Chapter Three

"Ugh…"

Tazuna can't help but look over to the more vocal member of Team Seven who is sitting to the side supposedly watching him. But if anything, he looked bored out of his mind. "You know, instead of sitting there looking like a potential suicide victim, you can help too," Tazuna offers, gaining Naruto's attention, the blonds half lidded lazy glare on him. "I bet it'll go much faster," he suggests while going to pick up a beam. Naruto however just looks at him before…

"Uggghhh!"

A sweat drop forms on Tazuna's head due to the blond's complaining. "Lazy ass kids," he grumbles, going on with his business. Just as he is about to lift up the beam, his attention is given to one of the workers. "Oh hey Geko, help me with this will ya?"

"Um, actually Tazuna, I came to have a word with you," Tazuna blinks but gives a quiet sigh as he fixes his posture, facing Geko. Nervously, Geko scratches the back of his head with an unsure look on his face, "Look Tazuna, you and I have been friends for a long time but…"

Meanwhile, Naruto gave a sigh as he thought about what he wanted for dinner. Maybe he could ask Sakura to go shopping with him and try to convince her into making him a meal. Normally she wouldn't during a mission considering they have to be focused, but Zabuza is sick as a dog and they have nothing but time. Surely she can make him at least a meal or four? His stomach can't help but growl at the thought as he pouts, "Muu~! Sakura-chan's food!"

"What do you mean your quitting?!" Naruto leaves his daydream about Sakura's food as he looks over to Tazuna to see what the issue is. His eyes look over Tazuna and one of the workers seeming to have a heated discussion. "The bridge is almost done! A week at best!"

"What's the point?!" Geko demanded with his own yell and Tazuna scowls. "Even if Gato doesn't kill you or anyone else before the bridge is done, there is nothing to stop him from blowing it up anyway!" Tazuna flinches a bit as he tries not to look over to Naruto who isn't even really enjoying the comment. He is too busy focused on Geko's words, who continues. "Think about it Tazuna!" Geko tries to convince a bit more softly. "Why put yourself and your family in danger for something that is doomed to fail?!"

"You sound like a coward."

"Eh?" Geko blinks in surprise, then turns to look at Naruto who still looks to be bored, but it's clear annoyance is in his eyes. "What did you say?!"

"I said, you sound like a coward!" Naruto repeated as he stands up, glaring at him. "Everyone in this damn country is so damn sensitive," he mutters, rolling his eyes. "You're a grown ass man! Why are you so scared over a dwarf who happens to have a little change in his pocket?" Naruto questions honestly…

"You don't understand! Gato is…"

But Naruto didn't desire an answer, "Shut up! If you're going to quit, then hurry up and get lost will ya?" Naruto huffs, "Less people who hold up Tazuna with their bullshit, the quicker I can eat Sakura's cooking!" as Geko scowls and walks away, Naruto crosses his fingers and a moment later, twenty Naruto's stand beside him, giving Tazuna a mock salute.

"What are our orders ol dumb drunk one?!"

Tazuna can't help but smile.

"I'm not cooking for you Naruto."

"Awwww! Sakura-chan why noooott?! I'm hungry dattebayo!"

Sakura sighs as her face is planted to the dinner table while Sasuke seems to try and not fall out of his chair. "Naruto…normally, I would love to cook for you. But I'm way too tired babe," Sakura tries to reason with her friend who groans despite the fact he is helping Tsunami set the table. "Thank you," she mutters once she senses her plate put down in front of her.

"Fine," the blond shrugs, deciding to just leave it alone for now. "Why are you guys so tired anyway?" he wondered seeing as Sasuke too was having issues as he gave a grumble.

"Fucking Kakashi," Sakura just groaned in agreement while Kakashi looks completely relaxed with his book out, giving an eye smile.

"Aw, come on guys, no pain no gain!"

"Fuck you!" the two genin snap, causing both Naruto and Kakashi to sweat drop due to their enthusiasm to curse at their teacher. Naruto looked between them as he sat beside Sakura with his plate.

"Tough training eh?"

