Here's my latest update with Drifting Memories! And I also have good news for you awesome people! I moved!

And thanks to my amazing obsessiong with writing, I can update on time!

(Though it was pure luck that I was able to hook up this computer.)

Just wanted that out there.

I haven't dedicated this chapter to anyone in particular, so I'll just give a shout out to all you guys!

Thanks for supporting me!

"quotes"

thoguhts

/memory/

Naruto's POV

Although I had long ago left the presence of my captors, I couldn't help but wonder why they had let me go.

I don't get it. If they're Akatsuki and their overall goal is to capture all the tailed beasts, then why didn't he just take me?

My questions remained unanswered as Kyuubi had been lost entirely since I was released.

The reason to his disappearance only added another question to my continuously growing list.

It seemed that I was questioning more than I knew and there were less answers than that, leaving me lost.

And whenever I'm lost, that means someone has kept secrets from me. Things never make sense when I'm left out of things. So, I better start with Sasuke first since I'm already going to see him.

I glanced around in order to locate the sun before stopping and doing a double take. Rubbing my eyes with my arm, I glance up at the sky again, this time to be met with the dark blue, orange, and red that was normally spread across the sky as the sun began to set.

It's probably the lack of sleep that did it. But, for a second…

I didn't even dare voice my hallucination as I turned away from the sky and began sprinting through the forest. Although I refused to speak it, for a moment, the sky had appeared black and the sun was replaced by that of a sharingan. Even now, the vision was present within my mind, but choosing to be optimistic was a lot better than admitting defeat. Keeping that in mind, I urged myself forward, unaware of the increasing pain that was very slowly making its way- unknown- through my body.

This still is wrong. Akatsuki let me go too easily; there has to be something he can gain from it or else he wouldn't have let me go in the first place. Why would he just let me walk away? Even with the Space Time Jutsu, he's still taking a big risk.

I allowed my thoughts to calm as I drew closer to the village- and to Sasuke. Sneaking in past the ninja's supposing to be guarding the west gate, I speak quickly, "All I have to do is tell Sasuke to meet him at Naka Shrine and then I go straight to Granny Tsunade and tell her about Madara."

Walking through the winding streets of Konoha, I inadvertently pass the ramen stand and walk in without a second thought.

"I'll just get one bowl and then I'll go and find Sasuke. One bowl can't hurt anyone."

Teuchi stared at me in surprise, "I don't see you in months and all of a sudden, you're here two times in a single day. Wow boy, you must have been black-mailed to resist."

I blinked a few times before asking him, "What do you mean two times? I've been here before this?"

"Of course!" he laughed before setting me a bowl down, "You came here with that Uchiha and wouldn't even touch a single bowl! I thought something must be wrong with you at first- especially with you acting all paranoid and having strange outbursts, but then Ayame told me that… Well, I didn't know you two were so close."

I stared at him incredulously, "Can I talk to Ayame? She's still here, right?"

He nodded before turning around, "Ayame, Naruto needs you!"

The girl soon appears from the back of the ramen shop and I wave to her, "Hey Ayame, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. I didn't think you'd be back anytime soon, though. Things didn't go well with Sasuke?"

"What does that mean?"

She winked at me, hiding a giggle behind her hand, "Come on Naruto, you don't have to hide it from me. I knew that Sasuke had his hands on you every second you guys were here. You guys even left before you even got your order! I was wondering whether I should make sure you were okay or bring a video camera and stalk you guys."

I grew extremely red before I said indignantly, "But I haven't been here all day!"

She grew serious immediately, "If you weren't here, then who was with Sasuke a few minutes ago?"

Allowing this question to sink in, I stand hurriedly, "How long ago did they leave?"

"About ten minutes. Not too long ago."

I sprinted from the shop, unable to keep the question Ayame had asked from repeating in my mind, 'If you weren't here, then who was with Sasuke?'

As I allowed that question to cause me to worry, another thing came to mind. /Revenge and hatred are strong emotions; especially when you are betrayed by the one you love most./

I instantly shook my head, clearing those words out of my head, "Sasuke isn't like that! He probably doesn't even know that it's a clone!"

I nodded my head in conviction, but as I hurried through the streets of Konoha, thoughts of doubt were swarming into my head.

'Sasuke is a great ninja; he'd notice the different between you and a clone. There's no way he'd fall for something like that. He's seen through your shadow clones without a second glance; he wouldn't be fooled so easily.

Unless he didn't need you.

Unless he didn't want you.'

My heart clenched and I immediately changed my thoughts for the better, "Sasuke isn't like that! Plus, we're not even dating! If I was just a spur of the moment thing brought on by hormones- who cares? Anyway, he' the type of moron to say what he thinks without even blinking! He'd tell me if it was just a onetime thing! He's not a coward!"

And yet, thoughts of doubt were being born faster than I could fight them off, no matter how optimistic I was.

Finally, I took off at a sprint, "I'll prove that he's not to blame!"

Tears were already coming to my eyes in my desperation to prove his innocence; I was so caught up in my own antics that I was oblivious to the world bleeding black and red around me. Coming to my apartment, I open the door, stepping inside into the darkened room. "Sasuke?"

I stepped into the room, wiping at my eyes irratantly before glancing around.

The room seemed too silent to either agree with my worst fear or disclaim them.

