Temari ambushed me on my way out of the hospital. I was still in shock from my encounter with Gaara; otherwise I would have done a better job of avoiding her.

"Party time!" She whooped loudly as she descended on me. "Let's get ready for party time!"

I allowed her to drag me away to the embassy and up to my room, where I noticed she had had some things delivered, and dumped on my couch. Anyway, I figure it was her, since all the things dumped on my couch looked to be dresses, and I'm pretty sure none of them are mine.

Oh yeah, that's right; I don't own any dresses.

"I knew we would need extra time, since you don't have any dresses of your own," Temari says, practically rolling her eyes at me, "So I got out of work early today to help you get ready. We'll have to find a dress first and then fix it up so that it will actually fit you."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. It's always so nice of her to remind me how different my body is to hers, and by different I mean inferior. Less boobs, less hips, less everything that matters basically.

She starts to pull out dress after dress, holding them up to me and throwing them into piles before I even have a chance to react to them. I bear the indignity patiently, knowing that there's really nothing I can do to stop her from being herself. I figure I'll just let her have her fun, right?

Once she's gone through all the dresses that were on the couch, Temari has two piles behind her, one noticeably bigger than the other. "These are the maybe." She tells me, waving at the small pile. "And these are the definitely not." She waves at the big pile. "You can now choose a maybe, and I will approve it – or not."

Grudgingly I go through the dresses I'm allowed to try. I don't even want to go to this party tonight, so why should I have to go through this torture too?

I used to love dressing up. I used to be able to stare at myself in the mirror for hours, fixing up my appearance little by little. Now I can hardly stand the sight of myself. What happened to me?

Temari ends up deciding on the dress, when she sees that I'm not going to make a decision any time soon. She probably wouldn't like whatever I chose anyway. Whereas I might chose something black, to show off how depressed I feel to be leaving, she knows to pick a dress to compliment my skin tone, and accentuate the colour of my eyes. At least that's what she says.

I only have a moment to look at myself in the dusty pink coloured dress Temari before she takes it away so that she can get it 'fixed' for me. I'm left alone for a moment before she comes back, and in that moment I feel the full heavy weight of leaving falling on my chest, and just as quickly I get over it. Or at least, I tell myself to get over it because I know I'm just being silly. I always knew this wasn't a permanent situation, no point in agonizing over it now.

"Just enjoy the night." I tell myself, rifling through my cupboards for food. I won't be caught hungry like last time. Except that last time I wasn't the only one hungry…

I shake my head and throw away the idea of going hungry just because he might be hungry too. That's just desperate, and I refuse to be desperate.

"There should be better food tonight." Temari says, coming in from whatever little trip she went on. I turn around to face her with a sigh. She looks beautiful again tonight. Temari sure knows how to dress for an occasion. "I had my best people on it."

I give her a sceptical look and turn back to my cupboards. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"You live by that motto, and you're in this profession?" She asks. I ignore the truth in her comment; it's not important right now. Temari goes on through my silence. "And besides you should be getting ready. The party will be starting soon."

"There's still an hour left. And aren't we going 'fashionably late' tonight? I figure I've got a good hour and a half before I actually have to be there."

"I can't be late tonight; I'm hostess. I have to greet everyone as they come in." Temari answers with a deep heartfelt sigh. "I actually have to go early."

"Hm." I pull down some dry noodles and check the expiration date on them. Two days ago. Shrugging, I put a pot of water on the stove and search for something else to eat with my noodles while I wait for water to boil. "You have to go early. That doesn't mean I have to go with you. I think I'll wait, but thanks for the offer."

"Sakura. Stop that for a minute and look at me." Temari demands. I turn around, holding green onions in one hand and a bag of seafood in the other.

"What?"

She points to the seat across from her at the counter. I sit down heavily, dropping the vegetables on the counter.

"What's really wrong?" she asks. "I know you're not this upset because I'm forcing you to make a speech tonight."

Oh that. Truth be told, I had completely forgotten about that. I shrug in response to Temari's question and tell her a sort-of-truth. "I don't really want to leave. I kind of made myself at home here."

Temari scoffs at me. "Pfft. You'll get over it soon enough once you get back to Konoha. No worries. Every time I go on an extended trip I get the same feeling. For a few days after I get home I miss wherever I've been before, but soon enough, home reminds me of why it's home. You love Konoha, don't you?"

"Yes." Yes of course I do. I grew up in Konoha. All my friends come from Konoha; it is my home. It's where I belong. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right." She says, looking smug. I can't even feel mad at her for looking smug now; I just have to laugh. "I'm always right. So I'm telling you: don't eat now, you'll only regret it when you see all the delicious food we'll have at the banquet."

I eye her for a moment, trying to gauge her honesty, and after a moment I shrug and put the food back away. I leave the water to boil though, figuring that I'll make some tea. I could use something to calm my nerves right about now.

Temari watches me in silence for another moment. Then she looks at her imaginary watch and stands. "Well, I should be going about an hour ago. I'll see you later!"

And then she leaves me.

I stand in the kitchen for a minute, until the water starts to boil, then I set it aside. I don't make tea with it because right then there is a knock at the door. I leave the water behind me as I walk to the door and open it for whoever is outside.

A man I've never seen before is waiting on the other side of the door with his arms full of pink fabric. "Uh… I have a d-delivery for Temari." He stutters. Actually, now that I think of it I have seen him before; he was in Temari's office both times I had to go see her for something. I never really paid any attention to him though.

"It's for me actually." I tell him, taking the dress out of his arms. "Thank you."

"Ah! You are S-S-Sakura then?"

I know it's mean of me, and completely insensitive, but his stuttering actually annoys me quite a bit, and I find myself wishing he would just leave. "Yes that's me."

"Then this is for you." He holds out a box and I take it from his hands, thanking him once again. After that he bows and walks away down the hall.

I close the door after him and walk slowly back into the living room, dumping the dress on the couch so that I have both hands free to open the box. What a mystery that Temari is.

Inside the box I find a pair of gloves. They're nearly white, but have just a hint of pink to them. They really are perfect for the dress she's chosen, and when I try them on they fit perfectly. They even somehow manage to make my calloused, manly hands look delicate and elegant. These are magic gloves.

I take the dress with me into my bedroom and put it on. When I look at myself in the mirror, with the new perfectly fitting dress (how they managed it I don't know) and the magic gloves, I really do look quite pretty. Now that's something.

I look up at another knock on the door. I'm popular tonight.

When I open the door Naruto practically falls inside, as though he was leaning on the door. He looks pretty silly in the suit he's wearing for the party. "Aw gee, you don't have to dress up to impress me Sakura." He says, and I punch him in the arm.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I'm here to take you to the party." He answers, holding his arm out to me. I stare at him blankly for a moment, after which he shakes his elbow, gesturing for me to take it. "So let's go."

"What time is it?" I ask instead.

He sighs heavily. "It's time to party! Come on Sakura." He wiggles his eyebrows at me so convincingly that I just have to take his arm and follow him out, down the stairs and into the big hall where everyone is waiting.