A/N: Thank you to Cethron and SapphireRivulet, my betas. Please go read their stories too~

I went home during the holidays. So updates on this might be a little slow. But never fear, there will never be a 5 day gap between any update for chaptered stories.

In order to make up for my laziness, I posted another long long long chapter in the "Ashes to Ashes" collection. Please go read.

Chapter 13

Naruto practically barged straight into Hinata and Sakura's apartment.

Sakura was peeling potatoes when she was greeted by an overwhelming hug.

"Sakura-chan! Thank god you're back!" Naruto said while hugging her.

Hinata retired to her room quietly.

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura tilted her head. She was amazed that the boy showed her so much warmth.

"Yeah, it's me! But don't call me 'Naruto-kun'. You never did before. I can't believe you've lost all your memories! What happened to you? You're thinner! Did that teme abuse you? I heard that you got married to him?" Sakura merely stared at him as he fired question after question at her, and tried to soak them all in.

"I did lose my memories. I'm sorry," she apologized.

Naruto blinked a few times. "What's there to be sorry about? Come on! Let's go eat some ramen!"

Sakura was dragged out of the apartment before she could say goodbye to Hinata.

Naruto ate four bowls of ramen. Sakura watched him in amazement. She could not believe that her best friend was this dude. It made sense though. He was so passionate about everything, and he was so fun to be around. He made her smile.

"Naruto, were you friends with Sasuke-kun too?" Sakura asked out of curiosity.

"...Ah." Naruto said, pausing before drinking the rest of his soup.

"Naruto, can you tell me about Sasuke? His family... His ambitions… Why did he run away from this village? Why did he..."

Naruto stopped her. "Sakura-chan. I love you a lot, but this is not the place to talk about it. So as soon as you pay, we will talk about Sasuke."

Sakura slammed her fist down Naruto's head.

"Ow! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura shrugged. "I just felt like doing that."

Naruto had no choice but to pull out his little frog wallet and pay for the meal.

The two walked along the streets, passing the buildings and parks until they got to the training grounds.

It was then that Naruto told her everything about the Uchiha family.

Sasuke ran away because he wanted the power to kill Itachi...

After he killed Itachi, he was abducted by Madara...

Madara then manipulated Sasuke's anger and hatred...

During the fourth great ninja war, Madara was confronted by various Kages...

Sasuke killed Madara.

By the time the story got to that point, Naruto stopped talking because Sakura seemed to have lost all signs of actually listening.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "Are you ok?"

Sakura stared at the swaying leaves in the trees and said slowly, "I'm listening. Please continue."

"Sakura-chan, do you really not remember what happened? You were there when Sasuke killed Madara."

"I don't remember," Sakura replied lightly. She realized just how innocent her perception of Sasuke was.

Naruto sighed. "Sakura-chan, I know teme is my friend and all, but truthfully, what do you see in that guy? He was so horrible to you. He used you and did almost nothing nice to you. I wonder how you two got married. It all just seemed so absurd. I..."

Naruto couldn't continue. Sakura closed her eyes, so as to hide the pain that was struggling to show itself. "Naruto-kun, he was nice to me this past month. He was unbelievably nice to me after I lost my memory. I really don't remember the horrible things you said he did to me, so these past two months are my only memory of him."

Naruto sighed. "Sakura-chan, please don't add the suffix to my name. It's weird. Also, has it ever occurred to you that you lost your memories because you wanted to forget? They were indeed very bad memories."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know. I understand your concern. I will watch out from now on. But... I just can't believe... I'm hearing these stories from other people's mouths. He never told me anything..."

Naruto sighed. "That teme is in serious trouble. Everybody wants to kill him."

"What? Why?"

Naruto looked at her, surprised. "You haven't heard? The Uchiha Manual. It says that Madara left the secret to the Uchiha family in that Manual, and Sasuke is the only one who has it. Everybody has been trying to get it from him."

Oh, so that's what the Manual thing was about.

Sakura shook her head. "I never knew..."

"Not only that," Naruto continued, "But that teme only knows how to cause trouble. Every nation is mad at him except for Sand and us. The Lighting Country already sent out orders. If Sasuke is identified, kill him on sight. That Baka is so stupid; why did he have to go and mess everything up?"

"But he's strong, right? He's very strong!" Sakura persisted, desperate.

"Of course he is," Naruto reassured her, "Or else he would be dead. But he's not as strong as I am. Bawahahaha!"

Sakura gave Naruto the Strawberry Look.

Sakura sat by the training grounds as Naruto jogged off to Kakashi. Sakura realized that they had been talking for nearly four hours.

She stood up, and dusted the dirt off lightly.

She had met her ball of fire.

It felt nice. She smiled softly. He was a very good friend.

Sasuke-kun, what did you trade in order to lose such a good friend?

Sakura wondered if Sasuke was happy. Alone, protected constantly, probably training or reading. Sasuke usually liked to read old history books or ninjutsu books.

Her mind wondered again about when exactly he would be visiting her. She missed him so much, it was frightening.

But, Sakura thought back to what Naruto said. Did Sasuke really use her? How? Hadn't she willingly thrown herself in his way and offered her help?

Sasuke had told her what had happened the night he left. It was beside a park bench. Sakura promised him that she would do everything for him.

And, four years later, when she abandoned her village to search for him, she offered herself again, and he accepted.

Everything...

Sakura watched as the leaves fell from the tree.

She wondered how far she was willing to go for him. She wondered if he took it for granted.

The body she was in seemed to be doing fine. At least she was healthy.

Oh, Sakura... Where is your dignity?

She had none.

How could she? From the moment Sakura had laid eyes on him a few months ago, she had immediately understood why she was so obsessed with him to begin with.

He was so powerful, so charismatic, so ambitious, so attractive, so intimidating, so beautiful...

People were naturally drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

Sakura's thoughts drifted to the poor red-haired girl. She'd probably sacrificed a lot for Sasuke too.

But, Sakura laughed bitterly, who was she to make such assumptions?

Up until that point, Sakura hadn't understood her own emotions. Now she did. It was pity.

Pity for Sasuke. He lost the family he grew up with, and the family of Konoha that took care of him.

Pity for herself, who blindly chased a boy around and offered herself willingly to him.

Pity for Naruto, who still did not give up, and was trying so desperately to restore peace and harmony.

Sakura sat on a bench until the sun went down. Then, she stood up and slowly walked back to her apartment. For the first time, she ignored the looks and whispers that people flung towards her.

She noticed that an ANBU officer had been following and watching her 24/7, ever since she had come back to Konoha.

She didn't say anything. Instead, she buried her head underneath her pillow and cursed herself for wanting Sasuke to come and save her.