A/N: Welcome to the wonderful world of…not a oneshot. Amazing. Centers around Naruto, and most likely Temari too.

Title: Struggle

Summary: Naruto's going through a struggle to recognize himself, realizing that his real feelings are so different than the show he put on for everyone else… but nobody notices. Or do they? Most likely Naruto x Temari. Not a one-shot, multi-chaptered.
Parings: Naruto x Temari, there might be other one-sided pairings
Genres: Romance/Angst/Drama/General
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Fluff, angst, possible violence.

Struggle

Chapter 1: Arguments, Pondering, and the Mission

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Everyday was the same thing. Naruto awoke, feeling especially down. It felt like the villagers were getting crueler than ever… but he never let Sakura or Kakashi notice. He always arrived in his usual excited fashion, the sun flashing off the metal of his forehead protector.

But today, he didn't feel much like putting on the usual show for the rest of Konoha as the villagers looked down on him. But, as far as he was concerned, he didn't really have a choice… he'd probably feel better after a shower…

With these comforting thoughts in mind, he headed to the shower, putting the water on cold, letting it run down his body, waking him up in no time at all. With a small sigh, he turned on some hot water to mix with the cold.

'Today is no day to just be lazy', he reminded himself. Today, they had a certain Suna kuniochi, Gaara's sister, coming to help them out with the mission. He didn't want to make a bad impression by being late… Kakashi already had that taken care of. One of the males had to show some responsibility, and he knew that Kakashi wouldn't, so he felt that he had to fulfill the role.

He washed the shampoo out of his hair and climbed out of the shower, drying off. He got dressed fairly quickly. Looking at the clock, he noted he still had enough time to go to Ichiraku's for ramen. So that's what he did, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he went. Lucky for him, Ichiraku's was indeed open. He didn't linger long though, strangely enough to the owners, he only ate one bowl, paid, and left.

He was early, and he had to wait for the others. Temari came along first, and seemed a bit surprised that only he was waiting. She joined him, waiting for the rest of the group to come. He wondered if she knew how late Kakashi always was. Probably not, seeing she came as early as she did. Even Sakura didn't show up until the exact meeting time, otherwise they'd be left waiting for even longer.

Naruto, who usually used this time to catch up on his sleep, was actually wide-awake. He sort of wanted to talk the kuniochi next to him, but he couldn't think of anything that didn't seem awkward. So he settled for the pleasant silence wrapped around the two.

That was, until the minutes dragged by. The temptation to talk while waiting for something he knew was going to take a long time was extremely overwhelming. So he started with a simple, "Kakashi-sensei won't be here for a couple more hours."

"…A couple more hours?" Her dark eyes turned to him, "But isn't the meeting time—"

Naruto cut her off nonchalantly, "He's always late. He'll make up some stupid excuse, we'll yell 'liar', he'll explain the mission, and off we go." He shrugged as if it wasn't abnormal in the least. It didn't occur to him that somebody would find an irresponsible sensei so…weird.

"…So that's why we're the only ones here?" She asked. It had been bugging her for awhile. In Suna, Baki-sensei was always there, ten minutes early. She went around five minutes early, Kankurou came around two minutes early, and Gaara came in with just enough time to spare so Baki couldn't yell at him for being late.

"Yeah. Sakura-chan doesn't show up until around the actual meeting time. Then we wait. For a long time." He kept talking in a voice that showed Temari he didn't care much about how long he had to wait. And today, he actually didn't. He was still in that lazy mood. He still didn't feel like putting on a hyperactive show. Why? Because what was the point? No matter how he acted, the villagers would still look down upon him for something he couldn't control. Not now, not ever. It wasn't his fault that the Yondiame had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him. It wasn't, it never would be. So, who was he? He didn't have the will to go on, for once in his life. Without that, who was he?

The silence fell between them, and a few minutes later, Sakura walked up to join them. It was one minute to the actual meeting time. Sakura mumbled something about having to wait and wasting daylight, as she stood next to Temari, leaning against the railing that was between them and the water.

10 seconds to meeting time. The trio wondered if the sensei would actually show up, or if they'd be waiting forever like always. They all guessed the last one; it was the most frequent. Actually, they couldn't name a time when Kakashi wasn't late.

1 second to meeting time. With a poof, a smiling Kakashi (guessed by the curves of the eyebrows) appeared in front of his team for the day. "Yo." He said, biting back an excuse for being late. Naruto and Sakura looked ready to yell out 'YOU'RE LATE'. But they stopped themselves.

Kakashi wasn't late.

