An: Just to lighten the mood a little I'll tell a short story. So for last chapter I could not remember how the Uchiha massacre went and I wasn't sure what episode it was on so I found something on YouTube, but it was like super sped up for entertainment. I had to slow it down all the way just for it to be at normal speed, but there was no sound so I just sort of sat there in silence watching this video in slow motion and reading the subtitles. Then when I finished I restarted it at normal speed, which was speed up really fast, and I ended up laughing at it. I can't believe I laughed at that scene like I guess having everything sped up and squeaky was really funny. So In short I forgot how the massacre went and ended up laughing at a squeaky video of it.
Oh and I changed how old they all are by just a little. I'll go back and change that in the earlier chapters too.
The time lines sort of lines up so Happy birthday Naruto!
Chapter 12: Memories
Hinata looked down at the rice cooker blankly. Her mind somewhere else as she listened to the drip of the rain. "Hina?" Naruto's small voice asked and Hinata felt her paint leg fabric move.
"Yes, Naruto-chan?" Hinata asked the boy who was looking up at her with big eyes.
"Why was Sasuke screaming last night?" He asked his memories still locked away somewhere, or if he had gotten some back he wasn't talking about it.
"He had a nightmare," Hinata responded not able to force a smile, not when Sasuke's awful screams echoed in her ears.
"But he's still crying. Can nightmares be that bad?" Naruto asked a worried expression on his face.
There, not dreams, Hinata thought to herself trying to think of an answer. "Some can be worse than others," She responded giving Naruto a sympathetic smile. Poor Sasuke, he had been whimpering and crying out all night. Sakura was still up there comforting him, as she had been all night. Luckily his cries had died down and the house was rather silent.
Up the stairs and through a door the silence still held as a pink haired woman made comforting shushing sounds and stroke the back of a young Uchiha's head. Sakura was afraid to stop comforting him even thought he had died down to the silence of crying from what tears he had left. Her shirt was damp with the boy's endless tears and snot as he had not left her arms the entire night.
Sakura didn't even bother saying it was just a dream, that would be a lie. Not that Sakura needed to tell Sasuke it wasn't a dream, since that feeling when you wake up and your brain informs you it was all made up, he lacked that. He knew it wasn't a dream, but he didn't know how to comprehend it. All he knew was his family was murdered by his brother who showed Sasuke over and over and over how he killed their entire clan. A clan he didn't even know he was part of till now, a Clan it seemed he had somehow forgotten. The family whose interactions he had with came flowing back to him long after waking up. Their screams still eating away at his mind, even when he closed his eyes and cried louder, they still echoed in his ears. The screams of the family his brother had murdered.
Sakura was surprised when Sasuke went very still and his grip tightened around her waist where he had been holding her for hours. She looked down at him and fell silent seeing him staring blankly into space. The boy seemed done, his tears spent and his body shaking. "Sasuke," She whispered brushing some strands from his small face. "It's going to be okay, I'm here. I'll protect you," She told him squeezing him a little tighter and closing her eyes in sadness when he didn't squeeze back.
"I'm thirsty," He replied hoarsely, His voice was void of emotion and forced. It didn't sound right for such a young boy.
"Okay, do you want to go downstairs? I'm sure Hinata has prepared breakfast," Sakura replied gently brushing his hair again as she waited for a reply. Sasuke simply nodded in response. Sakura peeled herself away from him getting a good look at him for the first time all day. His eyes were red and sore, dark bags lay beneath, his cheeks flares a vibrant red and dried snot stuck to his face. "Let's get you cleaned up," She said running a thumb across his cheek and feeling the moister from his tears. He looked down and nodded. Getting up his hand in hers as he slowly got out of bed and they walked to the bathroom. She was about to release his hand so she could damp a towel, but he held on when she tried to pull away. Sympathy filled her and she didn't release him and instead damped the towel with one hand. Crouching down in front of him he allowed her to let go of his hand so she could hold his head as she gently washed his face. She gave him a small smile once she was done, but it was never returned.
