SERIES FINALE

Episode 45: An Absolute Hell of an Ending

Overall Season Two Theme: Stand Up by J-Min

Overall Season Two End Theme: Slow Dance by Suneohair

Final Episode Theme: Happy Ending by Jay Park

Song one: Love Still Goes On By SHINee

Song two: Girl's Generation by SNSD

Song three: Slow Dance by Suneohair

Saying Goodbye is hard, but don't forget it is a new beginning of something and new beginnings are always beautiful.

-Anamika Mishra

The crowd of people sat with silent excitement as the chime of two organs, one black and one white, on opposite sides of one another, as well as four violinists, played a medley of music that consumed the glass walls of the indoor garden that held the many few who had come to celebrate the long-awaited day.

A-listers of all walks, adorned in the finest ballroom attire, sat in red rose lined golden seats in between a sparkling white silk aisle runner that had already been decorated with various red and gold petals at the hands of the flower girl. Colors of all kinds could be seen in the flower beds along the wall and stained-glass ceiling, while fountain cupids dressed each corner of the greenhouse.

Four young men stood upon the altar in all black suits with black ties, while a fifth man beside them stood in a black suit of his own with a red tie. Across from them, five young ladies stood in flowing knee length strapless red dresses adorned with golden trim that began at the end of the dress and branched out across the body of the gowns. A sixth woman stands in a golden piece with similar trim but that of red instead.

At the foot of the altar, at the head of it all, Itachi stood simply in an all black tuxedo with a white bow tie.

The attendees looked on as the music fell into a crescendo of organs and violins. The mass of family members and friends rose to their feet as a sea of white entered the room.

Everyone stood with bated breath as the bride trailed down the aisle. Her strapless dress, adorned at the top with a smattering of clear jewels and diamonds that led down to a white-gold trimmed layered mermaid bottom. Behind her, a white-gold sparkling train that consumed the length of the aisle followed. She held in her hands a bouquet of red roses and white lilies. In pure white hair sat fixated in a tall bun, aligned with shimmering crystals. Her red lipstick lined lips were just barely visible beneath her silk veil. Though he could not see, Midori looked up to Itachi and blushed at the sight of him beneath her veil.

The music slowed as she made it to the foot of the altar. The crowd sat up as Itachi and Midori stood in front of the officiant, their eyes on one another.

Beside Midori stood her closest friend Hanago, her maid of honor, while beside her stood all of Alpha as her bridesmaids. Beside Itachi stood Kisame as his best man and the members of Omega stood beside him opposite the girls.

The crowd of family and friends sat as the officiant cleared his throat.

Omega stood up straight and looked to the couple while members of Alpha looked in awe and admiration of the couple.

"Dearly beloved…" he began, "we are gathered here…"

(^A.H^)

Sakura rolled her eyes as she sat down at the large bridesmaid designated table. She set a drink of sparkling cider in front of Tenten and a mixed drink for herself, and then directed her attention to Ino sobbing on her other side.

"Ino will you cut it the fuck out, we get it already," Sakura barked.

"But it's just so beautiful!" Ino wailed as Hinata handed her a handkerchief which she accepted and blew into.

"To think, what an honor it must be for everyone here to see Midori in my dress!"

She cried tears of joy as Sakura signed and rubbed her temples while Megami laughed through a mouth full of dumplings.

Ino sniffled as she rubbed her eyes with the handkerchief, "It'll be on TV, in magazines, everywhere! I just can't believe all the praise I'm gonna get!"

"Ino," Sakura said, annoyed, "it was a co-project with you and a well-known designer. It's not even 100% your dress!"

"Yeah so?!" she sniffed, "My hands perfected it so it might as well be!"

"Also, Ino," Tenten interjected, "I don't know how many more times we need to remind you this, but for the thousandths time, today is not about you."

The girls laughed as Ino huffed in her seat, "yeah well, by tomorrow it will be."

The girls sat together well into the reception of Itachi and Midori's wedding. The high-class hotel with which the reception was being held was adorned with decorations of gold, red, and white. The ballroom filled with hundreds of the couple's closest family, friends, and acquaintances, bustled with the noise of drinking, eating, and dancing patrons.

On the dance floor a newly married Itachi and Midori Uchiha swayed together with a number of people surrounding them either dancing or clapping for them.

Hinata smiled softly and held her hands to her heart as the girls looked on to the newlyweds making light banter with one another.

"Itachi and Midori look so lovely and so happy together," she sighed softly.

Megami nodded rapidly, "they look so good! This wedding is crazy with all the press and shit! I'm glad it went off without a hitch considering how quickly they put this thing together!"

"Must help to have the money," Tenten pointed out, "besides, haven't they been together for like forever? Clearly Midori didn't wanna wait."

"When she asked us to be part of her wedding party, I had no idea it would be this extravagant," Sakura said looking down to their handmade bridesmaid dresses, "our dresses and Midori's friend's dress are so stunning."

"I love it!" Ino chimed, "this is exactly the kind of glamour I want when I get married!"

Her eyes relaxed as a wicked smile came over her face. She turned to Sakura and nudged her with her elbow.

"I bet this gives you all sorts of ideas huh, Haruno?" she snickered.

Sakura beat tomato red and pushed her arm away, "s-shut up pig it's not like that!"

The girls laughed collectively as Sakura crossed her arms in a huff despite the engagement ring in full view sparkling on her left hand.

"I have to say," Hinata spoke, blushing a bit, "the boys really did look quite handsome standing up there…Naruto-kun looked so good I just about died," she giggled.

"Aw thanks Hinata-chan! I thought you looked smokin' hot too!"

Hinata jolted a bit at the voice that came from her right and in between herself and Megami. Naruto beamed his wide toothed smile as he stood bent over by Hinata's ear. The remaining four boys trailed behind him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata frowned, "you've got to stop showing up suddenly like that!"

Suddenly she blushed again and turned to the side, twiddling some hair between her fingers, "s-smokin?"

"God damn Uzumaki you're always popping up outta nowhere," Tenten said as she sipped her cider.

Naruto chuckled and stood up straight as the rest of the band members arrived to the table with various glasses of liquor in their hands.

"Good evening, ladies," Gaara spoke softly with a very small smile, "do you mind if we join your table?"

"I don't know," Ino hummed with her chin resting on her hands, "it's a cardinal rule of weddings that groomsmen aren't allowed to fraternize with the bridesmaids."

Shikamaru raised a brow, "oh yeah?"

Tenten let out a deep sigh and fanned herself, "Too bad. Guess we'll just have to find a bunch of cute guys and have them take us home."

"Is that so?" Neji smirked as he made his way halfway around the table and over to Tenten's right side, to which he then crouched down to retie his dress shoe.

"Guess we'll just have to somehow convince you to come with us instead…" he spoke calmly as his hand trailed up her leg and then into her dress as he began to stand up.

Tenten reacted with a yelp and a jump. She pushed his hand out and kicked him in his shoe heel to which he stepped back, snickering.

"You motherfucking prick! There're people everywhere! Don't do that shit here!" she snarled as he and the rest of the boys pulled up seats around the girls.

"Why not?" Neji rolled his eyes as he fixated himself between Tenten and Hinata, "it wouldn't be the first time we've done it in front of—"

"I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there," Sakura's deadpanned voice came with her hand up, "I think we've gotten plenty enough stories of yours and Tenten's extracurricular activities."

Tenten crossed her arms and frowned as Neji smiled coyly, leaning back, and putting his arm around her.

Megami nestled up to Sasuke, bouncing a bit as he sat and stared blankly, "so Itachi's married now! Isn't that crazy to you?!"

"Not really." He said curtly, "same douchebag. Married or not."

"You're so rude, Sasuke!" Megami shook her head at him, "your mom hasn't even stopped crying since the ceremony started!"

"Today's been way too emotional!" Naruto groaned as he slumped into his chair close to Hinata, "I wanna hurry up and get out of these monkey suits and hang out for the weekend before our last week at school!"

"You know we have like three finals on Monday, right?" Sakura raised a brow, "don't you think you should use tomorrow to, I don't know, study for them?"

Naruto shrugged her off with a wave of his hand before putting both hands behind his head, "I'm not worried about that! Hinata and I are gonna spend the whole day tomorrow studying! Right Hinata?!"

Hinata smiled and nodded in confirmation.

"You? Study the whole day?" Neji raised a brow, "what's the special occasion?"

"It's our last week of school, so, I uh, wanna go out with a bang!" Naruto boasted cheekily, "in fact, we're gonna start tonight once you guys come back to the mansion to spend the night!" he blushed a bit as he said this, but the group hardly noticed.

Ino groaned, "our last week of school! I can't even wrap my head around it!"

"What, are you worried about finals?" Shikamaru asked.

Ino scoffed, "as if! I haven't even found my graduation dress! There're more important things than finals!"

Shikamaru sighed, "I should have expected as much."

The gang gave their collective either laughs or responses. Amongst the laughter and banter, Gaara's phone began to buzz. He took it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID. Noticing, Sakura turned to him between her laughs.

"Everything okay?" she smiled.

He nodded, "Yeah, I gotta take this. I'll be right back," he said standing up. Only Sakura seemed to hear his statement and nodded to him as he stepped to the to the far side.

"You guys! There you are!"

The group looked up as Midori and Itachi walked over to them. Midori beamed, holding part of her dress up in her hand to allow herself to walk better. Itachi came up beside her with his hands in his pockets.

"How are you guys liking the party?!" Midori asked over the band music, "did you get enough to eat?! Oh, I hope you're having fun! Sorry we haven't been able to chat!" Midori boasted.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Midori!" Megami beamed back, "this wedding is great! You guys look awesome!"

"I'm so glad!" Midori said with relief, "I can't thank you guys enough for being part of this. With all my friends being models, it's really hard to get them in one place for a day!" Midori laughed, "but you ladies filled the roles perfectly!"

"It was a pleasure to be part of and work on your wedding Midori! Nay! An honor!" Ino chanted while Shikamaru, Sakura, and Tenten rolled their eyes.

Itachi smiled softly, "thanks for all your work in making this happen guys."

"Hey if its gonna get you out of the mansion for good, then we're happy to help," Neji said, casually lifting his glass of jack on the rocks to cheers them.

Itachi glared at him while Midori smiled widely, her sparkling cheeks glimmering.

"What he means is," Sasuke began, "you look beautiful Midori. Congratulations." He turned his attention to Itachi and smirked, "you don't look so terrible."

Itachi's brow twitched with irritation. "Thanks. Little Brother."

Midori grabbed his right arm with both of hers, "come on Itachi! We need to go say hi to my cousins from Nagasaki!"

Itachi sighed, "not them again…your uncle is just going to tell his weird corn farming story again…"

"Come on!" Midori urged, pulling him away as she waved to the group, "have fun you guys! Don't drink too much now!"

Itachi signed and nodded to the lot as she pulled him away to mingle with other guests.

"Itachi is super lucky," Sakura smiled softly, "Midori is such a sweetheart."

"And a fucking babe!" Megami said cheekily.

"Yeah, it's a wonder she stands his difficult ass," Tenten snickered, "not like we wouldn't know."

"Hey!" Naruto chimed, "let's cheers for Midori and Itachi! And let's cheers for our last week of high school coming up!"

"Great idea Naruto-kun," Hinata smiled as the others nodded.

Everyone lifted their individual glasses, Tenten lifted her non-alcoholic beverage. The group raised their glasses high as Gaara casually made his way back to the table with his hands at his sides.

"Cheers!" they chanted as they clanked their glasses with whoever was close to them. The group laughed together as they lowered their cups. Sakura turned as she smiled and looked up to Gaara who blankly stood in front of the table.

"What was the call about, Gaara?" she asked, smiling.

He stood silently for a moment as the lively party bustled loudly around them. The group looked up, curious, as he opened his mouth to speak.

"My father just died."

(^AbsoluteHell ^)

"Tooo the moon! We're goin' all the way to the mooon!" Naruto chanted loudly, slurring his words as he stumbled on Hinata's shoulder up the mansion steps. They wobbled a bit as he struggled to walk straight and repeatedly slipped from her grasp.

"Yes Naruto-kun," Hinata sighed, "we're going to the bedroom."

She smiled softly as the mansion doors opened, Naruto's arm over her shoulder as she helped him inside in his drunken stupor while she only had a couple glasses of champagne. With his free hand Naruto's suit jacket dragged across the floor.

Behind them, equally drunk but more stable, were Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, and Neji, a mostly sober Megami, and fully sober Tenten. Most of the gang trudged into the mansion at two in the morning post late night wedding celebrations.

"I'm gonna take Naruto up to his room," Hinata announced as the lot stood inside the mansion right in front of the door, "it seems he went a bit overboard once everyone began doing shots at the bar."

She looked down as Naruto dropped his suit jacket and began using his free hand as a droopy air guitar. Hinata smiled, "he's a bit out of it, so I'll see that he gets some rest."

"Yeah, he's totally wasted!" Ino laughed in her own stupor, "better get him to bed before collapses in the pool like last time!"

Neji tsked and rolled his eyes, "so much for studying all night."

"Are you sure you don't need help, Hinata?" Megami asked.

"No, we'll be fine," Hinata said calmly as she began leading up towards the stairs, "come along, Naruto-kun."

She turned to the group as she guided him up the stairs, "have a good night, everyone, I'm sorry we can't stay up to continue the night."

Tenten waved her off, "get that fool to sleep, Hina! Don't worry!"

She smiled again before turning and continuing up the steps.

"I had so much fun Hina-chan!" Naruto boasted as they walked up, him waddling a bit.

Hinata giggled, "I hope so Naruto-kun…"

The couple disappeared up the stairs as the group reconvened.

"Well now what?" Tenten asked.

Neji pointed his thumb to the kitchen, "We can crack something open in the kitchen."

"I'm game! I'm gonna win back that 50$ I lost at the bar! Sasuke you totally cheated!" Ino grumbled, her face flushed.

Sasuke smirked, "if you think you can hold your own, Yamanaka."

"Maybe you've had enough, Ino," Shikamaru sighed, exhausted.

"No way! Let's do this it's still super early!"

He let out a deep sigh.

Neji sighed, "alright let's do it. You both coming?" he spoke to Megami and Tenten who looked out the open door.

"Yeah, we'll meet you guys in there in a second," Tenten said.

The girls looked out to Sakura who still stood in the middle of the walkway to the mansion doors. She paced a bit on her phone, only stopping to nod at something. She and Gaara had been on the phone since he had left for Suna some hours earlier.

The news of his father's heart attack had come as a huge shock to the group. But, despite them all offering to come with him for moral support and Sakura's desperate pleas to accompany him, he chose to leave for Suna on his own almost as soon as he had found out and told them about it.

"Alright," Neji nodded.

"Wait!" Ino whined as Shikamaru took her hand, "I gotta see my Saki-chan!"

"I don't think you'll say anything too helpful right now, Ino," Shikamaru said, "you can talk to her tomorrow."

Ino frowned and continued to whine as she and the remaining boys made their way to the kitchen.

Megami and Tenten stepped outside and down the steps towards Sakura just as it seemed she was finally getting off the phone call she had been on for the last couple hours.

"…and please try to get some rest…call me if you feel like it…okay…okay…I love you…I'm so sorry about this," her voice cracked a bit as she spoke softly, "let me know that you're okay…okay…I love you too…bye."

She tapped the end call button on her phone just as the two girls approached her. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before tiredly looking up at the two.

Tenten put her hands on her hips, "So, what's gonna happen?"

"Well," Sakura began, "he just got to Suna. He said that, most likely, they're going to do an immediate burial because that's tradition. Then he's going to have to stay in Suna the rest of the weekend and maybe he'll be back for school sometime next week."

"Poor Gaara," Megami said sadly as the girls stood under the moonlight, "I feel so bad for him. This is so sudden and so close to graduation. I wonder what's going on in his head."

"Me too," Sakura looked to the ground, "he seemed so…himself about it when he left. I wish he had let me go with him. I feel like there's nothing I can do to help," she began to tear up.

"Sakura you know that's not true," Tenten said, "he may not show it, but that guy really needs you in his corner. Whatever it is I'm sure he knows he's got you rooting for him, and that you'll be by his side no matter what!"

Sakura looked up and smiled sadly, "you're right. Best thing to do is to just give him his space and wait for him to come back."

She clutched her phone and took a deep breath, "let's go inside and join the others. Maybe a drink will distract me."

"That's the spirit!" Tenten comfortingly patted her shoulder as they began walking towards the front door.

Naruto flopped onto his large orange and black bed. He cheerily rolled back and forth on his mattress as Hinata shut the door before placing his and her things on his desk. She let out a breath as she released her hair from the tight bun it was in while she made her way around to Naruto's left side of his bed where he lay. She sat beside his nightstand which held a stack of half opened and unopened letters.

"Hinata-chaaaan!" he sang as he rolled around on the bed. Hinata glanced over to the papers while she took off her heels and began removing her jewelry.

"I'll bring you more comfortable clothes, Naruto-kun," she said absent-mindedly looking at the stack, "try to get out of the ones you're in."

"Okay Hina-chan! My Hinata-chaaan!" he boasted as he began unbuttoning his pants. As he changed Hinata stood up, walked over, and disappeared into his walk-in closet. A few moments later she emerged in a black t shirt and black sweatpants, looking down as she unfolded his hands and made her way over to him.

"Stand up please, Naruto-kun, so you can—" she paused as she looked up and let out a yelp as her face became enflamed.

She buried her face into the sweats as Naruto looked at her with a somewhat confused expression, standing stark naked on the opposite side of the bed.

"Naruto-kun oh my gosh!" she yelled, "Put your boxers on!"

"Huh? Why?' Naruto tilted his head in a genuine confused expression, "you said get comfy. I'm comfy."

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata beat red and turned her head away. This wasn't the first time she had come face to face with his privates, but it always seemed that she happened upon them under accidental circumstances.

She walked over to the opposite side of the bed while looking away from him shuffling around a bit in the nude.

"Catch these, Naruto-kun," she said blushing as she tossed the clothes over to his side. He hardly reached for them and in doing that the papers on his nightstand knocked over and fell to the ground. Hinata sighed and bent down to pick them up as Naruto picked up the sweatpants and began to fiddle around with them.

On her knees, Hinata absent-mindedly picked up the various papers. Most of them ranged from fan letters that managed to find their way to the boy's address and some were letters that had been a part of gifts he'd received from companies he'd been sponsored by. She paused at one letter she happened to pick up and could not stop herself from reading.

She gasped a bit as she looked up to Naruto who had finally managed to wiggle himself into his sweatpants and only his sweatpants.

"Naruto-kun, what's this letter about?" she asked, standing up with the embroidered paper in hand. Naruto turned to her, his head swaying.

"Huh? Letter? I got letters?"

"Yes," Hinata began, "it says here that you've been offered a position to be a judge on the French dance competition show: Let's Dance: Paris!"

Naruto swayed his head in confusion for a moment before he threw his head back and laughed, "oh yeah! That! I got lotsa emails and calls and now they sent a whole letter! They reallyyy want me to do it," he laughed and then distractedly began playing with his shirts sitting on the bed.

"Naruto-kun this is a big deal!" Hinata exclaimed, "this is a very popular show even over here! So many critically acclaimed dancers judge the show!"

She continued to read further down, "it says that the season run is six months plus an additional three months of show prep and competitor boot camp."

She blinked a few times as she read over it as if she could not believe what she was reading.

"This is a great offer Naruto-kun. They've been emailing you? How is it that you haven't mentioned this before? Do the other guys know?"

He nodded, distracted, and not looking at her.

"How long have you known about this?"

He shrugged, "Couple weeks…" he murmured.

She frowned, "but you never mentioned it to me…" she sat on the bed and clutched the letter in her hand as he glanced over to her. Her expression furrowed a bit before it filled with joy suddenly.

"Naruto-kun" she spoke in awe, "This is amazing! This is a wonderful opportunity for you! To be in Paris!" she gleamed, "What an experience that will be! All the things you'll get to see and try! You must absolutely do this!" her smile was wide, but it quickly became filled with sadness again, "but you would be gone for…nearly a year."

"I wanted you to come with me!"

Hinata's eyes widened as she looked up. She only looked more taken aback as she now saw Naruto had made his way over to her side of the bed and was mere inches away from her face. His flushed cheeks burned red as he looked her dead in the eye with a suddenly serious expression.

"I didn't tell Hina-chan," he continued, inching closer to her with his arms at her sides. She subconsciously inched back as she got closer until she was against the headboard of his bed.

"Naruto-kun…"

"I didn't tell cause…I wanted to ask you to come with me," he said sadly, "I just don't know how…"

"Come with you to Paris?" she said, shocked, "to Paris…for a year?"

He nodded rapidly, not taking his eyes off her.

"Naruto-kun," she flushed, "that's…this is so sudden…I-I…" she looked down, at a loss for words. Naruto continued to stare at her in his inebriated state, waiting for an answer.

They sat for a few moments in silence, the only sound coming from the natural sounds outside Naruto's open window and the fan blowing in his room. Hinata kept her head down for a moment as they said nothing.

Suddenly she jolted up and off the bed, to his surprise.

"I-I don't know what to say about this," she spoke, flustered, "this is a lot to think about, I…" she took a couple deep breaths, still holding the paper in hand. "I think I need to step away for a minute to think, Naruto-kun…"

His expression became sad. Hinata looked at him for a moment before she shook her head and began making her way towards the door.

"I just need some time to think," she spoke quickly as she began to speed towards his bedroom door and reach for the handle, "please try to get yourself in bed and get some sleep, Naruto-ku—"

She jumped back in shock and gasped a bit when suddenly his left hand slammed on the bedroom door, closing back the little bit she had gotten open. The letter dropped from her hand as she let go of the doorknob and stood frozen.

"Hinata…please…" his voice came, suddenly low and hoarse. "Please don't go…"

She turned around slowly as he put his other arm on the other side of the door. She held her hands to her chest as she faced him. The dim light of the room and the natural light that came from the window highlighted his bare chest as he towered over her in only his sweatpants. Despite the light that was in the room she could still see the red in his cheeks and the mixture of emptions on his face that ranged from shyness to another expression she wasn't all too familiar with.

She burned red and looked down, weakened by the low gaze he gave her. Her heart raced as he leaned into her face.

"Naruto…" she turned to the side shyly as he leaned into her ear. "I just want to think about…this all."

He shook his head, "No no no! I didn't wanna scare you with it…cause it'll ruin what I…wanted to…" he seemed flustered.

"Ruin?" Hinata asked looking up, "ruin what?"

He kept silent and his head low for a moment before he lifted it up a bit. Hinata could almost feel the change in tone just in his body alone.

"Please stay…" he continued in an almost whisper to her ear. "I don know…I don know when next…I'll have the confidence to…"

Her eyes widened a bit as her face flushed a deeper red. She subconsciously put her hands on his bare chest as he leaned in and softly kissed her neck. Shivers went down her back as his hands glided down the door and onto her body until they were running down her to hips, to which he lightly gripped.

"N-Naruto…kun," she breathed out as he kissed her.

"….my side," his voice came.

"What?" she asked, as she shook a bit in his arms.

"I want you…by my side…" he spoke in between kisses and breaths, "all the time…I want you…"

Her body quivered when he licked the part of her neck he had just been kissing. She quickly nudged him off a bit and leaned into the door. He looked up to her, his eyes sad and confused like a puppy.

Hinata looked down, her hands still on his chest.

"Naruto…I…"

She looked up to him, her eyes glistened in the moonlight. The look she gave alone nearly sobered him up. She looked away in shyness again.

"Do you…want to do this…like this?"

He blinked a couple times before his gaze lowered again to that of a serious one.

She looked up to him again and nearly choked on the breath that got caught in her throat. She realized now what that look was that she didn't recognize.

Lust.

"Yes." He said with a fire in his eyes she had never seen before.

"I want you."

Her heartbeat rapidly against her chest as they looked one another dead in the eye.

"Naru—"

She gasped, barely able to get his name out before he leaned in and kissed her. She sunk into the warmth of lips, her defensive pose lowering as he deepened the kiss.

He pushed her into the door as he moved his hands along her upper body. Her hand flickered the light beside the door off as she brought both hands up to hold his face. They both stood in the darkness of the room, illuminated by moonlight. Gently, Naruto glided his tongue into her mouth which she reciprocated.

They kissed for a bit, becoming more aggressive in their kisses with each moment that passed. Hinata's body shook as his hands moved down her the small of her back before he gripped her butt in his hand.

"Naruto-kun!" she gasped, suddenly, releasing from him.

Instead of saying anything he moved over to her neck and began running his tongue along the most sensitive parts of it. Her body quacked; her breathing became shallower as he moved his hand from her butt to her thigh. He held her thigh to his hip with one hand as he used the other to glide up her back and slowly unzip her dress.

Hinata was beside herself. One moment he was in a drunk cheery mood, the same that he was always in when they drank with friends, the next he was showing a side of himself she wasn't even sure existed. This was the first time she had truly been alone with him after a night of drinking.

She wondered if he was ever actually interested in studying for finals.

Her gold trimmed red dress fell to the ground at her feet. The moment it did, he lifted her legs up to wrap around him and held her up at her thighs.

Hinata could not help but burn red and look away as he stared at her matching red lace lingerie and cleavage in an almost trance like state. Her breasts perked up in front of him as he, without taking his eyes off her body, unhooked her strapless bra in one sequence and then let that fall to the floor as well.

Hinata took her hands off his chest and used one arm to cover her exposed chest and the other to hide her face.

"What's wrong Hina -chan?" he said calmly looking up at her.

"I-I'm just…a little embarrassed…is all."

She yelped a bit as she was lifted off the door and swung around. She held onto his shoulders and looked over her own, watching as he walked them over to his bed.

Gently, he laid her body down onto the bed with her legs still wrapped around his waist. He lifted himself up a bit and looked down at her. Her makeup from the wedding was still very much intact and shined under the light. Her pale eyes looked up to him with nervousness, her dark hair sprawled across the bed. Her busty, naked chest lay revealed before him.

He felt his lower half tighten.

Naruto turned red a bit and allowed himself a moment to feel shy before he collected himself and looked dead at her again.

"Don't feel embarrassed, Hinata-chan…" he spoke as he leaned down to her body, "I don't ever want you to feel nervous in front me…anymore."

"Naruto…" she whispered as he leaned down and licked her right nipple. Hinata let out a whimper before covering her mouth with the back of her left hand as he wrapped his mouth and tongue around that nipple.

Small moans escaped from her while he used his other hand to cup her left breast. She moved under him a bit, moaning quietly as he sucked and licked her breast.

After a few moments he released his opposite hand and switched his mouth to her other nipple. He used his now free hand to glide down her body and down to her lace panties.

It felt as if her entire body caught on fire when he slipped a finger inside her through her underwear. It felt unlike anything she ever felt, and it only made her weaker when he rose up and looked into her eyes as he went deeper.

Her small moans became a bit more desperate as the wetness of her sex allowed his finger to slip in and out of her with ease. Her body only clutched around him more when he slipped in another finger without even preparing her.

She cried out before covering her mouth again.

"Sorry…" he said in a haze, still not taking his eyes off her. Calmly and slowly, he dove his fingers in and out of her. With each moan that she let out when he inserted his fingers again, the tightness in his pants became that much more uncomfortable. Watching the way she reacted to his fingers made him nearly dizzy with desire. Still, he swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly increased his pace.

Hinata began to lose herself under his touch. She laid back, unable to see him and thus not noticing as he lowered himself down.

She did notice, however, when he pulled her panties down and slipped them off her feet, tossing them over the edge of the bed. He then lifted her legs up to rest on his shoulders and placed himself at the front of her sex before looking up to her for approval.

Despite not knowing if her body was ready for more of the feelings it was undergoing, she nodded, panting and beat red, looking down at him.

She hoped with all her heart that no one heard her let out a loud pleasure filled groan once he leaned down and slid his tongue inside her.

The waves of pleasure across her body were unreal. His mouth and tongue, and then once again, fingers, expertly moved along and inside her in a way she never imagined it would. She could hardly believe his gentle soul was capable of making her body feel like this.

On the other hand, Naruto was so aroused he was beginning to throb. The way she tasted and the way she sounded sent his mind into a spiral. He wondered if maybe it was the liquor contributing to the intense feeling, but he knew he was far more drunk off her body at this point.

He began to get so uncomfortable that, as he ate her, he reached down into his pants, shuffled his hand into sweats and stroked himself just to take the edge off.

Hinata paused her whines and looked up to him as he did. He noticed her look at him and released his tongue from her hazily as he continued to message himself.

She felt herself become more wet at the sight of it.

"Naruto-kun…" she spoke in her own pleasure haze, "I…I want to make you feel good…too."

