It was his first mission out of the village since his acquittal more than a month before, and one would think that Sasuke would have been at least a little excited by that prospect. And he might well have been, had said mission been something more interesting (and less lame) than picking up a cartload of sweet potatoes for one of the many street vendors in Konoha. With the hint of chill that had lightly flavored the morning air in recent weeks, it was all too evident that autumn was on its way, which meant that small wooden carts selling yaki-imo* would soon dot the streets, selling their warm, delicious merchandise to passersby. The vendor who had contracted them for this mission was an old man named Arata whose rheumatism had gotten too bad for him to make the trip himself--half a day's travel there and back was a long way when one was in one's late seventies--and he had seemed pleasant enough, if a little deaf and overly inclined to bow politely numerous times (which of course had forced Sasuke to return the gesture since the man was so much his elder, which Arata-san had then returned, so the two of them had spent a good five minutes or so bowing back and forth at the end of every minor verbal exchange, much to the Uchiha's irritation).

Sasuke growled softly under his breath as the old brown mare who was pulling the cart whickered and nudged his arm with her nose. This had Naruto written all over it; he just knew that that blonde idiot had set aside this lousy mission just for him. No one else would bother with being that devious and underhanded about his mission assignments. Or that stupid (though at least this time Naruto had had the foresight to avoid getting sent on the mission along with Sasuke).

I'm stuck doing all these ridiculous D-rank missions…you'd think that idiot would give me a break and actually send me somewhere vaguely interesting. But then again, it's probably his way of getting back at me for whatever reason. Who knows what goes on inside that dobe's head? What's more, who wants to?

Snorting out a faint sigh, he shot a surreptitious glance over at his sole companion. Sakura, he reflected, had been oddly quiet for the entirely of the mission thus far. He was used to her chattering on and on about numerous inane topics, asking him questions but then rushing on before he could answer (which he most likely wouldn't have anyway, so it wasn't really an issue), though of course that had been her manner ten years ago, in the early days of Team Seven. She had apparently matured quite a bit, and they had been largely silent; in fact, the only times she'd spoken to him had been to offer him some lunch, and later on some water, as well as a single remark on the crispness of the air. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence at all—just unexpected.

He studied her contemplatively out of the corner of his eye. Her stride was confident and effortless, and she didn't look tired in the least, her eyes bright and alert, her expression relaxed into an easy, contented smile. She almost seems like she's enjoying this, the Uchiha thought half-bitterly, turning a frustrated glare down at his feet. Restrictions or no, I'm going to kill that idiot for this when I get back—

"Looks like someone's not paying attention." Sakura's teasing voice broke in on his thoughts. "Shinobi rule #3 states that shinobi are supposed to constantly on their guard, and expect the unexpected."

Sasuke favored her with a withering glance. "Because this mission is so very dangerous."

"You never know," the kunoichi replied with an offhanded little shrug that he caught with his peripheral vision. "Leaving Konoha at all always invites a certain level of risk." Sasuke snorted again and glared more fiercely down at the road. "It's nice to get out of there, though, isn't it, even if this mission is mind-numbingly dull."

"Hn."

Ever since he'd been placed on probation, Sakura had been spending a lot of time with Sasuke--not that she hadn't been before, but now he was actually lucid and could respond to her presence, though oftentimes he still chose not to. Truth be told, she couldn't have avoided him even if she'd wanted to: she, along with Naruto, had been assigned full custody of the last Uchiha, which meant among numerous other things that they were required to check up on him at least twice a day. He still wasn't allowed to leave his apartment without one or both of his old teammates at his side unless he had a visible ANBU guard, though Tsunade had informed him that the Council was reconsidering this stipulation because of his excellent behavior thus far.

Still, forced or not, Sasuke had spent enough time with Sakura to recognize the fact that she had honestly and truly changed a great deal. The most marked change was the way she treated Naruto, for while they still fought occasionally, they were also openly affectionate towards each other, something that had flat-out shocked the Uchiha heir; on more than one occasion he had stood awkwardly by and watched as Sakura was practically tackled by Naruto, and instead of popping him in the face as had been her wont in days past, she returned the embrace, mirroring his wide grin and only letting him go after she'd tried (and failed) to squeeze all the air out of the tall blonde's lungs. During those moments, Sasuke was an outsider once again, shifting his weight and looking on uncomfortably as they chattered at each other, seeming to forget about him entirely, at least temporarily.

They were very close, that much was obvious, and though this bothered him a bit at first, Sasuke got used to it soon enough. Naruto was generally pretty affectionate towards him also (though of course this affection was shown through friendly punches in the arm or rough slaps on the back rather than hugs, an arrangement that both were quite satisfied with); Sakura, on the other hand, hardly ever touched him. She didn't avoid touching him--she still had to give him weekly check-ups, after all, on Tsunade's orders--but it wasn't like before, when she would use every possible excuse to lay a hand on his arm or brush her shoulder against his, though when she did touch him, it was still with the same sort of gentleness he'd noticed before. She was friendly enough, but recently it felt like she was being somewhat distant, which wasn't at all like the Sakura he remembered.

Another difference was the professionalism with which she approached nearly everything. Naruto and Sakura had initially agreed to evenly split what the Kyuubi container laughingly referred to as "supervision detail"--they would take turns accompanying Sasuke on his missions--but somehow the foxy blonde had managed to weasel his way out of a large portion of his half (he just happened to have guard duty or a mission or a date, and surely Sakura-chan wouldn't want him to disappoint Hinata-chan), leaving Sakura to pick up the slack. And although sometimes they did all do missions together as a group, such as pulling weeds or cleaning up a river, most of the time it was just Sakura and Sasuke working together to capture runaway pets, paint buildings, build fences, tend flowerbeds, and complete countless other menial tasks.

But what really surprised Sasuke about all that was the fact that she didn't complain once; she simply accepted the task and worked alongside him swiftly and efficiently, silently tending to whatever minor wounds he obtained during the missions or through his daily training sessions.

This quiet, businesslike attitude was something new, and something to admire, though not overtly so; it wasn't really all that unexpected anyway, especially considering her age and her chosen profession. Sasuke had always prided himself on his self control, an area in which Sakura and especially Naruto had both been decidedly lacking back in their genin days (and in which the blonde still left something to be desired); it was a trait that he valued in other people as well.

Of course, boring missions such as the one they were currently on left plenty of time for even the most disciplined of minds to wander…

Once again Sasuke used his peripheral vision to surreptitiously study the kunoichi at his side.

Not all of the differences he'd noted in his companion were behavioral; many of them were physical. One of the biggest changes had to be the way she moved. Not only was her stride confident, but she practically radiated a feeling of carefully controlled power; Sasuke had often gotten a similar sensation from Tsunade, which certainly made sense given the bond between the Hokage and the younger kunoichi.

