A/N: First of all, I know I had posted this chapter before, but…it was screwed up. I read it over after I posted it and I realized why all of you were so confused. Sorry for the mix up. I hope you guys don't hate me for it. Just read this new one. And for those new people who reviewed, sorry for not including you into this. I will try to include you in the next chapter. Thanks for your patience and I hope you guys like this chap.

Now, the following note is an old one:

I'm really sorry for the long update. I had one part in this chapter that I had trouble with (actually it was like one or two pages ). It was the part where…where. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you guys this. Well, read and I'll tell you my troubles at the end.

By the way: I thank you for all of your reviews! I have to say, though I didn't get as many as I used to, these reviews are much more in depth and much more appreciated. Thanks a lot. Now for the responses:

(And, I'm going backwards, starting from the latest review)

Midnight's Requiem: Yep, I killed him alright. He's dead, gone to the heavens! Alleluia. :D The "Konoha faired thing" is coming up. You will be able to tell by the end of this chap…I think.

Kirallie: I think you are wrong on all of your predictions but I really am thankful for them. They helped me figure out what I was going to do. And…flashbacks…uh….I had it planned that I was going to describe where he got the sword from, but it sorta escaped my story. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough.

Korrd: Thanks for the idea, but I already told myself the guidelines of the pairings and OC is out of them. Just not gonna happen. Sorry. Thanks for the review though.

1chucha2: That…works I guess. Well, it's here, kinda late though. Hope you don't mind too much.

Katana: Ehehehe? (laughing nervously) Hope this one hasn't collected enough dust to be hated yet. Had some story issues. Didn't know how to continue for a second. (It can be hard.) Thanks for the major support!

NOW, onto my fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, even if it would be cool to, I don't.

Last chapter update:

The kunai went down upon his heart.

SPLAT!

Blood flew everywhere.

--------------------------------------Chapter 2: Life of the Unforgotten--------------------------------------

A tear drop fell from the sky, splashing onto an unconscious boy's forehead. Blood covered the scene, but the wound was gone. Slowly, his eyelids fluttered open, but stopped, looking solemnly at the gray clouds above. Rain began coming down faster and faster, but no thunder was heard nor lightning seen. But none of it bothered the Kyuubi container. He turned his head and looked at his hand. It twitched a little. He turned back toward the sky.

"Sasuke," he whispered, eyes tearing up. "Are you going to do this again? Are you going to start this another fight?"

FLASHBACK

"I never had a brother," Naruto said sadly, looking down into the river at his reflection. "But I always thought that maybe…just maybe, being with you was like…being with a brother." His voice gradually softened and his face stayed looking down at his reflection. Then, it snapped up.

"So that's why I will stop you, even if I have to drag your unconscious ass back!"

END OF FLASHBACK

Those were big words back then. They meant something then, like they did now. But why? It wasn't fair! Naruto's face grew angrier and angrier. He pounded the ground under him. "It's NOT FAIR!" he shouted to the clouds. "I only…I only got a few months with him." Tears continued to roll down his cheeks. Naruto didn't try to hide them. They meant something. They symbolized his pain, as well as anything could. Naruto let them tumble down his cheeks.

"My brother…" Naruto murmered. "He really was trying to kill me."

The first signs of thunder appeared and rain fell even harder.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled. "DO I MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? AM I JUST SOME TOOL?"

Naruto imagined the answer he wanted to her.

"No, Naruto. I had to," Sasuke would say. Naruto would just smile. "It's okay."

But no, Naruto heard no such responses, just the same phrase over and over again. "I will kill you, and gain that power."

"The power to do what, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

But no one heard him. No one answered him. No one came to comfort him. He was left there to cry softly on his own, with no one to answer his call.

BREAK

The clouds rolled away. The sun shone brightly over Naruto's head. He yawned, having just woken up, and pulled himself up to a sitting position. No birds were out today, probably joining him in feeling sad, in feeling gloomy. The fight. During it, Naruto had acted so care-freely, but it was just a mask, like all the million others he had worn every other day of his life. A mask hiding his pain.

