Hey guys!
Here's another chapter.
Enjoy!
Clash of kunai could be heard echoing through the training grounds where two people sparred. To the eyes of the people, it would seem that they were evenly matched, but only the best of shinobi could see that one was holding back. Blue eyes locked with black for a split-second, before the two jumped away.
"You have really improved, Naruto-kun," the taller man spoke.
Naruto offered a small grin at the praise. "I've had a good teacher," he replied. "So, what are we going to do today?"
"Today, we will began your Ninjutsu training," Itachi said.
Naruto grinned at that. It has been a year since he began training under Itachi and all they did was physical training, Taijutsu and chakra control exercise. His speed and stamina improved drastically with the usage of weights and everyday physical training. Itachi taught him the Uchiha main Taijutsu style, the Interceptor. That style was used in combination with the Sharingan's ability to predict and counter. Without the Sharingan, the style was mostly useless, as the user couldn't predict where the opponent will strike. Itachi also taught him Anbu's standard Taijutsu style, to cover the weakness in case he couldn't use the Sharingan. All in all, Naruto was above his classmates in Taijutsu department by a lot.
Naruto also learned some chakra control exercises, mainly tree and water walking. He mastered tree walking in a day and water walking in two, which was amazing for a seven year old. He was also experimenting with the leaf balancing exercise, making the leaf float across his body whenever he had some time to spare. Now, his chakra control was great and his chakra pool increased.
"So, what are you going to teach me?" Naruto asked with barely contained excitement.
Itachi put a finger on his chin and thought for a moment. "I could teach you the three academy techniques, but it would be pointless if you are going to learn them at the academy," he then pulled out a small piece of paper from his pouch and handed it to Naruto. "Channel some chakra into it."
Naruto looked at the paper with slight confusion before nodding. He channeled some chakra in it and three things happened. The paper first wrinkled, then became soggy, before it burned away. Naruto dropped the paper with a start when the flames appeared and quickly stomped on it to extinguish the fire. He looked up at Itachi with a questioning gaze. "What the hell was that?"
"That was a chakra paper," Itachi explained. "We use it to discover our elemental affinity. How we see that is by the way the paper reacts when chakra is channeled in it. If your affinity is fire, it will burn. If it's water, it will become wet. If it's earth, it will crumble into dust. If it's lightning, it will wrinkle, and if it's wind, it will split in two. Most people have only one affinity and some of the stronger jonin have two. I myself have fire and water, which is slightly unusual since fire is weaker than water. There are some rare cases where a person has three affinities. One of those cases is you," he said and pointed at Naruto. "You have affinities for fire, water and lightning. Fire is not unusual, since it is very common among the Uchiha, water is somewhat peculiar because of its relationship with fire, but I don't know from where the lightning came."
Itachi did actually know from where Naruto's lightning affinity came. It was widely known that the Yondaime Hokage was very proficient in lightning techniques. Since Naruto was his son, it wasn't strange that the affinity was passed on. Of course, he couldn't tell that to Naruto, since the fact that he was the Hokage's son was a secret. It surprised Itachi, though, that Naruto never asked about his father. He didn't know what he would tell the boy if he asked, so he was kind of glad that he didn't, but it still confused him. Wouldn't an orphan want to know both of his parents? Putting those thoughts aside, he looked at his young student.
"Is it good that I have three affinities?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"Yes, since it will be easier for you to learn techniques from those three elements. You can still learn techniques that are not your affinities, but it will be harder and less efficient," Itachi explained.
"So," Naruto began after a minute of silence. "What will I do first?"
"Take a leaf," Itachi replied.
Naruto stared at Itachi for a full minute to see if he was joking or not. Leaf? Why the hell would he need a leaf? It's not like you need leaves to use Ninjutsu. After a full minute of staring at Itachi's stoic face, Naruto sighed and picked up a leaf. "What now?"
"Now," Itachi said calmly, although his eyes showed mirth as he looked at Naruto's expression. "Sit on the ground and put the leaf between your palms. What you need to do is to focus on your fire chakra and burn the leaf."
