Disclaimer: I don't own the anime or manga. But do I even want to? All the plotting and media pressure; crazy fans, -shudder- All those endless nights pounding my brain for tidbits of ideas, the hand cramps. My lazy personalilty winces and cowers at such a thought.

I send Kishimoto my most sincere regards.

Warnings for the chapter: A lot of POV switching. Don't worry, it's all kept in Third Person Limited Omniscent (1). Rarely will I write Third Person Omniscent but it may slip out occasionally; hopefully that doesn't make my fic inconsistant. I will never write in First Person; it just bothers me.

The door cracked open to reveal bright blonde hair and blue eyes staring into his in fright. The kid he was staring down was Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. He examined the boy with a hard gaze, Sharingan always active. He was frigid, trembling slightly, definitely out of fear. There was a brief flash of recognition, most likely relating his appearance to that of his teammate's. Itachi's eyes never left his. There was something familiar about his entire appearance, strangely enough. The cerulean eyes; his moppy-sunny hair. It displeased Itachi, he always had an intuitive mind and a sharp memory. Still, he had a job to do and minor interests will have nothing on it.

"Hm, Can this brat really contain the Nine-Tails?" Kisame chuckled behind him. He was leaking a fair amount of killer intent.

Itachi was displeased. Torturing him with your taunts is unnecessary, he thought to himself.

After stalling for so long, Itachi couldn't help but feel pity stirring in his stomach towards his brother and the person his brother called a friend; though he knew his little brother was too arrogant to admit it. He had to do this for peace in Konoha, after all. The ends justified the means.

(A few days prior)

"Itachi," his name rung through the caverns of the base of their hideout, "I expected you to be here with the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails already. Did I not send you and Kisame more than a week ago?"

He looked blankly over at the holographic form of their supposed leader; his eyes sporting the legendary Rinnegan. He had plausible reasons for his hesitancy that were true, if only partially. He knew that both Pain and Madara would have the ability to sniff out his lies; one from knowing his most intimate secrets, the other with the help of a previously extinct Doujutsu. Half truths worked well if you could convince yourself that they were the truth; another lesson learnt in Anbu.

"I could not," he answered simply. Knowing that Pain was likely going to want an explanation, he continued, "Upon my arrival, Jiraiya of the Sannin was already guarding the Jinchuuriki. It seems as though he was already aware of our movements."

"Could you not have taken care of him?" Pain asked incredulously.

"He is a strong man, most likely stronger than I could handle," it was the truth. He did believe that if he and the Toad Sage were to confront, he would lose.

"I've heard that Jiraiya is travelling around the Fire Country in search of his colleague. Based on this information, it is correct to assume the Jinchuuriki was also with him," Pain stated blankly, "I'm also aware that you didn't leave Konoha in an effort to tail them."

"It would have been suspicious, knowing that Jiraiya is no novice in spying, he would've likely spotted me," Itachi explained his case, "I stayed behind in Konoha to make him paranoid. If he could assume that the danger was over after arriving back in Konoha, then he would leave the Jinchuuriki alone and that would make our mission easier. That was the moment I had planned to escape with the Jinchuuriki."

Pain seemed to consider this logic for a while. It was odd. This entire situation was odd. He was one of the most loyal Akatsuki members second to Kisame himself. There was no reason for Pain to be delving so deeply into his intentions. The surrounding holograms of their other members seemed to agree. There was definitely more tension than usual, echoing the dark cavern. He turned his gaze of the crumbling pieces of rock and hardened wood. They lay in haphardly on the ground. The finger made of carved stone he stood atop was chipped and dented. The others sported worse.

Pain's suspicions likely rose because of the fairly large incident that happened a while ago. Orochimaru's defection. Everyone in the Akatsuki knew that Orochimaru was more than slightly perverse. He had a large personal agenda to tend to, so it wasn't all too surprising when he left. However, the damage that lay in his wake was. It seemed that, in his rage ensued by his defeat at Itachi's hands, he managed to damage the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path (2). Of course, Pain and Madara seeked retribution, yet the snake was more slippery than one would think. Orochimaru had cost them in the end and Pain was likely suspecting others of doing that as well.

It was either that, or Madara had finally gotten Pain under his wing; breeding suspicion over the odd recruitment of the clan murderer.

He would rather have Pain breathing down his neck for the former.

"I've heard that the matter has been dealt with and they are returning shortly," Pain seemed to be free of suspicions thus far, "I will give you five more days to complete the capture and delivery of the Jinchuuriki to this base. We will deal with him appropriately afterward."

It may have been strange to want the prescence of a Jinchuuriki when there was no vessel to reseal the Tailed-Beast in, but Itachi could understand Pain's, and most likely Madara's, haste. There was already a large missap that lay in their path. They probably wouldn't be able to stand another failure; another obstacle on their path to 'peace'.

