Ino was popular. When Sakura said she was going to invite everyone to the party, she wasn't kidding. Naruto had no idea how she kept it a secret from her for so long since Ino was the self proclaimed (and proven) queen of all things involving gossip.

Sakura had rented out a hall in one of the fancier hotels in town. It was probably expensive as hell, but really, Naruto knew that Sakura has done more extreme things for Ino.

It all vaguely reminded Naruto of a mixture of a club and his high school dances. Tables lined the perimeter so that people could dance in the middle. One was set up for presents and another for food and beverages.

Naruto spotted a head of long blonde hair and made his way over. Ino was chatting with Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't look like he was even bothering to listen. "Hey Ino! Happy Birthday!"

"Ah Naruto! Thank you for coming," Ino replied and gave Naruto a hug. Over her shoulder, Naruto saw Shikamaru make a quick escape to the beverage table. Naruto shrugged internally and took his place in listening to Ino chatter away.

"And then when Sai decided that he needed to…" Ino suddenly trailed off. Her eyes widened as she looked at something over Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto turned to follow her stare as he heard Sakura gasp from somewhere by the middle of the room, "Who gave Lee alcohol?!"

Behind Naruto Lee was in the middle of the dance floor. A circle had formed around him as he sparred with an invisible opponent. It was pretty tame compared to what Naruto knew Lee was capable of while intoxicated, but by the looks of it, the alcohol had just hit his system so it was probably only the beginning of something catastrophic if not handled immediately.

Naruto scanned the room for Neji or Ten Ten, the two people best at handling drunk Lee. When they were not spotted he decided he was next best option. "I'll get Lee. Find Neji or Ten Ten," he said to Ino before heading to the dance circle.

Naruto pushed his way through the crowd to the middle to face Lee. Lee wobbled to a stop, one hand up in a ready position.

"Most precioussss fwend! 'Ave you come to 'par with me!" Lee listed dangerously to the side before righting himself. Naruto didn't know how he did it.

"No Lee. I think you should come with me and get some water. Maybe find Neji? He'll want to spar with you." Naruto slowly approached Lee, like he was approaching a skittish animal. Well, a skittish animal that has broken Naruto's nose twice. When Naruto went to put a steadying arm around Lee, Lee grabbed his arm and pulled. Naruto had enough experience to know to duck as Lee's open palm came to strike where his face once was. No broken nose this time.

From the corner of his eye, Naruto spotted Neji pushing through the crowd. "Neji! Operation Green-9-7!"

Neji nodded pulled a coat from somewhere and Naruto hugged Lee around the waist to push him back. Neji held to coat open and once Lee was in range he quickly tied the sleeves, effectively restraining Lee's arms. "Legs!" Neji shouted and Naruto carried Lee's legs while Neji carried his torso to the side of the room. ("Neji! My rivaaal! 'Par with me!" Lee was ignored.) The crowd parted and clapped politely.

Naruto marveled. That was the smoothest Operation Green-9-7 has ever gone. The last time he and Neji tried it, Lee broke free immediately and somehow ended up cutting down a tree. With nothing but his hands. Either he and Neji were getting better at this or Lee was losing his edge. Naruto hoped it was both.

They reached the side of the room and Naruto just knew he spoke too soon. One of Lee's legs squirmed free and kicked Naruto in the chest. Naruto fell back a few steps before bumping into someone and crashing to the floor. He was quick to his feet to offer a hand up. Ten Ten popped up and helped Neji control Lee.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Hn," was the only reply and the offered hand was ignored as a man with dark hair stood and dusted his clothes off. He was about Naruto's height, maybe a centimeter or so taller.

"Here. Let me get you something to drink." Naruto might have been panicking a little. He felt bad for knocking someone he didn't know over and wanted to do something nice for them.

"I don't need it," the man said before turning and muttering. "I shouldn't have even come to this stupid party."

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Sakura worked really hard on this party. You shouldn't insult it like that."

"I can insult it if I want to."

"Then why did you even bother coming if you're going to be such a prick about it?"

The man paused and then shrugged, "Whatever. I've been here long enough. I'm leaving."

There were three things in Naruto's life that would instantly make him see red. First, when someone replaces the toilet paper under instead of over. Next, when people turn over more than one lane of traffic. Admittedly, the first two were petty and he got over them in a matter of seconds, but this last one and also most recent addition was in a category of its own. The last one was the man in front of him. Naruto was under the impression that if he were to conduct a survey on what people thought of this dark haired man, nine out of ten people would say that a) he was hot, and b) he was a complete and total asshole.

He might have been a little irrational, but he was already on edge from dealing with Lee. His body moved and his fist connected with the bastard's face.


