Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Night settled in the quiet streets of Konohagakure. Said streets were blessed with a gentle glow from the moon above, and a gentle breeze from the north. Naruto was glad the streets were quiet, and not bustling with people like they usually were. He wanted the quiet, he craved for it. He stopped, and tugged on the sling that his arm was trapped in, hoping to adjust his arm to a more comfortable position.

'I guess the bastard got lucky and hit a tendon on this arm... Guess I'll have to thank the damned fox for this, I wouldn't be able to use this arm anymore if he wasn't in me...' Naruto begrudgingly told himself, taking note in why his left arm was healing so much slower than the rest of his limbs, which were now perfectly fine. Bruised, but fine otherwise.

He breathed in slowly, taking in the summer air. The temperature dropped, along with the humidity, making his night one of comfort. Life was deciding to give him a break, apparently. His face soured as he looked down, his right hand balled up into a fist.

'Sakura didn't visit me once after that last talk… Not once in a week.' He reminded himself bitterly, despite the lack of emotion on his face. He was tired... Tired of her, maybe? He didn't know for certain.

'I hope I'm not turning into that bastard... I don't want to be like him...' He told himself, his eyes making their way toward Ichiraku's as he walked. He felt his stomach growl, he felt the need to satiate his bitter mood with a good meal. So, he decided to indulge that feeling. He walked toward the building and moved one of the curtains aside, shouting loudly and proudly:

"Hey there, old man!" He greeted the owner, smiling brightly despite his mood. Teuchi looked toward Naruto, laughing loudly as his ever-existing smile only grew wider.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite customer! I'm glad to see you've recovered safe and sound!" He told the boy, relieved to see him okay.

"Ehh? Naruto's here?" Said a voice from the back, as a young woman walked over to Teuchi. "Hey there, kid!" She greeted, a bright smile forming on her face.

"Hi, Ayane-neechan!" He returned her greeting with one of his own, before looking back at Teuchi. "Old man, give me the biggest bowl of pork ramen you can! All I've eaten in the last week is hospital food!" He told him, a mock pout forming on his face and earning a laugh from the aged owner.

"After hearing that? Of course, I will!" He told the boy, starting up the stove again.

*Burp*

'Oh god...' He thought, rubbing his full stomach as he slowly walked home.

"I think I ate too much..." He admitted to himself, his appetite not being all there from how much blood he had lost 2 weeks before. "Maybe I should've listened to Baa-chan..." He muttered quietly, before shaking his head. "No way! Ramen is worth it!" He told himself, the nausea leaving him as his love for the delicious meal returned. A sudden yawn escaped his mouth, as he made his way up the stairs to his apartment.

"Guess I'll just go to bed... Not like I can do much with this busted up arm..." He muttered in annoyance to himself, as he pulled his keys out of his pocket.

His body suddenly jolted, as pain shot through his spine. He had forgotten that his back wasn't in great shape either, from when Sasuke slammed him into the cliff side. The sudden jolt made him drop his keys on the ground. His eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he stared at the dropped keys.

"So much for my nice night..." He muttered bitterly as he tried to reach down for them, only for his pupils to shrink as more pain shot through his back. He yelped as he leaned back against the railing, panting heavily as he stared down at the keys. "Aw come on... I can't even pick up a god damn set of keys?!" He yelled in frustration, only to blink when he saw a pale hand grab his keys from off the ground.

He looked up, his face lighting up as he saw Sakura standing in front of him, keys in hand and staring at him with an undiscernible look on her face. His expression quickly fell to a grimace as he looked down, slowly walking past her as he took his keys out of her hands.

"...Thanks..." He said begrudgingly as he walked to his door, though, limping would be a better way to put it.

Sakura looked back, her hard stare fading as sadness washed over her. Seeing Naruto go from such a positive ray of happiness and determination to someone so... Pitiable... Of course, she wasn't thinking this to insult the boy, rather... She was worried.

"Naruto..." She called out to him, hoping to get his attention.

Sadly, he did not respond as he unlocked the door to his house and started to walk inside. Determined to talk to the boy, Sakura rushed over, and held the door open right as he was about to close it. Naruto's eyes glanced up from the ground, to look at hers. He tried to push back, but his weakened state wouldn't allow him to fight back.

"...What do you want?" He gave in, asking her as he let go of the door. Sakura took the opportunity to step inside, closing the door behind her.

"I wanted to talk to you." She told him, looking at his hallway. "May I come in?" She asked, hoping at this point he would say yes. All she got was a silent nod.

She kicked off her shoes and stepped into his house, and... It wasn't that clean. It was alright, sure, but... It could've looked a hell of a lot better. She looked back at Naruto, who was slowly making his way into the living room. Sakura bit her lower lip at the sight, before smiling softly.

