Hello !
I do not own Naruto.

Thank to all the reviewers : Shadow-Sensei ; MysteryLady-Tx ;Uzamaki-Girl ; Hikari no Kurai ; Silver Shadows92 ; Love Squared ; Araknia the Storyspinner ; Midori-Jester ; Elijah Snow ; xX Konoha Ninja Xx ;
jdawg26 (Sorry for the time it took to update but I've been busy...)
jib (There you go ! Hope you will like.) ;
A victom of Time (Thank you ! I hope you'll like this chapter too.) ;
rachael (yes I know I love complicating things... For Naruto's description, there is a little here but I'll do a better one in the next chapter... as for Sakura not knowing of Naruto death : you're the only one who reacted... And it's true she don't know about it...Thank you very much !) ;
eu (Thank you ! XD).

Beta-ed by : xX Konoha Ninja Xx and Clin Thanks Guy : You're great !

Special thanks to Elijah Snow who helped me on this chapter eventhought being really busy ! Thank You :D

Painful Praise Chapter 3

He was bowing listening to the ranting of the one-eyed, one-armed man pacing back and forth before him.

"Your new name for this mission will be Sai. You're dismissed." The old man said in a harsh voice, not even looking at him, a frown on his wriggled face.

'Sai' raised his head, his hair falling across his Leaf Hitai-ate and his closed eyes, a small smile playing on his thin lips.

"And don't give me that fake smile. Go now !" The old man said, his voice full of disgust.

The man walked out as 'Sai' slowly raised from his position, his smile still on his lips.

'So I'll meet the unfamous UCHIHA's heir ?' Sai thought and he disappeared in a swirl of smoke without a sound.

Tsunade was sitting in the council's room, facing the elders.

'Sarutobi-sensei's teammates...' She thought bitterly. 'They don't seem to be so affected by his death. It was not even two months ago and they are already calling THAT man for help...'

"You can't leave the UCHIHA like that..." began the old woman in an authoritary voice as she took a sip of her tea.

"No, indeed. I've to punish him. He actually admitted to have commited threatery and killed a fellow Konoha's Shinobi in his attempt. He should be punished according the laws of Konoha." Tsunade said, glaring at the two old coats facing her. What did they want from her ?

"We have reviewed all evidence regarding this case, and have come to the conclusion that the UCHIHA must have been kidnapped," the old man spoke coldly. "Considering the enormous mental stress he was subjected to, thanks to the cursed seal placed upon his person by Orochimaru, we, the council, as one, believe that the boy should be considered unanswerable to his actions. It is...most unfortunate, that one of our numbers had to perish during his retrieval, and if we believe him (1) by his hands no less, but as I just stated, we do not believe it would be justifiable to pursue the matter any further. We would like it to be considered as an acceptable loss..." And as if as an afterthought he added, "...after all, with the Kyuubi container dead, now we have one less threat to worry about, don't we ? All that really matters now is that we have the Uchiha heir back in our possession, and not in the hands of our enemies. Let us be grateful for that at least."

A small triumphant smirk appeared on the older woman face, she knew he was right and that Tsunade could not denied this facts.

'If I could, I would kill them now and there. They said I should clear this boy !' Tsunade thought, her eyes blazing with anger. She knew she was biased to the UCHIHA but she ignored this fact.

"Anyway, the UCHIHA's training can't be reported any further. That teamate of his has already caused enough damage ! Now, HATAKE will be able to focus on the UCHIHA's training. The UCHIHA should resume his training as soon as possible." The old woman said looking down at Tsunade.

"'The UCHIHA', as you call him, is mentally instable as you so kindly remarked, and I will not allow a potentially dangerous instable Shinobi back into the rank." Tsunade said, her eyes narrowing, glaring at the old lady.

"That will pass." The eldery woman said causually picking a biscuit.

'She's speaking of his trauma as if it was the flu ! He killed someone, not just anyone but his OWN teamate for Gods' sake !'

"Please Tsunade-sama, the UCHIHA is an important asset for our village. We need him." The old man said in a not so pleading tone.

'And we didn't need Naruto, did we ?' Tsunade thought bitterly as she closed her hands in fists ready to punch.

