A sudden rustle behind him made him tense. He covered his head with his arms and turned his body away from the direction the sound had come from. A moment passed as the man shivered, warily looking at the bush that had created the sound.
"Is somebody there?" he whispered. Half, hoping for a reaction, half praying for silence.
A silence fell and the man looked around, but found nothing familiar.
'Where am I?' he wondered, panic taking over. He looked at the tiger mask in utter shock, his body shaking as the question rose in his mind.
'…What the hell is going on…?'

He looked around in confusion, hoping to see somebody who could tell him what was going on and where he was. Maybe this was some kind of trick, some kind of joke from his friends.

His eyes grazed over the spot that once was covered in the three bodies. On his hand and feet he crawled to the spot, coughing because of the remaining smoke. He waved with his hand, and waited till the dust was gone. Then, with his hand he touched the ground, stroking the damp grass. It felt normal. Nothing out of ordinary as far as he could sense.

Slowly, he added pressure on the spot, trying to find a hidden door or room. He didn't even know if what he was looking for, but he hoped he found something. Or maybesomeone who could tell him what was going on. The grass felt soft under his skin, as if he hadn't touched it in a long time. Or had forgotten how it had felt.

The man thought about it. How did he even get here? The only thing he remembered was waking up with those three bodies, which had suddenly disappeared. He searched his weapon's pouch and armor for a walkie-talkie- something that he had used to communicate with- but he couldn't find anything. However, he did found a scroll. Untying the string and opening the scroll, he found that the page was blank. As the man unrolled it he got more and more desperate. There had to be something about why he was there and what he was doing? Reaching the end he threw it away in frustration.
He counted to ten, told himself to calm down, and sat down on the grass. 'First, think.' He told himself as he closed his eyes.

If he was here he must have had a destination. He had packed lightly, so that must have meant he was prepared for a short distance.

But was he returning home? Was he going away from it? What was he doing, and what did those bodies have to do with it?

The questions rose in his mind, but no answer came to him. It felt like the answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't quite grasp it. He felt himself becoming angry anddesperate at the same time.
If he couldn't remember, then how was he going to get home? Maybe someone was waiting for him or missing him.

His eye flashed over the scroll and he greedily grabbed it. Rolling it up till there was enough room to write, he searched for a pen.

If the scroll was empty then it must mean that he was meant to write on it. He didn't know what, but it was the simplest conclusion. So if he had to write, he needed a pen.

He scrambled through the weapon's pouch, cutting himself on a kunai on accident. He ignored the pain, though, and the feeling of blood running down his finger.

On the bottom of the pouch, he found a pen and quickly withdrew his hand. He clicked the top and held the pen against the paper. Just as he was about to write things that he did not yet know, the bushes rustled again.

The man looked up, slowly raising his head, his eyes widening as some branches moved. "Hello?" he asked, his body already tensing at the sound.

Again, silence greeted him, but he was sure he had felt something. Maybe a presence or a chakra, but it had quickly disappeared. It had been very small.

Just as he was finished letting his eyes cross the whole area something made a snapping sound and then a big thud was heard a few meters away from him. The man almost yelled at the sudden sound and wanted to dive away from the noise, but his eyes just widened as his gaze went up to look in the trees.

His eyes searched through the trees in slight panic. He was sure he had felt something. A bigger chakra this time. Just a flash, gone in mere second, but it had been there.

The man walked over to the trees, cautiously; carefully. His eyes now narrowed in concentration and his knuckles turned white from the grip on the mask. His other hand firmly held onto the pen and the scroll.

He waited for a moment, listening to the surrounding sounds. As he could only hear the songs of the forest and the sigh of the wind, his body calmed. Maybe it had been a deer or something, or two animals in the trees which he had confused for one. That must be it. He was starting to imagine things. The panic in his body was getting to him. He needed to calm down. He breathed in and out.

Slowly, his senses still sharp, he sat down again and placed the scroll on his lap so he could write. As soon as the pen touched the paper he wrote down words, facts, things he did know.

Lost. Don't remember. Home? Destination? Mission. Fought. Three bodies. Jutsu. Scroll.

The man stared at the words. They didn't answer his silent call for answers to his questions. In fact, they seemed to stare mockingly at him, waiting for him to bring up a solution. He threw the pen away and wacked the scroll of his lap, groaning in frustration. He ran his hand through his hair, hissing in pain as he touched a bruise on his head.

He dropped his hand and looked at the hair that was stuck between his fingers. It was pure black, making him think of a raven. The man grabbed one of his bangs and looked at the hair; it almost seemed to give off a blue glow in the sun.

