New story, new chances, let's just hope it'll work out, I hope you will all be liking it, criticism is welcome.

--: Chapter 01 – Traces of Disappearance :--

The path of life sometimes took strange turns. This had become clear to Naruto a few years ago when the most popular male Shinobi in Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke, had confessed to being in love with him. But according to Naruto, this hadn't been the strangest thing yet. This was because he thought the strangest thing to be, was that the feeling was mutual.

His heart had almost exploded when the raven had confessed that he indeed was in love with Naruto. He, Uzumaki Naruto the outcast of Konoha, had been Uchiha Sasuke's secret crush ever since they were teamed up together.

Sakura had been in denial for the first few months, before finally accepting that it couldn't be helped who Sasuke had fallen in love with, that it was impossible for her to break them up, and even if it had been possible she didn't have the right to do so.

It had been two years ever since Naruto and Sasuke decided to live together in Sasuke's mansion, and it seemed like their good luck couldn't run out. Though, destiny is an unsure thing… It isn't as set in stone as you might think. Because just when you think you have it all, it might take a very strange turn once again…

Seven o'clock, the morning sun had just risen, and it was now casting its golden sunrays over the houses of Konoha, the Uchiha/Uzumaki mansion being no exception. To be exact, the huge white building was catching a huge amount of sunlight for it being the biggest building in the entire city.

Inside the mansion, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke were still sleeping peacefully. Unbeknown to them, the sunshine had crept into the room even though the curtains were closed. A sun ray hit Naruto's face as he groaned as it did so. He had an important mission today while his lover Sasuke was having a day off, now how unfair was that? Especially since Sasuke was way better at getting up early than he was. The bed was always too soft and too warm to get out of, and Sasuke was always too sexy to be left alone in bed.

The alarm clock went off, sending out a song his favourite radio station always broadcasted in the early morning. Naruto groaned in disagreement, not wanting to get up. 'Stupid baa-chan, does she really think she could give me a mission which starts this early, without anything happening?' He turned on his side, setting the alarm clock on snooze with a sleep drunk sway of his arm. Silence filled the room once again, but just when he thought he could slumber for a while, he felt two strong arms wrap around his waist.

"Don't you have to get up?" Sasuke nuzzled into the crook between his neck and shoulder with his nose, "Godaime is going to kill you if you show up late."

"You know, if I got a penny for every time Tsunade baa-chan would say that, I'd be even richer than you."

"This is a thing that can't be denied." Sasuke stood up, walking over to Naruto's side of the bed he turned off the alarm clock before it even had the time to start playing again. Naruto looked at him. It looked like Sasuke was thinking about something, because all he did was standing there, still staring at the alarm clock he had just turned off.

"Sasuke?" Naruto raised a bit, supporting himself on his elbows.

"And now you will get up!" Sasuke suddenly turned around grabbing the sheets and throwing them off. Naruto's mouth fell open in surprise, before noticing that he had been sleeping naked, and that Sasuke was now staring at him in his naked glory. Out of reflex, Naruto covered his private man area quickly, even though it was his koi staring at it. "On…" Sasuke cleared his throat as his voice had suddenly turned hoarse, "On second thought, Godaime will just have to wait a bit more." And with that, he attacked Naruto, crushing their lips together, and his hands wandering over Naruto's body.

"Sas-Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, before he was smothered with yet another kiss.

"Laaaaate!" A blond line raced through Konoha, up to the mansion of the Hokage. 'Late! Late! I'm definitely going to be late!' It was five past eight, while Naruto should have been at Tsunade's mansion at eight to receive the mission. 'Stupid Sasuke, first trying to get me out of bed and then, when I am almost out of bed, he thinks it's time to have a good fuck!'

Naruto burst right through the front door of the Hokage tower, the thought not even coming up in his mind to stop and opening it, like it was meant for. When he was in, Naruto stemmed just enough to not run into the wall, and take a turn towards Tsunade's office.

Another door was victim of Naruto's timing as he rushed into Tsunade's office, stemming just in time to stop right in front of her desk. "I'm glad that you still decided to join us." Tsunade sounded sarcastic, but Naruto didn't give a damn at the moment.

"Stop bitching baa-chan, what is the mission?" Naruto walked over to a couch, falling on to it and making himself comfortable.

"Urgh, shut up you gacky! Anyways, your mission is to kill a few Missing-nins." Tsunade's eyes narrowed, and the vein on her forehead became more visible, but Naruto ignored all that.