He stopped his hand that had been subconsciously in his hand and took it out. His eyes widened a bit at her unexpected words. Hearing them only exasperated his problem.

"Y-yeah," he blurted out as he pushed himself off her and sat back halfway on the bed.

Hinata could barely look at him as she adjusted herself in front of him like how he had done to her. Her heartbeat felt like she was running a mile a minute. Whatever was fueling him to do this was certainly bleeding into her. Whatever made him feel that this moment at this time right now was the time to do what they're doing was now overtaking her own decisions and actions.

But she didn't want to stop.

He nudged off his sweatpants a bit awkwardly as now the current situation had made him lose some of his cool. Still, Hinata didn't seem to notice and instead kept her eyes focused down on him and the erection that became exposed once his pants came off.

They sat in momentary silence. Naruto burned red for a moment, temporarily unable to see her face as she looked down at him.

He became a bit nervous and reached his hand up, "H-Hey, H-Hinata-chan, you don't have to—"

His mouth clutched shut when she took him into her mouth. He reflexively thrusted hard in surprise, forcing her to take all of him in at once.

When she gagged he instantly removed himself and put his hands up.

"S-sorry! I didn't mean t—"

"Naruto-kun."

He withdrew his hands and put them back to his side as he sat a gape a bit at her expression.

Her eyes had taken on the same look he revealed to her earlier. Although she seemed more determined.

"It's okay." She said seriously. "I want to do this."

He nodded a bit and sat still as she readjusted herself and this time did not wait to wrap her mouth around him.

Naruto put his head back and grunted low toned noises of pleasure. He couldn't help but rest his hand on her head and curse under his breath as her head bobbed up and down onto him.

It was a surreal feeling.

Although her experience was dated, Hinata utilized what knowledge she had and the information she had received from countless stories from Tenten and the others over the years.

The groans that came from his mouth and the grip he had on her hair told her whatever she was doing was working.

The fire that had begun inside Naruto was now raging. After a bit of time, he stopped her with his hand.

Hinata looked up at him curiously. Her glistening pale eyes shining up at him was all the motivation he needed to do what he did next.

In a blink he laid her back down onto the bed, positioned himself in front of her and wrapped her legs around his waist. As badly as he wanted to drive himself inside her, he took the time to slowly bridge inside and allow her to get comfortable.

Breathless, they both panted as they looked into each other's eyes. Hinata's expression shifted as she adjusted to him, but once he was fully inside her, both his and her expression became fueled with lust and Hinata cried out.

Neither could contain the euphoric feelings spilling from their bodies. The moans that Hinata made with each thrust made it impossible for Naruto to contain himself. Each cry just compelled him to go harder.

He sat up and held her legs, gripping her thighs as he pumped in and out, filling her with all his pent-up sexual desire. Each time he thrusted in her it sent her body into a trance like state.

Before long he leaned down to her and rested on her right shoulder as he continued to grind inside her. Her arms wrapped around his neck, her nails digging into his back a bit as she grit her teeth.

"Hinata…" his out of breath voice called muffled in her shoulder.

"Naruto-kun…" she moaned out his name in turn as they went on moving their bodies against one another well into the night.

(^A.H^)

Megami yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes as she stumbled her way down the mansion steps early morning. She stretched her arms out and then scratched her stringy hair as she walked into the kitchen in shorts and Sasuke's basketball jersey.

She hummed as she eagerly hobbled over to the fridge, popped it open, and disappeared halfway inside it to find herself something to eat for an early morning snack.

She suddenly jumped and smacked her head up on the top of the fridge when she heard a groan come from what she had thought was a kitchen devoid of anyone but her. She pulled out, winced, and rubbed her head, frowning as she turned around and looked at the person who continued to groan.

"God damnit, Ino!" she said painfully rubbing her sore head as she looked over to Ino who lay halfway slumped over the kitchen island, her hair undone and in a mess over the counter as she sat in a yellow silk nightie.

"You scared the shit outta me! I didn't even notice you there!"

Ino raised her head a bit and gave her a simple look in response before putting her head back down and groaning again.

"Cool, that's all the information I need," Megami nodded as multiple foot clacks began making their way down the steps.

In a few seconds Tenten and Sakura strutted into the kitchen, Tenten in a dark green silk button down pajama shirt and matching shorts, and Sakura in a pink camisole with pink shorts that had red hearts all around it.

Sakura, who had spent the night with Tenten in Neji's room, while he slept in a separate room, trailed behind Tenten, her eyes glued to her hot pink phone.

"Good morning!" Tenten boasted aloud.

She stopped at the kitchen island just as Ino lifted her hand and gave a small wave, and then a groan in response.

"Oh wow," Tenten chuckled, "you really did a number on yourself didn't you, Innie?"

Ino huffed and lifted her head up in annoyance, her blood shot eyes blinked back at them.

"You bitches are so loud."

Tenten cackled as Sakura stepped over and sat on a seat in front of the island and next to Ino, barely noticing her as her eyes remained on her phone.

"No one told you to go drinking that much last night, Yamanaka!" Tenten said with her hands on her hips, "I cannot believe you thought you could out drink the guys."

"She kinda out drank Naruto!" Megami pointed out excitedly.

Tenten crossed her arms, "yeah well, it's Naruto. A monkey with a fifth could out drink him."

She turned back to Ino, "you were feeling real ballsy after the reception, what the hell was up?"

Ino groaned and rubbed her temples as she took a long, deep breath and slowly sat up somewhat straight.

"Well since you can't drink because you have a baby inside you—" she pointed at Tenten who narrowed her eyes at her before she then pointed at Megami who stepped back in surprise.

"—You can't drink because its traumatized you enough."

Megami nodded her head rapidly and beamed, "Yes! It has!"

She pointed her finger to Sakura sitting right next to her, not paying attention as she furiously typed on her phone with a serious expression.

"—And you and Gaara are dealing with some serious shit right now so honestly keep doing what you're doing sweetie," Ino said in a serious tone.

She sat straight again and sighed before putting her hands on her heart lovingly.

"And my dear sweet Hinata is too pure for the devil's sauce—" she hummed a bit as Tenten rolled her eyes and Megami happily swayed back and forth.

Ino sighed and slumped in her seat, "I just felt like I had to drink for all my girls last night!" she whined dramatically, "I couldn't let those retched boys claim superiority over me or my ladies! But especially me!"

Tenten rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I have my beauty! But I also have my pride! If not, then my name isn't Ino Yama—!"

Suddenly she gagged and held her mouth. She quickly jumped up and ran to the opposite kitchen door and towards the nearest bathroom.

"Well, hope it was worth it," Tenten said casually as the door slammed behind Ino.

"Speaking of, where's Hinata anyway?" Megami asked curiously, "it's super-duper rare for her to sleep in later than any of us."

"Yeah, kinda weird," Tenten agreed with a brow raised.

"Should we go check on her?" Megami suggested.

Tenten shook her head, "she probably just stayed up studying once Naruto went down. She'll pop in any minute now."

Megami nodded as both girls directed their attention to Sakura who had not lifted her head since she had walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Saki?" Megami called, "you doin' okay?"

She did a small half nod in response.

"Hey Sakura," Tenten stepped in, "don't you think you should put your phone down for just a second? You stayed up all night on it and barely slept. You should get some real rest. Gaara will call when he's ready."

Sakura shook her head, "I need to be ready in case he calls. I don't want to be away if he needs me."

"You know Gaara, Saki," Tenten sighed, "he's gonna be MIA for a minute then he'll find you. You'll lose your head waiting for him to ring you with. I know that and you definitely know that."

Sakura frowned as she lowered her phone and turned her head away.

Megami came around the kitchen island and next to her in the seat Ino had just been in. She put her hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"I know it's hard when you can't help the people you love, Saki," she said giving a sad smile, "but he'll get through this, we all always do!" she smiled.

Sakura looked up to her and gave a soft smile, she slumped in her seat and sighed before setting down her phone.

"You girls are right. I should take a break."

"They're right, Sakura!"

The girls turned in confusion to Ino who was by the door she had just run out of. She slumped on the door and could barely hang onto the knob with her left hand as her right held her stomach.

She dragged herself through the door and maneuvered over to the girls in a zombie-like walk.

"Yeah, I just said that," Sakura said in a monotone voice.

"Well, you're hearing it from me too!" Ino barked at her before holding her hand to her mouth and groaning, "be strong for him where you can, Saki," she said, her voice muffled as she struggled to keep last night's liquor down.

Tenten put hand on her hips and sighed, "let's get you some proper breakfast before you get sick all over the kitchen. Where the hell are the guys anyway? Why aren't they up yet?"

Megami shrugged, "plot purposes."

"Well let's go wake them up then. Hinata's not up yet and I'm not in the business of making my own eggs."

(^A.H^)

The dark-haired heiress shuffled in bed, grumbling as she struggled a bit to lift herself up on the mattress. The morning sun burst through the open curtains and stung her eyes. She rubbed them both and held her hands in front of her face to shield the morning light.

The blanket covered her naked body while she yawned and looked around, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. She scanned the room until her eyes fell on the person lying next to her, fast asleep and snoring loudly. Almost instantly she burned red and blushed as her mind began to replay the previous night's shocking events.

Everything came back to her in a wave. She clutched the blanket against her chest as she thought about how things got to where they did in record succession.

Paris.

Sex.

Her heart raced a bit as the information flooded through her mind, she held her head in her hands and breathed the biggest sigh she'd had in a while. Beside her, Naruto shuffled in bed.

She looked up and looked to her left at him. He groaned under his breath as he wiggled out of the sheets. His head turned to his right side and his arms up. Reflexively, he reached his arm out for her beside him and groaned again when he didn't immediately feel her. Hinata could not help but smile at that, her cheeks still red. She lifted her hand and rested it gently on top of his head.

Suddenly, in a breath that took her and her hand back, Naruto shot his head up and gasped a bit as if he had been forced awake. He blinked rapidly, swiveling his head around before it stopped on Hinata who calmly looked at him.

He smiled softly, still clearly coming off the trance of sleep, "Hinata-chan…good morning!"

She smiled gently, "Good morning, Naruto-kun."

He rubbed his face with one hand, taking a deep breath as he sat up halfway on the bed, facing the headboard.

He blinked a couple more times while looking down at himself. He froze for a moment before looking up and then looking at Hinata who lay, just like him, completely naked in bed.

"Oh…" he began with a jitter in his voice, "oh yeah…"

She smiled softly and looked down with red cheeks, "Yes…um...Naruto-kun…about last night—"

"I hope that was okay Hinata-chan!" he yelled suddenly, a bit frantic as he ran his hand through his messy hair, "Oh gosh I'm so sorry if it felt like I rushed you, or pressured you, or if you didn't like any of that at all—!"

"Naruto," she paused him with a raised hand, "it's okay, really," she rested that same hand on his one free hand, calming him down a bit. "Everything was…wonderful."

They both looked down and beat red in their cheeks and ears as she said this.

He let out a small nervous laugh, still not looking up.

"I-I'm glad…I didn't mean to have it happen so suddenly I just…I've just really wanted to for a while, but I wanted you to want it too—"

"Naruto-kun…"

"—and I just thought that maybe some liquid courage would help me woo you cause, to be honest, I'm not the greatest at this type of stuff—"

"Naruto-kun…"

"—I really was gonna be more romantic about it but just the whole this with the letter, I just got scared that you would leave, and everything would get messed up—"

"Naruto-kun!"

He paused and looked up at her. Her expression was gentle. He relaxed into her at the sight of her calm appearance. They looked one another straight in the eye as he waited for her to speak.

"Naruto-kun it's really okay," she smiled. "Because I…I wanted it…too."

His ears became hot with a mix of shyness and a bit of renewed lust. However that much went away when her smile fell, and she instead took on a melancholic expression.

"Last night was lovely and I'm happy that we were able to…connect," she spoke softly, "but…Naruto…I'm still thinking about the offer you made me."

He turned and looked down; his shoulders lowered as he clutched the sheets.

"Oh, yeah. That."

Hinata held the sheets up to her chest, "Naruto…when were you planning on telling me about this?"

He kept his head low, "I was going to tell you…we were all going to talk about it the first day of school."

"All going to talk about is?" she asked, confused, "what do the other guys have to do with this?"

His brow furrowed as he kept his head down, "that's just it, it's not just the Paris thing. The other guys and I…well…we all were thinking it would be best to disband the band."

Hinata's eyes widened, "disband?! You're ending the band?!"

Naruto shot his head up and waved his hands, "No no! Well, at least, not for good."

He dropped his arms to his side and sighed, "it's more of a hiatus, I guess? After prom we were thinking that maybe it would be good to take a break from the music. You know, do some other things."

He looked up to the ceiling of the bedroom.

"We don't talk about it much, but since we started this singing thing, we've been glued to each other. Don't get me wrong, we're brothers and we've all grown up together," he laughed a bit, "the guys will never admit but we love the hell out of each other."

Hinata couldn't help but smile softly at that. She knew exactly what that felt like. The bond she and the girls shared was very much on par with the bond the guys shared.

He looked down and smiled a half smile.

"It's been a long road and we've accomplished a lot. But I think we collectively feel that after this summer tour we're gonna try to take some different roads. So that's where Paris comes in," he smiled awkwardly and finally turned to look at her, "once I got the offer, I figured this would a fun thing for me to do in our time apart!"

He inched closer to her a bit as she relaxed the cover on her chest.

"But…" he began, "I was saving asking you to come with me, for the right moment."

They looked one another in the eye again as he reached over and took one hand of hers into his own.

"I can survive a year without those bastards," he snickered a bit, "but I can't survive a year without you."

Hinata's eyes glistened as she clutched the blanket against her chest again.

"Naruto…I…I can't believe this," she said breathlessly, "I can't believe you guys are stopping music!"

He sighed, "I'm sorry, I really wasn't meant to tell you all this until we sat down with you and the other girls," he frowned, "I really didn't mean for you to find out this way. Neji's gonna have my buns when he finds out…"

Hinata shook her head, "no it's okay, I'm glad to know, and I'm sure the girls will understand."

He smiled brightly.

"But Naruto-kun…" she looked down slightly and clutched his hand with her own.

"I just don't think I can give you an answer yet."

His expression lowered in disappointment but understanding.

"I know, it's not fair to drop this on you so suddenly," he scratched the back of his hair with his free hand.

"It's just," she began, "I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple culinary schools, and I'm really hoping my first choice picks me, although it's a very very competitive school."

"I understand, Hinata-chan!" he half smiled, waving his hand, "I don't want to put any pressure on you!" he softened at her, "I want you to be happy. So, whatever you decide, I'll respect it!"

Hinata smiled gently before reaching out and bringing him into a hug in the middle of the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I appreciate your patience."

"No problem Hinata-chan!" he boasted, though even he could not ignore the mix of nerves and anxiety in the pit of his stomach.

(^A.H^)

"Move over! Hot pan! Hot pan!" Megami yelled as she meandered her way through Shikamaru and Sasuke who stood by the fridge drinking coffee and over to the kitchen table near the door where Tenten, Sakura, Neji, and Ino sat.

She set the pan of eggs on the counter and proudly stood up straight with her hands on her hips, an apron sitting halfway on her.

"Bon Appetitty!"

Neji boredly looked down at the eggs with his cheek resting on his fist.

"You know we employ a lot of cooks, right?"

Sakura stared into the pan, "oh wow. No shells this time. Good work, Mega."

Megami nodded proudly.

"Well," Ino sighed, "you can't possibly expect her to fuck up eggs a fourth time, she's not Sakura."

Sakura shot daggers at her.

"Did you add cheese like I asked?" Tenten inquired.

Megami frowned, "No, I forgot that."

Tenten huffed and crossed her arms, "I'm not eating this shit without cheese! Are you trying to poison me and my baby?!"

"Hey, fuck you!" Megami yelled, "I slaved over a hot stove putting this together! You better be fucking grateful!"

"Ruining all of our best cookware isn't exactly slaving over," Sasuke chimed in over his coffee.

"Bite me!" she snarled back.

Shikamaru clutched the bridge of his nose, "I don't know how someone can manage to catch fire to an empty sink either."

"You and that baby better eat my delicious food or so help me—!" Megami yelled, waving a spatula.

"Oh yeah?!" Tenten challenged back, "What're you gonna do?! I got raging hormones bitch and I'm not afraid to use em—!"

The gang in the kitchen sighed as the two bickered and some egg pieces flew from one end to the other.

The commotion almost made everyone miss Naruto and Hinata entering the kitchen holding hands. Almost instantly the bickering stopped when they did.

"Hey! there you guys are!" Megami said happily.

"I'm so sorry everyone," Hinata laughed a bit nervously, "it seems we overslept quite a bit."

"I'll say," Ino spoke, "we almost never see you sleep later than 7 am, hime. You guys must have really been beat."

Hinata looked down quickly to hide her face while Naruto looked off to the side and scratched his head.

"Yeah, we were bone tired," he laughed with a slight discomfort in his voice.

"Well," Sakura said, "At least you both got plenty of rest."

Both nodded at almost the same time as they further entered the kitchen and passed the kitchen table.

As they did, Tenten suddenly perked up and sniffed the air. The group at the table looked at her in slight confusion as she, very quickly, twisted around to where Naruto and Hinata had come to stand by the kitchen island.

Her eyes bulged as she shot up in her seat and pointed at them.

"Oh my god!" she yelled, to their and everyone else's shock and surprise.

"You two had sex!"

(^A.H^)

Monday morning of Konoha high school was livelier than it had been during prom weekend. Students of every grade rejoiced as they arrived at the school in the early hours, knowing that this would be their last Monday before summer break came upon them.

As the students made their way up the steps, talking about their various summer plans, the members of Alpha and remaining members of Omega casually strolled into the parking lot in their individual vehicles.

Megami gave a big stretch after attaching her helmet to her bike. She waved at passing students who passed her. They waved and said good morning as the rest of the girls made their way over from their cars.

"Oh man!" Megami cheered as the girls began their walk, "it's really our last Monday! I can't believe we're finally about to be done with this shit!"

"Tell me about it," Ino chimed, "I'm so glad we're so close to being done with this early morning nonsense. My summer tan has been waiting all year to make its debut!"

The girls instinctively stopped midway through the walk as they noticed the boys exiting the limo across the courtyard.

Hinata giggled as they watched them collect themselves and get ready to make their way over.

"That shouldn't be a problem while we're touring with the guys all summer."

"Oh, absolutely!" Ino sighed dreamily, "Different cities every week, sandy beaches and sight-seeing and shopping! This summer is going to be everything!"

"You won't be able to enjoy the summer unless you actually pass your classes," Sakura said, her eyes glued to her phone.

Ino made a noise of disgust, "Oh my god, Haruno. Why do you always have to be a party pooper?!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she looked up, "Some of us are actually worried about final exams and graduating. I have so many tests this week, I can't even entertain the idea of thinking about the summer tour! Or anything else for that matter!"

"Sakura," Tenten began, "Stop stressing so hard. If Ino and Megami aren't worried about finals week, then you shouldn't feel a lick of fear."

Sakura frowned as she looked over to Ino who smirked and Megami who waved dumbly.

"It's hard to compare AP Physics exams to Art 101."

"Hey! fuck you!" Ino growled, "I take advanced art!"

Sakura sighed, "Exactly my point, Anyway, I just want to do well. No stress this week but school," she said firmly, "Then, come Saturday, I'll happily get excited for touring."

Her expression suddenly turned into a frown again, "that is if Gaara is okay or will even be able to participate."

"Have you heard from him?" Ino asked.

"Not since yesterday morning," Sakura sighed, "I texted him this morning to check in but got nothing. I'm sure he's busy."

"You'll hear from him soon, Sakura," Hinata nodded firmly.

"Yeah! Dad or no dad, Gaara's not gonna miss exams!" Megami beamed.

The girls stared at her. She blinked back, confused.

"What? What'd I say?"

"Good morning, ladies!"

Behind them, Naruto's excited voice alerted them. He jogged up, waving as the rest of the boys again maintained a steady pace behind them.

"Happy last Monday, girls!" He cheered when he caught up with them. He turned to Hinata and almost instantly blushed as she herself burned red and looked down.

"G-good morning, Hinata-chan."

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," she bowed slightly as she looked back up to him.

"Oh my god!" Ino groaned, "you guys are acting like middle schoolers who just started dating yesterday!"

Steam seemed to come out of both Naruto and Hinata's head as they stood shyly.

The girls collectively giggled at the fun they'd been poking at the couple since yesterday morning when Tenten outed their short-kept secret.

"Oh, come on you guys!" Ino waved her hand, "we're only teasing!"

"Yeah," Tenten shrugged, "don't expect us to quickly get over the fact that you guys fucked."

"Tenten!" Hinata frowned, "don't put it like that!"

Tenten laughed and put her hands up defensively, "oh I'm sorry. I mean made love."

The girls chuckled at their embarrassment just as a hand came to rest on Naruto's shoulder.

"I thought I told you to stay ten feet away from Hinata from now until forever," Neji's cold voice came from behind Naruto as his grip on his shoulder tightened. Naruto couldn't help buckling under his hand.

"C-come on Neji," he laughed nervously, "I wasn't doing nothing!"

"Neji-nissan!" Hinata chastised.

Tenten slapped Neji's hand away, to Naruto's relief. Neji turned and gave her a curious expression.

"Oh, lay off!" she barked, "you off all people have no business telling them not to hump each other!"

Naruto laughed anxiously as Hinata's red face dropped again.

"Look guys, could we please not talk about it?" Naruto nervously begged.

"Good, because I don't want to hear about it," Neji spoke bluntly as he moved past Naruto and Tenten, the latter who rolled their eyes at him.

"Besides, there's more important things we gotta talk about," Shikamaru mumbled as the group began their descent towards the front doors.

"What?" Ino beamed, "like how fantastic I'm gonna look in all the swimsuits I bought for the tour this summer?!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "No—well, yeah you will, but no—"

Ino smiled cheekily.

"About how Megami's definitely gonna get held back a grade?" Tenten said casually.

"What?! Hey no I'm not!" Megami yelled before her expression became concerned, "wait, am I?"

Shikamaru shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "No. Look, we just have some important information we wanna share with you girls. Things have come up we want you to know about."

Four of the girls looked at each other in confusion before they all chuckled a bit and walked through the doors and into the bustling hallway.

"You make it sound so ominous," Sakura chuckled, "what have you guys got to talk about that's so concerning? What? Are we getting expelled?"

"Are our exes coming back to get us?" Ino snorted.

"Do we have to get somebody out of another forced engagement?" Tenten laughed.

"Do we have to travel to an alternate universe to show us how much worse our lives would've been if it went a different way and ultimately learn that life is going to take its natural course no matter what we wish we didn't do?" Megami giggled.

The group stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at her.

Megami blinked back, "What? You guys don't remember that one?"

Sakura shook her head as they all began walking again, "Anyway, what've you guys got to talk about that can't possibly be as insane as some of the things we've already dealt with?"

(^A.H^)

"You guys are breaking up?!" All the girls but Hinata practically yelled as they stood at their seats in first period some minutes later, the four boys sitting in their seats around them.

"Ssshh!" Neji hissed, "Keep your fucking voices down!"

He glanced around at the thankfully mostly distracted class members, some had glanced over, momentarily curious about the yell.

"We don't need all the girls in this school having fucking aneurysms before class even starts."

"Oh my gosh who cares about that!" Ino yelled, "that's so beyond the fact that you guys are selling the mansion AND breaking up the band!"

"We are not breaking up the band," Shikamaru sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"You can't just drop a bombshell like that on us and not expect us to react!" Tenten yelled, "is this for real?! Are you guys serious?!"

"I can't believe this!" Megami cried, "I know you guys have your issues but don't let it destroy the music! The music is what keeps the love alive!"

Neji rolled his eyes as Sasuke gave her a slightly confused and annoyed expression.

"What the hell are you even talking about," Sasuke said.

"Again! We are not breaking up the band," Shikamaru groaned.

"We're just taking a year off," Neji explained, "maybe less, maybe more. Who knows. All in all, we just decided that after the summer tour we could use a break from the music bis."

"But to sell the mansion means that you guys are pausing more than just the music," Tenten said, "you guys aren't gonna be living together anymore?! The mansion is your home! It has been for years!"

"When did you guys decide on this?" Sakura inquired.

"Yeah, this is huge!" Megami boasted.

"It's been on all of our minds for a while," Sasuke explained, "we all want to do other things for a while. Like college, or other creative pursuits."

"It's not like we were going to be doing music forever anyway," Neji said nonchalantly.

"But you guys aren't even at like the peak of your careers!" Ino exclaimed, "why would you quit now?!"

"Again, we really want you girls, at least, to understand that this isn't the end, it's not even really quitting," Shikamaru spoke calmly, "It's just a hiatus. Word of this is gonna get out sometime during the summer tour, so we wanted to tell you all before we depart for it."

"We should've just waited for Gaara like I wanted to," Neji sighed, leaning back into his seat, "it's better we explain this with all of us together."

The four girls looked at each other with equally quizzical looks. Naruto, recognizing their questioning expressions, stepped up with a big smile.

"It's not goodbye girls! We'll be together again one day soon! We're just taking a break is all! I'm sure you guys can relate!"

Sakura sighed, "You're right, we did stop dancing for a while."

Curiously, Ino looked at Hinata who sat beside her, calm and unspeaking.

"Hina, you don't seem fazed by any of this at all!" Ino frowned, "didn't any of that catch you off guard?!"

Hinata turned to her and gave a soft smile, "well…no…I already knew."

"What?!" the girls yelled at the same time.

Hinata nodded, "Naruto-kun told me about it the morning of—Sunday morning," she twiddled her fingers with red cheeks, "although I must admit, I wasn't aware you guys were planning to sell the mansion too."

Naruto gagged as Neji put him in a choke hold. His arms flailed out as he tried to get a breath.

"So, you not only violated my cousin, but you also told her shit she wasn't supposed to know about yet, huh?" Neji grit his teeth as he gripped tighter.

"Hands off!" Tenten shouted as she stepped on top of Neji's head, forcing him to release Naruto who gasped and took a deep breath.

"Thanks, Ten," Naruto choked, smiling weakly to her as he rubbed his neck.

She ruffled his hair as she sat back down.

"Well," she began, "what's the plan then for the fall?"

The four looked at each other momentarily before looking back to the girls.

"It depends," Sasuke shrugged, "Some of us want to go to university. Maybe travel. We're still figuring it out."

"We'll get all the selling affairs in order before summer ends, so by the time we come back the mansion will be vacant," Shikamaru explained.

"You guys are okay with potentially not seeing each other for a year after the fact?" Sakura raised a brow.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Shikamaru slumped in his seat as he spoke, "it's not like you all planned on staying together after the summer either."

"Well, we—!" Sakura paused herself.

The girls looked at each other. Each with varying perplexed expressions.

"We haven't really…talked much about it…" Sakura murmured.

The conversation cut as Kakashi sashayed into the homeroom, forcing all the chatting students to find their seats.

"Alright guys," he began, quickly setting his paperwork and computer bag on his desk, "the sooner we get these exams underway the sooner I get to vacationing in Costa Rica for the summer—I mean, get to revving up for the fall semester!" he boasted the last part sarcastically as the students grumbled amongst themselves.

"Alright, I've got one week to whip you all into graduation shape! So! let's get those exam reviews open!"

(^A.H^)

"Can you believe this! I thought we'd heard it all, but I never believed the guys would stop doing music and do all this!" Ino sighed dramatically as the girls walked through the bustling halls to get to their second period classes later on during passing time.

"If there's no mansion, what other big pool am I supposed to sunbathe by?!"

"Break or not, the guys have been inseparable for like, six years?" Tenten added, "I thought it would be a solid ten before they took any kind of hiatus."

"Those fangirls are gonna be crushed once word gets out!" Megami said, "dogs and cats will fall from the sky! Fish will drive buses! It'll be anarchy! Anarchy I tell you!"

"I think this may be a good thing," Hinata chimed in, "when Naruto-kun was telling me about it, he spoke as if he seemed so sure this is what he and the guys wanted. Perhaps, it's what they need right now."

"I guess I understand where they're coming from," Sakura spoke, "they've been through so much together, this will be a great way to reinvent themselves."

The girls uncharacteristically silently walked together for a few moments.

"Things have been so crazy these last few months," Sakura continued a bit quietly, "I don't think we've really stopped to talk about what our plans are for the fall."

"Are we not still going to be living together?" Megami frowned curiously.

The girls said nothing for a moment again.

"Well, I don't know about that," Tenten shrugged, "I mean I am going to have a baby. I was thinking I might live with my parents for a minute…when I inevitably tell them about it…" Tenten mumbled.

"That should've been like a yesterday thing, Ten," Ino chastised.