"You have no damn idea," Sakura whined as she lifts her head up, pouting at him. "It was fine for like the first hour ya know? We warmed up, did some stretches, a quick spar…" Sakura trails off as her brow twitches, looking at Kakashi who is reading his book. "Then he gave us the idea on how to use our new weapons," she tells him, and he hums in thought. He does remember Kakashi taking them to the store for some equipment not too long ago. He had decided to pick up some trench knives for refined precise close combat since his fighting style is a bit wild. Sakura chose a naginata and Sasuke picked up a chokuto, typical Uchiha.

"We weren't even half way done with our exercises when he had us spar on the nearby lake with our weapons, which had taken a lot more concentration," Sasuke added to Sakura, glaring at Kakashi tiredly. "He had us go at this for hours on end!" Naruto doesn't seem too convinced as he eats his food, shrugging.

"That doesn't sound too bad. You guys are just wimps," he snorts, earning glares from the two. Sasuke rolls his eyes while Sakura elbows him a bit, but he doesn't really flinch as she sneers playfully at him.

"Well let's see how you down when it's your turn to train tomorrow."

"Bring it," is all Naruto says as he continues to eat. Both Sasuke and Sakura can't help but feel annoyed at Naruto's nonchalant attitude, but they both looked at each other and simply smirked. Oh he will find out. They then glance to Kakashi who is ever silent, already coming up with a training regime for Naruto. He actually agreed with the blond when it came to the training regime he had set up for the other two. With Naruto's inhuman stamina, massive chakra reserves and tough body, the boy can easily take on the current regime.

Naruto is after all the only who likes to focus on getting personal with his opponents to the point he chooses not to use his sword. Taijutsu training is needed, and since he decided to choose those trench knives which are similar to Asuma's, he needs a way for the boy to learn how to use them. But the only person who is an expert is Asuma himself. It's the same with Taijutsu, Gai is another perfect example. He himself is a ninjutsu specialist, meaning Sasuke is his ideal student. Then there is Kurenai with her genjutsu, which makes Sakura an ideal student for her as well.

However he isn't going to ship these kids to others because he does not have a clue to get the job done. Minato-sensei did not do that for his genin team, he won't do it to his own. And even though he doesn't really care for the Hokage's choice at times, he did put these awkward bloodthirsty, smartass kids on his team, making them his responsibility.

"You guys have moths or something?" Naruto mutters out as he picks out his teeth while leaning back in his chair. Sakura looks up to see Naruto is referring to the portrait that is ripped, as if someone is missing. Tsunami blinks as she stands up making her way to the sink and frowns a bit, speaking quietly.

"It was a family picture," she says a little. "The person missing is my late husband." Naruto doesn't say anything as he reads the overall mood of the room, though he is curious as Tazuna gives a sigh and speaks.

"He was a hero of this land." Upon hearing this, Inari suddenly leaves the table. Tsunami calls out for her son who ignores her, and she scowls at her father who scratches the back of his head a little.

"You know better than to talk about him at the table! Especially in front of Inari!" Tsunami scolds as she goes upstairs after her son, while Tazuna looks a bit ashamed. Interested, Kakashi leans forward once he set his book down, raising a brow.

"What is the story behind this hero?"

"Alright Naruto, ready to begin your training?"

"I've been ready dattebayo!" says an excited shirtless Naruto, eager to begin. Kakashi and Naruto stand in the nearby forest that is not a long way away from Tazuna's house. With Sasuke guarding Tazuna, not too far is Sakura, who is admiring her best friends well sculpted body, even going so far to lick her lips somewhat sensually. Kakashi nods as he, flips a page and begins to give his instructions.

"Okay, I first want to see how fast you are in taking down your opponents. There will be often times where there will be a large group of opponents, whether it be Shinobi or not," Kakashi starts, his eye glancing up to Naruto who is actually paying attention. "So with that said, I want you to create, lets say thirty clones." Without hesitating, Naruto crosses his fingers together.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Immediately, there is a cloud of smoke then from it are thirty clones surrounding him. All the Naruto clones hop a back a bit to face the original ready for the order of attack. "Alright you devilish handsome ninjas! Come at me with nothing but Taijutsu! Ready?!"

