Gone Forever?

Disclaimer: I don't him. -.- But neither do you, so hah!

Summary: What happens to shadow-clones when you die? They just disappear. That is, unless your Naruto. When Naruto faces death by Sasuke's hand, Kyuubi transports their souls into that of a Shadow-clones but a few things happen Kyuubi didn't plan on. For starters, they don't remember anything! They leave Konoha thinking Naruto is dead and Sasuke is to blame.

Warnings: Death, some cursing, some OCC, and my own characters. Sorry, can't be helped. There will also probably be strong friendship between Sasuke and Naruto but no yaoi because this story will probably be NaruOC.

Author Notes: I should not be starting a new story. I should not be starting a new story... oh well, to late! I just NEEDED to write this! And yes, most of this chapter was totally unnecessary to have, but I don't care. I wanted it all in there. I've seen some stoires sort of like this, so hopefully this one will be different! (As it is, I barely know where I'm going to go with this story) I rated this T because I'm afraid to rate it any lower just in case. Dx Anyway... please enjoy! (And I'll update my other story soon, I promise)

Chapter 1

Naruto stood at an edge of a clearing, his chest heaving as he tried to pull in the air to fill his lungs. His hair was matted with blood. His obnoxiously orange clothes were now torn and blood-stained. He had various shades of bruises lining his body where ever his tan skin was not already open and bleeding. He could barely open his left eye and his body was undergoing this numb sensation that made his fingers tingle and barely function to hold his kunai knife.

The other end of the clearing held his rival… his best-friend. The person he had admired, and hated for most of his life. The person he had wasted all of his teenage life desperately searching for… the person who Naruto would go back and redo everything with, the good times and the bad ones. For all those times, were better than what Naruto was going to do now.

It was Sasuke that stood, facing Naruto on the other side. He looked worse than Naruto did. Blood trailed down from his right eye, dripping off of his chin. He looked like he had literally gone to hell and back about three times.

And Naruto…. Well, Naruto was going to kill him.

He didn't want to, but Naruto knew that it was his only choice. If he didn't kill Sasuke now, he might never get another chance and the Uchiha might really hurt Konoha one day. That was something Naruto couldn't live with.

Naruto made a sign with his hands, preparing to make a whole bunch of clones for his last attack. Clones seemed like such a simple jutsu to use to kill Sasuke, but it just seemed right to use it for his last move. His mind flashed thoughts of how it all came down to this. He went over his day and how seeing Sasuke was the last thing he had expected.

Flashback-

Naruto walked with his hands resting behind his head, his fingers laced in his blonde hair. His orange jacket had been unzipped, letting the world see the black shirt that lay beneath.

He was on his way home from a very long mission. It was only a C mission that involved taking a scroll to some Lord on the far side of the Earth Country. Tsunade had sent him alone because the village was very busy at the moment. But still, even if the mission was easy, it had already taken a week and Naruto had been running the whole way there. So now that the mission was over, Naruto had no intentions of rushing back home. He planned to walk at a comfortable pace for at least a couple of days—he couldn't take too long.

Naruto had decided to go around all the small villages he passed and not through. He wanted to enjoy this beautiful day alone and not surrounded by some strangers in a village. That, and it was always best to keep away from other people when in someone else's country; someone might think he was an enemy.

One small village that he passed didn't have a road leading around it so Naruto veered off into the woods. He walked through the trees for about an hour when he came upon a large clearing. He stepped out into it, smiling to himself.

Naruto couldn't help it, he felt a little bit childish. He jogged to the middle of the clearing, the knee-length grass brushing against his legs. He then spun around once. The whole clearing was surrounded by trees and Naruto couldn't see anything through the trees except more trees. He had no idea how far away he had walked from the village. But who cared?

Naruto laid down into the sea of grass. The grass poked at his back but he shifted himself until he felt comfortable. He then spread out his arms and legs like a star and stared at the sky above him. He smiled contently as he felt his black shirt soak up all the sun.

Naruto didn't know how long he lay there and he eventually fell into a light slumber. He woke up to the feeling of a familiar charka nearby.

