It's Friday afternoon and Ino and I exit the school together, she with a flower-patterned umbrella pointed toward the mucky sky, and I with the hood of my shiny red raincoat shoved down over my eyes. We descend the steps to the driveway with linked arms.

What started this morning as a slight drizzle has grown into a horrid downpour over the course of the day.

Ino and I are swallowed by a wild rainbow of brightly colored umbrellas as our classmates hurry toward their vehicles down at the kiss-and-ride line. We trail after them lazily. Neither of our rides are here yet.

"I hope my mom's 30 minutes late, so everyone is gone," she mutters. "I don't even care about having to wait in the rain. Anything's better than the gut-shattering embarrassment of having to get into that fucking tram with everyone watching."

Ino's own car is at the shop, so her mom is picking her up in her Honda Odyssey.

"And they call me dramatic." I snort. "Come on, her van isn't so bad. It's just- well, a mom-van. Nobody is going to care."

"It is the mom-van, and have you met our schoolmates?" Ino crinkles her nose. "Anyway. Your sister picked a great day for her party."

"I know, it was supposed to be a garden thing, so I bet Karin's completely freaking out." I smile hopefully. "Maybe she'll cancel it."

"Or maybe she's moving the party inside."

"What? No, she wouldn't do- what?" I clasp a hand over my mouth. "She totally would. Ugh, this is going to be a nightmare."

Should you wonder whether I've confronted my sister about the party yet: I haven't. In fact, I haven't even seen Karin since the beginning of the week. Whenever I'm home she always manages to either be away or asleep.

What's funny is that, even though I'm pretty annoyed at her, I've actually been feeling kind of relieved I haven't had the chance to talk to her about it. Mainly because our confrontations, no matter how ridiculous the subject, generally end in full-blown verbal wars that only end when we've forgotten what we were initially fighting about.

Stubbornness is one of our shared genetic gifts.

"There's my mom, '' Ino says. And, sure enough, a large minivan surges down the driveway and stops with creaking tires, a foot or three away from us. A wave of rainwater splashes onto the sidewalk, and we jump back to dodge it, shrieking in surprise. We look at each other and burst out laughing.

"Look, you want me to stay over? I can help keep gross drunk couples out of your room," Ino offers.

"Yes. Yes, please!" I exclaim, relieved. "You're my savior."

"Alright, I´ll see you in – what, an hour or two? Is that okay? We can get ready together." Ino offers with a grin, closing her umbrella.

I bend down to wave at Ino's mom. She sits behind the wheel, lips moving and hands gesturing wildly. She seems to be in a heated discussion, though nobody is in the car with her – she is probably talking into her speaker phone, but I'm still amused at the lunatic picture. She finally notices me and waves.

"Sakura? An hour or two?" Ino repeats, opening the car door.

I arch back up. "Yeah, sorry. In two hours is fine. I'll see you then!"

"Love you!" she yells as she shuts the door.

I wave, "Love you too!"

The next second they're gone.

By myself now, I look around. Where is my ride?

Minutes pass and most people have left. I've walked the length of the sidewalk four times, but neither of our cars are anywhere to be seen.

My raincoat provides some protection against the rain but the hem of my skirt and my bare legs are wet through, and soon I find myself shivering.

My hand is just closing around my phone in my pocket, about to call our driver to see if he's forgotten about me (which has actually never happened before), when a car turns screeching into the broad driveway. A car I recognize as Karin's green jeep.

It honks obnoxiously and slows to a stop in front of me. This time I'm too slow to dodge the muddy rainwater puddled on the side of the road. I have the good sense to close my eyes when I sense it coming, but still make the mistake to open my mouth in shock. A large splash hits me in the face.

I spit the water and dirt out of my mouth, coughing.

Karin leans over the passengers' seat to throw open the door, and heavy bass pours out of the car like a flood. "Hey sis! Here, get in, it's raining!" she yells over the music, half-heartedly wiping the soda cans, cigarette buds and candy wrappers off the passengers' seat.

I lift myself into the vehicle. "Oh, it's raining? Now that you mention it, I think may have felt a drop or two." I snap, wringing out my dirty, wet hair onto the stained carpeting.

"Wow, you're super wet!" Karin laughs in my face, pulling out of the driveway. She cranks up the already scandalous volume of the screeching, soul-tearing hardstyle mix, bobbing her head.

I hold out for about twenty seconds before I can physically feel my eardrums begin to rip and decide to lower the volume. "Why are you picking me up anyway, Karin?"

"I gave the guys the weekend off." She says with a dismissive shrug. "Oh, and I have to pick up some shit on the way home."

My frown deepens. "What kind of shit?"

She burps and steers us off the highway, into a neglected-looking neighborhood. "My Halloween costume, a few inflatable zombies to throw in the pool, party lights and some booze."

I'm slightly confused as to why she's mentioning her party groceries so off-handedly. "What for?"

Without missing a beat, she answers, ''For the party."

I open my mouth, then close it.

I feel weirdly offended. I guess I'd thought that Karin had purposefully neglected to tell me about it; that she had been afraid I would, I don't know… Tell on her to our parents, or convince everyone at school that the house is infested with rats, or physically put rats in there. But now it's obvious that she doesn't even care whether I know about it or not. She plainly forgot to mention it.

"You haven't told me you were throwing a party." I say, voice flat and soft, without a trace of the annoyance I've held pent up inside me over the past few days.

"Oh, crap, sorry. Uh, it's tonight. Word is it's going to be pretty big. Maybe you'll meet some new people," She says, cranking up the music again.

I stare out of the window at the blurry image of dull skyscrapers pressed against the grey sky.

Our first stop is a yellow-stained apartment building on the edge of town.

