Chapter 2: Memories

(Sasuke POV)

Uchiha Sasuke had always been an early riser, and today was no different. He woke early as always, and as always fell into his normal morning routine. He took a short cold shower, letting the cold water waken his senses and get rid of the drowsiness. Afterwards he dressed himself all in black, although he didn't have any missions for the Anbu today, he felt like wearing the black. The Uchiha clan symbol was printed on the back of his shirt.

When he was finished eating the simple breakfast he made for himself, he headed out to meet with the team. He was early, but it was a nice day so he felt good while he walked silently towards where they had arranged to meet up. While walking his thoughts drifted to the news Kakashi had told them the day before.

Appearently Kakashi was bringing a girl with him, seeing as Sakura was on a mission and couldn't join them, he thought he'd bring this girl along. What was her name again... He couldn't remember, but it was uninteresting to him, so he didn't care. Sasuke had heard a few weeks back that Kakashi had found a girl outside Konoha's gate. No one knew who she was or where she had come from. What was the man thinking? Bringing an outsider into the village was bad enough, but letting her train with them... It was too absurd.

The girl was appearently around 16 or 17 from what Kakashi had guessed, but they couldn't really be sure since she had no memories. Or so she said. Why they hadn't left her to the interigation squad to look inside her head was beyond him. He didn't like the situation at all. Why was a little brat joining them? It was bad enough he had to deal with lovesick Sakura for so many years.

Sasuke had grown a lot through the years. He had been taken into the ANBU a few years ago, and was now one of the top elites. Naruto had also joined him as a ANBU and Sakura was Godaime's personal left hand; which was the reason she was gone on a mission at the moment. Konoha had been pretty peaceful for some time now. Akatsuki and his brother was still out there somewhere, but they had lain low for a couple of years now, no one had heard any news about them. That was the reason why they were meeting up to train, because of the peace there were less missions to deal with. He had to admit he liked the team and he did feel a sort of brotherly bond with Narutp, although he would never admit that to anyone. Never.

He finally reached the bridge where they were supposed to meet. No surprise, he was the first one to arrive. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the railing, his eyes closed as he waited. Maybe he had changed a little, but he still had that arrogant and cold exterior as he had always had. It was who he was, he couldn't just change that. Of course, he still had the fan club; who believed his cold personality was just him playing hard to get.

His fan club. The thought almost made him sigh. He was so tired of the girls throwing themselves at him. Didn't they have any dignity? It was nothing more than pathetic to him. Honestly, he didn't have any particular feelings towards any of the woman in the village, other than sexual desires of course. They were only good for one-night stands and casual dates. They bored him beyond belief

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke groaned silently as he heard the familiar voice of his blonde idiot teammate. It was too early in the morning to be that cheerful, but that was Naruto for you, he never changed.

"Yo dobe," he greeted Naruto as he joined him. Sasuke still wasn't the most talkative type. That wasn't to say that he didn't talk to people, he just didn't like empty small talk. He only felt like talking if he had something to say.

He looked up and studied Naruto, who was practically bouncing up and down. He was still the same after all these years. You would never believe that he was 20 years old, even if you knew him well. Sasuke guessed that some people just never grew up. Yet, Naruto was his friend, despite the frequent arguements they got into.

"I wonder who she is," Naruto started his usual endless chatting, even though he knew he wouldn't get much respons from Sasuke. "The girl I mean. I heard that Kakashi caught her falling from the sky, just like an angel..." Naruto continued spouting out the different versions of gossip he had heard, but Sasuke wasn't even listning anymore, his eyes was focused on the road.

He knew they were coming even before his eyes spotted them. He could hear her laughter as she and Kakashi got closer. With one glance he saw that he had been right about her being a small brat. She looked thin and small, scars still covering her tiny figure. He had to admit, reluctantly, that she wasn't exactly ugly though. She had a certain natural beauty about her. It was obvious that she didn't wear and make-up or unnesecary clothing to try to impress people. Her long blonde hair flew in every direction and it didn't seem like she had bother combing through it either. Her skin was tanned and her eyes a deep blue color. But, she was still a little girl and he was still not happy about her joining them.

