Wild-filly: Greetings and welcome to not only my first Naruto fanfiction, but also my first fic with a considerably more serious genre than any other I have ever written ^_^

All of my previous work has been largely humorous and I have made a point of rarely dabbling into romance fanfiction, however this is a great change in writing style for me and I ask for you to please be patient........ My thanks to anyone who can provide me with comments as to what they think of this fanfiction and how it rates as my first, somewhat darker story.

I've read all currently available manga, seen about forty episodes and done some side researching and given my imagination rein to fill in the (rather large) gaps to come up with the rather sketchy plot featured ^_^ Most of this is just what I've analysed and suppose may have happened, but then again, that's the beauty of fanfiction isn't it?

Disclaimer: Much to my dismay, I don't own any of the characters from Naruto...... although I have been creating a Kakashi shrine in my locker ^_^

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Okumen Gokurakuchou: Memories

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A gentle haze of smoke filtered through the evergreen forest canopy, murky hue almost invisible against the brilliant night sky dotted with pale, pinprick stars. The forest normally teeming with the rustling, growls and chirping of nocturnal creatures going about their nightly affairs were more or less disrupted tonight by the unexplained arrival of three Genins and a Jounin – one of the Genin making enough noise for more than the group combined.

"IT BURNS!"

Uzumaki Naruto threw the stick-speared marshmallow as far away as he could, eyes watering as he attempted to scrape molten marshmallow from the sides of his face.

Uchiha Sasuke glanced sideways irritably at the disgrace occasionally referred to as a fellow student, trying to ignore the blond boy's uncoordinated flailing around their small campsite in his quest for the water canteen. Harano Sakura glowered, delicately savouring her own marshmallow and debating whether or not she should whack Naruto and yell for him to shut up, or yell for him to shut up and then whack him.

From where he was entranced by the pages of his notoriously dodgy novel, Hatake Kakashi turned a terminally bored eye to where Naruto was trudging back to his spot perched on a fallen pine tree, hair water-logged and face still bearing tribute to the marshmallow assault.

"Hey, they get pretty hot when you hold them in the fire too long".

Sasuke gave a growl of exasperation, "whatever gave you the idea that fire could make things hot?!"

Kakashi shook his head in mock despair as Naruto lunged for Sasuke's throat, dislodging a shriek of rage from Sakura and a shriek of agony from Naruto as his lunge carried one foot right into the middle of the campfire. Grinning privately behind his mask, Kakashi shook his head condescendingly, "this exercise was supposed to promote teamwork. Neither you Naruto, nor you Sasuke, are helping matters".

Glancing up from his anguished nursing of the singed foot, Naruto shot a venomous glare towards the nonchalant Sasuke, opening his mouth to both contradict his sensei and in some way make Sasuke look bad. However, before he could begin this carefully planned chain of events, Sakura picked the last of her marshmallow from her stick and threw it gracefully into a nearby bush, startling a sheltered bird into flight. The ghostly creature gracefully winging its way through the trail of smoke and into the dark abyss that was the sky above.

Momentarily distracted, Naruto paused before launching into his verbal attack. Kakashi-sensei wasn't even looking at either him or Sasuke; his eye instead never leaving the fear-fuelled flight of the terrified wood pigeon. Even by Kakashi standards, his expression was unreadable. Naruto blinked, "Kakashi-sensei?"

The troubled eye faltered, blinked and relaxed, flickering back to his boisterous pupil, "hai, Naruto?"

"Why do you always wear that stupid mask?"

Sakura looked up, curious as to her teachers answer and inwardly despairing at just how randomly placed Naruto's train of thought was. Even Sasuke turned slightly to fix Kakashi with interest; chin in hands raised slightly to better his focus.

"What does it have to do with teamwork?" queried Kakashi evasively, eye bending into a cheerful smile, "it's no great matter of interest".

Naruto grinned as well, Kakashi mentally cringing; Naruto had obviously had an idea of some form.

"It IS a form of teamwork Kaka-sensei! We all want the answer, and me asking is helping the team!"

