Forgotten

By Aphyx

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters, and I receive no financial gain through writing this. Obviously.

Warnings: Shounen-ai, slight language, violence.

Ahaha, so it's been a while since I updated… Well I've been in Denmark for a week! I don't know a word of Danish, and I had to stay at a Dane's house. Scary! Plus my BT Broadband connection's been all weird lately, and sometimes I can't connect for days at a time. Gah, stupid thing. Anyway, it's done now, so enjoy!

--

Naruto stared despondently at his cooling ramen, having only managed a few mouthfuls before opting to brood over the last twenty four hours instead. His previously bloodied fist, now completely wound free, clenched in bitter remembrance.

'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.

'I can't do this.'

Naruto fled; angry, upset and one katana short. He ran with one sole purpose, and that was to get as far away from Uchiha Sasuke as possible. When Naruto felt he had gained enough distance and had ensured that he was not being followed, he allowed himself to stop running.

Feeling overemotional, and a great sense of self-deprecation, Naruto slammed a fist into a nearby tree, crying out in anguish. Why couldn't he do it! Dammit, he was an ANBU for God's sake; he was supposed to kill quickly, efficiently and without emotion. The fact it was Uchiha Sasuke, his former best friend, should not have been of consequence.

Though the fact of the matter was, it had been.

He wasn't sure how long he was stood there, one fist pressed against the rough bark of a tree, back hunched, head bowed, a million thoughts and emotions swimming around inside. Realising he wasn't going to feel any better, the blond decided to push all of the maddening thoughts aside, dwelling on it would just get him aggravated. Pushing away from the tree, Naruto fixed his ANBU mask back in place and headed towards Konoha. He had a mission report to hand in.

Naruto's blond locks were mussed from lack of sleep, his blue eyes dulled and tired and his form was slumped over the kitchen table. The usually vibrant, full-of-life ninja looked much older than his twenty years. Naruto frowned as images of yesterday continued to haunt him, more specifically Sasuke down in the dirt, head bowed as he waited to be executed. What had happened to the no-nonsense ninja whose sole purpose in life was to kill a certain man? A man that was definitely alive and kicking, not to mention killing innocents while he was at it.

For a brief, fleeting moment, Naruto thought that maybe the Uchiha had known he wouldn't be able to kill him in the first place, but quickly discarded the idea as it brought about even more unanswered questions.

Sighing unhappily, Naruto forced his body to move and dumped his uneaten ramen in the trash. He didn't have any missions as of yet, though ANBU were often given theirs on short notice, so he had nothing to occupy himself with. Sick of having Uchiha fucking Sasuke on his mind, Naruto grabbed his weaponry and made his way towards the training grounds to engage himself.

A good few hours had passed in which the world around Naruto had blurred into mere shapes and colours as he moved swiftly about the empty glade, twisting and turning and jumping as he allowed himself to free his mind of its burdens. The only sounds being the occasional 'thud' as a thrown shuriken hit its target or the near-silent swish of a blade as it sliced through the air with smooth precision.

When the blond ANBU finally stopped, sweating and out of breath, his clear mind was abruptly assaulted with unwelcome thoughts and images. Knowing he would have to face his problem, Naruto sighed as he moved and sat under the cool shadow of a nearby tree.

What would he do now? He could easily pretend none of it had ever happened, but the memory of it would always haunt him. Sasuke had always had that effect on him; it had taken him years to get over the betrayal. There was also the fact that the Uchiha wanted to return to Konoha. Would he have the nerve to turn up here? Naruto had the uneasy feeling that he would. If that time came, then Naruto knew the ANBU would be on him like bees to honey, meaning Naruto himself would become unwillingly involved. Again.

Tsunade would probably be on his case soon, the mission report he'd handed in had been very vague, something that was not tolerated in ANBU reports. Because the Gondaime had a soft spot for him, she'd probably give him a few days to recuperate before demanding answers. Though Naruto had a fair few questions of his own. Tsunade had sent him on that mission deliberately, it was no coincidence that he had been assigned to kill his previous team mate. The aging Hokage definitely had something up her sleeve, and Naruto was determined to find out what it was; he wanted no part of it.

"Oi, Naruto."

Naruto blinked, looking up at the approaching figure of Shikamaru. "Hey," the blond greeted tiredly, a shadow of a smile on his lips.

Shikamaru frowned, but said nothing of Naruto's dishevelled state. Naruto liked that about him. "We have a mission in two days; a feudal lord wants bodyguards for his return trip to the Earth Country."

Naruto groaned. He hated missions like those. "Why ANBU? Can't a chuunin or jounin do it? God, it's such a menial task."

The dark-haired ninja smiled briefly. "You know lords, they have more money than they know what to do with. He wants the best protection Konoha can offer."

Naruto supposed the mission would prove a decent distraction. Depending on the pace of the feudal lord, the mission would take a couple of days. "So does he want the whole team?" Naruto asked sceptically. No single person needed a full ANBU team to protect them, feudal lord or not.

"Nah. It's just you and me this time. Think you could cope?" Shikamaru smirked slightly.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Naruto returned, feeling a smile creep onto his face without his permission. "Not too troublesome for you, I hope?"

"Well," the lazy genius drawled, "as long as you don't chatter my ear off the whole way there, or manage to fall flat on your face again."

"Hey!" Naruto protested, "That was one time, and I could have sworn that rock wasn't there before," he added, pouting for effect.

Shikamaru chuckled at his blond friend. "You're the only ANBU I know with a serious lack of co-ordination out of battle."

Naruto snorted, amused despite himself. "It was one time, Shikamaru. My co-ordination's not that bad anymore."

