I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 59: The Book's Truth

"Natsume!" Madara yelled. "Natsume! Where the hell did that boy go?" Glancing to the left he saw a small staircase that should be impossible for humans to climb. He sighed. "Foolish boy." He jumped down, letting his body slowly fall to the ground. He landed on his feet then looked up to make sure no one was on the staircase. Seeing no one, Madara continued to look for Natsume.

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Natsume came to a stop when he heard his name. He knew who had spoken and that he was a great distance away. Without hesitation, Natsume stepped forward. His follower would eventually catch up to him, but Natsume need to know how far away he could get. At the edge of the small areas of trees, he heard a splash. A splash indicated that water was nearby. Natsume hoped that it was a lake. He wanted to relax by a lake, may be even put his feet into the water.

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Naruto and Sasuke finished taking down and folding their clothes. Sasuke was more caring towards his clothes than Naruto was, but both packed away their clean clothes in their scrolls. Naruto took inventory of their food supplies and decided that he'd better save what they had for times they really needed it. Besides, he saw some fish in the lake. Stripping down to his boxers, Naruto left the cave to go fishing.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had pulled out his journal. He began writing in it, only stopping when he saw Naruto stripping. Raising an eyebrow, he watched as Naruto left the cave. Out of curiosity, Sasuke followed him, careful not to get wet. He saw Naruto in the lake trying to catch a fish. He was brought back to one of the last times he'd seen Naruto fish. It had been during the Chunin Exams in the Forest of Death. Using clones, Naruto had jumped into the river causing fish to jump into the air. Sasuke had been the one to throw kunai at the three fish. Sasuke smiled as he recalled the memory. It had been one of the times that the two of them managed to work together despite fighting.

Sasuke was broken out of his thoughts at the sound of a small cry. His eyes first went to Naruto, but the boy had his back to Naruto and it seemed like he was fine. He followed Naruto's line of sight to a boy that looked around their age. The boy was wearing a red yukata with yellow flowers on it. He had an arm out in front of him and he looked a bit surprised. A fish was in front of him, trying to flop back into the water. It was clear that Naruto had tried to catch the fish, but instead, it flew out of his hand and hit the kid. Sasuke couldn't blame the kid for his yell as it wasn't everyday that you'd get hit with a fish.

"Sorry about that," Naruto said, a hand going to the back of his neck.

"It's alright," the boy said, lowing his arm. "I have to say, that I've never been hit with a fish before though."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, I suppose not." He stepped towards the boy, holding out a hand. "I'm Naruto by the way.

"I'm Natsume," Natsume said, shaking Naruto's hand.

Naruto grinned. "It's nice to meet ya!" He saw Natume's eyes move towards Sasuke. "Oh! And that's Sasuke!"

"I see," Natsume said. "So what kind of…"

"Natsume!" a voice yelled. Natsume flinched at the voice. Naruto frowned. A man stepped through the woods. "Finally! Why did you leave Natsume? You know that…" His eyes saw Naruto and he growled. "Who are you?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Wolf."

The man suddenly grinned, his fangs showing. "Natsume, you always run into the most interesting things." He stepped up behind Natsume, pulled his against his chest, and rested his chin on the boy's right shoulder. "Tell me, what is a fox doing here."

"A fox?" Natsume asked. He didn't even try to struggle out of the other's grasp. He stared at Naruto. "Are you a yokai?"

"No," Naruto said. He pointed to his stomach as the seal appeared. "I just have a nine-tailed fox sealed inside of me."

"That explains why you can see me then," Natsume said. "Though I have to wonder why Sasuke-san can."

"Probably because of his eyes," Naruto said. He turned towards Sasuke. "Hey Teme! How long are you going to keep up your sharingan?"

Sasuke frowned. He hadn't even noticed that his sharingan had activated. Letting it fade, Natsume and the man behind him disappeared from sight. He cursed when he realized that he wouldn't be able to see them without his sharingan. He reactivate it. "I can't see them without it."

