Naruto belongs to Kishimot
Note: I'll be tweaking canon scenes quite often so don't expect what you're expecting, because if you're expecting what's expected to happen, your expectations will be let down by an unexpected twist. And... Begin
Naruto age: 5
Naruto was munching on the dinner his dad made him while silently complaining that it wasn't ramen.
"Yes, I know it's not ramen. Deal with it.", said Kakashi.
"How didja know I was thinking about ramen?", asked Naruto.
Kakashi rolled his visible and invisible eye. "I'm the man that raised you. Figure it out."
"Right... Hey dad?", asked Naruto. Kakashi grunted in reply.
"Have you noticed that Shisui's been... A bit I don't know... Jumpy lately?"
Unknown to Shisui, Naruto had been noticing a few things that were off about him. He looked much more tired than usual and spaced out quite often. Naruto had tried to ignore these signs for quite some time, but it had been increasing at an alarming rate and Shisui did not smile like he did before, always frowning.
"I haven't been interacting with Shisui as of lately, but I'm sure he's just going through a stage in life that's a little bit more stressful for him. Make sure to support him and he'll be back to his normal self before no time. Sometimes in your life you'll go through those stages too. You'll be very grateful to have other people to support you, and Shisui will be grateful if you're there for him. Especially since you're a little kid, it should make him less worried since you're just a little ball of innocence.", said Kakashi, flipping a page in his orange book.
Naruto let out a tired sigh behind his mask. He really wanted to know what was wrong with Shisui; he was one of the few people he could honestly trust. For some reason, a select few group of villagers who had very arrogant personnas gave him glares that made him feel uncomfortable behind his back ever since a young age. Naruto shrugged it off. For now.
"Well... I guess I could go talk to him.", said Naruto "I can go, right? I haven't seen him for a few days."
Kakashi leaned back in his chair and looked behind him to take a look at the clock, which read 6:43. "It's pretty late..."
Naruto turned around and tripled the size of his eyes, shining two orbs of blue magnificence at Kakashi. Kakashi, who unfortunately/fortunately had his Sharingan uncovered got the full blast, and was unable to resist. "Alright... Just make sure you have Shisui or his cousin Itachi escort you back, promise?"
"Promise!", said Naruto, putting on his scarf and red sweater on and bolting out the door towards the Uchiha compound.
8 Minutes later, Uchiha compound.
Naruto walked past the large blue gate, entering the Uchiha grounds in the far exterior side of Konohagakure. Naruto walked passed the somewhat familiar roads towards his favourite Uchiha's house.
A few blocks from arrival, he was halted by some commotion in the middle of the street.
A teenage Uchiha with long, brown hair tied behind his back with two bangs in front of him was inside his house, three men surrounding the front door. It seemed as if the men were interrogating the teenager.
Naruto walked closer and noticed that the teenager looked... Slightly familiar. He had come to train with Shisui a few times, and was introduced as Shisui's best friend/cousin, Itachi.
'So, what's happening to Shisui's cousin?', thought Naruto. His instincts told him that he should just ignore them and head over to Shisui's house, but his body kept moving towards the 4 males. Naruto reached a corner and hid behind it, poking his head out to see with his right eye what was going on while pushing some chakra into his ears to increase his sense of hearing. He pressed his back against the wall while looking over the corner of his eye towards the scene of confrontation.
Another gift that Naruto 'recieved' at the day of birth were heightened senses. Kakashi always told him that it was because of himself being a dog summoner.
"... Only two people didn't show up for last night's meeting.", said the white haired man.
Itachi simply nodded, looking calm and peaceful.
"Why didn't you show up?", asked the man to his right.
"I apologize. I'll be more careful from now on.", said Itachi, "Now, I must ask you to leave. I have a little sister to take care of."
The white haired man took a step forward, spitting on the ground. "It's regarding the disappearance of Shisui Uchiha 3 days ago."
Naruto's eyes widened as he listened closer to the conversation. His back pressed against the wall harder. A thousand questions popped up in his mind, all somewhere along the lines of: 'Shisui Uchiha, missing? THREE days ago? What the hell is going on?!'
"Well, I really haven't seen him at all recently. That's unfortunate.", said Itachi, bowing his head down slightly.
The white haired man reached into his pocket and extracted a white piece of paper. Naruto strained his neck in an attempt to get a better view of what it was.
"This is the note Shisui left behind."
Naruto's heart was pounding harder than ever in his life. He leaned over even farther, worry and curiosity thick in his mind.
Much to Naruto's disappointment, Itachi read the note over silently before it was rudely taken from his hand.
"To someone with a Sharingan, it would be easy to mimic his handwriting perfectly. Take it to the ANBU and request that they help out with the investigation!"