"His team will be completed and he will resume training... It's for the best interest of the village." The older woman said her voice not letting any place for argument and her eyes daring Tsunade to try and oppose her.

Tsunade was not conviced at all, but being new to this position made her vulnerable, though her power was unstable even with her title of Sennin. If one day she wanted to have complete control over the village and do as she wanted, she needed the council's support but only for the time being.

'And when this day will come, there will be hell to pay !' She thought gritting her teeth as she saw the condescending looks that the eldery woman was giving her.

"Concerning the Death of UZUMAKI Naruto, his name WILL be written on the memorial, as he died on mission." Tsunade said in a cold voice.

Not waiting for the answer, she raised from her seats, and left the room, her Hokage's robe blowing behind her.

He had woken up in a strange room, completly nake. He got up from the bed wrapping himself in a warm white sheet and began to wander around the room. It was cold out there and he wrapped the sheet tighter around himself.

He looked around, the room was pretty bared : just a Queen side bed in the middle of the room, set on a crimsom red carpet and a massive wooden wardrobe in the far end of the room beside a closed door.

There were two doors in the room, he remarked but no windows. He took a few steps setting his feet on the cold rocky floor. He shivered.

'Where am I ?' He asked himself waving his nine fluffy gold and red tails.

He was not a fool, he knew he should not be alive... Not after what happened. He closed his eyes tightly in an effort to block out the memories of his previous battle. He was terribly confused, he somehow knew his opponent, but could not see them clearly. He remember the person slaming their hand through his chest, he remembered the feeling of atmost betrayal but he could not remember that person... He frowned. He felt some kind of attachment to that person. But why ? That person had obviously tried to kill him...

He shook his head clear and took his hands to his face, gently caressing it, he knew he was not looking like himself anymore, he had become something else... A new being... something that should not exist ; an aberration... that what the voice in his head said.

He was abruptly pull out of his mussing by the sound of a door being opened. He turned around to face a young tall man with red eyes and long black hair. He knew him from his past life but he could not remember his name nor what relation they had. But he got an uneasy feeling when he looked at this person, as if he was dangerous for him in some kind of way.

"Who are you ?" He asked in a soft voice.

His voice sounded alien to him, it was definitly not his voice, it was softer, deeper and more mature. He looked back at the stranger that was now facing him.

The man gave him a small smirk. "UCHIHA Itachi." was the answer he gave in a cold unemotional voice.

He stared at the familiar yet unknown figure in front of him before slowly opening his mouth :

'A new name for a new begining.' He thought before answering in a mere whisper : "Tsunaru."

He watched a satisfied smirk make its way on the handsome face of his conterpart. He narrowed his eyes, he defintly had to be careful around this man.

"Where are we ?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Ah... Tsunaru-kun, that's a question I cannot answer yet." Itachi replied, handing clothes to Tsunaru.

Tsunaru titled his head on the left and glared slightly at the clothes before taking them. He let go of his tight grip around the sheet letting it slip down his hips pooling at his feet. He slowly put the clothes on, his back turned to Itachi who was silently scrutinizing Tsunaru as he changed in his new clothes : black cargo pants and black baggy long-sleeved shirt.

'He is taller.' Itachi remarked. 'He is only a few inches smaller than me now.'

Itachi's eyes trailed on Tsunaru muscular back taking on the sight of the well defined muscles as they moved following Tsunaru's mouvements.

"What are we doing now, Itachi-san ?" Tsunaru said turning around to face Itachi effectivly cutting the latter out of his thoughts.

Itachi shook slightly his head and walked out of the room without a word, expecting Tsunaru to follow him. Taking the lead, Tsunaru began to follow Itachi silently through the labyrinth of halls of Akatsuki's lair.

Shikamaru opened the door and saw Chouji sitting on his bed, eating the bag of chips in his hand while listening to Kiba who sat in the chair next to Chouji's bed, Akamaru's bandage covered body resting on his knee. In the bed next to him, Neji lay silently, his head turned so that he could see the desperate attempts of Lee to get free from the bed where he was restrained by brown leather's bands tying him down while Tenten was trying to make Lee eat without any great sucess.

"You know what Tsunade-sama has said ! You won't move !" Tenten repeated for the umphth time, glaring at Lee while trying to feed him.

