AN: Chapter 2... yeah.. not a lot to say.. again, I don't own the lyrics or Kishimoto-sama's characters.

Of all the things I've believed in
I just wanna get it over with
Tears form behind my eyes, but I do not cry..
counting the days to pass me by
I've been searching deep down in my soul
words that I'm hearing are starting to get old
feels like I'm starting all over again
Last three years were just pretend

and I said goodbye to you..
goodbye to everything that I knew..
you were the one I loved
the one thing I tried to hold onto...

I used to get lost in your eyes..
And it seems that I can't live a day without you.
closing my eyes and you chased my thoughts away
to a place where I am blinded by the light
but it's not right.

-Goodbye to you by Michelle Branch

Finishing his trip to the market, Sasuke returned home, still in a dark mood. He marched around the house, in what many would call, a childish temper tantrum. "Just who does she think she is!!" He raged to the empty mansion, still brooding over the easy way Kaiya had dismissed him.

Onyx eyes flashing, he resorted to taking his anger out on the food he was preparing as he proceeded to chop various vegetables for a salad. As he continued his chopping, he gradually felt his annoyance slipping away. After all, why should he give a damn? He had avoided the Aogiri girl like a plague for the last three years. Learning new routes to the deserted Uchiha compound, using the skills he was taught at the Academy to quickly change direction if he saw her coming. And if he was forced to come in contact with her, he easily condensed their conversations by holding the same passive look over his face and tone of voice, and speaking in shorter sentences than usual.

Realizing his evasion techniques sounded more like running away from something he was too afraid to face up to, he sneered at the tomato in front of him, cutting into it with a particularly violent thrust of the knife, leading to some of the tomato juice squirting onto his shirt. He glared at the unruly tomato as though today's events were the vegetables fault, and then at the unsightly spot on his shirt. He slammed the knife down on the kitchen counter before stomping off to his room to change shirts.

Exchanging his now soiled shirt with a new one that looked identical, the Uchiha couldn't help but remember the lonely and forlorn looks displayed in Kaiya's eyes throughout the years after a 'conversation' with him. Shoving his conscience aside as he always did in these types of situations, Sasuke grunted as he walked back into the kitchen, his footsteps echoing in the empty house.

The simple echoing silence of the deserted house would be enough to drive any normal person up the wall in a matter of weeks. When asked why he didn't just move into an apartment, Sasuke simply shrugged and said he liked the solitude. Although this wasn't far from the truth, there were other reasons why the young Uchiha chose to stay in this blood-stained house. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to move into an apartment, quite the contrary actually; he had been left as the financial heir of all the Uchiha clan's holdings. The primary reason for Sasuke's stationary habits were that the house simply contained too many memories to just leave it. (I know what you're thinking... Sasuke... sentimental... yeah right. Well let's just say there are some things in life that are too precious to let go of, no matter how cold of an exterior you might have...) Not all the memories were good ones, quite a few were nightmarish... but they were memories nonetheless.

He returned to the task of preparing his lunch silently; reviewing the Bunshin no jutsu in his mind. Sasuke was graduating at the top of his Academy class, and he couldn't help but wonder who he was going to be stuck with in his team for the rest of his genin career. "Oh God... not Ino..." he thought suddenly, cringing at the mental picture of the platinum blonde girl draping herself over his shoulders in classes. He could only imagine the horrors he'd experience on missions with her... "She'd probably molest me." His eye twitched at the thought as he shook his head to stop that particular train of thought. Mentally going through the list of people in his class, Sasuke finally reached the conclusion that it would be better if he was the only one on a team.

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A few months after the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, Kaiya made her way into the Academy classroom at the time she usually did. She walked into the room to find she wasn't alone. Sasuke sat in his seat, seemingly absorbed in a book about shuriken throwing techniques. Sitting down in her seat next to him, she glanced over at the black haired boy. The boy next to her stiffened as he became aware of her next to him. Her heart gave a pang as she realized Sasuke was making it very obvious that he was ignoring her as he doggedly stared at the book, not even glancing at her to acknowledge her. She tilted her chin a fraction of an inch, deciding that she would not allow him the satisfaction of him seeing her upset. Instead, she picked up her textbook and decided to read ahead.

When their sensei took them outside to work on a new jutsu he had begun teaching them that week, Kaiya had walked out with Hinata as Sasuke walked out followed by his entourage of fangirls. She scowled and glared at the ground. Hinata tore her gaze away from Naruto who was walking alone to look at her friend. "You sure you're all right Kaiya?" she asked, "You look like you're going to strangle someone."

"I feel like I'm going to strangle someone," Kaiya replied, sending a meaningful glare in the direction of the Uchiha boy. "But I practiced this jutsu all night, and when I upstage him at it, we'll see who's 'top in class'."

A frown tugged at Hinata's mouth, "Are you mad at him too now?" she questioned, "I thought he was being the insufferable one."

Kaiya sighed, "Not really mad... Just confused. He still hates me and I'm not sure why."

The class stopped their procession into the courtyard as their sensei turned towards them, "Okay... Naruto why don't you go first?" he suggested.

