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 52: Friends

With most of the people recovering at the hospital, the next few days, it became their meeting place. Yuki insisted however on recovering at home as she was trying to avoid Neji and Sai. She would try to visit the others at odd times in order to not run into anybody. Sakura would come over to her house and check on her without the others knowing. Before they knew it, they became close friends. The Sakura that Yuki remembered as being too prim and proper, too spoiled became much more down to earth and independent. She was much easier to talk to. She didn't hold on to certain ideas like she used to. She gave good insight while listening to what others had to say.

"You've recovered quite a lot, but I still think it would have been better if you rested at the hospital." She said. "There are a lot of damages that can't be seen by the eye."

"I've told you why I can't stay there, though."

"Who would have thought you would have such boy problems?" Sakura said jokingly as she packed up her medical tools. "So who do you like? I'll break the news to the other one."

"Eh? What do you mean? I... I haven't given it much thought."

"Really? I think you did though. Just follow your heart. Know that they are both good people. They'll be happy for you regardless of your decision."

Yuki sighed as dropped her sleeve back down over the bandaged wound Sakura had just looked at. She really didn't know what to do. She wasn't even sure if she liked any of them. That was perhaps a lie she was telling herself. She did feel something for the both of them, but the feeling differed. She didn't know who she cared for as a friend and who she loved. She sighed again before asking Sakura:

"How do you feel about Naruto?"

"Eh?" Sakura said, taken aback. "He's... He used to be so annoying, but now... Now, I truly look up to him. I've grown to care for him. I want him to do well, I want him to achieve his dreams. I only wish him the best."

"What about..."

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Sorry... I know..."

"No, that's fine. As for Sasuke-kun... It's hard to explain. There's a lot that resent him for, but I can't help, but care for him as well. I know it's not something that everyone can understand, but I still love him despite all that has happened. Wouldn't you say that is true love, though?"

"Who knows... Shouldn't love be mutual though?"

"It's probably best that way."

Sakura looked down and pondered for a while. Yuki could tell that she loved Sasuke a lot. She was grateful that both Naruto and Sakura still cared about Sasuke that much. Meanwhile, Yuki knew that, towards Sasuke, she felt nothing. She saw him as a rogue ninja that simply had to be brought back to the village. She felt sorry towards Itachi more so than towards Sasuke. She believed he took his own decisions and that he decided to walk that path despite having so many people believe in him. There was nothing else to be done.

"I'm heading back to the hospital then." Sakura told Yuki. "You could come with me if you want. I'll deter them from talking to you about whatever it is that you don't want to talk about."

Yuki smiled and nodded. She slipped on her shoes and headed out with Sakura. The sun was shining bright that day. They stopped by a few places before going to the hospital. They went into Ino's flower shop. Yuki picked on two bouquets of daisies. She wanted to bring them the Third's and Asuma's tombs before heading to the hospital. Heading into the cemetery to visit the Third and Asuma, they ran into Shikamaru who was leaving.

"I'll keep her company if you want to leave to the hospital." He told Sakura. "I heard that Naruto was throwing a fit because Kakashi-sensei isn't recovering as fast as he did."

"Ugh, that Naruto..." Sakura said as she rushed off in direction of the hospital.

"Neji and Sai are also at the hospital." Shikamaru then told Yuki.

"How do you know about them?" Yuki asked him as they walked towards the Third's tombstone.

"I'm just that observant. Why are you going through all this trouble just to avoid them?"

"What am I supposed to say when I see them, then?"

"Just be mean and say that you don't like them in that way? Unless you do, of course, now that's a different story."

She glared at him as he chuckled. She placed the first bouquet on the Third's gravestone and closed her eyes as to pay her respect to him. She and Shikamaru then headed over to Asuma's grave. There were fresh flowers there for him already. She added her bouquet to them.

"Kurenai-sensei comes everyday to clean up his gravestone." Shikamaru told her. "She said she wanted the baby to be as close as her father as possible despite the infinite distance that now separates them. She's doing well though. The baby is doing well too."

"What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine." Shikamaru said as he pulled out a cigarette.

"You took up his bad habits though."

"It helps me think, maybe that's why he smoked so much." He replied as he lit it up.

