Prophecy (Naruto Neglect Fanfic)

Itachi

A/N: IMO the true story really starts here but I thought it good to have a little backstory prior. Hope you enjoy :)

"Hello," he whispered, his voice hoarse from crying, "W-who are you?"

"I take it you are Naruto Namikaze," the man said, "My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"S-sorry," Naruto whispered again. Itachi raised his eyebrow.

"Whatever for?"

"... I don't know," replied Naruto who was trying to pull himself together. 'I wonder what's wrong with this child? He's the Hokage's brat right?' Itachi thought.

"What are you doing here?" Itachi asked. Naruto pulled himself up and got back into his fighting stance.

"Training," he said and wiped his tears away.

"Why aren't you training with your father?"

"I'm not allowed." Itachi's eyes slightly widened, "Only my sister is allowed to be trained."

"So you're doing this- by yourself?" Itachi asked. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Please don't tell him!" Naruto yelled.

"I won't, do not worry. Now why don't you show me what you can do, then." Naruto nodded and returned back to his fighting stance. He sprung forward with incredible speed for his age and attacked with insane power. Itachi watched hiding his surprise. 'This is him with no training?' His surprise was finally shown when Naruto revealed his Rasengan. 'T-that's impossible! This kid must've been trained!'

Naruto finished and stopped in front of Itachi. He expected to be insulted or told how disappointing he was but instead:

"That was incredible!" Itachi managed to muster. Naruto looked up, shocked.

"...Really?" Naruto said. His grin finally showed as he heard Itachi's response.

"Of course. For you to be on that scale, at this young age, is incredible. How did you learn the Rasengan without a teacher?"

"Oh... I... I had to spy on Tou-san and Karah's training," Naruto said guiltily. 'This kid's almost as good as I was,' Itachi thought.

"Hey, so you have no teacher right?" Naruto shook his head, "How about I become yours then?" Naruto's face lit up and he nodded violently. Itachi almost laughed at the reaction as it was similar to a puppy's.

"Fine. Come to the Uchiha compound tomorrow and I will begin training. Be warned, I will push you to your limits," Itachi then seemed to disappear as Naruto began to imagine the next day with joy and anticipation greater than he had ever felt before in his life.

Naruto returned home still dreaming of the next day with a smile on his face. As he entered his house, Naruto was greeted by a kunai to the throat being held by his mother. His mother, having recognised him put the kunai down and got back up.

"Oh, it's you," she said with disinterest. Naruto ran up to his mom and grabbed her legs. Being 6, he still wasn't big enough to try and grab her shoulder.

"Kaa-san!" he said playfully before being pushed off onto the floor. He got up and ran back up to her, "Kaa-san can I show-"

"Ugh. Naruto, leave me alone, you're just- really annoying!" Kushina almost yelled while still not turning back to see Naruto. Naruto watched as Kushina slammed a door behind her and then made his way back to his deserted room. Maybe one day she'll let him show her something, or even talk to him for that matter.

"Naruto! So you really did come," Itachi said, a small smile on his face. Naruto, having entered the compound, ran up to Itachi and bowed.

"Of course, Itachi-sensei!" said Naruto happily.

"I would like you to meet your training partner, my brother," Itachi gestured to a smaller boy which looked almost exactly like him but of course small and without his signature lines etched onto his face.

"Hello, I am Sasuke Uchiha!" Sasuke proclaimed and held his hand out for Naruto to shake. Naruto did not reciprocate the handshake.

"Hey, I'm Naruto Namikaze!" he grinned. Sasuke looked at his hand and then to Naruto with a frown. Naruto still grinned unaware of what Sasuke was doing.

"Uh, Naruto-"

"Yes Itachi-sensei!"

"Shake his hand." Naruto stared blankly before looking at Sasuke's hand. He weakly held his hand up, unsure of what to do and Sasuke grabbed it and performed an unenthusiastic handshake.

"Huh?" Naruto seemed confused by the whole ordeal and stared at his hand for a second.

"Haven't you ever done a handshake before?" Itachi asked genuinely. Naruto shook his head but then began to grin again.

"I have so much to learn," chuckled Naruto lightly. Itachi felt a slight pang of sympathy for the boy. Sasuke frowned at Naruto.

"Hn, dobe," he simply said.

The day of long training passed and eventually Itachi called for the two to stop.

"When... Itachi-sensei... said it would be difficult... I didn't think it would be like this... I like it!" Naruto panted to Sasuke who merely grinned in response. He was exhausted as well but he hid it better than Naruto.

"That's Nii-san for you," he panted. Itachi then walked over to the two and handed them each kunai: One with a lightning bolt charm and one with a fireball charm.

"Here," said Itachi as he handed them to the boys, "These will be your weapons. Do not lose them. I expect to see you here tomorrow Naruto!"

"Yes Itachi-sensei!" called Naruto as Itachi walked back to his house. Sasuke proceeded to do the same but was interrupted by Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke," began Naruto, "I-I'm sorry for not shaking your hand. I didn't know what- I didn't know what it was. I hope we- can still be friends."

Sasuke paused, "Sure dobe." He then turned and ran back in the direction of his house but not before hearing Naruto quietly say, "My first friend."

Naruto once again peeked through the crack in the door to watch his father train Karah. Everything went as it usually did, with Naruto reiterating what his father said in his head. Suddenly though, Minato went silent. He stared directly at Naruto. Before Naruto could even react, his father had opened the door fully revealing him.

"Huh!" Karah screamed as she saw Naruto who could only gulp in response.

"I-I'm sorry Tou-san I didn't mean-"

"I have told you before brat, you should not interfere with Karah's special training," Minato said coldly.

"B-But w-why won't you trai-"

"Why won't I train you?" He glanced at Karah who was glaring daggers at Naruto, "I would not waste my time training a useless weakling when I could be training the next Hokage. Compared to her, you're... just an annoyance." Naruto tried to keep back all his tears as his father slammed and locked the door in his face.

"I-I love you Tou-san," Naruto stammered out quietly. Minato heard it on the other side of the door and his hardened heart softened for a second. 'Maybe I took it a bit too far,' he thought before being interrupted.

"Let's get back to the training!" the joyous Karah proclaimed. Minato quickly forgot his thoughts of Naruto and went back to overlooking his daughter.