Tenten frowned and glared at nothing, "yeah well, it's been busy."

"I know there are specific schools myself, Hinata, and Ino are trying to get into. Our letters should be coming any day now," Sakura pondered.

Megami frowned at that.

"We haven't even talked about where we'll be with the guys! Let alone each other!" Ino said, "who knows what they want to do in the fall!"

The girls silently walked again as it seemed each of them was lost in their individual thoughts.

"Yeah," Tenten sighed, "Neji and I really gotta figure our shit out."

"Come to think of it, maybe that's something we need to sit down and figure out," Sakura said seriously, "who knows what Gaara's going to have to do now."

"But we always used to talk about going to the same college!" Megami whined.

Ino laughed, "Oh yeah! But we said if we didn't find a school with programs that satisfied all our needs, we'd just build one!"

"That was like the 9th grade," Tenten pointed out as she sub-consciously rubbed her stomach, "a lot of things have changed."

The bell rang indicating the students had just a minute to get to their next class.

"We'll talk about it more at home," Sakura said as she turned to enter her class right next to them.

"See you later girlies!" Ino sang as she and Hinata began walking to the left together.

"Later," Tenten said with a peace sign as she turned around.

Megami stood alone in place for a few moments, looking to the ground as she clutched her couple schoolbooks in her arms. She let out a deep breath before looking up and making her way to her own class.

(^A.H^)

Sakura listened intently as her third period teacher carefully went over the review for her AP calculus final. She diligently wrote notes as he went over the information pertinent to the final, as they had been doing the last half in hour of class.

Normally this was a class she shared with Gaara, as they did almost all their advanced classes. Thankfully, the intensity of finals ahead had kept her mind off the fact that she had not heard from Gaara in now a little more than 24 hours. She was sure his hands were full but still could not help but feel anxious at not knowing if he was grieving or grieving alone.

Her phone sat at the top corner of her desk in the middle row of the class. She had successfully not looked at it the entire class period, as her exam work had allowed her to resign to the fact that wherever he was, he was safe and its where he needed to be.

"—and so, the derivative of a constant would then be," her teacher continued, looking out to the room for a raised hand.

Sakura's hand shot up eagerly among a few other hands.

"Yes, Sakura," he called upon her.

"Zero!" she answered.

"Yes, very good Sakura. Keep up the good work," he smiled.

Sakura beamed proudly as he turned his back to them and continued the lesson.

Suddenly, her phone lit up, to her slight surprise. She nonchalantly glanced over to it only to appear surprised when she saw she had received a text from Gaara.

She quickly but carefully picked up her phone and put it on her lap so she could read and potentially respond without the teacher noticing.

She looked at her phone to see she had two messages from Gaara. She opened them and read.

Gaara:

Hey.

Are you in third period?

I need you to come outside to the courtyard.

His last text chilled her to the bone.

I'm here.

Without a second thought, Sakura quickly raised her hand as the teacher had been talking.

"Yes, Sakura, you have a question?" he asked as he directed his attention to her.

"May I please be excused to the bathroom, sir?" she asked politely although her heart was beating quite a bit.

"Sure," he nodded his head to the hall pass tags on the wall.

Sakura quickly stood with her phone in hand, she bowed a thank you as she, with a bit of haste, grabbed the pass off the wall and exited the classroom.

Once the classroom door had shut behind her, she began sprinting to the main doors of the school building. She couldn't believe the texts she'd just received. He claimed he was at school when he wasn't supposed to make it back until just before graduation.

Her heart raced as she flew through the school's front doors. She stood on the short steps as she stopped to look ahead of herself.

Without a doubt, there Gaara stood on the grass in the middle of the school courtyard. He stood in an all-black suit, from his tie down to his dress shoes. Behind him sat a town car with the driver standing beside him. He stood with his hands in his pockets as he calmly looked at her.

Sakura jogged down the school steps and continued to do so until she finally reached Gaara and practically fell into his arms.

He wrapped his arms around her as she squeezed him a bit in relief.

"Gaara!" she breathed out, "I can't believe you're here."

As they let go, she took a step back and looked him over, his expression was, as usual, mostly unreadable. She couldn't figure out if there was any reaction to his father on his face just as she couldn't the night he had told them.

"Sakura, I didn't think you'd be able to come out so quickly," he said calmly.

She took a deep breath to relax herself from running so fast.

"I wanted to get to you as soon as possible," she said in between a breath, "I wasn't expecting you to text me, what are you doing here? Why are you back so soon?"

Suddenly she calmed herself and frowned, "I'm sorry, I should have asked how you are doing first…how…are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he said nonchalantly, "my father's wake was early this morning. He's buried, it's done. That's the end of it."

"I see," Sakura said quietly as she realized why he was dressed so nicely apart from his usual all black. Still, despite having a good understanding of his personality, it still chilled her how cold he could sound while talking about burying his father.

But she knew why.

"Well," Sakura continued, "I'm glad that you're okay, but what are you doing back at Konoha so soon when your father's funeral was just this morning? Is something going on?"

"I'm going back soon," he said, "I just had to get here quickly to talk to you face to face about something important and time sensitive."

Sakura gave him a puzzled look as she crossed her arms.

"What would that be?"

She shifted a bit as he looked her directly in the eye.

"I am ascending to the throne, so we have one week to get married."

(^A.H^)

Sakura blinked back a few times. Her body was frozen to the stance she was in as her usual quick working mind struggled to put together the information he had just given her.

"Um…come again?"

"I said we have to get married as soon as possible," Gaara said, calmly, as if he believed she'd truly not heard what he'd said.

"Sakura," he continued, "with my father gone, Suna is without a leader. The council has been scrambling to get things in order as per my father's contingency plan. Part of it is that the I, the next in line, take the throne immediately after his passing."

"Y-you're about to become king?!" Sakura's shocked voice came.

Gaara nodded, "normally I would be coronated the day after my father's death, but I am not married."

Sakura nearly choked on the breath she sucked in.

"So," he continued, "the council has given me a full week to take a bride. They know of my plans to overturn the rules about marrying royals and won't fight me on it. Their main concern now is making me king."

"So, what you're saying is…" Sakura's voice slowly, "…that I'm supposed to become a queen…in a week?!"

Gaara nodded.

Sakura took a step back and shook her head, "Gaara I—this is…I…I can't even—" she stuttered to get her words out and to collect her thoughts.

"I know this is much sooner than you anticipated, Sakura," Gaara said, taking a step forward to her.

"Much sooner?" she said, surprised, "six months is soon, you're talking about a week!"

He reached out for her, "Sakura—"

"We have final exams this week!" she spoke as she began to pace a bit, "and graduation on Saturday! Oh my gosh what the hell am I gonna tell my parents?!"

"Sakura…"

"We'd have to become king and queen?!" she went on, "what about the summer tour? College?! You know the guys told me about your plans today, is that what you plan on doing in the fall? How could I be a queen? What about medical school?!"

She rambled and paced a bit as Gaara watched her speak on the million thoughts that were running through her head.

He put his hands on her shoulders, stopping her in place and forcing her to stand and look directly into his serious eyes.

"Sakura," he began, "we're going to figure all of that out. Yes, we're still going on the summer tour. Yes, you will still be able to go to medical school. And yes, I didn't expect it, but this is what I will be doing when we disband at the end of the summer."

Sakura blinked back at him, calm under his touch but anxious over the conversation. He dropped his hands back to his sides.

"I know this is a lot. Trust me when I say all the details will be worked out and I have everything under control. Right now, the only answer I need from you is a yes or no."

"Yes, or no?" Sakura asked quietly but curiously.

"To marrying me or not," he said seriously.

Sakura looked down, her face becoming red.

"You've already given me a ring…so I've basically already said yes. Plus, you won't be able to become king if I don't say yes…"

"I don't care about that."

She looked up to him. His eyes told her everything when they normally told her nothing.

"Becoming king doesn't matter to me," he said, "what matters is that you do this because you want to and because you wish to be with me. Not because you feel like you have to do it."

Sakura swallowed hard. Gaara, seeming to notice her unease, stepped up to her and took her free hand in his.

"Whatever you decide, as long as you're happy, that is what is important to me."

"Gaara…I…" she said almost breathlessly, her eyes low.

"I don't know what to say…" she spoke quietly, "I would love to marry you I'm just…a little overwhelmed."

"I know," he said, "I can only imagine. But I'm sorry, Sakura. Things are moving quickly out of my control. I hate to put this pressure on you, but the pressure has been forced on me."

He lifted her hand and kissed it before letting it fall back to her side and then glancing at his watch.

"I need to get back to Suna to take care of some things. But I should be back to school tomorrow. I can wait for your answer then."

He looked at her and her blushed face with mixed emotions on it.

He caught her off guard when he lifted her face with one hand on her right cheek, and then leaned down and kissed her softly. She melted into him a bit, as kissing him gave her some measure of comfort.

He released her and locked eyes with her again, her cheeks were now redder.

"I'll try to call you tonight."

She nodded slowly at him as he stood up straight. He turned around to leave only to be stopped in place when he felt her grip on the hem of his jacket. He turned to her curiously, her face was flushed as she looked off to the side.

"I…I'll think hard about this…" she mumbled a bit, "but…just…I love you, and I hope you're doing alright…"

He gave her a rare half smile before turning back around and leaned down to kiss her again.

"I love you too," he said he released again and stood straight, "I will see you tomorrow."

She nodded a bit as he turned around with his hands in his pockets and began walking to the waiting car and driver.

Sakura stood with her arms slightly crossed, she looked down to the engagement ring that shimmered under the sun.

As the car drove away with Gaara in it, she uncrossed her arms and looked down to the ring with her hand in front of her.

Nervous aches pooled into her stomach as she swallowed hard at the thought of what the next week would be like.

(^A.H^)

"We need to tell my parents I'm pregnant."

Neji gagged on the spoon of chowder he had had in his mouth. He choked on the soup and the spoon stayed caught in his throat for a moment before he successfully coughed it out with a few pounds to his chest.

He coughed off to the side and tried to catch his breath. Choking was painful, but it did not catch him off guard nearly as much as the words that had just come out of Tenten's mouth.

The rest of the gang who sat at the lunch circle stopped their conversations and eating and stared at them. Tenten sat calmly and seriously while Neji wiped his mouth and turned to look at her with a puzzled and somewhat horrified expression.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" he coughed, surprised.

An annoyed expression came onto Tenten's face.

"No. I'm trying to talk to you about some serious shit."

Neji raised a brow, "And you felt like right now, lunch, was the best time to do it?"

"Well, I mean, we've got to talk about it one way or another and it's on my mind so—!"

Neji gripped the bridge of his nose.

""—when's a better time to talk about it?!"

"Tenten," he sighed, "as much as I appreciate the unwavering glare your father gives me anytime I'm within a five-foot radius of him, I don't love the idea of telling him I got his daughter pregnant during our graduation week. I would like to live long enough to walk in the ceremony."

"So, we're just never gonna tell them about it?!" Tenten shot back with a bit of anger.

"No Ten," Neji began, confused, "that's not even what I'm say—"

"Okay then what are you saying?" Tenten cut him off, "because it feels like you've been avoiding it for a while."

"I have absolutely not been avoiding it," Neji defended, "it's just been…busy," he grumbled.

Tenten scoffed and crossed her arms, "that sounds like an excuse. Just admit you don't wanna do it! Admit you don't wanna do it and you don't want to do any of this!"

Neji's eyes widened a bit, "Ten, what are you talking abo—"

"Thiiis feels like a conversation we don't need to be here for," Megami said in a drag with ramen noodles halfway in her mouth as she began standing up from her seat with her tray only to be forcefully pulled back onto her seat at the hands of Ino.

"Yes," Hinata kindly spoke up, "Tenten, perhaps this is a conversation you'd both want to have in priva—"

"I'm not trying to be so blunt," Tenten grit her teeth as she cut her off, "I just wanted to talk about it and get it out there now before I think about it all day like I've already been."

Neji sighed and rubbed his left temple, "Hinata's right. Why don't we wait until after school to talk about this?" he chuckled a bit and mumbled under his breath, "or we could just never talk about it."

Before he could say anything more, Tenten stood up abruptly and slung her bag over her shoulder. Neji looked up to her, confused.

"Ten, it was a joke—"

She twisted around without saying a word and began walking towards the lunchroom doors as the girls called after her.

"Ugh! You are the king of making things worse!" Ino scoffed.

Neji sighed, "I know."

"Well? what the hell are you looking at me for?! Go after her!" Ino snarled as the rest of the girls dead eyed him.

"Yeah, I know already," he grumbled as he stood up.

(^A.H^)

Tenten stomped through the hall that led down to the lunchroom doors and past students coming and going from it. She frustratingly walked down the hall only to finally stop at an open window at the end of the hall that overlooked the football field. She took a deep breath and rested her hands on the windowsill, looking out to the field where sophomore gym students were kicking a soccer ball around while Gai boasted in the background.

She quietly sat for a few moments and couldn't help but smile when Gai tripped on himself while trying to demonstrate a kick to a student, which some of them laughed at.

Her smile fell and she let out a deep breath.

"I didn't ask you to come after me."

She stood up straight and crossed her arms before turned around and facing Neji standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Well, you obviously knew I was going to," he deadpanned.

She rolled her eyes, "I didn't. Actually. You aren't exactly known for chasing after girls like that."

"Yeah, but I'll chase after you."

She frowned and turned away from him as her cheeks turned red a bit.

"Don't say cheesy shit like that."

"Ten," he went on, "what's going on? You stormed out so quickly and I know it can't possibly be only because I made some stupid joke."

She turned her back to him with her arms still crossed.

"Sorry." She mumbled, "I've just been in a mood."

"You're always in a mood," he smirked as he leaned on the wall beside the window and her. His expression became serious suddenly.

"Tell me what's going on in your head."

She frowned as she made no move to turn to look at him, but simply continued to stare out the window. She took a deep sharp breath.

"There's just a lot on my mind. I've been kinda freaked out."

He raised a brow, "you? Freaking out? No way. Couldn't be you."

She rolled her eyes.

"This whole thing this…this baby. The idea of it all is really starting to become real to me."

Neji calmly stared at her.

"Are you scared?"

Tenten scoffed, "me? Scared? No way," she waved him off, "I'm just kinda…overwhelmed is all," she shrugged.

"You know the girls were talking about going to their dream schools earlier," she spoke with a hint of sadness in her voice, "I completely forgot that I had even applied to Tokyo U's sports program ages ago. But it doesn't matter whether I get in or not now, I'm not going to be able to go to school anyway…"

"Ten…" Neji began.

"You know," she continued, "we haven't even talked about what the hell we're gonna do once I have this baby. When you and the guys said that you're gonna be disbanding the band, it made the girls and I realize that we're likely gonna go our own ways too, and that I had better figure out what I'm gonna do and where I'm gonna be and how I'm gonna take care of myself and this kid," she scoffed, "and yet I haven't even told my parents I'm pregnant…you haven't told your uncle…"

The spring air gently blew her clothes and his hair to the side as she sadly stared outside.

"I wonder if I'm making the right decisions. I just…don't know what I'm gonna do."

She blinked a couple times when he unexpectedly gently took her hand into his. She turned to look up at him.

"Ten, don't forget I'm here with you too," he said calmly, "I understand there must be a lot going on in your mind. I'm right there with you. You don't have to feel like you're alone in this."

She looked down.

"Hey…Tenten look at me."

She hesitated before looking up at him with a vulnerable expression he rarely saw.

"We're going to figure this out. Together. Regardless of whatever our friends have going on, I will be here for you. At every step. No matter what. The first thing we'll do is tell your parents sometime this week, before graduation, and then go from there. We'll take it day by day."

Her expression softened a bit and her tensed hand relaxed in his. She leaned in and rested her head on his chest. In turn he let go of her hand and brought his arms up to wrap around her.

"Promise we'll be okay?"

"I promise."

He was calm as he spoke to her, but even he could not deny the uncertainty he was really feeling.

(^A.H^)

"Alright everyone, settle down! Settle down now!" Kurenai called as she hobbled a bit into the bustling fifth period class. The classroom gradually quieted as she made her way to the front of the class in front of the small stage. Fully pregnant, her stomach was noticeably ballooned. She caressed under her belly with one hand while the other held the clipboard she looked down on.

"Alright you guys," she continued once the class had relaxed, "Welcome to your last week of school!"

The class of seniors collectively cheered and hooted at the reminder that their school days were coming to an end.

"In honor of our last days together, I thought that the best final project would be to go back to how we started things all the way back to the beginning of the school year! So, that means I want everyone to get with a partner or a group, pick a song, and then everyone will perform their songs starting Wednesday!"

The class gave their collective cheers again, it was a welcome final project given the amount of work they were already doing for other more intensive classes.

Kurenai put her hands up to quiet everyone down again. Once they quieted, she continued.

"Like before, everyone will take this class to decide what your partner or group will be, select a song you know, and practice. We'll begin the first half of the performances tomorrow and end them Thursday. I will be getting induced for my baby, so I'll have to leave quickly Thursday," she smiled as she held her belly.

"So, make sure to have them done by then!"

At her direction, the class began bustling around to quickly get their pick of partners and group members.

The nine members of Alpha and Omega sat in the front row. Megami stood up and fixed her seat in front of the group.

"So!" Megami beamed, "we should all totally do a song together!"

"All ten of us?" Shikamaru raised a brow.

Megami nodded rapidly.

"That sounds like it would be a fun way to send off," Tenten shrugged, "I'm down."

"Actually girls," Naruto chimed in, sounding a bit nervous, "we were actually wanting to perform a song with the five of us."

"Seriously?" Tenten tilted her head, "you guys almost never volunteer to perform together."

"Awww!" Ino sang, "is it that you boys want to give the school one last Omega performance before you're gone forever?! That's so cute!"

"Aw man!" Megami sniffled, "you guys really do love each other!"

"Will you cut that shit out," Neji snarled, "that's a really strong word you're throwing around."

"It's not exactly that," Sasuke dragged, leaning back slightly into his seat, "it's a little more…complicated."

"What's so complicated about you wanting to perform together?" Sakura inquired, "you already do for thousands of people."

Naruto smiled bashfully, "well, for this we wanted to perform one last time specifically for Kurenai-sensei. See, she's the person who really brought us together in the beginning, and before we really got big, she helped us write a couple songs! There's one song we worked on that we never got to finish, so we thought a great sendoff would be performing it for her!"

"That's so incredibly sweet and thoughtful of you boys," Hinata smiled softly.

"Yeah! What's with you guys thinking of shit in private all of a sudden?!" Megami whined, "this whole day has been you guys deciding to do stuff in private! I don't think we've ever seen you guys this close!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Neji turned away with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression, while Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and Naruto beamed.

"This is something we've kind of been planning since we started high school," Shikamaru explained, "we owe Kurenai a great deal. So, we'd like to pay that debt."

"I'm sure you girls will find a song to do together!" Naruto chanted, "you always do!"

The girls glanced at each other and nodded, affirming. If there was anything they could do and do together, it was put a great performance together.

"He's right girls! We got this!" Megami chanted, "let's do a final song!"

(^A.H^)

"One, two, three, and! One, two, three, and—!" Hinata called out as the young girls behind her tried their best to move along with every rhythmic dance moves she made. Her group of dancers calmly shuffled along with her while other small groups with the rest of the girls practiced their own styles in different parts of the dance studio.

Hinata clapped her hands as she stopped her movements after some moments. Her students, tired, stopped in place as well.

"Alright girls, great job! That's break time!" she called out to the breathless young girls. She smiled as they bowed or curtsied to her before scattering to get a snack or chat with their friends.

Hinata smiled calmly as she looked around to the rest of the room filled with young girls, most of them still at work with their group leader.

She casually walked over to Ino who was still working with her own group. She stood with her hands on her hips as the group practiced in front of her.

"How's your group doing, Ino?" Hinata asked as she met up with her and stood next to her to watch.

Ino let out a breath and wiped her forehead, "fantastic! I think the girls love being able to practice their dance of choice to end classes for the summer. Great idea, Hina!"

Hinata smiled and nodded, "I'm glad. It's much easier on us too, I think. With tomorrow being our last day, it gives us plenty of time to study and get ready for graduation."

Ino sighed as she bent down and picked up her water bottle to take a sip out of it.

"Our last day," she mused, "feels just like yesterday we got the opportunity to teach these young stars our amazing skills!"

Hinata giggled, "well it might as well have been. We've only been doing this for a couple months."

"Feels like a lifetime!" Ino dramatically put her hand to her forehead as Hinata could not help but laugh a bit.

Suddenly, Ino's phone began to buzz in the pocket of her athletic pants. She took it out and gave a small grimace to the name that blared on her phone.

"Who is it, Ino?" Hinata asked quizzically, noticing her small change in expression.

"Um…ugh, my dad calling about some dumb credit card payment, I'm sure!" she groaned a bit.

"I gotta take this, can you watch my group for a sec, Hina?"

"Of course," Hinata nodded casually.

Ino nodded a thank you as she turned and jogged through the double doors and into the hallway for some privacy. With a bit of annoyance, she clicked the green button on her screen and held it to her ear.

"Sai, I told you that it's not a good idea for you to be calling me anymore," she said quickly.

"Hello to you too," Sai's voice came back through calmly, "bad time?"

Ino sighed, "Hi. And no, it's not. I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound so rude I just—"

"—You said if I ever had anything important, I needed to tell you I could call. I suppose I didn't realize you were trying to completely end our friendship."

"I'm not, I just—" she sighed and stopped to take a deep breath, "obviously it's not a good idea for us to be talking or texting on the phone. I told you, it's not a good look. I'm trying to do right by Shikamaru."

"Did he tell you to stop talking to me all together?"

"No! Of course not, he would never ask that!" she said firmly, "but it's only fair I keep our contact as minimal as possible if at all. You can understand that."

"I assure you Ino, I'm not here to cause any or more problems in your relationship. I just had some news I wanted to share I thought you might care to hear about."

"Some news?" she said as she looked back into the dance room through the door windows, just to make sure no one was coming her way, "what's going on?"

"I got into Tokyo DCS"

Ino's eyes widened, and her mouth gaped, "oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! You got in?! No way!"

Ino couldn't help but squeal and bounce on her feet as she stood in place, "no way, Sai! That's amazing news!" she beamed, "this is insane! Oh my gosh! I'm so jealous! When did you find out?!"

"Just now. The letter was here when I got home from school. I wanted you to be the first to know."

Ino pumped her fists into the air and began to pace back and forth, "yes yes yes! I'm so happy for you Sai! I can't believe this!"

She stopped in place suddenly and gulped.

"You said…you got yours today?"

"Yes. It came today. I wanted to call because I also wanted to see if you got yours."

Ino gulped again.

"I haven't been home yet! So that must mean my letter has to be there too!"

Her heart raced a bit, "oh my gosh! Today's the day! I'm gonna find out if I got into my dream school!"

"If I got in you must have gotten in. Our portfolios are nearly the same. I'm sure they wouldn't have picked me without picking you."

"Do you really think I got in?" Ino asked nervously, "Oh em gee, I'm so anxious! I wanna know right now!"

"I'm sure you did, Ino. You've been working on this since freshman year. I know you got in. Don't worry. It'll be just like we talked about."

Ino stopped completely in place and stared down the empty hallway.

The Tokyo Institute of Design and Creative Studies. Since middle school, Ino had dreamed of getting into the most prestigious design and creative arts school in Japan to pursue fashion. Even despite her parents' connections, getting into Tokyo DCS meant she would be respected any and everywhere.

Since early high school she had begun her portfolio to get into the intensely competitive school. When she met Sai, they discovered they shared the same dream of getting in. At the height of their relationship, they promised each other they would go there together.

"Ino? Ino? Are you still there?"

Ino shook her head and blinked back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm so happy for you, Sai, seriously," she smiled genuinely.

"I'll…text you when I know my results."

"Sure. Good luck, Ino."

Ino smiled weakly as she ended the call. She clutched her phone in both her hands as she stood with her back to the dance room doors.

(^A.H^)

The front door of the girl's house flung open and smacked hard against the wall behind it as a blonde rush of hair whizzed quickly inside and into the living room with a stack of mail in their hands.

Neko, who had gone to live with Ino's family in preparation for their summer plans, no longer greeted them at the door.

"Ino slow the hell down!" Sakura barked after her as the remaining girls trailed behind with their after-work bags and backpacks.

Ino ignored her as she dropped the stack of letters onto the coffee table and immediately began sifting through them as the remaining four girls made their way in.

"Did your Playgirl magazine come in early this month?!" Megami called cheekily.

"Yamanaka what is the rush?!" Tenten yelled, the last to come in. She closed the door behind her as the girls dropped their things and walked into the living room, "you basically flew through the streets home!"

"I'm…looking…for…" Ino gasped and lifted the last letter in her hand, "this! It's this! My response letter from Tokyo DCS!"

"It finally came?!" Sakura yelled, jumping up suddenly, "holy shit!"

"It's about time!" Tenten groaned as the girls began to shuffle around her. They, of all people, knew just how important this piece of paper was to Ino and how long she had been working for it.

"Open it open it open it!" Megami bounced up and down.

"Shhh!" Sakura hushed, "let her do it."

Ino took a heavy breath as she ripped the letter open and began to take the papers out. The girls stood around her with their baited breaths and anticipation.

"Miss. Ino Yamanaka—" she began, "we are…pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the fashion school of the Tokyo Institute of Design and Creative Stud—OH MY GOSH I GOT IN!" she practically yelled, throwing the papers into the air.

All five girls collectively screamed and cheered at the good news. They grouped into a hug and began bouncing up and down with Ino in the middle.

"That's wonderful, Ino!" Hinata chimed as the girls let go, "we're so happy for you!"

"Yeah," Tenten chuckled, "you've been talking about going to Tokyo DCS since we can remember."

"Thank goodness," Sakura let out a breath of relief, "it's the only school you applied too."

"I can't believe this is happening!" Ino squealed, "I have to call my parents!"

"How did you even know the letter would be here today?" Sakura asked curiously.

Ino looked down sheepishly for a moment and shuffled her feet a bit.

"Sai called me at work to tell me he had gotten in. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since."

Tenten crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "Sai still talks to you? I thought you cut him off?"

Ino scoffed, "I didn't tell him to call me! He just did!"

"Hey now," Sakura cut in, "despite the past, Sai is still a long-time friend, and he did help us during that whole lockdown incident. It's not unreasonable for Ino to still hear from him from time to time."

"It won't be just from time to time anymore, now won't in?" Megami chimed in, curiously.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"Like," Megami shrugged, "you'd probably see him a lot more than you would Shikamaru, if you guys were to the to go to the same school and he's not."

The girls stood in silence.

Megami tilted her head, "and Tokyo DCS isn't a big campus school, so you'll probably run into each other more often than you think!" she laughed.

"Megami," Tenten bit, "shut the hell up."

"What do you mean?! What'd I say?!"

"But that doesn't matter, right, Ino?" Sakura turned to Ino who stood looking at the ground a bit, "that means nothing, right?"

"Of course it means nothing," Ino spoke up, though her voice was low.

"It might mean something to Shikamaru, though…" she said under her breath.

Sakura waved her hand to the girls, "Ino got her letter so there's bound to be some of our own application responses, right? Let me look."

The girls stood as Sakura stepped over and shifted through the pile of mail as Ino had. After a moment she pulled out a few envelopes of her own.

"I got one! And here's one for you too Hinata!" she smiled as she handed Hinata her own.

"Another one for me and here's one for you Mega," Sakura said again as she held her own letters to her chest.

"Yay!" Megami jumped excitedly.

"What about your applications, Ten?" Sakura asked as she began to open her own.

Tenten shrugged, "I already got into Ame University and South Osaka College's soccer program like I wanted. But I know I can't go right now."

"You'll be able to go soon Ten!" Megami chanted, "a baby isn't gonna stop you from kicking ass at sports!"

Tenten chuckled a bit with a half-smile, "yeah, I guess so."

"I got into Tokyo U!" Sakura bounced in excitement, "and Osaka U!

"Nice forehead!" Ino smiled, "those were in your top choices."

"Although you applied to like twenty top schools," Tenten rolled her eyes.

Sakura frowned, "I just need to know all my prospects. What about you, Hina?"

"I got into Tokyo Culinary," Hinata said casually.

The faces of the girls lit up.

"Hinata!" Ino gasped, "that's amazing! That's one of the best culinary schools in the country! I thought this was your first choice!"

"Yes, I'm very happy," she nodded smiling, "and very grateful. It's just…it's not my first choice."

Sakura raised a brow, "Well then what's your first ch—"

"My turn!" Megami yelled as she ripped both of her envelopes open at the same time.

