Grim Reaper of Iwa.

Chapter 5

Somewhere is the Land of Rivers…

"So….he recreated the attack as a defense?" An older voice asked. "And he did it only using the stories I told you to tell him about? Impressive."

"Barely. While he may have pulled it off to cushion the impact, he truly does not have the jutsu down. He has to learn the original to grasp the concept." Zabuza replied. "What he did was basically pulling off a weak Rotation that the Hyuugas use. If he had used it to defend against Shukaku's second Drilling Air bullet, his blood would have painted the sands."

"I see." The older voice replied

"Lord Jiriaya, I need help to teach him that attack." Zabuza stated.

Jiriaya. Jiriaya of the Sannin. He was a man of many so called 'talents.' He was Konoha's top Spy Master. A talent that Sarutobi used to track down Naruto. However, Zabuza headed him off and Jiriaya honestly didn't want to fight Naruto's current protector.

No, that would be harsh and selfish. Sarutobi finally relented and told him what Naruto's life had been like and he understood why he left. He would have as well. But, as his godfather, who had done nothing for the boy all his life, he had no right to enter the boy's life now. So, he would settle for the shadows while doing his best to keep the Kiri Hunter nins off of Zabuza's trail.

Instead, he gave Zabuza jutsu for all his students and info about Naruto and Konoha in general. Currently, they were in the back of a bar while Zabuza's students were enjoying the local festival of the village they were in.

"I gave you scrolls on Ice and Crystal Jutsu for Haku and Guren, now you need jutsu for Naruto. True jutsu, not the simple crap I have been providing you with." Jiriaya sadly laughed at that. "You know, I was going to teach the boy when he was ready, but that is out of the window now."

"Would you have told him the truth about you?"

"No. I do not hold that right anymore, I gave that up when I never even visited him while I was in town." Jiriaya replied sadly as he took out a few scrolls. "If I had taught him, he would have already been a Toad Summoner, like his father. Again, that is out of the window with the Death Contract. The Toad Clan…hell any summoning clan is deathly afraid of that contract. It is not natural after all."

"I agree, but it saved his life against the Shukaku."

"Indeed." Jiriaya replied. "I am not even sure he could learn the Flying Thunder God jutsu, but here is that….just in case. Here is a scroll on the Rasengan. You also mentioned he want to try and combine elements to recreate bloodline jutsu. Here are Minato's notes on that along with Space/Time Jutsu…not even sure he will be able to use that."

"Was there anyone that could recreate bloodline jutsu?"

"Yes…that is where Space/Time Jutsu comes from believe it or not. The Second Hokage brought it out in the open and Minato showed the world what he could do with it." Jiriaya replied in all seriousness.

"I see. Naruto will have a tough time ahead of him if he wishes to do any of that."

"True. Now…I must go, I have taken up enough of you time and as always, I will tell Sarutobi sensei that I have not located you yet." Jiriaya replied.

"Thank you." Zabuza said as they shook hands and left the bar.

XXX

Two men in black cloaks with red cloud and large straw hats walked down a road in River Country. The same country that held the village where Naruto and company where.

"Hmm, remind me again why we are going out this way." The taller of the two complained. "Leader wants us to collect more money for the organization."

"I simply want to test the boy." The shorter of the two replied in a monotone.

"Oh bullshit, Itachi. Sure you may want to test him, but also to screw with him because he left Konoha."

"In way, yes Kisame." Itachi replied. "He left my village and now it is on the verge of a civil war, leaving my little brother at risk of being taken by Danzo."

"Yikes. And I thought Kiri was messed up, but whatever. I just want to fight Zabuza to see how he has changed." Kisame replied. "Still, that crap in Konoha is making my blood boil! One half of Konoha cares not for the little jinchuriki, thinking his is the demon while the other half is trying to repent with their kids for harming the hero of Konoha and their greatest Hokage and a badass swordswoman."

"Do all the Swordsmen of the Mist think that?" Itachi asked nonchalantly as they walked.

"Yeah and Zabuza was saved by her, so he probably thinks he is doing her a favor by taking care of her kid. The guy was always a softie for kids I guess."

"Hn." Itachi replied before they vanished from the road.

XXX

"SCORE!" Naruto shouted as he used his throwing skills to pop all the balloons in a game booth he and his teammates were currently playing at.

