Hello, everyone! First of all, I am SO SORRY it took me so long to update. I recently moved out on my own, and between work and having zero inspiration due to stress, it was hard to write. Thankfully I was able to get back into my groove, and give you this. I promise I will update again soon. I do hope you enjoy. What will happen?

I don't own Naruto.

"Alright, then I officially declare this auction open! Let's get started!"

The crowd immediately erupted into cheers as Ino declared that the auction was underway. Sakura watched from the medical tent, feeling anxious. This was actually happening. She was going to watch her friends, and the man she loved, get auctioned off to random strangers. The pinkette took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

'Focus, Sakura! This is for the good of the village. It's basically just a charity event. This will bring our village out of debt. Don't let your personal feelings get in the way!' she thought.

Ino grinned and waited for the crowd to die down before she introduced the first bachelor. "Alright, folks! Our first bachelor will sure make your head spin! Step on forward, Sai!" she exclaimed.

The brunette did as instructed and stepped forward to center stage, smiling his fake smile.

"Sai here is quite the artist! He has dark hair, and he's kind of pasty, but still pretty damn fine! Just don't leave him out in the sun for too long!"

Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes. Didn't Ino realize she was supposed to sell the crowd on the bachelors rather than point out their flaws?

"He also has a sense of humor! He's always teasing our friends. All in good fun, of course! Isn't that right, Sai?"

"Teasing? You mean like when I call you a dumb blonde?" Sai asked, clueless.

Ino twitched slightly, trying to hide her irritation. "Um, I guess?"

"I'm not joking when I call you that," Sai said matter-of-factly.

Tsunade, who was watching from the side of the stage, barely resisted the urge to face palm. She quickly reached inside of her robe to grab her trusty bottle of sake, taking a swig of it. Ino had better not make her regret allowing her to run the auction.

'They better not screw this up. This may turn into a disaster," she thought.

Ino narrowed her eyes at the dark haired man before composing herself, hoping to keep the situation from going even more downhill. She plastered on a smile and let out an obnoxiously loud laugh, reaching up to wipe an imaginary tear from her eye. "HA! Isn't he a riot!? He just sounds so convincing! Looks like he's an artist in more ways than one!"

The citizens of Konoha that knew Sai personally simply sighed and rolled their eyes, knowing very well that Sai was indeed serious. He didn't have a sense of humor… he was just an asshole. Thankfully, some of the young girls from other countries seemed to buy Ino's charade and started hooting and hollering.

"Alright, everyone! We'll start the bidding at ten thousand yen!" Ino exclaimed.

A few young girls, as well as a couple of elder ladies, immediately raised their hands. The bidding gradually increased until finally an older, not so attractive woman from Iwagakure won Sai for fifty thousand yen.

"SOLD! Congratulations to you, ma'am! You've won a date with an amazing artist!" Ino exclaimed happily.

Sai raised an eyebrow, incredibly unimpressed. "I'm expected to go on a date with this old far-"

"ON TO THE NEXT BACHELOR!" Ino yelled, effectively stopping Sai from ruining everything with another nasty remark. The last thing they needed was for the poor woman to regret bidding so much for him right away.

Sai simply shrugged and walked off stage to join the audience. He'd have plenty of time to make all of the nasty remarks he wanted later.

"Next up we have a very special bachelor coming your way! Give it up for Kiba!" Ino exclaimed, gesturing the Inuzuka forward.

The brunette stepped forward to center stage, flashing a devilishly handsome grin, making girls young and old swoon. "Sup, ladies?" he spoke into the microphone, prompting some cat calls.

"This hottie right here comes from the Inuzuka clan! He stands at 169 centimeters tall, his astrological sign is Cancer, and he looks dreamy without a shirt on! Uh, not that I looked or anything!"