"Just be careful," Naruto said. "I know that the sharingan no longer hurts your eyes when you use it too much, but that doesn't mean using it here could be bad. We don't know if this world has a strange effect on your eyes." Sasuke was a bit surprised that Naruto had noticed that. He wonder briefly if Naruto knew that he had been have problems with his eyes since Goku's world. Part of him wonder if Madara had lied about the Eternal Mangekyo. He thought about asking Yuko, but that meant another payment. And if something was wrong, he'd probably ask Yuko to fix it, no matter the cost. That probably meant letting Naruto protect him while he recuperated. The thought of having to have Naruto look after him irritated him and made him refuse to ask Yuko for help.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "So I'm guessing you two are yokai and that only yokai can see you. Well, that and us who have special eyes."

"Yes Fox," the man said. "We are yokai."

"My name is Naruto," Naruto said. "Not Fox."

"Then call me Madara," the man said.

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened at the name. It was a name that brought fear and hatred to Naruto as he wanted nothing more than to kill that man. Sasuke on the other hand wondered if that were in another different version of their world. But there wasn't a Natsume among the people he knew. Sasuke's eyes moved to Naruto's form as he saw the blond clench his fists. He could feel the Kyuubi's chakra beginning to spike. "Dobe, it's not him." Sasuke's words instantly calmed both Naruto and Kyuubi down. Suddenly, both Naruto and Natsume's stomachs rumbled.

Naruto blushed. "I think we should have something to eat. I didn't catch the fish for nothing after all!" He picked up the fish that was no long flopping. It had died do to the lack of water reaching its gills. He also grabbed the other fish that he had managed to catch before Natsume had showed up. In total, he had eight fish. That would mean that each of them would get two each. Naruto nearly pouted at the though of having so little fish to eat. Sasuke cooked that fish while Naruto opened a bag of carrots and peas, cut them on a clean rock, and dumped them into a pot. He threw in some water to help cook them. When the fish were nearly done, Sasuke handed them to Naruto who cut them into small pieces and added them to his soup. He wondered if he had anything else to add when he remembered that he had some noodles leftover from last night. He grabbed his bag and pulled out the container of those noodles and added them to the pot. When it was done, that had a nice fish noodle soup. Naruto handed Natsume the two bowls for himself and Madara who kept Natsume in his lap as they ate. Sasuke served himself and Naruto pulled out four sets of chopsticks. It was a good thing they had four of everything. Obviously, it was because Naruto was a member of Team Kakashi, a four-man squad.

The group ate in silence, neither pair knowing what to say to the other. Madara only spoke once throughout the meal when he asked if Naruto had any Sake. Naruto simply shook his head and pulled out four bottle of water. Natsume began to wonder just how much stuff fit into Naruto's bag as the stuff he had already take out seemed to cover way too much space to possibly fit inside his bag.

Once they were done eating, Naruto and Natsume began to play a few games. Naruto had asked Sasuke to play, but the raven said he'd just watch and rest his eyes. Madara was asked by Natsume, but he too just sat back and watched. He kept an eye on Naruto and Natsume while making sure that Sasuke didn't do anything funny. Sasuke eventually pulled out a book that he had already read three times. It was one of the books that he had seen in Itachi's room after the massacre. Sasuke had gone into that room one night and had started to destroy things. When he got to Itachi's small bookcase, Sasuke had ripped apart several books before his eyes fell on the one currently in his hands. It was the book that Shisui had gotten Itachi for his birthday. Sasuke opened it to rip it apart, but the words written on the page hadn't been printed. It was something Shisui had written himself. "Remember: no matter what happens, we will always be friends. I trust that you will see through this to answer any questions you have. Love Always and Forever, Shisui." After reading it, Sasuke had tears in his eyes. He fell to the floor, wrapping his arms around the book. He didn't know why he hadn't just destroyed that book too, but he was glad he hadn't. Sasuke wondered what Shisui meant by seeing through this to answer any questions you have. He had looked at it with both his Sharingan and his Mangekyo, but he couldn't see anything different. He though reading it would give him a clue, but he still couldn't figure it out.

"You're reading it again?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked up at the blond, his sharingan back on. He was wearing black shorts and an orange t-shirt. He could see Natsume behind him. He was wearing Naruto's spare pair of shorts and a t-shirt that was thankfully not orange.

"So what?" Sasuke said.

