Chapter 27

After Ino and Sai's wedding, things went back to normal for a few weeks.

I was sore for days after Sasuke and I finally did it, but eventually healed and felt as though our relationship was stronger than ever. The prince didn't change much in how he spoke or acted around me, but something in the air just felt different, like he was being more attentive.

The newlyweds left on a secret honeymoon and none of us knew where they were headed, but my sister assured me she'd be safe in her new husband's care. Sai was immediately enamored by my sister upon her arrival at the castle, but I noticed in the short amount of time that I'd seen them before they left that his adoration had increased even further.

I'd sent a strongly worded letter to my mother regarding her absence from her own daughter's wedding. Ino didn't bring it up and when I tried to talk to her about it she swore she didn't care, but I know her better than that and could tell she was hurting. Of course, I received no response to said letter and Naruto even wrote to me to report she'd thrown it away without even opening it.

Her actions made my blood boil, not for me, but for Ino. She'd taken care of both me and my mother when we had no other source of income, earning money by making and selling clothing. The least my mother could do was send her a congratulatory letter if she didn't want to come to the wedding, but no. She didn't even do that.

I was angry to the point that I made it known to Sasuke that I intended on visiting my old home to confront her on the subject. He, of course, argued that it was stupid to leave the castle for such a trivial matter, but he also wouldn't understand a situation like this since his own mother supported his every decision whole-heartedly.

I made plans with Hinata to visit, happy to be helpful in sneaking her out of her strict home to visit Naruto, whom she finally confessed to Tenten and I that she was incredibly interested in, as if we didn't already know. She intended to confess to him on our little trip to the lower class region of the city and was even thinking about offering him a job somewhere in the upper class area so they could see each other more easily and often.

According to her letter, Neji convinced her father she was assisting him in court, which came as a great shock to me. Perhaps the young Hyuga man was starting to lighten up.

The day finally arrived for our trip and I dressed down in one of the dresses Ino'd made for me from back home so I wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. As I was braiding my hair over my shoulder in the mirror, I felt Sasuke move behind me and place his hands on my hips. My body naturally pressed against him and my stomach flipped with glee.

I looked up at his reflection and smiled as I tied a hair-tie around the end of the braid and turned around in his arms to embrace him, "You don't need to worry. I grew up in that area."

He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips, not replying vocally, but releasing his hold and leading me out of the room and down into the family room area, where Hinata and two members of the Militia were waiting to escort me to my home.

I gave him a small wave before turning and leaving the castle on my own for the first time in a very long time. He'd initially wanted to come along, but his father was having a few guests over that he wanted Itachi and Sasuke to meet.

The militia members guarded us as we rode in a carriage similar to the one that'd delivered me here so long ago. Once we finally reached the decorative stone wall, we ditched the ride, Hinata waved off our guards, and then pulled her hood up over her head so as to hide her hair and unique eye color from any potential onlookers.

We walked in silence for a few moments before I finally took notice of her fidgeting fingers, "Are you okay, Hinata?"

The shorter girl looked over at me with a small blush on her pale skin, "I-I'm just nervous, is all. What if Naruto doesn't want to be with me because of how different we are?"

I shook my head at her, "I've known him almost my entire life and I've never seen him act the way he does when he's with you."

She looked back down at her fidgeting hands, face burning slightly brighter, "I care about him..."

If she came to me with this a year ago, I would've told her then and there that she should give up on all of it because of the impossibility of their differing circumstances, but after seeing how happy Ino looked during her wedding and how well things were turning out with Sasuke, I now like to believe that they really could make it work.

Things quieted back down between us as we crossed from the middle class area into the lower class area and had to be more careful not to draw attention to ourselves just in case some thugs or militia got the wrong idea about us.

To my surprise, the amount of animosity in the streets was much lower than the last time I'd been this far south and we even had a pair of Militia members nod at us in greeting as we passed by them. Perhaps the king's plans to change things in Konoha had finally started to be implemented.

As we finally turned the corner to the street my home was located on, my jaw dropped. Both mine and Naruto's family homes were completely razed to the ground. Nothing but charred remains and ashes lay in their place, but nothing was still smoking or anything so it was clear whatever had occurred hadn't happened today.

I rushed over and tried to step past the barrier made of tape around the large lot, but a militia member stopped me, "Ma'am, this area is blocked off. You may not enter."

His voice was low and laced with an authority that made it hard to argue, but I did anyway, "This is my house! What happened?!"

"Sakura! Is that you?"

Turning away from the soldier, I saw the familiar red hair of Kushina Uzumaki. I ran up to her and accepted her hug before pulling back and gesturing to the remains of her home, "What's going on?"

She looked at where her bakery once stood with a sad look on her tanned face, "Someone burnt our homes down during church on Sunday. When we came home, they were already beyond saving."

