Hello Guys!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was away for a long time and busy with some stuff.

But I'm back!

I hope you guys continue to support this story!

Now, let's get started!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did, there would be no such thing as a "Karin." XD

Chapter 5- Decision and Nightmare

Sasuke woke up the next day to a bright and sunny morning.

"It's perfect weather to spend the day training," thought Sasuke as he got up from Naruto's bed, washed up, got dressed, and left the room.

When he stepped into the living room, he could see Naruto putting on his orange and black jacket, getting ready to leave. When Naruto turned, he saw Sasuke standing there, dressed up with his gear.

"Sasuke-teme, are you going training? But Tsunade-baa-chan and Sakura-chan said-"

"I know what they said. But I'm not gonna let myself lose all of my training for a month. I need to stay fit if I'm going to get any better," said Sasuke, walking to the door.

"Fine, then. I knew you would say that. I'll go train with you," said Naruto, walking out the door after Sasuke.

They reached the Team 7 training grounds and got their gear ready to train. Sasuke pulled out his katana, while Naruto took out a kunai. As they were training on nearby targets, Naruto began talking.

"Sasuke-teme…are you really not gonna help me bring back Sakura-chan's memories?" asked Naruto.

"There's no need for her to remember me. I'm nothing to her," said Sasuke, indifferently.

Naruto then stepped right in front of Sasuke, suddenly very angry at him.

"Teme, how stupid can you be? Did that snake bastard take a part of your brain too? How could you possibly think that you meant nothing to Sakura-chan? You were everything to her, and you know that," said Naruto.

"Sure, I was then. But she doesn't need me now. I didn't do anything for her. I didn't make her happy like you did," said Sasuke.

"Look, teme, we went over this last night. Sure you didn't make her laugh and happy on the outside, but on the inside, I know you made her very happy. She used to tell me, long after you had left and when we used to train together, that she never regretted spending time with you. The only thing that she regretted was not being strong enough to bring you back that night, but she said that's why she was training so hard to be stronger…strong enough to bring you back. She adored all the memories she'd shared with you, and really hoped that her intense training with the Hokage would be enough to bring you back," said Naruto.

"Really? Did Sakura really enjoy my presence? Was she really happy with me on the inside? Did she really do all that training for me?" thought Sasuke.

"Liar. I don't mean anything to her, and she doesn't mean anything to me, except as a teammate," said Sasuke, trying to pass by Naruto and resume training.

Naruto stepped in front of him again, "No, you're the liar! I can see it in you, Sasuke. You care for her not only as a teammate, but as a friend. Or even more than a friend. If you had lost your memories of Sakura-chan, you would want to remember her, don't you? It's the same frickin thing!" yelled Naruto.

"Is it? Is it the same thing? It's true that if I lose memories of Sakura, I would want to remember Sakura again, but would she want to remember me again too?" thought Sasuke.

"Shut up, dobe. I don't wanna hear a thing about Sakura. Just continue training," said Sasuke as he walked away from Naruto.

Naruto, being frustrated, ran towards Sasuke and charged at him with his kunai. Sasuke then quickly dodged and counter attacked with his katana. Soon enough, their little argument turned into a full-fledged battle.

Meanwhile…

Sakura stretched her arms and legs as she walked out the main doors of the Konoha Hospital. She had been working since 6 in the morning, and now was the only break that she would get in a long time: Lunch. She was a little troubled by the fact that her co-workers and patients were saying that she seemed different today, although nothing had changed. She was thinking about what could have made her seem different today, and her thoughts immediately went to her patient from yesterday: Uchiha Sasuke.

"Maybe it's because I'm so confused about this guy. He seems so familiar, but yesterday was the first time that I've seen him in my life, other than the S-Ranked Criminal files," thought Sakura.

As she was thinking about how to be able to solve this mystery about this guy, her stomach growled at her. Then, a great idea formed in her head.

"Oh! I just remembered that today is Ino's day off from working at the flower shop, and Tenten and Hinata came back from a mission just yesterday! Maybe if I invite them to lunch, I'll be able to ask them about this Uchiha Sasuke!" thought Sakura as she ran into the heart of the village to find her three best friends.

"Ugh…"

Both Sasuke and Naruto collapsed under a cherry blossom tree after their long hour of intense fighting.

"That's what you get for being so ignorant," said Naruto.

"Hn. I wasn't being ignorant," said Sasuke.

"Teme! You are- actually, nevermind. I'm too exhausted to argue with you again," said Naruto.

"Hn," said Sasuke, agreeing with him.

