Endless Night

StarsOfYaoi: hello people, this is a new story for all of you! I hope you will like it. And of course, it’s ItaNaru!

 

Note: this fic will have a different style than my other ones, but still angst. And in this one, because otherwise it would be too troublesome, Itachi did not kill his clan (I mean, it was not him doing it!) and Sasuke… was retrieved and did not go to Orochimaru. More of this as the fic goes on.

 

Not BETAed.

 

……………………………………………

 

Rating: M

 

Summary: (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi’s chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now Naruto and Itachi are both stuck into the past. The only way to go back forwards… is to work with each other.

 

Warnings: yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.

 

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

 

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

 

……………………………………………

 

 

 

Endless Night

 

 

Prologue: Start

 

 

A soft breeze whirled and curled around the grass at their feet as both sensei and seitou stood staring at the landscape, the plain running free from where they were standing, until it disappeared further from their sight, behind a hill.

 

Sun looking down at them, the green of the grass bright and vivid, the warmth of the morning sun brushing their skin. It was a wonderful day.

 

“I wonder why I am here”.

 

After three whole days being silent and quiet, which was unusual, these were the first words the blond pronounced. They were spoken with a subdued tone, almost thoughtful, eyes filled with life and something else his sensei could identify with youth.

 

The tone was a deep contrast with the question, and Jiraiya found himself puzzled by the sudden unrequited subject.

 

Really, this was a stupid question.

 

“You should stop fooling around, Naruto, and finally start growing up” was his reply. But his voice was warm and kind, because he cared for Naruto. Speaking like a father scolding affectionately his son.

 

“No, I mean it. I wonder why I am still alive. After all, I should have died long ago,” there was no regret, no sadness in his voice; he was just stating a fact. Wondering with pure, untainted curiosity, as if he’d been asking about the weather.

 

His eyes were not dull nor glazed over. He was still living at his best. And still, he wondered.

 

Jiraiya knew now the question had a meaning. He had to expect it, after all, the memory of the tomb was still fresh in both their minds; the tomb of the Nibi no Nekomata’s vessel that had been clear and visible to every visitor to see.

 

The villagers filled with pride saying they had killed the demon when it still wouldn’t be a real danger, not knowing its soul probably left the body a second before it died.

 

Hatred can’t disappear, no matter what. Not even if the receiver is a two–year old girl who had been destined to be the vessel for a demon.

 

Life moved on, at least for them.

 

………………

 

 

Ocean eyes opened with some strain, blinking rapidly to focus on his surroundings.

 

Being aware only of the steady beat of his own heart, the blond teen let himself be dragged outside of his blank sleep, his fingers twitching at his sides, the feeling of soil under them comfortable and familiar.

 

His body felt heavy, like he had wasted away a good part of his chakra and now felt hard to even move a muscle, too tired to do anything but lay there, waiting for his brain to start working again.

 

For a moment, he could see nothing but grey, then his blurred sight focused again and he found himself staring up at the cloud covered sky; it looked like it was going to rain, because in the air there was a lingering taste of dampness that made his skin tingle almost pleasantly.

 

Greyish clouds were towering above the treetops, some so dark they looked almost black, curling around the mountains like soft sinister blankets.

 

He liked the rain, he thought with a faint smile. There was something akin to expectation in the moments preceding a downpour, even more so if it were to be a storm, and he could not deny he liked the excitement he received from the wait.

 

A single second, then he straightened up in shock, remembering what he’d been doing before suddenly finding himself unconscious.

 

Blond bangs fell on his eyes, not being blocked by his hitai–ate, and he pushed them away as he scanned his surroundings, cursing himself for his distraction.

 

What the hell happened?

 

He wasn’t sure about it though, because he was too busy searching for him instead. After having realized that he was indeed alone though, Naruto let his shoulders relax lightly before taking a deep breathe.

 

Not knowing how, it looked like he was safe, at least for the present moment.

 

He found his hitai–ate some feet away, dirty and with the sash ripped out to some extent, but still wearable; he was about to put it up on his forehead again when he hissed in pain.

 

Tentatively brushing his fingers on his head, he felt a wound on it, dried blood all around, and cursed.

 

Why was the wound still there? Why was it still bleeding? After all, it took nothing to Kyuubi inside him to heal such small thing.

 

Did it mean Kyuubi wasn’t cooperative? But it wasn’t like his healing had much to do with the fox’s desires anyway. He healed because of the Kyuubi’s chakra, yes, but the demon’s will had nothing to do with it.

