Chapter 4: Explanations

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Previously: Pain puts Itachi in charge of Naruto's well-being. The Akatsuki find out what Pain looks like. Naruto meets Pain and he concludes that the Kyūbi cannot be extracted from Naruto yet. Naruto thinks he is a burden to Itachi.

Pain stood at the only window of the room, looking over the village as he thought over the recent events of the day. This view had often helped him sort his thoughts. Even though it was near afternoon, the sky was full of dull, melancholy clouds. The sound of a never ending rain shower echoed throughout the entire village as cool mist and fog whisked the damp ground.

I thought it was only a legend, but that does not seem to be the case now. Nagato looked over the village through the Deva Path's eyes and remembered visiting the ancient temple.

He had gone with Yahiko to see if the place was a good new hideout for the Akatsuki, seeing that they had grown too big for their old one. When they had got there, it was immediately decided that the place was not very stable.

But Yahiko had insisted that they at least look around to see if they could find clues about more temples like that one. They might be more stable.

Nagato knew it was only an excuse to go explore. Yahiko used to want to go on treasure hunts when they were children. He thought they could find some ancient treasure that would give them the power to change the world.

Yahiko and Nagato had found a secret passage under the temple thanks to Nagato's Rinnegan. It would have taken both a Byakugan and a Sharingan user to locate it. It was far too deep below the ground and laced with heavy genjutsu to make sure it wouldn't be discovered too easily.

At the end of the hallway underground, there was a room with bare walls, or that's what Yahiko saw. But the Rinnegan wielder had been able to see the secret writing.

It stated the story of the Sage of Six Paths and how he had become the savior of the world. But most of the wall had fallen apart and it was hard to tell exactly what had the Sage saved them from. They didn't have the time to decipher what it said. It was decided that they would come back later if they had the time. But they never returned.

The only part Nagato had been able to read was a legend about Pool of Life. It was somewhere near the temple in the ancient times. It was said that whoever drank that water could stay young forever.

But the Sage had known that eternal youth was only a curse and the desire to possess it would cause much bloodshed and chaos amongst neighbors. However, the temptation would be too great for the people to resist. So he had asked for its destruction.

But of course, whoever was supposed to carry out the job had an impure heart like all humans. And he had secretly kept a stash hidden for himself. Nagato thought without surprise.

Unfortunately for him, the temple had been hit with an earthquake that day and all the inhabitants were forced to leave. Since the Kyūbi jinchūriki has de-aged, I suppose it isn't just a story after all. Nagato frowned. But if that much of the story was true. He wondered if the other part was as well.

I hope the brat is alright. Tsunade will castrate me if something happens to him. Jiraiya shivered at the thought. Just a day more and I'll reach the place where that herbalist lives. He wondered briefly if it would have been better to go into the Rain Village after all. His chest constricted in pain at the memories the place held.

No. Jiraiya mentally shook his head. They were on stable terms with the Leaf Village but he knew they were still suspicious of outsiders. He could hardly blame them. Their location between three big Hidden villages made it so it was often a battle ground when war broke out. They were the ones to suffer more than anyone.

He doubted a medic-nin would have agreed to leave the village with a stranger and go deep into the forest. I don't know that for sure. Jiraiya wondered if he should have at least tried. It's too late to turn back now. He pushed on. Hold on, kid!

Naruto and Itachi were walking back to their room. He's quiet, not that I'm complaining. But he was too quiet. The Uchiha was almost beginning to miss the boy's usual loud and cheery self. When they returned to their room, they saw someone had been there. That was fast. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

The single king-sized bed had been replaced. In its place were two smaller beds. The one on the left was baby blue and white with a checker board design comforter. The one on the right was a solid navy blue. Beside each bed a brown table.

Naruto walked towards the baby blue bed, sat down, and stared at his feet. Itachi looked at him, unsure of what to say. He must be mad about not being allowed to explore the hideout and the village. Seconds passed by, slowly.

Itachi walked over to him. "Naruto, we're going to meet the rest of the Akatsuki members, okay?"

He nodded and got off the bed. Itachi headed out the door and walked to the living room with Naruto in toe. The room had no windows. Light came from large windows. Three large, gray couches surrounded a table.

The Akatsuki members looked up to see Itachi come in with a little boy. Hidan looked at Naruto and grinned widely. "Itachi, so nice of you to provide me with a sacrifice for Lord Jashin. I will make sure to squeeze out every drop of his blood."

Naruto's eyes widened in fear and he ducked behind Itachi. He clutched Itachi's leg for dear life, afraid of the Jashinist, his dilemma forgotten.

