ffnet officially hates me. I had this done a while ago but then this stupid site decided it wouldn't let me see the drop down menu on either of my computers so I couldn't get to the document manager to publish it. My deepest apologies T^T Anyway, its nearly Christmas so I'm rather busy and I'm going away afterwards too so I don't know when the next chapter will be up but I'll try to write it while I'm away on actual paper, with an actual pen O_O For now, Enjoy!

Sasuke stood in front of the small chair in the corner, staying completely still so he didn't open anymore of his wounds. He had run all the way home yesterday after the incident at the hospital with Sakura and torn open one of the cuts on his shoulder with the motion of his arms. He'd bleed everywhere. Not that he cared; the house was already bloodstained. It always would be. Some with visible colour wouldn't hurt.

It was nearly evening and Sasuke had done nothing but stay in bed the whole day. But now he was up. Now he was here. On the chair was Naruto's bright orange kimono, folded messily with his geta placed on top; unmoved since the night of the festival when Naruto had put them there. Sasuke gazed at them through tired, half lidded eyes. His mind flooded with warm, watery memories of that time.

Naruto's collar bone brushing his fingertips as he pulled the kimono neck neatly closed.

The warmth of having him so near as Sasuke dressed him awkwardly...

Sasuke's arms around the other boy as he wound the obi round his middle...

The smell of him, sunny and soft...

How they stood quietly afterwards, watching for a long moment before speaking...

"D-does it look good?"

"Y-yeah, it does..."

Sasuke blinked and his mind returned to the hospital.

He had only ever felt completely defenceless once and he swore no one would make him cry, that no one would reduce him to that ever again. But as he stood in that hospital room, all his walls had been shattered. Only habit and the last shred of will power he still had had kept Sasuke's face expressionless. There had been no boundaries for his emotions then and there were none now for his memories. He didn't want to think of it. But he couldn't help it.

Naruto's eyes.

His voice.

Just the way he stood.

It all seemed so wrong.

His name had been the worst. It had thrown Sasuke the much.

"Uchiha san". No one had ever called him that. It was just a name, just a title, a word. But with that one word, emotions no term in even the widest vocabulary could convey flooded Sasuke's shocked, still body.

'Sasuke'. It could be said so many ways. And Sasuke knew all Naruto's ones. With just his name he could read the blonde like an open book, knew what he was feeling, what he wanted...

Sasuke was sure there was no worse feeling, nothing as cold as being called "Uchiha san". 'Uchiha' because Naruto didn't understand or know the person called 'Sasuke'. The 'san' suffix for a politeness that had never been there for them. It was so painful.

What would he do? This kind of unsettledness scared Sasuke. It was the kind that only fit a temporary situation, like butterflies before a test. But this wasn't temporary. Sasuke knew. Everyone knew. This was forever. The Uzumaki Naruto he knew would never be the same; would never remember everything that had happened for them…

He wouldn't remember fighting in the academy, training together, going on missions or protecting each other with all they had. He wouldn't know everything that was so important. All the littlest things that always seemed so big to the two of them were gone. The fights, the bruises, the blood, the tears. The little dock at the lake, Team 7's bridge, the cage of ice, the stars, this house, this room... Was he even Naruto anymore? That boy who had stood there...

Sasuke didn't know. All he wanted was their Naruto, his Naruto back. He wanted Naruto who called him 'Teme'. The one with the flashing blue-fire eyes. The one with the arrogant air to him when he was annoyed, a childish one when he wasn't. Not the one who called him 'Uchiha san'. Not the boy with the steady blues or the unsure presence.

Everything would be so forced now. Naruto had always just done whatever he wanted without thinking, said whatever he liked before ordering things in his head. The new Naruto had been to quiet and seemed to think too much. What would happen to them now? To Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto?

"Sasuke." The boy's head snapped to the window to find Kakashi standing in front of it, a hand on his hip. Of course he knew where he lived...

