Chapter two, anyone? The story really kicks off here, I think. I like to think of the first chapter as more of a prologue, but that's just me getting all fancy.

Chapter Two.

Her eyes refused to move from the greasy window the entire ride. She was so close. So fucking close. If only she was a few minutes earlier, or even later, she would've caught a different train… A train that wasn't ambushed by two men with guns. A warm hand grabbed hers from the seat next to her, but she could barely bring herself to acknowledge it. She was so done with everything.

The cab rolled into a gravel driveway and stopped in front of a modest house surrounded by trees and spacious land that sat before an orchard down the road. Her door was opened for her without a warning, causing her to jump.

"Sakura," the girl in front of her sighed, "wake up."

She pulled herself out from the backseat and leaned her head onto an expecting shoulder. "Why me?" Was her pathetic mumble.

"Because you're the biggest loser ever, duh." She grinned to that and shoved Ino away lightly.

They both pulled out their suitcases and rolled with some trouble to the front porch of the house. It was so dark out, Sakura noticed, dark enough to see the stars. She couldn't remember seeing them since she was little, camping with her Dad somewhere.

"Forehead!" She was snapped back to reality yet again by Ino's squawk and looked ahead to see a woman at the open door. She was very petite and had short black hair just below her ears. A fitted plaid shirt was tucked into a pair of jeans and a quaint smile was directed her way.

"I hope the drive wasn't too bad, let's get you inside." Ino and Sakura followed her in, the long day behind them but finally taking its toll.

"I'm Shizune," she introduced herself once inside. "Please, leave your bags by the door and I'll get one of the guys to bring them upstairs in a bit. Make yourselves at home and I'll be right back. Tsunade's outside so I'll just go get her."

"Nice place, right?" Ino asked, slumping not so gracefully into a well-worn couch.

The men on the subway were quick. Hardly a second after her knees were on the ground, a boot was pressed to her cheek to hold her down and hands were groping all over her until they pulled out her baggy of savings. She heard sobbing from across the car, a very pregnant woman clutching a child to her chest. Everyone was stripped of their wallets in a matter of minutes and before a cop could even be alerted, the thieves were off at the next station and gone for the night.

"I'm coming," Ino had told her.

She was the only person she could think of calling, the only friend she really kept in touch with these days. And despite her prissy attitude and freshly done manicure, she grabbed two of Sakura's heavier bags and guided her with the rest of her stuff onto the streets of the Upper West Side.

With no hesitation, she called a cab and then the one person she knew could fix this. "Tsunade, I need you to set up a room. I'm driving down now."

And there they were. Somewhere in New Jersey at Ino's Aunt's house with everything she had to her name packed away and laying by the front door.

"Ino, nice to see you!" A tall blonde woman greeted as she appeared from a back room. "Still as stick-skinny as ever, I see." She huffed, pulling the girl into a hug.

"Yeah, yeah. This is Sakura, our victim of the hour."

"Ah," she didn't hesitate to pull her into a full-contact hug, holding her pale face to her chest as she rubbed her back. "I'm so sorry about the subway incident."

"Me too," she sighed, leaning against the stairs of the foyer.

"Did the police seem hopeful?"

"Not at all."

"I see." There was a pause in that moment. It was brief, but Sakura managed to catch a firm stare between Ino and her aunt. "Then we'll just have to make the best of what we got, now won't we?"

"Of course!" Ino was overflowing with optimism in that moment but quickly changed gears. "Now when's dinner?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her, but answered her nonetheless. "Half hour. Go get Naruto to bring the bags up first."

Ino pulled her friend along as she continued on through the house. It was very homey, Sakura decided. They walked through a sturdy kitchen with Shizune at the oven and a god-sent aroma wafting from her direction. "Smells like the usual," Ino commented.

Once they reached the back porch, Sakura could only gasp. Rows upon rows of bushes neatly lined the field alongside a modest vegetable garden. But by comparison, the garden was but a pebble in a pond.

"So they harvest berries?" She couldn't help but be drawn in by the vastness of it all.

"Yep. In the fall they open the field up for the public to pick their own and then they make stuff like jams and dried fruit mixes to sell the rest of the year. NARUTOOO!"

"Fucking hell, Ino!" Someone yelled back from around the house.

"I brought a guest, be nice to me."

The man, Naruto, brushed his hands on his soil-stained jeans before offering one to Sakura. "So I hear you'll be staying here for a while?" He had a charming smile, she couldn't deny it. Ino had one similar to it, she realized.

"I guess so. At least until I can pull myself together." She smiled back at Ino's cousin with some of the optimism Ino herself was expressing earlier.

