Recap: The Sound four and recovery team each face off against each other in one on one battles, letting Naruto get even closer to Itachi.
Chapter 18: Mixed Memories
It took a while, but finally Itachi entered the Valley of End. It was here where a new path would open up and where Team seven would come to an end.
'Madara was careless to mention who said person looked like.' Itachi bounded from Hashirama's stone statue and landed on the head of Madara's statue. He looked around and scoured the area.
"ITACHI!"
Itachi's voice grew frigid. "Naruto, you're just wasting your time."
Naruto's expression dropped the second he heard Itachi's voice once again, Sakura's longing words of Itachi's return flooded his mind. He tried, but no words could escape his lips.
"I don't...understand." Naruto managed to muster. His hands slowly clasped into a fist, every second his eyes laid on Itachi, more and more mixed feelings overcame him. "Why're you like this...WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!"
"I've always been like this, you've just been too blind to notice."
"..."
"I won't repeat myself, go back to the village and...never chase me again!"
"NO!...Kiba...Shikamaru...everyone...we all risked our lives to come here and save you. Don't they mean anything to you?!"
Itachi's black eyes grew even colder. "I don't care."
"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Naruto jumped to Itachi, he snatched his shirt collar and slammed him down on the statue head. "WHAT IF THEY DIED, HOW WOULD YOU FEEL THEN?!"
"I still wouldn't care."
Itachi caught Naruto's punch. "...then do you want me to stay in the village and have more people die? You may of promised to bring me back, but I as well promised to never go back."
He pulled Itachi close to him. "Do you think staying away from us will help you?! I can't let you go to Orochimaru and be used as a puppet!"
"I admit...there are some things I regret, but whatever I plan to do in my life, I will never look back on. Even if I die, I will never reg-"
"DON'T SAY THAT! I won't let you kill yourself! I'll stop you no matter what it takes! I'll even..." Naruto's hold on Itachi released and he stood back. "...fight you."
"Then fight me."
Naruto ran up to Itachi, he reeled his arm back and went on to punch Itachi in the face.
"..."
Just before he could punch him, Naruto's arm fell to his side.
"I told you, fight me."
"How can I fight you when you're not even willing to fight back?! You could've dodged that, even by now, you could've...won."
"...I remember you calling me your equal a long time ago, but..." Naruto's fist trembled. "I never once believed that was true. Even you knew it, this entire time, you were always superior to me and everyone else. That's when I finally realized..."
Naruto looked up, he stared at Itachi's empty, jet-black eyes. "...you were always pretending to be my rival, just to make me...happy! I work hard everyday, so I could truly be considered your rival, and I could truly be called your equal!"
Itachi walked over to Naruto, his hands tightened into a fist. "That's why," Without holding back this time, he punched Naruto, easily making him fly off Madara's statue and drop like a rock into the pool of cold water below them. "I called you trash."
'Is this your true power...Itachi?' The water colored a dark red as Naruto slowly rose to the top. 'I guess that means I'll have to work even harder...'
Naruto shot from the water while Itachi jumped off of the statue.
Once they got close enough, Itachi grabbed Naruto's leg and threw him back.
"Shadow clone technique!"
One of the shadow clones lodged a kunai knife into Madara's finger, they latched onto each other and caught Naruto. The clones swung around to Itachi and released Naruto.
Itachi quickly bent down, as Naruto flew above him, he swung his foot right, jabbing Naruto hard in his rib cage.
'In the end, you will...hate me. And that is the only thing that matters, right...brother?'
Flashback...
Sasuke heaved Itachi on his back. "Does that feel better, little brother?"
"I was fine before, brother."
"Hey, don't act all so high and mighty," He gave Itachi a playful smirk. "You were lagging so far behind, I had no choice but to carry you."
"Oh..heh...is that so?" Itachi sheepishly said.
"Damn right, I want to get to father as soon as possible because I want to tell him something."
OoO
Sasuke got a set of kunai, each of them were held between his fingers. "Are you watching closely, Itachi?"
"Yes, brother."
