CKH: Hey peoples! This is my second story. If you're wondering about when I'll update The Kyuubi's Heir, don't worry. I'll get there eventually. Its just I had to re plan and change some things. It likes to be difficult.

KAZUMI: Shut up about the other stories and do the freaking disclaimer already.

CKH: Mean…Itachi, will you do the honors?

ITA-CHAN: She doesn't own Naruto. And she never will.

CKH: I may not own it, but in my world, I am the supreme creator and I have a massive harem of sexy ninja men. Oh don't worry Ita-chan! I love you more than my harem!

ITA-CHAN: …thanks…

The World We Deserve

Itachi's PoV:

That child was the only one who had ever interested me. I didn't know it then, but know I do. It wasn't merely interest. It was wanting. While not quite love, and our ages didn't exactly permit lust, I definitely wanted him.

~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~

When I first saw him, I was 13, and he was 6. I had just gotten done training, when my little brother, Sasuke, begged me to take him to the park. I wasn't a big fan of the park, seeing how I never really acted like a child, like I should have, but I loved my brother and I hadn't had much time to spend with him lately. So we went out, with bentos courtesy of mother, and headed to the park.

At first glance, the park appeared to be like all others. Sandbox, slides, swings, jungle gyms, and other typical park equipment, along with hordes of screaming and laughing children. I sat down on a bench, and watched as Sasuke went to join the other children. I almost laughed when I saw him running from a group of fan girls. Who knew girls at that age already like boys. I didn't at least.

As I let my gaze slide from Sasuke and his little friends, that was when I noticed the difference of this park. The was one child who was sitting alone, not playing with the others. It confused me. Weren't children supposed to play with others at parks?

Suddenly, a ball that some of the older children were playing with, rolled over to the solitary child. He looked at it curiously, and the slowly stood up and grabbed it. The other children ran over to him laughing, but stopped when the got close to him, and just stared at him. He tentatively stretched the ball towards the, his head angled down, so that they couldn't see his face. Only his stunning, golden hair.

As one of the children reached out for the ball, he lifted his head up. My eyes widened when I saw his face. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. With his bright, azure eyes, and slightly tanned skin, he reminded me of the summer sky. But all thoughts of cuteness fled from my thoughts as the other children ran away screaming 'freak', 'weirdo', 'loser' and other such insults, all the while laughing cruelly at him.

Then I saw his cheeks and gasped. The were whisker marks on them. It was the Kyuubi child. I was taken aback for a moment, until I saw his tears. I was confused. Hadn't my father said that the boy was a vicious beast? That he would kill without remorse? I had believed him at the time, but looking at the boy, I just couldn't understand. He was smaller than Sasuke, yet he was supposed to be a vicious killer? He was crying and yet he was remorseless?

Since nothing was adding up, I decided I would find out myself. I would talk to the boy.

I got up and made my way over to him, ignoring the whispers of the parents that where there with their children. As I drew near him, his eyes locked onto mine, filling with apprehension and fear. Another puzzle it seemed. Monsters don't fear 13 year old boys after all.

We stared at each other for a few minutes, neither of us moving. With a sudden, graceful movement, I was seated and he was shying away.

"Stop." I ordered. He ceased his movement, but his eyes remained the same. Brimming with fear.

"What is your name?" I of course already knew it, but I knew that being polite was a good way to get answers.

He stared for a few minutes, seeming to wonder why anybody would want to know his name.

"I-it's Naruto." He whispered. I looked at him still, but his eyes were fixed on the ground.

"Why are you not playing with the others?" I asked.

He raised his eyes up and looked at me with disbelief. He grinned wryly, and attempted to hide the sadness and anger in his eyes, but I saw it anyways.

"Didn't your parents tell you?" he asked bitterly "I'm a bad boy, a monster, trash. Not someone that good little boys and girls should even look at." He cocked his head at me, a large smile on his face, clearly a mask so that no one would see the overwhelming sadness and anger laying behind azure eyes. "Didn't you know that? Everyone knows I'm now good." He looked at me quizzically, yet still with a bitter aftertaste.

