Amnesia
Chapter 15: Reverse Learning
Sakura studied her friend in interest as he began murmuring in his sleep, momentarily forgetting her green, glowing hands, as she was preoccupied by the massive smile on his face.
"Sakura-chaaan," he mumbled, wiggling a little further down in the bed, seemingly pleased.
Her eyes widened. He was dreaming about her. Whatever could it be about?
All of a sudden, his smile fell. "Please don't!" he called out. "Nooo, Sakura-chan!"
Thinking it was a nightmare and that he was in pain, she went to wake him, but then he rolled over and added, "Not the ramen!"
Her worry dissipated in an instant and turned into exasperation. He was dreaming about her...threatening his ramen? For some reason, she wasn't surprised. Annoyed that he made her worry, she decided to let him continue that oh so scary nightmare for a little longer, while she looked back at her glowing hands.
Medical chakra! She was using it! She didn't remember what her dream was about, but maybe Naruto really did unconsciously help her remember things – she wasn't sure, this hadn't happened before. She'd have to try it again, have him stay the night and see if she got the same result. But for now, what did she do? She stared at her hands intently, she wasn't sure if she felt any different; she couldn't stop the flow of chakra and didn't seem to have any control over it at all.
Hopefully Naruto would know what to do, if not, Tsunade surely would – perhaps she could pass this off as her remembering how to control chakra and then the Hokage would offer to teach her. If anything, this must mean that it was possible for her to get back her abilities. A feeling of hope and relief washed over her – she was more determined now than ever. She had the urge to get up and try and heal something.
"Sakura-chan," Naruto said again, although he no longer sounded afraid.
She glanced at him, he had rolled back over and she smiled once more. He was smiling to himself. When he wasn't crying out or thrashing about, she'd stick by her view that he was a cute sleeper.
"You're the best girlfriend ever," Naruto whispered before sighing contently.
She blushed. She had told Ino that if she ever got her memories or abilities back that she would try and confess her feelings for Naruto – though she technically hadn't got her abilities back yet. It seemed that in the dream world, she was already dating the boy anyway. At least things didn't seem too messed up between them; it looked like whatever she did to him, he would always forgive her.
She shook her head, she was very lucky to have him, she still didn't know why he was so loyal to her – despite him saying he loved her (when she had first woken up), any confessions of a similar thought had gotten much more infrequent. It was possible that his feelings for her were not so strong anymore and that he was just too nice to tell her.
Then again, she did ask if they were still 'friends'. Their relationship was very awkward and confusing at the moment and she wasn't helping with that. She really needed to get her priorities straight.
Looking at her hands once more, she smiled and shook her head before nudging her sleeping friend. "Hey Naruto," she spoke softly. "Take a look at this."
Naruto giggled but didn't open his eyes.
"Naruto," she repeated, a little louder.
Naruto opened his eyes slowly. He blinked a few times before staring at her sleepily. "Morning, Sakura-chan."
"Look!" She held up her hands. "Medical chakra!"
Naruto smiled dreamily at her. "OK."
When he didn't make the mental connection, she got out the bed and stood up. "I woke up this morning and my hands were glowing. I'm using medical chakra, but I don't quite know how."
His eyes widened as the realisation hit him. He shot up in the bed and grinned. "You're using medical chakra! Way to go, Sakura-chan!"
"Now what?" she asked expectantly.
He rubbed the back of his head, suddenly completely awake, his smile not so prominent. "Can you stop the flow of chakra and stop using it?"
She shook her head.
"So you couldn't start using it if you tried?"
She shook her head again. "I woke up and it was like this, I've not done anything."
"You've not been using it for too long right?" he asked, concern starting to form on his face.
"Only a few minutes," she said casually. "I don't know how long it's been like this though, while I was asleep."
Naruto nodded. "We'd better go and ask Granny then. You don't want to be chakra exhausted."
"OK then, let's go." She smiled before looking down at her hands and adding, "Whatever you said last night must have worked, you certainly did something."
He grinned. "I'm magical, Sakura-chan!"
She watched him grab his clothes and jump out of the bed, rushing for the bathroom to get ready. When he was out the door, she smiled to herself and shook her head.
