Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto

Rated: T, for language only

Notes: Dun-da-da-da! Finally, the Sakura chapter! Much to everyone's relief, especially mine, this is the last in this set. Sakura's really hard for me to write, so I'm writing her how I'd prefer she was more like. Maybe how she is now, she is better . . .

Blessed Be Those Who Mourn

Sliding Beside

As she leaned lightly against the tree, arms wrapped around her shins, head resting on her knees, she really wanted to be enjoying this. She really did. But even though the sun was shining and birds were singing and all seemed right with the world, things were most definitely not right in their world.

In their little patch in the woods, the air was quite dreary indeed.

Her soft green eyes glanced to the blond boy who had literally thrown himself to the ground some time before. And hadn't moved since.

She fidgeted a bit herself, a touch unsure of what to do. He was acting so strange, so unlike himself. Part of her had expected just this sort of reaction, she was sadly familiar with it, but the rest of her couldn't help but worry.

Her gaze then shifted over to their team leader who sat idly reading as if they were simply on some twisted picnic. She fought back the scowl that threatened to reveal itself, since this was really his fault, and after all that work she'd put in, too. She'd finally gotten the gloominess to lift a little and then in he came bringing up things nobody wanted to think about. But the fact that he was just sitting there instead of badgering them was proof enough that he too was concerned.

Remembering the events of the day, she couldn't help but be puzzled at how she'd acted. Quarry in hand, missing piece found, and what did she do? She attacked it. Thinking it over, she wondered if maybe she and Naruto had been hit by some weird personality switching jutsu. They had gone through some strange role-reversal today, or so it seemed to her. She was the one to beg and plead; he was the one to make a point with his fists and not the other way around. Apparently, they'd both grown up in unexpected ways.

And that fact didn't really bother her so much. What bothered her was the day itself. It had been a total disaster. Why did things always have to turn out this way? Why couldn't things just work out right for them for a change?

Why had all her efforts been so totally useless?

But that was a stupid question, she already knew the answer. As much as it pained her, she knew that it was unlikely she'd ever be able to truly affect her former teammate's decisions. It seemed all his affection, all his emotions were reserved for one person and one alone, and even that one person had failed.

It was no mystery why Naruto was so upset.

And so she left him to himself for now, allowing her own mind to wander in its reflections on the members of Team 7 and how they'd ended up in this mess to begin with.

She brought herself back to the night everything changed forever. Remembered how she had begged, pleaded, offered anything and everything just to stay with the avenger, only to discover it was pointless. That's when she first began to realize that it might always be, that her love might always be an unrequited one. It had been a long, slow, painful process, this realization; but it was better than the alternative of holding on to a futile dream. Besides, he'd at least admitted to caring for her in some small way, and that was more than most could claim.

And of course, that little admission gave her hope, because when it came right down to it, she wasn't exactly the type to give up completely.

But today had once again proved to her what little effect she had on her old crush, and it hurt all over again.

It was those two boys that held the bond that couldn't be ignored, couldn't be broken, even after years of separation. And it was during those years that she'd finally come to truly grasp the nature and depth of the connection they shared. She saw how it was a bond that so consumed them that there was little room for anyone else.

And she felt blessed that she was one of the few granted a place in that bond, a view into their true selves, free of masks and false attitudes. However, her part was so small that her failure at reuniting them had almost been inevitable. She hated it, but at least she understood.

But that was not a thing to stop her from trying, not today, and not ever. They were her teammates, her precious friends, incalculably valuable like a second family. She'd grown to love them both, in ways she hadn't expected, and it was not something she could just let go of.

No matter how many times she failed, she'd never give up, because what she wanted more than anything else was to have a return to the happier days gone by.

Her eyes shifted once again to her friend who lay in the grass. He rolled over onto his side like a little child, so lost and alone, that she felt a sharp pain in her chest. It broke her heart to see him like this, so disappointed in himself. She had succeeded in cheering him up earlier, but it had felt a little false even then. Even when he had graced her with a smile, it was clearly forced, a mask which hid all his deeper emotions. How many times had she seen it before and never noticed? She cursed herself for her ignorance then, as well as for her ineffectiveness now.

