A/N: Here's the next (ninth) chapter. Enjoy!

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Hand in hand, Naruto and Megumi smiled at each other. They leaned closer and closer together, thier lips almost brushing in a kiss....

Megumi shot up in bed, oriented. Why is someone knocking on her door on Saturday morning? More importantly, why were they being so persistant?

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Megumi grumbled. She yawned and decided not to look in her bedroom mirror. She didn't need to scare herself this early in the morning. She opened the door and was surprised at who was on the other side....

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"Naruto?" The voice sniffed from the other line.

The boy yawned in annoyance. "What?" He growled sleepily.

"I m-miss you." Sakura wimpered. "I was wrong to be jealous of something that wasn't even happening. I'm sorry. Please come and meet me at the park?

"Sakura, it's 7:30 in the morning. You know not to wake me up this early! Come on!"

"Please Naruto, I want to see you." Naruto knew her whining wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He sighed.

"Fine, but as soon as I get there, be warned that you only have five minutes."

Ten minutes later he found himself at the park entrance, yawning his head off as Sakura continued to apologize. "Listen Sakura," he cut in as he stifled yet another yawn, "it's over between us. I've made my choice because I like someone else." Sakura's eyes widened in shocked betrayal before closing in defeat.

"I understand."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me-" Sakura's eyes opened with renewed determination and she grabbed the sides of Naruto's head, bringing him in for a rough, heated kiss. Before he realized what he was doing, he kissed her back from unforgotten, old feelings, all the while not knowing that the girl he liked was running back to her house, thoroughly confused, angry, shocked, and hurt.

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"I'm sorry Megumi," Gaara soothed, patting his friend on the back. "I didn't know Naruto was going to be there with that skank. (2) I honestly just wanted to go for a walk like we used to during the first few weeks of our friendship. I thought it might you think about your...investigation."

"I know Gaara, I don't blame you. I'm put mad Naruto lied to me. He told me it was over, not a break. God, how could I be so stupid?!"

"You're not stupid, just mentally challenged." The unexpected insult resulted in Megumi chuckling a little bit. (3) She hugged Gaara from the side, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

"You're my best friend Gaara. I don't know what I'd do without you or Neji."

"I know love," Gaara said with a slight smile. "You'd probably just crawl into a hole somewhere ans wait to slowly fade away." Megumi pulled away long enough to punch him in the arm and quickly settled back into her position. They stayed like that for a while until Megumi had an epiphany.

"That's it Gaara! I don't need Naruto to help me figure this out, I'm smart enough and I've got two friends that are willing to help me out! Yeah, and they were my dreams in the first place! Who cares about Uzumaki? Goodbye and good riddance!" By the end of her rant, she stood by the front door and Gaara was looking at her in startled terror. "Come on Gaara," she breathed, looking absolutely wrathful, "it's time to go to the library."

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"Sakura, what the hell?" Naruto hissed, realizing what he was doing. (A/N: Finally! These people are fun to mess with!) "Don't ever do that again, do you understand?" He noticed the wide...triumphant smirk. Shit, didn't he vaguely hear running footsteps? He angrily addressed the girl in front of him. " Just stay away from me!" He screamed.

He ran off, looking around desperately for the girl he knew would hate him forever now.

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"This newspaper says that there was a mass murder in the Uchiha district. No survivors." Gaara murmured.

"Well, why would I be having dreams about this kid if he isn't alive?" Megumi muttered in frustration. "Justice for not catching the guy who did it? Maybe..." She grabbed her hair in sudden rage. "There's got to be something about his whereabouts. I mean," she immediately lowered her voice even more as the librarian passed by thier table. "He couldn't have just disappeared into thin-" the now familiar sensation of even the air around her being rearranged came over Megumi......

She was now in the Uchiha district for the second time since this whole mystery began.

"Is that your only speed, Sasuke?" A teasing voice hit Megumi's ears, but that wasn't what sunk in. Sasuke? She moved through the streets as rapidly as she could and finally she found Sasuke with a boy who could only be his brother.

"Oh Itachi, you so mean to me." The pout on his face didn't fool the girl's honey eyes...she could see the adoration in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'll be nice. Now throw the ball back to me-quickly this time!" His laugh faded to make way for the next scene....

"Maybe you cannot talk yet. Huh? Huh?".....

"Naruto?"

"That's right. What's yours?"

