Recap: Naruto and Itachi fight 30% while Itachi's flashback takes up 70% of the entire chapter.
black zetsu=bold
white zetsu=italics
Chapter 20: Fractured
The sky, now a vastly gray color, poured down small, needle-like rain droplets. Itachi's head hung over Naruto's lifeless body, seeing him like this was unbearable.
"Hey kid,"
Itachi looked behind him, he saw an odd-looking person calmly staggering towards him. Wrapped around his body was a black cloak, splotched with red clouds, a clear indicator of Akatsuki status.
"Are you the Akatsuki I'm looking for?" He asked.
Bit by bit the dark green shell encasing his body slowly cracked open, revealing a man. Half of him was white the other black. Complete with the weird skin colors was his dead grass looking hair, although it was an interesting complement to his pale yellow eyes.
The white half of him spoke up. "That is...correct, so come with me, Uchiha Itachi to fulfill your purpose."
It happened again. That same feeling of despair he felt so long ago once again bubbled up inside him. "O-of course..." With one final glance Itachi stood up. "Tell me your...name."
"Zetsu. Now let's go."
**delete**"Even though I may act a little cold
I can never forget the feelings of happiness you gave me
And I'll still remember all those happy moments with you
Just know, everything I do from this point on forward...
Will always be to protect you."
*three days later*
"We're here."
Itachi entered the small cave Zetsu led them to. "...!"
Zetsu noticed his expression. "Their spiritual pressures are rather immense, it must be a sharp change from the ones you felt in Konoha."
Barely, Itachi could make out the shapes of several people and each of them were respectively donning a black cloak. He noted something else. 'Only three of the shadows are tangible, the rest are just..holograms?'
"..."
"...So this is the little shit Sasuke always talked about, hm?" A smart-mouth piped up, breaking the eerie silence.
"Now don't say that," Another voice remarked. "I bet someone like him could whoop your ass in five seconds."
"Shut up!"
Itachi's guard stiffened at the sound of sudden footsteps caught his attention. "My name is Pain, I am the leader of this group known as..." He briefly stopped. "...the Akatsuki."
He then turned to one member in particular. "Itachi is in this organization for a reason, don't underestimate him."
"What is my objective while in this group?" Itachi asked.
"You'll know in...due time, for now, you'll be assigned a partner to train with in order to ensure the success of your teamwork capabilities."
"A partner?" Itachi repeated.
"Yes, from now on until death, you'll be working coincide with Hoshigaki Kisame."
XxxxxXxxx
("'Forgive me, brother, we'll fight another time, I promise.'")
Naruto's eyes opened up to a pale, white ceiling. A slight contrast to the milky, gray sky he last remembered seeing.
"Good, he's up."
He cocked his head. Tsunade, Sakura, and Shikamaru all standing around him. 'I'm in a...hospital room, aren't I?'
"I heard about what happened, and I'm surprised, your injuries aren't as bad as we expected." Tsunade commented.
Naruto cringed at those words. Itachi still didn't take him seriously enough. "I'm so...I'm so sorry Sakura-chan." He quietly muttered.
"Heh, what're you talking about?" Sakura's feet awkwardly scuffed over to the curtains, she pulled them open. "The weather's great today, isn't it! Maybe we can all take a..." Her words drifted off.
"Sakura-chan!" He yelled. "I will keep that promise no matter what, I'll keep it 'till the end of time, no! Even after the end of time, because,"
"I won't go back on my word!" His lips curled up to make a cheesy grin. "'Cause that's my ninja way!"
'I trust you...completely Naruto.' Sakura glanced at Naruto's goofy, grinning face, and she couldn't but smile back. "Naruto..." She began walking away. "Next time, I promise...we'll find Itachi together!"
OoO
Zetsu plopped a black lump in Itachi's arms. "There's your cloak, fitted just for you." A black hole of matter surfaced under his feet and he began sinking into the ground. "You'll get your other adornments shortly." Soon his entire body disappeared, something like that Itachi would definitely study.
"I wonder how long it's been since Sasuke first wore that cloak?"
Itachi slipped his arm through one of the sleeves, not a single word uttered.
"Maybe six, seven years ago I believe."
Other sleeve.
"When he first joined, I remember him being such a brat, I do hope you'll be better company, Itachi."
Last part; buttoning it up.
"Anyways, my name is Kisame Hoshigaki and from now on, we're partners."
"...I've heard the name tossed around before, its a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Oh it is?" He smirked wide enough to show his sharp teeth. "Looks like I've done my job well."
OoO
After everyone had left, Naruto was once again alone. 'I wonder what Orochimaru's doing to you...no...I can't think of that I-I know, I'll count the number of tiles in the ceiling...shit, I don't wanna do that.'
Naruto heard a sudden noise outside of the window breaking him from his thoughts. He peered out of the window. "Pervert sage!"
"Hey, Naruto!" Jiraiya greeted, he stepped off his frog and sat on the outside window ledge. "I have something important to tell you."
"..."
"From now, you're officially my apprentice now and in three years, I'll make you a full-fledged shinobi."
Naruto nearly fell off his bed. "Huh?!"
