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Winter Release	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1260 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Thanks to all the reviewers!

Note: the time jump
is around two years. We are back to winter time �kinda� because� well.
Otherwise my title would be useless. So, before Naruto�s
birthday.

NOTE2: this fic is now
BETA read. So, greet Silence of Nightmares! She�s really nice, so, :)

Cepheus: so, the title
gives up the whole chapter ne? Yeah, yeah, I promised some action and there it
is. I was tempted to bring it on at least for another chapter, but it seems the
fic itself is asking me to hurry up to the good parts.

This means
that whilst I wanted to put all this in at least three chapters, now it�s all
in two.

��

Next update: 15�04�2006

Rating: M

Summary: Clich� Plot: Naruto�s friends find out
about Kyuubi but don�t reject him for this. Akatsuki captures him whilst he�s
training with Jiraiya, but the Fox can�t be removed from his body; and before
rescuers come, Naruto finds himself in an interesting situation with a certain
Uchiha genius� (ItaNaru, ShinoKiba, NejiShika)

Warnings: yaoi,
boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well.
Flames will be used to warm up food.

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto
does.

�Talking�
�Thinking�
�Flashbacks, memories, dreams�

��

Winter Release

Chapter 09: Captured

Dark.

So dark he could barely recognize
the difference from his previous unconscious state and now, when blue eyes
opened warily, for a moment he thought he�d died� and that now he was caught in
a cold, shadow�filled underworld.

If he were to raise one hand in
front of his eyes, he would surely be unable to distinguish its shape in the
darkness. However, there would never be a chance to, since he felt too weak and
tired to even raise a brow, let alone lift his arm.

He blinked again, feeling an
agonizing twinge jolt through his body from his chest up to his brain, blinding
him with pain �not that he could see either, but still�

His breath was coming out in
difficult and ragged pants, his lungs working hard to force air inside him
almost against his body�s accord, but at least he was conscious now.

What he was aware of a split second
later was that he was laying on something cold and stony. He was uncomfortably
sore and weak to the point that he might prefer to slip into unconsciousness again
instead of facing the situation he was in.

His brain was still switched off,
and it took him a while to start making it function again �and once he did, he
wished he hadn�t.

Dread washed over him as he realized
his current condition; there was a deep stench of blood all over him �part of
him recognized the smell as his own blood� and he could feel a searing, burning
pain with each breath he took. This meant that the worst wound was on his
chest, but was not bad enough to signify his imminent death.

He felt like he�d been used as a
punching bag for the last ten days, and maybe this had
been the case, since his last clear memory was of himself receiving the fucking
slash on his chest.

That was it, he thought. After all
his efforts �after all his hard work�

He�d failed.

Biting his lip, he tried to pinpoint
where exactly he was, but the complete darkness dulled not only his sight, but
also his other senses. After all, he had enhanced abilities, but he wasn�t a
bat. He heard something that, to him, sounded like an echo, so he deduced he
had to be in some kind of giant space, any faint noise being amplified ten
times resounding in the place around him and even in his bones.

He tried flaring some of his chakra
out, but a sharp pain prevented him from even trying �it was then that he felt
something crinkle against his wrists, and even his ankles� wards.

Wards
preventing him from using his chakra.

Even though he couldn�t use it, he
could still feel chakra signatures flare around him. Some where powerful, some
where dulled out but still potentially dangerous. All where burning softly, and
leaking out in a spiral pattern from his body, waiting to be used. He froze as
he counted them.

There were nine.

Nine.

So, that was really it.

He�d wished he was just caught in a
dream �maybe even in a Genjutsu� but it wasn�t so.
This was crude reality.

Akatsuki had captured him.

�Start Flashback�

�Come on Ero�Sannin! Stop playing
dumb with me! I�ve gotten stronger, ne, datte bayo?�

Jiraiya massaged his forehead with
his right hand slowly and carefully before sighing in defeat. Naruto�s manners
hadn�t changed during the years.

Well, that wasn�t the complete
truth. After all, as the white haired shinobi had to admit, Naruto had somewhat
matured, and became slightly quieter and more thoughtful �but there were times
when the blond would just do something that reminded his pervert sensei that
indeed, Naruto was still Naruto.

Like now.

They had been sparring for the whole
morning, without even taking a breath �something that would have been
impossible two years before, at the start of their journey� and it was then
that Jiraiya had finally received a direct blow from his apprentice. A blow that he had neither foreseen nor blocked.

