A/N: Man…I really need to start picking up on this whole updating thing..I've been slacking off! And for that I'm sorry! Readers Block, anyone?But thank you so much for the reviews! They make my heart smile. But That was a hella long ice age huh?

Dudes..seriously, all my ideas are like going out the drain, actually scratch that. They would be going out the drain if I had any ideas..but I don't….I feel like a rapper without his rhymes..or a fat kid without his sandwich, or Carlos Mencia without his DUR DU DUR..(DEE DE DEE?) …talk about having your head up your ass…no sunshine up there.

Warnings: Link, you know, the like bestest bestest super hero of all time..the only guy who can pull off the sexy man tights..oh baby.. is off limits..he can't be shared I'm afraid..especially now that I'm considering having his fake lil 3D babies.

Disclaimer: If I was as good as the owners of the Naruto series, I would be updating a chapter every week, like they do with their episodes..But I'm not..unfortunately, sooo long updates they are, or actually WERE I vow to stop the extremely long updates this very moment! Fo sho.

Please Enjoy!

Behind The Smile

Chapter 28: Time Factor

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In a familiar home, there were no left-over ramen cups, nor articles of trash, or other substances amidst the glossy floor. It was completely clean. It was completely quiet. A lone figure sat upright against the head of a bed, his cerulean eyes searching for nothing in particular outside the window. He had long ago discarded the upper portion of his clothing, leaving only his orange jumpsuit pants to clothe his lower body. One leg was outstretched, resting limply on the bed, the other bent up towards him, acting as a stand for his arm, which also hung limply.

His free hand was brought up to his chest, fiddling with what looked to be a pendant. It was a gift from someone, or more so something he had gained from a bet long ago. It was treasure to the one he had gained it from, as it was now a treasure to him.

Naruto's silent, contemplating countenance was a great counterbalance to the brooding one inside. His mind was full of questions, full of memories, doubts, negative emotions. Worry and pain clouded his soul. He felt despair. He felt anger, wonder. But something that got him the most was that he was not alone. He was not alone. Even now, after all that had happened, he was not alone.

Nothing. Nothing was like it was back then, when he was little. When he was hated, feared, pushed away. The whispers in his memories, they were not like that of the ones now. The talking behind his back, the speculation. They were of a different kind. There was always a reason, even now. But was it not reason enough?

His cerulean eyes traveled down to his abdomen, looking for something, hoping for something. Just the bandages that wrapped his bruised body. Just skin. His belly button, and his tan, toned abs. There were no colorful, intricate designs of a seal; the ones that indicated to the beast held within. Naruto almost let out a troubled grunt as he looked away, trying to focus on something, anything.

He was not hated for the beast that had been inside him. He was not hated for failing one of the most important missions he had ever been assigned. He was not hated for causing the death of a very important person. A leader, the hope that was this village. A Hokage. Tsunade-sama. Actually, as he contemplated it more, he had caused the death of two Hokages. Yet this time, he was not hated. He was not under speculation. The whispers, they were that of pity, sympathy.

That poor young man

He must feel awful

What's he going to do?

Is there anything we can do to make him feel better?

I can't imagine what he's going through

Just give him space

Buy him some ramen

They weren't whispers that called him a monster, that expressed hatred and discontent about what he had done, what horrible things he had caused.

It confused him. Why? What good had he done? What had he done other than destroy and kill? Why did he deserve the village's sympathy? Why did he still have friends that tried to support him? Why?

He couldn't stop Sasuke. He couldn't save Sakura. He couldn't protect the people he cared for the most. He couldn't get over everything and just be his normal self. He had failed, at everything.

Everyone had already recovered. Why hadn't he?

His thoughts were interrupted as light knocking sounded the door. His cerulean eyes lazily looked over to the door, but he did not move. He didn't want to see anyone right now, he hadn't seen anybody for days, and he had no problem with that. The door seemed far away anyways.

Though, he was intrigued at how light the knocking was. It was a great counterbalance to the pounding and yelling coming from people like Kiba and Ino. It probably would have been even louder if the person was Tsunade knocking. Naruto let out a small laugh, though it was very dry, and he scoffed at himself for thinking about it. He didn't finish the thought.

