Ok guys, here's the deal. Last semester I was pretty lazy, just doing the work needed to get by, studying just enough to do mediocre in my classes, you know, the college kid try. This semester I am studying several hours a day, tutoring 9 hours a week, working with a sales center, learning Japanese on Rosetta Stone, and generally trying harder all around. Now I tell you all this so that you understand that on a list of priorities, writing fanfics, though fun, generally place lower than most things. This isnt to say that I am abandoning these at all (spent too much time and effort into them), but it does mean that for the foreseeable future I will be much slower posting chapters. I apologize for this, and you all may hate me (or not give two shits) but it is what it is. I have made many great friends and acquaintances through my writings, and I can only say that it was both a rewarding and fulfilling experience.

Now, without further ado, here is the latest installment from yours truly.

Chapter 5

Pain.

This had been the one word to define life for Naruto as long as he could remember. The pain of loneliness, the pain of sadness, the pain of hunger. There were days when he wished he had never been brought into this world, days when he would just stay home under the covers and shed his emotions through sobs that would tear through his growing body.

These were the days that he usually had his trademark grin for, to hide the unbearable pain for anyone and everyone. He always knew that if he showed his pain, then others would capitalize on it, furthering painting a target on his back. No, he could never let anyone see that side of himself.

And then one night it all changed.

Someone saved him from the pain. She gave his life new meaning, and she gave him the one thing he went to bed at night dreaming of, the one thing he had always sought from other people, the one thing he fought for day in and day out:

Love.

He never knew that she had been following him, admiring him from a distance, falling in love with him behind closed doors. But he honestly didn't care. For the first time in forever, he could say he was happy, and now his life's goal was to make sure she was happy, by any means necessary. Yes, this was the high point of Naruto's life, the epitome of his existence, and he couldn't be happier.

But then it all came crashing down, because, with every high that life gives a person, there is an equal and opposite low. And that low came in the form of Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto never saw him move, never saw him even lift a finger, but then again, he was one of the most feared men in the world for a reason. Naruto always knew that he was never given a fair deal in life, as if there was some deity watching him trying to make his life hell, but he had almost forgotten that fact when Hinata came into his life. Now none of that even mattered, not anymore.

He knew there was only so much that could be done for him after he took that strike from Hinata, especially since he knew this is what Neji had tried to do to Hinata back in the Chunin exams. He felt his vision fade slowly, and a sense of vertigo took him as he fell to his knees.

He thanked his lucky stars that he was still facing Hinata when he fell, so he could at least see her face one last time before he met oblivion.

Flashback

Naruto and Hinata were making their escape from their hotel window, leaving behind a smirking Kisame and a passive Itachi.

The shark-man chuckled and gripped his weapon tightly. "I'm glad they ran, it's always so much more fun when they run."

Itachi narrowed his eyes slightly at their retreating forms. "Kisame, we have been instructed to deal minimal damage to the Kyubi Jinchuriki and anyone around him. We are merely here to test his skills and report back to Leader-sama. He won't tolerate any unnecessary roughness of any of the Jinchuriki."

Kisame sighed. "Leave it to an Uchiha to kill all the fucking fun. I guess this means you're just gonna use your damn Genjutsu then and see how he fares?"

A nod was his only answer.

"That girl looked like a Hyuga though. Aren't they supposed to be able to see through Genjutsu or some shit like that?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Although they may be able to see through some of my abilities, I would be ashamed of myself if I wasn't able to capture a single little girl in my illusions. Though I admit it would be incredibly difficult to face an opponent such as a Hyuga if they were more experienced, I believe I should have no issues with this particular one."

Kisame smirked. "I guess that's the Uchiha way of gloating then huh? Whatever, if it fails then that just means more fun for me."

The two then disappeared out of the room, leaving no trace they were there besides the splintered door.

The pair had never lost sight of their targets, and it was almost amusing to watch them take refuge in a small clearing to catch their breath, thinking they were safe; almost. They observed that the Hyuga looked much more winded than the Jinchuriki, a clear testament to the massive chakra reserves that accompanies carrying a chakra life force in their body that all Jinchuriki bear.