"Teme, I understand where you're coming from about Sakura-chan. But look at things in her perspective too," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so you know how you've been telling me that she looks fine and happy without remembering you?" said Naruto.

"Hn."

"I wasn't gonna tell you this until it was necessary, but I'm guessing that it's already at that level," said Naruto.

"What the heck are you talking about, dobe?" said Sasuke, confused.

"Listen to me. Although Sakura-chan seems very happy and joyful right now, she really isn't. She made me promise to not tell anyone about this, but this is one promise that I must break," said Naruto, sitting up.

"…" Sasuke also sat up, listening to yet another one of these "important-facts-about-Sakura."

Naruto sighed and began, "Months before, we were training in these very grounds when she stopped and told me that she wanted to speak to me about something. I asked her what was up and suddenly she started crying uncontrollably. She was telling me how even though her life was perfect and everything was okay, she felt empty on the inside…like something was missing. I of course knew what she was missing, but I couldn't just tell her straight out. She said that she began to feel this for a while, but she couldn't tell anyone, because no one would understand. But she said that she trusted me with her emotions and told me about it. She didn't know what was missing, although she tried her hardest to remember. All that I could say to her was to wait, and maybe her heart will be filled again…that maybe that something or someone will return…" said Naruto, closing his eyes at the sudden sorrow he felt for Sakura.

"But she doesn't seem that way on the outside…" stated Sasuke, although on the inside, he was in shock and anger at himself.

"Didn't I tell you that Sakura-chan has gotten very well at hiding her emotions? Her training has really paid off. Whenever she looks happy with her patients, co-workers, and friends, only I can see the strain and strength that it's taking her to put that smile on her face," said Naruto.

Sasuke groaned in hopelessness, "No!"

"Huh? What's wrong, teme?" asked Naruto, now facing Sasuke.

"Fine! I will help Sakura! I will! It's too painful to be hearing about Sakura suffering like this!" yelled Sasuke as he abruptly stood up.

"Teme? Really? Are you sure?" said Naruto as he bounced up from his spot in happiness.

Sasuke then gained back his composure and coldness, "Dobe, I give up. I always thought…"

"Thought what?" asked Naruto.

"…I always thought that by having her remember me, I would hurt her more…like I did 4 years ago. But instead, by keeping her memories as a secret, it's hurting her even more. I want to help her, dobe," said Sasuke, closing his eyes and facing towards the dusty ground.

"Teme! Oh Arigatou (thank you)! Sakura-chan, don't worry about anything! We'll get your memories back!" yelled Naruto as they went back home, Sasuke walking slowly, still looking at the ground, while Naruto was bouncing happily next to him.

"Sakura…I hope I'm making the right choice…" thought Sasuke.

Meanwhile…

Sakura was at Ichiraku's, waiting for all of her girlfriends. Thankfully, she was able to get in touch with Ino, Tenten, and Hinata and they were able to come to lunch. Although Sakura wanted to ask them about Uchiha Sasuke, she pushed that to the back of her mind for the moment. She wanted to know how things were going for them, for she hadn't talked with them for ages, since all of them were busy with their own businesses. And lastly, she wanted to gossip. She wanted to know how the girls were with their boyfriends too! Right then, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata walked into Ichiraku's and sat on the stools.

"Ino-pig! Tenten! Hinata!" squealed Sakura as she hugged each of them.

"Hey Forehead! Long time no see!" said Ino.

"What's up, Sakura?" said Tenten.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" said Hinata.

The girls settled down and ordered their ramen: Sakura ordered a meat ramen, Ino a seafood ramen, Tenten a vegetable ramen, and Hinata a miso ramen. When their food finally came, they began to eat and talk.

"So, how are you guys?" asked Sakura, while slurping on a noodle.

"Ugh, the flower shop is getting so troublesome. It's so boring just tending to flowers everyday. I'd rather go on missions," said Ino.

"Haha, I can see that Shikamaru is being an influence to you," said Sakura, laughing.

Ino blushed, while telling Sakura to shut up.

"Well Hinata and I just came back from a mission. It was supposedly a really hard mission, but I thought it was easy," said Tenten.

"Tenten, of course you thought it was easy. Neji-kun ordered the mission leader to not give any of the dangerous tasks to you," said Hinata as Tenten blushed and Sakura and Ino tried to muffle their laughter.

"Well if Neji could do that, then why didn't your precious Naruto-kun?" said Tenten.

"Because he was too busy giving Hinata goodbye kisses all over her face," said Ino as Hinata blushed furiously and dangerously red.

