Authors Note: haha. sorry about this guys.. I finally got around to re-vamping chapter one... It just bothered me a lot after I re-read it later on... anyway, hopefully you'll like it better now, and I'll edit my other chapters ASAP (sorry again...)

Disclaimer (round 2! XD): Tragically, I don't own anything pertaining to Naruto except for my OC Aogiri Kaiya... you can read about her on my deviantart account (wolfzgrl) because I'm too lazy to put it on here. xD Also, I don't own any of the song lyrics I post before the beginnings of the chapters; those belong to the very talented artists who sing/write them.

You took my hand, you showed me how
you promised me you'd be around
uh huh, that's right
I took your words and I believed
in everything you said to me
yeah huh, that's right

If someone said three years from now, you'd be long gone
i'd stand up and punch them out
cause they're all wrong
I know better, cause you said forever
and ever who knew?

Remember when we were such fools
and so convinced and just too cool?
oh no, no no
I wish I could touch you again
I wish I could still call you friend
I'd give anything

When someone said count your blessings now
before they're long gone
I guess I just didn't know how
I was all wrong
They knew better, still you said forever
and ever who knew?

I keep you locked in my head
until we meet again
I won't forget you my friend
what happened?

Who Knew - Pink

"That jerk! That absolute little prick!" An angry girl stormed into her house, violently kicking off her shoes and stomping into to her room, completely ignoring the shocked and confused looks shot her way from her parents.

Silence rang throughout the house, save for the snip-snip-snip of angry sounding scissors. Standing by her bedside, a mutinous look on her otherwise pretty face, the girl was savagely cutting pictures from her scrap book, completely erasing the face next to hers as she quickly built up a pile of childhood pictures.

Her task finished a few minutes later, she stared at the pile, a triumphant look on her face. Gathering the pile of scraps into her arms, she tossed them out of her bedroom window, watching them fall down into the street below with a savage sort of satisfaction.

"Take that Uchiha Sasuke!" She hollered furiously into the air. Glaring towards the direction of the Uchiha compound a few blocks away before slamming her window shut. Pacing around the room like a caged lioness, Aogiri Amaya finally sat down on her bed, laying back and glaring at the ceiling. Most people would say she was calmly furious, like the lightning before the thunder. The few who did know her, would be able to see that the dark haired girl was very close to crying, something that rarely ever happened.

The reason for her tears was horribly simple and apparent to anyone who cared to look close enough. He was probably sitting in his room, calmly working studying for the Academy graduation exam. The reason was Uchiha Sasuke, and for the last three years, he had aggravated Kaiya to no end. She had doggedly tried to patch things up between them when he began acting distant. Sasuke, however, had remained calmly passive until Kaiya was nearly ready to strangle him.

Sasuke had been her closest friend for years now, since when they had both began attending the Ninja Academy in Konoha. About three years ago, when they were nine, after the genocide of his clan, Sasuke had begun to treat her with indifference, and Kaiya hadn't the slightest idea as to why. She understood his loss, and had allowed him his space, but the next time she tried to talk to him, he more or less bit her head off. All the young girl did understand, was that when they were younger, they had made a promise to be best friends for forever, and Sasuke had decided, for reasons unclear to her, to choose to give her the cold shoulder and only talk to her when absolutely necessary, and even then in short, clipped sentences.

After moving into a new neighborhood, closer to her father's office at the Police agency, Kaiya had been sitting in her room, arranging her stuffed animals when her mother had called her down to greet an old friend of hers.

"Minami! She's adorable!" the smiling black haired woman with dark eyes exclaimed as she embraced Kaiya as though she were her own daughter.

"Kaiya, This is Uchiha Mikoto; she was a teammate and friend of mine from the Academy." Mikoto said, introducing the woman next to her. "And Mikoto, as you know, this is my daughter Amaya."

