Forgotton

By Aphyx

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, and I don't get any profit from writing this. Obviously.

Warnings: Romance of the boyxboy variety, so if the thought repulses you turn back now. Slight swearing.

Hey. My second fic! All right, this one's going to be more serious, and will also be more than just a one-shot. I've also kinda changed some things, as I didnt want to do the whole Sasuke turns bad but gets dragged back thing, as there's so much of it. I wanted to be different! HopefullyI've notscrewed up... Let me know! Anyway, I'll let you judge it for yourself...

--

It was a beautiful day.

The sun was high in the sky, filling the land with warm, bright light, and not a cloud was in sight. The leaves above cast an almost green glow upon the surrounding forest, blocking out the glaring light of the sun as it tried to break through. Slithers of light managed to escape through the slight gaps, casting pools of gold onto the otherwise dull earth. Birds chirruped quietly in song, almost as if afraid to break the tranquillity of the forest.

Naruto sighed, glancing up at what little he could see of the sky as he moved. It was such a shame he had to kill on a day like this.

Dressed in his usual ANBU garb, fox mask and all, Naruto was currently on the trail of his most recent assassination mission. Naruto wasn't accustomed to doing missions that were solely based on eliminating a particular person, mainly because he didn't like to do it. Killing someone who wasn't necessarily a ninja, just because someone with enough money to get them laid off decided they didn't want them alive was something Naruto wasn't willing to do. Especially if they couldn't even defend themselves. Naruto got a sick feeling in his stomach whenever he had to go on an assassination mission, though luckily it wasn't often.

This time was different.

Naruto had no feelings of anxiety; his body wasn't reacting in any negative ways at all. He wasn't particularly enthusiastic either, however, which Naruto supposed was a good thing. Getting a kick out of killing would mean he had some major issues. Though his apathy of the situation had surprised him at first, Naruto figured that life as a ninja had really done a one-eighty on his emotions. At twenty, he was a completely different person from the loud, brash kid with a love for all things orange he'd once been.

As an ANBU, he'd had to have a much more serious, calculating attitude if he wanted to stay alive, never mind completing a mission in the first place. Therefore, the orange had just had to go. A snide comment didn't get him riled up as much as it used to. He also didn't just charge into a battle head first and count on chakra reserves and stamina alone to keep him alive.

Naruto swiftly jumped onto a nearby branch and continued his pursuit, abandoning the decision to travel along the ground to quieten his approach. Despite the fact his stealth had greatly improved, his intended victim would know he was coming whichever way he travelled. Besides, this elevated position gave him a wider scope of the area and he was less likely to get caught unawares when the enemy realised he was there.

Adrenaline started pumping when he sensed the chakra signature up ahead, readying his body to fight or flee. There would be no fleeing from Uzumaki Naruto, though, that was certain. Realising the signature was coming due north-east, Naruto changed his position accordingly, slowing down his speed slightly as he approached his target.

Naruto knew the enemy would know he was there despite the fact he'd completely suppressed his chakra, so he was determined to ensure they didn't know exactly where he was. Naruto frowned behind his mask. His target was openly announcing his presence, the chakra flaring for anyone to see.

"Chi," Naruto muttered. Someone was cocky.

Naruto stopped and dropped to the forest floor silently, swiftly moving from tree to tree as he moved in on his opponent, but making sure to keep a good distance away. This mission wasn't going to be a walk in the park; ANBU missions rarely were, especially solitary ones. Naruto much preferred to work with his team, they had good solidarity and a super genius for a captain, and never failed a mission.

Halting his movements, Naruto flattened his back against a tree trunk to prevent himself from being ambushed from behind. With his head facing the direction of the chakra signature, Naruto peered through the mass of trees and branches, his eyes darting everywhere in the unlikely chance of an attack. The chakra signature wasn't going anywhere. He was still unable to get a sight of his target, but was reluctant to move closer.

'Looks like I have no choice,' Naruto thought dryly, deciding the direct approach was probably the best way to go about it. 'Not that I'm going to be obvious about it,' he smirked, withdrawing shuriken from his weapons pouch.