"Yes you are."
The journey to the Hokage's Office was certainly interesting. She walked side by side with Naruto. While there were only a few people out and about in the early hours of the morning, it was probably a rare sight to see someone walking around with glowing hands – so she ended up putting on her gloves, just to avoid the strange looks sent her way, despite Naruto giving them equally as strange looks until they averted their gaze.
When the office was insight, she was itching to run, hoping that the Hokage would have some answers for her.
Naruto must have felt the same way, because he ran down the corridor and burst through the Hokage's door, not bothering to knock. "Granny!" he announced himself loudly.
She ran to catch up to him and followed him into the room, relieved when there was nobody else in the office and that they hadn't just interrupted something.
"How'd last night go?" Tsunade asked, with interest, watching her as she entered.
Taking off her gloves, she showed the medic her hands.
The sannin's eyes widened. "You remember?"
Sakura winced slightly. "Not exactly. I woke up and I was just like this. I can't actually stop it... But I'm doing it while conscious. That's a good thing, right?"
Tsunade frowned. "You can't stop the flow of chakra? So you can't control it or use it again if you did stop it?"
"No."
There was a small silence. Sakura could almost feel her mentor's disappointment and her shoulders slumped automatically in reaction. "So...?"
"How long have you been using your chakra for?" Tsunade questioned.
"Twenty minutes maybe?" She shrugged. "I don't know how long I was using it for before I woke up."
"Using chakra for an extended period of time isn't good for your health, Sakura," Tsunade informed her. "I would hope that it's not been too long."
"So this isn't a good thing?" she asked, hearing the disappointment in her own tone.
Naruto frowned at the Hokage and the blonde shook her head. "It could be a good thing, possibly."
Sakura's eyes widened. "How?"
"Perhaps if you can recreate this, you can learn to use chakra again in a different way." Tsunade placed both her elbows on the desk and leant her chin on her hands."Perhaps."
"How?" she repeated, feeling hopeful again.
"Can you feel the chakra? Feel the energy flow?" Tsunade questioned.
"I don't know..." Sakura looked down at her hands. "When I woke up, I didn't even notice. It just felt normal, no different."
"If the flow were to stop, it would be likely you could tell the difference," Tsunade hummed.
"Only I can't stop it," Sakura mumbled.
"I can," the Hokage replied. "I can stop your flow of chakra with my own, hopefully, because if it can't be stopped, this could be a serious problem."
"Great." She laughed sheepishly. "Just tell me what I have to do."
"You don't have to do anything." Tsunade shrugged. "Just concentrate on how you feel and then afterwards see if you can recreate that feeling. It will be like learning backwards."
She nodded, willing to try anything. "Do you really think it would work?"
"I'm not guaranteeing anything," Tsunade said, looking at her seriously. "But with past cases of amnesia and brain disorders, there have been ways of getting around losing parts of the patient's senses or abilities."
"Really?" She urged the older medic to continue, extremely interested in how others had re-learnt things they had lost due to brain damage. If it applied to her, she wanted to know everything.
"For example, a man woke up one day and could no longer read," the sannin began.
Sakura felt sorry for that man – she'd hate not being able to read, books had kept her sane over the period of her memory loss.
"He couldn't read because his brain could no longer interpret the words on the page, through his eyes, the letters just looked like strange symbols," Tsunade explained. "So he re-learnt how to read."
"How?" Naruto questioned.
"He came to learn which letter was which symbol and taught himself from scratch, like learning a new language. Then to him, these new symbols were as normal as the alphabet."
"That must have taken some dedication," she added, impressed.
"Yes." Tsunade nodded and got up from her desk, walking towards her apprentice. "But you don't have to worry about a lack of dedication. I'm going to stop the flow of your chakra now."
Sakura nodded back, swallowing her slight nervousness. "So I just need to concentrate on the change in how it feels?"
Her mentor stood in front of her and placed a hand on each of her arms. "Yes, concentrate on the change in energy. Medical chakra control is so precise, you must feel some difference."
"Right," Sakura replied and closed her eyes, concentrating.
She felt a foreign feeling wash through her, it was strange, but she tried to note the changes in her own energy as it seemed to slowly drain away.