This shocked not only himself, but
Naruto as well, who�d started bouncing around, proud of himself. Jiraiya could
have even gone so far as to comment on how good the blond had turned out to be,
despite the rather shitty start, back in the days when they had met for the
first time, but he simply didn�t.

It might have been his own pride
that kept him from complimenting the blond at all, having never dealt with
complimenting someone before (apart that
one person he didn�t want to think about), especially in reference to
Naruto� but all he managed to mutter out was a gruff, �You could have been even
better by now, you brat,� that put Naruto in a foul sort of mood.

Jiraiya sighed before ruffling
Naruto�s hair rather affectionately, watching as blue eyes (at first tinged
with disappointment) caught the undertone of his act and turned bright once
again.

�I am proud of you, Naruto�.

�Come on sensei, let�s go eat some
ramen to celebrate!� the blond took off, sprinting in the random direction
where he thought the nearest city was �which was always right because his
senses allowed him to pinpoint where people lived.

The white haired pervert sighed in
defeat before trying to follow him at a much calmer pace. Naruto was fast, that he had to admit. It was his blood maybe, or his heritage� or maybe it was just Kyuubi, and his
own influence on his body, but the blond had a speed that could rival with
Yondaime�s own.

Even Jiraiya had problems following
him when the blond put some effort in running away.

�All in all,� the man thought as he tried to keep up with the blond blur, �I have to admit he has come far� he�s
determined and eager, and I was wrong in thinking he�s slow. He simply never
had anyone to properly take care of him, and make sure he was training in the
right way. Now that someone is paying complete attention to him, he�s really taking
giant steps forward. A genius in his own, special way,� he added warmly.

So they reached a village; it was
not as big as others were, but it wasn�t small either. It had a few hotels, and
even some place where people like Jiraiya could find amusement �one of those
places he�d tried to take Naruto on his fifteenth birthday, which had ended up
with the blond throwing a disgusted fit.

Jiraiya searched for the obvious
chakra signature of his apprentice, only to find him sitting in front of a
ramen stand, already waiting for his bowl.

Jiraiya groaned. He�d wished there
would not be a ramen stand; every time they came upon one, he had to pay
unhealthy prices for Naruto�s meals.

�Your treat
Ero�Sannin!� Naruto
was already snapping apart the sticks, and, after a quick �Itadakimasu!�, he started slurping his food. Jiraiya quickly averted his
eyes, knowing that staring at the blond whilst eating was the best way to loose
one�s appetite.

As the blond ate, Jiraiya mildly
wondered how their home village was fairing up to now. It had been something
like two years since they left to train, and he�d sent a message through one of
his toads once in a while to let Tsunade know how they were �or, more
specifically, how Naruto was.

Tsunade could be really motherly
when she wanted to.

All in all, this kind of freedom
helped Naruto a lot. And Jiraiya himself felt refreshed now that he could
travel with someone else instead of by himself, like in the past.

After five entire bowls of ramen,
Naruto was forced to stop due to the increasing number of glares he received
from his sensei. Sighing gloomily, he followed the Pervert Sannin out of the
stand.

�Are we going to move south now?� he
asked, staring at the clouds that were quickly covering the sky. �It seems like
it might rain, and I don�t want to end up like a drowned cat�.

Jiraiya smirked knowingly, �We will
move south, but don�t worry. The city we are heading for is not too far away,
and you will get to a warm bed before sunset�.

Naruto shrugged and followed him out
of the village. The air was heavy, and Naruto could sense the dampness hanging
around him, as well as the smell of the incoming rain. A shudder passed through
his back, not caused by the cold �in fact, it wasn�t winter yet� but by
something else that he could feel lingering around him as well.

Shrugging it off (since he ended up
moody during rainy periods), the blond leapt behind Jiraiya, heading towards
the mountains.

��

As of now, they were in the Tsuchi
no Kuni, not far from the Hidden City of Iwa, and had been there for the last
two months; the Earth Country was really wonderful, and the various cities they
passed during their travelling were astonishing in their beauty and majesty.

The sight that greeted them as they
proceeded from the little village southwards was just as beautiful as people
described it to be in the Earth Country �despite the common belief that it was
an arid place made of all rocks and mountains. There were plants that were
foreign to the Fire Country, and, whilst around Konoha the landscape was almost
plain, here there were hills, and often the woods disappeared to show huge
fields of compact grass.

