His blood was heavenly, like always. The essence of pure delight. A flavor that couldn't be described but a taste I adored and would kill for. His sadness vanished in a wave of lust that took its place, making me feel better knowing he felt better.

His behavior has been worrying me, and today was something that couldn't go ignored, but for now, he was mine...

All mine.

"Mm~" I hummed against his neck, unable to help myself as his blood hypnotized me, hoping he felt pleasure from it as well.

Hn, It was obvious that he did. He shivered and hugged my body, forcing back moans in an attempt to keep quiet. His small squirms were everything to me like he was purposefully trying to put me in a trance. My eyes rolled closed as I basked in the taste, the previous strain from smelling blood everywhere vanishing as relief met my body. The dry itch in my throat was gone as his blood sated the thirst.

"Huh...Nngh." Naruto moaned quietly, before putting a hand to his mouth, biting it to keep himself quiet.

God, I wanted him, to feel him around me. I wanted to take him here but chose against it since we had anbu crawling everywhere. Perhaps sometime later we could fool around and have some fun, relieve our nerves by using each other. I'd feel better after he sees Tsunade, as much as the idea would probably make him nervous.

He has an issue with Bloodlust, something that keeps bubbling up more and more as time drags on. Ever since Danzo's illusion, Naruto's been having trouble anchoring himself to reality, his mind racked with doubt.

He was different than before, much different, less confident. He tried to keep up the same mannerisms and emotions as he had before the Danzo thing, but the man messed him up bad.

I gently removed my fangs from his neck, the holes closing the moment my fangs were completely out, and bit into a different spot, relishing in the feeling of biting into his skin, a satisfying sensation he and I both enjoyed.

"Mmm." Naruto shivered, rubbing my back lightly, making me feel tired and relaxed against him. "I love it when you bite me... I don't know why but the feeling... its hard to describe. It's not painful at all." He spoke to me in a soft tone.

I smiled against his skin, rubbed his back, and squeezed him close to me as a way of sharing the same thoughts. A nonverbal reply of agreement.

I soon had enough and pulled off of him again to prevent him from suffering symptoms of blood loss. When I moved to face him, his face was flushed with eyes glazed over in lust. A beautiful sight I could get drunk off of. I grabbed his hands, and held them gently, looking at him with concern and love at the same time.

"Are you okay? Are you still struggling to keep yourself in the present?" I asked softly.

"..." Naruto's enjoyment devolved, and he looked away from me. "Well, I don't know. It's randomly triggered if I either think about it too much or if something reminds me of it." Naruto shrugged a shoulder.

I nodded and lifted him off of the counter. I kissed him then, and he melted into me, wrapping his arms around my neck, and humming with satisfaction. He deepened it for a moment before pulling back. He then laid his head on my chest, keeping his arms around me.

"I'm tired," Naruto whispered. "I need a vacation."

"Don't we all." I agreed with a grim nod.

We eventually exited the cliff with zero conversation. We held hands and walked down the pathway leading into the village where Tsunade was located. I had scouted put her general position before we left the bathroom. Naruto stuck to my side like glue but outwardly came off as perfectly fine despite his condition. It was amazing to witness him play the role of a goof with no issues. It was scarily good, to be frank.

Once in the bulk of the reconstruction area, we made our way toward a tall wooden tower with multiple workers installing brick and metal, and painting parts that were completed with headlamps strapped to them. It was a new version of the Hokage Tower. It looked bigger than the previous one from my memories, and I looked forward to seeing it once it was completed.

"Wow, they do work fast." Naruto whistled. "Looks like there is some life inside. Multiple lights on inside,"

"Yes, she's there," I confirmed.

We made it to the front doors and stepped inside. It was warmer inside the building, and bustling with shinobi of all ranks assigning missions, filing reports, and organizing furniture and interior design. I smiled at the sight of such teamwork and continued forwards until we reached the stairs leading up. Naruto remained silent at my side, looking about curiously and keeping his thoughts to himself, but he seemed mostly neutral.

Better than being frantic and blindly angry.

"It's just up ahead. The second room in the hallway is her office." I spoke aloud.

"Okay." Naruto hummed in response, his hand tightening its hold on mine the closer we got.

Nerves setting in.

We made it up the stairs and to her office. I looked down at Naruto, before pushing forwards and opening the door. We were both greeted by her head lifting to meet our gaze from a thick stack of paperwork and scrolls. She smiled in welcome at the both of us and gestured towards the chairs in front of her desk.

