Sasuke stared Orochimaru down. "I saw your fight"said Orochimaru. "What's your point?"asked Sasuke. "You lost to someone your friend Naruto had defeated"said Orochimaru. "I know that!"yelled Sasuke. He was becoming highly annoyed. "The reason he won, is because he had a power reserve, namely the chakra of the 9 tail fox. That's what's allowed him to surpass you"said Orochimaru. Sasuke said nothing.

"You have your own reserve, you just haven't used it yet"said Orochimaru. Sasuke pulled his shirt down just enough to see the cursed seal mark. "You want power, don't you? There's only one way to get it, you have to overide Kakashi's seal and unleash the curse mark"said Orochimaru. Sasuke held his hand over the mark. "First it was Gaara, then Itachi, now Neiji. I've lost three straight fights, and the last two I lost badly"thought Sasuke.

"What do you say?"asked Orochimaru. "From what I hear you can't beat Itachi either, why should I join you?"asked Sasuke. "True, neither of us are a match for Itachi alone, but,together we might have a chance. If you continue down the road you're currently going, you will die long before Itachi even reaches mid age. Come with me, and the two of us will kill Itachi. Is that not what you want?"asked Orochimaru.

Sasuke looked at the ground, then back at Orochimaru. "So, can you really give me the power I need?"asked Sasuke. "That and more"said Orochimaru. "Allright, I'll do it. However, if I find you lied to me, we're done"said Sasuke. "You've made the right choice"said Orochimaru.

Naruto stood out with Neiji and Hinata, Hinata applying more ointment on her wound, which was mostly healed. "I don't know what's with Sasuke lately"said Naruto. "It's because of me. If I hadn't told him Itachi was here, he would've never have lost that fight, and he wouldn't have become-

"No, it probaly would've happened anyway. This goes further back then Itachi"said Naruto. "What do you mean?"asked Hinata. "At the Chuunin exams, there was a ninja named Gaara, a blood thristy ninja who controlled sand. Sasuke fought him. At first he seemed in control but then the fight broke out into the forest, where I found Sasuke beaten. Then, he watched me beat Gaara"said Naruto. "Well, no one was hurt except himself. I'd be careful of him Naruto, there's no telling what he might pull next"said Neiji.

Naruto nodded. "I think my arm's getting better now"said Hinata. "That's great"said Naruto. Neiji stood up. "Byuakuguan!"

"What is it?"asked Hinata. Not far away, he saw Itachi and Kisame coming their way. "Two guys coming this way"said Neiji. Hinata got up. "Let me see, Byuakuguan!"

She gasped in horror when she saw them, falling back. "Hinata?"asked Naruto. "Who are they?"asked Naruto. "Kisame and Itachi, we have to get out of here!"said Hinata. "No way, what are they doing here?"asked Naruto. "You two get out of here!"said Hinata. "What about you?"asked Neiji. "If we all leave, they'll massacare the entire Hyuuga clan. I'm pretty sure they're coming just for me. Go!"said Hinata. "You're crazy, I've heared about Itachi, there's no way you can hold him off!"said Neiji. She nodded.

"You're willing to let them kill you?"asked Naruto. "Why not? All I'll be able to do is live in fear of him. There isn't a person alive who can beat Itachi except the Akatsuki leader, and he won't do it"said Hinata trembling. Naruto stood his ground. "I'm not leaving!"said Naruto. Itachi and Kisame appeared out, coming towards them. "Here they come"said Neiji.

They stopped just a yard away from them. "Well well, look who we got here"said Kisame. Hinata took a fighting stance, as did Neiji and Naruto. "You've got to be kidding"said Kisame. "You two have nothing to do with this. We want her"said Itachi. "You heared them, leave"said Hinata. Neither one budged. "Fine, let's get rid of all of them"said Kisame. "It can't be helped"said Itachi. "You're mine! Mass Shadow Clone jutsu!"said naruto, hundreds of clones appearing around Itachi. "Attack!"yelled all the Naruto clones. "Amazing!"thought Neiji. "All those clones"thought Hinata. Itachi used his kunai, slashing through the attacking clones before they could even touch him, leaping back. "Black flame jutsu!"

