I was tiredly leaning against the rail, letting my legs dangle between the posts limply as the ship rocked, staring out at the infinite blue sea with pure exhaustion while enjoying the way the moon lit the water. It was pretty, a sight I hadn't seen until now, and one I intended to burn into my brain. It was so peaceful, and every now and then, I could sea a big fish or ocean mammal splash at the surface of the water.

I had woken up struggling against Itachi again, I had apparently broken his nose, something I don't really remember, but the bruises on my hand and his bloodied nose when I came too was all the confirmation I needed to believe his statement. I couldn't remember what the dream was about, and I didn't want to.

I sighed in frustration, eyes scanning the water again as I felt more and more guilty as time dragged on. I left the room after Itachi tried to reassure me that he was fine. I didn't buy into that at all, and was also thinking about sleeping in a separate room than him. I don't want to keep hurting him... it's not fair to Itachi.

"I don't want to do this... with him getting hurt." I spoke to myself, frowning heavily at the waves.

I knew that I could punch pretty hard. I wasn't on the level of physical strength Sakura had, but I wasn't a wimp either. I consider myself pretty good as Taijustu for my level of expertise. I had muscle to back it up as well, which didn't help Itachi's nose in the slightest. Even after being tired from blood loss, I was still able to put up a good fight.

That will come in handy once the war starts.

"It's quiet out here." Sasuke's voice came from somewhere behind me. "And scenic."

"Yeah," I nodded in agreement, hugging the rail and keeping myself facing the ocean.

"It's peaceful." He commented, moving next to me and sitting down.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" I asked in mild annoyance, far from being able to handle his smug attitude.

"Are you okay? I heard you yell, and Itachi shouted some colorful language and heard you storm out soon after. Did you guys get into a fight?" Sasuke asked worryingly, making me sigh in defeat.

"I had a nightmare. I woke up thinking Itachi was someone else and I broke his nose." I corrected his assumption, looking down at my bruised knuckles. "I hit him very hard. I'm glad he's not human. That punch would have killed a regular man."

"Think so?" Sasuke quipped.

"Sasuke, he's a fucking vampire. He's faster than anyone on this ship or at home, probably faster than the Fourth Hokage. He also has a grip that can break rocks and the bones to withstand such pressure. Yes, it could have killed a regular man. I'm pretty sure I broke a knuckle punching him." I grunted and gently rubbed my swollen hand.

"Yep, that's broken." Sasuke replied. "Anyway, I was only checking in on you due to the noise. Sorry for pesturing you. It's boring on this ship."

"It's not so bad." I disagreed, smiling as best as I could. "The sound of the ocean is calming, and you can see some fish splash every now and then." I motioned toward the vast horizon of water.

"That doesn't make it entertaining." Sasuke grumbled and settled down, looking out at the ocean.

"It doesn't need to be," I shrugged, looking out at the sparkling water.

I didn't get a response and chose to sit there in the quiet with Sasuke. We hadn't sat down like this since we were much younger, both in an agreeable silence. We had only had one moment like this in our entire lives. We were very young... I had just been beaten up, and Sasuke had just lost his family.

We were both alone, and we both sat alone together at the river's edge back home, staring at the water and not uttering a peep to one another. I had heard about what had happened and couldn't bring myself to talk to him, offer condolences or anything like that, so we just decided to say nothing.

A silent moment I cherished even now.

I wonder if he remembers that evening.

My eyes wandered over to Sasuke, only to find he had glanced at me as well. We both tensed and looked forward awkwardly, not knowing what else to say to each other.

Our moment lasted a good long while, before footsteps and a door opening met our ears. Sasuke looked back, but I didn't, already having recognized the weight of his footsteps before he got behind us. I heard a shuffle and sat himself down behind us. I sighed heavily, frowning when I felt two arms snake around my middle, pulling me into a hug from behind.

"Hey..." Itachi greeted.