"Good evening you two, what's the meaning of your visit? Have the villagers been treating you fairly?" She asked us, straightening her outfit.

"Y-Yes, no issues there." Naruto grinned and moved to a seat and took it, and me doing the same.

"We're here on a different matter. It's regarding Naruto's state of mind." I sighed and crossed my legs and folded my arms.

"State of mind?" She sat up straighter and looked at Naruto with worry, who looked away from her immediately.

"Yes, it's been suffering since the illusion he was put under by Danzo. It was a powerful one as you were informed and read about it. He was in it for years in the minutes my brother and I fought Danzo. He's been having frequent nightmares and isn't resting as he should. He has also had moments where he zones out, and snaps, losing his rational thought. He's woken up from one and tried to kill me, his eyes were glazed... like he wasn't fully conscious of his actions."

"..." Naruto winced and gripped his hands together tightly to the point his knuckles turned white.

"Jesus..." Tsunade paled a little and turned to face Naruto, staring at him in disbelief. "Why didn't you two tell me sooner?"

"I... uh..." Naruto frowned and held his hands together so tight that they shook.

"I didn't think it was this severe," I spoke for him, watching his face twitch and relax a little. "Until about ten minutes ago. We were visiting Sasuke and the sight of him chained to the wall triggered an episode of that lack of rationality he's been displaying. It was the first time he acted that way and wasn't waking up from a dream."

"This is extremely serious. You should have come to me when the nightmares started. Would you mind at all if I took a look?" Tsunade asked Naruto in a motherly tone.

"G-Go for it, it's why I'm here." Naruto grinned awkwardly.

Tsunade nodded and pushed herself out of her chair and made her way to his side. She then held a hand out and placed it on the top of his head, and closed her eyes. She funneled her chakra into him, a green glow emitting from her hand as she focused. Naruto remained frozen under her hold, looking at his hands as he tried not to look at the set of boobs directly in front of him. I winced at the awkward position and had to prevent myself from making a jab at him.

"It was a Genjutsu?" Tsunade asked me quietly.

"Yes, Danzo looked at him and Naruto collapsed immediately after. He wouldn't respond to me at all. Classic Genjutsu." I nodded firmly. "It was extremely similar to my ability."

"Hmm." Tsunade frowned and bit her lower lip as her eyes slid open. "Did they miss it?"

"What?" Naruto looked up at her as she slowly removed her hand.

"This isn't just..." She trailed off before turning to her desk. "Wait here. Give me a moment to find the right documents."

Naruto and I exchanged the same concerned and confused expression and watched as Tsunade sat back down at her desk and fumbled through her desk, flipping through hundreds of small files. She found a stapled document and began to read it intensely, scanning each sentence closely.

We sat for about five minutes until she lifted her head slowly to Naruto with a worried gaze.

"What's that face for?" Naruto spoke, visibly braced for the bad news.

"The top Shinobi of our interrogation and torture unit missed a seal. That's what." She spoke and bit her thumbnail in bafflement. "It's completely unlike them."

"A-A what!?" Naruto straightened and gripped his hair. "Like a physical seal on my brain!?"

"..." My eyes widened in shock. "Bullshit! He didn't physically-!" I began but froze solid as I remembered our fight.

He only got close to Naruto once, when he was holding a Kunai to his heart and threatening to kill him just before I broke the Genjutsu. He was close enough to touch him, kneeling beside his body. I was only focusing on the bladed hand since I was over my limit of hunger and in a constant state of inner battle. I was too out of it to notice what his other hand was doing.

...

...

"Oh." I blinked slowly and covered my mouth as I helplessly glanced at Naruto, who stared at me with confusion.

"What?" Tsunade asked.

"Itachi?" Naruto urged me to speak, looking like he was about to vomit. "What did he do to me?"

"He got close enough to touch him," I spoke as I watched Naruto grow pale immediately. "Just before I snapped him out of the Genjutsu, Danzo was threatening to kill him and was kneeling right beside him. I was only watching the blade..." I explained to the two of them. "My senses were overthrown by hunger and near insanity. I wasn't thinking straight during the majority of that trip... I let my anger get the better of me and stopped paying attention."

"So he had the opportunity to plant a seal on him?" Tsunade asked carefully, leaning forward as her face darkened.

