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 56: Changes

If this was what death felt like, Yuki believed it wasn't so bad. She felt like she was embraced by the arms of someone who truly cared for her as it felt warm and safe. It was funny how in that moment the first person that came to her mind was Neji. It felt the same way whenever she would lean into him. She knew that he wasn't dead and so, this was not possible, but it was how it felt like. It came to her realization that he was the one she really wished she had bid farewell to. She wondered how he would feel when he came back from his mission and found out that she had died. Perhaps he would feel grateful that she had saved Hinata since she was family to him. Perhaps he would have felt devastated. Perhaps he would return to his cold self and not feel anything. Perhaps he would resent the main family once again. She didn't wish for any of those. Yuki wanted him to feel proud of her for protecting what was most precious to her until the moment of her death. She didn't want him to cry. There wasn't really much pain in death other than the regrets of not saying goodbye. It truly was easier to die than to live.

"Why hasn't she opened her eyes yet?" She heard someone ask. "Everybody else is back already."

That voice was filled with worries. That voice was his. She didn't want him to worry. She wanted to tell him she was in a better place now. She tried to tell to him, but she couldn't. She had to find a way to tell him.

"She was severely wounded before she died. Her life was saved, but the injuries are severe enough that she needs time to recover." A female voice said.

Her life was saved? Yuki tried even harder to speak up so that they would stop worrying about her. It was so hard. Her throat felt like it was completely closed off and no air could go through for sound to be made. She tried to move her fingers so that they knew she could hear them at least. Her little pinky managed to be lifted up. He quickly grabbed her hand. His hand was so warm.

"She moved!" He said.

He sounded really happy about it. He held on to her hand really tightly as if he was afraid he would never get the chance to do so once again. The warmth spread throughout her body. She could feel her heart beating once again. She finally was breathing again. Slowly, her lids started to shake as her eyes wanted to open. Light started going through her pupils, making her eyes squint and her face frown.

"Yuki…" He kept calling her.

She slowly opened her eyes. His face came into view. He looked relieved as he finally managed to see her eyes. She sat up as her vision cleared up. He hugged her tightly as she sat there frozen, not too sure how to react. She had just come back from death. She looked around. They were all there. Naruto also was there, smiling, leaning against Kakashi who was also up and standing. He gave her a thumb up. She smiled back. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief. Shikamaru mumbled something about how she was troublesome. Lee was crying out of joy. Sakura was a little further, holding onto Tsunade who seemingly was in a coma after exhausting her chakra. She was still alive however. Yuki was relieved. As long as she was still alive, she would come back to them. She knew that.

Neji finally let go. He looked at her in the eyes. She could tell that he cried. It was strange for her to imagine Neji crying. He always had such great control of his emotions. Crying was not something he would do.

"I gave you a fright, didn't I?" She asked.

"I came back to village and saw you bathing in your own blood… What do you think?" He answered as he looked away.

"Eh? Neji Hyuga, scared? I still can't imagine it. Perhaps a reenactment of what happened…"

"I can't believe you would joke about this right now!" He said angrily.

Yuki knew it was time to stop teasing him. She went ahead and hugged him under everybody's surprised eyes. He was also taken aback. She didn't know what pushed her to do so, but she knew how she felt about him after having lost once the opportunity to tell him how she felt.

"Sorry. I tried not to risk my life, but it was hard not to do so, you know." Yuki said. "Everybody was trying so hard. I really couldn't help it."

She then let go of him as he was still dazed by her sudden actions. She looked away as she slowly regret doing it so abruptly. She then took a better look around her. Yuki wondered what had happened. There was no way she actually lived through her injuries. However, she felt like it wasn't the proper time to get all the answers she needed. The village was in ruins and war was obviously at their doorstep. It was too close for comfort, but they didn't have to confront it just yet. They still had time. Little, perhaps, but there was still time before they had to fight again.

She only found out a little later that Nagato, the one who controlled Pain, was behind everybody's resurrection. Naruto spoke highly of him despite all he had done. Yuki also believed Nagato deserved the praise Naruto gave him. In his circumstances, Yuki assumed a lot of people would have done the same. At least, in his death, he allowed for many lives to be saved, including hers. She was grateful she was granted a chance to feel again, to make up for the regrets she had as she was dying.

She spent the next few days with the rest of the people in the village rebuilding their home. During her spare time, she would spend it with Neji. There was a slight awkwardness at the beginning, but they got used to each other's presence. Quickly enough, she got so used to seeing him that whenever he wasn't around, she found herself thinking about him and smiling to herself.

As she was going through some of the paperwork with Shikamaru that day, she did just that. He noticed. He laughed and pushed her playfully. She glared at him.

"Don't give me that look. I wouldn't tease you if you didn't have such a hard time before figuring out how you felt about him. You were being so troublesome. You should have just been honest from the beginning." He told her.

"Really? You told me to tell him I didn't like him that way."

"You are twisting my words. I did say that, but I also said that if you did, you had to rethink it."

"So really, you weren't being helpful." She replied as she placed the last few papers into a folder.

"Why do I even talk to you?" He said as he sighed.

Yuki chuckled. As they were about to leave, an ANBU appeared in front of them. Yuki recognized that person as previously being part of the team that protected Tsunade. She raised an eyebrow as she assumed this couldn't be good news.

"Yuki-san, they've announced a new Hokage as Tsunade-sama isn't able to perform her tasks any longer."

"Why the rush?" Yuki asked.

"Sasuke attacked someone from Kumogakure under the Akatsukis' order. The Kages are meeting soon to discuss what to do about it."

Yuki bit her lip as Shikamaru glanced over at her. He clenched his fists as he remembered that his first mission as a captain was to bring him home and they failed. He blamed himself for letting that failure become such a troublesome matter now.