There were several other noticeable differences as well…

Sasuke momentarily allowed his eyes to wander over her slim but decidedly feminine frame, though unsurprisingly his gaze lingered longest on the ANBU-issue katana at her side.

It was still somewhat difficult for him to believe that she was in the Black Ops. He hadn't seen her fight in years, but he couldn't imagine that she'd really be that much of a challenge, otherwise he would've asked her for a match already. On the other hand, she had been trained by Tsunade, one of the Legendary Three, who must have taught her something besides medical jutsu; the near-perfect chakra control of a medic-nin was nothing to sneer at, as Sasuke had learned through watching, as well as occasionally facing off against, Yakushi Kabuto back in Oto, although the Uchiha doubted that Sakura was half as vicious as the silver-haired Sound nin had been.

He shuddered inwardly. Not that that was at all a bad thing.

She certainly did have a temper, though; that was one thing that hadn't changed. What had, however, was the fact that she was now willing to turn it on him, and while her outbursts honestly were rather intimidating—another thing she'd no doubt picked up from the Godaime—they were still so altogether unexpected that it was all that Sasuke could do not to chuckle in response.

Sasuke's mind continued to wander, as did his eyes, and he soon found himself half-disinterestedly contemplating Sakura's personal life, as well as the graceful curves of her slender, toned legs.

She had been spending a lot of time with him; didn't she have a boyfriend or something? Naruto obviously had Hinata--he babbled on and on about her when given the chance--but Sakura didn't really talk about that sort of thing at all. She could have just wanted to keep such things private--not everyone felt the need to share every detail of their personal lives with the general public as Naruto seemed to, after all--but he couldn't see any even halfway-interested boyfriend allowing his girlfriend to spend as much time with Sasuke as Sakura had in recent weeks. Still, it wasn't impossible that she might be seeing someone. After all, she didn't ask Sasuke on dates any more, but then again she didn't really have to—she could pretty much order him to go with her wherever she felt like dragging him.

Now that he thought about it, he faintly recalled that she had mentioned dating several other men during one of those long, rambling, one-sided conversations they'd had months ago while he was in the hospital pretending to be unconscious.

Inexplicably, that thought left him feeling a bit strange and vaguely insecure.

And that, in turn, left him undeniably irritated. Why should that knowledge have any effect on him? So she'd been asked on a few dates while he'd been gone. So what? He certainly wasn't interested in her himself--although she was (Sasuke grudgingly admitted to himself) quite an attractive woman; so why did it bother him that other men had apparently noticed this fact as well? It had never concerned him before to know that other guys were interested in her--he'd been standing just a few feet away when Rock Lee asked her out for the first time, and Naruto had been constantly (and clumsily) trying to "put the moves on her" for as long as he could remember--but it hadn't bothered him at all back then. Why should it now?

Because, he realized abruptly, back then he knew she liked him, and though her constant attention and attempted affections had annoyed him on occasion, at the same time he had to admit that the admiration had felt good; he'd known that she wouldn't date anyone else--she liked him far too much to do so. Now, however, he wasn't really sure how she felt about him. Sure, he'd seen that same shy, adoring gleam in her eye when he'd first come to, and she spent a lot of time around him even when she didn't have to, but that didn't necessarily mean that she cared about him as anything more than a friend. Although...the look in her eyes when he'd not-so-politely asked her to remove her person from on top of him--similar to the look one would expect from a kicked puppy--had been hauntingly familiar…

A low whistling sound, undetectable to the untrained ear, suddenly filled his senses, and Sasuke spun around in a crouch, hand darting to the hilt of his kusanagi, his eyes searching for the shuriken he knew were spinning towards him. Before he could fully draw his blade, however, he heard the unmistakable sound of tempered steel being drawn, followed the quick, staccato ring of metal on metal. He blinked and found Sakura standing in front of him, casually resheathing her katana; as he watched, she stepped back around behind him, stooping to pick up one of the five throwing stars embedded in the ground where she'd been standing mere moments before.

Sasuke was irritated at her intervention--he could have handled it himself, really--but he was impressed nonetheless.

When did she get so fast?

He shot her a glare that she missed, or at least she pretended to; she was too busy studying the shuriken that she'd yanked out of the road to take any notice of his current facial expression.

Suddenly she stiffened, her eyes darting up to meet his, an intense question apparent in their depths.

He nodded slightly. He felt them, too: three chakra signatures in the woods off to their right.

Sasuke's mind raced, taking in the situation and running various scenarios. They would most likely have to venture into the woods to engage their attackers, which meant that he and Sakura would be very vulnerable during their initial approach, as they were out on the open road and the enemy nin had the cover of the trees—

A decidedly unstealthy rustle came from the bushes about fifty meters ahead of them, and in a flash and what was practically an explosion of leaves, three thoroughly disreputable-looking men in dark, ill-fitting clothing stood in the middle of the road, blocking their way; all three wore masks over the lower half of their faces.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. They clearly had the upper hand due to their concealment, and they decided to confront us directly? What sort of idiots are these guys?

He had his answer soon enough.

"Uchiha Sasuke," said the one in the middle, a thickset man with shaggy reddish hair and several lurid tattoos stretching across what little was visible of his skin. "Lay down your weapons and come with us quietly. We have you outnumbered, so don't even think of trying to fight your way out of this."

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged quick, equally disbelieving looks, and both could easily tell what the other was thinking: are these guys for real?

"What do you want with Sasuke?" Sakura demanded, glaring fiercely at the men obstructing their path.

"He's a filthy traitor…we want him to pay for what he's done," said the nin on the left, a short, wiry man with a rather pointed face and dull brown hair; the third man, who was of middling height and wore a pair of square, thick-looking glasses, nodded silently in agreement and raised a clenched fist, shuriken interspersed between his fingers.

Sakura's glare intensified. "Sasuke already stood trial—"

"And made a mockery of justice!" the first man cut in sharply. "He's a deserter and a mass murderer, and yet the Hokage and the Elders welcomed him back with open arms. Bloodline limit or not, last of his clan or not, nothing excuses defection!" His hands drifted towards the tanto tucked into his belt. "The only acceptable penance is death."

"The Hokage—!" Sakura began, but the tattooed man cut her off again.

"We came here to execute a criminal, not to discuss the matter with little girls." He smiled condescendingly. "But if you stand down as well, we'll spare your life, regardless of the company you keep."

Sasuke heard a quick, hissing intake of breath from beside him; unsurprisingly the man's remark had struck a nerve with his companion. He was startled, however when a pink-and-red blur leaped forward past him.

