Sorry for the wait everyone, my attention span was dead 'cause I was sick again. -.-' And 'X' by itself means a scene change, in case that's a little confusing for anyone.

Say thanks to Akemi-chan again! XD

Oh, and 'Dark Neko'. What game do you think I was playing? :) It made me crack up when I read it.

Do you expect me to own Naruto? Do you expect the copyright papers to magically appear in my hands? If you don't, then you're absolutely right. -.-'

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True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.

- unknown

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Chapter three; The Beginnings of Horror

A seven year old Naruto sat at his desk, his head resting on folded arms as Iruka lectured the rest of the class. He had a basic idea of what Iruka was talking about, he was just fairly sure it was something about henge, which he had already had to master.

Yes, little Naru-chan had already mastered the henge. Hadn't you ever wondered how he had created a jutsu such as the disgusting orioke no jutsu? He moved his head so that he was staring straight at the desk, having no vision of the class around him.

"NARUTO!" He bolted upright with a yell, spotting a very angry chunnin glaring at him from next to the desk. Most of the class laughed at the blonde, the exception being the young Hyuga sitting next to him. Iruka glared suspiciously at Naruto for a few moments before asking him simply; "What was I just saying?"

Naruto blinked and scratched the back of his neck, laughing nervously. "Uh, you were saying something about, uh... how the henge can be dispelled... if the enemy forces enough pure chakra towards you, without it being in the form of a jutsu...?" He asked back nervously, shrinking back towards a blushing Hinata as Iruka narrowed his eyes slightly, before smiling.

"Right." The laughter ceased as many heads turned toward him, slight anger showing on a few.

"Naruto, you baka! You were asleep and you know it!" Yelled a little pink haired girl accusingly, pointing a finger at the blonde as she glared. He crossed his arms on the desk and ignored her as Iruka sweat dropped, patting him on the head lightly before walking around the class once more.

X

Shimaru stared blankly at Itachi, who was leaning on the wall as they awaited their new 'teammate'. He had gotten so very few of the precious facts he needed to survive that week, but the ones he had gotten were the pretty damned important ones. Such as her not being from this time. This fact, however, scared him a small bit. Were there jutsu that allowed oneself to travel through the different timelines? If so, how did they work? How long did they take to master? Or were they only for those of higher level than ANBU newbie? These were the kinds of things he pondered in his free time.

Itachi stared at him with a raised brow, his teammates facial expressions were changing quite comically at this moment, and he wondered if he should snap him out of it or not. He decided against it, as he knew very well that they were both pondering things they found held at least slight importance.

He, however, was pondering slightly different things. Such as, why didn't the Kyuubi brat send someone else? Who was it that had died? Did he become the head of the Uchiha clan? Or did Sasuke? Why did his parents name him weasel...? Okay, so that one had little to no importance whatsoever, but he thought about it a lot when he had the chance!

Neither knew the answer to any of their questions, and they would never be able to go their separate ways without getting them. The Council would never allow it without gaining the answers to their own questions first, and none of them knew what those were, which made things increasingly difficult on their part.

Itachi paled suddenly, thinking of one more thing that would have him stuck cleaning the bathroom for weeks. How was he going to explain this to his father...? He put his head in his hands, groaning. Oh yes, this was the perfect little assignment for him. The pride of his clan, demoted from ANBU captain to genin for one measly little mission that only the Council truly cared about. This was going to be oh so fun...

Shimaru looked over to him confusedly, cocking his head to the side as he pulled a candy bar out of his pocket, beginning to nibble on it as he stared blankly at the higher ranking nin. He rolled his eyes as he wondered about his siblings, and what they where doing in the 'future'... If they were all still alive by then. You never knew when Death was going to knock on your door, especially if you're a shinobi.

This, was what he actually pondered the most in his free time; was he going to go on a mission and not come back? Was one of his siblings going to be the one to not come back? Or would they come back, but the ones who had been left behind; would they have been attacked in a war? Were the prestigious clans still alive and kicking?

... Were any of the people they knew still alive at all...?

