I'm not sure if everybody is liking how the story is going. Please review and tell me what you're thinking! Anyway, the next chapter might not be up for a little while, but I'll try hard to get it up within the next 4 days.

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: All Needed Proof

"Could it be, suddenly, I'm falling for you."

"Kalei Hitsuchi."

"That's what she said her name was?"

"Hn."

Naruto shrugged. "Don't know her." He scratched his head and sighed. Him and Sasuke had just got done eating at Ichiraku Ramen and were sitting on the stools, talking about last night. "Well, I'm surprised she told you her name...even though you two are playing some weird honesty game thing?"

Sasuke took a drink of his tea. I was surprised, too. "Well, it was about time."

"Naruto! Sasuke!"

Both of them turned around to see Ino and Shikamaru standing behind them. "Well, Sasuke. Long time, no see." Shikamaru said, smirking at the Uchiha. Sasuke nodded.

"Hey guys. What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, spinning his stool around. Shikamaru sighed.

"We were just on our way to see Kurenai, when we ran into Sakura." Shikamaru muttered. He playfully shoved Ino with his shoulder and groaned, causing Ino to giggle. "Of course, being a girl, Ino could tell something was wrong with Sakura and decided to try and help her."

Something was wrong? Sasuke spun his stool around slowly and narrowed his eyes.

"Naturally though...Sakura wasn't so eager to tell Ino anything." Shikamaru finished. Ino glared at him and squealed.

"Oh, Shikamaru! She didn't want to tell me anything because you were there. Girls need to talk to other girls...in private. You couldn't understand." She said, turning to Sasuke and Naruto. "Do either of you two know whats wrong?" She asked quickly.

Sasuke shrugged as he noticed Naruto glancing at him.

"Sasuke did you say anything to upset her?" Naruto asked him.

"Hn." He shook his head. If anyone was hurt from the last conversation him and Sakura had...it was him. But still, he had walked away so fast, he didn't really bother to see if she was upset or not.

"Well, whatever. It's all too troublesome for me. Ino, we have to go!" Shikamaru said as he walked away.

"Oh-uh...yeah...see you, Sasuke!" Ino called as she started walking next to Shikamaru.

Naruto jumped off his stool and glared at Sasuke. "You did do something to Sakura, didn't you?" Sasuke shot his head toward Naruto and glared back at him.

"No, loser. I didn't."

"You're lying, bastard."

Sasuke grunted. "I'm not."

"You can't just go hurting her feelings, Sasuke! Don't you care about her?"

"Do you like Sakura Haruno?"

"No!" Sasuke shouted, startling Naruto. He took a deep breathe and ran a hand through his hair. "Her feelings have nothing to do with me. I thought I made it clear I that I was only staying for training."

Naruto's glare returned and he started growing angry. You bastard, Sasuke!!! "You can't ignore her for the time being!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Naruto had a point, though. Eventually, he'd run into Sakura...and what would he say? Their last conversation didn't end well. Sasuke exhaled a deep breath and stood up. "Fine. I'll go talk to her."

Naruto's eyes widened. "O-okay..." Wow, that was easier than I thought.

Sasuke started walking away as he heard Naruto call to him.

"You better not make her cry again, Sasuke!"

I'm not going to try to, Naruto.

"Yes, thank you Lady Tsunade." Sakura said, smiling. She bowed her head as the Hokage frowned at her from behind her desk.

"You feel better?" She asked curiously, grabbing the sake bottle from the corner of her desk and putting it to her lips. Sakura nodded. "Shizune!" Tsunade bellowed. Her door flew open, and her assistant, Shizune, ran into the room.

"Y-yes, Lady Tsunade?" She stammered breathlessly.

Tsunade chuckled and sipped the sake. "I want you to look into some missions for Sakura, preferably ANBU ones. She's feeling restless after being so sick."

Correction, I'm feeling so restless after what happened with Sasuke! "Yes." Sakura said sweetly.

Shizune nodded and ran back out of the room. "It may be a day or two until we find a good, lengthy mission for you, Sakura." Tsunade murmured and sighed. "But, I want you to know...if you're not feeling well, you'll only make this mission more difficult for your other team members."

