Thanks for the reviews. You people are great. Don't feel like you have to review, though. The story is not going to stop because of a hissy fit I might throw if I don't get reviews.
And just to clear things up, this is not ItaNaru. Itachi is in no way in love or thinking of a romantic relationship with Naruto. Their relationship, however, will be addressed in this and future chapters as something exotic, strange and deeply awkward.
You'll just have to keep reading to find out exactly what happened and how it happened.
Recap:
"You must leave, Naruto. It is late already and we're planning something for tomorrow. Our leader's orders are to get as much rest as possible" The blue-haired woman didn't seem in the mood to negotiate and just stared impassively at Naruto until the Kyuubi vessel grudgingly got up and marched out of the room.
The door closed and Itachi was, once more, alone in the dark.
Chapter IV (Confessions With A Taste Of Clay)
In that night, Naruto tossed and turned in bed. He just couldn't find the right position to fall asleep. The sheets were too wrinkly, the bed was too hot and the burning guilt of having injured Itachi was hitting him full force. All considered, his day was sucking... pretty bad.
He groaned as he turned around one more time. It was a good thing that they had given him a room of his own. When he had first arrived he had figured that they would make him share the room with another member until he was proven trustworthy, but he had received a room right away, no doubt as a proof of trust.
Or maybe they just felt like randomly giving away fully decorated rooms. Nah, it's probably a token of trust.
Before he knew what had hit him, he was dozing off, falling still and silent, the only sign of life being the soft rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in and out.
"Naruto..."
"Who are you?"
"Naruto..." The disembodied voice called again. It was... strangely familiar. It was deep and veiled, like it was hiding some sort of emotion. It was, at the same time, silky and rough on the edges.
"Show yourself!"
"You already know where I am. You already know who I am. I am a part of you... Remember... I am a part of you..." And then, just as fast as the dream had wormed its way into Naruto's sleep, it disappeared, disintegrating into much more pleasant dreams.
"You know, I really don't see the need to be escorted from my room to the dining room just to have breakfast" A sleep-deprived Naruto grunted, keeping an edge of annoyance to his voice.
The man following by his side shot him an amused look.
"You sound like you haven't slept at all. Had a bad dream?" The man chuckled at the dark glare he received from the blue-eyed demon vessel.
"Shut up. I can't even remember what I dreamt" He snarled uncharacteristically, earning a concerned glance from his companion.
"Well, make sure you get enough sleep, ok?" The man asked, inserting a half-assed joking tone into his demand.
"Yes mom" Naruto snorted "But really, Itachi, why do I have to be escorted? I can find the dining hall all by myself. And you're still recovering from injuries." His voice lost its annoyed inflexion when he mentioned the injuries he had caused.
"My injuries weren't all that bad. I still have missions to complete"
"Not that bad?" Naruto exclaimed "I practically destroyed your arm!"
"Correction. You severed my arm from my shoulder. It was something that Kakuzu could easily solve" Itachi corrected, focusing on his feet.
"He solved... You know what? I don't actually want to know... But seriously... explain the whole escorting thing"
"It was a request from some of the other members that you be watched at all times. Pain was willing to trust you for some reason only he knows but the request from the members cannot be ignored. Therefore, we have been assigned to guard you" Itachi explained. The blue-eyed Jinchuuriki frowned.
"Why did they want me to be watched?"
"Because of my injuries and the sheer fact that they don't like your face"
"Oh... Why you? Why did they assign you to watch me if I'm the one who hurt you?"
"I volunteered" Was the simple answer as the black-haired man continue to walk forward, a clear sign that the conversation was over. It was getting dangerously close to the line of no return that neither men wanted to cross. Some weird shit was going on between the two, a connection of sorts that was getting creepier and stronger by the day.
"Oh" Was Naruto's smart answer.
He quickly decided that five minutes of not talking was driving him insane. He was beginning to seriously consider faking a heart attack just to test Itachi's reaction or to get a reaction at all but decided against it. They didn't trust him already. Faking a heart attack would only bring more suspicion upon him. He decided to ask something, though.