"Very good Naruto. Now only if you could use those skills against a horde of bandits." Haku replied with a sly smile.

"Oh screw off Haku!" Naruto growled as he took the big prize and then put it in his prize scroll.

"Knock it off you two!" Haku's girlfriend, Guren, replied in annoyance. "I swear, I need more girl friends. You two act like brothers so much it is infuriating sometime."

"Sorry Guren." The boy replied in unison.

Soon, however, they all just laughed it off and decided to go on some rides instead of just stick to games. The first ride they went on, Naruto choose the bumper car ride, where he laughed hysterically while bumping into everyone, much to Guren's annoyance.

There was a spinning tea cup ride that Guren thought was nice. Unfortunately, she didn't know how sick she would get on that ride. Apparently she had a form of motion sickness. It sucked even worse for some innocent bystanders, which made Naruto laugh his ass off while Haku apologized for his girlfriend.

Haku…well, he decided to feed the ducks in a nearby pond. He did not any repeat performances.

Soon, they were walking toward the rendezvous point to meet up with their teacher, Zabuza. He had to meet a contact of his, who usually kept them informed of the world's events and occasionally provided Zabuza with means to train them in jutsu.

As they were waiting, Naruto got bored and took a look at their surroundings. He often did this to make sure any Konoha ninja were not following him. But like usual, they weren't. However, he did see something. Up on a rooftop, there were two men staring down at him. Both wore strange black cloaks with red clouds on them. One of them did not have his large straw hat on his head.

Sasuke? He thought as a reflex. No, this 'Sasuke' was older….unless his old teammate had a rather strange growth spurt and had grown older in the last few months, then he highly doubted that was Sasuke. If not…then who was this?

"Hey brats, I got what we needed, let's go." Zabuza's voice brought him out of his trance of his stare off with the Sasuke look alike. Naruto nodded slowly before he followed them, albeit with less energy than usual. Something they all noticed, but would not ask about in a place like this.

XXX

"Oh…he saw us." Kisame chuckled.

"That was the intention." Itachi replied.

"You know, I am surprises he didn't say anything…or that Zabuza didn't even sense his old…friend."

"Hn." Itachi replied, not really caring. He wanted to mess with the kid, see if he remembered him at all.

XXX

As they walked through the busy streets to their hotel for the night, thanks to Zabuza's benefactor, Naruto swore he was either tripping, in a genjutsu, or they, more specifically, him was being followed by the Sasuke look alike.

Everywhere they went, he swore he saw the man, standing in crowds, staring at him. Or he was on the roof tops, walking in step with him. What really tipped him off to being in a Genjutsu was at one point, the same man was in the crowd, but in familiar Konoha armor and it was one of his old protectors before is disappeared. However, the way he disappeared was via…Crows. And no one noticed.

"Weasal…Itachi." Naruto murmured. However, it came out differently to those who not in the Gentjutsu. His team just heard him say the man's name from the boy in a drone of voice. That chilled the bones of even Zabuza. Why, because when he looked at Naruto's eyes, they were devoid of any emotion or even notice that the man as looking at him.

"Oh…shit." Zabuza replied, seeing that Naruto was in a genjutsu and the boy knew who did it to him. The man not even he wanted to run into if the stories were true. The man, who killed off the entire Uchiha Clan except for his little brother.

Thinking quickly he dispelled the illusion over the boy, making him blink. Naruto looked up at Zabuza and nodded, confirming the man's fears.

Itachi Uchiha was in town.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." Itachi's voice said calmly. The group looked to see he was in their path and that his partner was behind them, blocking their way back the way they came.

"Itachi….what do you want?" Naruto asked, the atmosphere getting tense and the crowds were starting to take notice.

Haku and Guren froze up at that. They heard the stories about this guy and they really didn't want to get in a fight with him….even though they had gotten stronger. They could not beat him alone.

"I need you to come with me." Itachi replied calmly.

"Not going to happen Itachi." Zabuza said as he stood in front of the blond and reached for his giant sword. "I heard what organization you are from. Akatsuki are hunting the Jinchuriki for some reason. I wouldn't let you take Kushina's son!"

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction at that. He was not aware that Naruto, nor any of his traveling companions knew of Naruto mother. "Then I shall take the Kyuubi by force."

Zabuza was about to block whatever Itachi was about to hit him with, but he had to use his sword to block the other man's sword. His eyes widened because he recognized it. "Kisame."

