He sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head and feeling the bandages, then looking puzzled. Haruno Sakura took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, settled a smile onto her face, and stepped into the room, breakfast tray in hands.
"Good morning," she chirped, watching him jump and feeling something twinge in her chest. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Good…" he spoke hesitantly, one hand still resting on the back of his head, where the bandages wrapped tightly over the blond hair. "…where…?"
"The hospital, remember?" she set the tray on the desk next to him and smiled again, lifting the stethoscope from her neck and fitting the buds into her ears. "Now, sit up straight and hold still, I have to check your heart and your breath rate, okay?"
He nodded and let her slip the cold dial past the open neck of his shirt and press it against his chest. He watched her pretty teal eyes unfocus as she listened to his heart beating, and in that instant, he caught a glimmer of worry on her usually-smiling face.
"Are you sad, miss?" he asked after she pulled away, and she jumped, startled by the question. "Every day you've come in here so far, you're always smiling, but then, sometimes, I can see the pain in your eyes…" He looked down at the hands lying placidly in his lap. "I may have known you before I lost my memory, and I'm sorry if that's what's bothering you."
"You honestly…don't remember anything?" she asked timidly, as if she weren't supposed to be talking about it.
"I'm sorry," he shook his head.
Sakura fought to suppress the tears that threatened to well up inside her. She gave him another smile, this one a bit shaky. "It's not your fault; it'll come to you in time. Now then," she pulled the tray off the table and handed it to him, her smile growing, "eat something. Today's an important day."
"Important?" he let her set the tray in his lap and then picked up his fork, his stomach giving a hungry rumble.
She chuckled softly to herself as he began to inhale the breakfast: "You have a visitor, and he'll be the one taking care of you from now on."
"You mean, I'm free to leave the hospital?" he gulped down the egg-and-toast combo he had just shoved into his mouth.
"The hospital, yes," she nodded, "but you have to stay with him at all times. It's under the orders of our hokage."
"Hokage?" he swallowed another mouthful. "What's a hokage?"
Sakura suddenly clenched a hand to her chest, where a sharp stabbing pain had forced her to pull away from the blond in the hospital bed. 'Just you wait! One day, I'm going to be hokage, and be recognized by this entire village!' Opening her mouth, Sakura let out a small, choked gasp, and abruptly shook her head, turning and running from the room before she could cry in front of her former teammate.
Uchiha Sasuke turned the corner and suddenly found himself on the floor, someone sobbing hysterically in his lap.
"Sakura!" he recognized her pink hair. "What's the matter?"
Her head snapped up and he inwardly cringed at the heartbroken look in her eyes. "Sasuke! Oh, Sasuke! He…!" she shook her head and cried harder, clenching her fingers into his vest and laying her forehead on his shoulder. "I can't believe Naruto…!"
"Hey, calm down," he gave her a timid hug. "Look, everything's going to be fine. We're going to help Naruto get through this, okay?"
"Hey, are you alright?" a familiar voice called and Sasuke looked up at the speaker. The blond in the sleep clothes had shuffled out of his room and after the nurse, looking extremely concerned. His eyes caught the other man's and he looked suddenly guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset her. I just asked a question, but I didn't think…"
"Oh my, what's happening here?" another voice came into the mix, and Hyuuga Hinata knelt beside Saskue and the sobbing woman.
"She's just upset, that's all," Sasuke explained, helping Sakura to her shaky feet. "Could you…?"
"I'll take her home. Ino and Lee are terribly concerned about her anyway," Hinata nodded and put a comforting arm around Sakura's trembling shoulders. "Come on. I'll tell the doctor you're on sick leave, okay? At least for just a few days." They walked off. The blond looked over at Sasuke again, looking even more ashamed.
"I'm…really sorry I upset her," he mumbled.
"It's not your fault," Sasuke shrugged it off. "Now then, do you remember your name?"
His brow crinkled in concentration: "No…but I have heard a couple of people call me something."
"What was it?"
"Naruto."
Sasuke nodded: "Does that sound right to you?"
"I'm…not sure."
"Alright, fine," he crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you remember my name?"
"No…" he looked even more helpless, if that were possible. Sasuke tried to ignore the painful skip his heart did.
"That's fine too. You'll remember soon enough."
"You mean, you're not going to tell me your name?"
"Nope. Not until you remember it."
"Well that's just stupid," Naruto made a face and Sasuke shrugged again.
"But that's how it'll work. You don't have to worry about a name, anyway," he told him, "I've been assigned to escort you around Konoha."
"Konoha…?" he raised a confused eyebrow.
Sasuke sighed: "Your town. The town we live in."
"Oh…" he said dejectedly.
