Recap: With the preliminaries coming to an end, Itachi finally decides it's best to leave team 7 in order to protect them. However, trouble brews as it seems Sasuke and Kisame have appeared in the exam entrance.

'naruto'=thoughts

*new format*

I deeply apologize for not updating sooner, I was working again on other stories and I guess I just didn't have the time. Well without further ado, I finally bring you chapter 12 to the best of my abilities.

Chapter 12: My friends matter...the most

"Yo Itachi!"

"Hey...Itachi-kun."

"Sakura-chan, move back. I'm gonna knock him awake!"

"No you idiot! You'll hurt him!"

"That's the point!"

Due to all the racket, Itachi's body slightly stuttered. He began to slowly open up his eyes, he saw Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi looking over him. A slight of worry spread across all their faces. Then he realized what he was after and immediately sprung up.

"Where's Sasuke?!"

Naruto cocked his head in confusion. "Sasuke, you mean your brother? He isn't...here."

Itachi snatched Naruto's shirt collar. "WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! HE WAS JUST RIGHT HERE A SECOND AGO!"

"I-Itachi. I...don't know what you're talking about!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! YOU COULD'VE..." Itachi noticed the hard stares he was getting from everyone and loosened his hold. "...you could've gotten...killed. I'm sorry...Naruto."

"Itachi..."

Sakura started to swoon. "Oh Itachi-kun, you're so caring even to idiots like Naruto, but you care about me too, right?"

'Does she understand nothing about Naruto?' Itachi forced himself a smile just for her. "Of course, Sakura!"

Itachi crossed his arms and annoyingly stared at Naruto. "Why're you here? Don't you need to finish your fight?"

"Oh that? It's over now." Naruto grinned. "But you should've seen me! I whooped Kiba's ass so hard!"

"Barely..." Sakura scoffed.

"Hey! You saw me didn't you?! Come on, back me up Kakashi-sensei."

"You did get beaten up pretty badly."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"...I'm sorry, Naruto." Itachi apologized. "I didn't want to miss your fight. But I...did."

Naruto looked back to Itachi, his head was still hanging down like a sick puppy. "Hey, you don't need to apologize, idiot! You can see me whoop ass in the final round!"

Itachi turned around. "Yeah..." He began walking out of the entrance hall.

"Wait, Itachi." Kakashi called out.

Itachi stopped in the middle of the doorway.

"Concerning the exams, there'll be a one-month period break for training before the final round begins." He got out a paper from his pocket and showed it to Itachi. "The Third Hokage wanted me to show this to you."

Itachi stepped back and took a closer look at the paper. "I see, this who were all fighting...and I'm up against Gaara?"

"Alright, I understand. Sakura please come with me."

Sakura was surprised, but all the more happy. "Ok, Itachi-kun!"

Naruto looked towards Kakashi. "What does Itachi want to do with Sakura-chan?"

"You tell me, Naruto."

"Aw come on! That just means, you don't know!"

Sakura followed Itachi out of the building, it was already late and the sun had almost set behind the horizon. The temperature was mild and the wind shifted ever so slightly. Itachi grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her close. "Sakura..."

Sakura's face flushed a bright red, she had never, ever been so close to Itachi before. "Y-yes Itachi-kun?"

"You are very weak, Sakura."

Those words he said, it hurt her so much knowing what he truly felt about. Sakura stared at the ground in despair. "I-I know but..." A small smile started to form. "...you'll always be here to protect me!"

"That is something, I cannot accomplish."

"Huh?"

"Sakura, for this one-month period of training, I want to train you so you can fight when I cannot be present."

"T-Train me? Are you serious?!"

"Sakura, I have never been more serious in my life."

"...!" 'What?!'

He continued. "However, I'm only going to teach you the basics, to reach your full potential you'll have to find a master. And to further your techniques, I want you to watch Kakashi train me."

"Itachi..."

Itachi took a step back away from Sakura and walked straight past her. "After we're done, you will become a true Kunoichi."

'It feels like, Itachi, I'm always staring at you and Naruto's back...I don't even think...'

'...You could help that.'