A wave of black shot out from Itachi, destroying all the clones, Naruto avoiding the flames but the impact blew him back. "Ah!"gasped Hinata. "Damn it"said Naruto getting up. He tried to perform another shadow clone jutsu but Itachi came over and kicked Naruto, knocking him into a post. Hinata rushed but itachi sidestepped and shoved her to the ground.

Neiji ran for Itachi but Kisame swung his sword, Neiji barely dodging.

Hinata got up. "Leave Naruto alone, I'm your opponent"said Hinata. "No!"yelled Naruto. "Very well"said Itachi. Hinata took out a kunai and tried to stab, Itachi using his own kunai to block easily. Hinata uses this chance, going for a palm but Itachi grabs her hand and pulls her gut right into his knee, Hinata falling to her knees. "Hinata!"gasped Naruto.

Neiji ran sideways and forward but Kisame saw it coming. Neiji jumped on Kisame's sword as it swung, going for a kick to Kisame's face but Kisame swung the sword hard, forcing Neiji to jump off. "I'll cut your head off!"pledged Kisame running towards him. "Whirlwind!"

However the impact of the sword broke the whirlwind, knocking Neiji back.

Meanwhile, naruto created 2 more shadow clones, attacking Itachi head on. Itachi kicked Hinata to the side, thrusting the kunai through Naruto's heart, but he dissapeared in smoke. "A clone"thought Itachi, the real Naruto trying to hit itachi from behind but itachi spun around, meeting Naruto's shocked face, before being tossed back into the post.

"It's futile, you're weak"said Itachi. Naruto growled, getting up on all fours. He rushed toward Itachi again but was kicked back. "You can't win"said Itachi. Hinata tried to hit Itachi again but was caught and brought into another knee, then an elbow.

"Hinata!"gasped Naruto. Naruto had trouble getting up from the damage suffered from Itachi. Itachi picked Hinata up by the shirt, striking with a palm to the face. "That's enough!"said Naruto. Hinata fell to her knees, half concious, Itachi staring her in the face. "This time, I'll make sure you die"said Itachi. "No!"gasped Neiji, Kisame blocking him from helping. "No, no!"said Naruto, watching helplessly.

Itachi's shariguan began to activate. "No, Hinata, no!"yelled Naruto.

"She can't even defend herself!"said Neiji trying to intervene but Kisame kicked him back.

"I promised i wouldn't let him hurt her"he thought, clenching his fist. "I promised I would beat him, I promised"he thought standing. Itachi was about to begin using his illusionary technique.

Naruto let out a loud scream, kyuubi chakra exploding from his body. Kisame saw it as well. "There's no doubt, that's the chakra"said Itachi, dropping Hinata and walking over, however the chakra blew him back. "What the!"gasped Kisame. Naruto changed, his body growing into a large fox like creature, 4 tails coming out. "Four tails"said Itachi. Naruto roared.

"Black flame jutsu!"said Itachi, Naruto retaliating with a flame blast equaly as powerful. Neiji looked on in disbelief. Hinata opened her eyes, which widened in horror seeing Naruto this way. Itachi was being pushed back. "What awful power!"thought Itachi. Kisame rushed over, allowing Neiji to go check on Hinata. "I'm fine"she said.

Kisame tried to cut through the chakra but was blown back as well. "We have to retreat!"said Itachi. Both began running, just as Naruto reverted back to his old self. "Hey, you allright?"she asked. Naruto coughed. "Yeah"he said. "With all that chakra at once, you're lucky to still be alive"said Neiji. "Yeah, but I don't think I'll ever do that again"said Naruto.

Kisame and Itachi continued to run. "How did he do it?"asked Kisame. "Temporary. At this point he's not strong enough to evoke that much power with his will. We'll come back for him later. At his current level, he's no threat"said Itachi.

TBC