Sasuke watched the events unfolding in front of him and quite frankly, he wanted to run away. He didn't care about looking weak or stupid. There was no way in hell he wanted to be a part of this. Pretty soon, that was going to be him standing center stage. He'd have to endure his annoying colleague rattle off facts nobody cared to know about to a bunch of strangers, showing him off like a piece of eye candy. He glanced at Naruto, who was standing next to him, and was irritated that the blond looked entirely unconcerned.

Of course Naruto wouldn't be worried. He had a woman he was comfortable with, a woman with a lot of money, that would be more than willing to bid on him. Sasuke almost found himself wishing he had a girlfriend of his own, someone to save him from the torture he was sure to endure.

Kiba continued to wear his grin, enjoying the attention he was receiving. He struck a pose, basking in the cheers that were definitely inflating his ego. He was sure he'd be the one that fetched the highest bid. It'd be nice to show his colleagues up.

Ino once again started the bidding at ten thousand yen, and this time even more women raised their hands. Kiba put his hands up in mock defense. "Please ladies, not all at once," he said with a smirk.

The blonde was a little surprised at how many women wanted a date with Kiba, and quite frankly, she was a little jealous. She realized that she wanted in on the action too. Who cared if she was the one hosting the auction?

"I bid seventy-five thousand yen!" Ino screeched.

The crowd suddenly fell silent, and Tsunade rolled her eyes. The hokage quickly made her way to center stage, whispering in Ino's ear.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T BID!?"

"Ino, you're the host. Of course you can't bid!" the woman snapped.

"But… Do you realize how cruel that is!? Look at him! He's so hot!" Ino whined, ignoring the snickers coming from the audience.

"No buts! Now let's get on with it!" Tsunade scolded, walking back to the other side of the stage.

Ino sighed, incredibly disappointed. She looked back to the crowd, pouting slightly. "Sorry about that, folks. Anyway, now is your last chance to bid on this handsome man! Going once, going twice!"

"Seventy-six thousand yen!" called a young woman adorning a Sunagakure headband.

"SOLD!"

Sakura continued to watch the events unfold from the medical tent. Unfortunately, no patients had come in yet, so she had nothing to take her mind off of what was coming. She couldn't help but be embarrassed on her best friends behalf, as she was doing a wonderful job of making a fool out of herself. Luckily for Ino, she seemed to have no shame. At the same time, the pinkette was kind of happy for her friend. She didn't get a date with Kiba this time, but the Inuzuka seemed to like her. Maybe they'd end up together one day.

Kiba made his way off of the stage, but not before winking at Ino. "Maybe next time," he smirked.

Ino blushed ever so slightly before clearing her throat and shaking her head in an attempt to clear it.

'Woah there, girl. Calm yourself. You can seduce Kiba with your feminine charm another time,' she thought.

"Next up we have our very own Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru slowly made his way to center stage. He had his hands in his pockets and wore a very bored expression, clearly less than thrilled to be there.

"Quit slouching, Shikamaru! Could you look any less excited!?" Ino yelled.

"You should stop talking to me like you're my mother and get on with it, you troublesome woman…" he retorted.

The blonde huffed and turned back to the crowd, not really knowing what to say about her teammate. "This oh so pleasant gentleman here is Shikamaru of the Nara clan. He's…. Um… Well he's… He's really smart! Of course, you'd never know it because he's so damn lazy! You should really learn to apply yourself, Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru simply yawned.

"Seriously, I'm on a team with this guy. I guess he's a great catch. He's strong and he's a good leader. Oh, and he has a birthmark shaped like a pineapple on his butt! Kind of like his hair!"

"INO!" Tsunade boomed from across the stage.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, as well as a lighter. He lit one up and took a puff, entirely unconcerned about the looks he was receiving.

"If you don't care about your potential date smelling like a chimney, we'll go ahead and start the bidding!" Ino exclaimed.

Tsunade groaned and put her head in her hands. Yep, she was definitely regretting her decision. She should have known better than to let the peppy girl host the auction. Ino truly had no filter. Nobody would ever bid on Shikamaru now. Tsunade could just see the potential profits slipping away. The thought gave her a feeling of dread, and caused her to take another swig of her sake. Shizune noticed the woman's distress, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Tsunade-sama," the brunette said softly.

