WHY I'M SO STUPID?
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or its characters.
"Since you decided to up the ante, I might as well do the same." Naruto said, his Rinnegan eyes staring right back at Itachi.
Jiraiya and Kisame were just sitting around in the side lines, eating some popcorn while they watch the fight between Uchiha and Namikaze. (Don't ask where the popcorn came from, these stories don't always have to make any sense whatsoever.) Kisame spoke up when he saw Naruto's eyes, "That ain't by any chance the Rinnegan?" He asked the perverted Sanin.
Jiraiya nodded his head just as he sprinkled a little salt on his popcorn, "Yeah, he activated it about a year ago and he has been training it since, along with a few other things." He started while pulling out his little notebook, "Plus, he's been giving me some good material to work with due to all the beautiful women ogling him."
The next thing he knew, his notebook was hanging between his legs, with a kunai sticking out of it, about a couple inches away, causing his eyes to grow huge, "Next time, your notebook will be taking over as your privates." Naruto said in a dangerous tone.
Jiraiya's eyes rolled to the back of his head just as he started fainting, causing Kisame to break out laughing.
Itachi shook out of his stupor to say something, "I see that you are still full of surprises, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto decided to give him another little surprise, "Actually, it's Naruto Namikaze." He said, causing the two missing-nins' eyes to widen, "Oh come on, Itachi, you spent time with my father when he was helping you get through the insanity caused by most of your clan, and you didn't think that the fact that I look like him with whiskers was more then a mere coincidence?"
Itachi looked like he wanted to hug Naruto on the spot, but only two main things were holding him back, one being his Uchiha pride, the other is the fact that Kisame would be more then willing to give him a hard time about it. "I see, so you really are Minato's son. As much as I would like to get to catch up on old times, I've still got a mission to do." He said, before activating his second ability involving his Mangeyko Sharingan, "Amaterasu." He said, just as he was about to release the unstoppable black flames.
What happened next really got Kisame to laugh like crazy. The next thing Itachi knew, he felt a big poke in his ass, and he went flying into a tree. When he recovered, he turned around to see Naruto on his knee, with his two hands clasped together, with his index fingers pointing out, "One Thousand Years of Pain." Naruto said.
When Itachi recovered, for the first time ever in his life, he wasn't sure wither to be impressed in Naruto's abilities or be extremely pissed off for being violate. "I see that the boy we encountered in that hotel was just putting on an act." He said, while getting into a taijitsu position, with a kunai in hand.
"If you want to talk about acting, then try looking in a mirror." Naruto said, while getting into his, with the Rinnesword in his hand. Just when a single leaf landed right in the middle, both charged towards each other, trading blows while their audience is busy trying to keep up.
Back in Konoha, Sakura was frozen in place because in front of the hokage are her parents. Her father she could get along with pretty well because he never saw Naruto the way most of the older population did. They still talk every now and then, even after she moved into her own apartment about a month after she stayed at Ino's, he even helped with paying for the down payment and security deposit.
Her mother on the other hand was a different story. They have never spoken to each other ever since that slap in her room. From what her father has been telling her, he has been busy trying to convince her mother into their line of thinking when it comes to Naruto, but it was a very slow process since her mother was just as stubborn as her.
"You wanted to see me, Lady Hokage?" Sakura asked with a polite bow.
Tsunade looked up just as she answered "Yes Sakura, I did, but first do you know where Shizune is? She should have been finished with her shift at the hospital right about now.'
Sakura couldn't help but giggle before she replied "The last time I saw her, she was about to give Kakashi-sensei an earful after another one of his training sessions with Sasuke."
Tsunade broke out laughing at this, "I swear that guy is going to be breaking my record on driving that poor girl crazy." She said, before getting serious, "Anyway, the reason why I called you here is because your parents have some things that they would like to discuss with you." She stood up and started to head towards the doors, "I'll leave you three alone to have your little family reunion."
When the doors closed, Sakura decided to have a seat next to her father. When the silence became too much, her father, John, decided to start the conversation, "So Sakura, how is your training coming along?" He asked.
