"So what can you remember occurring after Sasuke called you annoying at the end of the war, Sakura-san?"

"He did something bad to me... The color red... That's all that comes to mind."

It was the next day. Sakura was sitting in the living room of the Yamanaka family home. As talented as Ino was, Sakura thought that Yamanaka Inoichi was a true genius. It had taken him about an hour to isolate and remove the memory. After he had done that, he invited her to look inside her mindscape again. Her memory room actually resembled her bedroom now, though it was still a lot messier than it was in reality. He had mentioned that she should come have more sessions with him to remove all the uncomfortable memories of her suffering after the fact, but this was already a huge relief for her. She stood up from the chair she was sitting in and smiled warmly at the older man.

"Thank you so much... I-" Sakura began to say.

Suddenly, Ino rushed into the room via the front door. Sakura and Ino's father turned to look at her in surprise.

"Forehead! Something has happened... Have you finished treating her for today, Daddy?" Ino asked.

"Yes... Sakura-san, come by later and we'll arrange to have the other memories looked at," Inoichi replied.

"Okay..." Sakura said as Ino had taken hold of her arm and gently dragged her outside.

When they were outside the Yamanaka home, Ino looked at Sakura with a serious expression.

"Ino-pig... What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"You won't believe this... Sasuke-kun is in the hospital," Ino replied.

The pinkette's eyes widened.

"What?! What happened to him?"

"They say it was Naruto... He visited Sasuke-kun in prison and he got really angry... He beat the hell out of him, Forehead. He nearly killed him..."

Sakura put a hand to her heart, which was racing. She felt a surge of happiness to hear this which immediately made her feel ashamed.

Naruto chose me... But damn it... He could get in so much trouble for this. I need to find him... she thought.

"Oh my god... Ino-pig... I've got to find Naruto. Do you know where he is?"

"I don't, but... I heard they were looking for him right now... Do you think he did it because of what happened to you...?"

Ino gave her a sympathetic look. Sakura's nerves were on edge.

"Crap! I have to go find him before something else happens..."

She looked at Ino meaningfully before running off. Ino watched her with concern etched on her features as she left.

/

The first place Sakura decided to check was the Hokage office. If Naruto was getting yelled at, she wanted to make sure he wouldn't take the fall for her like he always did. She rushed over there.

When she arrived, she saw Shizune sitting behind the assistant's desk. She could hear muffled shouting from inside. Shizune looked at her awkwardly.

"What the hell, brat...?! You're the only reason we even gave that damn Uchiha a chance to begin with... Now you beat the crap out of him and tear apart the prison?! Do you even care about becoming Hokage?!" shouted a livid Tsunade.

"You expect me to forgive that bastard for what he did?!" Naruto replied in frustration.

"What?! I thought you DID forgive him... What the hell is going on with you, Naruto?!"

"I can't answer that."

"You have to tell me something, or I'll have to assume you've completely lost it... This makes no sense! He's YOUR friend! You were the one who-"

Sakura decided not to listen to any more of this. She gave Shizune a desperate look and rushed past her to enter the office. Shizune made a move to stop her, but by the time she had stood up, Sakura had already opened the doors.

Inside was a defiant-looking Naruto and Tsunade, who was sitting behind the desk. Kakashi had yet to be inaugurated as Rokudaime, so the female Sannin was still carrying out her duties. Both of them turned to look at Sakura.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto mumbled softly.

Tsunade opened her mouth to say something, but Sakura spoke up first.

"Shishou, please don't be hard on Naruto..." she pleaded.

"Why not? What do you have to do with this...?" Tsunade replied.

Sakura glanced over at Naruto uncomfortably. He had a determined look on his face. Naruto would suffer through anything for her. It made Sakura feel so unworthy. She wasn't going to let him do that this time.

Tsunade looked at Sakura impatiently until she finally spoke up.

"He did it because of me... Sasuke-kun did something awful to me... I told Naruto about it... Please don't put all the blame on Naruto."

Tsunade looked at her disbelievingly.

"If he did something to you, why didn't you report it? Why the hell have we been trying to rehabilitate this guy if everyone who wanted to hates him now? I don't understand any of this..."

"I was ashamed that I was so weak... I didn't want Naruto to hate his best friend... I don't know..."

Naruto then spoke.

"That asshole hurt you, Sakura-chan... I'll never stand for anyone doing that. Never. Even if it's him," he said seriously.

