The Forgotten Past

Disclaimer: Guess what….Naruto is still not mine.

A/N: And here’s chapter seven, sorry it took so long for me to update, had other things to take care of, AKA, work.

(Blah)= flashbacks
“Blah”=talking
Blah= telepathy and Naruto talking to Kyuubi
Blah= Kyuubi talking

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Chapter Seven


“And then you passed out and I carried you here to Tenten’s place.” I finished. That had taken approximately three hours to explain. Telling two thousand years worth of history is not easy.

“Wow,” Ino breathed. There was more to take in than she thought. Who would have guessed that Naruto could accomplish all of that, not to mention win a hundred year long war? “You still keep in touch with your demon friends?” she asked.

“Not really. The only one I really considered a friend was Koga and I haven’t seen him in about a hundred years,” I answered truthfully.

Ino exclaimed, “A hundred years?! You’ve been friends that long?” Ino couldn’t imagine living a hundred years. But Naruto had lived much longer than that and it was quite evident. Time had begun to takes its toll on the young kitsune; well, not so young now. Still, he acted like the Naruto she remembered. Then she remembered something else he mentioned. “Hey, Naruto,” she called.

“Hmmm…” I muttered distractedly.

“You mentioned something about Uchia Itachi. What about him?” She asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, what happened to him? You mentioned running into him after you left Konoha, but you never mentioned what happened when you saw him.”

“Huh. Well, it’s kind of complicated.” I said hoping she wouldn’t ask any more questions, but my hope was short lived.

“Explain it anyway.” Ino insisted.

I forgot how stubborn she could be. She’s about as stubborn as me. Maybe that’s why we got along so well. I sighed and gave in to the inevitable. “When I came across him he was dying. There was nothing I could do for Kisame, but I gave Itachi a choice. He could either die here or he could start over.”

“What do you mean start over?” Ino paused as an idea came to her. “Wait a minute…You don’t mean…?”

I nodded. “Yep, I turned him.”

Ino got ready to ask another question, but was interrupted by the door to the bedroom opening.

“Ino, you’re awake!” Exclaimed a pink blur as it pounced on top of the blonde girl.

“Sakura, calm down,” I said pulling my student off of her friend. Sakura reluctantly got off of the now struggling Ino. Ino shot me a relieved look, to which I gave a smile in return.

Ino threw off the covers and swung her legs out of the bed. I stepped up to her side and offered my arm, which she gladly took, and rose unsteadily to her feet.

“You sure you should be moving around so soon?” Sakura asked her friend.

Ino just smiled and held onto my arm. I looked around the room and noticed one set of brown eyes watching Ino curiously. I smiled; Shikamaru noticed something different about Ino. A glance at Ino told me that she noticed it too. Leave it to the Nara genius to figure it out. Even without his memories Shikamaru still caught on pretty quick.

I turned my attention back towards Ino, and noticed her look. I cocked a brow at her. She just shrugged and made her way out of the room. I followed close behind.

Sakura shot us a confused look, but she and the others quickly caught up.

Ghost Tenten and Sasuke exchanged a look, and headed towards their younger selves. I turned around just in time to see both Tenten and Sasuke collapse just like Ino had done. I smirked as I helped Kiba get Sasuke on his feet and back inside. A glace to my right showed Ino and Sakura supporting Tenten.

“Let’s take them back upstairs.” The others nodded and followed Kiba and I up the stairs. Once back upstairs we laid Tenten down on the bed and I went to the hall closet and grabbed a spare futon for Sasuke to sleep on. Then I asked a couple of the others to keep an eye on them and to come get me the moment either of them woke up. After leaving those instructions I left Tenten’s place and headed for the training grounds. I could feel Shikamaru and Ino following me, but I ignored them for now.

I stopped when I reached my old team’s training grounds. I stood in front of those three familiar pillars. I walked closer so I could run my hand down the middle one, memories taking me back to those fateful days. Days long before my life changed. A shift in the air around me let me know about another’s presence.

I didn’t even turn around as I addressed my companion. “Aren’t you supposed to be working, Itachi?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be giving you class a history lesson?” Itachi countered.

