A/N: HONTO NI GOMENASAI!! I am especially apologetic for this time because I even got a pm from someone who wanted to know when I'll be posting the next chapter!

For people who don't quite understand, bottom line is that this is a pretty crucial year for me right now, because I have this ideal subject combination I want for my next year, but it requires 3.2 GPA in my overall score. AKA I need to get like, A for everything?! And whats more I've just failed all my recent tests. EVERY SUBJECT! Omg I wanted to cry, really, its so tiring to balance everything.

On a better note, I won my SJAB zone competition. Its like a semi finals, so now I'm moving on to finals! Training hasn't started yet, but it will start in a couple of weeks and then I'll be even more busy. HONTO NI GOMEN! I'll try to get a chapter out before I start going crazy!

About this chapter, its a 5 year skip. Yep, sorry for this sudden development, I was actually planning two more chapters before the eventual time skip in my fic, but looking over them, they were like, redundant things that I could probably reiterate in future chapters, like in flashbacks or what not. Anyhow, I had to redo chapters 20 and 21, so its a miracle I finished 20 in one day. My fingers hurt now. --

Anyway, on with the chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Hurting

Memories are like the scenery in the rain. The image is blurred, vivid colours here and there, basic shapes forming, but none too clear or precise. You cannot for sure, tell that the little light coming from your right is a lighthouse, or that a thatched hut at the bottom of the hill is small. The rain makes you see through frosted glass, just as how memories become over time. In the end, we can only guess what had happen, fill in the gaps here and there. We may not be accurate, or even correct, but as long as those memories are happy, worth cherishing, we will find the appropriate answers to fill in the blanks.

However, sometimes we do not want to remember. The scenes become blocked, darkened with pastel colours that represents your feelings. Some of them fade into the background, becoming one of the vivid colours that fills your mind. You don't see them, and sometimes you doubt they were truly reality. In the end, you throw it aside, labeled a dream, a fantasy, something you do not ever have to remember.

But regardless whether they were precious memories, painful memories, the fact remains that they are still in your head. They might have been drenched in the rain, soaked and stepped on, ignored and weathered, but they are there, waiting for you to see them, waiting for you to notice that you had such memories.

No matter how long, 5 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, a day, a minute, an hour.

Memories are created and placed inside the treasure box we hold in our hearts. Its just a matter of choice whether we want to open it or not.

-

5 years later, in Takigakure...

The night was eerily quiet, and the moon was blocked by clouds, preventing it from shedding some light on the ground. Plants waved slightly in the darkness at the presence of an occasional breeze, before standing stock still as if painted on a picture. A lone man was strolling along a worn path in the middle of a forest in Takigakure. He was sweating, and evident droplets were dripping down his face. However, he shivered when he looked around, indigo-like eyes unable to notice anything out of place. It made him wary, just a little bit, to be out in the middle of the night. He gritted his teeth as he recalled the reason why he was out here in the first place and quickened his pace.

Heaving a sigh of relief he had no idea he was holding, the man arrived at his destination and knocked on the door, combing back his brown hair wet with sweat with his fingers. When he heard no answer, he knocked harder, irritation unwillingly surfacing.

"That little brat," he cursed under his breath. He turned around to lean on the door, but just as his weight rested upon the wood, it disappeared from behind him, causing the poor man to yelp and fall flat on his back. Groaning in pain, the man rolled over, rubbed the sore spot that had formed near the bottom of his spine before he realized that something was amiss.

"Keimyou? Seki?" The man called out softly into the darkness. Walking tentatively on the wooden floorboards, he avoided the ones that creaked loudly and finally found his way in the pitch blackness to the living room. A flicker of light appeared out of nowhere.

"What the...?"

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" A gust of wind knocked Tomiro over as the lights were switched on and a huge banner hanging in the middle of the room blinded him with its bright yellow and lime green colours clashing together, horribly.

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, TOMIRO!

"Birthday?"

"Look, Keimyou. He works so much as a Jounin he hardly remembers the days of the year," a light voice wafted its way into Tomiro's ears, instinctively causing his eyes to look up at the owner of the voice. Seki Raion grinned at the man and stuck out her hand to help him up. Tomiro grudgingly accepted it and pulled himself to a steady position before observing his surroundings.

The place was decorated in a messy, yet playful fashion, with yellow and green streamers everywhere, balloons and mini-banners proclaiming well wishes for him. He could recognize some of the neat handwriting that were those of the villagers from Takigakure, but knew why they were not there to greet him with Seki and Keimyou.

"Yellow and green?"

"She reasoned green was the colour of your jacket and yellow was your personality."

