A Perception of Reality

by knightchaser

There is a belief that states for every action taken, the alternative action is played out in another dimension. In one reality Itachi succeeded in killing his clan, in another, he failed. This is the story of what happened when he failed.

79. Chapter 79 The Naginata

Thanks for all the reviews and favs

The voting on whether Madara lives or dies is almost even. I'm not sure what to do about that. It started out with a large point spread so it seemed easy but having it turn out even is a surprise. Although I guess perhaps the latest chapters of the Manga have probably turned more people against Madara.

So I guess I'm just confused. Half the readers want him to live and several have sent me reviews and e-mails asking for him to live and the other half want him dead (although, unless I'm mistaken, none of them have pleaded their case.) So far "dead" is leading by a point, but I'll leave the voting open until Monday evening. You can also send me reviews or messages with your ideas.

I'm sort of thinking of writing two endings – one where he dies and one where he lives. But a message like "skip to chapter X if you want him to live and chapter Y if you want him to die" seems kind of silly. On the other hand, it's a fanfic not a book.

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto.

Chapter 79 – The Naginata

Itachi trod lightly over the loose sand on the beach, the roar of the waves nothing more than background noise and the cool breeze coming in from the ocean nothing more than a minor annoyance to be ignored. The sun peaked out over the horizon and in the few short minutes it took to walk to the edge of the water it was casting long shadows that grew shorter as the higher it rose. Unlike the beach near the hideout, this one was very private, with a forest bordering the west, a tree-lined cliff to the north and massive boulders to the south. But it was also smaller. All in all, the area was only about a quarter mile long and a thousand feet wide.

"You picked an interesting spot to fight." Madara, dressed completely in black and his thick, wavy hair blowing lightly in the wind used a transportation jutsu to appear six feet in front of the teen. "The beach on the other side of those rocks is certainly better suited to your jutsus."

"No." Itachi replied simply, and with resignation, as he reached up to adjust the Konoha headband he had borrowed from his father – tying it tight so it wouldn't slip, "It's too close to the hideout. This is better."

"We're only a quarter mile away and your shark friend is moving his ship around the rocks to join you anyway."

"Humph." Itachi smirked and shoved his left hand inside his waist-length dark-blue yukata so he could rest it lazily on top of the thin black obi belt that looped around his waist.

"Of course…" Madara paused for a moment before continuing, "you don't want to risk harming the Jinchuurikis. The other beach was too close for comfort as far as you were concerned. Well, Itachi, you're right. We mustn't harm them." Madara shook his head, "You realize, if you back off now and go home you will be able to live in peace for the rest of your life. It will be a true peace with no ninjas and no war. That's what you want, isn't it Itachi? If you stay here and fight me you'll die."

"You have no idea what I want, Madara." Itachi replied cautiously. "And it goes without saying that if you attack me you will suffer greatly. And if I die Fugaku and Pein are nearby to finish you off. As weak as you will be at that point I doubt they'll even have to use their Kekkei Genkais."

"That's where I come in." Itachi turned his head to look at the newcomer. Sora, dressed identically to Madara in black pants and shirt, was leaning up against a tree looking very smug. "I will fight them."

A strong wind gusted in from the ocean and blew a few wispy strands of long hair across Itachi's eyes. He ignored it and turned his gaze back to Madara. He couldn't help but wonder if Sora really would fight his grandson. However, that wasn't the problem, "You really think you could go up against a Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan?"

Sora laughed, and both Itachi and Madara looked at him as if he were insane, "If Madara dies and if I step aside you'll just let me go? No, Itachi. Everyone here will die. Konoha, Lightning, Stone, Sand… none of them are going to let any of us go. My grandfather and my father, when they realized they were dying, refused to go to their bed. As ninja, they were determined to die as ninja. What I learned that day I have carried in my heart my entire life. I will also die on my feet."

The words were nobly spoken and certainly passionately felt, but to Itachi they sounded empty and hollow. He wanted to die at home, in his bed, with his family near. "Then I guess I'm not a ninja after all because I don't feel that way."

