Naruto shivered slightly when he felt heated glares directed at him, he knew he should be used to it by now, but..it was never easy to accept that nearly everyone hated you and wanted you dead. Sometimes it made you...

"Oi, Naruto!"

The blonde blinked and twitched when he recognize the bark following.-Kiba and Akamaru.-

"Baka inu."Naruto stuck out his tongue and turned.

Kiba didn't hit him over the head though, he was scrutinizing the blonde intensely, looking him up and down with a serious expression on his face. Naruto felt his heartrate increase, thumping painfully in his chest and threatening to suffocate him. If they all knew..he couldn't live with it. He just couldn't..they would look at him different. Look at him with PITY. If Kiba knew..The image of Iruka hugging him tightly and Kakashi smiling reassuringly.

Biting his tongue and swallowing the blood, he forced a grin onto his face,"What are you staring at dog boy? See something you like?"

Kiba blushed and deadpanned,"naw, Sasuke was looking all upset. When Sakura asked him about it in front of us..he just said 'dobe'.Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?"He elbowed his blonde friend, wiggling his dark brows suggestively.

"Gah!"Naruto bopped him, accidentally hitting Akamaru instead. Akamaru bit into his hand and held tight. Naruto shook his hand frantically, trying to free it, and paled when the overly large sleeved slid pasthis elbow to reveal the tightly bandaged arm.

Kiba blinked and squinted, leaning closer,"Oi, you and Sasuke went overboard sparring again, eh?"

Naruto tried to force air into his constricting chest, finally jerking his arm so sharply Akamaru went flying into Kiba. Kiba caught the dog and sniffed at Naruto,"What's up your ass, baka!"

"I have somewhere to be, teme."He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned away,"maybe I'll waste my time on you later."

Kiba raised his fist and growled, but stopped when Akamaru began yipping frantically. The dog boy blinked and looked down at Akamaru, listening.

Naruto's steps quickened and quickly took him to the lush forests and hillsides surrounding Konoha. He wandered for hours, random thoughts and memories flashing through his head as he slowly made his way towards the great cliff where he had trained with his summoning jutsu and the perverted frog hermit.

Should I really regret trying to commit suicide?..I feel guilty..but not for myself..I still feel I would be glad to die. Its because of Iruka and Kakashi..and not only them but everyone else..Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Sakura, Ino, and hell even Gaara..Sasuke wanted me to die though..it would have made him happy..-The blonde moodily scuffed his foot against a rock in the path and raised his head when the trees ended and it became a flat plane around the cliff. He sat on the edge and dangled his legs over the side, furrowing his fine blonde brows.-Maybe he was right, maybe I am being selfish. But Ive smiled and held on for so long..just for him..and he just throws it back in my face. Damnit! Ive earned to be selfish just this one time. Just one last time..-Naruto clenched his fist around a stray rock and sighed in defeat, tossing it over the edge and leaning over to watch it descend into the endless pit.

He lay back and stared at the clouds, slowly allowing his facial features to relax and even smiled a little to himself when the pounding headache that had been nagging at him the entire morning finally began to receed. Watching the clouds and bright blue sky, he didn't notice the quiet footsteps that approached him from behind, nor when they stopped. Naruto jumped in startlement as dark hair slowly came forward to hang loosely above his head, blocking his view of the clouds. For a long moment, he thought it was Sasuke, but smiled in relief when he recognized the lazy chunin.

"Oi, Naruto. What are you doing watching clouds on the side of a cliff? Baka..you're going to fall off."Shikamaru grumbled, plopping down beside him and supporting his weight comfortably on his elbows. He threw back his head, black ponytail swaying in the wind, and turned his dark eyes to the sky.

His companion eyed him curiously then followed his gaze to the sky,"how did you know I was out here?"

"You passed me while you were coming up here."

"Oh.."

They sat in comfortable silence for awhile, Shikamaru breaking it by completely laying down and folding his hands behind his head, expression never changing,"what's going on between you and Sasuke?"

"Jeez..Why is everyone asking me that?"

The chunin shrugged,"Sasuke was acting weird..it was a little..scary.."

Naruto barked out a laugh and smiled wryly, if a little bitterly, and turned slightly to his friend,"he's probably just acting all sore because we actually tied for once in sparring the other day."

