*Disclaimer: I do not own "Naruto" or any related characters*

That was two weeks ago. Sakura saw her blonde teammate occasionally around the village. Each time, he looked right through her as if she did not exist. She had heard from the Hokage that he had been asking for missions, long ones. He seemed to want to escape from her completely. Sakura pushed aside her thoughts to focus on her shopping. The party was tonight and she had yet to find a suitable present.

Later that evening, Sakura came to the entrance of the Hyuuga Manor gift in hand. She hoped Hinata would like it. Most everyone else was there already. Ino and Tenten were giggling, Hinata between them blushing furiously. Kiba and Shikamaru lingered nearby drinks in hand. Choji had positioned himself very near the desert table; he eyed the sweets intently. Sakura glanced around the room, there were a bunch of people there, most she knew, but some she did not. However, one familiar face was no where to be seen. Maybe it wasn't just her he was avoiding, Sakura wondered idly.

She made her way to the birthday girl.

"Happy birthday, Hinata," the pink haired kunoichi handed over her gift.

"Thank you Sakura," Hinata accepted her gift meekly. "Please help yourself to refreshments," she added. Sakura left to grab a drink when Ino caught up to her.

"Hey forehead!"

"Hey," Sakura responded stoically.

"Whoa, what's gotten into you? Are you sick or something?" Ino looked at her friend curiously. Something was wrong; she was not herself. Usually, when Ino called her friend "forehead" she would come back at her with "Ino-pig" or one of their other nicknames. It had become routine for them. For her to respond in such a blank way bothered the blonde.

"Hm," Sakura turned to her friend, "I'm fine."

Ino stared into the green eyes before her. "You know I don't believe you. Something is wrong." The two had become closer after what happened to Sasuke. Ino had gotten to know her rather well in that time.

"It's nothing," Sakura tried to defend herself. At that moment, another guest arrived. Naruto. Sakura watched him enter, her eyes locked onto him. He glanced at her and for a moment the two teammates stared into each other's eyes. Naruto's gaze fell first. Sakura turned her face away from him, trying desperately to hide her anger.

"Nothing, eh. Well it seems that 'nothing' just walked though the door," Ino pulled at Sakura's arm. "Come on, you're going to tell me what's wrong with you two." Sakura gave in. That was one of Ino's strongpoints, she was determined, and she truly did care about her friends. Soon the two girls found themselves alone in one of the nearby rooms. Sakura spilled out months of pent up confusion and anger to a silent and compassionate Ino.

"That doesn't sound like Naruto at all. I mean, he's been in love with you for- well- ever." She stated frankly. "I wonder what's gotten into him." Sakura shrugged; she'd been trying to figure it out for months. She just wanted the old Naruto back; she missed her friend.

After greeting Hinata, Naruto found his way over to Shikamaru and Kiba. The trio contently drank their beers and made small talk. Kiba brought up the topic first, "Hey Naruto, any idea what's up with Sakura?"

"Eh, what do you mean?" The blonde asked looking down at his drink.

"Come on, I'm sure you would have noticed. She's been down for weeks now. You're her teammate and her closest friend, you've gotta know," Kiba stated directly. He received nothing but a slight shrug from the blue-eyed ninja. Kiba stared him down; this was not like his friend. Naruto was crazy about the pink haired girl; he had been since as far back as the hound-nin could remember.

Shikamaru broke the silence, "Finally had enough of the troublesome female?" Shikamaru's voice was rough and blunt. Naruto twitched slightly.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Good for you, she was too much trouble anyway. I mean…" Naruto's clenched fist did not go unnoticed, but the genius pressed further. "… she's so emotional. I really don't know how you put up with having her on your team for so long…" Kiba's eyes grew wide at Shikamaru's words. He had never spoken of Sakura like this before. "… and she's not all that strong really…." Naruto's jaw tightened. Shikamaru's gaze intensified on the man, only a little farther he thought. "…and…."

Naruto could not stand it any longer. He grabbed the Jounin's (check) shirt and stared him strait in the eye. "Don't you dare talk about Sakura like that! She is strong and has the biggest heart of anyone I know. And she's been through hell, how dare you…"

Shika simply smirked, "Thought you didn't care anymore." Blue eyes came to realization. He released the clever ninja's shirt and huffed, mumbling under his breath. Kiba looked at one and then the other; he definitely missed something.

"You should know better than to try and lie to some of your oldest friends," Shikamaru scolded. Naruto let out a heavy sigh.

"What the hell just happened," Kiba's eyes darted between the two. Shikamaru could not help but let out a small chuckle as he threw his arm around his friend.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, let's just enjoy the party. Kanpai!" Shikamaru raised his beer and the others joined in.

Ino and Sakura rejoined the party. A sense of relief had filled the medic-nin; it had been good talking to her old friend. Sakura decided, for Hinata's sake, as well as her own, she might as well try to enjoy the party.