EEEK. After re-reading my last chapter 8 I almost barfed. No wonder why I didn't get so many reviews! That chapter was absolutely horrid, and I apologize. I'm working on chapter 9 but I couldn't help but re-vamp this installment just because – well, just because. So I hope you can forgive me, I've changed a little bit but not much. Still the same thing… I just fluffed it out a bit and added an argument scene. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto. Not. Mine.

You're not trying hard enough,
Our lives are changing lanes
You ran me off the road,
"Reptilia" - The Strokes

Three knocks penetrated through the door.

Sasuke looked up from his position on the floor with various weapons strewn around him. He wasn't much of an arsenal guy, he definitely preferred Ninjutsu over weapons, but it didn't hurt to look over all offensive methods instead of heavily relying on one area.

The Uchiha glared at the door. He didn't remember any events that called for his assistance that day. Three knocks sounded off again.

Sighing, he pushed himself off the ground and stalked toward the entrance. With a deadpanned expression, he pulled open the door to reveal one beaming Uzumaki Naruto.

The two stared at each other contrastingly, one with both eyes closed in upside down U's and a grin so wide Konoha's two green beasts would be proud while the other with a dry stare.

A minute later, Sasuke closed the door and shut all the locks, performing a quick seal so that Naruto couldn't pop in. From behind the entrance, the Uchiha could hear the blonde's muffled complaints.

"Hey Sasuke, what are you doing?"

The prodigy walked calmly back to his spot on the living room floor when out from the wide windows, he saw a hanging Naruto banging on the glass.

"And do you always have to be such a tool?"

Glowering at the window, Sasuke strode over to the blinds and pulled them over the Kyuubi-vessel's form.

A second later, he heard the noise of a thousand objects rain down hitting his roof. Sasuke cursed colorfully.

The noise wouldn't stop and he figured the idiot was performing Kage Bunshins on his roof repeatedly. Since he was on the top floor of his apartment building, the noise from the incoming Naruto's were deafening.

Slamming a violent looking axe to the hardwood floor, he walked angrily toward the door. Jerking it open, he snarled, "What the hell do you want?"

Of course, Naruto was right in front of him glaring back with just as much force. "To get your dumb ass to woo Sakura the right way!"

Sasuke looked confusedly at the spot Naruto stood outside the entry way while the blonde jumped in. He quickly set his eyes on the gargantuan axe on the floor and picked it up excitedly. "Let's see… who do I hate?" he asked himself, looking eerily behind him at Sasuke.

Sasuke grabbed a scroll from the floor and called back the weapons. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fun sucker."

"What do you want?" The Uchiha repeated, crossing his arms and looking down at Naruto, who made himself comfortable on the couch.

"I told you," he replied, resting his left ankle on his right knee, "we just want to help you get Sakura."

His opposite looked suspiciously at him. "'We'?"

"We." Naruto confirmed, turning to the door. "Come in, guys!"

Bursting in from the unlocked doors marched Ino and Temari with food followed by an enthusiastic Kiba and Akamaru and a meek Hinata holding some drinks. Just when Sasuke thought those were all of the newcomers, Shikamaru strolled in nonchalantly with his hands behind his head and Kankuro; his attention devoted to the two Jounins beside him – Yuuhi Kurenai and Shizune - both with a bulky bag in each hand.

Sasuke looked nonplussed and turned to Naruto, pointing an accusing finger at the nins who appeared in his home. "What is this nonsense?"

Ino flung the bags of food in her hands on the kitchen counter. "This nonsense is your ticket to win forehead's heart!"

The Uchiha, anger seeping visibly through his eyes, glowered. "They know?"

"Everyone knows!" scoffed Temari, imitating Ino's actions. The girls walked over to Sasuke and stood on either side of him, inspecting his person.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Checking you out, duh." Answered Kib, hovering around food. Hinata set down the refreshments and timidly tried to pull the snacks away from Kiba's hands. "P-please save the main course for later, Kiba."

"But Hinata!" the dog boy wined.

Kurenai cut in. "Hinata nothing. Kiba, get away from the food."

The cheek-stripped shinobi stuck his tongue out at her. "You're not my sensei anymore."