"Don't you try and make me feel better…" the woman replied, clearly irritated.

To everyone's surprise, bidding for Shikamaru quickly took off. Temari quickly got into a bidding war with a wealthy middle aged woman from Konoha.

"I bid eighty thousand yen!" the woman exclaimed.

Temari growled and shook her head. "No way is some prissy rich bitch winning a date with my man- I mean, Shikamaru," she hissed.

Kankuro looked at her and laughed. "Is someone jealous? Does our Temari have a crush?"

"Shut up, Kankuro."

"I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you-"

"Eighty-five thousand yen!" Temari boomed, effectively cutting Gaara off.

The redhead sighed at his older sister, but found the situation amusing. It was funny to watch her get all worked up over a guy. Him and Kankuro had known of Temari's feelings for the lazy genius for a while now. Gaara had first noticed back when Sasuke had first left the village, and Shikamaru had led the mission to retrieve him. Upon seeing how worried his sister had been about the boy, Gaara knew that there was something special about Shikamaru. There had to be for his sister to get so worked up over him. For that, he was thankful. He was glad that his sister had found someone to love in that way, even if she'd never admit just how deep her feelings went.

The bidding war only intensified as both Temari and the other woman got more and more worked up.

"One hundred and sixty-thousand yen! Try and outbid me and I'll blow your ass into next week!" Temari threatened.

"That's what she said," Kankuro snickered.

The wealthy woman's eyes went wide and she gulped, fearing for her safety. Though she could afford to keep going, she gave up with a huff.

"Going once… going twice… SOLD for one hundred and sixty-thousand yen!" Ino exclaimed.

Shikamaru couldn't help but let a small smirk grace his features. Maybe not all women were troublesome.

Once the initial high of winning the auction wore off, Temari gasped and put her head in her hands. "Oh shit," she cursed.

"What are you shitting about? You just won a date with your chain smoking man," Kankuro said, amused.

Temari lifted her head and took a deep breath, her eyes closed. She felt a headache coming on. She finally opened her eyes and turned to her brothers. "I don't have that much money on me right now…" she muttered.

"I warned you not to do anything rash," Gaara replied.

"That's what you get for not paying attention to how much you're spending. Don't look at me, I'm not paying for your date," Kankuro said, his arms crossed.

The blonde looked at her youngest brother, her eyes pleading.

The redhead let out a sigh and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll help you out," he said.

Temari smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you, I really appreciate it. You know I'll pay you back."

Shikamaru stepped off of the stage, and Ino proceeded to call Kakashi forward. Because the jounin was late as usual, he hadn't been forced to change into a suit. Instead, he stood in his usual shinobi uniform with his hands in his pockets. Just as Ino was about to begin talking about him, he pulled out his book. Sakura proceeded to face palm, and Naruto was about to yell at the man until Sasuke silenced him with an elbow to the ribs.

Ino rolled her eyes, but decided to let it slide. She knew Kakashi well enough to know he wouldn't put that trashy book away no matter who told him to. She turned to regard the audience with a smile.

"This eligible bachelor is none other than Kakashi Hatake, also known as 'Kakashi of the Sharingan.' He's clearly cool and mysterious, since he wears that mask all of the time!"

The Copy Ninja simply gave a small wave, never taking his nose out of his book.

"He's also a very avid reader, and will always be able to protect you if a bad guy shows up on your date! That is, if Kakashi even shows up for your date… Anyway, we'll start bidding at ten thousand yen!" Ino exclaimed.

Sakura couldn't help but sigh and shake her head. She loved Ino, but she could be less than bright. She should be highlighting everyone's good points! Thankfully, the auction seemed to be going well despite Ino's less than stellar auctioneer skills.

'I guess it's a good thing their looks make up for what their personalities lack…' she thought.

