Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. *sob* I also don't own any of the songs used.

Chapter Ten

Sakura slid her heels on that matched her dress and they both went back across the hall so that Naruto could finish getting his shoes on. They entered his room and were met with the sight of his roommates finishing with their own dressing activities. The Uchiha was the most decent, finishing up with tying his bowtie around his neck. The top few buttons on his shirt were still undone but there was nothing that was too embarrassing. Well, not for a normal person. But no one accused the spare heir of the Uchiha family to be normal. But apart from him, the appearance of a female in the room was shocking and embarrassing to everyone involved - including Sakura.

"Hey, Dobe, ever heard of knocking!?" the Uchiha shouted.

Kiba threw a drumstick at the blonde's head. "You could have warned us, dumbass!"

"Get her out of here!" Neji shouted menacingly.

Naruto gulped and started back towards the other direction, leading away Sakura who was covering her eyes and blushing like a tomato. Just before the door closed, Naruto was hit in the back of his head with both of his shoes and a wadded of ball of his socks. Needless to say, Sakura had to lead a dazed Naruto down to the lobby to wait for the limo.

XXX

About an hour later they were joined by Naruto's roommates, none of them resembling the chaotic mess of teenage boys they'd been before. Sasuke's hair was neatly brushed into its normal duckbutt doo, but if anyone could pull off his look, it was him. His suit looked like it was tailored just for his body type and showed off his broad shoulders pleasantly. Neji decided to let his long hair hang casually down his back for the evening even though in the past he'd decided to tie it up for formal occassions. His suit was white with a black tie, which strangely complimented his nearly-gray eyes. Next was Kiba, dressed in a regular black tuxedo and black bow tie, though his family's insignia was on his pocket.

Sakura raised an eye at the doggish boy. "Kiba? You're coming?"

Kiba sweatdropped. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well, because... well..."

"Because your family is trash," Neji supplied for the pinkette. "To be honest, I'm a little surprised they're letting you mongrels in the place." It was no secret that Neji wasn't fond of Kiba because he had a relationship with Hinata. It was a wonder how they managed to live with one another without murdering each other.

Kiba narrowed his eyes menacingly at the Hyuga. "Tough talk coming from the Hyuga family's top reject."

"Do you wish to come a little closer and say that to my face, Dogboy?"

"As a matter of fact - "

Naruto stood up and got in between the fighting boys. Apparently he was already used to breaking up fights between them. "Tone it down, guys. We don't want a fight in the paper tomorrow morning. 'Konoha's Top Heirs Caught In All-Out Brawl," he mocked as if he was reading a newspaper headline.

Sasuke tucked his hands in his pockets and raised a dark eyebrow. "I didn't even know you knew how to use the term 'brawl' correctly in a sentence, Dobe."

"Teme..." Naruto growled warningly.

Sakura instantly felt bad for being the catalyst for the argument. She opened her mouth to take back her earlier statement to Kiba when, thankfully, Hinata decided to make her appearance.

Kiba instantly stopped his bickering with Neji to watch her approach. "Woah," he breathed at the sight of her. Which was an appropriate response. The dark haired heiress wore a single strapped floor-length black dress that clung to her developed curves with a slit that ran up the right side and stopped just below her thigh. Her shoes were silver strapped heels that matched the dazzling necklace that she wore around her neck and the tennis bracelet around her wrist. All in all, the young heiress was stunning.

Sakura smiled at Hinata. "Pleasure of you to show up," she taunted her jokingly.

Hinata blushed slightly. "I-I'm sorry. I got held up with my younger sister. She needed help getting ready. She's never worn makeup before and - "

"Where is my darling little cousin?" Neji interrupted her, looking around.

Hinata gave him a little glare for being rude but answered him anyway. "Father arranged for her to be picked up in a separate car. There are some minor details he wants to go over with her."

"Things that the two of us can't hear?"