"Sasuke," he called him again. Sasuke frowned.

"Shouldn't you be with Naruto?"

"Iruka is there now."
"Oh..."

Silence. Kakashi shifted his weight to his other leg and stared at the wall to his left.

"Sasuke. Tomorrow can you come to get Naruto? He's being discharged," asked the jounin carefully, not meeting Sasuke's eyes, not even turning his face to the boy.

"Why does it need to be me?" snapped Sasuke. It was too soon to see Naruto again.

"He asked for you to be the one to take him home," replied Kakashi flatly. Sasuke's heart jumped.

"Sasuke?"

A sour mix of anger and grief slid under the boy's tongue.

"Who did he ask for?" murmured Sasuke, bowing his head. He waited, feeling the older male's confusion.

"...You. We asked who should take him home and he said you. I just said that."

"No. Who did he ask for?" snarled Sasuke, clenching his fists and still not raising his eyes from the floor. He didn't know why he was asking. He knew the answer and the reply didn't change anything at all. Completely pointless. Kakashi tensed. Sasuke could see the man's torso straighten through his dark fringe.

"Uchiha san." It hurt more than he expected, even though it was only coming from Kakashi. "He asked for 'Uchiha san'."

"That's what I thought," muttered Sasuke as Kakashi started toward the way he came in.

"Come get him tomorrow, ne Sasuke?" he said with one foot on the window sill.

"I won't..."

"Come on Sasuke. Don't be difficult."

A knot slipped in the Uchiha's chest. Heat rushed all the way to his fingertips.

"Why should I? He doesn't even know who I am!" Sasuke looked up, his dark eyes bright with misplaced fury towards the jounin's request. Kakashi blinked at him.

"Do you even know who you are right now Sasuke?"

"Get out."

The man just sighed and Sasuke took a menacing step forward. Kakashi disappeared through out the window.

…

The fast wind against his face felt good as he headed for home, leaping silently from rooftop to rooftop. But it didn't slow his still quick heartbeat. Kakashi came to a stop, his ninja sandals slipped a little on the roof tiles.

Sasuke had always been an angry child and it was understandable but even he, his teacher who knew just how to push his buttons and had on numerous occasions during training, had never the amount of pure anger that had lit Sasuke's eyes just now. The boy was barely recognizable. So hurt that he didn't know what to do with himself. So hurt he couldn't control the output emotion his pain took on. It was horrible to watch such a strong person, the stability of the team, coming apart.

It was hard to say what would happen. Kakashi, of course would be fine. He always was. And Sakura was the safe harbor, the one at the back. She may not be fine, but she wouldn't break. She would cry, but she would always get herself together because she was the big sister. She had grown strong, maybe the strongest of the three. It was Sakura that let them lean on her, let them protect her and grow. She let them stand on her shoulders while they reached for the impossible. Standing in the middle, she held the other's hands in hers, a link, the connection. But could she keep them together now? Sasuke was being so angry. Would he come tomorrow? And Naruto seemed so out of reach, even to Kakashi he was very far away. Naruto laughed the same, smiled the same and only small things were different. But he was still distant from the person he used to be, and Sasuke could see that the best. He was seeing the future; the hardship that awaited them, how excruciating life was going to be. And he was losing hope; becoming angry that he couldn't control what was happening.

Taking a deep breath and standing still atop the house the man watched the sun melt into the horizon. Another day was ending and it was moments like these that Kakashi felt like he had lived too long already. His life had been long and he had gone through so much pain he couldn't remember how to even feel sorry for himself anymore. Another day was ending and Naruto's new life was just beginning.

Was Sasuke feeling the same?

"I've had enough pain to last a lifetime. Ending now is fine," The jounin muttered to the sun. The last rays of sun melted into the twilight like smoke and Kakashi stood waiting. Nothing happened, although he hadn't expected anything. He smiled from under his mask. A soft wind stirred the trees nearby.

