DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.


Start Again

"You put your arms around me and I'm home"


Hinata walked side by side with Naruto, still in her prom dress while Naruto was in his tux. She was still blushing as images of what had happened during prom flashed in her mind. It was so unbelievable and crazy that Hinata Hyuuga—the Hinata Hyuuga, most shy girl in school—did something that no girl could do! It was crazy. Tomorrow, people will be buzzing with everything that happened.

Naruto glanced at the purple haired girl. Her revelation was shocking. He was 10x more shocked than anybody out there. True, he never really showed any interest in the girl sometimes, he showed it when no one was actually looking at him. When she blushes like crazy in her desk by herself when no one is even talking to her, when she stutters madly when she talks to him, when she fainted when he smiled at her and introduced himself.

Hinata was a pretty girl—Hinata IS a pretty girl. Naruto thinks differently though, he thinks she's beautiful and he's undeserving of such a girl and it was impossible for her to like him—even love him. He thought she was a lady and more over, she's Neji Hyuuga's cousin. They're never going to be together! Naruto was a loud mouth and dumb, Hinata on the other hand was an amazing girl. She was lady like, super ultra cute and gentle.

Hinata couldn't take the silence anymore and it was eating her brains out and she stopped walking which caused Naruto to stop too and look back at her, "Naruto-kun, I-I—about that outburst earlier, I'm s-sorry!" she cried.

Naruto chuckled, "It's fine. At least you got prom queen right?" Naruto pointed at the crown that was on top of Hinata's head. She blushed furiously, "It was v-very unexpected"

"So, since your prom queen and I'm king, let's go for a late date night!" Naruto cried and went back to Hinata's side. He placed his arm up, indicating for her to wrap her hands around it. Hinata blushed even more if that's still possible and wrapped her tiny hands around Naruto's muscular arm.

They started walking once again, their light was the moonlight from above. "Where a-are we going?" Hinata asked. Naruto looked down at her and smiled, "Wherever the wind takes us"

2

Ino didn't go home just yet. It was a beautiful night and she didn't want to spend it sadly. So, she sat on a bench in the boulevard and looked up at the bright full moon. "Man, those bastards are lucky they have someone to be with" she sighed.

Before, she always thought that she had loved Sasuke. She didn't love him just because of his looks and all, but because she always thought he was different—and she was right. But she was wrong that she could be the one to change it because all this time, Sasuke truly loved only one girl and deep inside, he never let her go even though she broke his heart. It was amazing that a love story like this was in high school. These stories only happened in movies, really.

Well, at first, the thought of Sakura with Sasuke, Ino was somehow a bit jealous but Sakura was her friend and she didn't want to have a fight with her. Besides, Sakura was a truly beautiful girl—inside and out. No wonder Sasuke loved her very much until now. Now it's been a couple of weeks since that'd happened and Ino managed to move on quickly. Now, she had set her eyes on Shikamaru. She'd always thought he was a jerk. A very arrogant man just because he was so smart and everything!

"Annoying man" Ino whispered underneath her breath. A few weeks after, she had fell in love with him. She somehow noticed how she always smiles even though his comebacks were harsh. She smiles when she says she's a troublesome girl but still does the things she wants him to do anyway. She thought he'd ask her out, but turns out he asked another one and it truly struck a dagger in her heart.

From afar, Ino heard faint screaming. Her ears perked up and she looked around to find where the source was. She finally saw two shadows underneath a tree not too far away from her. She slowly went to the edge of the bench until she heard clearly what they were saying.

"God damn it, Temari!" Shikamaru's voice was heard. Ino gasped, Temari and Shikamaru were fighting?

"Shikamaru, come on! It's not like we're together or anything!" Temari cried back.

"I can't do this anymore with you, okay? I don't want to see you again!" He snapped at her.

"But—"

"Shut up, okay? Just shut the fuck up. I don't want to be alone with you! Besides, I know you're only using me for pleasure so just—god damn it!" Shikamaru was very frustrated with Temari and he began to walk away. When he stepped out of the shade of the tree, he saw Ino and Ino saw him.

It was obvious that he was crying and he simply glared at her. Ino couldn't tear her eyes away from him as he started walking towards her. Once he was near enough, he stopped in front of her and continued his cold stare at her, "Don't tell anyone about this, got it?" he said harshly.

Ino pressed her lips together and simply nodded. Shikamaru continued to walk away, leaving an angry Temari and sad Ino. Ino really wanted to do something and as if by impulse, she ran after him.