Hinata's face suddenly darkened. "Such is the life of the less favored, Neji-nii-san," she muttered. Naruto, overhearing her, instantly became solemn since he knew what her situation was at the moment. Just then a black limo with the Hyuga insignia on it pulled up to the curb, followed by one with an Uzumaki insignia on its flag, an Uchiha limo, and then... Kiba's mom.

While Kiba was blushing and trying not to seem embarrassed, Naruto was confused about the car that was sent for them. He was sure that his dad would have chosen to get a car that represented them as the Namikaze family, not his mother's family. But he still took Sakura's hand and waved goodbye to his friends as he approached the car.

The door swung open, revealing Minato seated in the back. "Sorry I'm late, Naru-chan! Had to stock the mini fridge with sparkling cider. I know how you love sparking cider and I couldn't have my precious boy riding without it!"

Naruto blushed deep red. "What the hell are you doing here!?" he shouted loud enough to scare away a few birds.

XXX

[The Function Building]

Naruto helped Sakura out of the car and continued to hold her hand as they approached the building. When his father began to walk ahead, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I'm sorry this thing is going to be so boring. I'm sure dinner with your parents will be much more fun."

"Well, while we're on the subject, I apologize in advance for any crushed expectations that you have."

Suddenly, Minato appeared beside the couple with an annoyed expression on his face. "Did I just overhear you two talking about dinner with Sakura's parents?" he asked in the creepy voice that still gave Naruto nightmares sometimes.

Naruto's eyes got wide, realizing where this was going. "O-Oh, it's nothing like a formal dinner, Tou-san. Actually, it was last minute. Sakura-chan just invited me - "

"You're having dinner with her parents before me? Naru-chan where is the loyalty? I raised you from an infant and protected you from all harm and this is how you repay me?" Fat tears rolled down Minato's eyes like cascading waterfalls. "How could you?"

Sakura nervously moved behind Naruto as he tried to stammer out an excuse to his father. "H-hey dad, it's nothing like how you're making it, I swear. It was a spur of the moment thing, that's all. You, me, and Sakura can have dinner tomorrow night."

"They still would have met you before I met Sakura-chan!"

A vein popped in Naruto's forehead. "You were her teacher last year! Of course you met her!"

"Not as your girlfriend and not over a nice home cooked meal!"

"You don't cook, Tou-san!"

"I'd have the chefs whip something up then!"

Naruto facepalmed and grabbed Sakura's hand, walking away. "We'll have dinner at the house tomorrow night, Tou-san. There's nothing to do about it now," he called over his shoulder.

XXX

Sasuke stood alone in a crowd of people, looking around for one of his friends. He was beyond annoyed that he was forced to arrive alone by Fugaku who insisted that the Uchiha looked more powerful when they were isolated. Which was a load of crap to him since right now he just looked like the loser who doesn't have anyone to interact with, not a powerful Uchiha.

He sighed and grabbed a drink off one of the trays the waiters were toting about. He knew his dad wouldn't approve of him indulging in alcohol so early into the night but he'd need it to get through the event with the way things had started out. He should have not shown up and just begged Itachi to cover for him in regards to their dad. He sighed, too lated now.

He took a sip of the glass just as a snicker sounded behind him.

"A little early to drink, isn't it? Even some of the old drunkards aren't indulging yet. The thing just started," a female voice mocked him.

He whirled around and barely managed to not spill his drink as he was met with the eyes of the girl who he bumped into in the hallway. His eyes narrowed dangerously. "What, are you stalking me now?"

The corner of the girl's lips tilted up in a smirk. "Don't flatter yourself, Uchiha. I happen to have been forced to come here, too. Just like you, it looks like."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was an Uchiha?"

"You have that arrogant Uchiha way of holding yourself. Plus you've been standing alone for about fifteen minutes now, which is signature for the Uchiha. And since you have a baby face and I'm pretty sure that you aren't Itachi, I deduce that your name is Sasuke."

He rolled his eyes. "Powerful detective work. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to leave before you try to guess my weight." He turned to go.

The girl grabbed his arm and stopped him. "What, you aren't going to try to guess who I am? How very impolite of you. Of all things I never would have pegged the Uchiha as a rude bunch of people."