"There must be something wrong with my eyes because I can't keep them off you," drawled Kankuro, hanging off Shizune's shoulder.

"KAN-KU-ROOOOO!" yelled Temari, spinning away from Sasuke and storming to her brother.

"You know, you must be tired, Shizune, 'cause you've been running through my mind alllll-,"

Before the puppet master could continue his line, Temari punched him square in the jaw with so much force he landed on the wall opposite of them. Shikamaru, centimeters near the snubbed nin, inched slowly to the left.

"My 'play' never ends-,"

Shikamaru hit him over the head before anything else escaped his mouth. "You're going to dieif you keep this up."

Sasuke growled. "As the owner of this house, I tell all of you to shut the hell up."

"And as the future Hokage I tell all of you to par-tay!" chipped in the Kyuubi-vessel, shooting up from the couch.

"Naruto, SIT DOWN!" Yelled Sasuke and Ino in unison.

Naruto recoiled and pouted. "Fine."

"Sasuke, you too."

Said shinobi turned around to give the Yamanaka girl a stone stare.

"This is my house."

"And this is my best friend we're talking about. Rumor has it that you stormed into her office during her break and chucked-the-ring-box-onto-her-desk-,"

"-I didn't chuck it-,"

"-You chucked it, dude?"

"I. Didn't. Chuck. It."

"You did what?"

"I DIDN'T CHUCK IT!"

"You're dating?" quipped Kurenai.

"No!" wailed Naruto in vain, "They're not even dating! Oh, the irony, they're NOT EVEN dating!"

"I thought we were here to help him woo her?" questioned Shizune.

"You are, but on a whole different level."

"NOT to mention," continued Ino, glaring at her interrupters, "that you didn't say anything remotely romantic to do any justice to a marriage proposal!"

"Oh my…," whispered Hinata before Kiba stepped in.

"-Marriage proposal? I just thought he was just shut down on a date!"

"Ino, shut up!" snarled Sasuke, tightening his fists.

"No I will NOT shut up! You just threw the goddamn box on the table and looked at her like it was nothing! When she didn't respond, you asked her if was stupid, or something, and if she knew what it was! Well of COURSE she knew what it was, you dumbass, she of all people would know what wedding rings are and DEFINITELY are they not suppose to be hurled across her office in the middle of the day-,"

"Calm down, Ino," Shikamaru said, coming forward to where the commotion was with two hands in front of him, trying to catch her shoulders.

"No I will NOT calm down, either, Shikamaru, GET AWAY FROM ME-!"

Sasuke breathed in and out calmly, his breath audible in the room. He clenched and unclenched his fists and finally cleared his throat. "I don't need this." He sneered coldly and started making his way out from the living room. Four steps later, he stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Wait, you guys leave. I don't need this from any of you."

"Ino," started Kurenai, "Maybe you should stop. I understand you and Sakura are good friends but perhaps the best way of helping her is to not help at all. This sort of issue is only for Sasuke and Sakura to sort out. And Sasuke," The prodigy turned to look at her, "We're only here on good intentions. Although we're not trying to interfere with your relationship, we are trying to help out one half in order to make it better for the whole. "

Ino crossed her arms over her chest while Sasuke looked away. "What do you have in mind?"

Shizune stepped up. "We bought a bunch of romantic movies to teach you how to be a better lover."

The dog trainer slinked up behind Shizune and threw a sly grin at Sasuke. "AKA We bought you some porn."

Temari promptly threw a spoon from the kitchen at Kiba's head. "We thought the first step to introducing you to the full spectrum of emotion is by having you observe others who actually have a heart. So let's pop in the movie and warm up some popcorn."

Sasuke was busy observing the DVDs in the bulky bags that Kurenai and Shizune bought. "Dirty Dancing? The Notebook?" He fished a particular DVD out from the collection. "Breakfast at Tiffany's? You expect me to watch all this?"

"Maybe not all of them, but definitely most of them!" Ino chimed in, coming next to Sasuke and digging in the bag herself. She plucked out a tiny box titled 'The Holiday.' "This one's one of my favs! We must watch this."

The Uchiha paled as the circumstances in the situation suddenly dawned upon him.