Sakura smiled at this, "It's going fine." She said, "Although the first two months were truly painful for me." She started to rub her arms, "Hokage-sensei is a tough teacher, but she's helping me find my true self."
Rose, Sakura's mother, decided to swallow her pride for once in her life and do what she should have done in first the place since that day, "Sakura, honey, I want to apologize for what I did that day." She started to say, trying to avoid eye contact, "Ever since that day, your father has been trying to convince me to try and look at your friend in a different way, and when I started hearing some of the people that I used to grow up saying how much they wanted to kill him for making them look like fools from all the times they tried to physically hurt him. I was feeling a mixture of guilt and disgust when I left and it wasn't until I met up with Misty at the dango shop."
Flashback
Rose was walking home after having what might be her last get together with people she called her friends since childhood. Before she didn't mind being with them because of the fact that they shared a similar hatred for one Naruto Uzumaki aka the kyubi-brat. Now she was feeling disgusted with them and herself for some reason. Ever since her daughter have spoken up against her about her opinion on the boy, and she responded by slapping Sakura in the face just for choosing to be Naruto's friend, or if she saw right, his girlfriend.
"Do my eyes deceive me or is that Rose Haruno finally taking time from her high horse and visiting us regular folks?" She turned to see Misty Yamanaka sitting at the dango shop, with Anko and Kurenai.
"Oh, Hi Misty, Anko, and Kurenai. Would it be okay if I join you?" She asked the three people she consider her friends.
The three looked at each other before Anko answered "Only if you promise not to say one bad thing about Naruto."
When Rose took her seat, "Hey Kurenai, I heard that they were letting your team do their first mission together without you." Misty said.
Kurenai nodded, "Yes, I believe the hokage wanted to see how well they would do by themselves since they're all chunin now. Right now I'm hoping that Shino and Hinata could keep Kiba at bay since he still has that impulsive streak that Naruto used to have." She said.
"I guess she is doing the same with Ino and her team." Misty said, "And since my husband is also out on a mission with his friends, I decided to close up the shop early and enjoy the day to myself since I get only so few of them."
"A few of them my ass." Anko said, with a slight snort, "I can still remember the times when I walk in to catch you trying to do your version of sweet talking Inochi and Ino into covering for you whenever you don't feel like working."
Kurenai decided to go for a double team, "Or those times when you kept on finding a way to leave us the bill whenever we eat out together." She said, with Misty blushing in embarrassment.
"Oh trust me she did worse, considering that we grew up together." Rose said, having Misty give a look that was practically begging her not to say any more, "Although I'm not in the mood to discuss that. Can I ask you all a personal question?" She asked. When they gave her a nod in return, "Can you tell me anything at all about Naruto Uzumaki? Ever since Sakura stood up to me about him, and my own husband has been treating him with the same respect he gives to our daughter since he was still a child, and after talking to people that I've always consider friends . . ."
Anko gave a slight snort at this, "Yeah I saw you with those assholes." She said, "You know for people to call me a psycho and to attack a child for something he was forced to carry, they are far worse then what they accuse us of."
Kurenai nodded in agreement, "I know. I've never knew Naruto personally, but from what my team has been telling me, especially Hinata, he has been wearing a mask most of life, making people underestimate him, and the people are despising him even more because he keeps outsmarting them by making sure that they either end up attacking themselves or each other without having to lay a single finger on them." She said.
"What kind of things?" Rose asked surprised to hear how far her friends would go.
"Except for the using name calling, glares, ignoring him, turning their own kids against him," Misty started to say, noticing that Rose was actually starting to feel guilty about what she did for the first time, "At first they would beat him to the brink of death, then just to make things worse they would vandalize his apartment, burn it, do everything they can to let him know how they feel about him."
"But that was just the first year." Kurenai said, "From what Hinata had told me, she seen him spending a lot of time with the Third, and the second year was when she saw the person that came before the mask."
"And to answer your question Rose, Naruto is a good person. From what Inochi and Ino saw during the Chunin finals and what she learned from Naruto before he left on his trip, he is the exact opposite of what people used to think about him. He is calm, smart, kind, strong, and from what I've learned if it wasn't for most of the village out to get him, he would have been rookie of the year, with possibly the perfect score."
