Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto.


Sakura ran down the campus sidewalk dodging other students who were walking. They acted as obstacles for her to swerve around. Sakura skillfully leapt up the stairs of the dorm to the 2nd floor where her room was. She fumbled through her purse for the keys and quickly unbolted the lock and burst into the apartment room. Sakura didn't see Sasuke anywhere so she walked into the bedroom after closing the front door. She stepped in and heard the shower water running.

"I swear… does he always have to be in the shower when I get home?..." Sakura mentally scoffed as she walked towards the walk-in closet.

She thumbed through dresses and blouses and even skirts. She didn't know what to expect over at the Uchiha main estate. They were obviously a very wealthy family.

"Formal" a husky voice stated confidently at the zoned out figure in the closet.

Sakura came back to reality and snapped her head in Sasuke's direction. She didn't realize that he could read her thoughts that easily.

"Oh…" she replied a bit flustered, staring hopelessly at her clothes.

The shirtless Sasuke, who was dressed in black dress pants, walked over to peer over her shoulder at her assortment of options. He had a navy blue dress shirt clasped in one hand, and used his other hand to thumb through Sakura's clothes. Sakura was thankful that he at least had some pants on this time, but the water dripping on her bare shoulder from his wet hair wasn't 'helping' either. She'd wrapped herself in a towel in the closet after undressing while deciding on new clothes and now she wished she hadn't.

Sasuke finally pulled a selection from the rack and handed it to Sakura saying, "Wear this."

Sakura took the dress on the hanger, slightly baffled. Sasuke had never helped her pick anything out before, and he didn't make a bad selection either. Sakura held up the pretty green kimono that matched the shade of her emerald eyes. There were pink flowers all over it. Then it had a navy blue obi. She didn't even know that it was there. Then again, after her friends' shopping spree, and Sasuke constantly buying things, she wasn't sure what she had anymore.

"Hurry up" a voice said flatly from the other side of the closet door.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she slipped on the kimono and tied the obi in the back. When she walked out, Sasuke's eyes widened for a brief moment before they returned to their normal width.

"I need make-up" Sakura voiced her thoughts aloud as she walked over to the dresser with the mirror on it.

"No" Sasuke said flatly while making his way towards her, "You've made us late enough as it is" he added as he took her wrist and drug her towards the door.

Sakura's protests were ignored as Sasuke led her out of the dorm room, locking the door behind them.


Ino was sipping on a nice glass of hot tea sitting out on one of the patio spaces of a small on campus café. She had her hot tea in one hand, and the latest gossip-rag magazine in the other.

"Hey! Hey! Hey you!" she heard someone shouting while coming towards her.

Ino turned her head and one of her eyes starting twitching as she tried to ignore Naruto's presence coming closer. She did care about the blond as a friend, but he was intruding on her favorite past time and he had no right.

"Ino! I'm talking to you!" Naruto yelled while standing right in front of her.

Ino took a deep breath, closing her eyes then sighing, letting the breath out and reopening her eyes while tilting her head, telling the other blond, "Naruto, haven't I told you how importing my me time is?"

Naruto rolled his eyes pretending to ignore the high maintenance blond's snippyness then slammed his hand on the table and declared "I can't find Sakura-chan anywhere!"

"No shit Sherlock…" Ino sneered, "She's with Sasuke!"

"How was I supposed to know that?" Naruto whined.

Ino got up from her seat with her arms crossed and walked away with her magazine still skimming over a few irresistible stories. Naruto followed after her demanding answers.


"Sasukeee" Sakura whined.

Sasuke closed his eyes in irritation for a moment and grunted. Sakura crossed her arms and huffed at him before looking away from him and sticking her nose up in the air. The two sat in the car in silence for a few moments while headed to his family's house.

Sakura had finally gotten fed-up with the incessant side glances from Sasuke and the eerie sound of the air condition system in the car and asked, "When are we going to get there?"

