Forgotten Dream

Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. However, I do own the ritual I use in this story, and the lines of said ritual. Yeah, I finally own something in what I'm writing. It makes me feel special.

This story is very dark and slightly depressing. I didn't intend for it to be, but my reviews say that it's sad, and even I have to admit that it's turning out to be dark. But I promise the ending of the story will be as happy as I can make it. So get out your tissue boxes and prepare to cry, and then cry at the ending because it's so happy.

(A/N: I couldn't think of another line to begin this with, but not many people know where this quote is from. It's from Naruto manga chapter 310, right after Naruto and Sakura meet up with Sasuke for the first time in two and a half years. Sasuke vanishes with Orochimaru and Kabuto, and Naruto starts crying.)

"Crying… won't bring him back to us," Sakura said softly, tears pearling in her own eyes. She was right, though. Crying wouldn't bring him back. It was stupid, and pointless, and exactly the kind of thing she would have done two and a half years ago, before she began to try to change herself. But now, even knowing this, she still had to cry. There was just no way around it. It just hurt so much. So much… so much… so much…

"Naruto, this spot will do," Sakura informed her blond teammate, halting in the shadow of a huge tree. The normally hyperactive shinobi halted immediately, for once obeying every order that he was given without question. Sakura was relieved by this. What they were doing would be hard enough, without Naruto disobeying. Deep in the shadows of the forest that surrounded Konoha, they would be utterly without aid if trouble were to ensue. Naruto would have to behave, for the sake of their lives. Very much aware of the severity of her actions, she turned to the other two members of their party. Tsunade was the one who spoke.

"Are you two sure that you want to do this?" she asked for the final time. Sakura looked at Naruto. Reflected on his face was the same decisiveness as on hers. They would do this. As one, they nodded their consent to Tsunade. She turned to the fourth and final member of the group. The figure nodded, their face hidden by the shadows. "Very well," she sighed in defeat. Tsunade wished with all her heart that it had not come to this. For two of her strongest shinobi to be driven this far was too much, too cruel. "Both of you come forward," she instructed Naruto and Sakura. The teenaged ninja stepped forward until they were directly in front of Tsunade. She clasped each of their hands in her own and bowed her head.

"It is time to begin the ritual," Sakura said gravely. The other two nodded. Even Naruto was struck mute by the seriousness of the situation. In their joined hands, chakra began to gather, the blue glow shining against the darkness of the forest. All the power the three shinobi possessed would be used by this, their greatest act of a lifetime. The technique they were about to perform was no simple jutsu, achieved by a small amount of chakra being combined with the correct sequence of hand signs. This was dark and ancient, a remnant of the higher powers that had occupied their world in the time before ninja.

"Hinata, come here," Tsunade commanded. Without any of her usual hesitation, the shadowed figure stepped into the area illuminated by the chakra glow, revealing the somber Hyuuga heiress. Her expression held no shyness, only a firm sense of purpose. She moved forward until she stood right next to the three ninja who would perform the ritual, the glow of their combined chakra casting a ghostly light on her face. Without further hesitation, Tsunade began to speak the ancient words of the ritual.

"In this great world of ours, there is joy, there is love, and there is happiness. But in the world dwell also pain, sorrow, loss, and grief. On this day, we have gathered here. We, those who will live and die under this cynical sky. We, who have felt true pain. We, who, in our pain, ask that we be granted salvation. We ask that we may be granted a peace, after a long period of hardship and strife. We ask to forget our trouble, a burden which causes a pain too great for a mortal heart to withstand. We ask that the memory may leave us; that all traces are forever removed from our minds, so that our lives may move on. We ask that we may be allowed to forget Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto and Sakura's faces held only pain as she said this. Never had they thought that it would come to this. Never had they thought that Sasuke could hurt them so badly that they would be forced to erase all traces of him from their mind, or go insane with the pain of it all. He had been their comrade, their friend, and now, the bane of their existence. Long nights of lying awake, engrossed in bittersweet memories had taken their toll, and the two shinobi that had come to ask Tsunade to perform this ritual had been almost unrecognizable as the happy children of their youth. Their loss had destroyed them. Tsunade continued.

