Kakashi led Naruto through the various winding halls and paths of the East Wing. As they went on, Naruto allowed his eyes to wonder around the place, noting the cleanliness that is shown off by the sheen of the walls and floors. However, there were also other things that didn't take too long to come to his awareness.

Is it rude to look around the place? I'm not even lookin' at them!

So far, more than 20 people had stopped in their tracks with their eyes riveted on Naruto. It was beginning to disturb the blond a bit and that wasn't the worse part yet. Apparently, the place that he needed to go was far from the "room" he was staying in. But still, he didn't think it'd be this far. Unending they are, these paths, stretching without limit; the whole complex was very much like a labyrinth. Just when Naruto was getting annoyed, they arrived at the North Wing.

. . .And I thought the previous part of the trip was bad. This place is freezing compared to the last area! It's gotten darker too. . .damn, this place feels is beyond creepy. Naruto thought with a weary face.

"Ne, Kakashi, why do I have to be here?" Naruto asked. Kakashi turned, thoughtfulness etched on his face, "hmm. . .don't really know. My job's just to take you there."

The answer disturbed him even more.

Why do I feel like I really am in a horror movie now? Please don't tell me someone is gonna suck my brains out!

Nasty images were flying back and forth through Naruto's brain, despite the attempts made by the rational side of the blond to dispel them. He walked along with Kakashi, trying to keep his face straight so no thoughts of his paranoia would surface.

"Ah, Naruto, we're almost there. See that entrance there with the double translucent doors? That's the one you go to so I'll leave you now." Kakashi said cheerfully before turning to another direction.

"Wait Kakashi! Where are you going?" Kakashi didn't turn around again as he casually waved his hand and went off on his own. Pouting with a cute face, Naruto took some time in his spot to study the area around him.

Can't hurt to know where to run later. . .

Inhaling in a breath, he moved on to his destination.

--

The time extremely early when he came back. Since the arrival of the information regarding the project Shinma, he hasn't been able to sleep at night. He didn't know what was keeping himself up, the impatience caused by knowing that something will come to you soon or his eagerness to welcome a routine breaker. He glanced over the results from the other day, checking for signs of mutations and new growth. If he was like any other normal person, he would've become insane a long time ago.

He froze as he felt someone near the entranceway. The figure was edging closer and closer; it didn't resemble any of his aquaintances.

The double doors slid open with their usual noise and Itachi finally got a glimpse of the person he's been waiting for all this time.

--

When he entered, the first thing that he noticed was that there are already an occupant present and said occupant was staring at him. His face, an emotionless mask, was framed with shoulder length ebony hair nicely tied back. If it was possible, his lack of expression brought forth an aura of calmness and elegance. His features, although graceful, were overidden with a sense of masculinity.

Hn. . .a pretty boy. A manly pretty boy at that. . .

Naruto cracked a grin. "So, you're the doctor, na? You look pretty young to me." At first, Itachi didn't reply and soon the silence began to bother Naruto. A long interval of stillness ensued, with both young men scrutinizing each other.

"You're younger than you look in the pictures." said Itachi while relaxing into his chair.

"Eh? You have files and information of me?" Puzzled by what he'd heard, Naruto scrunched up his brows.

". . .Uzumaki Naruto, number 00795211, the nineth and last Jinchuuriki (:), kill count in Endiathetos Dive (:) 1055, virtual kill count 3554, part of the remnants from the Fudo-myou Ou (:) Unit." Information poured out of Itachi like a torrents of water coming from a rapid stream.

"One of the few survivors of the war that plagued the dominating countries years ago. . .you lead the old capital to their victory, am I correct?"

Itachi let all the things he knew about this Uzumaki boy roll out. The change was dramatic, if not more so than Itachi had at first expected. Each and every detail made the presumably innocent blond more tense; as the boy got more tense, his expression grew colder and colder.

A shiver ran through Itachi, for it felt like the room temperature had corresponded with the boy's mood and dropped several notches.

--

Naruto could not believe what he was hearing from this stranger of a man he did not even know. Passing years had made these facts so obscured that he was sure they were buried into oblivion, forever forgotten to everyone and probably even to those who knew him. No one, not in years, knew even half of what the man before his eyes had said.

Stranger. . .? An unfamiliar feeling coursed through Naruto as he regarded the calm Uchiha.

"What do you want?" His face was very much like Itachi's, with the exception of his voice that barely hid his growing agitation.

"As you've been told earlier, I'll just be checking up on you." Itachi motioned toward something.

"How much do you know?" There was no answer.

Just as I thought. Of course he wouldn't tell me anything.

Previous experiences had taught Naruto that he'll get and explanation later if he can't get one now.

Naruto decided to train his eyes on the obsidian-colored device nearby instead of Itachi due to the lack of response. The pitch-black device was rather large and reflected what little light the room had beautifully. He could easily see his own blurred image ghosting across the surface. Words were engraved on the headgear hovering just above the reclined seat, illegible from his distance. Innumerable cables were everywhere in the back of the machine; some were connected to the back from the ceiling, draping like a veil from a haunted house while others were connected to the mainframe computer in the back of the room. Naruto then surveyed his surroundings, observing every aspect of the structures. The whole place was relatively dim, with only a few items here and there emitting light into the room. The reclined seat was almost at the center of the room with a wall of holographic data a few yards away. Familiarity struck again, making Naruto feel like he knows the place.

Wait. . .is it. . .?

"Please, seat yourself so we can begin."

For a moment, Itachi thought the boy looked alarmed, but quick as it came, the look was gone.