"Uh... Itachi...?" He asked timidly, risking a glance at the genocidal Uchiha. Itachi sighed deeply.
"Do you really have to talk?" He complained, sounding more amused than annoyed.
"Yes. Yes I do."
"... Go on..."
"I was wondering. Who was assigned to watch me?"
"I was. Plus, Hidan, Kakuzu, Konan, Deidara, Kisame and Tobi are going to take turns watching you whenever I can't or just don't feel like it" Was the brief answer.
"What about Leader?"
"He has better things to do than watch you, Ninetails"
"Eat it, Wrinkles" Itachi didn't miss a beat.
"No thanks, I'm straight."
"No one would have guessed it Wrinkles. I mean, you do wear nail polish" Itachi looked enraged for a moment before stopping and sighing.
"We're here. Now let's get some breakfast before I decide to break your neck"
"Yeah, right. Like you could do that" In less than a millisecond, Itachi was in his face, eyes narrowed and glinting evilly and mouth set in a frown.
"You doubt I could?" The blonde's eyes widened and he gulped loudly before chuckling nervously as Itachi put some distance between them.
"Eh, eh... I don't doubt you. At all" He quickly responded, waving his hands in front of him like a maniac.
"Will you two quit your pussy-ass old-couple bickering? We're trying to have breakfast in here!" Came the annoyed voice of one well-known Jashinist from the dining hall. Itachi and Naruto stared at each other for a full second before jumping away from each other simultaneously.
They then proceeded to walk into the dining hall with whatever was left of their dignity.
The rest of the Akatsuki was already there, sitting at the table and staring at the two males and snickering. The only one not snickering was Kisame. Kisame was outright laughing. Of course, all of that stopped when Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan began spinning wildly.
The Uchiha sent everyone a cold glare before occupying his seat to the right of Kisame and leaving Naruto standing in front of the table, suddenly remembering that he hadn't eaten for two days. One of which had been an intensive battle. His stomach roared loudly.
He looked around for a place to sit and found one... right next to Deidara. The blonde artist, who had been previously occupied with making little sculptures out of bread, stared at him blankly.
"You know, you can sit" He gestured to the empty chair between him and Tobi "I don't bite"
Nodding, Naruto forced his body to comply and moved to sit next to Deidara. That simple act seemed to break the tension in the room and suddenly everyone resumed their previous activities – Hidan praying, Kakuzu making a tower with one cent coins, Konan folding paper, Pain reading a scroll, Kisame chatting animatedly to anyone who would care to listen and Tobi doing... well, whatever he was doing.
"Much" He froze when he heard Deidara whisper next to him. The blue-eyed demon vessel turned to Deidara, wide-eyed. The artist was chuckling to himself as he continued to sculpt a bird out of bread.
Sighing heavily for what seemed like the hundredth time in the morning, Naruto turned back around and began to eat his breakfast.
"Stop staring"
"..."
"Seriously, stop staring"
"..."
"Please don't make me kick you where you don't want to be kicked"
"..."
"I really hate you right now, you know?"
"..."
"Ok, I'll hurt you"
"..."
"Badly"
"... Fine. I'll turn around"
"Do you really have to watch me here? It's a windowless bathroom. Where the hell do you want me to escape through?"
"I thought you really had to take a piss"
"Turn around"
"I already did that"
"Now close your eyes"
"Oh come on! Stop being such a pussy! We're all straight here, ok?"
"I highly doubt it, Blue Balls"
"Shut up, Ninetails"
If you're wondering what in Jashin's name is going on here, it is a quite simple picture. Naruto and Itachi had another bickering round and Itachi lost. So, to maintain some of his pride, the Uchiha had decided he had important studies to catch up to so someone else had to watch Naruto. Of course, the second person in line was Kisame. And now Naruto was being watched as he 'did his business' in the bathroom.
"Ok, I'm done" Naruto stated as he pulled the zipper in his pants up. Kisame turned back around and rolled his eyes.
"Are you really that small that you have to hide from other people?"
