Author's Notes: This was an idea I got after watching the "nakushita kotoba" ending. (It's my favorite so far, whee) I was thinking 'hey, what if Naruto never left Konoha for two years but instead for a while from time to time..?'. My first NaruSaku fic, I hope you enjoy it.

"nakushita kotoba"

chapter one: memories

" Hitotsu, Hitotsu omoidaseba "

' one by one, as I look back at my memories... '

The sun erected from the shadows of the night awakening the citizens of Konoha, and thus they began to prepare for the day to come. One of the citizens ninjas had already started the day. a couple of hours early. Uzumaki Naruto laid his aching back against the tree trunk. A couple of scratches and bruises appeared all over him. Jiraiya had warned him not over-train, but the blond-haired ninja went against his wishes. His whole body ached as he glanced towards the sun's direction. The rays covered his entire figure stinging his eyes a bit. After all, he did not sleep that whole night.

" Morning, huh? " one eye flinched and he raised a hand to cover his eyes from the sun's malicious intent. If it had not been for jiraiya, his whole body would not have been hurting as much as it did right now. The training wasn't the only reason he felt a strong ache, especially in his stomach area. The perverted hermit himself punched Naruto so hard it knocked him out completely. For what reason he did that, Naruto was not sure, but no sooner did he wake up he found himself completely alone. The only necessities around him where kunais and dart boards.

Naruto promised himself to train and become stronger..

Ever since Sasuke had betrayed the leaf and joined with the sound Naruto has been trying extremely hard to level up to his 'comrade'. He wanted to become stronger than Sasuke and show him a thing or two the next time they saw each other. That is, if they ever did see each other. His friendship with Sasuke became so distant, it shattered him knowing how important Sasuke was to him. What made things worse, was how Sakura reacted when Naruto returned empty handed.

Even though she smiled, Naruto knew that Sakura was hurting as much as he was inside. But will she ever know how much, exactly? a year and a couple of months have passed since naruto returned from the mission. Jiraiya promised to vigorously train him, in hopes that if Akatsuki were to strike Naruto would be prepared.

Naruto left Konoha a few months ago and returned the previous night. Jiraiya promised Kakashi that he would take care of Naruto and keep an eye out on alert for anything suspicious during their travels. While training Naruto,Jiraiya also went around gathering any kind of information he could about the Akatsuki but so far nothing has emerged. A year has passed since Sasuke left Konoha but it all seemed so fresh in his mind.

Despite all that's happened over the past year and despite all the grief that surrounded him from the past as well as the present he always smiled. He laid against the tree bark for a while before deciding to leave. After all, his stomach was gargling. Naruto had not eaten a thing since yesterday. With a grin on his face he knew exactly what to eat.

" Alright! off to Ichiraku Ramen and then back home! "

He adjusted his forehead protector and ran off into the distance.

The previous night was a nightmare for Haruno Sakura..

She tossed and turned in her bed. She could not sleep and she knew why. The dreams of the past haunted her that night. Dreams that she never wanted to remember. Not only the dreams of the past but the nightmares of the future. A silent figure stood before her in her dreams. It was the same person in every dream. The person her heart could not forget and it strained her knowing how hard his presence had a hold on her.

She asked herself that morning, did she wanted to forget?

Its easy to say but hard to do she realized. She quickly emerged from her bed hands gripped upon the covers of her bed placing them to the side. Her legs gently placed themselves against the hard wooden floor. Her green orbs glanced towards the window.

' Pretty day.. '

" Sakura, hurry and come downstairs for breakfast! " her mother's voiced echoed through the house. There's something she hated hearing every morning.

" I'll be there in a minute! " she managed to reply as she grabbed her clothes from the chair besides her cabinet. She quickly dashed towards the bathroom to prepare herself for the day. Closing the door she placed her clothes on the toilet seat cover. She caught a quick look in the mirror and noticed that she had not changed in a year. The only noticible thing about her was her hair. It was now spiked at the ends.

