Hello, I'm back...

I hope you guys didn't hate me for taking so much time, but alas, LIfe is a bitch and it bites you in the ass from time to time, just to remind you it's there. Something similar happened to me and this past month, I was busy taking care of my bitten ass. No worries though, my ass is recovering and is still an awesome ass. Now, moving the conversation away from my ass, Woah! that sounded disturbing. Whatever. The thing is, updates are gonna be a little slow for a few months. I'm joining a new job in march and thus am going to be very busy settling in and making an impression on the new boss.

But fear not, I will try to get AT LEAST one chapter every twenty five - thirty days.

Another thing, I thank all those who favorited, followed and most importantly, REVIEWED the story. They make me work better and faster. So kudos to them.

Keep the reviews coming and I'll try to do the chapters quicker.

Now, without further ado, on with the story.

Chapter 10: Those Who Dwell In The Darkness

Itachi sat on the edge of the canyon, gazing into the night sky. Even more than two years later, he still didn't like the mention of his family. His reputation usually scared people to even avoid looking him in the eye, let alone talk. In the Akatsuki, members tended to leave each other's past alone. Hidan had once praised his actions of slaughtering his clan and had offered to let him join his religion. Itachi had put him in tsukiyomi. Neither Hidan or Itachi had ever mentioned what had happened in the illusion, but ever since then, the silver haired immortal had given Itachi a wide berth. Orochimaru, who had been Itachi's partner before his sudden departure from the group had never mentioned konoha, let alone the Uchiha clan. Kisame had once mentioned them at the time they had been assigned as partners when he had observed that both men were similar in the fact that they had killed their village members. After that, it seemed that Kisame had picked up on the fact that it was a touchy subject and had never brought it up again. To have the blonde mention his brother so casually unnerved him. Ever since he had left, he had wondered whether he had made the right choice. In the heat of the moment, he had told Sasuke to become an avenger, in hopes that he would become strong.

As Itachi sat silently, he saw an orange blip out of the corner of his eyes. His features tightened. He was in no mood for company. One of the reasons he liked Kisame was that the man understood that Itachi was used to being alone & silent and that he preferred it that way.

"Sorry."

A single word said in a low voice, brimming with sincerity. Itachi turned to face the blonde who had reached him.

"I am sorry." The blonde repeated. "You felt sad by something I said." Naruto plopped down next to the Uchiha. Naruto glanced at the man sitting next to him. Contrary to people's beliefs, he wasn't totally blind to his surroundings. Some things, like pain and loneliness, he picked up very easily. It may have been because he was so familiar with those emotions and the way people dealt with them that he could spot them when even seasoned ninja couldn't. When this man had arrived, Naruto hadn't really paid attention to him, being distracted by the larger man, but after he had mentioned Sasuke, he had noticed the minute flash of pain in the man's eyes. Naruto was a child who had too big a heart for someone his size. He could never see anyone in pain.

Itachi stayed silent for a while, hoping that Naruto would just leave, but the blonde showed no hints of leaving. Both of them sat in silence for a while. Itachi knew it wouldn't last. He had occasionally been on the boy's surveillance detail when he was in the ANBU corp. He knew the boy lacked patience. Soon, he would start speaking again. A whole minute passed before the blonde's patience finally snapped. Itachi couldn't help but smile inwardly.

"Are you mad at me?" Naruto peered at Itachi's face. It was as expressionless as it had been when he had arrived.

Itachi shook his head, but said nothing.

"So, you forgive me?" Naruto continued, his eyes shining in hope.

"There is nothing to forgive, Uzumaki-kun." Itachi continued to gaze into the night.

"But I made you sad." Naruto shook his head.

"You did not." Itachi assured him, mentally asking himself why he was even bothering. He knew the blonde wouldn't keep quiet, so he switched the conversation to something that interested him. At least get some information while the blonde talked. "What are you doing out here, outside the village?"

Itachi watched as the boy's eyes lost its shine. He listened to the boy's tale in silence. He wanted to point out that the Hokage wouldn't have let an incident like this occur ever again but stopped himself. He didn't want to explain his reasons to the boy. Itachi's eyes went over the boy's blonde hair and blue eyes. Itachi wasn't considered the genius of his generation for nothing. He had put two and two together before he had left the village. If the boy's face had been less round and more lean, he could have passed off as a miniature clone of his father.

It had been a small incident that had triggered his interest in the boy. When he had been shadowing his family in preparation for the day of his mission, he had noticed that his mother would sometimes take some groceries with her when she went out. He had followed her to a house that he knew from his ANBU missions of watching the container of the Kyuubi. While he harbored no ill will towards Naruto, he had been surprised to find her go into the small apartment. Even more surprised to find that Naruto recognized her. Although he just called her Lady, it was clear that it was not the first time she had come. He noticed that her mother cooked him her specialty and sat with the boy as he ate while praising her cooking. His mother just smiled and patted his head like she did to Sasuke and him, when he had been younger.

