Naruto was shaking with pain. It was all too much for him. With the force of willpower, he made himself focus on Itachi calling his name.

Naruto made himself look into his eyes. He still needed a few moments to get himself together. He felt as if he was set on fire and left burning. "Naruto-kun, can you hear me now?" Itachi asked.

Naruto blinked in confirmation. "I am going to use a genjutsu on you to numb your sense of pain. I need you not to break it." Itachi said as he activated his sharingan. Naruto looked into his eyes, and a few hand signs later, he felt more composed.

The pain was still there, but it was manageable for now. Naruto grabbed a few seals from his stash and handed them to Itachi. "Go," Naruto managed to say, voice barely above a whisper.

Itachi immediately recognized the seal. He hesitated for a moment before positioning Naruto near a wall and shunshining to where Mei was fighting. The Sanbi had taken damage from Naruto's attack and was a lot slower and on the defensive.

Mei was also low on chakra, so she couldn't do much damage. Itachi used the distraction to get on top of the bijuu and activate the seal. With an inhuman roar, the bijuu started sinking. He kept struggling to stay afloat, but Itachi used another ration technique to shock it.

Finally, the bijuu was pulled under. Then Itachi threw the remaining seals in a circle around the sinking bijuu, activated the seal, and jumped back. The seals lit up in a circle, and a giant ring of ration formed and moved toward the bijuu.

The water's surface exploded, and it took a few minutes for everything to calm down. Finally, the body of Yagura floated atop of water. This time Mei made quick work of checking the Jinchuriki. She told Itachi that it was done and took the body.

Itachi came to Naruto who was fighting to stay awake. The fights weren't over. Naruto could feel their allies, who were still fighting. "Itachi. I'm a liability. You have to go and help others. I'll stay here. It's not like I can move." Naruto said, rasping.

Itachi looked panicked. "NO. I won't leave you behind. Never. We will go together." Itachi said as he tried to pick Naruto up.

"Stop. Itachi, we are on a dangerous mission. Others need you. I can hardly move a muscle. I'm just an easy target. I will put you in danger." Naruto said.

"No. I don't care. I'm taking you with me." Itachi said as he started maneuvering Naruto to get him on his back.

"WAIT. If you want to take me, you need to heal first. Bite my arm." Naruto said struggling and getting his forearm in front of Itachi's mouth.

"You are injured. I can't…." Itachi started.

"Itachi, listen to me. I know my limits. This is our only chance." Naruto said, a stern look on his face.

Itachi looked into his eyes for a few seconds before finally giving in. He brought his head down, holding Naruto's arm with one hand while holding Naruto's back with the other. He finally bit down, and Naruto gave a small yelp.

Naruto could feel him draining the last of his chakra and the pain coursing through his body. Itachi tried to pull away, but Naruto's other hand held him firmly. Finally, it was done. Naruto's vision was hazy, but he could sense that Itachi was in good condition.

He didn't have enough power to stay awake any longer and let his eyes close.


Naruto woke up in a hospital. He was still in a lot of pain, but he felt a lot better. He saw Shisui in the bed next to him and immediately panicked. This caused Shisui to wake up with a start. "Ow. What the hell." He took a moment before noticing Naruto awake and trying to take out his IV and devices.

"STOP. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Shisui yelled. The doctors and nurses rushed to the room, holding Naruto down and injecting him with heavy sedatives.


When Naruto woke up again he felt a bit better, but his head was throbbing, and his mouth was dry. He tried to sit up but noticed that he couldn't move. He tried again and saw that he was tied down. He couldn't remember what happened or why he is tied down.

He started sensing around and noticed Kakashi approaching his room. His memories began returning, and he tried to sense for Shisui. He was on the roof with Itachi. His chakra was tired and a little stressed but otherwise normal.

Naruto waited for Kakashi to come inside. He noticed that Naruto was awake and immediately put his book away and came to his bedside. "Do you remember what happened?" He asked.

Naruto nodded slightly and turned his head toward the table beside him where there was a water jug. Kakashi understood. "OK, I will have to open your restraints first. Are you calm enough?" He asked as he poured water into a glass.

Naruto gave another confirmation before unlocking the bonds holding him and helping him sit up a little. He tried to give the glass to Naruto, but his hands were shaking and weak, so he brought the glass to his lips and helped him drink slowly.

"Thank you," Naruto said. Voice shaking and weak.

"You're welcome. Do you want me to tell you what happened?" Kakashi asked calmly.

Naruto gave another nod. "OK. So the fights stopped soon after Yagura's defeat was announced. We are currently waiting for you and Shisui to heal enough before going back to Konoha. We are not privy to more information, but Mei was appointed as the Godaime, so it is safe to assume Yagura won't be a problem anymore." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"What happened to Shisui?" Naruto asked, voice shaking and an urgency to his voice.

"Don't worry. It is not too serious. He took a sword slash to his side. It was deep, but his organs weren't damaged, so he should recover quickly." Kakashi said. Naruto could feel himself getting drowsy. Kakashi helped him down and gave him a gentle hair ruffle.

"Get some rest," Kakashi ordered before leaving again.


It took a total of 10 days to leave after the big battle. There were still some small battles going on, but ROOT had sent some units posed as normal chunin and Jonin to help the new Mizukage, and it was time for them to go.