Looking back at Madara he tried to decipher the clouded gaze the man was giving his uncle. Itachi had to admit he hadn't considered the full consequences of what was going to happen today. To him the entire point of being here was to take down Madara. But standing behind that man were many other human lives that, tomorrow, would no longer walk the earth as living souls.

"When, exactly, did Itachi Uchiha become a coward?" The words were uttered so quietly that the teen barely heard them over the roar of the waves. Madara was now staring intently, his Sharingan eyes glowing red in the bright morning sun.

The memory of a corpse-strewn valley and the stench of decomposing flesh washed over him and he started coughing. It had been a while since he had visited the hospital for therapy and the buildup in his lungs, while tolerable, could certainly become worse as the day progressed.

Madara continued to talk, "The Itachi Uchiha I knew wanted to be a powerful ninja and would pout if his opponent disappointed him."

'Yes, that was me.' Itachi thought to himself. 'A long time ago I was like that.'

"He would have fought anyone to gain that power. He would have stared, longingly, hypnotically, at the river of red as it flowed from the many wounds inflicted by his blade and longed for the moment when he could see it once again." Madara's words were a mixture of bitterness and regret, nostalgia and, not surprisingly, arrogance. It was quite a range of emotion and definitely something only the elder Uchiha could pull off.

At least, that's what Itachi thought until he realized he was also feeling a lot of different emotions himself. "The Madara I knew…" Itachi closed his eyes and thought back thirteen years, "was kind, cared for the welfare of his students, and would put his own life on the line to protect those weaker than himself." He opened his eyes and looked directly at the man before him and spoke up in a strong voice, "You can tell me you were acting, that you were just stringing us along, and to an extent you were. I can't deny that. But the underlying feelings were real. No matter what you have become, Madara Uchiha, no matter how different you are from your younger self, that person still exists inside of you. Just as the bloodthirsty sociopathic ninja I was as a child still exists inside of me."

Those words had a dramatic effect on Madara and he gritted his teeth resentfully as he glared at the teenage boy in front of him. Angrily he yelled, "You have no idea the sacrifice I will make to bring peace to this world! The sacrifices I have had to make in the past and the ungrateful words I have had to endure from those who should have been my friends! Yet here I am, ready to give up everything I am for a new existence that will save their pathetic lives! And yet still they curse me!"

"You have no intention of listening to reason, have you?" Itachi dropped both hands to his side and flexed his fingers.

"Humph." Madara calmed down somewhat, "Itachi, my boy, I will regret killing you."

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The cave was just as Pein remembered and he sighed as he looked up at the ceiling that disappeared in the dark depths of the poorly lit chamber. Entry had been easy enough, of course. There was very little the six paths of Pein couldn't accomplish and entering a sealed cavern was child's play to him.

"We're not alone." Konan's calm voice broke through the eerie silence and she nodded in the direction of the massive, nine-eyed statue that almost completely filled up one corner of the cave.

"Zetsu." Pein stated simply, "You may leave. I have no argument with you."

"He's as pleasant as ever." A mechanical voice answered.

"He knows we can't do anything to hurt him." A human voice, this one amused, came from the same direction.

"It would be stupid to try." Zetsu stepped out of the wall and walked closer to the pair, "He has his five other bodies waiting outside the cave." The mechanical voice also sounded amused.

The half white, half black man with a Venus flytrap wrapped around his body eyed Pein curiously, "What are you going to do?"

"Take back the statue." Pein saw no reason to hide his plans from Zetsu. The only one who could interfere was Madara, and Itachi was keeping him conveniently busy.

"That's bad." White Zetsu complained.

"Should we tell Madara?" Black Zetsu asked, then answered himself a moment later, "Yes. Let's go get him."

Pein watched carefully as the plant man disappeared into the ground. Following his chakra he sensed his passage through the ground until he reached the beach. "He's out of the way."