Now all she could do was simply believe in him. Naruto could pull himself out, he always did. And so she would wait, stand by him, support him in whatever way she could, even it was just by staying at his side. She'd be a source of strength when he needed it and a source of comfort when he had nothing else.

Looking to the sky, she wished on the hidden stars that they'd get a second chance and a third and a fourth and as many as it would take to make things right.

To make a better ending than the one the one they had today.

Shading her eyes from the sun, searching through the crowds for any sign of her wayward teammate, she felt that this was about the last thing she wanted to be doing right now. Regrettably, she had little choice, so she once again examined the nearby area. He usually stuck out like a sore thumb so it really shouldn't be this hard to find him. She felt out with her senses, but for some reason this place had managed to swallow any lingering traces of her blond companion.

Huffing in frustration, she continued her fruitless trek through the town. She'd have rather just let him be, he was so excited to finally be somewhere with modern conveniences, and frankly so was she. After all, how long had it been since she'd had the opportunity to use a real bath? Soaking in a big tub of nice hot water sounded really good right now. Unfortunately, since it was rare that they had such a great chance to train lately, Kakashi had decided it was better not to waste it and found a place just outside of town, which according to him was "perfect for some advanced training". And so she was sent off straightaway to fetch their missing teammate so they could start as soon as possible. Yeah, sure, as if their great leader wouldn't be the last to show up. Well, he was right in one thing, they could use the practice, as she was forced to admit, but why did she have to be the one to go looking for Naruto?

Putting her hands to her hips and pouting furiously, she took one last glance around. This was getting her absolutely nowhere.

"Excuse me . . ." she said, deciding to just ask one of the townspeople. "Have you seen a boy around here? Blond hair, blue eyes, bright orange pants? A little goofy looking?" Perhaps not exactly nice, but it was pretty accurate.

"No, sorry, miss, I haven't," answered the man.

"Oh, OK. Thanks." Frowning, she continued her search through town, stopping now and then to ask someone new. After the fifth person, she could only assume she was asking all the wrong people because there was no possible way that Naruto could have walked through town unnoticed. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks.

Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before? It was so obvious! If she couldn't find anyone who saw him, she could certainly find someone who would know how to get to where he'd surely been headed. She addressed the very next person she saw.

"Excuse me, do you know where there's a ramen bar?"

"Oh, sure," replied the young woman. "Just go down this street, take the second left and it should be about half block down on your right."

"Thank you so much!" Well, that sure was easy. As she headed in that direction, she shook her head, exasperated she hadn't thought of it earlier.

Rounding the corner, she instantly caught sight of her prey as he trudged listlessly toward her. A sick, sinking feeling rolled over her as she approached her friend. It didn't take a genius (even though she was one!) to figure out that something was terribly wrong.

"Naruto . . ." she ventured. After a while with no response, she tried again. "Naruto. You're acting strange. What's wrong?"

The ninja boy now stood there in the middle of the street, motionless, staring at the ground. It was really beginning to worry her, the way he was acting so unlike his usual self.

"Naruto," she repeated, taking his arm and forcing a smile on her face. "What's the matter? Was the ramen not any good?" she teased.

He stayed there still, seemingly lost in thought. Truly filled with concern now, Sakura turned to face him, and grabbing both his arms, shook hard.

"Naruto! Come on, wake up!"

After an eternity, he finally blinked and raised his head. "Oh. Sakura-chan."

The kunoichi released the breath she didn't know she held. It was amazing to her how scared she had been over one simple thing. Or more to that point, it was amazing how important the former troublemaker had become to her.

Inwardly, she winced when she recalled the way she'd once treated the friendly boy. How she would constantly ignore or criticize him while fawning shamelessly over their other teammate. But she'd matured somewhat over the years and was no longer that girl. Now, when she looked at Naruto, it was with a certain fondness, and she had to admit to enjoying his company. When he wasn't acting overly stupid or perverted, that is. He always had a smile ready, a friendly word, and a skip in his step that was infectious. She'd seen it lessen some on his return to Konoha, but that same glow of sunshine was still there, inherent to his personality. Which is what made his present borderline depression worry her so.

She tilted her head in a silent question as his eyes looked straight through her. Whether answering the unspoken question or just revealing what was on his mind, he finally spoke.

"Sasuke was just here."

"What? When? Where?" she shouted, suddenly alert. Could this really be true?