Jumping silently into the trees once more, Naruto speedily hopped from branch to branch as he circled his opponent, gradually moving closer. When he finally got a visual, his opponent was simply stood in the middle of a small clearing, his aura practically radiating arrogance and composure.

'Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that.'

Naruto threw one of his shuriken with deadly accuracy, but continued noiselessly circling his opponent so as not to have his location detected. Sharp blue eyes watched as the projectile embedded in the back of the shinobi's head with a dull thud. Naruto also watched as said shinobi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Kage bunshin, eh?' the blond ninja thought with a wry smile.

Slightly off guard, but not entirely surprised, Naruto had to drop momentarily to the ground as a kunai came whizzing his way, followed closely by another that had Naruto use the cover of a nearby tree as a shield before he jumped back amidst the leaves and branches.

'Well there goes hiding my position' Naruto thought, annoyed. 'Looks like I might as well just stand in that clearing.'

Naruto leapt out of the foliage, flipping through the air and landing in a neat crouch. Surprisingly, no shuriken came flying his way, nor did a kunai-wielding opponent. Naruto scanned the area carefully, before his eyes landed on a figure that was leisurely walking out of the thick of the trees. Naruto bristled, but forced his anger down. Now was not the time, he needed to think rationally if he wanted to complete his mission successfully.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the cool voice floated across the clearing, tinged with slight amusement. "How nice to see you again."

"Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto replied in a detached tone. "The feeling isn't mutual."

"It's been a while," Sasuke said thoughtfully. "About…eight or nine years?"

"Who's counting?" Naruto said airily, keeping a wary eye on the missing-nin as he slowly walked forward, before halting a safe enough distance away. Sasuke was shorter than he was, Naruto thought with a kind of childish satisfaction.

Sasuke looked almost exactly the same, Naruto realised. His hair style was the same as it had been when he was twelve, spiked up at the back with dark bangs framing his pale face. His choice of clothing hadn't differed much, dark shorts with an equally gloomy high collared shirt, though from here Naruto couldn't tell whether the Uchiha crest was on the back.

He bet it was.

The Uchiha had obviously grown, now standing at about 5"11 as opposed to Naruto's 6"2. His frame was just as slender as ever, though Naruto knew not to be deceived by appearances. Sakura was a prime example, he thought with a mental wince.

"It took you a while to find me." Sasuke's voice was mocking, and Naruto could tell the missing-nin expected him to explode at the insult and charge at him.

He didn't.

Naruto laughed. He would have even thrown his head back to add insult to injury if it wasn't for the fact it would make him vulnerable to an attack. "Don't be dumb, Uchiha." No changes occurred to Sasuke's face, though his lips had turned downward slightly, replacing the slight smirk that had graced his features. "If we had wanted to find you, we would have. Hokage-sama just didn't think there would be any point wasting any ninja tracking you down."

The statement was partly true. Tsunade had prohibited Naruto from going after Sasuke following the first failed attempt. Naruto had screamed and shouted and wept, but it had been forbidden. Only out of grudging respect and affection for Tsunade had Naruto very reluctantly complied. The Godaime sent no ANBU, Jounin or even Chuunin after Uchiha Sasuke. Not even for reconnaissance to learn his whereabouts. Any information collected was on the basis of Orochimaru only, and Naruto was never informed if any clues to his whereabouts were found.

Naruto had left the village with Jiraiya to become stronger, determined to be allowed to go after Sasuke on his own if he had to. However, a year into his training, Akatsuki launched repeated attacks on the Kyuubi holder and his mentor. Unable to be of much use himself, and Jiraiya being strained from constant assault caused the two to retreat back to Konoha, cutting the toad Sannin's information collecting short. Naruto's training was then continued in the safety of the village, while also enabling him to go on the odd mission, with Jiraiya as protection.

As Naruto's ninja skills and rank gradually improved, the three years had continued to draw closer. However, before Konoha had even had chance to deploy any ninja to track down Orochimaru and prevent him from gaining the Sharingan, an unexpected battle occurred. Akatsuki and Sound clashed, causing the death of Orochimaru and many of his men, as well as a handful of the lesser Akatsuki members. Though Naruto was a little sketchy on the detail as the information had been classified, he had heard that Orochimaru had interfered with the Jinchuuriki-obtaining organisation, causing them to attack. Sound ended up in disarray with no leader, while Akatsuki had disappeared to lick their wounds, and probably recruit new members to make up the loss.

