This story was inspired by an anime called "Violet evergarden" and slightly by a song called "Everything goes on by Porter Robinson", two great masterpieces, you should check them out!
When the kyuubi attacked on that faithful night, the consequences of the incident knew no bounds. Konoha, still licking its wounds after the costly victory in the great ninja war was further weakened after the devastating attack. The village's ray of sunshine and lovable hero the fourth hokage gave his life to defeat the evil demon fox and with that, the village lost its strongest weapon.
Its enemies brimmed with joy; it was the perfect chance at revenge. Konoha no longer had their yellow flash to save them and the old and weak third hokage had to step up and take the vacant seat.
Hiruzen looked tired and weary; the poor man! He was brought back from retirement due to the inexistence of better, more capable candidate. Konoha has really hit their lowest point.
What fools they were. Hiruzen knew what he was doing; behind the grandfatherly façade and the sly gentle smiles was a very cunning and deceiving side. He had pulled strings to climb back to his most beloved position and planted his old bulk firmly again. But to the general public, he looked like he hated it; he was clearly mourning for the death of his dear wife and the fourth hokage; the hero, the strongest hokage.
He was unprepared and out of touch. Konoha really had no hope!
Yet, beyond all odds, Konoha held the line.
Konoha seemed to read the enemy with immaculate precision; Konoha was simply faster, plain better and strangely had the manpower.
The other villages were in shock, their ploys has only managed to weaken them even further but also further promoted Konoha as the undisputed best. The sand village ran back to the leaf's side, and Kumo and Iwa became the closest they ever been; all in the hope of destroying Konoha.
Konoha sent a message, the "nicest" village as it may, wounded as it may, it was still not one to mess with.
Hiruzen knew that the leaf's position as the nicest village was a load of crap. Their enemies knew that very well too. But the civilians and potential clients were fooled by the glamorous talks of the unwavering "will of fire" and their seeming pursuit of peace and forgiving nature. They were blind to what was going on behind the scenes, the roots that kept the tree healthy; the dark side of Konoha.
Hiruzen was happy that he was back in power, Minato was strong and competent, but he was too idealistic, he strived for actual peace and opposed to the dark dealings in the shadows. He did not realize that peace isn't sustainable for ninjas.
Or rather, Minato did realize it, but he was still working for the greater good of humanity.
He did not agree with his ideals but he held some respect for the man, so it was such an unfortunate event that he died a premature death.
It is a shame that the Uchihas would be following suit soon enough despite poor Itachi and shisui's best efforts. They knew their efforts were in vain but it was always fun to see individuals struggle to change their destiny.
A knock sounded on his office door.
"Come on in." He said and there stood in front of him, Itachi himself; well he did summon him earlier so it was no surprise.
"You summoned me, hokage-sama?"
"Hello Itachi, it's good to see you!" He gave him a smile and received a curt nod in return.
He sat back in his chair.
"I have a very important mission for you and with the control you have over your sharingan you're just the man for it." Itachi paused for a moment before nodding. The hokage not only wanted an Uchiha but had also chosen him in particular; it made him wonder about the nature of the mission.
The hokage made an anbu hand sign that Itachi was all too familiar with and a moment later an agent entered the room, a petite pale blonde haired girl that resembled the fourth hokage to an alarming degree alongside him.
She looked weak and miserable and Itachi's found his heart soften for the girl.
The Uchiha didn't have to wait much before the hokage started talking again.
"Meet Naruto Uzumaki, the Kyuubi jinchuriki." He paused for a second to let the information sink in.
This new revelation was shocking.
The official story was that the fourth hokage sealed the beast back in his wife thus killing it good.
"As you might've guessed, the fourth hokage didn't really kill the Kyuubi, instead he sealed it in a newborn baby, that baby is standing right in front of you now."
Itachi nodded in understandment his eyes taking in the sight of the small scared girl.
She looked everywhere but at them.
"We have been trying to get Naruto here to control the power of the beast sealed inside her but to no avail, our efforts were not successful." That made Itachi do a double take, the girl was barely 6 years old and yet they were trying to make her into a weapon already?