"He had a giant one." I grimly nodded, staring Naruto down, growing worried.

"Damnit." Tsunade sighed heavily. "Well, at least we know that it's there now before anything too bad happened. The timing couldn't have been worse for something like this. Naruto have you had any vivid images of Danzo while awake?"

"Only when something reminds me of the genjutsu." Naruto nodded slowly, gripping the hem of his shirt.

"Can you willingly stop it? Or does someone have to snap you out of it?" She leaned forward.

"I have to snap him out of it. As I stated, he changes when they happen, and is completely overburdened with anger, pain, and violence. It's why I brought him here. I'd expect something on that scale after the horrible experience, anyone would be messed up. But I've felt something off about it. It just felt forced to me... but I didn't expect this. Danzo is very good with seals." I shook my head, feeling terrible for letting this happen in the first place.

I've failed him already.

"I'm going to throw up," Naruto grunted and covered his mouth, his entire body trembling with sickness radiating off of him.

I quickly rushed to the trashcan beside the office desk and was quick to move to his side. The moment the can was in front of him he began vomiting. I didn't blame him for doing so, his nerves were already destroyed within the cliff when he saw my brother, this was just too overwhelming.

He was right about one thing today, Danzo's death should have been much slower.

Once Naruto was finished puking, he took a couple of tissues from Tsunade and cleaned off his face. Once he trashed the tissues and tied the trash bag closed, he leaned back in his chair, staring through me rather than at me, bouncing his leg as he did back in the cliffs. He looked this way and that, as Tsunade and I watched him process the information.

"W-Well, I mean, now we know it's there," Naruto grunted.

"Yeah, at least we know." I nodded and patted his arm gently. "Do we know if it will hurt him to try and remove it?"

"That's my worry. If our best torture and interrogation team missed one of Danzo's seals that it's probably going to need my expertise. It could take days to remove something complicated if it's wired to mess with his head. It would be different had it only prevented him from speaking or remembering things, but behavioral changes? That's complicated." Tsunade chewed at her thumbnail again.

There was a knock at the door then, which startled all of us. My eyes shot to the door as a sense of overprotective need swarmed my body. I immediately sent a pulse of chakra, disrupting the energy in the air to map out who it was behind the door while stepping between it and Naruto, who seemed guarded as well.

"Who is it?" Tsunade asked calmly, not nearly as jumpy as me and my blonde.

"Lady Tsunade! He's here! He just arrived at the gates and is on his way here." A woman spoke.

By her outline, she was a leaf shinobi carrying a... pig?

"Thanks, Shizune! Prepare a room for him!" Tsunade called.

"Right away!" This Shizune woman replied and rushed off in a hurry.

"Brilliant!" Naruto shot to his feet. "Can my day get any more-"

"LORD Hokage!" The door burst open again, making me jump in front of Naruto with a growl.

A tall man burst into the room with Kakashi in Tow, wearing the ugliest green jumpsuit I've ever seen with a vest slapped on over it. Kakashi looked worn out and sweaty, but perked up at the sight of my defensive glare, the person in front of him clenched his fist and stomped his foot forward, a weird and unknown wind blowing into the room as his smile caught the light of the room, blinding me for a second.

"Sorry, is this a bad time?" Kakashi asked lazily, though his eye held a large amount of amusement.

"WE HAD A RACE through the village, which concluded in us coming here! With the power of youth, we were able to tie the results, but on the way, we spotted the Rikage approaching this very tower! You're welcome!" The man grinned confidently.

Naruto deadpanned and slapped a hand over his face, but I heard him trying not to laugh. I raised an unamused eyebrow at the adult, and Kakashi shrugged helplessly behind him.

"Thank you, Guy." Tsunade shook her head. "Now if you will-"

"Naruto!" Guy spotted Naruto behind me. "Great to see you! Are you jet lagged? Perhaps tired from a day of exercise? And Itachi! Good to see you back and not a killer!"

"Gee, thanks." I stared at Kakashi sourly, folding my arms in disapproval and irritation.

I was beginning to hate surprises.

"Something like that," Naruto huffed out. "Can you leave? We were in the middle of a conversation."

"Sure thing, come on Guy, let's get something to eat at one of the newly reopened restaurants." Kakashi offered and pulled Guy out of the room, waving at us apologetically.