"And the world spins madly on..."

…

It was dark but she didn't mind. The air was cool and somewhat comforting. She sat on a bench at the small park near the hospital staring at the space between her feet, listening to the silence. She fingered the hem of her big sweatshirt that clashed unattractively with red tags sticking out from her ninja attire, but there was no one else around so she didn't care. It was peacefully quiet, the concrete a dusty blue with the light of the moon.

Sakura couldn't believe what was happening. Iruka and Kakashi were so casual about the whole situation that the enormity of what had happened in the last week or so hadn't quite registered until yesterday. She had been horrified and worried when both of her teammates had been in the hospital but after their teacher had taken away Naruto's memories everything got calmer and it was like the next time she saw them everything would be fine. Like since Naruto was calm now they didn't have to worry anymore. But it wasn't like that. This was terrible. The absolute worst thing she could possibly imagine. Worse than death she decided, although she hadn't dared to imagine that far.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered. Not only had all of Team 7's lives been drastically altered, but she also vaguely wondered how their ninja lives would get past this. Teams were always in threes. When she thought of it she couldn't even hear just 'Team Kakashi: Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura". It was so... incomplete.'

"What on earth are we going to do...?" She shook a hair that had strayed from her messy ponytail off her forehead.

At that moment the bushes to her right began to rustle. Sakura was instantly on her guard, getting to her feet.

"Who's there?" she called and grimaced when her voice wavered with built up emotion. She pushed her sweatshirt sleeves up, hand at her holster.

"1996, 1997, 1998..." Was the reply that she got and suddenly a pair of legs appeared above the line of bushes. Sakura dropped her guard and tilted her head at the sight of bright orange leg warmers. Hadn't she seen them before? A second later the rest of the leg's body pushed its way through and the counting reached 2000.

The two teens stared at each other. The boy blinked up at her from his hand stand position.

"Sakura san?"
"Lee san?"

Lee blinked again and righted himself. She lifted her chin to look at him.

"What are you doing out here Sakura san? It's night time."

"I-I could ask you the same question."

"I'm training. If I can not do 2000 steps on my hands I have to do 4000 push ups." He grinned and Sakura laughed nervously.

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" she asked. He just smiled back.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again, smile still in place; safe and reassuring in a strange way. A warmth that she shouldn't have from a near stranger spread across her body. Sakura sat back down.

"I'm just thinking..." she replied slowly.

"If I may, about what?" he inquired politely and she looked up to meet his eyes. He was wearing a soft smile and watching her gently, standing with his hands behind his back, body slightly bent to her. Sakura felt tears start in her eyes, moved by the genuine kindness that his smile held. Spotting her tears his expression quickly turned to panic and he backed away anxiously.

"I'm sorry. We barely know each other and I asked something so direct. I'm very sorry Sakura san!" He flushed red in the blue gloom and Sakura nearly laughed. Direct? Hadn't "I love you" last time been about as direct as anyone ever got? Why so shy now? He was quite amusing.

"No. Its nothing like that," she said and sniffed. He relaxed and smiled again. She smiled too. There was something about him. She hadn't imagined it the last time they had met after all.

"Can I sit?"

"Please do."

"You don't have to be so polite Sakura san," he said as he sat down next to her, moving with an unexpected grace. She blushed when he caught her watching him.
"Neither do you. I'm younger than you so you don't need to use 'san'," she replied, feeling shy all of a sudden. She didn't meet Lee's eyes out of embarrassment but she could feel him staring at her.

"Then... Sakura... chan." Her skin prickled. Then, a pain erupted in her chest.

"Sakura chan!"

"Sakura chan."
"Sakura chaaaan!"
"Sakura chan..."

Naruto's blue eyes pierced her memory with unbelievable sharpness.

"Maybe not..." Sakura whispered, her voice was so quiet she wasn't sure Lee had heard her. She leaned forward to hide her face as tears began to roll over her cheeks.