All caused by that stupid furball stuck in his body.

/Kyuubi no baka./ Naruto called.

No answer.

Naruto shrugged, used to that type of response. But soon a small feeling came into the pit of his stomach.

'That attack, Kyuubi couldn't have healed such an advanced attack especially when he added such electrical charges!' His eyes widened and began to shake in fear. 'I have to go and see him.'

Immediately his body went limp.

BREAK

A candle lit up the room just enough to where you could vaguely make out shapes around you. There knelt a man, in front of a chair where another man sat.

"Ketsura, what is the news?" a voice as slippery as a snake's asked.

"Orochimaru-sama, I have killed the boy, but he managed to kill my brother, Moketsu," the man on the ground explained.

Orochimaru ignored the second statement. "How, exactly, did you manage to kill him?"

Ketsura suddenly looked up, surprised that such a great man would just ignore his second statement. But he looked back down, scared of those deceiving eyes. "I burned his entire body with my lightning attacks, before piercing his heart with my raikou tanken."

Orochimaru smirked. "Excellent." 'Even the Kyuubi's healing powers couldn't save him from that.' "Good job, Ketsura. Now, go and tend to Sasuke."

"Demo, Orochimaru-sama, he killed my brother," Ketsura blurted out. He hefted the body up to his master.

"Leave the body and go," Orochimaru ordered, adding killer intent to the message.

Ketsura cowered and backed off. "Hai, Orochimaru-sama," he worked up the nerve to answer as he left.

Orochimaru just continued smiling. 'The Kyuubi gaki has died…what a great day.' "Kabuto."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama." The gray-haired shinobi asked, stepping forward from the man's side. "Go and kill him. He will cause too much trouble later with my ignoring his 'begging plea to help his brother.'"

"Hai." And the trusty assistant left.

"Now nothing can turn out dear Sasuke," Orochimaru laughed.

BREAK

Sasuke lay on his bed, his head out of the room and into his mind. Hours ago, he had felt some sort of jolt. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed like something was missing, some vital part of his life. It was like a telepathic feeling. But just seconds later, he felt normal again. Now, he had spent endless hours contemplating what it was. He would've never guess that Naruto had just almost died.

BREAK .

Water dripped down from the ceiling, making ripples in the puddles below. One…followed by another…then another. The droplets kept coming down, one after the other. Naruto had long since learned how to come to this place freely and also learned that coming hear wasted no time. In other words, once he left, he would go back to the exact place where he left off.

But one thing he had never gotten used to was the lighting. It was unusual in the sense that he could see no visible lights. Yet, the corridor had lit up yellow when he entered. Furthermore, the light followed him wherever he went. If he stepped back, so did the yellow glow. If he jumped, the glow followed.

But Naruto didn't mind it at the time. Other things occupied his mind at the moment; issues that made him run to a certain demon's holding cage.

The room wasn't too far down the hall. Inside, the size didn't seem like much at first, but if you looked up, there didn't appear to be a ceiling.

Naruto ran to the door and grasped the bars.

"Kyuubi!" Naruto called. "Come on, get up, stupid furball."

No response.

Naruto molded chakra to light up the cage. Inside, he saw a small fox, just normal sized, laying down unconscious in the cage. He had lied about his size. Naruto smiled at that, his optimism telling him that the fox wasn't dead.

The stupid fox had said that he was a big as mountains. Now…well…look at him. Without his chakra, he shrunk to normal size. Naruto shook the door loudly. The small fox finally showed signs of movement. The boy let out a sigh of relief. "You nearly scared me half to death there, baka."

The fox turned his head. "Shut up, brat. If it wasn't for me you-"

"Don't try that shit on me. Even you couldn't heal that one. The pulses he sent through my body were too strong even for you," Naruto said.

"Well then…what?" the fox asked, still weak and without a lot of chakra.

FLASHBACK

"I will bring Sasuke back," Naruto smiled. "That's my way of the ninja."

