46

Chapter 45: Use Your Illusion

Naruto, Sasuke, and Itachi all faced off with each other. The shock from Naruto's Sharingan was still settling in the two brothers and Naruto was trying to adjust to the sight. It wasn't letting him see in red vision the way he thought it would, good thing it didn't. But he had never been able to see so clearly in his entire life, out of that eye anyway. His left eye had the view that it always had. It was like looking through a half of a freshly cleaned glass window on a bright spring day and leaving the other half unwiped if he had to compare it to anything.

When Maki first put it in he had a rightly tough time trying to get down timing. What his left eye saw full speed his right eye saw in damn near slow motion. The mixture of the two was a total mindfuck at first until he came to terms with the fact that whatever moved slowest was the correct moving speed. He hadn't tried this in a fight yet, but he was going to have to learn on the fly if he wanted to walk away from this one. When he looked at Itachi and Sasuke he could see the chakra built up around their eyes, signifying their Sharingan use beyond just the physical appearance of the Sharingan. He might be able to get used to this; he could see when techniques were forming and have time to prepare if he got his timing down, which he would have to in this battle or die trying.

But there was a time and a place for everything and now wasn't the time to be thinking about his replacement eye. This was only meant to give him his full breadth of vision back for the battle, nothing more. Fighting anyone as dangerous as these two handicapped would be a grave mistake, 'Okay decision time…' Naruto thought to himself as he found himself in a three-way standoff, 'If I go after Itachi then Sasuke will try to take me out because he wants Itachi to himself. If I go after Sasuke then Itachi would just sit back and watch and try to pick me off later… just me… not Sasuke. He'd save Sasuke for last no matter what. But if I don't do anything then Sasuke would just attack me anyway, and Itachi would just attack me anyway… and I'd be fucked no matter what I did because I'm in the way.'

He had to drop in when he did. This was Uchiha land. This was an Uchiha hideout. And like he said, he was on the clock to catch up to them in the first place before the battle ended and one was dead and the other vamoosed. It was either get in now at the start, or get caught skulking around when they started winging the big stuff at each other, which would expose him when he started dodging collateral damage and they would double-team him anyway. Uchiha business was Uchiha business, and don't let the eye fool you. He wasn't a fucking Uchiha. They called each other out. There was no invite to a Naruto Uzumaki at all when they ran across his clone in the forest, he crashed this party, and party-crashers were never welcome.

Itachi looked between Naruto and his little brother Sasuke. His Akatsuki target and the brother he had been building to a deathmatch struggle against for over half a decade. He was not about to allow Naruto to ruin this. This was to be his redemption. Sasuke was his target, Naruto had no business here, 'And what is this familiar feeling I'm getting from his Sharingan eye? How did he even get a Sharingan eye?' He decided to question Naruto on this, "Naruto-kun how did you obtain that eye? Why do you have it?"

Naruto never took his eyes off of either brother lest he get his head taken off. This was a whole different situation than the last time he had fought both. Itachi was still Itachi, badass. Sasuke was now not only naturally stronger as he had been good enough to put Orochimaru down and beat Tayuya without taking any damage, but he was certain he had been subjected to more than a few experiments from Orochimaru or Kabuto to improve his body for Orochimaru's eventual possession, "If you have to know, I was given the eye by someone who is a mutual enemy of you both. I was going to find out more about it before I thought about using it, but blame Deidara for rushing my decision… the bastard took my eye when I took his life, and I couldn't let either of you just walk away from this. This chance was too good to get one or the other… I didn't think I'd be getting both."

Was Naruto threatening? If Itachi didn't realize that by now he would have been a fool, and Itachi Uchiha was no fool in battle. Naruto was scary strong, far stronger than their first encounter where he actually managed to land a blow on Itachi, but the thing was, he always had a weakness that Itachi's Sharingan was tailor-made to combat; genjutsu. But now he would have to go to the Mangekyou Sharingan and use Tsukuyomi like he did to Kakashi to put him down for sure with a genjutsu. And with Sasuke still here he couldn't waste chakra like that on him. He was going to have to get them both in the same shot if it came to that.

"Who do you think you are?" Sasuke said to Naruto coldly, barely keeping a sneer from his face. A Sharingan… a damn Sharingan in Naruto's eye socket. Kakashi was bad enough, but now Naruto as well? It was like his former comrades were laughing at his fallen clan and abusing their inherent powers, "What gives you the right to use that eye? That power is the birthright of an Uchiha."

Naruto could have been nice about his response. He could have simply said that it was all for the mission, so that he could operate effectively enough to accomplish it. His job was to detain either Sasuke or Itachi long enough for Sai and Maki to find either Kisame or the person with Zabuza's sword and take it from them. If he could, he would kill them, but he was the only one strong enough to take either or. But hearing Sasuke say that just triggered the smart-ass in him, "It's my right as a ninja to use what I need to win. I didn't have an eye. Would you like to know what that's like Sasuke? It fucking sucks. And besides, Uchiha are famed for using the skills of others to bolster their own. Why can't I do the same thing?"

Wrong answer to Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke disappeared in a blur, but Naruto saw him coming without having to guess and feel things out the way he had to before this. And with his reflexes on point due to him fighting so many quick people without the Sharingan in his life, with it he had his sword out and clashing against Sasuke's from the side, 'I can see everything! This is awesome!' He thought, right until he felt a harsh jerk on the back of his collar and wound up slammed hard against the ground without warning.