After that, Itachi had tried to dig up a connection between the boy and his mother. The expression on his mother's face had been of sadness and love at the same time. He was sure that he had never heard his mother ever speak of the boy. After a long search, and by coincidence, he had found the connection. A photograph of a red haired woman and his mother on the day of his parent's wedding. She seemed familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen the woman. Pulling out more old pictures, he saw many more photographs of his mother with the unknown woman that had a resemblance to Uzumaki Naruto. On a little further prodding, he managed to learn from his father that the woman had been Uzumaki Kushina, Yondaime's wife. It was then that Itachi remembered. The woman had been his mother's best friend. He had met her a number of times when he was younger. He didn't know her much as his mother usually went to the Hokage's house rather than the red head coming to their house. She had been pregnant during the Kyuubi's attack and had supposedly died before giving birth. After that, Itachi had not inquired further. If the Hokage had kept the boy's lineage a secret, he wasn't one to cause trouble.

Itachi turned to look away from the blonde. I wonder if he ever thought about why my mother never came again. Itachi pushed his emotions back as he berated himself for such thoughts. He had done what was necessary. Some must die for many to survive. The civil war would have killed many and orphaned more. It was the justification he gave himself every time he felt his heart feel regret. He was brought out of his meditations by a hand tugging at his sleeve.

"Yes, Uzumaki-kun?"

"Um- I came to take you back. Your friend was calling you." Naruto stood up, dusting off nonexistent dirt from his pants.

Itachi stood up as well. He reached out and grabbed Naruto. Once he had a strong grip around the blonde's waist, he shunshined.

Itachi and Naruto arrived to find Kisame and Haku lying flat on the rocky ground, looking at the night sky. Kisame glanced at him and was relieved to see that his partner was no longer angry. Kisame laughed as Naruto exclaimed about how cool the transport jutsu was. That reminded Kisame about something he had wanted to ask Naruto.

"Say, brat?" Kisame called out. Naruto stopped skipping and looked expectantly at the large man. "How did you learn that jutsu, you know, the Kage bunshin?"

Itachi's eyebrows went up as he heard the question. He knows the Kage bunshin? Wasn't that a Kinjutsu? He glanced down at the blonde. Naruto grinned and made a V sign with his fingers.

"I learnt it all by myself from a scroll I brought with me from my village."

"You brought the forbidden jutsu scroll with you?" Itachi couldn't believe what he was hearing. Naruto frowned as he considered the question. "I don't know." He said. He reached into his pouch and took out the scroll he had been practicing from and tossed it to Itachi, who caught it. Itachi opened the scroll to find the jutsu explained in an unknown handwriting. "This is the scroll you learned from?" He asked the boy.

"Yes. I found it in my teacher's closet." Naruto nodded. "Is it the forbidden scroll?"

Kisame almost had a heart attack when Itachi smiled, yes smiled. He suppressed the urge to run for the woods before something apocalyptic happened. Uchiha Itachi smiling signaled the end of the world. Itachi reached out and poked Naruto on the fore head.

"Ow." Naruto looked up in surprise, rubbing his forehead. It hadn't really hurt, but he was caught off guard. It seemed that Itachi had caught himself off guard as well. He looked so surprised at his actions that his eyes were the widest Kisame had ever seen. Itachi glanced at his offending hand that had poked the blonde and his smile disappeared. Once again, he was the Uchiha Itachi that was feared as the man who killed, ate and slept with the same expression on his face, without any sign of emotions whatsoever. Itachi resisted his urge to Shunshin away again, seeing as it had been less than five minutes since he came back. Instead he chose to answer the blonde's question.

"No. It is not the Forbidden Scroll." Itachi picked up a medium sized boulder. He transformed it into a large scroll, half the size of the blonde. "This is what the Forbidden Scroll looks like."

Naruto nodded.

Kisame looked on, a little amused at the exchange. He had been right. The boy was interesting. No one had ever managed to make the Uchiha smile, in his memory. Neither the bickering between Sasori and Kakuzu or Hidan's lewd jokes. He and the other boy's (other than Pein) had a pool going on over who would smile first- Itachi or the Leader. It was a pity that no one would believe him if he told them that Itachi had smiled. Not that he would want to, he had money riding on the leader. Perhaps it was time he asked Zetsu to spy on the leader when he was alone with his blue-haired girlfriend. Surely he smiled at her sometime. His attention was diverted when he saw that Naruto had turned into an exact replica of him.

"Hey. What's going on?" He glanced at the others. "Why is the brat henge'd into me?"

Itachi merely glanced at him. "He wishes to show us his jutsus." Itachi frowned. He activated his sharingan. "Uzumaki-kun, did you learn this by yourself too?"

Naruto got a proud look on his face. "Of course."

"Well, you're doing it wrong." Itachi deadpanned.

"EHHH?" Naruto deflated comically.

"You are supposed to layer the chakra outside. You are layering it inside your body." Haku explained. He turned to Itachi. "I have already told him that, but he seems to manage it this way, instead."

Itachi reached out and poked the Naruto-Kisame in the ribs. Kisame had to suffer the indignity of watching himself giggle like a girl. "That tickles." Itachi looked at the pseudo-Kisame with a contemplating gaze. "It is very unusual."

Naruto changed back to himself. "How so?"

Itachi looked at the curious eyes of the boy and felt a twinge in his heart. Naruto was reminding him of the times he taught his brother, when he had free time. "The usual Henge is more of a small layer of illusion, draped over one's body. That is why, even if Kisame makes a henge of you, he can't become as light as you. Even if your friend makes a henge of Kisame, he can't lift heavy objects that Kisame can, or fly by henge-ing into a bird." He looked at Naruto meditatively. "Can you henge into a non-living thing, like a rock?"