Once again, women young and old eagerly competed for the chance to date the famous Copy Ninja. Even the Mizukage, Mei Terumi, got involved. It was just too hard to resist a handsome, mysterious man such as Kakashi.

What no one seemed to expect, however, was for Shizune to get in on the action.

"One hundred and sixty-thousand yen!" she called from the side of the stage.

Tsunade, Sakura, and Ino's eyes went wide, and they all looked at Shizune in shock. Where had that come from? Shizune was interested in Kakashi? She was interested enough to bid against the Mizukage herself? Even Kakashi seemed to be surprised, as he had finally put his book down and glanced toward the brunette.

'Well, who would have thought Shizune would be interested in a boring man such as myself,' he thought.

Mei's eyes narrowed at the other woman from where she was standing. The Copy Ninja was a very powerful man, and from what she could tell, handsome. She was willing to bet that he was just as attractive without the mask on. She wanted to win a date with him so that she could test her theory, and most certainly steal a kiss or two as well.

'Among other things…' she thought with a smirk.

If the hokage's assistant wanted Kakashi so badly, Mei was going to make her work for it. She'd drive the price up, and if Shizune still bid after that, she'd let her have him.

"Two hundred thousand yen!" she barked.

Shizune gasped softly and looked down, not sure if she should just give up or not.

"Going once… going twice…"

"Shizune bids two hundred and one thousand yen!" Tsunade yelled.

Ino and Shizune both gasped and looked at Tsunade in shock. "Wait, how the hell is that fair!? You won't let me bid on Kiba, yet you bid on Shizune's behalf!?" Ino screeched.

"It's fair because I'm the Hokage and I said so!" Tsunade retorted.

The brunette shook her head at her master. "Tsunade-sama, I don't have that kind of money," she said softly.

The older woman looked at her assistant and winked. "Well, I guess I'll just have to work you harder then," she said with a smirk.

"Um… Yes, that'll be fine, Tsunade-sama! Thank you!" Shizune replied with a bow.

"Well, if nobody else wants to bid… SOLD! Congratulations, you've won a date with Kakashi of the Sharingan for two hundred and one thousand yen!" Ino declared, still peeved at the situation.

As soon as Kakashi walked off stage, his nose now back in his book, a certain blond haired knucklehead bounced up to center stage. "My turn!" he yelled, grabbing the microphone.

"Hi there, everyone! Unfortunately for you all, none of you are going to win a date with me! You know why? Because nobody can outbid my girlfriend!" he rambled.

Ino growled and walked over to the loudmouth, ripping the microphone from his hands and proceeding to hit him over the head with it. The action caused very loud feedback from the microphone, further irritating Ino, and hurting the ears of everyone in attendance. "Damn it, Naruto! See what you did!?" she bellowed.

Naruto rubbed his head and whined, now irritated as well. "What I did!? You're the one that hit me with the microphone!"

The girl rolled her eyes and shoved his microphone back at him. "Shut up. Just stand there and look pretty," she muttered, before turning to regard the audience once again.

"Sorry about that, folks! Here we have Naruto Uzumaki, the hero of Konoha! He has blond hair, piercing blue eyes, and if you give him ramen, he'll love you forever! His hobby is… eating ramen! His proudest accomplishment is… winning a ramen eating contest. Really, Naruto?" she deadpanned.

The blond simply shrugged, grinning. "I just really love ramen!"

"Clearly. Anyway, bidding will begin at the usual ten thousand yen! Any takers?"

The crowd immediately erupted with cheers and hollers. It seemed that Naruto had become quite famous. Not that anyone was surprised. His actions during the war had been nothing short of astounding, and he had played a huge part in saving the world from utter destruction. Of course the ladies would open their wallets for a chance to date him.

"Two hundred thousand yen!"

"You can take my house!"

"You can take my husband!"

Naruto grinned to himself, thoroughly enjoying the attention he was receiving.

'I'll definitely have more bidders than Sasuke-teme, HA!' he thought.