"Nothing," Naruto said, shaking his head. "It's just that I've seen you reading that book a lot. I swear that it's been like fifty times!"

"Three times," Sasuke said. "I've only read the whole thing three times."

"But you've looked at the same page for awhile," Naruto said. "And I saw you go back a few pages."

Sasuke sighed. Then he closed the book before opening it on its first page. He showed it to Naruto who read the beautiful handwriting before looking at Sasuke with a confused look. "Is that Itachi's handwriting?"

No," Sasuke said. "It's Shisui's." Naruto still looked confused. "Shisui was our cousin, a member of the clan, and Itachi's best friend."

"What was he like?" Naruto asked, sitting down. Sasuke glanced at the blond and then behind him to see that Natsume was talking to Madara. He let his sharingan fade.

"Shisui was three years older than Itachi," Sasuke began. "They met a year after the Third Great Ninja War. Itachi was five at the time while Shisui was only eight, his birthday being a few months later. He was known as a master of the Body Flicker Technique, even given the name Shisui of the Body Flicker. From what I can remember, he was a great tracker and was extremely good at Shurikenjutsu." Sasuke looked right into Naruto's eyes. "He was stronger than Itachi." He looked away. "Whenever I got to watch them spar, Shisui would win." Sasuke smiled. "I once asked them if Itachi was really weaker than Shisui, but Shisui just said that Itachi was far stronger and that he was just holding back. I think he lied to keep me thinking that I had the greatest brother in the world. You see, my father had always praised Itachi as the strongest Uchiha and when I saw him lose, I began to lose faith in my father, and in Itachi."

"He sounds like a good man," Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded. "He was." Sasuke suddenly frowned. "But Itachi killed him during the massacre. I don't know how it happened though."

"Do you think that Shisui knew?" Naruto asked. "About the coup?" Sasuke's eyes widened. He hadn't thought about that. His eyes met Naruto's. "I mean… If he knew, then may be he let Itachi kill him. May be he died knowing that if he didn't, something would have happened that he didn't want to."

"You really think that?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shrugged. "The only person who would know is Shisui." Naruto looked up as if in thought. "And probably Itachi." Sasuke nodded, frown back in place. "I noticed that you used our sharingan to look at that book, both of them. Did you think because you were using Itachi's eyes, that you'd be able to read whatever Shisui is hiding?"

Once more Sasuke's eyes widened. "How… how did you know?"

"About you having Itachi's eyes?" Sasuke nodded. "Because they are different. When you don't use the sharingan, your eyes are a bit darker than Itachi's. In fact, when we met that time before your fight with him, I noticed that when he doesn't use the sharingan, his eyes have a brown tint to them, only if you get close enough to see though." Sasuke clenched his fists. When and how did Naruto get close enough to Itachi to see that? "And you eyes didn't have that tint, but now they do. Besides, Kakashi told me that using the Mangekyo was causing him to lose his eyesight. Obaa-chan ordered him to not use it too much."

"I don't have the regular Mangekyo. Because these are Itachi's I'll never go blind."

"That's what Madara told you. But that's not true. You are having problems."

"So you've noticed."

"Of course I did. I don't know when it happened, but it's like something happened in one of the worlds we went to that messed with your eyes."

"I think it was something in that world with Goku. They started hurting after that."

"Was it me? When I slammed into your Susano while I was in Three-Tails mode?"

"I don't think so. Susano should have blocked out that Chakra."

Suddenly, Naruto's whisker marks changed and his eyes shifted red. "Uchiha," the voice was dark and Sasuke knew it was the Kyuubi talking though Naruto. "When did you use the Mangekyo before that time?"

Sasuke began to think back. When he and Naruto fought in Yuri's world, he had used just his regular sharingan. His mind went to the time before that in Eren's world when they fought the titans, but again, he hadn't used the Mangekyo. As Sasuke thought back he began to realize that he hadn't used the Mangekyo much as he never needed to. Then it clicked. "That last time I used it was it that fight against that wand wielding guy." At Naruto's, or rather Kyuubi's confusion Sasuke added, "the one with that Aladin kid."

"How did it feel then?"