There was a slight pause before the knocking commenced again. There was another pause.

"..Naruto-kun..?" The voice was extremely soft, it reminded him of..

Hinata..

On reaction Naruto was ready to dash to the door, but something held him back. He looked at the door for a long moment, finally letting out a sigh as he slowly pushed himself off the bed. He silently made his way over to the door, reveling at how comforting that light knocking was.

He looked at the door knob, telling himself to turn it, to open the door, but he couldn't. He leaned his head against the door, closing his eyes.

He wanted to see her. But he couldn't. He didn't want to risk losing her to death as he did with many others that he got close to. He wasn't going to. He rejected others who would come to his door, and he would do the same with her.

Yet he felt like cursing the door for being there, for separating him from her. There was a pause in the knocking again; it was a long pause, a very long pause. But he knew she hadn't left, she was still right on the other side of the door, he could feel her.

--

There were tears in Hinata's eyes now.

Naruto had locked himself up in his home for days now. He hadn't eaten, he hadn't slept. So many people had come trying to knock down the door, yelling and screaming at Naruto to get over it and come out. But he wouldn't answer.

He was taking all the blame on himself. For everything. When it wasn't his fault, none of it was.

Hinata raised her fist again, but she paused for some reason, contemplating whether she should knock again. She was probably annoying him, and she didn't want to do that. She should just go. What had she been thinking? She looked down at the bowl of ramen she had been holding in her other arm. Then she looked at the numerous untouched ramen bowls on his door step.

With a sad sigh, Hinata bent down and did her best to pick them all up, trying to balance them. She let out a small gasp as one of the bowls of ramen started to tumble over. But it didn't meet the ground, not even a drop fell from the bowl. Kiba was already there, giving her a slight smile.

"Let me help you with that, Hinata." He took a few of the bowls from her. Kiba took a look at the door, seemingly glaring at it for a moment. He had tried various times to get him to come out, he had stopped the other day though.

"T-Thankyou, Kiba-kun…" Hinata hastily wiped the tears from her eyes. She looked over at Naruto's door again.

"Hinata, He'll get over it eventually, just give him time." Hinata did not take her eyes from the door, but she nodded quickly, giving Kiba a quick "hai".

"Lets go?" Kiba offered.

Hinata shook her head in a yes, without muttering a word. She walked up to the door, touching it gently for a moment, before turning away.

--

Naruto turned his back to the door, bowing his head down.

At least Kiba could take care of her, he was sure he would. But that thought did nothing to help the frustration in his mind.

After a moment, Naruto slowly lowered to the ground, leaning against the door. He tilted his head back towards the ceiling, letting out one last sigh.

-------

Neji slowly retracted his hand from the tree in front of him. He twirled his hand around, stretching out his wrist. He punched again, this time with his other fist. He did the same twirling motion as he did with the other.

The tree in front of him had a few scratches and dents in it, but nothing all too bad. Neji had been going easy on it. Or more to say, going easy on himself. It had not been long at all since he had been let out of the Konoha hospital. He needed to stretch his muscles out and test his strength. Though he was a little disappointed at the slow pace he had to go. Throwing one punch brought a sore pain throughout whatever body part he had been using. Nothing that made him scrunch up his face, just soreness.

So, here he had been for a few hours, slowly stretching out every muscle possible. Trying to get his body back into shape. It had only been a few days since they had gotten out of the hospital from critical condition. It had been a few days since everything had happened. The failed mission, the Hokages death.

This time Neji aimed a kick towards the tree, the impact seemed to echo throughout the whole forest clearing.

"Neji?" The said person let his eyes travel to the Kunoichi traveling towards him from the side.

She had a slight limp to her walk, but other than that her body looked perfectly healthy. No pale skin, pursed lips, bags under her eyes, her breathing was normal, her eyes calm and content. She was twirling a kunai naturally in her hand, playfully, on reflex; if she wasn't it usually meant something was wrong, and if the rate at which she was twirling the kunai was fast, it also meant something was wrong. But it was moving at a nice, even pace. Neji looked away as his small checkup came with satisfying results. It had become so natural to him to check for any abnormalities in Tenten's behavior or appearance.

"Tenten." Neji replied in greeting. He spared her a glance before continuing with his training.

