Hello everyone. I am sorry to say that this chapter is going to be about 90% talking. We are nearing the end of this ark and a lot of things have to be cleared up before going any further. So prepare yourself!

Tsukuyomi Realm

Naruto stared blankly. He knew that Itachi used Tsukuyomi on him, but everything looked the same. "Confused, Naruto?" Itachi grinned as he walked closer to Naruto. The room was silent and everything except for Itachi and Naruto seemed to be frozen in place. "What is this place?" Naruto asked.

"This is the Tsukuyomi realm. At least, one version of it." Itachi replied. "I can make this illusion be whatever I like. For example…" The room shifted and Naruto was in the academy. He saw himself frozen at the moment the Third called him up to receive his headband. "Itachi-sensei, this is awesome." Itachi just smiled.

Naruto then frowned. "What are we doing here Itachi-sensei? I broke you free from the jutsu that was controlling you right? Why can't we just escape?" Itachi shook his head. "I'm sorry Naruto, but it's not the easy." Itachi turned around and Naruto's heart dropped. On Itachi's back was a seal. "It stands for 'death'." Itachi said as he turned back around. "I have already been marked. As soon as I release this jutsu, they will either take over my body again or kill me."

Naruto couldn't believe it. "But, there's a way around it right? There's always a way out, right?!" Naruto was starting to cry and tears streamed down his face. "There's got to be a way…" He said through sobs. "We worked so hard to get this far. There has to be a way to save you." Naruto wiped his eyes and Itachi walked closer. He put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and when he looked up, he saw that Itachi was smiling.

"Do not cry Naruto. I know this is hard, but you have to trust that things are not as bad as they seem." Naruto shook his head. "This is as bad as it can get." Naruto argued. "I failed you." Itachi shook his head and grinned. "No, Naruto. You did not fail, you succeeded." Naruto was confused and finished wiping the tears away. "What do you mean?"

Itachi took his hand off of Naruto's shoulder and backed up a few feet. He activated his sharingan and three tomoe swirled into his eye. "Now that you are here in this realm, I can answer any question you want. We have plenty of time, but not an unlimited amount." Naruto took a deep breath. "I don't even know what to ask."

Itachi smiled. "I'll start then. Naruto, do you know who the Fourth Hokage was?" Naruto nodded. "Say his name, out loud." Naruto nodded again. "Minato Namikaze." As Naruto said the words, they formed in front of him. Itachi waved his hand through the words and they were moved around. Some changed and they formed the words 'Naruto Uzumaki'." Naruto was confused. "The Fourth Hokage," Itachi began, "was your father, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stepped back. "The Fourth…was my father?" Itachi nodded. "You need to know what happened all those years ago. When the Nine-Tails attacked the village, your father, Minato, confronted it. Your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, was the previous jinchuuriki of the beast. After giving birth to you, the seal weakened and the Nine-Tails broke free. Long story short, in a last effort to stop the demon from destroying the Hidden Leaf, your father performed a forbidden jutsu, the Death Reaper Seal. The seal stored part of the Nine-Tails away forever, while the rest of its chakra was sealed into you. However, the amount of chakra required was so vast, that it drained both your mother and father of all of their chakra."

Naruto was speechless. He tried to take it all in and it overwhelmed him. "So, they protected the village by sealing it inside of me?" Itachi nodded. "Your father thought that if he severed the Kyuubi's chakra in half, you might be able to learn to control it." Itachi frowned. "But always remember Naruto, the Nine-Tail's chakra is nothing to fool around with. It can overwhelm your own chakra and kill you." Naruto nodded.

"Now then, since we don't have an unlimited amount of time, I will tell you what I know before you ask questions." Naruto interrupted. "Why is our time limited Itachi-sensei." Itachi smirked. "That's a loaded question, but I assume you mean during Tsukuyomi?" Naruto nodded. "Well Naruto, while in the realm of Tsukuyomi, you can experience days of life, perhaps even weeks before returning to the actual world. For the victim, the jutsu can be agonizingly painful, or peaceful, such as this conversation."

