Naruto's perspective

It was finally the big night, the night I would leave for the Akatsuki. I had packed all of my valuables, set the traps for the ANBU, and was making my final checks off my to-do list, when something caught my eye, it was the picture of team seven. I picked it up and looked at each of us in turn, and then set it face-down on my desk. I exited my shitty apartment and started towards the main gate. It was quiet, too quiet, but that was the way that Tsunade had wanted it, nobody was to interfere with my defection. I made the final turn and the front gate was within sight. Sakura was standing there, and as she identified me, I stopped, I could feel Hinata watching, but I didn't say anything, instead I said, "What are you doing here? It is the middle of the night."

"This is the only road out of the village," she said, "so I have been keeping watch."

"Just go to bed."

I kept walking past her, and once I was past her she said, "What has been up with you lately? Why don't you tell us anything anymore? Why do you have to be so silent? Why can't you just...let us in?"

I realized that she was crying, but I had expected that since the moment I had seen her. "Like I said," I responded, "my business is none of yours, just leave me alone."

"You act like I am bugging you, but remember? That day when we first became Genin? The day when they announced our team...you were so excited to be with me, and maybe not with Sasuke, but..."

"No," I snapped, "I don't remember being excited for much back then."

"Well, that was a long time ago, and people and memories are always changing. But that was when it started, Sasuke and you, myself and Master Kakashi. The four of us, on so many missions. It was rough sometimes...and there is no way you could call it easy, but...when you get down to it...it was fun."

"Naruto!" she exclaimed, "I know the deal with the Nine-tails, and I have always known about how the villagers have treated you, but this...leaving like this...it won't make anybody happy, Naruto, they value you now, this won't make you happy, or me happy."

"That just proves it, doesn't it? I am not like you people, I am on a different path than the rest of you. Yeah, we all worked together for a while, sometimes I told myself that our paths went to the same place, maybe we were a team once. But I have forgotten my dream of Hokage, I don't need the recognition of the people who made my life a living hell. Maybe we were a team once, but, now I have decided to take the path that my father laid out for me. That is what I live for now. I can never be like you or Sasuke."

Those word stung all the way out of my throat, because they were for the most part, a lie. I still loved this village, I loved it so much that I had decided to give my dream of Hokage up for it. "b-b-but, if you leave, I'll be... I will be very l-l-lonely, Naruto, you have become a big part of my life, Naruto, I can't imagine life here without you."

"You!" I shouted, "make me so mad!"

I dashed up to her and blurred behind her. Brought out a kunai and slashed down her back, seriously marring her ribs and back, and then I knocked on her head with the flat of the knife, sending her to the ground. Hinata looked at me, and said, "And you said that I was messed up Naruto? She isn't going to be doing much with that injury for at least a year, and that is going to scar quite badly. Naruto, we weren't supposed to hurt anybody!"

I motioned for us to just leave, and Hinata dropped into step with me, and we left to begin the training that Itachi had promised us.

Five and a half months earlier...

I was in the middle of the forest, training with my wind chakra. I formed a sword of pure air into my hands and began to go through the forms Itachi had given me. When I finished six levels I stopped, and brought out my training scroll. I laid it on the ground and activated the seal. The resulting poof revealed a six-inch tall, transparent version of Itachi. He looked around at my training area and said, "I can see that you have mastered all that I instructed, so now begins the real purpose of this exercise. You are going to meet with Jiraiya and combine your wind chakra and your Rasengan to make your own signature jutsu."

"Yes, Master," I replied, "but I don't understand something. Why am I still hanging out in the village when I could be training with you in person?"

"Because there is going to be someone else with you when you leave."

"Right, I know, Hinata, you already told me that, but why can't you just fix her up and then we could leave tomorrow! It seems to make more sense to me that way!"

"Calm yourself, Naruto, this is a big part of what we are working on, be calm, and collected."

It took quite the effort to calm myself, but I was getting better. "Every moment here is getting more painful than the last, Master; I don't know how much longer I can last before I go crazy."

"I of all people know what you are going through is tough, but I have to take care of certain things over here before I will be ready to train you. So just do your best, it will make you stronger. And when you do leave, you will be made into the ninja that your father and yourself want you to be. So keep your cool, and work on this jutsu."

With that, he poofed away, leaving me to my struggle.

Back in the present...

That jackass Sasuke had caught up with me faster than I had thought. Itachi had told me that our bodyguards would have the devices needed release the nine-tails from Madara's curse. As I finished that thought, four people jumped out in front of us, two of them that the wooden tubes Itachi had described, so I nodded to Hinata and jumped in.

My mindscape was as wet and dark as ever. I walked into the room with the Nine-tails and was unsurprised to see that he was the same as ever, large, scary-as-hell, and roaring. As I sighed in exasperation, a black feather drifted into my vision. I snatched it from the air and tilted my head as I studied it. I felt myself fall backwards, and then there was only black.

