A/N: Now did you all think I'd leave you with such a downer chapter over Christmas? :P Howdeedoodee? Kk. I needed to write something with a lighter mood compared to the last one. Merry Christmas everyone! I pigged out! Now I hate myself for eating so much (doom and gloom)

I love foreshadowing! :D It makes me giddy! :3

See ya'll in the new year! (?) HUGS AND KISSES FOR EVERYONE!

*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*

BEFORE THE WORST

A Possibly, Maybe, Not Really, Most Likely Epiphany

Maybe it was too much of her to ask the fates to give her a break. Seriously! Just when you think things don't get any worse, they totally do!

"I can't believe Pops would do this to me!" She grumpily walked with a destination in mind. The blonde tightened her fist in an effort to relieve some of her tension. This couldn't be happening! Naruto didn't understand why they had to move down to Iwa for literary research. It was the age of technology for Pete's sake! Jiraiya could use the internet! She didn't know anybody in Iwa! How would she ever learn to 'love it there' (as Jiraiya so kindly put it)! Suddenly the weight of the situation crashed down on her. The blonde child groaned as she pulled the two short pigtails atop her blond chin-length hair and crouched low on the ground.

"How am I going to tell Sasuke?" She sombrely asked herself. It had only been two months since Aunt Mikoto and Uncle Fugaku passed away. That was barely enough time for Sasuke (and for her as well) to move on. Now she had to be the bearer of bad news and tell her bestest best bud in the whole world that she was leaving for a year (if research went smoothly) or two. Naruto let go of her hold on her hair and opted to wrap her arms around her knees. Somehow, her mind ventured into a more gloomy thinking process. Sasuke had somewhat changed hadn't he? Scarce were the days where she would catch her raven-haired friend letting loose. Banters were down to an all time low. There were significantly lesser smiles, less laughing, less shine in Sasuke's eyes. Undoubtedly, Sasuke was still Sasuke; but he wasn't the same Sasuke at the same time.

Did that even make sense?!

"Ugh. I'm giving myself a headache." She stood up and continued her journey to Kakashi's home where Sasuke had been staying for the past two months. Now just because Sasuke was living with Kakashi didn't mean that the Uchiha residence had become an old abandoned house which kids could spread ghost rumours about. It was actually still very well maintained (thanks to one lazy-looking Uchiha neighbour). The young Uchiha could enter and stay there whenever he pleased.

Speaking of the Uchiha residence, here it was now.

Naruto cautiously looked at the beautiful and polished abode. No one would ever think that a tragedy could ever occur at such a fine-looking place. The blonde took this time to pause and simply gaze at the property. She gripped onto one of the steel metal bars of the gate and started pondering. It was weird that even after years of having Sasuke for a best friend, she'd never actually stepped foot inside of the house. She'd only ever seen it from outside the gates. It was Sasuke who usually visited her and not the other way around. Come to think of it, amongst all the other members of the Uchiha family, Naruto was only actually close with Sasuke's mom. She'd seen Sasuke's dad only a handful of times during Parent-Teacher conferences; never actually spoke to him but offered the man a cute smile or two every time she did get to see him. Sasuke's brother, if memory served her right, she'd never seen at all.

"Sasuke's family huh..." What broke her heart the most was the fact that Sasuke was now orphaned and the only other family member still alive refused to return home to Konoha for reasons unknown to her. Sasuke spoke so very fondly about his older brother not too long ago. Funny that now, Sasuke all but recognized his brother's existence. It was just sad how their family was reduced to such a state.

"Hm. I wasn't expecting to find you here." Naruto, snapping out of musings, gazed to her right and found Kakashi casually standing a few metres away from her. "I see we're still sticking with the tomboy look? If you want Sasuke to notice you then you better start preening yourself a bit, Naruto." Kakashi teased the blonde in a joking manner. Of course, Naruto was quick to react.

"What do you mean by that, you greying old man?! Don't say disgusting things! Like I want Sasuke to notice me! Get real!" The denial was rendered useless judging by the bright shade of crimson across Naruto's cheeks. Kakashi could only smile at the girl's flustered look. It was clear to the high school teacher that Naruto wouldn't be able to figure out her feelings on her own. Although, to her defense, there had been some progress with regards to her reactions when Sasuke was around; that was a good thing. He promised to let things flow as they should but there was absolutely nothing wrong with, oh let's say, hinting Naruto to the right direction.