"That's what I said too! But here I am, four years later!" He grinned with a few pearly teeth poking out and ruffled his hair. A light dusting of dirt blew out into the air.

Ino took a step back and grimaced. "Ew, Naruto. What were you doing back there?"

"Planting stupid flowers. The old fart wanted to brighten up the place or something. I think she really just wanted me to be busy." He dropped himself onto a swinging bench and spread himself out shamelessly.

"Why? What were you doing before?" Judging by her condescending tone, Sakura could tell Ino already knew, or at least had a clue.

He put on the fattest grin Sakura had ever seen, pretending to be all innocent. Ino's tone dropped a notch and warned him. "Naruto…"

"Nothing! I was just chatting up the orchard girls!"

"You mean Hinata." His smile was immediately sealed up and he was as quiet as the cool breeze passing through. "You're an idiot. Aunt Tsunade wants you to take our bags upstairs. We left them by the door."

"Of course you did. Thanks." He threw himself off the bench and yanked the back door open to go inside.

"So he's your cousin?" Sakura walked over to the bench and sat where Naruto had been.

"Yeah. He got into some trouble at the end of high school and was sent to the military academy. He did okay and everything but he didn't like it much. So he took a break before enlisting and came out here for a summer. Hasn't left since!" Ino perched up on the wooden railing around the porch and peeked in at the kitchen. "Looks like something with chicken and cornbread."

"So what exactly is the plan for me here?" She played with the cushion under her as she rocked her stress out.

"Well," Ino started, "I'm not sure."

"Ino!"

"Hey! Look, my aunt is definitely going to house you and shit for at least a few months, I can promise you that. She wouldn't have agreed to have us over if she wasn't ready for you. She'll have a plan, okay?"

"I feel like a sack of shit." She laid down along the bench and pressed a fist to her forehead.

"Come on, you sack of shit. Let's go eat."

The oak table was set with bright mix matched plates and place mats, linen napkins for every set. A short vase of fresh flowers sat toward the center. There was a pitcher of iced tea, a pan of garlic-y breaded chicken, grilled asparagus, sweet cornbread and a whisper of pie for dessert.

"Dig in!" Tsunade brought her own glass of red wine to the table and helped herself to a piece of chicken right away before truly letting anyone else get started.

"Thank you, this is delicious," Sakura complimented as she was halfway through with her plate.

"You're quite welcome. Now," Tsunade put her napkin on the table and finished swallowing a piece of cornbread before looking Sakura straight in the eye. Everyone else unintentionally stopped their own eating to pay attention as well. Well, minus Naruto. He managed to keep his pace going. "since you'll be needing a job to build yourself up, I made a few phone calls to see what's available. I'd have you just work here out with Naruto, Shizune and Konohamaru but they manage more than just fine these days."

"Where is that kid, anyway?" Ino asked, sipping her tea with her pinky out as always.

"Camping with those other brats out at the orchard. Anyway, so yes. I got you a job."

"I really don't know what to say. Um, thank you, of course. It's just that I just got here and-"

"You don't want to work?" Tsunade barked.

Sakura immediately straightened up. "I do! I'm just a little overwhelmed and honestly didn't even realize I'd being staying here long term!"

"Ino…" Tsunade turned to her niece and pursed her lips together with visible agitation.

"She would've said no if I had told her this was more than just a weekend retreat!"

Tsunade turned back to Sakura who was nervously sliding the rest of her asparagus across her plate. From what Ino had told her, Sakura had nowhere to go, no family to call for help, an abusive boyfriend she just ran away from and on top of it all, she was utterly unhappy.

"Sakura," she began softly, "stay with us. Jiraiya won't need help for another week, so you can just enjoy yourself out here until then. Relax and just take it easy."

"We can go skinny dipping if that'll help you relax," offered the man of the table.

"Naruto, you're doing dishes."

Her back sank into the plush mattress and her eyes grew hazy and unfocused as she finally unwound herself. Ino insisted on fixing her a bath with all the oils in the book and even went ahead and lit a few candles. She fingered her wet hair and could smell the oils still in it. She didn't mind.

It happened so fast. Just that morning she was sweating all the way to her toes getting groceries, robbed blind around seven and now falling asleep in her new but temporary home out in Who Knows Where, New Jersey on a farm.

She really didn't mind.

The next thing she knew she was waking up to the smell of something baking. Something delicious. She fixed her pajamas to look as presentable as pajamas can possibly look and headed downstairs to the dining room.

Shizune was at the stove flipping batter-soaked slices of fat bread. "French toast?"

Maybe Naruto wasn't crazy for staying for so long.

