Naruto jogged casually through the streets, the late night air cool on his exposed arms. Normally he didn't run through the village so openly in his ANBU armour but it was a nice night and there weren't many people about. Those that did see him simply paid him no mind, treating him as the silent and invisible protector that ANBU were supposed to be. In turn he ignored them, maintaining his official non-existence to the general public. It wasn't a full-proof charade; anybody that knew him even reasonably well would be able to recognise him from his hair, mask or no.
He looked up briefly, watching the bright full moon as he jumped across rooftops on his way towards the outskirts of the village. He wasn't sure why Shisui had asked him to meet him by an old training ground but the whole situation put him on edge slightly. His friend was never this secretive and the message was sent in the standard ANBU code; that alone was grounds to worry. That anxiety only increased as he dropped into the training ground to see Shisui standing by a fast moving river, his back facing the redhead.
"Shisui?" The black-haired Uchiha perked up a little as he heard his friend's voice ring out clearly in the still night. The dull roar of the waters in the river provided a constant background noise that mixed in with the other miscellaneous sounds of the forest.
"Hey Naruto." The Namikaze easily heard the slight strain in his friend's voice; it came out weak and lacked all the usual confidence. "It's a nice night tonight isn't it?" Naruto wasn't sure what to make of this, his friend was acting strange and he had no idea what was going on.
"Shisui what is it? What's going on?" His friend merely held up a hand, holding it there as he cocked his head to the side like a dog listening out for something. Only a few moments later there was another rustle as Itachi dropped into the clearing, like Naruto fully decked out in his ANBU gear. Naruto couldn't tell explicitly due to his mask but the other Uchiha seemed just as clueless as he was.
"Shisui, Naruto, what's this about?" Naruto merely shrugged while Shisui continue to stare thoughtfully into the river, not turning around to his two friends.
"It's such a nice night." His sigh was audible, even above the harsh sounds of the water rushing along in the river. Naruto was seriously worried by now; this whole thing was so out of character for Shisui it had his nerves on edge.
"Shisui, what's going on, why are you like this?" Their friend sighed again as he finally turned around, painfully slowly. To their credit as ANBU neither Itachi nor Naruto gasped or showed any outward reaction as they saw Shisui's face. Blood streamed down from his left eye leaving a slow moving river down his cheek, the moonlight only serving to show more contrast between his pale cheek and the dark stream of crimson.
"Shisui what happened?!" To Naruto's shock it was Itachi who spoke, his voice carrying far more emotion than he normally allowed people to hear, even in the company of his friends. For the third time that night Shisui sighed sadly, his expression sombre and melancholic.
"I don't have a lot of time, I was able to lead them on a false trail long enough to get you messages but I probably only have about five minutes." His weak voice was only met by uncomprehending silence from his friends, only broken by the occasional birdcall or that ever-present roar of the river. "I'm sorry guys..." he offered a lame smile that only turned to a pained wince as he gently held a hand to his bleeding eye "...I guess I just wasn't enough this time." Finally the silence and the tension got to Naruto and the catch in his throat holding him back from speaking disappeared.
"Shisui what are you talking about? What happened to your eye?" The attempt at a smile finally vanished from the Uchiha's face as he took on a more sobering expression, trying and failing to look at both his friends with his one good eye.
"I don't know who it was but they wore ANBU uniforms, except they didn't, it was like some kind of twisted version, their masks looked more like demons than animals. But I do know they were from Konoha, they used our sign language." He winced again as he clutched a hand to his eye, the pain obviously tremendous even though he kept it hidden commendably. "They were coming after my eyes, I got as much from their commands and the way they attacked me. They managed to pin me down in the compound and they got one of them but I used a flash bomb and managed to get away." That alone was a sobering thought for all three of them.
"Your Mangekyo..." Itachi's voice was quiet and contemplative but still loud enough that his friends heard him.
"Yeah, I figured as much as well." Again they lapsed into a brief silence, thinking about the consequences of what happened tonight.
