Read and review. You know the drill.
I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.
"Uchiha Itachi…" Iruka spoke with a mixture of awe and fear in his voice. The pale man smiled slightly. Apparently he had left an impression when he left Konoha.
"Naruto, we need to run. Now!" Iruka staggered up to his feet, fully prepared to run for his life. Then he made his mistake. He turned his back to the Uchiha as he started to run. With a single, well-place kunai Itachi ended all of Iruka's movements. It had embedded itself at the base of Iruka's neck, not deep enough to be fatal but enough to keep him from doing anything that involved moving for a while. The pale man smiled to himself, basking in his own display of control. He had just seen what this boy could do when the man's life was threatened. If he was killed then the child would show exactly what he was capable of. As of now, Naruto was planted to the spot. He turned his head to the pale man, a look of pure terror on his face. Itachi smiled lightly. He made sure to stay human enough so that he could enjoy the suffering of others.
"You're Uzumaki, is that right?" The blond boy remained stiff as a statue, but Itachi could see it in the boy's eyes. This boy was a Jinchuriki as sure as he was a member of Akatsuki. Itachi felt something akin to pride in his gut. He hadn't expected to find an opportunity to grab the boy until after the chuunin exams and here he was, served on a silver platter.
"You're coming with me, Uzumaki." The blond boy finally seemed to have shaken his fear off. Naruto could tell Iruka was alive and as safe as could be under the circumstances. Knowing this, he focused instead on the man with red eyes in front of him.
"I'm not going anywhere. I think I'm going t' kick your sorry ass out of Konoha!" Naruto started to form the seal for his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu when he saw something odd happen to the pale man's eyes. They were spinning. In fact, they looked like spinning pinwheels.
"Tsukuyomi."
Naruto's world began to spin. The sky was turning from the grayish blue of night to the sick red color of blood. A sick, revolting, spinning feeling was going through the Jinchuriki's gut. Naruto found his arms strapped down to pieces of wood. When Naruto looked closer, he saw that he was strapped up to a cross. He raised his head and saw the same pale man, only now he was holding a sword.
"My name is Uchiha Itachi. This is the world of Tsukuyomi. In the world of Tsukuyomi I control space and time, even the mass of objects." Having said that, Itachi plunged his sword under Naruto's ribs. The pain hit instantly. Naruto screamed out in pain and the scream turned into a roar. Itachi removed his sword. Naruto looked down at where he was stabbed what he saw shocked him. There was no mark. Not even his clothing was marked.
"What is this? Was that an illusion?" Naruto barely got the words out of his mouth as Itachi plunged his katana back into his gut.
"You should not underestimate this just because it is an illusion." A second Itachi had appeared. This one also plunged his blade deep into Naruto's gut. Again, Naruto screamed out in pain. His torturers press harder on their blades, causing more and more pain. Naruto could feel them pierce his kidney and yet knew that his kidney was fine. Naruto raised his head and was shocked again. He could see Itachi piercing his body, but it wasn't his body! He could see himself, strapped to a cross, having his kidneys impaled, so that one couldn't be him, could it? Suddenly, he felt another blade slide its way in between his ribs. He turned his head and saw a third Itachi, this one with his own blade sticking into his ribs. Itachi spoke without moving his mouth. Instead, the sound seemed to come from everywhere.
"I told you, I control space. I can make as may of you as I wish, each experiencing its own pain." Naruto forced his eyes open to see dozens of himself with katanas sticking out of them, each one held by Itachi. Naruto could feel the pain of the dozens of him as well as his own, all of them screaming for relief. Itachi did not remove his blades; rather, he pushed on them further, driving the tips even further into Naruto's weakened body. Naruto had to force himself to think.
This is only and illusion. This isn't real. Itachi appeared again, pressing yet another blade into the orange fabric.
