No More Running

Naruto waited until Itachi gestured to the sitting area before addressing the question. He was highly alert; in keeping with his promise never to do anything in Itachi's place without his permission, he went so far as to hesitate again, half bent over the new sofa, until he'd received another little nod of permission. He sat, adjusted himself until he was comfortable, then clasped his hands between his knees. Itachi watched him, sitting opposite him and waiting.

He couldn't answer the question, he found. Not just yet. He'd tried to talk himself into it all the way over here. Now that he was here he couldn't get the words out. He focused on something else. "I like that."

"What?"

"The way you call me big bro. No one's ever said that to me." He tried to smile.

Itachi nodded, letting his eyes rove around the living room. Place was huge. His old apartment could fit into half the downstairs alone, it seemed. How Mo had gotten it to feel so homey so quickly he'd never know, but he was grateful. Didn't know what he'd do without that woman. When he felt he'd given Naruto enough time to get his nerves under control, he tried again. "Sasuke okay?"

"Sasuke? Yes." Naruto cracked his knuckles loudly.

Still nervous. "Job okay?"

"My j- yes. It's fine."

"Hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Horny?"

Naruto barked out a laugh, one that seemed to surprise him.

There we go.

"No. Sasuke and I... I saw him at the job before I came here. Right before he locked up."

Itachi shared the grin. "I'll remember to wipe down any surfaces before I use them tomorrow. You do know there are cameras in there?"

"Sasuke shut them off."

"Unbelievable." Itachi couldn't help laughing.

The sound of tension dying tapered off with a few chuckles. Eventually they met each other's eyes across the coffee table and the smiles dwindled to nothing. Naruto took a deep breath. "You said something to me that night."

"Okay?" Itachi was attentive.

"You said there were things about us. That need to be discussed before we could be family. Remember?"

"Yup."

"Well, you discussed. Yourself. And you've…accepted me as your brother."

Itachi studied the bowed head, the way those blue eyes kept glancing up at him and looking away. Looked at how tightly those large hands were clutched. He needed to go to Sasuke before coming here. For courage. Support. Whatever he's got to say is big. "I haven't changed my mind…"

"No, I know. I know. It's just…as grateful as I am, as wonderful as that is…it wasn't the question I asked you before. Not really." Naruto gave a harsh exhalation.

"Oh." Itachi thought carefully. "But…I thought you understood that it goes both ways? Yeah, you're my brother, but I'd never depend of someone I couldn't be there for too." At seeing the look of confusion and hope in Naruto's eyes, Itachi uncrossed his legs to move to the end of his seat. He reached over and managed to grab Naruto's hand. Squeezed it. "Yes. Yes. I'm your brother. You can take that to the bank." The relief Naruto showed then had Itachi frowning. He'd remember in the future that things needed to be spelled out for Naruto.

"Good. That's good. Because I…there's something I…I mean, I considered discussing it with Iruka, but…I don't know, I don't think he can help me. I think it's the kind of thing only family can help with. Not Sasuke. I can't…he's not…it's you. It has to be you. I knew it from the first."

Itachi got up and went around the coffee table. He sat near Naruto but didn't look at him now. "Okay."

"Okay. Okay."

That was it. Nothing was said. Itachi didn't push.

"You said I was broken," Naruto whispered nearly thirty minutes later. "As broken as you are. That's why it has to be you. I don't…want to be like this anymore. So different. I need help. I need you to help me."

And there it was. Itachi heard the way Naruto sighed. Saw the way he leaned back against the cushions only to lean forward again. He nodded. "I get that, wanting to be good. Accepted. Wanting to be just like everyone else."

"Yes," Naruto said. "I want to stop being a monster. Tsunade said I could be whole. Iruka says the same thing, that I can recover and become normal and healthy if I want it bad enough. He says he's willing to help me, and he has, but…" Naruto did another of those loud knuckle cracks. "The things I can't talk about? Those are the things that…When you mentioned…him…at your apartment, that night…I don't want things like that to…I just want things like that to stop being a risk."

Itachi rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, dug his fingers into his ponytail, then pulled the elastic holder off. He shook his hair free and gave his scalp a good scratch. As he tossed the holder onto the coffee table, he turned to face Naruto. "You want to talk about Danzo."

"No. Never." Naruto needed a moment to breathe normally again. "I just want to stop having… parts of myself that I can't deal with. I want to be like other people. Able to think about the past without…without breaking all over again. I hate that about myself. Being broken. How it fucks up every aspect of my life."

Itachi considered the bold profile as Naruto stared across the room. "But that's not going to change."

"Why not? It can change. You did it. You were broken, but you're fine now." Naruto's brows were drawn together in confusion.

"Yeah, but I was a kid when my shit went down. Kids are soft. Like play dough. You can break them a thousand times, and they'll just come back together again. Most kids, anyway. You were older when your thing happened. Break a person after they've already set, after they've grown up, and it's harder for them to repair themselves. Sometimes impossible. But that's not what I was trying to say. You don't need to be fixed, Naruto. You're already fine."

Naruto slowly turned his head to look at Itachi. He studied the expression on that swarthy face. It was alert. Concerned, maybe. No laughter in the eyes or around the mouth. "I don't understand."

"You said you want to be normal," Itachi explained as he bent his leg on the seat so he was comfortable. "But you are. This," he said, waving a hand up and down to take in Naruto's bulk, "is normal for you. This is your normal."

"But-"

"And you're not a monster. Don't let me catch you saying that again."

"Itachi, I appreciate your loyalty, but Iruka-"

"Shut it. This isn't loyalty, okay? Iruka…he's not like us. He's not from the same place you and I are from. No, don't say we're all from Konoha. You and me? We're from someplace else. The deep, dark, ugly pit of hell that lives under humanity. Where shit is real and only the strongest survive. That's us. Iruka? He's from up here." Itachi glanced around the living room, waving a hand again, this time to indicate his pretty house. "Up here where people tell themselves that this is good and normal and right. He's The Man, Naruto. Bred to categorize and pigeonhole every fucking thing under the sun. 'Oh, you're not the product of two parents, a big house, and a white picket fence? Then you must be abnormal. Let us fix you.' No, man. That shit…that's not us. We know what's real, you and me. And I say as long as you're good, as long as you can breathe and walk and handle your shit, then you're fine." He paused. "Are you good?" Here, Itachi looked Naruto in the eyes without blinking.

Holding that black gaze, Naruto thought he began to see. "…Yes. I think so."

Itachi gave a single nod. "Good. And that's an accomplishment. Because you weren't just broken back when Danzo had you, man. You were unmade. Completely. Picked apart, and the pieces kicked to the four corners of creation. I personally don't know anybody who could come back from that. So I'd say you're a hell of a lot better than good. This is you, and you're fine in my book. Okay?"

Naruto swallowed. "You don't think I'm a monster?"

"Not the way you mean," Itachi answered carefully. "Something unfit to mix with society. That's how you mean it, right? I mean, I was the first to call you crazy not too long ago, but I know better now. Shit happened to you. You put yourself together again as best you could. If the pieces don't fit together as smoothly as someone who's never been hurt a day in their lives, if you're not as controlled as some fuck who's been institutionalized by the educational system or a desk job all their life, if you're not as normal as people who don't even know what the real deal is, so what? It works for you. And you're the only one who needs to accept who you are. Anyone who doesn't can go fuck themselves. I ain't the best either, but this is my deal and it works for me. Take it or leave it, you know?"

A deep warmth spread throughout Naruto's chest, one that made it past his throat, up to his face, and to his eyes. There was nothing Naruto could say. So alien was the concept that he was fine, that all he did was blink at Itachi. I love him. The thought surprised him. He didn't think he could love anyone but Sasuke.

Itachi scooted closer and lowered his voice. "Your problem isn't that you need to be normal. Least, that's not what I heard when you were laying it out for me. Your problem is that this thing that happened –between you and Danzo- made you its bitch. It's got you by the short and curlies and you want to be your own man again. You want to stop running. Am I right?"

