(Disclaimer: For all you troublesome lawyer types, I do not own Naruto. All characters, countries, and jutsu pertaining to the Naruto world belong wholly to Kishimoto Masashi. In no way am I trying to claim ownership of Naruto, it is merely a basis for this story.
This fanfic occurs during the Naruto II Arc, around chapter 313 (before the Training Arc starts). Spoilers may follow.
Speech/Though Guide
"blahblahblah" normal speech
'blahblahblah' thought
"blahblahblah" flashback speech
"blahblahblah" Kyuubi)
Blue Shadows on Pink Snow
Chapter 1: Fading Fast
She'd punched him. It had all happened so fast that Sakura couldn't remember her fist connecting with his head, but it had. Ino-pig was yelling at her and Shikamaru had backed away slowly. Sai was the only one who actually went to check on the blond. Everyone else…well, they were scared stiff.
"Oh Kami, Sakura! Why the hell did you do that?"
Ino continued to yell at her, but the words never clicked in her head. She was too stunned by her own action. All he had done was hug her and make a comment about them dating; he hadn't deserved to be beaten like that.
Sai was bent over Naruto's prone form checking for a pulse, as well as any broken bones. The boy relaxed a bit and rolled their teammate, and pulled open one of the blonde's blue eyes before determining that Naruto was safe to move.
"Most likely a concussion, he'll need some minor medical attention."
The pink-haired chunnin started towards her teammates but was held back by her best friend.
"Not after what you did, forehead girl. We can't trust you to fix him up."
Sakura didn't have the energy or will to fight back, so she just watched silently as Sai picked the unconscious Naruto up and headed towards the medical clinic.
She knew it was a bad habit, a nervous tick of sorts. When something annoying was near her, she'd swat it. If it persisted, she'd hit it. It had all begun when Team 7 had first been formed, when Sasuke was still around.
Back then, Sasuke was all that mattered. But there was always Naruto, vying for her attention, wanting to show her that he was better than the Uchiha. Back then, she hadn't learned to channel her chakra into enormous strength. Back then, her punch would have done little more than bruised Naruto's ego and make him disappear for awhile.
What she often forgot was she wasn't back then. She'd forgotten that she had to control how hard she hit something, and she hadn't remembered to stop punching Naruto when he invaded her space. But old habits die hard, and it was perhaps a little too late to kill this one.
"He'll be okay. A day of rest and we can approve a release from the clinic," Tsunade looked at the group of ninjas gathered in the waiting room before her, the majority were chunnin but there were a few higher ranking shinobi. "You may go into to see him if you'd like."
Konohamaru was of course the first to reach the room. Red scarf streaming out behind him like a flag, the genin barely had time to open the door.
"Naruto-niisan! You're okay! You're alive!"
"Eh? Oh, hi Konohamaru."
"Oi, someone stop the brat. Shikamaru!"
"How troublesome…"
"N-naruto-kun!"
"Good to see you're not knocked senseless, baka."
"The punch really didn't do him any harm…"
"Punch?"
"So you're really okay?"
"You don't remember the punch?"
Bark bark whine….
"Yeah, Akumaru's right. It happened pretty fast, I guess you didn't see Sakura hit you."
"Sakura……?"
"Yeah, Sakura."
"Who's she, Ino?"
"Haha, very funny, baka. Sakura, your teammate."
"My teammate?"
"The joke's not funny, Naruto."
"What do you mean joke, Kakashi-sensei?"
"You mean you really don't remember Sakura-san?"
"No….Is she our teammate, Sai?"
"Big forehead girl. Pink-hair, green eyes, super strength? Nothing? You don't even remember the crush you had on her?"
They watched as he shook his head and tried to remember this 'Sakura'.
"Do you remember the rest of us?"
"Yeah. You're Lee, and that's Hinata. Konohamaru, Kiba, Akumaru, Shikamaru, Temari, Kakashi-sensei, Sai, Ino, Chouji, Shinuze-san, Ero-sensei–"
"Dammit! Don't call me Ero-sensei!"
"But you don't remember Sakura?"
"….No"
She stood frozen just outside of the door, wishing she was dreaming. A younger Sakura would have been overjoyed to discover Naruto had forgotten her. It would have meant more uninterrupted time with her Sasuke-kun. But for some reason, she felt empty and alone. After all those years of disgust and loathing for the blond, how could he actually mean something to her? But then, how could she deny this reaction of hurt and dejection that stemmed from his sudden amnesia?
(Author's Note: Hello again! UnknownShinobi revisiting the world of Kishimoto Masashi's Naruto for yet another fanfic. NaruSaku, again (maybe I should take a break and do another pairing…). I have no plan for this one, but I'm going to try for short. That said…
Read & Review, Shinobi over and out!)