Sasuke jumped up, sensing each of his targets, he threw the kunai all at once and each of kunai perfectly nailed every single one of the targets, including the blind spot behind him.
"...You wanna have a go, Itachi?"
"I've already mastered that technique."
Sasuke wasn't surprised, hell, he'd be surprised if Itachi didn't know such a technique. Without such as a question in mind, Sasuke believed every word. "Well, you are my younger brother after all."
OoO
Just as the two finally made it back to Uchiha town, Itachi noticed a certain symbol. "...! Hey, older brother."
"Yeah?"
He pointed at the Leaf's police station they were walking past, plastered on the top was the Uchiha family crest. "That's the place father works at, right?"
"What of it?"
"I don't understand, why does the Uchiha govern the police, it seems almost...dangerous to let us control such a unit."
'How come my brother can't be one of those dumb kids?' "I can't give you a clear answer, but in short, our ancestor was not only in part of creating the leaf but he also created the police force. That's the reason why they let us take part."
"Most of us work for the first division in the police as well as keeping the order in Konoha. Those of us who force the law on other's crimes are superior shinobi."
Sasuke continued carrying Itachi to their house. "Do you want to be apart of the police force, because, you are a superior shinobi, Itachi."
"I want to be apart of the regular forces, hopefully I'll someday become a Jōnin and lead a team of my own. That is my dream."
"A Jōnin?"
"You'll become a Jōnin too, right?"
"No."
"-You're late."
Sasuke stopped once he heard his voice. They were already at their house.
"I can't imagine what too, you so long." Fugaku muttered, their dad was waiting for them at the entrance. "Hurry in. I have something important to tell you."
Sasuke and Itachi slipped off their shoes, they went in and kneeled on the tatami mat, waiting patiently for Fugaku to speak up.
"Itachi, they've already told me you're expected to become a chūnin much sooner than the others due to your abilities. Very good, I'm proud. I'll also be coming to your entrance ceremony tomorrow, I imagine it'll be an important event for the clan as well as you."
"Yes, sir, but I have an interest in a certain someone, I want to see that person grow into a powerful shinobi alongside him."
"We'll...talk about that later."
Fugaku began getting up.
Itachi noticed Sasuke's troubled expression, their father completely forgot him. "Father," He piped up.
Sasuke's eyes glazed on Itachi, his voice was toned down as he spoke. "Shut up already, Ita-"
"Aren't you forgetting older brother?" Itachi continued.
"Sasuke? Oh yes," Fugaku seated himself back down and he turned to his eldest son. "I haven't heard much about you from Konoha, is there something important you wanted to say?"
"...yeah. They're...they're bringing me on an A-rank mission. Depending on how I perform, they might consider me to take the special mission so I can become an Anbu agent."
"Then I want you to prepare right now so you'll be ready for the mission."
"Yes, sir."
'...father's a little tough on Sasuke...'
The next day...entrance ceremony
Third Hokage, Hizuren, approached the group of timid soon-to-be shinobi. "Congratulations on entering, everyone. From now on, work hard every day and follow the shinobi way."
OoO
Now that the entrance exams were done, people scattered all over the place in a rush to get back home. A plump shinobi walked towards Itachi, he felt a pang of nostalgia seeing those young black eyes again. "Heh, I remember the day when Sasuke entered."
"Sasuke was such a troublesome kid, but you could tell how hard he worked to stay at the top of his class."
"I thank you," Fugaku went over to them. "You took great care of the brothers."
"It wasn't that much trouble at all, Sasuke would practically teach himself, we nearly ran out of lessons for him."
"I think you're giving him a bit too much credit than he deserves."
"No, not at all. Besides, it's expected from him, right?"
Fugaku's attention rested on Itachi. "...you'll become an amazing shinobi one day, and as expected, you'll be even better than your older brother."
OoO
The kids took their seats, today would be the start of shinobi academy. Itachi walked up to a chair and took his seat. Two kids from behind started whispering over him the second they saw his clan symbol.
"Hey, hey, that's an Uchiha, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"That kid...he'll become the best shinobi in the class. So awesome."
"It's kind of scary."