"While I was researching Orochimaru, I found some significant information about the Akatsuki from a reliable source. Luckily, they won't be coming after you for about three or so years."
"Listen, I don't have time to be going on random adventures, I don't care if they go after me in three years or three days!" He yelled. "None of that matters, I have to find Itachi...Orochimaru is going to kill him!"
"That's what I need to tell you...Itachi isn't with Orochimaru."
"...what but then WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"
"Orochimaru gave up on Itachi, somehow he obtained someone even more powerful, or should I say, more suitable than Itachi. We're not sure how Itachi obtained such information, but he played it against you, in short, there honestly is no answer on where Itachi is and who he's currently with. And unless we know exactly what Itachi is trying to do...just give up on him completely."
Jiraiya continued. "I know you think Itachi is special, but in truth, he's a no better person than Orochimaru. Whatever words he used to try and justify his actions were nothing but lies, Itachi willingly left the Leaf and nothing you do will ever change his mind. Forget about Itachi, you'll only end up a fool."
"Yeah, well so what...you didn't know him like I did...he was-"
"He left the hidden leaf."
"..." Naruto's head dropped, he struggled to find any more words to say. What Jiraiya said was true, Itachi left them.
"If all you want to do is track Itachi down, then forget my training. I'll stick the Anbu with you, and you'll never be able to leave the village...You're not an ordinary kid, Naruto, you have the nine tails fix spirit within you and if you decided to disregard my words and just go your own way then I'll have no choice but to go the latter."
"One day, you'll face enemies, even more powerful than Orochimaru, and what good will chasing Itachi around do then? Strength and jutsu won't make you a good shinobi, you also have to have intelligence and be able to weigh your options. You have to be smarter in order to become a great shinobi...and in this world, reality has no room for fools like you."
Naruto's sheets wrinkled from his tight grasp. "Well...If that's what being smart means, then I'll just live a fool my entire life."
"...!"
"Even if I have to do it alone, I'll just learn more jutsu, heh, and I'll even beat the Akatsuki while I'm at it. So I ain't stopping until I catch Itachi by the tail!"
'This kid's a total idiot.' Jiriya started getting himself up. "And if you do it by yourself, then you'll return back with nothing, well, that's to say if you do return." He jumped off the ledge and landed on top his frog's head. "But you're a special kind of fool, maybe you'll be able to do it after all, alright, get ready after you leave the hospital. Understood?"
Naruto smiled. "Yeah, okay!"
By request from Angelvan105, I bring "finally a clash! Genin vs Jōnin!" (I'm sorry I couldn't get it in on October 3, I was incredibly busy, well anyways, happy birthday:) well...late birthday...)
A/N: Next chapter is undoubtedly shippuden, and because I'm feeling generous, there won't be a hiatus from now and then, and even more so, I might be able to get in a chapter or two a week from now on (hopefully)
OVA 4: Finally a clash! Jōnin vs. Genin!
Indiscriminate Grand Melee Tournament Meeting!
Itachi stood in between Shizune, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, after recently being called he assumed it was another Anbu mission.
Based solely on the vision of his mask, he could see hundreds of shinobi scattered around the Hokage's office. 'This must be the tournament I've been hearing about...'
Tsunade raised her arm. "Alright everyone! LET'S GET THIS STARTED!"
"YEAHHHHHHH!"
She had a stern but relaxed expression as she faced the crowd. One hand gripped onto the railing, the other fell flatly to her side. "Listen up! We'll have you do a preliminary match first to decide who'll participate in the final matches, anyways, I'm sure all of you are aware of the free-for-all rules, the crystals will involve jōnin, chūnin and genin!"
"Jōnin and chūnin will carry red crystals and the latter blue crystals and within the time limit you'll fight for them! Even if you manage to lose your crystal, you can retry as many times as you want, within the time limit, of course."
"The winner of this tournament will be rewarded by creating a new rule for Konoha!"
"YAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
'A new rule?' Itachi thought. 'Interesting gesture...'
"NOW, let the preliminary all-out brawl...BEGIN!"
As the shinobi scatered about the leaf, Itachi walked over to Tsuande, he kneeled down. "Hokage-sama, what is my mission?"
"Oh, I almost forgot, there isn't any official Anbu missions for you to currently do,"
"Hm?"
"And I've seen you work so hard as an Anbu so I decided to reward you with allowing you to participate in the tournament." She handed Itachi a red crystal. "Have fun!"
XxxxxXxxx
'If I absolutely must play, then I plan to win...the only problem is...'
Itachi walked down empty path, clear from any invading shinobi. 'I have yet to find an opponent.' Ever since word got out that Itachi Uchiha himself was in the tournament, not a single soul dared to go near him.
"Hey, Itachi!"
Except for one.
He turned around and saw Rock Lee staring right down at him with those bushy, bushy eyebrows. "We've locked eyes with each other so now we're destined to fight!"
Without a second to react, Lee landed a punch and his leg went straight through Itachi's waist. "Wait, what?!" He quickly his reeled arm back dragging along a thick substance encased around his leg. The substance began bubbling until it burst into a flock of ravens.
