Chapter One

Uchiha Sasuke lapsed into unconsciousness and Orochimaru's body slumped over the table, beginning to slide towards the floor. Kabuto—now finished with his master's jutsu—caught Orochimaru in his arms and laid his body on the table next to Sasuke's. He immediately unfastened the belts that held the boy's body in place and sat back to wait. His master—now in Sasuke's body—would soon wake up.

Finally after several long minutes, the boy's body began to stir. Kabuto jumped up and ran to the table and stared down as the boy's eyes fluttered open. "Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said with a slight bow. "How does your new body feel?"

"O-orochi-who?" Sasuke's voice asked, small and innocent. "Where am I? Where are Mom and Dad? Where is Itachi? And who are you? I don't think I know you. Did you kidnap me? My big brother Itachi is going to be very, very mad at you. He's in the ANBU you know. He can kick your butt."

Kabuto's eyes widened in shock—the jutsu hadn't worked. Sasuke was still Sasuke, though he seemed a little confused and more like a small child than the angry teenage boy he'd been only minutes before. "Kuso!" He shouted.

"You shouldn't say bad words." Sasuke said with a stern yet incredibly innocent look on his face. "It's not nice. Mom says it can hurt people's feelings."

Kabuto wasn't listening. He ran to the other side of the table and looked worriedly down at his master's body. "Orochimaru-sama! Orochimaru-sama!" He cried, shaking the man's shoulders.

Orochimaru's yellow, snake-like eyes shot open. "Yaro!" He growled. He swung one arm up and into Kabuto's midsection, sending the boy flying across the room and into the hard stone wall. His vision blurred and he blacked out. Orochimaru sat up quickly and circled the room, collecting a bag and filling it with various things he would need for a journey: food, water, a change of robes, and some kunai and shuriken. He didn't even seem to notice Sasuke.

Finally Orochimaru stormed out the door, grumbling under his breath. Kabuto regained consciousness just in time to catch the words, "I'm an avenger." coming from his master's lips. He jumped to his feet, regretting it as soon as his head began to spin, but ran out the door after his master none-the-less.

Sasuke watched from where he still sat on the medical table. "Grown-ups are crazy." He told himself. He shook his head and slid off the table. Then he giggled. "And stupid. They left the door wide open!"

He sprinted out into the bright sunlight and—despite having no clue where he needed to go to get home—took off into the woods. The undergrowth was thick and he got tangled in the briars several times. His arms and legs got scratched up and blood trickled slowly from the abrasions. By the time he stopped for the night, he was on the verge of crying. "Mom," He whimpered. "Mommy, where are you? I have lots a boo-boos for you to make better."

No one answered him. Finally he broke down into tears. "I want to go home." He sobbed before sleep finally took him.

Sasuke awoke before dawn the next morning to find three people standing over him. One of the three, a tall, stern looking woman with her blonde hair pulled back into four pony-tails, was tending to his scratched-up arms. The other two—both men, one with blood-red hair and the other with his hair hidden beneath a hat—watched over the woman's shoulders. "Who—who are you people?" Sasuke whimpered, scooting away from them in fear.

"You're kidding, right?" The blonde girl asked, a look of intense disbelief crossing her features.

"N-no." Sasuke stuttered.

The man with the hat slid some sort of mummy off his back and sat down beside the woman. "I think he's really forgotten, Temari." He laughed. "Orochimaru must have wiped his memory."

"With that freak Orochimaru," Temari answered. "I think that is highly possible, Kankuro."

Sasuke froze at the mention of Orochimaru. "That Orochi-man," He mumbled. "He kidnapped me. I just want to go home to my Mom and Dad."

The third boy who'd watched the entire scene impassively finally stepped forward to help his teammates. "I don't think he remembers anything that's happened to him over the last few years." He said in his monotone voice.

"What makes you say that, Gaara?" Kankuro asked, craning his neck to look back at the red-haired boy.

"First of all, he's talking about his family. We all know what happened to them, but it seems that he doesn't remember." Gaara responded nonchalantly. "Secondly, he doesn't remember me. I'd say that after our duel in the chuunin exams that it's kind of odd."

They all looked back to Sasuke who sat—now rather calmly—staring back at them. Gaara stepped forward and knelt beside Sasuke, staring into the supposedly fifteen-year-old boy's eyes in concern. "How old are you, Uchiha?"

Sasuke crossed his eyes and pursed his lips as if in deep thought. Then he began to count off on his fingers. After several moments of counting and recounting, a huge smile split his face and he proudly exclaimed. "I'm five!"

Kankuro rolled his eyes and whistled in disbelief. Temari stared at Sasuke in shock, not sure if she wanted to burst out laughing or scream, "What?!" and Gaara calmly turned to his siblings and said. "Well, this isn't good."

Kankuro pulled off his had with the sand village symbol on it and ran his hands nervously through his unruly brown hair. "So, what should we do with him?" He asked.

"We can't just leave him like this!" Temari whispered to her brothers.

Gaara thought for a few moments and turned back to Sasuke. "Come with us," He told the boy. "We'll take you home."

Sasuke's face brightened. "Really? Wow, you guys are so nice! I can't wait!" He jumped to his feet and stood waiting as the sand siblings gathered their things once again. Gaara immediately leapt into the nearest tree with a chakra-assisted jump. He was closely followed by Kankuro, which left Temari and Sasuke still on the ground.

"Whoa!" Sasuke marveled. "That was amazing! Do it again, do it again!"

"Sasuke," Temari said suddenly, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do you know how to do that?"

Sasuke turned to glance at her, his eyes red with a ring of black. So, his sharingan is still functional…Temari mused. Sasuke thought for a few moments longer before finally nodding. "I think I can," He replied, furrowing his brow. "I don't think I've ever done it but somehow I think I know how to."

"He doesn't know that he has the sharingan?!" Temari whispered to herself in surprise. "Does that mean that it comes and goes on its own, without his control?"

Unaware of what was running through Temari's mind, Sasuke turned and leapt effortlessly into the tree with Gaara and Kankuro. "C'mon!" Sasuke called to Temari. "Hurry up! I wanna go home now!"

Temari leapt into the tree as well and gave her brother's a look that said, "Are you certain we can handle this?" Gaara nodded once and started for the next tree. Sasuke immediately followed him, eager to be on his way. Kankuro merely shrugged and followed his younger brother and Sasuke. Temari shook her head. This was going to be an interesting trip.