He quickly looked up to see Itachi standing over him with a kunai drawn and prepared to end Naruto's short run in the battle before Itachi was forced to abandon his attack to block Sasuke's chokuto strike.

Naruto didn't waste any time and got back to his feet, although he didn't intervene in Sasuke's clash with Itachi… because that wasn't Itachi. Naruto vanished in another blur of speed, reappearing on top of the throne where Itachi had been sitting the entire time. Naruto had his sword positioned for a downward thrust right through the top of Itachi's skull, "It's not enough Itachi! I can see everything now!" As Naruto said that, a chokuto buried itself through his back and out through his chest from behind before he could strike Itachi.

"You still can't see anything you pretender." Sasuke said from behind, having been the one to bury the blade into Naruto's body. The Sasuke and Itachi that had been fighting dissolved into crows and snakes respectively. But Naruto instead of letting off a gasp at being impaled, he burst into white smoke revealing himself to have been a clone.

"And you still can't see through the smoke Sasuke." Naruto's voice projected through the room while his body couldn't be seen, "That's what your life has always been since you were a kid; just you chasing shadows. Itachi's shadow, Orochimaru's shadow…"

Sasuke looked down in the throne to find that Itachi's body had dissolved into crows again before he turned his attention to Naruto, looking around to try and find him, "And what would you know about it Naruto?"

The chamber went silent before Naruto's voice sounded out again, "I was raised in the shadows, I was simply chosen to go into the light. I'm still in the shadows just like you, only they're different from when I was young, and they're different from yours entirely."

Sasuke growled as his eyes caught a glimpse of movement and he hurled a mess of shuriken at it only to hear the popping noise of more clones, "What do you know about shadow or hatred? What can you say about anything like that to me, someone like you that doesn't understand the darkness?"

Naruto's clones began to litter the chamber from the dark reaches of the room all over and Sasuke proceeded to ruthlessly exterminate them the moment they hit the ground or came into sight with his sword skills. All the while the original continued to speak, "You literally don't know the first thing about me. I've seen terrible things Sasuke. Done things you could never imagine. I know more about shadow than you ever will, but there's a difference between shadow and darkness. Shadows are necessary. Where there is light and people to bask in the light there is always shadow. Shadows must exist; the grey neutrality of shadow to maintain balance. Darkness is unnecessary and evil; it forces people to make mistakes, it hides the truth from you more than shadow ever could, and the worst elements of this world can be found in the dark."

"A fine speech Naruto-kun." Itachi's voice echoed out as well from nowhere, "But your plan has no foundation. I have already neutralized your seal tags hidden in this room, you will not be trapping anyone, you will not be bringing down this fortress on top of us today, and you will not be escaping even if you understand your situation. Your first mistake was simply coming here in the first place. This never concerned you."

After that, the sounds of metal clashing and sparks flying from the shadowed areas of the room began going off all over. Sasuke could see the figures dueling with blades in the dark. It was clear which one was Naruto by way of it being the figure making sparks with the larger weapon attacking the other one, Itachi, that seemed to dance around his blade, just out of reach.

He formed a Chidori in his hand and took careful aim, "Chidori Senbon (One Thousand Birds Senbon)!" The attack transformed into multiple senbon, countless in number, that fired rapidly directly at Naruto and Itachi, forcing the pair to scatter away from each other and dodge the widespread attack aimed at both of them initially, but once they broke away, the focus was solely on Naruto, "Get away Naruto! Leave and stay out of this or I'll kill you first! There are things I want to know before I kill Itachi!" He snapped at him, 'Itachi himself won't come out and face me until he leaves!'

"Better idea." Naruto said as he ran directly towards a wall, cornering himself seemingly until he jumped at the wall and kicked off of it to jump back towards Sasuke. Sasuke diverted his aim to hit the airborne Naruto until he saw Naruto jump off of the air itself and duck under his stream of lightning senbon. Adjusting his aim only resulted in Naruto adjusting his jump in the air until he reached Sasuke himself, "I'll just beat you until he comes out and faces me or leaves! After all, I only need one of you right now!" He said as his sword swung at Sasuke and was blocked by the youngest Uchiha, as he held Naruto's weight in the air.

A smirk came to Naruto's face and from his back foot he used a pair of air bubbles as stepping stones to push himself again, driving Sasuke back with the pure physical force of his glorified leap forward. Sasuke's guard eventually failed and Naruto took a step on the air to deliver a kick right to Sasuke's face.

Sasuke slid back against the ground, gritting his teeth harshly as he tensed from the force of Naruto's kick, 'His movements with what he's doing… I can see him forming wind chakra and letting it burst with each step he takes on the air.' He stopped his slide by stabbing his sword into the ground, 'But his every step is so sporadic and sudden. Almost instinctual… I can barely see what's coming before he does it. He doesn't telegraph his moves because he's simply flowing and reacting!'

Naruto could barely believe what he had just done. Hitting Sasuke all those years ago when he damn near made a drinking game out of it was one thing. He was so much faster than Sasuke back then and Sasuke's Sharingan wasn't fully matured. But now, Sasuke should have been able to see him coming shouldn't he have? Naruto hadn't even known that he had discovered a way to make his taijutsu unreadable to the Sharingan's ability to predict moves simply by the compounded use of his own Sharingan, and the reflexes and reaction time he had to develop just for him to use Haretsu Seigan (Burst Limit). With the Sharingan he could actually track his and his target's movements and instinctually react accordingly, and he didn't even know it yet.