"And how about you, Sakura? How are things at the hospital?" asked Tenten.

"It's been going great. My patients are all kind and decent, except for the group of ninjas today from the Sand Village," said Sakura as she scowled into the ramen bowl.

"What happened?" asked Hinata.

"In the morning, a bunch of male shinobis came to the hospital from the Sand Village. They had a mission nearby and were pretty beaten up, so they decided to come here. It was all okay until I went into their room, when suddenly one of them locked the door behind me. They were circling themselves around me, 5 to 1, trying to seduce me," said Sakura, indifferently.

"What?! Why does all guys have raging hormones?!" said Tenten.

"So…that's counting Neji right?" asked Ino, giving Tenten an evil grin.

Tenten blushed, "He's an exception. My Neji is way more mature than those weirdos."

"Haha okay. But anyways, so what happened after?" asked Hinata.

"Haha what do you think happened? I beat the crap out of them, healed the major injuries, warned them not to mess with me the next time, and called a male doctor to treat them. Next time I meet Gaara, I'm asking him what the heck they're teaching their ninjas at their academies," said Sakura.

Ino, Tenten, and Hinata burst into laughter at the story, and Sakura couldn't help but to join in.

"Sakura, I don't understand why you don't have a boyfriend yet. You're the #1 on the Konoha guys' hottest girls list, yet you decline whenever a guy asks you out. I would just take the chance when you have it," said Ino.

"I don't know why, Ino. I guess because all the guys just look at me from what's there on the outside, rather than what's on the inside. They don't know me for who I am. I feel as though I'm waiting for the one right guy to come so that I can pour out my all to him," said Sakura.

"That one right guy that Sakura's waiting for is Uchiha Sasuke, yet she doesn't know it," thought Ino, Tenten, and Hinata in unison.

"Speaking of guy and the hospital, I wanted to ask you guys a question," said Sakura.

"Shoot," said Ino.

"What's up?" said Tenten.

"Yes?" said Hinata.

"What do you guys know about…Uchiha Sasuke?" said Sakura, warily looking over at her girlfriends.

She didn't miss out all three girls freezing at the sound of his name.

"What about him?" asked Ino.

"Well, he's back in the village, and I treated him when he came back," said Sakura.

She didn't miss the girls freezing once again.

"Oh…so he's back…" said Tenten.

"D-Does Naruto-kun know of this?" asked Hinata.

"Of course he does. He's one of the people who brought him back. And so did Shikamaru and Neji," said Sakura.

"Oh…" said all three girls as they looked down into their bowls.

"Okay girls, spill it. What are you guys hiding from me?" asked Sakura, now staring right at them.

"What do you mean? We're not hiding anything," said Ino.

"Yeah right. There's something you know that I don't know. Who is Uchiha Sasuke?" said Sakura.

In truth, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata wanted to tell Sakura everything desperately, but they knew that that wouldn't help Sakura at all. They knew that she would have to find out everything on her own. They were saddened by the fact that Sakura lost her memories of the one person that she gave her heart to, and that they had to lie to their best friend.

"He was a shinobi from our village. He was called the prodigy because he was the strongest out of all of us when we were young. But 4 years ago, when he left seeking power, he destroyed the heart of…Naruto-kun and the village, his best friend and home," said Hinata, telling Sakura only a little bit of the truth.

"…Do I…know him?" asked Sakura quietly.

Ino flinched, but said nonetheless, "I'm not sure, Sakura. He used to go to the academy with us, but I'm not sure if you guys really talked or knew each other…"

"Oh…" said Sakura.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" asked Tenten.

"Oh I don't know. It's just that…when I first saw him, he looked so familiar to me. But that's not the part that bothers me, since I could have seen him when we were younger," said Sakura.

"Then what bothers you?" asked Hinata.

"When I walked into his room, he was awake and talking with Naruto. But when he saw me, his eyes showed shock and then relief to see me, like he wanted to see me for a while. And then he called my name, like he knew me from before," said Sakura, closing her eyes and thinking of what happened just yesterday.

"Then what did you do?" asked Ino.

"I just did what my brain told me to do, which was run first and ask later," said Sakura.

"I see…" said Tenten.

"I just don't get it. I don't know him personally, yet it feels like I did. Are you sure I didn't know him when we were younger?" asked Sakura, looking up at her friends.

"I-I don't think so, Sakura-chan. Sasuke-san's a pretty cold guy. Not a lot of people ever got close to him, except for Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"I see. I guess I'll never understand," said Sakura, hopelessly.

