Title: Who am I?
This fic is AU. Any complaints regarding context can be forwarded to my right middle finger.
Summary: The search for an identity.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 1: Progress.
Xxx Outside The Northern Walls Of Konoha xxX
Itachi was frantic. His target had left no trace as to which direction he'd gone. In fact, the only evidence of human life having been there at all were a few scattered traps that Itachi easily spotted with his Sharingan.
In no time at all, ANBU arrived at the scene.
"Uchiha Itachi, Please come with us. You are wanted for questioning." One of them said.
"No! Don't come any closer! There's …" he was cut off as the ANBU squad just triggered several of the traps. They didn't have time to move out of the way.
"Shit!" Itachi cursed. The ANBU had been after him, and now they were dead. For them to follow him, they must have seen him leaving the scene of his family's massacre. Question was, did they also see that he was chasing someone, and not fleeing a scene? Chances were that they did not, seeing as they were after him to question him and not to assist him. And now they were dead. That was not good. Itachi realized that without the real perpetrator there, all evidence would imply that Itachi was the one behind it all. The others ones that had been in on it, left no corpses as they fell, dropping like flies for Itachi's flaming rage. And Sasuke; his testimony wouldn't be worth much as he had been under the effects of a genjutsu. No, the only choice left for Itachi would be to find the guy behind it all and make him confess to Ibiki. Until then, Itachi wouldn't be able to show his face in Konoha. He ran west.
Xxx Outside The Western Walls Of Konoha xxX
A black clad ninja ran for all he was worth. He had just kidnapped the heir to the Hyuuga family, and since he got no reply over his earpiece he could only assume that his subordinates were all dead. Not very surprising, after all they had taken on the head of the Hyuuga clan.
He carried the Hyuuga heiress under his arm, not even giving it a second thought as to how it might affect the little girl. This however would be his undoing, for all the jumping and twisting he did to avoid leaving traceable tracks, shook the girl awake. The little girl bit into his hand, forcing him to release her.
"Why you little bitch!" he yelled at her. He prepared a kunai. While the girl might have to be alive at delivery, nobody said anything about her being in one piece. The girl just stared at his with fear in her eye, and let out a scream worthy of a banshee. The man covered his ears to shield himself from the unearthly sound. Hinata, as was the girl's name, took to her feet and ran. She knew it wouldn't be long till he caught up with her. She could only pray for help.
No more than three seconds later, the man was pinned to a tree by several well-placed kunai, very clearly dead. She looked over to the direction of the kunai and saw a leaf-nin. He looked at her and smiled.
"Hello."
Xxx With Itachi xxX
Itachi was in full sprint when he heard it, an unholy scream. He ran to investigate. Before long, a little girl came into his view. She had dark-blue hair, and pale eyes with a hint of lavender. A Hyuuga. She was running from something, a something that turned into being very plain looking ninja, clad in all black, revealing no features, not even a village insignia. Itachi attacked. He threw several kunai, all of which hit dead on, before the man even knew he was being attacked. With the man perished, Itachi leapt over to the body to inspect his handiwork and ensure that the man really was expired. He was. Itachi turned to look over at the little Hyuuga. He smiled.
"Hello." He said.
"H-hello." She said.
"I'm Uchiha Itachi, who are you?"
"I-I'm H-Hinata… H-Hyuuga H-Hinata, sir."
"Nice to meet you Hinata, are you hurt?"
"N-no… I'll b-be f-fine, thank you, sir."
"Please, drop the sir business, it makes me feel old." Itachi said in a joking manner, trying to relieve some of the tension felt. He was only 12, after all. He smiled at the girl.
"O-ok… I won't d-do it… a-anymore. I'm s-sorry." She looked down as though she thought he'd be angry with her. Like her father always was.
"None of that, you haven't done anything wrong."
"R-really?"
"Really. Are you capable of getting back to Konoha alone?"
"W-won't y-you f-follow me?"
"I simply can't go back yet. I have a certain someone to find first."
"C-can't?
"Yes. It appears that I have been set up, and without the proper evidence I can't claim my innocence, and would be arrested on sight. By the way, you still haven't answered my question. Can you get back to Konoha on your own?"
