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Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Prologue

Itachi was confused when he woke up. 

He remembered fighting Kabuto and having a final conversation with his brother, but he also remembered releasing the Edo Tensei and thus was pretty sure that he should be dead.

Itachi knew from the first time he had died—oh, and didn't that statement sound just ridiculous?—that there wasn't anything but blissful peace in the afterlife. It was possible that the Edo Tensei somehow cursed the summoned soul, of course, but he thought much more likely that the user would the one cursed by the forbidden technique instead if they there really was such an effect. After all, why punish the victim for the deeds of the culprit?

For a moment, he entertained the possibility that he might have been summoned once again to fight as someone else's puppet, but then he finally realized that he was lying in a bed instead of standing in a coffin, and the reason for why he wasn't seeing anything wasn't that the aforementioned non-existent coffin was still closed, but because he hadn't opened his eyes yet. So, even though his senses were still a bit blurry and his mind still tried—and failed—to fully comprehend what was going on, Itachi belatedly did just that.

He didn't know what he had been expecting, but seeing a very normal ceiling had certainly not been it.

Sitting up, he instantly noticed two very important things:

First, there was a big red and white coloured fan symbol he knew all too well plastered on the wall in front of him. He had no idea how he had ended up in a place with the Uchiha emblem of all things, but there was no denying what he was seeing.

However, the second thing made him forget about that mystery for now:

He was small. And when he said small, he meant tiny. 

Itachi looked at his puny little hands in confused horror for several seconds, not quite believing what he was seeing. He opened his mouth, not knowing if he was going to scream, cry, or even utter any tone at all, before snapping it shut with an audible clack. 

He hadn't survived in the ANBU and as one of the most well-known criminals on the continent by losing his mind every single time something unexpected happened. Even if this was a bit more than just 'unexpected', he knew how to stay calm and collected even now. He could panic later, but for the time being, he needed to concentrate on finding out what was going on.

Standing up with forced composure, Itachi noted the different perspective the change in his height gave him, forcing him to stand still for several seconds to adjust to the change before being able to start walking around the room.

He had planned to carefully look around and see if he could find clues as tonwhere exactly he was, but stopped moving after only a few steps when he actually recognized the room ad soon as he gave it a closer look.

Now, from the position where he stood in its centre, he couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn't recognized it sooner. The bed, the wardrobe, and even the carpet, he knew it all.

This was his room. Not only that, but it was his room from before his clan had been relocated to the outskirts of the village just a few weeks after the attack of the Nine-Tails.

Itachi started moving before he even knew what exactly he was doing. One moment he stood in the middle of his room, and the next thing he knew was that he stood in front of the bathroom mirror.

What was looking right back at him was unquestionably his face.

His much younger face.

Deciding to do what he should have done from the very beginning, Itachi closed his eyes and concentrated on the flow of his chakra, but try as he might, he didn’t notice anything strange or unusual. Or at least nothing that indicated that he was under the influence of a Genjutsu. What he did notice, however, was that his chakra reserves were much smaller than they used to be. He never had the biggest reserves in the first place, but now they were barely above the level of an average Genin, if even that.

Ignoring this for the moment, he opened his eyes and activated his Sharingan, but even that didn't make him notice anything strange. Itachi hesitated just a mere second before activating his Mangekyo Sharingan, but still, nothing changed.

If it wasn't a Genjutsu, then there was only one other possibility that came to his mind.

People had always called him a prodigy, a genius, but one didn't need to be a genius to realize what kind of situation he had found himself in.

He looked just like he did when he was a child and had woken up in his childhood home. Furthermore, to bring the point across even more, he recognized a lot of the numerous chakra signatures he could sense from outside the building. How couldn't he when he had been the one responsible for extinguishing their light in the first place?

The conclusion seemed obvious, no matter how mad it sounded:

He was in the past.

It should be impossible. The entire idea was ridiculous because, well... time travel? Really?

But then again, bringing back the dead sounded impossible, too—right up to the point when it actually happened, that was.

Itachi frowned and looked around, his gaze accidentally meeting his image in the mirror once more. Just like before, his childlike face looked right back at him, now with the addition of heavy eyes that it shouldn’t yet possess for many more years. His eyes followed his tear-troughs, which were not as pronounced as they would be later in his life, and he could see... 

I can see! My eyesight isn’t blurred at all!

This realization would have had a bigger impact if he hadn't started to feel lightheaded just then. Quickly realizing that his Mangekyo was eating through his chakra reserves at a frightening pace, he immediately deactivated his Sharingan.

With a heavy sigh, Itachi leaned against the wall.

