Drum rolls please. I, Kumiko, am proud to present you with this two-chapter special. Consider it a late Christmas present from me or after-Christmas special. I want to thank everyone for supporting me by reading my stories. I can't thank all you guys enough. Please enjoy my treat. Please review everyone
Please read and review
XxXxXx
Last time on Gomenasai…
"Okay…" Sasuke said. Hinata and Neji looked up at Sasuke. "She won't remember me. I won't let her. Does Naruto know about this?"
"No he doesn't. And it would be best he never finds out. You can tell Kakashi-sensei, Yamato, and Sai. Just don't tell Naruto-kun please" Hinata said.
"Hn." Sasuke said as he led the cousins out of his house. Soon Hinata turned around.
"S-Sasuke-san, I-I'm having a birthday party in seven days. I hope you and the others will make it" Hinata said as she bowed down handing him an invitation.
Taking the card, he closed the door. Walking to his room, he put the card down as he went to Sakura's room. She was taking a nap.
"Sakura…" Sasuke whispered. "I'll save you"
With that said, Sasuke closed the door.
XxXxXxX
Naruto stretched as he woke up in his room. He looked at the clock to see it was 10 in the morning. Walking out of the room, he went to the living room to see Sai drawing near the fireplace as Yamato was in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Where's Sakura-chan and Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
"Sakura is still sleeping and Sasuke went out to train with Kakashi." Yamato said from the kitchen.
Naruto soon went down to the hallway Sakura's room was in to see her slowly making her way out of her room.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out as he happily went up to her.
"Good morning Naruto-san" Sakura greeted. "Is everyone awake?"
Naruto nodded. "Sai and Yamato are here. Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke went out to train."
"Oh…" Sakura said as Naruto noted the disappointment in her voice.
"Do you uh…want to go around town with me later tonight?" Naruto asked. A blush appeared on both his and Sakura's cheeks. "Uh, you see, there's a festival this whole week before Christmas and I wanted to go there with you…if you aren't busy that is…"
Sakura couldn't describe the feeling she was having in her stomach. Her heart was pounding faster than usual as she couldn't help but feel happy he was asking her. But she was in love with Sasuke; she shouldn't be feeling this way.
"Sure…" Sakura said with a smile. Naruto's eyes lit up.
"You won't regret it, trust me!" Naruto said with a bright smile as he left her in the living room with Sai. Sakura smiled to herself. She had a feeling Naruto was going to live up to his words.
Sai smiled as he continued his drawing. He probably didn't know the two for that long like the others, but he knew that they liked each other. This would be a good opportunity for the two to finally realize that.
Snap.
Sakura turned around to see Sai looking at his broken crayon. He had a confused look on his face. Sakura walked up to him as he quickly closed his drawing pad.
"Ugly, would you like to accompany me to buy a new pencil set after breakfast?" Sai asked with a smile. Sakura stared at him before nodding. At that moment, Naruto came back into the living room with Sasuke and Kakashi.
"Breakfast is served!" Yamato announced.
XxXxXxX
"Can you believe Christmas is coming up soon?" Sakura said as she ran around in a circle. Sai had bought his new pencil set as Sakura ran around in the snow. "In just four more days, this village is gonna shine!"
Sai was reminded of a little kid getting his first ice cream or something. "You're so childish" Sai commented as Sakura stuck her tongue out. He was glad Sakura had remembered him earlier in the month. He couldn't describe the feeling he got when that happened.
"Do you want hot chocolate?" Sakura asked.
"I'll get it" Sai said as he left his bag and drawing book on a bench and told Sakura to stay there. Doing as she was told, she watched Sai slowly get lost in the crowd. She sighed deeply as her hand made contact with Sai's drawing book.
"What's this?" Sakura asked out loud as she remembered Sai holding this earlier. But why wouldn't he let her see it? Soon she opened the book as the picture had surprised her. It seemed awfully familiar.
"Sai?" Sakura called out as she walked to where Sai was outside. "Hey, drawing a picture?"