"Do you want me to get you anything?... You look like you still need time to heal..." She asked, hoping he would accept her offer.

"I'm fine..." He told her, before sitting down on his sofa. Sakura pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. This way she could get a better look at him. His eyes were tired, void of emotion, rather than being full of life and bright. He had bags under his eyes, showing a lack of sleep, and his lips were dry. He was dehydrated.

"I'm going to get you water." Sakura told him, getting up and walking toward his kitchen. She opened a couple of his cabinets before finding a glass. She then walked over and started filling it up with water.

"S-Sakura-chan, you don't have to..." He started, only to see her give him a hard stare. That hard stare turned into a friendly smile, as she gripped the glass tighter though he could've sworn he heard the glass creaking from the pressure.

"You haven't been keeping yourself hydrated, which means your body is recovering slower than usual..." She told him, as she finished filling the glass. She brought it over to him, putting his hand on the glass. "I'm not going to let you handle your body irresponsibly... Even if you do heal fast..." She told him, keeping her arms folded.

Naruto stared down at the water, his face tightening before he took a sip.

"Is that care that I hear in your voice?" He asked her, his voice laced with bitterness. Sakura could only huff in response, her eyes never leaving his.

"Of course I care." She told him, blinking as she heard a snort from the blonde. Naruto chuckled, almost pathetically as a hollow of a smirk appeared on his face.

"That's a first..." He told her, his eyes meeting hers. He saw a look of surprise on her face. "Hell, I'm surprised you haven't taken a shot at my skull. Go for it, I want my concussion to get worse..." He goaded her, his eyes still void of emotion.

"W-What?... Naruto, I wouldn't do that!" She told him, bewildered that he would make such a comment, only to get further caught off guard as the blonde laughed again.

"YOU wouldn't do that?" He asked rhetorically, slamming his glass down on the table next to the arm of the couch. "Don't give me that shit... And all of this... This act? I want none of it..." He told her, his face slowly forming a scowl as he glared at her.

Her Bewilderment was beginning to get drowned out as anger slowly started to bubble to the surface in Sakura's mind. She listened to Naruto's insults and goading, and while it wasn't going to lead to her acting violently it was certainly pissing her off.

"Act?..." Her eyebrows furrowed as she glared at him. "You think that I'm pretending to care about you?" She hissed through her teeth, offended by Naruto's words. Where was all this coming from?

Naruto stood up, and started to walk away toward his bedroom, before getting grabbed by the forearm.

"Hold on! I want you to answer my question, Naruto!" She ordered him, now standing and glaring at him. Her pupils slowly began to shrink as he started to look back at her, the first time he showed emotion to her that night... And it was a look of rage, and sadness.

"Of course, I think that! Of course, I think you're lying to me! I'm guessing Kakashi-Sensei sent you, that's the only explanation as to why you suddenly give two fucks about me!" He concluded, his voice only getting louder as his rage slowly started to wash over him. It made sense, right? Sakura could never care about him. Sasuke was her only prerogative.

"I know you haven't suddenly changed! What you said to Baa-chan is confirmation enough... Coming to the scene of the fight between me and Sasuke, not out of concern for my safety, but to see if I held up to my promise! The fact that you doubted me... That alone is more than enough proof that you don't care... That you don't know me..." He told her, watching as she began to hang her head.

Sakura's lips thinned, her anger quickly leaving her. Her mind began racing as she tried to think of what to say, how to prove him wrong. She couldn't.

"You're right... I had doubts... I was so worried that you couldn't do it, that I had to go, to ease my worries..." She admitted, biting her lower lip as the truth slipped out of her so easily. She took a deep breath, while slowly letting go of his arm.

'What is wrong with me?' She asked herself, her lip quivering. 'How can I know so little about someone I've spent so much time with?' She asked again, hearing a snort from her inner self.

"Because you spent so much time ogling Sasuke-kun. Wanting nothing more than to be with him and being content with only that." She said to her outer self, scoffing all the while. "Besides, giving a thought to Naruto doesn't mean much, when you were bawling your eyes out about Sasuke-kun these last two weeks!" She shouted at herself, growling all the while.

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek, as every word her inner self said rung too true. She hated how true it was.

'But... I do care about Naruto...' She said to herself.

"Then prove it! Because all I've seen so far, is someone who's only guilty because Naruto almost DIED for your promise!" Inner shouted, finishing her point.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, only to be stopped by Naruto scoffing and taking a step away from her.

"You know... I bet that if Sasuke was there, and we were both a bloody mess, and only inches away from death... You would've gone to his side, disregarding me completely..." He spoke out, glaring down at her. "So long as he was by your side, my death wouldn't matter to you, would it?" He asked her, his eyes slowly turning red and gaining a canine-like appearance.

