Disclaimer: Naruto & co. don't belong to me. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

AN: yes, I've been gone for very long, only just finished with this chapter, exams still going on, still driving the road of insanity, but I still love me for not giving up on this fic :) fluff alert. this chapter, the next and maybe the one after that too.

I've just realized that I'd initially written Yuki with a very fiery temperament (a lot of swearing and foul language)... and now... she's cooled down a LoT... hmmm..... or may this is just the break before she fires up again. yeck. I'm halfway to attacking her right now. She's too passive at times. Or is there something else that's wrong? Hmm...

Chapter: Preparation

Some months passed as she lay comatose. Sasuke, Naruto, along with some others, on the account of Konoha's power-needy state, became jounins. As they were gone for the jounin exams, Sakura stayed behind and joined intensive training to become a medic-nin. Other ninja's of Konoha were also forced to undertake intensive training in their respective fields. Konoha was attempting to strengthen itself - trying to gather all available power to the optimum.

However, the reason why the village forces were suddenly 'shaken awake' was only known to a select few.

"Welcome back," said Sakura. Sasuke and Naruto had only just come back to the village after having successfully passed their jounin exams. Sakura had been both waiting for them and watching over Yuki at the same time. Currently, the three were in Yuki's room at the hospital.

"Glad to be back," Naruto answered, his chest heaving forward as he sighed rather loudly. Sasuke muttered the same thing and then found himself a sweat next to the bed. "How is she?"

"Yuki-chan's improved a lot! Even Tsunade-sama said that she could wake up anytime now." Silence occupied the room after her half-hearted cheerful statement. "I... You two look so tired. Why don't you go relax first? I can hold down the fort here for a few more hours. Kakashi-sensei should be coming back here soon too."

A gust of wind announced the sudden appearance of the Kazekage - Gaara. Over those months since he had first arrived, he hadn't set out of the village. Not once. Claiming that he had to stay because of a promise. A promise, which somehow, they all knew was made to Hatake Yuki.

"When she wakes up," he said. "It would be better for all of you to not be here."

"Huh?!" Naruto was the first to react. The other two simply watched him in stunned silence. "Why, Gaara?" Naruto demanded.

"Sorry, Naruto," he answered slowly, looking at each one of them directly. "It's complicated." Without another word, he turned to the side to assess Yuki's condition for a brief moment and then left the room. Naruto was just about to call him back when Tsunade entered the room.

"Gaara-dono is right," she said solemnly, as if she had been listening to them all the while. "If you happen to be in the room when she wakes up, clear out and call me." It was odd, she had such a sad, despairing look in her eyes. Sasuke caught it and nearly jumped off his seat in surprise but Naruto got to it faster.

"But why?!" he demanded, speaking for all three of them. Sakura watched the tension rise uneasily.

"It's complicated," Tsunade said finally. She turned around and looked away. "But temporary. Don't worry. She's a strong girl."

"On the surface," Sasuke muttered while looking at Tsunade. They looked at each other for a moment in absolute clear understanding.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said timidly.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto yelped in surprise. "Do you know something?" Naruto looked at him and Tsunade carefully and in frustration. "Tell me!"

Sasuke took in a deep breath and looked away. "I don't know anything."

Weeks went by slowly. Tension was brewing. Patiently. It was everywhere. Crawling in every corner, every street. People were tense. And the worst thing was, not many knew why.

Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi too, spent shifts at the hospital, looking after Yuki... looking, while hoping, that she would wake.... It frustrated them, not knowing why she was like that in the first place. Sasuke, Kakashi knew... only about that unpleasant incident that had happened to her... but neither knew why she was lying there... looking paler than usual, feeling cold as death.

During one of his shifts there, Naruto by chance fell asleep on her bed, leaning from his place on the chair and holding her hand. He wasn't quite asleep though, and wasn't quite awake either. In any case, he was thinking about her...

"Yuki-chan... when will you ever wake up?"

"Uzumaki-san," said a young girl. Her shadow appeared in front of him - he nearly jumped. "Uzumaki-san..."

"Huh? Kid? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, squinting his eyes in the direction of the little girl. She was standing at a distance, and Naruto couldn't make more of her than her outline.

"Uzumaki-san..." she said timidly.

"What is it...?" Naruto asked, lifting himself a little. "What's the matter?"

"Ah... I forgot," she said, with a little lift in her tone which made him think that she was smiling. He rubbed his eyes... but it seemed that her image would stay blurry. "Naruto-kun, wasn't it?" Naruto watched quietly, his mind trying to place the voice... he couldn't see the little girl's face but her voice sounded very familiar. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."