I basked in the cool temperature of his touch, the familiarity comforting me in ways that I couldn't explain. I let my exhaustion take over, and I laid limply against him, the tiredness I felt finally affecting my ability to keep my eyes open. They slid closed quickly, and all the tension in my body vanished.

"Hey," I mumbled out, staring out at the sparkling ocean.

Wanting to drown in it.

"It healed." Itachi whispered gently, a hand coming to brush my bangs from my eyes.

"It doesn't matter." I immediately hissed with annoyance. "I heal too, but that doesn't make what happened okay."

"Naruto -"

"Itachi Uchiha, I'm not going to feel better about punching you, and choking, and hurting you like I have been until I'm cured of this madness even after that! I'll still be angry! I don't want to share a room if I keep hurting you." I snarled and shoved him off of me, I was way too weak, but he moved off and got the message, thankfully. "I have bad experiences with attacking people blindly."

"You mean it's not the first time?" Itachi asked, his eyes filling up with extreme concern.

"This is different, but, yes, it's happened in the past, recently. The Nine Tails state has multiple stages. By the time I'm in stage three, I can barely register a friend from foe. When I encountered Orochimaru for the first time in over two years, I let my rage get the better of me. He was talking about Sasuke, and it set me off, so I went four tails on him. I don't remember what happened, but I injured Sakura because she got to close. The same happened while training with Jiraiya. Only that time, I nearly killed him. I don't remember these instances, but I wake up to horror each time I come out of it. I don't want to do that with you anymore." I explained, looking over at Itachi.

"I don't enjoy you having nightmares and being alone to suffer through them. You rest easier with me there, trust me. You flail more without me beside you." Itachi argued back, frowning at me with a longing in his eyes.

"Just... just one night, is all I ask?" I offered. "Let's just try it and see how it goes."

Itachi looked like he hated the idea of not sharing a bed or not spending time with me or both. He was also worried, I could see it in his eyes that he was extremely reluctant to let me sleep on my own. He stared at me in thought for a long moment before sighing lightly and giving me a small nod.

"Okay, if that's what you want." Itachi patted my head before looking out at the ocean and narrowed his eyes. "Huh..."

"What?" I asked and followed his gaze as did Sasuke. "Did you see a fish splash?"

"A fish?" Itachi asked and stood up, moving to the rail beside me and leaned over a little, squinting his eyes to make it out since his vision was better when he concentrated. 

"Yeah, you know, big sea fish and mammals. I've spotted a couple already. One one a giant fish, another was a shark and a couple others I couldn't quite make out." I explained, standing up and narrowing my eyes at the faint movement, unable to make out the details.

"Is something off?" Sasuke stood and looked to his brother in question.

"I don't think that's a -"

There was a flash, a glint that was unlike the regular ones I've seen. One moment, everything was fine. The next moment, Itachi was catching a Kunai that had been thrown right at my chest, catching it before it struck... before it pierced me. A gush of wind followed, making me gasp in shock, my brain switching immediately into battle mode.

Itachi jumped onto the railing and braced his legs before vanishing forward in another burst of air, shattering the rail into splinters. His body became a blur, and Sasuke and I followed suit.

"Are you sure you should be following? Don't be an idiot! You're too weak from before!" Sasuke shouted over the waves as we ran on the surface of the water.

"Don't underestimate me!" I shouted over the sound as well before throwing my arms together. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Ten copies of myself appeared around us in a troupe of ninja, all darting forward as a giant burst of sea water erupted upwards. Two clones grabbed my wrists and I funneled chakra into my feet, before letting it burst a gust of wind at the moment I was launched forward, causing me to shoot ahead of Sasuke by a long shot, soaring forward with a few clones following close behind, having been launched themselves.

