Naruto woke up in the hospital. what a surprise.; he saw Itachi sitting at the end of his bed.
"I'm sorry, Itachi." he whispered. Itachi's head snapped up and he stood up walking to Naruto. he reached out to touch his face, but stopped when naruto flinched away.
"it's not your fault, naruto. Oh my god, naruto, you were there… if only I had been there." Itachi's voice cracked.
"I should have… i should have been able to help! If I hadn't stood by like the coward i am, and let him be drug away by that boy…" Naruto buried his face in his hands. Itachi just held him while he was crying. the doctor came in, and checked him out, then signed his release.
'We have made arrangements, naruto-kun. you are moving in with me and my mother until they find the boys who killed Sasuke. those boys better hope that the police find him, before I do."
"Ita." Naruto whispered, his blonde hair shaded his face, "teach me to fight."
"What?" Itachi whirled to naruto.
"If you don't, I'll have Dei and Tobi teach me." Naruto glared right into Itachi's face. Itachi nodded,
"We will talk after the funeral, Naruto-kun." Itachi told him as they entered the house. Mikoto was sitting at the table, Jiraiya was there too, both were wearing black, different from Mikoto's usual bright flowered dresses, and Jiraiya's brown and red suits for work. Naruto felt his eyes sting when he realized the noisis coming from the kitchen were Mikoto's anguished cries. He ran up the stairs to see a black outfit laid out for him. He sighed and put it on, wincing at his very bruised ribs and sore arms and back. he walked down to the living room, only one thought in his head, I'll kill them. I'll kill them all.
Naruto was beating on a punching bag, in the two weeks since Sasuke's funeral, naruto had turned dark, and the white punching bag that Jiraiya and itachi had installed in the basement was stained red, where his knuckles had split and bled. His ribs had healed, and now he spent most of his waking hours training, ditching school, and hanging out with Deidara and Tobi.
"Naruto, we need to talk." itachi growled from where he leaned against the wall at the stair well.
"I'm busy." Naruto snarled, slamming his fist into the punching bag with a crunch. he winced and shook out his and, and looked, his knuckles had popped painfully all at once. his knuckles were also frayed to the bone.
"Your facing expulsion from school. you're always at the Alley with Tobi and deidara, and you are failing all your classes. Tsunade and Jiraiya are worried."
"So? what is school going to do for me?" Naruto growled and turned back to the bag, his anger blurring his pain.
"it will give you a good life."
"Sasuke didn't get a good life." Naruto snarled. Itachi sighed, he had found that when he got that way, it was useless to talk about it. when Naruto was sure Itachi was gone, he pulled on his fingerless gloves and left through the window.
naruto met Tobi and Deidara in the Alley, and immediately took the pipe from Tobi's hand and took a hard draw.
"Alright, Dei, lets go." naruto got in a hard fighting stance.
'Are you sure you still want to do this?" Deidara said as he got in a similar stance. Naruto said nothing as he charged deidara, and swung his leg. Deidara deftly blocked it, and pushed naruto back. Naruto took a deep breath and cleared his head, his senses buzzed from the THC's effect. he went for a different go this time, swinging his fist, then as Deidara started trying to block it, he found Naruto's foot connecting to his head. he fell with a harsh oof, and Naruto was on him fast, a knife at his throat. Deidara searched his face for the warmth in his eyes, but found them devoid of emotion.
"If you want to kill someone strong enough to beat an uchiha to death, you're going to have to try harder than that." a brooding voice called. Naruto and Deidara looked up to see gaara no Sabaku and Hinata standing there.
"What do you want Sabaku" Naruto snarled.
"I want to help you. i knew Sasuke, and he wasn't a bad kid. it pisses me off that someone killed him for fun." Gaara explained. Hinata just hid behind him mutely, and nodded.
"Ok. i'll accept."
"Meet me at my Dojo in Desert Villa, at midnight. My father doesn't like visitors." Gaara droned as he walked away, mouse of a girlfriend in tow. Naruto and Deidara looked at each other, and Tobi spoke up,
"Tobi is scared of Sabaku-san."
t Midnight, Naruto snuck out of the Uchiha Manor, and into the ghetto of Konoha, Desert Villa. he found the run down Dojo known as Shukaku Cave. he entered, and found a knife coming at his face. he lifted the sick he was carrying for defense and knocked it out of the air,
"Well you have decent reflexes at least." gaara's teal eyes glinted from the dark.
"Well are we going to get started?' Naruto growled.
"I've been watching you and your friend sparring. your moves are sloppy, your blocks weak, and your kicks off center. but your reflexes, as just proved, are flawless, your drive is strong, and your intelligence would give someone small oike you an upper hand over opponents who would use just their brute strength. so what we will do first is work on your fighting style. I believe you would be good in an ancient style known as the Fox. strong fluid hits. now you will practice these katas." gaara ordered, and threw him a scroll. he lit a few candles and sat down to meditate while Naruto practiced. the next night, it was the same, with Gaara only correcting him a few times. a week later they began to work on his blocking and dodging. gaara threw knives and rocks at him much to naruto's chagrin. on the third week on combining his intelligence with his new strength, they sparred for an hour every night, leaving Naruto winded, but Gaara nearly un-touched. only on the fourth week, did gaara have issues. Naruto was coming at him relentlessly, swiping, kicking and trying to unbalance him. finally, gaara was Knocked down, and naruto held his fis above Gaara's face,
"I should break your nose for the hell you've put me through."
"Ahh, but I helped you, and i am about to give you a weapon as a graduation gift."
"Fine.": Naruto helped Gaara stand up. the redhead smirked and pulled a box off the shelf. inside there were a pair of black trench knives with a red fox painted on each.
"You wish to be a vigilante. You can become a Fox of legend, Naruto-Kouhai." Gaara then pulled a mask out of his bag. the mask was red and covered Naruto's face and hair, it was pained with the face of the famed Kyuubi.
'The Demon Fox had returned, Gaara." Naruto took the helmet and put it on, and picked up the trench knives, and walked out without a word.
Depressing again, I hope you like it! It took me days to write this! no drive in the summer. I'm going to finish this quickly, maybe two or three more chappies plus an epilogue.