"To die is nothing; but it is terrible not to live." - Victor Hugo

Authors Note: Sorry the update took so long. I just couldn't seem to be inspired to write this portion. Though I did write about what happens much later. Anyways I had to move and started classes for summer. blah. oh well its just photography. Anyways, Enjoy!


I slipped the white dress on, shimming it up past my hips. It complimented me well I thought. I looked at myself once again in the mirror, twirling this way and that to seeing the full effect. Picking up the brush, I began to comb my hair. My eyes went soft and I was dragged into yet another memory.

"Sakura make him feel welcome. He'll be living with us from now on," my father said as he walked off with an advisor.

I turned and eyed the boy next to me. He was staring at the floor, his dark black hair falling in disarray about his face. He was close to my age I noticed. I boldly stepped up next to him; he didn't even move. I squatted on the ground and peered up at him, through his hair. "I'm Sakura," I said. "What's your name?"

I stood then and his eyes followed me. "Sasuke," he said quietly.

I nodded at this, "Let's be friends," I said smiling. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall. He let me.

"Sasuke," I whispered and with the utterance of his name, it was as if the presence of him accompanied it. Like I could feel him in the room. I realized then that my eyes were closed. I forced myself to open them so I could make sure he wasn't there. I was alone. I set the brush down and headed for the door, leaving the ghost presence behind me.

"You look nice," Naruto said smiling. He had a kind face, comforting. I smiled a small smile in return. "Okay, well how about I give you the tour?" he said with a wink.

"Tour?" I repeated confused.

"Well I'd imagine you'll need to know how to get around? Not to mention you're probably curious as to where you are." His tone was so light, so friendly. I nodded at this and he turned and began to walk down the corridor leaving me with nothing else to do but follow.

We walked down many hallways and up flights of stairs, turning this way and that, and I knew that I was utterly lost. I would not be able to find my way back even if I had to. We finally came to what looked like a guard station. There were tons of people in suits running about looking busy. I peered past the tower and down the large tunnel. Vaguely in the distance a large steel door was visible but the tunnel was dark and made it hard to see.

"This is the wall," Naurto said startling me. I had been captivated by the door in the distance and had forgotten he was there. "There are usually 4 guards on call at a time however, something seems to be going on," he said as we looked at the group of uniformed people running back and forth doing things of importance. "Maybe it is an exercise day?" he said with a shrug.

"Why are they here?" I asked staring at them moving like bees around a hive.

"To make sure the wall doesn't get breeched," he said simply.

I frowned at this. "What are they keeping out?" I asked a little too loudly. I felt the heat rise to my face as I noticed the glances in my direction. They all seemed to stop and stare.

Naruto waved with a big smile on his face and this seemed to snap them out of their gaping. They turned and began working again however the constant peeking in my direction did not escape me. "Why don't we continue our tour?" he said as he walked away.

I pursed my lips at this; discontent he was not answering my question. He continued to walk away, his form growing smaller as he did so. I sigh, took a fleeting glance over my shoulder at the door, and hurried my steps too catch up to him.

We passed many doors and when I asked what they were he would tell me they were living spaces. "How many people live down here?" I asked intrigued by how large this compound seemed.

"A lot," he said with a smile as we headed down some stairs.

"Is this the only," I fought for a word to describe this place but when I couldn't I gave up and continued my question, "place like this?"

"No," Naruto said turning his head to look at me, "there are many throughout the world."

"I don't understand," I started but stopped as we had come to a large room. The ceiling was much higher than the halls we had walked through. It was more like the guard station with the mysterious door. There were tables spread throughout the large hall.

"This is the mess hall. People come to eat, relax, talk," he said putting his hands in his pockets and rocking on his heels.

I looked at the empty tables save for a few. The tables that were occupied were at least two people or more and they all seemed to be talking. I heard a group laugh at something that must have been said.

"Its not dinner time," he said softly. "When it gets closer to dinner time these halls fill up." I looked at him and he smiled.

"What time is it?" I asked curious because I had lost track of any sense of time. It was easy to do when one didn't have the sun to judge things by.

"Three in the afternoon," Naruto answered. "Come we're not done yet."

We walked down more halls with doors, "So these are all rooms?"

"Well, living spaces," he answered with a shrug.

"What's in the living spaces?" I asked.

