It had been so long since she'd spoken to him. And he kept replaying their last weeks together over and over in his head. He had done nothing wrong, he was sure of it. He loved her but she just couldn't settle, he concluded. Nothing more could be done but to continue loving her until she tired of whatever it was she was doing and came back. Sure it was soon, Naruto was content to wait. He could wait forever, even. For ever and ever and ever and...

Kiba punched his arm. "Snap out of it, man," he said testily. "I'm so sick of your constant pity party. Let me tell you something: your playing sucks when you're like this. And it's kind of pissing me off now. So snap out of it before a rip you a new smile. In your ass." Trying not to think of how Sakura would have degraded him for his lack of finesse, Naruto nodded miserably and pulled the slide out of his trombone to pack it up.

He sighed and put the case and instrument on the table. "I just miss--" Kiba made a slight growling noise in the back of his throat.

"I don't care. I don't want to hear it," he said, flicking a piece of dog fur off the cuff of his sleeve. "I said the pity party is over so make. It. Over. I'm going home now. Need a ride back?" Naruto shook his head and finished packing away his trombone.

Maybe Kiba was right. Maybe he could wait for Sakura to come back without raining on everyone's parade. He had always been so good at bouncing back, but there was something wrong in his chest this time. Usually there was a feeling of lightness in his chest and he would take a shower and wash away any of the bad mood that was left. But this time there was something keeping him tethered to this conflict.

It just didn't make sense. She was supposed to marry him. She had promised. Maybe he should have made her pinky swear, too. Maybe that was the trick to tying her down. He laughed humorlessly and opened the door to the outside. A wave of frigid air hit him like a brick to the chest and he pulled his scarf higher over his mouth.

Before he could step outside, Ino tapped his arm. "There's a call for you on the public phone. Some girl. I recognized her voice, but... Just go get it," she said, tapping her foot angrily. Clearly she didn't want to be there, so Naruto nodded and jogged inside, thankful for the warmth. He lifted the speaker to his ear, pulled down the scarf, and muttered a greeting into the phone. There was a buzzing--silence--from the girl on the other end, and then she spoke.

"Naruto, I think someone is trying to break into my apartment," the voice said, shaking and chiming in the perfect, beautiful terror. There was a sob. "Please, come." He was already pulling his car keys out of his pocket. "I'm at a new apartment on Sandy and thirty-fourth. The tall one. Room one-sixty-five. Hurry, please, he's coming soon."

It was Sakura, Naruto decided. She did need him. Under any other circumstances, he would have rubbed it in her face. But now he was too busy hurrying to the given address, cutting corners and taking back roads, running red lights. This was his chance. He was going to prove himself so hardcore she would take him back. It was perfect. It was like it was planned.

Elevator. It was taking too long. He paced back and forth around the tiny, mobile room, gritting his teeth. Why did she have to be on the sixteenth floor? Why was there even sixteen floors? The door slid open and he burst out of it, taking a sharp left, and barely registering the numbers on the door. After retracing his steps twice, he found the correct door and rapped twice. "Sakura?" It opened only enough for him to squeeze through.

There were dark circles under her eyes, her face was pale and thin. "He's not here yet, but he tipped me off before he came, I don't know why. He sent a note. I burned it because--because--" Naruto smiled reassuringly and pushed her towards one of the side rooms, marveling, despite the situation, at the size and grandeur of the room they were in. What was she doing that was allowing her to pay for such things? He pushed this from he head.

"Get in there--where is he going to come from? Do you know?" he asked. She hesitated in the doorway, her lips peeling away from her teeth as if she was a cat. For one moment Naruto was reminded of a predator preparing to eat it's prey, but the look is gone in a moment. She nodded and points to the front door.

"He stole my house key last week--I was going to call," she whimpered and padded quietly into the room he had directed her to. He smiled at her one last time, trying not to feel like he was about to do something horrible, and positioned himself at the door. It was hard to ignore the sense of impending doom as the lock clicked and the door opened almost silently, an ominous lack of sound.

Bearing his teeth, he pulled out the gun he had hidden in the folds of his shirt. This was it. He would just scare the man off. He almost dropped his gun. Sasuke stood with his head cocked to the side, questioning, angry. "Why are you in my house?" he drawled. Naruto swore.

