Naruto walked up to Bee and pumped fists. "It's nice to meet you too, Mister Eight."
As they bumped fists, two cloaked figures entered the clearing and everyone's eyes were immediately drawn to them. One pair in particular.
"ITACHI!" Sasuke roared as he drew a kunai and charged at him.
OOO
As Sasuke charged at Itachi, Kakashi rushed forward in a burst of speed and delivered a chop to the back of his neck, knocking him out instantly. "He's too emotionally invested in this, he'll get himself killed."
"What are two S-rank nukenin doing here?" Kakashi asked in a serious voice "Here to finish the job you started Itachi?"
"Sasuke is meaningless." Itachi stated calmly "We have come for the jinchuriki."
At this, everyone on Team Bee gasped while Bee, Naruto, and Kakashi just glared at Itachi with greater intensity, Sakura just looked confused and scared.
"Bee-san," Kakashi said in a serious voice "I recommend that your team as well as Sakura take Sasuke out of here. You should take the blue one, Kisame Hoshigaki from Kiri, Naruto and I are uniquely suited to fight Itachi." as Kakashi made the last statement, he raised his headband revealing his sharingan.
"Alright Kakashi, that sounds fine, but are you sure you want to bring Mister Nine?" Bee rapped in a serious voice, despite the fact that he knew Naruto carried a biju, he was still only a genin.
"Maa, maa," Kakashi replied "Trust me on this one, Naruto can handle himself. Isn't that right, Naruto?"
"Of course, Kakashi-sensei, let's kick this guy's ass, dattebayo!" Naruto said smirking eyes flashing red.
"So Mister Nine has the sharingan." Bee thought with some surprise "Maybe this could work out after all."
"Alright, baka yaro, kono yaro." Bee said before a tentacle erupted from his back and knocked Kisame away with Bee following close behind.
Samui was the first of the genin to react as she scooped up Sasuke. "It's uncool, but we should get out of here. If those two can fight Kirabi-sensei, then we don't stand a chance. Let's get out of here. She and the rest of Team Bee quickly followed behind her, and Sakura ran after Sasuke.
"You truly believe a genin can fight me, Kakashi-senpai? He may have the Sharingan, but it is only a tool as the Uchiha clan found out the hard way." Itachi said with a neutral expression.
"Naruto is hardly a normal genin." Kakashi replied calmly "And you should know better than anyone that age can be deceiving."
"Can we stop all this talking and start fighting?" Naruto asked impatiently "If you want to try to take me, you'll die trying."
"Don't underestimate him, Naruto." Kakashi stated quickly, making sure there was no misunderstanding "This is the man that wiped out the entire Uchiha clan single handedly."
"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, I know who he is." Naruto reassured.
"I think I agree with Naruto-kun," Itachi said in the same neutral voice "There has been quite enough talking for now. You may both possess the Sharingan, but until you have eyes like mine, you cannot hope to defeat me." As Itachi spoke, the mangekyou appeared in his eyes.
"So that's why you left Sasuke alive all those years ago," Naruto said angrily "Your light is fading. You want a replacement. I do not face the same dilemma." Naruto said seriously as his eternal mangekyou appeared in his eyes.
At this, both Kakashi and Itachi were shocked by this, Kakashi especially.
"That's certainly an interesting development, Naruto-kun." Itachi said seriously "Who did you kill?"
"I got mine another way, Itachi-san." Naruto replied indignantly "Despite what you may believe, killing everyone you care about does not make you stronger. It makes you weaker. It only means you have nothing to fight for. No reason to get stronger."
"We will certainly be having a conversation after your capture Naruto-kun." Itachi said seriously.
"No, but we will be having a talk once this is over Naruto." Kakashi said in a neutral voice, but Naruto could tell he was disappointed that Naruto hadn't told him about possessing the mangekyou.
Deciding not to reply for now, Naruto held a hand over his right eye while staring at Itachi. "Amaterasu!"
As Itachi erupted into black flames, he suddenly burst into crows.
"Genjutsu!" thought Naruto and Kakashi simultaneously.
"So those eyes aren't just for show, Naruto-kun." Itachi stated from behind Naruto, holding a kunai to his neck. "Unfortunately for you, special eyes will only get you so far against a superior opponent."
"I quite agree." Naruto replied calmly, despite the present situation "Boom!" he shouted as he exploded sending Itachi flying back to where Kakashi was standing having charged up his Raikiri and he impaled Itachi without hesitation.