Deciding his blue pajama shirt and gray pajama shorts were fine, she led him downstairs. The small conversation that had been happening came to a stop when the stairs creaked. Hinata watched as Sakura appeared then Sasuke followed, their hands held together tightly. His head was down as he and Sakura walked him over to the kitchen. No one knew what to say. Breakfast was quite that day.
"How much does he remember?" Hinata asked quietly, concern laced into her voice.
"I think only up to the massacre. If he knew anymore he would probably be acting different," Sakura answered glancing over her shoulder at Sasuke who was lying on the couch staring off as Naruto sat on the floor and glared at him.
Naruto had never seen anyone look so blank. All day Sasuke hadn't talked one bit even when Naruto tried to invite him to play tag. It was almost like Sasuke was turning into an adult! It made him rather angry, why wouldn't Sasuke even reply? Naruto continued to stare at his friend grumpily, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice him! "I'm going outside," Naruto said loudly to get his guardian's attention his eyes still on Sasuke as he got up. He walked to the glass door and left the house to play alone.
Hinata let out a small sigh as they watched the door close. "Maybe you should play with Naruto," Sakura suggested turning to face Sasuke. Hinata nodded and left so Sakura could be alone with Sasuke. She walked over to the lost looking boy and sat on the floor in front of him laying her head in the nook of her arm that was resting on the couch. Sasuke's eyes slowly moved to meet hers. Just seeing his eyes made her want to cry for him.
They sat in silence for a little before Sasuke's lips parted and his expression fell into sadness, "Who am I?" Sakura was so taken aback by the question she couldn't suppress her surprised expression.
"U-um… what do you mean? Your Uchiha Sasuke," She told him trying to smile but knew she was failing.
He frowned his sadness turning into a small scowl, "But what about my family?" He asked not breaking eye contact.
She didn't know how to answer so she could only respond, "Their Uchiha," She whispered.
"That's not what I… what happened to them?" Sasuke asked his voice sounding too weighed down for a five-year-old. Sakura was stumped, what could she say? His scowl darkened as time dragged on and she never responded. She could only watch as his scowl once again dropped into a disappointed frown and he looked at his hand lying next to his face.
How lonely he must feel. "Sasuke," Sakura started getting the boys eyes again, "You're not alone," She told him gently brushing his bangs behind his ear. He refused to look at her as she kissed his forehead and got up to cut up some tomatoes, she was sure he would love them.
They were finally going out to buy new clothes for the boys because they were growing like weeds, as always. Hinata had to keep a strong grip on Naruto since the boy always tried to run off. She almost wanted to be the one holding Sasuke's hand since the boy didn't try to escape and kept quiet, but it was understandable since he only had his 'nightmare' yesterday.
She glanced down at Naruto who was tugging on her arm trying to get ahead. Naruto couldn't help it, though, he loved public areas, there was always something new! He desperately wanted to go on an adventure around the town which seemed too big to be real. He wished Hinata didn't have such a strong grip. He gave up trying to get free and instead walked ahead of Hinata.
He had to look up to see the people's faces, even then they were hard to read in the shadows of midmorning. He brought his eyes back down to his level and smiled at a young girl his age. He was slightly surprised when the girl smiled back, but her parents brought her closer and told her something whipping the smile off the girls face before the small family avoided him. He slowed down a little and looked up at people's faces again. He came to a stop when he saw all of their disapproving looks and suddenly everyone was avoiding him. Hinata's hand disappeared and he whipped around, but they were gone. He looked around fearfully as some of the people stopped in front of him. Their eyes might as well have been glowing red with the look they were giving him. The sun shadowed them so he couldn't make out to many features.
"To think the monster is this boy," One of them said his eyes still locked onto Naruto.
