Itachi felt the chakra signatures get closer to him and Izumi, and with an unconscious and vulnerable Naruto, they were at a disadvantage. 

He steeled his nerves as he looked over at Izumi, who had a bead of sweat going down her cheek. Yes, she was nervous as well, the short sword in her hand was shaking slightly. 

This could be bad. 

Maybe if they ran as fast as they could they could get away, or maybe hide and try to hide their presence and-

They were here. 

"Well well well," A voice boomed, the trees covering their physical presence. "If it ain't the three little Genin from that trashy village!" 

"Show yourself you coward!" Izumi shouted, her voice slightly shaky. 

"Heh heh heh," A female voice laughed from behind Izumi. "The little girl thinks were scared of her!" 

"Perhaps you aren't scared of her," Itachi began as his Sharingan began twisting. "But you should definitely be scared of me!" He was thankful that Naruto wasn't awake.

He would do what was necessary, unlike his friend. 

"Because I already know where you are!" Itachi shouted as he vanished from sight, the grass under his feet shaking from the way he took off, the wind traveling through the trees as Itachi appeared on the trunk of one at the top, stabbing what seemed to be the air, but the point of his sword was dripping blood as the air suddenly materialized, revealing a Genin from Mist who had a shocked look on his face before dropping to the ground, dead. 

"KORO!" A panicked voice shouted as a teenager on another tree revealed himself, jumping to his dead comrade. "You bastard!" He reeled as he had tears coming out of his eyes. "You heartless bastard!"

"This is what it means to be a shinobi," Itachi said simply. "You either kill or be killed, I choose the first." 

Izumi noticed the wet spot on the dirt behind her just a few feet, her Sharingan unwilling to let her miss it. She gripped her sword tightly in her hand before whirling around, thrusting her sword forward as she felt it pierce flesh. 

A teenager girl revealed herself, Izumi's sword in her chest as she coughed a little, a thin line of blood going down her chin before she fell on her back, choking to death on her own blood, her body writhing as she was unable to force herself to move any other way. 

"Kuru!" The boy screamed in despair as he saw his second teammate fall, dead. "I'll kill you both! I'll kill you both!" 

"You will kill no one," Itachi said as he jumped off the tree, landing gracefully on the ground. "You are alone while we are two. Just leave, I don't wish to kill you." 

"You think that I will just leave because I'm alone!? I'll avenge my teammates! I am Kozu of Mist, and I will kill you all!" He screamed passionately as he charged Itachi, a kunai in hand. Itachi's Sharingan flashed brighter before Kozu suddenly found himself laying on the ground, a thin line on his throat as blood seeped from it like a waterfall. 

"I doubt that," Itachi said simply as he sheathed his sword. "For you are dead and I am left standing." He turned around and picked Naruto back up, putting the blonde on his back and turning to Izumi. "Come on, we don't have much time to actually get to a safe place so Naruto can rest." 

"Y-Yeah." Izumi stammered as she walked with Itachi, glancing at the body that was on the ground, a grimace creeping on her face. 

It wasn't her first kill, but it was the first person who was just competing for the same goal as her. Izumi was also only a few years younger too, making it even worse on her conscience.

Itachi noticed the distressed look on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

"Izumi," He began, still lugging Naruto on his back. "You did what you needed to do to survive. It was either you or her, and I would choose your life over hers anytime. Do not feel bad, for we are shinobi, it is what were are meant to do." 

"Yeah," She whispered, understanding his words, but wondering if it would always be that way. 

'I'm going to stop all the wars and create peace!' 

No. It wouldn't. Naruto would see to that.  He would create peace.

She believed in him, even if Itachi didn't. 

Naruto would change this twisted words, he would become the strongest shinobi in existence! 

True peace would be achieved through him, and she would be next to him when it happened. 

They found a small cave to rest in, it being hidden quite well under the trunk of a large tree, the roots sticking out of the ceiling slightly as Itachi and Izumi sat in the dark, resting as Naruto laid beside Itachi, breathing softly, the only thing the two heard for awhile. 

