Akashi grunted as he bit into the chicken leg that had been roasting over the fire in the center of the camp he and his mates resided in. "Oi, whatcha' lookin' at?" Akashi questioned the guard, leaning over the log he was sitting on, staring over his shoulder at the guard. His eyes widened, quite comically with chicken in his mouth, a bit of greasy skin dripping off of his chin, before he swallowed quickly, scrambling up and grabbing his sword hastily. "H-Hey we got somethin' over here!" Shouted Akashi, still staring mortified as the guard slumped forward, falling on the ground, his head miraculously missing.

Akashi was looking around, until he felted compelled to look up into the night sky. The head of the guard was speeding towards him, a look of pure terror forever etched on it's features. "AAA-" Akashi was interrupted as the head impacted with his own, a little blood spurting out of the neck. Akashi didn't have time to recover from the blunt force trauma, considering the head had been coated in wind chakra, and it had sliced Akashi in half.

The bandits from the camp all surrounded the body, staring in horror at the two slices, the internal organs slowly leaking out, at a much slower pace than the blood that poured out like a tidal wave. Every one of the bandits suddenly seized up, their faces contorting in odd ways. The bodies suddenly slumped over, a sea of luminescent blue light pouring out of their bodies and rushing over to a group of 4 people, particularly the blonde that stood in the middle, grunting in suppressed euphoria.

"Naruto, you were supposed to save at least two so that Itachi and Kuruko could experience their first kills." Berated the team's sensei, a little-known Uchiha, before he turned around, continuing to berate the young blonde that had taken a liking to the Uchiha prodigy. Itachi looked over to Naruto, who was trailing behind the group with a slight scowl at the teacher Fugaku had picked out for Itachi's team. But, Itachi noticed something.

Naruto grinned, ever so slightly, at the gust of wind behind him, and the spray of blood that followed. He really had forgotten that Itachi and whatever the other kid's name was were still numb to the feeling of killing someone. But nobody on his team knew of his ability to control the dead…

"Thank you, Itachi-kun." Bowed Naruto, slightly annoyed that he had to show anything other than indifference in front of the other two members of his team. "Heh, that's right brat. Even you can forget a couple a' bandits every so often." Berated the sensei again, grinning in triumph in a way that only an Uchiha could.

Itachi stared at the blood on his hands, before a hand rested on his shoulder. The other members of his team were walking away, but the blonde was still right next to him, wiping a little blood off of his cheek with an indifferent face. "Itachi-kun, we both know there is no way I can even pretend to understand how you are feeling right now," Itachi's shoulders slumped a little, but it meant a lot when the person was an Uchiha, "But, what I can do is offer an ear. If you need to vent about it, rant about it, hell even if you just want to ignore it, I'm here for you. And," Naruto continued, letting go of Itachi's shoulder and walking towards the other members of their team, "I can also offer to buy you some pocky when we get back to Konoha." Itachi let a small grin break his look of horror, before he caught up to his friend. "I'd like that Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned, his grin being even less noticeable than a Hyuuga's emotions. He had gained 2 emotions from Konoha, 1 good, and 1 utterly terrible. Fear, and Happiness. The causes? An Overwhelming chance of failure, and making his only friend happy.

Konoha.

Naruto stared with emotionless eyes at the village that he randomly resided in. He had taken a slightly more permanent residing in said village when he became Itachi's friend and teammate, (being on the team was an irritable experience, but he did it for Itachi), and he lived somewhere moderately close by the Uchiha Compound, considering that even when Mikoto offered him a room at the main family house, Fugaku was still the clan head. No amount of pans to the back of the head would change that. Though, Naruto could simply change the man's opinion through the use of chakra, but that would be unfair to the man. He would rather be on good terms with the father of his only friend, rather than be hated by said man.

"Naruto-kun, it appears that Sasuke and Katsumi are rapidly approaching." Informed Itachi with a light tone, meaning he found the situation amusing in some way. Naruto's upper eyelid dropped slightly, meaning he was irritated in some way. "Itachi-kun, tell me again why I can't simply use their chakra to make them leave me be." Questioned Naruto in a flat tone, before he was rocketed to the ground by a flash of red. "Uncle Naruto!" Came a shrill scream, followed by the crashing of Itachi, who fell victim to a black flash. "Itachi-nii!" Came a slightly deeper shrill scream.

"Katsumi-san, I thought I told you," Katsumi seized up, chakra moving to her muscles and making her forcibly get up off of Naruto, stiffly standing until she suddenly giggled, the seizing stopping, "That when I arrive in Konoha, I need a break before I have, as you call it, fun with you." Drawled Naruto, staring at Katsumi in an emotionless glare.

