Author Note: I actually want to thank those that left flames on how disappointed they were from the last chapter. That partly pissed me off and made me write this chapter faster. Did you really think that I would write Naruto so weak without a reason? I don't know how I got the message through this chapter but I'm saying that this is the first out of a two part chapter. These two parts will explain a few things about Naruto's past and Itachi's as well. Even if he had Itachi raising him everything wasn't peace and flowers. I know I've made Itachi very OOC (or whatever it's called) but like someone said. With different life's they grow differently. I don't know what I thought about when I wrote his personality but hang on with me and I hope that things will get better. I didn't want to leave Naruto invincible and strong as a monster right away. He's still human with feelings. So I had made him lose against Orochimaru, but don't think that because of that everything will go on as in the serie or manga. ^^

Also I would like to point out to the flamers about the last chapter. YOU try to write a story/chapter in the aftermath of a depression and let's see how it goes for you. Don't think that I'm mad at you, I'm just saying the truth. Once again thanx ^^

No flames needed on my spelling, I know it's bad. XD

Read, Enjoy and Review. ^_^

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or Sasuke, or Itachi, or any one in the Naruto series. But I DO own Joshua and I'm working on it so no flames needed.

Couples: None.

Return of a Stranger

By Monkan

Chapter 6

"Where am I?"

A growl echoed through the darkness.

"What happen?"

Something was getting closer, something that wasn't all too happy at the moment. The killing intent in the air was getting thicker. The sounds were getting louder.

"Where am I?"

There was some kind of banging against metal and who ever that did it was really trying to break something. There were another deep growl and then everything was quiet. The silence was even more disturbing than the noise.

The young boy walked through the darkness; somehow he knew where to go. Something was pulling him closer and wouldn't let go until he reached the end.

There were some familiar smell to the place but he couldn't place it. It didn't smell like anything he could place. He turned his head when he thought he heard something. His hair fell over his eyes when he realized he wasn't wearing his forehead protector.

The bang started again and more intense now. It was followed by a loud hissing sound.

He moved his arm and placed it over his stomach. It felt like he was going to lose his breakfast he ate two days ago. His head started to spin and the room that he couldn't even see was almost dangerous just to look at. He let out a groan and fell to his knees.

There was a roar that was followed by a deep hiss. *Whatever made those noise were two different things.* He thought through his clouded head.

For a moment he didn't realize that everything had calmed down again before being violently interrupted by a loud roar.

"Who the hell is that?" The boy placed his hands on the floor and slowly and ungracefully stood up. He stumbled a few steps before finding his balance again. He didn't know why but it felt that it was important that he continue to walk.

He saw that he was walking through a tunnel and that light was seeping in at the end of it. Maybe he would find his answer there on who made all the noise.

There were another bang and the ground shock dangerously. He leaned against the wall for support before pushing away and continued on walking.

The sudden light blinded him before he got used to it and what he saw shocked him more than anything.

He was standing at the entrance to Kyuubi's cage the fox throw himself against the gate while it roared. The foxes nine tail's waved behind him, hitting the walls but they didn't even get scratched. Kyuubi's eyes flared and his teethes showed in a twisted grimace that only spoke of death and pain. In front of the gate, on the side Kyuubi wanted to be on was a huge snake. Its body curled around itself and it waved its tail. It hissed angry but also taunting to the fox. The snake tested Kyuubi's temper almost as much as he had done from time to time.

The blond boy walked slowly into the room. Both demons noticed him and the snake was more then happy. It liked the air with its tongue, picking up his smell easily.

"What a nice surprise." It hissed. "I thought that you were dead when I saw you." It liked its mouth while Kyuubi snared at the snake from behind the gate. "I just have to take care of you now." The snake came closer but didn't move at the same time. Its long body didn't need to move for, in his point, the short distance.

The boy didn't back off one bit as the snake hovered right over him. "Why aren't you trying to escape?" The snake hissed.

Naruto looked up with his half clouded eyes. "This is my body and you are here on the same conditions as Kyuubi. If I die, you die too! So unless you want to die early I suggest that you don't hurt me. It can prove fatal."

The snake didn't like what he heard. He had known that there were someone he couldn't touch but he had hoped that it wasn't the boy. The snake didn't move at first but crawled back to the rest on its body and laid down, resting it's head against its body.

Naruto stared at the snake before turning his attention to Kyuubi. The fox's red eyes tried to stare a hole through Naruto but failed. "You call that a fight? It was more like a girl fight!" Kyuubi snared at Naruto.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and sat down between the snake and the fox. His back was turned to neither of them. He sat with his knees pulled up and rested his head against them. "I know that!" Naruto said sadly.

