Forgotten
By Aphyx
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. I gain no profit from writing this. Obviously.
Warnings: Shounen-ai equals boyxboy luff 'm afraid. Swearing. Slight AU.
Thanks for the reviews! Okay, I know it's kind of a slow start...and I know most of you would rather get to the smoochin' and the lovin', but you'll have to be patient :P I'm still unsure whether this will be a SasuNaru or NaruSasu or somewhere in between. Any ideas anyone? -innocent smile-
I'm warning you now, I've attempted a fight scene and I dunno if it's any good... so I tried to keep the actual fighting to a minimum as I didn't want to do Naruto and Sasuke ill justice. Anyway, yeah, I'll shut up now...
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Sasuke only continued to stare with his eerie crimson gaze, looking neither fearful nor impressed. Naruto noticed his defensive stance, the dark haired missing-nin's muscles tense as he waited for the inevitable attack. Surprised the Uchiha hadn't decided to attack first; Naruto decided not to question the blessing and used the time to ready himself.
Concentrating, the blond ANBU moulded his chakra into his hands, the deep purple flaring and flickering as though Naruto's hands were on fire. Keeping a wary eye on Sasuke, who was watching with mild interest, Naruto concentrated on increasing the chakra flow. The purple essence crawled up both katanas, before engulfing them completely, the blades barely visible beneath the crackling flames of chakra.
The purple chakra had been a fairly recent development, caused by the fusion of his and the Kyuubi's chakra over recent years. At first, Naruto had been quite annoyed with the feminine looking chakra, but had realised that as he and the Kyuubi no Kitsune continued to fuse, he had to rely less on the Kyuubi itself, and more on their combined chakra. It also increased his precision when moulding chakra, as he only had one type to concentrate on rather than two. Although when situations got particularly dire, asking for help from the fox was something of a necessity.
"Not bad for a dead last," Sasuke commented mildly, his lips upturned into a superior smirk. "Your chakra control is better."
Naruto snorted, twisting his wrists and spinning the blades in circles at his sides, looking much as though he was playing with some sort of toy rather than a set of deadly weaponry. "You've got barely a year of my life to compare me to, Uchiha. You don't know me."
The statement seemed to anger Sasuke slightly, Sharingan eyes narrowing, though they followed the katanas' movements rather than Naruto. "I'd like to think that year was enough. After all, you can't be any less of an annoying, moronic, poor excuse for a ninja than you were before."
As whenever someone insulted his ninja abilities, Naruto felt deep anger well up inside himself. As a result, the flaring chakra on his katanas grew in size and changed in colour, turning a darker shade of purple. This was all that happened, however, as Naruto had long ago learned to control himself in times of extreme emotion, as it was one of his major weaknesses, especially as it affected the Kyuubi as well.
"Watch what you say, traitor," Naruto growled lowly, halting the katanas' movements in front of his body, arranging the blades so one was out in front, angled to the right, while the other was moved down by his left side, positioned slightly behind him and angled outwards. His chakra continued to hiss and crackle almost angrily, licking his body as it flickered at his side, almost caressing his form.
Being called a traitor was apparently something the Uchiha did not take kindly, as his stance quickly changed from defence to attack as he sped at Naruto, Sharingan wheels spinning wildly. Naruto tensed his leg muscles to take the attack head on, the chakra around his blades rapidly increasing in volume as it spun around his figure like a shield.
Sasuke's eyes widened marginally at the shield of chakra, and he leapt over Naruto and twisted mid-air, flinging a barrage of shuriken at his engulfed form. Anticipating this, Naruto's spun to face the Uchiha, his blades made quick work of the projectiles and the short clink of metal upon metal sounded as they were deflected. Instead of falling to the ground, they hovered as though weightless, before spinning and heading back the direction they came, purple chakra surrounding the rotating discs.
Sharingan eyes, though able to predict body movement, had not anticipated the shuriken to be moved by Naruto's chakra. Still airborne and vulnerable, Sasuke had no choice but to dodge as his body twisted and turned to avoid the counterattack. As the missing-nin landed unscathed, the 'thunk' of the shuriken embedding in a nearby tree sounded, alongside the violent hiss as the chakra momentarily ate away at the bark before flickering and dying.
Neither shinobi made further movement, each eyeing the other warily as they watched to see who would strike first. Naruto's shield slowly, almost reluctantly, shied from the blonde's body, decreasing in size, remaining only at the katana once more.