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at the ground, as her mind tried to process what he just said to her. Her pupils shook as all the light left them, leaving her in a daze. 'What... Did he...'

"I'm right, aren't I?!" He shouted at her.

Sakura looked up at him in rage as her body started to move before she even knew what was happening. In the blink of an eye, she swung her hand out.

*SLAP!*

A look of shock was painted on Naruto's face, as his eyes returned to their blue color. The slap echoed throughout the apartment, as his eyes looked down toward her.

Sakura was panting heavily, as a scowl formed on her face. Tears were running down her cheeks and her face was a faint tint of red.

"You... You shut your mouth this instant...!" She told him, as she gritted her teeth. Her green eyes were tiny like dots as she walked over to him slowly, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

"You're a real son of a bitch, if you think that I don't care! Not after everything that's happened!" She shouted at him, her voice peaking as she shouted. That was enough. Enough of Naruto's inane behavior, enough of him assuming how she felt about him. Everything. Her tears fell at a further rate, as she hiccupped, her scowl never fading.

"Yeah! I went to the battlefield to find Sasuke-kun! You know what I found?" She asked rhetorically, her face moving closer to his. "YOU! I found you hanging against the wall, on the edge of death!" She shouted further, as her eyebrows creased upwards, and her eyes welled up further.

"Seeing what Sasuke-kun did to you... How he treated you, after all that you two went through... I didn't care that he wasn't there anymore, dammit!" She screamed, as even more tears flowed from her eyes. If there was a way to stop her emotions from spilling out at that moment, she had no idea how to do it.

"I was so scared that you were dead! I was so scared that I had lost you! That our promise was your death sentence!" She cried out, letting go of him as she put a hand over her eyes. Naruto was stunned at the sight, his mouth slightly agape as he stared at her crying heavily. Sakura wept in her hand, before looking up at him.

"Yeah... I treated you like shit, not even 3 weeks ago... But did it ever occur to you in all that god damn brooding, that I had changed?" She asked him, as she sniffled. The blonde grimaced, looking down before shaking his head. A scoff escaped Sakura's lips, as she looked at him in almost disbelief.

"Wow..." She uttered in surprise, wiping her eyes as the tears kept flowing.

"You always talk about how people can change... You always find a way to see the good in people... But you lost that faith in me?... Because of one thing I said?" She asked him, but before he could answer, she started to walk to the door. "Then forget about that promise... Forget about me... I won't get in your way anymore..." She told him sadly, as she slowly walked to the door.

Naruto felt a surge of dread rush through his being upon hearing Sakura's words. He didn't mean for this! He didn't want this! He was just upset... He was hurt. He yearned for her attention, even just once, so when he realized that when she had gone to the fight it wasn't for his sake but for Sasuke's? Why wouldn't he think she hated him?

However, none of that mattered and he knew it. He knew that he had messed up and let his emotions do all the thinking for him. He had to fix it.

"...Sakura-chan..." He called out to her, she didn't respond.

"Sakura-chan!" He shouted, causing her to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, the crying didn't stop, so they weren't crocodile tears. She was serious. He looked down, his hands balling into fists.

"I don't hate you..." He told her quietly, his fists trembling. This earned a somewhat pathetic laugh from Sakura, before she looked down.

"Awesome... I'm not hated..." She muttered sadly, before getting grabbed by her arm.

"No! I just..." He trailed off, he clearly wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say. "I don't want you to leave my life, Sakura-chan..." He told her, looking her dead in the eye. His mouth trembled, as he feared what he would say next.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but... I was acting that way, because... I thought you hated me... And I couldn't bear that... Not after my friend stabbed me in the back..." He told her, not daring to say Sasuke's name.

Sakura's look softened, as the tears slowed a little, she only now understood how much Sasuke's betrayal hurt Naruto.

"Naruto... I don't hate you. I know I said that when we first joined team 7, but... I've changed since then!" She told him, trying to put on a smile through her tears.

"It doesn't justify how I acted toward you... I'm so sorry..." He apologized, his grip on her arm loosening. Sakura took her arm back, rubbing it softly.

"I forgive you... I'm sorry I slapped you..." She apologized as well, looking at his slap mark. The pinkette wiped her eyes, as her tears began to slow.

"Don't apologize... I deserved it." He admitted, staring into her eyes.

Sakura looked down, then back at him as she fidgeted a bit. The sudden silence made her feel awkward.

"W-Well... I think I should go now..." She said to him, not sure what to say anymore... In fact, they pretty much said everything that needed to be said. She grabbed her shoes, slipping them on and reached for the door. Just as she started to twist the doorknob.

"I love you, Sakura-chan..." He confessed to her, causing Sakura to immediately look back at him.

Her pupils were as tiny as dots, as she stared at him.

"...What?"