A.N.

To those of you that are reading this please not that there are two stories before this one. They are called Slowly Slipping Awayand Gravity both are found on my profile. The other two stories followed the manga as closely as I possibly could, but this part of the series is completely original and takes place 4 years after the war.

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters do NOT belong to me. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto.

Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga/or anime are completely original.

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! Thank you!

Lamentations

"Hey..." He mumbled, coming out of his sleep and offering a tired smile at the young woman on the chair.

"Sasuke!" she moved to stand but faltered and he saw it. She was fiddling with the hem of her vest, eyebrows dipped, mismatched eyes on the bed and not on him.

The room was dark, save for the moonlight that shined through the window. A leafless tree branch tapped the glass when the breeze blew by. Becoming aware of where he was, Sasuke finally noticed the IV attached to his arm, and the monitor next to him.

"You must have really hurt me if I ended up here." He spoke again, offering a tired smirk. He watched her shoulders tense up. She bit her lip and balled her fists on her lap, she mumbled something that was lost to him by the hum of the heater turning on. "Sayuri?"

"You shouldn't have done it." She said a bit louder this time around. "You didn't have to."

Slightly taken aback, Sasuke began to push himself up but the stabbing pain of his sore body stopped him before he could get far. Sayuri quickly moved to help him lay down as gently as possible when she did she reached over to the counter next to his bed and picked up a small container. He watched her as she carefully opened it, shaking two pills out into her palm and clicking it close.

"Here." Voice just above a whisper, helping his head up a bit and letting the pills fall into his mouth. He swallowed obediently, just as she moved again, this time to get him a glass of water. "The doctor said you'd be sore for a few days. She prescribed you these until you feel better."

When she pulled away, he reached out for her arm. Fingers wrapping around her wrist. "Did he get away?"

"No." she still wouldn't look at him. "I got him."

Black eyes narrowed at the young woman. "What happened?" She finally looked him in the eye.

"I don't want you to get in the way like that again."

The loud pounding on the door echoed throughout scarcely decorated room. Groaning he turned his back to the door and tried to go back to sleep when the pounding stopped. Just as he was about to slip away the pounding returned this time accompanied by a familiar voice.

"SASUKE!"

"Naruto…" the Uchiha growled and sat up, immediately regretting last night's decisions. Then again, he'd been making bad decisions two weeks in a row. Stumbling out of bed, in a manner that if his family had been alive they'd be embarrassed for him he wrenched the door open. "What the hell do you want?"

"Here." The blonde offered canned coffee to the hungover Uchiha and pushed past him into his apartment. "You know when I said let's have fun, I didn't really mean let's drink all night." The blonde grumbled as he rubbed his temple, taking a seat at the small round table. "It's cool and all that you're finally loosening up, but we should stop a least for a few days…or years…" he mumbled the last few words as he took a sip of his drink.

"I didn't invite you to drink yesterday…actually, I didn't invite any of the others to join me either." Said Sasuke, as he looked into his fridge for something to eat.

"Oh c'mon! We all had fun!"

"Naruto…"

"Well, I wasn't about to let you mope by yourself, especially with all the girls that are now starting to gather at the bar."

"They're not just there for me, idiot." At the blonde's confused look Sasuke sighed. "Dumb ass."

"Hey!"

XXX

"Wait…what?" was all the masked ANBU on the other side of the room could say at the end of Moriyo's report. Then ninja gradually began to whisper to each other until the entire room was filled with conversations on the topic at hand.

"Enough." Her loud voice was quick to quiet the room down.

Sayuri balled her hands in her lap, beside her Diachi and Hajime sat ramrod straight. Someone was targeting ANBU ninja and something told them that it was connected to Naoki and whoever the hell he worked for.

