Chapter 8: Clueless

He climbed into the booth of a closely related Ichiraku's restaurant and sighed softly, leaning his chicken haired head against the wall. The sun had fallen and now the moon was starting to rise, letting the creatures of the night begin to wake. A waitress came over to his table, asking if he needed anything. Shaking his head, he watched her walk off to another customer, scribbling down their orders. Sasuke put his hand behind his neck as he stared at the whirring fan above, mind wandering elsewhere. The scene when he and Sakura talked came back, how he concealed his emotions from her, something he knew that she would never be able to do as well as he could. Sure she could mask her emotions during a fight, but not as well as him. For years he built a wall of no emotion and the result of that was becoming a bit antisocial.

The waitress came back and finally, he decided to order something. Taking the order of beef noodles, the girl walked towards the kitchen. Sasuke looked around the restaurant and felt a pair of eyes watching him. As his onyx eyes locked on one spot, they narrowed in suspicion until a shinobi with revealing pale abs stepped out. Sai gave him a sincere smile as he came over, his uniform ever shocking the customers (mostly girls today) and making them swoon. Sitting across from Sasuke, Sai order a cup of tea and placed his elbows on the table.

"Hello Sasuke," he greeted sweetly, his eyes closed.

"Hm," the Uchiha uttered, looking bored as always. "Why are you here?" Sai merely chuckled and leaned back in the booth.

"Sakura-san kicked us out of the hospital so she could work on healing Haru's injuries. I split up with Naruto-kun and ran in here." Sasuke rolled his eyes and scowled, truly a pro at masking his emotions.

"I didn't need that much of an explanation," The ANBU grinned and tilted his head to the side.

"Well you got one." he replied just as he waitress came back with his tea and Sasuke's orders. Taking a sip, Sai glanced around as Sasuke pulled his bowl over to him, breaking the chopsticks. Moments of silence passed as both of them went into their order. By the time Sasuke finished, Sai was relaxing in his seat with a smug smile.

"Look who's coming in," With a slight avert of his eyes, he spotted the black and orange uniform. He had his back turned to him as he chatted with someone outside, his voice startling everyone in the room. The blonde whirled around and grinned as he neared their table.

"Yo Sasuke!" Lashing out, Sasuke whacked him in the arm as he moved seats to sit next to Sai instead.

"Oi! Why'd you hit me?" Naruto hollered as he flopped down into the booth, huffing. Scowling, the Uchiha crossed his arms in a bored way.

"You're too loud," He replied as he narrowed his eyes. Sai rolled his eyes and moved closer to the wall, putting his back to it.

"Well, I'm just curious to know why Sakura wouldn't let me help her," Naruto mumbled as he made a move to stand up.

"Go there yourself and ask her then," Sasuke replied coldly, seeing if his best friend would counter. He was surprised to see a discouraged look in his eye as he walked out of the restaurant, hands stuffed in his pockets. Sai and him exchanged glances as they heard their friend's footsteps recede into the night and crawled out of the booth.

"I wonder what's up with him?" Sai wondered out loud,

"C'mon," The Uchiha moved forward steadily as he trailed behind Naruto. They weaved in and out of he crowd, keeping sight of the bright blonde hair as they continued to make their way back to the hospital. Sai stayed behind Sasuke quietly as he observed the village they were in; lively folk chatting up storms as they sold their produce, laughing, drinking, nothing like the life they shinobi have. Rhese people were just normal villagers.

"Agh! Move it!" Outbursts of anger resounded from the people as two built guys shoved through the crowd, looking banged up and dirty as they carried a small sack. One of them wore a mask while the other kept a look out from behind. The pair then turned a corner and disappeared from sight, into an alleyway. Sai stared back at the spot they vanished and narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he moved along with Sasuke. The hospital was now in their field of view, but it looks as though something were wrong; the structure of the building shimmered, as if there was a screen in the front to hide what it truly looked like from behind. Sasuke caught up with Naruto and Sai jogged over to meet them. They all gazed at the shining building when a gray blur appeared in front of the trio.

"Sensei?" Naruto inquired as the jounin stood to his feet. His uniform was covered with dust and tears, it looked as though he had just come out of an arena. Kakashi, took a breath and met their gazes.

"The hospital was attacked." The three of them jolted in surprise at the sudden news, staring at their teacher in disbelief.

"Did anything happen?" Sai asked as they made their way back to the shimmering building. Kakashi sighed and put a hand to the back of his head.

"You'll have to see for yourselves."

The group had stopped in front of the steps to the hospital and as soon as Kakashi stepped through the doors, the entire inside, changed the view of what they expected; windows broken, the lights flickering quickly, and the patients and nurses, sobbing quietly. Sasuke blinked as he activated his Sharingan, checking for strong chakra's still inside.

"There's no need for that Sasuke," Kakashi attentively said as they opened the door to flights of destroyed wooden stairs. "Let's go."

