As Sasuke's eyes settled on Rin, so had Kakashi's. He could emphasize with the girl, he knew it was hard for her to be around others, but surely there was a way to make her see that there was no chance that her brother was alive. She had to create new bonds, and keep them. If she gave the team a chance, he knew that she would find a family or at least lifelong friends. It wasn't right for her to brood this way, it really must have been heartbreaking to lose her brother, but vengeance would get her nowhere. Revenge would not bring her peace, it would only throw her further into the recesses of her mind and cage her like a prisoner. As if noticing the eyes on her, Rin looked at Kakashi and stood up to leave, leaving money on the counter to pay for a bowl for Kakashi and then taking her leave. It wasn't hard to believe that Naruto began to make a big ruckus about it, but that was because Naruto was predictable. No one really remembered exactly when Kakashi disappeared, but suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

Despite the fact that both Sasuke and Rin had won the little challenge, they'd both paid for their meal, and Naruto secretly celebrated that his wallet would not become empty in such a small span of time. As time wore on, the conversations became one sided as only Naruto rambled off about things no one really cared about. Sasuke stood up to leave and managed to say goodbye before he was out of earshot. This was usually Sakura's cue to leave and trial behind Sasuke with some lame excuse, but she didn't. She stayed for a while more to listen to Naruto's prattle as she searched for something in his eyes. After a while, she began to give up hope and told Naruto that they both should start heading home. But as they both stood up to leave, Naruto accidently bumped into a small child, and the small thing flinched and ran crying to his mother in apparent fear. In that moment, she saw what she was looking for: the pang of shame and pain. It happened so quickly that she had almost missed it, but she knew what to look for; after all she had seen eyes like those staring at back at her every morning in the mirror.

Naruto was saying something, but she couldn't quite hear what it was, she was too busy thinking about the sadness that was etched in his eyes.

"Sakura?" He called out to her, slightly louder, taking her out of her reverie.

"What?" Her voice held some bite in it, but it wasn't directed at him.

"Oh, never mind… I'll walk you home if you want!"

She shook her head slowly, but made sure that it didn't seem rude, "Don't worry Naruto, it's not that long of a walk, besides, your apartment is closer. I'll see you tomorrow."

"But–"

"I'm serious Naruto. I'll walk myself." She gave him a meaningful smile and started to walk in the opposite direction from him.

"Bye Sakura-chan! I'll see ya tomorrow." His eyes lit up with appreciation and certain fear.

As he walked back home, his shoulders slumped a little and his steps seem to be heavier. By now, most of the shops were closing down, and the streets were no longer full of prying eyes, and that meant that his guard was coming down. It crumbled slowly, much like an ancient stone wall eroded by the wind. The hardships of the day were taking their toll on his body at long last and they were wearing him away. By the time he reached his apartment, his eyes had gathered forgotten tears and they began their journey down his face. They were silent tears that blurred and clouded his vision as he made his way to his room. In slow movements he changed his clothing, pulling his sleeping cap on as the tears began to increase in amount.

He was used to this, and it was horrible that it was true, but on the worst of days, everything would build up and it would become too much to hide, so in the safe haven of his small abode, he let everything go. The good, the bad, and everything else in between. It was just simply something he did. There were days that those tears carried the weight of his dead parents and threatened to drown him. Hot tears, like scalding irons, burned their way through his face, leaving invisible scars, ones only he could see and feel. But days like these reminded him of spring showers. It was natural and almost weightless. It was a trail of tears that took bitter memories with them, leaving room for better ones. So as Naruto closed his and reminisced on the day's events, the ghost of a smile began to etch its way on his mouth. Tears soon began to stop and his breathing began to even out, and as the last tear made its way down his face, a small and soft smile had finished forming on his lips. Perhaps he was not the best behaved boy, and perhaps a lot of people looked at him with fear and hatred, but now he had Iruka-sensei's, and maybe even his teammates', support and friendship.

It would seem that the clear night sky had condoned the shedding of tears for in a household of pink hair and emerald eyes, Sakura began to cry. She was breaking at the seams, just because of the look she had seen in Naruto's eyes. It was a look of a broken visage, of someone who had been tormented and beaten down with words and condescending laughs. And she knew, she knew that he was bullied by everyone who crossed his path, but it was her pride and willingness to fit in that refused to acknowledge this. It was this pride that led her to do the same and mock and say things to Naruto. But seeing his face fall in such a way and such a quick manner, it struck a chord in her heart, it forced her to remember the way she used to cry at nights when she was tormented over her hideous forehead. And it hurt, oh how it hurt, her chest felt constricted and her fingers were going numb, and her breath was coming in fast making her light headed.

