Authors Note: So, I don't know why I do this to myself. ::sighs:: Oh well, I'm my own worst enemy, I suppose. Here is the second chapter to What Hurts the Most as so many of you adoring fans have begged me. I wasn't planning on writing this, but I hate to leave things unfinished.

I hope you all enjoy!!

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What Hurts the Most
Chapter Two: Five Years Later

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"How long has it been since we were all able to get together like this?"

"I'm not for sure. It seems like years to me."

"We've just all been so busy with our lives that it's hard to get away from the house."

"I think it's mostly our husbands keeping us at home so they aren't stuck with house cleaning and babysitting duty."

Haruno Sakura laughed at her friend's statement. It was true, though. It did seem like many years had passed since the four Konoha Kunoichi were able to gather in one place. She was twenty years old now. Her bubblegum colored hair reached the top of her shoulders and her emerald eyes never lost their fiery spark. In fact, it seemed as though the fire in her eyes had become brighter ever since she started studying under the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade-hime, also renowed as one of the Densetsu no Sannin. Since Uchiha Sasuke left the village five years ago, everyone's lives had moved on and the Konoha 11 all had families now.

"Really, Tenten, don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

"No," Hyuuga Tenten sipped her tea quietly from her place across from Sakura. The twenty-one year old ANBU specialist had married into the Hyuuga clan five years ago. Nothing had changed about her. She still kept her hair styled in the two traditional, Chinese buns and she never went anywhere without a weapon or two. The only thing that had changed about her was her personality. She wasn't as reserved as she had been five years ago. Tenten had mostly kept to herself in the old days. Now, the three kunoichi in front of her were her best friends and most confident cohorts.

"I think Neji-niisan is a good father, Tenten," Uzumaki Hinata said as she turned to look at her friend. Hinata and the current Hokage in-training, Uzumaki Naruto, married four years ago. Hinata relinquished her position as heir to her younger sister, Hyuuga Hanabi, three years ago after she had her first child. As wife to the future Rokudaime Hokage, Hinata couldn't possibly run the Hyuuga house while helping Naruto, raising her children, and being a member of ANBU. In the past five years, the twenty year old had let her hair grow to the point it almost reached her calf muscles. She currently resided in the Hokage tower with Naruto.

"I know he's a good father, Hinata. As a matter of fact, he's a wonderful and doting father, but the last time I left him alone with the twins was barely for six hours and when I returned home he practically begged me, in his own Neji way, to never leave him by himself with them again."

"Despite what you all may think, Shikamaru loves being at home with Kado by himself," Nara Ino laughed behind her hand at the fond memories. The blonde had come to terms with her feelings for the lazy, cloud gazer around the time Naruto and Hinata got together. Four years had passed since then and Ino was living a quiet life at home. She was content with her life as a mother and a wife. Her hair was, by far, the longest since it reached to her ankles. She had debated on getting it cut since her son enjoyed using it as a method to climb on, or to swing, or to tie in a knot while she was asleep.

"Now that we're past that, on to more pressing matters, girls," Sakura sat her cup down and looked at Tenten. "Have you heard from Lee?"

"Of course," Tenten replied. "Mai is growing every day, he says. She's four now, I believe."

Hinata folded her hands in her lap, "I didn't even know he had gotten married."

"I didn't think any of us did. Apparently, he had gone out for a mission and, next thing I know, he comes strolling in with a bride. Miyu is good for Lee, though. She keeps him grounded," The Chinese brunette smiled.

"What about your teammates, Hinata?"

The bluenette turned to Ino, "Kiba-kun and Shino-kun? I heard from Shino-kun that Kiba-kun's wife is gravely ill. They don't know if she will make it through the winter or not."

Sakura looked down at her tea, "Genbu Mahiro is very ill. Tsunade-sama says that she will do all she can for Mahiro-san, but it looks like there isn't much she can do. Kiba has a daughter with her, doesn't he?"

"Yes. Her name is Emiko. She'll turn four this coming spring. I pray every day for Mahiro-san's health to improve. Kiba-kun loves her dearly."

Tenten put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "What about Shino?"

"Shino-kun's son will turn four next week. Shinya is a dear. He enjoys playing with Hanami and Emiko."

Ino tapped her chin in thought, "He married a girl from Lightning Country, didn't he? What was her name?"

Hinata smiled, "Miyazawa Julin. It was love at first site for him, apparently, when he stumbled across her observing a butterfly in its natural habitat."

"He's the only person who would find bugs a turn on," Tenten stuck out her tongue in slight disgust before she laughed.

Sakura turned to Ino, "How is Chouji?"

"He married Takeshi Maho, has two kids, and loves it," the blonde responded quickly. "His daughter and son, Michio and Chokichi, are ten months apart. Michio's four and Chokichi will be four in two months."

"I heard Chouji's affair with Maho was the biggest scandal in Konoha since Jiraya-sama and Tsunade-sama ran off and married shortly after she found out she was pregnant," Tenten leaned back in her seat and put her hands behind her head. "Maho was engaged to the daimyo's grandson, wasn't she?"

