Chapter Seven
"It is so good to see you my friend," Gaara said pulling Lee into a quick embrace. "Have you been well, I hope Guy has not been training you too hard?"
"Of course not, one can never train too hard; you are looking exceptionally well, do you have a special someone taking care of you by chance?" Lee asked looking Gaara over.
"Those romantic notions of yours will be your ruin," Gaara said taking in Lee's appearance, he still could not see how Hidan could possibly think Lee was beautiful. "Neji, how have you been? Have you found your path yet?"
"I have been well, I am still having the same difficulties with the Hyuga main house, nothing new there, and I am thinking of leaving Konoha; there is an undercurrent of change here but I feel that the change will not be for the better, I am looking for a village where Hinata and I will be welcome;" Neji explained giving Gaara's arm a quick squeeze.
"I hope you know that both you and Hinata are welcome at Suna but reserve your answer until you learn about the Pebble Village;" Gaara said with a smile.
"Shikamaru, I am glad you have come, I believe there are some things we need to discuss, have you seen my sister?" Gaara asked shaking Shikamaru's hand.
"I believe that she is spending the morning helping Tenten, she has been forced to act as Sakura's bridesmaid, Temari said she would meet us at the wedding. Speaking of weddings, I hope this is what you wanted to talk to me about, Temari did mention it," Shikamaru said.
"Yes it is, I am very happy for you both and you have my full support. But there is something that I need to discuss with you all before we go to see Naruto, he has changed greatly; please don't expect to see the old Naruto, he is now dead and gone;" said Gaara.
"What have they done to him?" Neji demanded grabbing Gaara's arm, "why have you not done anything to help? They almost killed you and here you are living with them."
"There is more to this than first appearances, reserve your judgements until you meet with him; I am just warning you, don't expect the old Naruto." Gaara explained giving Neji's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Come on, I take you to Itachi's house."
"What?" they all shouted, coming to a halt.
"The story is rather complex and one that Naruto should tell you," Gaara said continuing down the street to Itachi's house.
Hidan watched Gaara greet the new arrivals at the front gate from the shadows of a nearby building. He had followed Gaara after he had received the message that his and Naruto's friends were at the main entrance of the Uchiha estate.
He knew 'Lee' would be here and wanted to see their interaction for himself, he did not buy that 'just friends' crap for a minute. He watched as Gaara spoke to the cretin in the green lycra jumpsuit, giving him a hug? "What the fuck, the only person Gaara hugs is Naruto, it must be because the cretin is obviously a simpleton, that is the only rational explanation for that haircut and the jumpsuit," thought Hidan.
His eyes narrowed dangerously and his grip tightened on his scythe as he watched Gaara turn to greet 'Lee'. The tall dark headed beauty was even more striking in the daylight, his long dark hair shining in the sunlight, his Byakugan white eyes stunning in their eeriness, his loose white shirt and black pants hiding nothing of his powerful muscled body. "I fucking hate him," thought Hidan. "Why are they talking so long? This was not just a greeting, this was a conversation, what could they be discussing? Is the bastard organising to meet Gaara somewhere for a little catch up time? Like fuck that's going to happen."
Hidan's eyes widened in shock as he watched 'Lee' raise his arm to give Gaara's arm an affectionate squeeze and Gaara smiling at him; "I'm gonna fucking kill him," hissed Hidan.
He watched as Gaara turned to the last person, who he suspected to be Shikamaru, Gaara had mentioned that this person wanted to marry his sister.
Hidan stood up and began to move out of the shadows but came to an abrupt halt as he watched in horror as 'Lee' grabbed Gaara's arm again, then nodding at something Gaara had told him. Hidan slumped against the building when he saw Gaara's display of affection; he gave 'Lee' an affectionate pat on the arm. He might as well have stuck his tongue down his throat or pushed him against the nearest building and taken him there and then, and saved all this affectionate patting bullshit. "He's fucking dead man," Hidan growled as he pushed away from the wall and made his way down the street.
Kakashi sat opposite the Hokage within the Hokage tower, Jiraiya had seated himself on the edge of the Hokage's desk, "as I have already reported, you instructed us to follow Sasuke and report back anything suspicious; at 0245h he meet with a ROOT member and was taken to their headquarters, I am just guessing here but possibly to meet with Danzo.
