Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ quixotism ❯ chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blanket disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Naruto or any characters associated with the anime/manga. They are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. I do claim rights to any and all original characters that appear in this story.

A/N: There will be cursing, adult situations including both slash pairing (boy X boy) and hentai (boy X girl). If you are offended by such things, not of age to be reading such material, or are not wanting to read spoilers then please push the back button now.

My deepest thanks to Jaded Lady for her work as beta on this story. I appreciate all your hard work.

'thinking'
"talking"

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During Sasuke and Naruto's time of recovery and self-discovery a dark figure was laying in wait, concealed within the shadows in the Village of Clouds.

Realizing in the split seconds among the waves of power that hit him and before the stronger, last wave hit Itachi used a transportation jutsu to escape certain death. Appearing in the woods surrounding the Hidden Sound Village he found he had lost his cloak when he transported. 'Probably turned to ash by now.' His mind supplied to him as he began to drag his wounded body toward Lightning Country to recuperate within the Hidden Cloud Village.

Traveling as best he could with his wounds, the missing-nin pushed himself to advance as far as possible in hopes he could get enough distance between himself and the crumbling Sound Village that the Konoha shinobis would not give chase. The only thing that was allowing his body to move at this time was the numbness that had thankfully set in along with his adrenaline rush from his near death experience. Itachi knew he had his years of training to thank for saving his life.

In his mind he could hear a voice whispering, an almost forgotten reminder, that if one is devoted to their training then it would not fail them. "If a shinobi steeps in their training then when faced with danger, the body will move without the need of thought. That is what you need to strive toward Itachi." Strangely enough this lesson he had learned long ago came in his father's voice.

Having traveled quite some ways without anyone giving chase, he came to the conclusion that the shinobi from Konoha had obviously took him for dead. Not that he could blame them for such an assumption, the power wave that had been created between him and Naruto-kun was more than enough to kill any normal human. He was thankful the light from the jutsu’s must have covered his escape for he knew he was in no condition to fight.

Landing in a large tree with thick foliage Itachi leaned against the trunk, reaching into his side pouch he pulled out his supplies. Though he had a long way to go, he knew he'd never make it to the Cloud Village if he didn't stop long enough to tend to himself. The wounds that had thankfully been numb up until that point were starting to make themselves known again. Selecting several solider pills and pain medication, he washed them down with what water he had, hoping the pills would give him the strength to continue. Deciding that while he was stopped, he should take the time to inspect himself to determine the extent of his injuries Itachi pulled up his shirt. He had several cuts, some puncture wounds, and a few ribs felt like they might have been broken or at least cracked; those were from his fight with Orochimaru. Carefully he examined his skin that had not been veiled within his lost cloak, it had taken the worst damage. Mostly third degree burns luckily the parts that had been covered with the cloak had escaped with second and some borderline third degree burns. These burn wounds were worse than what he sustained from Orochimaru, it would take a long time to heal. Sighing he rested his head back against the rough bark of the tree, thinking back to the fight he had just had and almost lost his life in.

His Mangekyou Sharingan had been of little use actually. It seemed the blonde shinobi had figured out how to fight against a Sharingan user by avoiding his eyes so as not to be caught within his jutsu.

What had caused the wave of power between them had been when Naruto called on the power locked within him when Itachi had tried to use his Amaterasu power from his Sharingan. He wasn't sure what the boy had been doing since his hands were hidden within his own cloak but, when the two powers had collided the resulting backlash had hit both of them.

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After making a bit of progress toward the Hidden Cloud Village he became aware that his position was being overtaken. Stepping up his pace Itachi worked on hiding his chakra level that he had been pushing to heal himself. His path through the trees was interrupted when his foot slipped from a branch making him stumble. Everything seemed to slow when he slipped, he knew he was in trouble when he was unable to catch himself as he stumbled causing him to lose his balance. He just prayed when he hit the ground he would be able to get back up. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the impact.

Hissing at a sudden pain around his stomach he slowly opened his eyes when the hit he expected never came, he found someone's arm wrapped around his middle saving him from the fall. Blinking he gazed over his shoulder to see who had caught him. He was surprised to find himself surrounded by several of the footmen the Akatsuki had brought with them to aid in the attack on Sound were now with him and awaiting his orders. 'Probably ones that fled the fighting.' He decided, noticing that most had wounds; none of the wounded seemed to possess anything life threatening but he wasn't going to question it. Their appearance was beneficial to him at this time.

Giving them directions to the Hidden Village in the Clouds where he had stayed and trained after he fled his home village. He now allowed two of them to lend him assistance so they could get there before any enemies figured out he wasn't dead or found their trail and gave chase. His subordinates informed him that Jiraiya-sama was seen leaving Sound, he rode on the back of a great frog in the direction of Fire Country, carrying Naruto-kun with him. 'So I'm not the only one who was injured.' Itachi thought already thinking of how he could defeat the boy next time they faced off.

