Kaaru: Well, it has certainly been a long time...
Mitsuki: Yup, everyone's all grown up now...sigh..
Kaaru: Well then, let's start the story shall we?
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
Note: *please read*
This story won't follow the Shippuden storyline anymore but it will have some parts which do follow it.
P.S. Before reading this fic, be sure that you have read the prequel; "To Prove Ourselves" or else it might cause you confusion.
Btw, if there is an MU after a jutsu, it means that it is made up: Blahh no jutsu! (MU)
:: Time ::
"Mommy! Mommy!" a young Hinata called out, eagerly running towards her beloved mother.
Said woman turned off the stove and covered the pan with a lid and then she turned towards Hinata, "Yes dear?" she asked cheerfully.
Hinata gazed up at her mother with big, innocent eyes that held childish curiosity, "W-what's amnesia?"
"Well...when you have amnesia you forget everything or you could forget some parts of your life, it could be forever or it could be just for a while." she explained.
Hinata nodded, her expression then turned gloomy "Mommy, if you get amnesia, will you forget me forever?"
Hinata's mother smiled, kneeled down and embraced Hinata, "Of course not Hina-chan." she said gently, "...I believe that all memories can never be forgotten, they are something precious to us."
2 years. 6 months. 7 weeks. 5 days.
2 years had passed since the Sasuke incident, when all traces of Hinata being Naruto's girlfriend were supressed from the jinchuuriki's head and when he left to train with Jiraiya. 6 months had passed since Hinata passed the Chuunin exams and was unofficially titled "Konoha's Best Herbalist". It had already been 7 weeks since she had started working part time at Konoha Main Hospital with Sakura. And 5 days had passed since she began her mission: Make Naruto remember her, no matter what.
It was a cloudy afternoon in Konohagakure no Sato, but this wasn't an ordinary cloudy afternoon; Naruto was supposed to arrive that afternoon. Everyone who's close to Naruto, eagerly anticipated his arrival, but there was one person who was on the verge of fainting due to excessive anxiousness. Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto's...former girlfriend. She had matured and grown taller since Naruto's absence, she had let her hair grow longer and it now reached the middle of her back. It still had that healthy shine to it, the one that could put Gai's gleeming grin to shame. She had indeed grown even more beautiful the past 2 years (even though she refuses to admit it), same with Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Kei. She was currently in LAB 4 of Konoha Main Hospital, where she researched about various plants to make healthier, safer, and more natural medicines, ointments, antidotes, cures and more. She quickly and accurately wrote down possible formulas for new medicines with her neat handwriting, trying to busy herself so that she wouldn't think so much about how she would face Naruto later. To Naruto, Hinata was now a childhood friend, his "sister". To Hinata, Naruto was her childhood crush and later on became her first love and boyfriend. Hinata looked at her desk, which was littered with books and papers and caught sight of the number 104 on the bottom corner of the book that was currently laid on the middle of her desk.
Konoha Main Hospital: Room 104. That was where Neji was confined 2 years ago, when he got back from that terrible retrieval mission. He was in comatose for nearly a month but other than that, there wasn't anything wrong with him...well, that is if you exclude the strange spider-shaped mark that was burned into his wrist. It turned out to be a poison that would kill the victim on the desired date of the one who cast the jutsu. Fortunately for Neji, Kidomakaru barely had enough chakra so Neji was given a longer time to live. The poison would completely spread through his body in 2 years time, as indicated on the middle of the spider-shaped mark. Now you might be asking: Isn't it already past 2 years since the Sasuke retrieval mission? Well...Tsunade, the current Hokage of Konoha, Legendary Sannin and extraordinary medic; with the help of Sakura, her intelligent and skillful apprentice, and Hinata, Konoha's best herbalist; were able to cure Neji and take out the poison inside of him. Speaking of numbers, the number 97 entered her mind as well. Room 97, it was on the second floor. That was where Ino was confined. She would have died if those ninjas from Suna (who were conveniently a group of medics) hadn't been passing by. She woke up 2 weeks after and was discharged from the hospital. Speaking of Ino, she and Sakura were supposed to tell Hinata if Naruto had arrived yet. She gave a quick glance at the clock, 3:21 pm, Sakura and Ino would come in any minute now...
"Hinata-chan!" Ino's cheerful voice instantly made the heavy feeling in her gut disappear. She looked at the door and saw the Yamanaka there, dazzling as ever. Beside her was Sakura, beaming at Hinata with as much energy as Ino. "C'mon!" Sakura urged, "Let's get out of these uniforms and meet up with Naruto!"
Hinata nodded and followed her two bestfriends to the locker room. There they changed into their normal ninja attire. (Outfits are still the same as Canon unless stated so.)
Hinata put on her lavender shirt underneath an unzipped, beige, sleeveless jacket, her lavender mini-skirt over black shorts that reached her knees, tied her ninja headband loosely around her neck and finally she put on her black formal ninja shoes.Sakura noticed Hinata's gloomy expression and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You okay Hinata?" she asked. Hinata sighed and bowed her head, covering her eyes with her bangs, a sign that she was definately frightened and nervous. "Don't worry Hinata, I'm sure Naruto would be very happy to see you." Sakura said reassuringly.
"You think?" Hinata asked uncertainly, lifting her head a bit.
"Positive!" Sakura said beaming.