"I knew that bastard was lying to us, he is marrying that bitch and is set to become the next Hokage, why else would the council of elders hold a meeting at 5 o'clock this morning and have this message to me by 5.30." Tsunade spat waving a scroll in the air. "It states that I can no longer be trusted as Hokage as I failed to keep the Akatsuki from invading our village and take up residency here. They voted me out and apparently it was a landslide vote; I am to be replaced today after Sakura's wedding by her husband."
"Madara was right, when he said the threat to the village was coming from within," Jiraiya said. "What will you do now?"
"Probably go back to travelling with Shizure, you?" Tsunade replied.
"I think that I will travel doing research for my new book and possibly do some work and study under Madara," Jiraiya stated.
"Do you really think he can be trusted?" Kakashi asked.
"Well look at Naruto, and Gaara is no ones fool, if he is considering an alliance between Suna and the Akatsuki they can not be all bad," Jiraiya said.
"I talked it over with Iruka last night, we were unsure of our standing in Konoha now that we know it was one of our own that betrayed Naruto; now with this news, it depends on who the new Hokage is but we may need to speak with Naruto about new living arrangements; I hope he forgives us enough to except us." Kakashi said.
"In that case, I think there are some things you need to know, this may influence your scepticism about the Akatsuki and Itachi; the Uchiha clan was ordered for elimination by the council of elders, Danzo submitted the proposal for elimination of the Uchiha clan, sighting that the Uchiha clan was planning on murdering the council of elders and taking control of the Leaf Village." Tsunade explained. "The council elected Itachi to perform the task, then fabricated lies, attempted to kill him and marked him as a missing nin."
"The village allowed Sasuke to believe his brother was an insane killer, Itachi was innocent all this time. Did the council lie about the Uchiha clan's attempt to seize power or was there some truth to it?" Kakashi asked.
"We don't know, the council has been corrupt for many years, the choices it makes are not always for the betterment of the village," Jiraiya stated.
"I guess this makes our decision to leave a little easier, I think I need to talk with Iruka," Kakashi said.
"Why after so long did you tell him about Itachi?" Jiraiya asked once Kakashi left the office.
"I am being ousted, I won't be going quietly; all their dirty little secrets will be exposed," Tsunade said with a grin. "Would you really want to work and study with Madara?"
"Yes, this is Madara were speaking about, the man should be dead, you don't actually believe that it was him that summoned Kyuubi do you?" Jiraiya asked.
"I don't know, I wasn't here when it happened," Tsunade replied.
"Neither was I but something about it has never sat right about that one," said Jiraiya standing.
"Will you please sit down; you are going to wear a hole in the rug" Itachi snapped at Naruto who was nervously pacing the lounge area.
"What if they hate me? Its one thing for the villagers to hate me for what I am but not my friends; what if they don't trust me now? What if they think I'm a traitor for being here with you and not trying to escape?" Naruto blurted out.
"I do not think you give your friends enough credit; I really don't think they will be that quick to judge, now sit down and I'll go make some tea, they will be here soon," Itachi instructed.
Naruto jumped up from the sofa as he heard a knock at the front door, rushing to the door expecting his friends, he was a little surprised to find Hidan patiently waiting at the door; then smiled knowingly, "of course, Gaara was showing up soon with Lee, why else would Hidan be here."
"Hidan, has something happened?" Naruto asked innocently.
"No……I was just in the area and thought I might drop in to see how you are doing," Hidan explained.
"I'm doing well……and you?" Naruto asked with a slight grin, he was not going to make it easy.
"Will you let me the fuck in, you know why I'm here, couldn't have just played along. Gaara will be here soon with 'Lee' and I want to be here; they will not be getting any alone time if I can help it. I went to see 'Lee' yesterday and I am man enough to admit that I am a little concerned that I may lose Gaara to that stunning beauty." Hidan snapped pushing passed Naruto and slumping in one of the sofas in the lounge.
"You think Lee is a stunning beauty?" Naruto asked somewhat shocked.
"Of course he is, you don't think so?" Hidan enquired looking up at Naruto who was shaking his negatively with a look distaste. "Of course you wouldn't, who are you to judge true beauty your attracted to Itachi for the love of Jashin. He is everything that I am not, with his long dark hair and Byakugan eyes and his history with Gaara, do you think that Gaara would be terribly upset with me if I killed him?"