"HEY ZUBBY! I'M BACK!" Kisame screamed out in laughter before they took to the rooftop to perform their dance of death.

XXX

Back with Itachi and Naruto's teammates, they were freaking out. "I don't have the power to kick his ass!" Guren freaked silently. By now, most of the crowd had run away after seeing the two swordsmen go at it. They did not want to get in the way of a shinobi battle. They tended to get destructive.

"We can take him." Naruto growled.

"How do you think that?" Haku asked.

"We do this together!" Naruto said as he took out his scythe.

"Ah, the famed Death Scythe. I get to see it in this life time. I am honored." Itachi replied.

"I doubt that." Naruto snapped. "Just one question before we do this. Why? You were my protector as a kid, then you go and kill off your entire family and you are now hunting me. What's the reason behind all this?"

"To simply test myself." Itachi replied, infuriating the blond. "And the Leader needs what is inside you." He ended that by getting in Naruto's face before flicking him away, shocking both his teammates.

Haku glared at Itachi for that. "You won't get my brother!" He nodded to Guren and they went through several handsigns.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. "Ah, bloodline jutsu."

"Ice Style: Frozen Tundra!"

"Crystal Style: Growing Crystal Thorns!"

Their collaboration jutsu froze the landscape they were in and all the buildings grew pink crystals that ended in multiple, sharp at a blade, spikes. What was even more dangerous was that they were interlocking, creating a death trap field.

Impressive Itachi thought. He knew how dangerous this was getting, but so far, Naruto had not impressed him. It was teammates that did that. So he coated his feet in chakra to safely land on one of the spikes that seemed to still be growing.

Haku noticed that Naruto was nearby and was waiting for the right time to attack. He threw Guren a look and she smiled. It was time for a TEAM collaboration. Time to use Naruto's specialty.

"Ice Style: Ice Spears!"

"Crystal Style: Crystal Spears!"

"Shadow Spears!" The five or so of each type of spear multiplied into about a hundred and rained down on a calm looking Itachi. However, they didn't shatter when they struck down on the ground. They fused with the surrounding elements, making the battle field that much more dangerous.

They knew it could not be that easy to beat Itachi. That proved true when his speared form disappeared into a poof of smoke. "You will have to do better than that."

"Then try this!" Naruto shouted as they all jumped him. Naruto has his Scythe glowing the red hot with his Death's Fiery Touch jutsu, Haku has his Mirror Claws at the ready, and Guren had her Crystal Lance at the ready to punch a hole through the Uchiha. However, as they all converged on him, he disappeared in a murder of crows.

"You have improved from what I heard, Naruto-kun, but not even this teamwork will get to me." Itachi's voice taunted. "Why didn't you stay in Konoha, where you were safe from people like me?"

"I wasn't even safe in Konoha, you of all people should know that!" Naruto growled. "They would never accept me and even if word got out while I was there that I was their son, they would kill me on the spot for being a liar. They see nothing but pain and loss when they see me. So it is better if was not there at all."

"And the impending civil war?"

"I would have happened eventually." Naruto said in a depressed tone.

"I am…disappointed." Itachi's voice stated, which shocked Naruto because he could tell the older boy was disappointed in him!

"Why?"

"I thought you wanted to be the Hokage and MAKE them respect you. Such a shame." Itachi replied, but Naruto didn't believe it for one second. The older ninja was hiding something.

"That's not the real reason you are asking…" Naruto stated. Understanding something. The reason the man spared his little brother. "You wanted me back in Konoha to give Sasuke an Anchor of sorts. You wanted me to keep him in line and a way back for when he has his revenge against you."

Itachi…was very impressed at that. It would seem that with these people, Naruto had gotten more insightful. "Then you know that you are no longer of any use to my plans." Itachi said as he appeared on a rooftop not far from them. Naruto saw the rapid hand movement and cursed inwardly, already knowing the attack because Sasuke used it.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball." Itachi stated as he expelled a giant fireball that was rapidly moving towards them.

Naruto saw that his teammates were frozen in shock at the large and powerful attack coming right towards them. None of them were skilled enough to block that or truly dodge it. Haku's ice could probably not even stand up to that. With its rapid decent unto them, Naruto did the only logical thing he thought of. Pushing chakra to his arms, he pushed Haku and Guren out of the way. As they went flying in either direction, Naruto did his best to get out of the way. However, It caught his right arm….well more like singed it.

