Forgotten But Not Lost

Chapter Three- Forgotten

"It's been a week and he still doesn't remember him at all. Naruto has no clue who Sasuke is at all. Nothing we've tried has triggered any little memory of Sasuke at all." Sakura explained hanging her head slightly. At first they had all thought that Naruto fogetting all about Sasuke could be a good thing. No more pestering anyone to go out looking for the raven and no more moping around thinking about old times and memories. The problem now was, Naruto just wasn't the same. He wasn't as happy or as stubborn. Yesterday Sakura had told him to read something instead of ask her questions and two minutes later she saw him holding a book. Naruto would never had before. He also seemed more defiant. If he didn't want to do something before you couldn't really make him do it, eventually though he would have given in. Now he just glares at you until you say he doesn't have to. He was different, more...cold. 

"Nothing's worked? Have you tried using the headband Naruto kept?" Jiraya asks walking into the room. Tsunade shakes her head slowly in response, "I've never seen Naruto with a headband that wasn't his." 

Jiraya turned to look at Sakura with a small look of hope in his eyes. He had already been to visit Naruto and knew something had changed without even fully stepping into the room. Sakura only held her head lower and shook her head slightly. 

"I've looked everywhere. It's no in his house, or his room or the places Iruka always found him hiding stuff as a kid. No one has the sligthtest clue where Naruto could have hid that headband." 

After a few moments of silence that fell over the room like a suffocating blanket, Shizune finally spoke the fear everyone had in their minds, "What if Sasuke has it?" Sakura stiffened at the idea, they would never get it back if Sasuke did have it. "I mean Naruto and Sasuke have seen eachother many times since Sasuke left. It could be that after one of their fights Naruto gave it back. If he did..." 

Tsunade sighed, "I guess we will have to go off looking for Sasuke anyways after all." 

Jiraya nodded and sighed as well, "We also have to look for the person who did this. Why erase Sasuke and not anything else? What's the cause? Orochimaro and Kabuto wouldn't have done that. They gave Sasuke up a while ago after he left. Tobi would have no purpose in taking the memory. Sasuke looks at Naruto like a challange and something to test himself. Sasuke has no reasoning either. Someone else we haven't run into yet caused it. Only what did they have in mind? And if they did this to Naruto of all people...what could they do to someone with less stubborn will?" 

Sakura felt dread latch onto her heart like a weight. Tugging at it as if to drag it straight out of her and crush it to bits, "I want to be part of the searching team." 

Tsnuade shot Sakura a look before shaking her head hesitantly, "No. Naruto has already lost one person from Team Seven and permanantly from his memory. You need to stay. I trust you with taking care of Naruto. If we can even call him that now, he is different and I don't like it. I'm sending out Sai, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba and Shino. They will be looking for the one who caused the memory loss. Jiraya you will take Kakashi, and Gai and hunt down Sasuke Uchiha." 

-------------------

"Hey Naruto." Sakura said as cheerfully as she could manage. She didn't like the way Naruto looked at her now. When he was normal he looked at her with a caring glance and a sense of fear that if he said something wrong she would kill him, which was mostly true. The blonde always had so many emotions set in his eyes before that she could almost never tell which was more dominant unless he was upset. Now they seemed almost void and emotionless. It reminded her too much of Sasuke and she never wanted to think of what would have happened if Naruto had been the one to leave instead of the Uchiha. With the nine tails in him, they would have sent out professional assassins and put a huge bounty on the head of Naruto Uzumaki. There would have been no way for him to escape them excpet to obliterate all of them. It would have been child's play. 

Swallowing bile, Sakura walked deeper into the room. Naruto turned to look at her slowly, as if he didn't care for her presense at all. It hurt her, thought she never thought he would. Naruto had never hurt her before and now she wasn't sure how to feel or anything. Sakura didn't know if she should even be her normal self around him. Sure he remembered her but she had never been nice and if he was more cold now than he was before, he must look at her differently. It was like the hate had taken dominance in his mind. 

Naruto turned away from Sakura almost as quickly as he had looked at her. A simple glance. That was all the acknowledgement she got. No "SAKURA-CHAN" or big dorky smile. Just a glance. 

"What do you want?" Naruto snapped, his voice practically dripping acid. As if he wanted to scorn her away with just his thoughts. Sakura swallowed hard once again and a knot tied itself in her stomach. Tightening to a point where she could barely stand it. 

Still she manages to keep a calm exterior, "I just wanted to make sure you were recovering alright." 

Naruto's head snapped so he was looking at her. His blue eyes almost indigo and dark. He stood up and walked over to her, an emotionless mask across his face. He stopped a few feet away from her, "Since when did you care if I was okay?" 

With that the Uzumaki walked out. Not muttering another word.