Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did then Itachi and Jiraiya would both still be alive.

Prelude

Autumn wind blew across the city of Konoha. It was late, dark clouds blanketed the sky. Thunder boomed through the air to warn the inhabitants of the village the incoming rain. The handful of people that were outdoors rushed for cover so as to beat the rain.

Naruto stood at the entrance down an alley, his hands clinched tightly and his brow narrowed in frustration. "Sakura-chan… why?" He spoke.

Sakura stared at her feet. Replacing the usual strong woman was a frail teenager, shivering from her shot nerves, "I… I'm sorry Naruto."

"But what about all that time we spent together? Don't those memories mean anything to you? What about me?" He argued passionately while trying to fight the tears back.

"My heart… my heart belongs to Sasuke-kun. We had good times, and I…I do love you. But…" Sakura spoke as her hand reached out and grasped Sasuke's. Her fingers tightened their hold on his to reassure her decision.

The Uchiha heir remained aloof to the situation at hand. He noticed that she kept glancing his direction, as if to signal for him to confirm what they were doing and reassure her it was the right thing. He didn't care though. His desires were being fulfilled and that was all that mattered. He would let Sakura and Naruto emotionally tear each other down; that is unless his goal was being threatened.

"What about my heart?" Naruto slammed his closed hand against the brick wall.

"I…I…" Sakura stuttered. If there was one thing she ever had trouble dealing with, it was an emotional Naruto.

"I bled. I sweat. I trained for years to bring Sasuke back. Not for me, but for you! As time moved on things began to change around us. I felt that we were getting closer. Is all that a lie? Were the emotions behind that kiss you gave me fake?" Tears dropped as he brought up that memory. For once in his life he felt helpless.

Rain drops hit the ground as Sakura looked across the alley at the breaking blond. She watched as he shook emotionally. "No…" She remembered the night she kissed him. Naruto was upset because he failed to convince Madara to stop his plans peacefully and was forced to kill the powerful Uchiha. The fight had shown her just how precious he was to her, and with the kind of enemies he fought against, his time on the planet could be cut short at any moment. She gave into her emotions that night but she had never imagined it coming back on her like this.

"That kiss wasn't fake. Everything I meant was true." Sakura spoke softly. Naruto was loosing it. Every tear he shed, every pulsing pain in his heart, everything. She felt it. She knew she held his heart in her hands, but never did she imagined it was like this.

"Then call off the wedding. Sasuke-teme is just using you. He said it himself. Once Uchiha Itachi was dead, he planned on resurrecting his clan." Naruto opened his hand and then closed it again, scraping his demonic nails against the brick wall unconsciously.

Sakura shook her head, "He may not be as expressive as you, Naruto, but his feelings for me are true."

"How can you be so sure? Does he ever say "I love you"? Does he walk beside you and listen to your opinions? Does he comfort you when your sad? DID HE CHOOSE TO STAY WITH YOU INSTEAD OF RUNNING TO OROCHIMARU?" Naruto yelled out the last part, his voice cracking under the words.

"I…I…" Sakura took a step back from his words. His words hit home. She'd be the first admit that things were like that once. But now… "Your wrong Naruto. Sasuke-kun is different now. He's change. He's become…" She took a step back as is words had physically struck her.

Sasuke looked at Sakura then turned his head back toward Naruto. The uncertainty on his fiancé's face brought a scowl to his face. "I find it ironic on how you call yourself a friend. Friends are happy for their friends." His words laced with venom as dark eyes gazed into blue eyes.

A silent battle of wills began to take place as both refused to break eye contact. "Happy? If she found someone else other than me, it'd hurt, but…" Naruto's hissed venomously, "But your not that someone else! You're just using her for your own selfish ends!"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out. Both males immediately looked in her direction, "If you can't accept us. Then don't come to the wedding." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a white envelope with silvery writing. With a breaking heart she held it up so he could see and ripped it in two.

