Chapter One

…That Which Made Us Strong, Only To Fill Us with the Most Regret.

I am gonna kill…

When I need a thrill

Eating at the heart,

'Til I've had my fill

When will Stupid Learn?

Fire's gonna burn?

Think of consequence

…Then you move when it's your turn.

"Haunt You Everyday" - Weezer

The waiting was the most agonizing part for Sakura, who was strung so tight with ferocious anxiety that she thought for a moment it'd devour her whole, standing outside of the dilapidated Uchiha residence with a chagrin look upon her face. The rain had eased, slowing down to a dull drizzle, and she happy for once she hadn't fussed over her hair in vain. She wiped the dewy precipitation from her face in one clean stroke before she continued to knock. She knew she could enter if she pleased, but the lovesick little girl she had swore she'd squashed protested loudly at the invasion of privacy.

…That and she wasn't sure she'd be able to dodge all of the hyper-paranoid teen's traps; even with Tsunade-shishou's intense training.

She knew he was in there ...even if she didn't understand why. After his prodigal return to the village accompanied by a limping Naruto and herself, he'd stubbornly insisted upon staying in his original home. In a way, she conceded, it was oddly fitting to return to the place of his birth after his brief sojourn, and if she'd actual believed he was going about it all in a healthy fashion she'd have no qualms about his place of residence. However, she knew Sasuke, and his sometimes self-destructive ways, well; at least when she wasn't blinded by her affections she did. When her 'Sasuke-goggles' were removed, and the world was not longer a pleasant shade of Uchiha Red (the color of love), she saw thing perfectly clear.

Sasuke only has eyes for the past; this is just another attempt for him to rest with his demons.

Therefore,when the door finally opened and a grudgingly open and relaxed Sasuke greeted her, she nearly fell on her ass. She restrained herself from over-ogling and resigned herself to surreptitious glances of the lithe form before her. He was God Thank You! shirtless and wore low-hung pajama bottoms without a hint of anything else. His 'lick-able' love handles stood out prominently on his chiseled body, deliciously tormenting the pink-hair ninja. His bare-feet clopped on the floor as he silently led her to another room.

Sasuke, for his part, was stubbornly quiet. He had a strong inkling as to why she was there at such an hour, but he refused to say anything, knowing in time she'd speak her mind--after she got over the initial jitters. It wasn't patience, however, but inflexibility that led him to doing it. If some part of him hadn't wanted to talk, he would have shut the door upon her arrivial.

However, after a few minutes of irritating silence, Sasuke's "not-patience" was wearing a bit thin. He was pointedly standing up (he had never sat down) which in 'Sasuke-speak' meant make it quick, and his eyes narrowed--challenging--as he awaited her response.

"How was training?" he asked, snarkily. His query was actually a statement, saying all-too-loudly that he knew it'd been her training out in the storm that evening; beating her frustrations out on wooden dummy before making her way to a party she'd now wish she'd skipped.

"…Good." She mechanically replied. She haltingly summed up the party leaving Naruto's parting comments out, speaking only briefly of their wheat-haired companion. This was odd, considering it was his party. Sasuke noticed that however, and his dark eyes glanced over her shoulder before returning to her eyes.

"So why are you here? Come to check up?" He asked, angling himself between her and the sitting room. He walked past her to what she assumed to be to kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the sparse selection of items. He found the idea that he was directing the conversation inwardly amusing.

"May I have one?" She had asked when she realized he wasn't going to offer. Gingerly nursing the drink like a warmed bottle of sake, she continued; citing while seeing him was a bonus, she had not come to check in on him.

He shot her a glacial glance, testing her resolve, before taking a sip of his frosty drink. He immediately frowned, looking down at the drink as if wondering if the severe look he had cast had done something to his drink. He smoothly placed it on the counter before lifting his gaze to meet her eyes. They held the look along time before Sakura spoke up again.

"We're about to have what's likely to be the most important fight of our lives, and our group's barely spent an hour collectively together honing our skills. I know there's …a lot…between us right now, but we've got to do something, and I, Naruto and you have got pride to admit it." Sakura said with a confidence Sasuke was still getting use to. It seemed while he was gone that she had finally bloomed. He wondered if he'd held her back and was pleasantly surprised, she hadn't regressed upon his return. "So here I am. I know it's too late to train, but something struck me today and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since. We were trained for this, but that doesn't mean we're going to win. If we don't shape up…"

Her red-eyed teammate practically goggled at her; equally surprised and annoyed she'd go out of her way to tell him something so obvious in such a straight out fashion, though in truth, he hadn't thought of it in that way, and she was making sense. He was mostly just upset it had to be pointed out to him. He had seen the parallels, but thought nothing of them. The only fate he'd worried about was Itachi's, and that was predetermined by him.

"--We've been beating around the bush far too long! It's time for us to shape up, or ship out; if we don't leave our past behind us, we'll never make it home."

"Well, that's all well an' good and all, but why are you just telling this to me? We're a three person team remember? Where's Naruto play into all of this?" Sasuke asked, his eyes sparking crimson as he spoke. He wondered if this was just a guise, but he decided to wait and let it all play out. "Shouldn't he have to sit through this lecture too?"

"I-I'd tried…"

"--And so you came to me?" He asked, disbelievingly. She'd laughed brokenly, understanding the absurdity of it all. Going to Sasuke of all people after Naruto refused her, it made about as much sense as standing in front of a full-powered chidori with her arms opened wide. Sasuke was just as ruthless with his words as any technique he had in his arsenal. His brow rose towards the ceiling, regarding her with clinical expertise.

