Beta by: Can't guess? Who else, our Cyrro of course.

Sorry for being late, hope you guys still remember me.

7. Enemy.

Team 7 reached the Leaf village later that evening. Soon after, they were presented before the grim faced Hokage. The Hokage explained the circumstances to them in detail. It was nothing more than what Kakashi had summarised earlier. After that Sai was allowed to leave, provided that he would keep his mouth shut about the whole situation. He took one look at his team mates and refused to leave. It might be just a few weeks since they become a team, but he has come to understood his team to a large extent. He knew how this unfortunate incident would affect his team mates, and he would be doomed if he didn't support them when they needed him most. Both of them, after all, were already included in his little family of precious people.

Both Naruto and Sasuke didn't say anything, but they were grateful that he would be by their side. They needed that support. Especially Sasuke.

Sai knew all too well about both his team mates' involvement with the elder Uchiha. Itachi often visited their training ground during their training sessions: whenever he got the time. Sai saw how close Sasuke was to his brother. It wasn't unlike his own and Shin's relationship.

Sai might be a little socially awkward, but he could clearly see the deep bond between Itachi and Naruto too. He knew Naruto was a jinchuriki, it was common information given to all ROOT members and wanna be ROOT members. But the thing Sai didn't know was where Naruto was for the past six years. He knew once Naruto started to trust them fully, she would definitely tell them everything. He would definitely honor her trust when that time came. Until that time he would follow his team mates into death itself.

Line break...

"...You haven't seen the true suffering of people yet..

...I shall come back ...when I do I shall take the nine tails Jinchuriki you care so much about...I need the nine tails and I shall have it...

...world will be at peace..."

Black eyes snapped open and Itachi gasped for air.

That man was an Uchiha. He called himself Madara Uchiha and he killed his whole clan in a single night, single handedly.

He wanted to hurt Sasuke, he wanted to capture Naruto. That couldn't happen. Before that Madara couldn't touch any of them, Itachi needed to find and finish him for good.

Itachi had already lost his whole clan and family. He couldn't lose the two most important people in his life. He loved those two too much to let them get even a scratch on their body. Yes, all denials were gone and he knew he loved his brother, and he lik- no, loved his Naruto. He would protect them even if that cost him his own life.

He tried to sit up, but his body felt so weak. Damn! He tried again, but this time his right side was supported by another person who helped him to a better position. He slowly sat up and glanced down at his side.

He was presented with a mop of golden hair and deep blue eyes.

Naruto...

His breath hitched at the sight of her.

Her hair was a mess right then. Tear marks were visible all over her face. Large dark circles were visible under her eyes. The corners of her eyes were red and puffy from crying for a long time. She was in her ANBU gear . Naruto must have been guarding him the whole time he was unconscious.

She was looking intensely at him now. Searching for something although he couldn't tell what. Her expression was a mixture of relief and worry.

She must have been worried about him. A mixed feeling of warmth and guilt filled his heart as the realisation set in. He also realised that he didn't like tears in those beautiful blue eyes.

"Na-r- cough-" he tried to speak but failed as his throat and lips were dry.

Naruto immediately held a glass of water on his dry lips. He took the glass shakily and drunk the whole glass in one go. He had failed to notice how thirsty he was before.

'Please don't try to speak now. You were unconscious for over seven days. Right now you need rest. I should go and inform the Hokage and Sasuke now,' Naruto signed once he was settled down a bit.

"Is ... Sasuke all right?" he asked, finding it less difficult to speak after drinking water, and completely ignoring her suggestion of not speaking.

'Physically, yes. Emotionally? No. He needs you Itachi. He was worried sick about you. We had to put him under a genjutsu to make him sleep. An ANBU

squad is watching him right now. He is staying with Sai for the time being,'

Naruto signed.

"I see," Itachi said slowly. He accepted that much. He stayed silent for a moment. This whole situation was totally uncalled for and he hated it. He looked up at her and guilt filled his heart again. Damn that girl was a mess, which was all thanks to that Madara or whoever he was.

"What about you? Are you ok?" he softly asked, breaking the silence.

Naruto visibly tensed at his question. 'I shall call lord Hokage now,' she quickly signed. She turned away from him, ready to teleport. But before she could, Itachi caught her wrist.

"I know you were crying. Stop hiding your pain so much. Especially from me Naru."

He said the last part almost pleading.

Naruto turned to him, blue eyes already filled with tears again, 'I was worried that you wouldn't wake up. I was worried that I lost you Itachi. Besides, I should be asking if you were alright! Not the other way around!' she singed furiously, tears falling freely from her eyes.