"Y-Yes, I know this, Lady Tsunade."

"Well, okay then-"

Tsunade's door knob clicked and it slowly started opening. Once fully open, you could see someone standing in the doorway.

"Hope I'm not interrupting, Lady Hokage." The person spoke.

Tsunade groaned and stood up, gesturing for her guest to come in. "No...not exactly. Kalei, come in."

Kalei slowly walked through the doorway and shut the door behind her. She walked up to the Hokage's desk and handed her an important looking paper. Sakura just watched Kalei. She looked so professional. Sakura envied her.

She had always wanted to be in the ANBU. She felt she could accomplish more there. As she watched Kalei stand there so professional and focused, her desire grew.

"Yo, Sakura." Kalei said, turning to look at her. "Why are you staring at me?"

Oh wow. Embarassing. Sakura's face reddened and she started laughing nervously. "I didn't mean to...sorry."

"Good, Kalei. So I'll assume he's behaving?" Tsunade asked abruptly, eying the papers. Kalei nodded.

"He?" Sakura asked curiously. Tsunade looked up at her.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sakura's heart jumped. Kalei was the ANBU assigned to keep an eye on Sasuke? And Kalei didn't bother to tell her while she was sick? "You're...his g-guard?" Sakura stuttered, bewildered.

Kalei nodded. "Well, thanks Kalei. I'll be expecting the next report in three days." Tsunade said, sitting back down in her chair. "You both are dismissed. Sakura, I'll get back to you later."

Both girls nodded and bowed their heads. Slowly they turned and walked out the door.

When they were in the hallway alone, walking toward the exit, something felt extremely out of place. Why hadn't Kalei told her? Why hadn't Sasuke told her? Well, then again, maybe Sasuke didn't know that Sakura even knew Kalei. But Kalei knew all about Sakura's feelings for Sasuke...so why hadn't she mentioned anything about this?

"Kalei." Sakura said, stopping. Kalei took a few more steps then stopped to look back at her. "Why didn't you mention anything about Sasuke?" She said, swallowing hard.

Kalei sighed. "It's no big deal, Sakura. Are you worried about something?" She asked, causing Sakura's brow to furrow.

"No..." Yes. Sakura bit her lip. She didn't want to assume anything.

"Don't worry. To tell you the truth..."

Sakura watched Kalei strain herself for the words.

"...I hate that guy."

Sakura's mouth fell open. Hate him?

Kalei giggled at Sakura's expression. "He's...so..." She scratched her head. "Well it doesn't matter. Does that answer your question?"

Sakura slowly nodded, and Kalei turned around and started walking off. But why? She barely knows him. Hate's such a strong word...and Kalei didn't seem like somebody to use it so recklessly. Still, unfortunately...it wasn't her business.

Damnit, where was she? Sakura's sure hard to find when you need her. Sasuke was walking down the street to her house. It was around 7 o'clock. He figured she'd be home. He slowly approached her door and stood there. Did he really want to knock? Did he really want to have to face her? What would he say? Maybe this was a bad idea...

"Sasuke?"

He spun around, almost losing his balance, to see a puzzled Sakura eyeing him. Wow, did he feel stupid.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Looking for you. Why the hell else would I be standing in front of your door?" He snapped. He hadn't sounded to be so cruel, but it was the first thing he could think of to regain a little dignity. Somehow, he didn't think standing in front of Sakura's house like a lost puppy looked like something he'd do.

Sakura frowned. "I was at the Hokage's office. What did you need?"

He let out a giant sighed. "I came to see if something was wrong."

She let her graze drift to the floor. She felt really insecure talking to Sasuke right now. She actually felt really bad about the things she said to him the night before. "Well, nothing's wrong. I'm okay."

"Then look at me."

Her eyes widened, causing her to focus more on the ground in front of her. "W-why?"

"To prove to me nothing is wrong. You make it pretty obvious when you stare at the floor." He said, taking a step toward her.

She shook her head and looked off to the side. "I'm not staring at the floor."

"But you're still not looking at me."

She bit her lip as he took another step toward her. He was now right in front of her, staring at her with those emotionless eyes. The hair on the back of her neck started to stand up. He's so close.

