Hey guys, here's the latest chapter. Sorry for the little wait. Enjoy!

Chapter 28. Naru POV

"Well, here it is. My new apartment." Gaara follows me in, pulling his suitcase behind him. "What do you think?" He leaves the case by the door before looking around.

"It's nice. I'm glad you got sorted after last time. Did they catch the people who broke in to your old place?" Temari comes in scowling as she almost trips over Gaara's suitcase but doesn't say anything.

"Don't think so." I head to the kitchen area and start making some tea for us. Gaara continues snooping around before I hand him a cup. "Oh, Shika might be popping round soon. You don't mind do you?" Before Gaara can say anything, Temari covers his mouth and smiles over at me.

"Of course not, Naru. This is your home after all." I watch as the siblings bicker quietly together; I laugh at them, it always used to amuse me how much they would argue over silly little things. The downstairs buzzer goes off as I head over to the screen, smiling at Shika's face.

"It's open." I let him in before moving Gaara's case away from the doorway as the Subaku siblings continue bickering. You'd think they were still kids.

"Knock knock." Shika pops his head around the door; I head over to give him a quick hug and kiss. I called him this morning, apologising for forgetting about yesterday but he just joked about it and told me to make it up to him; he seems to say that a lot. He said he would pop round to check up on me before heading to work. "I didn't realise you had guests." I watch his gaze move to the red suitcase before observing the still arguing duo.

"Sorry I forgot to tell you." I grab the nearest thing I can find, a shoe as always, and throw it at Gaara's chest. He sends his death glare at me before letting his gaze move over to Shika. I frown as his eyes narrow at him. "These are my friends from Suna. They're going to be visiting for a while." Temari, always the most sociable of the three siblings, comes over and shakes Shika's hand.

"Temari Subaku. You must be Shikamaru, hmm?" She grins and sends me a wink causing me to blush. "Quite a catch isn't he?" Shika laughs and rubs the back of his head. "The unsociable guy over there is my little brother, Gaara. Come say hello Gaara." He swears before coming over but refuses the hand that Shika holds out. I let out a giggle as he whispers 'troublesome' under his breath.

"I'm not a child, 'mari. I can introduce myself." He glares at her briefly before looking Shikamaru up and down. I suddenly get the feeling this was a bad idea introducing them to each other… "Gaara Subaku. So you're her current boyfriend. I'm her ex." He finally takes Shika's hand. I sigh as he analyses the taller man; I should have known this would happen. After what seems like forever, he lets go of Shika as his eyes soften slightly. I'm quite proud that Shika didn't back away scared; Gaara likes to intimidate people. He told me once that if someone can be easily intimidated, they're not worth your time. I don't know how he came up with that one. Temari claps her hands together.

"Well now that that's out the way." She slaps her brother across the back of the head before focusing on us again. "If you've got time why don't we all go out for a bite to eat? I'm starving."

We ended up going to the place Shika works for some breakfast, he even got it discounted for us. Chouji was working so he even gave us bigger portions. I love that guy. Temari did most of the talking; asking Shika about himself, how we met. That kind of thing. She couldn't stop laughing as he told her how I nearly punched him the first time we met. Gaara continued to glare at him but would send me a smile every now and again, and I wonder if that meant he approved. When we were finished it was time for Shika's shift to start so we left him there before making our way back home. I told him he could come over after my shift at Kyuubi tonight if he wanted and that I needed to have a talk with him. I saw Itachi briefly this morning before he went into Uni and we decided it would probably be best to tell Shika a bit about what's going on. I'm not ready to tell him everything, but I guess I can tell him about the letters and the phone call. He doesn't need the whole story...

Temari left us not long after to head to the police department. She managed to get herself a temporary transfer so that she could spend some time here so that they could keep an eye on anything fishy. I gave Gaara my spare key and gave him the code to get into the main doors before heading off to the high school. I wasn't supposed to be there today but I figure I might as well make up some time seeing as I missed yesterday. I ended up with Kakashi for the day so I returned Sasuke's essay back to him. He didn't ask me about it so I didn't say anything; not that I knew what I would have said anyway. Gaara came to pick me up from the school and walked me to the Uni so that I could hand some work in that I was supposed to hand it yesterday. Luckily the deadline is tomorrow so there wasn't a problem that I didn't do it yesterday. We hung out around town before he then walked me to my early shift at Kyuubi. Apparently he's taken it upon himself to be my personal chauffeur while he's staying with me. Though I'm secretly happy; he always makes me feel a lot safer. And he's really good at keeping my mind off things; I guess he did have a lot of practice doing it while I was living in Suna.

