A/N: Hey, I'm back. First of all, I want to apologize if I haven't updated 'A Christmas Wish' for a long time, but right now, I'm not feeling the vibe to right about it since, well, it has been three fucking months already since Christmas. Damn. Though I'll continue it someday. Maybe, come December again, I don't know.

Anyway, Ne w story here and it is multi-chaptered. Bad news is, this isn't beta read (like always, those who have read some of my stories before should've been used to it by now) but the good news is, and I know you will like it (You spoiled readers. You know who you are! HA!) is that this is almost finished. Just one and a half more chapter to be written and it's good to go. I really intend to post this after I finished everything, but meh. I want to hear some thoughts and whatnot, so yeah.

Warning: This is M-rated but the lemons wouldn't be that graphic or detailed but just in case, I don't want to kill anyone just cause I said this is a T- rated. I don't want to be sued because of things like that, I'm not that rich to hire my own lawyer, damn it.

Disclaimer: Never will be mine. A harsh reality, I know.

Italicized – Past

Normal – Present

NOTE: The past scenes are not in order, its written based on what's happening in the written present. If you have any questions or whatever, I'm just a button away, yeah?

I. "It's because we've come undone"

He was late. He was so sure of it.

It's not like he did that on purpose, it just so happen that after settling in properly to his new apartment, his parents gave him a surprise visit when they clearly talked on the phone the night before about having a family dinner the next day so Naruto's surprise would be an understatement of the year. It's not that he doesn't want to see his parents that he hasn't seen for almost six years, but he still needed to clean the apartment, clean himself and maybe rest for a bit before going to a mini reunion that his friends organized just for his comeback.

And then there's traffic. Traffic is everywhere so it's not like he also did that on purpose. After a long and probably will be repeated at the family dinner talk that his mom gave him, they said their goodbyes and left Naruto alone on his still messy and living-room-full-of-boxes apartment with only an hour to take a bath and drive to his friend's house, and of course he had to deal with traffic.

So now he's late.

He practically slid out of his car and locked it before running towards the familiar house of her friend where their gathering was being held. He raised a fist though paused for a bit to catch his breath then proceeded to knock on the door and precisely after the third knock, the door opened with a wide eyed girl who doesn't look like a girl anymore but rather a very attractive and mature woman with her green eyes staring at him and her used to be long pink hair now resting on her shoulders.

"OH MY GOD, NARUTO YOU CAME!" She shouted and let go of the empty plastic bowl that she's holding and jumped at the grinning blond, her arms wrapped around the man's neck while her legs on his waist. Naruto chuckled and wrapped his arms around the woman's waist as a greeting and also to support her weight.

"Sakura, of course I'll come, though I'm sorry I'm late. Mom and Dad just thought it'll be wonderful to visit me without informing me. And you know mom, she has a lot to talk about." Naruto started when Sakura let go of him and stood on her own feet, though still smiling at him widely.

"I know, I know. I understand." She waved him off and grabbed his hand to pull him inside. "GUYS, NARUTO'S HERE!"

When Sakura announced Naruto's arrival, a huge white dog suddenly came barreling out of the other room and tackled him to the ground. He groaned in pain though he was grinning from ear to ear, happy to see that his old pal's monstrous dog is still alive and very much kicking.

"Woah Akamaru, no licking. I just took a bath." Naruto sat up and wrapped his arms around the dog's neck loosely then looked up when he saw a pair of shoes in front of him and came face to face with the owner of the dog. His soul brother, Inuzuka Kiba.

Kiba offered him his hands to help him stand and Naruto grabbed it before hugging the brunette with one hand.

"'sgood to see you Kiba." Naruto muttered grinning widely at his other friends behind Kiba who were watching them reunite after six long years.

"You too blondie." Kiba moved away from the blond when Naruto growled at being called blondie though he smiled again and hugged Kiba once more.

