Disclaimers: I so do not own Naruto for goodness sake!

Author's notes: Gee… you guys are really great you know! But what I find strange is that I got over twenty reviews as I have seen through my e-mail, but I only got about nine to ten in my review box. It's pretty weird actually.

Well… never mind that! Now for the warnings:

Warning #1: OOC-ness ahead!

Warning #2: Be sure to read that NOTE BEFORE STARTING, okay?

I really want to thank you guys for all the support that you have done for me so far. And now let me officially start…

Chapter 12: Recollection of Memories

NOTE BEFORE STARTING: This chapter would mostly be based on the memories that Naruto had. I have a bad habit of creating extra chapters before the real action of the real story so please bare with me. But hey, I find myself enjoying what I'm writing.

The days have passed on quickly for the whole team seven. Each one was given a preliminary test to see if they are worthy for the chuunin examinations, and obviously, all three of them passed.

Sasuke and Naruto continued their spars for the first four days, giving Sasuke the opportunity to raise the level of his sharingan to the two comma sharingan. Naruto showed calmness on the outside but he was proud of his accomplishment on the inside.

With the four days that they spent sparring, the two had somewhat became close… and the feeling was not fake for the blonde Akatsuki member.

It was the night before the exams. The blonde was quite ecstatic to know what kind of exams they would have. He was sitting at the rooftop of the apartment that he was currently living in. Ever since he became an official hidden leaf shinobi, he had always been thinking about what his life would have been had he remained in this village.

He sighed as he entered his room through the window, took a few shurikens and kunais, and left the apartment via window. He didn't even feel the need to wear his dark cloak and mask.

As he walked through the quiet streets, he sighed. It was quiet… too quiet even. Even the kyuubi's whispers and voice was nowhere to be heard. He smiled at the quietness. Though the past days, he had caught a glimpse of the Akatsuki team and the Sand team eating inside a restaurant.

He was with his teammates so he made no move to acknowledge them. He was so sure that his friends… he even got the guts to call the other two teams his friends… knew the situation at hand so even they didn't made a move.

Walking slightly past by the Ichiraku ramen stand, he stared up in the silent night sky as he gazed at the stars, which were seemingly twinkling at him.

He heard himself chuckle dryly.

'Hey Mister Star, do you think I am doing the right thing? You know… by doing this mission to cause the destruction of the Hidden Leaf…?' He thought, chuckling once again as another flashback came up to him.

F-l-a-s-h-b-a-c-k

"Hello Mister Star! Do you think Naruto's doing the right thing? You know… Naruto leaving his home village and training with Itachi-niisan so that he would get strong?" Little Naruto chuckled childishly as he spread his arms as if to hug the night sky.

"Do you know why Naruto want to be strong, Mister Star?" He smiled, his deep blue eyes twinkling with the night stars. "It is because Naruto wants to protect big brother! Naruto wants to protect Itachi-niisan! Itachi-niisan helps Naruto and protects Naruto. Naruto wants to repay Itachi-niisan by being strong and to protect him too!"

The next line was nothing more but a mere whisper.

"Because… Itachi-niisan is Naruto's most precious person…"

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't talk around by yourself and referring yourself as third person. People may think that you're practically out of your mind… or in layman's terms, insane." Itachi called out, appearing from the shadows.

Little Naruto stiffened as he heard the voice of the sharingan wielder as he quickly scrammed his little brain for excuses. It was starting to become a quick reflex whenever his unofficial older brother catches him talking to himself or doing embarrassing things.

"But…" The blonde laughed nervously. "There are no other people around besides you and me, right? Then no one else will hear what I'm saying." Little Naruto said, twiddling his little thumbs together nervously as he waited for the older boy's reply.

Itachi slightly chuckled at the reaction that he got from the blond kid.

"D-did you hear what I said to the stars, Itachi-niisan?" He asked.

Itachi walked in front the blond kid and poked his forehead, ruffling his already messy blond hair for an added measure while still keeping the expressionless mask that he so mastered for years.

"I did." The blonde tensed body became tenser (a/n: Does that make sense?). "I quite appreciate what you said though…" He paused as he looked down at the blonde kid, giving a small smile at the big innocent eyes that were now staring at his black ones (not sharingan yet).

"But… you are still far from the level that I see you can reach." Naruto frowned. "However," A smile broke through the kid's lips in anticipation. "You are improving dramatically, and I should say that I am pleased." He said.