"But that means..." Shisui cut Naruto off with a raised hand, motioning for him to stop.
"I know, the only people who know about it are the Hokage, the clan and our superiors in ANBU." Itachi's brow furrowed deeply behind his mask, his eyes scanning back and forth rapidly as he thought.
"No, they wouldn't do this; it makes no sense, why would they hurt one of our own?" Shisui sighed as his face contorted into a brief scowl, his pointed gaze directed solely at his cousin.
"Itachi, you know as well as I do that right now the Uchiha clan are under just as much suspicion as anybody else." At that Naruto looked up from thought quizzically, a questioning gaze turned at his two friends.
"What do you mean? Why would your family do something like this?" Shisui looked at Naruto with as kind an expression as he could manage before sadly looking away, his gaze drifting to the river.
"We don't have that much time, I'm sorry Naruto." His gaze came back up, a slightly pained expression clear across his features, but it wasn't from his injury. "My power is far too dangerous in the wrong hands and they already have one eye. At least that means it will be greatly weakened but it is still too dangerous for me to stay in Konoha." Naruto blinked in surprise at the implications of Shisui's words.
"You're leaving? Becoming a missing-nin?" Shisui shook his head sadly, the regret obvious in his eye.
"No, I would have nowhere to go, not to mention I would be no safer. Wherever I run, wherever I hide, as long as I have these accursed eyes then I am in danger and a danger to everybody." Naruto could only look on helplessly, the words refusing to form for a moment.
"Then what? We can protect you!" Shisui chuckled humourlessly, the action once again causing him to wince in obvious pain.
"Naruto, you can't protect me all the time, you are strong, but human. Even you have to sleep, eat and move on with your life." By now tears were beginning to form in the redhead's eyes as he stared at his friend.
"Then we go with you!" Shisui smiled, Naruto had never seen a more saddening sight than his best friend's heartbreaking smile.
"Where I'm going I hope you two will not have to follow for a long time." Before Naruto could ask what his friend meant he slowly unsheathed the tanto from his back with another heart-wrenching smile. "You two will always be my closest friends, remember that please." And without another word Shisui drove the blade into his heart, his face eternally locked into a small smile as his body dropped lifelessly into the river, easily carried away by the strong currents.
"SHISUI!" Both Naruto and Itachi cried out together, already sprinting forward to the river; however it was too late. Even if they could catch up to their friend's body the strong currents had already pulled his body under, lost to their eyes. They could only watch helplessly from the riverbank, staring into the dark waters that perfectly reflected the many shining stars in the night sky. Naruto dropped to his knees, the whole situation finally catching up to him as he began to take ragged breaths between gasps.
Itachi remained standing, his body rigid and frozen even as twin trails of blood slowly leaked from his eyes.
The sound of a fist knocking on wood rang out clearly and loudly through the homely two story house. Anko quickly vaulted the rest of the stairs she had been walking down to quickly run to the door, opening it with a small exasperated sigh as whoever it was kept knocking. She looked out in surprise at the two very gruff looking Uchiha men standing in their front porch; one in particular seemed incredibly irritated. She knew they were Uchiha from the crests on their collars, although the Sharingan spinning lazily in their eyes was also a dead giveaway.
"Um hello?" The older-looking man of the two with silver hair and a distinctively arrogant look plastered over his face simply gazed at her disinterestedly.
"Naruto Namikaze lives here correct?" Anko frowned at his tone; it seemed, for lack of a better word, accusatory and that didn't stand well with her.
"Who are you?" The man sneered for a moment, obviously irritated he had to deal with a situation like this before grunting in annoyance.
"We're with the Konoha military police force to question Naruto Namikaze over Shisui Uchiha's suicide." The news hit Anko like a ton of bricks making her gulp in surprise and shock, her eyes suddenly finding the floor as she blinked; her brow furrowed in pain and shock. She managed to just about look back up at the man who seemed nonplussed by the emotional display, not caring less about her reaction to the news he had so emotionlessly conveyed.