"I've always wanted a daughter." Mikoto said, a wistful look in her eye. "My two sons are most definitely a handful." she giggled. "Sasuke is Amaya's age. You should bring her over when you come and visit, I'm sure they would get along wonderfully." Little did the two mothers know, the two would be meeting sooner than they could have expected.

"Of course!" Minami agreed, her mind already envisioning a wedding for her daughter.

Catching the suspicious look on her mother's face, Kaiya looked wearily up at her.

"Go on honey," Minami urged, nudging her daughter towards the door. "You can go play outside and explore our new yard. Mikoto and I will be having tea in here if you need anything."

Kaiya had cheerfully ran out of the room, happy to be outside in the bright sun as she went to explore the small orchard behind her house. She was attempting to grab a blossom off of a Phoenix tree when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She quickly whirled around to come face-to-face with a boy about her age. The calm, innocent little girl who had charmed Mikoto, vanished in an instant as he small hands balled into fists and a fire burned in her eyes. "How dare you! How dare you sneak up on me and trespass in my house!" She shrieked in a high-pitched voice at the boy with black hair and equally black eyes. He looked shocked for a moment before a mischievous grin found its way onto his face and he poked her again. She slapped his hand away, continuing on her childish tirade, determined to make him apologize and find the error of his ways. Finding he was not paying attention, she began to yell words that children shouldn't be saying, finding that they more accurately described what she thought of him. Hearing the commotion, her mother and Mikoto had went outside to find the boy with a bewildered expression on his face as Kaiya continued hurling rude words at him. After figuring out what had happened, the mothers had quickly made their children apologize to each other, much to said children's distaste.

Laughing lightly at the whole situation, Mikoto introduced the boy as her son, Sasuke. Shocked at this new information, Kaiya couldn't believe how wrong she had been when she pictured the nice boy that Mikoto had described, and she soon resolved to hate the young Uchiha for the rest of her life.

The resolution had lasted for about a week before her father had insisted that she go explore the village and maybe even meet some new friends. Despite her excuses for reasons not to go out, she eventually found that she couldn't deny how inviting the sun outside was, and soon found herself walking through the streets of Konoha; silver eyes widened in awe.

She had stopped to admire every store and see what merchandise was sold there before finding herself standing in front of the looming academy building. She peeked around the entrance of the fence to see a swarm of children who looked to be about her age standing around. Biting her lip, she slowly advanced to the group with a shy wave.

The group waved back cheerily, if not slightly hesitantly. Not feeling up to the task of introducing herself to everyone and memorizing their names, she instead made her way to the currently vacated wooden swing that hung from a sturdy looking tree.

She sat on the playground swing, slowly swing back and forth, allowing her feet to skim the sand below. She glanced up to see the Uchiha boy staring at her. "What?" She snapped in an irritable way.

His eyes widened slightly at being addressed by the girl, "Amaya-san was it?" he asked hesitantly.

Choosing not to correct him, she nodded wearily in affirmation, trying to assess the boy's intentions.

He nodded solemnly and extended a small hand, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. My 'kaa-san told me I should be friends with you."

Ahh. So it wasn't even pity that had brought him over here. "Do you always do what your 'kaa-chan tells you to?" she asked, anger brewing in her like a storm as she recalled their encounter a few weeks ago.

He quirked an eyebrow and grinned mischievously, "Do you always do what you're kaa-san tells you?" he asked as though that answered everything.

Kaiya scowled, repressing the grin that threatened to surface. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Sasuke shrugged in response and leaned closer to Kaiya before whispering in a conspiratorial tone, "Between you and me, my 'kaa-san really didn't tell me to be friends with you... That's just an excuse I made up so you wouldn't get mauled by Yamanaka-chan and the others." Seeing her unconvinced look he continued, "You just looked really lonely sitting over here by yourself.. I'm surprised you haven't made friends with Haruno-chan yet; you both are such loners."

