Light Shaded Dream

Chapter 14 – Shady Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-:-

Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, Neji, Chouji, and Lee all made their way to Ichiraku. Today was their day off, so Naruto had suggested spending the day with each other. Shikamaru and Neji both disagreed at first, but were forced to come along by Ino and Tenten. The day was fresh and new; the spring air bringing new batches of freshness each second.

"I wonder how Sakura's doing," Ino wondered out loud.

Tenten looked at her, and frowned.

"I do too. I wonder if everything's going all right..." Tenten said.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders in defeat, and all continued to wonder what had happened to the pink-haired kunoichi. Somehow, they all had managed to have this air of uneasiness about them.

-:-

Three days had passed since Itachi's death, and Sakura was slowly recovering from the effects of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke had not been able to do anything about her pain, but he had made sure that her body was safe in her weak state. After many days, Sakura began to stir. She felt a wet cloth over her forehead, and tried to sit up, but fell down. She hated this feeling. She hated feeling weak. Noticing a small pain in her forehead, she groaned in frustration. Her memories were shaded and cloudy, and she longed to remember what had happened to her. Her instincts snapped as she heard someone coming behind her, and she panicked.

"Who-who are you?" She quietly asked.

Sasuke tensed, as his presence was not recognized. Something was wrong.

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" He asked, worry escaping his voice.

Sakura turned around and faced him. Her eyes were dull, as if every memory she had made up the emerald shine in her orbs. She blushed as her mind had told her this was a new face, a hot face.

"Who's Sakura?"

Sasuke's heart fell, and managed to force a small smile escape his lips. He knew what had happened.

It seems like the trauma from the events caused her memories to fade. Hopefully, they will soon grow back...

He pointed his index finger to himself, and smiled.

"I am U-chi-ha Sa-su-ke," He said slowly, sounding out the syllables clearly.

"Uchiha Sasuke-san," Sakura repeated.

"You can call me Sa-su-ke."

Sakura nodded.

"Sasuke-san."

Sasuke then moved his index finger and put it over her heart.

"You are Ha-ru-no Sa-ku-ra," He slowly said.

Sakura slowly took her hand and placed it over Sasuke's finger.

"I am Haruno Sakura," She repeated.

Sasuke removed his finger from her body, and nodded.

"Sasuke-san, where are we?"

"We are a few days away from a village named Konoha."

Sakura mouthed 'oh', and looked off into the distance. She longed to remember what had happened to her. Something felt so...right next to the man she had just met. She felt a longing and happiness with this man, and she liked the feeling she received. She knew she could trust him, even if they had just met. Wondering more about her shady past, she saw meat shoved in front of her face, and her trail of thought was disrupted.

"Sasuke-san, what is this?" She asked, taking the piece of meat slowly, obviously hesitating on what to do with it.

Sasuke noticed this, and slowly took a piece of his, and took a bite, and began to chew. Sakura mimicked him, and smiled contently as the wave of flavor washed through her mouth.

"You like it?" Sasuke asked, noticing the content smile on his cherry blossom's face.

Sakura nodded and continued to eat, watching the world continue on around her. Sasuke let her be, classifying it as unnecessary to interrupt her trails of thought. She did just lose her memories, after all.

Night slowly fell among them, and Sasuke lay down next to Sakura, staring off at the stars above them. The day was filled with familiarizing Sakura with the many objects, and he was tired. He was never so patient with anything in his life. Noticing Sakura looking at him, he placed his hands under his head, and looked at her from the corner of his eye. Sakura noticed this, and blushed, looking away, too embarrassed to do anything else. Sasuke frowned inwardly to himself, and continued to look off at the stars. He had been soothed by their serene demeanor, and always felt safe around them.

"Sasu...Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke looked at Sakura, her soft voice interrupting his trail of thought.

"Yes?"

Sakura blushed, and dug her face in her hands (she was lying down sideways, with her hands supporting her head, her arm flat against the ground...yeah...shady description. Sorry! D: ), and timidly looked at him.

"Are you...are you okay?" She quietly asked.

Sasuke looked at her, and smiled.

"I'm fine, Sakura."

"But...you looked so...sad."

This time, Sasuke stared at her. His onyx eyes looked into her, and he looked away, focusing on the stars.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset," Sakura whispered.

Sasuke shifted his gaze to the cherry blossom once more, and smiled, making her world brighter.

