Welcome back guys, as always I do not own Naruto (I am not that smart).
'Internal thoughts will be in italic'
Chapter 1 - A New Life.
Black flames. Limping down a forgotten haven in the Land of Fire was a young boy with long black hair, surrounded by raging black flames. With nothing but his instinct to live he moved, his legs having little to no muscle mass. He got to a path in the middle of nowhere and collapsed, the black flames spreading around him.
Further down the path were two men were making their way into the Land of Fire, they had business in the Hidden Leaf Village. Most would be afraid of the bandits that inhabit the path, but these two black-cloaked ninja were incredibly powerful.
"Itachi, if you were in the Anbu then surely there is an easier way to get to the village." The man swings his bandage wrapped sword, swatting a bandit against a tree. "I don't like using Samehada to kill pests." While donning the same robe and straw hat as the other male, he was notably taller with blue skin. His eyes round and lifeless like a fish.
"I would rather avoid contact with the Leaf before we get there Kisame. Otherwise finding the Nine-Tails will be difficult." The smaller male Itachi didn't seem as muscular as Kisame but the aura he gave off was fearsome.
"Hey, killing Leaf Shinobi is fine but these flies aren't even worth my ti-" Itachi suddenly glared at Kisame with a red glow in his eyes.
"Just be quiet, unless you want more of them finding us." They continued down the path in silence until they started to notice something.
"Itachi, isn't that..."
"Amaterasu. Yes." Itachi picked up speed to find it's source but was cut off by the black flames spreading across the path. "Hmm.." Itachi closed his eyes for a moment then opened them to show his eyes had changed shape. The flames around the pathway were being smothered by Itachi's eye jutsu.
"What is that in the middle of it all?!" Kisame had caught up and noticed something strange in the center of the path.
"After I clear this next section of flame just grab it and run. I cannot clear all of this in time." Itachi looked as though he was getting tired but continued to clear the flame until a body was clearly visible on the path. Kisame did as Itachi instructed, grabbing the body and running away from the still spreading flames. Itachi then followed, running down the path to catch up to Kisame.
"Huh so it was this kid I saw?" He dropped the body on the ground. "I wish I noticed he was naked before I picked him up..." Itachi came around the corner to see the body on the ground.
"Is he the one who created the flames?" Itachi knelt down to check the boy's pulse. "He is still alive at least."
"Check his eyes, the Mangekyo could still be active." Itachi knelt down once again to check his eyes. He opened the eyelids and immediately froze. "Itachi quit wasting time. Does he have the Mangekyo or not?"
"No... But..." Itachi turned the boys head to face Kisame, showing his eyes were purple with a ripple pattern spreading from the center.
"This can't be right... You don't just stumble across people with the Rinnegan every day!" Kisame got closer for a look at both eyes, but as he did the Rinnegan faded and the boy went limp. "Hey?! Did he just-"
"No. He just passed out. He must have been conscious this whole time." Itachi removed his cloak and covered the boy. "Pick him up. We can't ignore this."
"Of course I get stuck carrying him..." Kisame picked the boy up and they began to walk off the path to a different direction. "So what are we doing with him?"
"We are taking him to Pein. We need to confirm that this is indeed the Rinnegan, then decide what to do with him."
"But the Rinnegan isn't showing right now. If it still doesn't show by the time we get there they may not believe us."
"We will deal with that when the time comes. For now just be quiet. I don't want to be talking the whole way to the Hidden Rain." They continued on for a few days, the boy occasionally opening his eyes only to pass out moments later. Kisame tried talking to Itachi multiple times on the way but was completely ignored by Itachi, who seemed deep in thought the whole way.
"Itachi! Don't ignore me! His eyes haven't shown anything this whole time. Pein isn't going to just take our word for it." Kisame tried raising his voice at Itachi but he was no even reacting to his presence.
"I..ta..chi..." Itachi immediately froze on the spot. He turned to see the boy's eyes looking blankly at the ground, unfortunately still lacking the Rinnegan.
"Looks like he's taken a liking to you Itachi." Kisame turned his head to look at his eyes. "But this is still a problem. What are we going to tell them?" Just then the boy passed out again. "Hey! Wake back up you stupid kid and show us the Rinnegan!" Kisame shook the boy but Itachi grabbed Kisame's hand.
"Lets just keep moving. We are going to enter the Hidden Rain soon enough." Itachi let go and began walking again, Kisame following close behind. They soon came to face a wall of rain, acting as a veil around the entire Hidden Rain Village.
