Normal

"Speech"

Thought

Kyuubi

Warnings: I do not own Naruto (I cry when I think about it). Rated "M" for language and adult situations

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CHAPTER 44 SINCE THE REWRITE - PLEASE GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER 44

Chapter 45: True feelings be known

The Teeny Trio sat, slurping on ramen. Konohamaru was looking up at Myra every few slurps, but looking away when he thought she would notice. Moegi was catching every few glances and glaring at Konohamaru. Udon was just plain miserable.

Moegi caught Konohamaru glancing over at Myra and couldn't stand it anymore. She kicked him, square in the shin. "You are going to get yourself hurt."

"I wouldn't hurt so much if you would quit trying to kill me." Konohamaru grumbled.

"She's too old for you Konohamaru… She will just break your heart." Udon shook his head. "Women are trouble. Nothing good comes from them."

"Naruto-niisan will break more than your heart." Moegi snickered.

"Would you guys just shut up already?!" Konohamaru broke his chopsticks, got up and walked off. He walked past Myra and she instantly knew he was confused and upset. And it was her fault. She had noticed the almost puppy dog behavior she was getting form him. All the time they were swimming he was trying so hard to get her attention. Myra didn't ignore him, she placated his attention getting. It had turned it to a "see what I can do" match between Konohamaru and Naruto.

Naruto had gotten the kiss. She had merely ruffled Konohamaru's hair. She had noticed the glances he was giving her. Myra was intentionally ignoring them, hoping he would figure it out on his own. Naruto had, thankfully, been oblivious to Konohamaru. After Naruto had finished his dinner, Myra's father took him for a little man to man talk. This was another thing that seemed to worry Myra. She let out a deep sigh.

Sakura picked up on Myra's pensive mood. "Having boy trouble?"

"You could say that." Myra pushed around the noodles in her bowl. "Maybe I should have stayed single."

"Being single isn't all it's cracked up to be." Sakura chuckled.

"Amen sister…" Myra nodded. "You know I was going to ask you about that. Why ARE you still single? With all the extremely attractive men walking around your village, I am sure there is one that would be happy with a girl like you."

Sakura smiled sadly and looked off in the distance. "I'm waiting for the right guy to come home."

"Saskue..." Myra nodded. Sakura didn't nod or say anything. She merely continued to stare at the rising moon. Silently, Sakura wondered if he was looking up at the same moon.

Myra took a deep breath. She was trying to locate him. It wasn't hard to do. He wasn't that far away, just about two miles off to the Northwest. She couldn't tell he was doing, but he was feeling agitated and pensive.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Sasuke sat in his tree looking up at the sky. There was something relaxing about the stars that could calm him, though this night his mind was not as calm as it should be. Karin and Suigetsu had been fighting as usual. Jugo had been meditating under the tree keeping Karin away from Sasuke. Sasuke had let his mind wonder to his pink haired kunoichi. Normally he only allowed himself to think about her in his dreams, but the last few days Sakura had done more than invade his thoughts. She plagued them.

"Damn Crazy Bitch…" Sasuke mumbled under his breath. Myra had forced him to acknowledge feelings he had denied. He had never really felt home sick or thought about giving up his quest for Madera. Happiness was not important, but tonight he felt the pang of guilt for leaving Sakura on the bench on that night so long ago. Sasuke took a deep breath and looked up at the moon and hoped that somewhere Sakura was looking at it too.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Myra shook her head, smiling to herself. "He's closer than you think." She whispered.

"Hmmm?" Sakura came out of her melancholy mood.

Myra smiled. "Nothing. I'm sure you'll find Sasuke when he's ready to be found."

Something occurred to Sakura, but then as the thought came to her, it vanished. Her mood changed when her inner voice whispered that Sasuke was safe for now and she shouldn't worry about him so much. Sakura stretched. "I think I'm going to head off to bed. It's late and we have an early morning." She turned to Moegi and Udon. "That goes for you two as well."

"But what about Konohamaru-kun?" Moegi sounded concerned. Sakura turned around to Myra.

"I'll go get him. I think he and I need to have a little chat anyway." Myra sighed again. She nodded to Sakura, who smiled faintly. The pink haired girl did not envy Myra's task, but it was something that had to be done.

0 – 0

Rai and Naruto had walked to the shore line of the lake. Rai had a cup of coffee and was sipping at it occasionally as they walked. They stood looking at the reflection of the moon on the lake when Rai finally spoke. "Myra is going to need your help over the next few weeks."

Naruto tilted his head. "How so?"

Rai kept his eyes on the lake. "As I hear it, you fought Neji Hyuuga in the Chunin Exams a few years back, and you have been on several missions with him. I need someone with some knowledge of the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist that will help train Myra. Though both Neji and Hinata have offered, they were forbidden to speak to Myra until this business is over."

"I will do what I can, but I don't know what I will be able to help her with." Naruto cast his eyes to the ground.