In light of the events, Uchiha Sasuke had been supposed dead, and Naruto had comforted a distressed Sakura as she mourned the loss of her team mate and love. Naruto had been quite detached from the whole ordeal, and had conquered any moments of sadness by comforting himself with the thought that death was better for Sasuke than losing his body to Orochimaru.

After that, Naruto threw himself into his role as a shinobi, and had been extremely proud of himself when he finally made it as an ANBU at the age of 19, through the guidance of Jiraiya and Kakashi, as well as the support of all of his friends. The news he received not long after his promotion, however, left a sour taste in his mouth.

--

Flashback

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto inwardly smirked at the shock that always seemed to appear in Tsunade's eyes whenever he used the honorific, it never failed to amuse him.

"Yes," she answered seriously, a tired and slightly pained look in her eyes. Naruto frowned. "A few months back, we received news of a number of rumours floating around containing a certain missing-nin." Naruto merely blinked, there were many missing-nin, which did she mean? "I hadn't wanted to say anything to you in case they were just rumours, so I sent out an ANBU to investigate. Two weeks ago my suspicions were confirmed." Tsunade seemed to hesitate, and Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion, waiting for the information he was beginning to suspect he would hear. "Uchiha Sasuke is alive."

Tsunade watched him in concern, but Naruto just stood there blankly, taking in the information for a few minutes. "Oh," he said flatly.

"Oh?" Tsunade repeated incredulously. "That's all you have to say?"

"Aa," Naruto confirmed. "If that's all you wanted to tell me…" he said indifferently as he turned to leave.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Tsunade said sternly, causing a reluctant blond to turn around and stand back up to her desk. She peered into his eyes worriedly. "You don't want to know where he is? Or what he's doing?"

"Not really," Naruto said dispassionately. "So if you're done speaking, Hokage-sama, I would like to get back to my training?"

With a despondent sigh, the Godaime nodded and waved him off. Naruto smiled slightly at her concern. "I'm all right, Tsunade-no-baachan," he said cheekily, before going through hand seals and leaving the room in a puff of smoke.

"Are you really?" Tsunade murmured to herself worriedly.

End Flashback

--

Naruto didn't know what had driven Tsunade to assign him the mission to rid Konoha of the threat of the younger Uchiha, but he hadn't complained when she had told him of the mission details and given him a report on all information that had been collected on the missing-nin. Uchiha Sasuke was someone he did not know, was just another forgotten face in a sea of enemy shinobi he had to conquer to ensure Konoha's safety. After all, Sasuke was a dangerous S-class missing-nin. He'd also been considered dead to him once, Naruto figured he could deal with it just as well the second time. Even if it was by his own hand...

"Come to drag me back to your wonderful little village then?" Sasuke sneered, crossing his arms over his chest in a defiant gesture, one that also made his stance more vulnerable.

'Grr, cocky bastard.'

Naruto blinked in surprise behind his mask at the words. Is that why Sasuke thought he was here? Surely he didn't really think that. "You're supposed to be the tensai here, Uchiha, and yet again you say something stupid."

Sasuke blinked slowly, cautiously lowering his arms back down to his sides, which Naruto noted with triumph. The blond ninja could practically see the proverbial cogs working in the Uchiha's head, and the previously dark eyes bled crimson as the Sharingan were activated.

Naruto reached behind him, drawing not one katana, as was standard for Konoha ANBU, but two, that had previously been strapped crisscrossed to his back. Although this gave him a disadvantage in terms of ninjutsu, it made his attacks much more swift and harder to evade. Naruto had always had trouble using single-handed seals anyway, so figured two katanas wasn't going to hinder him any more than one would.

"That's right, Uchiha, I'm here to kill you."

--

Good? Bad? ...Absolutely awful? And yes, this will be a SasuNaru/NaruSasu fic. If I've made any mistakes with names or Japanese phrases or anything please tell me so I don't do it throughout the whole fic! Let me know what you think!