XxxxxXxxx

The luminous moonlight passed through the window and fractured into smaller rays. Itachi stared at the shattered moonlight. "How long will I stay here and put them at risk? He's searching for me...I know it."

"I will never forgive myself if any of them got hurt." Itachi forced himself up out of bed. "That just means, I'll just have to train...I'll perfect all my Uchiha powers until...I can't beat you."

The next day...

*knock-knock*

"Sakura! Get the door!"

"Ok, ok!"

Sakura slumped down the stairs and dragged herself towards the door. "Ugh, who could be awake at this time? It's like two in the morning." She cracked opened the door. "What do you want, I'm tire- ITACHI-KUN?! Huh? What're you doing here?!"

"Sakura, we have training to do. Get some clothes on and head over to the old training field."

"Right!" She quickly closed the door and groaned. "GAHHHHHHH! Why did he have to see me like this?!" She slammed her fist on the floorboards. "Damn it!"

Half an hour later...

Itachi and Sakura were finally both at the old training field, although, at the crack of dawn no less. Itachi perched himself onto one of the stumps and threw Sakura a kunai knife to start the lesson. "For your first objective I want you to use that kunai and stick it in my arm." Itachi held his arm out, signifying she could begin.

"What?! I'm not going to do that! I don't want to hurt you!"

Itachi weaved several signs. "Shadow clone technique!"

A clone of Itachi appeared right beside him. The clone nodded towards Itachi. "You want me to attack her?"

"No, that isn't the point of this exercise." He looked towards Sakura. "Go ahead Sakura. Destroy the clone if you can't hurt me."

Sakura gripped her kunai, she ran up to the clone and jumped up, prepared to strike him with everything she had.

"I'm sorry Itachi but..."

Sakura's kunai was lodged in the ground right beside the clone's foot. "There's no way I could attack you."

"..." He weaved a different set of signs.

"Attack me now, Sakura."

Right before Sakura's eyes, it was Naruto, he looked the same, and sounded the same, he really did it, Itachi turned himself into Naruto.

Sakura picked up the kunai and like before, Itachi extended his arm. "I know what you're trying to do, Itachi." Sakura lifted her head.

She walked up to Itachi and placed the kunai in his hand. "I won't let my feelings get in the way of our team!"

Itachi changed back into his regular old handsome self. "Very good, Sakura!"

"But I want to ask you something, what if I was trying to kill you, what would you do then?"

"...I don't know."

Itachi sighed. "I understand your trust in us and that is a good trait, but a shinobi must be able to make split second decisions, whether they are your comrade or your family, sometimes you are in a situation where you must attack them, without a second thought."

"Yes, Itachi-k...sensei."

Itachi swung the kunai around on his index finger. "Sakura, I know what you're going through right now. I know you look up to Naruto and I, where you stand isn't even near to our potential. I bet you think...you're dead weight."

Sakura clenched her fist. 'That's the only thing...I hate about myself. I want to be able to protect you guys...but...'

"There is something, however about you that surpasses even...Kakashi-sensei. Your own strength potential is monstrous and that's why I'll teach you how to control that strength and use it to your own."

Itachi began walking off. "Alright. That's it for now, Sakura. We'll come back tomorrow and work on that strength of yours, ok?"

Sakura nodded her head in excitement and ran up to him. "Hai, Itachi-sensei!"

The day after...

"Kakashi-sensei! Hey!" Naruto yelled as he ran up to his sensei.

Kakashi picked up a magazine off the rack. "Oh perfect timing, I've been meaning to tell you who your instructor will be during the training period."

"H-huh? But...I want you Kakashi-sensei!"

"I have other things to do." Kakashi slid the shopkeeper the money for the magazine issue. "I'll be too busy to train you."

"Yeah right! You're just gonna train Itachi!"

"Now, now! Don't say it like that, because I found a teacher much more reliable than me."

"Who is it?!"

Ebisu approached Kakashi and Naruto and shifted his glossy black-shaded glasses. "It's me."

Naruto took a step back. "Wha...CLOSET PERV?!"

"Yep, Ebisu will be your instructor for the 30-day training period."