"He's a pest and a beast. He's Despicable," Another said his eyes squinting in rage. What did they mean he was a monster? Naruto stumbled backward and fell cutting open his hand on a rock. He barely felt it though as the people started to press in on him. "The third shouldn't have saved him," one continued as they pressed in on him till his world started feeling very, very small. The world became darker as they started kicking him. He cried out for them to stop, but they only responded by kicking harder. "We'll find you a nice hole to die in."
Hinata had to stop to see why Naruto had stopped and looked back at the boy. She tensed when she saw his eyes wide with terror then he dropped her hand and looked up. His expression getting more and more fearful. "N-naruto?" She crouched down, but the boy didn't seem to notice her as he continued to stare.
"What's happening?" Sakura asked coming up on Hinata's left to watch the boy too.
"I-I don't know," Hinata said reaching out to put a hand on the boys shoulder. "Naruto-chan?" She tried to wake the boy from his trance like state, but yet again he seemed fixed to the spot. She wasn't sure what to do as she watched his expression change into different stages of fear. They were starting to get looks from people as they waited. "Naruto," She shook him in her fear for what was happening.
The boy snapped out of it and let out a shriek before struggling out of Hinata's arms. His eyes were squeezed shut as he broke free and started running off. "Naruto!" Sakura called next to Hinata, but the boy kept running. "Take Sasuke, I'll go after him," Sakura said quickly ushering Sasuke over to Hinata and jogging after the boy as he disappeared into the crowd. Sakura kept her eyes forward as she lost sight of the boy. Crap! Why had he run off like that? "Naruto!" She called again then she felt a hand on her shoulder and a whimpering from behind making her come to a stop. When she whirled around she was met face to face with an ANBU mask.
"You seem to have lost this," The ANBU ninja said adjusting Naruto who he had under one arm holding him like a sack of potatoes as the boy struggled.
"Oh," Sakura said as she was handed the screaming Naruto who tried to kick her. She held him anyway as he landed feeble punches and kicks on her. "Thank you," She said inclining her head in a small bow to the ANBU.
"I'll accompany you back to Hinata-san," The ANBU informed as Sakura started walking through the crowd. As they walked the ANBU was getting side glances from the people passing. They quickly found Hinata and Sasuke in the crowd and Hinata smiled a little as she saw Naruto. The boy had calmed down a little and was now only attempting to escape her by pushing off.
"N-naruto," Hinata spoke her voice comforting and Sakura felt Naruto stop struggling. Naruto had opened his eyes and was taking shallow breaths before he started looking around slowly. Hinata had gotten up and approached Sakura and Naruto. Sakura gently handed Naruto over to Hinata and she finally saw the look on his face, terror.
"Is everything going okay? We saw him run off," The ANBU asked his masked face facing the women.
"W-were not sure what h-happened… Y-you must be one of o-our guards. Thank you," Hinata gave the man a friendly smile before giving a small head bow.
The ANBU took a second before giving a small bow in return, "It's my pleasure, please inform us if you ever need help," He said before rising and giving them small nods in goodbye and dashing off.
Hinata let out a small sigh and focused on Naruto again who was now holding onto her shirt tightly and looking around. His eyes wide and brows lowered in fear. "Naruto-chan, are you okay?" she asked.
The five-year-old looked up at her holding on tighter as he gave a short explanation, "T-there were these men who a-attacked me… they called me a m-monster! They said… they wished I was dead…" Naruto sputtered his head falling onto Hinata's shoulder.
Hinata didn't know what to respond and embraced him tighter. Hinata and Sakura exchanged an understanding look. Naruto's memories were coming back now too.
All Sasuke could do was stand, he was frozen by his brothers glare and clear giggle only a second ago. He took what his brother had told him and stored it away. Sasuke was terrified of his brother, the man looked like he was enjoying this all. Itachi was confusing though since his eyes said the opposite. "You are not even worth killing," Itachi continued, his face almost emotionless as he continued to take his time with each word as if putting a different emotion on each. "Foolish little brother… If you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me, and live in an unsightly way. Run. Run and cling to your wretched life," Itachi said his expression darkening into a twisted smirk as his eyes slowly closed, "And one day, when you have the same eyes as I do," His eyes flew back open to reveal the blood red eyes of the Mangekyō Sharingan, "Come and stand before me!" The red eyes of his brother were the last thing Sasuke was left with as his face hit the dirt and all went black.
