You guys know how to make me happy =) I got 14 notifications during the first hour then 39 more within seven hours; didn't think that it'd get that much attention during its debut. I LOVE YOU GUYS.

Nom de Plume: I was going to reply but I didn't know which of the 'Nom de Plume's you were so…..yeah. Here is a short version of my reply: We're basically on the same page on the things you pointed out. Though, I still think Sasuke regarded Sakura as a friend at some point. The 'gate' scene when he says: 'thank you' ultimately proves that. But hey, that's my opinion. Anyway, thank you for your insight. I appreciate it.

Read and Review, guys! =)

Chapter 2: Wiped Clean

"Teme is back?!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping out of the seat he was currently on, looking like he'd dart out of the room at any given second. Tsunade began doubting that her idea of involving the blonde was a good one. Judging by the look on his face, she certain that he was already stressed; she hadn't even given the details yet. The busty woman eyed her sake drawer… just a little more, then she'd have more than enough reasons to drink.

She'd called in the copy-nin and Kyuubi host to her office, merely minutes after her meeting with the Uchiha, for damage control not to have another emotionally ruffled ninja added to her babysit list. Because frankly, dealing with kids never appealed to her. "Uzumaki, I want you to calm down. This is a delicate situation especially with Sakura's condition."

Hearing her booming voice cite reason, the blonde immediately quieted down and settled on a slow pacing motion instead of the anxiety-laced pace he had earlier; he was still too jittery from shock to sit. Naruto flicked his head to his right to glance at his sensei and wondered how he could be so calm. The man sat on the edge of the Hokage's desk looking as if nothing new was happening.

The two just found out that Uchiha Sasuke came back and all Hatake Kakashi did to show his concern was put away his porn book. Naruto found this outrageous.

The white-haired man gazed back at Naruto, his sole exposed eye tinged with thoughtfulness at the mention of his former student's condition. "How are Sasuke and Sakura taking it?" he asked coolly, glancing ever so slightly towards the window; as if hoping he'd see a little bob of pink hair walking around the village.

Tsunade gave a resigned sound and picked up her sake bottle that she'd taken from her bottom drawer; her sake drawer. She lifted it to her lips and threw it back; ignoring the disapproving look Kakashi was giving her. She glared at him, he was one to talk; he could never live without his porn book. The man wasn't exactly what one would call a 'good' influence.

"Let's just say, they're both very confused." She answered while wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "She isn't comfortable around him and he's a little shocked and, if not, a little annoyed that she has no memory of him."

"Oh?" Kakashi stated in mild surprise. With what he remembered Sasuke to be, Kakashi was pretty sure that the Uchiha would be a little pleased that Haruno Sakura had lost her memories of him. A small smile tugged at his mouth behind the mask. He knew the boy could never actually sever his ties with Konoha.

Naruto stopped in front of Kakashi, a happy gleam in his eyes. "Oi, Kaka-sensei! We need to get them to talk an—'Slam!' both ninjas whipped their heads towards Tsunade who'd slammed a fisted hand down on her desk. Tiny splinters of wood chipped off and flew upward at her sudden outburst. The Hokage's amber eyes blazed with anger as she eyed the be-whiskered ninja. "YOU WILL NOT. Under any circumstances put Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke within a three-foot radius of each other until I say it is allowed." My, oh my, was she being quite a dictator today.

The two males in her office had stared at her; one in pure shock and defiance, the other in silent agreement. The enraged sanin swept her hard gaze from Kakashi to Naruto. "Am I understood?"

Why not? They were friends at some point in their lives. They should be allowed to talk. Naruto made to protest against her order when Kakashi clamped a hand on his right shoulder. "She's right, Naruto. Listen to logic this time." He murmured quietly, albeit holding a tone authority in his deep baritone. Naruto was known to act on instincts and strong emotions. Needless to say, if Kakashi hadn't stepped in, the blonde would've contradicted the Hokage and probably get himself booted out of this operation. "You want to be part of this, we both know. So don't blow it." He continued. Kakashi felt Naruto's shoulders slump downward in defeat; he took his hand off and proceeded to stuff the hand he'd removed from the boy's shoulder into his pocket.

He addressed the Hokage. "Orders?" Tsunade put a hand on her forehead, thinking long and hard about her options; without the council, she'd have to make the decisions herself. She could only hope that she was making the right ones; for her sake, for Konoha's and for Sakura's. Amber met black. "He will be assigned to Team Kakashi."