Naruto snapped open his deep blue eyes as soon as he felt the presence of another charka. He sat up groggily, making sure the tall grass was still above his head, and looked around. No one else was in the clearing but the charka was close. Naruto's brows buried as he tried to think of whom this charka belonged to. It seemed so familiar! But the name just wouldn't come into his mind.

Then, Naruto heard the rustling of grass. His head snapped in that direction and his eyes widened at who he saw.

Sasuke.

The black-haired boy was alone, standing at the edge of the clearing. Sasuke looked around the clearing lazily, obviously not having spotted Naruto yet.

Naruto gulped, unsure of what to do. Should he show himself to Sasuke? Should he do some sort of a sneak-attack? Should he wait here quietly until Sasuke left and then follow the boy?

Naruto chose the last option. He didn't want to fight Sasuke, not yet anyways, but following could provide useful information. Besides, if Sasuke hadn't already detected Naruto, Naruto doubted he would notice if a ninja was following him.

Naruto lay back down as quietly as possible. He barely dared to breathe as he listened to the grass rustling and the soft thud of each of Sasuke's footsteps.

Fortunately, Sasuke was not walking towards Naruto. No, Sasuke was staying towards the edge of the clearing, walking around it. Naruto had no idea as to why, but hey, maybe the guy just didn't want to be in open grounds.

It was a bird that gave him away. A stupid fucking raven. The bird had been hopping around in the clearing looking for worms or whatever when it had spotted Naruto. It came over to him and started to squawk loudly. It hopped towards him and then away, flapping its wings randomly.

Naruto shut his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth. He prayed that Sasuke thought the bird was just crazy and not actually reacting to something. One second passed and nothing happened. Two. Three…

Five seconds passed with the bird still squawking and then:

"Naruto?"

"Damn it," Naruto cursed quietly when he heard Sasuke speak. He was tempted to just continue laying there and pretend he wasn't there but he wasn't a fool. He knew his cover had been blown.

Naruto sat up straight, letting his head poke over the top of the grass. He looked in Sasuke's direction and saw the black-haired boy already looking at him. Blue eyes locked onto Black ones.

The bird flew away but Naruto and Sasuke barely noticed. They just kept staring at each other. Naruto slowly stood, never letting his eyes leave Sasuke. He stood with his body facing towards the other boy and with his arms hanging limply at his sides. He looked relaxed, but he was fully ready to attack or defend himself if need be.

Naruto stared deeply into Sasuke's dark eyes and it was if they were talking to each other. Naruto understood that they were going to fight, a fight to death, it was just a matter of who would make the first move.

Naruto gulped before reaching into the pouch hanging on the back of his waist. He grasped a kunai knife firmly in his hand. He knew that he was going to have to kill Sasuke or die himself—that was what a fight to death meant. He took his hand out of his pouch and returned it to his side, the kunai knife's tip pointing towards Sasuke.

He stood there for a couple of seconds, breathing harshly. His hand with the kunai knife visibly shook. Finally, Naruto leapt into action, running towards Sasuke.

-End Flashback

The clearing was filled Naruto's clones. The real Naruto could barely see Sasuke at the other edge through the sea of orange. Sasuke stood there seemingly calm, the only signs that he was in a fight at all were his wounds and the fact that he had his sword clutched in his hand tightly.

This was it. This would be the day Naruto proved himself to be stronger than Sasuke. The day Naruto killed him.

Naruto remembered that as a kid, he couldn't wait for this day to come. But now… Now that it was finally upon him, he would give anything for it to disappear forever. He could feel tears biting at the back of his eyes but he refused to cry.

His shadow-clones began making rasengans, and Naruto held out his hand for a clone to help him make his own. The charka began to swirl in his hand but Naruto didn't even spare it a glance.

His shadow-clones began to throw themselves at Sasuke, and Sasuke somehow defended himself against all of them. Naruto stood there watching for a little while, a tear finally slipping past his eye. He began to run, charging at Sasuke.

