-So often in time it happens, we live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key-

Already Gone

A shift of weight caused a sharp pain, waking Naruto up. He was blind in the darkness but the smell was familiar enough. He was in the hospital. How many more times would he wake up here? His hand dragged under the covers only to rest upon his still beating heart. He felt the bandages but it was the pain that made the memories come to the forefront of his mind. Sasuke's voice echoed in his head and the glinting of the sword in the sunlight blinded him. He closed his eyes trying to block out the brutal vision. Twice now, nearly three years apart, Sasuke had managed to betray him.

His heart beat weakly, and with each agonizing throb it felt as if his heart was trying to deny a beat, his heart was telling him that the betrayal was too much for it to continue.

"Sasuke." Naruto whispered, remembering the coldness that shined in the man's eyes, the uncaring, unfriendly void that stared at him.

Breathing alerted him that he was not alone. He swung his eyes to his right. His gaze widened upon seeing a female laying her head down upon the end of the bed. "Hinata?" He questioned in a whisper. Sasuke's treachery was momentarily forgotten. A smile etched upon his lips. She was so odd. His brows knit when the moon's light darted out between clouds and landed upon her. Had she always been beautiful?

Naruto slowly lifted his feet out from under the blankets and placed them on the floor. His eyes still on her, making sure he wasn't waking her. He panted heavily, gripping his heart painfully, trying to ease the pounding. Naruto got up with the help of the walls and left.

Sakura came through the door, not bothering to look around. She knew where she was going. The dresser that was across the room, still held the picture she herself had long ago burnt up. The dust was thick and covered the entire room. The picture that was face down, she propped it up again seeing their smiling faces. Well, her smiling face. Naruto was scowling in jealousy and Sasuke, well, he had forgotten how to smile by then. Kakashi of course had his face hidden behind the mask. She had been so happy that day finally managing to get her team together for a picture, which had been a hilarious moment in their lives with their constant bickering and disagreements. They were her boys. A thought that had always brought so much pride to her when she was younger.

She had come here, wanting only to see the man she had fallen in love with. She smiled softly to herself and Inner Sakura reminded her softly that, that man in the cell, was not the same as this man in the picture.

Her fingers danced along a key she had laid beside it. Sakura smiled just dimly in remembrance the night she had given him it. But that smile slowly faded, because not two weeks later, he had left this key on her nightstand.

That was the day he broke his promise. She had come here and cried for what had been hours. It was a day she wished she could have forgotten. She sighed heavily shaking her head.

"Oi." Naruto's voice softly whispered in the dark room.

Sakura spun around panting in her fear. But she smiled when she saw Naruto laid out on the big bed, weakly smiling as he held a hand over his heart, where the sword had cut through. "You're finally awake." She climbed up and snuggled against Naruto's side. Though he was surprised by her actions, he said nothing and wrapped an around her contently. "What are you doing here, you're suppose to be in the hospital."

"Ahh, I hate that place." Tears formed in her eyes and her grip that held his shirt at his stomach tightened. They were silent until she sniffed. Naruto's eyes widened when he finally realized she was crying. His brows knit depressingly. His grip on her shoulder constricted. "Gomen, Sakura-chan, that he became so different."

"That's not it." She whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder, her body quacking with her sobs that she tried her hardest to suppress.

"What then, Sakura-chan?"

"I was so scared, I thought you died."

He smiled warmly, his cheeks nearly blushing at that admittance. If he had been younger, those words would have melted him into a big pile of goo. "You should know me better then that, Sakura-chan. I'm going to be Hokage, I can't die."

Her body ripped away and Naruto stared at her with wide eyes. Her body shook and her hands fisted on her thighs. Her raging eyes were on him, filled with tears while others rolled down her red cheeks. "But you can, Naruto-kun. Don't you see? You can. You're not invincible. I can't lose you too, Naruto. I can't. Don't make me be alone again."

Naruto gripped her arm and pulled her back down by his side, hugging her tighter. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. I'm sorry." It took several minutes for her to calm down enough for the tears to slow and the shaking to stop. But she still wiped her face every few minutes that they laid there together, not really caring what it looked like. They both needed this comfort, after the day they had. "Is he okay?" He whispered after nearly a half hour of silence.