It was true. The fight against Orochimaru had been a real disappointment even to him. Naruto closed his eyes. "I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring everything I had against him." Naruto mumbled. The fox had to sharpen his ears so he could hear the little brat. "I guess... I was scared." he said that in a slow whisper. Even if it could hardly be heard it bounced of the walls and both demons heard him like church bells.

"You? Scared? I don't believe that!" The snake said.

This time Naruto buried his face into his folded arms over his knees. He didn't want to talk about it. It was humiliating enough as it was.

The fox walked around in his prison before coming to the conclusion that it was pointless. He lay down, facing his keeper. "What the hell were you afraid off? I've been there when you trained and grow up; you were much stronger than you showed that bastard!"

Naruto didn't move.

The snake's tongue moved while it shifted his eyes between the boy and demon.

None of them said anything for a long time.

Finally!

"I was scared because I was alone."

"Nani?" Both Kyuubi and the snake said at the same time. The words echoed through out the room.

"I was alone and that scared me more than I thought. Itachi was right. I'm not ready to go on my own yet." Naruto whispered.

"That is the lousiest excuse I've ever heard." Kyuubi exclaimed.

The snake gave Kyuubi a dirty look before turning back to the little boy. "Why do you think that?"

Naruto raised his head but didn't look at either one of them. "I've trained all my life with Itachi. I'm almost as strong as him. We've done missions together. Searched for forbidden things and sometime when we had to, killed people to keep secrets but through out that I've never been alone. For me that was so much different than normal. I always had someone to watch my back..."

"And when they weren't there you felt alone." The snake finished.

Naruto nodded. "That is the worst thing I know."

Kyuubi looked at Naruto. He couldn't blame the boy even if he wanted to. "Solitude is the worst punishment there is."

"What would you know foxy?" The snake hissed.

Kyuubi raised his head. "More than you may think and don't call me foxy, snake bastard. That's one reason why I don't like snakes." Kyuubi muttered more to himself and the snake than to Naruto.

"...kyuubi?" A small voice said. The fox looked down and saw Naruto looking straight at him. Those life full eyes the boy normally had seemed almost dead now. How serious was this?

"Do you remember what happen 5 years ago?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi closed his eyes. *How could I ever forget?*

~Flashback~

A little boy with blond hair ran around the park. It was the first time since he left the only place he had called home that he had been in a park. He had so much energy inside that he didn't care when he fell and rolled around in the grass. He ran down the hills and tried out the swing. Everything was perfect. The weather was nice and warm, almost no cloud's in the sky.

Itachi had told him to stay there while he looked things up. Naruto didn't have a problem with that, the Grass Village's park was one of the best and he loved it there.

While he sat on the swing he saw a few other kids and decided to go over to them. Little Naruto ran and was soon within reach and he slowed down until he slowly approached them. One of the girls saw him.

"Hi, who are you?"

Naruto smiled at her. "Naruto. Can I play with you?"

She looked over to the others and they didn't object. "Sure, why not!"

Naruto gave them his biggest smile before walking closer and they started to play. What Naruto didn't know was that someone was watching him from across the park.

Suddenly someone appeared him from behind and grabbed his shoulder. "What do you think you are doing?" An angry voice said.

Naruto turned to see an older boy staring coldly at him.

The one holding his shoulder spoke again. "Who told you that you could play with my sister?" The grip tighten.

Naruto winched. Why was he hurting him?

Naruto tried to get free but it was almost useless. The older boy stared at Naruto with cold eyes and noticed his whiskers for the first time. "What is that?" He reached out with his other hand and roughly grabbed Naruto's chin before turning his head so he could see one cheek clearly.

"Onegai, yamete. (Please stop)" Naruto whispered.

"Onegai, nii-san. (Please older brother) Leave him alone, he just wants to play with us." The girl that first had seen Naruto said.

The older boy just sneered and ignored his little sister. "Where did you get those marks?" He asked Naruto.

But Naruto was too scared to answer and that pissed the other boy off. "Hey, I'm talking to you." He yelled at Naruto.

Naruto tried to cover his ears to block him out but that only served to make the boy angrier and he throw Naruto away like a doll. Naruto landed hard against the ground, losing his breath. While he tried to catch it again the older boy walked up to him. "Don't ever ignore me again. You got that?"

Naruto couldn't hear him. His breath was to important at the moment. He was roughly brought up to his feet. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The boy asked Naruto in a voice filled with venom.

