Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Forced Fate ❯ Untitled ( Chapter 5 )

Opening:



The 'giant snake scare' that had occurred near a month ago, had caused quite a ruckus in the Leaf village. The sighting of a giant snake lead to the belief that Orochimaru was coming to destroy Konoha, to finish what he'd begun two years ago. A frantic search for the Hokage began, troops were being marshaled, and preparations for securing the villagers were underway. It was a giant disorganized mass of organization.

Scouts were sent out to get a better idea of what they would be dealing with. Their orders were to get numbers and locations of enemy ninja, but ultimately it was the bringing in of one injured girl, Haruno Sakura, that helped clarify what in the world was going on.

As soon as the name Itachi fell from her lips, the Hokage and ANBU were summoned. Sakura was brought to the hospital and questioned while the staff worked to assess her injuries.

She'd confessed that Uchiha Sasuke had saved her from the Akatsuki member Kisame. The gate guards confirmed her story saying that a man resembling Sasuke had indeed brought her to the gates. Her story also indicated that Itachi might have taken Naruto.

She knew they had confronted each other, but that was the last she knew. Her fight with Kisame had lead her away from her blond friend.

Scouts had scoured the forests around Konoha far, wide, and deep. They returned with Kisame's body, but no sign of enemy shinobi, Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, or Naruto.

All evidence, or lack thereof, suggested that there was not an Orochimaru attack. The giant snake was determined to have been Sasuke's doing and he was nowhere to be found. No other enemy had been spotted, nor was there any sign of any having been, at least not in invasion numbers anyway. There was definitely evidence that a huge fight had taken place around where the snake was spotted.

The gathered troops needed only to be sent out to look for the three missing ninja. The number one priority was to find Naruto. If anyone came across either of the Uchihas they were to attempt capture only if they were properly equipped, but none had been that lucky or… unlucky.

Naruto had been found alone and unconscious. Knowing Itachi had attacked him; Tsunade immediately scanned his mind for injuries. Strangely it was found intact, but his body was severely exhausted, and had begun to degrade. He'd remained unconscious for at least three weeks, his body and mind needing the rest.

Everyone, Tsunade and Naruto's friends, had rejoiced when they heard he'd awoken, but that joy was short lived. An attack the likes of which could only be described as "latent torture", assaulted Naruto's mind almost as soon as he woke up, and it quickly rendered him unconscious again.

During Naruto's second unconscious bout, Tsunade did another mind scan finding there was indeed trauma there. It was strangely disturbing to find no trauma the first time, and a lot of it the second. To the best of her knowledge, which was extensive, she knew of no possible way this could happen without outside influence.

Regardless of endless questions with no answers, she worked hard to heal the damage, knowing that when Naruto awoke he might be able to answers her many queries. Oddly enough she had found spots already in the process of healing. Naruto had been healing himself, or more appropriately the Kyuubi had probably been.

Tsunade's healing had been successful, further examinations showed no further sign of mental trauma. Now she only needed to wait for her favorite villager to wake up, and hope he hadn't suffered much emotional damage. Tsukuyomi could be so damaging on one's confidence…

A few more days rest found Naruto conscious again, and in a very sour mood. Tsunade greeted him happily as did Sakura and Kakashi. They cared nothing for his mood, good or bad they were ecstatic to see him alive and well. They had all been dying to question Naruto, to know what the hell happened.

While Naruto was unconscious, he'd actually had a conversation with the Kyuubi. The nine tails had explained away Naruto's memory gaps, and the latent torture, and how Itachi got away. The Kyuubi had explained to Naruto, and Naruto related the tale to them.

All their speculations couldn't even compare to the truth of what happened, and as Naruto related the tale as best he could his friends were reminded of just how 'special' Naruto was.

---

Itachi could feel Sasori's eyes on him for the thousandth time today. It was the first time he'd seen the other Akatsuki members since he came back from the Kyuubi encounter. They were all randomly shooting him looks… they were curious.

