Title: Memories of Yesterday

Rating: T

Summary: After the loss of her loved ones, Sakura will discover if there are other things worth living for—if there are people worth living for.

Disclaimer: Sad, but true—I don't own Naruto.

Author's Note: This is a follow-up from Rain and initially I thought it wasn't necessary to read it, but for a better understanding of this story, it'll be better if you read Rain. As for Memories of Yesterday, I wasn't going to post this so soon, but I'm already finished with this story (though the chapters are still unedited) so I'm going to be posting a new chapter every week.

Chapter One: Mission Completed

"Team Alpha in position," Hyuuga Neji murmured into his earpiece, his back pressed tightly against the trunk of the tree.

There was a short static and then, "Team Beta in position," the other shinobi confirmed in his customary lazy drawl.

Neji waited for a second, but when the silence continued, he frowned and murmured, "Team Gamma, report?"

No answer and the groove between his dark brows deepened. "Team Gamma, report now," he demanded with a touch of concern.

Just as he started to formulate a plan to leave his position, his earpiece crackled. "Apologies," came the cool, feminine voice. "Team Gamma, reaching position. But something's wrong."

Neji narrowed his eyes as he gestured for the two Jounin behind him to move back. "What is it?" he asked.

"Footprints, fresh ones."

"That's not good," Nara Shikamaru murmured.

"Yeah," Neji agreed. They were supposed to be dealing with highly-skilled criminals. For them to leave footprints meant that it was—

"Gamma, get out of there," Shikamaru said urgently. "It's a fucking trap. Get out of there now!"

Neji and his team were already rushing through the trees as the Hyuuga captain barked instructions to the other teams. "Team Gamma, state your position. Quickly."

"We're—oh, shit, it's them."

"Gamma!" Neji hissed, but the crackle in his ear told him that the connection had been cut off. He let out a foul curse as his foot hit a branch harder than he normally would. They had miscalculated, he thought furiously and because of that, they had the risk of paying the price.

The clang of metal against metal drifted to his ears and Neji picked up his speed.

Sakura barely had time to watch her opponent crumple to a heap at her feet before she whirled around and lifted her sword above her head to defend herself. Metal hit metal and the force of her new opponent's blow was hard enough to jar her body, but she held fast to her weapon. Through the slits of her mask, she glared at the man standing in front of her. He was over six feet tall and was roughly the size of a bear. Smells like one too, she thought grimly as she raised her sword to protect herself.

"You're a small one aren't you?" her opponent mocked as he swung his weapon toward her. "What are you, five-four?"

She gritted her teeth. Just her luck. Her side was bleeding and her fucking enemy wanted to trade stats? Where the hell was their backup? She swung her leg and grinned behind her mask where her foot connected with the side of his ugly face.

He grunted and staggered back, but his legs held him up. With a roar he charged toward her, his face red with anger. She dodged his fists efficiently, but due to her previous wounds and her draining chakra level, her senses were slower and thus she didn't jump fast enough to avoid the swipe of the kunai in the bear's other hand. The sharp tip connected with her forehead and a surprised cry escaped her throat as her mask broke in two. Pain sliced through her when the kunai managed to graze the bridge of her nose.

She wiped away the blood, breathing hard, glaring at her attacker. He stared at her, an unholy gleam in his pale eyes. "Well, well," he said. "With a face like that I might not kill you. How'd you like to be my pleasure slave, sweetheart?"

"In your dreams, asshole," she gritted out as she smashed her chakra-laden fist into his abdomen. She barely flinched as his blood and saliva spattered onto her, knowing that this wasn't the time to be disgusted.

The blow sent him reeling against a tree and he panted as he bent over double, vomiting more blood. "You bitch," he wheezed. "Now you're going to get it."

"Oh? And who's going to do that? You?"

He grinned maniacally. "Not me," he declared and his gaze drifted to over her shoulder.

She turned around and scarcely managed to avoid the blade that was swung at her. She succeeded in catching a glimpse of her new opponent, a man even bigger than her previous one—Kami, just what did they feed these rebels anyway?—when he once again thrust his sword at her. She jumped back but she hadn't seen the flail her attacker held in his other hand and the spiked steel ball was heading right at her.