"How do I do that?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Concentrate on something hot," Itachi replied. "Imagine a fire and seek that fire in your chakra. Once you have it, unleash it on the leaf and burn it. That should take you some time, so don't expect you will do it anytime soon. I will not teach you any fire techniques until you burn the leaf."
Naruto's mouth opened in shock, before he frowned. Determination crept in his eyes and he pressed his palms together. Itachi watched in mild amusement as Naruto strained himself to burn the leaf. It took Itachi three months to burn the leaf. Three months of training and hard work and the leaf was finally burnt. He was also a year younger than Naruto when he succeeded, so he wouldn't be surprised if Naruto burns it in less time.
And so the days went on and Naruto still couldn't even singe the leaf. The boy was getting frustrated by the minute and Itachi thought that he will snap if he doesn't burn the leaf soon. Finally, after a week of training, the leaf had burns around the edges. Upon seeing it, Naruto's determination risen and he began to work even harder, sometimes even at the academy, much to Iruka's ire and Tsubaki's amusement. A month later, and the leaf was gone, only ashes remained.
Xxxx
Naruto grinned in satisfaction as he showed the small pile of ashes to Itachi. He had burned the leaf completely after only a month, which a surprise for Itachi. He had expected the boy to take at least two months to complete it. Now Naruto stood in front of him, with an expectant gaze directed at him.
"Yes, Naruto-kun, today I will teach you a fire technique," he said with a barely contained chuckle as he saw Naruto grin happily.
"Which one?" Naruto asked excitedly.
Itachi placed his hands in a snake seal, which was followed by five others, and put his hand to his mouth. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" a large stream of fire flew from Itachi's mouth. The training dummies that were stationed at the training grounds were completely turned to ash. Naruto watched in amazement as the fireball streamed through the air, heating it all the while. Few seconds later, Itachi cancelled the technique and turned to Naruto. "This is one of the simpler fire techniques. After you mold your chakra with hand-seals, you channel chakra through your lungs and ignite it. Now, turn on your Sharingan so you can copy it."
Naruto's eyes snapped shut the moment Itachi stopped talking. He was about to open them again, with his Sharingan activated, but stopped himself. With a small smile, he opened his eyes again, showing their bright blue color. "I won't use the Sharingan when I'm learning techniques. It feels like I would be stealing it from you and even if you let me, it still feels wrong. I won't take the short way out and I'll learn with hard work."
A small ghost of a smile appeared on Itachi's face. A strange emotion crept in his heart as he looked at the boy. It took him a minute to realize, but when he did, he knew it was right. He felt pride, something he never felt when he watched his younger brother train. Naruto had a way to shorten his training time, but tossed it aside because of his morals. Itachi knew that if Sasuke had the Sharingan and he offered him a technique, he wouldn't be able to finish the name of it and Sasuke would have his Sharingan activated. He snorted inwardly when he thought of all the Uchihas that had their Sharingan activated during each Chunin Exam. Sometimes, he really felt ashamed of his clan.
"Very well," Itachi said. "These are the hand-seals. Memorize them and begin," Itachi showed him the six required hand-seals and Naruto threw himself into training.
Xxxx
"Itachi," Fugaku's cold voice resounded as he addressed his eldest son. "Meet me in my study," he said and entered a room behind sliding door.
Itachi sighed and followed his father. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. "What can I do for you, father?" Itachi asked as he stood in front of his father's desk.
"I have been informed that you have been training an orphan for the last year," Fugaku said sternly. "Is it true?"
Itachi knew that there was no point in lying. If his father said he knew, then that was the truth. If his father wanted to know something, in most cases he would. Some things would stay a secret for now, though. "That is true."
Fugaku frowned. "What is your reason for that? You do have a brother whom you can train."
"I have my own reasons, father," Itachi said calmly. Fugaku frowned and opened his mouth to speak, when Itachi interrupted him. "I have permission from the Hokage, so you cannot tell me to stop training me."
Fugaku frowned. "Fine, do what you want."
"Is there anything else, father?" Itachi asked suspiciously. "Surely this wasn't all."