An ominous sensation overcame Naruto, but he steeled his nerves and seated himself onto the weird. . .thingy. The headgear hovered close, encompassing his eyes and forehead when he settled down. He heard a weird noise after it had affixed its position and as if coming to life, lines of flowing blue energy appeared inside the headgear.

It's. . !

Naruto's panic was cut short as he immediately fell into a deep slumber.

--

In short, what Naruto is experiencing now is very similar to the Endiathetos Dive, except that it's. . .a literal mind hack.

For a normal person it'd be nothing, maybe a few embarassing moments here and there but they've got nothing to hide.

Itachi eyed the blond lying limply on the ebony unit.

But since it's a special case for him. . .the results should be different.

Preparing for the dive, Itachi quickly hit the keys on the panel and readied his own visor.

"Commencing dive." He sat back into the chair, inert as the background of the room gradually faded into darkness.

--

A wholly different sight greeted Itachi's eyes. To be more specific, the lack of a sight greeted Itachi's eyes.

Doesn't he have anything in his mind?

There was nothing to see, nothing preserved. No memories, no images, not even color was present in this dreamscape.

It was as if an alternative dimension was present, the space aphotic and unmoving. Ripples formed with each step he took, seemingly the only movements out there other than his own. The ripples were like lustrous gleams of grayish-white protruding steadily from the shadowy ground. The setting was unusual, but its unique manifestation appealed to the older Uchiha.

. . . . . . . . . .

A sound, indistinct at first, became perceptible.

A truly soft sound, one that you would hear coming from a music box playing a lullaby, or a windchime swaying in the breeze. For some reason, it brought a foreboding discomfort. Itachi stood, eternity reigned as time stopped.

Everything was motionless. . . . .

--

Itachi choked down a gasp as a heavy pressure hit him full force on the chest. Throwing his visor off in a blink of an eye, he got out of his chair only to behold a pair of blood red eyes.

What. . .?

Those eyes, those crimson eyes were just as natural as the cerulean ones. Both were eyes of the same person, but this pair of eyes conveyed a separate mentality.

"It's not nice to snoop around like that."

The dive was repelled?

Evidently the blond was the same but obviously something was off, more in demeanor than in appearance.

Other than the eyes, he's more solemn now. . .

"Uchiha Itachi isn't it? I'm surprised that you don't remember."

. . . . . . . ?

"This is my warning to you, boy. You try to force yourself into his mind again, I will do more than just expel you out of his head." Itachi narrowed his eyes at that particular comment. Being usually the one who threatens, reversing to the other end was not so pleasant.

"I didn't know that Uzumaki Naruto had disassociative identity disorder." Itachi deadpanned. The blond boy chuckled, a rather deep tremble for someone who looks so young.

"No, I'm not a split personality at all. I thought you knew about this already?" An amused look adorned Naruto's face. He began to stretch, peering here and there with boredom.

"I take it that you received information concerning Naruto from someone?" Itachi didn't bother responding.

"Naruto" turned and regarded him, his whole countenance unreadable.

"You don't know who sent it to you either." The tone of the statement was that of a person who knew the results already. Irritation seeped into Itachi but outwardly he stay unfazed. The red-eyed blond sighed, both amused by what was happening but also tired.

"Are you going to talk? Preferably telling me why you were trying to probe our mind and where am I?" The blond asked with a raised eyebrow.

. . . . Have I found trouble or did the trouble find me? Uchiha Itachi could only sigh mentally at his predicament.

--

AN:

Ehehehe. . .(scratches head). Shit man, I think I made things a bit too complex here didn't I? I've made a slight modification in the last chapter, so if you squint hard enough, it might explain one of the many questions you have as of now. Now, onto the side-notes:

: Fudo-myou O (不動明王, "Acala" in Sanskrit) is one of the five kings (五大明王) in Buddhism that protects one of these five special buddhas (uuuh. . .I can't translate their names, but if you're interested about this kind of stuff, you can search on wikipedia nn0). Fudo-myou O symbolizes many things, but since I don't know that much about him, I can't do a detailed explanation here. ( Scratch that, I know the basis, however, this myou o represents so many things that covers other category that if one don't know them all, one can't explain it. The information that wikipedia gives is only a fraction, there are tons of articles about Fudo-myou O in Chinese and Japanese using terms I've never heard of before.)

: Well, endiathetos means "of the mind/conception" in ancient greek. (If I'm wrong, correct me here. I was going to give the dive a Japanese name but there are just too many sounds for one kanji. Plus, I don't know the rules concerning the pronounciation of kanji words put together so I didn't want to risk anything.)

: Jinchuuriki (陣中利器). Aw man. . .this one is semi-hard and semi-easy. Jin (陣) can mean a period of time, or to describe something as "chonic, continuous." Jin can also mean a tactical formation that soldiers use in the midst of battle. In this case, the jin means the tactical formation in battle (it's REALLY hard to translate this into English terms, because words like these are very flexible and implicative). Chuu (中) literally means "within" (depending on the wording, it can also mean "between"). Riki (利器) literally means "advantage tool." So "jinchuuriki" in this case means "a tool of advantage in area of battle." (I hope I gave a accurate enough of a translation. Some words are easy to translate, but when the meaning is not straightforward, the word becomes a challenge.)

Now, onto responses:

:) - well, Sasuke doesn't really know him. Maybe it's just petty infatuation? He's just so entranced by Naruto's mesmerizing sky blue eyes. (inserts evil laugh)

Thank you all who've reviewed, your encouragements really boosted my confidence. (bows)