"Suicide?" The man merely grunted in the affirmative, his irritated mask not budging for a second.
"Is Naruto Namikaze here or not?" Anko was still stunned but she did at least manage to nod at the question.
"What do you need with Naruto?" She meant for the question to come out assertively, however her voice was quiet and subdued. She could only imagine how Naruto would take the news; Shisui had been his best friend, other than her. He had been strangely quiet and pensive recently as well, this wouldn't help things at all.
"None of your concern; our questions are for the Namikaze, not you." Even in her now emotionally fragile state Anko gave the man a seething gaze, only saved from a scolding as Naruto suddenly made his appearance.
"Hey Anko, who's at the door?" At his voice both Anko and the two Uchiha perked up, looking around as he jogged into the room, his hair still wet from a shower.
"Naruto Namikaze?" The Redhead eyed the two men critically but nodded all the same; he took note of their Uchiha crests and the shell-shocked look on Anko's face and instantly new why they were here. Cursing softly in his head he put on an air of total ignorance before joining Anko by her side. He knew this was coming, he hoped it wouldn't but he was no idealist. After much debate both he and Itachi agreed to keep what they knew about Shisui secret, respecting their friends last unspoken wish.
"What's going on Uchiha-san?" The silvery-haired man sneered at the polite greeting, looking down his nose at the young Namikaze and sniffing loudly.
"We need to ask you some questions." Becoming slightly more serious at the tone Naruto nodded warily before offering a hand for the two Uchiha to enter.
"Of course." They brushed past him quickly, both obviously wanting to get this over with soon. As they followed Naruto sent a small glance Anko's way, the girl couldn't even look him in the eyes.
After around a half hour of surprisingly intensive and all-too accusatory questions the Uchiha pair left, disgruntled and un-enlightened. Naruto had kept the majority of his answers vague but reasonable, sticking to the truth where possible. He found it surprising how easy it was to lie to the two, although their general attitudes helped. All throughout the dreadful conversation, although interrogation may have been a more accurate description, Naruto had managed to put on a suitably shocked and disbelieving air. In truth though that was no problem, he was still in real shock over his friend's sudden suicide and he had been bottling those emotions up since then.
"Wow." Naruto sat out his couch, staring up at the ceiling, the occasional blink the only sign he was even alive. Anko sat down next to him, naturally snuggling closer to his warm body even as she gazed at him worryingly. It pained her to see Naruto this way, so obviously devastated yet withdrawn and quiet. She couldn't even tell what he was thinking to even begin to try and help him. Instead she pulled his loose hand into her own, holding onto it tightly, as much for her own benefit as it was for his.
"How are you doing?" Naruto blinked a few times before taking a deep breath and turning to look at his oldest friend mechanically. Tears almost welled up in his eyes, lying to the Uchiha had been one thing but with Anko it was completely different. He wasn't been sure what he could tell her, or if it would be safe to tell her anything; he would have to talk with Itachi about it for later. For now he would simply have to maintain the act, although the edges of what was real and what was acting had already begun to blur.
"I'm not sure, it's just... everything." Anko nodded sadly, suddenly pulling herself forward to rest her head in the shoulder of Naruto closest to her.
"I know, I just can't believe it, I mean... It was Shisui!" Her voice held genuine disbelief behind the more noticeable sadness and shock. "He just always seemed so happy." Her voice became small with that and she unconsciously buried herself further into Naruto's shoulder. It made her wonder if there was something she had missed, some hidden sign that Shisui wasn't as aright as he looked, something she could have done to help. Worriedly she looked back up at Naruto's pensive face, knowing that no matter how bad she felt, Naruto could only be worse.
"What are we going to do now?" Naruto broke away from whatever speck on the ceiling he had been so intently staring at to look down at her sadly.
"I don't know." He sighed with genuine regret and sorrow as he shifted on the couch to bring Anko closer to him; right now he appreciated the comfort. "Just keep living I guess." It sounded optimistic but his voice carried deep undertones of depression. Anko looked up, swearing she saw something in Naruto break at that moment, being replaced by something much darker and colder; it nearly made her shudder.