Itachi was speechless for a second. He hadn't expected this outburst. This girl cared so much about him! He didn't know it was possible, but he fall for the girl all over again. He gently took her small hand into his and said softly, "I won't lie to you, I have seen better days. But we are shinobi and we have to cope with all situations. I promise I will never worry you again so much, Naru," he said with a determined voice.

'Promise?' signed the crying girl.

"Promise." And he meant it. He didn't want to see his Naru cry again.

A small smile formed on her face. She wiped her tears off and signed , 'Well I shall inform the Hokage now. Rest a bit. The medics must be on their way.'

He nodded, letting go of her and she disappeared with a puff of smoke.

Line break...

"Itachi, how are you feeling now?" asked the elderly Hokage.

"I am better now, thank you Lord Hokage," he answered politely.

After Naruto went to inform the Hokage, medics came and did a through examine of Itachi's body. According to them he would at least require another six-seven days to recover completely. Like all the other shinobi, he also hated hospitals with passion. But, it was a strict order from the Hokage himself and Itachi needed to follow it. After the medics were done, the Hokage came in and informed him about Sasuke. The child really was in a huge shock. Itachi could understand that.

"Tell me everything that happened," the Hokage said.

Itachi took a small breath. He gathered his thoughts and started his tale.

Flesh back..

Itachi was jumping from roof to roof in a hurry. He had a uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

From the moment of his conversation with Naruto the previous day, Itachi had felt uneasy. He had a mission of his own today, and had returned just half an hour ago. He submitted his report to Hokage and hurried towards his home.

Itachi landed in the Uchiha estate and immediately felt his heart freeze.

There were dozens of dead Uchiha bodies lying around on the street. He was horrified by the bloody scene in front of him.

No, this wasn't supposed to happen, he thought and rushed towards the Uchiha main house.

He reached just in time to see a cloaked man pulling out a blade from his mother's abdomen. Another person with a wired mask and only one hole on that mask was standing by his father's dead body. They were both cloaked. Itachi could tell the person by his father's side was a clone.

As soon as he entered the room the killer turned around. He was roughly of Kakashi's height and was wearing a black cloak. The person had long hair and Itachi was able to spot an active sharingan through the eye hole.

"Itachi. I was wondering when you would get here," said the masked figure quite calmly, like he hadn't just killed of the said person's parents.

It took Itachi all his self-control not to jump on the cloaked person and tear him open. Itachi took a sharp breath and asked in a cold tone, "Who are you and what is the meaning of this?"

"Me?" the person pointed to himself. "I am Madara Uchiha. The same one from your history book. I am not dead yet and as for what I am doing, well I just removed some unnecessary people from face of the earth," he answered calmly, walking towards Itachi.

"You were once ordered to do the same

weren't you? You didn't or, more like you were unable to, as the Jinchuriki saved you and this pathetic clan back then. But they had to die for greater good," Madara said as he stopped right in front of Itachi.

Itachi slowly looked back to his parents' dead bodies, then back at Madara and attacked him with a kunai in a lightning speed. On the outside he was cool and collected, but inside he was enraged. A sharp pain, sharper than anything he experienced before was tearing his heart out.

Madara easily dodged his first attack by flipping backward.

"Now that's not nice Itachi. I was here with a proposal for you. That's why I waited so long to kill the Uchiha: so as to find a night without your precious brother's presence. I merely kept him alive to make you listen to me," Madara said, dodging Itachi's attacks.

"I don't want anything from you. I refuse all proposals you have for me," Itachi answered, making the hand signs for great fireball jutsu.

Madara dodged that attack and found himself bounded by ninja wires.

"Now I got you," Itachi said coldly,

mentally imagining ways to kill the guy calling himself Madara slowly.

"Don't think so," Madara said, a little amused.

Itachi narrowed his eyes and saw Madara's figure just passed through the ninja wires easily.

"I thought I could make you join my organisation, as it searches for true peace. Just like you. But it seems you aren't interested. No matter, you will die here and I shall hunt Sasuke down and kill him as well," Madara said calmly.

Madara was in front of Itachi a heartbeat later and slammed his hands into Itachi's chest.

Itachi grabbed Madara's wrist just in time to stop Madara from stabbing him with a kunai. But Itachi flew out the house and across the street due to the impact of the force used by Madara.

In his long carrier in ANBU, Itachi never came across an enemy that strong before. Itachi stood up slowly and activated his Mangekyo.

"That was Kamui, wasn't it," Itachi asked looking down. His hair was covering his eyes.

"Yes indeed it was Kamui," Madara answered appearing right before him.

"Well in that case, Tsukoyami!" he shouted , suddenly looking up and meeting Madara's lone eye.

"What d-" Madara was cut short when he found himself in a black and white world.

"Welcome to my world Madara Uchiha.