"He was never in the way." Konan said matter-of-factly. "Let's get this over with. Nagato? You can come in now."

The air shimmered and a frail looking man strapped to an oval shaped tall mechanical device appeared several feet in front of her. His bare, emaciated chest revealed his skeleton in sharp contrast to the healthy, robust appearance of his six "paths" – the last five of which had followed him into the cave and were now standing in a circle around him.

Konan took a deep breath and let it out, her eyes falling as her gaze drifted to the floor. Worry overtook her as she approached her childhood friend, "There's no need to rush this, Nagato. Please, take your time. Itachi promised to give us at least an hour…"

Nagato interrupted her, his voice strong despite his outward appearance, "I was the original person synched to this statue. Madara was able to remove my chakra from it, somehow, but at great cost. Look, Konan, look closely. It is here because it can no longer be summoned. He has imprisoned it in this cave because he cannot synch it to his own body."

Placing one hand on the cold stone of the statues giant arm she used her senses to feel the chakra and the surrounding area. It did indeed feel different. In fact, it felt angry and weaker that it had the last time she had seen it two years earlier. She was amazed that Nagato was able to deduce all of that from five minutes worth of observations. To tell the truth, until he arrived at the cave he had no idea how Madara was able to control the statue without him.

"I will start now then. Konan, make sure I'm not disturbed."

The cave grew deathly quiet as Nagato closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again his Rinnegan shone brightly, a mixture of grey, purple and blue the concentric rings radiated power as he brought his hands up to form several signs.

The ground shook slightly as the statue recognized the man standing before it. He knew who and what Nagato was and how long he had been chained to him.

"He can't seal any demons because no one is synchronized with the statue." Nagato said quietly, "He's planning on using Sasuke for that no doubt. Unfortunate. It would kill a Sharingan user. That's the real reason he had to give him the Mangekyou Sharingan. But to be able to truly synch with it…" Nagato paused for a moment as the ground shook again, "in order to truly synch the child would need to have the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan."

"That means…" Konan blinked once in surprise, "He has to kill Itachi. Madara has no choice. He needs Itachi's eyes for Sasuke."

"This was all planned out in advance. How cruel. Perhaps I should have stayed in Akatsuki. The only reason Sasuke has been put through so much…"

Konan clenched her fists and stiffened her shoulders as she fought back the urge to wrap her arms around her old friend and comfort him. Nagato truly did have a kind heart, despite all the cruelties he himself had inflicted, he still had a conscious. She looked up at the man, standing with determination and resolve in front of the Gedo Mazo. The Demon Statue of the Outer Path.

"Nagato. You… you mustn't blame yourself for his actions. We have no idea what he was planning to do with Sasuke after the plan to seal the nine-tails in him failed. All we knew was that he was up to something. As for Itachi… I… have to admit I find it hard to believe that he could bring himself to kill him. The two of them together looked more like father and son than master and subordinate."

"Thank-you Konan. Your kind words mean more to me than anything." His heartfelt words brought a smile to her lips and she stepped back out of Nagato's way as the statue began to moan. He raised up his hands and called out to the otherworldly being as a long necked head burst forth at high speed from its mouth. White and ghostlike it quickly filled the cave with its growling as it twisted to and fro. The six paths of Pein stood stock still, unmoving and without emotion as they, too, raised their arms as if in supplication.

Suddenly, and without warning the beast shot down, piercing Nagato's body with a thick black rod. Nagato cried out in pain, as did his six other selves as he fought to control the surge of power that threatened to pull him apart. A minute later he slumped forward as if unconscious, yet the rise and fall of his chest and his bright, ringed eyes were evidence enough, even at a distance, that he was very aware of his surroundings.

"Gedo Mazo." Nagato stated firmly as he forced himself upright, "You are mine once again."

The statue opened it's mouth wide and moaned again as the rod connecting it to Pein broke off, even though three feet of the black steel remained imbedded in the man's back. His bright red hair was soaked with sweat and plastered to his head as he took several deep breaths in an attempt to bring the pain under control. Glancing over at the animated corpses he controlled, he picked out Yahiko and ordered him forward. Yahiko formed several hand seals and slammed his hand down onto the ground.