XxxxxXxxx

Kakashi pulled his arm up and reached for another rock to advance forward. 'I'm definitely out of shape, cliff-training shouldn't be this hard for me...' "I hope I make it in time."

OoooO

Flashback...

The Jounin of Konohagakure sat around the Third hokage's office. Kakashi was taken back by the announcement. "He was...killed?"

Hizuren nodded. "Yes. Hayate was found by Kikyou castle this morning, dead."

Anko gritted her teeth. "It was Orochimaru wasn't it?"

Kakashi shook his head. "We can't make that assumption, Hayate was tailing the sound spy, Kabuto...although I do agree with you, Orochimaru must have something to do with this."

"Then we must cancel the Chūnin exams Another Jounin if Orochimaru is involved." Another jounin pointed out.

Itachi was standing outside of the Third's office, listening to every word they spoke. '...it would be my fault if they can't become a chūnin...I should've just sealed Orochimaru while I had the chance.'

"He revealed himself to Anko and urged us not to cancel the exams among the allied shinobi forces." Hizuren explained.

"What're you going on about?" Koharu Utatane questioned.

"Orochimaru has the power to destroy small countries, since he's escaped, many countries have set their eyes on him. Plus he has a grudge on our own country, any country would want him."

"Then that means...one of our allies has joined with Orochimaru to betray the leaf!"

"Needles to worry. We don't have enough information right now to justify that."

Homura Mitokado added in the Third's statement. "We already have ANBU gathering information in other countries, if we're too focused on this, the enemy could use that against us."

"And, I trust in you guys. If the time comes where we have to fight, then we'll all be ready!"

OoooO

Kakashi swung his foot onto another ledge, only for it to break under the heavy weight.

"..."

"...!"

Somehow, he gathered the strength to throw himself up and catch another ledge.

"Hey."

Kakashi looked up. "Huh, you finally came. And you've brought a guest?"

A week later...

"One-hundred twenty-one...One-hundred twenty-two..."

"One-hundred twenty...three...One-hundred twenty-four."

"O-" *ha* *huff* "-ne-hundred twenty..."

"I heard what happened to you, Lee-kun."

Lee looked up, there was a bouquet of flowers sitting next to him, behind them, he saw Itachi standing right before him. "I-Itachi?"

"This Gaara...he must be very strong."

"Hu-"

The nurse who was looking over Lee had enough of this. "Stop this please, your body, it isn't-"

"...Can you please just, be quiet!" Lee yelled.

'Itachi...Gaara...Naruto...Neji. I will surpass all of you, one day. But for now, I won't give up!'

Ino and Sakura were on the back porch, worried for Lee. Sakura stared at the both of them. 'Lee-san...'

OoooO

Flashback...

*ring-ring*

Itachi walked into Yamanaka's flower shop, he pulled out a bag of Ryō and placed it on the counter. "A bouquet of flowers, please."

Ino lifted her head from behind the counter and squealed. "Itachi-kun! I had no idea you'd visit today!" She bent behind the counter and picked out a beautiful array of flowers. "No need, to pay Itach-kuni, it's all free for you!"

Sakura happened to be passing by, and saw Ino talking with none other than Itachi. 'CHA! That whore!' The doors flew wide open, Sakura ran straight in and leaped towards Itachi. "Catch me, Itachi-kun!"

Itachi caught Sakura in mid-air and landed down on the counter. His coal black eyes sparkled as he spoke to her. "You're too beautiful to go to any other man. Let's get married, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh Itachi-kun! Of course I would marr-"

"Who are you talking to?" Ino asked, breaking up Sakura's thoughts.

"H-huh?!"

"Oh Sakura, I was just leaving. Would you like some money to pay for the flowers?" Itachi asked.

"Itachi-kun..." Sakura noticed a bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Who are those flowers for?" 'CHA! It better not be for any other girl but me!'

"They're for Lee-kun. I heard what happened while I was passed out."

"Hey guys, did you hear about Lee-san." Ino suddenly brought up.

Sakura and Itachi looks towards Ino.

"Well because of his serious injuries, they say he'll never be able to become a shinobi again."

Itachi handed Sakura the money. He turned around and began walking out of the door. "Perhaps it's for the best he never even become one, again."