"Don't underestimate this just because it's an illusion. This pain is not fake. How long will you mind be able to withstand this? We have seventy-two hours to find out, Uzumaki." Naruto felt rather than saw multiples of himself appearing all around this false world. He knew it was coming and the realization that he couldn't do anything to stop it made it hurt all the more. He felt a thousand blades pierce a thousand bodies. He felt a thousand ribs crack and a thousand lungs pierced. He felt the pain of a thousand tortured souls. He could feel it all and did the only thing he could do. He screamed. He released a wail of his thousand tortured bodies, releasing their pain and anguish into the air. Itachi removed his thousand katanas and stepped back.
"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds left, Uzumaki." Narutos' eyes opened wide. All of that had happened in a single second? If that was the case, he wouldn't last five minutes in this sick world. His eyes widened even further has he saw thousands of Itachi's lower the points of their blades all aimed directly at his hearts. The anticipation was deadly. The pain was worse. Death couldn't reach him here, and he would suffer. He would suffer, and he didn't know why. Why was he doing this? He didn't even know him! Why does he want to torture him so badly?
I think that would be my fault.
Naruto's eyes opened wide. He was hearing voices in his head. Was this another layer of this Tsukuyomi place?
This isn't a part of his damned world, kit. This is our world. Come visit.
Naruto felt his mind being pulled back into a smaller portion of his own mind. It was a strange experience, but not an unpleasant one. Maybe that was because the pain had lessoned to a shallow cut here instead of the blatant scourge he had felt before. Taking in his surroundings, Naruto saw some of the strangest things. It appeared as if he was in a small tunnel with trace amounts of water on the ground. Looking up, he saw that the fluorescent lights were flickering as if they were not well kept. Moss and other fungi grew from the walls on either side of him. He noticed all of this, but perhaps the most important thing was straight in front of him. At the end of the tunnel was a gleaming red light. It seemed alive, waving and twitching, back and forth, back and forth.
Naruto. Just Naruto. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just Naruto.
Naruto walked towards the light. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, only enhancing the prickly feeling he already felt. His arm began to spasm uncontrollably, as if his mussels needed to release stress that they were building up. Full of fear, Naruto walked up to the glimmering red light. Step after step he progressed, each earned foot of ground taking more willpower than the last. What could he find in the depths of his own mind? Something outside of himself? The very thought was disheartening, but he continued on none the less. He was reaching the end of the tunnel and the ground seemed to be made of tar it was so hard to walk. Naruto had to concisely lift his foot and concisely place it down in front of him. The red light was closer then ever and the tunnel was about to stop. Naruto walked into a large room.
He looked around. It looked quite unspectacular. The walls seemed the same, as did the floor and ceiling. The only thing that made this room interesting was a large gate at the back of the room. Naruto felt a precognition of fear, but decided he needed to know what this was. He remembered Mizuki's speech and could help but dwell on it.
Naruto. Just Naruto. Not a demon. Not a demon. I am Naruto.
Naruto walked up to the large gate. For some reason, Naruto couldn't find anything keeping the gate shut. There was no key hole, no cross bar, not even a lock and chain. There was, however, a small slip of paper over halfway up the gate. It appeared to hold the two gates together and had some character on it. What did it say? Naruto walked closer and closer until he could see it.
"Seal..." Naruto unknowingly spoke aloud. A seal in his mind. What could that possibly be for? The young boy felt he might know the answer, but he didn't like it.
Not just Naruto. Not just Naruto. I am Naruto! I am! But not just Naruto.
"Kyuubi!" Naruto screamed, calling to the beast. If he was here, Naruto wanted to talk to him, face to face. He wanted to look into the eyes of the one who had made his life a hell. He wanted to speak to the one that made the world hate him. He wanted to speak to him. He wanted to see him. He wanted to tear him to pieces. He wanted to be free of the beast. He wanted blood.
"Kyuubi! Come show your ugly face to me, damn you!" The red light intensified and grew. The red wisps in the air turned to red whips, slashing at anything and everything. Naruto was blown back by the ferocity of it. Naruto saw something begin to walk towards the gate. It was large and had big eyes. Its fur was a crimson red. Its giant paws looked capable of splitting a man in half. Its teeth were large and shape, appearing dangerous enough to crush boulders. Worst of all, the red light was pouring off this giant fox. This giant demon fox.