Her tears instantly strengthen again as she thought back to her visit. The coldness of his voice echoed in the darkness. She pulled back the tears however, remembering the promise she had made to herself years ago, "Don't care about him anymore. He's dead, Naruto. It would just be better to believe he's dead."

"I know it's hard, Sakura-chan. But he's in there somewhere."

She sat up to glare down at him. "This isn't like you, Naruto. There isn't some demon inside of him. Sasuke is not being over taken by anyone. It's him, it's what he wants. We have to face that. Sasuke left us a long time ago and he's not coming back."

"I can't give up. I won't."

"He doesn't care about us, Naruto. He tried to kill you. He would have succeed if it wasn't for Tsuande-sama. I couldn't have saved you. He slit your heart. He knew what he was aiming for. Don't you see? He was hoping to kill you."

Naruto's eyes refused to meet hers the whole time but he gripped the sheets between his fingers until she stopped talking, "I know." He whispered. "I know." A tear fell down his face and Sakura was suddenly sorry that she said so much.

"We got him back, Naruto." She tried to reassure, she tried to make up for the pain she had just unintentionally caused. "You kept your promise. But maybe it's best if we just let him go. I'm tired of waiting for him. I tired of feeling so much guilt. I'm just tired. I want to have a normal life." She smiled suddenly, "Well, as normal as can be with you as my best friend." It was a relief to get a laugh out of him, no matter how weak it was. "Now let me get you back. If Hinata wakes up and finds out your gone, she's going to feel guilty. And nothings worse then a guilty Hyuuga." He smiled and nodded, slowly getting out of the bed and with her help, stood.

"Why is she there anyway?"

"You are hopeless, Naruto. She likes you, you dummy."

"What?"

"I know it's hard to believe." He narrowed his eyes in a half-hearted glare but then dropped his gaze to the ground, one hand dragging across the wall to keep himself balanced. Sakura's green orbs glanced at him but she saw that a smile had appeared on his lips. "What?"

"I was remembering something."

"Oh, yeah, what's that."

"The contest we had, just before Sasuke left."

"You mean the contest you boys decided to put us through without telling us."

"Yeah. That was one of the best times of my life. I must have gotten hit more then forty times in one day. It was worth it. I got to see you in your bathing suit."

"Don't think I won't drop you."

-PAST-

Shikamaru unfolded a piece of paper with only one hand (the other one nursing his broken rib), which was very hard thing to do. "I think it's time to follow them." He momentarily took the dead cold fish from his face to reveal his swollen shut eye(the aftermath of a very disgruntled Inuzuka).

"What now?" Choji questioned, his fish still rightly in it's place.

"Since our strength test failed, I gave everyone ten points. So one more test in our Ninja category. But I think it's the perfect time for the appearance category."

"Meaning what?" Naruto frowned.

"Spying on them while they swim."

"No." Neji interrupted, shaking his head.

"This contest was about being a ninja and their appearance. We have to."

"If we get caught…" Naruto's eyes were wide with terrifying visions. Sakura leaving him tied to a tree in a bear infested forest after dipping him in honey came to mind. "We're dead."

"We are ninjas. Stealth is our skill." Lee reminded him with a fist out before him.

"You don't have to go, if you don't want to. I'm the judge."

"How do we know you're not cheating with all of this? Letting Ino win?"

He chuckled. "I know Ino won't win. She's pathetic."

"She's your teammate." Sasuke reminded him, thinking it odd that the young genius would say something like that. But the boy only shrugged.

"Kiba, can Akamaru find them?" Naruto questioned looking over at the boy. Kiba quickly talked to the beige dog who barked happily in agreement and set the coarse. All boys followed behind.

It wasn't long until they found the hot spring that was just on the other side of a large ten foot high bolder. But down the middle of the huge rock was a skinny slit that allowed the ninja boys to be discreet about their ease dropping and still be able to see up close and personal all the details of the female body.

Needless to say, Neji and Sasuke were the only ones not fighting about peeking through. The two geniuses stood back, shaking their heads before departing from the group. Neji jumped up on a tree branch and sat back, staying with them only to make sure nothing bad was said about his teammate. His byakuga was only activated as a protection, making sure no one else was around.

Sasuke found a tree, which he leaned against, and still it gave him a good insight on the hot spring the girls currently occupied. He wasn't watching or anything, he was just making sure that when the girls figured out they were being watched, he had a good view of the beat down sure to come.