"Don't rip the letter itself, idiot!" Tenten barked.

Megami scanned over both sheets quickly. After a couple moments she grimaced and her arms that held each letter dropped down to her sides.

"I didn't get into either one," she frowned, "Not Ame U or Kumo U."

Sakura waved her hand, "don't let that get to you Mega. You've still got other applications to hear from. A couple rejections don't mean a thing!"

Megami scratched the back of her head, "yeah, but I wanted either of those schools so hopefully I could at least be close enough to still come home here."

The girls stood quietly for a beat.

Megami's frown deepened, "we won't be here?"

"I mean," Tenten began, "think about it, Megami. Everyone's going off to different schools, I'm having a baby. It kind of goes without saying that things are going to be different in the fall and everyone will be scattered. You know that."

"But everyone got into universities in Tokyo!" Megami challenged, "we used to always talk about getting a place of our own in the heart of Tokyo and going to school together!"

"Actually," Hinata spoke up, "to tell you girls the truth, I don't know if I'll be staying in Japan."

The girls twisted to her.

"What do you mean, Hina?" Megami asked.

"You see, the other day, Naruto-kun didn't just tell me about the boys plan to disband…he asked me to come to Paris with his for a year."

Ino gasped as the rest of the girls stood in surprise.

"Paris?!" she yelled.

Hinata nodded, "he was asked to host the upcoming season of Let's Dance: Paris!"

"What an amazing opportunity!" Ino beamed, "you absolutely must go! You must! Are you going to?!"

Hinata looked down, "I'm not sure, I haven't given him answer yet."

"That'd be amazing, Hina," Tenten said, "but Paris is a long way away."

"I know," she sighed a bit, "It's all I've been able to think about."

"Actually, I think now's a good time to tell you girls something."

The girls turned their attention to Sakura who stood with a nervous expression on her face.

"Something happened today. During third period, Gaara showed up to talk to me. He said with his father gone, he has to take the throne effective immediately. In order to do that, he has to get married before the end of the week."

"What?!" Megami yelled, "so that means—?!"

"You have to be married by graduation?!" Ino yelled with her face in her hands.

Sakura nodded.

"Sakura, do you think you're ready for that?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah! How can you put together a wedding and pass your finals in four days!" Megami boasted, "it can't be done!"

"So that means you wouldn't just be going to college in the fall," Tenten voiced, "you'd have to move to Suna and begin the duties of a queen, right?"

"I don't know!" Sakura groaned as she knelt down and put her face in her knees, "I'm sure I would! I have no idea how that's going to affect my school prospects! And medical school? On top of being a queen?!"

She sighed and rubbed her face as the girls listened.

"I couldn't even give him an answer today. I love Gaara, I know that, but I don't know what to say. I don't remember the last time I've been this rattled!"

"It looks like we all really might be doing different things after the summer," Ino said calmly.

"That may not be such a bad thing," Tenten shrugged, "considering how much we've been through, maybe it would be a good thing to do different things and go our own ways, just like the guys are."

The girls looked at one another. It finally occurred to them all that things may be changing around them that they had failed to realize were happening.

"Hey! Come on ladies!" Ino clapped her hands together and beamed a big smile, "we've had enough to think about for one day yeah! Let's leave all that for right now and get some dinner! I'm starved!"

"You're right," Sakura sighed as most of the girls began walking towards the kitchen, "I need to do some exam prep to take the edge off."

Ino made a look of disgust.

"Said no one ever."

The four girls trailed into the kitchen talking amongst themselves, failing to notice that Megami still stood in the living room absently staring at the acceptance letters.

(^A.H^)

"You missed a whole day of exam work, Gaara!" Naruto boasted as he walked with his hands behind his head, "you think you'll be able to catch up?!"

"Idiot," Sasuke said casually, "I doubt he really needs the help."

"If anyone should be concerned about failing, is you," Neji said absent-mindedly looking at his phone, "yours and Megami's grades seem to tie for the worst. Without this offer from Paris, there's no way you'd get into a decent Japanese school."

Naruto shrugged as the five boys walked together towards the building the next morning for school. Gaara had returned to the mansion early that morning. The boys had made little effort to pry into the logistics of his father's death. They knew it wasn't what he cared about.

"Hmf! I don't need college to tell me what I already know! I'm a genius and that's that!"

Neji scoffed a bit, "if you're a genius then Shikamaru must be a completely different breed entirely. Every important school in the nation is basically knocking down our doors to get you to come there."

Shikamaru shrugged nonchalantly and let out a small yawn.

"Yeah, well. It's annoying."

Sasuke smirked a bit, "bet he's just waiting for Ino to hear back from her number one school."

Shikamaru said nothing and did not falter in his expression as the boys walked.

"I sense it in the air! Is someone talking about me?" Ino chimed from behind the boys as the girls made their way over from the courtyard.

"Yeah! We were, actually!" Naruto beamed as he turned around to them and began walking backwards with his hands behind his head.

"Shikamaru's gotten so many letters from schools all over the country! But he's not saying anything until you find out from that one school you're tryna get into!"

Shikamaru rubbed his temple in annoyance while Sasuke kicked Naruto in the shin.

"Do you ever shut the hell up?" Sasuke asked as Naruto grimaced in pain.

"Aaaaww Shika-kun!" Ino beamed as she locked onto his arm, throwing him off his balance for a moment.

"Well, have I got news for you…!"

She led him ahead as the rest of the group followed behind towards the building with other students.

"Good morning, Sakura," Gaara spoke seriously and suddenly standing in front of Sakura.

"G-good morning, Gaara," she blurted, her backpack clutched against her chest like a nervous middle schooler.

"Welcome back, Gaara!" Megami beamed, "good to see you back in the land of the living!"

Megami yelped as Tenten pulled her hair back from behind.

"You couldn't have worded that a worse way," she snarled.

"How are you holding up, Gaara?" Hinata asked gently.

He stood up straight and put his hands in his pockets.

"I'll manage."

He turned his attention back to Sakura who was fidgeting in her spot.

"Sakura, can we talk privately for a moment?"

Sakura laughed nervously a bit, to their surprise.

"I'm so sorry, Gaara! I have to meet with my study group before class starts!" she said quickly, side stepping him to get around and begin jogging towards the school steps.

"We'll talk later! See you guys!" she called as she practically ran to the building.

The girls, still walking, glanced at each other with puzzled expressions.

"Oh no," Tenten sighed, "not again."

"Not again?" Neji raised a brow.

"You can always tell Sakura is stressed and avoiding shit when she studies before class starts."

"Guess she's got a lot on her mind what with finals and getting married," Megami casually said with her arms behind her head. She quickly dropped them and turned to Gaara.

"W-which we totally don't know about!"

Gaara said nothing as he stared toward the double doors.

(^A.H^)

"Wow, I can't believe you actually got in."

Ino crossed her arms in a huff, "you sound surprised?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "no, I believed in you. But as far as the odds of you getting into the one school you put your heart into, things were kind of stacked against you."

Ino gave a smug smile as the two walked through the busy hallway towards their first period class, the rest of the members trailing behind or at their lockers.

"Well, just like with everything I do, I beat those silly odds!"

He couldn't help but give a small smirk.

"You should have heard my mom cry on the phone! She was hysterical! She wanted to come all the way hear just to take me on a shopping spree!" she continued to buzz with excitement.

"I can't believe I did it, Shika!"

"I knew you would. I'm very proud of you, Ino."

Ino uncharacteristically blushed and turned her head away.

"T-thank you Shika-kun," she smiled softly.

In a moment her smile shifted to a frown, and she looked back to him.

"Actually…Shika-kun, there's something I want to tell you."

He raised a brow as they stopped by the wall next to the first period door.

"I'm not the only one who got into Tokyo DCS…" she trailed off as she broke eye contact and looked to the ground.

"Sai got in too...he called to tell me yesterday. That's actually how I knew to check for myself."

With her head down, she could not see whether his expression changed in any way. When she didn't hear a response, she elected to keep talking.

"It's no surprise, I mean," she continued, "we've both been talking about going there for years…I just thought I should let you know."

She lifted her head to be met with Shikamaru's normal flat expression. Unreadable.

"I see," he said after a beat of silence, "so you'll continue to go to the same school."

"Obviously this doesn't mean anything!" Ino laughed, unable to hide the nervousness in her voice, "it's just school. I just felt like you should at least know!"

He said nothing, only stared at her with the same expression. Even though she was used to it, she couldn't help but feel anxious under his gaze.

Before the silence began to lean towards awkwardness, Shikamaru spoke up again.

"Okay."

Ino raised her brows, "…okay?"

He put his hands in his pockets and shrugged, his expression neutral.

"Yeah. Okay. We should get to class."

Without waiting for her to response, he lifted himself off the wall and walked past her into the classroom.

Ino blinked a couple times before she too stood straight and turned around to look at the classroom door, confused.

(^A.H^)

"—So, I was on my last health bar and at that point all my mana had all been sucked out, but I used that combo Megami showed me and totally beat the boss right before he hit me one more time and killed me!"

Hinata giggled as Naruto boasted loudly. She stood with others in front of her locker, grabbing her notebook for the first class as Naruto leaned on a locker to her right.

"That sounds like a lot of fun, Naruto-kun," she smiled gently as she "I'm glad you're enjoying your new game."

He nodded rapidly as she closed her locker door and the two began their short walk to class.

"Yeah, I sure am!" he beamed.

He looked at Hinata for a moment as she absent-mindedly walked down the hall with him.

He cleared his throat in a way that was meant to feel nonchalant, but ultimately came off forced.

Hinata turned to him, humored but confused.

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?"

"Oh yeah!" he laughed, scratching his head, "I was just curious if you've heard from any of those schools you were interested in yet!"

Hinata tilted her head in thought, "Actually, now that you mention it, I did get a response from one school yesterday."

"Really?! Did you get in?!"

She nodded, "I did."

Naruto shifted his hands in his pockets anxiously.

"That's great, Hina! Why didn't you call me?! Is…that the school you wanted to go to?"

She shook her head and gave a small smile.

"No, actually. I'm very happy that I got in, but there are ones more important to me."

Naruto nodded in seeming understanding, but still could not fight his urge to press her more.

"Cool…cool…" he mumbled before looking back to her.

"So, Hina-chan," he continued, "have you given much thought to my question?"

"Naruto-kun," she said, suddenly stopping in place in the middle of the hallway. Naruto stopped just as suddenly, surprised.

"I told you," She said softly but firmly, "I won't be able to give you an answer until I hear from these schools. It means a lot to me that I know what all my options are."

He lowered his head a bit, "Yeah, I know…"

She smiled warmly and raised her hand to his cheek.

"You can understand, can't you Naruto-kun? I promise, I'll give you an answer the second I know."

"I understand, Hina!" he beamed, "I'm patient! And I'm not worried!"

Hinata relaxed and took his hand in hers instead.

"Good," she said as she began to walk them to class again. Naruto's smile remained until she turned around. It was replaced with a look of uncertainty.

(^A.H^)

At the sound of the bell, Megami trudged into first period with Sasuke in tow as the group had all arrived too class from their lockers separately.

She looked at the collection of Alpha and Omega, excluding Sakura, who all seemed to be distracted with their own individual problems and not speaking directly to one another.

She took a deep breath and let it out before putting a big smile on her face as she walked to their group of seats.

"So!" Megami boasted, suddenly slamming her hands on her desk in front of Tenten, startling her.

"Today's our last day working at the studio!" she continued happily, "I say we all go out to eat after to celebrate!"

Hinata shook her head, seated between Naruto who seemed lost in thought and Neji.

"That sounds like a fun idea, but I absolutely have to study tonight."

"I can't," Tenten sighed, "after our shift I have an ultrasound appointment."

"Ultrasound?" Neji chimed in, "you have an ultrasound?"

Sasuke raised his brow.

"Fathered the kid and you don't even know that? Typical."

Neji shot him a quick glare before turning back to Tenten who sat nonchalantly.

"When?"

"Today right after our last class. You don't have to come," she said flatly, "I didn't tell you cause it's no big deal."

"You should go this time!" Naruto leaned in and said, "you'll like, be able to see it for the first time!"

"I mean," he shrugged a bit, looking at Tenten,

"If you want me to come."

Tenten threw her hands up,

"Hey if you wanna come that's cool but seriously you don't have to."

"Okay," Neji shrugged again, "I'll pick you up at the studio then."

The final bell rang just as the last lingering students filed into the classroom.

The last person to sprint into the room despite there being no need to rush was Sakura with her books and backpack in hand.

As everyone settled by their respective spots, she stood by the door catching her breath.

"Sakura!" Hinata called after noticing her. Most of the rest of the group looked over to her. She almost instantly made eye contact with Gaara.

She quickly glanced away to avoid being trapped under his piericing gaze.

"Haha," she laughed nervously, "made it!"

(^A.H^)

Megami kicked her legs back and forth, loosely holding the sill of the first-floor window she sat on. She stared blankly out to courtyard in the heart of the building, covered only by a large maple tree and a couple benches, the sun beaming down on it.

"The vending machine only had peanut butter bars…" Sasuke spoke as he emerged from around the hall corner, a couple snacks and juice in hand.

"…so I grabbed gummy bears instead."

He walked up to Megami seated by the window. The two stood in the empty hallway of an unused side of the school. A common place for them to spend second period without being caught skipping.

Sasuke raised a brow a bit as he offered her the bag. Her expression remained blank and focused at the center of the courtyard.

"Mega…" he nudged her shoulder with the gummy bears.

She blinked a couple of times and finally turned her attention to him.

"Huh? What's up?!"

"Here," he said, nudging her candy and juice box into her hands.

"Thanks," she nodded before grimacing a bit.

"I wanted a chocolate bar!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Obviously you didn't hear a word I said."

She sighed in a slump as she began to crack open her juice box.

"What's going on," Sasuke said curtly as he rested his elbows on the windowsill.

"What do you mean?" Megami frowned.

"Don't act coy," he said sharply, "you're a space case but never on this level. Something's on your mind."

Megami let out a deep breath and slumped her shoulder again.

"I didn't get into any of the schools I applied to!"

"Since when do you care?" he raised a brow as he opened his water, "you never wanted to go to school."

"Yeah, but," she grumbled, "I really wanted to get into at least one of the schools that the other girls are getting into!"

"There's no way you'd get into any of their schools."

Her cheeks burned and she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Well yeah! I know that!"

"What I mean is," he continued, "they all applied to those schools to do something specific. You're not interested in science like Sakura, or cooking like Hinata, or fashion like Ino. So why do you care if you follow them?"

"I could get into those things!" she challenged, "and Tenten and I so would have gone on a sports scholarship if she were going!"

She sighed and leaned her head on the side of the window.

Sasuke turned to look at her.

"Megami. I know this isn't about getting into any school. Just tell me what's up."

She didn't turn to look at him and instead looked down to the ground below and continued to kick her feet.

"Everyone's going away," she mumbled, "it's really settling in that the girls all want to do separate things in really far away places. It's not like we've never talked about this! We've always talked about our dreams after high school, I just…"

Her frown deepened,

"I think we all forgot it would mean we wouldn't be together anymore."

Sasuke said nothing as the spring wind picked up a bit.

"Everyone's so busy figuring their stuff out…we only have the summer left. And me! I don't even know what the hell I wanna do!"

She looked up to Sasuke as she felt him gently take her hand in is. She looked him in the eye and he looked back with a firm expression.

"I'll go wherever you go."

Megami beat red and punched his arm with her free arm.

"Don't be corny!"

"I'm serious," he said, "whatever you decide to do after the summer, I'm with you. I'm not letting you go again."

Megami burned red and giggled a bit, "don't be dumb! I know you got into a bunch of amazing schools! I'd never hold you back from that!"

He let go of her hand, stood up straight, and put his hands in his pockets.

"I haven't applied anywhere."

Megami's face dropped in shock,

"Are you kidding?!"

He simply shrugged a bit.

"Sasuke are you serious?!" she yelled, making attempts to punch his arm which he easily blocked, "what are you doing you stupid fuck?! Why haven't you applied to any schools?!"

"I told you," He said casually, "I'm going wherever you go."

Megami dropped her arms to the side in a huff.

"I don't care about it. I'll go if I want to go. But whatever you decide to do in the fall we can do. I thought about taking a year off, even. We can go anywhere in the world you want for as long as you want."

Megami chuckled and sat straight again, "that does sound kinda cool."

"You should really tell the girls how you've been feeling," Sasuke spoke, staring straight at the center, "you've never had a problem talking about your feelings before."

"Yeah, but," Megami sighed, "everyone's just so busy, I don't wanna be a burden."

"I don't need to tell you this," he spoke seriously, "but they're your friends. You know they would never feel that way."

Megami half smiled as she looked off to the tree again.

"Yeah, you're right."

(^A.H^)

"You know, all the effort you're putting into avoiding Gaara is just gonna make you do poorly on your exams."

Sakura shot up quickly from her worksheets laid on either side of her untouched lunch of spaghetti and meat sauce with a cup of yogurt.

Tenten crossed her arms as Sakura twisted around to meet her and the rest of the girls standing behind her in the bustling lunchroom.

"Don't do that! You scared the life out of me!"

"Well," Tenten continued as she and the rest of the girls sat down around the table with their own lunches, "you were supposed to meet us after third period, but you were a no show, what's up with that?"

"I had to check in with my study group!" she challenged.

Ino scoffed, "study group my ass! You refused a lab partner because it would slow you down" she mocked with air quotes.

Sakura grimaced.

"I'm just amazed you managed to avoid the conversation even with a class with him," Tenten said.

"Sakura," Hinata said, "we know you're trying to get around talking to Gaara. If you don't feel ready you can just tell him. It isn't fair to give him a runaround like this."

Sakura groaned and dropped her pencil on her practice work.

"It's not that. I could totally marry Gaara tomorrow, I mean look at this thing—" she said casually waving the engagement ring on her finger.

"—I just have so much going and it's so sudden! Marrying him would be great, I just don't think I'm prepared for all this wedding and ceremony stuff yet," she moaned again, now clutching the sides of her head, "I feel like my brain is on fire."

"So just tell him you need a few weeks! Or months!" Megami mumbled over her noodles.

"Moron, she's freaked because she has to get married like tomorrow," Tenten reminded.

"Oh. Yeah," Megami mumbled.

"Literally just be straight up with him," Ino said, somewhat boredly looking at her nails, "I told Shika all about Sai going to school with me and he was super chill about it!"

Sakura raised a brow.

"Really? Super chill?"

"Yeah!" Ino assured, "well, at least that's what he said."

"Sakura," Hinata spoke gently, "you'll lose your focus on your finals if you don't address this with Gaara now. Just be up front with him, you know him."

Sakura sighed.

"I know you girls are right. I just need to give him my answer and go on and put my energy somewhere else."

"Perfect timing then," Tenten said as she pointed behind Sakura.

"Looks like the guys are coming in now."

Sakura twisted around to look at the double doors where throngs of students were still making their way in and out of the cafeteria.

Among the students were the boys, led by Sasuke, walking together to get their lunches. Gaara walked to the far left of Sasuke, next to Naruto.

Before he could make eye contact with her, Sakura quickly packed up her things and stuffed them in her backpack.

"I-I just remembered!" she stammered, "I need to meet my other study group for lunch! Ha! Silly me!"

She threw her bag over her shoulder and began jogging to the exit doors.

"Let Gaara know that came up for me! Would you please? Thanks girls!" she called as she rushed out.

The girls stared after her for a moment with unchanged expressions.

"You know," Megami said after a beat, "for someone who's so good at school, she's really bad at handling other stuff under pressure."

"Tell me about it," Ino sighed, "poor thing put her lunch in there too…"

"Well I wish she had stuck around for a bit longer," Tenten sighed, "we still need to decide what song we're doing for our music and vocal final."

"Oh yes that's right!" Hinata spoke, "performances start tomorrow so we need to choose quickly."

"Shouldn't we wait for Sakura so we can decide together?" Megami questioned.

"I doubt she's coming out of hiding any time soon," Ino rolled her eyes, "we can just text her what we decide to go with."

Megami frowned at that.

"Now, if I may," Ino boasted, "I'd like to start off with a few suggestions of my own…!"

(^A.H^)

Locker room doors opened and slammed as the girl's locker room filled with female students, tired and sweaty after one of their last intense gym periods. Gai had made it clear his send off to everyone was to work them as much as their body would let them. Although for the most part, this just meant everyone had to play a sport of their choosing.

Four of the five members of Alpha sat dressed and not entirely in good moods. Despite their best efforts, the girls had failed to agree on a song to perform for their music and vocal final. Since lunch it had been mainly back and forths from Tenten and Ino, some rejected input from Hinata and Megami, and from Sakura, who had managed to get excused from music and gym, had contributed text messages.

The girls were surprised to have been the only ones unable to practice a song during vocal class practice, not as if they would have been able to practice without Sakura in the first place.

Now, post gym class, as the girls got ready to end school for the day but there was a noticeable tension in the air.

Hinata looked up as she gathered her bag together and began to close her locker door. She looked at the other three girls in a frown as they quietly gathered their own things.

She sighed.

"Girls, let's not let this get to us so much," she spoke, "we're very capable of deciding on what to perform, this wouldn't be the first time we've struggled to come to a decision."

"Yeah, but!" Megami spoke as she slammed her locker door, "I don't remember the last time we've disagreed with each other! Least for something like just a song."

Ino scoffed as she pushed her shirt into her skirt, "I still think I had plenty of good suggestions we should go with—!"

"Just because you think they're good…" Tenten trailed off in a mumble.

Ino sent daggers at her.

"Anyway…" Ino huffed right as the bell rang. The girls gathered their bags and, with the other students, began making their way out for the day.

"If Sakura had been around, we might have actually gotten somewhere," Ino griped as the girls made their way out.

"How she can manage to avoid school the whole day just to avoid giving Gaara an answer about getting married is beyond me. Makes me wonder if she even managed to get any actual studying done!"

Hinata giggled as the girls filed out of the building for the day among their sea of peers.

"I'm sure she found a way, just as I'm sure we'll come to a decision with the song. We'll work it out in time. We always find a way to."

"Hey! Girls wait up!"

The girls turned back around to see Naruto jogging to them from the school steps with, as usual, the rest of the boys trailing behind.

"You girls headed to work now?" he asked curiously as he met up with them.

Megami nodded, "our last day! I hope it'll be a fun one!"

"Are you boys heading home?" Hinata asked to which Naruto nodded as the boys caught up.

"Do you want us to come watch you guys work in honor of your last day?" Naruto beamed as he put his arm around her shoulder as they began to walk to their rides.

Hinata giggled, "Naruto-kun, I think you need to study for your exams…"

"Shika-kun!" Ino chimed as she stepped up to him, "you can come watch me if you'd like!"

"Thanks, but, I got a lot of studying I need to do," he said casually, gliding past her without really so much as looking at her.

Ino grimaced as he did this.

Two things stood out to her. The odd side stepping he did and the fact that she had surely never seen him so much as crack open a book to study.

Tenten stepped up to Neji who walked casually towards the limo in a bit of a daze. She raised a brow at him, seemingly lost in his own world.

"Hey!" she called at him as she began walking beside him.

He glanced to his left at her.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"You seem kinda distracted, you doing alright?"

He paused for a moment before he nodded to her.

"Yeah, I'm good. Why wouldn't I be?"

She shrugged at that, "I just want to make sure. You know you really don't have to come with me if you don't want to. It won't bother me."

He looked back down to her. She looked at him calmly and reassuringly.

He smiled down to her and took her hand in his.

"Of course I'm gonna come with you. I told you I would."

Tenten smiled and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Great," she smiled as she released from his hand to head to her shared ride.

"I'll see you after work then?" she called, "don't be late!"

"Wouldn't dare it," he smirked as he put his hands in his pockets.

Behind him, Gaara was the last of the boys to trail behind, headed for the limo for the day. At the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but notice a flash of pink wash by. Although it was quick and swift to fly into the waiting car, he was quick to see it go by.

Gaara uncharacteristically sighed. He loved Sakura very much. But she certainly didn't make things easy.

(^A.H^)

The sun had begun to set on the Omega mansion some few hours after school had ended and a couple hours past the end of the girl's last work shift. The majority of the boys sat in their largest den, something they rarely did together. On this occasion, they sifted through their college mail that had been brought in by maids.

They each had their share of offer letters to comb through from ivy league to gifted talent schools. Shikamaru, on the other hand, sat on the floor in what felt like a sea of acceptance and offer letters that he mindlessly looked at and tossed around while maids popped in and out of the den with snacks and drinks.

He sighed an annoyed sigh as he boredly pushed the mountain of papers to the side.

Naruto raised a brow at him as he too, though with little interest, stared at his few letters.

"What's going on, Shikamaru?" he chimed up as Shikamaru now lay completely flat on the ground, making something of an angel in his pile of letters.

Gaara looked up from his book and Sasuke half-heartedly looked up from his own stack of letters.

The three looked down at him as he lay in silence for a few beats before speaking up.

"I think I should end things with Ino."

"Yo, what?!" Naruto yelled, dropping his papers on the ground, "talk about out of nowhere! Where the hell is that coming from?!"

Shikamaru grimaced at his yell and used one finger to clear his ear.

Sasuke looked back down to his papers as if what Shikamaru said was just a brush off his shoulder.

"So, what happened now."

Naruto turned to him with a confused look.

"Huh?!"

"Dunce," Sasuke bit, "there's always a reason. Something happened."

"Might I assume this is related to her going to a different school," Gaara said calmly as he too returned his attention to his book.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess so. I mean, all these schools I could go too, none of them are close to her school anyway. So, I got to thinking, what's the point in trying to stay together?"

As he spoke, he stared at the ceiling above him.

"We'll just try to make it work long distance, then eventually we'll just stop talking. Logically, breaking up is the only thing that makes sense."

Naruto stared dumbfounded as now both Gaara and Sasuke couldn't help but stare at him from above their reading.

"What else is going on," Sasuke said curtly before even half a beat of silence passed by.

"Clearly that's not all it."

Naruto looked back and forth between Shikamaru and Sasuke, neither of which moved an inch.

"Huh what? I don't understand. Something happen between you and Ino today?" Naruto buzzed between both boys curiously.

"You seemed kind of off since the beginning of the day too, is that why?" he pressed.

Shikamaru tsked in annoyance as he sat up and rested his elbows on his knees.

"That school she's going too, Sai's going there too."

"Yeah? And so, what?"

"Like you of all people should be saying that…" Shikamaru grumbled before waving them off and turning to the side.

"After everything that's happened, how am I supposed to feel good about being miles away from her, and her being just a few feet away from the one guy who's created problems between us."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. Just sounds too troublesome to deal with."

"You don't trust Ino?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shrugged again.

"I should. But I trusted her in the past, and I was burned then."

"So then break up with her," Sasuke said as he calmly turned back to his reading.

Naruto nearly gave himself whiplash turning to look at Sasuke while Shikamaru side eyed him.

"End everything if you think it's going to be too much work. No sense in putting effort into something you know won't work."

"Sasuke! You can't be serious!" Naruto yelled, beside himself.

"He isn't wrong," Gaara spoke up, "if you're so sure things Ino will make the same mistake again that you've already decided the best course of action is to end the relationship then just do it."

"Am I missing something here?!" Naruto, flabbergasted, whipped around them.

Shikamaru leaned back on his hands in a grunt.

"Clearly they think I'm being dumb."

"Well, you're damn right you are!" Naruto yelled.

"Don't just jump straight to breaking up with her! Whatever issue you got with Ino you'd better just talk to her about!"

Shikamaru grimaced and covered his right ear.

"I'm scared like hell Hinata isn't gonna want to come to Paris with me," he grumbled, suddenly settling into a bit of a slump.

"But I'm not gonna break up with her because of it!" he suddenly boasted again, "whatever she wants to do, we'll find a way to make it work!"

He pointed to Sasuke, who raised a brow at him.

"Sasuke's literally going to go to whatever school Megami's going to!" he yelled as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't talk about my shit."

"Gaara literally spent all day chasing Sakura so he can marry her!" he yelled, pointing to Gaara who didn't seem to be paying attention.

"And Neji's all buckled down, helping Tenten at the hospital and getting ready to be a dad!" he yelled, throwing his hands up in the air.

"One day these girls showed up and finally made us all feel something important! We can't turn back on it now!"

"Will you relax, I didn't say anything for sure, it was just a thought," Shikamaru sighed.

Naruto beamed as he stood and put his fists on his hips in a hero's stance.

"You know I'm right though!" he chimed, "the girls are basically family! We've done too much to blow things now!"

There was a collective silence when the boys and the two maids who had come in to serve coffee stopped in place in reaction to the crash of glass from above them.

