Remember Me
Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Naruto, if I did, by now Team Seven would be having happy days again, well as happy as they can manage.
Pairings: SasuSaku, NaruHina
Chapter 1: Discovery
Invisible, the feeling felt so familiar to her as she walked after his gloomy form.
"Don't you remember me?" she begged, in the next moment she assured herself she was going to be on her knees pleading. In the past half an hour the question had
been asked too frequently.
"No. I'm sure I would remember someone as annoying as you." A pang of hurt went shooting through her chest as she stopped following him. She watched him as he
stopped, too, only to turn his head over his shoulder. The worst part was he didn't even look at her, he looked through her. She wouldn't let him win, he was her true love, her only love.
The two stood there on the sidewalk of New York City, briefcase in hand, the man turned himself all the way around to hopefully say goodbye to this insane child. "I have to get home to my girlfriend and next time you happen upon me, leave me alone."
The hurt swelled in her chest as she stared at the man walking away from her. "Wait!" She called after him; he ignoring her as he kept walking. This was her last chance; she didn't know if this was the last time she was going to see him…ever.
"I love you so much! I would do anything for you! Please, just stay with me!"
People around them, stopped and stared at the scene she was causing. A sixteen year old had just confessed her love to someone who was nearly twice her age. When he turned around, his face was red with embarrassment and she could sense the anger pulsing through his body. His eyes narrowed at her, the total opposite reaction she was looking for from him.
He walked over to her, grabbed her by the wrist and hissed, "What do you think you're doing? I don't even know you! All of New York could have heard your pathetic little "love confession"! Leave me alone and never talk to me again! Annoying…" He turned around and headed for the side of the street. He raised his hand to the air and called for a cab. It immediately picked him up and she again caught herself staring as it drove away. All the while, the crowd which had expected to watch the girl cause a scene seemed to disperse rather quickly.
"He really didn't remember." She whispered to anyone but herself, refusing to believe it. How could he not remember though? She was there all his life, whether he liked it or not. All those times claiming to sever a bond, that could not be severed, for she still held it close to her, as if it were fragile.
Head bowed, she continued to walk down the dirty sidewalk, seeing only a ghost of where the man had once stood. The sky had darkened and clouds blocked out the sun. She had to find out more about this man, if he was who she thought he was. She pondered through her thoughts, as different plans gradually made their way onto her train of thought.
Business people seemed to pass her everywhere, umbrellas were held above their heads and droplets of rain fell from downcast skies. She quickly ran under an awning, to the closest building. She noticed it was a jewelry store which held windows filled with gold and silver. Peeking through the show windows, the young teen turned into the store doorway in awe.
She looked around the clean carpeted store, as it possessed some of the most beautiful things her eyes had ever seen. She glanced at the silver bracelets with sapphire and gold charms, the gold necklaces with intricate designs of beautiful metal objects. She "ooh"ed at the rings that had stones of different color and size varieties. This store amazed her.
The salesperson came across her and asked, "Looking for something in particular, miss?" Sakura looked up and realized the grim expression of a woman. The woman looked at the girl and realizing the girl held no indication of having money, the woman's frown increased.
"No, I was actually looking to buy one of these pieces of jewelry."
The woman raised her eyebrows in a quick gesture, clearly surprised. "Any choice in particular?"
Sakura pointed to a silver bracelet with pieces of emerald circling the bracelets edge. "That one."
The woman did as the sixteen year old girl said and took the bracelet out of the case. She kept a suspicious eye on the girl as Sakura held it in the palm of her hand. Sakura put the said bracelet onto her wrist, and held it out to view how good it had looked.
Sakura asked, "How much is this one?"
The woman took the bracelet glimmering with emerald stones off the sixteen year olds wrist and checked the number on the little white tag hanging off of the bracelet. She held the bracelet in one hand as she pulled a thick binder out from beneath the clear case where all the jewelry of that particular collection was held. She checked the call number again, flipping the book's pages. She ran her fingers down the page and she had a smug look upon her face. "The cost of this particular bracelet is $1,650."
Sakura's mouth fell open, quick to close it, not giving the saleswoman the satisfaction. "Oh." Was all she could manage. However she maintained a nervous blush.
"So is this a done deal?" The saleswoman taunted.
"No." Sakura replied softly, clearly taken aback from the price with the additional taunting the woman seemed to portray. Looking down in embarrassment for the second time today; her face turned an even brighter shade of red, thinking about earlier and him not remembering her.
The woman chuckled, unpleasantly as if teasing the young girl. Before Sakura could glance once more at the beautiful bracelet, the saleswoman snatched it off the counter and put it back into the glass case. She walked off with a smirk. Sakura looked at the bracelet and thought about how it felt so right sitting there upon her wrist.
She walked out of the store, minutes later disappointment settled her. Feeling ashamed of herself as she walked out of the impressive store empty-handed and now the man of her dreams thought she was some kind of delusional freak. A small tear quivered trailed from her tear duct to her rosy cheek.
In that moment, she looked up and saw a hint of purple sway out of the corner of her eyes. Upon noticing this, Sakura looked to the woman's face and saw a soft smile and pearl eyes.
"Hinata." Sakura said in a whisper, barely audible.
Before the girl could confirm it was definitely her, the grown woman was already crossing the street, traffic waiting to go as soon as the light would turn green. In a minute the cars would buzz by with excitement and she would have lost another lead. Trying to make space in the cluster of people waiting for the "go" crosswalk sign, she had lost the hint of purple. Hinata was long gone before Sakura would be able to cross. Feeling lost, Sakura headed home.
