The days roll by and all the friends that Sakura had mentioned had dropped in at least once. All except one. Sasuke. I am yet to see him and Sakura had explained that he was in denial about my memory loss, refusing to visit me at all.

I look up as Sakura's lunch trolley clackers down the hallway and into my room. My stomach growls at the sweet scent of ramen from the take out box from Ichiraku's. Tsunade had finally agreed to let me eat more ramen after Sakura told her that I wasn't eating anything else.

I inhale my ramen as my thoughts wonder off yet again. Sakura notices because she snaps me out my reverie with a quick wave in front of my face. She smiles softly at me. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Sasuke," I say tonelessly.

Sakura frowns a little and I stop eating with my fork of ramen halfway up to my mouth, suddenly feeling angry. "What's up with him anyways? I want to meet him again."

"H-He's… in denial, Naruto. You have to understand."

I snap.

"All my other friends have come around to visit me at least once. You think they're taking this any better than that Uchiha is?" My voice raises an octave higher. "Sure, they weren't my closest friends, but friends are friends and it always pains someone to see their friend forget about them. They made the effort to meet me again though. But this Sasuke person…." I trail off, unsure about where I am going with my ranting. Sakura stays silent and we sit in a tense silence for a couple of minutes.

Then I sigh in defeat. I hesitate to speak. I don't know if I am making the right choice, but the words come tumbling out of my mouth before I can think twice about it. "I don't know if Tsunade told you, even if I asked her not to. I'm not cured, Sakura. I only have a couple of weeks left at most."

I hear Sakura gasp loudly and she bursts into tears. She grabs me into sluggish bear hug and I return it, feeling my own emotions well up in my chest. "Oh…Naruto. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I…" She hiccups and I pat her back comfortingly.

"It's okay Sakura. I'm okay about dying. It's just…I want to see this Sasuke person before the time comes. In your stories, he seemed really cool."