"Wit is educated insolence." -Aristotle

Blonde hair bobbed in and out of Sasuke's view as Naruto darted through the rooms, gathering necessities. They'd started at the top of the building, Sasuke's reasoning being they would work from the top down back to their room. Naruto had tried to argue as usual but eventually gave up as the staircase door at the floor level broke, the dam of students breaking as they flooded the levels.

It had only happened seconds ago and Sasuke knew they would reach Emiko and Sakura soon, hoping they would have enough common sense to stay quiet. Yells vibrated through the staircase and Sasuke turned his gaze towards the door at the other end of the hall. Shadows flickered past the window and he stood silently in place, refusing to flinch as the door began to shake.

Naruto appeared beside him, blue eyes wide and arms filled with supplies as he stared at the door. A second of calmness passed before the door creaked open and three teenagers stepped in.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he studied each person, faintly recognizing each before Naruto spoke.

"Who are you?" He clutched tight the provisions as he spoke and Sasuke noticed one step forward. He wore a tight green t-shirt and dark jeans, his dark hair was cut in a plain bowl cut style. 'Lee.' Sasuke thought disdainfully, his thoughts of memories as he studied the group.

"I'm Lee!" The boy smiled and Naruto shot him a look that suggested he thought the boy had lost it.

"You roomed with Sakura-chan!" Naruto pointed at the girl standing behind him and Sasuke felt a pang of annoyance at the stupidity of the conversation.

"Uchiha." The simple word reminded Sasuke of a familiar brunette but he shoved the thought aside to stare blankly at the third member. His eyes were a light grey and blank, similar to his own empty stare.

Neji Hyuuga, the top student at Sasuke's former school and a year ahead of him. They rivaled in many things in school and out although Sasuke would never admit that he considered anyone a rival.

"I hear you've made friends." Neji continued, his gaze switching to Naruto who met the look with a daring glare. "Not many are happy about it."

"I don't have friends." Sasuke replied coldly. 'I don't,' he insisted to himself ignoring the little voice in his head pleading to differ. 'What about Emiko?' His eyes shifted into a glare as he thought about it. 'I don't care about anyone. I'm out for revenge and that's it.'

Hearing the comment he felt Naruto shift at his side and glanced at the blonde to see him glaring fiercely.

"Hey guys?" A voice beeped from Naruto's jacket and Sasuke recognized it immediately as the girl who continued to bother his thoughts. He turned away and listened as Naruto spoke to Emiko before motioning for him to follow as they walked to the door.

"Be careful Uchiha," Neji warned, stepping aside calmly. It wasn't a friendly warning, more of a testing statement, Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him, challenging him to continue as he shoved Naruto out the door and followed him back down the stairs.

"Hey! Don't shove me!" Naruto yelled angrily as Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, his face blank again as he passed him and continued silently down the stairs. "You jerk!" Naruto's voice rang loudly off the walls as he yelled after him. A smirk rose to Sasuke's lips as he heard the anger and annoyance in the boy's voice, knowing how easily Naruto was riled could be entertaining and at the very least distracting, something he needed at the moment.

"I don't even know why Sakura-chan likes you!" Naruto continued to rant, apparently not caring about the lack of response as he bounded down the stairs in pursuit of the Uchiha. Reaching their floor Sasuke listened to the recognizable sounds of Naruto speaking through the walkie-talkies insisting that they open the door.

"Now." Sasuke ordered firmly, the sounds of heavy footfalls crashing down and up the stairs signaling that they wouldn't be alone for long. Something clicked behind the door before it opened, Emiko holding it open as Naruto bounded through, dropping the provisions to the ground before Sakura with a clear sense of pride.

Emiko peeked out into the hall, avoiding Sasuke in any way possible as she listened to the sounds of people running up and down the stairs.

"Come on." She motioned, refusing to look him in the face as she stepped back, holding the door open as he silently entered and sat down against a wall. Emiko sighed, ignoring the small burn of desire to talk to him and focused on fastening the door lock once again.

"We've found food, flashlights, some chopsticks, water and some wires." Emiko explained as she sat, carefully making sure to sit away from Sasuke.

'If I sit too close then they'll think something happened. If I sit far enough away,' the simple stress of trying to hide what was going on caused her head to hurt but she peeled it away, refusing to show problems as she let Sakura explain the trap they'd set up.

"So if they enter that'll trip the wire causing this to fall on them." Sakura finished the explanation, her hand resting on the metal shelf piled with empty cardboard boxes.

"That's cool." Naruto praised her enthusiastically and Emiko noticed a grateful smile on the girl's face. Emiko nodded, smiling lightly to assure Sakura she'd done a good job.

"Sasuke-kun? What do you think?" Sakura asked, a hopeful shimmer in her eyes as she waited patiently, her eyes trained on the boy sitting silently in the shadows. Hesitantly Emiko raised her eyes to his face, searching through the shadows for something. She wasn't even quite sure what, something positive. Something familiar to show that he was the same person that she'd hung out with, not the frozen being he'd turned into.

"Hn." His head rose, light from Sakura's flashlight weakly flickering over his face. He looked up, Emiko catching his gaze as she studied him. It was all so confusing, she wanted to be with him but she only hurt herself more by refusing, thinking up excuses she couldn't go after him.

She stared at him, clutching to the connection as she searched his eyes. The light cast harsh shadows over his face, his eyes hardened into onyx stone as she wondered what could have caused such a change.

'He hates me,' the simple words seared into her mind, twisting beneath her skin as she was forced to swallow them letter by poisonous letter. 'I can't believe it…' her eyes dropped to the ground and a sad smile came to her face as she thought the words over.

"Hey you two," Emiko's eyes brightened as she forced a smile and turned to her friends. "We're going to go back out to scout out the area and see who is where." Sakura explained, still staring at Sasuke as she spoke. Emiko nodded before standing.

"I'll go." She offered but watched as Naruto shook his head.

"Not yet, we need to have two people guarding the room." He grinned before winking and Emiko couldn't help but smile as she realized he was excited at being alone with Sakura. 'That means,' she glimpsed at the boy over her shoulder. He hadn't changed much during the conversation although it looked like he was at least listening.

"Okay, we'll guard." Emiko sighed, nerves beginning to prick at her thoughts. 'Crap, this is going to be awkward,' she thought to herself as she shut the door behind the pair, locking it carefully before she silently sat back down.

A/n: honestly I'm scared to update the next chapters because I don't want to get characters OOC. Mostly because nothing's good enough for me because I'm a basic perfectionist...that and apparently OCD(I took a test where 12+ means you most likely have OCD and I got 28...-.-;;;;;;;) Anyway it might take a while.

-shyshi