 

Naruto groaned and put the hitai–ate in his pocket. He did not know exactly what had happened, and his mind was not working properly yet. He was feeling dizzy and light headed, which was not good… he needed to concentrate.

 

Last thing he remembered was…

 

“Naruto–kun, stop this useless resistance”.

 

Well, yes. These were his words before everything went berserk. But there again, after that he’d attacked so basically, this was not his last memory. The words stung in his mind though, much clearer than anything else.

 

Naruto recalled everything with a sharp intensity that caused him a stab of pain from his head, stifling a groan in pain as he forced himself to list everything; he knew he could have gotten a concussion and that could cause memory loss.

 

He had to make sure he had still everything intact inside his brain. Quite literally.

 

He’d been returning to Konoha with his Ero–Sennin that same day (or at least the day he met with Itachi… he couldn’t know if he’d been unconscious for more than a few hours…), finally after almost three years of absence.

 

Naruto still remembered his determination in his need to become stronger, for himself, for his village, but most of all he’d wanted to become stronger for Sasuke, who had betrayed everything he held close running away.

 

He’d been training hard so to strengthen up and stop being a nuisance, because he wanted to become able to protect the people he cared for; it took him so much, but his returning was much awaited and welcomed.

 

But then, as Naruto and Jiraiya were entering the wall around Konohagakure, they had appeared.

 

Uchiha, Itachi, and the Shark–faced shinobi Naruto didn’t remember the name of. Not that it mattered anyway, he was just some kind of follower for the Uchiha… and Naruto had not forgotten the intentions of the shark guy… to cut his legs and arms.

 

Holding a grudge? No, never.

 

They had attacked without warning; even though they had been still for quite a while in front of them for some reason, maybe assessing their strength (or just Jiraiya’s).

 

Naruto was starting to believe them to be melodramatic or something quite close, since hell, if he were to stand in their place, he would have attacked without having to fight a stare contest, trying to get the upper hand with a surprise appearance.

 

But then again, crazy, insane killer psychopathic minds do not think like normal, sane individuals.

 

Naruto didn’t want to think he was not normal either, at least not in this case, so he ignored his inner voice.

 

He got quite good ignoring it ever since his childhood.

 

Anyway, he’d found himself trying to escape a raven haired emotionless freak and a fish guy who wanted nothing more than render him crippled for life, and to say he was pissed was to say nothing. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to become Hokage. To live a long, fulfilling life, accepted and respected.

 

He wasn’t going to let go of that dream anytime soon.

 

Jiraiya had helped a lot in fighting them back, but after a while Naruto started to feel angry; angry because all his training had not helped the last bit.

 

He was still weak and unable to protect himself, that meant he would never be able to protect his precious people. Itachi was way over his league. Stronger in ways he could not even phantom to think about.

 

The gap between himself and Sasuke was widening every day more, Naruto was certain the younger Uchiha was just stronger than what he could ever hope to be, and the feeling of hopelessness was eating him from the inside.

 

He didn’t want to be a burden, and he wanted to live, because he refused to end up being considered a dangerous monster. He didn’t want to end up buried six feet under just because someone thought he was not worthy living…

 

He didn’t want to die without a fight, and he was just doing that.

 

Fighting.

 

Because all he wanted was a chance.

 

Naruto felt his fingers tingle with an unpleasant sensation as he thought back at what he’d done at one point. The focal point of everything, he suspected was his sudden decision.

 

Itachi had just been busy creating one strong –and unknown to him– Genjutsu, and knowing he would never get out of it by himself, Naruto had tried to find a way to counter it before it hit him; he’d never been that good with illusionary techniques anyway, and having to counter the effects of one was not his forte, not at all.

 

But Jiraiya was busy for a moment against the shark guy, so it was up to him.

 

And then the great idea came.

 

So great it almost scared him.

 

Ask Kyuubi for help.

 

Oh, he’d used the Fox other times, even during the three years he’d spent training with the Pervert white haired man, so he had thought it would be a good idea asking for a bit of his power to fight off Akatsuki.

 

After all, if he were to die Kyuubi would die too…

 

Not bad idea, not bad at all.

 

If not for a little inconvenient.

 

The same day Jiraiya had muddled up with his seal again, trying to find a way to give Naruto the control of the kitsune’s chakra without having to face off the demon’s wrath.