Naruto considered the question. "I do not know. I've never tried." He grinned and formed the Ram seal. "Here goes." He poofed into a small orange colored rock. Kisame snorted at the color, but Itachi picked it up. He threw it a few times in the air. "The weight has also changed. That doesn't happen in a henge." He had a thoughtful look for a moment, then suddenly, without warning. He threw the rock with all his might. Only a second after he had thrown it, the rock poofed back into a screaming orange ninja, flying through the air, his arms flailing.

"NARUTO!" Haku yelled, aghast. Itachi, on the other hand spoke meditatively, "Has full consciousness of his surroundings. Impressive." Haku was about to rush to his friend's rescue when an Itachi on the other side of the canyon bed leapt up and caught the screaming blonde. Haku turned to see that an Itachi was still standing next to them as well. Bunshin. Haku relaxed. The other Itachi brought a still screaming Naruto back to them. He dropped the blonde on to his feet and poofed into smoke. That caught Naruto's attention. He stopped the screaming and turned to Itachi. "You can do it too?"

"Yes." Itachi nodded.

"He can do one better, brat." Kisame grinned. He ignored Itachi's glare. "He can make his clones explode."

"What?" Naruto became excited. "SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME!"

"No." Itachi turned his eyes away from the boy. His excitement reminded him too much of his own brother.

"Aw come on, Itachi-san. What's the harm?" Kisame grinned.

"Yeah….show me please." Naruto looked at Itachi with his blue puppy eyes. This always worked on Hokage-jiji. Itachi, however, was made of sturdier stuff. "No." Kisame shrugged at Naruto, as if to say 'sorry, I tried.'

Naruto pouted. "Fine, I'll try it on my own."

Itachi spun around to face Naruto. "NO!" Naruto was taken aback. "This is too dangerous. You may end up blowing your real self up." Itachi glared at him. "Fine, I'll show you." Naruto's face brightened up. "IF you give me your word that you will not try to recreate this jutsu on your own." Naruto nodded vigorously. Itachi said sternly to Haku. "Keep an eye on him."

Haku smiled, "There is no need. Naruto-kun considers promises binding. If he says he won't, he won't."

While Itachi wasn't fully convinced, he made a clone. The clone jumped away from them. After it moved far enough, it exploded. The explosion wasn't very big, but if it had been standing next to the group, they wouldn't have got off unscathed.

"Cool!" Naruto's eyes were shining with excitement. He turned to Itachi and looked at him with admiration. "That was awesome, Itachi-san." Itachi nodded in acknowledgement. Naruto's next words however, made him glare at Kisame.

"Teach me, please."

Kisame guffawed. He knew that the brat would want to learn the skill. Itachi glaring at him didn't faze the mist nukenin, instead, only made him laugh harder.

Haku also suppressed his smile. He didn't dare laugh in front of the angry man. Naruto, on the other hand, was totally confused. Why is shark-ojisan laughing? And why is Itachi-san angry? Naruto shrugged off his thoughts and waited for Itachi's response. Itachi realized that the blonde was expecting his answer. His eyes narrowed and he frowned.

"No." Kisame stopped laughing and Naruto looked at Itachi in surprise.

"Why not?" Naruto frowned, his voice didn't sound like that. Then he understood that he and Kisame had spoken simultaneously, and the man's voice had drowned his own. Itachi frowned at Kisame, who had a genuine surprised look on his face.

"Because I do not wish to." Itachi glared at his partner. Kisame received the answer with a sigh. He had thought that the boy may have warmed Itachi to him as well. Apparently he was mistaken. Naruto, however, didn't give up so easily.

"But why, Itachi-san?" he looked at the Uchiha, hurt. Itachi didn't want the kid to get the wrong idea. He wasn't his teacher. Uchiha Itachi walked alone. But why? A little voice asked. Why must I walk alone? Itachi frowned as his inner voice challenged his mind. He glanced at the blonde. The way Naruto was looking at him was so similar to Sasuke's expression when he didn't have time to train or teach his little brother that it almost hurt to look at. Stop it. He scolded himself. The village comes first. You did what you had too. He stared back at Naruto, unblinking and unflinching. The young ninja looked down.

"Are you still angry for what I said?" Naruto glanced up, "I am really sorry."

Itachi was a bit shaken at the emotion heavy in the blonde's voice. He started to feel his resolve weaken. He panicked. I can't let myself-. He braced himself. Forgive me, Naruto-kun.

Itachi reached out and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto smiled. Kisame and Haku grinned too.

Suddenly, Naruto screamed as electricity passed through him. Kisame and Haku gaped as Naruto fell to the ground, twitching. Kisame turned to look at his partner. Itachi glared at the shaking form of Naruto on the ground, his sharingan activated as residual sparks on his hand crackled.

"Foolish little boy. Who do you think I am for you to talk like that?" Itachi withdrew his hand as Haku rushed to his fallen friend. He glared at the red eyed man. He was about to attack him when Naruto clutched his sleeve. Haku looked down to see Naruto wheezing. Naruto struggled to get up, but his numb body didn't allow it and he fell back in pain.