"I'm a-afraid…"
"Oh… I see. Well, I would hate myself if I just left you here… Tell you what; why don't you come with me and I'll protect you, and then when I've accomplished what I have to, we'll go back together. How does that sound?"
"O-okay… I-I t-think I'd l-like t-that." Hinata looked at the boy, and gave a nervous smile.
Xxx Outside The Eastern Walls Of Konoha xxX
Naruto was running, as fast as his six-year-old legs could carry him. He had acted purely on the fox' orders, as per their agreement. He had been told to steal the scroll and he had done so. He had been told to flee the village and he had done that too. With surprising ease one might add. The next order was to run and not look back for the better part of a week. The fox on the other hand had put himself in charge of hiding their aura and masking their presence.
It started to rain, which was good. Because more likely than not, by the time anyone found out about the missing items, the rain would have washed away any tracks of Demon vessel. The scroll was encased, so he didn't have to worry about it getting wet, thankfully. He had no idea as to where he was running and the fox wasn't much help either, only saying that he'd know when he got there. Already had he been in a full out sprint for close to 3 hours, and his six-year-old body was starting to feel the strain, begging for rest, so when Naruto saw a small village or settlement ahead, he thanked his lucky stars and quickly began his search for shelter. He wouldn't start examining the scroll until he got further away from Konoha. With no money, and no desire to get spotted, Naruto snuck into what appeared to be an empty storage building and lay down to get some rest. Surprisingly the scroll made for a very good pillow.
Xxx In Naruto's Mind xxX
Naruto was once again in the dank sewers of his own mind, standing in front for the giant cage that held the humongous fox.
"We meet again puny mortal."
"Do you have to remind me of that EVERY time I'm here?"
"I only speak the truth. If you feel the statement is offensive, then do something about it. When you wake up I want you to acquire a new set of clothing. How you do it is up to you, but seeing as we have no money, you're really only left with the options of theft and taking it of a dead body. You have to blend in and even though I'm in here I can smell the foul stench you give off. The clothing must go and you should bathe. And after you have made yourself somewhat unrecognisable, I want you to start studying the scroll, preferably away from all and any civilization. The forests around here provide perfect shelter and supply will you with prey for food. You'll have to do with that until you are strong enough to earn money. As you may understand, hunting will serve as a suitable training at your current level."
"Alright. Ne, fox bastard, how'd you get so big? How old are you?"
"Enough with the questions, you hairless ape! If you want to know so badly, then you'll just have to prove yourself worthy of knowing. I have nothing more to say to you. Now, be gone from my presence!" The fox shouted and immediately Naruto felt himself being ejected from the depths of his unconscious minds, depths being a relative term of course. He was only six, after all.
Xxx Back In The Land Of The Living xxX
Naruto jolted up from the hard floor, and noticed that the sun had yet to rise. If he were to guess, he'd only got about five hours of sleep, yet he felt more energized than he had in years. And so he went on to accomplish his latest task. Steal clothing and bathe.
Hours later found a boy clad in surprisingly normal clothes for a boy around his age sitting high up in a tree. There was nothing about him that made him stand out. All in all he just looked normal. Then again there was the fact that he was sitting up a tree reading a large scroll, but aside from that, he was just a normal six-year-old boy.
"Let's see… first jutsu…" The boy said to himself, "… Kage Bunshin no Jutsu… Well here goes nothing!" he formed the necessary seals and gave it a go. He failed. Miserably.
Xxx With Itachi And Hinata xxX
The duo had spent the night sleeping outside. Itachi had decided that since Hinata were to follow him, he'd train her. After all, the chances of accomplishing his goals would improve if she were able to help. He'd started her on basic chakra control exercises, and with the superb control training of the Hyuuga, he expected her not to experience much difficulty with these exercises. Then something quite unusual happened: He was proven wrong. Horribly wrong.
Tsuzuku…
A/N: I probably won't update for a while… School issues. I won't have access to a proper computer for like 5-6 weeks after this coming Sunday. Sorry. I will however let you know that I have resumed working on my other fic as well, that being, Another Possible Outcome. I have made some progress, and have come to the point of the chuunin exams. I'll try my best to get an update in before school completely does me in. That is all.