"Yes," Naruto said with relief. "Yes, that's what I meant. That's it exactly."

"Well you know what you need to do, then. Same thing anyone does when it's time to stop running. Same thing I had to do with Akatsuki: turn and face the music."

Naruto waited for more. "What does that mean exactly?"

Itachi stood. "You trust me?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Tell Kakashi you're taking a few days off. Meet me at headquarters tomorrow morning. Early."

"Why?"

"You want me to help you, right? Well, I'm going to try."

"Should I bring Sasuke?"

"Do you need to?"

Naruto considered it, staring up at Itachi's face the whole while. Sasuke would support him. No question about it, but if he thought Sasuke could help him he would have gone to him. Not to Itachi. Itachi was right, they were from someplace different than the majority of the world. And not even Sasuke was like them. "I don't think he can go where we're going." Back to where we came from. Where I came from.

Itachi nodded in approval. "Neither do I. Kid can handle a lot, but he's not like us."

It suddenly dawned on Naruto what they were talking about, and a tremor of fright swept through him. "This is going to get ugly, isn't it."

"Naruto, my man, in my experience the past is rarely anything but ugly."


At home, safe in bed where it was dark Sasuke's warm weight was snug beneath his arm, Naruto stared at the ceiling.

Sasuke stirred. "You can't sleep."

"No."

"Where were you tonight? When I left headquarters I expected to find you home."

"Itachi's."

Sasuke propped himself on an elbow, the better to see Naruto's face. "What did you two talk about?"

"He thinks I'm normal." Naruto finally turned his head a bit to look at him. He couldn't see much beyond the wild silhouette of Sasuke's hair. Like a spiky explosion on his head. He moved the hand he had on Sasuke's waist up to his hair, burying it in the stuff. It was so smooth. Like crushed silk. "Do you think I'm normal?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever that means."

"Like everyone else. That's what it means." But that wasn't the way Itachi had explained it.

"I'm probably the last person you should ask, but…I always saw normal as another word for weak. I bet someone somewhere would have a shitload to say about that, but hey. It's my personal opinion."

"What?" Naruto breathed. Sasuke settled himself in his former position, and he turned on his side to stare at him. "Weak? How?"

"Normal people, or what the socially accepted definition of normal is, are people who don't go through shit. Nothing bad happens to them. When something bad does happen, they freak out."

"But how is that weak?"

Sasuke ran his tongue over his teeth, thinking. "It's like this. A guy who isn't normal, say someone…someone who's been attacked or killed before. Someone who's had a few curve balls thrown his way, in other words. Someone like that gets home and finds someone else in the process of killing his family, he's going to react. Fight back. Maybe stop it from happening, if he's lucky. Someone who's normal now, who's always been safe, who's known nothing but kind people, and who's always been happy or content, or some variation thereof…he arrives home to find the same situation going on, he freaks. Either freezes and watches it happen, in which case he ends up murdered with them. Or turns and runs, in which case he'll be cut down and murdered with them just the same." Sasuke slanted his eyes at Naruto. "But then there are the exceptions. The extraordinary ones. The ones who've led more or less normal lives, but when shit happens to them they hit back. The ones who are nobody's victim, ever. People like my brother. Like you. You're not normal, Naruto. Not to me, you aren't. And I fucking love that about you. I knew it the second you barged into that convenience store, that you weren't normal. Been loving you ever since."

Naruto's grin was very white in the dark, as he rolled over Sasuke and buried his face in the man's neck. I'm okay. My family thinks I'm fine. I am fine, nevermind what they think. I really am. He could see it now. Armed with Sasuke and Itachi's singular outlooks –viewpoints that were dissimilar and yet very much alike- he could better interpret himself. It was like coming out of a storm you'd lived in for most of your life. He felt weightless, free.


But when he watched Itachi walk up the deserted street the next morning, some of his anxiety came back. In fact, most of it did. Just then he couldn't seem to recall any of the self-acceptance he'd found the previous night. He was here to dig up his past. A past he'd spent nearly three decades burying, and for good reason. Before Itachi could greet him or say anything he shook his head. "I don't think I can do this."

"No worries."

"I…what?"

Itachi stopped beside him and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Said it's cool. If you can, great, if you can't…we can wait till you can. You heading off to work, then?" He squinted up at Naruto in the new rays of the sun.

Sasuke doesn't think I'm weak. "No. We'll do this." He took a deep breath.

"We don't have to. In fact, if you're not sure, we probably shouldn't. This isn't the kind of thing you can do if you're not hard up for it. Conviction, man. You're going to need it. Unless you're dead sure, you'll stay this thing's bitch. So if you're not…"

"I'm scared," Naruto whispered.

"Good. Being scared means you got your ass screwed on straight. Means your eyes are open."

"I don't want to lose control."

"Then don't."

"Or hurt you."

"So don't."

"Itachi…"

"If you're not sure, fine. You're scared, cool. But if this is more of you not believing in yourself then I got no patience. None. You got this. I believe in you."

Touched, Naruto nevertheless felt he had to point something out. "I never said I don't bel-"

"Didn't have to. I can read you. That whole hermit thing on the mountain all those years? Dumping Sasuke? Kill first, ask later? Your whole thing? It's not you being broken, or Danzo, or any of that. Least mostly it's not. It's insecurity. Thought you knew that, man. Sasuke said you told him your problem ain't what happened to you, it's just you."

He had said that. Insecurity had never occurred to him, though.

"It's a crutch, thinking like that. Sometimes people can't help being insecure. I get that. Not everyone can fix themselves, or face their shit. A lot of people can't, actually, but you…you're different. I know you. So yeah, I got no time for it. Ain't sorry for it, either." Itachi looked at his watch.

This was why he'd come to Itachi. The man always gave it to him straight. Saw him a certain way, treated him accordingly, and expected him to keep it together. "Lead on."

"Well our first stop is right here. Need to speak to Sasuke." Nothing was said about Naruto's decision to continue. Business as usual, that was Itachi.


Inside, the black interior was made blue by the light from countless computer screens. Sasuke sat at a bank of them, fingers flying over two keyboards. Naruto hung back and watched when Itachi went over to him.

-oOo-

Sasuke listened. "Are you insane?" he hissed when Itachi was done. "You can't do that!"

"Need you to stay with Mo while I'm gone. I'll have my cell, but at a certain point I'm turning it off. Don't want any distractions. The kids-"

"Did you hear me? I'm not letting you do this, he can't take it."

"-should listen to you. You have my permission to take a belt to Ichi's ass if he bucks you, but keep Mo's stress to a minimum. Her pregnancy is high risk as it is. If you tell her you're going to be home at a certain time, get there ten minutes before that time. Make sure-"

"I'm coming with you."

Itachi stopped. "No, you're not. I need you with Mo."

"I can't let him face this alone."

"What am I?"

"Itachi-"

"No, seriously, what am I? I'm his brother. He didn't ask you to do this. He asked me. That big guy over there trusted me, came to me and asked me to help him. You don't think I can?"

Even a week after hearing of the event, he could not get used to this new relationship Itachi seemed to have with Naruto. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"You don't love him. You won't take care of him."

Itachi rubbed his hands down his face before leaning them on the arms of Sasuke's chair. He got right down into his brother's face, and spoke so that his lips barely moved. "I ought to punch your teeth in for that. Same way I did when you got jealous over Mo. I don't love the guy. You're right. I can't just up and love someone all of a sudden like that. But I trust him, Sasuke. With your life. My life, the lives of my family. I trust him to have my back. He's my brother. So are you, but it never occurred to me until this minute that you have no idea what that means. Are you ever going to stop being a shit? Hm? No? Let me break it down, what the word brother means to me, then. It means Duty. Sacrifice. Loyalty. It means I will break myself to keep you safe. It means I will die for you. It means I will kill for you. It means if you come to me at night and say, 'this is the broken part of me; take it and help me fix it,' that I will fucking move heaven and hell to do so. It means I won't quit on you, or let you down, or let you quit on yourself and let yourself down. It means, you selfish fuck, that I feel a hell of a lot more than just love. But you I do love, Sasuke. Think about that. I love you, so am I going to do anything less than my level best to take care of what's yours?"