"If he is so kind, then why is it that whenever somebody tries to be nice to him, or even apologize, that he would tell them to shove it up their ass?" Rose asked.
Anko gave a slight snort, "What do you expect, that he be willing to give his trust that easily after all the years of crap he had to endure?" She asked, "I know that I wouldn't if it were me that went through the same thing he did, I probably would have lost it like Gaara did if he hadn't meant Naruto."
Misty spoke next, "Inochi told me what Naruto told him about how he wasn't going to give anybody his trust that easily. If they want it, they'll have to earn it."
Flashback ends
Rose looked up towards her daughter with tears in her eyes, "Ever since that day, I started to realize that I never knew your friend as well as I thought other then the fact that he is the container of the Kyubi." She said.
Sakura was also starting to feel a little guilty at this moment, "I guess I shouldn't place all the blame on you since I'm just as guilty as you are." She started saying, tears coming out of hers, "It wasn't until after the exams that I finally started to notice him for real. Before then, I was too busy admiring Sasuke just like a good little fan girl, not even bothering to notice that the things I wanted from him was under my nose the whole time."
John knew what was coming next, so he was smart enough to scoot his chair back a few feet just in time to avoid both mother and daughter leap into each other's arms, yelling out a few apologies. He couldn't help but crack a smile at this, knowing that things are going to start getting better for the two from now on.
The fight between Naruto and Itachi has reached its climax, Itachi using his Susanoo attack, and Naruto with his sword at the ready, and his Rinnegan still flaring. Naruto could tell that this fight is taking its toll on his opponent by the way he was breathing hard. Naruto placed the sword back into the scabbard, and deactivated his dojitsu. "Itachi, how about we finish this with just hand-to-hand?" He asked, getting Itachi's full attention, "I can see that using the Mangeyko Sharingan is making you weak enough to the point where even a small breeze could knock you flat on you ass." He explained, while taking off his weapon pouches. "Let's finish this without anything but straight out hand-to-hand combat."
Itachi nodded at this, deactivating both his attack and his Sharingan, while following his example by disarming himself completely. When both got into a fighting position, "Let's finish this." He said.
"Let's." Naruto said, before both charged at each other.
Kisame gave a low whistle when he saw his partner was still having trouble fighting the blonde. "I see that you taught that kid well." He said.
Jiraiya was about to swell with pride until he noticed a brief glare from his student, which in itself said danger. "Actually I just showed him a couple of steps and he learned the rest on his own." He said, making sure not to face the wrath of his own student.
Itachi was beyond impressed at the fact that this boy could keep up with him, even in pure Taijitsu. Unfortunately he was running on fumes due to using his Mangeyko Sharingan for longer then he was supposed to. He decided to ask Naruto the question that keeps popping into his mind, "Tell me Naruto, you said that Sasuke is willing to welcome me back, does this mean you plan on bringing me back with you?" He asked. When he received a nod in return, while both stopped their attacks "Care to explain to me how?"
"Only two options." Naruto answered, "You either come willingly or I drag you back by your testicles."
This caused every male in the vicinity, human or not, to shiver at that answer. Itachi decided to ask the next question, "And how would you know that I would be allowed back into the village after what I have done to my own clan?"
Naruto answered again, "Because I had my sensei talk to the Hokage about the real reason behind the massacre and from the message I received from her in Suna, she is going to gather the evidence we need to use against those in the council who wronged so many people long enough."
Itachi sensed the sincerity in his answers, "Very well, I surrender and I will come with you if you allow it." He said, before turning towards his partner, "What about you Kisame, are you going to go back to the organization?" He asked before throwing his cloak aside.
Just as both he and Jiraiya stood back on your feet, Kisame smirked before removing his cloak, "Actually, I think I'll travel around with you guys." He said, while placing his sword back onto his back, "Besides, it would be too boring without you by my side."
Here is the latest chapter. Sorry if it's not what you expected, but I've been dealing with allergy season while I was writing it. Read and Review.