Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.

Thank you to all my reviewers!!! you ppl r so nice :-)

"blah" = speech
'blah' = thoughts

Pyr00tje - the hyuga heirs didnt HAVE to be killed. why naruto did kill one will be explained later on.

Crutches - she would... but not in this story

Dragon Noir - level comparisons, naruto is about itachi's (maybe a little lower)

Kagami - dont worry naruto's not all coldhearted; or at least not TO all. i know there are only 5 elements, but i like making up stuff... (in a future story i will head ur advice though)

animelvr4evr - i hope u realise i cant honor both requsts =)

Sirus183 - half of the hyuga are dead, her father is dead; so there's really no one to punish hinata. plus she's the head of the main family now.

Rurikat - yes i will reveal y itachi massacred his family, but WAY later in the story.

procrastination and laziness arent a good mix are they? well thats what i seem to have right now... so sry for the late update.

Chapter 12 – Resolution

Itachi and Jiraiya stood in a forest clearing glaring at each other. Itachi already had his sharingan activated and was carefully watching the Sannin's movements. The wind gently blew by them fluttering their clothes slightly.

'This will be a difficult fight,' mused Jiraiya, 'almost any jutsu that I do he can copy.'

Suddenly Jiraiya took out three shuriken, out of nowhere, and threw them at Itachi. Itachi instantly countered with three of his own. Without a moments hesitation he performed several hand seals and fired a few fireballs at Jiraiya not having even said the name of the jutsu.

Jiraiya jumped sideways to avoid the projectiles and started several hand seals of his own, but was shocked when he looked back at the fireballs; they were still coming straight at him. He stopped his jutsu halfway through and leaped sideways once again, this time however not leaping as far and preparing a barrier jutsu. Once he landed, he slammed his palms on the ground and said, "Doton: Earth Wall." The fireballs were successfully blocked, but Itachi was nowhere in sight.

'Shit! He used a tracking Housenka to distract me and hide himself.' Just as Jiraiya thought that he sensed a presence behind him and just barely managed to avoid a kick to the head.

Itachi then followed up with a spin kick which Jiraiya easily blocked and punched Itachi in the stomach. As soon as that happened though, Jiraiya noticed something wrong, 'his chakra patterns are abnormal. It's like a jutsu being concentrated within his body… Oh shit!' Jiraiya could not jump away fast enough before the clone exploded.

He was sent flying backwards several dozen yards and finally crashed hard into a tree. 'I should have noticed that his taijutsu speed wasn't good at all,' Jiraiya scolded himself for making such an error. Looking up he saw Itachi standing behind the crater left by the explosion.

"Jiraiya, it seems your skills have dulled," said Itachi; Jiraiya scowled. "Here I was, expecting a challenge when facing one of the Legendary Sannin. Maybe I should have let Naruto fight you."

"You bastards kidnapped him after he left the safety of the Leaf, didn't you?" asked Jiraiya in a vicious tone.

"Kidnapped?" questioned Itachi, "and safety?" he sneered.

"No, Naruto came with us willingly," Itachi paused for effect, "poor kid, he was completely hounded by you assholes."

"BULLSHIT!" yelled Jiraiya. "He would NEVER come with you! You must have brainwashed him with your Mangekyou Sharingan and that's why he's acting like this."

"Like how? Killing the people of, as he says, 'his long lost village'?" Itachi continued coldly. "He's not the same naïve little kid you once knew. He could never have reached the level he is today by staying in that god forsaken village." Jiraiya's look became even angrier.

"What? Unhappy? Mad, that you had Naruto's potential, but you threw it away?" Itachi said coldly. Jiraiya still could not find any words to reply with. "We picked him up and developed him, to the point where he can develop himself."

"He is a good fighter," mumbled Jiraiya in agreement thinking back to the jounin exam.

"Yea… he's a good protégé, no?" asked Itachi with the slightest bit of amusement.

"He'll NEVER be anything like you!" said Jiraiya forcefully and instantly stood up.