"There is much you can do. You have some knowledge of how Neji fights. That will give her some insight into how Hiashi fights. Though I am sure Neji's fighting style is much different than Hiashi's, there should be some similarities." He looked over at the blonde.

Naruto looked up at Rai. "Is there a way I could fight for her?"

Rai smiled at the blonde. "And why would you do such a thing?"

Naruto gave Rai a foxy grin. "Because I know I can beat that Hyuuga bastard."

"But you do not believe that Myra can?" The elder man eyed Naruto.

Naruto blinked at Rai. Naruto hadn't thought about it that way.

"It's all right Naruto. Even I have my doubts. This may be a battle she can not overcome." He put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "She will need your strength."

Naruto nodded.

Rai smiled and changed the subject. "I think Master Jiriaya would have liked Myra…"

"Are you kidding? Ero-Sennin would have…" The blonde thought about it for a second. "I would kill him…" Naruto grumbled.

Rai burst out laughing. "I wouldn't have been worried. She would have dropped him faster than you can say "horse shit" and she wouldn't have touched him."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Yeah… That's why I would have to kill him… Who in their right mind taught her how to do that?"

"Not that you mind!" The Fox snorted.

"Can it! No one is talking to you…" Naruto scolded internally.

Rai coughed. "Public school and Master Jiraiya's books. She's read all of them."

Naruto raised shocked eyebrows. "WHAT?"

"I knew there was something familiar about the way she…"

"DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE." Naruto became visible agitated.

"Son, you ok?" Rai raised an eyebrow.

"I'm fine… Just… Upset stomach. To much Ramen more than likely." Naruto groused.

"Well I think the girls should be getting worried about now. I think we should head back. Besides, my cup is empty. When we get back, we'll decide the watch rotation." Rai started to walk back.

Naruto nodded and followed.

0 – 0

Myra found Konohamaru using a tree as target practice. She stood back and watched him for a few minutes take out his aggression on the tree. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. He was hitting the tree eighty percent of the time.

Konohamaru knew she was there. She wasn't trying to hide the fact that she was there. He stood straight up and tried his best. He threw the six shuriken at the tree. Four stuck dead center, one stuck in the side of the tree, and the last missed completely. He stood up and glared at the tree.

"You're trying to hard." Myra's gentle voice came through the trees, just as she stepped out into the moon light.

"I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as Naruto." He said bitterly.

Myra smirked. "Who said Naruto was perfect?"

Konohamaru turned and glared at her. "You sure think the sun shines out of his ass…"

"And what I think about Naruto means what to you? You haven't once asked me what I think about you. Not that it should matter, but you seem very preoccupied with how I think about Naruto." Myra crossed her arms.

The young boy was taken aback by her question. "Ok, I'll bite… What do you think about me?"

"Right now, I think you're acting like a spoiled brat that can't have what he wants." Myra raised an eyebrow and waited for his reaction.

"Hn… Shows you what you know. I don't want anything from anyone." Konohamaru lied and turned away from her.

"Oh really, hero worship turned to hero envy that quickly? You idolize someone, want what he has, then when you can't have it you sulk like a little kid… Oh wait, you are a little kid." She was baiting him.

"I am not a little kid!" Konohamaru yelled at her. His face was red with anger and his fists were clenched at his sides.

"You could have fooled me." Myra took a deep breath.

Konohamaru turned around. He didn't want her to see him cry. "Just go away and leave me alone."

Myra could hear the hurt and tears in his voice. "Look small fry… What I did this afternoon was… Well it wasn't a very smart thing to do. I put a thought in your head that shouldn't have been there in the first place. You are like Naruto's little brother and that's the way I will always think of you. I never really got to have any siblings."

Myra sniffled, she was starting to cry too. "My older brother died when I was five and I've never been properly introduced to my Uchiha cousin. I would like to have a chance to have a little brother, if you will at least let me start over."

Konohamaru stood there chewing on her words. There was a lot he understood, and there was a lot he was still confused about. He went over what had happened earlier. He went over his range of emotions and then it dawned on him. She had tricked him. Myra had used a different form of Naruto's and his Sexy Jutsu, but this was in it's truest form. This was a girl besting him at his own distraction tactic. For the first time, he realized that the Sexy Jutsu was imperfect and needed work.

Konohamaru rubbed at his eyes and turned to Myra with a smirk on his face. "I accept your apology. But there are a few conditions."

"Conditions?" Myra raised a curious eyebrow.

"Yes, conditions." Konohamaru crossed his arms defiantly. "First, I need help with a special Jutsu… Second, I want to call you Usagi-nechan…"

"Ummm… Ok… I think…" Myra let out a long sigh. "Now, let's get back to camp before we are missed. We need to get some rest because we have an early morning." She stood waiting for him.

"Right…Umm… Usagi-nechan… If I were a little older…" He asked hesitantly.

Myra smiled. "Naruto would have a run for his money."