Note: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters within that show.

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Enjoy!

Chapter 2.

Slowly the boys regained their breath. It wasn't unusual that the two seemed to challenge one another whenever the opportunity presented itself. The boys panting grew thinner, neither would ever admit to being out of breath, even though the distance from Naruto's apartment to the training grounds was well over three miles.

Through a thin blue mask Kakashi bit his lip softly so as to not give away any of the thoughts which danced through his mind at the moment. "They still don't see it, what a shame" the silver haired man mused.

No one inhabiting the training grounds spoke that day, a silent nod from their teacher was all that was necessary for the team to work diligently on pushing the limits of their bodies. After five and a half hours of running, jumping and sparring, the young teens slumped to the ground beneath a rather large elm. Each one of them breathed a sigh of relief when their sensei called practice to an end for the day.

"Good work all but I think that's going to be it for today. Your free to go for the weekend, and Naruto, please remember that clocks need batteries to run…" the masked man grinned at the expression which darted his way.

"You're the one that's always late. Whatever, anyway… Sakura-Chan… would you like to go grab some lun—"the blond was cut off mid sentence.

"No Naruto." The pink haired girl said more sharply than she had intended. "Sasuke has agreed to help me prepare for a medical exam Tsunade is holding for me." Sakura could see the optimism drain from the face of her golden skinned teammate.

"Has it really been four years? Four years of Naruto asking me out, and still I say no, but he persists so wildly. When will he understand I don't care for him that way?" Sakura was lost deep in thought, and had failed to realize that Naruto had departed.

"Sasuke, where did Nar—"Sakura asked with a confused pout on her face.

"He stomped off after you said he would never understand that you didn't care for him" Sasuke said in his regular lowly tone.

"What? I didn't think I had said that out loud, he must be so upset… Should I go after him and apologize?" Sakura almost whimpered. Sasuke simply nodded in the negative and said "What would be the point, he wouldn't listen to you. Leave him, don't we have plans?"

Sakura snapped to at hearing the icy cold tone in Sasuke's usually empty voice. "I guess your right, he'll cool down and I'll speak to him tomorrow."

With those words the two left to the Hokage's office, walking closer to each other than normal. Sasuke noticed the increased intimacy, but played it off as the pink haired girl's inattention to the current situation.

"She must still be thinking about…him." Sasuke simply lowered his stare a bit and continued to walk without uttering a word.

Meanwhile Naruto, with pocketed hands and his forehead protector covering just the top arches of his brows, slowly walked towards his normal hang out after a hard day's training. He poured himself into one of the booths near the back of Ichiraku, not feeling up to speaking to the owner and his daughter, nor having any onlooker's gawk at him as was normal for the boy. For some reason, he lacked either the energy or the will to keep up appearances. After the waitress took his order, Naruto rested his head gently on the table, he was more tired than usual, and training had been rather easy that morning, but something just didn't feel right. As he contemplated this, the lids of his eyes which had only minutes before been wide with anticipation of eating with Sakura, were now heavy with the disdain he felt at being alone, again.

Naruto's mind lazily retraced the conversation from the night before, and the events prior to it. The night had been the same as any other night. The sky was clear, and if one had the time, he could lay on his back and count every star in the heavens. Naruto's pace was sure and steady that evening, he had wondered briefly why he had a sudden feeling to go out for a walk, but he was glad overall that he forced himself to. Walking down the streets of Konoha the blond whistled a tune from his childhood, or at least he guessed it was from his childhood. He wasn't quite sure he had ever heard it; it could have been like many of his memories, created to calm him, to give him some peace of mind. It was hard for Naruto because they seemed so real, so convincing, but having no way to validate what he could remember, who was to say they were real.

Anyhow, the blond boy simply smiled and cast aside his negative thoughts. A cool breeze surrounded him, it encircled him and caressed him, for this he was glad, the morning had been unseasonably hot for October, and the tan skinned young male had shed his usual fluorescent orange garb for a less traditional white collarless shirt and a pair of baggy khaki shorts. He stepped in time to the rhythm of his phantom tune, a light grin spread about his soft face. He rubbed his chin lightly to see if any facial hair had yet to grow, and define him as the man he thought he was, but alas his face was just as smooth as that of a baby. A snarl encompassed his features momentarily, but he blew that thought away just as quickly as he did with most negative things.