"Naruto-kun you are a nuisance." Itachi said from behind the still amazed Naruto.

'Why is everyone I fight so damned fast?' Naruto thought before turning abruptly and cutting through Itachi, "Fucking genjutsu! How many layers does this shit have?" He yelled in exasperation when Itachi's body faded to crows once again.

"Kuchiyose: Raikou Kenka (Summoning: Lightning Blade Creation)!" Sasuke revealed seals inscribed on the bottom of his wrist guards, similar to some of the multiple seals that Naruto had inscribed all over his left arm. In the blink of an eye, shuriken were summoned and thrown at Naruto from where he had been left by Naruto beforehand.

Naruto blocked the weapons with his sword only to have Itachi stalk him from behind again. He turned his head to retaliate when Sasuke pincered him in from the other side. Naruto was starting to get angry. He was no longer a sucker for a low-level genjutsu, but the more elaborate ones still troubled him as he made a swift hand-seal, "Enough fucking genjutsu! Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)!" Naruto inhaled and exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra in multiple directions, cutting through the genjutsu of both Sasuke and Itachi.

Having disposed of the genjutsu distractions once more, Naruto immediately brought his right arm to one of the numerous storage sealing tattoos up around his shoulder and selected the one he wanted, causing an immediate 'crack' noise and a blinding light to surround his body. The light only lasted for a moment, but when it cleared, Naruto was no longer in sight, having used the flash bomb to cause Itachi and Sasuke to avert their eyes momentarily to cover his movement.

As silence once again reigned through the room, it was revealed that Itachi's body that had been in the throne and had dissolved into crows was actually cover to get Sasuke away from him. They never dispersed they just hid the fact that he had never left the seat, and there he sat, "Sasuke… you said there were things that you wanted to know. Please, don't let Naruto-kun's presence here stop your intention. The battle has not yet truly begun, but whatever you have to ask I'm willing to listen." He sensed the presence of something from up near the ceiling drop from the air above him, only for it to stop in the air and jump away as if it had been chased.

Before he could react to what was obviously Naruto, a sword was driven through the back of the throne and the point had emerged from his chest. The Naruto that had attempted to drop in on him disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing it to only be a feeler clone.

"I couldn't care any less if Naruto was here or not." Sasuke said from behind the throne, "As long as my question gets answered before I kill you, I don't care." He then grit his teeth angrily, "Now tell me what I want to know or I'll make you wish I actually did kill you with that last move."

Itachi sat at the throne with blood coming from his mouth, "You avoided my vitals on purpose."

Sasuke ignored him and went ahead with his question, "On that night you claimed there was a third person… and I realized that it could only be someone you didn't kill. Meaning it was someone to help you wipe out the rest of the clan. Not even you could have killed the entire Military Police Force on your own the way you did… now tell me. Who is the third surviving Uchiha that you spoke to me of."

"Boy you will stay that blade right now or I will make your life a living hell forever more!" The Kyuubi roared at Naruto as clear as if he were standing right in front of him. This was the first it had heard from it since his conversation with it the night before. It hadn't spoken up any time since then whatsoever. But now he had a chance. If nothing else he could at least get rid of Sasuke's-, "You will listen to the Uchiha. This is important to you as well." What? Naruto couldn't comprehend why the Kyuubi would say that. Couldn't it see that-? No that was exactly it. It couldn't see. Damn it, he knew that was going to happen.

"And why do you want to know of him?" Itachi questioned Sasuke.

"Because after I kill you here he's next on my list." Sasuke muttered darkly.

"You? Kill him?" Itachi asked in scathingly dry disbelief before going silent and eventually speaking up with his answer, "Madara Uchiha. One of Konoha's founding fathers and the first person ever to awaken Mangekyou Sharingan."

Sasuke drove his sword deeper through the throne, "Don't fuck with me! If that were true he would have been long dead!"

"You don't have to believe me." Itachi said calmly, if not strained due to the sword in him, "Naruto-kun had it right earlier. Shadow may hide things but it is necessary to maintain balance, but darkness hides more truths than shadow ever could. What you can see in this world depends on your perception of reality, how people are bound by what they perceive as the truth, but 'truth' can be a mere trick of the eyes. A trick of the darkness or shadow. A mirage. One must consider the possibility of living in one's own little world, shaped by these beliefs they perceive to be the truth. Like the way you simply decide Madara is dead, or like the way you used to believe I was a kind, caring brother."

Sasuke growled and launched his ranged Chidori behind himself at the real Itachi sitting at a second throne, something that Naruto's clone picked up on when it attacked from above, missing him on purpose by an inch, "I can see right through your genjutsu and lies now!" He glared up at the ceiling at Naruto, "I'm the one that can see everything now." He said, echoing Naruto's earlier statement.

Cursing from his place on the ceiling, Naruto dropped to the ground. He should have known there was no way to hide with the way things currently were, 'Come on think. You're doing good. Better than you should have done, all things considered…' He looked between Sasuke and Itachi with a grave expression, 'But that's because of the Sharingan and I know it… I have a feeling things aren't going to be getting any easier.'

"For as strong as your eyes are, you still don't have the same eyes as me Sasuke." Naruto could have almost cried when he heard Itachi say that, because he knew what it meant. The same thing it meant the last time he said it to Sasuke.

"Then use your Mangekyou to try and kill me right now, or am I too strong for you now?" If he actually thought that it would have done anything right now, Naruto would have thrown his sword directly at Sasuke's head.