"But…Shiro and Izumi…" Diachi whispered in disbelief. He had seen the two before they went on their missions. "They were the best…"

Moriyo sighed, closing her eyes. "I know. The Hokage and I have decided that we are no longer going to send you on individual missions. From now on, everyone is required to be in groups of four. This means that we will also have to be taking fewer missions. It's as a precaution, we want to keep you alive for as long as possible. These cases are no longer sporadic and we are not the only ones being targeted. Special Ops teams from the other four countries are also being targeted and have adopted similar measures. That's it. Go back to your duties, if you are requested for a mission we will contact you."

They all left the meeting room in a quiet murmur. Sayuri watched them all file out until she and Moriyo were the only ones left. The woman with the bright orange eyes rubbed her temples, a small frown on her face.

"What is it?"

"Is it them?" Moriyo peeked up at Sayuri who stood stiff across her former teacher's desk. "Is it Naoki?"

"We don't know." The ANBU head ran a hand through her black hair and sat back in her chair. "There are no other patterns of killing besides the fact that those who are dead are special operations ninja."

"How long has this been going on for?"

Moriyo shrugged. "It's been sporadic, but recently more of them have gone missing. Enough for us to begin to notice. Whoever is doing this has gotten sloppy."

Sayuri's eyebrows dipped in worry. "You said we're not the only ones, that the other villages are having the same problem. So whoever it is, has to be working in groups…Why are we just now being told about this?!"

"Because before we weren't aware that the other villages were having the same problem. If we had known that these attacks weren't just coincidence, we would have said something." Moriyo replied, her tone defensive. For the first time, Sayuri took a good look at her former instructor. She was stressed, her sharp orange eyes weary.

"I'm sorry, I was out of line," Sayuri mumbled. "I'll get back to work." Bowing, she turned on her heel and headed for the exit.

"What has Tsunade said?" Moriyo asked just as her hand touched the door knob.

Sayuri's shoulders slumped forward, her head slightly bowed. "She doesn't see much progress."

"You know that's not your only option." Confused Sayuri looked over her shoulder to her boss who blinked back at Sayuri with a tired smile.

She waited for Moriyo to continue but grew impatient as her boss remained silent. "What are you talking about?!" she blurted and quickly covered her mouth, recalling who it was she was talking to.

Moriyo shook her head. "You'll figure it out." The woman replied going back to the documents on her desk. "I can't give you all the answers. You're a big girl." And with a flick of the wrist, she waved her off.

XXX

Kakashi had been having an off day. First, his morning visit to Obito was interrupted by his secretary. Then when he arrived at his office there was a brand new stack of papers that he had to read over and sign. There was also the meeting with the Feudal Lord, in which he was very close to losing his normally calm-faced demeanor, and strangle the man. Finally, with the arrival of a genin team who found two well to do ANBU members dead, resulting in him informing Moriyo who began to think back to the number of now dead or missing ANBU.

Him reaching out to the other Kages did nothing as well since it resulted in all of them coming up with the same problem: someone was hunting down ANBU.

The door to his office opened and Kakashi couldn't help but groan in exasperation upon seeing just who had barged in without knocking. "No." he sighed crossing his arms over his chest, watching the ex-avenger carefully.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes on the silver-haired kage and closed the door behind him. "You sent the writing to the analysis team four days ago and they haven't figured anything out?" he growled.

"The analysis team has other information to look over as well, Sasuke. They've got more going on than figuring out what sealing jutsu was used on Sayuri. She's not the top priority right now and I already told you that as soon as I know something I'd let you know." Kakashi was losing his patience. This is why he didn't want to be Hokage. He hated staying in one place, he hated the paperwork, and he hated not having answers.

"Her career is on the line." Sasuke ground out.

"Other people's lives are at stake." He countered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I know this is important to you, but there are bigger things that need to be taken care of first."

"So I'm supposed to just sit back and do nothing." The Uchiha ground out.

"No." Kakashi laced his fingers together and leaned on his document littered desk. "You could deliver a message to Moriyo for me."

"Message?"

"Yes."

"Why not get one of your people to do it? Better yet another ANBU?"

"I've got my reasons." Kakashi wouldn't give anything away, that much Sasuke was sure about. He titled his head to the window, eyes shifting left to right for a second before turning back to the man at his desk.