 

Of course the ordeal hadn’t ended up nicely, meaning a pissed off Kyuubi, a wounded Jiraiya and a messed up seal. The pervert never learned after all.

 

And thanks to this, the moment he tipped on the fox’s chakra, Naruto felt this had been a very bad idea.

 

For once, the chakra was not completely red. Opposite, it was a mixture of red and dark brown, a sickly tinge Naruto didn’t like one bit.

 

And hell, Naruto felt a nauseating feeling as he touched the chakra. It felt like it was rotten, corrupted, wasted away. He’d felt ready to throw up.

 

And the worst was, his Rasengan was of the same colour of red, brown and something else, instead of the light electric blue it normally was; he’d felt a twinge of pain in the back of his head, and his fingers had trembled around the sphere of concentrated chakra.

 

It felt different, not just in appearance, but in its essence, and by using it Naruto had felt sick inside. He’d wanted to let go the sphere and run, if not from Itachi then from himself (he couldn’t but he’d felt that way back then). But he hadn’t. he never ran away.

 

And that’s how he ended up unconscious. The sick chakra had mixed with Itachi’s building one in a huge clash, and after that, a big explosion. A huge flash of light that had surely alerted anyone in their proximity of their presence, and the deafening detonation that sent him backwards, flying in the air and crying out in pain.

 

And after that… well, nothing.

 

It looked like Itachi had not taken him away. There was no trace of the Missing–nin around, no lingering chakra signature, no nothing. Not even that shark guy, but no Jiraiya either.

 

Everyone seemed like, vanished.

 

And to add up to this, he still felt nauseous.

 

‘At least,’ Naruto thought when he looked up at the Hokage mountain staring down at him, ‘I am still in Konoha. Now I can go to Tsunade obaa–chan and ask what happened, and see if Ero–Sennin is still around… what if he tricked Itachi and shark guy and took them away? I need to move’.

 

He pushed himself up from the ground, swaying lightly on his feet as a wave of nausea hit him again, and noticed that apart the wound on his head, he was fine and healthy. Inwardly, he flinched at the movement as his head was spinning.

 

What a nice way to return to Konoha after three years. Wobbling and throwing up in front of Hokage’s office.

 

If Naruto had been able to, he would have laughed at his situation… but his eyes were too busy staring again at the Hokage Mountain.

 

Where four heads were pointed towards the village.

 

Yeah, right.

 

Only four.

 

‘What the heck?!’

 

 

 

……………………………………………

 

StarsOfYaoi: short. But it’s a prologue, so it has to be short. More later, and I may even rewrite this at one point. Please, if you like, drop a review or a comment and tell me if I should continue this. Kk?

Realizing

Note: when I said Itachi didn’t kill his family I meant he wasn’t the one who did it. Not that his family was still alive… sorry for the confusion.

StarsOfYaoi: You don’t mind short chapters for this fic, do you? I find it easier… XDXDXD I hope you like!

……………………………………………

Rating: M

Summary: (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi’s chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now Naruto and Itachi are both stuck into the past. The only way to go back forwards… is to work with each other.

Warnings: yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

……………………………………………

Endless Night

Chapter 01: Realizing

There was only silence that greeted his revelation.

No cries of anger nor pain. No loud voicing of shock and surprise. No questioning his sanity, no wondering why, how. Not asking why hadn’t he told him before.

Only a pair of blue eyes reflecting the sky.

Jiraiya felt bad. Useless. And out of place.

He felt he shouldn’t have been the one to tell him. But at the same time it had to be him.

They owed him so much. after everything the teen went through (because of the village, because of the demon, because of the pain and the rejection and the hatred) Jiraiya felt compelled to finally state a truth to him. Something that could be treated as solid ground.

He’d expected him to cry. Or yell. Get angry, get mad. Start hitting him and telling him he was a liar. That it would never happen, that no family could…

But there was no reaction.

Silence and a soft breeze to curl around them, in the coldness of a forest, at night, with a fire that had died away seconds before.

It was like Naruto had expected it. It was like he was just waiting for his suspicions to be proved correct. As if he’d known all his life, deep inside, that’s why he never asked. That’s why he never wondered.

He had a legacy… after so man years it could have been useless to actually state it. It didn’t matter, and yet it did.

And his only reply was silence, and sad blue eyes.

And when finally he spoke, his voice was subdued but vibrant with barely suppressed emotion.