"Yellow?" Tomiro unconsciously made a disgusted face at the word. Seki narrowed her eyes and sent a wave of air towards him, pushing the tired man back onto the ground.

"OOF! Do you ever grow up, brat?"

"Shut it! I worked hard on the decorations!" Seki shouted back, straddling her friend and pulling his collar up threateningly. On any other day, when Tomiro wasn't already worked to the point of collapse, he would've taken the girl on, even though most of the time he lost. He enjoyed those sessions with her, the only time, he reckoned, he could ever see some real emotion in her eyes.

Even now, although he hid his hurt, he could see that her grins, her laughs, did not reach her eyes of ruby red. He pushed the girl off, and got to his feet, noticing the cake on the coffee table in the middle of the room (with green and yellow icing as well).

"Seki baked it today," Keimyou said, smirking at Seki's frustrated expression at being unable to pin Tomiro down.

"Yech! Its probably filled with yellow and green things too."

"No! Its chocolate inside, but if you don't want it, I'll take it all!"

"H-Hey! Whose birthday is it?!"

Keimyou chuckled at their childish antics and the irony of Tomiro's earlier statement. He wished he could capture this moment forever, and keep up this atmosphere. Of course, Seki and Tomiro did make fun of each other every day. Keimyou would also have some fun teasing his niece. But he was not stupid, and like Tomiro, he knew that Seki never truly felt happy on those occasions, even if its a smile that greeted them.

Today, he felt like he could almost see that smile from her heart. But ever since that night when she accidentally murde- no, killed, Tomiro's cousin, Chikako, Keimyou could not remember seeing that same smile he used to see before. The memories he had of them were fading away, and he longed for a chance to refresh his memory again.

"Keimyou, we're going to eat it all if you don't come," Tomiro grabbed Keimyou's attention, and he turned to see that 3 quarters of the cake was already gone.

"AH! Stop eating it, I haven't had my share!"

"Keimyou, you'll grow fat," Seki said through a full mouth. Her uncle merely stuck his tongue out, and Tomiro and Seki burst out in laughter at the hilarity of it.

"I'm so fit even two cakes of chocolate couldn't ruin my figure," Keimyou mumbled to himself as he happily gorged down the last quarter of the cake.

"Ahh! Keimyou I wanted that!"

"You? You had half the cake and its my birthday!"

"You didn't even remember it!"

"That's because I have a job, unlike SOMEONE who slacks around the whole day!"

"I do not slack around-"

Keimyou's chewing slowed down as he paused to view the scene before him.

I suppose I should get some memories, even if it isn't real, Keimyou smiled as he watched the pair of friends argue, finishing off the chocolate cake.

It was like watching a movie.

It had to end some time.

-

In Sunagakure...

"Eh?"

Temari looked over at the door, where her younger brother stood, a bored expression painted on his features. She put her leg down from the window ledge and sat straight on her chair, raising at eyebrow. Kankurou appeared behind the red head, leaning on the door frame and nodding as well.

"What? Can't your brothers show how much they appreciate you once in a while?"

"That's a long while," Temari murmured, but coughed at Gaara's stare. She frowned slightly, wondering how she should answer. In truth, since they never had a tradition to celebrate such occasions she never expected anything out of it. Currently, as well, there was nothing that appealed to her, other than maybe finding her soul mate, but her brothers didn't need to know that.

"I don't really know."

"Come on, how can girls not know what they want for their birthdays?"

"You seem to be an expert on them, you decide then."

"Temari, we just want to do something for you."

The blond smiled slightly at Gaara's concerned voice. She was still not used to him being so caring, even though it was already a natural thing for him to do. But she treasured the times he revealed his love for his family, even if it is for minor things like birthday presents.

"Maybe a trip to other countries? I haven't seen Konoha in a long time."

"Are you sure?"

"Isn't that idiot still living there?"

"Trust me, I'm fine," Temari reassured them, although Gaara's anger was already boiling in his sea foam eyes. Temari stood up and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm not a silly fan girl who takes a rejection so hard."

"Shut up," Gaara mumbled, looking away as Temari reminded him again what a villager did after he declined her confession. His sister giggled, while his brother merely laughed and wet back to his room. Gaara was about to follow when he turned to look at his sister again.

"So, a trip to Konoha?"

"Yep," Temari agreed, sitting on her bed as he closed the door. She caught one last look at his eyes, which were always mesmerizing, even in the past. Even one look, she could see everything that he felt: contented, fortunate, worried.

And empty.

-

"By the way, isn't it almost time for your Jounin examinations?"