"What?.......What?" Naruto stuttered; with dawning understanding, he almost burst out laughing in the face of Hidan's misery, "the idiot thinks Neji is Lee, no wonder he thought Lee was a stunning beauty," Naruto thought.
"Hidan, I think that Gaara would be most upset if you killed Lee, since they are very close and have always had a special relationship;" Naruto answered with a sly grin taking a seat next to Hidan.
"I thought this, I may need to make it look like an accident then;" Hidan said sadly.
"Maybe you shouldn't do it at all, you know if you do it, Gaara will go into mourning, and probably retreat back to Suna; you will never be able to cement your relationship then;" Naruto replied taking Hidan's hand giving it a reassuring pat before snapping his pinky finger and thumb.
Hidan's eyes glazed over in rapture, "thank you, I needed that," he said looking over to Naruto with a grin.
"Anytime," Naruto replied laughing.
Gaara and the others walked into the lounge to find Naruto laughing with Hidan, Gaara heard a gasp of surprised shock next to him and looked over to find Neji staring in awed amazement at Naruto.
"This is indeed troublesome," Shikamaru said.
Naruto looked up from the sofa to find his friends standing at the entry to the lounge area; "you're here, I didn't hear the front door," he said standing up and walking over to the group. "It's good to see you all."
"It is good to see you my friend," Lee said pulling Naruto into a quick hug, when he pulled away he was frowning; "is it just me, or have your gotten bigger? You look and feel different?"
"I have been very well looked after my friend, better than I was ever looked after here," Naruto said making sure he didn't say Lee's name.
"Well?" he asked Neji.
"Were you always this powerful?" Neji asked suspiciously.
Naruto quickly glanced over to Shikamaru, whom he suspected had always known the truth; only to find him grinning at him. "Mostly……I have been training and learning far more now than I have ever done in the past."
"Why did you not ever tell us, why hide who you were behind a mask of stupidity?" snapped Neji. "Did you not trust us enough?"
"I had to hide who I was in order to hide what I was; I didn't want you distrusting me like all the members of the village, thinking I could turn into a monster at any given time. If you thought I was an inept idiot than you would not see me as a threat." Naruto explained.
"I am so sorry you thought you had to do this but you will always be our friend, you are one of the most trusted people in this village, you are our brother," Neji replied.
"If this hugfest is over, I would like my tea now," Hidan snapped from his place on the sofa.
"Why don't you go and get the tray from Itachi then?" Naruto said.
Once Hidan stormed out of the lounge to the kitchen, Naruto quickly turned to Gaara, "okay, just play along, Hidan thinks Neji is Lee," he whispered. "Neji, there is something you should know, Gaara is involved with Hidan and Hidan suffers extreme jealously, I told him that Lee and Gaara were very close friends, hinting that they may or may not have been in a relationship. He is REALLY not handling it very well and it is REALLY funny to watch, he said he saw you yesterday; he must have mixed up you and Lee and sees you as the stunning beauty threatening to steal his Gaara away from him."
"Well this explains the whole Lee is beautiful thing," Gaara observed.
"You don't think I am beautiful?" Lee asked.
"Lee, of course you are a beautiful person and that special someone will see you as breathtakingly beautiful," Gaara quickly replied.
"Alright I will play along; however, if he tries to kill me, I will tell him everything," Neji said.
"He won't try to kill you, I told him; if you died, Gaara would go back to Suna in mourning and he would never see him again." Naruto giggled.
"Very troublesome," Shikamaru said.
Gaara pulled Neji over to one of the two seater sofas, tugging Neji down close to him as he sat. "So you are living with Itachi then?" Neji asked.
"I am also in a relationship with Itachi," Naruto explained as Itachi and Hidan walked back into the lounge with trays of tea, sliced fruit and sweet almond biscuits.
Neji almost laughed out aloud when Hidan walked into the lounge halting near the doorway staring daggers at both him and Gaara, "I am so glad you have found that someone special, I only wish that someday I will;" Neji said looking lovingly at Gaara. He had to pretend to cough as he barked out laughing at Hidan in the doorway, the tray in his hands rattling in his death grip and his face becoming red.
Itachi walked over to Hidan, taking the tray from his hands "SIT," he hissed, before placing the tray on the table and taking a seat next to Naruto.