At best, He had little to no respect for the village leader, but this was taking his contempt to a completely new level. He wondered what he would have done if it were his brother standing in that spot instead and he felt his blood boil instantly.
"Now, you must realize how important it is for the village to have a powerful jinchuriki and with the other villages breathing down our necks to this day, that seems like a necessity more than ever."
Itachi nodded, yet he didn't agree a single bit.
"Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri all have incredibly powerful jinchurikis and we can't fall behind." The Hokage gaze softened for a bit as he stared at the young girl, "Although it is very unfortunate, that's the life of a jinchuriki, to be a living weapon."
Be a living weapon, huh? That's what little value they give to their lives.
Having had enough, Itachi decided to cut to the chase.
"What do you require of me, exactly, hokage-sama?"
"I want you to use your sharingan to get her to release a fragment of the power of the kyuubi. Your clan has done it 6 years ago, I have faith in you to figure it out. Naruto is now under your care in anbu. Although she was deemed talentless in the ninja arts, I am sure the power of the kyuubi locked inside of her will be enough to make her a force in the battlefield." Hiruzen paused for a moment. "You have full control over what she does and what you teach her."
"Understood, hokage-sama." He said emotionlessly.
"It goes without saying that no one is supposed to learn about her existence, this also means that you aren't allowed to bring her home with you, or make her meet any of your friends, especially not a member from your clan."
It didn't take Itachi much to understand how utterly broken the little girl was. She was a sad little thing, scared and lonely. She barely spoke and never smiled, and in the very rare occasion that she did, it looked dead. There was no shine in her eyes and her voice was a low, unsure one. It was as if she was afraid to utter a word or question anything he said, as if answering him would lead to punishment.
She did exactly what he says without question, even when he pressed her on to make the decision or say what's on her mind. She preferred to be alone, isolating herself in the room she had in the anbu facility whenever she wasn't supposed to train with him.
His heart ached when he'd enter the room and see her stare blankly at the ceiling, she'd do that for hours at time, unmoving, until she would fall asleep.
The hokage had them on a very tight schedule, she was supposed to be out into the battlefield by a couple of months, since Itachi has proven himself capable of releasing some of the kyuubi chakra through the seal, and that pleased the hokage enough to deem her battle ready.
Itachi never agreed less, Naruto accepted it easily enough –as if she could make such a decision- but Itachi knew she was scared, her body screamed it.
Their training was not going well, there was no progress and that only seemed to make the girl more timid and reserved. She did not realize that 6 year-old girls weren't supposed to be training to become ninjas just yet, especially one as weak and malnourished as she is.
"Come on, Naruto. Keep up, ok?" He said to the young girl, walking behind him, looking around in reserved fascination at the buildings all around them. He just learned that the girl never really got the chance to walk through the city and that made him blink in surprise and anger. Just what kind of condition was she living in in the past 6 years?
Therefore, he took it upon himself to let her explore the village.
Her eyes would settle a bit longer than usual at passing children accompanied by their parents, or at stores with colorful toys and clothing and Itachi would stop for a moment and act as if he was looking for something himself, pretending not to notice. She was quite the curious little girl and the streets of Konoha fascinated her more than he imagined it would.
One store in particular had Naruto stop completely and stare openly and when he looked at the source of her fascination, he didn't expect to see a ramen stand of all things but as the smell hit his nose, the boy knew what made her stop. Never having got the chance to taste other foods other than the ones they give out in anbu, the smell had entranced her.
Deciding she more than deserved a little treat, he led her into the store and ordered her a bowl of miso ramen.
He could never forget the look she had as she stared at the bowl of noodles.
So this is what they consider a weapon, huh?
Two months have passed and Itachi was tasked with a mission on the borders of the land of fire; Iwa and Kumo were stirring up trouble again. He, and his team, were supposed to take care of an enemy camp that Konoha had located, but for the first time since she got under his wings Naruto was to accompany him on it.
The travel to the mission's destination was a long one. Naruto could surprisingly keep up in stamina, but not in speed. Although, no one in the team blamed her and all the members tried to hide the fact that she was slowing them down and made sure to take more pauses than usual.
