Disclaimer – I don't own anything in Naruto. And I hate repeating this over and over so this will be for this whole story

Chapter 1: "Sitting sun"

He inhaled slowly, trying to keep much of the smoke as possible and gagged when the taste became too much. Then hacking and coughing, tried to hide his face as much as he could under the upturned collar of the brown second hand jacket he was wearing.

"So I'm not a pro at smoking like Shikamaru huh… shouldn't have tried that hard." He inhaled the smoke as he usually does and exhaled it slowly, watching as the smoke was blown up by the heated wind. "Damn this... how long will it take to get him out? I hate waiting. And I need to scram before any of those things come out."

He looked around before walking across the busy street to the street across him and ambled into a deserted alleyway. He walked till a wall came up, making a dead end. After looking around again to make sure there were no witnesses he was gone.

Hitoshima Akira growled as the boy struggled again, he looked around hoping to see his partner but was disappointed to see only he curious and scared faces of the people in the streets.

"Damn that woman. Excuses… Excuses…. Always some shit coming up. And this time it just had to be that the kid reminded her of her own damn brat and that he couldn't do it. So 'me', the insensitive and hardened man had to get this kid to the safe point by myself. Damn woman! I hope none of those rebels turn up here." He looked around and hoped to god that those freaks didn't come to get the kid.

"Why do I have to go through the streets again? Oh yeah... it was the woman's idea; saying that they won't come to get the kid when there are witnesses around. Crazy woman."

He tightened his grip on the kid, he regretted doing this; blindfolding and tying up his arms and then dragging him across the town like this. But if the kid didn't work for the wrong people he could have been saved. His superior was sure that this kid was a strong link to the leaders, but who knew anything anymore.

He sighed and looked up at the sky. "It used to be blue; the sky looks as desperate as this whole world is. Dying the color of death." he looked back at the kid when he struggled more.

"Stop it kid. I don't want to hurt you." he gave a few squeezes to the arm he was holding and he heard some growling and noises saying that the kid was trying to talk. "Whatever brat. Let's get going"

He looked around again to make sure there was no one suspicious before walking and dragging the kid with him. Hopefully he would get his mission done without any problems. But he knew that it was a stupid wish. The kid was important.

He watched as the guard dragged the boy along the street, the kid was putting up a struggle so maybe he won't be too harsh on him. He almost smiled at the foolishness of the guard; did he really think that they won't take the boy because of the witnesses? Their power had made them foolish.

He felt it inside him, the beast who wanted him to teach them a lesson. He knew that the beast was right; the foolish humans were so fickle. Thinking when they get power no one would oppose them. But there were like him, who were left in the sides and then taken as examples to show how much power can do.

He felt nothing anymore and he only respected those who had been true to him in the past. He would not let them down, for they were all he had now. He felt the beast laugh. "No matter how much you grow you are still a human. You're most precious people, eh? I see you still think that way."

He almost growled. "Just because I want to repay them back doesn't mean I have given my trust to them, demon." But the thing was still laughing, mocking him. And he hated it, hated himself, and hated everything that had made him what he was.

He turned his eyes back to the struggling man in the streets; the boy had sat down and would not move. He smirked at the bravery of the boy, the same bravery that would get him killed. "Such a shame it is, he had potential."

Hitoshima knew there was someone in the area but he couldn't find him. And he knew by the strong aura he sensed that the one who was coming after the boy was no small fry. "So the boy is really that important to them huh… so you were right for once, supervisor."

He narrowed his eyes when the boy sat down; he was at the end of his patience. The kid would not move an inch without causing some sort of trouble. He took his small knife and held it to kid's neck without the people seeing it. He smiled in relief when the kid tensed and then slowly got up.

He knew that the other would see it, and internally sighed in relief when he felt the aura getting smaller. "He went away. I don't want to fight in this condition. That woman is going to get it when I see her again."

He only saw it coming a second before the attack came and he didn't have any time to even get a good hold of the kid so the boy won't escape. He saw a black leg coming up and then he was flying.

The people screamed and ran when the body of the guard came flying to them. Some of them had started taking out guns. He didn't know whether they were from the rebellion side or the 'government' side. And he didn't care, all he had to do was get the boy and run.

