The Colors We Remember

Guys I'm so sorry. I should be up to par with this story, but to be honest it's really tough. And I'm a bit of a stoner. So some days I'll be lazy. So...ugh...yeah. here we go. I'm so happy you guys support this story and I could really do nothing without you.

If I'm not updating like I do, please PM me and give me a piece of my mind. Thanks. :)

Lots of things to know. THIS ENTIRE STORY IS TRIGGERED. This is an old empire that will eventually face new things and confusion. But detail is important for the sake of the feels.

I'm serious. Sometimes a Character's mere thought may make you say "woah!?"

You've been warned. :|

Sasuke watched anxiously out the window at the pouring rain, the words of the schoolhouse teacher not pouring into him correctly.

The boy wanted so anxiously to go and play, but it was forbidden to do so. Now ten, he still didn't understand the way of the world.

Still didn't understand why he couldn't be happy. Still didn't understand why his parents and brother were killed by the masked man.

They'd placed him into a slave school where he'd been processed to have various limits in society. And the only way to live was to do what they told him to do.

He didn't care though. What mattered in this pretty moment of life was the pitter patter of rain that continued to fall from the eyes of the sky.

It floated in gentle waves, as if gravity was a soft music from the Earth, a sweet beckoning serenade. Each drop bequeathed itself unto the cooling air - wet lifeboats in a dry sea. Together they painted a new picture around a glowing streetlamp. Light streams led into the rich blue, as if seeking the sun, as if it was a song to the moon - and in those sacred drops it blossomed into a star like those above. Sasuke smiled, because in that moment, the water and the light became a golden flower, an echo of life bursting into the morning.

"Uchiha boy!"

He jumped at the frightful voice of the headmaster, staring into her harsh eyes.

"I didn't do anything." The boy instantly defended himself, knowing that he'd been caught smiling.

"Oi. Twenty whips after class." She condemned.

Iwagakure

Naruto smiled at the rain tapping his skin, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

It created a shield around him and he loved it, always had.

In his mind, the silver puddles created an obstacle course that only the bravest of folk could battle.

The sky was grey today, but everything had always been some form of grey.

He sometimes wondered if the color of things changed when it rained. Maybe they didn't. Maybe there was only black and white and different shades of in between. That 'in between' the space of wonder, of mystery, was a place that he loved. And he wondered what went on outside his world of grey on days.

"Come here." A commanding voice erupted over the droplets. Even so, it didn't scare him, but in fact calm his racing heart and insecure nerves that arised.

The boy turned around, looking into the black holes of Kakashi Hatake, the man he'd run into the same day he'd been running from death.

The man Lord Danzo had ordered to raise and train Naruto.

Kakashi Hatake wasn't a monster. He so far had raised Naruto well, training him to be the best slave fighter the world would ever see. He let Naruto laugh and smile when it was just the two of them. Let him play in the rain and keep Kyuubi with him. He often smiled too and told Naruto stories of lost children and Goblins that saved Princes from Dragons. Sometimes, Naruto wanted to believe that the man was a better parent than his own caretakers were.

Kakashi Hatake wasn't a villain. But he'd often told Naruto that he shouldn't be labeled the boy's hero.

He told Naruto that he was and would always be a sinning man. He'd killed- women, children, elders, men, animals- before. He'd even killed an entire family the night he met Naruto. He often argued with the boy and threatened to slit his throat if he weren't under orders from Lord Danzo.

There he sat, upon the dry porch of their home in a lotus position. He didn't say much, but Naruto still ran over and crouched by his knee.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei?"

The man removed his mask as well as Kyuubi from his lap. The grey fox gladly moved on, jumping into Naruto's lap and softly chewing on one of his tails.

"Dō shita no ko? What's wrong with child?"

"Eh?" He wondered, confused.

Kakashi sighed, rubbing his head. "You're supposed to be training for the fight later, boy."

Naruto poked his lips out in a childish pout. "Whaddya mean? I was!"

"..."

"..."

"Not."

Naruto blushed hard, his eyes boring into Kakashi's grey skin. "I've trained all day, sensei."

Kakashi's eyes grew menacing and he grabbed the boy by his blond hair. "If I weren't being ordered to take care of you, I'd slit your throat by now. You have to train, gaki."

