Forget-Me-Not: A Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno Story

Original owner of this Story: Hoozuki also known as Winter's Holly

Now given to xxGodaimetsunadexx to own.

Chapter 1: Lost Memories

'Never linger in the past but also never forget it.'

There are memories that many of us can never erase yet we also never want to forget them. There are the happy memories and there are the very sad and painful memories. We live our lives the way they are hoping for the better, in the end only knowing that it will all be in vain. That's why we just live and take whatever chance we have left in life and accomplish things we always wanted to do. Life's a rollercoaster. If you're not careful, you just might fall off. Cherish your precious people and never let them go.

-o0o-

'Damn! They're catching up!' thought the raven-haired teen as he ran through the woods. Since early evening, they've been pursuing him nonstop. Five chunin were after him and he doesn't even know who they are.

A whizzing sound was heard as he dodged the shuriken thrown at him. Landing on a large tree branch panting, he performed the hands required to make his signature fire jutsu. He held the last sign, waiting for one of the pursuers to come by before releasing the jutsu.

Snap!

That was all it took for him to know where his enemy was. He took a deep breath and the recited the words like he did the many times before: "Katon! Gokkakyu no Jutsu!" A blaze of fire escaped the back of his throat, passed his tongue, and through his lips with burning him, but instead burned his enemy. After the flames dissipated, the man stared at the ground where the body should have been, but it was replaced by a charred log.

Shit! Kawaramini no Jutsu!

He quickly jumped off the tree and ran as fast as he could. But his body wouldn't allow it. It was too bruised and broken and out of strength. All of his charka is almost depleted. But the gate to Konoha was so close by, he wouldn't give up now. As they came in view, the trees become less dense and made him easier to spot; though it was now easier to move through.

"Close the gates! Close the gates!" Yelled one of the chunin.

The enormous gates slowly moved forward, decreasing the sight of Konoha form the man. 'I'm almost there!' There were two men at the doors trying to close it as fast as they can. The doors were almost touching each other now that he can't even fit through it. He stopped for a moment and hid behind a bush. Looking at his surroundings, he tried to figure a way out, and then brought his gaze back to the now closed gates. He looked at the sign that said 'Konohagakure no Sato' and felt a pang in his chest. If he went over the gates, he isn't sure he could see his teammates again, especially her. 'Well I'm here, might as well go ahead.' He stood up careful not to let any of the other shinobi to spot him and quickly jumped over the gates avoiding the guards.

He ran down the path that also led to the academy until he spotted someone on the bench that held most of his memories of her. It was dark with a full moon that was pale yellow. It was exactly like the night he left her. He halted for a second and hopped over the stone wall right behind the bench. In front of him, he noticed the person was girl, considering the way her silhouette looked.

It was a really cloudy night, though there was no sign of it indicating it might rain seeing as how windy it was, too. The leaves flew off their branches and into the distance where they'll never be seen again. Crickets were singing, enjoying the nice cool weather. The clouds slowly floated away so the pale moon could shine what light it had.

The sight nearly took his breath away since the girl that somehow never left his mind, sat in front of his very eyes. He could still see that she left her hair short though in a different style and wore a shorter version of her traditional long red jacket. From the back, he could see that her curves improved a lot and no longer have any baby fat. He heard her sigh and saw her move to lie on the bench. When she spoke, it felt like ages since he last heard her voice. But it wasn't something he expected.

"Why does this place, 'specially this bench, seem so…familiar?" she asked herself quietly.

The boy moved back slowly, can't believing what he just heard. Before he could get away, he stepped on a twig that broke with a loud snap.

"Who's there!" The girl sat up immediately holding a kunai while looking over the bench. When she saw him, she stopped as quickly as she came. Her eyes—giving them a gentle glow—as she saw how bloody his body was.

'You still look the same, especially your eyes,' he thought, noticing her approach. But she stopped when footsteps was heard coming fast.

"Sakura-chan!" yelled a voice he quickly recognized. "What are you doing here!"

Sakura backed away and glared at the blonde boy as the other six watched silently. "Naruto, stop telling me what to do. I'm not a child!"

"Sakura-san, Naruto-san isn't suggesting that you are a child, but there's a dangerous criminal on the loose," a boy with a bowl-like haircut intervene, but Sakura wouldn't listen.

