Chapter 15 - Revelations

Chapter 15: Revelations
Naruto woke up feeling extremely sour. Almost instinctively, he placed his mental barriers. Before checking his surroundings, he examined himself. His chakra was back to full; he wasn't tired anymore, but using chakra he dected all wounds had healed... except one  the wound from the Manda still bothered him. Sensing around him, he found a rather strong chakra signature; of course, he had seen stronger, but this was strange... there was a strange calmness about him; yet, he was so evil  not in an evil like Sasuke, consumed, but he was calm, cool, and collected. But this evil was ten times stronger... Opening his eyes he found he was in a room with tens of thousands of scrolls. There was one bed, and he was resting on it. The room was huge  at least, he thought it was a room. He couldn't even see the other end. Getting up, he stretched his muscles. He was sore, yes, but hey, at least he was alive. Suddenly, he sensed two kunais thrown at him. Dodging them with ease, he turned around to see who in their right minds would do that.
Naruto activated his bloodline.
Uchiha Itachi
Threat level  12
Jutsus: Hellish Doom no jutsu; Sacred Resurrection no jutsu; Mengekyuou Sharingan
Yo, what's up, Itachi? he was still half asleep. Slowly, it sunk into his brain. Itachi... You're the one who caused Sasuke so much pain... You killed your own family! What kind of --
Shut up.
DAMN YOU! Naruto broke his mental bonds and rushed at him. Disappearing right in front of him, Naruto appeared behind him and punched, but Itachi was just a shadow clone. shoot! His jutsu casting is so damn fast! Suddenly, Naruto fell as he detected unbelievable pain. All energy was sucked out of him and he lay on the floor, gasping for air.
Get up.
Naruto struggled and stood up straight.
Are you wearing underwear?
Naruto slowly nodded.
Take off your pants.
Naruto hesitated, only to have another kunai thrown at him and the instruction repeated. There, on his right thigh was a curse seal  only, this one was a little different. Three curse seals were joined together in a triangle, and, in the middle, there was a head on a snake, only it was like a tattoo printed in red.
Do you know what that is?
No.
Orochimaru is the snake senin. He takes everything from snakes. In fact, the Manda is one of the most powerful demons. Thus, many of his jutsus, seals, and his power comes from snakes. In the history of the world, only two people have received what you have from the Manda... You, and Orochimaru... Orochimaru modeled his own seal after the Manda, in fact... The Curse Seal... Yes, the Manda gave you its own curse seal, much more powerful... and much more dangerous. The Manda controls all that have this seal... But since the Manda had died the day your group killed it... its power goes to the most trusted official of the Manda... And the only other person who received its seal... Orochimaru... So now, providing your close enough, Orochimaru will control you... And... Once your freedom is stripped away, you're entirely to him... Your body... Your will... And that wonderful bloodline limit of yours...
... So you know...
Up...
Naruto got up.
Do know why you can tell how strong people are?
Y-You know about that, too!
Do... You... Know? Itachi repeated, running out of patience.
No... I don't...
Tell me... Do you know what clan you belong to?
The Uzumaki clan.
Yes... And if you look on the summoning frog scroll, you'll see someone by the name of Uzumaki Arashi... And before that... Jaraiya... And, to my knowledge, Jaraiya only trained one other person...
... Yondaime... Naruto said coming to realization.
Itachi took out a scroll from the wall. Uzumaki Arashi... More formerly known as Yondaime, married one by the name of Sheenaauthor's note: again, I take no credit for the name. illegitimately.
W-Wait, what?
Sheena was a lower member of the Uzumaki clan; to be specific, a housemaid... A maid in the house of Arashi. Not only did Arashi fall in love with her  which, in itself was not allowed  he went on to marrying her in secret without the elders' consent, and... he had a child... An illegitimate child... Then, the kyuubi attacked the village... Many of the Uzumakis died in the battle, as their hokage was a member of their clan... But most died protecting a child... The child of Arashi. Arashi never told them it was his child; he simply said, 'protect it with your life  for it'll save the village.' He had committed a sin... He and his wife both... But their child had not; their child was innocent, simply a victim of their sins. And so, they rid themselves of the earth, sealing the nine tails demon fox in it to save the village. This way, they had hoped, their child would not be illegitimate... No, their child would be a hero... A hero who save the village. But as things turned out, that was not the case. Many lost their lives in the battle against the kyuubi, and many had to place blame. And so, they placed the blame on this child. Perhaps if the parents of the forsaken child had had a strong heart, they would have openly admitted it... Perhaps if they had had a strong heart, they would have told their views, and, as hokage, admitted to the village the sin of their past... Perhaps if they were strong, they would have carried their burden and loved what they did for themselves, and what they believed in... But not everyone's that strong, are they...