I laughed and replied, “Touché.”

Itachi walked closer to me concern in his dark eyes. “What’s wrong?”

I glanced at him startled. “Huh?”

“Something’s wrong, I can feel it.”

I looked to the ground and replied voice soft, “this place, the memories are overwhelming sometimes. It’s hard to sort them all out.”

Itachi looked around the training grounds, his expression thoughtful. “You know I haven’t been here since my clan was killed.”

I glanced at him again and smiled. “You lost in memories? What brought this on?”

Itachi smirked, “Hn.”

I snorted a laugh, typical Uchia answer. I stretched and then sat on the cool grass back against the pillar. It was getting really hard to find time to just relax. A few minutes later Itachi settled down next to me. I stole a glance at my silent companion and remarked, “Brings back memories, huh?”

Itachi nodded. “We used to have a lot more time to just relax and talk. But then Koga asked you to help in that war.” Itachi paused to let out a breath, “a hundred years! What were they thinking?”

I laughed at his exasperated expression. “They’re human, what do you expect? It’s in their nature. Human nature dictates that you should fear what you don’t know or understand and demons are the main reason for most of their fear.”

Itachi snorted. “Let’s just hope that most of them aren’t that stupid anymore, especially your friends.”

I laughed again, but silently agreed. Then a thought struck me, “hey Itachi, why did you come here anyway?”

Itachi tuned towards me before he answered. “You seemed upset. Your thoughts were dwelling on the past and I got worried.”

I smiled and said, “Thanks for coming.”

Itachi nodded and settled back against the pillar again.

A soft cough interrupted our silence this time. I looked over to see both Ino and Shikamaru walking towards us. I had forgotten that they were still here. I smiled at them and waved both of them over. They walked closer and settled on the grass across from me and Itachi.

“What’s up?” I asked them curiously.

It was Shikamaru that answered my question. “Just wondering where you were going.”

Itachi chuckled and said, “Looks I’m not the only one who’s worried about you.”

I blushed but didn’t comment. Itachi chuckled again, clearly reading my thoughts. I glared at him, but he ignored me and settled back against the pillar again and closed his eyes.

I looked over at him, concern in my blue eyes and remarked, “You work too hard. You get tired too easily nowadays.”

Itachi snorted and countered, “Like you don’t? You end up coming over to my club more times to relax than you used to. You’re just as stressed as me.”

I smirked and said, “We need another vacation. Where do you want to go this time?”

Itachi smirked and answered, “Paris. I would love to go see Paris again. I wonder how much of it has changed.”

I shrugged and turned my attention back towards Shikamaru and Ino. Ino was listening to our conversation curiously and Shikamaru seemed lost in thought.

I asked him, using a familiar nickname without thinking, “Something on your mind, Shika?”

Itachi shot me a look, but remained silent. 'You do just realize what you called him?'

I shot him a startled look, 'no. What did I say?'

'You called him Shika,' Itachi answered.

I stared at him for a moment in shock. I hadn’t realized that I had used my nickname for him. I looked towards Shikamaru and breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t noticed my slip.

“First Ino faints, and then Sasuke and Tenten, What is up with it all?” Shikamaru said, thinking out loud.

I was about to answer when I spotted a familiar figure walking towards us. I cocked my head; it was a ghost of Shikamaru and another of Choji. I looked towards Ino and saw her looking in the same direction.

She cocked a brow, clearly wondering what they were up to. I looked towards Itachi next, but the Uchia’s eyes were still closed. I was about to ask what the two ghosts where doing here, but the arrival of Iruka stopped me.

“Naruto,” Iruka called walking towards us.

I looked towards him and answered, “Over here.”

Iruka walked towards us glancing curiously at Itachi before addressing me, “You said to come and get you when Tenten and Sasuke woke up.”

“Oh, right. Well let’s go.” I said, rising to my feet. I looked back down at Itachi and asked, “You coming?”

Itachi nodded and stood as well.

Ino suddenly grabbed my arm and attached herself to my side. I looked over at her startled, and noticed the look in her eyes. She was up to something, I just knew it.