"Where are your guards?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask a hand moved to pull out a sealed scroll from his desk drawer. He held it out for Sasuke to take. "It's important."

XXX

She blew stands of hair away from her face, in front of her several reports that she had to organize and transfer onto the computer for her slave driver of a boss. At least, she was caught up and only had to submit the most recent reports, but that didn't mean it was any easier. Today was proving her point, considering she had received six reports in the past hour. Around her the ninja who had been assigned the duty for the week typed away. Some groaning as they received another report, not like she could blame them.

This is exactly what I expected being in the ANBU would be…Sayuri thought as she typed in a new report. Typing and filing mission reports.

"Lady Sayuri!" she cringed, fingers hovering over the keyboard at the sound of her name. She looked around the computer screen to a new recruit. His mask was slightly to the side, and he looked a bit disheveled and sweaty.

He's probably back from training…She thought, eyes trailing down to the folder in his hands. "Yes?" she sighed as the young man took a step forward.

"Fox told me to give this to you." With a slight frown, Sayuri took the tan folder from the young man's hands. Flipping it open, she read its contents then peeked up at the fidgeting young ANBU.

"These are progress reports."

"Yes." He answered stiffly.

"I deal with mission reports."

"O-oh! L-lady Sayuri I'm-I-" around her the other ANBU began to snicker. Some had even stopped typing, sitting back on their chairs and smirking at the poor young man.

Watching him sputter, made her realize just what he was doing here. Fox was a ninja that joined the ANBU from ROOT. He was good at his job but had a nasty habit of sending the new recruits on wild goose chases. Sending them on errands and giving them wrong information. Watching the man closely she noticed the bruises scattered over than young man's shoulders, and he seemed to favor his right side. Fox's so-called teaching techniques borderline cruel at times. It didn't help that recently other ANBU have been joining in on the fun.

"I'll take care of it." At her words the teen seemed to relax, his stiff shoulders slumping in relief. "Go get some rest."

"But, Fox said-"

She pushed her chair back. "I'll take care of him."

"Thank you, Lady Sayuri!" the young man tried to bow but winced half way through the gesture. At that, the quiet murmur rose in volume as some began to laugh.

"Yes, Lady Sayuri. You're too kind." One of them spoke, silver eyes on her as she walked towards the exit the office. She halted mid-step and yanked him by the collar of his black turtleneck.

"I suggest you keep your comments to yourself or you'll find yourself out of a job, did I make myself clear?" she hissed into his ear and pushed him back into his chair. Then turning to the ninja who had stood up from their desks to watch she glared. "Shows over." Almost immediately they all turned back to their work, the young ANBU trailed closely behind as she stepped into the hallway.

"Lady Sayuri, I-"

"Don't call me Lady Sayuri." She sighed.

"But Fox said that that's what everyone calls you."

"He lied." She walked around him. "For future reference progress reports go directly to Moriyo." She added just before disappearing around the corner.

She followed the hall, occasionally greeting the few ninja that bothered with her nowadays. The others were quick to move out of her way. Over the years, she managed to make a reputation for herself in a few ways, but it wasn't a conscious effort on her behalf. First was when everyone found out that she had been with Naruto and Sasuke and had helped in defeating Kaguya. The second time was when she was among the last five ANBU to be taken down by Moriyo in the fight for the position of ANBU Head. Then there was her nearly perfect record when it came to clearing missions, but that was completely forgotten in favor of her most famous failure. When she killed her target without having an actual reason to do so.

The ANBU prided themselves in being calm and composed during difficult times. They prided themselves in putting the mission first and being able to come back alive and unharmed. Something that had been at the core of the organization since its foundation with her clan, and she failed miserably. Her teammate came back traumatized, a ninja not involved at all with the mission was heavily injured, and she killed the target. The mission was a total failure.