"…Kakashi-sensei, is everything all right?" Asked a very concerned Sakura. Naruto could only look on in amazement and nod in agreement with Sakura. Temari just looked plain confused.

"Yes, everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?"

"…You're on time." Naruto said as if he didn't believe his own words. Kakashi's two students still were looking at Kakashi in amazement, like they hadn't ever seen him before.

"Oh, that. Well, I got up extra early this morning to make sure I made it on time. After all, we have someone else along today, it would be rude to keep her waiting."

"It's rude to keep ANYBODY waiting." Sakura pointed out. She was a bit upset that Kakashi never bothered to make it on time when it was just Sakura and Naruto, but when there was another person waiting, he made it perfectly on time. What was up with that! 'SHANNARO!' Inner Sakura roared, 'He's going to pay for being late someday!'

Kakashi began to explain the mission, but Naruto wasn't listening. He knew it was something about tracking down a ring of thieves through some villages. Kakashi and Sakura awaited Naruto's protest, but when none came, they both stared at Naruto. It took Naruto a few minutes to register the total silence, and the stares focused upon him.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to complain about the mission?" Sakura asked him, looking concernedly at the genin. The boy hadn't spoken since Kakashi had arrived, and hadn't protested on the mission. What was going on in the blonde boy's head?

"No."

"Why not?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No but—"

"But what?"

"Nevermind."

Sakura had thrown out of balance by Naruto's so simple answers. She supposed even Naruto could mature, but overnight? Something had to be wrong. What happened between yesterday and today? Maybe Sasuke was haunting Naruto as well. She really didn't blame Naruto for not being able to bring back Sasuke. It was her own fault; it was her own weakness. She hadn't been able to stop Sasuke from leaving, and she had pushed it on Naruto. If Naruto was punishing himself, it was her fault… and her fault alone.

The pink haired kuniochi rubbed her temples. She just wanted things to be the same again. She wanted Sasuke to come back home. She wanted Naruto and Sasuke to have their dumb arguments. She wanted to hear Sasuke's voice, even if it was telling her to go away or to stop bothering him. She just wanted Sasuke back at her side, and then Naruto would turn back to normal too. It all made sense.

Kakashi walked slightly behind the younger members of the team. Sakura was a medical specialist with Godaime's inhuman strength as well as high genjutsu talent. Naruto was the same as always, pushing all his opponents off with the Kage Bunshin, a plan, and his inability to admit defeat. He didn't know much about the blonde Suna kuniochi, Temari. He hadn't seen her fight since the 3rd test in the Chuunin Exam. Back then she had been strong in ninjutsu, but as Sakura proved, someone could change a lot in three years. Temari could be just as fearsome as the other two she was walking next to. This mission was going to be troublesome, the Jounin knew automatically. Why else had the Godaime wanted another Jounin to accompany them—A Suna Jounin no less?

Unlike the three around her that were laden down with thoughts about Uchiha Sasuke and the Temari's placement, Temari had only two things on her mind—Uzumaki Naruto, and the mission at hand. Temari was a straightforward person, she was more of the type that didn't like brooding on things that couldn't be helped. She didn't think about how she had been sent to assist a team of a Jounin, a Chuunin, and a Genin. She just didn't. The details of why she had been sent on the mission, at the moment, were unimportant. What was important was completing the mission successfully, and asking Gaara himself later why she had been sent. After a few moments of silence, she saw Kakashi looking at her, and all three of them seemed to be in their own little world. She sighed, she'd have to be the alert one since the rest were speculating.

She stopped suddenly when she saw something. It was just a fragment of movement, so small that she shouldn't even have had noticed it. But she had, and now that she had, she was curious—and completely alert. If it was human, it had to have been moving at that Lee guy's speed without his weights, if she remembered correctly. If that was true, then if that ninja was after them—if it even was a ninja—then they'd be in a bit of a mess.

There. Another fragment of movement. It was definitely a ninja, and it was definitely following them. At the moment, she decided that an 'act now, ask questions later' choice was definitely a good one. She took out a kunai quickly in slender fingers and threw it swiftly to where the ninja was hiding now. That drew the ninja out, and several kunai and shuriken flew towards them. Temari didn't have to even think at this point, her usual battle instincts were taking over. She opened her fan to the second star, and swung. The weaponry hovered in the air for a few moments before the wind died down, and the weapons fell down with a clank.

