Here is another chapter. I hope you like it, please tell me if you do. I love feedback: both positive and negative. It helps me know what I am doing right and what I need to do better.

White is loss

Blank

Feelings gloss

"You forgot," the Commander said, in an unreadable voice.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, eyes lingering, trying to glean any information from the other as to how they would get out of trouble. Sasuke raised her eyebrows just a millimeter, her subtle version of a shrug. Naruto, by no means a subtle person, outright shrugged his shoulders.

"We forgot," Naruto confirmed casually.

"How could a person who has been a student at this school for so long forget to right a report for a mission?" the Commander asked. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but Naruto thought he might detect a bit of amusement in the Commander's question.

Naruto slipped into his nervous habit of rubbing the back of his head, but as he did, he saw a spark light in Sasuke's eyes. His hand stopped slightly above his head. What did she just figure out?

"Sir," she started slowly, "We were distracted wondering about the men who were after Naruto in the woods."

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted, catching on. "Distracted."

The Commander frowned.

"Who were those guys anyway?" Naruto continued, not noticing the frown.

"Well, since you two seem to be getting along, which was the point of this exercise, I suppose I don't need a report," the Commander said with a disinterested voice. "Dismissed."

"But …"

"Dismissed! NOW!"

Naruto stood there gaping at the Commander. It had been a long time since he had yelled at him like that. Sasuke gave the Commander a calculating look before dragging Naruto out of the room.

Sasuke dragged Naruto entirely out of the building and halfway to their classroom before Naruto regained his senses.

"What was all that?" Naruto yelled in frustration and pulled his arm out of Sasuke's grip.

"Naruto," Sasuke sighed his name, knowing that he did not really want an answer.

"He is all mad at us, then lets us off the hook because he doesn't want to talk about the guys who attacked us. He has not yelled at me like that since I was ten and painted over all the portraits in the library."

"You what?" Sasuke groaned. Throughout their week in the woods, Sasuke had been regaled with stories of Naruto's infamous pranks, but this was a new one.

"They were mostly pictures of the King and his advisors," Naruto said dismissively, waving his hand in emphasis. "Who does he think he is to not tell me about the guys trying to KILL ME? It's my life their after …"

"It's classified," Sasuke interrupted, giving him a look that said welcome to my world. "Let's just go report in with Iruka. We can talk more about this in private," she suggested, looking around for anyone who might have heard Naruto's shouts. Thankfully, she did not detect anyone.

Naruto continued to grumble unidentifiable sounds, but started walking again. Sasuke sighed once again before following Naruto.

As they approached the classroom, they heard the sound of many muffled voices speaking loudly within the building. They glanced at each other in confusion. Iruka never let the classroom get that loud even when they were sparring.

Hesitantly, they pushed open the doors to the room, causing the sound to explode from inside the room. The noise was so loud that neither could really hear what was being said. The cacophony continued for a few moments before someone realized they were standing there and passed the news along, sending a wave of silence throughout the room as all eyes turned to them.

As the silence dragged on, Sasuke's glare grew as did Naruto's nervous grin.

"You survived the week with the hag," Kiba said, finally, as he walked towards Naruto.

Sasuke glared even harder at Kiba.

"Um … yeah … well … I mean …" Naruto mumbled, glancing back and forth between Kiba and Sasuke, who were glaring at each other, seemingly unaware of his presence. However, both glares turned on him at his words for Kiba was annoyed that Naruto was not agreeing with him and Sasuke was furious that Naruto was not disagreeing with him.

Naruto backed up slowly, holding his hands up in front of himself to keep them away.

"Yeah, Naruto, how did you survive the 'hag'?" Sasuke asked sweetly.

"I … uh …"

"Don't tell me your whipped now?" Kiba growled, shooting another quick glare at Sasuke.

"That's not … um …."

"Oh, yes, Naruto, do tell," Sasuke prodded.

"Sasuke …" Naruto whispered, panicked, as he looked into Sasuke's demanding eyes. "You … I … I just … I … Kiba," he finished, glancing towards Kiba.