"But Tenten..." Lee whined. And he struggled to get free again resulting in making the food pot landing on the floor.

Lee laughed nervously while Tenten was glaring at Lee.

"Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ! I'll KILL YOU !" She yelled hitting Lee hard over the head.

Shikamaru stood still for a few minutes watching as his comrades were laughing while Lee rubbed the lump on his head.

"Hey, Shika !" Chouji said waving his hand at his best friend while stuffing a hand full of chips in his mouth.

Shikamru entered the room a somber expression on his face.

"Hey guys !"

Every one had now their eyes fixed on the usually lazy Chuunin.

"So did the mission suceed ?" Neji asked turning his head so that he could see Shikamaru who sat on a chair on Chouji's Bedside.

"Of course it did ! " Lee yelled enthuthiasmly. "Naruto-kun always suceed !" He added with a brilliant smile.

"The mission was... a sucess." Shikamaru said in a not really convincing voice, sadness striking his voice.

"Hey Pal ! Be more happy ! We suceeded !" Kiba yelled at Shikamaru.

Neji narrowed his eyes at Shikamaru.

"Where is Naruto ?" He asked, his body tensed as he saw Shikamaru turning his head away.

"What happened to Naruto ?" He asked.

All traces of Neji usual calmness had disappeared and he was now looking at Shikamaru, dread clutching his heart. He did not really want to heard the answer. He knew that something was wrong with Naruto. If not, Naruto would be there bouncing on the walls relating his fight with Sasuke, exagerating each and every part of it.

Shikamaru looked down, he really did not want to tell them. But it was his duty as the captain of the team to announce it to them. He took a deep breath and still watching the floor he said :

"He is Dead."

A loud silence installed in the room and every one sat still looking at Shikamaru.

Kiba was the firt one to react :

"How comes ? That's impossible ! That loud mouth idiot would not just die..."

"How did he die ?" Neji cut Kiba in his ranting.

"If I believe Kakashi-sensei's report, when he arrived he found Naruto already dead with a hole in the chest and Sasuke beside him claiming he had killed Naruto."

Every one was now staring eyes wide at Shikamaru, the person they were to rescue had killed one of their fellow ninja. They were not prepared for that, that was just not possible. It could not be.

Sakura was watching as Shizune was taking off Sasuke's bandage off his eyes. She bit down her lower lip in anticipation, she wanted to know what that fucking retard Naruto had done to her poor Sasuke-kun.

The bandages fell off and Sasuke slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and the first thing he saw was a pinky mass throwing itself at him.

"Sasuke-kun !" Squealed the pink hair mass."What had he done to you ?"

Sasuke blinked several times in order to get his vision back, he saw Shizune getting out of the room not even glancing back at him and a gloomy aura surrounding her.

"Oh my Gods, Sasuke-kun ! He has disfigured you !" Sakura yelled, her voice full of despair.

He turned to face his annoying pink hair teammate.

"But do not worry I still Love you !" She added trying to kiss him but he eluded her and she finished hugging him.

Sasuke pushed her off and took the handmirror that was lying on his bedside table next to a new leaf Hitai-ate, his having been damaged during his fight against Naruto. He look at his reflection in the mirror : from a little above his eyebrow to a little under his eyes were three rectilinear scars on each of his eyes. The memory of the Naruto's corpse lying still before him and the rain pouring down came back to him and in a movement of anger, he threw away the mirror which landing on the floor, breaking in a thousand of shinning little pieces.

"Sasuke-kun ?" Sakura asked a little frightened by the sudden anger that the usual unemotional UCHIHA had shown.

"Get out." Sasuke said in a pressing cold voice not even looking at the worried Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun... I don't think..."

"Get out !" He said again louder as he turned to face her his Sharingan blazing.

Sakura got up quikly, tripping on her feet and ran out of the room, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Sasuke just turned his head glairng at the pieces of mirror shining under the sun.

"What have I done, Naruto ?" He said closing his eyes.

Chapter 3 end.

(1) : In fact when Kakashi arrived, Naruto was already dead, he saw a half healed hole in the corpse of Naruto and Sasuke crying beside him. He did not see Sasuke kill Naruto.

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