Dear Stranger, Make Me Remember
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Chapter 2:
Identity
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Sasuke hadn't expected Naruto to return so soon. Or, rather, he hadn't expected the assigned ANBU in charge to let him through a second time.
A person, after all, could only visit once a day.
When he saw his expression, however, he understood.
Naruto was...a mess.
He immediately knew something was wrong and exactly who was involved.
Sasuke sat up, casually brushing overgrown bangs away from his eyes. The desire to trim them had long since died as he wasn't allowed to go near a simple kunai. There was no way in hell he'd allow anyone close to his hair, however, and so it remained long and messy. Sasuke failed to mind.
The door closed with a hollow clang but the blond shinobi didn't speak.
His bright locks were disheveled as if he had run his hands over it thousands of times. His blue eyes still held that deep exhaustion, but Sasuke noticed that they were also bloodshot and swollen.
He chose to remain quiet, not wanting to break the silence Naruto's entrance had created and patiently waiting for the whiskered Jinchuuriki to spit out what was on his mind.
By the looks of it, it was serious.
The last time the dobe had looked that...haunted had been half a year ago, when Hyuuga Hiashi doubted getting his heiress back and almost decided on disconnecting the life-support system keeping the girl in a stable condition.
Sasuke had never seen the blond so agitated until that day.
Naruto's knees gave under him and he slid to the floor, candling his head in his hands.
"...She doesn't know me."
It was said softly, distantly low, and in complete disbelief, as if the dobe himself couldn't begin to grasp what he was saying.
The Uchiha frowned. She what?
Didn't that girl loved him? Why would she forget that–
"She feared me, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted his thoughts and the brunet had to fight down the urge of slapping that glazed look off the dobe's face. He didn't remember seeing him so lost until now and it was making him feel uncomfortable.
Damn that over-sentimental idiot.
"You should have seen her face," the blond continued in that same voice that was beginning to drive Sasuke nuts because it made him feel helpless. "I thought I'd hugged her too tightly, but no...She doesn't remember who I am, she doesn't know me anymore."
Sasuke remained quiet, letting Naruto get it out there while cursing inwardly.
Hell, he wasn't good at this sort of thing.
"And she feared me. She was so scared. Of me," he punched the floor with his fist, a crack quickly resounding in the small closed space.
Sasuke didn't even flinch.
And not for the first time in his life, the Uchiha watched his friend weep.
.. .*. ..
They said her name was Hyuuga Hinata.
The girl with the funny, chocolate-colored hair with equally nut-tinted eyes claimed she was a ninja, a kunoichi, an important member of something called the Hyuuga Clan.
The boy with bright marks on his face and pointy teeth said she was his best friend along with something – someone – called Shino and Akamaru. He said they were teammates, and that he would protect her.
She didn't know what he meant by that. Protect her? What did...what did the words mean? She wasn't entirely sure.
Her vocabulary had vanished along with everything else, but it was coming back at her again, if at a slow pace. Her mind was a sparkling white canvas with no drawings, no base, no colors to speak of.
Oh, she understood half of what she heard...but not everything. Some words were lost, with no meaning.
Just like everyone else.
Who was that boy? Who was the girl with the funny but pretty hair and the big eyes beside him?
Not knowing was making her wet behind the eyes. It was a peculiar feeling, that of her eyes dripping with liquid. She had tasted it on her lips, and frowned at its flavor. Salt...salty water?
Her eyes had widened.
Saltwater only resided in the ocean, she wasn't sure how she knew this information, information that wasn't exactly important, but she did and was she...Was she spilling the ocean?
But that thought had sounded silly, even to her own untrained mind.
The boy with the marks was named Kiba, after a fang, he claimed.
Kiba.
The name was distant. It was there...but barely. A faint remembrance that gave her the impression of loudness, a canine, grass, and warmth.
The girl was TenTen and she said she would take care of her, because he was no longer here to do it himself.
...He?
Who was this 'he' TenTen spoke of?
It couldn't be Kiba...because Kiba had backed her up on her promise fiercely, looking out of the window and whispering a name she never really heard.
That confused her, but they didn't elaborate any further.
Then in came an ever odder person. He was...bright.
Colors. Contrasting colors.
