Itachi Uchiha was very dedicated.
He was very alive.
He was very innocent.
He was very wise.
He was very intelligent.
He had already mastered the sharingan at eight years old.
He had precise chakra control.
He was strong.
He was focused.
He was determined.
But he was also lost.
But he did not know why.
Something was wrong.
He had a goal.
He was just beginning,
And he was just like them
Naruto, who was now the Hokage Of The Hidden Leaf Village was taking some time off his duties today because he had promised Itachi that he would witness how far his fireball jutsu had come, he had only been hyping about it to him for the past three days, he could barely even sleep in without Itachi running into his bedroom and begging to see it now which would only result in waking Hinata and himself. He finally agreed he would come to see it today during his break, even if he did wish to spend it to eat, he knew Itachi was first out of the two priorities.
He had made his way down the path on his way to the training field, his white and red cloak that the five hokages had wore before him had been blowing along with the wind past his legs. The scenary was beautiful, it was as bright and green as ever today along the track, and the flowers stood out more than ever. Birds were chirpping throughout the trees and that's all you could ever hear, which was a nice change from the constant society you hear going on through Konoha; Not to say he did not enjoy it, he loved his village and the people in it, but it was nice to get a break from it all as well. Being the hokage sure does put a lot on one's mind.
He had stopped in his tracks once he reached the middle of the training field to try and spot Itachi. He looked around, but no sign of him.
"Itachi-Kun?" He spoke up and broke the silence between the peaceful area.
Nothing happened, nor did he appear.
"Itachi-Kun, are you here?" He asked again and raised his voice a little louder, making his voice echo through the trees.
He waited. He just probably was not here yet, pfft. And the bugger told him not to be late.
"Kakashi-Sensei! You can't hide forever!" A young Naruto spoke, looking around for his teacher who he was to obtain the bells from in order to become a genin.
"I get it, you're scared of me aren't you? I would be too." He bragged and looked around more
"Ohh, Naruto" Kakashi's voice came from behind.
The young Naruto turned around quickly to see Kakashi holding a book as if Naruto was no threat
"GAH! Why the hell are you reading?" He yelped and launched himself at Kakashi's bell.
Kakashi dodged without even looking and Naruto plopped out of the tree resulting in his miss "Hey! That wasn't fair! Just wait till I get back up there!"
"A lesson to you Naruto; Don't call out for your enemy, stay silent until they appear to you."
"Huh, why would I do something like that?"
Naruto laughed, remembering at how naiive and persistent he was back in his pre-genin days. It was amazing how much hes learned now compared to what he knew then.
"Naruto-Sama! I'm over here!" Naruto turned his head to the direction of where the voice was coming from to see Itachi sitting on a tree branch. The boy's hair was straight with long bangs, it was the shade of dark purple. His eyes contained the orbs of a raven's wings, the same eyes as.. /him/.
Naruto's mouth fell to the ground- How did he learn to control his chakra in his feet so fast? He had probably just started trying today too..
"Oh, Sasuke-Kun" Sasuke and Naruto looked up to see Sakura sitting on a tree branch with her tongue out in a teasing manner to Sasuke and Naruto, He barely managed to even make it up a step, and she got up there right away without a problem.
"I-..I" Naruto stuttered
"Hn." Sasuke turned his head away from them both.
Naruto then began to smile, remembering that he should have known this wasn't surprising coming from Itachi.
"I see you managed to control the chakra in your feet." Naruto stated, walking towards the tree Itachi was in.
"Yeah, hey what's for dinner tonight? I'm starved!" Itachi said, completely changing the subject
Naruto laughed and the memory of Naruto and Sasuke chowing down food together came in his head.
"I'm not sure, we'll have to ask Hinata-Chan when we get home." He rubbed the tip of his index finger under his nose. "Weren't you going to show me your fireball jutsu?"
Itachi jumped down from the tree and walked towards Naruto and stopped infront of him "You bet I am, but.. I have a question, Naruto-Sama" He asked and sat down in place.
"Oh uh, sure. What is it?" He asked, looking down at him with a blink.
"Why do I look so different from you, Hinata-San and Kushina-Chan?" He asked, not looking up at Naruto.
Naruto gasped but his expression lightened afterwards. He knew that he could not lie, and it was about time he gave him the explanation to why he was the child in the house that could not refer to him or Hinata as "Mother and Father" As his daughter Kushina does.
He took a seat next to him, and looked ahead. "Itachi-Kun.. Well, it's because we aren't actually related."
Itachi still did not look at Naruto, almost as if he was expecting that answer. "Who are the two people in that picture in our living room and your office, why do I look like the man?" He asked another.
Naruto's eyes went wide, and his teeth clenched, he looked down at his legs and knew this was going to be harder than he thought.
"They're your.. Your mother and father, Itachi-Kun." He said blankly. He could feel Itachis eyes on him now
"My.. M-mother..and.. F-father..?" He asked with a stuttering voice, eyes wide with his gaze on Naruto.
"Yes, and my former teammates and bestfriends. It was in their will for me to take you in if anything were to happen to them." He explained further, hoping he did not have to continue.
"What happened to them?" He asked suddenly, quiet as ever.
Naruto froze up
Kakashi-Sensai and Sai had walked into Naruto's office, back from the mission he had assigned to them both and Sasuke in the Cloud Village. Kakashi had his head facing the floor, his eyes were not visible, Sai looked straight at Naruto, with as usual no emotion.
"Did you dispose of the cloud ninja?" Naruto asked, looking them both straight to their faces.