The blonde started jumping up and down, up and down in happiness, clutching the Uchiha's dark cloak and hugging his waist (Little Naruto's height in this part reaches up to Itachi's waist).

"Thank you, Itachi-niisan!"

R-e-a-l-i-t-y

Naruto chuckled to himself upon his small 'recollection of memories'. "Childhood memories…" He said softly to himself, his voice no louder than a whisper.

Upon clearing his thoughts, he went back to his apartment without making a single noise. He chuckled upon realizing the absolute quietness of his movements. "The result of sleathe (a/n: Spell check please.)."

He entered his room and discarded his weapons… all but one single kunai that he so cherishes to no end. He held it carefully in his hands… as if like it was an expensive diamond.

The blonde akatsuki smiled, recalling his first birthday with the older Uchiha... the first real birthday that he ever had... at least... for him.

F-l-a-s-h-b-a-c-k

Little Naruto walked slowly towards the longhaired Uchiha , twiddling his thumbs while blushing madly. "A-ano sa… Itachi-niisan…?"

The longhaired Uchiha paused for a while, placing the deer that he just killed on the fire. "What is it, Naruto-kun?" He asked.

"A-ano sa…" He started. "Umm… what date it is today…?" He asked.

Itachi kept his cold expression outside, though keeping his chuckling self inside. "October tenth. Why do you ask?"

Little Naruto sighed. "Nothing. Forget I asked." He murmured, looking down at his feet in disappointment as he turned around to walk away.

Once Naruto was out of sight, Itachi took out a scroll with Naruto's name as a label and placed it in the boy's leaf bed, going outside the cave to get some water.

A few minutes later, little Naruto went back inside the cave, only to find Itachi gone. He was about to leave the cave again in disappointment when something on his leaf bed caught his eye.

He walked towards his leaf bed and held the scroll which had his name written in it. He opened the scroll halfway and read these words:

"Naruto-kun, I guess I just want to greet you a happy birthday. Open the scroll fully to reveal my gift."

Naruto curiously opened the scroll fully only to find a drawing of a seal. He slightly frowned. 'What am I supposed to do with this seal?' He thought.

Upon further inspection of the seal, a PING echoed in his forehead. Recognizing the seal as a seal for a summoning technique, he made a few hand seals that Itachi taught him a few days ago in order to reveal the hidden gift, creating a mini cloud of smoke.

As the mini cloud of smoke disappeared, Naruto beamed as he saw a kunai with a weird orange pigment reflecting on its gray color.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun." A voice cooed.

Little Naruto turned around happily and smiled brightly at the normally stoic Uchiha who was now smiling with amusement at the blonde kid's expression.

'My first kunai… I got my first kunai…'

R-e-a-l-i-t-y

Naruto smiled and shook his head as he placed the kunai securely inside a pouch that was strapped in his waist instead of his thigh.

Not finding the will to sleep yet, he opened his apartment bedroom's window fully as he allowed the cool, soothing wind to enter his room, surrounding the inside with cool air as it passes by his face, giving him a very relaxed feeling… and appearance if I must add.

Raised a hand towards his hair, he pushed his hair backwards in a cool bishounen fashion. He closed his eyes in both meditation and relaxation.

He found himself thinking about the two teams…

The time that he first met the sand team had been a blast… the feeling both being like a tensed moment and a happy moment.

F-l-a-s-h-b-a-c-k

Location: Sunagakure no Sato

It had been a day ever since Naruto met Gaara. The kyuubi child was skipping along the streets, humming a happy song while enjoying the one-week break that Itachi gave him from his training sessions.

Stopping by the swing, he saw the young boy that he met the day before, sitting alone on the swing while watching the other children play. He smiled brightly as he called his new friend, waving his arm up high.

"Ano sa! Ano sa!" He called, earning the red head's attention.

The blonde skipped towards him and sat down on the swing beside the red head, ignoring the horrified looks of the other children as they ran away in total shock of a kid talking to the boy.

"Ano sa… told you we'd meet again!" Naruto said as he smiled brightly from ear to ear. Unlike the last time, little Gaara seem to have an infatuation with the blonde.

"Ano… you don't mind them running away?" Little Gaara asked.

Little Naruto cocked his head at him confusingly. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you mind the other children running away from the two of us?" Little Gaara repeated. Little Naruto grinned.