"Don't try to get up, Naruto-kun. Keep lying down." Haku pressed the boy's shoulders gently to force him back as Naruto tried to sit up again. Naruto complied as he closed his eyes. Itachi turned and started to walk away.

"Are you satisfied?"

Itachi stopped and glanced over his shoulder. Naruto had opened his eyes and was looking at him. Itachi almost flinched at the intensity of the gaze. Naruto continued. "If not, I can still take a few more of those, until you can forgive me."

Haku glared at Itachi. "Stop talking, Naruto-kun. You have no obligation to this man."

Naruto coughed and smiled. "I can take all your anger Itachi-san. Don't worry."

Itachi couldn't believe what he was seeing. How is he even conscious? He should still be feeling the residual charge in his body, like a thousand pinpricks. Itachi watched as Naruto grinned at him. He is willing to take more of these attacks? Is he stupid? His mind went back to his ANBU days when he had watched over the boy and the idiotic behavior of the blonde. Ah, stupid question. He slowly walked back to the spot where the blonde lay. He noticed Kisame position himself to stop any further damage to the boy, alert. It was not needed. He had no intention of doing anything further. He didn't need to. The boy was treating him like this only because he didn't know who Itachi was, what he had done.

He squatted down to bring himself closer to Naruto. Haku felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw Itachi's face. It didn't portray any anger, any hate or anything. Perhaps that was why it scared him so much. He had no idea what to expect. He watched Itachi and Naruto look into each other's eyes. "Do you even know anything about me?" Itachi asked.

Naruto looked a little surprised at the question, but he gave it some thought. He looked back into Itachi's eyes. "I know that you were sad when I mention Sasuke-teme. I know that you are a super cool ninja."

Itachi's expression didn't change a bit as he held his gaze with Naruto. "It just shows that you know nothing about me, Uzumaki-kun." Naruto looked expectantly at the young man. "I was not sad when you mentioned my foolish little brother. Only disappointed that he is still so weak." Naruto jerked in surprise. "You are Sasuke's bother?" He forgot to add the insult in his surprise. Itachi nodded. "Yes." Naruto frowned. "But I heard that he has no family, they all died."

Kisame tensed as the blonde mentioned the Uchiha clan's demise. Itachi did not react. "Correct, Uzumaki-kun." Naruto still looked confused. "Tell me," Itachi carried on slowly. "Did you never wonder why he was suddenly alone, in spite of the fact that he was part of a huge clan?" Naruto bit his lip. He had wondered about that. He had even asked someone once, but had only been slapped and yelled at. Itachi watched calmly. Kisame wondered if he should interfere. Naruto nodded. "I did, but nobody told me. I did hear that they were all killed by somebody." Itachi moved closer to Naruto. "You heard right, Uzumaki-kun." Naruto waited for Itachi to say something further. He was listening with complete attention. Itachi suddenly smiled a very horrible smile. "It was I who killed them all."

"Eh?" Naruto gave a start. Haku was shocked as well. This person had killed his entire clan? He edged a little closer to Naruto and slowly started to reach into his ninja pouch. Itachi glanced at him and he froze. Itachi, however, had no plans to fight. He stood up and turned around. He started walking away. Kisame breathed a small sigh of relief. Itachi kept walking on and suddenly, was gone again. This time, Kisame followed as well, after a short nod to the boys.

Kisame arrived next to the Uchiha, back on the top of the canyon. He looked at his partner, his eyes narrowed to slits. It gave a very scary visage to any onlooker.

"Why did you do that, Itachi-san? Surely there was no need." Kisame walked in front of the shorter man. Itachi looked at him, expressionless. "He was beginning to annoy me." Kisame felt a small pinch of anger. "Annoying? Sure didn't look like it when you were smiling." He growled. Itachi ignored his partner's comment. Kisame didn't take kindly to this lack of reaction. He walked up to Itachi until both were mere centimeters apart. Itachi had to look up to be able to look at the tall man in the eyes. He could have easily cast a genjutsu from his sharingan to cripple the swordsman, but didn't. He didn't want to change partners again. After he had cut off Orochimaru's arm, causing the Sannin to flee, he had been paired with different people and had hated them all, except Sasori, but he didn't like the puppeteer's attitude. Until Kisame had come, he had been working alone for a few months. Now, he had developed a bond, albeit a small one, with him and would not like to fight him seriously. Also, he knew what Kisame said was true. He looked away and walked off.

"Say whatever you want, Itachi-san, but you are only fooling yourself." Kisame called out.

Itachi stopped. "Aren't you coming?"

Kisame turned in the other direction. "You go on. I think I'll go and check on the brat. See if he is in any condition to recuperate without medical help." Itachi could hear the anger in Kisame's voice.

"Why do you care?" The leaf nukenin asked, as he glanced over his shoulder. Kisame didn't bother turning around to face his partner. "He is- was, Zabuza's disciple. Heck, now he is one of the seven Swordsmen." Kisame sighed as a little of his anger left him. "Anyways, I find him interesting." With that, he shunshined back to the boys.

