A/N: Hello there! My what, 5th story? Thanks to everyone who read my other stories so that I actually wanted to write another one! Special thanks to Roo17 and CuteLikeMomiji! ^.^
This story is takes place during/after the 3-year time skip. I think that I might be able to make this story into a substitute for the events I'll be overlapping in shippuden. Maybe. I don't know, I don't see this story ending anytime soon. Unless I update every day, but I think I'll still need a while... Enjoy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Forgotten Memories

Chapter 1

"How is our little pet doing?" Orochimaru questioned Kabuto in his snake-like, hissing voice.

Kabuto cringed slightly at the word pet, even though he thought he should be used to Orochimaru's unusual behaviour by now. Kabuto checked his computer moniters and examined the person on the white hospital bed next to him. "I don't think this is going to work. His body is rejecting it. It hasn't even adjusted to the second stage of the curse seal yet."

Orochimaru sighed and looked deeply disappointed. That meant he couldn't inhabit Sasuke's body and use it to it's full potential. What a waste. "Dispose of him."

Thank goodness Kabuto knew what to do just by those three simple words. It was exhausting to have to explain everytime to wipe someone's memory and send them somewhere where they couldn't interfere. "Cut and dye his hair while you're at it. His stupid hairstyle is too recognizable." Last time Orochimaru sent one of his failed experiments away, she had been picked up by Konoha ninja and asked for any information about himself. He didn't want that to happen again.

He left Kabuto and the dark cavern and paced the gloomy hallways. Why did his secret lairs have to be so ominous? One day, he would decorate these tunnels with lava lamps and cover the ceilings with disco balls.

While Sasuke was still unconscious, Kabuto shifted the hospital bed into an upright position until it looked like an awkward chair with an extension to rest your feet on. He folded the top part of bed/chair so that he could access Sasuke's hair. This was going to be fun! Kabuto never got to unleash his creative side! Atleast not on something as harmless as hair. On the other hand, there was that jutsu Jiraiya could do with his hair... Maybe hair wasn't so harmless.

Shaking off that thought, Kabuto got out his medical scalpel that he would be using as scissors. He attempted to comb Sasuke's hair down. Hmm. That didn't work. Kabuto poured water on Sasuke's head and let it drip down. His hair was still sticking out. Gel, maybe? Kabuto completely covered the back of Sasuke's head with gel that always had "Lasts for 24 hours! Extra-strong!" on the tag, then smoothed it down as he attempted to get Sasuke's hair to get down. The only result was that Sasuke's hair became spiky, stiff, and even harder to move. What's wrong with this kid's hair? How the heck does it stay like that?

After much desperation and thought, Kabuto finally found the answer to his problem. He was trying to get the hair down, when it would be so much easier to get the rest of the hair to point the same direction. Now all Kabuto had to do was gel the rest of the hair to get it to stick up, dye Sasuke's hair, then put some of his own personal concoction all over it. This special gel would keep the hair in it's position as if it was always naturally like that. He was such a genius! And, who knows, maybe someone would have thought Sasuke looked like Itachi with his hair down and told their suspicions to ANBU, or worse, the Hokage? Yes, this strategy was making two cranes with one piece of paper. Why hadn't he thought of this in the first place?

Sasuke had his suspicions of Kabuto and Orochimaru, and they were only increased by the simple mission Kabuto had just given him. It's only been 2 months since he had escaped from Konoha, and they had just experimented on him by trying a third stage of the curse seal. He only got out of that stiff bed a short hour ago, after Kabuto had given him one last needle. Why would he go back to Konoha, even to test his new powers? Why couldn't he just stay here and test it on one of the prisoners Orochimaru always had locked away?

But it wasn't like he had a choice. He still wasn't powerful enough to fight against Orochimaru. He hated that disgusting snake man and his revolting jutsus. He would kill him as soon as he had a good enough chance. But that wouldn't be for a while. For now, he had to do what that reptile said.

"Konoha's that way." Kabuto stood on the road and pointed the right direction. "Take your time getting there, because you haven't worked out the kinks in your body yet, but hurry back here."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows at Kabuto. Take his time? When had Orochimaru ever allowed somebody to take his time if he could get it done A.S.A.P.? And "kinks"? Kabuto had clearly hung around Orochimaru way too long and picked up his odd, occasionally childish, vocabulary. But he decided not to voice his opinions. Truthfully, he was feeling a bit sore and it would be nice not to rush to get to Konoha. It wasn't like he wanted to go there anyways.

So Sasuke went on his way down the road calmly and coolly, with his shiny hair and his expressionless face. Kabuto wondered how he did that and not expect to have girls fawning helplessly over him.

As Sasuke traveled further and further away, he began to forget things. No, that's impossible. He thought to himself. This was always my natural hair style, not a weird side effect from the third stage of the curse seal. Wait, what third stage? What was a curse seal?

When Sasuke forgot where he was going, he began to get worried. He should atleast know where he was going, shouldn't he? But he knew where he was going. He was going nowhere in particular. He had always been on this road. He foraged for food in the woods that ran by the road, ate, slept, then continued down the path. That was what he had always done. It was a simple life style.

No, I had done something before this, Sasuke argued with himself. I had a family. Father, Mother, and Itachi.

Then a horrifying thought crossed his mind. What if he forgot Itachi? He could not let that happen. He would not forget his sole purpose. From trying to surpass him to attempting to impress him to training to murder him, Itachi had always been at the center of Sasuke's world.

Sasuke continued on the trail, repeating Itachi's name to himself. Sasuke Uchiha would not forget.

Four days later, Izumo and Kotetsu were supervising the entrance to Konoha lazily, when they noticed a boy walking wearily towards the gate. He had pale sapphire-coloured hair that was sticking out at a 45 degree angle away from his face. He looked at the world with crow-black eyes.

"Who are you?" Izumo demanded, instantly alert. This tired-looking kid could be faking. He could be dangerous.

But the boy collapsed right under the huge, red arch and continued muttering something he had been repeating to himself long before Izumo had said a single word.

"Ichita. Ichita. Ichita..."