"Naruto?!" Haku called out in surprise as he began to run across the theater before the blond held up his hand to halt him. "We've been so worried. We kept calling but your phone was off."

"So, you saw the article?" His voice was unexpectedly apathetic, even when he was tensing his entire body to keep himself from trembling.

The pale boy nodded, a frown furrowing his brow as his haze dropped to the ground. "I had no idea that you were going through something like this..."

"Wait, what?" Naruto cut in, feeling slightly confused at the unanticipated reaction.

"Well, we've been spending so much time together, but you never hinted that there was so much going on with you. I just thought you were a sad person in general."

"Thanks!" Naruto snapped with annoyance, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead. "So, you had absolutely no idea about Kabuto?"

"Hold on!" Haku gasped, suddenly pointing an indignant finger. "You can't possibly think that we all had some part in this!"

"At this point, anything is a possibility, alright? Just shed some light on this, will ya?!" Naruto shouted back as he began to pull his hair.

"Alright, children! That's enough!" Another familiar voice called out from the stage. Anko stood at the edge, both hands on her hips with her usual quirky smile as she beckoned them forward. "Haku, you can't blame Naruto for being suspicious after what just happened to him. We're all shocked at how things turned out, so let's try to gather ourselves and go about this rationally."

"You, rational?" Haku mumbled under his breath, making Naruto reluctantly smile.

"Naruto," Anko began as she plopped down at the edge of the stage, leaning down to his eye level. "I promise you we didn't know anything about Kabuto-san. To the rest of us, he was just a student who transferred here recently. There was no way we could have known."

"So, where is he now?" He asked in a low growl, clenching his fists at the thought of coming face to face with that prick.

"Inexplicably transferred back out, I'm afraid," she sighed as she leaned back on her hands. "As it turns out, his previous major at the other university was journalism, but that's all that I know about that. Caused us a bit of frustration for a few days, that's for sure."

"I get it," he grumbled almost to himself as he turned on his heels. "It's too much trouble."

A gentle hand suddenly took hold of his, making him turn to look back at Haku. "She didn't say that, Naruto. Suna has done everything they could to close the campus off to nonstudents. We're even making the theater department more exclusive until Evening of Theater is over."

Somehow, hearing that did not make him feel any better. His world had not only been brutally shattered by the deception of a man he was sure he could trust, but it was those around him that tried their hardest to put the pieces back together that made him feel the guiltiest. Even at Konoha, Sarutobi had done all he could to keep the world away from him, even if it was at the inconvenience of everybody else. Why was everyone always going out of their way to help him?

"No. Don't do that," he said with a shake of his head. "That's not fair and you know it."

"What's not fair is how you were treated," Anko retorted with a raise of her slender brow. "We're not about to let it happen again. So, I suggest you relax and let us be there for you."

Naruto bit his bottom lip, his eyes moving between the two before he offered a defeated shrug. "Fine."

"That's what I like to hear!"

The wind blew practically through him, making him cling to himself tighter as he walked across the campus at a brisk walk. He was sure to keep his gaze on the ground with his hood practically hanging over half of his face as he weaved through the crowded courtyard to make his way toward the entrance. As appreciated and distracting as their practice had been, he could not bring himself to feel any more at ease than he was that morning. Even as he spoke his lines, he could not comprehend the emotion that he was supposed to muster, and in the end his expressions looked forced and borderline creepy as he tried to remember how to move his face properly.

There was a definite art to acting, and his talent always lied in a bit of truth, something he was always feeling. But even when the pain had subsided he was left with an emptiness that left him feeling numb. It was as if there was no point in trying to force himself to speak these words that weren't his and pretend to be someone he wasn't, especially when he had no clue who he was. Without him there was an underlying fear that echoed in his head until it was all he could think about, and the world around him seemed meaningless. What would his life become now that he successfully drove away the most important person to him?

"Naruto." He immediately froze, keeping his face down as a pair of feet suddenly approached and stopped before him. "... What are you doing?"

"What do you want?" He asked, refraining from looking up as if the entire world would notice him if he did.

"To... talk, I suppose."