Itachi gazed coldly at Jiraiya, "such confidence, for someone who knows nothing about him."

Jiraiya clenched his fist, "you think you know anything? I bet he hates being in the Akatsuki and working with such cold-blooded murderers as yourself."

"Hate us?" Itachi actually chuckled at this, "why would he hate people that actually pay attention to him? That actually care whether he's there or not, not like YOUR village!" Jiraiya was now thoroughly pissed off. While some people would say that it was very stupid of Itachi to anger a Sannin, Itachi knew that if a shinobi lost their cool they would lose the battle.

"You see he likes us for actually caring about him… But about the protégé thing, no he has a different path in life… I'm sure of it," said Itachi, his voice returning to its seemingly natural coldness, in anticipation of battle.

Itachi then lightly touched the tree to his left, 'Dokumori: Poison Vines' thought Itachi as he skillfully directed them to enclose the Sannin's legs. Jiraiya however was not caught in this trap and jumped up to avoid the vines, but not high enough. Itachi immediately saw this opening and had the vines release their poison, since the poison is naturally shot upwards.

Jiraiya saw the cloud of poison rising up towards him, "Fuuiton: Wind Slash" whispered Jiraiya and directed the wind at the poison cloud; in an instant the poison was dispersed. Itachi, meanwhile, had already thrown two shuriken at Jiraiya and whispered, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu." Jiraiya barely had time to notice and react before the barrage of shuriken had reached him. 'Shit, I can't keep fighting on the defensive,' thought Jiraiya as he realized that he was still right next to the tree and hence used it to push himself out of harms way.

Itachi decided to attack him while he was still in mid-air, "Fuuiton: Wind Slash" he whispered and fired off a wave of wind. Jiraiya instantly saw what Itachi was doing and did his own hand seals preparing a counter-attack, "Fuuiton: Wind Tunnel" said Jiraiya. Just as Jiraiya had predicted when the two attacks clashed, his was more powerful and was able to rip through the Wind Slash and continue onward to Itachi.

As soon as Itachi saw Jiraiya do the Wing Tunnel, he knew that his attack would be less powerful and instantly prepared a block for the upcoming attack. However Itachi's attack did manage to significantly reduce the Wind Tunnel's power and because of this Itachi simply made a relatively weak Earth Wall that easily stopped Jiraiya's attack.

Before the wind attack was even completely stopped Jiraiya attacked with a spin kick aimed at Itachi's head. Itachi dodged, but did not have time to counter as a barrage of punches and kicks was thrown at him at an incredible speed. Itachi saw that he was being forced on the defensive, 'this won't do…' he thought simply. Itachi, then blocked an attack with his forearm and at the same time formed his hands into a single hand seal, 'Split' thought Itachi and jumped to the side, leaving his Kage Bushin to hold off Jiraiya.

Itachi quickly made a half dozen hand seals and put his fingers to his lips, "Katon: Karyuu Endan" whispered Itachi and fired it straight at the still fighting Sannin. Jiraiya had of course noticed when Itachi jumped to the side, and had been prepared for some sort of attack from the side, but did know whether or not the Itachi in front of him was a clone or not. Still he decided not to take any chances, "Doton: Spiked Earth Barrier" said Jiraiya and a wall of earth surrounded the Toad Sannin on each side preventing the Karyuu Endan from penetrating and also damaging Itachi's clone when it attacked because of the spikes on the outside of the barrier.

Itachi did a head seal and slammed his palm into the ground, "Doton: Spike" he whispered. Jiraiya did feel something coming up from underneath him, but it was too late the Spike had already been formed and thrust upwards straight at the Sannin. Jiraiya managed to avoid a hit to a critical area by jumping up and out of his barrier, but the damage was still dealt. Once Jiraiya landed outside the now crumpling barrier he felt a surge of pain in his left leg, 'Damn! This is a pretty deep gash he put in my left shin.'

