YaY!!! Chapter two everyone!! And I'm actuallt somewhat happy with how this turned out!! Woo hoo! nn

-Blushes- Oh my... ya'll are too kind... All those nice reviews... Thank you n///n

Disclaimer-- Everything you recognize, I don't own. (Unfortunately)

Oh! One last note, Ayame is NOT an OC, I wouldn't write an OC into my story if I could help it... I did some searching around and she actually is the Ichiraku lady! nn

.:Yet ah! why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise:.

Thomas Gray

Fearing Love

Authoress- Saddie

Chapter II- First Love Never Dies

Sakura sighed inaudibly as Naruto pulled her through the nearly deserted early morning street. Sasuke followed not far behind, avoiding the inquisitive gazes of the few villagers they passed.

Come to think of it, they were probably scared of him, seeing as now he resembled his older brothering to a chilling degree; minus the red eyes and Akatsuki cloak. Though it must be at have been at least ten times worse for Sasuke, imagine every time you look in the mirror you see the man who slaughtered your entire family right in front of your eyes, as a child no less. Sakura's train of thought was interrupted by a voice filed with barely concealed annoyance.

"Dobe, what makes you think that ramen shop is even open this early?" the younger Uchiha asked. Naruto came to an abrupt stop, sending the Sakura headlong into his back. The blond turned to the raven and blinked owlishly.

"I know it will be! It has to be!" he exclaimed, taking off with renewed determination. The two others sped up slightly to match the fox's now borderline frantic pace; he obviously never thought that it might be closed. Sakura turned to face Sasuke and shrugged helplessly, when Naruto got like this, nothing could stop him.

Just as Naruto had thought, the shop was open. Ayame, the storekeeper, was sweeping the front entranceway; preparing for the mid-morning rush. The blond let go of Sakura and ran to glomp the brunette.

"Good morning Ayame-chan!" he cried as he latched around her neck and waist.

"Same to you Naruto-kun!" she replied with equal enthusiasm, returning the hug. Sasuke rolled his eyes, how often do you have to come to a place to get friendly with the employees…? On second thought, he really didn't want to know.

Naruto pulled back and turned to face his girlfriend and best friend.

"Ayame, you remember my girlfriend Sakura, and this is Sasuke! He came back!" the fox shouted, causing a few curious glances to be cast their way from the quickly filling street.

Ayame nodded politely in acknowledgment before returning to look at Naruto.

"So, Naruto-kun, this is early even for your standards!" she giggled, placing her hands on her hips, the broom forgotten on the ground.

"Er, that's because Sasuke-teme destroyed breakfast," the blond explained, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke without even looking at him. Onyx orbs narrowed.

"What was that dobe?" he demanded. Naruto turned to face him.

"Well I certainly didn't jump backwards into the table!" he said, the raven growled, struggling to make a comeback. A sly smirk crept across the blond's face, "Lost your touch, eh teme?"

With a huff Sasuke stormed away from the blond and the two girls. Sakura shot Naruto a disapproving glare.

"You shouldn't get people riled up like that Naruto," the cherry blossom chided, but not unkindly, "I'm gonna go look for him, things have changed since he's been gone…" The medic-nin muttered, more to herself than anything, before taking off after Sasuke.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and pouted, Ayame placed a hand on his head.

"She's right you know," the brunette said before picking up her broom and proceeding to finish sweeping.

Sasuke was in a bad mood, he wasn't even sure why… Naruto hadn't even said anything offensive, in fact, what he had said was the truth. Though, in all honesty, the raven had had a short fuse with regards to the blond ever since he saw him with his arm around Sakura's waist. Why that bothered him however, he had no idea.

Without really noticing where he was going he rounded a corner and collided with someone else.

Just as the Uchiha was preparing to jump up and tell of that person, he noticed with a jolt who said person was. Yamanaka Ino… The raven froze; ready to run from his obsessive fangirl.

The blonde rubbed her head and looked up to see her assailant. Azure orbs widened at the sight that met her; a face that she never would have dreamed of seeing again.

"S-Sasuke…?" she asked, as though doubting her own eyes. Said boy nodded, he was confused, why hadn't she tried to jump him yet?

"Well, are you just going to stand there, or are you gonna help me up?" she demanded haughtily. Now this really caught him off guard, he had heard her use that tone with others, but never him. What had happened when he left! Tentatively, he offered a hand to her, which she readily accepted. Another thing… what was stopping her from getting up on her own!

