Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...but i can dream about owning Sasuke!

hey everyone! wow it feels like its been awhile for this fic. i am so glad that a lot of people have seen it and some have even sent me kind reviews too! where i am now we're supposed to get like 6 inches or more of snow(not gonna happen) and everyone's praying for asnow day. i need a break so i'm with them! oh and i also handed in a piece of art work with sakura on it as a project for my teacher(I am an excelent anime artist, especially sakura)! wish me luck! ...sorry i was listening to my ipod(love that japanese music). any way enough of my talk, let's get to the fic!

Memories of loved and lost Cherry Blossom
chapter 2
Remembering this and finding that

Slowly Sakura opened her eyes. She stared at her surroundings then turned her glance to the walls around and above her. Her pupils formed and focused on the ceiling above her. She breathed in the stiff air with much difficulty. Her lungs felt heavy. Her limps felt weak and all but moveable. All the while Sakura kept her focus on the ceiling above her. With a rasping voice unlike her own Sakura mumbled something before passing out.

"Unfamiliar ceiling."

An hour or so later the door to the room finally opened.

Quiet steps.

The person was trying their hardest to conceal their presence. But even as they walked in the room Sakura could feel them from down the hallway. The chakara amount was pretty big but weakening from what felt like exhaustion.

Sakura tried to force her muscles to act but they painfully refused. She then tries to focus her energy through her arms in hopes of getting a weapon to come to her. No such luck; all that did was waste her remaining energy.

The presence kept their steps light but tripped over something as they moved. Sakura snapped open her eyes with a start. With some of her remaining strength she jolted her body upward. She gripped the bars along the bed for support and steadied herself. Sakura turned her neck and tried to look at the presence.

Immediately her neck began to burn with pain. Sakura gripped her neck with enough force to rip it off her body. It had been bandaged all the way around and tightly wrapped so she couldn't rip the bandages off. Off to the side the presence jumped from the ground and rushed to her side. Her right ear wasn't really working so in between winces Sakura could barely her what he was saying. But the words were a mixture or exhaustion and fear.

"Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed. "Hold on!"

Sakura turned her head towards the figure.

"Naruto," she gasped in between breathes.

But as she faced and said his name her neck burned worse than ever. Sakura doubled over and slowly turned her head away from Naruto's concerned face. The burning feeling subsided enough for her to be able to release her neck slightly.

She sat up right and stared out the window of the room. Naruto slowly backed off of the bed and moved towards the side railings to a chair. He sat down and faced the back of Sakura's head; which she could clearly see through the window's reflection. Both remained silent for some time until the silence was broken.

"Where am I?"Sakura asked. "How did I get here?"

Naruto stared at her in disbelief for a moment and then switched to a solemn face. He started slowly, choosing his words carefully before he began.

"You're in the hospital," Naruto started slowly. "I brought you here."

Sakura continued staring out the window, showing no emotion on her face.

"How?"

Naruto shuffled uneasily in the chair. "I was coming to see you; to visit…

"You came by yesterday," Sakura cut in. "If it still is today."

Naruto waited for her to finish and continued onward. "I was coming to visit you," he restated. "See if you were alright."

Sakura gripped the handlebar to keep her self from turning around and lashing out as Naruto.

"And how did you get into my house?" Sakura calmly asked. "How did you know anything was wrong?"

"I heard you…screaming," Naruto muttered. "I broke your window and brought you here."

"Why?" Sakura asked in a cold tone unlike her own.

For a moment it felt as though Sakura wasn't speaking for herself; but the moment soon faded. After a few minutes Naruto spoke again with a strong feeling.

"Because you're my teammate…a very precious person to me."

Through the window Sakura could see him stand with his fists' clenched. His face seemed to explode with feelings and emotions.

"And…I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to you because of…"

Sakura clenched the bars tightly and could feel it dent into her skin. Her knuckles turned white and her arms grew sore. She bit her lip until she felt some blood drip from the opening. Naruto stopped noticing how she had become. He slowly headed to the door. He gripped the handle forcefully and turned to face Sakura.

"You know Sakura-chan… doing this isn't going to make anyone happy," he stated. "Not you…and not him."

With on last longing look Naruto glanced her way and left the room; silent once more. Sakura could feel her eyes start to well up with a familiar feeling. She wanted to cry so badly. She wanted to stop Naruto before he left; she wanted…needed to be around someone who cared. She kept her breathes short and slow.

Sakura kept her eyes straight ahead. Naruto's words kept echoing in her head; over and over. She continued to look out the window, the path it focused on; it lead out of the village. She kept staring at it; Naruto's words seemed to mix with another's. The words were so similar, almost the same. Sakura kept looking; tears welled up in her eyes.

Those words…those words.

Those damn words.

Those fricken words!

Those words…were the exact same words that I said to him.

To…Sasuke-kun.

