Chapter Ten-

Sasuke inwardly groaned. His legs felt like lead. Physical therapy was hell. That stupid man did not seem to get that he couldn't just get up and start walking again. It had been a week since he had woken up and he just had been able to walk without a limp. When he did Naruto loved to point it out. Every. Single. Time. He came.

The first thing Sasuke was going to do once he got his leg and arm strength back was beat the shit out of the blond-haired idiot…okay, maybe not that extreme, but he was at least going to hit him.

After Sasuke got over the initial shock that he had been asleep for three months, he had been shocked to find that the Sandaime Hokage had been killed and was shocked that Naruto (as in the blond-haired idiot he was talking about earlier) had saved his life and beat Sabaku no Gaara. All that shock could not be good for him. Needless to say, Sasuke was not very happy.

Sasumi and Naruto visited everyday (Naruto never forgot to point out his limp), but Sasuke was still bored. A few other people visited him, which Sasuke thought was just plain weird and/or scary (Ino tried to glomp him and unfortunately he couldn't get away).

Sasuke felt like banging his head on something hard. That table corner was suddenly looking very appealing.

He groaned, out loud this time. He was going insane. That was the only explanation. Pulling himself out of the bed he had been supposedly confined to (though he hadn't really been listening) he made his way out of his house to visit Kakashi to force out of him a way to gain his strength back without physical therapy. He made his way over to Kakashi's apartment and was surprised to find him lying in bed unconscious with three other Jounin in the room talking quietly.

"What happened to him?" Sasuke asked straining to see if he was injured or not.

"Er…It's nothing-" started the man who had declared himself to be Kakashi's rival at the beginning of the Chuunin Exam, but he was cut off as a shinobi that Sasuke had never seen before came rushing in.

"I heard that that Itachi's back! Is it true…that he's after Naruto?"

That was all Sasuke needed to hear. Before they could stop him he rushed out, completely forgetting the pain in his legs.

"Shit, Naruto-"

One hour earlier

Kakashi stood leaning against a shop waiting for Sasuke to arrive. Usually he would have read his book, but he couldn't take any chances this time. He was quite sure that it was Uchiha Itachi who was sitting behind him. If it were, he would leave when Sasuke came. All Kakashi had to do was wait.

He had heard from Jiraiya that Itachi had joined an organization called "Akatsuki" that was after demons like the Kyuubi. But why were they here? Kakashi doubted they knew who the container of the Kyuubi was.

When Naruto was born, Itachi would have only been five and probably wouldn't know or remember anything about the incident. The holder of the Kyuubi was strictly a Leaf secret, so he couldn't have heard it from any other villages. Then was he here for Sasuke? To finish what he started almost seven years ago? Even if Sasuke was his goal, Kakashi doubted that he would be foolish enough to attack Sasuke on sight. He would never be able to get out of Konoha alive.

He saw Asuma and Kurenai walk up. He talked with them a little, not forgetting to insinuate that they were dating, to Kurenai's embarrassment. Both of them were very surprised to find that he was actually waiting for someone. All right, so maybe he was a little late once in a while, but that didn't mean they had to overreact when he was on time.

"Kakashi, how unusual for you to be here before me," Sasuke said as he walked up.

They were all pitted against him, see!

The two figures behind him were no longer there. He gave a small nod to Asuma and Kurenai and they both disappeared as well.

"Uh…What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," he said casually, "How's physical therapy going."

His dark-haired student scowled.

"That good, huh."

He had to get away. If it really was Itachi back there he doubted Asuma and Kurenai could hold take him themselves.

"Well, nice seeing you Sasuke, got to run!" And with that he disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving his confused student standing next to the sweet shop.

It wasn't hard to find them; ever since he was a child he had been good at sensing other ninja's chakra. Though if only he had been a little bit better Obito might have… He shook his head to clear away those thoughts. He had a job to do now.

When he came upon them his suspicions were confirmed. It was indeed Uchiha Itachi and another man that he recognized as Hoshigaki Kisame. Asuma was crouched on a bridge and Kurenai was standing on the water below. He saw Kisame move his hands in a telltale jutsu. He knew already that this was not going to be an easy fight. He should have called for reinforcements before he left.

