A/N: Hey mina-san! Would never have imagined that I would update a story a third time in a month but I suppose the chapter size helps… Inspiration too- a lot of which I get from your wonderful words your encouraging reviews. Or simply seeing the traffic and knowing that you guys read the story. Thank you. ^.^

My anon. readers… uh… er. Kakashi's Dog - I was pretty nervous about writing a memory-loss fic. I'm pretty sure it's been done before- and maybe better- but this is my take and I thank you SO much for everything you said… "Genius shines through"? LOL I've been called a lot of things but only you and Sandra have called me a genius. ::waves:: ^.^

Disclaimer: Don't own… but there are ways… Muahahaha

The Sun and the Rainfall

A Hard and a Rock Place

Thoughts- he didn't have any. What was happening was beyond his ability to entirely work out in his simple mind. What he did know was that his legs could not support his weight, so he had allowed himself to slide down against the wall- head hanging from his shoulders, arms resting on his knees. All he wanted was to be away- so he could maybe clear this thick fog in his head- but he couldn't bring himself to leave the hospital. Because Sasuke was in that terrible place, alone and afraid. Maybe the Uchiha couldn't remember how close they were or how transparent he was to him, how well he could read his mind, but that didn't change anything. And, really now, he had never left Sasuke, never pulled back when Sasuke had been in trouble, in spite of the other boy's penchant for messy situations.

"I thought I might find you around here."

The voice that travelled to his ears was not entirely unwelcome, but he didn't know what to say either. If the world were a fair place, this particular moment should have come with a mandatory warning label to be worn by the temporary purveyor of said energy- namely himself- until the effects have passed. He looked up. Sakura stood there with her spanky smile and cool poise, but he knew it was a charade for his sake and he was much too tired to go along. The girl didn't outright know the exact details of the nature of his and Sasuke's relationship, but he did not fool himself into thinking that they could really hide from her either.

"Hey, Sakura-chan." He greeted dimly.

His tone brought a solemn expression her pretty face, as she took a couple of step towards him. "Don't be like that." She chastised. "He's hurt, he's not dead."

The comment made him smirk in spite of himself. If he hadn't resolved already that Sasuke had been a cat in a past life- for his grace, the way he looked on a rainy day and his hissy fits about nothing at all- he's argue with anyone that Sakura had been a cat and somehow retained the weird mood swings. He tried to cling to the thought, because had spent over a day- ever since had found Sasuke- trying not to think what she had suggested oh-so casually. If Sasuke had died… "I know."

It was a thought that had always refused to explore. There had never been a chance of that happening- not when Sasuke had agreed to give his body over to Orochimaru, not when he fought against that Snake, not when he finally got his wish and went against Itachi. Sasuke couldn't die. If Sasuke died, he'd lose his mind- lose himself. If Sasuke died, there would never be a way for him to become whole again. To think the bastard had made him promise that he'd find a way to move on. Naruto had only agreed- quickly, angrily- because he didn't want to hear those words anymore.

"If I die…"

Sakura sighed deeply. "Naruto…" she sat on her knees, so that her eyes would be level with his- if he decided to meet them at all. "Talk to me… just this once."

Damn you, Teme… It was an offer that he had always wanted to take, but wouldn't have any other day- because it was impossible to explain what he felt, because he had never needed words and Sasuke had never asked for them. This wasn't any other day though and he needed someone- someone who would listen to those thoughts that he refused to have. "I keep thinking that this is unfair." He said after a moment. "There's too much history between us… I don't want to be the only one who remembers. Isn't that selfish?"

Pink brows drew together in confusion. "Selfish?"

His head rested against the wall, eyes falling shut. "Right now Sasuke doesn't know that his family was massacred by his brother. He doesn't remember Itachi… Orochimaru, the Akatsuki… all of that is just names." He said. "He doesn't feel torn or alone… there's no regret or shame that he can't get rid of, no expectations that he never quite met… Right now, Sasuke is…" he paused at the word, meeting Sakura's emerald eyes. "… free."

To his surprise, she scoffed and slid down the wall to squat beside him. "I'm not sure where you were looking, but Sasuke didn't look free. Or happy about it."