"Sa—" he began, then was abruptly cut off as she reared back and slammed a fist into the ground.

The ground between the kunoichi and the enemy shinobi crumbled like stale bread, and with three nearly identical yelps, the would-be ambushers disappeared into the sudden fissure in the road amidst the cracking of rock and a large cloud of dust.

Sasuke stared, trying valiantly not to gape as his petite, bubble-gum-haired companion gave a small noise of satisfaction and dusted off her hands, then retrieved a length of rope from the back of the wagon and approached the newly-formed crater she'd made in the center of the road. Standing on the edge, she posted her fists on her hips and tutted down at the three figures sprawled limply below her.

"Now then. Have we learned our lesson about underestimating little girls?"

A low moan was the only reply, and Sakura snorted and shook her head.

"If that's all you've got to say for yourselves, you're going to be in trouble."

With that she jumped lightly down into the gaping hole, emerging a few moments later with their assailants, all tied together in one big bundle with the rope, slung half-carelessly over her shoulder. Effortlessly, she tossed them into the back of the wagon with the sweet potatoes, then turned to face Sasuke's stunned gaze.

"Normally I'd kill them for trying to harm you, Sasuke-kun," she said, her tone matter-of-fact and almost apologetic, "but they're Konoha nin, so I thought it'd be better if we brought them back to stand trial. Though I don't want to think about what Naruto will do to them if he finds out that they tried to kill the both of us. He's not exactly the forgiving type." She suddenly clapped her hands together. "Oh, I bet you're wondering how I knew they were Konoha nin since they aren't wearing any visible symbols." She smiled with altogether too much levity for someone who'd just foiled an assassination attempted and explained, "I knew they had to be from Konoha because we were just selected for this mission this morning. None of the other Villages would have any way of hearing about our assignment, and even if they did, they certainly didn't have enough time to get a team out here to intercept us. Also, the shuriken they used have the signature of a local weaponsmith on them…and while they are well-made, they're just regular shuriken--hardly worth exporting. So they had to be from Konoha." She turned an unimpressed glare at the motionless lump in the back of the wagon. "I figured that there would be some sort of trouble, so I was waiting for it…though I have to say, I did think it would be more of a challenge." A smirky half-grin split her mouth and she gave a small chuckle. "I'm actually almost disappointed. Oh well. I guess everything can't be challenging." She paused and turned a contemplative look on the road ahead of them. "Although getting around that crater I made in the road might be a little tricky."

For a long moment, Sasuke just stared at her. His eyes were slightly wider than normal, but other than that he gave no indication of his surprise or the sudden respect (grudging though it was) that he felt towards the pink-haired kunoichi smiling over at him.

At long last he snorted, closing his eyes and turning his back to her, snatching up the still-dangling reins with one hand and shoving the other back into his pocket as he started off down the road once again, cart, horse, sweet potatoes, and captives in tow. "Come on," he said, his tone flat and bored. "We're going to be late if we don't hurry. And if we are…" –she could hear the smirk in his voice as she ran to catch up to him— "…then I'm telling Arata-san, and Tsunade-sama, that it was your fault."

"So how'd you like your mission, teme?" The foxy blonde stopped shoveling ramen into his mouth long enough to shoot a devilish grin at the dark-haired man seated on the stool beside him. "I hope nothing too dangerous

happened."

Sasuke turned a flat stare on the Kyuubi container. "We were attacked by three Konoha nin on the way back who demanded that we surrender so that they could kill me in the name of justice." He shrugged offhandedly and turned his attention back to his meal as Naruto gaped at him, giving an unattractive display of his current mouthful of half-chewed noodles and seafood. "Nothing we couldn't handle."

"Wha—? W-wait, are you serious? No way!" Naruto turned wide eyes on Sakura, who was sitting on his other side. "Sakura-chan, is he telling the truth?"

The medic-nin looked up from poking halfheartedly at her noodles and smiled wearily at the blonde. "Yeah, we handled them, all right." More like I handled them, she thought sullenly as she went back to her listless stirring. But of course Sasuke wouldn't ever admit that someone else protected him, especially not to an old rival like Naruto.

It really was wonderful having him back, though, Sakura thought as she watched Naruto chatter excitedly to Sasuke, who was listening intently with something like the ghost of a smile on his face. She had been aware, of course, that she missed Sasuke, but she hadn't really realized just how much she'd missed him until he'd finally come back. She felt pathetic and foolish, but she couldn't help spending as much time as possible around the Uchiha--she almost felt like she had to make up for lost time, and she still had a subconscious fear that he would leave again, something that she didn't think she could bear a second time.

…And also…

She turned her head, leaning forward just enough to see around Naruto, looking through his wildly gesticulating hands to study the quiet, dark-featured man on blonde's other side. Just looking at him made something in her chest tighten, causing her breath to hitch just slightly, and as she studied his familiar and exceptionally handsome features, just as she had so many times before, Haruno Sakura was forced to admit that perhaps she wasn't quite as over Sasuke as she had once thought.

That's ridiculous, she snapped at herself inwardly, forcing her eyes away from the Uchiha's striking countenance and staring sightlessly down into her bowl of miso ramen. He was gone for years, and she was perfectly fine, and now that he'd shown up again she was mooning after him just like before? She snorted softly. I don't think so. She was just glad to see him, that was all…and anyway, there was nothing wrong with just looking, was there? In any case, it didn't really even bear thinking about. Even if she did still have feelings for Sasuke--which of course she didn't, this was an entirely hypothetical train of thought--she would never admit to it. It would only drive Sasuke away and destroy the friendship she'd been working so hard to build between them, and for what? He would never even consider thinking about her in that way, she was certain.

Sakura sighed and forced herself to eat a few more mouthfuls of the by-now-lukewarm noodles.

For some reason, that certainty bothered her a great deal more than it should have.

Sakura wasn't certain what to make of today's assignment. She chewed on her lower lip pensively as she made her way down the street amidst the afternoon bustle, taking a more roundabout path than usual to get to Sasuke's apartment; she needed time to think.

She honestly had a viable reason to visit him this time, one that didn't have anything to do with her status as a medic nin; this was solely because she was an elite jounin, and a member of ANBU to boot: she was Uchiha Sasuke's designated sparring partner today.

Sakura wasn't sure whether she should be excited or unnerved by this news. While it did mean that Tsunade placed a great amount of faith in her combat abilities, she was being asked to fight Uchiha Sasuke, a veritable genius and her year's top rookie. Not to mention her old teammate and first love. (Of course, Tsunade hadn't bothered to tell her that the only reason she had been assigned the duty was because Neji and Sai were both out on ANBU missions, and Lee and Naruto had already both been given assignments that would last most of the day.)