Sasuke looked away and scrubbed at the tears on his cheeks with one hand. "Promise me. Promise me you'll bring him back in one piece."

By which Itachi was sure Sasuke meant sane. Bring Naruto back sane. "I will. If he can't handle where we're going, I'll bring him back. Promise."

"He's not going to want to fail, but…"

"I know. I got this. I got him. Trust me."

Sasuke laughed weakly. "I am trusting you, bro."

Something in Itachi's heart twisted. "Just make sure you take care of Mo and the kids. Trusting you with that."

Now Sasuke met his eyes, and some of the bitterness left his chest. Some. "I know. I got it, man."

When Itachi went back to Naruto, it was to find him alert, but silent. He didn't ask questions. Good. Sasuke came and hugged him, but even then Naruto didn't speak. Just squeezed Sasuke hard a moment and let him go.


The day was frigid. Itachi looked at Naruto's jacket with new interest. "Thought you said your body adjusts to outside stimuli like temperature?"

"It does." Naruto looked around as they walked, frowning slightly. "But sometimes it comforts me to use conventional means."

"Comforts you how?"

"I don't know. I guess…sometimes I remember what things were like. Before, I mean. Before I was this powerful. A simpler time, another life. I used jackets and things back then. Sometimes it just feels good to wear one."

"Oh." Itachi wondered if he only resorted to that kind of behavior when stressed. Probably.

Naruto stopped walking when the sun was high and the city bustling all around them. "Where are we going?"

"Center of town."

"I can see that, but why?"

"So we can help you out."

"I thought we would go somewhere secluded and talk?"

"Why? Thought we established you didn't want to talk about Danzo. That you couldn't."

"And I thought you said I would have to."

"Said you needed to face the music. Never said anything about talking about it."

"Where are we going?" This time Naruto's voice was lower, and his entire body seemed to solidify where it stood, as if every muscle were compressing in preparation for some trauma.

Itachi tipped his head sideways. "In there."

All Naruto saw was the cluster of buildings known as the Council Complex. Since disbanding the council, the buildings were used for his meetings with ambassadors or delegations from other countries. One of the buildings, the main one, had been converted into luxurious suites for those same dignitaries to stay in while visiting Konoha. He didn't see what they could possibly want in the Complex. Curious, he followed when Itachi began heading that way.

-oOo-

There were a few workers about the lobby in the main building, sweeping or dusting. They bowed low over brooms and dust cloths when they saw the Hokage, and didn't rise until he'd acknowledged their respect with a nod of his own. Much of the building had been renovated when the suites had been built, but there was a section at the core that was from the original building plans. It was located behind a door that had a keypad lock on it. Itachi stopped here and turned to him. "You remember the night I came to your crib, found you hitting on Sasuke?"

Naruto wasn't likely to forget. The entire night had been a turning point in his life. "Yes." What did that have to do with today?

Itachi nodded, gazing up at him thoughtfully. "Well, Tsunade escorted me off the premises, as you know. Took me to her office. Told me a bunch of…stuff. About you. About my clan, mostly, but there was some stuff about you. You recognize this door?"

Naruto looked it over carefully, but it was featureless. A plain industrial beige, with a lacquered sheen to it that suggested some material other than steel, which all government doors were made of these days. "No?"

Another nod. "Figured you might not. From what I've read, she was right about that day. Someone came and got you. Man named Kotetsu? There were others in that little entourage, Danzo included, but Kotetsu was point on this particular mission. He was the one who spoke to you, being Danzo's mouthpiece so I gathered. Really it was to keep your attention focused on him, and not Danzo or the other people with him. They took you to a food joint, bought you some grub, and slipped something into your drink. By the time you were brought here you were docile as a lamb being led to slaughter, senses all dulled."

A stern frown of concentration clouded Naruto's features. He was struggling to find a connection between this seemingly random report on his past, and their reason for being here. Where had Itachi come by that information? He didn't remember anything that was mentioned, or a man named Kotetsu. Not even this supposed mission of buying him food. Wasn't he here to dig up his-

A tiny spark of something, some small link, clicked into place for him as his eyes flew to the door again. Itachi said he'd been brought here. With Danzo. No.

Itachi turned back to the door and punched in a ten-digit sequence. The hum and buzz of the lock being disengaged had another link of recognition joining the first. Nothing so concrete as a memory, but a steadily forming chain of recollection nonetheless. Something was being systematically rebuilt in him. Some event that Itachi knew about and wanted him to remember.

The door slid sideways, into the wall. The space beyond the door was short, dark, and musty.

Itachi stepped over the threshold. Lights came on to show that it was an elevator. He was now facing Naruto again, waiting. There was nothing but calm on his face. No clue as to what might be waiting. Nothing to indicate that Naruto should be worried, or that he himself was worried in any way.

I feel like I should remember this. That I should know what's coming. I almost think I do, but the memory's not there. Naruto studied the elevator around Itachi. The walls were glass. Beveled so that the interior seemed fluted, and shining brightly with light. The floor was steel, he saw. If there were some way to direct the elevator, buttons or another keypad, he couldn't see it. He had no memory of the elevator per se, but another link joined the others. It was the oddest thing to suspect you'd seen or done something before, yet have no record of it in your mind. Only a feeling. A sense of deep foreboding. And still he refused to believe that this could be what he thought it was. Partly because Itachi assured him they wouldn't be going that route, but mostly because he just…couldn't…remember ever being here.

He went in.

The elevator settled noticeably with his weight, giving testimony to old technology. Itachi waited until he'd turned –ah, there was the console to direct the elevator- before pressing a button that closed the doors. A plain, clear button. That was all there was to the console, that one button. No numbers or anything else but a small irregular hole beneath the button. Itachi reached inside his coat and withdrew a large key that he placed in the hole. He turned it once clockwise, then twice counter-clockwise. A series of clicks followed each turn. Naruto, at seeing the key and how it was used, felt a shiver run down his spine; another link.

-oOo-

Motion was nearly undetectable. The faintest hum could be heard. Barely audible, even to Naruto's keen hearing. And it must be said that he had all his senses thrown wide. He was able to identify that they were moving downward. A long way down. Seconds stretched to a full minute. Two. Three. And still they descended.

We're not moving fast or slowly, Naruto thought, breaking into a sweat. But fast enough so that we have to be several hundred feet underground by now. And suddenly he didn't want the elevator to stop. The links were almost enough now to form a complete memory. A memory he didn't want to experience. Half of him suspected what it could be, but the other half was in flat denial. This wasn't happening-

-It already happened-

-he would reach over Itachi's shoulder and press that button himself. Stop the elevator. Break through the ceiling and climb the shaft with his bare hands, if need be, but he would not wait around to find out what was at the end of this descent. He looked up at the ceiling, squinting his eyes at the light that shone brightly through no light fixture that he could see.

The elevator came to a halt with a faint cessation of movement.

Itachi was looking at him, he saw. That same calm all over his face, but something different in his eyes. Sympathy, maybe? "Itachi, I-"

"What."

"I don't want that door to open."

Itachi put his hands into his pockets, thereby masking their tremor. All through the ride, he'd heard Naruto's breathing first deepen, then escalate until it sounded like a runaway train. The man's eyes were perfectly round as blue marbles, and he looked ready to bulldoze right over the first obstacle to be put in his way. Scared shitless he is, and here I am in an enclosed space with him, sweet Christ. Brilliant, Itachi. Just brilliant. No. He could do this. And as bad as shit was about to get, he trusted Naruto's promise not to ever hurt him. Was trying to trust him. "You remember anything?"

"No. But…I feel something."

