"Namikaze Naruto, it's about time we had a little chat."
Naruto looked at the man in front of him with giant eyes. His legs going numb as he looked death straight in the eyes. Red kaleidoscope eyes piercing through him, almost looking right through Naruto. The man stalked closer to the blonde, ignoring the dead girl by his feet.
"W-who are you."
The man said nothing as he knelt down forcing eye contact with the blonde. He stayed silent for a moment before Naruto watched his eyes change right before him. Naruto felt his gut tighten up and he couldn't tell if it for fear or shock.
"Tsukuyomi."
Xx
Naruto let out a loud gasp as a searing pain ran throughout his body. His bones felt like they were on fire and threatening to snap at any moment. He clenched his fists tight as tears starting to form in the corner of his eyes. He managed to take a measly look around him. No longer was he on the forest floor. His deceased teammates were nowhere to be seen and all trees vanished. Leaving him in a vastly open scenery, except it was pitch black. The only light being a spotlight that shined only him.
"Hmm. It seems your body isn't falling in control to my tsukuyomi."
Naruto looked up, fists still clenched to see the robed man from earlier. Looking down on him in slight confusion by his raised eyebrow. There it was again, his body pulsed as his chest burned and Naruto's sharingan flared to life. The three tomoe spinning rapidly before morphing into a large windmill shuriken. A blast of chakra erupted from Naruto sending the robed man tumbling backwards and the dark abyss to vanish around him.
Naruto panted as the pain in his body slowly began to subside. What was left was the stinging sensation in his now activated sharingan. His new designs reverting back to the regular tomoe.
"Impressive. I would have never guessed that Shisui-senpai would have given you such a gift."
Naruto tenses at the familiar voice before turning around and lobbying several kuani in the direction. The man from earlier caught them all with minimal effort. He was perfectly unscathed, not even a speck of dirt on him. Naruto scowled before locking eyes with him one again. "Who are you?! And how do you know Shisui-niisan!"
The man if possible raised his eyebrow even further upwards. He stayed silent for a moment, letting the kids words linger just a while longer in his head. Naruto was about to raise his voice again before the man spoke. "I see. You are the person that captured senpai's attention."
Naruto clicked his tongue in irritation. He needed answers dammit! His fear already evaporated as he glared hard. He swore he'd never seen this man before in his life, and the way he keeps talking about Shisui like he worked alongside him. That it suddenly clicked, his face morphing into shock as his eye pulsed with recognition. The man nodded, seeing the blondes face finally start to understand.
"It is I, Uchiha itachi."
The bow dubbed Itachi crossed his arms as he deactivated his doujutsu. His eyes turning back into their onyx black. "It seems I underestimated senpai's abilities. To think his sharingan contained much untapped potential." Itachi said. Naruto hardened his gaze as he stayed in his stance. "Why are you here? If I recall you single handedly slaughtered your clan. Only leaving Sasuke alive!" He yelled, his emotions starting to rise. He felt the bubbling sensation in his stomach return. Itachi didn't react. He was into his own thoughts to think of a response for our favorite blonde.
"So this is what Shisui was up to all this time. I should have known by his sudden secrecy with me. But to think he would actually give up one of his eyes willingly. Naruto-kun…" he closed his eyes, thinking of his late friend "What a fool of me to never notice."
"HEY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!"
The Uchiha nodded his head yet again to the blonde. "I assume you would know why Naruto-kun."
The blonde blinked rapidly at his statement. Then he cursed to himself. Dammit what an idiot he is! His thoughts now remembering the letter that Shisui left for him after he died. How the Uchiha were planning to overthrow Konoha, they were tired of being seen as equals to the other clans. They knew they were better and deserved to be on top. Naruto berated himself for overlooking such a important fact, it was part of the reason why he never told Sasuke about it. But now, in the presence of Itachi, the man who killed hundreds on that of all the same blood. He sensed no ill intent in him, he could barely sense his chakra signature. He took in his surroundings, noticing that the bodies of his team were no longer there.
Itachi noticed his surprise "Do not worry they are not dead. All of it was just a genjutsu."
"A genjutsu? But when..?"
"That puddle of water that you encountered earlier."
Naruto nodded at his explanation. He gave out a sigh of relief as he heard that his team was okay. He Honestly wouldn't know what to do if they all passed… "But why are you here? What do you want from me?"
