EDIT: For those of you who were reading during my little... mindfart while I was editing a few months ago... I'm SO sorry that you read chapter 5 twice and didn't get a chapter three. But here it is! Not as editing because I had to retrieve it off my only back-up... gonna make some new ones of that... but it's still chapter three. Again, I apologize wholeheartedly and I'm going to pay so much more attention to what I'm doing next time I start editing again.

Well, like I promised in my profile page... I duck taped myself to this computer chair and listened to Concrete Angel over and over again until I got some inspiration... well I didn't actually use duck tape... we don't have any tape at all so I couldn't even use scotch tape.

I know it's been forever, but for those who've stuck with me and actually decided to read this chapter, thanks for waiting. My writer's block was worse than it seemed and today I woke up thinking I'm going to write it today. So I made myself a bagel and sat at this chair, typing away. I am deeply sorry it has taken me so long and I apologize. I was serious when I said that this story is not going to die though, so if I ever take a while again, always be reassured that I have not dropped this story. I really want to get to the end. And I'm also happy to say that we have another previous reader from before (Briryan), glad you found this story again and continued reading. Hopefully I haven't taken too long and you've given up.

to the anonymous reviewers:
, dramagirl725, TORA, and Alice: thanks for reviewing .
The cow cannon: I'm glad my fic grabbed you even though most parts are sorta centered around the school.
Anon: thanks for the comment on the name . It really all just flowed when I was writing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Concrete Angel

Chapter Three:

A walk was exactly what the raven haired needed. He had to clear his mind, think of a way to approach the tormented blond. Thinking back Sasuke heard Naruto's angry voice, saw the look on his face when he turned him around... it was burned in Sasuke's mind and haunted his thoughts.

Sighing he kicked a rock down the dirt path enclosed by trees of several different breeds. Naruto was probably afraid of him now, and he'd never be able to get close enough to him again. Never be able to explain his feelings or help him.

The snap of a branch brought Sasuke back to the present. Either someone was following him or there was an animal in the woods. The raven had always been innerly paranoid, sure it rarely showed on the outside especially around others but inside he couldn't help but think... it's him. He knew he was being stupid, he wouldn't be careless enough to give alert to his presence... unless that was his plan...

"Sasuke-kun?" A familiar female voice assured him that he had not come back just yet and he turned to see a girl stepping out of the bushes. "I had no idea you came out this way."

"I do. However most use the path Sakura."

"Eheh..." she smiled awkwardly and a blush crept across her cheeks. Sasuke knew this was no coincident, she was like all his other fangirls who tried to make contact with him as much as possible. "Well... I'm running late and I figured I could take a short-cut through the woods but it seems I'm further away then when I started..."

Sasuke merely stood in his bored, superior stance, barely listening to Sakura's cover.

"Um... since I'm already extremely late... would you like to walk with me?" The rosette offered a sweet, innocent smile and a cute flutter of her eyelashes.

Most boys would jump at the chance to be with her, for she was beautiful, but Sasuke wasn't interesting in girls especially the fans ones who went out of their way to bother him. "Sorry. I was just about to return home. You should be on your way before you miss what ever it is you're late for."

A disappointed look fell over her face, her plan had failed not like the Uchiha cared. "Oh... well, alright. See you tomorrow at school then Sasuke-kun. I'll bring you a lunch!" Sasuke didn't get the chance to tell her not to waster her time before she waved and ran off in the direction Sasuke was originally headed.

Now that his walk had been cut short, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked in the direction from which he came. The peace and quiet returned in no time at all, thankfully there were no more interruptions so Sasuke could go back to his previous thoughts. He was probably thinking too much into this, like an easy riddle you think too hard on because you think it's difficult. Maybe all he needed to do was just walk up and talk to him? Simple enough, he thought, though why did that other stubborn part of his brain seem to think it wasn't?