None would ask him outright what exactly had went on that day, but he could tell from their 'I'm not staring at you' looks that they wanted more information. They wanted details. He mentally shrugged. The outcome was what it was, details wouldn't change a thing.

It had been weeks since Itachi had fought the Kyuubi's vessel, and still he wasn't fully recovered. His plan had been to expose the blond boy to Tsukuyomi long enough to render him unconscious, but not kill him. It didn't matter if the kid was harmed in the process; he only needed to be alive, alive long enough for Akatsuki to rip the nine tails from him, nothing more.

Itachi's plan didn't quite work out as he'd hoped, and inconveniently Itachi had been the one to almost die.

It had seemed such a full proof plan… simple but effective. Itachi would render the yellow haired shinobi helpless while Kisame watched his back.

The two Akatsuki couldn't believe their good fortune. Naruto was virtually unprotected. Konoha knew Akatsuki, a very dangerous organization, wanted Naruto and here the boy was… utterly defenseless. At the very least Itachi had expected the village to send Kakashi or someone else of his stature to accompany Naruto when they finally got the brass to send him on a mission, but surprisingly he was with a single girl companion. It was either a testament to Konaha's confidence in the two shinobi, or it's ignorance and stupidity. Itachi favored the latter.

It had seemed overkill having Kisame with him when they found only Naruto and a pink-haired girl trodding through the forest. Surely the kunoichi wouldn't be a problem for Kisame, and Naruto… well Naruto shouldn't be a problem, not with Tsukuyomi anyway.

'I thought the boy defenseless, and yet I was defeated.' Itachi wasn't really bothered or surprised by his defeat, at least not where conventional emotions were concerned. He certainly hadn't expected to be defeated, but he was, and that was that. 'It happened how it happened.' He wasn't angry or upset, and he certainly wasn't confused. He knew exactly how he got beat.

He wasn't surprised when the blond ninja collapsed under the influence of Tsukuyomi; that was part of the plan. Naruto was not equipped to fight such a technique; he wasn't a sharingan user, and he wasn't an Uchiha.

Itachi had physically tortured Naruto, much like he had Kakashi, but the yellow haired boy proved to be quite resilient to that. Not because he was a mental giant that fought the illusion, but because he could withstand a lot of physical pain. Itachi found a challenge in that, in Naruto's strength.

There weren't very many things Itachi loved, but he did love a challenge. He'd always found too few things that really tested his strengths and abilities; everything always seemed too easy. He knew one day Sasuke would become his ultimate challenge, or at least he hoped so, but until that day he never thought he'd find anything that would interest him. Now there was Naruto.

If he couldn't easily break the fox demon kid through physical torture, then he'd torment him emotionally. It was like a great game, 'try to find the fastest way to break Naruto'.

It was only slightly humorous that Naruto's weakest point was his brother, Sasuke. The boy had very strong emotions toward his ototou, anger, jealousy, love, hate… It was all there. There was a buffet of torture points to explore in Naruto's mind, at least where Sasuke was concerned.

Strangely Naruto thought himself better than Sasuke, or so it looked in his mind. Though it was so masked by a need for recognition that maybe Naruto himself didn't even know it was there. It was as if Naruto needed everyone around him to see it, say it, and show it, or it just didn't exist. If Itachi had to sum it up he'd say that Naruto needed everyone around him to acknowledge in some way that he was better than Sasuke. Naruto thought he was, but it didn't matter unless everyone else saw too.

This Naruto was a strange fellow. He thought very highly of himself, and yet he wanted to pound Sasuke, a boy he called friend, in every way to catapult his own reputation to the top. 'How delightfully hypocritical.' If Itachi was the smirking type he might have done so at that. 'Maybe Naruto is really an Uchiha and just doesn't know it.' He certainly was ambitious enough; he just lacked the brainpower. His mind just seemed so… simple. Yes, that was the perfect description for Naruto… simple.