Some of the ANBU that had known her since she was a young girl under Saito's care, understood why things had happened the way they did. Others weren't as forgiving. Some former ROOT members were delighted over the fact that Moriyo had put her in probation. During training sessions, they would make it their duty to thoroughly beat her down and if they couldn't then they tried to tire her out. But she knew how to handle herself. She fought back and talked back. She welcomed criticism, but not when it was done to harm her intentionally. She knew she messed up and she beat herself over it several times, but she was not about to let someone else do it for her.

"Good afternoon, Lady Sayuri."

Sayuri stopped and watched the man leaning against the wall. His mask was hanging off his hip, arms crossed over his chest, a smirk on his lips. His brown hair was swept to the side; gray eyes staring her down.

She rolled her eyes. "Fox. Do you ever get tired of being a pain?"

"Lady Sayuri! I'm only doing my job."

"You know damn well that I don't like being called that." Her grip on the folder tightened, wrinkling it even further.

"Oh, but I do. Enjoy calling you Lady, that is." He chuckled. "Did you like my little joke?"

Sayuri's eyes narrowed at the man as he stood his full height, towering over her. "Listen here, ass hole, the next time you try to pull one of your little hazing stunts with me I'm going to show you exactly where you can shove these documents." She warned, pushing past him, but he was quicker and managed to grip her by the wrist yanking her to him.

"I'd watch my mouth if I was you. Everyone knows your chakra is sealed. The only reason why you're not inactive is because of who your family is. But let me make something really clear for you, Lady Sayuri…" Her eyes flickered to his hand when he added pressure on her wrist. He smirked and leaned towards her ear. "You're nothing without your chakra, useless. You've been a disgrace to your clan from day one, being conceived out of wedlock, being unable to properly control your kekkei genkai, and failing crucial missions." He laughed. "I'm an asset to this organization, something that you stopped being a while ago. You're not fooling anyone. You're weak, and I'm going to make sure our so-called Leader kicks you out for good unless you start playing nice."

"Are you threatening me?"

Fox pulled back, smirking down at her. "You do catch on quickly, Lady Sayuri."

"I see." She nodded and stomped on his foot, her other hand letting go of the folder and ramming itself into his side. She twisted her hand out of his grip and took hold of his arm, twisting it behind him and slamming him against the wall. "The next time you come up to me, and touch me without my permission I'm going to tear that hand of yours off, and we'll see how much of an asset you'll be when I'm done with you." She spat, her own hand tightening over his arm feeling the strain of his muscles. "I may not have my chakra, but I can still fight." He hissed when his arm began to give cracking at the bone. "And this is not a threat, it's a promise." She whispered and pulled away.

Fox gripped his arm and turned to Sayuri who had bent down to pick up the folder she dropped. "You little-"

"Sayuri." The former ROOT member turned to the corner where Sasuke stood watching the two carefully. The auburn haired girl tucked the loose papers back into the folder and stepped back. She turned to Sasuke stiffly. "I need to talk to Moriyo." He said after a minute of silence, eyes sliding over to the taller man who was nursing his hand.

Sayuri cast one last glare at the man and waved the Uchiha over. "This way." He quietly made his way behind her, giving the other man a once over as he walked by.

This had been the first time in two weeks that he's seen her. It was almost like she had been avoiding him, something that he had no doubt she'd actually been doing and that he had been actively doing himself. Her hair swayed in with each step she took up the stairs, and his fingers itched to tug it out of that ponytail of hers. He faltered at the thought, chest tightening recalling the events of that night.

She made it pretty clear that she wants nothing to do with me. He shifted his gaze to the dark, wooden, steps. It was better this way, though wasn't it? Just look at what happened to Indra, and Madara. I'm pretty sure they weren't the only ones, if what the Hermit said was true.

"…Sasuke?" The sound of his name snapped him out of his train of thought. Sayuri stood next to a door, hand on the knob, staring up at him. She looked completely neutral, and he began to wonder when she had learned to control her expressions.

Completely detached from the situation. No hint of worry or panic. Had she learned to appear apathetic or did she genuinely not care?

What happened last night was a lapse of judgment.

