Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Oh My Venus Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

ღ Prologue ღ

It was a grey afternoon with a dull sky threatening rain. I skipped up the path to my Rhode Island home, singing my favorite song. My Newport home is my favorite Summer hangout spot. The incomparable 45-acre oceanfront estate anchored the southern point of Newport's celebrated Ocean Drive. Breathtaking vistas spanned from the greens at Newport Country Club, across acres of rolling lawns to the spectacular southern ocean views. Amenities included an infinity-edge pool, private water frontage, four-car garage and a mooring on Price's Neck Cove. The handsome indigenous-stone residence with open airy living provided ultimate quality and comfort. A charming 3,576 sf three-bedroom guest cottage was nestled into the landscape and shared similar stunning views.

Although my job is based in New York City, I found that the three hour fourteen minute ride is worth it. Like a town stuck in time but with the occasional hole in the space-time continuum to allow for modern touches, Newport, with its stunning harbor and bevy of old homes, is the quintessential New England town. It reminded me of Summers spent in Europe with my parents once upon a time. Its well-preserved colonial homes and Gilded-Age mansions – a testimony to its tony residential reputation, and to its history as the summer destination of choice from 1953 until around 1963 - was what drew me in.

I headed towards my mail box and opened it. There were about a dozen or so letters and two packages. As I gathered them into my hands, my phone began to ring. I took it from my Chanel handbag and picked it up, "Hello? This is Haruno Sakura."

"Hey Saki!" I heard the familiar voice of my best gal pal cum legal secretary's voice on the other end, "Its me!"

I smiled fondly as I walked briskly up the stairs to my home. It looked like it was going to pour any minute. "What happened, Michiko?"

Michiko is the only other Japanese in the law firm I work. She had worked as my boss Anton's secretary before he hired another one when I joined and assigned her as my legal secretary. My boss is a Yale Law School alumnus along with my father and they were the best of friends. So he had a soft spot for me and looked after me a lot. He thought that I would be more comfortable at the firm if I had someone from my country to befriend. Michiko had gone to Harvard Law School whereas I had gone to Yale Law School, like my father before me. Honestly though, getting Michiko as my legal secretary was the best thing that could ever happen to me since we had quite a lot in common. She was good enough to become a lawyer but was content in just being my legal secretary. After working together for almost four years together, we had grown almost inseparable.

"Oh, nothing," Michiko's bubbly laugh made me laugh too, "I was just wondering if you were up for hanging out at The Monarch."

"Sure," I shrugged as I ruffled in my bag trying to find my house keys. All of the letters and packages were tucked under my arm and my shoulders held my phone in place. "Why not? I need to take a breather anyway. This new case is giving me headaches!"

Michiko laughed again, "I'm going shopping with Shin'ichi," she confessed, "So I'll meet up with you there itself, okay?"

Shin'ichi and Michiko had been engaged for almost a year. He went to Princeton University and they met at a party hosted by Shin'ichi's father Takeshi who was the General of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. She had gone there as her father Shigeo was friends with Takeshi and they had just hit it off right from the beginning. I used to be very envious by how dedicated Shin'ichi was to keeping Michiko happy but it had soon become overcome with happiness at the knowledge that my friend had found her true love.

"I'm fine with that." I said as I inserted the key into the door knob and twisted it, "I'll see you later."

I closed my phone and entered into the foyer. Making my way into the living room, my Jimmy Choo's making clipping noises on the polished black marble floors, I placed my Armani Collezioni one-button featherweight wool jacket on the récamier and sat down. I kept my Chanel handbag and the two packages on the glass coffee table with the walnut cabriole legs and began flipping through the stack of letters.

"Bill."

"Bill."

"Bill."

"Certified letter from my gynecologist."

"Bill."

I paused at the sixth letter as I came across a familiar address. My hands were trembling as I carefully ripped out the envelope and took out the letter. I unfolded the paper and read its contents.

Haruno Sakura
Seaward Oceanfront Estate, 339 Ocean Avenue
Newport, RI 02840

2nd February, 2016

RE: 10th year Anniversary Reunion of Class of '04 Konoha High School

Dear Sakura:

It is time for recollections and memories to come flooding back as we near the time for the Konoha High School Class of '04 reunion. Some of you haven't seen each other since your graduation and some of you live near each other, but this is everyone's chance to get together ten years after graduating from school.

