Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Oh my gosh Sasuke, why didn't you tell me you could cook?" Sakura asked while taking another bite.
'Wow, good looking, muscular, smart, and now he can cook? I think we have ourselves a keeper, Sakura!' Inner Sakura said while drooling over Sasuke.
"It's only fried rice, Sakura. A ten year old could make it," Sasuke said.
"So does this mean that you can make better things than this?"
"... No," Sasuke said, lying.
After they finished eating and washed the dishes, Sakura asked, "So, what do you want to do now?"
"Sleep."
"Then go home."
"But you have to watch me at all times, remember?" Sasuke said while smirking.
"Then you're sleeping on the floor," Sakura said while going up the stairs.
'Aww, you're ruining all of the fun...,' her inner complained.
"Hn."
After taking a shower, changing clothes, and spreading blankets on the floor for Sasuke, Sakura finally climbed into bed and dozed off.
"Mommy, can you pass the cabbage?" A five year old Sakura asked.
"Sakura, honey, slow down! You're going to choke if you keep eating like this!" Sakura's mother said while passing the cabbage. She was a pretty lady with wavy pink hair that reached to below her shoulders. She had soft brown eyes that would calm anyone down.
"But I have to eat my vegetables if I want to grow up strong," Sakura said while scooping more cabbage onto her plate.
"Yes, but you also have to train," Sakura's father said. Her father was a muscular man with a crescent shaped scar below his left nostril. He had black hair and piercing green eyes.
"I know daddy, that's what I was doing today! Grandma helped me study scrolls and throw kunai today. I did great too, didn't I grandma?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, yes, Sakura. You know, Akina, she reminds me of you when you were little," Sakura's grandmother said.
"Really, grandma? I want to be just like mommy and daddy when I grow up!"
"I'm sure you'll be even better than your parents, Sakura. Now, eat your dinner before-"
Before her grandmother could finish her sentence, a window in the living room shattered, making broken glass fly everywhere. Sakura looked at her parents and saw fear in their eyes.
"Mommy, what's going on?" Sakura asked, her eyes growing wide with fear. Her mother mother's gaze softened as she looked at her daughter.
"Nothing, honey. Mom, take Sakura and get out of here."
"But mommy-"
"Sakura, please listen. Go with grandma. Remember that I will always love you and that my heart will always be with you. Here," Sakura's mother said as she unclasped her necklace and put it around her daughter's neck. She then placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Daddy...," Sakura whispered in a scared voice, a tear running down her cheek.
"Sakura, listen to your mother. Everything will be fine. Go with grandma," Sakura's father said while crouching down to look at her in the eyes, "I'm so proud of you, my daughter. I love you so much. Please don't forget this. Now take this and stay strong. Go!"
Sakura took the knife from her father and ran with her grandmother out the back door. Sakura looked back, as lightning flashed across the night sky, and saw her father get stabbed with a sword. She was paralyzed with fear but obeyed her parents and kept ran. They ran into the forest, running until they couldn't run anymore.
"Sakura, dear, it's going to be OK... shh...," her grandmother chanted over and over while holding her sobbing granddaughter, "Your parents are strong, just like you will be. Just like you are."
"Sakura, wake up! Sakura!"
Sakura bolted up into a sitting position. It was just a dream. She could feel the wetness in her eyes running down her face.
"Sakura, what's wrong?" Asked Sasuke, who was now sitting on the edge of her bed.
"Nothing. Just a nightmare. This happens every once in a while," she said.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
Sakura looked into Sasuke's eyes. The moonlight that was streaming in from the window played with his eyes, making them shine beautifully.
"I've been having this same nightmare ever since...," she said before she started crying again.
"Here, scoot over."
Sasuke now had his back against the cool wall. He was holding Sakura in his arms, rubbing her on the back, trying to calm her down. "It's going to be OK... shh..." The same words her grandmother said to her.
"Sasuke, do you remember how old we were when we first met?" Sakura asked when she calmed down.
"Six. A couple of kids were teasing you about your forehead and I told them to go away."
"Yes, and when that didn't work, you got Itachi to make them go away," Sakura said, smiling at the memory.