"The memory of this boy has scarred the souls of these two young shinobi, so that they may no longer live. Instead, they live a half life, tied to the past and to memories of what once was. We ask that they be freed from this burden.

"But let all hope of recollection not be erased. Let this girl, this single girl alone out of the whole of the village, be allowed to remember. Even as the memory fades from those around her, let her memories sharpen, until they are as clear and fresh as reality. Let her bear the memories of these two shinobi in their stead, as their sacrifice for salvation from their pain. This is my will, so mote it be." As Tsunade finished, the chakra gathered in their hands began to glow even brighter, bathing the entire clearing in its light. The faces of the four ninja appeared to glow with light. Suddenly, with a massive flare of light, the chakra left their hands, flowing over them and the entire area surrounding the Hidden Village in the form of pure energy bent on accomplishing the task laid forward by the ritual. Hinata watched it all in awe, amazed at the sheer magnitude of her friends' action.

The bright glow slowly died down, leaving the small group in a darkness broken only by the faint light of the stars above. Tsunade gazed somberly at Naruto and Sakura.

"Very soon you will begin to forget. We all will. Every single person in the Village Hidden in the Leaves will forget that a boy named Uchiha Sasuke ever dwelled here. Everyone, except her," she finished, pointing at Hinata. Hinata bowed her head. She had known from the beginning. When Tsunade had first agreed to perform the ritual, to make Naruto and Sakura and everyone else forget, she had agreed to be the one to remember. It had been Naruto's idea. Not the part with her, of course, but the part where one person would remember who Sasuke was and what he had meant to them. That way, if Sasuke ever chose to come back, there would be someone to tell him what had been done, and someone to help restore the memories of Konohagakure Village, so that Team Seven could happen again. She had volunteered for that person to be her. Naruto was the dearest person in the world to her, and Sakura had become her closest friend during the time when the blond had been on his training journey with Jiraiya. They were two people who had always been there for her, from the very beginning, and now she finally had a way to pay them back. It had been an honor for her to remember in their stead.

"Hinata…" Naruto began.

"Hinata-chan…" Sakura too was unable to come up with anything to say to her friend. Finally she found the words, "Thank you. If… if Sasuke-kun ever comes back… if we ever remember… it will all be thanks to you. We would never be able to repay you for that. We can never repay you for just this. Remember that. Even when we forget, know that we'll always be grateful to you," Sakura told her, pearly tears shining in her eyes. Naruto nodded, tears in his eyes as well. Both of them radiated a depth of gratitude and love that left Hinata speechless. She could only smile as her eyes filled with tears.

The four shinobi stood in the shadow of the ancient tree, illuminated only by starlight, a breeze tugging at their clothes as they shared a last few moments of memory. By the next day, Hinata would be the only one who remembered what had passed here tonight. The three others wanted to savor the last few minutes of knowing, before their memory vanished forever.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan."

"We wish it hadn't come to this, Hinata."

"Thank you."

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. For Naruto and Sakura, it was the first time in nearly three years that they awoke without longing for Sasuke's presence by their side. For Hinata, it began the time of her emotional isolation as the only one in the entire village who could remember Sasuke's existence. In this way, years would pass. Time would go on. The Konoha Eleven would grow up. Things would go on like this for three years. Three years to the day after the ritual was preformed, something happened to change this pattern forever.

Uchiha Sasuke returned to the village.

A/N: Yay, I started my first several chapter long story! Please review to tell me what you think of it so far. I know that the ritual thing was kind of out of Naruto world style, but I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if Sasuke came back and Naruto and Sakura forgot him. This will turn into a SasukeXSakura story later on, which is why the main characters are listed as Sasuke and Sakura despite him not even appearing in this chapter.