Ino suddenly brightened up, "Maybe you should talk to him! He may have been thinking you're one hot chick when he saw you at the hospital and called your name all familiar-like on purpose!"

"Ino!" said both Tenten and Hinata.

"Okay, maybe not that last part. But it wouldn't hurt to at least strike a conversation with him. I mean, you were his doctor. That gives you some authority to be talking to him," said Ino.

"Hmm…maybe. I'll try, I guess," said Sakura.

"Yeah, go try to talk to him. Oh my- look at the time! I'm late for my date with Shika-kun! I'll see you later Sakura! And good luck!" said Ino as she dashed away from the ramen stand.

"Yeah, I need to be going too. I promised Neji I'll train with him today. I'll talk to you later Sakura!" said Tenten as she left.

"I forgot about the clan meeting I'm having with my father today. I'll see you later, Sakura-chan," said Hinata.

"Okay then. Bye, Hinata!" said Sakura cheerfully.

Hinata suddenly stopped and turned around, "Sakura-chan, no matter what, Ino, Tenten, and I are here for you. I hope you can clear your mystery with Sasuke-san."

"Thanks Hinata," said Sakura as she watched Hinata disappear into the crowds.

After paying for everyone's meals, Sakura also left Ichiraku's and started heading towards the hospital. She was too busy thinking about Uchiha Sasuke that she didn't see someone in front of her and bumped into them with her head.

"Ooof! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" said Sakura as she looked up to see the person she bumped into.

"Sheesh, watch where you're going! How stupid can you be to bump into someone right in the middle of the street?" said the man. He was big, not muscular big, but big as in obese big.

"Sir, I'm sorry about bumping into you, but you have no right to be calling me stupid!" yelled back Sakura. By now, a crowd was forming around them. Some of them were pointing to Sakura and then the man saying that he shouldn't be messing around with Sakura and stuff.

"What?! Why you little-" said the man as he raised his hand to strike Sakura on the cheek.

Sakura was getting ready to counterattack when someone whizzed right in front of her.

"A full-grown man should know not to hurt a lady," said a cool, serious voice.

Sakura looked closely at the figure in front of her and realized who it was: Uchiha Sasuke.

"Ha! The little girl has a boyfriend! Well, pretty boy, let's see what you got!" said the big man.

Sasuke turned on his Sharingan, "You sure? I wouldn't be messing with me if I were you."

The big man's eyes widened in shock, "Y-You're an Uchiha? Nevermind, I'm not messing with an Uchiha," said the man as he hurriedly ran away from Sasuke.

Sasuke turned off his Sharingan and turned around. Sakura was just looking up at him in shock.

"You know, you can start by saying thanks," said Sasuke.

"I didn't need your help," said Sakura bitingly, as she looked down from his eyes. His little act right there made her more confused than ever.

"But I helped you anyway," said Sasuke, feeling down because of Sakura's attitude towards him.

"Okay fine. Thanks for your help," said Sakura as she walked around him, not looking at his eyes at all.

"Saku- I mean- Haruno-san," called Sasuke.

"Yes?" said Sakura as she sighed in defeat and turned around to look at her "savior".

Sasuke just stared into her eyes, looking as if he was trying to find something in them. Right when Sakura was gonna ask him why he called her, he turned around.

"Nevermind. I'll see you around," said Sasuke as he walked away.

Sakura just stood there in shock.

"What is going on?! Why did he save me? Why did he call my name? Why did he just stare at me and leave? I'm so confused!" screamed Sakura inside her head as she started running to the hospital.

At Night…

Naruto was laying down on the couch, happily thinking about the past day. He trained with Sasuke, got Sasuke to agree to help Sakura-chan, saw Hinata-chan for a while after he cleaned up from training. What he didn't understand was what happened to Sasuke after training.

Flashback

"Hey Sasuke-teme! What should we eat for dinner? Should we go to Ichiraku's?" said Naruto, happily walking next to his best friend in the heart of the village.

"We're not eating ramen again for-" said Sasuke when he suddenly stopped and looked somewhere else.

"Teme? What's up?" said Naruto, looking at Sasuke.

"Dobe, go home first. I'll be right there," said Sasuke as he disappeared into the crowd.

End Flashback

"I just don't get where he ran off to. Then he came back home looking down and didn't want to tell me anything," said Naruto to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

"AHHHHH!"

Naruto was abruptly woken up from his sleep. Where did that scream come from? Then it suddenly hit him: Sasuke.

