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Kiba's eyes widened, "Why are you in the Kazekage mansion?" he asked the blonde before him.
A light blush spread across Naruto's face, something which Kiba took as a bad sign. "W-well, you see…" he started, his voice trailing off.
Suddenly, Gaara appeared behind him. "I thought it would be safer if he stayed here." the redhead stated bluntly.
Kiba growled softly at how close Gaara was standing to his blonde. Yes, his blonde – Naruto may not know it yet, but he belonged to Kiba. "Is that so?" Kiba said through gritted teeth. "Thank you for keeping him safe."
Naruto looked confusedly at Kiba. 'Why is he growling?' he wondered. Suddenly he remembered.
"Naruto, I have been attracted to you since…since…well, I realized it after the chunin exams, but who knows how long I've been in love with you!"
Naruto sighed; this was going to be a long visit. Not only did he have to deal with being hunted like an animal, but he had to deal with Gaara's feelings, Itachi's mysterious appearance, and now Kiba's feelings. This was slowly becoming too much for the beautiful blonde. Naruto dropped his hand from the door, and walked back inside to let Gaara deal with his friends.
He went into the sitting room and plopped on the couch. "What am I going to do?" he asked himself.
"I'm not sure, but facing your own feelings is always a good start." said a voice.
Naruto sat up and looked around, his eyes settling on Shikamaru, who was leaning on the archway that led into the large room. "Shika?" he said.
"Yes?" the man replied sarcastically.
"Why did you bring Kiba?" he asked.
"Because he misses you." Shikamaru was known for being blunt; it was too troublesome to beat around the bush.
Another blush spread across the blonde ninja's face. "Oh." he said, settling back so he way laying on the couch.
"How do you feel for him?" the brunette asked, crossing the room to sit next to Naruto.
"I don't know, Shika. I mean, I only realized I was gay a couple days ago!" Naruto sighed exasperatedly.
"Well, just tell him that. I'm almost positive that he would understand that you need some time to get used to the idea of being gay yourself!" Shikamaru laughed.
Naruto frowned; something that everyone knew didn't suit the boy. How the hell was he supposed to say that to someone? Sighing, Naruto lifted himself from the couch so he was sitting up, and leaned his head on Shikamaru's shoulder. "I just don't know what to say to anyone anymore! It seems like everyone has a crush on me!"
Kiba walked through the mansion, looking for Naruto. 'Maybe Shika knows where he his!' he thought, making his way to the sitting room he'd seen Shikamaru enter. He stopped in his tracks as Naruto sat up and rested his head on Shikamaru's shoulder. He again growled, it seemed he would be doing a lot of that while chasing Naruto.
Shikamaru turned his head upon hearing a growl. "Oh, Kiba, so good of you to join us." he said lazily.
Kiba entered the room, and sat down on the other side of Naruto. "So, uh, Naruto, um…." Kiba looked over into those amazing pools of blue, getting lost.
Naruto sighed, spared a glance at Shikamaru, and fully faced Kiba. "What do you want?"
"I was wondering if….you know…since I'm going to be in town for a while, if you'd like to….well, uh…maybe, you know, if you're not busy…uh" Kiba stuttered.
"SPIT IT OUT!" Shikamaru shouted, unable to listen to the mumbling anymore.
"Naruto-I uh." Kiba started.
"He's trying to ask you on a date." Shikamaru sighed, bored with the situation already.
Naruto snapped his eyes up to meet chocolate brown ones. "Is that true?" he asked.
"Y-yeah." Kiba said in response, unable to remove his gaze.
Naruto's eyes saddened. Kiba really was adorable. "Kiba, I, well, I think I need some time to figure things out. I like you, I really do, but I only figured out that I'm gay a couple days ago! And there is so much other stuff going on, and I-well I need to think about things."
Kiba looked away from the man that haunted his dreams. "O-okay then…" Kiba said dejectedly.
"Kiba…" Naruto started, "Could you maybe ask again in a few days? You know, after I've figured some things out?"
"Of course Naruto, anything for you." Kiba said, looking back up at the blonde.
Suddenly a large dog appeared. "You dick! You left me in Tani!" Akamaru barked.
Kiba looked at his puppy sheepishly, "Sorry Akamaru!" The brunette pulled himself off the couch, and onto his knees to hug the large dog.
Naruto laughed quietly at the display before him, and Shikamaru raised a brow. 'Did he understand what Akamaru said? Usually it's only Inuzukas that can.' the lazy man thought to himself.
Itachi wandered back to the camp he shared with his partner, Kisame Hoshigaki. The shark-man sword user looked up as Itachi sat down by the fire.
"Hey, Itachi, where the hell did you go?" the blue man asked.
"I thought I sensed something, but I was wrong." the raven explained.
"You really need to pay more attention." Kisame laughed.
"Yeah." Itachi was still in a daze after seeing Naruto. The blonde brought back so many memories he'd thought he forgot.
Itachi rose from his seat. "I'm going to bed." he stated, walking towards his tent.
"Don't you want something to eat?" Kisame asked, watching the other man leave.