She turned to look down at me, cupping my face in her hands briefly before pulling me into another motherly hug, "Oh, Sakura, I'm so sorry you found out this way."

Her eyes landed on Hinata, who was standing in silence a few feet away, not wanting to interrupt our reunion, "Oh! It's the pretty girl my Naruto was dancing with at the wedding. You must be Hinata, right?"

The Hyuga heiress nodded with a shy smile, offering a hand for the woman to shake, "It's nice to f-finally meet you, Ma'am."

Kushina let me go and pulled the timid girl into a tight hug, "We don't do handshakes around here, pretty girl!"

I smiled at Hinata's bright red face and decided to rescue her from Kushina's overbearing affection, "Do you know where I can find Mom?"

The redheaded woman released Hinata, who put a hand to her chest to try and calm herself, and turned back to me with her hands on her hips, "That woman...we've been staying with Kiba's family while we try and find somewhere else to stay, but your mother refused to join us despite Tsume inviting her more than once. I'm sorry, but I haven't heard from her since Sunday."

Worry etched itself into my bones. Even if she'd gotten to be quite terrible as of late, she's still my mother and I hold a lot of love for her.

Hinata quickly moved over to my side, "D-do you know where we might start looking for her?"

Kushina put her hands on her own cheeks with a grin, "Oh, aren't you just the sweetest! My Naruto knows how to pick a good girl, doesn't he?"

She motioned for us to follow her, "Lets stop by the Inuzuka's to get you girls something to drink and then we'll help you look."

We followed her in silence. Hinata started fidgeting with her hands again, only stopping now and then to fix her hair even though it was as perfect as always. When we finally reached Kiba's house, I saw Hinata's face light up cherry red when the sight of Kiba and Naruto chopping wood became visible. Both boys were shirtless and if they were strangers I'd even venture to say they looked very attractive.

As we approached, the two finally took notice of us and Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he tossed his ax to the side and jogged up to us, "Hinata! What are you doing here?!" His face lit up with excitement once he saw her and there was no hiding the fact he had a crush.

The girl was visibly struggling to keep her eyes on his face and covered her mouth with a hand to try and hide her shy smile, "I-I was eager t-to see you, Naruto."

His face reddened to match hers in color as he finally took notice of the fact that his sweaty torso was bare for the elegant young lady to see and she seemed to be close to fainting as a consequence.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "A-Ah! Let me freshen up real quick, sorry!"

He and Kiba went inside and we followed them. Tsume and Hana, Kiba's mother and sister, were out running errands and Naruto's father was out looking for work, so no one else was home. Kiba's father had died a few years ago in a work related incident, so women outnumbered the men in the Inuzuka home. Poor Kiba was forced to be the man of the house at a young age.

Kushina made us some tea while we waited for the boys to re-emerge from Kiba's room. "I've never seen him flustered like that, even around Ino, right Sakura?"

Naruto's mother didn't bother speaking in a hushed tone, as being blunt was a large part of her personality. We all heard Naruto's annoyed voice from the other room, "Shut up, Mom!"

Hinata and I let out varying giggles at his expense. The redheaded woman eventually poured us all a cup of tea, which we sipped while chatting idly for a few moments before the two young men finally came out to join us.

Kiba poured Naruto and himself a glass before joining us at the table. The Inuzuka seemed a bit down as a result of Ino's recent marriage, I assume, and didn't seem to be in the mood to talk or catch up so he sat in silence and listened as we all conversed.

Naruto stretched his arms above his head with a groan, "So you're looking for your mom?"

His hair was damp from the quick shower he'd taken and Hinata seemed to be struggling not to stare. I nodded, looking down into my glass teacup with a frown, "It'll be hard to look for her, too. She never really goes anywhere but church and home."

The blonde young man nodded, "We should start looking around the church, then. Maybe someone has seen her."

I saw him accidentally lock eyes with Hinata before both of them looked away with red faces.

Kushina, always the savior, quickly kept the conversation going before it could get awkward, "I'll visit Minato and have him ask around while he's out today."

She rose to her feet before cleaning up her mess and brushing her hands off on her apron, "You all stay out of trouble." She gave her son a small kiss on the head before heading out of the house to meet her husband.

Kiba rose to his feet and silently rinsed his glass in the sink. I got up and moved to stand beside him, rinsing my glass once he was finished. He glanced at me nervously and I offered him a reassuring smile and spoke in a quiet voice so as not to embarrass him in front of the other two in the room, "I'm really sorry about how things ended with Ino. I know you really liked her."

He looked stunned at my bluntness for a moment before taking my cup from my hand and rinsing it the rest of the way for me with a light tinge of pink on his dark skin, "Thanks."

Once we were done with our tea break, we headed out to search for my mother. It was already almost four in the evening and I was worried that we wouldn't find her in time to get back to the castle at a reasonable hour. Sasuke would be angry, but I was more nervous about how Hinata's family would react.

