A/N – Hey, everyone! Sorry I disappeared for almost a year! I didn't like where the original storyline was going or how I characterized everyone, so I've rewritten everything for this story and am now going to repost everything with more coherence between chapters and parts. The writing in this is new, so check the new stuff out. I hope you like what I've done with it – hopefully, I'll be able to finally post more than five chapters this time around. I already have a few planned out. With that out of the way, I hope you like the third version of this strange game of trying to write the best story for this idea. Enjoy!

Summary: It's as simple as white and black, good and evil. The world as we know it has never been more… frightening. Those that live innocent lives are the ones that will perish first. You must become acquainted with the unknown to survive in this world.

Pairing: Naruto X Itachi

There is a boy.

He is not much older than fifteen, almost sixteen by October that school year. He was given his vibrant blond hair and cool blue eyes from his father, his kind heart and fiery personality from his mother – at least, that's what people tell him, those that used to know his parents. They died the day of the boy's birth, unable to raise the child.

And so he was alone, given to a man only two decades older than the baby – a man who did not know how to father someone but tried his best.

This boy, the child of wrongdoings.

A boy who is split between being a human or a monster, never one or the other but always both.

Naruto, a baby sophomore, could feel his heart racing. It pounded in his ears as a growl was pulled from his throat, body smashing into a locker. The forced of it knocked the wind completely out of his lungs, leaving the teenager sputtering on the ground. He hates it here, his mind forces out, hates the bullying, the people.

The monsters.

It was only Monday. Everything was already starting to spin out of control – he'd barely even walked through the front of the schools before his days of reckoning – of his pain – had begun in the face of a junior. Seventeen-year-old Kiba is the decisive bully today, standing beside his snobby girlfriend Ino – she's only a freshman yet she's practically the queen around here. As Naruto starts to sit up from the ground, having finally regained his breathing, he hears the couple start to laugh at him, a smug look both of their features.

He eyes them warily, jaw tensing at a flex of the other boy's hand. Kiba is an Inuzuka, one of the lesser-known clan monsters around the world. Kiba's clan is one of the transformation monsters – one of the only ones left in his lineage – able to turn into large dog or wolf. However, through generations of mixed breeding between the clan and other monsters, they were bred into something more docile – lucky him, he finds himself sarcastically thinking. Naruto sometimes likes to compare them to werewolves, something he's seen in those human movies he was so fond of.

The screech of laughter from beside Kiba draws the teenager's attention aware from him, fully leaning against the lockers now. Ino belongs to a rather popular clan that is known for their mind games and destructive mental abilities – a Yamanaka, his mind supplies. Many go on to become brain surgeons or a neurologist. However, those who chose not to go through a more 'humane occupation', they train to be able to destroy a person's mind. A professional Yamanaka could do that within a second – she likes to brag that her father is one of these professionals.

And if Naruto had to be honest with himself, he was terrified of Ino, more so than Kiba.

"What did we tell you Friday?" Kiba's mocking voice pulls the blond-haired teen out of his thoughts, "Don't come back, you monster-poser!" There is a crowd gathering around the Inuzuka, some yelling for him to start a fight. Others just watch with bored amusement.

"I'm not a monster-poser!" The teenager fights back, taking a stance.

The fist that connected with his jaw was faster than light, claws catching on his cheekbone – he didn't even see it coming. His body falls to the ground again, knees banging painfully against the clean tiles. Naruto holds a shaky hand to his cheek, biting back a hiss of pain. His hands were starting to shake with anger, an anger of unfairness.

The brown-haired teen standing above him chuckled mercilessly, kicking Naruto's side with his black boots. He slid across the floor a bit, using the momentum to try to scramble off the floor. He could feel the burn of energy coursing through his veins; Naruto desperately tried to get a hold of himself, to control his temper.

Ino giggled loudly, her annoying voice making the blond's ears rings. She latched onto Kiba's arms rolling her heels in tune with how heavy Naruto was breathing. "Aw, is poor monster-poser scared?" She howled with laughter, her boyfriend joining in with her, "He should just go back to that damn human school!" The crowd of monster children started to riot together, laughing along with the lovers.

He let the monsters get everything out of their systems, never saying a word. Naruto was used to this – being called names and bullied to the point that he had to down pills his doctor made for him, specifically him – but that doesn't mean he likes it. The blond-haired boy could always feel the evil eyes on his back when he walked, feeling it now as he stood up from the floor completely. "I'm not scared." He says after a single moment of silence.

