Dedicated to ChronoMitsurugi! Thank you so much for all your amazing reviews! They've truly inspired me! This if for you :D

Part 2 of Let Me Go... Takes place three weeks after the incident...

AN: The italic paragraphs are flashbacks.

Can't let you go

Sakura softly opened the door to Naruto's apartment. He didn't lock his doors anymore.

"I'm in here, if you're looking for me," Naruto said, his voice lowered, dark.

The pink-haired girl edged into the room, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

The kitchen was cleaned. No ramen bowls in the basin or drying-rack. Everything neatly laid out and in place. It was like he hadn't used it ...since...

As she entered Naruto's room, she noticed Naruto sitting at his desk. The pine desk was cleared of it's usual garbage, the little trinkets and momentos of previous missions were all removed from his room. She skimmed the room, wondering if maybe he had just moved them again, but they were all gone. Even Naruto's momento flyers of the Chunin results; the letters he had received from Iruka sensei, wishing him luck for his exams; the scratched headband of Sasuke. All of it, gone.

...

'Can I ask you a question, Naruto?' the young woman asked, running a finger along Naruto's whiskered cheek. He giggled and wormed away from the ticklish action. He smiled.

The sun was just below noon, but under the shade of the trees, it didn't matter. The grass was still cool from the misty rain they had yesterday and the breeze felt great. A lazy summer day.

'Sure, Kaede,' Naruto quickly said, internally wondering if his eagerness to answer her questions didn't tip off his feelings for her.

'Why do people keep stuff... you know... like momento's and things from other people?' she asked.

'Uh... I guess to... remember the time they had together?' Naruto answered, praying his answer was the right one to give.

'That's weird... I think memories are better than a bunch of dusty items,' she said, shrugging.

'You think so? ... I dunno, it's nice to have something that reminds you, that way... you never really forget,' Naruto said, unconciously lifting his hand to the headband he was wearing. It was once Sasuke's.

'Alright then... ' the young woman said, abruptly sitting up and leaning over towards Naruto. She smiled before leaning down, giving him a peck on the lips before sitting back.

For a moment, Naruto's world was set on pause. He honestly didn't expect THAT to happen.

'I got this for you the other day... ' Kaede said, reaching into her pant's pocket and pulling out a necklace. 'It reminded me of you.'

The small spiral had spiked smoke quartz set into the silver. He pushed himself backwards, not sure how to react. He never received any gifts before... not from anyone... he wasn't even sure if he could reciprocate, 'I ... uh...' he stuttered, having a hard time to complete a sentence even in his head.

'It nothing special... it's just a necklace... I didn't want it to be all girly, so I kept to the original black leather string,' she said, and smiled brightly.

He finally tied the ends behind his neck, eyeing the item that seemed to blend in perfectly with his attire. 'Thank you... Kaede... It's great... I like it,' he said, making sure to choose his words carefully in her presence. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the ring in his backpocket.

...

Just two weeks ago... three after she died... Sakura had visited Naruto. His kitchen was cleaned, the usual greasy ramen bowls in the sink were washed and left on the side to dry. The flickering kitchen light had been replaced. Even the floors were swept... only the waste bins were filled to the brim, a few empty ramen take-out boxes were balancing procariously on top of the pile ...

She had entered Naruto's room. The old momento's from his previous missions all stacked up on display on top of his bookshelf, no longer strewn haphazardly over his desk disguising the fact that there was -in fact- a desk. His bed was made, for once. His blinds were drawn open, the window allowing fresh air into the room. 'That's a good sign... he's doing better than last week', she had thought.

He had been sitting at his desk, reading an old copy of the one of the four Ninja Manuscripts that Jiraiya had given him. He had greeted her with a grin, "Hi, Sakura, I didn't think you'd be coming around?" he had said. His monotonous voice didn't portray his cheerful grin.

But, right now, Naruto was back at his desk again, a foot-high stack of paperwork next to him, all completed. It seemed he was working on the last few pages. The dark purple bruises underneath his eyes showed her just how tired he truely was. His forehead was creased in concentration. The corners of his mouth were no longer curved upward in a pre-emptive smile. His blue eyes looked diluted, as if it had been washed out. "I still have four more pages, Sakura. I'll give this to Grandma Tsunade once I'm done," Naruto said before Sakura could ask, not looking up from his writing.

"Um... Naruto, I thought you're doing... Jonin filing... this... isn't it," Sakura said, cautiously grabbing one of the pages, skimming over it.

"I finished them already... These are the Genin and Chunin outstanding results from last week's examination," Naruto explained, slipping the paper out of Sakura's hand and back, neatly stacked, on top of the pile. "I hope you don't mind, I don't want to have to sort them out again."

She frowned for a second before forcing a smile to her face. Remember to be nice. "So, how are you doing, Naruto?" she asked, her voice sounding more confident than she felt.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, stacking another paper on top of the pile, "How are you?"