"Who's the new Hokage?" Shikamaru then asked.

"Danzo-sama."

"That old man? Where was he when Konoha was under attack?! Both times!" Yuki yelled out of anger.

"It would be nice for you to be more respectful of your new Hokage, Yuki." A voice said, coming from the shadows.

"Respect?" Yuki said as she chuckled half-heartedly. "Tsunade-sama is still alive, why would we need a new Hokage? Your hunger for power will be your downfall, old man."

She gave sign for Shikamaru to leave with her as they walked away, past Danzo. Before she could be too far away, Danzo told her:

"That folder you are holding, hand it over to Kumogakure. They've sent people for it."

"Don't order me around." She quickly replied as she disappeared with Shikamaru.

If she wasn't mistaken, Sasuke attacked Bee for his tailed-beast. Knowing how strong Bee was, she believed he was fine. Sasuke, as powerful as he had gotten, was still no match for Bee's experience and stamina. She could rest assured that he was fine. However, this placed a target on Sasuke's back. Not that it really mattered to her now, but she still wished that, after gaining Itachi's eyes, he would understand his brother better and return to the village as his brother had wished. Instead, he took the opposite path. She couldn't help but feel angry about it.

As she and Shikamaru went separate ways, she walked around the village to look at the progress of the reparation while being deep in her thoughts. She then heard sounds of someone being punched nearby. She closed her eyes for a second and recognized the chakra of all the people that were present on the scene.

She flashed herself to the place and stopped another punch from landing. She looked behind her and Naruto was standing there with a bloody nose. She sighed and looked at the person who was beating him up.

"It's been a while, Karui." She said as she pushed the one named Karui back a little. "I believe you are here for this folder."

She handed Karui the folder that contained all the information about Sasuke and the Akatsukis. Karui didn't grab it right away as she was shocked to see her old friend there. Even more surprised was Omoi who had accompanied Karui to the village. His lollipop even dropped to the ground as he was unable to close his mouth. He quickly snapped out of it and walked over to Yuki as he embraced her in his arms.

"I was so worried." He said.

Yuki pushed him away and smiled:

"It's nice seeing you again."

He looked away as he wasn't used to seeing her smile in such a genuine way. During her stay at Kumogakure, she barely ever smiled. Every time she did, he felt like his heart was going to burst right out of his chest. He wondered if she remembered what he had told her and his feelings for her.

"When I saw him," he said pointing at Sai. "I wanted to ask him what had happened with you, but I was too afraid of the answer. I didn't want to hear that you were…"

"Dead? I actually was a few days ago." Yuki said. "I've been doing well. He's a friend now."

"What do you mean a few days ago? How…" Omoi started as he grabbed her hand.

Sai glared at him. Although he was aware of Yuki's feelings towards him now as they were quite obvious, he still disliked the sight of her being friendly with other guys. He only learned recently that it was something called jealousy. Naruto explained it to him, so did Sakura. Because they knew, they both quickly exchanged looks after glancing at Sai. Yuki, however, quickly pulled her hand away and shoved the folder into his hands.

"It's a long story. You've got what you wanted. You should leave now."

"You can't just suddenly disappear then reappear without explaining yourself! Furthermore, we still need to question them about Sasuke!" Karui then said angrily as she walked towards Naruto again, ready to grab him by the collar.

"Karui, do you really want to cause more tension between the two villages by hurting someone who saved Konohagakure? People won't let it go so easily if Naruto is harmed. I'm one of those people."

"I'll fight you if I need to." Karui said. "Why are you protecting him?"

"Probably for the same reason that he's unwilling to tell you about Sasuke." Yuki replied.

"Friends? What are we to you then?" Karui asked still frustrated.

"Forget it, Karui." Omoi then intervened as he was now looking at the ground, understanding who Yuki truly was. "She has forgotten all about us. Actually, no. She was never herself with us."

"What do you mean?" Karui asked him.

"Are you dumb? She's obviously from Konohagakure. She lied about not having a home! She was only in Kumogakure as a spy. She was never our friend. That's why she would fight us and protect him. Let's just go."

"With a brain that keeps on thinking all the time, that's what you finally came up with?" Yuki asked Omoi. "I've never forgotten you guys. I'm still very grateful for all the times that we had together. We'll always be…"

"Don't say friends." Omoi interrupted her. "The Yuki I knew was always honest. She didn't lie. If she had to lie, she would just not say anything. But now, I realized that she didn't talk a lot because everything was a lie. She was never honest. Friends don't treat each other like that. Friends trust each other! To think that I used to…"

He stopped himself and bit his lip. He looked away. He felt betrayed. He knew it wasn't her fault, but he had to put the blame on someone. He knew she was from Konohagakure originally, but he truly believed she had left because of her grandfather's death.

"Sorry, Omoi…" Yuki began.

"Do you know that I kept hearing the way you called my name over and over again?" He asked angrily.

"You are not usually this short-tempered." Yuki then said. "You said that I don't resembled the person you once knew, but, right now, this also isn't the Omoi I once knew. He would've understood. He wouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"You are awfully talkative." He said as he turned his back to her. "Karui, let's go. We got what we came for."

"Omoi! We…"

"Let's go. I can't be here any longer."

The two of them disappeared, leaving a bitter taste in Yuki's mouth. She felt like she should go after them, but, at the same time, she didn't want to. She didn't want to have to explain herself. It was like what she had told him. He should've understood her. He was the one who knew her the best in Kumogakure, yet he could only see her as a traitor at that moment. She didn't want to have to explain herself to someone like that. She knew that she didn't change like he said. She had always been herself. Then again, time changed things without people consciously knowing about it.

End of Chapter 56

Thank you for reading another chapter!

Hope you are enjoying it.

xox

Krystal