Haku had lifted Naruto in a fireman's carry and was slowly taking him back inside. He glanced worriedly at Naruto. The blonde hadn't spoken since Itachi's declaration that he had killed his entire clan. Haku knew that Naruto was a kind soul and must be very conflicted right now. Haku was too. He had seen when Itachi had poked Naruto's forehead. That had not been the action of the man Itachi claimed to be. He saw no reason why Itachi would act like a kind person just for kicks. He had also seen the surprised face Itachi had made when he had realized what he had done. Also, the way he had forbidden Naruto to try to perform the exploding bunshin jutsu meant that he didn't want the blonde to hurt himself. Then, moments later, he had almost fried Naruto with his jutsu. Haku couldn't even begin to imagine how the contradictions went together.

He felt Kisame return but ignored the man in favor of his job. He went to their commandeered bedroom and laid Naruto gently down on his bed. He felt Kisame enter as well. He stood silently as Kisame walked up to them and briefly examined Naruto. As he withdrew from the blonde's side, he sighed. "You'll be fine kid. No serious damage, but you are going to be numb for a few hours, so I suggest you try to sleep." Naruto nodded, still silently. Kisame couldn't see the boy's eyes as the blonde's hair cast a shadow over them, but he could see that he was disturbed. He sighed as he walked over to Haku's bed and sat down, propping Samehada next to the wall.

"It's true, kid."

Naruto and Haku both turned to the blue man. Kisame was looking at them with a serious expression. Naruto nodded. Haku sat down next to Naruto on the bed.

"But why?" he asked. He was also feeling a little curious. Kisame just huffed as he leaned back onto the bed.

"Who knows, kid?" He brought his hands behind his head. "Who really knows what goes in someone else's head. Whatever they say, a shinobi rarely lets people know what he is thinking." He glanced at the blonde. "Not even I know truly why he did what he did. He says he did it to test himself, but I know that's bullshit."

Naruto turned to look at the man. "How can you be so sure?" Haku asked.

Kisame laughed. "If he really wanted to test his abilities, why has he stopped now? Surely he wouldn't be satisfied by a successful ambush of his clansmen? No, people like he is claiming to be, are never satisfied. The Uchiha clan might have been elite ninja, but they were by no means the strongest. In the world, there are many more stronger and powerful opponents to be found, yet he never seeks them out. In fact, he avoids conflict whenever possible. " Kisame grinned his shark like grin as Haku looked on confused. Kisame's words did ring true. There were many strong ninja amongst the great nations and nukenin as well. Stronger than ninja of an elite clan, however powerful the Uchiha may have been.

Kisame just scratched his chin. "I just never talk about it, but that doesn't mean I don't think about it." Kisame glanced at Naruto again. "Don't let it get to you kid. I think you just managed to disturb him." Naruto pushed his hair back from his eyes as he turned towards the swordsman. "I don't understand." Naruto had a very confused look on his face. Kisame laughed. While Haku was in no mood to laugh, he felt glad that at least his friend was back to normal.

Kisame continued to chuckle as he sat up to look at Naruto properly. "You see kid, I've known Itachi-san for a few months now. In all that time, I have never seen him smile. Even before I met him, others tell me that he never smiled. Yet, inside of an hour of knowing you, he was smiling." Kisame explained. Naruto made his 'thinking face'.

"Ano se, If he was smiling, doesn't that mean he was happy? If he was happy, why zap me like that?" Naruto looked at Kisame, "I still think he was angry at me." Kisame listened to the blonde, amused. He shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure that it isn't that, kid." He sighed as he thought of his partner/friend. "Some people are so used to the darker things in life, that they can't accept anything but." Naruto looked on as Kisame continued. "Tell me kid, if you sat in the dark for a year, and I let you out in the sun, what would you do?"

Naruto thought for a second. "It would hurt, so I'll try to get back inside."

Kisame nodded. "I think it's just like that, kid. Itachi-san is just reacting to his instincts."

Naruto went back to looking at the ceiling. Kisame glanced at the boy. I guess he still hasn't cheered up, eh? Maybe this will do it. "Come on kid, if Itachi-san didn't teach you, so what? I'll teach you a jutsu. How's that?" Kisame walked up to Naruto. Haku smiled. He knew if there was anything that could cheer Naruto up, it was new jutsu. He watched as Naruto looked at Kisame, all the sadness forgotten. Naruto tried to sit up, but the numbness still didn't allow him to do so. Naruto satisfied himself by looking at the swordsman from a half sitting position. "Really, Kisame-san? Is it a cool one-ttebayo?" Excitement dripping out of every syllable. Naruto's eyes brightened, "I know." He looked at Kisame pleadingly, "Teach me the one you used on me. Please, please Dattebayo."

Kisame grinned as he saw his plan come to fruit. He had been right, the kid was hung up on becoming a 'cool' shinobi. However, the boy's request was not one he could fulfill easily. Kisame made a contemplating face as he looked the blonde up and down. "What's your elemental affinity kid?" Naruto just looked confused as he repeated, "Elemental affinity? What's that?" Kisame sighed as Haku explained.

"You remember the scroll you have on different elemental types?" He asked Naruto. Naruto nodded. "Elemental affinity means which element you can use best." Haku tried to make his point clear. "Many higher level shinobi can use more than one type of elemental jutsu. They manage that after lots of practice, but their main element, called their affinity, is usually only one. They practice and develop other affinities later in life." Naruto nodded as he understood. "So, your affinity is ice?" he looked at Haku, who shook his head. "No, Naruto, kun, Ice type doesn't exist naturally. Remember my bloodline limit? This is what it is. My affinities are water and air, my bloodline allows me to use them together to make ice."