He took a puff out of it then left it on Asuma's gravestone. Shikamaru wasn't a smoker. He just felt the need to do something to help him connect to Asuma once again. It made him feel as though Asuma was still around. Yuki could understand that. She said no more about his smoking habit afterwards. They stood there in silence for a bit before deciding to head out. Yuki was hesitant to visit the hospital. Shikamaru didn't try to push her into going there. Instead, he suggested for them to play a game of shogi. Yuki agreed.

"Please leave out the door this time when we are done."

"I don't want to wake your parents up if we end too late again."

"I guess I'll just have to make sure I win quickly." He then said as they sat down and started placing the pieces.

Yuki always learned fast. She was enough of a challenge for Shikamaru to have to scratch his head at times. They shared laughter, wisdom for the next few hour as they played. Slowly, it became a habit of theirs to play shogi after missions, before missions and during any of their free time. They talked about everything to each other. Before she knew it, she could call Shikamaru her best friend. It was perhaps the fact that they both acted like they were much older than their actual age, but they found each other easy to relate to.

It was now a few days after Yuki found out that the Two-tailed beast from Kumogakure had been sealed, meaning that Yugito Nii had passed away. Although she wasn't personally very closed to Yugito, during her time in Kumogakure, she was always friendly to Yuki, giving her tips whenever she struggled with expanding her chakra reserves. She was sitting, that day again, in Shikamaru's backyard, playing shogi with him. He noticed a difference in the way that she was playing.

"Did something happen?"

"Tsunade-sama just told me that she got a report saying that Yugito Nii from Kumogakure had just been killed by the Akatsuki."

"Were you close to that person?"

"Enough for me to feel something because of her death."

"A friend?"

"More like a mentor."

"I never asked you, but how was it... living in Kumogakure?"

"It was nice. The people were really nice. It was simple living there. Things weren't complicated. It could have been because I didn't have any responsibilities there. I had so much freedom. I did what I wanted. I wasn't aware of much."

"Knowledge is a troublesome. But ignorance is just as troublesome."

"When I found out about certain things, I felt guilty for not doing anything when I could have."

"See. Everything is such a drag." Shikamaru said as he played the winning move. "But everything is for a reason. You lost again."

"I can't think of a good justification for death though."

"There's one. If your death serves the purpose of protecting your king, I think it's fair to say that it had to happen." Shikamaru said as he grabbed the king on the shogi board.

"What if you die thinking you did protect the king, but, in reality, you failed to do so?" Yuki asked him.

"At the very least, you died trying protect what you believed in."

Their conversation was interrupted by Shikamaru's father's coughs. He had just returned home. He smiled at Yuki and told her:

"I knew you would be here. I told Tsunade-sama I would pass the message on to you. She wants you in her office as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Shikaku-san. I'll head over now." Yuki said as she stood up and waved a silent goodbye to Shikamaru before teleporting herself to the Hokage's office.

"Yuki, use the door next time!" Tsunade scolded her as soon as she appeared in the office.

Yuki scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly as it did indeed become a bad habit of hers. She picked up this bad habit while she was in Kumogakure. She learned from none other than their current Raikage. Whenever he was in a rush, he would just create a hole in the wall to enter or exit a place. Yuki, at least, had more respect for her environment. She looked around and saw that Jiraiya was also present in the room. They hadn't seen each other since Yuki healed his injury during his trip with Naruto. She looked at him with a smile before greeting him:

"Jiraiya-sama, it's been a while."

"It has been. Yuki, you've grown so much." He replied in a fatherly tone.

"Let's cut to the chase." Tsunade interrupted their reunion.

"We should indeed." Jiraiya said. "Yuki, Orochimaru is dead. Sasuke killed him."

"Guessing from your tone, Sasuke isn't coming back to the village despite that, right?" Yuki asked.

Jiraiya nodded as Tsunade sighed. They had hoped that Sasuke, once he gained enough power, would return to the village. Naruto made them believe so, despite everything that had unfolded in front of them. Yuki clenched her fists before saying:

"He's going after Itachi then. Let me go find them both, Tsunade-sama. I know Itachi best out of any shinobi in the village, at the exception of Kakashi-senpai, perhaps. I can find him, find Sasuke and end this..."