"Whose side are you on, Naruto?" Kiba demanded. "This witch, who forced her way into our lives, or me, who you have known since you started this school as a kid."

"Come on, that's not fair," Naruto whined.

"You like her!" Kiba yelled.

"NO!"

"No?" Sasuke parroted Naruto.

"Sas…."

"Forget it," Sasuke interrupted. "Where's Iruka? We have to report in and then you can go off with your friends."

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered again, but she had already walked outside to search for Iruka, because she knew he probably would not be in the classroom or he would have interrupted them already. Naruto stood shocked in the doorway. Should he go with Sasuke or stay and try to talk with Kiba?

Over the week, he really had come to like Sasuke, but in the process, he had forgotten about Kiba and how much he hated Sasuke. How could things become so messed up so quickly? He knew Sasuke had been a bit of a jerk to Kiba, but he admitted now that Kiba certainly did deserve some of it.

Once Sasuke walked out of Naruto's field of vision, he reluctantly turned towards Kiba with a pained expression.

"What?" Kiba argued. "Just because she could not handle the truth, you don't have to feel bad."

"You're being a jerk," Naruto growled, shoving him backwards.

"ME?" Kiba countered, pushing Naruto as hard as he could. "She's the jerk. You know it's true, at least you did before she seduced you into siding with her."

"She did not … seduce me," Naruto said, though Kiba noticed the embarrassed look in his eyes as he stumbled over the word 'seduce.'

"You can't be serious! You really like her! She's the enemy!"

"Enemy?" Naruto whispered dangerously. Kiba cringed. He had struck some kind of nerve in Naruto and knew he was in trouble. "You have no idea what a real enemy is. I have real enemies. People who killed my friends and family. People who want to kill me. People that Sasuke helped protect me from."

During his speech, Naruto had made up his mind to go work things out with Sasuke. Without another look at Kiba, he raced off to find her.

"That was harsh," Kakashi said cheerfully, appearing behind Sasuke as she stormed off to find Iruka.

"Do you know where Iruka is?" she asked, hoping to cut off his teasing.

"Hmm … let me think … yup." Kakashi nodded enthusiastically.

"Great. Where is he?" Sasuke asked, already getting exasperated with him.

"Nope." Kakashi cheered, wagging his finger at her.

"No what?" Sasuke asked rubbing her forehead. She had almost forgot how annoying people were. She found herself quite content alone … and alone with Naruto.

"I am not going to tell you where he is. That would be too easy for you and no fun for me," Kakashi chuckled.

"Then go away," Sasuke retorted annoyed. She was already in a bad mood and did not want to deal with Kakashi's … unique sense of humor.

"Nope," Kakashi grinned.

"What do you want?" Sasuke growled.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," Kakashi said, voice slipping to a more sincere tone.

"I'm … fine," Sasuke said, trailing off as she noticed Kakashi's skeptical look. "What? What do you want me to say? Things are what they are. I know better than most that crying does not change anything."

"It changes your heart," Kakashi said seriously. "It also shows your heart to others."

Sasuke just silently glared at him. She certainly did not agree with him, but did not have the energy to fight with Kakashi when he actually acted like the genius he was.

"Iruka is in the infirmary with a twisted ankle," Kakashi consented. "But, Sasuke, being alone is hard." Kakashi walked away, leaving Sasuke to think about his words.

However, Sasuke's mind was already full of so many things to think about that she just shut it down. Report to Iruka. Unpack. Sleep. Any other thoughts would have to wait until tomorrow.

"SASUKE!"

Or not.

"SASUKE!"

She contemplated ignoring Naruto, but he was close and running away was not in her nature. Reluctantly, she turned towards his voice and waited for him to reach her.

"Sasuke," he repeated once he had caught up to her.

"Iruka is in the infirmary," Sasuke said, in an attempt to cut off any other things he may try to say.

"What? Why?" Naruto asked alarmed, sufficiently distracted.

"I heard it from Kakashi. He said it was nothing serious, just a twisted ankle," she responded. "Let's go get this over with."

"Sasuke," he whispered, again. She was getting really tired of hearing her name from him.

"Let's just go. Maybe by the time we are done you will have something else to say."