As for Iwagakure, the hidden village
where the Tsuchikage lived, Jiraiya was sure it would be a stunning sight for
someone like Naruto, who wasn�t used to such big places.

But both of their expectations where
shattered in an instant the moment they reached the mountains, three hours
later.

The first to feel the incoming
danger was Jiraiya, since he was the trained and experienced one, and he
realized that the person who was approaching them was not a simple shinobi.

There were two chakra signatures,
both mildly concealed, but not nearly enough to hide their presence completely.
It was as if they didn�t want �or need� to hide their chakra; more so, they
were coming in the opposite direction the wind was blowing from, so not even
Naruto could have spotted them earlier.

Jiraiya instantly knew who they
were.

�Naruto,� he called clearly.

The blond stopped, and Jiraiya saw
him tense as he noticed the chakra.

�It�s�� he couldn�t even say it
aloud, but the white haired man simply nodded when blue orbs fixed on him.

He saw something flicker in Naruto�s
eyes, probably fear, and he had good reason to be afraid, since they hadn�t
been expecting that they would be found this early. It was far too early, and
Jiraiya feared they would not get out without fighting.

�Akatsuki��

And there they came.

Naruto scanned the place he and his
sensei were, noticing it was a meadow large enough to fight without getting
hindered by too many trees or rocks. It was also close enough to a deep part of
the forest and the mountains to easily escape if they needed to.

He wasn�t stupid enough not to know
that he couldn�t possibly equally fight one of the Akatsuki members �especially
if this ended up being Itachi� and at the present moment, the idea of running
away was appealing.

But he simply couldn�t.

Ocean eyes moved through the meadow
slowly, concentrating on the chakra. He didn�t want to be attacked without
knowing it.

Then, the flares of chakra
disappeared suddenly.

He blinked.

Before him, two figures appeared out
of thin air.

Naruto stiffened and, without
thinking, he stepped back, eyes narrowed as he observed who he was facing; as
expected, one of the figures was Uchiha Itachi �his personal hunter, Naruto
mused.

The other was the one that
accompanied Itachi as his partner, the shark�looking man, Kisame, Naruto
recalled.

But his eyes were fixed on Itachi,
mainly.

During the two years of training he
went through, not once had Naruto let his attention be taken away from his
goal, which was becoming strong. But still, even if this was linked to saving
Sasuke from the snake bastard, Naruto had found himself thinking about the
older Uchiha just as much as he did the younger brother.

That could have been caused by the
lingering sense of dread that was in the Uchiha compound, something that had
haunted Naruto for quite a long time since he had stepped into it in search of
answers about that family.

Or maybe, Naruto still wanted to
know why Itachi had slaughtered the entire clan.

Why he was still thinking about what
could have been the cause of it� and of the hatred he knew Itachi harboured
towards his family� he didn�t know.

But, now that the older Uchiha was
standing in front of him, all of this was forgotten.

Because Naruto
was astonished.

It looked like Itachi hadn�t changed
in two years. He was still tall, his long, silky hair, as black as death,
swaying with a soft breeze. His frame was still hidden behind the Akatsuki
outfit, red clouds standing clearly against the dark material.

But what attracted Naruto were
Itachi�s eyes. Crimson like blood, Sharingan activated and fixed on him, they
were almost as captivating as they had been during their last encounter, at the
borders of Konohagakure.

And they were just as cold and
emotionless.

He didn�t know why he found them
interesting �if interest was the word he was searching for, anyway� but there
was something about them that he couldn�t understand.

Something twitched inside Naruto at
this sight. His mind went back to the photo in Sasuke�s house, the one where
all the family was reunited, the one in which� they were all smiling. Before it happened.
Before their lives shattered into a million pieces.

What would this emotionless face be
like with a smile?

Would it still be unreadable? Would
it be a false smile?

Or�

Shaking his head, Naruto quickly
looked away; he knew he shouldn�t have locked gazes with Itachi, because of
what had happened the last time he did.

The pain�

�Monster!�

He bit his lip drawing blood, and
his mind cleared once more. This wasn�t the time to dwell on such thoughts.

�Naruto! Don�t go for it in a rush, this is
not something to take carelessly�.

He turned, seeing Jiraiya at his
side, and he smiled up at the man, �I�ll do what I can,� he reassured his
sensei.