He let his hair, which felt so unfamiliar, drop to the ground. It seemed like everything he did felt unfamiliar; almost unreal. As if he was stuck in a body that didn't belong to him. Captured by a skin that wasn't his, but rather, felt like bars from a prison.

He tried to remember something that was of any importance to be able to return home. But nothing came to mind. It was as if it was just locked inside his head but he couldn't find the key.

A dull pain started to spread through his skull. The raven smashed his fist into the ground, holding back a cry of pain as his knuckles were already covered with dried blood.

The man looked around, panting. He nervously stood up as he started to walk. He had to get out of here.

He needed to get away from here. Not even giving the scroll another look, he walked on; ignoring the pain in his fist, in his head, and the sore feeling that spread over his whole body. He smelled the dried blood and mud covering his body. He felt nauseous, sick, confused, and pain ridden.

He wanted to go away. He wanted to go home. He wanted to return home. He wanted to find out where home is.

The raven walked, but the strength in his body was soon gone, giving him no choice but to rest after only 30 minutes.

Panic started to interrupt his steady breathing, creating short, ragged pants. His eyes sought for something, someone, in his environment, something he could blame for this paranoia.

After barely a minute of resting the raven stood again, turning whenever a shiver ran up his spine, warning him of things that weren't there.

The collected calmness that had existed when he woke up was now gone.

He realized. It came to him. Unknown emotions, shouts of pleading, and discombobulated feelings assaulted him. The raven started to run.

Thanks to the sudden running his wounds reopened, but he didn't pay any attention to the blood that was leaving a trail of red drops behind him.

He needed to get away. He wanted to get away. He ran.

His legs were tired of carrying him. Pain and exhaustion commanded his body to stop. But the raven shook his head, running as fast as he could.

He needed someone. Someone to tell him who he was, where he was, and better yet, how to return home. His vision went blurry. He blinked, wishing the haziness to go away.

But it was too late.

He tripped over something, twisting his body as he fell down to the ground on his side. The raven felt his thumping heart. He covered it with his hand, as if he was scared for someone to hear it. With his other hand he grabbed his head, as if he tried to stop the dull pain from beating and splitting it apart. The adrenaline rushed through his body, questions terrorizing his head, answers remaining unknown.

He felt the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, but didn't even try to blink them away. He felt tired, yet restless at the same time.

"How will I go home?" he whispered, the sound of his own voice sounding like a stranger. "I want to go home.

"I want to go home. Get me home." The raven began his own mantra, looking around for any signs of civilization. Looking around for something.

Somewhere in the distance he heard someone shouting, but he didn't even care what was happening around him anymore. He just wanted to go home; to find someone who would comfort him.

The voice grew louder. The raven felt himself torn between wanting them to go away so he could wallow in his own world and, at the same time, wanting them to break the wall and just reach out to him.

There was a silence and then some whispering rustling of the bushes. The man's body tensed, but didn't move. Two unknown chakra's walked up to him. One of them kneeled down beside him.

The raven gasped as a gentle hand brushed away some hair from his eyes. His glance shifted to the woman, but returned to the grass as he saw the look of pity and worry in her eyes.

"Are you in great pain?" the woman whispered softly.

OO OO OO OO (Back to the Present)

Naruto watched as Sasuke walked to a spot that seemed familiar to him. Azure eyes scanned the surroundings, determined to remove everything that would get Sasuke out of his concentration. Naruto frowned as he looked at the back of the raven's head.

Sasuke sighed, and then his lips moved as though he was speaking. But Naruto didn't hear any words. Naruto traded glances with his teammates, who nodded to confirm they had seen the very same thing.

Naruto flinched as Sasuke's body suddenly shuddered before it fell towards the ground. "Sasuke!" he shouted, catching the raven around the waist.

Immediately after the full weight of Sasuke's body leaned on his arms Sakura stood beside him, checking his lungs and heart.

"Everything's normal. His heart beat's a little fast, but that might be because he's having a stressful memory."

"You think he's caught in one of his memories again?" Naruto asked, placing Sasuke comfortably against a tree.

Sakura nodded. "We know that he faints when he remembers. It was sudden and nothing actually happened. If he fainted from exhaustion I would've noticed. The only reason he would faint suddenly is from a flashback." The pink haired girl explained.

"Why does he faint every time he remembers something?" Sai wondered aloud.

Sakura frowned. "I think it can be explained as a strain or heavy burden on his body, momentarily releasing the jutsu to allow him to remember something. Sasuke doesn't have the strength to release this jutsu fully, only for a moment.