"Huh?"

"Naruto-kun... don't you remember me?"

"Huh?"

"Naruto-kun..." At that point, she started to sob, and something sharp shot through his heart. He realized who that little girl was. "Naruto-kun."

"Wait... are you-"

"Naruto-kun, please don't hate me! I know I couldn't make friends with you earlier when we were kids but please-... please...." The vision of the little girl became clearer and clearer as Naruto shot forward. But as the image became sharper... it was also... disappearing.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in disbelief as he reached her. He looked down at her, a bead of sweat trickling down his face.

"I... Naruto-kun... I'm sorry..." she said through her tears.

"Yuki-chan..." She stopped crying and looked up. Naruto went down to his knees and pulled her into a hug. "It's you, isn't it, Yuki-chan?"

"Naruto-kun... you remember me?"

"Oi... I'm supposed to be the idiot here, remember?!" he said light-heartedly. "Hey... Yuki-chan... why don't you wake up?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun... I... I'm scared..."

"What are you scared of, Yuki-chan?" Naruto loosened his hold a little to look at her, but she looked away from him. "Yuki-chan." But she still wouldn't look at him. "Yuki-chan, we're friends aren't we, can't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Friends... Naruto-kun?" she whispered shyly.

"Of course!" Naruto said cheerfully. "Haven't we always been?" There was a shadow of doubt that passed over the little girl's eyes. "I know were were too young to remember what happened then... but didn't you save my life back then? Weren't we friends ever since?"

"Naruto-kun..."

"Won't you wake up, Yuki-chan? Your fiancé is waiting for you. If you're still pissed with him, it's alright, you can talk to me. We're all friends after all. Let me help you out once in a while."

What happened after that was amazing. Everything around him suddenly turned white, and something from within his body started threatening to escape. It was some indescribable sensation... the closest word it could be described with was heat. And it was piercing through him.

And then suddenly he woke up. He was back at the hospital room, leaning down on Yuki's bed, holding on to fistfuls of the sheets. There was something warm on his head. Her hand.

"N-Naruto...kun?" Yuki whispered weakly. Naruto jumped from his seat in surprise. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Is this for real?" he gasped. At once he turned around and assessed his surroundings, coming into a conclusion soon after that the little girl he'd just met was just a dream.

"Thanks... for helping... me..." she said hoarsely. The edges of the eyes turned up as if she was trying to smile. All at once Naruto started tearing up.

"Yuki-chan... you're awake...."

"Naruto?" Tsunade gasped as she beheld the sight before her. At first she had rushed, thinking the worst had happened, hearing a chair violently clatter on the floor of the room she was in. However that was not the case. She was looking at her patient trying to hoist herself up and a visitor - obviously Naruto with that ridiculous stance and ruffled blonde hair. But that wasn't what made her gasp - although later on, she did think that Yuki trying to move was one matter to be surprised with, but that was not the case presently. There was a mist of orange, almost red, light that surrounded the two, and Yuki was slowly absorbing it.

Naruto started trembling when he saw Tsunade at the doorway and, without thinking, ran right out of the room. Tsunade noticed a silent stream of tears on his face as he passed her.

Yuki felt a slight pang of hurt as he ran... but then heard the all too familiar and comforting sound of sand trickling nearby, and promptly fell asleep.

"You're not taking quite so fast to heal this time," Kakashi commented as he entered the room two days later, unaccompanied - something he himself believed could not be done in so short a while considering what Yuki had gone through. Yuki turned her head from the window to look at him and then smiled weakly.

"I guess... my body is punishing me now... since I always used to push myself to heal quicker," she said. Kakashi shook his head in disapproval.

"I should have known... even after all my warnings..." he said with a sigh as he sat near her. "Anyway, you're to stay in bed and let your body recover in it's own time... understood?" he pressed firmly. Kakashi suddenly looked at the doorway, as if expecting someone, Yuki waited silently.

"Don't stop on my account, Hatake-san," said the cold, familiar voice of Gaara. "He is correct, in any case," he said. "Although, I have to disagree to some point. You recover quite well this time."

Yuki looked at him in the eye and then slid her eyes away. "I can't pretend to not know what you mean." Kakashi saw that she looked a little troubled by that. One look at Gaara, and seeing the look that the young Kazekage was directing at him, Kakashi instantly knew that he was referring to that incident - it was giving the room an unpleasant atmosphere just at the slight hint of it. Kakashi took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"You've let Hatake-san and Naruto..." Gaara left his sentence trailing as she nodded in understanding. Gaara moved a step closer and paused, crossing his arms in front of him. "Uchiha Sa-"

"Aa! Gaara, what happened to your gourd?" she interrupted. Gaara frowned and backed off at that.