Ino smiled sweetly before walking towards the village, pulling me with her. I sighed but obediently followed behind her. Once we were out of sight of the others, Ino confronted me.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you can speak to Itachi without using your voice?”

I sighed. “The term is telepathy. And it’s a vampire thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Telepathy is a way for master and fledgling to keep in touch with each other. It’s part of their bond,” I explained. At
Ino’s confused look, I continued, “When a master vampire offers a dying human a chance at a new life, they literally are offering up their life for that human. Once the human becomes a fledgling, they are fed by their master, thus making an eternal bond. That bond allows for them to read each other’s thoughts, emotions, and communicate without speaking.”

“What other things can you do?”

I thought for a minute before I answered. “I can shape-shift, move things with my mind, control all the elements, and make myself invisible.”

Ino’s eyes had widened with each thing I listed off, “no shit?”

I nodded, laughing at her awestruck expression.

Ino’s expression turned thoughtful before she fired off another question, “Is there anything else about this eternal bond I should know?”

My expression turned guarded and Ino noticed it immediately. She cocked a brow and said, “What is it?”

I sighed, and reluctantly answered, “There can sometimes be a physical attraction between master and fledgling.”

“Say what?” Ino yelled.

I laughed at her shocked expression, “You heard me.”

“You and Itachi…” Ino left the rest of the sentence unfinished.

I nodded.

Ino shook her head in amazement, then another thought came to her, “What about the vampire who turned you?”

I stiffened at that. “What about him?” I growled the words.

Ino stopped walking and turned to me. “Was he not the one who looked after you when we thought you had died?”

I shook my head no and said, “That was another vampire.”

“Tell me,” she coaxed.

I sighed, but answered. “After my body died and you guys left, I was found by another vampire, a female vampire. She saw what had happened to me and decided to claim me as her fledgling and help me with my new life.” I paused as the memories returned to me, “She took me far from that village. She had a cabin deep in the mountains. She stayed there with me and showed me all the things I could do. When she first found me, I was almost dead.” I stopped there.

“Then what happened?”

I didn’t answer. The memories of those first few moments of my waking were consuming my thoughts.

(Flashback)

My blue eyes slowly opened as I tried to get a feel for what was going on around me. I tried to sit up, only to fall back down. A soft hand was place on my shoulder as an unfamiliar voice spoke, “Easy now, you don’t want to move too quickly.” The voice was soft with a musical quality to it.

My blue eyes searched the area around me before they fell on a soft form at my side. Her midnight black hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves and her green eyes held nothing but warmth. She smiled softly at me before bending close and whispering in an unfamiliar language. My eyes once again fluttered closed as a haze seemed to envelope my mind.

The next time I woke it was later. Much later I noticed. I slowly sat up, and tried once again to get my bearings. I was lying on a soft bed; the sheets were an emerald green with a matching blanket. The nightstand and dresser were made with a dark wood that matched the navy theme of the room perfectly.

I swung my legs off the bed and slowly stood, I was shaky, but my legs held my weight. I wandered over to the bedroom door and opened it to look outside. I followed the long hallway to the stair case and headed downstairs.
I stopped on the last stair and just stared. There she was. I had thought that she was just a dream, but no, she was real. She wore an emerald green spaghetti strap top and a black skirt that stopped just above her knees. She turned her warm eyes to me and smiled.

She waved me over and I followed her into the spacious living room she sat down on a cream colored sofa and motioned for me to sit next to her. Once I was seated, she turned to me and explained what was going on.

(End flashback)

I was pulled from my memories by Ino’s worried voice.

Ino asked, her tone worried, “Naruto? Are you okay?”

I gave her a somewhat shaky smile and answered, “Yeah just got lost in a memory.”

Ino cocked a brow and said, “Must have been a hell of a memory.”

I laughed and replied, “You don’t know the half of it.”

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A/N; sorry it took so long for me to update. But I did give you a longer chapter.

Now for a short preview: Next chapter, the Village Hidden in the Shadows and Naruto’s past revealed.

Until next time read and review. Ja Ne