Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warnings: All the usual, as well as heavy violence.

Chapter 19

Sasuke sat beside his daughter's crib in his room, staring at her as she slept. She was a thing of wonder, so small and fragile, and he couldn't help but love every little think about her. She had come home a few weeks ago, and Sasuke had barely been able to tear himself away from her. He would watch her for hours, marvelling at every movement, and every cry.

Unfortunately not everyone was as in love with Yuki as Sasuke was. Since she had been brought home, Naruto had begun pulling away from Sasuke. At first he would be there every afternoon after college, but the visits were becoming more and more infrequent, and more often than not Naruto would simply stand there with a stoic expression, and he had avoided any contact with Yuki. Sasuke couldn't understand why Naruto was doing this, but every time he had tried asking Naruto would simply shrug and tell him he was imagining it. Kiba and Hinata, who were usually there too, scowled at Naruto each time, but they were at a loss for what to do about the situation. Sasuke sighed to himself, pulling Yuki's blanket back up her small body after it had slipped off. There was a very faint knock on the door, and Sasuke's heart leapt, thinking that Naruto was there, but when he looked up he saw only Tsume.

"It's lunch time." She told him in a low whisper. "Come on."

"But…" Sasuke protested, looking at Yuki.

"She's asleep, Sasuke." Tsume said patiently. "Leave her to rest, and come eat something. You spend far too much time here, and she's going to become too dependent on that. We'll hear her if she wakes up, don't worry."

Sasuke gave a grudging nod and stood , careful not to make a sound, and followed her from the room.

"Have you given any thought to going back to college?" Tsume asked casually.

Sasuke froze. "No. I don't want to go back. It's pointless, anyway. The year is nearly over, and I'm not going to get a passing grade, so I'll have to go back next year and re-do the year."

"Didn't the Dean, Sarutobi, say that you could catch up the work to get your passing grade?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah, he did. But let's face it, that's not going to happen. I'm too distracted."

For a few minutes he ate in silence, before turning back to Tsume. "Is Naruto coming over for the weekend?"

Since it was a Friday, Tsume would be picking up Kiba and Hinata and bringing them home.

Tsume looked at Sasuke with a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I don't know, Sasuke. I haven't heard anything from Kiba. But Naruto knows he's always welcome here."

Sasuke snorted. "He barely comes around anymore. And when he does, he doesn't talk to me. I don't know what his problem is these days."

Tsume shook her head. "Can you really not tell? He's jealous, Sasuke. You're devoting all of your attention to Yuki, and barely even looking at him when you speak. Before Yuki was born Naruto was the centre of your universe, and now suddenly he's just a side show. You don't make time for him anymore, and it's hurting him. I think that's why he wants you to go back to college so badly, so he'll at least have you for a little while each day."

Sasuke's brow furrowed in thought. "He said that? When?"

"Last time he was here. He asked me to talk to you about going back to college. Look, I know what it's like to be a new parent, but you can't throw everyone else away either. You need to find time for your friends and your boyfriend."

Sasuke sighed. "I know. I'll call Naruto in a bit and ask him to come here for the weekend so we can talk. Would you mind looking after Yuki?"

Tsume smiled. "Of course not. I love her too, you know."

Sasuke nodded and finished his lunch. Setting the empty plate in the sink, he thanked Tsume and walked down the hall. Checking his watch, he determined that Naruto wouldn't be in class right now, so he grabbed the phone and dialled his boyfriend's number, hoping that the blonde would pick up. Sure enough, he answered on the third ring.

"Sasuke?" he said. "Is everything okay?"

Sasuke grinned a little. "Of course. Does there need to be an emergency for me to call?"

Naruto didn't reply to that, and Sasuke winced. Maybe Tsume had a point.

"Anyway, are you coming over here this weekend?" Sasuke asked. "We need to talk about some stuff. Mainly that I've been a jerk."

Naruto remained quiet for a few moments before replying. "Yeah, I'll come over. Is Tsume picking up Kiba?"

Sasuke nodded, then remembered that Naruto couldn't see it. "Yeah, and Hinata. So the three of them can babysit while we talk."

"Alright, I'll see you in a couple of hours then." Naruto said, and Sasuke could hear a faint smile in his voice. "Love you."

"Love you too, Naruto. See you soon."

