Chapter 14

Switching Lives

Stand Up

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Sasuke paused in his nibbling of Sakura's neck before he lifted his head and started to rise from the bed, bringing a frown of disapproval to Sakura's lips. "What's wrong?" she asked as her boneless arms fell to her sides where they had once rested on his back.

"We have to go back to the party." Sasuke muttered as he padded out of Sakura's room and into the hallway that would lead to the living room.

Sakura lied on the purple silk sheets of her bed, a luxury she had allowed herself with her inadequate paycheck, for a few more seconds before turning to look at the clock on her bedside. She blinked a few more times before rolling out of the bed and then rising to her feet on the carpet. She then followed Sasuke into the living room to find him crawling on the floor looking for something. Any normal person would ask what he was looking for but Sakura was no normal person. Besides she had more important things on her mind. "Sasuke it's one in the morning. Shouldn't the party be over by now?"

He brought himself up to sit on his knees pausing in his searching to look up at her. "You really haven't been to a lot of parties have you?" Sasuke took a second to appreciate the spreading of pink across her face before explaining himself. "These parties can last till five in the morning sometimes. It's still early to most of the people at that party. Besides don't you think we forgot something at that party?"

Sakura looked down at him confused before her eyes widened "Ah we did take both cars didn't we?"

Sasuke nodded solemnly even as he bent down once more to continue his inspection of the floor "Right so if we don't go back then Hinata and Norton are going to be stuck at the mayor's house all nigh-day unless we can save them."

"Ah why can't they just call a cab?" Sakura muttered as she waved her hand in a dismissing gesture.

"It's Naruto." Sasuke replied simply "Damn it I really can't find those keys. Do you know where you have yours" At the silence that fallowed Sasuke looked up once more to see Sakura looking shamefully back at him.

"Hey, don't give me that look! I was distraught besides you lost your keys to."

"Yeah, yeah, just be quiet and help me look for the keys I'm pretty sure I threw them on the floor some where along here."

Sakura stared at Sasuke for a little longer marveling at how this man could order her around even when he was on his hands and knees. Sakura huffed and crossed her arms before sighing and just as quickly uncrossing them before dropping down to help Sasuke search for his missing keys.

~.~.~.~

Hinata took one deep breath before rising to her toes to look around the room once more. She'd seen ballrooms all her life this was nothing new. She had been raised in a world of elegance, grace and most importantly privilege. She supposed it was only natural to break apart from this world at an event that showed all of these facts. She did not regret her decision did not see it as something wrong, in fact she was a little excited that she was about to do something that she had always wanted to do.

So with her head up she glided across the grand room. Never once taking her eyes off the goal, her father, who was now staring at her with…disapproval? But still she walked on getting closer and closer. Never once looking back and never once letting go of the hand warmly but firmly grasping hers, her life line in a way.

Taking one last deep breath Hinata walked up to her father "Hello, father I was unaware that you would be coming home so soon."

Hinata watched as her fathers eyes trailed down to where her fingers were tangled with Narutos'. She was unsurprised when his eye brow rose in question when he gazed back over to her. "Where is Sasuke Uchiha?"

Naruto cleared his throat before answering for her "I believe Sasuke left the party with his girlfriend a while back."

"Sasuke has a girlfriend? I was unaware of this,"

Hinata nodded her head solemnly "Sasuke loves her," Hinata swallowed hard before continuing "And I love Naruto, so we have decided that the engagement is no longer necessary."

"Is that so?" Hiashi closed his eyes for a little while before opening his eyes and looking into her same pale gray colored ones "And who is this Naruto?"

It wasn't like he couldn't guess. Her father was no idiot, so it made not a lick of sense that he would ask her this question. But digging deeper into the meaning could be bad to. Perhaps she was only scared of her father, and that to, was a mystery. There was nothing to be scared of; he shouldn't be to upset about the marriage after all he had only told her to try, or something along those lines. There absolutely was nothing to be scared of.

