(A/N) *grins* You were so mad at me, I was so proud of myself! First cliffhanger, and it worked!

Sakura and Shino didn't worry a massive amount when Naruto didn't show up to class the next day, assuming he was probably sick or settling in. They continued through their day, figuring they would see him again in a few days. They both knew that if they caught whatever bug Naruto had, he'd probably never forgive himself, and he'd probably turn away any help.


Three weeks later and no sign of him, and they were ready to go to the Hokage.

They managed to prod their parents into going for them, and their parents just said that the Hokage knew, and was looking for him. That implied he wasn't having any success. He'd told their parents not to worry too much, and that he'd find the boy. He had his ANBU searching for him, they'd find him.


And they did. Nearly two months later. The Hokage brought Naruto to Shino's house, where Sakura was sleeping over again, and turned him over to them, Shibi handing over completed paperwork for adoption.

Sakura smiled, opening her arms for a hug. To her surprise, Naruto flinched away, avoiding her gaze. She stopped, glancing uncertainly at Shino. He shrugged slightly, and Sakura turned back to Naruto.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" When he didn't respond, Sakura and Shino both looked to the Hokage in confusion.

"As of right now, all he will respond to is Kishin. Try and see if you can get him responding to Naruto again," the Hokage said gently.

Shino frowned minutely. "Kishin means demon."

Naruto flinched again, twitching like he wanted to hide.

Sakura looked worried. "Naru, er Kishin, I'll show you to where you can sleep." She turned a walked down the hall, trusting Naruto to follow her. He did, and she pointed into the guest room, with its perfectly made bed. She guessed he probably didn't want to sleep in a room with Shino, despite the bed available for him there. Everyone else could deal with it for one night, besides there were two beds, on opposite sides of the room. Also, they were 8. Well, Shino was turning 9 soon, but still.

No one protested to Sakura taking the second bed in Shino's room, realizing that it was the best course to allow Naruto to sleep in his own room for now.

They didn't go to school in the morning, not wanting to stress Naruto even further. Best they give him a day or two to readjust.


"Hot cocoa, Naruto?" Sakura offered the mug to Naruto, and he flinched away from her. She sighed, taking a sip of it herself. "See? Safe."

Finally, he took the mug from her, wrapping his fingers around it. Sakura sat down on the couch opposite him, curling up with some orange yarn, a crochet hook, and her own mug.

After a couple of hours, Sakura sat up with a triumphant cry, startling Naruto badly enough that the empty mug he'd been staring at for the last two hours fell out of his hands and to the ground, shattering all over Naruto's feet. He stared at his feet, at the ceramic shards embedded in his foot, at the red blood welling up.

Sakura dropped the sock she'd just finished, coating her fingertips in chakra as her parents had taught her in order to safely collect the shards. They flew to her fingers, attracted to the chakra. The shards even dislodging themselves from Naruto's feet. Sakura quickly disposed of the shards, coming back and trying to remember the healing jutsu scroll she'd read a month or so ago. Oh, it detailed using just yin chakra, Sakura could do that.

Her hand began to glow a soft green, and she moved it to Naruto's foot, trying to ignore the flinch he gave. Her chakra washed over the injuries, and she pictured the cuts knitting themselves together and disappearing, leaving smooth skin behind. She cut chakra to the jutsu, and nearly fell over at the chakra cost. She hadn't used it before, and it was just a bit much for her reserves to handle. She wasn't going to pass out, probably, but she'd be weak for a while.

"Th-thank you," the words were rushed, and Sakura almost missed them.

"Oh, it's fine." Sakura dismissed, dizzily getting to her feet. "Oh, these socks are for you, I figured you probably lost the first pair, so I might as well make you a new pair."


Just a month after Naruto got back, it was Shino's 9th birthday. Sakura gave him a pair of crocheted grey socks, and they excused Naruto, as he was still recovering. He was doing much better, could actually sort of interact with the other people in the class, was reacting solely to the name Naruto, and had mostly warmed up to Sakura and Shino, but still refused to speak about the two months he'd been missing. Neither Sakura nor Shino pushed it, figuring he'd tell them in his own time.


