Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

God…it's been a while huh? XD

Sorry everyone, it's just that after China, I had school right after and then…yeah. School really sucks, the workload is killing me. So…I bring you guys an update! (sorry for the wait!)

I thought about updating this or Voulez Vous and then I decided on this one. Voulez Vous' still gonna take a while, so bear with me guys!

Chapter 5: I'm Sorry

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"There he is!"

Gaara resisted the urge to unleash his wrath and kill someone as he was swarmed by a mob of reporters, all thrusting microphones in his face and bombarding him with questions.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?"

"You're his boss, correct?"

"What's his relationship with—"

Gaara let out a low growl. This was really starting to piss him off.

"I'm letting you all know, I know nothing at all. And I'd appreciate it if you don't shower Naruto with all these questions. He still has to work and it's not respectful to him." Gaara prayed the reporters got any of that.

"But—"

"Sharingan—"

Gaara's eyes flashed in anger. His fists were clenched tightly and he was having a little trouble controlling his breathing. He took a deep breath.

"Everyone, listen closely. If you don't leave within the next ten seconds, I will personally massacre you all. Fuck off NOW." Gaara didn't have to raise his voice at all. If he were really, really mad, he'd be the "silent, deadly" type. The reporters seemed to catch his drift anyways, as they all dispersed quickly.

Gaara rubbed his temples, getting a sense of a migraine coming on. Shaking his head, he made his way to the greenhouse, spotting Neji and Lee.

"Where's Naruto?" Gaara asked, his voice laced with worry.

"It's ok. We managed to sneak him out the back door." The redhead let out a sigh of relief.

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?! To do that to Naruto…what an asshole!" Lee punched his fist in the air. "I can't believe I ever liked a guy like that!"

Gaara stared out the window, hoping the blonde had made it home ok.

---

Naruto closed the door to his house quietly, feeling incredibly tired. Then, seeing his father sitting on the couch with a stony expression on his face, he blanched. He knew Iruka would not be in a good mood. Slowly, he shuffled his way over to the couch.

"…Dad?" Naruto bit out, hesitantly. There was a moment's pause before Iruka rose, collecting a magazine on the table before speaking.

"Let me ask you something. What is this?! Are you dating this Sharingan guy?" The brunette's voice was clipped and hard.

"Dad, that's just some stupid magazine. He's not my boyfriend and I'm not seeing—"

"Don't you think this is a little extreme for some rumor?! There's even a picture here, Naruto!" The blonde looked down at the article to see what had happened the day before: him splashing Sharingan with the champagne.

"Do you think that's ok for you to do?!" Iruka nearly screeched, pacing around the room frantically.

"Dad, at the time…I don't know, my instinct took over! I—"

"I've told you ever since you were little not to get involved in things like this! Don't you realize there will be consequences? I've tried to protect you and warn you, but I see that it didn't work."

"Naruto…" Iruka's voice softened. "Love can really hurt a person. You're still young…you wouldn't understand. But, love can bring great happiness, but also great pain, especially with your condition. I…I just don't want to see you get hurt." Naruto made his way to his father and put his arms around him tightly.

"I know dad…I know."

---

"Can you believe she even thought of doing something like that? Who does she think she is? I—"

"Sai," Sasuke's voice sounded oddly tired, "let's just drop it, ok?"

Sai jaw dropped for a moment before he picked it back up again. "No, we can't drop it. This isn't a 'we-can-drop-it' matter. He should be punished for what he did."

Sasuke let out a sigh, wanting desperately to just leave the company building and go home. "He was my elementary school friend. I say forget it…so we're going to forget it." With that said, he walked away, leaving a very disgruntled Sai.

Back at his house, Sasuke twirled the lavender bottle between his fingers, thinking about the previous day's events. He couldn't help but let out a small smile as he remembered being splashed with the cold champagne.

Who would've thought…his temper compared to when he was younger is so different…

That was the last thought he could remember thinking before drifting to sleep.

---

Naruto was having a bad day. He had woken up late and when he had gotten ready to go to work, he had stepped outside to see the front wheel of his bicycle all bent up. He had no idea who had done such a thing, but it couldn't help but give him a chill that reminded him of when he used to get bullied in elementary school. He supposed it had been one of Sharingan's obsessive fangirls. That magazine article had seriously been more trouble than he had thought.

And now he was sitting on the steps of the greenhouse, trying to fix the damn wheel. Gaara, who had been eyeing the blonde's frustrated looks all morning, walked over to him. He glanced at the bike's wheel and his eyes narrowed.

"Naruto…did someone do that to you? Because if they did I swear to god I'll—"

"No! I…I was just being clumsy and I messed it up myself." He could never seem to break the habit of just admitting it was someone else who did it.

If Gaara didn't believe him, he said nothing, simply taking another look at the wheel. "Give it up, Naruto. The metal's crooked. The thing's totally busted. I don't think you'll be able to ride it again." If anything, the blonde's hands seemed to work harder to try and fix the wheel.