They left and with their absence it became silent. Naruto walked to the doorway and slowly shut it. He turned and faced us with a look of fire in his eyes. He was terrified and shaking, but his eyes held a determination that made me stand a little taller. He took a step forward and gripped his hand closed, forming a fist and holding it to his chest.

"We'll deal with it. No matter how painful it becomes... no matter how bad I struggle I'll get over this until it's time to remove it. I won't let a dead man control me!" Naruto swore, his face concentrated and serious. "Harder said than done? Probably, but I won't just continuously suffer like the world seems to want. Fuck that. I'm going to get past it."

I smiled at his newfound determination, momentarily wondering if Guy's positivity jolted him out of his funk. Nevertheless, I agreed with his statement tenfold.

"Good." Tsunade smiled confidently at him and walked to the door. "The Rikage will be here shortly. He will most likely decide to waste no time getting to Sasuke's location. Do you wish you stay here and meet him at my side or go off on your own?"

"We're tagging along." Naruto and I spoke in unison.

"He's my brother, I won't abandon him," I spoke confidently, facing the Hokage with unwavering loyalty for my brother.

"He's my friend. And I don't abandon friends." Naruto nodded. "I'm going with."

"Then come along, we'll meet him outside." Tsunade smiled at us with what looked like pride before moving past us and leaving the room.

"Ready?" I asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Very. Let's go." Naruto grabbed my wrist and yanked me along, me following with a serious set to my face

We followed after the Hokage, keeping behind her and letting her lead the way as she should. She walked us downstairs and to the front doors of the tower, pushing past them and into the nighttime air.

The moon was bright, peaking through a partly cloudy sky, that covered and revealed stars as the clouds came and went. The road leading up to the tower we stood in front of was lit by newly placed street lamps with wooden benches placed down beside every other bench. Leading down the road were the many outlines of new construction, house skeletons, and outlines shaping the soon-to-be cityscape.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Tsunade spoke beside me, smiling with pride. "What the people of our nation are capable of? After such a traumatic invasion, we can come together and build each other back up from nothing. It's a reminder of what I failed to prevent, but also a reminder of what I have to lead. It's the people that matter most to the Leaf Village, not its structures. And our people are beautiful." She sighed happily as she planted her hands on her hips, leaning on one leg. "Jiraiya would have loved this view."

Naruto's hand tensed around my wrist, but it relaxed. I looked over curiously to find him with the same look of adoration, and pride, peering out at the town he lived in. He held pain in his eyes, but something else, something deeper.

"Yeah, he would have. He'd be asking when the hot springs were going to be built." Naruto smiled sadly, shaking his head. "Begging to do more research."

"Hahaha." Tsunade laughed into her hand, her face tinting with pink color as she laughed, her aura giving off more sadness now as they both remembered their fallen friend.

Making me feel like I was intruding on a conversation I wasn't a part of. They fell back into silence the moment a figure began to approach us from far off. I didn't need to squint my eyes or block out the street lamp lights to see who it was, like what Naruto was doing beside me, letting me go and straightening his posture.

"Fuck." Naruto shivered and straightened his clothes out. "I don't look too worn do I?" Naruto asked me, looking into my eyes with a begging look.

...

...

I could lie and tell him he looks fine, but he looked extremely tired and pale like he was sick. I sighed outwardly and ran a hand through his hair before facing the Rikage.

"That doesn't matter. If he says something I'll say something straight back to him." I gave a determined nod.

We stood there and waited as the Rikage stalked toward us, guarded by two cloud shinobi and four Anbu. Once they approached us the Anbu moved behind us and stood ready for anything. The first thing the Rikage did was silently glare at Naruto, who stared straight back at him. The Rikage huffed before holding out a hand for Tsunade to shake.

"Welcome, Lord Rikage." Tsunade smelled.

"Good to see you in good health, Senju." The tall man inclined his head before looking at me. "I was informed that Itachi Uchiha, ex-Akatsuki, was roaming freely in your village but I must say I'm pleasantly surprised to see it. I heard your brother killed you." The man raised a brow with genuine curiosity.

"He did. I'm a walking example of one of the enemy's tricks." I placed a hand on my chest and inclined my head only partly. "A pleasure to formally meet you, Lord Rikage."

"Yes yes, enough with the formalities. I'm already getting fed up." He grumpy stated and dismissed me with a wave of his hand, rolling his eyes to Tsunade, whose face turned serious. "You lot know why I'm here. Where is he?"