Then, I heard it; the sound was so soft that it could be compared to that of a moth fluttering against the window pane.

But I still heard it, and when I turned, my gaze went immediately to deep red eyes that was clouded, the sharingan blazing. As I took in the scene before me, my eyes widened in horror and I stumbled back, shaking my head in denial. No; not Sasuke. He's not like that! He couldn't be like that!

And yet, as I fell back against the wall, Sasuke's voice rang out, a husky tone to it, "Well, look who finally came back…"

Sasuke smirked smugly as the girl he had been holding onto remained silent, smiling back at me with bright green eyes. "Want to play, Naruto? I heard that two is better than one."

I shook my head, my chest aching as I hit the wall in my own cowering; unable to continue to run away, I turn to trying to dispel my thoughts, "It's not true. Sasuke is different. He isn't like that."

Regardless of my chanting, the words of Madara were still there as Sasuke called out again. "What? Is that a no?"

The pink haired girl whispered something into his ear, pressing her none-existent chest to his arm. "Sakura's all for it," Sasuke added, moving forward from her grasp.

I tried to push myself farther against the wall, "Please don't do this," I whispered, hoping that I would disappear, but only succeeding in trapping myself even more as he loomed closer, "Are you saying no? I thought you loved me, Naruto?"

He picked me up, sneering in my face, "What type of lover are you, huh? Answer me when I talk to you! Naruto!"

I pushed him away and sprinted for the door, pulling it open and rushing out, not even taking a second look back.

The wind was screaming Madara's words as I sprinted farther away, racing up the massive mountain that housed the Hokage Monument.

/Revenge and Hatred are strong emotions, Naruto./

I was wrong about Sasuke.

/Especially when you are betrayed…/

There was someone else.

/By someone you love most./

Someone other than me.

With a slow and defeated thud, my heart began beating again- albeit slowly and as if it was close to death. I lurched backward, the sudden sharp pain in my chest catching me off guard. The dull pain was worse than the original fear that I had originally felt. All the while, as tears come to my eyes, the words I wanted to shut out were echoing insistently in my head, "Especially when you are betrayed by someone you love most."

The tears now came in torrents as I became blind to my surroundings, finding the only way I was still running was through my own determination to distance myself from him; but even that had its limits.

A last desperation caught hold of me and I sprinted forward faster than I had ever done before. Subconsciously, I knew that I recognized where my feet were taking me, but it wasn't until my own misery was overwhelmed by the rushing noise of water that I began to understand fully where I was.

"The Final Valley," I breathed under my breath.

It was final- the end of everything.

Exactly where I should end.

I stepped to the edge and looked over; I was above the waterfall, staring down at the deep blue waters that sparkled what seemed like miles below. Stepping away from the edge, I hesitated for a moment before walking a few more meters, before turning and sprinting back. As soon as I reached the edge of the forest, I turned back around, took in a big breath, and took off at full speed towards the deafening waterfall; somehow, I knew that this wasn't what I needed and would actually lead to more problems than solutions, but as I sped closer and closer to the water, I couldn't have thought of any better place to end it all. So as I reached the edge, I took a giant leap and spiraled off the edge, feeling peace for a few lengthened seconds before I slammed into the mind-numbing water.

/Revenge and hatred are the strongest emotions…/

It seemed like I was thrown a thousand ways before I came to a constant float beneath the surface of the water, Revenge and hatred?

My mind dashed ahead of me, already clarifying my thought process.

/Revenge is all you have left; hatred will keep you alive. Thrive on your hatred for him; breathe the revenge you will one day carry out./

I was so resolved when I broke the surface that I didn't spend the effort trying to make myself sink again. Instead, I slowly concentrated my chakra- ignoring the pain that flared through my body- and pulled myself out of the water, standing on the unstable surface. Slowly standing up, I allow myself to take in a large breath and let it out as a massive- and insane- laugh. "Revenge and hatred, huh? Why not? He said he'd wait at the shrine anyway!"

My terrifying humor continued until I sensed the presence of three shinobi; calming myself to cease the laughter into an amused grin, I turn around before jumping back, dodging a flurry of kunai that penetrated the water were I had stood. "Well what type of greeting is that?" I sneered before feeling my chakra leak out menacingly, "And you call yourselves my friends."

There was no answer and I growled deeply, displeased, "Come out from hiding! Your academy tricks won't work in this fight!"

A few moments flowed past- the silence only filled with the rushing water- before slowly, three people emerged from the trees. I greeted them each in turn, "Haruno Sakura; Rock Lee; Sarutobi Konohamaru. Is that the best the Great Hidden Leaf Village of Fire Country can do? They send mere children after me?"

I saw the three of them tense before Konohamaru called out to me, his voice unwavering, "Uzumaki Naruto! You are to return to Konohagakure immediately!"

I cocked my head to the side before I grinned eerily, Kyuubi's chakra slipping through the seal and surrounding my body, quickly forming a shield, "Just try to take me back!"

I wasn't happy with this chapter, but I ran out of time to type anything else and had to deal with this. I suppose I could always resubmit it later if all things turn for the worst.

Quick Question to make you guys think:

Do you guys have any idea what's wrong with Naruto?

And why is Sasuke being more of an ass than usual?

Somethings to think about until the next chapter!

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