With that, the four jounin leaped up, landing on the stable rails to get higher. After rising up for about a minute, the silver haired man opened the door to their floor and flew in. With the others following right behind him, he led the way through the dust and smoke, careful not to step on any weak floorboards. They had come to a stop near Haru's door when the sound of glass crashing came from inside. They all exchanged glances and crowded near the door. It was pitch black inside, but also almost bright enough to detect something move. Kakashi placed a hand on the door and pulled it open, meeting a rush of wind head on.

Clueless

The lights of the hostpital room dangled from its wires, threatening to crash down on the bed. It was entirely dark on the inside, the wind from the broken window coming in to break the silence. Anko watched the two unconscious girls' chests slowly rise up and down. Giving her a sign of them still alive. Images of what happened only an hour before flashed through her mind, when the door was pulled open.

Her arms instantly shot up at the sudden flash of light, and lowered them slowly to see her team come in with shocked looks on their faces. Naruto, Sasuke and Sai wandered over to their unconscious pink haired teammate, as Kakashi took a look at Chihiro.

"How are they?" He asked quietly, meeting her eyes. They still had that look of distress in them. After all, she did hold off members of the Akatsuki for a little while.

"Chihiro woke up a couple times, but other than that, they're still in pretty bad shape." The Jounin rasped as she held her side from a gash. As if right on cue, a pained groan came from the silver haired ninja as she sat up, wincing.

"Ugh," She grumbled, holding her head between her hands. Kakashi put a hand to her shoulder, calming her for a second. The silver haired girl took a wary glance over at her friend, seeing her wrecked up state. A worried sigh escaped between her lips as she looked up at the ceiling to prevent the tears from falling.

"I tried so hard," She whispered, bringing the palm of her hand to her face, slowly wiping away the tears. She leaned against the bed and took her hand in hers, feeling its icy coldness. "But they still reached her somehow. I'm thankful that you made it in time." Chihiro met Kakashi's eyes, truly grateful. He nodded in reply, switching his gaze back to his student.

"When did this happen?" Naruto said for the first time. All eyes met his as he looked over at Anko and Chihiro. They both looked too torn to respond to the question, the memory of it flying back. However Chihiro breathed out and shook her head vigorously.

"About an hour or two after you all left. Sakura came back and was on her way to fully healing Haru's fatal wounds, but as she was about to finish up, they came. Anko stood on guard inside the room, and I on the outside, however, they just...appeared. Out of nowhere. It was horrible. The sudden presence of all those chakras weighing down on us was so large. When I rushed in, Anko was already in front of Sakura and Haru, defending them as much as she could. Already, from about a minute in battle, she was covered with tears and cuts from the amount of attacks delivered towards her. I fought beside her, defending Sakura's and Haru's life as much as I could." Kakashi was about to say something, when Sasuke put his hand up suddenly.

There was a small height in her breathing as Sakura's eyes snapped open. Her emerald eyes darted around the room when she bolted upright, startling everyone in the room. Chihiro still had a tight grip on her hand as Sakura tried to comprehend what was happening. She spotted the shattered glass, the messed up lights, and Anko and Chihiro's conditions. She gave out a shaky sigh and clenched her fists angrily.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto softly called, being cautious of the situation at the moment. She met his blue eyes, followed by Sasuke's, Sai's and then Kakashi's. They were all waiting for an answer. Even herself. She didn't know. Was she? Her friends had just thrown their lives in front of her, just to protect her. It seemed just like the old times. Perhaps this one was an exception. She was angry at herself for not being able to react quick enough, to save her friends from receiving most of the damage.

"Dammit, of course I'm not." She whispered harshly, not meeting his eyes. This just made her tighten the grip on the hem of her skirt she didn't know she was holding. There was a moment of silence, one that seemed to go on forever. That is until Anko interrupted.

"Well, you should at least heal yourself. We can deal with all this later. What matters most are your teammates' conditions." Then with that, the Jounin stood up, still with her side bleeding, and walked out of the room, her face expressionless. Kakashi let out an awkward cough and stood up as well.

"I'll go check on Haru," he said as he made his way out. Which of course was just an excuse. The five teenagers just stared at the ground until Sakura took a chance to act. She stood up, taking Chihiro hand with her.

"Here, sit and I'll heal you up quick." She kindly said before leaving her to go to the bathroom. On her way there, she met Sasuke's agonizing stare, expecting to see that ignorant look in his eye. Instead once more, she saw another emotion she didn't recognize. Naruto made his way next to Chihiro and smiled kindly at her.

"Don't worry! Sakura will fix you up in no time!" He guaranteed cheerfully, that familiar grin on his face. Chihiro weakly smiled and lowered her head, her hair blocking the expression in her eyes.

"You guys are lucky to have her as your friend. She cares a lot about you both." She said in a low voice, making sure the kunoichi didn't hear. Sasuke had also sat on the bed by the time she said this.

"We already know." Sasuke replied softly, surprising Naruto especially. He looked behind Chihiro to glance at him, seeing his onyx eyes clouded with emotion. Chihiro let out a small laugh, filled with relief, sighing at the end.