When we arrived, it was a hand to hand combat. Itachi delivering heavy blows while avoiding a large object being swung by the other individual, the other keeping up with Itachi's speed and physical ability. I helped a clone form a Rasengan before throwing them forward, watching as my clone made contact with the enemy and ram the Rasengan into the blunt object, making itachi leap back and look over at me and my clones as we arrives, landing beside him, panting tiredly.

"Itachi! Who is it!?" I asked, as my clone was cut down with ease, water bending to their will.

"Traitorous Uchiha... you haven't changed." A familiar voice made me tense, and pull put a Kunai from my back pouch pocket. "We should have expected you to turn tail and run. We graced you a second chance, and you fail your mission and abandon us for family, which is rich coming from you!"

Itachi held up a kunai, not looking phased by the words at all. He stared at me and grew irritated immediately.

"You are far too weak to be out here. That was foolish of you." Itachi spoke up, making me more annoyed since I just heard that from Sasuke.

"Don't underestimate me." I warned Itachi, fed up by my day already as the water settled and exposed Kisame to my line of sight.

"Ah... the Jinchuriki~! Turning yourself over?" Kisame asked as he swung his giant shark-like sword over his shoulder.

"In your dreams." I hissed as my clones braced themselves for combat.

Sasuke arrived and held his sword up, red eyes activated and ready to kill him. Itachi looked to Sasuke before looking back at Kisame. In one second, Kisame's gaze flattened, and I tensed as a weird rush flowed threw me as his eyes rolled back, him falling to his knees. Sasuke didn't hesitate to zip up and behead him with a single cut of his sword. I lowered my fighting stance as I watched the body start to sink into the water.

The battle was over before it began, it seemed.

I looked over to see Itachi's Sharingan on full display. His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the body sink and the sword float.

I don't know about them, but that was heavily anticlimactic. I didn't lower my guard, though, and scanned the water around us, Itachi was doing the same before sighing heavily and looking to me. His gaze softened as he looked to my chest, then to my neck before shaking his head and looking back through the water, scanning and double checking in case the body they cut down was a clone.

"How did he know where to find us?" Sasuke piped up.

"I don't know. Maybe he was following us at a big distance, or perhaps he was patrolling and got lucky." Itachi responded.

"Wasn't he one of the last members?" I asked in curiosity as I watched blood turn the water in an area of six feet across red.

"Yes, it was him, konan, and Madara himself, but it sounds like Kabuto joined their ranks recently. I'm one of his experiments." Itachi nodded, folding his arms.

I nodded thoughtfully. "You know, Konan didn't seem like a bad person to me. Nagato was debatable, but Konan was nice when I met her. She cared about Nagato deeply, and both were students of Jiraiya's who were trying to find peace in this world through radical means."

Itachi hummed. "She kept to herself, but she was always at his side. She never bothered any of us."

"Hm." I smiled faintly. "Well, want to head back? We probably woke everyone up. You destroyed the railing on the ship."

Itachi shrugged and began to walk with me at a normal pace, watching Sasuke run ahead of us. I glanced down at my chest again, still surprised that I was nearly killed. I looked back over to the bloodied water, only to find no source of red. I felt my heart skyrocketing to my throat as I then grabbed his wrist and looked down, only to shriek and shove Itachi to the side as a giant shark burst out of the water, my shooting my limbs out as a giant mouth swallowed my body whole. I didn't have time to catch my breath as I was submerged in water and dragged below the surface.

FUCK! I knew that was too easy!

I substituted my body with water and was outside of the shark in second, swimming up while looking down, hearing a loud crash if waves above the surface, sensing Itachi's chakra being pushed further and further back by someone else. My attention remained below me, however, as dozens of sharks swamped the ocean beneath me, circling the area as someone remained in the middle of them. Kisame, staring right up at me with a smirk on his face.

I swam upward, not breaking eye contact, and formed shadow clones at my side to propell me above the surface, letting me finally gasp in air and cough up the water I inhaled on accident. I tiredly took in a few gasps of air and stood up before running out of the way of a barrage of shares twice my size, each trying to bite me and drag me under.