"Hn? Mm, its next month."

"Where is it held?"

"Konohagakure," Keimyou answered this for Seki as they cleared the decorations in the house. Tomiro looked back to Seki, but stopped himself from saying anything when he saw that the kunoichi wasn't attempting to disguise her empty look in front of him. He turned back to Keimyou, who shook his head, indicating that Tomiro should not ask about it.

They cleaned up the house in comfortable silence, Seki answering calls in monosyllables until it was finally 3am in the morning and she excused herself for bed. Tomiro watched her go, his heart sinking at being unable to get back her smile. He went up to Keimyou, but the elder shinobi had no intention of revealing the reason behind Seki's sudden depression.

"Its something that she should tell you herself if she wanted to. Haven't you two shared a lot of secrets over the years?"

"Yes, but she's never actually told me who she was talking about."

"Ah, well, don't worry. I think she trusts you, so its only a matter of time before she opens up."

"Hn, maybe," Tomiro replied, although he had little hope that it would actually happen. He bade Keimyou good night, left their house and strolled down the path towards the village, occasionally looking back to see the wooden home of theirs illuminated in the moon light. He was almost at the end of the path when a paper folded into a cat face floated in front of him, obviously carried by some mysterious wind. Tomiro held it in his hands and unfolded the origami cat, reading the words that were written on it.

Happy Birthday, Miro.

Tomiro smiled at the use of her nickname for him. He folded it neatly into a square and placed it on his chest, as if absorbing her sincerity into his heart. He suddenly had a flicker of hope, that maybe she would open up to him.

After all, they had been together for almost 5 years. When she had no one else to turn to and she didn't want to trouble Keimyou, her only friend and confidant was Tomiro. The latter would always find a way to make her smile, whether it was teasing her, getting her to fight him or just quietly listening to her cry, Tomiro had and would find a method to bring back the light in her eyes. Those memories they shared. He could never replace.

"Even if you are still hurting, I swear I will heal those wounds," Tomiro whispered to his heart, although the promise he made was for the one precious person he loved.

-

Seki removed her chakra from the air and descended into complete depression. She knew she ought not to be sad on such an occasion, but memories were memories, whether they were faded or faint, she could still see them.

The newspaper article lay on her neatly made bed, bold headlines screaming "KONOHA INVADED!". She could see from the window sill, the faint green highlights of a certain name which she had made when she first received the paper from Keimyou. At first, it didn't pain her so much to see his name, that was why she had naturally picked up the highlighter to pick out his name.

But after that, the reports went on and unwillingly, her wounds opened up, knowing she wasn't there to help, to save or be there with him, even though she said she understood him. She knew that feeling. He must have felt betrayed, to be said that he was finally understood, but leaving him afterwards.

She might as well have killed him.

Bearing it no longer, she jumped off the window and grabbed the paper, about to stuff it into her desk drawer when she froze in mid air. A shuriken peaked out from beneath a small stack of newspaper articles from Sunagakure.

"I almost forgot about that," Seki muttered to herself, placing the newspaper article ack, ignoring the rest and picking out the shuriken. She closed the drawer and lay on the bed, holding the shuriken up so that she could see it gleaming in the moon light. Even though there were some scratches on it, and a speck of blood stain, Seki admired it like it was an expensive painting in a museum. She could almost see the day again, the one day she could not control her hidden emotions anymore and ran away from Takigakure. She had not made it far, but far enough that she had no clue how to go back...

-

She had gone through a whole day without any food before finally collapsing in a countryside with large weeds growing almost everywhere on short hills. She heard her stomach growling loudly, but gave into fatigue instead, watching the blue sky above until she fell asleep.

She woke up at the sound of thunder and barely made it under a tree before the rain started to pour. Feeling cold, wet and hungry, Seki slumped against the tree, dropping to the ground. She screamed out her frustration into the sky that had darkened while she was asleep, but yelped when a crack of lightning sounded, catching her by surprise.

"Don't you know that standing under trees is dangerous in a storm?"

Seki jumped at the sudden presence of a voice, and looked up, locking eye contact with deep, onyx pupils. Seki blinked several times as the owner of the voice and eyes jumped down from the tree branch he was perched on, landing so softly she knew he was a shinobi.

"You could get struck by lightning."

"What about you?"

The boy smirked down at her. Feeling indignant, she quickly stood up, looking over the stranger. His hair was slightly wet from the rain, otherwise it was spiky in some areas, and hung down in others. Seki could see his outfit was made of white fabric, although some parts were darkened from the rain. He wore three-quarter pants and bandages on his right leg, both were wet as well from the rain. Through the drenched appearance, Seki could see that he was not bad looking, almost like Tomiro.