Itachi saw that his opponent was injured such that his mobility and speed are affected and decided to attack him using taijutsu. Jiraiya saw the Uchiha charging him, 'I can't handle this alone…' Jiraiya bit his thumb, did a few quick seals and whispered "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." In a cloud of smoke a toad, about two times bigger than Jiraiya with two katanas strapped to his back, appeared and easily deflected Itachi's attack throwing him back hard in a tree. Itachi was slightly fazed by the rather large toad that had suddenly appeared, 'times like this make me regret not getting a summoning,' he thought.

The toad drew its two katanas and stood in a battle position right in front of Jiraiya. Suddenly the toad leaped forward swinging his katana at Itachi, who managed to dodge to the side. But only to get a hard kick his the abdomen by Jiraiya and then a consecutive elbow to the back, knocking him down towards the ground. However Itachi managed to land on his arms and pushed off right before a sword slash came down and almost chopped him in half. Jiraiya instantly made a clone to attack Itachi from the back, while he did several hand seals and put his fingers to his lips "Katon: Karyuu Endan" he whispered and then breathed out a great steady stream of fire.

Itachi was busy fighting with Jiraiya's clone and toad, when he suddenly sensed a jutsu being prepared behind him. Turning back slightly he was the Karyuu Endan heading straight towards him, he made a hand seal and went to dodge, but caught a sword slash straight across his abdomen. 'Shit! At least I got him back…' Jiraiya didn't notice Itachi's clone until it successfully stabbed him in the back with a kunai. Jiraiya had of course retaliated and destroyed the clone, but had almost lost sight of the real Itachi, however with his senses heightened and the fact that Itachi was heavily injured now, he sensed him sneaking up from behind. Before Itachi could even begin to attack, both Jiraiya and his toad attacked him from opposite sides. Itachi instantly went from attacking to defending, but found himself heavily hindered by his wound and could not defend everything, letting through Jiraiya's kunai, which went deep into his right shoulder.

Itachi tried to put up an Earth Barrier, but found that his right arm now hung useless; jutsus were no longer a possibility. Jiraiya had of course noticed this and leaving a clone in his place went underground. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu," [Inner Decapitation] Itachi tried to jump away, but because of his injuries he wasn't fast enough and was caught by Jiraiya and pulled straight down into the ground. As soon as Jiraiya had him trapped underground, he stuck a kunai straight through Itachi's heart.

Blood poured out of Itachi's mouth and images flashed before his eyes. Images of both Naruto and Sasuke, 'my two brothers…' thought Itachi, 'only one… knows the truth… he will set things straight…' And with that last though the great Missing-nin died, his eyes finally releasing the sharingan.

Jiraiya could barely dig himself out of the ground before collapsing of exhaustion right beside Itachi. 'Used up too chakra… need to sleep…' with that the toad disappeared and Jiraiya fell into unconsciousness.

)))))Konoha(((((

Next day in the Leaf Village all the ninja were on high alert, security was tightened and the village was on lock down, such that no one could enter or leave the village. ANBU were still assessing the extent of the damage left by the Hyuga assassination the night before. The Godaime paused the Jounin Exam and called a meeting to discuss last night's occurrences. At the meeting were present Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, a representative of the Hyuga, and several ANBU.

Tsunade banged her fist on the table, "where the hell is Jiraiya?" she roared.

"We still have people looking for him Hokage-sama," answered the ANBU captain, "however the last time I saw him we were both running towards the Hyuga Manor."

"But he never showed up, is that right?"

"Yes, one moment he's right next to me the next he's gone. When we arrived at the Hyuga Manor we found out that the assassin had escaped, so maybe Jiraiya had followed him."

"We'll see when he's finally found…" said Tsunade in a low voice. "Oh well we're starting without him, how are the injured?" she inquired.

"Tsunade-sama, all the injured shinobi have been hospitalized and most of them are expected to pull through just fine," informed a medic-nin of the ANBU.

"Thank you," answered Tsunade. The medic-nin bowed slightly and sat down.

"Damage report! What the hell happened last night Hyuga!?" inquired Tsunade of the Hyuga representative.

