A/N- Ok, so this chapter seems WAY shorter than the last one. But I think it's because the last one was such a big filler and it was like 10 or 12 pages long. Idk. This ones like nine pages, but it still seems so short. Ugh idk.

Anyway. Just a warning, alot of Sasuke Sakura stuff in here. Yeah i know, you're getting depressed just thinking about it. I promise you after this it will go straight back to all the lovey dovey romance of Ino and Sakura. PROMISE.

It has some slight drama, other than that, just a slight filler and connecting the dots. Yeah, Sakura is finally gonna figure out what the fuck is going down. I can't take much more of her being in the dark, it's making me upset. -_-

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Naruto.

I stepped away from the pot slowly, my heart pounding. Pushing everything away only worked for a moment, but no dam made by me could stop the flooding thoughts that were rushing through.

Sasuke.

I had chose him without any thought. There was no hesitation, no slight moment of reconsideration, no nothing. Even after that, it took me a moment to realize my mistake. He shouldn't be more important, he shouldn't be above Ino, if anything he should be secondary. Once I realized that, I rationalized. I'm still rationalizing as I quickly exit the kitchen to find my car keys.

It's because he's my best friend. It's because he's important to me. I'm worried, he's been acting so different, and it's been on my mind for so long that of course I would choose him without thinking.

Ino would cry, she would be so hurt, but the truth is the truth. Sasuke is more important, which means we go left.

No! I argue, snatching my keys off the couch, We go right! He isn't more important. I'd be nothing without Ino, I can't lose her. I couldn't handle losing her.

No, you can. While you'd be broken if Ino left you, you'd be completely destroyed if Sasuke left you. Face it. You'd rather lose Ino than live in a world without Sasuke in your every day life.

My breathing was so uneven, so heavy, that it was making me light headed. Stumbling slightly as I make my way to the front door, I catch myself on the wall that was right beside me. Whatever was happening, whatever the inside me was saying, it wasn't true. Ino was more important, and no one was going to force me to think any differently.

One slip up, I assured myself, trying to control my breathing, That's all it was, one slip up. Nothing more. No one has to know.

Wouldn't this make this your second slip up? Have we already forgotten what caused everything to suddenly rush down hill? Let me remind you. It all started with one innocent kiss.

I sucked in cold air in shock, pushing away the memory of the kiss I had with Sasuke. Just as I was doing so I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Even so, I remained with my back towards her, not wanting her to see how badly I was freaking out.

"Sakura?" Ino asked curiously, her voice slightly worried as she continued down the stairs.

I remained silent, struggling to even out my breaths as she came closer. I panicked slightly as I felt her presence right behind me, and from the shadows on the ground I could see her trying to catch a glimpse of my face.

"Hey, are you alright?" she anxiously continued, taking a step closer towards me.

With her step closer, I took a step forward to get away, hastily rushing my hands to my eyes to rub them, trying to regain what little control I had. While I managed to slow down my breathing, I couldn't quite stop my hands from shaking.

As I pulled my trembling hands away from my face, I nodded quickly, clearing my throat before speaking, "Yeah, I'm- I'm alright. I was just going to my car for something."

"You planned on leaving." she said frankly, sounding angry yet sad at the same time. Her sigh was soft, and I felt her presence fad slightly as she took a step back, "You can if you want. You don't have to stay."

Logically, I knew this was her cry for me to stay, to turn around and hold her and explain to her how sorry I was for yelling. Knowing all of this didn't help me though, I wasn't fit enough to turn around yet, and I didn't have the strength to grasp anything with my hands, let alone my arms. In actuality it was taking everything in me to stand up without my hand propping me.

Still, I forced myself to turn around, pushed myself to take steps after Ino, who had left me there and went inside of the kitchen, and I steadily tried to regain my strength.

I held the corner of the door way to the kitchen, watching her sad posture slump over the tomato sauce as she stirred, obviously depressed about the whole situation. Even in my state, I felt my heart hurt slightly, knowing I caused this. I wanted to make her feel better, wanted to comfort her, so I took some more steps forward.

Some how, some way, I made it to her. As I refused to care whether she wanted me to or not, I wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on her shoulder. I tried to hold her as tightly as I could, but even with all my strength my hold was weak. Actually, I was slumped against her, and she was practically handling all of my body weight, the movements of reaching her and comforting her making me feel frail and exhausted.