"Hai!" they all salute. Naruto slips into a fighting position, and waves for them to come at him. With psychotic grins, they all rush at him and meets them. Kakashi watches as the blond jumps with a front flip into the crowd of clones. There are about three or four clones that jump to meet him, but that results in failure as a they are non-existent with a few spin kicks and a punch.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura calls from her tree, looking away from her own book, earning his attention. "How is this supposed to help Naruto?" she wonders, watching her friend closely. "If my guess is right, you know that this is child's play to him."

"Agreed." Naruto chimes in, snapping the last clones neck, causing Kakashi's eye to twitch. Looking at his stop watch, Kakashi hums to himself.

"Eleven seconds." Naruto simply smirks, but Kakashi doesn't seem to impressed; because this was expected. "Now, you have those knives?" the blond pulls them from his pockets, slipping them into his hand. "Good, now lets see how you do with fifty armed clones."

Naruto doesn't say anything, calling on his clones who are armed with kunais and ready. Naruto rushes at him, and Kakashi analyzes the teen closely to see the joints in Naruto's arms are loose, yet the power he is pushing into his legs seem to be a bit strenuous. Once Naruto submerges himself into the horde of clones, the dispelling began to take place. Kakashi sighs as he walks up to the tree where Sakura is, so he can see exactly what Naruto is doing. "Hmm," the teacher hums, gaining his student's attention.

"Something wrong sensei?" she voices, though Kakashi had a feeling that she likely knows the answer. Kakashi nods slightly, crossing his arms as he watches the whiskered teen below.

"It's Naruto. His attacks are…sloppy, and not as critical as they usually are. While he normally has a wild form of Taijutsu anyway, he is actually quite precise with his attacks," Kakashi evaluates, and Sakura agrees. "However, with these knives, it's like he's not even trying." Sakura gives a small giggle as she nods, her eyes still never leaving her friend.

"You mean it's like he's just hacking and slashing, which is delaying his time?" she then hums, "He is already at twenty-three seconds and counting." Kakashi nods, seeing his clock is matching with her time. "It's because he is. Naruto isn't used to a blade that isn't a katana." She said, which catches his attention. He doesn't bother to argue with her, seeing that she most likely knows almost everything about her teammates than she or the other two let on.

"Naruto is a brawler," Sakura educates, "We all know this. He doesn't care if he is taking on one person or an entire army, he aims to kill and conquer. It's why it seems he doesn't have a set style when fighting because he just wants to beat his opponents down with his fist. It's how he deals with his anger," Sakura throws in just because, something Kakashi didn't know at all. "Naruto's skill with a sword is not a joking manner, but that because someone took the time to teach him that kenjutsu is more than just swinging a sword around."

Kakashi and Sakura both begin to notice how Naruto is starting to receive attacks a bit more, which seems to annoy him. "His lust for battle overrides his common sense, he's more rash and psychotic. Putting a blade in his hand does not help, even with his sword," she says which Kakashi does agree with. Because even though Naruto is rather graceful with his sword, his style is very abrasive and violent. Like Sakura said, he aims to kill and bring pain. "With a sword he can easily draw blood, which turns him on. So any sense that has nothing to do with battle and blood is lost," Sakura informs.

"So what you're saying is, Naruto first needs to maintain his common sense with regular fighting, before he should handle any kind of blade?" Kakashi asks, and Sakura gives a shrug in response.

"You're the sensei, sensei. Do what you think is best, I'm just here to help," she smiles playfully and he gives a grunt. Just as they finish their conversation, Naruto explodes from anger, and begins to massacre the clones. "Oh, that's another thing. Naruto is kind of a sore loser. If he feels he is losing, and there is no way for him to turn it around, he loses his temper and slashes everything in his way…like now," Sakura adds with a light chuckle, and Kakashi sighs as Naruto finishes the clones with a glare on his face.

"Greeeeeaaaatt."

"What's the matter dobe, tough time training?"

"Fuck you Sasuke!" Naruto growls as his teammate as he slumps completely at the dinner table. Sakura sits by his side, rubbing his back soothingly while shaking her head, and Inari sits by Sasuke, his grandfather on the other side of him.

"C'mon guys, no fighting at the table," Sakura tries to calm the two down, already knowing how they will pop off. "Can't we just be happy that we're getting stronger? Next time we see Zabuza, he won't escape."