'Damn it, he already got me!'
OoO
Lee's fallen crystal laid flatly in Itachi's hand. He stuffed it inside his pocket and walked away.
XxxxxXxxx
Itachi slid to one side while Neji the other, ever since Neji heard Itachi was a contestant, he'd been searching desperately for one of the leaf's top shinobi.
'I don't have a choice at this point...well, I'll have to be quick.' He forced his eyelids to open up, revealing his translucent eyes, a great risk, but it would be a risk he'd needed to take. "Byakugan!"
'I see, that's his plan...!' Itachi ran towards Neji with a cluster of kunai in hand. He leaped into the air and flung them at his head.
"Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven!" A sphere of chakra circled around Neji, deflecting the kunai all at once.
Itachi jumped back. "Now!" Much to Neji's surprise, he simply ran off.
"H-hey! Come back here!" Neji followed Itachi into the woods.
'Good, he's gone, but there's no telling for how long.' The real Itachi popped up from underground. "...oh!" A shiny blue object rested by Itachi's feet, just his luck, it was Neji's crustal he happened to drop so Itachi naturally picked it up. 'Two so far...'
OoO
"I searched the entered village and not even a small sign of Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto's hands rested behind his head. "I just need some sort of lead..."
*BOOM*
It was loud. It was an explosion. And it had Kakashi written all over it. 'He-he, Kakashi has to be there!' The spiky blonde took off towards the end of the forest.
XxxxxXxxx
"Fire release: Great fire ball jutsu!"
'There are two attacks coming from behind and the front, it certainly doesn't leave me with a wide range of attack...' Kakashi made his mind up and sunk below the earth.
Itachi swiveled around and Kakashi shot up from the ground, just barely dodging him. 'Ram, snake, ti-'
Naruto entered there near edges of the forest where Itachi and Kakashi were having a heated match. "I-ITACHI?!"
For a second, Itachi's attention flickered, a perfect opening for Kakakshi to land an attack.
*BAM*
Kakashi's punch sent Itachi flying straight into one of the trees behind him. 'I can't get distracted, not even for a second, shinobi must never show any weakness.' As quick as Itachi was down, he got straight back up.
"I-it's you!" Naruto's voice grew frigid. "GAH! Never mind! Just what the hell are you doing, Kakashi-sensei is my target!"
"..."
"...! HEY! Aren't you listening to me! DAMN YOU ITACHI!"
Kakashi sighed. 'Months those two has been apart and they're back again to fighting, well, one of them is at least...'
Naruto began weaving several signs, but before he could finish the handseal, Itachi spoke up. "Naruto, please, for the sake of this game, let's try to forget what happened that day and work together to get Kakashi's red crystal."
"...fine."
'Let's see how well they've improved.' Kakashi got into a fixated stance as Naruto ran up to him along with several clones. "Such basic jutsu like that won't work against me, Naruto."
"So what? There's no use in not trying!"
Itachi was coming from behind Kakashi, using Naruto's reckless tactic, he too had shadow clowns beside him. "Let's go Naruto!"
In one flick of the wrist, Kakashi held both Naruto and Itachi's arm. "It was a pitiful attempt, I told you to use higher grade jut-"
"Rasen-GAN!"
Naruto came running in front of Kakashi, a blue sphere of chakra in his palm. "KAKASHI-SENSEIIII!"
'So the two that I'm holding must be clones.'
Itachi jumped off of Naruto's buoyant hair and landed on the ground, speeding towards Kakakshi. "Chidori!"
A sigh escaped through his mask. "You two are certainly a handful." He lifted his forehead protector and revealed the famed sharingan. "Sharingan!"
"Let's go, Itachi!"
"Mm."
Kakashi bolted towards the two, with his arms pulled back, he swung them in front of him and grabbed both their arms.
*Poof*
"What?! They were both shadow clones..." His head swiveled around.
Itachi picked up Naruto and threw him at Kakashi. "THE TRUE...RASEN-GAN!" Naruto yelled, flying like a bullet through the air.
Just as Naruto was above Kakashi, he quickly ducked down and grabbed Naruto's leg. "Here we-" He swung Naruto around and flung him on the tree behind him. "-go!"
"-GAH!" Naruto plopped on the ground like a dead animal. "Damn it..." He cursed under his breath, then turned to face Itachi. "Itachi! You ruined everything!"
"You were simply too late, Naruto." Itachi replied.
"Shut up! Shut up! You bastard!"
"I barely said five words, there isn't a need to get upset."
"Who do you think you're talking-"
"Hey, hey-" Kakashi called out, he dangled a blue crystal around his finger. "Look."
Naruto furiously patted his entire body. "WHAT?! That's my crystal isn't?"
"A ninja must never show any weakness," He stuffed it inside his pocket. "I'll keep this for now. If you're ashamed then find your ways to the finals...well...if you can." With that lasting comment, Kakashi disappeared.
'You won't get away.' Itachi left as well, trailing after his former sensei.
"...! I won't give up!" Naruto ran after them. 'You just wait...I'm going to get your crystal and win this tournament!'