The boys created a ladder with their bodies, Choji on the bottom, with Naruto above him and so on and so forth until Shikamaru tried to keep himself balanced on the very top. Lee cried pathetically since he was incapable of bending his leg, he couldn't possibly be in the formation, which meant, not being able to see Sakura in her under linens.

The girls sat in the nearly boiling water, relaxed and no longer talking about the annoying ways of the male mind. "I wish we had these springs by us." Ino sighed heavily in her relaxation. "The bathhouse we have costs too much."

"Hai, hai," Sakura agreed, stretching out her legs. "I'm so glad to be away from them all. It's so nerve raking."

"So do you think there was an actual scroll?" TenTen questioned.

"I don't know. It kind of amazes me that Naruto would get everyone involved if it was just a trick. I mean what's the point? Either way, I'm kind of disappointed they would do this." (Kiba reached down to keep a hand around Naruto's mouth, who upon finding himself being blamed for everything tried in desperation to fight for his innocence)

"At least you have a screw up in your group. Neji and Lee…I don't know, I thought…I guess it doesn't matter." She mumbled off and looked to the half moon that hung brightly in the sky.

Lee looked up to Neji but the young prodigy wouldn't look to him. He was feeling just as guilty as he was. With the help of his crutch he went over to the tree Neji sat in and plopped down at the trunk, feeling slightly miserable.

"It's getting hot." TenTen whispered lifting herself out of the tank and sitting on the edge only allowing her legs to still be submerged in the water. The other girls promptly followed her movement and they leaned back on their hands to look up at the night sky.

The boys however were having the hardest time keeping quiet. They had a hand covering their months as they stared with wide eyes. Quickly Shikamaru wrote down all the numbers to his subjects and jumped down, "Hey, let's go." He whispered. He began to walk away but when he heard no movement, he turned and saw them still remaining in their positions. "Hey." He called a bit more harshly. If they stayed any longer that might just get caught.

Akamaru whined up at his owner who was the third body in the formation. But he got a sharp "Shh," which he growled at in response. He didn't like being told to be quiet, especially when there were no dangers around. Akamaru growled a bit louder but instantly Kiba's hand was out, again telling him to stop making noise. The man's face however was still not taken from the sliver in the rock.

Shikamaru looked up to Neji, down to Lee, and then over to Sasuke. He nodded to them and they quickly dispersed. Just when Akamaru barked in his anger.

"What was that?" Sakura looked around.

"Umm.." Hinata whispered, "It sounded like, Akamaru." Hearing his name being said, the dog ran around the rock and jumped in her lap. The girls eyes widened in realization.

Instantly, "NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, smashing her fist against the solid rock behind her and watched it crumble from existence. There the three man totem pole resided, eyes wide now with fear.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. That's some strength….you got…there…" His voice traveled, catching sight of her moving breasts that were only hidden by a skinny piece of fabric. He never even noticed the foot that smashed right into his cheek.

The four boys that had 'never left the camp site, not even for a single moment' looked behind them where the three emerged. Sasuke sighed rising to go get some more fish, but he had a smirk on his lips. Sakura had sure done a number on them.

Their faces were swollen from bruises. Two of them had knifes still stuck in their calves and arms. They collapsed by the fire. Shikamaru shook his head, "I told you not to go." He lied, unsure if the girls had followed or not, but he wasn't taking any chances. Lee gingerly took the knifes from their bodies and poured water over their wounds, ignoring their hisses of pain.

Sasuke dropped the bucket of fish next to them which the three instantly put on their faces to relieve of the pain. It was the same time the girls entered the camp, fully clothed and arms folded over their chests, eyes shut tightly. He watched with humor as the walked right past them and to the tent.

Shikamaru brows knit. "What are you doing?"

Sakura turned around but noticing Hinata was not following, unsure who to side with, she grabbed her arm and brought her over to the group. "We are taking over this tent."

"But-"

"We deserve it. And just because you were smart enough not to get caught doesn't mean those three over there didn't rat on you." She bit, glaring darkly at Naruto then Sasuke who was staring at her without fear, giving her no power of him. She growled violently before shoving herself in the tent.

Ino glared at her two boys but Shikamaru just smirked rebelliously, and Choji was too swollen in the face to see. Ino hid her smile behind her hand, Shikamaru was such a jerk. She stomped her foot and swiftly turned into the tent.