Here you will be tortured for seventy two hours. Seventy one hours, fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds left!" Itachi said in cold tone stabbing Madara with a blade.

"You are certainly good at this. But.."

Itachi saw his inner wold break like a glass and shuttered around him.

"I have better control on my eye then you," the murder said.

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"You can't defeat me boy, I...ahhh..." a scream escaped his voice as he clutched his stomach with pain. It was exactly the same place where Itachi had stabbed him inside the Tsukoyomi. But how could he injure Madara in real life? It wasn't possible.

Madara fall on his knees with pain and started huffing,

"How...when...did you...do it..?" he asked, red blood pouring from his abdomen like water.

"You have Mangekyo just like me. So, it was obvious that you can break free from my Tsukoyomi. But I had to catch you off guard just for once, and when you were trapped inside it, I got the chance. I stabbed you in a vital spot near your left kidney. You need immediate treatment or else you will die within next three and half minutes from blood loss," Itachi explained calmly. He may have lost his

composure from seeing his family dead, but his ANBU training kicked in right on time.

"Well, if you want to live, I suggest you hand yourself over to me and the Leaf

Village. Then I can save you, if not then die here. Your choice," said Itachi walking closer to Madara.

Madara looked up at him, "You can never... capture me Itachi. I have longed...for true peace...and ...it will happen...soon. You are naive and fool...You...cough.." he spit some blood with the cough.

Itachi narrowed his eyes again.

"..You don't know...the true...meaning of pain..." he coughed some more blood. It was obvious that he wouldn't last much longer.

Suddenly Itachi's senses screamed at him to dodge, and he did so at lightning fast speed. A sharp cut formed on his right shoulder. He clutched his shoulder and leaped to his left.

"My my, aren't you fast," said an amused voice.

There was another cloaked figure standing beside Madara now. Itachi wondered how had he not noticed this other presence before. Itachi noticed that half of his face was dark black and other half was white. It had a plant like structure around its neck. It was obvious that the creature was not human. The creature was holding a blade with its darker side, blood dripping from that side.

'A summon? No I don't see any summoning seal anywhere!' Itachi thought. He never sensed anyone other than Madara before, so where did it come from?

Suddenly dizziness hit Itachi. He felt his legs wobble and tried hard to keep on standing but it was no avail and Itachi fell to his knees.

"It worked!" said a cheerful voice.

'Poison. Must be the cut,' Itachi thought.

"Of course it did. Its Sasori's poison. Now let's take Madara and get out of here, he is about to lose consciousness," said a rough and serious voice.

What the hell! That creature poisoned him. That explained why he was unable to move. But it didn't explain two different voices.

"Oh you are no fun~" said the cheerful voice again.

Itachi was confused now. Where was that second voice coming from?

From his position on the ground Itachi saw the creature pull Madara up from the ground.

Madara looked towards Itachi, though he was in a rough shape he still managed to deliver his parting words, "I shall come back...and when I do... I shall take the nine tail's Jinchuriki you care so much about..."

At this point Itachi's hearing become unclear. It was hard to keep his eyes open now.

"...I need the nine tails and I shall have it.."

Words were barely audible now.

"..world will be at peace …" was the last thing Itachi hard before he blanked out.

Next thing he knew was waking up in hospital.

End flesh back..

"That's what happened," Itachi finished his tale.

"Hmm. My ANBUs found you unconscious in your family yard. Some sensors felt a disturbance in that general area a while after I dismissed you that night. It seems we were late. We should have come to your aid sooner, Itachi. I am sorry for the loss, child. It wasn't only your loss, but it was the loss of whole village, " the Hokage said tiredly and sadly.

Itachi noticed the worry, sadness and regret clearly showing on Hiruzen's wrinkled face. He may be named a God of Shinobi, but many people tend to forget that, at the end of the day he was also an old man with regrets. He became God of Shinobi by climbing on an uncountable number of dead bodies and it seemed the pile was getting larger day by day.

The smiling face of his mother came to Itachi's mind, and a sharp pain hit him on his chest. Both of them sat on a heavy silence for some moments, lost in their regrets and thoughts.

"Well, I shall come again tomorrow morning. It's late. Sleep now child. You did well," said the old man, finally breaking the silence.

Itachi nodded.

"Take care Itachi," he said, and left the room.

Itachi looked down to his lap. He may have assured Naruto that he was feeling better, but truth to be told he wasn't. How could he when his whole clan was wiped out in a single night? He wanted to cry and scream like a child. He had always suppressed his emotion for as long as he remembered. But right now he didn't want to. Thinking again about the horrible sight of dead bodies, and the events seven days ago was a hit to his self-control.

