A/N: I'm definitely loving all the reviews! More than I asked for n.n thanks!

Ok, I hope you like this chapter. If you have any requests, make sure to review and let me know! A lot of people have been asking for yaoi – I'm not sure if there is going to be much of that. I know I probably just lost ALL my readers. But just stick with me! You never know what could happen!

I now give you the broken Naruto.

Chapter 4

Naruto wasn't sure if he was dead or alive. A part of him wished he had disappeared, but the fighting spirit in him told him to open his eyes.

"Itachi, I think you went too far." A loud, harsh voice sounded. "Is he alive?"

Lying prone to the ground, Naruto felt two cold fingers gently touch the side of his neck. He wished he could hide his pulse, but that was beyond ninjutsu.

"He's alive, and awake, too. His blood pressure is extremely high, though. He didn't pass out for long, it seems. Get up, Naruto." Itachi sounded.

Naruto opened his eyes. He felt his heart beat rocketing. As a result, his breathing was coming in quick, short gasps. He was beyond angry, but something rose in him that he hadn't felt in a very long time. It was fear. Fear for his life. He didn't say a defiant word to Itachi.

The raven-haired ninja kneeled down beside him. Naruto flinched and shot to his feet, but a wave of dizziness took over him and he fell back down to a sitting position, gasping for air.

"Timid little fox," Kisame laughed. "Ain't so cocky anymore, are ya?"

Naruto didn't reply. He sat in the grass, staring at Itachi, breathing quickly. Itachi stood back up and walked towards him, reaching into his cloak and bringing forth some thin, white cord. He bent to his knees in front of Naruto and gently brought together each of his hands.

"Form your hands into fists for me, Naruto." Itachi ordered quietly. Naruto obeyed without question as Itachi wrapped the rope around Naruto's wrists and bound him. Once that was done, he placed two fingers to the side of Naruto's neck. The broken blonde flinched, avoiding Itachi's eyes and instead staring directly ahead.

"He needs rest." Itachi commented. His fingers burned on Naruto's skin, but he did not complain.

"Itachi, we're wasted too much time here already." Kisame said. Itachi listened as he moved his hand from Naruto's neck to his forehead, feeling its temperature.

'I know, but it's beginning to get dark. We should secure the area and set up a place to sleep."

"Hmm… right." Kisame grunted, moving into the trees. Itachi stood up and ordered Naruto to do the same. They walked in silence to a smaller clearing. A place between a square of four trees.

It killed Naruto inside that he was doing everything Itachi wanted him to, but he was afraid that the next time he made Itachi or Kisame angry, he would have a lot worse than just a sore neck. He had fallen prey to Itachi's Genjutsu before, but was rescued by Sakura. There was no one around to save him, this time. If he got caught once, it would be the end for him.

"Sit against that tree, Naruto-kun, the small one." Naruto obeyed, hating himself. Itachi untied Naruto's bounds and went behind the tree. "Bring your arms around the back." He ordered. Itachi bound Naruto's hands behind the tree so it would be impossible to move anything but his head and legs.

Itachi stood in the middle of the clearing, looked at the ground, and performed some hand seals. "Katon! Karyū Endan!" He exclaimed, and a small blast of fire shot from his mouth and onto the ground. Itachi had made a small fire pit. He sat himself comfortably against a tree across from Naruto. The boy stared at the dancing flames.

"That's the first time I've ever tried that jutsu." Itachi said softly, as if talking to Kisame, or someone he was familiar with. Naruto didn't know what to say. "The third Hokage was known for that technique. I see now that it's nothing short of a jutsu any idiot could learn. I'll have to teach it to Kisame." He smirked.

Naruto grit his teeth, "Is that what Akatsuki is about? Drowning yourself in jutsu?" he growled. Even speaking again to Itachi made his heart race. Itachi didn't take much offense to it.

"You'll never understand what Akatsuki is about." He replied, reaching into his cloak for his flask.

"Why are you called Akatsuki? That means morning, right?" Naruto asked. He tried to keep a normal conversation with his captor to avoid fights and gain his trust. Itachi seemed to have recognized this.

"It is a Buddhist concept - the capital of 'Uki-yo', or 'the fleeting world' – a Japanese phrase for the unsubstantial and the fleeting, suggesting clouds at dawn, floating between the void of which they were born… and the warmth of day, which will eventually disperse them." Itachi said silently, looking at the stars. The light from the fire pit illuminated the scars on his face. His expression was sad. Naruto had never seen that look on Itachi before.

"Itachi!" Kisame said loudly, walking towards the clearing as he removed his giant sword from his back. Itachi looked at him, snapping his emotionless expression back on his face. "This place is clear. We'll be fine for the night. I expect, though, that we'll have people on the lookout for the brat."

"Don't worry about that, Kisame." Itachi commented, "His chakra is gone, and ours is hidden. We've taken all the usual precautions. It should be fine."

"Hn." Kisame agreed, hunching down a tree across from Itachi, who was sitting against a bigger tree across from Naruto.

They sat in silence as the sun began to set. Kisame pulled his own flask out and began to drink from it. Itachi followed suit. Naruto watched thirstily as a drop of water ran down Kisame's chin.

"Would you like some, Naruto?" Itachi offered. Naruto didn't reply.

"Your too soft, Itachi." Kisame growled, rubbing the cap back on his flask. "We all three haven't eaten all day, but I'm not complaining."

"He didn't complain. It's natural to be thirsty after walking all day." Itachi said, getting up and walking towards Naruto.

"Feh. I still think your going a bit soft on the guy your going to kill."

Itachi lifted his flask to Naruto's mouth, but the blonde turned his head away.