After having a 'lovely gay moment with your best friend' like what Sai had said, Naruto proceeded to his other friends. Shikamaru patted him on the shoulder though knowing Naruto, he rolled his eyes and hugged him anyway which made Naruto chuckle. Next was Chouji who bear-hugged the blond and wouldn't let go before Ino pinched Chouji and Kiba and Sai had to literally rip Chouji away from him. Ino came to him next and kissed his cheeks mumbling about how stupid Naruto was to move out just after high school and how much she and they missed him.

Naruto almost cried and it wasn't because of Ino's punch on his arm.

Neji and Hinata walked towards him next with Hinata wiping tears of joy from her face and without warning from the blond, he hugged Hinata and it made her weep some more. Being the first friend of the female Hyuuga, Hinata can't help but to be happy that Naruto's back with them. Neji also hugged him with one arm and mumbled an 'it's good to have you back'. Shino who after all these years are still as silent as ever walked over to him lastly and just like the other guys, hugged him with one arm while patting his back.

"Where's lee, by the way?" He looked around and saw no one who was wearing a green spandex.

"He said he'll be late since he has a student who asked for a one on one sparring with him." Neji answered since he's the closest to Lee and Naruto's eyes lit up from hearing the word sparring.

He asked Neji more about Lee's dojo. After hearing short tales about Lee's dojo adventures which only consisted of four sentences from Neji and Kiba laughing beside him, Naruto looked around and smiled sincerely at seeing his friends once again.

"Oh damn you guys, now I really feel like crying." Naruto mumbled sheepishly and subtly rubbed his eyes with his arms to stop the oncoming tears.

"You can cry now, Dickless." Then Sai ruined the moment. Naruto elbowed him on his stomach and stuck out his tongue on him.

"Very mature guys, seriously." Sakura drawled out sarcastically before pushing Naruto and Sai at the dining table where the food and Chouji were waiting.

"Seriously, Ramen? Oh I love all of you so much I could kiss every one of you but I won't so let's eat." Naruto sat beside Sakura and Sai. "Now I'm wondering what came into my mind when I agreed on my grandparents to come with them to Australia."

"It's cause you're stupid." Kiba teased him and tossed a fry at him which earned him a glare from a sweet Hinata. Naruto winked at her and teased Kiba about being scared of his girl friend.

"I'm not scared, it's love." Is what Kiba answered and earned him a chorus of groan and a Shut up from Neji.

They continued bickering and teasing the whole dinner and there's also an incident where Sakura almost throw the mashed potato at Kiba and Naruto but calmed herself down since she understand that Naruto missed goofing off with his other half. It wouldn't hurt to smack the two idiots on their head though and that's what she did.

Naruto was having fun hanging out with all of them and he felt like he doesn't have any problem at all when Ino suddenly opened her mouth and asked a question that made his happiness crumble down and left him feeling miserable. Though he didn't show it, he still felt like shit.

"By the way, what really happened between you and Sasuke?"

All of them stopped what they're doing, and turned to look at the frozen blond whose arms were still raised from doing an impersonation of Kiba dancing the Macarena.

"Ino…" Sakura interrupted with a nervous smile but Ino seems oblivious, too busy staring and waiting for Naruto's answer. The said blond gulped and looked at Ino then at his friends (even Shikamaru has his left eye open looking at him) then back at Ino and when he heard Sakura beside him, he came to a conclusion that Sakura knows something about him and Sasuke.

"Uh…" He trailed off then cleared his throat before drinking his water. "We just had an argument after graduation. But we're okay now." He cleared his throat once again but this time, instead of a glass of water, he reached for the unopened bottle of champagne and drank from it.

"Oh, I didn't know that you two are still talking with each other." Kiba tilted his head curiously and Naruto choked.

"Uhm, we're not, actually." Naruto answered truthfully after he wiped his mouth with the napkin that Hinata handed to him.

"Then what do you mean you're okay now?" Ino asked again but Sakura interjected and stood up, grabbing Naruto's arm in the process.