"It's not your house." Sasuke sighed and took off his coat, slowly pulling his arms out of both sleeves, hanging it in the closet. Then he picked up his briefcase and wandered, still idle, into the kitchen, depositing it carefully on the table. Finally, after drinking a glass of water and washing the glass, he turned around. He sighed and thrust his hands into his pockets, eyebrows raised into his dark bangs. "This house belongs to Sakura."

Anger flashed in Sasuke's eyes. "Did she tell you that?" he asked coolly. "I knew I was wrong about her. Get out. I know she's in here somewhere. I need to talk to her." Naruto shook his head and motioned with the gun for Sasuke to move towards the living room.

Sasuke sucked in a long, whistling breath. "Sakura? I know you're here! Come out!" Naruto shot a hole in the wall to the side of Sasuke's head.

"Stop fucking with me, she's not here," he snapped. Sasuke fell silent, eyeing the gun with his lips pressed together tightly. He pulled a chair from the table not three feet away towards himself and sat down, motioning for Naruto to do the same with a second chair. Naruto clenched his teeth. What was Sasuke talking about? Sakura wouldn't set them up like this. It didn't make any sense. She was right, then. Sasuke was trouble.

He could still remember comforting her that night. The make-up on her face and the angry words on her tongue. He couldn't shake the feeling that she hadn't been the victim then, though. No. Sakura wouldn't do that. "Did she make you believe her? It must have been so easy--you always were gullible. Ever since grade school," Sasuke said, his words long and low. "I almost feel sorry for you. But then again, I fell for it, too."

Naruto couldn't understand. Why did this man hate Sakura so much? It couldn't be the truth. She was perfect. She would never lie or manipulate. Hands shaking, Naruto cocked the gun a second time. "Are you going to shoot me?" Sasuke half-laughed. He could feel the fear welling in his chest, though. How could someone be so blind? Why was Naruto not realizing what was going to happen? At this rate, Sasuke was sure he was going to be shot. He was more than sure.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know," Naruto huffed, his voice cracking like a teenager's. Sasuke stood up again and pushed the chair to the side, lifting his hands into the air. "Sakura isn't here."

"You're not helping this conflict, Naruto," Sasuke said smoothly. "You're actually a bit of a roadblock. If you can't understand, then solving the problem will be impossible." He had his best business man voice on, his best reasonable-guy tone layered thickly over the trembles. He wasn't going to make it out the door. He was doomed, and he was going to take as much with him as he could. He could see Naruto's eyes slanting, his hand coxing the trigger. In a split second, Sasuke reached into his shirt and cocked his gun.

Too slow, Sakura thought, the echo of the shot resounding over the walls. She could hear Naruto's whimpers, the pitiful cries as the realization dawned on him. He'd killed. He'd killed a man he had once been friends with. The police, of course, were already at the doorstep. Not like it would matter. Naruto wasn't going anywhere. He was probably on his hands and knees, choking, gagging, spluttering on her carpet.

Ah, well.

She would just have to replace it with the money she had just inherited. She slipped out of the side room and put on her best horrified face. "What have you done? My husband," she gasped, her hands clenched in fists at her sides. "My husband is dead." Naruto, as she had guessed, was on the floor.

"Your--?"

The door was opened again, and not for the last time that night. Six police officers, dressed in their uniforms and bearing guns, burst in, yelling for surrender. Sakura cried. She cried harder than she had ever forced herself to cry before. She thrust accusing fingers at Naruto, she threw herself on Sasuke's body.

It still smelled of cologne and the office, but it mingled now with blood and fear. A police man picked her up off the ground and helped her to a chair. She watched them remove Naruto from the premises. She listened to him yell at her, ask her why over and over again. She wanted to tell him he was being melodramatic--why was he always so melodramatic about everything? She watched them remove Sasuke's body as well, and pondered over how much it would cost to replace the rug.

She was thankful she had no one. It would make it so much more difficult.

Being alone, she told herself, is the easy way out.

Note: IT'S DONE. LAKSJGBLKJBAWEJBLKJB!