Tsunade removed her hands and took a step backwards.
Sakura stayed with her eyes closed for a moment more before opening them and looking at her hands again – they were no longer glowing. Taking a deep breath, she tried to re-create the feeling of the flow of her chakra again. Nothing happened. She sighed.
"Never mind, Sakura-chan," Naruto said softly. "You'll get it next time."
"I didn't expect you to be able to just do it like that," Tsunade added and returned to her desk. "I would have been highly surprised."
"You think I can though? Honestly?" Sakura asked.
"Sakura," Tsunade smiled and shook her head. "How many times do I have to tell you that brain damage affects people in different ways? This is as new to you as it is to me. We're learning together here."
"Technically I just formed chakra, will you teach me now?" she asked politely, hopeful.
The Hokage smirked. "You really don't give up, girl... What happened to doing my paperwork for me?"
"Shizune-san is going to go through it with me." She shrugged. "As well as poisons and a whole range of other non-chakra medical techniques."
"It sounds like you don't need me," Tsunade said blankly.
"Of course I do, you're my mentor," she replied, looking the older medic in the eyes.
After a moment of silence, Tsunade shook her head. "Honestly, I spend hours on end trawling through medical textbooks and old scrolls and you get further in one night by having Naruto sleep in your bed."
"Because I'm magic!" Naruto grinned.
Sakura nudged the boy, before looking back at her mentor. "You've spent hours researching amnesia?"
"...Maybe."
Sakura smiled warmly at the woman. "I really appreciate that, shishou."
The Hokage shrugged. "If only it got us somewhere."
"Maybe we could discuss some of the things you've found together," she suggested. "That way, I could get to know you again."
"Why would you want that?" Naruto mumbled to her.
She nudged the boy again and shot him a look. He grinned cheekily back at her.
"We still have tests I want to perform anyway," Tsunade said pointedly. "So we'll see if there is anything to discuss. Until then, I'm happy for you to re-learn other things with Shizune, that can't do you any harm."
"And I'll continue teaching her Granny, don't worry!" Naruto added enthusiastically.
"I don't know about the teaching." Tsunade smiled and shook her head. "But you spending time with her certainly helps. She makes far more progress when you're here than when you're not. So whatever you're doing, keep doing it."
Sakura and Naruto looked at each other.
"I don't quite know what I've been doing that's been helpful," Naruto mumbled.
Sakura laughed and he grinned at her.
"And, Sakura... If your chakra is activated again and you're not in control, don't let it drag on too long, that could be dangerous for your health," the Hokage added seriously. "You come to me, or anyone of your friends and get them to break your chakra connection."
"Will do." Sakura nodded.
"Even if you can activate and control chakra within your own body, with medical chakra you also have to send it to the appropriate part of your patient, it's not something to be experimented with."
She pouted – that was true. She didn't think she was prepared to try and heal her friends like that; she didn't want to accidently hurt them.
"No progress with normal chakra?" Tsunade asked.
"No." Sakura shook her head. "All these cases have been me using medical chakra, even if I couldn't fully control it or was aware."
"Apart from one," Tsunade pointed out.
There was a small silence.
"Apart from when I hit Sasuke," she thought aloud, a little surprised at the realisation.
Her mentor gave her a small smile. "Maybe Sasuke brings out a deep, unconscious anger out of you."
Sakura laughed. "And Naruto brings out my medic mode?"
"You'd think it would be the other way around." Naruto shrugged. "You're always hitting me, Sakura-chan."
"Perhaps if you tell me some stories about that, I'll wake up controlling normal chakra." She grinned.
Naruto winced. "Can I tell you stories about you beating up Sai instead?"
"Sure."
He thought about it. "I don't know if I'd want to wake up to you when you were controlling normal chakra, Sakura-chan... What if you break something, or me?"
"You could sleep on the floor then," she suggested with a smile.
"The floor won't save me from your punch," Naruto pointed out plainly. "Nothing saves me from that."
"Just be careful, Sakura," Tsunade warned. "Chakra is nothing without control."
"I'm always careful, shishou." Sakura smiled reassuringly. "Let's go, Naruto."
