In my eyes

You can see it now

Can we start again, can we start again

The headaches were more prominent now. Ever since he returned, this Sasuke everyone tried so hard to save, she's been getting headaches. It felt like something kept hitting against her brain to wake her up from an endless dream. This used to happen with Naruto and everyone after she woke up in the hospital, but they were never this bad.

Is my brain trying to force me to remember again? Mari thought, trying to rationalize the situation. No matter how hard she tried years ago she could never remember her former life. Sometimes she would get snippets, fleeting memories of her eating lunch with Naruto and training with Rock Lee, but she never had the full picture. After a while she'd just shove the memories back as if they were a nuisance. Truthfully, she didn't want to remember anything. She couldn't stand the thought that she was some harsh fighting machine that would hurt people no matter what the reason, whether it was training or otherwise. But sometimes she'd catch the looks Naruto would give her, like he couldn't recognize who she was. Two years and he couldn't get over the fact that she wasn't the same. But she was still friends with him! Couldn't he love her as a civilian just as much as he loved her as a ninja? It actually hurt her feelings a bit.

Mari sighed, rubbing her temples to ease the throbbing. She never told anyone how she felt, and bottling up her feelings was something she didn't like doing. I wonder if former me would do that, she thought bitterly, but quickly dismissed the accusation. From what Neji would tell her, she used to be very headstrong and sarcastic and always made sure her opinion was known. It made her come off as harsh initially, but she was simply strong willed.

The long haired ninja came to her mind and she smiled. Aside from Naruto, Neji was one of the ones to be very patient with her. When she opted against the ninja life she caught the disappointment on his features, but he still supported her. He'd come to see her perform sometimes and even had tea with her in his free time. Everyone said how surprising it was that he seemed gentle with her, but considering she couldn't remember any time before her accident that he would've been cruel, she always considered him to be nice. The simple things he did made her cheeks darken.

"Mari."

Golden eyes slid to the voice that disrupted her thoughts and it turned out to be the boy haunting her mind. She had a feeling someone was watching her, but she didn't know who or how.

Guess my ninja life never really left me. "Hi Sasuke! What are you doing here?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "I should be asking you that. You're at the training grounds."

She frowned, realizing that he was right. Mari wasn't really thinking when she went for a walk to ease her headache; she just wanted a distraction.

"Oh, I need to pay more attention to where I go. I just started walking aimlessly and ended up here," she replied wincing a bit. His presence wasn't helping. In fact, when he said her name she had a flash of another time he said it; she had held a knife to his throat for startling her.

"You grew up in the ninja world and used to train constantly. Maybe this is all just habit for you now despite forgetting."

Doesn't explain how you're bringing back my memories. "That makes sense."

He nodded. "You okay? You winced before…"

"Yeah I'm fine. I've been nursing a headache which is why I went for a walk."

"You should go to the pond a few meters behind your house. You liked going there when you wanted to clear your head."

She nodded, and her eyes glazed over for a few minutes before suddenly taking off running. It startled Sasuke, and although his body was begging to go after her he decided against it. Maybe it'll help…

Meanwhile as she arrived at said pond her legs gave out and she crumpled to the ground releasing a piercing cry.