Naruto started to say something, but Sasuke stopped him with a particularly nasty glare. Not wanting to give Naruto a chance to speak again, Sasuke turned around and walked off, motioning for him to follow.

Reluctantly, Naruto followed her silently. He would have to fix things, but he would have to be smart about it. Sasuke was not a forgiving person nor was she a trusting person. Sasuke had given him her trust and he had destroyed it. He was caught of guard by Kiba. He was angry at the commander. He was distracted by the people trying to kill him. He was … He was an idiot.

Soon enough they had reached the infirmary, where Iruka seemed to be done and was walking towards them on crutches.

"What are you two doing here?" Iruka asked in concern.

"We need to report in with you and heard you were here," Sasuke explained.

"But, you are not hurt at all?" he continued, noting the impatient tone in her voice.

"No, sir," she responded. It was really hard to keep her voice impassive. Unfortunately, she was not entirely able to keep the anger out of her voice, and Iruka seemed to pick up on it.

Naruto did not help the situation by standing there like a scolded puppy glancing up nervously at Sasuke.

"I was not expecting a report the second you got back," he said gently. "Why don't you both go get some rest? Another bed was brought into the cabin for you Naruto."

"Sir, we can give our report," Sasuke continued, determined to get this checked off her list of things to worry about.

"Tomorrow," Iruka said firmly. "A fighter must know when to rest."

"Yes, sir," Naruto answered for them because he knew that tone better than Sasuke. There was no arguing with that tone. He had tried for years.

"Yes, sir," Sasuke mimicked reluctantly.

Iruka nodded and began to hobble away on his crutches towards their classroom. Sasuke focused on Iruka's retreating form to avoid looking at Naruto. Nothing was going well today. Maybe it would be best just to get this day over with. However, she was sure Naruto was going to try to talk to her again. She had to find a way to shut him up at least until she had some time to think about … everything: Naruto, Kiba, Kakashi, the Academy, her life.

"Sasuke," Naruto started hesitantly. "Please let me talk," he said as she once again tried to walk away from him. "I thought about what I am going to say, just like you said. I promise it will be good. Please … please … please … please."

Sasuke just folded her arms and looked at him expectantly.

"Kay, thanks. So," Naruto started nervously. "I swear I did not agree … do not agree with Kiba. You're a cool girl, eerily quiet and sometimes harsh, but not evil. Kiba is loud and annoying and sometimes really stupid … frequently stupid, but he's not a bad guy either.

"I was just caught off guard. You know I am a little slow sometimes. And, you haven't exactly given Kiba any chance to see your nice side. Maybe you could try to be a little nicer to him, since he will be living in our cabin for the rest of our time here. You don't have to like him, but maybe you guys could stop fighting all the time."

Sasuke's features relaxed just a little bit and Naruto smiled at the progress. Bravely, he continued, "I am glad I got to know you last week. I like you … as a friend and all. I think we can become great partners.

"And, I want to help you find your family's killer," he said quietly, checking to make sure no one could hear them. "Please don't be mad at me anymore," he finished giving her a huge, cheesy grin.

"Let's go unpack," she replied simply, though Naruto knew the tone of her voice was back to how it was in the forest before things had gotten so messed up.

With both more relaxed now, they walked peacefully back to their cabin, where, thankfully, Kiba had not yet arrived. They began unpacking their bags in silence, but not uncomfortable silence.

"I'm going to take a shower now," Sasuke said when she was done.

"Yeah, you smell," Naruto teased cautiously not sure if she was ready for banter yet.

"I do not smell. Unlike some people, I don't wait to take a shower until I smell so bad I make people's eyes water like some blond idiot," Sasuke retorted.

Naruto was too happy to be offended, so he just stood there grinning. Sasuke smirked in response, let it slip into a real smile for just a second, and then walked into the bathroom.

After Sasuke disappeared into the bathroom, Naruto continued to unpack. He had more to unpack or so he reasoned because it could not be the fact that he had not organized his pack like Sasuke had suggested.