"I'll be right back." Karin says, putting on a purple jacket over her Wolf Parade-shirt. Karin's music taste is quite diverse.

"I thought you were going to pick up your costume.'' I say, "This isn't a Halloween store."

"I'm picking everything up at a friend's." she says. The car door slams shut.

I unplug her phone from the auxiliary cord and pull my Biology book out of my bag, sighing melodramatically.

I'm at my second chapter, trying my best to interest myself in the wonders of the human excretory system, when my sister pulls open the door and throws a few deflated rubber corpses, a large jumble of bright-colored lights, about five bottles of various liquors and a small pink heap on top of the mess on the back seats.

"Hey-what the hell! Karin, you can't just put that stuff there in full view, we're not legal!" I screech indignantly, unbuckling my seatbelt to arrange the bottles so that hopefully we won't get pulled over.

I throw a look at my sister's Halloween costume. All I see is a long, tangled, blond wig, a pink tank top with two holes cut in it, a white top and a pink leather skirt. I hold it up, looking at her curiously.

"Regina George." She explains, driving us out of the near-vacant parking lot.

I'm unable to stifle a bubble of laughter at the thought of Karin in pink. "Mean Girls? You're going as Regina George from Mean Girls?" I ask incredulously. "I didn't know you even liked that movie!''

"Everyone likes Mean Girls, Sakura." She says dismissively. "What are you wearing, anyway?"

Xxx

"What the shit are you wearing?"

"Hey Ino," I greet sarcastically, turning around to face my best friend.

Ino stands in my bedroom doorway, plastic bag in her hand and amused disbelief on her face. "A frog suit?" she asks.

"Yep." I say, putting the mason jar of water on my dresser, next to the box of face paint I'd spent the last hour searching the attic for.

"How – cute. I guess." She says. I'm not dumb enough to take that as a compliment. "What happened to that Tinker Bell dress we picked out for you?"

I shrug. "Well, you left to go get coffee with Naruto after we had spent like five minutes in the store, so I decided I'd keep looking around. And then I found this," I pluck at my plush, green sleeve. "Which, you know, actually covers my lady parts. And I'm more of a Wendy Darling person anyway."

"No, you're not. You're Tinker Bell. We all want to be Wendy, but we're all Tinker Bell." She rolls her eyes and sits on my bed. "Well, it's your decision, I guess, although to make an impression on the boys, you'd do better wearing something more flattering."

I feign a look of horror. "But I live solelyfor their attention!"

She arches an eyebrow at me before diving into the plastic bag in her lap. "Anyway, come see my costume!" she grins, holding up a short, sequined black dress covered in little strings that swing with the tiniest movement. She throws it on the bed. "And," she holds up a matching, feathered headband and a short, black wig.

I take a step closer to the bed, feeling my mouth drop open. "Oh wow, Ino, you're going as a flapper? That is – that is really pretty. Like you stole it right off Jordan Baker."

She gathers her hair up in a bun, a hairband between her teeth. "Who?" she asks distractedly.

"From The Great Gatsby."

"Oh, yeah, that movie with Leonardo. Thanks." Ino isn't one for classic literature.

Ino is just zipping up her dress when I remember something. "Hey, didn't you say you were going as Wonder Woman?"

Ino turns around in front of the mirror, smoothing the dress down with her hands. "Well, apparently the costume I bought wasn't Wonder Woman's but Supergirl's. And the reason I'd wanted to wear it in the first place was because Naruto was going as Superman and we'd look adorable. But, you know, then Hinata said Supergirl is actually Superman's cousin. Then we wanted to go as Luke Skywalker and Leia, but turns out they're brother and sister. So that got progressively weirder until we decided to just drop the whole idea."

I can't help but burst out laughing. "Okay, so what's he going to wear now?"

"I actually don't know."

"Probably a butthole suit." I cackle at my own joke. "Like he'd need one, though, am I right? Yooo." I hold up my hand.

"I'm not gonna high five you on that dumb joke." Ino says, rolling her eyes. She checks her phone. "Hey, it's nearing nine. People should be coming soon."

"It's that late? Crap, and I haven't even had dinner yet." I groan, walking up to my dresser.

"Oh!" Ino gasps as I squint at my face in the mirror, painting green blush spots on my cheeks. "I'm about to make you so happy." She pulls a crumpled paper bag out of her shopper, tilting it to show me the red M on the side.

My jaw drops. "You brought McDonalds!" I shriek, clapping my hands like an idiot.

She wiggles her eyebrows, grinning, "Got you a McRib, twister fries and a vanilla milkshake."

My trembling hands grasp the bag like a newborn baby. "Oh my God," I sniffle. "You are the most beautiful best friend in the world."

Just as I finish the last of my meal, a thundering bass starts up outside, my windows chattering and the jar of water on my desk humming wildly.

"Yay, music!" Ino hoots, grabbing my sleeve. "Let's go party!"

We get downstairs to find the house still empty. "Everyone's probably outside, then." Ino says uncertainly, walking toward the kitchen with me trailing behind her. There I find the counter is completely covered in snacks and bottles of booze and soda. The back door is open, two crates of beer stacked against it to keep it from falling shut.

I step into the yard as Ino pours herself a drink. The air is chillier than earlier today but it's dry and the fresh, sweet scent that comes with heavy rainfall hangs in the air like perfume. The muted orange glow of sunset has yet to fade from the darkening blue sky, and under it, the entire length of the yard is lit by Christmas lights and lanterns in odd shapes and colors, strung across the fence and crabapple trees. Paper garlands and scary decorations are everywhere. I recognize the ancient fire pit that had been under a pile of rubble in the shed for years, now clean, with a bunch of wooden tip-up chairs around it.

I allow myself a moment to marvel.

