So here is chapter 7.
Sorry it took a lot longer than I originally planned for, but I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction! And then school and work and just life kind of got in the way…hahah Thank you for all the reviews and feedback. And as always, I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review!
Author's note: Due to the feedback that I received, I thought about the direction that I want to take this story and realized that there is another and much better way for this story to go. So this chapter is mostly the same but revamped with no Obito/Madara. I am going to take this story into a completely different direction that I had originally thought and I think it will be much better. Please let me know. As always I like the feedback. It helps me know when as an author I made a mistake and can rework the chapter to make it better! Hopefully you guys like this much better!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Chapter 7
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Five months later
.
It was early in the morning and Naruto was running late to meet Itachi for training that morning. He stopped just short of the entrance of training ground number fourteen. He caught his breath and walked in, just when he took his third step inside the training ground, he heard a noise. As faint as it was, to him it was clear as a whistle due to his heightened senses because of Kurama. He moved just a few centimeters to the left where a kunai came whizzing by his head.
"Good. You are two minutes late." Itachi said to the young Naruto.
"Gomenasai, Itachi-senpai. I had to stop by the Old Man's office first and you know how he gets when he starts talking." Naruto sheepishly said, laughing a little to himself.
"That is no excuse. You know that Naruto-kun."
"Hai."
"Good, let's start with drill number three shall we, for the warm up."
"Hai." Naruto got into position, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and started to throw shuriken, eight at a time to their designated targets. Four went to the left and four to the right. In all three landed right on dead center to the left and to the right and the last one landed just a hair off with the assistance with another shuriken to throw the other one at a seventy degree angle to land on the one tree behind Naruto.
"You missed one." Itachi commented.
"I know. But it is only a millimeter off to the right." Naruto whined a bit.
"And then your enemy would still be alive and you would be dead."
"Hai." Naruto said a little defeated.
"Ok. Do it again."
"Hai." Naruto did the drill a total of five more times before Itachi was satisfied with Naruto's performance. Itachi had been training Naruto for the last seven months and was progressing nicely. He noted that in last three months mostly, Naruto's progress was beyond anything he could hope for and knew that he would be more than ready for the next exam and then could be recruited for ANBU track. Itachi noted how perceptive Naruto was for his age and saw the hidden genius behind those innocent smiles. He knew that there was something more to this seven-year-old child. Yes, he showed skill and promise but he also noted that at times, Naruto looked like a season fighter, someone who has seen battle which would be impossible for the child. When Kakashi had asked him to take him on when he couldn't due to missions, he was hesitant at first but after the first lesson with him, quickly realized the potential within this child. Just within the last five months of taking Naruto out of the Academy and promoting him to the rank of Genin and Chuunin shortly thereafter, Naruto had dedicated himself fully into improving his skills as a ninja.
It seems that the Hokage was correct in his thinking when he had originally proposed to take Naruto out of the academy at such a young age. Just within these last few months itself, his ninjutsu had improved to the point to where he could start manipulating wind from which they discovered about four months ago. Naruto, himself being the genius persona that he gave off to Itachi and Kakashi, suggested that he could use his shadow clone jutsu to help advance himself faster. When the two heard this, they were taken aback that a seven year old thought of this, but Naruto just snickered to himself know full well of his intentions.
Itachi overall was very happy to have Naruto under his tutelage and the honor of having him call his Sensei and Senpai. But for all the excitement over his progress, he knew his days were numbered if things didn't change and quickly. Even with the inputs from Naruto, little had changed in the last months and it didn't look like things were getting any better unless something big happened.
Coming out of his thoughts, they next went into the their taijutsu positions and Itachi signaled for them to start. Naruto made the first move, propelling his body forward first. Leg clashed with an arm, deflecting the impact. He threw a right uppercut and left hook combo, to which Itachi blocked with some ease, narrowly avoiding Naruto's punches. But that did not deter the boy, if anything it only motivated him. Quickly he flipped into the air, landing on the side of a tree, supported through the use of chakra, and pushed himself right towards the older boy.
His foot wanting to make contact with Itachi, but Itachi caught his foot and threw Naruto into the air to which he fell with a loud thud on the ground. "Is that all you got Naruto-kun. I am not even breaking a sweat yet." He mocked the boy.
Naruto just smirked, jumped into the air performing a backflip midair, putting his hands together and performed the Kage Bushin no jutsu. Ten shadow clones poofed into existence, ready to attack Itachi. Itachi just smirked, turning on his Sharingan, using them to help him navigate between the now eleven Narutos' in front of him.
And so they 'played' like that for a few more hours until both boys were on the ground, exhausted from their spar. "Ok Naruto-kun that should suffice for now. We need to work on your genjutsu. Kakashi-Sensei said that you had not made any progress in the last few weeks."
"It is just hard Itachi-senpai. Kakashi-nii-san said that it is might just be because of my lack of chakra control since I have too much of it." Naruto said.