Naruto nodded, showing that he was listening. "However, for the caster, time has not entirely stopped. While skin and minor organs are not required during Tsukuyomi, my eyes, heart, and brain are all ageing during the entire jutsu." Naruto looked at Itachi questioningly. "So parts of you are older than other parts because of Tsukuyomi?" Itachi nodded. "Altogether, I've spent around forty years inside this jutsu."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Forty?!" Itachi nodded. "This jutsu is especially dangerous for the heart. I assume I have less than a year of Tsukuyomi time before my heart gives out." Naruto frowned and looked down. "However, due to my shortage of chakra, we can only stay here for about three days."

Naruto's brain was racing. He was thinking of everything, anything he could do to free his sensei. "Naruto, Danzo is planning to overthrow the Hokage. Instead of fighting him now, I need you to promise me something." Naruto nodded. "Sure, anything Itachi-sensei." He smiled. "Leave the Hidden Leaf. Find allies and get stronger. Right now, Danzo has the support of most of the village. If you fight him and lose, the village will be doomed."

It hit Naruto like a wall. "Leave the village? I mean, we were already planning to leave once I saved you," Naruto held back tears as he finished, "but where do we go without you?" Itachi replied, "You will need to travel fast to a village that is out of the Akatsuki's way. Southwest of here, in Wind Country, there is a little town called Adomai. "

Naruto nodded. "Here, let me show you." Itachi waved a hand in front of him and a map appeared. "Here is where we are. Hidden Leaf Village." Itachi says as he points at the center of the map. "Wind Country is down here. This village, the Hidden Sand Village, is where we went for our first mission." Naruto nodded and Itachi dragged his finger northwest of the village. "Here is Adomai. It is a small town and very few merchants travel through it."

Naruto nodded once more as the map faded. "What do we do when we get there Itachi-sensei?" Itachi frowned. "Unfortunately, most of my contacts from that village died long ago. However, there is one person who should be able to help you, assuming you can get on his good side. His name is Ryoku. He is a master of the Shadow Clone jutsu."

Naruto nodded again and smiled slightly. Itachi-sensei, a few days ago Yugao came to me. She said that she wanted me to save you." Itachi frowned and Naruto saw that it made him sad to think of her. "I wish I could have seen her one more time. What did she say?"

"She said that you two were more than friends." Naruto started. "Yes, we were at one time." Itachi replied. "In fact, she has been helping us all this time." Naruto's eyes widened. "What do you mean? She has been hunting us since day one." Itachi shook his head slowly. "Don't you remember Naruto? She is one of the best trackers in the ANBU. So why couldn't she find us?"

Naruto looked confused and didn't know where Itachi was going with this. "She found us several times and let us go. It was only after Danzo strengthened the seal on her that we had to hide underground. She came to me earlier that day. You saw her as she was leaving." Naruto's head was spinning as he remembered.

*Naruto woke up early to check the traps he had set last night. It had been two years since he had left Hidden Leaf Village with Itachi. Naruto had trained himself to be a light sleeper and had mastered the art of setting traps and analyzing the landscape for the slightest disturbance.

Naruto heard footsteps coming from his left side. Since he had not learned any jutsu and had limited taijutsu, he dove into cover. He peered around and saw a familiar purple-haired woman.*Yugao again,*Naruto thought as he watched her carefully. Yugao had been appearing more and more often lately and had been close to finding Naruto and Itachi many times. Naruto decided that he should return to Itachi as quick as possible to inform him.

Itachi was packing up camp when Naruto arrived. "Itachi-sensei, Yugao is close by." Itachi said to Naruto without looking up, "I know, I think it is time we changed sites anyway." Naruto started to help Itachi pack up and proceeded to ask questions. "Why is Yugao always hunting us down?" Itachi stopped packing up and decided to let Naruto finish. "Well Naruto, Iama rogue ninja and Yugao is in the assassination division of the ANBU. That means that she has been assigned to deal with me personally. I know Yugao well enough to know that she takes her work very seriously."

Naruto seemed satisfied with that answer and finished tearing down the camp site, making sure to leave no trace of their presence. He looked up at Itachi and nodded his head, signaling that he was done. Itachi turned and started walking towards a large boulder. "Naruto, I think that it is time that we move in to the Uchiha Hideout." Naruto looked at him with curiosity. "Wait a minute, are saying that you have access to a hideout and we are only just moving in now?"