The girl was hunched over with her hands on her knees, and she was the first person to look in Itachi's direction, sealing her fate. The Akatsuki member was so skilled, so utterly versed in Genjutsu, that the girl wouldn't even remember the pair of spinning crimson eyes that put her under his spell in the first place.

With Jiraiya

Jiraiya was coming back to the hotel he had rented for his two disciples when he felt a particular surge of power, specifically one associated with the energy felt by the release of the Kyubi's chakra.

"Shit, that kid better have a damn good reason for using that chakra here! It's like he's broadcasting his position to Akatsuki!"

This is the thought that stayed with the Sannin until he finally reached his destination, their hotel room. and now he was left with more questions than answers, like why is the door in pieces, and why is there a broken window, and why does the bed look like someone was ripped from it in a hurry?

Then the realization came. "Oh… Shit…"

Before he could even make a move someone else barreled into the room.

"Itachi! Where are you!?"

Jiraiya turned around with a very perplexed look on his face to come face to face with a haggard looking Sasuke. "Itachi? As in Uchiha Itachi? What are you talking about?"

Sasuke glanced once at the Sannin then examined the room. "You're that old pervert who trained the Dobe for the Chunin exams…"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. 'I don't even know this kid and I can already tell he's a piece of work…'

"To answer your question, yes, I am the one who trained Naruto for the Chunin exam finals. I am Jiraiya, better known as the Gama Sannin."

A look of realization spread across Sasuke's face as who he was talking to finally clicked. 'That dobe managed to get a Sannin to train him for a month!?'

He quickly shook his head, clearing the thoughts; he had bigger fish to fry. "I don't care who you are! Where is Itachi!? He was in Konoha a few days ago and he told someone he's coming after the dobe, now where is he!?"

The old Sannin squinted his eyes for a few seconds in thought. 'If Uchiha Itachi was in Konoha, then he must have been looking to capitalize on the confusion of the invasion to infiltrate Konoha, but why… If he said he was going after this 'dobe', then the only thing he could be after would be…"

Jiraiya turned around and jumped through the window after his student, doing his best to sense any chakra to indicate where his blonde apprentice was. He didn't even care that the Uchiha was following him.

With Naruto

Naruto had his back turned to Hinata as he began taking out a few Kunai and Shuriken from his various holsters and pockets, getting ready to protect both himself and his fiancé in a moment's notice.

"I think we might have a few more seconds before we have to leave… Have you caught your breath yet?"

He never got silence for an answer, something uncharacteristic of Hinata, especially when Naruto talked to her.

"'Nata? You hear me?"

Still nothing, so he decided to see what she could possibly possess her to space out in a situation like this.

"Oi! 'Nata! Did you… hear… me?"

He trailed off when he noticed the far off look in her eyes something he had seen multiple times in the past, as if she was looking at something that wasn't actually there. Adding to that the fact that she was standing still as a statue left him to only one conclusion; Genjutsu.

Naruto jumped to her side and held up two kunai defensively.

"Don't you dare hurt her you son of a bitch! Come out and show yourselves!"

He was met with silence for a brief period until a dark chuckle rang from the tree line.

"I have to admit Itachi, this kid has a huge pair on him, to call us out? It's not every day that we meet someone with as much courage as that. I almost don't want to have to hurt him."

Naruto gripped his kunai harder. He knew there was a snowball's chance in hell of him getting out of this in one piece, he was only a Genin after all. He swallowed the lump in his throat and ignored the bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

"What… What did you do to Hinata!"

He was only met with more chuckling as two figures made their way out of the shadow of the tree line. The shadows gave way to the forms of Itachi and Kisame, one with a bored look and one with a large toothy grin. Naruto stepped between Hinata's frozen form and the two missing-nin and took a deep breath, meeting his opponent's gaze with all the courage he could muster.

"Let her go! She has nothing to do with this!"

Kisame's grin grew while Itachi looked on impassively, but it was Naruto's next action that stopped them both in their tracks. Naruto reversed the grip of his kunai and held it over his heart.

"Let her go… Or… Or ill make sure you two never get the Kyubi!"