Sasuke turned to her to see that she wore a smirk on her face. Obviously she was playing him. But since he didn't have anything else to do and standing alone seemed like a fate worse than death, he decided to toy with her, too. "Alright then, I'll play. What with your powerful intuition skills, I guess that your a Yamanaka."

"Wrong."

Sasuke smirked. He figured. She lacked the blonde hair of the family. That guess was just a test run. "Wrong? Okay then. Let me take a minute to study you properly then."

XXX

Naruto sat across from Sakura at one of the tables, holding her hands in his.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?" he asked, rubbing circles in her palms.

She pulled one of her hands back and rested her cheek in her palm. "From what you told me last night, your dad shoudn't be here. So why did he decide to make an appearance?" she asked.

Naruto sat up straight, releasing her hands. "Oh, it's so it doesn't seem like such a huge leap when he steps down completely. He's allowing for a slow transition. Y'know, slowly giving me more responsibilities. I doubt he'll show up to the next one." He shrugged.

Sakura opened her mouth to offer words of encouragement, but was interrupted as Minato plopped down beside the two of them.

"So, Sakura, what are your goals in life?" he asked.

Naruto's vein pulsed again. "Tou-san, what are you doing?"

"Having dinner conversation with Sakura."

"I said we would have dinner with you tomorrow," he bit out.

"But why wait when there's a perfectly free moment right now?"

"Tou-san!"

XXX

Sasuke leaned against the balcony railing with the mystery girl who he still couldn't manage to identify. "Is your family even from Konoha?" he asked her with mock exasperation.

She smiled over the rim of her glass at him. "Yup," she answered.

He shook his head. "Inuzuka?" he guessed.

"Nope."

"I figured. You don't have the weird face tattoos. Uhh... "You were pretty smart before. Are you a Nara?" Even if the Nara weren't a generally wealthy family and the only reason Shikamaru was enrolled in Konoha's boarding school was because of a scholarship, it was worth a shot.

She scoffed. "At least use common sense, Uchiha. Come on, what families from Konoha are here?"

"Aburame?"

"No. Ew, I hate bugs. And everyone from that family is a creepy bug researcher."

Sasuke threw up his hands. "Hyuga?" he asked in desperation.

The girl smiled. "Yup."

"What?"

"Yup, I'm a Hyuga."

He smiled. "Sweet. Part of the puzzle is solved. Okay, main branch or leftovers?" he asked.

"Nuh uh uh, you have to guess."

"Secondary branch."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a secondary branch member?"

Sasuke looked sheepish. "To be honest, I can't tell the difference between the two branches. You all look the same to me. But if I had to guess, I pick that. Because you don't seem like you have a stick up your ass like the other main members."

The Hyuga girl rolled her eyes. "Does Hinata seem that way to you?"

"She's different."

"Well, I guess I am, too. Because you were wrong."

Sasuke blushed. "G-Gomen."

She held up a hand. "Shut up and keep guessing."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're pretty young."

"Not much younger than you."

"Young enough. You're a member of the main family, meaning one of Hiashi's daughters."

"And...?"

"And you're not Hinata..."

"So...?"

Suddenly the door to the balcony opened and Neji appeared in the doorway. He looked shocked to see Sasuke and her together, but quickly fixed his eyes on the young Hyuga. "Hanabi-sama, your father requests your company. He sent me to find you. Have you been out here the whole time?"

Hanabi pouted, giving Sasuke an apologetic look. "You ruined the game, Neji," she complained, but walked in the direction of the doors. She looked at the Uchiha boy over her shoulder. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun. Duty calls." And then she and Neji disappeared back into the building.

Sasuke stood staring after her, slightly shocked at how their game came to a sudden halt. "Hanabi," Sasuke breathed out, tasting the name on his lips.

A/N I don't have much to say... This chapter took a super duper long time to write and was a PAIN. But here you go :) Also, I think ten chapters is a good enough point to stop rapidly updating without a purpose. So the updates should be more regular and less sporadic :)

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