"In that moment, so much energy is pushed on his body, he faints immediately. In the state of unconsciousness he can remember his memories better because his seal is weakened by the fact that he fainted. At least, that's what I think." Sakura blushed as the three men looked at her in awe. She coughed softly before continuing her talk. "If we knew what kind of jutsu it was, exactly, we could turn the jutsu around and find the key to release it. But since the jutsu is unknown it would be impossible to even try to do something about it."

"We might risk Sasuke's memories getting lost again." Naruto finished.

Sakura nodded. "Exactly. The jutsu is very complex. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a trigger- that if someone is trying to release the jutsu it will activate again."

The team fell silent, everyone waiting patiently, yet nervously, for the raven to awake. After what seemed like an hour, but in fact only were 8 minutes, the boy moved.

Naruto felt the panic rise in his body as Sasuke started to shiver, the raven's hands moving like a shock wave moving through him. Sakura checked the heart and lungs again, but shook her head when she found nothing.

"Naruto, keep his hands down! He might hurt himself if we don't stop him!" Naruto immediately grabbed the pale hands, keeping them on the ground with his own. But it didn't help much as Naruto struggled with Sasuke to stay still. Kakashi pushed down Sasuke's legs. Sai stood beside him, ready with a rope made out of his black ink.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto called out in confusion to the pale, closed eyes.

Naruto wanted to ask Sakura what was going on, but as soon as he raised his head the words got stuck in his throat. Sakura was clearly in panic, her eyes widened and sweat dripping from her forehead. She searched for possible causes which could explain why Sasuke was shaking, her hands shaking when she found none. Suddenly, Sasuke stopped shaking altogether. Sakura let out something close to a gasp.

"Quick, lay him down on the ground!" she shouted and in a mere second Sasuke was down on his back.

"What's wrong with him?" Kakashi asked. Sakura shook her head in response.

"I don't know." She gave her sensei a doubting look. "But I'm guessing…this could mean…" Sakura didn't finish her sentence, but everyone around her knew what she meant.

Naruto checked Sasuke's pulse, swallowing as he felt the heart underneath his finger race. "Come on, Sasuke, don't do this to me…" he murmured.

As if the raven had heard him, the eyes snapped open and Sasuke came to as if waking from a nightmare. He gasped, taking in a big gulp of air as he shot up.

A silence fell, more from shock than anything else, till Naruto broke it. "Sasuke, are you alright?!"

Sasuke turned his head to meet Naruto's eyes, surprised by the sudden shout. He looked around at the faces surrounding him as he tried to take in his environment all at once. "Naruto?"

Naruto's face lit up as soon as the raven called his name. He wanted to shout out in joy but was interrupted when a pair of thin lips covered his own. Slim fingers cupped his face as the raven closed his eyes.

Naruto's eyes only widened when he felt a tongue against his lower lip, a silent beg for him to open up his mouth. His body stiffened when a low moan came from the raven, though it sounded more like he was whining of impatience for him to open his mouth.

OO OO OO OO

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. Sasuke had woken up, of course, and she was happy. A smile had started to show on her face. When Sasuke had called out Naruto's name she had been even more enthusiastic. That was, until her smile faltered. Her breath stuck in her throat and her eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and utter horror.

This could be nothing more than a dream. For the girl was sure Sasuke was trying to get Naruto to make-out with him. She could clearly see Sasuke's tongue darting into Naruto's mouth. But luckily for her, though unluckily for Sasuke, Naruto was too busy with being dumbfounded to respond to the passionate kiss.

Sakura let her mouth fall open and in the corner of her eyes she saw Sai and Kakashi displaying their surprise in the same way.

After what seemed like a very long time, Sasuke finally gave up on his attempts to get the other boy to participate in the kiss.

Naruto blinked when Sasuke pulled away with one fast kiss on his lips, but held his hands still on Naruto's face.

"Sasuke?" He asked, still a bit stupefied by the sudden action of his lover. Sasuke gave him a smile.

"Yes?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto opened his mouth, but no syllables left his mouth. Finally, his brain came back to full power. "You're back…" It was nothing more than whisper, yet it sounded almost deafening to himself.

Sasuke nodded. "I'm back…"

OO OO OO (Flashback)

Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo lay on the ground panting, or rather, wheezing. Trying to inhale as much oxygen as their lungs could manage.

"Do …you …think …it worked?" Karin wheezed.

The two men didn't even try to respond. They were tired, needed to get back their energy, and were not too keen on wasting it with talking.

After a minute or two they found it less hard to breathe again and were even able to sit up. Juugo looked around, trying to figure out their location. "I think we need to go west if we want to find Sasuke."

"I hope it worked, that mother fucking bastard jutsu hurts like hell!" Suigetsu cursed, his colorful language now having all the colors of the rainbow.

