MeRrY Christmas! I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday. Here's this weeks update with a special something at the end. Thank you all for your comments. You have no idea how encouraging it is, even if your comments are criticisms. Its very helpful.

Enjoy

Konoha

The wedding between the Crown prince and the Senju heiress was the trending talk in all social circles and its proposed grandness was no secret. To the older generation, and clans, it was an act of a solidifying the alliance between the Uchiha and the Senju. To the younger generation, it was the wedding of the century between the two hottest people in Konoha. Well, Sasuke being the hottest one.

The Uchiha manor had been bustling with people day-in and day-out. From the decorators to the caterers, all were busy planning and putting the dream wedding in action. The entire ceremony would be held at the Uchiha grounds with the Uchiha clan, Senju clan, all other clans and specially invited guests present. But the procession of the ceremony would be broadcasted to the entire population of Konoha on the day in question.

Sasuke was doing his best to delay the ceremony. He tried reasoning such as school and that he was too young to get tied down, but that didn't work out. He tried going through his mother, but she was too ecstatic about the idea of retirement and grandchildren to listen to him. Not only that, she told Sasuke that she would firmly stand by Fugaku's decision and that what they were doing was for his future and the good of Konoha. For Sasuke, it was the first time his mother didn't even consider his thoughts.

Considering this was a royal wedding, the preparations were running quickly and the wedding day was only drawing nearer. Sasuke tried using Naruto to help slow things; and for a while it did work, only for Naruto's mother -Kushina- to be called in and drag Naruto back to the Uzumaki residence to receive a scolding. Kushina style. And it wasn't pretty.

After another exhausting day, Sasuke crashed face first onto his bed. The final date for the wedding was set for the coming week and right before that, a dress rehearsal and a pre-wedding masquerade party. Just thinking about these details made Sasuke even more tired than he was.

Sighing, Sasuke slowly flipped over on his bed and stared at his ceiling. He reached for his phone from underneath his pillow and turned it on. Once it was on, he got a text from Naruto have his laptop on around 8:30pm so they could video chat. Sasuke checked his time and noted he had fifteen minutes before the scheduled time. He took a quick shower and threw on a black muscle top and black sweatpants. The right color to reflect his sour mood.

Sasuke quickly set up his laptop and waited for Naruto's call. When the notification came in requesting for the video chat, Sasuke accepted and realized it was a group chat between Naruto, Ten-ten and himself.

Naruto: Sup Bastard

Ten-ten: Hey Sasuke

Sasuke: Hn

Naruto: Seriously?

Sasuke: You've known me a long time Naruto. This shouldn't be new

Naruto: Why do I even bother...

Ten-ten: You don't look so good Sasuke. Are you alright?

Sasuke (hangs his head and sighs): Do I look alright?

Naruto: You look like you fought through a ninja war...Did you?

Sasuke: You could say that. Today was definitely not the highlight of the week. Not that the past few days have been anyway.

Ten-ten: Well, as the expert here, you need a break. A long one.

Naruto: Oh yeah, you major in physiology, right?

Ten-ten: Right and wrong. Right because that's just a course I take. Wrong because I'm working on getting a degree in physicmedicology*.

(*Not really a word or course. But it was inspired by the word 'physicmedical' which is defined as the 'physical aspect of medicine'. At least my dictionary said that)

Sasuke: That's a thing?

Naruto (scratching his head in a confused manner): Physi...what was it again?

Ten-ten: Physicmedicology. And yes, it's a course Sasuke. Basically it's something like physiotherapy except I deal with the medicine part of the therapy. It involves researching the physical aspects of drugs used on people and the improvements that can be made to the medication. I major in a few courses under medicine and physiotherapy as an assist to my research in medical treatment.

(A few moments passed)

Naruto: I'm not sure I got anything of what you said.

Sasuke: How are you in college and not hear a thing she said?

Naruto: I heard the words she said. But I'm pretty sure I didn't understand all that medicine gibberish she said. No offense Ten, but I'll stick with Economics and business.

Ten-ten: None-taken. Any word from Izumi and Shisui?

(Queue notification from UHunter321 to join chat)

Naruto: Wait a sec, anyone know a 'UHunter321'? User wants to join our chat

Sasuke: It's Izumi. Put her on

(Naruto accepts request and loud screaming follows)

Izumi: HEY EVERYONE!

Naruto: Hiya Izumi!

Sasuke: Jeez Izumi, your loudness could rival Naruto.

Ten-ten (giggles): Hey Izumi

Izumi: Stop being such party pooper Sasuke

Sasuke: Where's Shisui?

Izumi: Him? He's cleaning up the mess.

(All of them notice Izumi wiping her knuckles with a stained cloth)

Naruto (face pales as he gulps nervously): Yo, Izumi. Is that blood on your hands?

Izumi: Yes

Sasuke: Izumi, what did you do?

Izumi: Oh you know how interrogations go. When someone acts stubborn, you give them a nudge in the right direction and they give you the right answers.

Ten-ten (slightly terrified of Izumi): I think we should pause on the details of your "interesting methods of action" (Ten-ten makes air quotes with her hands) and hear about whether you found Hinata or not.