After hanging up, Sasuke snuck a peek into his bedroom, but Yuki was still fast asleep, so he decided to take Tsume's advice and go watch some T.V in the living room. Half an hour passed before he heard Yuki crying, and he quickly went to her to see what she needed. Picking up the baby, he held her close and made soft noises to calm her. Going through the routine to check what she needed, he determined that she was hungry, and went to the kitchen.

"Sasuke!" Tsume called out. "I'm off to pick the others up."

"Alright!" he called out, which made Yuki cry harder.

"Come on, baby girl." Sasuke cooed. "It's okay, daddy's here. I'll get you a bottle."

After feeding and burping her, he set her back in her crib and kept watch in case she needed anything. Time passed by slowly, and eventually he heard Tsume's van pulled into the driveway, making Akamaru bark wildly. Luckily Yuki was sound asleep and didn't stir, so Sasuke went to the door to greet his boyfriend and their friends.

As Naruto walked through the door, Sasuke walked up to him and wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist, kissing him deeply. "I've missed you."

Naruto seemed slightly taken aback by this, but Sasuke didn't say anything about it. Kiba pushed past them, commenting about getting a room, and Hinata giggled under her breath. Tsume simply went to Sasuke's bedroom and closed the door.

"Let's go out back and talk." Sasuke suggested, and Naruto nodded, following close behind. As they stepped out the back door, Sasuke felt Naruto slide his hand into his. It was tentative at first, but when Sasuke grasped it firmly Naruto responded.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Naruto inquired.

"Us." Sasuke said simply. "I know I haven't been myself lately, and I've been too wrapped up in Yuki, and it was wrong of me. I should have been paying attention to you as well. I'm really sorry."

Naruto shook his head. "No, I've been the jerk. She's your daughter, and –"

Sasuke cut him off. "No, Naruto. I shouldn't have just cut you off like I did. I was wrong to do that, and it hurt you. Yes, she's my daughter, and yes, I love her with my whole heart, but I love you, too. And I need to pay as much attention to you as I do to her. I promise, I'll change that."

Naruto smiled, then hesitated slightly. "Will you come back to college?"

Sasuke frowned a little. "I don't know… I'm so new to this, I'm afraid to miss anything with her. I know Tsume will look after her during the day, but I just don't think I'm ready to leave her yet."

Naruto sighed, but he nodded. "Will you at least think about it?"

Sasuke smiled. "For you, yes. I'll think about it, and I'll give you an answer by Sunday. Is that okay?"

Naruto smiled back. "Thank you, Sasuke."

The weekend went by without much incident. Sasuke made sure to spend more time with Naruto, and things were getting back on track with them, but Naruto was still hesitant about Yuki, and didn't want to hold her. Sasuke did his best to understand that, and didn't call Naruto out on it.

Sasuke devoted a great part of his time to thinking about college. In a way he really did want to go back, but he didn't want to leave Yuki's side. On the other hand, if he didn't he would have to repeat the year, which would mean losing a year that he could spend working and saving money to get his own place for himself and his daughter. Also, going back would make Naruto happy, and Sasuke wanted the blonde as happy as possible. He owed it to him for standing by him through all of this.

And so, on Sunday evening, he made up his mind.

He was sitting with Kiba, Hinata and Naruto in his bedroom while Hinata fed Yuki. Getting to his feet, Sasuke began ambling around the room and collecting his school books and stationary, placing it into his backpack.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Kiba asked, watching the Uchiha. Naruto looked at him, then gave a wide smile and threw himself into Sasuke's arms.

"Thank you, Sasuke. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I do." Sasuke replied. "And that's why I'm doing it."

Naruto hugged him tighter, and Sasuke grinned, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling. Kiba and Hinata smiled softly and slipped out of the room, giving them some privacy, but seconds later Yuki started crying again, making Sasuke shake his head.

"Thanks, Yuki." He muttered as he picked her up. "I'll be sure to cut your allowance one day for this."

Naruto laughed and held out his arms. "Here, let me calm her down."

"Are you sure, Naruto?" Sasuke asked softly. Naruto nodded, and took the baby, gently cradling her and rocking her back and forth.

"It's about time she gets to know her other dad, anyway."

Tears prickled at the corners of Sasuke's eyes at these words, and he simply stared at Naruto, who was smiling down at the little girl in his arms and talking softly to her. His heart was filled with love for both of them, and words couldn't express how he felt at that moment.

