A/N: Well, here it is, chapter 2. This chapter wasn't pre-read, but the next one probably will be. Not much to say. The story's set after the time jump, a full three years after Sasuke left. This story is going to be six chapters, not counting the epilogue. And please, read and review.

Pre-read by Emily and causeiambetta. Thank you two so much!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'Kyuubi Thoughts' (None in this chapter but will be in future)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does. So blame him for the fillers.

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One week.

That was how long it had been.

Sure, it was nice of Tsunade to give them a full week off. But Naruto felt that he'd probably be better off out in the wilderness fighting for his life than sitting around with nothing else to do other than think about Sasuke's fate. So he had busied himself with training, pushing himself almost as hard as Lee and Gai usually did. Almost.

"Heh, no need to kill myself like those two," Naruto said to himself as he punched the bare, beaten log in front of him. 'Especially after surviving that –– '

Naruto's thought process abruptly ended. He punched the tree with as much force as he could as Sasuke's limp body appeared in his mind's eye once again. He almost didn't feel the bones in his hand break. (1)

Grabbing his right hand in pain, Naruto swore loudly. "Damn it! Why? Why won't you get out of my head? Haven't you tormented me enough already?"

The next second he was up in the trees, silent as a single falling leaf, while a young pink-haired girl walked into the training ground.

Naruto had been getting plenty of stealth training during his little vacation as well. To anybody who watched, it would seem as though Naruto was avoiding Sakura. But to anybody who knew them, she was still avoiding him. He was just doing it for her.

'She still hasn't looked at me, much less talked to me. How long are we all going to be mourning?' He sighed and jumped away, giving Sakura the privacy he knew she wanted from him. 'I wish she'd just look at me. But if she won't, I won't make her.'

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"T-they wouldn't even give you a memorial service. I suppose that's because of their ignorance. They've called Naruto a demon just because he has one sealed inside him. And now – now they've decided to ignore everything you did for them because of how you ended it. They erased your past with them just because you erased your future." A tear slowly rolled down Sakura's cheek.

"A future that was never meant to be."

Sakura pulled out a bouquet of flowers, a funeral arrangement. When Sakura had asked her for it, Ino had set it up for her without a word. (2) Ino had been uncharacteristically quiet, just like Naruto. Then again, everybody was being quiet. Even so, it was quite a sight to see Konoha's two loudest ninja so quiet. Sakura would've been impressed if she wasn't so sad herself.

"Here," she whispered. The dark clouds lay an appropriate shadow over the clearing. Sakura placed the bouquet at the foot of the middle of three logs, the same one that Naruto had been tied up to by Kakashi so long ago.

"I – I know it's not much. I just felt that you deserve to be remembered…as the Konoha shinobi you once were…as the man I loved."

The rain started to fall, mixing with her tears. It wiped the tear stains off her cheeks and plastered her pink hair to her face. It quickly soaked the ground and the flowers.

"Good bye, Sasuke-kun. I'll always…love you."

She just couldn't take it anymore and turned and ran off into the forest. The rain let up soon after but the clouds remained.

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'Damn rain,' was the first thought that came to Naruto's mind as he lay face down in a muddy puddle. He muttered something about inventing a rain-stopping jutsu while he lifted himself off the ground with his left hand, his broken right hand still throbbing in pain. Or at least he tried to lift himself. He groaned as his hand slipped.

"Naruto?" The voice was distinctly feminine but Naruto didn't bother to even wonder whose it was. It didn't sound too familiar. He rolled over onto his back and looked up into the face of a blond girl with full pale blue eyes, a questioning look on her face.

"I-Ino?" Naruto stuttered weakly, barely audible.

"What happened to you?"

"Well let's see. Punched a tree too hard, broke my hand, ran through the forest in the rain, slipped right on the last tree, and fell into this muddy puddle in the middle of this road. That's what happened to me," Naruto finished with a bitter snap.

Ino was shocked at first, her jaw dropping slightly. Then her face scrunched up in anger, her own attitude kicking in.

"Well, sorry for trying to be just a little concerned. Sorry to break it to you but not everyone is out to make your world a living hell."