"I was saving you the shame of having to admit you're more of a woman than a man" Kisame laughed whole-heartedly as the duo exited the bathroom.
"Yeah, right. Like that was possible"
The two glared at each other for a full minute before they were – rather rudely, I must say – interrupted by a snicker and a surprised cough. In front of them stood a smirking Deidara and a gaping Tobi. Well, Naruto thought he was gaping; it was a bit difficult to see with the mask, but the boy – no, man – seemed a bit off, so the blonde assumed him to be gaping.
"Oh, how cute, un" The older blonde exclaimed sarcastically "I should know you had something going on. You are always together, after all"
Naruto sent him a murderous look and was about to jump at the other boy's throat when he heard a whimper and a blur of tan gray-ish white assaulted him and knocked him to the floor, before setting itself on top of his chest.
The thing let out an amiable growl, before Naruto felt something sticky licking his cheek.
Naruto groaned loudly as he realized he had forgotten about Roar. The young-but-oh-so-big dragon let out a happy sound and looked at his master, extending his wings to their full extent and flapping them a few times.
"Hey, Roar" The fox Jinchuuriki greeted, lifting one hand to pet the clay dragon.
"Yes, you're totally gay" Deidara barked, in between laughs, whereas Tobi just stared.
"And if I was?" Naruto shot back, hoping to corner his fellow blonde. The clay artist sent him a mighty glare.
"I don't discriminate, man" He growled, as Roar looked from one blonde to the other, in hopes of getting a half-logical answer to his confusion.
Naruto groaned.
"Get off me, Roar. You're crushing me" He ordered, though it sounded more like a pitiful whimper then a firm command.
It didn't matter, though, as the clay beast leapt from his master's chest and landed gracefully by his side, chirping happily.
"What's got you in this awfully happy mood?" The younger blonde half growled to the horse-sized clay dragon. The dragon just stared at him with mirth-filled eyes.
"Well, good for you. I, for one, have been having a shitty week" The fox Jinchuuriki replied, as if the dragon had actually answered him.
Master and pet stared at each other for a second, before the dragon yipped and turned to look at the other three men in the hallway. And what an amazing sight, one could say. A tall shark-man who was staring wide-eyed and with his jaw on the floor at the display in front of him, a long-haired blonde who was sporting the most perfect poker face Naruto had ever seen, and a masked idiot who was slightly bouncing.
"What?" Naruto asked, feeling rather defensive, as all three men shook themselves awake from their stupor.
"Guess what, Naruto? Leader as requested your presence in his office" Tobi decided to say, bouncing higher. Naruto scratched the back of his head.
"Uh... Does he mind if I eat first? It's almost lunch time" Deidara sighed heavily.
"He means 'get your ass in my office right now or I'll kill you'" The blonde translated, turning to leave.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Naruto yelled after him. The other blonde didn't even bother to turn around.
"I'm going to my studio. Don't bother me. That applies to you too, Tobi!" The masked idiot whined pathetically and set off after his sempai.
Kisame turned to Naruto, with a sulking expression.
"Well, we better get to Pain's office before he throws a fit" He grunted, to which Naruto just shrugged and started to head down the hallway, in the direction of Pain's office.
"I'm glad you could join me"
"Forgive us, Leader"
"I hope this does not become a habit"
"It won't, Leader"
"Why do I have a feeling that we'll be having this conversation a lot more times?"
Naruto seriously thought his head would explode from all the formalities required to apologize for arriving five minutes late.
"It won't happen again, Leader" He said once again.
Pain remained silent for a while, Rinnegan eyes slowly analyzing the duo in front of him. He must've reached a satisfying conclusion, because the orange-headed leader of the fearsome organization closed his eyes and heaved a sigh.
"Very well. We have more important matters to discuss. Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto snapped back to attention, looking at his leader in the eyes "What is your knowledge of your parentage?"
The question confused both Kisame and Naruto. The big shark-man opened his mouth as if to speak, but decided against it, while the orange-clad Jinchuuriki just stared at Pain confusedly.
"None" He replied, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
The leader of the Akatsuki closed his eyes, and let out a sigh that indicated that he was expecting an answer of the sort.
