Thanks for reading.

Just letting you know, so no confusion can arise, I posted this story under 'Hallowed, be thy name' in the Naruto Fanfiction Archive.

Anyway, new chapter. Still fairly short, but they will get longer.

Song: Who let you go by The Killers.

Jacob Black had always been an optimist. He loved to think that good things happened from bad things and he refused to let the crappy things in life get him down. Why would he when he had an entire life to live and love? Friends to care about and family to take care of?

Jacob had his emotions in check. He knew how to feel when to feel it and if he didn't want to feel something, he'd ignore it. It was as simple as that for him. There was no need to dwell on feelings such as hate and heartbreak when one could be happy and cheerful.

When his blond haired, best friend left him, he felt pain. Pain, because his friend had left him without saying anything. Without a word, or a note or anything as to even a hint as to where he'd gone. But Jacob soon realized there was no need for it. Instead, he put it all to the side and concentrated on things that made him happy.

Then, something Jacob had never considered happened. It made him feel something he had only ever once felt and that was when his Mother had died. It was big and overwhelming and it suffocated him in unbelievable pain. It mentally and physically exhausted him and pounded on his heart screaming, unrelenting.

Edward Cullen, the cliché romantic. The pale, cold vampire that he had grown to love and care for. The one person that he would give his soul to if he so much as hinted towards wanting it.

Edward Cullen; the man who left him for a human girl.

Jacob could hardly believe it when the man had told him that he no longer had feelings for him. That he had developed feelings toward a girl he had barely known for a month and that he was leaving him for her.

It nearly broke Jacob when he was left for nothing on the beach of La Push, shocked and motionless and still able to feel the cold draft Edward left in his departure. No matter what went through his mind, he couldn't think of anything he had done to cause the other to leave him.

But, in true Jacob Black style, he told himself not to be ridiculous. That it was his first love and first heartbreak; everyone has one. That he shouldn't get so overly emotional about it. He had a dick, not a vagina. He wasn't going to cry, eat lethal amounts of chocolate and pour out his emotions in forms of tears to Bridget Jones' Diary.

After he was 'dumped', although he truly hated the word, he went home to bed. Telling his Father and friends was easy.

'Edward and I are no longer together.'

And he left it at that. Jacob would occasionally feel a nagging in his brain and a tug at his heart but he wouldn't, for the life of him, allow himself to be another soppy, broken-hearted person who fell for the charms of another only to be left with nothing. He didn't have it in him.

With the break-up, Jacob convinced Sam to tell the Elders to reverse the treaty. With Naruto, the Cullen's and his ex-love, the pack decided it best to quash the treaty laws and allow the 'cold ones' pass the border and into the reservation. But, now that Edward and his best friend gone, there was no need for it anymore.

The few times that Jacob did go into Forks, the Cullen family always made sure to see him. There was never any Edward, of course, just the rest of them. They told him they missed him and that they were truly sorry for what had happened.

Jasper and Rosalie had always been especially close with him. Emmett and Alice, of course, were always fond of him and saw him as a brother but with the other two, there was just something he couldn't identify lurking in between them. It was hard with Rosalie; she'd obviously been very objective with the whole 'Vampire and a Wolf' dating scenario but she warmed towards him quickly.

But, Jacob decided it was best if he left contact between them to a nil. It was hard enough knowing that Edward wasn't there only to have his family as a constant reminder. So he told them they couldn't be friends anymore and left it to that.

The pack was very supportive of Jacob. They were harsh at times and they still jerked him around but in the end, they were all his closest friends and gave him all the comfort he needed. In the manliest of ways, of course.

When Jacob felt himself thinking about that day, he would ask Sam if he could swap shifts and go on patrol. He would run for hours on end; until the stars that lit the sky faded away to give way to a glorious sun rise. He'd breathe in deep to pick up new smells and twitch his ears to decipher the sounds of the forest. Large paws padded the forest floor as he was but a blur to the world.

Jacob wasn't heartless or numb. He didn't brood and he didn't mope. For Jacob, it felt uncomfortable to so freely show his emotions like that. He'd done it with Edward and he wouldn't do it again. So, Jacob Black tried to forget.