Naruto nodded, a bright grin on his face as he prepared to do the jutsu. "Concentrate now..." Their sensei reminded the energetic blonde.

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata thought, trying to telepathically send him the ability to pull off the jutsu.

After a few minutes, when nothing happened, their sensei sighed.. "...Keep trying, Naruto." he suggested, glancing over the student population. "Sasuke...Let's see it."

Sasuke took his place in the center, concentrating his chakra to the cheers of his many fangirls, while Kaiya tried to send curses his way.. "Come on.. Just make him mess up! Just once!! Please, Kami-sama! This is the only time I've ever actually wanted something this bad! Well...besides that one time I asked for Ami to get chickenpox...but nothing happened then, so you still owe me!!" Kaiya thought desperately.

A poof of smoke appeared, and where Sasuke had been standing a few minutes earlier, an almost-exact replica of their sensei had appeared. The only difference was the eye color... The replica's eyes still held Sasuke's black eyes, while their sensei's eyes were blue. "Great job, as usual Sasuke!" their sensei congratulated, as there was another poof of smoke and Sasuke re-appeared and walked back to his spot in the circle as a mob of girls crowded around to congratulate him, while Naruto and Kaiya glared. "Ok Sakura.. Let's see your henge no jutsu.."

The process went on for awhile before Kaiya was the only one left. "Okay Kaiya, you're turn." Their sensei said in an amiable tone of voice.. "I can totally do this!" Kaiya reassured herself.. "Sasuke was the best one out of everyone else...but I know I can even get the eye color right!" Performing the hand seals, a poof of smoke appeared, and a perfect mirror image of their sensei stood where Kaiya had moments before. "Amazing!" The sensei praised, as a smirking Kaiya reappeared.

"That was really good, Kaiya!" "I can't believe you did better than Sasuke-kun!" "You gotta show me how you did it!" Even Sasuke came over to her and told her, his voice rather emotionless, that she had done well. He didn't look at her while he said it, but instead kept his gaze fixed over her shoulder, and she could tell that he hadn't wanted to say it, and had only done it for the sake of good sportsmanship.

That hurt more than a slap would have, and Kaiya's bubble of happiness that she had been enjoying suddenly seemed to have been popped and deflated.

That's how life went for the rest of their academy years. The two ninjas in training had a power struggle going for the title of 'top in class'. As their rivalry wore on, Kaiya would attempt to make peace. Every once in awhile, Kaiya would try to talk to him, and he would brush her off. With an admirable doggedness, she kept at it. As she told Hinata, she had very few friends she could trust, and she refused to give up one of the best without a fight. Still, the attempts at friendly conversation came less and less frequently. She couldn't work up the motivation to try only to be looked through as though she were as boring and generally useless as a wall.

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"Kaiya, do you want to talk?" Her mother asked as she pushed open the door to her daughter's room, to find said daughter glaring holes into the ceiling. Kaiya shook her head in response. "It's Sasuke again isn't it?" Minami asked with a small sigh as she sat down next to her daughter. Not giving an answer, Kaiya merely continued glaring at the ceiling, pretending it was Sasuke's head. "Your father and I saw the pictures..." Minami tried again.

"I'm not a mental case, if that's what you're worried about." Kaiya responded, turning towards her mother.

Minami looked at her daughter, surprised to find a rebellious tear falling down her cheek. "Why is he such a jerk?! Why can't he just acknowledge me?!" the young girl cried, grabbing a pillow from behind her and screaming into it in frustration. Minami rubbed her daughter's back soothingly, "Well... sometimes people who lose people close to them need time to heal..."

"He must need a lot of time." Kaiya scoffed, recalling how the last three years had seemingly dragged on.

A small smile tugged Minami's lips, "Bigger wounds do seem to need more time..."

Kaiya sighed, blowing a strand of bangs out of her face as she flopped back onto her bed. "I guess."

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The next morning came quickly, as Kaiya shuffled towards the Academy with Hinata, her excitement about finally graduating dampened by yesterday's events.

Pearl white orbs turned to work worriedly at her companion. "Kaiya?" Hinata asked quietly, drawing her best friend out of her brooding thoughts of Sasuke.

"Mm?" Kaiya asked, bringing her attention to the timid girl.

"You just seem distracted is all..."

Kaiya shrugged in response, looking up at the bright blue sky. "It's nice out today. Perfect weather for graduating, right?" She said, a bright grin across her features.

Not fooled by her friend's attempts at changing the subject, a frown tugged at Hinata's mouth, "You did the right thing... you know." she started, "I mean with Sasuke-san..."

The smile left the silver-eyed girl's face, as she sighed. "I guess. Let's hurry up...Maybe you'll be able to catch Naruto on the way into class!" she said, the grin re-appearing.

AN: yeah.. I think I liked the last chapter better.. -sweatdrop- anyway.. i'm trying to think of a way to skip from the first day of being genins (the explanatory meeting from Iruka) to when Sasuke left.. and I really need suggestions.. please help : ( xD