"Sakura, you're heavy." Ino complained, a smile in her voice as she tried to hold me up.

"I'm really sorry." I mumbled, my eyes drooping, "I… I didn't mean to yell."

With a sigh, she stopped stirring the pot, "I know, Saku."

As she tried to turn around, I struggled to hold my own weight to allow her to, "I'm just- Sakura what's wrong?"

Her frantic voice surprised me. I opened my mouth to speak, only for a choking cough to come up.

I was crying. I hadn't realized it till now.

Bringing my trembling fingers to my cheek, I brushed a tear away, "Baby, why are you crying?" Ino asked, her hands finding my face and her thumbs wiping my tears away, "I know you're sorry, you don't have to cry I'm not that angry."

But I only shook my head, knowing if I opened my mouth just another sob would come. As I looked down at her, seeing her worried face, my whole body shook as a sob wracked through me.

"Stop, Sakura." her voice sounding heart broken now, "Stop crying. Tell me what's wrong? What is it. Baby, please, you're going to make me cry too."

That made me want to laugh, because she honestly looked like she was about to burst into to tears in any second. Instead of laughing, though, my whole body hiccupped again, my vision blurring as tears started to gush at with no end.

Finally seeing that her task of trying to wipe all the tears away wasn't going to end any time soon, she threw her arms around me, holding me so tightly, so close, as I continued to cry on her shoulder.

She mumbled as I cried, spoke softly about how much she loved me and how I needed to get better for her. The whole time, her fingers played with my hair.

I don't know how long we stayed there like that.

X

Laying in Ino's bed with her arm draped around my waist, I stare up at the ceiling. My sobs had subsided an hour ago and my trembling calmed thirty minutes after that, but my mind has yet to relieve me from troubling thoughts. Thoughts that contained Sasuke and Ino, both smiling at me gently, both holding out their hands.

Then there was me. The girl that was standing a couple of steps away, my head turning to each of them in confusion, fighting myself on who to pick. While logically I forced my steps towards Ino, something would pull me towards Sasuke, which had me stuck at my spot.

"Sakura…" Ino whispered, carefully not moving to prevent me from getting frightened. It was too late though, I've been frightened.

"Hmm?" I hummed in reply, still staring at the ceiling.

"Are you…" She started, but paused in struggle, her body curling slightly more next to me and her arm tightening around my waist with half strength.

"No." I replied, guessing what she was going to ask.

"Why?" her soft voice gently asked, but I knew she was hurt. Even after all that crying and all that comforting, I wasn't going to tell her what happened.

"Because," I start, sighing out and closing my eyes, "It's nothing we need to talk about."

"Sakura I've never seen you-"

"You have once," I cut in to correct her, "There was one time I cried that hard before."

"Your cat died, Sakura. That doesn't count." I could still hear the slight weariness in her whispering, comforting, tone.

"Yeah well, I really loved that cat." I comment with a shrug, sighing out again and opening my eyes.

"Why won't you tell me?" she asked again, this time raising her head from my shoulder to look at my face. I watched as her soft hearted eyes tried to find any type of clue on my face. Her tender worry was too much for me and I found myself turning my head looking at the huge mirror that was attached to her dresser. From there, I watched as she lowered herself closer to my face, her forehead resting on my temple, "Is it because you don't trust me?"

Her broken voice had my heart thumping with hurt.

Broken. Completely broken. That's how she'll be if she ever found out.

"Trust has nothing to do with it." I assure, trying to force myself to stop the unintentional damage I was doing to her, "It's because it's over and done with. It won't be a problem anymore."

Still, even as I said this, I refused to look at her. Instead I continued to stare at her mirror, watching her from there. So I was able to see how my words didn't ease her at all, and how when she pulled away the hurt still showed on her face.

There is no going back. Do you realize that?

But I denied any truth the inside of me whispered. I declined her offered warning, and instead turned my face to Ino, who was still looking down at me with so much worry. And even as I grabbed Ino's face and pulled her lips down to mine, those nine words haunted me. Even in my state of denial, I understood they were true.

xXx

Sasuke

My eyes opened slowly. I was laying in a bed that wasn't mine, on my back, with a girl curled up next to me. It was the middle of the night, my chest was bare and cold, and the moon light shown on my face. Even with the girl next to me, I was still freezing. It was like I couldn't receive any warmth that she was radiating.