Sasuke was not having a good day. It was bad even before some blond moron decided to deck him. Sasuke would say that if his life quality when he woke up that morning was at one hundred percent that day, even though it was probably closer to eighty-five or ninety percent, it was definitely at an all time low now. The first chip probably happened at breakfast when he found out his shredded cheese was moldy after he dumped it on his eggs. It went down at least ten percent after he discovered the concert tickets he planned on purchasing were sold out almost immediately after going on sale. Every time Sakura texted him to remind him of the party that evening, which was every hour on the hour since nine in the morning, the percent went down by two to the power of the number of text messages.

Now he was at Ino's birthday party against his will with a life quality in the teen's and it was one hundred percent Itachi's fault. When he asked him about the middle school photos, he pretended he didn't know what Sasuke was talking about, but Sasuke knew better. He saw the slight crinkle at the corner of Itachi's eyes. It was not the crinkle of happiness or laughter. It was the crinkle of mischief. One that Sasuke has received time and again. Itachi is dead to him. Dead.

Already irritated, Sasuke just wanted to greet Ino, show himself to Sakura so she had proof he was there, and then get the hell out of there. But of course life was not that simple. It never was. There were so many people. He would expect this many people at a wedding reception or maybe a concert for an underappreciated indie band with a cult following, not Ino's twenty-second birthday party. The point was, he couldn't find Ino or Sakura.

Who he did find was Neji by the beverage table. Upon seeing him, Neji gave a small nod which he returned. It was all that was needed between them. Sasuke grabbed a drink and leaned against the table next to Neji to join him in staring at the crowd. Moments later another dark haired man joined them. It was almost peaceful, if Sasuke could tune out the loud overplayed pop music and forget the fact that he really didn't want to be there.

There was a commotion. Neji took one look at the dance floor before he rushed off swearing quietly under his breath. Sasuke's other silent companion sighed and wondered toward the dance floor too. Sasuke was perfectly content waiting by the beverage table.

When Neji returned carrying a man clad in green….spandex, Sasuke was two seconds from calling it good enough and leaving. Screw the party, screw Ino, screw Sakura, screw Itachi.

Sasuke turned to leave. And then Sasuke was on the ground. He stood up and the blond that ran into him was saying something. He replied automatically but was too distracted by the overwhelming want to just go home. It was official, Sasuke's life quality was at zero percent. So when his face snapped to the right and he staggered back and fell to the ground again, Sasuke did what anyone would do with the growing stress and disappointments of the day. He launched himself off the ground to tackle the blond menace around the waist.

Now Sasuke has never actually been in a real fight before, but he has heard that they were good for stress relief. After landing a solid hit on the blond's jaw, he would have to agree.

"NARUTO!" That was Sakura's voice. The man above him froze. Good. Sasuke landed another punch. He was winding back for another one when he froze too. "SASUKE!" A shadow loomed over them. Sasuke turned and a halo of light shadowed the fierce expression that twisted Sakura's face. Sasuke and the man were apart instantly.

If the day could possibly get worse, the look on Sakura's face was a promise.


Naruto was currently sitting at Sakura's kitchen table across from The Bastard. That's right. Capitalized. On a good note, he didn't look too pleased either. No one at the table did. Naruto noticed the frown gracing Sakura's small pink lips. The deep breaths she took through her nose told Naruto to brace himself for an explosion. He'd seen her do that type of breathing twice before in his life. Once it was directed at him and once at poor, poor Sai. He repressed an involuntary shudder. A phantom ache pulsed in his gut at the memories. The room was so quiet that he swore he heard the moment the last of her calm snapped as she whirled on The Bastard.

"You," Sakura jabbed a finger into Sasuke's chest. "You owe me. Remember the incident with the jelly?" Sasuke paled and a snicker escaped from Naruto's lips. Sakura heard and whirled around to him. "And you! Don't even get me started. Remember Grandma Haruno?"

"It was an accident! I swear!" Naruto said as he began to scoot back in his chair. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sasuke smirking.

Sakura followed Naruto's retreat. "You were playing catch with her vase. Catch. With. Her. Vase." With each word she stabbed her finger into Naruto's chest. It hurt.

"I already said I was sorry!"

Sakura ignored Naruto. "Now you two," Sakura glared, "will be making up. You need to be able to be in each other's company with out killing each other because we have a lot of common friends. I'm actually surprised you've never met until today."

"Thank god," Sasuke muttered.

"So," Sakura ignored Sasuke, "because I am so kind and great, I have two tickets to the fair next weekend that I will so graciously give to you two for I have an appointment at the spa with Ino." Sakura slammed her hand on the table causing Naruto and Sasuke to flinch. When she pulled her hand away, two tickets were in its place.

"You two will go to the fair and you two will have fun together. You will take pictures of proof of your ability to get along. I expect no less than ten pictures taken at different attractions at different points of the day. There will be no complaining. Capeesh?"

Naruto got as far as opening his mouth before Sakura turned her head towards him. "Capeesh?"

Naruto silently nodded. Sasuke silently said goodbye to another peaceful weekend.