"Oh. I don't know. Just over there, a while ago. I don't really remember."

"Oh, Naruto . . ." She could see how much he was hurting; she too could feel an anxious tightening in her chest in response to his melancholic attitude. But sadly there was no time for her to console him now. She gripped his arms more fiercely. "Naruto. Listen to me. You have to tell me everything that happened. This is important."

"Uh, yeah." He looked to the side as if no longer able to face her. "Ok. Fine. Whatever."

Sakura wracked her brain for some idea that would pull Naruto out of this apparent passivity. "Hey! I know. How about I buy you some ramen and you can tell me everything while we eat."

"I'm not hungry."

But right then, just to prove him wrong, his stomach decided to growl rather loudly. Allowing herself to giggle and hoping to lighten the mood, Sakura took one of his hands into her own.

"Somehow, I don't believe you. Let's go."

As she pulled the blond back in the direction of the ramen bar, Sakura caught a sheepish smile as it graced his lips. It was a little fake, but it was also a start. She'd failed him so many times before that she refused to do so now and was determined to bring back his usual optimism.

In the bar, after almost forcing Naruto to eat, a thing she would never before believed possible, he finally started to speak and the kunoichi found her thoughts swimming. After a while, he began to eat in earnest and his voice came more freely and quickly. So much so that she had a hard time keeping up, but caught enough to get the gist of what had happened. Her own emotions welled up unexpectedly harsh within her. A mix of frustration, fear and sorrow filled her when she heard of the actions and words her former crush had taken against her present friend. How could he have done this? And even more bothersome, how could Naruto still have such faith in him after that?

She was so lost to her own confusion that she didn't even notice when Naruto stopped talking.

"Sakura-chan? Uh, Sakura-chan? Hello?"

"Huh?" She was suddenly brought back to herself by a persistent voice and a hand that was waving rather madly in front of her face.

"Geez, Sakura. You drag me here and make me talk and then you don't even listen? Tch!"

The pink-haired girl laughed good-naturedly. "No, no. I was listening. Don't worry." At that, she stood up, and plunking some money on the table, turned to the waitress. "This should cover all this, and one more bowl." Facing Naruto again, she continued. "I'll be right back. You wait here, OK?"

"Uh, sure," He blinked his wide eyes in confusion, but nodded an agreement.

Out of habit, she ruffled his hair affectionately before bolting out the door.

She wasn't entirely sure what to do or where to go, but decided to rely on the little information she had since that's really all there was at the moment. Racing through town, she reached out with her senses for any hint or hope of her former teammate. Unexpectedly, a tingle hit her, and praying luck was on her side, she headed in that direction, running as fast as she could. A semi-familiar black clad figure entered her vision and without thinking, she charged with everything she had. The figure spun quickly and caught her punch in his hand, much to her chagrin. However, the kunoichi was pleased to see that for one, she wasn't attacking an innocent stranger, and for two, he momentarily lost his balance. But she also couldn't help but be frustrated that she hadn't caught him completely unawares. That would've made things so much easier.

Through the small contact between their hands, she could feel him shaking. Did that trembling stem from anger? How dare he! He was the one that left; he was the one that betrayed them! He had absolutely no right to be angry!

"You cannot do this again," she spat out.

She was somewhat surprised to realize just how furious she was with him. After all that time, she thought she'd accepted what happened, at least as much as was possible, but apparently she'd been repressing quite a bit. Seeing him again after all this time brought so many things to the surface she hadn't even realized she felt, especially when she heard the words spoken by that cold, emotionless voice.

"I don't want to hurt you."

Sakura snorted. She didn't need to be told that.

"No, of course not."

Her body relaxed of its own will and she vaguely noted that Sasuke continued to simply stand and stare. So condescending, as if she didn't matter. And it hurt, because she knew that in some small way, she didn't. As painful as it was, she knew she probably couldn't influence him in any great way, and even less did she have the ability to truly change his mind.

And this fact infuriated her. Without any real conscious thought, she began throwing punches again in a furious onslaught, venting all her frustration on him. It only irritated her more that he kept blocking, denying her the small satisfaction of one solid hit, and all without the use of the sharingan. Was he really that good or was her heart not entirely in it? Either way, this was pointless. With much of her energy spent, she stopped and turned to look him full in the face.