Sai turned around to see Sakura standing there.
"What is it?" He asked. Sakura didn't say anything as she would continue to look at the picture.
"You're really vulgar, but you have a nice side too, right?" Sakura said as she said with a fake smile. "…unexpected"
Sai smiled back with a fake smile of his own. "That fake smile…wasn't that hit before good enough for you?"
Sakura made an evil smile. "No…not really" She then smiled nicer. "Just kidding! I just wanted to see what you were drawing"
"Ah…" Sai said. Sakura mentally frowned. It reminded her of Sasuke.
"I thought it might be a landscape since you were drawing out here, but it's actually an abstract." Sakura said as she continued to look at the picture. "So, what's it called?"
"Name?" Sai was confused.
"You haven't decided on a name yet?"
"No, that's not it" Said Sai. "I've drawn hundreds, maybe thousands of pictures so far…none of them has titles."
"Oh…" Sakura said. "But don't pictures usually have titles? Like portraits have the person's name on it. Other pictures have the situation at the time, and the artist's feelings…"
Sai soon stopped his drawing. "To be precise, even if I try to give them a name, I just can't do it."
"?" Sakura soon looked at him.
"…They don't put me in mind of anything. I don't feel anything."
"No title…" Sakura said as she flipped to the next couple of pages. Soon her eyes widened when she saw the next picture. It was a picture of her at the beach. She was wearing a white bikini as she was splashing water at a man boy that seemed to resemble Naruto.
She soon flipped the next picture to see her training. As she continued to flip the pages, she began to notice scribbles under the picture.
She stopped at a picture of in a hospital bed as there were wires connected to her. Under that picture was the words "Broken Cherry Blossom"
"Ohhh…" Sakura said. "But don't pictures usually have titles? Like portraits have the person's name on it. Other pictures have the situation at the time, and the artist's feelings…"
Sai soon stopped his drawing. "To be precise, even if I try to give them a name, I just can't do it."
"?" Sakura soon looked at him.
"…They don't put me in mind of anything. I don't feel anything."
"He put a title…" Sakura whispered. She flipped to the next page that happened to be the last page.
It was a picture of her. There was a bright yellow moon behind her as she seemed to be falling back. There was a glow between her hands that were close to her heart as tears were forming in her eyes. It seemed like a fan art. Under this picture, there was something that was scratched out. Sakura looked closer to see it said "The Wilting Cherry Blossom". Next to that was another title… "Release"
Sakura was speechless as she closed the book and looked down the street to see Sai coming up with cups of hot chocolate.
"Sorry Hag, there were a lot of people wanting some hot chocolate." Sai said putting the drinks down on the empty spot on the bench. He noticed the look on Sakura's face as she looked up at him. "Hey, are you okay?"
Sakura slowly got up and put her arms around him. Sai stiffened from the sudden embrace as he slowly begun to hug her back. The villagers passing by started to stare at the two.
"H-Hey, are you okay?" Sai asked again. He felt Sakura nod her head on his chest.
"You are capable to feel. I saw the pictures…" Sakura whispered. "Thank you…" Sai didn't know what to say as the two stayed like that for a couple minutes.
XxXxXxX
The two had gotten back around lunchtime as they saw everyone in the living room.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he pulled her in a hug.
"Hello Naruto-san" Sakura greeted as she hugged him back. She looked over to see Sasuke on the couch eating a tomato. She blushed as Naruto released her from his hug.
"Sakura-chan, you're all red!" Naruto said putting a warm hand on her face.
"I-I…" Sakura didn't know what to say.
"Well apparently she was just outside in the cold Naruto-kun" Yamato said.
"Ooh" Naruto said.
"Dobe…" Sasuke said as he finished his snack. There was soon a knock on the door. Sakura opened it as she was soon pulled into another hug.
"Hello Sakura" Suigetsu said.
"Hello Suigetsu. Hello Juugo and Karin" Sakura smiled as she hugged each of them.