Naruto was getting closer to Sasuke, the spinning rasengan resting in his hand behind him as he ran. Blood was blurring his vision, but he could make out Sasuke lashing out, making each of his shadow-clone turn into a white cloud. There were still tons more of them though.

Closer.

Eveything seemed to slow down. His heart-beat rang in his ears and he could barely hear the cries of his shadow-clones.

Closer.

Naruto brought his jutsu in front of him, preparing to thrust it through Sasuke's body.

Closer.

Naruto watched as Sasuke turned toward him, his red eyes opened wide in surprise. There was no way he could defend himself against this.

Closer.

Naruto was almost there. He was almost close enough to make contact with the Uchiha's skin.

Closer.

Naruto was about to make the final blow when he felt something tear through his chest and heart. His blue eye's widened and his mouth fell ajar. He couldn't even scream as the pain spread throughout his body, swallowing him. His legs had stopped moving, paralyzed. The Rasegan in his hand immediately vanished into the air, leaving Sasuke still standing in front of him. His shadow-clones stopped attacking and one-by-one, they poofed into clouds.

Naruto tried to grasp his chest but found his arms unable to move. He worked his mouth, trying desperately to breathe but he was no longer able to draw in air.

Naruto's eye-sight began to blur, coming in and out of focus. Out of the corner of his eye, he could barely see one of his own shadow-clones standing there with a chidori in his hand.

How…?

The shadow-clone flickered between Sasuke and Naruto before settling on Sasuke's form. Everything suddenly came clear to Naruto. Sasuke had disguised himself as one of Naruto's shadow-clones so that he wouldn't see the attack coming.

Naruto felt darkness closing in on him. He could feel his knees starting to buckle. He began to fall. He was falling into the darkness. This was the end. The end of Uzumaki Naruto.

Just before Naruto finally blacked out, he felt something stir inside of him. He didn't really think, but he knew somewhere deep inside of his mind that it was Kyuubi. But… Kyuubi couldn't save him now. There was no way he could heal a wound such as this. Still, Kyuubi stirred and did something that Naruto couldn't really explain. It didn't really matter though, because the next second, everything went black.

Sasuke watched as Naruto fell to the ground. He watched as the body lay there unmoving. He wasn't sure of what to do. His mind had gone blank as he stood over Naruto's dead body.

He had finally killed Naruto.

He had killed him. Murdered him. Naruto was dead… No more to walk the Earth. No more…

Sasuke was expecting a different feeling than this. He didn't know what exactly he was feeling; he just knew that he had expected something else.

This weird feeling, spreading throughout his stomach, what was it? He felt like puking, yet knew that he would not. He felt like throwing a tantrum, loosing his cool like an Uchiha never would. Actually no, he did not feel these things. He wanted to do these things but he did not truly feel them. What he actually felt was . . . Nothing.

Yes, he felt nothing. It was a horrible feeling, really. Much worse than the pain or guilt he felt for most of his life. This nothingness, made him feel like he was not really attached to Earth. That he was a black hole with no emotions.

He had no idea of what to do now. Naruto was gone. Gone forever.

He continued to just stare at the dead body at his feet. He wanted to cry, yet felt no tears coming to his eyes. He knew he should feel something for the blond boy beneath him, but no feelings came for him. Not even happiness for finally being able to kill Naruto.

Sasuke finally understood why he had become an avenger. It was to fill the nothingness he had felt threatening him when he was younger. He had filled the horrible void within himself by making himself hate Itachi—filled it by wanting revenge.

Even after Itachi died, and Sasuke was once again chased after by the nothingness feeling, he had been able to shift his hatred towards Konoha, or more specifically, Naruto.

But now, Naruto lay dead at his feet. There was no one else to turn to. No one else that could fill this empty pit in his stomach He had no else one to hate… except himself. And yet, Sasuke did not feel hatred for himself because that would be feeling something. He was not even granted that.

His breathing became erratic. Why wasn't there anger bubbling inside of him? Why wasn't there anything! He didn't even want to kill himself, although he didn't want to live either.