"A living area, bathroom with shower, bedroom. Those with families have more than one bedroom, of course. As for most single people, they have roommates to fill the other rooms."

"Most?" I asked.

"Well there are some officials who have single rooms," he said as we walked.

"Oh," I said not knowing what else to say. We came to a flight of stairs and took them up. I frowned wondering why we didn't just stay on the first floor and see the mess hall after.

We walked down a few halls then came to what looked like another guard station; the ceiling again was larger. There were only two guards here however. "There numbers will increase when it get closer to night," Naruto said following my gaze. I wondered why that was but said nothing. Naruto nodded to the guard and we walked past.

I glanced to the side and noticed we were walking through an odd shaped arc. When I looked closer I noticed the large gap in the walls on either side of us. Naruto again seemed to notice where I was looking and answered me before I could even raise a question, "Those are doors on either side of us. They're slid back within the wall. However, a press of a button and they will slide shut and be impenetrable."

We passed the narrow tunnel and came out to a large room. I smiled helplessly at the sight. Light trickled down from the ceiling and caste a glow onto the plants in front of us. "This is the best place on the tour in my opinion," Naruto said with a smile as he looked at my expression.

I frowned, "But how does the light come down?"

"Mirrors," Naruto said pointing. I looked up and indeed light was being cast down and onto the plants with mirrors tilted just so. "We thought of just having it roofless. Just have a ceiling made like the doors. One we could push a button and have it close. But the mirrors have been long in place and seem to work well."

"What do you mean they have been long in place?" I asked intrigued. We were now walking through the rows of plants.

"I mean they have been up there for at least a hundred years," he answered. "I don't really know how long actually."

"Were you born down here ?" I asked.

"No. Not when I was younger," he answered and the way he said it made me not want to pry further. "However since coming to this base I have rarely left it."

"Rarely?" I stopped and faced him.

"Well, I went and lived at another base for a time."

"Why?"

He smiled, though this time it wasn't a happy one, "They needed help. Guards. Stability. They had been attacked. Not all survived. I flew there with a group, slept on the floor mostly as I did my work. I helped them stabilize their food supply, got their gates back in working order, and was simply a helping hand for whatever they needed."

I turned and began walking again, "That's noble. Not everyone would do that. Actually very few would."

"Just because they won't does not mean that I have to be one of them."

I glanced over at him, "True but that still doesn't change the fact that you are one of few."

He shook his head, "After everything we all have been through, I would think everyone would be willing to help."

"You'd think, but people are constantly surprising you. Letting you down," I said. I stopped walking.

"No," an older man said grabbing my arm. He had a slightly bulging belly and a receding hairline. "This way!" he tried to pull me in the direction he meant.

"No!" I said and pulled my arm free. "There are people that way! We have to help them!" I grabbed at his sleeve this time. His face paled as he looked behind us and down the hall to the sights unseen. Screaming could be heard. Screams for help.

"You're on your own then," he said and pulled his arm free. He ran down the hall in the opposite direction.

"You coward!" I screamed after him, "You will regret your actions, if you live long enough, you damn bastard!"

I turned and started running towards the voices.

A hand lightly touched my arm. "Did you remember something?" Naruto asked softly, looking down at me.

"Yes," I said softly my mind coming back to the present.

"What did you remember?" he asked.

"People were screaming for help but I couldn't see them. A man tried to get me to leave them, to run, but I told him we had to help. He left me then saying I was on my own. I called him a coward then turned and began running towards the screaming."

"Do you know where it was?"

I thought back to the memory. We were in a stony hall and there were torches lighting the area. "No all I remember is that the walls were made of stone."

Naruto seemed to wonder at that for a bit then he turned back to me and said, "Lets continue the tour," he smiled and we moved on. "These plants in here are actually back up."

"Back up?" I questioned.

"Yes. We have crops above ground too but if they were ever to be destroyed we'd still have these as well." We had surpassed the crop section of the large room and were coming to a large tree.

"What's the tree for?"

"Its pretty," he said.

"It has no function other than that?"

"Notice there are flowers too," he said nodding towards them.

"Oh."

Bending down he picked a rose and held it out to me; I smiled and took it. "So lets move along, shall we?" he said.

We walked to the end of the garden and came to another guard station set up just like the one on the other side. We walked past that and came to another hall with doors. "Rooms again?" I asked.

"Storage actually," Naruto answered.