"Locked up and secure. I'll lead you there quickly." Tsunade gestured, taking a step to the side.

"Thank you." The Rikage nodded and walked at her side as she led us forward.

Naruto gripped my sleeve with a nervous expression. I looked at him and gave his hair a soft ruffle, which did little to soothe my anxieties. He was here to pass judgment on my little brother, my only family. I wasn't going to let this rude dick kill my brother over something he didn't do. He didn't kill his brother, he was spared and due to this, it was fine right? Sure, he attacked the Kage summit, tore off his arm, and killed Danzo but the bastard deserved death.

The Rikage's arm deserved a strike over the head but not death as punishment. He's suffered through enough hardship in his life to deserve death, without getting the proper chance to live without a hunger for revenge.  He hasn't been able to enjoy life without any stress, or underlying agenda. I want my brother to experience genuine friendship, something Naruto could provide. I want him to wake up in the morning and realize he has nothing to do, but relax.

I want him to worry about who he hangs out with, what easy missions he could pull off on his own for extra cash, and what he would wear that day, not who he was going to kill and who wanted him dead. I'm just relieved I'm going to be able to intervene should he want my brother dead.

I should be dead... I've long since passed my expiration date, but with this life, I won't throw it away. I want to have the opportunity to live how I want to, not governed by my environment and the pressures of my peers. I want to be selfish, I want to be happy. And seeing my brother happy is one of my goals. The other is already at my side.

I'll protect both of them, no matter who stands in my way.

I'd cut down every last one of their enemies if it meant happiness. I'd protect them and their friends as well. I'd prevent wars by slaughtering innocents, I'd crumble cities to protect nations. I'd follow madmen if it meant protecting the world, but Madara seeks to destroy it.

I just want peace... a peaceful life and a peaceful mind. But if I must...

I'd kill the Rikage to preserve My family.

If he rules that Sasuke must die... the Rikage dies in his stead.

The closer we got to the cliff the more nervous Naruto and I got. We would glance at each other the moment we realized we were nearly there, and so on. We had the same look of anticipation and anxiousness. I was calmer than he was, but I was starting to struggle to contain myself as the Rikage in front of us began to pop his neck and look taller than he was a moment ago.

Mentally preparing himself for what he was going to decide.

We walked inside the cliff, minding the Anbu who immediately turned to Naruto, watching him rather than the Rikage. Their lack of trust was completely understandable if the situation was viewed from their perspective. Naruto looked down at his feet as we walked forward, frowning as he fell further into thought, a hand subconsciously rubbing his bite scar.

"Naruto can't look inside the room, if he does it can't be at Sasuke directly, it's a trigger," I spoke up, wrapping an arm around Naruto to comfort his uncomfortable vibes.

"Understood." Tsunade sighed softly.

"Trigger?" The Rikage tilted his head towards us, looking at Naruto curiously.

"It's a subject for a later discussion," Tsunade replied for us, waving the subject off as we came up to my brother's door.

I sighed heavily and took a step forward, gently patting Tsunade's shoulder. She turned to me with a look of curiosity, but I only returned it with a stressed expression.

"Can I at least warn him he's here?" I asked as calmly as I could.

She narrowed her eyes lightly, and her eyes momentarily flitted behind me before looking back at me. She gave a silent nod and I wasted no time by rushing to the door, ignoring the Anbu, and walking straight through, cracking the door behind me since shutting it was pointless.

"Sasuke," I spoke in a hushed tone, approaching the line and stepping past it, ignoring the way it hissed in alarm to embrace him, feeling his body flinch beneath mine. "Are you okay?"

"Yes? Itachi you're going to get in trouble." Sasuke warned me, tense. "What's wrong?"

"..." I winced, squeezing him tightly, unable to hide my shaking limbs as genuine fear swallowed my slow-beating heart, heat rising from my corpse-cold skin. "He's outside the door."

Sasuke inhaled sharply before exhaling more slowly. He rested his head on my shoulder, laying it there since he was unable to do anything else.

"It's okay, Itachi. It's not your fault." Sasuke reassured.

"I'm so sorry. For everything Sasuke, I mean that. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I-I won't let him kill you. I'd rather him die instead. I will do it too. I won't lose you like I did everyone else. I can't have your blood on my hands. Anyone else but you." I hissed, feeling the lights flicker underneath my own emotions, our shadows mingling and writhing like something living.