Itachi pondered for a moment, "I think I know a way to curtail that." He said and Naruto smiled, happy to be learning something to improve himself even more than before. Having the master of genjutsu as your teacher can certainly help with it especially even before being thrown back into the past, he never had quite a fineness one could say with it. If it wasn't for Kurama, Naruto knew that there were many moments when he could have been dead while being under a genjutsu.
And so, the two boys continued on with their training until the sun fell and the moon shown through the scattered clouds. Naruto bid his farewell to Itachi and went to sleep, exhausted but satisfied with how things were progressing.
The next morning Naruto woke up, ready to train with Itachi-Senpai, when an ANBU should up at this bedroom window. Confused at first, he opened the window. "Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you."
"Hai." He said. He quickly got dressed and then made his way to the Hokage Tower, running over the rooftops.
Once there, he landed on the ground and walked up to the Hokage Tower and made a beeline to the office of the Hokage himself. He knocked on the door, "Enter."
"Jiji, you wanted to see me?" He asked.
"Yes, Naruto. I just wanted to see how the new training program was working with Itachi and Kakashi. I hear that you have vastly improved in the last few weeks." The Hokage said with a smile behind his desk.
"Hai! Jiji you should see me out there! Itachi-senpai is the greatest. He said that if I keep working on my chakra control, I should be able to start detecting when I'm under a Genjutsu which I've never been able to do." In this life and the last. Naruto said and thought the last bit to himself with a sly smile.
"Good, good I'm glad to hear. At the rate that you are going Naruto, you'll be one of the best ninjas out there."
"Well of course Jiji. Who else is going to take your spot once you retire, you are just holding it for me in the meantime. Plus, then everyone will have recognized me."
"Hahaha. Well I guess I better keep this seat nice and warm for a long time until you are ready Naruto." The Hokage said with some jest.
Naruto just smiled. "Hey Old Man, I was wondering something?"
"What is that Naruto?"
"Ummm…with the thing with the Uchihas'…. are they going to be ok?" Naruto said with a serious tone behind his little façade.
The Hokage looked perplexed at the young boy. On one hand, he again was astounded by the intuitive nature of the young boy in front of him but was terrified of what he knew. "Naruto…" He began but hesitated a bit. "…Naruto. Listen to me now…" Naruto's eyes peaked with attention. "The Uchiha's currently are going through some problems but everything will work out. Alright?"
"You promise Jiji?"
"Yes, Naruto I promise."
"Good!" He gave out a small thumbs up at the Hokage with a huge smile. "Because I want to join the Police Force before I take that seat from you!"
The Hokage just laughed, "Really now…tell me more about you joining the Police Force."
For the next hour, Naruto relayed his grandiose plan of joining the police Force and bringing in other people from the other Clans to create a super unit to help protect the village and then him finally becoming the Hokage for when the Old Man retired.
After that Naruto soon left, happy as a fiddle to start the rest of his day with Itachi-Senpai. The Hokage on the other hand took the boy's words to heart. Maybe if we do open the Police Force to the other clans we could just save them from themselves. The Hokage thought to himself.
"Frog." An ANBU with a frog mask came before him.
"Hokage-sama."
"I want you to get Fuguka-san for me. There are some things that we need to finally discuss about."
"Hai Hokage-sama." And with that the ANBU left leaving the Hokage alone with only his thoughts to keep him company hoping, praying that there was time to fix everything that had transpired over the last few years.
.
One month later
.
"Naruto...Naruto...Naruto!"
Naruto jolted awake from his bed. "Ahh! Who's there?"
"It's me you baka."
"Oh, what is it Kurama?"
"Madara is here. I feel his chakra." Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. Confusion, regret, hurt, sadness, but mostly anger all running through his head in the same moment. He couldn't understand why Madara would be here of all places at first and then thought of what Madara said to him that one day and it all made sense. It was the night that Itachi would take the people of his clans' lives, torture Sasuke and leave the village only to join the Akatsuki leading Sasuke down the path of hatred and the destruction of mankind as he knew it.
"What? No! I thought...Kurama we have to stop this!" Was the first thought that came to Naruto's mind. He had to prevent this disaster. It was one of the many reasons why he finally accepted being transported to the past years back. It was to prevent all of this, the destruction of the Uchiha Clan and the Five Great Nations. He could not afford to fail now.
"We can't. We cannot reveal our true power. I am sorry Naruto but I told you that you would not be able to save everyone."
"I can't accept that Kurama. We have to save as many Uchiha that we can."
"You baka! Listen to me, we can't do anything to risk our position."
"I'm sorry Kurama but I can't just sit here knowing what is about to occur. Sasuke will be ruined for the rest of his life if this occurs... If I can at least save him from Itachi's genjutsu, I will." Naruto said with renowned determination only to have the Kyuubi sigh from behind his cage muttering about his idiot host.
He put on some black pants and a shirt and a black mask over his face to cover his blonde hair and whisker marks and then grabbed his ninja tools. He made a Kage bushin, ordered it to pretend to be asleep in the bed just in case if anyone was to come looking for him for some reason and jumped out the window.