Still, she had to go, regardless of how she finally decided to feel about it; orders were orders, after all.

She knew that Sasuke always practiced his shuriken-throwing for most of the morning on Mondays and Thursdays, and since today was Thursday, she had waited until the afternoon to go see him; regardless of her attempt to avoid inconveniencing him, a faint hint of annoyance was still visible on his face when he answered her knock on his door.

"I'm here to take you to your sparring session," she said brightly, smiling with a confidence she didn't truly feel.

Sasuke eyed her a bit skeptically, as if he'd somehow picked up on her false levity, but stepped back to allow her inside nonetheless.

"Who's my opponent today?" he asked as he sat to slip on his sandals.

"It's a surprise," Sakura said, keeping her cheerful expression firmly in place.

Sasuke glanced up at her, obviously not amused. "Tell me," he said, though it was really more of a command.

"Well, actually…" She bit her lip and hesitated momentarily as one dark eyebrow arched upwards. "It's me," she finished quietly, watching his expression carefully.

Sasuke suddenly went completely still--Sakura couldn't even tell if he was still breathing--then his mouth turned down and his eyes narrowed.

"No."

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"No," he repeated, still staring up at her from his seat on the genkan step. "I won't fight you."

Sakura's smile faltered, but then her own eyes narrowed a bit. "Why not?" she demanded.

The dark-eyed man gave her a look that was infinitely cool before slipping out of his sandals, placing them neatly to the side once more before turning and making his way back down the apartment's short hallway. "It wouldn't be worth it," he said, looking back at her over his shoulder.

Leaving her own shoes next to his in the entryway, the pink-haired girl followed him down the hallway into the apartment's small but immaculately clean main room. Sasuke looked up from pouring himself a cup of tea as she came to a stop at the end of the hallway, his glance all but saying 'what are you still doing here?'

"What."

"I'm not weak like I used to be, Sasuke." She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him openly. "I've changed a lot—"

The Uchiha snorted, cutting her off. "Really? Could've fooled me. You seem to be following me around, just like always."

This was neither true nor fair, and they both knew it--she really didn't follow him around any more, at least not by her own choice--and he regretted the words the instant they were out of his mouth (why did he always say things like that to her?), but the damage, such as it was, had already been done.

For a moment, Sasuke thought she was going to haul off and slug him like she had done to Naruto for years, or at least give him a good yelling-at--her eyes flashed hotly, her mouth tightened, her entire body went rigid--but abruptly all the fight seemed to drain out of her, leaving her dull-eyed and slump-shouldered. Dropping her eyes, she nodded wordlessly before turning and disappearing down the hall; a few moments later, the door creaked open, then quietly clicked shut.

Sasuke felt a brief pang of regret, but he pushed it away with little thought. He shouldn't feel guilty; all he'd done was avoid a complete mismatch. He didn't really want to hurt her, after all, and he was certain that would have been the inevitable outcome if he had agreed to spar with her. He usually managed to mess Lee up pretty badly, and Sakura couldn't be anywhere near the taijutsu virtuoso's skill level: no challenge at all. And while it did usually prove entertaining to whale on Naruto a bit, pummeling Sakura into the ground didn't really sound all that enjoyable.

The Uchiha heir heaved a slight sigh and stared down at his tea, watching the steam curl up off the hot liquid.

It might've been nice if she'd stayed a little longer; perhaps he should have offered her some tea. He knew he had upset her, but she would have gotten over it soon enough; she always did. She wasn't such bad company these days, either, and he spent quite a bit of time alone, so her presence wasn't really an intrusion.

He shrugged inwardly. Well, since there was nothing else to do, he might as well do some reading…

Evening was falling over Konoha as Naruto trudged back in through the open gates, covered in dirt and bruises; Lee and Tenten, who flanked him, looked little better, if in fact not worse—the former's face was covered in shallow scratches, while the latter's hair was full of twigs and leaves and was falling out of its usually-neat buns. All three looked exhausted.

They were also surrounded by about two dozen lively, chattering children who, while nearly as dirty as their supervisors, were clearly not half as tired for the most part, though a few of them were yawning and dragging their feet, and each of the three adults had at least one sleeping child riding on their back.

The instant they were all inside the gate, the children scattered, vanishing into the growing shadows before any of the three weary jounin could get out a single word about the "mission reports" due the following day.

The ragged trio exchanged tired looks, then each shuffled off to deliver the children on their backs to their respective homes.

"That is the last time I let Tsunade-baa-chan talk me into supervising one of the Academy's field trips," Naruto groaned to no one in particular. Even he, with his vast endurance, had found it difficult to keep track of so many children, especially when they all seemed more interested in "ambushing" or having wrestling matches with their chaperones than they were in collecting samples of the various leaves and pieces of bark Iruka-sensei had been lecturing them about for the past week.

Naruto suddenly grinned. It was strangely satisfying to know, however, that none of those kids had been quite as hyperactive and mischievous as he had been. Not that a few of them didn't show promise…with a just little training, a gentle nudge or two in the right direction, he could have them driving Iruka-sensei not just up the wall, but probably over it as well.

The blonde yawned hugely and went to stretch, wincing halfway through the motion as a sharp pain lanced through his shoulder. He was momentarily bewildered, then he suddenly remembered: one of the younger boys had slipped off a tree branch on the way back, and Naruto, moving on reflex, had caught him well before he hit the ground. Unfortunately his attention had been so focused on the child that he'd failed to notice a particular branch before it had made rather solid contact with his shoulder, producing a decidedly unsettling snap; for a while afterward it had hurt to move that arm, and though the pain had soon faded for the most part, it still felt like something was grinding there in his shoulder—understandably not a feeling that Naruto particularly enjoyed.

Normally he knew his remarkable self-healing abilities, courtesy of the Kyuubi, would have taken care of things, which meant that the injury was probably worse than he'd initially thought, which of course meant that he should go see Sakura-chan about it. If anyone would know what to do if something was really wrong with his shoulder, Sakura-chan would know.

Sakura's apartment wasn't all that far from his own, so he took the time to stop by his place and clean up a little bit (he remembered that Sakura had commented about it rather unappreciatively the last time he'd shown up at her door without cleaning up from a mission: actually, she'd nearly had a fit…of course, that had been after the algae-collecting mission-turned-mud fight with Sasuke, and he'd been so filthy, he'd scarcely been recognizable as a human being).

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, neither of which did anything to ease the pain in his shoulder, the blonde took off, hopping out the window by his bed and making his way across the two streets and three or four roofs that separated his apartment from Sakura's. Though it was tempting to let himself in via her balcony door, he went around the usual way (he also remembered the last time he'd burst into Sakura's apartment via the balcony—she obviously hadn't been expecting company and had just gotten out of the bath, leaving her clad in only a towel; healing abilities or no, Naruto had sported a large, knuckle-shaped bruise on his cheek for the next few days).