After five hours of excruciating pain for the men, the chick flick movie marathon was finally over. Kurenai had to leave abruptly in the middle of the streak to take the baby away from the babysitter's care and Shizune excitedly tagged along to see the infant. This Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Kiba, Naruto, Hinata, and one sullen and annoyed Sasuke in the apartment.

The Avenger was not so subtly telling the rest of the crew to move along already, but his friends had other plans.

Ino pulled herself toward the armchair Sasuke currently occupied and stood domineeringly over him. She placed two hands on her hips and unconsciously puffed out her chest.

"Okay, pretend I'm Sakura and ask me out on a date."

The room quieted down and focused their attention on the pair. Sasuke directed his patented glare of death upon the Yamanaka girl but she seemed unaffected.

"I don't need to ask her out on date."

A sarcastic laugh escaped from the blonde girl's mouth. "Eh, I don't think this is an option for you. Not only are you going to take her out on one date, but you are going to take her out on a great number of dates before you even think of popping the question again."

Ino continued her lecture while Sasuke crossed his arms defensively. "In this day in age men are going to have to do a lot more chasing and a lot less bitching to get the girl. Now, pretend like I'm Sakura and ask me out on a date."

"Couldn't we just ship them off to Sin City drunk with a package of porn and watch as the magic happens? I think it'd save us from a bunch of grief," chimed in Kiba.

Naruto rolled his eyes in an undignified fashion. "Kiba, not everything can be solved by porn and alcohol."

Kiba was about to speak when Ino threw the closest thing beside her – Sasuke's remote.

"My remote," scowled Sasuke.

"My head! Give it up already, will you guys?" yelped Kiba.

Shikamaru spoke up. "Actually, that might actually work-," Ino shot him a grim look and the spiky haired strategist immediately shut up.

"Oh I'm sorry," Ino began, "Was I under the impression that Sasuke actually cared for Sakura? Silly me."

"He does!" yelled Naruto, fisting the air. He was looking intensely at Sasuke, who just adverted his gaze.

Ino did the bitch stance again and glared at Sasuke. "If he does, than why doesn't he say so?"

Everyone looked at the ex-missing nin expectantly, hoping for a positive answer.

"I do care for her," he said silently, almost in defeat. Ino grinned triumphantly. She took advantage at his stabbed ego and prodded on.

"That's a start. Now, repeat those five words in your head so next time you use that line you don't need seven other shinobis in the room forcing you to." The pony tailed girl called over her shoulder, "Hinata! Bring me the comb and hair gel!"

Sasuke instantly clenched his teeth and turned on the glare of death at the other occupants in the room, especially at Ino. "What?"

"I don't hear you chanting!" sang Ino, as the rest of the occupants shrank further away from the pair. The blonde was really pushing her luck with the short fused flame user. "While you're practicing, I'm going to do something with that op of a hair you have…,"

Sasuke looked like he was about to explode with verbal and physical attacks. He gripped his fists so hard his arm was shaking. Naruto was ready to step out in front of Ino when suddenly his best friend walked brusquely past everyone and out the door without another word said.

The younger Uchiha stood with his back facing the outer entrance to his apartment complex, his index finger and thumb pinching the bridge of his nose. He sucked in a deep breath of air before sensing Hinata and Naruto tumbling out the door. The duo ran in front of Sasuke to face him.

"H-Hey teme, where are you going?" panted Naruto, slightly afraid of what he was going to hear.

His counterpart exhaled fast. "The liquor store, Naruto. I'm going to take Kiba's advice."

The look on both Naruto and Hinata's faces were pure shock and manic. They both knew how narrow Sasuke's tunnel vision became when he had his mind set on something.

"Oh shit…," Naruto said to himself. "Sasuke, y-you realize that was a joke, right?"

The other shinobi rolled his eyes. "You also realize what I said was a joke, right?"

The Rasengan user slapped his forehead before dragging his hand through his spiky locks. He gave his friend the most incredulous look. "Sasuke Uchiha…jokes?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a deadpanned expression when suddenly, Hinata interjected. "She's been in love with you for years!"

Sasuke turned his attention to the Hyuuga heiress. "Love?" The word sounded foreign and meaningless coming from him.

"E-Ever since I me-met you guys, I could see the feelings she has for you," explained Hinata, toying with the hem of her shirt. She didn't meet is eyes, but kept her gaze at the ground.