"Yeah, that shirtless asshole is mince meat!" Naruto grins, already feeling better, especially with Sakura now running her hand through his hair. He automatically begins to relax all over while the team start to chat a bit more on a light note. They mainly talk about how Zabuza and his fake Anbu won't stand a chance. But as they talk, no one notices really the dark and irritated vibe coming from Inari who just watches them angrily.

"Shut up already!" Inari shouts, causing everyone to stop and pay attention to him. Naruto blinks at the outburst and is about to voice his thoughts but the kid goes on. "None of you are strong enough to face Gato! You're wasting your time! Gato has lots of bad guys and power to kill you, you think because you're ninja you can just come here and save us?!" Inari demands, and Naruto interrupts him, quite annoyed.

"Listen ya lil shit," he curses but Sakura grabs his shoulder, but he continues. "Gato is nothing to worry about, and we didn't come here to save your sorry village if you really want to know," he clarifies. "Personally, I don't really care. We're ninja, meaning we were hired to protect your gramps from getting killed, everything else is extra. We're just doing our job, alright?"

"Ugh!" Inari spits as he stands up and glares at Naruto, pointing at him. "You piss me off the most!" this confuses Naruto as he points to himself out of confusion. "You try to act like you're the coolest person ever, but you're not! You don't know what we've been through! The pain we have suffered! You live in a village that is successful! I bet you've never gone hungry and…"

"Have you?" Sakura interrupts him, her stare blank. However she also has a hand on Naruto's mouth and her other hand on Sasuke's chest, stopping them both from doing something rash. Taken back by this, Inari looks completely confused so she elaborated. "Have you ever gone hungry? Answer truthfully now, also keep in mind that your mother and grandfather are right here," she gestures to them and Inari glances to his mother who holds a raised brow while Tazuna is also curious. "Now, give me an honest answer. Have you ever gone hungry?" she demands.

"N-no."

"Have you ever been beaten?"

"No."

"Well your little ass needs to get a good one!" Naruto throws in, moving Sakura's hand. But this outburst makes Sakura chop him in the throat, causing him to gag and fall out of his chair in pain. "So worth it!" he chokes out. Sakura ignores him, as she continues on.

"Then you have no right to be spewing out nonsense, like you have experienced it first hand," She tells Inari, her glare still rather blank. "You are the lucky one Inari. You have a mother that cooks for you and a grandfather that goes out everyday to work and make sure both you and your mother are taken care of," Sakura tells him. "You do realize that people are trying to kill your grandfather right?"

"I…" Inari tries but he speaks louder, "I have suffered though! I have been lied too! I bet not one of you have had someone make an important promise and not fulfill it!" Inari spits at them, causing the room to be silent.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I'm not dealing with this shit bro." Naruto says as he gets up, walking out of the house, even closing the door behind him quietly. Sakura takes a deep breath closing her eyes and then stands up, looking to Tsunami with a small smile.

"Thank you for dinner Tsunami-san, Naruto-kun appreciates it as well." Sakura then grabs the two empty plates putting them in the sink. She then moves towards the door and pauses, "You are blessed Inari. Not everyone has the ability to say they have a family to take care of them, let alone a family at all." She then looks to him with a hard glare. "But the next time you say something so stupid to my friend, I will make you regret it." With that Sakura left the house, closing the door behind her just as quietly.

Sasuke stands, but goes upstairs without a word. Kakashi simply sighs, shaking his head at the events of tonight.

Sakura walks at a nice decent pace, not really rushing to find her teammate. He wouldn't have gone far, and she wanted to give him enough time to vent his frustrations, if he could that is. So till she finds him, she enjoys the walk as it calms her down. She figures she did a good job at keeping herself together during that whole fiasco. In fact, she will have to thank Naruto for helping her not blow up. She honestly was going to lose her grip if Naruto hadn't got up to leave. Seeing that he didn't even bother to get truly angry, told her that she didn't need to get upset either. The boy was not worth the energy. She didn't know how Sasuke felt about the situation though, but she did understand he was quite ticked.