END OF FLASHBACK

"My…oath," Naruto said, hypnotized by his own 'vision'.

"Your oath!" Kyuubi's voice had lost its supernatural ring with the complete depletion of chakra, which bothered his container a little. "It's just some stupid human words! How could some words heal such a complex wound?"

Slowly, the little fox struggled to get up.

"I don't know," Naruto replied, voice trailing off as he observed his sealed partner's struggle. "But it is funny to see how big you really are." Naruto laughed teasingly.

Kyuubi growled. "Brat, let's see how strong you are without my help."

Naruto immediately shut up, forcing a smirk out of the small demon.

"Now, apologize."

"I'm sorry," Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes.

"NO!" Kyuubi growled, some celestial 'glimmer' entering his voice.

Naruto sighed again. "I'm sorry."

"Wrong again," Kyuubi said, smiling smugly.

"I'm really sorry?"

"Come on, I've seen demons do better. Put more sincerity into it."

"THIS IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER!" Naruto complained. "Stupid fox, you should be grateful that I even came down here to wake you."

"I didn't ask for it." The fox slowly began to grow larger and larger.

Frustrated, Naruto punched the cage door. "Itai!" He retreated back to the doorway, nursing his hand.

The fox rolled his eyes. "Stupid humans like you shouldn't be allowed to become shinobi. Now go away. You're wasting my precious time."

Naruto turned away. "Like you have anything better to do in that hellhole," he mumbled.

His hand began to twitch, showing forms of life. Slowly, his body followed and his eyes opened half way, adjusting to the bright sun. He yawned a little, even though he wasn't sleeping, and pushed himself up onto his feet. Another yawn escaped has he stretched, keeping his limbs comfortably flexible. He stared at the small clearing in front of him and smiled.

"Morning training!" he said, and prepared. It felt awkward to train where he 'slept' but, fell into the routine quite easily, first relaxing himself.

Naruto breathed deeply. He narrowed his eyes and took a kunai out from his pouch. He flung it at a nearby tree with the speed even a sannin would wish for. Right as the grip left his hand, he formed a seal. "Kage kunai no jutsu." The one multiplied into many. He took one more breath before sprinting after it. Knowing that he wouldn't make it, Naruto took out the same number of shuriken as there were kunai. One by one he flung them at different kunai at different angles. All but two were intercepted and veered off, digging themselves within trunks and the soft dirt. Naruto went to inspect his kunais. Out of all 12, he completely missed two with his shuriken. But he also failed six more times. Only four kunai, after being intercepted shuriken, went through a falling leaf and kept it stuck on as it embedded itself in the various objects. Naruto cursed and tried it again and again.

By lunch, he could only get 8 out of 12 and that's where he decided to stop and finally enter town. Looking into his wallet, he found some measly coins and knew that they wouldn't last him for much more than this day. He would need to find a new client.

SHORT BREAK

This area remained the only place where trees grew in the Rock Country. Strangely enough, not many people lived near here. The town Naruto entered looked almost abandoned. He stood on the one main road it had, which branched off to other individual streets where the residents built their houses. Luck came in its best form right as he entered this rural town, as a client. What made this next mission peculiar, was when the man took him to a private hotel room, and took off his cloak. Tied onto his forehead, lay a forehead protector from the Cloud. Naruto didn't jump, but you could tell in his eyes that the sight had surprised him. The man, a little bulky, just chuckled a little.

"I've been observing you for the last few days and require your assistance for something," the man said.

"Why would you need me? You have your own skills to rely on." Naruto replied, trying not to sound too rude especially since he was in dire need for a new client.

"Well, the years have not been kind to me and I haven't used my skills in so long that they have grown a bit rusty." The man smiled kindly, looking at his hands and noting some old wrinkles that had developed. "I need a young-skilled shinobi, preferably a nukenin, to help me with my task."

Naruto nodded, not wanted to lose this client.

"We will travel to Fire Country. There is a mansion located near Konoha. That is the target. Once we arrive, I will give you the details."