"Why do I have to search for Missing-nins? That's what Hunter-nins are for!" Naruto turned on his side to face Tsunade. "Seriously, even though I'm a Jounin, that doesn't mean I have to hunt after a few shinobi who thought they could fight for themselves, or smuggle."

"Because all the Hunter-nins are already out there at the encampment. The Missing-nins are with too many, and as a result we now have to send our Jounin to support them." Tsunade stood up, and walked over to the window which looked out over the entire city, "There are even some rumours that Uchiha Itachi has showed up over there, if that's so then we have to send our best shinobi in order to stop him."

Naruto sighed, "Wakateru, I'll go." With that, Naruto preformed some hand signs, and disappeared with help of the wind transportation jutsu.

Tsunade stared at the spot Naruto had been just a second ago, "Why didn't he use that jutsu to get here?" She asked herself out loud, "instead of running himself to death and wrecking my doors?"

Raising her shoulders, she decided Naruto was still a big walking question mark at some times. She sighed, put Naruto out of her thoughts, and got back to work.

'Why would Itachi be there, it makes absolutely no sense!' Naruto was jumping from branch to branch through the woods now, making his way to the battlefield, 'Itachi only shows up when Sasuke is around, and Sasuke is in Konoha.' He stopped a moment to listen if anything was approaching, but the only thing he heard was the song of the birds. He continued his way, speeding up a bit, 'What is going on here…'

Naruto arrived at the base camp a minute later, noticing what the situation was, he turned to the gatekeeper, "Don't you think you need Medical Specialists?" The gatekeeper smiled, before pointing in the direction of a tent.

"There are a few in there, they can heal us. It's just that there are so many Missing-nins here. We are under attack at least once a day." The gatekeeper sighed in distress, "There's just no way they can keep up with them. We have loads of wounded hunter-nins, and only a few medical-nins."

The gatekeeper took his mask off, revealing his headband. Naruto smiled when he saw it, the Hunter-nin was from Sunagakure.

"The hidden sand village… you don't see Hunter-nins from your village that much, mostly because you people have such a great talent for being puppeteer, they don't think about becoming hunter-nins" The Hunter-nin smiled, raising his hand to let it slide across the surface of his headband.

"Yeah, we indeed mostly have a great talent for that, but as of late more and more people of Sunagakure get talented at other things as well. Nowadays, puppeteer has started to becoming an exceptional choice of profession."

-"Oh so Kankero-san is starting to become a lone wolf in his profession?"

The hunting looked up when Naruto had said that. "How do you…"

-"Your Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, is a friend of mine." Naruto grinned at the Hunter-nin's face when he said that, "We met at the Chuunin exams six years ago. He should have become Chuunin together with Shikamaru, but Shuukaku prevented him from ever finishing the exams… But I guess it doesn't matter, he became Kazekage anyways."

A horn could be heard, making both Naruto and the Hunter-nin both look up, "Another attack!" The Hunter-nin put his mask on, before running to the watch tower in the middle of the camp.

Naruto jumped on the wooden defence wall surrounding the camp, and looked around. "There they are, on the east side!" He ran up to the east side of the camp, where the Missing-nins were already climbing the wall.

"Naruto! You have to keep them busy till we're rearranged!" One of the other Hunter-nins yelled, before running to one of his colleagues to help him get up.

In the meanwhile, Naruto had already started fighting with five of the Missing-nins, trying to dodge their attacks. It went pretty well, until one of the Missing-nins punched him in the stomach, causing him to be put off guard, which resulted into more punches following. "I have to do something…" He muttered, as he wiped the blood that ran out of his mouth from his face, "But what…"

(You're really weak gacky.) The deep voice of the nine-tailed kitsune boomed far inside of Naruto. (In all those years you have been a shinobi, you couldn't do a single thing without me…)

(Oh is that so Kyuubi? Well I couldn't remember you helping me with the Jounin exams… For as far I know, I did it all by myself.) Naruto summoned a shadow clone to assist him, (Now look and see what I've learned from Sensei.) "Rasengan!" The well famous blue energy ball formed itself in Naruto's hand with help of the shadow clone. Now ready for Naruto to pick his target. Naruto slammed it into the ground, causing it spread its energy through the ground, creating a few minor tremors as it did so. After that, Naruto summoned yet another shadow clone, 'I just hope this works!' "Rasengan." Another Rasengan was slammed into the ground, this time the energy flushed through the tremors hitting a few enemies. Though the attack had hit its target, it had not gone as Naruto had intended, resulting into the missing-nins having a few scratches, but no severe injuries. "Damn it!"

