A/N: Okie dokie. Here's chapter 8. I wanted to apologize for the way things turned out in chapter 7. I wasn't feeling inspired, and I forced myself to write anyway. So at least this time, I waited for the ideas to hit me. Now, let me see. Warnings? OOC of course! Blushing bishis, invasion of personal space, and a very childish conversation held (on one end) by Naruto. Beware the Shentenshin.

Legal Stuffiness: I don't own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be driving a Honda.

Time: 4.5 years after Sasuke's departure

Place: Konoha, Uchiha Compound

Mission: Dinner for 15

Chapter 8: Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? Everyone!

Sasuke's eyes scanned the people at the table. He sat on one end, with Sakura to his right, and Neji to his left. Naruto was on the other end, still fuming at him, with Hinata and Hanabi sitting on either side of him. His friend was dressed, for once, impeccably. Sasuke had heard him fussing over his clothes from out in the hallway, and was prepared to walk into the room to make several derisive comments when he heard a soft voice grow slightly exasperated and change to a firm tone.

"Naruto-kun, hold still." Hinata's tone made the blonde ANBU shut up, alright. Sasuke laughed to himself as he passed the room by, hearing nothing but the rustle of fabric as Naruto was aided in dressing himself.

In fact, Hinata had done an excellent job. The dark blue kimono that Naruto wore was adjusted perfectly, and Sasuke hid a small smile at the thought of Hinata shushing his friend and tugging him into something he usually didn't wear, all for the sake of being social. He looked over at Sakura. She seemed happy.

Her kimono was simple, light green with small pink shippou patterns along the hem and sleeves, and she smiled at him as she passed a bowl of rice over to Neji. "Aren't you hungry, Sasuke? You haven't touched your food." He smiled over at her weakly. He wasn't really feeling like eating anything. That wasn't the purpose for this gathering. At least, not to him.

Straightening, he used his now-empty teacup as an impromptu gavel to get the attention of his guests and friends. He suddenly wondered where Kakashi had slipped off to, but then thought better of it. The man came and went as he pleased, and there was no keeping track of him. "As many of you know, I've called you all here for a reason."

All eyes turned to him, with varying expressions. Ino's eyes smoldered in quiet anger, while those of the Hyuugas at the table remained blessedly unreadable. Naruto's expression was completely blank. For the most part, his guests were expectant. He cleared his throat. "I would like to start by making an apology." At that, Ino's expression changed dramatically. Her eyes seemed to find her plate very interesting, and Sasuke wasn't going to make her feel more uncomfortable by addressing her directly. "Three years ago, I made the mistake of betraying the village. But even though I'm sorry for that, I wanted to tell you that I'm more sorry to have caused pain for many of you here."

Chouji laughed, and Shikamaru leaned around his pudgy friend, addressing Sasuke. "Oi. None of us hold a grudge." Was it just him, or did Sasuke see the lazy jounin eye Ino pointedly? "Besides, you're back where you belong now, baka. So no more running off. I don't want to have to go after your ass again. That would throw my whole schedule off."

Across from him, Ino snorted. "What schedule would that be? Hanging around Tsunade-sama's office and sleeping on the roof of the Academy rather than training?" If Shikamaru had been more energetic, he'd have glared at her. But, being the loafing shinobi that he was, he settled on a lazy pout.

Neji's voice brought the conversation back to the topic at hand. "After the apology, what did you need to say?" The Hyuuga's gray kimono was unusually loose, covering his folded hands and revealing a hint of the mesh shirt beneath, just at his neck. Sasuke's first impression of this mode of dress was that it was calculated to make him seem smaller than he was. He eyed Sasuke, sizing him up. The glance didn't necessarily make him nervous, but he wasn't comfortable with the way that he was being looked at, in the least.

"The Sound Four never returned to report to Orochimaru. Neither did Kimmimaro. I've been told a little of what happened, but I wanted to hear it from you." He locked eyes with Neji, entering into something of a battle of wills. His distant cousin seemed to be trying to dig out his reasons for this by boring into this brain. Before he could become completely taken over by that feeling, he continued in a more subdued tone, "Would you like to start, Neji-san?"

A pounding farther down the table caught his attention, and he saw Chouji fixing him with a gaze that was unusually intense for him. "How about you let me start, since I fought the first guy?" Shikamaru cleared his throat behind Chouji. The hefty shinobi looked behind him, and at his friend's slightly annoyed expression, said apologetically, "Gomen. I think Shikamaru wants to say something."

The heir of the Nara clan stood, being oddly formal for him, and turned to Sasuke. "Before we tell you what happened, why don't you tell us why you came back?" All eyes swiveled from Shikamaru to Sasuke, making him feel not a little uncomfortable.

Instead, Sakura piped up, "I beat him up."

There was sniggering the whole way around the table, and Sasuke leaned over to her and whispered, "Sakura, darling, do me a favor." His voice was gentle and dangerous at the same time.

"Yes, dear?" She smiled in an overly-sweet way, which he knew was just as dangerous.

