A/N: Hey readers! So this story is going to take place after Sasuke left Konoha, but instead of him staying gone, like he did in the manga, he is going to return. I'm not sure how much I'll write; in fact, it entirely depends on you. If I get a good response, then I'll make it into a story, but if not, then I'll probably stop or just end it fast. So, you know what that means, right? Review! Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Naruto, I own you not.

Remember Me

Chapter One: The Accident

"A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself."

"It's time to move." Sakura nodded and stamped out the fire with one of her feet. She grabbed her bag, flung it onto her back, and checked to make sure that all her weapons and medicines were in the right places. She looked up and smiled warily at Naruto, who was doing essentially the same thing. Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Sakura," he said, "this is it. We are finally going to rescue Sasuke." Sakura shifted uncomfortably and did her best to smile. "I sure hope you're right about that," she said softly.

Naruto's grin was infectious. "There is no way we leave without him. Not this time." Kakashi stood up and grabbed his pack as well. "Well then, I'd say we'd better get started if you want to keep your word. We don't have much time before they move again." Everyone nodded, and without another word, they were in the trees and on their way to restore Team Seven. Dawn broke as they traveled, and to her relief, Sakura could feel the air slowly getting warmer.

She shivered and tried not to think about where she was going, which of course was impossible, because she was going to find Sasuke. It had been years since she had seen him last. In fact, her last memory of the onyx-eyed boy was when he had left her on the bench when they were twelve. But Sakura was weak then, and that seemed like a lifetime ago. Now she was a talented apprentice to the Hokage herself, Tsunade, and an advanced medic that everyone admired and respected. She was a different person now, but so was Sasuke. He had trained under Orochimaru and could think of nothing but revenge.

Sakura sighed and checked her map. According to their intel, Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto should be in this area right now. Actually, right in this area, if she was reading the map right. "Guys," Sakura hissed, "hold up!" Naruto and Kakashi stopped and gathered around her. "What's up, Sakura?" asked Naruto. "Are we there?" Kakashi peered over her shoulder at the map and Sakura pointed towards their current location. "Yeah," she whispered, "I think so. We should move more quietly. They could be anywhere." The two ninja nodded, and they began to move more stealthily.

After about three minutes of this, they could hear some sort of battle taking place. "That has to be them," Kakashi muttered. "There is no such thing as a coincidence. Lets get a better look." They snuck closer and were able to get a better view of the skirmish through the branches of trees, just a few yards away from the fray. Sakura squinted and recognized Sasuke. He was fighting none other than Orochimaru, and the sight of that snake made Sakura's blood boil. She could remember everything he had ever done to hurt her and her village. "Calm down," Kakashi whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We can't afford to be reckless or hasty."

"But Kakashi, he's right there, and he's fighting Orochimaru! I think we should help him. Don't we all want Orochimaru dead?" Naruto complained. Kakashi sighed. "Of course we do, but that doesn't mean we should rush into this without knowing what's going on. Just have a little patience." But Sakura wouldn't have it. She was focused on the battle, and Sasuke wasn't doing so well. She wasn't entirely sure he could win on his own. 'What should I do? I could try to convince Kakashi, but then it might be too late. Sasuke needs help now'.

Sakura made up her mind and put the map back in her bag. 'First I need a diversion,' she thought, 'so they can't stop me'. "Hey, guys, do you see Kabuto? I can't seem to find him anywhere." Kakashi grimaced. "You're right. There is no sight of him. Maybe—" Kakashi was looking around, away from her and Naruto, and that was all she needed. Sakura dropped down to the ground below and dashed towards Sasuke.

"Well shit," Kakashi said, watching her go. "Sakura? What the hell do you think you're doing, going in alone?" Naruto yelled. "Wait for me!" Naruto dropped down as well and chased after the pink haired ninja. Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath before jumping down as well.

Sasuke, who was currently bleeding out on the ground, had of course, heard his former teammates yelling at each other, and looked around. What he saw almost seemed like a dream. Sakura Haruno was sprinting towards him at full speed, and she was beautiful. For a moment, he thought he must be unconscious and suffering from a waking dream, and then she was ahead of him, and taking on Orochimaru, no less. Then Naruto was there, and Kakashi too.

Kakashi dropped down beside Sasuke and started checking his wounds. "What's up, you stupid bastard?" Naruto called, looking down at him with a huge grin. "Long time no see!" Just then, Kabuto came running full speed out of the woods from the opposite direction, and began attacking Naruto. Sasuke never even had a chance to reply. He looked back at Kakashi. "What the hell do you guys think you're doing here," he hissed. "How did you find me?"

Kakashi laughed. That is the least of your worries right now, Sasuke. These wounds are pretty serious. We need to get out of here as soon as possible before someone else gets hurt. Sasuke sneered. "And what makes you think I will go back with you?" Kakashi smiled. "What choice do you have? Are you really gonna fight me in this condition?" A scream brought both of their attention back to Sakura. She was on the ground, and bleeding profusely. Sasuke felt an unexpected surge of fear and panic run through his chest and throat. Kakashi jumped to his feet and bolted towards Sakura.

Sasuke wanted to get up too, but his head was really becoming quite faint now, and he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to keep his eyes open. Everything was blurring and he was just so dizzy. Sasuke couldn't open his eyes anymore, but that didn't matter, because what was worse was that he could still hear, and it was like something out of a nightmare.