"Aaah!" Sasuke woke with a start. His face was wet from the tears he must have shed. What were these 'nightmares', he still never got the feeling of it being a dream. This was the second time now, almost a continuation of the last. He felt more tears rush down his flushed face silently. Itachi's words echoed in his head and he gripped the blank with such force he hoped it would rip.
He looked up when he heard something shuffle and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Sakura laying on the floor her arm reached out to him as she slept. She must have come in to try to comfort him. He scowled at her, who even is Sakura? He barely knew her! He knew, he just knew, deep down, something was wrong with all this. And something was disturbingly real about those nightmares.
Sasuke didn't get much sleep the next nights as his 'nightmares' continued and soon it had added on to the point where he was about to become a Genin, Naruto was there at the academy… and so was Sakura… But Sakura was younger, they were all the same age in that nightmare world of his. He didn't understand much of it considering in his 'dreams' his age was increasing beyond his current age. He didn't like the 'dreams' at all, they always clung to his consciousness long after he had woken.
Sasuke had also noticed how Naruto had quieted down a considerable amount. Naruto had his own reason, though, he was having 'dreams' too. So far he had just finished a mission with his team, which Sasuke and, strangely, Sakura were on. Why was his Kaa-san part of his dreams? An unsettling feeling had settled in both boys' stomachs.
"Hey, that's mine!" Naruto snapped taking the ball Sasuke had picked up.
"Whatever," Sasuke responded whipping his head to the side and scowling at the ground.
"I-I wonder how much they r-remember… There at each other's t-t-throats more and more…" Hinata stuttered her worried eyes on Naruto and Sasuke as the two started yelling at each other in the back yard.
"I don't know…" Sakura responded her arms crossed as she watched the two glare at the other. Naruto clenched his small fists but made no move as Sasuke looked away again. "Hey guys don't fight," Sakura called from her deck chair.
"You're not my mom!" Sasuke snapped.
"I can do whatever I want!" Naruto responded remotely at the same time as his rival.
Sakura's mouth fell open slightly at their retorts, but soon it closed into a firm line. "Watch your mouth," Sakura told them standing up and giving them disappointed and disgusted looks. Naruto's mouth fell open a little and his expression morphed into guilt as Sasuke looked away wearing a disappointed frown of his own. "You two need to learn some respect," Sakura told them her stare still darkening. How dare they! She has been taking care of them for Five and a half months now!
Too Sakura's disappointment Sasuke turned and stocked past her inside while Naruto stood looking at his feet. Great job Sakura… look at what you've done now! They hate you! Sakura sighed loudly and slumped back into her chair rubbing her temple. "What are we going to do with them?" Sakura mumbled closing her eyes.
Sasuke shut the door behind him and stomped upstairs. He plopped down on his bed and scowled at the ceiling. Why was Sakura trying to dictate his life? She was just someone watching him till… till what? 'Watching'…Sasuke's scowl released for a moment of realization, why… were there two fully fledged ninja's taking care of them?
Sakura felt bad for snapping at them, she had to think about what's happening to them, how they must be feeling. She had already gotten an "its okay Kaa-san," from Naruto, but she was sure Sasuke would be a lot more stubborn.
"Sasuke?" She asked knocking on his door and leaning in to hear an answer. The only thing that followed was silence and the faint whispers of a breeze tickling her feet from under the door. Wait, a breeze? That had to mean the window was open! What if Sasuke had run away!? Sakura slammed the door open ignoring the cold air that gently wisped past her. Her eyes darted to the window over the boy's bed, the curtains were dancing in the air and a Raven haired boy was peering over the bottom of the window and looking out.
