Not to Remember

A Naruto Fanfiction

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Author's Note: The following section is a dream until you see the '-------'

The room was surrounded in darkness where even an owl or a cat would not be able find sufficient enough light to see. It smelled of fungi and was very wet…you could taste the moisture in the air and the taste was stale. Sitting in the room was a small boy whose age was of five years. He was sitting in small corner, hugging his knees and crying softly into his huddle form, the tears staining his cheeks. The only thing that was currently going through his head was, 'I mustn't let them see me cry. I mustn't I mustn't.'

If he had been able to see in the dark he would see that his shirt was deeply stained with the browning red liquid that was his own blood. Since he could not see his other senses were sharp and he could feel were the deep cuts on his palms and that alone would have made him cry if it were not for what he had been told. If not for what he had been told to do by the scary men who kept calling him 'fox child' instead on the his real name. Everything they had done to him in the short time he was there was still in his mind with a stinging freshness so sharp that he wished that he didn't remember…didn't remember anything about it at all. That he didn't have to become what they wanted him to become and he was merely having a dream where he would wake up the next day to practice his aim with the throwing stars.

Creakingly, a door opened, letting a pool of light into the room. The boy looked up to see who had come and in and he saw the same man who had cut his palms. A sinister look was in his eyes and an equally sinister smile was playing on his lips. Quickly the five-year-old wiped his eyes and face as to get rid of the evidence of his crying. With a movement with the hand the man told him to get to his feet and he obeyed as fast as he could.

"How has my little fox child been feeling? I hope he has been doing well and been a good boy. I can't have a weak fox child and you are not weak now are you?" The man asked him, his voice holding a fake sense of caring. Shaking his head, the young one looked towards the ground, anywhere but to the face of the man. "Is that any way to address me fox child?"

"No Master sir. I have not been crying…I am a good boy like you said." The quivering in the boy's face was evident and is made the man smile. Walking over to the boy he knelt down and placed a finger on his stomach.

"Are you sure about that? I wouldn't want the fox child to be punished for lying." Withdrawing a finger the man balled his fist and punched Uzamaki Naruto hard in the stomach.

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Immediately Uzamaki Naruto rose from his bed, having broken out in an extremely cold sweat that made his clothes cling to his small frame. His breathing was heavy and he had trouble making sense of where he was at the current moment. The room he was in had a nice glow given off by the full moon that was peering through the window outside in the night sky. In a few moments Uzamaki Naruto remembered that he had now taken residence once again in Konoha, safe from the horrors of the reoccurring dream he had had every single night that he could remember. Progressing very little in the long nights it had been occurring in, the dream seemed to hold a key to something he felt was important but it put him on a severe mental strain, the reason why he kept waking up from it with a difficulty to remembering who and where he was.

Lightly stepping onto the floor, Naruto walked over to the kitchen and looked around the apartment he was now in. He had first seen him walking over to where he was when he had first reached the gates, the Sandaime Hokage. Surprisingly, Naruto immediately knew who he was and instantly guessed that this was someone that people did not just simply forget. The respect that he must have had for this man as a five-year-old child was still in existence when he had looked into the old man's eyes eyes. He remembered still the first words that came out of the old man's mouth, very clearly as if he were speaking them right now.

"Good to have you back, Uzamaki Naruto." This being said with a genuinely welcoming smile on the face and Naruto automatically understood and knew that for once someone in this town meant what they said. Naruto bowed down to him respectfully and the villagers eyed this in a way that maybe let them know that they might think that he was not a total impudent nothing after all. The Third Hokage looked over him whilst an amused look came upon his lips and stayed there. "You seem to have had ninja training…"

"When I was five maybe…" Naruto replied to him, truthfully. Then he did not realize then that the old man had meant training all of his life…far from just when he was of five years but continuing since then. Laughing at the comment, the Third Hokage looked at him once again and commented on how happy he was to see that Naruto had retained his sense of humor. He pulled from his folds of clothing a head protector that was adorned with Konoha's symbol. The old man looked at him before saying, "You will get this eventually, Naruto. We need to see where you are in your training and if you should take the path you wanted to take all those years ago. We don't know what had happened when you left but together we might just find out."

"I haven't had any training since I was five…Sorry to be rude but it's true." Naruto muttered, his voice barely being audible through his gritted teeth. The twelve-year old was looking at the man like he was a senile old fool. A frown entered the man's happy expression but melted away to be replaced by an all-knowing smile.

"That you remember that is." The Third Hokage pointed out, pocketing the head protector back into his folds of red scarlet clothing before looking at the boy before him. At a sudden lost for words, Naruto could find no way to counter this comment and flushed red. He was beginning to be confused but that wasn't something that was uncommon nowadays for him. It would make a bit of sense though…how he was agile, how he could use the tools, how he knew the ranks and other things. This, however, still did not erase the question of who taught it to him. Who after the Konoha had taught him the ways of the ninja? A hand appeared on his shoulder and he realized that is was Kakashi's. "I will teach him, Hokage-sama."

That was what had happened this morning and now it was nightfall nearing the next morning. The village was kind enough to give him an apartment and some clothes, an orange jumper with parts of it that were white, blue, and red. He had also received the standard ninja tools and the notice that he was to report to the academy the next morning at nine. Even after five bowls of ramen, Naruto was still having a hard time digesting it all while juggling his questions. For some reason he believed that the dreams he had been having would answer them all.

Ah...sorry to say but that will become a pattern. This whole updating like crazy during the weekends and then nothing during the week. The reason is this...I have little time during the week days...before I even can go on the computer I have to do an hour and thirty minutes worth of homework (60 minutes that are taking up by reading The Grapes of Wrath...anyway I reward your patience with an update...

Ah...so we now see a little bit of what happened these six years...mwahaha... well...comments are very welcome...and any questions will be answered if I can answered them.