Hinata stood with her team, looking around with a blush. She gulped, knowing that she would have to speak up and bid for Naruto. She found the whole thing embarrassing, but there was no way she would let someone else win the auction. She refused to let him down.

"Naruto-kun certainly is popular…" she said softly.

Kiba, who had come to join her after his turn was up, put a hand on her shoulder. "That he is. You're not going to let a bunch of rich old ladies show you up, are you? Come on, show them who's boss!" he said with a smile.

Hinata gulped and decided that it was now or never. "I-I bid two hundred a-and fifty thousand y-yen!"

"That's my girl! Go, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered from center stage, blowing her a kiss.

The action made the shy girl blush even harder. It looked as if the auction was won, until a wealthy older woman from Kumogakure spoke up. "Two hundred and sixty thousand yen!"

Hinata gasped softly and twiddled her thumbs nervously. Was this really going to come down to a bidding war? She took a deep breath and prepared herself. She wouldn't lose. "Two hundred and s-seventy thousand yen!"

The older woman growled and then smirked wickedly to herself. There was no way she'd be shown up by some shy little girl. She'd end this quickly. "Three hundred thousand yen! Give up, sweetie!" she shouted.

The woman's words struck a nerve. Give up? Those words weren't in Hinata's vocabulary, not anymore. She would not be made a fool of, and she would not let anyone touch the man she loved. With newfound determination, the Hyuga called out what she hoped would be the final bid. "I refuse to give up! I bid five hundred thousand yen!" she yelled confidently.

The woman from Kumogakure let out an offended gasp. How dare that child embarrass her so? She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You can have him. I refuse to pay that much. He's not that cute anyway," she said with a huff.

"Going once, going twice, SOLD!"

Naruto's grin grew tenfold and he clapped his hands in excitement. "SEE? I just knew Hinata-chan would outbid everyone! Way to go!" he yelled, running off stage to give his girlfriend a big hug.

"Aww, aren't they cute?" Ino teased with a smile. She was genuinely happy for those two. They made a cute couple. Though she couldn't imagine how Hinata could possibly put up with the knucklehead.

A certain pinkette gulped from her seat in the medical tent. This was it. It was Sasuke's turn. She felt a wave of anxiety overtake her, and she looked away, putting her head in her hands. Why hadn't any patients come through yet? She needed a distraction, damn it! The fact that the nurses sitting beside her kept going on and on about how attractive the raven was didn't help whatsoever.

"Alright, folks! Last but not least, we have Sasuke Uchiha!" Ino exclaimed.

The raven took a deep breath, resigning himself to his fate, and stepped forward to center stage. He placed his hands in his pockets and tried zoning out, less than thrilled with his predicament. He wanted nothing more than for this to be a dream, or a prank. There was no way he wanted to be forced to put up with a weak, spoiled girl. The whole thing was utterly humiliating. Hoots and cat calls rang out among the crowd, and he tried blocking them out to no avail.

'Well, I suppose it's better than being booed. I'm surprised I haven't had anything thrown at me yet after what I did,' he mused with a sigh.

"This handsome man is Sasuke Uchiha. He has raven hair, dark eyes, and is the sexy bad boy type. Who wouldn't want a date with him!?" Ino gushed.

"Traitor!" yelled a middle aged man with a beard.

'Called it,' the Uchiha thought sarcastically.

A woman standing next to the man, presumably his wife, smacked him on the arm. "Be quiet!" she scolded.

"Why should I!? He became a missing-nin, and now we just let him back in our village like it never happened!? What does that say to other nations!? Our leader is a pushover!" he screeched.

Tsunade growled at the mans words and left her spot at the side of the stage to storm over to the man, grabbing him by the collar. "Listen up and listen well. Sasuke Uchiha more than made up for his transgressions. If it weren't for his contributions during the war, this village, as well as your family, could be destroyed right now. Show some damn respect, or I will show you just how much of a pushover I am," she hissed.

