The Forgotten Ones
~SasukeUchihasGuardian~
Sorry for the long wait… school + constant sickness = no updates :( Plus, my mom has been really busy lately… and she's been using the laptop a lot more than usual. My apologies… I really need to get my own laptop fixed (whenever I come up with the 100 dollars to do so) Anyways, on with chapter 9!
Chapter 9: Broken Blades Still Cut
"Naruto… I don't think we're going the right away…"
"Of course we are! This has to be the way to the Land of Fire!"
"It's not."
"It is!"
"It's NOT!"
"It IS!"
"Then how do you explain that?" Sasuke pointed his finger up to a large rock that towards over them a few feet away. It was perfectly cut like a piece of meat on one side, but naturally shaped everywhere else.
"It's a rock… what about it?" He asked, dumbfounded by Sasuke's question.
"You idiot… look at what it says." He growled, prodding the blonde roughly in the side.
Naruto squinted to try to focus on the rock more and block out the blinding sunlight. Though it was hard to see, he could still make out something carved into the boulder. He glanced at Sasuke, who shrugged, and walked over to it casually. The blonde's mouth fell open as he could now clearly see what had been engraved into the rock.
"W-we're in... Sound?" He whispered in disbelief. The words "Welcome to the Hidden Sound Village" were carved into it with great finesse.
Sasuke stared at the sight in confusion, unconsciously rubbing the side of his neck, where a black tattoo like mark clashed horribly against his pale skin. "Is it such a big deal? Can't we just pass through here?"
'Dang it… why does this place sound so familiar?'
Naruto shook his head, "I hope not. But we better pass through quickly in case he's here…"
'WHO?' Sasuke's mind was screaming.
With a simple nod, he followed Naruto's path around the rock, hoping to get out of the place quickly. He had visions flashing in his mind of himself, but he didn't understand what they were. He was in a forest with another girl, and vivid scenes were playing like a movie in his mind.
'My name is Orochimaru, but as for what I want…'
The man, if he could even be called that, had extended his neck inhumanely, launching it forward straight as Sasuke. If it wasn't for the jutsu holding him still, he could have easily dodged, but no matter how much he struggled, all of his attempts were futile.
Fangs clamped down onto the side of his neck, and he could feel the sharp teeth sinking deeply into his skin. He grunted and trembled, but he couldn't do much more, since moving could have turned fatal to him if the fangs ripped through his neck.
White, hot searing agony tore through the layers of skin, radiating throughout his entire body. It was more than enough to cripple him, sending him to his knees almost immediately. He legs seemed to have failed him long before he had even fallen. He was grasping his neck tightly, his nails digging into the skin, leaving small marks, but he didn't even feel his own hand against his burning neck. He was crying out, slamming his head against the ground and scrunching his stomach up as his back arched into the air.
He heard a young girl scream at the man, her fear well hidden within the tone. He let out another small cry.
'…Sasuke will seek me out…'
He forced his head up to look at the man, but his vision was too blurry to anything. Suddenly, the pain tripled, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, which echoed off of the trees and throughout the entire forest.
'SASUKE!' He once again heard the girl's panicked voice, and he felt her hands around him. He assumed the man had left since she hadn't moved before, but he couldn't be sure. She was speaking to him, her voice high in terror, but he couldn't make out the words. Her hands began lifting him from the ground, and his body began tightening, trying to curl even tighter, which only made her lift him up higher. He could barely feel his hand over hers as he used it to help sit up. Every inch of his body felt significantly worse when he shifted upwards.
The agony suddenly became overwhelming. He couldn't restrain the scream that erupted from his mouth as he struggled to overcome the pain.
'Hang on… you're gonna be okay…' His body suddenly shut down on him, and he fell to the side, where he felt himself collapse into something warm.
The last thing he heard was the female's alarmed 'Sasuke!' before everything went black.
"Sasuke? Are you okay? Hey! Sasuke!" It took a rough jab in the side to snap Sasuke out of his thoughts. The Uchiha's eyes widened considerably, looking back and forth wildly before turning back to Naruto, utter confusion plastered on his face.
"H-huh?" He gasped at him, trying to hide the fact that he had just zoned out.
"Took your time." He growled, "Are you feeling alright, Sasuke?" He asked, putting a hand to his forehead. Sasuke scowled at him with his visible eye and pushed his hand away.
"I'm fine… I was just thinking." He grumbled, huffing unhappily. Why was he having these dreams? These strange, realistic images that played through his mind confused him to no end. Were these his lost memories?