"It seems an assassin was able to avoid security and get into the Hyuga Manor…" the Hyuga started explaining but was cut off by Tsunade.

"Tell us something we don't know!" she said forcefully.

"The assassin managed to kill 5 clan leaders as well as Hyuga Hiashi, the Main House leader, and his youngest daughter Hyuga Hanabi." Almost everyone in the room gasped, to be able to kill the leader of the most powerful clan in the Leaf is a feat in itself, but to kill 5 more clan leaders that is really something. The Hyuga rep went on to explain that those are the prominent figures that were killed, but apart from them the assassin also took out approximately two-dozen other Hyuga. He also mentioned that Hyuga Hinata is now in the hospital, the exact reasons being unknown to him.

The medic-nin caught Tsunade staring at her and decided to speak up, "Hyuga Hinata will be fine, she seemed to have been under the effect of a knock out poison. She should wake up later today."

'Poison?' thought Tsunade, 'this is weird, and why would she be the only one affected?'

"Didn't the assassin use poison when fighting with the Hyuga?" asked Asuma.

"Yes, however that poison was a lot more dangerous and killed its victims," replied the ANBU captain.

'I think Hinata will be able to tell us a lot when she wakes up,' mused Tsunade.

"Anyone make any kind of ID on the assassin?" asked Kakashi.

"No…" the ANBU captain began but was cut off by the door opening. Everyone turned to see a limping Hyuga being led into the room and carefully set down into a chair.

"Who is this?" inquired Tsunade.

"A survivor of the attack, Hokage-sama," said the person who brought him and excused himself saying that there were many patients he still had to tend to.

Turning back to the new arrival Tsunade asked him to fill everyone in on what happened.

"At around midnight the alarm was sounded and I instantly jumped out of bed, got dressed and went out to find out what was wrong. After several minutes I heard a commotion in the middle of the compound and ran there to find my fellow brethren fighting with the assassin."

Tsunade interrupted him here for a question, "how many people was the assassin fighting with?"

"I'd say about 20 people," answered the Hyuga, several people around the room raised their eyebrows. "Anyway," he continued with his story, "when I got there the assassin was doing some sort of Katon Jutsu that shot fireballs in all directions. After the assassin's attack was over, I jumped into battle…" he recounted the entire battle like that. The last thing he saw was the assassin running towards the wall and getting intercepted by two guards.

"What happened to the two guards?" asked Tsunade.

"They were k-killed, Hokage-sama," said the Hyuga rep somewhat uncertainly.

Tsunade looked at him questioningly and asked, "How did they die?"

"They had their throats ripped out," replied the ANBU captain, "also… judging by the wound it looks like it was done with claws."

"You're telling me that the assassin had claws?" asked Tsunade.

"Yes, I see no other explanation. Unless the assassin did a summoning, but it doesn't seem that there was enough time," explained the ANBU captain.

"Can you tell me anything else about the assassin, height, hair color, eye color, any distinguishing features?" questioned Tsunade.

"He's about 5 and a half feet tall, blue eyes, couldn't see his hair since it was hidden under a hat and I guess claws would be a pretty distinguishing feature," replied the Hyuga.

"Hmm… so we know nothing about him," said Tsunade. The blue eyes made her think of Naruto, but she shrugged off that thought.

"Actually come to think of it…" said the Hyuga, "he looked very much like the Grass-nin from the jounin exam." A few heads snapped up at that comment.

"Now that you mention it," said Asuma, "we haven't been able to locate that guy anywhere."

"Damn it we should have noticed that he was definitely a much higher level," said Tsunade, "especially after what happened to Sasuke."

)))))Forest Outside Konoha(((((

While the meeting was going on Jiraiya finally started waking up, 'Where the hell am I?' Jiraiya sat up and caught sight of the still buried Itachi and all the events of the previous night came back to him in a rush of images. 'That's right I fought with Itachi last night and managed to kill him.' Then another event came back to him, "Naruto… how could you go to the Akatsuki?" said Jiraiya sadly. "Anyway I need to get back to the Leaf, and relay my current information."