Naruto stared with tears in his eyes.
YOU'RE LYING! Naruto grabbed his kunai and jumped at him, but he was on the floor again within an instant.
Tell me, why would I waste my energy saving your sorry @$$, training you, and teaching you all of this just to lie to you. You're simply hiding your emotions... Because to you, and to the rest of Konoha, the hokage is flawless... You cower from the truth and use your excuse of hatred to justify it.
Naruto remained silent for a long while. No... Not everyone is that strong... And I think it's not a sin to be weak hearted... But it is a sin to not change once you've noticed your weakness... Simply letting your weakness grow... And sitting and watching grow... Until it consumes you... That's a sin...
Now you know where you come from. Do you know why you have the additional ability?
Naruto looked at him. Do you have any emotion? Do you care? I just learned something which changes the way I look upon myself drastically, and you just move on to what you have to do! You're... driven by only what you have to do.
In order of those questions: No, no, yes, and yes. Now, do you know?
No... I don't... Naruto said quietly.
The answer comes from the origin of your clan. The first question you should ask is, why is the clan so strict? Why with the love rules? Well, in the past, your clan was one of the most powerful ones. Wars used to be more common. Thus, clans used to be war clan, completely bent on war. Your clan was one of them. With the use of the bloodline limit, your clan was usually key. A war clan needs to be strict; they couldn't afford to risk generals falling in love, leaving duty, etc. Hence, the rules. These rules, obviously, carried on. But the special thing about your clan is that, once every five hundred years or so, one person from your clan gets the ability you have  to judge. This was often used in wars to decide if the army could win. And, thus, you have it. You're not the only one in you clan who had it, but you're one of the few.
I see. But people can hide their true strength.
Meaning you haven't awoken it fully. If you have, then it should tell you immediately the full capacity. Because it doesn't, it means you haven't been meditating enough.
So why did you save me?
I have my reasons.
So, what does all this mean? You showed me all of this...
The point being, I will be your teacher has next six months. By the time you're out of here, your bloodline will be complete. In eight months, there will be a war. I have to have your training done by then.
You have to have my training done by then?
Itachi broke all his bonds, activated his Mengekyuou sharingan, and flared his chakra. Uchiha Itachi Threat Level  19. Naruto's jaw dropped. Do you know any ninja who's better than I and who's willing?
Naruto kept quiet. Suddenly, he said, I need to make Sasuke's grave...
Itachi remained quiet for a long while. ... Fine...
They appeared in the very same valley where Sasuke was. The box remained undisturbed. Making a grave, Naruto buried his body there. After he placed the body there, he made a grave stone which sparkled like diamond. Using a jutsu, he burned the rock till it was glazed. Then, he carved the words on it:
A friend, a brother, and most of all,
A ninja
-Uchiha Sasuke
Naruto remained quiet for a while as he payed his respects to his dead friend.
Do you even care? he said turning to Sasuke.
Does it matter? It doesn't change the situation, does it... Me caring isn't gonna bring him back. Let's go, we have work to do...
Naruto looked at Itachi's emotionless face. You're heartless.
Let's go.
And they came back.
Right then. Itachi said coming back to normal First thing's first. You're going to learn every bloody jutsu in those monks' scrolls.
But how? I can't go back there with you.
I was the third person who learned the seventh course. That monk, you, and me. I used my sharingan to memorize the scrolls and recopy them. Taking out a scroll, Itachi showed the final scroll that Naruto hadn't finished. He was about half-way done. Your job is to do all these jutsus within two weeks' time. After all, you only have to do them once to master them. So, I suggest you get going.
I've got to get the hell out of here. Naruto wondered.
Oh, and, try to escape, and I will kill you. and he was gone.
Tsunade-sama! Shizune called.
What is it?
They're back! was all she said  that was all she needed to say.
Tsunade ran to the hospital. They were all in one room in separate beds.
Is everyone all right?
Everyone's in stable condition... Only...
But Tsunade was already already gone. Our of all of them, Kakashi was the only one still conscious.
Kakashi! How was the mission?
We failed... Orochimaru's still alive... Although all his followers are dead. He's powerless. he explained everything to her.