"Naruto-kun, you'll die easily without being properly hydrated." Itachi commented softly.

"What… is it?" He asked, suspicous.

Itachi stared. "Water taken from a pond in Konoha. There's no reason to be taking your life just yet." He said and brought the flask to Naruto's lips. The boy tilted his head back and drank thirstily until the flask was empty.

Itachi walked back to the tree he had claimed and made himself comfortable. Both men pulled their hats over their eyes without a word, as the fire slowly died.

Naruto noticed soon that Kisame had fallen asleep; he was snoringvery loudly. He couldn't tell if Itachi had or not, though. If so, he breathed very quietly.

As the crickets chirped and the stars came out, Naruto becan to curse his luck. 'How did I get myself into such a mess?' Naruto thought. 'Am I really going to be killed so easily?' He brought one of his legs up to his chest and rested his chin on it. 'I wonder if anyone is looking for me. I wonder if people are celebrating…' Suddenly it became too much for Naruto. He brought his leg back down and began to cry. Silently, tears streamed from his eyes and fell onto his shirt. He cried for a long while, cursing the situation, until he finally cried himself to sleep, unaware of the awakened Itachi watching him.

Dawn came quickly. Before the sun had fully risen, Naruto was awakened by the sounds of Kisame and Itachi securing the area. Naruto yawned as his stomach gave one very large growl. It embarassed him slightly, showing signs of weakness.

Itachi was covering the burnt spot on the ground with a genjutsu while Kisame was picking up his sword and scratching the back of his head.

"Do you think we'll arrive today?" Kisame asked.

"Perhaps. We were set back a few hours yesterday, but it doesn't matter as long as we arrive within the week. Leader-san should arrive himself by next week. Also, Deidara and Tobi have been out for a while."

Naruto listened, not fully understanding. He was feeling better emotionaly, but overall weakness was weighing him down.

"We need everyone there? Why? We've never extracted a Biju with the whole organization. And I'd really rather not be in the same room with everyone, anyhow." Kisame retorted.

Itachi turned his eyes to Naruto, who stared back. "You really are dim, Kisame. It will require all of our strength. Some may even be killed in the process. We are dealing with the nine tailed demon."

Kisame turned his eyes to Naruto as well. "Come on, kid. Let's get moving." He said, cutting Natuto loose. "Stand up."

Naruto obeyed, however the talk about killing him so easily and extracting the fox awoke something inside of him. An animal instinct. To run.

'If I can just pull up enough chakra to create some shadow clones, I may be able to escape. If not, I could at least leave behind some clues if anyone is out looking for me.' He thought. Meanwhile, Kisame was finishing getting prepared to leave. Itachi, however, was staring straight at Naruto, as if he knew what the boy was thinking.

"Are you ready to leave, Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked quietly. Naruto wasn't listening.

'come on, you damn fox.' He was thinking, his eyes closed and his teeth gritted. 'If I die, you die, and I'll bite my own tongue off before I hand myself over to those creeps. Help us escape – lend me your strength!'

Naruto felt nothing. Whatever justsu they had placed on him seemed to be doing it's job.

"Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked again softly, walking towards him. Kisame noticed something strange as well.

And then it happened. Chakra began to flow through his veins, bleeding through him. The air around him seemed to melt away. Naruto felt like he was on fire.

"Kisame!" Itachi shouted. Immediately, the huge ninja pulled his sword out and began to slice at the air, eating away the chakra. It wasn't enough, though. Itachi ran towards Naruto, but the fox swung his claws at the Uchiha's head. Itachi easily ducked, but a few of his hairs were severed. As Itachi began to set up a jutsu to calm Naruto, the boy disappeared. What Itachi had forgotten, if only for a second, was that Naruto's aim was to escape – not to fight.

He ran.

Naruto ran for a full ten minutes at mightning speed until he could not withstand the fox's chakra anymore. There were white-hot flames running through his body, torturing him until he fell to his knees in exhaustion.

Slowly, the Kyuubi's chakra died, and Naruto was left with a very little amount of energy. He tried to create a shadow clone, but as he made the hand signals, something very sharp came into contact with his shoulder, and his chakra was gone.

Naruto rolled to his side, clutching his bleeding shoulder where Samehada had shaved his skin apart. Itachi and Kisame were stanfding directly above him, looking furious.

"That was a clever stunt you just pulled, Naruto." Itachi growled, "But it seems all you have achieved is wasted time. I gave you previlages, but you abused them. You'll find you shouldn't anger me." Snarled Itachi.

"Yeah? Well, you don't scare me!" Naruto lied. His heart was pounding in fear, and he was in severe pain. But he hated being so helpless.

"Do you want to see if we could change that?" Kisame growled, pulling his blade in front of him.

"We're wasting more time." Itachi sighed. "If there are others searching for Naruto, they will have sensed that chakra, and will be here soon. We had to leave the area and take a different route. Naruto, I'll deal with you later."

Naruto looked up, remembering at the last second not to look into Itachi's eyes. It was too late, though. Before he could curse his luck, his head rolled foreward and he fell unconscious.

A/N: Did you like it? Sorry it took so long to post – I had camp and such. In fact, I just got in from camp today! That's how loyal I am. Heheh

Oh, and did anyone notice that when Itachi was talking about the third Hokage's jutsu, he had a joke? Heh, I couldn't put a very funny joke in for Itachi - something tells me that he's just not a funny guy - but the little joke calling Kisame stupid made Itachi giggle inside, I'm sure. lol

Also, I am aware that there are some grammar errors and some spelling mistakes, the spellcheck on Microsoft Word isn't working for some reason. O.o

Read and review, please! Tell me what you think! Next chapter will mainly include the rescue-gumi! n.n