Izumi: Straight to the point I see. Oh and Sasuke, you should probably go see a doctor or something. Your face doesn't look good and you look like c***. (Sasuke glares at Izumi). Anyways, the guy we had here was the driver who took Hinata from her apartment to some inn out of town to drop her off with another driver. Guy was pretty tight-lipped because of his loyalty to the Senju. Now we have to find the other driver who's running errands out of Konoha. I'm pretty sure Shisui's doing that now, that's if he's done with cleaning. Shisui!

(In the background Shisui yells back that he's coming)

Naruto: And here I thought my family's crazy. Sasuke your cousins are nuts.

Ten-ten: I don't think I'll feel safe around Izumi anytime soon.

Sasuke: You don't even know the half of it.

Izumi: Still right here, you know

(Shisui plops down next to Izumi)

Shisui: Hi guys and groom to be.

Sasuke (growls): Shut it Shisui

Shisui (ignoring Sasuke and continues): Aside from cleaning up after Izumi and being forced to do her evil bidding (glare from Izumi), I tapped into the phone calls at the Senju residence which by the way I still wonder why we didn't start with that earlier seeing as it could have saved time...

Izumi: Doing things the old-fashioned way is more awesome and is a good run of thrill and suspense...

Shisui: Oh shut up. You just kept holding me back when you knew my idea was great and wanted the spotlight to your...

Sasuke: Guys! Would you shut up, stop wasting time and just tell us what you know. My doomsday of a marriage is coming up soon and we need Hinata by then. Stop with the theatrics and just start being serious. Itachi's legacy is literally on the line. My brother wanted for me to make my own choices by taking the entire burden and weight of the crown on his shoulders. He thought of his people before himself and wanted nothing more than for there to be peace in Konoha. Let's focus. Please

(Everyone remains quiet and looks anywhere but the Sasuke)

Naruto: Sasuke's right. We have to quicken the pace. And Sasuke, I've no idea what you plan on doing when Hinata gets here but we'll definitely think of something. Right, Ten-ten?

Ten-ten: Right. (Gets a message from her phone). I have to go to the hospital for my research. Keep me posted okay? Bye.

(They all said their goodbyes to Ten-ten and she logged off)

Izumi: Sorry we got carried away Sasuke. Itachi's legacy is just as important to us. Would you like to continue, Shisui?

Shisui: Uh yeah. Sorry Sasuke. Guess you are filling out that prince role quite nicely. Itachi would be proud. As I was saying, after a little digging, we got the guy's location but nothing on Hinata. Not sure if this will be helpful though, according to Lady Tsunade's schedule, she makes monthly visits to the hospital. Weird considering she doesn't work anymore and it's not on visiting hours. Maybe you should pass it on to Ten-ten to check it out. We'll follow up the second driver and find out where he took Hinata.

Sasuke: Thanks. I've got to go. Dress rehearsal is tomorrow. Make sure your butts are here for the masquerade ball if you happen to find anything.

Izumi: Okie dokie. Let's get going Shisui.

(Both Uchihas log off leaving Naruto and Sasuke)

Sasuke: You still detained?

Naruto: Yeah. But I'll be there tomorrow.

Sasuke: Okay. Night dobe

Naruto: Goodnight you bastard

Hospital

Ten-ten had been hard at work for almost five hours, of course with the occasional break. Naruto had called her earlier, telling her about the new lead, to which she was happy to hear about. Not having Hinata in her life had taken its toll on her. The apartment and their work place became very lonely, even just her natural lavender scent had faded. But the news from Naruto gave her a sense of hope. She just hoped Izumi was as good as she claimed to be, theatrics aside.

Ten-ten finished her last around when she spotted Tsunade enter one of the hallways. She remembered Naruto telling her to watch out for Tsunade if she happened to show up at the hospital. Ten-ten followed Tsunade and watched her enter an elevator. When the doors closed, Ten-ten casually strolled to the elevator to avoid drawing suspicion to her and watched the numbers of the floors. The elevator stopped at the top. She ran for the flight of stairs and jogged her way to the top floor, knowing she couldn't stand waiting for the elevator.

Luckily it was only two flights of stairs she had to go through before bursting through the door. Looking around, she spotted Tsunade disappearing into one of the rooms at the far end of the long white hallway. Ten-ten made a small prayer and hurried to the end of the hallway. She quietly slid the door slightly, just enough to peer inside and not be caught by Tsunade. Tsunade was hovering above a patient and whispering softly; not exactly giving Ten-ten an opportunity to see the person. After a while, Tsunade reached for the inside of her green haori and pulled out a syringe, injecting the patient.

What is she doing? Ten-ten thought. She took a step back, her foot dragging against the slippery floor, emitting a sound that drew Tsunade's attention. Ten-ten slapped a hand to her mouth and looked around frantically. Before she was caught, a hand wrapped around her waist and mouth and dragged her into a dark room. Foot-steps were heard outside, followed by a chuckling and the words "It must have been my imagination". A door was slid closed and footsteps echoed to the far end of the hallway where the elevator was.