"Why are you talking to me anyways. No one talks to me and I don't want you to. Your parents are gunna be angry with you, and I don't think you would like getting in trouble. It's no fun!"

'Another mask.' I thought. I could see it in his eyes. He was trying to hide all his negative emotions away. Hiding them away under a mask of happiness. It was strange, yet I could find myself understanding why. The boy that everyone wrongly accused of being a monster, (Now that I could see it in his eyes that he was most certainly not a monster) was a holder of undominatable stubbornness and courage. He refused to allow the villagers to see his tears. He would cry when there was no one looking, and then plaster on a smile while the insults where being hurled at him.

I found myself interested in the boy. How many children were forced to hide their real emotions at that tender age. How many were forced to? While I could not completely empathize with him, I at least understood. Being an Uchiha, I too was forced to hide myself away, yet my mask was different. It was stoic indifference. No emotion visible, no emotion allowed.

"I do not care what my parents, and I do know of your…reputation. I came for answers and I intend to get them." He looked at me in disbelief.

"Your awful confident that your gunna get some. Who says I wanna talk or tell you anything?"

My eyebrow lifted up at that statement. The boy was quite interesting.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked calmly. Now I wasn't arrogant like the rest of my clan, but even young children knew who the Uchiha were and few people denied us of what we wanted. He just scoffed.

"Yeah, your one of those Uchiha." So he did know who I was. I let my sharingan activate, not to intimidate, but to see how he would react. (Although I did sometimes enjoy watching grown men run in fright when ever the saw it.)

He caught me off guard when he stood up and glared at me, with his cheeks puffed out.

"I knew it. You're just another arrogant bastard, thinking that he's so cool. What? You get your rocks off tryin' to scare little kids. Well you got another thing coming asshole. I've seen and been through scarier things than you Uchiha's crazy spinney eyes."

My jaw dropped in shock. Never had I been talked to in that way or caught off guard in such a way. So absorbed in my shock, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"You have quite the vocabulary for a six year old." And how in the hell did he know anything about 'getting your rocks off'? He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Well, you learn a thing or two about that sort of vocabulary when that's usually all people will say to ya'." He quirked his golden eyebrow at my still shocked state and just shook his head. He turned around and walked off, but stopped to look over his shoulder.

"You aren't so bad for an Uchiha. Maybe I'll see ya later asshole with the spinney eyes." Without looking back he tore off into the woods. Suddenly an Anbu member with a inu mask dropped out of the tree next to me. He looked at me a chuckled.

"He's a strange one isn't he." I nodded slightly, my shock wearing off. The Anbu, looked at me lazily and sighed.

"Don't take offence to what he says. He doesn't let anyone close. He seems to think as long as he doesn't have anyone, he can't be betrayed again. He seems harsh, but that's just to keep you away. It took me three months to get him warmed up to me and he still doesn't trust me completely. Only Hokage-sama has that honor."

I stood up and looked at him. I'm pretty sure it was Hatake Kakashi. No one else has that gravity defying hair.

"Anbu-san. You said that he had been betrayed once. What exactly happened to make him so closed off. And if I may ask, why does he have Anbu following him?" He looked t me and sighed tiredly.

"it's a long story, and if you want to know, you'll have to come with me. I'm supposed to be watching him, so I'll tell you once he goes home so I can settle down." I nodded and followed as we leapt up into the trees, following the trail that Naruto left behind. When we caught up to him, he was trotting down the street, hands clasped behind his head, and a large smile on his face, despite the glares and insults from the villagers. While Kakashi and I where following on the rooftops, I saw the mask again. Although the smile on his face was bright enough to rival Maito Gai, it didn't reach his eyes. The stunning asure that I saw while he was yelling at me, had faded into a murky cobalt. Filled with tears he would not allow to fall.