When she'd first looked, it was only quick enough for a basic recognition, but now she took the chance to really take in Sasuke's new appearance. He was all in black, like the night he resembled, which only served to accentuate the pale skin that seemed to have lightened over the years. But what she noticed most was the way he wore his age. He looked sterner, tired, with eyes that appeared old in the persistent smooth youthfulness of his face. It looked good on him.

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, aggravated that she'd allow her mind to wander to old daydreams instead of concentrating on the task at hand. And then she remembered what he'd just said.

"I was always a little jealous of that, you know. That you cared enough about Naruto to try and kill him. While I was barely worth your time. That hurt. More than if you'd just hit me with your chidori. I know it doesn't make sense to you . . . but that's how it is."

Of course it hurt. How could it not? She was simply dismissed by the boy she cared for while he couldn't even force himself to ignore his best friend. That's how she'd come to realize that in any relationship with Sasuke, the best she could ever hope for was second place.

And she wasn't a second place type of girl.

That's not to say she wouldn't jump at the chance if Sasuke ever showed any interest in her, she just didn't let such hopes overwhelm her anymore

Instead, she had allowed her love for the raven haired boy to fade into a calmer, warmer feeling. When given the opportunity to reflect, she saw how it really had been a love with a romantic ideal, an illusion, and had very little to do with the real Uchiha Sasuke. Like most young girls, she was in love with the idea of being in love, while not knowing much about the real situation itself. It was an obsession, an infatuation that made her weak, caused her to be constantly one step behind. In order to move forward, to better herself in every way that was important, she had to let go of such childish notions.

But just because she understood all this, it didn't make it easy to move on or to accept being treated this way.

The old frustration overcame her and without warning, her leg swung itself towards him, an act of pure instinct and emotion, with no conscious thought involved. He expertly dodged it, but as her foot hit the ground, she hardly noticed she'd even moved.

"How can you be doing this? How can you be so completely selfish!"

Part of her couldn't believe the way she was talking to him, but her emotions had completely taken over and frankly, he deserved it.

She tried to keep herself in the here and now, but her mind had begun wandering as she fought with the boy she'd once adored. All her old feelings and thoughts came back to her as if she was still that little twelve year-old girl and she found it hard to hold onto all her anger.

She remembered how years ago she'd entertained the idea that he couldn't open his heart at all. That he was truly and completely selfish. But when she'd looked back on her time with Team 7, she knew this wasn't altogether true. There was one who managed to push his way into that seemingly cold heart. There was one person Sasuke would willingly sacrifice his life for, one person he thought of more than any other. And she discovered that was not such a bad thing. If there was someone who could truly befriend him and thaw his frozen heart, then she was sincerely glad for it.

And because of this, she knew that Sasuke belonged with them, knew it with all her heart. And that feeling trumped all others.

While she couldn't bear to look at him anymore, she still needed to tell him. Needed to say all the things she'd known for so long, things that perhaps even now he didn't understand.

"I still love you, Sasuke-kun. But I love Naruto, too. I guess it took me a while to figure out what I really wanted. I just want us to be together again."

She poured out her heart once more, but it was different this time, more controlled though no less true. Though she'd gotten past her girlhood infatuation with her mysterious black-haired teammate, she did still love him, but she'd also come to realize how she cared about Naruto too. Looking back, that's what she missed most about her time with them, the togetherness, the closeness, the familial quality. And she yearned for a return to those days, more than anything else.

"I just want things to be the way they used to. I want the old Sasuke back. The one who sneers and smirks and protects the people he cares about and doesn't try to hurt them. And I want the old Naruto back, too. The one with the silly smile, obnoxious attitude and constant cheerful determination. He's not that way anymore, not since you left. He pretends, but I've known him a long time. And I can see."

She was looking at his back now, as she always did, always one step behind her teammates, always trying to catch up, but always in their shadow somehow. And there she was still, despite everything. Sasuke had yet to see her because she couldn't step into his sun.

And with that sad awareness, she knew that all she could do was talk about him.

Because it was always about him.