TenTen looked to see what her teammate's faces would reveal but they both refused to meet her eyes, and she knew they felt guilty. Somehow that took all the fun out of it. She sighed slightly disappointed.

Hinata stared at the ground, her toe digging in the dirt, her hands fisting the hem of her shirt. Her arm was grabbed and she was forced in the tent. It zipped up, in the deathly silence, it sounded to the boys like it was sealing their fate.

Too embarrassed or ashamed to talk they went about setting up their beds on the grassy floor, rolling out their sleeping bags. Their clothes were left on, it was chilly outside tonight and besides, this was their first 'mission' all together, none were exactly comfortable with the other yet.

It was a half an hour after laying down in the semi-darkness that Naruto sat up, sighing exasperated while looking up at the half moon. Kiba sat up also, then soon all the rest. Kiba looked at all of them, shaking his head with a large smile on his face. "We're pathetic." He mumbled, petting Akamaru when he whined. It was all on their minds, he was stating the fact. None of them could sleep without their team being together.

Shikamaru looked to Choji. A space was between them where Ino always laid before, "Are we pathetic, Choji?" The man nodded, reaching for his bag to get chips out. He always eats when he's stressed.

Lee glanced over at Neji, the boy was staring down at the floor. "Very pathetic." The same space was between them, meant for TenTen. Neji nodded once, dropping himself back down harshly on the ground. He had never been so stupid before, and acted such like a child. His hands were folded under his head as he looked up at the stars, glaring up at them if it was all their fault

Naruto smiled brightly to Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes uncertain why the kid was gazing at him like that. Sakura was in that tent and not between them where she should be. There was no way they were going to sleep tonight yet the kid never looked happier. "It was worth it, though." He laughed laying back down. Sasuke shook his head and rolled his eyes mumbling, 'aho' as he laid down.

Kiba however was jealous. At least they still had someone else. Shino was away and he was alone. He looked down to Akamaru and the dog licked his face. Well, maybe not entirely alone. He pet the animal and rested back down.

Unzipping the tent, Sakura exited, wanting more then anything to curl in between her two best friends. The nightmare she just had was enough for her to forgive them instantly, well, maybe not Naruto, but enough for her to come crawling back to them. Her heart was still pounding and sweat rolled down her temple which she rubbed off. The sound of his voice still echoed in her ear, the one with long black hair and snake like eyes. Her body shivered at the thought. She needed to make sure he was alright.

But when she found Sasuke's bed empty, her breath caught it in her throat. Grabbing her pouch from the floor, Sakura ran as fast as she could between the trees and out to the clearing. She stalled then, seeing his figure by the moonlight, out by the lake a bit away from where she was. Her hand rested on her chest, reassuring her heart, he was still here.

Tears however formed in her eyes as she watched him. She wondered only upon what he was thinking. The memories that ate away at him, she was sure of it. The only reason he woke with such a fright almost every night. Eight years of living with nightmares that were true, that had happened right before his eyes. She remembered the conversation she had stumbled upon between two soldiers. She remembered how her heart had stopped beating just for a single moment, and she remembered the tears that flowed so easily down her cheeks. She had gone home, and thrown up. Her mother, tried so desperately to ease her pain, not knowing what had caused her to become so tragic.

But she couldn't say anything to him, the next time she saw him. She couldn't pity him. She couldn't treat him any different from before. She wanted only now, to make him happy. No matter what she has to do to accomplish it. She was going to make him happy again. Make him see that life doesn't have to be so unbearable.

Sasuke looked out on the still lake, a light mist was rising from the motionless water, appearing as glass. The moon shined brightly from above but none of these things he was seeing at the moment. His mind was far off to almost ten years prior. Memories that didn't want to leave him, no matter how much he begged them too.

-Flashback-

The six year old Sasuke hung on tight to the air filled floating device he sat on. His brother was shoulder deep in the water, his large hands resting on the device, pushing it. Sasuke placed his tiny hand next to his brother's, a frustrated frown on his lips when he noticed the difference between them. He sighed childishly. He had tried his hardest to keep up with Itachi, swimming across the lake and back but by the time they got to the other side, he found himself unable to return. Itachi had quickly blown up this device and placed him on it and was now slowly pushing him back to shore.

