feigned a look of hurt, "You know I only have your best interests at heart, Sasu-chan."
Sasuke huffed, "My Mom doesn't go this far."
Naruto gave him a bright, cheesy smile, "Mikoto-obachan told me to look after you, since you obviously lack a social life. Besides, you're missing out, man, being a dad is awesome."
Sasuke chose not to comment. He wanted a family. Every time he saw how happy the Uzumakis were he'd always feel a wanting in him, to have a family to come home to everyday. But he just never had the confidence, especially after the horrible confrontation with Ino.
"Besides, don't you want to know what happened that night?" Naruto continued. "You said you don't know how you ended up in that room with that Ayaka girl. And Sakura-chan could probably explain it."
Sasuke looked critically as he ran his hand through his dark locks. Even if she could tell him what had happened, too much time had passed. Nothing could be done anymore.
Naruto raised his head hopefully, "So how about it?"
Sasuke still felt a bit resentful. But maybe he was overreacting. Haruno seemed nice enough (for a annoying woman, that is).
"Come on, Sasuke, we've been planning this dinner for weeks now. I even bought 2 bags of freakin tomatoes, you can't back up on me now. Misa's gonna be so disappointed."
Sasuke sighed, he knew he had lost the argument. "Cheh, whatever."
Naruto smirked as the dark-haired man turned away. He was such a genius.
Sakura gave Ayumi an encouraging smile as stood in front of Naruto's white door.
It was a nice two-storey house, although Sakura had to wonder how Naruto had managed to convince Hinata to paint the roof bright orange.
As she silently assessed her surroundings, she wondered where Sasuke lived. During high school she had heard from Ino that he had moved out of the Uchiha manor when his brother Itachi had gotten married.
The door creaked opened and a small girl about the age of 3 stared at them curiously.
"Hi, there." Sakura said, cheerily, as she innerly gushed at how adorable the white-eyed girl was.
The blond-haired girl continued to stare, but Naruto's voice rose from the room. "Misa, those are our dinner guests, invite them inside okay?"
The little girl gave a shy smile and opened the door wider for them to come in.
"Sakura-chan, Ayumi-chan, welcome." Naruto said as he came towards the door.
Sakura grinned. "Thanks for the invite, dinner smells great." She handed Naruto a box of truffles she had bought on her way here.
"Thanks, we're having Hinata's special, roast beef. So look forward."
A beautiful, pale and serene woman with shoulder-length dark bue hair stepped out of the kitchen. "Sakura-chan!"
"Hinata-chan! Long time no see." The two woman quickly embraced in a hug.
Naruto smiled, "As you already know, Hinata is my wife, and this is-" Naruto swept the small girl who answered the door into a warm embrace. "-Misa."
The girl giggled as she struggled to get free, until Naruto finally released her. "She's the only girl and youngest of the three. The other two are with Kakashi-sensei tonight. I figured things would get a bit crazy with 4 kids running around the house."
Sakura smiled, "She's a charming little girl."
She then turned her attention towards Hinata, "This is Ayumi, she's my daughter." She introduce as she gave Ayumi's shoulder a light squeeze.
"Hi, nice to meet you." Ayumi said, giving the older woman a bashful smile.
Hinata beamed, "Nice to meet you, too, Ayumi-chan."
"Have a seat, people." Naruto motioned towards an red couch. "Sasuke's not here, yet, but we don't have wait for that bastard. I'll get you guys some drinks."
Sakurs accepted some wine, while Ayumi and Misa asked for some juice.
"So Sakura-chan, how is it in Suna?" Hinata asked.
"Okay, I guess, but I missed Konoha a lot. Especially you guys." Sakura replied as she sipped her wine.
It was true, she had missed her old life, Konoha had been where she had grown up and some of her best friends were. But she also felt a pang of guilt, by bringing Ayumi here she was very likely disrupting the delicate peace that been repaired during her absence.
A knock interrupted her thoughts. Sakura tensed and fidgeted with sleeve of her light green sweater, as she waited for Naruto to answer the door.
"Come in!" Naruto yelled across the room and the door opened as Sasuke strided into the room, as pretty as ever, Sakura noted, and she mentally slapped herself for it.
"Hi Sasuke-san." Hinata said, offering a sweet smile.
"Sasuke-no-ojisan!" Misa cried as she ran towards the man and threw her little arms around his knees. Sakura noticed how the usual stoic Sasuke she knew was gone as his dark eyes softened and the ends of his mouth twitched upwards.
Naruto pouted, "How come he gets all the warm welcomings?" Hinata giggled and gave him a small hug, which Naruto happily obliged to.
Sakura smiled to herself, it was obvious these people loved each other.
Hinata released herself from Naruto's arms and gestured towards the couch, "Sit down, I'll go cut up some tomatoes." She said as she exited the room.
Instinctively, Sakura shifted over to make room for him, and Sasuke hesitated for a split second before seating himself next to Ayumi.
Naruto looked from Sakura to Sasuke before giving the latter a foxy grin, "Come on, Misa, let's go help mommy." The small girl happily agreed and the two of them practically sprinted out of the room.
The bright living space immediately filled with awkward tension, until surprisingly Sasuke decided to break the sullen silence.
"Sakura." He nodded, finally acknowledging her presence.
"Hello... Sasuke."
I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it.
Charles M. Schulz
I know it's all sort of confusing but it'll all fit together... eventually. Just bear with me.
Please R&R!