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It took him almost a year to recover from the burns he suffered from the combination of his black fire and the pure raw power the Jinchuuriki had inflicted on him. He could still remember the feeling of the chakra from the nine-tailed kitsune youma along with his own black flame burning his flesh.

Not only had his body been seriously injured, but also for it to happen at the hands of one like Naruto-kun was a serious blow to his pride. He found it hard to accept that a boy such as Naruto could deal such a serious blow to someone of his standing. The boy presented himself with such childlike innocence. Accepting him as a fellow ninja was not easy for a serious shinobi like him. Growing up in Konohagakure Itachi had been seen as a genius among geniuses, a prodigy among the highly skilled. Having been reduced to laying flat on his back while he channeled his chakra to healing the multiple burns on his body, leaving him unable to even take care of his basic needs was an overwhelming experience. 'Of course, the Jinchuuriki's appearance is a testament to the Kyuubi's power.' Itachi thought to himself, it was a truth he had given careful consideration to. 'Naruto-kun is the Kyuubi's greatest illusion, the almost limitless power of the demon kitsune housed within the body of one who appeared to be a complete child.

Though he had spent almost a year flat on his back, he had made sure not to be idle with his time. His body might have been busy healing leaving him unable to physically train but nothing could stop him from using his mind. He spent the time reading every scroll he could get his hands on. Also taking the time to reexamine his quest to capture the young boy he never seemed able to get.

He had coveted after the power concealed with the young blonde haired boy for years now. Since joining the Akatsuki and learning the truth about the potential supremacy held within a mere child it had driven him to chase the innocent looking boy for years.

The first time he went after him Naruto had forced him to go back to his home village. Before he had not returned to it since that time, he used his family to test out his power. After having to face several of the men he had served with him and Kisame left empty handed. They found the boy was no longer in the village, the legendary Sennin, Jiraiya, had taken the boy with him. Traveling to the next town, where they had overheard the man was heading, they quickly laid a trap for the man to separate the boy from him.

Conveniently they were able to use the older man's weakness for young women against him and soon the boy was left alone in their hotel room. Itachi had thought they would have plenty of time but it seemed they had underestimated. That was also the first time he had seen his brother Sasuke since he killed their family. The foolish child was always where he had no business being. Sasuke was easily put out of the way by snapping his wrist and subjecting him to the Tsukuyomi. Though Itachi admitted, he had been surprised that his little brother had obtained a jutsu like the Chodori. It was unexpected for someone like Sasuke to have such a technique; he was still very weak even with such a jutsu though. That time had been ruin by that Jiraiya though, when he showed up to save the blonde after Kisame had subdued his chakra. With his energy low and the frog stomach squeezing in on them, Itachi ordered for them to withdraw, he was not going to be able to fight one with skills like Jiraiya-sama after all he had done that day.

Not long after the first face off Itachi found locating the young boy was now a problem, Jiraiya-sama once again left with Naruto-kun, taking to the road hiding from them. He had hoped after they successfully captured Gaara-sama, Kazekage to Sunagakure, Naruto-kun would have been next but, he once again surprised them by saving the Kazekage's life then slipping away back on the road under Jiraiya-sama protection.

After they captured Kazekage, Itachi once again began to trail after the boy. Until the Akatsuki's attention was diverted to dealing with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, another of the legendary three ninjas of Konoha, a master snake summoner who strove to learn every jutsu that existed had been a missing-nin for years. He fled from Konoha long ago when it was discovered he was conducting human experiments on his fellow Konoha residents. After leaving Konoha he entered the Akatsuki, working to further the organization and himself until his own agenda out-weighed his use of the group, so he left to fulfill his own plans of power. The organization had no use for Orochimaru and ignored the man until he began to make a nuisance of himself standing in the way of Akatsuki's plans. He had faced off against several of the group’s members then, and they had thought he had been seriously wounded enough to lead to his death. It seemed though it only lead to the snake shedding the fake skin he had put on for a new one. His assistant Kabuto found out at that time why one should never trust a snake, they have a way of turning when they feel threatened. The pale haired youth was taken as the Sennin's new body. A sad ending but, in the end all any ninja was seen as was a tool to be used and Orochimaru made good use of Kabuto.

It was after Orochimaru was put back in his place that Itachi lost the trail of the Kyuubi container. It had been very strange; the boy had just one day up and seemingly disappeared off the face of the known world. There was not even a rumor to his whereabouts to be found during that time. In hopes to find some lead Itachi had even traveled to his home village again. If the mischievous blonde's name was even mentioned at all the only things he heard was that the boy was with Jiraiya-sama and no one, including the Hokage, knew where they were or if they still lived.