"Hey, onii-san?"

"Yeah."

"Will I ever be as tall as you?"

The young Itachi smiled softly, "Taller and better."

Sasuke smiled happily at this and looked out to the dock where his mother was. He waved happily and she, with worry in her stance waved back. He looked down at his brother again. "Hey, onii-san?"

"Yeah."

His little cheeks reddened as he concentrated. "Do you have girl problems?" Itachi laughed, smiling up at his little brother. Sasuke tilted his head to the side as he inquired, "Girls stop being weird when you grow up, right?"

"Do you have girl problems, Sasuke?"

"Yeah." He whispered exasperated, flopping over exaggerated on the device. "Whenever I walk past any of them at the park they make funny noises. They won't even play with me. They don't have problems playing with other boys."

"You'll understand when you're older."

"I want to understand now, onii-san. Is something wrong with me?"

"No. You're a pretty boy, that's all."

"Pretty?" He made a sour face, "Men aren't suppose to be pretty. I don't want to be pretty, onii-san."

"Listen, Sasuke." The young child sat up anxiously, eyes wide. "Girls are annoying. And they will continue to be annoying for the rest of your life. Best thing to do, is find some girl that is not as annoying as all the rest and be friends with her. Ignore all the others."

"There's no way to stop them from being annoying?"

"No."

"Okasan isn't annoying, onii-san."

"She can be when she wants to be." Sasuke was stomped as he stared at his older brother but he just shook his head and laid back down on the floaty, hoping that when he gets older, he'd understand girls.

-End-

His katana was pulled swiftly out and pressed against the neck of the person behind him. The gasp however, brought his attention to the future, and he widened his gaze when he saw her emerald eyes staring fearfully down at him. He pulled it away quickly, looking down at the blade with uncertainty, his hand shaking only slightly. Her words however took him from his thoughts and he stuffed it back in it's pouch.

"Can I sit with you?" He shrugged and folded his arms. She sat beside him, keeping a good distance. From the corner of his eye he saw her touch her neck and when she took her hand away there was blood on her fingers. She quickly wiped it away, hoping he hadn't seen it. "It's beautiful out here." Sakura whispered daring herself to look at him but she didn't. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"I can ask you the same question."

She shrugged, "A little nightmare. I'll get over it." She looked down, fiddling with the object held in other hand but Sasuke couldn't see it from where he was sitting. "Sasuke-kun." Her voice was hesitant and he did nothing to persuade her to hurry. She was taking him away from the thoughts that plagued him, he wasn't in a rush to get rid of her. "That man…That Orochimaru guy…"

"There is nothing to worry about. I told you to forget it."

"I know. I haven't told Naruto, like I promised. But I…And Kaka-sensei said it was better….But…." She whispered, her body shook in memory of her nightmare. She had to say it, she just had too. "That man….He said. He said, you would go looking for him. For power." Her eyes were on him, but he was refusing to look at her. "Will you? Will you leave, Sasuke-kun?"

He stared out on the water, his arms folded over his chest and his fingers dug into his palms, but this movement was invisible to her. He had to answer, if he took to long, she might figure him out. But, did he want to lie?

Sasuke looked to her for the first time and her eyes shined like stars. Wasn't he happy here, with Team Seven, having a family again? People that actually cared about him? She was the least annoying female around him and she was getting better as time went on. And Naruto was becoming….

He turned his gaze away. "No." It was a simple answer, one to make her happy. But as he felt her shift in mood, he wasn't sure if he felt guilt for that answer.

"I'm glad, Sasuke-kun." She smiled at him standing, preparing to go before she turned back to him and he stared up at her in question. She held out a key. "I want you to have this."

He took it and examined it. "What's it for?"

"It's key to my house." She saw his look and she smiled brightly, giggling, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Just so you don't think it's weird, I gave one to Naruto too. He's actually had one for a while. It's to let you know, that I'm always here." Her foot dug into the dirt below and she dropped her gaze. "My door is always open, whenever you need me."

Sasuke watched her leave, holding the key between his fingers.

Maybe, it didn't have to be a lie. He could get stronger here, with them. And Naruto can be his best friend, and Sakura can be…

He could stay here.

Barely a trace of a smile was on his lips, and it was gone quicker then it came. He put the key in his pouch and headed back to camp.