Orange and green, she found herself remembering slightly. And his eyes were a bit silly too. They were huge, and energetic, and full of something he called 'the flames of youth.'
Whatever that was, she wished to have it. Maybe those flames of youth that gifted him with never-ending energy could help her get up and start walking. She didn't like staying put on that mattress Ino the blonde labeled as 'bed'.
Her body was too heavy to be lifted properly, however. She had already fallen countless times before Ino with her endless platinum blond hair caught her and placed her back in bed after taking care of the 'bruises'.
Blotched, purple and greenish skin adorned her face from falling so many times. And her hands were red, the blood beneath showing slightly on the surface.
She had seen blood before in her mind. Countless amounts of it. Blood was pain. Blood was death. She knew blood.
So she panicked.
The girl called Hinata panicked.
Blood.
Blood.
Blood everywhere.
She didn't remember anything from this world, from this strange, but open and warm, and welcome and odd and silly, and sane, world.
But she did remember blood in her dreams.
Blood had been her water. It had been the only thing she'd known for a very long time. It had surrounded her, drowned her, claimed her.
Blood had destroyed her.
And, most importantly, she remembered crimson eyes, spinning commas that observed her with hatred.
Hatred she tried to build and return, only to see the eyes fade away and shift to a crystalline violet with circles surrounding the black pupil.
Sharingan.
Rinnegan.
She knew what they were. She might not know anything else, but those names were engraved on her mind to permanency, the names ringing in her ears in an unending echo.
Those eyes haunted her.
They were evil. They had made her go through a world of corpses and blood.
It had been torture.
She had lost her mind.
Or...she thought she had. But she hadn't.
She didn't know how long she spent trapped in that dimension, did not care to know.
She was now away, far, far, far away from it, and that was all it mattered.
She was safe.
Right?
And those memories were starting to go dark and sink into the background, erasing themselves completely from her mind's eye. They were leaving her, they were giving back her sanity.
She didn't understand why this was happening or how, but she was glad.
She was immensity glad.
But not happy; she still remembered fragments and those small pieces of untold imagination met no description.
So it wasn't a surprise when she entered a state of shock and fear so high she couldn't move.
Just seeing the dark, crimson blood restarted the same heavy feeling at the pit of her stomach.
The girl named Hinata ceased to breathe, her heart stopped, the blood in her veins ran cold.
To her credit, she didn't scream. She couldn't.
Since waking up, her vocal cords had refused to work, they had failed her when she opened her eyes for the first time to the light pouring from a single window. She had lost the ability to speak, it seemed. The power to form words had disappeared. She just couldn't bring herself to take control and speak up.
So she just sat, watching the red, thick, hot liquid oozing slowly down her small, pale palm with the utmost horror.
"...okay, Hinata? If you leave this bed again, I swear I'll–" Ino stopped her lecture when she noticed the girl go rigid, her pale lavender eyes – eyes she had missed seeing and prayed for to open –, staring fearfully at her scraped hand. "Hinata?" the blonde medic nin asked hesitantly.
But Hinata was unresponsive.
A small whimper escaped her lips after a moment and large tears began to spill down her cheeks.
"Hinata?" Ino prompted again, her inquiry turning to worry when she saw her eyes fixing solidly on the small gashes on her palm. "Hey, hey," she quickly tried to console and grabbed her small wrists into her own hands, hastily wiping away the red liquid with clean cotton-balls and proceed to heal them with her chakra. But the smaller girl was still centered in her own world. "Hinata," the blonde shook her and finally lifted her chin to make the brunette face her.
"It's okay," she whispered, cupping her cheeks. "You are okay. Do you understand me? It's over. You're awake now, you won't have to go back there." Wherever 'there' was. Ino wasn't an expert in genjutsu or any other techniques except for her own, but she was aware that living in a dream – or most likely, hell – for years without stopping could cause damage to the mind. It was anybody's guess how far the damage went, but judging by her lack of memory and speech, it'd been bad enough.
She heard the door open and Shino entered quietly. "I hope you don't mind if I stay," he commented when he caught Ino's light blue eyes on him.
Ino sighed, released Hinata, and waved a dismissing hand in his direction, telling him without words that it was fine. "Watch over her, would you? I need to make my rounds."
Shino gave her a nod in return and Ino ruffled the girl's long hair affectionately.
"I'll see you later, okay, Hinata?" The girl simply gazed at her, her pale cheeks reddened by her tears, her eyes puffy. Ino turned to Shino. "Talk to her about yourself, please. Tell her about your life, about how she fits into it. Let her know who you are, what you are to her, and past experiences. Tsunade-sama wants to see how much she doesn't remember," she said.
"Understood, Yamanaka-san."
Ino's serious demeanor crumbled and she creased her nose. "Stop calling me that, idiot," she smacked him playfully with her clipboard on top of his head, raising on her tiptoes to accomplish the task. The boy had grown into a very tall man in his late teens and though Ino was nothing close to short, she still struggled to get past his chin. "We've been spending time together for the last three years, don't 'Yamanaka-san' me."
Shino ignored the sensation of having his cheeks burn to bits and coughed awkwardly, thankful for his high-collar, which was hiding his unwanted blush because...Aburames did not blush. It was simply ludicrous. "Very well, Ino-san."
Ino sighed again, placing her fists on her hips. "You're hopeless," she announced. "Would it kill you to drop the 'san'?" she muttered as she left, but not without first hitting him again, this time on the right shoulder.
Shino cleared his throat and turned to look at Hinata, ready to start talking. He wasn't a very communicative individual, but not having her around like it was custom had left him with many things to say, accumulated over the years.
He had expected to find her as Ino had seen her last, in tears, but to his chagrin, the small girl was looking at him with what he thought was interest. Gone were her tears and her gaze darting from the closed door to him, her head tilted to the side, her lips slightly parted. It was as if a light had gone off and her mouth formed an awed 'o' and she sent him a small, – dare he say it – knowing smile.
"It's not what you're thinking," he blurted out.
Hinata's eyebrows lifted slightly and Shino got the impression she thought he was lying. Well, as much as he hated to disappoint her, he wasn't.
Maybe.
He missed her too much to disregard whatever she was thinking, so instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and began, "My name is Aburame Shino, from the Aburame Clan,..."
Hinata watched him as he talked, her lips twitching with effort at lifting them. The muscles there were strained from misuse, but she didn't mind. The ache there reminded her that she could feel and that she was now in the outer world, that she still could smile.
As she heard him explain who Yuhi Kurenai was, she couldn't help but wonder where these feelings of familiarity and warmth came from.
.. .*. ..
Months.
It'd been months after his release and he was once again stuck on routine.
Nothing ever changed, not in a cell or out of it. He was unsure how to feel about it, but he understood that stability was becoming tedious.
Although his ninja career was far from over, he was to stay away from missions. Hell, he wasn't even in the active shinobi roster, and this bothered him. His skills weren't needed and he hadn't run away from this village to Orochimaru for power for it to go to waste.
No. He'd lost too much to obtain it in the first place, how could he let it go so easily?
So he trained privately.
No one ever told him he couldn't, so he guessed bending the unofficial rule wouldn't affect his situation much. After a week of being placed under constant surveillance and with no one trying to stop him from doing whatever he wanted, he made a place for himself in the Konoha forest, a place in particular.
It was secluded, away from civilians and other shinobi.
Completing his sentence and helping save the shinobi world in the 4th Shinobi War didn't equal positive popularity with the citizens of Konoha, and in the first month of his release, he had ignored the dirty looks and whispered words of 'traitor' and 'ninja filth' and 'Uchiha scum'. However, everything had limit and he was no exception.
The house he called his own was nothing special, but it had the basic necessities an average human needed and more than enough space and distance from the village to make up for everything else.
Naruto was now too busy with studying law – Sasuke had snorted at the news – in his Hokage training and being a sensei to hang around the Uchiha's place now, but for the first few weeks, he helped to make sure Sasuke was all settled.
It had been irritating, having the dobe play the role of mother hen, but what could Sasuke do to stop him? Beat him to a pulp, of course...But that was forbidden. He couldn't attack the future Hokage without reason.
Apparently, making Naruto stop pestering him was not reason enough.
Sasuke honestly didn't see the problem, but Tsunade did. What a hypocrite. Sasuke could bet all of his money on the fact that the blonde more often than not sent the dobe on a flying trip across Konoha from her office window when annoyed.
Hence, that left Sasuke on his own. Mostly.