Hidan decided if he couldn't swear, he would make Itachi suffer as much as he possibly could for that. The Uchiha looked at the immortal calmly. "Hidan, I suggest that you behave yourself because Pain has ordered no harm is to come to Naruto."

"Like I'm afraid of him in the first place," he boasted arrogantly immediately. He was the only member who didn't respect the leader. Then again, Hidan didn't respect anyone but his Lord Jashin.

"Sure," Deidara rolled his eyes.

"You got that right, you speech impedimenting heathen," Hidan growled.

"First of all impedimenting is not a word. Second, I do not have a speech impediment you pansy!" Deidara snarled.

But before it could any worse Kakuzu interpreted. "Hidan, let's go. We have a mission, finally."

He glared at Kakuzu and then at Deidara. "You got lucky. This time."

The zombie combo walked out of the room. Itachi sighed while Naruto loosened his grip in relief. The others turned back to Itachi and Naruto, who gripped his father tightly again, afraid they might hurt him.

Sasori decided he had better things to do. "I am Sasori of the Red Sand and if you don't want to be turned into a puppet, then I suggest you stay out of my stuff."

Naruto watched Sasori. He looked like a giant scorpion wearing the Akatsuki cloak and had a big metal tail and creepy mask. The puppeteer turned and left.

Deidara went next. "I'm Deidara and don't even think about touching my art or else."

"My name's Kisame and I am not a shark!" The blue-skinned man grinned rather widely, purposefully showing a full set of sharp, triangular teeth.

Deidara and Kisame turned back to their tasks of sharpening their kunai and Itachi motioned for Naruto to follow him. The jinchūriki stayed close to him, not wanting to be left alone surrounded by all those maniacs.

"This is the kitchen."

While Naruto explored the gray, boring but practical, kitchen Itachi made lunch. The two ate their sandwiches in silence. The duo came back to their room and Itachi went over to his work table while the boy decided to take an afternoon nap.

Naruto spent the rest of the day in the living room. He was allowed to now, having met the other members, who were busy with their hobbies, training, or out on a mission.

After dinner that night, Naruto went back to their room to change. He slipped into white pajamas and a cute little fox night cap. He slipped under the sheets and waited for sleep. His thoughts kept troubling him. No! Think about boring stuff. Or count sheep. Naruto brainstormed ways to get to sleep faster. Think about sitting alone on a nice day with nothing to do.

It was a warm, bright day with blue skies and a golden sun smiled at the children in the playground. Little Naruto ran to the sandbox to play with the other kids, but their parents pulled them away from him.

It confused the little blond-haired boy and he looked around to see the sun setting. At first, it was really beautiful with all the cool shades of orange bouncing off the buildings and people.

Unfortunately, it got dark and cold and scary. Naruto had no idea where to go.

He went to the swings and waited for his parents to come pick him up.

But nobody came.

So Naruto decided to go over to where it was crowded to ask if anyone knew where he lived. He walked to the marketplace and up to a lady in a pretty pink kimono.

"Um, hello? Do you know where my Mommy and Daddy are?"

But she ignored him and walked away.

Naruto knew that these people could see him and hear him, but didn't understand why they wouldn't talk to him. Or why they acted as if he was not there, pretended he was invisible like a ghost.

All of a sudden, the entire street was empty; darkness surrounded the scared boy. Naruto felt lonely, so much like he had never felt before.

Why? Why me? Did I do something wrong? Why won't they look at me? I'm so lonely. His throat closed up, tears poured from his eyes. Where are my Mommy and Daddy? Why doesn't anyone care about me? What purpose do I have in life? The questions hit Naruto like a ton bricks and he couldn't move. It was as if they had been going through his mind for years.

As quickly as the questions had come they were gone. Naruto was sitting alone. It was too quiet, with only gray everywhere. A single thought filled Naruto's mind. I'm so lonely.

Naruto cried, the sentence echoing throughout his mind for what felt like years.

Itachi woke to the sound of whimpering. He sat quickly and walked to Naruto's bedside and turned on the lamp. The boy was twisting and turning in his sleep. He must be having a nightmare.

Itachi held Naruto by the shoulders and gently shook him, "Naruto? Wake up."

His eyes opened up, wide and full of tears, and he looked around frantically.

"It was only a bad dream," Itachi said soothingly. "You don't have to be scared." The little boy looked at him and hugged him, sniffing.

Itachi couldn't understand what Naruto was saying. His face was buried in the man's chest and was crying and making no sense. The Uchiha stayed in Naruto's bed and pulled the shaking boy to his lap.

"It's okay, Naruto. Don't be scared. I'm here and I'll protect you." Itachi tried to calm the crying boy. He was surprised at himself. He had said something similar to an infant Sasuke on the day the Kyūbi had attacked.