Itachi seemed to shut his eyes as he stood up from the throne, "Confident are you?"

Naruto for his part was not. What he had said earlier was true in essence; he could see everything. But he could see all he wanted to because this was what he was meant to see. This was what was supposed to happen as directed by Itachi and to a lesser extent Sasuke. He was barely forcing his way into the picture and keeping his head above the proverbial water through literal brute force. He needed to get himself out because as he expected all along, even the Kyuubi was no help here, that had been proven earlier. And Naruto could see why the Kyuubi despised the Uchiha Clan and their Sharingan so much now, because under the doujutsu's influence it was nothing more than a subject to the world that was created around it, and it never had a clue.

Here he was a one legged man in an asskicking contest. He had the tool he needed, but he just couldn't use it the way he had to in order to succeed. He knew all of nothing about genjutsu and what he knew about Sharingan he remembered from Danzo, he seriously doubted that the old man knew anything about Tsukuyomi. There was nowhere for him to run, and nowhere to hide.

Because this was their world, and to them he was just an anomaly that had no place, that was unwanted, unneeded… and just like anything else that was unwanted in the ninja world he was about to be disposed of.

Itachi's arm hung lazily through the opening of his Akatsuki cloak, "The Mangekyou Sharingan has a very unique characteristic."

Naruto growled, "Other than mind-fucking me into a coma?"

Itachi ignored him to continue his explanation that was directed at Sasuke, "From the day you awaken it, your eyes begin a slow descent into darkness. The more you use them, the quicker the process moves."

"What?" Sasuke asked, confused as to what that meant.

"The kaleidoscope will eventually lose its light."

Sasuke's face hardened, "Blindness…" That revelation was news to Naruto. So Itachi's ridiculously strong eyes had a drawback all along? If he had known that he might have let himself take a hit of the Tsukoyomi three years ago so that he could weaken him for now, "So that's the price you pay for gaining control of the Kyuubi no Yoko."

"You actually read the tablets I told you to read." Itachi said, sounding rather pleased as he slowly started walking down the stairs in front of his throne.

Sasuke couldn't have cared any less, but Naruto could barely move. Any move Itachi made could have been the last thing Naruto ever saw. Sasuke spoke, "Who is Madara?"

Itachi's eyes shifted to that of the Mangekyou Sharingan, "A man who tamed the Kyuubi and controlled it like a pet." Naruto's eyes shot wide open. He knew that. He knew this already. He was aware of who Madara Uchiha was. The Kyuubi despised the man and cursed his name for sport for as long as Naruto had been in contact with it. But here Itachi was saying that he was still alive, and that made his blood run cold, "My accomplice and my teacher. The only person in history to learn the Sharingan's final secret. An invincible immortal. That's who Madara Uchiha is."

XxX

From the ceiling of the building, the strange plant-man that had witnessed Naruto defeat Deidara watched the battle at hand. He would have headed down to engage Naruto himself if he thought he would have won. The blonde had no place here. However the fact of the matter was, he knew that in a fight with Naruto he would have been torn asunder. He was not the most battle-adept member of Akatsuki, and Naruto had actually gone head-to-head with Konan and Pein and walked away to fight another day. That was out of his level of ability to deal with. He was a spy, not a fighter.

But after his opening gambit failed, the blonde found himself caught in something that could only be described, probably by Naruto himself if he had been asked, as his worst nightmare. A battle he had never had to fight. A battle he couldn't win and neither of them could lose to him.

"They haven't moved an inch…" The plant-man muttered quietly to himself.

And it was true.

From the second Naruto walked in he had been ensnared in the attempted genjutsu duel between Sasuke and Itachi. He had unwittingly forced his way in after he had missed his opening gambit and the two had made eye contact with him while keeping it with each other, making it a free-for-all.

"They're fighting with nothing more than their eyes." The black half of the man said.

Itachi's face was as calm and impassive as ever. You couldn't even tell he was exerting any effort.

The same could be said for Sasuke. Despite his intense glare he had been preparing for this, and was handling it beautifully thus far.

Then there was Naruto. Both of his eyes were twitching again and again. His hands were shaking and there was a sheen of sweat on his face. He was trying to bat off the effects of the genjutsu by literally fighting through it with his mind, to will his mind to fight. Instead of trying to focus his mental plane and try to will it over theirs he was simply a subject to their imagination. If he had more experience he probably would have known that he had to let the illusion flow like water. But the only experience Naruto had with genjutsu was either knowing to avoid them altogether and tell for the signs, or to hurt himself and break one before it fully took hold.

He had never been under the yoke of an eye-based genjutsu before because he had never fought a fully matured Sharingan-genjutsu. But to remain in the fray to this point was nothing short Of miraculous. Through sheer will he had been adapting and surviving in the middle of a genjutsu conflict between two full-fledged Uchiha; masters of the art. Though his own Sharingan probably had more to do with it than anything, as if he hadn't had it he probably would have been beaten by now, he had never been forced to fight like this in his life.

There was only so much that a natural propensity towards combat could compensate for. He was out of his element, out of his league, and out of this fight before it even began.

XxX

(Inside the Genjutsu Battle)

What Itachi had just told them both had left the two younger teens in stunned silence.

Madara Uchiha.

Instead of going blind had taken his own brother's eyes and reached unbelievable levels of power with his renewed Mangekyou Sharingan.

Had battled with the Shodaime Hokage and formed the Valley of the End with the titanic struggle.

Formed Akatsuki and to this day hid from the world behind them.