Itachi's eyebrow's rose while Kisame's smirk fell into a frown. "Well shit Itachi… It looks like this little punk knows how to play dirty, eh?"

Itachi sighed as he closed his eyes. "So it would seem, but he forgot one very important fact…"

A strange silence fell over the group. Naruto could feel his heart pounding in his chest, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears, and he could feel the cold dread in his gut. He looked between the two for the slightest sign of movement, but he wasn't even remotely prepared for what was about to happen.

The last thing Naruto saw was the black tri-pronged bladed eye accented by the blood red background that was Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan.

With Naruto

"Ugh… Where am I?"

Naruto sat up and rubbed his head, looking around at the strange place he was in. It was a pure black world with a blood red full moon hanging ominously in the sky. Everywhere Naruto looked it was a pure black silhouette, but from the buildings, he could see he was in Konoha.

"What the? Why am I back in the village?"

"Welcome Naruto."

Naruto jumped slightly and looked around for the voice, but there was no one. There was no wind, no light other than the moon, and there wasn't another soul in the village. There was a cold fear clawing its way into Naruto's stomach, and it was taking ahold of his being, causing him to shiver in horror when the voice spoke out of the darkness again.

"This is my world, the world of Tsukuyomi, unlocked by the achieving the final stage of the Sharingan, the Mangekyo Sharingan; and in this world, I am Kami."

Naruto began running aimlessly, trying to get away from the fate he knew in his heart that he could not escape. It was always like this, always being hunted like an animal for someone else's amusement, always finding that no matter how much he tried or how strong he became, he was still weak.

After a while he found himself in front of the Hokage's building, bending over forward with his hands resting on his knees gasping for breath. In this place it felt like the air was thicker, harder to take in.

Then the voice returned with the unrestrained hints of clear amusement.

"Where do you run to little Naruto-kun? Where do you think you can hide from me?"

Tears of pure horror fell from the blonde's eyes as he looked to the sky and shouted.

"What do you want from me!? Haven't you already *sniff* taken enough *sniff* from me?"

There was an eerie silence that prevailed across the shadow world until the voice decided to answer in a mocking voice.

"As long as you live, it is never enough."

Before Naruto could react a wooden cross shot out of the ground directly behind him, and before he could react, thick chains wrapped around his arms and legs, pulling him up and tying him onto the cross, rendering him immobile as he thrashed about in a vain attempt to free himself.

In front of his eyes his tormentor materialized out of thin air, with the same emotionless posture as before and a katana in his hands.

"Now Naruto-kun, watch. Watch as I tear down the walls of your psyche and show you the horrors of this world. Watch as I tear everything you hold dear from you, just as I did to my foolish brother all those years ago."

Naruto watched in horror as Hinata appeared from the shadows, kneeling in front of the cross he was bound too. Slowly, ever so slowly, she looked up with those pools of lavender Naruto found himself falling in love with, and spoke in her usual quiet voice.

"Naru-kun… I… I love you… I've always loved you…"

Before Naruto could answer he saw as the katana was thrust through her back, destroying her heart and effectively ending her life. Small specs of blood covered Naruto's face as his eyes widened in horror and a blood-curdling scream erupted from his lungs.

After several minutes of anguished screams of pain and sadness, Naruto forced himself to look upon the Uchiha with as much hatred as he could muster in his heart.

"why… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?"

For the briefest of moments, sadness flashed before the Uchiha's eyes.

"To test your conviction."

And then the next victim was brought forward.

With Jiraiya and Sasuke

"Kami, Please let me make it on time…"

Jiraiya was pumping as much chakra into his legs as he could without tearing muscles or damaging his chakra coils. As it were, it would take a little over two minutes to get where he felt the burst of the Kyubi's chakra, an agreed upon distress signal should Naruto ever meet someone he couldn't handle.

"Hold it you old bastard!"

Jiraiya was slightly surprised that the Uchiha was able to keep up with him at this speed, but the Sannin could see the strain on the Genin's face already. It took many years of training to be able to go full tilt like this for anything longer than a couple minutes before chakra depletion, unless of course you were Naruto Uzumaki.