Naruto didn't like the terms too much. It's proximity with Konoha was what made him most suspicious, but followed the man nonetheless, tailing his as this Cloud-nin checked out of his hotel. Then, he began the journey, unknowingly leading the boy, back to his hometown.

SHORT BREAK

The pair traveled quietly for less than a day, finally arriving at the mansion just after sun down. The waited just outside the east wall as the man explained his plan. Naruto was to enter the compound, knock out the guards and fetch the clan head. He gave the blond a map of the place and the patterns of each guard's patrol. Naruto studied the map for a while before tying on a bandana to cover his hair and one to cover his face. He jumped onto the wall and smiled back at his client before disappearing behind it. The man smiled back and when he heard Naruto land softly on the other side, smirked, preparing a long blade he had hidden behind him.

BREAK

Naruto stood almost hugging the wall as he waited for the next guard to turn the corner. No birds chirped that night, but the crickets made up for it, filling the night air with their endless noises. He counted in his head. When he reached 4 and saw no shadow, he sped out from behind the corner and into the compound through an open doorway no more than 3 feet away from the corner.

Dim candles lit the hallways. Naruto walked around warily, looking all different directions as he quickened his pace through the corridors. Suddenly he stopped. A shadow appeared on an intersecting hallway. Knowing from his client's patterns, exactly the way he was going, Naruto sped across the hallway furtively. He exhaled with relief when he had crossed but still stayed alert. Slowly, he made his way to the next corridor. Seeing another shadow, Naruto waited three seconds before rushing into the corridor. Naruto readied a punch, but the man acted faster, lifting an arm to block the attack.

"Intruders are not welcome here in our compound," the man said, slowly turning around.

"You're pretty good," Naruto admitted.

"I couldn't say the same about you, sneaking up behind people like that, hardly a way to show someone you are strong."

A little bit of anger shot through his face but immediately abated. Naruto just shrugged. "Well, now I'm not." He said.

The man smirked. "Now that you've been found, you don't run away?"

"I never run away from a fight. That is my way of the ninja."

"Funny," the man chuckled a little. "I've heard those words somewhere, a long time ago."

But Naruto ignored the comment and charged the man.

"Byakuugan!" the man said, forming a hand seal as he activated some strange doujutsu. Naruto froze.

"Byakuugan? I've heard of that before."

"As you should have. We are the most pronoun clan in Konoha. You would do well to remember us."

"Wait!" Naruto protested when the man charged. "I don't want to fight!" Every blow the man tried to make was blocked, but not without its drawbacks. For the man's speed made it difficult the Naruto to dodge the chakra pulses that the man shot through.

"And why not? You said it yourself, you never run from a fight."

Naruto lifted his hand and untied his two bandannas. "Because I'm not an enemy."

The man just snorted and charged again. "Intruders tend to be enemies," he replied as he began another onslaught, this time faster. Naruto fought hard to keep up, leaving his bandannas half untied.

Suddenly, the candle's flickered brightly.

"AN INTRUDER HAS BYPASSED OUR DEFENSES!" Someone shouted.

The light was enough to see the man's face. His eyes were pale but the pupils distinguished. His hair flowed long down his back tied in a small pony tail at the end. He wore somewhat Chinese styled clothing with about half a foot of fabric hanging out past his hands.

"Neji!" Naruto breathed. (His outfit is that same as when Naruto came back from training with Jiraiyi in the manga.)

The man stopped. He lifted an eyebrow and waited for his opponent to undo his face coverings. The cloth fell and his blond hair revealed. His whiskers were same as usual but his face looked… mor mature.

"N-Naruto?"

A/N: Okay…I'm guessing all of you want to know what took me so long. Well, it was the part from his next client…all the way down to the end. I don't think it's very good, but…it took me so long to think of how I should approach this that I just let it go. Well…anyways, R&R. Tell me if you think I could've changed it in any way because I know it isn't perfect.

Also, you might wonder why Naruto didn't use his sword against Neji. It was because the corridor is too small. And he just forgot….

Actually, I just forgot about it and didn't want to change it.