And had masterminded the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha on the day of Naruto's birth all those years ago, forcing the Yondaime Hokage to stop it.

'It was him…' Naruto thought to himself, 'Someone like that is still alive and walking around? Why is Itachi saying this? Why is he letting me know these things?'

"Madara Uchiha is a pathetic shell of his former self." Itachi claimed, "He's no longer worthy of being considered the greatest Uchiha. The only person who can surpass him, surpass the invincible Madara and achieve true immortality is me." He then looked at Naruto, "And unlike Madara, you don't fit into my plans Naruto-kun. You will die here for intruding…" Itachi said, looking back at Sasuke, "Intruding on my prize! My opportunity to obtain greater power than him!" An uncharacteristically manic grin worked its way to his face, "You Sasuke! Like Madara Uchiha and his own younger brother, you will become my new light!"

Sasuke and Naruto both took a single step back in shock from Itachi's new attitude, "You were my spare!" A demonic figure appeared behind Itachi and shot its tendrils at Sasuke and Naruto, grabbing the younger brother and attempting to impale Naruto.

Naruto quickly crossed his arms in an 'x' in front of his body, "Fuuton: Senpuu Kakasui (Wind Release: Whirlwind Pyramid)!" Naruto channeled every bit of power he could put behind the jutsu to block the sharp tendrils, but before hitting his most focused point, it adjusted and went around, hitting him in sides where the wind wasn't nearly as intense.

Naruto was thrown back, but not stabbed through. His defensive jutsu did that much for him at least. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to force himself to go on. But his attention returned back to Itachi and Sasuke when he realized that Sasuke had gotten rid of the demonic illusion, and he hadn't moved a step from where he had been standing while listening to Itachi's story, 'He got rid of the genjutsu so that I didn't have to?' Naruto thought to himself, 'Of course! He's in this too! We're all locked in the same genjutsu! Itachi got me, Sasuke got me, and they got each other!'

That was why they thought he was in the way so much. He wasn't fighting Sasuke and Itachi's separate illusions simultaneously in his own mind while they had it out with each other in their own minds respectively. For this moment in time their consciousnesses were linked. This was in all of their minds! Together! Now how could he use that? He had to hurry up and think or he'd find himself in the middle of a shootout, the equivalent of an innocent bystander, 'Come on! How do I get out! There's a way out! No technique is unbreakable, no jutsu is absolute, and no fighting style is perfect!'

Sasuke had enough of playing story time with his big brother and cast away the cloak he wore, "It all ends here Itachi. It's time that I fulfill my goal."

"You said that you see my death. But you should know that you cannot win against me." Itachi stated plainly as if it were a foregone conclusion, "Because I have the Mangekyou Sharingan I'm afraid you just don't measure up Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't bother rising to Itachi's words. Saying anything in response with venom in his voice wouldn't get the point across so it didn't matter, "You can use your eyes as much as you want. My hatred is going to turn your illusion into a reality. And the reality is your death."

With that, Sasuke and Itachi began producing and throwing shuriken at one another in an untraceable amount. Eventually they rushed one another and met in the middle, each blocking the other's attempt to stab them.

The shuriken had all been thrown with such force and speed that when they hit the other they ricocheted harshly. And this was what utterly amazed Naruto; Itachi had only thrown the shuriken to defend against Sasuke's, yet when they hit his they ricocheted towards him with the same velocity they had first been launched with. The timing and aim needed for that was ungodly, he couldn't even comprehend it. At first he almost didn't believe it was possible when he started blocking with his blade, but when he started getting cut up due to not being able to get them all, only the ones that were aimed at vital points, he had to concede the possibility as reality. Itachi Uchiha was no mere urban legend, he was legitimately that damn good.

And taking the dozens of metal stars across his flesh brought a reality check to Naruto. Sasuke could go after Itachi all he wanted. Itachi would just avert the force of his attacks away from himself and towards Naruto. This would continue until he dropped. Genjutsu or not.

A Kage Bunshin formed behind Itachi and pelted Sasuke with kunai, but a snake emerged that blocked the attack and surrounded him defensively.

The Kage Bunshin Itachi turned its attention to Naruto and before it could make eye contact with him and get him in anything else, the blonde threw his sword like a javelin right at Itachi's heart. Itachi moved to the side, but Naruto used Kawarimi to switch with the blade and simultaneously formed a seal-less Kage Bunshin of his own that Kawarimied again with the sword, putting it back into Naruto's reach and letting Naruto attack with it.

Itachi-clone blocked the original Naruto's attack with a kunai while Naruto-clone went for the original Itachi right until Sasuke emerged from his snake defense with a fuuma shuriken that it hurled at the original Itachi and Naruto-clone.

Just as it was about to hit Naruto-clone, the blonde replication smirked and in a puff of smoke used Kawarimi again to switch with the embattled Itachi-clone that was cut down by the weapon.

The clone burst into a flock of crows and split up, flying around Naruto and his clone, and Sasuke. Itachi's silhouette rushed through the cloud of dark feathers that were abound from the crows and swiftly defeated Naruto's clone before returning the favor from three years prior and kicking Naruto hard in the face, sending him flying back onto his backside. Before he even stopped sliding, he abruptly stopped and let out a seething growl blocking pain. Itachi had pinned his hands to the floor with a kunai to the back of each that went clean through his gloves and hands.

On the other side of the chamber he heard Sasuke let out an anguished yell of true pain. Itachi had pinned him to the wall and gouged his eye out.