Kiba's face burned red, racing towards the blond with his fist raised backward, ready to punch the living daylights out of Naruto, "Why you little-"

RINGGGGG!

The school's obnoxious bell filled the hallways, many students groaning at the thought of starting the day. The noise temporarily distracted the furious Inuzuka, allowing for Naruto to escape, running like hell towards the opposite side of the school where the nurse's station was at – he needed to get those cuts on his face fixed up. He looked behind him, seeing Ino stomp her foot in a bratty-looking way while her boyfriend started to race after him. He was, unfortunately, used to this and sped up, leaving the Inuzuka in the dust.

He should really think about joining the track team.

Just as the second bell rang out – signaling for students to be in their homeroom class – Naruto arrived at the nurse's station. The old woman was sitting at her desk, typing on the computer – writing an email maybe – before dark, coal eyes looked up at him. He'd never seen this nurse before but, one look at the woman, and he knew that he would like her very much.

She leans back in her chair, looks undisturbed by the blood and claw marks on his face, "Take a seat." Her voice is gargled like she'd smoked four packs a day since birth. He sits directly in front of her desk, eyeing her warily. "I'm guessing you're that kind the other nurses were telling me about, the one who's in her almost every day." The woman shakes her head, "Give me your hand."

He stays quiet, watching the hue of green leave her fingertips, licking his skin as it washes over his face, eliminating any trace of the fight that took place earlier. "Thank you." He finally says when she finishes.

"Whatever, get to class before I report you for skipping." The nurse rolls her eyes, going back to her supposed email. Under her breath, Naruto could hear the words, "Monster-poser."

He grits his teeth and left the room, faking a nurse's note of absence on a spare sticky note; his homeroom teacher was a bit anal about attendance.

As usual, when Naruto takes leave to head to the nurse's office, his homeroom teacher throws a fit before handing some papers from the school that needed to be signed and turned in as soon as possible. He's marked tardy on attendance but none of that counted towards whether he would graduate or not so the teenager couldn't find it in him to care very much.

He spent the remaining twenty minutes of homeroom reviewing for the test that he had in third period. Naruto knew he was ace it – his teacher had posted the answers to their test last week on accident and, in the fifteen minutes that it was up, he was able to successfully copy down the answers. The blond was then later able to pair it up with his pretest that the teacher had given them last Friday. He'd been studying it ever since – there's no way he could fail this test, something that brought elation to his heart.

The third bell rang early on accident, the staff apologizing for it on the intercom as students mingled around campus heading to their first-period class, everyone dredging the day ahead.

Naruto made it to his next class with relative ease, avoiding the hallways his bullies stalked. Due to the early release from homeroom, the blond was actually able to make it to first-period without being late as he usually is. It took him a solid minute – a new record. He walked in and saw that there wasn't a lot of people in the classroom right now, some entering in behind him. He slipped his homework into the turn in spot, about to head to his seat.

"Naruto." A woman's voice caught his ears. The sophomore turned around, looking to his first-period teacher: Tsunade Senju. She is probably one of the greatest monsters in history – Naruto liked to think – a monster who has one of the greatest, strongest punches in the entire world along with her incredible healing skills. Her clan, Senju, was known for the medical prowess, something that had obviously been passed down in her.

"Oh, hi." He asked nonchalantly. Despite how stiffly the woman was standing in front of him, arms crossed over her chest, he gave her a grin.

Tsunade rolled her eyes, a quirk on her lips, "So, how have you been?"

"I've been good, " His eyes roamed the slowly-filling classroom, before adding, "so far."

"Alright." She didn't look convinced, "I've got one more thing to ask." The older woman leaned forward, face blank as to not attract too much attention, "How many do you have left?"

"Twenty-some pills left, I would guess." He whispered out, shrugging a bit, "It should last me another week or something."

She nodded, "Fine, please take your seat."

Naruto smiled – more to himself for the pleasant conversation than it being directed towards his teacher… and doctor of sorts – before walking up the stairs and heading for his seat in the back. He took the window seat, eyeing it with a sigh before his sight was directed towards the two empty chairs beside him. The other students had completely taken up the lower half of the room, many seats being filled in front of him. However, one thing was clear.

Everyone avoided him like the plague.

Monster children excitedly talked amongst themselves, having fun together while he sat alone in the background. His shoulders slumped, barely noticing two unfamiliar faces waltzing in and chatting with Tsunade. A wave of loneliness filled his mind, a pang erupting in his chest. His jaw tensed at the feeling, could feel the beast deep within him started to stir.