"Shikamaru!" she cried out. Shikamaru turned around and faced Ino.

Ino bit her lower lip, "Can I walk with you?"

Shikamaru didn't answer for a while and soon sighed, "Troublesome" he mumbled but he let Ino walk with him anyway.

3

"Gaara?" Sakura said, not sure with who she was seeing. He was the man that was always with her and before she left, they kind of got into a fight with everything and he had told her that he loved her.

"Sakura," he greeted, looking at her softly and then his eyes turned cold when he glanced at Sasuke, "Sasuke" he greeted also. Sasuke didn't move but just continued to stare at the red head man.

"W-What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, letting go of Sasuke's arm.

"Can we talk in private?" Gaara asked. Sakura hesitated for a while but decided to talk to him anyway. Sakura looked up at Sasuke and he narrowed his eyes at her, "What? You're really going to go to him?"

"Come on, it's not like I'm choosing sides okay? I'll be right back. Wait for me in the car" Sakura said. Sasuke didn't speak for a while and soon, he nodded and walked towards the Lamborghini. Sakura walked side by side with Gaara until they were far enough from the other people around.

He looked at her and his heart skipped a beat when she looked up at him, "So, you're here" she said. Her innocent voice seemed a little bit more mature now. She's such a woman now, Gaara thought.

"Look, I just want to understand why you went with Sasuke" he said.

Sakura sighed, "You still don't understand, Gaara? I love him!" she cried.

"But why do you love him? He's broke your heart several times when you guys were still dating 2 years back and who was the one there for you? I don't understand how you can still love him!" Gaara threw a frustrated hand through his hair.

Sakura bit her lower lip, "You can't understand, Gaara"

"He's completely brainwashed you!" Gaara cried.

"He didn't! I was the one who broke his heart most in the end, okay?" Sakura said. Frustrated why Gaara just couldn't understand this.

"You're so stupid!" Gaara said, narrowing his eyes at her.

Sakura was a bit taken aback by the comment but she quickly regained her composure, "If you think it's stupid then go away!"

"I can't let the one I love go like that—he's a player, Sakura" Gaara said.

"You don't love me, Gaara" Sakura said with conviction.

Gaara groaned, "I know I love you"

"Well, it's a one sided love for you then" Sakura said harshly.

Gaara however, ignored that and got out a piece of paper out from his pocket, "Don't you remember those times when you were lonely because of him?" he handed her the piece of paper and Sakura looked at it. Her eyes softened, it was the first time she ever wrote a song and she even learned how to play the piano because of Gaara.

"This was a long time ago" Sakura mumbled.

"I know, but it still has a meaning. Don't you remember everything he's done to you? How can you still forgive him?" Gaara asked.

Sakura looked up at him, a softness in her eyes that made Gaara relax, "Because I love him" she said softly and started to walk away from him.

Gaara watched as the pinkette walked away. He knew that she was doing the wrong thing, going back to that wretched man, he couldn't just look and watch her being deceived by him all the time. He had to do something about this, he couldn't take her tears anymore because of him. He needed to destroy Sasuke.

4

Neji dropped Tenten off in front of her house. He kissed her softly on the lips and he smiled at her—a rare smile indeed and Tenten was the only one to ever see him smile like this. Tenten felt the knots curl on her stomach. They have been dating for a few weeks already and until now, the way Neji looks at her still made her nervous as ever.

"It was a lovely night" Tenten said, a small smile playing on her lips.

Neji smiled back, "Yeah" he said and got out red box in his pocket. Tenten looked at it and her heart beat went fast once she laid her eyes on it. This would be the first gift Neji had ever given to her and she was so excited to know what it was. Neji slowly opened the box and there, Tenten saw a silver bracelet. It was chains until it stopped where an infinity symbol lay.

"W-Wow, this looks so expensive" Tenten stuttered as she eyed the bracelet. Neji chuckled, "Really? That's the first thing you thought when you saw it?"

Tenten blushed, "I think it's beautiful"

Neji took the bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist, it fitted her perfectly. Tenten bit her lower lip and smiled, "It's wonderful"

"I know" Neji said, smiling at her. Tenten gently kissed him the lips that soon became hot and rough when they suddenly heard a grumble from behind. Tenten looked back and her eyes widened.

"P-Pops"

5

Naruto and Hinata ended up going to Naruto's house instead. They were in a small attic in his room and it was beautiful. There were Christmas lights decorated in ceiling and portraits of people and figures were around. There was one circular window that had some kind of pattern in the end of the attic. There was beer on the side that Naruto had prepared and a nice mat where they both sat.