When I awoke I sat up too quickly and was rewarded with a pounding head-ache. I was still in my mindscape, but the cage for the Nine-tails was open, so I began to look around the room rapidly searching for the massive beast, but the only other being in the room was a gorgeous red-haired woman with nine....tails? I won't lie, I nearly shit my pants. She walked up to me and said, "So this is the brat that guy saddled me with?"

I crab-walked backwards and bumped into a wall. She walked up to me and bent over to look at me in the eyes. "You have nothing to fear from me anymore kit," she said, "my dear friend the Morrigan woke me up real good, and I have decided I like you, I don't know why, but I do, so I didn't leave..."

I sat open mouthed, totally stupefied. She smiled and then said, "So, you are the silent type, or are you just staring at my boobs?"

I turned cherry red, and she laughed, a light, tingling thing. She continued, "Much as your little girlfriend is the Morrigan's priestess in this world, you shall be my priest, so I give you my blessing, and coincidentally, access to my great power. I am she who is known as the Goddess of Mischief, but I hate war, you shall keep this world at peace for me, for that is my will and my price for this bargain, do you agree?"

Peace was the entire point of my newest mission, so I nodded. She smiled, and with that smile I felt something tug from deep within me. It was not lust, it was not anything of that sort, but it was a kind of love, like, from what I understand, the love one has for one's mother, but far greater. I, in other words, knew that she owned me.

She kissed my fore-head and I felt power flow through me like never before. I looked up at her after and she closed my eyes with her fingers, and was thrust out of my mindscape.

I was launched out of my wooden tube. I landed, and felt red chakra flowing through me freely, but it didn't burn, it felt good. I felt power like never before, and it slowly retracted back into my center, doing it very slowly, as if showing how to access it. A little bit of it stayed out, and I knew that if I were to look in a mirror, my eyes would be blue, but with slitted pupils. I laughed in exhilaration, and let forth a pulse of chakra. Sasuke, Shikamaru and Neji were right behind me, I could feel their chakra, and I knew what would happen, I would fight Sasuke, Hinata would fight Neji, and that bodyguard would fight Shikamaru. I glanced over at Hinata and ran off to the Final Valley, to that little bit of space I would need to take out Sasuke.

I kept a healthy distance ahead of Sasuke as I ran, and eventually the valley came into view. The statues of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha dominated the landscape, and I jumped across to the head of Madara. Then I slowed down to a walk. I was waiting for him to say something, and I didn't wait long, "YOU'RE RUNNING OFF?!"

I turned to face him and said, "what's up, bastard? So, another former member of Team Seven."

He just stared at my eyes, no doubt wondering what was with my eyes, so I continued, "like I already told Sakura, leave me alone."

He visibly twitched and then his cold anger started to seep out from him. I arched my eyebrow and said, "What is with that look? It doesn't make you any prettier, pretty boy."

"Why?" he asked, "Naruto...What is wrong with you? Who put you up to this facade? Is this some sort of sick joke? A prank? IT ISN'T FUNNY NARUTO! Just stop all of this and lets go home."

"This isn't a joke," I replied, "and what is wrong with me, isn't your business, so let me spell it out for you, the Uchiha genius, I have my own path, and I am done being the toy of the people who made my life hell, I am going to become stronger, and then, I am going to take revenge. I am not strong enough now, but with Itachi, I will be."

I turned around and began to walk away, and I saw his shadow fly up behind me, he tackled me to the ground, and then landed one good punch to my face. I spat the blood that filled my mouth onto his face and said, "I am going to follow the path set out for me by my father, you will not stop me, I am going to go to the Akatsuki. You cannot change that."

"The Akatsuki is a criminal organization, and they just want to have the nine-tailed fox inside you, Naruto! My brother nearly wiped out the entire Uchiha clan! You won't ever come back from them, Naruto, they might even kill you today!"

"That doesn't matter anymore. I don't care about me anymore, I will do everything I can to achieve my goal."

I steadied Sasuke and delivered what I meant to be a medium force punch to his gut. He caught air and flew about fifteen yards into the river before the waterfall. He even skipped twice. I stood up and looked at my fist. This was the power that Itachi was going to give me. That answered all the doubts that I had in my mind. Sasuke jumped up and charged at me once again, so dashed at him and swung around him abruptly. There was no way he could have blocked this kick. A healthy smack echoed through the valley as I nailed him in the temple. He fell down the length of the waterfall and into the lake below. As the water rippled slightly it changed my reflection from an image of me, to an image of my father.

Six and a half months ago...

It was me, Shizune, a paralyzed Granny Tsunade, and the Pervy Sage versus Orochimaru and his turncoat minion Kabuto. I had just used the Rasengan on Kabuto, and was in the midst of celebrating, when Orochimaru lunged at me, and stabbed me with a sword. I fell backwards, and into my mindscape.