“Sou ka…”

………………

Naruto blinked.

Then blinked again.

What was going on? He was sure he’d read one of Tsunade obaa–chan’s letters in which she bitched about how wrong her nose had been carved out of the mountain. It had taken her half a page of rant, leaving Naruto with a hysterical fit of laughter for quite a while.

He remembered how much he’d wanted to see the face of Tsunade on that mountain, and how happy he’d been when he had read that letter, knowing that she thought of him and kept him updated on the village’s news.

So what had happened? Tsunade surely wouldn’t smash down her face from the Hokage mountain because of a little imperfection on her nose. Not to mention, the mountain didn’t look ruined at all.

“What’s going on?” he wondered loudly.

His eyes trailed to his surroundings, wondering if there was anything else out of order, but for what he could see, nothing was suspicious; then why was he feeling like he had to jump and run away?

He felt a prickle on his skin that made him shudder. Something felt wrong. Horribly wrong.

He lifted his hands to rub at his eyes tiredly, his dizziness retreating slightly, and he shook his head determinedly. Something was amiss, he could feel that, and Ero–Sennin often said he had come to accept Naruto’s sixth sense was always right.

What to do?

Go to Tsunade. She would know, or at least, he could get her to help. He really wanted to see how she was fairing, besides, the sensation would disappear soon enough, maybe it was just uneasiness about returning to his home town after so many years.

Naruto sighed and walked towards Konoha, berating himself for this weakness. He shouldn’t have let Jiraiya mess up with his seal in the first place, knowing what the perverted hermit could do on his bad days –not counting the many times he ended up so drunk it was Naruto that had to take him away from the local pubs before he embarrassed himself too much.

Naruto wondered if the three years should have been different than this, because face it, he had spent three years with Jiraiya. Of all people. He’d thought he would teach him some good jutsu, but no.

Drinking until late in the night, peeping girls in the hot springs, writing for his books –Naruto could not believe he had the time to publish three of them– and the training Naruto received had been minimal in his eyes.

He had to take care of himself without the help of the one that had vowed to make him strong. This wasn’t right. But he’d accepted it despite everything, because he cared nothing, he only wanted to be strong enough to take Sasuke back to Konoha.

And even though he knew Ero–sennin would say it was his merit that Naruto had changed so much, indeed it was not true. Or maybe he was just delusional and wanted to know more than his teacher was willingly to tell him in one go.

They had their serious times, too. Jiraiya was still a great teacher… it was only way too easy to forget when he spent so much of his time peering at young women.

Smirking slightly Naruto stretched his back again and jumped high, landing on a tree branch with the agility he learned through hard work and natural abilities; he’d learned to take everything came from his ‘situation’ and favour it, just like his healing rate, his stamina, his enhanced senses and his natural ability to settle in every situation or habitat easily.

No leaves moved as he landed on the branch before jumping off again, moving silently towards the village with no hesitation.

He could see the huge wall approaching in front of him, and without thinking he tried to suppress his chakra to hide his presence from the guardians of the gate. He knew that many shinobi didn’t like him and would cause havoc if he were to meet them, so he preferred to enter Konoha without causing an uproar.

And maybe scare Tsunade a bit by catching her off guard. The woman loved drinking and sleeping on her desk, and Naruto wanted to yell at her for that and laugh in amusement.

With a smirk Naruto fell on top of the wall, glancing around to make sure the shift of guards were not around, before taking off again.

He was stupefied when he reached the village though, to land in a part of the village he’s never been into before; the district was foreign to him and there were not many places he had never visited when he was a young child.

He’d been quite the adventurer, pranking everyone he saw, searching for the side streets he could use to escape from his chasers.

But… as he stared at the houses and streets, he could not remember having visited them, not even once.

Maybe… maybe Tsunade created a new part of the village in the three years he’d been absent? But that sounded wrong in his ears… no one could have been able to do such thing in that time, and he was pretty sure the houses looked old fashioned and not new.

Naruto blinked in curiosity, eye scanning the streets.

There was a couple of old villagers walking towards a small restaurant, both with dark hair, and he could not see them in their faces as they walked with their backs turned on him; there were some children playing in a patch of grass some feet from where he was standing, hidden in the highest branches of a tall tree.

Naruto was confused, and his face didn’t hide that fact.

A surge of chakra from his right made him jump slightly, and he suppressed his chakra even more just like Jiraiya taught him. He watched as a black clothed shinobi landed on the ground under his tree, a sword draped on his back and his face hidden under a white and black mask.