"This is b-beautiful, Naruto-kun. Did you d-draw this?" Hinata asked shyly.

Naruto looked at the paintings and drawings, "No, my mother did before she passed away years ago"

Hinata looked up at him, "I'm sorry for a-asking"

"Nah, it's fine. She was the one that decorated everything. She told me once that if I ever found someone amazing, I would take her here" Naruto said, his eyes lost into the memory of his mother.

Hinata blushed, "I-I see, have you took someone here?"

Naruto chuckled and looked at her pearly eyes, "No, you're the first"

That made Hinata smile. Naruto watched her as she sipped a little bit of beer and her nose crinkled. It was her first time ever drinking alcohol. Naruto had forced her to drink. "So, w-why'd you take me here?"

Naruto thought for a moment and sighed, "Because your different than the other girls"

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, "H-How am I different? I-I mean, I'm quite t-the same"

"Ethereal" Naruto replied.

Hinata thought in confusion. She has never heard of that word before, maybe it was made up? Naruto chuckled, "Hey, I may be dumb, but I have some vocabulary"

Hinata blushed, "I-I didn't think you were dumb! I just d-don't know that word!" she cried, panicking that Naruto might get mad at her.

Naruto cocked one eyebrow up, "Really? So I have a more vast vocabulary than you?"

Hinata nodded. Naruto simply chuckled. He reached out to touch a strand of her hair and placed it at the back of her ear. Hinata blushed at the action. Naruto still didn't take his hands away from her hair and a moment later, his fingers travelled to her red cheeks until her chin as he lifted her face up to meet his blue ocean eyes.

"Ethereal—extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world" Naruto explained.

6

Ino and Shikamaru walked side by side, not saying anything. Ino glanced at Shikamaru. Her heart was racing, ugh, I'm so stupid! What am I suppose to say now? I suck at comforting people—moreover if it was a guy!

Ino noticed that they were close enough that their shoulders were even touching together and it made her heart beat erratic. "Shikamaru, do you want to talk about it?" Ino asked softly.

Shikamaru looked up at her, his eyes dull and red, "We had sex a lot" he said simply. Ino mentally face palmed herself, really?

"But she only used me for pleasure" Shikamaru continued and Ino listened, "I was…starting to fall for her and if I did, it'd be only danger and heartbreak. She only slept with me when she was drunk. She's the one who took my virginity away too," a humourless laugh and he continued, "I couldn't stand being alone with her anymore and that's when I just snapped right then and there. It was a mistake to ever be with her. I regret everything with her"

Ino didn't know why and where she got the braveness from, but she slipped her hand in his and let it fill the spaces in his fingers. He looked straight, didn't stop walking like nothing special happened but it made Ino happy because his fingers curled up and he held her hand back.

Moments later, they had arrived in a tall apartment building and they stopped there. "Do you want to come up?" Shikamaru asked her naturally. Ino blushed, "S-Sure" my parents are out of town anyway. Maybe he needs someone with him. Who knew Shikamaru was a fragile man?

Shikamaru nodded and led her inside the building. An old man sat in the corner and he looked at the two, "It's a lovely evening, Nara"

Shikamaru nodded once at the old man, "Yeah, it is"

"It seems you have a lovely lady with you, too" the old man smiled, showing his missing teeth and looking at the girl. Ino smiled back, "Thank you, mister"

Shikamaru groaned, "Good evening" he said and they went inside the elevator. Shikamaru pressed the 4th level and the elevator doors slowly closed.

Ino could feel the tension between them and she wondered what might happen tonight. "Shikamaru, I'm sorry"

Shikamaru looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows, "Why?"

"I eavesdropped on you guys, I didn't mean it. Curiosity just got the best of me, I guess" Ino replied grimly.

Shikamaru just shrugged, "It's fine. I don't mind, it's you anyway"

Ino was confused at his reply but decided not to ask him why. There was a ding and the elevator doors opened, showing a long hallway. They walked out and started walking. Ino was behind Shikamaru as he led them to his apartment room. There was a number 35 on the door and he opened it. Once they were in, Ino's nose crinkled as she saw his boyish apartment.

There were clothes all over the floor and a black cat was there, sleeping on his couch that was filled with chips. His table was also filled with cans of beers and other…stuff. She looked at the kitchen and it had unwashed dishes in the sink.

"You live here?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shrugged and plopped down on the couch, taking the cat by surprise. The cat jumped and ran away to god knows where. "Why? What's with it?"