" 'Ske-chan." Megumi had the feeling he didn't like that nickname. So why did he introduce himself that way?

..."Do you....Do you want to be best friends forever?"

"Sure.".....

"Hey Naruto! I think I hear my brother calling!" Again, Megumi's eyes filled as they hugged their goodbyes....

"Why Itachi? Why?!" A boy's voice rang clearly inside Megumi's head, yet all around her as well. She ran through the district she was in, the smell of death heavy in the air. Where was Sasuke? Was he okay?

Once again, her feet seemed to know where to take her and she ended up at some street in the heart of the nieghborhood. Here she saw the boy shining with that whitish glow and and the older brother with the same light around his body. "Run foolish brother." He murmured heartlessly. "Run for your pathetic, worthless little life. You don't interest me enough to kill." (3) His black, yet cold eyes made Sasuke flinch and a shiver went up Megumi's spine. His calm voice scared her, as if he really couldn't care less that apparently his entire family was dead.

"Itachi!"

"Run!" The older boy's eyes flashed red.

Sasuke ran off. He moved his legs forward until he couldn't anymore. He collapsed outside of someone's house, the owner coming out in a rage.

"Why are you here at this time of night?" Megumi gasped as Kakashi-sensei's voice filled her ears. "Get out of-" His motions were now filled with concern as he picked up the unconsious boy and quickly took him to the hospital....

"So you think it's better not to tell him 'Doctor'?"

"Right now, the best thing for him is to lay low. No one will trust him after today. They'd think he's out to get them for happened."

"And for good reason." The nurse muttered bitterly. The doctor shushed her and they both looked at the child sleeping in the hospital bed. Megumi's face screwed up in thought. What were they talking about? The Uchiha mass murder? And who the heck was the chick in the bed?! She quickly listened to their resuming conversation. The answers had to be in there somewhere.

"Hopefully he'll never have to know what truly happened that night." He suddenly turned to the other. "Will you care for him? He'll need someone like him who's been through the same thing." The gray-haired man grinned. "And it doesn't hurt that you'll both be the same gender." That startled Megumi. The same gender? Then why were they referring to the girl like she was a guy? After looking at them both after stepping more in the light, Megumi realized that one was Kakashi-sensei and the other was her mother. So were they talking about Megumi? Then what happened to Sasuke?

The woman laughed and hit the man on the arm. "Very funny, Kakashi." She sobered as she looked back at the small lump in the huge bed. "Poor guy, he'll probably never remember his old life. His old family and friends, even some of his personality. He'll never remember that he's the last Uchiha."...

Megumi "woke up" to find tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Megumi? What's wrong?" Gaara didn't care that his voice was above a whisper. Right now, he was a little more worried about his friend Megumi. "Megumi?!" She looked up at him with a smile on her face. Gaara blinked. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Gaara, I've figured it out!" His eyes widened in response. "The reason why Sasuke wasn't around since he was seven. Why he seemed to just...disappear!" Her companion motioned for her to go on. He wanted to hear this.

"He became me! I'm Uchiha Sasuke!"

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Naruto was about to run past the library when he saw a flash of white. "Megumi," he breathed, looking inside. He was about to go inside when a bright blue light blinded him for a moment. He quickly rubbed his eyes when it was gone and looked through the window again. What the hell was that? His question was short lived as he realized that it was a jutsu coming undone. But still....

He soon figured it out as he saw a boy where Megumi stood. Instead of her white hair, tan skin, and golden eyes, he gazed upon black hair, plae skin, and black eyes. he gazed upon someone he'd come to accept as someone he'd never see again. He gazed upon his childhood friend Uchiha Sasuke.

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A/N: One more chapter to go and I'm sad! I finally figured out what Normality-Isn't-Normal was talking about. You spend all this time on a story-nourishing it, building it up, changing it's "dirty diapers"-and suddenly it's all grown up. Anyway, before I bore you to death, it's time to explain.

(1) I couldn't resist putting that word in there! Everyone I talk about about her all agree Sakura's a skank. It's just her word.

(2) I imagined Megumi having the same sense of humor as me and that's something I'd laugh at if my friend said it to me! XD

(3) I really don't care that this isn't exactly what Itachi says to Sasuke. I couldn't find the manga page I'd seen a couple months ago and I was too lazy to look harder for it. So sorry everybody! : (

So, who thinks they know what happens in the last chapter? Review and tell me! I'm not a hermit after all....

~theflawintheplan