Naruto winced as his hair was pulled tighter. "Hai, Hai. I will."

Kakashi let him go with a triumph grin as Naruto glared at him. Eventually, the boy smiled too, even if it was out of embarrassment.

"Kakashi-san." The voice made Kakashi sit straighter as well as Naruto stand correctly. Reaching his hand back, the silver haired man slapped Naruto with as much spite as he could muster.

The boy, who'd been taught how to survive an infected stab wound, cried out in fake pain and fell to the ground, letting Kyuubi nuzzle against his neck.

He continued to moan as Danzo drew near.

Kakashi stood with a deep bow. "Danzo-sama. I didn't expect to see you on this day. Today is a match of Naruto's."

Danzo dismissed him. "Shinpai nai. Today, I've cancelled the match. I must have another talk with the boy. How has he behaved, though?"

"Alright. He hasn't smiled or laughed in three months. He's very unhappy here."

Danzo nodded. "Good." He turned to Naruto who finally stood before him. "Come with me, boy."

Kakashi watched them walk away, down the trodden stone path that led to the garden. He didn't need to go down there to know what happened each time Danzo visited.

He was once asked to do it himself because it would remind Naruto that although he got stronger, he'd always be inferior.

But he refused. He couldn't do that to the boy. He couldn't hurt him in that way if he'd hurt him one thousand times. He refused once.

And as much as it hurt to think that he'd almost been the one to do it, there was no worse feeling, no worse pang in his heart than the hurt of not being able to stop it.

Because he knew. Four years ago, Naruto and Danzo had returned and Naruto wouldn't eat. He was shaken and flinched each time Kakashi touched his back. It had been eight months of living together.

Sometimes, Naruto would curl up next to Kakashi and sleep, jump on him and wrestle.

When Danzo first visited, Naruto wanted to sleep in a closet. And he didn't like fighting.

Kakashi was smart. He always thought Danzo came and beat Naruto until he couldn't function.

But after Danzo's third visit, Kakashi had been washing their clothing in their bucket.

Naruto's clothes smelled odd and were damp before he even readied the water. And he'd been to enough whore houses to know a faint smell.

When he found out and was finally asked to do such a vile act, Kakashi stumbled around, bile rising.

He threw away Naruto's clothes and stormed to his room, where he'd found the boy curled up on his bed.

And he'd laid by the boy and hugged him, apologizing for not knowing and not being strong enough to stop it.

After that day, Naruto hugged a little tighter and played a lot more.

It took an hour for them to return. And when they did, Danzo bid a farewell and Naruto just sat on the porch, squeezing the near life out of Kyuubi and starting off into the grey world he saw.

Danzo's acts didn't do so much as traumatize the boy. They'd been happening twice each year for the past four, but they still seemed to place Naruto in an understandable mood.

"There's a new shop opened just down middle passage. It sells ramen."

Naruto raised a brow, confused by the new word. "Ramen?" He asked.

"Some form of noodles. I thought you'd want that for your birthday since you love noodles."

"But, I always get a new sword for my birthday."

Kakashi grabbed his book and shrugged. "You can get both, but if you don't want the ramen then alr-"

"No. No. I do want both." The boy was once again by Kakashi's knee.

"Okay. Is that all you use me for? If I didn't need to raise you, I'd slit your throat."

The common saying, now filled with an unexplainable emotion, made Naruto smile softly and his smile made Kakashi smile too.

"Nuh uh." The boy argued. " You like me too much."

"I do." Kakashi admitted, hugging the child close. And the two grew silent, listening and watching the grey rain.

Sasuke yawned loudly, his head against the wooden wall of the slave stables.

He felt horrible all over. The clients that came to the Hyuuga Estate were a lot more wealthy than the lowlives that came to the bar in northern Konoha.

And being so, they expected…..more from him. The mere thought made him grimace with shame and squirm.

A sharp pain in his back arose and he winced loudly. A few other slaves looked up, but he closed his eyes in pain, not wanting to find the only blue pair amongst the crowd.

Naruto

An odd man to Sasuke, but nonetheless...intriguing. Intriguing as the soft skies and the smiles butterflies gave to flowers and Fūjins to wind.

Sometimes, the mere thought of… Naruto… made him feel odd in odd places. As a fighter slave, the blond was a large man. Sometimes, Sasuke observed, even larger than ANBU warriors that requested Sasuke.

