-1I'm really sorry for the horrendously long wait! I was kidnapped by an evil pixie who stole my ability to write! Though I do have good news for those who like my stories, and plot twists! BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I have a new story that I'm gonna post once I get 50 reviews on this one! I just have to say be ready for anything in the new story. Hehehe! That's all, till I get 50+ reviews... If you reviewed, I really appreciate it, if not, I wish you would, it boosts my confidence. Now for the long awaited chapter 2!

Last Time in Painful Memories:

Naruto got left all by his lone-some, yata-yata-yata, found by Deidara... Yeah, you know the story!

Chapter 2: If this is life, let's live it!

Three days later

"So where we goin?" Naruto asked, walking along side the other blonde. Pausing for a moment to think, Deidara looked over at his six year old charge. In the past three days, he had taken a strong liking to the little boy.

"To meet up with some of my friends." Deidara replied. His answer seemed to satisfy the boy, for he grew silent again. Though Deidara liked the boy, he had now grown to hate the village he had come from. A village that abused and abandoned a child that had done nothing but save them from a tailed demon did not deserve sympathy from anyone. 'No wonder Itachi destroyed his clan.' entered his stream of thought. While they continued walking, in another part of fire country said ninja sneezed.

"ACHOOOO!"

"What the hell, Itachi… you getting somethin?"

"Of course not Kisame." Shrugging of the odd sneeze, the two men continued walking.

"So who are we meeting, and what they like?" The overly curious Naruto asked, looking up with cerulean blue eyes.

"Well, I don't really know who were meeting... They really didn't specify who was gonna be there. Though it'll probably be Itachi, Kisame, Sasori, and Hidan..." Deidara paused for breath. "Itachi's a sadistic bastard, Kisame's, 'The Super Fish', Sasori's a master puppet user, and Hidan... well, lets just say he's a little insane..." Naruto looked a little worried after the explanations, so he remained quiet. (AN: a little a little endearing don't ya think! YA!) They both continued to walk, watching the surrounding forest. A little before night fall the two came upon a village. The village look like it was in the middle of a festival, paper lanterns were streamed through the streets, and vendors were everywhere, selling their wares with vigor.

"We'll stay here for the night and continue in the morning." Deidara said, when he finished, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his legs. Looking down he was me with a look that most hardened veterans gave into. The 'dreaded' "Puppy Dog Eyes''. He knew before the night was through, his wallet was as good as toast. (I shall now leave my evil drool infested pixie stick on the classroom floor for an 'unsuspecting' victim to find! Bwahahahahahahahahaha!) A few minutes later, a small shop caught both blondes' eyes. A similar thought ran through their heads at the exact same time... 'Mmmmm... Pocky...' Glancing at each other they began to walk towards the shop, which had unfortunately caught the blondes' attention. Walking into the shop Naruto and Deidara looked around before a small speck of drool appeared in the corner of their mouths. Many flavors of pocky covered the walls; shelves packed with boxes stared at them from all around.

"Ahhh! Welcome to my shop, can I help you?" An older man asked, walking out of a room towards the back of the shop. (AN: I know, everyone always makes Itachi the pocky fanatic, but every evil villain, and young soon to be villain, has his/her weakness!) Nodding Deidara and Naruto pointed to various boxes and cubbies along the wall, while the man's eyes gleamed as he ran to get each box they requested. The grand total at the end was astounding. 15,000 ryou. Pocky was plentiful that night. The two wandered around the festival, stopping at a stall or shop every now and then. Before the two found a hotel, each had gained a few new items. For Naruto, he got three new sets of clothes. Each set was different, the first was all black with a full face mask, when he tried it on, all you could see were his bright blonde hair, and his cerulean blue eyes. The second set was weighted. The look on Naruto's face was priceless when Deidara activated the weights with a little bit of chakra. The set had dark blue pants with a black sleeveless top. A red vest with the kanji for 'Fox' in black, on the back finished the ensemble with black ninja sandals. The Third set, however was the most stunning. The Pants were red with a single stripe on the outside of each leg. The Shirt was a dark black, like the midnight sky. Covering the shirt was a floor length cloak with a nine-tailed fox in the middle, its tails fanning out, going to his shoulders and meeting at the top. To complete the boy's new clothing, Deidara went all out. A set of glittering katana decorated his back in a horizontal 'X' also, shuriken and kunai littered his many pockets. As they settled into their hotel room, Deidara outlined a difficult training regimen, which made the kid wince. Though they wouldn't start till he was seven, the thought still made him cringe. Sleep came easily, and before they knew it, the both of them were in deep sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxX The Next DayXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXXxXxXxXxX

Naruto and Deidara both woke at the same time. Donning his weighted ensemble and his katanas', and after packing the rest of his things in a pack, the two of them left the room to continue their journey to meet the other members. After walking Deidara stopped, he looked around before smirking. Pulling one of the leather gloves off of his hand, he grabbed a glob of clay from inside his cloak. Putting it into the mouth like hole in his hand, he waited. A few seconds later the 'mouth' spit the clay out. The chakra infused clay bird blinked before taking flight towards a tree a few yards away. Still smirking he turned towards Naruto before smiling widely.

"Three, two, one." he counted. As soon as he said one, the bird landed, before exploding. Loud cursing was heard before two figures seemingly materialized. Both of the figures had black smudges on their faces.

"Was that necessary Deidara?"A tall black haired kid, of around 13 asked, glaring at him. Chuckling, Deidara looked at the other, less calm person standing there, before his chuckling changed to full blown laughter.

"Damn it Deidara!" The tall, blue skinned man yelled, glaring at the blonde. Still laughing Deidara walked towards the two.

"Yes it was necessary Itachi-kun, Kisame-san."He stated, Naruto stood a little behind him, waiting.

"Who the hells, the kid, ne?" Itachi asked, looking at the other blonde. Grinning Deidara began introductions.

"This is Naruto. Naruto this is Itachi Uchiha, and Kisame Hoshigake." Still chuckling, Deidara pushed Naruto in front of him before placing his hands on the boy's shoulders protectively.

"Ta hell? He your long lost brother or something?" Kisame asked, eyeing the boy up and down, though the bright blue eyes and blonde hair were comparison enough.

"No... I found him… Outside of Konoha." Deidara started. Once he said Konoha, it seemed the temperature around the group dropped several degrees. Naruto looked beyond scared, yet angry at the same time. Itachi reaction was surprise, and then swapped with anger. Kisame was... Indifferent. "He was injured and... half dead. So I saved him!" Deidara finished lamely. Itachi's eyes were glazed over, he looked as if he was reliving a memory, weather it was good or not would depend on a person's point of view...

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx ITACHI'S FLASHBACK xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Two Weeks Ago

"Ahh! Sasuke-kun!" An older woman said in greeting. "Off to the academy?"

"Yes ma'am." Sasuke politely replied, stopping in front of the kind old couples' shop for a moment.

"Do well, and make us proud!" she replied before waving him off. Sasuke continued walking, exchanging pleasantries with many of the Uchiha districts' residents. Standing unnoticed on the roof tops, Itachi watched his little brother's exchanges with little to no interest. No, he was thinking of his father and the rest of the Uchiha elders.

Flash back to the night before

"We must do something! If not the whole village will fall to ruins!" An elder Uchiha stated. "So in order to keep the village safe, we have decided to end the current Hokage's rule." Most of the others in the room gasped. Itachi and many others were to stunned to do anything. Soon after this proclamation, the 'secret' meeting ended. Disgusted with his clan, Itachi began to form a plan.

End Flash Back to the night before

Walking slowly to the ANBU headquarters, the thirteen year old was warring internally about what he had to do. 'Keep my family, and those who were not involved at the meeting alive.' Pondering all of his options he walked slowly across the tiles of a roof.

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"Good... Kukuku!"

Flashback end

"Itachi?" Kisame smacked the younger boy in the back of the head.

"What the hell?" Itachi asked calmly picking himself up from the ground before glaring at the 'fish man' in front of him.

"You spaced out for a minute there." Kisame said with a shrug.

"Were you born in Konoha?" Itachi asked, looking at the little enigma he couldn't place.

"Umm... yeah." Naruto replied before going silent again.

"Why were you in the woods?" Itachi looked at the kid waiting for a solid answer.

"..." Naruto didn't reply. Instead he unrolled the bandages around his right arm to reveal the inch long incision. After rewrapping the wound, he pulled the legs of his pants up, exposing another set of bandages. He unrolled those as well, revealing another inch long incision.

"I found him like that in the woods; there is another incision on his other leg as well." Deidara said quietly as Naruto rewrapped the gash on his leg. "All because he's different."

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Well! That's all for now! I hope you like this chapter. The next chap will be out soon! I absolutely promise that! I have to write three more paragraphs, then it's done! Other than that It's been fun!