At this course of action, Kakashi couldn't help but let out a startled jerk. This was a first. Team Kakashi had consisted of Himself, Naruto, Sai and, previously before she became ANBU, Sakura. With her gone, the team would have a medic from another team join them during missions Putting Sasuke into their team would mean they would exceed the standard four-man squad standard during missions. After all, dispatching five or more ninjas for one mission was only done for extreme purposes; for extreme missions. And with a newly made chuunin on his team, Kakashi shot a look at Naruto, the copy-nin doubted they'd be having one of those anytime soon.

As if reading his mind, Tsunade held up her hand. "He won't be joining you on missions as of now, so your slot for a medic will still be open. I just need somewhere to place him, I doubt he'd take well to sitting at home doing nothing— you are the smartest choice to put in charge." She stated in a business-like manner. "And Sakura's an ANBU. You need one more person to hit the standard team number."

Naruto who'd been quiet for quite a while finally looked up. "Sakura-chan is still part of the team. She joins us in missions sometimes and when she's not busy, trains with us. How do you expect us to keep her from teme when she'll be in the same team?" he glared at her. He never grasped the idea of Sakura no longer being a part of the team. As far as Naruto was concerned, Sakura was still part of the team—ANBU or not.

Tsunaded threw Kakashi a resigned look. Was Naruto really bringing this up now? Couldn't the brat cut her a little slack? Damn these annoying, hormonal, emotional train wrecks. The copy-nin threw her a thumbs up in silent support and slight amusement—Hah, like that was the kind of support she needed.

Rubbing her temples in annoyance, the Hokage addressed the blonde. "Technically, Sakura is an ANBU officer. That means she is under direct orders of the ANBU captain. She is not part of Team Kakashi." Tsunade gave a pointed look at Naruto who was about to interrupt her. "Sai is also part of the ANBU but was officially assigned to your team—Sakura isn't, unless a situation calls for it, part of your team. She may be still involved with your team in a way and in the records, but that is mostly for cover. After all identities of all ANBU officers are kept secret. No one should know who is a part of ANBU, and her affiliation with Team Kakashi accomplishes that."

Naruto bristled; annoyed by how the Hokage had worded her answer. She'd made it seem as if Sakura was still with them because of duty and nothing else. Kakashi thought it time to intervene again. "Naruto, she's right." The boy's face twisted in annoyance at his remark, but Kakashi continued anyway. " Sakura's affiliation may be for cover but that doesn't mean she doesn't like it. She will always be part of us." The Hokage took another frustrated swig of sake. She called them to help her sort things out, not add more to her plate of 'Problems ala Shinobi'. "Uzumaki, if you continue to be a pain in the ass. Just leave."

With one more glare at the Hokage, Naruto sat back down on his chair with a huff and crossed his arms childishly. Kakashi took the opportunity to wrap up their meeting. "Is that all, Tsunde-sama?" The hokage nodded. "Yes, give me weekly reports. And if I see improvement in his disposition, he'll be allowed to take the Chuunin exam."

Kakashi nodded and was about to leave, with Naruto in tow when the Kyuubi host addressed the Hokage one more time. This time, however, his tone was pleading. "Are we just going to keep them away from each forever?" Naruto didn't like the idea of having to split his time between the two people he considered family.

Tsunade gave him a reproachful look. "Uzumaki, I just need to be sure that the procedure Sakura went through doesn't get messed up because of the Uchiha's return. Once I am sure that both parties are ready, they will be allowed to interact. Patience."

Konoha's streets seemed exceptionally crowded at this hour. People, both civilian and shinobi alike, walked in brisk paces, hoping to accomplish each of their own errands. Sakura was one of them. Though she didn't understand why she was in such a hurry. She just got back from a mission; and had absolutely nothing planned. Why she was weaving through a sea of people at quite a remarkable speed, she did not know. The ANBU officer clutched the item in her hands tightly; not wanting to drop it whilst going through the crowd of people.

Her green eyes sparked in recognition when she saw the building she was looking for. Abandoning the streets, Sakura took to the roofs, jumping from each building quickly, to quicken her arrival. She soared through a sea of multi-colored planes at a speed only a few could keep up with and grinned slightly when the building's roof got closer.

Her foot had barely touched the next roof when she felt an arm snake around her waist and pull her off the edge. Sakura had tried to regain her balance but was pulled down by the attacker's force. "What the hell?!" she blurted as she struggled out of the assailant's strong grip.

The two landed quietly in what looked like an abandoned alley and immediately, Sakura was shoved against the hard brick walls with enough force to knock her out of breath. She grit her teeth when her face hit the uneven barricade; wincing a little when she felt the rough surface scratch her face.

Sakura's eyes strained to see the attacker that had her at such an effective hold. By the way he'd ambushed and held her; she knew that he was of a higher calibre than Jounin. The rosette felt a warm gust of breath near her ear; the attacker had leaned forward. "Not nice being ambushed, huh, Sakura?"