So you're saying he might have joined Akatsuki again.
Yeah.
It seems there's a division in Akatsuki. Kisame warned me of war... It seems the leader is hated. she said.
Hmmm... Oh, and, hokage-sama... One more thing.
Yeah?
Naruto's... dead... He was captured by Akatsuki... We were dead tired...
Tsunade stared at Kakashi with tears, and Kakashi, too, was crying a bit.
Wh-What? No... No  he... He can't... No... I...
Jaraiya came in, and he, too, had heard the news. He hasn't... No, Itachi was the third apprentice... And he would have sensed the kyuubi was gone... Then why would he  oh no... Kami-sama... He can't be training him for  meaning he would be in the Hokage's chamber, wouldn't he? And Tsunade... and no one else... can get in there... At least, now yet. Itachi himself could only get in there because of Naruto... Naruto will be safe then... As will Itachi... for now... Tsunade, Naruto is not dead.
Tsunade looked up, thanking God and almost blessing Jaraiya.
Kakashi looked up curiously.
Say, Itachi-san?
... What?
When do I get to see my friends? They'll be thinking I'm dead.
Not until your training is complete, and they won't. Your sensei will tell them.
What? How do you know?
... Because I, unlike you, have half a brain. And that was the end of that.
During the days, Naruto would keep training, and Itachi would look through the scrolls. Then, they would have a meal which Itachi somehow got, but he wouldn't say how. Naruto figured he probably stole or something. Then, they both would meditate, and Naruto would work on unlocking his bloodline limit to the full extent. Then, Itachi would make Naruto read the scrolls that Itachi had prepared. The scrolls would often be about the history of the hokages  much like Naruto's father's history. Other scrolls had advanced chakra conserving techniques, genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu  some he had studied before, but others were new. And so, every night he would plow through these scrolls. As it turned out, Naruto finished the jutsus in a week, and so they could move on.
... All right... From here on out, the nights are going to be pretty constant, but in the day time, we're going to spar. I want you to use everything you learned in the scrolls. You learn at a moderately fast pace, and this helps because you don't too much to learn  you need to practice it a lot to learn it. You're already about half way through the scrolls. Anyways, I want you to give it your all. I need to find your weaknesses.
Naruto activated his bloodline limit, and the fight began.
Naruto made a shadow clone which teleported behind Itachi, but Itachi had already teleported beside Naruto. As it turned out, Itachi was even faster than Naruto at jutsus. Soon, Naruto was caught in the Mengekyou, and he lay on the floor, dead tired. Because Itachi was a true heir to the sharingan, his Megekyuou was exponentially more powerful.
Your jusu speed is rather impressive. You're one of the few who can almost match three-quarters of my speed... Naruto hung his head. Itachi had a most profound way of insulting a person. Your stamina is rather impressive as well, no doubt due to the kyuubi, and so we don't need to worry about that. Your weakness is genjutsu  you can neither use it well nor block it. As for taijutsu, you're rather fast, but you're weak. We're going to be working on taijutsu and genjutsu then.
And so, throughout the months, Itachi taught him ways to use genjutsu. He learned from genjutsu scrolls, too, which helped greatlly. After that, he learned ways to block genjutsu: genjutus reversals, genjutsu reflection; and genjutsu nullification. Because his bloodline limit was so powerful, he learned all of these quickly, too. By the time a month had ended, Naruto was done with his genjutsu quota of his training.
As for his meditation, he was progressing rather quickly. In his mind, he could now visualize the final gate that was blocking him. As he meditated, he could feel the gate in his mind being slowly cracked, pushed, and giving way. The more he did it, the closer it came, until, one and a half months away from the start of his training, he finally did it. Activating it, he looked at Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi
Threat Level  19
Jutsus: Hellish Doom no jutsu; Sacred Resurrection no jutsu; Mengekyuou Sharingan
He sensed Itachi's chakra, but it was not flared; if anything, it was suppressed  meaning he had finally done it.
I did it, I unlocked the final part.
Itachi nodded. ... Good... Continue at this rate, and you'll only need three more years...
Damn Itachi...
They continued to work on taijutsu; Itachi did every exercise known to man! At least, that's what Naruto thought. Itachi had Naruto wear three hundred kilos of weight and try to spar him! Naruto couldn't even move a foot. However, as he tried and tried, he could slowly do it. Eventually, he was back to his original speed. At the same time, Itachi had Naruto break things like steel, bricks, and other objects without any chakra at all. Eventually, Naruto began progressing to the point where Itachi could add multiple layers. By the end of four months of training, Naruto had completed everything.
