First things first I just want to apologise for how long it's taken for me to upload this chapter. I hadn't realised how long it had actually been since I'd last updated until last week when I got a very nice review on this story. It made me remember how much I used to love writing this story and got me re reading my earlier chapters. I've found my inspiration again and going through all my old chapters to catch up. I have up to chapter 34 ready to upload so will slowly be posting these chapters while I write further chapters. Due to both home and work commitments (I work night shifts) I don't have much time for writing any more but I'm going to try. Secondly I just want to thank you all for your support and a big thank you to JayyZombie and LuceyLacie for their recent reviews and restoring my love for this fic. I still want to rename my chapters, so like before if anyone has any suggestions I'd be more than happy to consider them. Again, thank you all.

And enjoy :)

Chapter 29.

Naru POV

"Why?" I hiccup as Gaara holds me. He managed to get me off the floor and onto the couch, though we're still sitting in darkness. "Why can't I just get on with my life? Why did he have to come after me?" I fist the back of his t-shirt, my face pressed against his shoulder as I sob.

"It annoys me to say this, but do you want me to call Itachi?" I shake my head against him.

"He'll be asleep; he's got a big exam tomorrow." I pull away from him finally and he wipes my left cheek with his thumb before doing the same to the right. "I'm a right bitch aren't I?" He grabs my face, forcing me to look up at him, though I can only just see him from the light from the TV.

"No, you're not." He lets go but I keep looking at him, though inside I just want to hide.

"Then why did I push him away? I knew what I was doing but I did nothing to stop it!" I unclasp the bracelet around my right wrist that Shikamaru had gotten me and dangle it from my fingers. "And now he likes your sister…" I wrap my palm around the piece of jewellery before dropping it onto the coffee table. I really wanted to throw it at the wall but couldn't bring myself to destroy something so beautiful. "I make a really terrible girlfriend don't I?" I laugh slightly, turning my body away from him. "First I break your heart and run away. Now I've pushed Shika so far away that he wants to be with somebody else. I don't deserve to be happy…" I jump slightly as he grabs my shoulders forcing me to look at him.

"Don't you ever say that again, you hear me?" I nod slightly, shocked at his tone. "You have every right to be happy. You've been through so much and you've pulled through all of it. Not many people can do that, Naruko. Sure, you've done some bad things; you did drugs, you drank too much, you slept around to get your next fix. But you chose to stop. You're stronger than anyone I've ever met. If that Nara guy can't cope with you being scared at the moment then that's his problem; not yours. If he liked you as much as he supposedly did then he wouldn't have left you. He would have stuck around and helped you get through it." His hands move to my face, forcing me to look into his eyes. "And as for me… Naruko that was my entire fault. I failed you as a boyfriend. I should have tried harder to get you away from his clutches. That's why I didn't put up much of a fight the day you left. I knew I should have done something more; something to save you. Yes, it broke my heart. But you leaving meant you could be safe and live your life the way you want. I would take a broken heart every time if it meant you were safe and happy; even if it wasn't with me."

I stare at him, tears pouring down my face but he just rubs them away. There's a slight smile on his face but it's a sad one; and it pains me that I'm the cause of it. I inch towards him and lift my arm up so that I can hold the back of his head, fingers laced through his red locks. It's a lot shaggier than when he first got here but it looks good on him. Hell, anything looks good on him; he's always been like that. His eyes stare into mine and it feels like he's looking inside me. I remember when I first met him, it was his eyes that made me follow him when he picked me up one night. I was cold and suffering from withdrawals because Orochimaru was waiting for me to go and beg him for a fix. He was sick like that. But when he bent down in front of me and asked if I was okay, his eyes made me forget it all. I forgot my parents' death, I forgot I was all alone, I forgot how much I needed my next fix. For those few minutes as he looked into my eyes, the addiction disappeared. And I felt normal.

He didn't look at me with disgusted eyes like everybody else who saw me on the street. He looked at me as a person. So when he told me to follow him I did. Because even though I didn't know who he was, I'd only briefly seen him around school, he looked at me as if I was a human being; looked at me as if I was like everybody else. And I wanted him to look at me like that again. And again, and again…

But I also saw the pain in those eyes. Gaara didn't have a very good upbringing; he was abused by his father, by the person who he should have been able to look up to. But he was saved by his older siblings; they took him away from all of that and made sure his father was punished for what he did. But even though he had his own problems, he took me in. And whenever I was having a bad day or I was feeling down, all I had to do was look into his eyes and everything was okay again. Because nothing else mattered when he looked at me. Because he loved me. Inside and out.

"Gaara…" My other hand cups his cheek as I unconsciously move closer to him; our lips only mere inches apart. "I'm sorry I left you. I truly am. I never wanted to hurt you." His eyes close for a few moments before reopening, teal eyes as intense as ever.

