A/N: Okay, well, I'm sure everyone hates me. I know, it's been forever! But I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter, writers block and all. Plus, my speech class was more taxing than I thought. I'm on vacation right now, though, so as long as the plot finds me, I'm gonna try and update more.

Also, as PurpleMonkeyCAY has pointed out, Akito hasn't been in much. It's kind of hard to juggle between three main characters, especially when I'm used to using only one. So, here's a chapter for you, PurpleMonkeyCAY! Sorry I've neglected your character, poor Kye didn't have a boyfriend! But now that she does, she'll be too busy with him to have a roll in the plot (for now, at least). Now that I've left you guys wondering about that, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own no one and nothing except for Darcy. PurpleMonkeyCAY owns Akito, and no one else, and AnnaRobsZombies owns Kye, and no one else.

Chapter Seven:

Goodbye?

Akito's POV:

Naruto and I sat at Ichiraku's eating ramen, and talking about our past missions.

When we finished, Naruto pulled out his frog money bag to pay the bill, only to find he didn't have enough. 'Um, Akito, could you possibly pay? Please?"

I sighed. "Sure, whatever," I said, putting the money on the counter. "Just like last time, and the time before. Oh, and the time before that, too."

"Thanks, sweetie," Naruto said, oblivious to my annoyance.

I sighed again, rolled my eyes and marched ahead of him.

"Hey, wait, what's wrong?" He called after me, running to catch up.

"What's wrong? You haven't paid for one of our dates in months! I don't mind paying once in a while, but every single time? What are you doing with your money? This is our first date for a while because you've been on missions. But come on, after all of those missions, I kind of expected you to pay for this one."

"I-I well, I mean, I, um," Naruto stuttered.

"Ugh, never mind, forget it," I said. I stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, this is a stupid thing to get mad at. I love you, Naruto, and I love spending time with you. I just- I just wish you'd save your money a bit better, so you can pay for some of the dates, okay?"

"Sure, of course," Naruto said, grabbing my arm, causing me to turn around and face him, and planting a kiss on my lips.

I kissed him back, but then pushed him away. "I'm serious, Naruto."

"I know you are, I'll do better, I promise," he gave me a smile.

I smiled back. "Hey, I gotta get going. I need to do some stuff back at the house with Darcy and Kye, and then I have some team training stuff to do with them. But maybe tomorrow we can do some training together?"

"Oh, I'm busy tomorrow," he said. "Sakura wanted to catch up. Talk about missions and stuff."

"Oh, well, that's fine," I said, though I felt a small pang of jealousy. I shrugged it off, and asked, "What about the next day?"

"I'm catching up with Temari," he said.

"Oh, well, um, what about the day after that?" I asked, starting to get annoyed.

"Um, I'm training with Hinata," Naruto said. "But the next day-"

"Let me guess, you're training with Tenten? Or maybe with Ino?" I asked annoyed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

"You're hanging out with all these girls!" I cried.

"Are you jealous?" He asked teasingly.

I would have laughed if I wasn't pissed the hell off. "No, I'm not." I paused, and changed my tactics a bit. "You know what? I am! This is our first date in forever since you've been busy with 'missions', yet you still have no money! And now you're running around with all those girls!"

"Hey, wait, Akito, I'm sorry, you're right," Naruto said. "I'm sorry. I'll cancel plans with Sakura tomorrow, and we can train."

I was about to say something sarcastic, but as I took a breath to talk, I realized I was being a little unreasonable. I sighed. "Okay, that's fine. I'll see you tomorrow. At noon, okay?" He nodded. I forced a smile for him, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay," Naruto smiled down at me.

I hurried home and hoped a good night's sleep would help my mood.

I woke up at ten, and got ready and ate breakfast. By the time I was ready to leave, it was eleven. If I left now, it'd be about noon when I got to the training grounds.

As I walked, I thought about the previous day. I needed to apologize to Naruto. It wasn't fair of me to get jealous, or get mad at him. I'd apologize when I saw him, and I'd even cut our training session short so he could go see Sakura.