She turned around to leave and reached for the door handle, just as the door opened with quite a lot of force. Sakura stepped backwards but still got knocked in the face. Naruto rushed forward and caught her, preventing her from falling to the floor in front of her mentor (again).
Ino popped her head around the door when she realised she'd hit something and raised an eyebrow at the two of them before entering the room anyway. "Sorry, Forehead."
Sakura gave Naruto a small smile as he helped her stand up right again. She then looked a little embarrassingly at her mentor, who had covered her eyes with her one hand and was shaking her head. Letting out a small laugh and brushing herself off casually, she said, "It's Ino, I try, but I just can't be careful when it comes to her."
"Sakura, you're a klutz, don't blame me for your coordination issues." Ino frowned.
Frowning back at the blonde, she grumbled, "What do you want, Ino? Apart from to hit me doors?"
"You said you'd hang out with me, so I was here to collect you." Ino grinned.
"Collect me? I can get to places myself." She rolled her eyes.
"Like when you said you'd meet Naruto yesterday and forgot? And then when you said you'd meet me before that and forgot also?" Ino raised an eyebrow.
She opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again, Ino gave her a smug smile and Sakura protested, "I was doing important jobs."
"Kissing in trees and turning little girls into mummies is not more important than me," Ino added with a grin. "Besides, I plan to help you out."
Oh dear. Ino had a strange way of helping her out with things. "How?" she asked unenthusiastically, her tone completely flat.
"Let's just say it involves a lot of alcohol," Ino said seriously.
"Speaking of alcohol, can I have my bottle of sake back, Sakura?" Tsunade cut in.
She frowned. "The sake you gave me as an apology?"
"Yes."
"Why do you want it back?" Sakura questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I've run out." The Hokage shrugged. "...Have you drunk it?"
"No, it's in my cupboard. You can come round to my apartment and get it if you want." Sakura grinned. "Then we can have a discussion about chakra control!"
Tsunade pouted slightly before looking and Ino and asking, "Can I be involved with this alcohol plan?"
Ino laughed. "Nice try, Lady Tsunade, but this is purely to benefit Sakura, nobody else needs to drink anything."
The Hokage's pout increased.
Sakura looked at Naruto and tilted her head towards the door – she didn't like the sound of this plan of Ino's. While the two medics were talking, perhaps they could sneak out the room. Naruto nodded slowly and snuck towards the door, opening it without a sound.
In silent agreement, they both rushed for the door and ran out of the room. Naruto closed it behind him and they sped down the corridor. A second later, the door opened again.
"Forehead! Come back!" Ino called after her.
When she glanced over her shoulder, she found that her friend was chasing after her, but she didn't stop running.
"It's not as bad as it sounds!" the blonde added encouragingly.
Naruto stopped running and turned to face Ino, holding his ground, he shouted, "Go on without me, Sakura-chan!"
She laughed at his over-dramatic words, but decided that if he wanted to deal with Ino, he could deal with Ino. All she wanted to do was go home and read a quiet book, think all this chakra control and dream stuff through. Possibly come up with a new plan. So she didn't stop running until she was out of the Hokage Tower.
When she looked over her should again, she'd lost Ino...and Naruto. He'd be fine though, she doubted Ino could do that much damage to him. Smiling to herself, she planned to have a relaxing walk through Konoha, without trying to hide her hands from strangers or any funny business.
Halfway home, she spotted Kakashi Hatake walking towards her, strolling along the path with a book in his hand.
"Hey, Kakashi!" She greeted him with a big smile.
The masked man glanced over his book before shutting it and putting it in a pouch around his back. He then stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets. "Yo, Sakura."
"What are doing?" she asked.
"Not much." He shrugged nonchalantly. "You?"
"I'm going home." She shrugged back. "To think a little bit more about controlling chakra."
He gave her a friendly eye-crease. "How's that going for you?"
"It's been quite...eventful," she answered after some thought.
Kakashi nodded politely but didn't push for anymore.
"I really don't see you around much," Sakura stated, eyeing the man speculatively. "I thought you were my teammate."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you see, there's this little old lady who's just moved in next door to me and I've been helping her with all sorts of tasks."