"So I came to you…" She said, smiling hesitantly at him.

By the time, Naruto snuck out of the Fuuma guestroom; it was already raining again. It wasn't quite pouring down like earlier in the evening, but the downpour could still be considered harsh. He ducked his head as he continued his walk, attempting to keep the rain from his eyes by lowering his gaze. His soppy mop of vibrant wheat-hair hung limp, looking dull and life-less, clinging to his forehead. He carried his hitae-ate in his right hand. His grip on the forehead protector was fierce and needy as he prayed for comfort and hoped for insight.

After walking his fiancée home--he maybe clueless, but he was always a gentleman--she'd asked him to stay. She had told him how he hoped for this chance--to be alone, free to converse and share their thoughts and feelings without the invasive presence of the council and her family. She smiled as she grabbed his hand dragging him through the doorway; stumbling to her room. There she'd changed out of her 'hampering' formal ware into her more comfortable, boyish clothes. Naruto thought she looked rather fetching in her oversized oxford shirt with the long sleeves rolled up past her elbows. She combed her hair before putting it in a high ponytail, and the sat casual beside her futon with her back against the wall. They'd talked for hours before she fell asleep and he snuck into the adjacent guestroom to let his thoughts coalesce.

It was after two a.m. by time he finally left; tired of tossing and turn, he decided a little after midnight practice would work just as well as warm milk. His stomach was aching, but he wasn't hungry …or at least not as hungry as he usually was… Kyuubi was talking to him again, and it was getting harder and harder to shut him out. The fox had laughed when he saw Naruto pictured him as a demented version of a niggling cricket he'd seen in a foreign film once. Naruto rolled his eyes, saying, "It figures the bastard would take being bothersome as a compliment…"

He entered his secret training spot without his usual flourish; making his way into the raggedy shed without even batting an eye. He picked up his extra supplies, grabbing a pair of fingerless gloves with metal protectors on them before walking out of the door. As he walked to the clearing, cracking his knuckles as he entered the glade, he looked around--there were ghosts there. He fingered a kunai; letting his index slip into the hole in its butt before spinning at his side. He released it--grabbing another one in procession and doing the same. It went on for what seemed like hours: Grab, Spin, Thunk; Breathe; Grab, Spin, Thunk! He ran as he did it--drawing quick, laboring breaths of air as he vaulted tree-to-tree, ground-to-air. He finally stopped mid-motion, rolling to the ground--silent as the night. He stopped in front of worn practice dummy, drawing his finger across the face carved into the wood. When he pricked his thumb he methodically brought it to his mouth; never making a sound as he did.

I heard you're getting married…

Naruto flinched. He quickly pulled his finger from his mouth, drawing a line of blood and spittle for the rain to wash away across his cheek in his haste. He smiled, mirthlessly watching his training instrument sway with the wind. His right hand reached--his clawed fingers curled in anticipation--for his throat. Erratically, his fingers twitched, working frantically at the collar around his neck. He let his clawed fingertips roll up and down his chest to his neck as if he deaf trying to emote his hunger …his need.

He was begging, and his stomach was burning. He was hungry and he yearned for solace.

I heard you're getting married…

"You must be tired… you've been in here for hours without even a break." Shizune stated. She shuffled demurely into Tsunade's office carrying a tray with one cup and a bottle of warmed sake. Placing the small saucer in front of the Hokage, she began to steadily pour the heated beverage without spilling a drop. "These late nights followed by early mornings aren't good for you, Tsunade-sama. If you don't start taking care of yourself, I'm going to have to do it for you…" She said with a smile.

Tsunade smiled back. Shizune was so much like her cousin that at times it hurt. She reached over tucking an errant strand of hair behind her sable-haired attendant's ear. "--And if you keep staying up to keep me company it'll be bad for you complexion." She smirked, letting her hand graze the porcelain cheek in question before falling smoothly into her lap.

"I've been going over our field rooster and it just doesn't make sense to me! I've got two jounin on bed rest--one with a sprained ankle, broken ribs, and chakra burns all over his body; another whose reserves are maxed, suffering from chakra exhaustion. I've also got a squadron leader who doesn't want to lead …and three gennin I can't even send out to battle thanks to the lovely group of advisors I've got breathing down my neck.

Our last gamble may've brought us some time, but you and I both know the odds… The councils' been eating me alive and even though I've been pouring over my father's journals hoping to glean some new ideas or inspiration, when I close my eyes and blink all I see is death!

"What can I do to raise the odds, Shizune? I keep asking myself this, but the answer never comes."

The whole time she was talking Tsunade sat rigid, her back pressed against her seat gazing with an almost impassive look in her eyes as she stared at her companion. Her jaw was set and her tone along with her eyes seemed distant--like she was there, but at the same time watching some surreal, riveting event happening before her. It was unnerving to Shizune to say the least. It felt as if Tsunade was looking through her instead of speaking to her.

Trance-like…

Then suddenly, Tsunade seemed lucid again (and so very vulnerable). The gripping tension bleeding from her as she meticulously stood and fluidly--autonomically--strode toward the large, picturesque window behind her. She broodingly ran her fingertips across the windowpane, allowing the moist condensation to trickle down her arched fingers. She was melodramatically hunched over and held in her other hand a cooling bowl of sake. She didn't speak for a long time afterwards until she turned, beseechingly over towards Shizune, and asked:

"What can I do?"

A/N: I hope this'll tide you over until I get to gooey center... Tell me what you think, I'd love to know.