Quick Note: This is the sequel to There's No Way I Could. I have summed up as much as I could throughout these chapters so you might not have to read it.

Beta'd by: TheIrisFire

"Wait! Please! Don't do this!" the strangled cry finally managed to pull from his parched throat as he was dragged to the front door. The grip on his arm was painful but was less prevalent as the various aches and pains that pulsed throughout his body. "Listen to me!"

Without another moment of hesitation he was hurled outside into the pouring rain, his skin immediately soaking in the cold from the icy droplets. He winced as his back and elbows absorbed most of the impact. He lay sprawled on the patio for a few seconds before drawing his eyes up. "Don't do this... Please!"

"I didn't do this," the voice snarled at him more menacingly than he expected. "You did." The slam of the door signaled the end of their conversation, or perhaps everything altogether, and was enough to reanimate the young boy's body as he ran back to the door. There had to be another way to make him listen. It couldn't end like this; not after all he had done and how far he had come to finally call himself the other boy's lover. Why were things never as easy as they should have been? Where did he go wrong?

"No! Please! SASUKE!"

Naruto fell against the door, finally letting out a pitiful sob as he laid his head against the hand-carved wood. The rain continued its downpour as if to heighten his misery even further, taunting him. He could tell that it was his own tears that began to fall down his cheeks because they were hot in contrast to the freezing raindrops that ran down his jaw and mingled with the salty streams. He tried to swallow his own sobs but found that doing so only made him feel as if he were choking himself. His body began to tremble against the door as he brought his arms around himself to keep his aching limbs from becoming completely numb.

His chest felt as if it were about to cave in on itself and he began to suffocate slowly as a searing pain shot from his heart. Raindrops hitting the concrete became nothing more than a gentle hum amidst the shrill ringing in his ears that did little to distract him from the agonizing pain. He held his breath to keep from vomiting and found that nothing could be done to keep him from crying any longer. "Please..."

2 Months Earlier

"Are you really not coming back next year?" Kiba persisted with his questioning; wearing a deep-set frown that only upset the blond even more.

"You know I can't come back next year," he spoke in a hushed whisper that barely reached the other's ears on the other side of the room. His small dufflebag that he had pushed under the bed and neglected for almost a year was now being put to use once again, directing him to a change of place. He stuffed his clothes in there so they would fit as neatly as possible but found that it was much more difficult than he remembered. Did I come here with this much stuff?

"Come on man! Just because of one little—"

"It's not little," Naruto cut in abruptly, ceasing all movement as he stared out the open window for another moment. He took in the fresh scent of pine that slowly wafted through the room and cooled down his burning skin. "These past couple of months here have been hard on this school, don't you think?"

"Sarutobi can deal with those vultures," Kiba insisted, dropping his own luggage at the door and approaching the blond with plea in his dark eyes. "Cell phones have been banned and you have those private classes that you can keep doing until it all blows over!"

"Kiba," he beseeched the other boy as he turned to look away from the window and to his desperate friend. It warmed his heart to know that he was of enough importance to fight for in such a case, but he knew that it could not be done. "I don't want things to remain as they are, okay? I am grateful for what the old man has done for me, but that's not enough. I'll be living with Jiraiya, and be homeschooled by a private tutor when the school year comes around."

Kiba made a face of pure discomfort as he watched the blond slowly zip up his bag, the sound seeming to strip away all other noises until they reached the door. "Well... At least we have the summer... Right?"

His blue eyes looked back at his friend with a reassuring glint that made the other boy force a small smile. "Of course. You think I'd let you slip away from my life that easily? You're stuck with me, buddy."

At this the brunette snickered as he punched his friend's arm playfully. "I don't think so, pal. It's you who is stuck with us. We're not about to lose you to something as frivolous as distance."

"I didn't even know you knew what frivolous meant," another voice interjected. "I guess that means you have learned something this year."

"Tch," Kiba pouted with a mocking scowl as Shikamaru closed his door behind him with two suitcases in hand. "Just because I wasn't in advanced classes like some people, doesn't mean I'm stupid. Besides, once Naruto is all settled in you better be calling me over!"

"Sure," the former sophomore replied with a roll of his eyes. "That is, if you have no problems visiting an Uchiha manor."

"Oh... I forgot about that," he grumbled thoughtfully for a moment with a look directed at the startled blond.

"Let's get going then!" Naruto proclaimed eagerly as he ran down the hallway towards the wooden staircase. It was hard to believe that he was leaving this place so soon.

When he had first arrived at this school hidden in the leaves it had been one of the worst experiences of his life. He had felt like an outcast and was more alone than he had ever been in his life. Through a series of outrageous disasters that put him through a whirlwind of emotions that he had never felt before, he emerged from the rubble taking away more from the experience than he could have ever lost. He met so many interesting people and, though he felt like his world was crumbling around him, he also managed to change them all for the better. Looking back at the other boys who were struggling to keep up with him, he smiled at the fact that he could call them friends. He had the care and loyalty of a select few who proved to him that they would remain by his side no matter what the circumstances. There was this... along with something much more precious.

"Remind me why we are running!" Kiba wheezed as he set his bags on the floor of the entrance room. Many other boys were rushing by and congregating in their own corners to have one last conversation with their classmates before they departed.

"I'm excited!" Naruto exclaimed with an overjoyed grin to his friends, finding that it was highly contagious. "Aren't we supposed to be happy that school is over and we get 3 months off?"

Shikamaru gave him a wry smile before patting his shoulder lightly. "I suppose it could be that way for us, but aren't you distracting yourself from the fact that you're not going to be coming back here again. This is where it all happened, right?"