Itachi touched the boulder and it vanished, revealing a small trapdoor. "Yes, we are moving in just now because not only have you mastered the art of survival, but also because we cannot hide from Yugao forever in this forest." Naruto seemed to understand his reasoning, but he still could not hide the fact that he was a little disappointed. Both Itachi and Naruto jumped into the hole revealed by the trapdoor, and fell into the darkness.*

Itachi shifted his weight to get Naruto's attention. "But, why did she do it Itachi-sensei?" Itachi sighed. "It would take me too long to explain how complicated love is, but you should know that she told me that she saw you fall that day." Naruto looked at Itachi with a curious look. "After she captured me, she saw you collapse just after crossing the bridge. She took you back to the hideout and even brought Shino and Hinata to you. She saved your life Naruto."

Naruto was taken aback. Everything was being revealed to him. All this time he thought that he knew what was going on, who was on what side. But now it all seemed to jumble up and twist. He felt sick. "Speaking of love…" Itachi said as Naruto looked up. "I know that you think you love Hinata, Naruto. But trust me, you do not yet know what love is."

Naruto frowned and looked down. "Do not worry. You will know what true love feels like when the time comes. Whether you feel it towards Hinata or someone else, I garuntee you will understand later." With that Itachi waited for Naruto to ask questions. After a minute of silence, Naruto spoke up.

"Itachi-sensei, there were two other things I wanted to ask about. While I was training, I found a room in the hideout that Shino said was encased in neutral chakra." Itachi nodded. "And what was the other?" Naruto continued. "I found an Akatsuki cloak behind your chair."

"I see," Itachi began, "neither of those are easy to answer." He took a deep breath. "I have an aquaintance in the Akatsuki. I rarely speak to him, but he asked me to wear the cloak when I do. I was unaware of his involvement with the Akatsuki until after my meeting with Kisame." Itachi continued. "That man also has the ability to manipulate neutral chakra, and he is the one who encased that training room in it. His name is Zetsu."

Naruto was shocked. "But you said that the Akatsuki are trying to capture me right? Why would you work with them?" Itachi waved his hands in front of him. "I am not working for them Naruto. And they don't know that I was training you. Of course, the incident at the Hidden Sand almost blew our cover, but it seems that they believed the story that Noeme Gibuntaro simply expelled a lot of chakra out of rage."

Itachi smirked. "And after that battle at Tenchi Bridge, they believed that the Noeme you fought was the same one that attacked the Kazekage. He is now being held by the Hidden Sand and awaiting trial." Itachi laughed. Naruto smiled lightly as tears came to his eyes. "I am going to miss you Itachi-sensei." Itachi smiled. "I'll miss you too. I raised you myself to be a fine shinobi. As far as I'm concerned, you are like a son to me."

Naruto smiled more and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Now then, I have something to give you." Itachi said as he gathered chakra and made a few handsigns. "What are you doing Itachi-sensei?" Itachi walked towards Naruto and explained as he continued the handsigns. "I am going to try something, now I want you to stay very still and trust me." Naruto nodded and chakra formed on Itachi's finger. He tapped Naruto's left palm, then his right, then he procedded to tap both of his feet and his stomach.

"You might feel a slight tingling." Itachi said as he tapped Naruto's head. "Forbidden Art: Chakra Transferrence of the Six Gates!" A massive shockwave enveloped the Tsukuyomi realm and Naruto fell backwards. He felt like his whole body was burning and he had a massive headache. His arms and legs would not respond and he just laid there in pain for a few minutes.

Itachi was breathing heavily. "I'm afraid I can't…tell you what I just did Naruto." He said between his breaths. "But if I did it right, you will know within twenty four hours." Naruto could feel his legs again and slowly stood up. He noticed that the room was getting fuzzy and started to fade. "That used the rest of my chakra. I'm sorry, Naruto." Itachi frowned. "It is time for me to go." Naruto held out his hand and tried to speak, but no words came out. The room shrank and Naruto felt as though he fell back into the real world.

ANBU Headquarters

Naruto looked around and saw several shinobi surrounding them. He looked over at Itachi and he was standing, but it looked like he was being controlled. "Now then, Naruto." Danzo started. "Where were we? Ah." Danzo motioned to the ninja who was controlling Itachi with puppet strings. Chakra started to flow through the threads and entered Itachi. His body started to envelope in red-hot chakra. Danzo smiled. "Sussano'o."

Sorry guys but I'm going to have to end it there. Please review and wait for the next chapter. It's the finale!