A/N : Hello again! Sorry for the late update but right now, Im in the middle of a pit of deep poo. With sports and school and classes and this huge musical production on the run, I hardly have time to do anything else! D: But I shall try my best to update weekly!

A HUGE THANK YOU to my VERY FIRST REVIEWER : princessofd, you have no IDEA how happy you made me when I saw your review! :D I actually jolted straight up in bed (I was browsing in a reclined position) and then read your review and literally started bouncing up and down on the middle of my bed with a huge stupid grin on my face! :D THEN…..my mom walked in :3

So anyways, lets go on with the show! :)

Disclaimer: Standard. I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only own the plot of this story :)

"Lalalalalalala" - normal speech

'Lalalalalala' - thoughts

"Lalalalalalala" - inner selves

Chapter 2 : Confrontation

Morning.

The only sign of life was the rustle of the treetops as a silver-haired man and his dog leapt through the glanced over at Pakkun, who lead the way, trailing Sasuke's scent.

"Any progress?" Kakashi queried.

"They haven't caught on to us yet. But we can't risk anything with that chakra sensor Sasuke's picked up." Pakkun said.

Kakashi nodded. He had told every one in the retrieval team that morning before they left to be very careful about keeping their chakras hidden.

His mind wandered to their mission briefing back in the Leaf Village, to the briefing the Godaime had given only him in private after the original mission briefing.

*Flashback*

"Kakashi wait", Tsunade spoke over the shuffling of the retrieval squad as they exited her office.

"Yes Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi approached the Hokage as the last shinobi left the room.

"About this mission, there is something I want you to do alongside it.", Tsunade said, after discreetly performing a chakra scan of the surroundings me sure no one was eavesdropping.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"There have been reports of the Akatsuki being spotted around the area your team will be passing through. You already know that they're after Naruto and the Kyuubi."

Kakashi tensed slightly. This action was not missed by Tsunade.

"Kakashi I want you to be extra careful and alert. You may tell Sai and Yamato and form a small scouting team to keep an eye out for any Akatsuki."

Kakashi nodded. Naruto and Sakura were technically Chunnin, even though Naruto had yet to take the exam his abilities were already at that standard, and they hadn't lost the habit of referring to him as their sensei and, although he had told them to stop, saying that they weren't students and sensei anymore but comrades, he had never actually stopped thinking of them as his students.

'I won't let Naruto get in harm's way' Kakashi thought grimly.

Sakura wandered through the forest with Bull, one of Kakashi's ninja hounds. They had been going at this for half an hour or so and still no sign of Sasuke or any of his team. Sakura sighed.

'Sasuke…', She thought, 'Where the hell are you hiding?'

Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes to her right shocked her out of her thoughts. Reacting on instinct, she pulled out at kunai and, with a quick, powerful flick of her wrist, sent the weapon flying into the bush which had emitted the noise. To her surprise, Sakura heard the loud, painful shriek of a wounded animal.
She moved cautiously towards the bush, kunai in hand, and leapt over it, hoping to surprise whatever was on the other side.

Sakura stifled a gasp.

There, on the ground, lay a raven with a kunai through its chest. She picked it up immediately, feeling slightly angry at herself for reacting so harshly and pity for the poor bird.

Sighing, Sakura moved to retrieve the kunai embedded in its chest.

Suddenly, the limp form of the bird shuddered. It's eyes flew open.

Sakura gasped in horror and recognition before she lost herself in the swirling pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Around the forest, seven more figures fell to the ground as they were thrown into a world where time had no meaning and a crimson moon hung in the blood red sky.

Naruto huffed in impatience as he strolled through the forest, thinking how much easier it would have been if he could just use his Kage Bunshins to cover the entire area.

But Kakashi had stressed on keeping their chakras hidden and Naruto knew it was almost impossible for him to create such and army of clones without alerting Sasuke of their presence. And he was no where near having the kind of precise chakra control Sakura-chan had.

'Speaking of Sakura-chan', he wondered, ' I wonder where she is. We both set off in roughly the same direction when we left the clearing in the morning. I should have run across her by now. We've been searching for about half an hour after all.'

Shrugging off a slight feeling of unease, Naruto shoved past a clump of bushes and came upon a small clearing.

He froze.