"A lot has happened since you left. I'm guessing you're both curious as to what happened?" The two Jounins' ears perked up as Chihiro began her story.

Clueless

Sakura bit back a sob as she stared at herself in the mirror. She had wanted to check on her curse mark, to see if anything had happened. Oh, was she right. The flames from the mark had spread across her entire shoulder and arm, engulfing them in the black marks. Soon if would cover her other side. Who knows what would happen then. She wasn't even controlling it and it was acting of its own will. She attempted to place a seal on it, but it just rejected it and burned her hand. Sighing, she slipped her shirt back on and flushed the toilet, washing her hands.

She ran her hand through her soft hair and adjusted her headband, closing her eyes for a second. In the silence she could hear Chihiro speaking softly of a long memory hidden in the back of her mind. Even from a few words that she heard, she knew what she was talking about. What had exactly happened when Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi had left. Pressing her lips together, pieces of the memory came through her mind, showing her images of Haru and Chihiro, grinning and laughing alongside her as they ate at Ichiraku's.

Sakura pushed open the door and came out quietly, stopping her friend's conversation incidentally. Chihiro looked sheepishly at her as her cheeks reddened slightly. Sasuke glanced to the side, a smirk played on his face. Naruto was just awkwardly fiddling with his fingers, afraid to say something. The pink haired kunoichi sighed and put a hand behind her neck.

"You guys, relax would ya? Why don't I treat you guys out later on or something huh?" She cheerfully suggested, looking at all of them in the eye. Chihiro grinned and nodded, agreeing.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She replied softly as the two teammates stood up. As they passed their friend, she placed her hands on their each of their shoulders, stopping them for a moment. She gave them a look, one that meant to wait outside. Then in another second, she released them and walked up to Chihiro, getting ready for healing.

Once she heard the door shut, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and smirked at her friend. "So you decided to tell them about it then?" She said, watching as Chihiro laughed embarrassedly.

"Y-yeah, I could tell that one of them was dying to know." Sakura rolled her eyes as she asked her to take her jacket off. She saw the deep cuts and bruises and noticed at how strong she could tolerate the pain. Beginning to heal, she focused all her energy to fixing up the wounds, concentrating hard.

"He should already have had some sort of clue." She muttered under her breath as she blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"I guess he's just as clueless as your friend?" Chihiro inquired, that twinkle in her eye. Sakura shook her head, closing her eyes for a second.

"No, that's not it. He's just oblivious about people's feelings and how they care for others. Especially his own."

Clueless

Sasuke leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as a hard thoughtful expression found itself on his face. Naruto was asleep on the bench, looking awfully comfortable on that hard piece of crap. He thought about what Chihiro had told him. Did she really forget him that easily? He shut his eyes as he tried to picture his pink haired friend, laughing and hanging out with that-that disgrace of a Jounin. Who the hell does he think he is, not jumping out to help protect her? Even if he is injured, he should take that pain like a man and not like the little idiot he scowled as those negative thoughts spiraled down into a hole in his head. Shaking his head, he cleared his mind and went back to what the silver haired girl had spoken to him.

"She told me, that once you all had left, she had walked out in the streets alone, wondering-was this really the kind of life I had wished for? To us, from the moment we met Sakura, she looked like a complete mess. On the inside anyway. Her spirits were just so down and we could tell that her friends were doing everything they could to cheer her up. However, we could tell that nothing was really working. There was still that distant look in her eye that appeared once you all left.

When you had all returned, she had sent me a letter instantly, spilling all the feelings she held inside from the moment you entered the gates. She was happy overall, yet the feelings of anger, sadness, and wondering were buried under it. She had been cold towards all of you because of her emotions. Sakura didn't exactly know what to feel. Even now. Her chakra goes haywire when something mentioned of what happened before is said. She wanted to go with you guys, but she couldn't because of her own decision. Sasuke, you have to fix this. This is about you. It has always been about you. You're the only one to change her. Just understand what you feel inside."

Is that true? Could he be the only reason why she's been acting like this? Not as open as she was back in those years ago? The Uchiha raked his hands through his black hair and sighed as he paced in front of the unconscious Naruto. His feelings. What were they? Did he really understand them fully? The only thing he felt inside of him was emptiness...what could he fill this void with?

Oh geez...I know I'm freakin late...I am SO SORRY! It's just...I haven't had enough time to write anymore! *pulls up shield to cover face* Okay, okay I know you're all mad that I updated like...8 f-ing weeks ago, so you can hit me tomatoes...just...not hard okay? I know how you all feel, I'm mad too! High school is really getting my schedule filled up and I have to finish all my homework! With track meets, and orchestra practices, I'm trying to type as much as I can in my spare time. So, if you just give me like...a week or two, I'll try (Note the word try) to update my other stories.

I hoped you liked the chapter! *sighs sadly* I feel really bad for making you all wait. I guess it's my fault. However, I'd still like to thank the people out there who are still sticking with this story, who may read this. Your views and comments have kept me writing.

LET'S KEEP THIS STORY GOIN! (hopefully)