The thing I find myself looking at the most is the pool – someone actually brought red pool water dye, and with the inflatable zombies in it, it might just be the coolest thing ever.

"Your sister does not do things halfway, does she?" Ino says when she appears at my side, sounding impressed. She's already halfway through her first solo-cup of red wine.

"Wow, I know."

The only other people aside from that guy are Karin, looking very, very unlike herself with the long blond wig and vibrant pink lipstick, and some of her friends, as well as – barf – Naruto, who are on the grass a distance away. They sit in a circle around a plastic pumpkin, each holding cards.

"Oooh, I think they're playing a drinking game! Wanna go join them?'' Ino asks excitedly.

"No, no no, I'm staying at least three feet away from every kind of mind-altering substance tonight." I say resolutely, taking a cautious step away from her. "Plus, Karin's friends always treat me like I'm six, it's really awkward. PLUS, Naruto's over there with them."

"Oh, come on!" she says, rolling her eyes. "Then what are you going to do tonight?"

"I don't know, dancing? Talking? Not filling myself up with toxic or forcing myself to be around people I hate?''

"You hate him? Come on," Ino snorts. "And the toxic argument is pretty weak considering how much coke zero you drink on a daily basis. " She starts dragging me to the kitchen by my sleeve. She pours me some Sprite and hands it to me. "Here, we'll just pretend it's white wine. Let's go play."

I roll my eyes, realizing I'm not getting out of this one. "Ugh. Fine, fine. But only until Hinata and the others get here."

She drags me back to the yard with a smug smile.

"Heeey guys!" she shouts over the music as we approach the group on the ground. They mumble different greetings, tipping their drinks at us. Naruto smiles at Ino and of course completely ignores me. Ino winks at him and then turns to the others. "I'm Ino, Sakura's best friend. I'm guessing you all know her." She pushes me forward, and I stretch my mouth into what I hope is a sincere looking smile.

"YEAH we do!" Suigetsu, Karin's best friend, shouts enthusiastically. He pokes me in the belly with a large plastic katana. "Boop!"

"Haha, please don't." I say from between clenched teeth, feeling my overfilled stomach churn.

"Aw, Sakura, come here you grumpy little sprout." My sister coos, pulling me down harshly. I land in the grass on my butt, the upper half of my body sprawled out across my sister's lap. I try to scramble back up but she pushes me back down, tickling me mercilessly. I try to roll away from her, unable to keep from laughing frantically, but unfortunately my sister has the upper body strength of a silverback gorilla. The stench of alcohol and cigarettes on her breath is enough to make my eyes water.

"GUARGH," I moan desperately in between laughs. "Ka- Karin," I manage to wheeze, and she stops tickling me, grinning sheepishly, "Stop it right now or I swear to godI will vomit all over you."

"Haha, gross." She says, finally releasing me. "We were just about to start playing Crazy 8, you guys wanna play?"

"We'd love to play!" Ino says as Naruto wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her to him.

"Well, I need to do something to pass the time until—" but that's all I get in before Suigetsu cuts me off by curling his arm around my neck and ruffling my hair affectionately.

"Yeah, any excuse, right?" he cackles in my face, sending a cloud of alcoholic smoke-breath burning straight into my nostrils once more.

I briefly contemplate just strangling myself.

"Okay, who wants to shuffle the cards?" Naruto's voice cuts in.

"Me! Give 'em here!" Suigetsu shouts enthusiastically, holding his hands out to catch the card deck. Thankfully this means that he has to let go of my head.

I sit back up with an annoyed scowl on my face and halfheartedly attempt to fix my hair.

Ino turns to me and snorts. "Do you need a brush?" she asks, already reaching into her bag. "Hang on, where's your drink?" she asks when she goes to hand me her pink folding hairbrush.

I throw a narrowed look at the cup laying on the grass, and then at my sister. "Guess it flew out of my hand." I move to get up. "I'll just get some more."

"Nah, I got you." Ino says, leaping to her feet and running back into the house.

With Ino gone from in-between us and everybody else engrossed in their own conversations, Naruto and I are forced to acknowledge each other's existence. We do so by glaring impudently.

"What are you supposed to be, a ninja?" I scoff, looking pointedly at his black and red clothes and sais. "How touching to see you embrace your inner seven-year-old."

There's an uneasy tug in my gut as I realize he hadn't exactly done anything yet to deserve that jibe. Well, too late to back off now. I try to keep my frown straight even as my cheeks heat up.

Naruto doesn't seem fazed, however. He just takes a drag from his cigarette, rolling his eyes. "You should see how hilarious you look trying to belittle me in that toad suit."

My cheeks burn even hotter. "It's a Frog suit." I huff.

He crinkles his nose, "Oh well, I think any type of cold-blooded, slimy creature suits you perfectly."

I can't stop from gasping, appalled. "How dare-"

"Okay, everyone ready?" Karin shouts, cutting me off. She hands everybody a stack of eight cards. "Uzumaki," she says with a wide smile. "Show us what ya got."

He grins cockily, apparently already having forgotten our spat. "I hope everyone's ready to get their asses kicked." I roll my eyes. Nobody else seems to share my feelings however as they all hoot like he just made the most original joke of the decade.

Ino jogs up to us just in time and plops down between Naruto and I. She hands me a cup, "Here! It does have alcohol in it— sorry, sorry, I know," she says as I open my mouth to object, "but you'll like it, I promise! Try it."

I purse my lips at her, irritated, but take a tiny sip anyway. My wary eyes flick from the solo cup to Ino's unnervingly broad smile. My frown falls away. "Wait, this is good."

"Yeah. It's Malibu mixed with orange juice."