Hidan managed to walk over to the sofa chair, never taking his eyes off Gaara and Neji. "Well I guess you'll have to keep looking," he growled.
"Maybe not so far," Neji said looking at Gaara again.
Naruto explained to his friends what had occurred to him and how the Akatsuki had managed to get him, how he'd been betrayed by Konoha, how he had really lived his life in the village and finally he told them about the pebble village.
"We never realised how hard it was for you," Neji said; "we knew the villagers were not friendly to you but did not know the extent."
"It was my choice not to tell anyone, I did not want your pity," Naruto replied.
"I was only telling Gaara before that I want to leave Konoha and take Hinata with me, I feel we will not longer be safe soon," Neji said; "do you think Madara would allow us to visit and possibly settle there."
"WHAT!" Hidan hissed, "Like fuck. Who's Hinata?"
"My cousin," Neji said ignoring Hidan totally.
"I think Madara would be happy for this to happen, I think he has always planned on building his own village with the most powerful shinobi," Naruto interjected.
"But…… if some do not want us there," Neji said looking at Hidan, " I guess we will have to take up Gaara's offer and go live with him in Suna," he said smirking at Hidan.
Hidan angrily pushed himself out if his chair stomped to the front door and slammed it on his way out.
"His not going to get his scythe so he can kill me is he?" Neji asked with a grin. "Naruto you were right, his is very funny."
"No, I think he has gone and to see Madara about you and your cousin moving to Pebble," Itachi replied, "Naruto should I ask what's going on?"
Naruto explained to Itachi, Hidan's identity confusion and jealous streak. "You know, you will have to tell him soon, he can be very volatile." Itachi said.
"Gaara, would you like to go and have our talk now, I think circumstances have changed somewhat, would you be adverse to both Temari and I living in Suna?" Shikamaru asked.
"Let's go back to my house and discuss this," Gaara said standing up, "Naruto, Itachi, I will see you both at the wedding. Lee, Neji would you like to join us."
"No, I need to get home and get ready for the wedding myself," Lee said, "I will visit you soon my friend."
"I had better get going as well," Neji said.
"You understand what you have to do?" Sasuke asked Jugo. "I only need about five minutes, don't fuck this up."
"Shouldn't Suigetsu be doing this instead of me?" Jugo asked concerned that he may stuff up such an important task.
"No, I have something far more dangerous for him," Sasuke said looking up to the Hokage tower; "remember timing is everything, act as soon as the Hokage is named."
Throwing his used towel into the laundry hamper on his way out of the ensuite bathroom, Itachi stood at the foot of the bed watching Naruto sleep, he had slept badly the previous night worrying over the meeting with his friends; as soon as the meeting ended, exhaustion claimed him. He had been asleep for the last two hours and they only had another hour before the wedding began.
Lying on the bed next to Naruto, Itachi ran his fingers over the teen's forehead, brushing away stray hairs, "he is so beautiful and he is finally mine," Itachi thought with a smile. Itachi had been waiting for the right moment to tell Naruto how much he meant to him but it never felt right, he was worried about coming off either pathetic or corny.
"Tenshi, it's time to get up, you have a wedding to attend." Itachi whispered.
Naruto snuggled into Itachi's warmth, "still tired, want more sleep," he mumbled.
"I know, you can sleep when we get home," Itachi whispered.
"So warm, you smell so good," Naruto whispered back wrapping his arm around Itachi's waist running his hand over Itachi's back; "your naked," he said with a grin.
"Come on, time for a shower, I will lay out the clothes that Madara wants you to wear," Itachi said pulling way from Naruto.
"What if I don't want to wear what Madara wants," Naruto moaned at the loss of Itachi's warmth.
"Naruto you are to wear the clothes I lay out," Itachi ordered walking to the dressing room.
"Alright," Naruto snapped getting off the bed and walking into the bathroom.
Sakura was so excited, she thought that she definitely outshone her bridesmaid Tenten, "the raggedy bitch was nothing next to her," she thought.
"Sakura, I must say the pink kimono is really flattering, your necklace…….is it an heirloom?" Tenten asked thinking the mother of pearl necklace to be hideous.
"No, my wonderful husband brought it for me," She replied.
"That's quite a crowd out there; did you see Sasuke and Naruto?" Tenten asked.