Jiraiya went to stand, but almost fell back down in pain from his left shin. After several minutes he finally managed to get up and hobbled over to where Itachi was buried. Jiraiya then ripped him out of the ground, threw the body on his shoulder and started the long walk back to Konoha.

)))))Back in Tsunade's Office(((((

"If I may inquire?" asked Kakashi, "What did happen to my student?"

"His condition seems to have stabilized late last night, but we don't know when he will wake up," answered Tsunade.

"But what did that Grass-nin do to him?" asked Gai.

"It was some sort of Doujutsu. From the looks of it, it's similar to the Tsukuyomi of the Mangekyou," Kakashi's eye widened at this. "Except somehow Sasuke's opponent also managed to inflict not only mental, but physical wounds as well," explained Tsunade. "But the scariest thing is that the wounds, kept coming back until his condition stabilized… as if the body was self-inflicting the wounds," Kakashi's normally stoic face showed the slightest bit of worry.

"But how is that possible?" asked Kurenai.

"I don't know. It shouldn't be, even the Mangekyou isn't powerful enough to affect the mind like that," said Tsunade in deep thought.

"Hokage-sama, are you saying that the Grass-nin's Doujutsu is more powerful than the Mangekyou Sharingan?" asked Gai.

"Yes, it would seem that way," said Tsunade, "however he probably cannot copy jutsus like the sharingan can." 'Which is a relief.'

"Approximately when can we expect Sasuke to wake up?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know, he seems to have slipped into a coma. So it could be days or it could be months," replied Tsunade. 'Somehow I'm leaning over towards months.'

Kakashi was shocked, 'Damn it! I didn't prepare him enough.' Kakashi sulked down feeling like he betrayed his student. 'Then again who knew he would be fighting such a strong opponent, who could possibly be an assassin.'

Suddenly the door flew open and an ANBU came in, "Hokage-sama, we have trouble!"

Tsunade jumped up from her seat, "what is it!?" she yelled.

"There have been traps set up throughout the village, but they seem to be made to target the villagers only," explained the ANBU member.

"What do you mean they only target the villagers?" asked the ANBU captain.

"The traps are set up in high density civilian areas, meant to be triggered by simple civilian actions; such as kicking a stone out of the way or yanking on a hanging string," explained the ANBU member.

"The things that a shinobi wouldn't do… " mused Kakashi.

"Exactly," said the ANBU member, "we have managed to disarm several, but six had already been tripped before we were notified. There is a team of ANBU combing the village searching for any more as we speak."

"Have there been any casualties?" asked Tsunade in a serious tone.

The ANBU member looked down not wanting to meet the Tsunade's eyes, "yes Hokage-sama."

"How many?"

"20 dead and at least 30 injured."

"Damn it! Why do innocents have to die?" said Tsunade angrily. "What are the traps like?" she asked.

"They are mostly set to throw kunai, shuriken or throwing knives. Some, however, made a Katon Jutsu come out," explained the ANBU member.

"Why would the assassin be attacking the villagers?" wondered Kurenai. "It makes no sense…"

"It might be as a distraction for us," offered Asuma.

"But why would the assassin want us to distract us now, instead of last night?" asked Kakashi.

"Perhaps to throw off pursuit by making us think that he is still in the village," said Gai.

Just then the door swung open and a beaten up Jiraiya came in caring something that looked very much like a body over his shoulder.

"Hello everyone," he greeted.

"Jiraiya is that the assassin?" asked Tsunade.

"Not quite…" replied Jiraiya, "there were some… complications."

"Complications?" Tsunade furrowed her brows. "What sort of complications?"

"The assassin himself got away, but I know who it was and I killed his accomplice," said Jiraiya in a somewhat sad tone. All eyes were now focused on the Toad Sannin in anticipation.

"His accomplice was," at this point he dropped the body on the floor, "Uchiha Itachi."

The absolute shock was evident on everyone's face; even Tsunade could not hide it. They all instantly realized that the assassination was the Akatsuki's doing.