Kakashi countered Kisame's water jutsu quickly and sent a Kage Bushin to help Kurenai who was corned by Itachi.

"What took you so long?" Asuma asked him. Kakashi noticed that his upper arm was bleeding profusely.

"You know me," Kakashi answered him, never taking his eyes of Kisame, "I'm always late."

"Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi's Kage Bushin turned toward Itachi.

"What a surprise. From the way you copied my jutsu and how you have the same eye as Itachi-san, you must be the copy-ninja Kakashi," Kisame said.

"Is there a reason, you; Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame, traitor to Mist are here in Konoha?"

"Interesting, so you know who I am," Kisame said, a smirk on his shark-like features.

Itachi didn't say anything.

"I've seen a sword like your 'Samehada,' before."

"So you've met that kid Zabuza, huh."

"Aaa."

"Heh, heh," He lifted his sword and Kakashi braced himself, "This time I'll take more than your shoulder."

"Stop, Kisame," They all looked at Itachi, "If you fight this person, you'll end up sorry. We don't have much time. We didn't come here to start a war."

"But-"

"You're forgetting the reason we came here in the first place. We didn't come here to get injured."

"Mind telling us the reason you're here?" Kakashi asked, undoing his Kage Bushin jutsu.

Itachi didn't say anything for a while, as if thinking over what he was going to say.

"We've come to find the thing we've been searching for."

"The thing you've been searching for…?" Kakashi echoed, "And what is that?"

"Unfortunately, Kisame and I don't have any more time."

Kakashi saw the glint of metal in Itachi's hand and quickly summoned a wall of water to block the barrage of shuriken. However, they never came.

"He saw the jutsu and stopped himself because he knew he couldn't get through it? His right hand didn't even look like it moved! How fast is he?"

"Nothing less from you, Kakashi-san, you have very good…eyesight." He appeared behind Kakashi's Bushin and stuck a kunai threw his back.

Kakashi was under the water when he saw them. Waterproof explosive packets. Shit.

"Kurenai, get down!"

He threw himself and the red eyed Jounin out of the way. There was a gigantic explosion. Kakashi's back hurt like hell as he forced himself to stand up straight. This was not good.

"Don't underestimate him. He became the captain of his ANBU group at the age of thirteen."

"Is this his-" started Asuma who had jumped off the bridge onto the water below, but Kakashi cut him off.

"No, this isn't his full power."

"You aren't of the Uchiha bloodline," Itachi said evenly, closing his eyes, "Which means you can't use the Sharingan to its full extent. There is a reason why the Uchiha clan is the most feared clan. How about I show you the Sharingan's…the bloodline's true power!"

Itachi opened his eyes. Kakashi saw his Sharingan warp into a different shape. The dots in his eyes now almost looked like a shuriken.

"Wait, he's not going to…" Kakashi thought, "This is bad!"

"Both of you shut your eyes!" he yelled at Asuma and Kurenai.

Kakashi shut his normal eye, sweat dripping down chin.

"Good job both of you," he said quietly to them, "Whatever you do, don't open your eyes. The second you do it's over. The only one who can look at him is something who possesses the Sharingan."

"You do possess the Sharingan which is some resistance to this 'Mangekyou Sharingan.' However, my illusion jutsu "Tsukiyomi" cannot be beaten! Only a Sharingan user with the same blood as me could aspire to beat me."

"Sasuke…" Kakashi muttered.

Suddenly everything went black and white. He was tied to a post and was surrounded by about thirty Itachi who were holding swords. Kakashi struggled against his bonds desperately.

"This world Tsukiyomi contains all of matter, space and time. I control everything here," he raised a sword, "Now for seventy-two hours you will be continuously stabbed."

It was hell. There was no other way to describe it. Every second seemed like an hour. Kakashi wanted to die. His voice was hoarse from screaming and everything burned. He just wanted it all to stop. A part of his mind argued that he shouldn't be feeling any pain because it was just an illusion, but it was soon drowned out by his screams.

