Illiana: um, uh, -gulp- hi. Um, I'm introducing this chapter because BB is too terrified to do it herself. We are sorry for the wait, very very very sorry. This chapter just wouldn't come out right, adn BB isn't completly thrilled with it, but it's good enough.

We only own Shay. And please, only nice reviews!

(BB: Because of the wait, this is an extra long chapter, at least by my standards. 2423 words. Please enjoy)


Naruto walked into his apartment, and froze as that silence fell over him. He hadn't picked Ky up from the lady downstairs who took care of him during the day, and his apartment was deathly lonely. He threw his keys in the key holder, and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, trying to get the depressing thoughts from his head.

He hated being alone. Hated it with a passion. Loneliness was one of the only things he knew as a child, and now he did everything to keep away from it.

But tonight, he wanted to be completely alone.

He wanted to be alone so he could figure out what the hell he had felt on that porch earlier. He had been happy with Hinata, but on the porch, when that door opened and he saw her daughter and her friend inside, an extremely ugly feeling welled up inside of him. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was.

He walked to the living room. That was one of the thing he loved about his penthouse, and one of the things he hated. It was just so big.

He sat down in his comfortable recliner, and took a swig of his beer. He didn't drink much, just a beer every now or then. He always kept a six-pack in his fridge, because sometimes Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara would come over for an informal business meeting. That was what they called their card games. Neji and Sasuke would have a beer or two each, Naruto too. Gaara never drank alcohol, though he never told anyone why.

Naruto sighed, wondering how their nights were going. He doubted that Neji was having any fun, Sasuke was probably bored out of his mind and cursing Naruto, and Gaara, he was probably suffering.

Naruto leaned back, his eyes going to the ceiling. He thought of what Gaara would do to keep Shay with him. Naruto's mind slid through possible scenarios. He couldn't see Gaara locking Shay up in his house, Shay would kill him. He couldn't see Gaara stalking her, because that wasn't Gaara's style, and Shay would kill him. He couldn't see Gaara really attempting anything to keep Shay, mostly because Gaara wouldn't do anything to hurt her, and Shay would kill him.

Naruto sighed again, slightly bored. He rose from his chair, and walked to his phone. He grabbed the receiver, and called down to Isabella, who was taking care of Ky. He wanted to make sure she was awake before he went down there to grab his dog. She was, and as always asked if he wanted anything to eat.

He laughed "Isa, stop trying to feed me! I'm not starving!"

"But I worry about you, Naruto-sama." Isabella's voice was soft with a Spanish accent. She was only three years older then he was, thirty-two, but she was a single mom with two kids who did a laundry service out of her apartment. She was constantly worried about everyone, which Naruto found slightly amusing.

"Isa, I'm fine. I ate a nice dinner tonight while I was out."

"Did you have a date?" Isa was notorious gossip. Naruto laughed again.

"Yes, I did, thank you. And she was very nice. I'll tell you when I pick up Ky, ok?" He said. He truly needed to be in someone else's company for awhile.

He hung up the phone, and walked to the door. He grabbed his keys from their bowl, placed his beer next to the bowl, and walked out. He was halfway to the elevator when he realized exactly what he had felt on that porch.

It was jealousy.

--

The car ride was silent. The air was so tense, Shay was sure that it could've been cut with a spoon. She kept her eyes out the window, trying to ignore the other person in the car.

But that was near impossible for her. She seemed to have a radar that beeped every time he was near. And now it was beeping erratically, about the same rate her heart was beating. It didn't help either that the scent of his aftershave had drifted towards her nose, carrying that undercurrent of pure Gaara.

Being who she was, Shayshaymura couldn't sit still for long without talking or fidgeting. So her hand started to tap on the arm rest. She could see Gaara glance at her from the reflection in the window. Finally, she couldn't help herself. She turned to face him.

"Well, at least your sister hasn't changed. She still needs to get laid." Shay said, in her usual tactless manner. Gaara didn't smirk, but he didn't give her a look either, so she knew she could keep talking. "You know, you should hook her up with someone. I'm sure one of your friends are single."

"Mura, I don't get involved with Temari's love life. It's a long standing agreement between the two of us." Gaara said, his voice montone.

"Well, that's new." Shay muttered. Temari had hated Shay for a long time. Temari never wanted Shay near Gaara.

"It's something we agreed on, after you left." The word 'after' was filled with so much anger and malice, that Shay had to stare at the window to keep him from seeing her tears.

"I see." She whispered.

The rest of the ride was completely silent. The air was so tense, Shay was sure it could've been cut with an extremely dull object.

--

Tenten's foot was tapping in her temperament. She was pissed off, and the annoying little smirk on Neji's face was not making it better. She was waiting patiently , well not really, for him to drive her back to her car so she could go home. But unfortunately, they were stuck in freaking traffic. She didn't love traffic in the first place, and being stuck with this jerk was annoying the hell out of her.

"Will you stop smirking?" She snapped at him, glaring.

He turned to glance at her, tilting his head. "Is it bothering you?" He asked.

"Damn right, it's bothering me." She hissed. "We're stuck in traffic that isn't moving, I am fighting not to start yelling, and you're smirking!"

The last word had so much anger in it, Neji couldn't help it. He laughed.

It was only a short laugh, but it was enough to send Tenten's patience and control through the roof.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY?!" She yelled, twisting in her seat to scream at him. His eyes widened, but the smile didn't leave his face.

"Your temper." He said with a simple shrug. She glared, and a low growl escaped from the back of her throat. She slammed herself back into the seat, her eyes narrowed at the traffic ahead.

"I don't see the humor." She muttered darkly.