He was there to pick me up after work and walked me back home. I jumped in the shower as soon as I got back; smiling as the hot water hit me. As usual I forgot to bring a change of clothes with me so I left the bathroom wrapped in just a towel; though I was surprised to see Gaara and Shika sitting watching TV together.

"Oh, hey." Shika looks up at me with a smirk on his face, looking me up and down. My cheeks heat us as I try to ignore the look in his eyes. "I'll just, err, go get changed..." I rush into my room, slamming the door behind me. I quickly get changed into shorts and a tank top, remembering to put a bra on. I head back out, brushing my hair out of my face; it could do with another cut but I'm debating on whether to grow it or not. I grab a bottle of water from the fridge. "You guys want anything?" I look over as they both hold a half empty bottle of beer up each. I shake my head and close the fridge door before heading over to them, sitting on the arm of the chair. I bend down to give Shika a quick kiss. "What you watching?"

"Hostel." I should have guessed it would be a horror if Gaara had control.

"Please tell me you didn't bring your whole DVD collection with you." He grins over at me.

"You didn't think my suitcase had clothes in it did you?" He laughs as his eyes move back to the screen, grin still in place as someone gets tortured.

"You're weird, Racoon." I grab Shika's hand as I stand up and gesture towards my room. He gets up to follow me.

"You love me really." I close the door behind me as Gaara laughs at a bit in the film. Seriously, he's the only person I know who could find something like that even the slightest bit amusing.

"So... should I be jealous that your ex-boyfriend is staying with you and you walk around half naked, hmm?" He puts his bottle down on my bedside table as he wraps his arms around me. "Mmm, you smell nice." I laugh as I push him away, pulling him down to sit next to me on the bed. "You didn't answer my question." He looks at me trying to act serious before he laughs, pushing me down and leaning over me. He presses his lips against mine, his hand moving down my waist. He tickles my side slightly causing me to laugh before pulling me back up.

"I didn't think you were the jealous type." He grabs his beer, taking a swig.

"Maybe I am."

"Seriously?" He nods.

"Seriously." He puts his beer back down before cupping my cheeks letting his breath ghost over my lips. "Maybe I'll have to make sure you've truly gotten over him..." He closes the gap, making me moan as he runs his tongue against my lower lip, seeking entrance. I oblige as he pushes me back down, moving so that he's straddling me. His lower half presses into me causing me to moan again. His lips move to my neck as his fingers sneak up my top, caressing the skin beneath.

"Shika..." I moan as he nips at my neck, his hand moving higher to cup my breast. "Nnn, Shika, stop. Gaara's next door..." He sits up to look at me, slightly out of breath.

"I was trying to forget that little detail." He groans at being interrupted but moves off me anyway. "We could go to my place. Dad's not gonna be home til morning..." He leans over to kiss me as I sit up but I stop him with a finger to his lips.

"As tempting as that sounds, I actually wanted to talk to you." He pulls away, grabbing his beer again.

"Am I going to need another one of these?" I shrug before taking it from him and taking a swig.

"Maybe." He looks at me with the expression he usually has when he's trying to figure something out.

"You're breaking up with me." I cough as I almost choke in the drink. I put it down holding my hands up in front of me.

"No! That's not what I meant." I grab his hands as I move my legs so that I'm kneeling in front of him. He quirks an eyebrow.

"Proposing?" His smirk reappears so I hit him playfully.

"No idiot." He clutches his chest, pretending to be offended.

"You pain me, Miss Uzumaki." I shake my head though I can't help but smile at him.

"You're such a drama queen, you know."

"I learnt from the best."

"Neji." We laugh as we say his name at the same time; Neji truly is the biggest drama queen there is.

"Sooo... What are we talking about then?" I sit back on my bum, something I've been told I'm very good at, and cross my legs as he mimics me.

