Darkness

A/N: While I go and slam my head into the wall a few hundred times, let me explain a bit.. I had to rewrite this whole chapter because of a folly mistake on my end and well I will only hope that it stays true with what i had written before.

There is one thing that is different in this chapter. It is all a flashback. Basically, we are seeing a lost memory of Sasuke's past, and well, we see why the Sakura Tree is so important to both Naruto and Sasuke... Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Raiku and Fayne that appear in this story and in future ones.

Also, I am changing from my normalcy.. I will use ()'s instead of /'s for thoughts.. Ok? Ok.. Onto the story now.. Hope it's as good as I had written it before.


Chapter 9: Sleepless Nights.

Sasuke turned and shifted in his bed, before opening his eyes, to look out the window. It was still night and he knew it. Three times he had tried to go to sleep this very night and every single time he would just be thinking. Thinking about everything and nothing at once, and he didn't know why. Pushing his covers up from him. Looking back out his window, he saw the moon high up in the sky. The wind bustled a bit and seemed to whisper to him, "Come on out, Sasuke... Find what's keeping you awake."

Getting out of bed, he clammered to get his clothes on quickly and quietly as he usually slept in the nude even as a young child. With his blackish blue shirt and his brown shorts on, he jumped out the window, wanting to see if the wind's voice was speaking the truth. Blowing into the forest, the wind seemed to beckon Sasuke forth, and he followed without delay, going into the dark forest, hoping to find out what kept him awake.

While trodding through the dark depths of the forest, the darkness that surrounded him seemed to bug him more than the fact that he was drawn out by only a voice he thought he heard. (Damnit Sasuke, you're stronger than this, even at 7 you are stronger.) He kept telling himself as he walked and walked. A loud "WHOOT!" spooked him enough to make him jump into a tree, holding onto a weak branch.

With a silent "SNAP!" Sasuke fell to the ground along with the branch. "OW!" He yelled out without thinking, and after he realized he did that, he searched around to see if anyone had heard him. Usually he didn't like to reveal that he was in pain, because to him, doing that would make one weak. Feeling a bit better that no one heard it, he looked around to try and get a sense of direction, but it was no use. Being spooked and falling out of a tree made him lose his concentration, and the darkness around him didn't help. (Great) He thought as he started to wander into a direction he thought was home, so that he could just go back into his bedroom and wait til morning to try and check out the forest.

However, the more he walked in that direction, the more he found himself lost in the forest. He grunted and stopped, looking around for any help as to where he would be going. A rustle of leaves spooked him again, but not enough for him to totally jump, as he accounted it to the wind. Yet as more and more leaves rustled, he calmed himself. "Who is there?" He yelled out into the forest.

An owl greeted his question with a "WHOOT! WHOOT!" The sequoias about chirped in responce, and the wind whistled. Yet something made him uneasy. Accepting a defensive stance, he waited for an answer.

It caught him off guard, a man's chuckle, along with the man showing himself to Sasuke by jumping out of a random tree. His hair was silver and down to his knees, and towering over Sasuke by a lot, he seemed big enough to make Sasuke shudder a bit. Although the man wore all crimson, including his hands and his feet, he was barely seeable in the few feet that distanced him from Sasuke.

"Wow. Seems you got a set of good ears on ya, boy." The man responded to him, as he shoke the hair that had gotten in front of him to the back of his head, letting it glide in the wind for a few moments, before it settled behind him. It shimmered in the bright moonlight that had filtered through the tree tops. "Seems to me that you are also just alone in this forest, why is that?" He blinked for a moment before chuckling. "How rude of me, my name is Fayne Hinota."

Sasuke grunted at the man before he answered, "Why should you know, Fayne? And why should I even be talking to you? I should just attack you right now!" He yelled, as his darkened strength started to come back with greater vigor.

"Whoa Whoa Whoa...boy...I'm just here to help you." He chuckled. "And calm down for a moment." He coughed and looked up at the sky. "I'm guessing that you can't sleep, only for the sole reason that you are out here at night."

"And what is that to you?" Sasuke retorted back at Fayne. "It's not like you would even know why."

Fayne chuckled again and looked back at Sasuke. "Yet, I do have an answer to your problem. It seems that your soul is seeking something, and tonight it has awakened with new vigor. And until it finds this 'something' you won't be able to sleep." He laughed heartedly, "Anyways, you've yet to tell me your name, sonny."

Sasuke still held the defensive stance as he listened to the man. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. And I doubt that will solve anything. I just can't sleep. That's all."

Fayne studied the boy quickly after he answered before he smiled, his white teeth glinting in the darkness. "Ahh.. the Uchiha boy I've been looking for. This is good. Really good. Seems that Lady Fate is on my side, now doesn't it?" He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. "And I have quite a feeling that she wanted me to bring you somewhere. Somewhere that you need to be."

"And what if I say that I don't want to go?" Sasuke replied, a defiant look in his eyes.

"Then I guess you won't be able to sleep, for this 'place' is where the 'something' is." Fayne let out a frown. "And I doubt that Lady Fate wants to keep you waiting. So if you want to follow me, you can, since I know that your speed can match those above you." He chuckled before he left in another direction, his voice disappearing as he left.

"Damn sleeplessness, it messes with me." Sasuke said to himself as he started to follow the man. (Yet he seems to know some answers, and maybe he can bring me home.) He thought as he came up close to the man. "So, what do you know of this place and this thing I need to find?"

