Yup. Chapter 2 was definitely written before I could post Chapter 1. Not much to say here, other than enjoy!

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Chapter 2:

Some Secrets Should Never Be Kept

It took Naruto a moment to figure out where he was when he woke up, and even longer to figure out why he was holding onto Ino. When the previous night came back to him, he smiled and kissed Ino's cheek. "Morning, Ino-chan." Ino mumbled something unintelligible before turning to face him and opened her eyes. "Morning, Naruto-kun. Feeling better?" She kept her voice down as she spoke and kissed Naruto softly on the lips. Naruto smiled and kissed her back before slowly sitting up, setting Ino next to him, and stretched, working the kinks out of his back from sleeping on the couch all night. "Much better, thanks to you." Ino blushed at this and leaned on him, taking one of his hands in both of her considerably smaller ones, marveling at the strength she felt. "You're welcome." Naruto was about to say something else when the sound of someone clearing their throat caused both Naruto and Ino to spin around on the couch.

Behind them, stood Ino's parents, both looking as angry as they had the night before. Naruto was stunned. Why were they angry? Surely they didn't think that they had done anything. Ino was just as stunned. Why were her parents angry? It couldn't be because she had kissed Naruto, could it? They had both already said that they didn't mind her dating, as long as she didn't, well, go too far.

After several awkward moments, Ino decided to speak. "Uh, what's up?" If anything, this seemed to make the situation worse, since her dad immediately started yelling. "Don't 'what's up' us, young lady! What are you doing with that…that thing!" This statement drew stares from everyone, even his wife. "Um, dear? We're not supposed to talk about that, remember?" Ino was less calm. "Thing! THING! Naruto-kun is not a thing!" "Don't talk about things that you don't understand, missy! Now, go to your room!" "But-" "NOW!" Ino slowly stood up, and, after kissing Naruto on the cheek once more (which made her parents even angrier) and whispering "Sorry" to him, she stalked off to her room.

Once she was gone, it finally dawned on Naruto why Ino-chan's parents were so angry. The kyuubi. They were some of the many people who believed that, because he held the kyuubi within him, he was evil as well. Naruto stood up as well, just as Ino's father began to speak. "As for yo-" "SHUT UP!" Naruto screamed at the man, cutting him off. "Does your own hatred mean more to you than your daughter's happiness? If it does, then keep it up. You're doing a great job at hurting her while you're trying to hurt me. And guess what? You're hurting me as well. But it doesn't matter, since I'm used to it by now. Did you think that I'm not used to this by now? For over 15 years, I've had to endure people like you, discriminating against me for something I can't control." With that, Naruto turned and raced out of the room, heading towards his apartment as fast as he could go.

After he left, Ino's parents glanced at each other. How could they be hurting their daughter? They were just trying to protect her from a monster. Of course, they were the only ones who saw it like this. Ino currently hated their guts and was busy barring her door against them. Once that was done, she placed a genjutsu over the door, so that if someone managed to come through without first dispelling the genjutsu, they'd be unable to move for quite a while. Quickly, before her parents decided to come yell at her some more, she packed her bag with everything she needed, opened her window, and took off into the city, heading towards Sakura's house. As much as she wanted to go to Naruto's, she knew that, from what she'd heard, neither of them would be very comfortable if she moved in with him, and her parents would have another reason to hate Naruto.

At this thought, she paused. Why did her parent's hate Naruto? Her dad had called him a thing, and said that she didn't understand. There were only two possible solutions that she could see. The first was to ask her parents about it later. But not only did she not want to do that, her mother had given her the impression that whatever the subject was, was taboo. So that just left her the second option. Ask Naruto.

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At The Hospital

Sakura half-heartedly picked at the food that had been placed in front of her. It was a relatively nice meal, not like the cup ramen that Naruto had offered her when she had first made it clear that she wouldn't be leaving Sasuke-kun's side until he woke up. Though now she was wondering if she shouldn't stay. She was steadily losing weight, to the point that she was borderline anorexic. Not only that, but every day she stayed was another day that she wasn't spending improving her skills as a ninja, meaning that she'd be even further behind once Sasuke woke of. If he woke up.

Mentally, Sakura berated herself. Of course he would wake up! How dare she doubt him, if even for a moment? But then…why hadn't he woken up already? For almost two weeks now his body had been in perfect condition. He should have awoken already. But he hadn't. Could it be that whatever was happening inside his mind was more interesting to Sasuke then life was? Or was he perhaps held by some genjutsu or another? Sakura knew that that last option was impossible. Sasuke exhibited no symptoms of any genjutsu known, not even anything remotely similar, and they had already used various forms of releasing genjutsus on him already, just in case. Deep down, Sakura, as did many others, knew the real reason Sasuke did not awaken. He, so prideful and arrogant as he was, believing that because he was Uchiha, he was superior, was unwilling to acknowledge the fact that he had been beaten by Naruto, a boy of questionable background and no apparent bloodline ability. Sure, he had the power of the kyuubi on his side, but Sasuke didn't know that.

Slowly, Sakura stood, wincing as her legs, which hadn't supported her own weight in almost a month, protested at the sudden use. Turning, she began to walk towards the exit, intent on leaving, on getting back to her own life. But as she made it to the door, the sounds of rustling fabric made her gasp and spin around. There, in bed, Sasuke slowly sat up. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed and launched herself across the room, hugging Sasuke tightly. It was then that she realized something was wrong. His eyes were completely blank. His entire face showed no emotion at all, not even the usual cold arrogance.

Just as she was about to comment on it, a strong hand clasped over her mouth, and another gripped her shoulder. In less than a second, the room was empty, except for Sakura, who was lying against the wall, her left shoulder shattered, most of her ribs cracked, one even poked through her skin, and her right leg twisted around.

Some time later, Sakura awoke, sitting bolt upright and screamed. "Sasuke-kun!" Quickly and gently, a hand pressed her back against the bed she was now lying in. Above her loomed Tsunade. "Sakura, what happened? Who did this to you? And where's Sasuke?" At these questions, Sakura burst into tears, which unnerved the crowd of people who were behind the Hokage even more. Every genin that had been at the party was there now.

After some time, Sakura managed to compose herself enough to speak. "It…it was…"

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Mwuahahahaha! Behold the evilness that is a cliffhanger! Okay, so not really, since it's pretty obvious who did it… Anyway, I was actually planning on continuing beyond this point, but I felt as though it broke better here than where I had originally intended it too. But, on the bright side, as of this chapter, I've decided to put in a sort of sneak preview of the upcoming chapter.

Coming Up in Chapter 3: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

The Uchiha clan is no more within Konoha. Naruto and Ino's relationship is made public, and Sakura finds herself feeling jealous. And to top things off, Shikamaru returns from his mission intent on asking Ino out.