So, he thought, to sum up what I know, I woke up in a house I didn’t live in since the Nine-Tails attacked the village from which I can conclude that my body is at most five years old. My chakra reserves are reduced, but I am still able to use both my Sharingan and my Mangekyo Sharingan. However, my eyesight has not yet been compromised, nor have I noticed any problems with my breathing, so I'm probably—hopefully—as healthy as I used to be when I was a child.

He sighed once more. For now, Itachi would just assume that he had indeed travelled back in time, no matter how ridiculous that theory might sound.

He stood in the bathroom for what felt like hours, doing nothing but looking at his reflection in the mirror and considering the ramifications of the situation he had found himself in.

Itachi simply couldn’t understand why he of all people had been granted a second chance. For all his good intentions, he still murdered his own family; young and old, babes and children, and even his parents. Not to forget all the crimes he committed in the name of Akatsuki, or even during his time in the ANBU before that. The list of his crimes was long, and there were so many people who deserved another chance much more than he did.

No matter what some people might say, he wasn't a hero.

And yet, here he was.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a door being opened, followed by a soft feminine voice calling his name. It had been many, many years since he had last heard it, but Itachi would have recognized his mother's voice anywhere. He had known from the moment he had accepted that he had truly travelled back in time, even if he only did so hesitantly, that he would need to face the ghosts of his past sooner rather than later.

Quite literally, in fact. 

But now that the meeting with his mother was imminent, he knew that he wasn’t ready yet. He needed more time to prepare himself.

Without much thought, he opened the window and jumped outside.

It was fortunate that only his reserves and not his control had been set back to fit the age of his body, because if that were not the case, his attempt to use a shunshin would have resulted in a very embarrassing and rather spectacular failure. But as his control was still as good as before, this action did not pose a problem even with his drastically reduced reserves.

Thus, he vanished from sight in search of a place where he could think in peace.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Implementation

It was on the fifth day after the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox, three days since he arrived in the past, that Itachi finally decided on how to proceed.

First, preventing the Uchiha massacre from ever happening had priority. Maybe there were other matters he should worry about more, maybe he was just egoistic and chose what mattered to him personally above all the else, but just this once, he didn't care.

Once he could be tentatively sure this was taken care of, he would have to make sure that Konoha, as well as the rest of the Elemental Nations, were prepared to deal with the threat of Akatsuki and Madara.

Sasuke would have a much more carefree life than he had the last time around if the organization and its leader could be eliminated before it ever became a real threat, and there wasn't anything that could motivate Itachi more than doing something for the sake of his beloved little brother.

It wasn't as if he genuinely believed he could do so this early into the game, mind you. Not only was he still far too weak, he also lacked information about what the most important members like Pain and Madara were up to at this early point in time. Nevertheless, he could at least begin to prepare for the confrontations that were sure to come in the future.

It was fortunate that his parents weren't in the same room with him when he met his little brother for the first time in this timeline, as he found it impossible not to cry at his sight. Itachi might technically have seen him just a few hours earlier, but the two versions of him couldn't be more different from each other.

After all, one was a young adult, driven and eaten up by hate and anger which was the direct result of his actuins, while the other was a sweet and innocent little babe.

Itachi would do anything in his power to make sure that Sasuke could stay as happy and content as he was now for as long as possible, and to guarantee that, he had to start making differences sooner rather than later.

Decision made, he didn't need much time to conclude that he couldn't do this alone.

The easiest way to change something in Konoha was with the aid of the Hokage. Consequently, Itachi would need to someho share his knowledge with the Sandaime. He only had to find a way to talk with him in private without anyone listening in on their conversation first.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

While there hadn't been an official announcement yet, everyone knew that the Sandaime had taken up the position of Hokage once again in the aftermath of the Yondaime's death. This meant that he had to do all the regular paperwork a Kage needed to finish as well as all the work that came up during the rebuild efforts made all across the village as damaged buildings were either repaired or built anew from the ground up.

This was naturally extremely time-consuming work, meaning it was rather unlikely for him to receive a child of five in his office.

Even if he was the Uchiha heir.

Itachi vaguely remembered from his last life that the Sandaime used the little free time he had to walk through the village whenever he could arrange it to see the progress of the reconstructions first-hand and to talk with the villagers. Unfortunately, he couldn't approach him there, either. The risk of someone overhearing them was ridiculously high, and he obviously couldn't let anyone but the Hokage know about this second chance of his. At least not yet. 

The only solution he had found so far that would make it absolutely impossible to be overheard was through the use of Genjutsu.