Rolling his one exposed eye, Kakashi pondered over how to explain to his students that it was because his uncovered face was embarrassingly good looking for a ninja, leading to equally embarrassing dialogue between himself and any opponent he faced. Not a chance – he'd never be allowed to forget it. Worse still... he may even develop his own fan club in a similar league to Sasuke's – such a fate was too hideous even for a genius and former assassin to contemplate.

Naruto was not amused at being ignored, "hey! What gives? Tell us!"

"Ne? Oh yeah, well I guess it's just my trademark". Naruto slumped back on his log, bracken settling over his vivid orange outfit, face clearly writ with disappointment of being deprived of a story of worthy blackmail material.

Sasuke blinked, eyes hardening with concentration as he sat up to properly scrutinize Kakashi's reflective expression. "Can I ask then, why you have that tattoo on your upper arm".

It wasn't even a question. It was an accusation.

Kakashi blinked. "Nani? What tattoo? I don't have a tattoo". He was always careful not to roll up the thick black sleeves of his uniform for fear of exposing the old brand of the ANBU. There was no shame in being a former member, but perhaps it would change their opinion of him and his ninja way. He wasn't even entirely sure that they knew what the ANBU were to Konoha. Sasuke maybe, Sakura possibly, Naruto......not as such.

The icy glare from Sasuke intensified, "the one on your left upper arm. It is a symbol of some sort. Don't lie".

Kakashi was now most annoyed, how could he have slipped up so? The delicate manoeuvres painstakingly taken to avoid having the vivid mark revealed could not have failed him so.

"Yeah, you have got a tattoo on your shoulder. I didn't notice since you always have your shirt and jacket on".

Kakashi observed that he had, indeed, removed his favoured garb for some reason and was sporting a somewhat threadbare white t-shirt with a Konoha leaf on the chest. How could he have slipped up on the concealment plan at this crucial time? Why on earth had he chosen today of all days to invest in pyjamas?! WHY had he chosen to invest in pyjamas? Ok, enough of that train of thought.

"I used to be part of the ANBU. A trained assassin for the Leaf. That is part of the reason why the Chidori is a specialized technique for assassination".

Naruto's face split into a wide grin, "wow! I didn't know you were part of some assassination squad! What was it like?" he demanded eagerly.

Sakura frowned, being more sensitive to these issues than Naruto. Her studies in passing the Genin exams had lead her to delve deeply into the assorted written works of great Shinobi. The lives of these people had not been easy, especially not the lives of those who were involved in methodical, unconditional obedience to their superiors, taking life without emotion. It tended to leave scars, stains that did not heal or clean. She was worried about just what Naruto was digging into.

Kakashi smiled gently, "It was a very unusual time, and not an easy one to describe to one so young. Perhaps when you have experienced more open combat and taken harder missions you will find it easier to understand".

Torn between vexation at being snubbed about his age and joy of the promise of more challenging missions, Naruto gave a yelp of excitement, "when do we have another mission Kaka-sensei? Tomorrow? What're we doing? Nani?"

"Hai, hai, hai, we'll have a mission in two days. Tomorrow we'll be collecting our information from the Fifth Hokage, but now we need to rest up for it".

As he unrolled his sleeping bag and scrambled in with practised ease, Kakashi quietly watched his three students set up their own sleeping mats and after a few arguments over personal space, slowly slipped into slumber.

Gazing up at the stars pensively, Hatake Kakashi absent-mindedly rubbed the dark tattoo etched into his arm. So many memories, so many thoughts to be dredged up by such simple questions......

*

Midnight black. Rolling, black tresses of silken coils caught and haphazardly tamed by a rough white cord. White cord, as pale as the back of her neck shadowed by the cascade of long dark hair. Slowly turning forbidding blue eyes to bore into his own. The cold glare softened to one mocking but more gentle. She always made a fool of him. Her mood swings were so severe it was hard to believe they were human.

Why did he see her now? She was gone.

Well..... more or less.

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wild-filly: Chapter 1 coming soon with any luck ^_^ Please review and tell me what you think........ I've never written anything along these lines before, thanks!