Disclaimer: i don't own Naruto...I'm pretty sure everyone knows this
Chapter 1
The wind whistled through the deserted streets, flowing around corners and into open windows belonging to the people that wanted to take advantage of the summer breeze. The wind streamed upward toward the open window of a rundown apartment belonging to our beloved Naruto, who was snoring peacefully on his bed. A happy smile danced across his face.
An entire year had passed since he and his team had rescued Sasuke from Orochimaru after the failed first attempt. When they finally returned to Konoha, Sasuke had still been in denial. In the following months, he had slowly reverted back to his old self, excluding the obsession to kill his brother. Everyone thought this was too good to be true but nevertheless, everyone was happy to have their last Uchiha back.
Tsunade-obaa, Ero-sennin, and the Konoha medical staff worked around the clock to find a cure for the cursed seal. After eight months, their hard work paid off. Sasuke's cursed seal was permanently suppressed. Team 7 was finally together again, even though Sakura was already a chunin. Life went back to the way it was before and Naruto couldn't be less than ecstatic.
Until…
A lone whistling sound drifted with the wind through the open window, its melody long and haunting. Naruto's smile slowly flickered away, to be replaced by a pained frown. As the whistle continued with no pause, Naruto shook his head and turned in his bed, his eyes fluttering with sleep. He clapped his hands to his ears tightly and winced.
"No…" He muttered, fitfully turning one side of the bed to the other in a vain attempt to rid the haunted melody.
"No, go away…no…NO!" Naruto sat upright in bed, eyes wide with fear. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He looked around in suspicion. His eyes were wide as they darted around the room.
The bed he was lying in, the picture on the desk beside his bed, which held a picture of him and two others whom he didn't recognize. Nothing was familiar to him. He jumped off the bed and backed up to the wall like a cornered animal. Naruto's blue eyes darted around the room in fear.
Where am I? Naruto thought frantically and made a dash for the door. He kicked down the door, not wanting to waste time opening it, and ran outside.
Slowly, he began to take note of his surroundings.
Buildings surrounded him on all sides, some were shops, and some were residences. He looked back toward the building he ran out of. It looked like a run down apartment. Naruto turned back, his eyes absorbing every detail about this place. His features were marred with a frown, uncertainty and fear.
Where am I? What the hell am I doing here?
Naruto cautiously walked past the dark buildings, careful to keep his footsteps silent to avoid the people who governed or lived in this mysterious place. He froze when he caught sight of his reflection in a dark shop window.
A rather tall boy stared back at him. The baby fat was shed, replaced by lean muscles. Short, messy blonde hair stuck out of a ridiculous panda hat. The arms and legs were slightly muscular, enough to fill out the black t-shirt he was wearing. Green boxer shorts completed the reflection. Naruto looked up at the reflection's face. The mouth was full and had the looks of seeing one too many smiles. Strangely, three whiskers marks stretched out on each side of his cheeks. Looking past the nose, Naruto caught sight of crystal blue eyes. One thought crossed his mind.
Who am I?
Naruto shut his eyes forcefully and frantically searched his memories. All that he found was darkness. His eyes snapped open and he looked around in fear.
This is impossible. No memories? How old am I? When's my birthday? Who am I?
Naruto felt like a deer caught in the headlights, unsure of what was happening and what he should do. His head kept screaming at him to run to a safe place, a sanctuary. Naruto looked upward. There was no one on the roofs of the buildings and if he traveled that way, no one would notice him. With a pump of his legs, he jumped onto the roof of the apartment building with ease, like he had been doing it his entire life. He quickly looked around, studying everything carefully.
The buildings spread out in a half circular form. An enormous monument of five faces backed up the village.
Naruto's mind thought of ways to escape. Going over the monument seemed like a horrible idea but he could not see any exits from his position. Nevertheless, he knew that a place has to have an exit because if there were no exit, then there would be no entrance, which would mean no villagers. Unfortunately, this much thinking wasn't exactly helping Naruto right now when his mind and body were sending out distress signals for being forced into a position where he had no memories and nothing that he recognized. He decided that he would just pick a direction and pray to Kami-sama that he would come upon an exit. Naruto jumped off the roof and landed gracefully on the balls of his feet. He faced the direction he picked and started running.
After a few minutes, Naruto turned onto a wider road. Luckily for him, enormous double gates came into his view but they were guarded. Naruto dived into the shadows before the guards had a glimpse of him.
He sighed heavily and inspected the setting. The gates were wide open, as though tempting someone to attempt to break in. Power radiated from the two guards even as they sat there playing their cards. Naruto settled down, knowing that this would take a long time.
Maybe he should try the other gates? Naruto shook out the thought. The other gates were most likely guarded too. Naruto returned his attention back to the two guards. He examined of their movements to see if they were showing any sign of weakness. As Naruto watched, he could see signs of exhaustion. Little by little, the guards slumped back into their seat in their booth and fell asleep. Naruto grinned at his luck. He dashed through the gate, into the forest beyond. This was no time to relax. He was still in unfamiliar territory.
Sasuke sat up, panting. The image of Itachi plunging the sword in his mother was seared into his mind. Sasuke looked up and shivered. He walked to the window and paused, with his hands on the window handle. He could have sworn he had heard a whistling sound. Sasuke stayed at the window a while longer to make sure. The only sound was one of running feet.
Who's crazy enough to run this late at night?
A voice in his head answered, Naruto would be.