Sasuke pinched the skin between his eyes in frustration and answered, "Ten minutes."

"You said that ten minutes ago" Sakura mumbled.

"And I'll keep saying it until we get there or until you stop asking."

Sakura glared at him intensely, but when she realized that she was being ignored she just pouted, huffed, and puffed while looking out the passenger seat window. Sasuke didn't know how he managed to put up with her sometimes, but he knew that if she arrived in a bad mood, things would only become worse for both of them.

"Sakura, listen" Sasuke let out a sigh.

Sakura raised a brow and turned her head to face the man in the car beside her, "Hm?" she asked.

"I need you to be on your best behavior like your life depends on it."

Sakura looked at him confused for a moment then busted out laughing, "Come on Sasuke! No one's family is that bad."

Sasuke grunted and muttered under his breath, "You'd be surprised.

But the side comment was unnoticed by the giggling girl beside him.

"At least she's in a better mood…" he thought to himself as they pulled into his family's driveway leading up to their ten car garage.

When they turned the corner of the drive way Sakura saw the estate and yelled, "Holy sh-"


"-it!" Ino screeched as Naruto grabbed her magazine out from under her nose while walking along the side walk.

"Tell me where they are or I'll rip this magazine in half and then in half again, and again, until it turns into confetti for my next frat party" Naruto ordered with authority in his voice.

Ino shuttered at the mention of her beloved gossip rag's fate. She had to do something! She decided that the knuckle head college student couldn't manage to go there anyway or mess anything up so she decided against her better judgment to tell him.

"I don't negotiate with terrorists" Ino quipped and scowled at the man holding her tabloid ransom while holding out her hand expectantly then adding, "But if you must know, they're with Sasuke's family at their house. Now give it."

Naruto raised a brow then asked her, "Doing what?"

"That wasn't part of the deal, now give me back my magazine!" Ino hissed.

Naruto shuddered from the murderous aura being emitted from the homicidal female standing in front of him. He decided he might just push one more button.

"I command you to tell me!" Naruto said with audacity.

Ino's faced turned even more sinister as she seethed, "Talk to me like that again, and I'll eviscerate you then peel you inside out."

Naruto dropped the magazine and took small steps backwards. Ino watch him retreating with a sinister smirk all over her face. She bent down and picked up the magazine with a triumphant expression and picked up reading it where she left off and continued walking down the sidewalk.


Sasuke and Sakura made their way up the front steps of the house which seemed to never end. The house looked bigger than most mansions that Sakura had ever pictured in her mind. Sakura's hand was shaking as she reached for the door bell. Sasuke waited for a few moments before he stared at her then grabbed her wrist, lowered her hand, stepped in front of her, and rang the door bell instead.

A tall charcoal haired man with onyx eyes answered the door "Sasuke, it's good to see you."

"Itachi…" Sasuke muttered vehemently but bowed ever so slightly out of respect for his older sibling.

Itachi raised a brow then stood on his toes to peer over Sasuke's shoulder. He saw a beautiful pinkette in an emerald green kimono gazing back into his questioning eyes. Itachi was careful not to give an angry aura through his eyes, because that wasn't how he felt at all. He felt somewhat delighted and intrigued by this young woman's interest in his little brother. The normal women that Sasuke tended to attract were not only ugly in Itachi's opinion, but also high maintenance, out spoken, rash, and arrogant. Yet despite his past bad luck he managed to find a beautiful girl who was quiet, seemed to understand social queues, wasn't a gold digger, simplistic, and open minded. Itachi also felt an attraction to her in his own way, but he mostly just felt like he had an obligation to take care of and watch over her for Sasuke. The whole reason he told Sasuke to come to the main house is not only because it was his birthday, but also because he wanted to get the family to accept her. It might be hard with that crazy pink hair of hers and those equally disturbing green eyes, but once you looked past all of that she was, in Itachi's opinion, the ideal match for his dearest little brother.

