Hehe. Did you like where I left off in the last chapter? Well, I certainly do! Honestly, I was planning on making this chapter and the last one into one, but I decided that I wanted to upload one sooner, so you'll have to forgive me for the short chapters. ALSO! Some of the ages in this are going to be slightly messed up, as it's a little hard to get them all accurate, and I'd like them to fit the story as best as possible. Sorry! Reviews still aren't working, I'm sorry to say, but hopefully they will be fixed in the coming days, so keep them coming! (Please! I beg of you!) Thank you all for your support, and I'm sorry to say, but uploads are going to be a bit slow. I'm in competition season for marching band so we have a ton of work to do. Until that's over, it's going to be a bit rough. Sorry for the long-winded note, guys! Thank you all!
~Nikki
Itachi was furious. No. Furious is an understatement. Livid. Livid sounded about right, but still somehow wrong. Just not angry enough. Of course, it didn't help that the Uchiha was lying nearly unconscious in the middle of nowhere and in so much pain he couldn't even move.
"Screw this," Itachi mumbled. "I need to find that idiotic blonde and make him pay for this. Honestly otouto, how could you stand having this imbecile on your team? I'm surprised he didn't get you killed."
Groaning out, Itachi blearily opened his eyes, the pain rolling over him in waves. He struggled to stand with his legs threatening to give out at any moment until he staggered to a nearby bush to empty the contents of his already mostly food deprived stomach. Nausea now sated, Itachi straightened and applied some of the basic medical ninjutsu he had learnt over the years to the worst of his cuts and bruises.
"Now, to find the idiot. He couldn't have landed too far away from me. We were only about 15 meters apart anyways."
And so, thus began the six hour long search for the, in Itachi's opinion, damn jinchūriki. Of course, you're probably wondering why it took the infamous Uchiha, with some of the most highly revered eyes on the planet, might I add, so long to find an unconscious blonde dressed in bright orange. The answer in simple, my dear readers. Not only was he so low on chakra from using the unnamed and inconveniencing jutsu he couldn't activate his sharingan, he was in unfamiliar territory. Not to mention the fact that he was in enough pain that a normal shinobi would be unconscious. Or dead. And so, here we are, six hours later, in the presence of the most pissed off Uchiha there has ever been. And I should warn you, pissed off Uchihas pretty much mean death if you ask, well, anyone for that matter.
"Look at the poor man!" Itachi heard a young girl cry out. "He's wearing a Konoha hitai-ate! He must be one of our own!"
Looks like I found him…
Itachi followed the sound of voices for what seemed like ages in his injured state and was met with a faint red glow. Recognizing this as ninetails chakra, the Uchiha rushed forward only to feel the chakra cut off. As he appeared in the side of a small clearing, he saw a sight that his brain refused to process. The Yondaime, alive and well, standing in front of both an alive Obito and Rin, with a young, sharingan-less, Kakashi.
There's no way… I must still be unconscious. Or maybe a genjutsu. I know this jutsu is forbidden, but jutsu that can travel back in time? That is, simply put, impossible.
"That's not good…" He heard a flabbergasted Naruto say.
"Agreed," Itachi answered, used to murmuring his irritations out loud.
Immediately, five pairs of eyes flew to Itachi as he simultaneously activated his now restored sharingan.
"Ita-" Naruto began just before he was entrapped in a genjutsu cast by the nearby Akatsuki member.
Inside the genjutsu
"Naruto. Listen to me,"
Naruto opened his eyes to a pitch black darkness, and the only thing he could see was Itachi standing a few meters in front of him.
"Wha-what's going on? Where am I?" Asked a confused Naruto.
"Inside my genjutsu," Itachi answered him in a slow drawl. "Now before you interrupt me, I'm sure you've noticed something's off, no?"
Naruto's eyes grew wide as he recalled what had just happened.
"Dad! That was my dad! And he was alive! And Kakashi-sensei's old team! They're supposed to be dead too! What's going on!?"
"Hn," Itachi sighed as he raised an eyebrow.
"Now don't go acting like Sasuke-teme on me!" Naruto snarled. "I get enough of that as it is!"
"I didn't really want to explain all of this to you, but alas, it appears you are too dense to fully comprehend the gravity of this situation," Itachi sighed again.