The weather was oddly hot today. La Push and Forks weren't players of the 'seasons' game. Usually, it was cloudy, rainy or cold. Sun was a rare event that caused most inhabitants to gape in wonder or bask in its promiscuous glory. Hot weather, by far, was something that drove them stir crazy. The humidity was awful; sticky and still with an unbearable heat.

For Jacob, it was ten fold the normal amount of 'unbearable.' With his already lethal body temperature, the sweltering heat just made it worse. He'd begged Sam to let him go on patrol; he was nearly drooling at the natural insulation and the cooling air whipping pass him. But Sam had told him that Paul and himself were doing it themselves. Selfish bastard.

So Jacob was stuck in his room, near naked on his bed, trying to fan himself off with his hand which was totally not working. He reminded himself to tell his Dad to get air con. Sighing, Jacob moved around, considering going to the beach. Looking at his alarm clock on his bed side table, he found it to be 10:32am.

Deciding that the beach would definitely be the best place to be right now, he slowly sat to an upright position. His head swam with dizziness; Jacob hated the heat. Lethargically, Jacob walked to his dresser and dug around for something to swim in, quickly pulling on the black shorts he found. Jacob searched his room for a towel and, after sniffing one he picked off the ground and deeming it clean enough, he headed out towards the kitchen.

Deciding to be rebellious today, Jacob snuck a beer out of the fridge, knowing his father wouldn't notice one bottle missing. As soon as the bitter, cold substance entered his mouth, he felt better. It didn't cool his skin, but it made his insides feel better, soothing his parched throat.

Grabbing a large packet of chips and a bottle of coke, he placed them on the bench with his towel, making an easy to find pile for when he decided to leave. Going over the check list in his head, he searched his living room for the house keys, chucking them onto the bench as well.

Just as he was looking for his sunglasses, there was a knock at the door. Normally, a knock would suggest that someone that you know is visiting. But, in Jacob's experience, all of the people he knew were too rude, comfortable or familiar with his house to bother with the whole knocking routine.

Confused, Jacob straightened himself to his full height, his head nearly touching the roof, automatically going into defensive and menacing mode. With his 6'7 height, it wasn't too hard for him to pull it off.

Pulling open the door, Jacob almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. His eyes were wide in shock, his mouth agape and his tall, scary posture he held just moments ago slackened monstrously. The bottle of beer he held in his hand fell to the floor, its foamy contents rapidly spreading across the wooden floorboards.

"Hey Jake," the person asked, glancing at him but not being able to keep eye contact, too nervous at what the other would say or do.

Before any of them could comprehend what was happening, Jacobs fist slammed into the tanned boys face, sending him sprawling across the pavement. Jacob stared in shock at the action that had just happened, staring at his fist in amazement before he was tackled into his house, a blonde haired male landing roughly on top of him and delivering his own attack to his face.

The fight wasn't anything serious. It wasn't there for the two to seriously harm each other and there was no intense anger or rage burning throughout the fight. For the reunited best friends, it was a way of catching up and saying hello. For anyone else, it might have looked over the top and too rough, but they both knew how far to take it and how much weight to put behind the punches they threw.

By the end of the fight, which lasted a mere 5 minutes, they were both sprawled across the floor of Jacob's living room, panting and huffing as they looked towards the ceiling. At random intervals, one would lazily throw a punch to the others arm, in which he would retaliate with just as much enthusiasm.

After his breathing had slowed down and evened out, Jacob turned towards his friend. He was in awe of how much his friend had changed over the year that had passed. Before he left, the blonde and been small; only 5'7 with a small, lithe figure. Now though, he stood roughly at 6'2 and he had filled out. Not as much as Jacob but there was definitely defined muscle there.

The blonde turned to look at his friend, sweet covering his forehead and a grin stretching over his lips, making its way up his whiskered cheeks. His eyes closed as he radiated his happiness fully and Jacob couldn't help but fall to the charms of his returned friend.

Smiling, Jacob gave one last punch to his friends shoulder, "Hey Naruto."

I hope you enjoyed reading this, because I enjoyed writing it.

Reviews are encouraged.
Flames are accepted.