Naruto watched Haku wide eyed as he understood. "So that means you have three elements?" Haku nodded.

Naruto turned to Kisame "How do I know what is my element?" Naruto was getting very interested in elemental affinities.

"There is a little test for that." Kisame grinned but Naruto gulped. He had never been good at tests. He looked at Kisame, "Is the affinity decided by the marks? If I fail the test, I don't get any affinity?"

Kisame stood still for a moment, then he began to laugh. He laughed for a good five minutes, holding his stomach. Naruto noted that his laugh was scary like Zabuza-sensei's. Maybe it is like this in Mist village. Naruto waited as Kisame finally stopped, wiping tears from his eyes. "You really are one interesting brat, kid." He straightened as he shook his head, "the test isn't a paper-pencil test, although a paper is involved." He chuckled again. "No, you just have to mold your chakra and focus it on the paper." Kisame took out a scroll from an inside pocket of his cloak. He opened it and summoned more scrolls from inside. Naruto and Haku glanced at them as their curiosity got the better of them. Haku could make out a few labels on the scrolls- Clothes, supplies, weapons, medicines etc. Kisame ruffled through them until he picked out one that said 'Old things'. Kisame unrolled it until he reached what he was looking for. He summoned a small packet from it. Both boys watched carefully. Kisame stood up and turned to the kids. He unwrapped the packet and took out a few old looking papers from it. Naruto noticed happily that they weren't big enough to write on. He hadn't been fully convinced that he wouldn't have to write a test. Kisame held out one to Naruto. "Here kid, try it." Naruto accepted the paper and flinched. His arms were still a bit numb and it had taken a lot of effort to reach out. He looked at the paper as he focused chakra on it. The paper split into two. Naruto dropped it in surprise. He turned to Kisame anxiously. "I didn't break it, honest. It happened on its own."

Kisame and Haku smiled. "I know kid. That was the test." Kisame grinned wide.

"Eh?" Naruto made a confused face. Kisame explained. "This is a special paper, kid. When different types of chakra pass through it, different things happen. Look" Kisame took one paper in his own hands. The paper turned wet and started dripping. "Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed. "It got wet." Naruto looked up at Kisame, who nodded. "Yes, it did. Water type makes the paper wet, Earth type makes the paper crumble into dust, Fire type makes the paper catch fire, Lightening type causes the paper to crumple up." Kisame looked at the pieces of the paper Naruto had dropped. He picked them up. "This," he shook the paper pieces, "happens for the Wind type."

Naruto looked at the paper in Kisame's hands and grinned, "That means-"

"Yeah kid, it means you are a wind type." Kisame finished for the boy. Haku put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Congratulations, Naruto-kun. Wind chakra is very rare. It is also very dangerous in a fight." Naruto glanced up at Haku. "It is?", who nodded. Then Naruto made a grand pose. "Of course it is. I am so great. HAHAHAHA.."

Haku also chuckled with Naruto but Kisame sobered them up as he spoke. "That may be nice and all, but it brings a problem to light. I don't know any wind Jutsu." Naruto and Haku turned to the man. Haku understood.

If Naruto-kun's chakra had been water type, Kisame-san could have taught him, but now it can't be so.

Haku glanced at the blonde as Kisame explained it to him and Naruto's face fell.

Kisame felt bad for the kid too. If only he was a water type, the things I could have taught him. Kisame was still thinking when his eyes caught something on the blonde's jacket, something that he hadn't noticed before . Kisame glanced down at it. Of course. "Say kid, you are an Uzumaki, right?" He turned to Naruto. Naruto looked up and nodded. "What does that have to do with it?" He asked. Kisame smiled. "You see kid, the Uzumaki clan was a clan from the land of whirlpools. If you are from that clan, you should have some water chakra affinity as well." Naruto listened in surprise. There was an Uzumaki clan? He frowned. "I think you are confusing me with someone else. I've never heard of me having any clan."

"Well, there isn't any more. The clan was lost in the second shinobi war at the hands of Iwa." Kisame remembered. He turned his eye on to the blonde. "You must be a descendant from some straggler that went to Konoha." Naruto was still a little skeptical. Kisame sighed and pointed to his jacket. "See there kid, you have their clan mark on your jacket. If you aren't an Uzumaki of the Uzumaki clan, why do you have that?" Naruto followed the man's finger and saw the spiral he had sewed onto his jacket sleeve.

"This?" He pointed to the spiral. Kisame nodded. Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered. "It was my sixth birthday present from Hokage-jiji. It was the year he let me join the academy." Naruto scrunched up his face as he tried to remember. "He gave me six of them. He said something like me being her son, now it was rightfully mine, but I didn't really pay attention, I was too excited to finally go to the academy. Since it was the first gift I had that wasn't a scroll, from the jiji, I always kept these with me." Naruto picked up his jacket and fingered the spiral. "The Old man told me to sew it on my jacket if I liked it so much so I sewed them on six of my jackets. Come to think of it," Naruto looked at the ceiling as he focused on his memory. "He looked kind of sad and happy at the same time when I showed it to him later."