Sai and Kakashi didn't speak for a minute, Sai looked at Kakashi before he returned his gaze back at Naruto
"Yes, Sasuke did.." Sai finally answered
"That's good news, the cloud village must be in our debt now and at peace again"
Sai nodded "Yes but.. " He began, but stopped.
Naruto raised an eyebrow "But..?"
He could see Kakashi's fist clench and he looked back at Naruto now, almost as if he had witnessed a massacre
"Naruto..Listen" kakashi began "Sasuke..He.. Died taking the rogue ninja with him" He said, and looked back towards the ground
Naruto's eyes were wide now, he could not speak, his heart felt like it had dropped and stopped for a split second "W-What..?"
"He had gone on ahead of us, and got to the other before we did, and.. We had saw Sasuke's sword carved in the chest of both of them, with Sasuke holding on to him so he could not escape it." Sai explained when he realized Kakashi was in no shape to explain further.
"H-He couldn't have! Sasuke's the strongest person I know! He could never allow that! He could never-"
"Naruto! He did.. We witnessed Sasuke and the rogue ninja take their last breaths as they fell to the ground lifeless.. It was the only way and Sasuke realized that!" Kakashi raised his voice now.
Naruto was tearing up now, he grabbed a hold of his chest where his heart felt like it was ripping out of his chest "No.. He couldn't.. What about Sakura-Chan, what about Itachi?!"
"I will give her the news personally." Sai said.
"No.. You're lying! You're both lying! THIS HAS TO BE A LIE!" Naruto shouted and stood up out of his chair
Sai shook his head and avoided eye contact, and Kakashi dashed to the hokage's side "Naruto, I'm sorry.."
"S-Sasuke.. SAAASSSUUUUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Naruto screamed out.
The blonde hokage had a frown on him at this point, his eyes were getting empty from expression "Your father, died protecting another village.. Heh, I truly miss him. He was a great man and my bestfriend."
"But why did he risk his life for people he didn't know?" He asked, with curiousness following in his voice.
Naruto smiled. "That's the way of a Shinobi, your father swore he would prove he was a true Shinobi for the rest of his life to make up for what he had previously been. "
Itachi blinked, looking at Naruto in awe as he was so interested to hear of his father's legacy.
"But, I believe he also did it because he wanted to live his life the way his older brother would have done things.. Itachi Uchiha"
Itachi gasped "What, that's my name!"
Naruto chuckled "Yeah kid, Sasuke named you after him. He was probably the greatest hero the Village has ever had.. He had to.. Kill your ancestors just to protect not only the village, but Sasuke too. He loved your father more than anyone, heh, maybe besides your mother.. And Sasuke held him in his heart when he realized that, and to show it, he gave you the honor of having his older brother's name."
Itachi looked to the green grass with a smile, his cheeks began to flush
Naruto glanced at him, he softened his expression and tapped the others back with a small chuckle.
"What about mom?" Itachi spoke up suddenly, not bothering to glance at Naruto yet again
Itachi could feel Naruto's hand slowly fall from his back and could hear him weeping, he let his eyes slide to the side to get a small peak at Naruto, he wasn't crying, but he was holding the tears in.
The images of anti-depressant pill bottles ran through Naruto's mind and a bathroom door opening slowly to reveal pinkette hair on the carpet.
"Your mom.. She went to find Sasuke"
"How can she find Father if hes dead?"
Naruto but his lip, holding back any tears that were trying to come down.
"She went somewhere she'll be happy, and where your father was waiting for her." He forced himself to smile as much as his emotions would allow.
"But shes dead?" He asked
Naruto looked up to the sky, watching as the blue sky stood out and the sun shined between the moving clouds, letting down nothing but brightness among them "Not really."
Itachi blinked looking at his mentor and looked at the sky just as the elder.
"They both live on, in you." Naruto patted Itachi's head and gave him a smile almost as bright as the sky they were under
"What did she look like, other than the picture?" Itachi asked
"Sakura-Chan? She was beautiful." Naruto admitted, not looking away from the sky.
"Is that why father loved her?"
Naruto chuckled "I imagine so.. Let me tell you something, Sakura has been in love with Sasuke since she was a child, as the three of us became Genin, she had made her feelings obvious and kept it that way through the next two years. Sasuke was always shutting her out and not acknowledging his feelings but.. I know he loved her back, he always did. He had protected her on many occasions, and even made me promise once to not let anything happen to her, she was his light.. He was just.. Afraid to realize he loved her because he was afraid of losing someone else that were dear to him. I always believed that. After the war summit, it wasn't long after that he had proclaimed his apologies and affection to her. I was.. Happy, for both of them. Also, I too let someone special in my life.. And that's Hinata-Chan."
Itachi looked back at Naruto and tears began to form on him as well before he smiled, with a nod and stood back up as he began to walk further away
"What are you doing, Itachi-Kun?" Naruto asked as he watched him.
Itachi stopped in his tracks and looked back at the hokage "I'm going to train some more, I want to show mom and dad that I am proud to be their son, and the last Uchiha." He said before he continued to walk away
Naruto kept watching as he got further and noticed how much he was like both Sakura and Sasuke. He looked back at the sky one last time
Sakura-Chan..
The smile of the pinkette haired girl shined bright
Sasuke..
Naruto and Sasuke's two fingers entwined with eachothers, exchanging smiles
"Do you see him? Your son? I've been watching him grow, and hes becoming a wonderful boy and ninja.. Hm. But you already knew that.. Didn't you?"
Naruto raised his fist in the air and closed it on the sun
"I'll raise him to be just how you two would have wanted him to be, believe it!"