"She stayed devoted to you for the entire time you left the vi-village and she fought so hard to clear your name. I remember all the times I sat across from her at the village high counsel meetings with the Godaime, my father, and the other patriarchs of the Leaf's clans and she would always defend you."

It was Sasuke's turn to shift his gaze at the floor. "She didn't need to do that."

"She wanted to do that – for you and for herself. She wanted you to come back."

The Uchiha pressed his lips into a thin line before asking quietly, "Then why didn't she accept my proposal?"

"Don't you think marriage is a little… abrupt?" interrupted Naruto, hands emphasizing his words.

"You would know a lot about being abrupt, huh, Naruto?" sneered Sasuke while his friend growled.

Hinata sneaked a peak at Sasuke through her dark lashes. "How… How much do you actually know about Sakura?"

Sasuke and Naruto broke their heated glares at each other and looked at Hinata. The dark haired boy frowned. "I've known her for the past ten years; we practically grew up together. I'm pretty sure I know a lot about her."

It was Naruto's turn to grill the victim. "She doesn't mean knowing Sakura's battle stances, her strengths and weaknesses in battle, or her techniques. What about the other things that make her human? Do you know what's her favorite color? What about her favorite food? What does she do when she's not busy saving lives at the hospital?" With each question, Sasuke's face became more and more unreadable.

"Do you know all that?" Sasuke asked defensively.

"Actually yeah, I do - and a lot more. The past ten years I haven't just been ignoring her, because what that girl has to say is actually worth hearing. What were you doing?" Naruto accused.

"I…," Sasuke started, thinking back, "I guess I was busy completing missions with you guys beside me. I was busy protecting her."

"Sakura doesn't need protecting," said Hinata, quietly. "She needs someone to care about her wellbeing emotionally and spiritually. Training with Tsunade really matured her throughout the years. I'm not sure if you noticed it while you were… away…," the heiress fingered the loose string on her shirt, "but day by day she started building this wall around her. She puts on a front and is forced either by her profession or by herself to ask people what's wrong with them instead of ever asking herself what's wrong."

"What do you think I should do?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto slapped a hand on Sasuke's shoulders and shook him for good measure. "Get to know her. Build an actual relationship with her. If you don't even know anything about the mask she puts on, you really don't deserve her."

"She's been following me for almost ten years. Ten years! How could she not accept?" barked Sasuke, fingers massaging the bridge of his nose. His way of completing the mission was a lot more complicated than it seemed.

Something must have struck a nerve in Naruto. His rage started ascending and Hinata and Sasuke could see the whiskers grow on the Kyuubi boy's tan face.

"What is WRONG with you?" Naruto cried in vain, lunging forward to tackle Sasuke on the ground. Hinata gasped and moved backward, away from the flailing limbs.

"I don't love her!" yelled Sasuke, throwing a chakra infused fist in the general direction of Naruto's face. The blonde pushed away from Sasuke just in time for the Uchiha to connect his fist to the ground. Cracks immediately appeared on the sidewalk.

"God damn it, if you keep telling me that, I just might believe it!" The two were tangled again on the ground fighting for the upper hand.

"You do love her!" insisted Hinata, stammering put aside. "Both of you, stop it right now!"

Naruto froze and his friend silently obeyed. The three stood in a triangle around each other while the two men were engaged in a fierce glaring war.

It was ten after five when Sakura walked out of the Hospital. She looked around the main street.

There weren't much people out, probably all at home or at a restaurant eating dinner. The peach sun was touching down on the horizon, giving way to the cobalt evening sky. The damage the fight created left marks here and there on the streets, but other than that, the citizens repaired the buildings pretty well.

Sakura pulled her sweater a little closer to her as a gust of wind picked up. It gave her a little extra push down the street as she made her way to Tsunade's office.

"Tsunade?"

The elder woman rose from her slumber immediately and absent mindedly rubbed her eyes. She took a swig of the jug of water next to her (sake was right next to it) and shuffled a stack of papers before pausing mid action.

"Sakura?"

The Godaime's office door opened and in stepped her apprentice.

"What's up?" The older woman asked.

Sakura looked around and stepped toward the chairs in front of her sensei's desk. She smiled as she sat down.

