Disclaimer: Who thinks I own Naruto? Sees no hands raised EXACTLY

Authors note: sorry for not adding the disclaimer in the first chaptee I forgotted, and also, thank you to the people that reviewed, and thank you Amber, for reading it, and... reviewing it on AIM. Lol and now, what we've all been waiting for.... Chaptee 2

Comfort from a friend

Sakura quietly walked down the street looking down at the ground. She felt horrible for leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone together, but felt that there was nothing she could do about it. And just thinking about the cry of pain from her son made her eyes threaten to spill over with tears.

"Sakura-Chan! Is something troubling you?" A familiar voice said from in front of her.

Looking up she saw her best friend standing with a basket on her arm and a list in her hand. She noticed the sparkling ring on her finger, given to her by Shikamaru. The blonde had always pretended to gloat over her huge diamond and compare it with the small gold band that was around Sakura's finger.

"I... Nothing's wrong Ino. I'll be fine, just thinking about..." Here voice faltered. She had never told anyone about what went on in her home. The constant screams of pain, the tears of sadness and depression, and the blood that had been spilled from both her sons' veins and her own.

The blonde's voice softened as she began to assume what was wrong. "Thinking about the 5th Hokage, I mean, Naruto again? You have to get over that Sakura, you made the right choice to marry Sasuke, and you even named your son after him. And it wasn't your fault that he died. So put on a smile and live the days to the fullest." Her friend rambled and patted her shoulder.

Tears came to Sakura's eyes as she thought about Uzumaki Naruto. She knew she had made the wrong choice in life the moment Sasuke proposed to her and three simple letters came spilling out of her mouth. If she had married Naruto, her life would be much more simpler, and less painful. But she couldn't change her mind now. Naruto was gone and all that was left was Sasuke.

"Ino... I need to tell you something. Can we go to your house? It's private and I don't want to discuss it in public." She asked quietly blinking away tears.

Realizing that Sakura was in need of a good cry, Ino quickly agreed. "That's fine with me. Shika-Kun is out on a mission right now so there couldn't be a better time." She put her arm around her saddened friend's shoulder and led the way to her home.

As they arrived at the Ino-Shikamaru residence, Sakura just couldn't hold it all in anymore. Tears began spilling from her eyes and her shoulders and chest heaved as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Oh dear... I'm sorry Sakura; I shouldn't have mentioned Uzumaki in front of you. I know how sensitive you are. I really didn't mean it." Ino tried to explain quickly and grabbed a tissue box and handed it to Sakura. She bit her lip uncertainly and tried to think of something comforting to say.

"It's not that, Ino." Sakura sobbed. "It's Sasuke... He... It's not like I thought it would be." She began, trying to stop her tears, but more kept coming.

Ino, not understanding raised her eyebrow. "What do you mean? How did you think it would be?" She tilted her head, trying to see from Sakura's point of view.

"I thought that we would be so happy and that we would just laugh all the time and have so much fun. And that we would have these amazing smart kids, not that I regret Naruto, I just.... Nothing's like that Ino. It's not at ALL like that." She admitted and wiped her eyes as the tears began to slow.

Shocked and surprised Ino thought for a moment at the precise thing to say. "Why... aren't you happy?" She asked slowly. After all the fighting the two girls had done in their childhood over Sasuke, Sakura had won him over, shouldn't she be happy?

Sakura sniffed, contemplating the idea of trying to make something up, or telling Ino the real thing. The only bad thing that could happen was that Ino would confront Sasuke. But that would lead to him denying the fact, and her getting hurt afterwards. But she knew she had to do it. There was no other time, and no one else for her to turn to. "Ino... I'm not happy with Sasuke because... he... hits me. And it's not just me. He hits Naruto. He hits him harder than he hits me. When I was leaving the house to go shopping I heard Naruto scream. That's what made everything worse, every time I thought about it I had to just close my eyes and calm myself down to stop from crying. I don't want it to happen anymore. But I can't divorce Sasuke or anything, because he would get mad at me and he would hurt me. Or even worse he would hurt Naruto. I don't want Naruto to get hurt anymore. I don't care what happens to me I just want my son to be safe, and for him to not have to be scared when I leave the house. I want Uzumaki Naruto back. If I could I'd take everything mean I said back. And I would do anything to have him back and to hold him in my arms and know he was real and he was really here with me and to have children with him. And I want to hear him laugh when our kids have blonde and pink hair. And I want him to tell them not to worry because no one cares if they have pink hair or whatever color it is, they only care about what's inside, or at least that's what real friends would say to them. And I want to see Sasuke's stupid horrible smirk fall off his horrible face when I say I love Naruto. And I want to just shove it all in Sasuke's face and see him hate Naruto even more. I want to see Naruto smile and laugh at Sasuke and tell him what great things he's missing out on and that he should have taken the chance when he still had it. I want to be the 5th Hokage's wife and tell him everyday that he made it and he's living his dream." She blurted out, bursting into tears again half way through her long speech. "But that will NEVER happen..." She added quietly.

Ino's mouth hung open as all this new information was being told to her. "Sakura-Chan... I..." She broke off, biting her lip. There wasn't anything that she could possibly think of that could possibly comfort her friend.

A noise from the kitchen caused Sakura to jump and turn pale. Had Sasuke found her? Was he mad for her being gone longer than usual? She was about to stand up and run out the back door of the Nara household when Nara Shikamaru himself came through the doorway. "Konnichi-wa." He said lazily, as usual. When he looked up, he was only slightly surprised to see Sakura sitting there, but then again Ino and Sakura were best friends. The thing that surprised him, were the tears and the fear on her face.

Blowing out a sigh, Sakura calmed down. Though Shikamaru had scared her, she was a little calmer than before. "Sorry Shikamaru-Kun. I can leave if you want me to. So you can rest. I know you just got home from a mission and you should rest." She stood up and started towards the door.

"Sumimasen, Sakura. It's all right if you stay. I don't mind. Gomen nasai, but, if I may ask, why are you crying." He walked over to the two women and sat down on the coffee table. He put his hands in his lap and looked from Sakura to Ino.

"I... would prefer to keep it between me and Ino. It's not you." Sakura answered quietly, looking down at her hands that were smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress.

"Alright, I'm okay with that. You can stay as long as you want." He smiled at her and waved to Ino as he made his way up the stairs. "I'm going to bed."

Sakura smiled at Shikamaru and then looked at Ino. "You're so lucky. He's so sweet." She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Why don't you call Sasuke and tell him your staying over here for a while to help me with housework. And you can tell him that I want Naruto to come and help us too." She added the last comment after she saw Sakura about to say something.

"Arigato Ino-Chan." Sakura thanked and went over to the phone.

Time to call Sasuke...

ANDDDD that's the end of the chapter. I haven't started chapter 3 yet sigh but I guess I should get to it... ties hair up and gets out her ice for her wrist when typing too long

This chapter is dedicated to Amber. Who reminded me to finish it HI AMBER waves