To this end, we have booked the Waldorf Astoria Konoha to play host to our celebrations, and all of their facilities, including their spa, fitness center are at our disposal for the duration of our celebration. The reunion will be a two day affair and will begin starting at 6:00 pm on the third of March. For those who wish to come to the evening reception at the Grand Ballroom on this date we would like everyone to be seated by 07:00 pm. It will be a formal dinner with time to schmooze and dance. This is your chance to dress up and show off your matured sense of style. The next day we have arranged a cruise on Naka River for the whole family, to reminiscence about your school days, as well as swimming and kayaking and lunch at the beach. Feel free to dress as casually as you want for these events.

We humbly ask that you return the registration form as soon as possible to Yamanaka Ino, President of the Reunion Committee of Class '04, by February 21st. The form will help us plan the activities and also let us know the number of seats required.

Additionally we would also like to have has much memorabilia on display as possible, so if you have anything you could loan us then we would appreciate it. For those who wish to advertise within our reunion yearbook, just send a business card to Yamanaka-san.

Hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Hiruzen Sarutobi
Principal of Konoha High School
Konoha, Japan, 113-8654

Enclosed: registration form

I cringed, and the ferocity of my grip on the paper made it crumple. Memories of my high school years flashed and my eyes started tearing up. It had been ten years since I had lost contact with some acquaintances. Nine years since I lost contact with all of my best friends in high school. I had eight years to forget my old life; friends, enemies, and teachers alike. Most of all, it had been many years since I had forgotten my crush.

My heart felt like it was being ripped apart into tiny little pieces. Why is it that after all these years, just when I was able to let go of my unrequited love, I had to receive an invitation like this? An invitation that if I accept, I would have to go back to my old life. Where I would have to come to grips with the fact that no matter how much I hate it, it was how my life used to be in the past.

A life where my friends were all either preppy, popular or sporty and had boys falling all over their feet while I was just the DUFF. Without the 'Dumb' and part of it. I was awkward where they were social butterflies. I was the nerd who no one would look twice at while they were the city sweethearts. Sure I grew in to my slightly larger forehead and unusual cherry blossom pink hair, but I will forever be stuck in a rut where my friends were always just that much better than me. There was no way I could catch up with them. The only thing I had going for me in high school was that I was super smart. But even there I was only second best to Shikamaru's genius. Even when puberty hit my friends had it all; big boobs, curvaceous bodies, and flawless radiant skin. I had come to terms with all of my insecurities with my time away from them.

At Yale, I was the best. There was no one to upstage me. I didn't have much-too-pretty friends or much-too-popular friends. I just focused on my grades. I wanted to be the best to make up for my lack of beauty. In a world where the beautiful people got all the great jobs, I wanted to make it far. I didn't want my name to be known by my family's vast wealth and rich history. I wanted to be know for something I did. Not for something I was born into. I wanted to be the girl people looked at and remembered. Not as a wallflower or the girl whose friends are too good for her, but as the woman who children looked up to to emulate.

I pushed the letter into my handbag and ran upstairs. Opening the doors to the storage closet near the bedroom, my eyes fell on various Disneyana as well as a Tiffany dragonfly desk lamp with pigeon sculptures before I saw a medium sized round box covered in glittery silver wrapping paper under cellophane. I removed the lid and saw a pile of memorabilia - my high school yearbook, a key chain necklace given to me by Hinata, Tarot cards from when I was convinced I could read them, post cards sent by various friends, brochures from the Senior Trip to Las Vegas, tickets from all the Sunday Movie Nights, posters from my favorite Korean groups.. And then on top of them all were my most precious things; the Angel perfume that Sasuke liked, the button Naruto got me from Sasuke during our graduation without Sasuke knowing where exactly it was going to, the red ribbon Ino gave me when we first became friends... And a pictures of me with all my friends.

My gaze unintentionally fell on the one man responsible for making me so insecure about everything in my life.

Uchiha Sasuke.

I traced his aristocratic features as I thought out loud, "School reunion, huh.."

"Hey, Saki!" I heard the voice of Michiko from behind me. I waved at her and walked over to where she was standing. It was half an hour before midnight struck and we were by the 6th Avenue. I was clad in a Dress the Population 'Abbie' sequin fit & flare dress and burgundy patent leather Gucci pumps with covered heels and rubber platforms. My hair was pulled up into a sexy updo with a few strands tucked behind my ears and my bangs falling over my eyebrows. I had worn minimal makeup that made my skin look dewy and radiant. Michiko, on the other hand, had gone for a Leith 'Cut In' tank dress in black Stuart Weitzman 'Nudistsong' ankle strap sandal in black. Her hair was pulled into a low side ponytail and she wore dark sexy makeup.