Itachi shifted his head to the side, catching a glance of the kids behind him.
The kids quickly looked in a random direction.
Everyday Sasuke trained hard, excuratingly hard. He always pushed himself far past his limits. It had become natural to see him exhausted beyond compare, but this time he took it too far. After school, Itachi came home and found his brother collapsed on the ground in a dead, pitiful state, dangling between the lines of life and death.
Itachi's school slipped out of his grasp, he took off to Sasuke.
"Older brother! Are you ok?! No, I should get help, you-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!"
"...older brother."
"DAMN BROTHER, I SAID SHUT UP!"
Without another word spoken, Itachi picked up his bag and entered their house. As he came in, he set his bag on the kitchen table where his mother, Mikoto, was reading the book Paradise in Hell. "Mother..."
"Yes?"
"Why does Sasuke...do this...to himself?"
Mikoto looked up from her reading. "What on earth are you-Oh God,"
In Itachi's younger years, she would always boast about how tough Itachi was, how he almost never cried, not once as a small child. Seeing tears swell up in Itachi's eyes signified how emotionally broken he truly was, the emotionless shell Itachi put up for so long finally shattered.
Mikoto sprung out of the chair, she tightly hugged Itachi. "Don't worry about it, your brother will be just fine."
OoO
Itachi walked back home with a report and one semester worth of school under his belt.
He slid the shōji open, beyond being where Fugaku waited. He handed him his report card and kneeled on the tatami mat along with him.
"...!" Itachi's grades were flawless, as expected. "I see...they say you're leaning on becoming a Genjutsu based shinobi, eh?"
"Yes, father."
"Well these grades are perfect, keep up the-" Fugaku raised his head up and got a good look at Itachi. Itachi's face was bright, red and swollen. "Itachi...your face..what happened?!"
"A group of less than average kids beat me up because they were envious of my academic acceleration."
"Why didn't-"
"I have no interest in fighting anyone, I don't understand it myself, but that's just how my nature is."
OoO
Later that night, Mikoto and Fugaku finally addressed Sasuke's extreme training methods. Mikoto spoke fist, her voice tender and sweet. "Your brother...he's been quite distressed lately about your training."
"What of it? I can't and I won't stop training, even if it kills-"
"That's enough, boy." Fugaku interrupted. "What is this training all about anyways?"
Sasuke stood up, he made his way to the shōji. "It's so I can get stronger for a certain...idiot."
OoO
Sasuke sat on the steps on the porch, watching the sun go down. Many things were on his mind, and now, the only person he could talk to was himself.
"Older brother!"
He swiftly turned around to see his brother running up to him with a huge grin on his face. It was worth more than anything to see him happy and the only thing precious to him.
"You came a little early didn't you, little bro? Are you skipping your lessons?"
"Hehe, of course not! I finished up all my lessons and was able to leave early."
"Oh, is that so?"
As Itachi sat down beside him, another question came into mind. "Itachi...do you hate me yet?"
"Why would you say that? Older brother..."
"I love you," He smiled. "I really do!"
"You're such an idiot...just like him, eh."
"Hm?"
"Ever since you were born, Itachi, I've been a horrible brother to you. And I'll continue to be a horrible brother because I am a horrible person. However, that's why I have you as a brother, whenever I lose myself to this world, you'll be there to run ahead of me and become an even better shinobi. We are an odd pair of siblings after all."
"If the day ever comes when you end up hating me, then I will fully accept whatever punishment you bring on to me, because...I am your older brother."
"..."
A sudden loud, obnoxious voice broke the silence.
"HEY, WHERE'S THAT SASUKE BRAT?!"
"YEAH, WE NEED TO TALK TO HIM!"
Sasuke forced himself to stand up, wearing a stoic face, he approached the group of shinobi waiting outside of his house.
"What the hell do you want?" His tone was harsh towards his fellow Uchiha clansmen.
"Last night, two men were missing from the meeting."
"What of it?"
"Why weren't you at the meeting?"
"Becuase, I had better things to do."
"We can understand that you may of had Anbu missions, but were informed you would be completing one, last mission before dropping-"
Sasuke turned around and began walking away.