Smiling eagerly at the idea of simply spending time with one of his best friends, and hopefully getting his shoulder fixed in the bargain, Naruto knocked, long and loud, on her apartment door, half-shouting as he did so: "Sakura-chan! Hey, Sakura-chan, open up! I—"

The door swung open, and the bright, customary grin stretched across the Kyuubi container's face quickly vanished, a worried frown replacing it.

There was nothing about her hair or clothes to indicate that anything was wrong; in fact, she looked very nice, as if she'd just cleaned herself up within the last couple of hours, and though she was perhaps a bit pale, she didn't look unwell. But Naruto had known Sakura long enough to tell when something was wrong with his best and first real female friend, and he knew almost instantly that she'd been crying—the skin around her eyes was just noticeably swollen, a very minor detail, but a sure sign that his suspicion was correct.

"Sakura-chan…"

Seeing the stricken expression on his face, she forced a weak smile and rubbed at one of her slightly reddened eyes. "Naruto…what are you doing here?"

The blonde stared at her, his concern evident on his face. "I just got back from a mission, and think I did something to my shoulder, but that can wait. What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl straightened and shook her head, instantly all business. "No, let me see that shoulder now. Come on in."

It didn't take her more than a few moments to determine what was wrong. "Looks like you partially dislocated it. Subluxations like this are common, and nothing to worry about…I'll just pop it all the way back into the socket—" there was a repeat of the same disquieting snap Naruto had heard the first time "—and heal the damage to the ligaments and the surrounding muscle, and you should be perfectly fine."

Turning his head, Naruto watched as Sakura's hands began to glow a gentle blue-green, and warmth flooded the affected area, strengthening painfully stretched ligaments and re-knitting torn muscle. After a moment the warmth faded away, and with careful fingers she explored the joint to make sure that the surrounding tissue and bone were undamaged.

"There," she declared, satisfied that the injury had been completely taken care of. "Good as new. Of course, if you didn't have a medic-nin around who knew what they were doing, that arm would be in a sling for a few weeks." She gave him a teasing wink. "You're lucky you're friends with me."

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," Naruto said with a grateful smile as he slipped his shirt back on.

"No problem. Just go easy on it for a couple days, all right? It's healed, but the muscle is still pretty delicate, and the ligaments were strained, so your arm will probably be stiff and kinda sore for a while—"

"Yeah, okay, I'll be careful," he said, turning a serious look down on her. "Now it's your turn." He shifted on the couch to face her, pointedly giving her his full attention. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan? Tell me the truth."

The pink-haired girl stared at him silently for a long moment, unsure as to whether or not she should really tell him what the problem was. Naruto had loved her, she knew. He'd liked her for years, she knew that too, and though it had used to annoy the hell out of her, sometimes it still made her feel just the slightest bit guilty. He'd been denied so much already, she had hated to be the one to deny him once again something that he should have had. But at that point she couldn't help it, and they'd both known it. Her heart had not truly been hers to give back then; she'd already given it to the person who needed it most of all. They'd both known that, too.

He had reached for her, had pursued her, and she had ignored him and pushed him away. And though she didn't deserve it, somehow he'd forgiven her. He'd come to care for her almost like a sister, though there would always be that special little soft spot for her in his heart, a remnant of past feelings that were decidedly not brotherly. But regardless, she was still one of the few people who the blonde had become extremely close to--close enough for him to consider her family.

She knew that she had no right to turn to him about this, no right to involve him in this matter that had only ever caused him pain, no right to expect comfort from him; but something still made her reach for him at that moment—something purely visceral—and he didn't push her away.

Naruto, though slightly surprised to find Sakura clinging to him so tightly, gave a lopsided half-smile and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. There were numerous questions practically burning the inside of his mouth, but he forced them back, albeit with great difficulty; he knew that Sakura needed time to focus her thoughts, and that she would start talking soon enough, which would probably answer most of his questions anyway.

After what seemed like forever to the impatient blonde, the pink-haired girl gave him one final squeeze, then sat back, her expression troubled, but still composed.

"…I just don't know what to do," she muttered, rubbing a hand across her face. "It just seems like no matter what I do, Sasuke still refuses to see me as an equal. He thinks I'm not strong enough to be worth fighting, but he hasn't even really seen me fight since we were kids! He just assumes that I haven't changed at all, when really I've changed a lot--a hell of a lot!" She slammed a closed fist down on the coffee table to emphasize her words, which actually worked better than she'd intended, as said piece of furniture shuddered and gave a decidedly ominous sounding creak. Sakura, however, didn't seem to notice. "He's just—he's just impossible! You and I have done so much for him—you nearly gave up your dream of being Hokage, threatening to go into exile with him like that—and he doesn't seem even remotely grateful! I mean, I know we didn't do it because we wanted to be thanked, but it wouldn't kill him to act like he actually likes being around us sometimes." The anger in her tone faded and she stared down at her hands, which were tightly folded in her lap. "It wouldn't kill him…to be a little nicer." Her eyes suddenly narrowed, and Naruto had to resist the urge flinch.

"I mean, who does he think he is, anyway?" the medic-nin said, voice rising once again. "He acts like he's the one who has to put up with us, like we're the ones who are hard to get along with! He's the one who can hardly speak in complete sentences to save his life! Honestly, he has the emotional intelligence of a five-year old, if that!" Standing, she began pacing across the room; Naruto eyed her warily, knowing that in her current temper it was best that he be on his toes.

" 'Would you like some more tea, Sasuke?' 'Hn.' 'Do you want to go out for a while, Sasuke?' 'Hn.' 'How's your leg today?' 'Hn.' Sometimes I think that's all he can say! And what the hell is that supposed to MEAN, anyway?"

Naruto bit back a chuckle, but Sakura was too busy vocalizing months of frustration to pay him any mind.

"He's abrupt, and can be tactless, and doesn't hold conversations very well, and sometimes I don't think he listens to a word I say all afternoon, but yet—sometimes there's something in his eyes or on his face, something just below the surface, and when it's there, somehow I know that he cares. And I—oh, God." The medic-nin's eyes had gone wide, and her voice sunk to a whisper as she dropped back onto the couch with a soft thump. "I…I do still love him."

"Well, yeah," Naruto snorted in a tone that he might just as easily have used to say duh. "Even I knew that, Sakura-chan…in fact, I knew it right from the beginning."

