StarsOfYaoi: hello people, this is a new story for all of you! I hope you will like it. And of course, it’s ItaNaru!

Note: this fic will have a different style than my other ones, but still angst. And in this one, because otherwise it would be too troublesome, Itachi did not kill his clan (I mean, it was not him doing it!) and Sasuke… was retrieved and did not go to Orochimaru. More of this as the fic goes on.

Not BETAed.

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Rating: M

Summary: (ItaNaru) During a fight, Kyuubi’s chakra leaks out and causes a warp. Now Naruto and Itachi are both stuck into the past. The only way to go back forwards… is to work with each other.

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–

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Endless Night

Prologue: Start

A soft breeze whirled and curled around the grass at their feet as both sensei and seitou stood staring at the landscape, the plain running free from where they were standing, until it disappeared further from their sight, behind a hill.

Sun looking down at them, the green of the grass bright and vivid, the warmth of the morning sun brushing their skin. It was a wonderful day.

“I wonder why I am here”.

After three whole days being silent and quiet, which was unusual, these were the first words the blond pronounced. They were spoken with a subdued tone, almost thoughtful, eyes filled with life and something else his sensei could identify with youth.

The tone was a deep contrast with the question, and Jiraiya found himself puzzled by the sudden unrequited subject.

Really, this was a stupid question.

“You should stop fooling around, Naruto, and finally start growing up” was his reply. But his voice was warm and kind, because he cared for Naruto. Speaking like a father scolding affectionately his son.

“No, I mean it. I wonder why I am still alive. After all, I should have died long ago,” there was no regret, no sadness in his voice; he was just stating a fact. Wondering with pure, untainted curiosity, as if he’d been asking about the weather.

His eyes were not dull nor glazed over. He was still living at his best. And still, he wondered.

Jiraiya knew now the question had a meaning. He had to expect it, after all, the memory of the tomb was still fresh in both their minds; the tomb of the Nibi no Nekomata’s vessel that had been clear and visible to every visitor to see.

The villagers filled with pride saying they had killed the demon when it still wouldn’t be a real danger, not knowing its soul probably left the body a second before it died.

Hatred can’t disappear, no matter what. Not even if the receiver is a two–year old girl who had been destined to be the vessel for a demon.

Life moved on, at least for them.

………………

Ocean eyes opened with some strain, blinking rapidly to focus on his surroundings.

Being aware only of the steady beat of his own heart, the blond teen let himself be dragged outside of his blank sleep, his fingers twitching at his sides, the feeling of soil under them comfortable and familiar.

His body felt heavy, like he had wasted away a good part of his chakra and now felt hard to even move a muscle, too tired to do anything but lay there, waiting for his brain to start working again.

For a moment, he could see nothing but grey, then his blurred sight focused again and he found himself staring up at the cloud covered sky; it looked like it was going to rain, because in the air there was a lingering taste of dampness that made his skin tingle almost pleasantly.

Greyish clouds were towering above the treetops, some so dark they looked almost black, curling around the mountains like soft sinister blankets.

He liked the rain, he thought with a faint smile. There was something akin to expectation in the moments preceding a downpour, even more so if it were to be a storm, and he could not deny he liked the excitement he received from the wait.

A single second, then he straightened up in shock, remembering what he’d been doing before suddenly finding himself unconscious.

Blond bangs fell on his eyes, not being blocked by his hitai–ate, and he pushed them away as he scanned his surroundings, cursing himself for his distraction.

What the hell happened?

He wasn’t sure about it though, because he was too busy searching for him instead. After having realized that he was indeed alone though, Naruto let his shoulders relax lightly before taking a deep breathe.

Not knowing how, it looked like he was safe, at least for the present moment.

He found his hitai–ate some feet away, dirty and with the sash ripped out to some extent, but still wearable; he was about to put it up on his forehead again when he hissed in pain.

Tentatively brushing his fingers on his head, he felt a wound on it, dried blood all around, and cursed.

Why was the wound still there? Why was it still bleeding? After all, it took nothing to Kyuubi inside him to heal such small thing.

Did it mean Kyuubi wasn’t cooperative? But it wasn’t like his healing had much to do with the fox’s desires anyway. He healed because of the Kyuubi’s chakra, yes, but the demon’s will had nothing to do with it.

Naruto groaned and put the hitai–ate in his pocket. He did not know exactly what had happened, and his mind was not working properly yet. He was feeling dizzy and light headed, which was not good… he needed to concentrate.

Last thing he remembered was…

“Naruto–kun, stop this useless resistance”.

Well, yes. These were his words before everything went berserk. But there again, after that he’d attacked so basically, this was not his last memory. The words stung in his mind though, much clearer than anything else.

Naruto recalled everything with a sharp intensity that caused him a stab of pain from his head, stifling a groan in pain as he forced himself to list everything; he knew he could have gotten a concussion and that could cause memory loss.

He had to make sure he had still everything intact inside his brain. Quite literally.

He’d been returning to Konoha with his Ero–Sennin that same day (or at least the day he met with Itachi… he couldn’t know if he’d been unconscious for more than a few hours…), finally after almost three years of absence.

Naruto still remembered his determination in his need to become stronger, for himself, for his village, but most of all he’d wanted to become stronger for Sasuke, who had betrayed everything he held close running away.

He’d been training hard so to strengthen up and stop being a nuisance, because he wanted to become able to protect the people he cared for; it took him so much, but his returning was much awaited and welcomed.