"Sasuke-kun, the same goes for you." Stated Itachi, but he picked Sasuke up under the armpit, setting him down on his shoulders. Sasuke giggled, pulling at Itachi's hair in a way that was uncomfortable, but didn't hurt. "Onward to the H- the H- Katsumi's Dad's Office!" Shouted Sasuke, pointing to the Hokage tower. Katsumi frowned, turning away from Naruto.

"Katsumi, I will not carry you on my shoulders." Stated Naruto, continuing forward until he heard a small 'Hn'.

Hokage Office.

Minato sighed, scribbling lazily on some paperwork until he heard the door to his office open. 4 people entered, Itachi, Sasuke, Katsumi, and an obviously irritated Naruto. Minato smiled fondly, his little Kushina-replica was playing with Naruto's silky hair. Itachi seemed amused, though it was only a slight upturn to his lip that Minato could notice. "Ah, I see Fuki-chan and Dorai-san left you two for the mission report again?" Questioned Minato, chuckling when Itachi nodded, but grit his teeth without showing it when Sasuke pulled his head back up.

"Hokage-san, please take your daughter." Naruto half-pleaded half-demanding, shrugging off the whiskered-girl to her dad. "How'd you get him to do it this time, Katsu-chan?" Questioned Minato, grinning when his little girl lit up. "Actually, it was Ita-chan that did it for me today!" Giggled Katsumi, referring to the oldest Uchiha in the room. Minato nodded towards Itachi, before he grunted, Katsumi had climbed up to his head again. The little 5 year-old Jinchuriki was a bundle of energy.

"Hokage-san, I am taking a week-long trip to Chiwa." Informed Naruto, and Minato couldn't really deny him. I mean, it was pushing it a little to ask Naruto to allow trade with Chiwa again. Even though they were trading with dead-bodies… Minato shook his head. That situation was too weird. "Alright, you may leave whenever Naruto-kun." Said blonde nodded, walking out of the room, but stopping to whisper something in Itachi ear. Said Uchiha's eyes flashed, but he grunted slightly to say something in their weird, telepathic-but-not language.

"Hokage-sama, I wish to accompany Naruto-kun on this trip." Explained Itachi, after handing Minato the mission report. "Really? What for?" Questioned Minato, as he knew the boy didn't know about Naruto's ability to control the dead. "Well, I wish to see the place that Naruto-kun normally resides." Explained Itachi, though Minato wasn't a kage for nothing. "Ah, so he asked you on his way out to accompany him yes?" Accused Minato, grinning in achievement when Itachi nodded in slight shame. "Alright, but do make sure to stay safe ok?" Suggested Minato, even though he knew that with Naruto he didn't have to worry about the Uchiha heir. The boy did help seal the Kyuubi into his daughter.

On the trip to Chiwa.

"Naruto-kun, I wish to ask you something." Questioned Itachi, off-handedly looking at his traveling companion and friend through the corner of his eye. "By the feel of your chakra, this has been troubling you for some time." Stated Naruto, looking up to the sky. "Ah, yes, it has. I'm surprised you didn't notice anything was troubling me before." Itachi relented when Naruto simply shrugged. "Actually, that is part of the reason I asked you to accompany me to Chiwa." Explained Naruto.

Itachi slumped in defeat, his friend was like an omniscient god at times. "Well, on to what has been troubling me," Started Itachi, taking a quick glance at the burn on Naruto's chest, and the gash in the middle of the burn. "Everyone has many different tales of what you did during the Kyuubi attack. Some say you defeated it on your own, others say you were just there in the Yondaime's spotlight. But, I want to know what happened in your own story." Explained Itachi, staring at Naruto for an answer. Said blonde rubbed his neck, right over the burn.

"Ah, that night, 5-years ago. Well, first off I can say that your Hokage merely sealed the Bijuu," Began Naruto, staring down the dirt path. "As you know, I have a keen awareness of chakra. This is due to something a man known as Orochimaru did to me." Started Naruto, not missing the faint shock in Itachi's chakra. "In truth, he's the entire reason I am like I am. The whole reason I can do what I do with chakra," revealed Naruto, lifting his left hand and staring at it. Itachi noticed that it began glowing blue, symbolizing Naruto's incredible control over chakra.

"From the moment I was born, all I knew until I escaped Orochimaru was white. And, a small hatch in which a new book was given to me everyday. All I was, all I did, was an experiment. Orochimaru, in his lust for knowledge, wanted to know how a human would function if they had the least amount of influence as possible. Itachi," Naruto looked over to said Uchiha, and Itachi could tell there was pain in his eyes, though his voice didn't prove his hypothesis, "He even took away anyway for me to taste. He fed me at night, under heavy sedatives, I didn't even know what water felt like sliding down my throat until about two days after I escaped that room." Explained Naruto, never once losing the tone of emptiness that Itachi had grown accustomed to.