"You suppose?" he scoffed, unable to keep himself from glancing up at the impassive redhead who looked down at him, slightly perplexed. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not really in the mood to talk to anyone, thanks."

"I assume you have something more important to do at home?" Gaara questioned almost strategically, making Naruto wince at the thought of sitting in that empty room with nothing more than his thoughts to occupy himself.

His hand slipped into his pocket, pulling out his phone to check for any messages from Shikamaru. Another icy gust blew past them, making Naruto shudder as he retracted his hands back into his sleeves.

"A public place. We're walking there."

"Deal," Gaara conceded with a nod before immediately turning and leading them toward the front gate.

I'm going to regret this. I'm going to regret this. Stop yourself before you regret this! As they exited the campus and crossed the street to come up on the town square, his thoughts only became increasingly panicked as he instinctively began to look around for possible escape routes. What the hell was he thinking by trusting another random stranger after what just happened? Even if he wanted to trust others out of impulse, he was shown that even he did not have the capabilities to weed out the good from the bad anymore. The line had been crossed, and he could no longer distinguish between the two.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to harm you in any way," the sudden statement made the blond jump as he looked up from the sidewalk to the boy whose eyes were fixated on the path ahead.

"Don't take this personally... but I'm still not so sure I should trust you."

"I told you not to go with him, didn't I?" he retorted with a quick indicative glance to the younger boy.

Naruto completely stopped, straightening himself out to look at Gaara, suddenly overtaken with suspicion rather than comfort. "You did, didn't you?"

"We never got the chance to finish talking because of him," he stated wryly before casually walking into a small café a couple buildings down from the crosswalk.

It was a fairly open space, and it was close to the school so if the conversation went sour he was confident that he could navigate the nearby alleys until he reached safety.

"We can sit by the door, if you want."

"Huh?" He asked before realizing that he had been openly calculating his escape from the beginning. "Oh! I... I'm sorry!" Gaara slid into a small booth by the window, pulling down the blinds as Naruto sat across from him. Naruto sat down and buried his face in his arms. "I'm still kinda messed up. You caught me at a really bad time."

"Did you really not expect this?" His question came off more honest rather than malicious, making Naruto peek up from the table.

"No, I honestly didn't," he admitted weakly, looking away as the waitress came up and asked if they wanted anything to drink.

With nothing more than water for either of them, Gaara waited for her to pass before speaking again. "People are cruel by nature, yet you paraded around as if nothing could touch you. How could you not?"

"I don't think that way, Gaara," he snapped, finding his tone irritating. "I'd rather trust people. What would shutting them out get me?"

"Anything," he answered simply, nodding to the waitress as she set the waters down in front of them. "When people learn that you cannot be manipulated, they become vulnerable themselves. Once they spot your weakness they will only work to deepen the wound."

Though the outlook seemed rather morbid, there was a bit of truth in it. Ever since that first article, it seemed as if there were two forces constantly colliding to see who would bend first. They desperately searched for him and chased him down in order to expose his flaws for the world to see. It was humiliating and cost something dear to him, and they used it in a front page story for their own entertainment.

"Believe it or not, I have met some amazing people by opening up to them. My friends will be there for me when everything else crashes around me." Somehow, that statement felt more reassuring the more he thought about it. Whenever something went wrong he had Shikamaru there to fix things and make him feel better, but he could not help but wonder what the others were thinking about now that they had undoubtedly found out about his more recent travesty.

"I see. It takes a different kind of person to carry that kind of mentality," Gaara mused to himself as he took a sip of water.

"So what does that make you?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back. Regardless of how casual their conversation was, he still knew nothing about this guy or why he had the sudden fancy to talk to him.

"Curious." He shrugged as if the answer did not matter either way. Gaara looked down at the table as he rested his chin against one of his palms. There was something glazing his eyes over, making him appear as if he were glaring coldly at everything, yet there was something sad about that. If anything his eyes were tired, drained of the energy to do anything other than stare ahead and analyze. "I can't remember the last time somebody actually talked to me rather than at me. I thought that you must be different."