"Okay. I won't open the door, but we're not going back up either. Okay? You trusted me to help you, and this is the only way I know how. Iruka, as great and educated on the human psyche as I'm sure he is, is only putting Band-Aids on your issues. Teaching you how to cope instead of getting to the root of the matter. Now, I'm no shrink? And I'm sure every shrink alive, Iruka included, would shit bricks at what I'm doing right now, but I really truly believe that this is the way to help you. I think you're strong enough to handle it. I think that, having been unmade and broken to the extent that you've been, nothing under the sun can unmake you again. Hurt, yes. But I think I'm right in saying that pain won't break you again. Am I?"

He was panting. Sweating rivers. "…Yes."

"You sure?" Itachi said, tilting his head to the side. "Or do you just want me to be right." I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. Maybe we should go back.

Naruto took himself in hand and sucked in a deep, steadying breath. He took another. Forced his muscles to unknot. Closed his eyes and gave his body one long, vigorous shake. "No, you're right. I don't like hurting, but you're right. Whatever we're doing here won't be anywhere near as bad as what actually happened to me."

"Good. So you tell me when you're ready for this door to open and I'll open it."

Another one of those curious up-swells of emotion swamped Naruto just then. It hit him again that he loved Itachi, but this time it was stronger. Deeper. Reaching, unbelievably, to someplace in him that Sasuke would never be able to touch. Some part of him that was perhaps inaccessible to lovers. A place reserved for family, for blood. A place in him that had never really been accessed. It was so…concrete. Irrefutable. Both the place in him and what he felt for Itachi. An exceedingly strange thing to experience, yet also welcome. Especially since Itachi wasn't blood to him. But that's how it feels. Something more than just family. He grasped it with all of himself, wrapped himself around it, and used it to steady himself. He gazed at Itachi's profile, where the shorter man was thoughtfully studying his boots, and let Itachi's quiet confidence settle the fright surging through him. Iruka would scream if he knew what I was doing right now, he thought. I don't even know what we're doing exactly, but I'll bet my chakra it's one of those things he calls a trigger. I've been going to him for over three years now and I still can't think about my past. Maybe Itachi has the right of it.

When he was completely in control of himself, when his breathing was even, and his heartbeat slow and modulated, Naruto straightened his spine. "I'm ready."

The key was still hanging in the lock. As soon as Itachi put his hand on it, Naruto's heart lurched hard. His body tried to escape his control. Skin tingling, breathing shot all over again, hands clenched tightly- but he maintained. His entire body was braced as if for a blow, but he maintained.


This time the key was turned counter-clockwise three full turns. The door slid open.

Directly ahead of Naruto an entry room came into view, one that was dominated by a tall silver archway.

The memory burst full force over Naruto's mind, hitting him with such intensity that he staggered back against the wall of the elevator.

-oOo-

The elevator opened and Kotetsu, who was in front of him, turned to say something to him. He didn't hear; he'd been feeling fuzzy since the restaurant. All he really noticed was the huge silver archway. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, something long and sharp rammed into his back, nearly lifting him off his feet.

Danzo. His face hovering over Naruto, speaking. Unintelligible words. Meaningless sounds around him. He was restrained. His chakra blasting out of him, his mind beginning to clear at last, then Danzo's hand swooping down toward his face, glowing with chakra of his own.

Pain. His mother. Danzo. Pain. Danzo...Danzo…Danzo…

-oOo-

The vision cleared to reveal Itachi's face, not Danzo's, hovering inches from his own. Someone was howling. Mad, bloodcurdling screams. The elevator shook wildly, and the light had switched from white to yellow. In fact, there was darkness around the yellow light. Itachi's face was twisted in an expression of fear and worry, and Naruto realized he was shouting. And then he heard himself. Realized the howling was his own voice. He managed to close his mouth with difficulty, clenching his jaw shut hard enough to make his head ache.

He looked down at himself. The light was coming from him. His chakra was fully unmasked, but not engaged. A flick of his eyes showed all the glass walls in the elevator shattered, showing the metal skeleton of the structure itself. Another sweep of his eyes: Itachi was bleeding from a gash on his face. His hands were gripping Naruto's cheeks, holding his head still. Naruto saw that he was reclining on the floor, his legs kicking, Itachi sitting on his stomach. He stopped kicking, and the elevator became still. Silent and still.

"Naruto." Even now, Itachi's voice was steady. "You with me, man?"

He couldn't speak. He'd just caught sight of the archway again beyond Itachi's shoulder; it glinted in the light of his chakra. Naruto closed his eyes. Better.

Glass continued to fall from the elevator frame. It made faint tinkling sounds as Itachi gingerly climbed off of him. Naruto kept himself perfectly still, not wanting to risk any more memories being surprised to the surface of his mind. For the moment he had hold of himself. Shaky, precarious hold. "Why?" he rasped. "Why would you bring me here?"

"You know why."

He supposed he did. You couldn't fight what you couldn't face. If he wanted closure he would have to turn and face his past.

But I can't do this. Not in a million years.

He opened his eyes to tell Itachi this, but the words wouldn't come. The archway was still right there, across from him. It took up his focus, made him temporarily forget what he was going to say.

The archway was dark, but he knew that there was a long hall beyond it. At the end of the hall was a large, domed room full of…things. He stared at the archway for a long time.

-oOo-

Itachi shifted on the shards of glass, pulling a piece out of his arm. He hissed, but kept his attention on where the real danger was. "Naruto?"

The eyes blinked and shifted to him. They were sharp and aware.

"This is probably a dumb question, but…you good?"

Now the eyes moved over him, cataloging his cuts and scrapes. Something in that glance made Itachi go very still. They were not the eyes of wild fright when the elevator had opened. Nor were they the eyes of the man who ran the village. They certainly weren't the eyes of the man who loved his brother, or of the one who'd held him and promised to keep him safe. These were the eyes of something dangerous. Something ruthless, and powerful…and currently on the offensive.

He jumped when Naruto's hand settled on his knee. Before he could voice a second question, foreign chakra washed over him, warm and tingling. There was a sudden itch on his skin and he looked down to find what lacerations he could see closing before his very eyes. Others beneath his clothes were doing the same. He could even feel shards of glass being forced from his skin. When the hand was removed, he was left feeling energized. As if he'd downed half a dozen Red Bulls. More than energized, he felt ready to lift a house.

Naruto stood and he was right behind him, ready for action.


Whatever light fixtures had been in the entry room were also blown, Naruto saw. He kept his chakra unmasked, not only to see by but because he felt better with it readily accessible. He stopped a couple of feet from the archway, hearing Itachi crunch over glass behind him.

He didn't want to go in there. This. This archway right here represented a very real hole in his mind. A hole so deep that the very existence of it terrified him. A hole he took care never to fall into. The hole it had taken him years to climb out of. Danzo had put him in that hole just as he had dragged him through this archway.

His chakra surged on spike of fear.

But beneath the fear was anger. More than that, there was rage. His panic fizzled out completely, but he still didn't move.

I can go back. Live as I have been. With Sasuke's love, and the new brother I have. I can spend my years learning them, loving them. Or I can go through that archway and take back what was stolen from me.

Chin lowered, he moved forward.

-oOo-

His chakra lit the way. Each step brought a flash of memory, another link in the growing chain of recall. He'd screamed as he was dragged down this hall, out of his mind with anger and pain at whatever Danzo had done to him. His restraints had held, though, and whatever he'd eaten or drank had still been working in him. It made focusing his chakra extremely difficult. He'd bucked and twisted hard enough to stagger the men carrying him, but Danzo had marched on ahead, unconcerned, until the end of the hall.

Naruto stopped. There was no door at the end of the hall, just another archway. The lights had come on automatically when he'd been brought here all those years ago, but the room he knew was beyond him remained dark now. Only the first few feet of floor ahead of him illuminated by his chakra.

His mother had been in there. Naruto took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.