"...Hey! Don't poke fun at me! I am not dense!" Naruto snarled at him again.
"Just let me talk to the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Itachi said.
"Why do you need to talk to him, huh? Maybe I should just-"
Kit?
"What?" Naruto snapped.
Shut up and let me talk to him. As much as I hate the Uchiha, I need to make sure he understands what's going on.
"Fine," Naruto snapped yet again as Itachi raised an eyebrow at him.
And with that, Kurama appeared in all his glory, only, not quite as anyone expected. With a small flash, a human was now standing at Naruto's side. He was tall. Taller than both Naruto and Itachi with heavy muscles and deep tanned skin, almost a shade darker than Naruto's own.
Two muscled arms crossed as he leaned back slightly allowing his clawed fingers to glitter maliciously. Blood red hair was set in a plait that ran halfway down his back, and framed a face broadcasting crimson, animalistic eyes. He allowed a wicked smile to cross his face revealing sharp, fang-like canines that protruded a few centimeters past his lips. Tight, low cut pants clung to his hips and a black wife beater adorned his shoulders. He wore only simple black sandals on his feet, allowing for easy movement as he leered at the young man standing before him.
"Hullo there, Uchiha," He said widening his grin at the shocked face he was met with.
Blinking twice, Itachi regained his composure enough to begin his query.
"So," He began. "Am I correct to assume you know full and well about what's going on?"
"Indeed," Answered Kurama.
"So then, am I even more correct in my assumption that we have somehow traveled back in time?"
Kurama let out a deep laugh with a manic gleam in his eyes.
"Indeed, Uchiha! Indeed!"
"Wait what!?" Naruto yelled in shock.
"You see, Kit," Kurama began, "The Uchiha cast a jutsu that was to send you back in time. However, I managed to deflect part of it and send it back at its castor, and so now, we're all stuck here, back in time, with every opportunity to destroy the future."
"That is why I pulled you into this genjutsu, Naruto," Itachi said. "Anything you say and do can and will affect the future. And you, might I remind you, were about to say my name. Now, I know we're at least 18 years in the past, since the yondaime died the day you were born, however, I don't know if I'm alive yet, and by you saying my name, that could be a huge mistake."
"Oh," Mumbled Naruto. "So, code names?"
"That would probably be a good idea," Itachi said thoughtfully.
"Er, Itachi?"
"What?"
"I don't think that's a very good idea," Naruto said. "I mean, I know I suggested it, but I know for certain that I'll slip up, and if that were to happen, we'd be in deep trouble"
Itachi sighed as he looked at Naruto.
"We really should-"
"If this helps any," Kurama interrupted, "I don't think using code names is a good idea. I think you should just go with it,"
Itachi cast him an annoyed look as he glanced back towards Naruto.
"Either way, Naruto, I hate to admit this, but we need to stick together. I know you hate me, and trust me, the feeling is more than mutual, but we both know way too much, and should stay together to avoid making any and all changes to the past." Itachi explained.
"What do you mean avoid making changes? We could save my dad's life!" Naruto yelled.
"His life is not ours to save," Itachi said darkly. "We cannot afford to change the past,"
"But-"
"No, Naruto. We will continue this discussion later. We have a different problem to deal with right now," Itachi growled.
"O-okay," Naruto relented. "But Itachi?"
"Hn?"
"Why are you acting so, oh I don't know, out of character? I mean, aren't you supposed to be a cold hard killer? An S-rank missing nin? So, shouldn't you be all, er, scary I guess?"
Itachi blinked. "We're done here"
"Wait what!?" Naruto cried
Outside the genjutsu
Instantly, both ninja were released from the genjutsu.
"-chi" Naruto immediately finished with a knowing look in his eyes.
"Hn," was all that Naruto was met with.
Deep blue eyes belonging to the long-dead Yondaime panned around to the both of them.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked.
Guys please help me! I can finally see reviews (yay!) and I'd really like to know where you want it to go from here! Should we take them straight back to Konaha, or should we wait? Please, leave your opinion as I really would love to start the next chapter. Also, I'd love it if you'd point out any grammer, spelling, or just minor discrepancies you find. Thank you and I love you all!
~Nikki