OOO
With The Other Genin:
To the observing Team Bee and Sakura, it appeared that Naruto, Kakashi, and Itachi were all standing still.
"What are they doing?" Sakura asked sounding nervous "They haven't moved an inch since we left."
"It's uncool that I should have to explain this to someone who's on a team where every other member possesses a sharingan, but they are currently engaging in a genjutsu battle of the highest level." Samui stated in a decidedly cool fashion.
"Well, should we try to take out the dick in the cloak while they're all just standing there?" asked Karui in a much less cool fashion than Samui had.
"No," Samui replied quickly "We'd all be killed in seconds, we can't fight on the same level as they can, as uncool as it may be to admit, it would be even less cool to die."
OOO
Back in the Genjutsu:
Kakashi was nowhere in sight and Naruto and Itachi were currently engaged in a taijutsu fight. Naruto threw a quick right hook at Itachi as Itachi ducked and retaliated with a quick jab to the stomach that Naruto blocked causing both of them to flip backwards and get some distance.
Itachi charged at Naruto, kunai in hand, and attempted a slash across his chest as Naruto bent backwards beneath the blade and kneed Itachi in the stomach, causing the nukenin to burst into smoke.
"Shadow Clone!." Naruto thought in a panic as he attempted to dodge a kick sent to his back by the real Itachi but was unable to and ended up flying backwards into a tree, only for Naruto to burst into smoke as well.
The real Naruto attempted a spinning axe kick from above Itachi, which was blocked causing Naruto to flip backwards in order to create distance between him and Itachi. However, this attack was only a distraction.
"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Justu" came Kakashi's voice as he pulled Itachi into the earth.
"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, sending the spiralling sphere straight into Itachi's skull, causing him to explode, sending both Naruto and Kakashi flying back.
"ENOUGH!" yelled Naruto "It's time for the real fight to begin."
OOO
The Real World:
To the eyes of the observers, it appeared as if the three had just woken from some sort of trance.
"That was impressive Naruto-kun, to break through all of the illusions so easily." Itachi said with a small smile "You truly are impressive, much more so than my foolish little brother, I can see that Kakashi-senpai has trained you well."
"Actually," Naruto replied during a sweat-drop "Kakashi has only taught me teamwork exercises." he said with a small glare at the cycloptic jounin causing Team Bee and Itachi to sweat-drop.
Kakashi himself merely rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"At this time, I feel we have a good enough understanding of your capabilities. We will see each other again Naruto-kun." Itachi said disappearing in a flock of crows.
"DAMN IT! He got away." Naruto yelled in frustration.
"Don't worry Naruto, considering everything, it was probably the best result we could have hoped for. Itachi is on a different level from either of us. I only wonder how Bee-san is doing." Kakashi told the angry blonde.
As if the universe had been waiting for Kakashi to ask, an enormous bull/octopus creature with one horn appeared within an enormous sphere of water.
"You just had to ask Kakashi-sensei." Naruto sweat-dropped
OOO
With Bee:
Bee and Gyuki were not doing too well.
"Come on Gyuki, let's beat this fool. As Samui would say, this is so uncool."
"Maybe if you focused more on fighting and less on rapping we'd be doing better."
It had been going alright until Kisame had summoned that giant sphere of water. Despite the fact that Gyuki was half octopus, water was definitely Kisame's home turf.
"Bee, let me switch with you." Gyuki said.
"Alright bro, let's go, baka yaro kono yaro. Bee rapped in his mindscape making the same weird hand gestures as before.
Within the dome of water, Gyuki attempted to swim away from the sharks, but they were gaining on him quickly, Kisame in his shark form was especially fast. In an attempt to throw them off, he quickly filled the dome with ink and used the distraction to form a bijuudama. Once it was finished, he launched it straight at Kisame, who dodged, but the force was enough to break the bubble of water.
"So he's as good as they say. He truly deserves the title 'Epitome of Jinchuriki' to be able to use the biju's power to such an extent. Perhaps it's time for a tactical retreat."
"Kisame," Itachi said appearing in a crow shunshin "We're leaving."
"Ha, Itachi-san," Kisame said as he put on a new cloak "I was just thinking the same thing. That brat and the copy ninja give you any trouble?"
"Yes," Itachi replied "It appears that Naruto has the same eyes as me. He's more powerful than any of us had imagined."
