While I fully intend to destroy this after I'm done writing it, if, somehow, someone manages to attain parts of this report, I would advise obliterating it with all due haste.

Beginning: The nature of my existence has afforded me certain advantages in the study of Light and Darkness, though mostly the latter. And while I am not a scientist, I do like to know what it is that I am dealing with.

So far, I have discovered several things into the nature of Light and Darkness.

The first, and perhaps, the most important of which, is that Light and Darkness are neutral forces.

Darkness is not evil, nor is it good. Light is not good, nor is it evil.

I will be the first to admit, however, that Darkness can be a corrupting force.

Nevertheless, it is possible to resist this corruption.

As far as I am aware, the very first use of Darkness was to protect others. I could be wrong, however, as this was an insight gleaned from the KKD. The first wielder of the KKD, who was also the one who forged it, created it to protect those she loved.

Unfortunately, the KKD possessed great power, enough to attract the attention of many, who turned to Darkness in order to gain power, most of whom were subsequently consumed by it.

Regardless, the point stands.

Darkness can, and has, been used for purposes both good and evil.

So too, perhaps even more so, has Light.

I pulled My Darkness from the book and pen, watching words I'd written into it vanish as if they'd never been.

That was... probably enough to prevent anything from ever reading it, but if living among ninja's had taught me anything, it was that you could never be too safe.

I picked up the book and pen, and promptly slipped into a Corridor of Darkness.

I hear the center of the sun is nice this time of year.

Exiting the Corridor of Darkness was actually a fairly interesting thing, mostly because I was immediately and violently disintegrated by way of nuclear hellfire.

But hey, so was the book and pen.

If someone somehow manages to get their hands on it now, they deserve it.

I blinked.

My head turned to the side, towards the eastern gate.

I saw three Hearts slowly approaching the village.

One of which, I had seen before.

A very, very long time ago.

The other two, I didn't recognize, but if the first was who I thought it was, then...

My eyes narrowed.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Jiraiya had left not too long ago.

And though Jiraiya had taken more people than in canon, it seemed that Kisame and Itachi had still arrived in Konoha not long after he had left.

"Something up?" Shikaku asked.

I watched Itachi's Heart -so similar to back then- and Kisame's Heart as they came closer to Konoha.

"Yeah."

I watched as they came closer to the village.

They wouldn't really try to enter the village, would they? With Hiruzen still alive and the village having recently been invaded?

"Trouble."

I kept watching Itachi's and Kisame's Heart, so I noticed when both them started to... walk away?

"Or... not. Huh."

I had to blink.

They weren't trying to enter the village.

That's... hmm.

I guess they actually do possess some modicum of intelligence.

"Nevermind."

"Wait, what just happened?"

"I just sensed Sasuke's brother."

"What?!"

A couple of days passed before sensed Itachi's Heart again.

Worryingly close to Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. And thankfully close to Jiraiya, who was with all three of them.

"I'll be back in a little bit, Shikaku."

Itachi, for all of the 'really a good guy' thing he had going, was still enough of an asshole to torture his brother into a near psychological break using the image of his clan's death and one of the most powerful genjutsu in existence.

I would very much prefer it that he was nowhere near Sasuke.

Some preternatural sense of danger had them turning around the very instant I arrived.

Which was a little bit odd to me, as I was used to most ninja not having any god damned clue where I was if they hadn't physically seen or heard me.

And yet, Itachi and Kisame had noticed me.

Which was a shame, as that meant that I didn't get my free shot at Itachi's life.

Though certainly not for a lack of trying.

My Blade passed through the air where Itachi's neck had previously been, the ninja himself having moved to the side as I came past.

Two Kunai appeared in his hands, both of which he stabbed into me before I could defend, both of which effectively accomplished nothing in terms of hindering me.

"Hello Itachi."

I swiped at him, my Blade lengthening, and he ducked in response, leaning underneath it and kicking at me, staggering me.

Kisame appeared, Samehada raised over his head, bringing it down in a thunderous crash, a blow powerful enough to disperse me.