"Isn't she rather young for this kind of missions?" Yugao, one of the team members, decided to ask Itachi.
Itachi gave a slight shrug, his eyes glancing sympathetically at the masked girl sitting by herself against a tree trunk.
"Higher ups' orders." He replied simply.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough why the leader wants her on the battlefield. It doesn't seem unfeasible with people like captain Inu existing."
This being a test for the girl, no one was supposed to interfere, unless she was in danger, they had to take care of the bigger threats afterwards but they were given orders to see how well the girl can handle herself.
A bunch of Iwa and kumo ninjas were causing trouble for the border patrollers and team Ro, along with its newest tagalong were supposed to take care of a portion that Konoha managed to locate.
It did not take long for the team to find the foreign ninjas' camp. It had a couple of dozen chunins or so, nothing that a team of anbu such as team Ro could not handle, but he was still worried for Naruto.
"Okay, fox. You are going to go in and kill anyone that gets in your way. We'll be supporting you from afar."
The girl gave a nod. Her body gave an aura the complete opposite of confidence, but as she looked into his eyes, her body went completely still and red demonic poured out of her body, sending shivers down all team Ro's members' skin.
"I guess that's your answer, cat." One of their teammates said in awe.
And with that Naruto leaped into action, lunging at enemies, tearing them apart with ferocity you wouldn't associate with the scared reserved girl she was earlier, Itachi covering her from the shadows with genjutsu and his crows. It was only about halfway through the battle that the red searing chakra started to dissipate, and the remaining ninjas were starting to overpower the girl that team Ro leaped into action taking care of the remaining left standing.
When the battle drew to an end, Itachi looked back at the shaking, petrified form of the girl, looking at the carnage all around her that Itachi was instantly reminded of the first time he witnessed the horror of war, and without much thought he hugged the girl into his chest.
"It's ok Naruto,you did well." He said into her ears, as he felt her cry silent tears.
Another gentle soul lost to a cruel, unjust world.
The hokage thankfully didn't make the girl go on another such mission for months, but in that time, Naruto was still supposed to train under his guidance and do relatively easy missions; by anbu standard that is.
Itachi did not mind, but as he passed more time with the girl, he started to notice how utterly dependent on him she started to become. How she clang to his every word, and only ever did what he told her to. When she accompanied him on missions with his team, she would only ever be close to him and would only speak to him. And when they were back in the village and he excused himself to go home, she looked sad and downcast.
He did not know how to deal with the unhealthy obsession she started to have, but he couldn't do anything to rid her of it. He wasn't even allowed to make her meet new people, as she was supposed to be top secret.
Not only that but he found his way into the toad sannin's top most hated individuals when the legendary ninja found out she was under his wing. He could still remember the look of utter hate he received when he found out about her.
"Anything happens to her, and you'll wish you never were born. I am THIS close to burning this goddamn village to the ground so god help me or you will be sorry."
It only confirmed his suspicions that this was the fourth hokage's daughter.
To think the village would do this to a hokage's daughter…
Sometimes he wondered if his father is right, if the village is too corrupted to be left in the hands of people like Hiruzen and Danzo, he wondered if siding with the village was the right thing to do.
Peace really does comes at the greatest cost.
"Itachi-shishou, do you think I can ever have a normal life and a family like you?" Naruto decided to say one day, and Itachi could not say he was not surprised. She was barely the talkative type.
Happy to finally see some progress; he pressed the girl on, he more than wanted to hear what she had to say.
"I mean, I understand that I am just a weapon and that… that I have to live and die for the village. But… But every time we walk through the village, I, I like it there. I wish I can live somewhere there, instead of the anbu barracks."
At his long, sad look, the girl must've interpreted his silence for displeasure because her look quickly shifted from wistful to panicked and she blurted out:
"I w-will continue to serve the village, shishou. Please don't interpret my words for disloyalty to you or the hokage!"
Even though, her shift in attitude saddened him even more, Itachi kneeled down and smiled at her warmly.