Shifting, I pulled the cover away from me, moving to get out of bed. I didn't bother to be discrete, it was better for the girl to know that I was leaving now then wake up and find out I'm gone later.

Yeah, even though I'd like to be some heartless being I can't seem to stop caring about the people around me.

As my feet touched the wooden floor, a chill ran through my body. It was even colder now, subzero, and I could feel the goose bumps starting to cover my arm. I've been cold for so long now that I've forgotten how it was to feel warm.

"Hey," the girl mumbled sleepily in her bed, "Where are you going?"

"Home." I reply simply, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling my shirt over my head.

"Aw, leaving me in the middle of the night?" she asked, her blond hair tossed everywhere as she sat up, a small pout on her face.

"Yes." I answer, grabbing my watch from her dresser and putting it on my wrist, "Have to, my brother can't keep covering me for much longer."

"Sasu," I shivered as she moaned my name, "Don't leave me like this. I can still feel the wetness between my legs from when I came."

"Cut it out." I mumble, glancing at her with a glare, "It's not like I helped with that."

"Because you are such a kill joy," her light green eyes glowed in the dark, and I watched as they rolled, "Who doesn't take advantage of a girl when she's drunk."

I shook my head as I searched for my shoes, "I just came over here to hang out, not to fuck you."

"Can you at least tell me when you're going to!" she whispered in frustration, her arms crossing, "It's like your trying to be abstinent."

I sat on the side of her bed as I put on my shoes, my back towards her. Knotting my laces, I sit up and sigh, "I told you I don't want to have sex with you."

"Then why do you keep coming over every night?" she challenged.

I glanced back at her, a frown on my face, "I'm trying to get over her."

She pushed the covers away then, her body still naked as she crawled towards me. Not wanting to see her unclothed body, I turned away and looked forward, staying silent. I felt her hands grab my shoulder then slide down to my chest as her front pressed against my back, "And I told you the best way to do that," she whispered, her lips against my neck, "Is to have sex with me. Eventually, your body and mind would slowly be consumed by me."

I didn't react to her touching or her lips, "And why would I want to be consumed by you? You've never kept a boyfriend for too long."

"You're different, Sasu, I want you. Badly."

I remained silent.

"That's why you keep coming here, right?" she asked, her lips brushing against my ear, "because you want to feel wanted? Let me have you. I'll treat you right."

I closed my eyes, my heart yearning. Yes, I wanted to be wanted. I wanted to feel needed, vital. But even though I was desperate and could accept this from anyone, I couldn't keep myself from craving this from Sakura.

"I'm way better than that bitch, Sakura." she continues, as if reading my mind.

But if she could read my mind, she'd know that she had made a mistake. Breaking out of my trance, I stood up suddenly and turned around. I glared at her, a deep frown on my face, "She's still my friend. Don't call her a bitch, Stacy."

Stacy sat there, a smirk on her face as she stared up at me with her cursed green eyes. (1)

X

Sakura

I laid there on my back, staring at the ceiling with a blank gaze. I wish I could say that my mind was blank as well, but it was the very opposite. Instead, my mind was replaying the events of today, like it had been for the past hours.

I left Ino's place. I had to get home to get away from her presence, because it was too much for me. Ignoring her worrying glances worked only for a bit, but I found myself being suffocated by her constant checks. For some reason, deep in the pit of my stomach, I wanted her to be angry with me. Everything would be easier to deal with if it were that way.

Instead, after I kissed her, she fell back into silence and held me for another hour without a word. I knew she was only placing her questions aside for my sake and that she was truly worried about what was wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth. Once I kissed her goodbye and left, I came to the conclusion that I was never going to tell her about how I picked Sasuke over her in the importance scale, and how much that scared me.

Why would I want to break her heart anymore than I am already? Me not telling her what was wrong was doing a lot of damage. She was feeling like she couldn't be trusted, and that she was useless, because she couldn't make me feel better. But in the end it was a small price to pay compared to the alternative.

So, one of my fighting worries has been laid to rest. I can honestly say that while I was trembling as she held me, I debated on whether to tell her or not. I wanted to because I needed help figuring everything out, and selfishly I wanted her to solve everything for me. But as I thought about it more and more, it would have been pointless, and even though she would pretend to understand and not get angry, she would be heart broken and depressed for days, maybe even months.