He could relate when he saw Sasuke activate his cursed seal to get Itachi away from him momentarily so that he could come to terms with the pain and the loss of the eye. Getting your eye taken out was not an experience you could just grit your teeth and gut out. He believed there was no one on the planet that could take that pain and suffer in silence. Genjutsu or not.

'Genjutsu-Itachi is badass…' Naruto thought when he started to feel stakes drive themselves into his body; arms, legs, torso. He let out a cry of pain at the sudden sensations ripping through his body, 'Fuck! He made eye contact again before he kicked me!' Naruto was getting a crash-course in how to use his Sharingan to help him out of trouble and he couldn't say he appreciated the hands-on approach of the lesson, 'I'm running out of steam here… I've got to break this. My mind can't keep taking all of this damage.'

And there was his answer.

Like he had realized before. His mind, Itachi's mind, and Sasuke's mind were joined for the duration of the doujutsu based genjutsu.

His mind.

And he would be damned if there was anyone in the room that had a more solid grasp on their mental state than he did. If he had been any good at casting them in the first place then Naruto would have wound up being a god of genjutsu, however he was physically incapable of activating them due to the intense and delicate amount of chakra control needed to do so. He would never be able to do two things; genjutsu and medical ninjutsu.

Three hours. That was all the time Naruto was provided to be given a crash course in basic theory by Maki while he waited for his wounds to heal after his surgery. With his Sharingan she had placed him in her best examples of genjutsu and allowed him to memorize certain facets and nuances that kept him alive thus far against Sasuke and Itachi.

But now with the on-the-job Sharingan training he was getting now not only was he 100% fully aware that he was deep within the most comprehensive genjutsu he had ever felt in his entire life, with layer after layer after ungodly layer on top of it, he had enough awareness to fight back and stay competitive or at least keep Itachi and Sasuke from turning his mind to gruel within the first moments. He was dangerous enough that they had to fight him nearly as intense as they had been fighting each other.

After years of contact with an all-powerful creature of mass destruction in his mind that constantly flooded his head with murderous intent and manipulating whispers he had the mental power to stand up to a genjutsu of this caliber and lessen the effects he would take. After years of developing his own mind to the point that his mindscape was a full-scale flawless replica of Konohagakure no Sato in its entirety he had the mental composition to compose a realistic illusion if he had the ability to actually do so. And he now had the Sharingan to comprehend what he was actually looking at. It was time for a breakthrough.

Ignoring the pain of the stakes in his body, Naruto looked around the chamber where Itachi and Sasuke were grappling over his last eye, and Sasuke looked to be losing, 'I need to get out now. If Itachi gets that eye, Sasuke won't be able to take it anymore and he can focus on finishing me.'

Putting that aside, Naruto looked around the room intently, focusing as hard as he could. This was a mixture of their minds. So where was the part that comprised his portion?

The genjutsu environment that Naruto could see with his Sharingan was split into subtle, hard to see segments, like an ever-changing ink blot of each shinobi's psyche, 'Where is mine? Where is mine?' From what he could see it was of course vastly Itachi, including the area he was trapped in, but when he focused, starting in the area of their struggle, Sasuke's area of overt influence was spreading slowly but steadily. He was fighting back.

Seeing that made Naruto's eyes widen, 'He can push back against the Tsukuyomi with enough will like that?' Naruto tried to do that himself but didn't budge any portion of the illusion, 'No, I'm thinking too big.' He realized, 'There's no way in hell I can break the Tsukuyomi being a green-ass rookie at using the Sharingan. If he chose to hit me with that I'd be done. But I can break this one pinning me down.' Switching his focus to the stakes immobilizing him, Naruto felt his influence grow.

Itachi's focus was solely on Sasuke. That left Naruto to use the negligence of Itachi over his situation to force his own way through. Naruto hadn't had any influence over the environment whatsoever with the exception of his own mental avatar. He had been surviving thus far with nothing more than his literal skills. He couldn't feint a genjutsu when he got hit like Itachi and Sasuke's mental avatars could. When he got hit he literally took the damage, and his body felt it in the real world.

The stakes in him loosened and he ripped his hands right up from the kunai pinning them to the ground. Directly behind him lay the only little portion of the genjutsu that represented his mind and he had never moved towards anything so fast in his life. When he stepped a single toe in that zone he instantly built and expelled a crushing amount of chakra from his body, "Genjutsu kai!"

XxX

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto dropped to his hands and knees in the sewer environment that used to represent his mind and once again behind the bars sat the Kyuubi. It's eyes were glazed over and it seemed more docile than it had ever looked in his entire life, it didn't even register his presence, 'No way… it's completely calm.' With his Sharingan he checked the area. There was no genjutsu. This was his mind, and he had broken out. However when he tried to will out some of the Kyuubi's chakra he found that he was unable to. He then remembered what Sasuke said.

"So that's the price you pay for gaining control of the Kyuubi no Yoko."

And he could see the genjutsu affecting the creature as well. Itachi had forced the Kyuubi into submission just like Madara had. Naruto stood up and walked towards the cage. He could see the genjutsu. Maybe he could break it? All he needed was to use his own chakra to disrupt the Kyuubi's flow. It would just take a little jolt.

As he reached the bars he tried to slide through the bars only to find himself repelled. That was weird. He could interact with the Kyuubi before. It was how he started taking more chakra from it to train with. The bars must not have allowed contact with the Kyuubi, he had never tried to go into the cage when he was younger before making the Konoha mindscape. He really had to hurry up.