In the lake a rock being thrown skipped three times created multiple ripples before sinking into the water it had once been bouncing on. The ripples continued on even after the rock had long disappeared. "Like mom's memory..." The depressed blond sighed. He watched the water through his hair which was currently covering his blue and black eyes. Or at least one eye had the mix of those colors. At least the purple-black color matched his bright blue eyes he said to himself, the sick joke had tasted sour on his tongue when he had muttered it to himself. The water told his story. The rock, being his mother, left many ripples behind even after she died. Said ripples now only caused pain to her son which she should have killed. In the lake the ripples faded away and now it appeared as though it had never been disturbed. Maybe that would happen to him. Perhaps after time the ripples of his mother's memory would fade away and everyone would give Naruto a fair chance, look at him as though he was human and not the son of a monster. Or perhaps that was just a hopeless dream and the ripples would carry on forever, spreading further and further until the entire world despised him.

Taking in a deep breath of the fresh air Naruto looked up into the sun, the rays warming his cold body. Outside was a place he rarely got to experience, so it was nice to finally feel the sun upon his skin. Falling back onto the grass he closed his eyes to see red from the light instead of black from the darkness. He enjoyed this feeling, worth the beating he would get for sneaking out of the house when he returned later. It would probably better to be beaten later, by then Emi would have sobered up... hopefully. If he had stayed there now he'd be worse off and possibly have a broken bottle imbedded in his torso.

Maybe if those ripples ever faded, Emi would love him too... Maybe she'd be a kind aunt and stop drinking. She'd apologize for all the horrible things she's done to him and dedicate her life to making it up to him. He'd finally get a bed, be able to eat food which didn't make him want to hurl, take a shower every morning instead of sneaking into the bath when Emi was unconscious from drinking too much... It was good to dream, kept him sane or at least as sane as a boy like him could be.

Footsteps behind him made Naruto jump and he looked up to see one of Sasuke's friends. That sarcastic brunet who was always getting into trouble.

He looked down at the blond with disgust, "What, not digging in the garbage today Uzumaki?" He smirked, obviously getting great pleasure out of mocking the boy.

Naruto winced but did not speak. He turned back to look at the lake, trying to ignore the intruder.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Uzumaki." He barked, picking the blond up by the back of his collar.

"I'm not doing anything to bother you Kiba, leave me alone." He spoke weakly, he never had been good at defending himself.

"Leave you alone huh?" Kiba laughed darkly, "You know, you're damn lucky to have that father of yours or I would have beaten the shit out of you ages ago." He pushed Naruto so that he fell back onto the ground, landing hard on his tail bone. He didn't even wince in pain like the Inuzuka had been expecting, which caused him to snarl. "Get the hell out of here Uzumaki."

Naruto gathered himself up, he didn't hurry though. He would let Kiba have the satisfaction that he was afraid of him, which he was but he wasn't going to show it by scrambling out of there. He merely stood and walked off at his own pace in search of some place else to sit until it was safer to return to the house, blocking out Kiba's smug laughter in the background. He didn't doubt for a minute that if his father hadn't been a hero the brunet would be beating him up everyday, and not just him. Many of the other jocks would gladly join in the brutal attack upon Uzumaki, who in this village wouldn't? Sasuke's face flashed across Naruto's memory, the soft look that he'd given him yesterday. Sasuke? After what had happened he wouldn't want to hurt him... would he? He seemed so concerned yesterday, his words, his expression. He wanted to help him didn't he? Naruto wanted to believe that, he wanted to hold on to that possibility with every inch of his being but the other part of his mind, the untrusting part of his mind believed differently. It didn't want Naruto to hold onto something it thought impossible.

Sasuke's just tricking you. It whispered in the back of his mind. He's trying to earn your trust just to stab you in the back. He doesn't like you, no one does. You can't trust someone like him who is loved by everyone when you are loved by no one. He's only out to get you!

"But what if he really does like me and he wants to help. I have to give him a chance don't I?" Naruto argued.