Sakura was silent for a moment, but then she smiled. "How kind of you."
Kakashi chuckled.
"What's so funny?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, Sakura," he replied, but he still sounded amused.
"Just what kind of tasks are you helping her with?" she asked, not getting the joke.
"Oh you know..." He trailed off. "Watering the plants, feeding the cat..."
"What's funny about that?" Sakura frowned.
"Nothing," he repeated with a smile.
She pouted, still confused, and he continued to smile. He was laughing at her! "I don't get the joke." She huffed.
"You don't usually believe me," he informed her casually.
"Why? Was it a lie?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course not, Sakura." He gasped in a way that made him sound offended that she'd ever questioned that.
"Okay..."
They stood there in silence for a few moments.
"Well, I'm off to feed the dog," Kakashi announced, pointing behind him before turning and walking away, despite the fact that he was now going the opposite way to which he was before.
"Cat," she called after him.
He chuckled again and waved over his shoulder. "See you around, Sakura."
Sakura watched him go, frowning. Her teammates were weird. Her friends were weird in general.
"Sakura!"
And now Ino had caught up with her. She silently cursed the masked man, but turned around to acknowledge her friend, hoping she wasn't too annoyed that she'd tried to run away from her.
"Hey, Ino," she said casually.
"Honestly, you run away from me when I'm trying to help you, now I'm not going to tell you my plan," Ino told her as reached her side.
"Good."
"OK, I'll tell you," Ino added.
She shook her head but didn't bother arguing. They began to walk down the path together. She looked to see if she could still see Kakashi, but he'd vanished – which wasn't really a surprise.
"You get drunk."
"...How will that help?" Sakura mumbled, looking at her friend oddly.
"Trust me, it's completely scientific," Ino reassured her. "It's all to do with emotion and memory - you remember certain things when you're drunk right?"
Sakura laughed, amused. "Like how much you loved your ex-boyfriend?"
Ino smiled slyly at her. "Well...that's how you first admitted your feelings for Naruto."
"Really?" Her eyes widened.
"No."
Sakura couldn't stop the feeling of disappointment. Something that was bugging her was the fact that she had known Naruto all these years and they had never dated, or just tried something... He admitted he liked her - she would have not noticed that, right? If she was feeling things for him now, after only knowing him for a few short months, just how did she feel towards him after years of knowing him? She really wanted to know; she didn't understand her past self at all. Naruto was right there, always. Then she was back to her saying she wanted to be friends and him not being as forward with his feelings now as he was when she first woke up.
She sighed. Her thoughts were a vicious circle.
"You may as well have done though," Ino added, noticing her shift in mood.
"You keep saying things like that, Ino, but if they were true and I did like him before I hit my head, why weren't we dating?" Sakura grumbled.
"Who knows." Ino shrugged. "He's completely awkward about it, and you're stubborn."
"He wasn't awkward about telling me how he felt when I woke up in hospital," she pointed out. "He was very forward with me, but now he's not, why?"
"Why don't you ask him that?" Ino suggested.
"I thought you liked me discussing these things with you." She frowned. She just wanted someone to tell her what to do.
"I do, but I get tired of telling you the same thing, you don't follow my advice." Ino frowned back.
"I don't trust your advice, Ino."
"Then trust yourself," Ino replied seriously. "Just tell him how you feel and what's bothering you, no matter how awkward you make it, he'll forgive you, he's Naruto."
She smiled to herself. That was true.
"Now back to my plan," Ino continued. "State-dependent memory! Perhaps you'll remember things that you thought about in the past when you were drunk."
"Do I really get drunk that often?" Sakura questioned, not believing it.
"No, you're pretty sensible, but when you do, you're fun." Ino grinned. "You tell me all sorts of secrets and beat people up with a single finger, it's quite entertaining."
Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Are you sure this plan isn't for your benefit instead of my own?"
"I'm offended you think that." Ino grinned. "I am completely unselfish. I've spent weeks thinking of ways to get back your memories."
"So far, all you've seemed to do is exploit my feelings for Naruto, trick me into doing things and try and get me drunk... Did you used to spend so much time with me, before my amnesia?"