Accustomed as she was to the blonde's boasting, the pink-haired girl gave a rough chuckle and dragged a hand back through her hair, ignoring his verbal swagger. "Well…maybe I haven't changed as much as I thought…" She sighed and looked over at Naruto sheepishly. "But I guess it makes sense…and if I was really going to be honest with myself, and with you…I guess that's why it's so hard for me when he doesn't seem to care." She stared down at her folded hands once more. "I dedicated myself to my studies, to my training, to making myself into the strongest kunoichi I could possibly be, and I was happy with what I'd become. I finally felt like I was worth something, Naruto…and yet…" There was a tremble in her voice, but she swallowed it back and went on: "Yet all he has to do is look at me like that--you know the look, you of all people know the look I'm talking about--and all my confidence crumbles away to nothing."

She shook her head hard, caught halfway between fierce, justifiable anger and the frustrated tears that glittered insistently at the corners of her eyes. "He still treats me just like he did when we were twelve, and he was the strong, smart, talented one, and I was nothing more than a weak, useless, foolish little girl. All my hard work means nothing to him…because he refuses to admit that I've changed."

Her fists clenched around the bottom edge of her simple one-piece dress, knuckles flaring white. "But I have changed," she said in a low, dark tone. "And if anyone is better than anyone else in this situation, then I am better than he is…but…" She shut her eyes tightly, and this time swallowing did nothing to remove the tremor from her voice. "…But somehow the way he looks at me so coldly tells me that I'm still not good enough for him."

"Sasuke is an idiot," Naruto growled. "And a bastard. You can't base your self-worth off of what he thinks—"

"I know that," Sakura interjected. "And I don't, not really. It just...it hurts to know that someone I care so much about, that someone I…I love…won't take me seriously."

Silence stretched between them for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally:

"Why," Naruto muttered dully. "Why do you like him? He's never nice to you. Never. And he never was, either."

Sakura bowed her head, feeling the tears gather once more. "I…I don't know…" she murmured. "But you…more than anyone…you know that he's kind deep down…we've both seen it."

"That was a long time ago, Sakura-chan."

"But still…"

"And that last time we saw him a few years ago, he tried to kill us. And the time before that, and the time before that, too." Naruto's voice was sullen and he scowled down at the surface of the coffee table, refusing to meet her eyes. "And the time before that, he knocked you out and left you all alone on a bench at night. And now, even after all that, you forgive him and still bother to spend time with him. You took care of him, looked after him when everyone else had given up on him--hell, you saved his life at the risk of your own--and apparently he could care less." He snorted. "Some friend…" Some lover. The words hung between them--unspoken, but somehow there nonetheless.

They were silent for another long while, then Sakura bit her lip. "I know it doesn't make any sense that I still feel this way for him after all this time…I'm…actually pretty confused myself, but I…I don't think you can really choose who you love…I think it just sort of…happens." She fiddled absently with the hem of her dress. "Sometimes feelings change with time, and with distance, and—and sometimes…"

"…Sometimes they don't," Naruto finished for her, looking over at her at last.

She nodded miserably as the tears threatened to spill over again, and she fought them back desperately. Mustn't cry in front of him, mustn't cry in front of him, mustn't…

Before she knew it, she was sobbing into his chest, his arms wrapped comfortingly around her.

The Kyuubi container hugged her tightly, almost crushing her to him, as if he never wanted to let go…and a part of him didn't.

After a minute he loosened his hold just slightly, bringing one hand up to cradle the back of her head, rubbing soothing little circles on her back with the other. After a while her sobs dwindled down into simple sniffling and the occasional shuddering hiccup, though she kept her face buried firmly against his jounin vest.

The blonde angled a tender look down at the top of her head, his face taking on an expression she would've blushed at had she only seen it; then he slowly raised his head to stare unseeingly forward, the skin around his bright blue eyes tightening as a dangerous light entered them, his grip on the slender girl before him tightening reflexively.

For now he had to stay and comfort Sakura-chan, and get her back to her usual cheerful self, at least partially…but once he'd done so…

His eyes narrowed even more, and he had to clench his jaw to keep from grinding his teeth.

After he'd made sure that Sakura-chan was alright, he had to make a very important visit: a certain someone was in desperate need of having some sense beaten into him, and as always, Naruto was more than happy to oblige.

The knock on his door was unexpected, especially considering the late hour, but since he was awake anyway, Sasuke figured that he might as well answer it. He recognized the chakra signature, after all, and knew that ignoring this person would do little to no good: the bull-headed blonde would simply stand outside and continue beating on the door until Sasuke let him in. Or until he got sick of waiting and simply smashed the door down. And since the former left him with less of a mess to clean up and hopefully (though somehow he doubted it) less trouble all-around, the last Uchiha opted for simply opening the door.

Still, a visit at this hour was unexpected, and therefore also unwelcome; but regardless of this, after about five minutes of persistent knocking, the last minute of which had included some rather creative swearing, Sasuke made it to the door, wrenching it open to glare out at the current bane of his existence.

As expected, he found Naruto standing there, his expression surprisingly grim, and it did not escape Sasuke's notice that the blonde's fists were balled at his sides.

For a long while they just stared at each other; surprisingly it was Sasuke who finally broke the silence.

"What do you want, dobe?" he growled, doing little to hide his annoyance at the unwanted intrusion.

"Fight me."

The Uchiha blinked, his glare momentarily vanishing in his surprised expression; then it returned, darker and more intense than before. "What?"

"You heard me," Naruto said, his own voice nearly a snarl. "I'm calling you out--challenging you, right here, right now."

One dark eyebrow arched skeptically. "You know I'm not allowed to do any fighting. I'm still on probation, in case you've forgotten." He snorted and shifted his grip on the door, anticipating shutting it in his one-time-rival's whiskered face. "I don't know why you're acting so pissy, but somehow I don't think you want me kicked out of Konoha."

"You skipped your sparring session with Sakura-chan today, didn't you?"

Eyes narrowed once again, Sasuke nodded.

"Then this is your exercise for today. Come on." And with that, the blonde abruptly turned and stalked off down the hallway without even waiting to see if Sasuke would follow him.

Vaguely curious and unquestionably irritated, the visibly displeased Uchiha went after him, slipping on his sandals and closing his door firmly behind him.

Sasuke was not the least bit surprised to find himself being led to Training Ground Three. Once there, however, Naruto stopped but didn't turn to face him. The Uchiha stared at his back expectantly, hands still shoved carelessly into his pockets, waiting for the blonde to explain himself.

He didn't have to wait long. As he watched, Naruto's shoulders shook slightly with a barely audible chuckle, then the Kyuubi container turned his head, teeth bared in a feral grin. "Glad you decided to accept my challenge, you bastard. I was looking for a nice, friendly match," he said, though judging by the twisted half-smile on his face, he was really looking for anything but. "I'll warn you, though…you'd better take me seriously this time, or I will kill you."