"…Hi." she began.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her and crossed her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I want you to dismiss Sasuke from protecting me."

The blonde sat back in her chair. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Sakura stressed the word mean, "I don't want you assigning him this mission to be my bodyguard. I don't want him around me anymore." The girl voiced her words clearly, but they were obviously forced.

"But… why?"

Sakura ignored the simple question. "If you care for me at all as a student, Tsunade, you'll do this for me. Please."

Tsunade could see the desperateness in Sakura's eyes. "You still haven't answered my question. Aren't you two… friends?"

"No!" The girl roared. "No, we're NOT friends! PLEASE, Tsunade, I can't do this! I can't keep on having him around me! I. Will. Go. Insane." Sakura punctuated each word slapping the back of her hand into the palm of the other one.

There was a silence.

"I'm perfectly content with anyone else you want to put me up with, I swear!" she went on, "I work well with Naruto - I always have. Lee is a sweetheart and a great fighter, you know that! A-And Neji! He's one of the best! And what about Kakashi? He fought against Itachi before!"

Tsunade watched in sympathy as Sakura rambled off a dozen other names.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?"

Sakura pushed away from the desk. "NO! Yes? Agh, God, I don't even know! I just know I can't be near him; please, just get him away from me!" she whined, all of a sudden sounding like a little girl.

"Oh, Sakura…,"

"Please, do NOT, do NOT torture me, Tsunade. I need to figure some things out for myself first. I can't let him come into my life and screw everything up again. What I need now isn't to be confused over emotions. Konoha's in trouble, and I have to be strong as a kunoichi. If Sasuke is going to endanger all that, why would you risk it?" she spoke faster as she continued.

"You know he's one of the best ANBU's out there-,"

"Yes, and so is Naruto, Kakashi, and Lee! Do you see the difference here? I'M FRIENDS WITH THEM! They care for me! I work well with them! I can list you a thousand different reasons why it would be so much easier to pair me up with them and not Sasuke, but the point is please don't let him get anywhere close to me, please-,"

"-But Sasuke does care about you-"

Sakura laughed hysterically, "Oh my God, Tsunade, don't tell me that. That is the biggest-," she rolled her eyes up to look for the words she wanted, "-load of shit I have heard ALL day. I don't want him near me. Please don't let him be." she begged.

Tsunade studied the girl in front of her. "You're scared of him, aren't you?"

Sakura stopped her tirade and inhaled deeply. "Yes," she confessed.

"You're scared you're going to fall in love with him and he'll let you down. Again."

"Yes." she confessed again, head in hands now.

"Sakura, you know feelings have no role in getting you out of harms way-,"

"I know, but PLEASE, Tsunade! Do this for me as a favor. You've had your heart broken before. You know how bad it is. Please, please save me from having to endure that again-," and with that, Sakura started sobbing.

The Sannin frowned and got up from her chair. She walked over to her student and took her in her arms, stroking her hair gently. This only made Sakura cry harder.

"I hate being at the mercy of my emotions. People have always called me weak because of them, and trust me, I'm trying to find ways to shut them off! That's why I don't want to be near Sasuke. I'm trying, I swear I'm trying!"

"It's okay, shh, I know you're trying…," soothed Tsunade. She leaned in even closer and hugged the crying girl, her chest tightened a little as she remembered the tears she spilled over a broken heart. "I'll see what I can do."

Sakura seemed to calm down a little after the promise. She breathed in deep and patted her chest a little, trying to regain her breath. She wiped the remaining tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Thank you."

Tsunade smiled back and tucked a pink strand of hair behind her ear. "Cheer up. The worst isn't even coming. We'll figure out something…,"

Sakura nodded and hiccuped, stepping back to give her teacher a look of deep appreciation.

"Gaara's here in Konoha." Tsunade stated.

The green eyed girl failed to see the relevance of the fact. "Oh?"

"Things have been hectic lately, and unfortunately, not a lot of people are free to entertain him. I was suppose to go out to dinner with him tomorrow night to talk over a few things, but obviously, I can't afford free time. Can you take my place?"

Sakura laughed. "Me and Gaara? Like on… a date?"

Tsunade shrugged. "What's the harm in that?"

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