He did growl when he saw the kid was taken up by some men and were trying to drag him to the building across them, probably a government office. He didn't have to do much, they were all small fry, he wondered where the powerful ones had gone to, and did they think that no one would come to get the boy?

He grabbed a hold of the fallen boy and hauled him up. He cut off the binds of his hands and gave the knife to the kid. He looked around the chaos, trying to spot the enemies. They had to get away soon. He saw the kid when he took off the bag on his head and saw the widening of his eyes and the surprised shout that came with it.

He didn't think the kid would be stupid to shout his name in the middle of the street. And he didn't have time to react when an attack and his shout came at the same time.

"Naruto nii-chan (big brother)!"

Konohamaru couldn't believe his eyes. His nii-chan was here, he was here to save him. He took a look around. There were people screaming and running, then there were gun shots fired at the moving brown blur in the midst of fighting two guards. He concentrated on his self; trying to feel that amazing spark that was his power.

He felt nothing and for a moment he was afraid that it had left him; found a new host when he remembered that they gave him that powder, the powder that the guard said would null his power for two or three hours. "Damn it, it must only an hour at the most. The sky is still light gray, and they gave me the powder this morning."

He looked back at the fighting, he wanted to help his brother, wanted to show him how much he had grown. It had been so long they had met and when he finally saw him after years it was when he was being rescued by him. He couldn't bear it; bear the shame of being helpless before the one he wanted to impress the most.

He tightened his hold on the knife and concentrated more on himself. "Please come out; I want to help him, I want to save nii-chan. I need you to do it, please, I beg of you. Give me power!"

And he felt nothing.

Naruto saw Konohamaru trying to get his power; he blocked the attack to his shin and gave a roundhouse kick to the guard when his partner came to him with a knife. He kept parrying and attacking, he didn't have a gun on himself.

"Konohamaru, take a gun and start shooting," he hoped the kid won't miss his aim.

"Eh?" Konohamaru's confused face confirmed his worst. "They didn't give you shooting lessons yet?"

"What the hell are these people doing? How is the kid supposed to protect himself if I'm gone?" He kicked away another guard before diving to a gun and tossing at the boy.

"The safety is off. Aim and shoot off some of them. I won't let them get to you so don't worry and just shoot."

Konohamaru looked at the gun. He had never had target practice; he was supposed to get them when he came back. "I need to help Naruto nii-chan" He took the gun and aimed at a guard who was trying to get behind Naruto and pulled the trigger.

The shot went to the guards shoulder; he screamed and fell to knees while clutching his wounded shoulder. He looked around to Konohamaru and got up and started running towards the boy.

"Konohamaru! Shoot! Shoot! Hurry up!"

"I need to help nii-chan. What am I doing? Why can't I shoot?" he looked at the wounded man running at him with the gun aimed at him with the unharmed arm. He looked at him own hands, lying helplessly on his laps, shaking and clutching the gun.

He looked back at Naruto, trying to get away from the men surrounding him and come to him. "I need to help nii-chan" He looked at the wounded man; he was aiming at him and had his finger on the trigger of the .99mm.

The shot rang off in the din of fighting but Naruto heard it. "I don't want to fail this damn mission." He looked back and was surprised to the body of the dead guard. Konohamaru was shaking. "The kid is too naïve. As usual." he fought off the guard in front of him and ran towards the boy.

The guards were close behind him but he knew they couldn't shoot him, not without Konohamaru near him. The boy was shaking badly when he pulled him to his feet but there was an insane grin on his face.

"Nii-chan, nii-chan. I killed someone!" the boy was babbling. Naruto knew he was in shock, but they were out of time. "Now I can fight for tomorrow too nii-chan." Naruto couldn't believe the stupidity of the boy when he heard it.

"Shut up Konohamaru!" he didn't mind about the hurt face of the kid. "You don't talk about that shit in front of enemies you idiot!" Konohamaru's eyes widened with recognition. And his face fell.

"Tomorrow? So they really knew about it? Call HQ and tell them now," one of the guards ran off while the others started attacking again.

Naruto was taking down the last of the guards when he felt it, felt that aura he desired and feared so much. He felt the excitement coming from inside him and knew that the Kyuubi was up and knew that if he didn't move soon he would never get out of here.