"Fine." Sasuke smirked, shaking out his arms and widening his stance slightly. "Come and get me, then."

He didn't have to say it twice.

In a flash the blonde was directly in front of him, swinging a vicious right hook at Sasuke's face. The Uchiha's left hand darted upwards, easily catching the blow, and he lunged low and jabbed with his own right fist, attempting to nail Naruto in the gut.

The Kyuubi container skipped back out of reach--or tried to, in any case; Sasuke still had a tight and chakra-enhanced hold on his right fist. He had enough leeway to avoid the blow aimed for his midsection, though he had to twist a bit as well, but his mobility was still greatly impaired.

But so was Sasuke's, and the Uchiha seemed to have forgotten just how strong his old teammate was; when Naruto jerked back, Sasuke was almost pulled off his feet when the blonde unintentionally dragged him forward a good five meters.

He managed to harness this momentum however, using it to fuel a sweeping roundhouse kick, which Naruto only barely managed to block; Sasuke's free hand settled around the wrist of the fist he was still holding, and before the blonde knew what he was about, the raven-haired man pivoted and threw him, releasing his grip on Naruto's hand as he did so.

Unsurprisingly Naruto flipped in the air, righting himself and landing smoothly; equally unsurprisingly, he hurled himself back the Uchiha the instant his feet touched the ground, fist cocked and at the ready.

The two shinobi continued to fight using pure taijutsu for a considerable period of time, but after a while, it slowly became evident that Sasuke was still slightly better at hand-to-hand combat than the future Hokage.

Naruto grimaced. When it comes down to it, I guess I'm still no match for someone using the Sharingan… He suddenly blinked, blue eyes going wide as he caught and held one of Sasuke's fists, staring with unconcealed astonishment into hard, coal-black eyes that had not the faintest trace of red in them.

He's not even using his Sharingan—and he's STILL beating me!

The shock from this unexpected revelation gave Sasuke enough leeway to wrench his fist free of the blonde's grasp, throwing his elbow up into Naruto's face as he did so; blood spurted from the blonde's nose, and while Naruto's eyes were still watering from the blow, the Uchiha followed up with a rapid one-two punch combination and a kick that was hard enough to send the Kyuubi container flying backwards to sprawl in the dust, bloodied and more than a little angry.

"Get serious, teme!" the blonde snarled, swiping the back of his hand across his face and leaving a sticky, dull red smear across a good portion of his mouth and chin.

Sasuke merely gave him a bland stare. "Make me."

"Fine then, I will!" Naruto growled, baring his teeth at the other man. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" No less than a dozen Narutos now stood facing an extremely bored-looking Sasuke.

"That? Still?" he scoffed as the clones slowly formed a circle around him. "Didn't you learn anything else while I was gone?"

The twelve blondes chuckled, showing off identically devious grins. "Guess you'll just have to watch and find out, won't you?"

One corner of the Uchiha's mouth twitched upwards for a fraction of a second as his Sharingan finally snapped on. "I guess I will," he said, slipping into a ready stance. The ghost of a smirk hovered around his lips once again as he condescendingly beckoned the Kyuubi container forwards…

And with a roar, all twelve clones charged.

Rule number one of taijutsu fighting, and the first thing the young shinobi were taught about hand-to-hand combat at the Academy, had been, "Never allow your opponent to use the momentum of your own attack against you." This lesson had been imparted in a painful and rather embarrassing manner as the young, inexperienced, and basically clueless students rushed headlong at their shishou one after the other, and had in turn been thrown easily over his hip or shoulder (whichever struck their teacher's fancy at the time) to sprawl in a graceless heap behind him. (But not for long--most of them learned the hard way to move quickly and get the hell out of the way before the body of the next airborne student flattened them.)

This rule had been pounded into them in a similar fashion for months, and it was not uncommon for them to be reminded of it even in their later years if they grew careless or overconfident in a fight.

(And yet for the longest time, Naruto had still managed to forget that one very important lesson at just the wrong moment.)

Sakura had been particularly wretched at taijutsu, a fact that hadn't really changed until she'd been trained by Tsunade, but after that first ego-bruising session, she had never again made the mistake of simply rushing blindly at an opponent without any plan in mind other than "smash his face in with my fist."

Naruto, on the other hand, had never really seemed to get past that point, though at least now it was almost always a clone that rushed in headlong rather than his real body.

But then again, what seemed to be and what was were often two very different things.

It only took a matter of moments for Sasuke to beat down the last of Naruto's clones, but once the smoke cleared, the real Naruto was nowhere to be found. Black-flecked scarlet eyes scanned the surrounding area; it was littered with shuriken and kunai from the clones' attacks, but otherwise did appear truly empty—

Suddenly Naruto flickered into existence directly in front of him, fist already drawn back. He was in mid-swing before Sasuke fully registered that he was there, and it was only with the greatest of difficulty that the Uchiha avoided the straight jab aimed directly for his nose, jerking his head sideways to allow the blow to pass over his shoulder; had he failed to move, he was certain that the blow would have broken--more like shattered--his nose.

Before he could retaliate or even grab hold of the blonde ninja, Naruto flickered out of existence again, leaving Sasuke standing alone in the center of the training grounds, slightly shaken.

How did he catch me off guard like that? I never saw him coming, even with my Sharingan activated—

The air around him shifted, and he threw himself sideways just in time to avoid another punch from the blonde who had somehow suddenly appeared behind him. Sasuke effortlessly turned his fall into a cartwheel, but the instant he was fully upright again, Naruto was in his face, fists swinging, refusing to grant the other man a moment of respite until he'd landed a solid blow on his cheek, sending the Uchiha stumbling backwards a few feet.

And I thought Sakura had gotten fast...I can't follow his movement at all, even with my Sharingan! He gritted his teeth in frustration, fists clenching painfully tight. What technique is that?

There was another series of flickers, and suddenly Naruto was everywhere at once, moving at a ridiculous speed, snapping out more punches and kicks at the same incredible pace as before, though this time there was a great deal more anger and muscle behind them.

"So Uchiha—" a fist buried itself solidly in his gut, forcing the wind from his lungs "—what—" a second fist connected to his right cheekbone, snapping his head around painfully "—do you think—" an elbow jabbed into his left kidney from behind "—of this technique?" Naruto finished with a sharp kick to Sasuke's jaw, knocking him to the ground and sending him rolling and skidding backwards a good ten meters. Blue eyes watched dispassionately as the Uchiha used the momentum to roll himself onto his feet, ending in an apprehensive crouch. "Hiraishin no Jutsu, in case you were curious. Considerably better than Kage Bunshin, wouldn't you say? Though it's not much of a show, is it, even with your Sharingan activated."