"Like normal," Sasuke shrugged. But Kyuubi glared at him. Honestly, seeing Kyuubi glare while using Naruto's body wasn't as effective as normal, but it was still a bit terrifying. "The Susano takes a lot of Chakra to use. I also used the Amaterasu. Using both at the same takes even more, obviously."

"Before that you used it to fight those Noah Bastards." Sasuke nodded. "That poison, the gem was able to get rid of what was left in your body. But what if some of it got into your eyes and stayed with only the Mangekyo?"

'Is that even possible?' Naruto asked from within himself.

"There is only one way to find out," Kyuubi said out loud. He suddenly grabbed Sasuke's face and pulled him forward. Their foreheads met and Kyuubi closed his eyes. Sasuke just stared wide-eyes at the being before him, a bit afraid to move. Red Chakra leaked of Naruto's body and onto Sasuke's the slight burn was surprisingly not painful. When the Chakra was gone, Kyuubi leaned back. "There." He lifted a hand, his clawed fingers brushing lightly under one of Sasuke's eyes. "You should be good now."

Sasuke shivered as he sat back. For a moment, he thought Kyuubi was going to rip out his eye. He knew how much Kyuubi hated the Sharingan and the Mangekyo even more than that. But then he noticed it. "The pain is gone."

"Of course," Kyuubi said, looking very pleased with himself. "Did ya forget that I can heal the Kit?"

No, Sasuke didn't. It had been the Kyuubi that had saved Naruto when Sasuke's fist went through Naruto's chest. And that wasn't the only time Sasuke saw the Kyuubi's healing Chakra in action. In fact, Naruto tended not to care if he got hurt since Kyuubi's Chakra always healed him. Part of Sasuke wondered just how far it would go. Could Kyuubi heal a missing limb? Or may be a disease? If Itachi had Kyuubi's Chakra, could he have been saved from his illness? Then he remembered Abunaisuke and his Naruto. That Naruto hadn't been able to heal. "It has a limit."

"It does." Kyuubi frowned. "I can't bring back what is completely lost. And before you ask, I was able to heal Naruto after what you did to him by using the surrounding skin. I took the skin and stretched it then healed the damaged skin to make it look like new. It the Kit gets his arm cut off, it can be reattached. However, if it is completely destroyed, I cannot help him grow one back. As for illnesses, I can prevent him from being poisoned, or getting diseased. My Chakra also increases his temperature to keep him from getting sick."

"That's why he's always warm," Sasuke said.

Kyuubi smirked. "Indeed. We are hot." Sasuke nodded, not getting his innuendo. Kyuubi rolled his eyes at the Uchiha's obliviousness. "As for healing others, I can only heal wounds. So if you get sick, you are gonna have to deal with it."

"So you couldn't have saved him," Sasuke looked into Kyuubi's eyes. "You couldn't have saved Itachi."

Kyuubi frowned. "He was sick, wasn't he?" Sasuke nodded. "Then no, I couldn't have." Again, Sasuke nodded. Kyuubi yawned. "I'm going back to bed. You may want to meditate, Kit. Oh, and tell that Natsume kid that you two are fine. He's been looking at us for awhile." At his words, Sasuke glanced at Natsume who had a concerned expression on his face. He turned back to Kyuubi to see Naruto's blue eyes instead.

"We're fine, Natsume," Naruto said.

"Told you," Madara said. "They were just conversing with the Fox." Madara placed his head on Natsume's shoulder. "There's nothing to be worried about."

Natsume looked into Naruto's eyes as if trying to see a lie. When he found none, he nodded. "Alright." He stepped towards Naruto and Sasuke, ignoring Madara's protest at the lose of heat. "I've been wondering for awhile, but that book you have been reading Sasuke-san, it gives off a special aura." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Have you tried unsealing it?"

Naruto looked confused. "Unsealing what?"

"The yokai inside," Natsume said.

"Eh?" Naruto picked up the book Sasuke hadn't realized he'd dropped. He sniffed it. "It smells like birds." He opened the book and begin to flip through the book. As he flipped through it, a few things caught his eyes. "Wow! It's a summoning seal!"

"What?" Sasuke took the book from Naruto and looked at the page he was on. He just saw the small picture that was at the end of the chapter. He frowned. "What seal?"