Naruto swiftly ran towards Sasuke's room and slammed open the door. What was in front of him put him in shock.

Sasuke was wriggling in bed with his eyes shut tight. His face was contorted in pain and his blood veins were popping out from his arms as he put pressure into them. Naruto ran to the bed, grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, and shook him to no end.

"Teme! What's going on? What's happening? Teme! Wake up!" yelled Naruto.

But Sasuke didn't wake up from his nightmare and continued to twist and turn in pain.

"OROCHIMARU YOU VILE SNAKE!" yelled Sasuke in his sleep.

"TEME!"

"OROCHIMARU! HOW DARE YOU HURT-"

"TEME! WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!" yelled Naruto.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped screaming and fell limp back onto the bed. He fell back asleep.

"Teme…what's going on? How bad could the nightmare have been to do this to you?" said Naruto as he saw the wound in Sasuke's stomach open up again, bleeding.

"S-Sa-"

"Teme?"

"S-Sa-Sakura…" whispered Sasuke in his sleep as a lone tear slipped from one of his closed eyes.

"Teme…I knew you cared for her…" whispered Naruto as he picked Sasuke up from his bed and teleported him outside the house, where he locked up and ran to the hospital to get Sasuke treated.

At the Hospital…

"So, Tsunade-baa-chan, how is Sasuke-teme?" asked Naruto wearily next to Tsunade, who was fixing Sasuke's bandages after she healed his stomach.

"He's fine now. But you should have stopped him from training so excessively!" yelled Tsunade as she and Naruto walked out of Sasuke's room.

"Sasuke-teme's not someone that can be easily convinced. I knew he was gonna try to train anyway…and we got into a pretty bad fight," said Naruto.

"A fight?!" said Tsunade.

"Hai…it was about Sakura-chan," said Naruto.

"So? What happened?" asked Tsunade.

"Well, in the end, Sasuke agreed to help me bring back Sakura-chan's memories. But Tsunade-baa-chan, I gotta talk to you about something," said Naruto.

"What is it?"

"Well…Sasuke-teme's wound opened up again not because of the fight, but because of his nightmare," said Naruto.

"Nightmare?" asked Tsunade.

"Hai. He had a bad nightmare, and he kept thrashing in bed, which opened the wound. From what he was screaming out, he was dreaming about Orochimaru and Sakura-chan," said Naruto.

"Hmm…" said Tsunade, deep in thought.

"As you know, I have to go on a mission in a few days. I can't take care of teme then. I would have Kakashi-sensei take care of him, but he's going on the mission too. And if Sasuke-teme keeps having these nightmares, he needs someone to be there for him," said Naruto, sad to see his best friend in suffering.

"HAHAHA!" laughed Tsunade uncontrollably.

"Tsunade-baa-chan? Why are you laughing?" questioned Naruto, looking up at the Hokage as if she grew another head.

"Naruto, you baka! Don't you see? This is what we've been waiting for!" said Tsunade.

"What? I don't get it," said Naruto.

"Ugh, these are the times when I wish you were a little bit smarter," said Tsunade, returning back to her calm façade.

"Naruto, how long did I assign you to this mission?" asked Tsunade.

"Around 2 weeks, but it might take longer depending on the situation," said Naruto, still confused at where this was going.

"Perfect," said Tsunade.

"Naruto, while you are gone for approximately 2 weeks, Haruno Sakura will be taking care of Uchiha Sasuke. She will be visiting him almost everyday, depending on her schedule. If he gets hurt, she'll be there to heal him, and he wouldn't have to come back to the hospital," said Tsunade with a big smirk on her face.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! That's a great idea!" said Naruto, now smiling his goofy grin.

"Yes I know. They'll get closer, and Sakura will somehow have her memories return," said Tsunade.

"Yes! This is perfect!" said Naruto.

"Naruto, I will assign this mission to Sakura as soon as she reports to the hospital in the morning. For now, you can take Sasuke home," said Tsunade as she walked away.

"Hai! Arigatou Tsunade-baa-chan!" yelled Naruto.

"This is perfect! It's definitely gonna work!" thought Naruto as he walked back into Sasuke's room to take him home.

Oh man!

Here we go!

It's gonna start getting a little more interesting from here on out!

But I must tell you that I can't promise you guys that I'll be updating frequently.

School has already started, and it's gonna get pretty busy for me.

Hopefully I'll be able to update soon enough so I don't lose any of my precious supporters! :)

But yeah, thanks for everything!

Love, Cilla :)