That's what he wants you to think. As soon as he's got you in the palm of his hand he's going to hurt you, and probably let his friends in on it too. They're all against you. It's just part of their plan!

"You're paranoid." Naruto insisted, he wanted desperately to think against this part of his mind but... it was slowly winning.

I have a right to be! Don't I! You know I'm right, after all you've been through you're going to let your guard done because of some hot raven?

Naruto's eyes fell to the ground. He did have the right to be paranoid. All the points he made were true... the fact that he liked Sasuke shouldn't change anything. He was a liar and only wanted to hurt him... just like everyone else.

Naruto awoke stretching to faint darkness. It was evening already? He rubbed his eyes and looked around, waiting for his eyes to come into focus. Slowly he began to remember. That's right, he had made his way to the end of the lake where it ran out into a river. He had watched the running water until he had fallen asleep against a tree. He yawned and rose up off the grassy ground almost tripping on a tree root as he stepped away from the tree. That had been a comfy nap, he'd have to come back to this tree often. Strange how he enjoyed being near trees... perhaps he was just a nature freak.

It was a good thing the house wasn't too far away from the lake, made the walk short. Silently he prayed that Emi had drunk too much this evening and was unconscious on the couch, or the floor, or where ever it may be that she'd fallen.

Sneaking into the basement window he realized he was wrong. Emi was waiting for him in the cold, damp storage room which was considered his bedroom.

"Have... a late... night." Her voice stuttered and she swayed where she stood with a half-empty beer bottle in her hand, easy to tell she was intoxicated. She dropped the beer causing it crashed on the cement floor, allowing it's contents to escape across the floor and soak into the blankets he called his beds. Before he could finish climbing through the window or attempt to go back out she staggeringly made her way over to him and pulled him through the small window, dropping him to the floor. Naruto landed on his left arm and he heard it snap against the hard floor. He bit his lower lip to keep from screaming in agony.

"I... I'm sorry Emi-san. I... I'll never-"

"Shut up!" She snapped in drunken anger, kicking him in the side to put him on his back. "You... ungrateful bastard! Me... putting up with... you and... your stupid... mother! She... ruined me and... left me with you! After... all I've... given you... you have... the nerve to... sneak... out!"

"I'm sorry Emi-san! I appreciate everything you've done! Please!" Naruto begged.

"Ungrateful!" She yelled, kicking him hard in the side hurting his ribs which were already bruised. Picking him up by the collar she staggered backwards, barely able to stand let alone hold up a boy. He stood on his feet, bracing himself for the hand which slapped him a moment later. She stumbled a bit, growled at him then pushed him down. She picked up a random box, not getting a very good grip on it, and throwing it at Naruto. It only landed on his lap, not very hard either but to the drunk it seemed as though it did an abundance of damage. Feeling satisfied she turned to go back up the stairs. She just barely missed stepping on the glass fragments of her bottle when she stumbled up the steps. After the first two she realized she wouldn't be able to keep her footing so she crawled her way up the rest of them.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. It hadn't been that bad. Save for his bleeding arm which might be broken. He tried to move it only to groan in pain. Though it seemed only his elbow was sprained at most by the way he could still move everything and that was where the pain was centered. Looking towards the broken bottle and the spilt beer he sighed before moving the box off his legs and standing up with great care. Getting the dustpan and broom from one of the open boxes he began to clean up the broken green glass, which was not so easy to see in the dark. He'd get a cloth after Emi was asleep, as well as a bandage for his elbow.

I hope it wasn't too short, I really wanted to get this chapter up... being so late and all. I promise, and I know I've done this before but this time I mean it. I will try and update regularly, I'm not talking every other day but maybe every other week or every week. I know I'm going to keep it within a month if I can. Although it is summer, and I want to get a part-time job and still manage to have fun. If I get writer's block again, I'll tie myself to this chair sooner and never leave, I promise that lol.