"And every night while I was fed, chemicals were pumped into my bloodstream, targeting the center of the brain that handles emotion. The chemical was neutralizing anyway for me to feel emotion. But, orochimaru made a fatal mistake the second he gave me the first scroll I'd ever been given. Inside it, was instructions, written by Orochimaru, on the Shunshin Jutsu." It was at this point that Itachi was keenly aware of Naruto's strange dialect, realizing it was because he was self-taught at everything basic.

"Once I unlocked my chakra without knowing it, I began to feel what I now know is a chakra signature. Orochimaru's to be exact. One day, it felt like I could reach out and grab it with my own two-hands." Naruto continued, Itachi was already unable to focus on the path in front of the two boys. "So, I just tried it. Well, I guess I pulled a little too hard. Orochimaru's chakra was forcefully expelled out of his body, killing him on the spot. The chakra solidified because at the time I wanted to just grip it. Eventually, my pull was too much for the wall separating me and the outside world."

"I broke free, started living in a tree in Chiwa, and eventually, learning new emotions, new ways to use chakra. I get excited when I use someone else's chakra, and it is an unheard of pleasure to assimilate chakra into your system. It feels fulfilling, and for the first part of my new life all I could focus on was feeling emotion. Itachi," Naruto stopped, and stared Itachi in the eyes, "I ended up killing everyone in Chiwa to get my fix. I just needed to feel something, anything." Explained Naruto, continuing his walk. Itachi was having a hard time believing that Naruto could just sit there and say all of this with no emotion in his voice. But, having known Naruto for 5 years, he knew this was tearing up the boy for a while.

"Eventually, I experimented with an Idea I had. Chakra is hailed as a life essence, something that life depends upon. Well, I can control dead bodies with chakra. It's how Konoha figured out about me, because I basically made Chiwa into what it is today," Naruto stopped, staring at the intimidating sight down the dirt path, "A fortress."

Itachi marveled at the massive stone walls, but most of all, he stared at the pointy peak in the center of town, the sun peeking out behind it. Everything looked like some sort of kingdom straight out of a history book. "Anyway," Naruto started again, and Itachi could see two people stumble out of their way as the gates opened, "Onto the Kyuubi attack."

Itachi fought the urge to jump when the massive stone gates slammed shut, the two guards stumbling back into their individual stations. He still couldn't grasp that they were dead, and looking around, he almost wondered if the Zombie Apocalypse started. "I was being escorted to Konoha to negotiate with Minato-san. Than, I felt it. Miniscule as it was, having the senses that I do, it was immense for me. It was the Kyuubi, the 9-tailed Bijuu I read about in some books given to me by Orochimaru." Explained Naruto, walking towards the massive castle. "When I arrived, I had an overwhelming urge to take all of it's chakra for my own. That goal was crushed when it fired a Bijuudama at me." Naruto mentioned, noticing but ignoring Itachi's wide eyed stare. "I realized almost immediately that it needed to be sealed. As you know, it ended up inside Katsumi. Minato was having a hard time sealing it, as it's thrashing was causing it to move out of the range for the sealing technique. So, I destabilized it's physical form." Naruto explained, but stopped his story when Itachi looked startled.

"B-but how can you just, destabilize a physical form? Wouldn't that be impossible?" Questioned Itachi. "Well, no because all Bijuu are chakra constructs. They form physical bodies by solidifying chakra. The only thing that isn't chakra is their conscious, which I still can't figure out. Anyway, I managed to destabilize it. Minato was able to seal it, but the strain on my body was too much. I blacked out as the chakra swirled into Katsumi's gut, it reminded me of a whirlpool." Naruto said casually, before remembering two things of importance.

"And, at the time, as you know I was only focused with feeling emotion. Well, I managed to… I assimilated a whole tail's worth of chakra from the Kyuubi." Finished Naruto, looking at Itachi who looked worried. "Don't worry. It's not toxic to me. My body naturally converts foreign chakra into my own chakra signature. The only reason you can't tell I have that much chakra is because I can suppress it down to the feeling of a dead body's worth of chakra. Though, it becomes incredibly dense. But, something of more importance," Naruto turned around, gripping Itachi's shoulders.

"An Uchiha was controlling the Kyuubi Itachi-kun. The Uchiha also attacked Kushina-san, causing the attack. I ran a check on all of the Uchiha, so don't worry, it's not any of them. But, I'm just informing you so that you know."

When Itachi and Naruto returned a week later, both seemed, lighter. Like something had been taken off of their shoulders.

This might be the only Author's note the whole story, but there will be no Naruto/Itachi.

It is merely a friendship, a very deep friendship.

Pairing undecided, if there will even be a pairing.