"So then the Akatsuki was behind everything?" asked Kurenai.

"Yes, they were behind a lot more things than we know…" said Jiraiya, "some that we would rather not have happen."

"What do you mean?" asked Gai uncertainly.

"Who is the assassin?" inquired Tsunade.

"The assassin and Itachi's partner, is someone we all know…" Jiraiya paused a little for effect.

"Someone we know?" inquired Kurenai, "Who would join forces with that murderer?"

"You couldn't mean…?" asked Kakashi with a wide-eye.

"Yes, sadly I do mean that," said Jiraiya, "his name is Uzumaki Naruto."

The people that had just somewhat recovered from seeing Uchiha Itachi dead were thrown back into that state of complete and utter shock after hearing this.

"Then the Akatsuki has… oh god…" said Kakashi.

The implications were obvious, the Akatsuki now had the power of the Kyuubi at their disposal. It also didn't seem like Naruto cared much for the Leaf village anymore, instead he now seemed to be a ruthless killer.

"Naruto wasn't just the assassin, we also saw him before this incident. He was pretending to be the Grass-nin during the jounin exam," said Jiraiya. "Although that was probably a cover to be able to get into the village."

"We have no chance of getting him back now, do we?" asked Kakashi.

"No, he's a Class S Missing-nin now…" said Tsunade, "and he's also a part of the most dangerous organization in the world."

"Yes and it seems that he…" Jiraiya trailed off seemingly unable to finish his thought.

"What? He's what?" asked Tsunade.

"He… I got the impression that he joined it willingly…" said Jiraiya reluctantly.

"WHAT!?" yelled Tsunade. "Impossible! Why would he ever do that?"

"Well, it seems that the Akatsuki took care of him and accepted him a lot more than the people of this village," explained Jiraiya. "And for someone like him, well that's really what he wanted from life."

"The people…" mused Kakashi. "It makes sense…"

"Huh? What makes sense?" asked Asuma.

"The traps left in the village… they weren't for distraction, they were for revenge," said Kakashi in a cold tone.

"What traps?" asked Jiraiya.

He was explained about the traps found all over the village that were aimed at harming only civilians.

"Hmm… yea that would probably have to be him. He even glared at me when I simply tried to talk to him and…" said Jiraiya, but trailed off again as he remembered what Naruto called Itachi.

"And what?" asked Tsunade.

"Nothing… there just seemed to be a lot of hater in his eyes," said Jiraiya lost in thought.

"Damn in Jiraiya! Tell me exactly what happened!" roared Tsunade.

Jiraiya cringed a little then reluctantly continued, "well… it's about how Naruto referred to Itachi before they parted." Seeing that everyone was confused and that Tsunade seemed to be getting even angrier Jiraiya decided not to test her patience, "he called Itachi 'onii-chan.'"

"What?" said Kakashi. "Naruto looks up to Itachi that much?"

"Could be," answered Jiraiya plainly.

"Then it is possible that he joined willingly," mused Kurenai.

"Well then lets hope that Naruto isn't like Itachi's real brother," said Gai. "Since he's bound to find out what Jiraiya did to Itachi."

"This is indeed a serious problem, but for now he's gone and will probably not come back here for some time," said Tsunade. "So we have to focus on the things at hand and that it rebuilding."

"Also we can't leave this subject of the assassin in ambiguity for the rest of the village," said Tsunade.

"But we cannot tell them that the assassin simply got away," countered Gai.

"No. That is why I propose that we reveal Itachi to be the assassin," said Tsunade.

"And lie to the village?" protested the Hyuga rep.

"Not necessarily," explained Tsunade, "we did kill one dangerous Missing-nin and as Jiraiya said Itachi was Naruto's accomplice. Also the fact that Itachi was apprehended should make the village happy."

Several people were still reluctant, but understood that the village's reputation would be affected greatly if they said that the assassin had escaped. So everyone agreed with the Hokage and swore to keep this a secret. After that matter was done, the talks shifted on to the subject of the reconstruction and strengthening of Konoha. Though they all knew that there would be other meetings when they would talk about the issue with Naruto and the Akatsuki.