"Yeah." Both their gazes drifted over to a small standing picture frame on a nearby cabinet. The three smiling faces of a much younger Naruto Itachi and Shisui as well as the more neutral face of their sensei above them shone back. Things had changed so much since those more innocent days; Naruto just wasn't sure how much more he could take.
It was a quiet night and Naruto appreciated that, he liked that all he could hear was the wind rushing past his masked face and the occasional chirp of cicadas. Ever since Shisui died a week ago his life had been one big blur of sympathisers and pity, he hated it. If anything the mission he had suddenly been pulled away on was a blessing, although he didn't enjoy being away from Anko when she was so fragile. The girl had never really had people she could care for or who cared for her before meeting Naruto and one of the most precious to her, her sensei, had betrayed her horribly. To see another of those people leave her so suddenly had taken its toll.
In the same way Itachi had become very withdrawn of late, never leaving the Uchiha compound except to train or for missions. In fact Naruto hadn't spoken with him since that night; it was one of the reasons he was now gently roof hopping through the still night air in the direction of the Uchiha compound. He had gotten back from his mission early and decided to go see his friend. They needed to talk and he had been putting it off for too long now, the Mission was only an excuse.
He ducked down into the streets, frowning when he saw the gate to the Uchiha compound at the end of the walk way, it definitely was not supposed to be open like that. Hurrying forward he openly gasped as he saw what lay within. Blood was randomly spattered on the walls, kunai and shuriken littering the streets. Even with all his experience in ANBU he was forced to support himself on a nearby wall, even the civilians hadn't been spared.
"Itachi!" Realising his friend might be in danger he took off in the direction of the clan-head's house; he would find out what happened here when he knew his friend was safe. Rushing through the blood-drenched streets he constantly had to fight off the urge to gag, the smell was sickening and the sights around him more so. He finally steeled himself as he vaulted the small wall around his friend's house, crashing through the door only to see something he never thought he would see.
"I-Itachi?" His friend stood there, turning at the familiar and unwelcome voice, the fresh blood of his father still dripping slowly down the gleaming blade of his Tanto.
"Naruto!" Itachi seemed genuinely shocked by his friend's arrival, his hand trembling where it gripped the blade.
"I-Itachi? What's going on?" The Uchiha never got to answer as a high-pitched gasp was heard behind them. All three members of the room span to see the trembling and wide-eyed form of one Sasuke Uchiha, his eyes locked on the unmoving form of his late father, before they drifted up to Itachi's emotionless face.
"N-Nii-san?" Again Itachi was cut off as a panicked and desperate voice cried out, piercing the silent house.
"No! Run Sasuke! Please just run!" It was Mikoto who cried out, she had been about to receive the killing blow from her son when Naruto crashed through the door. Sasuke's breaths came in small, startled gasps and his legs quaked uncontrollably, unable to move. Suddenly a switch flicked in his mind as he suddenly turned around, running out the door and back into the death-ridden streets. Naruto was still so shocked by all this he almost missed the black blur of Itachi's form racing past him in pursuit of his brother.
Pulled out of his indecisiveness he spared one glance at Mikoto to make sure she was okay before pelting after the two brothers. He caught up just as Sasuke dropped to the ground in the street, his pupils dilated and his body trembling in fear and pain. Bright red eyes with single tomoe circling the pupil could be seen before his eyes closed and he fell into fitful unconsciousness. Ignoring the boy for now Naruto focused on Itachi who calmly turned to look at him, their eyes meeting.
"Naruto." The redhead just didn't know what to say; what do you say in a situation like this?
"No." His voice was a hoarse whisper and his legs threatened to give out from under him. "Please no." Itachi gave no sign he had heard the softly spoke pleas. "I can't lose you too." At that Itachi finally gave some sign that he had heard, taking a small step forward toward his friend.