Jiraiya nodded, �If things get bad,
just run up to the mountain� Iwagakure is a few miles from the pass. There you
will be protected, and, with your speed, you can make it.�

Naruto nodded, and returned his
stare towards the two figures. What was he supposed to do until then?

He had no time to ponder over it,
because Kisame attacked.

Drawing his sword from his back, the
shark�face set his sights on Naruto, but was blocked by Jiraiya, who evaded the
blow and, being careful not to step near the blade, kicked the man straight in
the chest, sending him flying far away.

Jiraiya followed him, and soon
enough the two were exchanging blows and chakra attacks.

That� well, that left Naruto to face
Itachi, which was not good for the blond.

After his visit to the Uchiha
compound, Naruto was fairly sure about how ruthless Itachi could be. Not to
mention that the fact that Itachi possessed a hatred so
strong as to block away even rage scared him.

Itachi was cold.

Not as in emotionless.

But he focused straightforward onto
a single emotion that suppressed every other, to the point that, when that
emotion was satisfied, there was nothing left.

And that scared Naruto.

Because that meant he would do anything, and he would not stop.

Not even if that meant killing and
slaughtering again.

Naruto stared down at his hands in
shock, seeing that they were trembling, and he fisted them so tightly the nails
cut his skin, drawing blood.

Maybe back then Itachi didn�t scare
him as much� maybe he had thought that, by knowing his enemy, he wouldn�t have
been as scared as before.

But it wasn�t true.

Realizing the depth of Itachi�s
hatred only caused Naruto to feel even more afraid of the man.

As soon as a part of him admitted
that, another thing flashed in his mind; something even more deeply buried in
his memory, something that happened so long ago that he had already forgotten
it, but that, at the moment, returned full force.

He remembered someone saying he would never let himself freeze in fear again,
because he was a shinobi.

And that had been him during his very first C�ranked
mission.

In the Wave
Country, with Sasuke, Kakashi�sensei, and Sakura.

He was afraid� but he couldn�t let
the fear control him, or he would end up just like Sasuke had.

Naruto stood in a waiting stance,
his shoulders tense, preparing for the incoming attack; it was hard for him not
to look his opponent in the eyes, but he could try following him by his smell.

�We see each other again,
Naruto�kun,� Itachi�s voice was just the same: low, silky, and deep. Naruto
felt a shudder pass through his back. The voice alone spoke of danger.

He gritted his teeth, but the raven
haired shinobi in front of him didn�t look like he would attack anytime soon.

He could see Itachi raise his right
hand and point at him, and, for the first time, Naruto noticed that he was
wearing some sort of ring on his finger. It looked like the kind of ring that
members of some clan wore, and it had a kanji on it, but he couldn�t see which
one it was.

�We�ll kindly ask you to come with
us now, Naruto�kun,� Itachi continued; the blond couldn�t even look at his
face, but he was pretty sure his expression was just as unreadable as ever.

�Fuck off,� Naruto replied, gritting
his teeth.

He felt something prickle at the
base of his neck, but he quickly forgot it as he charged towards Itachi, at the
same time forming a Rasengan in his right hand. After months of training, he
had finally mastered the attack, and he was going to put all that training to
use now against someone this dangerous.

Itachi didn�t move, and as Naruto
hit him in the stomach, feeling a concrete body under his hand, he mildly
wondered why Itachi hadn�t moved away.

He knew why a second later, when, as
he blinked, Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing it had been a
Kage Bunshin, and not the real one. Naruto turned away from the spot Itachi had
been until a moment ago, and saw another one.

He didn�t stop to wonder if this was
the real one, and, spinning in midair with a grace that years
before would never have been possible, he punched the figure of Itachi in the
face.

Again it felt tangible under his
hand, and again it disappeared a second later, revealing that it had been a
Kage Bunshin as well.

Falling on all fours, Naruto looked
around, trying to detect where the real one was. Jiraiya once told him that,
for how useful and strong Kage Bunshin was, it had a major weakness: every clone
was not as strong as the original and, once hit, it would disappear. Using it
was a waste of chakra against really strong opponents, because the real shinobi
would still be recognizable among the copies.

So for once he tried to trace down
the chakra.

Something else bugged him instead.

Taking a split moment to analyze his
surroundings, Naruto used all his enhanced senses to check around him. It was
all too�

Quiet.

He blinked.