I grunted and attacked one with a Rasengan, destroying its form as it turned back onto water, making me curse in annoyance. We were literally in his element, and I couldn't through a Rasenshuriken under water, I couldn't even make one without Sage mode, or I'd be breaking my arm!

Another boom exploded from behind me, and I went to obliterate the shark, but instead, my hand was grabbed by another, and I narrowly missed a slash from a blur of seratted edges. I was thrown back and formed Shadoe clones to catch myself, grunting at the force used, my vision blurring as dizziness set it, making me shake my head. I then dunked when an arm flew at my face. I watched my clones shove me backward and attack Kisame, taking him on.

One pulled out a Kunai, and it classed with his sword, but the Chakra was sucked right out of him, and he dispursed immediately. The other clone saw this and leaped back, throwing blades in a hailstorm, each one being dodged effectively. I grunted and backed up a few more bounds, assessing the situation while also dodging an attack from sharks bursting from the water. The waves were also getting larger and larger, blocking my eye sight on Kisame as Mt clones went at him.

That sword of his needs to go. It can drain my chakra if I remember right. If I could get him to drop that sword, then I'd be good to best the living snot out of him. Itachi was probably fighting a clone, but these waves made it hard to see much. It was honestly making me feel a little sick.

I jolted when memories of my clone hit me, making me brace as a wall of shark scales burst through a wave straight at me. I dashed to the side, but I felt a ripping sensation across my shoulder, making me gasp as a draining feeling followed, making me grab my shoulder as blood began to ooze.

"Damnit!" I hissed, spinning around and making more clones.

I shot wind chakra from my palms, focusing it forward at the wave I new Kisame was in, watching as the hyper fast gust created ice blocks on the surface, launching a clone forward to leap off of this and drop kick the top of Kisame's head, which was blocked by his arm. The clone then drew blood by cutting a gash in the man's face before going for his wrist to get him to drop his sword. However, it cut him, and the clone vanished immediately, making me grunt in frustration.

"You've gotten strong, Naruto Uzumaki~! I'm very impressed that you can keep up with me." Kisame cackled, bursting through the wave, hitting and shattering the thick pieces of ice, taking the blunt force to get to me, sword coming my way. "It's not good enough, you seem tired!" I cackled as I threw myself aside, sacrificing another clone, making more at my side immediately after. "YOU CAN'T RUN~!" He excitedly cheered.

I face him finally, ducking under a swing and upper cutting him while a clone sacrificed himself to catch the blade and pull. I watched as blood flew from Kisame's hand, and the sword refused to budge. I felt a rush through my body and roughly struck his chest, watching him grunt and stumble back, coughing up blood and smirking angrily after. I grit my teeth and advanced, almost feeling no change when the sword sliced across my arm. I didn't even feel it happen, and shoved the blades from my arm, and slashed across his chest with a clawed hand.

"Finally! Awake and ready to put up a good fight!" Kisame roared with laughter.

I ignored him as we exchanged blows, each knocking each other back and forth, my strength finally matching his as a rush of foreign power surged through my system. I didn't care much, as the survival instinct kicked in. I was able to use a clone nearby to make a Rasengan in my palm and struck him with it at point-blank rage. He was thrust backward as it ripped apart his abdomen, ignoring the searing hot pain of my back being shredded and salt water spray getting into the wound.

I dodged the incoming sharks with ease, missing each and every one, destroying them with a swipe of my hand. I lunged again, not giving myself or him a chance to breathe. I wasn't going to let him regain his composer! No... i was going to exhaust him slowly, let him burn through his chakra while he tried to drain mine. Mine was bottomless.

"You're nothing but a weapon whose power supply is as bottomless as the ocean. Feel his power... connect with it and use your rage to destroy them calmly. Every last obstacle in our way to success will bent under your wrath. All shall fear it... your power." Danzo spoke in my ear, my vision tunneling to Kisame's bleeding figure.