'This little fucker.' "...hey comeback, at least answer one more question!"
He stopped. "What is it?"
Itachi peeked behind one of the wooden beams and listened in to what they were saying.
"We found a rotted corpse by Nakano river last night of..."
"...Shisu Uchiha." The other guy finished.
A piece from the wooden beam snapped off due to Itachi's intense clutch. 'He...Shisu-san is...'
"Oh, you mean that idiot?" Sasuke scoffed. "Who cares?"
'Older brother what are you-"
"Shisu Uchiha was the one who didn't appear at the meeting last night other than you. We knew you two never got along that well, but we always thought despite all your bickering, he was your best friend."
"...no. Not once have I ever thought of him in any way other than a pest."
"Anyways, we suspect he committed suicide, so we of the police force have decided to investigate this situation." He pulled out a note and handed it to Sasuke. "In any case, here's what we got so far, it's a suicide note from him. We even went so far as to check if it was forged or not, it wasn't."
"In that case, what evidence do you need?" Sasuke crumbled up the paper and threw it on the ground. "You're obviously suspicious of me killing Shisu, just kill me right now, whatever happened."
'O-Older brother!'
"What?"
"Shisu...he was the black sheep of the clan, and I'm glad, I truly am that he died."
That was it.
Itachi took off, he wanted to be as far away from Sasuke as possible. It didn't matter where he was going or how much time it would take, as long as it was away from him.
OoO
'One week and two days since his funeral. Two weeks and two days since he died. Forty eight hours and 30 minutes since I've accepted his death.' Itachi was sitting down at a dock, below him was a small pond of still water. "...is there something wrong with me? For not hating my brother, I mean. I'm an Uchiha after all, wasn't I born to hate?"
A ripple formed in the still water as a small leaf lightly tapped on the surface. "Is this...is this just how God created me? Is this...am I...good?"
"Itachi,"
"Good morning, father." He automatically replied.
Fugaku walked up to his son. "I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Your brother...he is to be exiled from the clan tomorrow." He said it with much ease, as if it wouldn't matter to him of Sasuke was exiled or eaten alive by a vicious animal.
"Sasuke killed several of your clan members, he was also found guilty of murdering Shisu. Even as a father, I agree with his punishment, his crimes were far too great."
"I'm tired of the duties...there is no future for Uchiha...and for me...I cannot walk out the path any further."
"What are you saying, boy?"
Itachi now stood firm on his two feet . "It's Shisu-san's words from his suicide note." He walked past Fugaku. "And maybe, it's true."
He went back inside the house where Sasuke was preparing for his last mission as an Anbu.
"Nii-san."
Sasuke looked back as his younger brother ran up to him. "Hey weasel, what's up?"
Itachi held up shuriken between his fingers. "I just taught myself a shuriken technique."
A vein popped on the side of Sasuke's forehead. "What?! Already?! I was supposed to teach you that!"
"You can teach me something next time."
"..."
"Heh...you're growing much more mature, huh, Itachi? I hear they're already promoting for you to become a genin, and at such a young age. I really wish I had more ti-" Itachi poked Sasuke on the forehead. "...!"
"I'm always up for learning from you!"
Sasuke pushed Itachi away and quickly stood up. "Can you just...shut up for once?"
OoO
Itachi slumped in a chair at the kitchen table, while his mother prepared him lunch. "Mother, do you and father...still love Sasuke?"
"...?"
"Earlier, father walked up to me and told me brother was being exiled, I could tell, there wasn't a hint of pain in his voice.,
"As a mother, I'll never stop loving Sasuke, but you understand the severity of your brother's crimes. We had no choice but to exercise the greatest punishment on him."
"Then...why has Sasuke changed so much? He's become angrier and rarely shows any emotion."
"That's just how your brother wants to act. And I'll be the first one to say, Sasuke isn't the nicest of people. However, I know somewhere buried in tang cold exterior, is a warm heart that cares for all of us."
'...you don't know either.'
Fugaku finally came in and took a seat at the kitchen table.