"The reason why Temari and Gaara are here." He watches me for a few moments before speaking.

"I thought there was something weird going on; it doesn't really have that 'social visit' kind of feel to it." Well they don't call you a genius for nothing; it's a shame Shika doesn't apply himself more to his education or something. He could go far.

"Itachi lied to you yesterday." He frowns as he leans forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "I wasn't ill. Actually I was just kinda freaked out. You see, ermm... how do I say this?" He watches me as I try to think of how to tell him. "Remember when we went to that psychic?" He nods. "You remember what she said; about me doing a lot of bad things in my past? And that it'd come back to haunt me?"

"You said yourself that it's a load of crap..."

"But it's not, Shika. It's not." I lower my head, tears threatening to fall but I force them away. "She was right. I got into the wrong crowd when I was younger; I did some bad things. I thought I'd left it all behind but it's followed me here. I was a fool to think I'd gotten away from him." I bury my head in my hands.

"Him?" He pulls my hands away from my face and forces me to look at him.

"My drug dealer. At least he was until I ran away." His eyes widen as he stares at me.

"Drug... dealer?" I pull away from him as I pull my legs up, resting my chin on my knees.

"He's in prison but I've been getting these blank letters since the Christmas holidays. And then the day before yesterday I got one with a message..." I pull the scrunched paper out from my drawer and hand it to him.

"You cannot hide from me, little fox."

"I thought I'd escaped him. But I guess it was only a matter of time before he found me. And yesterday I got a phone call..." I watch as he studies the bit of paper. "I freaked out, Shika. I'm so scared..." I jump slightly as he moves beside me to wrap his arms around me.

"Why didn't you tell me about the letters? I knew you were acting weird but I thought it was to do with Itachi." I hiccup as a sob escapes from me.

"Because then I'd have to tell you about Orochimaru. I didn't want you to know about that side of me... I thought you'd hate me..." He pulls me tighter against him; a smile escapes me as he whispers 'what a drag'.

"And you call me an idiot." He pulls away from me, cupping my cheeks in his hands. "I like you for who you are now. Not for what you were then. I'm shocked, I admit that. But it doesn't make me like you any less."

"You don't hate me?" He presses his lips to mine.

"Of course not." I smile at him, laughing slightly.

"I really am stupid aren't I?"

"Yes you are, Blondie. So Temari and Gaara are here because...?" He wipes the tears away before sitting back again.

"They keep an eye on things in Suna for me. To make sure he doesn't come for me."

"Hang on." He interrupts, eyebrows furrowed. "Isn't Orochimaru that guy who got put away for killing a teenage girl?" I nod, causing his eyes to widen again. "He's after you?" I nod again.

"I wasn't sure until I heard his voice. But it's definitely him. We think an associate of his has been sending the letters and spying on me though."

"So those two are here in Konoha to... look out for his associate." I smile slightly.

"I guess you could put it like that." He leans back on his hands studying me before smirking at me.

"I'm still not liking the fact that you're walking around half naked in front of your ex. Who knows when he might decide to take advantage of you." I try to keep a straight face but it's too hard and I end up laughing; grateful that he's taking this so well.

"And what are you going to do about, huh? Pineapple head." He gets up to turn the light off before heading back over, taking his shirt off as he pushes me down; straddling me again.

"Oh I can think of a few things, Naruko."

"So... did you sleep with him last night?" I cough and splutter causing my water to squirt all over him. He gives me the death glare, even though I'm pretty much immune to it now, before wiping his face with his shirt. "You were making a lot of noise. I could barely sleep." I grab a towel and toss it at him.

"Pfft. You don't sleep anyway you loser." I sit back down to finish my breakfast; Gaara made pancakes. I moan happily as I take a bit; I used to love it when he would make me pancakes when we were younger.

"Touché. But if I could you would have kept me awake." I try ignoring him as I squirt more syrup onto the pancakes. "So... did you then?"

"My sex life is none of your business, Racoon. And keep it down; Shika's still asleep." I try to give him an evil look but he just smirks at me; I probably look ridiculous.

"I'm guessing that's a no then." Fine, ignore me. "You're acting like a blushing virgin, you know." My hand flies up to my cheek, feeling the warmth there.