Sakura was close enough to her shared apartment, when she started to become stressed over the day's events. She unlocked the grey door, opening it only to find a mess. She picked up various objects making a beeline towards the kitchen. She held her roommate's laundry in her hands as she shoved it into a basket, making sure to wash her hands after. She looked around the kitchen, seeing empty cups of ramen noodles spread over the counter.
"Naruto!" she called throughout the small apartment, she was angry. Seriously, when was this boy going to learn how to clean up after himself?
A blonde head popped out from around the corner of a bedroom door and she was met by twinkling blue eyes and a grin spread across said boy's face. Upon seeing his smiling face, her anger subsided and said in a playful tone,
"Naruto! What the hell! I thought I taught you how to clean up after yourself!"
The grin still playing on his lips, he came out of the bedroom. He was clad in a pair of his red and blue striped boxer shorts.
Sakura blushed, averting her eyes, but Naruto was already beside her laughing at her embarrassed face. He pulled her into a warm embrace, holding her as close before letting go, "Welcome home." He chirped.
Sakura pulled away from the boy, regaining her composure. "Don't forget why we're here Naruto." Sakura was almost scolding him, but continued. "I saw Sasuke. And Hinata."
Naruto's once smile placating his facial features was gone, a new serious expression now growing apparent. He looked at her and she felt pity boil in her insides.
"So what happened?" His voice sounded dreary and sober.
"Oh you know, Sasuke didn't remember me, accusing me of publicly humiliating him, and told me to leave him alone so he could get home to his girlfriend." She wore a look of sorrow and Naruto felt sorry for asking.
She continued anyways. "Hinata saw me, only for a quick second and before I could say anything to her, she was already gone."
The two both stood there for a second, feeling guilty and upset. They were no closer to saving the two than they were yesterday or the day before. At least Sakura had found them. But something was off about them; they were so much older, working class people who had lives that had nothing to do with Naruto or Sakura.
Breaking the awkward silence that hung in the air, Sakura asked Naruto if he wanted anything for dinner.
"No, I already had ramen." He turned around and went back to his room. He closed the door slightly, trying not to make a lot of noise. It was so unlike him.
She followed silently and knocked. He only grunted, but she took it as permission to enter. Naruto's room was as messy as anyone could imagine. The dirty (and clean?) laundry was splayed out across the floor in a variety of places, his bed was unmade and files of Hinata and Sasuke remained in piles conquering any empty space to be found on his floor. She was sure she smelled rotting food somewhere, but didn't make a point to say anything, mostly because of his mood.
"So, Naruto did you find anything new today?" Sakura asked cautiously, not sure if this was still a sore topic. Sakura and Naruto would switch searching the city looking for their two companions. Today Sakura was to scavenge and Naruto was to research.
"No more than what you already told me." He scowled down at the packet of papers he was already holding. He squinted and read what the document had entitled. Sakura came over, blocking the smell out of her nostrils and sat down on his bed next to him, attempting to look over his shoulder.
"Naruto." She placed a hand over his shoulder. He flinched, sensitive to her touch.
She could tell, even if he flirted with her and touched her all he wanted (and what she would allow), he knew what Hinata had meant to Naruto. It was the same with Sasuke for herself, Sakura had figured. That's why the two were here right? To bring them back, back to their world. It was going to be hard though, the two, Sasuke and Hinata, were already a little less than twice their age, while Sakura and Naruto hadn't aged a day after being here for a months. What Sakura found odd was that the two seemed to age and "grow up" almost immediately upon entering this alternate universe. It was too strange to ponder for the moment.
"I'm not hungry, I think I'll go to bed." Sakura suggested, already starting to get off the unmade bed. Naruto only nodded; now focusing on a newspaper article he had picked up and held in his hands. He skimmed it quickly. She figured it was some crime related topic making the front page of the newspaper New York was so famous for. Sakura left the room, closing the door silently behind her. Her eyes were droopy from restless nights so far, from staying up with Naruto researching. She needed sleep, she lacked so much of it, her dark circles, she was sure, were going to remain permanent. She pulled out the bed from the couch, not before taking the cushions off and placing them into an orderly pile, behind the ugly brown sofa. She pulled out the mattress, got her pillow from the top shelf in a closet and lay down. It felt so nice, so comfortable she couldn't help but to drift off to darkness-
"Sakura! Sakura!" Naruto had yelled for her constantly.
She woke with a start, springing up and off of her bed to find out what was wrong. He looked so delightful, so proud of himself and she couldn't help but glower at him. It was ten o'clock at night and she had only gotten about four hours of sleep.
"What is it Naruto?" She seethed through her teeth.
"I found him! I found Sasuke!" Sakura's mood almost automatically perked up at the sound of the man's name.
"Naruto, I found him." She of course had to remind him.
"No, I found him. I know where he works. He was in a couple newspaper articles I was skimming. He works for some kind of police force, maybe interrogation or something."
"Let me see! Let me see!" She almost ripped the newspaper out of the boy's hands as she realized that this was him. This was Sasuke.
She thought back to her confrontation with him today. She had been close by to the police station sourced in this article. Realization came over her as a plan formed itself in her mind.
"Naruto I know what to do about Sasuke."
Naruto's mood was recovered as he finally had found something useful of a source of information to get closer to the goal of their "mission".
"Tell me." And so she did.
A/N:
Alright I might try to write this and I might not, so I'm going to see how it goes. And everything mentioned has a part in this forming story. I hate writing chapter stories but I'm gonna try, as I have many works in progress at the moment. Plus, I still have to finish Beasts and Bruises sometime. But if you could review that would be awesome, it will give me some idea to continue the story or not.
REVIEW PLEASE! Thanks!