"It's completely chaos here! What do you do on weekends?" Ino said, cocking one eyebrow up and putting both her hands on her waist. Shikamaru eyed her and he felt something tight underneath his pants but he ignored it, "You know my first impression when I saw you?" he asked all of a sudden.

Ino, not knowing where this was going answered him anyway, "No, what is it?"

"You're a troublesome, very annoying woman and not good in sex" Shikamaru said, smirking. Ino didn't say anything for a moment, let's see about that, Nara.

Ino smirked at him and slowly—seductively, walked towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru gulped as Ino placed a knee up and rested it in the middle of Shikamaru's legs, purposefully scraping his hard-on. Ino chuckled as her face was inches away from his, "I don't know if you ever noticed this, but first impressions are often wrong" she whispered seductively at him.

Shikamaru groaned as she once again, scraped it. Suddenly there was a loud thud and Ino jumped. The cat was in the sink and plates fell down on the floor. Ino groaned, "What is with your place!" she cried.

Shikamaru eyed her as she went to his kitchen. He looked at her ass, swaying back and forth. He smiled, it was the first time in a long time that he had smiled. She was such a troublesome girl but somehow, she made him happy. Temari was just trouble—in a bad way but Ino was trouble, in a good way.

He forgot about Temari, she wasn't worth crying over a night and he paid attention to the blonde girl that was screaming at the black cat that was just staring right back at her, not understanding whatever she was saying.

7

Sakura went inside Sasuke's car and sighed. Sasuke glanced at her and noticed the piece of paper that was in her hands, "What's that?" he asked.

Sakura smiled, "It's nothing" she said and placed the paper inside her purse. Sasuke had a sinking feeling in his chest. Sakura never hides stuff from him before, was it some kind of letter from Gaara?

"What did you talk about?" he asked her. Sakura sighed, "The past, don't worry about it"

Sasuke groaned, "What the hell?"

Sakura looked up at him, "What?"

"What are you hiding from me?" Sasuke asked her, frustrated.

"Nothing! I'm not hiding anything!" she cried.

"It's painfully obvious that you are!" Sasuke snapped at her.

Sakura groaned, "I don't want to talk about it now, okay? God damn it, Uchiha!" the only time she ever calls him by his last name were those times when she was either frustrated by something or just really angry at him.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and dangerously sped off into the road. Sakura, not caring about his speed, looked frustrated herself. Gaara is here, damn it. Sakura looked around and found herself in Sasuke's mansion. He hadn't brought her back home and she looked at Sasuke, eyes furrowed.

"Why didn't you take me home?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked at her, anger boiling in his eyes. He didn't like it. He didn't like Gaara and he didn't like it that Sakura was hiding something from her—it was unnatural! A lovely night would've been spent nicely in the end but Gaara had to show up.

"Because you need to talk to me about something!" Sasuke cried.

"I have nothing to talk to you about. I'll take a cab from here" Sakura said and was about to open the door when Sasuke stopped her by locking all the doors in the car.

Sakura turned to him, "What is your problem?"

"This isn't like you, Sakura! Tell me what your hiding" Sasuke said.

"It's the past, Sasuke. It has nothing to do with you" Sakura replied.

Sasuke groaned, "I bet it does"

"Can we just—can we just discuss this upstairs?" Sakura asked with a sigh. Sasuke nodded in response. They walked out of the car and entered the mansion. Once they were in, Sakura spotted Itachi, sitting on a black leather chair that had a high back, in front of the fire place.

"Hello Sasuke, Sakura" Itachi greeted without looking back at them.

"How'd you know I'm here?" Sakura asked.

"The obvious clicking of her heels" Itachi said and a chuckle could be heard from him. Sasuke groaned and grabbed Sakura's wrist, "We're going upstairs"

"Don't make so much noise" Itachi commented, making Sakura blush furiously.

They went up to the flight of stairs, passed some hallways until they finally reached his room. They went inside and Sasuke locked the door. He looked back at Sakura who was looking out of the big windows. The moon was shining brightly and it was a nice view. It was the only thing that lit the room and Sakura liked it that way. She looked back at the dark and a figure emerged.

Sasuke stared at her form. Somehow, the moonlight always made her twice as beautiful. "What I'm hiding from you…is my past" Sakura sighed.

"Why are you hiding it from me?" Sasuke asked gently.