"Ah.."Shikamaru murmured, eyes snapping to the side to lock with his.

Naruto felt sweat trickle down his cheek and down his neck, causing him to shiver."Oi...why are you staring at me like that?"

The other's eyes sharpened, abruptly becoming angry, before reverting back to their calm state."I ran into Kiba.."

"I thought you said-"

"Kiba was going to follow you up here. I said I'd take care of it.Troublesome.."Shikamaru replied tonelessly with a tired sigh.

Naruto swallowed, willing his animilistic urge to run down,"w-what?"

"Naruto. Why are you lying to us?"

"What are you-"

"Stop."The dark haired nin sat up and stare down at him intensely,"Akamaru smelled the fresh wound on your arm, mixed with the metallic smell of a kunai. There was no one else's scent mixed with the blood on your arm before it healed. It was self inflicted."

Naruto sat up as well and hugged his knees to his chest, glaring at Shikamaru."Why the fuck would you think I would do something like that!"

Shikamaru closed his eyes, not raising his voice with Naruto, instead he spoke softly, not in an angry way, but in a disappointed and saddened way that spoke of grief and betrayal,"I don't know, Naruto. I really don't know.."

The wind whistled through their hair, causing Naruto to raise his arm to brush blonde locks from his eyes. Shikamaru caught his wrist and slid up the sleeve, touching a finger gently to the bandages. Naruto bit his lip and watched the calloused finger.

"Kiba was really worried about you Naruto. He and Akamaru..they looked scared. I told him not to go telling everyone..I trust him not to.I...It really scares me Naruto.."

Naruto's head snapped up as he pulled his arm away, staring at his friend with wide eyes.His mouth opened and shut helplessly when Shikamaru clenched his fist and closed his eyes, turning away as tears trailed down his cheeks."You're always so happy... Everyone depends on you so much no matter what they say or do. You're one of the only people who I want to stay close to for the rest of my life, you're like a brother to me, Naruto.You, Kiba, me, Chouji, Neji, did you forget all about us? Our team? What would Sasuke do!"

"SASUKE DOESNT GIVE A SHIT!"

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open,"What did he do?"

Naruto was hesitant, he had never seen his friend break down like this, he wasn't sure what he was capable of doing."It doesn't matter. Shikamaru.."The blonde looked up and sniffed softly, grabbing his friend and clinging to him,"I could never forget about the team...if I...if I can..force myself through this somehow...Im gonna become a chunin..and you'll be a jounin..and we'll all be on a team and work together.."Sniff."But I just...I want to end it all so badly..I cant.."

Shikamaru dug his dull fingernails into the black material of the borrowed jounin attire of Kakashi, clinging to his friend and the lazy expression sliding back onto his face when he realized that his small blonde friend needed support, not an overprotective brother."If you try it again Naruto..all of us..we're going to beat the shit out of you. Don't even THINK of it. Im dead serious.."

They held eachother in silence for a few awkward minutes before releasing the tight hold they had on eachother. Naruto smiled wetly at his friend and sniffed cutely, wiping a tear from his large deep blue eye."As if."He let out a shaky laugh, unable to meet Shikamaru's eyes,"I could take you all on with my Sexy no Jutsu!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and shook his head, laying back down,"As if, baka."

Naruto smiled fondly down at him before standing. Shikamaru's eyes flickered up to his briefly before he waved his hand,"Mah, I'll catch up to you later..Im gonna watch the clouds for awhile."

"Hai."Naruto replied and ran down the path towards the village.

Shikamaru smiled softly at the sky,"don't give up, Naruto.We're all here to back you up."
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Eh..a bit corny, once again. I sound like a broken recordO.o Author notes are basically the same in every chapter lmao. Unfortunately..once again..short chapter..though I can't exactly say I regret it. To capture the moment, and keep that emotion with you for awhile, you have to cut it off at the end of a really emotional scene. -sweatdrop- if that makes any sense. I swear it does in my mind.

Eh, people are getting impatient to see when Sasuke reappears. He will, fear not! I said before that it would only be a few more chapters...-scratches head sheepishly- well...this story might live to be around twenty chapters.lol I still have a lot of plans for this story. I hope it doesnt get ridiculously boring.

Review please!