Haruno Sakura (sakurablossoms) wrote in clockwork_rp, @ 2008-03-05 23:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | naruto::jinchuuriki, sakura::sakurablossoms |
[COMPLETE]
Who: Naruto (jinchuuriki) and Sakura (sakurablossoms)
What: Sakura explains everything and... the usual friendly fluff because OMGAH NARUTO IS BACK.
When: The moment Naruto arrived.
Where: 205, B
Warnings: Haha no.
Sakura: Sakura ran an idle hand through her pink hair as she stared at the bland computer screen in front of her, green eyes scanning for any new arrivals she could busy herself with welcoming or ignoring to allow the others to deal with. It had become routine, in a way, to check the system for newcomers every single day. Subconsciously, she always hoped to fall over a familiar name or term only used in her world. Sadly enough, it had been a rare occasion as of late, and although Sakura was extremely grateful that everyone she loved was home and safe, it did get lonely sometimes. She had friends here, yes, and even Sasuke was around for some form of familiarity, but relying on him for the comfort of home was far from possible. There were few people who could truly make her heart warm up and cause a glow of safety to envelop her thoughts... and none of them were here.
Sighing, a heavy yawn passed her lips and she leaned back in her chair, almost giving up on the morning ritual. Glancing backwards, she noticed Asuka was in her own little corner as usual; the two of them did not tend to talk that much in person for some reason. Turning back toward the computer screen, she went for it and checked her "friend" page again, automatically prepared to shut the machine off immediately until she froze in place. Eyes growing wide, she leaned her body in until her face was mere inches from the bright screen, mouth slightly open. The large Dattebayo! stuck out like a sore thumb, leaving her breath to catch somewhere in her throat and her whole body to grow hot from disbelief. It couldn't be...
A quick reply, and very soon she received one back. She stood up as quick as possible for a shinobi and flew out the door, not even thinking sensibly.
And, okay, maybe she just wanted to see him.
Once she was out in the hallway, Sakura closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on the boy's familiar chakra. She knew it just as well as her own by now, having been his friend and teammate for years now. Surprisingly enough, the warmth of his presence hit her nearby. So he really was on this floor like he said. Continuing to follow the trail, she kept her eyes shut tight and merely walked wherever her body allowed her to until she was facing a certain door and his chakra was eminating like crazy. Then, in one swift movement, she pounded on his door... hard. "NARUTO! NARUTO, ARE YOU IN THERE?"
Naruto: Naruto rubbed his head gently as he looked around the room. He had gotten some of his anger out when he'd posted that entry to try and figure out what was going on here, but he knew he was far from getting answers and far from getting home. He wasn't pleased in the least. His face scrunched in thought as he walked around the room, observing his new domain carefully and keeping an eye out for any people or tricks. It seemed safe enough, nothing like a hideout for the Akatsuki, but then again, they might want him to be thinking just that. Catch him off guard, hai? So the young teenager kept one hand gripping a kunai, he slowly opened the closet door one more time just to see if things had changed.
Once again, the contents inside were far from being the same. While he had had some cookbooks before, most likely to symbolize his need for food, this time he was pelted with two dolls - one of Sakura and one of Sasuke. He glared heavily at the latter, kicking it back into the closet, before gently picking up the pink-haired one that was lying at his feet. Were his friends here? Could they find him if they were? He bit his lip, his eyes filling with a sense of sadness, before he gently placed the Sakura plushie onto the desk with the laptop. At least he knew how to use one - he could only imagine the confusion that would've come if he hadn't.
Sitting down on his bed, he scrunched his face, crossing his arms and huffing loudly. He was not known to be patient in awaiting answers and he refreshed the page at least twenty times within five minutes waiting for a reply. None was coming. "Useless piece of crap... dattebayo..." He murmured under his breath, glaring at it. It was useless. If he hadn't seen so many other people on the page when he clicked "Friends" he would have assumed he was the only one here. That didn't seem to be the case.
"Patient. I can be patient, right? Yeah! It's not so hard! Just sit back... relax... and..."
He paused, glancing at the clock in the corner of the screen. An entire minute had passed. He paused, looked at the browser once more, and quickly hit refresh.