I take another sip as Karin swipes the first card from the bunch. "Oh no, I like it too much. What if I get super drunk?" I hiss at Ino.

Ino waves dismissively. "Meh, just make sure you win."

Xxxx

Fast-forward half an hour and I've realized that I'm very bad at drinking games. Fast-forward another and I've decided that I don't care.

My brain swirls and my stomach prickles and laughter bubbles out of my mouth for a reason I can't quite pinpoint and I welcome it all wholeheartedly.

We sit in a growing circle consisting of Ino, Karin, Suigetsu, Hinata and the guys, Naruto, and three George kids I never met until tonight. We've just started a game of Kings that I'm really into.

I swipe a card out of the pile and hold it up in the air "Nine!" I announce.

Karin drums on her thighs excitedly and squints her eyes to look at the crumpled paper we wrote out the rules on. "Nine is… sentences! Start a sentence, and we all have to say a word that makes sense."

"Okay! Uhm, birds!"

"Poop," goes Karin on my left.

"On," says Suigetsu.

"Heads,"

"Of,"

"People,"

"Who,"

"Trampoline." We all stop to stare at Shikamaru, who just shrugs with a wide grin and takes a shot.

Karin takes the next card out of the pile. It's a joker. She holds it up and some people groan while others cheer. I look around, wondering why, but then everybody downs the drink in front of them.

I give an awkward little "Whoo," myself and chug my Malibu.

I grab the bottle from the grass for a refill, but it's surprisingly light and what's left in it is barely enough to fill half a cup. I pout disappointedly.

It's Suigetsu's turn to pick a card. He holds up a seven. "Buzz! Here we go. One."

"Two."

"Three." I mumble, unsure what we're doing.

"Four."

"Five."

"Six."

"Buzz!" Kiba shouts triumphantly.

"Eight."

"Nine."

"Ten."

"Eleven."

"Twelve."

"Thirteen."

"Fourteen." Says a guy dressed like Ash Ketchum. His drunk smile drops. "Shit- buzz! I meant buzz."

"I bet you did, punk." A girl in a Pikachu onesie laughs, slapping his arm. "Take your shot."

Everyone cheers the guy on as he downs what's probably one drink too many. In the background a new song starts playing, with a familiar guitar riff that everybody in the yard except me seems to recognize.

My sister, who'd previously been laying on the grass, comes screaming back to life. "Summer of 69! Oh yeah, this is my jam!" her eyes glide over everyone's faces until they land on Suigetsu. She grabs his collar aggressively. "Suigetsu!"

"No, Karin." He says, voice sounding strangled but not surprised. I get the sense that this has happened before.

She tightens her grip on his jacket. "Come on, dance with me! Don't be such a fucking grape."

This time he turns to look at her, laughing around the orifice of his beer. "No, Karin, you can't dance for shit."

Her expression turns a lot less pleasant. "I- am a fantastic dancer, and you have exactly 3 seconds to pull that stick out of your ass."

"Fucking hell." He groans. "Fine. But pull me up."

She grins wickedly, jumping to her feet and pulling him with her. My eyes follow them until they've completely disappeared into the drunken mass of clashing colors.

I take the discarded bottle of whiskey in my hands. It's made of the kind of glass that catches the light. I watch, dazed, as it reflects dancing onto my fingers.

"So what's up with them, are they having sex?"

It takes me a while to realize the question is directed at me. I look up at Kiba's curious face.

I make a face. "Wow, ew. I don't know."

"They totally will. Calling it now." Kiba grins, and he and Shino high-five.

"Stop. Let's switch subjects." I hold up the bottle in my hands. "Does whiskey taste good? Will I like it?"

"Oh yeah, you'll love it." Naruto assures me, nodding.

I must be more drunk than I thought, because this is the only encouragement I need to take a big swig.

-And spit it out less than half a second later. Right onto Ino.

"EW, SAKURA!" she shrieks.

"What the hell!" I wheeze, teary-eyed, and glare at the bottle in my hand. "What the hell, that is so gross. What the fuck."

Everyone else has burst out laughing at this point.

Naruto, red-faced and quite literally Rolling On the Floor Laughing, manages to catch his breath for long enough to utter, "Oh man, I totally knew you'd hate it! I didn't think you'd believe me."

I can't contain my laughter now either. "You asshole!"

Ino is less amused. "My dress!" she moans, and it's honestly not that I don't feel bad, it's just one of those moments where you realize that you cannot be laughing, that you have to stop, and it somehow only makes your laughter more uncontrollable. So of course, I burst out laughing again, even louder. Naruto is wiping the tears from his eyes, still cracking up.

"It's not funny! What's wrong with you two? Fuck! I'm getting a towel." She jumps to her feet, fuming, and jogs into my house.

Our laughter quickly dies down, and Naruto and I glance at each other uncertainly. I imagine that he, like me, is trying to decide whether a fit of laughter with a person he doesn't care about is worth pissing off someone he does. We appear to come to the same conclusion, both clumsily getting up (Naruto with the aid of his crutches), and heading the direction Ino disappeared into.

"Well, tactfully done, princess." He sneers as we cross the lawn.

I roll my eyes. "'cause it was all me, right? Blurgh, whiskey tastes great, you'll love it." I mimic him.

He glares at me over his shoulder. "Oh, give me a break. I didn't expect you to go and barf it out all over my girlfriend!"

I whip my face up to his. "Well, you were the one laughing the loudest when I did it. By accident!"

"So it's all my fault she's upset, huh? How convenient for you."

"I just meant that you shouldn't blame it all on me, Naruto! And how is this at all convenient for me?"

He gives me a disgusted look. "You know exactly why."

"I really don't."

His eyes narrowed, he leans down so we're face-to-face. "I've seen enough of your pettiness to know exactly how your mind works, princess." The venom drips from his words.