"You sure about that?"

Blond stared at blond, determinedly angry pale blue eyes looking into dull and emotionless cerulean eyes, both waiting to see who would make the next move.

Ino sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, and held her hand out. Naruto looked from her hand to her face, then back to her hand, a skeptical frown on his face. Ino sighed again, angrily this time, and rolled her eyes.

"I don't bite, ya know."

Naruto shrugged. "I've heard otherwise," he said nonchalantly, taking her hand anyways. She pulled him to his feet.

"I'm sure. Now come on, let's go get your hand fixed up." She pulled his arm in the general direction of the hospital, only mildly surprised when he didn't budge. She rolled her eyes again.

'This is so not worth it.'

"No, that's ok. I have to go see Tsunade-no-baachan anyways. She'll heal it." He gave her a grin. It reminded her of how he had used to constantly give off those huge, happy grins back at the Academy and as a Genin.

Ino almost laughed at his pathetic excuse to avoid the hospital, where a certain pink-haired girl was certain to be found. His slight hesitance immediately gave it away, though under the circumstances, Ino would've known it was a lie anyways.

And his smile. It was so obviously fake that it was painful to look it. Ino instead looked at the ground, unable to look into his smile while his closed eyes betrayed so much pain.

She would've broken it, told him to stop trying to act so tough, to go see Sakura, and to move on. She simply couldn't.

Maybe it was because she felt sorry for him. Maybe it was because she felt sorry for herself. Maybe it was because she felt that somehow they could relate to each other, that their pain was similar. Maybe it had something to do with the silent act of giving Sakura that bouquet earlier. Maybe there was no reason at all.

But Ino did it anyways, looking back up to his closed eyes, knowing the pain hidden behind them. She didn't break his smile. She caused it to soften.

"Fine but I'm walking with you."

He opened his eyes, giving her that skeptical look again.

"Um, well…"

"If you go alone, you'll probably just fall and hurt yourself again," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm going." This time she spoke with an air of finality. She grinned at him, closing her own eyes to hide her own pain and the sympathy she had for him.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his reddish-golden hair. It had gained a dark red tint shortly after they had departed Orochimaru's hideout. It was simply another side effect of being the container of Kyuubi.

'So many have died as a result of you and me, Kyuubi. But Ino doesn't seem scared…'

"Well, ok then."

And the two set off, unaware of the green eyes that silently watched, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

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Ino watched Naruto as they walked towards the Hokage's office. He walked slowly with his head down, kicking pebbles and stepping in puddles.

Ino had never really known Naruto all that well. She vaguely remembered him always being left out and picked on when they were little kids, but she had always stayed out of it, spending more time enhancing her own image. In the Academy, he was loud and annoying, a condition that only worsened when they'd graduated.

But she the first time she'd really taken notice of him was during the Chuunin Exams. He'd displayed a level of skill she never would've expected from him in that fight with Neji.

And then he'd disappeared for two and a half years. He came back older and more mature. And five months after his return, he'd had to kill his best friend. Ino's eyes welled up with tears as thoughts of Chouji and the others who had fallen in that battle came to her mind. She'd cried and cried and cried on the trip back, unable to cope with that fact that she'd never see him devour bag after bag of chips and still be able to stand and walk with her.

And now here they were, walking along in silence. And for some reason, Ino felt happier than she had ever since they'd returned from that mission. Granted she was still sad. But it felt lighter now.

"So, how's Shikamaru doing?" Unlike his earlier tone, he now sounded compassionate and concerned. Ino bit her lip hard as her thoughts turned to her other close friend and teammate and his condition.

"He's improved very little. He's still in shock and withdrawn. He – he won't even talk to me."

"I'm sorry." She didn't expect him to say anything else.

"I heard Kiba's going to be transferred to your team now." She nodded. "I saw him and Akamaru hanging out around their old training ground. He…he's not doing much better than Shikamaru."

