Hi! Welcome back. I'm so sorry this is late. There's an explanation for the more erratic writing on my author page. Remember, this is the last chapter you can vote on pairings for. Next chapter will have the results. The current stats are:

Karin: 13

Hinata: 10

OC: 3

Tayuya: 7

Ino: 7

Just as a note, if something somehow ties, I will make a seperate vote on who will win. However, I don't think that anyone will really beat Karin at this point.

On with the chapter!

I do not own Naruto.

"So, how ya doing Sasuke? It was pretty hilarious when you tried to escape a few days ago."

Sasuke turned to the side, grunting. It had been two days since the escape attempt, and Sasuke was out of the hospital for real now. He was still wincing if he overexerted himself, but for the most part he was in top health. The two were seated in Naruto's living room, with Naruto eating some instant ramen and Sasuke eating one of the tomatoes Naruto now kept in a bowl on the table. Nothing much had happened in the past few days, apart from rumors that Konoha would be hosting the chunin exams this year. Unsurprisingly, he had heard that from Ino.

"Hn. I'm fine."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Still not much of a talker, that's for sure. But really, I know the basics, but what happened on that mission?"

"It was supposed to be a C-rank. Nothing hard. But the client lied about the difficulty. A short while in, we were attacked by 2 missing-nin hidden in a puddle. Sakura, my teammate, froze up, while Kiba, my other teammate, protected the client. Our sensei was the only one able to fight them, and one of them went after me. The spiked chain they were using hit my head, and scraped across my chest. The poison nearly killed me. Sensei sent my teammates back with me to keep me alive, if he hadn't I'd probably be dead. As far as I know, he called in backup and is still on the mission, which was bumped up to an A-rank."

Naruto whistled. "Well geez, that sucks. Glad I wasn't you. By the way, there are rumors that the next chunin exams are being held here. Any chance you'll-"

"No." Sasuke interrupted. "My team is new, and we have no experience. As much as I hate to admit it, if we were entered in, we'd be killed."

"Oh."

The rest of the meal was spent in slightly awkward silence, and eventually Sasuke had to leave for his team's training. Looking at his cabinets, Naruto realized he was low on food. What he had wouldn't last him a week. Making note of what he needed, he made a shopping list and went down to the store.

He had grabbed almost everything he needed, and was about to leave, when he bumped into someone by the door.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Here, let me help."

Bending down, Naruto found himself staring into the face of a very familiar girl with long pink hair and green eyes. Blinking in shock, he stood there as the girl introduced herself.

"I'm Sakura by the way. Sorry about bumping into you. I'm in a hurry and I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I feel like I've seen you before. Oh yeah! I think I saw you at Ino-pig's shop one day when I was on my way to a training exercise. Actually, that's the reason I'm in a rush. I'm late to my team's meeting! Well, goodbye!"

Blinking at the rapid speech, Naruto picked up his basket and left the store. That was the first time he had seen Sakura in over a month. Why hadn't he been fawning over her? He still loved her… right? Growing more and more confused, he tried to figure out what was wong. Well, he had recently admitted that he had almost no chance with her… but he had still liked her. Right? Wait, why had he liked her in the first place? Looking back, he came to the very beginning of the academy days. He had been down, and she had said something nice to him. He couldn't even remember what it was. She had only done it once, and had been cold to him after that. But… it was one of the first times outside of the Hokage that someone had been nice to him. He had promised that he would see her do it again. That was when he started chasing her. But the more he tried, the less she responded. Then Sasuke came along, and he tried even harder. But still, no result. So… his love was just an ambition to see someone else like him back? He didn't love her? Oh god. The last six years of his life were for a representation of his goal, not love.

Stumbling through the door to his house, he collapsed on the couch and lay there in a daze. The idea was so wrong, yet it filled in so many gaps, felt like the missing puzzle piece. Moving on autopilot, he put away the groceries and went back to the couch, sitting down. He tried to make sense of everything, yet nothing did make sense. He was barely awake at this point, and finally overloading, he passed out on the couch.

When he woke up the next day, he still was in a daze. Everything was hazy, and he went through his routine without any real emotion. Luckily it was his weekend, so he didn't have to go to Haru's, and he didn't think he would have been an effective worker, even if he did. The next two days were like this, with the fog slowly lessening. In the future, he would look back with both sympathy for his former self, and gratitude for getting over his crush. He didn't want to know where he would be if that had continued. Shaking his head, Future-Naruto smiled and let the story resume.

So anyway, yeah, still confused.

On the third day after the Sakura Incident, Naruto finally left his house. There was another festival that day, and he needed the money. Packing up the painting he was bringing, he headed to the market to set up.

Half an hour later, Naruto was once again reclining on his chair. People had just started to arrive, and he was excited.

Internally, he smiled. "Bring it on."

Yet another four hours later, he was cleaning up his stall. It had been a little less busy today, as it was not an art focused festival this time, but he had still sold six paintings. They went roughly for the same prices as they did the last time, and he would be set for another month or two. Stretching, he bent over and picked up the box of paintings. Loading them onto the stall table, he grabbed the handle on the thing and started rolling it down the street towards Haru's.

When he finally got home, he collapsed on the couch. He hoped the old man could visit soon. It had been a while since he saw him.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office…

Hiruzen was sweating bullets. "Why… hello, Jiraiya. How are you?"

Jiraiya was fuming. "Cut the crap Sensei. Where is my godson?"

Hiruzen sighed. "He's perfectly safe and fine. As the note I sent told you… well, the council wasn't too keen on letting Naruto become a ninja. He's currently living alone in an otherwise empty house near the Uchiha compound. He did a very good job at hiding himself, and I believe he's currently aiming to become an artist full time. I've seen some of his work, and it is quite good."

"Those idiots on the council are going to be shredded meat by the time I'm done with them. Are you sure he's safe?"

He nodded again. "Yes, as far as I know, only Iruka, his academy teacher, and myself know of him. Though frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Danzo knew where he was."

"When can I see him?"

Hiruzen thought for a second. "Probably not that soon, what with the exams coming up. The month before the final exam portion is probably best. In the meantime… Well, you're not the only one upset with the council."

Jiraiya snorted. "Upset doesn't even cover it." A gleam entered his eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

Hiruzen smirked. "Well, for one, I know some of the merchants on the council have some… well, let's just say that not only their business would be affected by what I know."

Jiraiya leaned forward. "Oh, do tell?"

Once more, the council was ignorant of what was to come.

Back in his house, Naruto hummed, putting his ramen on the stove.

Well, once again, I'm sorry this is late. The reason for that can be found on my author page.

So, Next chapter, the pairings will be set! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE FOR THEM!

Hope you enjoyed, and please review!