Ravens.

They littered every tree and bush in sight. But what unsettled him the most was that they were deathly still.

And every one of the birds' eyes were focused on his rigid form.

Cerulean eyes scanned the surroundings.

'Ravens?…..'

Then it clicked.

" CRAP! THEY'RE GONNA HAVE ME FOR LUNCH!" Naruto yelled, panicking as he stumbled backwards.

Suddenly, as if the world unfroze at his sudden uproar, every single bird took off into the air and swooped towards Naruto, who cried out in a panic and attempted to sprint back into the cover of the forest.

But no attack came.

Instead, a chillingly familiar voice spoke from behind him, making his form freeze again.

"So we meet again...….Naruto"

Anger coursed through Naruto's body as he spun to face the person who had appeared out of the cloud of ravens.

"Itachi", He growled through clenched teeth.

The man's long black hair that was tied at the base of his neck waved in the breeze created by the beating of the raven's wings. A long black cloak littered with red clouds spoke of his standing in the Akatsuki. In his eyes whirled the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan.

The Mangekyo Sharingan.

Blood red met Icy blue.

"Why are you here?" Naruto gritted out, breaking the silence and moving into a defensive crouch.

"I am not here to attack you. I merely wish to speak with you", Itachi replied calmly.

Naruto scoffed.

"Yeah right! Its past the time for talking! Im gonna beat you up for what you did to Sasuke!"

Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you so attached to my brother? He is not worth your time or energy. He has already crossed the line into the darkness. He is weak.", He stated.

"Pfft! Sasuke may be a teme at times, but he's like the brother I never had! Of course I care about him! And so does Sakura-chan and Kakashi sensei and everybody else! I care more about him that you ever would! He doesn't deserve you as a brother and everything you've done to hurt him!" Naruto exploded.

Surprisingly, Itachi smirked at the blond man's outburst.

"It seems that my brother has made some true friends at last ", He commented.

"What would YOU know about friendship Itachi?" Naruto growled.

Ignoring this remark, Itachi surveyed the Kyuubi container.

"What would you do if Sasuke decided to destroy Konoha?" Itachi asked suddenly.

Naruto tensed. He hadn't expected that.

"I'd stop him. Whatever it takes. I'll beat some sense into his thick skull!" Naruto said, confidently.

"He is too strong. You will have to kill him." Itachi stated blandly.

Naruto paused again. A wave of determination coursed through him.

"I'll find a way to stop him without killing him. I'll bring him back to Konoha even if it takes me my life! I'll never break my promise to Sakura-chan! It's my Ninja Way, BELIEVE IT!" Naruto yelled.

For the first time in a long time, Itachi smiled.

Slightly shocked, Naruto wasn't prepared for the sudden flurry of wings that engulfed him.

Suddenly, he felt something force itself into his mouth and down his throat.

Shock quickly turned into anger and panic as the raven continued to force it's way down his throat.

"You really are a true friend. My brother is lucky to have met you.", Itachi's voice rang out over the screaming in his ears as Naruto fought to not suffocate.

Naruto made a blind swipe with his kunai at Itachi who had appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

"A little 'gift', you could consider this.", He said, gesturing to the raven that was almost fully inside his mouth.

"It will help you with your quest to bring Sasuke back into the light."

Naruto's vision started becoming black at the edges and panic started to overwhelm him. He redoubled his efforts as he desperately tried to spit the foul thing from his mouth.

Too late. The last of the raven slid down his esophagus and his world spun and Naruto fell to his knees.

The last thing he saw was Itachi's usually cold, emotionless face portraying something that looked almost like slight amusement and…...pity?

Naruto's vision began to blur and he vaguely heard Itachi speak.

"Though I sincerely hope you will never have too use it against Sasuke to do so. "

Then, his world went black.

A/N : LA! Finally done! :D

Writing takes more out of me than its given credit for! O.o

I have so many idea running in my head right now and Im not sure whether to incorporate them all in this one story or write seperate stories and slipt the event ideas in between the two stories :/
Any suggestions? :)
Review please everybody!

I finally understand the sort of motivation reviews provide when writing a fan fiction. My first one had me practically cartwheeling around my room XD

See y'all soon with Chapter 3! :D

~ Melon blossom