"I'm Naruto" Naruto him self said as he took a step forward with an annoyed look on his face. He didn't like being ignored and being politely ignored was just worse. Although Naruto couldn't say that he wasn't happy hearing those three words come out of Hinata's mouth, but they could talk about that later.

"Oh? And what is it that you do?"

"I run a chain of ramen stand and restaurant and packaging business." Naruto offered blinking. Why was it important what he did?

Hinata's father was quite a few more seconds before letting out a long sigh. "It would have been nice to receive the same contacts as the Uchiha's. But I suppose I approve" Hiashi paused as he lifted his head to look directly into his older daughters eyes "After all I ever wanted was for you to be happy."

Hinata smiled as her father. She didn't know if she wanted to cry at how her father a phased his love for her. Or laugh at how she had built this experience, with an ending of her being disowned. She settled with giving her father tight squeeze. "Thank you dad, I love you."

Hiashi not one for public affections, or any type of affections…ever, merely patter Hinata on the back before clearing his throat and setting her away from him. "To be perfectly honest I already knew everything that was going on through Hanabi."

Hinata spluttered "What, but we paid her off."

"I must say out of the two of you Hanabi has much more business sense then you."

Naruto laughed at the subtle humor before turning back to Hinata and tugging on her arm. "Now if you will excuse us I think there's a delicious smelling fragrance coming from over there."

Hisagi nodded his head as he watched his daughter being dragged away from him. He wasn't so sure about this boy. From what he'd learned he was only twenty one and had a booming business in the food industry, but lived in a middle class neighbor hood. Try as he might he couldn't quite figure him out. But as he watched his daughter beam up at the boy a sparkled of absolute love in her eye he decided that it didn't really matter after all. After all it looked as if his daughter had him figured out just fine.

~.~.~.~.~

"Are you sure that they are still here?" Sakura asked as she swung the arm that's hand was being held by Sasuke's back and forth.

"Where else would they wander off?" Sasuke counted with a question of his own. He really didn't want to be here, he would much rather enjoy sleeping or watching a movie with Sakura. Yeah, a movie sounded good, it was a normal date. Now that he thought about it, they hadn't had a normal date since they met how strange.

"Hey Sakura," he ventured out load "Would you like to go out and see a movie with me tomorrow night?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side to study Sasuke's averted face. Sakura slowly smiled before leaning over and giving him a peck on the cheek. "Sounds good to me but you have to pick me up on time."

Sasuke grinned back and tugged on her hand to indicate that he wanted to walk faster. "Hmm well I'd have to check out the movie schedule. What would you want to watch?"

"It doesn't matter. Something that's funny." Sakura stopped and shook her finger in front of his face "Nothing scary I don't feel like watching anything like that you understand?"

He laughed and shook his head at her "Oh? Are you by any chance one of those screamers? If that's the case then I guess to get rid of me you should have taken me out to a movie."

Laughing along with him Sakura punched him playfully in the arm. She was slightly shocked that something so painful, only a few hours ago, could turn into something of a joke between them. "Don't me a moron I just feel like humor, something to make me laugh! Now come were going to be late picking up those friends of ours"

Yeah, yeah, I'm going, I'm going, you don't have to pull me." Sasuke complained as he allowed himself to be dragged by his surprisingly strong girlfriend. He had to admit thou; this party had been the best one he had ever been to. He hoped that from now on with Sakura by his side all the parties to come would be just as filled with laughter as this one.

~.~.~.~

"I don't think that went too badly." Naruto muttered as he took a cookie from a plate

Hinata laughed with the sheer pleasure of it. "I suppose I had built it up to be something so terrible. When it was really as simple as saying what I felt out loud." Hinata tapped the pads of her fingers together before crossing them.

Naruto nodded his head in understanding before looking across where there host was. Hinata watched as Naruto's cheeks puffed out as if he was trying to contain laughter. "What are you laughing at?"

"I was just thinking that our host sure is getting quite the show."