"Sorry to disappoint," Naruto muttered, letting his face fall back into his arms as he closed his eyes. The more they talked, the more confused he got. What even compelled him to follow this guy in the first place? Their incredibly brief history had been anything but pleasant, yet he still decided to trust him.

"You didn't."

Naruto peered up at the redhead once more, hiding the faint smile on his lips behind his sleeves. "I understand what you're getting at, by the way. About people." Gaara looked down at him to indicate that he was listening. "After everything that has happened it is definitely much easier to think of hating my enemies rather than loving them, but I just can't seem to get it right, regardless of what I do. Pretty hopeless, huh?"

The question seemed to only confuse the other boy as they remained in a comforting silence. His gaze trailed to his right, staring listlessly as the TV mounted against the wall. "I'm not sure ,yet." His eyes narrowed at the screen, making Naruto turn his head to see what was so troubling.

The anchorwoman spoke, her words barely audible over the mild chatter of the café, yet the words at the bottom were what caught his attention. "Confronting the Scandal: Interview with Sasuke Uchiha."

His stomach suddenly twisted painfully, cringing inwardly upon reading his name. He did not want to think about him yet; he had been carefully not thinking up until now. He just was not ready for this. Naruto looked to Gaara, his eyes wide with panic as he tried to think of what to do next. He felt so tense that he was ready to vomit, his heart suddenly pounding and making his body feel hot. The first thing he finally felt from the numbing apathy and it was devastating enough to make him never want to feel anything ever again.

Gaara looked at him for a moment before turning in his seat to wave down the waitress. "Could you turn it up?" ASS!

"Sure thing," she nodded, standing on her tip toes to reach the button on the side of the screen,

With every click the woman's voice grew louder, becoming clearer and making Naruto feel as if he were being pushed back by some unknown force. He did not want to hear this... but his body wouldn't move.

"... and with us today, rather than sending a corporate official to represent him, Sasuke Uchiha has agreed to talk with us in order to clear up the mishaps of the shocking front page picture that put the company and its shareholders in a rather awkward standstill with the public."

The screen suddenly split, pushing her to the left of the screen as the image of Sasuke sat at the right. Naruto's nails scratched at the table as his fingers curled into tight fists, taking in a sharp breath only to forget how to exhale. He was beautiful, clad in a dark blue suit and sitting straight before a backdrop with the company logo running across it. He looked directly into the camera, unmoving, and it felt as if he were staring directly at Naruto.

A hand placed itself atop one of his fists, making Naruto momentarily break away from the screen to look at Gaara. "You'll be fine."

He nodded, feeling even less assured as he forced himself to look back at the screen.

"Thank you for joining us, today."

"Of course."

Naruto flinched. Seeing him was one thing, but actually hearing his voice was almost too much. The two words lingered in the air with his bitter indifference toward the woman yet he could not help but shake in anticipation. He did not think that he would ever be granted the chance to see Sasuke again, and the fact was actually more painful to digest than the uncomfortable interview taking place.

"As you know, people were baffled to hear that there was an engagement to be broken with Hinata Hyuuga of GCC."

There was a slight lag before she received a reply. "The engagement was not meant to be made public. Miss Hyuuga and I had intended for our mutual decision to remain within the few who knew."

"Any comment on the rumors that suggested your engagement had been arranged years prior?"

"It had. Yet, we are individuals who are free to practice our right to refuse a commitment as serious as marriage, arranged or otherwise." His voice was becoming more irritated, though it appeared as if he was keeping his cool. It was a trait of Sasuke's that Naruto had come to recognize when they were talking. If something bothered him, Sasuke would insist on playing it cool and keeping composed before he was pushed over the edge. Though he only ever got like that when they were in school together.

"How about the one that claimed the annulment was caused because of an affair with a younger classmate of yours?"

That was the question he was waiting for, and it came fairly early in the interview which meant it could only get worse from there. Naruto's hand grasped onto Gaara's sleeve, trying to find comfort or stability in something. He felt dizzy, and his stomach ached so much that he was becoming nauseous.

This time there was a clear pause as Sasuke gathered his answer, his expression remaining the same. "These allegations are false."