Lapse of judgment. A mistake.

Sayuri, on the other hand, was anything but calm behind her façade. Her heart thundered behind her ribcage, and her lungs struggled for air. It took a lot of effort from her part to keep herself from bolting out of there. Watching him watch her with his calculating, black orbs, made it hard to keep herself from fidgeting and then something changed. His gaze became cold, and for the first time, she felt insignificant under it. She didn't like this feeling. She preferred it much better when his eyes were warm.

You can't have both. She scolded herself. You can't push him away and feel entitled to his attention at the same time. Grow up, Sayuri. This is for his own good. She twisted the warm doorknob and pulled the door open. Stepping back, she watched him enter the room and followed quietly behind.

Moriyo raised a brow. "Sasuke Uchiha." She said then turned her sharp orange eyes to Sayuri as she closed the door behind her, folder in hand.

"Fox thought it'd be funny to send a new recruit to turn in the status reports." Sayuri informed, handing the woman the folder.

"I'll have a talk with him." Replied Moriyo, flipping from one report to the next. When Sayuri didn't move she looked up at her. "Anything else?"

"He needs more than just a talk." The Marihasha whispered.

Moriyo pursed her lips and looked around the auburn haired young woman. "We'll talk later." Sayuri nodded with a jerk of her head and quietly exited the room, not even looking at Sasuke on her way out. Frowning the ANBU leader turned her attention to Sasuke. "Yes?"

Sasuke stepped forward and placed the scroll on her desk. "From Kakashi."

"He has you as a new delivery boy now?" Moriyo asked, peeling the scroll open and reading its contents. A frown marred her features, she glanced up at the young man in front of her then back down to the scroll. "Sasuke Uchiha looks like you've been recommended for ANBU."

XXX

Sayuri absentmindedly rubbed her wrist as she descended the stairs. A disgrace huh…She closed her eyes and sighed when she reached the bottom. He's probably right. Lately, I can't seem to do anything right. She thought back to Sasuke and her heart ached.

"Lady Sayuri."

Sayuri inhaled sharply recognizing the voice. "This day just keeps getting better and better." Her sarcastic tone did not go unnoticed by the duo standing at the entrance of the ANBU building.

"Where are your manners, young lady!" Koharu scolded, next to her Homura crossed his arms.

Sayuri shifted her weight to her left leg and looked at them with disdain. "Why are you here?" she demanded.

Homura glared at the young woman but kept his tone neutral. "We're here to speak with Moriyo. Show us to her."

Sayuri scoffed and rolled her eyes. "She's with Sasuke right now."

Koharu's brows raised. "The Uchiha boy?"

"Yes, does that surprise you?" Sayuri offered them a fake smile. "You two can show yourselves to her." She said and continued her walk back to the reports office. Behind her, Homura and Koharu stared after Sayuri in shock.

The nerve of those two showing up here of all places! She fumed. Why the hell did Kakashi keep them anyway!? Her coworkers looked up from their reports and computers to the fuming Marihasha as she entered the room. Watching as she sat down and began typing away furiously.

XXX

Sasuke closed the door behind him, stepping out into the sunlit hallway. The sound of a pair of footsteps halting down the hall caught his attention. His black orbs widened by a small fraction but he quickly schooled himself back to a neutral expression.

"Sasuke." Homura greeted. Sasuke merely grunted and walked past them, not sparing them another glance. Just because he had acknowledged that he made bad decisions in the past, did not mean that he forgave them for their part in everything that had occurred.

He descended the stairs into the main lobby where he saw the man that was with Sayuri in the hallway. His fist clenched at his side and he quietly approached the ANBU who was mocking a young recruit and yanked him by the collar, slamming him against the wall. His hand held him firmly in place by the neck as the dark haired man's eyes widened in shock. Behind him, the kid backed away unsure of what to do.

"The next time you touch her; I'll do more than rip your hand off." He warned, tone dropping and eyes flaring into the Sharingan and Rinnegan. Eyes narrowed at the man who, for his credit, only showed fear in his eyes. Sasuke smirked and let him go, exiting the building without another word.