Where was Ero�Sannin?

The thought hit him, and he realized
what was wrong, and why he�d felt uneasy.

The silence.

He was alone in the meadow now.

The silence around him made Naruto
remember the one in the Uchiha compound.

It was deadly silent�

He spun around once, ready and
tense, waiting for the attack, and again, in the blink of an eye, he was
surrounded.

There were four Itachis around him,
the Sharingan wheels swirling madly, frames
motionless, all staring at him.

Analyzing.

Watching.

�I won�t let him win� not this time,� Naruto thought fiercely.

His hands dug into the pocket he had
on his leg, and emerged from it with three kunai, and, as fast as he could, he
threw them towards the three Itachis that were at his sides and in front of
him. The three kunai flew in the air and hit their target in the chest, right above
the heart, and as one, all three disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Not even waiting to see that, Naruto
turned quickly, and, picking his fourth kunai from his back pocket, he faced
the last Itachi. He darted forward, using the same chakra to fly over his
opponent, piercing the last Itachi at the base of the neck, meeting in a
fleeting moment the crimson widened eyes.

Itachi was pushed away, not even
resisting, but, as the body flew through air, Naruto saw it flicker. He
blinked, and what he saw then caused him to step backwards.

The figure of Itachi was blurred
now, and its black cloak was now moving� as if�

Itachi disappeared, and many ravens
flew high into the sky under the bewildered eyes of Naruto, who stared as they
flapped their wings, and moved around and above him.

In the complete silence, their
cawing was almost overwhelming, and unbearable, as was their flapping.

It echoed around him, even in him.

Naruto�s fist tightened at his
sides, his eyes never leaving the dark animals, waiting to see if they would
assail him.

His shoulders were tense, his breath
accelerated; all his body concentrated on preventing an attack, eyes widened,
focusing on each and every one of the ravens. The ravens didn�t attack;
instead, after a long circle above the meadow, they reunited above his head,
some forming Itachi�s body once again, some flying around him.

Against the grey clouds of the
incoming rain, the black of the ravens was clear and plain, like a million dots
on a greyish page.

�Kuso!� Naruto cursed inwardly.

He recognized what had happened now.
He�d been stupid.

�This� this is a Genjutsu,� he
murmured. �How� without even looking him in the eyes�� He gritted his teeth
again, this time in frustration. How could this have happened?!

The floating Itachi, surrounded by
the cawing ravens, stared down at the uneasy blond, crimson meeting blue. A
second later, though the birds were still flying around, they stopped cawing
and fell silent.

Naruto blinked again.

�My eyes are not the only thing I
can use to cast a Genjutsu, Naruto�kun,� it was almost as if he felt some kind
of twisted pleasure in calling him with such an endearing suffix, even though
his face remained blank.

Naruto�s mind filled with anger and
confusion about his statement, but, with the next line, his question was
answered.

�A finger is more than enough at
times,� Itachi added.

Something flickered in the crimson
orbs, and Naruto�s widened eyes instantly looked away. A fleeting, mild
amusement flickered through the black haired man, unseen by the teen, as he
said, with an emotionless tone that angered Naruto even more, �Don�t worry� I
won�t use the Mangekyou Sharingan against you� again��

Naruto stiffened, remembering the
last time such an occurrence had happened. Could he trust that? But, at the
same time, he couldn�t help but ask himself why.

�No, he�s surely lying!� he scolded himself. �I have to
think of a way to break through the Genjutsu!�

�Alright, now drop off to sleep for
me,� Itachi said, his hands lifting to form a seal.

Again in Naruto�s mind flashed
something Jiraiya told him when they were passing through Mist Country.

�When you find yourself caught in a Genjutsu, the only thing you can do
by yourself is to stop and disrupt the flow of chakra in your body�.

He remembered that he�d added
something more, but Naruto hadn�t been really interested, since he didn�t want
to know that; he�d only wanted to know how to cast a Genjutsu. He cursed
himself, and wished hard that he had paid more attention.

Clapping his hands in front of his
face, Naruto gritted his teeth, and concentrated all his flowing chakra, trying
to drop out of the illusion he was caught inside of.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of
chakra around him, and he tried to force even more against the barriers
trapping him, yelling loudly.

Crimson calculating eyes stared at
the display.

�He�s grown,� a brief comment passed through Itachi�s mind, but there was neither
interest nor surprise in his eyes as he added, this time in a low whisper, so
low Naruto couldn�t hear, �But still� not enough�.

