The Harsh Truth

Chapter 12

The river in between the two statues moved slowly, with practiced ease. It had gone through the very same course throughout the years, and wasn't going to stop following the river bed's destination till it would dwindle down and evaporate. The statues of Madara and Hashirama stood facing one another, both locked in an endless gaze fight, both eying each other, both ready to move, yet transfixed to stay halted, frozen in the rock that was both their matter and their shackle.

The sun had barely settled itself on midday, the time required by Naruto to actually reach Itachi, albeit everything was in a blurry of thoughts. He had just wanted to reach him, to speak with him, to try and understand if it was wrong, if he had been used…and at his thirst for knowledge, at his request for a reason, Itachi had replied.

"To test my strength! To awaken my blood! To prove that Hatred is stronger than Love! Come on Senju! Fight me and I will prove you that Uchiha Madara's strength has passed on to a worthy vessel!"

"He didn't say that, did he? No, it's a lie!" That wasNaruto's only thought on the matter. As he stared in Tobirama's armor at Itachi's presence, he couldn't help but feel his guts twisting. Itachi had really decided to enact a remake of the battle of the valley of the end, wearing the same outfit that Madara himself had worn, probably sized down…maybe it was an Uchiha custom? Or else someone had to have resized it for him, but why? Only for this?

"You're lying!" Naruto spat right back at the raven haired Uchiha, who didn't bother to answer, instead unsheathing his Anbu chakra blade. A thin Ninjato, used for stabbing, piercing, and that could double as a slashing in dire circumstances, with the core reinforced by a steel cylinder to resist the concussive force of another sword's clash.

"You want to know something funny, Naruto?" Itachi whispered, his sharingan activating, "I once thought that our friendship would be something eternal…a pity two years was all it took for me to forget about you, and have Shishui become my new best friend…who I killed," at those words, Naruto's faced showed shock, as he gritted his teeth, muttering something under his breath.

The mutter was picked up by Itachi, who could read his lips, and who could see the faint wavering of the air next to the grey-haired Senju. He had a chameleon with him, obviously to track him down. Which one would it be? If he could see it, then it couldn't be Kozue, unless he hadn't thought of hiding better.

"Itachi, why are you telling me this? You promised me we'd reach the top together!" Naruto's reply was met with laughter, from the raven haired Uchiha.

"Promises, promises, promises…such worthless things. All that matter is strength, Naruto, to achieve it I killed my best friend, and took his eyes…and soon you will face its powers! But we have spoken enough, Senju," Itachi spat that word out like it was an insult, "Now it's time for you to entertain me."

Naruto's chakra blade barely managed to be unsheathed in time, as Itachi disappeared in a twirling of leaves from Madara's statue's head, to reappear behind him, to the right. The chakra blade of Konoha was a prolonged Kunai with a hilt, and a two sided blade that circled around a black metal center. Naruto could have used the Raijin no Ken, but he couldn't. That sword could only kill, he wanted to save Itachi, not kill him. He wanted to bring him back, but as the blades flew in the air, the grey haired boy's eyes fixed themselves on the blade, and on the body of Itachi, but not on his eyes: never on his eyes during a battle.

The two swords entered contact, and sparks flew in the air, as Naruto, gritting his teeth, jumped backward, letting gravity do its job of bringing him down, towards the river-bed.

Itachi sidestepped to the right on Hashirama's head, seemingly without cause, but in truth avoiding a tongue-projectile from Ryuu, who had been the summoned chameleon of Naruto to track Itachi down. As the Uchiha turned around, ready to pounce at the rock-spitting chameleon, he was forced to side jump, and dash alongside Hashirama's statue's body, to reach the riverbed too.