"Itachi. . ." Izumi began as she looked at Naruto with her Sharingan. "What do you know about Naruto?" Itachi's eyes widened as he looked over at his comrade in arms. 

"Um, why do you wish to know?" Izumi just shrugged.

"I don't know, you just know him better I guess. I know that his parents died when the Kyuubi attacked and that he is from a mysterious Uchiha descent from his father's side, but that's it." Itachi frowned, shaking his head lightly.

"Then you know the bare basics, and even then you know more than the common villager or ninja. Naruto is. . ." He stopped speaking as he heard Naruto groan slightly, but the boy's breathing got back to its original steady flow, indicating he was still asleep. "Naruto is a mystery to even me. He had a sister, but she died. The reason why he's always so happy and smiley is because his father asked him to never frown and to always smile.

"Naruto has suffered through a lot and has a lot more suffering to go through. But, I believe the main cause of his suffering is the constant loneliness. Sure, he has us, the Uchiha, Kakashi, and the Hokage, but coming home to nobody to greet you, I can't even imagine that pain." 

"Oh," Was all Izumi could get out as she held back tears of sadness. She never knew Naruto had a sister, meaning. . .

"No, she's more like my little sister. So, like a big brother, I will protect her from anything that I can!" 

That's why. . . 

She fought the urge to spill more tears, her cheeks already stained with the few that had escaped her eyes. 

"Izumi," Itachi began, sensing that the girl was crying. "Please don't tell Naruto I told you this, he'll-"

"I won't." She confirmed, getting a relieved sigh from the Uchiha Prodigy. 

"Thank you." He stood up, making sure his sword was strapped to his back properly. "I will be going to get a golden sword, we cannot stop the mission because Naruto is asleep." 

"Are you sure?" Izumi began, getting up as well.

"Yes, but you have to stay here. I don't want the risk of another team finding Naruto and killing him." Izumi glared at Itachi.

"I'm not weak, Itachi!" Itachi nodded. 

"I know, that's why I'm entrusting Naruto to you." Izumi froze. "If I didn't trust your capabilities, I would have brought Naruto with me, asleep or not. Izumi, whether you believe in your own ability or not is up to you, but Naruto and I have complete faith in your physical prowess. You are strong, one of the stronger Genins of these Exams. 

"But, I am not going to lie to you. I am stronger than you, and it would only be logical for me to go out and hunt for a golden sword. Protect Naruto," He turned around, his Sharingan coming to life as the famous red eyes glowed in the darkness of the cave. "I will not be long." And like that, he was gone. 

"Idiot," Izumi mumbled as she sat down next to Naruto, who started snoring slightly, a small smile still on his face. "And you're an idiot too." 

Itachi ran out of the cave, sending his chakra out as his Sharingan scanned the area, looking for any traces of chakra or movements that would have revealed that people have been there, but he found none. 

Cursing lightly, he traveled farther, picking up his pace as he hurried. They still had three days to make it back to the starting area, but he wanted to find a golden sword now so he could rest easy instead of worrying about everything else, Naruto included. 

"I hate this!" He heard someone shout as his chakra suddenly picked up on something as he turned right and began speeding up. Maybe these people had a golden sword? 

"Just pick up the pace! They're getting angrier!" Another voice yelled as a roar erupted from where the shouts had taken place, the sheer force of the roar shaking the leaves above Itachi's head, who paid no heed to the tree. 

He had a goal. 

"Amon if you don't kick up your gears I'm going to shove my foot where the sun doesn't shine!" A female voice from what Itachi could tell shouted. 

"I'm trying!" The boy named Amon shouted. Itachi arrived at the scene to see several ginormous scorpions surrounding a group of three, where one was wielding a club-like weapon, another a whip, and the other a sword, each one trying to fight off the ever-growing horde. 