"I expected Sasuke to be out here," she hears from above her. Looking up, she sees her teammate sitting on a thick tree branch, staring up at the full moon. Narrowing her eyes a bit she takes note of the bottle of liquor in his hand. She gives a shrug in response.

"I don't know why. You know how Sasuke-kun is with the whole emotion stuff," just as she says this, he takes a sip. "Mind if I join you?"

"You I don't care Sakura, so why do you keep asking?" Naruto mutters in an even tone. Sakura gives another shrug before hopping onto the branch, sitting beside him.

"I don't know. Maybe someday, you might surprise me and not want me around anymore," Sakura replies honestly. Naruto glances at her, but says nothing for a few moments, then gives a quiet mutter.

"Silly girl." About to take another swig, Sakura playfully snatches it out of his hand playfully to see what kind it is. Seeing it's a brand she hasn't had before, she takes a swig, ignoring the grumbling from her friend. There is a peaceful silence for them as they sit beside each other, gazing at the moon. "Thank you, Naruto-kun." Naruto raises a brow as she explains. "You saved me from a lot of grief back there. I was about to lose it with that kid."

"You know most of the things I do when it concerns you and Sasuke is to protect you guys," Naruto shrugs, and Sakura gives a smile with a nod.

"Yeah I know, and Sasuke knows too. He is just too cool to admit it," Sakura giggles, "But he appreciates the effort you use." Naruto nods, trying to pretend he doesn't care, but she can see a very small smile tugging at his lips.

"You're feeling better though?"

"A little," she mentions honestly. "I still have the urge to go back and kill him, but it will subside once I get some sleep," Sakura replies. Naruto shakes his head, earning her eyes to focus on him.

"That's not good enough. You might not be able to sleep tonight," he states, before pausing. Capping the bottle he jumps down and holds out his arms towards her. "C'mon." Easily, she falls from the branch into his arms. Setting her down, he grabs her hand, leading her a bit deeper into the forest.

"What are we doing?"

Naruto smiles a little as he steps a few feet back. "I'm going to help you release that tension. When was the last time you let loose?" Naruto wonders, his answer is a shrug. "Meaning we definitely need to do this now," but Sakura is unsure as she tries to convince him otherwise.

"Let's not Naruto-kun, I'll be fine."

"Sure you will," Naruto deadpans causing her to pout. "I don't need you getting pissed off and then killing everyone within your field of vision. You need to let go," he reasons. Sakura wants to protest some more, but sighs, knowing he isn't backing down. So she agrees.

"Will you let loose with me?" she wonders with a hopeful smile. He nods, causing her to smile a bit wide. Sakura takes a deep breath and covers her eyes with her fingers, this prompts Naruto to slip into a fighting position. His usual slit eyes open, revealing serious sapphire orbs. He watches as Sakura's blank frown starts to turn into a maniac grin, her canines sharpen a bit and her muscles tone a bit. While this is going on, a menacing dark green aura surrounds her. "Hehehehehe…" Sakura giggles, putting Naruto slightly on edge.

His stance tightens a bit, his eyes narrowing at Sakura. The girl removes her hand, looking towards him. Her eyes are different, her emerald eyes pupil-less and her sclera is pitch black. "Let's have some fun, ne…Na-ru-to-kun." Sakura licks her lips, her voice sounding somewhat demented. Without warning, Sakura rushes towards Naruto at break neck speeds, and he grunts, blocking an axe kick she gives him from above on his left.

Sakura vanishes again, appearing behind him, throwing a punch at his head. The blond however dodges it, throwing a round kick to her head. "You're going to have to do better than that, Naruto-kun!" Sakura laughs, Naruto smirks as he jumps away from her, summoning ten clones and each of them disappear. Sakura just continues to laugh, dispelling each clone that comes at her. She then lunges at the real Naruto, sending a combo of kicks at him, he dodges one and blocks the other.

Skidding back a bit, he jumps into the air to avoid Sakura's oncoming assault. Landing in a tree, he finds it's useless, considering Sakura just appears beside him, decking him across the face. He flies, crashing through trees while Sakura simply smirks as she falls to the ground. Rubbing his face, Naruto lands and stands up straight. With narrowed eyes, he rushes at Sakura who eggs him on. Throwing her fist at him, Naruto easily escapes it before kneeing her in the gut then back handing her. But Sakura just keeps laughing and kicks him in the face; he skids back, and catches her first with an open palm just in time.

