Ah, it's been a while! Hasn't it? It's good to be back!
*dodges oncoming attacks of angry readers*
I'M BACK DAMNIT!
I've only just noticed how many own characters I've added in this fanfic and how off I am of the original plot-line...Oh well. It's called a fanfiction for a reason I guess, I've got my own original plot ^-^
Alright, I don't own Naruto! Please enjoy!
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(Lian's POV)
"Lian."
"Ugh..." I reply to Kakashi's calls.
"Rythian's here." he says, "Wake up."
I groan and nod into my pillow. "Will do..."
"Now, Lian!"
I groaned louder and rolled out of my bed and got ready for the day ahead. I can already tell it's gonna be long and hard with all the work we have to do.
When I walk out of my room I head into the kitchen and grab myself a muffin before grabbing Rythian's arm and dragging him towards the front door. "See you later, Kakashi!"
"So, what're we doing today?" Rythian asks as I munch on my muffin.
Nom nom nom mother ducker.
Duck.
....steve....
No! NO! We can deal with that next!
"Well, seeing as we are now The Three Investigators - "
"What - "
" - we first need to grab Naruto, and then we shall head to find Lady Tsunade!" I finish and take a HUGE bite out of my muffin.
We're almost at Naruto's when I turn to Rythian, walking backwards with a grin. "I've got a magic trick to show you!"
"Alright..."
"Now you see it....this ordinary muffin." I say, showing him a new muffin which I also took before leaving. I then shove the entire thing in my mouth. I quickly swallow it and try to cough uncontrollably. "Now - you - don't!"
Rythian laughed at my amazing magic skills and I grinned. We reached Naruto's apartments and we raced to his floor, well, I told Rythian the wrong floor and managed to get to Naruto's before him.
"You cheater." Rythian pouted when he reached the door I was picking the lock of. "Shouldn't you just...knock?"
"Oh, but that's no fun." I say with an evil grin.
I hear a click from the lock and push the door open. My eyes widden in horror and I grab Rythian's hand and jump over the railing.
"LIAN TITEN! I THOUGHT I SAW THE LAST OF YOU!" the old man yelled as I ran to across the street to Naruto's apartment area.
Me and Rythian stand outside Naruto's apartment both out of breath. "I - take it- that isn't - the first time - this has - happened?" Rythian asked, hands on his knees.
This time, I knock furiously on the door until I hear a crash of trash and the groan of my best friend. Then the door opens and thus appears a Naruto wearing nothing but a t-shirt and boxers, and hair almost as messy as mine.
Key word; almost.
"Oh, morning guys." Naruto yawned and rubbed his eyes. "What're you doing here so early?"
. . . . .
. . .wait for it. . .
. . . . .
"OH!" Naruto yells and slams the door shut. We stand on the other side, leaning against the railing. I hear a lot of crashing sounds and objects breaking, cries of pain and frustration from my blonde friend, and then the door was opened to reveal a wild Naruto in his natural habitat!
Naruto locks the door and stuffs the key in his pocket. "Let's go!"
"Your zipper is down." I say without looking at him and walk towards the stairs.
I hear the sound of his zipper going up and Rythian whispering to him. "How did she know?"
We all moved at a fast pace through the village, avoiding the busiest areas meaning going through the dark alleyways where....
"YOU!"
"Me?" I say pointing to myself, blinking confused at the group of three thugs in front of me.
"Yeah, you!" the leader said glaring at me. "You remember us?"
I raise a confused eyebrow.
"No? Should I?" I ask them.
They all share a look and then look back at me.
Wait a bloody minute....
"OH GOD IT'S YOU!" I scream pointing a finger at them.
"Lian! Who are these guys?!" Naruto asks confused.
"THESE ARE THE DROP OUT GENIN KIDS THAT ME, NAT, DEN AND GWEN BEAT UP WHEN WE WERE KIDS!" I yell still pointing at them.
Rude? Yes.
Do I care? ...yes, actually I do.
I stop pointing and leap away from them, behind Rythian.
"You're going to pay, you little punk." one of the guys said, cracking his knuckles.
They all grinned at each other and stepped forward.
"What do we do?" Naruto whispers as I take a step back.
"We fight." Rythian says, taking a defensive stance.
"WE RUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!!!!!"
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"How! How are you even a ninja?!" Rythian scowled me and Naruto pacing back and forth. We were at the park after getting away from the gang, and Rythian was a...little confused.
"Hey, sometimes we forget, okay?" I say shrugging.
"I just don't get it!" he yells and turns to me. "You! You got accepted into the ANBU training course! How? It doesn't make sense!"
"Wow, that's a little harsh..." I say rolling my eyes.
"How did I ever become friends with you?" Rythian wondered allowed and turned away.
"Hey!" Naruto yells standing up. "Don't - "
Rythian shoves him back down. "And you! The nine-tailed fox demon resides in you, how come you aren't locked away somewhere where you won't be able to hurt anyone!"
My eyes widen. "Rythian - "
"Tch, this is stupid. I'm hanging out with two wanted fugitives' younger sister and a monster." Rythian finished and shook his head. "I don't even know why I bothered..."
He started walking along the path back towards the center of the village. I glance at Naruto and I feel rage as I see the pain and hurt in Naruto's eyes. I haven't seen this look in so long, I thought that he didn't have it anymore...
"Hey!" I yell.
Rythian turns around and I can tell the person that I cared about, no matter how little or big it may be, wasn't there.
SMACK!
Rythian stands in front of me holding his cheek, shocked.