I scoff, not backing down. "Me, petty? And this coming from the most ridiculous person I've ever met!"

We're glaring at each other hotly, him with his shoulders flared and fingers clenched tightly around his crutches, and I on tip-toes, and I'm only half-realizing that we're standing in the middle of the dance floor, and that the crowd has thickened around us to a degree where I have to brace myself against its push and pull.

That is, until some drunk idiot bumps into Naruto from behind, and, with his balance already a bit off from his hurt foot as well as the booze, he stumbles forward and forcefully collides with me. I'm half-trying to soften the blow and half trying to prevent him from falling to the ground, with the result that we end up in an awkward position with my face pressed against his chest, my arms around his torso and our legs pretty much entwined. Naruto's crutches fall onto the stone tiles.

I'm suddenly hyper aware of the mass of people around me, thrumming to the music and pushing into my personal space from every side.

We both stiffen instantly and I move my head to look him in the face.

Big mistake. My eyes meet his, blue and bright and panicked. I bite at my lower lip.

"Move away!" I squeak.

"I don't have my crutches!" He tries to back off from me but wobbles dangerously.

There's too little space between us, but I can't back off or I'll drop him on the floor. My face is without a doubt vibrant red by now.

"Okay, okay." I say, moving back in to hold him tighter. Definitely not noticing, nor appreciating how broad his chest is, or how warm he feels.

I feel him breathing out a low, shuddering breath that ruffles my hair.

Ahem.

"Excuse me?" I shout after I've gathered myself, reaching behind Naruto to tap the first person within reach on the shoulder, hard.

The guy turns around, eyes dazed and glassy. It takes me a second to recognize him.

"Lee!" The awkwardness of the situation is lost on me for a second as relief floods my senses. "Could you give me a hand? Naruto dropped his crutches!"

He blinks slowly. "What?!"

I gesture awkwardly towards the floor. "The crutches! Could you get them?"

There's a long pause before he opens his mouth. "Oooooooh, I get it," He slurs, quite obviously not getting it. "So you don't want to make out with me, but you do just start up a convo mid-make out, with another guy."

"That is not what this is!" Naruto shouts over his shoulder in a frenzy, voice a tad more high-pitched than usually.

"You're just addicted to attention, aren't you?" Lee shouts at me accusingly. "Look, you might be hot and smart, but this is fucking insane. I'm out."

Despite myself, I feel my ears grow warm at the weird compliment. "Lee, just please help us out and pick up his crutches so we can all go drink ourselves into a stupor and forget about this."

Finally Lee stoops down and hands Naruto his stupid crutches. We immediately back off from each other as much as we can.

"Thanks," I say to Lee, more annoyed than thankful. He gives me a glare as he turns back toward his group of friends.

Naruto and I stand awkwardly side by side, both looking anywhere but at each other. Finally he huffs and swipes a hand through his sweat-matted hair. "Let's just-" He mutters awkwardly, pointing to the house. His face is tinged bright pink.

I cross my arms awkwardly. "Yeah, let's just go."

When we find Ino, Naruto and I still haven't looked at each other even once. She's bent over the sink in the downstairs bathroom, dabbing furiously at her dress with a wet hand towel.

Naruto and I hover uncertainly in the doorway.

I finally decide to just go for it.

"Hey, Ino." I start softly. She looks at me quickly and then resumes her rubbing. "Is it, uh, going out?"

"Yeah, kind of. But my dress smells like rat poison, so thanks for that."

I gulp. "Yeah, sorry…"

"-And for laughing at me when I got pissed."

"Sorry." Naruto and I say simultaneously this time.

She sighs and drops the hand towel in the straw laundry basket under the sink. She casts her eyes up at the ceiling. "Ugh, it's fine. It's fine. I guess I know it wasn't on purpose."

Naruto smiles uncertainly. "Okay, that's- good. So, you want to go grab some M&M's and some booze?"

She turns to us with her arms crossed. "Okay, I'll have some booze. But I'll pass on the chocolate."

Naruto pulls her to him in a one-armed hug, "I'm getting you 20 boozes!"

But she tugs herself loose, and his face falls. "I'm actually going to look for some friends I haven't seen all night. I'll see you guys later."

Before Naruto or I can get another word in, Ino turns the corner and she's gone.

I look at Naruto uncertainly. He meets my eyes, but his expression quickly turns from hurt to anger.

I feel like I have to say something, although there's a small voice inside me telling me to not even try.

"Um- that's… Are you okay?" I ask awkwardly.

He gives me a wary look. "Absolutely gnarly." He scoffs, turning to leave.

Something in me propels me to step forward. "Look, I know you probably don't appreciate this, coming from me, Naruto, but I just want to-"

"I really don't. Quit it, princess. I'm not interested in bonding with you." Then, without casting me another glance, he's gone.

I cross my arms, bristling. Well, never mind, then.

I walk back out into the bustling yard, where I can just hear splashing and hysterical laughter over the music – seems like some of our drunk guests have discovered the pool.

Sober me would worry and fuss over water in combination with alcohol –

Tipsy me, however, just wants more alcohol.

I duck to snatch a beer out of a crate and open it up. It sizzles and the smell hits me right in the nose. I shudder, but then I take a sip.

I make a face. Okay, this is worse than I thought.

And yet I take another sip.

Yes, this is pretty bad. But at least it's better than the whiskey.

Another sip. This time, the taste is oddly not-terrible.

My head is light and fuzzy as I meander through the crowd. I pass Karin and Suigetsu, sucking face in the middle of the dance floor.

Typical. I roll my eyes, snickering to myself.

I find Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru dancing on the edge of the dance floor, all three of them red-faced and laughing.