"Itachi, I'm here because of my own choices. It's not your fault idiot." Sasuke huffed, shoving me off of him, frowning in his lazy manner. "Stop acting as if everything revolves around you. I cut off the man's arm, I killed Danzo, and I would have done much worse had you not been there. It's okay. Let them in, I'm ready."

"..." I sighed heavily and pushed off of the ground and to my feet, turning to face the door where everyone was waiting. "Come in."

The first person who walked inside was Tsunade, who stared me down with curiosity and genuine sadness. The next person was Naruto, who walked silently to a chair and sat down, putting his head in his hand that he had on the armrest he splintered earlier, his eyes glued to his feet.

His eyes were blood red, making me tense for a moment, only to see his eyes weren't glazed over. Following after him was the Rikage, who stared at Naruto for a long moment before looking up at me, and then at my brother, chained and wrapped up.

Completely defenseless.

I reluctantly left his side and moved to where Naruto was sitting, taking a seat beside him. I didn't relax and kept up my posture in case I needed to charge him, ready for a fight. Tsunade stood guard in front of us, not blocking our view but standing there in case we tried anything, an obstacle I'd surely struggle with if he does plan to end my brother.

The Rikage stood silently for a long moment before approaching my brother, making me and Naruto tense. He reached for him, still not making a sound, making me nervous and nearly standing.

I stopped after he simply took off the bandages around his eyes.

"Look at me, Uchiha." The Rikage ordered, his tone demanding as he towered over my brother.

Sasuke had his eyes closed, but slowly he opened them. He blinked up at the Rikage with a calm gaze, his eyes flicking toward me and Naruto, before looking back to the Rikage. The taller male inhaled and exhaled deeply slow and calculating. He then grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, and patted it, before slugging him across the face hard enough to make it sound like a clap of thunder, making me flinch as my ears began to ring, blocking out other sounds as I leaped forward.

Tsunade's arm blocked me like an iron beam, making me grunt loudly as it knocked the wind from my lungs, she shot a glare at me, warning me to stand down, something I couldn't do as I tried shoving past her.

She was much stronger than she looked.

Sasuke had been knocked to the ground by that punch, spitting blood from his mouth as the side of his face began to swell up. He winced at the pain, but he didn't move, in anger, the Rikage's heavy foot pressed him flat to the floor effortlessly.

"You're actions are punishable by death, Uchiha. Nothing is keeping me from turning your body into a paste." The Rikage hissed, making Naruto shoot to his feet, Tsunade grabbed ahold of him before he could get farther than me.

The Rikage shot us a nasty glare, his eyes were cold and unforgiving. His eyes lingered on Naruto, narrowing in thought as ideas formulated visibly behind his eyes. I could smell anger, immense anger from him as he glared Naruto down, however, that rage softened only a little, but enough for me to raise my eyebrows.

"However, you have people who still vouch for your innocence. Your blonde friend, a Jinchuriki at that, swears by you. He came to the Land of Iron against orders from Danzo, illegally, and intercepted me to plead for your life. He stooped as low as bowing face-first into the snow, begging, crying at my feet in a pathetic display that disgraced him. All for your sake." The Rikage explained. "Itachi Uchiha swears by you, your brother who killed your entire family but spared you. You'd already be dead for what you attempted to do to my brother if it weren't for these two idiots." He growled, pointing at us with his only arm.

I felt Naruto tense and freeze beside me.

Sasuke looked at us then, his eyes lingering on us as we stood there, staring the Rikage down with murderous eyes, wishing to put ourselves between him and the Rikage to prevent further harm.

"I'm sorry for trying to attack your brother. I was power hungry after unlocking my Sharingan'a next stage of progression. Madara was my key to getting close to Danzo so I did what I had to get to him quicker." Sasuke explained, looking up at the Rikage. "I won't do it again. I have no reason to with Itachi being alive and in front of me. As for Naruto's actions, I'd consider them idiotic, but... not entirely useless. He's the reason I'm here rather than someplace else with the Akatsuki."

My heart softened and I sighed softly, relaxing as the anger slowly left the Rikage little by little, making Tsunade's arm relax but not move down. Her guard was going to remain up for this entire conversation.

"Naruto, what are your views on Sasuke joining the Akatsuki?" The Rikage asked Naruto without facing him.