Tenten walked towards a very wide tree, placing herself in front of it, legs bent up towards her as she sat down. She seemed to be contemplating something.

"Hey Neji?" Neji slightly paused, before continuing pounding the tree, showing that she had his attention. But just as soon as he had started, he stopped, and gave his full attention to her. He had noticed her voice and composure had changed. And as his gaze shifted to look at he downcast eyes, he could see that they reflected her emotions, showing that she was troubled. He looked at her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't, he decided to instigate.

"What?" Neji asked.

His simple word seemed to snap her out of whatever train of thought she was in. She looked up to him, and with a slight smile, she patted on the ground next to her. He paused for a moment, but then casually made his way over towards the tree Tenten was leaning against, and sat down next to her. She continued smiling, most likely wanting to change the subject, but Neji knew her too well. And he preferred finishing things, rather than pushing them aside.

"What?" He asked again, his eyes trained on Tenten. She looked back at him, noticing that he was curious, and knowing that he would not accept anything else but an answer. For a second she lost herself in his beautiful pearl eyes. Realizing what she was doing, she cast her eyes downwards, knowing that Neji's eyebrow was now lifted.

"I don't know- I just- I was wondering was all." She knew she had his full attention, so she continued. "Naruto.." She sensed as Neji leaned back against the tree, showing his discontent. He was still listening though. She knew she was pushing it bringing up Naruto again, but she was worried. She knew Neji didn't want to hear much more of it; it had gotten to the point where even Neji came to get Naruto out of his place. He had said some pretty nasty things.

But, Naruto, he wasn't just hurting himself, but everyone around him. They always used to complain, moaning and groaning whenever Naruto would be around, or just plain grimacing at his name. It was just Naruto. But at the same time, having him not around was even worse. It absence seemed to deepen the mood of everybody.

Konoha just wasn't lively anymore.

"..How long do you think he's gonna stay locked up in there?" Her chocolate brown eyes traveled to Neji's which were somewhere else.

"I don't know, Tenten." Neji immediately said, almost cutting her off. It was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. Tenten's eyes shot down to look at the kunai she was fiddling with in her hands. She was clumsily messing up her turns each time, trying to get back on her rhythm.

Neji noticed this, and let out a small sigh.

"Sorry." He started. "It's his choice to stay locked up in there, and it'll be his choice when he gets out." He had planned to stop there, but noticing Tenten's head slightly lower, he continued. "Everyone just needs to do him a favor for once and leave him alone for a while. He's had too much on his shoulders, he just needs a break. He'll come around.. Especially with this war going on, he's not the type to sit around idly if we were to come under attack any time soon."

Tenten understood what Neji meant, and she was surprised that she hadn't thought about it that way. She decided to just forget about it for now, and take Neji's "advice". Letting out a small sigh, she leaned against the tree, bringing up both knees to her chest. Her eyes were locked onto the blue sky. She closed her eyes, letting out a small smile as a small breeze swept through the forest clearing.

"I wish I was the wind. So simple, relaxing. It just moves through, with no worries. As free as can be."

She giggled at Neji slightly cocked his head, not having the slightest clue what to say to that.

"What would you be, Neji?" She looked into this pearl eyes, which were elsewhere. He seemed to be thinking. "Anything." She added. He took a while to contemplate. Tenten sat patiently waiting. It was quite comforting just being in his presence..she could wait forever..

"A rock." He finally said. The tone to his voice was soft, but solid, sure.

"A rock?" Tenten repeated. She was puzzled at his answer. She giggled a little bit.

"Of course, Neji the impenetrable rock." She expected Neji to share her humor, anything, but he didn't. He seemed serious, yet relaxed. He continued.

"It can get stepped on, thrown, sink to the bottom of an ocean, but it would never be broken. It would be alone. Yet it would stay in place, strong and sturdy. Having nothing to fear, only the wind."

Her eyes were trained on Neji, noticing that he seemed to be contemplating to say more. As if there was great conflict. Tenten didn't get was he was saying, but for some reason she could feel butterflies rising in her stomach. Her throat felt dry, her heart, pounding, was in her throat.

"Only the wind?" Tenten managed to shakily force out. It took a while before Neji continued. His eyes were focused on the ground.

