I own no rights to Naruto or its charachters. (And this is not an ItaNaru.)

Nartachi?

Naruto ran as fast as he could. He knew the danger ahead, and what he would have to do. He had to protect the village at all costs.

Naruto might have gotten help, but he knew Itachi was powerful. He wouldn't take the risk of anyone getting hurt. So, here he was, running on tree branches toward an enemy he probably couldn't defeat, that no one else knew was coming. He shut his eyes and swallowed.

He spotted Itachi running toward the village less than ten seconds later. Naruto used all his strength to run into Itachi. He managed to knock him off balance. Itachi fell from the tree and landed on his feet.

"Itachi!" Naruto yelled. He jumped down to Itachi's level.

Itachi laughed evilly. "Naruto, just the person I was looking for."

Naruto gritted his teeth. "If I'm the one you're looking for, leave them out of it." He waved his hand toward the village.

"You idiot," Itachi smirked. "Why would I destroy your ridiculous little village? My only target is Sasuke." Itachi started circling Naruto. "I've been thinking… How can I hurt Sasuke? I want him to live in pain. I want him to know agony every minute of every day." Itachi stopped. "I'm here for you." Naruto's breath caught. "I'm actually pleased that you came out here. It's so much easier when my prey comes to me." He hissed the last few words in Naruto's ear.

Naruto felt anger pulsating through his body. He turned and sliced at Itachi with a kunai, but Itachi caught it with his hand. Naruto saw the blood dripping from Itachi's hand. He had grabbed the sharp edge.

Itachi and Naruto locked eyes. Anyone who walked by would have thought they were simply holding the kunai and staring at each other but in reality, they were both pulling on it as hard as they possibly could.

Finally, Itachi pushed instead of pulling. Naruto hadn't expected this. The kunai slipped into his hand and cut through his skin. He yelled in pain. Naruto kicked Itachi as hard as he could. Itachi hit tree, and his head started bleeding.

They fought for hours. Each inflicting sever damage to the other. Naruto felt like he would explode. His chakra was boiling. Itachi rushed him. Naruto instinctively put his hand up, and Itachi grabbed it. Suddenly, Naruto's chakra went out of control. He felt it meet Itachi's. He saw a blinding white light.

"Ahh!"

"Naruto!" Someone was yelling for him. Someone he knew… "Naruto!"

Naruto awoke in a cold sweat. Sasuke was leaning over him with a worried expression.

"Where is he? Where's Itachi?"

Sasuke looked confused. "Naruto, he's not here. You were dreaming. Everything is alright." Sasuke drew Naruto close.

Naruto looked at his hands. They were clean. It was just a dream. It had seemed so real. Naruto held onto Sasuke. They were in their room.

Naruto held Sasuke for the rest of the night, but did not sleep for fear of more bad dreams.

The next morning, Sasuke was surprised to find that Naruto was up before him. He sat on the bed and waited for Naruto to get out of the shower.

"La, la, la." Naruto walked out with a towel on his head.

"Hey," Sasuke grabbed Naruto's chin and gave him a kiss. "I'll be right out." Sasuke slipped in to get a shower.

Naruto hummed as he dried his hair and threw the towel on the floor. He walked over to the mirror. He looked at his reflection and shivered. The memories of his dream came back very clear. He ran a hand through his hair. And then… he watched as his hair began to grow and get dark. He started getting taller, and even his clothes changed. Naruto panicked.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Naruto banged on the door.

"What?!" Sasuke rushed out only to be greeted by Itachi. "Where's Naruto?"

Itachi looked at Sasuke. Yes, It had worked. Unlike Sasuke or Naruto, Itachi knew exactly what was happening. He had only recently learned how to invade another's dream. He had intentionally fused his and Naruto's chakra, making them one being. Itachi said, "He's mine."

Sasuke tried to attack Itachi, but he was too fast. He knocked Sasuke out and left.