Tsunade was the one who suggested the new 'look' and Sakura was quite pleased with it. Her right hand rised towards her neck as her fingertips delved themselves into her short spiked locks. She could feel its delicate touch with her nails. Sighing, she stood there glancing at herself in the mirror for a couple of minutes. She licked her lips before forming them in a straight line.

" Sakura! I don't hear the water running! If you don't come downstairs for breakfast soon--- "

" I said I'll be there in a minute, mou! " her mother completely destroyed the eerie silence that had fallen upon her. She hated these mornings especially when her mother was extremely cranky. Nevertheless, Sakura removed her pajamas and entered the bathtub for a quick shower. Closing her eyes she could feel the water pour down against her face. The drops would cascade down towards her cheeks and then finally the floor beneath her feet.

It didnt take Sakura that long to take a quick shower. She wanted to stay a little while but her mother continued to nag her. Sakura walked down the stairs that lead to the kitchen completely clothed in her new outfit. Today was the first time she ever wore the new attire. When she entered the kitchen her mother glanced at her an odd look.

" Hokage-sama sent that for you..? "

Sakura nodded, " Yes. It's something she picked out herself. "

Her mother nodded, " Is that so? " she grabbed a plate and placed it gently against the wooden texture of the table. " Hurry and eat up, I have a couple of errands to run and I don't want you alone in the house. "

Sakura sighed, " Yeah, yeah " she replied with an almost dull expression. There was nothing to be lively about. Sakura had absolutely nothing planned for the day. Training was cancelled because Tsunade had to brush up on her paperwork and there was a possibility that there would be no training for a long time, too. Sometimes when Tsunade was too busy with work, her assistant Shizune helped her train. But Shizune was too busy with missions back to back to help Sakura with her training.

Even though the day just started, Sakura could already tell that today was going to be boring. She could train on her own but there were a couple of things she still needed to perfect. Yet another sigh escaped from her lips, bringing the piece of food impaled on the utensil fork to her mouth.

Even though it was still early in the morning, Konoha was packed with people. either buying food, materials for missions, whatever it might be the people were as lively as ever. Perhaps it was because of the peace that had settled in their shinobi village? the past year was hurtful, but now it seemed as if a golden age had finally graced itself upon them. The people were cheery, the children merry.

Naruto recognized the Ichiraku Ramen stand almost immediately. His lips would form into a widely grin as his feet dashed on its own towards his 'ramen heaven'. Sitting quickly upon one of the seats the old man of the shop recognized him immediately.

" Naruto! long time no see! "

He grinned placing his hand down on the table. " Yup, Yup! it's been awhile, old man. "

" So, what will it be this time Naruto? "

" Hmm, I don't know yet! let me think -- " now that he thought about it, he had not had miso ramen in a long long time. " Oh yeah, Oh yeah! old man, how about some Miso Ramen? "

He nodded and with a smile he responded, " Since its been such a long time, this one's on me! "

Naruto grinned even more, " thanks a bunch, old man! "

" No problem, one Miso Ramen coming up! "

While waiting, Naruto could not help but delve deep into thought. The last time he's had ramen at the Ichiraku was a couple of months ago before he left with Jiraiya to train again. Even though Konoha brought both painful and wonderful memories to him, there was one person he wished to see. to tell the truth, Naruto has not seen Sakura in a long time. Even before he left he did not see Sakura there. He always assumed that she was too busy training with that old hag Tsunade but he was also certain that Tsunade would have at least allowed her to see him before he left.

" Ever since that idiot Sasuke left, Sakura-chan has been acting strange.. "

Of course they spent time together, but it was only brief. During those brief moments Naruto noticed that she was not as lively as she usually was. He cursed himself for not keeping up to his promise and with this he promised himself to become as strong as he could to both defeat Sasuke and full-fill the promise he made with sakura. His thoughts were interrupted when he smelled the sweet smell of Miso Ramen placed infront of him.

" There you go, Miso Ramen on the house! eat up, Naruto! "

Naruto shook his head. His mouth almost watering awaiting the delicious taste of ramen on his lips. " Alright! time for me to dig in! " he grabbed the chopsticks and seperated them, digging them into the ramen bowl. As soon as those noodles tasted his lips, Naruto went into a surge of excitement. He also forgot that the ramen was eminating steam, so it was still hot. As soon as those noodles were on his tongue he could feel a wave of heat. " Gah! " he had forgotten to blow on his noodles before eating them..