"Naruto wouldn't let you kill him." Jiraiya said.

"I didn't say I would..."

"How would you end it though?" Tsunade asked. "By reasoning with him? By helping him kill Itachi to avenge his clan?"

"I would only harm him as a last resort." Yuki replied as she looked down to floor, realizing she hadn't thought it through like she believed she did.

Tsunade wasn't wrong. Yuki had no idea what to do with Sasuke if she ran into him once again. She only believed he was a lost cause. However, she didn't have the guts nor the will to kill him, because of her promise with Itachi. She couldn't tell them about Itachi either. There was no way she would hurt Itachi. If she had to pick someone between Sasuke and Itachi to save, she would save Itachi. However, it would go against his own will as he, from what she knew, would do anything to keep his little brother alive.

"That's not the only issue we have." Tsunade added. "I just got a report from Shizune that they were unable to seal the Three-tailed Beast."

"Then, the Akatsuki..."

"We don't know that yet, but we are guessing it's only a matter of time." Jiraiya replied. "They are clearly going in order of numbers of tails though, meaning Naruto should also be safe for the time being. However, we need to prepare ourselves for when they do come after him. You know that the Akatsuki are filled with incredibly strong shinobis. With Naruto's current abilities, he might not be able to defend himself against them. Furthermore, if they do attack, everybody else will be endangered as they will be forced to fight against them. Actually, it is wrong to say forced. Knowing you guys, you will all jump forward to protect each other. I'm not saying you guys aren't strong, but you can't fight and protect at the same time. That's like asking for your own death."

"So what you are saying is that I should focus on becoming stronger rather than try to find Sasuke and Itachi." Yuki said as she felt like Jiraiya was starting to beat around the bush.

He then asked her to summon Kiku, the rabbit that had always been by her side when she needed help. She didn't understand where he was getting at, but obeyed anyways.

"Have you heard of Senjutsu, Yuki?" Tsunade asked her.

"I've read about it. It's about gathering nature's energy and transforming it into chakra, right?"

"Exactly. Only a few people in this world are able to use it."

"We were saying how the sharingan you have uses up a lot of your chakra and, despite managing to expand your chakra reserves, you still cannot maintain it for a long time on top of performing other techniques that are just as costly in chakra." Tsunade told her.

"If you train in Senjutsu, you can enter this state called the Sage Mode. In a sense, it allows you to have an infinite amount of chakra." Jiraiya explained. "Of course, there are things that prevent you from having unlimited chakra such as movement for example."

"That's why you need a friend like me by your side when you enter the Sage Mode." Kiku said as she jumped onto Yuki's shoulder. "Jiraiya-sama, I'll teach her everything about it."

"Wait a minute." Yuki said as Kiku was about to take her somewhere. "I understand that you both want me to learn senjutsu. However, there are much more urgent things right now. Like you said, we have time until we have to face the Akatsuki head on, right? Naruto and the rest of them aren't in immediate danger. Why now? I really think I should be looking for Itachi and Sasuke first, then start this training once that is settled."

"Do you think Naruto will sit still once he hears of Orochimaru's death?" Tsunade asked. "Do you think, if the opportunity presents to them, that the Akatsuki wouldn't capture Naruto regardless of their progress on the Tailed Beast? Who will protect him? His friends? Or should I say your friends?"

"I..." Yuki started.

"You don't have the strength to protect them right now, Yuki. They'll be back in about three days."

"So I've got three days to master this." Yuki said. "Like you said, Naruto won't sit still once he catches wind of the news."

"I like your confidence."

"Kiku, let's go." Yuki told her.

They disappeared. Yuki was more eager than ever to become stronger. Tsunade wasn't wrong. With her current abilities, all she could do was sacrifice herself for the sake of her friends. However, sacrifices meant nothing if they don't actually serve a purpose. It was what Yuki believed in. She had told Shikamaru that she believed death served no purpose, that she didn't see how death could be justified. She had to show him now that she will fight to live and to protect her king. Three days weren't a lot of time, but she knew she could do it, because this wasn't just for her. It was for her friends and loved ones.

End of Chapter 52

Thank you for reading this chapter.

I really wanted Yuki to feel like she belonged with the Konoha 11. Hopefully this chapter shows that.

xox

Krystal