Kakashi smirked behind his scarf when a sly idea popped into his head. "Hmm. You're right. Sasuke sees you as just his best friend. He'd probably be more into Sakura." Had Kakashi blinked, he would definitely have missed it. For a split-second, Naruto had looked hurt by what the teacher had said. The blonde wavered slightly as she attempted to recover by sticking her nose up into the air. "Y-y-yeah. I mean no - No! I mean he'd probably like Sakura someday but not now..."

Oh, Kakashi was loving this!

"Who'd probably like Sakura?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Kakashi and Naruto would know that voice anywhere. Sasuke stood casually with both hands inside his pockets as he regarded the others passively.

Kakashi decided to fill his ward in. "Oh, Naruto and I were just talking about your future relationship with Saku-"

"No! We weren't talking about you! Not at all! In fact, because we weren't talking about you, we decided to just stop talking altogether. Of course, we're not stopping because we were actually talking about you, because we totally weren't. We were talking about Sakura and her possible relationship with a person, not you by the way, we have no complete relations with. So yeah! We weren't talking about you." Naruto should've probably just shut up after her second sentence.

The girl's rambling had Sasuke raising an eyebrow but did not respond accordingly as Naruto had expected. She looked on at the boy with mild hope that maybe he was just thinking up a good insult towards her intelligence. Seconds passed and when none came, she let her shoulders droop in disappointment. See? Changed.

Kakashi, who was quick to save everyone from the awkward silence, voiced out the first question that came to mind. "Naruto, what were you doing staring at the Uchiha house?"

Thank the heavens Kakashi was here!

"Mmm. No reason. I just got distracted is all. I'm actually here to talk to..." Crap. That's right. She needed to break the news to Sasuke. Crapcrapcrapcrap!

"Talk to?" Kakashi further prodded.

God damn it! Kakashi wasn't helping! She needed a bit more time to think up a way to tell Sasuke!

"Errr. Talk to... uhh." Naruto kept glancing at everything except towards the two people in front of her. Think, think, think! Come on, Naruto! "I wanted to—you see, I was thinking... maybe...urgh!" As she was comically mumbling to herself, she caught a glimpse of her best friend from her periphery. Her eyes must've been playing tricks on her; because for a split-second there, she thought she saw what looked like a ghost of a smile on Sasuke's face. The blond did a double take only to find that the supposed smile was no longer there, only to be replaced by the usual look of cold indifference.

Shame.

She hadn't seen Sasuke smile in a long while.

"Sasuke, I need to talk to you." She said in earnest. Kakashi sensed the serious turn Naruto's voice had taken and chose this time to excuse himself. The man decided to return to his dwelling place to wait things out. Dusting the Uchiha residence could wait. What Naruto had to say seemed far more important than some trivial chore.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke asked once Kakashi was out of earshot. His tone, despite being monotonous, had a tinge of concern laced within it. It was good to know that Naruto's Sasuke wasn't completely lost to the world. She smiled at the good possibility that this phase Sasuke was going through would pass; she'd make sure of it. Someone so indescribably special to her shouldn't have to go through life this way.

"Your mind wandering again?" He said in a somewhat teasing tone. Scratch that. There was a very good possibility that Sasuke would get through this. He just needed some time.

...

And, maybe, the right person to break the walls he built.

At that exact same moment, Naruto had an epiphany.

Suddenly, she felt something tap her forehead. "Hey!" The blonde complained out loud. She was having an epiphany, damn it!

"What did you want to say?"

Oh ... right. The question pulled her back down to reality; the reality that she would be leaving Sasuke for at least a year. God. A year without Sasuke? How would she manage?

"So Jiraiya spoke to me this morning about something you might ... not be too pleased about." She started off. Okay, she'd established that it was bad news. Now she just had to carry on from there. So far, no response from Sasuke; that meant she had to continue. "You see, Sasuke, Uncle J needs to do some research down at Iwa..." She needn't say more. Her best friend was quick to piece the puzzle together.

"You're leaving." It was not a question; it was a statement. A statement said with such restrained sadness, anger and confusion.

"For at least a year... Yes."

