I'd like to thank Spirit of the Chihuahua for bringing something big to my attention! You see, you know those little symbols on your comp, like the smiley faces and stuff? Well I used the "half" symbol in front of year, and I guess since I'm using wordpad it didn't show up. So what I meant to say was, he's been gone for a half year. Sorry about that, I didn't catch that when I posted it So thank you again Spirit of the Chihuahua for letting me make that correction :D And I'd like to say sorry for any confusion I might have caused you all D: I'll be more careful this time; even the percent sign won't show up

Disclaimer: Roses are pretty, so are you/ I don't own Naruto, so DON'T SUE!

Chapter Two

Harumi huffed and puffed as she lugged her own body weight's worth of flour up a ridiculously steep hill. As she struggled in vain to look over the towering sack of flour, the young man from the mill gave her a funny look as she tried to re-adjust her sunglasses with the side of the flour sack. Why a probably 6 month pregnant woman was lugging around a huge sack of flour was beyond him. From her limp, slow steps he knew that her ankles were sore. He scratched his chin; from what he could tell from beneath the floppy hat, she looked fairly young. In her early twenties at most. The young man shook his head; whatever the story was, it was none of his business. His only concern was the money she gave him when she came to pick up the flour. Still...

He was hit with the sudden, overpowering urge to snatch the flour from her slender little fingers and carry it for the entire 3 1/2 miles back.

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At around noon, Sasuke groggily opened his eyes and winced when he saw the time. Usually, the sunshine was his daily wake up call. He ran a hand through his disheveled (but still drool-worthy) hair as he rolled out of bed and headed for the showers. As his hand closed around the "H" knob, he noticed a small, hand written note taped onto the shower curtains: The knobs are switched. H is cold and C is hot. Don't turn the knobs too far, or they'll shut off. There's a tub-stopper in the lower left-hand cabinet, next to the razors.

After reading the note he snatched it off the curtains and rumpled it in his fist. She knew he liked to take hot baths after his training. Why did she have to leave these little, constant reminders of her? Because she actually cares about you. It didn't help him to know that she was getting under his skin without even knowing it. While the screaming hot liquid poured over his closed eyes, his thoughts wandered to where she could've possibly gone off to. Where ever it was, Sasuke was sure of three things:

1. It would have to be far away, in some rural distant area

2. She would be in some laughably ridiculous "disguise"

3. ...where the hell would he start?

A name clicked in his head as he put his clothes on absent-mindedley. Of course he would have something to do with this. They had been friends for years and years, the three of them. Without bothering to lock the front door out of habbit, Sasuke slammed the door shut and ran straight for the Hokage's Office.

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Bang Bang Bang "Naruto."

"What the hell are you 'guards' doing out there, anyway? He could be coming here for my life for all I know!" Muttering incoherencies under his breath, Naruto pried himself out of the orange Co-Z chair and reluctantly cracked open the door. "Yes, princess?"

Giving him a dirty look, Sasuke brushed past him as he stormed into the messy office. "I think you know why I'm here."

"Because you missed me?"

"Cut the crap, Naruto. Three words."

"...Where's my ramen?"

"Where's.My.Wife."

"...You expect me to know when you're the one who can't even keep track of her? What am I now, your mother? I am extremely busy, Hokage-ing, so if you excuse-"

"Busy?" He snorted. "Jiraiya's latest addition is sticking out from under the rug, baka."

"Kuso! Ah well, you caught me. But you know, those books are...educational. Know what I mean? Nudge-Nudge, hehe?"

Sasuke took a seat on his couch, which shook Naruto out of his playful mood. Only someone in some serious distress would dare sit on that couch; no one even remembered what color it used to be anymore. "Look, Sasuke...I really wish I could help. But I don't know anything and, well, can ya blame her really? I mean you don't know how many times she walked through that door with some funny excuse like 'I thought you'd be hungry, so I brought you some food' or 'the rain keeps me up' just to have some company."

"I know..." he pictured her lying wide awake in bed, and walking all the way here. "Isn't that why I told you to look after her? Why else woud I ask you for something like that?"

"Yeah...but, ..I'm not her husband."

"..."

"Gah, I.." he scratched the back of his head, ruffling his untamed hair. "I can't give her the same, comfort, you can. It's different. I don't think you're getting that."

Sasuke sighed, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back in the sofa. "So...you're really not going to help me?"

"Wha?..."

With a blazing stare that only Uchiha's could expertly execute, Sasuke turned to face him. "I know you know Naruto."

"I don't know."

With more anger then he had intended, Sasuke brushed past Naruto, mutering a "fine." Without so much as a backward glance, he was descending down the stairs, each footstep leaving a lasting echo. Naruto sighed, burying his face in Jiraiya's latest edition of his world famous series. Somehow, he couldn't help but wonder...if maybe something, anything he could have told Sasuke would have helped him in this goose chase.