"I'm not hungry." Itachi said, entering his tent and closing the flap.
He sat down on his sleeping bag, brought his knees to his chest, and covered his head with his arms. "Why." he wondered aloud. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek. "Why did they have to assign me him?"
Many years ago, a large beast attacked the Leaf Village, and a 5-year-old Itachi was there to witness it. He sat on his front porch, holding his baby brother, and feeling the most intense fear he'd ever felt. As the creature came closer to the Uchiha compound, people were running and screaming, and just trying to get out. But Itachi was frozen with fear. Everyone said he was a genius, but he couldn't seem to figure out what to do!
His baby brother, Sasuke, sat in his arms, crying. Itachi was sure the young one could sense the horrible evil chakra rolling off the monster that lie ahead.
Itachi looked around, noticing that his family was gone. They must have all assumed that he would have run by now. He snapped his eyes back to the monster. The Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was steadily getting bigger as it came closer to the boy's field of vision.
Itachi began to visibly shake with fear. "Oh God!" he screamed. He could see the whites of the creature's eyes. "What do I do?" Itachi was crying, he couldn't control the pure fear pumping through his veins.
Suddenly, faster than any human eye could've comprehended, a man appeared in front of Itachi. "Run son." the man said, looking over his shoulder.
Itachi looked up into the blue eyes of his savior. Blue eyes he would never forget. The blue eyes of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage.
Itachi ran with all his might, holding onto the tiny bundle in his arms. "Don't worry Sasuke, I'll protect you." he whispered. He looked over his shoulder to see that the man had summoned a giant toad, and was now standing atop it.
Turning back to face forward, Itachi kept running. He ran so hard, his legs almost gave out. He never looked back again.
It wasn't until later that he found out the man had died sealing the demon away. Learning this information crushed a young heart. The man who had so selflessly saved him and his brother was dead!
Five years later, a 10-year-old Itachi was walking through the village, running errands for his parents.
"Get out you monster!" screamed a shop keeper, throwing a 5-year-old blonde out onto the street.
The young boy looked up. "I didn't want to be in your stupid store anyway!" he screamed.
Itachi walked over to help the little boy, confused as to why he would be thrown out. He reached out a hand.
The little boy looked at the hand presented to him – something that was never done. He looked up into Itachi's face. "T-thank you mister." he said softly.
That's when Itachi saw them. This little boy had the same blue eyes as his hero. "Who are you?" he asked.
"M-my name is Naruto Uzumaki." the little boy said quietly.
"Well, Naruto, my name is Itachi, it's very nice to meet you." the Uchiha said while hoisting the boy to his feet, a smile on his face. 'Uzumaki?' he wondered. "So, why did he throw you out?" he asked the smaller boy.
The blonde smiled a sad smile before putting on a brave face. "I'm not sure, but lots of people do it! I'm used to it!" he said proudly.
Itachi pondered this for a bit. He had never heard of any reason to hate a 5-year-old! This was going to take some research. But first, he decided to walk the small one home. "Where do you live?" he asked.
"In the apartments on the other side of town." he said quietly, as if not wanting anyone to actually hear him.
"Ok, do you mind if I walk with you?" Itachi asked.
"Why?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
"Because I just want to make sure you get home safe." he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Itachi watched as Naruto's blue eyes widened in shock. "Really?"
'Is there no one kind to this boy?' Itachi wondered. "Yes really." he stated.
Naruto was still cautious, but allowed the older boy to accompany him. He began to walk down the path to his apartment. Itachi followed, confused as to all the twists and turns, and back allies the young blonde took. Finally, after about 45 minutes, they reached an old beaten down apartment building. Itachi frowned as Naruto made his way up the stairs, and pulled out a key. "Well, this is it." Naruto said, stopping in front of his door.
"Where are your parents?" Itachi questioned, wanting to know what kind of parents would let their son be treated that way.
"Oh." was all Naruto said, causing Itachi's eyes to attach their gaze to blue.
"What?"
"W-well…they died. I never met them." Naruto said, looking at the floor.
Itachi's eyes widened. "Then, who is taking care of you?"
"I do!" Naruto said, thrusting a thumb into this chest proudly. "I can do it all by myself!" A large grin stretched across the boy's face – a grin that if one actually took the time to look would find to be fake.
Itachi looked sadly on the boy. "If you ever need help, you can always seek me out." he said, patting the young boy on the shoulder.
Naruto walked into his apartment, and Itachi started to head home. He decided to stop at the library of scrolls to do some research. He learned about the Kyuubi sealed inside the young blonde, and about his linage. "I promise Minato, I will keep your son safe." he whispered to an image of the Fourth on the scroll.
Itachi laid down in his tent, still huddling his knees. "I promised you Minato, and I will not break that promise for anything." he whispered. Slowly falling asleep.
An Itachi-centric chapter. Who'd have guessed? Thanks to Anari for the idea!
Please review all you readers!
Beta's Note: I didn't do much. You are the one who put the idea in there so artistically. You are an amazing writer that never disappoints. Thank you for choosing me as your beta.
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