Suddenly Naruto found himself misplaced in memories. Memories of tree's rushing by, the sounds of leaves crunching, heavy breathes… and did he hear someone crying? Having been lost in thought Naruto had failed to notice the rather large rock in his path, and when he picked himself up to brush the dirt off his clothes from his fall he yelled at the rock. Not as much for tripping him, but for displacing him from the memory he had been reliving.

"What was that about? I can't remember anything like that happening. Hmm, who was that crying?"

Naruto quietly spoke these words to himself, in an effort to jog his memory. After the last of the dust hand been wiped away, Naruto began walking again to the rhythm of the tune he'd been humming. A sudden growl arose from his stomach and realizing he had yet to eat that day he decided it was time for some ramen.

The thought of filling his belly with delicious food spurred the golden haired boy to pick up his pace and reach his destination quickly. As he approached he heard two voices exchanging rather heated words. He pulled up swiftly to a wall outside the restaurant and lowered his body underneath a window pane so he could get a better grasp of the conversation. The two voices seemed familiar, they belonged to his two teammates but what were they going on about?

"Why won't you tell me what happened! Why won't you tell anyone what happened? Is it really that hard for you to open up to me? Your teammate? Haven't we been friends for years now?" Sakura screamed harshly, there was a hitch in her voice and everyone could hear her dry throat scratch itself with her embittered words.

"You couldn't understand. You couldn't understand if I gave you every detail, every thought I had, every word that was spoken. When I came back it was to leery eyes and hushed whispers." Sasuke said without looking up from the ground near his feet, which seemed to be particularly interesting at the moment.

"Why would you say such a thing? When have I ever not listened? When have I ever not understood, what makes you think now is any different then what we talked about before you left?" Sakura still in an agitated state dropped her white knuckled fists to her sides.

"Now and then are two different things. Don't misinterpret what I'm saying, it's not that I don't trust you, I keep this knowledge to myself because only I should bare it. The things he did to me, the things he did to Naruto. For god's sake, the things I did to Naruto…" With those few last words Sasuke slammed his first hard enough into the table nearest him that two of the legs of the bench splintered slightly.

"I know you don't love me Sasuke, at least not in the way I hoped, that was made clear to me the night you left. But there was someone you looked for, before I fell unconscious, you looked back. You weren't looking at me, but towards the city. What were you searching for? Or was it one last look?" Sakura's tone now somber and delicate.

"Stop it Sakura, you know that's not true, and besides it is no business of yours. What I do with my life is my choice." Sasuke growled.

"You know what I find interesting, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's left eyebrow cocked slightly as though she was lost in a mischievous thought.

"Why did you never tell Naruto what happened at Orochimaru's palace that night, he can't seem to remember anything. It was a high level memory wipe that was performed. So much so Hokage-sama was afraid she might permanently damage Naruto's mind if she tried to retrieve the memories."

With that Sasuke lunged toward his pink haired teammate. He grabbed her shoulders tightly, but not enough to cause harm. He slowly bent down toward her ear and whispered "he doesn't remember because that's the way it needs to be. He doesn't need to know what happened, just that we are all ok now. So help me Sakura, if I ever learn that you have something to do with him finding out what happened that night, I will make you regret every tear he sheds. Am I understood?"

Sasuke's deep black eyes stared maliciously into the young woman. She felt as though she was caught in a tornado, the room around her was thrashing wildly about. Spinning and twirling violently, yet Sasuke remained motionless. Once again he showed her the eyes of a man that was capable of so many horrible crimes. Again she remembered why the village feared him now.

With a silent nod she was released from her teammates grasp. A single tear graced her left cheek, it connected with her lips and the bitterness of it made her wince. This was not the first time the raven haired boy had made her cry, and it would no doubt be the last.

Sasuke stood straight once again, he helped lift the girl to her feet, in all of the drama between the friends, Sakura had dropped to her knees.

Sasuke then proceeded to do something he had never done before, he gently wiped away the tear streak from Sakura's face and uttered an "I'm sorry, but he just can't ever know. It's been a long day, let's go home." Sasuke said softer than he meant to.