"Your point, besides teasing me?" Sasuke asked while he kissed her forehead, just like her mother did.
"What I was getting to was, do you even know what happened to me before we met? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that I just randomly appeared in the village when I we were six?"
"Hn, I guess I don't know you as well as I thought I did," Sasuke said, perplexed, "So tell me about your past. I want to know about your nightmare. I want to know what happened before we met."
"It's kind of a long story."
"Sakura, I care about you more than anyone else. I just want to help," Sasuke said.
So she told him about her nightmare, which was so realistic that it haunts her every time she thinks about it. She told him about the loving, final words that her parents said to her. She told him about the presents that she received before running off into the forest with her grandmother.
"I actually still have them. Let me go get them," she said while crawling to her nightstand, opening the drawer, and pulling out two items.
"This," she said while crawling back to Sasuke, "Is the necklace that my mom gave me."
It has a silver chain with a cherry blossom hanging on it. In the middle was an emerald, which sparkled in the moonlight as it swung in the darkness.
"Beautiful. It reminds me of you," Sasuke said while clasping the necklace around Sakura's neck. "The emeralds remind me of your eyes."
"Thanks," Sakura said, trying to hide her blush, "It was my mom's favorite flower, hence my name."
"I thought that it was because of your hair?"
Sakura laughed, savoring the happy moment, and said, "I bet that played a factor too."
"This is a nicely crafted knife, too," Sasuke said, examining the workmanship.
"It was his favorite."
Sasuke gave the knife back to her and asked, "So, what happened when you got into the forest?"
"Grandma and I just kept walking, hoping that we would find a shelter somewhere. There was nothing. I remember, we had to sleep through nights of rain and thunder. It never stopped, and one day, grandma got sick. We kept moving, but I could see that she was getting weaker every day. Then, one day, I woke up and she was dead," Sakura said, choking back a her tears.
Sasuke held her as she started trembling. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Sakura."
She took a deep breath and continued, "No, it's OK. After I gave grandma a decent burial, I continued by myself. I walked, day after day, without finding anything but trees. Then, I just collapsed from hunger and exhaustion. I don't remember what happened after that, but Kakashi sensei told me that he and Iruka sensei were on a mission when they found me in the forest outside of Konoha. They brought me back to the village and to the hospital. Apparently, all of the doctors thought that I wouldn't make it, but I slowly recovered, week by week. And then Sarutobi sensei visited me every day and once I got better, he had me stay with him at the hokage building, and when I got older, he gave me this house to live in. He reminded me so much of my grandma. So kind and wise."
"Whoa. I guess I really don't know that much about you," Sasuke said, "What else is there to tell?"
"Did you know that it was because of my grandma that I wanted to become a medical ninja so bad?"
"No. I thought it was because you looked up to Tsunade."
"Nope. After grandma died, I realized that I wanted to help people. To keep them alive. But I'm too late to help the three people that I cared the most about. I couldn't do anything to help and now they're dead! They're dead because of me!" Sakura cried while tears started streaming down her face again.
"Sakura, it's not your fault! You were only five. What could any little kid do?" Sasuke said, trying to calm her down.
"You don't understand Sasuke!"
"Don't I? Did you forget what happened to me? Don't you remember that I saw my family get slaughtered in front of my own eyes when I was only seven? I couldn't do anything either, Sakura! My family's dead also, and at the hands of my brother too! You don't think that I thought it was my fault too?" Sasuke said while an angry and sad tear ran down his face. "That's why I wanted revenge. That's why I left."
Minutes ticked by in silence until Sakura said, "I'm sorry Sasuke. I didn't mean it."
"I'm sorry too Sakura," Sasuke said while kissing her on the lips, "I love you so much. Please don't forget this," he said, just like her father did.
Sakura cried herself to sleep in Sasuke's arms as she tried to forget her unforgettable past.
I'm sorry if the ending was cheesy or cliché. I thought it was pretty good. :P
The sequel to this story, which is called His Unforgettable Past, is up.
Thanks for sticking with me throughout the whole H.U.P experience! I love all of my loyal readers :)
E person :D
6-25-11