"Most women don't yell at me." He explained, turning to look at the line of cars in front of the them. "Most of them are either afraid of me, or kissing up to me. The fact that you are angry is amusing."

This caught Tenten's attention, and curiosity beat pissiness, as she questioned, "Why?"

He glance at her, "Why they are afraid of me, or what?"

"Why is the fact that I'm pissed amuse you?" Tenten snapped impatiently, rolling her eyes.

"Because you are the first woman to actually yell at me since I started working for Demon Eyes." The traffic was inching forward, and he put the car into drive. "In truth, you are the first woman that wasn't family to really ever yell at me. I am a Hyuuga, and now I own one-fourth of one of the largest companies in the world. People tend to be wary of me."

"Personally, I'm more scared of that Gaara guy," Tenten pointed out. "You aren't that scary."

Neji shot her another look, but she was already staring out the windshield, glaring at the cars, her foot tapping in annoyance again.

--

Sasuke sighed, thankful that the evening was over. He placed his head on his steering wheel, taking a deep breath before he walked into the house. He knew he would have to deal with questions from his uncle about how his date went. He really needed to get his own home.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford it, but it was nicer to have someone in the house with him, even if it was his annoying Uncle Obito. It kept the loneliness that plagued the quiet from getting to him.

Sasuke climbed out of his black Ferrari, and closed and locked the door. It wasn't his favorite car, but Sakura enjoyed it, so he had driven it.

He walked into the large home, as quietly as possible as not bother his Uncle (or get bothered by his uncle). He could hear voices in the living room, and was about to dodge the room, until he caught some of the words.

"I really don't know why he keeps going out with that pink haired girl. She really is a bitch." A feminine voice said, her tone harsh.

"Anko, perhaps he really likes this pink haired girl." That was his uncle Obito talking now. "And you really shouldn't talk. Pot, kettle, black."

"Hush, Bito-kun." Anko snapped. "I'm not that much of a bitch. But I'm just saying that Miss Haruno is not the girl for Sasuke."

"I know, but we can't get interfere. If he likes the girl, he likes the girl. We can only hope that he comes to his senses before he makes a mistake."

"Can't we interfere just a little?" Anko asked, her voice light and questioning. "I know a girl that would be perfect for him."

"No, my dear Anko, we can't. He's old enough to make his own decisions." Obito's voice was slightly reprimanding.

"How about we conspire?"

"With who?" Sasuke's uncle was curious now.

"I've noticed that his friends Hyuuga and Subaku aren't impressed by the lady Sakura. And I also noticed that Naruto Uzumaki won't even acknowledge her existence."

"Anko," Obito warned. "Don't do it."

"Okay, if you say so." Anko sighed. "He's probably fire me anyways."

"Exactly." Cheeriness had entered Obito's voice, and Sasuke took this as a cue to leave.

He walked up the stairs, thinking hard. Not only did Naruto, Neji, and Gaara not like Sakura, but his only remaining family member didn't like her either. And his uncle was an excellent judge of character, even if he was slightly crazy when it came to women. If Obito thought that Sakura wasn't good for him, perhaps his uncle was right.

Sasuke shook his head, as he entered his room. He would have to think about it, but he did realize that he had a decision to make. And it would no doubt be an important one.

As he changed into his night clothes, and laid down to sleep, his mind curiously wondered what Anko's choice would be like.

--

Naruto returned to his apartment after picking up Ky, full of ice cream and chocolate brownie. As hard as he tried not to eat anything, Isabella had bribed him with dessert, and he had fell for it. He sighed, slightly annoyed with himself.

He clicked the leash off of Ky's collar, and set the leash on it's hook. Ky walked to the kitchen first, ate some dog food, and then walked to the living room to jump onto his favorite couch and sleep. He wasn't the friendliest of dogs, but he seemed to have a soft spot for women and children. That much, Naruto was grateful for.

Naruto was exhausted, he had been for a while. He had a lot on his mind, worrying about his friends, Hyuuga Company building power to attempt to buy them out, his grandfather in China. But what really was bothering him was some news he had gotten from Rin and Kakashi.

His grandmother had cancer.

Apparently it was breast cancer, and they had caught it early which was always a good thing. But still, the simple fact that she was ill made him sick to his stomach. He didn't have enough family to be losing them.

No one knew yet. Not Gaara, Neji, or Sasuke. Naruto didn't have the strength to tell them. He really didn't want to admit it to himself. That was why he hadn't wanted to see Rin and Kakashi that night. He knew that they would give him those pitying looks, and he wouldn't have been able to take them.

Naruto sighed, pushing the awful thoughts from his head. He needed something to do, something that would take his mind off of everything.

He hadn't noticed that he was moving, and that he had walked right up to the door of the penthouse's study. He swung the door open, kicked off his shoes, and stepped onto the plastic covering the carpet. He walked to the easel sitting in the middle of the room, a blank canvas resting on it. A small table covered with paints and brushes sat beside it, along with a wooden stool.

Naruto sat on the stool, and stared at the easel for a while. He didn't know what he wanted to paint yet, so he just sat there and stared. Suddenly a flash of inspiration hit him, and he poured out some paint, picked up a brush, and began to paint.

--

It was past three in the morning when Naruto finally dragged himself to his bed and fell asleep. He had finished his painting, and it had been enough to keep the awful thoughts from torturing him again. He fell asleep, thinking of nothing but swirls of color.

Still on the easel, patiently drying, was his painting of a goddess. The goddess stood on a ledge in a simple blue gown, fox demons lying at her feet. Her hair was the night sky, with all of it's stars, hanging from her neck an entire galaxy. Her eyes stared out of the painting, bright and round, like two moons.