Naruto recognized the attire as an ANBU’s. he’d never really seen a real ANBU this close, the only one he’d seen was Haku and he hadn’t really been one to begin with.

It had such a strong aura Naruto felt reverent as he stared down at him, hiding the best he could his signature. He feared the ANBU troops because they were said to be trained only to kill and dispose of the corpses.

He couldn’t think what would happen if one decided he had to die.

The figure below him seemed to not notice him (or dismissed his chakra as a shinobi from Konoha’s and didn’t question it any further), and disappeared a second later, probably off to his guard duty.

Naruto relaxed his shoulders and breathed deeply.

He didn’t know why he was hiding himself, after all he’d always been known as a loud and obnoxious person, but three years changed him, in more than just one way; he reflected more now, and was more cautious when he felt something was wrong.

And despite he had thought that already, something was really wrong.

‘I can’t understand. A part of the village I never saw… what can that be…’ he frowned and tried to remember.

In fact, there was only a place in the whole Konoha he’d never entered before, but it was empty and void of people, so that was not the case…

Naruto’s eyes glued to a sign above a dango stand in the end of the main street just as the last thought left his mind.

So, that was just a huge joke.

That couldn’t be the Uchiha symbol at all, and of course Tsunade couldn’t have allowed people to live in the Uchiha district again, ne?

But the red and white paper fan was still dangling in the breeze and people were still walking down the streets, so probably he was missing something.

Didn’t all the Uchiha got killed by Itachi?

Naruto widened his eyes in realization.

Everything looked this different because he’d been caught in a Genjutsu! That was the only explanation for all the strange stuff he was seeing, no other option possible.

Concentrating all his chakra inside himself, he tried to dispel the jutsu, but quickly decided otherwise as three man appeared on the rooftop in front of the tree he was standing, their eyes scanning around in search of the chakra surge.

So maybe it wasn’t a good possibility; taken into account this was not a Genjutsu, he would attract unwanted attention on himself. And if it was a Genjutsu, Naruto could break it doing something else… like causing himself pain!

Nodding at his new idea, Naruto took out of his pouch a kunai, and gritting his teeth he slammed it on his arm.

The pain was instant and sharp, but nothing of his surroundings changed.

“Aww shit” Naruto felt a sudden rage as he threw the kunai away, watching as it embedded itself in the wall of the house in front of him with a thud.

The wound on his arm stopped bleeding, but didn’t look like it was healing either.

Naruto frowned again, he didn’t like this situation at all.

“Enough stalling, I need to see the Hokage… and find out why there is people living in the Uchiha district!” he nodded and disappeared in a blur of leaves.

The three men that had been patrolling on the roof turned towards the tree, in wonder. They had felt a somewhat familiar chakra surge, but now there was nothing there…

“We can’t stand here doing nothing, we have to go to the ain house and report to the Leader,” one of them commanded.

The three men’s eyes bled crimson for a second in agreement, then all the three of them disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

……………………………………………

He stared.

Stared at the family on the street. The father walking impassively first, the pace slow and calculated, posture straightened, black eyes fixed in front of him, filled with pride.

A woman some steps behind him, delicate and beautiful with silky charcoal hair dangling in the cold breeze, smiling warmly at her husband, her eyes darting backwards to the remaining two figures.

One walking as if it didn’t exist, as if the world was not around him, walking as if he didn’t belong, with a fake nice smile on his emotionless face, eyes void of any emotion.

The second skipping his steps on the street, smiling at everything around him, waving his small arms to keep balance as he tripped on a small rock.

Everything was the way it had been.

Everything was the same.

Everything was perfect. Old. Untouched.

Everything was wrong.

No bloody corpses in the middle of the street, no cries of pain, no despair, no empty houses.

Itachi’s crimson eyes faltered and faded in black. Even someone like him could be surprised, and that counted as shock for him, enough to cause him to lose control of his chakra and Sharingan.

This was too much, even for him.

Watch everything move around as if nothing was wrong, blind and deaf to what happened, what didn’t happen, what will happen.

Itachi was sure he’d lost his emotions many years before, after the massacre of his family. He had buried everything inside with ease, not feeling any remorse or guilt or pain or sadness as he did so, because that was what he’d decided for himself.

The best thing to do.

And now…

Now he was proven wrong.

That hurt.

