It's been a few weeks since Sasuke kissed me and I wish I could say that things are okay but they are far from it. That evening after Kiba took me home, I spent half the night curled up next to him, fighting the flashbacks of that terrible night with Kankuro that I had worked so hard to forget. Thank God my relationship with Kiba is unwavering in our chaotic social life. The way we are able to ground each other the way we do is something I hope I never take for granted.

Unfortunately, I can't always be there to remind Kiba he doesn't need to avenge me and that has resulted in several fights breaking out in class between Sasuke and Kiba. Unlike on Halloween, the fights aren't one-sided anymore and both have ended up with split lips and bruises. They spend most of their after-school time in detention together which I'm sure is not helping the situation at all.

The news that Sasuke could be in love with me has had the gears in my mind turning since I found out. It makes absolutely no sense why out of the blue that we would decide that he wanted me again. He made it perfectly clear that he was over me when he continued to see Karin after our break up. Maybe if he had decided this freshman year it could have been a possibility but it was something I long ago decided I didn't want.

He was almost two years too late.

Regardless of his intentions and his actions the last two years I'm still worried for him. There were things that I knew, about him, about his family situation, that made me feel like his actions are a cry for help, completely misguided and meant only for me to decipher. Only thing was, Kiba didn't believe me, no one but Naruto did. Sasuke had dug a hole deep enough with all his friends that not one of them other than me and Naruto was willing to peek down into it.

"Something on your mind kiddo?" My father asks from behind his laptop screen at the kitchen table as I mindlessly stir my ramen noodles in their boiling water.

Looking up I catch the light blue stair of my father watching me closely, dissecting my every move. I sigh heavily and look back at my noodles hopelessly. "I just wish I knew why Sasuke was acting the way he was. Kiba tells me to ignore him but..."

"Well, what do you think?" He asks, his words the very ones I have been chewing over in my mind the past couple weeks. I knew what I thought, I have for a while now. Something wasn't right and it wasn't the fact that he was chasing after his ex-girlfriend.

"I think he is crying out for help," I mumble, slightly embarrassed that I even feel this way after everything he has put me through. Out of everyone, I am the last person that should be wanting to help him.

My father says nothing, though I know he is not judging me like my friends have when I bring these thoughts up. Instead, he continues to type away at his laptop leaving me to my thoughts and giving me time to process them.

I know what I should do, I knew before I had spoken to my father. His silent confirmation has solidified my resolve though and I know that Kiba isn't going to be happy with what I'm about to do.

The November air is a bit harsher than that of October but I welcome the change. I now have a solid reason to live in my fur-lined coat, my favorite part of the winter months.

Slowly I make my way to the school, taking my time to enjoy the last bit of sunlight we will get till spring but making sure I am not stalling the inevitable.

It's been hard not texting Kiba back the last hour, for fear that I will tell him exactly what I am up to. I can't lie to him, it's physically impossible after everything that we have been through. He's been there for me, with my best interest at heart, since the beginning, and even though I know that what I am doing is probably not in my best interest, as a friend it's something I have to do.

As I enter the park across from the school grounds I am skeptical that he will even show, he never did text me back. However, as the dark locks of the boy I was so hopelessly in love with come into view I feel relieved.

"I was surprised by your text."

His voice is as deep and cool as ever, but unlike before it doesn't bring the warmth to me that it once did. I offer a small smile and seat myself next to him in the gazebo that he has strategically placed our meeting in. I can tell he is ready to play the game he has been playing the last several months and it makes me sad.

"I had some time to think," I say, stating only a half-truth. While I have been thinking a lot about talking with him I only decided that I needed to, not what I was going to say. This meeting is completely unscripted so I'll just have to wing it.

He looks me over, studying my features, soaking them in as if he has been deprived of doing so for years. At first, his eyes make me uncomfortable but almost immediately something overtakes his stare, a glint that makes my heart constrict and then freeze. For the first time in the history of knowing him, I see fear hidden deep in his emotional gaze. It's gone in the blink of an eye though and the cold wall has been thrown back up.

My smile turns meek, my eyes gazing out over the park we now sit in. So many memories here, most of them with Sasuke. Realizing that he's not going to be the first to speak I decide to say exactly what's on my mind at that very moment. "Do you remember how we used to sit under these trees and talk all day?"

I can see the rueful smile slide onto his lips at the mention of the summer we had spent together, a summer I had all but written off as a lie. His reaction to my question answers the most important question I hadn't realized I still carried with me for the last two years, our time together was real for him. "Of course I do. That's how I found out you're terrified of toads."

I chuckle slightly at the memory, realizing that I didn't think he was going to remember something so small, something so silly. "Can't believe you remember that," I admit tucking my leg beneath me and turning to face him.

He shrugs and avoids my gaze by feigning interest in the ceiling of the gazebo. "I remember more than you give me credit for," He replies solemnly.

This is the real Sasuke. The one I spent a whole summer with, lounging beneath these trees and swimming in the lake. The guy who would tell me all his thoughts and laugh at all of Naruto's stupid jokes. It physically hurts to see him so messed up and before I can stop myself I reach out and rest my hand on his knee. I can feel his muscles tense up under my touch but soon relax as he meets my stare with one of his own. "What is going on with you? This is the Sasuke I remember, the one who laughed and joked."

Confliction flutters over his face as he obviously battles internally with himself on how to react to my question. Slowly turning towards me he gently drops his head on my shoulder, his raven locks cascading over his face hiding his expression.

It doesn't feel as awkward as I had imagined it would be, to be this close to him again after so much has happened between us, but maybe that's because right now it's like comforting a child. I can feel my heartbreak ever so slightly at this small yet powerful action. Though I have experienced many sides of Sasuke, this is new territory for me. Slowly I reach up and stroke his hair, resting my cheek on his crown, a sudden need to be there for him welling up inside of me.

"You know it would have been easier if you had just talked to me. Maybe all of this could have been avoided," I muse out loud, hoping that maybe I am on the verge of a breakthrough. Sure would be something if my method was the way to stop all this nonsense that has been going on. The fact that Naruto isn't himself, Hinata's heart is being broken because of that, and Kiba has reverted back to violence hasn't been easy on anyone. If reaching out to Sasuke can stop all that then I would do it a thousand times over.

Before I know it my eyes mist over at the way our lives are because one boy has been too afraid to reach out to his friends. Except my whole hypothesis is shattered when Sasuke lifts his head and brushes his lips against mine.

Kiba is going to murder him.