When I said that the village was on fire, I might have been exaggerating a little, but the sheer shock of coming back to a place in the middle of conflict was something that might have overridden my brain for a little. Don't get me wrong though, the village was still very much destroyed. The thick smog that was rolling off of parts of the nearby wrecked buildings was something that clouded some of my vision, too. However, I could still see some destruction from whatever was taking place. "What happened here?" Itsuki was the first of us to speak. Rightfully so, none of us had the answer to him. "And we would be able to tell you because?" Of course, that didn't stop me from making fun of him to try and hide the shock of the situation. Itsuki looked at me and sneered. "Right, I don't want to hear from someone who thought silver hair and his Anbu buddy were lovers. Where the hell did you even get that thought again?" "It made sense at the time..." My face felt warm as his words hit home on a new feeling of embarrassment. I might've been inclined to overthink some things, and may have thought my parents were having a affair as soon as I was born, but telling Kakashi to make up with who I originally thought was his boyfriend was something that was a given mistake on my part. "He attacked us!" Itsuki argued a great point. "Do you think that attacking someone is normal for relationships?!" "Itsuki, be quiet." Kakashi came in, saving me from any more embarrassment. However, it seemed that our attempts at trying to salvage the gloomy atmosphere that was slowly settling in was all in vain. His face was frowning under his mask. "We can question Naruto's odd deductive skills later. Kinoe-san, can you try to find Danzō while I'll report back to the Hokage?" Kinoe nodded, completely at odds with whatever mentality he had before attacking Kakashi. While I hadn't heard much of what happened, it seemed that a misunderstanding was on both my and his part for our odd conclusions, but it was good that everything was resolved without fighting. Peaceful resolutions were always the better of the two options. Everything was much easier if we didn't always go for the throat. "Itsuki, I need you to keep an eye on Naruto as I go and check out the situation back in the village." Kakashi continued his orders. His eyes were locked on the buildings that were currently on fire without anyone tending to them. "Whatever is going on, having you two join in would only complicate matters more. A missing-nin and the sudden reappearance of a Jinchūriki will only increase the chaos." I frowned, for some reason the sight of the village burning, while shocking, wasn't resonating as much anymore. "Can I go and look for Hinata?" "Are you going to be doing your teleportation trick?" I shrugged. "I mean, what other way am I going to get to her?" "Then no," I scowled hard at the Shinobi, but he wasn't swayed in any way to my whims. "Naruto, this is a serious matter. Just sit this one out, okay?" "Fine…" I slumped down on my spot in front of the gates. Plans to ditch Itsuki were already worming their way into my head. Kakashi sighed, his gaze turning to the one-armed Shinobi who stood by my side. "Can you watch him?" "That's impossible." Itsuki admitted outright, and the Anbu could only scowl at my friend. Wriggling his stump as if that made all the difference in the debate. "The kid is stubborn when it comes to his friends, you know." "Damn it, this is not the time to be having this argument." Kakashi grumbled. As if one cue, another explosion lit up a side of the village. A plume of angry red scorched its way into the sky, and we could only watch as the dome shaped building that was nearby caught fire. I leaned in, trying to understand what happened, but held back a shiver as I heard screams and cries of anguish. An unnatural amount of unease settled into my bones as I heard those voices. My hand twitched and a familiar knife sat placidly in my palm, sickly sweat gathered on the handle. I had been exposed to enough screams to recognize those of pain and those that came from death. The only thought on my mind was whether or not Hinata's voice was somewhere within those screams. "Kinoe, go now." Kakashi ordered, and the man was gone, disappearing in a burst of speed and a rustle of leaves. His silver-haired counterpart turned to us before he joined. "Naruto, don't worry about your friend. I'll make sure she's okay." "That doesn't-" Kakashi was gone before I could finish. "Damn it…" "Hey, kid, don't worry about it. I hear that those Konoha Anbu are some of the toughest guys around." Itsuki patted my shoulder, taking in the fact that a village was burning in front of us. And I knew that he was right. Kakashi was strong, but