This, however, brought its own share of problems. For one thing, the Hokage had his personal bodyguards from the ANBU, and Itachi wasn't sure if he could stay hidden from them considering he was currently limited by his childish body. Not all skills he had learned during his life seamlessly transferred over into this new body, unfortunately. Another problem was the fact that the Hokage would most likely counter any Genjutsu he was currently able to cast immediately. Even if he did not, one of his ANBU guards would notice that something was wrong with the Sandaime and counter the Genjutsu in his stead before Itachi actually had the chance to speak with the man.

He could just wait until the reconstructions were finished and the Hokage had enough free time to receive visitors again, of course, but he needed to talk to him now.

One thing he wanted to change was the treatment of Naruto. It was the least thing he could do for the boy after he had been so persistent in trying to bring his brother back to Konoha.

The general public wasn't informed about his existence until the funeral for all the people who died during the attack of Nine-Tails. Even if he was only introduced as "their saviour" whose sacrifice saved the village instead of as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, everyone soon knew exactly what he was.

Itachi didn't know when exactly the Hokage told others about Naruto's status, but from the fact that he didn't hear any rumours about a "demon brat" or something along those lines yet, he concluded that he hadn't done so yet. Or if he did, the people in the known hadn't yet made a move and could consequently still be persued to not do anything unwise they might regret in the future. 

However, as he couldn't talk with the Sandaime in person, Genjutsu remained his only way to archive a conversation between them soon.

And there was only one Genjutsu he knew, that could avoid all the aforementioned problems:

Tsukuyomi.

The Tsukuyomi was not only impossible for the Hokage to break free from, but it also allowed him to manipulate the time inside the technique in a way where they could talk for hours and even days while less than a second passed in the real world. This also guaranteed that none of the ANBU guards would notice anything suspicious, as there was simply not enough time to do so. Furthermore, there was also the benefit of him being able to show the Sandaime things from the future instead of just telling him about them.

The only problem with using that technique was its high chakra consume. He was confident that he could use it once, but he would need to use all the chakra currently available to him to do so.

He also was pretty sure that he would lose consciousness almost as soon as the technique was finished.

In the end, Itachi decided to go through with it regardless. Should he lose his consciousness before he was able to stumble into an empty alley, he would just claim he overdid it with his training. It was not too far-stretched to be true, after all, and he didn't have the time to think of something better anyway.

This led him to where he was right now, standing in a street that was connected to the main road. Itachi just needed to look around the corner to see the Hokage building. He made sure not to be seen by any villagers. The last thing he wanted was catching the eye of a suspicious villager that wondered what he was doing and then ruined his entire ploy.

Itachi had to wait for only about half an hour before he could sense the Sandaime's presence moving in his direction. It was now or never.

Itachi walked around the corner at a leisurely pace just as the Sandaime was about to pass him. Of course, being an experienced shinobi, the Hokage could easily avoid him and prevent them from walking into each other. This didn't really matter to him, however. All he wanted was to be close enough to look into his eyes without anyone else seeing his eyes in turn.

The moment the Hokage took a step to the side, Itachi looked up, stared right into his eyes, and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Tsukuyomi."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was tired.

Never would he have expected that he would be forced to take up the mantle of Hokage again, especially not with a successor like Minato. He was young, powerful, smart, and, maybe most importantly, driven by the desire to do his best for his village.

And now he was dead.

He sighed. All this paperwork only added to his already full workload, consisting of meetings with representatives of the village, his advisors Homura and Koharu, as well as Danzo, and, not to forget, diverse clan heads.

The thought of the latter made his migraine even worse. He just knew that most, if not all of them would try and use the current phase of reconstruction to gain more land for themselves and their clans. Some might have legitimate reasons that justified their wish for more space, but the majority most definitively did not. 

When his temporary secretary brought him another stack of papers, he decided that it was a good idea to make his daily walk around the village a bit earlier than usual and stood up.

He did these daily walks not only to escape from his paperwork, but also because it warmed his heart to see the resilience of the people of his home. It had been less than a week since the catastrophe that was the Nine-Tailed Fox, and yet a great deal of the damage was already repaired. Of course, the areas where its attacks directly hit parts of Konoha's outskirts would need much more effort to recover than the centre of the village, but that would be done in due time as well.

Still, the villagers didn't let themselves get dragged down and went on with their lives. Children ran around, people worked together, laughed together, and, in some cases, mourned together before cheering each other up again. He loved this village and he would do his duty if it could help him protect these people a little bit longer even if he wished he wouldn't be forced to do so from the position of Hokage after his predecessor died an untimely death.

First, the Nidaime, who sacrificed his life during the First Shinobi War to save him and his team, and now Minato; both were shinobi who died long before their time and left him behind to clean up the mess in the wake their passing... 

Hiruzen would have dwelled in his thoughts for a bit longer if his instincts hadn't suddenly screamed at him to move.