Wrong thing to say. Kaiya stood up, silver eyes flashing and opened her mouth to shout back a retort, "You don't even know me." She announced, crossing her arms defiantly.

Sasuke's grin widened, "Exactly. That's why I'm trying to get to know you. You know, being friends with you would be a lot easier if you'd cooperate." he said matter-of-factly before he tugged at her wrist, pulling the stubborn girl towards the group of kids and introducing her to every one of them.

After that day, the two were inseparable, becoming even more so as they began attending the Academy. They shared everything they learned, from kunai throwing techniques, to jutsus and chakra control. They got into silly arguments over who had the cooler jutsu, why the sky was blue, and which plant was poison ivy. (The latter argument resulting in both ninjas in training having to apply ointment to their itchy skin for weeks afterwards.) Although Sasuke was quite popular with the girls their age, Kaiya never thought of him as anything more than a brother, and never let the whisperings and feelings of dislike she got from the other girls get to her.

She wished she didn't know where things had changed, but she did. She had heard about the massacre of the Uchiha clan indirectly as she walked down the stairs one morning to hear her mother sobbing and her father comforting her. Hearing her mother sob, "I can't believe Mikoto's eldest son would do that...Everyone trusted Itachi...I can't believe he'd kill his own clan."

Eyes opening wide as the horror of the news hit her, she immediately bolted through the house, sprinting out the door and running down the streets pounding down on her as she increased her desperate pace, hoping against hope that Sasuke was alright. She stopped abruptly as the familiar compound came into view. She calmed down, convincing herself that her mother had been wrong, and that Itachi hadn't done anything. She came closer, her calmness disappearing as she saw yellow tape over the entrance to the compound. Steeling herself, she carefully slipped between the tape only to be greeted with a horror greater than what an innocent child could ever have pictured in her mind. The kunais and shuriken embedded in the walls splattered with blood, chalk outlining the bloody places where slaughtered bodies had lain. She backed towards the entrance, ready to bolt before she remembered why she came.

Eyes focusing on her feet, she started into a sprint again, following the familiar but now death-ridden path to Sasuke's house. Before she lost her resolve, she threw open the door, only to find it completely deserted. Worry and fear gripping her heart, she ran through room after room, finally coming to the room where Sasuke's parents had been murdered. She dropped to her knees, landing next to the outlines of Mikoto and Fugako. She looked around desperately for any sign of Sasuke's body. Finding nothing, she stood shakily, running back outside, tripping in the mud and becoming splattered with the mix of mud and blood and rain. She continued back home, running inside and straight into the arms of her parents. Noticing the blood and mud adorning the girl, Minami immediately guessed where her daughter had run off to.

Days later, Kaiya had found out that Sasuke had been the only survivor of the massacre and had immediately ran over to hug him the first day he came back to the Academy. in response, he calmly shrugged her away, and walked off without looking back. Heartbroken and confused, Kaiya decided to allow him his space. She became quick friends with the shy Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata had many friends, but few close ones, and soon Kaiya became her best friend. The shy girl confided everything to the black haired girl, and Kaiya soon found herself doing the same thing. Hinata was incredibly kind, loyal, and sweet with a seemingly hopeless crush on Naruto, the outcast of their age group. Kaiya felt safe telling Hinata all of her secrets, positive that they would never be repeated from her lips under any circumstance. After a month of silence from Sasuke, she tried again and again to repair their friendship, only to repeatedly get a cold response. Finally having enough of it, Kaiya resorted to cutting Sasuke out of her life and her memories, leaving only one picture spared from her scissors' rampage.

She lay on top of her black bedspread and fumed. It was better to be angry than to cry. However, the tears were horribly close as she absently held a frame with her favorite picture of her and Sasuke. It was their first day at the Academy and they had both sworn to be best friends no matter what. The promise had held until now. "Well Sasuke can eat his stupid promises." She announced to the ceiling. She certainly didn't care. A tear slipped down her cheek before she could control it.