OoooO

Sakura stared at Itachi's back. "What is going through your mind...Itachi?"

"One hundred...twenty-" Before finishing, Lee collapsed on the ground.

Quickly, Itachi picked Lee up and heaved him onto his back. "I'll take him back." Itachi said, noticing the worry in the nurses' eyes.

'...Why do you try so hard? Why can't you just...'

'Give Up?'

30 days later.

-Final round chūnin exams arena-

After 30 days of hard work and training, today was finally the day the genin would face off against each other in round three of the chūnin exams. Hundreds and hundreds of people were crowded into the stadium, excited to see how everything would turn out.

Naruto looked around the dusty stadium. He wasn't here. 'Huh? Itachi isn't here yet?'

Shikamaru as well looked around, he realized Dosu was gone as well.

Genma bit down on his toothpick, his eyes drifted towards Naruto and Shikamaru who were looking any other direction but the crowd. "Hey guys, stop looking around. Face the customers."

"You guys are all the main attraction."

Sakura clenched the standee bars, one hand, she wore a fingerless gloves to accommodate her recent training. 'Where's Itachi! He hates to keep people waiting!'

A jounin talked into Hizuren's ear, he nodded. "You haven't found Itachi yet?"

"We've dispatched several ANBU after him, but so far, no luck."

"I understand."

"Oh!" Hizuren turned to the approaching Kage. "Kazekage-dono!"

The Kazekage walked over to his seat and sat down. There was no doubt something off about him.

"Listen, Sakura. We're all worried about Itachi-kun, you should focus on Naruto's fight and cheer him on."

"Yeah, you're right!"

Hizuren stood up from his seat. "Thank you everyone for coming to the hidden leaf chūnin selection exam!" He announced. "We will now start the main tournament between the eight participants who made it through the preliminaries! Please stay and watch until the end!"

"Eight? It's seems one is missing." The Kazekage inquired.

"..."

Genma cleared his throat and began to speak. "There is something I would like to tell you before the matches begin." He got a sheet of all the fights to be held. "There have been some minor changes to the entry, check again to see who you're fighting.

Shikamaru stared at the sheet in confusion. 'Did that Dosu guy just...forfeit? I was supposed to be fighting two matches.'

Naruto raised his hand. "Yo! Yo!"

"What is it?"

"Itachi isn't here yet so what're you gonna do?"

"If he doesn't appear by the time of his match, he will receive a default loss."

'If that's it then what kind of shit is that weasel pulling? Itachi would never miss this, in fact, I bet he'd write a paragraph if he could on how much he wouldn't miss this.'

Gaara's blood boiled. This guy...he's been actually looking forward to kill. "..."

OoooO

Flashback...

Gaara was about to walk out of Baki's, his sensei, house. "Wait, Gaara, where are you going?"

"...to test my existence."

Garage made his way up the cliff and stood behind a tall rock, he was just behind the site where Itachi and Kakashi were training.

"One more go, Itachi."

OoooO

"Alright guys, this is the final test." Genma announced. "The arena is different but the rules are the same as the prelims. You fight until one of you dies, or gives up. But if I determine that a fight is over, it's over and I will step in if necessary."

"Now the first match, Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuga Neji."

"Those two will stay while the rest of you go to the waiting room."

"Hinata, over here." Kiba called out. "These seats are free!"

"O-ok."

Hinata followed Kiba to a section of empty seats. "Heh, this'll be good, won't it?"

"Yeah..." 'Naruto-kun...'

Kotetsu and Izumo happened to be right next to Kiba and Hinata, and as far as they could tell, there was no way in hell Naruto would ever beat Neji.

"The kid has gotten far I can tell you that." Kotetsu quipped. "He's quite the lucky one."

"Yeah, but I can tell you for sure, his luck ends here, there is just no way he can beat someone of the Hyuga clan."

Kiba smirked. 'Heh, that's exactly what I thought, but the second you underestimate the guy, the second you lose.'

"Kyuu!"

"...! Huh? What's up, Akamaru?"

"What?...where?"

Kiba looked around, he finally pinpointed the target. 'Why is an ANBU there...'