"Sasuke," she said dreamily, "wait…what? Naruto?" Sakura snapped running to the look through the curtains.
"No, that's not him," she said looking at the gorgeous blonde guy dressed in a royal purple top.
"Are you looking at the right guy, second row, dressed in purple sitting between Itachi and Madara Uchiha," Tenten said, looking through the curtain next to her. "Who would have thought that Naruto could look like that, I might have to get reacquainted with him after the wedding."
Both girls gasped as they watched Naruto smile at Itachi, it transformed him from gorgeous to stunningly fuckable. "Man, I could kick myself for not trying to get that," Tenten said sadly.
For the first time, Sakura was having second thoughts; she could have had Naruto, he practically begged her to have him. "Now look at him, sitting there all happy and beautiful but she was marrying Sasuke and straight after the wedding he would be announced as Hokage; she would establish the Uchiha clan." She thought looking over the crowd, she frowned as she caught sight of Sasuke in the crowd, "shouldn't he be getting ready," she thought, her frowned deepened as she watched some red haired bitch wearing glasses move closer to Sasuke and whisper something to him. "Who the fuck is that?" she thought.
"Sakura it's time," her mother said coming to stand next to her. "I'm so proud of you; you made such a wise decision, to marry for the sake of the village not some stupid childish crush."
"What?" Sakura asked frowning again.
"Come on, no time to chat now;" her mother said dragging her to the white carpeted area behind the curtain.
The curtain opened and Tenten looked at her from over her shoulder, gave her a wink and made her way down the white carpet to the shrine.
Sakura couldn't see the shrine properly, she could see the priest, there were members of the council of elders there, which she guessed was normal as her husband was going to be made Hokage; but she still couldn't see Sasuke, was he leaving it for the grand surprise, stand up from the crowd and join her once she reached the shrine; that had to be the reason.
Sakura fixed a smile on her face and began to walk toward the shrine, she barely noticed the assembled crowd she was so nervous, she smiled at Gaara and Naruto as she walked past, her smile slipping at Gaara's look of hatred. It seemed to take forever to reach the priest, finally she stepped onto the small step and waited for Sasuke, she looked over her shoulder to him with a wide smile, waiting for him to join her. She felt someone step up to stand beside her, "why are you wearing pink, you should be in red, you look like a whore;" she heard beside her. Snapping her head around she looked up to find Danzo beside her. "What…."she said looking back over her shoulder at Sasuke and then back at Danzo. "What …." She said again. She heard a bark of laughter behind her; she whipped around to see Tsunade openly laughing at her. Tear weld in her eyes, "this wasn't right….it wasn't suppose to be like this, I am suppose to be marrying Sasuke, I am suppose to be laughing at them," she thought.
"There's been a mistake," she whispered at Danzo.
"No mistake, your mother signed the marriage proposal; I told you I would make you the Hokage's wife, now shut up." Danzo growled.
The priest went through the vows and then asked if anyone objected she prayed someone would stand up and protest; however, no one came to her rescue. The priest asked if she would take this man to be her husband, she said I do even as her head was shaking negatively. The priest then announced them husband and wife; Danzo leaned forward to kiss her, she felt sickened, involuntary taking a step back leaning away from him. He grabbed her by her arm pulling her to him; he squeezed her arm and hissed in her ear, "You are never to refuse me, you will learn your lesson well tonight;" before pulling her into a bruising kiss.
"I think I'm going to be sick," she heard from behind her, turning she noticed the pierced red haired next to Madara Uchiha making gagging noises.
She looked over to Sasuke again, only to find him smirking at her before turning away to talk to the bitch next to him.
"Sai, take her to the tower," Danzo instructed, leaving her alone at the shrine; mindlessly she reached for Sai's arm for support. "Don't touch me," he hissed at her, "I know what you did to Naruto, we all know how you poisoned him, you treacherous bitch; at least now you have gotten what you deserve."
"No, it wasn't like that," she began but she knew it was like that. She had betrayed her best friend for this.
"That's what I thought," Sai replied, "Just follow me and don't talk to me."
Sakura silently followed Sai out away from the ceremony area to the tower.
Madara remained seated next to Pein watching people chatting about the wedding and the upcoming announcement that Danzo would now be made Hokage. "I must say, that was the most exciting wedding I have ever been too," Pein told him.
"And how many weddings have you been too exactly?" Madara asked him.
