Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto, nor do I own the rights to the anime or manga in which the characters are derived. I do however own this story, since I am the one who wrote it. So keep your hands off!!! Thank you.

Chapter 14

Ino and Choji were sitting on the couch in the large living room, cuddling and talking to each other in low voices. When a piercing scream cut through the music, and reached there ears, both of them shot up.

"What the hell was that?" Choji exclaimed.

Ino felt a kernel of fear and worry settle in the pit of her stomach. "I don't know. Maybe someone's hurt."

"It sounded like it came from upstairs. Come on, let's go check it out. Like you said, someone might have gotten hurt."

Ino followed Choji as they rushed to the stair case. Around them, people stood frozen, looking up the stairs from where the scream had come from. As they reached the stairs, Ino and Choji met up with Naruto and Lee at the bottom.

"Did you guys hear that too?" Naruto asked them, his voice grave.

Ino and Choji nodded.

"Come on you guys!" Lee said impatiently, sprinting up the stairs.

The others followed them and when they reached the top, they gazed, horrified, at the sight before them.

Sakura was huddled against the wall with her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth. Her hair was dishelved, and her eyes were a little wild and unfocused, like she was seeing something that they couldn't. She was whimpering quietly.

Sasuke was against the other wall, clutching his left arm to his chest. He was breathing heavily, like he had just run a long time and there was sweat dripping down his face.

Ino heard a growl come from beside her. She looked over at Naruto and gasped as she saw that his eyes had turned red and fierce.

"What did you do to her?" Naruto growled. He flexed his hands, which were now sporting razor sharp claws.

Ino looked to Sasuke. His eyes were fixed on Sakura. She could tell that he wasn't paying attention to Naruto, or to any of them.

"SASUKE!!" Naruto bellowed.

Sasuke's eyes shifted toward Naruto. They locked eyes and stared at each other.

"What did you do to her?" Naruto asked again.

Sasuke leaned his head against the wall as he stared at Naruto, silent.

Ino cautiously moved toward Sakura. She bent down in front of her and put her hand on her knee. Sakura jumped at the touch of Ino's hand. Her eyes searched out for Ino's, fear and a touch of madness swirling within their jade depths.

Ino swallowed back the tears threatening to well up at the sight of her friend in this state. She smiled kindly at Sakura, careful not to startle her.

"Sakura… Sakura, do you know who I am? I'm Ino, remember? I'm your friend Sakura."

Sakura's brow furrowed at Ino's words. "Ino…?" Sakura said in a voice that sounded just like a child's, small and afraid.

"That's right Sakura, I'm Ino, your friend."

Suddenly, Sakura's eyes filled, and tears started to streak down her face. "Ino…"

Ino gathered Sakura against her and held her close as she rocked her back and forth. "Shh, it's going to be OK Sakura, it will be OK…"

Meanwhile, Naruto had moved toward Sasuke. He stood in front of him now, red eyes blazing. Sasuke's looked back at him indifferently.

Naruto growled and grabbed Sasuke's shirt collar. "Sasuke, I swear if you hurt her, you will regret it. Do you understand?"

"…Hnh."

Naruto let go of him and glanced down at his arm. The sleeve of the shirt seemed to have been burnt off, and the skin on Sasuke's arm was red and welted. The smell of burnt flesh and hair filled the hall. Naruto smirked.

"Seemed like she gave you something that you weren't expecting, huh Teme?"

Sasuke looked off to the side, giving the impression that he was ignoring Naruto.

Naruto snorted and turned toward Sakura and Ino. Ino looked up at him worriedly. Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The claws on his hands retracted, and when he opened his eyes, they were back to their original color.

He knelt next to Sakura, not touching her.

"Sakura? Are you OK?"

Sakura sniffled into Ino's shoulder before turning her head to look at Naruto. She sniffed again before answering, "I want to go home."

Naruto and Ino helped Sakura to stand up. They stood on either side of her, walking with her to the stairs. Choji and Lee stepped back to let Sakura through. Both sent glares at Sasuke before following.