Sakura was immediately yanked out of her thoughts and was next to Temari, ready to fight. Kakashi had a kunai in his hand, but he seemed ready to leave the fight to the younger members of the group, probably to see what they could do. He after all, hadn't seen his two students in three years, and he hadn't seen Temari fight since the Chuunin Exam where he had entered Team Seven under his name. Naruto was just peering at where the kunai had landed. Somehow, the usual enthusiasm of fighting wasn't coming to him.

Temari was already in battle mode, and wasn't stopping. That went to show how different she had trained compared to the other two. At the moment, there was no such thing as patience or waiting for the ninja to reveal himself to them. She took out four kunai and four shuriken, four in each hand, and threw them at where the pervious weapons had come from. If he wouldn't come out as fast as Temari wanted him to, then she'd drive him out.

This is when the adrenaline of the fight finally spread through Naruto's body. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He made five of himself, and went to back up the females, who were engaging the ninja in hand-to-hand combat. Temari, who had been quite weak in taijutsu last time Kakashi had saw her fight, she was now more skilled. Obviously she had been training quite a bit, she had improved greatly since she was 15. Temari was now a bit more nimble, but she still relied on her fan as most of her power, swinging the closed form of the large solid with frightening precision.

The bunshins were maneuvering easily through the females to the ninja. When the girls had paused for a moment, to allow the bunshins to take over for a moment, to give themselves a break, the bunshins took over. The real Naruto was mixed in along the bunshins, and they started a large chain combo. One Naruto gripped the other's ankles, spinning then throwing him at the ninja. The Naruto barely missed the ninja, and swung around, landing on another bunshin, flipping in the air, throwing a kunai. The ninja dodged the kunai, but didn't see the real Naruto coming up behind. Naruto elbowed the pressure point on the back of the neck, and the ninja collapsed.

Kakashi closed his book, and looked down at the unconscious ninja, "Good job." He praised the three younger shinobi. "You took care of him easily." There was no particular hurry, so the Jounin didn't rush in pointing out that the ninja needed to be killed, not sent unconscious. He was sure that the other Jounin on the team would point this out in time, so he didn't need to mention it.

"…We should kill him." Temari said aloud. 'Right on time…' Kakashi thought, wondering how his two students would respond to her calm attitude towards the subject of killing.

"You do it." Naruto walked off, with the aura of brooding. Temari sighed, and rushed after him. And when she looked back, she'd wonder why she had done so. But after the two had left, it left Kakashi and Sakura with the job.

"Well, let's get this over with."

"What was that attitude about?" Temari questioned Naruto once she caught up to him, "If you're going to be a ninja you need to be able to—"

"Kill heartlessly?"

"Well, yeah."

"Why?"

"It's part of being a ninja. Didn't Konoha teach you that? Oh, wait. Most of your time as a ninja was during peace." She sighed, the shrugged, "Its no wonder you don't understand."

"And you do?"

"Well. Of course." She said without hesitation, "Besides that, I'm three years older than you. I have more experience with this sort of thing." As far as this Suna kuniochi was concerned, war forged outstanding ninjas. Peace forged crybaby ninjas. "You are one of the strongest shinobi I know. But yet, you're afraid to kill?"

"I never said I was afraid." Naruto snapped at her, getting defensive.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "So what are you saying? That you didn't feel like it? When you feel like killing someone, let me know." She turned and was about ready to head back to Sakura and Kakashi when she felt Naruto grip her arm.

"Don't mock me." He hissed at her. She had tore away at his confidence, bruised his pride, and deflated his ego. But yet he still couldn't feel any dislike for her… just mild anger at the fact she was mocking him. Telling him to tell her when he felt like killing someone. Just assumingthat he hadn't killed that ninja because he didn't feel like it. She didn't have the right to make these assumptions. She just didn't.

"Then grow up, crybaby." She told him, pulling away from him. But he only gripped harder.

"I'm not a crybaby."

"Then stop acting like one. Nobody's going to look after you now that Uchiha Sasuke's gone." She hit a sore spot. Naruto let go of her arm, and stared at her retreating form. It wasn't until she had left that he realized that he should have told her that nobody looked after him, not even Uchiha Sasuke. But now it was too late. The older girl had already left him in his own thoughts. All he had been able to do was stare dumbly at her.

He would not let the girl make fun of him that way. He resolved to start working harder. He'd impress her. He'd show her that he was no crybaby ninja. But there was a small voice in the back of the head that whispered to him. Told him that maybe she was right.