The older Uchiha had selectively plucked out Naruto's thoughts, recollections, and dreams and played with them. It was a simple thing really. He made all of Naruto's rights seem wrong, all of his dreams seem like selfish wants, all of his accomplishments seem like failures… the list went on and on. It turned out Naruto was much more fragile emotionally than physically, and passed out way too soon for Itachi's liking. It had been a fun but very short-lived game.

Itachi had felt Naruto's mind collapse, felt him lose consciousness, but he couldn't pull away from the blond boy's mind. He couldn't end his own jutsu. The tortuous images were still flooding out of him and into the boy, but mentally the boy wasn't there. It was unexplainable. That was when it had happened.

A sinister laugh had sounded in his mind. It was a deep, menacing, growl-like sound that vibrated throughout his thoughts, and then the torturous images were flooding out of him so fast they felt like they were being ripped away. It was so hard to explain, but he was being held in his own jutsu, like something had grabbed onto it and didn't want to let go. He couldn't help but wonder who or what would want that, and then it hit him… it was the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi had come out to fight for its vessel. It had surfaced when Naruto passed out, and now it was forcing Itachi to stay in a jutsu that used a lot of chakra. The fox had taunted him with his powerful voice and awesome presence, tried to physically manhandle him, torture him. Had Itachi not known everything was happening in his mind he'd have died, and the Kyuubi's tactics would have worked, but Itachi was too familiar with Tsukuyomi to be affected by it.

As it was, the Kyuubi didn't need to physically fight him, or mentally torture him, just forcing him to indefinitely use his jutsu was causing enough damage. It was such a chakra and mental concentration demanding technique that to hold it too long or use it too much was to cause death, and the Kyuubi knew this. The demon fox was only trying to have fun with him by trying the other tactics.

Itachi and the Kyuubi had wrestled back and forth to control time and space in Tsukuyomi. Time was speeding up, then slowing down, then seemingly froze… Every now and then, the Kyuubi would show his physical self, tower over Itachi, growl menacingly… The nine tails was a frighteningly impressive sight. It took incredible confidence and will power not to give in to the demons intimidations, but Itachi had done it. His face remained impassive through the entire ordeal though there were times he felt anything but…

It hadn't taken very long, though it had felt like an eternity, before Itachi felt himself grow dangerously tired. He was being drained of all of his energy at an astonishing rate and soon would be unconscious.

Itachi had awoken on the forest floor; across from him lie the unconscious form of Naruto. So, the fight was more difficult than he thought, but it appeared he'd still get the prize after all.

Itachi gained his feet, and threw his senses out… He could hear and sense several ninja converging on the area where he and the boy lay. How long had he been out?

He hurried to Naruto and bent to pick the boy up when a huge burst of red chakra exploded around the blond, throwing Itachi back a few paces. He landed on the ground… hard. Before he could gain his footing the approaching nins he'd sensed were right on top of his location.

He barely got away before the Leaf shinobi burst through the trees and rushed to Naruto's side.

Naruto had been lucky… very lucky, but now that Itachi knew what to expect he wouldn't be next time, and there would be a next time… soon. Itachi couldn't wait.

---

Jiraiya was getting slightly worried. This conversation was beginning to sound like a sales pitch. Obviously Tsunade was going to ask something of him, or she was going to do something she was afraid he wouldn't approve of. "High paying missions, mostly A and B rank, are not coming in like usual. They're dwindling and have been since Orochimaru attacked. We're not fully recovered yet. This lack of income is seriously starting to hurt the rebuilding."

"Oh yes, that is a problem." Jiraiya dutifully stated. His long time friend wasn't looking for advice… yet. So he commented where necessary but otherwise didn't really say anything.

"I suspect Orochimaru has something to do with our lack of high paying missions, and I think this is just the beginning." She paused, studying her fellow sannin for a moment, looking him in the eyes to ensure his attentiveness. "This village will continue to decline if things keep as they are. There have already been reports of suspicious behavior from other villages, behavior that points to them taking advantage of us." Once again she paused for effect, pointing to a stack of papers on her desk to show the evidence. "They can see our imminent decline. No tough missions, leads to weak shinobi, leads to no protection, leads to attack, and since there's no good income we won't even be able to hire outside protection." She never took her eyes from his.