Itachi hummed in thought. His eyes closing as he fixed his bangs. "This was all purely coincidental." He smoothly lied "We were on our way to a neighboring village for a mission when we encountered your team." The Uchiha said. Letting the the blonde ponder his words. The stoic man remained impassive throughout the talk. "Naruto-kun." He started, the boys eyes twitched in being addressed. Itachi let out a sigh, this was against the mission details. But it would come back later and save Konoha from destruction. And that was something that he would not give up. "It's the least I can do Naruto-kun."
"Naruto-kun. Please try and understand what I am about to tell you. This is something that will either make or break you, and change your shinobi career. If you are willing to hear then I will tell you the truth. If not then you will wake up in Jisu village with your team."
Naruto felt his whole body to tense. The Uchiha's eyes reverted back into his sharingan as he looked at Naruto. His eyes never blinking as he peered through the blonde. Naruto gulped loudly, the truth? The truth about what? Naruto's mind started to fly through possible scenarios on what Itachi could be talking about. The blondes hands started to feel clammy, sweat beading down his face. Naruto's own sharingan spun as he gave a hesitant nod over to the older male. "What are you talking about? What truth?"
"Since you already know the true secret of the Uchiha massacre. The man who ordered it...Shimura Danzo. He was also the man who killed Shisui all those years ago."
Naruto froze. His blood running cold as he looked at Itachi in shock. That man, the man that he jumped in front of in fear for Shisui's life. The man who took the only one that cared for him away. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. His stomach started to rumble, a foreign sensation over taking his abdomen as he glared at Itachi. "Who is Danzo Shimura?" He asked. His voice laced with venom as his doujutsu spun wildly.
"Danzo is one of the representatives on the Shinobi council. He was an old friend of Sandaime-sama. After Danzo lost his chance at becoming Sandaime, and Yondaime he has been following a more darker path. He's created an elite anbu squad that only follows his orders directly. They call themselves Root." Itachi explained. Stopping for a moment to let Naruto digest his every word. "He is the reason so many things are happening in this world, he is responsible for the death of my clan, and soon as the fall of Konoha."
Naruto sucked in a breath. This was a lot to take in. His throat dried up, forgetting to breath momentarily. "W-why did he kill Shisui-nii..?"
"Shisui never had it in him to betray anyone in the village, especially not his own family. Danzo tasked Shisui with a mission to stop the coup d'etat. Yet he couldn't bring himself to target an Uchiha."
Small droplets of blood started to drip down Naruto's hands as his nails dug into his palm. His stomach rumbled loudly, a feeling of pure anger overtaking Naruto senses. "How could Danzo do this!"
He growled out, the resentment of his family, the anger he felt for them was now surged into anger towards Danzo. The one person who ruined his only chance at a real family. Yes, Naruto was absolutely livid.
Itachi watched Naruto squirm as his chakra started to fluctuate even more due to his anger. The Uchiha flashed in front of Naruto slamming his open palm into his exposed forehead. Naruto's eyes rolled backwards as his body slumped over. His chakra aura died down as his head fell limp.
Itachi hummed as he removed his hand, looking at the blonde with a slight melancolic stare. Itachi was certain that he managed to over power Naruto's senses while trapping him in Tsukuyomi, he never would have suspected for him to break out, even with Shisui's sharingan. Itachi couldn't think of a plausible reason in how Naruto was able to break free. "Possible there was still a small amount of chakra lingering around in senpai's sharingan to break him out of the jutsu."
He pondered, but a mere small chakra spike wouldn't have been able to break the supposed unbreakable Tsukuyomi. Itachi hummed to himself, his eyes closed in speculation. After a few moments the Uchiha flashed away. Letting the Konoha shinobi be for now.
"I'll see you in the near future Naruto-kun."
Xx
Naruto's eyes fluttered open, his vision trying its best to focus on the bright colored roof above him. His head was throbbing, and his throat was dry. He gave a moan of pain as felt soft padding beneath his body. He lifted himself up as he rubbed his aching head. After a quick glance it was easy to recognize the small hospital room he resided in. Blinking a few times he was able to see three shadows directly outside his room, all varying in height. Not soon after they entered his room, and he was met with the shocked faces of his team. After a few moments no one reacted Naruto gave an awkward smile "Uhh hi?"
Shizuka was the first to react as she quickly ran to the blonde looking him over frantically. "Naruto you're awake! Are you okay? What happened to you?"
Naruto raised his eyebrows in confusion as he looked at Shizuka. His eyes traveled over to his sensei who was staring at him blankly, her arms crossed over her chest. "What do you mean? I feel fine…"
Anko's brows furrowed, her gaze never leaving Naruto. The purple haired jounin stalked her way over to Naruto. Naruto felt himself start to sweat under her stare. He looked over at his remaining teammate to Sai for any help regarding their sensei.
