"I don't think you should be moving yet." Kakashi spoke as he eyed her cautiously. "Why?" she was already half way out of the bed. "You just recovered from a brutal beating."
"I'm fine now, and who the hell gave me a beating? I bet I threw in some punches and kicks too right?"
'It was impossible for you to even lift a finger, let alone scream…' Kakashi thought to himself as he sighed at his student's stubbornness. "Just stay here for one more day or at least one more checkup before you leave." She pouted her lips before agreeing. "Fine."
It had been two days since she woke up, and everybody came to visit her to find out that she's changed, far too much for their liking.
"Sakura! I'm so happy you're ok again!" Ino shouted out with glee as she gave her a hug, but Sakura pushed her away. "Ino-pig, don't hug me like that in front of Sasuke-kun."
"What's wrong Sakura?" Ino was a more than just a little shocked, they hadn't called each other names since…last year. "I thought we stopped calling each other names already, don't you remember?" Ino spoke as she held into her daffodils. "Why would I ever stop calling my rival for Sasuke-kun's heart pig?" Ino was about to cry or at least shout back but Kakashi held her back. "I'm afraid she's got amnesia, she doesn't remember anything from the past two years."
"You're joking me!" she looked up at the silver haired Jounin and looked back at Sakura, she was pouting her lips and crossing her hands like a child, like…what she use to do when she was twelve. 'I see…'
Everybody that came to visit was shot back down with the same stubbornness, she wouldn't stop calling Lee 'ugly-face' or 'fuzzy eyebrows' and she called Naruto stupid more than once. And on the third day, nobody came to visit her, not unless it was Kakashi, Naruto and surprisingly Sasuke.
Gaara wanted to visit, but that would 'freak' her out too much so he stayed well away from her room, asking Naruto every time the red head saw him if she was ok or does she remember.
Naruto's reply always the same, "She's ok but she's damn stubborn and no, she doesn't remember. She's so damn childish…"
"How are we to help her?" Gaara asked one day instead of the usual. "SHE'S OK BUT SHE'S – oh…well, I think she's gonna stay one more day or one more checkup before she's allowed to leave."
"And then?"
"We might have to rearrange another trip to Sand or take her around the village or something. And I probably have to tell her everything about me and you again."
"Me and you?"
"Demons, ya know?"
"Are you sure she can handle that kind of information, especially when she just woke up?"
"Sure, I told her about it two years ago, sometime after the chounin exam."
"I see…" he hung his head low, wondering if she might remember a bit about him other than a cold blooded killer. "Will she remember me?"
"I'm sure she will, I'll make her." Naruto smiled at the red head. "Hey, wanna get some ramen? My treat." Naruto offered. It's not everyday the blonde offers to pay for your bowl of ramen. "Yeah, sure."
"Ok! I've had my checkup…can I go now?" Sakura asked as she stood in front of the cupboard. Kakashi was reluctant to let her go out, with Sasuke on the loose to get revenge, but he couldn't keep her in the hospital forever. "Fine…"
Sakura's face lit up and she made Kakashi go outside while she changed, when she was done, she wanted to look pretty for Sasuke so she went straight home to change out of her tatty clothes to another dress.
"I wonder where Sasuke-kun is today?" she asked as she looked around. "I know! He must be at the bridge right now!" she made a dash to the bridge forgetting that Kakashi was following her. "Slow down, I don't want you to open up any old wounds." Kakashi spoke as he eyed her carefully. "Come on! I'm not a baby! I can totally look after myself. Now you wouldn't know where Sasuke-kun might be today, do you?"
"No, I don't know." He replied not wanting her to find him. "Well, you can help me find him then!" she smiled as she pulled him towards the bridge.
In order to get to the bridge, they had to pass Ichiraku Ramen, and that was where Gaara and Naruto were. "Ah man! That was good." Naruto smiled as he patted his stomach. "You had…twenty bowls…" Gaara told him. "Yeah, I know, last time I came here, I had…thirty or something." Naruto laughed, Gaara sweat-dropped. 'Who can eat that much?' then the blonde answered his question. "I think it's the Kyuubi or something." Naruto spoke as he took a step out of the stand joined by Gaara, they began to walk to the hospital, the opposite direction of the bridge.
They chatted happily, or more like Naruto was, and they saw Kakashi and Sakura in the distance. All of a sudden, Gaara's heart sank and it was starting to hurt him, subconsciously he grabbed hold on the fabric that covered his heart. Naruto noticed this and felt bad for him.