"Here goes nothing. They will know we are here once we go through. Are you ready?" Kisame turned to Itachi who was still walking, once again deep in thought. Unfortunately for Itachi, his thought was interrupted by him passing through the veil of rain, quickly snapping him out of his delirium. "Well now they know, are you okay there?" Kisame asked with a smug tone.
"Apologies. I am just trying to piece this turn of events together." Itachi and Kisame began walking once again, heading toward the center of the village.
"Any ideas yet?" Kisame asked, once again with a smug tone.
"None..." Itachi was beginning to get impatient with Kisame but focused on how to explain this to their leader. "Be silent when we talk the the others. We will probably be greeted by-" Suddenly small pieces of paper started flying wildly around them.
"Speak of the devil..." Kisame commented as the paper began to gather to form a woman. She was wearing the same black robe with red clouds. Her amber eyes stared at the two of them with impatience.
"Pein wants to know why you are here..." Her voice while soft was cold, like she didn't care one way or the other. "That can't be the Nine-Tails..." Kisame breathes in to speak but Itachi raises his arm to cut him off.
"Konan. This boy seems to possess the Rinnegan." They all stood in silence for a moment, Konan making a face similar to Itachi's previous expression.
"Impossible..." Konan breaks the silence, not looking convinced.
"Your disbelief is no surprise, but I saw it myself." Itachi gave a swift reply, trying to prove his story.
"Just come to the tower..." Konan's body then vanished, leaving only a cluster of paper behind which promptly flew towards the tower in the center of the Hidden Rain.
"That could have gone better..." Kisame noted, but Itachi was already walking to the tower.
'None of this makes sense. Finding him in Amaterasu flames then finding the Rinnegan. Those eyes need to show again, otherwise...' Itachi and Kisame made their way through the village, soon finding themselves at the tower. "Kisame, once again do not speak. I don't want this to get out of hand." Kisame shrugged and they entered the tower, making their way up until they approached a stone door. Itachi slowly pushed the door open to see six machines all housing different red-headed males wearing the same robes as Itachi and Kisame. As they entered the room one of the males exited the machine, slowly getting up.
"Itachi and Kisame..." The man's face was covered in black piercings and he had the Rinnegan active in his eyes. "Why are you not in the possession of the Nine-Tails?" Itachi gestured Kisame to put the boy down of the stone table in the center of the room.
"We found something that can't be ignored Pein." Itachi said as Pein approached the table.
"And that is?"
"This boy possesses the Rinnegan. We saw it on the way to the Hidden Leaf." Pein approached the boy, lifting his eyelids to see his dark eyes.
"Is this a joke...?" Suddenly Pein raised his hand, the boy's body flying off the table and slamming into the wall on the other side of the room. Itachi and Kisame stood there speechless. "Just go get the Nine-Tails Itachi and quit wasting my-"
"I..ta..chi..." Pein turned to see what Itachi and Kisame were looking at, that being the boy was standing after Pein's attack.
"Well this is surprising. This boy has incredible endurance for a child." Pein looked on as the child raised his head.
"Itachi...?" The boy glared straight at Pein, the Rinnegan clearly visible in his eyes.
"Not possible..." Pein remarked in disbelief.
"ITACHI!" The boy screamed as he dashed at Pein, hate filling his eyes. Pein calmly raised his hand again to attack but as he did the boy did the same, cancelling out his attack and causing massive pressure to build within the room. The walls were starting to crack with Itachi and Kisame almost unable to move.
"What is this!?" Pein shouted as the boy charged into him head first, knocking him down. "Get off me!" Pein's words fell on deaf ears as the boy started throwing punches wildly at Pein, causing serious damage and shattering bones with every strike.
"We need to stop this Itachi!" Kisame yelled, still rendered helpless by the pressure of the simultaneous Rinnegan attack. The other 5 bodies in the machines quickly darted out and restrained the boy, pulling him off Pein and revealing that he had been killed by the onslaught of punches.
"Well this was unexpected..." One of the Pein's firmly punched the boy in the gut.
"Itachi..." The boy uttered with his last breath before falling unconscious from Pein's strike, the Rinnegan fading from his eyes. All the Peins then looked at the damage this one boy had caused, then faced Itachi and Kisame.
"Explain." Itachi rose after finally being freed from the attack and walked over to the boy.
"We found him on the way to the Hidden Leaf, we have no clue where he came from." One of the Peins put the boy back on the table while the others took the dead Pein into the next room.
"Finding someone with the strength to kill one of my bodies is not common. You were right to bring him here." The Pein who stayed behind was also covered in piercings but he had long red hair rather than short.
"So what do we do with this one?" Kisame remarked, lifting the boy's eyelids. "The Rinnegan seems to only activate on instinct."