Not Naruto. Not Naruto. Not Naruto. I am not Naruto. Iruka-sensei I am sorry I am not Naruto. Iruka-sensei what am I? What the hell am I?
"Welcome, kit. What do you think of your mind?" Naruto looked up into the beast's eyes. What he saw surprised him even more. Wonders never ceased. The eyes of the beast were not what he had imagined. Naruto didn't see malice, hate, scorn, or anything of the sort aimed at him. What he saw instead was akin to what you would expect to see in the eyes of a relative that you haven't seen in years. It appeared to be a caring look, if not a gentle one.
"Kyuubi?" The beast smiled.
"Hai. I am Kyuubi, the greatest and most powerful of the Bijuu. And you are Uzumaki Naruto, are you not?" A pained look shot across Naruto's eyes.
"I thought so, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It seems that I am a demon." The fox snorted.
"Don't insult me, kit. You couldn't be a demon if you tried. No, I am the demon and you a sheer human. Don't compare us, kit." A spark went off behind Naruto's eyes. Not one and the same? They were different? They were different! Kyuubi was the demon, not him. It wasn't him!
I am Naruto. I am Naruto! I am Naruto and I am not alone. I am not alone in my mind. I am not alone Iruka-sensei!
"Kit, how much longer do you have in that false world?" Naruto winced slightly. He had forgotten that nightmare despite the constant feelings of pain in his gut. He couldn't go back there and maintain his sanity, not alone anyways. It would only be a matter of time until his already fragile mind snapped. What would happen then? Would he become a living shell with no mind, or would he lose all ties to reality, rampaging and killing everything in his path? Or maybe he would simply break, doing whatever was asked of him by this pale man.
"I have almost three days, demon. Why do you ask?" The demon's smile seemed to turn into a playful smirk.
"Because you can't handle it, kit. Twelve years of mental stress accompanied by an eternity of torture? You are going to break, kit. Look at the mess around you. This isn't a healthy mind. If this continues, your mind will break and this sewer along with it. If that happens, I disappear forever." Naruto looked around. It certainty didn't look like it was in perfect working order. But could it break?
"I wonder how long your mind will be able to withstand this." Kyuubi repeated what Itachi had said in that other world. The blond boy saw the truth in these statements. He would break before time ran out. He couldn't take the pain. He would snap.
"Why can't I wait it out in here? It doesn't hurt nearly as much here." Kyuubi smiled at the boy's reasoning, however flawed it might be.
"You can't wait here because time doesn't pass here. You could wait the three days here and still not have any time pass in the Tsukuyomi. But you knew that, didn't you?" Naruto dropped his head onto his chest. He knew it was true. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew none the less. He was out of ideas. His mind would break.
"Tell me demon, what do I do? How can we both exist throughout this suffering?" The beast grinned his homicidal grin. The kit had finally got to the root of things.
"When your mind breaks we're both gone, so I suggest a compromise." His interest peaked; Naruto asked the beast to continue.
"Here is what I suggest: you cut the seal and I will take large portions of the pain."
"No. I'm not letting you out."
"Let me finish. We have three days in this genjutsu. We take turns as the dominate mind and receive all the pain during that duration. This will prevent both of our deaths. After we escape, we take turns as the dominate mind. I can even use a henge on myself so people won't confuse the two of us. I will tell no one our secret and expect the same from you. Also, I won't do anything drastic without your approval. It would be hard to reside in this mind if your every thought was bent on destroying me. Now that you have heard the conditions, what do you say, kit?"
Naruto was left speechless. It might be his only way out, but to let the demon take control of his body seemed insane. Yondaime Still, he did have the beast's assurances.
"Tell me, demon, how binding is the word of a demon?" The grin on the fox's face never faltered.