Pain. There was so much pain. Kakashi had never been tortured before, but he had visited Ibiki after Konoha had retrieved him. It had taken him almost a year to recover. Not physically, but mentally. When they finally got him out of there he was a wreck. Kakashi hadn't known him that well before, but he remembered that Ibiki had always been carefree and confident. After he had been tortured he had changed completely. He suddenly couldn't stand people who he had been very close to before. His tastes changed in everything from food to daily habits until be couldn't even be compared to the person he was before. The reason he became in charge of interrogating prisoners in Konoha was because he had been one of them once. He knew what tactics worked and what didn't. He was the perfect man for the job.

And then it all stopped. He fell on his knees, breathing harshly. He faintly heard Asuma and Kurenai's worried voices, but he couldn't resister the words.

"Kakashi, can you hear me? What happened? You just suddenly fell over!"

"It felt like three days, but it really happened instantly, huh? Why didn't he just kill me?"

"It's…not…over yet," he managed to cough out, but he knew he couldn't even stand.

"He's still alive?" he heard Kisame's voice, "Itachi-san, you should you your eye more carefully though…"

"What do…you want," Kakashi asked, forcing himself to remain afloat, "Sasuke?"

"No," said Itachi, "The Yondaime Hokage's legacy."

"Damn, they do know about Naruto!!"

"What do you want… with him?"

He thought back on what Jiraiya had told him, "Your target…is the Kyuubi, isn't it? You've been moving for a while, we've noticed. The name of your organization…'Akatsuki' right?"

"Akatsuki?" he heard Asuma say.

He saw Itachi's eyebrows furrow slightly.

"Kisame, take Kakashi-san out."

He heard saw Kisame run towards them but he had no strength to stop him.

'Is this it-"

Suddenly there was huge splash as something green kicked Kisame out of the way.

"Gai!"

"Who the hell is this!" he heard Kisame growl.

Suddenly everything went blurry and he felt himself relax and fall into darkness.

Naruto slurped up some more ramen.

"Mmm…ramen. You are my only true friend."

He was going out training today so he needed all the nourishment he could get. Yes, ramen was nourishment. Well, at least in Naruto's book.

"Where are you going today, Naruto?" asked the oji-san behind the counter.

"Training! Oh, yeah!"

The man laughed good-naturedly, "Well, don't too much otherwise you'll get a stomachache."

"Yosh!"

He quickly finished his bowl and rushed off towards the training area.

"Heh, heh, I'm going to get so good Sasuke won't even know what hit him!"

For about an hour he practiced throwing kicks and punches against a few of the posts. He rested for a while and then removed his jacket from the heat. Then he practiced his throwing skills against some trees. He paused as he was about to throw another kunai and look up at the kunai and shuriken filled tree. This probably wasn't good for them. Oh, well. Better trees than people.

Sasuke ran into Ichiriku's, breathing heavily.

"I have to get to Naruto before he does. Because if he finds Naruto, Naruto's dead!"

"Oji-san, have you seen Naruto lately? Do you know where he is now?"

"Naruto…hmm…let's see!"

"C'mon, dammit!!"

"He said something about training this morning. He probably is- hey, wait!"

Sasuke didn't need to hear anymore.

"Okay, he's training. Shit, there are tons of places to train in Konoha. I'm going to have to check them all."

He turned a corner and ran straight into a rather large lady who was surrounded by small children. He hissed in pain as he fell on his decrepit legs.

"Watch where you're going, young man!" she chided him.

"Sorry," He was picking himself up when he heard her voice.

"Uchiha-san?"

He looked up to see Sasumi who was carrying a large basket of groceries, staring down at him.

"Sasumi?"

"Uchiha-san, what's wr-" she started, but never finished.

"Sasumi, have you seen Naruto? The guy Ichiriku's said he was training, but he could be anywhere!" He was panicking, dammit; please let him get there in time.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday. Uchiha-san what's going-"

"There's no time to explain! I have to go!"