"Not so much, but you were always so busy." Ino shrugged. "As your best friend, it's my job to solve your amnesia. I've decided that I will fix it."
"That's kind of you, even if your methods are a little obscure." She smiled and shook her head. "Did Naruto tell you about this morning though? I woke up glowing hands!"
"No, he didn't." Ino raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"Tsunade had to stop it." She frowned. "I couldn't actually control the medical chakra. Speaking of Naruto, what did you do to him?"
"Nothing," Ino shrugged. "I can usually scare him off, but I told him I was genuinely trying to help you out so he let me come and find you. For some reason, he seems to trust me as your friend a lot more than he used to."
"That's strange, because I trust you a lot less than when I first woke up in the hospital," she said teasingly.
"Ha ha." Ino frowned, not amused. "I really will stop trying to help you."
"I'm kidding," she added. "If you think of anything good, feel free to tell me, you don't usually discuss my plans with me."
"Because your plans are so technical and boring, I'm all up for going with the spur of the moment." Ino grinned.
Sakura shook her head, they reached her apartment building and Ino followed her inside, up the stairs and along the corridor to her place.
"I wanted to take you to my house," Ino grumbled. "You could come over for dinner..."
"You can stay here for dinner if you want." Sakura shrugged back, putting her house key into the lock and opening the door to let them both inside.
"Perhaps if you get a takeaway and don't cook it yourself."
"Oh I'm not that bad," she shot back, although didn't sound convincing even to her own ears. "I found this cookbook and I've been learning."
Ino laughed.
"I'm trying to re-learn the rest of my life, I may as well learn some things that I could never do before," she added.
"Right." Ino grinned and headed straight for the sofa, she sat down on it and draped her legs across the rest of the seat. "How's that going for you?"
"Well..." Sakura trailed off. She entered her kitchen area and opened her bin, looking at the burnt remains of dinner from a couple of nights ago. "I'm getting there. Drink?"
"Sake?" Ino enquired from her lazy position, not bothering to look back.
"I'm not going through with this alcohol plan, Ino," she said wearily, rolling her eyes and opening her cupboards to see what else she had to offer.
"If you're cooking, I'll need alcohol."
Sighing, she reached for the sake that Tsunade had given her before getting a glass and pouring some water for herself. She grabbed a rather large cookbook and tucked it under her arm before carrying the drinks back to the sofa, nudging Ino's legs out the way so she could sit down.
Ino happily received her own drink before grinning as Sakura put the cookbook down on the coffee table in front of them. "You really are serious with the cooking, I'm surprised. Unless you're trying to come up with some magical, healthy meal, you usually hate making food."
Sakura thought back to her early food-making attempts, remembering the smoke and the fire alarm activating before she waved it off with a tea towel. Cooking was frustrating. Yet she wasn't ready to admit that, especially to Ino, who seemed to know a lot more about her culinary skills than she did herself.
No longer in the mood to look at pictures of good food, she pulled out another book that she was halfway through, about the processes of memories.
Ino sighed. "I don't think reading is going to suddenly make you remember things, Sakura, or learn things, has the cooking not proved that yet?"
"It's just interesting," she replied dully.
"And surely completely frustrating, all you've done is research and plan to try and get your memories back, you need to loosen up a little," her friend told her seriously.
"Is that why you wanted me drunk?" She smiled and put down her book, studying her friend with wry amusement.
"Partially, you need some fun, Sakura, or you're going to go insane." The blonde shook her head. "After you hang out with me, my dad will look at your brain. Balance it out a little bit, you're going to stress yourself out."
"Inoichi wants to look at my brain?" She raised an eyebrow. "He already tried the magic hands thing, it didn't work."
"Magic hands?" Ino repeated. "Your hands were glowing this morning, you've been here long enough to know that these things aren't magic. You've read enough daft books to know what is possible."
Sakura frowned. "I've also read a lot of theories, things that aren't possible. Some of it I just don't believe. I don't know what to believe, what's real, what isn't."
"Believe what we tell you," Ino mumbled.
"You tell me lies." She laughed.
"When I'm serious." Ino frowned. "Look up my clan, we can do a lot. Think of what Kakashi can do, all those memories that he showed you with his sharingan."
"Sasuke showed me fake memories," she pointed out.
"He created fake visions, he can do that, a lot is possible."
"So, I should believe everything?" Sakura questioned.
"No, when Kakashi tells you he got lost on the road of life, it's an excuse." Ino shook her head.
Sakura thought about it. "That's deep."
"No, that's Kakashi." Ino laughed. "He's just late all the time. Everyone can tell when he's lying."
Sakura smiled awkwardly.
"You can tell when I'm lying too," Ino added. "Although I prefer the term 'bending the truth to provoke an amusing response or to make a point'."
"Right." She rolled her eyes. "Maybe I'll read a book on spotting liars."
"Or you could have a little bit more of a social life and figure it out for yourself, instead of cooping yourself up in your house and reading all day, continuously stressing about your currently misplaced memories."
She had been a bit stressed lately. In fact, she had been stressed all the time. Even with Naruto, the moment she began to think, the fun drained away and was replaced by disappointment and a need to improve. She sighed again.
Ino stood up and headed to the door. "There's no point living life chasing the past, Sakura, especially since you may never get it back."
She swallowed. That was serious coming from Ino.
Ino opened the door and said, "A drunk Naruto is fun. Here take this, go cheer up your girlfriend. Good luck though, she's cooking."
Sakura glanced up at Naruto's name. She wondered how long he'd been stood at the door.
He nodded awkwardly at Ino and accepted an unopened bottle of sake before watching the girl exit the apartment.
"Hey, Naruto." Sakura smiled up at him, gesturing for him to join her on the sofa.
Naruto shut the door and walked over to her slowly, he placed the sake bottle on the coffee table and look at her seriously. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"
"Nothing's wrong." She shook her head. "Ino suddenly got serious on me. I'm a little shocked really."
He smiled. "If Ino's serious with you, Sakura, I'm sure she has a point. What was it?"
"That I need to loosen up a little and have some fun," she replied, shrugging. "And stop trying so much with my amnesia..."
Naruto was silent for a moment. "I agree. We don't want you to stress over it."
"Everyone else seems to be doing just that," she pointed out. "I feel everyone's disappointment."
"They're only disappointed that you're unhappy, we want to help you because you want it so much. I'd rather you happy though, Sakura-chan, any day, I'd take that over any other option."
She looked him in the eyes and he looked back. He was being completely honest with her, she could tell he really meant that. She didn't quite know what to say back, so she smiled and put away her medical book before pointing at the large cookbook on the table. "How about we have a little fun?"
"What was this again?" Naruto asked, peering down at his...dinner.
"Chicken something." She grimaced, poking her own slightly squishy meal. "I don't think I cooked it right, I wouldn't eat-Naruto!"
Naruto had already stuffed his mouth full. She watched his face as he chewed slowly before swallowing and looking back at his plate. "It's not half bad."
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. She tentatively took a bite of her own food before instantly choking at the taste, smell and texture of her meal. Naruto patted her on the back until her coughing subsided, she looked back up at him. "That's absolutely awful."
Naruto grinned. "But it was made by you, so I like it!"
"You're kidding," she said in disbelief. "You can't like me that much."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave her a shy smile.
She studied him seriously. He was awkward, he was just as she'd come to know him – a sweet, awkward, slightly idiotic, yet very kind friend.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?" he mumbled, rubbing around his mouth with his sleeve.
"When I first woke up in hospital..." She trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. "You were so...sure of yourself - and of me."
Naruto didn't say anything. He looked as if he was trying to follow where she was going with this.
"You told me you loved me," she added quietly. "Yet since then... I just wondered if your feelings had changed, it's as if I'm no longer as meaningful to you, I don't know."
"You, not meaningful to me?" Naruto muttered before looking at her, his gaze full of affection. "You mean everything to me," he added quietly, seriously.
She swallowed, her mouth a little dry. "I see..."
"You were so unsure of yourself, so confused," he continued. "And it will always be my job to make you see just how special you are. You should know how amazing you are and all I wanted was for you to believe that. You're a popular medic ninja with extreme strength, everyone loves and respects you, you have tons of friends and you're the prettiest girl in the world."
