The rain softly pattered against the windows of the Hotel room. Normal crystal shinning blue eyes, dull and full of pain. Tanned hands cupped  the mug of tea handed to him from his teacher.
“What’s on your mind, Naruto?” His teacher asked with a forward voice, thoughts lead to distractions, distractions lead to no progress in training.

Naruto brought his lips to the mug, blowing the heat from the surface. Taking a sip, his eyes showed surprise.
“It’s warm chocolate.” Jiraiya  smiled,
“The country’s main export is chocolate. Tea’s expensive here, as chocolate is in the fire country.”
“I see, thank you, Jiraiya-sama.” Hearing those words Jiraiya smacked the blonde ninja on the side of his head.
“Now you’re freaking me out! What’s wrong twerp?!”  Naruto held his head and look to the window. “It’s nothing, really…. It’s just.”
“Just what?” the Sanin looked at the blue eyes that held emptiness in them. He could feel the soft aura, the abnormality of it all concerned him.

“It’s that… a year ago, Today, Sasuke left. When he left, it was… raining as well…” Naruto paused and looked down to his mugged chocolate, ‘there’s something else.’ He thought.
“And there’s something that I’m not quite sure of myself.” He chuckled hopelessly.
“A thought, or a memory, I can’t comprehend but it’s from three years back, while still in the academy. He was so nice, and gentle towards me when I needed him, and all it seems to be is a hallucination or a dream.” He smiled at the fragment of thought,  reminiscing on a treasure he held close to his heart.

The summer had been hot and uncomfortable at the academy. In the class room filled with nine year old students, crowded around two other students. One defending the crying boy behind the other.
“Sasuke-kun why are you defending him?”
“ No one likes him!”
“He’s a freak!”
The raven-haired boy standing shouted back at the flow of comments, “How do you know?! Just because you’re parents tell you, how do you know he’s really that bad?”
Taken aback, the crowd of classmates disappeared out of the classroom.
“Are you okay, Naruto?” Sasuke’s eyes softened as he held out his hand for the younger boy to take. Wiping away the last of his tears Naruto nodded, “mhm, Thank you Sasu-chan! you didn’t have to-” The grip on the tanned hand tightened, “No! Naru-chan you’re mine! No one should treat you like that!”
Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto, and pulled him into a loving embrace.
“Okay?” He asked tenderly.
“Okie-dokie!” Naruto responded happily, smiling into the Uchiha’s neck.

‘It’s not just a thought! It’s an actual memory.’ Naruto placed his mug down on the table and ran outside, forgetting about the rain. outside the hotel there was a figure laying in the tree watching his closely. Naruto frowned, “I can see you, SASUKE!!”
Naruto threw a kunai at his teammate. The sound of tearing cloth gave the blond ninja hope. Jumping into the tree, he found a piece of cloth ripped from  the blue Uchiha shirt, stuck in place with the kunai. Watching the retreating figure disappear from to corner of his eye.

The dark lonely silence in the kyuubi’s vessel heart grew with every drop of rain, as he looked at the piece of cloth in his hands.

‘It’s not only you who remembers, Naru-chan.’