A rush of something else filling me. Not power, but adrenaline, enjoyment... bloodlust. I felt myself smiling as I burst through the wave as well, no longer struggling against dizziness or exhaustion as a rush of pleasure filled my body. I was going to take my anger out on this blue man... and destroy his pride!

I grabbed his sword with my clawed hands, a red film encasing my body. He gasped as I tore the blade from his skin, ignoring its scales stabbing into my hand, tossing it to my translucent tail and lunging at him, allowing my red hot chakra to burn through his blue skin. A cage of water erupted around me in one moment and exploded about the next, unable to contain me. The sharks didn't come near me... and my clones began to cry out, screaming in pain before vanishing.

Kill him..

Kill him..

Kill him..

"Kill them all."

I ripped a limb off, a spray of blood decorating the both of us as we fought, I felt my chest erupt with hot liquid as something cut into it, I could taste blood in my mouth, and feel my limbs buzzing with numbness. I ignored it all and only focused on his pain, on him... his inpendinf demise at the hands of our power.

"Yes... use it... have it all!" His voice cackled behind my eyes, his presence consuming me as the booming in the distance came to an abrupt halt.

"GNNN!" Kisame grunted as I ripped through his middle like it was nothing, easier than cutting through stones.

I coughed up blood but smiled through it as I punched my arm clean through his gut, warm heat blooming around my arm as his blood sprayed everywhere. I ripped my limb free and backed away from him as he collapsed against the surface of the water, panting heavily as the red film vanished from around me, holding a sword that had stabbed itself into my other hand.

I panted heavily, my smile fading as he died in front of me, shakily standing on the surface in front of him. However, my feet began to sink through the water as a wave of exhaustion and pain exploded through my body. My chakra gave, and I fell through the surface of the water, not making an effort to hold my breath. Before I could sink any further, two pairs of arms pulled me up out of the water. I coughed up saltiness, and tired looked ahead of me at nothing.

"You fought well." Yamato grunted, hoisting me up.

"Easy now." Sasuke grunted.

I looked over your see Itachi, keeping his distance, covering his nose with a strained expression. He didn't come close, but he followed at the same pace we moved. I was carried in a hurry back to the ship, and once there, I discovered it had taken damage. There were repairs in the sides from holes, and some water had gotten on the deck.

"Nngh..." I groaned and dropped the sword on the deck, bleeding everywhere I felt like.

Some wounds were closing but others were bleeding pretty bad, making me feel light-headed and weak. The healing factor the nine tails had was kicking in, but slowly. They put pressure on my wounds, and Itachi kept his distance from me due to my smell and my blood.

I wish I knew the nine tails name... so I could stop referring to him as just-

"Kurama. It's Kurama... the Nine Tails is also getting on my nerves." A deep voice rumbled in my belly.

Okay... Kurama... nice to know. It's a much better name than just your tail number.

I was met with silence. I didn't linger on this and felt myself slipping unconscious. I didn't fight it, too tired to care about staying awake to make everyone feel better. I was exhausted, and my plans for fishing were ruined by Kisame magically appearing. I didn't listen to the voices around me or care that my shirt was being removed. I only openly allowed myself to drift asleep. 

...

...

...

...

I slept for an endless amount of time. No pain or dreams or thoughts popped into my head. I slept emptily but rested well, and when I opened my eyes again, I really wished that I hadn't.

It felt like I was obliterated from head to toe with wounds, and in a way, I was. It hurt everywhere, each muscle was sore, and my breathing was labored. I didn't notice I was sweating until a wet cloth placed itself over my forehead. My vision was blurry, and my head was pounding against my skull, I winced, but the scrapes on my face made wincing painful. I groaned out in pain, but my throat was hurting too. My eyes rolled back into my head, closing as my back arched painfully off the bed. I felt hands gently place themselves on my abdomen, pushing me back down, which hurt as well.

