Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if I did, I would've made it into a total romance-fest! *giggles* And Itachi would've never died, Sasuke would! *evil laughter*

Anyways, this is a much shorter chapter than I had in mind, but please, enjoy what I've put out earlier than usual!

The next day Kakashi was on crutches and Kaoru waited for the training to begin as he explained what they'd be doing.

"Kaoru, would you demonstrate the tree-climbing technique for me?"

She nodded and focused instinctively on the chakra inside her to go to the bottoms of her feet. She walked up the tree with no problems and looked down at Kakashi once she got halfway up.

"And there you have it. This exercise will help you realize the fine balance of your chakra. Begin."

After that, Naruto and Sasuke went out every day to train, since Sakura had the best mastery over her chakra. Kaoru watched one day and wasn't surprised when Naruto came over to her.

"Hey Kaoru, help me out. Is there a trick to this?"

She considered what she should tell him and wrote it down. 'You have to calm down and concentrate. If you get all worked up, you won't do any better.'

He gave her a side-hug and squeezed her shoulder. "Thanks a bunch, Kaoru!"

She nodded and began to walk back to Tazuna's house when Sasuke called, "Kaoru! Wait! Come back for a minute!"

The orange-haired girl did so and squatted next to Sasuke, who was half-kneeling on the ground as he panted from exhaustion. She tilted her head in question. What's he want?

"I'm sorry…but I looked at your legs in the bath yesterday," he said slowly, cheeks an embarrassed pink. "I wasn't being a pervert, I promise, but I noticed how dark and deep the scars on your inner thighs are, much more than any of the others on your body…"

I know what's coming, but I won't shut down on him because he's actually acted like a friend to me this past while and is a bit friendlier to Naruto.

"What happened to you that caused them? You've never told me much beyond a few things you like and what you do here, so…?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder and took out her writing pad. She wrote down the pure, honest truth about what happened and gave it to him.

A/N: I had to edit this out or else I would've had to rate this fic "M" and none of my fics are EVER going to be rated that, so use your imaginations as to why she has such terrible scars on her inner thighs! And no, I won't give any hints!

Sasuke stared at the words in horror, his hands shaking as he paled, sweating hard as he tried not to vomit. After nearly five minutes of strain, he began to sob, putting his arms around his sister and buried his face into her shoulder to hide his weakness. She hugged him back and let him cry, a sad smile on her face.

He didn't think my old parents were the type. How did he think I died, from a sickness?

Naruto noticed Sasuke shaking and came over, calling, "What's wrong with Sasuke? Is he gonna faint from exhaustion?"

Kaoru gave him a sharp look and placed a finger to her lips. She crumpled the paper she'd written on and it incinerated in her hot chakra. I can't let him know yet about what Sasuke's crying about, or that he's crying. There's a difference between best friend and younger brother. Sorry, Naruto.

Sasuke was exhausted once he pulled away—his face was all blotchy and his eyes were bloodshot—so she picked him up and slung him over her back.

"Kaoru, let me down, I'm fine—"

She shook her head. Nope, you're going to have a good rest at the house so you don't collapse. Besides, its dinnertime and I'm sure Pinky'll come around to drag me back per Tsunami-san's orders.

She waved to Naruto to follow her so the boys would get decent rest and a meal so they'd be refreshed for training the next day.

"Are we going back already? But I'm not tired!" Naruto complained.

It's so frustrating to see how he's not picking upon Sasuke's exhaustion. But then again, what could I do to convince him that I can't just leave him out here by himself? She nodded her head towards Sasuke and the blonde boy sighed.

"Okay, we shouldn't let him overwork himself, I guess."

She nodded and smiled, leading the way back to the house. As she entered, Sakura gasped in shock at her teammate's condition. "What happened?"

"He just worked too hard," Naruto explained with a grin. "Kaoru insisted we come back so he could sleep."

Sakura's eyes sparkled. "You're such a caring older brother, Kaoru-kun! I love that so much about you!"

Kaoru rolled her eyes as she went upstairs and laid her younger brother on his bed. He huffed and muttered, "If you tell anyone I cried on your shoulder like a little girl, I'll pound you into the ground."

She nodded. 'I'm sure you'd try, Otouto. Don't worry, my lips are sealed.'

He chuckled before falling asleep.

She tiptoed out of the room and closed the door, going downstairs for the next round of agony (a.k.a. being stuffed with food and compulsory excess workouts).

Besides from the edit, the chapter is intact! Yay!

Yeah I know that it would take a lot to make Sasuke cry, but this is non-genocide Sasuke, so he's not such a hardened, cold kid that he was in the original. And yes, it was that horrible, since I was very descriptive.

Please review!