Sakura's birthday was next, Naruto feeling much better, and reacting more normally. He froze up less often and was accepting of more gestures of friendship. Shino gave her an armband with an iridescent red centipede. Naruto had evidently been going back to his old hobby, as he gave her a red jacket with white lining and the white circle of her family crest sewn onto the shoulders. She'd hugged him on an impulse, and to her surprise, he actually returned it, tentatively wrapping his arms around her waist.


They celebrated Naruto's birthday a couple of days early, remembering the disaster that had been last year's birthday. Sakura gave him a neon orange sweater, clearly very proud of herself, while Shino gave him a book on the Uzumaki clan. Naruto had been confused for all of twenty seconds, then Sakura reminded him that his last name was Uzumaki.


Sasuke didn't come to class one day, and Sakura decided to drag Naruto and Shino to find him after class.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked politely. "Where is Sasuke?"

"Oh, he fell out of a tree yesterday and is currently in the hospital. I can accompany you if you wish to see him."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, please. How bad were the injuries?"

Iruka smiled. "Fortunately, just a bump on the head. A few memories are missing, and a couple others are jumbled up. So, excuse him if he acts a bit oddly, or doesn't remember who you are. Or perhaps mix you up with someone else."

Naruto shrunk behind Sakura, almost managing to hide behind her barely larger frame.

Shino nodded. "We will be understanding. Why? Because concussions and memory loss are not things to be taken lightly."

Iruka nodded, smiling. "Come on then, I'm sure he will appreciate the visit."

Sakura tugged Naruto along behind her. "Come on, he's not going to mistake you for a fox. He's got memory loss, he's not blind. If anything, he'll mistake you for Ino!"

Naruto blinked. "He wouldn't. Like you said, he's not blind."

Sakura hummed. "You never know, he could mistake you for her, and think your one of his fangirls."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "You're insane. I'm a boy."

"Oh, I know!" Sakura chirped. "Just saying!"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her.


The nurse helpfully pointed them to Sasuke's room, not seeing Naruto due to some careful positioning of Iruka, Sakura, Shino, a to-go container of proper food not from the hospital, a bouquet of flowers they'd picked up, and Naruto himself. They managed to get into the room without any problems, luckily, and even luckier, Sasuke was awake and reading a book. Presumably one Iruka had brought, as it was a history book.

Sasuke looked up from his book, mild confusion on his face as he stared at them. "Iruka-sensei, er, weren't you Shino's girlfriend?"

Sakura snickered. "Technically, we're engaged, but sure."

Shino was almost glowing. He'd been remembered! And not by a nickname, or a relation to someone else.

Sasuke frowned minutely at Naruto. "Er, your name?"

"N-Naruto," he replied softly, hiding half behind Sakura.

Sasuke tilted his head. "Kaa-san kept lamenting about not being able to adopt you."

Naruto blinked at him. "Huh?"

"My Kaa-san, Mikoto Uchiha," Sasuke said slowly. "She complained to Tou-san about people on the council keeping her from adopting you."

Naruto blinked a few more times. "You didn't mention this before."

Sasuke shrugged. "Didn't remember. And don't remember not telling you. Are you sure I didn't tell you? I could've sworn we were friends."

Sakura tilted her head. "You were a bit of a loner, I don't believe you were particularly friends with anyone."

Sasuke looked confused. "No? But Aniki kept telling me to go make friends."

The three blinked at him. "When have you cared about what your brother said?" Shino asked, tilting his head slightly.

Sasuke was very confused now. "Why wouldn't I?"

"He killed your clan," Sakura said bluntly.

Sasuke blinked. "No, he didn't. The guy in the orange mask did. Aniki just got his girlfriend and Kaa-san and Tou-san."

Now everyone was confused.

"Sasuke, you remembered something new about the massacre?" Iruka asked urgently.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know, did I?"

(A/N) I'm being self indulgent after the Naruto incident, sue me. Go see profile for poll, alright?