Hinata looked over to a smiling man standing in the corner listening as his wife ranted about all the people coming and going, and all the confrontations going on. Hinata laughed and gave a small shrug "What can I say? My family is a good topic for gossip."

Naruto gave her a serious face, and if it wasn't for the twinkle in his eyes she would have thought he was discussing something of great importance "That is so; I remember hearing about how all of you are were witches with your gray, almost white, eyes."

Hinata mirrored his look before she lost it and smiled "That's only my sister, I'm no witch I can't even run the vacuum cleaner by myself."

Naruto threw his head back and laughed. He couldn't help it, not only had she said something that made him happy but she had also, just a little while ago, said that she loved him. And he found that that had given him an emotional high, unlike anything else, not even ranma.

When Naruto had stopped laughing he turned to her with an emotion she could not recognize. "Do you?" Hinata tilted her head to the side to signal that she did not understand what he was asking. "Do you love me?" Hinata sputtered and looked away with a red face. Saying it in the heat of the moment was fine but saying it in the calm atmosphere to Naruto's face was something entirely different. But she had just gave herself a speech about being brave and this was a situation she could use. So she nodded her head and answered Naruto's question "Of course I love you. Otherwise I would have never said it."

Hinata's eyes widened when she felt warm arms wrap around her and draw here into the hot, sculpted sanctuary of Naruto's chest. Hinata could feel her heart beating to the same fast and erratic beat that she could hear from Naruto's, and his smell made her slightly dizzy, and safe. His arms' also made her feel safer then she had in a long time so she wrapped her arms around his back as he pressed his check against her head and whispered in her ear. "I love you too."

And those four little words were all she needed to hear to have her flying in the sky. Until, he pulled away from her and pulled her into a searing kiss. Sky? She was out of the atmosphere by then. And as his lips pushed against hers, she realized that nothing could possibly be as good as kissing Naruto.

Naruto reluctantly pulled away from Hinata to smile down at her "There. Now there's some gossip for everyone."

Hinata giggled up at Naruto and tuned to look at some people that were staring with shock. She herself was secretly pleased when they turned away with a blush or a scowl of disapproval. And was happy when she couldn't find her fathers face in the crowd, there was no reason to shorten his good move. She looked back up at Naruto with a smile "They seemed to have liked it."

Naruto chuckled before letting out a yawn "I don't know about you but I'm ready to head home."

"Ok that sounds nice I could go for a nap." And with the day that she had had she was ready to sleep for more then the six hours she had been getting lately. But when Naruto had failed to move she looked up at him with question

"Hmm you know I don't think we have a ride home."

Hinata frowned in confusion before remembering two people leaving at different times and only two cars. "So we don't have a car?"

"That's not entirely true. We came back to pick you up." Sakura said with a smirk as she looked at her two friends.

Naruto grinned back and then turned that grin to his girlfriend "See I told you they would clear up the lover spat."

Sasuke slapped the back of his head and turned a serious look to Naruto before grinning "I think we have given the people here enough of a show I believe it's time we went home."

Hinata smiled at Sasuke and nodded her head as the four started to walk out of the house and to the wide arms of there lovely beds. This day had been emotionally and physically draining. But Sakura saw it as a good thing that they had got it all done in a clean swoop of one day.

"Could we maybe go get ranma?" Naruto asked and by the way he burst out you could tell he had been hiding it for a while now.

"No," Sasuke calmly replied. Sakura watched as Naruto then began to beg and got the same cold reply thrown back at him. It was no Hollywood ending but then this wasn't an ending but neither was it a beginning. It was somewhere in the middle and that was just fine with her."

She had found everything she had ever secretly wanted. And it all came packaged up with Sasuke. Now all she had to do was find a way to get that red head out of the Sasuke's house and all would be fine. Sakura smiled as she allowed Sasuke to open the door for her and leaned her head back against the passenger seat to close her eyes only for a few seconds. And when she caught a whiff of Sasuke's smell, she knew that everything would work out just fine for her.