I nodded at this.

We walked down a flight of stairs and down some more halls before coming to another large room. Children ran about playing tag and other childlike games. They were young, no more than five. "This is the nursery. This is where the youngest kids come to play and interact." I noticed the adult woman chatting in the corner as they watched the children play. They smiled and waved at Naruto. He smiled and waved back.

"You sure get around," I commented, as everyone we seemed to pass knew him.

He blushed slightly and laughed it off, "Well it isn't exactly a large and open space. You get to know everyone down here."

I doubted this by the mass amount of people and rooms I had seen but I let him excuse away his popularity. Instead I asked as we walked away, "So what about the older kids?"

"We have similar places for certain age groups. They have school as well which they attend," he answered, "Which brings us to our next stop." We walked down the hall and I noticed the doors were numbered. "This is the school," Naruto said.

The hall was larger than the others we had walked through. The doors different colors. The walls even were bright and happy. "We try to make it a happy place for them," he said quietly and glanced back at the children laughing and playing in the distance.

"Naruto," I said softly as we stared at the children, "What are the doors keeping out?"

"Our enemy," he said quietly. He then turned and began walking down the hall. "You'll remember in time. Or you should. They are not forgotten easily."

I was dissatisfied with this answer but I hated seeing that dark look in his eyes so I dropped it. I liked it better when he smiled. Speeding up my steps I caught up with him and walked by his side.

After a time we came to another set of stairs leading down. "I hope you know I have no idea how to get anywhere," I said to him.

He chuckled, "The first floor is where the gate and garden was at. Second floor was the mess hall. Third was the school. And fourth is the medical ward."

"Why didn't you show me the gate and the garden at the same time earlier? Being that we were on the same floor?" I asked.

"Oh. The gate and the garden may be on the same floor but they are not connected," he said with a smile.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Security reasons. Now my lady, we are back in the medical ward."

"My Lady." A voice not that of Naruto's whispered in my head.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked looking concerned.

I shook off the haunting voice and smiled, "Yes?"

He still looked a bit concerned but he said nothing of it. "This is the main nurses station." The nurses in question looked up and smiled warmly at Naruto. "And down here was your room." We came to the end and sure enough it was the room I had woken up in. "But I think we can get you a nicer room than this."

"Okay," I answered. To me it didn't really matter. A bed was a bed no matter where it was.

He turned then and flashed a large smile at a pretty nurse. She blushed and smiled sheepishly back. "Can I get her bag with the stuff she had on and with her?" The nurses nodded and hurried to retrieve it. Naruto turned and looked back at me. I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled sheepishly.

The nurse returned then with a small bag, she handed it to Naruto, "Here it is," she said, "Is there anything else I could get you?" I got the feeling it was an open ended question.

"No, thank you though." We turned and walked out of the health ward and to the stairs. Once one the second floor he led me through another maze of halls until stopping abruptly at a door. He opened it and walked in.

The room we walked into had a couch and very little else. There was a bookshelf with an unorganized book collecting. The books were not lined neatly within the shelves. A small cage was above the book shelf. I frowned. "What is that?"

"What is what?" Naruto asked turning back to look at me to see what I was looking at. He followed my gaze, "That's my hamster."

"Your what?" I asked walking closer to the cage.

"Hamster."

"Hamster," I said trying the word on my lips. I looked at the fuzzy creature sleeping in a tube. It was surrounded by fluff. I tapped the glass and it opened its eyes, rolled over and went back to sleep. I smiled as it shunned me.

"Your rooms here," Naruto said and opened a door on the other side of me. I straightened and walked towards the room.

"Sorry its so barren, no one lives there," Naruto called from the other room. The one on the other side of the hamster cage.

Then realization hit me. "I'm going to be living with you?" I turned and saw him bare foot and shirt less as he walked out of his bedroom.

"Is that a problem?" he asked.

My jaw went slack as it took in the abs. My eyes trailed down to the v at his waist. I snapped my gaze back up but he was already turning, giving me his back. It was as muscled as the font but something made me catch my breath when looking at him. There was a deep scar across his right shoulder blade.

"I'm going to take a shower. Feel free to look at anything," he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I stood staring after him. After a few minutes the shower kicked on and I realized I had been staring blankly at the door that separated us. I turned stiffly and walked into my new room.


As always Comments are appreciated and wanted. )