Oh yes, Jiraiya was definitely not liking this conversation. She was getting more saleswoman by the minute, and that meant he really wasn't going to like what was inevitably coming. "So what do you plan on doing about it?" He asked, still keeping his voice calm, belying what he felt.

"Orochimaru has gained a lot of power and influence in these last two years. Spies report that the reputation of his ninja is unsurpassed. He's quickly becoming the first choice of anyone who needs a very tough mission done. Word is spreading that his assassins are far better than the Leaf's or Sand's."

Jiraiya sighed. "Yea, I heard the same. I was hoping I was misinformed."

"No, you weren't. He's gained this reputation on deeds. Any client he's had swears by his ninja. Apparently they're so pleased they can't help spreading the good word." Her voice dripped with sarcasm at this last bit. "I've had spies look into it, and they're all legit. His clients are genuinely happy."

"So what do you plan on doing?" He asked again. 'More importantly what do you want from me?'

"We'll need to take Orochimaru down… soon. We can start with getting rid of some of his more skilled ninja." She looked at Jiraiya, eyes near pleading with him to understand what she was saying.

The frog hermit saw the beseeching in her eyes. He knew what she meant, and it was something she was dreading. She didn't even want to say it out loud lest it make it more real. Well, he'd say it for her. "Sasuke… You want to take out Sasuke as well as any other Sound nins, and you're worried about Naruto understanding."

"Sort of… Jiraiya…" She was silent for a moment. "I want to send Naruto after Sasuke." There she said it.

Jiraiya's eyebrows shot into the air. "By go after him what exactly do you mean?" He snapped, a bit rougher than he meant to. He was trying to hold his anger until he heard her out a bit more.

"Sasuke's too much of an asset for Orochimaru. He has grown too strong to leave under our greatest enemy's control. Taking out Sasuke would be a big blow to our ex comrade, and gaining him back would be a big gain for us. Either way we benefit and Orochimaru loses."

Tsunade had to acknowledge the Uchiha's newfound strength. Sakura had been beaten pretty badly by Kisame, and Sasuke had killed him with enough stamina and energy left over to carry her student to the city gates and speed his way out of the Fire territory.

Tsunade had been training Sakura for two years now, and she knew her student was a very strong fighter, surpassing all of her expectations. She'd never had an apprentice that could begin to compete with the pink haired girl's strength and skill, and she hadn't even managed to scratch the shark Akatsuki… and Sasuke had killed him. It was disturbing.

Thankfully Sakura's worst injuries were cracked ribs and a concussion, though the bruises and scrapes she had practically covered her entire body. Thanks to Tsunade and Shizune, it had only taken Sakura two weeks to recover physically, but mentally she was upset with what she considered her weakness. Losing so horribly against Kisame had crushed Sakura's newfound confidence. It was her first real fight since her training with Tsunade, and she was utterly pounded. Her teacher hated the defeat she heard in Sakura's voice when she talked about the encounter.

Tsunade didn't like having this powerful of a ninja in Orochimaru's hands. The Uchiha clan had been revered everywhere, not just in the Leaf village, as one of the strongest and most feared. The secrets of that clan were buried deep, and not many, if any, understood their full potential. Who knew what Sasuke might become if left unchecked for too much longer. There was already one Uchiha monster on the loose… they didn't need another.

Itachi was proof of what a genius Uchiha was capable of becoming, and he was a frightening force, killing the entire powerful Uchiha clan by himself. God only knew if it was possible for Sasuke to surpass him, but it was a frightening thought she was forced to consider.

Saleswoman again. Jiraiya watched her face as she fell into dire thought. She was trying to justify her decision, mostly to herself he figured. She cared about his feelings, but only to a point. In the end she had to know she made the right choice for herself. "Tsunade. What do you want Naruto to do?" He spoke sternly, like an adult to a child, wanting some straight answers, no more dancing around.