"If you can't keep up kid then back off. I don't know who or what we will find when we reach Naruto, but I swear if you get in my way and Naruto gets hurt because of it, well, let's just say it'll be a whole hell of a lot harder to pump out any baby Uchihas."

Sasuke, for the first time in a long time, gulped in fear, but his bravado sometimes outweighed his sense of self-preservation. "Why do you care about that dobe so much? It's not like he wasn't going to be picked off eventually with that idiot attitude of his."

Had it been any other circumstance, and had Jiraiya not needed to get to where he was going as soon as possible, he would have personally created the very first Uchiha eunuch.

However, he had to settle for a mild threat. "Watch what you say about Naruto around me Uchiha. You may be loved in Konoha, but newsflash, we aren't anywhere near that village; and it'll be a cold day in hell before they ever find your body if you belittle my godson again."

A shiver went down Sasuke's spine from Jiraiya's threat as the Uchiha mentally scolded himself for making such a stupid comment.

'The man's been training Naruto for the better part of three months. Of course he would grow fond of the idiot… Wait… Did he just say godson?'

Before the Uchiha could voice his question, the toad sage jumped away from him through the trees, where he could faintly see movement ahead.

In the Tsukuyomi World

Naruto had long since cried himself empty of tears; he just didn't have the heart to cry anymore. One by one, he saw everyone he ever knew or cared about killed in front of him by the man he had grown to hate with every fiber of his being.

Early on, the fabric of dreams and reality had come crashing down, and now Naruto wasn't sure what was real, and what was illusion. It felt like an eternity he had spent in this world, and all that remained was a soulless Uchiha and a half broken Uzumaki.

Itachi cleaned his katana from his latest kill, and looked Naruto in the eyes.

"I see the anger, the hatred festering in your heart. I can see that given the chance, you would destroy me in whatever manner you find the most gruesome. Am I correct?"

Naruto just snarled and glared with whatever strength he had.

Itachi sighed and continued. "You can't let yourself fall into darkness Naruto-kun, or there will be no hope for any of us."

Naruto gritted his teeth and clenched out an answer through his anger. "what are you talking about?"

Itachi sheathed his katana and shook his head. "We live in an evil world Naruto-kun. What I have shown you in this illusion is a very real possibility that you may have to face in the future, especially as a shinobi. There will be times when you see your friends killed in front of your eyes, and you will be tempted to take revenge."

Naruto fought back his anger and shook away the tears streaming down his face for a moment to respond. "So what was all this then!? Some sick joke?"

Itachi shook his head. "For too long has this world lived in the grip of anger and hatred. Shinobi are little more than tools for those of power to use as mere weapons; to be used as they see fit, to kill as they see fit, to die as they see fit. Wars are fought over small plots of land, countries are born and burned, and thousands die for a single person's selfish desire."

Itachi looked down at the ground as his eyes narrowed. "Even one's own family can't be trusted to respect the peace our ancestors bled and died for."

The Uchiha looked up at Naruto after some time. "But you can change all that. You have been given a gift to turn even the most ruthless of killers into docile beings, just as you did with Zabuza and Gaara. You might not know it, but your existence is what this world has been waiting for since the dawn of man; someone to unite the peoples of this world under a banner of peace and understanding."

Naruto honestly didn't know what to think, and for a brief second, he believed the words coming from his assailant. He never really paid attention to his past accomplishments because he was so busy looking ahead, towards the future. But now, he began to see a clear trend; wherever he was involved, those who advocated peace and harmony were the ones he always sided with, and emerged victorious later.

But a thought still lingered on his already troubled mind. "But still, why!? Why did you attack me, attack Hinata-chan… torture me… why?"

In one of the rare moments in Itachi's life, he smiled. Not a fake smile that he wore around his friends or family when he was younger, but an honest and genuine smile.

"As I said before, this was to test you. Even when you saw all those you cared about murdered by a 'psychopathic killer', even when you were maimed and beaten, even when you were persecuted; you still listened to what I had to say and took my words to heart. You were able to set aside your hatred and anger, something very few in this world are capable of doing."

