Title: Blonde Akatsuki
Summary: After the fight at the Valley of the End, Naruto gets sick of his village and flees with two S-Class Criminals to join Akatsuki. Trained by every member and unlocking his Kekkei Genkai is just the start; sinister demons even more dangerous and powerful than Akatsuki are after Naruto.
Chapter One: Defection
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. I just own some OC and this particular plot.
A/N: This takes place after the fight at the Valley of the End, Sasuke won and went to Orochimaru, Naruto is currently recovering at the Hospital.

Special Thanks to Mare for Beta-ing this chapter. Without her this chapter would have been a complete grammatical disaster!

It was a perfectly normal day in Konohagakure no Sato. The first beams of sun kissed the Hokage Monument as the streets began filling with people. The civilians walked and chatted happily, completely unaware of the dangerous threat that currently resided inside their own village.

On a tea stand near the hospital, two individuals dressed in long dark cloaks with red clouds and chin-high collars calmly sipped from their cups of tea. One of them looked pretty normal save for his blood-red eyes and the close resemblance he had with a weasel, he was of average height and wore a straw hat. Nevertheless, the other one was anything but normal. He was abnormally tall, had blue skin, tiny eyes and the gill-like marks on his cheeks gave him a shark-like appearance. A big-ass sword covered in bandages rested on his back.

"Say Itachi, what are we doing here?" the shark-man asked, eyeing his companion.

"We have come to retrieve Naruto-kun, Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi no Yoko…what were you doing during our briefing, Kisame?"

"…I stopped paying attention after Leader-sama said 'avoid detection'," Kisame replied, scratching the back of his neck, displaying a toothy grin. Some civilians sitting nearby threw a few Ryo at their tables and hastily walked out.

"Why am I not surprised…?" Itachi replied, taking a final sip from his tea cup, his partner quickly following suit. He set a small amount of Ryo on the table, calmly striding outside. As he and his companion walked through the city, he couldn't help but feel disappointed at the lack of security. One would have thought that after the Sound invasion, the Hidden Village would have learned a thing or two. After some minutes of walking through the streets, they reached a large, white building; the hospital. They entered the building and approached the front desk. The receptionist looked up and with a smile asked how she could help.

Itachi lifted his hat, allowing the receptionist to see his spinning red eyes

"In which room is Uzumaki Naruto currently residing?" Itachi asked. The receptionist reached for a tab under the table and set it in front of Itachi.

"Room 183, fifth floor," she stated. Itachi nodded and continued moving; people stared at the pair's clothes with curiosity but paid them no further attention. Walking up a few flights of stairs, Itachi and Kisame reached the room and forcefully opened the door. The two found a heavily bandaged blonde midget sitting at the windowsill, hugging his knobbly knees. The boy turned to look at them, his normally cheerful blue eyes replaced by a dull, empty gleam.

"I was wondering when you would be coming for me, Itachi-san, Fishy-san," the blonde said.

Kisame clenched his fist and marched towards the boy. "How dare you little twerp, I'll skin you alive!" The fish-man raised his bandaged sword.

"Leader-sama wants him alive, Kisame," Itachi stated calmly, stopping Kisame on his tracks

"What!?" Kisame turned to Itachi, "Perhaps just a limb or two…?"

"No limbs either, Kisame."

"SHIT!"

"I want to join Akatsuki."

"Maybe drain him from…" Kisame stopped short, turning to look at Naruto with a clearly disturbed expression. Itachi widened his eyes slightly but managed to mask most of his shock.

"You want to join Akatsuki?" Itachi asked incredulous – this had to be some sort of trick. He made a few hand seals and concentrated. There was no sign of hidden ANBU, nor any Genjutsu within the Hospital.

"Are you serious, brat?" Kisame asked, staring at the normally hyperactive ninja who wore a sad expression. The boy's eyes reflected no lie.

"Yes," was Naruto's reply. He stood up from the windowsill and unbuttoned the top of his hospital gown; right on the middle of his chest was a hole with the length of a closed fist and a depth of about a fourth of an inch. Even though it wasn't overly deep, the fact that Kyuubi wasn't able to completely heal the injury was worrisome. It must have been something of great power to cause semi-permanent damage like that.

"Your brother did this, Itachi-san…" Naruto said. Once again Kisame looked shocked.