"All right, I guess it's better if he doesn't, better if he never knows what happened" Sakura tried to place a smile on her face, but she was too light headed and was having a hard enough time trying to stand.

As Sakura and Sasuke walked out of Ichiraku they found themselves face to face to someone they had not been expecting to see. Naruto kneeled on the road before them. He had his hands on his face and he weeping intensely. Sakura looked at Sasuke and back to Naruto, not quite sure of what was going on, or what to do next.

"Why!" Naruto screamed into the night!

"Why won't anyone tell me? Why am I the only one who doesn't know? What is everyone hiding? What did I do wrong? I thought everything was normal again. Sasuke your back now so why? Why am I being left out again?" Naruto slugged his hands into the ground, assaulting the dirt with all his might and leaving sizable holes in their wake.

Sasuke leapt toward the blond in an attempt to stop him from bloodying his hands anymore. Sasuke wrapped his arms around the boy. Naruto whipped his body back and forth trying to break his teammates grasp.

"Naruto, were not leaving you out! What makes you think that?" Sakura whimpered as the two boys struggled on the ground to gain an upper hand.

"Stop lying! Why does everyone have to lie? I heard you and Sasuke, what is it I'm not supposed to know, huh? Was it Hokage-sama that put you up to this? You're supposed to be my friends!" Naruto finally stilled in the arms of Sasuke. His heart beat fast, and his eyes glowed a devilish red.

Sakura broke out in sobs at the boys words. Knowing full well Naruto's past, a life filled with heartache, loneliness and betrayal. She hated that they were doing this to him, that she was doing this to him. But somewhere deep in her heart she knew it was for his own good. She was protecting him, even if it hurt her.

"Naruto, we're not lying to you. No one really knows what happened, not even Sasuke, right Sasuke?"

The dark haired teen sat near Naruto and calmly regained his composure. He let out a slight bark at Sakura, he knew she was trying to get him to either spill the truth, or commit to their lie. Sasuke was visibly conflicted. He knew what it was to be lied to, he knew the pain of finding the truth on your own, whether it be accidental or because you sought it. All Sasuke wanted was to stop causing pain, but apparently that was his lot in life.

Solemnly he answered "Naruto, were not lying to you, you heard a single part of the conversation and you misunderstood us. This should teach you a lesson not to eavesdrop." Sasuke felt his heart twitch when the blond boy stopped crying suddenly.

"Did he really believe us?" Sasuke wondered to himself.

Naruto picked himself up once again, and brushed off the dirt from his clothes. "Well why didn't you just say that in the first place!" Naruto grinned cheekily, leaving the other two teens standing in the road speechless. Neither one could believe that Naruto had so quickly changed moods, but he was never one to be stable or consistent.

Seizing the opportunity which had presented itself Sakura excused herself from the episode which had just taken place. Giving a line to the extent of, homework to do. Leaving only Sasuke and Naruto standing in the now dark, empty road.

"Ne, Sasuke, what was that really about?" Naruto asked coyly.

"Nothing dobe, you know how she gets, especially now that I'm back, she never lets up." Sasuke said half heartedly.

"Oh, I guess your right, well anyway I was just about to get something to eat… You wanna…"

"Want to what dobe?" Sasuke questioned.

"Wanna join me?" Naruto couldn't believe he had just asked Sasuke, of all people to eat with him. It wasn't that he disliked Sasuke all that much, it's just…the guy was such a downer.

Preparing to give his usual empty statements about needing to train, Sasuke surprised himself as well by deciding to sit with the tanned boy. Sasuke wasn't much for dinner conversation but he did feel as though he owed the blond some sort of an apology.

Much too the shock of both boys, Sasuke answered Naruto with "Why not, I haven't eaten in a while and could do with something in my stomach, even if it's that trash you stuff your mouth with everyday." Sasuke said coolly.

Naruto noticed that his body was a lot warmer than it had been moments before, his palms were sweating slightly and he was a little dizzy, but he quickly brushed all that away.

"All right let's go!" and with that the boys walked back into Ichiraku. And as the boys entered the restaurant each thought silently to themselves, "I'm going to get some answers."