Forgotten Life

Chapter 10- Life Goes On

It had been three weeks since Sasuke's memory returned and he and Sakura had grown extremely close since that night. They'd begun a routine. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they would meet at Team 7's old training grounds and Sakura would spar with him. Sakura worked at the hospital on the other days. Of course, she was always on call and sometimes had to leave their sessions early. At those times, Sasuke would remain and train by himself. He spent a lot of time meditating and concentrating his chakras in those three weeks.

On the third Friday, Naruto came out to see how he was progressing. The blonde was slightly surprised at the huge craters that now marred their old training grounds. "Sakura, been doing a little landscaping, eh?" he joked as he pointed at one particularly large crater.

Sakura shook her head as she and Sasuke walked over to Naruto. "I didn't do that one," she said truthfully.

"What do you mean?" Naruto said, looking back and forth between the two.

"I mean...that Sasuke did it. Do you need a demonstration?" Sakura said, looking sideways at Sasuke, who smirked.

"Uh..." Naruto said, mouth open.

Sasuke took that opportunity to set his sights on a sturdy looking tree. He ran toward it as a blue glow formed around his hand. Suddenly the glow turned into what appeared to be lightning that made chirping sounds as he rammed his hand into the tree.

The lightning bolts cut and sliced at the trunk of the tree at a blindingly fast speed and the shockwave of his attack pulled it out of its roots leaving a large crater where the tree had been.

Naruto looked on in shock as Sasuke's chidori cut through the tree with ease. It reminded him of a time years ago when Sasuke was aiming that deadly weapon at him. "Wow," was all he could say as Sasuke brushed the dust off of his shirt and walked back to join his friends.

"See, I told you it was Sasuke, although most of them are mine," Sakura said as she turned her attention back to Naruto.

"So, do you think he's ready?" Naruto asked.

"Ready for what?" Sakura asked curiously.

"The test. I figure we'll still treat him like a genin at the moment, so his test will determine if he becomes classified as a chuunin."

"Oh. Well, I think he is ready, but what is the test going to be?"

"A test of his fighting ability: we'll have him face off against one of our other genins and the jounins and I will be the judge of his abilities," Naruto said as Sasuke got closer.

"Who will he fight?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I can't tell you just yet. You would change his training regime if you knew," Naruto said with a smirk. "Well, I have important business to take care of now. I will see you tomorrow for the test. Goodbye Sakura, Sasuke," he said as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"What was all that about, Sakura? A test?" Sasuke asked as he walked up behind Sakura.

"You're ready for your test as a ninja. Naruto has gone to set it up...We have a lot of work to do before tomorrow," Sakura said as she stared at the place where Naruto had been just seconds before. She took a deep breath before turning around and nodding to Sasuke to begin their training session.

It was six thirty that afternoon before they finally stopped training. Sasuke suggested that they go get something to eat afterwards. It would save Sakura from having to cook and when they got back to her house, there would be nothing else to worry about except each other.

So, on their way home, they stopped at Ichiraku's. Sakura was a bit surprised to see a familiar face wearing a new uniform.

Asuki, her apprentice medic, was not wearing her usual hospital scrubs. Instead, she wore a black suit and around her waist was a belt that held two short-bladed katanas. She tensed up when Sakura stepped into the light at Ichiraku's and without turning to look at her she whispered, "Sakura-sama..."

"Asuki, what are you doing in that?" Sakura said, unable to contain her surprise.

"Oh, well the Hokage needed me for a special mission so I got relieved of my duties at the hospital for a few days," she replied in her soft, airy voice. Her ice blue eyes turned to look at Sakura and the man that sat down beside her. "Who's your friend, Sakura-sama?"

"This is Sasuke. He's the one that came into the hospital a few weeks ago," Sakura explained, trying to make Asuki understand while still avoiding hurting Sasuke's feelings.

"Oh. Well, you two enjoy your meal. I have to go now," Asuki said, leaving her money on the counter and a half-eaten bowl of ramen behind.

"Um...okay," Sakura said as her apprentice rushed out into the darkness.

She turned back to look at Sasuke, who seemed just as confused by the young genin's actions as Sakura. Sakura shrugged and then turned around and ordered her ramen, pushing the thoughts of her confusing apprentice out of her mind.

Sakura and Sasuke walked home, both tired from their day of training. It was only 7:30 when they got back to Sakura's house, but they were both ready to retire for the night. Sakura walked over to her bedroom door and turned around to look at Sasuke.

He stood outside of his bedroom, his hand on the knob, but he did not enter. He had a thoughtful expression on his face that made Sakura curious. "What is it, Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

"Huh? Nothing, it's just...your apprentice, Asuki. Her chakra...it felt strange," he said, that thoughtful look still on his face.

"Of course!" Sakura said as if she'd just realized something. "You've never met anyone like Asuki. You see, she's a genius! Didn't you notice her eyes? She didn't inherit those from her parents, both of them had dark eyes. She's an abnormality, a one-in-a-million prodigy child.

Asuki has perfect chakra control, better than my own, and because of it, she seems to have an endless supply of it. Her taijutsu is amazing, she trained under Lee at the age of eight. Her nin and genjutsu is flawless, even Kakashi was fooled by her genjutsu, with his Sharingan activated. She's almost surpassed me in medical ninjutsu, even Shizune is surprised at that feat.

She's the perfect ninja, an all-around perfectionist, and those icy eyes of hers make all of that possible. I've even heard rumors of her training under Neji Hyuuga for the past year."

Sasuke's eyes were wide as Sakura listed Asuki's many accomplishments. "How...old is she?" he asked.

"Eleven," Sakura replied simply.

"But...she looks so...mature, like she should be sixteen or older," Sasuke said, not realizing that he was treading dangerous ground.

"Ahem. What's that supposed to mean?" Sakura asked, realizing what Sasuke was talking about.

"Well she's...um...nothing," he stuttered as he looked at Sakura's angry face.

"Get over here," Sakura growled.

Sasuke took a step towards her and his body pressed up against hers. Sakura blushed as she opened her bedroom door and grabbed Sasuke's shirt. "Time to be punished, Sasuke-kun," she whispered into his ear as she pulled him into her room and closed the door.

-End-