"I know." I can smell the alcohol on his breath; glancing to the side I see half a dozen empty bottles and wonder how many he's actually had. He may have never touched actual drugs but alcohol was his drug. Since I met him he would drink himself to sleep every night because that was the only way he could get any rest. If he didn't drink a certain amount he would lie awake all night, remembering his childhood. Alcohol was the only way he could forget. But there were times when we were together that he could get a full nights rest without touching a drink. Whenever we had sex before going to sleep, he didn't need alcohol; and I think I must have had the same effect on him as he did on me. And that's one of the reasons why I regret leaving him; and it pains me to see him still drinking well into the night.

"Sleep with me." His eyes widen as he tries to move away but I pull his face closer to mine, his lips dangerously close to my own. He continues to stare at me before I finally close the gap between us and his eyes close. His lips move against my own and I open my mouth for him. My grip on his hair tightens causing him to moan and I move so that I'm sitting in his lap. His hands move from my face to my back just resting there, his fingers slightly caressing the skin beneath my t-shirt. He pulls away panting slightly as I pull his t-shirt up and off. I close my eyes as my hands travel across his skin, remembering it all as if the last time we were together was only yesterday.

"Kit, we shouldn't…" I know that. I know this is wrong because he loves me and Shikamaru just broke up with me. I pull my own shirt off, his eyes moving to the scar across my chest. I claim his lips again, forcing him to look away; I know it hurts him still to even just think about how I got that scar. I push my pelvis into his causing him to groan against me as his hands move lower, pulling my lower half against his own again and I can feel him getting hard against me.

"Please… let's just forget. I want to forget it all…" I whisper against his lips. I want to forget, just this once…

In the end we didn't have sex but we stayed together all night and I think he slept a little. Not great, but a little bit is better than none. And it made me happy to know that I helped him that little bit. When I woke up we were still on the couch but I was lying on top of him; it's not a very big couch. I tried to get off but he pulled me back. He seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before kissing me again. We stayed like that for a good ten or so minutes before he finally let me up and told me to go shower. It was only nine so I still had plenty time before my exam that day; meaning that I only had one left the day after tomorrow. I just hope that all the non-exam work that we've done over the year will be enough to get me through otherwise I'll be doing the re-sits in August.

I strip the remainder of my clothes off before stepping under the spray, grateful for the heat. I stand there for a while before slowly washing my hair with my orange scented shampoo. I go to grab my body wash but my hand stops just in front of it; it's the one Temari brought for me. I stand there frozen for a few minutes before grabbing it and squirting some into my hand. I use it to wash myself before turning the shower off and stepping out, wrapping a towel around me. It's not Temari's fault Shikamaru broke up with me. I did that, not her; she just happened to grab his interest and I can't really blame him for that. She's a beautiful and a lovely person. And even though I'm upset I can't bring myself to hate either of them. I wrap another towel around my hair and leave the bathroom just as Gaara hangs up his phone. I raise an eyebrow at him and wait.

"That was Temari; she's leaving soon. I'm going to see her off…" I nod, tightening the towel around my body before rubbing my hair with the other one. "Naruko…"

"It's okay. I'll ask Itachi to pick me up." I'm sure his exam starts just after mine so he should be able to come get me; I know Gaara wouldn't let me go by myself. I head towards my room, stopping just before the door. "Gaara, tell Temari… will you tell her I don't blame her?" I shut the door behind me and grab my phone to call Itachi. I hope he hasn't already left.

Turns out he hadn't left yet and he came to pick me up about half an hour after Gaara had headed out to see Temari. I gave Itachi a quick overview of what happened last night; though I kept the bit about me and Gaara to myself. He doesn't need to know that. I walk out the exam hall, trailing behind everyone and even keeping away from Kiba and Neji. I could tell by the look on their faces that they already knew what had happened when I met up with them this morning but they didn't bring it up; which I'm grateful for. I didn't really want to talk about it. Kiba and Neji look back at me every now and again but they keep walking; Kiba probably thought it would be best to leave me for a while. I wrap my arms around myself as I exit the building and they disappear from sight.

"Naruko." Sasuke walks over, grin on his face, and I can't help but smile at him. I hear the squeals of some of the females at how 'cute' the kid is and laugh at the blush that appears.

"Seems older women like you too, squid." He attaches himself to my side and walks with me as we leave the campus. "Shouldn't you be at school?" I was supposed to be waiting for Itachi's exam to finish because Gaara was still with Temari, but I wanted to walk home alone; not that I seem to have a choice now though…

"Half day. Itachi asked me to pick you up 'cause he thought you'd go home without him." Damn that guy for knowing me so well. "But I needed to see you anyway." I look up at him, eyebrow raised. He pulls a card out of his bag before handing it to me. "Tsunade asked me to give you this. Open it." I open the envelope and pull out the card.