They looked to the ceiling as after that initial crash, two more crashes of what sounded now like furniture sounded from the next floor up.

"Watani," Sasuke said.

"Yes sir," one of the maids chimed up.

"Who's upstairs?"

"There shouldn't be anyone in the upstairs bedrooms sir, we've done them for today."

The boys looked down from the ceiling and gave each other stares. In one sequence, they stood up and began making their way to the stairs.

The four boys casually walked up the stairs and to the left of the mansion, following the sound of the initial crashes and the second sound of glass breaking.

They followed the noise to a bedroom they were all familiar with.

Sasuke, standing in front, opened the door.

The four of them looked inside to the somewhat disarray of Neji's bedroom. His bedside table was knocked to its side with a broken leg, its contents spewed on the floor. Opposite that side of his bed, his broken desk lamp also sat on the floor, along with several books from his medium sized shelf.

The boys stared in front of them, where Neji sat slouched against his bedframe on the floor in front of his bed. Beside him and a few feet away from him sat two separate mostly empty broken liquor bottles.

His breathing ragged, he slowly looked up to them in a haze, his hair strung out over his flushed red face and unbuttoned collar shirt, with another small bottle dropped over his left hand and his phone barely clutched in his right.

The boys all looked down at his state.

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke sighed heavily and spoke.

"You're so pathetic."

(^A.H^)

The front door of the Alpha household slammed open, causing Ino to jump up from painting her nails in her room, Hinata to bounce up from her studying in the living room, and Megami's chips to go flying as she stood in the kitchen.

Tenten stormed into the house with a fury so great it seemed as if she left small pits of fire behind her with every step that she took. Huffing like a dragon filled with hot air, she stomped up the stairs, just past Ino as she stood outside her door, as Sakura quietly and gently came inside behind her and locked the door as the girls filed into or down to the entrance room.

"Tenten! Hey Ten! What's wro—!"

Megami's calling cut short at the sound of Tenten's bedroom door slamming shut harder than the front door.

"What the hell happened to her?!" Megami yelled, twisted around to Sakura who, still in her work clothes, set her bag down.

Sakura sighed as the girls gathered in the entrance space by the steps.

"Well, you know how I stayed behind to wait with her until Neji picked her up?"

The girls nodded.

"He totally bailed. She called and texted him a bunch of times with nothing until I finally had to take her to her appointment, so she didn't miss it."

"That son of a bitch!" Megami yelled, enraged as Hinata and Ino gasped.

"What!" Ino yelled, "how dare he! That motherfu—"

"Wait until I get my hands on him!" Megami yelled as she began pacing from side to side of the entrance room.

"How could Neji-san do such a thing," Hinata frowned, "I'm sure there must be a reasonable explanation as to why he didn't come."

"Well even if there is, Tenten is livid," Sakura scratched her head, "I don't know how he's gonna fix his one."

"I can't believe that guy," Megami shook her head, her fists clenched.

"Can't we try to comfort her?" Ino pouted, which Sakura shook her head back to.

"I wouldn't. This is definitely a 'Tenten wants to be alone' kind of situation. Besides, I have an exam first thing in the morning and I'm losing light."

Hinata nodded in agreement.

"She's right. Perhaps it's best we just let Tenten have some privacy tonight. I know we've all got work to do."

"How about we make dinner together!" Megami suggested, "that's gotta make Ten feel a little bit better."

Sakura shook her head again, "I doubt it. Besides, I've got another night of work ahead of me."

She somewhat absent-mindedly moved past the girls and up the stairs herself.

"I should get back to work too," Hinata said as she stepped back over to the living room.

Megami turned to Ino and motioned to her.

"Don't look at me!" Ino put her hands up as she turned to go back up the steps, "I gotta finish the nails all this door slamming screwed up!"

Megami's shoulders slumped in a frown as she looked up and around to each direction the girls had gone.

(^A.H^)

Wednesday was an important day for most of the seniors of Konoha High. It was the last day to study before the next two days of finals, which would be half days. For the students who cared about it and need the time, this is a necessary last days prep. For the students who didn't care or need it, this was a casual day.

Sakura drove her car mindlessly towards the school in the early morning. Despite carpooling with her, Tenten sat in the passenger seat and said nothing, sitting with her headphones on and her eyes closed as both sat quietly with their thoughts. The other girls followed in front and behind them on their usual route to school.

Sakura yawned and rubbed her right eye. She had stayed up all night studying, which wouldn't be an abnormal thing if it wasn't to just distract herself.

All night her brain wracked with giving Gaara an answer and what the idea of being married and becoming a queen would mean for her, while also trying to remember formulas.

The ring on her finger meant she already agreed and that she already knew she loved Gaara enough to go through with it, so then why was she so hesitant to do it right now when it was in front of her.

She took a deep sigh. She knows that he's on a time crunch, and her not agreeing could jeopardize him and his kingdom.

She clutched the wheel. She knew she had to give him an answer today. Even if she wasn't sure she was quite ready for the fanfare.

She jumped suddenly, alert at the sound of her own ringtone going off. Subconsciously, she picked it up and answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sakura! It's been a minute!" Temari's familiar voice came from the other side of the line.

"Hey Temari, how've you been?" Sakura sighed a bit with a sleepy half smile. Despite her exhaustion, Temari was a welcome friendly voice to hear.

"I'm all good," Temari calmly said back, "it's been a really busy week."

"Yeah, I can imagine. I'm so sorry about everything that's happened. I hope you're doing okay."

"Hey don't sweat it. I'm good!"

Sakura gave a small sad smile at that. She knew the trio shared similar feelings about their father.

"Hey so sorry to call you so early but I thought I'd better get your opinion on this rather than Gaara's."

"My opinion on what?" Sakura yawned as they neared the school building.

"The florist is having trouble securing the pink camellias on short notice, they're wondering if you'd want red carnations instead."

Sakura woke up a bit at this question.

"Florist?"

"Yeah, frankly I think the carnations would look better, camellias are so overdone."

"What do you mean florist? Florist for what?"

"For what? For your wedding of course!"

Sakura blinked a few times and held the phone away from her ear momentarily.

"But I—"

"—I know Gaara said he would handle everything and not to bother you with the specifics but it's your wedding, you should have say in SOME of it."

"Temari! What wedding?"

The other line was silent for a moment.

"Umm…the wedding you're having this Friday?" Temari said, after a couple beats, in an 'obviously' kind of tone.

"But I haven't said yes to a wedding…" Sakura mumbled.

"Do you seriously not know anything?" Temari, now surprised, said, "Gaara said he had covered this all with you already!"

"He did, yes, we talked about it but…" Sakura stammered a bit, "but I thought I had a little more time to…" she trailed off in a daze.

"I mean I'm sure he knew you'd say yes and he does only have a couple days before the elders pressure him into ascension but there's no way he would go behind your back if you didn't give him a final ans—"

"Tem, I'm really sorry, but I gotta go do something. I'll talk to you soon?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah you gotta get to school. We'll talk later!"

Sakura half smiled as she hung up the phone and stopped her car in the school lot. Beside them, Ino and Hinata stepped out of Ino's car and opposite them, Megami parked her bike.

She clutched her phone in her hand a bit as Tenten casually took off her headphones and looked at Sakura who looked straight ahead.

"Sakura, you okay?" Tenten asked.

Sakura said nothing for a moment before turning to Tenten and smiling.

"Yeah, hey, there's something I have to go do. I'll see you guys later, okay?"

Tenten raised a brow.

"Huh? You? You're skipping school?"

Sakura shrugged, "I don't have any exams today. There's nothing I'll miss. There's just somewhere I need to go."

Tenten blinked at her for a moment. The girls had been around each other long enough to know which emotions meant what.

She simply nodded at her before grabbing her bag and stepping out of the car.

Sakura smiled as Tenten shut her door. In a moment she reversed her car and pulled out of the parking lot.

Tenten stood calmly as the rest of the girls met up with her.

"Hey where the heck is Sakura going?!" Megami yelled as she and the girls watched her turn out of the school driveway and disappear down the street.

Tenten shrugged, "she said she had somewhere to be."

"Somewhere to be?" Megami wined as the girls trekked on their familiar walk, "where the hell is that so suddenly?!"

Tenten shrugged to indicate she had no clue herself.

"I do hope she's okay," Hinata frowned a bit.

Ahead of the girls, the members of Omega stood waiting for the girls. Unusually early to school this morning.

"Girls! Hellooo!" Naruto called as the five stood in place by doors where other students filed into.

Neji looked up from uncharacteristically shifting his hands in and out of his pockets. He took a step forward as the girls approached.

"Ten, hey I—"

Without even so much as a glance, Tenten brushed past the boys, more specifically Neji, and entered through the school doors in less than a breath.

"Ten—!"

Before Neji could even fully turn around to look or follow her, he winced at his hair getting pulled back hard, forcing him to stumble off his feet and onto the floor, only for Megami's foot to slam down onto his face.

"Yo, Hyuga," she said calmly standing over him with dark eyes as she mashed her foot into his face while the other girls looked down at him.

"You got some explaining to do, don't ya think?"

Behind them, Gaara paid little attention to them as his focus became fully attached to the text message that just came through to him that did not change his expression but made him clutch his phone.

Sakura:

7:40 am

Need some space to think. Can't give an answer today.

I'm sorry

(^A.H^)

About an hour after she had left, Sakura pulled into a very familiar driveway and parked her car next to the Jeep that sat outside. She turned her car off and took a deep sigh. So many scattered thoughts were running through her brain. For the first time in her life, her studies were the easiest thing she was dealing with at the moment.

She looked to the front door as she stepped out of her car and locked it.

She buzzed the door, and in a moment, Yoko opened the door in her usual cleaning attire.

"Sakura! What a surprise!" she beamed at the sight of her, "come in, come in!"

"Hi mom," Sakura smiled warmly as she stepped into the house.

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear, your father won't be home until the evening."

Sakura shook her head rapidly.

"Actually, Yoko…mom, I was wondering if I could…talk to you…about something important."

Yoko's brows went up in surprise. She blinked a couple times. She and Sakura had certainly made new strides in their relationship, but things like this still came as a surprise.

Still, she gave a warm smile and gestured for Sakura to sit on the couch.

"Of course you can, sweetheart. How can I help?"

(^A.H^)

"Tenten…Ten…Tenten…!"

The empty hallway seemed to fill with the sound of Neji's plights as the two of them bustled down the hallway in between second and third period. They took the same short cut together every day that always made them 'fashionably' late for class. But today, instead of stalling in between classes to make out, Neji nearly chased Tenten, who had made the mistake of using the shortcut, down the unused hallway.

This had been lucky for Neji, who, had been helplessly trying to get Tenten to acknowledge him all morning and failing at every turn.

"Ten, please, for the love of christ please talk to me," Neji, exasperated, pleaded behind her as she silently walked calmly towards the end of the hall to turn right and cut through double doors.

"I know I fucked up. Bad. I'm sorry! Please, just let me exp—"

Tenten suddenly stopped in her tracks. Neji, just a few feet behind her, stopped just as quickly, caught off guard.

She twisted around to him, forcing him to step back in surprise as she looked at him with what looked to be a calm anger.

"You know something," she said, calmly looking him straight in the eye.

"You've explained a lot of shit. I've forgiven a lot of shit," she said as she took steps forward and he backed up along with it.

"Not wanting to commit," she shrugged, "the whole Kaede mess," she waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Fucking my best friend," she said as she halted in her steps and so did he.

He tensed up and broke eye contact with her. Looking off to the side in shame.

"But this one occasion, when I really needed you…"

He looked back at her after hearing the strain in her voice.

She still looked serious but was now clutching her fists. She took a deep breath.

"You didn't show up. You told me you would show up and you didn't. And that…"

They looked each other straight in the eye again.

"That somehow sucks more than all the rest of them."

"Ten—"

Before he could get even a word out, she had twisted back around, rounded the corner of the hallway and left through the doors back to the main hallway. Leaving Neji with his tail between his legs and his hands running through his hair.

(^A.H^)

Ino hummed a small tune to herself as she carried along with the final project of her art class: a self-portrait. Each member of her class had until the last day of finals to use whatever method of art they chose to craft what they deemed to be a portrait of themselves.

While many of her other classmates chatted and worked on their projects together, reminiscing on the school year, Ino sat in the back corner of the room, hard at work with her assignment with just minutes left in the class period.

"Paint? That's not your usual method of choice."

Ino broke out of her focused trance in front of the canvas and looked up to meet Sai who had shared in her same projects this past year.

She smiled as she almost instantly twisted back to the mess of watercolor paint on her working table.

"Don't I know! But I wanted to challenge myself in the end y'know," she said cheekily, "Sakura may have her geometry or whatever but a challenge to me is doing something creative you aren't used to."

"That's a little profound for you."

She stuck her tongue out as he gave a small smile and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"What about you? Finished yours ages ago like always I'm guessing?" she found herself teasing a bit.

"You know me," he gave a small shrug, "my brush moves fast."

She chucked a bit. Never was there a place where they both resonated with each other more than any art class they had together.

"Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to be so close to you," he said with his hands up in playful defense.

Ino rolled her eyes in return, "oh stop you aren't banned from being near me. It's just…been a weird year."

He said nothing for a moment but smiled at her.

"So," he said as he sat on a stool in front of her workstation, "you seem in high spirits. Have you looked at courses yet?"

"Are you kidding?" Ino gushed, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! I'm over the moon! I'm practically packed already!"

Her face fell for a moment as she remembered what her going to school meant.

"Obviously I'm not stoked about leaving the girls, they've all got so much going on too."

"When don't you all."

"And who knows how far Shika-kun is planning on going away…" she frowned.

Her mind swiftly went back to her confusion and not at all perfect interaction with Shikamaru the day before when she told him who else would be attending her dream school.

"Sorry Sai, maybe it's not such a good idea for us to hang around…"

He sighed a bit and leaned on her table.

"Ino we've been friends for years. That's not going to go away after a few mistakes. We're going to the same school, am I just supposed to never talk to you again?"

"No of course not," she sighed as she finally set down her brushes, "things are just. Weird."

The sound of the class bell burst through the classroom and within seconds the class was gathering their things and filing out of the room.

"I don't want to be a bother, I just want to be friends," he said calmly.

"I'll disappear if you want me to," Sai shrugged to which Ino shot her head up to him.

"I will. If it's what you want, I can completely remove myself from your life. But that's only if you want me to."

When most of the classroom had filed out, on the side of the empty doorway stood Shikamaru, waiting to walk with her.

His expression remained as it was the moment he stood by waiting for her. Despite seeing her seated down and Sai casually beside her, he remained unfazed.

"You know that's not what I want," she said, annoyed, "but it's just…it's all so…complicated. I can't talk about this right now," she turned to leave.

"Ino," he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"At the very least, let me give you some—"

Before Ino could continue to say a word in response to Sai she noticed Shikamaru at the corner of her eye. She whipped around to look at him just as Sai did as well.

In a swift motion he stood up and gathered his own bag.

"I'll talk to you later," he called before calmly and casually exiting the classroom without acknowledging Shikamaru as he passed.

The two of them stood and silently stared at each other, Ino subconsciously waiting for the annoyed response that came whenever she interacted with Sai these days.

But instead of that, Shikamaru leaned up straight and cleared his throat to speak.

"You'd better hurry, you'll be late for your next class."

A bit surprised, Ino took a moment before she simply nodded in response and began to put her things together.

She couldn't ignore the fact that she noticed the same feeling come from him that she had noticed the day before when they spoke.

Indifference.

(^A.H^)

Megami's brows furrowed hard as the deep frown she had contorted her face into mixture of frustration, confusion, and unhappiness.

The lunch table carried something of a blizzard like tone in it this Wednesday. While all the other students enjoyed and relished their final lunch day as Konoha high students, the members of Alpha and Omega all seemed to be caught up in their own worlds.

With no Sakura in sight, Gaara gave little attention to the table and instead focused on his phone to deal with the litany of things he needed to handle as the next potential ruler, one of which to was to figure out what was going on with his coming and going fiancée.

Neji and Tenten sat on opposite sides and ends of the table, casually eating their lunches but very obviously trying to ignore the thick rope of tension between them.

Ino and Shikamaru, despite appearing unbothered and sitting next to each other, could also not deny the awkward air among them.

Sasuke ignored the table all together about as much as Gaara did while Naruto and Hinata tried their best to casually eat and make small talk at each other even though it felt as though the temperature at their table was exclusively zero degrees.

Finally, Megami, fed up, groaned in disgust, and stood up straight, slamming her hands on the table, causing nearly everyone to jump.

"Alright god damn it! Listen up!" she barked, "this is what's gonna happen! We're all gonna go to a nice, fancy dinner tomorrow night to celebrate our last day! We're gonna eat and laugh and have a fun nice ass grand old super fucking time! Is that clear with everybody?!"

Everyone, caught off guard, said nothing for a beat.

"I think that's a nice idea," Hinata chimed in, "everyone's been working so hard studying. Plus, we have a half day, and it has been a while since we've all gone out together. I think we could all make time. Don't you all agree?"

After Hinata spoke the rest of the group each gave individual grunted responses in agreement.

"Good! So, it's settled!" Megami yelled before sitting down in a huff with her arms crossed. Sasuke raised his hand to pat her head without looking up from his phone.

"Someone text Sakura and tell her what the fuck is up!"

(^A.H^)

[Sasuke] Yeah, I'm waiting for you
Cause you're my better half

[Shikamaru] Our love should go on
I still love you
Hey, ma! Ain't no doubt
I'll tell you something

[Sasuke] As if I was shocked by love
This trembling feeling makes everything vague
I set my focus on you
Your unreachable heart makes my heart tear

[Shikamaru] Key's gonna open
If I just have you, it's heaven
I've said it many times, I'm different
From those easy guy that you know
Look straight at my sunaebo that's only for you

[Gaara] I stupidly touch your Facebook, you're smiling

([Sasuke] Let this love begin, this tangled up emotion
Formed and is stuck deep in my heart)

[Neji] I'm just dragging to the next page, I'm crying

([Shikamaru] Let you come near, if I take you out, I'm a missing child
Even if I stand a the edge of a cliff, it's still only you)

[All] Love just has to go on
As I go closer, you get even further away

[Neji] As I go closer, leaning on the sunlight
You become more hidden

[Sasuke} Boys back
It doesn't matter

I'm getting tired of waiting, even if I go crazy, I bear it
With the faith that I'll have you, I endure it again

[Shika] Should I end it about now? Ha, no way
I'm like a stone that stays by your side forever

[Sasuke] Although I try to forget you, a life without you is

[Shika] Beethoven without music, a completely jammed autobahn

[Sasuke] Although I try to erase you, a life without you is

[Shika] Picasso that quits painting, a magic with the trick figured out

[Naruto] I stupidly touch your Facebook, you're smiling

(Sasuke] Let this love begin, this tangled up emotion
Formed and is stuck deep in my heart)

[Gaara] I'm just dragging to the next pace, I'm crying

([Shika] Let you come near, if I take you out, I'm a missing child
Even if I stand a the edge of a cliff, it's still only you)

[All] Love just has to go on
As I go closer, you get even further away

[Naruto] As I go closer, leaning on the sunlight
You become more hidden

[Shika] All about you, love you
I wanna be with you, only you
As always, my heart is the same
I still left my shoulder open for you

[Sasuke] My left chest that you're clenching
Is yours alone, is still beating for you
Even if I throw and throw away
Everything of mine, I only need you
I wish for everything from you
And if you want something, I'll give it all to you

[All] Love just has to go on
As I go closer, you get even further away

[Neji] As I go closer, leaning on the sunlight
You become more hidden

[All] Love just has to go on
As I go closer, you get even further away

[Onew] As I go closer, leaning on the sunlight
You become more hidden

As they always did without fail, the students of Kurenai's class cheered for the gift of another free performance by the members of Omega. Their final one at that. The boys finished their final performance with a song that brought a tear to Kurenai's eye.

"Thank you, boys," she sighed happily, wiping her glistening eyes with her hand as the boys had honored her by performing one of the songs she helped them right when they were taking their first steps into music: Love Still Goes On

"What a wonderful gift. I'm very honored."

"You're welcome, Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto beamed as the boys gave their individual acknowledgements to the person who started it all.

"I didn't think they had it in them to be all sentimental like that!" Megami whispered to Hinata who giggled a bit as Kurenai stepped up to each individual member and gave them a hug and a kiss despite their objections.

"What the hell are we gonna do we can't top that!" Megami whisper-yelled as she twisted around to Ino and Tenten who sat behind them.

"We don't even have a song prepared! And Sakura's not here! What do we do?!"

Tenten shrugged, "we can just sing something on the fly. It can be anything, it doesn't matter."

"It so does!" Megami frowned.

"Alright then! Let's move along! Time is short and we need to get done today!" Kurenai's voice came as she clapped her hands and the boys sat down.

"Who's up next," she continued as she turned to her list.

"Ah! Girls!" she smiled as she turned to the four attending Alpha members, "you're up."

"Sorry Kurenai-sensei, but, Sakura's not here!" Megami stammered a bit.

"Well then, she'll have to turn hers in as an individual video before the end of finals. Let's have the rest of you girls come up."

Hinata looked to the side shamefully as Ino and Tenten looked off nonchalantly and Megami twiddled her hands sheepishly.

"Actually Kurenai-sensei, we don't have a song ready…"

Kurenai's brows raised in reserved surprise.

"Don't have a song ready? I'm surprised, that's not like you girls at all. Usually, you're among the first to come prepared and ready to perform. This is our last class together after all."

The girls fidgeted in place for a moment and said nothing as the class waited.

Kurenai let out a sigh and frowned.

"I'm quite disappointed in you girls."

(^A.H^)

Sakura rolled into the driveway and parked her car later that evening, feeling as if she had just left, considering she had spent her day somewhere else and hadn't made it to school. If there was ever a time for her to skip school (for something unrelated to whatever disaster that was happening at the moment) she supposed today was as good as any.

She walked into the dark Alpha house that would be their home for just one more summer. She was surprised but not overly concerned to come in and see just one light that appeared to be on in the house, the living room light.

She walked in with the desire to just climb upstairs and get herself ready for finals the next day with no more negative thoughts to bug her mind, that is until she caught the eye of Hinata who sat alone in the living room.

"Welcome home, Sakura," she called over, seated in the love seat with her feet up, study work in front of her and an acceptance letter in hand.

Sakura sighed as she shuffled into the living room and sat her bag down.

"Hi Hinata."

"Did everything go okay today?" she inquired but knowingly did not pry into where exactly Sakura disappeared to.

"About as well as things can go," Sakura half smiled, "where is everyone?"

"You know the girls," Hinata smiled, "studying, or avoiding studying, or simply avoiding I suppose."

"Seems to be the theme…" Sakura mumbled as she walked over and flopped on the couch.

"Another letter?"

Hinata nodded, "I got into the other school I wanted to attend. I'm glad for it, but I'm still waiting to hear from my number one school."

"That's great Hina, congrats," Sakura said, unable to hide the exhaustion in her voice.

Hinata smiled softly.

"You know, Megami's adamant about us all dressing nicely and going out for a dinner tomorrow, in case she didn't tell you."

"Yeah, I got her one million text messages."

Hinata smiled, "it'll be nice, I'm sure. I think everyone's been on edge for one reason or another. It has been a while since we've gone out together. This will be fun, and Sakura—"

Sakura turned her attention to Hinata who looked at her calmly but with serious eyes.

"It's no better than time than then to talk to Gaara."

Sakura turned back around and sat up slightly, sighing as she took out her phone.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

She opened her phone messages and tapped her most recent incoming messages. She clutched her phone in her hand as she stared at the message that she had been staring at almost all day.

Gaara:

8:46 am

I need to know by tomorrow night.

(^A.H^)

"I don't wanna get dolled the fuck up and go the fuck out."

Tenten griped and grimaced when Ino pulled too tightly when brushing back her hair.

"Oh whatever, it gives me as excuse to get the knots out of your hair every so often," Ino said in a shrug as she ran the brush back through Tenten's knots to which she winced at again.

After what was only a half a day of tension (subdued by a day full of exams) the gang readied themselves later that evening for a night of stress-free fun.

"Lighten up, Ten!" Megami hollered as she struggled to get into her black tights, stumbling over a few times as the three were most of the way ready, finishing up in Tenten's room.

"Even I'm getting into it! Think of it this way, you'll get to eat and be around friends! Isn't eating, like, your favorite thing right now?"

Tenten crossed her arms and shut her eyes in annoyance.

"I do wanna eat, yeah."

"See!" Megami smiled cheekily as she pulled her blue dress down over her tights.

"Just don't expect me to be tolerable! I'm going to eat, not to play nice."

"Would we expect anything less?" Ino sighed.

Fully dressed, Megami stepped out of Tenten's room and skipped the few feet down the hall to Hinata's room, where she had just finished applying her makeup, an easy slip-on dress sitting beside her.

"How's it coming, Hinata?!" Megami called as she popped her head into the door.

Hinata giggled at Megami's unrivaled sense of urgency whenever it had to do with something she was passionate about. It was not that long ago, Hinata thought, that it was her or Ino who had to convince her to dress up. Now the tables had turned.

Megami beamed a bright smile and nodded at her.

"Awesome! Thanks, Hina!" she called again as she passed Hinata's room to walk just a couple more feet to the closed door right next to it.

Megami frowned a bit as she stood in front of the door. She took a deep breath before she gave three hard knocks on it.

"Come on, Sakura! The guys will be here any minute!"

Megami's muffled calls crossed through Sakura's bedroom door and through the open door of her steamy bathroom.

Almost fully submerged in her tub, Sakura held her legs against her chest and blew soap suds away from her face. Her cheeks were flushed from having sat in the bath for some time.

"I'll be out soon!" she hollered back.

Megami sighed behind the door before taking another deep breath and walking away from the door.

Once she heard Megami's steps disappear, Sakura sunk back into the depths of the tub. She stretched her body out so that only her head and her feet were outside of the water. She stared up to the ceiling for a moment before raising her left arm up out of the water and holding it up in front of her.

She eyed her ring finger, where an indent had already been made with the engagement ring Gaara had given her merely weeks ago.

She clenched her hand and sighed before dropping it back into the water, sinking her head and face deeper in as if she was hoping to be swallowed up by the water.

Gaara's texts rang through her ears as just about her whole body was now consumed by the water.

I need an answer.

Bubbles escaped from the tub as she attempted to drown out her thoughts.

She knew he needed an answer. She knew she would have to give him one, and then everything that happened after that would reflect the choice she made. Whether she was prepared for the consequences of that choice was another thought entirely.

What was just minutes felt like hours passing by as her thoughts ran, clouded by the steam-covered bathroom.

She finally broke out of her underwater trance and nearly shot right out of the bath at the sound of Megami's voice calling again just minutes after she had yelled before.

"Let's go! The guys are here!"

(^A.H^)

Among Tokyo's luxury restaurant district sat the new talk of the town, Lucky Yoo, a premiere Korean restaurant that had been making waves since its opening just a couple weeks prior.

The popular new restaurant, adorned in an elegant theme of black and gold, bustled with waitstaff and patrons who were either well off enough to secure themselves a spot in the restaurant's already long wait list, or had used their name to claim a spot for a last-minute dinner. Sasuke, under Megami's instructions to find a nice location, had done the latter.

"This place is so nice and fancy!" Megami's starry eyes shined as the ten of them looked at their shimmery black and gold menus that outlined the four course meals that highlighted the restaurant.

The ten of them sat at a long, decorated table in a private room, surrounded by a large wall to wall window that poured the moonlight onto them and their dining table.

Everyone was seated next to their significant other, apart from Tenten and Neji who sat across from one another. They sat split evenly on both sides of the table, with Tenten, Hinata, Naruto, Sakura and Gaara on one side, and then Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Sasuke, and Megami on the other.

"It is very beautiful in here," Hinata acknowledged, "I've heard very good things about the kitchen."

"Nice choice, Uchiha!" Naruto beamed as he too looked around the room.

"Truly," Ino mused as two servers came around with the drinks they had already ordered, as well as to set down plates for their first appetizer course.

"I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate our last day of school tomorrow!"

"It really is the last day," Hinata mused, "it's a bit overwhelming to think about."

Tenten blew out a breath of exhaustion, "I can't believe we actually made it to the end. Feels like it took thirteen fucking years to get to graduation."

"But we did it!" Megami chanted.

"Almost," Hinata pointed out, "we still need to find a way to submit in our final performance to Kurenai-sensei."

"Should count ourselves lucky that she even allowed us to send it in after the fact."

"Are you guys gonna go back to her class to perform!?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Kurenai-sensei is allowing us to send it in via a recording," Hinata answered.