"Nah… I'm used to it." He then started to swing himself on the swing. "Back at Hidden Leaf, my home village, the people also call me names and fear me. And the reason is the same as yours. Like I said before, I also have a bakemono inside of me. However, I don't treat mine as a bakemono… Kyuubi is my friend. Itachi-niisan is one too. And of course…"

Naruto paused as he grinned at little Gaara. "… you're my friend now too!"

Little Gaara was speechless. He never heard someone else besides Yashamaru tell him that. Naruto's grin never ceased to fade. He jumped off the swing and landed in front of Gaara, extending his arm once again.

"Ano sa… we never had the opportunity to continue our handshake." Naruto said as he extended his arm further.

Gaara did what he thought would be best. He took the blonde's hand and shook it lightly. Naruto grinned from ear to ear.

"Anyway, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. What's your name? It's kind of awkward to not know your name while you know mine." He said, the grin never ceasing fade.

"Gaara."

R-e-a-l-i-t-y

Naruto smiled to himself. He never actually expected that particular sand-nin by the name of Gaara to actually be his friend. When he first met him, it seems that his life was hell and there was no way to extinguish it.

It was also like a cold iceberg without any way to melt it. Gaara was like ice.

And speaking of ice, the other four Akatsuki members who Naruto met a few days ago for the mission was the same. The four of them were like ice, but Naruto was proud to say that he was the one who melted their ice-cold hearts.

The blonde chuckled. "Yuumei…" He murmured.

He smiled slightly. It was kind of funny as he remembered himself having a crush on that particular akatsuki girl. Funny thing was that she was older than him for a year. He remembered liking her for her snobbish but cold attitude (a/n: Did everybody get that?), but he broke her ice.

Yuumei's older sister, Rae, the fifteen year old akatsuki, was kind of like her younger sister… only that she really was the big sister type for all the younger akatsuki members: namely Naruto, Yuumei, and Yomi.

Speaking of Yomi, the blonde knew almost nothing about him except that he was also from hidden mist. That thirteen year old was so secretive that he could rival Itachi's mysteriousness. He rarely speaks and he rarely fights so he knew almost nothing about him.

Naruto chuckled as he remembered Narue. How could he forget that guy? Their names were very close to each other that it's very hard to miss. Even though he was an akatsuki member, that guy had one weird sense of humor, being a frequent master of crossdressing. He can really be feminine looking, and once he wears any kind of kimono, you really would think of her… ehem… him… as a beautiful girl. (1)

Naruto shook his head. He never met a shinobi like him.

The blonde stared at the clock. It was almost three in the morning. He stood from his seat by the window sill and stretched.

"I suppose that we would be meeting at the red bridge by six or so. Then that means I still have three hours of sleep." He said aloud the empty room. "Then I guess we'll be heading towards the academy by eight, giving us two additional hours of team discussion… that is… if they want to have one. Oh well…"

He then lied down on the bed and covered himself with a sheet, frowning as he realized what color it is.

'Black again. Man… Kisame-san, I really am so gonna kill you for this.' He thought as he started scanning his brain for "101 Ways To Torture Akatsuki Members With Shark Faces".

'This day will surely be a busy day. We have a snake to defeat and it would seem like I have snake food to protect. Geez… I don't even know who the snake food would be. Itachi-niisan never gave me a decent answer, nor a specific name.' He thought as he sighed out loud.

"Oh well. I suppose that a shinobi's day is never complete without sleep. I believe that akatsuki member or not, I really need my sleep."

He closed his eyes…

…making himself physically and mentally ready for the continuation of "Part II of the Mission (1/2)"…

…chuckling slightly in amusement at the thought that he just thought.

(1) Actually, I really based Narue's character to Sanada Yukimura of Samurai Deeper Kyo. I guess I just really find the character highly amusing and he seems to fit the role. Anyway, Sanada Yukimura is NOT mine.

Author's notes: Maa… I don't really like the way I ended this chapter. And for another one, this chapter was shorter than the rest. The OOC-ness is another thing. I tried to keep them in character but my fingers seem to have a life of its own. This chapter was mostly composed for flashbacks as well.

Well... the chapter's title is "Recollection of Memories" so it is all about his memories, and flashbacks are memories too, ne?

I hope you don't mind though. I'm sorry for the OOC-ness. Anyway, I hope that I don't offend anyone in this chapter. Reviews please!