Suddenly, Naruto found himself
trapped between vines that sprouted from the ground, pinning his arms high
above his head, curling around his legs, neck, and torso, their thorns piercing
his clothes and his skin, drawing blood.

Naruto stifled a pained yell, and
tried to focus on disrupting the chakra flow, but was attacked by the ravens, who turned into shuriken as they flew at top speed towards
him, slicing his body.

Naruto bit another yell, and closed
his eyes, concentrating�

�Naruto�.

His eyes opened again to stare at
Jiraiya, who was standing in front of him with one of his smiles. Naruto felt
his heart skip a beat, hoping Jiraiya had helped him to come out of the
Genjutsu, and calmed slightly, seeing the smile.

His relief was short-lived. Naruto
blinked, and Jiraiya lifted his right hand, showing the teen a kunai. The blond
was expecting him to cut the vines away and free him, but instead, Jiraiya dug
the blade in his shoulder, the smile never faltering as he did so.

This time Naruto yelled, knowing he
was still caught in the Genjutsu. But now, his mind was reeling, and he
couldn�t concentrate anymore, his breath erratic, feeling not the pain of the
wound, but the one inside him.

He blinked.

Jiraiya was gone.

He blinked again.

And before his
eyes stood Sasuke.

He was in the cursed seal form, the
patterns of Orochimaru�s curse all over his body, huge, inhuman wing�looking
things on his back, black empty eyes fixed on him, smirking.

�I�ve waited so long to finish what
I started,� Sasuke purred, and, stepping closer to Naruto, he curled his
fingers around the blond teen�s throat, tightening his hold. �By killing you I
will finally complete my revenge!�

�No!� Naruto chocked, shaking his
head. �No!�

�This is a Genjutsu, a Genjutsu, a Genjutsu!� he chanted over and over, his
breath now shallow. He was slowly suffocating because of the strong grip of
Sasuke, but he didn�t care.

This was not real.

Sasuke didn�t kill him. He knew
better. Naruto knew, he believed it, he still had a
chance to get Sasuke back! He would not be defeated�

Never.

�STOP!� he yelled with all the
remaining strength, and he focused all his chakra.

An explosion, a blinding light, and
then�

He blinked.

His senses were flooded again with
life. Noises. The trees shaking in
the wind, the noise of Jiraiya fighting against Kisame, his own breath, now
deep.

No wounds on his body.

No Sasuke choking him, strangling
him.

He shuddered as he saw Itachi still
unmoving in front of him, staring at him. It all had happened only in his mind.
In a second� that had felt like hours.

He gulped, and took a shuddering
breath, his hand slowly brushing against his throat where Sasuke had grabbed
him.

So real.

He stared with a hate- filled glare
at the Uchiha genius, bared teeth, and tense shoulders. He�d managed to break
through the Genjutsu by himself, and now the real fight would begin.

On his own, Jiraiya was fighting with Kisame on
equal ground, each of them landing a few blows before resuming their defensive
stances. It didn�t take long for Jiraiya to realize that his opponent was
trying to lure him further away from Naruto, so he tried to move back to the
meadow. Unfortunately, found himself almost trapped into a Mizu no Jutsu, and
had to keep on with his fight, hoping Naruto would know when to stop and run if
things were to get complicated.

��

He lunged forwards.

Itachi was just staring, eyes
revealing nothing of what he was thinking, just as mysterious as always, but
Naruto could swear there was a trace of something different from indifference
as Naruto approached him.

Forming a Rasengan with his right
hand, pulling into it a good amount of his chakra, Naruto attacked, preparing
himself for the fight. He thrust his hand forwards, but he met air as Itachi
moved away, his black cloak flapping at his side, and Naruto missed.

He continued to strike, never
stopping, not even for a second, because he knew he would have no chance if he
faltered during the attack; senses ready and perceptive, he kept on attacking,
but Itachi just�

� evaded.

Every attack failed.

Every punch and kick was evaded
skilfully, and Naruto found himself panting hard after only a few minutes, but
obviously he wasn�t going to stop. He had high stamina and a huge amount of
resistance, and he was not going to give up.

He continued attacking,
now allowing his body to act on its own instead of thinking about what he was
doing. In no time, he had increased his speed, and both he and Itachi were just
blurs as they kept on their fighting, moving so fast it looked like a dance
instead of a proper battle.