Kisame and Haku listened silently. Naruto turned to them and asked, his voice dripping with hope. "Does that mean I have a clan?" Kisame and Haku glanced at each other. The naked desperation in the blonde's voice affected them. Haku replied, carefully choosing his words. "Um, Naruto-kun. Kisame-san told us that the Uzumaki clan died in the war. That means your clan doesn't exist anymore." He watched for a response. He bit his lip as he saw tears forming at the corner of the blonde's eyes. "Don't be sad, Naruto-kun." Haku tried to comfort his friend. Even Kisame felt a tad bit sorry for the brat. They were both surprised when Naruto gave them a genuine smile. "I'm not sad, Haku. I'm so happy that I can't stop crying." Naruto wiped his eyes on his jacket that he had in his hands. He saw Haku and Kisame look at him, concerned.

He grinned. "Don't you see? I have a clan." Haku and Kisame glanced discreetly at each other. Perhaps the boy had taken the news hard. "But, Naruto-kun, like I said before-" Haku started, but was interrupted by Naruto. "I know what you said, Haku. But don't you see? I have a clan. They may be dead and gone, but I have a clan." Fresh tears flew down his face as he sniffed. Finally Haku understood. Naruto kept going. "All my life, I have been alone. No one knew who I was. All Hokage-jiji told me was that my name was Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't tell me anything about my parents except that they were dead, that they died on the day of Kyuubi's attack." Haku stiffened a little at the mention of the demon, hoping Naruto wouldn't say anything to reveal his secret. He didn't trust Kisame with it. Naruto, however, wasn't thinking anything, but refrained from talking about the bijuu. "I always wondered about my family, but I never knew anything about them. But now, even if they are dead, I know that they were my family." He wiped his tears . "I have a clan. I am no longer alone." He swept a hand across the spiral. "I am Uzumaki Naruto of the Uzumaki clan." He looked up at the other two and grinned wide. "To me, it is enough."

Kisame sighed as he sat down next to the blonde and draped one arm around him. He didn't say anything. Words were not needed.

After a few minutes, Naruto finally went back to normal. He glanced up at the blue skinned man next to him. "Does this mean you can't teach me anything?"

Kisame scratched his chin. "I can teach you general jutsu, like Shunshin or chakra bust. I could even try a few sword techniques, but that's it. Almost all of my jutsu are water type, kid." Naruto nodded, disappointed. Kisame was trying to decide whether to ask Itachi if he would show the kid a few wind jutsu. He was sure to have copied a few with his sharingan when his eye fell on Samehada.

He blinked, and then smiled. He turned to the blonde. "Say kid, there is something we can try." Instantly, he had Naruto's full attention. "You see, my sword is special. It can eat chakra if in contact with a person." Naruto nodded, but didn't understand why Kisame was telling him this. "It is also quite picky and choosy about the chakra it likes. And because of this, it can differentiate between lots of different chakra." Kisame stood up and picked the great sword up. He brought it closer to Naruto. "It can also use the eaten chakra to do attacks."

Naruto watched the sword in admiration. "COOOOL!" Kisame grinned. "Damn right, kid." He offered the handle to Naruto who looked at Kisame, puzzled. "Hold it, kid. That way, Samehada will eat your chakra and separate all the different types into individual chakras." Kisame explained. "Then we will let it focus chakra into these papers" he picked up a few more of the special papers. "Samehada will focus the different types of chakra into different papers." Naruto made an excited face, "That's cool and all, but I don't understand what that means." Kisame looked at Haku for support but it seemed that the black haired boy hadn't understood either. Kisame sighed as he began. "Look kid, you heard how high level ninja can have more than one chakra types?" Naruto and Haku nodded. "They don't develop new types. They already had them from the beginning, but hadn't trained enough to use it properly." Both boys understood. Naruto looked at Samehada. "So you mean, the sword will be able to find out all the types I have?" Kisame nodded. "Yeah. But it won't mean that you will be able to use the jutsu right away. You will have to train yourself until you can access the water chakra at will. Understand?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. It just means I'll have to train hard. That's all. "I'll be able to do it later though, right?" Kisame nodded. Naruto grinned as he reached out for handle of the great sword Samehada. As soon as he touched it, Naruto waited with bated breath to feel a small drain. Nothing happened. He glanced at Kisame who was sniggering. "What?" he asked annoyed. Kisame grinned. "I have to tell it to start sucking the chakra, gaki." Naruto huffed, embarrassed. "What are you waiting for, ossan?"

Kisame narrowed his eyes at the word again. "I am not that old, brat. I am barely 30."

Naruto shrugged. "To me, that's like, three times my age. So that makes you an old man in my book. Anyways, start already."

Kisame grumbled something about the lack of respect in the new generation.

"See?" Naruto said, "you even talk like an old man."

Kisame glared at the boy. "Perhaps we don't need to do this." Kisame reached out to take the sword back. Naruto panicked. "No-no. Don't."