"GAAAAH!"
Still nothing.
He had just slammed the computer shut when the loud knocking came from his door, causing him to let out a yelp of surprise and nearly topple out of his chair. "NANI!?" What the hell! He scrambled himself up and once the shouting began, he suddenly felt himself feeling a lot happier. He would know that voice anywhere, after all, and nearly leaping at the door, he grabbed a hold of the handle and pulled it open quickly.
"SAKURA-CHAN!" Pause. "Were you trying to break my door?"
Sakura: The moment he opened the door, Sakura felt her eyes stinging nearly immediately. She would not usually have felt like crying at the mere sight of him (and if she did it was probably for other reasons) but the shock of having him here for a second time... seeing a third physical veersion of him... was enough to break down her barrier of strength. Since he left the last time she had felt terribly alone and beyond depressed at one point or another. He was her friend after all, her best friend, and if she had to choose anyone to spend time with in this strange, crazy place it would have been Naruto.
She didn't let herself really cry, though, not in front of him. Instead, she smiled brightly and stared at his face, keeping her shaking hands behind her tightly. His comment made her twitch on the inside but she chose to amuse him with a small giggle instead. "No... I was..." she cleared her throat and placed her hands on her hips firmly. "I can't simply come and see you? Baka."
Biting her lip, she began to tap a foot while contemplating her next move and softened her expression momentarily, choosing to just give in and hug him.
She would explain why later.
Naruto: Naruto opened his mouth to respond just when she leaned in for a hug, his words getting cut off in a small oomph as he looked down at her quizzically. He had been expecting a punch, maybe, or some more jabs at him, but that had thrown him off guard only slightly. He smiled, however, putting his arms around her and patting her back happily. He wasn't about to reject sudden physical affection - especially not from her.
"Dattebayo, you act like you haven't seen me in months," he said gently with a bit of confusion mingled in with his amusement. He pulled back, tilting his head at her some. She looked relieved and slightly overwhelmed despite her attempts to hide it with a smile and he couldn't help but be curious as to why. Had he been asleep for days due to some genjutsu performed by their enemy? That would've been cause for worry, he supposed, though also heavily embarrassing to boot. Lets hope it wasn't that, yeah?
"Where are we, anyway?"
Sakura: She let go of him rather reluctantly but quickly, knowing he was probably weirded out by now. She never really acted this way with him, but living here had definitely changed her and made her more emotional... if that was even possible. It was perfect timing for him to arrive as well, given how Sasuke was literally right down the hall and remembered nothing about Naruto. She didn't know when or how to tell him so either. It was probably a good idea to wait.
Glancing up at him again, she was no longer smiling but kept a serious look in her eye. "I haven't seen you for months. About three or four, to be exact. I've been here far longer than that, myself." She paused, knowing this was going to be very difficult to explain to Naruto of all people. Sakura knew he was smart when he needed to be, but honestly, logic had never been one of his strongest qualities. Although... this place was far from anything that could be considered logical. "I don't know what it's called. It doesn't have a name, really. All I know is that it's some sort of alternate world many people were pulled to... from many different worlds. You've been here before, once, but then you left. And now... you're back..."
Tilting her head slightly, she looked unsure. "Am I making any sense?"
Naruto: Three or four months? He'd seen her just yesterday! A few hours ago at most! He looked at her like she had gone slightly mad as she tried to explain, the look eventually settling into one of definite confusion, and finally landing in a very "Ahhh," like state, as though it had all clicked and dawned on him. He was quiet for a moment, biting at his lip as though trying to piece tiny things together and attach all the loose strings when he finally let out a sigh and shook his head.
"Uh... No. It's not making much sense at all." How could he possibly have been here before? He would've remembered some place this strange for sure! He was positive he hadn't left their world once in his entire life and it was going to be rather hard to convince him of otherwise. He scratched his head some, backing up so she could actually come into the room rather then stand out in the hallway for forever.
"Alternate universe I get, but I just saw you last night and... I..." Pause. This was definitely going to cause a headache.