The day went by slowly after that. Some people came by to see her, but Sakura could hardly remember them now. Naruto didn't come back. The pain in Sakura's neck didn't come back and it seemed that Naruto hadn't mentioned it to any of the staff.

The sun began to slowly set and Sakura grew bored. She had to get out of here or she might lash out again. She had already redressed herself and was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. She seemed to have regained most of her strength and stamina. As if on cue the door opened. One of the nurses, who had come in earlier to inject Sakura, entered and spoke rather quickly.

"All your testes cleared out," she stated. "And the Hokage has approved of you being released, so you can go now."

Sakura nodded and the nurse left. She turned to the window and opened the latch. Sakura leaped to the railing and looked at the ground below. Without a second thought Sakura leaned towards the edge and let herself fall. The cool night air breeze gently touched her skin; it played with her hair. She kept her eyes open, almost daring the breeze to shut them.

As she neared the ground Sakura adjusted her position. She focused her chakara on the soles of her shoes and felt the energy take shape. She flipped in the air and hit the ground, feet first. Sakura rose from the ground and stood straight. The wind picked up and blew past her shoulders. It seemed to almost pull her away from her destination.

Instead it pushed her to the path to her house, if you could call it that. It was cold…dark…it held no life in it. Ever since that incident exactly one year ago Sakura had taken dwelling in that dreary place. As she walked Sakura became consumed by her memories.

It had been cold and strangely calm. A mission…she had been on a training mission with another team. It had been late when she had come home; all the lights were off. She had gone in, thinking her parents were asleep she had been very quiet. The next moment was all a blur. She remembered a cloak of black. The figure had been wearing a Konoha forehead protector, a slash in the middle of the symbol. She had held her own for most of the fight. But then…red. That was the last thing that she had seen. Redness, deep pools of red swirls.

Then nothing.

Sakura shuttered. The wind felt like it was pulling out the memories, slowly extracting them one by one from her mind. Sakura shuttered at the thought and kept walking, the wind pulling her all the way. When Sakura arrived at the house she slowly opened the door almost afraid that the same sight would meet her yet again.

Nothing.

Sakura breathed out a sigh of relief and let out a held in breath. She slowly headed to her room. She opened the door, expecting to see pieces of broken glass around the floor and a hole in the window. The glass had been cleared and the window repaired with a new one in its place. Sakura headed into the room, leaving the light off. Her eyes adjusted to the area and walked to the middle of the room.

She scanned the room. Sakura was about to give into the safety of sleep when her emerald orbs spotted something on the corner of her desk. As Sakura walked over to the desk the room seemed to shake and spin again. Sakura hastened her steps and closed in on the desk. Using the side of the desk to steady herself Sakura leaned over the desk to take a better look at the object.

It was a small round orb. The orb was a mixture of blues, pinks, reds, greens, blacks, and whites. In the darkness it seemed to shine even brighter than it would in the light. Attached to the tip of the orb was a piece of thin black string, which looked pretty strong.

Around Sakura the room continued to spin, even faster than the first time. Sakura reached her hand out towards the necklace. Her whole body shook harder as she neared closer. Her breath became stiffened and slower. Her neck began to burn again, but the pain felt different this time. It seemed to push her forward; edging her to get closer. With all her remaining strength Sakura reached her fingers out and grabbed the necklace.

It stopped. The spinning had vanished as though it had never existed in the first place. Sakura stood up straight and fell to the floor.

Guess I over did it, huh?

She almost expected to her someone reply back with a sly comment, but nothing. Along with her parents, the inner self that had dawned inner-sakura had died inside of herself months ago. Sakura looked up at the ceiling above her and slowly stood up. Her feet were shaking and just barely held her weight on them. Sakura inched towards her bed and dropped her body onto it.

Sakura stared at the invading moonlight entering the room's window. The light reflected off of the necklace and showed a beauty of arranged colors. Sakura took the necklace within her fingers and draped it over and behind her head. She looped it around her neck and tied it tightly.

Sakura slid to the edge of her bed and stared at the mirror in the corner of the room. She than collapsed onto the bed and let the darkness of sleep take her in its arms. She wanted to clear her mind from all that had happened now and then.

But in the mirror were Sakura had looked something still remained in the reflection. Sakura had seen it but ignored it with exhaustion. When she had looked in the mirror there had been someone else staring back at her.

The reflection wasn't her own. The hair had been shorter. It had been blacker. And the eyes. The eyes had been redder. Crimson pools of swirling red.

Red that could see into the pits of her soul.

Red that did not wish to let go of that soul.

Of that girl.

to be continued...

hehe... aren't i the evil one! ok, ok sorry about the cliffhanger there but if it makes u happy i was gonna stop at the spot before the line. anyway i hope to have a snow day(yeah right) and work on updating my third fic "seeing love" and maybe answer some e-mails(hint hint) . thanks for continuing to read and i wanna say a special thank you to all my nice, loyal, kind, blah blah blah reviewers! thanks u guys for making chap 3 possible! until next time GO FIRE!