The Memory Keeper (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter Three- Confession

Hi, here's chapter 3. Thanks for reading and all that good stuff. BTW, Sasuke's going to be a bit OOC in this story.

 Disclaimer-I don't own Naruto): That right belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. If I did, the Akatsuki would reign supreme and they would have never died.

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   It was late afternoon. The sun was shining down, and there was a light breeze in the air. I was at the market, shopping for food. I was feeling mixed emotions- happy I had succeeded in becoming a genin, but rather depressed because of the memories coming back. Nevertheless, I was expressionless. As I weaved unerringly through the thick mesh of people wandering around the streets of Konoha, my mind was brought back to today's earlier events.

   After being pulled into the horrible flashbacks, I had awoken to find Kakashi-sensei holding Sasuke face down into the ground. Naruto was tied up to a wooden post, protesting, very clearly upset. I sit myself up, gaining my bearings. Sasuke's eyes flicker over to me before looking away once again. When Kakashi-sensei sees I'm awake, he goes onto a very embarrassing rant about how we don't exercise the principle of team work. I feel ashamed at the end of it.

   I almost sigh in frustration. I had failed. Kakashi-sensei passes Sasuke and I our lunches, completely ignoring Naruto. He tells us that he was going to run a quick errand (or something like that) and to not feed Naruto anything, because if we did we'd be sent right back to the academy. However, as soon as he does his transportation jutsu and leaves, I scoop up rice onto my spoon and command Naruto to open his mouth. Surprisingly, he does so without question.

   As I'm doing so, Sasuke asks me, "What are you doing?"

   "Teamwork. He's a part of our team, we need to take care of him," I say without sparing him a glance.

   Sasuke looks angry. He snaps, "For a memory kee-"

   "Do NOT speak of something you know nothing about," I hiss, letting fury leak into my voice. I slam the fork down on the plastic tray, turning to face him, and continuing, "You have no clue what it's like being a memory keeper. So shut up."

   He has the decency to look relatively ashamed of himself. Naruto's cheering about how Sasuke was told off and how awesome I am. Instead of replying, all I do is nod and turn back to him, scooping up some more rice. Sasuke lapses into silence, nibbling away at a rice ball.

   My system of feeding Naruto is working perfectly until Kakashi-sensei shows back up. In a huge, dramatic puff of smoke. Kakashi-sensei growls at us, "You three! "

   Naruto screams something, but it's not easy to hear over the powerful wind. Sasuke hunches forward slightly, tightening his fist. I simply stand, not moing to shield my hair from whipping around me. I see a spark of something in Kakashi-sensei's eye. I couldn't quite place the emotion.

   "You defied the rules, so that means you know what's coming..." He quickly forms a few handsigns. The sky turns black and lightning crackles, sending little shivers down my spine. He continues, "Do you have anything to say?"

   Naruto's the first to say anything. "But you see..."

   "Huh?" Kakashi-sensei asks.

   Naruto, his voice getting louder, continues his sentence. "But! But! But! You said, sensei! We're a team!"

   Sasuke glances over at Naruto. "We're a three man squad, right?"

   "That we are," I add.

   Naruto adds. "That's right!"

   "You are, huh?" Kakashi-sensei looks at the three of us. Then he gives us a closed eye smile and says, "You guys have passed!"

   "What?!" Naruto exclaims. I remain silent, as does Sasuke.

   "Uh huh," Kakashi-sensei tells us. "Ninjas must see through deception. In the ninja world, you're seen as trash if you break the rules. However, if you don't cherish your friends and team mates, you're even worse than that."

   I remain silent as ever. Naruto's eyes water up, and he mumbles something about how Kakashi-sensei is kind of cool. Kakashi sensei only smiles and tells us that we would start our first mission tomorrow. He does tell me that he needs me to stay behind, because he has an issue he needs to discuss with me. I nod. Kakashi unties Naruto. Sasuke's already left, and Naruto says, "Goodbye, Kakashi-sensei! Bye, Kimi-chan!"

   My cheeks almost flush at the honorific he added. "Goodbye," I tell him, not bothering with his name, as I was a bit confused on what exactly to call him. After his departure, Kakashi-sensei prompts me to sit down, and I do so.

   "So, care to tell me about what happened earlier?" He asks.

   "It may take a while," I warn, but he just nods and tells me to keep talking.

   I start my story. I include the memories that came back, and the reason I was so different from everybody else in my clan. I also inform him of how I didn't even know the jutsu. He remains quiet the whole time, only nodding when appropriate. He doesn't interrupt, and makes no effort to speak.

   When I'm finally finished, nearly an hour later, he has a thoughtful expression on his face, or rather, what's visible of it. I had to admit-it felt good to get this off of my chest. It made me feel a bit less alone.

   "Well," he says, "I can't exactly say I understand your situation, I can tell you this. I'll tell the Hokage, and while he might tell others, we will find a solution to this."

   I nod. "Thank you, sensei."

  He grins at me, standing. I follow suit, brushing myself off. "No problem. See you tomorrow, Kimi," he tells me, doing his transportation jutsu and leaving.

   "Goodbye," I tell him right before he leaves. I begin walking towards Konoha's market. I felt a lot better knowing that there were people who cared about my situation.

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TBC!

 I am so so so so so so so so so so so sorry about the late chapter! SO SORRY! I've been so busy and stressed out, plus my dog died): Poor Fizzy! He was a 10 year old German Shephard, and I freakin' loved him. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!