"I'm sorry if I've been zoning out. The stars just give me comfort in many things," He said.

Inwardly, he was shooting himself. He never knew the day would come when he would sound so childish. Sakura looked at him, confused.

"If you don't mind me asking, Sasuke-san...comfort for what?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

"I'd always hope that the people I had left were safe and living under the same stars I did. My Kaa-san would always look at the stars before. She loved them..."

"Where is your Kaa-san now?"

Sasuke opened his eyes, and winced, managing to smile at Sakura.

"She's...in a better place. She died with dignity...and respect...and she didn't deserve to die at all..." Sasuke whispered.

Sakura frowned. She had hit a delicate subject, and she didn't like the uneasiness she was making him feel. She wondered about her friend's mother, and his whole family.

"Do you...do you have any family left, Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke looked at her, closed his eyes, and smiled.

"No."

Sakura basically killed herself there. This conversation was making her feel guiltier every question she asked.

"I'm sorry," She quietly whispered.

Sasuke shook his head, and assured her it was fine. He had not minded the intrusion at all; he was finally able to speak happily about the death of his relatives without clenching his fists in anger or killing off the questioner.

"I'm sleepy..."

Sakura yawned, and laid straight on her back, using the leaves Sasuke had gathered as a pillow.

"Good night, Sasuke-san..."

She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep. Sasuke stared at her sleeping figure, and smiled.

"Good night, Sakura-chan..." He whispered, kissing her on her forehead.

He gave the stars one last glance, before he allowed himself to consciously fall asleep.

-:- Sakura's Dream / Flashback -:-

"Sasuke-kun! Let's go—"

"No. You're annoying."

The heartthrob of Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke, began to walk away from Sakura. Sakura stood there, holding back the threatening tears in her eyes. She clenched her fists in anger; but a smile formed on her lips. Her palms began bleeding as her fingers dug into her skin, but she continued to smile.

"Sakura, you're bleeding." He said.

She didn't hear him. She continued to let the warm blood drip from her skin and fall onto the roots of the beautiful tree, staining its bark with her sullen blood. Her smile remained on her face.

"Sakura, you look like an idiot smiling and bleeding," He said.

She didn't hear him once more. Her anger grew into rage, and her fingers continued to dig into her palm. She laughed to herself, and brought her hand up to her heart. Her hand unrolled, and she pushed her palm over her shirt. Blood stained her shirt and bled down to her skin, rolling down her body.

"My heart bleeds, Sasuke-kun," She said.

The boy just stares at her, holding back his emotions and keeping his emotionless face, unable to bring himself to say anything to her. Sakura then realized what she was doing, and stared at her bleeding palm.

"Oh my...did I say anything, Sasuke-kun? Why am I...bleeding?"

She looked up at her crush, back down at her palm, and then saw her shirt stained with blood. She felt the liquid crawling down her leg, and shivered at its warm touch.

"Sasuke-kun, did I do something? Did you make me bleed?"

Her mind was unaware of what had happened to her. While her rage had taken over her, she had gotten paranoid, seemingly pulled into a trance that had acted upon her bottled up emotions. Her heart and mind was telling her that something was wrong, but the two didn't mean the same thing. Her mind was telling her she was bleeding and that she would die if she couldn't stop it, but her heart was telling her it was bleeding, that Sasuke was just a heartthrob full of ice, and that he was worth nothing, but that he was also worth everything. Sakura was plunged into emotional confusion.

"Sakura. Sakura?" He called.

His voice trailed off through her ears, and she fell to the cold ground, her smile still gracing her lips.

-:- End Dream Sequence / Flashback -:-

Sakura awoke in the middle of the night, startled. She jolted upright, and looked around. Seeing Sasuke, she sighed contently, and lay back down.

"Go back to sleep," She heard.

Surprised, she jumped up, and settled down when she realized it was her friend that had told her to go back to sleep.

"How did you know I was awake Sasuke-kun?" She asked.

He turned to face her, and smiled, his face hiding sorrow behind the gesture of happiness.

"I can't sleep, remember? Not until...everything's back to normal. So go back to sleep. You need rest, Sakura," He said.

Sakura nodded, and closed her eyes.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun...stay safe..."

She drifted off to sleep once more, leaving a confused Sasuke staring at her sleeping form.

Did she just call me Sasuke-kun again?

-:-

Sorry there was a lot of dialogue! x-x