Hinata nodded, "That is what I heard from father. Several charges were going to be pressed against the Akimichi clan, but they were dropped due to the daimyo's grandson forgiveness of the affair."

"From what I can tell about Maho, she can out eat anyone in the Akimichi family and can hold her own against Chouji. More importantly, she loves Chouji. She's a great med nin. Tsunade-sama recently offered her a full time staff job at the hospital," Sakura had been slightly disappointed when Tsunade had shown the other young woman so much respect in such a short amount of time, but the pink haired kunoichi knew that, when it came down to it, Tsunade always supported her in everything.

"It amazes me, ladies, that it's already been five years since Sasu--" Ino stopped herself short. Talking about Sasuke was always a touchy subject in front of Sakura.

Said woman held up a hand, smiling softly, "I've come to terms with the past. After all, it has been five years and I'm reminded of it every day."

Tenten put her chair back down on all four legs, "How is the little squirt?"

Just as Sakura opened her mouth, the door to her apartment almost flew off the hinges as a black and pink blur came bounding into the house and right up to Sakura.

"Mama, can I go and--"

"Have you forgotten your manners, sweetie? We have guests in the house," Sakura said calmly as she smiled.

"Oh!" The young child turned to the three women in the room and smiled, bowing politely, "Konbanwa, minna-san!"

The three bowed their heads respectively, "Konbanwa, Kimi-chan."

"Now, what's your question?" Sakura focused all of her attention on her daughter.

Kimi cleared her throat, "May I go out and play with Keiji-kun and Hanami-chan?"

"Hmm," The med nin tapped her chin, looking up towards the ceiling before looking back down at her daughter, "if you clean your room before you go, I suppose so. But you better check and make sure that Keiji and Hanami are allowed to play." At that, she directed her attention towards Hinata and Tenten.

The Rokudaime's wife smiled brightly, "If Hanami is finished with her duties then she may play."

"Same goes for Keiji, Kimi-chan," Tenten reached over and rubbed the young girl's head.

Kimi smiled brightly before bowing to Tenten and Hinata, "Arigatou, Tenten-san, Hinata-san!" With that, she ran off to the back of the apartment at light speed.

"She looks more and more like Sasuke-kun every time I see her," Ino said somberly.

Sakura smiled, "Yes, and she's smart like him too. Not a day goes by that I don't see more of him in Kimi."

"Well, she does have your hair! Well, her bangs at any rate," Tenten stated. "And she acts like you too. I don't ever remember Sasuke being hyper like she is."

It was true, Sakura thought. Every bit of Kimi's hair was black, except for the bangs that came down to her chin, framing her face-they were as pink as her own hair. Kimi's eyes were just as black as Sasuke's with an added green ring around the pupil and iris. And the kid was smart! As a matter of fact, the five year old was brilliant. So brilliant that everyone was already talking that she would graduate the academy before the age of ten.

Sakura was quick to change the subject. Even though five years had passed since her one night with Sasuke, she still didn't like to speak or think about it for prolonged periods of time. Despite the wound in her heart being old, it was reopened every day when she looked at her daughter.

"Well, enough about my child. What about you guys?"

The brunette raised her eyebrows, "Neji's personality is starting to come out in Keiji every day. He activated his Byakugan for the first time two weeks ago and the commotion hasn't stopped since. He's on top of things just as quick as Neji is. Leiko is just the opposite. When she gets home, she wants everyone to know right then that she's home and not a minute later. Neji dotes on her, though. She feels inferior to her brother since she hasn't activated her Byakugan yet. He sees that and tries to encourage her as best he can. I do too, of course."

Hinata was up next, "Hanami-chan is doing just as well as Naruto. She's taken an affinity for ramen and wants to eat that for every meal of the day. As you all may know, she can't use the Byakugan, but she claims it doesn't bother her. She'll 'find her own strength', as she says. Kaori-chan is a year old now. He took his first steps by himself and Naruto-kun was so excited he wanted to throw a party. Despite how much he pouted, I refused."

When Hinata stopped, Ino was next to speak, "Kado enjoys sleeping in most of the day. When he's awake, it's almost like I have a tornado going around my house. He's so hyper it's unbelievable. Papa told me that I was that way when I was young, but that I eventually grew out of it. When Shikamaru is at home, Kado is like an attachment to him. He goes everywhere with his dad. Shikamaru taught him the basic's of shogi last week. He immediately regretted it when Kado beat him. In the end, I think he was proud though."

The kunoichi's laughed and talked for another ten minutes before Tenten stood, claiming that she needed to get home since she knew that Keiji and Leiko would be there waiting for her. Hinata and Ino soon followed after bidding Sakura goodbye and promised that they would all meet up again soon.