The old man handed naruto a glass of water to drink the hot noodles down and this helped naruto calm himself down. He flinched a bit as he gulped down the water. " Next time, " he smiled patting Naruto on the head " Be more aware of what you are doing. "

Naruto blinked for a couple of seconds but then smirked. " Yeah! though that hurt a lot.. "

" You just need to be more careful. "

Naruto nodded. " Right right! next time, i will be careful. " This time before eating another round of noodles, his lips would form into an 'o' shape and gently let out a couple of blows. Once he finished he digged himself in.

Sakura was surprised to see so many people up this early in the morning. She folded her hands behind her back, walking down the Konoha streets. Her house was not that far from the market places. If she had any money she would have bought some new clothes or whatever she could find. Usually she would head to the clothing stores and window shop. On countless occassions she saw Ino. Usually in makeup stores, or in her parent's flower shop. Their friendship somewhat improved during the year.

There were other people she saw many times as well. She remembered one time she was in the park and out of nowhere Lee-san appeared. He said he was out training near the woods and that when he saw her all by herself he couldn't help but approach her. This made her smile. But the smile was only temporary. Another time she remembered seeing Hinata-san and Kiba walking outside of Konoha along with Shino. Supposedly they were training in the woods that were outside of Konoha...

She saw many of her peers and upper classmen (which was Team Gai) become stronger every day. It was true that Sakura was perfecting herself in the ways of a medical ninja but she still felt a bit weak. She did not know if it was of a physical or mental manner but she knew that there was an emptyness inside of her. Was it because she felt that she had no achieved as much as she wanted to in the past year? or was it because of someone else?

Whichever the cause, it had caused Sakura to become a bit miserable during the past couple of months. She felt horrible for not saying goodbye to Naruto when he left a couple of months ago. She did it on purpose, all because of her feelings. She did not wanted to be like that infront of naruto. Despite all of the nasty things she said about him. She always said that Naruto was a no good, idiot of a ninja. Who only thought about ramen, and was way too hyper for his own good. Despite those facts, she had found a whole new respect for him when he promised to return Sasuke...

She was content at the time and prayed that Sasuke came to his senses and then return with Naruto. Her dreams were shattered once Naruto returned in bandages no less! and without Sasuke. Despite that, this respect that she gained for Naruto did not leave. She smiled that day but was frowning on the inside. He promised her that he will return Sasuke one day. She knew that Naruto was not the type of person to not uphold a promise. After all, men were not allowed to break promises..

Sakura found herself not too far away from the Ichiraku Ramen stand. She stopped. Those legs look familiar she thought. As well as that outfit. Who else in Konoha she knew who wore orange? but it could be someone else. Naruto could not have returned so quickly. She overheard Tsunade talking about how Naruto probably would not return in a couple of months but most likely in a year. The smile that was once on her face turned upside and continued to walk by.

" Umm, umm old man..? " Naruto spoke up.

" Hmm? "

" You think you can give me another bowl on the house. you see, heh heh.. i'm out of money! " He showed him his empty pockets inside out.

" Whatever happened to the money you had before you left with Jiraiya-san? "

" That Ero-Sennin ate all my money! " my poor froggy-chan, she's empty now..

The old man sighed and then laughed, " Well now naruto, how about if you pay me back for the next bowl then? "

Naruto nodded, " Yeah, i'll pay you back whenever i can! thanks, old man! "

There was no doubt about it. That voice and that attitude. Sakura dashed towards the Ichiraku Ramen stand lifting up one of the curtains. Her eyes absorbed the figure infront of her. There was no doubt about it!

" Oh, if it isn't Naruto's girlfriend! " the old man joked, leaning his elbows unto the table.

Naruto jumped as he turned around. There she was, the person he had longed to see..

Sakura couldn't believe it, either. " Eh! naruto! "

Naruto gulped the blood rushing to his cheeks. " Ah! Sakura-chan! "