"Wait, no! Sakura, hold on, you have to hold on!"

"Calm down, Naruto, its going to be okay!"

"You're going to make it through this! Sakura, you have to hold on!"

"Naruto, CALM DOWN, we can't do anything if you lose control!"

"I'll kill you, you fucking snake!"

The last thing Sasuke heard was the sound of what he could only describe as a beast. Naruto must have activated the Kyuubi in order to fight Orochimaru. But what happened to Sakura? Sasuke tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't fight the tiredness anymore, and finally he allowed the blackness to take over and envelope him.

His eyelids hurt. Is that even possible? Apparently so, because his were most certainly burning. Sasuke groaned. His whole body ached from the pain of Orochimaru's inflictions, and he tried to open his eyes. At first he was unable to do so, and started to panic. What if he was paralyzed? But then, mercifully, his eyes inched open. Sasuke took a deep, ragged breath and opened his eyes as wide as he could. The light was practically blinding, and Sasuke wondered if that's what was making his eyes burn. They still hurt, but he was sure that it already wasn't as bad, and he thought he could handle it.

He looked around and realized that he was in a very bland hospital. It looked familiar, actually, and then it dawned on him why. He was home. For the first time in four years, Sasuke was back in the hidden leaf village of Konoha. Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, which was rather soothing, and opened them again. He tried to sit up, and realized that he couldn't. It wasn't because he didn't have the strength, though, although it was arguable that he probably didn't, but because of the cold shackles around his wrists and ankles, binding him to the hospital bed.

"Just great," he fumed. As he began to think of ways he could break the shackles, the door burst open, and Naruto entered the room. Kakashi was just behind him, followed by a woman Sasuke didn't know. She was blonde, and definitely top-heavy. There was a diamond in the center of her forehead, and she radiated the most authority in the room. He stared at her and she didn't smile.

"So this is the infamous Uchiha Sasuke," she said. Kakashi smiled humorlessly. "He doesn't look as threatening as I expected. Just a kid, really," she continued. Sasuke scowled. Who did this woman think she was? Then she laughed. "Offended are we? Sorry, I guess I am being kind of rude. I should introduce myself." Kakashi sighed and looked away. Naruto was sitting in a chair in the corner, for once, rather quietly, looking at his feet. Sasuke raised his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for her name.

"My name is Tsunade, and I'm the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, and it is under my authority, Uchiha Sasuke, that I pronounce you a prisoner for your crimes against the village." She paused and studied his face, which was of course, unreadable. "Do you have anything you'd like to say?" Sasuke smiled. "Would you be willing to make a deal?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"What kind of a deal, Uchiha?" Sasuke did his best to shrug. "My freedom, or at least the revocation of the death penalty that I'm sure you've assigned me, for information. About your enemies, I mean." Tsunade looked at Kakashi meaningfully, and then turned back to Sasuke. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, you aren't allowed to go outside of this room for any reason whatsoever." She smiled. "Not that you could if you wanted to." With that, she turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"Don't worry Sasuke," Naruto said, getting up and moving closer. "She's just mad because Sakura got hurt because of you. She and Sakura are really close, so, I think it really hit home." Sasuke decided to ignore how much Naruto was pissing him off in order to learn about Sakura's condition. He looked Naruto in the eye for the first time in years.

"How is she?" he asked. Naruto raised his eyebrows. Kakashi sighed again and also took a step closer. "She's not in good shape. She hasn't woken up yet, and they think she might be in a coma. Who knows how long that will last." Sasuke's stomach felt like lead. Why the hell did she run into that fight to protect him? He never did anything for her! Not since they were just kids, anyway. He couldn't understand what her motives were, and he was equally confused about the feeling in his gut. What did he have to be guilty about? He never asked to be saved.

"Anyone on call needs to go to room 397 right away!" a medic from the hall yelled. "Everyone on call, we need you now! Patient 523 has woken up!" The scurrying from the hall made Naruto and Kakashi whip around towards the door. "That's Sakura," Naruto breathed. And in a second, he was gone.

Naruto flew down the hallway and swung into room 397. Doctors were pushing him to the sides of the room, trying to get him out of the way, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. "Where am I?" Sakura's voice was feeble and pathetic. "What's going on?"

"Its okay, Miss Haruno, you'll recover from this whole thing without too much trouble," one of the doctors said soothingly. Sakura looked confused when Naruto finally pushed his way to her bedside. "Sakura, thank God you're okay!" he exclaimed, cupping his hand over hers. "And guess what? We got him! We brought Sasuke back, and Orochimaru is dead too! Isn't that great?" His smile faded when she looked at him with just as much confusion.

"I'm sorry…do I know you? And who is Sasuke?"

Next Time:

"So," she said, "you must be the Sasuke I keep hearing about." Sasuke didn't understand. "Of course I'm Sasuke. You know who I am," Sasuke replied angrily. Sakura raised her eyebrows. "They told me you'd be rude." Sasuke prevented himself from gaping at her.

A/N: So there you have it. There wasn't much interaction between Sakura and Sasuke, if any, but that's how the first chapter had to be. Of course, the rest of the story will be about them rediscovering their relationship…if you liked it, of course. So um, REVIEW! I need support in order to move this story along. And remember, I love you guys!