"Easy Naruto, you're banged up pretty bad, and you've spiked a fever." Yamato spoke softly beside me.

"Ggnnh!" I hissed, gritting my teeth together in pain. "Uhg, this hurts!"

"You nearly lost yourself in that fight. I felt the nine tails chakra. Kisame is defeated, but you took a lot of blows doing it. I don't know how you didn't collapse during the fight." Yamato admitted. "It's impressive that you're alive... considering the blood loss."

"Adrenaline." I whimpered. "I-Is Itachi, alright?"

"He's much better than you are. He's got a few gashes and bruises, but he's okay. You aren't." Yamato strictly stated. "He can't come in here for obvious reasons... so you can't see him until you feel better and heal up some more. Okay?"

I grunted in response, relaxing after hearing that Itachi was fine. I sighed shakily and kept my eyes closed since the room was spinning, and the rocking ship didn't help my nausea. I gagged and bit my teeth together to beat back the want to throw up. I inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly to try and calm my writhing body down. I tiredly opened my eyes and looked to Yamato, wincing at the bright lantern light.

"Sorry for getting hurt." I apologized. "And for getting carried away... I used his chakra again."

"You couldn't help it, Naruto. Just focus on getting rest. You need it, and you are barely stable enough as it is. I don't want you worrying over something you couldn't have controlled. If I were in your shoes, I'd have done the same." Yamato explained and wiped my forehead with a damp and warm cloth, replacing it with a much hotter one. "Sleep off this fever,"

I hummed weakly, looking to him before closing my eyes. I was going to say something, but the words never left my head as I drifted back into unconsciousness.

My thoughts rolled around about everything that has recently occurred. From the Akatsuki activities to the war that was coming up. I thought about how my friends would survive, hoping that they would, and how I would too. How could I get into battle when I was one of the main targets? I didn't see that happening until we all converged in the same area. I'd have a lot of people backing me up and a lot of newfound power as well, if I can get the ni- Kuramas power under control.

I wonder if he feels hate... as I do towards that masked Akatsuki, Madara. I wonder if he feels anger about being locked away... like I did with Danzo. It must be cramped... sealed in a cage with no room to stretch or do much of anything. I know he hates my father for what he did, for being sealed within me. I guess he probably hates Madara too then, since he's the source of the attack sixteen years ago.

That's something we have in common then, hating Marara Uchiha. Maybe we could bond over it, talk... get to know each other.

I've spent my whole life afraid and despising him, but it wasn't his fault he was within me in the first place. That blame alone rested in my father's hands. He was just trying to protect me, but that doesn't make what he did to me fair to us. Maybe Kurama would be willing to talk... to get along if we sat down and talked about everything going on?

We are on a name to name basis now, then again, only because calling him by his tail number was getting on both of our nerves. Still, that's a mutual agreement to start.

Progress is progress.

After thinking about that, my mind went to Kisame Hoshigake's sudden appearance. Itachi was keeping an eye out as far as I know. So why did he pop up? How did he know where to find us? I don't believe he just found us with luck. We didn't tell anyone we were leaving that we shouldn't have, I trusted Itachi with that, and I didn't blab to anyone unnecessary and made sure we weren't being overheard. I didn't let the scroll I was given be exposed to anyone else.

No one is that lucky... it doesn't make any sense to me.

How could someone like Kisame know about our wearabouts? He would have been spotted if he had followed us. There's no way he could've hid from the senses of Yamato and Itachi, two trained Jonin. Sasuke was used to traveling with Orochimaru. Someone who was secretive and good at staying hidden knew how to cover himself, so Sasuke could have sensed him too. It doesn't make sense to me how Kisame just showed up out of the blue.

I'll sleep on the idea. There must be an explanation somewhere I'm not seeing. There was a possibility that I was overlooking or something... I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of it sooner rather than later.

For now... I'll just sleep on it.

Yeah, that's a good idea.