Kisame grinned, "I am an old man. I am tired. I need to rest." Naruto quickly picked up his cue." You aren't old at all. Compared to Hokage-jiji, you are like a small kid." He smiled sweetly at Kisame. Kisame chuckled. "Fine." He put his hand on the wrapped blade of his sword. "Get ready." Naruto nodded. He gasped as he felt the pull from the sword. Naruto was already very low on chakra after he had been practicing Kage bunshin. The fight with Kisame, where he had made a thousand clones had almost cleaned him out. As a result, he had less chakra than what the sword was sucking out of him. He suddenly felt a flash of something hot in his stomach.

Deep inside his mindscape, a crimson eye snapped open in the darkness.

Kisame watched as Samehada sucked the chakra out of the boy. As Naruto gasped, he wondered whether he should have let the boy rest and recover his reserves. He watched Naruto sway a little. He was about to stop his sword, when Samehada flinched away from Naruto' hand.

Kisame felt Samehada communicate with him. Daaaarrkkkkk Chhaaaakkkrraaaa, vveeerrrryyy foouuullll.

Kisame was surprised. He had never seen his sword react like this to anyone's chakra. He was about to enquire when Naruto fainted.

Immediately, Haku and Kisame bent over him. On checking his vitals, Kisame sighed. He looked at Haku, "Just chakra exhaustion." He poked the blonde in the stomach, causing said blonde to yelp and sit back up with a start. "Oye kid, you ok?" Kisame peered at the boy. Naruto shook his head and slapped his cheeks a few times. "Yeah, just felt dizzy for a second." He looked at the sword excitedly. "So, anyways, is it done?" Kisame chuckled inwardly. Even now all he cares about is the chakra test. You really are interesting gaki.

"Yeah, it's done." Kisame held out five pieces of the testing papers. He laid them down on the length of the sword, one by one, some distance apart. "Now, don't worry if only two react. It depends on which elements you were born with. Very few have more than two. My bet is that we find at least one more- water." Naruto nodded. Haku peered closer too. He wondered if he could ask the swordsman to do this for him too. Kisame laid his hand on Samehada again. "Let's begin."

Instantly, in a flash of blue, the first paper split into two. "This one we knew." Kisame pointed to the old pieces on the floor. The next paper took on a soft blue glow and turned damp. "Nice, kid." Kisame grinned at the blonde. "Although it is a bit weak. See how the paper didn't get drenched, just became damp? You will need much work before you can use an actual high level water jutsu." Kisame hadn't expected any further action when the third paper glowed blue on the edges and a few crease lines appeared on its surface. Kisame's eyebrows went up. "Looks like a little bit of lightning as well." He glanced at the blonde. "Three is pretty impressive kid. Not many have more than two."

"HAHAHA. I am awesome." Naruto puffed out his chest in pride. Kisame shook his head, "But it doesn't mean much if you can't train yourself to use it." Kisame was speaking when Haku pointed to the fourth paper. "Look."

Both Naruto and Kisame turned to look. The fourth paper was glowing with a red aura. Fooouuulllll Pprrreesscceeeennnncccee Samehada hissed. The paper just blackened up into burnt paper. Kisame looked shocked. Haku glanced at him. "I'm guessing from your expression that it is not normal for the paper to do that." Kisame kept staring at the crisp of the paper that remained. "I've never seen anything like this." He stated. "For fire, the paper usually burns up, leaving ash behind." He reached out and tried to pick up the paper but it dissolved to ash the moment Kisame touched it. "Also, I've never seen red chakra." Haku's thoughts went to the Kyuubi. He needed to distract Kisame before he became too curious. "perhaps some bloodline limit?" Kisame considered it. "Maybe." He said after a fashion. "Do you think you have a bloodline limit kid?" They turned to see that Naruto had fallen back on his bed and was asleep. Kisame sighed. "We should let him rest." He looked over to Haku. Haku nodded.

In the dark hallway outside the door, a figure dissolved into smoke. Neither of the mist nukenin sensed it.

Back outside, on the surface near the edge of the canyon, A figure looked up as memories of the clone returned. Itachi looked back up at the sky. He would have liked to be down there with his partner. He even knew wind jutsu that Naruto could learn. He had arrived when they were testing his nature type. He had heard Naruto crying after finding about his clan. He had felt sad for the boy. This was exactly why he couldn't be there. With Naruto around, Itachi lost the calmness he had managed to force on himself. He found himself remembering things that he shouldn't. He thought of the blonde as he gazed at the stars. I am sorry for my actions, Naruto-kun, but I belong in the darkness of the Shinobi world. That is where my path lies and that is where I must walk.

In hindsight he should have known that no matter how much you hide, Uzumaki Naruto never gives up on his friends.

Soooo, How was it? Was Itachi written nicely or was he not? I mulled over a lot of different scenarios but in the end this one was the best.

I don't want Itachi to remain the same taciturn character we see in cannon. I'm trying to portray a hidden side of him. one that we have seen in flashbacks and stories from others, like Tobi or the Sandaime. A man who is fiercely loyal to his village and its people, yet is troubled by the choices he has made.

Anyways... As many of you have guessed, I'm building up for a student sensei relationship between the kids and the Akatsuki pair. Just imagine... Naruto trained by Ita-freakin-chi and Kisame. That's the stuff stories are made of ;-)

So, like always, drop me a line in reviews.

Remember. More reviews = more motivation = quicker updates.

Next update will be in march... roughly around 6th - 10th.

Until then, enjoy.