"Unlike you all to come unprepared with a song or dance routine," Sasuke casually pointed out as he took a drink of his beer.

"Well, it's been a busy week!" Tenten snarled.

"We've all had a lot of busy weeks," he said mostly through his drink.

"All the excitement we've had this year has finally caught up! Can't blame a girl for being exhausted and not being able to keep up!"" Ino blew out dramatically.

The majority of the group continued to gripe as the servers set down the remaining plates and then made their way back to the kitchen.

Gaara calmly looked over to Sakura who hadn't spoken nearly a word since they had picked the girls up earlier in the evening. Now, seated beside her with everyone mostly distracted, he opened his mouth to speak to her.

But, before he could even begin to say anything, she gripped her cocktail and stood up suddenly, catching not only him off guard but nearly everyone at the table.

"Ino's right everyone, it's been a long year and a long road, but I'm so glad we're here together, and that we can drink and have one last dinner before we're officially high school graduates."

She raised her glass and a big smile appeared on her face.

"Let's cheers to the future and new beginnings!"

The lot, some begrudgingly, sat up with their individual drinks and rose them along with her.

"Cheers!" the group rang

The group watched as before they all finished setting their drinks down, Sakura had chugged hers down and sat it on the table.

"Now, let's celebrate!" she cheered to most of their utter surprise.

"Hell yeah!" both Naruto and Megami obliviously yelled as they two chugged their beers along with Sakura.

"Sakura's right! Let's all have a great time!" Megami beamed, red in the face.

"Oh dear," Hinata smiled nervously as Sasuke annoyingly rubbed his temples as they both began to hype each other and the rest of the group up.

"This can't possibly end well."

(^…A.H…^)

Sometime past the last call for dinner and with an hour left until the bar closed, one group sat remaining in the most private section of the restaurant.

A full course dinner, dessert, and several rounds of drinks later, the group was no longer in their individual seats, but spread out around the table, all talking together, most of them in drunk stupors.

Together with their arms around each other's shoulders, Megami, Sakura, and Ino, (with Tenten sober but laughing under Megami's arm) loudly sang one of the boy's songs together while half a drink swished still in Ino's hand.

"—And I will love you forever baby girl! Forever you'll be mine! I know we're meant to be, baby girl! Can't you see—!"

The girls boasted and slurred together as Hinata, who'd had a drink herself, giggled while Naruto equally as loudly, cheered and clapped his hands we the rest of the boys in varying levels of drunkenness, watched the show.

The girls belted the last notes of the songs with all their might, before they bowed together and released one another.

Instead of taking her arm off, Megami slumped down and wrapped her arms around Tenten's chest so that her head sat on top of Tenten's cleavage.

"Mega, get off me," she snarled.

"Oh Ten," Megami slurred as she rubbed her face into her breasts, "I'm gonna miss seeing your boobs in the morning after you shower! I won't be the same without them!"

"Sasuke, can you please remove this drunk thing," Tenten sighed.

"I can't handle not living together anymore! What am I gonna do without them!" she cried as she then buried her face deeper into Tenten's breasts.

"Ten I don know if you ever noticed but I always secretly wanted to f—"

"Alright, you're cut off," Sasuke said calmly as he swiftly lifted her off Tenten.

"No! Wait! My pillows!" Megami cried, wriggling in his arms as he dragged her away.

"You shouldn't have had anything to begin with," he said as he plotted her down on the seat.

"Who cares!" she boasted, "we're celebrating!"

Ino and Sakura laughed as they uncharacteristically kept their arms locked around each other.

"Let's do another round!" Sakura chanted.

"Actually, we should probably go ahead and settle the bill and be on our way," Shikamaru sighed, flushed in the face, "we do still have one more round of exams to go tomorrow."

"I'm with Shikamaru," Neji, who—like Gaara and Hinata— had hardly drank much with the group, spoke.

"Aw, come on guys!" Sakura boasted, "the night's still young!"

"Forehead is right!" Ino giggled, "for once anyway!"

"Sakura," Gaara reached out, "you have exams. Let me take you home so you can—"

"No!" Sakura yelled suddenly as she jerked away from his reach, "I'm not ready yet!"

The group silenced at her sudden slurred outburst.

She blinked for a moment before shaking her head.

"I mean…I meant I don't wanna go…yet." she said in a haze.

Gaara put his hand down and sat back silently.

Neji, annoyed, broke the silence by standing up with the check.

"Well, that's too bad. This place is about to close anyway, and I for one would like to graduate. We've all got responsibilities."

Tenten scoffed, which caught his attention. He turned to look at her, her arms crossed, and her eyes turned away from him.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Yeah, because you know all about responsibilities," she shrugged back.

Neji narrowed his eyes, though she sat with her arms crossed, looking away from him.

"Yes, I do, actually. I do care about things."

"Coulda fooled me," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Tenten…" Hinata spoke quietly, nudging closer to her.

"Obviously you're trying to say something, because I thought you weren't speaking to me."

"Guys come on! Now's not the time!" Naruto whined as he swayed in his seat.

"Naruto's right!" Ino frowned, "Like really, Ten? Can't we leave the drama for after we graduate—"

Before she could finish, Ino's cellphone buzzed with a call. She quickly glanced at it before just as quickly rejecting the call and putting the phone in her lap.

Shikamaru raised a brow.

"There's no drama!" Tenten laughed cynically, "it's just funny to hear about responsibilities considering you couldn't fulfill one this week."

As Neji narrowed his eyes, Megami stood up, suddenly more sober than she had been five minutes prior, but still swaying.

"Alright I'm shutting shit down," she announced, "I'm feeling like everybody needs to sleep off the booze and get ready to—"

"No, she's right," Neji nonchalantly putting his hands up in mild defeat.

"I dropped the ball this week, I freaked out, I'll be the first to say it," he shrugged, "I don't have problems admitting I'm scared."

Tenten's annoyed but relaxed expression quickly became one of fury as she shot daggers at him.

"Scared? Who the hell is scared?! I never said—"

"Y'know," Sakura slurred, chiming in suddenly in her drunk stupor, "I think everyone could use one more drink to take the edge off, how about one more round of—"

"Sakura!" Ino, herself in a slur, spoke up.

"I so do not think you are helping right now—"

"What am I supposed to be scared about?" Tenten bit back to Neji who stood with a defiant expression, "huh? Tell me! There isn't shit I'm scared of! I've been calm as hell throughout this whole thing! So, what exactly could I be scared of?!" she barked.

"Ten, cool it," Megami frowned.

Ino groaned and fanned herself, "I think we all seriously need some fresh air—"

She was cut off once again by her phone's repeated vibration. Once again, she glanced at it before setting it back down, which nearly everyone, including Shikamaru, clearly noticed.

"Sakura, I really think you should drink some water and try to relax," Hinata tried to urge her, sandwiched in between a heated Tenten and jittery Sakura.

"Tenten, please try to calm down, this is not good for you," she put her hand on Tenten's shoulder, but Tenten remained stiff beneath her.

"I think everyone," she motioned between the group, "has had a long week. Please, let's have a couple of us stay behind to pay, and others go wait outside, yes?" she pleaded a bit.

"Naruto-kun," she turned to him, "can you please call the limo around?"

Naruto stood up and saluted.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Gaara, can you take Sakura and go wait outside?"

Barely giving a nod in response, Gaara reached out for Sakura's arm once again, only for her to step back.

"No!" she said in a raised voice, "I don't want to leave yet!"

"Sakura what the hell?!" Megami groaned, "you're acting as childish as me!"

Gaara stood looking at her with an expression that had not changed since they arrived to the restaurant. Sakura, however, could not meet his gaze. She looked off to the side with an almost sheepish expression.

"If I go then I have to give you an answer that I don't fully know if I'm ready to give!" she continued loudly.

This time the silence that befell the group was palpable.

Sakura, realizing what words had come out of her mouth, quickly turned to Gaara with a flushed face.

"Wait, I didn't mean—"

Again, the tension was disrupted by the repeated buzzing of Ino's phone.

"Jesus fucking christ, Ino, just answer your damn phone!" Megami stressfully urged.

Nervously, Ino picked her phone up and fumbled with it, only to drop it in her hastiness between herself and Shikamaru.

Shikamaru did not have to lean over much to see the name on the caller ID that blared back at him. In a second the missed call ended, and he was exposed to the most recent text message she had received.

SAI:

Are you still coming over tonight?

Ino quickly scrambled and picked up her phone, clutching it to her chest.

Shikamaru looked straight at her with a look that was somehow both deadpan and dotted with malice.

"Are you still coming over tonight?" His tone sounded calm, but everyone could tell what was behind his voice. What they could not see were his hands balling up on his lap.

"Shika-kun," Ino gave a heavy sigh, "it is so not what you think."

(^A.H^)

Although the restaurant was empty, the sudden loud clang of the double doors slammed open could have very well been heard from a mile away.

Shikamaru stormed out of the restaurant into the shimmering lights of the lively Tokyo night sky not more than a minute after noticing the contents of her phone. Just a few feet behind him, the rest of the group, some rushing and calling his name, followed him outside at different paces. Ino led them.

"Shikamaru please! Can you please listen to me?! I'm telling you it's not what you think!" Ino begged as she too flew through the doors and rushed after him as he got farther away from the restaurant.

"What the hell else is it supposed to be?!" he uncharacteristically yelled as he stopped in place and twisted around to her, surprising her and forcing her to stop now a couple steps in front of him.

"What the hell am I supposed to take from that? Just accept that he's your friend?" he nearly yelled.

Her eyes glistened. She couldn't remember a time when he had ever truly raised his voice at her.

"I mean fuck, Ino, I can't! I can't do that!" he frustratingly scratched his head, "I can't just keep acting like I'm okay with all this! I can't keep playing it cool!"

"I'm not asking you to do that!" she said, "all I'm asking is that you hear me out!"

"For what?" he shrugged and laughed a bit coldly, "so you can give me some stupid excuse on why you need to keep seeing him? Like you've been doing? Is that it?"

Ino took a step back and hung her head.

"That's what I thought," he scoffed, "I'm done hearing you out."

"Shikamaru, dude," Naruto spoke out casually, "take a breather, I'm sure Ino's got a perfect re—"

"Shut the fuck up Naruto," he barked, "does Hinata have a perfectly good reason why she hasn't given you an answer yet? Huh?"

Naruto looked taken aback, quickly sobering up before he glanced at Hinata next to him who equally looked surprised for a moment before she put her head down.

"Hey, come on Shikamaru you don't need to be a jerk!" Megami yelled.

"Whatever, Megami. You should have never forced this dinner on everyone in the first place," he said coldly.

Like Naruto, Megami looked taken aback before she looked down with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Alright, that's enough," Sasuke spoke up with an attitude, stepping in front of Megami.

"I'm not having another night where we stand outside and attack each other. I'm not doing it." he said, speaking to Shikamaru but his tone was directed at everyone.

"This night is over. It's time for everybody to go home. Naruto, take the girls to the limo and have Geeves take them home."

Naruto nodded quietly as he began to turn around with Hinata, both their heads low.

But, before they could begin their walk, Naruto stopped in place and stood in silence for a beat, before turning around to face Shikamaru who stood with a frustrated look on his face. Confused, Hinata turned back around as well.

"Nara," an uncharacteristically serious but cold tone on his voice. Shikamaru, annoyed, looked him in the eye.

"For the record, I don't care that Hinata hasn't given me an answer yet," he bit, standing tall amongst everyone.

"I don't care because I know that no matter what she decides and how long it takes her to make her decision, I love and respect her no matter what, and I trust that she feels the same for me."

Hinata's eyes glistened with surprise for a moment before her face softened at his words.

Shikamaru's expression did not change.

"And that's all that matters," he said in a matter of fact tone as he took and gripped Hinata's hand in his, again to her slight surprise.

"Come on girls!" he spoke loudly as he turned on his heels and began to walk with Hinata towards the limo.

"Let's get you home!"

Sasuke gently nudged Megami to go ahead with them. She looked up only slightly as she turned to follow them.

Tenten, who had been standing in the back of the group, leaning on the restaurant doors, barely gave Neji a glance before she huffed and stood up straight with her arms crossed and began walking with the group. Neji did not look her way.

"Shika…" Ino finally spoke up again, hardly above a whisper, although it gave her Shikamaru's unpleasant attention.

"I…I…" she spoke quietly, unable to muster the words, unsure of where to begin.

"Come on, Ino. Save it, he doesn't wanna hear," Tenten said plainly as she took Ino's hand in hers and began walking them away even before Ino could react.

With a saddened look on her face, Ino followed, but not without glancing one more time to Shikamaru behind her. When she saw he was no longer looking her way, her head fell and she continued to follow.

"I'll call us another ride," Sasuke said casually as he already had his phone out to call one of their backup drivers.

"Forget it," Shikamaru quickly shook his head as he turned on his heels and began walking away.

"I'll find my own ride home."

Sasuke gave him a simple glance before looking back down at his phone. Shikamaru walked off into the night as the remaining set stood by the doors. Neji casually leaned on the wall and crossed his arms as he patiently waited for Sasuke to get them a ride.

Sakura and Gaara, who had also been somewhat off to the side during this exchange, stood quietly beside each other. Sakura, who had long since sobered up, fidgeted in her spot, embarrassed by her earlier outburst. Gaara, who had maintained his composure through the entire night, silently stood with his hands in his pockets and observed.

With no one else around to speak, the silence began to feel deafening. Sakura swallowed hard before she readied herself to speak up.

"Gaara…" she began while looking down, "about…earlier—"

"Sakura."

Surprised that he cut her off, she looked up at him and, for the first time in a couple days, truly met his eyes.

"You should catch up with everyone. They'll be waiting for you."

Sakura blinked a couple times, momentarily surprised and confused before she started again.

"Gaara, no, I…I want apologize for what I said before," she said sheepishly, "I didn't mean to react like that. But, if it's okay, I can you give you my—"

"Sakura," he spoke again, stopping her, this time with a hand up.

"Don't worry about. I understand how you feel now, and I know you're not ready."

She blinked again, shocked.

"What! Gaara, I—!"

"I know now it was wrong of me to force something up on you so abruptly, especially in the middle of school. So, I'm sorry. You don't need to marry me. At least not until you're ready."

"B-but, Gaara—!" she tried to speak in a fluster.

"I will deal with the elders and the kindship, don't worry. No matter what, Sakura, I just want you to be happy."

Her heart raced when he leaned down to her level and caressed her cheeks with both hands. Her face beat red at his touch and her eyes glistened as she looked him dead in the eye.

For all the times she could never read his expression or feel that she truly understood what was going on in his head, looking at him now, dead in his eyes, she felt she could confidently understand what was going on in his head, despite what his eyes said.

He smiled at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

"It's okay, really. I have to go now, because I have to get to Suna first thing in the morning. But I promise we can talk about things after graduation."

He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. She gripped his shirt and leaned into it as her face beat cherry red.

"Gaara…" she said quietly as he slowly released from her, looked her in the eye once more before standing up straight again.

"Sakuraaa!" Tenten's voice called from over by the limo, leaning out while the rest of the girls sat waiting inside.

"Let's goooo! You have a test tomorrow!"

"Go on," Gaara urged as Sakura barely gave her any attention.

"B-but, Gaara—"

Her words were interrupted again by the ringing of his phone. He glanced down at it in his hand.

"I need to take this."

He quickly kissed her again before motioning her on to catch up with the girls, and then answering his phone with his back turned to her.

"Sakuraaa! Come ON!" Tenten yelled behind her.

Sakura looked at his back for a moment longer as she tearfully took a couple steps back before slowly turning around and making her walk to the waiting limo.

(^A.H^)

"The nerve of that jerk, calling me scared! Scared of what!" Tenten barked as she paced back and forth in her purple silk pajamas. The majority of the girls sat in Hinata's room later after being dropped off at home.

Hinata sat on her own bed, Megami lay sideways below her. Hinata patted her head as she clutched Mr. Bear.

"He's the one who pussied out on me when I needed him, so how the fuck am I at fault?!"

"Please try to calm down, Tenten," Hinata pleaded, "I'm not quite sure what Neji-niisan means, but I know he must have meant something with good intention. He's made so many mistakes, I want to believe he's trying to grow from it."

"Bang up job he's doing," Tenten bit.

"And Megami," Hinata said as she looked down at her face hidden in Mr. Bear.

"I'm sorry Shikamaru was rude to you, I'm sure he didn't mean it. You didn't force the dinner at all," she smiled softly as she still pat her head.

"No but I kind of did," Megami mumbled as she peaked her sullen face out a bit from Mr. Bear.

"I was so scared of everyone leaving and our future together," she continued, "I disregarded that everyone had stuff going on and made em talk when they weren't ready."

She looked back down,

"I just wanted us all to be together one last time."

"Megami, we'll have lots of times to be together, for one we've got an entire summer!"

Hinata softened, "and thereafter. Just because things are changing for a while doesn't mean our love does. If anything, it gets better."

Megami smiled weakly as she lifted herself up a bit and wiped her eye.

"Hinata's right! How the hell could a little distance change our friendship!" Tenten scoffed.

Megami smiled a bit cheekily as she sat fully up and rubbed her face.

"So, you stopped being pissed off long enough to say something nice huh?"

"Shut up you tomato bitch before I come over there and clock you!" Tenten yelled as Megami stuck her tongue out.

Hinata giggled a bit before she relaxed and stood up from her bed.

"I'm going to check on the other girls, I'll be right back."

The girls nodded as Hinata made her way out and into the hallway. She first walked over to Ino's door, which was closest and just a couple feet from her own.

She knocked on the door before gently twisting the handle, only to see the door was locked.

"Ino?" Hinata called quietly. Although Ino had made it clear she was going to bed early, she had wanted to make sure she was doing alright.

She looked below and sat that the lights of her bedroom were off, so she elected to go on to check Sakura's room.

Across the hall and to her left she stepped up to Sakura. She knocked on her door.

"Sakura? Are you awake? I'm just checking in."

When she heard no response, she twisted the handle and the unlocked door opened. She opened it just a crack to see that her lights were off, and Sakura was turned to her side in bed.

Upon seeing this and concluding she was asleep, she shut the door back again.

Sakura lay in bed with her covers halfway over her, but she was far from asleep. When the door shut, she sighed and turned to lay on her back, her hands over her head.

Her mind swam with the night's thoughts, the past week, the events of the last couple months, and all the way to the overall year. Her relationship with Gaara had evolved a lot since then, just as all the girls had. But unlike the girls, their relationship evolved into agreeing to get married one day.

But this whole week she's made it seem that one day had come too soon.

She was sure she knew the answer she wanted to give when they got to the restaurant that night, but someone she couldn't seem to find the words she was looking for, especially so when he told her time had run out.

Now, her mind swam back and forth between everything they had done together and everything they had become over the past year. She reflected on each moment she could remember with Gaara. As she thought about each event, big or small that passed, she found herself asking the same question over and over again, and every time the answer would be the same.

Eventually she began to realize how often she came to the same answer. She sat up halfway in her bed, still thinking to herself.

It was the same.

Every time.

She sat up more, now with a little more confidence. The realization flooded her, and for the first time that week, her mind felt somewhat clear. She couldn't help but softly smile to herself.

Quickly though, she shook her head and hastily reached for her phone on her bedside table.

She rushed to speed dial the number of the person she needed to speak to. It was late, but she knew they would be awake at this time.

"Sakura? Hey! What's up?"

"Hey," Sakura said a bit breathlessly,

"I really really need your help."

(^A.H^)

The early morning sun shined brightly over Sunagakure the next day. The Friday sunrays beamed into the bedroom of Suna residents and glimmered on the golden royal mansion centered at it.

The rays burst through the blood red curtains of Gaara's lavish bedroom. Although he was no stranger to sunrises, this one felt, for some reason, especially piercing today as he sat up in bed.

He had arrived too Suna late last night to get a start on his full day of meetings. He had been granted leave from his last day of school, having taken his final exam already so that he could be free to deal with things in his land.

Even though he had plenty of nights where he didn't get a wink of sleep, it was only lately that his thoughts kept him up rather than his sleep issues.

He stood up in his red and black robe, stripping himself of his silk red sheets as he walked to the window.

The same thing kept him up as it did many nights over the last few months. And while he respected and honored Sakura's wishes first and foremost, and that he knew he would do everything in his power to be with her even without a marriage, he couldn't help but wish to himself that things this week had gone differently.

He took a deep breath to himself. Now, in a few hours, he had to go confront the elder council about why he would not only not be taking a bride of royal blood, but no bride at all, and then see how that goes over in his kingship.

But he knew that was not the thing that mattered the most.

"Lord Gaara," the voice of a maid came as a knock rang on the door.

"I have your attire ready."

He looked out to Suna though his large window for a moment before letting out a sigh and quickly shutting the curtains. Blocking the sun out.

It was going to be a long day.

(^A.H^)

The town car sped away as Gaara walked up the steps of the secondary manor, in which all council meetings were held. The manor had also hosted its fair share of events, some of which involved him and the others over the past year. He dressed in his usual miliary style that was appropriate for full day meetings, though he noticed the details were more decorative than what he normally wore.

Followed by two guards behind him, the doors opened to reveal a woman dressed in a gray paint suit with her brown hair in a tight bun. Risa, the council secretary, stood before standing at attention with two additional door guards beside her.

"Good morning lord Gaara," she spoke in a bow and a strait-laced voice as the doors closed behind Gaara.

"I trust your arrival home was well," she said as they began the walk down the hallway towards the council meeting room.

"It was fine," a blank tone came back from Gaara. Despite having fought with them on several occasions, even when his father was alive. He never enjoyed, nor felt pleased over having to talk to any of them.

He kept a blank expression as he, the guards, and Risa walked down the familiar hallway where he imagined the council members were all waiting on him.

His brows furrowed though when he noticed Risa keep through ahead instead of rounding the corner as they normally would to get to the meeting hall.

"Risa, you're going the wrong way," he said quickly and seriously.

Without looking back at him, Risa spoke back.

"No, my lord, the meeting has been moved. I assure you we're going the right way."

He became more confused. Had the meeting been moved (which never happened because there was only one meeting hall in the manor) he would have known about it.

His curiosity only heightened when he noticed that they were getting to the end of the hallway with but one door at the end of it, a door he knew well.

"The dance hall?" he asked as they closed in on the door. The guards behind him stopped, as did Risa.

"The meeting is here?" he asked again as he stepped up.

Risa turned around and, still with a straight face, situated her glasses. She stepped to the side to give him room.

"They are waiting for you inside, my lord."

Gaara slowly stepped up to the large oak double doors as Risa stepped behind him.

He put his hands on the golden handles and hesitated for a moment. He looked down at the handles before looking up again at the door.

He stood tall before he slowly pushed open both doors.

As the doors flung open, before him was not a line of the old members of the council, but instead, a sea of pink and white floral decorations. Golden chandeliers hung above, while flowers hung on the walls and petals lined the floor of the ballroom he was so familiar with.

Sitting in white, floral decorated chairs on two sides were a litany of people he knew, all formally dressed and looking at him. Between them, a long white train that began from where he stood, covered in pink and white petals. The train and the petals ultimately led up to others who stood up.

His band members, on one side, dressed in all black suits with soft pink ties. Opposite them, the girls, dressed in matching light pink floor length off the shoulder dresses, each dolled with makeup and updos, and each holding a bundle of the pink and white flowers. Beside them, violist and pianist sat waiting, as well did Suna's high priest stand before them.

Finally, between them all, between the people, the décor, and at the center of his universe, stood Sakura.

Her hair was curled and wrapped up in an elegant bun. Her makeup was soft and was brightened by her ruby red lips. She stood adorned in a princess style off the shoulder wedding gown. The multilayer dress was bathed in lace, with various pink roses sewn in the off the shoulder straps, as well as various parts of the dress.

Sakura looked straight at him with a gentle smile on her face, clutching the largest bundle of pink and white roses to her chest as her eyes met his completely surprised look.

Slowly, stepped into the ballroom and took a few steps closer. Uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

"What…is all this," he finally spoke up as he stood right at the end of the chairs.

Suddenly, he found his arm gripped by Temari, who had appeared from beside him, dressed in a form fitting royal blue gown with a lighter blue shawl over it.

"Hey little bro, you alright? Don't look so bewildered!" she snickered as he glanced at her.

"After all, today's your wedding day!"

He blinked at her then quickly blinked back to Sakura, who stood with her gentle smile, unwavering.

He said nothing as Temari led him down the aisle, just as the violin and piano began to play. Although he knew almost everyone in the room, his eyes fixated on Sakura the entire time until he found himself standing directly in front of and beside Sakura.

"Hey tiger," she spoke, her smile growing now as they stood before each other.

"You feel like getting married today?"

"Sakura, what is all this?" he spoke seriously but quietly, "how did you get here? When did you get here?"

"I had a lot of help from Temari," she nodded over to Temari who sat herself beside Kankuro in the front, beaming with her thumbs up.

"Plus, the group of course," she motioned to the other Alpha and Omega members, some beaming, some serious, but all with fervent support.

"And a late night," she laughed, "but I'm glad I made it in time."

"Sakura," he began again, "I hope you aren't doing this for my sake. Please know, you don't have to do this."

She laughed a bit, to his confusion.

"Yeah, I know I don't have to do this. I want to!"

He looked straight at her, and she stood her ground.

"This whole week, I wondered to myself, if I was so ready to say yes to you in the hospital, and agree to marry you one day, then why can't that one day be right now?" she said seriously.

"Our entire relationship, I've done nothing but let my fears and insecurities rule how I handle things, but that only served to hurt me, and worse, you. But not anymore."

She smiled at him again.

"I thought back to everything that we had overcome this year, and in every instance, I asked myself if I would have been ready to marry you in that moment, and—"

She took her hand in his and clutched it as she used another to clutch her bouquet.

"Every time, the answer was yes. 1000% yes!" she beamed.

He smiled down at her, softly gripping her hand in his as they smiled at each other.

"So," she motioned slightly to the decorated room and the people, which included her parents and the members of Suna's royal council, who waited with baited breathes.

"Let's get married!"

(^A.H^)

As brightly as the sun had shined that morning in Suna, the moon glistened with its own light later that evening. Lights and noise flashed from inside one of the main royal manors in Suna, as a plethora of royal members, friends and family danced, ate, and drank the night away.

The early afternoon wedding ceremony of Sakura and Gaara had led into an evening of dancing and celebration. Folks from all over, those who could make it to the last-minute party, had come to honor and relished the new couple, and who would become the king and queen of Sunagakure.

Sakura and Gaara, still dressed in their wedding attire, danced hand in hand on the dancefloor, among other dancing couples. The party bustled as the newlyweds swung around. Sakura giggled as Gaara, with a gentle smile on his face, led them in their dance.

"I so cannot believe they're really married, it feels surreal," Tenten said aloud, seated at a cloth covered table with her cheeks in her hands.

"I can't believe this is our second wedding in a week! I'm beat!" Megami whined, leaning back and balancing on one leg of her chair.

At the same table sat Sasuke and Neji, all still in their groomsmen and bridesmaid attire, with the other members dispersed among the party.

"Sakura sure does look pretty though, and happy," Megami smiled as they stared over to Sakura who laughed happily at Gaara's comments in her ear.

"Yeah," Tenten sighed, "I'm glad we were able to get this all together in time, especially considering how last night went…"

"Sure beats taking an exam though!" Megami snickered as she swayed from side to side. She then twisted around to where Sasuke and Neji sat behind them, their ties undone and the top button of Neji's collar shirt open.

"What do you guys think?! I bet it's crazy to see Gaara married!" she smiled cheekily.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Doesn't make a difference to me."

"Does anything ever?!" Megami fumed as her nostrils flared before she turned to Neji.

"Hyuga! What about you?!"

Neji, leaning back in his seat, his legs on the table, his hands in his pockets and his eyes shut, shrugged as well.

"Glad to see they figured their shit out."

"You both are impossible," Megami sighed with her shoulders slumped.

She sat back up and looked at Tenten who sat with her chair facing away, her arms and legs crossed as she looked out to the dance floor. She mimicked Neji a bit, who Megami glanced at next after a moment.

She glanced between them both for a beat before she stopped, took a deep, dramatic breath, and stood up.

"Sasuke! Take me to eat!" she barked in a superman stance, "I require immediate sustenance!"

Sasuke slowly looked up to her and narrowed his eyes.

"Okay. Fine. But only because I'm surprised you know that word."

Megami laughed boastfully as Sasuke stood up with a sigh and put his hands in his pockets before he turned, took Megami's hand, and began walking towards the dinner.

"We'll see you crazy kids later!" Megami turned back and waved as Sasuke lead her through the walking and dancing patrons.

Tenten gave her a glare before she turned back around in a huff and back to her crossed position.