"Itachi, why are you staring at me like that?" Sakura asked with a reddened face, looking to the side to avoid his gaze.

Itachi didn't realize that he'd been staring at her for that long. He was embarrassed at himself and allowed a small tint of pink to surface on his cheeks.

He scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "Sorry Sakura, I didn't mean to stare. You're just so... so beautiful tonight."

Sakura giggled, still slightly uncomfortable, then smiled and looked at Itachi as he invited both Sasuke and her inside the main house. She gasped at the elaborate marble floors of the place and just about everything else inside it. Sasuke didn't seem very impressed but just passively handed his windbreaker jacket to a maid standing by the door. The two walked down a long and elegant hallway behind Itachi. They were headed towards two large double doors at the end of it. Once they reached the doors Itachi stopped for a moment and put his hand on the door knob. He looked back over his shoulder at his little brother who simply nodded as if to say 'I'm ready.'

"They're here!" Itachi cheered as his flung the doors open and walked into the room with the two love birds following behind him.


"Man I can't believe that Sasuke… First he doesn't do anything to show feelings for her, now just a few days later he's taking her to see his whole family?" Naruto muttered as he walked along the street back to his dorm.

"What?" came a loud and disgruntled shout from behind the brooding blond.

Naruto spun around from the initial shock to come face to face with one of his classmates, Rock Lee.

"What has Sasuke done with my Sakura-chan?" Lee shouted as his made a fist and a serious expression.

"Uh… your Sakura-chan?" Naruto chuckled with a somewhat amused look on his face.

"Well she will be mine! I will use all my youth to retrieve her faltering heart!" Lee shouted with a determined stance and hearts in his eyes.

Naruto tip-toed away from the insane classmate and slipped into his dorm-room in order to escape any possible injuries from Lee's "youthful" intensity.

"Look at that pink hair…" one of the elder women whispered to the other sitting next to her, about the same age.

Everywhere Sakura walked she could hear critical remarks about her posture, hair, eyes, poise, skin, figure, weight, nails, shoes, PDA from holding Sasuke's hand, and just about everything else you can imagine. She didn't feel like anyone besides Sasuke and Itachi even wanted her there.

"Calm down, they'll stop it in a few minutes" Sasuke said monotonously as he let go of Sakura's hand and walked over to chat with a few of his relatives.

Sakura didn't know what to do. Sasuke had obviously walked away from her since he let go of her hand, and she didn't want to be a pest and follow him. That would just give the old ladies more to gripe about. Sakura stood there out of place, trying to act as if she had everything together, but to be honest she was on the verge of a mental break down from her anxiety. She was about to make a mad dash for the bathroom when someone tapped her shoulder.

Sakura turned around and gave the beautiful long black haired woman a quizzical look mumbling, "Um… hi?"

The woman simply smiled at Sakura requesting, "Come, please follow me."

Sakura just got even more confused, but none-the-less followed the woman into an area that seemed to be a bit less crowded in the Uchiha mansion. She was surprised that their family was so big! Although Sasuke said that business associates and colleagues of his father's businesses would be there too.

"So tell me about yourself" the woman chirped.

Sakura examined the woman closer before answering and thought "she must be one of Sasuke's cousins… she so young, and looks so much like him!"

Sakura found herself staring and embarrassed she blushed and answered, "Well… I'm not sure what to say. Is there anything specific you would like to know?"

The woman suddenly blushed as well and laughed, "How rude of me! I'm asking you questions and I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Mikoto Uchiha, Sasuke's mother."

Sakura's jaw dropped at how beautiful his mother was at her age. She would at least have to be in her early 40's with a son in his 20's and another in his teens.

"Uh... I… well... Wow... Just wow…" Sakura stuttered.

Mikoto laughed then playfully slapped Sakura on the shoulder teasing, "You didn't think I was his sister did you?"

"Something like that" Sakura mentally muttered to herself while she rubbed her arm.