X

Hinata blinked as she stared at the grinning boy in front of her, a blush creeping onto her cheeks as she looked to his outstretched hand. "U-um... Outo-sama said that I had to come home right after class, s-so ..." She gave a quick bow, running off in the direction of her home as the blonde's face fell slightly. "Gomen!" She called back.

The little blond looked after her with sad eyes, unable to understand why nobody would play with him after school. "B-but... Hina-chan... I wanted to play..." He sighed and looked to his feet, beginning to trudge his way through the grass and towards the ramen bar.

He looked over at a few other children, watching them run off to play with others or running up to their parents, who greeted them with a smile. That is, until they noticed him, and scowled or glared. He could have sworn the

temperature had dropped a few degrees when they looked at him with those hating eyes...

He whipped his head around, just as a parent sent a particularly cold glare and threw a piece of trash at him as they passed. He narrowed his eyes and curled his lip up, just enough to show his canines. 'Why do all the adults hate me?! I never did anything before the pranks, and those are harmless!' He growled slightly under his breath, looking at the ground as he ignored all the disgusted looks that were being given to him.

'They just hate me for something I didn't do...' He thought angrily, clenching his small fists. 'They hate me because I'm something to take their anger out on... Because I was born on the day that stupid fox attacked...'

x

?? POV

I chuckled as I watched the little blonde walk away, my eyes narrowing in glee as he- no, she- sighed and dodged a piece of trash thrown. I suppose Orochimaru-sama was right in thinking they would use this jutsu, and I guess I was lucky to be chosen as the test subject for him...

Oh yes, I remember quite clearly now; it wasn't so clear in the first week or so, but now I remember that he had killed quite a few others in attempting this difficult transfer. My eyes narrowed further as the malice I felt towards him bubbled to the surface. I heaved a sigh and jumped off through the trees, following the little brat as I was told, thinking.

Wow, that little brat I was forced on a team with would scoff at that... At least I got to keep my age. I grinned to myself, pondering how I would kill them if we ever met. I laughed cruelly, silently.

As I should say; when we met.

X

Itachi POV

I sighed as I put my head in my hands. These two... what did Io deserve them...? I twitched again as Shimaru threw another little sunflower seed at me,- where he got them, I shall never know- laughing as it hit my shoulder.

"What exactly to you find so amusing about hitting my shoulder with edible plant matter...?" I turned to glare at him, earning nothing but a blink in return as one more of the cursed seeds flew through the air, hitting my nose. I twitched.

Oh, I knew what he found amusing; it was the fact that I hadn't yet killed him for flinging them at me constantly, or at least severely injured him. This is why I wish it wasn't against the code of the Shinobi to maim your comrades, as it would relieve so much stress...

I turned swiftly as yet another was flung at my head, only to see the two staring at me with wide eyes, Ame looking slightly sheepish as she shrank back slightly. "Uh... oops?" I twitched again.

X

Normal POV, 'future'

Naruto blinked, staring at the slightly older blond in front of him. Ino rose a brow, cocking her head to the side. "Well? Where the Hell is she, eh?" Naruto blinked once more, confusion adorning his features as he continued staring at her.

"Uh..." He gained a sheepish expression, scratching at the back of his head. "I wasn't aware she was missing..." Ino's eye twitched, and she resisted the urge to yell at the Rokudaime. Instead, she opted to sigh and walk forward a few steps.

"Naruto..." He sat further back in his chair as she cracked her knuckles. Mad Ino, bad. Mad Ino protecting her loved ones, very bad. Mad Ino protecting her loved ones while pregnant, very, very, very bad. "Where, is my puppy?" He lifted his hands in front of his face, defending it from any blows she may give to him.

"How should I know?! It was Kiba's job to watch her, not mine!" His eyes closed playfully as he stuck his tongue out, smiling slightly as she giggled. This was a common play out between the two of them, and the odd dialogue was chosen at random. All in all, it happened whenever one of them was bored.

She shook her head, smiling at him as she brushed the bangs behind her ear. "Sorry to bother you, I know how busy you are, Naruto." He waved off the apology, smiling back at her as he picked up one of the pieces of paper off the top of the small stack.