)))))With Naruto(((((

Meanwhile, Naruto was making his way toward the Mountain Country or more specifically the Akatsuki headquarters. He, of course, did not travel at the insane pace that he, Itachi and Kisame had last time they were close to the Leaf, but he still went fast enough so that he was at least a day's time ahead of any pursuers. Halfway to the border Naruto decided to camp out in the woods and get some shut eye, even though it was the middle of the day. Naruto had actually always preferred to travel by night, it somehow made him feel more comfortable.

'Influence of the Kyuubi no doubt,' thought Naruto with a smirk. He then looked at the rabbit that was roasting on the fire, 'so nice of him to teach me to summon foxes, they can actually hunt for you. Toads are nice you can use them on land and water. But Itachi was right, better to have a variety to choose from.' Naruto then pulled up his left sleeve and looked at his bandaged arm, 'this one isn't something to be using just for the hell of it… I doubt even Itachi knows exactly what this is…' Naruto's thoughts trailed off as he smelled that his rabbit was done cooking. After lunch Naruto went to sleep leaving a guard-fox around just in case.

He woke up in the beginning of the night and immediately set off again and managed to cross the border safely before dawn. Knowing that he was know on much safer ground, he slowed down a little and decided to stop at a hotel in the nearest city, which just happened to be the same one he had been in five years ago. 'This trip brings back so many memories,' mused Naruto.

After a day of rest, Naruto pressed onwards into the mountains and arrived at the Akatsuki headquarters by the end of the day. He quickly made his way inside and asked for a session with the leaders. He didn't wait long at all and was soon called into the conference room.

"Mission Accomplished Sir!" said Naruto handing over the backpack with the heads to Roeto. (A/N: in case you forgot, Roeto – leader; Kane – 2nd in command; Hajeko – 3rd in command)

Roeto opened the backpack, took out all the heads and looked at them. He gave Naruto an approving nod, "you even exceeded quota?" it was somewhere between a question and a statement.

"Yes," simply answered Naruto.

"How was the mission?" wondered Kane.

"It had its complications, but I worked through them," answered Naruto. 'Damn I never did like these people. It sometimes seems like they want to rip the Kyuubi's power out of me.'

"Yes, but such is life isn't it?" said Roeto coldly. Naruto merely nodded slightly. Roeto then gave Hajeko the signal to pay Naruto.

"Alright, as was promised 300,000 yen for the quota or 50,000 per head," said Hajeko giving Naruto the money in a suitcase. Naruto continued looking at him intently.

"Give him 100,000 for the extra head," said Roeto.

"What? Isn't that a bit too much?" asked Hajeko.

"No, not for an heir of the Main House it isn't," continued Roeto.

"Alright," agreed Hajeko and gave Naruto another small suitcase.

Naruto bowed and turned to leave, "Wait Naruto," said Kane. Naruto promptly turned around and looked at Kane. "You will be hunted within the next few months, so while you have this next week free you need to return before its finish and we will find you a place to lie low for a bit."

Naruto nodded in understanding, bowed again and left. He went to his room, put all the money in one large bag and prepared to leave for the hotel where Itachi should be waiting, but suddenly remembered what time it was and decided to spend the night here. 'Better to stay where there is a nice bed and shower,' thought Naruto yawning.

He left first thing the next morning, wanting to get to the Rain Country within two days. During his journey he thought, 'Itachi is already waiting for me,' and not wanting to keep his onii-chan waiting Naruto increased his pace a little bit.

A/N:
1) sorry to all those ppl that wanted itachi to stay alive, but this must happen for the story to continue.
2) and to everyone out there that's wondering if naruto's luck is ever going to change? yes it is!
3) judging by the reviews no one seems to know where i'm taking the story... which is good i can surprise you :-)
4) I seem to be having trouble making up new jutsu names right now... so i'm sorry if they sound lame.