XXX

The following morning, Sasuke was walking down the halls of the college with a sense of purpose as he headed toward the dean's office. Class hadn't started yet, and the hallway had numerous people wandering through it, simply waiting for the bell to ring. Sasuke couldn't help but feel good about what he was doing, mainly because he knew it would help his daughter in the long run. Turning down the hallway that would lead him to the office, the bell rang, accompanied by a high, ringing noise that echoed through the halls. Sasuke froze, unsure of what he had heard, until the second gunshot rang out, and a third, followed by frantic screaming.

All thought left him, and he felt winded. "Naruto… Kiba…"

He turned back the way he came, intending to run to where he had left his friends, but the halls were emptying, and more shots were firing. Backing up, a student collided into him as he passed a door, and Sasuke began to yell, thinking it was the shooter, but a hand clamped down over his mouth, cutting off the sound.

"It's me." Sakura's voice said. "Sasuke, it's just me."

He turned his face to look at her as she slid her hand away, and he saw that her large, green eyes were filled with tears.

"We have to hide." She said, her voice high and fear filled. "There's a safety protocol, we need to hide immediately."

"I can't leave the others –" Sasuke began to say, getting to his feet and walking away, but Sakura grabbed him and swung him around to face her. Her hand shot out of nowhere, slapping him across the face, and he staggered into the wall from the impact.

"You'll get us killed!" she said, and as if to punctuate this another shot echoed down the halls, bringing more screams with it. Sasuke grabbed Sakura and pushed her ahead of him into an empty classroom. He closed the door behind him and pulled the blinds shut before pulling his friends with him into the small leg space under the teacher's desk. They huddled together, with Sakura choking down quiet sobs, and Sasuke was barely even there. His body and mind had shut down from fear, and he simply rocked back and forth slightly. All he could think about was his friends, and how any of them could be hurt, and he could do nothing about it…

Naruto P.O.V

When the first gunshot had gone off, it had been masked by the sound of the bell ringing, and the screams could have been anything, but the second one had changed all of that. Naruto had been standing with Kiba and Temari, talking about an assignment for class. Temari had been the first to react, dropping her bag and grabbing onto both of them.

"We need to hide." She said urgently, her face pale. "Come on."

The closest place had been a bathroom, and they ducked into it before anyone could see them.

"The stalls." Kiba said. "Take one each and stay quiet."

Naruto didn't even respond, taking Kiba's advice to heart, and crammed himself inside one of the smelly stalls. Another shot rang out, and a small, unfamiliar cry echoed from the stall next to him. Standing on the toilet and peering over the wall he saw a girl sitting on the seat with her feet pulled up by her body, crying softly.

"Hey," Naruto whispered. "You okay?"

The girl gave a jump and buried her face in her arms, crying harder.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm hiding, just like you."

The girl looked up carefully, and Naruto smiled at her. She was a mousey girl, with shaggy brown hair and big, blue eyes. She didn't speak, so Naruto smiled again and put a finger over his lips, showing her to be quiet.

"Keep quiet, and we'll be okay. If anyone comes in here, I'll make sure they don't find you, okay? Don't worry. Just calm down, before someone hears us."

The girl nodded, wiping her eyes and mouthing the words 'thank you' to him. Naruto sat down on the toilet, drawing his knees up to his chin, and tried to control his shaking limbs. He was worried about Sasuke, and he had no idea where he was. He thought of texting him, but he figured that the sound of a phone going off would attract the shooter if he passed by.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed. "Everyone, switch your phones off!"

He heard Temari curse as well, but he was sure they were all following his instructions. Another shot rang out, making him cringe and tear up slightly, but he held himself together. He had to get through this, and get to Sasuke.

Gaara P.O.V

Sitting with his back against the cold ties of the wall, Gaara shook with fear. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him to run and hide, but he couldn't. He had been in the hallway where the first two shots had been fired, and saw two people drop right before his eyes. The third shot had hit him in the arm, causing him to cry out and fall to the floor. Another shot rang out, but he was in too much pain to think, let alone see what had happened.

'Stay still.' he thought to himself. 'Stay quiet. He'll think you're dead and move on.'

The shooter was still in the hallway with him and a dozen or so students, and Gaara knew that two of his friends were there too, not far away. Another shot rang out, and another body hit the floor nearby. There was dead silence for a moment, before the sound of slow, measured footsteps echoed around them. A door opened, then closed, and the shooter was gone. All around, people began to scream and cry, and Gaara pushed himself into a sitting position. Looking around, the first thing he noticed was that people were sinking to the ground, unable to stay steady on their feet. The second was his friend Hinata, face down with her eyes closed, in a pool of her own blood.