Sakura looked over at Naruto desperately.

"Damn it, Naruto...! It'll hurt me even more if you get in trouble because of me! I never want to be the reason why you can't achieve your dreams..." she implored.

"I don't care! If that bastard hurts you again, he's dead. I don't care if it means I'll be a Genin doing D-rank missions forever. You're more important to me than becoming Hoka-"

"ENOUGH!" Tsunade roared. "Both of you get out of here. I'll figure out what to do about you and Sasuke later, Naruto. It'll probably be my last action as Hokage. Just get out. I'm getting a headache."

"But Baa-chan..." Naruto started to say until Sakura began to drag him out by the collar of his jacket. "Ow! Sakura-chan!"

"Thanks, Shishou... I'm sorry about this," the pinkette said apologetically.

/

Two months had passed. Naruto had been doing D-rank missions the whole time as punishment. He had finished the last one today, so him and Sakura had spent the rest of the day together. The two of them had gotten really close. Sakura couldn't understand why they hadn't always been like this. Being with Naruto made her so happy that she didn't even think about what had happened with Sasuke at the end of the war. Inoichi had deleted her memories of the nightmares and her other instances of suffering over the genjutsu. All she could remember now was that back then, Sasuke had used his Sharingan to hurt her somehow. She knew that it had been a big deal for her, but couldn't remember any of the details.

Sakura walked out of the ramen stand, arm in arm with Naruto. She turned to look at him with a smile, and he smiled back. She kissed him shyly.

"I had a great time, Naruto... Can we do the same thing tomorrow?" she asked a blushing Naruto.

He grinned widely at her.

"Sure, Sakura-chan! I love spending time with you," he said in reply.

"Great! Listen, I have to go help Ino with something... I'll see you later."

Sakura grinned back at him.

"Okay! Bye, Sakura-chan!"

Naruto waved and ran off energetically. Sakura sighed and started walking over to Ino's house.

When she had gotten halfway there, a smooth voice called out to her from her right side.

"Sakura," it spoke.

She turned her head to see who it was. It was Sasuke, dressed in a black cloak. He had a sorrowful look on his face.

"Oh... it's you," Sakura said. Her tone was slightly venomous.

"Listen... I'm leaving today. I wanted to apologize for my actions," Sasuke said.

The pinkette regarded him with amusement.

"I thought you already did?"

"Yes, well... I wanted to apologize for how I hurt you at the end specifically... It's my understanding that you had the memory removed. I'm very sorry that what I did had such an effect on you... It wasn't my intention."

Sakura thought about it. There really was no need to continue being bitter towards him. She couldn't remember it, and she was happy now.

"Sure, Sasuke-kun... It's alright. I don't really think about it anymore."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He hadn't expected this kind of response.

"So... You forgive me?"

"I suppose so... Just remember that your eyes give you power over others. If you decide to use them to hurt someone... Think about it first. They might never recover. That's all I have to say."

Sasuke looked at her sadly.

"Thank you... It's not something that I will be allowed to forget. A seal has been placed on me that will inform Konoha if I use my dojutsu... If it's determined that I used it for a dark purpose, the seal can be used to disable my ocular abilities."

"Yes, I was informed of that... It gave me some measure of relief," Sakura looked at him seriously. "Listen, if you really want to make it up to me, fix things between you and Naruto. I never wanted to be the reason that the two of you stopped being friends..."

"Hn. I'll do my best."

"Sasuke-kun, I have to go. Maybe I'll see you when you return."

Sakura gave him a meaningful look and turned to walk away.

"Very well... See you later, Sakura."

The raven watched her depart.

/

When Sakura arrived at the Yamanaka residence, Ino wasn't home yet. Ino's mother had told her to make herself at home, so she sat down in a comfortable chair and closed her eyes.

After a few moments, her mind started to wander. She had a mental image of a grinning Naruto. She was sure that if she listened hard enough, she would hear the inevitable "Sakura-chan!" echo inside her head.

The mental Naruto gazed at her, his blue eyes shining with love for her. She smiled to herself. Then the blonde turned his head, looking off to her left. He nodded to someone she couldn't see. A moment later, Sasuke walked into her view. He nodded at her, then turned to Naruto and smirked. Naruto grinned back at him.

Sakura felt herself falling asleep. She dreamt of only pleasant things.