You're ready now. Go to your friends.
What? That's it? No goodbyes, no hugs, no --
Itachi disappeared.
No hugs? Okay, you don't do hugs. What about a handshake? Naruto yelled, but Itachi was gone. Fine then, be that way. Despite the fact that Itachi was a missing nin, and he wouldn't give any explanation whatsoever, Naruto had managed to get along quite well with him. He still hated him, too the core, yes, but, he figured, Itachi wasn't too bad...
Naruto used a seal to get him outside. His jaw dropped  he had been inside Konoha the entire damn time! He went straight to Tsunade's office.
Naruto! Tsunade was on top of him immediately.
I miffed oo, too Om! Now gerrof of me! Tsunade finally let Naruto go, only to have him collapse from her hug.
You'vebeengoneforsolongIthoughtyouweredeadThankGodyou'realiveImissedyousomuchWherehaveyoubeenYou'regonnabeinsomuchtrouble! Tsunade said extremely quickly.
Ummm... Yeah? I guess... Looking at her one last time, he saw:
Tsunade
Threat Level  14
Jutsus: Medical nin; Summon; Demolition Jutsu
Wow...
On the way out, Jaraiya went to him. Naruto.
Naruto looked at him.
Jaraiya
Threat Level  15
Jutsus: Summon; Rasengan; Annihilating Blast Fire jutsu
So, he is stronger...
Yeah?
Did Itachi train you?
Naruto nodded.
shoot... I knew it... I don't what the hell he was thinking... Jaraiya mumbled.
Anything wrong?
Huh? Oh, no. No, not at all... Jaraiya was lost in thoughts.
Naruto went home, hoping, of course, that Hinata would be there. Luckily, she was! Opening the door, he went to her. She had her back to him. Placing his hands over her eyes, he said, I love you.
She whirled around and hugged him deeply. I love you, too. They had been away for four months, and that was much too long for them. They walked, side by side throughout Konoha, talking, hugging, and enjoying each other's company. Naruto had missed her; missed her special smell; missed her hair; missed everything about her! It seemed so long ago that they had talked, and Naruto wanted to fix that. Naruto and Hinata spent the entire day in each other's arms.
Coming back home in the evening, Hinata told him about everything that had happened during the months he was away.
It seems there's going to be a war in four months. Everyone's preparing, and, so, they're having their last Jounin Exam before the war to get any last jounin members they can. Other than that, nothing much has changed. Same old missions. The missions stop in another two months, too.
I see.
Naruto had some spare time on his hands after he turned in the application for Jounin, and he decided to walk around Konoha. He talked to the adults, advising them on their shop business and made himself rather well known. By now, three-fourths of Konoha had come to accept him. Only the southern end (the area where the kyuubi had caused the most damage,) truly still hated him. After paying a visit to the academy and Iruka, he decided to pay a visit to that southern end.
Sakura saw him as he walked. He seemed to literally increase the sunshine and brightness as he walked. As he walked, he seemed to make all the insects fly with joy, the grass dance in the wind, and the sunshine provide merciful warmth upon its recipients. Naruto seemed to truly have the spirit of fire  a kind, forgiving, yet passionate and burning desire to fight, to fogive, and to be happy inside him. He seemed so innocent, and yet, there he was, one of the strongest ninjas in Konoha, yet having killed so little  only ten in his life, to be exact. Sakura had shared this same opinion among most of the village, actually, and they all seemed to get along with Naruto. Naruto would help anyone and everyone solve problems, talk with them, and simply have a good time, be they five or fifty years of age. Sakura was staring at him when she snapped back into reality. What am I doing? Ugh...
Sakura-chan! What's up? Naruto called during his usual daily walk through Konoha. He was smiling at her.
She couldn't help but to smile back. Hey, Naruto. How are you doing?
Good, good. Had ramen, talked to people, trained... Yup, same old life, eh? So, how's life for you?
Not really too good. My mom forced me to join this club of hers where all the women sit, talk, and... socialize. The thing is, every once in a while, some people come and make a speech on what they believe, or answer some questions, and other stuff  just to give us something new to talk about once in a while.
And? I don't see the problem with that; I think it's a great idea!
Yeah, well, it's not such a great idea when you have to bring the person.
So, it's your turn to bring someone?
She sighed. Yeah... I have no idea...
Why don't you bring me, Sakura-chan?

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