(Oh yes kit, now you've definitely proven yourself…) The sarcastic answer came from deep inside him.

Naruto grunted, this wasn't like he had expected it to be either, how could he make such a mistake? Suddenly, Naruto started to feel dizzy. He heard a voice whispering in his head, though it clearly wasn't Kyuubi's. It was male, but he was sure he had never heard the voice before…

Naruto panicked, 'Maybe it's a possession technique!' he thought as his hands seemed to suddenly have a life of their own, performing hand signs that seemed familiar to Naruto somehow.

Naruto's lungs sucked in air as his hand brought itself up to his face. Hearing himself scream: "Katon! Gamayo Emudan!" A great blast of fire came out of his mouth, as several screams of pain and panic ensued. It came so unexpectedly that the group of Missing-nins he had been fighting just a minute ago, had no time to brace themselves for the blow, resulting them to be fully hit. The great flame it created could even be seen from the mountain chain fifty miles away, as it was sure to be at least twenty meters high.

Naruto's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open as he looked at the sea of fire in front of him. 'Did… did I really do that?'

The smoke started to clear up, revealing that from the five missing-nins he had been fighting with, only two had survived. Though the were alive, they were unable to continue the fight with such grave injuries.

(Now, how was that, Kyuubi.) Naruto asked the demon fox within him through their telepathic connection. He was still stunned himself, but that didn't keep him from bragging to Kyuubi about it.

(Weak if you ask me but I wouldn't expect anything else of you, Gacky) With that, silence fell over the place the nine-tailed fox was sealed in, and Naruto just shook his head, "Sometimes I wonder why it had to be me…" He muttered throwing a few shuriken at the remaining two Missing-nins to help them out of their suffering. He turned away from their bodies and went back to camp in order to help the other shinobi fight the remaining Missing-nins.

"I think he'd be at his destination by now…" Sasuke muttered, sitting on the window-frame, holding a cup of coffee, while looking outside. "I hope he'll come back tonight…" He shot up when he heard a door cracking not too far from the room he was in, "Who's there?"

Sasuke walked over to the door, and looked into the corridor, but there wasn't anything out of ordinary. "Strange…" Sasuke turned around, and his cup fell on the ground in surprise. The cup scattered in pieces over the floor, just like the tea which it contained. Sasuke stood in his fighting stance, "Who are you, and what do you want."

"Oh, don't worry, there's only one thing I want." The unknown person said, as he stuck out is arm in Sasuke's direction, "You…" he turned his hand up, and opened it.

Sasuke looked at it in shock, before returning his gaze back to the guy his face, "You…" Sasuke's eyes grew red, as he lunged at the person, who easily dodged it.

"Be careful Sasuke-kun… Or you might be caught of guard." Sasuke's eyes grew wide, as his felt the guys hand on his stomach. The chakra which it surrounded, send a shock through his body, and pain followed soon after.

Darkness invaded Sasuke's mind, as he fell down unconscious, his brain no longer able to take all the messages of pain from his nerves. "Are you really that weak to faint after one simple attack?" The unknown shinobi lifted Sasuke over his shoulder, before disappearing.

"Rasengan!" The ball of chakra escalated one of the Missing-nins into the wooden wall, leaving him terribly wounded. Naruto ducked to dodge another attack, and lunged back, hitting his opponent's face in the progress. "Take that!" Naruto turned around, and his eyes grew wide, 'It… can't be…' he thought, as he continued staring at the thing that surprised him. Or to be precise, person, and to be even more precise, Itachi. "What… What are you doing here?"

"Helping my companion Missing-nins taking you down." Itachi smirked, his eyes glowing brighter as that was the sign he was about to use his Mangakyo Sharingan.

(Gacky… you clearly are stupid…) It seemed like Kyuubi had awoken again, since he had started talking again.

(And why am I stupid this time?) Naruto got a little bit annoyed of all of Kyuubi's comments on everything he did, or thought. It was like somebody could read his mind, and could invade in anytime he wanted. This was actually what was going on, the only thing was, that Kyuubi couldn't tell it to other people, which Naruto was very grateful for.