She furiously wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, deciding to confide in someone she knew would listen and understand. She sat down at her desk, and started to write a letter to Hinata. Nice, understanding, sympathetic Hinata who would patiently listen to her vent out her anger and bitterness.

Dear Hinata,

You'll be shocked to hear of what I did just now. I cut Sasuke out of every picture he's ever been in with me. Except for one. It sounds incredibly selfish, I'm sure, but that's more or less what I was trying to achieve.

You know I told you how Sasuke and I have been friends since before we started the Academy, and how we promised to always be friends? Well the jerk broke that promise! He doesn't say anything anymore!! So here's to you, Sasuke! You broke your promise, so I'll break mine! I threw the halves of the pictures with him into the street. I hope he finds one of them.

I don't even know why he stopped talking to me. It's just like after his clan was killed... he completely shut everyone off. He's just become this cold, impossible asshole who doesn't even acknowledge my existence anymore! And as much as I hate to admit it... It hurts. It hurts to be invisible to your oldest friend...It hurts that we don't talk anymore... That I have no one to compare my jutsu with and get into stupid arguments with. How could he do that? Just shut me out?! I still don't even know what completely unforgivably wrong thing I did to instigate this horrible behavior! So now he's erased from my scrapbook. Take that Uchiha Sasuke!

Sorry... I'm probably sounding incredibly self-absorbed. It's just that I feel so upset and frustrated! I'm so glad I have you to talk to Hinata, you know that right? I don't think I could have gotten through these past three years without you. When Naruto finally realizes he's in love with you, he better understand how incredibly lucky he is to have the heart of someone so kind and understanding! You're my best friend, Hinata, and I wanna thank you for that.

So how are things going with dead last?

Kaiya

Sealing the envelope, she walked downstairs and out of the house to bring the letter to the post office. She resolved to practice the new jutsu she was learning after delivering the letter, reasoning that there were better things she could do with her time than sulk over an idiotic boy.

However, the fates seemed to be conspiring against her. When she walked out of her house, she saw, to her vindictive satisfaction, a black haired boy bending over to pick up a piece of a picture, his eyes displaying shock, while the rest of his face remained blank. Kaiya set her teeth, and walked past him.

Uchiha Sasuke, having finished studying for the Academy exam tomorrow, decided to walk over to the market and buy some food for his dinner. Rubbing his dark eyes, he had stepped out of the compound, walking a few blocks before going past the Aogiri household, only to find a pile of picture scraps blowing around in the wind.

"Aogiri!" Kaiya pointedly ignored his call as she walked faster.

"Amaya!" he tried again. "Dammit Kaiya, get back here!"

Setting her face into a mask of indifference, she turned around.

"Damn it Kaiya, what do you think you're doing?"

"Getting rid of some garbage." she replied coolly. Satisfied with the frown tugging his mouth, she smirked inwardly. "Excuse me Uchiha... I have to deliver a letter and practice for the graduation exams tomorrow." With that, she walked off, leaving the Uchiha standing there.

Sasuke watched her walk away. He couldn't help it. He recalled the hurt expression in her eyes earlier this morning after he insulted her again by ignoring her. But how could he have pushed her far enough to completely cut him out of her life? He didn't understand. She had always forgiven him, put a cheerful face over the hurt she felt. Hell, her name, Kaiya, meant forgiveness.

He shook his head, wondering whether he should be angry at her for cutting him out, angry at himself for caring, or angry at the world on a general principle. Seething, he decided that he had enough anger for all three, and made himself turn around and take a different route to the market, not even noticing that he still clutched a picture of them in his clenched fist.

Kaiya noticed though, as she turned around. She tried to tell herself that she was glad he was upset. She had nothing to prove to Sasuke, but making him speechless with anger had been extremely satisfying. She only wished she didn't feel like crying.

Authors note: Thanks for reading this (especially if you're a reader who was loyal to this story before I decided to edit some plot aspects xD)