He, too, felt nervous about their proximity. He wasn't sure why he kept stepping closer to her, but his body just kept moving. He slowly lifted his hand and gently laid his first two fingers underneath her ear. He traced them down her jawline and dipped his hand under her chin and positioned her head so she was staring right at him, her face red and flushed.

"Sakura."

She swallowed hard. "Sasuke, I'm sorry for what I said last night. I didn't mean it." She muttered. His mind was racing as a look of slight surprise crossed his face. "I was never upset with you for leaving me there all alone that night. I just...wished you to come back." A tear slowly fell from her eye, causing Sasuke's throat to tighten.

Why did he feel so...bad?

"...for leaving me there all alone..."

Something in his chest started aching. He knew loneliness. He knew how that felt. Did he really make her go through that?

"Sakura."

Her eyes widened. She was waiting for him to yell at her...or say something like 'you know I'm only back for a while'...but instead, he removed his hand from under her chin and gave her a sympathetic look. His voice was low as he spoke.

"I'm back."

Sasuke reached his house after a long, slow walk home. His heart was racing. After he told her he was back, he couldn't find the right words to say. He simply told her that her apology was accepted and that she should go inside and get some sleep. After that, he said goodbye and walked away. It was awkward, this feeling. He couldn't quite explain it.

"Hey you. Where ya been?" Somebody called out from his rooftop. It was Kalei.

"Nowhere imparticular. But speaking of that, wouldn't you know? Aren't you suppose to be watching me?"

He heard her giggle. "I trust you. Say, get up here, Uchiha."

Well, tonight was full of surprises. He jumped onto his roof and seen Kalei laying down, palms behind her head. He sat down beside her and looked up into the sky as the gentle breeze chilled his skin.

"You know what?" She asked, sitting up. He looked at her. At her mask. "It's my turn. I have a question for you." She finished.

"Hn."

She sighed and looked away. "Honestly, I want you to tell me what you think of me."

His eyes widened. "What do you care?"

"Well, in all honesty, I'm not sure if I do, but that doesn't mean I can't be curious."

A small chuckle escaped him. Wow, so this is a totally pointless question. "I think you're annoying and childish. You do things spontaneously and don't take your job seriously...you-"

"I do to take my job seriously!" She looked at him...probably glaring. Not that he could tell or anything with that damn mask on her face.

"No, or you'd be following me like you're supposed to be." He countered.

"Shut up, stupid. You just want me to be around you more, huh?" She said jokingly, and started giggling.

"Maybe."

Her giggling stopped as she noticed his face was serious. After a minute of silence passed, Sasuke cleared his throat.

"It's my turn." He said softly. Kalei nodded.

He had been thinking about this question all day long. He needed to word it just right.

"What does your face look like?"

She giggled and looked at him. "Answer honestly." He said, once more. He knew what kind of answer she'd give...it's the same way all girls describe themselves. She'd fall right into his trap.

"Oh, it's beautiful."

Perfect. He was expecting her to call herself ugly trying to be modest...but not Kalei. She was the definition of conceited. Either way, she said exactly what he wanted her to say.

"In order to answer a question like that...which you did...I need proof...or you could be lying." He said, a smirk crawling across his face as he noticed her fists clench at her sides.

"Thats trickery, Uchiha." She said angrily.

"Doesn't matter. You have to take off that mask."

She shook her head. "N-no..I...I c-can't." Was he imagining it? Was she getting nervous?

"But you said you look 'beautiful'...I'll tell you if you're right or not...which...you probably aren't." He said, raising his hands up to her face. He curled his fingers around the edges of the mask as he severed the small chalkra strings holding it on.

"Sasuke..." She whispered.

He slowly removed the mask until he could see her face. His eyes widened and he swallowed. Hard.

She looked so childish...and had big, vibrant blue eyes. Her face was twisted into a frown...but he could tell...that if she were to smile...that it would be...

"Well?" She asked quietly, biting her lip.

"You were right."

Her eyes widened, causing his breath to grow shallow. His heart started racing.

She was beautiful.

Next Chapter: Courage and Bonds