Fugaku nodded. "Yes, there is more. The Uchiha elders and myself began to plan a coup on the village. We will overthrow the Yondaime and take our rightful place in the village."
Only years of experience in Anbu made it possible for Itachi to stay calm during Fugaku's speech. To hear that his own clan was planning a coup was utterly shocking. He couldn't believe how arrogant the elders and his father have become. Itachi also didn't understand why they would do that. The Uchiha clan was well respected and one of the richest in the village. It had its own police force, which also increased their wealth and popularity. Both civilians and shinobi bowed in their presence. What rightful place his father talked about was something he didn't understand.
"I don't understand, father. The Uchiha clan is well established in the village. What more would you want?" Itachi asked, hiding his shock and disbelief under a skillfully created mask.
"After the Senju became the Shodai Hokage, the Uchiha clan was tossed aside like it didn't worth anything. It only added fuel to the fire when another Senju took the Hokage's mantle and his student after him. Uchiha Madara deserved the position of the Shodai, not the Senju," Fugaku spoke with venom every time the name of the Senju was mentioned. "We will change that, though, and when the time is right, we will strike."
"I see," was Itachi's only reply.
"The meetings will begin soon and I will expect your presence there. As a member of the Anbu, you will be a valuable spy for our clan," Fugaku said seriously and received a nod in return. "Also, make sure that the orphan you're training is on our side. It would do no good that his skills are wasted on the enemy," he said with finality and Itachi knew it was time to leave. With a nod of acknowledgement, Itachi left the office.
He didn't know what to think after he heard all of that, but one thing he knew for sure. He will never allow his clan to use Naruto in their arrogance.
Xxxx
Two years have passed since Naruto began his Ninjutsu training. Under Itachi's tutelage, he had mastered both his fire and water affinities. His chakra control was now at Itachi's level and his teacher began to teach him Genjutsu and his signature techniques.
With his Sharingan, Naruto could cast illusions that even some of the weaker jonin couldn't dispel them. Without his eyes, his Genjutsu was at a good enough level that he could easily capture a chunin in his illusions.
Today, Itachi told him he had something special to teach him and Naruto, naturally, was very excited. They stood at an emty training ground and Itachi had a scroll in his hands.
"What's that scroll, Itachi-nii?" Naruto asked. Itachi raised an eyebrow and stayed silent, making Naruto grumble. "Fine, Itachi-sensei, what is that scroll?"
"This is a Summoning Contract, Naruto-kun," Itachi replied. He almost chuckled at Naruto's expression. "Today, I will begin teaching you techniques you will use in combination with crows."
Naruto looked at him confused. "Crows? Why crows?"
"Because this is a Crow Contract which will allow you to summon crows. They are very good for gathering information, delivering messages or diversions. All crows are equals so there is no Boss Crow. They will be useless if you have to fight a big summon," Itachi explained. "There are three techniques with crows I will teach you, but first, you have to sign the contract," he said and unrolled the scroll. "Sign your name in blood and you will be able to summon them."
Naruto nodded and bit his finger. Excitement coursed through his veins as he began to sign his names. He knew that crows weren't anything special and in full battle, they would be useless, but Summoning Contracts were still rare. For Itachi to show that he was comfortable enough for Naruto to sign it made the boy happy. With one final swipe, his name was signed and he looked up at Itachi for the next course of action.
Itachi bit his finger and started a hand seal sequence. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he slammed his hand in the ground and a crow appeared in a puff of smoke. The crow then flew in the air and landed on Itachi's shoulder. "Did you remember the seals?" Itachi asked and Naruto nodded.
Naruto then used his already bitten finger and completed the sequence, before slamming his hand on the ground. Another crow appeared and landed on his shoulder. "So, what are the techniques?"
"The first technique I will teach you is a crow clone. It creates solid clones, but unlike shadow clones, it uses crows as a medium. Because of that, it will use less chakra. They can also use techniques, but can't transfer the information back to the original, so they are useless in training and data gathering," Itachi said and made some hand seals. "Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto looked with some amazement as crows began to combine into a form. It took a few seconds and another Itachi stood by the original. Itachi then dispersed the clone and crows flew away.