Sasuke jumped when the door slammed open and his head whipped to her direction. They made eye contact for a second while Sasuke looked startled before he gave her a small glare and turned back to the window. "Sasuke, what are you doing?" She asked relaxing a little. Sasuke was still again and his eyes darted here and there. "Sasuke…" She was going to repeat, but the boy finally started talking.
"Why is there ANBU ninja always guarding us?" Sasuke asked shooting her uneasy glances as if he didn't trust her, it stung a little. Sakura was slightly surprised he had realized the ANBU were actually guards.
"Because… you, boys, are very special and they are trying to protect you," Sakura told him giving him a reassuring smile, but Sasuke's eyes only darkened.
"Protecting us from what?" Sasuke asked. It was very strange to get interrogated by a five-year-old.
"From people who want to… well, take advantage of your individuality," Sakura explained hoping she wasn't using too big of words, but it actually seemed Sasuke's vocabulary had extended dramatically for a five-year-old since his memories started coming back, as expected.
"What makes us 'special'?" Sasuke asked turning his head fully to her this time.
Sakura let her mouth open slightly as she tried to come up with a response that wasn't 'Because you're the last Uchiha and Naruto is a Jinchūriki,' She couldn't say his dreams were real… He had backed her into a corner and she didn't know how to get out. This kid was getting to smart for his own good!
Sasuke continued to scowl at her as she closed her mouth again and gave him a sympathetic look, "Um… Sasuke… You'll-you'll understand in a little," Sakura promised.
"Hn," He grunted in response. He turned back to the window with a scowl. The more he was remembering the colder he was becoming to her.
Hinata watched Naruto childishly kick his feet underneath him as he looked around the house broadly. With Sasuke locking himself away in his room a lot Hinata had to try to entertain Naruto, but she wasn't too good at it.
"Hey Hina," Naruto piped up still swinging his legs.
"Yes, Naruto-chan?"
"What's today?" Naruto asked looking out a window at the cloudy skies.
"I-it's Saturday," Hinata responded slightly confused.
"No like, the number," Naruto said looking back at Hinata.
"T-the number?" Hinata repeated, "Oh, you mean the date? Its O-October 10th," Hinata told him with a small smile.
Naruto's face scrunched up in thought. Then he shrugged and got back to swinging his legs. What was important about the date? Hinata wondered then it hit her. How could she forget! It was Naruto's real birthday! He would be turning twenty. Hinata watched him swing his legs and bang them on the chair legs to get a small nocking sound. How in the world is that boy twenty?
Naruto stopped swinging his legs as the drip of rain sounded, the storm had finally reached them. He turned and smiled at Hinata as the rain slowly started to intensify. "Can we go outside!?" Naruto asked gripping the side of his chair.
"O-outside? Why would you want to do that? It's raining…" Hinata pointed out gently.
"Please!" Naruto begged using his irresistible puppy dog eyes.
"I-Um…" Hinata looked out the window as it became blurry with rain pounding on it. Naruto widened his eyes and made a small whining sound. "O-okay Naruto…"
"Yay!" Naruto cheered jumping off the chair to run off.
"Not so fast Naruto-chan!" Hinata grabbed the boy by the waist to stop him. "You need to put on rain gear, please wait," Hinata begged and the boy stilled and gave her an eager smile. She let him go and found the closet grabbing her own purple raincoat then a smaller blue one. Finding Sakura's yellow rain boots and the adorable little red ones for Naruto she closed the closet. Taking her load of stuff, she grabbed Naruto and helped him into the small boots and little rain coat. "Naruto," She called after him as he wiggled free and ran for the door his boots making small thumps. She sighed slipping on her own rain boots and walking to the door as the child fumbled with the nob. He pushed open the door and wind swept through the house. The boy ran outside and Hinata followed with a small giggle as he ran to the nearest puddle and jumped on it sending more droplets into the rain.