He jumped over the rooftops until he spotted Sasuke running home from his training practice that Naruto knew he conducted every day after the Academy, wanting to graduate early like he did. Sorry Sasuke, but this is for your own good. He jumped over a few houses so he was right behind him and threw one of his blunted kunai at him, hitting him in the head and knocked him out. He jumped down and tied his hands and feet together and shunshined to a place where he knew that he would be safe.
Once he knew that no one would find him, he looked at the night sky ahead of him, where he knew that Itachi was murdering his clan with the help of Madara. If I can't stop it maybe I can save a few other lives. Nodding to his own thought, he felt out for the fuinjutsu markers that he had discretely placed all over the village throughout the years and felt the tether of chakra. Using the famous move of his father, Hiraishin no jutsu, he quickly transported himself to the Police Station. Standing from the outside of the Police station, he saw a small girl bearing the Uchiha mark. Her face filled with distraught and confusion, Naruto quickly took out another kunai and knocked her out. He ran towards her and performed the Hiraishin no jutsu again to take her to where Sasuke was located. Once he tied her hands and feet securely, he transported himself to the Uchiha compound.
As the night wore on a much deeper, chilling, pitch-darkness enwrapped itself around Naruto, making him feel like he was being submerged into a dark sea slowly sinking into the cold, unplumbed darkness. No stars lite the night sky, not even the luster of the full moon, unseen from behind the clouds that covered it. Those brimming with devilment and mischief, conspiring clouds had defined the night, stifling the lunar rays and blacking out the celestial beams. The only thing in movement was a faint wind that brushed against Naruto's face, the shifting of the leaves from the trees ruffled the stillness of the area of which Naruto stood.
There he saw a mass of bodies lying on the floor. He carefully and quietly walked over to one body hoping to find the person with some sort of life in them. But, lifeless. It was the only thing to describe the woman. Her black hair was scattered in multiple places, stained with fresh blood. Her black eyes were wide open, but there was nothing behind them. Her body was slumped over, half sitting, half laying on the cold hard ground. He looked to see it was her throat that was slashed, not the most humane way of going. But it was the pungent smell that got to him the most. It was the same smell that was his constant friend from the two years battling both of the Madaras.
Panic was what came to him. He ran to the next body and the next only to find them all dead. They all lied like dolls down the main street, limbs at awkward angles and heads in such a way that they cannot be sleeping. These bodies, one the repositories of people as alive as Naruto was in that moment. But it was one that stopped him in his tracks. Torn from his skull, the remains of his brain lay scattered over the dirt road. A scarlet liquid had drenched his black shirt. Alongside him laid another woman, lying limply, her soul departed. He could only imagine their screams.
He gently closed the eyes of the woman and looked at the rest of the street. He knew that Itachi was good and there was no one alive anymore. He was too late for these people. He closed his eyes to see if there were any chakra signatures at all within the compound. There were none, none but three. And he knew to which three they belonged too. He sighed, a silent tear rolling from his eyes, staining his mask. He was too late for all of them.
He looked back once more before leaving the sight. There was nothing that he could do for them now. He at least was able to save Sasuke from Itachi and that one girl but other than that Naruto felt like he was defeated. All the preparation and plotting was for nothing it seemed. Kurama was right, what can a seven year old do? He felt like he needed to do more but what could he do.
That was the thought that was left with Naruto as he made his way back to where he dumped Sasuke and the girl. He untied them and with the Hiraishin no jutsu and placed them in the middle of the street that was littered with bodies for the ANBU to find later that evening. Hopefully Sasuke will be ok, at least he wasn't so alone with another Uchiha at his side. But Naruto could pray and see what the future holds. Naruto teleported himself back to his room, dispelling the clone and got into bed think of the future.
One thing for sure was that Naruto needed to rethink and strategize on how he is going to proceed for the future. Itachi now has killed his clan and Naruto was pretty sure that he would join the Akatsuki soon enough. Maybe it was a good thing in the end, so the original timeline would not be that much different. But wasn't that the whole point of using this gift that Naruto now saw it as.
There was one thing for sure now though and that he wouldn't know how Sasuke would react to waking up to a dead clan. Maybe I should have left him at the training ground. He thought to himelf. He just shrugged, only tomorrow morning would bring the answers needed to his questions. But as he knew it now, things would surely change because of this. He could only pray for the better.
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Author's note
.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
Again this chapter has been changed from the original chapter. I think the way that I have it planned out now is much better and will flow more nicely with the cannon and the direction that I originally planned for this story. Please let me know what you think of this instead. Will help me out when planning for the next few chapters!
So there was chapter 7! Again, thank you so much for the reviews so far! I really appreciate the feedback!
I hope you liked it! Big things are happening for Naruto now in this story as this new twist either makes it or breaks his plans! Please read and review! The next chapter should be coming out hopefully in about 2 weeks! Already started working on it!