Naruto wasn't still able to fully use his chakra, so he was on Kakashi's back. They took more frequent breaks to also accommodate for Shisui. He kept saying he was fine and his wound was mostly healed, but he got more winded than usual, so it was only fair.

It took them a while, but they finally got to Konoha, where Kakashi handed Naruto to Itachi as if he was a sack of potatoes and told him to get Naruto and Shisui straight to the hospital as he and Yugao went to report.

Naruto tried to protest, but it fell on deaf ears. As Naruto's luck had it, Tsunade was available and decided to give them an entire lecture about stupid shinobi and limits as he checked them. She even forced Itachi through a checkup which was very amusing.

Finally, Tsunade lets go of them with an order for Naruto to return for regular checkups. When he was about to get hit by the bijuu chakra, Kurama sent an equal amount of chakra through his body at the moment of impact to protect him.

It helped him only to get burned on his skin which was mainly healed by now, but the result of all the techniques he used in the battle caused his body to become exhausted. He needed a minimum of two weeks of downtime before going back on missions, and there was a permanent scar on the arm Itachi bit.

A ROOT operative took him from the hospital to the base for his report. Danzo wasn't satisfied with some of his actions, but the fact that he withstood the most potent attack of a bijuu with such minor damage was enough for him.

Naruto was given a new training regimen and instructions before he was sent away. Naruto quickly sensed through the base for familiar chakra. He was currently in charge of 12 agents in total. He mostly kept them on information-gathering missions. His spying network was getting more impressive by the day.

Currently, Shin and Sai were the only ones in the base, and they were training. Fuu and Torune were on a mission sent by the daimyo along with two of Naruto's operatives. Naruto decided to leave Shin and Sai be and went into a meditation room.

After the Uzushio, it was a lot easier for him to go through and compile his memories. He knew that in order to use his full power and potential, he would need to break the seal, but it would cause all of those emotions to hit him at once.

On the bright side, after the release and initial shock, he wouldn't feel those memories as strongly. It was as if he went through them without the seal and processed them. He estimated that by the time he became 12, he could release the seal.

He had already gone through a lot of memories. He was done with the death of all of his comrades. All that remained were memories of his childhood and Madara. He wasn't ready for Madara yet, so he decided to go through some childhood memories.


Sasuke told Naruto that he would never understand what it meant to lose his family. He was right, but wasn't it worse not to even know your family?

Naruto used to watch people around him. The way they interacted. No one was absolutely lonely. No matter how much they wanted to pretend, they all had someone who cared for them, even if they pushed them away.

Even after Sasuke became an orphan, he had his fangirls and the whole village to give him attention. There was always someone to show concern for him. Whether it was a lady at the cashier who asked him about his studies or if he was eating enough or a random academy teacher to ask him if he needed help with a subject.

People never avoided him. Whenever he asked for anything someone was willing to put things aside and help him. So was he ever truly alone? Maybe he was alone, but he wasn't isolated.

Kakashi used to push everyone away, but a lot of Jonin were close to him, and he had regular interactions with them. So while both Kakashi and Sasuke understood the meaning of loss, they didn't understand true loneliness.

Even when Naruto was in the orphanage, other children weren't alone. There was always someone for them to interact with. Whether it was a worker or other children, they could always find someone to talk to.

Naruto, however, was truly alone. He was shunned in the orphanage, with no one willing to interact with him. Then he was thrown out and given an apartment where he was even more lonely. The third Hokage hardly had time to spend with him, and when he did, Naruto could feel his emotions.

Sadness, regret, shame, and deep pain. It made Naruto's heart break because he could see those emotions when Sandaime interacted with him but not when he was interacting with others. But Naruto was selfish and couldn't let go of the only person willing to talk to him.

Then Iruka came but Naruto could feel anger from him. It later changed to sadness and regret, but Naruto decided to be selfish again.

Naruto used to watch others from the swing near the academy or the corner of the park. He could see people with their friends and family. There was hardly ever a negative emotion. There were times when he could feel anger from a parent yelling at their child, but he could also feel concerned.

All he wished for was for someone to choose him. Someone to show care for him. What did it feel like to be hugged? To have someone hold your hand? To someone smile at you without a negative emotion. There were so many thoughts but never an answer.

Everyone told him that he was abounded by his parents since he was a monster. He used to believe that. That was also why he was so quick to forgive his parents when he learned the truth. When he talked to them inside the seal, it was a dream come true for him.

Finally, it was the first time he felt what he had always wished for. He was happy even though he knew they were dead. During the was when his father was reanimated, he was so glad to be able to spend time with him.

So he did all those things he always wanted. He hugged his father and held him close. He held his hand whenever he could. He even got kissed on the head quite a few times. While the war took so many from him, it also gave him the one thing he always wished for.

Naruto never told anyone, but a secret part of him was grateful for the war that allowed his wish to come true. He knew it was wrong, and he also was hurt by all the death around him. He would never choose to lose a friend for his selfish desire.

He would rather die a thousand deaths. He felt disgusted with himself for even thinking so, but he couldn't change the truth. He tried to deny and change, but it didn't work. He tried avoiding his father and punishing himself.

And he started hating himself.