"That bitch. I hate it when she does shit like this," she grumbled to herself.

She and Neji sat across from each other, now alone at their table. The party lights bounced on and off from them as they both sat, eyes shut, and a heavy silence between them.

The two remained quiet and unmoving for a couple minutes before Neji opened his eyes with a stoic look on his face. He tilted his head slightly, looking past his feet with a seemingly uninterested expression. When he saw Tenten, her body mostly facing him with her head turned to the side, the usual annoyed expression on her face, he smirked.

"You look phenomenal in that dress."

"I will eat you alive," she snarled back without missing a beat.

He sighed heavily as he put his legs down and took his hands out of his pockets.

"Come on, Ten. We need to have a real conversation. You have to talk to me eventually."

"Why should I," she scoffed, still not looking at him.

"So I can trust you and you bail out on me again? Yeah, no thanks."

He sighed again, this time putting his hands up.

"You're right. I know. I was completely in the wrong. I deserve to be kicked in the balls for that."

"You're damn right," she hissed.

"I shouldn't have done that to you," he continued with his hands down.

"There's a lot of shit I shouldn't have done to you," he said bitterly with his head low.

Her eyes remained shut with a wiry look on her face.

"I have wronged you, and other people, in a lot of ways. I've done a lot of shit that I know I should get a swift punch in the face for," he sighed.

"And I promise you that I'm trying to make up for it with every single day and every single second," he said seriously.

"And yes," he sighed with his hand in his hair, "clearly this week hasn't made me look like any less of a fuck up, and regardless of what I say, there's no good excuse for leaving you alone.
But I promise you Ten, I wanted to be there. I was just…scared."

"Scared?" she scoffed, finally turned around to meet him.

"Scared of what?" she laughed again, "scared of having a baby? Giving birth? Raising a kid?!"

She threw her hands up in amusement.

"Please! Tell me which is it! Tell me what you could possibly be so afraid of when you're not even the one dealing with it all!"

"Well for starters," Neji sat up straight, "all of it that, except the part about giving birth. I'm scared of all of that, and I know you are too."

She laughed again, turning away from him once more.

"And," he went on, his eyes locked on her, "I'm scared of not doing a good job. Scared of something happening to the baby. Scared of the future and what kind of family we'll end up being."

He clenched his fists.

"Scared of losing you through it all."

She blinked a couple times before she turned her nose up at him and turned her head away in a mocking scoff.

"I was scared so I freaked out and regressed into myself. It's no excuse but it's why I did what I did. This whole this is terrifying, and I know you're freaking out too."

"Don't tell me what I feel and what I don't feel! I know how the fuck I feel!" she turned back to him and slightly yelled, although it was drowned out by the music.

"Of course I'm fucking scared moron!" she laughed cynically, "I'm having a fucking baby! My whole world is pretty much upside down and I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing or what the fuck I'm gonna do! But I can't show everyone that I'm literally consumed with dread all the time!"

"I feel like my hormones are raging all the time! I'm so out of my mind, I don't know if I'm ready to do this parent shit, I mean come on! I know you're panicked too, I get it! But God fucking damn it, Neji. I really needed you this week!" she sighed, sitting back in defeat, exasperated.

They sat in silence for a moment as she took a couple deep breaths, a bit slumped in her chair.

"Like…I really needed you there with me," she said quietly. She put her hands on the table and fisted them.

"If we're gonna do this…" she said stonily, "how can I trust that you'll show up every time?"

"I will."

"How can I trust that!" she yelled, looking him directly in the eye. Catching the eye of an elderly couple walking by.

Neji sat up straight, a blank expression on his face as they looked each other dead in the eye.

He stood up from his chair suddenly, catching her slightly off guard.

He walked around the table and to her side. She turned to look at him with a confused expression.

He held his hand out in front of her. She looked down at it and then back at him. She hesitated a couple of times before ultimately putting her hand in his. He lifted her up from her seat and stood her directly in front of him. Their eyes met.

She looked him straight in the eyes and beyond. The look on his face was unlike anything she'd seen since he told her he was in love with her.

"I will."

His voice was stern. She said nothing as he led her the few steps to the nearby dancefloor, where other couples, including the newlyweds, were engaging in a slow dance.

He turned her around slowly and took her other hand in his, situating them in a position to dance.

They blended into the couples over the dim dance lights. Emotionally exhausted, Tenten sub-consciously rested her head on his chest as they danced slow.

"Right now, all I can do is tell you I'll be there with my word, which I know doesn't mean much right now. I need to show you with actions that I will be by your side," he spoke near her ear as they moved slow on the glass floor.

"Whether you believe me right now or not, it doesn't matter. I have a lot of making up to do as it stands anyway. But I promise you, Tenten—"

He put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up to meet his eyes.

"I will be there, for you, for our child, for us."

Tenten's serious expression remained unbroken as they stared at each other.

After a few beats, without saying a word, she put her head back down to rest on his chest. She closed her eyes and, after a moment, lifted her arms to wrap loosely around his neck as they moved from side to side.

Neji stood up straight, taking a deep breath as he wrapped his arms around her waist. As they swayed together on the dance floor, he kissed the top of her head.

Above them, leaning on the golden second story railing of the ballroom, taking sips of the beer bottle in hand and looking down at the dancing patrons, stood one of the members of Omega who had been eluding the party for most of the night.

Shikamaru boredly stared down at the busy party. His eyes moved from Sakura and Gaara who had by now stepped off the dance floor to talk to guests, to Neji and Tenten who seemed to be peacefully slow dancing, then to Megami who was piling a plate with food and Sasuke who looked about ready to drop it.

He had made the unused second story his mainstay since the ceremony had ended and the party had really gotten on its way. After a frustrating and sleepless night, only to be woken up before the crack of dawn to drive to Suna and string together a wedding ceremony, he was surely feeling the effects of the last 24 hours.

But he was no fool. Even he knew that he couldn't be left alone the entire night, and sooner or later, one person was going to find him and confront him whether he wanted to have a conversation or not.

It wasn't long before his guess was proven right, as heels slowly creeped up the steps beside him. He did not turn to look though and did not, still, when he heard the heels make their way towards him, stopping just a few feet away but enough for him to see platinum blonde in the corner of his eye.

"It took you longer than I expected to make it up here."

"I wanted to respect your privacy as long as I thought you'd want me to, but then I got tired of waiting," Ino said casually, crossing her arms.

"You're not going to try to enjoy your best friend's wedding and my best friend's wedding?"

"I think I've had my fill of parties," he grumbled. "But please," he put his hands up, still dancing the railing, "don't let me stop you from enjoying Sakura's big day."

"As much as I want to," she said, "as much as I want to be completely happy for Sakura and focus on her, I can't. My mind keeps going back to you."

Shikamaru simply shrugged back.

"I'm not fooling around with Sai."

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

"I'm not," she said back, harshly.

"You can tell me whatever you want Ino," he sighed, "but I'm not going to—"

He stumbled back a bit, suddenly alerted to the bright phone light in front of his face.

He stood up straight to look at the context on the phone she held up straight to his face with her right hand, her face puffed in annoyance.

Staring back at him was a picture on her phone, sitting in the middle of a series of texts, mostly one-sided, from Sai.

It was a picture of a set of acrylic paints and brushes on a wooden table. Below the photo was a text that read.

It's this set. Let me know if you still want it

And then below that:

Hey do you still want them? If not I'm going to trash them

I have to clean house by the end of the weekend.

And then below that:

Hey are you still coming over tonight?

He read even further down to see:

If you can't pick them up I can drop it off. If that's more comfortable for you.

"Sai is moving out of his uncle's house for the summer and wanted to give me some old acrylics he was gonna throw away. That's all it was," she said coldly as she put her phone down.

"I knew you wouldn't like the idea of me hanging around him, whatever the reason was, so I didn't want to tell you that I was gonna get them, which now I realize not telling you did the exact thing I didn't want to happen!" she groaned, looking off to the side.

He looked at her silently for a moment before he sighed and turned back to lean on the railing.

"Honestly, it doesn't really matter what your reasons are. I can't keep pretending like I don't care that you spend time with him."

She turned back to look at him, a somewhat pained look on her face.

"I mean," he scoffed a bit, "considering everything that happened, I don't think it's unreasonable to say seeing you together makes me feel sick."

Her expression contorted into a regretful one and she lowered her head a bit.

"But I wanted to try to respect your history. I know you can't avoid him at every turn. But going to the same school—?"

She looked straight up at him. His head remained facing the crowd below, but he side-eyed her.

"I don't know if I can handle that, Ino. I don't know…if we can survive that."

"What are you saying?" her eyes glistened and her lip quivered slightly.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh.

"I…I don't know…damn it, Ino," he scratched his head in frustration, "I don't know!"

Her teary eyes shimmered in the party lights. He gripped the railing with both hands and hung his head. Both stood in silence for a moment.

"If this is really that painful, I won't go to Tokyo DCS."

"Don't say such ridiculous things," he turned to her calmly but with a dead serious tone.

"You know I would never ask something like that of you. That is far from the root of the issue."

"I know it is, but—!" the tears that had begun to form in her eyes finally began to spill out.

"Maybe I don't deserve to go! Not after what I did to you!"

She gripped the sides of her soft pink dress.

"I betrayed you! I hurt you badly and I regret it every day!" she cried.

"And I see how it makes you feel when you still see us together! I'm sorry that I've hurt you so much like this…" she bit back, trying to stifle her tears.

His expression remained dull and unchanged.

"I…" she continued, shaking, "don't deserve your forgiveness. And I guess I would understand if you wanted to end things right here and now…but—"

She lifted her head, tears rushing down her face.

"If it means not losing you…! I'll do whatever I have to do! Because despite my faults, I love you, Shika! And I don't want to be without you! So, I'll do whatever it takes to show you what's really in my heart!"

She stood crying, trying to calm down but unable to control her rush of emotion.

"If you'll just let me…" she sobbed.

She silently cried for a few moments. She didn't know what kind of response she expected from him. But she couldn't fight the way the idea of them not being together made her feel.

She continued to whimper for a bit, preparing herself to relax and face whatever answer he had for her, even if it wasn't the one that she wanted.

Instead, she gasped a bit when she felt arms wrap around her. She immediately recognized his smell and warmth, a feeling that she knew she had been missing over the past week.

Her tears stopped as she couldn't help but to sink into the hug. As he buried his face into her shoulder, her arms slowly came up to grip the back of his suit jacket.

They stood like this for a moment in silence. Absorbing each other and ignoring the sounds of the celebration.

After some time, Shikamaru raised his head and parted halfway, his hands still resting on her shoulders.

He looked her straight in the eye, though this time his expression had softened significantly. She looked back at him, her cheeks red and her eyes slightly puffed. Despite still, her makeup and hair glimmered in the moonlight, and the sight of her made his heart beat, still.

"I know you would, Ino," he couldn't help but smile a bit, "I know you would go to the ends of the earth for those you love. I know you would abandon your greater self to make others around you happy. I know know despite the attitude you try to put out, you actually have a huge heart and care deeply for the people in your life."

Her heart raced as his hands moved from her shoulders to her cheeks, where he wiped away a tear on each side of her face, before he dropped hands, took a deep breath, and scratched the side of his head with one hand and looked off to the side.

"I know all this because I love you."

New tears seemed to form in her eyes. Her heart pounded as he dropped his hand in a shrug.

"But I don't know what we're going to do, Ino. I don't love the idea of you always being so close to him, especially when we'll hardly be seeing each other anyway—"

"Then come with me!" she said suddenly, making him blink in surprise.

"Come to Tokyo DCS with me!" she said firmly, "you haven't decided on a school yet, right? Plus, you're valedictorian! You said you don't care where you go, so you could easily get in there if you applied!"

He couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"It's an art school, I don't think I would really fit in there. Besides, making art is a drag."

"Then we'll figure something out!" she proclaimed. "We'll find a way for us to be near each other even if we aren't going to the same school! That way, you can see for yourself that nothing is, and nothing will ever happen between Sai and I again!"

Ino breathed heavily for a bit as he continued to stand before her with a plain look on his face, his hands now in his pockets.

Only the sound of her breathing stood before them over another quiet moment.

But, when he took his hands out of his pockets and quietly walked up to her, the last thing she was expecting was that he would kiss her as he did.

She melted before him, leaning up on her tip toes despite being heels. She closed her eyes and deepened it, her heart, she was sure, louder than the music below.

They released themselves from each other after a beat. She practically fell into his arms, her head rested on his shoulder.

"I believe you," he said casually as he stood her up to face him.

"You don't need to fight to prove it to me, and I don't need to hover over you all the time."

He put his hand on her shoulder again, smiling now this time.

"We'll figure it out. But for the moment, let me just enjoy every summer day we can have together."

"Shika…!" she whimpered. She nodded before she fell into his arms again, both now with their arms wrapped around each other.

The party lights illuminated them enough for them to be seen through the shrouded darkness of the upstairs by the few that noticed them. The only ones who did being scattered members of Alpha and Omega.

Megami couldn't help but smile as she looked up at Ino and Shikamaru embracing each other. Few things warmed her heart more than seeing her friends deal with their issues.

She swayed her feet back and forth as she sat on the windowsill, beaming and humming to herself with Sasuke's jacket over her shoulders. Sasuke stood right next to her, casually leaning against the wall with his hands pocketed.

"What's got you so happy?"

She shrugged in response, looking down from upstairs to the dance floor where Neji and Tenten still slow danced. Sakura and Gaara however, she did not see.

"Nothing really, just glad to see everyone okay. I like things a lot better when there this way!"

"Is that right?"

She nodded furiously, "I would say I did a pretty good job huh?! Putting that dinner together was a great idea if I do say so!"

"Yeah, it almost made things exponentially worse for everyone involved, but lucky for you, it worked out," he deadpanned as he gave her a few sarcastic claps.

She kicked at him, though he blocked them with little effort.

"Why do you always have to shit on my hard work! Have you ever said positive thing in your life?!" she growled.

She huffed and looked towards the party before her expression softened as she turned to look at him.

"And thank you, Sasuke-kun. For taking such good care of me lately."

He turned to look at her beaming face with low eyes of his own.

"I know you've been trying extra hard for me even though you don't gotta! But I see it, so I wanted to say thanks," she blushed a bit as she looked back down to her swaying legs.

Just a second passed before he spoke up without taking his eyes off her.

"Because I have too."

She shook her head quickly,

"No, you don't! Sasuke, the past is—"

"No, not because of that," he said quickly and seriously.

She turned to look at him, where now he looked straight ahead.

"For my own sins, I will atone for as long as I live. But I do what I do now because it's what I'm supposed to do. Because it's what you have always deserved."

Megami stared at him with a blank expression. The air was quiet between them as the moonlight beat on her through the window.

All of a sudden, Megami burst out in laughter. She howled laughs, catching the attention of some party goers as Sasuke turned and glared at her.

"Oh man, Uchiha! I can always count on you to say something corny!" she cackled.

He tsked, turning away from her.

"Whatever."

"Oh, come on!" Megami laughed, "I'm just teasing!"

She giggled a bit more, amused by his huffiness as her smile slowly relaxed.

She reached out and slowly took his right hand in hers. He turned back to face her when she did this.

His eyes met hers. The look on her face was a mix of calm and gratitude. The words unspoken between them were enough for them to say.

Quietly, she moved to wrap her arms around his and rested her head on his arm. He leaned to her, staring off absent-mindedly to the crowd as she closed her eyes and hummed.

On the other side of the ballroom, another couple sat halfway on the carpeted steps leading up to the second floor. The two laughed together as they sat close.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh aloud as Naruto spoke flamboyantly with his hands, making various impressions.

The two, satisfied with the dancing and talking they had done that night. Decided to spend the rest of the long evening chatting together and people watching.

"—so that's the kind of judge I think I should be on the show! Firm but fun!" he boasted confidently as he dropped his arms, beaming.

Hinata giggled at him, "I think that sounds lovely Naruro-kun. I'm sure you're going to make an excellent judge."

He nodded smiling, "yeah! I wanna show them I can be a great leader! But that I'll still be super respectful! I can't wait to show the world my skills!"

"I think you've already done that once or twice," Hinata smiled softly.

"And the third will be even better!" he exclaimed, pumping his fists.

Hinata chuckled at him. No matter what, he never failed to be excited over something. A quality she loved about him, among all others.

When he noticed her gentle smile, he relaxed and softened his own smile to match her as they looked right at one another. Something that had not come easy for her to do.

"Naruto-kun," she said, "I never did get a chance to thank you for speaking up for me yesterday."

He waved her off nonchalantly.

"Don't sweat it, Hina! I know Shikamaru was upset, but he had no right to say what he said! I'd a kicked his butt if we didn't need to get home!" he chanted.

"But I meant what I said," he mumbled, turning to face the dance floor.

"It doesn't matter what you decide, I'm gonna wait for you," he affirmed.

"Even if you don't come with me, even if I have to wait a year to see you! Or two years! It doesn't matter."

He turned to look at her with a rare serious expression.

"I'll be here, waiting."

"Naruto-kun…" she said quietly as he turned away quickly with his nose up, struggling to contain his embarrassment.

A bright smile shined over her face.

"Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you said that, because there's something I want to show you."

He raised a brow and turned back to look at her just as she took out her cellphone.

"I initially wanted to wait to show you this at graduation—" she blushed a bit as she went to her emails without him seeing.

"But tonight, feels like the perfect time."

Still confused, Naruto took her phone in his hand as she handed it to him. He read and stared at the contents on the screen. Slowly, as he read, his eyes began to widen.

"I finally heard back from my number one school."

He twisted to her, his eyes wide with surprise as he nearly dropped her phone down the steps. Hinata smiled a big, but shy, smile back at him.

"Le Cordon Bleu has been in my top list of schools for as long as I remember, I've dreamed of studying there," she laughed shyly. "I didn't know what that meant for us if I got in and went by myself. So, when you told me about your Paris offer, I wanted to say yes, but, I wanted to make sure I got in first, so there would be no question that I would join you!"

"Hinata…" Naruto's voice cracked.

Hinata beamed with a deep blush on her face.

"We're going to Paris together, Naruto-kun!"

She was startled, but hardly surprised when he stood them both on their feet by lifting her up by her waist in an embrace. He hugged her tightly, burying his face in her chest so that she didn't see the tears of joy coming from him.

"Hinata!" he shouted, "this is the best news I've ever heard! I can't believe this! We get to be together!" he cried, his face covered.

"N-Naruto-kun, you're in my…" she blushed, looking off to the side, "people are looking…"

"Sorry, Hinata-chan!" he said, quickly removing his face from the middle of her breasts.

"I'm just so happy!"

Hinata looked at him softly.

"To be honest with you," he laughed, awkwardly scratching his head, "even though I want you to be happy no matter what, I would have been really devastated to be away from you for so long. You're my whole world!" he smiled cheekily.

Blushing a bit, Hinata lifted her hand and gently rested in on his cheek. He took his left hand and rested it on top of her own, protecting it there.

"And you mine…Naruto-kun, I'm not going anywhere."

He momentarily gripped her hand in his before he took a deep breath. He removed her hand from his cheek and instead embraced her in a kiss. Hinata blushed into it as she put her hands on his shoulders.

She let out a small noise when, while still kissing her, he swept her up and spun her around on the large step they stood on.

"Naruto-kun!" she gasped a bit, releasing from him, "be careful! Or we could both fall down!"

"Ah! Sorry again, Hina!" he said, twirling her around as she laughed a bit.

"I just can't help it!"

He continued to spin them a couple times as they embraced, laughing together, neither noticing as someone approached them.

"Excuse me."

Naruto quickly halted his spins and set Hinata down as the person stood two steps below them.

"Yo! Gaara! What's up?!" Naruto asked as the two slightly looked down to him.

Standing tall still in his miliary uniform, Gaara stood before them with a stern but urgent look on his face.

"I apologize for the interruption, but have either of you seen Sakura?"

Naruto's face contorted in thought for a moment.

"Nah! Not since I last saw you two dancing I don't think!"

Gaara sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I haven't seen her in the last few minutes. I'm not sure where she went."

"I believe she passed us on the stairs not too long ago," Hinata said, pointing up the steps.

"Although I'm not sure where she went from there."

"Thank you," Gaara nodded as he quickly passed them and began making his way up the stairs.

"Really?! I didn't even notice her come by!" Naruto frowned. Hinata giggled in turn.

"Well, Naruto-kun. You can be a bit oblivious sometimes…"

Their voices faded behind him as Gaara reached the top of the steps that housed a floor of guest rooms. He hardly noticed Ino and Shikamaru standing together hand in hand on the opposite side of the floor as he headed down the hall.

The party music seemed to fade more and more the farther down the hallway he went. He knew this area all too well, as he had spent much time living in the manor and exploring it as a child isolated from others and ostracized by his father.

But beyond that, this hallway brought him back to the parties they had hosted over the past season, specifically parties for him to find a potential bride.

As he walked down the quiet hall, the memories of when he first brought Sakura to Suna, from the way she had felt and had been made to feel by the royals and the council, to the discomfort she felt being amongst those in his powerful circle.

He also reminisced on the way she looked in her ballgown. The way her green eyes popped when he introduced her as his potential bride, and the way her face lit up when danced with him in front of everyone for the first time.

The memories of what they had experienced flooded back with each step that he took. By the time he reached the only door cracked open in the entire hallway, he had already made an educated guess on where she might have disappeared too.

He could already see the moonlight beating into the room as he stepped up the door. He put his hand on the handle for a moment. He glanced in to see if his hunch was right, and when he saw a flash of pink to confirm his beliefs, he quietly opened the door.

The door creaked back as he took a step and stood within the door frame.

With her back to him, Sakura stood out on the balcony of his old bedroom, lost in thought as she stared out to the garden below them with the two large window doors open. From where he stood, she seemed to radiate the look of a queen, as her wedding gown, hair and makeup, glimmered under the light of the moon. He felt almost stuck in the spot he was in because, for the life of him, he didn't want to forget the way she looked right here, in this moment.

His queen.

She smiled a bit, though he could not see.

"I was wondering when you'd track me down," she said in a snarky tone, calling to him.

"I didn't think you'd be hard to find," he said, stepping into the room.

"This isn't the first time I've found you hiding in here."

She laughed a bit as he entered fully and closed the door behind him. The already low music of the party was now just a low muffle behind the door. Now the only thing that could be heard were the owls singing into the night.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura nodded in response, turning slightly to face him.

"I think I've just had my fill of parties for one evening."

"If you're feeling overwhelmed, we can leave," his cold tone came as he met her at the balcony.

"No one needs to know. We can just go in secret."

Sakura laughed aloud at that.

"I don't think that would be very nice to our wedding guests! I think I've overloaded my dad with enough today as it is!"

"They're not who matters."

Sakura smiled softly at him before turning back to look out to the night sky.

"Thank you, Gaara, but there's no need."

"So then, what's on your mind? Second thoughts?"

She shook her head quickly.

"God no! Today has been…amazing. Everything I could have imagined! I've never been more sure about anything than I have about marrying you."

She looked up to the bright full moon while he in turn looked directly at her.

"I just found myself wondering about the future."

He stayed silent as she continued.

"Things are going to be so different from here on out, and I don't just mean me becoming a queen!" she said, "school, coronation, that I can handle—"

Her eyes glimmered with longing as she looked out.

"But, thinking about things changing with the girls, and our entire group dynamic changing, it makes me…sad."

She smiled suddenly though, as she turned to meet his eyes.

"But it's a happy sad!" she beamed, "the path that we're all on…it's good. For a long time, it felt like the girls, and I only had each other and needed each other, and then you guys came along! Now, a year later, here I am in a wedding dress!" she laughed.

"It's just all so crazy, everything that's happened."

He reached out to her, vying for her hand as she allowed him to take hers in his.

"I wouldn't have things any other way, though. I'm sure the girls wouldn't either."

He stepped closer to her, taking her other hand in his own as he she faced him fully.

"Sakura, before I met you, it seemed like there would be no one who would ever truly understand me. Those guys, although they're the closest thing I'll ever have to brothers aside from my own, did not know each other well enough either. You and the girls saved us from ourselves. You saved me."

Sakura blushed and looked down, laughing nervously.

"No, I didn't! Don't be silly!" she said softly nudging him on the chest.

"I don't know what the future is going to look like," he said, glancing out to the night sky himself.

"All I know is that you're there for every second, and I will be there to make sure things for you are perfect."

She shook her head again, smiling. The way he said things to her always warmed her spirit and chased away the anxieties in her heart.

She sighed as he stood behind her and draped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Do you think I'll make a good queen?"

Without missing a step, he leaned down to her, turning her face to the side so that he could enfold her into a kiss. They stood in it for a second before he released her and looked straight into her emerald eyes.

"I knew you would the second I met you."

She snorted and nudged at him a bit, which she did every time he would say things like that that embarrassed her.

She loved the butterflies, though.

They both looked out to the moon that seemed to shine extra bright on this, their wedding night.

"This moment, right here—" she said quietly, "this is as perfect as it gets…"

"I have to ask," Gaara said again after a few moments. "You missed your final exam to come here. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Sakura giggled and smiled cheekily.

"Oh, I don't mind. Kakashi-sensei's exam was our last, and I heard he didn't even show up!"

(^A.H^)

"Congratulations!"

The collective cheers of friends, family, and faculty rang throughout the auditorium. Graduation hats flying from left to right blinded many of the patrons within the building. As the hats came high and began to come down, the members of Konoha high's graduating class quickly began to shout and cheer, embracing friends and one another in their red graduation gowns.

"Congratulations once again to this year's graduating class!" Tsunade's booming voice came over the microphone. She stood on the stage in a tan suit, various faculty members standing around and behind her.

"Now, go forth, and make your mark on the world!"

The students scurried around, scrambling to grab their caps but also to, most importantly, find their loved ones.

The early Saturday morning graduation ceremony had gone off well. The seniors of Konoha high, all draped in red caps and gowns, breathed a collective sigh of relief that all their hard work over the years had finally come to an end.

The auditorium, used almost exclusively for ceremonies, bustled with friends and family who hurried to come down to the floor to meet their graduate.

Ino scrambled around, stepping away from her spot in alphabetical order to find the others. She twisted around, looking from student to student until she spotted Sakura and Hinata standing next to each other, talking.

Ino squealed as she rushed over to them in her tan platform heels. The girls quickly looked over, easily hearing here amongst the bustling crowd.

"Oh my gosh girls! We did it!" she squealed as she jumped on Sakura's back. Sakura stumbled over before she turned back and glared.

"Jeez pig! You're gonna knock me off my feet!"

"Oh whatever!" Ino smiled cheekily, her arms still draped behind Sakura and over her shoulders, "we did it Hina!"

Hinata giggled as Sakura forcibly removed Ino off her back, to which she huffed at.

"We sure did, Ino!"

"Hey! There you guys are!"

The three girls turned around to see Naruto, Tenten, and Gaara walking up together.

Naruto quickly rushed up and swept Hinata up from under her bottom and twirled her around.

"Hinata-chaaaan!"

"Naruto-kun!" she laughed as he twisted her around a bit more before bringing her down, beaming as the other two found their way over.

"I stayed awake the entire ceremony Hinata-chan, can you believe it?!"

Hinata laughed and put her hand on his cheek.

"I'm glad Naruto-kun!"

"He barely held it together," Tenten rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as Gaara stepped over to Sakura and leaned down to kiss her.

"Gaara and I could practically hear him snoring in our section."

"Tenten! Don't tell them that!" Naruto groaned, to which the girls laughed at.

"I'm so glad this is over!" Ino groaned, stretching her back.

"The sleep I've gotten over the last couple days is criminal!"

"Well look at that Ino," Sakura smiled, leaned against Gaara with his arm around her shoulder.

"You narrowly managed to graduate. I always knew you would just barely make it there."

"Why thank you," Ino smiled with a curtsy of her gown. Which Sakura in turn rolled her eyes at.

"Are we done, is it time to go yet?" a voice came from behind Ino. She and the others turned to see Shikamaru emerge from the crowd, yawning loudly.

"There you are!" Ino yelled, her hands on her hips.

"Some valedictorian speech that was!" she chastised, "everyone did fine and now we're done. That's all." she said in a voice mocking him while waving her hands.

"Did you even have a speech prepared?!"

"What do you want from me, gimmie a break," he sighed, "I told them I didn't wanna give a speech in the first place."

"I would've done a way better job than that if I was valedictorian," Sakura grumbled with her arms crossed, "just saying."

"I suppose we should go find our families now," Hinata pointed out with most of them there.

"Where did Megami and Sasuke disappear to?" Tenten questioned, looking around.

"Plus, I also need to find N—"

"There you are," a voice came from behind her. The others looked behind her but before she could fully turn around, the source of the voice had already gripped her hand in theirs.

