Naruto and Hinata: Stories After "The Last"! (Bi-weekly Updates)

Memories: Part Two

With swiftness, Sakura and Naruto were able to take Hinata to the hospital, where Sakura was an associate. She treated her and made her comfortable before allowing Naruto back into the room. Finally able to reenter, he viewed her sitting under the covers in the hospital bed, looking down into her hands a bit vacantly. Naruto smiled awkwardly, grabbing the back of his head.

"Hey, Hinata... That was a pretty funny prank you played, pretending not to know us like that..."

Sakura gave him a grave look, that Naruto may have known all too well, as Hinata kept her eyeline firmly planted on her hands, not acknowledging his words.

"Naruto, you're an idiot!" She scolded, attempting not to raise her voice too loudly, though she wanted desperate to give him a good slap in the other direction. She placed a hand on Hinata's head, feeling for a temperature. "Hinata really has lost all her memories... We're not exactly sure why yet. It doesn't seem like she's bumped her head or anything, and with amnesia patients, they usually at least remember their own names..."

"Hi – nata..." Hinata spoke, her eyes finally flickering upward. "That's...who I am. Right?" She had a desperate look of unsureness that could break even a cold heart. Sakura gave a weak smile.

"Yes... You're Hinata Hyuga." She spoke to her softly, and encouragingly, her green eyes were sympathetic. "You're from a very highly esteemed clan in Konoha – this village. In fact, your father is the leader of them."

"My father?"

"Yes,...and your sister, Hanabi, and..." She stopped, seeing that Hinata was becoming overwhelmed, as her gaze fell back to her hands. What a traumatic experience it would be to not remember anything of who you were, Sakura thought. She looked over to Naruto, who simply waited and listened intently, clearly unsure of what exactly to say.

"Naruto, may I see you in the hallway, privately?"

Without too much protest, they exited the room. Sakura gently closed the door behind her.

"Sakura... Is Hinata ever going to regain her memories?" Naruto jumped the gun, asking flat out, afraid of the potential answer. "The real Hinata is in there somewhere...I can tell." His tone was determined.

"There's no way to know for sure." She lamented, feeling that honesty was the best policy. "But in my experience, these things tend to come back slowly, piece by piece. We'll be doing everything we can to speed up the process."

"Thank you, Sakura." Naruto felt at least some sense of relief that she might be in good hands, but what he really wanted was to sit with her, talk with her for a while, and draw her back to him; to save her all over again, in a sense. He attempted to move past Sakura and back into the hospital room, but Sakura wasn't quite finished with what she had to say.

"Wait." She urged, stopping him with a firm clasping the doorknob before him.

"What is it?" His curiosity was peaked.

"Well, I think that it would be best if you give Hinata some space for right now."

"Give her some space?" Naruto inquired, in a bit of disbelief at her words.

"Look..." Sakura sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "I get it. You're crazy about her. But she doesn't even know you right now. We don't want her to be too overwhelmed, do we?"

It made sense to not want to upset her any more than she already was... But to stay away from her? A hard task... And to think that she forgot about him? He just didn't want to face it.

"Alright I will if you think it's going to help." He gave in with a heavy heart.

"I'll take her back to her house and explain the situation. That will make you feel better, won't it?" Sakura offered, attempting the lighten the mood.