By the time that Temari had returned from her little confrontation with Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi had already disposed of the ninja, and were waiting for the other two to return. The pink haired kuniochi looked on curiously as Temari walked up alone, and the silver haired Jounin didn't even attempt to hold back his sigh. The two must have had a little argument, Temari looked a little pissed, and he was sure Naruto would have a change in attitude as well. He didn't think the two knew each other well, but they obviously knew each other well enough to have some sort of argument. Sakura glanced at him, wondering if she should go after the boy, but she had no need. Naruto came into view only moments later.

Temari and Naruto didn't even acknowledge each other as the group gave each other the silent signal to continue on. Temari and Naruto stayed away from each other as much as possible, only talking to each other when it was absolutely necessary. Naruto had resolved that he'd show the Jounin kuniochi. He'd prove to her that he could take care of himself, that he was no crybaby ninja. Then he'd make her admit it. Admit how she had been wrong. It would be his turn to trample over her ego.

But somehow, these thoughts didn't give him any comfort. He didn't want to hurt her in any way. She was perfect. Deadly in battle, good with words, high intelligence, and good looks to go with it all. Somehow damaging that didn't make him get any pleasure. It actually made him feel a little guilty, guilty that he was thinking of hurting her in such a way. She had done it to him, yes, but that didn't seem to deserve any sort of revenge. Even if he did do it, who said it wouldn't become a vicious cycle?

But he'd still prove to her what he was made of. He just didn't allow himself to be underestimated. Especially when compared to Sasuke. He didn't need Sasuke—he didn't need anyone to look after him. And he was determined to show it.

Kakashi sighed at Naruto and Temari. They had been avoiding each other ever since the event he had code-named 'The Quarrel'. He often tried prodding at them with questions, trying to get them to have a discussion with each other, but each attempt failed. Sakura had also noticed the tension, but took a more subtle approach and tried not to get in between them in case they decided to attack—verbally or physically, it didn't matter. Sakura just didn't want to be caught in the middle, the two shinobi were definitely vicious.

The two other shinobi, however, were stubborn. Even when they arrived at the village for unsuccessful information gathering, what ever they found, they did not talk directly to each other, they instead, focused on someone else instead. But inside of both of them, they were beginning to get annoyed at their own immature actions towards each other. Temari wondered how long they'd last before one of them cracked—or they both cracked.

Kakashi looked at the group of shinobi assembled, "From what we've gathered so far, this village has yet to be a victim of the thief ring. Has anybody found anything of great value in this village? Something worth stealing?"

Sakura raised her hand part way, and began to speak, "It all depends what's worth stealing for that particular thief." She began, "But this village is well known for it's high quality silver goods." She pointed out, "If a thief was interested in jewelry, than this would be one of their stops. Do we, by any chance, have a list of past stolen items?"

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. Sakura was efficient and observant as ever. "Yes, we do." He passed a piece of paper to Sakura, who's green eyes scanned the page at a nice pace, taking in each bit of information. There seemed to be no pattern in the things the group stole. Various weapons, jewelry, valuable minerals and stones, scrolls, art, vases, pottery, silk… the list went on and on. This was a small ring, Sakura noticed almost immediately. The locations of the items stolen were all in a general area. 'This general area.' She observed, realizing why Kakashi had took them to this village, rather than any other. She also noticed that all the thefts took place during the more relaxed days of the week—Friday, Saturday, Sunday, with an occasional other day. Tsunade had made notes of certain dates—Festivals, celebrations. Distractions.

She passed the piece of paper on to Naruto, who scanned it only for a few moments before passing it on to Temari a bit hesitantly. Temari took more time reading and connecting facts than Naruto did.

Kakashi patiently waited for the observations of the three.

Finally, Temari spoke up; "It seems to be a small ring, focused on one general area." She said, handing the paper back to Kakashi.

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Exactly what I was thinking." Kakashi looked at both of the kuniochi. They were probably doing a great job of connecting the facts…but he'd have to make the girls elaborate a little to indirectly explain it to Naruto, the boy looked confused. But Kakashi didn't get a chance.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Naruto questioned. His question was more directed at Sakura than at Temari, but Temari answered first.

"Because all the items stolen were in this general area, and there aren't many gaps between the dates." She pointed out, "This ring is uncreative and haven't been masking their tracks. They're going to get caught." She sounded totally and utterly confident that the four-man team would catch the thief ring without much trouble at all.

Kakashi smiled, "Good, good. I heard that there was a fairly large group of people camping out near the village here. Temari and Naruto, I want you to go investigate. Be thorough." He said, grinning underneath his mask. The two shinobi wanted to protest, but they didn't. Without a word, they took off, side by side.

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8 pages and two lines. I hope that's long enough. And I think this chapter was most likely very boring. Oh well. I lose at life.