Former Team Taka visited him constantly though, Jugo and Karin being the most constant. Suigetsu liked to roam and recklessly refused to alliance himself to any of the hidden villages. But when he stopped to visit...he always came disguised as a bottle of wine.
It was amusing to fool the guards and merchants, he explained once, and plus, he added, it was fun to start the journey drunk.
Sasuke could simply sigh at his idiocy. Suigetsu's antics were another thing that remained constant. The Kiri ex-ninja would never use his liquified brain for something proper, it appeared.
After training, Sasuke stayed inside his house or sat outside his porch until curfew.
That was something he especially loathed.
Curfew.
Hmph.
One Saturday morning, he anticipated spending the day just like any other – training until he collapsed with fatigue or someone came over to his house (Jugo, Karin, or Naruto most likely). He did not expect to detect a small chakra signature in his training grounds.
He came to a stop, black eyes narrowed.
Who dared to step into his domain?
He was undeniably annoyed and with a grunt, kept on walking, ready to kick out whoever had invaded his territory.
What he didn't expect to find was a girl with her back to him, sitting quietly and observing something at her feet.
...A girl?
Her dark hair was pulled to the side by a silver comb, the rest of it free and over her shoulder, her white kimono crisp and sleeveless; her black shinobi sandals were off and placed beside her as she remained ignorant of him, still looking down at something ahead of her.
She better not be one of those weird fans, he thought bitterly. He may be a traitor, but he was a 'handsome' and a 'hot' one at that, and he attracted the opposite sex like flies to honey.
"Who are you." He hadn't bothered in hiding his presence, so his brow arched when the girl jumped, startled, only to instantly moan in pain.
Now Sasuke was putting the pieces together. Was she by chance...hurt?
She better not be. Otherwise, it was going to be him getting the worst part of it. He was a warrior, and if there was something wrong with her, well, hell, he was no medic.
"I said," he repeated, louder this time, "who are you."
The girl's small shoulders tensed but she didn't answer or turned around.
Comprehension was swiftly replaced by irritation. "Are you deaf or perhaps mute?" he finally spat. "I asked you a question."
Sensing her fear failed to make him feel guilty in the slightest.
Once again, no response.
Scowling deeply, he moved towards her so fast she didn't stand a chance.
The next thing she knew, he stood in front of her, ready to get her out of a place he called his own. But he halted suddenly, the words dying in his mouth.
Big, lily colored eyes stared back at him, shock evident in their depths.
"...Hyuuga?" he asked, shocked himself.
The girl's eyes opened a fraction more, and she attempted to scoot back, hissing in pain as her right ankle shifted. She quickly took hold of it gently and glanced up at him, insecurity written all over her face.
Sasuke had to blink once to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
What the...Wasn't she under extreme custody of the Hyuuga Clan? How had she ended up here, of all places? Wasn't she weak after spending so much time in bed, her muscles stiff and aching with misuse? How had she made it this far out?
Sasuke wasn't a gossiper, but he knew very well who the little woman in front of him was and her condition.
She didn't remember anyone, and she was out of the ninja commission. She was no longer an active kunoichi, just as he wasn't an active ninja, and she was voiceless.
No wonder she hadn't answered. The girl, although able to produce sound, did not speak. Some aftereffect of trauma, he'd heard.
Tch, having called her 'mute' just a minute ago so bluntly was making him feel regretful of judging her so fast.
"You're hurt." It was more of a statement than anything else, but the girl gave her confirmation, her lips a tense line as she gazed at her swollen ankle. "You can't move either."
The girl winced at his flatness.
"And, if I'm informed correctly –which I am– you are not to be left alone. Where is your escort?" he demanded as he eyed the sprained area.
He was no medic, true, but he knew a sprained ankle when he saw one.
He didn't miss the way her eyes darted to the side and her hands began to fidget.
Having an idea of what she was so not hiding, the Uchiha sat on his heels, fixing her with a stern look.
"Did you sneak out?"
Widened Hyuuga eyes looked at him in surprise, giving herself away.
He almost smirked. This girl was so easy to read, never mind that she couldn't talk.
"No permission, eh, Hyuuga? Aren't you a bad girl," he drawled.
The brunette blushed, her doe-like eyes screaming 'I'm innocent!'
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, honestly curious.