He often wondered, maybe more than a lot, how it would feel if Naruto did the things that his clients did to him. They were all so mean to him. Would Naruto be gentle?

Would he touch him? Or kiss his hand again? Maybe in different places?

All his clients made him lay upon his stomach so they wouldn't have to look into his 'inferior' eyes. Would Naruto make him do differently?

Once again, his eyes drooped, his body grew hot, and he clamped hours hand over his mouth as a perplex sound escaped. Like Kyuubi purring, but a lot squeakier.

Looking down at the lower region of his body, he jumped at the rise of his thin bottoms. His…..

He felt like a whore. And as a pleasure slave, he was… Without pay. But thinking about Naruto and enjoying his thoughts and visions made him feel like a whore.

Because no human in the entire world could make him feel this way, except Naruto.

His thoughts were interrupted when the doors opened, letting the light shine through.

The Hyuuga workers walked in with cleaning supplies.

One woman pinched her nose. "Koko de nioi. Akushū. Stinks."

Sasuke looked down at himself. He sat in a puddle of his own sewage on the bench. His hands were raw with blisters and the skin on his back ripped open by the whip.

The last client made him uncomfortable, and lashing out at the large man have him those bruises. But he was lucky. The last pleasure slave to lash out at a client was Sakura Haruno, who sat muttering to herself in the corner. Her own nose and ears had been cut off, and even more than this, her head and eyebrows were completely shaven; nothing could be more hideous than the face so disfigured.

"Sasuke, boy. Lord Danzo will be here for you soon. You must be cleaned properly."

He missed the way Naruto tensed in sharpening his knife. The other slaves just sat dully, the most common emotion in all the world he knew. Dull was a resting emotion and anger, sadness, and spite were side effects. Love and happiness was a rarity and remembering his own family, just having it could get you killed.

The workers ran over to him. "There is no time. Take your clothes off."

Sasuke complied immediately, but he felt shame. Not because he had to be washed in front of everyone, but because Naruto would see him the way he was.

Scrawny, boney, dirty.

His knees often buckled together and the bones of his shoulders were more obvious than most.

They scrubbed him well, but very roughly. When they were finished, they placed him in fresh clothing and ordered him to be still and courteous as he waited to be allowed in a room if the estate.

He was ushered to his own cot away from the rough smell of the common quarters.

On his cot, he sat; quite comfortable and a bit afraid of why lord Danzo would request a lowly slave when he could have the five wives that shared him.

"Daijōbu?" The raven tensed and looked up, finding Naruto by the door once more. The blond man had always found him here, away from the others.

He looked down. "Yes. I'm fine. Why are you here?The workers said no one is to disturb me while I wait for lord Danzo."

He kept his eyes down and felt a shift in the bed before him. A soft touch to his hand made him look up. Naruto's smile was so bright and so full of something that he'd never seen that his own eyes filled with tears.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, stinging as it mixed with the lotion the workers applied. His dark eyes glistened in the light, bouncing sadness through the atmosphere.

And suddenly, with no thought, Naruto's large hand rose to cup his chin. He smiled softly this time. "Would you like to hear a story? My adoptive father would read it to me all the time."

Sasuke nodded, eyes still closing as the tears kept pushing.

Naruto sat comfortably, adjusting so that he was even closer to the Uchiha.

"Well…. Long ago a wealthy old man named Hikaru lived in a village in Fire Country."

Sasuke wiped his face. "Was it Konoha? The village?"

Naruto did a thing that made his stomach flip. It wasn't exactly a smile because only one side of his mouth was raised and his eyes narrowed in amusement. "How did you guess?"

Sasuke giggled, his hand covering his mouth. "I'm really smart." He offered.

Naruto stared at him for a while. "Thought so. Anyway, Hikaru's house stood just beyond a cemetery. He lived surrounded by a beautiful garden. Hikaru was polite and elegant, never unkind, but he had never married. He lived alone; he seldom ventured out into the village, and his neighbors gossiped about him.

'He is a strange one,' the women whispered. 'So self-absorbed. Too selfish to marry, it seems.'

'He must be mad,' the men muttered.

Rumors spread far and wide.