How could she ever think about that giggling boy as her twenty-year-old Naruto?
Sasuke's eyes opened slowly as his sleep faded away. His shadowed ceiling greeted him as his "dream" steadily came back to him. In that dream, he was leaving the village to get strong enough to kill his brother. The idea of killing his brothers felt good, like a movie, he wanted to see what happened next. These dreams were making everything more confusing.
"I love you so much it hurts!" Sakura's words echoed through his head. He was so confused. Sakura made him angry, he didn't know why, but she annoyed him more than anyone else –in the dream and now. Why would someone like Sakura love a cold person like he had been in his dreams? Ugh, why should he care, there just dreams –no… They're different, but still.
Sasuke exhaled in announce rolling over and pulling the covers over his head. What were these dreams? He knew very well they were more than dreams, he also had random flashes of new information for the "dreams" during the day. They weren't natural. No dream ever builds on top of itself perfectly to create a story he felt very emotionally bonded to. They weren't dreams, they were almost visions. Visions of what, though? "Who am I?" Sasuke whispered to himself.
Rage pumped through Naruto fueling the power within him. "Sasuke!" He screamed as he charged his friend. Sasuke's face stayed blank as Naruto approached the Uchiha a fist trailing behind the Uzumaki, it's target the asshats face! How dare he run away from the village!
Naruto rolled in his sleep his fist clenched tightly as he kicked the blanks off the bed. Impact! –nothing, next to no effect. Sasuke only spit out some blood and continued his gentle scowl. W-what!
He mumbled something in his sleep as he rolled again. In his "dream" he was still trying to get some sort of a reaction out of Sasuke as he beat him. He tried again to convince him to come back to the village, but of course Sasuke just laughed. "Sasuke," he mumbled his face turning into anger. For Naruto, the entire fight was playing out again and he didn't know it but he was trying to escape the memory. Sleep is evil sometimes though, so he had to experience the entire emotional fight again.
Five days, it had only been five days since the boys had first started getting their memories back. The two were being very cold to each other and Sasuke kept shooting Naruto glares. Their guardians had figured out both of them had recovered their memories to long after the fight when Sasuke had successfully left Konoha. It defiantly explained why they were only talking to each other only if needed and always glaring at each other.
But what confused Sakura the most was when Sasuke had become very nice for a day, just to her, though. He offered to help around the house and such. After some questioning, the boy had admitted one of the "dreams" he had last night involved trying to kill her and he said he had woken up feeling bad she felt the need to do that. Sakura was slightly surprised but just nodded and smiled.
Hinata watched in slight astonishment as Sasuke's eyes flew over the pages of the book they had let him read. That was a level for Jr high, not kindergarten. He was reading it exceptionally fast too and it seemed a new page was flipped every few seconds. She guessed the memory gain of seven days was helpful. The boys had the knowledge of a sixteen-year-old now and she had wanted to test them to see if they could actually use that knowledge, like for example to read. From what she could tell he was definitely above the level they had given him.
Sakura shuffled next to Hinata and Naruto, who she had tucked under her arm as the boy took a sporadic nap. Sakura was hunched over and she had her hands laced under her nose in a very Sasuke like way. The woman was obviously thinking, her eyes rested on Sasuke, but they were unfocused.
"This book is too easy," Sasuke complained closing it the tossing it aside. He may have the memories of a sixteen-year-old, but he sure acted like a five-year-old.
"We have more difficult books if you want," Sakura offered, seeming to wake up from whatever world she had been floating in.
"Whatever, I'll just go to bed," Sasuke said grumpily and jumped off the seat.
"Sasuke-chan it's barely the afternoon," Hinata said as the boy started to walk off.
Sasuke didn't respond, he didn't really have a response besides that he hungered for his next dream. The last dream he had learned Itachi's location. He knew Itachi's sweat blood lay only an eye shut away.