The three men turned to leave, so Naruto silently turned around, pretending he was walking the other direction while silently making his way around the block back to Itachi's house to ask a few questions about Shisui.
About 60 seconds later, Naruto made his way around the building, only to find that the three men who were interrogating were on the ground, a little bit of blood coming out of their mouths.
Naruto's head snapped towards Itachi, who had his fists clenched. It was obvious that it was him who hit the three of them.
'Okay, this is starting to get a bit too much for my brain to handle. I really need someone to explain what's going on...' thought Naruto, taking a step back into the shadows.
"... Clan this, clan that! You overestimate your abilities with no idea of the depth of my own. Look at you now, groveling in the dirt.", said Itachi.
"Shisui... Shisui has been keeping keeping a close eye on you recently... Half a year as an ANBU captain has certainly changed you, Itachi. What game are you playing, huh?!" asked the white haired Uchiha.
Itachi's grimace deepened even further at these words. "Obsessed with the organisation. Obsessed with the clan. Obsessed with our lineage. A worthless compulsion that limits our capabilities. Leaving us to fear... What you don't understand."
"Stop it Itachi! What on earth is the matter with you! You've been strange lately. Why aren't you telling us anything?" A new man appeared who had two bangs on the side of his head. He stood with authority and arrogance, much like the common Uchiha did.
"Nothing strange about me. I have my own duties to fulfill... That's all.", said Itachi.
"Then tell me, why weren't you there last night?"
"... To... Achieve the next stage.", said Itachi, pulling out a kunai and throwing it with deadly accuracy at the wall, right in the center of an Uchiha crest without even looking.
'Now what's going on, Itachi wasn't like this when we met... He was silent, but he was kind and mostly avoided having long conversations...', thought Naruto.
"I've had enough of this pathetic clan...", said Itachi, clenching his fists. "The people of this clan are all the same. You focus on the trivial and lose sight of what's most important. Change is impossible in this fog of ignorance. How can we evolve when regulation is all we know?"
The white haired man, who had just got back to his feet shouted at Itachi. "Enough of this nonsense! Anymore of this and I will have you thrown behind bars! I can't take this anymore. Fugaku-sama! Please give me the orders!"
Naruto held his breath, unsure of what to do next. 'Okay', he thought. 'I have... A few options. 1, I run away and go see if I can find someone who knows where Shisui's gone... 2, I stay and see what happens 3, I go and help Itachi 4, I reason with the men... Although they look pretty unreasonab-'
"Nii-chan! You have to stop!". A young female voice interrupted Naruto from his thoughts.
The words obviously had some sort of an affect on Itachi, as he sank down to his knees and apologized. "I apologize for the words I have spoken. I do not have a clue why Shisui has gone missing... I'm truly sorry."
Fugaku let out a tired breath. "He's been tired recently due to his missions from the ANBU Blackops."
"But, Fugaku-sama!"
"Even if you wanted to arrest Itachi right now, you couldn't. He's part of the ANBU, therefore under the direct orders of the Hokage. You'd need a signed warrant from him.", said Fugaku "And as for Itachi, I take full responsibility for him. He will be dealt with, you have my word."
"... Very well sir."
Fugaku walked back into the house, leaving Itachi out by himself. Naruto looked over at the house and caught a glimpse of long blue hair and a pale hand. The blue hair was covering the kid's face, but he could tell she was somewhere around his age. 'Probably the one who made Itachi stop in his outburst. Must be Shisui's other cousin. Interesting... Now, finally I might be able to ask Itachi about Shisui... Although he did say he didn't know much, I'm sure he can answer some of my other questions', thought Naruto.
Itachi stayed on his knees on the ground as Naruto approached him. "Yo, uhh Itachi?", asked Naruto, breaking the silence.
Itachi weakly lifted his head, looking at Naruto with his coal black eyes. "Hello, Naruto. I hope you did not witness what had just happened."
Naruto ran a hand through his hair and replied with "Yeah... I kind of did. What was that all about? Is Shisui really gone missing?"
Itachi stood up, putting a hand on his forehead and giving Naruto a tired look. "I'm truly sorry, Naruto-san. The missions have been very tiring on me and I haven't been feeling much like myself. As for Shisui... Yes unfortunately, I believe so..."
Naruto frowned, looking down at the ground. "Where is that guy... He just left without a word! Do you think he's been kidnapped?"
Itachi took a few deep, calming breaths and lifted his head to face the sky. "No, I don't think so... Hold on a minute" Itachi squinted his eyes, spotting a familiar black crow that Shisui used as a summon.
"What's wrong, Itachi?", asked Naruto, looking up at the sky as well.
The crow descended, landing on Itachi's shoulder. Itachi quickly took the piece of paper, reading what it said.
Come to the Naka River. I'll explain everything once you get here. Please hurry, I need your help.
-ShiUch-
And...
Cut.