Shaking his head, Itachi murmured, "I presume he went to Orochimaru, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did…" Naruto nodded in affirmation.

"Your brother has gotten somewhat strong, hasn't he?" Kisame asked.

"No," Naruto replied, earning a inquisitive look from him. "I had the chance to kill him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had clear shoot right at his head, but instead I just scratched his hitai'ate. I was foolish to think he could still be saved."

"…What Jutsu did he use?" Itachi asked.

"Kakashi's only original Jutsu, the Chidori."

"I see…why would you want to join our organization, Naruto-kun? You are aware of our final objective, are you not?" Itachi asked, Naruto flinching, once again walking towards the window.

"This village has hated me since the day I was born. I had to live a life of solitude and rejection; until I became a Shinobi, I had more than seventy assassination attempts. Sometimes the mobs were formed only villagers, sometimes there were some Shinobi, and even sometimes there were ANBU. I'm utterly sick of this; I've had to live under a mask just so that I wouldn't go insane. Even though some people have begun to acknowledge me, what I want no longer lies in this village. I want to be feared and respected; I want people running in horror just at the sight of me. I want revenge against this village, for all the things they have done to me, but most of all, I want to be respected for who I am, not for the burden I am forced to carry." As Naruto finished his tale, Kisame was conversing with Itachi.

"What do you say, Itachi? The brat could become a pretty valuable asset to us. With Orochimaru's defection we have a vacant spot. If the boy was properly trained he would be virtually unstoppable, the very incarnation of a tailed-beast."

"Indeed, we wouldn't have to worry about screwing up while unsealing the most powerful Bijuu. Even Leader-sama wasn't sure whether we would be able to unseal it without permanently damaging it. I'm sure Leader-sama will be happy with the recent…developments," Itachi said, walking towards Naruto. For a brief moment he scanned Naruto again, eyes hardened with resolve.

"Very well, we'll take you to Leader-sama. We are not one to decide your fate, but I'm sure he'll accept you," he said, his eyes darting to Naruto's hitai'ate. "Before we do as such, you must shatter all your bonds with this village. Slash your hitai'ate as proof of your end as a Konoha Shinobi. From now on, you shall only work for yourself, and your loyalties will lie only with Akatsuki," Itachi said, handing Naruto a kunai. "I feel Hokage-sama's chakra signature approaching the building. Make your choice, Naruto-kun."

Naruto accepted the kunai and, after a moment of hesitation, removed his hitai'ate and slashed it across the middle. The slash split the Konohagakure no Sato symbol in two halves.

"I'm ready. I'm sure my apartment has been burnt down or vandalized again. I don't really have anything else to do here. Let's just go…" Naruto said, turning from the window and walking towards the closet. He grabbed his weapon holsters and what remained of his clothes. "This will have to do…"

"Very well. Kisame, shunshin us out of here before the Hoka…" Itachi didn't finish his sentence; instead, he dodged a punch that connected with the wall beside him, obliterating it completely. He quickly jumped back to where Kisame stood and fell into a relaxed, battle-ready stance. Kisame grabbed Naruto with one arm, brandishing his sword in a threatening manner.

"I see you have arrived, Hokage-sama," Itachi said, eyeing the mid-heighted, big breasted Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. "I see your strength isn't overrated, but you'll need more than brute force to defeat me, let alone myself and my partner, Kisame."

As if on cue, three people appeared behind the Akatsuki team. Itachi narrowed his eyes and turned to face the new arrivals. "Good of you to join us Kakashi-san, Kurenai-san, Gai-san…such a nostalgic meeting..." Itachi commented casually.

"This is the end Itachi, there is no chance you can beat three of Konoha Top Shinobi and the Hokage. Surrender and let go of Naruto," Tsunade said, reaching for Naruto. To the shock of everyone but Itachi and Kisame, he slapped Tsunade's hand away. That's when she noticed the huge gash across his hitai'ate.

"…W-what have you done…Naruto?" Tsunade stammered, her eyes glued to his hitai'ate

"I have broken free, baa-chan," he replied with a sad smile. He reached to the back of his neck and removed Shodaime's necklace.

Tsunade could only watch in shock as her 'little brother' threw the necklace to the floor.

