A/N: Oh my goodness! I'm finally back! I know it wasn't a TERRIBLY long wait, but if I waited any longer, this story would never be finished! So, without further ado, the chapter!!!

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"Gaara!" Kiba yelled, relieved. When he told Gaara to meet him at the fair that'd just come to town, he had no idea he would be searching for him for the better half of the day. He ran up to him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Good afternoon to you too!" The insomniac laughed. "How are you?"

"Better now." Kiba replied, resting his head in the crook of Gaara's neck. The redhead's smile grew. He couldn't believe that he was going out with the guy he'd had a crush on for three years.

"That's disgusting." A jokingly snide voice cut in. "You guys need to rent a room sometime and just get it over with." The last sentence was said so calmly and smoothly that Gaara wondered if his friend had any shame at all. 'Not that I have any room to talk,' he thought silently to himself with a smirk.

"You know Kiba," he whispered hotly in his boyfriend's ear, enjoying the shiver that resulted. The smirk was still firmly in place. "Neji doesn't have a bad idea, really."

Kiba's cheeks flushed to his surprise. He couldn't but think though that Gaara always seemed to bring a different side of him, an almost better side....Perhaps that's why he loved him so much. "Gaara, stop." He said softly. No matter how he tried not to, Kiba would be reminded of Hinata. Did that mean he was the girl of this relationship?! Oh, hell no! "Gaara, I-"

The readheaded boy had no problem putting a finger to the brunette's snarling lips. "Hush now love, we'll have plenty of time to think about this subject later. For now, let's just enjoy the fair!" He smirked at Neji who returned it as Gaara dragged away his boyfriend who was practically foaming at the mouth.

The brown haired teenager spotted a flash of yellow and white and ran over on a hunch. He was right on who it was. "Hey Megumi!" He noticed that while Megumi was smiling and not a hair was out of place, Naruto was out of breath and VERY unhappy.

"I don't get it Mitarashi," he wheezed, "how can a girl be good at all the games a guy's good at, but excell at only a few that girls are good at?"

Megumi stuck her tongue out at the blond dobe. "Maybe I'm just talented like that!" Her eyes flickered over the male Hyuuga teen. "Oh, hi Neji! Now that you're here, I need to tell something. Hinata was looking for you. Said she had tell you something to tell you over by the big ferris wheel." Neji's heart beat faster. Could this be what he'd always wanted? He quickly thanked his friend and sprinted off in the direction of Megumi's pointing finger, not even registering that she had shouted after him.

"Be careful Neji, she looked kinda mad!" (1) She shook as he appeared to have not heard the second part of her message. It was sad too, because she was somewhat worried about him from the look in Hinata's eyes. She couldn't help it if she still had a crush on him while a potentially homicidal girl asked to speak with him. Megumi shook the worries from her head however and on Naruto's question.

"Throwing kunai at a target?" She laughed, a twinkling sort of laugh that made Naruto's knees go weak. "You're on!"

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"Well Naruto, it was nice of you to treat me to the fair-especially when we both weren't both weren't expecting one to come during the winter- but why didn't you spend time with your girlfriend?"

"That's over, remember? I chose tutoring you over hanging out with her. And I'd do it again if I had to." Megumi blushed, but thankfully it was hidden by the pink the chilly air painted on her cheeks. But that was short lived as Naruto continued playfully, "I mean, you obviously needed more time with me than she did with those grades and all!" The girl laughed as she jokingly punched his shoulder.

"Funny, Naruto."

They continued on in what Megumi thought at first was an easy silence, but she found everytime she looked at Naruto he was staring at the ground, fidgeting with his hands. Before they got to Megumi's house-their destination-Naruto touched Megumi's arm to stop her from going any further.

"Naruto, what-"

"Megumi, do you remember what the boy looked like? Any detail at all?"

"No, I already told you I don't." The urgency in his face was scaring her. "Why? What's wrong?"

Naruto bit his lip and dug into his pocket. Golden eyes widened as they looked at the covered hand. What was he going to do? All questions squashed when the hand reappeared. He held a small, wallet-sized picture, face down. What was she thinking he would do...? "What if I showed you what Sasuke looked like? Do you think you'd be able to tell if he's the boy?"

"Well I suppose, but the boy I've been dreaming about is more than half our age! Don't you think I'd have dreamed about Sasuke like he's our age?"

"Please Megumi!" His voice rose slightly in desperation. "I just want to know! Maybe, if it is him and I show you his picture, you'll have a vision about where he is. Please Megumi, do you know what it feel like to have your best friend disappear for years? And you have no traces of him ever existing?"

The snowy-haired tan girl looked into Naruto's eyes, seeing the unashamed emotion that hid there. 'He really cared for this Sasuke kid.' Megumi thought. Her heart squeezed with the realization that she wanted him to care that much about her. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. There was no time to think on that right now. "I'll take a look." A wide smile of relief spead across Naruto's face as he flipped the picture over. The face grinning up at her was undeniably...the boy's.

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"I finally get it!"

They had come inside Megumi's house immediately after arriving. They were both freezing and Megumi felt like she'd never be warm again, but it was worth it for another piece to the puzzle. Naruto decided that they got to their destination, he'd hit the books and she'd try to tutor him while researching about what happened to Sasuke.

Naruto wasn't getting any of the material, so Megumi had decided that he probably just needed some motivation.

"I'm glad Naruto, you deserve this bowl of ramen." The blond boy closed his eyes as he grinned. When he opened them again, he found himself getting lost in the other's eyes and vice versa with his ocean-blue orbs. "I..." Naruto started, leaning in. He was estatic to find Megumi doing the same. They were interrupted right before their lips touch as the phone rang. Naruto's companion sighed while getting up and walked through the kitchen doorway.

Going across the living room, a flash of black caught her attention. Megumi backed up a few steps and looked at the reflection the mirror showed to her. Black eyes (that were framed by black hair sticking up in the back and a pale face) stared back at her. She was surprised that she didn't feel any different body wise than she normally did. She was surprised that nobody had said she looked different all day. But most of all, she was surprised that deep down, she was relieved that her "old face" was back.

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A/N: OMIGOD!! I'M SO SORRY GUYS! I'm sorry that the wait was so long for such a short chapter. But hopefully the other two will be up soon. I feel so bad for slacking off and letting my faithful readers (like StreetRacerSakura and NeeChan92 [XD]) down.

(1) Poor Neji! He has no idea what he's in for....:) heh heh....My apologies for evil.

Anyway, there's more good news and bad news (bad depending on how you look at it). Good news: Obviously, there's enough of my plot restored for me to finish this story AND get back on schedule! WHOO!! Bad news: Since I'm close to the end of the fic (2-4) more chapters to go, I won't do anymore previews. Sorry to those of you who liked them! Also, as a bit of information, there might be a sequel depending on how I decide to end the story!

Adios!

~theflawintheplan