'Uh, oh... Here comes the big revelation...' Said a voice from deep within Naruto. The boy was instantly alerted to the fact that Kyuubi was awake and listening to the conversation being held outside his cage.
'What big revelation, fox?' He demanded to know. However, the fox only laughed and remained silent, deaf to her vessel's pleas.
"Naruto?" He heard the familiar deep voice of the Leader call him out of his one-sided conversation with the Kyuubi.
"Yes?" He blinked rapidly, quickly becoming aware of his surroundings. He let out a girly screech at finding himself suddenly by Itachi's side. The genocidal Uchiha sent him a confused look.
"What are you doing here?" Screeched the completely humiliated Jinchuuriki.
"What do you mean? I've been standing here for the past five minutes! You're the one who was staring off into space and ignoring us!" Itachi complained, keeping his voice low just so he could maintain his composure.
Naruto sent him an offended look.
"I wasn't ignoring you, Wrinkles! I was... talking with the fox" This caught the three Akatsuki members' attention immediately.
"You were talking with the fox?" Itachi double-checked. Kisame whistled. Pain just stared, wide-eyed.
"What did he say?"
"Something about a 'big revelation' or something" He completely missed the way that Pain drew a large and sharp breath.
"Actually" He began, drawing everyone's attention to him "That is probably the reason why I called you all here".
A long silence ensued.
"I guess I's best if stop dancing around the subject at hand and just say what I'm about to say" Needless to say, all of the Akatsuki members were surprised at the lack of formality used by their leader. All eyes narrowed in suspicion as Pain eyed them.
"The only reason why I called you all here is because you two seem to be the closest to Naruto and although I can't understand why or how you're so close to him, I decided that it would be best for you two to know before anyone else does" He explained curtly, clearly impatient to talk about... whatever he was going to talk about.
Itachi and Kisame nodded uncertainly.
"I shall begin at the beginning of this story. You see, I wasn't always the leader of a fearsome organization like the Akatsuki. I lived in a far away land, called the Village Hidden in the Rain. Maybe you've heard of it" Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, Pervy Sage told me something about it. He said he had fought some sort of war there."
"Many wars were fought in our land. As you may know, our land is the one that shares borders with every country, so their wars were fought in our country and most of the population there was made up of war refugees" He got a dreamy look in his Rinnegan eyes, as if he was reminiscing.
"I lived near the Hidden Village, in a small house with my parents. We were... happy, in some sort of way. My parents had yet to leave our house, as had been ordered by our leader Hanzo, so he could fight his war against Konoha. One night, we heard someone breaking into our house – Konoha shinobi" His eyes portrayed bitterness so great that Naruto had to fight the urge to hug his knees.
"They were searching for food and weapons. We tried to sneak out – after all, we weren't fighters – but I accidentally broke a vase my mother always had near the front door. They heard us and my father stepped forward in a futile attempt to slow them down, so my mother and I could escape. However, the Konoha shinobi were Jounin, so my father was quickly... disposed off"
The blonde boy listening to the story gulped somewhat loudly, but Pain didn't seem to care.
"The shinobi then turned to my mother and now that I look back, I am thankful that all they did was kill her quickly and painlessly. When they looked at me, they realized their mistake. I was just a kid, petrified by fear. Lightning allowed me to see what would become engraved in my mind forever – the Konoha hitai-ate. I was furious. How dare they break into my house – a house of innocents – and kill my parents? And they had the nerve of apologizing, saying that it was all a misunderstanding"
"So I felt something within me. Something powerful. I had awakened the Rinnegan and I used it to kill the shinobi"
Naruto was speechless. Honestly, there wasn't much one could say in this situation. And so Pain continued.
"I buried my parents and gave them a small funeral and then set off to the Hidden Village. Along the way, I asked some people for food. There was one in particular that would later become of importance. One man said that they didn't have food for themselves, let alone some homeless kid. I thanked them all the same, even thought that was my last stop and I wouldn't be able to ask for food anywhere else"
"When I walked away, however, I happened to look into their house, through a window. I saw a basket of bread, big enough to feed me and them for the next week. I was enraged, but I was shy and said nothing. Somewhere along my way to the Hidden Village, I passed out. I would've died there if a young pup hadn't licked me in the face, awakening me and giving me strength."
