Once again, thanks goes to all the reviewers out there! Anyways, here's the second chapter. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Naruto…although I wished I did…X_X

-At the bridge where team 7 always meet-

"What time is it Sakura-chan?"

"11:00"

* few minutes later *

"What time is it Sakura-chan?"

"11:10"

* few minutes later *

"What time is it Sakur – OWW!"

"Baka! Naruto, stop asking me every 10 minutes! Baka!"

"But Sakura!" Naruto pleaded.

"GGRRRR…"

Naruto became silent. The sight of Sakura being mad was one to be avoided. A few minutes later, their sensei appeared.

"YOU'RE LATE!" screamed Naruto and Sakura. Their little disagreement seemed to be forgotten.

"Well, you see, I woke up on time, but then I fell out of bed and hurt my feet. Then when I was walking over here, a cat stole my copy of "Come, Come Paradise". So naturally, I had to run after it to get it back.

His students had an anime exasperation face on. -_-||

"LIAR!" two voices screamed in unison.

"That…that did not even…even make sense…" muttered Sasuke, his right eye twitching. * How did I end up with these fools? *

"Ne…Hehehe..." Kakashi scratched the back of his head, and his right eye curved in humor. His other eye was covered by a crooked hit-tae.

*POOF! *

"Kakashi, the Hokage requires your presence"

"Eh…?" mused Kakashi, turning a thoughtful eye on the Anbu member. *sigh * "Alright, we're done for today. You're dismissed."

With that, Kakashi and the Anbu member disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"WHAT? We didn't even do anything!" yelled Naruto.

"Hmph. What a waste of time." With that, Sasuke turned to walk back home.

"Sasuke! Want to walk home with me?" Sakura asked with a hopeful face.

"No."

Sakura's heart broke in two, but she hid it. It was always like this. After all the trainings, she would always ask Sasuke if he wanted to walk home with her. Every time he always refused. And every time Naruto would–

"Sakura! I'll walk home with you!" yelled the village's hyperactive loudest ninja.

"Sorry Naruto. I'll walk home alone." Sakura softly replied.

With that, Sakura walked away, leaving a crestfallen Naruto behind.

"What's so good about that Sasuke anyways?" muttered Naruto. *I know! Ramen! That always lifts my spirits. I'll go find Iruka and see if he can take me to ramen today!"

-Hokage's office-

"Hokage." Kakashi bowed in respect.

"Kakashi…"

Kakashi was startled, but kept his emotions at bay. He had seldom heard the Hokage sounding so troubled. Kakashi looked around him. There were several other Jounins there as well, all experienced and pretty good at their jobs.

*Ahem * "Since we have all gathered, I have something to tell you…" There, the Hokage paused. "There is no easy way to tell you this…A Chuunin was killed yesterday."

The silence was suffocating. Finally, Kakashi asked the question all were dying ask. "Who is it, Hokage?"

"Iruka."

THE NEXT DAY

-On the training grounds in the forest-

"Ne, ne, why is Kakashi always late?" complained the tired blond ninja.

"Shut up. You're giving me a headache." Replied his pink hair comrade.

"Baka. That's just the way he is. *hmph * Thought you would have figured it out, dobe" smirked his raven-haired rival – err…comrade.

"What did you just call me? I dare you say it again!" yelled an ignited Naruto.

"Dobe."

"You wanna fight? Come on! I could take you on right now!"

Sakura's eye twitched. *WHAM! *

"OWW! Sakura!" moaned her victim. *Why me? Why not Sasuke? What does he have that I don't that makes Sakura love him so much? I'm funny, smart, and cool too. *

"BAKA! Sasuke could kick your butt any time! Right Sasuke?" gushed Sakura.

"No he couldn't!"

"Could so!"

"Could not!"

"Could so!"

"Could not!"

"Could so!"

"Could not!"

"Could so!"

~_~|| *Why am I stuck with two idiots as my teammates? * Sasuke mentally groaned to himself.

*POOF! *

As if on cue, Naruto and Sakura stopped arguing and yelled, "YOU'RE LATE."

"Guess so."

"EH?" Naruto and Sakura said, their eyes widening in surprise.

Sasuke, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes. It was seldom that his sensei would not make up a stupid excuse on why he was late.

"Erm…Kakashi? What's wrong?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to Naruto and looked down at him. His face was void of any emotions.

Sakura and Sasuke tensed, waiting. It was seldom that their sensei was so serious. He was often a clumsy and laughing. Only Naruto seemed stupid enough to not notice that something was up.

"What, what? Are you going to treat me to ramen?"

"Naruto! This is serious!" yelled Sakura.

"What?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Naruto…"

"What?"

"Naruto, when was the last time you saw Iruka?"

Sakura and Sasuke were now very suspicious. What did all this have to do with Iruka?

"Hmm…let's see. The day before yesterday."

"Tell me everything."

Naruto assumed a cocky pose. "Promise to treat me to ramen first."

"Naruto! You think this is all a joke? Stop fooling around!"

*Gulp * "Um…After lunch, he dropped me off at my house. Then I didn't see him again. Yesterday, after our so-called training, I went to find Iruka to hold up his end of the bargain."

"What bargain?" asked Kakashi.

"He promised me that he'll treat me to ramen twice if I became a better ninja."

*Snort * "Dobe, I don't see any difference."

Before Naruto could snap back a reply, Kakashi gave Sasuke a cool indifferent look.