"Tch. Don't look so cocky, dobe. You're not the only one who's acquired new moves." Despite his boast, Naruto's self-satisfied smirk never wavered at the uncertain look in Sasuke's eyes. Apparently the Uchiha hadn't anticipated such a defence, as it deterred taijutsu as well as weaponry such as shuriken and kunai due to the combination of chakra and Naruto's blades. Not quite an absolute defence, but definitely an efficient one, as previous battles had proven.
Naruto returned to his stance, watching as Sasuke's calculating gaze seemed to be deciding how to approach the situation. Deciding not to give the tensai time to formulate a way to bypass his defensive system, Naruto lifted two fingers from the pair of katana to form the ram seal, the blades in turn forming a giant cross at the action. "Kage bunshin no justu."
Nothing happened.
Sasuke's eyes widened, having expected the clones to have appeared next to the original. His mind swiftly supplied the reason for this not happening. Behind me. Reacting quickly, Sasuke ducked a katana as it sliced the air his body had previously occupied. Another swipe came from the left as one simultaneously came from the right. The Uchiha blocked both attacks with a kunai in each hand, pushing against the blades with chakra enforced strength to avoid the inevitable follow up attack from the second katanas as he unbalanced the clones.
"Knowing which ones are clones won't help you if you can't stop them," Naruto's taunting voice came from somewhere, but Sasuke ignored the jibe as he leapt into a tree. His eyes quickly scanned the area. Two clones. His jaw clenched. Naruto was still stood in the spot he'd been in before, his stance defensive. If the Uchiha could have seen the blonde's face, he bet it would be smug.
Knowing the clones couldn't form Naruto's defensive shield, he gripped both kunai tightly and waited. As expected, both clones attacked at once, each from behind. Predicting their movement would be difficult unless he could actually see them. Sensing them instead for the moment, Sasuke leapt higher up the tree, his speed giving him an advantage. Watching the clones quickly jump up after him, the Uchiha was able to foresee their movement this time. He easily made work of them as he dodged and parried the blows, getting inside their defences and jabbing their hearts with his kunai and causing them to disappear in puffs of smoke.
Naruto watched from his position on the ground as Sasuke easily destroyed his clones. As expected. The missing-nin looked particularly angry, apparently not pleased about being on the defensive against someone he had always considered beneath him. Take that, bastard. Naruto knew that things had only just begun, and that he shouldn't get so arrogant. Sasuke had already seen his defence, whereas Naruto hadn't even seen him use any ninjutsu yet. He felt a shiver of anticipation as he wondered what kinds of techniques the Uchiha had acquired over the years, before quashing it. What do I care? He's no different than any other enemy, and they've all had an array of ninjutsu of varying grandeur.
The words that the Uchiha said next not only shocked Naruto to the core, but also made him explicably angry. "I don't want to fight you, Naruto."
Pushing down the urge to shout and scream his reply, the blond ANBU forced his voice to be deathly calm, but couldn't remove the tremor from his voice. "And why the hell not? Am I not worthy of your impressive Uchiha self?"
Sasuke dropped down from his branch, landing easily. He took a couple of steps forward, but stayed a good distance away, as if sensing Naruto's fury. Naruto noticed his hands were shaking and clenched them around the hilts, forcing them to still.
"Why are you here, Naruto?" The question was plain, with no true curiosity behind it, showing Sasuke knew the answer. Of course he did, Naruto had made his intentions quite clear.
"To kill you," Naruto answered flatly, slightly confused but not willing to show it. Was Sasuke trying to distract him? He strengthened his stance.
"Why?" The question itself was so simple, as was the answer. Yet to Naruto, it seemed to complicate things so much more.
"You are Uchiha Sasuke, a missing-nin and traitor of Konoha," here Sasuke practically flinched, "subordinate of Orochimaru, a murderer of a number of Leaf ninja, as well as of Sand, our ally. You are a danger to Konoha and its inhabitants, and as such are to be executed," Naruto recited dully. "Do you want me to go on? I have more."
Sasuke's jaw clenched. "No. I've heard enough."
"Well now that that's settled…" Naruto trailed off, his point clearly made. Though hearing the words out loud, seeing the face of the man he had to kill, faint whispers of memoirs taunted him.
Sasuke offering his twelve year old self lunch as Naruto struggled against the binds of his post.
Sasuke's bruised and battered body as it stood in front of him protectively, blood dripping from the puncture wounds covering his body.