Shikamaru clunks his beer to mine in greeting. "Saku! Did you manage to calm the beast?"

I can't help a burst of laughter. "The beast?"

Shikamaru shrugs. "Well she was seething- We didn't expect to ever see Naruto and you again."

KIba chimes in, "We'd made peace with it, even. Already went through the five stages of grief." He shrugs, with Hinata nodding seriously in the background.

"We were on our way to moving on." She says.

I stifle a laugh against my beer. "Uh-huh, good to hear. You were right, by the way, Kiba. Karin and Suigetsu are making out back there."

"Ha!" He holds his hands up to Hinata and Shikamaru, who both high-five him. "Well, the sexual tension was practically radiating off of them, so I guess anyone could have seen that coming."

I make a face. "Dear God, ew, can you please stop that?"

"They were practically tearing each other's clothes off during Kings." Shikamaru adds, obviously just to be an ass.

A catchy song starts playing, and Hinata grabs my hand.

"Come on, Sakura! Let's dance!" she says, grabbing Kiba's hand with her free one. Kiba and I both grab either one of Shikamaru's, and we all spin around in a circle, laughing and jumping and probably looking like absolute idiots.

Then, when eventually the song changes to a slower one, we all let go of each other's hands, panting and laughing breathlessly.

Now dancing on my own, I let my eyes drift shut.

The songs fade in and out of each other and the crowd grows impossibly bigger. I'm red-faced and lightheaded from dancing.

At a certain point, when the sky has gone completely dark and we're all dancing underneath a kaleidoscope of twinkling party lights, vivid against the big nothing of the clouded night sky, the song Sovereign Light Café comes on.

There's really not a more perfect song for a moment like this. So I look at my friends, my drunk mind wanting to grab their hands and do a little more spinning.

But then, through the haze, I notice that Kiba and Hinata are standing close together. Like, really close. Closer than is probably 'friendly'.

I watch them curiously, but feel somewhat awkward, like I'm a spectator on something private. The mass of people around them dissolves. Shikamaru dissolves. I dissolve.

Kiba and Hinata's faces are flushed and nervous, and their eyes locked. They shuffle closer. The tension is so thick that I'm sure something is going to happen – but then, just like that, they stop moving. They linger where they are, a foot apart, seemingly afraid to take another step.

The planet starts turning again. The entire scene is so sweet I could actually squeal. I suppress a smile.

Shikamaru catches my eye over their heads, apparently having noticed the same thing I have. He gestures to the two of them and pushes his outstretched together, waggling his eyebrows ridiculously.

Ah, yes, the classic dancewich.

I nod, grinning widely, not at all considering that these delicate things might be better left alone.

So Shikamaru creeps behind Kiba and I move behind Hinata - and then we both dance into them.

"Woah!" Kiba laughs, gasping, surprised, as we squish together. I think I hear Hinata laugh.

"Dancewich!" Shikamaru shouts.

I chortle with laughter (and simultaneously try very, very hard not to think of how this parallels what happened between me and someone else earlier tonight).

The tension of the moment is broken, and I feel a bit sad for them.

The four of us stay in this ridiculous position for the rest of the song. But then it ends, and I excuse myself with a sheepish smile. "I'm going to grab another beer!"

Clumsily, I weave my way through the crowd, stumbling when my foot catches on a loose cobblestone.

I grab one of the last remaining beers in the crate, and am about to go back to my friends when I find my pathway blocked by someone. I try to make out more than their silhouette, but the glaring lights right behind them are sort of a problem. All I can tell see is that the person has an absurdly shiny bowl cut.

Although I suppose that's enough.

"Lee?" I ask.

"Sakura." He sounds unimpressed.

Will I ever stop running into this guy?

I step to the side so I can see him, stumbling slightly when I do. His eyes look dazed and unfocused, unsurprising as I know he's a pretty heavy party drinker. His costume is a dark green spandex suit with orange legwarmers.

I look at him quizzically. "acrobat?"

"Yoga teacher."

"Ah." I bite my lip awkwardly.

But before I can open my mouth – he speaks up.

"So, you wanna make out?"

My jaw drops.

He looks completely serious.

"What?" I say.

"I mean, I'd like to make out. With you." He says, less sure of himself this time.

Did I completely imagine him being peeved at me earlier? Accusing me of kissing Naruto of all people?

"Weren't you, uh, mad at me an hour ago?" I stammer.

He worries his bottom lip, starting to look like a nervous little boy. "I- uh, realize I was out of line, earlier, assuming- but, I mean, even if you were kissing that guy, I guess it still doesn't matter. Because I think you're really pretty, and I sort of want to kiss you, and that's really all there is to it. You wouldn't even need to date me afterwards or anything. That is, if you want to."

I'm completely overwhelmed, and try to keep from laughing in surprise.

"I'm not really sure that's a good idea." I say. But I find that my alcohol-clouded head is not really coming up with any reasons why It's not. Why I shouldn't.

In fact – it's coming up with reasons why I should.

I mean, hey. My brain is pretty much reduced to mush. I'm having a great night. Everyone around me is falling love and being adorable and - I want to have a little fun. Even if that's all there is to it.

"You're sure?" he says, looking disappointed and embarrassed. "Well, uh, then never mi-"

He's cut off as I pull him towards me in a kiss.

It's my first kiss ever and it's messy and drunk and completely devoid of any magic you read about in books – but I find myself having fun nonetheless. We stumble back until I'm leaning against the brick wall, and he pushes his tongue in my mouth.

This prompts the slightest amount of brain activity. I pull away from Lee.

When I open my eyes, I look over his shoulder and see quite a number of blurry party guests looking in our direction from the dance floor. I half-register seeing a blond-haired blur walk into the house through the kitchen door, head turned in our direction.

