26Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter dedicated to J-boy.
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They had been foolish to think that they were coping well, especially her.
He knew she would never be able to escape the memories, not even during her sleep- especially not in her sleep.
But he had thought that it was better than this.
He finally understood when Kakashi and Naruto had shown up at their usual training spot with his surrogate sister in their arms, shaking like a leaf and pale as the snow they sometimes got to watch during their missions.
When she saw him and Neji, her arms tried to reach them, and they immediately hugged her. She wasn't crying. But he could see her clenching and unclenching her fists. He guessed she was angry at herself for being like this in front of her teammates. Inwardly, he was glad that Sasuke hadn't seen her that way.
Neji came from behind him and put a calming hand on Sakura's shoulder, and he could feel him glaring at Kakashi and Naruto, a clear way of telling them to go away and leave them alone. Sakura would have enough problems explaining everything tomorrow at Team Practice.
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Naruto was worried for his teammate. HE knew she was like a complete stranger, only talking to Neji and Shikamaru, but she was still his teammate, they had to work together and trust each other with their lives. To do that, they had to open up to each other-she didn't know anything about him or the Teme, but they didn't know anything about her either.
He sighed, taking out his house key and opening the door to his home and to his mother's homemade ramen. For once, he did not grin at the smell of his favorite meal, this –of course- worried his mother, who came out of the kitchen wearing her favorite apron.
He knew he couldn't hide anything from her, so he sat down on one of the couches and his mom followed suit.
"One of my teammates had a panic attack today, and I'm worried for her. She seemed so…scared. I just want to help her, but I don't know how. It's frustrating." He hadn't noticed that he was clenching his fists until Kushina took his hands into hers.
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure…we were at the hospital 'cause Sasuke broke his arm on our taijutsu spar, and we were leaning on one of the walls in the hallway, and she went like really quiet, and when I turned to ask what was wrong ,she was shaking and so pale, dattebayo! And she was asking me to get her out of the hospital. So I did, but Kaka-sensei saw us and then we got her to Neji and Shikamaru-you know, since they're always together and we don't know where she lives…and then Neji practically told us to go away before he made us!"
His mother smiled warmly.
"Well Naru-chan, you'll have to try and be her friend, that's the only way that she will start opening up to you."
"But, what if she doesn't want to be my friend? Or-or Sasuke's! What do I do then?"
His mother pinched his cheeks until they were all red and they hurt.
"Don't be silly, you can make anyone be your friend, dattebane!"
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She had finally calmed down enough to explain what had happened.
They were at their normal Training Ground, having some dango and tea to calm her nerves –and everyone else's-.
Neji and Shikamaru weren't saying anything, they just waited patiently for her to start talking, and she was grateful for that.
After finishing her dango, she spoke up.
"We were at the hospital because Sasuke was dumb enough to break his arm in a taijutsu spar against Naruto. So while a medic-nin worked on him, we decided to wait like good teammates.
I was leaning against a wall, and there was a room in there. And there was a woman screaming and crying because she had had a miscarriage and- and I just, I"
Shikamaru was the first to remember Saya.
I had once told them about her when they asked about my voice, why it sounded so raspy.
"I just- in my mind, I was seeing her. I mean, I knew from the moment I first saw her that she was pregnant, but to actually realize that it was all an experiment, it was horrible. It was just a fucking baby! What the hell did it do to deserve such a fate? And what did Saya have to do with anything? She was too young. And, and when she just couldn't think straight anymore, they just burnt her. I can still remember the smell of her flesh, her- her screams."
I just couldn't go on anymore.
It was too much.
I saw other experiments while I was trapped in that place, but Saya had been my first friend. And she was the first to go.
I often wondered why didn't I go nuts after years of being there and then the war. There was a time when she thought it had something to do with Inner, but now she was starting to wonder if she hadn't gone mad too.
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At night, Neji was laying on his bed.
It was late, and he couldn't sleep. He was thinking about Sakura.
She had given so much to everyone, her own happiness, and nobody knew of that. They just went on with their life while she suffered. Tenshi had told them what had she given up.
He knew that memories were powerful things. And he also knew that Sakura hated those memories. To relive them every night for the rest of their life-he couldn't imagine how much it hurt.
But he also knew it was her way of showing just how much she loved them.
He had his father back. Naruto had his parents back. Sasuke had his whole family back. Everyone was happy.
Everyone but Sakura.
He could see her in his mind's eye, in her bed, gazing at her ceiling, afraid of falling asleep because it meant she'd have to see something she would rather forget about.
And he couldn't help but feel the need to be there with her, hug her and talk to her. Just be there for her like every night in their past life.
Neither of them could sleep that night.
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Hey guys! So this is it. It's kind of short, but I wanted to update.
I hope to be able to update soon.
Love you guys.