no matter the ability I just couldn't ease my worries. It was something that was becoming increasingly apparent to me the longer I spent in this world. Life before I died followed more along the lines of the rule of money and monetary wealth, and here, in the Elemental Nations, there was a sort of intangible unease that made one desire some sort of control. However, the control was normally gained through fighting; obtained by the sheer power that an individual wields. The law of the jungle was so apparent that I never really realized I had already been wrapped up within it until I couldn't escape. There was a time where I debated running away. Trying desperately to hang onto some semblance of peace by virtue of not fighting and with my abilities it was plausible in most cases, but now I can't leave. Staring at the pillars of smoke, hearing the occasional death throe and feeling the flickering warmth of the fires that bloomed here and there, I felt like I was seeing those kidnappers again. There really was no visible reason for that reminder, but that was the first time that I felt that running away was not an option anymore. That there was so much more at stake so that running was not even a plan that crossed my mind. Well, maybe one of the last plans that crossed my mind. I had a friend in there, and I needed to save them. Still, the act of killing always set my mind on edge. I never really liked the action; in fact, I abhorred it so much that to this day I still saw the faces of those four Shinobi in my head. However, oddly, the guilt had long passed. It was the whole reason I made that promise to not kill a defeated person. I felt that the guilt passing was much worse than actually feeling guilty, but maybe that is just my previous world influencing me. However, if I was going to go into the hell Konoha had transitioned to, I had to be ready to stain those pacifistic ideals. Being selfish now might get one of us killed if I wasn't careful, and if there was anything I hated mroe than killing, it was being helpless and doing nothing but die. There would always be bad memeories with death with emphasis around myself. With my decision made, I turned to the silent Itsuki. "Hey, we're going in there, right?" "Kid, I know you're worried about Hinata, but think this through." Itsuki pointed out towards the burning village. "This isn't some random town with a single Shinobi, kid. That's Konoha, and no matter how messed up and weakened it is Konoha is still one of the strongest villages. Whatever is happening is something that we shouldn't get in the middle of." "So you're saying that we should just sit back and watch as Hinata's home is destroyed?" Itsuki looked at me from the corner of his eye like he was trying to decipher my thoughts. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." "What… but what about-" Itsuki cut me off, pressing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Look, Naruto," The emphasis on my name was something only he could pull off. "I know you care deeply about your friend, but the second you step in there I know you'll be in the thick of it. It's your nature to meddle with everything." I scowled, knowing that it wasn't an insult. "What do you mean? I don't 'meddle' with everything." "Really?" Itsuki was laughing behind his smile. "I feel like you meddle in everything. You didn't have to save me back in that town, and neither did you have to try so hard to stop Kakashi and I from fighting. There's also that backstory with that Kinoe guy, but they're unusually tight lipped about the details. However, that's not what I'm trying to say." "Then what are you trying to say?" I asked, getting a little antsy from sitting around and watching the village go up in flames. Another place just burst into flames and screams as if to emphasize me worries. Itsuki was also looking towards the village, and caught the newest addition to me worries. "Can you honestly tell me that you'll leave once you see whatever is happening inside there? Can you grab Hinata, and run away so that you both are safe?" My face was twisted like something sour had been shoved down my throat. "Who do you think I am? I won't 'meddle' like you keep saying I will. Besides, all those times you mentioned were only due to having no other option available." "Fine…" Itsuki sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "However, could you try not to use your knife too much." "What, why? It's the best bet for me to move around." Itsuki ran a tired hand through his hair, dark blue locks much longer than when we first met were pulled from his view. "I may not be a well attuned sensor Shinobi, but I do know how to pick out people's Chakra signatures much better than others. And