Sasuke breathed in slowly, trying to calm his mind. He had to find something to do, something that could possibly fill the emptiness inside of him, or else he would go crazy. So, Sasuke bent over and picked up Naruto's limp body in his arms, bridal-style. He figured he may as well go back to Konoha and tell everyone their hero had died. He had nothing else to do anyway, so he told himself, but somewhere deep inside of him, Sasuke felt almost happiness biting at the edge of his nothingness for finally being able to go back home.

He left the clearing without a backwards glance. If he had taken the time to look the clearing over once more, or perhaps even clean up the remains of the battle, he would've noticed that one of Naruto's shadow-clones still lay there. And next to it, rested a small fox.

Amane (1) raked her green eyes across the clearing, taking in everything she saw. Well this certainly was new. She hadn't been expecting to find this when she had left her small village 30 minutes ago.

A small smile pulled at her lips when she realized her earlier plans had been ruined. She had been planning to come here, to this clearing, to pick daisies that had been sprouting up in millions. See, she hadn't wanted to go because she hated picking flowers; it was just so… girlie. Her mother had forced her to go, thinking that if Amane did things that girls her age did, such as pick flowers, then Amane herself would be transformed into the perfect daughter! And then there would be no more nonsense talk about wanting to be a ninja.

Amane found herself mocking her mother in her head. Her lip had curled up into a snarl unconsciously. She didn't hate her mother, but she did hate the fact that her mother always tried to ruin her one dream of being a ninja.

Not that Amane could really blame her mother. Her mother actually worked in a hospital here in this small village, and although the village was small, it was a main stopping point in the country and thus, a lot of ninjas wandered in, hurt and needing medical attention. Amane's mother saw so many injured ninjas that every time Amane would mention her dream, her mother got protective and said 'it was too dangerous'.

Amane was never going to give up though! She had been training, behind her mother's back, and although she didn't know any jutsus, she thought she had good endurance and good fighting skills. That was one of the reasons why she agreed to come out here; She could train while her mother thought she was picking flowers!

But of course, she hadn't been expecting this. The whole clearing was literally ripped apart with no sign of there having ever been daisies there. Random holes littered the ground, while other places had new mounds. Even trees had toppled down onto the ground, although some trees were so burnt and ashy, you could barely tell they were trees. Blood stained the grass and fallen trees.

Had there been a fucking war here?

If so, where were all the bodies?

Amane hesitantly walked through the used-to-be-clearing, afraid that some survivor of this war would suddenly jump out at her. She stopped in the middle of the clearing and looked around.

She laughed softly at the silliness of her uneasiness. This wasn't some horror movie, why would someone try to scare her? If there was anyone left here, they wouldn't be wasting their time trying to frighten some teenage girl. Besides, no one was here except herself. She surely would have seen them if someone was indeed here, but she didn't, so no was here.

"Well, I must be getting back," Amane said to herself, filling the eerie silence that had begun to fill the clearing. "I'll tell Mother what I found here and she won't be mad that I came back so soon!" She talked with feigned enthusiasm, as if she really cared whether he mother was mad or not with her.

It was then that she heard the low groan.

Amane turned around suddenly, eyes wide and wild. Her foot caught on something and she lost her balance, falling on her butt.

What was that?

Amane looked around frantically, her breathing coming in gasps.

The groan came again, filled with pain.

Amane's breathing slowed considerably as she realized it was just a person moaning because of wounds and not some weird monster laying in wait.

It looked like she had spoken too soon earlier about there being no one left here.

The groan once again echoed throughout the clearing, low and weak.

Amane stood slowly. She threw her eyes over the whole clearing but failed to spot anyone. She began to jog around, looking from one direction to the next, trying to spot any life form.

She finally stumbled upon a boy. Her breathe caught in her throat as she studied him. He was wearing tattered orange clothes although you could barely call them clothes seeing how they hung around his body like rags. His eyes were closed as he slept, but his whole face was contorted with obvious pain. His mouth barely hung upon as he let out small groans while at the same time, trying to breathe.