I swirled back together in an instant, wrapping a part of myself around the sentient sword's bulk, temporarily ignoring how it twisted and writhed in response to that, and stabbed at Kisame, who twirled out of the way, forcefully ripping Samehada out of my grasp.

I felt Chakra attempting to sink into me, the beginnings of a Genjutsu that wouldn't have any effect anyway, and let My Darkness writhe, disrupting the still forming structure, rendering it useless.

I turned to Itachi, seeing the minor amount of surprise and annoyance in his Heart, letting my hand raise, a large ball of Darkness forming at the tip of my claw.

"Goodbye Itachi."

I let the ball drop, noting that Kisame was still quite close to me.

Good.

The ball burst, a column of flames instantly spreading over the ground and shooting up into the air.

The flames burned hot, but faded quickly, allowing me to see that both Itachi and Kisame had escaped the flames, proving that their title of S-Class Ninja hadn't been for nothing.

I wasn't even surprised.

The point of it hadn't been to hurt them, after all. I had other options for that.

The point of it had been to attract attention. And few things attracted attention like a 30 foot column of fire.

Already, I could feel Jiraiya's Heart coming closer, accompanied by Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura.

Alone, I'd never be able to kill them, being far too slow for that. But with Jiraiya?

Now, that was a different story.

Kisame rushed at me, Samehada held to the side, prepared to tear me apart again.

I let my Blade elongate, meeting the bandaged form of Samehada. There was an odd screaming sound as I sliced through it, splitting the massive sword in two, the top half flying past me and the bottom half reaching woefully short.

I easily saw Kisame's surprise, shortly followed by anger, and Samehada's pain, which was also shortly followed by anger.

"What?!"

I didn't give him any time to recover, immediately stabbing at his head, aiming to put my Blade through his brain.

But, of course, he wasn't an S-Class Ninja for nothing. He got over his surprise remarkably quickly, and though he was slower to dodge than he would have otherwise been, he was still more than fast enough that the delay simply didn't matter.

He rushed around me, Samehada trailing behind him, kicking my back hard enough that I was thrown headfirst into a wall.

I pushed out of it quickly, turning around to find Kisame standing over Samehada's top half, pressing Samehada's bottom half against it, before carefully lifting the sword.

Which came up in a single piece.

Of fucking course.

There was no small amount of relief Kisame's Heart in that moment.

And if I'd had one, there would have been no small amount of annoyance in mine.

"You..." Kisame started, turning to me. "Are a dangerous little fucker."

"I'll consider that a compliment." I raised my arm, temporarily letting my blade glint in the light. "I take it you've learned your lesson about getting into sword fights with me."

"Oh, I think he has." Jiraiya commented, dropping in next to me. "Even I picked that up, and I'm not a swordsman."

"You know, you could have taken the opportunity to blindside them."

"Nah, they're too alert for that." He said, before he stood straight, his jovial expression disappearing. "Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi-"

"Uchiha." Sasuke ground out, landing behind me and Jiraiya, alongside Naruto and Sakura.

"Oh, he looks like you, Itachi." Kisame grinned. "Who is he?"

"Kisame, we're leaving." Itachi stated, monotone and serious.

"Leaving? You're no fun." Kisame stated. Nevertheless, he swung Samehada behind his back, stand up tall. "You," He pointed to me. "The next time we meet, I'm going to kill you."

"Should we ever meet again Kisame, I will rip your heart out of your chest and your Soul out of your body."

He cackled, but I didn't miss the underlying menace.

"Leaving? After everything you've done, you intend to just leave?" Sasuke spoke, his voice low and dangerous.

"Calm down, Sasuke. You're not strong enough to fight him just yet."

I could hear his teeth grinding, and I had no doubt that his fists were clenched, his eyes burning red with the Sharingan.

"Itachi." Sasuke said. "The next time I see you, I will kill you."

"Foolish little brother." Itachi spoke, his voice still monotone. "You will try."