AN: Chapter Two! Naruto and Sakura experience some bonding over their fallen friend. Read and review please!


"Ah, Naruto, since I am so old now, I think the title of Hokage should be given to you, since you are the most powerful shinobi in Konoha!" Tsunade said, placing the Third Hokage's hat on his head. The audience of ninjas cheered loudly and he gave them all the thumbs up, grinning widely. He could see Hinata smiling at him in the crowd and Iruka and Shizune cheering along with the rest of the ninjas.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," he said, smiling even wider as even Kakashi began to applaud. "And as my first act as Hokage, I'd like to-"

"Naruto! Naruto!"

Someone was shaking him awake. The kyuubi teen kicked out with his feet, curling deeper into his pillows. He didn't want the dream to end! He was about to make his first proclamation as Hokage!

"Go away," he mumbled, voice still groggy from sleep. "Wake me up in the morning, for crying out loud! I'm about to be Hokage-"

"Naruto! Get up, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, ripping the blankets off the still semi-conscious teen who yelped in protest, missing the warmth of his blankets. "It's me! Sakura!"

"Sakura?" he said, sitting up quickly and rubbing his eyes tiredly, blinking at his teammate and friend. "What are you doing here? What's wrong?"

"Naruto, it's Sasuke!"

"What?"

"He's back! Ino found him in the forest!" She said excitedly, forcibly dragging the bewildered boy out of bed. "Get dressed! Tsunade-sama said we can go see him!"

Naruto looked at his alarm clock and his blue eyes widened. "Sakura, it's five in the morning!" he groaned. "Is the hospital even open this early?"

"It's open for me!" she said, smiling, green eyes flashing excitedly. "And do you want to see Sasuke or not?"

"I do, I do," he said quickly. "Now get out, I need to get dressed." He shooed her out of the room and closed the door. Sakura sat down in front of it, waiting impatiently for him to get dressed. "Did you talk to Ino about it?" she heard the blonde teen ask.

"No," she said. "But Tsunade made it sound like it was pretty serious." They were silent. Then, Sakura said "Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Lee will be mad at me?" she asked.

"No. Why?"

"Well, I love Sasuke, but I love Lee too…" she said softly, looking at her hands. "I just don't want to have to go back to the whole… you know."

Naruto opened the door, pulling on his jacket and helped Sakura to her feet. "It'll be fine, Sakura," he said, smiling. And just for good measure- "Believe it."

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess so. Thanks Naruto. Now, let's go see Sasuke!"

---

"Sakura, Naruto," Shizune said as the two teenagers walked in, Sakura holding a bouquet of a variety of deep red and purple flowers. Naruto rubbed his eyes, still tired. "Thanks for coming. We hoped you'd be here."

"It's no problem, Shizune-san," Sakura said, smiling brightly. "May we see Sasuke now, please?"

The woman nodded, but stared at them solemnly. "But before you see him, can I talk to you two, please?"

"Sure, Shizune-san!" Naruto yawned. "What's wrong?"

"When Asuma brought him to us, he said Ino claimed he was talking incoherently, like he didn't remember who he was or where he was, or who Ino was apparently." She noticed the scared look on the pink haired girl's face. "It might just be head trauma, but sometimes the mind tries to suppress things it wants to forget. He could have been through some very terrible things with Orochimaru, which could explain his injuries as well. If you two could try to remind him of who he is and such, we'd appreciate it."

"Sure, Shizune-san," Naruto said, trying to reassure her.

"May we see him now?" Sakura said quietly.

She nodded, opening the door to the closed ward. "Just be very quiet. He's probably asleep." The teenagers nodded and entered the room.

Sasuke lay motionless on the hospital bed, his face partially covered with an oxygen mask. A machine measuring his heart rate beeped quietly in the corner, assuring them the boy on the bed was very much alive. IVs were hooked up to his arm and bandages covered most of his chest under the hospital gown. The curse seal on his neck stood out prominently against his too-pale skin. He looked older, and somehow thinner and very ill. But still very handsome, his black hair perfectly contrasting his paper white skin. Sakura gently placed the flowers in a vase near his bed and gently took his hand in hers, slowly stroking it with her thumb.

"Hi Sasuke," she said quietly. "It's Sakura. I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you so much… Did you know I'm not as pathetic as I used to be back before you left? I'm a much better Kunoichi now. I'm actually a chuunin. Aren't you proud? I can almost kick Naruto's butt every time at sparring now."