"Look, Lee-san, I've been sitting here since you guys left and so far, there was no one," Sakura moved to sit above the bench with her right hand hanging behind her. She fingered the ground to the boy as he tried to figure what she wanted. He looked down to see her pointing at the rocks and smirked. The guy picked up a small rock and placed it in Sakura's hand as she moved it beside her; with a slight flick of her wrist, the rock flew across the road and landed with a thump.

The seven boys looked alarm and quickly moved except for Naruto and long, brown-haired boy with lavender eyes. "Haruno-san, if I were you I'd listen to Uzumaki," he said.

"Well, it's a good thing you're not me, huh? No offense, even if you are older than me, Neji-san, I still wouldn't take your advice not matter how important," Sakura replied stubbornly. Neji glared at her for a second and took off with the others. Naruto was just about to take off, too, when Sakura called, "Naruto!"

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, facing the pinked heir girl.

"What is the criminal's name?" She asked as Naruto grimaced. For a while, none of them spoke. "Sakura-chan, it'd be better if you didn't know. I mean—,"

"Naruto, just tell me already! You act like it's going to kill me it I knew!"

"O-okay," stuttered Naruto, "his name is Uchiha Sasuke." When Sakura didn't react, the boy and Naruto grew nervous.

"Really? Uchiha Sasuke?" she asked as Naruto nodded. "You know, I really wanted to meet him even if he did betray Konoha. I mean I would, too, if it would mean I'd be able to avenge my family."

"Sakura-chan, your situation is a bit different—,"

"No, it's not! We're all alike: me, you, and Sasuke-san. All three of are orphans. We lost our family in different ways and age."

"Sakura-chan."

"I just don't want him to be alone anymore. I mean…it's just…"

Naruto gave a small smile and went over to Sakura. He patted her head like a little child and knocked his forehead against hers. "You may have lost your family later than me and Sasuke, but you know exactly how we feel."

"Naruto, thank you," Sakura titled her head and smiled, too. "You're more like my little sister now, Sakura. And guess what?"

"What?"

"If you ever did meet Sasuke, the two of you really would've got along."

"Really," she asked with wide eyes as Naruto nodded. The blonde turned to leave, but stopped midway. "Oh and Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Even if you found and helped him, don't forget to do the right thing, okay? I promise to convince Tsunade-baasan to lessen the punishments, alright?"

"And you better keep that promise or I'll kick your ass!" Sakura yelled, waving her fists in the air as Naruto chuckled and took off. When the coast was clear, Sakura tentatively moved over to the bench and jumped over the wall. There, the boy laid with a hand over his abdomen, panting hard. Sakura crept slowly towards the boy and shook him a bit, making him open his eyes.

"Hmm…" he moaned. Sakura felt his forehead and it was boiling hot. She grew worried and slipped an arm on his waist while she quickly transported both of them to her house. "There. Just lay here while I clean and heal your wounds."

Sakura took off his shirt and started healing his wounds, once in a while taking out a shuriken off his body. After half an hour of cleaning and healing, Sakura dressed his wounds and gave him some new clothes and washed the dirty ones. Then she went into the kitchen and started reading her scrolls and books until she fell asleep.

-o0o-

Ba-dum!

'W-where am I?' His eyes slowly opened to prevent the bright sunlight to hurt his eyes. He scanned the area around him and found himself in a large bedroom that was a creamy color. On the far right of the room was a desk organized with books and paper with a small frame on the left corner; next to it was a large bookshelf with books of different sizes and lengths; in front was a dresser of cherry wood with pictures along the top of it and above it was a scroll of the poem "Ninki." He blinked and smirked as he recognized it; it was the very same poem he used as a password during the chunin exams. 'I guess she hasn't completely forgotten me.'

The man stood up and walked out of the room and into the hallway where more pictures hang. Light shown from downstairs illuminating the stairs and the end of the hall as he descended. The living room had the same creamy color with the couches lined along the walls. The curtains area see-through whites that flowed from an invisible wind. The entertainment center was in the middle of the room, but doesn't look like has been used in a while. He strolled into the kitchen and saw the person he was looking for on the table.

Examining her, he quickly noticed how define she is now; she filled in all the area she lacked especially in the chest area which he had to refrained from blushing at; her faced looked more smoother and softer, but somehow he could see how stressed she look as she slept.