"Maybe there was a reason why you had no friends before me." I say coldly, glaring at him.
I move away from him and take Naruto's arm, moving both of us in the other direction. "Let's go."
- - - - - - - - - -
"Can I crash at yours tonight?" I ask Naruto as we sit at Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, waiting for our food.
"Of course." Naruto smiles. "Thank you, Lian...for standing up for me. Again."
I smile at him. "Always, you're my best friend. We have each other's backs." I rub my eye and give him a fake grin when I see our food almost ready. "I bet I can eat quicker than you."
Naruto gives me a look before calling to the part-time chief, "Can we get this to go? Hurry it up!"
I give him a confused look. "What're you - "
Naruto grabs our food and my hand and drags me through the village, all the way to the top of the Hokage Mountain where we sit atop of the fourth Hokage's head. Lady Tsunade still needs to get her head put on...
We are eating our ramen, slurping up the greatness and watching the small folks down below us. "Why did you bring us up here, Naruto?" I ask him.
"Lian, you forget how well I know you." he replies. "You're upset, believe it."
I shake my head. "I'm not." I lie. "I just realised...who he really was."
"Lian." Naruto says seriously, making me turn to him. My eyes start stinging, my throat closes up and I burst into tears. Naruto wraps his arms round me and I bawl into his shoulder.
"I don't understand...why did this happen?" I ask.
"I don't know, Lian...but we'll find out." Naruto whispers. "I promise, believe it..."
I close my eyes and cry hard. It doesn't make sense, I've never seen Rythian like this at all. Even when we only just met he was such a nice person, but this...this person is not the person I decided to...
"Why does it hurt so much, Naruto?" I ask him. "He's not died...he's not dying...he's still here but yet...it hurts!"
Naruto sighs and holds onto me still. "He's not the same person you decided to give a piece of your heart to. It seems you didn't realise how much of your heart you actually gave him..."
I shake my head into his shoulder. "Promise me...promise me you will never cause me this pain."
"I promise, Lian. You know I would never."
"Naruto..." I say pulling away. "I just...every day is a day I never hear from my either of my brother's, I don't know if they are dead or in prison, and then there is Sasuke who was- who was...."
"I know..." Naruto says, pain in his voice.
"Fidoshi as well...he has a daughter, a baby girl who doesn't know he's dead!" I scream. "I have a psycho uncle who wants me for this so called kekkie genkai, and you...you and Gaara are constantly in danger...and I don't think that I could protect you." I take a shaky breath before turning to Naruto. "Why is it anyone I decide to care about..."
"Lian."
Me and Naruto whirl around and see Rythian standing on Old Man Hokage's stone head.
I rub me eyes and turn away from him. "What do you want?"
"I went to Lady Tsunade." he said softly. "And I'm so, so sorry...I didn't mean any of it. I've got my memories back."
I stop breathing and I turn my head to face him.
"Really?" Naruto asks.
"Really." Rythian nods. "I swear."
"Prove it." I say, standing up.
Rythian smiles. "At the Sakura Festival, I was working at a meat stand, earning some extra cash....when I saw the wildest, red hair I've ever seen. This girl was kind of short, very crazy and ate most of the food at the stand. This girl was the first person who wanted to be my friend without knowing about my status as an ANBU, without caring who I could be. This girl showed me what 'fun' was, for the first, real time since my mother died. This girl is amazing, and deserves the world. This girl is Lian Titen, who I...who I realise I'm in love with!"
My eyes widen and Naruto beside me is as confused and shocked.
"I'm not asking you to say it back, but please...I want you to give me another chance. And this time I promise you that I will protect you, and I won't ever intentionally hurt you in any way ever again..."
I stare at Rythian and bite my lip. "Okay."
Rythian smiles and asks. "Okay?"
I nod my head. "Okay."
Rythian jumps over to our head and we hug. I feel him kiss the top of my head and I hold onto him tighter. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. I care about you so much. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." I say and rub my eyes, pulling away.
"I owe you one big apology as well, Naruto." Rythian says and holds a hand out to Rythian. "...friends?"
Naruto grins and hugs him, making me laugh. "Believe it!"
I stop laughing, shaking my head with a smile when Naruto releases Rythian.
"Okay, but before all the flying turtles come with the narwhals to celebrate this...what happened?" I asked. "How did you lose your memory?"
Rythian sighs and looks at me and Naruto. "That's the mystery. We don't know."
"Do you know what they look like?" Naruto asks. "I'm sure we can nail whoever did this!"
"No, I mean...I remember everything with you guys, going out to rescue Sasuke and Lian - "
"OBJECTION!"
"Overruled." Naruto says.
" - but then...it all goes blank and I remember living my old life again..." Rythian finishes.
"So, not even Lady Tsuande could find your memory, the memory of the person who attempted to take away your memory." I summed up and sighed. "Okay..."
"No, not memory loss." Rythian said. "Brainwash."
"Brainwash?" me and Naruto echo.
"Someone wanted me to go back to my old life, as a member of the ANBU, someone who didn't care about anyone but themselves." Rythian stated. "But...I don't know who."
"Could it be your dad?" Naruto asked. "No offence, but from what I heard you're dad wasn't exactly happy with your relationship with you and Lian."
Rythian shakes his head. "No, he didn't even know I was brainwashed, or I had my memory wiped, or whatever."
"We'll figure it out." I say, and hold Rythian's hand. I smile up at him. "I promise."
"We got a mystery on our hands!" Naruto yelled and fist pumped the air. "Let's do this!"