Yay, new addition time!!! Ventus just wrote it up, and she apologizes for the shortness, but well, it's meant to be stopped there and any attempts at making it longer just for the sake of making it longer would have been shot down by me. So, enjoy and review. It is SO depressing to devote your time to something and end up being the only one to appreciate it. But I'm sure you all know that, so I'll stop boring you and continue with my typing job.

We own nothing, not even the computer (that belongs to our school).

Crystalline Sorrows, chapter 4: Melting Ice

'Have you ever felt true agony? The type where your eyes clench tightly, your screams are silent and you hopelessly wish for death? The sort of pain that leaves your heart in tatters and your dreams crushed at your feet, the sort of heartbreak that destroys your will to live. That excruciating death of the soul is called love. Yes love hurts, but what's worse is when love makes you completely and impossibly happy, and then betrays you. That is true pain.'

A small black book was shut, the words disappearing beneath its cover. Naruto sighed and leaned back against his bed's headboard. He stroked the journal softly and smiled slightly. His eyes softened from their betrayed and angry look as he took in his former sensei's gift.

Yes, he hated pity, but for once, Iruka had given him a useful sympathy gift. He did feel lighter somehow once he had finished writing his thoughts in his diary. His gaze turned to the missing picture at his bedside. The now empty frame proclaimed a sort of sad loss, like it was missing half of itself. He grew thoughtful again.

It had been two weeks since the painful break up with him. The villagers were rejoicing, they cheered whenever Sakura and the raven walked hand in hand or kissed. The blonde had learnt to ignore the awful clenching of his heart when he saw their antics and had been attending the team meetings like always. Of course, the atmosphere was completely different since he didn't say a word to the lovebirds and even Kakashi was concentrating more on him, leaving the couple to spar together.

He shook his head and tenderly picked up the notebook, depositing it in a drawer and closing it with a small snap. He smiled and left his apartment, filled with more warmth than he had been in a long time.

A pure white petal flew in the morning breeze and landed on the surface of a peaceful lake. The sunrise illuminated the softly swaying trees and light started peaking on white rooftops. The light patter of footsteps filled the air as Naruto strolled through the streets on his way to training ground 7. As he entered the forest he remembered his first meeting with Neji and the ones that followed.

A few days after his discovery of anger, he had started blaming himself. As he saw Sasuke on the streets he would bow his head to hide the tears that were forming in his eyes. He broke the mirror in his bathroom because he hated himself. He even went as far as to always turn his back to Konoha's lake to avoid seeing his reflection.

It was his entire fault because he hadn't been enough. That was his constant, dominating thought. He drew in on himself, refusing to talk to those who cared about him in fear of their rejection.

It was one day, when he saw Iruka crying to Kakashi- Iruka, the strongest person he had ever known- about him that he woke up. Seeing his former teacher's tears was like a slap on the face, like a cup of freezing water thrown at him. It woke him up. As he dragged himself to his apartment that night, ready for a lot of thinking, he ran into the destiny obsessed Hyuuga. The boy had raised an eyebrow, a strange look in his eyes. He said, "Congratulations, Uzumaki, you just passed the third stage: guilt."

Before he could leave, Naruto asked him, "Why are you doing this?"

The long haired boy looked him in the eyes and said, "Remember that fatal battle we went through to get the Uchiha back from sound? I remember when you came back with him on your back.

"As you dragged your wounded body towards us, you had a triumphant look in your eyes. And at that moment, we all forgot. We forgot that we had just had the biggest battle of our lives for an entirely undeserving fool, forgot that some of us might not have made it that day and even forgot that we would return to a village so ravaged it could not be called a village anymore. In that instant we had found a true leader. And then we returned and your eyes lost their lustre. I could not stand seeing the beacon that had given us life die. That is why I said those things to you."

The blonde's eyes were shining with unshed tears and his fists were clenched tightly. He was gaping slightly at the unexpected answer, speechless. "N…Neji."

The Hyuuga shook his head, "There's only one step left: acceptance. I am here if you nee anything. And I will watch until you shine again. And when you do, the whole rescue team will be glad to have their leader back."

And then the boy walked away, leaving Naruto alone in the forest, eyes gazing sightlessly at the empty air before him.