"Wait!"

He turned around, "There's no time, I'll tell you later."

"If there is a later."

And then he rushed off leaving her standing there.

And he ran, fueled by hate and panic. He was going to kill that bastard! First, his entire family, and now Naruto! Images of his dead parents flashed before his eyes, causing him to grit his teeth in anger. He was going to kill him. He would avenge his family and himself and he didn't care what he had to do to do it.

He ran to the place were Team 7 had trained for the first time. No Naruto. He was so angry that if it were any other circumstance he might have destroyed something, but he didn't have to time nor the energy to waste. He checked a few other places and was starting to feel the desperation, along with the throbbing pain in his legs, getting to him when he heard the scream.

Naruto was just about to pack up for the day when he heard the footsteps. Normally, he would have just turned around and (nosily) greeted the other person/people. But he suddenly had this horrible feeling. A sixth sense of some sort was telling him not to turn around, but instead to run. He couldn't though. He was frozen. His body, which had previously been hot from all the exercise he had been doing, was suddenly cold. The footsteps got closer and every nerve in his body was telling him to get away. To run and never come back.

"Hello," said a smooth voice, "Naruto-kun."

He turned around. Ready to face anything.

Two men stood before him. The shorter one had long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and the taller one appeared to have blue skin and what looked like gills on his face. They both wore black cloaks with white clouds on them outlined in red. But Naruto wasn't focusing on any of that. He stared into the shorter ones familiar looking eyes and face.

"Sasuke?" was his first thought, "No…that's not Sasuke…who is he? He has the same Sharingan as Sasuke."

He realized that he was shaking and could do nothing to stop himself.

"Is this kid really the holder of the Kyuubi?" said the taller one.

"What?! They know about the Kyuubi?"

He took a step backwards. This was dangerous, they were dangerous. He had no proof, all he knew was that he had to get out off here.

"Naruto-kun," said the one with the Sharingan, "We need you to come with us."

He spoke without even thinking about it, "Who are you?"

"We are the Akatsuki," the shorter one said, "We've been ordered to come and collect you."

He instantly hated this man. As a child, half the village ignored him, mistreated him, and talked to him (when they had to) like he was a thing. An object, an animal, a demon. Like he didn't have any emotions or dreams or any human aspects at all. They talked the same way as this man. Like he was just an item. His hands clenched into fists and he narrowed his eyes, his muscles tense and ready.

"Ch, this is going to be annoying, Itachi-san," said the one with the gills, "He's going to run around. Maybe we should cut off a leg or something…"

Fear gripped Naruto and the sixth sense was back, telling him to run.

"So…" he pulled on the handle of something that Naruto couldn't see. His blood ran cold. He couldn't get away. It happened so fast that all he had time to do was take a step back, tripping over his feet in panic.

Pain erupted in his midriff. He screamed and fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his whole upper body. He gasped for breath, tears of pain making their way down his whiskered cheeks. He heard the taller one say something and then felt something heavy on his chest. He screamed again as the pain doubled, struggling vainly to get away. 'Itachi' said something and then the weight went away. He tried to stifle a sob, but to no avail. Then he heard another voice, one he recognized, but he couldn't place it. It was hard enough just breathing. He couldn't think or move or do anything at all. As his breathing slowed he was able to make out the some of the conversation that was taking place.

"…second…day…Sharingan…is it?" he thought it was the one with the blue skin.

"My…brother."

"…heard…clan…wiped out…you…"

"…going…kill you!" It was that voice again, he recognized it, but it was taking all he had to keep breathing and he couldn't think.

There was yelling now and he felt chakra in the air. There was a series of high-pitched noises and then a cry of pain and a thud. He focused his eyes and struggled to move his head in the direction of the noises. Every time he moved his body it felt like he was being stabbed over and over again with kunai. He didn't know how long it took until he raised his head, but it seemed like forever.

Then he heard screaming. It was unlike anything he had heard in his life before. It was a scream of pure pain. He whimpered in pain and then gasped as he finally reached his goal. The man Itachi had his black-haired teammate pinned to the tree, his hand wrapped around his throat. He heard the blue skinned man say something, but he wasn't listening.