"Alright, time to clean up the table. All of you go to the living room, Naruto and I will just wash the dishes, so yeah…"

The two left the dining table, Sakura dragging him while he just kept silent. He's thankful that Sakura helped him escape his friends' curiosity but he's also feeling on edge knowing that Sakura knows something about what happened.

"Sakura…" Naruto started and looked back before closing the door to the kitchen and slumped on the wall. "That was close." He whispered.

"I know."

"Yes, you know. Fuck, what do you know? And how did you know whatever it is that you know?" Naruto ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I know it wasn't my place before and it's still isn't now but after he came back from a vacation from what Itachi had told me, I kind of bullied Sasuke into telling me what happened between you two. And so he told me that…"

"Wait. You bullied Sasuke? That guy can't be bullied; he's the bully, Sakura."

"Tsk, you know what I mean. I kept on asking or pestering him whatever. And then one day he just called me and asked me to meet with him. And there he told me everything."

"Huh, I didn't know that he had it in him. He has kept it a secret for three years and then suddenly when I'm already out of the country he just had this urge to tell someone about it. Sasuke really is one fucked up bastard."

"Naruto, he regretted all of it. And even though he doesn't say it or show it, I know that he's hurt that you left without telling him."

"Ah, so I hurt him huh? I'm the bad guy now. That's nice." Naruto chuckled sarcastically and Sakura sighed before squatting in front of Naruto. It was awkward from their position what with Naruto sitting on the floor Indian style but still she hugged him and though Naruto's still mad, he hugged her back.

"Naruto, I think you need to talk to him – "

" – No, I will not…"

" – Sh… listen to me." She tightened her grip on him when Naruto was about to protest.

"I know you're hurt and though it's all in the past, you two need some closure. It's the key for you two to be able to open up your hearts again and accept forgiveness and healing, as cliché as that sounds. Okay, let's say that you already forgive him in your mind but Sasuke doesn't know that and I know that until now, he's still suffering deep down and still feeling regret towards what happened. He still blames himself since he knows he's the reason why you left and that's not good for him so if you really did forgive him, give him the peace of mind that he really needed and tell it to him personally." Sakura looked at Naruto's eyes and tried to convey what's in her mind through her eyes. Naruto nodded in understanding and Sakura smiled at him softly.

She stood up from her position and stretched her legs before pulling on Naruto's bangs and calling him an idiot. He batted her hands away playfully then stood up also.

"Thanks Sakura. But I don't know when I'll be able to see him. He's probably busy, what with all the company and stuff he has."

"Oh silly, I'll just call him right now and he'll be running here before you know it, meetings be damned." She picked up the phone from the island and was about to dial Sasuke's number when Naruto snatched it away from her.

"What are you doing?"

"I should ask you that, why would you call Sasuke now? Do you want me to die?"

"Why would you die?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I still don't know what to tell him and that a minute ago my heart and soul doesn't want to see him?"

"Oh come on, it's better to do it sooner than later."

"Can't that sooner just be a little bit later?"

"No Naruto, this is the perfect chance to – "Before Sakura could finish what she was supposed to say, the front door opened with a bang. Naruto flinched and Sakura felt like she was going to have a heart attack. They confirmed that it was Lee based on the ever 'Youthful' speech that he was spouting about and Naruto grinned, forgetting about what he was talking to Sakura about before running out of the kitchen and into the living room.

And then he stopped because he was there with all his bastardly glory and it took Naruto every ounce of his manliness and confidence not to roll on the floor and cry his frustrations out.

"Oh, Naruto! I brought Sasuke with me since he wanted to see your youthful comeback and since I really wanted to see a very beautiful friendship come back to – "

Even with Lee's shouts about youthful friendship, Kiba's rambunctious laughter, Ino's talkative mouth, the only sound that Naruto can here was the sound of his beating heart and the mantra on his head that won't just stop even when he wanted to.

Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke was finally in front of him after six years and suddenly, everything that had happened back then came crashing down on him.

Naruto suddenly felt nauseous.