When Kiba entered the room a few minutes later, he found still unpacking and Sasuke nowhere in site (thank goodness he thought). "Hey, Naruto," Kiba said casually. "So, what was all that back there? "

"Don't start, Kiba. Sasuke is just in there," Naruto said, pointing to the bathroom. "She is taking a shower and will be out soon, so just don't start."

"What's going on, man?" Kiba asked annoyed. "Did you guys really get along last week? Before that, you guys were fighting worse than her and me, but now you are yelling at me for picking on her."

"She's not that bad," Naruto argued. "You just need to calm down enough to get to know her."

"Yeah. Right," Kiba mumbled sarcastically.

"Kiba!" Naruto growled. "Just try! Look, we are partners and she shares our cabin. Can't you just try not to argue. Ignore her if you have to. I'm not asking you to be nice to her, but could you at least try not to be mean."

"Whatever," Kiba snapped. To stop the conversation, he went to grab some food. He had just sat down to eat a sandwich when Sasuke walked out of the bathroom, still drying her hair.

When she spotted Kiba, Sasuke paused. Curiously, she looked over at Naruto. Kiba had not jumped to attack her, though he had glanced at her absently. She was not sure if Naruto had convinced him to leave her alone or if Kiba was just waiting for something to set him off.

Naruto nodded slowly at her, then shook his head uncertainly. Even he was not really sure where Kiba stood right now. It was a good sign that he had not started yelling yet. Kiba was not the type of person to wait to express himself. If he was mad, he let you know it, usually as loudly and as obnoxiously as possible.

Suddenly, Kiba stood up, his chair scraping against the floor. He stormed over to the kitchen and began preparing another sandwich, then another, then another. He stacked three plates together and put the sandwiches on top of the stack. With a blank look at Sasuke, he began setting out the three plates on their table.

Once more, Sasuke glanced at Naruto. This seemed like a good thing, but she was always suspicious. Naruto just shrugged and walked over to the table. Sasuke rubbed the towel through her hair one more time, then laid it out gently along the top of the bathroom door before joining Naruto and Kiba at the Table.

"Thank you," Sasuke said quietly.

Kiba just grunted.

They ate quietly. When they finished, Sasuke gathered up their plates and washed them.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered to Kiba once Sasuke was to far away to hear them.

Kiba just glared at him and went in to the bathroom.

"What is he doing?" Sasuke asked, walking back over to Naruto.

"I think he's trying," Naruto said. "So, please be nice to him. You have to try, too, you know."

Before Sasuke could say anything, Kiba walked out of the bathroom and dove into his bed. It was still early, but they all really needed some rest and some time to think.

A few hours later, Kiba's eyes shot open as he heard Sasuke whimpering loudly in pain from her bed. He jumped out of bed, seeing Naruto do the same. As they reached her, they saw her eyes closed, though tears were leaking out of them.

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered shaking her gently. "Hey, wake up."

Her eyes opened for a moment, then closed again. She really hoped that the liquid she felt on her cheeks was sweat, but the stinging in her eyes did not leave her much hope of that. If she was crying, she sincerely hoped that she was still dreaming when she saw Kiba standing over her.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked gently.

She nodded, eyes still closed.

"Dude, you can cry?" Kiba's voice drifted into her ears.

Perfect. She had seen Kiba and she really was crying.

"Kiba!" Naruto snapped.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Are you okay?" he asked, with, to his credit, only a little bit of sarcasm.

"Fine," she said, though her voice wavered.

"What could make the prim and proper little lady cry?" Kiba asked, causing Naruto to smack him in the back of the head.

"The bloody bodies of my parents," Sasuke snapped, too tired to keep her composure.

"Wha … what?" Kiba asked, genuinely sorry now.

"Nothing," Sasuke whispered once she realized what she had said.

"Tell him," Naruto urged. "It could help. He could help. I trusted him with my secret. I'm sure he could keep your secret, too. Maybe it could help you guys get along."

Sasuke told her story. Kiba would ask an occasional question, but otherwise just listened intently. When she finished, Kiba just nodded and went back to bed, but their hatred towards each other was left in the dark of the night.

Black is gain

Saturated

Emotions stain