As he began reading over the document, Ino standing over by the window and staring happily at the village below, the door banged open, and both their heads turned quickly to look at the battered and bruised jounin. "Hokage-sama... One of them escaped..." He gasped out, leaning heavily on the door frame for support as another Shinobi ran up behind him, looking worried. Naruto's eyes widened, and he immediately looked over to the worried chunin.

"Tell the ANBU to search the village, send out a new squad every few hours to relieve the previous one. I want them found before they can cause any more harm to the village and our Shinobi." The chunin nodded determinedly, and turned to retrieve the ANBU, but was stopped when Naruto called them back. "And have the medic-nins sent over for him, please." They nodded once more before bolting down the hall and out of sight as Ino and Naruto helped the hurt Shinobi to one of the few chairs placed in the room.

"Kontan-san, what happened exactly?" Ino asked as soon as they had set him down, already having a fairly good guessing of the scuffle that had taken place between the jounin and captive. She heard Naruto take in a sharp breath behind her as Kontan winced, one of his wounds still bleeding as he weakly reached an arm to clutch at the other. She sighed, standing straight once more and sending a worried look over to the Hokage, who was staring at his feet.

Naruto clenched his fists, glaring hard at the floor. "It... was him that escaped... wasn't it...?"

X

And back

An ominous wind swept across the land, and a lone Shinobi stopped in her tracks, staring to the west. Her eyes narrowed before she continued on her way, hands in the pockets of her long trench coat, a few passerby stopping to stare at her as they did their shopping.

She grinned wickedly after a few moments, and she cackled delightedly, startling a shop owner as she passed. "This..." She started, putting her head back to look at the sky, which was just beginning to darken slightly. "Will be very, very fun."

X

Itachi stared blankly at the sky as a crow flew by, and grunted as Shimaru waved a hand in his face. Had he gone into a daze that quickly, or was the boy just doing that to annoy him? He looked back to the other two lazily, putting a hand up in a silent goodbye as he began stalking off towards his home. The others returned the wave before separating themselves.

'This is going to make life complicated...' Was a single thought on all of their minds as the sky darkened to a dark purple twenty minutes later, a few more birds flying overhead as a smile crept onto the lone girl's face. She

sighed, skipping a few steps and twirling.

Shimaru blinked and looked over at a dog as it barked, a squirrel staring at it from the roof of a building as the large dog tried to climb up the corner. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair as the squirrel ran from his sight, scampering up a nearby tree.

"Nii-san! Nii-san! I got really good marks at the academy!" Itachi smiled lopsidedly at Sasuke as the younger ran up, tugging at his hand. He brought a hand down and poked his brother's forehead in greeting, causing the other to pout at him. "Why do you do that?" Sasuke asked as he rubbed at the spot, still pouting as Itachi scooped him into his arms and began walking once more.

"Because I feel like it."

X

"Tadaima..." (1) Naruto called out as he opened the door to his lonely little apartment, kicking off his shoes as he stepped onto the wood floor, ignoring the many empty ramen cups. He looked up as he heard a shuffling, and his eyes widened as he fell back, scuffling closer to the now closed door. "What?!"

X

Yellow eyes gleamed maliciously in what little light there was, and they narrowed slightly as they looked down at the bowing form in front of them. "Ah, Uchiha-san, I see you're finally here..." They called out, and the figure flinched ever so slightly at their voice.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

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--deep breath-- I'm so sorry it took so long to write, and that it's so short and please throw rocks at me now! DX There is a poll in my profile concerning this story, so... yeah.

1) Tadaima- I'm home

No, Kontan is not going to be sticking around. The only reason I gave him a name at all was so I could stop saying 'the jounin' or shit like that.

I've already started on the next chapter, (no surprise there) but I'm not sure how long it's going to take... ;.;

"I am Tiny, and at your feet.

I can be seen by Child, but not adult.

I fear house pets, and love the wind.

I am a Minish! My name is Neko!"

Please review! DX