Karin rolled with her eyes. "If it hadn't worked that explosion wouldn't have occurred. Now we only need to put dolls in our places for the final stage of the jutsu."

The three nodded and stood. Slowly, they made their way to an unconscious Sasuke lying peaceful on the grass. Karin gave a sigh of relief. Briefly, she kneeled down by the pale body and did a short medical check.

"He's fine."

"That bastard better be." Suigetsu snorted. "Especially after what we've been through for him."

"Too bad he won't remember us when he wakes up." Juugo sighed.

Karin gave a sad smile of her own. "It's for his own good. You know that."

The arms of team Taka were covered with the lines for the jutsu. The three made clones and laid them down. Soon the clones closed their eyes, as if they had gone to sleep while Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo poured chakra in the clone's bodies. Karin glanced from time to time at the unconscious raven, her expression becoming more and more worried by the second.

"Karin…" Juugo said, giving her a pitying look. "Are you su-"

"I'm sure!" Karin half shouted and Juugo flinched. The woman sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…"

"We understand," Suigetsu said, shocking his teammates a little bit. "We should get this over with."

After a short silence, Suigetsu grabbed a paint brush and dipped it in a veil holding ink. He tucked up the sleeves of his perfect copy and started to write. Karin and Suigetsu were surprised by Suigetsu expressing his feelings. He wasn't one to express anything other than anger or say what he felt. He just wasn't the type to show how he felt. Suigetsu's emotion could be easily read through his body language rather than his speech.

Soon Karin and Juugo followed Suigetsu's actions and started to write the inscriptions on their copies' arms.

After it was done they took a step back to look at their handy work. "We should go…Sasuke's going to wake up soon." Karin whispered. The others nodded, but none of them actually moved. Suddenly, Karin moved and kneeled at Sasuke's side. Stroking away some hair form his forehead, she smiled. "May you find true happiness now." She whispered, placing a soft kiss on the pale forehead.

Team Taka walked away from the four bodies, all seeming to be asleep. "Good luck. We tried the bloody jutsu on the dolls." Suigetsu murmured, getting into position. The three raised their arms, their palms pointing to the three bodies.

This was it. The point of no return had arrived. Karin took a deep breath. From this point on, after they were done, Sasuke would reborn. Sasuke would know the horrible things that had happened in his life. He would find happiness. They hoped.

OO OO OO (still a flashback….just a different one! XD)

Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo didn't move. They almost looked like vultures waiting for their dying prey to let out its last breath. The Jutsu had worked, now they only needed to wait for the leading character to awake.

After what had seemed like hours, sleeping beauty finally woke up. Karin bit on her lip as Sasuke grabbed his head. She needed to stop herself from running towards her friend. But she knew that it would only scare him if she walked up to him and asked him to bite her arm.

Team Taka watched their former teammate looking around in distress. When Sasuke noticed the bodies he crawled to them. "You think they would've disappeared…" Juugo said, his eyes not leaving Sasuke. When the bodies disappeared, as if on cue, Sasuke disappeared under a cloud of smoke.

"They only needed to come in contact with something containing chakra." Karin hissed, straining to keep track of Sasuke in the smoke.

After the smoke had cleared Sasuke found a scroll. Karin watched with a sad look as the raven became terrified, jumping by the slightest sound. But she knew that this was for the best.

Sasuke flinched when he felt a presence. Team Taka, who was on the top of the trees surrounding the man, also felt the small presence, but were able to locate the rabbit quite easily.

Juugo watched the rabbit disappear in his burrow, ignorant of the panic he was causing to the person on the other side of the bush.

Suigetsu smirked as Sasuke let out a very high pitched version of 'hello?'. He walked further to the edge of the branch he was standing when it suddenly broke under his weight. Suigetsu immediately jumped away, landing on a different branch as the other one fell to the ground.

Karin gave him a glare and motioned for them to run away, out of sight. Team Taka didn't hesitate, as they ran off. Neither of them dared to turn around, none dared to say anything. The rest of the travel was spent in silence.

After an hour of running Team Taka stopped in an open field. They looked at each other and then nodded. Each one of them ran into a different direction, only to disappear out of sight from the others.

Their mission had been accomplished. Now they would try to find peace, luck, and fate.

OO OO OO

I know. This chapter sucks and it took me way to long. I'm sorry. *sigh* Well, at least I'm fully recovered and ready to make the last chapter! After that I will immediately start with the new story. Which is going to be fun since I'm full of new ideas^^! I wish you a happy holidays and I will see you guys again around the end of January with the next chapter!

Thanks for everyone who's been supporting me! I love you girls and without you….I wouldn't be able to do this!