The blond teen was panting as after
the last blow, and Itachi moved out of his reach, leaving him a few seconds to
calm his erratic nerves and attack again.

This was pointless.

This was useless.

He could not win.

�You are stronger, Naruto�kun� but
not enough to win� nor to escape�.

The words barely registered in
Naruto�s mind.

And then, he found himself on the
receiving part of a sudden and unexpected assault.

What Naruto thought when he found
himself slamming against a tree at least three yards away from the meadow was
that he hadn�t even seen the blows.

He chocked as he landed, feeling a
sharp pain where his back had collided with the tree, and slumped on the
ground, standing up shakily again only to find himself attacked once more.

It looked like Itachi was tired of
playing�

This time, he did see two of the
blows before they hit him, but could do nothing to prevent them, and again, as
pain exploded inside his body, he found himself flying towards the meadow,
rolling for a few yards until he was face down on the grass, chocking on a
small amount of blood.

Panting hard, he stood up again, but
the moment he did so, he was flying against another tree. A thought passed
through his mind, and he felt like laughing �almost. �This is plainly ridiculous� he�s just sending me here and there like a
damn ball�.

This time, the blow had been so
strong he didn�t just hit the tree, but actually crashed through it, which was even more painful.

Feeling faint and dizzy, his body
refused to stand up again, so he just laid on the grass, panting and coughing
to let air fill his lungs again. Some of the wounds were already healing, but
he knew it was a lost cause.

Strangely, for the three seconds he
remained on the ground, Itachi did not attack. Looking up from his position, he
saw the Uchiha standing in front of him, calculating eyes fixed on him.

Anger flaring inside him again,
Naruto stood up once more, and once more Itachi attacked, sending him away; it
looked like he was waiting for him to stand before hitting him, because, as
Naruto tried to recover some strength whilst he was on the ground, Itachi
didn�t touch him.

�Is this only a fucking game
for him?!�

Naruto this time did not stand
again. He wanted to see what Itachi would do, and was rewarded when he felt the
presence of the raven haired shinobi near him.

Doing
absolutely nothing.

He was not attacking� just staring
down at him.

�Are you giving up, Naruto�kun?�
with the tone he�d used, Naruto would say Itachi didn�t care about the reply.

�Of course not!� he spat. �You damn
bastard!�

He dared to look up, and again, he
met Itachi�s crimson eyes. A fleeting thought hit him, and he wondered how his
eyes look without the Sharingan colour, but he shook his head and looked away
in haste.

Then, he rolled over, and was
standing again.

Itachi moved towards him, but now
Naruto had recovered and, with lightening speed, he moved to the left, evading
the punch.

�I evaded one of his attacks!� he cheered to himself, but had to
concentrate because Itachi attacked again.

�I have to run,� he realized, after having evaded other two attacks, when the third one
hit him on the shoulder, �I can�t resist
much longer��

Somehow this thought left him empty.

Maybe it was the ruthlessness coming
from Kyuubi inside him, or the fact that maybe �and just maybe� he�d been
hitting his head far too many times in the last few minutes to be thinking
straight anymore, but he was actually enjoying the adrenaline running through
his body whilst fighting against Itachi.

It was like one of his spars with
Sasuke� almost.

But he couldn�t follow this trail of
thoughts; it was too dangerous to continue.

So indeed, even knowing the battle
had changed after he had evaded the first attack, he turned his back and ran.

The woods were now a blur as he
darted through the forest and up the mountain path, falling and running on all
fours so he could double the speed. Around him, nothing was clear anymore,
everything mixing in a whirlpool of greens and browns.

He knew he couldn�t mask his own
chakra from Itachi, because the Uchiha was far too experienced to be fooled by
that, so he decided to add the chakra to his feet and, again, his speed
increased.

He could feel nothing but the wind
rushing in his ears and the excitement of running, though he wasn�t the chaser,
but the chased, but, at the moment, it almost didn�t matter.

Mildly, his thoughts went back to
Jiraiya�sensei, wondering if he would notice Naruto was not there, and would
stop the fight with Kisame to search for him, but then he thought that Jiraiya
would probably know that Naruto was heading towards Iwagakure, and would then
head there as well.