That was why Itachi had to take his mission seriously and capture his brother's only friend. Konoha would burn if he failed.

(Back in the Present)-(Naruto POV)

"Naruto-kun, we would like you to come with us," the man who looked like Sasuke said in a blank voice.

To say he was scared shitless was an understatement. He was on the receiving end of the iciest stare he had ever scene. It came from such crimson eyes too. Those eyes were staring at him, yet not. It was as if they were seeing something else where he was; like they were peeking into his soul.

On the other hand, there was the equally chilling stare from a blue-skinned man. Though he was much taller, the Sasuke look-alike was so much more intimidating.

The day started out normal enough. After Naruto and Jiraiya brought their Fifth Hokage back to the village in the early morning, Naruto had had been greeted by his team. Jiraiya had left him to help Tsunade set up her office, or more likely cracking perverted jokes about her figure while she was drinking something alcoholic and Shizune was organizing things.

The first thing Naruto noticed about his team was the lack of orange book that their teacher usually had his nose in 24/7. When asked, Kakashi admitted that he was taking training his team more seriously, but still read on their breaks and when they were doing mundane tasks. The second thing he noticed was his pink-haired teammate. She was still the cute and pretty girl before. She was less cuddly with her crush, yet still amiable with him. It brought curiosity and hope to his heart. She also looked like she built some muscle, not much, but it was a considerable amount in the two weeks he was gone. Sasuke remained the same. His prior change in values was a large enough change to last them ten years.

And so, they ate at his favourite 'restaurant'. Before long, they separated and Naruto found himself in his apartment, admiring the aquamarine necklace adorning his neck. Until Jiraiya dragged him out again. It was truelly unexpected. The perverted sage had told him that they were going to a local hot spring as a reward for completing their mission. They coincidentally had the world's best ramen there as well. Despite his initial excitement at the mention of ramen, he had thought that the perverted sage's actions were suspicious. They had just come back from a two week-long trip and suddenly, they were out of Konoha again. But still, the temptation of ramen was too good to ignore.

So after his teacher left him to go chase another woman, he settled into the small hotel room reserved for those going into the hot springs.

And now he was here, staring at the face of his demise.

(Jiraiya POV)

He had come back from their mission safe and sporting a new and very powerful techinique. So why was it that Jiraiya still had an ominous feeling crawl down his spine every moment he looked over at Naruto. They were back in Konoha with a powerful new leader, surely the Akatsuki wouldn't try anything drastic now. But after talking to Kakashi about their intruders, the feeling was intensified. The odd sensation Kakashi had felt before he took Naruto away was most likely the concealed prescences of an Akatsuki team. During their entire absence, Kakashi had still been able to feel an inkling of their power trailing behind his team. It was constant and they still hadn't disappeared when Naruto and him came back; they were most likely watching from afar.

In response to that thought, he immediately set out to find Naruto to make sure he was not alone. Upon arriving at the exact moment Naruto's teammates left, he stalked his new apprentice back to his apartment. He was suddenly able to feel it, the very intricately concealed prescence of two ninja. They were close in the vicinity and they were powerful, exceptionally so.

It was likely that they could sense his prescence as well. He was probably the only thing that prevented the ninja from taking their target. He knew he couldn't leave Naruto alone after that, but he couldn't keep on stalking him all through the afternoon. It would be bad for Naruto and Konoha if his attention momentarily lapsed and the Akatsuki did damage to the village while capturing Naruto. He needed Naruto and him to take another trip out of the village, immediately.

It had been easy to convince him. Offer ramen and the boy would come to your beck and call. Of course, he still needed a valid excuse. Therefore, he quickly told the kid that they were going to celebrate bringing back the Fifth Hokage in a neighbouring town. He didn't need to know about S-class ninja after his body yet.

When they arrived in the town, he was glad to find that the prescences didn't follow them. That didn't mean he could relax, but it brought him relief anyway; Naruto was in no immediate danger. So when checking into their room for the night and spotted a lovely and curvy woman winking suggestively at him, he decided that there was no harm in accepting her invitation. There was something wrong about this lady. Yet he couldn't refuse.

The woman at his side flipped her hair in a flirty manner and he couldn't help but drool; lude thoughts littering his mind. They walked the streets of the busy town and they laughed with merriment. After spending a few minutes with the lady that was seduced by his charms, he knew there was definitely something wrong. It was most likely a trap created by the Akatsuki to lure him away from their target. Thankfully, he prepared for that. A toad was inconspicuously placed in their hotel room who's job was to protect Naruto and notify him if there was trouble around. He already informed the new Hokage about their unwanted tag-alongs with a summon.