Sasuke smirked in agreement and walked downstairs to the living room to pour some tea. He couldn't sleep after a dream of the past. He never could and he knew he never would. But the past had past. He should focus more on protecting his friends that he had finally found.
Sakura sat up in bed, her hand curled up near her heart. She dreamed of Sasuke-kun's deflection to Orochimaru, the dream that had haunted her a year or two ago but now that Sasuke-kun was back, she was sure her sexiness would keep him by her side.
A lone whistle floated to her ears and she shivered. Sakura stumbled out of bed toward the window and quickly pulled it shut. The whistle sounded haunting. It brought back many unwanted sad memories. Sakura quickly shook her head and sank back into bed.
Naruto jumped from tree to tree, his hair streaming behind him. The concept of "tree-hopping", or so he called it, was fairly easy. His body moved without his mind having to think, as though it was second nature.
He winced as stray branches cut into his face. His body was littered with bruises and cuts. A sudden burst of sunlight took Naruto's attention from the pain. He stumbled into the dawn light and looked around in shock.
Flora bloomed from every inch of ground around him. He had no idea where he was. This world was a complete mystery to him, much like himself. Naruto collapsed onto the lush grass, weak from the midnight run. A sudden noise behind him caused him to look up. A farmer was standing there, glaring at him.
"Hey you! What are you doing in my fields? You're the one that's stealing my vegetables and flowers aren't you?!" the farmer closed in on Naruto, glaring at him. Pain exploded at the back of his head as images flashed before his eyes.
A woman glared at him, pushing her child behind her.
A man glared at him, shooing him out of his store.
An old woman glared at him, her grocery bag tucked tightly within her arms. She waved her cane in front of her as though warding something off.
Why are they glaring at me? Do I know these people?
Naruto stumbled to his feet and sped off away from the farmer.
Naruto leaned on a rocky outcrop, hurriedly catching his breath under the hot sun. He had already gone over his limit when he stopped to rest in the fields and the further run made his body feel numb. His vision blurred.
The sound of footsteps made Naruto straighten again. The sudden motion made his vision waver before it was replaced with darkness.
Naruto fell to the ground.
Murmurs surrounded him on all sides but none were distinct. Naruto tried to turn but his body wouldn't move. His eyelids felt heavy, as if they were made of lead.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes, allowing the light deprived room to shift into a clearer view. People in animal masks and dark cloaks surrounded him, all displaying an aura of power.
He looked around as his vision cleared. Naruto sat on a hard, wooden chair in the center of the dark room. Candles, scattered around the room gave the only light. The circle of masked people blocked his view of the rest of the room.
Naruto tugged at his numb hands and his feet to no avail. They were tied so tight the ropes dug into his already marred skin. The three people standing directly in front of him began performing seals, so fast that their fingers were blurs.
"Gyaku Nagori (Reverse Memory) no jutsu!" The three shouted.
Before Naruto could inspect the rest of his surroundings, his vision blurred and energy flooded out of his body. His body limped and his head dropping down to his chest.
"You are traveling back in time. One day, two days. What do you see?" An ANBU questioned, his voice soothing and calm amidst the buzzing in Naruto's mind.
Silence passed. "Nothing." Naruto mumbled, his mouth dry and numb from exhaustion.
"What do you mean?" the ANBU asked with a hint of suspicion and confusion.
"I see nothing. Nothing's there." Naruto clarified.
"Then let's travel forward a day. Now what do you see?"
"I see a room."
"Is it your room?"
"No…I don't know…I don't recognize it…"
"What did you do next?"
The ANBU captain absorbed the information the boy dished out, starting from waking up in a strange bedroom.
As the boy finally ended with arriving in Earth Country, the ANBU brought a chakra empowered finger up to Naruto's temple and murmured a jutsu. The boy instantly fell asleep.
"Half of you are to stay here to guard him. Even though he is still a boy, I sense his chakra coils were trained and fully grown. He is still a threat to Tsuchikagure, even if he has no memories." The ANBU captain ordered and teleported away.
In Tsuchikage's Office
"Tsuchikage-sama."
The Tsuchikage turned around in his chair to face the newly arrived ANBU captain.
"What have you learned about the boy?"
"Tsuchikage-sama, the boy has no memory of anything before a day ago. No childhood memory, nothing. He doesn't even remember his name." The ANBU captain reported.
Tsuchikage listened with his chin propped on his intertwined hands.
"I sense his chakra coils are fully developed. I have left half of the ANBU squads there to watch him. But…the way the boy described the village he escaped from…it holds such a close resemblance to Konoha."
The Tsuchikage nodded in agreement.
"Have you noticed how alike he looked to the man that wrecked our beloved village?" The Tsuchikage inquired.
The ANBU nodded.
"The same solid blonde colored hair and his eyes were as cold blue as that person's."
"Tsuchikage-sama, if the boy indeed came from Konoha, then wouldn't it be better and safer for our village if we kill him now when he has no memories and no way to defend himself? When we have him tied up and in our mercy?"
The Tsuchikage chuckled.
"No need. The fact that he has no memories will work in our favor. If he indeed is from Konoha, wouldn't ruining Konoha with one of their own be the perfect revenge?" an evil glint flashed in the Tsuchikage's eyes. "We will take care of him, love him as if he were one of our own and when the time of war comes, he will be our greatest weapon. That wretched Konoha wouldn't stand a chance."