He starred at Sasuke. Not because there was blood dripping from his mouth and chest or because his wrist was twisted the wrong way. It was because he was screaming. Sasuke didn't scream. Sasuke glared and scowled and smirked and sometimes even truly smiled, but never screamed. It was so wrong. Why was he screaming? Why…why was this happening?

He didn't know what the man Itachi was doing to him, but he felt furious. His blood was boiling and he was so angry is he had the strength he would have killed the man.

And then suddenly it all made sense. What Sasuke had said when they were introducing themselves that first day as Team 7. What he had said after he had jumped in front of Haku's needles to save him. This 'Itachi' was the man he wanted to kill. His brother.

Sasuke was still screaming.

"Let…him…go!" he snarled, once Sasuke's screaming had died down, replaced by a horrible, dead, weak, look on his face, "Leave him…alone…God…damn…you!"

Sasuke's elder brother dropped his teammate unceremoniously to the ground. Sasuke didn't make a sound. He fell limply against the tree, all trace of life completely gone.

Naruto growled in anger, the additive feeling of the Kyuubi's power taking over his body. The deep scratches in his torso began to heal. But even before they could heal completely, the tall man with the gills moved his sword over him. At first he though he was going to hit him again, but the impact never came. Instead, all that beautiful, addicting, exciting, power was gone. He was weak again and he found he couldn't move. His body slid to the ground for a second time aided by a sharp kick in the ribs, causing him to cry out.

He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, couldn't help, couldn't save him. Naruto lay there weakly. Maybe he really was a monster. Maybe all the things the villagers said were true. That he was worthless, that he didn't deserve to live. Maybe even after all these years of denying it…maybe, they were right. Maybe…

A hand grabbed fisted his collar and pulled him off the ground. His head lolled weakly to the side and he saw Sasuke, his eyes wide in anger and… fear? He was saying something now, but Naruto couldn't make out the words. Sasuke struggled to stand, but he couldn't. Naruto starred blankly down at him.

"Sa-Sasuke…" he managed to cough out. He took another breath, "I-"

But he stopped. He heard a noise, muffled slightly by the ground, coming closer. It was strange, for some reason he wasn't able to hear anything else before, but now he could suddenly hear this soft sound. If he had been more aware he probably would have realized that the two Akatsuki members had gone rigid. His eyelids flickered and his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to figure out what it was. It had a steady beat, and became louder as time passed. Footsteps? There was someone else here? No…they had to get away, otherwise they'd end up like Sasuke.

"Get away! Don't! You can't be here! They'll-!" his incoherent thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, demanding voice.

"Let him go."

Author's Notes: Yes, the chapter really ends here. No, sending me death threats for stopping this chapter at a cliffhanger will not help me get the next chapter out sooner.

I wasn't planning to have this chapter end on a cliffhanger, but it just ended up that way. After rereading this chapter I realized some parts were sort of…slashy. I did not do that on purpose, I swear. There isn't and won't be any slash in this fic. It's really not my fault I read so much slash. Really.

Anyway, another thing I am sorry for is the three pages of practically word-for-word translation of the manga. Notice I use the word 'practically.' And if that wasn't enough, my translation was done by me so it sucks, but hey, at I tried. The lack of Sasumi's P.O.V. in this chapter is deliberate. I know Naruto's kind of emo in the last few paragraphs, but if you were in his position, I think you'd be emo too.

The Kanji that is used in the manga for 'Akatsuki' means 'dawn' in Japanese, thus the title of this chapter. This chapter is really the beginning (the dawn, oooh, double meaning!) of the plot that's unconnected to the manga.

There's not really much of a point asking you who you think the 'mystery person' is, because you all know. And if you don't, you're over thinking it. It's rather obvious.

I really would like to hear what you think about my fic, so please review! If you don't I'll have to take reaaaallly long on the next chapter. And I'm not going to tell you if I'm serious or not. Just review and be safe, ne?