"Mmm…," Sakura grumbled as she slowly opened her green clear eyes. What she saw didn't really surprise her as it should; it was the face of Uchiha Sasuke. "Shouldn't you be resting? Your wounds have yet to heal."

"Hn," was his answer to her as he walked around the table and sat in one of the kitchen chair. Sakura stared at him with gazing eyes not totally trusting him yet. After thirty minutes of the staring contest, the kunoichi got and left the kitchen without another word. When she was safely in her room, Sakura sighed and slid down the door and to the floor.

'Sakura, what have you gotten yourself into now?' she thought of what her sensei the Godaime would say and just shrugged it off afterwards not caring anymore. 'Though things would get a bit interesting here.' The ticking sounds of the clock echoed across her too organized room. She sighed and got up from her position on the floor; she had to report to Tsunade again for check-ups on her wounds from a previous mission. Footsteps were heard coming the stairs as Sasuke looked up to see Sakura emerging from the living room.

The pink-haired girl gave the boy a longing, disturbing gaze before speaking. "Do not come out of this house or I will report you to the Hokage and charge as a missing nin and S-class criminal." Then she was out the door in a second after the warning.

Sasuke sat unmoving from his seat and glared at the door from which Sakura departed and smirked. 'Really now, Sakura?' He got up from the chair and was about to leave until he stopped and transformed himself into a dark brown hair and blue eyed teen who looked about nineteen. 'Hmph! See if you can find me now, Sakura!' And out he went through the door.

-o0o-

Knock!

"Come in!" was heard on the other side of the door when Sakura waited. She came in and saw her shishou behind another stack of papers and sighed. Tsunade looked up from a scroll she seemed to be reading and smiled when she saw her student.

"Sakura! How are you feeling today?" she asked, strolling to the girl. "Do your wounds still hurt?"

She shook her head. "They don't hurt as bad as they had before, but it's still sore."

"I need you to take off your shirt so I can see them and change the bandages," the blonde woman said, but stop when she felt something strange. "Sakura, you haven't been healing anyone, have you? I specifically told not to try so hard when you're injured." She sighed and continued rummaging through the cabinets for some disinfectants and bandages.

"No," she told her stiffly. Tsunade lifted a brow cautiously, but shook it off after a moment. Sakura sighed as she took off her shirt and sat on the bed; the paper scrunching up from the sudden pressure.

The Godaime came over and examined her student's injured body and sighed again. The wounds were deeper than she expected. It was taking a while to heal; the first wound stretch from her left shoulder stopping above her heart and the second was the more fatal one that was short in length but deep in depth.

"Sakura, you need to rest more and train less. Your wounds aren't going to heal if you keep on reopening them," the girl rolled her eyes as she was prepared for her shishou's lectures. "Seriously, Sakura, I know your bored from not doing anything, rushing things won't work. Wounds heal over time."

"Hai, hai. I understand, Shishou. I promise not to train until my wounds healed," the kunoichi said nonchalantly, though Tsunade wasn't very convinced. "Don't worry, alright? I'll be fine."

"Oh, fine. Now lift up your arms so I could dress your wounds." The girl did as she was told without question. It was quiet between them, except for Sakura's wincing when Tsunade tighten the bandage too much.

"There, I'm finished." The woman said with a grin on her face, proud of her work. "Now get out of here and don't get in trouble."

"Ja'ne, Sensei," Sakura retorted as she left the room.

As soon as the tower was out of sight, Sakura made a dashed towards the training, trying to avoid getting caught. People stared at her as she rushed past them as a blur making them curious. Sakura always enjoyed the rush of the wind on her face; it was just exhilarating. Maybe that's why she always went on missions. It kept her busy and concentrated on what she was supposed to be doing, but she always did them alone. Why? She just didn't feel comfortable of working in a team anymore. It was irritating for her to wait for people or follow rules. She always had a problem with authority now. The only ones she didn't have problems were her two sensei: first is whom she considered her father after real father died, Hatake Kakashi; and second is the one she deeply respected who she also considered part of her family: Tsunade. Once in a while she'll get in a fight with them, but it was never big.