'Do they not know ninjutsu?' Itachi thought as he peered down at the group of three. They were from Taki, a not well-known village that was on the outskirts of Earth Country. 

"Akira! Amon! If you guys keep yapping then we're all gonna die!" The third one shouted as he quickly sliced down another scorpion that had lunged at him. Itachi watched as the horde of scorpions just got thicker and bigger, a feeling of pity forming in his stomach. 

They were going to die. 

Should he save them? They were his enemy and they were all competing for the very limited Golden Sword. Logically he shouldn't, but. . .

What would Naruto do? 

The blonde would've immediately leaped into action. Itachi internally cursed. 

Damn that blonde. 

He made a few hand signs before jumping off the branch that had kept him hidden so well before spewing a fireball, burning a large portion of the scorpions before landing next to the trio from Taki. 

"Who the hell are you?" The girl, Akira began, narrowing her eyes at the intruder. 

"I'm here to help, please do not question my reasons." Itachi's sword slid out of its scabbard before he jumped forward, slicing into several scorpions as his Sharingan moved rapidly back and forth, predicting the scorpion's moves and enhancing his own vision, everything going slowly. 

He could die. So why would he protect these people? Why would he risk his own life, risk never seeing Sasuke and his parents again for a bunch of random people? 

"WHY?!" He shouted loudly as he jumped into the air, performing another fire jutsu that burnt another large portion of the scorpions up. Landing on his feet, he dodged several claws from snapping him in two and multiple stingers from stabbing him. 

If he got hit once he was done for. So why? 

'I believe that one day we can all come together!'

That's right. Because of Naruto. The person who whole-heartedly believed he would change the shinobi world. Because of Naruto, he was saving these random Genin. 

The kind-hearted shinobi would die for these people and for no reason other than to save them. 

"You bastard," Itachi cursed, a small smirk on his face. "You kind-hearted bastard! You really have changed me, huh?" His two tomoed Sharingan morphed into a three tomoed Sharingan, everything he was seeing being able to be perceived slightly slower than it actually was, making his smirk grow even larger.

His Sharingan had matured. . .good. 

He dispatched the remaining scorpions with relative ease, breathing hard as he sheathed his sword, sweat pouring down his face. 

"You okay?" Amon asked as he cautiously approached the Uchiha, who nodded.

"Don't get too close, Amon!" His male counterpart barked, making him shrink. The teen then shifted his focus on Itachi. "Now who're you, kid?" 

"My name is Itachi Uchiha from the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Itachi got out as he straightened up. "Now who are you?" 

"My name is Akira Mado," Akira had bright blonde hair, rivaling the type of hair the youngest Yamanaka, Ino, had, with bright teal eyes with her hair done in a braid, her headband strapped to her shoulder. 

"I am Amon Kotaro," A large teen, more muscle than anything in Itachi's eyes. He had dark brown hair with light brown eyes that had a hopeful shine to them, the optimist. 

"And I am Kaneki Ken," The last one introduced himself. He had snow-white hair that was spotted with scorpion blood. He had grey eyes that seemed kinda dull, the left eye was bloodshot, hinting at stress and pressure that had been upon him. "Now, Itachi of the Leaf Village, why did you help us?" 

"It was the right thing to do," Itachi answered automatically, surprising himself and the others. "Someone I know told me that we should try and save everyone we can, and I believe he is right." 

"Ah, a hopeful one, huh? Interesting." Kaneki stated in a bored voice, contradicting his statement. "Anyways, we thank you for the help, but we must be going." 

"I understand, I hope we shall meet again." Kaneki waved him off as he turned around to address his two teammates before the ground began shaking, making them get on their guards once again. 

"Are those damn Iwa Genin back again? I thought we scared them off!" Kaneki shouted in an annoyed tone. 

"I hope not, they were kinda scary," Akira admitted sheepishly, her whip ready to attack any threat. 

"I just hope they are trying to make amends!" Amon stated as his two teammates looked at him like he was an idiot. 