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Sasuke felt a good dose of ironic deja vu; it was all happening like last time. With next to no clues or leads, he was embarking on a quest that would likely be very long and fruitless. Boy, now that he looked at it, he was a pretty rash guy. Hopefully, this time would end up better than the last. Sasuke produced a crinkled piece of paper that looked nearly forgotten. After another run in with the new occupants, he had managed to find this only link to her. Every step he took into the dingy apartment ate away a piece of him. As he explored every inch of the house, he explored every single way that they had corrupted the warm, lively environment she had worked hard to create. By these two sense-less slob, they had created it into nothing more than a simple land fill stuffed with junk.

The ink was mostly faded out, and the paper was stained with lots of dirt and who knows what else. But still, he was called a genius for something, right?

From what he could tell, it said something like this:

- - - r - - n - - a - - 19/ - 1

Pa - - e - - - - H- - - - - - - - - - a

- - - a - for - #19/1/-2

The rest was too smudged, stained, or ripped to decipher at all. He couldn't even count the empty spaces. It wasn't much, but it was all he had to go by. From all his years of traveling, he knew that afor was most likely platform, so where ever she was couldn't be too rural. It had a train station, that much he knew. And...19...nope. Nothing. And the numbers..there were so many number combination possibilities that it was damn near impossible to figure out.

Why was he trying so hard to find her? And what would he say? 'Sorry for leaving for a half year with no note, letters, calls, or anything. Jee, I really suck at life don't I?'

Sighing, he got to the nearest train station with a big sack of money. If there was a station to go to, he would be there...

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"Daiki-san...sorry I'm late."

The older man gave her a slightly glum smile as she shuffled to get through the door. Pity that she had no one who would open the doors for her... He didn't want to give her this job; who in their right minds would want to walk for 3 1/2 miles for some flour, then walk 3 1/2 miles back while carrying 20 pounds worth of flour? It was a fairly heart-warming sight, watching the young woman trying to balance the flour on her growing mound.

"Don't worry about it; you're only ten minutes late."

"I know but I'm sorry! Do you...would you like me to help the baker?"

He blinked. "You bake?"

Her cheeks reddened as she pointed her fingers together. "I-I'm a decent...cook..."

"Well, since we're behind schedule, would it be all right if you helped out Ms. Kirumi out back?"

"Of course!" As she walked past him to go in the back where the ovens were, he gently patted her head affectionately. "Don't work too hard...okay?"

"O-Okay."

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After spending a few hours assisting the head baker with simple tasks such as beating the eggs and measuring the ingredients, Harumi emered from the back, dusted with a fresh layer of flour. Daiki chuckled softly as he watched her try in vain to shake the flour out of her hair. "I didn't know it could snow down here in this region."

She smiled as she dusted the chalky white finger-prints from her stomach. "You learn something new every day."

At the end of her shift, she said good bye to everyone and had a walk down the few shops and stalls that lined the streets. The employees watched sympathetically as the young woman hobbled out the door. It wasn't hard to warm up to such a nice, hardd-working girl like her.

Wincing at the throbbing in the soles of her feet, Harumi grabbed the sides of her swelling stomach and smiled. "You just get heavier every day don't you?" She didn't know why or when she had grown accustomed to conversing with her tummy. Maybe it was lonliness, maybe it boredom. Whatever need it met, she always got a satisfying feeling in her that food alone couldn't accomplish.

She opened the front door and looked at her clean, tidy little apartment. With its blank white walls, boring gray carpet, and lack of furniture, it looked as if it weren't even occupied. There wasn't a single personal touch in her entire apartment.

What was she so afriad of? All she wanted was a little color in the place...that wasn't such a crime was it?

But she knew deep down that she was simply scared to attach herself somewhere that wasn't "home." She laughed at her foolishness; hadn't she left that piece of her life behind? Here she was, sweating under this hat that could double as a picnic basket, wearing sunglasses that covered half of her cheeks, and she was ony half-committed to this new life?

There was nothing to wait for; no one would come save her from this lonliness. So why was she preparing to up and leave?

Harumi reached into her bag and pulled out the vibrant, colorful cloth. She had been nervous when she bought it on the way home; in fact, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But the emptiness of her apartment only multiplied the whole in her chest; she really needed some color.

Attaching the soft fabric to her bare windows, she stepped back and admired it.

It's boldly contrasting patterns of red and blue added a different hue to her bland living space. She couldn't help but bring one thought into mind:

A piece of home away from home.

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Sorry I didn't update in forever, but it was really hard getting the tone and feeling of it the way I wanted it. You'd laugh at how different this is from the original. Thank you all for your patience. I do intend to finish this fic, even though it was an experiment (being my first fic). I might upload another chapter today :D