Naruto and Neji stood face to face with each other. "Neji, you're definitely going down!"

Neji's eyes narrowed at Naruto. 'Those eyes...they're definitely the eyes of someone who totally believes in his skills.'

"Now begin the first match!"

Neji got into a stance. "Heh, let's make this fun. It'll be a pleasure to see you fall apart when you discover reality!"

"Just shut up already! Let's start fighting!"

Hizashi watched closely at his son, Neji. "Study Neji, Hanabi, there isn't another who has received such thick Hyuga blood."

"Yes, father."

('They are called opening points, if you press it correctly, you can stop or increase your opponents flow of chakra to your own will.') Naruto prepared a shadow clone jutsu. 'That won't be too hard, I'll just fight from a distance so he won't press my points.'

"Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Five shadow clones appeared before Naruto. All with kunai's in hand.

Sakura grinned. 'Smart thinking, Naruto.'

"Interesting..." Kotetsu commented.

"I know, I'm surprised he can even use it, it's a jounin level jutsu after all."

Neji activated his byakugan at the clones, however even that could not tell them apart. 'I see, his chakra is evenly divided through out all the clones, my byakugan won't work against that.' "In the end, there's only one true body. And I will destroy it."

"Stop acting so high and mighty!" Naruto barked.

"If you're going to come, then come already."

"Stop disrespecting me!" The Naruto clones charged towards Neji with all their might.

As the first two clones approached him, Neji jumped up and pressed his hands against their spiky blonde hair. He twisted around and knocked their heads together. After that, he jumped down and landed on the ground.

With four more clones approaching him, he lifted up his body with one arm and swung his legs on the incoming Naruto.

"Gwaa!"

Once again, the clones got up and ran towards Neji, two were coming from behind. In a fellow swoop, right before the attack landed, Neji grabbed their arms and elbowed them in the chin. "Guh!"

In front of him were two others, he quickly came close to them and pressed his hands against their stomach. As hard as he could, he pushed them away. As everyone guessed, Neji was owning the fight with ease.

Naruto was shocked. 'This bastard, he's like some sort of freakin owl!'

"Become hokage, right?" Neji asked. "That's impossible. I can figure out with these eyes that your talent is decided by birth. Everything is decided, you could say, when a person's born."

Naruto clenched his fist. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU AUTOMATICALLY DECIDING THINGS LIKE THAT ANYWAYS?!"

"Then, does that mean anyone can become Hokage with just hard work and dedication? Only a handful of shinobi can become Hokage! Only those who are destined to become Hokage can become one. You don't decide such things by just trying. People must live within their own interchangeable flow."

"The only destiny that everyone shares...is death."

Hizashi stared at his son, he heard every word that escaped his lips. 'Those eyes...they still grudge against the main family.'

"So what?! You think I'm gonna give up?! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

More clones than before appeared.

"I'm not an idiot, I already see through your attacks!"

"I said, stop automatically assuming shit!"

The clones charged at Neji, but not one of them could touch him, he was slick in his movement. 'I already know, where your true body is, Naruto!' Neji slipped past all the clones and charged for the real Naruto.

'It was too easy, fearing having your points pressed must mean one body is doing the least amount of fighting. It's simple to figure out after that.' Before Naruto could dodge, Neji's hand bolted to Naruto's own opening point.

"Uh-h..." Blood spilled from the sides of Naruto's mouth.

"You're the real one. I told you, it's useless."

"Heheh...come on, do you really..." He slowly raised his head and grinned. "Take me for, an idiot?!"

Naruto poofed right before his eyes, proving just to be another shadow clone.

"...! What?" 'He anticipated what I was thinking.'

Two more clones jumped behind him. Naruto prepared a fist and was ready to hit him with everything he had. "I'm coming at you, Neji, and this time...I'M PREPARED TO DIE!"

XxxxxXxxx

'...I'm sorry Naruto...but I think I'll have to miss this fight as well.'

A/N: I know I cut off many parts of the manga, and I'll apologize for that but it matters not, all of you read this for Itachi. So I want to make sure you get as much of him as possible, I mean, I don't really think I have to rewrite the entire manga.