"It would think it was safe, nothing could influence it. Nothing could change the way it was, it would just move on, getting stepped on without a worry. It was cold inside and out, and it was fine with that. But the wind would unexpectedly come. Gentle, swift. Moving it, changing it.. It's only weakness…when it thought it had none. It tried to hate that weakness..tried to remove it..but it found it was actually nice not to be alone.. that it was nice to feel…and if the wind were to suddenly go away, almost as suddenly as it had come..the rock wouldn't know what to do. " Neji finished, though the whole time he had not taken on glance at Tenten.

Without a second to spare, Neji stood up from his position against the tree, and continued to train, as if nothing happened. Yet his mind was in havoc. He was chastising himself for slipping like that. How idiotic, using and aphorism to explain..to explain how..unexpected things were..how.. unexpected she was to him. Maybe she didn't get it anyway. The look she was giving him when he said it though, it made him uneasy.

Tenten sat in that exact same position, her eyes not leaving the spot where Neji once was. She felt like she couldn't breath, and she felt this warmth, just growing inside of her. Was she dreaming? Was what Neji just said…Did Neji basically just?

Whoa Whoa, slow down girl, he didn't say anything like that..just that..

She looked at Neji, who was focused on attacking the poor tree. Yet she felt herself smile, as she could she him slightly shaking his head every now and then. She felt like screaming out in joy, jumping up and down. Her insides were practially melted. So what it wasn't a proclamation of love. But it was a start. It was cute. And the way he had explained it, using the rock..it was just..amazing.

Neji..

She was practically beaming. But taking a deep breath, she calmed herself down, and stood up.

After a while, Neji brought out a kunai, his goal for it to embed itself dead center in the tree.

As he expertly flung his wrist, the kunai departed with amazing speed. As the kunai seemed to make contact with the tree, the loud sound of metal meeting metal could be heard. As soon as Neji's kunai had begun to embed itself in the tree, another kunai had come, and at a much faster speed, it dug right into the center of the tree, all the while knocking Neji's kunai to the ground.

Neji glanced over to Tenten; she had a hand on her hip, while the other was twirling another kunai around playfully. She had a cute smirk on her face.

"One on one?" She offered.

Neji responded with a small smirk.

--

"Shiiiikamaru-kuuuuuun….." A soft voice cooed, in a seductive way. Enticing, screaming for the works of a favor it seemed. There was a slight pause, as if the holder of the voice was waiting for something. A response maybe?

"Shikamaru." The voice was stern this time, sounding a bit perplexed and questioning. Another silence passed.

"SHIKAMARU!!!" Ino yelled this time, pushing the holder of the name off the long bench where he had laid. He let out a small grunt as he made contact with the ground. He rose into a sitting position, silently cursing to himself as he rubbed the side of his head.

"What." He snapped back in an impatient, yet calm voice. His agitated gaze traveled to Ino's. Her baby blue orbs seemed to gleam. The aggressive girl disappeared and was replaced with the same enticing, cunning demeanor from before. She seemed to be scheming something.

Troublesome girl..

"You should come down to the flower shop with me..hang around for a while." She simply said.

Simple enough, you could do plenty of things down there, hang around, stare up at the sky. Do nothing, you would just be down near the flower shop. Cool right? But Shikamaru knew Yamanaka Ino. Things were never that simple.

She wanted something. More to say wanted him to do something. A favor. She knew he was lazy, and would not want to do it, so how was she so sure he wouldn't say no? Because she was Ino that's why. He couldn't say no, no matter how much he wanted to. His health and safety were on the line.

"And do what.." He said with a hint of annoyance as he rose to sit back on the bench. He leaned back, his eyes trained on the blonde kunoichi.

"Well..we can have fun! Manage the flowers, sell them to customers, the works! It so totally beats hanging around like a lazy moron doing nothing!" Ino chirped, trying to make this "favor" sound fun.

"Why would I want to do that?" Shikamaru started, already knowing her answer…and he liked hanging around doing nothing…it wasn't so bad. Favorite hobby, anyone?

Ino, knowing Shikamaru wasn't buying it, decided to put back her normal demeanor, but it still beamed with a cute type of hope. Like a child staring at an amazing toy through the store window. Yet, this was Ino. There was a sort of gleam behind it all, it seemed threatening. This was her plan A, and if Shikamaru wouldn't accept, then plan B would be a lot more painful. And Shikamaru knew that.