"Good afternoon Sakura" Juugo said.
"Hey" Karin said.
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?" Naruto shouted as everyone covered their ears.
"DON'T YELL!" Karin shouted back. Everyone continued to cover their ears as the two went back and forth.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
"OH YEAH? WATCH ME!"
"YOU WANNA GO?" Naruto said but stop when he felt someone pull on his arm. He looked down to see Sakura shyly blushing at him.
"T-They're my friends." Sakura said shyly. "The Hokage is making them part of Konoha now. Soon they'll be ninjas like you"
Naruto soon turned his attention to the rest of the members of Team Hebi.
"Welcome to Konoha! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage" Naruto said as he pulled out his hand to shake with theirs.
Sakura smiled at the scene as she turned to look at Sasuke to see him going to the kitchen. She soon went to follow him.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered. The memories she got back so far was still fresh in her mind. He had left the village but he's here now. What had happened? Why did Kakashi lie to her? This was so confusing! Sasuke knew Sakura was following him.
"Sasuke-kun" Sakura called out as she tugged on his arm. Sasuke quickly pulled his arm back, startling Sakura in the process.
"What do you want?" Sasuke said in a harsh tone. Sakura's eyes widened. Why was he being so mean to her all of a sudden? He was usually so nice to her.
"W-Why aren't you talking to your friends?" Sakura asked.
"Hn…" Sasuke said as he walked to the back. Sakura bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying. She soon felt someone place their hand on top of her head. Looking up she saw Kakashi smiling down at her.
"Yo" He said.
"Kaka-sensei…" Sakura wiped her tears. Kakashi mentally frowned. Her crying reminded her of their genin days; especially with her long hair. Back in the days, Sakura would cry to him because of what Sasuke did. Why was Sasuke being mean to her now? Wasn't his reason for coming back to the village was to help Sakura and make up for his mistakes in the past?
Kakashi sighed. He'll never understand what's going through that kid's mind. "It's okay Sakura. Sasuke is just going through things."
"Liar…" Sakura said. Kakashi didn't know whether to laugh from nervousness or frown.
"I'm not lying, Sakura"
"You lied about when Sasuke-kun left the village. You said no one tried to stop him. But it was I who tried to stop him" Sakura cried. Kakashi's eyes widened. She remembered?
"How did you-"
"I don't know, I tried to stop Sasuke-kun the other night, then it just came to mind" Sakura cried. "I want to know the truth! I want to know everything that happened that night"
"Okay…" Kakashi said as he and Sakura went to her room to talk.
XxXxXxX.
"I want you to tell me everything you know of what happened that night Kaka-sensei. No more lies" Sakura said as she crossed her arms. She was sitting on her bed as Kakashi was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed.
"I got it. Well you see before Sasuke left the village, he and Naruto got into a big fight. You tried to stop that and almost got hurt in the process if I didn't come in time." Kakashi said.
"The memory I had at the lake…" Sakura whispered.
Kakashi nodded as he continued. "Later that night, I tried to talk to Sasuke and tell him to give up his revenge, but then there were these Sound Nin that convinced him to continue. Later that night, I guess you had a feeling something was going on and you went to stop him. You cried your heart out but in the end he still left to defeat his brother. You broke after that. You were never the same"
"Brother?" Sakura asked. Kakashi nodded.
"He had an older brother; Itachi Uchiha. When Sasuke was 8 years old, his brother had wiped out his whole clan, leaving Sasuke to live. It was said Itachi killed his clan to test out his powers. Since then, Sasuke has chosen his path as an avenger to defeat his brother and get vengeance for his family."
"T-That's not true…." Sakura said. Kakashi gave her a weird look.
"What are you talking about Sakura?" Kakashi asked. Sakura raised her hand to her forehead.
"The other night…when I was looking for Sasuke-kun, I ended up in a room…and I found something" Sakura said knowing she wasn't really making any sense. "Captain Yamato…he took a few to Hokage-sama"
"What room?" Sakura looked up to see Kakashi standing up.
