DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, I am sorry.

It was a wonderful, bright and sunny day in the village of Konoha; nothing could possibly go wrong. And nothing really did. No hot tempers, no dangerous missions, and no suspicious people. Yes, it was a very nice day, and one particular blond young man was enjoying this day to the fullest. He was eating ramen.

With a bright smile on his face, he looked up, after finishing his 5th round of ramen, to the other young man sitting next to him. He had raven-colored hair, deep, dark, bottomless eyes and was wearing his Jonin outfit. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming jolt of pain and darkness in his heart.

"What's wrong, dobe? Ate too much you can't talk?" asked the raven-haired Sasuke.

"Don't call me that, and no, I didn't" said Naruto. "Let's go, grandma Tsunade must be waiting."

And so, they got up, paid, and started towards the Hokage to receive their mission.

On the way there, Naruto felt that sinking feeling once again. He was hoping he wouldn't have a mission in the night. He feared that the most. Not because was afraid of the dark, but because who came after him in the dark: his worse fear. If he had to go on an all-nighter, then the man who came in the dark would be furious and Naruto would have to face his fury.

But besides that, he felt guilty for not telling Sasuke. That one man who came to Naruto repeatedly every night was the one Sasuke had been after, all those years back. Naruto had finally convinced him to forget about the past and live for the future (but he still suspected Sasuke thought about him sometimes). But then he showed up at Naruto's house one night to torture him, and been coming every night since.

3 years back

It was normal day. Naruto was just coming home from his latest mission, and he was exhausted. All he wanted was a good night's sleep and the next day off (but he knew that part wasn't possible).

It was late evening, so there weren't many villagers out. He wanted to eat some ramen, and was about to go to Ichiraku's, but then he remembered what Sasuke had said. If you keep eating ramen the way you are now, you'll go insane. Or something like that. He wasn't sure, but went home just the same. He would trust anything Sasuke said, he loved him. But he knew his love couldn't be returned.

He got home, unlocked the door and stepped inside. Immediately, he could feel pain at his side, some hot liquid all over his hand, and fear down his spine. He closed his eyes against the pain for a bit, and then opened them. What he saw left him devastated. It's him! He had dug his katana into Naruto's left side with one hand while the other was creeping towards his neck, as though to strangle him.

"How wonderful to see you again, Uzumaki" whispered the man to Naruto's ear. It made the hair on the back of Naruto's neck stand on end. He was now cornered to the wall, being strangled.

"Consider this a preview of the nights to come."

Naruto could barely breathe now, and he was scared. He couldn't move either. It seemed as though his body was made of lead.

The man let Naruto go, and took a step back, looking down at him in pity as the young man gasped for breath. Yes, this will be most amusing; seeing him being torn apart, little by little.

"I'll be going now, but don't get too comfortable. I'll make the following nights living Hell for you. And if anyone finds out, I'll slaughter all the villagers…along will your beloved Sasuke."

Naruto jerked his head up in disbelief. How did this guy know how he felt for Sasuke? But more importantly, why was he doing this? What had he done to make him deserve this?

"Yes…I've had my spies on you tail for quite a while, I know your every secret." With that, he disappeared in a puff of dark smoke.

It took a few moments for Naruto to understand what had just happened, but he slowly got up, and made to go wash out the blood and bandage up his newly earned wound.

He couldn't sleep at all that night, for fear of getting killed. In the morning, he was a nervous wreck. He stayed home the next day saying he ate something wrong. And ever since, he always dreaded the night and what came along with it.

(Back to the present)

Naruto shuddered whenever he thought about it.

They arrived in the Hokage's meeting room. It was a brief meeting, about a few of the village's security problems, but for Naruto, it was still very boring. All he wanted was to find out what his mission was.

He didn't have to wait much longer. Tsunade called them up, one by one, and gave them their missions. It's just a matter of time…

"Naruto!" barked the Hokage.

Naruto gulped. It was like this every time. He stood up, and walked over to the table where she was sitting.

"Shikamaru, you too" she called again.

Shikamaru got up, and dragged his feet over muttering "What a drag…"

"You two have a B class escort mission. The reason I need both of you is because the person you're going to escort has too much for just one other person to carry."

"W-when do we go?" asked Naruto, dreading the answer.

"Tomorrow. At sunrise. When you return, you will report back to me."

"Okay" said Naruto, a bit relieved. He may not have an all-nighter, but he was still going to be tortured just the same.

They were dismissed and everyone either went home, or to an unexpected mission they would have to do.

Naruto went home. He had to. If he didn't, then he would be found and tortured anyway. The closer he got to his house, the heavier his body felt. And once again, the fear spread down this spine.

He looked up at the moon, which was making its way up to the sky. It was late evening and there weren't many stars out yet. He sighed and continued walking.

He could feel the evil emanating from his house when he reached it. He unlocked, and then opened the door, and stepped inside. Sure enough, the man was there, standing in the far corners of the room, in the shadows.

Itachi Uchiha

Too short isn't it? The rest of the chapters get longer.

Hope you liked it. Review please.