Not To Remember

A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A sharp wind blew threw the trees and rustled large strands of blond hair in all directions as if it wasn't messed up enough on its own. Stopping for a small, short break after a five-hour walk; a twelve-year-boy rested against the trunk of a knarled tree and he knelt down, sitting uncomfortably on top of one of its twisted roots. Banging his head lightly against the trunk, he tried to think of anything to pass some time as he had exhausted all other forms of entertainment in the last few hours. Nothing came to him in mind although he didn't have much time to think all that much to begin with due to a sharp instrument, dull silver in color, creating a noise right next to his ear as it lodged itself firmly the tree, barely missing him. Immediately standing up, Naruto looked at the ninja tool for a few moments before pulling it from the tree, leaving a small slit where the kunai had been. He knew that he had heard the sound once before in his life and he was staring at it, in hopes that it might bring a fragment of what he so preciously missed. The hiss of metal cutting through air at a fast pace once again caused him to jump instinctively into the tree he had just been sitting against. Resting on the limb of a lower branch, he leaned as far against the trunk as he could, looking down at the scene below him. Four people walked slowly and cautiously into view to the place where he had just been standing. Ninja head protectors adorned their attire with what he had been told by someone was the Konoha, The Village of the Hidden Leaf's symbol. He felt yet another pang of familiarity but the fragments still eluded him, making him grow more frustrated that he already was.

"Way to go Sasuke!" The voice belonged to a pink haired girl and from the sound of it, Naruto guessed that she talked a lot and that it grew annoying after a while. She was average in size and her light pink hair the shade of blooming cherry blossoms was longer than what he would have expected from a female ninja, especially since it was not even kept in a hair tie. Sasuke, the boy of whom the girl was congratulating, ignored her loud words and looked at the tree. After a few moments of silence he placed a finger on a slit in the wood that was left by the kunai that Naruto had pulled. "There is one missing."

He had a solemn voice, as if he did not enjoy life or he had had a hard one so far. Naruto concluded that he must not have much fun in his life and, instead, dedicated his time to some life goal. A thoughtful expression appeared on the girl's face and the other two, a young boy and an older man, who was wearing the vest of a jounin, turned the heads to Sasuke. Except for the older man, everyone looked about his age. The jounin, who was sporting a navy blue mask and a wore his head protector over his left eyes, cast his uncovered eye towards the tree and rested them on Naruto, who froze up at his glance.

"I suggest you come down from there." Was all the jounin let come out of his mouth. The way he said it was odd, it was relaxed in a way that let Naruto know that he was thought of no threat. Unwilling, Naruto stood up from the tree limb and jumped down from his hiding place, landing on his sandaled feet with a slight noise. In his hand, he held out the ninja dagger for the boy named Sasuke to take, assuming it to be his. It had gotten into the Naruto's mind for him to always do what people told him to but he didn't know who had taught him any manners and would have liked to thank the person who did, it having given him a lot in his life. The jounin eyes widened at his appearance in the light but his gaze made Naruto very uneasy. It was like the older man knew something that he didn't, the something being about himself.

"That is actually mine." The other boy told Naruto, roughly taking the kunai from his in one quick swipe before giving him a glare. Naruto turned his gaze to the boy who seemed to be over protective of his tools. The boy was gifted with silver hair and his eyes held a slightly darker shade, like dull platinum. He wore all dark clothing but it was rather loose, too loose for a what ninja would usually choose for his attire. Naruto shifted once more to his other foot and apologized to him for mistaking the ownership of the dagger. His voice was quiet and the jounin placed a hand on his shoulder; to his surprise it was gentle.

"Please excuse my student's rudeness. My names is Hatake Kakashi and these are my students: Sakura, Sasuke, and Sukou. What is your name and what are you doing so close to Konoha's territory?" Kakashi introduced while asking a question at the same time, his eye on Naruto. Naruto took a step backwards, not liking the friendly look he was being given. The way the jounin was acting definitely told him all he needed to know. Obviously he knew Naruto as otherwise he would not have let out the names of himself as well as his students. Naruto gave out a long, hushed breath before he went into a debate on whether or not to answer the question that was asked of him. Now he knew he was at least near Konoha, the place that he had been given as his best clue to where he would find out about his past.