He looked back at Konohamaru; the boy was on his knees. He didn't know if the kid was just tired or something else but they needed to move, and soon.

"Why run away, Naruto?" he almost tripped when he felt it, the tugging at his mind showing him things and trying to see his thoughts and …. Memories.

"Kyuubi! Stop him now! Don't let him see it!" he was desperate. He didn't want that person to see them; his memories he had suppressed for so long. And he also knew that the Kyuubi won't help him. Not unless he was threatened as well. "Please..."

He felt rather than see the orange color cloud a part of his mind. The part where the foreign yet familiar tugging came from. He ran to Konohamaru and hauled him onto his shoulder. He ignored the protesting and kicking.

"I don't want to face him. Not yet… not yet... Not when I'm this weak."

He felt the Kyuubi laugh and knew that his time was running out.

"So? Did you get a connection?" the tall figure asked the one running alongside him and wasn't surprised when he got no reply. This was supposed to be their chance to get that important brat. But looking from the expression on his partner's face, they were too late.

"There's no need to pursue him. We can't catch up with him. Contact the government and tell them that we couldn't get the boy back."

The figure laughed, "But we had no interest in that brat. We only wanted the one who was going to rescue him. Leader is going to be disappointed."

And again he got no reply. He sighed, he should be used to silence but his partner had different kinds of silences. And this kind of silence always unnerved him. It meant that the other was plotting something, and his plans always got Kisame into the most disturbing situations.

"We are not in a hurry. We don't even need to go after him like this," the tall figure raised a brow when he heard it.

"What do you mean?" and he suppressed his shiver when he saw the shorter figure smirk.

"We have what that child is looking for, and sooner or later he will come looking for it. We'll check out their transport and head for the sitting sun, Kisame."

"Whatever, Itachi."

Sakura looked away from the window and chanced a glance at her companion in the car. The driver's seat was occupied by the handsome boy she had admired for so long. Uchiha Sasuke was next to her in a small closed up space. She was in the car with Sasuke-kun! It was a dream comes true for her!

"Ne Sasuke-kun, why don't we ditch pinky and go for a drink somewhere? I'm sure we could have a good time."

Except for that annoying fact she refused to acknowledge; that there was someone else in the car with them. A certain someone Sakura loathed, Karin.

"As if Sasuke-kun would go with a whore, Karin. Your dreams may go that way but not in reality, ne Sasuke-kun?" she smiled charmingly at the boy next to her and couldn't suppress her disappointment when he didn't even glance at her. He hadn't looked at her or Karin except when he was talking to them.

"Karin, do you sense anything?" The deep timbre of the voice always excited her, even when it wasn't directed at her. She glanced at the mirror and felt her anger rise at the blush on Karin's face.

"Gomen ne(Sorry) Sasuke-kun but I- ….Wait," Sakura turned around in her seat to look at Karin when she stopped and she saw Sasuke look at her through the mirror and tried hard to suppress her jealousy.

She almost blew up when Karin blushed and acted coquettishly at Sasuke when she saw him looking at her.

"So what?" she snapped and felt a warped sense of smugness when Karin glared at her.

"There's a huge aura coming closer, it's really weird." Karin's face was scrunched up as she concentrated on the approaching aura.

"What's different about it?" Sasuke's voice brought blushes to both girls' faces and then they both immediately glared at each other.

"It's not exactly human Sasuke-kun. There's something unnatural about it." Karin replied and gave a start when Sasuke started up the engine of the white corolla.

"Then that's him alright. Sakura get to the back seat. He's going to sit up front with me." Sakura opened her mouth to protest but immediately opened the door and got off when she saw Sasuke's glare.

Karin looked at her smugly when she opened the back door and got it. "Damn that Naruto. Always causing problems even you're not even here." She looked at Karin when she started talking and immediately looked at Sasuke when she heard what Karin had asked.

"What is this Naruto like Sasuke-kun? You didn't talk about him much. And all I've heard from other people are bits and pieces. He was on your team right?"

Sasuke's face was unreadable as always when he answered the question.

"I don't know him. And I never did."

At times like these, Sakura wished she could turn back time.