In this way, something that was not true appeared to be. Hikaru was far from mad. He was simply sad. Many years before he had loved a girl named Akiko. She was beautiful and kind, as lovely as the summer wind, as sweet as springtime pears. Hikaru lived every day longing to see her, and each time he did, he felt as if he were celebrating. He could not wait until she was old enough to marry. He dreamed of the life they would live together.

But one day, when she was still a teenager, Akiko became sick, and sadly, she died." Sasuke gasped, so engrossed in the story.

"Hikaru moved into the house behind the cemetery where she was buried. Forever after he thought only of her. Every day he walked to her grave. Every day he prayed. He took flowers to the grave. He lived in his memories of the days when he had been happy.

Time passed. Nearly everyone who had known the story had grown old, and after a while, few remembered Akiko. That is when the false stories began to spread. That is when the children of the village began to believe Hikaru was mad. They took care not to walk too near him, and when they had to pass by his house, they ran as fast as they could. When they saw him in the shops or on the street or in the market, they hurried away, whispering behind his back.

There was one boy named Kyoshi who had such a pure spirit that he never believed rumors. Kyoshi only wondered at this man who looked so sad, and he longed to see him smile. Some days he walked past his house and waved, hoping Hikaru would see. But he never did.

One year, just after midnight on New Year's Eve, Kyoshi dressed up and prepared himself to go make Hatsumode, the first trip of the year to the temple. There he planned to pray for good things in the coming year.

Just as he was about to enter the temple, he saw something that took his breath away. The air outside was cold, the wind was brisk, the moon was bright, but there at the door to the temple hovered a white butterfly, its wings shimmering brightly.

Kyoshi gasped, 'How can you be here in wintertime?'

The butterfly flew away, and Kyoshi hurried home. When he rushed in the door, his mother stared at him. His hair was mussed, his cheeks were red with excitement and exertion, and he was out of breath. 'My son!' she cried. 'What's wrong?'

'You'll never believe this,' he explained, trying to catch his breath. 'I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. There was a white butterfly outside the temple.'

When his mother heard this news, she too lost her breath. 'Are you certain?' she asked.

'Yes, yes!' he cried.

His mother took his hand. 'Come, we must go to see Hikaru.'

Kyoshi was very curious. He had never heard his mother speak of Hikaru, and he could not imagine why she wanted to go there now. Perhaps she only wanted to wish the old man a Happy New Year, but why? And what did that have to do with the butterfly?

'Why, kaasan, why?' he asked as they walked toward the cemetery and beyond, to Hikaru's house.

'Wait, we shall see,' his mother shushed him.

They knocked upon Hikaru's door. After a long wait, they heard footsteps slowly approaching. When at last the door opened, Kyoshi gasped. Hikaru was as pale as a ghost, so thin and frail it seemed he would fall to the ground any moment.

'Hikaru,' his mother said, 'come, we must put you in your bed.'

The poor man was dying, and as soon as he lay down, he appeared to fall asleep. But just at that moment, to Kyoshi's amazement, the white butterfly appeared in the room. It hovered over Hikaru, and Kyoshi tried to brush it away.

'There it is!' he cried to his mother. 'The butterfly!' Again he brushed at it with a fan, but the butterfly only swooped around the room and once again flew to the bed. There it landed on the pillow beside Hikaru's head.

Once again Kyoshi tried to brush it away, but once again it returned. This time, determined to keep the poor old man from discomfort, Kyoshi opened the door, swatted his fan at the butterfly and guided it outside.

The butterfly flew toward the graveyard, and Kyoshi chased after it.

On and on it flew, and soon the butterfly and the boy entered the graveyard. There the butterfly landed upon a gravestone.

Kyoshi crept close and brushed his hand over the writing on the stone. He squinted and made out the name. Akiko."

Sasuke gasped in shock and Naruto nodded too, signifying that he too was moved by the turning point.

"'What are you doing here?' he asked the butterfly.

But a moment later the butterfly had vanished.

Mystified, Kyoshi returned to Hikaru's house. 'Mother,' he said as he raced inside, 'the butterfly disappeared.'

He saw his mother was weeping. 'Hikaru has passed away,' she said.

Kyoshi's eyes widened. 'And the butterfly is gone,' he said. 'Mother, there is a mystery here …'

His mother took his hand and told Kyoshi the tale of Hikaru's love. She had heard the story when she was young, and then she had forgotten it. But the moment she heard of the white butterfly's appearance in winter, she remembered.