It was his only memory that he could call up. It took place on a warm day, around dusk. A warm wind blew through the trees and the open windows of many houses, ruffling the clothes that hung over the doors of shops and messing up the hair of those who were still outside. He was young, around three perhaps, and in a ramen stand that had a row of maybe ten or more stools. A man of whose face he could not see was turned to him but his younger self knew the person and apparently was close to him, giving him happy expression. The only words in the whole memory was, 'In Konoha anyone can achieve their dreams if they work hard enough Naruto.' It was the only thing that had led him to his name and it was this memory that had led him to the Konoha village. Looking at Kakashi, he decided that he would rather ask the man to take him into Konoha rather than him walk in by himself in case he got false direction. "My name is Naruto…"

An immediate reaction fell upon the ninja team, save for Kakashi who knew of his name the moment he laid eyes on him. Pushing Sasuke out of her way, Sakura made way to be in front of Naruto, pointing a rather sharp finger at his chest. A shocked expression adorned her face as her mouth fell agape for a moment, as if lost for words. Sukou was staring at the boy like he had come from another planet, perhaps Mars, before his mouth pulled into a thin line as if he was not too happy about his sudden appearance back into his life. Sasuke was the one that showed the least reaction of them all. He looked the boy over, paused for a few moments at Naruto's head and face before finally nodding, as if confirming for himself that it was indeed Naruto.

"Naruto it's me, Sakura! Dang, you really grew up to look like something; not at all like that idiotic kid that I used to know." The female ninja exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. Naruto blinked for a moment before looking at her like she was crazy, pulling her off of him. Looking between the four people he stayed silent, as if he couldn't bring himself to say that he remembered none of them even though they knew him from somewhere and were probably his friends. Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi with a stern question look, hands in his digging into pockets.

"Sensei, why did you introduce us to him?" was all that merely came out of him mouth and Naruto paled, realizing that Kakashi might know that he remembered nothing. Kakashi gave him a small smile, as if he had figured out a big mystery that he had purposely laid out for them to find. Sakura leaned back, as if finally realizing something odd that had happened that she hadn't caught on before and Sasuke being Sasuke; had done it first once again. Sukou looked at Naruto for a moment before turning to his teacher for the information that he knew was being withheld from them, arms crossed. Sighing heavily, Kakashi turned to his pupils, his face stopping at each of them, before his eyes landed on Naruto.

"It's been six years has it not? Do you actually think Naruto would remember any of you from back then?" His answer was simple and apparently satisfactory, Naruto let out a breath of relief. Perhaps the jounin did not know after all but then a look of dread appeared on Naruto's face. Six years? Having a hard time registering it, the news made him feel numb inside and he fell to the ground. Hands going through his hair he was shaking his head, trying to remember with all his might what happened in his life. He never thought that something must have gone wrong in his life, a kidnapping perhaps or maybe something else. He also knew that if he hadn't returned to Konoha then how would they be able to tell him what happened for most of his life. Pushing past them he ran to the direction they had come in he took off running as fast as he could manage to get to Konoha. It was his only lead still and he wasn't going to let it slip away because of something he did not remember.

With all of this the thing he hated most of all was his position; the look in Sakura's eyes when she found out that Naruto didn't remember who she was one of the worst he had ever seen in his memory. He hated how no one knew that it was not just them he didn't remember…he didn't remember anything up to the point where he had woken up in…that place…five months ago.

I'm sorry...I meant to have this up by last night but no dice...I had to go to bed by my parents (we live in a hotel room until we move into our real house in April...dad's military and we just came back from Japan in late Janurary.)

I want to thankthe fivewho reviewed, the person who favorited this story, the 13 people that chose to have alerts to this story, and the over 300 people who chose to even take a look at this story. Much appreciated "

-Shiranai