Naruto ran fast, he could hear guards running behind him but not close. And he could no longer feel the probing into his mind. He felt a sense of safety and he knew it was false. He couldn't trust anything, not even himself.

He ran towards the direction where he could sense some auras he knew and another one he had only felt and not known. He turned at an alleyway and put down Konohamaru.

"I can't carry you after this. This is the sitting sun district, you need to act like my little brother and we're here to get you stuff for school. Understand Konohamaru?"

He saw the kid nod and gave an internal sigh at the stubborn attitude.

"Konohamaru you don't need to help me every time okay?" the boy shifted and he continued. "It was my job to save you this time so you don't need to worry yourself. They probably gave you a nullifier right?" he saw a nod and then ruffled the brown hair. "Then it's okay Konohamaru." He smiled at the boy when he looked and was relieved when he got an answering smile.

"Sure thing Naruto nii-chan(big brother)"

That meant that his mask still worked perfectly, even after all these years. "Still going to act, little human?" he refused to answer.

He turned and walked from the alleyway and felt Konohamaru follow him. They walked towards the white car parked on the side of the cracked and brown road. The city had gone to waste after the war. Everywhere in the world it was the same. Poverty and broken buildings were the common ground.

When Naruto put up his mask he wondered why he did it. Because at that time he didn't think it would mean anything.

Karin hoped when she got the mission and Sasuke's name as her partner that they would get some time alone. But then the pinky's name was added because she 'knew' Sasuke and the man they were going to get. She almost snorted while she waited in the car. 'Knew' him alright, they had a past and that was it.

She wondered why Sasuke wanted this 'Naruto' to sit in front. She looked at the girl sitting next to her and saw her looking out of the window. "She seems to do that a lot. Maybe she knows why."

"But that aura is so weird. I have never felt anything like it before. Even the 'jinchuuriki' had a different aura. What in the world is this?" She concentrated harder.

"Anything else Karin?" she melted inside when she heard Sasuke address her. She saw Sakura scowl from the edge of her vision and smirked. Sakura was so useless.

"There is another aura Sasuke-kun, it looks like he's bringing a boy with him." She saw Sasuke nod and Sakura answered her unasked question.

"It's Konohamaru. Naruto was supposed to rescue him when he was being transferred."

"They're quite near now Sasuke-kun. We should be able to see them." Karin hoped Sasuke would look at her again. She heard Sakura gasp and looked at her.

"They're here."

"So little human, you're going to act for the rest of your life? How amusing you are. Do you really think no one would suspect?"

He hated it when the beast got curious, he had provide answers for all sorts of questions.

"Nothing is personal when we're the same, little human"

"We're not the same, demon," he ignored the prickly feeling he go when Kyuubi would probe at his mind. He won't find anything that he doesn't know already.

"You're meeting the little Uchiha right? The one you called your brother?" he grit his teeth. The demon was doing it on purpose, trying to make him remember.

"Yes" He saw three figures in the car. The back seat was occupied with two women and the driver's seat was where the aura he didn't want to meet was. He looked at Konohamaru and gestured towards the car. The boy nodded his head and started towards it.

Naruto looked around and made sure that there weren't any enemies. The whole road was desolate except for stragglers. The sitting sun district was one of the most successful and powerful cities, and for that the city was hit hard during the war. It was now full of dust and garbage and homeless people; just like every other city in the world.

The sun was going down and painted the street in gold and orange. He remembered loving the color orange; he wanted the brightness for himself. He could not remember the feeling of it anymore.

He started to cross the street when he felt a prickling sensation on the back of him mind and Kyuubi stirring. He started walking faster, putting up mind blocks and suppressing Kyuubi while he neared the car.

He saw Konohamaru get in to the back seat and was relieved that mission was complete. He had opened the car door when he decided to look back. There were two figures on the top of the building nearest to the street across from him. And he didn't need to use his senses to know who they were.

He got in the car and Sasuke started to drive. He looked back at the figures of black and enhanced his eyes to look at one particular figure. He saw the glowing red eyes under the straw hat and the black bangs shift in the wind. He looked away when he saw the mouth twitch up to form a smirk.

Itachi…

A/N - I hope I can finish this story before the semester ends.. Please review or add an alert.. Thanks..