A weird sound emitted from Seki's stomach, and the kunoichi clutched it in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I haven't eaten all day, and..."

A box was dropped at her feet. Seki took only a moment to look up at the boy's stoic expression before diving for it. She opened the lid and breathed in the smell of cooked rice and chicken.

"Itadakimasu," Seki quickly whispered and began shoveling the food as fast as she could down her throat. She could see out of the corner of her eye that the boy had sat down to watch her, and slowed down as if suddenly aware of his presence.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"The food."

"No problem."

"You don't want it?"

"Nope."

"Okay."

Seki could probably count the words she just said in two hands. The boy seemed happy enough to stay silent, just observing Seki. She wondered again, why he was out here if it was as dangerous as he said.

"Aren't you scared of getting struck by lightning?"

"My chakra is lightning based."

"How convenient," Seki mumbled, making the guy chuckle. She finished the last grain of rice and placed it on the ground. "Gochisosama."

"What are you doing here?"

"What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"I ran away from home."

"What?" Uchiha Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Seki turned away, even though she could tell he wanted to know why. He didn't say anything though, and the silence only made her more irritated.

"I wasn't getting stronger, I wanted to get better. But everyone just wanted to make me smile. Like I haven't smiled enough already."

Sasuke froze midway from smirking at Seki, making her stop too as she wondered what she said to receive such a reaction from him. She watched his fair face look downwards, fingering his weapons holster attached to his bandaged leg. Her body sense tensed for some reason, even though she knew he wasn't dangerous.

"Did you leave someone important behind?"

This time, Seki froze at the sudden accuracy in his question. She felt her face flush at his intense gaze and scratched the ground. Thunder boomed around them, but silence enveloped their surroundings. Seki didn't even notice the rain that was blowing in until Sasuke grabbed her to her feet and pulled her inwards so that she wouldn't get wet. This caused her to be extremely close to his chest, since he was taller, and Seki could feel her body temperature rising despite the chilly weather.

"People always think that when you leave someone important behind, you'll get sad. You can't blame them for being able to see through your mask."

Sasuke's deep voice struck Seki, as if he was talking from someone who knew what she was feeling. She plastered on a sarcastic smile, "What mask? I'm talking about stupid smiles and you're-"

"You're too obvious."

Seki silenced herself, although Sasuke's words weren't cutting, it was almost as sharp as a scream. It was like she was found out, but the way he said it, and the way his eyes darkened when he said it, Seki could almost feel like he knew what he was talking about. He didn't know Seki, he didn't care about her, so the only reason he could say those words is because he knew.

He understood.

"When people are lonely, it isn't because they're by themselves. Its because no one understands them," Seki whispered, her tears that she held inside her leaking out on their own. "If I could find someone that could, I would never want to leave him. Even if he understood only a little, I don't want to leave such a person behind."

Sasuke stayed still as Seki leaned on his chest and breathed slightly faster, her tears mixing with the wet stains of his outfit. She knew he was probably feeling uncomfortable, but when she felt a hand on her back, the warmth of his palm comforted her more than Keimyou's and Tomiro's.

Because this warmth, truly understood what it was like to lose a precious person. She didn't have to ask him, Sasuke must have lost someone as well.

That explains why his onyx eyes were as empty as hers.

-

Seki opened her eyes, her memories ending as sunlight shone through her window. The shuriken still held in her palm, Seki breathed in and out slowly, calming herself down. She sat up and turned to the mirror beside her bed, examining herself for anything out of place. She practiced her smile, and laughed grimly at the idea of it.

"Aren't I already too obvious? Why am I still practicing?"

Her fingers felt the sharp prick as the shuriken pierced through the skin on her hand, but she ignored the physical pain, just as she ignored the emotional one. Looking down, her blood formed tiny droplets, before sliding down the length of her arm. It left behind a trace of red liquid, but Seki could only see the wound that was formed.

She felt like it was a representation of her heart. Being pricked, and bleeding, even though slightly, it hurt.

That's what memories do.

A/N: Yes, SASUKE APPEARS!

I originally wanted this to happen, not because I recently watched the shipuuden anime. Although its hard to talk about Gaara when I don't see him at all.

But don't worry, this time skip means its like, a year or so past the manga storyline, so that means I can create anything I want! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

So yes, be prepared to see plot twists. I will be keeping the characters proper, although I may have to re read several chapters to recap what I wanted to do intentionally.

READ AND REVIEW AND REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR THE DELAY!

-JE