The mans eyes were wide with fright, and he simply nodded dumbly at the woman. His wife couldn't help but snicker beside him, believing he got what he deserved. Truth be told, he was probably jealous of the Uchiha. Tsunade let go of the mans collar, took her place beside her assistant, and took another swig of sake.

Sakura couldn't help but smile, grateful to her master for not allowing Sasuke to be bad-mouthed in front of everyone. She allowed her eyes to travel to the raven, who didn't seem to care about what had just happened. The fact that he didn't care about anyone's opinion seemed to be both a blessing and a curse. Her colleagues continued to rattle on about how jealous they'd be of whoever won a date with the raven, and the pinkette just wanted to get away from it.

"Sasuke is definitely the most attractive one up there. I'd love to show him a good time!"

"I know, right? I've always loved the bad boy type!"

Sakura finally couldn't take it anymore. She bolted up and walked straight out of the medical tent, desperately needing to get away from their conversation. Damn it all. All she wanted was to be able to get over him. No matter what she did, it never worked. Her latest tactic had been trying to avoid him for the most part, but her feelings still wouldn't go away. Why did she have to love him so? She felt her chest constrict, and she put a hand to her heart. That raven haired bastard had dug his way into her heart long ago, and she knew that he would have a place there forever.

Tsunade motioned for Ino to continue, and the younger woman cleared her throat, determined to play off what had just happened. "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning! Or maybe he just didn't have his coffee! Alright folks, this is our last bachelor, so let's make this count! We'll begin bidding at ten thousand yen!"

"Fifty-thousand yen!"

"One hundred thousand yen!"

"You call that a bid!? Two hundred thousand yen!"

Bidding for the Uchiha was intense, and nobody was sure how it would go. So many people seemed determined to win a date with the handsome young man, but eventually as the price jumped higher and higher, only the wealthiest could afford to keep bidding. It eventually looked as if a young girl around Sakura's age would win it all. She stood beside her father, a wealthy looking man wearing only the finest robes.

"My tou-san bids seven hundred thousand yen!" she bellowed.

The girls father immediately glared at her, narrowing his eyes. "I never agreed to that, Setsuna," he scolded.

"But tou-san! He's so handsome and I told you I would stop at nothing to win a date with him!" she whined.

"Who's money do you think you're spending here!? I never agreed to let you spend that much!"

"Well, I already called our bid so it's too late! It's not like any of these losers can afford to outbid us anyway!" she pouted.

Sasuke wanted to scream. His worst nightmare was about to come true. An annoying, spoiled, good for nothing fangirl was going to be his highest bidder. He'd be forced to take her on a date and listen to her talk about things he couldn't care less about, and he'd have to worry about her pawing at him all of the time. He almost wished someone would come by and knock him out, just so he didn't have to deal with the torture.

Sakura was in the same predicament. She couldn't imagine how Sasuke must feel, as she knew that people like that spoiled brat were near the top of his shit list. It was cruel how some girl who didn't care about anything but the ravens looks would get to spend time with him, and by using her fathers money at that. Her eyes once again fell on Sasuke, and the look on his face broke her heart. He looked as if he wanted to disappear. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute.

"Going once…."

Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

"Going twice…"

Sakura spoke before she could stop herself.

"I bid one million yen!" she yelled.

Gasps sounded throughout the crowd, and a grin came across both Tsunade and Ino's faces. Sasuke simply stood there in shock, unable to believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. Did Sakura even realize what she was doing?

"SOLD for one million yen! Way to go, forehead! Get some!" Ino cheered.

The pinkette ignored her best friends utterly unprofessional comment, staring Sasuke straight in the eyes. She imagined that she looked just as shocked as he did. Where had that even come from? Suddenly, Sakura realized just how much she had bid for the Uchiha.

What had she done?

Mwahaha! Looks like Sakura won, but did she bite off more than she can chew? This chapter focused on everyone out of necessity, but I promise that from here on there will be lots of SasuSaku goodness. I hope you enjoyed! If you did enjoy, please leave a review and follow this story! I will update again soon. :)