A part of himself he’d been denying so much, even more after his meeting with his little brother three years before… was resurfacing again.

He didn’t want to see that.

He didn’t want to look at their happy and calm faces only to know that it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

It hurt where it wasn’t supposed to hurt anymore.

He thought he’d been immune to that pain now.

But he wasn’t.

Dark black eyes narrowed, and he disappeared away without a sound or a flicker.

The family walking down the street continued chatting happily… mirror of a truth that was long since gone.

……………………………………………

Naruto felt relieved to see the Hokage tower.

In fact, he’d never been happier to see it before… especially with his inner sense screaming at him. ‘Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong’ without stopping. ‘Run away!’ but he didn’t listen. There could be nothing wrong with going to see Tsunade, was now?

Smiling Naruto jumped on the tall tree that reached even the top of the tower, ready to land in front of the Hokage office’s window, enter it and yell at Tsunade. He couldn’t wait to see her, he had missed her so much!

And she would help with Kyuubi and the rotten feeling he got from his chakra. And maybe yell a little at Jiraiya… that would be perfect.

Smiling he pulled himself up the tree, feeling excited. He would finally get to see her, and get some answers.

With sparkling eyes and a huge smirk on his lips, already knowing he would find the woman sleeping soundly on a pile of paperwork, Naruto reached the window, and stared inside with boldness, eyes falling on the Hokage desk, exactly where it had always been.

The room was just the same, with piles of paperwork everywhere, shelves filled with books and photos and scrolls; everything was familiar to Naruto, he always ended up in there when he was little for some reason or another.

He loved this place, it was where he wanted to end, and on the right side of the desk.

But as his eyes set on the person who was sitting there, signing papers, his heart simply stopped beating.

He felt strangely numb, his fingers twitching against the bark of the tree as his eyes stared in shock at the old man seated on the Hokage’s place. Blue widened eyes were glued to him as he stood up, stretching his back and muttering something the glass of the window tuned down before slowly walking towards the shelf, picking up a scroll and having a look at it before returning to his seat.

Grey hair hidden underneath the unfashionable Hokage hat, a short beard, warm eyes, walking a little curved forwards because of a backache…

‘No…’

A long pipe seated between his lips, puffs of smoke rising in the air every once in a while.

‘No…’

It was wrong.

He couldn’t be seeing this, and it had to be a Genjutsu. Naruto was now sure of that.

He didn’t even realize there were tears in his eyes, because the shock was dulling everything away.

“Sandaime jiji…”

But that couldn’t be.

Sandaime died by Orochimaru’s hand three years before, he couldn’t be here! What was happening in the village?! Was it really a Genjutsu? Or was it something more terrible?

Tears were rolling on his cheeks, remembering he hadn’t even been able to give a proper goodbye to the old man because he’d died when he wasn’t there. He had missed him terribly in the last few years, because he had been the first person to ever be nice to him, even before than Iruka.

Sandaime had cared for him, teaching him and even protecting him.

But he was dead.

He couldn’t be moving around in the room like this! He couldn’t be…

“No!”

He didn’t even realize he was yelling out with all his breath, too scared and shocked to think about lowering his voice, his chakra now irregularly sparkling around him as he cried, his entire frame shaking as he fell on his hands, nails digging in the bark, eyes shut close.

In denial.

He couldn’t be seeing…

That couldn’t be…

No…

“No!”

Something appeared at his side, casting a shadow over him; lifting his head, his sight blurred by tears, Naruto recognized Itachi standing against the darkening sky, as a few drops started to fall around them.

It was starting to rain, and by the looks of it, it was going to rain hard.

Naruto continued crying, but his shouts faltered and disappeared, turning into ragged breaths as he stared upwards at the imposing figure. Somewhere upwards, a thunder struck and a lightening flashed in the sky.

Itachi had a completely blank expression, but his eyes were charcoal black instead of crimson, and he was staring down at him without a word. Naruto felt oddly relieved to see him… he was still the same and he was dressed with the Akatsuki outfit.

In this world where Sarutobi Hokage was still alive and there were only four faces in the mountain, and there was people living in the Uchiha district, seeing something familiar and known (even though he was in Konoha and everything should have been familiar… but it only brought him uneasiness) was almost reassuring to him.

It didn’t matter if Itachi was his enemy and wanted him dead…

“You’re attracting unwanted attention Naruto–kun,” Itachi said in a controlled tone. “Control you chakra before someone comes looking for you”.