He is pushed back though from the force the punch had brought, "Sorry love, but not today!" he roars, then delivers an uppercut with his other fist. Sakura grunts as she didn't see it coming, but he isn't done, letting go of Sakura then drop kicking her. Once Naruto he stands up, he runs at Sakura who brushes off the pain and charges him as well. The girl blurs in front of Naruto, bringing down a hammer fist that Naruto blocks with one hand. This action causes a crater to form under Naruto, due to the pressure and power behind Sakura's attack. Naruto is doing his best to not fall under attack, so with gathering his chakra, with his other hand, Naruto pushes his hand against Sakura's abs and releases the chakra.

"Yyaaah!" she screams, being engulfed in a pressurized wave of wind. Blown away into the air by the attack, allows Naruto to relax for a shirt time. This is foolish as Sakura makes her way back down towards him with a charged axe kick. Blinking, he looks up to see she is coming down towards him. Trying to at least move out the way is difficult, within milliseconds she has already landed, causing a large shockwave to occur, blowing him back crashing into trees.

"Don't tell me that's it, Naruto-kun!" Sakura mocks, wiping her mouth of blood and waiting for him to respond. A minute nearly passes without any kind of reaction and she is about to put her mask back on, but stops upon the feeling of a dark suffocating aura. A clawed hand grips onto the trunk of a tree and moments later, Naruto emerges from the shadows basking in the light of the moon.

His whiskers are bold, and his canines longer. Sakura can also see the definition of his muscles, and the dark red aura surrounding him. With a maniacal grin on his face, Naruto rushes at Sakura who follows his lead.

With cocked back firsts, the two clash.

Sasuke opens his eyes from his meditation and stands up walking towards the window, looking out towards the forest.

He gazes for a few moments before shaking his head; they were at it again. Naruto probably forced Sakura to let go so she can release some tension, while a caring idea, it was also hazardous. If undefeated or tamed, Sakura would become a danger to the nearest public. She will kill anyone until her bloodlust was satisfied. Honestly, she is worse than Naruto. While it took some effort to calm Naruto down, it took a lot of effort to calm Sakura down. Even though the three have been friends for years, he nor Naruto still don't understand why that is.

There have been some occasions where he and Naruto thought she was hiding something from them, and while Sasuke would completely bug the shit out of Naruto. As far as the blond knows, the three keep no secrets from each other. It was something that was decided when they became friends. Naruto came out with the fact he holds the Nine tails, Sakura admitted to hating almost everyone besides them and has murderous thoughts, and he revealed the fact once Itachi is dead, he doesn't want to live anymore, and that even sometimes he doesn't want to live in general.

From that point, they have shared and continue to share their thoughts and lives with each other. He and Sakura help support Naruto with his nightmares and loner tendencies; and in other cases he and Naruto helped Sakura craft a mask for her sociopath quirks and maniacal personality. Then there is the fact that Naruto and Sakura help him with his suicidal thoughts and anger issues. They all support each other, and that's how Sasuke likes it. He knows that if it wasn't for his two friends, he would either be dead, or an arrogant emo bastard.

A part of him wants to go out and help Naruto with Sakura, but he knows the asshole can handle her. He always does. There has never been a time where Naruto was not there for Sakura, sometimes he thinks Naruto loves her more than just a sister, and vice versa. Truthfully, he would be relieved if the two get together. It not only saves him the trouble of dealing with people outside of their triangle and he wouldn't feel the need to kick someone's ass just in case they hurt his friends; but the two are basically made for each other.

Naruto is Sakura's cage, and Sakura is Naruto's leash. When Sakura gets out of hand, and gets to the point where even he would be worried, Naruto is right there to take all of her rage. He is her punching bag, literally. There has even been a time in her beginning stages of wearing a mask, where Sakura could not take it and let loose. Naruto was right there, taking every single hit, every hurtful word and did it with a caring smile. He himself knows it hurts Sakura seeing as she loves him so much, and he knows she works her very best to keep it in check so she isn't the one to hurt their friend.