"Sakura-chan… you… you can't be serious." Naruto stepped back in disbelief, shaking his head as if denying the reality would change everything.

"I… I want you out of my life!" Sakura took a step forward. "As a jinchūriki I figured you would understand the most at how people deserve happiness. But now…" she hesitated with her words. It was killing her at what she was doing, but she inwardly believed it was for the best. "Now I understand just how you really are. A jinchūriki could never understand matters of the human heart. Leave!"

Sasuke smirked at her choice of words. Naruto stood there with his mouth hung open. His eyes flashing red and blue violently as pain and anger fought for control of his heart. Naruto never thought it was possible to feel two extreme emotions at once… until tonight.

"Did you not hear her? Leave us jinchūriki. We don't want to see you in our presence again." Sasuke shouted and threw a kunai in front of a Naruto to emphasis his point.

"Arg!" Naruto shouted in frustration and quickly turned around. His hand shot up mid turn and left a vicious gash in the wall. "Sakura… if that is what you want…" The tears stung his eyes as he forced himself to choke out his words, "Teme, keep her happy. It's all I ask."

Sakura watched as his disappeared from sight, catching the chan honorific missing from her name. "God, Sasuke-kun, what have I done?" She dropped to her knees in a heavy sob.

XX

Naruto's shoulders drooped as he hung his head low in defeat. His eyes darkened with sadness and dragged his feet down the sidewalk. His clothes were wet, his body was shaking from the cold and he felt like shit. This was the worst day of his life.

A hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Instinctively Naruto spun around with his left hand balled into a fist, ready to pound his would-be attacker. His eyes came across platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes and his raised fist dropped to his side limply. Standing in front of him was Ino and she clearly looked upset.

"Naruto… I'm sorry." She whispered.

"So you heard?" Naruto turned his gaze away from her, seemingly finding the bottom of the lamppost near them more interesting.

"I didn't mean to overhear it. Just the shop was nearby and I had to work late to make some floral arrangements. I was on my way home when I heard shouting." She admitted to him.

"How much did you hear?" He questioned. Her expression told him everything.

Ino felt her cheeks go red. She felt ashamed from hearing that private conversation, but no one, least of all Naruto, deserved to have that happen to them. "I'm so sorry Naruto. I didn't mean to… I…"

The jinchūriki shook his head, "No. It's okay. What's been done is done. If you heard everything then you probably heard what I am."

Ino knew what a jinchūriki was. There was a rumor that a jinchūriki had resided in Konoha. She just never imagined that it was Naruto.

"If you want to run away from me, that's fine. I wouldn't blame you." He turned away from her and slowly began to walk away. He kicked a nearby can as his hands found their way into his pockets.

Ino closed her eyes, the words clung to her heart like a vice. The Naruto before her was a shell of his formal self, an image she recognized from her own father when her mother had left them. She refused to let Naruto experience the same turmoil her father did.

Soft hands wrapped around Naruto's waist bringing him to a sudden halt. He blinked in confusion until he realized what had just taken place. A warm body pressed against his back, "Your not going home tonight." Came a feminine voice he recognized.

"Ino…" He grabbed her left hand and gently turned to face her. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were puffy and red. Tears were falling down but he put on a strong front, "I'm fine Ino… I'm…"

"Naruto. It's okay… for once you can just let it all go. You have me with you." She whispered softly as her right hand went up to his whiskered scarred cheek and caressed it gently.

"Ino… I…" He felt unsure what to say as he fought back the sobs. "I'm… I'm…fi…"

He dropped to his knees as the dam holding back his pain burst. Ino dropped with him and grabbed the back of his head, pressing his head into her chest. His hands snaked around her and cling to the hem of her skirt as he were holding onto his heart. "Why? Why does it hurt so much?" She could barely hear his muffled sobs over the rain.

"Sakura, you idiot." Ino bit her lip trying to fight back the raging emotions building inside of her.