Sasuke's look of camaraderie and triumph as their clenched fists knocked after their success in the Hidden Village of Mist.
Sasuke's burning gaze as he finally acknowledged Naruto. "I want to fight you."
Sasuke's wild look of fierce determination as he and Naruto flew at each other, Kyuubi vessel and Orochimaru follower, Chidori chirping and Rasengan whirring.
Naruto flinched as memories long suppressed bombarded his mind. 'Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke.'
The Uchiha seemed to sense Naruto's hesitation, cautiously walking forward. "Don't move, bastard," Naruto snarled, positioning his katana so that both were in front of him, the hilts touching and the blades facing outwards, his mind spinning. Sasuke was a traitor, a murderer. It was his mission, Godaime had entrusted him with this. Uchiha Sasuke had to be eliminated.
"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked again, but complied and moved no further.
"I'm in no mood to play games with you, Uchiha. I just told you," Naruto ground out, frustration welling up inside. I can do this.
Sasuke let out an agitated breath. "No, Naruto. Why are you here?"
The emphasis on that one word made a world of difference, Naruto realised. It was something that had been burning at the back of his mind, but he had refused to acknowledge it. Why was he here, and not another shinobi? Someone of equal or even higher strength and skill? It would have made a lot more sense for Tsunade to have assigned the mission to an ANBU with no previous emotional ties to the Uchiha. Hell, they had been team mates.
Had been. He was the one that wanted to break all bonds with you. He was the one who defected to Orochimaru.
"Because Hokage-sama assigned this mission to me," was all Naruto chose to divulge. His voice was firm, and the mask hid his lost expression. Doubt clouded his mind, but he was determined not to falter. Uchiha Sasuke is no longer a friend to me. He lost that privilege when he drove a Chidori through my chest.
"I won't fight you, Naruto," Sasuke repeated. As if to emphasise his point, the Sharingan faded, the deep crimson ebbing away to make way for soulful black. Eyes full of regret and remorse stared across the clearing, but Naruto's mind refused to believe it. He's lying, trying to lull you into a false sense of security. End it now.You can do this.
Naruto hesitated. "Let me ask you some questions, then, since you felt so compelled to do so yourself." Deciding he was only wasting chakra, Naruto stopped feeding the purple flames on his katana, which faded and gradually died out, but did not alter his stance or put away his weapons. "Why won't you fight me?"
"Take off your mask." Sasuke's sudden demand angered Naruto, but also surprised him. It seemed the roles had been reversed; Sasuke was acting so random and…un-Sasuke like. You can't claim to know him, Naruto reminded himself bitterly. Don't be a hypocrite.
"Answer my questions and I'll consider it."
"Take it off and I'll answer your questions."
Naruto gritted his teeth, but decided to comply. What harm could it do? Sasuke knew it was him anyway; it wasn't like the mask was hiding his identity. Lifting a hand to his face, wary of his katana, Naruto slowly, reluctantly, lowered the ANBU mask and clipped it to his belt.
Defiant sapphire eyes stared across at Sasuke, meeting directly with the Uchiha's own for the first time in over eight years. Naruto's face hadn't changed drastically over the years. The whisker marks were still there, and his blond hair was still relatively the same length. The only major change was that his face was less rounded without the presence of baby fat, and his jaw was more defined. "Well?" Naruto demanded.
"I want to return to Konoha."
"What!" Naruto couldn't help but exclaim in extreme astonishment. The shock brought about incredulous laughter. "You're kidding," Naruto stated flatly, humour quickly dissipating.
"No," Sasuke said, his expression sombre, fists clenching at his sides.
"Sasuke, let me give you a word of advice. I have just been sent to assassinate you, by order of the Hokage. Somehow, I don't think you're particularly welcome." Naruto tightened his grip on his katana, more of a reassurance than anything else. Being face to face like this suddenly made everything a lot more real. "If you don't want to fight, then don't, but that just makes it easier for me."
I can do this.
Naruto quickly shot towards the missing-nin, "Konoha style: Dance of the roaring flames!" The chakra quickly leapt to life along his blades. Naruto jumped up, bringing down one katana in a swift arc. Sasuke had evidently decided to defend himself, as he once again held a kunai in each hand. The two weapons clanged, the chakra hissing as it licked at the Uchiha's hand. As Naruto landed, he swept the left katana low. Sasuke jumped over the blade, but the chakra moved and brushed his legs, causing him to wince from the combined pain in both his legs and arm.