"Naruto-"
"WHY?!" He was cut off harshly as Naruto also took a step forward, tears of rage and betrayal falling unseen behind his mask. "After everything! After Shisui! What is this?!" Naruto had no idea what kind of strain this put of Itachi, even now his forced emotionless facade was cracking, shattering under his friend's betrayal-filled words.
"I did what I had to, this was the only way." His voice was small, quiet and unsure, like he didn't truly believe them himself. In his rage and anger though Naruto took no notice, only clenching his fists until his knuckles turned an unnatural white.
"You... You..." He trembled in confusion and rage, unable to convey what he wanted to, not even sure what he wanted to say in the first place.
"Naruto, I-" Itachi never got the chance to finish his sentence as Naruto's head suddenly snapped up, his gaze murderous. This was only accentuated by the blood red eyes peering at him from behind equally red hair. Naruto was always good at controlling his emotions, especially anger and rage but at that moment every defence he had was down, there was nothing between him and the burning force of energy sealed within him.
"YOU BASTARD!" Itachi grunted in incredible pain as he looked down, his Sharingan eyes peering down at the fist forcefully punching his stomach. Naruto had simply been in one place one moment and standing in front of him the next. He didn't even get a chance to dwell on this before another lightning-fast punch was careening for his exposed face. Not one to be taken by surprise twice Itachi leant back past the blow, letting it swing over his head before moving to the side as Naruto viciously brought it down.
It was obvious that Naruto wasn't in a sound state of mind at that moment and as Itachi dodged backwards to escape another volley of blows he could only stare at his friend sadly. He had planned on Naruto being out of the village tonight, he couldn't have known Naruto would finish his mission early. He didn't want to fight his friend, not like this, not when Naruto wasn't even thinking clearly. He began to weave an intricate Jutsu he hoped would give him enough time to get away but Naruto's eye merely twitched in response before his face split into a vicious grin.
"I won't be fooled by your silly mind-games you traitorous Uchiha!" Even though he knew the words were not Naruto's own Itachi couldn't help but feel the knife-like pain at his exclamation.
"Naruto, this is not you but the Fox!" His only response was a snarl as the redhead dropped down onto all fours, using the extra traction from his hands to launch himself forward with even greater speed. This time Itachi had no chance to avoid the vicious rain of blows falling down across his body; his body armour took the majority of the damage but he would still have painful bruises to show for it.
Itachi tried to Shunshin to get away but Naruto was easily able to catch up to him, batting the normally stoic Uchiha out of the sky with an almost clawed hand. There were no visible signs of the Fox's influence save for his eyes but Itachi knew that as his anger grew then he would begin to draw upon more of the tainted Chakra. Using what little manoeuvrability he had in the air Itachi swung round, catching Naruto's arm with a free hand before pulling their bodies closer together so their eyes were level.
"Tsukuyomi." Instantly the colours in the world seemed to invert, a red sky taking the place of the darkness and the moon turning a foreboding black. Instead of the air Naruto found himself on solid ground again, in a place he did not recognise. A field of black ground spread out in every direction seemingly infinitely as equally dark clouds passed overhead. He blinked, the world suddenly having more clarity now he was out of the influence of the malevolent chakra.
"Naruto." He span on the spot, looking his friend in the face with cautious but still angry eyes, noting that he also had this strange colour inversion.
"Itachi, what's going on, what is this place?" Itachi sighed solemnly before he began to walk around Naruto, his hands placed behind his back in what he hoped was a non-threatening gesture. Even if Naruto had wanted to attack he couldn't, it was like there was something holding his feet firmly on the ground.
"This is my Tsukuyomi, one of my Mangekyo techniques." Naruto blinked at that but said nothing, letting Itachi continue with his explanation. "It is the ultimate Genjutsu of the Sharingan, here I am master of this world, even time is dilated, hours in here are mere seconds in reality." Naruto narrowed his eyes, subtly trying to move his feet only to find his legs once again unresponsive.