Sakura tucked in a loose hair behind her ear and she bit her lower lip, "My past is…somehow dark in a way" she chuckled, but it was humourless—a hollow laugh. Sakura looked down on the ground, not wanting to meet her past again. It was shallow, dark and empty. Even with Gaara there, she was nothing.

8

"P-Pops" Tenten stuttered.

He looked at Neji from Tenten then back at the boy who was screwing with his daughter. However, he didn't go crazy, yell at Tenten and Neji, nor did he beat them up. Instead, he did the complete opposite. He smiled. Yes, he smiled. Tenten and Neji furrowed their eyebrows in unison.

"Oh god, thank the heavens! Here I thought my daughter was lesbian!" he cried, tears of happiness in his eyes.

Tenten mentally face palmed herself. Her dad thought she was lesbian? What the hell is that?

"DAD? What the hell!" Tenten cried, her face fuming, "Why did you think I was lesbian?"

Tenten's father just sighed, "C'mon, you're a bit of a tomboy you know so I thought you'd never get a boyfriend and you'd just get a girlfriend—like Ino, you know"

Tenten rolled her eyes, "Well, it's not like that, dad. Meet Neji Hyuuga, he's my boyfriend" she said, grabbing Neji's arm and shove him in front of her father. Neji groaned and soon looked calm and composed in front of Tenten's father.

"Good evening" Neji said.

Tenten's father simply laughed and took the boy in his arms, "You're my saviour! Hyuuga, eh? Aren't you some rich family?" the two men were going inside the house and Tenten followed behind them, listening to what her father was saying.

"We own a business" Neji said, his emotion never faltering.

"Well, that's great! You should marry my daughter and send some money to her parents~ We're almost bankrupt!" her father yelled.

"Dad! Stop it. You haven't even told him your name" Tenten huffed.

Her dad looked back and chuckled, "Now, you are such a girl" he cried.

Tenten rolled her eyes. Tenten's father turned his attention to Neji and smirked, "My name is Yasuki!" he cried.

"Good to meet you, sir" Neji said and Yasuki—Tenten's father burst out laughing.

"Dad, it's late at night. I think Neji should be heading home now" Tenten said, she was so embarrassed of her father! "Neji, don't call me sir. Call me Yasuki alright?" Yasuki said.

Neji simply nodded. Yasuki let go of Neji and went back inside the house, leaving both alone. Tenten looked up at Neji, "Sorry for my dad, he's…ugh, I'm so embarrassed"

Neji chuckled and kissed her on the forehead, "You should go back in now, it was nice meeting your father"

Tenten rolled her eyes, "It wasn't. I know you"

"Yeah, yeah, well goodnight" Neji said and pecked her lips once more. Tenten smiled, "Goodnight"

A/N: SO, it's not that good and I'm sorry about the different scenes and going back again xD I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO THAT. XD but if that annoys you, just tell me and I'll stop doing it xD

AHHH, OHMEGASH~ I haven't really told you anything about Sakura's past after she broke up with Sasuke. I mean, all I told you was that she was nothing and lonely and everything. Well, there is more to that. xD told you Gaara is kind of an important character in my side story! (wait, did I tell you?) Well, look forward to the next chapter for the *revelation* of Sakura's past, Gaara's involvement, NaruHina romance, ShikaIno love-ish, Temari's thoughts for Shikamaru, and MobItachi, and TsunadeXJiraiya~ LOOK FORWARD~ hmm, no news about Fugaku and Mikoto yet? Hmm, well, it won't be out yet but something MIGHT happen. MIGHT. xD

LoveForAnime: XD AHEHEHE. Yeah, I know. It's always SasuSaku and I don't want this story to be JUST about Sakura and Sasuke. I kind of want the others to have a little involvement in some stuff, you know? And besides, NaruHina is a super duper cute couple and so cute~ so I thought they deserve it more because SasuSaku is the angsty and dramatic type of couple.

Harunosakua: Thanks for reviewing! YES, ITS CUTE XD

Sakura'sGhettoInner: LOL BASRA. xD spell check, girl!

Dangerouslycrazy: HEHEHE, you think so? THANKS!:)

NightKaida: OKAY:) :O THAT GAME! It's an old game, never played it before but I think it's an interesting game. However, even though I'm old-ish, I STILL PLAY POKEMON and I think IT'S THE BEST GAME IN THE WORLD~

goddess-ish: I TOLD YOU MY IDENTITY IS CONFIDENTIAL! HOW COULD YOU SPEAK OUR DAMN LANGUAGE! YOU STUPID STUPID GIRL! i can't believe you are my sister.