Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Everything Remains in Memory ❯ History ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

 

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“Why did you do it?” she asked as the two of them searched the forest floor for usable firewood. “You knew that he would lose, badly, but why did you still instigate him?”

 

“Because Saaya, he needed to be taught a lesson,” Eiji answered as he placed another piece of wood in his arms.

 

“Oh? What lesson would that be Eiji? How to be a submissive?” snapped Saaya as she bent down to pick a piece of wood up. “And if you even try to look up my skirt I'll cut you up so bad that no one'll recognize you,” she threatened as Eiji slightly maneuvered himself so that he was behind her bent over form. He quickly looked to the side upon hearing her threat however. She somehow always managed to carry out her threats. But of course, that would be expected for anyone who grew up in the slums of Kiri.

 

“He's too goddamn cocky for his own good; I was just trying to bring him down a few notches,” claimed Eiji in a matter-of-fact tone. “He thinks that just because his grandfather built the Great Naruto Bridge that he's better than the rest of us.”

 

He was instantly met by the strong gaze of the kunoichi whose gaze was contorted in disgust.

 

“Is that what you think? That he thinks he's better than you? That's why you pick on him and beat the shit out of him whenever you can? Well let me give you a newsflash smart one, his life was just as hard as yours,” spat Saaya maliciously.

 

“Yeah, of course he did. Of course his life is as tough as mine, the bastard son of a woman who fucking whores herself out just to get enough money to keep a roof over the heads of herself and her three sons!” he roared. She only shook her head in disappointment.

 

“When will you ever learn Eiji? When will you ever learn that you'll never get anywhere in life if you always compare your own life to the lives of others?” she asked as she left him standing there in the forest clearing.

 

“Wait, Saaya! What do you mean?” he called. The only response he got was the wind whispering in his ears and the crunching of twigs under their feet.

 

---

 

“Alright Inari, you can rest now,” the jÅnin said after finishing fixing up his student as best as he could.

 

“Thanks sensei, but I don't to rest; I want to train,” Inari argued as he tried to get onto his feet, but was held down by his sensei.

 

“No, you have to rest now Inari,” his sensei commanded.

 

“You don't understand sensei, if I don't train then I won't become strong,” Inari retorted.

 

“Are you disobeying a direct order from a superior officer?” dangerously asked the older man.

 

“No…I would…I would never do that,” stammered Inari. He didn't dare openly disobey any one who had a higher rank than himself, for like every other Kiri academy student, had learned such a thing was considered treason, and the only viable punishment was execution.

 

“Good, now go sleep and let your body heal. You'll never be able to protect your loved ones if your wounds never heal,” dictated the man. Inari begrudgingly obeyed and propped himself up against a tree and closed his eyes. He was asleep within instants.

 

The older man was smiling softly at the sight of the young boy sleeping. It helped soothe his scarred mind; giving him an image of what his own son might've looked like at that age. However, he was shaken out of his wistful thinking by the arrival of his other two genin charges, both carrying an armload of wood.

 

“Mission was a success sensei,” Saaya reported emotionlessly to their sensei, who was facing Inari.

 

“Get a fire ready, we're camping here tonight,” he commanded, not even turning to face his charges.

 

“Yes sensei,” Saaya responded as she placed her bundle of wood on the ground. Eiji soon followed suit.

 

“I'll start the fire. Go get some food for us,” she snapped at Eiji as she began to arrange the kindling. He only grumbled and reluctantly followed her orders.

 

---

 

The four of them sat at a dusty, old wooden table in the center of a cluttered room in four, rickety chairs: Naruto, Ami, a kage bunshin of Naruto, and a kage bunshin of Ami.

 

“So KyÅ«-kun's dead?” Ami asked with large eyes.

 

“Yeah, he killed him,” Naruto answered, jabbing his thumb at the Naruto bunshin for accentuation.

 

“Why? Why did you kill KyÅ«-kun Kazama-sama?” Ami asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

 

“I had to Ami-chan. He had been released, due to the interference of our village's council, and as a previous Hokage I had to protect my village at all costs,” Arashi coolly explained as Naruto seemed to deflate a bit.

 

“Is that why you sealed him within your own son? To keep your own village safe?” asked the girl, rage apparent in her tone.

 

“What have I told you about speaking to your elders Ami?” asked her clone in the same resounding bass as before.

 

“I know HÅ-kun I know. But this guy has no idea how hard the life of a human prison is! He doesn't have a clue about how much it hurts to be shunned and hated! He's…he's…he's…he's like my father,” Ami ranted.

 

“That's enough Ami,” Naruto said before Ami could regroup herself. “But why are you living here of all places?”

 

“What do you mean Naru-chan? I've always lived here. There's nothing wrong with it, is there?” innocently asked the girl, seemingly forgetting her anger at Arashi for the moment. At this Naruto grew exponentially enraged, even more so when he found out that his own idol had sealed the KyÅ«bi inside of him.

 

He was still alive. He knew that she was alive and yet he made her live in this dump.

 

“Of course not little one,” answered her clone reassuringly.

 

“Why are you here, though, Naru-chan? I thought that you had really really really big ninja missions to do?” asked Ami excitedly.

 

“I'm on a training mission,” answered Naruto in a tone that indicated that he didn't want to delve any deeper into the subject. However, Ami didn't seem to catch the tone and kept inquiring into the subject.

 

“But what about Saku-chan and Sasu-kun? Won't they miss you?” she asked. Before any more tension could arise HÅkÅ decided that it was time to intervene.

 

“Ami, why don't you give Naruto-kun a tour of the house?” he suggested. Instantly Ami's attention was diverted as she ran over to Naruto and began to show him every aspect of the house.