It didn't bode well. I can't keep comparing him to Sasuke.

After a few minutes, Naruto finally calmed down.

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" Itachi asked softly. Naruto didn't want to think about it anymore but told him anyway.

After Naruto finished explaining, he looked like he was about to cry again so Itachi pulled him into a hug and gently rocked him. He knew the life of a jinchūriki was a hard one, but it had never been so real to him. He was always smiling and pulling pranks. He must have had so many nights like this. Itachi wondered how a child could bear that without going crazy. Then again, he is his mother's son.

Naruto wondered why Itachi was acting like this. He was confused but happy. I don't care if he was told to care for me. As long as Daddy doesn't leave, I'll be okay...but still... Naruto looked up at him hesitantly.

"You know you can tell me anything you want. I promise I won't get mad," Itachi assured Naruto.

"When you were talking to that carrot-top man, he said you have to keep looking after me. Does that mean you didn't actually want to look after me but had to because you were told to? And the kee-u-bee part, am I that big fox?"

Itachi chuckled inwardly at the carrot-top man. But he was surprised to hear that Naruto had understood the conversation between him and Pain. This must be why he was so quiet. He thinks he's the Kyūbi and that he's a burden to me.

"Naruto, I want to tell you two very important things. One, you are not a burden to me. I take care of you because I want to, not because someone is forcing me to. Two, you are Naruto Uzumaki, the jailor of the Kyūbi, not the demon itself," Itachi stated firmly.

Naruto was so relieved that he completely forgot about his nightmare. "But how do you know of the Kyūbi?"

"Well, the only memory that I have before you found me was looking at a really big, orange fox inside a cage calling me a foolish little mortal."

Itachi chuckled. "Oh, and one more thing, don't ever refer to Pain as that carrot-top man in front of anyone."

"So can I call him the carrot-top man?" He asked innocently.

"What's the difference?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"I call him the and not that," Naruto pointed out.

"It's still no."

Naruto pouted and Itachi just shook his head, smiling. Naruto decided to call Pain Uncle Carrot-Top. He didn't plan on telling his father about it so he couldn't not allow the boy to use that either.

Itachi noticed Naruto grinning really big while spacing out. Why do I have a feeling he's up to no good? He shook the feeling and pulled the comforter up to cover himself and Naruto.

"Time to go to bed," Itachi resisted the urge to yawn.

Naruto came back to reality and worried for a second about another nightmare. But he quickly dismissed it after noticing that Itachi wasn't going anywhere. They both slept a dreamless and peaceful sleep that the night.

It was a dark cave, the torches along the walls the only source of light. Droplets of ice-cold water hit the floor with a split. Sounds of fighting could be heard echoing throughout the compound. Pale, yellow eyes watched as an injured ninja.

He limped his way to where the man with the yellow eyes was seated. "L-lord O-Orochimaru, I h-have v-very i-important n-news t-to d-deliver," the Sound ninja wheezed.

"Well then spit it out already," Orochimaru hissed in his smooth, creepy voice that could send shivers down the backs of even the most seasoned jōnin. His snake-like gold eyes with black slits narrowed dangerously. "I remember telling you not to interrupt me when I am observing our precious Sasuke's training. This had better be good or else."

The man gave a full report of what had happened. He, along with eleven other Sound ninja, had been positioned near the ancient temple in order to keep a lookout for anything unusual. During his time in the Akatsuki, Orochimaru had found the last Keeper of the Secrets of the temple.

He had tortured the man for months before the priest had revealed some information about the Pool of Life. Orochimaru had always been obsessed with two things: jutsu and immortality. He had finally gotten his hands on a man who could lead him to fulfill the latter obsession.

Unfortunately, the man's heart gave out and his dead head had not revealed any secrets because of the number of experiments that had been done on him to make him break. Ever since then, Orochimaru had placed a dozen men to keep a look out for anything unusual about the place.

Unluckily for them, the moment they came out of hiding, they had given away their location to Pain, who had sent Hidan and Kakuzu to eliminate them.

"P-please L-lord O-Orochimaru, s-save m-me," the dying man begged.

"Since you have brought me such excellent news I suppose I could do you a favor." He leaned back in his chair and threw a kunai at the man's heart, killing him instantly. "There, now you didn't have to suffer before dying."

Orochimaru smiled maliciously. "I suppose this is as a good chance as ever to do some damage to the Akatsuki." He could achieve many goals, all in one fell swoop.

He would cripple Konoha. Wreck the Akatsuki's plans. Get rid of a potentially powerful enemy in the future. But more importantly, I'll be able to uncover the secrets of immortality.

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