He looked up at the tag on the door that said 'seal' and scoffed. Fine, he'd just interact with it like that. It was a pain in the ass to have to grab for the seal that was several feet off of the ground when before he could have just been in closer to the Kyuubi but whatever.

His hand was just about to make contact with the seal when a firm grasp stopped his arm in its tracks, "I would rather you didn't touch that." A calm, stoic voice said.

Naruto's face went back to full battle mode as he turned around, believing that Itachi or Sasuke had somehow gotten to him again in his own sphere of influence, but came to a surprised stop when he saw the person. He stood still and blinked a few times. His blue and red eye focusing on just who he was looking at before he finally found it in him to speak, "Hey there dad."

Standing directly in front of Naruto was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, with a small smile on his face, "Hey there son."

XxX

(In the Real World)

Sasuke held the eye that in the Tsukuyomi had been plucked from his head as he returned from the genjutsu, physically unharmed. He breathed heavily and fell to one knee on the floor.

On the ceiling, the strange plant-man carried on a conversation with himself, "Well that was quicker than expected. Itachi won." The white half said.

"But why?" The black side asked in return.

"Well he just got hit with Tsukuyomi." The white side explained, "He won't be able to move. Now all that's left is to just take him out any way he wants to." He then got a look of surprise on his face when he saw Itachi sink to a knee as well, clutching his left eye, "Huh?"

Itachi stared at his younger brother, "Y-You broke my Tsukuyomi."

Sasuke smirked as he stood up slowly before he looked over to the third man in the encounter. Naruto didn't look dead, nor did he look like he was still trapped in any genjutsu, and his body hadn't given out so it hadn't defeated him in any way either, "H-He broke it?" Itachi looked over at Naruto and noticed the same thing along with something else that Sasuke picked up shortly as well, "Is he in a trance?"

XxX

(Meanwhile – Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto didn't know what to say to the man. His father. He had grown up without one and had stopped caring or even thinking about it a long time ago. Even when he found out who his parents were, other than taking some time to look at hard to come by photos of them he had never dwelled on it too much. But now it was here staring him in the face and he had to say something, "So, long time no see old man. Literally… I've never seen you. Ever. Not even once."

Minato laughed slightly, seeing as how Naruto went ahead and tried to break the ice, "Yeah. My fault about that. For what it's worth, and I know it's worth nothing, I'm really sorry for what I did Naruto."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly, "Sorry for what? You gave me the power to do the only thing I ever wanted; to be acknowledged and to protect my home. The way you did it I really can't complain about even though that thing-." He said, pointing his thumb back at the docile Kyuubi, "Really chaps my ass sometimes. And you did what you had to do. I stopped being upset years ago."

"Still…" Minato said with a frown, "The fact that you're taking this better than I thought you might have kind of makes me feel worse about it. You aren't going to yell, or ask me why, or get angry?"

Naruto raised his scarred brow, "I already said that I didn't care. You want me to be mad or do something like that?"

Minato shrugged identically to Naruto from moments before, "It would help."

Naruto sighed and shook his head before suddenly snapping his right arm up and backhand slapping Minato across the face violently. Hard enough to force out an audible crack that echoed through the sewers. Minato just kept his head turned to the side with his eyes wide in surprise as an angry red welt formed on his cheek. Naruto put his hand down and flexed his fist, "You told me to do it Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a sly smirk, "I follow my kage's orders faithfully."

Minato just looked at Naruto before breaking into laughter, laughs that Naruto returned until it quickly died down, "I've seen everything. I've seen and know about everything you've done in your life Naruto, be it far in the past or as recent as a few hours ago."

Naruto then turned somewhat serious, "I had Hamako-chan go over your seal and she found that you would do this if I ever tried to take it off of the Kyuubi. I wasn't going to you know."

Minato nodded, "I know, but if that was the case then I would have never gotten to see you." He said with a grin, "I had to take the only shot I would have at doing it and so here I am. I had to see firsthand the kind of man my son went on to be. You're almost just as tall as your old man at 16."

Naruto's gaze hardened. What did the man think of him? No matter how Naruto tried to rationalize it into making him impassive over the matter the fact remained that this was his father, a tremendous shinobi, and a great man to boot as well. Naruto had done things he wasn't proud of… he had killed so many people in his life and seen so much. Even now using this Sharingan eye was something he wasn't proud of, but he did it because he felt it was necessary. And if that led Minato to despise or disown-.

"I'm proud of you." Minato said, shocking Naruto, "I'm so proud of you, you'll never understand how much I am. You're a fantastic ninja, you've defended Konoha in ways that I never went to lengths to do and you're a good human being through all of that. Don't let you taking that eye put you under any kind of guilt, you did what you had to do. You never let your eyes be clouded with darkness no matter what happened to you." He pointed back at the Kyuubi, "And you've done a fine job of keeping him in check as well. I knew you could do it."

"About that." Naruto said, "I need to go old man. I have to break the genjutsu on the Kyuubi and get back to fighting. I'm up against Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha and I'm amazed that I haven't been killed yet."

Minato shook his head, "It's barely been one second outside of your mind Naruto. I know I don't have that much time to talk to you anyway, but I have to tell you now that you should believe what Itachi said. There was a man in a mask that attacked Konoha and used the Kyuubi as you've heard, I just never figured it would be Madara Uchiha." Naruto nodded gravely in agreement, "You can defeat him. He is the mastermind of Akatsuki. The man in the orange swirl mask."