He was thinking that he�d at least
put some distance between himself and Itachi when he heard the noise of a
river. Soon enough he faced it �a large, rushing river that was flowing in
front of him, at least five yards wide, and on the other end of it he saw the
rock wall that was supposed to surround Iwa.

It looked like part of the mountain
itself, and Naruto knew that reaching it would mean reaching some Earth ANBU or
Jounin, and that would help him buy some time whilst reaching the city itself.

Naruto landed on all fours on the
ground inches from the raging water, and prepared to jump as high and far as he
could.

It was when he was high in the air,
around the middle of the river, that the blow reached him.

He felt a searing pain in his left
shoulder, and he was thrown against the rock wall, slamming against it
face-first.

With a strained cry he fell down,
and saw two figures lying in a pool of blood some feet from him.

In shock, he recognized the clothing
as the outfit of the Tsuchi ANBU.

And as he stood up for the last
time, he turned, feeling a strong chakra behind him. And he saw crimson eyes
staring at him, the black outfit blowing with the strong wind.

Itachi was already there.

Naruto backed away until his back
was against the wall, eyes widened in shock �I
thought I had at least��

A charcoal black sphere appeared in
Itachi�s right hand, the amount of chakra moving inside it shocking Naruto to
the point that he started trembling, and a second later, as black flames
enveloped the sphere, Naruto found it being slammed in his chest.

�End Flashback�

Remembering slowly how he�d gotten
in such a place made him want to laugh hysterically.

So this was it.

Akatsuki had him� and they would
kill him whilst taking Kyuubi out of him.

Naruto closed his eyes, his mind
strangely blank. Maybe it was the pain, or maybe it was the shock, the
knowledge that his life had taken a turn for the worst �and really, a turn for
death� but he felt absolutely nothing.

Yeah, he didn�t want to die, and of
course thinking that he would never be able to fulfil �or try to fulfil� his
dream, nor that he would ever keep his promise to Sakura� he would never get to
see Iruka�sensei, or Kakashi�sensei, or Tsunade obaa�chan, or Ero�Sannin
anymore was painful. As was the fact that he would never see his friends, the
ones that accepted what he was without rejecting him, and that he would never
see Sasuke again.

He knew that this was unfair� it had
been unfair since he was born.

He had wanted so badly to be
accepted.

He�d wanted so badly to be loved.

He�d wanted to become the Hokage, to
show people he could protect them, and that he was strong.

And now, all of this was ruined. Because someone wanted the demon that was inside him.

Not even him� it had never been him
in the first place, because he was not important. It was Kyuubi since the very
beginning, the one that had caused everything, but also had the power.

Naruto was sure that, without
Kyuubi�s chakra, he wouldn�t have been strong.

Normal, but
useless.
Desperation hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was going to die. In such a shameful way, too.

�I don�t want to die!� he screamed to himself, knowing it didn�t matter.

There was nothing he could do.

He was trapped, trapped and
surrounded by nine Akatsuki members, all just as strong as Tsunade or Jiraiya,
maybe even more, and he knew he couldn�t escape this time.

�I�m so sorry�,� but still, he fought the tears back. Even if the darkness was
concealing his face so no one would see him cry, he didn�t want to show this
weakness to anyone� because, even if he was to die, he didn�t want to show
weakness.

He wanted so badly to be strong.

Even if now it
didn�t matter anymore.

Then he felt the flares of chakra
stabilize around him, as if forming some sort of circle around his body, and he
felt them flare up suddenly as the ritual began.

Naruto didn�t want to know what it
was, or what it would do, but he knew he was coming to an end.

He would die, and no one would come
to save him�

No one.

He was alone, and he was scared.

A sudden light, flashing in the
darkness, so bright and clear that Naruto yelped hoarsely, forced him to close
his eyes in shock. He groaned at the pain it caused with the sudden moment.

He felt a rumbling underneath him,
as if the entire earth was trembling and crashing all around his motionless
body, and he felt the vibrations reverberate through it to him; even his heart
was beating at the same speed of the rumbling sound that now covered any other
sound, covered everything, covered even his own thoughts�

And that�s when the pain really began.

��

Cepheus: so this was the ninth chapter. I hope you
liked. Review, if you feel like it!

And yes, the idea for this fight came from chp 259. but as you saw, the rest is all mine. I loved that chp�
Itachi was damn sexy. And it just screamed YAOI all the time!

ENDING
NOTE: next chapter expect ANGST.
- 8
- 9
- 10
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Winter Release