"Including this one…..two," Pein observed. "You know I'm not into the whole romance thing…..oh, sorry," he said remembering the other wedding. He had attended Madara's wedding, it had been romantic, touching and very very secret; it had been nowhere near as fun as this one had been.
"It was a long time ago and you are right, this one was highly entertaining, I particularly liked the fact that the bride cried through the whole ceremony and kept looking over to Sasuke; the idiot girl actually thought he was going to marry her; that's another one we owe our good friend Gaara;" Madara said smiling.
"Madara, may I have a word with you?" Danzo asked with a slight mocking bow.
"Please take a seat, what can I do for you?" Madara asked. "I understand congratulations are in order."
"You were at the wedding were you not? You are still here!" Danzo snapped.
"Not that, I understand you are about to be named Hokage," Madara told him.
"You are very well informed but I would like to discuss the possibility of trade between out two organisations; having done business together previously;" Danzo offered.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready to seize ultimate power or something?" Madara asked suspiciously.
"There is plenty of time for that, Sakura needs to get changed out of her wedding clothes and into the Hokage wife's robes," Danzo said.
"I spoke to Madara this afternoon, his was not very keen to have Lee move to the village, until I explained what Lee looked like, then he was very happy to have your friend Lee and his cousin move to Pebble," Hidan said taking Gaara's hand.
"Hidan, there is something I need to tell you," Gaara began.
"No….don't, we have only known each other a really short time but don't leave me for him," Hidan interrupted squeezing Gaara hand.
"Will you let my hand go, you're the one that gets off on the pain not me; and will you just shut up for one minute. Hidan, Lee is not Lee; the person who you thought was Lee is Neji;" Gaara began again.
"What? So who is Lee?" Hidan asked.
"You know the guy in the green lycra," Gaara asked.
"No fucking way and this Neji guy, there is nothing going on between the two of you?" Hidan asked, suddenly feeling much more relieved.
"There isn't anything going on between Neji and I and there never has been; we just wanted to teach you a lesson on your jealously issues; there is only you." Gaara said softly leaning forward to capture Hidan's lips. "I want only you."
"Itachi, I'm just going to speak with Iruka and Kakashi, I will only be there, so you don't have to follow me, alright;" Naruto told him pointing out where Iruka and Kakashi stood a small distance away.
"Alright, just be careful," Itachi said as he caught sight of Suigetsu walking toward him.
"Sensei, quickly your brother is in league with Danzo, they have set a trap to take him; I only found out, I have been assigned to keep you busy and fight you to the death to keep you away long enough so they could get Naruto," Suigetsu said.
"The bastard would sacrifice you just so he could get hold of Naruto for what a couple of minutes?" Itachi asked looking around for Naruto in the crowd.
"That's all he said he needed in order to show Naruto what Madara and you had done to him," Suigetsu told him.
"Fuck," he thought he needed Madara.
"Your not to go back to Sasuke, you are to remain with the Akatsuki, go and find Hidan and tell him and Gaara what's happening" Itachi said beginning to panic, he couldn't find Naruto in the crowd.
Itachi rushed over to Madara and Pein who were still in conversation with Danzo, although obviously bored. "Madara, they've taken Naruto," Itachi hissed looking at Danzo.
Danzo stood up from his seat with a grin, "looks like my job is done," he said with a shrug and walked off.
"I knew that bastard was up to something I just didn't know what it was;" Madara said standing up.
"Sasuke plans on entering his mind and showing him what had been done to him;" Itachi said still looking around for Naruto.
"Fuck!" Madara hissed. "This is all kinds of bad; Itachi, close your eyes, focus, you know how to locate him."
Itachi closed his eyes concentrating, "I've found him, they have him behind the Hokage tower.
Naruto made his way through the crowd watching Iruka and Kakashi together, they were so much in love, he hoped that he and Itachi would be like that in the future. He felt a sting on his neck as he neared Iruka but his path was blocked off by a group of people, trying to weave his way around them he raised his hand to his neck wondering what type of insect bit him. He pulled the stinger out of his neck only to find a familiar barb; spinning around he found a familiar face looking back at him, the ROOT member that had worn the tiger mask; "I warned you that I would kill you the next time I saw you," Naruto growled. Stepping forward he grabbed the shinobi by the throat and snapped his neck killing him instantly.