Naruto looked at him in confusion, "But Pein-."

"I saw that too." Minato said, remembering what he saw of how Jiraiya had been crippled and how Naruto had been crushed by the man's might, "Pein is the result of the countless traumas inflicted on him even from his childhood by war under our system of shinobi. Madara more than likely manipulated him into taking on this goal of gathering the biju, but as long as the current system exists there will be more people like him."

"Ero-kyofu said the same thing." Naruto said, "But Pein is strong old man. I never even touched him last time."

Minato placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You can beat him because he made a mistake by not finishing you right then and there. I believe in you. You can change the world Naruto. You just have to win here first." He walked past him towards the Kyuubi's cage and placed his hand on the seal, "I'll help. Put your hand on me and channel chakra through me as if I were the Kyuubi." He saw Naruto give him a dry look, "Yes I know that's what you were about to do in the first place, but this way is safer. The last of my chakra in the seal will be a medium so that the Kyuubi, if it becomes aware while you're doing this it won't suddenly snap for control. Next time you'll have to find your own way to do this so don't let the Kyuubi get put in this again."

Naruto nodded and touched Minato's arm to begin channeling chakra, "It was damn good to meet you dad, and I swear I won't ever lose again. I'll be Hokage, I'll be better than you, and I'll find a way to stop all of this… I promise. I won't let Madara do what he did to Konoha to anywhere else."

"I know you will Naruto." Minato said with a smile as the seal glowed and the mindscape began to fade, "Remember I believe in you and I love you son. Say hello to your mother for me…"

XxX

(Five Seconds Later In Real Time – In the Real World)

Sasuke looked over at Naruto and drew his chokuto from his back slowly as he looked at the non-responsive Naruto. He could finish him off and focus on Itachi, "Couldn't measure up after all could you Naruto? You should have just stayed out of our business." He said before rushing forward at him in a blur.

CLANG

Naruto's eyes focused on Sasuke as he blocked the strike with a sudden draw from his ninjato sheath. Naruto started breathing rather heavily and kicked Sasuke away from him as the two squared off alongside Itachi once more, "Sorry about that." He said, "I had to go down to the sewer and fix a clogged pipe." He quipped, referencing the Kyuubi's sewer-scape, 'Kyuubi are you awake in there?'

"What?" The Kyuubi shouted as it seemed to stir from a daze, "What happened? Weren't you in the middle of fighting them a second ago? How did you just break apart and stop, and why?"

'It was a genjutsu.' Naruto explained, 'Itachi almost melted your mind like Madara Uchiha.' He heard the Kyuubi growl at that name in his head, 'That's not important now. Ship up. No more genjutsu so don't worry about it.'

"No more genjutsu? Are you serious? No hypnotism either?" The Kyuubi asked, sounding a mix between relieved and disbelieving.

'Well the hypnotism is a subtle genjutsu, and even if I didn't have it nullified with my Sharingan I have to deal with your yapping enough to know how to ignore another voice in my head.' Naruto explained as he tried to gauge out how much chakra he had left while the Kyuubi ranted at him.

He hadn't had the Sharingan on for that long in real time, but he had wasted a lot of his chakra fighting off the genjutsu and eventually shattering it. The good news was that Itachi looked like he was dead on his feet and Sasuke didn't seem that much better off than himself at the moment, 'I'm feeling the battle faster than I should but I'm still good. If Kakashi-sensei knew that my first time using the Sharingan outlasted his like twenty times over by now and that I'm still going, he would probably hate me. I love being the Kyuubi jinchuuriki.'

Itachi looked over at Naruto, "I don't know how either of you managed to escape, but Naruto-kun you are more trouble than I want to deal with at the moment. I want Sasuke's eyes, and now I want your life as well." He said, "I don't care for Madara's plans. Killing you is of no consequence to me in the end. After this battle I will have achieved my goal no matter what."

On the ceiling the plant-man grinned, "Ooh Itachi's pissed now. He's going to blow those kids away with Amaterasu now!" The black half said in an excited voice.

Naruto looked between Itachi and Sasuke and put his sword up, "So is the staring contest over now? Are we actually going to fight now?" He said, trying to sound confident and downplay the trouble he had in the genjutsu. He was never going to let anyone do anything like that to him ever again after this was over. He absolutely despised genjutsu. On the other hand, if the actual fighting was actually going to begin he felt right in his element.

Itachi looked over at Naruto with his left eye closed, 'He fractured every one of my illusions without alerting me while I was dealing with Sasuke. Naruto-kun doesn't know the first thing about genjutsu combat. Even with the Sharingan he should have been overwhelmed. Were his will and chakra that strong to allow him to brute force his way through most of it until he could find an opening?' Either way it didn't matter. Naruto was too dangerous to remain here. He was ruining everything that Itachi was trying to do and no matter what he couldn't let that happen.

Sasuke noticed Naruto's right eyelid was faintly twitching every few moments, but from Naruto's expression he didn't seem to either mind or notice it, 'Is he like Kakashi? He must feel the strain of keeping the Sharingan active.'

That wasn't it. He could most definitely feel it at this point, but he had chakra to burn, he always had chakra to burn. He had at least ten times the amount of chakra that Kakashi had these days. However long Kakashi could keep it active for they might as well have multiplied it by ten for Naruto.

Once again things were as they began. To an observer from afar it would have been like barely anything had happened at all. But the fireworks hadn't even begun yet.