Still, solving one problem didn't bring any ease because their were several more problems that were serious and confusing. Like, what was I suppose to do now? Picking Sasuke was only one step, but that small decision forced me to see so many hidden truths. One truth being that I cared for Sasuke, deeply, more than I had believed in the past. It was so much, in fact, that I found myself wondering how could I have possibly gone on this long without realizing it.

Figuring that out also helped me see that I was more broken about Sasuke then I had led myself to believe. Sasuke had this hold over one single part of me, but that one part was so important that I couldn't live if he had decided to tear it with him as he left.

Vital. That's what he was.

I guess I sort of guessed it before, but I firmly know now that Sasuke is a critcal part of me, and I couldn't just let this whole situation go on. Him ignoring me and trying to stay away from me was tearing me apart.

Which only leads me back to problem number one. What do I do now? Sure, the inside me had some deviant plan, but I didn't want to hear anymore of it. If step one was so shattering, so life changing, I'd hate to hear all the other steps.

So no, instead of listening to the sly other me, I'll try to fix this on my own now that I have calmed down and accepted the idea of Sasuke being more important, as fucked up as that is.

Good luck.

Ignoring the comment, I sighed as I thought.

What should my next step be?

Naruto.

The thought was so sudden that I blinked and sat up. I haven't spoken to him in so long, it seemed like forever. (2)

Eyebrows coming together, I try to remember when exactly was the last time we had a conversation, but I couldn't. Why hasn't he texted or called? Now that I thought about it, he only seems to be talking to Ino now days.

Annoyed, but not knowing whether it was jealousy or not, I picked up my cell phone and dialed his number, which I knew by heart.

"Hello?" Naruto's sleepy voice answered.

"Where the hell have you been!" I demand as he yawns in my ear.

"What do you mean?" he asks, mumbling as he shifts, "Sakura it's like one in the morning."

"What do you mean what do I mean! You've gone ghost! I haven't heard from you in days!" I continue, "So many days that I can't even remember when we last spoke!"

"Sakura, we talked the other day, remember? You told me about your date with Ino. Told me I could have the reservation if she won." he points out with another yawn.

"That was like five days ago, idiot." I argue, "Where the hell have you been, Naruto?"

"Around, Sakura." his answer seemed like he was blowing me off, "I seriously haven't been doing much. What about you? How has your summer been?"

"I don't want to talk about my summer, idiot!" I growl out, "a summer which you should have been apart of already!"

"Fine, then let's talk about what's wrong."

No matter how many times he does it, I never get used to him automatically knowing when something is wrong with me. Blinking in surprise, I stumble out, "What do you mean?"

"You're my best friend. You'd think I'd know when something's wrong, right?" is his only reply.

Frowning, I open my mouth and shut it again. After a moment, I take a breath and explain to him everything that is wrong.

*Ten minutes later*

"And the fact that I picked him, Naruto, with no thought. It's terrifying…" I struggled with my next words, "I don't- I don't want to lose Ino over something like this. I don't want to slowly have her fall to the side while I deal with Sasuke."

"Well, that's tough." Naruto says after a moment, "But you don't need to worry about Sasuke."

Frowning, my eyebrows bunch together, "Why do you say that?"

"No reason, you just don't need to lose sleep about it, that's all."

Well.

Something isn't matching up.

"I heard from Ino that you told her Sasuke has been angry, though." I say carefully, confused about why Naruto would make stories.

"He has," Naruto admitted, "but it's nothing to get all worked up about. He'll be fine."

"Well, what is he angry about?" I question, suspicious now. For some reason, I wasn't trusting a word Naruto was trying to feed me.

"It's a guy thing."

"I don't believe you." I say suddenly, surprising myself with how harsh that came out. Thing was, I didn't believe him, not at all. It felt like he was lying about something, hiding certain information from me. I don't know where the suspicion came from, and I had no proof, but somewhere in my chest I knew he was dying down the whole situation.

For a moment, there was a pause, then his voice came in soft and calm, "What?"

"I don't believe you," I repeat, this time firmly believing it, "You're keeping something from me, trying to keep me from figuring out something. What is it, Naruto."

"I don't know what you are talking about." his voice mumbled as he denied my claim, "I'm telling you the truth."

"You know…" I say, thinking out loud, "I was thinking Sasuke was angry at me about something, like I did something wrong, but for some reason that didn't add up. Sasuke never really gets angry at me, especially when I'm the one mad at him. I've been thinking it had to be something else, something deeper than the situation between me and him. And now," I continue, my voice hard, "I see that I'm right. There's something else going on, something no one has told me about, and for some reason, I think you're involved in it."