"With Tsunade-dono. I should retrieve it now. It's almost time...-"

"Oh, are you going?" Gaara nodded silently and then turned away. He paused for another moment and then walked back to her. Kakashi watched curiously as the young Kazekage reluctantly put a hand on her head. But Gaara was looking at him.

"A moment, Hatake-san?" Kakashi looked from him to Yuki and back to Gaara before nodding slightly. He gave Yuki another gentle squeeze with his hand and then calmly walked out. Once he was sure that the elder Hatake was out of hearing distance, Gaara spoke. "The Fuyu Seishin's seal is still quite intact." Yuki nodded in acknowledgement. "You will call on me if there comes any trouble with it. And Naruto too. I understand from Tsunade-dono that it is your duty to protect him. However... we three are like family now, understand?" You don't have to bear everything yourself. It seemed as though Gaara's thoughts were forcing its way through to her mind through his piercing stare. Yuki nodded slightly in understanding.

Gaara was turning away when she said, "Safe journey home, Gaara. I regret that I won't be assisting you in your journey this time."

"There's plenty of other bodyguards that Tsunade-dono can provide for me. Though... you know very well that I don't need it," he said with a smirk of confidence. But then his expression turned serious. "I have fulfilled my promise of keeping you safe till you are able to recover here." Yuki smiled a little in obvious gratitude. "And since I have no more dealings in this village, it is time for me to return. However, I will come if you or Naruto ask it. Remember."

"I will," Yuki replied. At that Gaara walked off. However he stopped again, this time near the doorway. He turned around to face her and then bowed.

"Thank you for accepting me as your teacher these past months." Yuki nearly blushed at the honor. The Kazekage was displaying his respect for her. Yuki felt as though she had to do the same so she leaned over her bed and pushed herself into standing. Gaara watched in silent surprise as she stood, albeit shakily, and then bowed right back at him.

"Thank you for teaching me," she said, and then smiled serenely as she stood straight. Gaara gave her one final nod and then disappeared into thin air. At that moment Kakashi stepped inside, and at one look at her, dashed by her side, right at the moment when she toppled over. "Kakashi-niichan-" she giggled lightly as he caught her. "That was stupid," she murmured dizzily.

Kakashi sighed in exasperation as he helped her back down to the bed. "Rest, Yuki-chan."

At the end of the next week she was ready to be discharged from the hospital, although still a little pale, she was deemed all-around healthy by Tsunade so it was alright for her to leave the hospital.

"Yuki-chaaaaaaan!!!" came Naruto's usual call as he and the rest of the group arrived to pick her up.

"Good morning Naruto-kun!" Yuki called back cheerfully. She was her jounin outfit that day, mask and all. Never had she looked so much like Kakashi like she did right then. There was something different about Yuki that they all noticed from the day that she had arrived and was hospitalised. Primarily it was the color of her hair - it had changed to white, no different from Kakashi's. Another difference was that her eyes had taken on much redder shades - so it looked much closer to Kurenai's eyes or the sharingan eyes. Even though it made her look more... normal when compared with the rest of them, the stark similarity she had with Kakashi now made her so much more noticeable. "Kakashi-niichan!! Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun! Thanks for coming to see me today."

Naruto and Sakura jogged over to her - she was standing right in front of the hospital entrance, while Sasuke and Kakashi sauntered a little behind them. Even so, the former two were giving sly looks to Sasuke - so obviously sly that even Yuki could not miss the point.

"I thought that we'd go out and eat today...?" Kakashi said, smiling at the group.

"Sure!" Yuki said cheerfully. "Niichan's treat!" Kakashi balked visibly at this but reluctantly consented. Naruto and Yuki turned to each other and started laughing happily.

"Oi oi..." The other three stared at the two curiously... they looked a little too happy. It wouldn't've been weird for Naruto to laugh like that, but for Yuki... well... Naruto must've been rubbing off on her a lot.

Over her stay at the hospital, although brief, were filled with many visits, mostly from Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura. Tsunade found, at a very early instance that asides from Gaara, Yuki could only stand being around Kakashi and Naruto, even though she would be a little uncomfortable at first, she was generally alright with them around. This 'recovery' didn't extend towards Sasuke though. Pity the Uchiha who went out of his way to try and find her... and then collapsed just like she did and then only to meet with refused entry permission to her room - by Yuki herself. Even Tsunade could not change this, even though she hoped that Yuki would recover from her anxiety from being near men soon. So they relied on Kakashi and Naruto to help her get out of that fix. Neji had come to visit too - and that helped tremendously.