"Yeah. Sakura told me Lee and Tenten are getting better, though they're both going to have to go through some pretty extensive physical therapy. And Neji's happy that they survived but…"

Neither spoke for a minute. Hinata giving her life to save Neji's had torn up the poor boy. He wouldn't speak about it but his inner conflict was obvious. He had always been cruel to her, teasing her for her wishes for peace and harmony and this was how she had repaid him. Ino changed the subject.

"I asked Sakura how you were doing earlier." She saw him wince out of the corner of her eye at her name. They were both looking down at the ground now as they walked down the stone path. "She said she hasn't seen you lately and left…" Ino let her voice trail off, not wanting to push too hard. The two were silent again for a minute before Naruto responded.

"I've been busy lately. I guess she has too." Ino decided to push a little harder.

"Busy? We've been free all week. Sure, I've got the flower shop and she works part-time at the hospital, but I don't see how you two could possibly be too busy to see each other." She spoke lightly, almost tentatively. Naruto spoke coldly.

"She wants alone time and I'm giving it to her. What do you want me to do, get in her face and make things worse?"

Ino's face was full of solemn sorrow as she looked at Naruto's glare.

"You don't deserve this," she said softly.

"Well, what difference does it make? Whether or not I deserve it doesn't matter." His anger died as Ino looked away. His voice softened.

"It doesn't matter."

They stopped walking and looked up at the Hokage's Tower. The two stood in a somewhat awkward silence for a few seconds.

"I'd…better get back to the shop now."

"Yeah, I'll…see you around."

"Yeah, see you."

And the two parted ways.

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"Obaachan!" Naruto yelled loudly and obnoxiously, drawing out the word as he walked down the hallway towards the Hokage's Office. He slowly opened the door a few inches and looked into the empty room.

"Obaachan?"

Naruto never saw her fist coming as pain blossomed on his head. He fell forward into the room, yelling in pain, his hands entangled in his hair, clutching his head. Tsunade came stepped out from behind the door, her face contorted in anger.

"I told you to stop calling me that." It took him a minute or so to recover and stand up.

"That's no excuse to hit me!" He cried angrily, pointing an accusing finger at her. "How dare you, you old hag!"

A small vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead and fires burned in her eyes.

"What did you just call me?"

Naruto had less than a second to regret his words before a chase around the office ensued, resulting in Tsunade holding Naruto up by the collar of his white T-shirt, glaring into his face. Naruto smiled weakly.

"You look really young up close though."

She dropped him to the ground, causing him to groan in pain as he landed on his bad hand.

"What do you want anyways? You're still free until tomorrow." Naruto say up, rubbing his hand, a grouchy look on his face.

"I broke my hand. So just hurry up and fix it."

"How'd you break it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"So?"

"So tell me."

"I don't want to."

"Ugh, why didn't you just go to the hospital?"

"Why should I?"

"Cause you can't just waste the Hokage's time without good reason. And breaking your hand and choosing the Hokage over the hospital for no apparent reason isn't a good enough reason." The room was silent for a second.

"Are you going to fix up my hand or not?" Tsunade rolled her eyes and took Naruto's hand in her palm. She put her right hand over his and it glowed blue briefly.

"Done," Tsunade said, watching the boy tentatively flex his outstretched hand.

"Took you long enough," Naruto mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Next time, get over your useless procrastinations and just go to the hospital. You and Sakura and Kakashi have a mission tomorrow anyways. Is it really worth it to stay out of her way for just one more day?"

Naruto shrugged and walked of the office. Tsunade sighed and dropped herself heavily into her chair.

'What are we going to do?' She turned as light entered the office, squinting at the clearing sky and emerging sun.

"I need a vacation."

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A/N: Well, that's that. For the next chapter, I'm considering either a minor mission or a huge, powerful fight. So I'm asking you, the readers, to vote in your reviews. Just minor or major. Please review and vote.

1. I know it's pretty hard to believe that Naruto could break his hand in the manner that he does, but please bear with me. I'm sure that by putting all the chakra into the punch and not into cushioning the blow, he could break it.

2. Just to clarify, since I had a pre-reader get confused at this point, Sakura asked Ino to put a bouquet of flowers in a funeral arrangement, seeing as she knows all the meanings of flowers and such. Ino complied without saying anything.