"So that's it? You didn't try to convince Jiraiya otherwise?" Sasuke had said this in a slightly strangled voice. It was evident to her that Sasuke was hurting all over again yet masked it with default anger.

" 'Course I tried! Whaddya you think I've been trying to do all this time?! It's not like I wanted this, Sasuke!" Bursting out in defensive anger was probably not the best way to resolve the sensitive situation the two young teenagers were currently in. It is a life fact that portraying any sort of anger never did any good for anyone. After Naruto's accidental outburst, she received a passive-aggressive glare from the orphaned boy. He gave a noncommittal grunt, turned about face, and walked away. Immediately, Naruto felt her stomach drop.

No...

He'd never walked away from her before.

She didn't want to leave Konoha when she and Sasuke were parting on this note.

"Sasuke, hear me out."

Thankfully, Sasuke listened and halted his tracks. The boy kept his back towards the girl and remained silent; so there he stood, waiting for Naruto to say her piece.

"You know I'd like nothing more than for me to stay by your side. You're... really important to me, Sasuke." Really important, that was one way to word it. "But Jiraiya seemed really set on this. You should've seen the way his face lit up when he told me the news. Of course I went on ahead and lashed out at him but... Sasuke, he really wants to do this. I tried to convince him to stay but you know the old coot. He's pretty damn stubborn... and I don't want to be so selfish that I'd keep him from doing what he loves. Besides, we'll only be gone for a year or so."

With every word Naruto uttered, Sasuke visibly tensed. God damn Naruto and her guilt-tripping ways. Guess Sasuke was beat (although he'd never openly admit it). He faced her once again with a look of glum understanding.

"When do you leave?" Sasuke took a few steps towards the girl to close their distance somewhat.

"We're flying out tomorrow morning. Leave it to that old man to tell me at the last minute. I had to pack the important stuff like crazy fast..." She rolled her eyes as she grumbled her complaints. Sasuke nodded at the information that was relayed to him. That just meant that he'd make the most of their last few hours together.

"You said a year at the least?" Sasuke asked so he could start counting down the days.

"Yeah. Our stay there depends on whether his research goes well or not."

Sasuke passed by Naruto to get to the gates of his original home. He took the few seconds to let reality sink in. The teen internally sighed. There was no helping it. It looked like Jiraiya and Naruto had made their respective choices. Naruto was right at least; it was only for a year. Of course, timing was definitely off but what was he to do. He just simply had to suck it in. It wasn't like he was a stranger to loneliness. "Hn. Make sure you help that old man with his research then. Personally, I'd much rather you stay here because... " Sasuke paused causing Naruto to still her breathing. "You're really important to me too, moron."

Sasuke's admission, coupled with the fact that this had been the most he'd said in months, had her assume an ear-splitting grin. She rushed towards him and gave him a tight embrace.

"Heck, I'll make it so we come back in six—no- three – no – a month! A week! I promise I'll be back before you know it!" She tightened her hold, with absolutely no intent of letting go.

"Hn."

Remember that epiphany Naruto was having not too long ago?

Heh.

You see, she may possibly, maybe, not really, most likely have a teeny tiny eensy-bitsy crush on her best friend.

As she kept her arms around Sasuke's waist, she felt something tug at one of her pigtails.

"This is new. I just noticed that you were growing your hair..." He lightly toyed with Naruto's somewhat tamed spikes. "Looks good."

Scratch that. She possibly, maybe, not really, most likely had a big ginormous crush on her best friend.

"Took you that long to notice, jerk?" She attempted to joke with the young Uchiha like they used to. Hey. Sasuke was actually speaking sentences right now. She took advantage of the situation and sought to get the boy to banter with her. However, Sasuke simply blinked in response. Well, Naruto would take what she could get.

"Sasuke, whether I'm physically here or not, I'll always be here for you. Whether you like it or not, jerk. 'Course, it would make it easier for me if you just let me be there for you. When something's troubling you, just gimme a call, kay?" She chose this moment to rest her head onto Sasuke's shoulder. Unfortunately for Naruto, she didn't get to see the genuine smile that formed on Sasuke's good-looking features. Hn. This was what he got for getting such an obnoxious loud klutz of a best friend.

"Whatever, loser."

Don't keep me waiting for too long.