"The room where Sasuke-kun's parents were murdered…" She said. Getting up slowly, she led Kakashi to the room she went to the other night. Kakashi looked around the room and shook thinking of another scene in his life.
"Right there" Sakura said pointing as a loose board in the floor. Kakashi walked to the loose board and opened it to see papers between Danzou and the head leader of the Uchiha clan. He couldn't believe all of this.
"O-On my mission…" Sakura began to say. "I remember talking to someone who looked like Sasuke-kun. He told me everything. I-I…"
"It's okay Sakura." Kakashi said. He had to talk to Tsunade about this. Sakura nodded.
'We have to tell Sasuke-kun' a voice said in her mind.
"Did you say something Kaka-sensei?" Sakura asked all of a sudden.
Kakashi gave her a weird look. "I didn't say anything."
'I said something!'
'Who are you?'
'I'm your inner self. It took a while, but I'm finally able to talk to you. Before the mission, I'd always talk to you and help you with problems. But after the mission, I wasn't able to till now.'
'Am I going insane?!'
'No you're not. Even ask Ino. She'll tell you everything.'
Sakura shook her head. Maybe she was still not okay.
"Let's go" Kakashi said as he lifted Sakura onto his back and headed to Tsunade's office. She can probably tell the Hokage everything that she remembered.
XxXxXxX
Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she had finished reading all the letters. There was a dark aurora around her as her chakra-filled fist had hit the wall of her building, destroying it as it fell into the ground below. You could hear people yelling and a large crash.
Kakashi had sweat-dropped as he nervously laughed while Sakura hid behind him. She was trembling like crazy. Yamato just shook his head.
"She's scary Kaka-sensei…" Sakura said burying her face deeper against his back. Kakashi turned around as he faced her.
"Sakura, don't worry. This is the Hokage. She is one of your sensei now. You shouldn't be afraid of her. She treats you like a daughter." Kakashi said trying to comfort her. Sakura had stopped trembling as she looked at the Hokage trying to calm herself down.
"How dare he?! That bastard!" Tsunade said.
"I have a feeling, you didn't read what I gave you the other day" Yamato said.
"So does that mean Itachi-san was actually trying to protect Konoha?" Sakura asked. Kakashi's eyes widened as Tsunade sat down in her chair looking at Itachi's file.
"I don't know what to believe anymore…" Tsunade said.
"Seems possible" Yamato said.
Tsunade took a deep breath. "I need a large bottle of sake. This information can only stay between us four, got it?" The three nodded.
"This subject feels familiar…" Sakura whispered to herself as she told Kakashi, Yamato, and Tsunade she was going to go walk around the city. Leaving the room, she sighed as she began to head down the hall, until she bumped into something.
"I'm so sorry" Sakura said bowing.
"How troublesome" The voice spoke. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked up.
"Shikamaru!" Sakura said as she hugged him. Shikamaru's eyes widened. For some odd reason, Sakura seemed to feel smaller than before. He and the others had felt that Sakura was either getting smaller or they were getting bigger, which Ino had objected to. Sakura was to his chin. A month ago she was at least up to his nose
"How have you been?" Sakura asked pulling him out of his thoughts.
"I'm good. How is Sasuke treating you?" Shikamaru asked. Sakura's eyes flickered as she thought about Sasuke's attitude towards her earlier this morning.
"He's doing a good job. Kaka-sensei, Sai, Captain Yamato, and Naruto-san are helping me as well" Sakura said with a smile. Shikamaru noticed how she said Naruto-san. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was just delivering some medical potions the Hokage needed from the Nara forest. I was on my way out. You?" Shikamaru asked as the two began to walk outside leaving fresh foot print on the snow.
"I don't know what to believe anymore…" Tsunade said. "I need a large bottle of sake. This information can only stay between us three, got it?"
"C-Check-up?" Sakura said. She hated lying. Shikamaru didn't seem to really care as they continued to walk around town.