The cave shook as the statue began to sink into the earth. Returned to the summoning realm, Nagato now had full control over it once again.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

"You're sure they aren't coming back any time soon? I mean, it doesn't make sense that they left the place unprotected." A very confused Sasuke walked quickly alongside the smirking Deidara as he followed him through the maze of tunnels and caverns that made up the Akatsuki base.

"Madara left Sasori and me to guard everyone. He's pretty confident that his chakra locks will keep the Jinchuurikis locked up."

"But what about Sasori?" The pair stopped outside a fortified wooden door and turned to face each other.

"We'll just try to stay out of his way for now. I'm not sure exactly what he thinks of Madara because every time I bring it up he changes the subject, yet he was the one that volunteered us to stay behind."

A loud banging could be heard down the hall, causing Sasuke to frown, "Bee is pissed off about something again."

"I wish I could say it was over his imprisonment, but he complains about the stupidest things. Really, who cares if his rice ball was a quarter inch too small, or his soy sauce tastes salty. It's supposed to taste salty! It's soy sauce!" Deidara yelled out the last few words loud enough for Bee to hear and gritted his teeth when he heard the big man laughing at him.

"He's just doing it to get under your skin." The boy muttered under his breath.

Deidara groaned, "Of course he is! And it's working!" He turned to Sasuke and grinned, "Let's get everyone out of here and leave him behind."

In spite of himself, Sasuke chuckled. Deidara was probably one of the two most unique people he had ever met. The other one, of course, being Naruto. Over the past few days the mad bomber had spent as much time as he could spare working with the boy to hatch out some kind of plan to free the Jinchuurikis during the battle. However, neither one of them was any good at planning operations. Sasuke was too young and too inexperienced, and Deidara had always preferred the "blow them up and ask questions later" approach to missions.

In the end they decided to just start unlocking the doors and see what happens next.

Naruto's door opened easily enough, after all Deidara did have access to the keys. The boy was sitting at the small table coloring in the images in a manga with a blue pen. He looked very bored and very annoyed.

"What do you want?" Naruto growled grumpily as the two ninja stepped into the room.

""We're… getting out of here." Sasuke answered hesitantly. He wasn't sure what Naruto thought of him at this point and was worried that perhaps he might be considered one of Madara's minions. After Sai had been stabbed and dropped on the beach Naruto had been drugged by the elder Uchiha with what he thought would be a dosage strong enough to last several days. Instead it had lasted about eleven hours, and Naruto, when he awoke, was so mad his eyes had turned red from the Kyuubi's chakra. At that point, Sasuke had feared that his best friend would accuse him of revealing Sai's true identity to the enemy.

Naruto's eyes opened wide and he sat up straight, "For real?"

His reaction was, for some reason, quite amusing to Deidara and he laughed, "Sorry you don't have time to pack."

"No worries!" Naruto was up and out the door in two seconds flat, "Come one! I'm not leaving without the others!"

Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, "Then let's get going. The longer this takes the more likely we are to get caught."

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The roar of the waves faded into the background as Itachi stared down his enemy. Brows creased and lips set in a tight line his Sharingan eyes would certainly have been considered intimidating by anyone but the person in front of him.

Madara's expression was just as serious. The two had stood stock-still waiting for one of them to make the first move for about five minutes. It was clear that Itachi was taking his time and that concerned him. The teen was not the type to wait around for things to happen, unless he had something to gain from it. Since he wasn't waiting for Madara's surrender then something else must be going on.

Opening his mouth, he almost asked Itachi what he was waiting for when he realized that perhaps, for once, he should say nothing. This was no longer his student, he no longer needed to teach him and he no longer needed to protect him. He was here for one reason, and one reason alone.

To kill Itachi Uchiha.