"Well, that's- that." I declare awkwardly, patting Lee's shoulder. "See you around."

Then I stumble off without another word.

I don't consciously choose a direction to leave in, but when I find myself inside the house, I realize I actually really, really need to use the bathroom.

Painfully so.

Of course when I've finally made my way over to the bathroom, I find there is what has to be a ten-foot line in front of it. I shuffle towards the end, behind a girl in a short Snow White dress, shifting my weight from one leg to the other uncomfortably.

I turn around just as Naruto skids to a stop behind me.

He looks at me and rolls his eyes. "Dear god, all I want to do is take a piss. Why is any bathroom at any given time always taken by girls?"

The pain in my lower abdomen is so irritating at this point that I immediately rise to his bait. "It's biology, actually. Our uterus takes up space so our bladder can't expand like yours can. Something you'd have known if you hadn't ditched me in Biology to go sit with Ino."

He doesn't look at me. "Leave it to you to get snooty with me even when you're wasted. And I call bullshit on the last bit. That class was on cell anatomy, not anything else." He crinkles his nose. "Plus, stop, I really don't want to talk about uteruses."

"'Nooo, don't talk to me about female anatomy. Ew, girls are gross and periods are scary and babies are flown in by giant storks.'" I imitate him childishly. "How old are you again, five?"

For a second he looks like he might laugh. "Look who's talking. There's something up your nose, by the way."

"Go piss yourself." I bite. There's an uncomfortable moment in which we both remember why we are where we are, and both our faces twitch painfully.

"What? I'm only doing you a favor, making sure you don't walk around your own party looking - well, more repugnant than usual."
"You're an angel, Naruto, truly," I pan, tilting my face in the mirror hanging from the wall so I can check, just to be sure.

Crap, he's right.

I wait for him to look away before I aggressively wipe my face with my sleeve.

"How're things with Ino, anyway?" I ask. It comes out more snippy than I intended it.

He gives me an irritated look. "They're awesome. Just peachy. We've planned to elope before morning."

"That, uh, does sound wonderful."

"Yeah, keep it up with the bitchy attitude, Sakura. You can whine about Ino and I all you want, but don't waste your time wondering why you're the one that's still single.''

Whoa.

Despite myself, I'm caught off guard by the fierceness in his voice. I have to clench my teeth to keep my jaw from dropping.

Is it just me or is he being more vicious than normally?

I decide to dismiss the idea. He's probably just pissed because he needs to use the bathroom, paired with the thing with Ino.

"I don't need to wonder." I hiss. "I'm perfectly aware of why I'm not in a relationship."

He scoffs. "Oh? Please quell my curiosity."

The pleasant buzz in my head is completely gone at this point. "Well, being forced to spend unbearable lengths of time watching you leech onto my best friend doesn't really advertise having a boyfriend. I'm perfectly fine being alone for probably ever."

"Even if my life is meaningless from this point on, I'll always know that I at least did the male species that small favor."

It takes all my willpower to keep my face looking placid. I roll my eyes, scoffing. "Go to hell, Naruto."

He stares right back at me, arms crossed. "Already there, princess."

"What the fuck is going on with you, anyway?" I burst out, exasperated. "You're acting like an even bigger doucheface than usual, and I'm pretty sure I'm not the problem."

He rolls his eyes and gestures behind me. "Do you mind shutting up for one second? You're holding up the line."

And yep, when I turn around, I realize that the people ahead of me are all gone. The girl in the Snow White dress that had been waiting front of me is just coming out of the bathroom.

The numbing pain in my bladder that Naruto's verbal assault momentarily distracted me from returns full-force.

Oh sweet Jesus, YES.

I rip open the door and slam it shut behind me, every muscle in my body screaming salvation.

When I'm done I decide to take my sweet time and let Naruto suffer for a bit.

A few years back my parents chose inexplicably to hang up a huge, full-length, gold-framed mirror in this tiny bathroom, right across from the toilet, meaning you have no choice but maintain uncomfortable eye-contact with yourself while doing your business.

Usually it's nothing but painfully awkward. At times like this, though, it comes in rather handy.

I take my time studying my face in the mirror, smoothing out some smudged mascara and plucking some stray confetti from my hair. Then I do a few facial muscle exercises that I found on a women's health website last week.

Through the door, I hear Naruto sigh in annoyance. Loudly.

Ha.

I feel so pleased with myself that I can't help but smirk at my reflection.

Just when I'm planning to pull up my pants and rejoin the party, however, something red catches my eye.

My eyes jump to the ceiling.

No. Please, please, not now.

I look at my bewildered expression in the mirror, running through my options. There are no tampons or sanitary towels anywhere in this bathroom- there are some, however, in the storage room down the hall. I don't have my phone on me – it's stowed away safely in my bedroom.

I think of Naruto, on the other side of the door. I could ask him for help.

But at what cost?

I take a breath, gather up all of my dignity and knock on the door.

"Naruto?" I try to keep my voice even. "Are you there?"

"Uh, yeah?" He answers after a moment, sounding somewhat surprised but mostly annoyed.

"I- this is- this is mortifying, but I need something." I emphasize the last word, hoping he'll catch the hint.

There's a beat of silence and then he asks, "hemorrhoid cream?"

I let out a burst of surprised laughter despite myself. "Yes, Naruto. Please get me some fucking hemorrhoid cream for these giant hemorrhoids, stat."

He laughs loudly, our earlier spat apparently forgotten at least for the moment. "Okay, what do you need, princess?"

"Uh, in the storage room across from the stairwell there's a big closet. Inside, on the bottom shelf, there will be a pack of sanitary towels…" I trail off.