"I named the dog Chibi and, from that day on, he was my faithful companion. The rest of the days are blurry for I was starving and my memory failed me. I remember passing out. This time, not even Chibi could help me. The one to wake me up, though, was a blue haired girl, who offered me a piece of bread. I thanked her and even though I was starving, I shared that meal with Chibi"
"She brought us back to the place where she and her companion lived. It was a cave, filled with boxes upon boxes of food. There was a boy with spiky orange hair there named Yahiko. He told me they stole to survive. I refused to do it but then I remembered that guy who refused to share with me and I felt hatred. I accepted their offer."
"From that day on, we became the best of friends. We stole together and lived together. Eventually, we came to a place where we found your Legendary Sannin fighting Danzo."
"You found Granny Tsunade, Pervy Sage and that creep Orochimaru?" Naruto interrupted. The whole room went silent and every shinobi there eyed him – Itachi rose his eyebrow, mind you.
"What?"
"Anyway... We followed them and begged them to teach us Jutsu. I think the only reason Jiraiya-sensei agreed was because of my Rinnegan..."
"Wow... wait just a second there... you were trained by Pervy Sage?" Naruto – once more – interrupted.
"You shouldn't call him that, Ninetails... The Toad Sage is one of the most powerful shinobi ever seen. Remember he taught the Fourth Hokage and, apparently, our Leader" Itachi chastised.
"But he's a pervert! Ok, so he taught me and everything, but come on! He was always sneaking out to 'have some fun' as he put it! And he used my money too!" The boy protested loudly "You didn't know him, Wrinkles!"
"Didn't he teach you well?" The Uchiha countered.
"Well, yeah! He taught me the Rasengan in five days and we were beginning to train with Elemental Affinity. I finished my training with Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-taicho."
"Then there you have it. Be more respectful, Ninetails"
"What are you, my mother?" Itachi didn't reply, instead focusing on his leader. Pain shook his head.
"As I was saying, we were trained by Jiraiya-sensei. We quickly excelled at all the ninja arts – mainly because of my Rinnegan. Soon after, I killed my first man willingly. He was about to deal the final blow to Yahiko when I used the Rinnegan to kill him. I was shocked. Jiraiya-sensei was the one to teach me that killing was the way of the shinobi. We killed to protect the ones we loved"
"But Jiraiya-sensei left and we were left alone. It was then that Yahiko came up with the idea of creating an organization of the most powerful shinobi we could find. We called ourselves the Akatsuki. So, you see, we weren't always S-Class criminals"
"One day, even though we had made a peace treaty with Hanzo, he decided to fight us three alone. Or so we thought. The truth is, he had the support of Konoha, of a man named Danzo. Danzo and his ROOT shinobi were hiding so we couldn't sense them. Somehow, Hanzo managed to capture Konan and he gave me two choices."
"Either I killed Yahiko, my best friend, or he killed Konan. I picked up the kunai he had thrown at my feet and held it, fighting against myself. Yahiko was screaming at me to kill him, that Konan's life was more important than his. I turned to him but, when I did it, he ran at me and impaled himself with the kunai I was holding"
"That's horrible" Naruto whispered.
"I was furious. I teleported to the top of the cliff where Hanzo held Konan and saved her, though my legs were badly injured. I was blinded by hatred and pain, and so I used a Justu that only Rinnegan users can perform. I invoked a statue and surrendered my body to a power capable of destroying those shinobi. I killed most of them and the rest fled, but my body was partially destroyed."
"It was then that I decided to create the 'Six Paths of Pain', named after the great pain that I felt. For the first body, I used Yahiko's body. The one you see before you"
All three shinobi tensed, now seeing the resemblance between the Pain that they saw and the boy that Nagato had described.