"No, this isn't human!" Itachi shouted before he jumped back, a giant scorpion erupting from the ground he had just been standing on, being at least twenty feet in height and fifty feet in length. 

"What the hell is this?!" Kaneki shouted as he jumped back a few steps. "What the hell is that?!" 

"The mother I would assume," Itachi stated as his Sharingan sprung back to life, the three tomoes spinning. "Probably mad because we killed all her children." 

"I don't care if we killed her children, they tried killing us first!" Akira shouted, shaking her fist at the scorpion. 

"I don't think she cares, Akira!" Kaneki stated harshly. "Right now we have to worry about how to kill this damn thing before it obliterates us completely!" 

Itachi's eyes widened as he met the gigantic scorpion's eyes, the three tomoes spinning slightly as he pushed his chakra out, manipulating it as he firmly placed a genjutsu on the arachnid. The scorpion stopped moving, the Sharingan appearing in its eyes. 

"Sit!" Itachi commanded as the scorpion immediately bowed before he will, succumbing to the genjutsu. With his sword glowing with light blue chakra, Itachi burst into a run as he jumped into the air, using his momentum to stab the scorpion in the head, sliding the blade right down its back, blue blood spurting out from its shell-like skin, some of it splashing on Itachi as he pulled his sword out, twisting it in the air as it cut its tail off and landed on the ground next to it, the scorpion now thrashing in pain. 

"Poor creature, I shall carry you out of this world into a place of peace, may you see your children once again," Itachi said as he made several hand signs. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A fireball that was twice as big as his two previous ones completed enveloped the scorpion, it disappearing almost immediately as it was turned to ash. 

Itachi was about to sheathe his sword before he saw a glowing metal in the ash that was once the scorpion. His Sharingan eyes widened as he saw the shine of gold and he rushed forward, grabbing the golden item out of the hot ash before flipping in front of the Taki Team, revealing the golden sword in his left hand. 

"Oh, that's convenient." 

"I knew I wasn't wrong!" Akira shouted, pointing at the golden sword in Itachi's hand. "I told you I sensed gold!" 

"Guess you were right," Kaneki began as he pointed his sword at Itachi. "But I'm afraid I can no longer treat you as a friend, but an enemy. Hand over the golden sword, I don't want to kill you." 

"Kaneki?!" Amon almost shouted in surprise. "He saved our lives! We can't turn on him!"

"Yeah!" Akira agreed, nodding her head. "I can just find another one!" 

"No, we don't have a lot of time left, it took us a day to find this one, I am not leaving it." Kaneki said as he began stepping towards Itachi, only to be held back by both Amon and Akira, stopping him from fighting the nine-year-old Uchiha. 

"Stop this! It's not right! He killed the scorpion it's his!" Akira protested. "Just leave him alone!"

"Yeah!" Amon shouted. 

"Get out of my way! Why are you protecting him!?" 

"Because they are like my friend," Itachi whispered, gaining their attention. "They're like Naruto, willing to protect because it is the right thing to do." Kaneki stopped fighting to get to Itachi, calming down slightly as a small smile came across his face. 

"Heh, I'd like to meet this Naruto one day." He turned around, sheathing his sword as he put his hands in his pockets. "Come on, Akira, Amon, we're going." 

"Okay," Akira said, obviously relieved. She turned to Itachi. "Thanks so much, Itachi!" 

"No problem, anytime." He replied easily, an easy smile on his face.

"We appreciate your help, including Kaneki, even if he doesn't want to admit it." Itachi nodded, bowing slightly.

"I hope to see you three again, this time in the 3rd Exams!" He waved as he turned around, sheathing the golden sword before covering it up in a genjutsu, making it appear as an ordinary sword to the naked eye. 

"Time to get going, I guess." He whispered before running off back to the cave. 

And done. How was it? Was it good? Bad? Tell me!

Itachi's and Izumi's perspective because they're important too! 

I'm so hyped for this book ngl.

TIl next time my lil demons!