"Here," the black-haired man tossed him a bundle of clothes. "Go get dressed and lets check you out of this place."
"Right…" the slightly-confused look did not fade. He simply took the clothes and shuffled back into the room to change. When the door shut, Sasuke let out a shaky sigh and leaned against the wall, covering his face with both hands.
"Oh god…" he whispered weakly.
"Don't give up, Uchiha."
He jumped a bit and looked over to his left. Inuzuka Kiba strode up to him, minus Akamaru, for once (the hospital wouldn't allow animals inside). "What do you want, Kiba?" he sighed wearily.
"Just came in to check on him, that's all," the man with the messy hair gave a careless shrug and crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall next to Sasuke. "You look beat."
"I'm fine."
"I heard about what happened to Sakura."
"Well, for your information, I haven't broken down crying or anything."
"Look," Kiba sighed, "I was just worried about you and him, okay? No hard feelings."
Sasuke gave him a side-glance: "That's all, huh? You usually don't care about anything except your dog."
"Hey, ow!" the other man scowled. "I have feelings too, okay? I know something of what you're feeling." His yellow eyes grew dark as he began to recall something. "There was this one time, where Hinata's father locked her up in her house because she failed a mission with Shino and I. We didn't hear from her for almost a month, and I was going out of my mind, wondering if she was okay or when I could see her again."
"…what happened?" Sasuke gave in to his curiosity.
"After a while, her father saw that he had to let her go back out or else she couldn't improve and get better with her missions," Kiba shook his head. "But…at the time, I was so, so worried about her. So…" he looked up and met Sasuke's eyes, "I kind of know what you're going through. And I wanted to tell you…don't give up on him. Even if you think you'll never get him back, even if you lose all hope about his memory ever returning, don't give up." He straightened abruptly. "Naruto needs you to help him, to be his light. If you're not there for him, no one will be."
The door beside them opened and Uzumaki Naruto stepped out into the hall, dressed in black training pants and a black mesh shirt, covered by an unzipped black and orange jacket. "Oh," he blinked at the new person. "Hello…"
"Name's Kiba," the wolfish man extended a hand and the blond took it, looking slightly relieved.
"Oh good, you actually told me your name," he laughed.
"Don't worry about this one," Kiba gestured over his shoulder at Sasuke with a devilish grin, "he's just always got a stick up his ass."
"Shut the hell up and go already, Kiba," Sasuke growled.
"I see what you mean about that stick," Naruto winked back and Kiba chuckled, ignoring the death glare drilling into the back of his head. He clasped Naruto's hand again, and pulled him forward into a brief, one-armed hug. Naruto blinked in surprise.
"He's always like that…except when he's around you," he whispered to the blond, then pulled away and beamed. "Good to see you're alright though, Naruto," he laughed it off casually and turned to go. "I'd stay and chat, but, Akamaru's waiting outside, and I've gotta take him for a walk. Well, see ya!"
They watched as Kiba tossed a wave over his shoulder and strode casually out of the hospital, tucking his hands into his pockets and whistling a random tune as a huge white dog jumped on top of him, barking its excitement. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.
"That guy's as random as always," he looked over at Naruto, who had his head lowered in thought. "Hmm? You okay, Naruto?"
"I…he…" he slowly shook his head and turned his head up, grinning. "It's nothing. He just, well, he was funny. I liked him."
"You two are actually pretty good friends," Sasuke led him to the front desk. "He had come to see how you were."
"We're old friends?" Naruto pressed as Sasuke signed his release papers.
"Well, I suppose," he handed the pen back and gestured for Naruto to follow him. "You've been on missions together, and you're both fairly similar. Except, well, you're not as annoying as he is."
Sasuke flashed him a grin as they headed out the doors and Naruto froze for a moment.
'You're annoying, usuratonkachi.'
"U…sura…tonkachi..?" he stammered out, then blinked as he realized what that meant. "H-Hey! Did you just call me…?"
"Hmm?" Sasuke turned around. "What are you standing around for, dobe? Don't you want to see your apartment?"
'Hmph, hey, dobe, don't even bother with that technique. You'll never get it.'
"What did you just call me?" he blinked.
'Oh yeah? Just watch me, ...!'
"…" Naruto's mouth moved but no name came forth. He sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his head. "Argh, I'm never going to remember anything!"
"You will, just give it time," Sasuke said gently and extended a hand to him, offering a reassuring smile. "After all, we are going to your house today. I'm sure you'll remember lots of things while you're there. Now, come on."
Naruto nodded and took the offered hand, and as their fingers touched, he heard his own voice ring out this time. And at the words, he blinked in shock.
'I love you, …'