The dimly lit room was filled with a deafening silence as the two occupants were situated on the opposite ends of the room. Naruto sat on a stool gloomily staring down at the floor. Ino was hugging her legs to her chest on the couch, hoping to catch Naruto's eye looking at her but he merely stared at the cold wooden floor.

Ino finally gave up and rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes. She let the silence sink into her mind as she continued to let her thoughts run through her mind.

How did it turn out like this?

Ino let the memory replay through her mind. She remembered how her heart longed to be with Naruto and how she couldn't control herself when she saw him. She remembered the warmth of his body against hers. The way it felt when he put his arms around her. And the way it was all gone within a second. How he staggered away from her as if she were… something he hated.

Ino was exhausted due to lack of sleep and the emotional distress that she had experienced. She stared at her feet for another second and then turned her heads towards Naruto. He still sat there completely motionless, if he hadn't blinked, Ino would've never known he was still alive. Ino lifted her head up and opened her mouth to say something.

N-Naru…" It came out like a whisper and faded away instantly when the doorbell rang abruptly. She felt her body shake and then the rising of her goose bumps all over her body. Before she realized it, Ino was staring at the floor again. Her heart was beating fast, breaths quick and short.

A few steps in front of her, Ino saw her own reflection of herself in the mirror. She looked curiously at it, as if she had never seen herself before. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was a mess, and she looked as if she had just gone through two days without any sleep.

Pathetic. Ino, you look pathetic, look at yourself.

The bell rang a second time and the silence was broken again, but still, neither of them moved. Naruto seemed to be too deep into his thoughts to care about the world around him, and Ino daren't move, as if afraid to disturb Naruto and to let anyone else see her current state. But the bell rang a third time, then a fourth, then it seemed as if someone was beating the doorbell with their fingers.

fuc…ing. Who the hell... Ino stood up and stalked angrily towards the door, completely forgetting how she looked like, as the doorbell continued to ring irritatingly. STOP RINGING THE FUCKING DOORBELL. She yanked the door open violently, she was about to say something, but was cut off.

"What the hell took you so long bastard."

"Yeah… you're too troubl…Ino?"

Ino stared at the two individuals at the door, as if they were complete strangers. The first seemed to have just gotten out of the hospital, he was standing with the aid of crutches, with bandages around his neck and forehead, not to mention, there were still a few scratches and scrapes on his left cheek. His jet black hair came down and covered the side of his face hiding some of the injuries, but his even darker eyes gave a quick look at Ino and were fixed upon something else behind her. He was clearly uninterested at Ino and continued to shout curses at the oblivious boy behind her.

The second was staring straight at her, as if she was wearing something horrendously ugly, or maybe because of the way she looked. He was supporting the first individual, in case he fell, Ino guessed. He was still leaning carelessly against the door's frame, but his face was completely surprised at the situation before him.

A voice interrupted from behind the two standing at the door, "HEY! What's taking so long?! I have to go pick up some extra bags of chips before we get there!"

Shikamaru gave a sigh, "We've just encountered something… unexpected. Give us a second." He quickly glanced past Ino to see what Sasuke was shouting about. Naruto was still sitting on his chair, wearing his black suit, not even a stir came from him. Shikamaru couldn't help to focus back on Ino, as if it were the first time he'd seen her.

"OI... Teme…Get your ass out here, we gotta go or we're gonna be late." Sasuke yelled at Naruto as he took a few steps and passed Ino. He saw Naruto a better and realized what he was doing. "The hell are you doing? Sulking? We have to GO!"

Naruto slowly looked up towards Sasuke, his face was blank and emotionless, but suddenly the largest grin anyone has ever seen grew on his face. "You're right for once TEME. LET'S GET GOING! Wouldn't want to be late! Sakura would kill me if I was late for her funeral!"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the arm and dragged him down the front stairs and onto the road. It was then that Naruto finally noticed all the friends that had gathered to come and get him. There was Neji looking arrogant as ever as he stood leaning against a pole, eyes closed, Shikmaru still standing at the door looking back grinning slightly, Chouji eating his bag of chips and giving back a big smile, Shino was standing there silent, as usual, Lee whose eyes were wet and watery still, Kiba who gave Naruto a big smile and a light punch to his cheek, and he finally looked at Sasuke was kind of in his chokehold.

"Wait… Where's Ino?" Catching her figure through the door, past Shikamaru, Naruto suddenly let go of Sasuke and ran back into the house.

Sasuke plummeted to the floor and the snow got into his mouth, and he yelled at Naruto while spitting out the snow at the same time, "OI! Where are you going again?!"

"WE GOTTA GO!!!" shouted the entire group at once.

Naruto ignored their remarks and ran quickly towards the direction that they had just come from.

Inside the house, however, was Ino, standing alone, staring at the floor with tears rolling down her cheeks. Shikamaru stood at the door looking at her back. He took a slow step towards Ino, and he opened his mouth to say something but he heard footsteps behind him. He glanced back and saw Naruto.

Naruto was standing at the door, panting slightly. Taking small steps, Naruto slowly walked until he was standing behind Ino. He heard her soft sobs and couldn't help but to grin a little.

"Silly girl…Did you think I'd just leave you here?"

Ino felt Naruto's hand on her head ruffling her hair. Then she turned around and pushed him away with her hand. "I hate it when you do that…" sniffling still, and wiping her tears away with her hands, but still managing to smile a bit. There was a tug on her hand and her head fell forwards a bit but was pulled back up. She looked back up to see Naruto, who was slightly red, holding her hand. "Sorry, but we really gotta go!"

The two of them ran out the door and met up with the group again, while leaving Shikamaru still standing at the door. "Oi! NARU…what's the point." He looked around the room once more before he left and closed the door behind him. He looked at the group of friends in front of him, with Naruto at the front yelling something inaudible. He couldn't help but to feel something inside him burning. He felt an uncontrollably surge of anger and wasn't quite sure why.

No… that…that's impossible.

A/N: another long time for an update! I hope you enjoyed it o.O if you guys could comment on the story itself so far because I don't know if I made things for the better or not o.O.