"Shut up." He sniggers before collecting our plates and washing them.

"So what are we doing today?" I stretch my arms back, smiling at the pop my shoulders make. I could do with a good work out. Maybe I'll go tonight.

"Well I'm going to Uni and then the school. I don't know what you're doing." He leaves the dishes to air dry as he moves over to the bathroom, throwing his t-shirt on the floor as he goes. "Pick that up."

"Wait for me and I'll walk you." He always was good at ignoring what I was saying. I think he's got an off switch connected to his ears; it mostly happens with females, he does the same to Temari. He opens the door and looks back, smirking at me.

"You still didn't answer the question." I throw an apple in his direction, just as he closes the door. It splatters all over and I groan.

"You better clean that up too!"

-Timeskip - Exam time!

"My god, how hard was that exam!" I laugh as Kiba slumps out of the exam hall looking like a kicked puppy. It's finally exam time, though it doesn't seem two minutes since the ones at Christmas.

"That's what happens when you spend too much time... frolicking with my cousin." Neji catches us up as we head outside.

"He's right. You've been slacking dog breath." He tries to glare at us but just ends up sighing, mumbling 'I know, I know.'

"I'm always right." I try to smack his arm but he dodges; I grin as I chase after him. He stops suddenly and grabs hold of my arms. "Oh no. Last time you chased me you dunked my head into the fountain. You're not doing that again." I pout and try batting my eyelashes at him. "That look doesn't suit you." I laugh as he finally lets me go. I bounce over to Kiba and wrap my arm around his shoulders, squeezing slightly.

"Cheer up, Kibbles. There's always the re-sits during summer." He sighs.

"Mom will kill me if I have to re-sit." Looking up I see a flash of red ahead so I wave over.

"You'll just have to make sure you do better on the others." Neji pats the brooding guy on the back before heading off; probably to meet Tenten.

"How did you find it?" My smile drops as we walk towards my personal chauffeur.

"Awful actually. My mind went blank half way through and I couldn't concentrate."

"Thinking about him?" I nod in reply to Kiba as we walk the rest of the way in silence. I told Kiba a bit of what was happening with Orochimaru and the letters; but only because he bugged it out of me. Apparently Shika had let something slip when they were hanging out one day. He was pretty miffed that I hadn't told him but he let it go saying that he knew it must be hard on me. Boy, you have no idea... I've tried to revise for these exams but like I said to Kiba, I'm finding it really hard to concentrate. Shika tried helping me by asking me questions from my syllabus but my mind would always go blank and I'd either say something incredibly stupid or I couldn't answer at all. I've even cut my nights at work down and given away my weekend shift in the hopes that I could get more revision done but nothing's working. And it doesn't help that Gaara is constantly there.

No matter how hard I tried to talk him out of it, Gaara would walk me everywhere and pick me back up to walk me to the next place even if there was somebody with me. At first I was grateful, but now I'm finding it slightly annoying. But I haven't said anything because I know he's only looking out for me. I can't even spend any alone time with Shika because Gaara's nearly always there. I love him but it'd be nice to have a bit of space once in a while.

Temari drops by every now and again to keep us up to date, but she hasn't found anything useful. Though she has given a copy of Kabuto's photo to the others at work and asked them to keep an eye out because she'll be heading back to Suna soon. It's been a couple months since I got the phone call from Orochimaru and I haven't received any more letters. Shika says it's probably a good thing and that maybe that's the end of it, but I don't think so. It feels more like the calm before the storm. And that frightens me.

I've tried to see Shika as much as possible but whenever we're together, Gaara's always there and I've started jumping at the slightest things. Including his touch. I think he's tried to ignore it but I know it's getting to him. I'm trying so hard to act normal around him but it's getting so hard. I've barely seen Itachi because he's busy revising and I think he's helping Sasuke with his work too. Tsunade let me has the month off so that I could concentrate on my exams so I haven't seen Sasuke neither. And that bugs me a lot more than I know it should.

"Naruko, we need to talk." He glances over at Gaara sitting on the couch, beer in hand; his normal position whenever we're home. I look at Shika and frown, unable to read his expression.

"Come on." I grab my coat and head out; shouting out; "I'll be right back." I close the door before Gaara can answer and head down the stairs, hoping he won't follow. Shikamaru follows me out the main doors as I head towards the park near Uni. It's late, though not too late, so it should be pretty quiet. I try to hold his hand but he pushes it into his pocket and doesn't look at me. I wrack my brain as we walk trying to figure out if I've done anything to upset him. We reach the park, sitting on the nearest bench. I turn to face him but he still avoids my eyes. "Shika... what's going on?"

"This isn't working, is it?" He pulls out a cigarette and lights it, taking a puff. He never smokes in front of me unless he's stressed or angry...

"What do you mean?" He uses his free hand to gesture to the space between us, eyes glued to the ground.

"Us. We're not working." My eyes widen as it clicks what he's talking about.

"You're... you're breaking up with me." He exhales the smoke, watching it as it disappears into the air.

"I think so." I knock the stick out of his hand and force him to look at me; tears threatening to spill.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean? You're either breaking up with me or you're not. There's no 'I think so' about it." I clench the front of his jacket. "Why..." I choke out as the first tear falls.

"I think you know why, Naruko. I... I can't do this..." I let him go and sit back.

"Can't do what?" He gestures towards me as the wind blows past us.

"I can't deal with what's going on with you. Naruko, I like you. I really do. But you're not in the right place at the moment and sometimes it feels like you're not even here at all. It's as if I'm not with you half the time." I lower my head as his words sink in. He's right; I know he's right. But it still hurts. "And... I can't lie to you Naruko. I... I think I like somebody else." My head shoots up as I inch backwards, eyes wide. What?

"You..." Anger starts to build up but then fades away as fast as it appeared. What right do I have to be angry if he likes someone else. It's my fault; I unconsciously pushed him away. No; I knew what I was doing but I couldn't stop it. Because you're weak. You always will be. Orochimaru's past words creep into my head. "Who is it?" He looks away for a second before turning back.

"Temari." Gaara said he's seen them around town a few times but I thought nothing of it. Konoha's not very big; you nearly always bump into someone you know whenever you go into town. "We've hung out a few times. By accident; we didn't arrange to meet up, we just kept running in to each other." He rambles on which I find strange; he never rambles. "Before I knew it I realised I enjoyed hanging out with her. She's smart, funny, beautiful..." Everything you're not. You're nothing, Naruko. You never will be. That's why you'll always be mine... I resist the urge to grab my head. I give him my best smile, trying to block out his voice.

"It's okay." I stand up looking down at him, smile still there. He tries to grab my wrist but I pull away. "You're right; I'm probably not in the right place for a relationship at the minute. I'm sorry, Shika. You should tell Temari you like her. You're a great guy; she probably likes you too." My smile wavers slightly but I force it out, tears pouring down my face now. "I'm sure you'll be happy with her. I should have known we wouldn't work out. You're too good for me Shika. She's like a sister to me; so treat her well, okay?" I walk off as he tries to grab me again.

"Naruko, wait." I wipe my face quickly before breaking into a run. He shouts after me again but I don't stop. I can't stop. I choke out a sob as I head to my apartment. I reach it after a few minutes and lean against the door, out of breath. I wipe my eyes again; why am I crying? I brought this upon myself; I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself. It's my own fault; I pushed him away. I punch the code into the keypad and run up the stairs. I open the door, not surprised that it's unlocked because I forgot my key. Thanks Gaara. There's no light on but I can see his figure sit up on the couch as I close the door behind me; locking it.

"Kit? What's wrong?" I don't answer as I just stand there; Shika's and Orochimaru's words spinning round in my head. I grab my head with both hands as I sink to my knees as I choke out a sob. Arms find their way around my shoulders as I cry out. He tried to pull my hands away but I shake him off as my fingers tighten around my hair. "Naruko, calm down." He pulls me against him so that my heads against his chest, though I can't stop shaking. "Shh. It's okay, Kit. It's okay." He rocks me slightly as we sit in the dark. Eventually the tears stop and I feel myself drifting off but I can still hear Orochimaru's voice loud and clear; as if he's in the room with me.

"You'll always be mine..."

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