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Naruto questioned, but his voice was hardening also.

"You, Naruto, and what you're keeping secrets. Something happened between you two, right? This isn't just about me, it's about all of us now."

I was going off of theories, practically shooting in the dark, but I knew one thing was for sure. Sasuke wasn't just angry about me, or maybe he wasn't angry at me at all, he was angry at something else. Whether it was at Naruto or something completely different.

"It's late." was Naruto's only reply, which had me frowning deeply, "and I need to get to sleep. I'll talk to you later, Sakura."

"Whatever it is, Naruto, you fix it." I tell him in a cold voice, "You fix it now, because whatever happened, it's destroying him. Literally destroying him. Have you seen him recently?"

"I have to get up at six, Sakura, I don't have time for this."

"It's like he's done a three sixty, Naruto. He's a total different person." I press, baring my teeth, "He's completely different. Something is way off about him."

"Listen we can talk about this later."

"Whatever fight you guys are having, squash it!" I rush, suddenly feeling panicked. If he was denying it, that means he won't fix it, "Just talk to him!"

"Good night, Sakura."

And with that, I was left by myself with dial tone.

X

Laying in bed again, looking at the ceiling, I rationalize my next steps. I was debating on whether I should call Sasuke or not, whether I could handle another blow off. The more I thought about it though, the less I was afraid about the out come of the phone call. The only reason being that I knew he wasn't exactly angry at me, but at something else, and knowing that he didn't hate me brought so much relief. It felt like I could deal with anything he could throw at me.

Tightening my hand around my cell phone, which I've been holding during my debate, I think about everything that could go wrong, everything that he can say that would possibly break me. But, again, after figuring out this was all Naruto's or someone else's fault, it seemed like Sasuke couldn't do anything too extreme.

Bringing the phone to my face, I watch as I dial his number and press talk. I was completely unafraid.

"Hello." Sasuke answered normally, which was slightly strange because it was two in the morning. He should have been sleep.

"Sasuke," I say, listening closely to see if I could hear any shifting in the background, "What's up."

"Uh…" he started, slightly confused, "Nothing. Just sitting here."

"That's cool," I answer casually, as if nothing has been going on between us for the past week now.

"Um, Sakura-"

"Why aren't you sleep?" I interrupt, knowing he was going to try to kick me off the phone in any second.

"Wasn't tired."

"What's that noise?" I ask, picking up sounds from the background finally. It almost sounded like-

"I'm driving," he answered, "wanted to get out of the house. Listen, Sakura, I'll just-"

"Want to pick me up?"

The question surprised even me, I didn't even know where I was going with this.

"What?" his voice sounding as if he misheard me. He had a good reason to, my request was out of no where.

"I said do you want to pick me up, so we can hang out?"

I won't be upset if he says no. I won't be upset if he say no. I repeat to myself, prepping for an automatic shut down.

After a moment of silence, Sasuke answered, "Alright."

My heart thumped as my eyes widened. Did I hear him right?

(1) Here's a hint. Stacy should be back in like chapter one or two? You know, the girl that kept fucking with Ino. Yeaaaaa, the very same one. Smh Sasuke, how could you stoop so low.

(2) You know what I realized. I did loads of Naruto POVs before. -_-

Sorry for Sasuke's awkward behavior. I know it might seem kind of weird, or it does to me because I feel like every view I write on him seems to contradict…Something. I can't find the right word for it. Anyway, I guess you can think of it as everyone only shows one side to the out side world and one side to their close friends or when they are alone. That's basically how it is with Sasuke. He seems like he's aggravated and angry and pissed at Sakura, but he's really just hurt. Deeply hurt. So that's why it looks like there's two different sides to him, that's because there is. He's pushing Sakura away by acting all pissy, but he's only just really damaged.

Also, sorry for taking so long to get this out. I've been having a hard time with it and i swear the FIRST person to tell me this chapter was crap i'm taking it down and revising it. I feel like it's pure crap, so, you know, tell me, so I won't embarress myself any longer than I need to.

REMEMEBER ***TELL ME IF IT'S CRAP*** i'm serious folks, i gotta rep to uphold ;P

Anyway, review. Sorry again for taking so long. I've been getting into zombie stuff, which was why i was so late on this :] been writing a zombie story. Wanna read it? :D

Shycadet loves. Out.