Ino had Choji bring her car to the entrance. They carefully put Sakura into the passenger's seat, fastening her belt and closing the door. Ino talked with Naruto, Lee and Choji before getting into the car herself. She told them that she would take Sakura home, tell her aunt what happened and just leave Sakura with her aunt. She also mentioned what Sakura had told her about her old boyfriend. Ino suspected that whatever Sasuke had done, it had reminded Sakura of her old boyfriend and she had just reacted without thinking. Sakura had told her that they hadn't parted on the best of terms after all.

The boys agreed, and said that they would go back and confront Sasuke. They waved goodbye as Ino and Sakura drove away, and together they made their way back inside the house and up the stairs.

Ino and Sakura drove back to Sakura's house in silence. Ino kept glancing at Sakura nervously, wanting to know whether her friend was really alright. Sakura just stared out the window the whole way, not saying a single word.

When they reached Sakura's house, Ino helped her out of the car and walked with her up to the front door. She knocked on the door and waited. She heard someone moving around inside and it wasn't long before Sakura's aunt opened up.

"Hey guys, why are you back so soon…… Sakura? Sakura what happened!?" Tsunade gasped. She went to Sakura's other side and helped Ino to bring her inside. They sat her on the couch in the living room. Tsunade knelt in front of Sakura, pulling her hands into her own. She spoke gently to Sakura, rubbing her hands in between hers comfortingly as she asked her about what had happened.

When Sakura didn't answer, Ino answered for her. She told Tsunade about her losing Sakura in the crowd, when she saw her go into the kitchen and talk to Naruto and Lee, when she saw her on the dance floor with Sasuke Uchiha, when she heard the scream, when she came upstairs and found Sakura. She told Tsunade everything she remembered.

When she finished, Tsunade looked at Sakura sadly for a minute before sighing and standing up. She asked Ino to help her get Sakura into bed. They both walked her upstairs to her room. Tsunade asked Ino to stay in the hall as she helped Sakura change and get into bed.

Ten minutes after Tsunade closed the door to Sakura's room, she came back out. She walked Ino to the door and thanked her for brining her niece home. Ino asked Tsunade to let her know when Sakura was feeling better. Tsunade said that she would have Sakura call her. Ino agreed reluctantly. She got in her car, and with a wave goodbye to Tsunade, she drove off into the night.

Tsunade watched as Ino drove off before locking the front door. She went into the kitchen and sat at the table. She lowered her face into her hands and gave a shuddering sigh. What am I going to do…?

Naruto, Lee and Choji made their way through the crowd of people, all of whom had returned to enjoying the party, the earlier commotion already forgotten.

The three made their way up the stairs and down the hall. Sasuke was no where to be seen, but near the end of the hall, a light shone from underneath a door. They walked towards the door and pushed it open.

They entered a room that had blood red walls, and black and white pieces of furniture. Across from the entrance, there was another door, and it was open to reveal a bathroom, which was done in back and white. The sound of running water could be heard from inside.

Naruto, Choji and Lee walked in and closed the door behind them. A few seconds later, a shirtless Sasuke Uchiha walked out of the bathroom. His left arm, the one that had been burned, was wrapped in bandages. He looked at the trio, giving away nothing in his expression.

Naruto sat on the plush bed in the middle of the room. He laced his fingers together and looked over at Sasuke.

"Do you want to tell us what happened Sasuke? Do you want to explain why we found Sakura in the state we did, and why it seemed like she had just been to hell and back?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment before he went to his desk and pulled out a chair. He sat on it and sighed. He rubbed his hand across his face and suddenly looked very weary.

"You don't understand."

Naruto's jaw tightened. He clenched his hands together until his knuckles turned white. Lee and Choji stood silently to the side.

"Understand what Sasuke? What the hell wouldn't I understand? Because if you don't explain to me what happened, I'm just going to make my own assumptions. I'm going to assume that you brought Sakura up here for some perverted reason, that she fought you, that you attacked her, and that she lashed out at you. And if I'm going to assume all that, so will everyone else. So tell me Sasuke, what exactly won't I understand."

Sasuke sighed again. He mumbled something under his breath that was too low to hear.

Naruto leaned forward. "What?"

Sasuke mumbled a little louder, but it was still to low.

Naruto cupped his hand around his ear. "What?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto. Than he leaned forward and said very clearly, "She's my mate."

…………

"WHAT!?!?!?"