Sasuke, who was quite possibly the most worried of all, since he wasn't even allowed to see her, was relieved, almost ecstatic the day - if an appearance of a relieved smile could be called ecstatic - Tsunade announced that she was fit to go public once again. It seemed all the anxiety of being around men caused by her sudden collapse had eased away, although... Sasuke was still not allowed to see her. Since her consciousness, today was the first day that Sasuke had seen her. And as grateful as he was, he couldn't help but feel a little resentment for being pushed aside. By his own fiancée, whom he once tried in vain to look for nonetheless. Of course, that was partly his fault, as he himself thought, if he had only pursued her sooner....

"He-hey, Yuki-chan! What will you do now? Now that you're back?" Naruto said through his ramen - they were at Ichiraku now, at Naruto's suggestion. Sakura was muttering under her breath about how wrong it was to feed ramen to someone just out of the hospital. Yuki smiled at that and then turned her attention to Naruto.

"Continue with my job of course." Yuki noticed a pained look that flashed immediately on his face.

"Back to being an anbu?" he asked.

"Yes of course..." Yuki's voice trailed at the end as she noticed a troubled look now passing over Naruto's expression.

"How about taking it easy now?" Sakura asked with a nervous giggle. "You've been working so hard-"

"Come to think of it, how is your job doing, Sakura-chan?" There was an undeniable fog of tension that had immediately surrounded them when she had mentioned that she would be going back to being an anbu. Yuki had only to wonder briefly to understand that that was what was making them all uncomfortable and so decided to change the subject. Fortunately for her, Sakura was willing to help.

It wasn't long before Sakura and Naruto had to leave - giving missions to do as their excuse. Yuki suddenly felt a sense of dread. It was as though... something was falling into place. Sure enough, Kakashi was preparing to leave.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, you probably will be going too...?" she asked without thinking, gripping on the underside of the table as if in fear as she realised the rudeness behind what she had just said.

"No," he said cooly, effectively knocking her off-center.

"Well, I have to get going." Yuki almost visibly winced as Kakashi said that. She glanced at him with a look that could only be a mixture of surprise and denial. "There is a meeting that I have to attend."

"I- b-but niichan!"

"Sasuke, take her home okay?" He left. And Yuki was left with a startling revelation that this was planned all along! They had planned to leave her alone with Sasuke. She hadn't exactly made it secret that she didn't want to be alone with him, but for them to actually... Yuki felt slightly betrayed at that but knew that it was useless. This had to happen sooner or later. Apparently, Uchiha Sasuke had used their mutual friends well enough to show that his patience was getting thin.

Sasuke was a little ticked that she wouldn't look at her. At least she did look his way when the others were around, now that they weren't, she simply refused to even acknowledge that he was there! But he clamped on fast to his irritation and asked her if she wanted to leave Ichiraku right then. Her answer was affirmative, her tone clear and firm - there was no sign of timidity in her appearance at all... but still she refused to look at him.

"This is so awkward," Yuki was thinking. "I... don't particularly want to talk...."

"Why?" Sasuke asked out of the blue. Yuki stopped walking and finally looked at him, startled. Sasuke took the reaction positively and stopped walking as well, not turning back but showed that he was waiting for her to catch up. "Why are you being quiet?"

"N-no reason," she answered with a little stutter as she started walking again. "It's such a nice night," she finally said after a few moments silence.

"It's cold," Sasuke replied shortly.

"Oh... I see," Yuki replied sheepishly. At one point Sasuke stopped walking and then looked at her. Yuki quickly averted her face.

"It's so close to winter, why are still wearing clothes like that?" Sasuke was assessing her very light attire.

"Well why not?" Yuki replied hotly, finally looking at him - glaring would be the more appropriate word.

"Because you can get sick?" Sasuke replied just as hotly. He rolled his eyes once to show his exasperation and then said, "Come here."

"What?" said Yuki in surprise. Sasuke was taking off his jounin jacket and then was offering it to her. When Yuki did not make a move, he swiftly put it over her before she could react.

"The jacket is heavy but it will keep you warm." Sasuke started walking again, as he was blushing slightly at his bold action and didn't particularly want her to see it. Yuki found herself blushing just as much as he was before she started keeping pace with him again.

He was being kind that night.... Really... why did she try to avoid him so much the past two weeks? Even now Sasuke was one, asides from Kakashi and Gaara who could make her feel most secure... and yet there was an element of danger that surrounded him and made her feel very ill at ease. There was something very... unusual about Sasuke that made her feel both secure and insecure. That something was somehow connected to how she really felt about him.