"My turn," Naruto muttered and did the same seals as Itachi. "Karasu Bunshin no Jutsu!
Itachi chuckled slightly as nothing happened, earning a glare from Naruto. Naruto then repeated the process and nothing happened, again. Sensing Naruto's anger growing, Itachi spoke. "This technique is harder to learn than shadow clones, because it focuses more on chakra control. The shadow clones appear by splitting your chakra in half and, because of that, they are easier to learn. It will take some time, but I am sure you will learn it."
Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. He concentrated and did the seals again. His eyes widened as he saw couple of crows combining, before they separated. A small smile formed on his face. He would learn it soon.
Xxxx
It was late in the evening and wind blew through the village. A blood-red moon shone in the sky, giving ominous feelings to the villagers. Those who looked at the moon would shiver in fright, like something terrible would happen tonight. They had no idea how right they were.
A slice could be heard in the night, followed closely by a thump. A man stood above the dead body, looking at it impassively with his red eyes. He flicked the blood of his sword and left the room without looking back.
He lost count of how many men, women and children he killed tonight. How much blood of his clansmen did he spill. He only knew that he had a mission and mission comes first. His gaze fell on a house down the road. He would leave it for last, he decided.
He walked to the next house and entered. Two elderly people lived there, a man and a woman. The man was resting in his chair, while the woman was washing dishes. He should kill her first, to prevent any screaming should she stumble upon her husband's dead body. He silently walked toward her and placed his hand over her mouth. She didn't even have time to scream as he plunged his sword through her heart. Her husband was easier, slice over the throat didn't leave a sound.
It became a routine for him. He would enter a house, kill the people inside and leave. He didn't feel anything, he killed his heart before he began. Finally, he stood in front of the house, his house. His parents were next. He knew he should've feel something, but only one thing was going through. The mission had to be completed.
He silently crept through the hallways, paying attention to each sound around. The house was eerily silent, like it was empty. Itachi squashed the thought immediately as he sensed his parents in the sitting room. He walked through the door and stood before his parents. Their gazes fell on him and confusion turned into fear and anger as they saw the bloody sword.
"What is the meaning of this, Itachi?" Fugaku shouted.
Itachi didn't respond as a sword protruded from the older man's chest. Fugaku's eyes widened and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Itachi's clone pulled out the sword and dispersed, leaving the original alone with his mother.
A sob was heard and Itachi turned to his mother. Tears flowed down her face and her shoulders shook in fear and sadness. It was a heart-wrenching sight, one that nearly made Itachi drop his sword. Steeling his resolve, he walked toward his mother, raising his sword with each step. He stood before her, his sword poised to strike.
"I-Itach-kun, w-why?" Mikoto asked through her sobs.
Tears almost burst from Itachi's eyes as his mother asked that question. His hand shook as he tried to swing it. His grip on the handle was so tight, that his knuckles turned white. He closed his eyes and swung. Sound of metal cutting through flesh was heard and Mikoto's lifeless body fell on the floor.
A sob escaped Itachi and tears flowed down his cheeks. He did it, he killed his parents. All those other people he killed tonight were forgotten as he gazed at his dead mother. He looked up as he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. Wiping his tears away, he waited for the person to enter. The door opened and a boy entered.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun," Itachi said with a cold voice.
Sasuke looked frightened. "They're dead, Nii-san! They're all de-" his words died in his throat as he saw his dead parents. His eyes widened and he took a step back. realization hit him when he saw the bloody sword in Itachi's hand. "Y-you k-killed them…"
"Yes, I did," Itachi said calmly, like there were no dead bodies around him.
"W-why?" Sasuke asked disbelievingly.
"I needed a way to test myself," Itachi replied. "I had to see the extent of my power."
Sasuke couldn't listen anymore. He turned around and fled without a glance at his brother. He ran down the empty streets of the Uchiha district, trying to find someone, anyone.
