AUTHOR'S SAY ABOUT AN ERROR IN ACT 7: Woops! I forgot about Sakura's coma! Sorry 'bout that! Well anyway, give me a bit of time to explain that one, as I missed it unintentionally.

In the series, Tsunade was the only one who was able enough to heal those who have been under the Mangekyou Sharingan's 'coma' and 'hypnosis'. These people were Kakashi and Sasuke. If you don't remember, Tsunade even made a remark to Kakashi that he disappointed her and thought that he was somewhat 'stupid' for falling into such a coma by a flimsy look from Itachi's eyes.

So here, after Sakura got into the coma stages, Tsunade healed her student immediately, and voila! Like magic, Sakura's fine!

If you have any questions regarding the story, please don't be hesitant to ask. I won't bite your head off, don't worry.

(Previously)

"I have a few questions to ask you." Sasuke simply said, "I hope you don't mind."

Naruto found the remote control to the TV and turned it off. He turned to his teammate, his 'brother', Uchiha Sasuke, with a serious face.

"Questions? About what?" Naruto asked.

"You mean about whom." Sasuke corrected.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, about whom then?"

"About Sakura." Sasuke answered.

Naruto was a bit shocked when Sasuke said the name of their pink-haired teammate.

(Act 8 – Wordless Thoughts)

Naruto looked away, "After insulting her in our fight, now you ask about her?"

--- FLASHBACK ---

Naruto was bruised and bloody, stood up with the aid of Sai.

Sasuke lunged towards Sai with a katana but Sai used his own sword to fend off Sasuke.

"I can't believe you were my replacement." Sasuke mocked, "How could a weakling like you replace an undefeatable like me?"

"Don't feel so proud," Sai faked a smile, like he always did, "someone is stronger than I am… and that person is possibly stronger than you as well!"

"Sai let me take care of him!" Naruto shouted as he stood up on spaghetti legs.

Yamato and Kakashi have been defeated earlier, and now, it's all up to a badly wounded Sai and an exhausted, beat up and wounded Naruto to finish the job.

"Don't you remember me from our last encounter 8 years ago?" Sai still held up his fake smile, "I was supposed to be an underling for Orochimaru, like you. But… because of Naruto-kun's encouraging and Sakura-san's endless support and faith to me… I was able to turn my back to him and face the reality. Naruto-kun and Sakura-san are stronger than I am… and they're stronger than you!"

Sasuke's rage burned up all the more, he was finally able to push his sword in a more pressured forward motion, sweeping Sai of his feet.

"Come back to Konoha now, Sasuke!" Sai's smile turned to a thin line on his lips. His eyes glistened with fury and determination, "Sakura-san has been waiting for you to come back!"

"And who is this Sa-ku-ra-san?" Sasuke syllabicated, mocking each syllable of Sakura's name, "To influence you like that and to wait for me… she must be wimpy! …and wimpy idiots like you deserve to die!"

Sasuke raised his sword and was about to stab Sai in his heart but by instinct, Sai rolled away.

Naruto heard what Sasuke said, "What? Sakura-chan? Wimpy, you say? What Sai said was true, Sasuke-teme… Sakura-chan is stronger than you! And she has been waiting for you for 10 years to come back to us!"

"How about a deal?" Sasuke hissed arrogantly, "Once I kill you guys, I'll go back to Konoha and kill this Sakura. There, happy? So that she won't have to wait for me anymore! She sounds so… disgusting!"

"SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto shouted as he lunged towards Sasuke.

The Uchiha swung his sword and blood has tainted its blades as it pierced through flesh.

Sai was in between Naruto and Sasuke, taking the blow from the sword.

With a wobbling hand, Sai dug the blade of Sasuke's sword deeper, as the tip of the sword protruded out of his left shoulder blade. Sai choked out blood but with his other hand, he secured Sasuke's hand to hold on tightly to the sword.

Using the same hand he used earlier to dig the blade deeper into his flesh, he collected the blood dripping on the side of his mouth. He then drew a snake on the blade of the sword, his blood serving as the ink.

Gathering all of the chakra left in his system, Sai did handseals as fast as he could with only one hand. The snake he drew came to life and wrapped its body around Sai's hand secured on Sasuke's hand which was gripping the sword.

"Naruto-kun, DO IT NOW!" Sai's eyesight was blurring, and then he smiled again, "I hope… we get him this time."

--- END OF FLASHBACK ---

"I thought Sai would die at that moment." Naruto's fists clenched, "Sakura-chan was the one who changed him. And he believed in her abilities… and for you to mock her like that… for him, it was too unforgivable."

Sasuke's eyes twitched at those words.

Naruto sighed, "I've seen her helpless so many times, I know her loyalty for you… if you would tell her to prove her love for you by taking her own life, I'm sure she'll take it for your own happiness. But right now, she… I know deep inside her soul, she still wants to see you but…"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "It might sound weird, but she never wanted to see you ever again. According to her, you ruined her life. You made her hope for nothing. I loved Sakura-chan… as a friend — no, almost like my sister. And… I just wanted to prove her wrong – that hoping isn't that bad. She hoped for your return and all of her hopes were wasted. Yes, I admit, it was stupid for her to hope, but I hoped for your return as well. Just to prove to her that all her hopes were not wasted, I brought you back here… even if I did break your bones and endangered some of my and her friends."

