Hello viewers of Leader by Fate. Thanks for all of the reviews. Currently I have 400 hits on this story since chapter 3 came out. I can't believe that I actually wrote chapter three in one night. It was Valentine's Day and I had a lot of energy. I will try to make a new chapter every week from now on, maybe twice a week. Anyway, back to Naruto and Itachi.

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto collapsed, finally exhausted from his tremendous effort on the shadow clone jutsu. Itachi sighed and stood up. He had been sitting the whole time as he watched Naruto through his sharingan. "Looks like he is finally out of it," Itachi said as he walked over to examine Naruto. *I can't believe how much stamina he has. Even though he is still ranked as a genin, his stamina is equal to some chunnin.*

Naruto was out cold and looked peacefully exhausted after spending more than six hours straight trying to master the shadow clone jutsu. Itachi deactivated his sharingan and picked up Naruto. He carried Naruto to a nearby bed in the back room and set him down. He then stepped back into the main room and sat in his obsidian chair.

As Naruto slept, Itachi planned out the next few months of Naruto's training. *It would be in his best interest if he became an official genin of the hidden leaf. But, Yugao might notice him and hold him hostage. I must protect Naruto at all costs, even from the Hidden Leaf Village. The Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him is precious cargo and must be kept secret. After all, that is the REAL reason the third hokage sent him with me.*

Itachi snapped out of his deep thought when he heard Naruto groan. He turned around in his chair and saw Naruto standing in the doorway. Naruto rubbed his eyes and said, "What are we waiting for? Let's get back to training." Itachi had a slight grin on his face and replied, "Alright, continue your work from earlier."

Naruto nodded his head and formed a small cross with his hands. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared next to him and revealed a mirror image of Naruto. Itachi's grin grew even bigger as he said, "Well done Naruto. Now you must learn to control your clones separately from yourself. Let the real training, BEGIN!"

Hidden Leaf Village (same time)

The sunlight was shining into the Hokage's office. It reflected off of a picture on his desk and onto his face. The third hokage moved the picture just as an ANBU ninja appeared in front of him. The female ninja bowed before him and said, "Lord Hokage, I have lost track of Itachi Uchiha again." The hokage stood up and looked out of his balcony window behind his desk.

"Itachi has remained unseen for two years now. I think that it is almost time to put him down as 'wandering' and stop the hunt." Yugao looked up and said, "Lord Hokage, give me one more month to find him. I promise that I won't let you down. Itachi will be brought to justice." The third hokage closed his eyes and pondered the thought. *One more month hmm? I think Itachi can stay hidden for another month, but Naruto must also remain out of sight for that time.* He looked out into the village. "Alright, you have one more month."

Uchiha Hideout

Naruto and Itachi were both panting form their workout. Both were covered in scratches and light bruises. Itachi stood up straight and stretched. "You did very well Naruto. Even though I didn't use my sharingan, you still put up a decent fight." Naruto grinned at the sound of praise from his idol. Naruto sat on the floor and rested while Itachi walked to a room on the right side of the main hall.

Itachi came back out and tossed a rice ball at Naruto, which he caught. "Thanks Itachi-sensei." Itachi sat in his obsidian chair and ate his food. Naruto took this opportunity to talk. "Itachi-sensei, when can we go back to the village?" Itachi kept a black face and said, "I'm not going back, I'm a rogue ninja so they will kill me on sight."

That answer did not satisfy Naruto and he asked another question. "Well, YOU are the rogue ninja, but what about me? Can't I go back to the village?" Itachi sighed and started to tell Naruto his plan. "Well Naruto, I was planning on sending you back to become an official genin. But we should wait a little bit longer to make sure that they have listed me as a 'wandering' ninja."

Naruto looked confused. "What does that mean?" Itachi looked up and looked at Naruto. "A wandering ninja is a rogue that the ANBU is not actively pursuing. This means that they will still kill me if they see me, but they won't come looking for me." Naruto nodded in agreement and asked another question. "So when do you think they will list you as 'wandering'?" Itachi replied, "It should be soon, but we will stay hidden until we are sure. We will give them another two months to label me in our favor." After hearing that, Naruto decided that it was time to rest up and he wandered off to bed.

Uchiha Hideout (two months later)

Over the past two months Naruto had greatly increased his capability with his shadow clones. He was now able to create four stable clones without them having diminished qualities such as a slower reaction time. His max amount of clones was around thirty, however creating that many put a huge amount of stress and fatigue into him. Not to mention that the clones were pretty much worthless except for looking strong and intimidating others.

Itachi and Naruto were currently sparing and it looked as though Naruto was winning, however… "Fire Style: Scorching Flames Jutsu." Itachi had trained his searing flames jutsu and now the would-be fireballs were about four inches in diameter. Naruto had trouble dodging all of the flames and two of his clones disappeared in puffs of smoke.

The remaining three Narutos regrouped and launched a counter-attack. One clone ran straight at Itachi while another flanked him on the right and the real one followed closely in the shadow of the first. Itachi still refused to activate his sharingan or use any high level jutsu such as a normal fireball. Itachi threw three kunai at the clone flanking him and punched the first clone in the gut, causing both of them to vanish in a puff of smoke.

The original Naruto shot straight at Itachi and landed a kick to his side. Itachi flew sideways but caught himself in midair and landed on his feet. Itachi smirked and said, "That's enough for today Naruto." Naruto also grinned slightly while panting and said, "Alright Itachi-sensei." Itachi stood up straight and looked at Naruto. "Naruto, it has been two months. I think it is time." Naruto looked up with a curious face, and then remembered and grinned ear to ear.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the mild cliffhanger but I'm stopping at about 1200 words for now. I gotta keep my readers up to date with new chapters. Please review. Next up is genin academy, then more training, and eventually the chunnin exams.