It wasn't that he was scared or anything.. He just didn't like hitting girls. He just did not hit girls. Simple as that. And he knew that Ino knew, that he knew that she knew that.

"The guy that usually helps me, is out sick today! I think he's totally faking it!..slacker..and.." Shikamaru noticed how she cut off, quickly saying something else. "..aaaand there's just way too much for me to do all by myself, especially now that so many people come."

Shikamaru had a feeling she was about to mention Sakura, who always helped Ino out when the "slacker" was sick, which was almost every other day. The failed retrieval of Sakura was a big thing for Ino, and now especially when it's not sure where she is, if she's even alive. It was hard to say exactly how Ino felt. She was doing fine though, and that was good.

But he could tell that her demeanor seemed to change again. She was thinking sad thoughts again. He tried to ignore it, but he couldn't. Letting out a small sigh, Shikamaru lowered his back to the bench resuming his laying position.

"Alright Alright. Just give me five minutes.." He said.

Almost immediately Ino beamed. "Great!" She had began to jog back down the hill, but stopped, turning around once more. "You better come!" That was her version of a threat.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, sighing yet again while breathing out "How troublesome." Yet, he almost let out a small grin.

For some reason, it felt like it was his assigned job, more to say mission, to make sure Ino was happy. It was a lot of work for the titled "Lazy guy", but..it really wasn't all that bad. It was troublesome..but..not so bad.

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"When will we be ready?" The lips of the holder of the voice were the only parts showing. They seemed to be twisted into a wicked type of grin, one very familiar. The remnants of a small fang-like tooth could be seen if there were to be a closer look.

"Forty-two hours at most," The figure replying paused slighty to articulately slide his glasses up the ridge of his nose. They seemed to gleam as he did so, reflecting a gold sort of light in the shape of an eye. It seemed to come from the figure sitting down in front of him. "They're already excited..which caused a few problems, though it's already been taken care of."

A small, dry, amused chuckle could be heard. "It is to be expected. I find myself sharing their excitement. Do you not as well, Kabuto?"

"Of course, Orochimaru-sama." There was another slight pause. "How much time do you have left to obtain him?" He questioned, gravely.

"Time enough. He will come to me, it is simply in his nature. And he would be denying his existence were he to refuse." Orochimaru let out another, queasy chuckle.

Kabuto almost seemed to grimace, yet if he did, the shadows of the room obscured this from his face.

------------

"Enough, Sakura-san." Itachi spoke a bit softly, yet all the while in monotone. It seemed it was not the first time he had spoken words similar to that. Yet this time his hand reached up to the one planted lightly on his face. As soon as the contact was made, the glowing blue chakra flowing from the hand dissipated.

Watering emerald met stern Sharingan.

Both their hands were still suspended inches away from Itachi's face, Itachi's light grip holding back Sakura's shaking hand.

"But-."

"Enough." He spoke again. This time a bit quieter.

Letting out a shaky breath, Sakura slowly retracted her hand from Itachi's grasp, letting her body fall back onto the ground from her knee position. Tears were definitely in her eyes now, and she cared not to stop them. Itachi's wounds were great in number and in size. But Itachi wouldn't let her see them, he wouldn't take off his huge Akatsuki cloak. She had barely managed to get him to let her keep her hands on his face long enough to take off most of the bruising.

But it wasn't long enough for her to get that deep cut that ran along his cheek. It would now scar if it wasn't treated.

Thinking of it made her heart churn more. She didn't want to leave him like that.

"Sakura." At his call, her body turned around halfway to look at Sasuke, a few feet away. He was looking at her impatiently, yet with finality. And he had the right to. Though, it did surprise her how patient and calm he was, even with the circumstances they were under. It definitely must have been hard from him. He had let her do what she had wanted (try to heal Itachi's wounds, the works), even though he had been ready to take departure more than 10 minutes ago.

Sasuke had stated that he was gong to take her back to Konoha, reiterating that she'd "get lost and have an embarrassing death" if she went on her own. She didn't know why he would even offer, but she took the chance and accepted right away. Of course, he most likely had other things to do, explaining the "hurry" he was in. Or he may have even just wanted to separate himself from Itachi; it would be reasonable, as the whole situation must have still been bothering him.