Itachi hesitated. He had his eyes on, prepared for God knew what. Going down the hallway had tightened his balls into what felt like two cherry pits; Naruto's chakra had slowly condensed with each step he took, until the very air felt like inhaling syrup. He could hardly breathe. It felt like gravity had doubled too, weighing him down so that even walking was difficult. Fuck, he could barely stand up straight. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he'd watched as the hall's metal walls warped and rippled when Naruto passed them. He'd considered going back to the elevator then, but no. He'd promised to stick by him.

He went in after Naruto.


The room was there, a steel and Plexiglas dome that sat in the center of the underground facility, but there was more. An outer room than ran around the entire upper third of the dome. Chairs, computers, equipment he had no name for…all this and more was scattered as if a cyclone had swept through. He didn't remember this outer room, but he had a vague recollection of men and women peering down at him from here. Watching, recording, or monitoring what was being done to him.

Rust colored stains were visible wherever his chakra touched. And bodies. Dessicated, skeletal bodies. People cut down in flight from the storm of violence that had taken place here. He didn't remember much of his rescue. Just his never-ending pain and confusion suddenly giving way to a pair of golden eyes hovering over him. A sense of freedom, of blood thirst so sharp; it had been a sweetness, a drug that numbed and swallowed his pain. He recalled going after people, anyone he laid eyes on. That golden-eyed woman yelling. He'd leapt right through the dome to the people he could see beyond- Here his memory clouded over, replaced with the blankness that covered most of his past.

The dome.

He didn't look at it, though a part of it was visible from where he stood. There were a few moments where his breathing quickened, and his chakra began spiraling out of control, snapping off of him in little curls of raw energy. He didn't want to look. Didn't want to go in there. This was enough, the best he could do. It had to be enough.

A low throb began somewhere at the base of his skull as memories clawed their way to the forefront of his mind…and it was with some shock that he realized he was accessing the demon's power directly.

-oOo-

A woman, frail and beautiful, held strapped to some thing in the dome. Himself being strapped to an upright slab of metal in front of her. Her smile, her weak, bloody smile. The way her eyes brightened at seeing him, yet sharpened with anger and regret. Her curses, issued at Danzo in her feeble voice. Danzo saying he'd honored her last hours on earth by bringing her son.

Her son.

He was her son.

He'd been lied to. Danzo only smiled at his screaming accusations, but it was all so unimportant at that point. His mother. He could see himself in her face, feel a recognition in her chakra, how like his own it was.

She was hurt. Had been hurt, repeatedly, for an extended period of time, he saw.

And Danzo. Overriding his shouts of a promised revenge to tell him how he'd had his mother since his birth. Sixteen long years. The things he'd done to her to keep her incapacitated, to keep her from going to her son, from killing them all. Danzo had caressed his mother's cheek then, causing her to weakly toss her head. There was no doubt left in Naruto's mind that his mother's torture had encompassed rape. Danzo confirmed this. "There were other children. Sons, daughters, that I gave her," he whispered at Naruto, his hand still on his mother's cheek. "I'd let her birth them, nurture them, suckle them for months…then kill them before her very eyes."

He'd gone berserk, breaking free of his restraints, his mind clearing suddenly and savagely of the lingering effects of what he'd been drugged with. He'd killed one, two, five of the men trying to redo his restraints.

Danzo standing over his mother, giving the signal for 'extraction' to begin. More people suddenly surrounding him, cutting his clothes off of him. Driving a black rod through his belly that fit neatly into a one of several holes on the slab he was strapped to, effectively impaling him.

His chakra had been suddenly inaccessible.

The word 'transference' being mentioned and the sick, wrenching fear. The pain of that rod in him as he watched his mother-


Itachi stood slumped against the wall beside Naruto, his face turned into the wall itself as he called on every ounce of strength he possessed to draw air into his lungs. It was a trickle, an agonizing wheeze, as Naruto's chakra continued to gush out of him. The entire space was lit now, some great dome that was shattered, warped, and broken in several places clearly visible. The weight of Naruto's chakra seemed to have tripled, making Itachi's legs quiver with the strain of standing upright.

He was going to pass out. He knew it. Be left defenseless to whatever mindfuck Naruto was going through. Whatever buzz he'd felt when the guy had healed him was long gone…but at remembering it, Itachi flung out a desperate hand and groped for Naruto's arm. Maybe it would work again. His hand landed with a smack on one rock-hard shoulder, just as his lungs gave up the struggle and his knees buckled completely. He was going down, his fist clutched around a handful of Naruto's jacket. A flash of searing agony flared in his hand, clean up to his shoulder…


Naruto blinked, and it seemed he could breathe at last. The hand Itachi had on him effectively yanked him back to the present, severing the thread of memories. He shuddered, breathing deeply, able now to release the demon. He reached one hand across his chest to place over Itachi's hand while his heart rate returned to normal. Well, maybe not normal, but it was no longer drumming so hard in his chest. A final, deep breath and he was able to shake off his chakra completely. He looked at Itachi. "Thank you."

"F-fuh-fuck." A violent spate of coughing doubled him over.

Frowning, Naruto looked him over more carefully. Itachi seemed somewhat the worse for wear, but he was straightening up again and passing a trembling hand over his damp ponytail. "Are you all right?"

In answer, Itachi looked at the hand he had on Naruto and bellowed loud enough to have Naruto unmasking his chakra again.

The hand was raw. All the skin burned away, the blood neatly cauterized, and the hand itself likely numbed now. The white gleam of bone shone through in a few places, and the damage could be seen to extend past the cuff of Itachi's coat. While Itachi stumbled backward, cursing a solid blue streak, Naruto calmly reached for the hand and allowed his chakra to come forth only from his own hands. Itachi's yelling slowly tapered to disbelieving mutters.

-oOo-

Some time later, when Itachi had been silent for several minutes and the healing was nearly done, Naruto spoke. "I'm glad you're with me." They were kneeling, facing each other. His voice was a whisper.

Itachi's voice was just as low. "Haven't done anything." His hand throbbed and buzzed with Naruto's chakra, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"You're my tether. My rock. I don't think I could do this on my own. I wouldn't even be here if I were on my own."

His hand was whole. Itachi flexed it, rubbed his fingertips together. He pushed his sleeve up to inspect the rest of his arm and found nothing but unbroken skin. Weird, how his coat didn't have a mark on it, but his flesh had been cooked away at contact with Naruto's chakra. "Thanks."

"What do I do now?"

"Like how?" He pushed his sleeve down.

"Well, I'm down here. What am I supposed to do?"

Itachi considered it. "I know it's been bad for you, just being here, but…over in that dome was where the shit happened, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then I think you need to go in there."

Naruto was now shaking his head from side to side, his mouth tightening to a grim line. "No."

"Here me out, man. You listening?" Itachi waited until the blue eyes met his. "What's the point of coming down here if you don't go in there? That's the worst of it, the stuff you can't think about. Look that shit in the eye and tell it to fuck off. Show it doesn't own you anymore."

"Is that what you did with Akatsuki? When you let yourself be caught? Was it…hard for you? Because I don't think I can do this, put myself in there again."

Leaning his fists on the floor, Itachi bowed his head. "Hard for me? Hard, he says. Bro…I don't know how I did it. Ran from them for 17 years. They were the big bad wolf of my life. I think the only way I got through it was because Sasuke's life was on the line. And I knew that no matter what, he was safe. I'd put him in your hands. Even so, when they showed up…" He swallowed and closed his eyes. "Yeah, it was hard. The hardest. But it was the only chance we had." He looked up at Naruto. "And this is your shot. You can either go back to sessions with Iruka, where you talk about everything but this, or you can go into that dome and handle your business. Your call, man."

And so Naruto found himself on his feet, at the edge of the dome.

"Want me to come with?" Itachi asked from somewhere behind him.

"I do. But I think it's better if you stay here."

So did Itachi, but that made him feel like shit. "Look, I won't punk out on you. If you need me down there, say the word."

"I need you safe." He turned to look at where Itachi knelt.

The world had darkened, first with the dimming of Naruto's chakra, and now the absence of it. The glow swelled into place again as Naruto held his eyes a moment, taking strength from the faith he saw in their black depths. He clenched his jaw and turned resolutely toward a broken section of the dome.