"Don't hurt me..." Naruto managed to get out, even if it was just a whisper. "Onegai, don't hurt me again." Tears started too welled up in Naruto's eyes and he thought he heard some of the other kids yell for his attacker to stop. Naruto closed his eyes when he felt the tears roll down his cheeks.

"HEY. What the hell did I tell you?"

Before Naruto knew it something connected with his cheek and it really hurt. Naruto's eyes shot open and the older boy gasped in shock. Deep red eyes stared back at him. He let go of Naruto when he felt something burn the hand he was holding Naruto with. Naruto landed in a heap on the ground, he just stared at the other boy. Naruto failed to notice that the other kids were close enough to see his eyes to but what could he do? He didn't even know something was wrong with his eyes.

Naruto reached up and touched the cheek he had been slapped on. It stung bad and hurt. Slowly, red chakra began to circle around him. The boy backed away one more step in fear.

"What... are you?" The once angry and violent boy was replaced with a scared kid that didn't know he had done his life worst mistake. Naruto stood up and took a step closer to the boy, he in turn backed away. "S-stay away from me." He said shaking. "Monster."

Naruto didn't hear him. There were a small roar and the boy was send flying into a tree behind him. He didn't get up. Naruto blinked a few times and his eyes turned back to the same clear blue colour they had always been before. He looked around him and wondered what happen. He saw the other kids stare at him and they had a scared expression on their faces.

"Nani..." He started to ask the girl and reached out to her when he was closer but she backed away from him

"Leave us alone." She said. "Monster."

"Don't get near us." Someone else said.

"Stay away."

"Don't talk to us again."

"Monster."

"I don't want to see you again."

"Demon."

"Shine. (Die)"

"Monster."

Naruto backed away from them now. Their word echoed in his mind. He ran away from them with tears in his eyes. He ran away from the park and out to the street. He ran down it and bumped into someone, sending him to the ground. He didn't care that something cut his face when he passed a tree.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The voice said and walked closer to Naruto. A hand reached out to help him up but once he looked up it pulled back. The woman stared at his face. The cut across his face was slowly healing. She backed away too.

"Why don't you help the poor kid up again?" A man asked her.

"Do... don't get near him. He's a monster." She blurred out.

Everyone one the street stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at the scene. Naruto crawled backwards with tears flowing down his face. The whispers got louder. Monster. He's not normal. What is he? What are he doing here?

"Yamete. Yamete." Naruto whispered over and over again. The words echoed in his ears. Monster. Monster. Stay away from him.

The few people that were behind him when he crawled toward them backed away from him. He stared at their faces but they didn't show any care for him.

*Please don't leave me alone.*

Naruto reached out and his hand was slapped away like it had some kind of disease. Tears wouldn't stop filling his eyes and inside he felt a big hole in his chest. An aching pain filled his heart. *Why are they leaving me? Naze (why)? Onegai, stop this pain! Don't leave me alone to feel like this!*

The whispers grew louder and Naruto couldn't stand them any longer. He pushed himself of the ground and ran away from them.

He didn't know where he ran or how long he ran. It was dark when Itachi found him in an alley on the other side of the village. He sat curled up and dirty. His face witnessed to the spilled tears. Itachi kneeled down and whispered his name. Naruto looked up and just as fast throw himself into Itachi's arms. He buried his face into Itachi's chest and new tears soaked the black shirt. "Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me alone again. Never leave me alone again. Make the pain stop. Onegai Itachi-nii-san. Make it stop hurting." Naruto cried heartbrokenly into Itachi's chest.

Itachi warped his arms around Naruto and held him close.

~End Flashback~

It was quiet. Neither the snake nor Kyuubi moved. Naruto brushed away a tear he didn't realized had fallen when he thought back to those memories. Even now they hurt so much to think about.

"What happen after that?" The snake asked.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders while Kyuubi looked away.

"Itachi made a promise. He didn't leave Naruto alone. When he realized that Naruto could reach my chakra he trained the little brat to use it." Kyuubi said in a low voice. "But that doesn't erase old wounds."

The snake stared at Kyuubi. Earlier if he had the chance, he would have bitten the fox to death but now he held some kind of respect for the demon. True that snakes and foxes didn't get along well but none of them had been separated by a powerful seal inside someone's body. "I didn't know you held so much inside, kid. The first I thought about you was that you looked like nothing but a good meal, now..." The snake didn't continue.

Naruto looked up to the huge snake. "What's your name?"

The snake didn't say anything for a while. "I'm called Manda." It said finally.

Naruto nodded slowly. He turned back to stare at nothing. Somehow in a funny way, he felt like home where he sat between the demon snake, Manda, and his own fox demon, Kyuubi.

"So what happen after that?" Manda asked.

Naruto lowered his head so his eyes were caste in shadows.

~Flashback~

"Naruto. You should really go out. It's not good for you to just be in your room all the time." Itachi said from the door. He stood with his arms folded over his chest leaning against the frame. His hair in the usual pony- tail and he was dressed completely in black.

Naruto sat alone on the window sill. He looked out through the glass and watched the people in Hidden Mist move around in their own lives. "I tried earlier." Naruto said quietly.

Itachi sighed but remained where he was. The last thing he wanted was to intrude but he was worried for the young boy. It had been two weeks and Naruto still didn't have the guts to go out again after what happen in Hidden Grass three weeks ago.

The memory wasn't the best he had. He had found Naruto dirty and crying, something that he never had seen before. He hadn't missed the desperate look in Naruto's eyes when he pleaded with him not to leave him alone again. No matter what he tried he couldn't get the blond child to leave his room and at the same time Naruto felt some kind of pain in his heart caused from the loneliness he lived with since he was born. Most kids had lots of friends in their own age but Naruto's only friend was Itachi and a few other guy's over 18 years, Itachi's colleges, and Naruto didn't know them that well to trust them.

Itachi sighed again. "I have a few things to do but I'll be back in one hour or maybe two."

With that Itachi left Naruto alone with the door open so he could hear Itachi close the front door.

Naruto looked after Itachi through the window. "I'm a coward." He rested his forehead against the cold glass. He closed his eyes. "Why am I so scared?"

Naruto jumped down from the sill and walked slowly out to the living room. He walked right to the kitchen after stopping for a moment by the largest window in their apartment. He got a glass of Juice before walking back to the living room. He opens the window and sat down on the frame. The wind blew inside and played with his hair. He felt even worse now than he had in a long time. "Itachi isn't the same because I'm not the same." Naruto talked to himself.

Naruto looked at the stores he could see from where he sat. There were many different stores but none of them held any interest for him at the moment. His usually bright eyes held a sad glint in them. "Why did that had to happen?" Naruto whispered. He leaned against the side of the window and looked around. He saw something in a store a little further down the street, he couldn't see it clearly but it had managed to catch his attention. How he wanted to check it out but to do that it meant to go outside and face all the people and their glares. He was torn between finding out what that was and the fear of facing anyone but Itachi. His eyes stopped at the front door. He swallowed hard before slowly putting the glass down on the floor and walked even slower to the door.

His breathing became faster and it felt like everything was closing in on him. Everything inside of him was put on the edge, ready to crash down on him. He reached out with his hand but didn't touch the door handle. When he gently brushed against it he pulled back like it burned. He was shaking now, his chest hurt badly and he wanted nothing more than to walk away because that would be the easiest thing to do at the moment.

"But if I do that I'll lose respect for myself completely!"

Naruto stood there for what seemed like eternity. His mind couldn't decide what to do.

He reached out once again and brushed against the handle, this time he didn't pull back. Naruto could hear his own heartbeat as it raced away. *Is this what it's like to have a heart attack?*

Naruto stood there for a few minutes, unmoving. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves that were in chaos. His chest hurt more when his hand grabbed onto the handle in a firm grip. Slowly he pushed it down and took a look at the other side. No one was in sight. Naruto let out a breath he hadn't knew he had held.

*One step outside and then close the door. You can do it! You can do it!* Naruto took a step forward. *No I can't do it, I just can't!*

He took two steps back. He stared at the now open door. He closed his eyes. *Kuso, I'm not this weak! I'll do it for Itachi! I'll do it to make him happy again!*

Naruto took a deep breath and walked out the door before closing it behind him.

tbc...

Author Note: I hope you liked this new chapter. I worked hard to get it down the way I wanted to. Also, the emotions that Naruto felt in the end of it, the self doubt, personality weakness, the walls closing in and heart/breathing becoming erratic, it's much stronger than you might think. Unless you experience it yourself you will never know what's like. And I hope you never will, it's one of the worst thing you can feel. Believe me, I know from experience. :( Anyway, I hope I put it down right and that it had some effect to explain the lack of fighting spirit in Naruto from the last chapter. Don't know when the next will be out. Don't hunt me down, I have school and it's only less then two months left now until this semester ends. *cough* much to do...