For a second, time seemed to move at a crawling pace. She was tired, every part of her body screaming for her to stop. She knew without having to look that her team was in a state much like hers. Their back-up had yet to arrive and she was just so tired. She looked at the lethal ball closing in on her. The force of the blow would be enough to shatter her skull. The pain would be instantaneous and she would finally rest. She would be with them.

A sudden choking sound broke through her reverie and she stared in shock as the edge of a katana winked at her from her opponent's throat. His eyes turned white and hers automatically closed as blood sprayed out of his mouth and wound. With one last horrifying sound, he fell back, the flail swinging helplessly at his side.

"Are you okay?"

Still slightly stunned, she looked up and saw the ANBU nin standing in front of her, blood and flesh dripping from the katana he held in his hand. Dimly, she registered that the sounds of the fight were dying down; their back-up had arrived.

"Are you okay?" her savior repeated harshly.

She nodded, her body growing numb. He seemed satisfied by the wordless answer and turned around to help the others. Though he was wearing his mask, Sakura knew who he was. There was no mistaking that fluidity of movement, that utter calmness of shoving his katana through a man's throat, that voice.

And for a moment, Sakura hated Hyuuga Neji for his interference.

Neji respected Morino Ibiki. The scarred man understood his duties and he made no apologies for how he carried them out. He was merciless, yes, but he was also effective. He didn't hesitate to do what he thought necessary and though he usually went by the book, he acknowledged that there were times when one had to bend the rules to achieve success.

Currently, the older man stood across the table from him, a map sprawled between them. Shikamaru stood on the other side, studying the map closely.

"I spoke to the rebel you brought in alive from the fight this morning," Ibiki said and both Neji and Shikamaru understood what he meant by "spoke." "He told me they were the remaining survivors from the explosion a month ago."

Shikamaru ran his fingers over the map and marked a specific area. "If that's true than they were the last of the rebel group," he murmured. "The man Neji killed was Abarai Jun—Abarai Hiro's only son. With the two of them dead, there's no one left to lead another rebellion. Just to make sure, Ibiki, you should form a team and have them search the warehouse here." The tactician specialist pointed at a spot near the borderline. "According to the information we received, this is where their headquarters are. Have the team be prepared for a fight—the Abarais might be dead, but who knows if there are any other bastards lurking around."

"Agreed." There was a faint hint of a smile on Ibiki's disfigured face. "You two know what this means, don't you?"

Shikamaru grinned lazily. "Yeah."

A corner of Neji's lips tilted upwards. "We get to go home."

The atmosphere surrounding the camp area that night was decidedly more cheerful than usual. After six months of suppressing the rebels, victory had finally arrived. While some had to stay back and take care of the final details, most were able to go home, back to their friends and families, back to Konoha.

When Neji walked into the small building that was part relaxation quarters, part bar that evening, a rousing cheer shook the rafters. He, along with several others, had played an important role in squelching the rebel groups and had done Fire Country proud. Neji acknowledged the cheer and looked around the room, spotting the familiar spiky ponytail at the end of the bar.

He approached Shikamaru, not surprised to find the younger man almost dozing over his half-drank glass of beer. "Shikamaru," he greeted.

"Ah, Neji," Shikamaru said with a smile. "Didn't know you'd come in. Of course, the applause and the whistles should've given you away."

"Like you didn't get the same reaction."

"I snuck through the back door and by that time, the place was already packed. I didn't want anyone to make a fuss. It's so—"

"Troublesome?" Neji finished for him wryly.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Actually, I was going to say 'embarrassing,' but we can use your word, too."

Neji snorted and turned to order his drink. He glanced at the laughing crowd. "Everyone's really happy tonight."

"Can't really blame them, can you?" Shikamaru said. "Half a year in this hellhole, away from everything they know and love. Starting tomorrow, they won't have to worry about their drink being contaminated or their food being rationed. I'm looking forward to going home myself. It'll be great to go through a day without rain."

"Mmm," Neji agreed. "Speaking of which, did you get any news from Konoha?"

"Ino wrote to me. They're almost finished with the reconstruction of the Hokage's tower and the general mood is significantly lighter. The people are healing—they're starting to laugh again and the Academy is reopening next week. Iruka is going to be very busy."

