AN: Sorry for the wait!

I knew I'd get a question about Temari… Ok, in a few author notes I wrote… somewhere back there I said I would throw a brick in the road, well she was supposed to be that brick… but then the idea came up to just kill Sakura's mom and let that be the brick instead… but it was too late, so I just wrote a sequence with Temari, because if you don't remember, Temari also had a thing for Sasuke. She's just wondering, and curious… like every other girl would be when their former infatuation or infatuation is going out with somebody… besides, I like Temari… just wanted her to be apart of the fic. =)

I just realized, I've created a situation in this story, where the ending has to be one way or another and can't just be in between… how annoying. -- To be or not to be… that is the question… Anyway, while I decide what's going to happen… you go on and read this chapter.

Disclaimer: I … yeah.

Sasuke sat silently in Sakura's hospital room. His fists clenched, his mind was racing and there was only one question on his mind. Why? He continued to wonder why Sakura's mom was targeted and the only reasonable answer he could think of was that the people after the seal so long ago wanted again. Then again, they could just have some crazy murderer running loose somewhere in Konoha… He sighed; this was going to be one long wait.

Sasuke didn't have time to call the others. Naruto was off somewhere with Jiraya, Kakashi disappeared, and Tsunade was still in that meeting with Kazekage, leaving him alone to take care of Sakura. So far, no one knew about Sakura's mom accept him and Sakura herself. His eyes turned to her pail form on the bed.

Sakura stirred slightly. She slowly opened her eyes, meeting an unfamiliar white roof. She felt numb. A small whimper escaped her lips as she sat up, running a hand through her hair. It took her a few moments to register everything that was happening. Her eyes clenched tightly. Her mother's massacred image reappeared into her mind, fresh, as if it happened a few seconds ago. 'There was so much blood…' Her lower lip trembled. 'Mother…' Hot tears cascaded down her cheeks. She clenched the white bed sheets tightly. A small cough sounded next to her. She turned her gaze to the side, her eyes widened. 'Sasuke?' Now, she didn't know whether to be embarrassed or to sink deeper into her tears. She turned her head shamefully down at her bed sheets, clutching them tightly.

This was déjà vu for Sasuke, watching her cry. It was a familiar sight, but not something he was quite used to. Who could blame the girl anyway? She just saw her mother's massacred body before her eyes, and now she had to deal with the shock. He, at least, knew how she felt. She lost all that she had left. He was debating with himself. Should he comfort her or should he just leave her and allow her to deal with her own problem… She was always getting into his. He won't repay that favor.

"Gomen, Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. She felt bad, troubling him like this...

"Hn." Was his only reply. He didn't have much else to say, besides it's not like him to grab her and allow her to cry on her shoulder. She's used to it, and she knows.

Sakura couldn't hold back, no matter how much she tried to contain her tears, they still fell. Her mom was gone, she had nothing left. The more she thought about it, the more she realized, there were so many things she could've told her. She could've treated her mother so much better. What possessed her to be the way she was? Well, now, she couldn't go home. She had no home to return to, and the blood soaked walls convinced her even further about that. One things true though, whoever did this will pay.

"You're doing it wrong Naruto!" Jiraya snapped at his pupil. "It's like this…"

"What the heck does learning how to sneak into a public bath have to do with learning a new jutsu?!" Naruto retorted. His instructor sighed.

"When will you learn to just stop asking questions?" Jiraya grinned and pushed him further into the women's side bath. "Now, if you can dodge everything they throw at you, I'll teach you something new, ok?" His grin spread. "Go on." He shoved a protesting Naruto into the steamy room. "Five… four… three…" Screams echoed throughout the entire area. Naruto came flying out with a wooden bucket over his head, and a bundle of angry women in towels chasing after him. Jiraya's cheeks became red with excitement. After a few more attempts at it, Naruto approached him, with bumps all over his head, glaring daggers. "You… this is all your fault." Jiraya laughed nervously.

"Now Naruto… you don't want to do anything you might regret…."

"Don't haggle with me old man!" A blaze burned in Naruto's eyes.

"The perverts over here ladies!" Jiraya yelled sweetly. The low rumble of feet was getting louder. Women with broom sticks in their hands all came running toward them at a rapid pace. Naruto panicked and clenched his eyes tightly.

"Sexy no jutsu!" Naruto transformed. Jiraya jaw dropped immediately. "Here he is ladies!! The pervert! Get him!" Naruto yelled in a frilly voice and pointed at Jiraya. The women stopped in their tracks, all with deadly glares on their faces. The old hermit stopped drooling.

"Hey wait… no! No! It's not me!" Jiraya waved his hands. "I'm a nice old man… you don't want to hurt me… come on…" Despite his excuses, Jiraya got the biggest beating in his life. Naruto joined the women in beating him also… laughing like a maniac.

Kakashi sensed something was wrong, and it seems he's found out what. He stood at Sakura's front door, and the stench of dried blood was already reaching out to him. When he opened the door, he saw why. The sight before him wasn't new, but it was defiantly something he hadn't seen since he was an ANBU. He swallowed and stepped in.

His eyes settled onto the body hanging on the roof. Something caught his eye. The blood from the body was still dripping, but from the look of where… the wound looked like… 'It was made from the inside out?' Kakashi's eye widened. 'What would that mean?'

He wanted to examine it even more, but decided against it. Sakura should've been home hours ago, she wasn't here. His mind began to draw conclusions despite the constant self-debates of his theory. 'Did… Sakura kill her mother?'

Sakura cried herself to sleep. Sasuke sat there watching her intently. He felt a pang of guilt for not comforting her, but the truth was… he didn't know how. As he sat there thinking about the situation more and more, he began to think about the possibilities of Mrs. Haruno's murder. Temari and her boys were here… maybe she was just a distraction for Gaara and Kankurou to… Sasuke blinked a couple of times. 'But why…?' Who else could there be? Kakashi wouldn't do it, that he knew for sure… He growled in frustration. For the moment, he shrugged it off. He decided to figure it out later. For now…

Sakura's eyes were clenched together tightly; her hands crumpled the sheets, her brows knitted together. She was having a nightmare. If memory served him correctly, he had nightmares for almost a year after the Uchiha massacre and they're still continuing… however, depending on how Sakura will handle her current situation… how is she going to react to everything now? Be more distant?

She looked like she was in pain, the images before must be replaying a hundred times over. A small whimper escaped her lips. Sasuke looked at her sorrowfully. Whatever protest ran through his mind didn't register completely because he reached out and placed a hand on her forehead, stroking the strands of pink hair out of the way. Still Sakura thrashed around. He leaned over her panting form. "Sakura…" he whispered into her ear. "Sakura stop." Her breathing began to slow, her thrashes subsided. She still whimpered. Well, at least she stopped. He began to pull away. Unfortunately, he was still slightly loomed over her and as he pulled, Sakura stirred and opened her eyes. They both blinked a couple of times. 'Uh oh…' Sasuke panicked. Sakura apparently did so also, she almost screamed, but Sasuke muffled it. Her breathing became faster, her heart was rapidly beating. 'What's going on?' She was a little shocked at the position they were in. Sasuke could of one word to sum it all into. 'Shit.'

TBC…

AN: Well, sorry for the wait. Today was a good day, so, I decided to update. I wrote this chapter fairly quickly, but I'm satisfied. I updated. Hoorah. Short chapter, but there wasn't much more to put rather than the opinions of the characters. shrugs