"Continue Naruto."

"Erm…I couldn't find him anywhere, so I went by myself."

"Naruto…" Kakashi squatted down and gently patted his head.

"Heh?" Naruto blinked. For a moment there, he thought that his sensei looked sad. Weird.

Kakashi stood up. "Iruka had a mission after he treated you to ramen. I'm afraid that he didn't return safely."

"What?" gasped Sakura.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. He never felt anything for his old sensei. However, Naruto had formed a close bond with him. They were almost like brothers.

"Hahaha…you must be joking Kakashi. Hahaha…great excuse for trying to distract us so we wouldn't have to ask you why you were late…Hahaha…" chuckled Naruto. His face held a sheepish expression. However, when he looked at his Kakashi's face, he could tell that it was no joke. Suddenly, Naruto dropped his sheepish look. A storm of emotions crashed in his sea-colored eyes and he looked at the ground.

Kakashi placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulder. "Naruto, I'm- "

The young boy pushed his hand away. "YOU'RE LYING!" he roared. "HE JUST PROMISED THAT HE'LL TAKE ME TO ICHIRAKU RAMEN!"

Kakashi took a step back, feeling the first prickle of fear run through him. There was always a chance that the Kyyubi would be released. And when, if ever, it was released, then all hell would break free. And Kakashi had no intention of letting the Kyyubi out.

"Naruto," said Sakura softly, taking a step towards him. True, he was always being a nuisance, but looking at that tear-streaked face made Sakura soften up.

Naruto jerked away. "Don't touch me," rasped Naruto, his voice overrun with emotion. With that, the boy sprinted into the forest.

-Inside the forest-

Deep inside the forest, the young blond was crying his heart out. "This…this…must be a joke…*sniff*…it cannot be…*sniff, sniff*…you promised me I won't be alone anymore…you promised…you said you were going to take me to…*sniff*…"

A swift shadow landed in front of him. Not raising his head, Naruto wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his head into his arms.

"Go away. What are you doing here anyways? You like to see me cry, don't you?" With that, Naruto raised his face to his comrade.

Sasuke did not know what to say. When he looked upon Naruto's face…he felt something in his heart was stirring…feeling…something was awakening that he had snuffed out long ago…

"Naruto…" Sasuke kneeled down in front of the boy.

Naruto reluctantly raised his head. Sasuke was always a cold-hearted bastard. He never would be kneeling down in front of him…

Sasuke was at loss for words. Those deep sapphire eyes showed so pain, so much hurt. And when they had turned to him, he felt a slight pain in his heart. Sasuke shook his head. *What was wrong with him? *

"Naruto, I know how you feel."

"Shut up! Just leave me alone! How would you ever know? You can never understand…never understand…"

But Sasuke did understand. He knew what Naruto was feeling. That feeling of being betrayed, of being alone, of being hurt.

"Naruto…I know what it feels like to lose someone you love, you cherish…I…you have to live strong…be strong. That way, you can avenge him. Live as an avenger, as a bringer of justice. That was what I learned."

Naruto was confused. What was Sasuke trying to tell him? This was the Sasuke he knew, right? Was this the Sasuke that was beneath all those layers of ice?

"Naruto?" Sasuke felt foolish. *Why did I talk to him like that? I swore that I would be alone…then why did I-"

"Live to kill, to hate…" whispered Naruto.

"Naruto, get a hold of yourself. Iruka wouldn't have wanted to see you like this. He would have wished to see you become strong so that you can avenge him."

"Is that what he really would have wished?" Naruto asked softly.

Sasuke stood up. "Come on, everyone's worried."

Naruto stayed where he was. Suddenly, everything didn't seem to matter to him anymore. "It hurts Sasuke. It feels like my heart has been sliced to pieces. Oh shit Sasuke. It hurts." Naruto began weeping again.

Sasuke knelt down again and suddenly, out of his own accord, his arm snaked around Naruto's shoulders. Sasuke widened his eyes in shock at what he had done, but before he could move away, Naruto leaned into his embrace. "Sasuke, nothing seems to matter anymore."

Sasuke gulped and counted to ten. "Naruto, if you're going to die, who else will fight over Sakura with me? Don't tell me that you're going to give up on her."

"No…no…I'm not going to give up. I will never give up. I will become strong and revenge Iruka."

Sasuke said nothing in reply. He eased his arm away and stood up. "Are you coming?"

When Naruto didn't reply, Sasuke started walking away.

*Iruka, I will never forget you. I promise you on my life, on all I believe in, I will avenge you. I will become strong. *

AAHHH! * runs for her life * AAHHH! I'm sorry!

Iruka: Grrr….Why did I have to die? Huh? I didn't do anything!

Writer kicks Iruka out the door and locks it.

There! Peace and quiet. Sorry for all those Iruka fans out there, but someone had to die.

Iruka: And it just happened to be me?

AHH! I thought I locked you out!

Iruka: anime sweat drop ~_~|| The window was opened…

Oh….

*Dead silence *

Erm…Iruka…You died for a good cause…

Iruka: zzzzzzzz

/

Okay…That's all for now…so how is it so far? If previous readers remember, they should realize that I combined chapter 3 and 4. This way, its longer and no one can bug me about MAKING IT LONGER! *cough, cough *

By the way, did anyone notice I gave the guy a name? So what if the name sucked? I'm not good with Japanese names, so sue me. On second thought, don't. I don't have enough money.