"How long did she stop hoping?" Sasuke asked.

"Quite a long time now… Almost a year, I guess." Naruto sighed, "Look, can we talk about this some other time?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to know now."

"Want to know what?"

"I wanted to know why she still waited for me… and why she stopped waiting." Sasuke looked away… obviously uncomfortable in this conversation.

Naruto noticed this – of course, the eye of an upcoming Hokage has been chiseled to know even the mood of whom he is talking to. Tsunade taught him that one, since it was very important, most especially during Class-S conferences.

But right now, this is no Class-S conference… this was a casual conversation, and Naruto guessed it right – talking about Sakura was very much uncomfortable for Sasuke. Naruto can go on for hours talking about his pink-haired 'sister' but knowing his 'brother', he can't do that. He has to stop at some point, right?

"I think you shouldn't know much about her sorrows." Naruto looked at the stormy skies outside his windows, "It's very unnerving in your case. It's not like you – yes, let's put it that way."

"Then, what is like me?"

"Don't you hate her?" Naruto's eyes cringed a bit, his closed fists now trembling, "Even 10 years back, I know you always push her off. And now that she detached herself from you, you're the one trying to figure her out? You mocked her, you disregarded her feelings… you made her unhappy for 10 years, and now you ask me that?"

Sasuke was silenced.

"Don't you get the point, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto said through gnashed teeth, "Why she waited for you, why she stopped hoping, why she stopped waiting for you… all of them have one very exact reason!"

Looks like stopping at some point failed – Naruto has to continue.

Naruto then glared at Sasuke straight in the eye, "That's because she loves you, you insensitive bastard!"

The upcoming Rokudaime loosened his fists and tried to regain his composure. He reached for the remote control and turned the TV on again. Sounds of laughter from the sitcom Naruto had been watching reverberated in the room.

"She waited for you because she loves you. She believes you'll return one day and be with her. She believes that when you return… you will be more capable of love. But then again, she stopped hoping and waiting with the same reason – because she loves you. She realized that after 10 years of your absence, you'll never return to Konoha. She believed in what you believed in, instead of pursuing her own beliefs that you'll be here to be with her. After all, you never said anything about being with somebody. She then just put in mind that if she loves you, then she should just leave you alone… what makes you happy should make her happy, too. After she let go of you, she experienced temporary happiness… freedom embraced her again, joy, serenity and the come-what-may attitude was brought back to her. She was the genuine Haruno Sakura again."

Naruto flicked through the channels in TV and continued, "But then I brought up the topic of bringing you back here a month ago. The genuine Haruno Sakura had gone at that very moment… I'm sure, memories of you haunted her. She begged me to stay until my inauguration but I refused. I promised her 10 years ago that I'll bring you back here no matter what, and unless that promise is fulfilled, I won't take my seat as Rokudaime Hokage. And now that you're here… I'm starting to think my decision was wrong."

The blonde sighed and looked at the tree violently swaying near his window as it fought the strong winds that threatened to tear it apart. His cerulean orbs filled with sadness and guilt, "She's hiding behind a fake smile again. She's living the nightmare again…"

Sasuke looked at his saddened teammate.

"Sakura-chan told me you'll be staying here longer than I would." Naruto faked a grin, and amazingly, he did it pretty well, "So you should wait until I officially become the Hokage next week. I'll issue an order to make you a freeman… I'll allow you to leave Konoha and pursue your vengeance, or whatever is that you're pursuing… I won't label you as a missing-nin, and if you want, I can even remove your citizenship from Konoha, and just make you… just make you somebody we don't know… if it will make you happy, I bet Sakura will be back to normal again if you go… she'll need not worry about you anymore! And you'll be able to accomplish your goals! And I don't need to drag you here again! See? Everybody happy, neh?"

Then, Naruto's grin turned upside down, "I'm serious about that. So I want you to think about it thoroughly, so I can prepare your papers."

With that said and done, Sasuke stood up and left.

Naruto sighed audibly and went back to the channel of his favorite sitcom. His face stoic, but his eyes glistened with worry. He bit his lower lip and looked at his injuries, "All these and I put the lives of Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou and Sai at risk… and this is what I can think of to make everyone happy?"

He ruffled his hair and plopped down on his bed, hugging one pillow tightly with one arm.

"I guess I'm a bastard too. I really am a dobe." Naruto's thoughts concluded.

TBC…
--- --- --- --- ---
Sakura seems like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed after seeing that Sai was in her room. Sai had begun annoying her again. But then again, their conversation lands into much more intense topics.

Act 9: Cracks on the Porcelain Mask

"… I'm sure Naruto will do something about this matter soon enough."
-Haruno Sakura

A/N: Yes, for those fellas who haven't read the part in the manga wherein there was a Sasuke and Sai encounter, well, I'm not making that up, just so you know.

Anyway… I'M SO SORRY FOR THE MEGA LATE UPDATE!!! Gomenasai! T.T Well, I'm still trying to bat off the writer's block I have for Unfaithful… And hopefully, it's gradually wearing off.

I love to hear from you guys. :D REVIEW!!!

+Releina Artemis+