Her tone drew a small smile from him. That was Sakura- dependable and pragmatic, telling everyone what their miserable ears didn't want to hear. It wasn't that simple this time though. Perhaps Sasuke had never allowed anyone in the way he had let him in. No one else had spent as many nights with the Uchiha as he had- during their missions, past and present, and all those stolen nights of pleasure or simple companionship that only the two of them had known about. No one knew how restless Sasuke could be in his sleep, how mournful he felt on the anniversary of his clan's massacre, when he was reminded- year after year- that he had not been strong enough to do anything but run as far as his legs would take him.

"He's a control freak- you know that. Memories or not, that doesn't change." He said with a small smile for all the times that he had made that very accusation and the Uchiha had emphatically denied it, only to slip into his control-freak mode moments later. The reality that Sasuke didn't remember any of it made him somber up. "Feeling lost must be the worst for someone like him."

"Not knowing that you have been loved- and are loved- has got to be worse." She deadpanned. "I think it's more important to know that there are people to whom you are precious. Now."

Blue eyes widened. For all he knew about the dark boy- that no one else knew, no one else would ever know- there had never really been a scale in his mind that weighed the Uchiha's painful past versus what they had in the here and now. He didn't have it in him to assume that what he felt- overwhelming and powerful, as it were- could miraculously fix all those things that had gone so terribly wrong in the other boy's life. Maybe Sakura had a point and he should forget the artist's sketch in his head about how things were supposed to be and simply accept that it was enough that what they had was right. Something worth being selfish about.

"Baka, Naruto." Sakura started with genuine annoyance, because the one thing- in a long list of things- that she refused to tolerate was stupidity. "You never give people enough credit."

Now he was lost. And, granted, he got lost all too easily, but he had found the perfect way to remedy that- phrase the issue in a very articulate manner. "Huh?"

"You mean so much to so many people, yet somehow you fail to see it." She said, her voice gaining a couple of octaves. "I never thought I'd have to be the one to tell you that, for Sasuke, it has always been you." Then she paused, smiling a little. There had to be some cosmic irony to this, because Sakura had- once upon a long time ago- only wanted for Sasuke to say those very words to her. "It has only been you, Naruto."

The times that he had ever been told something that he didn't know what to respond to had been few and far in between in his life, but he had always been consistent about greeting them with a sense of awkwardness that had him blurting the most random things. "I had used henge no jutsu to get a kiss from you." He said, keeping to the tradition.

Sakura blinked several times, very much confused. He did have that effect on people. "…What?"

Naruto sighed dejectedly. There was no way out it, now that he had said that much, other than spilling the beans. Or pretending he hadn't said what he just did, wait for Sakura to beat him to a bloody pulp and then spill the beans. Being beaten to a bloody pulp could happen even after telling her in this case, but if he could spare himself any abuse, he'd take his chances.

"When we got teamed together- you, me and the Teme- I had the hugest crush on you… and everyone knew that you liked Sasuke… so I kinda, haha," he rubbed the back of his head where he knew the punch was coming, "used henge no jutsu to turn into him and kiss you." Predictably, he got one of her infamous right hooks. In the back of the head. It hurt. A lot. "Uh… sorry?"

The pink haired girl rolled her eyes and made a dismissive sound. "Ancient history." She said, then looked thoughtful. "I remember that… you kept running off though." She smiled surreptitiously. "Got cold feet?"

The memory made him cringe. "Hardly." He snorted. "Bad case of food poisoning from spoilt milk."

Sakura laughed heartily at that. "Serves you right."

"Not funny, Sakura-chan." He grumbled.

"Isn't it?" she asked with a smile. "Even if you got your kiss, what would you have done the next day when both Sasuke and I figured what had happened?"

He breathed deeply. "Teme knew. I had tied him and gagged him to make sure he doesn't spoil it for me." At her arched brow, he simple smiled a little. "I suppose I wasn't thinking all that much back then."

"And maybe now you're thinking too much." She amended.

Naruto held her gaze for a moment considering her words. When had Sakura become so wise? She had always been smart, but talking to her like that, he felt like a stupid kid. Maybe the days that he was easily branded an idiot weren't as far behind him as he wanted to think.

"Gaki."

They both looked up. Tsunade was standing several feet away, gesturing for him to join her. Did he even want to go back to that room that the boy that filled with his pale face or simply his need for him- his approval at first but as time went by, his need for Sasuke himself- his entire life had no idea who he was? It didn't matter. Iruka had once told him that love is caring about someone more than you need them. He did care about Sasuke more than he needed him- but only marginally more.