He didn't even look his way.
"Naruto, can you explain to me why you suddenly passed out on our way to blank village?"
Naruto's eyes went wide as he heard Anko talk. "What? Passed out?" Naruto racked his brain trying to remember anything that happened on this mission. Anko noticed his shocked expression and she gave a small frown. "The doctors said you were suffering from a bad case of Mental Shock. It occurs when shinobi, mainly new genin and chunin when they embark on their first real mission outside the village. Apparently it was too much for you and you ended up collapsing."
Naruto's spine straightened, his mind in total disbelief. Mental shock? Naruto was sure he was perfectly fine when they were on their way. His mind was so fuzzy, almost everything after they left there camping spot was hazy. Like fog was obscuring his whole brain. Naruto looked down, his team looking at him in slight empathy. "A-all I remember was waking up and leaving again. I…" scenes began to play back in his head "I thought a man attacked us, he was blue and has a huge sword. He was wearing this weird cloak with a red cloud. Then suddenly, you guys were all dead."
The room fell silent, his team looking at him in complete shock. Shizuka ans Sai's eyes were wide as saucers as Naruto finished his speech. Anko on the other hand became very tense. Her blood ran cold and her fists tightened. There was absolutely no WAY Naruto would know anything about a group with red clouds. The doctors said it was the worst case of Mental Shock they have seen since the Third Great War. So how did Naruto seemingly have an what seemed like a vision?
"I'm going to have to report this."
Naruto looked up, "But what about our mission? Did we fail because of me?"
Shizuka shook her head, her frown still in place, having feeling very awkward in the current situation she and her team was in. "No...we completed the mission we're back in Konoha."
Naruto clenched his fists tightly, he was happy that his team managed to complete their mission. But he couldn't help but feel shame and guilt for being such a burden. He clicked his tongue bitterly, his one chance to prove himself to others and he blew it. Spectacularly blew it and now he just looks like a weak fool. Shizuka looked away from Naruto, afraid to see his reaction to the best bits of information. "You've also been out for three weeks after we got back."
Naruto's head snapped upwards as he looked on in shock. He looked at Sai and Anko for confirmation. They both nodded and Naruto felt his shame almost double in size. His teeth started to grind together and he felt his eyes start to glaze over. Anko not wanting to pity the boy anymore decided to end the little reunion. She patter Naruto in the shoulder, she told him she was happy he was awake and after he was checked out they would soon resume team training. Naruto didn't acknowledge her touch and she soon left the room. A few steps out of the she turned her head back to her students. "Shizuka, Sai. Go out and tell the acting Hokage that Naruto is awake. So we can finish the debrief."
Naruto's eyes worked at this. The remaining students gave out a reply and soon got up and left the room. Shizuka gave one last look back at Naruto and gave him a small smile. Sai gave him a small hesitant nod as they left the room silently. As Anko turned to leave she was stopped by Naruto calling her name.
"Wait acting Hokage? What happened to tou- I mean Yondaime-sama?"
Anko grimaced slightly, she hesitated on whether or not she should tell Naruto the truth. She could see the kid was in obvious pain and didn't want to contribute to that in any kind of way. But she knows if she was in his situation she would want to be told the truth, no matter how much it would sting. So she closed her eyes and gave out a small breath, turning her back to the blonde before speaking "Yondaime-sama, Kushina-sama, and Jiraiya-sama have all left the village with Natsu, they just started his sage training a couple weeks ago."
Naruto's face went numb, all feeling now gone, and residing was only a blank stare. Naruto felt a few tears start to slide down his cheek. "Oh." Naruto spoke barely above a whisper. He looked away from Anko, not wanting to let the older jounin see his inner turmoil. "Does Yondaime-sama know what happened in our mission?" Anko went silent. She slowly nodded her head, "Yes. But they said Natsu's training was much too important to delay."
Naruto nodded his head in thanks. He watched Anko leave the room, the soft click of the door echoing in the room. Naruto clenched his fists, trying to push down his internal agony. He let out a loud blood curdling scream. Releasing all the pent up irritation he has kept hidden behind his walls. He grabbed his head in annoyance, the tears refusing to stop as his screaming finally died down. He was angry at his family. He was angry at his refusal to move on. He was angry that he let down his team in their first real mission. But most of all.
He was angry at how weak he was.