"It's a seal!" Naruto said. He pointed to the picture before flipping the pages until they reached the end of the next chapter where another picture was. "Each of them is different. But if you put them together, it makes a seal." Naruto grabbed his bag and pulled out a scroll. He carefully began to draw each picture on the scroll as if it was one picture instead of twenty. "See?" He held up the scroll. "A summoning circle."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He hadn't noticed that. Sure he wasn't great at seals but he should have seen it. He looked at Naruto. How had the blond figure it out so easily? Then Sasuke remembered that Naruto was a master at seals. He turned his gaze to Natsume. If he hadn't of said anything, it would have taken them longer to notice the seal. "I want to try it."

"Alright," Naruto said. "It probably needs Uchiha blood." He placed the scroll on the ground. "Bite your thumb and wave the usual summoning jutsu signs then slam you hand on the scroll." Sasuke did just that. Suddenly, a crow appeared on the scroll. Madara and Natsume looked on in amazement as the crow began to speak.

"So you've figured it out, Itachi," the crow said. Sasuke knew that voice. It was Shisui's. "I knew you would. I don't know how much time has passed since you got this book, but I hope you enjoyed it. Now, you probably want to know what I meant by what I wrote on the cover page. It is simple. I know that the coup isn't going to end peacefully, not unless I use it. I know that you don't want me to use the Kotoamatsukami, but I have to, especially if the peace talks fail, which I believe they will. Sometimes I wonder if the Fourth hadn't died during the Kyuubi attack that this wouldn't have happened. He was a great Hokage and I'm sure the Uchiha Elders would have gladly followed him. Anyways, I'm getting off tract. I'm going to use it, against your wishes to protect your other wish. I said it before, I won't let the clan's issues destroy your and Sasuke's relationship. Family is very important to me. But if for some reason I can't keep my promise, I ask that you forgive me. I know what you will have to do if I fail, if the peace talks fail. And for that, I'm sorry. I never wanted it to come to that. I will try my hardest to prevent that kind of future. Part of me hates killing, but for you, I'd do it." The bird began to flap his wings. "Remember, I'd do anything for you Itachi. Oh and one more thing. If for some reason I'm to die, please take my eyes. As my best friend, I'm sure you will use them to protect the village... and the Uchiha name. That is all." The crow fell silent before it disappeared in a blast of smoke.

Sasuke and Naruto stared at the scroll, each taking in Shisui's words. Shisui knew everything, including that he was going to die and that Itachi would have to kill everyone in the clan. And he was willing to use Kotoamatsukami to do it. Naruto looked at Sasuke. "What is the Kotoamatsukami?"

"I only know from rumors that it was a technique that allowed the user to control anyone it wanted to," Sasuke said. "It was a genjutsu of the highest calibre due to the victim being completely unaware that they were being manipulated. They would think that they were doing things of their free will."

"Mind control," Naruto said. He got a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, when Itachi and I met before your fight, we forcefully fed me a crow. He did it in a genjutsu of sorts."

Sasuke took in the new piece of information and began to roll it around in his brain. It came to him that Itachi had gotten at least one of Shisui's eyes. He figure that Danzo must have gotten one. The old man had tried to use it, but Sasuke had killed him before he could. Danzo had made sure to destroy the eye, probably to prevent Madara from getting it. That's when it clicked. Itachi knew that Madara was going to tell Sasuke everything. He also knew that Sasuke would talk his eyes and that he would want to destroy Konoha. But that was against Itachi's wishes. To protect the village, Itachi had made sure that the one person that stood a chance against Sasuke had the eye. Sasuke was sure that the crow inside Naruto's body had Shisui's eye in it. The only question was what was the command it had. If Sasuke had to guess, it was that it Itachi's eyes met Shisui's then Sasuke would be forced to protect Konoha.

It pissed Sasuke off to know that Itachi would go as far as to manipulate him into protecting Konoha. But that made it obvious what Itachi wanted. Part of Sasuke wanted to agree with his brother and give up on his revenge. He glanced at Naruto. Maybe he could go back to Konoha with the blond after all. Then the darker part of Sasuke reminded him that Konoha was still responsible for his family's death. He wanted them to feel the pain he did.