Why had she let this go on? There was no way to ignore the fact that Naruto was harassed, it happened everywhere he went. But why? Why did everyone do it; why did she do it? Her father had told her that he was not be associated with but she always assumed it was because of all the havoc he raised, but that couldn't be it. There had to be more to this than it seemed. She continued to sob into her bed as fear reared its ugly head. What if everyone began to treat Sakura like Naruto because she was nice to him? Deep inside, she knew this was preposterous and completely ludicrous, but the fear hung over her like a bomb and refused to budge. The tears came harder then, her voice had long since stopped working, but her tears poured out faster, hotter, and somehow, the branding iron in her throat seemed to become hotter and her throat burned with the knot it had created.

There was no way that another coherent thought would make it through her muddled conscious on this night, so she cried and cried and cried until her chocked sobs turned to sniffles and sniffles turned to a steady slumber. But even sleep couldn't keep her fears at bay. That night she whimpered as her mind put her through the pain of her past and multiplied it tenfold. She was in a pain that left her numb to everything, at least on the outside, on the inside she was crying and screaming for release, screaming so someone would save her. But her mind was relentless and it reminded her that Sasuke thought she was annoy, but why? Why, why, why, there was too much pain, but it couldn't all be hers because she was good and she tried to fit and she was strong! This continued until a small thought began to form, small, and much like a thread it could be snapped in a second, but it remained: Sakura Haruno would hinder no one any longer. She would do her best to become a great teammate, and she would gain their respect too, even Rin's.

She held on to that thought, knowing very well that it was not strong enough to become a reality in a matter of hours, or days, maybe even years, but she held on to it with all her might, because letting go would mean that she was giving into the fear and Sasuke-kun would never give into the fear. It was silly that even now she loved him, but she did; he was everything that was perfect in the world and if she became stronger, he would recognize her and he would return her feelings. She just knew that this would happen, it had to. So as her mind began to settle down, so did the fearful nightmares, slowing down into a dreamy haze.

Of course nightmares weren't something that just graced Sakura with their presence, of course not. Nightmares were common among shinobi, it was not something they spoke of, but they graced the closed eyelids of all, it discriminated no one and it was omnipresent, never fading… that's how Rin had come to see nightmares and fears. It was like death, something that could not be avoided but was undesirable nonetheless. When she was younger, well younger still, and her life was simpler and she didn't have nightmares, only dreams. She dreamed of all that could be if her brother could become a shinobi, and dreaming that they would have a home and that they'd be happy. But it seemed that dreaming was pointless to her, dreaming never got her or her brother anywhere, she had to take action on what she wanted or her brother would remain incarcerated by that snake of a man. Most of her nightmares revolved around him that horrible and sad excuse of a man who took her brother and ruined their happiness, the rest truly shook her to the core and left her shaking as she woke. In them she would fail to rescue Nazoko and she would find his corpse rotting away in a room that haunted her very existence, those nightmares reflected the deepest fear that resided within her.

It wasn't often that she didn't welcome sleep with open arms, because even if everything went wrong in her mind, it created motivation and even it seared her, it fed the hungry dragon that was her need for vengeance, but this night she lied awake with contemplation on her mind. She wasn't really thinking of anything in specific, but she as thinking of everything at the same time. It was strange and she knew she'd pay the consequences for her lack of sleep tomorrow. She shook the train of thought from it course and closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would grace her tonight.

Two hours later, she realized that this was not going to happen; she also realized that lying down in bed was doing nothing productive and not helping her sleep, so she changed into her day clothes and made her bed. She walked onto the cool night with her hands in her pockets, not wanting to call any attention to herself. It wasn't long before she noticed light footsteps mirroring her every step, and they definitely were not trying to hide their presence so they were either civilian or a shinobi alerting her of their presence. She chose to ignore this until she reached the training grounds that Kakashi had taken them to. When she stopped, so the other person so she waited for them to speak. There was a couple of minutes of silence, neither party willing to be the first to speak, then the voice behind her spoke up.

"It's a bit late for a stroll don't you think?"

"The same could be said for you, Uchiha."

They fell into another bout of silence neither moving nor speaking. Then they both moved like cobras. Both had a kunai in their hands and now they were face to face ready to spar. They both launched back a few feet and began to dance a dangerous dance. It was clumsy and slower than they usually were but still the kunais clashed and sent sparks around them shrouding them in flashes of light. It was almost rhythmic and a blur of images and sound all the same. Neither knew why they were sparring, but it felt good and almost like some sort of…release. At some point Sasuke managed to kick the kunai out of Rin's hand and in turn she took a step back and slid under him and tripped him snatching the kunai from his hand and moving to kick him in the face, but he rolled back and jumped back on his feet. Taijutsu wasn't either of their forte so their punches and kicks were sloppy and they missed each other.