"How can I beat this guy?! He is one of the legendary Prodigal Three. The Rasengan won't do a thing against somebody like him simply because I can't hit him with it. I am waaaay out of my league. What the hell am I supposed to do? Somebody tell me!"

The fox replied, "just tweak the seal a little, and let me out! I will kill whoever you want me to, Naruto...you know you could with my power, just let me out!"

I was going to die anyway...it seemed like a good idea, and plus, I was tired of trying to drown out his voice. So I did it. I let six tails out. I was about to let them all out when somebody stopped me. It was the Fourth Hokage. He pulled me away from the fox and threw me out of reach. "The seal is set so that I would appear here if eight tails ever came out," he said, "I never wanted to see you again, Nine Tails, but, I did want to see my son grown up. So I guess we should call it even."

"Come here you whelp! I will rip you to shreds, Yondiame!" bellowed the fox.

"That isn't going to make me come any closer," replied the Fourth, "just the opposite, in fact, right, Naruto?"

"Naruto?" I replied dumbly, "that is my name...How...?"

"Huh? Because I gave you that name...you are my heir, after all."

"Heir? Then...you mean..."

The Fox roared in rage. The Fourth smiled at me and said, "Yeah, just what I said, You're my son!"

Joy the likes of which I had never felt bubbled up within me, and I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. I finally knew who my dad was! He continued, "My, the fox is as noisy as ever I see, we should go somewhere else."

He snapped his fingers and the scene around us faded into white, it was just me and him. I was trying to wipe the tears out of my eyes so he wouldn't see, but I know that he saw. "I guess the third didn't tell you anything, if people knew that you were my son, there would have been trouble...I am sorry Naruto."

The happiness that had filled me left as quickly as it had come, and it left behind anger the likes of which I had never felt. I channeled it all into one fist and punched him right in the gut. "Why the hell would you seal the fox inside YOUR OWN SON!? D'you have any idea how much trouble it has caused me?!"

"Naruto," he asked, "how old are you now?"

"Thirteen."

"It must have been hard, I have no right to talk to you like I am your father, I am sorry, Naruto."

"Are you kidding me? I am the son of the Fourth Lord of Konoha," I responded, "I can deal with it."

"The reason that I sealed half the chakra inside you is because, one, you are my son, and I know you will use it the right way, and two, because when I was fighting the fox that night twelve years ago, I realized something, someone was controlling the fox. Have you heard of the Akatsuki?"

I nodded and said, "they are the ones who are after the fox. They have been hunting me."

"They are an organization that was founded by the five kages to keep the peace. They usually work behind the scenes, but in the recent years, they have let three wars break out, and they have become declared criminals, I don't know how that transition happened, but I think that it has something to do with the man who attacked the village. He is going to use the Akatsuki to take over the world. His name is Madara Uchiha, and he is much bigger than Orochimaru here, he must be stopped. I know a boy named Itachi, it was planned that he would gain entry into the organization, has that happened?"

I thought about the man who had murdered his clan and then messed up Sasuke, and I nodded. The Fourth must have seen something in my eyes and said, "Whatever you think you know about him is probably not true, I know for a fact that he would die for Konoha. I have maintained contact with him through his special guardian, but that is another story. I have a mission for you, my son. Are you ready to hear it?"

I nodded in excitement, and he smiled and continued, "You will train under Itachi, and then you will infiltrate the organization Akatsuki, and either fix it or destroy it? Do you understand?"

I thought about it and nodded, this was a request from my father, how could I refuse? He smiled and then said, "Then in conclusion, today, I will give you a gift, and Itachi will put us in contact again when you are finished with your training, and I will teach you my signature jutsu. My chakra is fading, so here is the first gift..."

He touched the top of my head and it felt like my insides suddenly energized. He said, "I will give you my will of fire today, my son. I will also tighten your seal for good measure and then, I have to go..."

He quickly and efficiently tightened the seal and then faded into nothing.

I opened my eyes. A devastated landscape met my eyes. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade all blinked in surprise to see me and not the fox, so I took that opportunity to get the hell out of the way. Orochimaru attempted to attack me, but Jiraiya and Tsunade stopped him. I got over to Shizune and asked, "What do we do?"

"She looked at me in confusion, and then responded, "We should stay out of the way, Naruto, but how did you stop the fox?"

"That isn't important, what is important is that I have learned that I am the son of the Fourth Hokage, I will do whatever I have to do to protect the village. So what I am asking you is what we should do to best survive this encounter."

Three large poofs of smoke came from the Prodigal three, and their main summons emerged. I watched what I thought was the greatest struggle of all time on that day, I was sadly wrong. After it was all said and done, I limped over to Jiraiya and said, "I met my dad in my mindscape, he told me to train under Itachi, where can I find him, Pervy Sage? I need to know."