Then just as suddenly as he disappeared, the boy and his mentor reappeared. Seen traveling toward the Hidden Sound Village. Itachi had quickly dropped what he had been doing and organized most of the members along with many of the foot soldiers they had collected over the years to follow the young shinobi. As they traveled Itachi heard of rumors that Orochimaru was planning on using his foolish younger brother as bait to catch and destroy Naruto. Not that he was concerned about his brother, if he was so foolish as to trust a snake and was bitten it was his problem but, Itachi knew Naruto had a weakness for Sasuke and it would lead to his destruction unless something was done. That had been his thinking when he doubled his efforts to arrive before the boy.

Sending the other members that had traveled with him to separate Orochimaru from his followers Itachi had silently slipped into the room approaching the man. Confronting him with the rumors, he had heard that proved to be true. The Sennin's time to change bodies was here and he planned on using his brother as his new body. Confirming his plans to destroy Naruto and the Kyuubi he housed. With one of the tailed demons out of their reach Orochimaru could easily move against the Akatsuki with the power of the Uchiha clan. Orochimaru put up a strong resistance but in the end Itachi proved to the man who was the true owner of the power from the Uchiha clan.

No matter what he did though there always had been those who stood between him and what he desired and even at the face-off he and Naruto had in the very room Itachi had ended Orochimaru's life was no exception. The blonde ninja was surrounded with those he called friends and strangely enough seemed to draw strength from their presence.

The fight with Naruto had not gone as he had planned leading to his extensive recovery time, but now he was recovered and had developed a jutsu that would aid him in his endeavor to capture the demon fox. The jutsu would allow him to remove the demon and place it within an inanimate object. Unlike what the Akatsuki did when they extracted a demon from its host this jutsu could be done without the need of many helpers. It would cost the life of the one holding the object the demon was placed within. Itachi had chosen a clay jar, one of his men would have to forfeit their life but it was a cost he was willing to pay.

All that was left was to enact a plan that would give him and his followers a chance to invade his home village. He had gathered to him several ninjas from the fallen Sound Village and other missing-nins willing to follow him. These followers were easy to manipulate their reasons for wanting to fight Konoha ranged from revenge to greed. To these ninjas without homes Konoha's wealth was an overwhelming incentive for them. When someone has nothing to lose, they will fight without any regard to themselves or others. While Konoha had certainly become soft from their luxuries. When faced with the fact of what they held precious being lost they would crumble and accept any terms he gave them.

Pulling on his cloud printed cape Itachi placed the stone jar in his pocket; he had already placed the scroll in it to hold the spirit of the Kyuubi within it. With the forces he had gathered along with his new knowledge he would not fail this time. Konoha would not know what had happened until it was too late. Itachi smiled thinking how others would react when they saw him proving that the rumors of his death had been exaggerated. The Akatsuki was now in shambles but, he would rebuild it and use the demons to make himself a Kami with indescribable power and endless life, all would bow to him. With these forces and his new knowledge he would finally have success in capturing the Kyuubi.

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Added piece of information: If you check a map of the Naruto world as created by Masashi Kishimoto, the Hidden Sound Village is on one side of Fire Country while the Hidden Sand Village is on the other side so for Jiraiya to take Naruto to Gaara's village they would have to travel through Fire Country (where Konoha is) to get there. Also going on through Fire Country to Suna would throw anyone looking for Naruto off his trail giving him time to recoup, therefore why Jiraiya took Naruto to Suna instead of to Konoha. I figured I'd get questions on that so there is your explanation.

Jinchuuriki: basically is a human that has a demon sealed within them. (I've found translations saying this term means power of human sacrifice)

Konohagakure: basically translates to the village of Konoha (hidden leaf) or village hidden in the leaves. Located in fire country.

Akatsuki: organization of missing-nin's; name means dawn

kitsune: fox

shinobi: another term for ninja

Chodori: thousand birds; ninjutsu. An assassination technique created by Kakashi, is also known as the lightning edge (raikiri). Makes the sound of chirping birds as the user approaches the target.

Tsukuyomi: moon reader; Itachi, lets opponent mentally experience a traumatic situation that breaks down the mind and can lead to death. space and time in the opponent's mind is under the user's control. To be effective an opponent must look into the user's eyes.

youma: ghost, apparition

Mangekyou Sharingan: kaleidoscope copy wheel eyes

Amaterasu: light of the heavens; cast by Mangekyou Sharingan. Powerful black flame is created which can burn through anything.

Sunagakure: translates to Village Hidden in the Sands

Genin: rookie/lower ninja. Acquire forehead protector and are grouped in teams of 3 with a Jounin sensei.