The warmth suddenly left his body as he felt himself begin to waver in his seat. It was as if the air had been kicked from his lungs, leaving him completely winded with no way to breathe properly again. Sasuke had to save face, naturally, but even if Naruto knew he was lying it did not make hearing it any less overwhelming. It was as if all their time together was being carelessly swept beneath a rug, and he knew he deserved it.

"Well, that has obviously come into speculation after this recent article was printed. It seems that the head of your company, your brother, was the one who was having this alleged affair."

"So it would seem." The answer seemed to come through gritted teeth.

"What does the company have to say in light of his recent actions? Would you say that his philandering has revealed his incompetence as the head of the company?" Her questions were so carefully crafted, practically forcing him to agree to the statements that came just before the actual query.

"The company is not responsible for what my brother does in his private life."

"Are you avoiding the actual question?"

"I just answered it," Sasuke replied curtly with the faintest hint of a frown beginning to appear on his lips. "I refuse to be led to gossip with you about trivial matters."

The woman was not affected by his coldness, merely continuing her barrage. "Being scandalized by the public is a bit more than trivial. Rest assured, our interview's purpose is for you to bring us much needed clarity."

"Itachi Uchiha is not an ineffectual leader, as recent stock will plainly tell anybody," Sasuke explained calmly, his tone remaining the same as he elaborated on the specific numbers from different quarters that must have proved Itachi's ability to run the company. With every uncomfortable question that made Naruto flinch and writhe in his seat, Sasuke approached them elegantly, using his charisma to his advantage to dodge certain inquiries that would have, otherwise, exposed the both of them. However, each time he lied to the camera, his dark eyes burning holes into him as he spoke, Naruto was only further agonized.

"So, what of the boy in question? How does he fit into the picture?"

"He doesn't," Sasuke answered sharply, a slight twitch in his brow gave away that he was bothered at the mention.

Naruto looked to Gaara. He was unsure of what expression he had, but it made the redhead's look soften considerably as the woman continued.

"What of the claims that say he has been the one behind both of the Uchiha scandals that made headlines?"

"The implications are ludicrous. To hear that the press has been so desperate as to chase down random civilians trying to find some sort of connection is laughable at best. However, we want to make perfectly clear that whatever private matters we have tried to keep confidential have no bearing on our corporate standing. This 'boy in question' has absolutely nothing to do with us."

"Change it!" Naruto yelled into his arms, covering his ears as he sank even further into himself.

The sound soon cut, bringing back the welcomed chatter that sounded muffled through his hands. Gaara sat back down, staring at the blond wordlessly as if he had nothing more to say. He leaned back into his palm, appearing bored by the ordeal.

"To be honest, I am not entirely sure what I should do in this situation," he admitted simply as if he wanted to be offered the solution.

Naruto wasn't sure either. His chest heaved with such force each time he tried to take in a breath; it felt as if his lungs wouldn't work otherwise. Nothing to do with Sasuke? So it was as simple as that? Lie after lie and Sasuke did it without so much as batting an eyelash when it had torn Naruto apart every time. What was worse was that he deserved it. He didn't deserve to be shown mercy or given sympathy, because he was the one who was wrong in the end. But even with that knowledge, having to hear his existence be refuted before his eyes was too devastating to handle.

"Enjoy the show?" A low growl came from behind as a hand gripped onto Naruto's shoulder.

The blond jumped, looking back at the familiar face. "Neji? What—"

"Shikamaru asked me to pick you up and, since you wouldn't answer your phone, I decided to look around to see if you were still nearby," he replied, though Naruto did not seem to be the focus of his attention. His pale hues glared heatedly at the boy across from them though Gaara did not make a move to explain himself. "Making friends?"

"More like, conversation," Gaara retorted dryly before Naruto was yanked to his feet and led out the door.

"Seriously, Naruto? That guy seemed okay to you?" Neji mumbled under his breath as he opened the passenger door to his car.

The blond closed the door, staring at the window where the blinds completely hid the other boy from view. His friend settled into the driver's seat, seeming perturbed and wanting an actual response. He only let out a breath, trying to push the woman's voice and her questions to the back of his mind. It was the last thing he needed, but at the same time, he didn't mind Gaara's company at all.

"Don't worry about it."