Before Naruto could say another word the cross he was strung up on disappeared into this air, and he fell to the ground, landing on his hands and knees. He took several ragged breaths before he saw a hand appear in his vision. He followed the hand up to a smiling Itachi.

"Well, I think that Hinata-chan would be able to do that too… She has always been such a kind person, placing others above herself…"

Itachi just nodded. "Indeed she is. Be sure to keep her by your side, because should you ever give into the darkness and embrace despair, I'm sure she would be able to bring you back."

A small smile could be found on the blonde's lips as he went to accept the outstretched hand, only he never reached it. Just as his hand clasped in the Uchiha's, Naruto's eyes went wide, and a small gurgling sound made its way up out of his throat.

Itachi watched in stunned silence as the blonde's eyes rolled up into his head and he faded from the illusion world. Only a few seconds later did Itachi's own eyes narrow in realization of what happened.

"Oh no… Tsukuyomi!"

As the background faded away and the real world came into being, Itachi watched in horror as Naruto sprayed blood all over the girl he was with. It would seem she had delivered a fatal strike aimed at the Jinchuriki's cardiac muscles, shredding them beyond repair. In layman's terms, Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune and betrothed of the Hyuga heiress, was going to die.

The situation was only exacerbated by the arrival of the Sannin Jiraiya and… who was that behind him?

Itachi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Hello Ototo…"

Had it not been for the Sannin restraining the young Uchiha, Sasuke would have already been half way through creating a chidori before lunging at his brother in a foolish attempt at vengeance. As it were, Jiraiya delivered a swift chop to the back of his neck, knocking him out for at least a few minutes, enough time for him to deal with the current situation.

As the youngest Uchiha fell to the ground, Jiraiya finally had time to assess the situation.

'From the way the Hyuga is hunched over Naruto and bawling I can assume that he has been severely wounded, possibly by Hinata herself. Then there's those Akatsuki; Uchiha Itachi and someone from Kiri judging by his headband…'

Jiraiya jumped forward into the clearing separating his two pupils from the S-class missing nin before addressing them.

"So I don't suppose that you two will just leave peacefully will ya?"

Kisame adopted a feral grin and brought his weapon forth.

"Not a chance! I've always wondered how I would measure up to one of the Sannin, and here we have a perfect chance to-"

He suddenly stopped talking when a hand was thrust in front of him, by his own partner Itachi.

"No Kisame, we have to leave and report to Leader-sama. I have already gathered all the information I need, fighting now would not only be pointless but might cause further harm to the Jinchuriki."

Kisame 'tsk'ed and shouldered his weapon grumbling about a 'wasted chance'.

Itachi stared the Sannin down as both he and his partner disappeared in matching swirls of leaves, leaving one last lingering threat.

"We will meet again young Naruto… soon…"

Jiraiya let loose a sigh of relief as the presences of the two shinobi faded away, but his relief was short lived. All too suddenly he was forced to deal with a situation that he had only found in his darkest nightmares; the last flesh and blood of his beloved student lay dying not five feet from him, and there was nothing he could do. He knew it, Naruto knew it, but Hinata did not.

"Jiraiya Sensei! Please help him! You have to! We were fighting them, and then I attacked the Uchiha, and then he disappeared, and… and then… and then…"

Her words became more and more drowned out by the pure hysterics of the situation, and it didn't help that the other Uchiha was still out cold. After several calculating seconds, he knew what he had to do. He wordlessly created two Kage Bunshins. He had one to pick up the unconscious form of Sasuke, while he tried to pry the form of Naruto, who was hanging on by sheer will at this point, out from under his fiancée.

After several seconds of struggling, Hinata finally relented and let her master take Naruto from her as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. She felt dirty, felt like a murderer, only much worse; since she had killed the boy she had professed to love not an hour ago.

"Jiraiya-Sensei… Will… Will he make it?"

She looked up but didn't see Jiraiya anywhere, and before she could look around she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck before everything went numb and she slumped over. The clone of Jiraiya hoisted the Hyuuga up onto his shoulder before giving a nod to the real one.

With a silent agreement all three rushed off as fast as humanly possible to the one person who could save what was left of his broken family.

"I have to find Tsunade… Now."

END

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