"He's an idiot for doing so," Naruto spoke slowly, staring down at the ground. "It hurt, and confused me, but I know why he did it. It was a dumb decision to make but it can't be undone. But I believe that people do things for sake of peace that others might disagree with... he isn't the first." He whispered.

"Hm?" The Rikage raised a brow, anger flaring for a moment. "Are trying to Justify his-"

"I'm not justifying it at all. It's wrong to try and get what you want through violence." Naruto spoke boldly and stared the Rikage down as they locked eyes. "He is a victim of circumstance, war was on the horizon for the Uchiha clan and the leaf. Itachi was forced to be a middleman and carried out the hardest order he could have by killing his own family to keep the peace, a fault that rests entirely on Danzo's dead shoulders." Naruto's tone turned bitter, and that bloodlust of his rose again, making me nervously back away from Tsunade and ready myself for an episode should he have one.

"Sasuke was a victim of this order that Itachi was given. He was spared, and Itachi didn't want Danzo to kill Sasuke for knowing why so he left and personified himself as the villain to protect Sasuke. They both suffered at the hands of violence, and its violence that birthed the Akatsuki into being. I learned this from facing Pain when he destroyed my home and killed my friends. I above all people want the Akatsuki gone, they've killed my Sensei, Pervy Sage. I was going to kill him... Pain... for what he did. I wanted revenge and I nearly fell victim to my tailed beast to get it. I let my hate consume me and as a result, I nearly became the monster I've been called my entire life.

That's what Hatred does, it changes people. It makes them become the thing they despise and rarely do others step in and stop them. If I became my monster, no one would reason with me... I'd be killed before I could cause more damage. No one would have given me a second chance. That's the problem with our world. Second chances don't happen. We destroy what we fear without allowing ourselves to think about why we do what they do. I was able to talk Pain out of his choices... and it was that moment between us that saved everyone he killed, sacrificing himself for the sake of those he didn't know and killed to get to me.

"I understand the pain of losing family. Jiraiya was like a father to me, the only person in my life I believed truly cared for me. But I was able to look past my rage to hear the pain of the enemy and help him. Because the only thing that comes out of killing others... is more suffering. You can't have peace come from hate. It's just impossible." Naruto shook his head, the red leaving his eyes as his body sagged a little. "Please, spare him. And if Sasuke tries anything as he did with your brother, I'll break every bone in his body until he understands this too. But never will you see me kill someone. He doesn't deserve it."

Okay... wow.

I blinked a few times in surprise as his demeanor changed from nervous and closed off to defiant, and honest.

Bold.

His words made complete sense and were wise for his age. Hell, I don't even think I could have explained something like that. I was about to attack the Rikage and here Naruto was, reigning his anger in and talking to him instead. There's something special about that... very special.

The Rikage digested his words and looked back down to Sasuke, who was now staring Naruto down with wide eyes, mirroring my shock. The Rikage slowly lifted his foot off of Sasuke and grabbed his neck, lifting him to his feet. I tensed when he didn't let go, but froze when the chains around his body shattered in a spark of electricity that made all of us flinch. The man also shredded the straight jacket with ease, tearing it off Sasuke who stumbled at the physical force.

"You better not throw your life away. This is your last chance, boy." The Rikage grumbled and rubbed his head. "The next time you fuck up I'll break your neck and feed you to the vultures of my land one limb at a time. Don't. Disappoint me."

I fell backward into my chair, exhaling loudly and grabbing my chest where my heart raced faster than it normally did, much faster to the point I was light-headed. The Rikage moved passed Sasuke and paused in front of Naruto.

"You are a curiosity, Naruto Uzumaki." The man simply stated, angrily patting him on the head before shoving him out of the way. "Tsunade, we have much to talk about. Come."

Naruto grunted as he caught himself on the wall, his wide eyes staring after the Rikage in shock before looking at Sasuke, like me, frozen with stress and emotions. Sasuke stood from the ground, dusting himself off and spitting blood onto the floor, rubbing his face gently.

"What are you two gawking at?" Sasuke huffed, walking over to us with folded arms.

"That looks painful." I chimed, smiling up st him.

"Because it is. You saw how hard that hit was. Well, I'm not dead. Stop stressing and let's get out of this place." Sasuke motioned to the door before walking out.

Naruto followed him only with his eyes, before blinking back toward the chains. His eyes lingered on them as I stood. I was about to ask him if he was okay. But he left before I got the chance. I sighed heavily and followed after them, tired.

What a beginning to our day...