As he got to his feet, Sakura took hold of his hand. He looked down at her questioningly.

"That night…" she said, taking a moment before she met his eyes. "That night that you could have kissed me, Sasuke said that I'm annoying." She smiled as both his brows shot up. "He said I don't understand your pain or loneliness… and I knew then that he did."

Naruto looked at her a moment longer before finally nodding. "Aah… Thank you, Sakura-chan."

As he walked to the Hokage's side he felt a little lighter- as if Sakura had shared some of the load that heaved so terribly on his shoulders when he had walked out of that room. The grave look on the older woman's face managed to put a dumper on the relief he had felt after his conversation with his ex-teammate.

"What's wrong, Baa-chan?" he asked, attempting to conceal his worry. He had always been way too easy to read.

Tsunade started walking wordlessly at first, but after a few moments- that had seemed impossibly long- she gave him a quick once-over. "How are you holding up?"

Well, that was kind of contingent to the answer she'd provide to his question, wasn't it? Wisdom must have knocked him over the head with a sledgehammer, though, because he decided to be mature and avoid verbal jabs of the sort or stubbornly insist that she answers his question first. "Okay, I guess…"

Said mature attitude didn't seem lost on her, because she graced him with a small smile. "Sasuke should be okay once I figure out the seals that shinobi used on him." She said. "In the meantime, it's best not to tell him anything about his past… just in case there's a second part to this jutsu. Let him remember on his own."

Naruto nodded. Tsunade had sounded quite positive about all this, yet there were several factors to be considered that she had mentioned in passing, almost as insignificant. Nothing was insignificant though. Especially about a jutsu that the just about all-knowing Hokage seemed to know nothing about. Sasuke was probably going to be okay- assuming that the jutsu wasn't a ticking timebomb, whatever they might or might not do. The seals were a mystery, the jutsu unheard of and there could be a second part to it- or a third, fourth, whatever. Or not. And that's all assuming that the damage done was not progressive and Sasuke might end up a vegetable anyway. All of them, assumptions.

When you assume, you make an ass of yourself. Kakashi's old advice came to mind, but out loud he just said, "Sounds good.", and forced a smile that Tsunade could totally see through. "So, are you keeping him here?" he asked quickly, before the focus could be switched over to him.

"No. It's best that he goes out there… familiar surroundings and faces might help jog his memory." She said. "You'll be watching over him."

That didn't sound like s good idea. Naruto felt too much and, in hid confused state, if Sasuke were to realize that…. Well… "Baa-chan… I really don't think-"

They were right outside of the room. "At his request."

Any protest he had been about to make melted away at the warm feeling that flicked to life- frail, but definitely there- in his chest. Sasuke had asked for him. Even through that foggy haze that had fallen over his life, coating his memories in blurry thickness, the Uchiha had somehow, instinctively reached for him. He breathed in deeply as he turned the door handle and walked into the small hospital room. Sasuke lay on the bed, quite still, eyes fixed on some vague spot on the ceiling, back in his disheveled clothes.

Naruto stepped on something that cracked under his shoe. It was a small, broken mirror. "Oy, perhaps you don't remember this, but breaking a mirror is bad luck."

The boy's eyes fell shut for a moment, then he rose. "Can I go now?" he said with obvious annoyance coloring his voice.

"Go ahead." Tsunade said with a smirk. "Mirror comes out of your next paycheck."

With a gruff sound he made his way to Naruto. "After you." He said quietly.

The charcoal eyes met his, guarded and apparently blank, but he knew better than that. Sasuke was afraid- and Naruto couldn't stand the thought. He couldn't stand that there was no way to comfort the Uchiha- not their age-old verbal spars, not a hug, no way to hold his body tightly against him and allow their hearts to search for a matching beat that would eventually lull them to sleep. Though he was but an arm's reach away, Naruto could not think of a way to touch him.

"Later, Baachan." he waved over his shoulder, as he turned to lead the way, with Sasuke following at his heel.

Dark, silky hair curtained the view to his eyes, but those pale lips that had thinned in tension were a telltale sign of nervousness. Naruto's heart clenched at the thought that Sasuke didn't know that the stranger beside him would give his soul for him- didn't know that in those rough hands that curled at his sides anxiously, the dark boy held his heart. Always had, always would.

You're not alone, Sasuke…

And thus ends chapter 3. ^.^ Hope you guys are enjoying! Hugs to all!

Ja,

M.