whenever you use that your Chakra seems to disappear. From what I hear, having no Chakra means you're dead, kid." "And?" I countered, not really wanting this to become a debate on my livelihood now. "I'm fine; there's really no need to worry." "Yeah… I know you're fine. Just… make sure you be careful." Itsuki seemed to be conflicted about something. His face pinched as if he was holding himself back from one of his worried rants or from strangling myself. However, his struggles weren't on my mind as I split once again. The thoughts that I might be killing myself everytime I used my knife was something I didn't want to deal with at the moment, so I dealt with my problems in the only way I knew how: by focusing on something else. It was a quirk that I found to be rather useful, all things considered. I don't think I would be able to ever get out of my thoughts if I let the plethora that was my problems wash over me, and as I floated through the streets of Konoha, I found a sort of disturbed solace in the cackling fires. The heat of the open flames didn't even phase my invisible form whilst the smoke was easily cut through by virtue of my spectral Byakugan. I decided that there was something odd going on when I passed by the fifth street empty of all inhabitants. No screaming civilians, nor dead Shinobi stood out in the wreckage of the buildings that dotted the village. However, as I began the investigation in ernest, I found that most of the destroyed buildings had a theme about them. They all were places with large, simplistic fan painted somewhere on them. A sort of odd sensation was building in the back of my mind as I studied them further, and found that there were more buildings wrecked, but they had a much different symbol on them this time. The symbol of another fan with a odd-looking flame in the middle of the body. "Hey Itsuki." I gathered the attention of the brooding, one-armed man next to my physical body. We had fallen into a sort of silence after I had split, and I was too preoccupied with trying to figure out what was happening to try and remedy the palpable tension building. "Yeah, kid?" Sighing internally, I found that he was much less talkative than usual. Putting that aside for now, I drew the two symbols on the ground beside the two of us. "Have you seen these two symbols before?" The older Shinobi just glanced at them momentarily before his eyebrows quirked together in confusion. "Yeah, that one's the Uchiha symbol," he said while pointing to the large, curved fan that was separated by a line. "And that one's one of the symbols that those Hyuga's use, but why do you ask?" My heart jumped into my throat as a sort of fear settled into the back of my head. Why had the places that had been primarily attacked have those symbols on them? Were they placed before or after these attacks started? Was this all that Danzō guy's plan? My head was a mess of questions with even less answers. I felt as if I was getting close to an answer, but just before I got anything concrete, it was as if there was another question added to the sea that swamped my thoughts. I was missing something. There was some other clue that I couldn't see just yet, and the only problem was that I couldn't figure out just what was happening. However, Itsuki's words had planted a seed of worry that spurned my specter in one specific direction. To the large Hyūga estate. One that was on fire as well. "No…" I whispered form my physical body as my unseen eyes gaze upon the wrecked building that I had infiltrated once upon a time. This was the first time I found bodies as well. Corpses of various black-haired clansmen were all strewn here and there with an equal number of masked Anbu lying lifelessly in the broken courtyards. Shattered stone had punched through some walls of estate, and there were large splinters scoring the upturned soil from ruined framework of the once beautiful vistas. Simmering flames coaxed the paper walls into generating more flowers of red heat. Smoke hung like a lingering ghost appalled by the death that surrounded the area. Listlessly, I moved through the field of dead, and wandered through the more destroyed halls of the place I once tried to rob. In the back of my mind I felt like this whole thing was my fault. However, that voice was small in comparison to the more selfish part of me that just wanted to not find Hinata somewhere in here. To desperately hope that no matter how may dead I found, there would be no trace of my friend. After a little while of navigating the halls, I felt like I had seen enough. I was drained from seeing so much death and destruction, and from how hollow this homecoming was. Everything was not as I had planned. I had wanted to take Hinata home