Naruto wasn't a light sleeper, but for some reason his body woke him from a dream of a long mission to the sound of crying. He sat up and rubbed his eyes; the moon was still high in the sky. He climbed out of bed to follow the crying and peeked around Sasuke's door. Was it really coming from here? He wondered as he leaned forward and spotted Sakura's back. He took a few steps inside and saw Sakura was sitting on Sasuke's floor just staring sadly at him as he cried in his sleep.
Regrets. Sasuke had so many regrets. He only felt relief for a split second before it had slipped into emptiness. His brother was dead, he had killed him. Itachi was trying to protect him and he had unknowingly played along, like always with Itachi. Sasuke couldn't help crying, his entire life goal was just a lie. Sasuke was unaware once again that it was just a memory in the form of a dream and that his tears also soaked his pillow in his present time.
Naruto's chest tightened, in his dreams he had barely seen the Uchiha but in real life he was right there, crying his heart out. He watched for a little going unnoticed by Sakura before he left to try to get back to sleep, the dreams were okay for the moment.
Naruto woke with a started drenched in his own sweat and the sheets twisted around his body. He struggled free and stumbled out of bed. He didn't want to be alone anymore. Not caring how loud he was he ran from his room and into Hinata's. He saw she saw sleeping peacefully and he quieted down. He gently walked over to her bed already feeling safer in her presence. He carefully climbed onto the bed laying on top of the sheets next to Hinata. That was so much better than sleeping alone. She was shadowed slightly by the moonlight, Naruto loved to look at her she was the most interesting thing to him. Hinata always made things betters.
It was all coming in flashes, after killing Itachi in his last "dream" the next night seemed to be a blur. Get revenge for his brother and crush Konoha? Yes, crush Konoha. Flash. No, don't crush Konoha, Itachi wouldn't want that and the past kage agree. Flash. Join the war, help them. Don't think about how good it feels to be team seven again. Flash. Don't die, fight. You will win with Naruto and Sakura at your side. Flash. Win. Flash. Fight, be the darkness to help the world grow. Flash, loose, Flash, Flash. "Sasuke!" Sasuke let a small smile paint his face at seeing Sakura for the first time in a year. He grunted at the impact as Sakura attacked him with an embrace. "Sasuke, Welcome back," She got out through tears of joy her hands holding onto him. He let his smile grow as he finally inhaled her sent and carefully raised his arms to wrapped around her returning the affection.
"Sakura, you're crushing me," Sasuke commented quietly.
"I don't care, why did your stupid journey have to be so long?" She asked sniffing up her tears.
"I… I just needed to really think," Sasuke almost whispered not wanting to let go of the moment.
Flash. –no, wait… he liked that… He was ripped away from yet another sequence and thrown into a dark tunnel. His back was with his two teammates, his eyes focused ahead. "Stop," He whispered his ears perking up when he heard the smallest ruffling sound from ahead. "Did you hear that?" He asked cursing their inability to use hand signs to communicate.
"No," The fox-faced man responded quietly.
"Let's move slower," Sasuke whispered quietly moving his feet forward again.
"Teme, if we were moving any slower we wouldn't be moving," Naruto hissed back. Sasuke wanted to snap him in half. That was an unnecessary comment and could have risked a mission failure, that dobe!
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke hissed back resisting every urge to trip him, Naruto would never know in this darkness. Sasuke heard another ruffle and his teammates stopped along with him this time. The red eyes darted around quickly and locked onto two chakra signatures moving quickly and quietly toward them. He nudged both Naruto and Sakura in warning. They only had a second before the two signatures were on both sides of them.
"Naruto!" They both roared as the tunnel lit up. That idiot! He won't be able to move, maybe –no time for thinking! Sasuke was faster than Naruto and easily jumped in front of him. His eyes were instantly deactivated as a heavy feeling rushed through him and he collided with the ground. Blackness, crushing weight and seizure-like movements and it was over.
The film ran out.
Sasuke's eyes flew open. He… He remembered.
AN: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! If you didn't, tell me why! Reviews are Bae!