I could tell from the sun that it was a little before noon, maybe ten minutes till, when I got to the training field. I sat at one of the posts, remembering that Naruto had been tied to this post when he was first made a Genin. I laughed quietly to myself. I closed my eyes, waiting. I figured if I fell asleep, Naruto could just wake me up when he got here.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was further away from the center of the sky than it should be. I guessed it was probably 2:00, maybe 2:30.

Did Naruto stand me up?

I didn't want to think that. I was hoping he was just pulling a Kakashi.

I closed my eyes once more, but this time I was fighting tears.

I waited a couple more hours before I finally gave up and headed back home. I was past being upset, now I was just furious. I was almost out of town when I saw Naruto talking to the guards. He turned as I stormed passed him.

"Hey, Akito!" He called.

I ignored him, and quickened my pace.

"Akito?" He called after me, confused this time. He said goodbye to whoever he was talking to and hurried after me. "Akito!" He called again. He had caught up to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me to face him. Worry crossed his face when he saw I was crying. I quickly wiped the tears away. "Was someone making fun of you? Who was it? Do I need to knock some sense into them?"

"Just look in a damn mirror, and you'll know exactly who did this!" I yelled.

"Wha- me? I did this?" He asked, confused. "How? What do you mean?"

"I mean you stood me up, you idiot!" I yelled again. "You said you would cancel plans with Sakura, and either you didn't, or you just didn't show up! I waited almost four hours for you!"

"Crap, that was today," Naruto said, smacking his forehead. "Akito, I'm so, so, so sorry. I'll cancel with Temari, okay?"

"Oh, so I can wait for you for another four hours?" I asked incredulously. "I think not. Look, maybe we just need a break, Naruto."

"A break?" He looked confused. "Are you breaking up with me?"

I sighed. "Yes. No. I don't know. For now," I said. "I think I just need some space. Or maybe you need time to figure this whole dating thing out, because, lately, it hasn't really been working."

"Akito, I-"

"I gotta go, Naruto," I said, turning away and heading off. "See you around, I guess." With that said, I ran as fast as I could, though I wasn't sure where.

I had found my way deep into the forest, and I was sitting at the base of a tree crying, when a deep, mysterious voice rang out. "Akito, what are you doing here?" I looked up to see Shino, cloaked in his hooded coat, and his whole face covered.

"Shino," I said, wiping my eyes. "Hey."

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I- um, yeah," I said. "Well, no not really." We were silent for a moment, and I knew he wouldn't ask why, but I wanted to tell someone. "I broke up with Naruto."

"Did you?" He asked, sitting down. He didn't sound surprised, and I couldn't see his face, so I wasn't sure if he really wasn't shocked or if he was just hiding his emotions behind his usual wall of cool. I guessed the latter.

"I did. Temporarily, at least," I said. "I just think we need a break. He's been gone for so long, doing mission after mission, and I hardly ever get to see him, and he finally gets back and he can't even afford ramen at Ichirakus. On top of that, he hasn't paid in dates for ages. Before he was gone on all those missions, that is. Then, I try and plan a second date because it's been ages since we've seen each other, and he has all these plans with other girls!" I gave an exasperated sigh, but then looked up at (what I assumed to be) Shino's impassive face. "Sorry, you probably don't want to hear all of this."

"I am sure it helps to talk to someone about it," he said,

"You probably don't care, though," I said. "You have no reason to. Besides, this probably bores you."

"Comrades care about other comrades," he said monotonously. "Are we not comrades?"

"I suppose we are," I said. I wiped at my eyes one last time, and smiled at him. "Thanks, Shino. You're a good friend."

"You are welcome," he replied. "Would you like me to accompany you back to your house. That is where you are headed, is it not?"

"It is, and, sure, that'd be nice," I smiled at him.

We walked in silence back to my house, which was nice. I kept glancing at Shino. Was it just me, or was he acting friendlier than usual?

We said our goodbyes when we got to my house, and I went straight to my room to lock myself there. For how long, I wasn't sure. But the rest of eternity sounded nice.

A/N: Again, I am so, so, so, so very, very, very sorry for the super late update. Reasons are in the beginning authors note. But, I really will try. I hoped you liked it! It was kinda filler, but I thought a break from the plot would be nice lol. Review and let me know what you thought please!