Itachi put his head on his knees and tried to calm himself. He was a shinobi, a good one at that. But he still was a human before everything else. The rule book might say that a shinobi mustn't show Hus emotions, but was it possible to be a pile of emotionless rock? He doubted it.

He stayed like that until he was alerted by a movement at his side. He looked up and saw the familiar sight of the golden haired girl again.

'I told you I can feel negative emotions. I can feel you are not alright. You tell me not to hide my emotions, but you actually do it yourself,' she signed looking straight at his eyes.

It was the second time in a day he found himself speechless. Itachi felt like a wide eyed and terrified child, just like the time he made his first kill. He didn't say anything in reply to her sharp observation and merely sighed.

He slowly covered his face with his hands. He had cried in his mother's embrace at that time, for the whole night. His mother had held him and let him cry over her. His father never knew about that, and it was only mother and son's secret. He felt like doing it right now. He missed his mother, she was the only one who could actually understood him, even a little. His mother told him that he did it to keep his precious people alive and happy. He killed to protect somebody he cared about and when the time came he would have to do it again. Killing or taking some body else's life can never be truly justified, but his mother's words felt like a good excuse to escape guilt and regrets.

After that incident, he understood the meaning of shinobi life. So, he vowed to get stronger and never cry and break down again, ever.

But right then, it was so very tempting to break that vow.

He suddenly felt his upper body get pressed into a warm and small embrace, a small hand on his back making soothing motions. He moved his hands from his face surprised by this sudden action from Naruto.

His eyes got wide. Naruto was comforting him in her own silent, and a little awkward, way. Her embrace felt so much like his mother's, but at the same time it was so different.

Itachi shakily wrapped his own arms around Naruto's much smaller frame and slowly tears started falling from his eyes uncontrollably. It was not blood tears, but real water tears. "It hurts so much Naru, I can't take it. I can't take it anymore. I feel tired and alone Naru, so much alone."

Naruto tightened her embrace, and he buried his face in her messy hair and clung to her like a last life fource. It was like her way of saying that it was all right, he wasn't alone and she was with him. He continued hold her and cry silently.

Naruto didn't leave him until he had cried himself to sleep. She slowly let him down on the bed and covered him up with the hospital blanket. Then she left to guard him from shadows, just like he once did for her.

Line break...

"It has to be done. The Leaf can't show that they became weak after a unfortunate incident that easily," Koharu stated.

"It wasn't just an unfortunate incident. A major part of our village was massacred. The Uchiha were a major part of the village," said Hiruzen with anger dripping from his voice.

How could his own team mates be this

insensitive. They were suggesting to continue with the upcoming chunin exam, just to show that the Leaf Village is still stronger than the other nations, even after an 'unfortunate incident' such as a massacre of a whole shinobi clan. He understood the need to show off their power.

What he didn't understand was putting Sasuke's team in that exam. The child was terrified and heart broken. Anyone with a working brain and eye balls could see that. But no, his council was suggesting to put the child in front, so that everyone outside the village think that Leaf shinobi are so strong, even if their whole clan and family is literary dead, killed by an obvious psychopath,

that they can go on without many problems. How wonderful was that!

"But it has to be done. Sasuke has to fight in the finals, make sure of it Hiruzen." said Homura supporting the other council.

"I am going to talk to both Sasuke and his team. It will be their decision whether to participate or not," the Hokage said.

"But-"

"No further discussion in this matter. The matter is closed now," the Hokage said firmly, cutting off his ex-team mates and present council members effectively. "Now if there are no other things to discuss, I would like to go back to my paper works," he added.

Both of his ex-team mates and now

councillors understood the clear dismissal and went out without further delay. They were not pleased by his decision. It was time like that they really wondered, was Danzo right? Was their Hokage was getting softer?

Line break...

"Those Akatsuki fools. How dare they eliminate my prized research materials? I need to kill them all," roared a voice. It was quite evident that the person belonging to that voice was angry. Very, very angry.

"Yes indeed my lord. It has to be done," answered another voice, more composed and polite.

"But first we need to destroy the Leaf and my dear Sarutobi-sensei. kukukuku!" said the first speaker with venom on his voice.

"Yes my lord," answered the second voice.

"Hmm call Kimimaro, we need to go and kill a certain useless village leader," ordered the first voice.

"Yes my lord, right way," answered the second voice and went to complete the order given to him.

'Damn Akatsuki, I will acquire sharingan, one way or another,' thought the first person.

'And when I do you will all be sorry. Really sorry,' he thought with evil glee in his golden eyes.

A/N: Isn't little Naru is just adorable?

Next ch will be Sasuke's pov, Kakashi's reaction to the announcement of the chunin exam and a little surprise.

Any one guess what surprise it is?

Please review it inspires me a lot... :-)