A/N : I'M BACK! Just a quick note before the blurb (cause it's not really a full chapter), I have a few things I want to say.

One, I apologize for the wait and this has been sitting in my Doc for who knows how long, waiting for me to edit/finish; however, my life is crapping so this is the best I got for now.

Two, after this, I hope to have the next chapter up by next week because I'll have plenty of time since I'm about to be on break for school. Three, this story is so close to its end so please bare with me and I thank everyone who has continuously followed this story.

Once again, I apologize for it being super, super, super, super, SUPER short and not like the other chapters, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own.

Chapter 18

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"I thought you said you were fixing things out, Sakura?"

The small, pink haired woman looked up at the painted man sitting next to her with a worried expression. "Trying," she quietly hissed back to him, "Trying and succeeding are two different things."

Kankuro gazed at the blond man and the small orange haired child as the duo continued to play without paying much mind to the pinkette and himself. He studied the man with his small, cold eyes, analyzing over the man's every move. Sakura watched the man next to her gaze intently at the said father of her child as he played innocently with the young girl and a loud sigh managed to escape her lips.

The dark haired man casted a slight glance at the small woman and lazily lifted an eyebrow. "What?" He said, picking up on her obvious, sour mood. "You can't tell me that what I saw isn't something to be slightly worried about."

"I'm not disagreeing with you, Kankuro," the small woman said soflty, her hands gripping onto the edge of the bench, "I just think- I know he would never harm Natsumi. If he was angry then let him take it out on the training ground; I know he would never hurt us because of that."

Kankuro gazed at the woman for several moments before turning back to the said man. "He seemed so out of control, Sakura. What if he gets that bad around you or Natsumi?"

"He wouldn't though." She said confidently as her emerald orbs looked up at the man. "Besides, it wasn't me that made him like that this time."

The painted man could only raise an eyebrow at the pinkette, unsure of what exactly she had meant by the statement. The only reason why the blond ninja could have become so vexed was the situation at hand, he didn't know what else could have set him off like that then.

The pinkette gazed sadly at Kankuro. "Him and Gaara had a meeting this morning..." She sighed as she slowly turned away. "I wasn't around him this morning to set him off in this rampage that you said he had, the only person that could have possibly set him off was Gaara."

Kankuro's eyes widened slightly at the realization of the woman's words and it took him several moments before he could return his expression back to normal. "Gaara wouldn't have said anything to him that would have caused him to act like that." He said in a definite manner. He knew his brother; he knew Gaara was way too professional and way too guilty to instigate the blond into a fit of rage.

Sakura gave a half-assed shrug and her shoulders slumped tiredly. "That's the only person I think could set him off like that."

"That is not like Gaara," Kankuro said sternly as he somewhat relaxed into the back of the park bench. "He's too busy brooding to try to set Uzumaki off."

Sakura let out a tired scoff as she followed the man's suit and leaned back into the bench, watching her daughter happily play with her enthusiastic father.

"Daddy!" Natsumi yelled excitedly as she jumped upon her father's dirty back. "How was your meeting?"

"My meeting?" He repeated, obviously confused, as he made an attempt to grab his daughter. "What meeting?"

"You had a meeting with Ra, right? This morning?" Natsumi asked as she was removed gently from the blond's back and held in the air in front of him.

"How did you know?" Naruto asked with a slightly raised brow.

"That's a secret!" She laughed loudly. "But how was it?"

Naruto let out a somewhat nervous chuckle as he gently set his daughter on the ground. "It was fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Hime," Naruto lied with a more convincing smile, "I'm sure."

"Okay, good!" Natsumi said happily as she clasped her hands together. "Do you wanna know a secret, Daddy?"

Naruto gave his daughter a small nod as a sincere smile crept onto his face.

"You have to come closer!"

The blond obeyed his daughter's request and crouched down to her height, now standing face to face with the orange haired child.

"You know that I love you and Mommy a lot, right?"

Naruto gave his daughter another certain nod as she watched him warily, thinking over her next words carefully.

"And I- I... I love Ra- and Temari- and Kankuro a lot too."