Naruto started to laugh. Hard.

“I don’t care. He’s alive. It’s a dream. A nightmare… or I finally snapped…” he continued to laugh, a clipped laugh that was cold and bordering into insanity. He could not accept what he could still see in the rain stained window.

He was still there, but was not signing papers anymore; Sandaime was now looking around, trying to find the source of the pulsating chakra. Naruto’s chakra.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. It would take nothing for them to recognize the chakra and start wondering… he had to act now, before they were spotted.

Without speaking he leaned down, and placing his hand on Naruto’s shaking shoulder, he transported both away in a puff of smoke… the same moment Sarutobi–sensei, the Sandaime Hokage, looked sharply where they had been a split second before.

……………………………………………

Naruto shook without being able to control himself, hands clutching at his arms, nails digging into the skin drawing thin trails of blood, eyes wide and unfocused as tears continued falling on his cheeks.

He could not accept this.

He could not accept that someone was playing with Sandaime’s death…

What was happening here?

Why was everything so wrong?!

The only thing that looked the same was Itachi. Naruto had been surprised when the Uchiha had grabbed him and transported him away, effectively preventing everyone from finding him out; his lack of control on his chakra had been a mistake, but Naruto had every right to end up shaken from what he saw.

Itachi had brought him in a room; he didn’t know where he was, had to be somewhere in the village, and it was big enough for both of them to relax. It was somewhat bare by what Naruto could see through his blurred eyes, and had almost nothing in it, apart a twin sized futon and a table with a chair.

After some time, how much he didn’t know, Naruto calmed himself enough to realize his tears and wiped them away hastily, trying to recollect himself.

After the previous pain at seeing Sandaime, now rage was taking up its place.

Lifting his gaze on Itachi, he found the older shinobi staring outside of the window with a gaze that Naruto could only recognize as forlorn. How Itachi could express an emotion was out of Naruto’s comprehension, but the sight made him feel torn inside.

Was Itachi caught in the same Genjutsu (but was it a Genjutsu? Or something bigger and scarier?) he was? Was he relieving something or someone too?

Naruto couldn’t but mentally shake his head in negation; Itachi had killed those he held close, he wouldn’t start feeling bad only now, would he?

And yet…

What was happening?

“This is no Genjutsu”.

Naruto snapped his head towards Itachi in shock. The raven haired young man sounded so sure of himself he couldn’t but agree, even though he still doubted it could be the real world.

“W… what?” Naruto stared at him.

He could not see the same vibe of dark nothingness coming from Itachi, and right now he didn’t even seem that evil or scary.

“This is no Genjutsu, Naruto–kun” he repeated, allowing his words to hang in the air. “This is the past”.

Oh, yeah. Naruto had to give it to Itachi. He wasn’t evil nor scary. He was just plainly insane. Looked like the Uchiha had it in their genes…

“The past” he repeated, his tone laced with sarcasm. That was absolutely wonderful. Stuck in a Genjutsu (or in a nightmare, or in something similar) with a crazy killer as his only companion… wasn’t that funny?

‘Great, just… fucking great’ he groaned inwardly.

“It seems your unstable chakra caused that” Itachi added. He still wasn’t looking at him, but outside the window, his eyes seemingly fixed on something.

Thinking he had nothing to lose, Naruto stood up shakily and moved next to Itachi, looking out of the window.

There was a huge garden with grass and even though it was raining hard now, there were a few children playing outside, splashing at each other by jumping in the puddles along the way, laughing and cheering each other.

Naruto’s eyes turned empty as he stared at a particular kid standing below the window, carefully throwing kunai against a human–shaped puppet tied to a pole, missing most of his hits but once in a while catching a good spot on the puppet.

“Ok,” he muttered, backing away from the window, trembling again. “That’s not possible… looks like I am just as crazy as you are…”

He was a little more prone to accept Itachi’s version now.

Now that he’d seen that the kid practicing down there was a younger, a much younger, version of Sasuke.

‘Shit’.

……………………………………………

StarsOfYaoi: end of the first chapter. Review?

IMPORTANT NOTE: this fic will surely have a sequel. About it, since it’s important for where to lead this fic, it’s better Akatsuki!Naruto, or Itachi coming back to Konoha? The first would be then OOC Akatsuki, the second would have Itachi coming back with his ID clean of all charges. Both will have angsty, and ItaNaru. If you do care, please comment on what you would prefer.