Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 48: Meanings

As soon as they got back, Naruto urged Kakashi to come out of bed and to train him. After the mission, he came to the realization that Sasuke had progressed far more than what he had anticipated. He felt like he was left behind once again. Kakashi, however, still needed a few days to recover. He sighed every time Naruto would come to his hospital room and bother his rest to which Sakura responded by scolding Naruto. Yuki would come by often between her short missions with Team 8 to visit Kakashi as well. He always enjoyed her visits as she wasn't as loud as Naruto. Sai often joined Sakura and Naruto in their visits. He would always try to talk to Yuki, but she often ignored him. It didn't come unnoticed by the others.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm just going to sleep here until you recover so that we can start immediately after." Naruto announced as he tucked himself in the bed next to Kakashi.

"Naruto! Don't be silly. You've got to let sensei rest." Sakura said as she tried to pull him out of the bed.

"I'm just going to be sleeping here."

Yuki sighed and chuckled at the same time. Sai just stood there and smiled. He enjoyed seeing the interactions between the members of Team Kakashi. Everyone remained so cheerful despite all that had happened to them. He wasn't used to it. Things were rather somber within the Root. Yuki stood up from her seat and headed outside after she said goodbye to everyone. She bumped into Tsunade on her way out who gave her sign to follow her. Yuki obeyed. Something was definitely wrong for Tsunade to come looking for her at such a late time. As they entered the office, Asuma and Shikamaru were already present as well as two other people that Yuki recognized to be Aoba and Raido. She lined up beside them waiting for Tsunade to explain why they were all asked to her office.

"Asuma, Chiriku of the Twelve Guardian Ninja was recently murdered. One of his students managed to come here and tell us what had happened." Tsunade announced.

Asuma's face turned pale. He clenched onto the sash that was tied around his waist as he looked down to his feet, mourning for the death of his friend. Shikamaru looked over at his teacher, trying to find a way to comfort him for his loss.

"Chiriku is one of the strongest among them, how..." Raido started.

"The Akatsukis attacked their temple and killed him." Tsunade said. "Yuki, you should be familiar with the ones who attacked Chiriku. From the description that young monk gave us, they were the two you sent me a report about two years ago."

"Hidan and Kakuzu?" Yuki asked.

Tsunade nodded and gave her sign to explain her encounter with them and to brief the others on their abilities.

"The one named Hidan follows this weird religion with a god named Jashin. He constantly looks for victims to sacrifice to this so called god. His abilities are unknown to me. He fights with a large scythe. He's not the smartest nor the fastest ninja, but, considering he is part of the Akatsukis, he must have some other abilities I haven't seen yet. The other one is Kakuzu. His name might not be unknown to us as he once fought the first Hokage. I can't tell you how, but he doesn't seem as old as he should be if we follow the timeline. He has all five elements nature chakra. He is also very physically strong. He's much smarter than his partner. He's also much more patient and calculative. Speed wise, he's not the fastest, however, he's not lacking in that department either. He uses this weird technique which consists moving grey strings. They are part of his body, not just weapons. I was told they had a nickname. What was it again... Ah, the Zombie Combo." Yuki told everyone without stopping much.

"They sound like a drag to deal with." Shikamaru said as he sighed.

"I have information stating that they are still within the Land of Fire territory. Your mission will be to find them, capture them alive if possible. If not, you are to eliminate them. Asuma, Raido and Yuki, you three will be team captains. Gather your team, let me know who you are taking and leave tomorrow at dawn."

"Yes." They all answered in unison as they left the office.

"I'm guessing you are taking Team 8 with you for this mission?" Shikamaru asked Yuki as they walked back home together.

"They are the best tracking team I know. They also work really well as a team already. I won't have to worry about that."

"It is less of a drag to be with people you already work well with." Shikamaru sighed. "Then again, I think everybody works pretty well with each other in this village."

They stopped talking as they were now right in front of Shikamaru's house.

"Care for a game of shogi before going home?" He then asked her.

"Sure." She replied as she stepped into his house.

They, then, sat in on the backyard's patio. Under the moonlight and dimly lit lantern, they began their game. Yuki was familiar with the concept of shogi, but she never really played it. From what she had heard from Asuma, Shikamaru was quite good at it.

"Don't laugh at me if I lose too quickly." Yuki warned him as they started.

"Eh? Something you are not good at! I'm surprised." He teased her.

Time went by quicker than Yuki had anticipated. She managed to play against Shikamaru for quite a while. Ultimately, he still won. He grabbed her king and looked at it for a long time. He then looked at her and told her:

"I was playing against Asuma last night and he asked me who I thought the King was in Konoha."