The blond's smile faded, not into a frown, but a straight, thin line of contemplation as he looked back at the wooden doors. Of course Shikamaru was right; he was always right. He would have never guessed when he first met him that this lazy kid was actually a reluctant genius with so much more insight than anyone he knew. "Well, I'm going to miss it, sure," he began hesitantly as he looked down at his bag. "But, things will be a lot better for everyone once I'm gone."

"Do you mean all of us, or just Sasuke and Hinata?"

Naruto's muscles tensed as the sounds of the familiar names brought others' attentions to them briefly. He waved his hand dismissively at Kiba with a stern glare as he tried to think of a quick change of subject.

"So, you'll be given a cell phone once we're out right?" Shikamaru asked nonchalantly as if that's what they had been talking about from the beginning whilst digging his elbow into Kiba's side.

"Y-yeah," Naruto chimed in, recapturing his smile and ignoring the spiky haired brunette as he fell to his knees.

"Fucking hell, I'm sorry!" he coughed with a sideways glare to the other boy as he rubbed his ribs. "So, when will I be able to get a hold of you, Naruto?"

The blond shrugged. "Whenever Shika deems you worthy enough."

"Ass."

"It's 5 o'clock," Naruto cut in before Shikamaru could add any last snide comments, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking towards the doors. The stares he received were overwhelmingly uncomfortable and he was more eager than any of them to remove himself from the environment.

Once they were outside he slowed his pace so his friends could walk at his sides comfortably. The shaded path with tightly packed soil was always a tranquil one to walk along. The various shades of green meshed together so uniformly on either side made it difficult to discern where the scenery began and where it ended. The air was much crisper than it was when it drifted through the bedroom window, and it wisped past them as the gentle breeze whistled through the pine and ash. Naruto let out a contented sigh that broke into the still silence that wasn't completely total, but oddly comforting as they approached the intersecting paths that led to the girls' dorm ahead, the campus to their right, and the road back to civilization to their left.

Many cars were lining up on the left, a sight that the blond hadn't seen because he had joined late and had walked the couple of miles along that dirt road in order to arrive here. The day of arrival sparked so many new beginnings that thinking back on the absurd nature of them made him chuckle.

"My driver should be somewhere around here," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath as he stood on his tiptoes in order to get a better view over the gaggle of students that were still getting their goodbyes out of the way.

"That's my mom!" Kiba cheered happily with an energetic wave to someone in the distance. Turning to the blond he dropped his bags and captured him in a tight hug that nearly choked all the air from his lungs. "You better call me over this summer! I won't forgive you if you don't!"

"Take care, Inuzuka," Naruto coughed playfully as he was released and without another word his friend sprinted through the crowd and disappeared. "That kid has too much energy."

"You can get pretty restless yourself," Shikamaru commented as he picked up his suitcases, having apparently spotted his driver. "Follow me."

"I prefer passionate," he added jokingly as they came up to a glossy black luxury car where a man in a chauffer's suit was standing by the open passenger door. Talk about going out in style.

"Is your friend coming along with you, Mr. Nara?" The man spoke stiffly but had a friendly smile that didn't unnerve him as much as his tone.

"Yeah, we're taking him into the city, just a couple miles from home."

"That would put you a bit behind schedule," the man added; nonetheless, he opened the other door for Naruto, grabbing his duffle bag from his shoulder and placing it in the trunk.

"I'm not worried about that. Time limits are too tiresome to deal with anyway," Shikamaru stated with a light roll of his eyes as he sat next to the silent blond.

"You need to learn to be a bit more punctual, Mr. Nara. Your father was recently scolded by the Mistress for such a thing."

A slight grin was now detected in the other boy's features as their doors were closed, and he waited for the driver to take his seat behind the steering wheel before he playfully added, "Drive fast then."

The trees passed them by in one seamless blur as the car pulled out of the line of vehicles, being one of the first to drive away. Without meaning to, Naruto glanced out the back window at the campus that was quickly disappearing into the background, letting the leaves consume and hide it from full view. He remembered a time when looking forward at his future at that campus always brought about a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. Now that he was looking back it all seemed a bit too sudden. I'm actually going to miss it.

"So, as far as theatrical pursuits go?" Shikamaru's question was a sudden break from the odd nostalgia that was beginning to make him feel uneasy.

Naruto fell back in his seat with a thoughtful glance up to the roof. "I'm going to try some community theaters and Suna University. I hear they sometimes accept local auditions for some productions."

"Sounds like a good plan," the brunette commented with a nod as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "It was quite generous of your old man to let you stay the summer away from him."

Naruto nodded as his eyes drifted to the side window, watching the trees grow thinner and more scarce as they approached the main road. "I got to spend our vacation days with him, and he thought that it couldn't hurt since he lives in the same city. It's not like I won't see him before summer ends."

Jiraiya was an old man who had taken full custody of Naruto after searching for him endlessly when he ran away. Naruto never thought that anyone he encountered through the foster system could ever bring themselves to care about him, so he left before he had the chance to meet this man. Little did he know that while he was granted a free pass to Konoha Academy, Jiraiya and his social worker, Tsunade, were searching for him. He was more than grateful to have a guardian who was making such great efforts to give him time to allow him to adjust whilst letting their relationship grow stronger.

"Hey... Shika," the blond murmured quietly.

"Hm?"

"Do you think leaving Konoha was for the best?"

"In your sense, I suppose."

"And in your sense?"

The brunette opened his eyes, not seeming to focus on anything in particular. A short breath, like a sigh, passed his lips as his hand came up to scratch his head lazily. "Konoha took you outside of the real world, to protect you," he answered as he let his eyes drift closed once more. "The real world is out to get you..."

"And I just took myself out of the only safe place..."

"I sure hope you know what you're doing."

So do I.