Naruto walked me through Konoha for about 5 minutes before stopping outside of what appeared to be a nightclub.
"Naruto... I don't really like—"
"C'mon!" He said before dragging me through the door
Once we were inside, I noticed quite a few familiar faces. Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sakura—along with several others that I hadn't met.
"I invited all of my friends and mentours who were in town... Sort of like a welcoming party for you, Mei. I wanted to introduce you to everyone,"
I felt unbelievably awkward, even though Naruto's gesture was so sweet, I still wasn't used to people being nice to me.
"T-thank you," I studdered "You really didn't have to,"
"Sure I did!"
He pulled me over to Sakura. She was standing with two other girls: a very pretty, tall, blonde, and a girl who...well she kind of looked like me. Our hair was similar in cut and color, and her eyes were white.
"Mei, this is Sakura, Ino, and Hinata,"
They all said their hellos.
"Sakura," I began "We've met. I'm sorry about how I acted befo—"
She held a hand up
"Don't worry about it, I understand," She said with a smile
I smiled back
Shikamaru walked into our circle with a rather portly fellow with a mane of brown hair. He was eating peanuts out of a glass bowl from the bar.
"Mei... Temari told me alot about you," Shikamaru said
"I could say the same about you," I replied with a smirk
He blushed
"This is my friend Choji,"
"Nice to meet you," He said in between bites
I laughed
"You too,"
Naruto nudged my shoulder
"Do you want a drink?" He asked
"Yeah, sure,"
He nodded and walked over to the bar as I stood there awkardly. I suddenly felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I was then greeted by a familiar pair of bushy eyebrows.
"Lee-san!"
"Hi, Mei-chan! I wanted to ask you when you wanted to train together. If you're free tomorrow afternoon, I'd love to start then," He said
"That sounds great,"
"I'll warn you though, my training is very intense!"
"I can handle it." I reassured him
He grinned
The music in the club was loud and everyone seemed like they were having a good time, but suddenly, I noticed an increase in that good time vibe. Naruto came back over to me with a small cup of sake.
"Thanks for this Naruto... it means alot,"
He smiled
"No problem."
I was having a great time, dancing and having drinks with everyone... they really seemed to accept me. Rock Lee and I were dancing to some odd pop song, when I noticed everyone seemed to be crowding around something near the door. Rock Lee left my side and went to join them.
"Whats goin' on over there?" Naruto walked over and asked
"I don't know..."
The crowd suddenly parted... and someone walked through it. There were murmers of "You never come out with us" and "Its good to see you". As the shadowy figure walked into the light, I suddenly started to recognize its stature but once I caught a glimpse of the face... I was out. Like a light. The last thing I remember is my body colliding with the floor.
I woke up in a room I didn't recognize. Was this the hospital?
"Hey," I heard a familiar raspy voice say
I looked over. Naruto was sitting on the floor next to the bed. I was barely able to focus. Where did he go? I needed to find him, and in my mind there was no waiting. I needed to find him now.
"You passed out... why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling—"
"Where is he?" I asked
Naruto noticed the look in Mei's eyes... Something had changed. They weren't the soft purple they were before. They were dark violet and they were furious.
"Where is he, Naruto?!"
"Hey... calm down," He stood "Whats wrong? Where's who?"
I felt like I had memories on the tip of my tongue. They were so fuzzy... I just couldn't bring them into view, but I knew something had happened. I couldn't think straight, my heart was pounding painfully against my ribcage, and I could barely breathe.
"Sasuke Uchiha,"
Naruto's eyes widened
"Woah, woah, what did Sasuke do?"
I went to move away, but Naruto grabbed me by the arms
"I.. I don't know. I know something happened,"
The truth was, I didn't know if Sasuke had done anything good or bad for or to me. I had no recollection of anything happening other than the few times I remembered running into him a few years ago, but there was something about seeing his face that made my knees weak... and apparently made me pass out. I felt like this memory was on the tip of my tongue, I just couldn't grasp it.
I ran my fingers through my hair
"I can't remember what..." I explained
Naruto ran through his memories about Sasuke. How he had finally returned to Konoha, hopefully for good, after all this time. There was no doubt that Naruto had no idea where Sasuke was for half of the time over the last few years, and it was definitely possible that he could have done something to her.
Naruto explained to me his knowledge of Sasuke, and what he had been through with him. Most of which I already knew. However, I learned then that it was very possible that I may have had more than a few run ins with this man. I had to try to put this out of my mind until my memories either resurfaced, or I got any information about it, because I was going to drive myself fucking crazy.
I then spent 10 minutes convincing Naruto that I felt okay enough to walk the 5 second trip over to my own apartment. I thanked him again before he finally let me go.
I rushed into my apartment and quickly put pen to paper, dying to tell Gaara about my night.
I missed him, I needed him. The end of this week couldn't come soon enough. I set the letter on my table and threw myself onto my bed.