She was consumed with worry for the boy. She couldn't see any major wounds on him, but the way he was shifting around, like you'd imagine one suffering from a nightmare would, and groaning told her something was wrong with him. She felt herself go into 'mother-mode', a mode she was unaware that she had. She wanted to protect the boy, as if she were his elder. (As it was, Amane predicted the boy to be around 16, the same age as herself)

She stepped towards the blonde boy, arms outstretched, but a soft growl stopped her. She stepped back, alarmed. The growl then stopped. That sound had definitely not come from the boy.

Then where had it come from?

She suddenly gulped when she saw the small fox lying next to the boy's legs. Its head was lifted towards her, lazily, and Amane found herself staring into its big, red eyes. Those eyes… they seemed to hold so much intelligence, something a fox's eyes should not contain.

She waved her arms at the fox, trying to shoo it away, but the fox did not budge. In fact, it seemed to be looking at her in amusement now!

Amane took a deep breathe before tentatively placing one foot in front of the other. The fox once again growled, losing its laziness and stretching its head to her. The fox seemed to be protecting the boy… or did it just see the boy as food that he was saving for himself?

Either way, Amane put her hands out in front of her as if to show the fox that she had no weapons and took another step.

The fox continued to growl but made no other move to stop her as she continuously walked very slowly to the boy. When she was close enough to touch the boy, she crouched down. The fox finally got to its feet and started to advance upon her, it's growling growing more vicious.

"I just want to help," she said quietly, her voice going up an octave in fear. She was staring hard at the boy's face, too scared to look the fox in the eyes. "I can help him," she said more firmly. "My mother works at a hospital where they can treat him."

She stole a glance at the fox and sighed in relief. The fox seemed to somehow understand her words as it stopped moving towards her. Its growling continued, but it was softer, and more of just a threat that seemed to say, 'If you hurt him. I'll kill you.'

Amane gulped but reached out a hand towards the boy anyway. She placed her hand on his cheek, softly caressing the skin there. She rubbed the scars on his cheek with her thumb. She wondered briefly where those scar had come from. Or were they even scars?

Amane sat back and looked the boy over, studying him. She needed to get him back to the village soon, lest he die, but how? She supposed she could try to carry him herself, but he looked heavy and the village was a good hour away if she had to carry this boy with her.

Well, there was nothing else to do. Amane stood. She then bent down and tried to pick the boy up bridal-style but found her attempt unsuccessful. The fox's growling became louder again but Amane ignored it. She contemplated how to carry him before just hooking her arms around the boy's chest, under his armpits. She was going to have to drag him. He may be hurt, but this was the best she could manage.

She began to walk backwards as carefully as she could manage. She couldn't see where she was going very well, even with looking over her shoulder and she found herself stumbling a few times but she always somehow managed to regain her balance without falling.

She realized after a little while, that the fox was following her, its red eyes big as it wondered where she was taking the boy. She gave the fox a look of annoyance, although she really didn't mind that it was following her. The boy looked like he was a ninja and so, maybe the fox was his ninja-fox. She knew there were ninja-dogs, so why not foxes?

The fox followed her all the way to the village and even to the hospital. Once there at the hospital, Amane had someone find her mother who immediately found the boy a room. Amane also convinced her mom, with a lot of arguing, to let the fox go in as well.

They dressed the boy in hospital gowns, Amane looked away for most of it, not wanting to see his 'man-parts'. Then they laid the boy down on the hospital bed, pulling the thin blanket up to his chin. They set his clothes down on the table next to the bed, along with the pouch they had found attached to his clothes, although they had removed the weapons from said pouch.

Amane's mother told her someone would come in shortly to attend to the boy and see what was wrong with him. Then all they would have to do was wait for him to wake.

5 days later…

Sasuke could see Konoha's big gate looming in front of him now. He was only about a quarter mile away. He started to drag his feet; Naruto's dead body in his arms felt like a million pounds.

An ominous feeling had settled in his stomach. Coming back to Konoha would bring nothing but trouble for him, especially after they saw that he had killed Naruto. He would be lucky if he managed to get away with his head. But he knew he would have to face their wrath. If he didn't… well, his life would be worse than losing his head would be.