So he played their game. The best way to take the trapper off-guard was to take the bait and spring unexpectedly. The hero always comes in the nick-of-time, after all.

His partner for the evening noticed his lapse of reality and silently completed her job. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice his enticing partner slip something into his drink and he gulped it down gluttonously.

(Sasuke POV)

It had started after Kakashi separated from them after greeting Naruto at the entrance.

The blonde was still as obnoxious as ever; apparently he learned an 'ultra-cool technique that could kick Sasuke's Chidori's ass'. He just snorted in response, not disdainfully, but in humor. There was little doubt in his mind that his teammate could probably pull off anything if he tried hard enough. He had seen him shoot up in power and confidence by simply pushing himself all this time. He could still probably kick Naruto's ass; not like he had much of a reason to though. So after arguing amiably with the blonde-for once- he and Sakura left Naruto to go settle back into his apartment.

He went back to his apartment to rest for a while. He hadn't known what Kakashi was doing at the time. That was until Sakura had come bursting through his door and dragged him somewhere in a flurry. He had thought she was acting up, trying to get his attention again, until he remembered that she was no longer like that. The idea was still hard to get used to. So he silently followed her erratic movements until he came to the front desk of Konoha's main hospital.

He had wondered what they were doing here until he laid his eyes on the room Sakura had led him to. It was Kakashi, their teacher, quite possibly one of the strongest ninja in their village, and he was laying on the hospital bed, unconcious. Above him stood the a blonde woman in a green jacket. The Fifth Hokage; he recognized her from when she and Naruto arrived in the village. She was healing him; the green chakra applied to his teacher's chest was a tell-tale sign. Still, this was obviously a worrying situation.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked.

Sakura echoed his curiosity as she nodded furiously at the female Hokage. She seemed to debate her next words; selecting with them the utmost care.

"Kakashi was attacked," she spoke truthfully, yet cautiously.

"What? By who?" Sakura questioned.

"That is confidential," the Hokage said in a firm tone. Clearly, there was no arguing with her no matter how much Sasuke wanted to know.

A tense silence filled the next few seconds. He didn't know what to do. There was no information and Kakashi didn't seem to need more support. Suddenly, a patter of feet along the hospital halls closed in on them and a black-haired woman blurred past them, not even noticing Sasuke and his teammate in her haste. Wrapped tightly in her arms was an oddly coloured toad.

"Tsunade-sama!" She cried, obviously familiar with the medic, "We have confirmation that Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi, who attacked Kakashi, are now after Naruto!"

The blonde Hokage could've cringed in irritation, if not for the difficult healing procedure she was currently working on. Coincidences were a horrible twist of fate. Shizune, still not noticing the smaller prescences in the room, looked at her master in confusion. She surveyed the room until she froze at the sight of the rest of Team 7; obviously, she made a mistake.

Sakura and Sasuke tensed when they heard the news; Sasuke more so. The pinkette didn't really like the blonde too much, he was incredibly annoying and loud, but she was attached to him as teammates. She couldn't help but shiver when the new person rushed into the room and shouted that the people that took down Kakashi-she cringed when she glanced at him-were now going after Naruto.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was frozen. Frozen from fear, frozen from anger, he didn't know. The only words that he could comprehend were 'Itachi', 'after', and 'Naruto'. There were too many thoughts racing in his head going at far too high speeds. He didn't know what to think and the only thing he could feel was fear; fear for another person's life.

He didn't know how he ended up running around the village trying to find his teammate. He simply surged out the the door leaving a room full of stupor-induced people behind. The Hokage was obviously too busy healing Kakashi to stop him and he was already too far for her assistant to catch up. He remembered seeing Sakura try to come with him but was stopped by the black-haired woman's grip on her arm. None of that mattered though. The only thing on his mind was finding his blonde teammate before his brother found him first; and ended him.

Fuck! Where the fuck is he? Naruto is going to die if I'm late! he thought frantically, Fuck! What does Itachi want with him?

It was a furious thought. His brother, the one that caused him all his heartache, the one that destroyed his hope and his dreams, the one that shattered his entire world was back; back and trying to find Naruto for some odd reason. There was no time to dwadle on such thoughts though. He knew how powerful his brother was, how frightening, how impossible-to-defeat. Naruto would never stand a chance; not like he could fair any better, but that confession would be dealt with another time.

There was only one place he had constantly seen the blonde at. Ichiraku Ramen, the quaint ramen shop that Naruto could've been supporting all by himself with his large appetite. The entrance flaps were pulled apart and almost ripped in his furosity. Growling at the clearly empty stand, he directed his attention to the bemused chef.

"Where the fuck is Naruto?" His patience running thin at the man's hesitancy. Clearly, they were still apprehensive about him.

"Naruto? Well, I suppose I saw him and Jiraiya-sama walking toward the entrance. He was shouting something about hotsprings and ramen," the man conceeded.

Great. Naruto left Konoha. He left Konoha. Shit! He's far away, he thought anxiously. Thankfully, there was only one known hotspring in the local area. Sasuke immediately dashed out of the stand leaving the chef in offense. There was no time to waste. He didn't know how close his brother was to Naruto but he knew the place was a fair distance away.

He needed to go faster.

Suddenly, he found himself at the entrance to a small village. Steam rose slowly from the backs of buildings and dispersed. His legs burned along with his lungs and chakra coils. Chakra was still being subconciously channeled through his body, bringing unnatrual warmth in his limbs. He'd unknowingly used iy to boost himself a distance of one kilometer in less than a minute; and it hurt.

There was no time to catch his breath. Dashing around buildings, he asked for the prescence of a white-haired old man and a shorter-than-average blonde brat. There were no matches so far and he hastened his search. His anxiety eating away at him.

He didn't know what he would do when he got there. Despite not dwadling on thinking too much, he knew there'd be little he would be able to do; especially after using all that chakra to come here in the first place. Sasuke rounded the corner and suddenly, a familiar prescence engulfed him. There was no doubt about it. Itachi was close; significantly close.

There was a lone building standing in front of him. It was staring at him, gauging his next moves. It was testing his luck, his fate, Naruto's fate.

There was no hesitation as he focused in on the source of that horribly familiar prescence. There was someone's life at stake. Someone close to him. Silently, he wondered when he had ever formed close enough ties with his blonde teammate to be considered close, but that didn't matter at the moment.

The closer he got to that person, the more hatred he felt rising under his stoic mask. But this wasn't about attaining vengeance, there was no way he could win yet, it was about getting Naruto out of there before he ended up in a bloody pile of flesh. There was no way he was going to let another person be victimized by his brother. There was no way he was going to let Naruto end up like his clan.

Swallowing his pride and regaining as much chakra as he could for this confrontation, he silently crept around the corner to stare dead-centre at the back of a familiar figure. Spikes of blonde hair were blocked off by his form and Sasuke readied himself; activating his Sharingan in the face of another holder.

"It's been a while, Sasuke," the monotone voice broke his concentration. It held so much familiarity and brought a string of emotions to tear through him. It hurt to see the back of the man that was once family to him, then destroyed said family. It hurt to be near the person that completely destroyed his life. Anger, betrayal, anger, reminiscence, anger, despair, anger, confusion, and more anger were felt. But he was better than to let the one person he hated see through emotions and settled on the most prominent one; anger.

"Uchiha Itachi," he couldn't help but respond. That name, it held so much meaning to him, so much rage.

"Get away from Naruto or I will kill you!" He spoke in deadly firm tone. The Sharingan in his eyes spun once more, boaring into the back of his brother's head.

To Be Continued...

A/N: lol sorry for the cliff hanger, but I didn't want to end up writing an 8k chapter so I decided to cut it off then. First, the tags I've put on the chapter:

1= lol not much to do with the story, but for those wondering. Third Person Limited Omniscent is a narrative that basically means you aren't in the story with them (That is third person) but you can't feel everyone's emotions; you can only describe the emotions of the character who's POV you're writing from because your position in the story is basically 'in their head'.

Third Person Omniscent just delimits you to that one person and you can describe the emotions and thoughts of all the characters in your story because your position is essentially god.

2= To those who don't know, his is the statue that all the bijuu are sealed in. I'm not too sure if its made of stone or wood, so I settled with both. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't just break easily, but you know Ero-Hebi-san (Orochimaru), he can do a lot of weird shit. Now this is an important element in my story ;)

IMPORTANT AND ALL MUST READ WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THIS FIC:

So I haven't really talked about how the structure of this fic is going to go. I've already planned it out in my head, but you know how unreliable that gets. for the basics, I'm splitting this story into 2 parts, similar to canon. Part 1 is before time-skip (which is now), part 2 is 2.5 years later.

I'm not sure if I should separate the parts, any ideas? Seriously, I could use the reviews. Just give me your opinions my followers T^T PM's are good too, I need the praise, or insults. It doesn't matter, I just need human contact.

So until next chapter~

Less importantly, would anyone be willing to beta? I mean, I don't necessarily check over my work, and I don't make mistakes often, but it takes a load off of me when someone can tell me if I'm using an excessive amount of commas; or semi-colons. Though, I do love semi-colons; they make life easier.

One more thing; I'm getting writer's block.

I'm calling my current phenomenon getting down from the 'First Fic High'
Simply put, I'm getting less inspiration to write the next chapter. Also keep in mind that it's completely stored within my head.

Arg, hopefully, I don't lose too many followers if I stall a bit more(?)

Don't kill me T^T.