"You will get the life you want, Naruto. I will make sure of that." He said, poking her on the forehead.
When will you understand that you are a lot more than just a weapon?
Itachi understood relatively early on that he wasn't a good teacher, sure, the girl improved under him, despite the hokage claims of the lack of talents but she was still not improving as well as he would've liked. She did look better and healthier, thanks to his efforts.
During the months they were together, Naruto has seemed to grow an obsession with Ichiraku ramen, and Itachi was all too pleased to treat her to it from time to time, although he would've preferred she'd share his passion for dango, he had to admit that Teuchi had the knack for making incredibly good tasting noodles.
As they sat down in the stands, Naruto enjoying her usual order. Itachi sat besides her teaching her about the history of the village.
"You see, the senju and Uchiha were fierce enemies, their conflict went on for decades, but two men named Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha came together to end the animosity between the two clans, Konoha is the product of the peace they achieved together and Hashirama senju was selected as the first hokage."
Naruto nodded in understanding, she did always wonder about the village's history and she was glad that Itachi was finally teaching her more about it.
"You are an Uchiha, right, Itachi-shishou?"
He nodded.
"How does it feel to be a part of such a powerful clan?" She asked in barely hidden admiration.
He could not possibly tell her how much he hated being part of the Uchiha clan, the pressure of belonging to it had put him through and the struggle to save the village and his brother from its suicidal plans.
"We have an incredibly powerful, gekkai genkai, and our ancestors have created powerful techniques that makes us capable ninjas."
"It must be great to have a family." She whispered. "How is it like?"
"Well, I have a brother around your age, he is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Maybe you'll be friends one day."
Naruto eyes shone in excitement at the prospect, before they took on an unsure look.
Maybe Sasuke will manage to heal your broken heart whereas I failed.
"Naruto!" Itachi said one day after they had finished training, she watched in curiosity as the man pulled out a scroll, unrolled it and pressed his fingers against it.
"I assume it is around your birthday today, since we're on the 9th of October." Naruto thought about it for a second before giving him a questioning look.
Sensing her confusion, he pointed to a box he produced from the scroll, before gently pressing her on to open it.
The girl only got more confused as she stared at the cake in the box. Itachi sighed, of course she did not know what that was or what it meant.
"That, Naruto, is a birthday cake." At her questioning look, he continued. "It's something that people do to celebrate their birthdays, and since you're 6 years old around this time, I figured it fitting to bring you this."
"B-birthday cake? Is it something we can eat? It looks delicious." The girl asked, poking the weird circular thing, before scrunching at the chocolate stuck on her finger.
"Yes, Naruto, you can eat it." Itachi said awkwardly, before cutting her a piece.
The girl eyes sparkled with joy as she made a bite and she looked at him as if he was the best thing in the world. "I-It's amazing, Itachi-shishou."
Itachi smiled warmly. "You can thank oka-san for that!" Although she kept bugging him about who the cake was for, he was thankful for her and her culinary skills. It was very difficult to convince her that it is not for a secret girlfriend, however.
"Oh and Naruto? One more thing." He pulled a slight box out of kunai pouch. In it was a necklace with a blue sapphire in the middle. "Here let me help you wear it."
As Naruto stared at the beautiful blue sapphire now around her neck, her eyes widened in amazement. "It's so pretty, Itachi-shishou!"
"It looks just like your eyes, Naruto! I think it fits very well!" Itachi smiled, poking her forehead.
He didn't know what he liked about the gesture, but it definitely had an effect on both his little siblings.
I wish I could keep seeing that expression again and again…
Itachi and shisui had failed, they had the perfect plan, peace was really at reach, they just had to use Kotoamatsukami on the clan. But that was apparently exactly the opposite of what the village wanted, Hiruzen acted like he agreed and that had made their hearts at peace for some time, but then Danzo struck and everything crumbled down.
Itachi knew Danzo did not act by himself, Hiruzen would not allow it.
Now Itachi had the do the alternative, the much more undesirable outcome.
"I understand, hokage-same. However, I have two demands."
Hiruzen looked like he was sad. He gave a heavy sigh.