"I created all six of the paths and then conquered the Village Hidden in the Rain, killing Hanzo. I understood that I had to create peace. However, peace cannot be achieved while there are still shinobi out there, willing to fight. So, my goal is to create an organization that will show pain to other people, so that they will lay down their weapons and live peacefully"
He seemed to have finished his speech by then, as he fell silent.
"Wait! Didn't you say this had something to do with my parentage?"
"You are observant. I did, indeed. Well, the truth is, I had a little sister, named Kushina, who was taken from our family by some shinobi. Her whereabouts were unknown and eventually my family gave up searching for her, resorting to praying that she came back to us. Her name was Kushina and, next thing we knew, she was getting married to Konoha's Fourth Hokage"
"Wow! You're sister was the Fourth's wife? Amazing!" He shrank back at the clod glare Pian sent him "Oh, right. Forgot you hated Konoha. Sorry..."
"Yes, my sister married the Fourth Hokage. Soon after, she died during the Kyuubi's attack after giving birth to her only son"
"Wow. You're the uncle of the Fourth's son... I wonder who that is... And, by the way, you never told us your name. Your real name" Itachi turned to Naruto to scold him, but Pain seemed willing to answer.
"My name in that time was different. It was my given name. You're about to hear something that no one else – save for Konan – knows. Do you swear to keep it a secret?"
The blond Jinchuuriki nodded nervously.
"My name is Nagato Uzumaki"
Silence. And then...
"I don't get it. Why is everyone staring at me like that?" Naruto chuckled nervously. Pain sighed. Itachi closed his eyes in annoyance and Kisame facepalmed.
"If my name is Nagato Uzumaki, then my sister's name was Kushina Uzumaki. She gave birth to her only son, so his last name was 'Uzumaki' and the only Uzumaki in the Leaf Village is..." He left the phrase hanging.
"Me" Naruto completed quietly, for once understanding completely " My father sealed the Kyuubi in me, my mother died giving birth to me and you're my uncle. Do I have everything right?"
Pain only nodded.
"Wow... That's... that's a lot to take in... I... wow..."
"I always knew you were dumb but I never thought it was beyond your scope to speak properly, Ninetails" Itachi commented. Naruto glared at him.
"Shut up, Wrinkles!"
The two men growled at each other before Pain interrupted with a delicate cough. Kisame was still in shock.
"I want you three, especially you, Naruto, to see my real body. You see these stairs behind me? Smear some of your blood on the door and it will open. On top of the stairs you will find my body"
"So, do you think that our mission will get more difficult now that the boy has found his parentage?"
"Not at all... Now be gone... I have a mission to complete"
"What about the blonde boy? Will he be any trouble? What if the Jinchuuriki begins to grow attached to the boy? Wouldn't that be a problem?"
"There is nothing that a little bit of pain doesn't solve. There isn't a bond that can't be broken"
"You're wrong" The voice – until then friendly – was grave now "There are bonds that can't be broken. The Uchiha can become a problem... Soulmates can't be torn apart"
There was a sigh of irritation.
"Just go. I'll deal with it myself. You forget that I've dealt with this before"
There was a long silence before the first voice spoke again.
"That's the problem. I'm not sure if killing your soulmate was the best of options. You shouldn't have done it. What if the madness comes again when you're executing this mission?"
"You forget that this is a game to me. I always win"
"... Ok... but be careful. If you don't complete the mission, the boss will be less than... satisfied"
"Just go before I eat your heart like I did with her..."
And one of the figures disappeared.
Ok, so it was a mysterious ending. And yes, I've played the 'Pain is an Uzumaki' card. Deal with it. Anyways, this chapter didn't come out quite right. I'm not particularly satisfied with it, but oh, well...
Might go back and re-write it.
Just to make this absolutely clear: Itachi is not going to be getting romantically involved with Naruto!
Oh, and a so little NaruDei in this chapter :( The next chapter is going to focus more on their relationship, I promise! Actually, it's going to focus in two very different relationships: Itachi's and Deidara's. Also, the mystery of 'What the heck are soulmates' is going to be solved in a near chapter!
R&R