There was a sudden surge of power from the teen and, without warning, Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. Almost simultaneously Madara felt Zetsu's chakra appear at the edge of the forest near Sora. He knew what was going on.

"So Pein has re-synched with the Gedo Mazo." That probably meant the Rinnegan user knew why Sasuke was so important to the plan. And why he had to fight Itachi. Without further thought Madara activated his own Mangekyou Sharingan.

Simultaneously both Uchiha's activated Tsukuyomi. The results, however, were not what either expected.

The ground was composed of an endless collection of tall cubes, spaced three to four feet from each other, but the sky was red with black clouds and the cubes, Itachi and Madara were black and white. The technique had somehow combined each of their Tsukuyomi techniques.

"This is unexpected." Madara gritted his teeth, annoyed. He had no idea what would happen if he used his techniques in this world.

"Assuredly it is." Itachi was also gritting his teeth. Pulling out his Katana he tapped it lightly against the black cube he was standing on. It was solid. Turning to the cube nearest him he mentally called forth a single four foot stake. It also seemed solid. But how much further could he go?

After only a few seconds they both dropped the Mangekyou Sharingan technique and returned to the real world.

'I didn't expect to be able to kill him with that,' Itachi thought to himself, 'but if all our techniques work this way neither of us may get a hit in. It's dangerous and unproductive to utilize an unpracticed technique during battle. There's just one thing left.'

Itachi continue to stare at Madara with his shuriken shaped Mangekyou Sharingan as he lifted his hands up in front of him. His opponent beat him to it, though, having decided, once again, upon the same course of action.

Madara stood tall as the bluish-white skeleton behind him grew in stature, settling on about thirty feet tall by twenty feet wide. Solid, yet otherworldly, its long arms rested on the ground, like an apes, while its big, fanged head hung low and its large empty eye sockets stared straight ahead. The chakra the creature emanated was dark and full of malice and those watching the fight shivered in spite of themselves.

"Susanoo." Itachi said as he called forth his own version of the creature. It looked almost exactly like Madara's, except it was red and the chakra didn't feel quite as dark. Lifting it's arms, it displayed a sword and a mirror.

"The Totsuka sword and Yata's mirror. One will seal away a soul in an eternal Genjutsu and the other will fend off any attack, reflecting it back to the person. Quite formidable, of course." Madara chuckled and folder his arms confidently over his chest. With his long, thick hair blowing in the air behind him he looked every part the ninja clan lord of legend. "But, young Itachi, there is a weapon more powerful than yours. And I have it."

Itachi watched guardedly as Madara's Susanoo lifted up its arms and presented its own offense and defense. It was unexpected and the teen took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he stared in disbelief.

"The naginata Ame-no-nuhoko, and a Buddhist rosary blessed by a thousand monks and responsible for the deaths of a thousand demons." Madara's wide smile and laughing eyes exuded confidence, "As you know, one you kill a thousand demons you become a demon yourself. Therefore the rosary repels any attack. The naginata Ame-no-nuhoko is the most powerful weapon in existence. None has ever defeated it."

The pain associated with the Susanoo was almost unbearable but neither Itachi nor Madara felt it. They were too intent on each other's techniques and strategy to worry about it. But at the same time, they also knew that despite their weapons, skill and determination, Susanoo would kill its user if kept active for too long. This fight would not last long.

"Ame-no-nuhoko." Itachi repeated matter-of-factly, "Quite an accomplishment." He remembered back to his childhood and the stories his mother would tell him about the creation of the world. He had never believed it, but seeing the mythical weapon in front of him made him think twice. Likely, it was just a weapon with similar properties named after the famous naginata and didn't actually have any more power than Itachi's own Totsuka sword which was also, more than likely, just named after that famous sword as well.

"Arrogance at its best." Itachi said. The Uchiha clan… no, ninja as a whole, had a bad habit of naming techniques after gods and demons believing it would both bless them and give them power. He knew he was just as guilty for doing it as all the rest. Before leaving Kisame's ship he had prayed at the small shrine the crew had built when they captured the ship. He had even left an offering of food and incense. Yet, as he watched the summoned creatures waving their weapons many tens of feet over their heads he felt his prayers were nothing more than blasphemy.