"Father, why is Sasuke so distant from everyone, especially...me?" Itachi suddenly asked.
"Sasuke is a very cold person and prefers to keep others away from him, especially those he likes the most. Even as a father, though I try, I could never understand him..."
'What brother needs someone to work off of, he needs someone to rival him so he can strive to be his best, and...' Itachi thoughts trailed off. 'Ever since Shisu-san died, Sasuke hasn't been the same.'
"Itachi dear, your lunch is ready!"
Itachi grabbed his lunch. "...Thank you."
OoO
After school, Itachi hurried back home, he was almost at Uchiha town when he saw a shadow flicker in the moonlight. He shrugged it off and kept walking until he entered Uchiha town.
Itachi looked around and saw blood splatters all over town. Right beside his foot, he saw his aunt lying in a pool of her own blood. At that instant, something inside him shattered.
"Is this what you were talking about Sasuke?!" Itachi ran towards his house, everywhere he looked, he saw only death. The once joyous walls filled with laughter were now etched with screams of terror.
Itachi slowly approached his house and slid open the shōji. He cringed seeing the floors and walls painted with bloodstains.
In a panic, he stumbled upstairs and opened the door to his parent's room.
"I was too late, I'm sorry." His knees grew weak and wobbly as they moved to the corpses of his parents. "Mother, father, I-"
He stopped, Sasuke appeared on top of their blood covered bodies, his blood red eyes were luminous.
"Why?! You did this..." Warm tears streamed down his face. "Didn't you?!"
A devilish smirk her on Sasuke's face. "I killed them all, Itachi. And I loved every bit of it."
"...but why I-"
Sasuke snatched Itachi's shirt collar. "You want me to kill you too?! Do you still want to live?! DO YOU HAVE THE WILL TO FIGHT?!"
"..."
"Tell me Itachi, tell me right now how much you hate me!"
"I don't hate you, Sasuke."
Sasuke slammed Itachi's face in their parent's pool of blood. "TELL ME YOU HATE ME!"
"I don't...I still don't hate you."
"That's it," Sasuke crouched down and turned Itachi over, his face held no emotion, that happy smile from long ago was destroyed.
A hard punch landed on Itachi's face, blood spilled out of his mouth and sprawled across the floor. "TELL ME...TELL ME HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME!"
"I...I don't...hate you."
Sasuke punched Itachi in the face a second time. "TELL ME! JUST TELL ME..." Tears quickly swelled up in his eyes the more he stared at Itachi's utterly defeated face. "...tell me you hate me."
"I'm just a fool, that is why...I cannot...hate you."
"Then, I no longer want you to be my brother."
Sasuke picked Itachi up and threw him across the floor like a worthless piece of trash. "Listen to me well, one day, when you have enough hate, then and only then can you become my brother, but for now, you will always be...trash to me!" Sasuke got up and left in a flash, leaving Itachi...alone.
OoO
Itachi scrambled out of his house and ran, it didn't matter where he was going, as long as it was far away from this hell.
"Hey Itachi!" A voice called out.
Itachi looked behind him, his eyes enlarged and his heart skipped a beat.
"Why are you so scared, I promise, everything will be ok!"
It was too long since he heard that sweet, happy voice. "Shisu-san..." The words escaped his lips.
Shisu ruffled Itachi's short, black hair and happily grinned. "I'll protect you with my life, no one will ever hurt you again."
Itachi sobbed uncontrollably into Shisu's shirt. "I'm so glad you're alive, Shisu!"
"Hey, hey, no need to cry, weasel! You're a tough guy, remember? Please, smile for me, I hate to see you cry."
He rubbed his tears away and smiled. "I'm really happy you came!"
"Me too!"
A sword suddenly pierced straight through Shisu's heart and he collapsed.
"Foolish Itachi."
A foot came down onto Shisu's head. "You should've known this was a Genjutsu." The foot pushed as hard as it could on the head and eventually, his head smashed much to Itachi's horror. Blood was spurting out from the openings of his cracked skull. It was horrifying.
"Hate. Hate for the rest of your life, hate me more than anything and I'll once again accept you as my brother, because from now on..."