Sakura: Sakura gave a heavy sigh, already feeling a part of her brain throbbing with the exhaustion she knew she was going to end up in by the end of this visit. As she walked inside, though, she allowed herself to calm down. She knew he was going to have to learn all this eventually, and even though the speech was very repetetive, she was willing to give it to him. So, as she took a seat on one of the beds in the carbon-copy room of the hotel, she patted the seat by her side and leaned back slightly, resting her weight on her hands.
"All right, then. If you saw me last night, where were we exactly?" If he was from the future that would not have been good at all. The last memory she had of home was leaving on a mission to find Itachi, and even the details that were so precicely planned at the time were fuzzy to her memory.
Naruto: His forehead was going to be permanently wrinkled at this rate. Naruto stared at her blankly, clearly still very confused as to why she was asking. She'd been there, she surely had to remember, right? Huff. He scrunched his mouth, trying to remember as things were all a bit fuzzy right then, and decided to choose the last detail that stuck out so strongly in his mind.
"Itachi. We're going after him. That's all I can remember." He nodded, deciding that would be good enough an explanation. She ought to know what he was talking about anyway! She didn't look any different then when he last saw her, perhaps a little worn out but she was like that a lot of the time, wasn't she? So it was still the same Sakura-chan. Wasn't it?
"Er... You... remember... right?"
Sakura: "I do," she said with a bit of relief evident in her voice. That was good. It meant she did not have to go the extra mile explaining how either one of them could know more than the other and vice versa. She had a feeling it would have just made him give that same exact confused look even longer. "That's where I was when I arrived here first too, but that happened seven months ago for me. I know it's confusing and strange but... it's almost like a very complicated genjutsu. We're basically pulled from the places we last were but at... different times." Her agitated expression softened. "You'll understand eventually, I promise. I was just as puzzled as you in the beginning." Somewhat. "But the people here are very nice so they'll help you too. A lot of them still remember you from when you were here before, too! You had friends here."
Sakura paused, the next words coming out of her very casually as if they were perfectly normal. "Just to warn you now, as well, there are ghosts running this place who have shown no mercy for anyone as of yet. We get cursed every now and then. Sometimes they are not that bad, but other times they can be... scary..." A moment flashed in her mind of when the earlier Naruto had killed her because of a curse and she gulped. "But I don't think you should worry about that. We all make it out fine in the end! At least physically." She smiled again.
Naruto: "Friends?" He paused at the word, staring at Sakura for a long moment, before nodding. He wondered why he couldn't remember being here, why it was that he couldn't remember having friends in such a strange place - if it was just like a complicated genjutsu, wouldn't he be able to remember the details after it had ended? Remember being sucked into it? Or was memory loss one of the side effects? He bit his lip nervously, before nodding again. "Like that blue hedgehog that said hello to me? S something?"
The word 'curses' hung in his head for a long moment, his eyes widening some. "Curses!? Dattebayo! Who MADE this place?" Kidnapping people, keeping them here against their will, and CURSING them? He shook his head, rubbing his forehead in thought as he finally took a seat that he hadn't taken before. He didn't want to think about what she meant by coming out fine physically at least so he felt the very strong urge to change the subject.
"Someone said that time... time stops back in our world? Is that true?" He wanted to be sure their mission wasn't being sacrificed by their being in another dimension. "Is that why I didn't know you've been here for months?"
Sakura: "Sonic?" Well, he was the only blue hedgehog she knew. "Yes! You two were definitely friends. He's very nice, too. Most people here are but then there are a few..." she trailed off with an annoyed grumble, remembering a few unfriendly faces she wouldn't have minded never seeing again.
Shaking her head, she glanced over at him as he finally sat down and nodded lightly at his realization, happy that he had come to an answer on his own... one that was hard to explain. "Yes, that's true. A few people have returned home and come back, remembering this place, and said that nothing had changed in their worlds since they left. So that's good... it means the others will be safe on their own. Frozen in time, I guess." It sounded very weird when she put it like that, but it was true. Kakashi, Yamato, Sai, and Team 8 were all still out there without the two of them. She wondered what it would look like if they could peak their heads back into the scene and stare at the situation for a brief moment.