There's another moment of silence. I hear Naruto clear his throat. "Oh. Oh. Yes. Uh, right- I will be- right back." Then I hear him crutch-limping away, and I lean my head against the wall, embarrassed beyond reason.

Barely half a minute later, I hear footsteps grow louder and there's a knock at the door.

Naruto's voice is hushed. "Princess? I didn't know how much to take so I just got the entire box."

I feel so relieved I could cry. "That's fine! That's fine. I'm going to open the door, okay? Don't look."

I open the door to a crack, and the first thing I see is a hand closed around a box of – my mom's pantyliners.

I can barely contain my laughter.

Well, that'll do for now.

"They're the right ones, aren't they?" Naruto asks impatiently when I still haven't taken them.

I finally grab the box and close the door. "They're fine! Yeah, thank you so much."

Barely twenty seconds later, I finally open the door. There's a weird moment where we both exchange embarrassed smiles.

"I'm- uh-" I start.

"It's okay." He says uncomfortably. Then, after a beat of silence, he pretty much slams the bathroom door shut in my face.

I half-walk half-launch myself toward the backyard, where the party is still in full swing. I cross the dancefloor, and incidentally pass by my sister and Suigetsu. Still making out.

"Stay hydrated, guys." I advise. But they don't give any sign of having even heard me.

I move to the corner of the yard where Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru had been earlier, but they're gone. I do, however, see Ino. I halt in my step. She's leaning against a tree, talking to Chouji, a chubby, friendly guy from our class that used to get picked on during freshman year, but that has since grown to tower over every other junior, as well as joined the wrestling team. Needless to say, any former bullies now leave him alone.

I stand there uncertainly, not knowing whether she's still pissed at me. Then, she catches sight of me over Chouji's shoulder and gives me a little smile. I take this for a good sign.

She pats his arm in goodbye, and walks over to me.

"Hey, S. Come, I need to talk to you."

That doesn't sound good. "Okay?" We walk toward the back of the yard. "I, uh, didn't know you knew Chouji." I say, just to have something to say.

She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. "We just got to talking, actually! I wish I'd gotten to know him earlier. What a sweet guy."

"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. Oh, Ino, the most mortifying thing happened just now-".

"Your make-out session with Lee?" she slaps my arm with a smirk.

Oh, right, I'd already forgotten about that. "No, no, after."

She snorts. "After? I should stick with you, I'm missing all the fun."

A laugh escapes me at that. "I really don't think you would have wanted to be here for this. So I was standing in line for the bathroom, and Naruto was being such a pest, like always, and-"

"-That's what I wanted to talk about, actually." She blows out a breath, looking up at the sky. I give her a questioning look. "I'm going to break up with him."

My mouth falls open. "What? Why?"

"A bunch of reasons, to be honest." she shrugs, again with that empty smile. "It's not that I'm not attracted to him, but there are a few things about him that are just-" she sighs. "Like, earlier tonight, when he was laughing at me. But not even explicitly that. Like, I know you hate him, and I really don't want to force my best friend to be around somebody that makes her feel bad. I mean, you're a different person when you're around him. And the same goes for him. I just, don't really feel like it's as relaxed as it should be."

She's still not looking at me, and I feel like there's something else that she's not telling me.

"Ino. You can break up with him if you feel like it's not right- but don't break up with him because of me. That's just - not fair to him."

She shrugs. "It's just- I don't know."

"What?"

She gives me a pained expression. "I don't know. I feel like it's the best thing to do."

I still feel like it's not the entire story. "Just reconsider, okay? If this is something you want to do- then sure. But don't do it because he and I don't get along."

"That's not it, exactly. Uh, I don't know how to say this, because you're probably not going to believe me, and I know you already feel guilty. You'll feel even worse."

I look at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

She sighs. "Okay. Okay. It's just that I feel - that this fixation you two have with each other - that it's weird. Like, I know you guys don't get along, but sometimes it feels like something else. Like some sort of weird chemistry."

Whoa. Whoa. What? An ice-cold, panicky feeling sinks in my stomach.

I have no idea what to say. Except that it's not true. Obviously.

"Ino," I say disbelievingly. "That is not true. I honestly don't think I've ever met anybody I like less than Naruto. I want to be as far away from him as possible. I've never had less chemistry with another human being than I have with him. He's even - ew." I trail off, hands still gesturing wildly.

She gives me that smile again. The one that doesn't reach her eyes. She crosses her arms. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. But just - I don't know. This is what I want to do. And don't feel guilty, S."

"I…"

I do. I do feel guilty. Whether she's right or not, the fact is that I've been acting like a child disapproving of her divorced mother's new boyfriend. I guess I just never thought she'd actually listen to me.

My mind goes to the way Naruto's face fell when Ino tugged out of his arms after we apologized to her, earlier tonight. My stomach clenches again.

"I'm not going to break up with him tonight. Tomorrow, I think. Or the day after." She shrugs, taking a step towards the crowd. She grabs my sleeve. "Come, let's get some booze."

I let her tug me into the crowd, mind as far away from alcohol as possible.

X X X

Author's notes: Hey everyone! So how long's it been? A month? Two? FOUR YEARS? HA-Ha ha what?

In all honesty, I've written about six different versions of this chapter, and always added a few new paragraphs every so many weeks. I get it if you guys have all moved on from this story and this fandom (I mean, Naruto has ended, even. We're getting old, guys), but if you do read this chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it. I've written about half of chapter 8, too. And I have a clear direction in mind where this is going. It won't be much of a slowburn, I think.

Hey, and a Halloween chapter, on Halloween! Completely unplanned, too.

If you guys feel like reviewing, give me a shout! I want to know what you guys think about the ending of Naruto, and how you guys are doing :)