Slowly she dusted off and straightened the lilac dress she was wearing and raised her head to examine him further. A large smile crept onto her face and she placed her hands on her hips.

"My, my, I never thought I'd see you again Sasuke! You look good!" she complimented, he wanted to disagree, he wanted to yell that he did not look good, he looked like him, and he was not good! Now it seemed it was his turn to look over her, despite the fact that her hair had grown longer and her face had a more womanly look to it, she appeared exactly as she had back then. Well… she had put on a little weight since then it seemed to him.

"You too," he lied; she had actually gained a lot of weight, gathered around her stomach.

"Thanks," she said, her smile softened as she rubbed tenderly at her gut. This action perplexed the raven, who was happy about gaining weight…?

"Ino!" a voice called, snapping Sasuke out of his musings. Shikamaru walked up and slung an arm around her shoulders. He then turned his intense chocolate gaze onto Sasuke.

"Uchiha," he greeted tersely, before returning his attention to the blonde beside him. The raven knit his brows in confusion, since when has Shikamaru been so interested in Ino…? This time he was brought back to reality by a soft hand on his shoulder, he turned to find himself face-to-face with Sakura.

"Oh good, you didn't wander too far," she smiled, greeting both Shikamaru and Ino in turn; "I guess you know their big news, eh?"

Sasuke shrugged, having no idea whatsoever as to what she's talking about. With a sneaky look directed to the other two, he gestured Sakura closer. He leaned so his lips were almost brushing her ear.

"Ino really let herself go," he informed the cherry blossom of his observation with a nod as though agreeing with himself. Much to his surprise instead of concurring with him, the kunoichi burst out in laughter. The raven turned a deep shade of crimson and tried to shut her up with a glare; this however, only seemed to increase her hysterics.

"She's not fat! She's pregnant!" the pink-haired ninja explained between boughts of giggles.

"Wha…" the Uchiha said dumbly, seemingly unable to process such a blow, "With who…?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "That would be me." Another shock sent the raven reeling. Everything was spinning; this wasn't how it was supposed to be! Sakura and Ino were supposed to be his fangirls! Fangirls don't get pregnant by other men! Don't get him wrong, he was happy for them… but still… It felt strange…

"I think you fried his brain," Shikamaru commented in amusement. A bypasser would probably say the same thing; Sasuke was standing there, not moving, barely breathing, his deep eyes glassed over and unseeing. The only sign that he wasn't dead was the rise and fall of his chest.

"Er… Sasuke?" the cherry blossom said, waving a slender hand in front of his eyes, trying to rouse a reaction. The raven shook his head, as though breaking from a trance.

"Yeah…?" he muttered, his eyes seemed to look right through her, to be honest, it was scary.

"W-We should go find Naruto, before he runs his tab too high, that it," he stammered, twining her fingers in the raven's and pulling him along after her. She waved goodbye to the couple and retraced her steps back to Ichiraku.

When they arrived Naruto was shoveling ramen in his mouth as fast as his hands would allow, a mountain of empty bowls were piling up beside him. Sakura sighed and moved to pull the blond away from his food.

"That's enough for you," she stated, keeping a vice grip on her boyfriend's ear. The blond whimpered pitifully, reaching half-heartedly for his latest dish, the cherry blossom swatted his hand down.

"Now how much did you eat?" she demanded, attempting to sound cross, but failing rather miserably. How could she stay mad when the blond in her grasp was staring, on the verge of tears, at his half-eaten noodles? It was just too cute. Sakura wasn't surprised when liquid cerulean eyes turned to her.

"B-But Sakura-cha-an! I'm hu-ungry!" the fox whined in his best little-kid voice. The cherry blossom sighed.

"Fine, but don't eat more than you can afford, I refuse to wash dishes with you again," the kunoichi yielded, barely restraining giggles as she remembered the last time that happened; she'd never look at spray air-freshener the same way again.

The blond whooped with joy and immediately returned to eating as soon as he was released.

Sakura turned to Sasuke and shrugged helplessly.

"I'll make us some breakfast?" she offered, the raven shook his head.

"I'm not hungry, besides, wouldn't it be lunch?" he asked, gesturing to the sun, now hanging at its highest point in the sky, just barely sinking to the west.

"Wow! We've been here for a while," she mused, "Though, with all that happened it didn't seem like so long…" She laughed, remembering the look of utter confusion on Sasuke's face at hearing Ino and Shikamaru's news. Priceless.

With that happy thought in mind the two left Naruto to continue with his eating; all the while Sasuke wondered what the hell that girl was grinning about.