It was soon that they became too exhausted to continue fighting and they just slumped over in defeat. Their breaths were sharp and their chests heaved a little. "Why were we fighting again?" asked Sasuke in breathy voice.

"I assumed we were just engaging in a friendly competition, but regardless it was most educational." She responded out of breath.

"Educational?"

"Yes, because now I know you're terrible at Taijutsu."

"Well so do you."

There was a pregnant pause here and she turned to look at him with a sour look on her face, but he was standing up and walking towards her, extending his arm out to her. She took it but immediately forced her eyes away from his face, knowing that she was too exhausted to lock eyes with him. After he lifted her up he stared at her and motioned to the trunk of the nearest tree. She nodded absently and followed him, sitting at the base of the tree. She put her leaned her head against the bark.

"What's keeping you up?" Rin asked, after realizing how late it was.

"I could ask you the same thing." He asked in a condescending tone.

"It's just a question, answer or don't, I don't care, but watch your attitude."

"Hn." Was all he answered.

"You know, you could be a little nicer, especially to Haru-Sakura." She managed to catch herself mid-word, "She really likes you."

"Hn, as if it wasn't completely obvious. Besides I'm not 'nice' to anyone, if you haven't noticed, and neither are you for that matter, so why bring it up at all?" His little attitude was beginning to really irk Rin.

"At least I'm trying to get along with them, you don't even try."

"Yeah? Well I have my reasons for not liking people, just like you have yours. So, I'm going to assume that's what's keeping you up."

Rin didn't answer, but she didn't have to. They both knew things about each other that most people didn't and that gave them insight into the reason for most things they did. That because of his wording, it was very likely that Sasuke was alluding to the fact that he was being kept up by a myriad of thoughts as well. She sighed and said in a serious tone, "I don't like you."

"And I don't like you." He answered in the same tone.

"But it doesn't make sense, does it? We should be knit closer by the events of our past, yet they seemed to have driven a wedge between us." His silence told her that he agreed but she looked at him to confirm so.

His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth was set in a firm scowl, "Why?"

He didn't elaborate further, but he figured that he wouldn't have to as he didn't really care if he received an answer. She contemplated the answer and took a deep breath before getting up signaling for him to follow her. She took to the tree tops, jumping from tree to tree, in a direction all too familiar to them both. Sasuke grimaced visibly, and glad to be behind her, as he realized where they were going. He sped up and matched her steps, synced with every jump she took. They began to slow down as their destination was in sight. And what a sight it was.

The rundown Uchiha compound seemed to loom like a symbol of forgotten regency, its walls covered with moss and muck, and yet it seemed to stand tall and proud nonetheless. They stop and dropped in front of the main gates, they could have easily jumped the wall, but it seemed wrong to disrespect the memory of the once honored compound. With little hesitation they crossed the old gates and quickly made their way through the streets, not wanting to reminisce and add dirt on old wounds. Their heads were held low in respect as they made their way through the once familiar streets and stopped in front of Sasuke's old home. Sasuke led the inside once he saw the hesitation in Rin's body language. They both looked away from the closed off living room, knowing all too well why the room was barred; after all, Sasuke was the one who made it near impossible to enter the room that haunted his nights. They trotted up the old rickety staircase and went into Sasuke's old room.

Rin made an effort not to comment on the Sasuke-sized imprint on the bed that showed that sometimes he still dragged himself to sleep here. In all honesty, she was surprised that he had let her come in all the way into his own personal heaven and hell. She stopped at the door frame and waited for him to motion her in. Once he did they both sat on the small bed, waiting for the other to speak. "You're the only person that's ever come here after… well, you know." He said, his voice full of spite, but she knew it was not directed at her. She didn't speak because there was nothing she could say to that, but she knew that there was something else he wanted to tell her.

"Why here?"

And to that she didn't have an articulable answer either, but the anger and pain the resonated throughout his body compelled her to answer, "Because here, we're just Sasuke Uchiha and Rin Kimiko. We're not expected to be anything else here, not anymore anyways. Here we can say everything, because only the ghosts of our pasts can hear us. That's why."

His fists clenched tighter when she said 'ghosts', but otherwise he didn't move. "And to answer your earlier question of 'why': because despite the pain we've gone through, we want the opposite things."

"He wanted to kill you." He shot in an acerbic tone.

"Yes, I know, I can draw conclusions as well."

"Then why don't you hate him?" His voice was vulnerable, full of resentment and confusion, because she was right, here, all his inhibitions disappeared and he felt no need to hide his feelings.