"Good morning Sasuke. Naruto," Kakashi greeted them when the two got closer. They were all comrades now, not teacher and students. Their relationship had become much more relaxed now than before. "This is Katsu-chan, she'll join us for training today."

Katsu stepped forward, a smile playing on her thin lips.

"Nice to meet you Katsu-chan!" Naruto beamed at the blonde girl. What an idiot... Sasuke thought to himself as he watched the exchange. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uchiha Sasuke," he introduced himself coldly, not even looking at her.

"Nice to meet you Uzumaki-san and Uchiha-san," Katsu said politly with a sweet smile. She wasn't very shy he noted as the girl threw herself into an exciting conversation with Naruto.

Sasuke used the moment to study her more closely. She had delicate movements, and she didn't look like she was much bothered about the way she looked. She hadn't tried to cover up the ugly scars with make-up, and her clothes were simple and not too revealing.

"Alright you two," Kakashi adressed Katsu and Naruto to quiet them down. "Let's start with a little game." He moved his hand out of his pocket to reveal two small bells. "I hope you've learned something these past years."

Sasuke pushed himself off the railing, he was ready for this. It was always fun to go up against Kakashi and his little games. He knew very well that Naruto was also excited about this. They were both a lot more experienced and generally better than they were last time. He did have his doubts about Katsu though, she wouldn't be able to keep up. Well, no matter, he and Naruto could handle this fine without her.

"You just have to take one of the bells from me," Kakashi explained to a confused Katsu. "There are no rules, just try your best to keep up. Sasuke and Naruto will help you as much as they can."

Sasuke had the sudden urge to roll his eyes, even though it wasn't a natural thing for him to do. He surpressed the urge though. He couldn't understand why in the world he had to help this little thing, couldn't she just stand on the side lines? They would do better without her there to drag them down.

"Hai," Katsu said with a excited grin.

Atleast she looked ready, Sasuke surmised. He noticed she had a confidence about her, a lot like himself, yet that didn't change the fact that she was unexperienced and a thorn in his side.

The three of them moved to a hiding spot in the forest, away from Kakashi's ears. Sasuke stood for most of the strategy planning, while Naruto pitched in now and then. Katsu just listened carefully to every word they said.

"Got it?" Sasuke finally asked, and got nods from both in return. It was time to take down Kakashi. He had given Katsu a small part in the plan, just to satisfy Kakashi, who he knew would be mad if he let her out of the plan.

"Let's go!"

Sasuke hid near Kakashi in the bushes. He was crouched down and watched his former teacher closely. As usual, he wasn't showing any openings, not even while he read the orange smut book. It wouldn't be long before the first strike, it was Naruto first.

Sasuke watched as four figures emerged from the water, four copies of Naruto. They flew towards Kakashi, who didn't seem to bother to look up. Kakashi didn't look up from his book even once while he fought the four clones. It took him a little time, but soon the last clone puffed up in white smoke. It was time for the surprise. Suddenly Naruto shot up from the ground, barely gracing Kakashi's face. Kakashi had stepped a foot backwards to avoid the attack. But he didn't know that it wasn't a attack just a theft. Naruto had grabbed the orange book and was gone in a second.

"Can't fight while reading, Sensei!" Naruto's laughing voice echoed through the forest, there was no way of hearing where it came from, because it came from everywhere. Now it was Katsu's turn. "Don't mess this up..." Sasuke whispered to himself as he watched carefully.

Katsu approached Kakashi from behind him. He hadn't noticed her yet, he was just standing there. She could sneak, that was for sure. Sasuke though to himself. He was only hoping she wouldn't mess things up. She was standing few inches from Kakashi and he still hadn't heard or sensed her presence. Sasuke was surprised, even he couldn't sneak up on Kakashi.

Reaching out for one of the bells her hand was caught just before touching them. Kakashi had noticed the small breeze she had given as she had moved her hand. Sasuke threw three shurikens towards Kakashi, while he was concentrated on Katsu, a look of shock clearly showed on his old sensei's face. Then he flung forward, the stars had of course missed, easy enough to dodge for Kakashi. Katsu brought her foot down and knocked Kakashi off his feet.

Kakashi got up fast, but he already had the three of them surrounding him. The two boys launched forward and entered into a hand-to-hand combat. This was Katsu's chance. Sasuke could see her sneak forward, but just before she was to grab the bells she froze.