Sakura came to an abrupt stop when she reached the clearing when she first became a genin or so she was told. Sakura honestly couldn't remember anything of her days as a genin; when she tried they were all just a blur.

The trees rustle with the gentle breeze that flow evenly through the forest. Though the sky was darker than usual, it was strangely comforting to the girl while she stood enjoying the coolness that Nature offered. It was too bad no one was here to share the same tranquility she felt when she was here.

'Okay, enough of this now, Sakura. You have some training to catch up one on,' she thought quietly to herself.

Her legs widen their range into a fighting stance that was somewhat similar to the Hyuuga stance, but not quite. Her breathing came in and out evenly as she steady herself for the brutal training she was about to put upon herself.

-o0o-

Sasuke sighed as he wandered the streets of his childhood days when his brother didn't kill their clan or when he betrayed Konoha for Orochimaru. The people were as lively as before as if they don't notice anything happening outside the large gates that protect them. They don't even notice an extremely criminal was walking amongst them so freely. When Sasuke bought a bottle of water at the local grocery store, the cashier gave him a polite smile that it shocked him for as second. It seems that he wasn't use to the generosity given to him anymore. After spending years with an evil person who would treat you cruelly, it could change your perspective on things. Life isn't as easy as you thought it was.

'It feels so strange to be around all theses carefree people.' He glanced at a couple who were happily holding hands as the boy whispered something in the girl's ear which made her giggle. Sasuke turned away from the sight angrily. Seeing that somehow reminded him of how Sakura wanted them to be; happy and without a care in the world. She always wanted to help him, but he could never figure out why. She always managed to have an effect on him and it just drove him to no end.

Sasuke passed by another couple who laughing just for the hell of it and it just made him angrier to see these actions. 'How could these people be so damn happy all the time!' During his rush, Sasuke bumped into a person knocking him to the ground.

"Itai! What the hell you bastard! Watch where you're going!" screamed the familiar voice.

Sasuke whirled around to see his best friend on the ground, rubbing his bum with the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata by his side clutching his sleeve while staring at Sasuke. His gazed widen as he felt his anger built up; it was just sight of seeing Naruto again made him infuriated. How could someone so dense could be so much stronger than he was? How was that Naruto was able to fight even though he barely had any strength left in him? Why was he so weak compared to Naruto! Sasuke took off in a hurry, not wanting to see that boy's face that reminded him of his goal: to kill his brother, Itachi to the forest.

-o0o-

Sakura stood with knees supporting her upper body as she panted heavily and rapidly. The whole entire area that she trained in was completely demolished. There were many craters all around her while on tree trunks were embedded with kunais and shurikens; some of the large branches were also broken off. Other trees had some burnt markings on them, leaving only a charred area where the tree used to be alive. There some that had been lifted from their roots and thrown across the clearing knocking down others trees along with them.

When she straightened up, Sakura smirked at her work obviously proud of the damage she had created.

'Maybe I went a little overboard this time,' she thought guiltily as the once beautiful clearing turned into a dead wasteland. 'Tch!' The wounds on her body slowly reopened themselves again as the front of her red shirt darkened with the rapid flow of blood from her wounds. 'Damn it! Shishou will definitely scold me again for this. Maybe I won't visit her for the next check-up, but then she'll know something's up. She always does.' Sakura groaned as she trudged towards the river and stripped herself of her clothes.

'It's a good thing I brought some bandages with me.' She thought slyly, bringing herself slowly into the cool water. Wincing, Sakura took off her bandages and threw them next to the piles of clothes. Taking a deep breath, she dove under and swam through the blue water.

Meanwhile, at the exact moment Sasuke happened to see her stripping and tried to turned away when her wounds caught his attention. The crimson, sticky liquid just came pouring out and all she did was wince!

'What the hell does she think she's doing! If she swims like that, she'll lose more blood, stupid woman!' he thought anxiously. But all of those thoughts went away when the kunoichi emerged from the water, now soaking wet. She was still submerged, but only her bare back was visible to him. Sasuke just watched Sakura sit with hair dripping little water droplets around her. Her skin was shiny from the sun reflected off her wet skin. For some reason, seeing this didn't make him blush or think something vulgar in any way.

'Does she even know I'm here? If she does, how could she just sit there like that?' he asked himself out of curiosity.