"I want Naruto to bring Sasuke back… or… kill him." They both knew he'd most likely have to kill the boy. She leveled her gaze at him, saying so much in that one look. 'Naruto won't want to kill Sasuke, but too bad. He's a ninja, and sometimes we have to do things we don't like for our village.'

'I don't want to have Sasuke killed. I am supposed to protect him. I was supposed to protect him from Orochimaru, but this is about the survival and safety of the whole village.' The village must come before one boy, or even two boys for that matter.

Orochimaru was slowly killing her village, the village she swore to protect. Tsunade couldn't help but feel that Sasuke had a lot to do with the snake's success. Orochimaru had to be stopped. She wasn't going let Konoha fall on her watch. She needed to hit her ex teammate fast and hard, send him a sign that she's on to him. Let him know he won't succeed. Sasuke would be the first and biggest blow in a long drawn out war.

"Why Naruto? He's barely recovered from his last Uchiha encounter. " Jiraiya asked, pulling Tsunade from her musings, spitting the word Uchiha like it were poison.

He didn't like Naruto's odds. Akatsuki was still after him; Itachi would be back more prepared, and now he'd have to deal with Orochimaru and his lackeys, one of which, Sasuke, just killed an Akatsuki. That was a lot.

He'd prepared Naruto as best as he could, and he had great faith in his strength, but these were more than just battle -hardened ninja he'd be dealing with. Orochimaru's men would be far more experienced with real life dangerous missions than Naruto, and it went without saying that Akatsuki members were basically mass murderers.

Naruto hadn't even killed anyone yet, and he knew his softhearted student would not easily make that decision. Hesitation in real battle could mean death. He wasn't ready for this on his own. "Who will you send with him?"

"I chose Naruto because of the recent Itachi incident. Because of the Kyuubi he's proven he can survive the sharingan's most deadly attack." The Kyuubi had protected him and healed him. He was the best choice.

"I wouldn't say unconscious, possible psychological damage, suffering, and just being alive really counts as resiliency. Not to mention--"

"He won't be alone." She shot out quickly, circumventing Jiraiya's rant. "He'll be under Kakashi's command."

I'm giving you a few more months to train Naruto; I will continue to train Sakura, and then they go back to Kakashi. Under his command they will go after Sasuke."

I'm hoping with the Kyuubi Naruto can immobilize Sasuke while the other two get him, or something like that."

Jiraiya was quiet. He was upset. This plan did not sound solid enough to him.

Tsunade could see her friend was silently seething. He was not happy, nor did he agree. She'd have to do some more convincing. "Don't forget, Kakashi has the sharingan too. Those three should be able to handle him.

I'm going to send along another gennin too, but I haven't decided who yet."

Jiraiya was still silent, unswayed. Perhaps what she said made sense, but he didn't like it… not at all. The fact that Kakashi would be with him gave him some comfort, but not enough. Caught between Akatsuki and Orochimaru was not where he wanted to see his favorite student.

He knew Akatsuki was gunning for Orochimaru, and that Orochimaru had designs on Akatsuki. Each wanted to destroy the other. Jiraiya didn't know why they did, but at this point it didn't really matter. Reasons would not change facts.

Tsunade sighed, seeing Jiraiya's inner struggle. He was trying to accept her choice, in his own way, but she could see letting go of Naruto was hard on him. "It's our best hope Jiraiya. I don't enjoy sending Naruto on such a mission either, but he is the most logical choice… Remember, he was Sasuke's friend at one point in time. He'd be our best chance at retrieving Sasuke alive… Besides, do you want to be the one to tell him that he can't go on this mission, tell him you're sending someone to kill Sasuke?"

Jiraiya sighed. She made sense. As bad as the plan was, and as much as he didn't like it, it was the best they had. And Naruto certainly would be pissed off if he found out that he couldn't go on this mission. He'd do everything in his power to ensure that Sasuke was brought back alive. Not that Jiraiya agreed with that, but Naruto was Naruto, and he'd do what he wanted…