Moving her eyes around his room without much thought, Sakura started as she noticed something sitting on top of his desk. Blinking, she raised a brow. "Naruto..." she started quietly before staring at him as if slightly aggravated. "Why do you have a doll that looks just like me?"
Naruto: Naruto tensed some when she caught sight of the doll on his desk, before jumping up and running over to grab the doll, laughing nervously as he threw it into a drawer. He had completely forgot about the dolls that had fallen out of the closet and as he turned back to Sakura, rubbing his neck nervously, he hoped that she would look at this logically. It wasn't like he was some creepy stalker guy! It wasn't like he got the dolls himself! The stupid closet had done it! That was a great excuse and it was TRUE to boot. He felt his cheeks burning a slight pink and he tried to force it down as he talked.
"I - S-sakura-chan, the closet! I just opened it and... and these ones of you and Sasuke bastard fell out! I don't know where they come from or anything. It was totally random and ... uh..." He trailed off, not sure how else to explain it. He had just wanted to see his friends and they'd come out of no where. It was confusing to him enough in itself without having to think of a way to explain it to someone else. He paused before running to the other side of the room and grabbing the doll he had kicked.
Sakura: Sakura laughed a little despite herself at Naruto's reaction, not really angry at the fact that he had a doll of her (for some reason it seemed normal for him) but more curious than anything. When he mention the closet, though, she understood. "The closet gives you whatever you want," she said. "But not much that we normally use at home, unfortunately."
Standing up as well as he held out the Sasuke doll, Sakura walked over and stared at it, remembering that she had yet to tell him one last important piece of information. It probably would have been better for him to hear it from her anyway. Talking with Sasuke would have confused Naruto if even SHE had been flustered during the first conversation they had. "Sasuke-kun is here too, you know." Her voice came out low and serious, not taking her eyes off of the ironically stoic plushie. "He's right down the hall, actually... but... he's different."
Naruto: Naruto was quiet for a moment, staring at the doll in hands as she spoke. He remembered the comment her had received, the haughty air that Sasuke had given him, and thought that that meant he was no different then before. However, if she believed him to be, she had probably interacted with him far more then Naruto had had a chance to, and he couldn't help but feel his throat tighten uncomfortably. He walked to the bed, still holding the doll in his hands, and practically flopped onto it with a sigh.
"Yeah, he... said something to me. In my post..." He trailed off, his lips pursing together and his jaw clenching tightly. They had been searching for him for so long, run into him once, and been forced to go back to hunting for him again. They were trying everything in their power to bring Sasuke back to their group, to make things as they were, and now all three of them were here? On the same floor? So close to one another?! He felt an ounce of frustration building up in him at the thought, finding this place to be even more cruel and more irritating then before. His grip tightened on the doll and his eyes closed tightly as he tried to keep his voice steady.
"How? How is he different?"
Sakura: Sakura watched Naruto intently but silently, noticing how he was reacting to her words. She knew he would grow slightly upset at the news but, at the same time, she was hoping the next bit of information may have brought him some sense of hope. When she found out how Sasuke had lost his memories of them she had felt sadness but also an indescribable pang of joy. She was slowly but surely already gaining his trust and speaking with him on a regular basis, something she never could have even dreamed of doing back home. She didn't even think they would have the possibility to be friends ever again, even if he did "return" to Konoha. Sakura was not stupid. She knew things would be different. She knew he would never be the same Sasuke they all knew and loved.
She chose to lean against the desk she was now standing in front of, tracing her eyes over the bed he was lying on and away toward the wall in front of her. There was a long pause, an uncomfortable stillness, before she chose to put it bluntly. Beating around the bush would not have worked with Naruto, as much as Sakura still felt the need to protect his feelings sometimes.
"He... seems to have lost most of his memory... of us." She paused, biting at her bottom lip. "He didn't even know who I was when we first spoke. I had to describe everything and all he remembered was my 'loud friend' who attacked him once." She finally looked at his face though the angle was strange from their positions, her expression soft. "I explained our situation as best as I could and he seems to be getting along all right with me for now, but I don't know what will happen now that you're here. Maybe... maybe he'll still be willing to... forget all that like he said. He said it didn't matter here." She hoped he meant it.