Naruto continued his onslaught, twisting and turning as his chakra enveloped blades sliced through the air, not landing any physical blows on Sasuke but gradually causing increasing damage through the burning of his demonic chakra on the Uchiha's body.
As the kunai were smaller in size, they were easier to manoeuvre, which gave Sasuke a momentary advantage as he saw an opening. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the kunai aiming for his shoulder, causing him to quickly jump back, out of range. Instead of following through with his attack as Naruto expected, Sasuke simply halted his movements. His breaths were coming in short gasps due to the pain in his body and the exertion it took to defend such speedy and powerful blows.
"You wouldn't be in such a state if you fought back, damn it!" Naruto growled angrily. He was actually angrier with himself, attacking an opponent that didn't or couldn't find back was against Naruto's morals, and so the blond was finding it difficult to find the will to continue his assault. The fact that it was Sasuke he was fighting only made it so much worse…
As with all the actions and words that had come from the Uchiha since their meeting, Naruto was no less than shocked when Sasuke dropped to his knees. The complete lapse in concentration caused the chakra to fade from his katana. Head bowed, Sasuke muttered lowly. "I'm sorry, Naruto."
"Sorry?" Naruto repeated incredulously, regaining his wits somewhat. "Sorry!" His voice gradually rose in volume. "You leave to become Orochimaru's lapdog, you break Sakura's heart, you try to kill me just so you could gain Mangekyou Sharingan and you think you can just say sorry after so many years and it'll all be okay!" Naruto's voice cracked as all of his suppressed emotion rushed to the surface.
"I know I did some stupid things, Naruto, but I was blinded by the thought of revenge. My whole clan was killed by my own brother, and I was the only one left alive. My quest for power consumed me, I was young and foolish." Sasuke spoke quietly, but was now looking at Naruto almost beseechingly, if it were possible for the Uchiha.
"And what's changed?" Naruto spat. "Itachi is still at large, we both know that. Is it because your precious Orochimaru-sensei is dead now, so without your cursed seal you're nothing? You can't just waltz back into Konoha after what you've done, Uchiha."
Sasuke's eyes burned with anger and an array of things in between, "You don't know anything," he whispered, hands trembling as they clenched into fists in the dirt.
"I'd like to think I know you enough. After all, you can't be any less of an arrogant, self-absorbed bastard with a holier-than-thou attitude than you were before." Naruto snapped heatedly, turning Sasuke's own words against him.
Despite his harsh demeanour, inwardly Naruto was a mess. Thoughts and emotions and questions swam inside his being, before rushing away and being replaced by equally confusing and infuriating ones.
Why was I assigned this mission?
Why won't you fight!
…Why did you leave me?
Sasuke said nothing at first. He simply stared at Naruto with his dark gaze, the look in his eyes difficult to interpret, especially at such a distance. Then he lowered his head, looking at the ground, and didn't move.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked warily.
The dark haired missing-nin's position didn't change. "You came here to kill me, right?" His soft voice barely reached Naruto's ears. As it dawned on the ANBU, his eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat.
Surely he's not…?
"So kill me."
Naruto swallowed, his palms becoming slippery with sweat. He slowly walked closer to the still form of Uchiha Sasuke, whose neck was tense as though he was resisting the urge to look up. Naruto sheathed one katana and raised the other, the blade glinting from a strip of sunlight that had escaped the snare of leaves up above. Aligned over the back of Sasuke's neck, the blade quivered as the hand holding it began to shake.
I can…
Naruto's look of fear and uncertainty was wiped clean in an instant, replaced with a look of ultimate resolve. The blade shot downwards, and a sickening 'thud' sounded in the small clearing of the forest in the country of Earth.
--
Naruto entered the Hokage's office, report in hand and solemn look upon his features. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, causing the sky to bleed red and the room to comprise of an eerie glow. The only visible wound on his person was a cut and bloodied knuckle, only noticeable because he was clutching the report tightly with it. Naruto walked briskly towards her desk, where Tsunade watched him with a concerned gaze. Without waiting for a word from her, and not uttering a sound himself, Naruto dropped the scroll onto the wooden desk and teleported immediately out of the room.
The Godaime slowly reached for the innocent looking scroll, unrolling its contents at an agonisingly slow pace. When the report was fully exposed, brown eyes widened at the large scrawl at the top of the page.
MISSION FAILED
In the dying light of the sun, a small sigh of relief was heard echoing through the Hokage's office.
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