"I won't stand the glares from civilians and shinobi, and I won't stand the abuse directed at me because of something I have no control over. In the few days I have spent in this hospital, my food has been poisoned at least three times... I'm sick of this. I can't consider this village my home anymore, and I'll have my revenge soon. I don't have anything against you, Tsunade, or to anybody who has treated me fairly. Leave this village, and I'll not be forced to harm you at all..." Naruto said, tightening his hold around Kisame's arm.

"Let us go," Naruto told Kisame. Itachi nodded and gave Kisame a look. The fish-man nodded in return and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The shinobi inside the room were far too shocked to do anything but stare the spot where the blonde had once been. Itachi too made a handseal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"…Naruto…I'm sorry," Tsunade muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them and collected the necklace, and then she turned to look at the three Jounin.

"Nobody is to know about this. As far as we are concerned, Naruto left with Jiraiya on a three year training trip…understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the three Jounin replied before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

3 Days Later, Location Unknown

Three figures could be seen walking towards a big rock in a lake somewhere in the wilderness of wind country, two of them had a black cloak with red clouds and a chin-high collar; the smallest one was dressed in a shredded orange jumpsuit. Being a shinobi, those clothes practically demanded instant dead. Itachi had to turn off his Sharingan because the bright colour the boy was wearing was harming his sensitive vision.

"First thing we're going to do if Leader-sama accepts you is getting you a new outfit. I can't understand how you have survived while wearing that…abomination," Kisame said, making some hand seals and stopping in a ram seal. Moments later, the rock began to rise until an entrance to a cave was completely visible.

The cave was nothing special, just a hollow space. There were rocks of different sizes here and there, but nothing else that would make the area worthy of attention. As they walked towards the center of the cavern, both Itachi and Kisame began making a large sequence of hand seals. Finally they finished on a ram seal.

"Ninpou: Fukuzai Seimon no Akatsuki,"(1) the two yelled in unison, and a mid-sized gate began to emerge from the ground. The gate had giant red cloud patterns on its doors, along with 10 white Kanji. Naruto recognized two of them from the rings that Itachi and Kisame wore. They marched towards the gates and slammed their rings on their respective Kanji. The symbols turned a crimson red before returning to their original color. Moments later, the gates slammed open and seven persons stepped out, their features barely visible. Itachi and Kisame kneeled before the one in the center, Naruto decided to do the same.

"I see you have bought the Jinchuuriki," the centre figure spoke in a strange, eerie voice, and his face was obscured from Naruto's vision. The only things that he could see clearly about the man were his strange eyes; they had circles where the iris and the cornea should have been. Naruto saw the man's eyes darting to his slashed hitai'ate.

"Oh? Why your forehead protector is scratched, boy?" he asked, his eyes darting towards Itachi, clearly expecting an answer.

"Leader-sama, Naruto-kun has defected his village by his own will and wants to join Akatsuki" Itachi replied. A brief look of intrigue registered on the Leader's hazy features, but then it was gone as quick as it had appeared, leaving him with a dull, pensive look.

"Interesting…with Orochimaru's recent defection from our own organization, there is a vacant spot. However, we cannot afford to let wimps into our organization, not even Jinchuuriki. To ensure your abilities are up to par, you'll have to defeat at least one of us in combat to claim the vacant spot," he replied, turning and addressing the other six figures. "Each of you will be training the boy for the next year. I expect him to be able to effectively use the Kyuubi's chakra in combat without any negative effects, understood?"

"Hai," the other six figures, as well as Kisame and Itachi replied. The leader nodded and turned to face Naruto.

"I expect great things from you, Naruto. You shall be in an intensive training regime from now on. If you hope to stand a chance against one of us, you'll not complain and will follow our advice without question. Good luck in your training," he said before turning and disappearing through the gate. Kisame and Itachi began moving towards the gate and motioned Naruto to follow. The other six figures waited until they had entered the gate before entering themselves. Seconds later, the gate doors shut and began to sink once again to the ground, leaving no trace it had been there at some point.

Naruto's training had begun.

(1) "Ninpou: Fukuzai Seimon no Akatsuki" – Ninja Art: Hidden Gate of Dawn --- Used by Akatsuki Members to access the Akatsuki's real hideout. Without a ring from an Akatsuki Member it's impossible to enter even if you know the correct hand seals.

Rewrite: 22/11/08

Beta-ed: 02/12/08

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