Madara raised his arms over his head mimicking Susanoo and in one swift, sure move brought them down, stabbing the naginata into the sand. It was possible, in this instant, to see the weapon clearly. The long wooden spear was decorated with a myriad of jewels and the spear tip at the end was so sharp it literally sparkled as the sun reflected off of it. It's descent through the sand pushed water up and it bubbled up and flowed quickly toward the ocean. As it was pulled out of the ground there was a low rumble beneath them that intensified as the earth began to shake with a violent quake that tried to throw them to the ground.

Digging his feet into the ground with chakra Itachi coughed a couple times as he ordered his Susanoo to attack the naginata. As Totsuka descended, Ame-no-nuhoko rose out of the earth and, just as the otherworldly metal left the sand the two weapons met in a violent strike.

The effects were immediate and intimidating as violent waves of dark chakra reverberated around the area in every direction for a mile. The ships in the harbor rocked over the suddenly rough waves and the ninja that had come from the four villages to help dropped to the ground alert and ready for battle. Birds and other animals that could sense the ill-will of the weapons took off at a run through the forest as if chased by a wildfire.

"Humph." Madara smirked, "That was…"

"Amazing…" Itachi muttered. "Amazing… the chakra didn't come from us it came from the weapons."

"How is that?" Madara wondered out loud. "It shouldn't be possible. Unless…"

Itachi spoke up again, completing the man's thoughts, "Ame-no nuboko pulled chakra from the earth and Totsuka scattered it." The teen smiled. His attack had been effective after all. The question now, though, was whether he had enough time left to form and execute a strategy before his body gave out. Susanoo was wreaking havoc with his body, "As long as I kill him before I die, then my last breath with be one of relief."

X x x x x x x x x x x x

"Itachi? Would you like to hear a story?"

"Yes!" The young boy shook his head up and down eagerly, accepting any activity that would let him escape from nap-time.

"That's my boy." Mikoto laughed good naturedly and ruffled his hair, "In the beginning the gods Izanagi and Izanami were given a naginata – a type of spear decorated with jewels - by the old ones. They went to the bridge between heaven and earth and stabbed it into the ocean and when they pulled it up the water than dripped off the spear head became the islands and eventually, our home. They lived on that first island for a long time and the naginata, the Ame-no-nuboko, was kept as a treasured possession.

"Izanami bore several children but died while birthing her last. Izanagi tried and failed to retrieve her from the underworld and while being cleansed upon his return Amaterasu was formed from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye and Susanoo from his nose. Susanoo had a sword called Totsuka which he used to kill an eight headed serpent. Inside of its tail he found the Kusanagi sword and he gave that to his sister Amaterasu as a gift becaue she was mad at him."

"Mother, are you named after them?"

"After who, Itachi?"

"Their names are Izanami-no-Mikoto and Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto and Ameratsu-no-Mikoto. Just like you!"

Mikoto laughed and blushed at her son's clever deduction. "What a thing for a six-year-old to say!"

"Is it true?" The boy became insist ant.

"Itachi, I really don't know. My parents died when I was young and, well, I never asked them or even thought much about it."

"Well, I think you were."

"Thank-you, Itachi. I'll take that as a compliment." Her words placated the boy and he fell asleep, a smile on his face.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x

X x x x x x x x x x x x x

Next week, the battle continues.

Okay, I delved into Japanese mythology to look for a weapon that could counter Itachi's Totsuka sword. While I didn't find anything specifically saying Ame-no-nuhoko was more powerful than Totsuka I figured it would at least be something Madara would have and should help him. And it makes sense to me that a weapon used to create the world should be pretty powerful.

Please review! Let me know what you think of the fight so far (I know, not much has happened, but I'd be interested to hear what you have to say.)

Updates on Fridays.