(Well, simple, look at Itachi's eyes again, and you'll see that that actually isn't the Uchiha bloodline… It's just a illusion…) Kyuubi's laugh echoed through Naruto's mind. Though, Kyuubi sure had a point, That wasn't the Mangakyo Sharingan… When you looked closely you saw that it wasn't even a normal Sharingan, it were just red eyes.

"Kyuubi is right, you're not Itachi…" Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You're just such an alive corpse by that medication jutsu…"

Itachi laughed and preformed some hand signs, "You're clever, Naruto-kun, very clever… but still the question is if you can beat me!" Chakra began to gather at Itachi's hand, enough for Naruto to see a blue glow.

"You're forgetting that I'm a jounin now too…" Naruto stood into fighting stance, waiting for Itachi to make a move.

"Naruto! Look out!" Naruto snapped out of his concentration, and looked to where the voice had come from. He saw a giant shadow wind mill shuriken coming his way, which he had to dodge if life was him dear. He jumped up, but was a bit too late with his action, and the shuriken made a deep cut in his left leg.

Itachi saw this as the perfect chance to get rid of Naruto. He jumped up, and hit Naruto in the stomach. Naruto's mouth fell open as spit and blood left his body. He fell on his back, still coughing up blood while clutching his stomach.

(Urgh! Step back brat, let a professional do this job.) Kyuubi's powers healed the deep cut immediately, while its chakra surrounded Naruto's body, taking the shape of the kitsune itself.

Naruto let out a wild roar, its super-sonic waves driving Itachi back into a tree. His nails grew, turning Naruto's hands into claws, and his teeth got longer and sharper than they were before. Crimson mixed with cerulean, as the whisker marks on Naruto's face became thicker and more visible.

Itachi stood up, coughing up some blood as he did so, "You can kill me if you want." He smirked, whipping the blood from his face, "You already know I'm not Itachi."

"Precisely…" Kyuubi Naruto ran forwards at an incredible speed, making his attack unavoidable. All his chakra ran down his arms, as he sliced the body, that looked like his lover's brother, but wasn't him.

There wasn't a lot of blood, since the body originally was from someone who had died, and the blood had or already left the body by natural causes, or by the wound which had killed the person. (The lack of blood is a shame, but my work is done.) Naruto felt Kyuubi's chakra drain away as soon as it had filled his body. His body went back to its normal state, and he felt like he had been fighting with Tsunade for a whole day non-stop.

Naruto's knees collapsed, his head hit the ground, and he felt like he had been lying there for hours, though it were just a few minutes before he was escalated to one of the first aid tents. "Are you alright?" A medical specialist came his way, examining him immediately.

"Yeah." Naruto lay down on one of the stretchers, breathing in deeply. "Just a little bit tired after Kyuubi took over my body to get down that fake Uchiha Itachi."

"Yeah, I see, there is nothing wrong with you, just take some rest, and go home tonight, I think you have killed more Missing-nins in the past hours, and a Hunter-nin would do in a week."

Naruto smiled a bit, putting his hands under his head. That sounded good, that meant he could still be with Sasuke tonight, instead of spending the night apart of each other.

"Sasuke, I'm home!" Naruto closed the door behind him, but didn't lock it. He walked further into the mansion, wondering why there hadn't been a usual 'Welcome back' reply. "Sasuke? Are you asleep?" Still no reply. 'Strange…' Naruto thought, as he walked into the livingroom. "Sasuke?"

Naruto heard something cracking under his feet. Looking what it was, he saw that it was a piece of a teacup. Sasuke's favourite teacup to be exact. "What the…" Naruto looked around, and saw pieces of Sasuke's teacup scattered all over the place. "What went on here?"

(Somebody else has been here…) Kyuubi immediately stated, (I can sence it…)

Naruto used Kyuubi's powers to smell like a fox, immediately smelling an odd smell that surely didn't belong to Sasuke. He knew Sasuke's smell too well to think this smell was his. Naruto panicked, tears shooting into his eyes as all sorts of images of what could have happened to Sasuke shot through his mind.

Naruto looked around, hoping on any sign of his lover, and that he had just been wrong, "No! No! Please let this be a mistake! Please!" He exclaimed, running out of the house in panic. "SASUKE!"

Well, that's chapter one, I hoped you liked it. I'll try and update every two weeks, on Saturday evening, if something causes delay, it will be on my profile, see you all next time.