"Is it hand-made?" He nods as I look over the front; there's a drawing of a cartoon fox made to look like me. I laugh before opening it to see loads of messages written by both the staff and students at the school.

"Sai made it and got nearly everybody to sign it because we weren't sure whether you'd be back before summer or not." I hadn't actually decided myself yet. The school doesn't officially break up for summer until July although their exams finish around the same time as the Uni's so they have another two months of basically doing nothing. I wasn't sure whether to pick up more hours at Kyuubi or the restaurant or to go back to the school. I spoke to Gai earlier in the month and he said he'd heard a lot of good things about me and that Tsunade would love to keep me on next year if I was interested.

"It's lovely, Sasuke." At first I wasn't sure, but looking at this card I really want to go back. I guess I'll give Tsunade a phone call later to discuss it. "How are your exams going?" I put the card back into the envelope and stick in into my backpack.

"They're alright. Last one's tomorrow, though I've got some coursework due in next week. How about you?" He looks down at me but I avoid his gaze.

"They're okay." Can't exactly tell him I've probably failed in case he tells Itachi. "Last one day after tomorrow." We continue our walk in silence, reaching my apartment not long after.

"How's your driving lessons coming along?" He follows me up the stairs and into my apartment. I grab a can of coke from the fridge and throw it at him. I finally got round to using the voucher Fugaku and Mikoto had gotten me for driving lessons a few months ago; I hated it at first. And I'm sure my instructor didn't feel safe with me neither. But I'm a lot better now, though I haven't had a lesson the past few weeks because of exams but I'm still reading the book Sasuke bought me for Christmas. I might ring up and book a lesson for next week or the weekend.

"I'm doing okay. I'm still terrified when I pass a big bus or truck though." I always feel like they're going to bump into me whenever I pass something big. My instructor seems to find it funny though.

"You'll be passed before you know it." He opens his can, taking a sip before slumping on the couch and switching the TV on. He lifts my discarded t-shirt up from last night and holds it up. "You're such a slob." I grab it from him and pick up Gaara's t-shirt before he notices that one; dropping them both into the washing basket. I sit down next to him, resting my feet on the coffee table; thankfully Gaara had moved all his beer bottles from last night. "Itachi's been talking about maybe taking you out in his car seeing as he's been passed long enough." I steal the controller from him and put some random daytime movie on.

"He'll probably regret that after getting in the car with me." He laughs, trying to take the controller back.

"I'm sure you're not that bad." I tuck the controller down the back of my jeans before sticking my tongue out at him. He sighs giving up and I grin at my win.

"You haven't seen me drive." We watch the film for a film but we both soon get bored. "Why don't we go for something to eat? My treat." He stands up, stretching.

"Now you're talking. Come on."

Exams are over!

Sasu POV

"She never said anything to me about it." I let my legs swing from the table I'm sitting on. I watch as Sai paints a few strokes on the piece he's busy working on. As annoying as he is, he's my friend and I do like to watch him paint. We've got a free period because we've finished all our exams and they haven't decided what to do with us. In the past we would have been allowed the time off, but the government brought in some new thing dictating that we have to stay in school until the summer holidays even though there's nothing to do.

"Why would she? You're a kid to her, remember?" I smile at the memory of spending the afternoon with her a while ago. We went for some fast food and then we went to the arcade. It was as if there wasn't a big age difference between us and we were just two people hanging out. Sometimes when I looked at her she would look sad but when she noticed me looking she would smile and say something that would make me laugh; as if she was avoiding the unspoken questions I had. Itachi only told me last night that the pineapple-head broke up with her the night before we went out.

"I know. But I'm her friend aren't I?" He puts his brush down so that he can pull his jumper off; it's getting hotter the closer it gets to the summer.

"I guess." He continues his painting. "But you're fifteen…"

"Nearly sixteen," I butt in. He shakes his head and I'm sure he probably rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. She's got friends her own age to tell all her problems to. She's not going to load it all into a nearly sixteen teenager, is she?" I hate it when he's right. I pull my notebook out and grab a pencil as I start to draw Sai painting. Sai's the only one I've told about liking Naruko as more than a friend; or rather he figured it out himself and teased me with it for ages. But he lets me talk about her non-stop so that makes up for him teasing me I guess. It's not like I can talk to Itachi about it.

"I know." We sit in silence as we do our own things, enjoying the company without needing to speak. That's another reason why I like hanging out with him, and even Lee; we don't have to constantly talk to each other, though Lee does make up for the two of us.

"You working tonight?"

"Yeah." I asked Nagato if I could have more shifts now that I've finished my exams so he gave me a few extra evenings. He even said once the holidays start I can have a few shifts through the day during the week because they get quite busy and he's sure they'll get more customers if the girls find out I'm working. I'm sure he just likes to use me sometimes…

"Wait for me after school and I'll go with you. I need to go into town."

"Sure."

"I'm home." I dump my bag at the bottom of the stairs and listen for any sign of life. Banging comes from the kitchen so I follow that, feeling quite hungry.

"You should have told me." I stand in the doorway for a while; they don't even notice that I'm there.

"Mother, we've talked about this. She didn't want to tell you." Mom chops at some vegetable, obviously still angry about the whole Naruko thing. Itachi's standing over the oven, stirring something.

"You still should have told us. We could have done something…" He turns around to face her, glancing at me briefly before focusing on mom again.

"And what could you have done? She got through it, isn't that what matters?" Mom puts her knife down, sighing.

"But we could have been there for her."

"She wasn't alone; she had me. Maybe that wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing."

"It was enough." I grab a tomato from the fridge before sitting down at the table.

"Sasuke! Don't frighten your Mother like that." I shrug as she scolds me before going back to her vegetables. We sit in silence and I wonder if I've stopped their conversation. I take a bite out of my tomato and smile; I love these things. "And stop eating all the tomatoes. Nana is sick of buying them every day." Pfft, if it wasn't the tomatoes Nana would find something else to complain about me. She's the only maid who doesn't seem to like me very much… Though that's probably my fault from when I was younger. I probably tormented her too much.

"Mother…" She shh's him.

"Not in front of Sasuke." I finish the rest of my tomato and stand up; might as well let them continue their argument.

"It's okay, I'll leave. But you do know I know more about her than you do, right?" I leave the room and head up the stairs to my room. Though I do catch her scolding Itachi for letting me find out. I wonder when she'll finally let me out of the cotton wool she seems to think she can wrap me up in…

"I don't think I'm ever letting her have my car ever again." Itachi sits down beside me as I flick through the TV channels trying to find something decent.

"I thought you lived with Dei now? Stop invading our home." He smacks me over the head before taking the control from me and changing the channel. I'd finally found something good.

"You know you're not allowed to watch eighteen's. Mother would have a heart attack if she saw you watching that." I huff as he changes it to some random cartoon. I can already feel my brain turning to mush; how can children watch this crap? "And I like to check up on you when you're home alone. Make sure you're not watching porn or anything."

"Riiighht. You do know that if I was going to do that, it would be in my bedroom with the door locked right?" He shrugs while watching the TV; he's not seriously watching this is he? "So… her driving really is that bad?" He laughs before resting his feet on the coffee table. I can imagine what mom would say if she caught him doing that.

"It wasn't bad; it just wasn't good. I think she was just nervous that it was me in there with her." He finally changes the channel to something that doesn't make my brain feel all squishy and ready to fall out my ears; though it isn't much better. Why would I want to watch the cooking channel?

"So you were scared for your life?"

"At one point." I laugh, trying to imagine what she'd be like. Maybe I should keep off the streets whenever she's out in a car…

"How is she, anyway?" I move myself to the far end of the couch and lift my legs up so that they're lying across his lap.

"She's coping." I've seen her more lately since we've finished our exams and she's came back to the school until summer starts. Though most of the time we just play games during lessons or challenge her and Mr Morino to matches during P.E. She acts like she's okay on the outside but I know she's constantly thinking about that guy and probably even Shikamaru; though neither one is worth her time if you ask me.

"Why don't we try taking her mind off everything? We could take her away for a few days somewhere; invite her friends along. We could go camping." He seems to consider it for a while before turning to look at me.

"I always knew you actually had a brain inside that head of yours." I frown, kicking him slightly. "You're right. We should take her away from here, even if just for the day."

"Why don't we go to the beach and camp out overnight? I've not been to the beach for years…" He sniggers and reaches over to ruffle my hair.

"Aww does ickle Sasuke want to go play in the sand?" I hit him away, glaring at him.

"Shut up." I turn back to the TV, watching somebody stuff a chicken.

"It's a good idea though." I look back at him as he takes his phone, sending some texts. "I'll get Kiba to ask the others and I'll work on her." He pushes my legs back to the floor as he stands up, heading for the door. I watch him go and he turns back to look at me. "Remember, no porn." I throw a cushion at him but he ducks out the way, laughing as he leaves.

"Don't tell her it was my idea." He doesn't answer but I know he heard. I don't want her thinking of me as a kid any more than she already does…

Let me know what you's think! Hope you's like it :)