The bell rang again.

Naruto started to freak out, an aura of death surrounding his psyche, rising beneath his skin. His beast – the copy of him – shifted underneath his bones, filling out the space in his body as to take control. He fought it relentlessly, shuffling with his bag and uncapping his pill bottle – it was modeled after a Tic Tac container as to be inconspicuous. The blond-haired teenager popped two in his mouth, munching down on it.

The beast resided to its confinements just as his name was called for attendance.

Good.

He would not hurt anyone, never again.

Tsunade gave him a knowing look but didn't press on. "Alright, class…" She spoke sternly in front of the class, "We have two new students joining us. Since this is a conjoined class of sophomore, junior, and senior monsters, they have been placed in here."

A hushed excitement filled the room.

She placed a hand on one of the boys' shoulder, "This is Sasuke Uchiha, a sophomore from a private monster-school. He's going to be attending with his older brother, Itachi Uchiha; he's a senior." Tsunade set her other hand on the brother's shoulder blade. Naruto tilted his head, eyeing the two with a suspicious glint.

The shorter of the two – Sasuke – had dark eyes with equally dark hair that spiked up at the back. Black converse sneakers covered his feet, a bit of his blue socks peeking out from underneath his black jeans. To finish off the look, the sophomore wore a blood red shirt with bolded white lettering that said 'UCHIHA'. His gray backpack was slung over his shoulder, a bored expression placed carefully on his face but the calculating glaze over his eyes wasn't to be mistaken.

The senior, Itachi, was different from his little brother. Unlike Sasuke, the older teenager's eyes were darker and ominous. There was a hint of danger to them yet a kindness just beneath that like a front had been put on. A red hair tie is what kept his black hair into a low ponytail, the strands hanging over his shoulder neatly. Itachi wore designer clothes, something Naruto recognized from the hospital magazines he used to read – factory-ripped blue jeans with a hole over the knee and black boots with a golden insignia on it for some fashion company. His shirt was white with gold buttons – Naruto couldn't believe he matched his clothes. It was a bit odd.

The blond-haired boy searched room, looking to see reactions across the wave of children. His eyes homed in on that girl, Ino Yamanaka, instantly as she was always easy to pick out. She was freaking out over the newcomers, whispering all-too-loudly to her friends who couldn't contain themselves around the Uchiha. He snickered to himself – despite Ino having a boyfriend, she sure does get around a lot.

Tsunade cleared her throat, grabbing her students' attention once more, "I expect you to treat these gentlemen nicely." Heads bobbed across the room, all eager and excited about the newcomers. She nodded to the two, pointing them over the where the blond-haired teenager was sitting, "You two boys can sit beside Naruto over there."

There was a collective gasp that went around the room, many monsters glancing at each other with worry. Naruto shrank down in his seat – the pang in his chest was back again – as the whispering begun, evil eyes peering at him like they were going to eat him alive.

Ino stood up from her seat, face red with anger. The teacher gave her a wild look "Tsunade-sensei, are you really going to make these lovely Uchiha's," She battered her eyes at the brother before her anger was directed towards the blond, "sit beside that monster-poser?!"

"Ino Yamanaka!" The Senju woman shouted out, not only scaring Ino but also startling half the class, "If you do not sit down and shut your mouth, I will be forced to call you father. This has been the sixth time this month."

Sasuke tilted his eyes, eyebrows furrowed delicately, "Monster-poser?" Had the room not been so silent, they might not have heard him. His voice carried through, the noise velvet to the girls' ears in the classroom. The Uchiha looked up to his brother, some strange non-verbal conversation going on between the two.

The Yamanaka girl, despite fearing her teacher, couldn't be bothered to sit down – she wasn't done yet. She had to inform the newbies of what was going on in her school. "Yeah, every time we're in M.P.E.T*, the teachers always allow him to sit out when we practice our abilities." Ino swung her body around, pointing accusingly at Naruto, "It's because he's not a real monster!" (*Monster Physical Education & Training)

"INO YAMANAKA!" Tsunade howled, her aura heavy on the class, "PRINCIPLE'S OFFICE! NOW!"

Ino shrugged, flicking her hair before reaching down to grab her stuff. Everyone in the class watched in silence as the blond-haired girl walked towards the door, but, before she left, her eyes narrowed dangerously. It a clear and concise voice, she spoke, "Every single teacher is trying to hide that monster-poser's identity, but we all know. He's human."