"Hmm, Leader-same will want to hear of this.
OOO
With Everyone Else:
"Well Bee-san," Kakashi addressed the Kumo jounin "Even if they got away, we thank you for your help."
"They were after me too, don't forget. Lucky for us, they ran off in regret, baka yaro kono yaro." Bee rapped.
"Well I hope we'll be seeing you and your team at the Chunin Exams in a month, Bee-san." Kakashi said, deciding that carrying on a conversation with the eccentric jounin would not be good for his mental health long-term. Then again, Gai was his eternal rival, so it might be too late for that anyways.
"It was cool meeting you guys, especially the cute blonde." Samui said with a wink that left Naruto flustered and gave Sakura a slight tick in her forehead. "See you guys in the exams." And with that, Team Bee left the clearing.
OOO
1 Hour Later: Road to Konoha
Sasuke stirred and awakened, finding himself being carried by Kakashi back towards the leaf. "I-Itachi. WHERE IS ITACHI?!" he yelled, realizing what had happened just before he was knocked unconscious.
"Calm down, Sasuke," the silver-haired jounin chastised "After a brief battle, he and his partner retreated."
"How did I get knocked out?! I was watching his every move!" Sasuke yelled in disbelief.
"I knocked you out." Kakashi told his student, knowing what his reaction was going to be.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Sasuke roared in anger "I'VE TRAINED MY WHOLE LIFE TO AVENGE MY CLAN! WHY WOULD YOU-"
"Silence, Sasuke." Kakashi said seriously releasing a bit of KI and causing Sasuke, while still furious, to be quiet "This behaviour is exactly why I did it. You were totally unhinged. You charged in alone with no plan against an S-Rank opponent as a rookie genin. You would have been killed and you may have gotten one of your teammates killed in an attempt to save you. You clearly learned nothing from my first lesson to all of you."
Sasuke forced himself off of Kakashi, determined to move under his own power and refused to say another word to Kakashi, but continued to send the cycloptic jounin glares full of hatred until they arrived at the entrance to the village.
"Alright," Kakashi said still as seriously as he had been since Sasuke had awoken "as it is clear that your teamwork needs some work, I am giving you a direct order to get to know each other better. Based on the performance on that last mission, I find it extremely difficult to believe you could have passed my genin test. You can't work together unless you truly understand each other. I will report to the Hokage"
"Hn." Sasuke grunted angrily "Just like everything you've taught us since the formation of our team, this exercise is pointless. None of this will help me achieve my ambition. I am going home." At this he disappeared in a burst of speed.
"Both of you," Kakashi said with a sigh "follow him." he then disappeared in a shunshin.
"Umm.. Naruto," Sakura said nervously "I've been thinking about what you said and … and-" At this, Sakura burst into tears and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm so sorry! A-After what that guy said calling you a jinchuriki I r-realized. H-How everyone has always treated you horribly and me more than a-anyone and I-I'm just so sorry." She said continuing to sob.
Naruto was just in a state of shock. Even after Sakura had found out what he was, she didn't hate him. In fact she actually treated him better than before, and not because of his father. She truly cared about him for him. At this, he let out a small smile, but a genuine one.
"Don't worry Sakura," Naruto said causing her to look up at him "I was never really angry at you. All my life my goal was to be seen as Naruto instead of the Kyuubi. When people found out who my father was, I was no longer the Kyuubi, I was "Namikaze-sama" and I hated it. Nobody cared about me for me, only for my father. When you tried being nice to me, I took all my frustration out on you when I shouldn't have. Teammates?" he asked holding out a fist.
Sakura just stared at the fist in surprise. After how she had treated him, how could he forgive her so easily. She then thought about every experience she had had with Naruto. No matter how horribly she had treated him, he had never replied with anything but kindness. He was truly the kindest, most caring person she had ever met. From that day on, she decided that she would protect Naruto. She would no longer be useless like on that mission to Kumo. She would catch up with him and Sasuke and they would be a real team.
Sakura stopped crying and a smile appeared on her face. "Teammates." she agreed, bumping Naruto's fist. "Now let's go find Sasuke." she said and started walking in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Naruto noted with surprise that she had left off the -kun honorific. With a sigh, he quickly ran to catch up to her.