Fayne just smiled. "It's different for everyone, and well, it is only you who knows about that. However, it has been told that people who are connected by Fate, and are destined to live as partners, do sometimes find the same place and the same thing." A small laugh echoed in the forest. "Yet that has never happened before."

As Sasuke followed Fayne deeper into the forest, his nose was accosted by the smell of the ocean along with the aroma of sakura petals. "A Sakura tree?" He asked Fayne, but as he looked to the left of himself, he saw no one there. (DAMNIT!) He thought to himself as he continued onward in the same direction he had been going with Fayne by his side.

A few more jumping movements in the trees, and Sasuke found himself landing in the middle of a large meadow with a pink and purple Sakura tree. The distant sound of waves helped him figure tha the was close to a beach, but it wasn't those two things that had drawn his attention. It was the little boy that was scrunched up in a ball by the tree. Sasuke took a few steps towards the kid, before hearing a low cry from him.

The kid had heard footsteps near him, and looked up, noticing that there was a child just about his age near him. The whiskers on his face glistened with the tears that were falling down his face. Quickly, wiped away the tears and stared at the kid with a scowl on his face. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?" He yelled at Sasuke.

Taking a few more steps towards the kid, Sasuke stopped in front of him, before sitting next to him. "I really have no idea." Sasuke replied as he leaned back against the tree. "I just followed the wind." He laughed at his cheesy responce before looking back at the kid, who was dressed up in a black shirt and an orange pair of jeans.

"Then why are you laughing at me? Are you thinking of ways to tease me?" The kid responded quickly at Sasuke.

"No no no. I'm just laughing at my own remark. It was cheesy." He let the conversation stop there for a while, before the kid started up again.

"Why can' I ever be left alone?" He muttered to himself before looking back up to the sky. "And why can't I be liked by everyone!?" Lettin ghis head droop back down to his knees, he breathed for a few moments before his head shot up. "I know how I can be liked!" Standing up abruptly, he gave a wry smile. "I will be the future Hokage, and then everyone will like me!" He seemed to be happy with what he had thought up.

"Wow you got big plans, don't you?" Sasuke said to the kid.

"You betcha! Cause I will be the strongest." He smiled and chuckled.

Sasuke chuckled with him. "Not if I am the best first!"

Both started to retort back and forth of who would be the best, before they couldn't take it anymore and started to laugh until tears streamed down their faces. "W-Who are you?" The kid asked Sasuke, as he finally caught his breath.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke replied dully, not really affected by the question.

The boy's eyes lit up. "Uchiha? I always thought the Uchiha clan were all mutant angry people." The boy couldn't help but laugh, yet stopped when he looked over and saw that Sasuke was giving him a death glare.

"So what is your name, boy?" Sasuke asked politely. "Since I gave you mine."

The kid jumped up and gave a "V" sign with his right hand. "I am Naruto Uzumaki and I will be the future Hokage!" Naruto smiled and sat back down with Sasuke, as they both gazed out into the horizon. "SO you came here because of the wind's whisper, am I right?"

Sasuke blinked for a moment before turning to Naruto. "Y-yes I did... How did you know that?"

"Because of what you said when you first came here, that you followed the wind." Naruto smiled for a second, before frowning. "I was told that there was a place where I could find what I really wanted out here by a woman who seemed to know a lot. Guess she was right." He smiled before leaning back against the tree, to watch the sun start to rise.

A myriad of colors strewn themselves across the dawn sky, as the sun began to make night into day. "The beauty of it, it's so remarkable" Sasuke muttered as he looked at it.

Naruto looked at Sasuke before back at the sunrise. "You're right. I didn't even know that this sort of beauty existed." He chuckeled for a moment, before letting silence ensue.

Sasuke broke the silence by adding to what Naruto had said. "Neither did I realize that it could even exist."

Both boys continued to look at the sun rise almost hypnotized by it, and feel backwards out of exhaustion. Two figures appeared by them. "So Fayne, we bring them back to their homes, right?" The lithe woman asked the man, her short black hair and dark blue clothing only adding to the appearance of her fine figure.

Fayne nodded. "Yes, Raiku. And make sure they don't remember this yet. They aren't ready for it now." He lifted Sasuke into his arms, before disappearing, while Raiku did that same with Naruto.

Back at Sasuke's house, in his bedroom, Fayne looked at the small boy in his arms. "I'm sorry that I had to do this to you, but it had to be done now." He laid him down and covered him. Forming a few hand seals, he finished by holding a finger to Sasuke's head. A spark of light shot from Fayne's finger to Sasuke's forehead, before Fayne chuckled and jumped out the window with grace. Turning back to look at the young boy's sleeping body, he couldn't help but coo. "Such innocence. I hope they do turn out the way they were suppose to, else Konoha Village might just be at a loss."

Walking away into the forest, Fayne disappeared along with the strange wind that had guided Sasuke to him, wanting to get back to his beloved Raiku.

~~~Gah.. I know it's rude to state this at the end of the chapter but I must.. I've written 10 chapters to this story and well.. I just don't feel the support enough to want to continue writing on here. I'd like to see that a few people want me to continue onward, and well, until I do, I feel like I can't write anymore. What I mean is that I may enjoy writing, but I love to feel that my writing is a great contribution to the community that I had written it for. I dunno. Maybe I'm just a bit selfish, but I did do 10 chapters in 2 days. Anways, Daisuke Fayne King out.. Ja matte ne for now~~~