Crying again... How pathetic... When would she ever run out...? And in front of Lee too...

"I heard," said Lee slowly. "About Naruto kun. That's why you're sad, Sakura san?"

So everyone knew...

"Yes..."

"I wish I could say something apart from I'm sorry but... I really am. I can't imagine it. "

"It's ok..."

"Can I do anything?"

"Not really... Nothing can be done now."

They sat in silence for a while and Sakura's tears turned cold on her face.

"Sakura san. From what I can gather, Sasuke san and Naruto kun are both very troubled people. Sasuke san more so now... But I believe that..."

Lee turned to her and she looked up to him. He grinned.

"As long as they have you everything will somehow be fine!" Lee gave her the thumbs up and Sakura's eyes widened. Lee was smiling so sincerely, she almost believed it.

But not quite.

"How do you know that? We've only spoken once... I'm actually completely useless and-" she started.

"That's not true!" Lee cut her off aggressively and she was slightly taken back at his now serious face. Bright round eyes stared at her fiercely until she dropped her head in defeat.

"Why do you think that?" she asked weakly. Truly, she couldn't think of a way that having her would help the situation, Sasuke or Naruto. It wasn't possible.

"Because Sakura san is an amazing person! So you'll be able to help fix things. I believe that completely..."

She lifted her messy tear stained face to him. Even after seeing the worst side of her; the pathetic, cry baby side, how could he still say such nice things to her with such a truthful look in his eyes?

"Lee san..."

This boy... Was amazing. The power of his words... He was so honest it was impossible not to get caught up in his tone, in his smile. He was strange looking on the outside and the things he said and did were a bit goofy, but he moved with a delicate grace, walked with a slight bounce. The light from him was enchantingly pure. He was beautiful and heartbreakingly kind. And even though Sakura hadn't even said anything, hadn't told him exactly what was on her mind; how she was doubting the future and the people closest to her, he had known just what to say and how to say it. How did he know? How did he do it? How did he keep dazzling her? Sasuke was dazzling; but only at a first glance. Sasuke was tragic, so painfully tragic and beautiful no doubt, but Lee's light... What was the soothing cool that was spreading inside her? Hope?

Incredible. He was an incredible person.

She wasn't the amazing one.

He was.

"Can I walk you home Sakura san? If you stay out here much longer you might catch a cold," Lee asked kindly. Sakura nodded and blushed as she stood.

"Are you alright now?"

"Yeah..."
"I'm glad."

She smiled, clutching her cold hands at her chest.

"Thanks"

…

They stood at her doorstep. The night had progressed further than Sakura had realized and her parents were already asleep. Not that they would have known to wait up for her; she had snuck out her window and locked the door to her room. She hadn't been able to breathe inside the house.

"Well. I hope you do feel better, Sakura san."

"And I hope the rest of your training goes well."

Awkward silence. Sakura examined how small her hands inside the thick, baggy sleeves of her sweatshirt. Her hideously clashing sweatshirt that Lee hadn't seemed to have noticed.

"I wonder..." started Lee. She made a small noise of surprise and he smiled before continuing. He appeared very comfortable being with her.

"I wonder... if it would be out of line to say this while you are so concerned but it might make you feel better... or worse, hearing it from me." He met her eyes, his face as blank as she had ever seen it. His cheeks were slightly pink with the cold air.

"You're really very beautiful Sakura san."

The girl's heart jumped up and she got butterflies when he said her name. Lee grinned nervously when she couldn't answer.

"Sorry. I startled you after all. It was very out of line at this time. Take care, Sakura san."

He turned heel and jogged off into the night.

"Beautiful..."

She blinked and then smiled after his slim figure, blurry in the distance.

"You're really very beautiful..."

"I feel it, Lee san..." she murmured.

Even with her baggy sweatshirt, messy ponytail and swollen crying eyes, she really felt it.

Thank you. Really, thank you.