'Akiko was the love of his life,' she told Kyoshi. 'But it has been 50 years since she died. On the day she died, Hikaru vowed he would never marry, and as you know, he kept his word. I wish I had not forgotten.'

Kyoshi listened, and tears fell from his eyes. 'He was never mad,' he said softly.

His mother shook her head. 'No, he was only devoted.'

'And that butterfly was the ghost of his Akiko,' the boy said, bowing his head. 'And now they will be together. What a good New Year's gift.'

Naruto grew silent with a soft smile, telling Sasuke that the tale had ended. Sasuke wiped his now joyful tears. The story was so moving and different from all the tales his own parents would tell him.

Sasuke finally looked into Naruto's blue eyes and he blinked. Hard. Suddenly, Naruto didn't appear as strong as he was. Suddenly, they weren't in the slave stables.

Naruto's face was bloody and held Sasuke close as they sat somewhere in the woods, breathing heavily.

"Hide in here, Sasuke. And don't come up until it's quiet. When you do, go south. You'll be safe there. Until your dying breath."

Sasuke, or whoever's body he seemed to resonate in, whimpered. "And where will you go, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled softly, reaching out and touching the skin above his heart. "Forever with you."

Before he spoke again, a loud roar cut him off. "Find them and kill them before word spreads!" A man yelled in the distance.

Naruto's bloody face grew worried. "Go, Sasuke. And remember what I said."

Sasuke seemed to move down in a wide hole. And Naruto stared at him. He appeared to nearly close a floor door before he smiled. The most dashing smile Sasuke had ever seen. "You are so beautiful, Sasuke Uchiha. I'll find you one day. Believe it."

Sasuke moved away from Naruto sharply.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked with concern.

Sasuke shook his head. The image seemed so real it was like a memory. But he remembered every part of his life so far. He would surely remember Naruto Uzumaki if he ever came across him. "Do I know you?"

"Of course. We live here."

Sasuke wanted to hit Naruto atop his head. "No. Not like that." He stared at Naruto. "You're the first person I've met with those eyes. Somehow, I remember them."

Naruto looked away sadly. "Even I don't remember the color of my eyes."

The raven's head turned in confusion before the realization finally came to him. "You cannot see color?"

Naruto shook his head. "To me. Your eyes are black, your teeth are white, and your clothes are grey."

They stayed silent. "My eyes…." Sasuke began. "Are exactly as you see them."

Naruto looked at him them, a soft smile marking his mood. "As they are?"

"As they are."

"Why did the man who adopted you tell you that story?" He wondered. It was forbidden to act out love and happiness, so it must be horrible to speak of it.

Naruto smiled. "He told me the man in the story reminded him of me."

"And…" He trailed off looking away. "And why did you tell me?"

Naruto was silent for a moment. "Because she reminds me of you. beautiful and kind, as lovely as the summer wind, as sweet as springtime pears."

We finally know our characters a bit

Naruto Uzumaki: a fighter slave. After his family was murdered, he and Kyuubi ra in the direction of Sasuke's old home. He was then raised by Kakashi Hatake, who was ordered to kill Sasuke's family. Naruto is colorblind, but how? He could obviously see color when he was younger? And why did Danzo abuse him so much?

Sasuke Uchiha: A pleasure slave. Sasuke was placed into a slave school after his family was murdered. He seems to remember Naruto from another place, but they've never met. ? What?

Kakashi Hatake: Adoptive father of Naruto. Kakashi has the same emotions as Naruto and Sasuke, but he can hide them well. So well that he became one of Danzo's top assassins. Where is he? And will Sasuke ever see him again?

Danzo: Leader of the fire country and promoter of "NO LOVE OR HAPPINESS." What does he want with Sasuke and why did he abuse Naruto so much as a child? Why is love outlawed as well as happiness? He obviously knows both Naruto and Sasuke and it seems he wants to keep an eye on them? Why?

The story I used is an old Japanese folktale called the butterfly of love. I don't own it, but it does have something big to do with this story. So review and keep on reading. I'm writing the next chapter as you read, so it will be up. I'm sorry for neglecting it and I will get better. Love you guys.