"We are strangers."
'I still remember every little moment I shared with all of you, I was so happy back then. That's why I wanted to protect you more than anything, because you felt like a brother to me. Team seven was my only family.'
'That is why...I would do anything for you, without question.'
XxxxxXxxx
Naruto floated to the surface and popped out of the water. 'Shit, Itachi's not joking!' "Itachi," He grinned widely. "You called me trash, right? You haven't changed one bit, you're still a horrible liar as always!"
"Is that so, well, you haven't changed one bit either, you're still as foolish and naïve, as ever."
('"Hey, Itachi." Naruto began walking back to the stand. "Don't lose to that guy! 'Cause I wanna fight you!" "...Alright. I think it'll be interesting to fight you..."')
"I remember, you told me you wanted to fight me." A sigh escaped Itachi's breath. "I accept your challenge full on. Together, we'll fight to see who the strongest is."
"I doesn't matter to me anymore who's the strongest or the...weakest." 'Ram, snake tiger!' "I just want to bring you back, and fighting's my only choice, multi-shadow clone technique!"
Hundreds of shadow clones appeared beside Naruto. "Let's go, guys!"
Itachi jumped off Madara's statue and weaved a jutsu in midair. "Fire release: Great fire ball technique!" A giant hurl of flames burst from Itachi's mouth and it destroyed all the incoming clones in one shot.
"Hehehe-I thought you would do that!" Naruto got behind Itachi, he swung his leg and knocked Itachi into the water.
*poof*
Just before Itachi plunged into the water, he self destructed.
'That was a clone too! Then where's the real Itachi?!'
The real Itachi appeared in plain sight. "Fire release: Great fireball technique!"
'Heh, the same jutsu! That means I use...' "Multi-shadow clone technique!"
Instead of a fiery blast, several clones of Itachi stood in front of him. His clones charged for Naruto's and together they clashed.
"Damn it!" Naruto pulled out a kunai knife. "I'm coming for you, Itachi!"
Before he could rush inside the crowd, Itachi's clones blew up leaving only but one of Naruto's clones left.
The single clone staggered up and faced Naruto. "Fire release: Great fire ball technique!"
Naruto stumbled out of the way, just barely dodging the fire blast. Within seconds, Itachi was behind Naruto, he snatched his white shirt collar and pinned him to the foot of Madara's statue. "Now...Tell me Naruto,"
"Tell me how much you hate me."
"I-I don't hate you, Itachi."
He punched Naruto in the jaw, blood spilled out of the crevices of his mouth and dipped into the water. "Tell me...TELL ME RIGHT NOW HOW MUCH YOU HATE ME!"
"I don't...hate you."
*wham*
Another punch hit Naruto's right cheek. "It doesn't matter...how many times...you punch me. I'LL NEVER HATE YOU!"
Itachi stared at his hands covered in blood. The warm, red substance warm followed down and dripped from his arms onto Naruto's orange jumpsuit.
'That...that wasn't apart of the strategy at all, what happened?' For a moment, Itachi's eyes closed, then reopened. His once soft, black eyes were exchanged with blood red ones.
He could feel Naruto gawking at his eyes, the more he stared, the more the fear rose in him.
'Those eyes...they aren't the same from before!'
XxxxxXxxx
'I always knew you were a loner, Itachi. And I was...I was really happy, because finally...there was someone just like me. I've always wanted to talk to you.'
'But, you were cold.'
'As far back as I can remember, you were perfect, Itachi, in every way possible. It was back then where I decided I wanted for you to be my rival, I couldn't stand the thought of being called a loser...again. But it was impossible. Everyday you would try so hard to make us happy, and even then I would only accept you as a rival...never as a friend. But in truth I...I...'
'I've always wanted to be just like you!'
'I get you more than anyone, Itachi, and because of that, I know how hard you're still trying to make us...'
'Happy.'
XxxxxXxxx
"You told me, you would bring me back no matter what, correct?" Itachi asked.
"That's right! I'll never give up on you, I promise!"