Gaara recoiled from the site, pushing back against the wall and staring at her, tears running down his face. Another shot rang out, this time from outside, and Gaara flinched. All around, noise erupted, but before he could process anything, he passed out from the shock and the pain.

Sasuke P.O.V

The intercom buzzed to life, making Sakura cringe up against Sasuke in fear, and he held her close, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to sooth her. The dean's voice echoed through the room, informing them that the crisis was over, and the shooter had killed himself. They were told to exit the building immediately and go to the courtyard, where police and ambulances were waiting.

"It's over, Sakura." Sasuke whispered. "It's over."

"The others?" she whimpered.

"Let's go find out."

He crawled out from under the desk, followed tentatively by Sakura. As he reached the door, Sakura tensed up, but he opened the door and stepped out.

All around, students were sticking their heads out of classrooms and closets, checking before they left the safety of their hiding places.

"Come on." Sasuke said, taking Sakura's hand and leading her into the corridor.

XXX

In the chaos of the aftermath of the shooting, Sasuke found himself sitting with his group of friends, having gone straight to them when he had gotten out of the building. On his left, Naruto was staring at the ground, completely unresponsive, while on his right Sakura was trying her best to stay level headed. Gaara was the worst off. When he had seen Hinata, he thought the small, stuttering girl was dead, but fortunately it turned out that she was only injured. She had been rushing to hospital, needing immediate surgery, but the paramedics were certain that she'd pull through.

"My mom's nearly here." Kiba said, pulling Sasuke back to reality. Nodding to him, Sasuke turned to Naruto and took his hand.

"Let's go home."

Naruto sighed and pulled his hand free. "I'm not going back home with you. I called my mom, she's picking me up. I want to be alone."

"Um, okay…" Sasuke whispered uncertainly. When Tsume arrived, Naruto merely nodded a vague farewell, not even bothering to stand up.

The next few days were torture. Classes were suspended for two weeks, giving everyone time to get over their shock, and Sasuke spent his time either sitting with Kiba and Yuki, or visiting Hinata in the hospital. The small girl was recovering well, though it was obvious that she was in a lot of pain.

To top everything off, Naruto was ignoring Sasuke completely. He sent numerous text messages, and kept calling him, but Naruto refused to answer. After days of being ignored, Sasuke stopped trying to get in touch with his boyfriend, letting him deal with whatever problem he had. Instead, he focused on the idea of going back to college and finishing up, before starting a life for himself and his daughter.

"Don't stress so much over everything, Sasuke." Kiba told him one night as the Uchiha placed Yuki into her crib. "Thing's will fall into place."

"I hope so." Sasuke replied.

That night, however, as he was drifting off to sleep, his phone buzzed and lit up, signalling a new message. Rolling over, he picked up his phone and blearily opened the message. He read it through at least a dozen times, his whole body numb. Then the tears came, and he buried his face into his pillow so that he didn't wake Yuki up. After nearly an hour of crying, he left the room and went to Kiba's room instead, needing the comfort of his best friend.

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Kiba asked, his voice filled with concern and panic. Sasuke just pressed his face into Kiba's shoulder, his body shaking violently as his sobs wracked his body.

Kiba held Sasuke close, murmuring empty platitudes to him while he stroked his hair, trying to get his friend to calm down long enough to tell him what had gotten him so worked up. Eventually, Sasuke pressed his phone into Kiba's hand, and Kiba read the message that Sasuke had received.

From Naruto:

I'm sorry, Sasuke. I can't keep pretending everything is okay when it's not. I can't do this anymore. It's always one problem after another with us. Drama, then Kiba, then Karin, then Yuki, and I can't deal with it. It's over.

I'm sorry. Don't call; you won't be able to get hold of me after tonight.

Naruto.

"Oh Sasuke…" Kiba whispered, cradling the boy closer to him. "I'm so sorry…"

Sasuke continued to cry. He felt as if his heart had been torn out. Amidst his raging emotions, though, he knew one thing. He wasn't going back to college now. Given time, he would pick himself up, put himself back together, and move on. He would start his life.

For now, though, he let himself cry. After everything, he owed himself that much, at least.

XXX

A/N: Yeah, I know, I'm an ass… Blah. This was always gonna happen. Anyway, next chapter is the last, and I'll probably start working on a sequel. Til then, thanks for reading!