I would hate for them to come looking for her only to find her fraternizing with people like Naruto, Kiba, and I. Of course Hinata doesn't care about things like that, but her family sure does. Neji could likely only hold her father off for so long.

As we trekked up the familiar hilly road to the church, I glanced over to see Hinata and Naruto falling a step behind us so they could talk in private. I wonder if she was confessing to him now or if she'd wait for a moment they could truly be alone.

I turned to look at Kiba as he stared ahead, eyebrows furrowed in what appeared to be a deep thought, "So, is there any news on who started the fire?"

The boy nearly jumped as I broke him from his trance, but he quickly regained his wits and shook his head, "Nobody was missing at church, so it had to be someone that's not from 'round here."

My brow furrowed in worry. Was this, perhaps, the work of someone who held a grudge against Ino or I? My blood ran cold as my mind flew through terrifying possibility after possibility. Was it someone from Sunagakure? What if it was Madara? The royal menace hadn't left the castle, to my knowledge, but that doesn't mean he didn't hire someone to do it for him.

Guilt swept over me even though I didn't know for sure who committed the crime. Naruto and his family did nothing to earn that kind of treatment and yet they'd received it solely for being involved with me. I glanced back at Naruto with a sad expression, which he didn't notice as he was too busy telling Hinata some story excitedly.

We eventually arrived at the church and split up to search. I headed straight up to the preacher's office, knocking lightly on the aged door. The older man opened it slowly and seemed perplexed when his gaze landed on me, "Miss Haruno? What can I do for you this evening?"

I respectfully bowed to him, as I was taught to by my mother, before moving on to my question, "I've come in search of my mother. Have you seen or heard from her?"

The preacher, who's name I honestly couldn't recall, put a thoughtful finger to his lip as he feigned ignorance. It was immediately obvious that he knew something and was trying to fool me, but he was doing a poor job of it. "I haven't seen Mebuki since Sunday's morning service. Is everything alright?"

I studied his face carefully, "Our home was burnt to the ground during your service and I'm trying to locate her to make sure she's safe. Did you not hear about this?"

The preacher looked around the cathedral behind me as though expecting to see someone watching us before motioning for me to come closer so he could whisper to me. I did so, confused as to what could possibly be going on.

"I can't tell you who did it or my life will be in danger, but I can tell you that it wasn't your family that was targeted."

I opened my mouth to retort with a question, but the older man gave me a small push away and pretty much slammed the door to his office shut. I even heard the click of the lock snap into place on his side.

I knocked loudly on the door, all manners put aside with the importance of the situation, "You can't just say something like that then run and hide! Come out!"

The other three rushed up to me after hearing my shouts, "What happened?"

I crossed my arms angrily, "The preacher knows who started the fires, but won't tell me who."

Naruto looked bewildered and seemed about to join me in trying to beat down the wooden door, but I stopped him, "He also said the Haruno family wasn't the intended target."

All three of my companions' faces dropped in surprise. I felt the same way, confused that the Uzumaki's could be a target for anything. I tried to avert the topic quickly so Naruto couldn't get lost in his thoughts, "We still need to find my mom, though. She could be starving or hurt."

We searched and searched until there was no light left in the sky, ultimately turning up empty of even a single clue to her whereabouts. It was too late in the evening for Hinata and I to safely try to return without an escort, so Tsume and Kushina insisted we stay the night.

She and I were sharing a small makeshift cot in the family room. My mind was reeling with worry for my mother's safety and I couldn't relax, so I turned to my side and decided to try and distract myself by talking with Hinata. The girl was staring at the ceiling with a dazed look on her pretty features.

Naruto had given her one of his old shirts to sleep in and the look on both of their faces when she accepted the clothing was one I'll never forget. I, too, was given a large shirt to wear to bed so Kushina could tend to our clothes overnight, but I was unfazed since Naruto's like a brother in my eyes.

Hinata noticed my staring and glanced over, "Are you alright, Sakura?"

I gave her a reassuring smile, turning to lay on my back instead of facing her and deciding to just change the topic instead of answering her question, "Did you confess to him yet?"

She paused for a moment before letting out a stressed-sounding sigh, "I-I was going to do it, but lost courage when the time came. On top of that, I was thinking...what if m-my family caused this mess?"

I looked at her in shock, ready to deny the validity of her worries, but clamped my mouth shut as the logic started to check out in my mind. She and Naruto have been seen together within the royal estate on multiple occasions now. It was definitely a possibility that someone told her father and he did all of this to threaten Naruto.

"You can't blame yourself, if it was. You aren't the one who started the fire."

Hinata let out an anxious sigh before turning her back to me, but didn't say anything else on the matter. I took that as her way of politely telling me that she was done talking about it, at least for the night, and turned onto my side as well to try and get some sleep.

Hopefully tomorrow will yield better results.