A figure jumped in front of him. Sasuke looked up in fear as his brother's Sharingan bore deeply in his soul. The three tomoe that were spinning, formed another form, one of the three-bladed shuriken. Sasuke could only look on as he was sucked in another world.
The sky was black with red clouds drifting everywhere. The atmosphere was chilling, sending shivers down Sasuke's spine. He looked around, seeing nothing but for miles around. He could only see red around him. Then his eyes fell on the most frightening sight.
The moon was red, like someone took buckets of blood and just spilt them over it. The sight so terrified for young boy that he thought he would faint just from looking at it. He looked around again, trying to find an exit, a mean to escape from this hell. Yes, hell was a good word to describe this world, for something that could be so frightening, could only be made by the devil himself.
"Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi," a cold voice spoke behind Sasuke. The boy turned around quickly and faced the devil himself.
Itachi stood there, with a calm and impassionate expression on his face. His Sharingan blazed with intensity of a sun and, even though he knew that he shouldn't, Sasuke looked in those eyes with both amazement and fear.
"For the next seventy two hours, you will see the fall of our clan," Itachi said coldly. "Over and over again," with that final sentence the first body fell and Sasuke screamed.
Xxxx
Sasuke fell on the ground, breathing hard. His eyes were unfocused and tears streamed down his face. The last seventy two hours in his mind were the worst he had ever experienced. Seeing your clansmen die over and over was not something a nine year old boy would want to see.
"Now you have seen the true power of the Sharingan," Itachi spoek coldly, snapping Sasuke out of his terrified daze. "The Mangekyo Sharingan is truly a fearful weapon," he said as if he was amazed by it. "To gain these eyes, you have to kill your closest friend, you have to experience the worst emotional pain. If you want to kill me, curse me! Hate me and live a long and unsightly life. Cling to your pitiful existence and run away," he said, getting quieter with each word. "My foolish little brother… there was no value in killing you tonight. Weaklings like you shouldn't even be looked at," with that said, he turned around and left, not allowing his little brother to see the tears he was shedding.
Sasuke was left alone, in the middle of the street with his brother's words ringing in his ears.
"Weakling…"
"Foolish…"
"Closest friend…"
"Mangekyo…"
With that one last thought, he lost consciousness and succumbed to his nightmares, unaware of the eyes that watched him.
"You were supposed to kill them all," a cold voice spoke to seemingly no one.
"I… I just couldn't…" Itachi replied from the darkness.
The figure snorted. "I should've expected that from you, Itachi. This little setback better not ruin our plans in the future."
"It won't… Madara-sama," Itachi replied with a bow.
"Our business is finished here," Madara spoke. "The Uchihas are all but one. Let's go!" he said with contempt and jumped in the trees, followed by Itachi.
'No… there is one more,' was Itachi's last thought before the two disappeared in the darkness.
Xxxx
Naruto sat lazily at his desk in the academy. It was a boring day with another boring lecture recited by Iruka with his usual boring history voice. Naruto would probably fall asleep for at least ten times that day, but increasing feeling of dread prevented any sleep to come his way. Shivers run down his spine every few minutes and his eyes looked at the door every now and then, almost expecting someone to come and bring some bad news.
And someone came, indeed. An Anbu member opened the door and addressed Iruka. "Umino-san, Hokage-sama requests presence of Naruto-san."
Muttering began through the class, much to Iruka's annoyance who then shouted at them to calm down. "Now, Naruto, I don't think you should keep Hokage-sama waiting."
Naruto nodded mutely and left with Anbu, ignoring the looks and mutterings from the class.
"So what's this all about?" Naruto asked the Anbu as they exited the academy.
"You will find out soon enough," the Anbu replied with finality and Naruto knew he wouldn't get anything more out of him. He did spend three years with Itachi, who was in Anbu, and learned everything about Anbu behavior.
The two soon arrived at the tower and the door of the Hokage's office. Naruto could feel the depressing atmosphere from the office. The Anbu knocked and motioned Naruto in, who in turn couldn't run away anymore. With a heavy sigh, he entered the office.