But then, as Naruto and Jiraiya were entering the wall around Konohagakure, they had appeared.

Uchiha, Itachi, and the Shark–faced shinobi Naruto didn’t remember the name of. Not that it mattered anyway, he was just some kind of follower for the Uchiha… and Naruto had not forgotten the intentions of the shark guy… to cut his legs and arms.

Holding a grudge? No, never.

They had attacked without warning; even though they had been still for quite a while in front of them for some reason, maybe assessing their strength (or just Jiraiya’s).

Naruto was starting to believe them to be melodramatic or something quite close, since hell, if he were to stand in their place, he would have attacked without having to fight a stare contest, trying to get the upper hand with a surprise appearance.

But then again, crazy, insane killer psychopathic minds do not think like normal, sane individuals.

Naruto didn’t want to think he was not normal either, at least not in this case, so he ignored his inner voice.

He got quite good ignoring it ever since his childhood.

Anyway, he’d found himself trying to escape a raven haired emotionless freak and a fish guy who wanted nothing more than render him crippled for life, and to say he was pissed was to say nothing. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to become Hokage. To live a long, fulfilling life, accepted and respected.

He wasn’t going to let go of that dream anytime soon.

Jiraiya had helped a lot in fighting them back, but after a while Naruto started to feel angry; angry because all his training had not helped the last bit.

He was still weak and unable to protect himself, that meant he would never be able to protect his precious people. Itachi was way over his league. Stronger in ways he could not even phantom to think about.

The gap between himself and Sasuke was widening every day more, Naruto was certain the younger Uchiha was just stronger than what he could ever hope to be, and the feeling of hopelessness was eating him from the inside.

He didn’t want to be a burden, and he wanted to live, because he refused to end up being considered a dangerous monster. He didn’t want to end up buried six feet under just because someone thought he was not worthy living…

He didn’t want to die without a fight, and he was just doing that.

Fighting.

Because all he wanted was a chance.

Naruto felt his fingers tingle with an unpleasant sensation as he thought back at what he’d done at one point. The focal point of everything, he suspected was his sudden decision.

Itachi had just been busy creating one strong –and unknown to him– Genjutsu, and knowing he would never get out of it by himself, Naruto had tried to find a way to counter it before it hit him; he’d never been that good with illusionary techniques anyway, and having to counter the effects of one was not his forte, not at all.

But Jiraiya was busy for a moment against the shark guy, so it was up to him.

And then the great idea came.

So great it almost scared him.

Ask Kyuubi for help.

Oh, he’d used the Fox other times, even during the three years he’d spent training with the Pervert white haired man, so he had thought it would be a good idea asking for a bit of his power to fight off Akatsuki.

After all, if he were to die Kyuubi would die too…

Not bad idea, not bad at all.

If not for a little inconvenient.

The same day Jiraiya had muddled up with his seal again, trying to find a way to give Naruto the control of the kitsune’s chakra without having to face off the demon’s wrath.

Of course the ordeal hadn’t ended up nicely, meaning a pissed off Kyuubi, a wounded Jiraiya and a messed up seal. The pervert never learned after all.

And thanks to this, the moment he tipped on the fox’s chakra, Naruto felt this had been a very bad idea.

For once, the chakra was not completely red. Opposite, it was a mixture of red and dark brown, a sickly tinge Naruto didn’t like one bit.

And hell, Naruto felt a nauseating feeling as he touched the chakra. It felt like it was rotten, corrupted, wasted away. He’d felt ready to throw up.

And the worst was, his Rasengan was of the same colour of red, brown and something else, instead of the light electric blue it normally was; he’d felt a twinge of pain in the back of his head, and his fingers had trembled around the sphere of concentrated chakra.

It felt different, not just in appearance, but in its essence, and by using it Naruto had felt sick inside. He’d wanted to let go the sphere and run, if not from Itachi then from himself (he couldn’t but he’d felt that way back then). But he hadn’t. he never ran away.

And that’s how he ended up unconscious. The sick chakra had mixed with Itachi’s building one in a huge clash, and after that, a big explosion. A huge flash of light that had surely alerted anyone in their proximity of their presence, and the deafening detonation that sent him backwards, flying in the air and crying out in pain.

And after that… well, nothing.

It looked like Itachi had not taken him away. There was no trace of the Missing–nin around, no lingering chakra signature, no nothing. Not even that shark guy, but no Jiraiya either.

Everyone seemed like, vanished.

And to add up to this, he still felt nauseous.

‘At least,’ Naruto thought when he looked up at the Hokage mountain staring down at him, ‘I am still in Konoha. Now I can go to Tsunade obaa–chan and ask what happened, and see if Ero–Sennin is still around… what if he tricked Itachi and shark guy and took them away? I need to move’.

He pushed himself up from the ground, swaying lightly on his feet as a wave of nausea hit him again, and noticed that apart the wound on his head, he was fine and healthy. Inwardly, he flinched at the movement as his head was spinning.

What a nice way to return to Konoha after three years. Wobbling and throwing up in front of Hokage’s office.

If Naruto had been able to, he would have laughed at his situation… but his eyes were too busy staring again at the Hokage Mountain.

Where four heads were pointed towards the village.

Yeah, right.

Only four.

‘What the heck?!’

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StarsOfYaoi: short. But it’s a prologue, so it has to be short. More later, and I may even rewrite this at one point. Please, if you like, drop a review or a comment and tell me if I should continue this. Kk?