ANBU…Sasuke weaved his way past the villagers. All right Kakashi. I'll do it your way.

"Sasuke!" he heard Naruto call from behind. The Uchiha looked over his shoulder not too surprised to see Sakura tagging along with the blonde. "Where've you been?" the blonde asked when he came to a stop. Next to the blonde, Sakura placed a hand on her hip tilting her head to the side, curious as well.

"Busy."

Sakura pouted. "You could give us more than that. We've been looking for you. Kakashi-sensei said that he sent you on an errand." He nodded. "Sooo?" she leaned forward. "Naruto's been telling me of your nightly bar escapades."

At her words, Sasuke turned to Naruto sharply, the later scratching his head with a nervous laugh. "I was worried."

"It's none of your business." Sasuke said through gritted teeth and stalked away.

"Is it because of Sayuri?" Sakura whispered, close on his heels. Emerald green eyes, caught the moment when his shoulders tensed. She opened her mouth about to offer an apology but she quickly snapped it closed. She'd be lying to herself if she said she wasn't jealous. Of course she was! This was the boy she'd been crushing on since she was eight! But he didn't love her, and it wasn't fair to her. She looked over to Naruto, who reddened at being caught staring, and smiled. She might be a bit jealous, but she'd like to believe that she was growing past it. "Sasuke, you should talk to her."

"That's what I've been saying!" the blonde agreed. Both bright haired ninja halted mid-step when Sasuke abruptly turned to them.

"Do you mind not letting people know about my personal life!" he hissed at the two. Naruto and Sakura froze and looked around them, catching a few of the villagers staring and whispering amongst themselves.

"How about we do a little sparring session?" Naruto quickly offered.

"That sounds good." Sakura added. Both turning to the brooding Uchiha expectantly.

XXX

Sayuri was walking out of the building when she spotted her two teammates standing by a nearby bench. She blinked a few times and stuffed her hands in her coat to protect them from the cold air.

"There you are!" Hajime sighed and walked towards her, Diachi close on his tail.

"You seem…happier," Sayuri responded warily. "What's wrong with you? You've been acting strange since our last mission."

"Oh! Uh…" Hajime scratched the back of his silver hair and laughed awkwardly. "I just…I want to apologize. I haven't really been a good friend."

Sayuri raised a brow in confusion. "You've always been a lousy friend."

"Shut it brat!" he snapped waving a fist in front of her.

At his reaction Sayuri smiled. "You see." Hajime pulled back and let his arm fall to his side, knowing that she was only joking.

"Want to go get some dinner? My treat." Diachi asked, gesturing to the main road that led to the village's center.

"Ah!" she nodded and walked in between the two men.

"Today I got stuck on training duty with Fox." Hajime sighed, putting his hands behind his head and leaning back slightly. "That guy's ruthless. You can tell he was trained by Danzo." At the mention of that man's code name, Sayuri's fists balled.

"No kidding, I don't think it was a good idea to let them join the ANBU." Diachi added. "Well…not all of them. Some of the ROOT members seem to have integrated into our organization but the others…"

"It was either that, or let them to their own devices." Sayuri grumbled.

Diachi rubbed his chin. "You have a point." He agreed.

"Hey, how about this place!" Hajime exclaimed jabbing a finger at their regular Korean barbecue place.

"Sure." Diachi shrugged and Sayuri led the way. Their hostess quickly ushered them to a booth and the team took a seat on the cushions and took their orders for type of meat.

"I know you're not treating me to dinner just to chit chat." Sayuri pointed, letting her hands hover over the small grill to warm them up. "What am I really here for?"

"Sharp as ever." Diachi smiled and thanked the waitress as she placed their bowl of seasoned meat on their table.

"It's a celebration of sorts," Hajime replied watching as Sayuri and Diachi picked up their meat and laid it on the hissing grill. "I've been promoted to captain."

Sayuri nearly dropped the meat in her chopsticks. "What?" mismatched brown eyes shifted from one man to the other. "Really?"