"There you are" a voice came from the door way.

Sakura spun around to see Sasuke standing there leaning in the door way.

"Yep!" Sakura chirped, trying not to sound too overwhelmed or intimidated.

Sasuke smirked and shook his head knowingly at how hard she was trying to cover it up and simply walked towards her saying, "I went to go talk to my cousins for a few moments and when I turn around you were gone."

"Well you see…" Sakura started to say while fidgeting with her fingers.

"I wanted to talk to her!" Mikoto pleaded with a pouting expression.

"Mother…" Sasuke said in a grumble that sounded almost like a warning.

"But Sasu-chan you must understand that I have to meet every single girl that you date!" Mikoto stated in a somewhat playful tone of voice.

After raising two sons, one would only hope that she would have a sense of humor.

"Should I introduce her to the rest of the family?" Sasuke asked as he held out his arm for Sakura to take.

"Yes! I have my security blanket back!" Sakura cheered inwardly as she quickly grabbed Sasuke's arm and latched onto it.

Sasuke just raised a brow at her thinking, "That bad huh?"

"Well if they haven't seen her already… it's hard to miss that beautiful hair" Mikoto said as she hovered around Sakura inspecting the mop of pastel pink tresses.

"You hide your roots especially well" Mikoto observed.

Sakura twitched for a moment the corrected her, "Actually, it's my natural hair color."

"Oh" Mikoto said embarrassed with a tint of pink on her cheeks.

"If you'll excuse us mother" Sasuke said as politely as he could.

"Oh don't mind me!" Mikoto chuckled while making a 'shoo' motion with her hands.

Sasuke rolled his eyes then led Sakura back into the main room.

Sakura took a deep breath then asked, "Is all your family like this?"

"You don't know that half of it…"

"Sasuke!" a booming voice echoed from the other side of the room.

Sasuke just sweat dropped and thought, "Not him. At least not yet."

Sakura looked around the room trying to locate the source of the booming voice, but to no avail. Before she was able to locate the source someone jumped in front of her and bent down to stick their face an inch from hers.

"This" Sasuke said with an irritated expression, "is my dad, Fugaku."

Sakura let out a nervous chuckle and smile as Sasuke's dad continued to look her up and down from head to toe with a judgmental expression.

"She's an odd one" Fugaku said looking to his son.

"Fath-"

"But she seems like a keeper!" Fugaku added quickly as he smiled, waved, and walked away.

"That was, intimidating" Sakura stuttered as she tried to regain her composure.

"I know it was, but you just have to deal with it in this family" Sasuke sighed in frustration as he was bidding goodbye to some of his family.

"Leaving already?" Sasuke's older cousin Shisui asked.

"Aa."

"What about the birthday cake?" Itachi chirped, slinging his arm over Shisui's shoulder.

"I don't like sweets so you have fun eating it for me" was Sasuke's somewhat bitter reply.

"Oh fine, but you will open your birthday present, won't you?" Shisui asked holding out a neatly wrapped box with a ribbon on the top.

"Fine" Sasuke grumbled as he took the box from his cousin.

When he opened it he reached in only to pull out black boxers with the Uchiha fan printed all over them. He didn't know why his cousin enjoyed embarrassing him like that, but Sasuke just calmly placed them back in the box with his eyes closed, eye brows twitching, and his face starting to turn red.

"Look! He's blushing!" Shisui shouted followed by hysterical laughter and high fives.

"Hn, he did just pull out his underwear in front of the entire family and his girlfriend" Itachi chuckled.

"You people disgust me" Sasuke muttered as he walked out the door.

"You forgot your present!" Shisui shouted as he threw the box that held the boxers at Sasuke.

The box hit the back of his head and he wanted to kick it across the yard and maybe even the other side of town, but he did like the way they looked, so he decided against it and just stuck it in the trunk of his car.

"I hate going here" He grumbled and turned the ignition.


To Be Continued…