"I do." She admitted to him silently, because she needed someone to know that she hated him, "I hate him for a whole many things, and I'm surprised you even had to ask."

"Not enough, you don't hate him enough, because you don't care about anything but your brother." His anger was rising once more, and this time it was being directed at her.

"Are you even listening to yourself? That's all you care about too!" Her voice was a harsh whisper, as she tried hard not to respond on his emotions because she knew that they both needed this.

"He murdered my entire family! What's worse I wasn't even worth killing! He thought me so weak that leaving me alive wasn't a threat to him… but you were. He thought you were better than me…" Despite the fact that the venom spewing out of his mouth was worthy of being screamed and yelled, he kept his tone just barely above a whisper, making the words ever more deadly.

She put her hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her, she made sure to focus her vision on his forehead, "You're right, maybe I don't hate him enough, but I can't hate him in the way you do…" He grabbed her hand that was perched on his shoulder and held on to it as his eyes filled with unshed tears. "Did he ever tell you why he started training me?"

He shook his head slightly, "Well, the day I was released from the hospital, the Hokage was on his way to see me, but I managed to escape. I was half-mad because I couldn't understand why there were so many emotions within me, and so many voices, and my own grief at losing Nazoko… I decided to take my own life. I managed to high ground and I was going to jump of the Hokage Mountain, but he," she made a point not to say Itachi's name, "stopped me. He pushed reason into me and while he was around, the noise around me was muted, still there but it was softer, somehow. Maybe it was his sharingan, but regardless, he gave me the will and edge to want to rescue Nazoko and not give up. And as much as I hate it, I owe him my–"

"Don't." Sasuke interrupted her, knowing what she was going to say, "You owe him no such thing. He lost the privilege of being owed anything when he killed all of my family in cold blood."

She didn't say anything, but she did put some pressure on his hand. They stayed like that for a while and she avoided the temptation to look him in the eyes. Sasuke took a breath and said, "Nothing has changed."

And Rin knew what he meant. Despite the little heart to heart they had undergone, they would still dislike each other when the sun rose the next day, but even then, it was easier to be around him here. "But at the same time everything has, because under normal circumstances, we would have done something brash before we said these things to one another… but here surrounded by our loss, we are at an impasse."

He merely nodded, noting how their hands were held together and how neither of them had yet pulled away. It was almost as if this place was a place truce, where fighting was sacrilege. He began to thumb the back of her hand without much thought, and he didn't meant for it to be anything but a sign of truce. She grabbed his hand in a firmer grasp and began to do the same as her eyes drifted to the window, knowing what he meant with the motion.

"You never told me what was keeping you up." Sasuke said.

She merely shook her head and said, "I couldn't sleep, my mind was too restless… I know that it's going to take a miracle on both our parts to ever become friends again, but we have to begin to trust each other in missions–"

He nodded, "I agree. Perhaps this can become a place where we can work things out."

Sasuke had suggested it, but that was what she was going to suggest so she nodded her head. They both had lost the sense of time, but it must have been extremely late, or early, depending on how things were viewed, and their eyes were beginning to droop. It seemed ridiculous that neither of them wanted to move despite the lethargy that was settling over them, but this was the most comfortable either of them had been around the presence of another being. Neither of them began to notice when they began to doze off but a sudden noise had them rigid once more.

Rin awoke from her stupor, surprised that her head was reclined against his shoulder and their hands were still wound together. Sasuke was also confused he was roused as there was a comfortable warmth that was surrounding him, that's when he noticed that his head was leaned on Rin's head and he too was in shock that their hands were still intertwined. They untangled quickly as another noised resounded from the room next to Sasuke's. And that's when they both sobered up and reached for their weapons. That was Itachi's room and no one had been in that room since the massacre; it was locked from the inside… They both approached the room, eyes wide and breaths coming quickly, both anticipating the worse and they neared the room. They nodded to each other when they were in front of the room and kicked the door down, splintering it as it went. And that's when they saw a flash of inky black hair.

A/N:

Sorry for the late update, but in my defense, it's still March, so I'm technically on time! I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger, but I figured that there was a dire need for it. Thank you for all the support I've received. And just to clear it up, the 'holding hands' bit is not meant to be romantic AT ALL, this is just them being supportive of one another SO! Please don't hate me, and if you do tell me why in a review! Thank being said, thank you to all those who review, favorite, and follow this story, it means a lot to me!

Oh and to answer MrBond007 (great name btw): not really? Well, let me put it this way, she'll be annoying but no more than she was in the original series, or maybe even less.

Your Raven,

E. I. Lorelai