"Thank you!" She sat down just in time to watch Naruto jump the stair railing and charge in for his own plate.

"Hit me up good!" Shizune threw a few pieces on his plate before he sat down across from Sakura.

"Where are Ino and Tsunade?" She watched as he stuffed half a slice into his mouth before answering.

"Over at the orchard." A small chewed chunk flew back onto his plate but he had no shame.

"Do you guys work close with the orchard people or something?"

This time he swallowed before he answered. "No shit. We work together and offer deals so people visit both properties and really load up. They have a huge property that has a small camping ground, too. So I guess we kind of feed off of their customers but we hold events often."

"Events?"

"You'll see. Wanna go check out the orchard?"

"Sure-"

"Go get dressed! I wanna leave in five minutes! Thanks, Shizune!" He ran for the stairs, leaving Sakura at the table.

"Don't worry about the dishes. Go get ready before he throws a fit."

"Wouldn't want to see that."

"Wow," Sakura breathed out, "it's so pretty."

"Yeah, the Hyuuga family is mad crazy about keeping things perfect at all times."

The two of them had biked down the road to the orchard, which really only took ten minutes. Much like the bushes of Tsunade's farm, the apple trees were lined up row by row for quite a while and were fenced off to keep free-loaders from enjoying their harvest. A two-story house similar to the one back at the berry farm was built on the property and next to it was a cute shack-like structure with the Hyuuga Apple Orchard sign out front.

They rested their bikes next to Tsunade's truck and walked past the store front to the house. It was painted a crisp white all around and was meticulously well-kept. The lawn was short and even, flowers bloomed and filled out next to a row of plump bushes. It was as if it was straight off a TV show.

"What're you doing here?" A deep voice asked from behind them.

"Hey, Neji! Just showing Sakura around. She's a friend of Ino's and is gonna stay with my aunt and I for a while."

This Neji guy was only a little taller than Sakura herself but had a strong jaw line and the posture of a king. He had long hair she was immediately envious of that was pulled back into a low but tight ponytail.

"Nice to meet you. They're out with my uncle and Hinata." He narrowed his pale eyes when Naruto's smile broadened a bit. "Hands off." And with that, he turned and headed back to the store front.

Naruto shrugged him off and without missing a beat turned to walk Sakura out to the orchard. Next to the house was a shaded table with all the women sitting around it, each with a glass of water in hand… Except Tsunade. She opted for a beer.

"Sakura, Naruto! Nice to see you two out here. Hiashi, this is Sakura." The older version of Neji reached out to shake her hand firmly.

"I heard about the subway. It's things like that that keep me out here away from the city." He shook his head, vague disappointment on his face.

"Yeah. It could've been worse, I guess."

"Much worse! We're lucky you're alive, girl!" Ino jolted, shaking Sakura by the shoulder. "This is Hinata, by the way."

"Hi," the girl greeted, waving from her chair next to her father.

Naruto was quiet for a change, obviously a little intimidated by Hiashi's presence.

"Would you like a tour, Sakura?" Hiashi offered.

"That would be really nice, actually."

"Hinata, why don't you show her the trees and maybe the camp grounds?" Hinata immediately rose and Ino was quick to follow suit.

Naruto followed along like a lovesick puppy much to Hiashi's dismay but Tsunade sent him a reassuring look. Together they all set out between the rows of trees.

"Say hi to Sasuke while you're out there and let him know about tonight!" Tsunade shouted to them before they were too far.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked curiously.

Ino's face hardened a little. "He's on probation."

"Probation? For what?" A criminal working with apples?

"Stuff." Naruto answered firmly, a tone that left no room for further questions. "He's a nice guy, don't worry about it."

"If you say so…" Sakura kept her eyes on Ino, though. She had more to say and she'd hear it later.

"Sasuke, can you come down a minute?" Hinata called to him, spotting him in a particularly large tree.

A few seconds later the man jumped down before them. He was at least a head taller than Naruto and had tattoos down to his wrists and up his sleeves. He had unruly hair that spiked out toward the back and a too familiar stare that caused Sakura to blush suddenly.

He was the guy from the farmers' market. The really hot guy. She could only hope he didn't remember her staring like a drooling teenager at him.

"This is Sakura. She's gonna be staying with us for a while."

He grabbed her hand and his eyes struck her even harder than they did the day before.

"Sasuke. Good to see you again."

Well, there goes that.

SO? What do you think? Sasuke's a criminal AND the hot guy from the market. BAM.

Side note to all: I want to thank all of you now again for your support. Whether this is your first time reading my work or you've gone through the chapters of every story after all these years, thank you. It truly means the world.

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Happy unbirthday,

-frumpyrox