"I heard you're going to the festival tonight…" Shikamaru said. "…with Naruto" Sakura blushed. She had almost forgotten about that.
Ba-Bump… ba-bump… ba-bump…
There it was again. That feeling every time she thought about Naruto. What was this feeling? She barely knew the man. She was in love with Sasuke, and that's all the matters right?
Sakura nodded. "Y-Yes, I'm accompanying him to the festival. Are you going?" Sakura asked as they made a turn up to Shikamaru's favorite place to watch the clouds. The cement was covered in snow but the shelter was not.
"Yeah, I'm going with Ino" Shikamaru said as he patted the empty spot next to him. Sakura sat down next to him. Shikamaru grabbed the blankets that were there behind them.
"Where did you get these?" Sakura asked as she wrapped the thick blanket around her shoulders.
"Ino or Chouji had been coming here with me a couple times this month. So I brought blankets just in case.
Sakura smiled. "Smart" She commented. The two friends soon relaxed under the shelter as they talked.
XxXxXxX
Naruto gulped as he put on his flannel kimono robe. He was finally going to have time with Sakura. He never really had a chance to hang out with her because he'd be on missions or Sakura would be at the hospital or with someone else, much to his dislike.
To be honest, he was afraid. How different was Sakura now? Would everything turn out okay tonight? Multiple questions popped up in his head.
"Arg!" Naruto said shaking his head. "Just go with the flow"
Walking into the living room, he spotted the guest on the couch.
"Shikamaru" Naruto greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"Ino wanted to dress Sakura up tonight. So she wanted us to meet them there" Shikamaru said.
"I see" Naruto said as he said goodbye to who was in the living room. Sasuke came in just to watch Naruto close the door.
"Where's the dobe and Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"They're going to the festival" Sai said with a smile. "All of us can probably go together tomorrow night. The festival will be held until the end of December.
"Che…" Sasuke said as he walked away. Like he cared if Naruto and Sakura went out without him.
XxXxXxX
Naruto's eyes sparkled when he saw the festival. People were laughing and having the time of their lives. There were beautiful lights around as the place gave him a warm feeling inside.
"There they are" Shikamaru said as he pointed to two girls heading their way. Naruto's eyes widened. Sakura's bangs were parted to the right as the rest of her hair was braided into two, each going over her shoulder. A cherry blossom clip was on the left side of her head. Her kimono was an ivory white color with pink cherry blossoms designed all over. A light pink obi went with it. To describe it all, Sakura looked absolutely…
"Beautiful…" Naruto whispered. Shikamaru heard this and smirked.
"G-Good evening Naruto-san" Sakura said as she blushed. She began to fidget with her fingers.
"Gosh, don't pull a Hinata now!" Ino said as she pushed Sakura into Naruto. The contact made Sakura blush even more.
"Ino, you're not helping" Shikamaru said.
"Yes I am. If Sakura doesn't hurry and remember her feelings for Naruto, she will continue to fall for Sasuke" Ino whispered.
"Yes but-wait what?" Shikamaru whispered back. His eyes widened. Before all this, Sakura had once told him that she was falling for Naruto.
"Hinata told me all about it. This isn't good" Ino said as she ran her fingers through her bangs. Shikamaru looked at Naruto and Sakura and smiled.
"Well, don't stress about it too much" Shikamaru said as he pointed at the couple. Ino's blue eyes moved to see Naruto trying to win Sakura a teddy bear as she was cheering him on. "I don't think you need to do anything but let them be. If Sakura's feelings for Naruto are strong, it will overcome anything; even her remembering her old feelings for Sasuke"
Ino stared at her lover, thinking about what he said. "You're right"
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Whoosh, how was that? Naruto is finally having moments with Sakura. I didn't want to rush the NaruSaku right away. I wanted it to slowly grow. Thank you for reading everyone. Please continue to read my work. Don't forget to read the next chapter of this Christmas special.
-Kumiko