"I swear it on my honor; I will do as I say. The honor of a demon is something never to be tampered with. I would sooner lose my life than my pride. I believe the same goes for you, kit." Now they both shared a grin. Naruto's pride and honor would never be broken. Maybe they weren't so different. Maybe he could work with this beast. And maybe he could be of some use, preferably in killing this bastard that had trapped his mind.
The orange clad boy walked up to the gate. He looked up and saw that the sea was just too far out of his reach. He jumped and leaped and eventually grasped onto the bottom of the seal. It came off with a loud tear and Naruto fell on his ass. The gates, rather then swinging open, seemed to dissipate. The gate broke into a billion tiny pieces that blew away into the depths of the sewers. The towering fox hesitantly stepped forward.
"Freedom…" Kyuubi had dreamed of this day, had dreamed for twelve years. Now, he was freed.
"Oi! Would you mind shrinking a bit? It's kind of crowded in here." Kyuubi smiled. The streams of red light, or chakara, as Naruto now saw it for what it was for, spun around the large beast, completely incasing it. When the red light flew off, it left a considerably different Kyuubi. The beast had a body just like Naruto's with a few discrepancies. Instead of blond hair, it was the black of coal. His whisker-marks had disappeared all together. Also, the hideous orange suit was replaced by a loose pair of black shinobi pants and a blood red button-up shirt. Oddly, the buttons appeared to have been shaved off, keeping the shirt open to reveal a loose black shirt. Everything else seemed to be exactly the same, besides the eyes. Instead of the bright blue, the Kyuubi's eyes were black. Naruto couldn't tell where the iris ended and the pupil began. The blond boy continued to stare at the newly dressed demon, wondering if they could be confused as brothers.
"Why do you look so much like me, Kyuubi?"
"The more alike we appear, the less likely someone will be able to tell the difference if they inspect the henge. Plus it takes less energy if you make fewer bodily changes." Ky was flexing his hands the whole time, as if he was still trying to learn how to use them.
"Well, then, I guess it's my turn." Kyuubi walked past Naruto and down the tunnel in the direction that Naruto had come from. Naruto remain behind, the constant feeling of pain beginning to disappear. He watched the Kyuubi walk towards his pain and couldn't help but think what Iruka-sensei would think of this arrangement.
I am Naruto. I am also Kyuubi. I am both and I am neither. I am never alone. Never alone again.
"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-seven seconds." Itachi ran more and more blades through the blond boy's body and listened to his screams. As of recently they had become more animal like in nature. Itachi shrugged it off. There was nothing he could do in Tsukuyomi that could harm him. He ran his blade through his body again.
Naruto watched this all from the room of his mind. When the Kyuubi had gone from his sight, the walls of the room changed. Instead of the wet and moldy walls of the sewer he saw what the Kyuubi was seeing right now. It was like a large movie with peripheral vision. He could see and hear the Kyuubi suffer and felt a small bit of gratification. If the Kyuubi took the bulk to the suffering, they would be about even. Not quite, but they would be a lot closer than they were. Still, Naruto looked on with morbid fascination as the pale man named Itachi ran more and more blades through his body. This would continue for three days…
"Three more seconds and you still haven't broken. Frankly, I'm impressed, Uzumaki. I didn't think you would last a day. I don't think I can break you in these last three seconds. So instead, I'm just going to hurt you a much as I can." Naruto's body resembled a pin cushion. There were countess swords sticking out of his countless bodies. Both Naruto and Kyuubi were mentally exausted. Years of imprisonment had left the demon weakened and Naruto hadn't developed any mental barriers to pain before being trapped. Somehow, the pain never grew old. Every cut seemed to hurt just as much, if not more, then the previous one. It never dulled, never curved, never became less then a gut-wrenching shot of pain. Naruto was up to bat and felt as if his false body was emptied of blood. It had been three days, but it had felt like an eternity. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to days, days to months, and months to years. Naruto and Kyuubi had both needed breaks to restore their minds and took the time to talk from time to time. Kyuubi learned more about the inner workings of Naruto's mind and Naruto learned things about the past, such as why the demon had attacked Konoha.