"Speaking of, how did this child know your name?" Pein looked to Itachi.
"I assume he heard it from Kisame. He wouldn't stop talking on the way here after all..." Itachi said, glaring at Kisame.
"Well this is unusual to say the least." Pein felt the boy's arms. "His muscles are barely developed. It appears he broke is arm just from hitting me. It's as if he was only just born." Pein stepped back. "I only see two options here." The room's atmosphere got heavy. "We either kill him." Pein raised his hand, reaching out for the boy's head.
"Or...?" Itachi spoke up, halting Pein's advance.
"Or we keep him. He would be a great asset to the Akatsuki, especially after Orochimaru left us. But..." Pein had an annoyed look on his face. "It seems like we would have to raise him and that may be more trouble than it's worth." Pein's hand reached the boy's head.
"You of all people should know that it's worth the trouble..." Itachi stepped in between them, Pein removing his hand.
"Hmm. This is quite unlike you. But I know you are not one to make careless decisions." Pein turned, walking away to follow the others. "I shall call a meeting to discuss his place in the Akatsuki." He said as he went through the door.
"So what do we do now?" Kisame asked, looking at the boy.
"We will attend the meeting then go back to our original mission. We will be leaving tonight." Itachi sat down on a ledge of the tower, looking out at the village.
"I guess we will just do nothing for now then." Kisame wandered off, not satisfied with waiting there with Itachi.
'Hmm... I wonder what will come of this. I may need to change some parts to my plan.' Itachi sat there, staring out and contemplating the days events as the time went on. Before too long, Kisame had returned and the previously dead Pein stood in the doorway.
"Come. We are going to start the meeting." As they walked out of the room Itachi turned to look at the boy for a moment, before following the others. As they walked on they could hear voices coming from the next room.
"Pein should just deal with it if he has the Rinnegan. Quit wasting our time." They entered the room to see a group of rainbow colored silhouettes gathered around the table with three spare seats. "Nice of you to join us..."
"Hidan be quiet. You're talking far too much." Among the silhouettes you couldn't see most of the appearance of these people, other than the color of their eyes.
"Hidan. Kakazu. Be silent. We have much to discuss." The three of them sat down and the meeting began. "So far all we know about the boy is he was found on the borders of the Hidden Leaf and has somehow acquired the Rinnegan. He is quite strong but will need a lot of time to get him into working order."
"So what you're saying is for the time being he is useless to us. Hmm?"
"I think what Deidara is trying to say is someone is going to have to deal with this." The room went silent after this remark.
"Sasori is correct. We need someone to not only raise the child, but to teach the basics of being a Shinobi as well." Pein looked around the room but it seemed no one was willing to take time to complete this task.
"I will." Itachi rose from his chair. "I will train the boy until he is ready to use the Rinnegan. Then it lies to you to teach him to use it Pein. Does that sound agreeable to you...?" Pein stood in silence for a moment, then gave a small nod. "But..."
"But...?"
"I want to name him." The room got quiet again.
"That is a small demand for your effort. Is that all?"
"Yes." Pein looked at Itachi with a confused look for a moment, but then shrugged it off.
"Then it is decided. Until the Rinnegan can be activated at will, you will train him. Dismissed."
"Man, what a waste of time. Hmm." One by one the silhouettes vanished leaving only Itachi, Kisame and Pein in the room.
"Kisame."
"Hmm?" Kisame looked to Itachi.
"We are leaving. Once we have finished our mission in the Leaf I will begin training the boy." Itachi exited the room with Kisame following closely behind. They entered the room they were in previously, the boy still resting on the table. Just as Itachi was about to leave, Kisame walked to the table.
"So what are you calling him?" Itachi stopped and approached as well.
"..." Itachi stared at the boy for a moment. As he did the boy opened his eyes.
"Itachi?" He spoke, but once again he was only able to say the young Uchiha's name.
"His name is... Kazumu."
(Chapter End)
Took a bit longer than expected admittedly, but I am structuring the story a bit differently and I am adding a major arc later in the story so I have been mostly planning for that. I feel that I just made parts of the story on a whim and ignored major character traits along the way so I hope I am more accurate this time around. I am probably taking this a bit too seriously but oh well. Instead of having the timeskip here I will be having the next chapter focus on his training. As it is I have lengthened this intro substantially anyway so I am sure it will be fine, flashbacks are mainly annoying anyway. Essentially the story will be very similar to the original but written better and based on the manga, not the god awful filler infested anime. If that satisfies then I will be continuing the story. Once again I am making no promises. But I hope I can keep it up for the people who enjoy it.
Anyway thank you for reading and see you next chapter.