When five minutes passed, the hands on Ten-ten fell away and she turned around to face a pair of blue eyes.

"Naruto?"

"Hey. You alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the save. But what are you doing here?"

"I came by to see you. Saw you sneaking away and followed you here"

"At 01:00am?"

"Sue me alright. But what's important here is that you didn't get caught"

"I know. But I have to see the patient in that room. Tsunade did something and I want to find out what"

Naruto nodded and followed her out and into the patient's room. The good part about this floor was that there were no surveillance cameras around patients' rooms for ultimate privacy since it was the high-ranking individuals' floor. When inside, both teens gasped in surprise at recognition of the patient.

"Jiraiya?" Naruto asked uncertainly. He rushed to Jiraiya's side as Ten-ten took out a clip-board to read his information.

"I can't believe he's in here. Sorry I haven't come as often to see you Pervy old-man," Naruto apologised.

"This is odd," Ten-ten mumbled, paging through the papers.

"What is?"

"According to the report here, every time he should have woken up, he always seems to slip back into the coma"

"Can you do anything?"

"I don't know, maybe. I have to get my hands on the detailed reports. And that's going to be difficult"

"What about Tsunade being here?"

"I have a bad feeling about her. She could be the one doing this to him but we'll need evidence first. For now we have to go"

They quickly left the room and finally left the building after Ten-ten changed into regular clothes and grabbed her things.

"I don't get one thing," Naruto began, "if Tsunade is really responsible, why would she do that to her own husband?"

"No idea, really. What she's doing goes against Jiraiya's rights and the Hippocratic Oath. Big time. Either ways, only Jiraiya can answer that question. If he gets up"

"That's it, we wake him up!"

"Are you nuts!? If no professional could do it, how do you expect us to wake him up after spending a decade in a coma?"

"You're the expert. Figure it out?"

"You're insane"

"Oh come on Ten, we'll be saving someone here. We'll be heroes," Naruto said, grinning like a fox out for trouble.

"Where's Sasuke when you need him," Ten-ten said, smacking her fore-head.

Christmas special

This has nothing to do with the story line, though all characters will be involved. Merry Christmas everyone!

Hinata and Ten-ten were on their way to their apartment after spending the morning doing Christmas shopping.

"Whoop, I'm tired," Ten-ten declared, "Shopping is one thing, but Christmas shopping is murder"

"I know. I'm just glad it's over. Now we just have to prepare for our Christmas Eve movie marathon and relax"

"Totally"

They arrived at their apartment and carried their items into their apartment. Later in the evening, both girls –all dressed in pyjamas- sat comfortably in the couch watching 'The Nutcracker' when the doorbell rang.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Hinata asked.

"Nope, but I'll get it," Ten-ten responded, getting off the couch.

Hinata took the remote and paused the movie when she heard Ten-ten say

"What are you guys doing here?"

Hinata looked back to see Naruto, Sasuke, Shisui and Izumi waltz into the living-room. All were dressed rather elegantly in their formal wear.

"We escaped," Naruto answered.

"From what?" Ten-ten asked.

"Christmas party at the manor," Izumi replied, helping herself to the cookies on the table.

"Looks like we came to the right party," Shisui exclaimed, taking off his blazer and grabbing the bowl of popcorn.

"What are we watching?" Naruto asked, sitting on the carpeted floor. Sasuke sat next to Hinata as she replied, "The Nutcracker"

"Boring," Izumi declared, having somehow snagged the remote

"You guys, a heads up would have been nice," Ten-ten said, not even bothering with protesting. She took hold of the blanket on the seat that was now occupied by Sasuke and plopped on the ground. Ten-ten joined the bickering between Izumi, Naruto and Shisui about what movie they should watch.

"We should watch 'The Smurfs'," Naruto argued.

"No way, 'The Exterminator' is the perfect movie to watch," Izumi retaliated.

"Oh no you don't," Ten-ten cut in, "Put back 'The Nutcracker'. This is Christmas Eve and there's no better movie than that"

"All of you are crazy," Shisui called out, "what we should watch is a Fast and Furious movie to get our blood pumping"

The argument continued as Sasuke and Hinata sweat dropped.

"We should probably leave before they involve us," Sasuke whispered. Hinata nodded and lead Sasuke to her room. Once inside, Hinata asked,

"Why did you guys come here?"

"The party got boring over there. Naruto thought you guys would be having a better time than we were and I guess he was right"

"You just don't like parties"

"I admit that's true, but it's only the formal ones. Plus, I wanted to do this with my girlfriend"

Sasuke kissed Hinata softly as her hands found their way to his neck, pulling him closer. Hinata smiled into the kiss when Sasuke moved his hand from cradling her head down to holding her waist and then lifting her up to wrap her legs around his waist. Their make out session was getting rather lustful when a cough interrupted them. Both teens hastily disentangled themselves from each other when Shisui said,

"If both of you plan to, you know, not continue with this whole make a 'Christmas baby' and all, we picked a movie"

Shisui smirked as he shut the door, leaving the blushing teens. Sasuke kissed Hinata one more time before they hurried to join the rest in the living room.