"I don't think he'll be the same until you come back and maybe not even then. Think of someone else, for a change! He needs you; you're like a brother to him. And he's not going to give up until he brings you back, even if it kills him! You know how stubborn he can be! Almost as much as you! Maybe you really don't care how I feel. Maybe I'm not important enough to you for you to listen to. I guess I'll have to accept that, even though it's unfair. Maybe the strength of our connection was really only one way. But what about Naruto? How can you do this to him? How can you leave again? After everything he's been through because of you?"

She saw him flinch and knew that he'd heard at least something of what she'd said. So she'd keep talking, keep trying, because maybe she was wrong about herself. Maybe she could get through to him. All she could do was continue. And hope.

"Just come home already, Sasuke. For everyone's sake, especially your own. Better yet, why don't you just realize that you never truly wanted to leave. Or else why did you feel you had to fight so brutally against Naruto? From what I can gather, you were pretty desperate to ignore anything he had to say. You really think it was because he was wrong? Or was it because you didn't want to face your own feelings?"

He was listening now; she could tell by the way he clenched his fist so tightly that he drew blood.

"And you're still doing it now. Pretending like you don't care when it's so obvious you do. Or else you wouldn't have to try so hard to hate him." She had to push him, in whatever way she could. All that mattered was bringing him home, her pride was of little consequence. "And why else would you still be here listening? You could've yelled, hit me, run of, anything. But you didn't. Stop acting like some spoiled brat and accept how you really feel!"

She might have crossed the line a little at that, but there was no taking it back now. And she didn't especially want to. Her stomach lurched when she saw the smirk on his lips in the stance she remembered so well, with the words she'd heard before.

"You really are annoying."

And then he was gone. Just like that. Maybe it had been hopeless to begin with. But why did she have to go through this same thing time and again?

In a daze she looked around, not even finding the heart to be annoyed at the mass of people who blatantly stared. They'd probably been watching all this time and she was so lost to the moment, she'd never even seen them. She'd didn't like that, the insensitivity to her surroundings, the complete ignorance of anything but her objective. It wasn't professional and it wasn't safe. Sighing in defeat, she turned to go back to Naruto. Sad to say, she wasn't surprised at her failure, only disappointed. Though it wasn't a complete failure, not really. She knew he'd heard her and been bothered by their exchange, so that, in and of itself, was progress.

Well, there was no use in worrying over it now, she thought to herself, rather shocked at how calm she felt. There was still time and each step would be a step closer, she just had to keep positive. At any rate, Naruto was the one who needed her at the moment. Geez, but boys were a lot of trouble!

She pushed a curtain out of the way and re-entered the ramen bar, only to see Naruto still sitting there, still eating. At least he knew how to follow directions. She quietly walked up and sat down beside him.

"Oh, Sakura-chan," he said, mouth full of noodles.

She smiled prettily back at him, her face in her hands as she leaned on the bar, glad to see his spirits had lifted. Then she noticed all the empty ramen bowls that surrounded her blond teammate.

"I'm not paying for all that, you know."

Naruto chuckled and put an arm sheepishly behind his head. "No, I know. I saved up. I got it." With that, he pulled out some money and putting it down, gestured at Sakura that they should go.

"Well good." Sakura replied, standing up to follow him. "You know, I was actually sent by Kakashi-sensei to get you so we could do some training. He's probably waiting there by now. We should probably head over there now."

"Kakashi? Waiting? Yeah, right. But training does sound like a lot of fun. I'm ready to go!" Naruto nearly jumped with joy and ran out the door so fast that Sakura couldn't keep from laughing.

On the way out of town, they talked of little inconsequential things, and the pink-haired girl made sure to avoid any mention of their missing teammate. Naruto seemed to have forgotten the events of the morning, or at least pretended he had, and she was certainly not going to remind him. The unruly genin was finally in a good mood and she was bound and determined to keep it that way. When they arrived at the designated training grounds, they were not surprised to see that Kakashi had yet to appear.

"So, Naruto, what do you want to do?" asked Sakura. "Want to spar with me?"

"Huh?"

The blond ninja was looking to the sky, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun and very clearly not paying attention. He appeared a little dazed, but at least he wasn't acting all depressed again either so she allowed the slight slip by.

"Uh, never mind."

Just as she turned around, Kakashi suddenly appeared before them with a somewhat confused expression on his face, nearly frightening Sakura to death.

"Kakashi-sensei, where have you been!"

"Sorry, Sakura, " answered the masked jounin distractedly. "I thought I felt Sasuke's chakra and tried to track him down, but I lost him somewhere. Must have used a teleporting jutsu . . ."

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" In a wild attempt to drown out the careless words before Naruto heard, Sakura screamed to the top of her voice while she squeezed her eyes tight as if this would erase the miserable scene playing out before her. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

With a terrible sinking feeling, she looked over and watched as Naruto pouted and simply let himself fall backward to the ground. It looked like nothing more was going to get done for quite some time yet.

Sighing and then scowling at her team leader, Sakura threw herself down at the foot of a nearby tree and watched as Kakashi grumbled noncommittally, sat down on an adjacent rock, and pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Tactics. The jounin had apparently figured out that his students were already aware of the news and unhappy with it and therefore had thankfully (and uncharacteristically) opted to let them be for a while. There was still most of the day left for training after all.

Resting against the tree, Sakura pulled up her knees and lay her head down. She'd done what she could for her teammates, both past and present.

The rest was up to those two now.

Boys really were a lot of trouble.

The three still remained silent in the clearing, the sun was still shining, the breeze was still blowing, the birds were still singing. And the clearing was still very very gloomy.

She glanced over to Naruto who lay there and to Kakashi who sat there and thought about where exactly she fit into this whole mixed-up group. Looking on the history of Team 7, she was reminded of how often she was locked out from their lives, from their problems, from everything of concern to her teammates. It was not necessarily done on purpose, or so she believed, it was just how things turned out. Maybe she was being a little harsh on herself, but with them, she couldn't help but always feel like an outsider looking in.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she leaned her head back and looked up to the tree's branches to catch the little patches of light that peeked through. The darkness of the leaves, the brightness of the sky, each was more beautiful by its comparison to the other. And she couldn't help but think it was so much like them.

Like light and darkness, day and night, sun and moon, they complimented each other so perfectly; it was easy to see how they had grown that twisted connection. And as the moon reflected the light of the sun, so too could it block its light from the earth. Just like them, where either could be the stronger at any given time, so much the same, so utterly different, but each the center of their own sky. And if Naruto were the sun and Sasuke the moon, then she was the stars. A little farther away, but still part of the same space, surrounding them, adding her own bit of light. There was no way for her to truly get between them and she'd grown to accept this in their time spent apart. Moreover, she accepted that she no longer wished to. It was a strange thing, this acceptance, but not altogether unpleasant. She giggled softly to see how she'd suddenly turned so philosophical.

Then, out of nowhere, Naruto jumped up and started yelling, shocking her from her reverie and eliciting a little yelp. Quickly, she got to her feet, put her hands behind her back, and encouraged by the return of his good cheer, sauntered up to Naruto as he turned to face her, his expression soft.

"Thanks, Sakura."

"Huh? For what?" The pink-haired kunoichi asked, titling her head a little teasingly. The blond boy just shook his head a bit and glanced to the side, seemingly embarrassed. Feeling charitable, she decided to let him off the hook. "So then, Naruto, what do you plan on doing about it now?"

He looked back to her, blushing, and she almost fell to the ground when she realized that he clearly had no idea. Not that she should have been surprised, of course, he wasn't really much of a planner, more of a last-minute thinker. But Naruto was Naruto and he'd come up with something . . . eventually. She just hoped it was something that would work, for all their sakes.

"Alright then, you two. Now that this has all been settled, let's get to training. We've got to make up for lost time."

They both looked to Kakashi; ready themselves to get on with the day. Naruto nodded eagerly, anxious to follow, but then stopped short and turning to Sakura, spoke once more with confidence.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I always keep my promises. I'll bring Sasuke back."

"I know you will Naruto."

Then, with a huge grin plastered to his face, he took off like a shot while she followed more slowly, thinking over the two important boys in her life. She loved them both, it was true, maybe in slightly different ways, but they were both her friends, her precious second family. She was also a part of this strange bond and she was comforted to know that and to fully understand her place in their messy relationship.

She belonged not between, but beside.

And that's exactly where she intended to stay.

"Hurry up, Sakura!" Naruto cried, waving to her.

Smiling gently to her beloved friend, she quickened her step and fell into place, right there by his side.

Tbc, hopefully . . .