Where Sakura and Kakashi was, the pink haired shinobi started to panic. "Oh no, there he is. What do I do, where should I hide? What if he sees me!" she started to looked around frantically for a place to hide but Naruto and Gaara continued to come forward, when they were a few steps from each other, Sakura began to tense up.
Gaara didn't look at her, he looked down at the floor, in case he made her go crazy so he just walked past her, still clutching onto his heart. When they were out of sight, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Phew, that scared me." She smiled up to Kakashi. "Let's go find Sasuke-kun!"
"Sakura, you need to talk to him." Kakashi spoke as he looked down at her. "Who? Sasuke-kun?"
"No, Gaara. You've hurt him deeply."
"So? I don't even remember him, and why would I date a guy that nearly killed Sasuke-kun?" she pouted at him. "Don't give me that face Sakura." He threatened her which made her take a step back. "I don't know what the hell Itachi did to you, but you better get improve soon or you'll lose everyone you ever knew." And with that he gave her one last look before leaving her behind.
"Geez, what's with people these days." She sighed and walked off to the bridge where she found him. "Hey Sasuke-kun!" the said person looked up from the river and saw her waving to him. He smirked at her.
"Hey, wanna go out or something?" she spoke as she stared at her sandals blushing two shades of red. Sasuke gave it a tiny thought and shrugged. "Sure…"
Sakura could've never been happier in her life, her eyes lit up and she stared unbelievingly at him. "Where…?" he asked as he pushed himself off the bridge and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Ano, um…I know you don't like sweets, so how about…um…" she was at a loss, she had always wanted Sasuke to go out with her, but she never planned anything after that. "I don't mind…" he heard her say, "I'll just eat a little bit of it."
"What about…Dango then?" she suggested. "Yeah, sure…"
Sakura silently praised herself for her efforts as she walked behind Sasuke as they made their way to the stall, they pick a pick and table and ordered tea and dango. A plate of four sticks with dango and two cups of tea came to their table, while he slowly ate one, he offered his other one to her, so she ate three instead, a bit shyly but still. After that, they went walking around the village even though she suggested that she didn't mind watching him spar with somebody but then he said, "The only person worth sparring with is Kakashi-sensei or dope."
More than once, they both passed Gaara and Naruto. And every time that happened, Sakura would tense up and Sasuke would smirk at Gaara who returned it with a glare which scared Sakura even more. By the end of the day, they were at the bridge again.
"I'm going home now." Sasuke spoke as he pushed himself off the side the second time that day. "See you tomorrow." He nodded curtly at her before leaving. "Alright! It's a date!" she squealed inside her head as she watched Sasuke make a small wave and going into the distance. She practically skipped all the way home and people were giving her odd looks but she didn't care, 'Yes! I'm finally dating Sasuke-kun!'
She suddenly stopped as she realized who was walking right towards her, she froze, unable to do anything to help her get away or even hide. He saw this and felt even more broken than he was before, this time without Naruto to help him get better, he simply just walked past her, without a word, not a glance.
It confused her, Naruto, Kakashi and even Tsunade who was the fifth Hokage, they had said that she was dating him and they were together. But now he's just ignoring her. A little frustrated at her confusion, she decided to ask him. "Why aren't you talking to me?"
"Do you remember?" he asked as he looked at the floor, stopping on the spot. "No."
"Because, it'll stress you if I did, the only thing you remember about me is that I tried to kill you. That's why I'm giving you time to remember." He held onto his heart as she asked once more. "Why aren't you trying to make me remember?"
"Because, you're afraid of me, there's no use in making somebody remember things they don't want to…"
"What if I do?" she stared at him as he slowly turned around to face her, inwardly she flinched but little by little she started to feel depressed at the look he was giving her, so filled with pain, sadness, betrayal.
"What if you don't? You get nervous and scared whenever you see me, you're happier with Sasuke…so I'm letting you go so you could be happier." He spoke as a small tear drop slid down his cheek to his chin, she saw this and felt even more horrible than before.
He glanced at her one more time before turning around to leave, but not before she shouted out to him, "I'm sorry I called you a freak, I didn't mean it!" he nodded at her and continued to walk away.