"Why did you bring me here? To kill me like you did your clan?" He may not have been able to move his legs but his hands were perfectly free to ball up into tight fists. "And how dare you wear that ANBU uniform to do it." Itachi found himself fighting a losing battle with emotions, how desperately he wanted to explain, to justify his actions to his one and only true friend left in the world. To know the life that awaited him when he left the village, one of loneliness, he was frightened about extinguishing this last tenuous connection he had.
"Naruto, there is so much I wish I could explain, instead I merely ask you to look after Sasuke." He began to walk away from his redheaded friend, his form slowly becoming fainter and fainter as he walked. "And Naruto..." he paused momentarily, almost looking back to where his friend stood rooted to the ground, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it "...Thank you, for everything." And like that he was gone; Naruto was left alone in this dark, bleak world of dismal colours.
Itachi looked down at the unconscious body of his last friend, unsure if he was even worthy of calling the redhead that after everything he had put him through. While he had done nothing to the Namikaze in the Tsukuyomi, almost fifty hours of information suddenly reaching the brain in a span of a few seconds was enough to knock anybody out. He sighed wearily, looking out over the place he had called his home his entire life, a single solitary tear leaking down his face before he steeled himself. If anybody had looked up that night they would have seen a large flock of crows racing through the sky out of the village.
Sasuke stared at the picture in his hands; it was an old one, taken when he was five. He was in the foreground, smiling happily as he was held in his mother's warm and strong embrace from behind. To her right his father stood more solemnly, his regal air that he always held even radiating from his static visage. To Sasuke's left Itachi stood, almost a mirror of his father in his calm and proper demeanour, however his features held none of the same arrogance. It was taken the day Itachi became an ANBU, a day Sasuke remembered well because his brother had offered to train him in Shuriken-jutsu for the very first time.
Sasuke only realised he was crying when a single tear dropped onto the picture before rolling lazily down the glass leaving a small streak in its wake. He sniffed them back before more could join it, carefully rubbing his eyes; they had been itching strangely ever since that night. Sasuke suddenly shook his head to rid himself of the horrible images that swarmed his thoughts after that. However nothing he did could erase those memories, seeing the people he knew and had walked past every day lying in pools of their own blood would be etched into his memory forever.
"Why Nii-san?" He was forcefully pulled out of his memories and plight as a gentle knock reverberated on his door before an equally gentle voice accompanied it.
"Sasuke-kun, you should get some sleep." The young Uchiha sighed, his mother sounded so tired, he knew she was just as hurt and confused as he was.
"Alright Kaa-san." His voice was a strained whisper but it seemed to satisfy his concerned mother as he heard her footsteps slowly retreat from his room. With a weary sigh he replaced the picture frame on a dresser before moving over to the window to close the blinds. However before he did a light caught his eye from somewhere in the compound; Sasuke knew there shouldn't be any lights on anywhere in the Uchiha district.
Worried that they might have intruders Sasuke opened up the window quietly before dropping out. He rushed through the streets as fast as his small legs would carry him, having to glance away at places he vividly remembered dead bodies of fellow Uchiha lying. The blood stains had been cleaned away quickly after the so called 'incident' but Sasuke could remember them all like they were burned into his memory.
Rounding the corner where he saw the light Sasuke was surprised to find it was the house of one of his brother's old friends, Shisui would sometimes come over to their house for dinner. Cautiously and nervously he crept further in, walking around the house to the back yard where the light was casting eerie shadows. Finally he entered the garden only to see a single person standing in the middle of the garden, staring at a makeshift ring that looked like it was design to hold spars in. Sasuke couldn't tell because of the mask the man wore but he could have sworn his whole body showed sadness and melancholy.
"W-Who are you? What are you doing here?" The man looked around quickly, his masked face settling on Sasuke's before he suddenly vanished in nothing more than a blur of red. Sasuke blinked in surprise, wondering if was all in his head; the man had vanished so suddenly it was like he was a ghost. With more questions than answers Sasuke began the trip back to his own house, a small yawn escaping his lips and his brow furrowed into a confused expression.