Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Chapter 9: A Small Conversation


Sasuke and Sakura walked to the hospital, with Sakura's attempt at a light conversation on the way, failed. Sasuke's lack of replies didn't let her down, though, and she chattered softly about her discharge from the hospital.

"And then Mebuki-san came to pick me up, and she told me that I was unconscious for about four days. After that –"

"Sakura."

The said girl jumped in surprise, but waited for him to go on.

"You call her Mebuki-san."

"Yes, I do."

Sakura gave him a questioning look. Then, she realized where he was getting at and explained. "Ah, well… I guess I should call her "mom", but it just sounds so strange…" Sakura nervously laughed.

'But I call you Sasuke, without a suffix. I wonder why.' Sakura thought, but knew better than to ask the irritated Uchiha.

"Just… call her "mom" sometimes." There was a frown on Sasuke, and Sakura could only wonder if it was a frown of confusion or annoyance.

A question that had been clawing inside Sakura finally decided to be voiced out.

"Uh, so, Sasuke. What was I like?" It was an innocent question, and it was this innocence that caught him off guard.

There was a long silence, and Sakura had almost given up when Sasuke answered.

"There was a time… when your teammates were hurt and unconscious, so you were alone to protect them from enemies."

Sakura stilled, completely silent to catch all of his words.

'Well, there were others who helped… but forget about that.' Sasuke tried to shorten it as much as possible, and concluded.

"You protected your team."

"Ah." It was a soft answer, and after a lengthy pause, Sakura asked him more.

"Who were my teammates?"

Naruto's name jumped at him, but after a moment's consideration, he answered her.

"A dobe and a…"

'What was I? The sole Uchiha survivor everyone pitied? The genius everyone admired? No, I was…'

"…an idiot."

'A dobe an an idiot. Sounds fishy to me.' Sakura thought, but decided not to push it. instead, she turned her attention back to their previous topic.

"So, uh, do you remember anything else? Even the smallest details would be nice."

Sasuke frowned, and Sakura immediately blurted out, "Ah! I'm not trying to use you to recover my memories! I'm just… honestly curious."

"I know." A simple reply, and the silence resumed again.

It was when the hospital came into view that Sasuke spoke up again.

"The idiot…"

"Huh?"

"Your teammate. He had a curse… and you stopped it once."

"Aa." Sakura replied, not understanding much, but acknowledging the graveness.

They stopped in front of the hospital, and their small conversation came to an end again.


a/n: overwhelming schoolwork. hooray. ... :( Thank you readers & reviewers!