"But what if he won't remember me...?" Hinata muttered miserably.
"Well then, make him remember!" Ino chimed in, "If that doesn't work, make him fall for you again! It's not that hard with that pretty face of yours." she encouraged playfully.
"Y-you think so?" Hinata asked embarrassed.
"Of course!" Ino said, making gestures with her hands, "I mean look at you, you're beautiful and you're even more endowed than me!"
Hinata's face turned red as a tomato and stammered out a thank you, trying to ignore Ino's choice of words. Sakura giggled quietly and pulled both of them towards the direction of the Hokage Tower, where Naruto was probably headed.
Hokage Tower: 4:00 pm
A Kage was expected to be a great leader, a wise person, one who could make the right decisions. That was Tsunade, Hokage of Konoha. She was a great leader...when she was sober. Unfortunately for Naruto and Jiraiya, she was currently drunk at the moment.
"BRAT! STOP CALLING ME THAT!" she screamed at the blonde haired teen. He had called her 'obaa-chan' again even though she had specifically told him not to a thousand times before, but Naruto, being his hard-headed self, continued to do so. Naruto crossed his arms in defiance and chanted 'Tsunade-baa' over and over again, which made Tsunade even more irritated. A vein could be seen on Tsunade's forehead and Jiraiya and Shizune slowly began to back away from the two, knowing that things could get ugly.
But Lady Luck was kind today, a knock on the door was heard, making Tsunade recompose herself. "Come in!" she ordered, no traces of drunkeness in her voice anymore. The wooden door slowly opened and revealed Hinata, Sakura and Ino. Naruto's face held a look of surprise as he saw how much the three grew. "Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan! Ino-chan!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. Naruto was wearing new clothes; he wore a black shirt underneath an open, sleeveless, somewhat high-collar, black and orange jacket and black ninja pants and black ninja three girls smiled back and said their hellos. "U-um, welcome back N-naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered nervously, she inwardly cursed herself for stuttering, she had long grown out of it, but she couldn't do anything. This was Naruto she was talking to, the one she loved and still loves. Naruto smiled at her, making Hinata's heart skip a beat. "Thanks Hinata-chan!", Hinata's chest clenched, Hinata-chan. She missed hearing Naruto's old nickname for him, Hina-chan. She also wanted to be able to call him Naru-kun again, but she knew she couldn't until she accomplished her mission.
Naruto was about to say something but Tsunade spoke up, "Save the casualties for later, right now we need to see how much you've improved." Hinata perked up, she wanted to see how strong Naruto was now. She wanted to know if she was on par with his growth. Tsunade looked at the occupants in the room and smirked, "I have the perfect test." The Hokage snapped her fingers and two familiar faces poofed into the room."Kaaru-nii! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled excitedly, hugging the two. Kaaru grinned and patted the blond's head, "Glad to see you again Naruto." he smiled and then gave a Hinata a comforting look. "Yo!" Kakashi greeted, his visible eye turning into an upside down "u". Kaaru gently pulled out of Naruto's embrace, "Meet us at the training grounds, 5:00 sharp. And that includes you three." he said, pointing to Hinata, Sakura and Ino, and then poofed away with Kakashi.
Tsunade cleared her throat, "You have an hour before 5, so I suggest you four spend some time together while waiting." she smiled, signaling them to go. The four bid the Hokage farewell and slowly made their way to the training grounds, talking and exchanging stories. Hinata smiled sardonically, and stared at the orange sky, listening to Naruto's tales all the while wishing that she could make him remember.
Training Grounds: 5:00 pm
Being at the old training grounds gave the members of Team 7 nostalgia, they all remembered when Sasuke was still with them. Ino bowed her head and shared in their sorrow, even Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune who were hidden in the trees, felt their sadness. Kakashi decided to break the gloomy atmosphere, he held up two bells. The four younger ninjas' eyes widened. "The bell test?" Sakura said. Kakashi nodded, "But, with a twist." As Kakashi said this, Kaaru pulled out another two bells from his pocket. "This time we won't be splitting you into two teams, instead you'll work together. The objective of the test is to get these four bells from the four of us before dawn." Kaaru then slammed his palm onto the ground and there stood Mitsuki before them, she grinned and took Naruto into a tight embrace, "Missed you blondie." she said fondly and stepped back.
"Uum, sensei?" Hinata spoke out, "Who's the fourth person?"
Kakashi's eye crinkled, "The fourth person is none other Team 8's jounin leader, Kurenai.", after he said that, Kurenai's squad arrived. Shino greeted them with a curt nod, Kiba flashed them a smile and Kei waved. Their sensei, Kurenai, approached them. "Hello there, I'm glad that I can have the opportunity to fight against these four with Kakashi and Kaaru." she glanced at her students for a brief moment, "You three shall observe the way they fight and give tell us what you notice afterwards, that is your assignment." she told them. Team 8 nodded, eager to see Naruto, Hinata, Ino and Sakura's growth as well as the strengths of the jounins.
The four jounins and the younger ninjas faced each other, waiting for the older's signal. A gust of wind blew past and made a leaf fall to the ground, this was when Kakashi uttered a single word that started the trial. "Go!"
That's the first chapter of TPO's sequel, Restart my Heart! Hope you liked it! Please take some time and click the Review button and give your comments! :D