After she shut the door, Sakura stood in the foyer of her apartment for several minutes just listening to the clock on the wall tick. Even though it had only been five years, time seemed to be going by quicker every day. Kimi was growing up; she'd be six next fall. And Sakura knew that with age Kimi would start to question the thing she feared most: her paternal heritage. Certain measures had already been taken by Sakura to ensure that Kimi would find about her Uchiha lineage when she felt she was ready. Thusly, the child take her surname of Haruno instead of that of her father's.

Sakura was apprehensive about telling Kimi of Sasuke. She wanted her daughter to know that her father was a loving and caring man, but, at the same time, how could she explain that to a child that a loving man would leave his family behind to seek revenge and power for the destruction of his clan? She would like to think that Kimi would understand, but, seeing how her daughter's personality was molding into Sasuke's with each passing year, she doubted that it would ride of smoothly. Then, there was the Sharingan.

Even though the child was only half Uchiha, there was still a possibility that Kimi would still be able to activate the kekkai genkai of the Uchiha clan. Having already foreseen this, Sakura had went and spoken with her old team captain, Hatake Kakashi, about the possibilities of Kimi one day activating the Sharingan. He spoke promising yet despairingly to her that day, but he agreed that if it did happen that he would personally train Kimi to use her eyes as much as he could; yet, he would drill into her that she would only be allowed to use them under dire circumstances.

As Sakura turned to go back into the kitchen, Kimi came bounding into the room with a new set of clothes on. The pink haired kunoichi couldn't help but suppress a giggle. She might have been only five, but Kimi already knew the difference between 'school clothes' and 'play clothes'.

The young child looked around quizzically, "Where did everyone go, mama?"

"They went home to their families, honey. Did you clean your room like I asked?"

"Hai!" Kimi said enthusiastically. "May I go out and play now?"

"Yes, you may, but before you go," Sakura sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and patted her lap, "come and talk to mama for a minute."

Kimi was hesitant at first, but then made her way to her mother and climbed up in her lap, "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

"No, no. You're not in trouble," she wrapped her arms around her daughter lovingly. "You know mama loves you with all her heart, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And you know that if you ever need anything that mama will always be here to give you what you want."

"Uh, yes." The child was starting to look a bit confused.

"I'll protect you from anyone or anything that tries to hurt you, Kimi-chan. You're my pride and joy and I love you very much."

Kimi smiled up at her mother, "You're silly, mama."

"I just wanted you to know that," Sakura smiled sadly as she tried not to let her tears fall, "I'll always be here for you no matter what happens. You can always count on me for anything."

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Kimi kissed her mother's cheek gently, "Don't cry, mama. I love you and I don't like to see you cry."

"I know, honey. And I love you too. It's just that, well, mama is sad."

"Don't be sad! Sad is bad!" The little girl wrapped her pudgy arms around her mother's neck. "You have me, mama! You shouldn't be sad! I'll always be with you no matter what too!"

"Kimi-chan…" Sakura held her daughter as close to her as she possibly could. The few tears she tried to hold back mixed into the material of Kimi's clothes before they dots vanished. Several minutes passed between the two before Kimi pulled away from Sakura, placing another kiss on her cheek.

"May I go and play now, mama? The sun will go away soon and Keiji-kun and Hanami-chan aren't allowed to be out after dark."

"As long as you promise to be and washed up before supper."

"Hai!" Kimi hugged her mother quickly before jumping off her lap and going out the door to join her friends.

Sakura stood and walked towards the window to watch as Kimi carefully went down the steps of their home and into the crowd of people. She stayed there for several minutes before she wiped her tears away and began cooking supper.

In the back of her mind, Sakura knew that the coming years would be hard on her and Kimi, but she also knew that she wouldn't be alone in her times of strife. She had many friends and she had her beloved daughter. Kimi would grow and become a splendid shinobi and a beautiful woman. She'll become more powerful than Sakura had ever dreamed of becoming. She'll make friends and allies and, hopefully, marry a wonderful young man.

Most importantly, Haruno Sakura wished with all of her heart that where ever he was, Uchiha Sasuke would some day find out about Kimi. How he would know of her she didn't know nor did she care. She just wanted him to know she existed.

And when he did hear of her, Sasuke would smile just like Sakura did the first time she held the baby in her arms.

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FIN

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AN: Well, I think that put a good ending on this story, what do you say? I know what you're all gonna say! "You should write a sequel!"

…and I've already started on it.

I will NOT promise how soon it will be released, but I WILL start on the next set of stories. I don't know how and I don't know when, but I will. And to give you all a heads up, I'll give you all the title of the next story:

Bloodlines: Book 1: The Awakening

I'm sure it's not hard to figure out what it'll be about with that kind of title. ¬.¬ So, will you all join me in the first book of three with Haruno Kimi and the others on their long journey to seek out Uchiha Sasuke?

I hope you all said "yes" because, if not, I won't write it. …I'm kidding, alright?

£ Solitude Whispers £

:: For those of you who would like to see how Neji and Tenten came to be, copy and place this URL and go find out! The story needs more reviews::

http://wwwDOTfanfictionDOTnet/s/3927415/1/Gomennasai