Flashback
The human and beast sat cross-legged in what they had come to call the 'conference room.' They had been trading small bits of information, but nothing of major importance. Naruto had wanted to ask this, but had held it back until now.
"Kyuubi, why did you attack our village twelve years ago?"
"It's simple, kit. I was fulfilling my end of a bargain."
"Explain."
"The fourth Hokage wasn't the first who had learned how to seal demons. A close friend, and 'till now my only friend, had been sealed into a young women. Demons don't make friends very easily, so we try and protect the ones we have with our lives. Think of it like a code of chivalry. Anyways, I cut a deal with the Jinchuriki my friend was sealed into. She was a cloud nin at the time and was at war with Konoha, or more specifically with the Hyuugas. She said she would sacrifice her life to release my friend if I destroyed the Hyuuga Clan. I agreed instantly, knowing there would be no way I could pull my friend from the cloud nin without risking my friends safety. I tried and failed thanks to the Forth." Kyuubi had a reminiscent look on his face. It appeared as if he was remembering old times, both good and bad. Naruto's heart went out to him. If anything happened to one of his few friends, Naruto would do just about anything to get them back. Kill everyone in Konoha to protect the few people whom he cared for? Abso-fucking-lutely.
"I see. Then I forgive you." The demon's head shot up with a look of disbelief on his face.
"What?"
"I said I forgive you. I would protect my friends with my life. I can't blame you if you would do the same. I despise you for attacking us and killing our friends and family, but I can understand why you did it. Actions with reasons can be forgiven, but mindless rage cannot be. Wars have heros on both sides and are started by a few evil men; most of the troops are blameless. You had a reason to fight, so I will not hold it against you. If you had attacked Konoha just because you wanted to, you would never be forgiven and chased to the edge of hell. Now, you are still seen as an enemy, but and enemy with a cause, like us. An enemy with the desire to protect." Naruto grinned at his new-found friend. Kyuubi hesitantly smile back.
"Yes. The desire to protect does unite us, doesn't it?" The demon reached over and ruffled the kid's hair in the way an elder brother would, not gently but still with caring.
"Yes, our desires unite us…"
End Flashback
"This is the last second of suffering, Uzumaki. I'll try and make it memorable." Itachi's blade changed ever so slightly. He plunged it into the small body and was rewarded with a blood curling scream. Itachi smiled as he pulled a lever at the base of his katana. The tip of his sword split into, bending in two different directions. One went up and pierced the boy's lunges and the other twisted itself amongst his intestine. The scream grew louder. Itachi couldn't withhold his smile as he began to turn the sword, completely twisting and deforming Naruto's innards. Naruto yelled. He screamed. He howled. He felt pain on a level that no one should know of least they were dead. He felt the pan and knew that he was perfectly safe so long as he didn't lose his mind. His eyes rolled up to the top of his head, black static playing at the edge of his vision.
The sky began to shift. Shards of the red sky fell, revealing the grey blue of night that Naruto had left. His countless bodies moved back into one. The numerous Itachi's returned to a single one as well. Naruto fell to the ground, unconscious. Three continues days of pain poured into a single second takes a lot out of someone. Iruka looked in horror. One second Naruto was threatening Itachi, the next he fell to the ground, shacking in pain.
"Damn you, Itachi! What did you do to him?" Iruka knew it was foolish to draw attention to himself, but he couldn't let such a terrible deed go unannounced. Itachi turned his head and looked at the fallen chuunin. He answered coldly and completely devoid of emotion.
"I cut him up for three days without reprieve." Iruka looked shocked. That wasn't human! No one could do such a thing and speak about it with the same tone of voice as if he was talking about the weather. Itachi staggered towards the fallen boy. Damn, he should have brought Kisame. Using Tsukuyomi takes a lot out of him. He labouredly lifted the small blond boy onto his shoulder.
"Good-bye, shinobi. Send my brother my regards." With that, the Uchiha disappeared from view.