"OUT!"

Naruto's eyes were downcast, shoulders slumping forward – that's been happening way too much lately. The pain lingering underneath his ribs still remained but, for some reason, he didn't feel as affected by Ino's words. Unfortunately, he'd been all-too-used to the aggressive jabs about being a monster-poser. Even if his hand was shaking too much for him to will himself to stop. Tsunade shot him a look but kept her lips shut, motioning for the two new students to take a seat.

Without a single hesitation, Itachi and Sasuke made their way up to the back of the class. Everyone watched their every move, wondering if Naruto might lash out at the Uchiha brothers like he was a ticking time bomb. The two bowed their head in greeting before sitting down and letting Tsunade continue with her lesson. The entire time, Naruto did not move, did not speak. He could feel one of the brother's looking at him every now and then but, he couldn't care.

Didn't care.

After all, he was used to this, unfortunately.

The day ended rather lamely – well if you count a bruise slow starting to form on his back as being lame. He was given homework, as usual, easy stuff and a promise of due dates in the near future. He tried to work on his math homework on the bus heading home but couldn't find the energy to concentrate on anything.

Naruto sat in the back, turning his head to watch the bus wheel away from the campus. He could feel the frown on his face, shoulders tense as if he was anticipating an attack. He wasn't particularly upset, he just felt cold. Cold and alone. This feeling wasn't one that was uncommon to him, having come and gone too many times to count. He just couldn't wait to get home and forget about this damned monster school.

Tomorrow would be a better day, he knew it.

The sophomore tried to desperately continue playing around with polynomials, numbers merging with the bounce of the bus against the road. He internally groaned – if he didn't finish this now, he knows that he'll wait until the last second to turn it in. He promised to do better in school and that meant doing things before it was due not when the teacher was collecting his work.

A paper airplane zoomed around the bus, the wind carrying it everywhere and anywhere as the students laughed at it. The bus driver yelled at them but her anxious, small voice never carried beyond the first three seats. Naruto watched the airplane, knowing that it was probably that wind-user asshole up at the front doing that. He ignored it and tried to go back to the jumbled numbers and variable beneath his pencil, sometimes peeking up at the passing trees and street.

A strong tug of wind and Naruto could feel his blood leaving the side of his forehead. It shocked him, a shaky hand touching the little amount of crimson liquid leaving his face. The blond-haired teenager quickly wiped it away as the students on the bus roared with laughter.

He did not see what was so funny about making a fellow student bleed.

A weight seemed to have left his shoulders as Naruto stepped off the bus after the thirty-five-minute ride, the taunting words and haunting laughs finally leaving him. He smiled slightly, walking away from the bus stop and towards his home. His mind filled with happy thoughts for tomorrow, his smile widening. He'll get to see his best friend and work with people who like him tomorrow. A bout of excitement and adrenaline carried Naruto home, allowing him to pick up the pace.

He bounded up the six steps it took to get to his house, swinging it open with a vigor. He walked in, throwing his backpack on the couch before taking off his shoes. Naruto slammed the door behind him, taking a few steps forward, "I'm home."

A man with brunette hair peeked his head out from the kitchen, rushing in, giving the blond a bear hug, "Hey kiddo."

The sophomore blushed from embarrassment. "Iruka-sensei." He whined, trying to push the older male away.

Iruka shook his head, a small smile on his face whilst sighing, "I thought we've talked about this, Naruto. Please stop calling me 'Iruka-sensei'. I'm your guardian; I prefer Iruka here at home."

Naruto hung his head down in shame, the pang in his chest coming back, but it was easier to push away this time, "I'm sorry, but you are my sensei… at the human school."

The brunette chuckled quietly, "I know I'm your sensei, but we're a family in all except blood."

"…and race." The blond giggled lightly, a smile appearing soon after.

"Okay, so tomorrow, you're going to have to ride the bus to school. I can't drive you there because I have an early meeting and they told me I couldn't bring you." He stated, walking back into the kitchen, the boy following him, "Plus, I'm sure you'd like to sleep in a little bit."

"Yeah." He admitted slowly, plopping himself down on one of the bar stool in front of the island. He watched Iruka cook for a few seconds, allowing his mind to catch up with everything that's happened to him the last few months. He sighed heavily, "I hate this."

"Pardon?"

"I hate this!" His hands flew up into the air for emphasis, huffing afterward.

"You've got to give me something here." Iruka turned around to face him, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest, "I really have no idea what you're trying to say. What do you hate?"