First both he and Tsunade wanted to hear my version of events, then they thought for a while, and they told me what was going to happen to me over the next couple of months, and that decided that, and my future became set. That all brought me back to where I was...

back in the present...

Sasuke rose out of the water below me and stood up. "So, after all of the stuff we have gone through together...I am worthless to you?" he asked.

"No," I responded, "You are my best friend, Sasuke, that is why I have to leave. I don't expect you to understand."

"Is it worth it, Naruto? IS IT WORTH IT TO LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND?"

Was it? The question startled me. Were all of the lies worth it? I didn't want to think about it, so I pushed it from my mind, and formed a Rasengan. Sasuke formed a Chidori, and we charged at each other and our jutsu collided. We both flew backwards, I managed to stay above the water, but Sasuke didn't. When he got up, I had a kunai charged with wind element chakra. I made a stab for his heart, but he moved to the side just in time. Blood spattered me and the water around us, my kunai had severed several tendons in his shoulder, and I knew the bone was sliced in places. Sasuke was looking me in the eye however. I noticed that his Sharingan had three tomoe now. He released his cursed seal, and his wounds healed. He shoved me back, and I caught air.

While I was pondering the possibility in such a dramatic increase in strength, he unleashed some major combos of taijutsu on me. Rock broke behind me when I slammed into it. I winced and then quickly went through all the punches thrown in the match so far, and I realized that his attack patterns were quite elementary, once you got down to it. I looked up at him and realized a moment too late that he had unleashed the full potential of his curse seal. He had two humongous hand-like wings spread out behind him, and was charging right at me. I dodged his punch, but not his wing, and got pummeled once again. Once I had regained my balance, I pulled out the red chakra. He dashed at me, but I repelled him with a roar and a pulse of chakra.

I felt the chakra increase in density and then surround me. I somehow knew that I had formed one tail behind me. I was protected. We both dashed at each other and landed a punch, and thus repelled each other quite efficiently. We both destroyed the feet of the two statues in the valley. I stood up and bellowed, causing the dust to settle. Sasuke was already up and forming a Chidori. I rapidly formed a Rasengan. Sasuke shouted, "Cursed Power: Chidori Lament!"

I bellowed, "Sealed Power: Vermillion Rasengan!"

The two super-powered jutsu canceled each other, but I landed a good punch to his gut, he scratched my headband. We fell to the ground. His cursed power had retracted, and so I retracted my red chakra. Sasuke had at some point lost consciousness, and I stood over him. I fell to my knees in pain. His first question still haunted me, was all this worth it? "I knew when I was confronted by this problem, I would be causing a rift to form between us, but if I didn't do it, and do it right, I knew people would die. It had to be done. Because if not me, then who? So I sucked it up... I did what Iruka did, what you would have done, I committed," I said, "to do what needed to be done, to win this fight fast, I knew that we would probably never speak again, never be friends again, or partners again.

"I told myself that I was okay with that because I knew I was right, I knew I was saving lives. And even though I said... I said I was willing to go all the way with this, I wasn't. And – and I know this because the worst has happened. The one thing I can't live with has happened, for all of our back and forth. For all things we have said and done to each other. For all the hard questions I have had to ask, for all the terrible lies I have had to tell...there is one thing that I will never be able to tell anyone now... not my friends, not my coworkers, not my boss. The one thing that I should have told you. But-but now I can't.... Sasuke, it wasn't worth it."

I stood up and Hinata was standing next to me, she had heard everything, and I was okay with that. I started to cry, and she held me up. "Naruto," she whispered, "I will be right here next to you the entire way, don't worry about it, we can do this, all we have to do, is keep walking forward."

I nodded numbly. Hinata began to lead us away from that place, I couldn't walk very well at that point, so she just helped me along. That was when we noticed Kakashi. He looked at us, or me, and then blurred right in front of us. He looked mad, I guess he had every right to be. I had betrayed him. Then Itachi blurred between us, and said, "One of my associates is waiting for you up top, you two, he will show you the rest of the way. I will take care of this fool."

Hinata draped one of my arms over her shoulder, and jumped up, so that we were at the top area of the waterfall again. A man who looked like he had two different sides to him physically waited for us, he had the Akatsuki robes on and he seemed to be growing out of a Venus Fly Trap. He turned on his heel and started walking, and we limped after him. I promised myself there that I would accomplish my mission, no matter the cost, I had now sacrificed too much to turn back.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

sorry it took so long, I am in playoffs right now, and am really busy, plus college apps, and well, I am super busy, these three chapters are how I am going to be doing Chasing Naruto over again, and now, the real changes in the story will emerge. I will try to update soon.

IPOD384