Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Umm…animal abuse in this as well as some blood.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction ... The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. - MLK

"He's avoiding me." Itachi pointed out.

"Nonsense Itachi! Why would Naruto be avoiding you?" Fugaku asked.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out soon." Itachi said as he left the room. He knew Naruto was avoiding him. He had been since he broke that stupid fox toy a few months ago. That either meant Naruto was mad at Itachi…

…or he was afraid of him.

"Sasuke, he's so cute!" Naruto said as he pet the little puppy they found. It was a black lab, and a very small one at that. It couldn't have been more then 6 weeks old.

"Yeah, he is! What should we name him?" Sasuke asked.

"How about Akaru?" Naruto suggested.

"Okay!" Sasuke agreed.

"We have to hide him from kaasan though. She doesn't like dogs."

"Okasan…why does everyone hate me so much?" 6 year old Naruto asked his mother as she paced back and forth in the kitchen.

"Why would you say a thing like that Naruto?"

"Because all the adults glare at me! Why is that?"

"Sit down Naruto. And we'll tell you." Fugaku said as Naruto took a seat.

"You see Naruto, the thing is…" Fugaku took a deep breath and continued.

"6 years ago a demon known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked this village."

"I know about that otosan. And I know Yondaime gave up his life to seal the demon inside of a baby…What does that have to do with me?"

Naruto's parents sighed. They had planned on telling Naruto this when he was a little older. But they couldn't lie to him when he had asked them such a seemingly innocent question. But they loved him so much, and wanted to protect him from the hatred of the village. Slowly, they wanted to have Naruto open up to everyone. They wanted to show the village that he was a sweet boy who had a lot of potential.

"Naruto…you're that baby. You have Kyuubi sealed inside of you." Fugaku said. Naruto's eyes widened at this. All the dirty looks, the cruel language…it was all because of that.

Itachi's eyes gleamed in the light and he slipped away from his parents.

'Interesting.' He thought.

"Wh…what? No! No okasan, tell me it's a lie!" Naruto said as tears started to stream down his cheeks.

"Naruto sweetie, don't cry!" Mikoto said as she pulled the boy onto her lap and rocked him slightly.

"Naruto, it's okay. We love you so much. And so do all of your aunts, your uncles, your cousins, Itachi, and especially Sasuke." Mikoto ran her fingers through Naruto's hair as the little boy calmed down.

"You don't hate me like they do?" Naruto asked as he starred up at his mother with his innocent blue eyes. She smiled as she starred into them. Naruto deserved to be loved more so then anyone else.

"Naruto, go get Sasuke, it's time for dinner." She said as she kissed him on the forehead and he jumped off her lap, and ran up the stairs to Sasuke's room.

"He's a good boy." Fugaku said.

"Yes, yes he is."

"Sasuke-chan! Come on, it's time to eat." Naruto said he entered the older boy's room. He tried to act as cheerful as possible, but Sasuke picked up his sadness.

After 3 years of being together, the two were inseparable. They spent all their waking time together, and often fell asleep together in one another's rooms. Sasuke and Naruto knew each other better then they knew themselves. So Sasuke knew if Naruto was sad, and vice-versa.

"Is everything alright Naruto? It looks like you were crying." Sasuke said as he pulled the younger boy into his arms.

"Eh? No, no, no, no! I'm okay Sasuke-chan. I hit my knee when I was coming up the stairs. You know how much of a klutz I am!" Naruto ended his sentence with a laugh, and all the sadness that he seemed to have went away.

"Okay Naruto lets go eat!"

"Okasan and chichiue were right, he really does love me!' Naruto thought to himself as he let his older brother lead him down the stairs.

"Higher Sasuke, keep pushing!" Naruto laughed as Sasuke pushed him on a swing. There was a swing that Naruto liked a lot. It was located near the academy. It was the same swing that he met his parents on. So, he was attached to it a bit.

"Look Naruto, there's Shisui! Jump off!" Sasuke said as Naruto flew off the swing. He landed on his feet, got wobbly, and fell to the ground. Sasuke laughed at him, and Naruto pulled his arm, causing Sasuke to fall next to him.

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled out playfully.

"Hello you two. Having fun?" Shisui asked.

"Hi Shisui!" They said in unison.

"Why can't I go kaasan? I don't want to stay home alone." Naruto said as his parents and Sasuke were about to go out the door. Itachi's birthday was tomorrow, and they were going to pick up his gift, and plan his surprise party. But they weren't taking Naruto.

"Naruto-chan, you have to stay here. If you come with us, Itachi might also try to go. You need to stay here with him."

"But kaasan-"

"That's enough whining Naruto. We'll see you later." And with that, they were gone.

Naruto looked around quickly to see if Itachi was around, but it was clear. He literally jet up the stairs and into his room, closing (and locking) the door behind him. With a breath of relief, he turned around to see Itachi sitting on his bed.

"Hello Naruto-kun." Itachi said as he stood up and walked towards the little boy. Naruto's eyes widened, and he grabbed the doorknob to unlock and open it, but a larger hand grasped his, and held the knob closed.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Wh...why are you in my room aniki?" Naruto asked, shaking slightly. Itachi had begun acting weird lately, and he had no clue why. It was really scaring him.

"I want to…teach you something." Itachi said, picking up Naruto and slinging him over his shoulder. The younger boy screamed and kicked and flailed, but Itachi would not let him go.

"Aniki! No, what are you doing?" Naruto asked as he was dragged out into the backyard. Naruto's eyes widened in fear as Itachi led him back to the shed where he and Sasuke hid Akaru.

"AKARU!" Naruto screamed as he saw the little puppy on the ground, whimpering in pain. His front legs were both broken, and he had a few cuts on his back and tail.

Itachi put Naruto down, and the little boy ran to the dog.

"Aniki, what happened? Who did this?" Naruto asked.

"I did."

"Wha…what? WHY!" Naruto yelled, tears slowly rolling down his cheek onto Akaru's nose.

"Because, I have to teach you hatred, and how you can use it as an advantage." Itachi said as he took a kunai out of his pouch and stuck it through Akaru's tail, pinning it to the ground. The little puppy howled in pain, and tried to get away.

"NO!" Naruto yelled, and Itachi held onto his arm, pulling a kunai out from his pouch with the other. He took the kunai and shoved it slowly into Akaru's ribs, pulling it out, and then pushing it in again. The whole while, Naruto and the little puppy cried.

"Aniki, stop it! Please stop, you're going to kill him!" Naruto whined.

"That's the plan Naruto." He said as he stabbed the puppy through the skull, ending his misery.

Naruto went limp as he saw Akaru's eyes go blank. Itachi noticed this, and shook Naruto harshly.

"You hate me don't you Naruto? You want to hurt me right? That's what you have to do in real life. Emotions can be used to your advantage. Hate people, get angry at them…and you can use that anger, and that hatred to kill them. If you have people you care about, then they're going to be kidnapped and used against you. Ninja's shouldn't, no; they can't love because love will be conquered by hatred. If you don't learn hatred, you'll never survive."

There was something Itachi did wrong when he told Naruto to hate. He told Naruto that emotions could be used to his advantage. 'Emotions' is the word that stuck to Naruto. Love is an emotion, and he loved his family so much. So in a battle, he would think about all his precious people and thinking of them would make him strong and want to protect them. He would use love as his emotional advantage.