"This!" He gave his guardian an exasperated look, "I hate going to both a monster and a human school."

"Look, kiddo." The older man heaved a sigh, looking down at the ground, "I know this is hard for you, but we have no control over that right now. It was decided long before you could talk."

"But why can't I just go to the human school?! People like me there!" Naruto pointed out, hands waving around in the air, "People don't actively go out of their way to ruin my day."

"I've told you already, it's too much of a risk." Iruka explained, voice level and calm, "Something could happen, and you could lose control. They don't have any explosive-monster-prevention plans like the monster school does."

"That's not fair!" He argued."

His guardian shook his head, eyeing his adoptive son, "Life's not fair."

Tears threatened to leave Naruto's eyes, hands falling on to the table, "People are going to find out that I'm not who I say I am. They're going to find out and they are going to kill me! I'm in danger at the monster school, Iruka! I'm going to die if I keep going there!"

"You watch your mouth." Iruka froze as a growl bubbled in his throat, pointing at the blond, "Don't you dare say that. You have several people who wouldn't let you get killed, including me. We all care about you and your parents. You are our family and we would never let our family get hurt, especially you."

Tears slid down the teenager's face as he sobbed into his hands. There was an extremely uncomfortable feeling inside his chest. It hurt so much, thrumming at irregular paces. It threatened to split him in half as he took a sharp intake of air. He could feel his shoulders shaking and quivering as he cried.

The beast opened its red eyes, shifting into place.

"I think I might have pushed him too far with the scolding." Iruka sighed, opening a cabinet and popping two pills into his hand, filling a glass with water before sliding it towards the teenager.

Naruto's jaw was tense, face pale and tear-streaked, but he eagerly reached out for the pills, taking them easily. They waited for a few moments, Iruka taking a seat beside his adoptive son as Naruto calmed down. The boy wiped his tears away, feeling the brunette rubbing his back in small circles. "Sorry," Naruto mumbled out, energy zapped from him. He took deep breaths, looking into Iruka's eyes.

"Look, I…" The older man searched for the right words, "I have no control over whether you go to the monster school or the human school. I know that it has been really hard for you at the monster school, but… I can't move you. It just doesn't happen like that."

"I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled again, head tipping against his adoptive father's shoulder.

Iruka smiled slightly, hugging the boy while lightly petting his hair, "I know this is rough for you, but you need to trust us and our judgment for what we think is best for you."

The blond-haired teenager nuzzled into the hug, for once not even thinking about moving away, "I do trust you all, but I just don't trust myself. After that one time… I just haven't…"

The brunette rubbed the scar on his nose in memory, "Naruto that was a one-time thing. You're not going to lose control, Tsunade-sama made sure of it. She made pills for you so you wouldn't lose control."

"But what if I lose control again?" He asked quietly, looking him in the eye.

Iruka smiled, "Then I guess I'll have to hug you until you calm down." Naruto giggled as the man released him and went back to cooking. "So, did you finish that homework from Thursday for my class?" He asked. Naruto's eyes widened as he ran off to his backpack to grab the homework he forgot to finish from last Thursday. Iruka shook his head, smiling brightly, going back to cook their dinner.

Itachi glanced over at his brother before turning back to look at the road, hand clenching slightly on the wheel, "Is there something wrong, brother?"

The sophomore's brows furrowed together, leg thumping against the passenger's seat floor. "My mind's been on that boy…" He looked up at his brother, "…what was his name again?"

"Naruto… the monster-poser." The older Uchiha supplied, feeling himself thinking back to first-period, "You could feel it too, couldn't you?"

"Yeah." Sasuke growled lowly, eyeing the world beyond his brother's car, "He definitely has human blood."

"But, he almost has monster blood." Itachi narrowed his eyes, the road ahead curving to the right as they made their way home, "What kind of monster do you think he is? I've never felt that kind of aura before. I even scanned him with my eyes."

Sasuke blinked in surprise, "You scanned him?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I was curious."

The younger Uchiha looked amused for a split-second before gazing out the window again, collecting the information, "How can he have human and monster blood? Isn't that illegal?"

"Yes… yes, it is." Itachi stated with a look in his eyes that Sasuke caught, "Monsters and humans aren't allowed to procreate."

He sighed in mock annoyance, "You're going to try and figure him out, aren't you?"

The raven-haired teenager smirked, "You know me well, little brother." Itachi pulled into their driveway, Naruto still on his mind.