"I've been looking all over for you," Neji said calmly as she turned around to meet his eyes. He stood with his gown unzipped already, a white shirt and black tie beneath it.

"Come on, we need to go," he said. Without waiting for her to respond, he began to lead her through people.

"Huh? Hey! Go where?! Slow down!"

Her voice disappeared into the others walking around as the rest of the group stood by.

"Well, I guess that answers that," Shikamaru said.

"Ino honeeey!"

The group looked over to Ino's mother, standing off to the side, waving with Inoichi and Yuki beside her.

"There's my mom! I'm going to go say hi! Let's meet back in a few! We still need to do our last thing!" Ino beamed, grabbing Shikamaru's hand as she began her jog over to her family.

"Guess that means the same for us," Sakura laughed, "come on, I'm sure we'll run into Sasuke and Megami along the way!"

Naruto and Hinata nodded as they followed Gaara and Sakura into the crowd.

Elsewhere, Neji led Tenten through the throng of people, towards the other side of the auditorium.

"Hey! Hyuga, where are you leading me?" Tenten frowned after her initial couple attempts at asking him had failed. Still, he said nothing.

"My feet are killing me so I'm gonna need to sit down in a sec!" she barked, "wherever you're going you'd better hurry up, I still need to find my—"

"Tenten! Sweetheart!"

Tenten looked up and past Neji who walked straight ahead. She found her mother in a royal blue dress, standing by a wall right outside the crowd of students and family. She waved both of her hands to get their attention. Beside her, Senso towered above her in a firm solid stance with his hands fisted on his hips.

"Mom! Hey!" Tenten called as they closed in on their parents.

"Neji, hey! Are you alright?" she tried to say loudly in a whisper as they approached her parents. He said nothing but she could see the blank expression on his face.

"Congratulations sweetie!" Kagome exclaimed as she quickly brought Tenten into a hug once Neji released her hand and stepped to the side.

"Thanks mom," Tenten smiled as she hugged her back tightly.

Kagome released from her after a second, smiling as she stepped to side for Senso to step up.

"Tenten, my little girl," his booming voice broke through the people behind them. He put his hand on top of her head, nearly covering it entirely with his single hand.

"I'm so proud of you, ladybug," he said, though his voice was deep and intimidating, the whimper behind it as he smiled bright through his mustache and beard at her.

"Thanks dad," Tenten laughed a bit again as she took his hand from her head, "but please don't cry like you did at my middle school graduation, you'll embarrass me!"

"Okay, I'll try my best," he said firmly, though she could clearly see him fighting back tears, to which her mother laughed at.

"Look at your dad, such an old softie!" she laughed as she slapped his shoulder.

"Come on dad! You're doing it again!" Tenten whined.

"I'm sorry, sorry," Senso sniffed as he wiped his eyes.

"Do you know where Megami is? Neji was the one who found us," Kagome beamed, "we'd have been at a loss looking for you girls! He offered to find you and bring you directly to us!"

"Did he now…" Tenten mumbled as she looked over to Neji who stood calmly. Their eyes locked, and it did not take much staring for her to understand his intentions.

"Where's your sister? We've got to congratulate her too!" Kagome beamed as she looked from side to side.

"Actually…mom, dad, before we do that…" Tenten's spoke with a crack in her voice, the nerves in her voice evident.

"There's…um…there's something…" she said nervously as her parents looked at her curiously.

"What's the matter, Tenten?" Senso asked sternly.

"Is everything okay?" Kagome asked, concerned.

"I…"

Tenten let out a breath and closed her eyes, bawling her fists. Before she could open them up again, she felt a hand slip over her fist and cradle it.

She opened her eyes and turned to see Neji standing right beside her, his face serious and his hand in hers. Her heart seemed to race a little less with him beside her.

"There is something Tenten and I wish to share with you both," Neji said, before turning to her with an encouraging look.

Her parents looked from him and then back to Tenten who, with new confidence, looked straight at them as she gripped Neji's hand.

"Mom, dad, I'm…I'm pregnant. Neji and I are going to have a baby."

Kagome audibly gasped and put her hand to her mouth, while Senso on the other hand seemed to lock in place.

"I don't know if this is the most appropriate place to tell you," she grumbled, shooting Neji a glaring glance.

"But I guess now is as good a time as ever."

"Senso-sama, Kagome-sama," Neji stepped up to speak as Kagome put her hands down.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure Tenten and our baby are taken care of, and that I will be there for them in anyway I can. I am even going to be attending university near Ame, so that I can be close to Tenten while she is at home."

Tenten shot her head to him, shock and surprise clear on her face, though Neji's expression did not change.

"I love her very much. I promise I will protect her."

Tenten gripped his hand further as she looked away from him. Her nerves were temporarily masked by the flutter that came from the words he spoke. She knew he meant every word.

There was a tangible silence between the four of them for a moment before Kagome took a deep breath that sounded like her body was preparing a scream. Tenten flinched back in preparation for this.

"I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother! Tennie!" she cried as she lunged onto Tenten, nearly causing her to fall over.

"Oh sweetheart! I'm so happy!"

"Really mom?" Tenten inquired, muffled beneath her mother's hug.

"Of course!" Kagome beamed as she pulled back slightly from her strong hug.

"It's been so long since I've had a baby around! I missed it so much! Although it's a tad bit earlier than my already graying hairs would have liked—" she groaned a bit, rubbing her hair before smiling again, "that just means I'll have more energy to chase them around!"

"Yeah," Tenten laughed shyly as her mother embraced her again.

She took another deep breath and this time released halfway to meet Tenten with a gentle smile.

"And, as long as you're happy and in good hands, we'll be there for you."

"Thank you, mom," Tenten let out a heavy breath, her eyes glistening.

"Isn't that right, Senso?" Kagome beamed as she twisted back around to her husband.

Senso stood looming for a moment, a stoic expression on his face.

Kagome, still beaming, moved to the side as he took what sounded like heavy steps up to Tenten and stood in front of her. Tenten looked up at him with doe eyes, unsure of what to expect from him.

"Tenten." his deep voice came, making her flinch for just a second.

"Yes daddy?" she whimpered a bit, regressing as if she had just got in trouble as a child.

"My ladybug…is no longer a little ladybug!"

His sudden cries caught both Tenten and Neji off guard, while Kagome continued to smile with her hands on her hips.

"First you graduate and now this?! My little girl has stopped being little right before my eyes!"

"Dad," Tenten sighed with a smile as waterfall tears fell from her father's eyes.

"Daddy," she said as she put her arms around his waist, where she could reach.

"I'm still your little girl. This doesn't change anything," she reassured, "I'll always be your same little girl."

"I know, bug," he sighed as he wiped his face and put his large arms around her.

"You're making me feel like an old man in all of this," he chuckled, "but I am here for you, Tenie-Ten. I always will be," he said as he squeezed her.

A few tears slipped from Tenten's eyes as she and her father embraced. The relief that poured over her washed away and was replaced by the unconditional love of her parents.

Her father released her and patted her head. Kagome stepped up and took Tenten's hands in hers as she began to speak and step away, while in turn, Senso turned around to face Neji.

A big smile sat on Senso's face as he looked down to Neji who stood his ground. Despite both their seemingly cool exteriors, Neji was not foolish enough to believe the smile on Senso's face was a genuine one.

"Hyuga…my boy…" he said as he dropped his hands on Neji's shoulders, which he quickly weakened under.

"Sir…" Neji cleared his throat, trying to stand straight under his grip.

"You'll take care of my little girl, won't you?" Senso smiled wildly as he leaned down to meet Neji's level.

"I-I assure you sir. I-I will never hurt your daughter," Neji grit his teeth as he spoke.

Senso chuckled as he stood up straight.

"Good."

Before he could see it coming, Senso bawled his left fist and delivered a swift punch to Neji's gut.

Neji gasped and buckled over, the fist still in place as he coughed aloud. He shivered, holding his stomach as Senso removed his fist and used the hand to hold Neji up by his hair. He made a noise of pain as he looked up at Senso with just one eye open.

"I trust you won't, son," Senso smiled again before he used his free hand to deliver a swift punch to Neji's left cheek, knocking him to the ground.

"Dad! What the hell are you doing!" Tenten yelled as she and her mother made their way back.

Senso boasted a laugh as Neji struggled to get on his feet.

"Just testing the boys reflexes! You'll need to work on those if you expect to make a decent father!" Senso smiled with a thumbs up.

Kagome giggled as Tenten rolled her eyes and leaned down to help Neji up.

As she did, elsewhere, closer to the middle of the auditorium floor, Sakura stood with Gaara, speaking to her parents.

"…and a wedding and a graduation are a lot to squeeze into two days. Although your resilience to do all these things never fails to amaze me, Sakura," Ao said as Yoko smiled beside him.

"I trust you to make the best choices for your future, and that you two will remain strong together."

"Thank you, dad," Sakura smiled.

"Thank you, Dr. Haruno," Gaara nodded.

"Yoko and I will get going, we'll see you at dinner tonight."

"Goodbye, Sakura, Gaara. Congrats again!" Yoko smiled as she hugged Sakura tightly.

"Thanks mom, I'll see you guys!" Sakura waved as her parents began making their way out through the people.

"Sakura! Gaara!" Ino called from one side, jogging up to them still with Shikamaru in tow.

"Hey, my parents just left," Sakura said as Ino caught up to them.

"Mine are around, I told them I'd find them later once we've found Shika's parents! Where is everyone else?"

"Over here!"

They turned to see Naruto and Hinata making their way over once again. By now the crowd of families had begun to disperse, making it easier to see everyone in the sea of people.

"Hey guys, how'd it go for you?" Ino asked with her hands on her hips.

"Awesome! Ran into Jiraiya and Tsunade-sensei!" Naruto smiled cheekily.

"My father took to Paris well," Hinata smiled, "I think he actually felt happier about it knowing Naruto-kun was going to be there with me."

"Surprised the hell out of me!" Naruto beamed with his hands behind his head, "I surely thought he was gonna kick my ass!"

"Well, that's good," Sakura laughed, "any sign of the others?"

"Here I am!" Tenten called, waving as she dragged Neji similarly behind her.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Naruto pointed out immediately to the limp Neji with a bruise already forming around his cheek and eye.

"My dad happened," Tenten sighed.

"Ah," Sakura sighed, "told them about the baby?"

"Sure did," Tenten smiled, "they took it way better than I expected!"

"Yeah, maybe for you," Neji growled as he held his stomach and face with both hands.

"Well, that's all good and fun, but don't we have one more thing we have to do?" Ino asked, "where the hell are Sasuke and Megami?!"

"Yes, I haven't seen either of them," Hinata frowned, "I wonder where they are."

"I might have a guess," Tenten shrugged, "I can't know for sure though. Let's go take a look."

The girls nodded as they picked up their feet and began following Tenten. Naruto rushed with them while Shikamaru and Gaara paced behind them.

Through the crowd, as she jogged behind Tenten, Ino noticed a familiar face through the crowd. Time seemed to stop as the figure locked eyes with her, dawned in their own cap and gown and standing at the edge of the crowd away from everyone.

Sai gave a small smile as Ino swiftly passed. She offered back a simple nod of acknowledgement, nothing more, nothing less, to him, before continuing on her way with the girls.

That chapter was done, she knew that. He knew that. Now, she looked ahead as he disappeared behind her.

Directly outside of the auditorium and behind the school, away from the crowd of people and bustling graduation noise, stood a single lone figure on the football field.

She stood right in the middle of the field. Her graduation gown, her short white dress, and her blood red hair blew in the soft wind as she stood with her hands behind her back and her eyes shut.

Megami took deep breaths as she absorbed the morning. She faced the sun as she took all she can of all the feelings that had crossed her over the past year. All that was lost, and all that was gained. Though many emotions still consumed her heart, and there was a long road of healing ahead for her and everyone, she couldn't help but stop to appreciate the peace she felt in her heart. The silence on the field and the gentle winds made her feel like her soul was ready to take flight.

The peace she had been searching for so long. If this was as close as she could get, she felt as if she come along way to make it here.

A few feet from her, Sasuke stood in his own unzipped graduation gown, a white shirt, black pants, and dark blue tie beneath it. He watched her with his hands in his pockets, giving her the moment to herself she desired as they had quickly slipped out as soon as the ceremony ended.

Megami opened her eyes and stared out into the empty field as she heard faint sounds behind her. She smiled as she felt the rays of the sun beat on her, knowing that it was her parents love that was beaming down on her. The warmth she felt told her everything she needed to know.

They were happy, and they were proud.

"Megami!"

"Uzumaki!"

"Mega! Hey!"

She twisted around with a bright smile on her face, barely able to say a word before the girls jumped on her.

The girls laughed as they all fell to the ground on top of each other. Behind them, Naruto jogged up to Sasuke, smiling as the rest of the boys made their way over across the field.

"Where the hell were you Megami?! We've been looking for you guys!" Ino exclaimed.

"What are you doing out here, Mega?" Hinata asked as the girls stood up together.

"I just wanted to take in all in for a second."

"The fact that you graduated? It's insane, I know," Sakura sighed, rubbing her temple.

"No!" Megami pouted, "not that! Just, all of it."

She smiled sadly, looking down for a moment.

"Just…everything changing…I just wanted a second to soak it up."

"Hey! What's changing?!" Tenten smiled cheekily, "We're still Alpha!"

Megami looked up to the girls who all smiled brightly.

"So, what if we go to different schools," Ino shrugged, "I'm still gonna call you guys every day and tell you about my outfit! You think I'd stop that?"

"I'll be sending lots of letters," Hinata beamed, "there's so many French treats I want you girls to try! I'll make sure to send those too!"

"And you think a baby is gonna stop me from kicking your ass at soccer? You wish! I'm gonna raise the kid to kick your ass too!" Tenten proclaimed.

"I don't know girls," Sakura sighed with her arms crossed, "medical school and running a country? I don't think I'm gonna have time for you anymore."

The girls all looked at her for a moment seriously before the five collectively burst into laughter.

Tenten put her arm around Megami's shoulder.

"See Mega. Don't get too much into your head. Just because we won't be living together anymore or going to the same school doesn't mean this thing we've built for years is gonna fade away! We're Alpha! We're better than that! Besides—"

She pointed behind her to the five boys that had collected together.

"—we're all gonna have to deal with those idiots for a long time!"

Megami smiled bright, though tears clearly formed in her eyes. It was Hinata who stepped forward and wrapped her into her arms in a hug.

"This isn't the end of it, Megami. We'll always be together. All of us, you know that," Hinata said softly as tears sprung down Megami's eyes.

She sniffled in Hinata's shoulder, though still looking up with a smile.

"I know…I know. I love you girls so much!"

The girls gave their collective responses as they brought each other into one big hug. They took a moment, holding one another together as they had over the last so many years of their friendship.

The boys silently watched as the girls stood in a silent caress.

Neji stepped up to Sasuke, holding his stomach. Sasuke side glanced to him, noticing his hand on his stomach and the bruise that had started to form on his face.

"Told her dad about the pregnancy, huh."

"Yup," Neji coldly snapped back.

Sasuke smirked without looking at him.

"Figures."

"Alright! That's enough feelings for one school year!" Tenten chanted as the girls released, each wiping away their own set of tears.

"We still have something we need to do! Naruto, are you ready?"

"Ready!" Naruto called as he prepared a song on his phone.

"Neji! Are you ready?!" she shouted.

Neji grumbled as he tapped the video call on his phone and clicked a familiar number before he faced it towards the girls.

"Ready."

The phone rang just a single time before someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello girls!" Kurenai's exhausted voice came back to them. Through the call they could see that she was tired and bed ridden. Though she seemed happy as she caressed the baby girl in her hands that she had delivered the day before.

"Are you ready for your final exam?"

"Ready!" the girls said together as they dropped their gowns on the football field, standing in in short dresses of their individual signature colors. They positioned themselves to sing and dance.

The boys stood in place to watch as Neji held his cheek with one hand, and Kurenai on the phone with the other, while Naruto began the music.

The selfish taker who said I was young!

For some reason he told me he loved me and kissed me today!

My face got red and my shocked eyes got big!

My nervous lips were blue like the waves!

I could not say anything because I was so shocked!

While I was thinking whether I should get mad or laugh!

Don't make fun of me because I'm young.

I couldn't talk because I was shy.

Don't make fun of me because I'm young. Its just words that pass on by.

The selfish taker who said I was young.

For some reason he told me he loved me and kissed me today

I could not say anything because I was so shocked.

While I was thinking whether I should get mad or laugh

Don't make fun of me because I'm young. I couldn't talk because I was shy.

Don't make fun of me because I'm young. Its just words that pass on by.

Even your small flaws

seem to move me.

ohh I look like a fool but I don't know

I'm going where my heart is going

Don't make fun of me because I'm young. ohh You don't know me.

Don't make fun of me because I'm young

Don't make fun of me because I'm young (Don't make fun of me). I couldn't talk because I was shy.

Don't make fun of me because I'm young (Don't make fun of me). It's just words that pass by.

Don't make fun of me because I'm young (You don't know). I couldn't talk because I was shy (I couldn't talk).

Don't make fun of me because I'm young. Its just words that pass on by

Don't make fun of me because I'm young!

The girls stood in a pose, breathing heavily in the end as Kurenai clapped.

"Very well-done ladies! The best, just like I always expect!"

The girls turned and smiled at each other wildly.

"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei!" the girls said all together.

"I'll make the update to your grades soon. For now, I have to take care of this little one," she smiled down to her baby.

"All of you, have a great summer!"

The girls waved together as the call dropped.

Neji put his phone back in his pocket as the boys gathered together again.

"So, what now then?" Ino asked curiously as the girls turned again to look at each other.

Megami turned to look at the boys standing together and then back to the girls. A bright smile lit up her face. The girls looked at her inquisitively for a moment before smiles came on their faces and they looked at her knowingly.

"I have a pretty good idea!"

She girls giggled as they took each other's hands and began running over to the few feet away where the boys stood. All five boys looked in front of them, curious as the girls ran to them.

Their hands only released when the girls got close enough to jump onto each of their significant others.

The members of Omega quickly caught the giggling girls, each surprised, like they had been before, as the girls embraced them and all, simultaneously, kissed the boys who had stolen their hearts forever.

(^AbsoluteHell ^)

"Come on! Hurry up you guys! We don't have all day!" Sakura barked, a clipboard in her hand as she stood in hot pink shorts and a white tank top.

Ino groaned as she dragged her large purple suitcase out of the house, standing in black shorts and a yellow top tied at the middle to make it a crop top.

Looking at the morning cold, that I love,

breathing so hard, that I tried to run in

great speed, as a result, I got mix shoes

"Hey forehead!" Ino barked as she stopped in the middle of the Alpha house walkway, gasping for breath as Sasuke passed her to go inside, dressed in a dark blue tank top and black cargo shorts with a silver watch and dark sunglasses.

"Instead of delegating like you always do, why don't you do some of the heavy lifting?"

"Because, pig," Sakura said casually looking down at her board, "my stuff is already packed and inside the bus, so I'm here to make sure you don't freak out over forgetting a lipstick or something."

Ino frowned and crossed her arms as she looked at the open door and windows of the tour bus.

Inside she could see Tenten slumped on the couch inside the bus, relaxed and sipping on a juice by a window as the majority of Omega made their way in and out of the tour bus situated in front of the Alpha household.

"Well, Tenten is just sitting inside in the AC! What's her excuse?!"

"Baby inside me, can't lift things," Tenten shrugged as she called over waving in a green crop top and brown shorts. Sakura motioned over to her as a way of confirming the excuse.

"Oh yeah whatever! Like that's ever stopped you!" Ino huffed as Sasuke came back outside with a suitcase of Megami's on his shoulder. He barely stopped as he grabbed Ino's bag and slumped it on his other shoulder as he kept walking.

"Ah! Thank you, Sasuke! You're the sweetest!" Ino hummed as she skipped down the walkway. Sakura rolled her eyes as she skipped by her towards the tour bus.

Have you noticed, that in

my dream, someday I could

show to you my attitude,

the color of the sky, just like in a prophecy.

Sasuke made his way over to the back of the bus where a large compartment sat storing all their various bags. Inside the compartment he found Shikamaru fast asleep, snoring as he lay in khaki shorts and a green tank top. Sasuke kicked him awake, starting him up with a jolt as he looked around.

"Huh? What? Are we on the road yet?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Not quite," Sasuke said back as he dropped bags in next to him while Shikamaru struggled to climb out.

As he did, Sasuke looked up and banged on the side tour bus as if to get someone's attention.

"Yo! Naruto! You'd better get down. We're gonna get going soon."

Naruto sat up from the roof of the tour bus where he had been sunbathing under the Sunday morning rays. He sat in an orange T-shirt and black cargo shorts.

"Alright! I'm coming!" he called as he jumped down the side of the bus.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called suddenly from the front door, dressed in a soft purple tube top and jean shorts.

"Would you please come help me carry the lunches?!"

"Coming!" Naruto beamed as he ran up the walkway and past Sakura who remained concentrated on her list.

Those things are not mean,

even in your tiniest lips, you laughed

Even if I don't know the meaning,

I tried to leave, ran and lean to that shadow.

She hardly looked up as Gaara made his way over her, dressed in a black shirt and dark red shorts despite the morning heat.

"Are we sure we packed the beach towels?" she asked, "and ice, are you sure we'll have enough until we make it to Osaka? Also, where the hell is the emergency med kit? Did anyone remember to pack that?!" Sakura called back to the bus.

"Sakura, perhaps you should take a break," Gaara suggested, "I think we've just about packed everything anyway."

"No way! I can't relax until I've gone through everything in the checklist!" she assured, "if we forget anything—"

"—We can get it on the road, Sakura, it will be alright," Gaara gave a small smile, gently taking the clipboard from her hand, which she reached out for.

"Give it back!" she jumped for it, "I need my checklist!"

He gave a rare, small chuckle as he held it up.

"You'll make a fine queen yet."

Sakura beat red as she grabbed her checklist back and cleared her throat.

"Come on you guys! Time's a wasting!"

Even if I'm unreliable, just hug and hold tight

cause you'll be repeating it.

Naruto and Hinata rushed out of the house, carrying containers of food as they laughed and scurried to the tour bus just as Sasuke slammed the luggage door closed.

"Gah! It's so hot out there!" Naruto gasped as he and Hinata climbed in to meet Tenten with her feet up, basking in the air conditioning, and Ino, filing her nails in an opposite seat beside Shikamaru who had made his way into the bus only to fall asleep on the seat beside her.

"It feels awesome in here!" Naruto sighed in relief as he and Hinata made their way to the kitchen area.

Neji stood up straight after having a word with their driver, himself dressed in a dark purple V-neck shirt and gray shorts with black wrist bands.

"Alright, he said aloud, "we should be ready to go in a few minutes."

"Nejiii," Tenten wined, putting her feet up to him as she sat nearby where he stood.

"Am I gonna get that foot rub you promised? My feet are killing me!"

Neji rolled his eyes and gently pushed her wiggling feet away from him.

"I will when we get on the road."

"But I need it noow!" Tenten whined, putting her feet back up to him.

He gently put them down again as he sighed.

"You're gonna ride this pregnancy thing for as long as you can, huh?"

"Yup!" she beamed, wiggling her feet at him.

Even if I'm unreliable and clumsy, take a slow dance

I want to sway and dance with you.

Neji rolled his eyes again as he sat down in the seat beside her, just as Sakura and Gaara climbed on.

"Alright, I think that's everything," Sakura looked over her list as Gaara walked past her.

"If we leave now, we should be able to get to Yokohama before long and still have a few hours to spare before the CD signing."

"Sounds like we've got a new manager for the summer," Neji smirked as he rubbed Tenten's feet.

"All that we have left is…hey, where the hell is Megami?" Sakura turned, looking around.

"Inside," Ino called as she gently nudged at Shikamaru.

"She said she had to find something important!"

She frowned as her pokes didn't work. Instead, she elected to nudge him hard in his side, which jolted him awake again.

"Huh?! What?! Are we on the road?" he yawned, looking around. Ino snickered.

"No, not yet!"

"Well then, wake me up when we are," he yawned as he put his head back down.

"Better yet, wake me up when we're in a new city."

Ino rolled her eyes as he was snoring within a minute again. She smiled softly and rested her hand on his back.

I should not be left alone too

I want to convey these feelings and overtake the next season

til' dusk, I want to leave these feeling just like it's melting.

"God damn that Megami, she's gonna put us behind schedule!" Sakura growled as she put her clipboard down and leaned out the window.

"Megami Uzumaki Namikaze! Hurry your ass up or we'll be leaving without you!" Sakura yelled towards the front door of the Alpha household.

"Okay okay! Here I come!" Megami yelled as she sprinted out the door. The last to leave, she turned around to lock it, but not before glancing at the group photo of the girls that sat on the nightstand by the door, one of them freshman year of high school.

Dressed in a white tank top and red shorts, Megami smiled with Mr. Bear in one hand as she took one more long look at the photo before shutting the door and rushing to the waiting, running bus.

Sasuke stood outside the tour bus and waited for her to enter before he followed her inside. The doors shut behind them as the entire group now stood in the large, newly renovated bus, the same they had taken up to Hokkaido once upon a time.

"What were you looking for Mega?" Tenten asked, situated up.

"Mr. Bear of course!" Megami yelled, "we were playing hide and seek but he wasn't ready to leave just yet, so he hid for too long!"

Tenten rolled her eyes and laughed a bit.

"Sure he did."

Even if I'm unreliable, just hug and hold tight

cause you'll be repeating it.

"Does anyone want a snack? I made more than enough food to last us the drive to Yokohama," Hinata asked as she came to the seating area of the tour bus where most of the group sat ready.

"Oh! Me Hinata-chan! Me!"

"Naruto-kun, you already had three of the sandwiches I packed," Hinata giggled.

"Oh! Sorry Hinata-chan!" he blushed as he scratched the back of his head.

"I can't help it! I just love your cooking so much! I can't wait to eat it all the time in Paris!"

Hinata blushed as she came to sit on his lap with the rest of the group.

"I can't wait to cook for you all the time either, Naruto-kun," she said shyly.

I looked up to that endless one.

"You guys better hold off on the husband-and-wife shtick, we already have one married couple to deal with!" Tenten teased as Neji came to seat behind her with both their legs up, caressing her belly.

Naruto and Hinata blushed just as Sakura did seated hand in hand with Gaara, who remained relaxed.

"Hey! Screw you!" Sakura called while Tenten stuck her tongue out and laughed.

"This summer tour is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to buy a new outfit in every city!" Ino squealed, clapping her hands, which jolted Shikamaru awake again for a third time, to his annoyance and exhaustion.

"This is going to be the best summer ever!"

Sasuke stood and knocked on the wall beside him to alert the driver that they were ready to go.

Even if I'm unreliable, just hug and hold tight

cause you'll be repeating it.

The group chatted collectively as they tour bus began to move and start its descent out of the neighborhood.

Megami smiled and looked out to everyone. Sakura tapped her clipboard, yelling to make sure no one had forgotten anything while Gaara looked over emails.

Ino talked loudly with her hands about her shopping plans to Hinata who laughed and listened. Beside them, Naruto scarfed down a sandwich and called out to see if anyone wanted to play a game with him on the playstation, while Shikamaru struggled to get back to sleep.

Tenten tiredly ignored Sakura's plights and rested her head on Neji's chest, which he in turn calmly rested his head on her shoulder.

Megami's wide smile remained as Sasuke came back to sit next to her, reading material in his hand as he noticed the look on her face.

"Everything okay?" he asked among the chattering group.

Megami nodded rapidly.

"Yeah, everything's okay!"

Even if unreliable and clumsy, take a slow dance

Even if I'm a little shaky, I tried to dance.

Sasuke nodded and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead before turning back to his book.

Megami turned around and sat up to look out the window just as the bus began to go down the residential street.

She watched as the house that had become their home over the past year faded into the distance. It would be abandoned until near the end of the summer when the girls would make their return, but only to pack up the rest of their things for good.

Her heart fluttered as she watched the house disappear. She clutched Mr. Bear in her one hand, and gripped Sasuke's hand in another.

Although there was sadness in her heart as she thought about all the things that would be different once their summer was over, she felt also a sense of new beginnings to follow their odd group, and she knew that, no matter where they ended up, they would always find each other, surely in another insane situation like they so often found themselves in.

Those things are not mean,

even in your tiniest lips, you laughed

I should not be left alone too

Those things are not mean.

Megami smiled as she leaned out the window, her hair blew in the wind as they picked up speed.

Her heart was filled with excitement for the next round of adventures that awaited them.

Thank you so much for reading! Please look out for an author's note soon! (: