Archive of Our Own

Tear filled blue eyes lowered. In front of him stood a tall, imposing figure. The look in the man's eyes was enough to freeze fire, they were so cold and filled with nothing but contempt. Biting down on his bottom lip, quite harshly, Naruto swallowed down the sob that wanted to break free. He wouldn't give this man the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to him. Condescending words and threats echoed through the blonds head, stabbing his already breaking heard, repeatedly. 

"... and if you don't leave him. I will disown and banish him from the clan, would you like that?" Naruto shook his head wildly, he wouldn't want that at all. "I can't have an heir of mine dating the village pariah and tainting the Uchiha name." The man continued. "And if you continue this relationship with him, I will have no choice but to kick him out." 

Heart breaking further, Naruto swallowed. The thought of Itachi losing his family over him... he shook his head. He couldn't allow that to happen. Itachi worked too hard for so long, he couldn't be selfish and take his lovers birthright from him. "I will do it." He murmured. The thought of Itachi's clan shunning him just for being with him upset him. "Don't banish or disown Itachi. I'll leave him instead." 

"Good." Fugaku stated, turning away from the blond boy. He wasn't really going to banish Itachi, he couldn't, the clan would never support such a claim but luckily for him, Naruto didn't know any better. Without any other words, or even a glance back, Fugaku walked off. 

After making sure the Uchiha head was far enough away from his apartment, Naruto entered and slowly closed the door behind him. His back pressed up against the surface for all of three seconds before he couldn't hold back his grief any further. Sliding down to the floor, Naruto broke down into heartbreaking sobs. His hand rose to cover his mouth, trying and failing to muffle the noise. 

Konohagakure

Next day

"Well, that mission was a bore, not to mentioned that woman. Talk about annoying, she is probably high on the list." 

The other three shinobi's chuckled at the statement. "I don't know. Sasuke and Naruto might disagree with that. They've always said their former teammate was really annoying. And from the times I've met her, I will have to agree with them." Itachi stated with a smile, "Speaking of... " The Uchiha heir scanned the surrounding area, a worried frown on his face, "I wonder where he and Sasuke are. Naruto is really good about sensing our arrival and meeting us at the gates to welcome us back." 

"Maybe he is busy? Or perhaps he and Sasuke are on a mission?" 

Itachi gave a slow nod of his head. That was a possibility. As the four made their way towards the Hokage tower, something caught Itachi's eyes and he turned. "He is not training, nor is he on a mission." The Uchiha heir declared, as he stared at the figure of his younger brother. But there was something wrong. The anger scowl on Sasuke's face was more then enough evidence of that. "And something is definitely not right." Making a detour, Itachi headed towards his brother, the Hokage will understand. "Sasuke!" 

Uchiha Sasuke frowned angrily, glaring into the distance. He knew something was wrong, felt it in his gut ever since he overheard his father speaking with the clan elder earlier. Before he could make a move towards his father to demand answers, a voice calling his name had him turning his head. He blinked, the scowl vanishing as he took in the sight of his older brother. "Itachi... " 

"What's going on?" Itachi questioned, "You looked pissed, And where is Naruto? He'd usually be at the gates before we even reach it. We thought the both of you were either training or on a mission, but seeing as you are here and he isn't... ?" The Uchiha heir trailed off, hoping Sasuke would know where the blond was. It was highly unlikely that Naruto accepted a mission without Sasuke being his partner. Everyone knew better then to try to separate the two. "Did something happen?" 

Iruka looked like he was seconds away from bursting and the only thing stopping him was the hand Kakashi placed on the mans shoulder. 

Sasuke bit on his bottom lip and shrugged his shoulder. "I overheard father talking with the elder's earlier... " Itachi furrowed his brows, "He left the compound for several hours the day before... " Sasuke swallowed, "I didn't think anything of it, at the time, but now... " He crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm worried Itachi. I think he and the elder's were talking about Naruto and how he wasn't going to be an issue for the clan anymore... And I can't find him Itachi." Sasuke burst out, "I looked everywhere. At his apartment, his clan house, Ichiraku, all the clan houses... all his little hidey-holes, he isn't anywhere in the village."

"What... ?" The four shinobi's looked shocked by what Sasuke had just said. They didn't even know what to say.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. In the distance, the same direction Sasuke had been glaring into a few moments ago, he saw his father along with the rest of the clan heads. They were all talking, and just from the expression on some of their faces, he knew whatever it was, it wasn't important. But, even if it had been, nothing would have stopped Itachi from storming over. The four left behind shared a look, before chasing after the pissed off Uchiha heir. 

"What did you do?" The sound of his voice caused the clan heads to stop talking and turned their attention towards him. Their expression ranging from shock to surprise. None of them had ever seen Itachi express so much emotion without Naruto being near him. "What did you do?" Itachi repeated. Every word that left his lips were dripped in acid. 

"I don't know what you are talking about, Itachi."

Despite his blank, expressionless face, Itachi could see the clear warning hidden within his fathers eyes. A warning to stop questioning him. And for once, Itachi wasn't about to let his father have the last say. All his life he allowed his father to dictate every aspect of it. The only thing he had no say in, was when he fell in love with Naruto and pursued a relationship with Sasuke's bestfriend. Naruto was the only thing he was willing to go against his father for. And Fugaku hadn't liked that at all. 

"You're a liar. You know exactly what this is about!" Itachi crossed his arms. "And I want to know what you did and where he is." At the last statement, Itachi saw the confusion enter his fathers eyes only briefly before it was gone. 'So he doesn't know where Naruto is... but he still did something to cause this... and whatever it is, he had no doubt, it was bad.' "Tell me!" 

The denial was on Fugaku's tongue, until Sasuke stepped forward, standing beside his older brother. "I overheard you talking with the elders. You told them Naruto wouldn't be an issue anymore. What did you mean by that?" He just wanted his bestfriend back. Naruto had been the first person to befriend him for him and not because he was the son of the clan head or Itachi's younger brother. The blond hadn't cared about any of that. And throughout the years, Naruto became like a younger brother to him. 

Fugaku frowned angrily, knowing he couldn't keep denying anything, he crossed his arms over his chest. "I did what was best for the Uchiha Clan." Eyes drilled into his head, he turned towards the other Clan heads, "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing?" 

"I don't care what my clansmen do in their personal lives as long as it doesn't bring harm to the clan or the village." Tsume stated, with a frown, "I certainly wouldn't care if someone in my clan was dating someone I didn't like." The rest of the heads nodded their heads in agreement. "From what I understand, you did something to Naruto... " She scowled. She knew Naruto since he was a kid and running around with her son, Kiba.

"You might not know where he is, but you did do something, or at the very least, said something to him... " Shikaku furrowed his brows. If something happened to Naruto, he really didn't want to be the one who told his son... or his wife for that matter. Damn. "And whatever you said, was bad enough to cause him to hide away from everyone, especially if Sasuke is unable to locate him." 

"We already know you did something... just tell what you did, Uchiha?" Hiashi didn't look too happy and he wasn't looking forward to bringing bad news to Hinata or Neji. And if anymore of Naruto's friends learn what happened... he wouldn't want to be Fugaku when that happens, especially if something bad had happened to the blond boy. 

Seeing no way out of this confrontation, Fugaku heaved a sigh and stared at his oldest. "We did this for you Itachi." The male in questioned, frowned, "You are the prodigy and the heir to the Uchiha clan, we couldn't let you tarnish our proud name just because you decided to date the village pariah." Black eyes shifted. "The elders and I were talking and the night before we came to a decision. I would go and have a talk to Naruto." 

"And what did you say to him?" Itachi gritted out. 

"I... I gave him an ultimatum." Fugaku responded. "I told him he had only two choices, the first was that he was to leave you, tell you he fell out of love with you or whatever and if he refused to end his relationship with you... I'd have you disowned and banished from the clan." The Uchiha head winced, he could practically feel the anger those around him were experiencing. "I did this for you Itachi!" 

Itachi shook his head wildly, "No! You did this for yourself." He growled, "If you truly cared for what I wanted, you would never have approached Naruto and given him this ridiculous ultimatum." Itachi swallowed. "All my life... I have done everything you've ever asked of me... even when I didn't want to." He stared his father down, "When I was a kid... and I wanted to go to the park and play, you told me I couldn't because I needed to train... I didn't argue with you, I did as you said. When I entered the academy, I wanted to make friends with the other students... you told me, making friends was a waste of time and that they would only slow me down... so the only person I had in the academy was Shisui. When Sasuke was born... you told me I couldn't play with him because I needed to focus on advancing my ninja career... Dating Naruto was the only thing I didn't allow you to dictate, so of course, you had to go and confront Naruto about it, didn't you? Because you couldn't stand the fact, that for once in my life, I wasn't going to allow you to make my choices for me." 

"I did this for the betterment of the Uchiha Clan!" Fugaku exclaimed. "You would never be able to produce an heir for the clan as long as you remained with Naruto. This wouldn't have been an issue at all because we had Sasuke, but, we all know he isn't going to be producing heirs as well, so as the oldest, the responsibilities fall to you to make sure the Uchiha line continues." 

Itachi stared at his father in contempt, "What are you even talking about?" He glanced towards his teammates and his brother. They all looked confused by what Fugaku had just said, even Iruka, who had looked seconds away from attacking the Uchiha head with his bare hands for what he had said to Naruto. The other clan heads all shared a look before returning their attention towards Fugaku, "You have no idea, do you?" Itachi huffed out, shaking his head. "Unbelievable." 

"What?" 

"If you want to disown me or banish me from the clan because of the person I wish to spend the rest of my life with... that's fine. Do it! But don't you dare come back asking me to return." He spun on his heels. "I have better things to do... like find Naruto. And you better hope I do find him, father." Itachi tossed a glared towards his father, black eyes faded in the second stage of his sharingan, revealing his mangekyo, "You won't like me if I can't." With those words, Itachi vanished from his spot. 

"I haven't seen Itachi that mad since the civilians were stupid enough to attack Naruto when he was five. Itachi had given a new definition to Hell has no fury... For a while there, I thought he was about to snap and massacre the entire village for what happened." Shisui crossed his arms. "Not that I would blame him or anything. They would have totally deserved it for what they did." Kakashi and Iruka nodded their heads in agreement before the four followed Itachi's lead and vanished. 

Fugaku took a breath before turning his head to face the rest of the clan heads. And by the looks on their faces, he knew it was going to be a long day, and he knew when he returned home, his wife will be waiting. He wasn't looking forward to whatever she was about to do to him. 

A few hours later, the five meant up in front of the Hokage tower. And it was apparent by the looks on each of their faces, no one had been able to find Naruto. 

"He most likely left the village... " Iruka trailed off, "Maybe Tsunade-sama sent him out on a solo mission?" 

They knew the probability of that happening was slim to none. Tsunade would never allow Naruto to leave the village on his own, unless it was a highly classified case and even then she would have at least made sure those closest to the blond knew about the mission beforehand; in this case it would have been Sasuke seeing as the other four had been out on a mission. 

"We still have to check in with Tsunade-sama... " Shisui murmured. "We can always ask her after we report in." 

Itachi swallowed down the growl that wanted to claw it's way free; he gave a nod of his head. 

Tsunade looked towards the door. She had felt them enter the village nearly an hour prior. 'I wonder what took them so long to report in?' Shrugging, she told them to enter. The looks on their face caused her to straighten up, especially since she spotted Sasuke entering with them. 'Okay, something is definitely wrong here... ' She listened with only half an ear as they gave her their mission report. Halfway through though, she couldn't take it anymore and cut Iruka off. "I'll read your mission report later, just hand it over." She held out her hand for the scroll and Itachi handed it over. "What I really want to know right now, is why Sasuke is with you? And what is going on? I know something is." 

Sharing a look, the five told Tsunade what they knew. 

As Fugaku entered his house after getting the lecture of his life from the other clan heads, he cringed when he saw his wife. She was sitting on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest as she eyed him. She looked less then pleased.

"Care to tell me what is going on, Fugaku?" Her dark eyes narrowed. "Itachi came here just long enough to tell me he was back from their mission and that everyone was unharmed but he couldn't stay because he had to look for Naruto... your name came up but before I could ask him anything more, he was gone. So care to tell me, just what did you do?" She hissed. She loved Naruto and the thought that Fugaku had done something to hurt the blond, upset her. 

Naruto had been Sasuke's bestfriend for so long, she couldn't even remember a time when they weren't. And Itachi had been such a lonely, detached teenager, that Mikoto feared his only friend would be Shisui... until that day when Itachi meant Naruto... she had never seen her oldest come alive like he did when he was around the blond. The fact he could make Itachi happy, endeared him to her even more. Mikoto wouldn't let anything or anyone interfere with that, not even her husband. 

Fugaku sighed. Maybe it would have been better to just let Itachi and Naruto be. He had no clue just how much people liked Naruto. Knowing he wouldn't get out of this, he walked towards the chair in front of the couch and took a seat. Releasing another sigh, he began to tell his wife what he and the elders had talked about and what he had done the night before. 

Naruto

Two Weeks Later

Naruto hadn't known where he was going but something was calling him in this direction. Coming to a stop. He looked around, wondering what it is about this place that called to him. Walking towards the edge of the water, something caught his eyes. A spiral. It was the Uzumaki symbol and with a gasp, he realized where he was. This was the former Uzushiogakure. The home of his ancestors.

In a moment of grief, he had left Konoha, ran away from his problems and ended up entering Kaze no Kuni, so figured he would just go and visit with Gaara. Talk to him about everything that was going on. And that is where he had been when he found out what Konoha had done. Gaara hadn't been happy, and was more then willing to break his alliance with Hi no Kuni for what they did. And the only thing that stopped him was Naruto. Despite the pain and heartbreak that village has caused him, Naruto still loved his village and didn't wish to see it destroyed. So instead Gaara notified them that the only time Suna would come to the aid of Konoha is in times of war. 

The Kazekage had offered a place in Suna for Naruto, but the blond turned it down. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay in Suna... something was calling for him. He resisted for two weeks before finally giving in to the call. Saying his goodbyes and promising to visit soon, Naruto left Suna under the cover of darkness and headed towards the coast; past Hi no Kuni, past Tsuchi no Kuni and within the boundaries of Mizu no Kuni, Naruto finally came to a stop. 

The voice that had been calling for him, faded as soon as he entered what was once a village, or at the very least, it use to be a something. He wasn't sure what led him here or what exactly this place was, but the voice had wanted him to come, so... whatever this place was, it had to have been important. Walking towards the ocean, Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could do this. 

Turning away from the ocean, he walked around the area, wondering again why the voice would lead him here, to this area. The destruction looked old, like it happened many years ago. He was about to take another step, when he accidently kicked something. Wincing, he was about to continue when glint caught his eye. Naruto bent down and looked at the object that was revealed from beneath the kicked item. His mouth opened in shock, trembling hands lowered and picked the object up. Within his hands, was a headband... with the mark of the Uzumaki Clan. 

Tears filled his eyes as he stood up, this time, he looked around in understanding. The voice had brought him home. 

He didn't know how he could live without Itachi, but, he was going to try. And maybe someday, they would be able to be together again. But for now, it was time to rebuild what was once destroyed. Time for what remained of the Uzumaki Clan to come home. He will do this. Had to do this. He had no other choice. Konoha didn't want him, so he'll make a new life for him... and Itachi's heir. 

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After many years... I'm going to attempt to finish my Naruto fanfics. I haven't been in this fandom in years.