Itachi watched him jump inside and heard his landing several dozen feet below. After a minute he crawled to the edge of the dome and peered downward.


There were bodies here too, Naruto saw. Dry, emaciated corpses that were little better than skeletons. Jounin uniforms dusty with time, the rusty stains everywhere. Scattered amongst the equipment Danzo had used on him. Between the various apparatuses he'd been strapped to. When he could stand to do so, he left off looking at the bodies to study the numerous pieces of equipment.

Moving slowly, swallowing repeatedly and gritting his teeth as hard as he could, Naruto marked each object. He recalled now each moment with each one, and the memories were horrendous. He came to a heavy wooden table, the only wooden piece in the dome, and stared at it.

A multitude of holes dotted the surface of the wood, itself stained black with his blood. He remembered being held down while huge screws had been mechanically drilled into him, through his bones, and into the wooden table. Even now, so many years later, he could hear the crunch of his bones, the whine of that drill, and the way he'd screamed until his vocal cords had ruptured.

When he could think of it and remember without shivering, he turned away and moved to the next piece. And the next. And the next. Sometimes his chakra escaped him, but he was ever mindful of Itachi watching from above and reined it back in. Sometimes he touched an object, only to feel as though his skin was crawling. His eyes passed over the dead with no real memory of killing them, if indeed he had. Some wore the white lab coats of Danzo's medics. He supposed Tsunade and her rescue team had killed those. He had an idea that they hadn't attempted to release him until all those responsible for hurting him were dead. But the rest…those were definitely Jounin and ANBU, the latter with masks mostly intact. He had to have killed those.

Something caught his eye, on the floor near the wall. It glinted in the light of his chakra and he went to it, curious. It was long, and thin, yet vibrant still. He bent, plucked it up with two fingers, and held it aloft before his eyes.

A hair. A single red hair, long and silken.

A lump formed in his throat that he was powerless to swallow. He wound the hair gently round his index finger, round and round, careful not to snap the fine thread. When he was done, he brought it to his lips. He had nothing of his mother, only her picture. This, he would cherish. It was as if she'd left it for him. Blessed him with it. He felt more grounded, with this part of her in his grasp, and felt at last that he could look at the far side of the dome, a place he'd been simultaneously avoiding and slowly working his way towards.


Itachi looked where Naruto was staring and again considered getting the hell out of there. It was that thing. The thing he'd read about in the restricted files. The same thing he'd mentioned to Naruto a week ago and had his place demolished because of it.


It was a room. A compartment built into the dome that was much larger outside than it was on the inside, Naruto remembered. A sleek, silver oval shape tapered on both ends. Like a huge pill. Danzo had called this room The Pod.

This was where his courage failed him. He could feel time rolling by as he stood rooted in place. An hour. Longer. Hearing his screams echo back to him over the distance of time. His pleas not to be put in there. His begging. He looked and looked until he finally closed his eyes and made himself move. Running his thumb over and over the feel of his mother's hair, he began walking toward The Pod.


Itachi had to squint at how bright the chakra got. Each slow, careful step made it brighter, until he could feel the sub-audio hum of it vibrating through his bones. The pressure was back, worse than before. He hunkered down behind the lower rim, where the outer room met the top part of the dome. Sweat ran down his body freely, but he kept watching as Naruto drew nearer to that room.


There was no handle, Naruto saw. And now that he was thinking about it, he seemed to recall Danzo putting his hand on a palm screen. He searched with just his eyes, and yes there was a small rectangular compartment that slid upward. He opened it and there was the screen. It bleeped to life when he opened the compartment.

Nothing happened when he put his hand on it, and there was a moment of relief so strong he nearly wet himself. However, he was determined. He turned to look up at where Itachi waited.

Itachi understood the silent question, but going down there was impossible. "Turn down the vibes a notch," he yelled across the distance. "I'm like to be fried if I get near you."

It took a few moments, during which he could see Naruto struggling, but the chakra dimmed to a fine outline of Naruto's body. Itachi leapt into the dome.

"Reprogram it," Naruto rasped.

Itachi licked his lips. He'd watched with bated breath when Naruto had stared at this thing for so long. He hadn't thought Naruto would do more than that, had actually felt that just looking at The Pod signaled the end of this little enterprise. Naruto had faced the worst and they could go home. So when Naruto had actually begun walking to the thing he'd felt almost sick with apprehension. "Dude," he said now. "I don't think the whole facing your past thing needs to be taken this far-"

Naruto slowly turned his head to look at him. "Re. Program. The door. Now, before I lose my nerve."

Itachi studied him. Naruto's body was rigid: back ramrod straight, muscles tense, fists clenched near his midsection. He was quivering with whatever internal battle he was fighting. "Fine. All right," Itachi sighed. He supposed he could understand wanting to actually see inside. Made sense. If you were going to do something, might as well do it right. "Gimme a sec."

The panel holding the screen lifted to reveal a small keypad beneath. He had to use a piece of twisted metal he found on the floor to pry that open, but once he did it was nothing to expose the wires beneath and jerk them free. Resetting the palm screen took hardly more trouble. He asked Naruto to put his hand on the screen when the time came, and punched in the new code.

The door whooshed opened. It was invisible when closed, but now that it was open, they could both see a small room, hardly bigger than the chair inside it. Soft white light spilled from the room.

Naruto took an involuntary step back, as if gut-punched. "There should be some way to turn it on once I'm inside," he said quietly when he could speak. A tear, one tear, rolled down his cheek.

"What-!" He couldn't be serious. This he hadn't planned on. Not at all. "You're not going in there. I promised Sasuke I would-"

"Do it. Turn it to the highest setting-"

"Naruto…please, man-" He reached for Naruto's arm, but drew back short of touching him. "Don't do this."

"-Then get away. As far away as you can. I don't…I don't know what I'll do."

"But…I mean…" Itachi ran a nervous hand over his hair. "I can't. I can't let you do this." When he got no feedback, not even a glance, he hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut against the moisture. "God. Are you sure?"

In answer, Naruto ducked beneath the doorway and went inside.

Trembling nearly as badly as Naruto, Itachi waited until he'd sat. Motion sensors triggered by Naruto's weight on the chair closed the door. He was surprised to find that the moisture had swelled to actual tears; he knew what this was costing Naruto and was torn between sick commiseration and fierce pride.

Still, he hesitated. Naruto had been breathing so hard, shaking so bad… And Sasuke had told him to bring him back in one piece. Iruka, when he got wind of this, would probably try to tear his head off with his bare hands, and if things went really bad, well then he'd be history. Blown from the face of the earth by Naruto's out-of-control response to reliving the single most harrowing part of Danzo's torture. But he walked in there himself. On his own. Seemed ready to face it come hell or high water, so… To the side of the palm screen, beneath another panel, lay a series of controls. Itachi put his shaking hand on the last one and turned it to the highest setting.


Now that he was in a contained area, Naruto could hear the high, whistling quality of his breathing. He forced himself to take deep breaths. Slower breaths. His hands were fisted on the seat beneath him; he forced them open and placed them on his knees. As an afterthought, he closed his eyes.

It's okay. I'm okay. He's going to turn it on, but I'm not 15 and weak anymore. This isn't going to go down the way it always did back then. I just need him to turn it on so I can face it.

When he opened his eyes, it was to see the many narrow slits lining the smooth interior of The Pod. Some were long, some were short. Vertical, slanted, horizontal. Out of each of those slits some kind of blade would come, attached to a thin arm that allowed the blade to slash and hack with a speed that couldn't be followed with the naked eye. Straight blades, curved blades, half-moon blades. A few of those slits let out thin, whirring buzzsaws or long stilettos. All these blades would come out at once, with a noise that was deafening, and converge on the chair.