We showed the guard our driver's license and entered the lounge. The indoor-outdoor bar was equal parts Nordic - with hand-washed wood panels, Terrazzo tiles, and raw iron columns - and Manhattan-chic - with black Tom Dixon pendant lights, deep sofas, and exposed brick - with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors separating the spaces.

The specially developed cocktails echoed the sophisticated theme. The Monarch was a flowery concoction of rum and St. Germain, while the Butterfly Effect featured jalapeno-spiced reposado tequila with a citrus tang, and the Indigo Dustywing Collins (named after another butterfly) was a mix of bourbon and blackberry liqueur and embellished with lemon juice and fresh blackberry and basil. Eats were on the lighter side with items like pesto chicken flat bread sharing the menu with hummus, assorted veggies and pita chips, while decadent chocolate desserts were handcrafted by Bindi, a Milan-originated pasticceria. Michiko made me sample them all even though we had come here almost every month and I already had my preferences. I guessed that she must have picked up on my bad mood and was trying to get me really drunk.

It was a little after midnight when I had danced with about five guys who I knew by face and not name that Michiko finally tracked me down and took me to a fairly private spot. From our position, we could see the coveted Midtown birds-eye view, the highlight of which was the iconic Empire State Building. "What's wrong?" she asked. I turned around to look at Michiko. Her eyebrows were drawn together in worry and she was biting her lower lips. "You're being very... distant. Did something happen? You were fine when we talked on the phone earlier."

"Nothing is wrong," I insisted. She raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes and sighed in defeat. Once Michiko gets like this she will not stop bugging me until I give in to her demands - in this case, telling her what was 'wrong'. "I got a letter from my high school. Apparently, they are holding a reunion for our batch." I could feel my stomach curdle just thinking about it. Why would anyone subject themselves to high school again, even just for a night? Surely the only people who actually go to those things are the ones who really did have the best days of their life in locker lined hallways. Isn't half the fun of being a grown-up not going to events like that? And I told Michiko just that.

But Michiko had, as always, raised a great point. "Maybe that fear and dread is exactly why you should go." My eyes were wide as I gaped at her. Was she really telling me to go to the place where I had been humiliated more times than I could count? "Look, Saki," Michiko tried to explain her line of thought, "Life is short. And boring. And dry. If we don't occasionally force ourselves to face the most uncomfortable of situations, we shrivel up and die in front of the television, a half-eaten Dragon dog or Tokyo dog in one hand, the remote control in the other.

And then she proceeded on telling me a whole spiel about her own high school reunion just a month ago. She told me of going back, not the to school itself, but of stepping into a room full of people who knew her when she was too young to know any better. She had danced with the untouchable jock, chatted with school's most popular girls and found, to her surprise, that at 28 years old, they were on surprisingly equal footing. She then went on to say that, "Never again will you have a better chance to cleanse yourself, to make peace with the past... The reunion served as my farewell to any and all longstanding bitterness. Who knows, maybe you will find that same peace"

That night, lying on my four poster bed clad in a leopard print Victoria's Secret Very Sexy satin kimono over my glamorous black babydoll with pretty pleats and a matching thong panty and triangle lace cups along with an empire waist with satin bow from the same collection, I closed my eyes. There was a soft music playing in the background. It was called the "Last Chance Waltz" by Dave Wilcox which spoke of the healing potential of high school reunions.

But to heal the old pain we must face it again
so I'll walk down that hallway once more.

I have come to this 10 year reunion for my heart is still pris'ner of war.
'n if I find it's alright we're escaping tonight.
That's what I came back here for.

Won't you please waltz me free?
The turns of our steps are untangling me,
free from some dragged around memory
and the rusty old remnants of fear.

And that was when I realized. It's so tempting to walk away from things that I think might be uncomfortable for me. But while a safe life might be easier, it's also small and limited. It is also something that only the old me would have done. The me now would relish a chance to prove myself. So why was I being so weak in the face of a simple reunion? But did that mean I was ready to face my own fears? I didn't know yet. It was certainly something I had to think about. Yoon Ah, a friend of mine from university talked a lot about the way we tell our own stories, the language we use to describe ourselves. I know that there are parts of my own story that I would still tell in the broken language of someone who got hurt in those hallways coveted by some. Maybe I just needed to take my adult self back the scene of the crime, to see if I view the truth differently now...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto I only own the plot and stuff.

Please review! ^_^

Ooh yeah! And constructive criticism is highly appreciated but please, if you want to flame don't do it here or in any of my stories because seriously, I will not be able to stand it. If there are any mistakes, you can just point it out. Though I make extra sure to correct all mistakes before publishing, I'm still human!

Thank you! :)