"Sasuke… hey Sasuke! Don't get lost in your mind again. Hey Sasuke! Sasuke? Ugh not again…" Naruto sighed and put a hand in front of Sasuke to stop him from walking. The obstacle in his path had once again forced his mind back to reality. He once again turned to Naruto, his mouth gaping a little at him.
Naruto suddenly looked sympathetic, "Maybe we better sit down…" He whispered, putting an arm around him and guiding the Uchiha to a near bye rock. It was the perfect size for them to both fit on, and the top was flat so they could both have some room.
It took some gentle coaxing, but Naruto had finally gotten Sasuke to talk about what was on his mind, though he was a little averse about it at first.
"Sounds like you might be getting your memory back… but they need a push to be able to return…" He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry you have to go through this… it must be hard. I wish it was me instead of you…"
Sasuke just nodded, staring down blankly at the ground and kicking his feet uselessly against the air, which was stale on his tongue.
Naruto's gaze softened, and without hesitation, he pulled the boy into a tight embrace.
He saw his best friend's body began trembling against him, heard his soft hiccups in his ear, and felt something warm and wet soak through his jacket, wetting his shoulders with what he knew were tears.
~Timeskip~
Nightfall had come rather quickly for the two. They had ended up walking deeper into the Sound Village as they followed a riverside so they wouldn't get lost. Settling underneath a tree, Sasuke had fallen asleep immediately. Naruto wasn't quite ready to go to bed, so he leaned up against the trunk, stroking the side of Sasuke's face that was facing upwards. Since he was lying on his side, Naruto couldn't do much more than stroke his right side of his face.
"Ngh…" The Uchiha shifted ever so slightly, before going limp again and letting out a soft sigh, his features completely relaxing on his face. Naruto smiled, resting his head against the wood again.
A rustle in the bushes suddenly jolted him to his senses. Grabbing a kunai, he growled and looking around, ready to protect Sasuke at all costs.
Suddenly, a kunai was thrown straight as his face, in between his eyes. He dodged, the kunai barely grazing his cheek. He grunted and threw his own kunai back, seeing four people dodge and jump into view in front of him.
"Ha… so the Uchiha boy and the demon live on…" A tall male chuckled. "Orochimaru will be pleased to hear that."
Though Sasuke hadn't moved, he was awake, feigning sleep since he knew he couldn't fight. 'That name again!' His mind was screaming.
"What do you want?" Naruto hissed, grabbing another kunai and holding it in front of him.
"Well, we were just on a nightly patrol to guard our territory, but wait until Orochimaru finds out we brought his precious student back." He snickered.
"You'll never take Sasuke!" Naruto hollered, throwing the kunai at the man. When he jumped to dodge, Naruto created a hand sign.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled, forming multiple Narutos that surrounded the area. The sound ninja growled, and began fighting the shadow clones. However, being outnumbered, they were all beaten to the ground and unconscious in the blink of an eye. Naruto recalled his clones, smirking triumphantly. He let the smile fade as he realized what had to be done.
He took out a kunai from his pouch, walking over to the four unconscious men and stabbing each one of them in the heart, killing them all instantly and painlessly.
He wiped the blood from his face and threw the kunai to the side, abandoning it as he turned to Sasuke. He hoped the boy hadn't woken up during the fight, but when he saw his wide, terrified eyes, his heart sank to his stomach.
He walked over to the tree and lied down next to him, pulling him tightly to his chest and held him close, rocking him to scare away the memory that he knew would haunt him for a long time.
~At Orochimaru's Base~
"Boss! Uzumaki Naruto killed four of our men!" A ninja yelled.
"Really now?" A voice hissed, the body nothing but a silhouette and a shadow against the wall, illuminated by nothing but two torches beside it.
"That's not all! He has Uchiha Sasuke with him! They're alive!" He yelled.
The man's eyes illuminated through the darkness, the pupils animalistic and snakelike. "This makes things interesting." His low chuckle bounced off of the walls eerily.
"What do you want my men to do, sir?"
"No need to dispatch them, I think I'll go pay them a personal visit. Hikaru, go and gather up five ninja, at chunin level. We'll leave immediately. Where is the rest of your team, boy?"
"Uzumaki killed them." He said matter-of-factly. The eyes narrowed at the words.