The petite girl showed him the herbs gathered in a big plastic bag labeled with a name he didn't care to read.
"You were looking for this?" He received a nod. "Why?"
The Hyuuga blinked owlishly at him and then pressed her palms together, leaving the bag on her lap, and began rubbing them, applying a nonexistence formula on her swollen ankle as if to mimic putting on some kind of salve.
Yeah. Sasuke didn't care as long as she got out of his training grounds. Now, how was he going to accomplish that with her unable to move?
Ugh. Where the hell was that dobe when you actually needed him?
Stuffing his face with ramen?
Sasuke hoped not. He could sometimes swear the idiot had more broth than blood running through his veins.
His first instinct was to take her home. That way he wouldn't have to bother with her anymore. He wasn't as heartless as people made him out to be, and if the dobe ever found out he even considered the idea of leaving the Hyuuga, the girl that he was apparently in love with, there, in a lonely forest, all by herself when she couldn't walk, Sasuke would never see the end of it.
So take her home it was.
Finding that plan the most logical (it was the only one he had, truthfully), he got up and slid her sandals in her direction.
"Put the left one on," he ordered and picked the right one himself, surprised at how tiny her feet were.
This girl won't be the tallest in the bunch.
The Hyuuga did as she was told but not without first shooting him a questioning look.
"I'm taking you to your family," he told her to ease her anxiety.
She visibly relaxed and he didn't waste any time in throwing her on his back unceremoniously, not caring if her short kimono got wrinkled. Her fault, not his. He didn't know why on the name of her ancestors she would wear a freaking expensive-looking white kimono in the woods.
Arrogant Hyuuga showing their wealth.
Idiots.
The girl gasped, quickly balancing herself by holding on to his frame as he placed his hands under her bare thighs.
Damn kimono. Why did it have to be this short? Couldn't it have been the longer version with the sleeves?
Once she was in place, he started to walk, shifting the girl's weight so he could move with ease. It wasn't as he thought her heavy, quite the contrary, really. And that was the problem. She was too light. He felt as if he didn't carry her correctly, he would forget all about her and end up dropping her.
The last thing he needed was one pissed off Hyuuga Head trying to put him in jail for dropping his little Hyuuga princess.
Not happening.
Though his plan was a good one, it had flaws.
The first one consisted of how to get her there without going through the center of town and the second one...where on earth was 'there'?
He had no idea where the hell she resided.
He almost face-palmed at his stupidity.
"Hey, you," he called out to her.
Once he felt he had her undivided attention, he proceed.
"Do you know your way home?"
No answer.
Sasuke bit back a sigh. "Tap one for yes, two for no."
Two taps on his shoulder let him know that she was as equally clueless as he was.
Sasuke inwardly cursed. "Figures..."
So with no other choice, a grumpy Uchiha Sasuke headed to his 'abominable abode', murmuring incoherent words that were music to a masked ANBU Sai's ears, the latter smiling in amusement as he followed. An oblivious Hinata simply shrugged and rested her chin on the side of his neck the way she did when Kiba or Lee decided to carry her home. This wasn't her first time in this position with a male. She had been carried around since she woke up in that plain hospital room, both by women and men. Although it did bother her he didn't know this guy...but he knew her, and he was taking her home to Papa, so it was alright.
Right?
Sasuke almost jumped out of his skin when he sensed her getting in a better position, her hands loosening slightly around his broad shoulders, her...gifted bosom pressing snugly against his back.
Okay...this wasn't what he'd envision.
"Comfortable?" he looked at her from the corner of his eye.
The girl gave him a contented "Mhm!", completely missing his sarcasm.
Sasuke resisted rolling his eyes.
The dobe really owned him this time.
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A/N: Short, but I'm busy this week :( Hope you enjoyed it though :D )
Thank you for being my first reviewers!: Meech Macko, Narutoimagine01, narutodoesntdese, Neko-chan, 921350, Kia-B, Ro0w'z, umnia, Guest, auroroa0914, Deedeecrazy8, Love-MM, Encuentrame, YukiTenVianey, jecka-hime22, tastetherainbow17, and Pressing Point! Thanks, guys! :D I can't believe you liked this story o.o but oh my, I've never gotten so many reviews for the 1st chapter.
2.16.14