 

“Kazama-san,” began the clone. “As you have probably surmised, I am not human. No, I am Gobi no HÅkÅ, one of the beings that you refer to as bijÅ«.” Arashi nodded, taking in the information. “And you've also probably guessed that Ami is, as she said, “a human prison.” Mine, to be exact,” he explained.

 

“Like your own son, Ami was sealed on the orders of the Mizukage, her birth father. However, he only sees her only as a weapon, and this perturbs me; for she has already been sent on many missions that, according to your classifications, would be A and S class. However, she has no recollection of any of the people that have died by her own hands because I have been able to possess her body for that time.

 

Kazama Arashi-san, I wish to ask you a favor.”

 

“And what favor would that be?” Arashi asked. He heard the bijÅ« mumble something that sounded suspiciously like “the impudence of the young.”

 

“I want you to take Ami away from this wretched country and away from her twisted father,” HÅkÅ flatly requested.

 

---

 

As much as he tried, he just couldn't fall asleep. Memories about Naruto plagued his head. Ranging from when they first met to the very last he spoke with the blond shinobi.

 

He walked along the streets holding the hand of his older brother, ecstatic and jumpy on his first day of academy. All he ever wanted to do was grow up to be like his brother, and now he was going to begin the journey to become a ninja. But as they were walking he noticed something that didn't belong in the crowded bazaar; a bundle of clothes just thrown in a bundle against a wall. And they were shivering.

 

“Nii-san wait! I want to go check on something!” he eagerly said as he pulled on his brother's arm. The older boy stopped walking and waited as his younger brother stemmed his curiosity.

 

As he neared the shivering bundle, he noticed that it was not a bundle of clothes but a boy dressed in ragged clothes, battered and bleeding.

 

“Are you alright?” asked the young boy to the injured one.

 

“Don't hurt me…please…I won't do it anymore…just stop,” whispered the boy, insanely, seemingly in a trance.

 

The other boy was puzzled, he had not done anything to hurt the boy, why was he asking him to stop something he never started? He then put a hand on the boy's shoulder to try to help him get up, but immediately the murmuring boy began shrieking at a seemingly inhuman volume, clutching his head and curling even further into himself.

 

Startled, the boy quickly backed away from the source of the screeching, and into his older brother's arms.

 

“Nii-san I didn't do anything I swear!” Sasuke practically yelled as unexpected tears began to fall from his eyes.

 

“I know Sasuke, calm down,” muttered Itachi as he bent down to Naruto's level. He then began forming handseals and when he finished, the boy stopped screaming and fell limp onto the ground.

 

“Nii-chan!! Why? Why did you kill him?” Sasuke cried, and was answered with a rather forceful poke to the forehead, causing him to stagger a few steps.

 

“He's only under genjutsu otouto,” explained Itachi as he lifted the boy onto his shoulder. “Now go to the academy or you'll be late; I'll take of the boy.”

 

“Yes, nii-san,” answered Sasuke as he began to run towards the academy, wondering what was wrong with the boy.

 

He couldn't stand this place anymore: this house, this room, this bed. They all reminded him of Naruto.

 

“I promised you that I'd bring you back Sasuke-teme,” Naruto triumphantly announced to his long time rival, who was scowling at the fifteen year old blond.

 

“Why Naruto? Why did you bring me back to bring me back to this hellhole? Can't you understand? I can't gain any power here! I can't become stronger if I live here in this sheltered village!” exploded Sasuke.

 

“Because, teme, you belong here,” whispered Naruto as he looked down to the ground.

 

“I hope you're Naruto, because thanks to you, I'll never avenge my clan. Thanks to you I'll never be able to kill Itachi,” snapped Sasuke.

 

“Stop always thinking about yourself teme! What about everyone else here? What about Sakura-chan? And Kakashi-sensei? What about them? What about their ambitions? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, we understand? That we know that you have your own dreams and your own ambitions? But you're a ninja Sasuke. You can't just leave on a fucking whim!” Naruto yelled as he punched a hole through the wall nearest to him.

 

“How the hell can you understand dobe? Your entire family wasn't murdered in front of you by your own brother! The brother that you had looked up to for your entire life! How the fuck can you say that you understand? And while you're preaching about being selfish, baka, what about yourself? You could give a shit whether I'm a ninja of this hellhole or not; you just couldn't stand the thought of me being stronger than you!” yelled Sasuke.

 

“You're wrong,” retorted Naruto, his voice slightly wavering but his eyes cold and hard. “I could care less if you're stronger than me or not.”

 

“Then why? Why ruin all my dreams; because you thought it would be fun?” demanded Sasuke as he moved closer to Naruto so that they stood toe to toe.

 

“Because…because…” Naruto then turned away from him. “Because you're like a brother to me Sasuke; you're the closest thing to a family I ever had or will have. And…I…I love you, and Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan and Baa-chan too. And I don't…I don't want to see any of guys throw your life away,” he whispered.

 

All traces of anger left Sasuke's face as he reflected on his friend's words.

 

He was loved. Not like by Sakura, but as a brother, as a person. He was loved for who he was, and not what was expected of him.

 

“You know what Sasuke, you're right. I shouldn't have interfered. And I'll make it up to you; leave if you want. I won't try to stop you and I won't try to bring you back, if that's what you really want.”

 

He could hear the choked sobs in the boy's words and saw his body trembling with an unknown emotion; sorrow, maybe rage?

 

He had stayed. He had stayed but nothing felt as real as it did when he was a child. Instead of pride filled gazes he was met with gazes of detestation and was marked with the stigma of traitor. But he had stayed, for his brother.

 

He did the only thing that he could do, he ran. He ran out of the Uchiha complex and to Training Ground 7, where Naruto and him had met as enemies, and left each other as brothers.