Minato sat at his desk, doing the paperwork which, after the massacre, greatly increased. Each dead body had to be registered, filed and buried. The process would take at least a week, if not more. He sighed heavily as he saw Naruto enter his office. Minato knew how close Naruto was to Itachi, and how the boy thought of him as a brother. This news would surely crush him.
Minato also didn't know why Itachi did what he did. Itachi informed him about the coup and Minato began to search for a diplomatic solution for the problem. He was a pacifist and hated war ever since he could remember. To have one directly in his village was something he would never allow to happen. However, he would never go as far to completely exterminate an entire clan for that. He had a clear suspect in mind, but without any concrete evidence, it was useless to even mention it.
Sighing again, he turned to Naruto and gave him a sad smile. "Hello, Naruto-kun."
Naruto bowed slightly. "Hokage-sama, I have been summoned?" he could feel dread rising in him. The expression on the Hokage's face was one of sadness and even slight pity. He was afraid of that expression. Namikaze Minato was always brave and strong, a determined genius that didn't falter even a step in front of an army of hundreds Iwa-nins. To see such expression on his face, Naruto knew that something happened. Something terrible.
"Yes, Naruto-kun, something happened the night before," Minato said seriously. He really didn't know how to tell the boy what happened, so he decided to just be blunt and say it directly. "The Uchiha clan has been massacred," he ignored Naruto's gasp and continued. "Only two people survived, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, who was also the one to kill his clansmen. He is now marked as an S-class missing-nin."
Naruto stood still, with his mouth partly open as he heard the Hokage's statement. Itachi killed his clan? No way, no fucking way! Why would Itachi do that? He had no reason to do it. He loved his clan, maybe not so much, but enough not to exterminate it. There had to be a reason for this, something must have happened for Itachi to do something like this, but what? Itachi would never betray his clan for anything or anybody. His mind dragged him to a sentence Itachi once told him. "There is nothing more precious to me than our village." Of course. Itachi loved his village more, he loved Konoha more. There was only one way Itachi would do something like this.
"Did you order him to do it?" Naruto asked coldly.
Minato's eyes widened for a moment, before he schooled his features. Even Minato knew about Itachi's love for the village and if Naruto spent so much time with him, he would know as well. Also, Naruto was a smart child and his mind could easily come with a scenario that was most plausible. Minato didn't know whether to praise his smartness or curse it.
"No, Naruto-kun, I didn't order him to do it," Minato said, but Naruto's cold gaze didn't falter even for a moment. He sighed and placed his hand on a special seal on his desk. The array glowed, before dying down. Naruto absently noted that it was a silencing seal. "Naruto-kun, what I'm about to tell you is an S-ranked secret," Naruto nodded. "Two years ago, Itachi came here and informed me that the Uchiha clan was planning a coup. The coup would weaken us greatly so it had to be stopped, I'm sure you would agree. For the last year, I was trying to find a peaceful solution to stop the coup. I guess that I was too late and Itachi acted."
"That doesn't answer my question," Naruto said.
"As I said, I didn't order him to do it. I do suspect who did, but without evidence, I can't do anything. But there is one thing I want to tell you," Minato's face turned serious. "From now on, it is most crucial that you do not reveal your relation to the Uchiha clan. Also, be especially wary of a man named Shimura Danzo. He is a retired shinobi, but I know that he is leading an underground organization of ninja. I ordered him to disband it, but I'm most certain he didn't listen. Again, though, I have no evidence."
Naruto stayed quiet for a moment, before speaking. "You suspect this Danzo ordered Itachi to kill his family?"
Minato's gaze was so serious that Naruto could see in the man's eyes that he was correct. Hokage was suspecting Danzo, that much was certain. "This entire conversation is an S-class secret, Naruto-kun, please remember that," Naruto nodded mutely and, for the first time since he arrived at the office, the tense atmosphere lightened. Minato gave him a tired smile as he turned off the silencing seal. "You can go home, Naruto-kun. Get some rest and, if you need anything, don't be afraid to stop by our house."
Naruto nodded his thanks and left. He had a lot to think over.
And that's it for now.
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