"What was you answer?"

"I said the Hokage, but he told me I was wrong."

"You are wrong." Yuki said as she stood up and stretched herself.

"Who's the King in Konoha then?"

"You'll figure it out eventually."

"That's what he said." Shikamaru said as he pouted. "It's been bothering me and, now, you are not helping."

"It's something you've got to figure out on your own."

"Hidden meanings are such a drag."

"This conversation is a drag." Yuki said, chuckling. "I'll see you bright and early at dawn."

She jumped over the gates in his backyard as she heard him telling her to use the door next time. She, then, slowly made her way back home.

From afar, she noticed someone standing by the door of her place. She sighed as she got closer and recognized who it was. Sai. He was leaning against her door, looking down at his feet. He then sensed her approaching and looked up. He walked over to her with a smile on his face.

"I've been waiting all night here for you." He told her as he stopped right in front of her.

"Should I be touched for that?" She asked him coldly.

"I read that girls usually are when a guy waits for them at night for long time."

"Or they might be crept out."

"That was not my intention." He said as his smile disappeared. "Yuki... I..."

"I have to leave early tomorrow for a mission. I'm exhausted right now... So if you could move to the side, I would really appreciate that."

He stepped aside for her to walk by. Before she could get passed him, he then said:

"You know, I've been trying really hard these past few days to talk to you. Now that I get the chance to, you won't even listen to me."

"It's not that I won't listen, but listening won't do me any good. I've been through this with you before. Even if I listened, I wouldn't know what to believe. Sai, I don't know if you can recall the last few years, but I could never forget what you did to me."

"What am I supposed to do to help you forget?"

"Such things are not ever forgotten, they are forgiven."

"I've read somewhere that is was easier to forget than to forgive."

"That's not a lie. However, neither is quite easy for me right now."

"How can I help?"

"How about a sincere apology?"

"Did not I not apologize back then?"

"You said that you felt like you should, not that you felt sorry."

"I did." Sai answered quickly. "I didn't realize it back then, but I felt guilty for harming you. I didn't forget a single word you said to me. I thought about it over the next few years. It kept tormenting me, so I decided to toss all those memories aside. Then, I saw you again. I don't know what that feeling was, but I think it was happiness. Yes, I was happy to see that you were still alive. I was afraid that Danzo-sama had sent more people after my failure."

Yuki smirked. He couldn't see her face. She didn't believe the words that he just said. She, then, murmured:

"Excuses."

"I really want you to trust me once again. Everybody else seems to trust me now... why can't you?"

"Are you that simple-minded?"

"I don't know much."

"People might believe that you had a change of heart, but I know you well enough to know that your heart doesn't change."

"That's not..."

"True? It is though. You told me that yourself, after we left Sunagakure. I'm just repeating your words. Now, if you would excuse me, I need some rest."

As she furiously walked away from him, he grabbed her by the wrist. He didn't let go despite her trying to shake him off. She walked back in front of him and glared at him. He looked back into her eyes. They reminded him of the time he tried to take them away from her. It was the same cold and angry look. However, he still remembered mostly the kind eyes she had before that incident happened. Those were the eyes he loved to look into. They were so warm and full of life.

"Sai, let go..."

Before she could finish, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips as his hand pulled her in closer, away from the light underneath which they were standing. She stood there, frozen, for a while before pushing him away violently. His other hand was still holding onto her wrist.

"I read today that this was the best way to express your love for someone." He said as she looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"I think you've misunderstood the meaning of love." She replied coldly. "Let go of my hand."

He let go. He took a step closer towards her as she took a step away from him.

"I think I clearly understand what it is." He said. "It only took me time to realize what it was."

Yuki didn't want to hear anymore. She flashed herself into her apartment and onto her bed, leaving Sai alone where they had kissed. She looked at her ceiling and wished to forget all that had happened so that she could fall asleep. However, she couldn't. She tossed and turned all night. She felt confused. She was still mad at him, yet her anger had dissipated somewhat unknowingly. As the sky got lighter, she grabbed her things and headed out without a second of sleep. As she opened the door, Sai was sleeping in front her door, leaned against the railing of the staircase. It was quite a chilly morning. She went back inside and grabbed a fleeced blanket. She headed back out and threw it without much care over him as she flashed herself to the main gate of the village to meet up with everyone.

End of Chapter 48

Thank you for reading!

I hope you enjoyed the story so far.

I'm trying to stick to the original story as much as possible, but there will be many inaccuracies as the story progresses. Please forgive me.

Let me know what you think in the reviews!

xox

Krystal