"Heh..he, heh...ha hah ha!" Itachi crackled up with mocking laughter. "You honestly are that stupid?! That makes me even more excited!"
Itachi laughing. An evil laugh no less, and this entire time, Naruto thought he didn't know what laughter was. "What the hell is wrong with you, Itachi?! What are you so excited about?!"
"I'M JUST ITCHING TO KILL EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE! Let's see how far you're willing to go for me then when I slaughter your precious Iruka!"
"YOU BASTARD!" Naruto's feelings could no longer be held in, they burst out all at once, he felt Kurama's chakra surging through his veins giving him all the strength he needed.
Naruto shot like a bullet towards Itachi, he reeled back his arm and released it with every bit of power he had left.
Naruto's fist went straight through Itachi.
*poof*
"...a...-"
"And, Naruto," Itachi whispered.
He felt a stabbing pain through his chest, he looked down and saw a kunai knife sticking up from him.
"I'm itching to kill you, the most."
Naruto held up his arm. "You just don't get it," He clamped down on his hand. "I won't stop. Even in death, I'll bring you utter hell."
"...!"
OoO
Within the Valley of End, a dark spot of matter surfaced and a dark green shell in the shape of a venus fly trap arose. The shell ripped open, revealing a half colored being donning the Akatsuki cloak.
"Itachi's done fighting already? He barely did anything."
"Be mindful of Itachi's nature, it's his friend after all."
"No matter. We'll see what he's truly capable of in time coming..."
OoO
"So you realized it was a Genjutsu?" Itachi said.
"You didn't make it that hard to figure out." He replied.
'As I've calculated, we're reaching the conclusion of this fight, it's time to end it with my final move.'
"What was the point of the genjutsu?! You only wasted your chakra by doing that!"
"There wasn't any point. I merely wanted to see how you would react." He turned around and walked off.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"I'm done fighting, because you no longer hold my interest."
"How is that...FOR YOU TO DECIDE?!" Naruto could feel the ninetail's chakra re merging inside him. "I'LL BREAK YOUR LEGS SO YOU CAN NEVER RUN AWAY AND I'LL BREAK YOUR ARMS SO YOU CAN NEVER HURT ANYONE EVER AGAIN!"
"RASENGAN!"
Naruto ran up to Itachi as he was walking away. Itachi swiftly turned to the side. "You still don't have enough hate, Naruto." He snatched Naruto's shirt collar and fastened him on the wall of stone behind them.
"I never had any hate to begin with!"
"No matter how many times I hurt you, it never matters. Tell me why you care so much?" Itachi asked.
There was somewhat sincerity in Itachi's words, so Naruto had only one answer for him. "It's because...when I'm with you, I wonder...if that's how it would've felt like to have a brother. Losing you would feel like I'm losing a brother."
For a slight second, Itachi's face flickered with emotion. "...Brother...?" It felt so long since he ever said that word.
"You already knows what it feels like to have a brother...so do you consider me your...brother?"
"I wouldn't know. I don't have a brother to call my own, Sasuke is merely a stranger to me. Whatever me memories I've had of him are...dead. I have nothing left of my family or my home to remember."
"Then that's why...that's why you need to come back. Team seven can be your home...and I'll be your brother." He grinned. "What do you say?"
Itachi punched Naruto into the stone statue. "No."
An inevitable rage exploded within him, a blood, orange cloak snaked around his body along with the growth of four fox tails.
'It's emerged, everything I worked so hard for finally can get paid off.' Itachi jumped up onto Madara's statue.
Fueled purely on rage, Naruto scaled up Hashirama's statue in a flash. "ITACHI!" Naruto screeched.
Itachi held his hand out and did a beckoning motion. "Come, Naruto."
Naruto took off from Hashirama's staute, as he launched closer and closer to Itachi, his rasengan grew wilder. "ITACHIIIIIII!"
Itachi stood up and held two fingers.
OoO
"It's time to move, let's go."
OoO
Itachi swung his arm back and lightly poked Naruto's forehead. He gave Naruto one last, warm smile.
"Forgive me, brother, we'll fight another time, I promise."