Naruto's face faltered for a moment at the mention of the man, Ra as she called him, and his insides slowly began to burn with the intense anger he had grown to know so well over the past several days. Recently, the blond found it overwhelmingly difficult to control his hatred towards the man- and the pinkette- especially when it was so evident that his daughter had a deeper connection with them- one that he might never have the opportunity to repeat because of the missing time.

He thought he had it all under control at one point. He thought that he was slowly overcoming the anger that was triggered by the situation, and he believed he was slowly coming to enjoy Sakura's company once again. But, as soon as the random sereneness arrived, his emotions of hate and anger began to fill every ounce of his being, leaving no room for the softness he had for the pinkette on the eventful night they shared; and, these negative feelings he was harboring, they were only getting worse.

However, Naruto managed to somewhat stiffen the anger inside to a dull roar and put on a small smile for his daughter. "I know, Hime."

"Well," she said as she nervously played with her fingers, "I want you all there for my party."

The blond stared at his daughter for a moment while her eyes remained locked on the ground. He thought about what she said as he managed to thoroughly restrain his emotions in front of her. If Natsumi wanted all of them there for her birthday then Naruto could act appropriate for her. For her, he could manage to keep his emotions for the day- her day. He would do anything for her. So, even though it may kill him to restrain his instincts and desires, he would behave appropriately and fake a smile for her.

Natsumi raised her head with caution as her eyes peaked up at her father. Amused by her nervous actions, Naruto gave her a rather large smile and laughed slightly. "That's no problem," he said. "It's your birthday, Sumi, you can have whatever."

Gradually, a small, fox-like grin appeared on Natsumi's face as she moved her head to look back up at the man. With a sudden quickness, the small girl tackled the man in an unsuspecting hug causing the man to laugh a little bit.

"Thank you, Daddy." She whispered softly.

Naruto hugged the orange haired girl tightly, burying his face into her wild locks. He ignored the unsettling emotion in his gut and remained concentrated on his daughter; he could do this for her.

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Sasuke glanced at the blond pacing angrily before him, his dark stolid eyes following the man back and forth in his living room. He hadn't said much to Uchiha since his arrival, giving the dark haired man only a few annoyed huffs and agitated growls. But, Sasuke knew his best friend was only ever upset about a certain issue these days- there wasn't anything else that bothered him anymore.

"So," Sasuke said smoothly as he leaned back into the cushion of his couch, "are you going to tell me what happened or are you just going to keep throwing that tantrum of yours?"

Naruto paused for a moment to send a glare at his friend. With his arms folded on top of his chest, he let out another annoyed growl.

"I'm not the one pissing you off so don't try to be mad at me." He said matter-of-factly.

The blond flared his nostrils at the man and kept his glare positioned on him.

Sasuke stared back at the blond's unwavering look without much expression. "I'm just saying."

After several moments of intense eye contact, Naruto finally broke his hateful gaze and continued to pace about. "I got the short end of it all, right?"

It wasn't really a question, Sasuke knew that. The blond said it out loud specifically for himself- not really to clarify with the Uchiha. They both knew he received the short end of it all- the blond only said it to lead into a rant on what he was truly upset about.

"Then why does everyone expect me not to be mad, huh? I got screwed over- not Sakura, not Gaara. So, why does everyone think that I am so wrong for being angry at them?"

"Cause you're you, Dobe." Sasuke spoke plainly, causing the said man to stop in his tracts.

"What do you mean I'm me?"

"You're the first one to forgive and forget," Sasuke said slowly. "You are constantly putting other's feelings above your own so people don't expect you to react like this. They don't expect you to be angry for so long, they all thought you would have pushed it aside by now... because that's just you, Naruto."

The blond let out a soft growl in response. "That's not fair though- I deserve to be angry!"

"And I'm not saying you don't, but people just... expect you not to be."

Naruto glared at the sitting Uchiha and released another annoyed huff. He remained silent for several moments before turning his back to the man. "Now, Natsumi wants me to be nicer to them..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the man but remained quiet so he could further explain himself.

"She loves them," he said sadly, "they are all she had these past couple year so it's a given that she feels so strongly about them but-... but it sucks to see that because I don't know if she'll ever love me as much."

"Dobe, you know she loves you."

