"Will I see you…tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll come here as soon as I can, after my training."
"Then…I'll see you."
"Later!"
March 4, XXXX
Today, training was boring as usual. Kakashi-sensei is always late, and our normal 8-hour training period daily is always cut in half. Sasuke (that idiot) is always showing off in front of Sakura, but I think he should stop blowing fire. After the tenth time, it wasn't anything new anymore.
However, today, like every day, after training, I go to that same grove of willows by the streambed, where the lilies grow to practice myself. But like I told you yesterday, I was surprised to see the same girl again. She seems so frail! Like yesterday, I cautiously approached her, and she reacted, apologizing for being in my special training spot. I said it's ok, and she seemed to relax a bit. I noticed today, that like yesterday, she was carrying the same book in her hands. What is it, I wonder?
She watched as I practice my kunai throwing today. She seems to never get bored, and once in a while out of the corners of my eyes, I see her writing things down in that book. So maybe it's a diary? Or notes? Is she…stealing my techniques? But she doesn't seem to be an enemy spy or ninja, so I dismissed the thought.
While I was doing my pushups, she suddenly talked.
"Will you be my friend?"
Completely caught off guard, I forgot my counting and fell to the ground.
"What?"
"Will you…be my friend?"
"Sure. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. You can call me Naruto!"
She smiled a bit.
"Can I come see you here every day, Naruto-san?"
Continuing my pushups from number zero, I said it was okay.
She fell silent for a bit longer, then started writing in her notebook again.
When I prepared to leave, she startled me again. Asking whether she'd see me tomorrow, I told her she will. She seemed to be happy and sad at the same time.
Naruto pointed at the tree limb hanging over the stream.
"You see that? That's how you get across faster. Any other way and you'd get cuts and bruises and possibly trip and fall around this grove."
She nodded in understanding.
Naruto looked at her a bit carefully. Oh well, the limb was easy to reach and it wasn't a long swing to get here. She should be able to manage.
"Just make sure you grab like THIS. And don't fall; under that water also happens to be sharper rocks that could trip you up. You don't want that."
March 18, XXXX
I've seen her for many days now. Every day, while doing my exercises, she's there, watching me, occasionally writing in her book. She seems to always carry that around, with the same pencil.
The first few days were pretty awkward. She seems to be daydreaming all the time. After the third day, her first question always seemed to be "Are you Naruto-san?"
It wasn't until a bit later that she seems to realize that I'm always me. But then, maybe she is just wary of a henged ninja or something.
She seems fragile always, with her pale skin and translucent pallor. I worry sometimes for her health, but she never falls asleep while watching me. I guess looks can be deceiving.
I wonder, why does she watch me? We barely talk, much. She's always watching me though, never stopping.
And always, her question before I leave is the same: "Will I see you tomorrow?"
Naruto left the grove at a brisk, but happy pace. Today's training was a success; he had managed to finish all exercises at a faster time and made all the shots with his kunai and shuriken.
As he ran quickly down the road, he was stopped suddenly by a voice he recognized.
"So, you're the person she's been meeting all this time."
An Anbu with a red swirl pattern on his mask walked out of the trees. Naruto tensed a bit, but stayed in a relaxed pose.
"You mean her? Yea, she's my friend."
The Anbu's eyes through his mask seemed to be considering him.
"You are a blessing and a curse at the same time. But, I guess they're both balancing each other out."
The Anbu left, leaving Naruto more confused than before they started.
April 4, XXXX
Lately, she hasn't been as weird as I first met her. She seemed even cheerful lately. Although, nothing really changed. Same book in hand. Same sickly pallor. Same pale skin. But then, her questions have been changing. She's no longer confirming my identity all the time.
I don't know why, but training seems to be a lot more fun with her nearby. Perhaps because we are friends? We really say nothing during training; it's just her watching me do all my planned menus to bolster my body and skills into being able to defeat Sasuke. But time seems to fly as she's watching me, and I seem to be able to do better.
Lately we've been talking a lot more. Surprisingly, she knows a lot about the ninja arts. With a few tips from her, my kunai throwing has increased in speed, accuracy, and strength.
Today, she asked to keep one of the smaller kunai that I happened to have, one designed for the smaller students. She seemed happy when I gave it to her.
Tomorrow, I'll ask her for her name.
The rain poured down in torrents, drenching everything in its path. Naruto covered his head in vain with his hands, sprinting at his fastest speed towards his grove.
Upon arrival, something was different. People were coming out. Naruto slowed down his pace, watching as three Anbu carried something out of his grove. The something seemed to be a large bundle of white cloth. The same cloth that his friend seemed to wear at all times.
The lead Anbu, with a striped mask looked up, saw him, and walked towards him. Naruto steeled himself. The other two Anbu disappeared with the bundle.
"You were her friend."
"Yes."
"She tried to reach that grove of trees through a shortcut. The limb broke, and she fell."
"…"
"It was the rocks. She fell directly onto one. Didn't you warn her?"
Naruto said nothing.
"I see. Go inside. She left something for you. Amazing she was able to crawl all the way in there with a bashed head and a broken leg."
The Anbu departed, and Naruto slowly walked towards the grove.
Naruto walked knee deep into the stream, and emerged on the other side, then proceeded through the trees, neither caring about the cold or the branches scratching at his face.
He reached the middle of the grove, completely dry due to the canopy of leaves. In the middle, he saw the book that she always carried.
Next to the book, was the pencil she always used.
Reaching down, Naruto picked up the book and the pencil.
"She had a memory illness."
Naruto whirled around, to see the Anbu with a swirl on his mask leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.
"What?"
"Anterograde Amnesia." Uncrossing his arms, the Anbu walked slowly towards Naruto.
"You see, she had a small problem. She couldn't remember past events. Knowledge, and most things, she could remember. But she couldn't remember what happened to her, what people she met, what she did...after half a day. She was slowly losing her memories past 12 hours ago, all the time."
Naruto stared at the book in his hands.
"So," said the Anbu, pointing at the book, "she always jotted down what she did in that diary of hers. She always reads it first thing the next day, to make up for her lost memories."
Naruto gently hugged the diary to his chest.
The Anbu sighed.
"I'm not sure about it, but I can't imagine what it's like. Memories, are part of us, right? To be slowly losing a part of you, ever second, missing another part of what you did 12 hours ago…that must feel horrible. I was her constant watch guard. For five years, I watched her for a long time, everyday having problems…she never really knew who I was either. Then, you came along. She started seeming to be happier. Maybe to her, you were her living, constant source of connection to the past. To herself, of the past."
Naruto fell to his knees, looking down at the diary.
The Anbu looked down at him, and then left the grove.
Naruto sat down, rocking back and forth, caressing the diary between his arms. Tears (or was it rain?) dripped down his cheek, to be absorbed by the diary.
Slowly, he opened the diary, to the page where the kunai which he had gifted her was acting as a bookmark. Amidst the slightly wet pages, he could read her tiny, neat handwriting. It was the last entry in the diary.
I'm sorry.
Today, I cannot meet Naruto-kun.
I was happy to see you every day.
You, who promised the me of yesterday to see the me of today,
You, who promised the me of today to see the me of tomorrow,
You, who became my friend.
The one person I was unable to forget.
I'm sorry, I can't see you tomorrow.
Clutching the pencil and diary between his hands, Naruto closed his eyes and let the rain fall.
"I never…even got your name."
"I wanted to see you…tomorrow, too."
End.
I was inspired to write this by watching Ef~ A Tale of Memories (about time I got around to it, haha, and I definitely recommend watching it), and I had finished watching Clannad (another good anime) some few months ago, but it was still fresh in my mind. I decided to input Naruto and see how it turns out. Yes, the character in this isn't exactly canon Naruto. I've decided to slowly write random one shots building on this first story, and while they don't have direct relations with this, they will all piece together to make a complete story (in a way, I hope), albeit in a way where I'm jumping around everywhere in the time line.
"A scattered dream that's like a forgotten memory. A forgotten memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to piece them together…yours and mine."
~Sora, from Kingdom Hearts