Naruto was grabbed from all angles, the people that had crowed around him were all ROOT members and were ushering him toward the Hokage tower.
"Kit, I can't use my chakra, what's going on?" Naruto asked panicking.
"The drug is only temporary, it shuts down the chakra gates, I am burning it out of your system now, you will have full charka access in about three minutes," Kyuubi explained.
Naruto was pushed around the back of the Hokage tower and forced to the ground, his arms and legs trapped; he looked around wildly for an escape route "about two minutes left," he thought, then he saw Sasuke walking toward him with his sharingan activated. "What the fuck do you want?" Naruto spat at him.
Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you, your new Hokage and his wife.
"I have something to show you," he said. "Jugo, that's your cue."
"What's he doing?" Naruto asked.
"Creating a distraction, fights are about to break out in the crowd, making it so much more difficult for my brother and Madara to get to you, this won't take long." Sasuke said looking directly into Naruto's eyes and dragging him to a world of red and black.
Itachi pushed through the crowd but the fights breaking out all through the crowd were making it more difficult to gain any headway.
Madara grabbed Pein and Itachi by the arms and used his teleportation jutsu to get them to the tower; rushing to the back of the tower they found Naruto standing with his back to them and Sasuke sitting on the ground looking up at him.
"What the fuck did you do?" Itachi yelled.
"Kit…….please, don't do this, stay with me, don't lose yourself," Kyuubi pleaded.
"Fuck you, you knew what they did to me and you lied about it, you can trust Itachi you said, well fuck you I won't listen to anymore of your lies;" Naruto growled sealing Kyuubi's cage tighter, he could still access all of the demons power but he didn't want to listen to him any more.
Naruto closed his eyes and slowly opened himself up to the full force of Kyuubi's power, he almost moaned in bliss as the heady power flooded his system; then he remembered. The order to comply and he did, from wearing what he was told too and being told to sit and he did like an obedient dog, ordered what to eat, how to act, how to perform sexually. The order to never try to escape, he had never considered it. Being told that he loved and trusted Itachi and he did. He remembered Itachi asking Madara to give him to Pein, that he was not gay, that he didn't want this. It had all been a lie; he had given himself to a man who didn't want him.
Naruto sank to the ground his head in his hands, Madara wanting to be his father, wanting to give him a real family, it had all been a lie; Madara had considered killing him. Naruto moaned as pain ripped through him, remembering all the times he and Itachi had been together the closeness they shared; he thought it was all real, just hours ago they had been lying in bed together, he had loved how Itachi felt in his arms, how warm and how loved he'd felt. None of it was real, his precious feelings of security and love had all been based on a lie, they had used him in the worse possible way.
Something inside of him snapped, "Never again, never again will I trust, they thought Gaara was a monster, I'll show them what a real monster is. I fucking hate them all for what they did to me," he thought. Standing up, he turned to face the fuckers that did this to him.
Itachi watched as Naruto slumped to the ground on one knee, stepping forward he was pulled back by Madara, shaking his head looking worryingly at Naruto. Itachi looked to his right as he felt movement, only to find Gaara and the others had finally made it through the crowd.
Jiraiya began to walk to Naruto but something halted him, he sent a worrying glance at Madara, who only nodded in reply. They watched Naruto stand and turn to face them, his eyes no longer innocent blue but blood red slits.
"Naruto, please this is not what it seems, what you were shown was not the full truth," Itachi said stepping forward, "Tenshi, please I love you."
"No, you don't get to talk anymore, I don't want to hear your lies any longer; you are dead to me, I am done with you;" Naruto roared at Itachi. "If any of you come near me again, I will kill you," he spat at the group before vanishing in to thin air.
"You taught him the teleportation jutsu?" Pein asked.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Madara replied staring at the spot where Naruto had just vanished. "Sasori, Deidara, take Sasuke back to the compound and lock him in the cell closest to my house. Hidan you are to guard him, Itachi is not allowed anywhere near him."
Madara walked over to Itachi pulling him into a tight hug, "we will find him but I fear we have lost him, he may have descended too far into insanity for us to save; Itachi, I am sorry but you must understand that there is a strong possibility that we will have to kill him; he is a danger to himself and all those around him."
"I'm going to fucking kill that bastard, he has fucked my life up for the last time," Itachi growled, trying to pull away from Madara so he could go after his brother.