"I know, I know," Naruto sighed. "But it's not the same as her love for Sakura- or even him. And I can't take it out on her- especially when she asks things like that. She doesn't really understand what's going on- I can't be angry because she doesn't understand how I feel."

Sasuke watched the blonde who was now looking sadly at the ground. Suddenly, he tightened his fist and his jaw was visibly clenched. "It's not fair." He growled. "I got screwed over and they all get to be loved by her!"

Naruto felt his blood boiling over, he was trying to remain calm and in control of his emotions but he was slipping. He felt his body being invaded by anger and it made him so unlike himself. Like Sasuke had said, the Naruto people knew was no longer around when anger infiltrated his system- he was a totally different man. He said and did things that was unlike him, and it made his judgment cloudy.

The blond clutched onto the side of his head and stumbled painfully to the door frame on the opposite side of the room. "It's not fair." He growled more roughly than before.

The dark haired Uchiha quickly stood up and began to make his way over to the pained blond. "Naruto-"

The said man let out another vicious growl but this time a wave of malevolent energy flowed off of him and filled the room. Sasuke was initially taken back by the force but he quickly regained his composure and kept on moving towards his friend.

"Naruto," he called his name again, "relax."

"It's not fair," the blond growled once more with his eyes now shut tightly, "it'll never be the same- she won't ever look at me the same way she looks at them. They can't be wrong in her eyes, she loves them too much."

"Naruto, she's a child, in time she will look upon you as the same." Sasuke said to the man as he stood behind him, cautiously placing a hand upon Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto jumped at the initial touch; but, somehow, it managed to bring himself back for the moment and he began to take slow, deep breaths to calm his racing heartbeat.

The blond, with his head rested on the door frame and eyes closed tight, let out a soft yet slightly broken whisper. "I hope you're right, Teme... I really do hope you're right."

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Sakura gazed out the window as Temari left the premises with her daughter in hand. An audible sigh left her plump lips as she turned from the glass with her arms neatly crossed on her chest.

"I can do this." She mumbled to herself as she drew in a large breath.

Grabbing only the necessities, the pinkette made her way across her hotel room and out of the door without much hassle.

"I can do this."

She repeated the phrase another several times as she made her way through the streets of Konoha. She should have done this long ago, just like everything else regarding the situation, but she hadn't and the prolongation only ever worsened things for the pinkette; so, naturally, she was terrified to face another person she had wronged. However, unlike the Sakura she knew herself to be a few weeks ago, she decided to continue with this acceptance of consequences and face her fears rather than running away like her inner so desperately wanted her to do.

Doing her best to calm her nerves, the pink haired woman took a deep breath and continued to walk steadily towards her destination. Sakura navigated through the streets almost effortlessly, knowing exactly where to go to find the woman. The pinkette's insides churned with every step that brought her closer to her destination; her nerves were running haywire and uneasiness flooded her body, but she knew she had to do this.

"I can do this." She muttered softly once again. "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this."

After several minutes of walking, Sakura looked up to find the large compound right before her. Within her view from the street she spotted the dark haired woman kneeling in a patch of dirt with a small boy around the same age of Natsumi. Sakura stood frozen at the threshold, and the fear of the encounter began to cause her to lose the minuscule amount of confidence she did have. Her emerald orbs were wide as she numbly watched the interaction between the two, and her mouth was open- ready to articulate at least a single word- but her words seemed to die out before reaching the surface.

Staring at the duo, Sakura felt herself begin to look for a retreat. "I can't do this." She managed to whisper roughly to herself. "I can't do this."

Sakura placed a shaky hand on the supporting frame of the entrance and slowly began to turn herself around. Maybe another day she would have the strength and courage to face the woman but today seemed like it was not possible any more.

"Mommy, who's that?"

With her back now facing the two, Sakura froze as the little boy's words echoed through the air. She felt the stares of the pair upon her back and knew that she had two choices: run away or face the woman.

Unlike a lot of her previous decisions, Sakura chose the second option and forced herself to turn back around. She slowly laid eyes on the woman, whose pale eyes stared up at her in shock, and quickly turned her look downward in guilt.

After several moments of a deafening silence, Sakura gradually raised her head to look up at the woman and stared at her sadly. The pinkette opened her mouth and forced words to come out before she decided against it.

"Hello, Hinata..."