"Yes."

"That's amazing!" Sayuri beamed at them. "I'm proud of you!"

"Yeah, it kinda came out of nowhere." Hajime rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's about time too. You were the last one." She joked and dodged the balled up napkin that he threw her way.

"So captain," Diachi began. "How does it feel?"

Hajime laughed. "Like I can take on the world! Let's order drinks to celebrate!"

"Whoa there…" Sayuri laughed. "Baby steps, big guy. I'm still underage."

"Well, then you can make sure we get home safe."

As the night went on her two teammates came closer to finishing their food and bottle of sake a group of girls sat in the booth next to theirs.

"It's a shame Sasuke didn't show today." One pouted catching Sayuri's attention.

"Yeah. I was so close to getting him last time too!"

"Ha! In your dreams!"

The two boys sitting across from her watched their teammate take a drink of her water. The two leaned forwards to get a look at the girls in the booth across from theirs.

"Naruto's gotten pretty cute too!" exclaimed a blonde. "But Sasuke's still…" she sighed.

"I wonder why they didn't show." A brunette girl asked, crossing her arms under her revealing top. "I just need a little more time with Sasuke, and I'm pretty sure I'll be the next Uchiha matriarch!"

"Not if I get to him first!" replied a redhead. "Sasuke is-"

The group of girls stopped talking at the sound of the slamming cup on the black table. The girls turned to a stunned Sayuri who pulled her hand back, surprised at her own anger. She quickly snatched her chopstick and picked up a piece of cooked meat and stuffed it in her mouth.

"That's Sayuri…" one of them whispered, clearly not aware that ninja had good hearing. "She's the other girl in Sasuke's team when they were younger." The group of girls huddled together in an attempt to hide their conversation.

"She's the one that Naruto mentioned."

"She's the one?"

Growling, Sayuri snapped the pair of chopsticks in half as she angrily chewed her food.

"Maybe we should go." Offered Hajime slowly. Waving over their waitress who was quick to pull out their tab.

"Sayuri?" Diachi asked as Hajime paid their waitress. The auburn haired young woman stood up stiffly and began to follow Daichi.

"She doesn't look like much." Sniffed the brunette on the table. Upon hearing that, Sayuri balled her hands. "Sasuke, can do better."

The girl screamed as she felt water land all over her head. Her friends looked up at the angered auburn haired girl with an empty glass in her hand.

"Ok, time to go now." He laughed nervously, taking the glass out of her hands, and quickly pushing her out the door.

"They're just civilians, Sayuri." Diachi scolded once outside the restaurant.

"They weren't being very nice." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You two seem sober enough. I'm going home." She grumbled and began to walk away.

"Wait! Don't you want us to walk you home?" yelled Hajime.

"No!"

XXX

Leaving a giggling Sakura and Naruto behind at Ichiraku's Sasuke made his way home. He rubbed his nose feeling it cool down along with the cold night air. Sparring with Naruto and Sakura turned out to be a two on one. He smiled at himself, at least Sakura and Naruto seemed happier. They were a little awkward with each other, but that seemed to subside when they headed out to eat.

The street lamps began to flicker on one by one the further away from the center that he went, above him the sun had completely set leaving behind only a small streak of fuchsia. The nightlife quieting down as he entered the residential area. Entering the park, he stopped when he heard the creaking of a swing. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of Sayuri gently rocking herself with the tip of her shoe.

Sensing someone's eyes on her, the Marihasha looked up a small gasp escaping her lips. Her foot halted the rocking as she stared back, hands clenching around the chains.

He watched her stand up, one hand still on the chain of the swing the other clenching and unclenching at her side.

She watched him stand on the other side of the park, under the lamp light.

Should I say something? The two wondered as seconds turned into minutes. No. It won't change a thing. Sayuri turned away and Sasuke continued down the road.

A.N.

There you have it. Please review! Let me know what you think. I know it's frustrating and I'm sorry!

Thank you for your support!