"ARGH!" Naruto screamed as he held his severely burnt and bleeding arm.

"I am impressed that you managed to pull that off in the little time I gave you. Perhaps you are not a lost cause." Itachi said as he calmly walked over to Naruto.

Having had enough of this battle, Naruto looked to Guren and Haku to see if they were ok. They were, but they were also a little beat up. Naruto knew, even together they stood no chance against this man. He was just too powerful. He arm was proof of that.

So, in a last ditch effort to get out of this alive, Naruto waited until Itachi was right in front of him. He knew this probably would not work, but he had to try. With a face full of pain, Naruto removed the Claws of Hades from his waist and with skills taught by Zabuza, even if they were a little rough, he sunk them into the Itachi's chest.

Itachi had seen this coming. How could he not with his Sharingan eyes active? He was testing the boy after all. Testing his resolve. He still believed that Naruto would be Sasuke's Anchor. His Light.

He was right to still believe in the blond, that is why he sent in a Shadow Clone to take the hit. However, he was not prepared for the supernatural affect that the Claws of Hades provided. For when the Claws sunk in, he himself felt the piecing bite. Sure the clone felt it too, but it did not dispel.

It just stood there in shock and absolute pain. A pain they both felt and now fear because Itachi had a feeling he knew what this was. Those claws, the Claws of Hades, did not merely attack the flesh, it also attacked the soul of the victim. Not the for the first time in his life, but rarely now so in years, he was afraid.

But his major question was, how was it affecting him as well and not just the clone.

Then it hit him. He remembered the description of the Shadow Clone Jutsu when he was given permission from his father to learn it. The Shadow Clone Jutsu evenly splits not only the chakra of the user, but the soul as well.

Where Naruto had gotten this soul harming weapon, he would never know.

Naruto grimaced as he pulled with all his weaken might and just like that, the piece of Itachi's soul was pulled out of the clone, but it did not stop there. It went INTO Naruto himself!

So…this is what it felt like to die. Itachi felt part of him die the moment he felt part of his soul was truly gone.

In that moment, Itachi actually felt immense anger. If he was too die for real, it would be by his brother's hand, he owned him that much. But for Naruto himself to do it, that was not on his agenda! For a moment, forgetting all that he came here to do, he charged the blond in anger.

A nearby sound came and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zabuza come flying into a building. That did register in his mind as something wrong, because a moment later, Kisame was sent into another building. However, he continued on, not really caring at all.

He took out a hidden blade from within his cloak, a blade he used from within the ANBU, and struck Naruto down. More specifically, he sliced off Naruto's right arm, the one he burnt to a crisp.

"The right to kill me does not belong to you!" Itachi spat before he noticed what he did and calmed down. Although inside, he panicked. How was the blond supposed to help his brother now? How was he supposed to defend himself against the Akatsuki?

Finally he came up with an answer. Nodding to himself, his Sharingan eyes took on a new form. The form of a three pointed shuriken. His Mangekyo Sharingan. "Tsukuyomi."

A few seconds later, he let go just as someone entered the scene. He bleeding eyes widened at the sight and he knew he had to flee. Quickly moving over to Kisame's recovering form, he hastily said, 'Now is the time to flee."

Kisame warily looked at his and Zabuza's attacker and groaned. "Yeah, one hit is enough for the moment."

With that, the two Akatsuki member disappeared from the scene.

"JUST WHAT HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" A woman's angry voice shouted out. "ONE PART OF THE CITY IS FLOODED ALL TO HELL AND THIS ONE HAS ICE AND CRYSTAL ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

Zabuza blinked away his shock. Not from the woman who entered the scene, but from Naruto's severed arm. Then he looked to the woman and knew why the Akatsuki members had left. Jiriaya the Toad Master being in town was bad for them, but for Tsunade the Slug Princess to there as well. Well, Itachi must have known he could not have taken them on when they both came at him.

Yes, Tsunade of the Sannin was in town, along with her apprentice Shizune, and pet pig, Tonton, and they did not look happy.

Not at all.

"Just my luck." Zabuza stated outloud.

XXX

Heh, i have a plan for all this. Don't worry. Naruto will be getting something better than a replacement arm. And i had to put Jiriaya and Tsunade in the story some how. Deal with it.

Review!