She couldn't wait to spread her arms wide and welcome the new life, mixed in with the old, with open arms. But as her brain started to drift into the abyss of happy oblivion, she knew that it was best to spread her arms in the morning.

~.~.~.~.~

Hiashi groaned at five o'clock in the morning as the shrilling sound of the phone woke him out of his deep sleep. He rustled with the covers as he stretched his arm out to take the phone from his bedside and hold it up against his ear. "Yes,"

"Hiashi?" came a shrilling female voice from the other end of the phone "You will never guess what I saw your daughter doing. She was kissing that young man at that party yesterday and of course…"

Hiashi let the rest of her voice carry away from him. After all he had just heard all he wanted to. He already knew that his daughter was going out with said young man and he in no way was shocked. Kissing a boyfriend was one thing, being found half naked in a room now that would have been a cause for concern. Seeing at that had not happened he in no way found the conversation at all important.

Hiashi yawned before addressing the annoying but surprisingly brave gossiper on his phone. "Excuse me, but I already know who the young man is and have found him quite agreeable for my daughter now if you will excuse me." Hiashi hung up the phone before lying back down on the bed. He hourly hopped that his next daughter did not have this type of problems in her life. He was an old man and couldn't take any more of these love problems and things of that nature. But seeing his load and devil like daughter getting into a serious relationship was at best laughable. But then again his shy and sweet daughter had gotten one. At least he didn't have to worry about Neji…he already had someone picked out for him.

~.~.~.~

"Good night Sakura. I'll see you in the morning." Sasuke whispered to Sakura as he gently laid her out onto her bed in his brother's mansion. Hinata had wanted to sleep in the house next to Narutos' and he saw no problem with it so he had token Sakura to his house. He gently pushed some hair away and kissed her brow before straitening up. "I love you Sakura" He took a few more seconds to stare down at Sakura's sleeping face before gently smiling and slowly exited the room.

"So did you finally figure it out?" Itachi asked as he walked down the hallway coming to a stop in front of his brother's form.

Sasuke grinned at his brother and nodded his head in agreement "I did on a number of different levels." Sasuke answered before he started humming as he walked on into his room and out of Itachi's sight.

"I wonder what that could mean." Itachi muttered as he walked on into his own room to see his wife lying on their bed on her stomach with her feet up in the air swinging back and forth as her hands flipped greedily through a book.

"Hanna I think my dear brother now has everything he will ever need." Itachi said to her as he sat down on his bed

"Of course he does" Hanna agreed as she came up on her knees and kissed his cheek "Although, it's no easy chore loving a Uchiha."

"Now don't be hasty, I'm sure she'll drive him just as crazy as he will her" Itachi offered as he smoothed his lips against her own.

"Don't worry, if there's one sure thing I know, it'll be worth it." Hanna said against his lips as she deepened the kiss.

~.~.~.~.~

Author's Corner:

Very Important: If you have the time please check out my poll, it relates to this story! Also I was wondering how everyone has to feel about me rewriting some of the chapters for this story before the epilogue comes out. As you probably noticed my writing style continuously changed during this story and I would like to go back and change the style, fix a whole lot of mistakes. Don't worry, the same story we'll be happening it'll just look a whole lot better! So what do you think of the idea?

Notes: HA! I got more Sakura and Sasuke moments out then I had originally thought I would! I'm so happy with this story! I would have like to have had a better ending but no matter how I tried it just wouldn't work out so this is what we our stuck with. Thank you so much for sticking with this story! We only have one more chapter to go and this story is finished! I know a whole lot of crying is going on right now but if you liked this story and might want to see more of it then check out my poll, pretty please!

Future: Also I have a whole bunch of new stories that will be coming out for Naruto soon, as well as a whole bunch of one-shots that I'll be putting up pretty soon, as well! So I hope all of you are happy about that. I'm also thinking about putting up a side story with this one hence the poll. So go to the poll right now! lol how many times have I said this now? I think I'll stop now.

Thanks so much for reading.

~Happy Holidays~