"Hey!" Naruto said, offended. "You do not!"

"Sh!" Shizune said quietly, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. "Quiet. He needs rest."

"Sorry," Naruto said, smiling sheepishly. He looked back at his fallen teammate, realizing this was the first time in three years he had seen his best friend, his brother. "Hey Sasuke," he said, smiling slightly. "Been a while, eh bro? So much has happened… since you left."

Sasuke let out a tired sigh, his eyelids fluttering. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a hopeful glance. Was he waking up…?

But his eyes didn't open. Shizune excused herself after a few minutes, telling them to call if he awoke. They sat there for a long time, Naruto and Sakura both talking on and off about things he had missed out on while he was gone. The more they talked about it, the more they realized how much like a family their squad had become in the years they had spent together.

Finally, at about noon, they gave up on topics. They just sat around and watched the unconscious teen as his chest rose and fell, the machine in the corner beeping with every breath. The hospital room was warm and Naruto felt himself beginning to fall asleep. Sakura had taken out a scroll and begun filling out a report about a past mission she had meant to finish the night before. Naruto had just dozed off when Sasuke's coal black eyes suddenly snapped open.

Sakura jumped, looking up. "Naruto! Wake up!" She nudged him awake.

"Huh?" he yelped, looking around and blinking. "Wha- Sasuke!"

The pale teen stared at them, the oxygen mask fogging up as he breathed in and out. Sakura looked at him and asked if she could take it off. He nodded. She helped him pull it off and sat back down again, looking at him with a smile on her face.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him. He stared at her blankly, then looked over at Naruto. His face was completely blank, no emotion registering on his pale features.

"Who's Sasuke?" he asked. "Where's the other girl?"

"What other girl?" Sakura asked gently, her medic training reminding her to keep her tone low and comforting in case he got upset.

"She was blonde…" he said, thinking hard. "She said… She said her name was-"

"Ino?" Naruto offered helpfully.

"Yeah… Who's Sasuke? She called me that too…"

"You're Sasuke," Naruto said, looking confused. "I'm Naruto and she's Sakura. What's wrong with you, bro?"

"Shut up, Naruto, let me handle this," Sakura said sharply. She turned back to Sasuke. "If you're not Sasuke, what's your name?"

"I don't know," he said, sounding tired and ill. He looked at his hands. He couldn't remember his own hands. He looked over at Sakura. "Why do you two look familiar, Sakura?"

"We're your friends," she said comfortingly. "We were on the same team. I used to… I used to…"

"You're like our brother," Naruto said quickly as Sakura looked at the floor. "We practically grew up together."

Sasuke looked at him blankly. "Brother? But…" He drifted off into thought, his hand moving over his shoulder to touch the curse seal. Naruto and Sakura watched, not saying a word. He finally looked back at them. "Where am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're in the hospital in Konoha," Sakura said. "Ino found you outside of the city. Do you remember anything about what happened?"

He shook his head, his eyelids rapidly closing. "I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more."

"That's all right," she said, gently patting his hand. "Get some rest. Can we talk to you again later?"

"All right," he said hoarsely, already sounding like he was about to fall asleep. They watched as he fell back into the depths of sleep and Sakura gently placed the oxygen mask back over his face.

"He really doesn't remember anything then," Naruto said dully, sounding a little shocked.

"No. I guess not," Sakura said softly, gently brushing a strand of ebony hair back from his forehead, emerald eyes fogged over with sadness.

"He will get better, right Sakura?" Naruto said, looking to his friend for comfort.

"Maybe. Maybe not," she said. "Naruto, when someone gets this confused about themselves, it means they may have serious brain damage. Sasuke may never get better. Until we can get more information, we won't know."

Naruto looked at the floor, taking all of this in. He looked back up at Sasuke, then looked at Sakura. "We should probably tell Shizune-san about him waking up, right?"

"Right." She got up and kissed Sasuke gently on the forehead. "Sleep well, Sasuke."

Naruto looked at him as they left the room. "Get better soon, okay? For all our sakes."


AN: I didn't realize I was going to play up the brother/sister Naru/Saku type relationship so much... Everyone like? There are muffins for anyone who reviews!

Chapter Three: Who's Sasuke, Ino?- Coming Soon...