The deep baritone of Uchiha Sasuke sent shivers up her spine. Confusing memories came flooding Sakura's mind at its deep sound. "What do you want, Uchiha?" she spat, not liking the way her face was pressed against the wall. The Uchiha heir had somehow managed to pin her to the wall in an uncomfortable position wherein her front side was being smooshed between him and the grimy building wall.

"You didn't win that little battle out there earlier." Sakura glared at the smug sounding young man behind her. Was he insane? He'd grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the edge of a roof just to tell her that he'd gone easy on her? Sakura scoffed. Whatever the Uchiha lacked in emotion, he made up for in arrogance. Though he did have the power to back up said arrogance, but it was still off putting to hear.

"If that's all you have to say Uchiha, I'll be on my way." She grumbled, leaning back sharply in hopes to break free of his grasp. Her shoulder hit his chest hard but the former rogue nin didn't seem fazed. In fact, he hadn't budged; it was as if her nudge was nothing but a gently gust of wind. Sasuke lazily adjusted his grip on her, smirking when he saw her glare at him. "I want to find out how much was taken."

The glaring ceased and Sakura stopped struggling when she heard his odd statement. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. How much what was taken? "I don't know what you mean." Sakura murmured. His eyes took on a thoughtful look.

"Of course you don't."

The young woman's mouth formed a thin line. Now, he wasn't making any sense at all. Absolutely zero on the 'logic' radar—zilch. Sakura opened her mouth to say something scathing when Sasuke whipped her around to face him; her back pressing against the cold uneven wall. "Do you remember what I said the night I left?" he asked. "Do you remember anything about me?"

Sakura look astounded; her mouth was slight agape and her green eyes were wide. The night he left? She wasn't there the night he left. Maybe he'd confused her for someone else? She tossed that thought aside as quickly as it came, who else had pink hair? Sakura made a strange grumble at the back of her throat in a sad attempt to answer his question.

"She doesn't." came a masculine voice from above them. "Naruto." Sakura said almost breathlessly and using Sasuke's temporary shock to shake herself free from his hold. The blonde ninja hit the ground softly and grabbed Sakura's arm. "Way beyond the allowed distance." He mumbled quietly; earning a weird look from Sakura who was close enough to hear. "What?" she asked.

Naruto brushed her question aside. "Sakura, you should go." His stone was hard and clipped; Sakura noted how tense his jaw was, something was up with Naruto. "Naru—

"Sakura-chan," his tone was a clear message that he wanted her to leave. NOW. He barely even spared her a glance; his eyes were locked on the Uchiha's dark ones.

Sakura crossed her arms angrily, how many times did she have to be dismissed rudely? A fleeting look of irritation flashed across her features before she schooled her face into a mask of total blankness. "Fine." She bit out harshly, turning on her heels and stomping out of the alley. If she wasn't wanted then she was leaving. She'd grill Naruto later.

Naruto waited until Sakura's chakra was a good distance away before giving Sasuke a look of utter annoyance. "What part of 'altered memories' do you not understand?" he blurted loudly, not bothering with a 'welcome back' greeting; they both knew Sasuke would be back eventually.

Sasuke ignored the blonde's babble, stooping down to grab a piece of paper that had fallen from Sakura's hand when he had grabbed her. His slim fingers toyed with the fallen item and flipped it to its front side; it was a photograph.

Obsidian eyes stared at a picture of a young girl, no older than twelve, that had pink hair and a wide smile. Beside her were three other people; one, he recognized, was Kakashi looking no different than he did at the present, the other a twelve year old Naruto who was grinning and the last one was a stoic looking boy. It was the Team 7 photo; it looked the same.

Except that, the stoic looking boy in the picture wasn't him.

He stood up and showed Naruto the picture. "If I recall correctly, the ANBU member joined your team not too long ago." Naruto took this statement as Sasuke saying: 'Why is he in this picture?'. The two rivals stared at each other for a few tense seconds before Naruto sighed in defeat. "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Call it curiosity." Sasuke retorted coldly. It was true anyway. He was merely intrigued. Wouldn't anyone who'd gotten erased from a friend's memory be a little curious as to how much of them the said friend remembered? It was natural to feel both confused and a little annoyed. "Dobe, if you were erased from Sakura's memory, wouldn't you be a little curious?"

"I would, but this is you we're talking about." Naruto mumbled, grabbing the photo and slipping it into his pocket; Sakura would kill him if he didn't give it back to her. "I thought you'd be thrilled that she doesn't remember you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's dramatic tendencies. "I hold her to some regard, Dobe." The Uchiha may not have considered Sakura to be the most appealing person to spend time with; he could name other people that were less annoying and pink, but he had to admit, he did have some kind of friendship with her; Enough of a friendship to warrant a little irritation and confusion from him for being completely wiped from her memory.