with the sole intention of giving her a family to lean on when she was clearly broken. The destruction around me wasn't at all what I wanted. In fact, if she was still alive, then I would bet that there was just another trauma to add on. "Naruto, hey what's wrong?" I was blinking rapidly as I focused back with Itsuki in my physical body. He was worried, and it seemed that it didn't help that my physical body froze completely whenever I first laid eyes on Hinata's home. Still, I didn't really say anything to the Shinobi. I just stood there beside him, dumbly staring back at him. A small breeze passed between us as we both just stared into the once great village of Konoha. The faces of stone on the far mountain stared back at us as if daring me to call this a dream. If there was one thing I could count on, the it was Itsuki slowly clicking his mouth closed and pressing his one hand on my shoulder. He knew that there was little that could be done in his state, and if he could have done anything, I don't think he would have. There was no loyalty to Konoha that he had. All he wanted to do was to make sure Hinata and I got home safe. Something that was becoming an increasingly distant goal. And on the dirt paved road bordered by trees of emerald leaves, I trembled in the dreadfully calm silence. My shoulders shaking with his touch, and my face twisting with emotion. Fists curling till their knuckles were white while my body grew warm. However, It wasn't out of sadness, nor was it out of some sort of compassion for the dead. My emotions were a mess with the entire ordeal to really pinpoint a single emotion that I was feeling. Though, if I had to choose which one was the most prevalent, it would be rage. An all-consuming, blank rage that was directed to whoever dared to hurt my friend. I had no idea if I was prone to peace back before I died, but there was something about my irrational anger that said something about my personality. That, despite how peaceful of an area I lived in my past life, I had a side that wished to savage those who have just wronged me. Hinata was taken from her family before, and now she had most of them taken away in a way that was perhaps worse than her previous situation. I felt rage for her. Pain for the the hard life thrust upon to a girl who deserved none of it. And I just had found the person who delivered her to this new pain. Jumping through the ruined Konoha with a deftness that put even felines to shame was a familiar black-haired Anbu. His clothes were scuffed up in places, and a couple cuts bled onto his attire, staining them a shade darker. Swirling eyes of red weaved around the area in frantic paranoia that I was acquainted with in my time of running with Hinata. He seemed to be carrying some kind of bag, but I didn't really pay any attention other than make sure it wasn't a weapon. "Naruto, I know that look…" Itsuki started to speak before I was gone, replaced by wind and nothing. My body materialized before the frantic Itachi Uchiha, rage budding underneath my skin. My muscles tensed as I felt the weight of my body suddenly fall under the forces of gravity. Wind whistled for a second before my fist tried to bury into the red-eyed bastard's face. While there was rage in my actions, I still needed to keep him alive and take information from him. Kinoe had stated that he and Itachi hadn't been working together, so that meant whatever Itachi's goal was it was completely different form Kakashi's friend's mission. As such, no matter how much I wanted to bury a sword into Itachi's chest, I had to go for a non-lethal takedown with this first blow as the finisher. Everything was perfect about my sneak attack. The timing where Itachi was at the crest of his jump, the way I leaned my whole body into my fist and how I twisted just right so the force would collapse his jaw with enough strength. Chakra had the added benefit of strengthening the body in some way, but if I simply blasted enough of the Kyūbi's Chakra, then I should be able to knock this Shinobi out in one go. My arm steamed in protest as the sheer amount of malevolent Chakra invaded my system with the express purpose of turning my arm into a piston. White knuckles cracked against the teen's cheek with an audible echo, but horrifyingly, I knew that he had dodged the worst of it. Somehow the teen had seen the attack the literal second as I appeared right before him, and turned his head before my fist could deliver the debilitating blow. He borrowed the force of my attack as he flipped several times in the air, twisting in displays of flexibility that I internally gawked at, before he landed on the ground with a soft thud. I, on the other hand, crashed into the dirt with an ungraceful