He could remember. Now. A small part of him thought that must be progress. He was actually in The Pod, sitting on the chair, and his thoughts were still his own. He could look back and remember the absolute, all-encompassing terror with which he used to view this room. How he had to be dragged, with large hooks through the meat of his arms and legs, into The Pod. Shoved kicking and screaming into the chair. Locked into the chair. And then he would wait, screaming still, as he was waiting now. He would hear, as he heard now, the hum that meant The Pod was activated. The lights would turn off. And then those hundreds of blades would come at him.

He could not verbalize the horror. The darkness. How the blades would slice through his skin, muscle, and even bone sometimes. His eyes would be cut from his head; fingers hanging by thin strips of skin; arteries severed. A few times he'd been nearly decapitated. The pain of it was unimaginable. Something on another plane of existence entirely. He would be slashed and hacked, chopped and lacerated, diced and shredded. Back then he couldn't call forth the demon at will. The only way it ever came was when he'd been near death. Only after months would his fear alone be able to summon his chakra, but then Danzo knew how to control the demon. He had long years of practice torturing a Vessel; nothing Naruto did stopped him from putting him in The Pod sometimes as much as a dozen times a day.

The light slowly dimmed. There was a click, and then the hum intensified.

Naruto's entire body broke out into a freezing sweat of helpless panic, but he was in control of himself still. His fingers were white where they squeezed his mother's hair.

And then it happened, the hellish shrieking whine of those blades coming at him. They flashed in the light of his chakra, and Naruto finally lost it.


Back up on the outer wall, Itachi watched. He'd jumped away as soon as he'd turned the thing on, but hadn't been able to make himself go far. Not like there was anyplace for him to go anyway. He crouched, waiting for God knew what- but nothing happened. Then sound erupted from The Pod, some kind of metallic wail. He barely had time to hear a hollow booming sound and see The Pod distort and collapse in on itself before he ducked down and pressed himself to the floor. A second later it felt like the entire earth shook and heaved. He covered his head with his arms as cracks in the ceiling appeared and bits of rock and plaster rained down on his head. There was a second titanic boom, and this time he saw what was left of the chair embed itself in the wall not ten feet from where he lay quivering and screaming. It went right through the metal sheeting covering the wall to lodge in the rock behind it. A rush of scorching heat and wind swept the entire interior of the dome, making him wince, and then a final explosion had something crashing into him from somewhere. Everything went black.


When Naruto came to his senses he was standing at the center of utter ruin. His mind was blank. He was unhurt, not so much as a scratch on him, and his chakra was nowhere in evidence. At length he blinked. Recalled where he was. Turned around. The remains of The Pod, which was nothing, really. Looking at it, the past few minutes came back to him.

The blades had come, but unlike every other time he'd sat in that chair, and unlike every memory of The Pod he tried not to have, they stopped short of touching him, as if encountering a solid wall; his chakra had blown out of him, halting them in their tracks. He'd quivered there on a moment of visceral relief, of wild triumph, and then he'd been blinded by a need to take charge at long last. He wasn't sure, but he thought maybe he'd blasted his way out of The Pod. The structure was certainly no more. A few knives and a buzzsaw lay not far from where it had been, but that was it. He remembered staggering out of the wreckage, his chakra fountaining again as he lashed out with it, seeing the instruments of his subjugation. For a short time it felt good. Destroying the things used to destroy him. He knew nothing but the joy of destruction, and then it was over.

There was nothing left, he saw. Everything was one misshapen hunk of metal or another.

He felt…cleansed, somewhat, yes. Was it over? He didn't know. He could think of this room now, and the things done, and it did hurt less, but… He looked down at the hair around his finger.


Itachi came to with a groan. Before he moved, he conducted an assessment of himself. Seemed he was intact. Something was lying across his back, but he thought all his parts were in working order. He moved cautiously, inching along until he could turn over and push the plank of wood off of himself. Looked like a table dotted with holes. One of the things Naruto had looked at-

Naruto.

He got painfully to his feet and looked around. His eyes were adjusted to the dark, but he couldn't see much. A few careful, shuffling steps brought him to the edge of the wall where he could look down into the dome. Nothing but shadows. "Naruto?"

There was a sound. Faint, but steady. Once he'd jumped down among the new wreckage he followed it. Naruto slowly took shape in the dark. Solidifying out of the shadows as a crouched mass. He stopped right behind him, listening to the crying, and swallowing a lump in his throat.

As long as he lived, he would never forget the way this man had brought him to tears with a few words, and then held him while he cried. It was a moment that would define the rest of his life, much as the moment his mother had told him to run had defined his life before. The first moment, he knew, something had been taken from him. With the second moment it had been given back, and he would not have thought that possible. To see Naruto like this was too much, after everything.

"Hey." He pitched his voice low, stepped closer. "It's okay, man-"

Naruto flinched away from the hand Itachi reached out to him. "Don't…don't."

Itachi let his hand fall away. "What can I do? Just tell me what to do." He considered trying to hug Naruto.

"Leave me."

"No."

"Leave!"

The roar was loud; Itachi took a wary step back, but he held his ground. "I'm not going anywhere. Just tell me what you need, man. I'm your brother, remember?"

Naruto's face only crumpled as his body shook with renewed grief. He cried as if the world was ending, and for all Itachi knew, maybe it was. He didn't know. Could not imagine what the past few hours might have done to Naruto because as much as he told himself he understood, and had gone through similar shit, the fact was he didn't know.

Should never have done this. The fuck was I thinking, what the fuck do I know about anything? But Naruto needed him to keep it together and do something. Anything. Guy was in pieces right now.

He did the only thing he could think of at that point, and that was to pull out his phone. It was off, which had probably saved it when Naruto first went apeshit in the elevator, but he turned it on now. "A miracle I even have bars down here." Only two, but it was enough. Had to be enough.


Sasuke answered on the first ring. "Where the fuck have you been. I've been trying to call-"

"Listen up." Itachi's voice was tight.

Immediately alert, Sasuke shut his mouth. He listened to the short, whispered summary of events and wanted to kill someone. Itachi, preferably. "Put him on the phone. And Itachi?"

"Yeah, man."

"You and I are going to have a long conversation the next time I see your motherfucking face."


Itachi pressed speaker and held the phone in the general direction of Naruto's head. "Talk."

"Naruto?"

That big blond head swung toward Sasuke's voice. Itachi winced when the phone was clawed away from him, and shook his hand while Naruto hunched around the device. "Sasuke?"

"Babe, are you-"

"Sasuke." Naruto lowered his head to the phone and rocked forward until he was nearly prostrate. "Oh, Sasuke."

Itachi went to the far side of the dome, where he wouldn't be able to overhear.

-oOo-

For a long time he just listened as Sasuke spoke. Nothing important. Nothing he had to tax his brain interpreting. Nothing he needed to respond to. Just his voice. Words of love and support. Encouragement. Soothing nonsense. A throaty giggle here and there. Shared silences interspersed throughout it all that healed as much as the words did. Naruto -listening for well over an hour- held the phone to his face, eyes closed, and felt some semblance of peace settle the raging upheaval in him this day had caused.

Sasuke always knew him so well, understood him so deeply; he knew when Naruto was ready to speak. "When are you coming home?" he asked quietly after one of those silences.

"Soon." He was surprised to find that his voice was steady now, if just as quiet. "Tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

"I know."

"I'm going to kill my brother, though. Don't try to stop me."

Naruto gasped through a short laugh, but the humor was well placed. Sasuke always knows what I need. "Don't." He looked in the direction Itachi had gone. "I couldn't have done this without him. I mean that."

Another silence. "I could have come with you."

"No, you couldn't." He couldn't allow Sasuke to see him like this. Couldn't be this raw, this…weak…around Sasuke. Not ever. "It had to be him and I'm grateful. More grateful than I can say that I have him in my life."

"Right. Well. Just come home. Please."

Naruto stood and took a deep, restorative breath. "On my way."

-oOo-

He found Itachi squatting near one of the corpses, staring at it thoughtfully. He rose to his feet as Naruto came over. "So, uh…shall we go?"