Sakura swallowed dryly, she never known Naruto to be so formal. "Great... we're celebrating Tsunade's birthday next week so we're planning on throwing a surprise party for her," she said, trying to cheer him up. But, no matter what she told herself, she couldn't say that she missed the pain flashing in his eyes as she mentioned a celebration. What would be worth celebrating if the one person you would want to share it with was no longer there?

"I have work to do," Naruto reminded her, adding the last page to the pile. "But thanks for dropping by."

The young woman watched silently as Naruto slowly stood, picked up the stack of papers and walked out of his apartment.

...

'Are you kidding me? I don't like parties!' the young woman said, lying down on the branch of the tree. Naruto sat at the bottom, looking up at her. She still had her black nin-gear on from her previous mission, only her navy headband stood out. 'Besides, I think it's stupid to have a birthday party.'

Naruto blinked, 'It's not stupid! What's wrong with celebrating that? It's celebrating the day you were born... so you know we care about you,' Naruto said, his voice lowering at the last addition, a pink tint appearing on his ears.

She propped up her elbow, resting her chin lazily in her palm, 'Are you blushing?' she teased.

'No!' Naruto said, grabbing his ears instinctively.

She smiled. 'I still don't like it' she assured him, even though, three days later they were all at said party... it turned out that she did, after all, have a good time... especially with him there.

Naruto made his way down to Tsunade's office. No-one expected him to greet them anymore, and they stopped trying to acknowledge him as well. In the past month, he had just turned into a shell. Any duties he was given, he completed. Any mission he was sent on, he went. No more complaints, no more fussing. He just accepted it all and carried on.

He smiled when someone spoke to him just to seem 'normal'.

He still went to Ichiraku's ramen bar on the weekends.

He still breathed.

"I have the files you were looking for," Naruto said, walking into Tsunade's office, setting the files down on the corner of her desk.

The older woman stood, her blonde hair falling in her eyes as she bowed her head, "I don't know how many more times I can say that I'm sorry, Naruto... I'm sorry," she repeated, one of a thousand times.

"It's not your fault," Naruto said distractedly, patting the unevened papers back into a square shape.

...

'Hey, Naruto... I'm going on a mission tomorrow,' Kaede said, sitting on the windowsill of Naruto's room.

Naruto grinned, 'Going to ambush some spies for the Akatsuki?' he said, taking a bite out of the take-out ramen. He was slightly disappointed at her words, he actually planned to give her the ring tomorrow night... it was their first-date anniversary afterall... he was still surprised he could remember that... The thoughts were sent back down to reality when a sudden sneeze ripped through his system.

He was sitting cross-legged on his bed, still slightly feverish from the cold he caught from walking her home in the rain the night before.

'A D-rank delivery mission, can you ...believe it?' she said, waiting for a moment until he finally caught the inside joke, laughing happily.

'How does that work? You're a specialized Jonin, right?' Naruto said, feeling slightly jealous of her in that respect. He still had a week to go before his team's exam came around. He took another bite of the ramen, sighing contently.

'The hokage decides whom goes on what mission...' she said, getting up from the windowsill and heading to the kitchen. 'But sending two jonin, to deliver some mid-level jutsu scrolls to Sunagakure, is going overboard.'

'Maybe she thinks you'll get lost again!' Naruto joked, almost choking on his ramen when she threw him with a random shirt he'd left on his desk. It missed him by an inch, but by her grin, he wasn't sure anymore that she was a lousy aimer.

'Bite me,' she said sarcastically, opening the medicine cabinet of the kitchen, 'I've got some herbs to get the fever down and get rid of that headache.'

'How'd you know I have a -' Naruto started, self-conciously grabbing the sides of his head protectively. He didn't want her to see him like this at all, not to mention when he's trying so damned hard to look as normal as possible.

'I have secret powers...' she said, wriggling her fingers at him like a spider before finishing off with an evil chuckle. 'Now ~ finish that ramen, I can't give you this stuff on an empty stomach.'

The thought had hit her though, with Naruto, that wouldn't make a difference. He can always go for seconds, and thirds...

'Thanks for taking care of me,' Naruto said sweetly, his big blue eyes shimmering with adoration.

After pouring a cup of the tea, she walked back to him, sitting on the bed. She plunked the cup down on the bedside table, smiling brightly at him. 'I'm not done yet... you're still...' she held her one hand to her forehead and the other to his, comparing their tempretures. But, she didn't miss the blush creeping on to his cheeks, '...yep, still sick.'

He gulped as she took the empty ramen bowl on his hands and set it down on bedside table, exchanging it for the cup. Kaede handed him the cup of tea, making sure he was holding it steady before letting go of his hands, 'T-thanks' he squeaked out, earning a mental slap from his manly ego. But, when her dark grey eyes met his... he just didn't care about that anymore. She was smiling like that ... for him.

...