"Lee, too," Neji speculated, thinking of his friend. After the War ended, he had followed in Gai's footsteps—big surprise there—and decided to become an instructor. The Hyuuga prodigy envisioned another group of spandex-wearing, bowl-headed youths and almost sighed. Kami help us all.

"Ino also said that the Kazekage has been in and out of Konoha," Shikamaru continued. "In fact a lot of the other countries' officials have shown up. She thinks it has to do with something big."

"A peace treaty?" Neji asked.

"Let's hope so." Shikamaru's voice was decidedly weary as he spoke. "For the sake of everyone, let's hope it's a peace treaty."

Neji quietly agreed and once again his pale gaze roamed over the crowd in the barroom. He was surprised when he caught a glimpse of pink from the corner of the room. He didn't think she would be here.

Sakura was sitting with her medical team around a small table but while her companions engaged in a lively conversation with each other, their faces lit with pleasure, she sat with her back to the wall, participating only when she had to. There was only the smallest of a smile on her face and he deduced that she didn't really want to be here.

He frowned. For the past six months, he'd unwillingly found himself constantly observing her. Initially, he'd been weary of her coming along with them on this mission, believing it to be too soon for her; she should stay in Konohagakure and recover there instead of jumping head-on in a new battle so quickly after the War ended. He'd voiced his opinion to the Hokage, but the older woman had been adamant in allowing her former apprentice to aid in overpowering the rebels near the country's borders and Neji had grudgingly accepted her decision.

On duty performance, Neji had no complaints about her. She was a skilled shinobi and an excellent medic. It was thanks to her abilities that others at the camp had recovered from injuries that would have left them dead in the hands of another, lesser-trained medic. She'd also managed to extract the poison from their drinking water, though it had almost depleted her chakra level. Their mission here in the eastern borders had required well-trained medics and when it came to that, Haruno Sakura was one of the best. She was a hard worker and he knew that this camp was fortunate to have her.

But at the same time, she held herself back from the rest of the camp members. She rarely spoke and while she wasn't cold, she didn't appear to make an effort to blend in with the rest. Most of the times, she kept to herself, preferring to take her meals in the privacy of her sleeping quarters.

Neji understood the need to be alone, but he also understood that in order for plans to be successful, teamwork was vital. In a mission this critical, the ability to communicate well between each other was important and thus he'd made attempts to put the other shinobi, especially those whose status were lower than his, at ease. While he wasn't able to be like Lee, laughing and joking along with them, he held on to his patience considerably and tried not to reprimand anyone too harshly for their mistakes.

He'd tried approaching Sakura, but the results had been awkward pauses and stilted words due to the fact that they had never been more than mere co-workers. She hadn't been very responsive and he had never been the friendly, outgoing type and because of this, he'd given up, unwilling to further put his pride on the line.

Strangely, he thought, it had been the shinobi currently sitting beside him that had managed to break a little of the wall she had erected between her and the rest of the world. Maybe it was because of their shared past as classmates, but Shikamaru was the only one in the encampment that Sakura didn't push away. The two were often found together during what little free time they had, absorbed in a game of shougi. Whether or not they spoke of her troubles, Neji didn't know and Shikamaru never offered any information.

The latter seemed to sense Neji's occupation and he turned his head slightly to follow the Hyuuga's gaze. A small sound escaped his throat and he said, "She was forced to be here. I'm sure any moment now she'll find a reason to escape."

True enough; minutes later the two men watched as the pink-haired medic stood and murmured her excuses to her clearly resigned medical team. They watched as she left the makeshift bar, walking quickly and dodging any attempts to stop her.

Neji frowned and glanced at Shikamaru. "Aren't you going after her?"

The brilliant tactician shrugged and turned back to his half-emptied drink. "Let her be," he declared quietly. "Let her fight her demons alone tonight."

It was an odd statement, but Neji believed he understood. He turned his attention to his own drink, tuning out the growing laughter around him. Tomorrow, most of them would begin the journey home, eager to bask in the walls of the village they loved and would die protecting.

He dimly wondered if Sakura felt the same.

To be continued . . .

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