What was going on? There was something wrong with her, he could see it in her eyes. She had a look of complete horror. "Naruto." Sasuke yelled at his friend. "Hai." Naruto answered, knowing what Sasuke wanted. "Kage bunshin-no-jutsu!" Naruto yelled and several clones appeared entering the battle. This was the only thing Sasuke needed, he found a opening and manage to grab the bells from Kakashi's belt. The fight was over.

"Something's wrong with her," he said calmly, trying not to show how tired he was from the fight. It was Kakashi they were fighting after all and he was more experienced, that ontop of the sharingan in his eye made Kakashi a dangerous man to fight.

"Katsu-chan. What's wrong?" Naruto's voice was filled with concern as he ran over to the girl who still stood there were streaming down her face and she had a dangerous look in her eyes.

Sasuke watched as her hands suddenly started moving, she was doing a jutsu, advanced jutsu, he had never seen the signs she was doing. "Kurohoshi-no-jutsu!" She yelled out and suddenly a black cloud enveloped around the three men.

Sasuke panicked, a feeling he didn't like at all, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear anything else, the only thing he could see was a light, like a star. He started to walk towards the light, it was so alluring, he couldn't help himself. He felt drawn to it. He could hear a scream, someone was screaming and the dark dissolved. He could see and hear again.

He looked around. Naruto and Kakashi were close to him, they were standing not far from a cliff. They had almost fallen. What was going on? He asked himself again. He looked for Katsu, she was laying on the ground, sobbing to herself. What had happened to her?

"She's getting her memory back." Kakashi noted in a concerned voice. "I'll get her back to her apartment, you guys continue training, I'll be back soon." Then he was off, carrying Katsu in his arms. It was obvious he felt some sort of compassion for the girl.

Sasuke looked at Naruto. They didn't talk to each other about what had just happened. They just ignored it and continued their training, they were both shook up about it, but they would never admit it. Katsu was a girl and beside, she was younger. But that had been a powerful jutsu never the less. Sasuke made a mental note to see her later, he wanted to know what was going on.

The two of them finished training a little earlier than originally planned. Sasuke couldn't shake off the feeling of something being terribly wrong with Katsu and it was distracting him. Kakashi had never showed up after bringing Katsu back to the apartment, but that wasn't something new too them, they were used to him disappearing on his own.

Later

Sasuke stood outside Katsu's apartment, debating with himself if it was a good idea or not. She was just a kid after all, and he didn't know her, why should he care? Yet, that jutsu was bothering him, he had never seen anything like it. He raised his hand and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again, a little harder this time. Nothing. He knew she was in there. Maybe something was wrong?

His hand went to the handle and the door clicked open. Why was he doing this? He wondered. That girl was nothing to him. Never the less, he moved inside the apartment. He didn't see her anywhere. Deciding to leave he turned, but a scream stopped him in his tracks. He moved further into the room and found the bedrrom, the door was glitched slightly open and he could her heavy painful breathing inside the bedroom.

Without knowing why he walked straight into the bedroom and found her sitting on the bed. She was shaking terribly, her breath was heavy and stressed and she was covered in sweat. He watched her clutch her head, burrying her nails in her forehead, while clenching her teeth. She looked as if she was in excrutiating pain. When she heard him she lifted her head and looked straight at him, tears in her eyes. The pain was so obvious in her eyes.

"I - -" she seemed to be struggling to talk. Another escrutating scream left her, and she sobbed quietly, her eyes closed. "I - - Help them - - So much pain - -" She sobbed, her voice shaking as much as her body. He didn't know if she registrered that it was him, when she had looked at him it was as if she had seen right through him, as ig he wasn't even there.

An uncontrollable urge made him move closer to her. He had experienced so much pain himself when his parents and clan was murdered by his brother. He wasnted to comfort her, no one had been there when he had nightmares as a child.

Slowly he sat down on the bed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him. She let him. Her head dug into his shoulder, her hands clutched his shirt, and she sobbed quietly against him. Sasuke sat like that the whole night, holding her close to him. He couldn't sleep. She would drift in and out of sleep, sometimes with a scream, other times with just a look of complete horror on her face. When morning finally arrived his eyes closed and he fell asleep as well.