When Naruto gets out of hand, Sakura is there to shut it down. While the two play around a lot, like earlier at the table, when Sakura is serious, she is on a mission. When Naruto's attitude is out of control and he becomes too much, or gives a little too much into his wild side, Sakura stops him. This one time, she gained this look in her eye, appeared in front of him as he was acting out and put her hand on his cheek, gazing into his eyes. She didn't have to say a word. Her mere touch had already calmed Naruto down, but she definitely got the job done by staring into his eyes.

Cage and Leash.

He himself? He doesn't have those problems, but he is sure his friends would disagree. Both Naruto and Sakura have different ways of calming him down, usually, Naruto just starts to fight him. Sakura's way is to put him in a Genjutsu that always is different but with the same theme. Family. A family of his own making. Young daughter and son, a wife, a happy peaceful home…not too different from his childhood. But every time the illusion is over, he can't recall their faces or their names…but it makes him focus on making that illusion become reality. He asks Sakura to put him in that genjutsu, but she never knows what he is talking about.

He had even pretended to act out so he could enjoy the illusion again, but it's as if Sakura has an idea when he is faking. Naruto however doesn't and would just try to beat the hell out of him, and Sakura just laughs, almost as if saying 'That's what you get for faking!' so he learned a long time ago not to pretend because Naruto would just start to punch him and pull him into a fight.

"Heh." Sasuke chuckles a little, laying down in his futon and closing his eyes. It was kind of strange how thinking of his friends makes him happy. Much to his joy, he dreams of his future family without the need of Sakura's genjutsu skills.

What a happy thought.

"Damn."

Naruto raises himself from the tree trunk he found himself against and looks around the broken trees and craters, showing the extent of their battle. Looking up to the sky, to see it's still black, he then looks to find Sakura who is missing. He hums in thought considering he and Sakura both passed out in the same place once they couldn't fight anymore.

Standing up, he decides to leave the trashed area to find his friend. As he walks, he catches her scent and heads towards it, but she's not at the house. It takes a few minutes, but he finally catches up and upon doing so, he enters a peaceful meadow. His eyes actually open upon finding Sakura, who is laying on her back, staring up towards the sky. Quietly, he walks over and lays next to her. He doesn't say anything and neither does she, a few moments later her hand finds his, interlacing their fingers.

"I love you, Naruto." Naruto doesn't say anything, he doesn't even look at her. But after a few minutes, his lips twitch hand begins to speak.

"But we can't be together," he whispers. Sakura looks towards him, gazing at the side of his face. "You don't have to say anything Sakura," he mutters, shaking his head. Sakura frowns, but lays atop of him, gazing into his wonderful yet sullen blue eyes.

"I do love you Naruto, but…" Sakura chokes a little, tears starting to spill. "You can't love me, I'm broken." Naruto's blank expressions turn into one of confusion with a heavy frown.

"Why do you keep saying that? If it's about your behavior then…"

"It's not," Sakura interrupts, refusing. "It's not. I know you love that about me. I know."

"Then what is it Sakura?" Naruto questions as he now looks to her, curious, begging. "What aren't you telling me?" he demands a bit more firmly.

"I can't…I can't tell you," Sakura says quietly. "You would only be disgusted of me, and the feelings you have for me now would just disappear," she says, as if it's logical.

"You don't know that."

"Neither do you!"

It is silent from that point. Both of them gaze into each others eyes and Naruto gives an exhausted sigh, and it's clear to Sakura how tired he is. "What do I have to do? I'm tried of this game Sakura. I want to give you my love, show you more than I already do, but you won't let me!" Naruto scowls. "And I know you want to return it, but your not letting yourself! Why? Why won't you even give us a chance knowing that you and I…" Naruto tries even grabbing her hand but Sakura looks away.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I can't." she shakes her head, taking her hand back. Naruto stares at her for several long tense moments with an expression reflecting his hurt and his sadness. He though takes a deep breath, one of resignation and his eyes close, his expression now blank.

"Okay." Without much effort, Naruto removes her from atop of him and stands up, dusting himself off. He then walks off towards the house, leaving Sakura alone. As much as she wants to stop him, she can't. Helplessly, she watches him walk off into the darkness, tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."