"Do you see it too?" Kakashi asked solemnly, breaking me out of my thoughts. I nodded stiffly.

"His eyes, right?" I stated more than asked. " His eyes are dulled. They seem to be filled with unshed tears." Kakashi's eyes turned to me from the eyeholes in this mask.

"Very observant of you Itachi. Not even the Sandaime or I can tell is he is masking himself or not. It's sad really. To get to the point where a child has been forced into creating a mask good enough to fool the Hokage."

Silence reigned the two ninja, as they continued to follow behind Naruto. After a few minutes of travel, and more than a few venomous glares thrown the boy's way, Naruto and his guards finally reached the sub-par apartment complex. While Naruto continued on inside, Itachi and Kakashi settled on the rooftop.

"I have come with you Anbu-san (1), now I believe you have a story to share?" Kakashi sighed, his shoulders slumping.

"It's a pretty messed up story. What happened to that boy could easily have broken and adult. Are you sure you want to know? Why do you even want to know in the first place?" Itachi glanced at him.

"I have heard my fair share of horror stories. I'm sure I can handle whatever happened to the child. As for why I want to know, well, I supposed he has gained my interest. You must admit that his behavior is unique." Kakashi shook his head and chuckled

"Only Naruto could end up interesting Uchiha Itachi." he mumbled. "Well, if you really want to know I suppose I will begin.

Up until Naruto was four, he lived at the orphanage. Life wasn't easy for him there. The Hokage wasn't able to check on him that much, and when he did, Naruto appeared to be fine. That was not the case however. I was told that he was beaten a bit. Nothing too serious, but he was just a small child. I also heard that he was kept in solitude a majority of the time, and was severely underfed.

He wasn't even allowed the slightest comfort. When he showed sadness, or anything other than complete submission, his punishments would be harsher. Leading to his unwillingness to cry. When Naruto was 4 ½, he was adopted. It of course surprised everyone, but the orphanage was more than willing to get rid of him, Naruto's new caretaker was a man named Aikawa Hizuki. Well, this is where it gets really bad. Naruto was wary of people even back then, so Aikawa had to gain his trust before Naruto would acknowledge and treat him like an uncle, or an older brother.

When Aikawa finally gained Naruto's trust, about 5 months after adoption, he began to treat Naruto worse and worse. It started small, with smacks, and insults, but it soon escalated out of control. One night Aikawa led him to the seedier part of the village, and well, sold Naruto off to some rotten people. He was with those monsters for a month before the Hokage found him. And Itachi, the bastards had tortured and raped him. All the while, that poor little 5 year old was calling out for his nii-chan. The Hokage told him what Aikawa did, and it absolutely crushed him. He closed himself off for a while, and then one day, out of nowhere, he's all smiling and laughing. Are you now satisfied you know how his mask started?"

Itachi sat there, stunned. The horrors that child had been through.

"I can now easily see why he acts the way he does. But where does a six year old find the strength to not only care his burden placed on his shoulders at birth, and deal with the trauma. Most veteran shinobi do not suffer that kind of brutality."

"No one knows Itachi." Kakashi replied solemnly. "His kind does not show up often in this world. His kind contain and undominitable will, and an iron resolve. They focus on what the want and they do what it takes to achieve it. His kind do not break. They bend, but never break. How they do it though…well, who can say."

CKH: And they you go! The first chapter!

(1) he continues to call Kakashi Anbu-san because and Anbu's identity is not to be revealed. It would be out of line to address and Anbu by their real name in public.

I've gotta question. Should I continue in Itachi's pov for the whole story, or should I switch ro Naruto's at some point?

REVIEW AND YOU WILL GET MORE CHAPTER. If you don't, well…hehehehehehe…I cant guarantee your safety. I might just snap, track you down, and do very bad and painful things to you. Kukuku