"How about I just give you a ride to and from work, hm?" Gaara offered again.

Naruto shook his head. "I told you…I like riding my bike. But thank you for the offer."

Gaara sighed. "Did Sharingan teach you to like riding bikes?" He kind of wished he could take back what he said after he saw Naruto's jaw tick. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring it up…but Gaara couldn't understand why Naruto wouldn't just take him up on his offers.

Naruto thought about his answer before responding. "No. Sasuke taught me to like riding bikes, not Sharingan."

Gaara grabbed the wheel out of Naruto's hands, inspecting how bad the damage was before pushing and pulling on various parts. "I'll help you. Hand me the wrench."

The blonde stared at the redhead who was fixing his bike. He truly did have handsome features. Gaara, feeling eyes upon him, looked up.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh…no reason." Naruto grinned goofily.

Gaara let out a small smile. "Stupid."

---

"Guys, where are we going?" Naruto was currently blindfolded; led somewhere he had no clue about, by Gaara, Neji, and Lee.

"Just a second, we're almost there…ok, take off the blindfold!"

Naruto removed the piece of cloth around his eyes and took in the sight of what was around him. They were in front of a huge oak tree, with balloons fluttering all around. In front was a picnic table decorated with flowers, along with bottles of champagne and a huge cake.

"Happy twentieth birthday, Naruto!"

The blonde felt shocked. They had planned all of this for him? He certainly felt lucky indeed.

"Thank you," he looked happily around, "thank you all."

"Let's do presents first!" Lee exclaimed, reaching for his package first. It was a bulky parcel and Naruto opened it to see a bright orange sweatshirt. He thanked Lee, especially for remembering his favorite color. Neji's was next and he pushed the paper aside to see a bottle of cologne. Naruto thanked him wholeheartedly as well, then finally moved on to Gaara's gift. He opened the box to find a brand new cell phone. He let out a small gasp. He had never had a cell phone before. He took it out and examined it. It was square shaped, flat, and white, with red on the edges. It was perfect.

"Thank you Gaara," he whispered softly. Gaara nodded with a smile.

Neji handed him the knife to cut the cake. "You have to make three wishes first, though," the brunette warned him.

Naruto thought about it. "My first wish is for all my friends and family to be happy and healthy." Typical Naruto wish.

"My second wish is for this greenhouse to be around forever."

"And…my third wish…"

'I'll be back. In ten years, on my twentieth birthday, I'll come back. And I'll find you. I promise.'

Naruto frowned a bit. A twentieth birthday is supposed to be a big deal. And yet…why is it I don't feel that happy?

Leaning forward, he blew out the candles.

---

Sai blinked.

Then, blinked again.

The boy in front of him looked terrified, as if he was going to bolt any second now.

"So. Let me get this straight. You're trying to tell me that your boss isn't here yet, but your expect our Sharingan to wait for him?"

"W-well, my b-boss said he's on the w-way now and he m-might be a l-little late." The boy squeaked out.

"Ah. And is your boss as famous as our Sharingan?"

The boy shook his head frantically.

Sai grabbed the back of the boy's collar and pulled it tight. His voice turned cold. "Well you can go and phone your boss and tell him that if he comes late, he shouldn't come at all." His voice turned back to its normal monotone. "Now go."

The boy rushed away, but not before shoving a newspaper in Sai's hands and mumbling something about "please read something while you wait."

Sai shook his head before making his way back to Sasuke in his dressing room. "The guy is going to be a little late, Sasuke. Just read this while you wait," he said, dropping the paper on the dressing room table and stalking off.

Sasuke looked at the paper uninterested, until he saw his name on one of the articles. He picked it up and skimmed through it. A sentence then caught his eye.

Today is Uzumaki Naruto's twentieth birthday…

Sasuke thought back to the promise he had made ten years earlier.

'I'll be back. In ten years, on my twentieth birthday, I'll come back. And I'll find you. I promise.'

The raven drummed his fingers on the table, contemplating to himself.

---

"Well, what do you guys want to do now?" Gaara asked Naruto, Neji, and Lee. The four were walking down the street, keeping Naruto company on his birthday.

"I know! Let's go get some tea!" Lee exclaimed.

"Lee," Neji looked deadpanned, "you cannot be serious. You just ate half a cake."

"So?" Lee huffed. "As long as Gaara's paying the whole day, why not eat as much as I can?"

"Watch it," Gaara half-joked.

The four passed by an electronics store where a television was currently playing a news channel. Neji squinted at it.

"Hey, isn't that—"

"It's Sharingan!" Lee cut him off. Both Naruto and Gaara turned to look at the screen.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen, I'm here with the legendary singer and song writer, Sharingan! Tell us, what do you think of your stay in Tokyo so far?"

"I'm very pleased with my stay. I really enjoy it here. It's a nice change of surrounding from the states," came the smooth response.