She couldn't get rid of the sinking feeling, why was she feeling so guilty, why does her heart hurt? It's hurting for him. She couldn't understand why she didn't like to see him sad, it was heartbreaking for her. Was it?
I'm letting you go, so you could be happier…happier without me to interfere…
The next couple of days, she spent with her Uchiha Sasuke. They were being closely monitored by Kakashi and Naruto himself. Naruto felt like breaking Sasuke whenever he made Sakura laugh although not intentionally, Sakura found anything about Sasuke completely funny, it made Naruto want to throw up at the sight of it all. Whenever the blonde went to find Gaara, he always found him on top of the Hokage's face staring into the horizon, with his head hung low and sometimes tucked between his knees.
"Hey, if it'll help you feel better, she is happy…" Naruto told him as he took a seat beside the red head. "Happier than being with me?" Gaara asked. "I don't know…"
"Will she ever remember me?" Gaara asked as he looked at the blonde. "You're not giving her a chance to…"
"But she's afraid of me…"
"You're letting her be afraid of you."
"But she's happier with him…"
"That's because you decided to let her go…It's not pure happiness, what she has with Sasuke is just a small crush, what she had with you was different. It was real. My question is…do you want her back?"
"…yes…"
"Then go get her back, I seriously wanna throw up whenever she's with that baka…" Naruto smiled at Gaara. "Of course, I forgot to tell her about our demons so I'll do that later." Naruto continued. "I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Naruto waved goodbye as he walked off, leaving the red head to contemplate what the blonde just said.
I want her back, I want her back in my life…
Later that night, after seeing Sasuke off, she was skipping back home with a smile that wouldn't go away, not until she saw Naruto. "What do you want Naruto…"
The blonde simply stared at her with serious eyes that made Sakura flinch inwardly. 'What's his problem?' Then she realized what was going on, "Oh I see, you're just jealous 'cause I picked Sasuke-kun over you. No I won't go out with you." She stared back at him. He continued to stare at her in a way that seemed awfully familiar but she couldn't remember what.
"Are you starting to remember?" he asked. Her head was starting to ache a little bit but she ignored it. "Remember what Naruto…"
"Remember what I said about demons…" he spoke as he continued to stare at her with analyzing eyes.
Vaguely, she was starting to remember but only a little bit.
Flashback…
"Naruto! How is that possible? It's not possible!" Sakura asked as she examined his hand once again. "I just saw you cut your hand! It was bleeding and now there's nothing! It's not even a Genjutsu trick!" she continued to shout as him as she tried to release the technique but it didn't work.
"Sakura, calm down! Maybe it's about time I told you…" he looked a little depressed worried that he might lose her as a good friend. He had long giving up his love for her and now they were just really good friends and a good sparring partner every once in a while.
"Tell me what Naruto?" she looked at him with concern. "I well…it's…you know the Kyuubi? The demon that attacked the village those years ago?" he saw her nod from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, what about the Kyuubi?" she asked, he took a deep breath before continuing again. "Yondaime couldn't find a way to kill the demon so he decided to seal it in a new born baby, since a new born baby could handle the amount of chakra that the demon possesses. Do you know who that baby is?" he looked up at her, fear sketched all over his face.
"Naruto, if you're afraid that you'll lose me as a friend because you have a demon, then you are sadly mistaken. I've been friends with you for a long time and no demon is ever gonna change that. Ok?" she smiled at him and unexpectedly he hugged her. "Thank you Sakura, so much."
"It's ok Naruto, it's ok." She patted his back for comfort and when he pulled away, he had that same smile on his face once more. "Now, that's the Naruto I know! I'll treat you to one bowl of ramen ok? One bowl!" she stuck up one finger at him and he nodded.
"Hey, there's also something else I gotta tell you." He spoke as he fell into step with the pink haired girl. "Yeah, what is it?" she asked. "There's someone else that's like me, who's got a demon like me."
"Oh? Who's that?"
"You've met him before, his name is-"
End Flashback…
She finally snapped out of her trance and stared at the blonde who asked again. "Do you remember?"
"You…you're a demon?" she asked as she took a step back. 'Oh man, she's not taking it well…' Naruto thought to himself. "What ever the hell that was, I don't believe it. I don't believe it!" she screamed as she ran off the opposite direction. Naruto sighed before going off to find Gaara.
Dango are these desserts…three sweet…little desserts on a stick…pink, white and green. You eat it with tea…
Sorry…can't help you with a better definition…