She wanted to stay longer, but the tone of voice and look Sasuke was giving her clearly explained her inability to do that. She felt torn. She quickly looked back to Itachi, trying to convince him to let her check his wounds while she still had time left

"Go." Itachi said. He and Sasuke made brief eye contact before the older Uchiha stood up, leaving Sakura the only one on the ground.

"This is a dangerous time for you. Remember that." He spoke again, seemingly out of the blue. And seemingly to no one in particular. Sakura almost lifted up her eyebrow at his words, not understanding what or who he was referring to. Yet the younger Uchiha understood perfectly what he had meant. They're eyes met yet again, and they shared a type of mutual agreement, an understanding.

Flashback

"The three years of time you have has expired. He will come for you, or as confident as he may be, expect you to come to him. Keep a distance from him, Sasuke."

Sasuke, like Itachi, was standing, slightly leaning against a tree. Though the younger Uchiha's arms were crossed, and his eyes closed. Yet after hearing Itachi's words, his eyes slowly opened to meet his. Their deep Red Sharingan eyes were glowing brightly in the night.

"I will not run from him. You underestimate me." Sasuke's eyes burned into Itachi's, it seemed his pride was still intact. His voice was cold and stern yet showed no defensive or arrogant tone. He was serious, and he wanted to make that clear. He was Sasuke. And he did not run. He wasn't weak as he was then.

"Then you can guarantee that he won't touch you." Itachi started, definitely stating it more than asking. He said this to make a point, much like Sasuke had earlier. Sasuke did not answer, his Sharingan eyes still glued to Itachi's.

"You would deal blows to him without him having the slightest chance to counter, or grab any part of you. You can be so accurate, so swift, as to take on him and his allies without becoming overwhelmed, without getting trapped. Without giving him one opportunity to seize you."

Again, no response came from Sasuke. Only this time his head turned, and his eyes closed.

A brief silence ensued between the two brothers

"You make it sound as if he would take me easily. Then he could take you just as such. It was you he had wanted from the beginning." Where before Sasuke would have snarled at the thought, now his facial expressing did not change, and his eyes were still closed.

"He lost his chance the day I left Konoha. He is afraid of me. As I am sure he is of you. Do not let this information fool you. He would take your body just as easily he would perform a jutsu," Itachi's gaze lingered on the area he knew the curse seal was located, before letting them travel back to Sasuke's turned face.

"You bear his mark, and that is why."

Sasuke's eyes opened, refocusing back on Itachi.

"One second. That is all he needs, little brother, and he will have you."

End Flashback

Sakura slowly stood up, taking one last look at Itachi before hurrying close to Sasuke. She watched as the two brothers shared one last glance, before Sasuke turned away and started walking out of the clearing.

Sakura looked after Sasuke for a moment, before turning her gaze to look at Itachi.

"Take care, Sakura-san." He politely said before turning to walk in the other direction.

"Please..stay alive." Sakura whispered before quickly making her way after Sasuke. She doubted she would ever see Itachi again, if not anytime soon. She just hoped with every part of her that it wouldn't be that way with Sasuke.


DA DA DAAAAA!!! Chapter finally finished!! Thanks a bunch of cinnamon streusel muffins for reading!!

Angst much?

Hope this chapter wasn't to cheesy and lame. Basically i hope it doesn't seem like it came from too far up my ass. Hope you can except it!

Sooo you're probably like cool, another chapter, but BOO, gonna have to wait another iceage of so before the next chapter comes out, right? WRONG. The next chapter is already halfway finished, and should be done around the weekend, or at the most in a weeks time. Can I get a HOORA?

Yeppers..so yea Itachi is basically out of the picture for now..will he be back in the later chapters? You'll have to wait and see….(BUT DUR..this is definitely a Sasu/Saku so don't get any ideas like that. He's not gonna ruin the whole romance fluffy party) Itachi just might pop up for some other big reason..fo sho…You might actually be glad to see him that that point in the story

Yea..so reviews would be pretty amazing at this point..please drop a line!

Hasta Luego!