Shikamaru merely raised an eyebrow in response, before his expression turned apathetic once more. "Well…I have training scheduled with my Dad, I can't be late," he said, but his tone clearly stated 'troublesome'.

Naruto snickered; lifting a hand in parting as Shikamaru slowly ambled away. When the dark-haired ninja had eventually gone out of sight, Naruto allowed himself a soft smile. Shikamaru had improved his mood without even bringing up the subject. Naruto stretched his arms up, folding them behind his head as he leaned further back against the tree trunk to allow his body to relax. He had such great friends.

--

After allowing himself to laze around under the cool shade of the tree, Naruto forced his hazy mind back into focus. The blond squinted at the sky and guessed it to be around late afternoon from the position of the sun. Naruto decided it was time to head back into the village; maybe go bug Sakura for while.

Naruto sighed to himself as he went about the task of collecting all of his scattered shuriken and kunai. As tedious as the task was, Naruto had never grown out of the habit due to having to preserve his weaponry from when he was younger and poorer. Whilst pulling a final shuriken out of the small, circular target on the edge of the forest, a flash of metal in the grass to his left caught his eye.

Blinking in surprise, Naruto bent down and picked it up, a frown playing at his lips. He didn't remember missing a target, why was there one on the floor? Naruto dismissed it. Someone else could have just left it there after their own practice. As soon as he took a step backwards, a sudden flash of movement in the thick of the trees caught his attention. His body instantly alert, the ANBU strained his eyes and ears to locate the source.

After peering in the shady forest for a few minutes, Naruto was unable to see any abnormal movements. Realising he was being paranoid, the blond shinobi scowled to himself. All this business with Uchiha had his nerves frazzled.

'Like the Uchiha would really dare come to Konoha,' Naruto scoffed.

Taking a tentative step backwards, Naruto was satisfied when nothing happened in the surrounding area. The weight of the foreign shuriken was heavy in his hands, and Naruto gave it a thoughtful glance before decisively throwing it at the nearby target, where it hit dead centre with a quiet thunk.

"You're going crazy, Uzumaki. Was probably a rabbit or something," Naruto muttered to himself as he turned and left the training area, determinedly not looking back into the dark cluster of trees.

--

Deep red eyes glowed eerily in the surrounding shadows of the forest, the tight collection of trees preventing any sunlight from permeating the leaves above. The dark figure allowed his body to relax as the form of the blond ANBU walked out of sight. The missing-nin scowled, not pleased at having to do something as cowardly as hiding, but knowing it was all he could do for now.

Sasuke took measured steps as he walked further away from the protective shadows of the small forest and into the light of the invasive Konoha sun. Keeping his senses tuned to any nearby human presence, he came to a stop at a particular tree. With narrowed eyes, Sasuke yanked the embedded shuriken from the target with more force than necessary in his anger.

The Uchiha eyed the innocent looking shuriken in his hand with displeasure. It didn't look, feel, or weigh any different than a normal shuriken. But inside was a small piece of technology that allowed it to be tracked within a range of around ten kilometres, to whoever had the receiver. Namely, one Uchiha Sasuke. He hadn't planned on Naruto throwing it away.

Sasuke sighed; pocketing the shuriken and moving swiftly back into the veil of the dark forest, deciding to stay just outside of the village for now. After all, Naruto's mission wasn't for another few days, he wasn't going anywhere.

'I'll just have to track him the ninja way,' Sasuke thought, allowing a slight smirk to grace his features, 'which won't be difficult, not when he has an aged feudal lord setting the pace.'

Once Naruto was out of the village, it would be much easier to corner him. It would also suggest less Konoha shinobi on his tail should anything go wrong. Sasuke had the slight problem of Nara Shikamaru, however, meaning he'd have to tread carefully. Naruto also seemed to be extremely wary since their encounter the day before.

'He must have known it was me in those woods. There are no rabbits in the areas surrounding the training grounds. Hell, there are no animals at all, they all steer clear due to the risk of being impaled by flying kunai,' Sasuke allowed himself to slow his pace once he was a safe enough distance away from Konohagakure. 'So why did he just walk away?'

Sasuke unsheathed the katana he had strapped to his back, eyeing the intricate pattern of a nine-tailed fox as the hilt, its mouth open to make it seem as though the blade protruded from inside the kitsune itself, its nine tails wrapped protectively around its body. His fist clenched around it as his mind's eye envisioned a solemn Naruto clad in ANBU armour, chakra flaring around the two katana as he prepared himself to kill Sasuke. Naruto was so different, in mannerisms and in strength, it had been like looking at a stranger.

But Tsunade had sent Naruto after him for a reason. Though Sasuke was unsure of her motives at the moment, there was a purpose to choosing his ex best friend and rival to assassinate him, after all. Especially someone as emotional as Naruto. Since he had been unable to do it the first time, Sasuke was sure he would be able to approach the blond himself and come out unscathed. Maybe a little battle sore, the Uchiha thought with a faint reminiscent smile.

Re-sheathing the katana, the dark-haired missing-nin walked swiftly through the forest on the outskirts of Konoha's border. His blood red eyes were narrowed with a thoughtful and determined expression.

'Naruto will see things my way even if I have to beat him immobile and tie him up to get him to listen,' Sasuke thought grimly, realising that getting through to Naruto would be difficult. The scars of betrayal ran deep, that was sure.

Crimson faded to inky black, the bottomless depths expressing the Uchiha's melancholy. "Naruto will come around. He has to."

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Okay, so it's not such an interesting chapter, but this stuff needs to be put in too! Please be so kind as to leave a review?