"Of course, child! You can ask whatever you want, that's the least we can provide for what you are about to do."
"Sasuke is to be left alive." He said simply. The hokage accepted that easily enough.
"Naruto is to be enrolled to the academy and be giving her own place in the village. She will become a genin normally and climb through the ranks like any normal child." That didn't please the hokage. He didn't think Itachi will grow feelings for the jinchuriki.
"You know how important it is to have a powerful jinchuriki."
"I heard that talk before, hokage-sama, but it really isn't a request." Itachi was not bothering to hide his distate for the hokage anymore as he spoke.
"I understand your frustration Itachi, but there are things that I simply cannot allow."
"On the contrary, hokage-sama, I am not frustrated in the slightest." His eyes shifted into the mangekyo sharingan. "I am sure I can do great amount of damage to your beloved village, hokage-sama and I know plenty of people who would be eager to join in. Isn't that right, Jiraiya-sama?"
The hokage didn't expect to see his student enter from the window, yet when the anbu jumped into action, both to attack Itachi and to restraint Jiraiya, he still told them to move back.
"I wonder how many of your anbus it takes to bring us down, sensei." The white haired man glared. "And oh, Orochimaru sends his regards." The man added as if as an afterthought.
The third hokage knew that Jiraiya was waiting for such an opportunity; his loyalty to the village was already at its lowest point. He couldn't afford to bring down the might of the three sannin on Konoha, Orochimaru being eager to see the village fall to the ground and Tsunade possibly being dissuaded to her teammates side to see the village burn after all the pain it made her go through.
Not to mention what other forces they could bring into their side. Kakashi is one that comes to mind.
Besides, losing some few years in the development of their jinchuriki is a small price to pay for having Jiraiya work for the village. It is a great way to ensure his loyalty, lest he takes her and escapes.
"Fine, I will allow it. She is a child after all; it will do her good to interact with children her age."
He was surprised to hear Jiraiya give a dark chuckle.
"You really sound like the monkey you are saying that, sensei. We all know how little you care, but I am glad you still haven't gone completely senile and knows what's good for you."
"Maybe Minato will find it in his heart to forgive me now." Itachi heard Jiraiya mutter when they were finally alone.
"I suppose I should thank you kid." He finally said to him. "And it seems like I owe you an apology."
"Naruto really means a lot to me; I wouldn't stand by and let the village use her like that if I can do something about it." Itachi replied.
"For what it's worth, kid. I will take care of your brother when the time comes." Jiraiya promised.
"I would like that." He said, simply.
I wisH my little siblings would forgive me for what I am about to do too... He knew he had no right to wish though.
Itachi looked at Naruto as she slept, she looked happier and healthier, way better than she was when he met her, but it pained his heart to think what would happen to her when he's gone, she till barely trusted anyone and would always cling to him like a life boat.
He had to change that somehow, but he barely had any time left. Itachi looked at the crow sitting on his hand, the lone eye of shisui staring back at him. They could not use Kotoamatsukami on the clan to make their lives better but at least they could use it to make someone else's life better.
Naruto would oppose to the idea so he did not wake her up.
She had to forget him. She had to start anew.
Thus, Itachi used Kotoamatsukami, shaping memories and imagining a life that Naruto would've loved to have. He gave her a home outside of the village with her father; a blonde haired, blue eyed man that greatly resembled the fourth hokage but not too much to be him.
Life was simple and good for the first 8 years of her life until she lost her father in a tragic accident and she had to move to Konoha where she decided to become a ninja. All that was left from her father was the blue sapphire around her neck that her father gave her in her 6th birthday.
"Push on, Naruto. Live the life you always wanted! Don't grieve for my absence, because even when I am gone, life still goes on." He muttered.
Push on, Naruto. Live the life you always wanted, Don't grieve for me, because even when I am gone, life still goes on. Were her "father's" last words to her.
Itachi knew he was selfish by keeping their memories together there, only changing himself to look like her father in the new life, but he allowed himself such selfishness.
Goodbye, lonely little sister. Please don't try to make yourself remember!