The girl shuddered, but it wasn't from the cold breeze that just came. It seemed like the cause form somewhere else. Sasuke watched as Sakura lifted her right hand and suddenly a blue glow formed around her hands as she started healing herself. The Uchiha watched with amazement at how easily she closed her harmful wounds, but somehow he knew that she knew that it won't be healed that way. Even now he was still shocked to find how strong she was now. Earlier on his way here, Sasuke saw the field that Sakura managed to disintegrate and gave an involuntary shiver.

But what he found strange the most was her lack of reaction when she saw him and heard his name. When he came back, he half expected her to cry and hug him, but she didn't. It was as if she never knew him and was just helping him because she thought it was right. But how could that be possible? Didn't she say she loved him and would do anything for him? So how she could have possibly forgotten him? Unless she decided to forget him by erasing her own memories. Even that didn't make sense to him. Where were her parents? He never saw either of them. Did they leave her or something? Where could they have gone without their own daughter? Maybe it was time for him to do a little questioning with the citizens of Konoha. They would probably know something.

Sasuke stood up carefully, not wanting to alarm the girl who was just putting her attire back on. With a quick hand sign, Sasuke transported himself out of the woods just right outside of it. He checked to see if anyone was around before jumping towards the tower and landing on top of the roof. Looking inside the window below him, there was no one in the hall so this gave the boy a perfect chance to get inside without getting notice. Before going in, Sasuke made sure to hide his charka so he wouldn't be detected.

He ran quickly—swiftly and silently—through the halls before making towards his destination—the file room. Scanning the area, Sasuke slowly opened the door and entered the dark room. It was filled with shelves of scrolls and books and filing cabinets that contained valuable information. Opening one of the cabinets, he searched through the 'H' files until he came across Sakura's last name, 'Haruno'. Smirking, he took out the file, shocked because of its size.

'Man, is she that important?' he thought, annoyed by how heavy it is. 'Missions, health…the hell where's her personal info!'

Sasuke impatiently went through the rest of the file until there was nothing left. He groaned and slammed a fist in the floor, making a loud bang. There were voices that were heard a little ways from the room as he tensed up. 'Fuck! That was stupid!' Sasuke quickly put everything away until he knocked over a large pile of folders that were stacked on top of each other; one caught his attention as he made a quick grab for it before disappearing out of the room.

'Damn, that was close!' the onyx eyed shinobi thought as he dropped himself to the ground in the forest. 'Now let's what we've got here...' The scroll in his hand had a large stamp on the front that said 'classified' on it with a red seal on the opening. He hastily opened it and through the contents. 'What the! W-what's this!'

-o0o-

The loud bang of the front door echoed throughout the house; a sign indicating that no one was home. Sakura gazed slowly around to see if the person she was looking for was really gone. She shook her head in disappointment as she entered her empty room. She sighed. 'Men, why don't they ever listen? I was hoping he wouldn't do anything rash. But that's a lost cause, too,' she thought calmly to herself as she gathered new clothes to take an actually shower.

The shower head turned on with a blast of hot water while the steam slowly rose to the ceiling. While taking off her bandages, Sakura stared at her reflection; it showed a face that used to be happy now filled with emptiness. Her image didn't contain the cheerful aura around her anymore; her face that was once rosy from the blush on her cheeks was so pale that she looked like the walking dead. There were no longer any purple circles under her eyes as before since she got used to waking up late. She was thinner than before but not enough to make her look anorexic which was good or Naruto would've bug her to no end.

Stepping into the hot water, she leaned her had back allowing the water to soothe her aching muscles and wounds. 'Why am I acting like this in the first place? I'm not even that nice to Naruto…so why now? Sakura opened her eyes to stare her hands like they're the meaning why she's doing this. 'Who are you, Uchiha Sasuke…and what are you to me?'

The girl turned off the water and started drying herself slowly. After she finished dressing her casual clothes, Sakura went to get her wallet and keys and lock the door behind her. As she strolled down the street, men gazed at her with lust in their eyes as always, but she ignored them like it was nothing. Ever since she got older men were after her despite her young age. Sakura looked at the sky for the first time in her life with a smile and no worries. People who passed by, wondered why she was smiling for happily today when she never did before.

'I think my life just took an interesting turn,' she thought, while smirking widely.