OOO
Uchiha Compound:
Sasuke was attacking a training dummy in a state of fury, seeing his brother's face. "That idiot Kakashi! How could he do that to me, an Uchiha, the elite of the elite. My sole purpose for living, my chance for revenge wasted!"With the final thought he shattered the head of the training dummy with a chakra enhance punch, then stood panting with his hands on his knees.
He was so tired that he didn't even notice Naruto and Sakura approaching from behind him.
"Sasuke?" Sakura asked nervously "We need to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about." Sasuke said angrily "This village has done nothing but hold me back and prevent me from becoming strong enough to achieve my ambition. You especially are a worthless fangirl, a poor excuse for a kunoichi."
At this Sakura stepped back with tears in her eyes. While she knew it to be true, to hear it from one of her teammates and someone she had idolized for years hurt. Alot.
Seeing Sakura's reaction, Naruto got angry at the emo Uchiha. "Just because you did nothing on the mission doesn't give you the right to treat Sakura like that Sasuke."
"Naruto.." Sasuke said slowly "FIGHT ME!" he yelled and charged at the blonde.
"You fool." Naruto said calmly, despite the attack "You've forgotten the first rule of your clan. Never look into the eyes of an Uchiha. Tsukiyomi." the blonde said and instantly they were trapped within his mind.
OOO
The World of Tsukiyomi:
Sasuke was tied to a cross with Naruto standing in front of him. The sky was blood red, as was the moon.
"LET ME GO, NARUTO!" Sasuke roared at his blonde teammate, fighting against his restraints.
"It's no use Sasuke. In this world, I am God. I control everything. There is no way you can escape." Naruto replied calmly to his teammate. "Now I'm going to talk and you're going to listen." Naruto said as a gag appeared in Sasuke's mouth.
"You need to stop what you're doing. You're allowing your brother to win every time you push someone away. He wins every time you immerse yourself in revenge. The best way for you to beat him is to form connections with others and to really live. This doesn't mean don't kill him, but you should stop being such a prick to people like Sakura who are just trying to help!" Naruto said staring into the eyes of the Uchiha.
Naruto then dismissed the gag, allowing Sasuke to respond. "You know nothing about this, Naruto. You were an orphan all your life, you have no idea how it feels to have family and then have them taken from you by YOUR OWN BROTHER! He told me to hate him with all that I have, and that's what I have done. I WILL kill Itachi if it's the last thing I do."
Naruto just stared at him impassively. "You're just letting him win, Sasuke. Why would you do what the man who killed your clan told you to? The reason I am strong is because of my connections with others, not in spite of them. The desire to protect the people closest to you is true strength. That is what all the Hokage's, the strongest ninja in Konoha, had in common. All carried a deep love for this village and desired to protect it."
Sasuke had never thought of it like that. Everything he knew, everything he was was being contradicted right before his eyes. It made him angry. He was far too furious to think rationally, and Naruto could see that.
"I control this world for 72 hours, but in the real world only seconds will have passed." Naruto told the unstable Uchiha "I believe it would be best to give you that time to sort out your thoughts." After saying that, Naruto simply disappeared.
OOO
72 Hours (Or 1 second depending on where you're standing) Later:
Sakura didn't understand what had happened. One second Sasuke looked angry and the next he was just standing there.
But to Sasuke, a lot had happened. He had had a lot to think about during the Tsukiyomi. While at first he hadn't wanted to accept the fact that what he was doing was wrong, 72 hours in a genjutsu alone had let him see that doing exactly what Itachi had told him to might not be the best way to get revenge against him. Don't misunderstand, he was still going to kill Itachi, but maybe Naruto was right. Itachi was strong, but not stronger than the Yondaime, or any of the Hokage. Maybe it was time to start finding people to protect. Maybe he could start with the people right in front of him.
Naruto saw the look in Sasuke's eyes as he glanced rapidly between him and Sakura and smirked. "Team 7?" Naruto asked putting his hand forward.
"Team 7." Sakura said putting her hand on top of Naruto's.
"Hn. Team 7." Sasuke said putting his hand on top of Sakura's, but refusing to make eye contact with either of them.
"Well…" Naruto thought "It's a start."
OOO
Antex- The Legendary Zoroark: Yes, the eyes are Madara's, but the Kyuubi altered the DNA in Naruto's body so he would be able to use them to his fullest potential. But any Uchiha or Rinnegan bearer without their eyes (I think) would lose their power if the eyes were stolen.