"Shut up." He kissed her cheek, and resumed his seat. She wore a slightly annoyed expression, and drummed her fingers on the table. Across from her, Neji shifted in his seat, slightly to his right. If she were going to hit Sasuke, he didn't want to be in the line of fire, apparently. Raising his voice so that the rest could hear, he said, "Yes, she did beat me up. But that's not why I came back. I'd been looking for a reason to, anyway. I figured out a while ago that Orochimaru was getting the better end of the deal. The whole thing was a fortunate coincidence. Sakura and Naruto were…in the neighborhood, and I jumped at the chance to come home." That answer didn't seem to satisfy Shikamaru.

"And the possibility of fighting Akatsuki and killing your brother had nothing to do with it?" The lazy genius smirked as he sat on his cushion, leaning back on his hands.

"I didn't say that, now, did I? I'm not stupid enough to try to pretend that it didn't affect my decision. What I will say is that even though it's part of my reason, it's not all of it. I have many reasons for returning. One of which is that Orochimaru is, was, and will be until the day he dies a complete bastard." He shifted in his seat, and the rest of them simply looked at him. He wondered when the real questions were going to start. When would they be asking for his other reasons? He didn't know if he was ready to discuss them. But, he was the one who called everyone here, so he supposed he should be the one to do the explaining if it came down to it.

Shikamaru, as perceptive as ever, only smiled. Sasuke could swear that his old classmate had developed the ability to read minds, because he knew exactly what that lazy smile meant. It meant that he would have a talk with him later, and there would be no holding back information to save his pride. The thought didn't really appeal to him. He recalled a conversation he'd had with Sakura on the way back to her house on the night they'd been attacked by Kabuto. She'd told him that of all of the members of the recovery team, Shikamaru carried the deepest scars.

He hadn't been hurt physically, at least other than a broken finger. But he was plagued by the guilt of being the team leader, and having every member other than himself nearly killed. Sakura had told him a little bit, though Naruto remained silent on the subject. There was no need to ask the man anything about their fight. He'd been there. He remembered very well every detail, every emotion. What he wanted to know was exactly how badly the rest of them had suffered.

Sasuke then turned his gaze to Chouji, waiting patiently for the man to begin. After a short description of how the group avoided being leeched to death, Chouji gave a gripping (although difficult to hear around all the food in his mouth) account of his fight. Sasuke's jaw kept hanging open. At one point, Sakura reached over and closed it for him. The entire time Chouji spoke, Sasuke could feel Ino's eyes on him, that insistent little tickle at the back of his mind. She was watching, gauging his reactions. He knew that she was the one who would need the most convincing.

For a moment, he looked over at Ino. She seemed to be measuring him in some way. Then, all too late, he realized what it was that she was doing. Her hands had formed her signature jutsu, but had done so on the table-top, so that it looked as if she'd only been fidgeting. The entire time, she'd been measuring the angle to his body from her hands. He felt like a complete moron. Then, a thoroughly uncomfortable feeling, like something very large trying to squeeze into his head through his eye sockets, came over him. He could hear her, feel her inside his head.

And there, in his head, she said, Sasuke no baka, are you really sorry for what you did? You look like you are, but are you really? Then he felt her rifling through his head.

He said mentally, Get out of my head.

Nope. Gotta find out if you're really sorry. I'll only be a minute. Ino continued her search, but then he felt her squirm in his head. Holy shit! What the hell? Are you insane? Ino had just found his memories connected to Orochimaru. There were things in there that even he had repressed, and that he surely didn't want to think about. He knew which one she was talking about, though. Orochimaru did not approve of using posts to train against, even when inventing new techniques. For every jutsu he taught Sasuke, his training was done on a living, breathing, and often screaming, human being.

Ino. Ino? Are you alright? Ino, answer me! He was beginning to worry. All he heard in his head coming from her was a soft whimpering noise. Ino, please. You should understand now why I wanted to come back…I hated it there. I was turning into something that I never wanted to be, just so that I could be strong enough to kill someone who was even worse than I was. I started not to care if I lived or died, Ino. I didn't care, just as long as Itachi died. I could die, too, or just sink into oblivion. It didn't matter. Then, one day, I looked into the eyes of the man I was going to be practicing on. I saw life, his life, before me. He had done nothing to me. I had no reason to kill him. He's still alive, Ino. I let him go. He's still alive. Sometimes, Ino, the path to true knowledge of yourself is through pain, and in my case, insanity.

Sasuke, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. How do you stand living with all that pain? It's hurting me just being in here! He could feel her floating away, leaving his head. When he came to his senses, nearly everyone was staring at him. He'd been sitting there, staring at absolutely nothing, slack-jawed. The exception, of course, was Konohamaru, who was holding Ino's body, looking worried. She opened her eyes, and stared at him. Then, to his surprise, she rose shakily to her feet and walked over to him, her sky-blue kimono almost seeming to billow behind her.