Ayame looked to Naruto, her eyebrows drawn in worry.

"Naruto-kun… Do you…. think it's safe? I mean to have Sakura and Sasuke in the same house together? Alone? Didn't she used to have a thing for him?" the brunette asked wisely. The blond paused, noodles still dangling from his mouth, "Yeah, she did. Her and every other girl in Konoha, but they've all gotten over him and so has she!" Naruto exclaimed with more confidence than he honestly felt.

"I sure hope you're right…" Ayame muttered, not loud enough for the blond, who had resumed inhaling his ramen, to hear.

Though Naruto had tried to convince himself of Sakura's loyalty, which he really didn't doubt, but still… he couldn't seem to enjoy his meal anymore. With a goodbye to Ayame and after paying his bill (Good thing he stopped then, he wouldn't have been able to afford it for much longer… and Sakura said she wouldn't help this time…) the blond set off for the cherry blossom's house.

Doubts and accusations flew through his mind; turning even the most innocent gestures of kindness that Sakura had shown Sasuke into twisted inside jokes. Were they laughing at him? They probably were, 'That stupid Naruto, he doesn't suspect a thing.' Naruto seethed in anger, how dare they? Like he isn't even here!

He was so lost to his thoughts he failed to notice when he knocked someone over.

"Naruto? Is something wrong?" only when he heard the soft voice of Hinata Hyuuga did he turn.

"Oh! Hinata! I didn't see you there, here, let me help you up," the blond offered his hand, which the white-eyed girl accepted gratefully.

Naruto looked her up and down; she had changed so much. Gone was the stammering, self-conscious Hyuuga who hadn't even been able to stand in his presence for more than five minutes without turning beet red and rushing off. The blond believed it was the agreement with Neji Hyuuga that had boosted her self-esteem so.

"Naruto?"

Only then did he realize he'd been asked a question; "Er, no Hinata, nothing's wrong, I'm just going to Sakura-chan's house. Sasuke's back you know?"

Hinata bowed her head slightly at the mention of Sakura, but never failed to meet the blond's eyes.

"How are things with Sakura-san?" the Hyuuga asked politely. Naruto shook his head, a good-natured grin on his face.

"Oh, everything's great," he answered, "At least… I hope so…" The second part was so quiet that he was surprised when a look of understanding passed through pupil-less eyes.

"Naruto… You should put more trust in Sakura-san… she knows what she's doing," Hinata breathed, placed a hand on his shoulder, Naruto noticed it was shaking slightly, and smiled warmly.

Damn! How is it she can hit the nail right on the head like that! The blond mused, blushing from being found out so easily. But he nodded anyway; "Thank you Hinata-chan, you're right." This time it was Hinata's turn to flush.

"N-No, not at all," she stammered, okay, so maybe she was still a little shy. The Hyuuga put her index fingers together and fiddled with them nervously.

"Well, I really should be going though," the blond announced, turning and waving one last time over his shoulder. He straightened out and smiled, how is it that a confrontation with Hinata always made him feel so good?

"Good bye Naruto-kun…" Hinata sighed, turning to go her own way as well. It was strange, that Sasuke had returned out of the blue after so long. This trail of thoughts led of course to the issue of Sakura and Sasuke; after all, the cherry blossom hadn't stopped thinking about him for months after he left. Hinata remembered when Sakura would stand at the entrance of the village, day after day, week after week, month after month; only moving for the essentials. When asked why she was waiting, the cherry blossom would simply respond, 'He's coming back, and when he does, I want to be the first one he sees, because I… Never lost faith in him.'

Hinata smiled sorrowfully, she had been so happy when Naruto had announced that he had Sakura were a couple. Of course she had been, but that hadn't stopped part of her from… rebelling… Although, the good part was ever since she'd learnt the blond was off limits, it had become easier to talk to him.

White eyes turned to the vibrant blue sky, pale hands clasped together in a silent prayer.

"Naruto… Be careful… First loves never really die…" she spoke to the heavens, hoping that perhaps a stray breeze would carry her plea to Naruto's ears.

Trust me on that…

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Cliffhanger! No... Not really... Aw well... Hey! Some NaruHina action though! And Ino's pregnant! I have NO idea where that came from... Oo

Erm... I was wondering... Is anyone good at beta-ing...? Tys-chan does already... But I'd feel better with two... I'm rather self-conscious... Unless ya'll think I don't need it! nn

Until next time... This is your authoress:

--Saddie--