"Took the words out of my mouth. I can't remember, but did I break the elevator?"

"Pretty much."

"Hm. Well, it's still the quickest way out of here." Naruto craned his head back to stare at the ceiling far above. "I could dig through that, I suppose. Tunnel to the surface. Would take awhile, so…" He lowered his head again, and gave a half smile. "Elevator shaft it is."

Itachi nodded and let him lead the way. Guy seemed okay now. Maybe not a hundred percent, but definitely much better for having spoken to Sasuke. All things considered, he felt relieved.


He stood by as Naruto, after carefully tucking something into the smallest pocket in his pants, calmly examined the elevator from the hall, then grabbed the inside edge with both hands. One good, hard yank and the thing was half out of the shaft, plaster and concrete flying. Another yank and the elevator was liberated, trailing cables and sparks of electricity. Itachi straightened from where he'd thrown himself down and waited for the dust to settle. Naruto was just as calmly dusting his hands off as he leaned into the vacated shaft and peered upward. "Looks okay," Naruto said. "Ready?"

"Jesus."

"Something wrong?"

"Just out of curiosity, how strong are you?"

Naruto frowned over his shoulder. "Sorry?"

"Nothing, man. I'm good to go."

The climb was atrocious. Naruto insisted Itachi go first, in case he grew tired and fell. After twenty feet, it became obvious that Naruto had the right idea. Itachi could admit that he'd gone soft since his stint in ANBU. His arms and legs quivered with the strain, not only from from climbing vertically for such an extended length of time, but from using his chakra this way. He wasn't used to it. It was one thing to use chakra to aid speed or strength, but using it to bond with the particles of foreign objects had always been difficult for him. Now, after so many years of disuse, it was all he could do to keep from slipping downward every three feet. Naruto wisely kept silent through his frequents stops to rest, but when half an hour had gone by and they weren't even halfway up, he decided to step in.

Itachi was grabbed around the waist and maneuvered quite easily onto Naruto's back. He settled himself without the slightest shred of shame, and hung on as Naruto forewent his chakra completely. He didn't need it to attach himself to the elevator shaft; he simply dug his fingers through the stone and concrete, and climbed that way. As if the shaft were made of nothing more substantial than marshmallows. As if he weren't carrying better than a buck seventy-five on his back.

Itachi's mouth was dry the whole way up, but he couldn't help smiling into the back of Naruto's neck. Think I love this guy.


Topside, they exited the Complex and blinked in the afternoon sunlight. For Naruto it was doubly sweet. He felt as if he'd exited the dark part of his entire life, the thing that had shadowed it for so many years. They stood there, faces turned up to the sun, until a vendor cycled over and asked if the Hokage would like to buy something.

They both chose water, and moved to sit on the curb while they drank.

Because Naruto seemed to be in a state of mind that would support conversation now, Itachi said quietly, "Brutal, huh?"

"Extremely."

"Knew you'd pull through, but you scared me there at the end."

Naruto looked down at his empty water bottle. "Felt a little lost without…I don't know, the fear I guess? Was so used to having that year with Danzo be untouchable, and now it's…nothing. Nothing I can't think about, anyway. Still hurts, still scares me, but there's no more power to the memories."

"I know. Felt just like that back at my apartment, when we…when you…" He looked away.

Naruto glanced at him, but didn't comment.

To change the subject, Itachi said, "Guess Sasuke's home waiting for you, ready to make things all better again with the power of his ass hole? Eager to fuck you back to health?"

Naruto laughed. He was feeling better and better. "You say the strangest things. But yes, I guess he is."

Itachi nodded. "Kid is one miserable fuck sometimes."

"Funny. I've always considered him to be a splendid fuck. I'm looking forward to going home." Naruto's grin flashed in the sunlight.

Surprised, and smiling because of it, Itachi threw a playful punch at Naruto's arm. "Nice one."

Seeing the smile, Naruto realized Itachi hadn't shared in the earlier laugh.

"You good?" Itachi asked at length.

Naruto was honest. "No. But I think I will be. In time." He waited a moment. "Itachi, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing. Just glad you're okay. Probably shouldn't have done this, but-"

"Please don't lie to me. I think we've shared too much for that."

No argument there. Itachi looked off to his left, away from Naruto. "Look, I think we accomplished a lot today. Let's just leave it at that."

"Whatever it is, I can handle it. Just tell me. Not knowing will eat me alive."

Itachi cursed silently for several minutes as he tried to see all angles of the situation. A pointless activity since he'd already analyzed it from every conceivable angle before coming out here. Before he'd even spoken to Naruto in his old apartment. He looked at him now. "All right. I was going to wait, let you get your feet under you, but all right." He blew out a breath. "Ever hear of Clause 19?"

"No."

"Didn't think so. Well, like I said, Tsunade told me a bunch of things that night in her office that I heard but that I didn't really give a shit about."

"What sort of things?" Strangely enough, he found this diversion a welcome change from the bruised thoughts of being in the dome again.

"All sorts. Like your dad being The Fourth."

"Oh." He waited to hear why this was at all relevant to their present situation; there was no doubt in his mind that whatever was bothering Itachi was related to this day's events.

"Dude was strong, from what I've read."

"Yes."

"Seriously strong. True talent in the Ninja arts."

"So I've been told."

"You've only been told? You didn't get his files and read for yourself? About either of your parents?"

"…No." That now seemed like an unforgivable oversight.

"Oh, well fuck, man, Minato was the shit. Second I got to TD I looked up all the dirt on my clan that I could find. Especially my parents. But yeah, your dad was something else. Makes a guy proud, you know? Knowing his dad was-"

"Itachi."

The single word effectively silenced the rambling. Itachi refocused himself. "Danzo took him out."

Naruto finally looked away from Itachi's face. He studied a stray cat across the street, where it nosed around a trashcan. "I know."

"So Tsunade was going on and on that night, about Danzo this and Danzo that, and then mentions how she had him assassinated. With Jiraiya's help, but still any assassination order goes to ANBU. This guy took out The Fourth, was able to control your mom, and you for that matter, both of whom were Vessels, and a simple ANBU squad was sent to stop him."

"Jiraiya was with them, though," Naruto frowned. The cat was now spraying the tires of a parked car.

"I looked his ass up too. Jiraiya has stated in numerous reports that his student, your dad, surpassed him by a wide margin. Seemed damned happy about it, too. Come to think, that guy taught you too, didn't he?"

"Yes." A pizza crust lay half beneath a discarded paper plate. Mewling at this find, the cat went to work gnawing on it.

"And Jiraiya, I have since found out, was another strong bastard. I mean…seriously. Even so, based on what I read, he wouldn't have lasted a full minute against you."

The cat, having eaten, now sat on its haunches and licked its chops. It did this for a few minutes, apparently satisfied. When it went to work washing itself, Naruto spoke. "What," he said in a low voice, "is Clause 19?"

"It's in the ANBU code of conduct. Clause 19 states, and I quote, 'If data pertaining to a mission, village, citizen, or holder of public office is deemed harmful to the Hokage and his/her ability to discharge his/her duties to the village of Konohagakure, it is incumbent on the ANBU captain to withhold that data in the name of keeping the village safe."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning if there's information that would impair a Hokage's ability to do their job, ANBU has the right to withhold that information."

"That is ridiculous."

"I agree. Antiquated code, but one ANBU lives by nonetheless."

"Information that serious is information the Hokage himself should deal with." The cat had stretched out to nap just behind the tire it sprayed earlier.

"Interesting you should say that. 'Cause, see, when I was digging up your info the other week, I came across that mission report. Buried. Deleted, actually, but I recovered it. Made me think about that night Tsunade disclosed all that junk. It didn't make sense to me then, but like I said, I was thinking about other things when she told me."

Sasuke and I should get a pet.

Naruto's hand slowly crushed the water bottle. He knew. He could feel it in the tension of Itachi's body. Heard it in the nervous rush of his words. But he needed confirmation just the same. "Say it."

"Danzo's alive."