flop, finding my right arm numb from the backlash of simply being reckless with my Chakra. However, I depressingly knew broken bones by heart now, and could safely say that I had only cracked my forearm slightly. All things considered, it was a reasonable trade off for almost knocking out a Anbu level Shinobi. Itachi even stumbled slightly as he tried to steady the bag on his shoulders. His swirling Sharingan were staring at me with a little confusion and shock. "Uzumaki-san," he started, glancing around as if expecting a sneak attack. "Where's Hinata?" I spat back, finding my feet under me once again. A sharp pain was traveling up my arm, but it was small enough that I could ignore it for now. And ignore it I did as Itachi averted his eyes from me, looking about as conflicted as he was guilty. It was rather odd at how pained he seemed as he looked around the places that were burning. "I… I didn't mean for this to happen. It wasn't supposed to end this way…" "Shut up!" I screamed, annoyed at the excuses that he was giving. Whether it was the baleful Chakra flowing through me, or my own anger I don't think I cared at that point. "You kidnapped Hinata, and for what? This?! Is she even alive?" I felt my heart clench, not wanting that last question to be answered. "And now you're running away…" "Uzumaki-san, this isn't what it looks like." Itachi began again, finding some sort of resolve in whatever he was planning. I tensed ever so slightly, pulling more on the Kyūbi's Chakra to react to anything he might do. However, when he bowed I didn't know what to do. When his back went parallel to the ground, I froze all my rage, for his next words hit me with all of the desperation I couldn't see. "I don't care what you want to do to me, and I can't begin to apologize to all the wrongs I have wrought. However, let me find somewhere to hide my brother. Once he is safe, I'll do whatever you want." My body was frozen as I couldn't refute Itachi anymore. It wasn't that his words were calming in any way, but it was the small head familiar spiked, black hair that poked out of the bag that Itachi was carrying that made me pause. A young Sasuke Uchiha with weary innocence was peering over his older brother's shoulder with tears gathering in his eyes. Just like that I felt my rage simmering to a small, yammering ember. I wanted nothing more than to scream and charge the teen. My body was shaking with a barely contained anger, knuckles white and teeth audibly grinding against each other, but I held back with sheer force of will. Even now I felt my eyes glow red along with my rage. However, I couldn't move another step towards the Uchiha. Because just as I wanted to protect Hinata, Itachi just wanted to protect his little brother. I could hate him -and I still do, but right now I just needed to know one thing. "Is Hinata safe?" The pause that Itachi had was damning. "She is… still alive." "I see." A small part of me was relieved at her surviving, but something was definitely wrong. "Where is she?" "Big brother…" The young Sasuke's voice was high pitched and innocent. He sounded nothing like he did when I remembered him in the show; much less brooding and angsty. If anything, our roles were reversed in an odd twist of fate. "She is-" "Itachi Uchiha, surrender now under the orders of the Hokage!" Another voice intruded on my interrogation, and both Itachi and I tensed to find whoever had interrupted us. A man in Anbu attire fit with a fox mask stood atop one of the nearby buildings. Several other Anbu took the time to flank to his sides. "For the crimes of instigating a coup d'état, and killing your fellow Shinobi, you are under arrest with any attempt to resist to be met with lethal force! If you surrender now the Sandaime Hokage might give you a pardon so long as you return the hostage!" The Anbu shouted. However, I heard only a small portion of what he said. Instead, my eyes followed to the weapon that the Anbu was pointing at Itachi. A silver needle large enough to rival a sword in length, but was far too thin to do anything but pierce. The very same needle that Hinata was carrying before she was kidnapped by Itachi. For a second I saw red, not even bothering to understand just why an Anbu by the orders of the Hokage dared to carry something of Hinata's. Things clicked in my head too fast for me to even think over everything. The man had something about a hostage, the destroyed Hyūga compound with bodies of both Anbu and the clansmen, the running Itachi with his innocent brother. Everything came together to paint a rather terrifying picture. Between the undeniable rage and swirling thoughts, the only other thing that I could safely say was a single sentence. "What the hell is going on Hiruzen?"