"Really now? I was considering taking him with but… if maybe its better I kill him." He broke out into laughter, "Give me the location they're at, and have the five people you choose meet me at the entrance."
As the ninja left, the man chuckled to himself, long inhuman tongue slipping out of his mouth, saliva pooling below him.
"Won't this be interesting…"
~Timeskip~
Naruto's eyes shot open as he heard movement in the bushes once again, taking out a kunai and standing up.
"Who's there? Come out!" He yelled. An in instant, someone shot from the bushes, kunai pointed towards him. He used his own to block it, the metal clashing together.
"Leave us alone!" Naruto hissed at the ninja, kicking him in the stomach. He flew backwards beside Sasuke, where Naruto threw a kunai straight at him. He leapt away from Sasuke into a different spot in the open. Naruto once again summoned more shadow clones.
With six clones on his side, it wasn't hard to take down the ninja, but when another four suddenly jumped into action, Naruto began struggling to take them down as they began killing off the clones one by one. The sound ninja proved to be a challenge, but Naruto eventually had been able to take them down. He stood, panting just above Sasuke's trembling body.
He turned around and looked down at his shaking teammate. "It's alright Sasuke…" He whispered, "Everything is alright now."
Sasuke saw a shadowy figure standing behind Naruto, sword in hand. "Naruto look out!" He gasped. Before he could even turn around, a sword was pierced through his back, sticking out through his stomach. His mouth dropped open in disbelief as blood began trickling down the corner of his mouth. He suddenly lurched forward and spat a huge glob of scarlet liquid to the ground.
"Naruto!" Sasuke cried desperately, turning and beginning to crawl away weakly. He could feel the man's stare pinning him down and he gave a weak yell.
Hands suddenly grabbed him and lifted him into strong arms, where he stopped moving and whimpered quietly.
"Shh… boy. Do you remember me?" The man voice sounded like a snake more than a normal human. Sasuke's eye drifted up to look at the man above him. His skin was pallid and his eyes were snakelike. He instantly recognized it as the man from his lost memory. He whimpered quietly and hid his face, sobbing softly.
"Naruto…" He whimpered.
"Shh Sasuke. No need to cry. He'll die soon and he won't be in any pain anymore. I'll take care of you from now on, so hush child." He soothed, stroking his bangs.
Hearing those words, he began sobbing even harder, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Sasuke… hush child… you're an Uchiha after all, and Uchiha's don't cry… why are you acting so strangely boy?"
"W-what's… Uchiha?" He hiccuped, "I… it's… m-my… last name… r-right?"
The snake looked confused. "Did you lose your memories, child?"
Sasuke nodded. This man obviously knew more about him than he did right now. "W-who are you?"
"Orochimaru the Snake." He broke into laughter. "This'll be fun, Sasuke. But… how did you manage an eye injury?" He asked, his interest rising.
"N-Naru-uto… t-told me… i-it happened… when… o-our home... w-was d-destroy-yed…" He hiccupped again, hearing his best friend's name.
"Shh boy…" He shushed him, putting a finger to his lips. "Enough. I'll take you with me back to my home. You need to rest, child." He brushed fingertips over Sasuke's eye so he'd close them. "I'll be here when you wake up."
"N-Naruto-"
"Will be dead any second now. Now hush child. You need your rest."
He felt the man begin moving away from Naruto, and he began crying more and trying to look back, but the man held him still in his arms. It wasn't until he slowly began sucking out chakra through his fingertips on the boy's forehead that Sasuke had finally stilled. Orochimaru continued using the jutsu until the Uchiha had passed out from chakra depletion.
Finally seeing the boy's visible eye closed and his body going limp, he stopped momentarily, peeling off the bandages around the other eye. He threw them onto the ground and peeled back the eyelid. He grimaced at the sight.
"So Sasuke… it seems you're blind. That's too bad. Without both eyes, I guess I can't use you as my vessel after all. Oh well, I might as well have my fun with you before I leave you to die with your little demon friend."
Orochimaru's words went unheard by the deeply unconscious boy.
End!
Alright everyone, that's it for this chapter. I still feel so bad for the long wait… :(
Anyways, hopefully I can update faster for the next chapter than this one.
Thanks to Rosebunse, for the idea of everything after the first bandit attack (the first one, with the attack included)
Link to Rosebunse's profile:
http : / www . / u / 2863309/ Rosebunse
Remove the spaces of course ;)
Please please PLEASE REVIEW!
Until next time~
~SasukeUchihasGuardian