"No, we will deal with him and the others after we get Naruto; he is far more important right now, he is far too dangerous." Madara snapped. "Itachi, I know you are hurting and at the moment there is nothing I can do or say to make it better, if we can not heal him, you will hurt like his forever, the pain will lessen but there will always be pain."
"Itachi, see if you can feel him," Madara asked.
Itachi closed his eyes and concentrated, "no, I can not feel anything of him, it's like he doesn't exist," Itachi told him.
Itachi lay on the sofa in Madara's lounge, he hadn't moved since being brought here seven hours ago, he had refused the tea and food offered as he knew it was drugged, he had tried over and over again to locate Naruto but he could not sense him; Madara and Pein watched over him, worrying that he may either go to his brother, which is why Madara had placed the immortal to guard him, or he would escape to go hunt down Naruto; he had to find Naruto, he had been thinking of possible places he would go, he no longer needed acceptance so all options were available to him, he could be anywhere and while he lay here doing nothing he was getting further away. Itachi sat up, looked to the door and stood up.
"Sit down," Madara told him. "The others are working on possible locations, we can not do anything now, we must wait until morning."
Sasuke looked over to the door of his cell as he heard it being opened and watched as Hidan placed a chair, a small table with a tea tray on it near the door; Hidan moved aside to allow Madara entry, "is there anything else sensei?"
"No, I will call you when I am done," Madara said.
Madara looked over Sasuke shaking his head, "you have no idea how much damage you have done; first, let's talk about what you don't know about Itachi shall we?"
"I don't need to know anything, I don't give a fuck about him," Sasuke spat.
"Really? Do you know that Itachi is innocent of the Uchiha clan slaying? He was just as much a puppet as you have been in this escapade. How about how he has been looking after you all these years? Or how he planted Suigetsu in your team to care for you? Or how he has loved Naruto ever since he first met him but never touched him because he knew you loved him? But you didn't appreciate Naruto did you? I know what you did to him; I know how you forced yourself onto him and used his insecurities against him. Itachi has fought his attraction for Naruto for a long time, he had never exploited Naruto, never lied to hurt him; he said what he did about Naruto to protect himself and you, thinking you and Naruto were still in a relationship. When he found out how you used him for your own gain and attempted to kill him to gain the mangekyo sharingan, all bets were off, he took and nurtured what you rejected; I can't believe you actually believed that shit about killing your best friend to gain the mangekyo, are you really that stupid?"
"We will most likely have to kill Naruto, what you did sent him over the edge of sanity, he had been surfing the edge for some time now, which is why we were determined to get him, we wanted to pull him back to the land of the sane. And now Itachi is also lost, he looked out for you and cared for you, he kept you alive; you have finally destroyed that, you have taken away the only thing that he lived for. He hates you with his entire being; you will never be able to repair that kind of damage."
"All your old friends and even your old sensei Kakashi want you dead, you destroyed something pure and good, and in its place stands something vile and evil. So what should I do with you? Although they will not kill you the Akatsuki will not make your stay pleasant, they cared for Naruto, especially Hidan and Zetsu. Then there is Gaara; Tsunade had to drug him, he was very determined to torture you, and from what I understand he is very good at it, imaginative Hidan calls him; but we can not keep him drugged forever."
"Then there is me, you have taken away my son; Minato, Naruto's father and I where secretly married just before he became Hokage of Konoha, we knew the village would never accept it, one because of who I am and two …….well, because of who I am, so it remained a secret, Minato petitioned a family in the land of whirlpool for a daughter to have our children. As is done in same sex marriages, the third or forth daughter is normally used as a surrogate mother; Kushina died in child birth, Minato died saving that fucking village, When I asked about Kushina's child, I was informed that it had died in child birth along with it's mother, I spent years believing my son was dead; I had lost everything that night and that village had the gall to blame me for raising Kyuubi. You see, I didn't need to adopt Naruto; he has always been my son. So what to do, the easy option is to kill you but that's the easy way out, I want you to live and experience the pain you have brought on to others, I want you to watch and feel all suffering you have caused your brother and Gaara, I want you to see how your actions impacted so many lives. Death is too good for you."
Madara stood up knocked on the door for Hidan to open it, "you will eventually die but by whose hand remains to be seen."