Naruto stood still for a moment, waiting for Tsunade to scream at him like last time. To have her scream at him for not letting go of Kaede and move on. To yell at him to move on without... her. But, nothing came. He didn't know how to say it... how can anyone understand when you say you can't let go? What would make them understand? In a morbid sense, he felt grateful for his childhood... it made ridicule extremely easy to take.

Tsunade didn't have to stand by Kaede's bedside. Looking down to her frail, broken form. Her self-confident smile pulled taut, trying her best to keep herself together for the one man she truly loved. No-one else had to hold her hand, lying blatantly to her for the first time as he tells her that she'll be alright... no-one else had to watch the light leave her grey eyes, leaving them lusterless and ... lifeless.

"Do you have anything else for me to do?" he finally asked, his annoyance level shooting up.

"No... thank you, Naruto," Tsunade finally said, her voice sounding strained. She sat back down, her eyes downcast as Naruto left the Hokage office.

He walked down the road again, intending to do some training drills outside later the day, but currently, he just wanted to go home.

"Naruto-sensei!" a young boy came running up to him, grinning brightly, "How'd we do last week?".

Naruto plastered a smile on his face, "I can't tell you that.. just because the results are late this year, doesn't mean you can have a sneak peak!" he said, forcing his voice to sound carefree.

The young boy eyed Naruto for a second with a wary look before looking down, "Alright..." he muttered and turned around, looking back up to the group standing near the flower shop, "Hey guys! Naruto-sensei says we still have to wait!".

The collective repulsed, dissapointed whining didn't help the older man. He squared up his shoulders in an attempt to create a barrier. But it wasn't working. It still felt like they hated him. Were dissapointed in him. Were let down by him... just like he let her down...

...

'You're Naruto, right?' a young woman asked with a self-confident smile, looking to the occupant of the bar stool next to her at Ichiraku's bar. 'I'm right, aren't I?'

He looked over, ramen still dangling out of his mouth. He slurped them up and burped contently before answering, 'Yeah, that's me... How'd you know?'.

'Iruka-sensei talks about you all the time,' she said, smiling, 'He wasn't kidding... you are a ramen-freak.'

'Shut up! I'm not!' Naruto suddenly yelled, slamming his hands on the table, completely ignoring every word except the last of hers. The passersby stopped, staring at the bar curiously.

'You are -geez, you've got like six bowls -' the young woman started, but Naruto had already taken off, running towards the gates of Konoha.

She quirked an eyebrow in confusion and covered both their bills before excusing herself. The young woman took her time to head out of Konohagakure, knowing that she wouldn't be able to catch him even if she tried. She trusts Iruka and knows not to take his words lightly. Fact is, if Iruka-sensei is right, Naruto was one of the fastest ninja's in the village. After Jiraya's training with him, the boy had come back as a fully fledged man, capable of anything he set his mind to.

It didn't occur to her until after Naruto's outburst at Ichiraku's bar why Naruto had reacted the way he did. It didn't occur to her that the demon sealed within him was the source of a very lonely and painfully isolated childhood. It didn't bother her at all. She just wanted to have a conversation with him, to see why Iruka always made such a fuss over him.

'Naruto... I'm sorry for what I said...' she said, stopping underneath an apple tree deep in the forest.

'No you're not,' Naruto countered easily. She was pretty sure that he had had this conversation many times before.

She shrugged, 'I am,' she sighed, looking up. She found his eyes easily, without having to search for them. He was sitting in the heighest part of the tree, eyeing her suspiciously. 'You think I'd bother coming after you if I didn't?'

'I don't know you, so yeah, you might,' Naruto snapped, the caution he'd leant in his time with Jiraya still hadn't worked out of his system.

'I'm Kaede, I was a student with Iruka-sensei a few years ago... I just moved back from Sunagakure a days ago,' she said, introducing herself with an exaggerated curtsey.

'Iruka-sensei?' Naruto repeated, jumping down.

'Yeah... he was the Jonin in charge of our team... he was tough, but he really did care about us,' Kaede said, smiling fondly at the memory.

Naruto perked up at that. 'Hey~ I'm sorry about earlier... I-' he started, pausing when he realized what direction the conversation had taken.

She held up a hand and shook her head, 'Don't worry about it, I don't need to know,' she assured.

He couldn't help but frown. He knew that she'd eventually find out about him... the truth... he figured that Iruka would've told her that it was the Nine-tailed fox that killed his parents, so, if she idolized Iruka, then she'd hate him... he didn't know how to get around that.

Kaede stood still, watching as Naruto's shoulders hunched up protectively, screwing his eyes shut as if he was witnessing some terrible crime. His breathing had sped up, his fists were clenched. So, she took the initiative. She never was one to hold a grudge or even worry about the past, and Naruto was no exception. She pinched his whiskered cheeks and grinned as his blue eyes met her grey, 'Awww... you're so cute! Smile for me!'

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