He took a deep breathe and stood up straight as he reached the gate. He kept his gaze right in front of him, not looking down, sideways or up. Straight ahead. His face was as impassive as ever.

The guards at the gate stepped in front of Sasuke, looking him over. Their faces were blank, but realization as to who Sasuke was and who he was carrying soon dawned in their eyes.

What were their names? Sasuke recognized them, but could not remember their names. Oh well, it didn't matter. Sasuke doubted he was going to get to know them anytime soon anyway. He would most likely be locked away.

"Is he dead?" the guard with a bandage across his face spoke.

Sasuke barely nodded.

Both guards gulped, sadness overcoming their facial expression.

"Izumo, you should go tell Tsunade-sama," the guard who had spoke before said.

The other guard nodded before creating a sign with one hand and disappearing.

Sasuke was left alone with the one guard. He kept still. He could tell the other man was wary of him, or afraid that Sasuke would turn and run or something. Sasuke didn't blame him; he was a missing-nin, so if he ran away, this guard would be at blame for letting him get away. But Sasuke didn't plan on fleeing; he was going to stick this through, no matter what.

They only had to wait about a minute before Tsunade and—Izumo was his name?—appeared before them. Tsunade took one look at Sasuke before her eyes started watering. Her mouth was twitching. She probably wanted to yell at Sasuke.

She stole Naruto from his arms, and Sasuke let her. He watched as Tsunade hugged Naruto's dead body, one hand looped around his waist, the other tangling itself into his matted blonde hair and pressing his face into her shoulder. He watched as tears slipped past her eyes and she rocked back and forth with Naruto, his limp legs dragging across the ground.

Sasuke could tell that she believed Naruto would wake up any moment and give her that big smile of his and say everything was alright. But that wouldn't happen, because Naruto really was dead.

Sasuke was finally feeling guilt for what had happened. He wasn't so sure that this shame was better then the nothingness he felt before though. Now, he really felt like crying. But he didn't allow himself to, call it pride if you want to, but he kept watching with his blank face.

He felt himself begin to believe with Tsunade. Why wasn't he waking up! He couldn't really be dead; there was just no way… Nothing could ever kill Uzumaki Naruto. He was going to be hokage one day!

Tsunade finally rounded on Sasuke, yelling at him. Sasuke tuned her out though, staring at Naruto who she carried with one arm.

The rest happened in a blur. Tsunade had handed Naruto over to Izumo reluctantly, and had taken Sasuke over to the prison herself. It seemed that she did not trust anyone else to do it. Sasuke let himself be led there.

The ANBU that guarded the prison opened the doors for them and led them through corridor, through corridor, down stairs upon stairs until they reached a vacant cell in the side of pure rock. The ANBU opened the door and Sasuke was pushed inside. The guard then closed the door, leaving Sasuke to look at them through metal bars.

"This is charka-enforced, about ten-million times, so don't even try on getting out," the ANBU said. He then left, leaving Tsunade alone with him.

Tsunade stared blankly at him for a few seconds before speaking softly, "I'm sorry it has to be this way, Sasuke. But you've just become too dangerous. You'll be taken in front of the elders of the village in about a week for a final punishment."

She paused, waiting for an answer. Sasuke didn't give her any.

She nodded, as if Sasuke had answered. "I know you'd probably like to go to Naruto's f-funeral," she said, her voice cracking when she said 'Naruto's funeral'. "But I just can't grant that. I'm sorry."

Tsunade then left, tears shining in her eyes.

Sasuke was all alone. Just like he had been when he was younger. The cell he was in was filled with darkness. The hallway just outside the cell was barely lit with flickering lights.

Sasuke dropped to the cold, stone ground, and for the first time in eight years, he let tears fall from his eyes.

End of Chapter 1

(1)- Amane, pronounced Ah-Mah-Neh. I'm pretty sure it means 'Sound of heavens' if the place I got the name from is accurate.

Next Chapter: Naruto wakes up to find... wait, where the hell is he? And more importantly... who the fuck is he?

Author Notes: Hope you enjoyed, please review. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon...