A/N: Thank you sooo much for subscribing and reviewing. I'm deeply touched that you guys find time to read my fic in your busy or not so busy lives. LOL X3
Disclaimer: I am Canadian and I'm pretty sure Naruto's owner lives in Nihon (Japan) and definitely speaks Nihongo (Japanese). Thus, I conclude, Naruto or any of its characters do not belong to me. I repeat, DO NOT belong to me.
EDITED.
oOo
Pain, hurt, and suffering fills her empty soul as she sat down on a rusty bench under a diluted light post. Looking down at her feet, a lifeless shadow forms the ground as she waited for that special man to come and save her again. Dark clouds formed around the sky, as rain began to fall and mercilessly pounds Naruto's back. They are heavy; sharp drops of rain that felt like bullets when it touches ones skin. 'Bad omen. It never rains in the Sand.' Nevertheless, she was needless to care. 'I am the cause of everyone's agony…of everyone's misery. But why does it hurt when this emotion feels so natural? Why does it break me apart even if all of these seem so familiar?' She turned her head around to see if her knight in shining armour has come to save her. Unfortunately, all she saw were kids playing under the rain, knowing this weather seemed so unnatural to them. 'I wish I was a kid again… a broken bone was easier to heal than a broken heart.' She cried herself in anguish not knowing what to do. 'Why do I always have to be the one left alone?' All of a sudden, she heard someone call her name.
"N-naruto…"
She turned around to see if Gaara was there, but found herself looking at the same kids playing under the rain. The voice seemed so familiar that she could imagine it coming from her own mind. She shook her head not wanting to go nuts, but she heard the same familiar voice again.
"Naruto, p-please help me."
"Okay… I'm absolutely going to lose my mind." Naruto thought bleakly.
"N-no… l-listen to me… I-I d-don't have m-much power left."
"W-who…are….you?"
"It's K-kyuubi, the monster inside of you."
"Great. That's just what I need to know right now."
"Listen to me you idiot!"
"Whoah! I thought you didn't have any power left!"
"I-I don't, but I need you to s-shut up r-right now."
"Ok…"
"I will use my last energy before they make me sleep again—"
"They?!"
"Don't cut me off. I don't have much time. I am the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed inside you by the Fourth Hokage—stupid fellow locking me inside a woman's body---"
"Hey!"
"Silence! I want you to drink that medicine that Shukaku boy gave you. He seemed to have unlocked the chains in my body. Sadly, it's not enough; 2/4ths of my chains still has to be broken. So I want you drink that medicine as soon as possible."
"Shukaku boy… you mean Gaara? What kind of medicine, the blue one or the orange one?"
"The one you recently took, I don't give a damn about, which color it was. I just want you to take the right one."
"Why?"
"Well, doesn't it satisfy you that it will unlock the chains in my body?!"
"No. Why should I care, you're a monster."
"If I am just completely unchained I will absolutely decapitate you."
"I'm sorry… of course I care. It's just that how will that help me? Will I get my memory back?"
"Yes. Actually, I can even show you 2/4ths of it right now."
Naruto's eyes began to turn loon black as each bottle of memory came flooding in her mind like pages in a book. From her child birth to the villagers treatment; from her dreams of becoming the next Hokage to the death of Sarutobi, Team Seven with Kakashi-sensei, Sakura…and Sasuke, the Chuunin Exams and the attack of the Sand Village under Orochimaru's command and the best day of her life as she regained a best friend and a boyfriend at the same time. Gaara's battle with her turned out to be a noble one and the start of an everlasting friendship and they've been sending letters to each other ever since. Unluckily, Kyuubi's memory ended in her training with Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei…until Sasuke's last goodbye.
"Whoah, my head hurts."
"Whatever. Just drink that medicine."
"Wait, what's an Akatsuki and why do I work for them?"
"T-they…shit. I-I don't have enough s-strength. They're using it on m-me again."
"They? Who?!"
"N-naruto p-please, i-if you want to s-save y-your life a-and that G-Gaara, do as I-I told y-you. I-I have to s-sleep again…"
"No! No! Kyuubi wait!"
Naruto tried calling Kyuubi over and over again, but didn't get a reply. She cursed under her breath as she stood up and headed for Gaara's apartment.
oOo
Gaara buries his head in his pillow feeling the worse feeling man has every created in history… the feeling of emptiness. Not even a slightest idea hits him as he sulked and moaned at his absolute idiocy. Logic doesn't seem to work on him as well as he's confused to how his feelings should be put in place. 'I can sense it, but I avoid it.' Only an insensitive coward can manage to act like him. Should he feel remorse? Despair? Shame? Gaara punched his pillow as he tried to listen to his heart. 'The only thing this bloody organ tells me is that I'm a complete fool.' He changed his position and stared blankly at his ceiling. He thought about how beautiful Naruto looked when she smiled and how simple things could make her happy or sad. And deep inside, that's all he wanted right now. He then grabs another pillow and hugged it tightly to him. He could still smell her, every part of her. 'God, her presence still lingers here.' Gaara closed his eyes and pondered over his actions. 'What do I truly feel about you, Naruto?' Giving up, he stood and went down on his knees and grabbed the dusty old shoe box under his bed. He smiled at the content inside of it as memories of the good old days gradually came to him. He grinned and picked an ancient and rotten sliced stick of kamaboko from the box. It was wrapped in a tissue and sealed with a jutsu. This was Naruto's favourite topping in her ramen and she calls it The Naruto Special. Gaara tried his best to preserve this; however, nothing lasts forever on earth and not even a certain jutsu can stop food from perishing. A picture caught his eye as his heart ached looking at the goofy smile Naruto had on her face and him moping on the side. When he turned to read the caption at the back, the look on his face was unbearable to see. He tilt his head sideward not wanting to feel nor remember as unwanted tears slowly came falling from his eyes.
'Cherry Blossom Festival- Konoha Village'
Gaara and Naruto
We
Promise
To
Be
Best Friends
Forever
Gaara's Thumbprint-Naruto's Thumbprint
'Will you ever betray me one day, Gaara-kun?' Naruto asked holding on to Gaara's hand.
'Whichever side you belong to, I will always be a best friend to you.'
'Even if I become bad and lose my memory?'
'Even so.' Gaara assured, squeezing Naruto's hand.
'I love you best friend.'
'I love you too, best friend.'
…Fireworks came up in the sky as the two mates watched it with pure excitement and wonder.
oOo
On the east side of the Sand Village, came Sasuke, Neji and Lee with weariness written all over their face. They walked quietly in the rain, lowering their chakras, not wanting the enemies to spot them at this state. They were exhausted as not one, but five traps were carefully laid for them as they went to search for the Sand. They've been to different kinds of weather and it's not unlikely if they catch a fever anytime soon. They searched around the village as they were astonished to see most of the kids playing outside. It was time to look for their target as they have only little time left. However, it was as if God has heard their prayers as that special target escaped from a mob of kids and bumped onto them with an irritated look on her face.
"Watch where you're going."
"Well, couldn't you tell it's crowded around here?!" Naruto protested sardonically.
"How about we blame it on these kids then?"
"Look, please I don't need to be entertained right now, so can you please just move out of my way. Arrgh, you just sound like that person I know." Naruto said as she tried pushing the man away.
"And who might that be…hmm…Naruto?"
Naruto looked up and was shocked to see dark and familiar eyes that she longed and yearned to see all these years. She tried to hold herself together ignoring the throbbing excitement in her heart and mind, holding back to say that name that she's been craving for in those dreadfully dreadful years. She put a hand over her mouth as the tears slowly dropped one by one with the essence of the rain.
'S-Sasuke?'
oOo
A/N: Oh my goodness. They met? I'm sorry for updating now and for making this chapter short. I have a fever right now, and I just submitted that stupid application in Wendy's. XD The next chapter might take longer too and I hope that you guys won't get tired of waiting. Please understand. I don't want to do a haphazard work, because the next chapters require thinking. My story's almost ending and I'm scared. So all of this will require a lot of new ideas and a lot of emo-ness. So bear with me, and please review. I'm going to take a rest now. What a bummer to get sick on a summer. Please review and thanks. Ja!