"I just want answers."

Knowing that the Uchiha was as stubborn as he was, Naruto chose to take the high road; a feat of such grandeur, mind you. It isn't every day that Uzumaki Naruto decides to avoid conflict. "I'll tell you what you need to know, but you have to keep away from her for a while. Whatever questions you want answered, you ask me. Don't go around pressing her up against wall again." Naruto said the last part in a rather exasperated manner. When he saw Sasuke nod, the blonde motioned to the building's roof with a jerk of his head.

Naruto pumped chakra to his feet and ran up the wall, making his way towards the roof of the building. "Let's talk in my apartment." He'd murmured before he's jumped.

The two young men stood awkwardly by the doorstep of Naruto's apartment. Its walls were painted an ashen shade of green and the floor was panelled with dark brown wood. Unlike Sakura's, which had a hallway, his was just one big square. Two doors on the wall adjacent the door frame led to a bathroom and a bedroom. On the right was a small kitchen with a bar table, that doubled as kitchen counter on its other side, separating it from the rest of the space; the living room took up the rest of the apartment, seeing as Naruto used the bar table as a dining table as well.

Naruto motioned for Sasuke to sit on one of the blue dark brown couches as he made his way to the kitchen. The blonde ransacked the cupboards for a plate; setting it on the bar table when he finally managed to find one. "Uh, I have some rice balls. You want some?"

"Hn."

Cerulean eyes glared at the houseguest. Screw being a nice host—he didn't have to fucking serve the Uchiha rice balls if he planned on being an ass. He could starve for all he cared. Abandoning the empty plate, Naruto stomped to where Sasuke was lounging and sat down on the couch adjacent to where the Uchiha was seated; only a stout coffee table separating the recently reunited team mates.

The silence from the Uchiha was an unsaid message for him to start talking. And so, after a little debate with himself, Naruto opened his mouth to explain to Sasuke just how much of him was erased from their former teammate's memories. "As you already know, it wasn't just the recent memories of you that were erased." Sasuke gave Naruto a look that said 'obviously' the blonde ignored the rude Uchiha and proceeded with his explanation.

"Sasuke," the addressed young man lifted an eyebrow at Naruto's use of his first name. "As far as Sakura is concerned, you were never in team seven." Sasuke stared at the blonde's blue eyes that held sympathy for him. The Uchiha was unaware that his eyes had widened slightly. "She has little memory of you. I think Tsunade altered a lot of her memories to make it seem as if you two never interacted."

"A little over the top, don't you think?" Sasuke stated, his voice deep and gravelly. True, having post-traumatic stress was bound to happen in a war and yes, it was a smart move to help those who'd fallen to instability. But Sasuke doubted that Sakura's memories from that far in the past would affect her sanity. He saw Naruto shrug. "Tsunade has her reasons." The Uchiha couldn't help but scoff at his remark.

The war caused the stress, not her memories of the past; not the memories of him per se. So why erase him entirely? Why not modify Sakura's memory of just the war just like what Tsunade had done with the rest of those who'd undergone the procedure? The Uchiha was certain that Sakura was the only one whose past had been altered.

Sasuke glared at the wall. Granted, Sakura not having her memories saved him the trouble of having to put up with her being annoying. But it hardly seemed fair to Sakura that Tsunade had tampered, more than was required, with her memory.

"I don't see her logic."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Think whatever you want, it's already been done. There's nothing you can do about it." His tone of finality earned him another glare from the Uchiha. "Hn." Sasuke smirked.

Uchiha Sasuke, believe it or not, had a lot of values that he held in high regard. That was one of the traits that made him, him; another trait of his was Sasuke's sense of justice; he wanted wrongs to be righted. He'd proved that he had this attribute when he killed his brother for slaughtering the clan; then when he found out why his brother had done it, Sasuke proceeded to kill the people who had brought upon the ill fate of the Uchiha Clan.

Sasuke always thought that wrongs had to be righted.

And being completely wiped out of Sakura's memories; was wrong.

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A/N: Do you see what reviews do to me? =) hahaha keep 'em coming guys.

PS: I'm taking my ballet exam in two months and I'll be prepping and studying for that. (YES I HAVE TO STUDY BALLET TERMS) So that means I'll be writing in between training and studying. My updates won't be rapid fire but it won't be a slow as a turtle with one flipper either. Hope you guys understand. I'm going SOLO during the exam so I have to do good, ya know? FOR MY FUTURE. hahahahaha BUT i love this story and I will keep writing it anyway while I train. Rest assured my dear readers.

(that was one long 'P.S.')