There was no sound. No one moved. No one breathed. She knelt beside him, and put her arms gently around him, as a mother does to comfort a crying child. Pulling him into an embrace that reminded him so much of his mother that it frightened him, she whispered, "I forgive you," and then let him go. Then, she shuffled back over to her seat. Sakura was looking at him with the fires of ten different kinds of hell in her eyes, but at his expression, she stopped, and then looked at Ino. The blond kunoichi seemed as if she were about to cry, and Sasuke could relate. He hadn't thought about Orochimaru's "training dummies" for a while, since he'd refused to use them.

"G-Gomen," He stammered, "I lost myself there for a moment. Please, who was speaking?" Then, Kiba's voice filled the room, because he'd finished telling his part of the story, and Neji was on to his.

"Oi! Sasuke-teme, you—" Neji held up a hand to quiet him. Once again, the table was silent.

"Kiba-kun, please. Calm yourself. Sasuke explained what happened. Now, I think that's enough. We will come to you with this later, Sasuke. For now, let us enjoy the food that you, Sakura-chan and Hinata-sama have prepared." Voices were no longer heard, only the bustle of table-noises. For nearly twenty minutes, it went on this way. Then, Hanabi broke the silence.

"Sasuke-kun, about our mission today?"

Hinata giggled across the table from her sister. Sasuke merely smiled. "Yes? I believe it was you who returned first, Hanabi. Collect your prize." The girl looked around the table. She seemed to size up everyone from Konohamaru on down. Finally, as her eyes settled on the man seated next to her, she smiled. There is a saying in Konoha.

A smile is worth a thousand words. The smile of a Hyuuga, only one: fear.

This is an old saying, one that is meant to illustrate the terrifying power of the clan. Now, the Hyuuga smile more, with people like Hanabi and her sister around, but then again, there were times when the old saying still applied. Judging from Naruto's eyes, he understood the saying all too well. Sasuke looked at Neji, who merely shrugged.

"What prize?" Kiba asked.

"I told Konohamaru, Moegi and Hanabi that whoever got back with their portion of the supplies first would get to spar with whoever they wanted. Apparently, she chose Naruto." At that, Kiba burst into peals of laughter. He leaned back on Akamaru, who made a large dog-grunt at the sudden pressure against his ribs.

"Oh, no!" Naruto raised his hands in front of him, shaking them as if to ward off the situation. "I'm not sparring with her!"

"Chicken?" Hanabi said in a quietly mocking tone. Neji snorted laughter next to Sasuke. Sasuke stared. He couldn't remember ever hearing the man laugh before.

"I am not!"

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too…You're scared to fight me." It was not a question, or even a suggestion. It was something that the girl knew in the pit of her stomach to be true. He fidgeted under her intense stare. "It's too bad. I was hoping to see how you'd improved since your lucky win against my cousin. Oh, well. I guess my second choice would—"

"Ooooh, no you don't. You're not gonna treat me like some dead-last chicken. I'll fight you." He looked over at Hinata. "Just make sure I don't hurt her too bad, ok?" From the look on Hinata's face, you'd think he had told her the sky was purple. She was not concerned for her sister's well being. She was, very obviously, concerned for his.

"Naruto-kun, please. Don't antagonize her. She's a little scary when she gets angry." Hinata said, putting a hand on his arm. He looked down at her hand, and blushed slightly. When she didn't remove it, his blush increased. Sasuke seemed to remember her lurking in the shadows, following Naruto around. She had seemed to blend into the walls, trying to avoid notice of everyone. Now, at least, she was a bit more assertive, but it looked like the tables had been turned. Naruto was now as red as Moegi's kimono.

Sasuke decided to change the subject, if for no other reason than to have his friend gain a little more composure. "Hanabi, you and Naruto will spar tomorrow night. Tonight is for rest. Now, please, eat, and we can all catch up."

The rest of the evening was spent in almost-merriment. They talked, laughed, and Sasuke was filled in on many details of people's lives over the past four and a half years. He'd found out about everything from Asuma's disastrous engagement to Anko, and Konohamaru's exploits with Kurenai and his team, to Shikamaru dating Temari. Not that it surprised him at all on any of those subjects. While he could see Anko killing Asuma as soon as looking at him, he had a hard time imagining the two of them having a civil conversation, let alone getting engaged. Shikamaru and Temari's relationship seemed to suit the lethargic man just fine. He saw her occasionally, wrote her letters, and no one went within five hundred meters of his apartment when she came to visit, for fear of catching a stray shiruken, or hearing something they might gain permanent mental scars from. And Konohamaru? Well, he was as always, himself.

--

They were all laughing. All of them. A dark presence, cloaked in a rumor, and wrapped in shadow, lingered outside the dining room window of the Uchiha main house. There were wards on every door, window, and even the little drafty places in some of the corners. Getting into the house was impossible. But the Uchiha had to come out some time, didn't he? The presence vanished, for now. It could wait. For just a little while longer, it could certainly wait.

A/N: I know, there's no action. But now, we've gotten rid of Ino's attitude problem, at least. We can also look forward, in the next chapter, to Naruto possibly getting his butt handed to him by a genin. A GIRL genin. Boy, he won't be happy about that, if she does end up kicking him into the ground. And ooooooh, who's outside the window, without the night shift ANBU noticing? Well, let's just say that it isn't the Easter Bunny.