"Let's go," Gaara stated gruffly, not really interested at all in what was going on.

"Wait, just hold on a second." Lee had apparently forgotten that Sharingan was an "asshole."

"—So apart from music and writing, there are many rumors out there surrounding your love life. Is it true you now have a love interest, right here, in Tokyo?"

"Hmm…how should I say this... no, there is nothing serious going on right now. The guy you have all read about in the papers, he's just an elementary school friend, nothing more.

"Naruto, he's talking about you!" Lee whispered excitedly.

"—Is there anything you would like to say to him, in case he's watching right now?" There was a moment's pause as Naruto waited patiently.

"I want him to know that…I'm sorry. I regret what happened the other day...I was a jerk." Obsidian eyes locked with the camera and Naruto couldn't help but feel as though they were staring right at each other. "…That event seemed to have caused more trouble than I presumed. And also…happy birthday."

Naruto couldn't help but feel something warm his insides with those words.

"Oh! So it's his birthday today! Did you send him a present?"

"No, no." Sasuke said with a light chuckle. Then, he smiled. "But…I do wonder whether or not he remembers our promise."

Gaara bit his lip as he noticed Naruto couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the screen.

---

The interview had just ended and Sasuke was following Sai out of the building. Sai noticed the raven seemed to have his thoughts somewhere else. He waved his hand in front of his face.

"Oiy, Sasuke. You in there? We have to get you to another appoint—"

"Sorry," Sasuke cut in. "But I have some stuff I need to take care of. I'm going to have to take a rain check."

"What?" Sai questioned flatly.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke repeated, before jamming his thumb on the elevator button. He tapped his foot frantically on the floor, praying the doors would open.

"Sasuke, you can't do this! You have—"

"Just take care of it for me, ok?" With that, Sasuke's patience seemed to reach its limit and he raced down the corridor, opting for the stairs instead.

Sai stood there with his hands on his hips. Then, his mind seemed to backtrack.

He…he said 'sorry' to me. Not once…but twice. Sai seemed shocked at the revelation.

"Hey…Sasuke!"

But he was already gone.

---

"Smile!"

Flashes of light hit Gaara's eyes and he was getting more and more agitated by the second. He was stuck in one of those little, cramped photo booths with Neji and Lee who had insisted on wanting to take pictures.

When they were finished and Lee had got them developed, they looked at them. Neji and Lee had looked good during the shooting, but Gaara hadn't smiled in a single one.

Neji noticed the change in Gaara's personality. He bit his lip. "You agreed to take pictures with us…you could've been a bit more lively."

"Maybe I'm not in the mood anymore," Gaara let out, a bit more cold than he had intended.

Not in the mood now that Naruto's not here, Neji wanted to say, but held it back. He couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed himself. They had all agreed to spend Naruto's birthday together, yet after seeing Sharingan's interview, Naruto had left, saying he was terribly sorry but he had something he needed to attend to.

Now, as Neji looked at Gaara's face, he saw that all happiness seemed to be drained from it. He clenched his fists and couldn't help but feel a little hurt.

It's always…about Naruto.

---

Sasuke drove his car down the street recklessly, going way beyond the speed limit. There was somewhere he needed to be and he needed to get there fast.

Meanwhile, Naruto sat on the steps of their old elementary school. He sat and he waited. Visiting this place always brought back old memories. He remembered the time Sasuke had been punished because he had gotten in a fight with another one of the students. It was weird because Sasuke rarely got punished. He was usually a good kid. Then, he remembered the root of that fight.

"Uchiha Sasuke likes Uzumaki Naruto!"

Sasuke walked through the corridors of the school, looking into past classrooms. He stopped when he saw the nurse's office and remembered one of the only times he had ever been in there.

"Why're you crying? It's not like you got hurt…"

"I know. But this is my fault. I'm the reason you got hurt."

Sasuke smiled a little before moving on. This time, he peered through the window of one of his classrooms. It looked pretty much the same. Then, something on the board caught his eye. There, in somewhat messy handwriting, spelled out, 'Uchiha Sasuke' and right next to that, 'Uzumaki Naruto.'

The raven looked around him, quickening his steps down the corridors, before breaking out into a full-on run.

He made his way outside, still running, trying to reach the place in his mind. He was nearly there…

He halted.

There was Naruto, crouched in front of a pile of lavender flowers sprouting out of the grass. Quietly, Sasuke made his way toward him, until he had gotten about two feet away. He saw the blonde, hearing the sound that the raven's feet had made while walking on the ground, raise his head, aware of the other's presence.

Blue eyes met black as time seemed to stop.

---

Bad place to end huh? Sorry about the cliffhanger!

Oh, and just to inform you guys, it might seem that these transitions are kind of sloppy and choppy, but that's how I wanted it to work and that's kind of how I pictured them to be while writing them.

Review, review, review!