She smiled up at him, unbelievably happy. He really did make her want to believe what he said.
"I mean every positive word I say about you, despite the fact I seem to offend you all the time, I don't mean anything negatively," he added sheepishly.
"So when you tell me I can't climb trees..." She trailed off, grinning childishly at him.
Naruto pouted at her with big round eyes. She immediately felt guilty, but she couldn't stop smiling, his sad expression cracked almost instantly and he beamed back at her.
Scooting closer to him on the sofa, she pulled him into and hug. "Thank you, Naruto, for everything."
Naruto hugged her back tightly. "I guess I was also less hesitant about telling you how I felt, since I thought there may have been less of a chance of you hitting me, you not having your memories and everything."
She pulled back and laughed at him. "You think if you said you love me, I'd hit you?"
He shrugged cutely.
Punching him playfully on the arm, she added, "You're an idiot."
He grinned.
She hoped that wasn't the real case, she didn't want him to be afraid of telling her how he felt. She'd become reliant on his feelings for her, he was there to constantly support her, she wasn't just going to turn him down or blow him off after everything he was doing for her. She thought he was funny when he spluttered over his words, but this time, he'd got it all right. She felt better, a lot better, the best she'd felt ever since she could remember things. He had an effect on her that she could no longer ignore, no matter whatever else she was going through at the same time.
"You mean everything to me too," she whispered sincerely.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise.
Sitting up, she smiled at him. "And you'd better believe that...believe it."
Believe it.
That phrase seemed to really fit Naruto, she looked at him closely, suddenly feeling a little odd, not understanding the emotion that washed over her – almost like all of this had all happened before.
There was a long silence, they stared at each other.
"I think the chicken's gone cold," she said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
"I'll still eat it." Naruto grinned.
"No you won't, I don't want to poison you," she replied seriously, really not wanting to take the risk by eating anymore of her cooked meal.
"Want to go out for ramen, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Yes." She grinned happily at him. "Yes I do."
Naruto cheered and jumped up.
She laughed and stood up also. Taking him by the arm, they headed to the door together. Their plates were left untouched, as well as the cookbook and one of the many medical books that she had been religiously clinging to over the past couple of weeks.
Not once that night did she worry about memory loss, or controlling chakra.
Sakura went to bed, for the first time, hoping to wake up the same as when she went to sleep.
Author Notes:
Thank you for all your get well soon messages, they were much appreciated! A month or so ago, I did send a message out to everyone following this story, or if you'd favourited it or reviewed it a few times (I don't know how to find out those who just follow me, I'm fairly new to this website, so sorry if you didn't know) meaning I sent out over 100 messages XD and spoke to quite a lot of you, which was cool. I've come to the conclusion that you are all incredibly nice people. Thanks to all of you who told me to update, sometimes I just need that bit of a push. I hope this wasn't too much of a disappointment after the long, long wait.
Thanks so much for 100 reviews! It made me happy and guilty at the same time. This has been my first uploaded multi-chapter story – it's ten times the amount of reviews I've gotten at least compared to my other stories.
I did struggle a little bit with this chapter, sometimes you just have to stop writing and go back to it the next day. You could say I still have a bit of writer's block concerning this, I don't quite know where to take it, it could go in many directions. Hearing your thoughts, as always, is very interesting – it either makes me feel predictable, or misleading XD. In other story news, for those who requested it, Awkward Friendship will be turned into a NaruSaku one-shot collection, the next story will be up soon, that was received extremely well. For those who follow my Sakura/Tsunade banter type short stories, there's one of them coming too. There is a lot to come of all sorts, but I'll still try and motivate myself with this story, of course.
I went back and read and re-edit this story before I uploaded this chapter – it was interesting reading the journey I've been on since the start, when I was back at college before my exams and then working towards this apprenticeship and waiting on my results. The 31st of March I posted this, nearly eight months. 2 chapters a month, I still want to improve that ratio!
Thank you for your patience, I apologise for the delay, you can tell me off if it gets too long you know, though I tend to put myself through a lot of guilt anyway XD.
If you're still with me... Thanks ever so much for reading! :).