At that Sasuke's eyes went wide, his muscles tensing even more as he stared at the glowering blonde. That dobe! He chose this strategy on purpose—he knows that I can't follow him with my Sharingan! What the hell kind of jutsu—?

"It was developed by the Fourth…and neither the Hyuuga nor the Uchiha Kekkei Genkai can see through it." A small, dark smile suddenly turned the blonde's mouth. "Why don't you take a look at that kunai by your hand?"

Sasuke's eyes darted quickly to the side, and he blinked in surprise at what he saw: a tag emblazoned with a seal of some sort was wrapped around the kunai's handle. A rapid glance at a few of the other kunai littering the area showed more of the same, and the Uchiha's eyes narrowed. He must use these to move instantaneously from place to place. The Kage Bunshin were just a distraction to make me underestimate him, and to make sure that I wouldn't have time to notice the seals on the kunai being thrown at me.

"Figured it all out yet, Uchiha?" Naruto's voice asked from somewhere behind him, though when he turned to look, the blonde was gone. He let out a soft snort: he'd expected as much. "I'm sure you have--you are a genius, after all. But I'm not the same thoughtless, impulsive brat that I was ten years ago, if you can't tell." The voice came from his right this time, but Sasuke kept his head turned firmly forwards, though he allowed his eyes to slide sideways; he just caught a brief flash of orange before the voice was speaking from his left instead. "I fully possess 'the qualities of both heaven and earth,' as you did even when we were just genin. I'm strong enough--and smart enough--now to be the Hokage—" Naruto suddenly appeared directly in front of him once more, dropping the startled Uchiha back into the dirt yet again with a vicious right hook before flickering away to stand and stare angrily at the other man from a few meters away. "—And don't you dare forget it!"

From his seat on the ground, Sasuke returned the stare, though his gaze contained more suspicion now than anger. This isn't like Naruto. He only pounds…friends…like this when he thinks they need some sense beaten into them… Closing his eyes, Sasuke let out a sigh that was more than half-growl; when he opened his eyes, they were dark and bloodless once more. Might as well get it over with. "What do you want me do to?" he muttered sullenly, wiping the blood from his chin with the back of his hand and glaring at his so-called best friend.

"What do I want you do to?" Naruto repeated, his voice an angry chuckle. "Right now, I want you to go to hell. But for the sake of someone else who's important to both of us, I'll spare you that fate for now."

"You are impossible, dobe," Sasuke growled, pushing himself back to his feet. "And this fight is pointless. You might be faster than I am, but you aren't doing much damage regardless of that." (That was actually a lie, but Naruto didn't have to know that.) "You know you can't use the Kyuubi's power against me, so why did you bother picking this fight in the first place?"

"I don't need the Kyuubi's power to hand you your ass!" Naruto snarled, jabbing a finger at the scowling Uchiha. "And I proved it to you years ago!"

"Why did you challenge me, Naruto? I'm not stupid enough to believe that you managed to get this worked up over the 'friendly match' you asked me for."

"Fine." The blonde's eyes narrowed, his lips pulling back to reveal bared teeth. "I did it for Sakura-chan."

The dark-haired man's eyes narrowed as well. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how you treat Sakura-chan! She's done so much for you, and you've never even thanked her! You don't treat her as an equal, regardless of all the hard work she's done! You won't even smile at her, much less show some appreciation for the way she's taking care of you!"

"She's doing that because it's a mission. She was assigned to do it."

"She's DOING it because she actually CARES about you, you BASTARD, and you won't even ACKNOWLEDGE her!"

Sasuke snorted and shoved his hands back into his pockets, utterly unaffected by the blonde's tirade. "Here's an idea: why don't try minding your own business, dumbass?"

"And here's another idea," Naruto countered hotly. "For once in your life, why don't you try to care about how someone else feels? Why don't you try putting someone else's happiness before your own stupid, all-consuming selfishness?"

"Idiot." Contempt dripped from those three syllables, and without another word, Sasuke turned on his heel and stalked off towards his apartment.

But Naruto wasn't through with him yet.

"You got your revenge!" the blonde shouted after him, as usual not caring who might happen to overhear them. "You achieved your life's goal! So what's your excuse for being selfish now, huh, Sasuke-teme? I'd really like to know!"

Sasuke ignored him, continuing onward without pause.

"…You're hurting her, you know."

Despite the fact that they were spoken more softly, those words did make him pause, though he didn't bother turning around, leaving Naruto to glare accusingly at the red-and-white Uchiha clan symbol on his back.

"You're hurting her again, and this time I won't stand for it!" Slow, deep anger was working itself back into Naruto's voice, which was already shaking from narrowly repressed rage. "And I swear, right here and right now, that I will pound you into the ground every chance I get until you at least respond to Sakura-chan's feelings—be it positively or negatively. Right now you're just being a coward by not saying anything at all, and it's not fair to do that to Sakura-chan." Then his voice went unexpectedly and unusually quiet, and Sasuke could hear the thinly-veiled pain in his tone. "It isn't fair to make her wait for you if you know that you'll never, ever feel anything for her."

For the first time, the Uchiha's cold, arrogant expression slipped, and he bowed his head, glad that his back was to the other man. He didn't know about the whole 'responding to her feelings' bit, but perhaps he had been a bit harsh with 'd risked her life for him, after all—the Konoha nin who'd assaulted them on that mission out of the Village a few days ago had been pathetically weak, but supposing they'd actually been any good, Sakura would have been in considerable danger simply because she was with him. Nevermind the fact that she'd risked her life to heal him in the first place… Didn't he owe it to her to be just a little bit kinder?

That idiot is right, she hasn't done anything to deserve it, but for some reason when she's around… He shook his head slightly, unable to finish the thought. It was reflex by now to push away anyone who attempted to get too close, and Sasuke wasn't at all certain that he could change that, or if he even wanted to, but…

"Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"...I'll try."

And with that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

A small, satisfied smile crossed the Kyuubi container's lips. "You'd better," he said to the empty air before shoving his own hands into his pockets and making his way back towards Sakura-chan's place.

"Naruto! What on earth?" a very surprised Sakura gasped, seizing his arm--the non-injured one--and dragging him into her apartment to get a better look at him. "Isn't twice in one night a little much? And ugh, I told you to take it easy on that shoulder! What happened to you?"

He flashed her a foxy grin as she fell to work cleaning him up and examining his injuries, which to her relief were mostly just minor cuts and bruises. "Ah, you know me, Sakura-chan...always getting into trouble and picking fights."

A/N: *Yaki-imo - baked sweet potatoes. Often sold by street vendors in Japan during autumn. Also often thought of as a sign of the season. (: