Note from the Authoress--Yo! i am sooo sorry for my tardiness! but the only time i had to update was over the Thanksgiving holidays. anyways. here is chapter two, to my story "What's Lost."

Disclaimer: in the first chapter! lol.

'thoughts'

"speaking"

Please Read and Review, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2: A Frozen Funeral
There was a huge crowd gathered when Uchiha Sasuke was laid to rest in his family's crypt. The place where every Uchiha was now buried save one, and Sakura had a fleeting feeling of anxiety when her mind flashed to the Akatsuki member. It just felt odd, and somewhat wrong. But she dismissed the thought and remained stoic. There was enough drama with the huge crowd that had flocked after hearing the news. That it was THE Uchiha Sasuke, The Survivor, who was indeed dead.

Uchiha Sasuke's funeral was closed casket, and none of those that attended questioned it,but the whispers burned around Sakura like wildfire. 'It was an S-class mission after all.' 'Who knows what could have happened to his beautiful face.' 'They are worried for his fiancé's sake; you know, I hear she took the news really hard.' 'I heard she didn't leave her house until today and wouldn't accept any visitors.' 'Poor girl . . . poor pitiful girl.' 'They really were a beautiful couple . . . poor, pitiful, unlucky girl . . .' Their rumors and accusations flew past her to touch and draw inall those nearby, yet she never could turn to face them. Many people, however, had come, not for him, but for her, and she drew as much strength from that as she could from them, just to keep her composure.

She stood so strong by herself at his memorial service. So when she finally broke down at his burial, some shinobis turned away their faces, embarrassed for her display of emotion for the fallen.

There was a small group that stood near her and stayed, her silent guardians, though others came and went with their pitiful condolences. She ended up clinging onto Ino, as they both wept bitterly on their knees. Ino refused to let Sakura bare the burden of her grief alone. She wanted to help her best friend carry that burden.

The small group that never left from where it was stationed behind her was rather mismatched to say the least. The 6th Hokage and the Kazekage stood out first and foremost, being the ones closest to the fallen kunoichi at a few yards distance. Rock Lee, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Neji . . . they all stood watching. What could they do? Why were they even there, trying their damn hardest to hide the emotions behind their shinobi wills. The indifferent look on the faces of Neji, Shino and Gaara were easily convincing. Kiba and Lee had a harder time of it. Had she been looking, though, she would have seen the stressed shoulders, rigid postures and overall look of tension in them. Sakura knew them all that well. So well, in fact,that even Gaara would fail in this aspect, trying to hide from her. Thankfully for them, she was crying into her friend's shoulder, snow coming up a few inches around her legs as she knelt. Thankfully . . . and regrettably.

Naruto, failing miserably at his attempt to be a cool and calm Hokage, stood silent as he grieved for his female teammate's loss, yet not so much for what was lost. That was the general feeling of the group,and though it was somewhat awkward,they all knew why they were there:

To support the fiancé of a fallen ninja. They were there to help.

Why?

Because . . . it was their fault. They were the last to see him.

Sakura looked back at Naruto from her place in Ino's embrace. She stood up from her knelt position, and walked over to him, the tension in his shoulders and the air around the group grew. It only worsened when she embraced him.

Gaara, who stood next to Naruto in his blue and white Kazekage garb, shifted uneasily when her voice floated to their ears, "It's not you fault."

The group also reflected his unease when they all refused to meet her eyes when she passed. Now that she was up and they were all visible to her, she started to see the signs of their tension. Ino never noticed as they passed, still latched onto her friend's arm, her face tearstained and impassive. Hinata probably noticed, though, from where she walked on Sakura's other side between the men and her, but never mentioned anything for fear of upsetting Sakura more. But Sakura was getting upset, even without the unspoken input. As she passed, Lee and Kiba kept their faces down, unable to keep a steady gaze. Shino hid his eyes behind the sunglasses as always, but she could still see the strain lines around his mouth when he continued looking forward. Neji had closed his all seeing eyes and she nearly choked on a sob.

That they could think she wouldn't see through their facades was almost too much for her. Didn't they realize what they were doing to her? They knew something that they weren't telling, and, not just that; they thought they could hide their secrets from her. She knew them all. Their secrets that no one else would ever know but herbecause they had learned to trust her, and she had learned to love them. She had thought they loved her, too . . . was it a lie? No, no way could it all have been lies.

These thoughts raged through her head and Hinata's hand tightened on her shoulder when she felt the muscles there tense without warning, worrying if her friend would be all right. Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Iruka stood some ways off from the group on Ino's side. As the three passed them the older shinobis offered what condolences and comforts they could with their words. They hadconcerned looks on their faces for Sakura's pained expression.

As they continued to make their way out of the cemetery, the faces of all the men in the group, who had at one time or another looked at her with warmth and friendship, and sometimes more, shown in her mind as they were when she passed them. Cold. Cold and distant. And in those frosted demeanors she felt separated. They had cut her off from something important and refused to acknowledge that she knew. Or maybe they already acknowledged it and were continuing to hide from her. She could see the secrets, her analytical mind and eyes noting each expression with mounting anxiety. Something they weren't telling? Yes, that had to be it. It was all there, in their eyes. Not even Gaara had the gall to look her in the face. That would mean revealing himself to her ever calculating mind.

She slipped deeper into her self, away from their deceptively innocent faces and into the darker depth of her mind where Inner Sakura fumed at their insensitivity. If they thought that she couldn't see the knowing glances they shot one another, they would be gravely mistaken. She walked with Ino and Hinata for awhile until the tension that followed after her from the group took away any and all inhibitions. Quickly, without warning or hesitation, she sent a burst of chakra to her feet and was gone. Not even Hinata, who had been holding her arm,had been able to stop her, and the startled cry that came from her and Ino was all the menheardto signal her departure.

Naruto turning to give chase, fearing what she would do, was restrained by Gaara's sand. Two ANBU from the surrounding guards came forward to volunteer to retrieve her. Gaara nodded and turned to Naruto's struggling form, tightening the binds on his arms and legs until Naruto resigned to defeat and ceased struggling. Naruto looked up and nodded to the ANBU as the sand was dissolved from his appendages. Kiba gave them Akamaru to help track her; with her amazing chakra control there was no doubt that she could travel far in so short a time. No one volunteered to accompany them, however. All faces turned down in disgust and self-loathing, even Naruto had realized that he couldn't face her nowanyways. The ANBU nodded and with Akamaru vanished just as quickly as she had, leaving everyone to their own devices.

Neji walked over to Ino and his cousin, who was currently attempting to comfort the sobbing blonde. Hinata looked up at him, into sad, white eyes, and saw what had driven Sakura away. She saw the secrets hiding in those depths andgasp when she realized how much it must have hurt her friend. To know that someone you trust and confide in, someone that has trusted and confided in you, is not willing to tell you some indelible secret, but rather try to hide it from you. . . she imagined the mental pain Sakurawassuffering.

"Hinata-sama, would you please take Yamanaka-san home. Please try not to worry for Sakura-san, hopefully the ANBU will retrieve her quickly and then everything will be alright," Neji said with a look in his eye like one who doesn't believe his own words.

"Hai. I will bring Ino back, but Iwould like for Sakura to come stay at the Hyuuga Compound when she returns. Would you ask her for me, please, Neji-nii-san?" Her question hung in the air a moment or so before he nodded and gave her the best reassuring smile he could muster while she smiled slightly and turned away with Ino.

As Hinata and Ino trudged through the snow back to civilization, and away from the graveyard accompanied by Iruka, they left the brooding group of young men to their thought to be regarded quietly by the two Sannin and Shizune. Neji returned to a distraught Naruto, a similar emotion flowing in his own veins. Amazing how one event could connect them so well. How one girl could make them feel this way for something they had done and weren't even sure was right or wrong.

They silently cursed themselves, the world, Sasuke, their many weaknesses, and everything all over again, everything but her. Not her. Not Sakura. For none of this was her fault, though it was all for her, she deserved neither the blame nor the guilt. In one of the worst possible ways they could, they had betrayed her. They had denied her the truth, without which she could never understand the reasons behind their actions.

They had failed her and that was entirely their fault. When she fled, it was on their heads, and hearts. Her tears on the snow covered ground and the pain in her expression as she looked for the comfort that they had once shown her, the guilt gnawing away at their souls. All the while, their thoughts centered on her, eventhough they didn't know what the others knew, didn't see what the others had seen.

'Sakura . . . forgive and forget what you don't know, for it can't hurt you.'

A special thanks goes out to all the following!

CloeyMarie: my personal cheerleader, thank you so much! and i am sorry i updated so late, but you gave me somethings to think on! YAY!

Ballerz18mhs: here you go Jimmy! Happy now?

sbu-liz: Touché Naori-chan, TUMMY! lol.

Hmmm. . . i wonder what their are hiding? and how bad could it be that she wouldn't understand?

I have an odd habit of starting in the middle of something without going into much detail on previous events. "When Time Stand Still" was an excellent example, but i plan to do something about it, i just don't know how long it will take me! lol. but remeber to review if you likey or not, because i know that my Christmas break is coming and i will have more time to update! please read and review! love ya all!

-TLH