He took a step to the side and turned around, intending in finding out what exactly drew him out of his thoughts like this, but what he saw was nothing but a dark-haired child no older than five who had nearly ran into him. 

Before he could decide what to do, the boy looked up.

The last thing Hiruzen saw were two red eyes that he recognized as the Sharingan despite it having some strange pattern he had never seen before instead of the one he was used to. 

From one moment to the next, he found himself standing all alone on the same road he was before, with the only difference being that nobody else seemed to be there beside him. A moment later, a fairly tall man of fair complexion with onyx black eyes and long, pronounced tear-troughs, as well as jet-black hair, appeared out of nowhere in front of him. He instantly recognized the man by his features as an Uchiha, but not one he had ever met before.

Before he could even attempt to break out of this Genjutsu, the man began to speak:

"Please excuse me for catching you off-guard in such a rude manner, Hokage-sama, but I didn't see any other way we could talk without being interrupted. I have information I feel are important for you to know, so please hear me out."

It was already dark when Itachi finally arrived home.

After a long talk with the Hokage during which he did not only tell him about the future, but they also started to plan together how certain events should play out this time around, he had indeed been able to stumble in an unused alley before passing out.

It was a relief that he only fainted for about two hours because like this, he was able to return home just in time for dinner. He may have had an excuse prepared if he had missed it, but things were much easier this way. It also helped that he was quite hungry and needed to eat so that his chakra reserves would recover more quickly.

But knowing this didn't help him ignore the unwelcome feeling of anxiety that was starting to build up in his stomach. Even the fact that the Hokage believed him and they already made plans to change the future for the better was barely helpful in calming him down.

And just because he knew how to pretend at normalcy despite whatever he might be feeling in truth didn't mean he enjoyed it very much or even just found it bearable. 

He wondered if eating with his family would ever be the same again.

It didn't help that he had recently become the focus of not only his immediate family, but the entire Uchiha Clan as a whole. After all, it wasn't every day that a "five-year-old" activated his Sharingan.

Izumi did activate her Sharingan as well when she witnessed her father's death during the Nine-Tails' attack, Itachi remembered, but most of the clan was happy to ignore her because of her half-blood status. He quickly discarded the thoughts of Izumi, however; this wasn't a topic he was quite comfortable thinking about just yet.

The reason he told his father, and consequently the rest of his family and clan, that he had awakened his Sharingan was quite simple:

He was an adult in the body of a child. He had always been rather mature for his age and had never truly acted quite like the children around him, witnessing the horrors of war at the age of four did that to you, but it was a far cry from the person he became as an adult. No matter how easily he could fool most people who would just shrug and say that such behaviour was to be expected from a prodigy like him, people who knew him well would notice that something was different about him sooner rather than later.

Especially because the change would have occurs so suddenly without any apparent reason. 

On the other hand, it was considered normal that the awakening of the Sharingan would change an Uchiha. This was a well-known fact in his clan. His already mature personality, combined with the awakening of his eyes and a bit of acting, should be enough to fool even his parents.

Itachi stepped into the house and put off his shoes. "Otou-san, Kaa-san. I'm home."

Only a few seconds later, his mother stood in the doorframe leading to the living room, smiling down at him. She was a beautiful woman, especially now when she was nearly ten years younger than the last time he had seen her.

"Welcome home, Itachi. You're just in time for dinner." Then, she frowned. "You look exhausted. More so than usual, too. Did you overdo it with your training again? I told you to take it easy, didn't I? In fact, I think your father and I told you to not yet train with your Sharingan all by yourself at all because your body is still getting used to them."

He must look worse than he thought if his mother commented on it, but at least her assumption about him training his Sharingan fitted with the excuse he had prepared.

"I'm sorry, Kaa-san. I won't do it again, I promise."

She looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes as if to decide if she believed him or not before she sighed and let it go. "Alright, then. Go wash your hands and then head to the table. Your father is already waiting with Sasuke and you know how terrible he is with toddlers. Go rescue him for me, would you?"

Itachi couldn't help but smile at that. It was quite amusing to watch his father when he tried to handle Sasuke as he never seemed quite to know how to hold him. It was actually rather disappointing that Itachi couldn't remember this from his last life. It made him wonder what other details he had forgotten.

Itachi gave her a short nod and went on his way. Shortly after, he sat in front of his father, having taken Sasuke from him and placed him on his laps. It was astonishing to witness Sasuke's effect on him; before arriving home, he was nervous and uncertain, but as soon as he could hold Sasuke, he felt as if everything would be alright.

The stern voice of his father pulled him out of his thoughts. "Itachi, did I hear it right that you trained with your Sharingan without supervision? Such irresponsible behaviour is rather out of character for you."

Well, he thought. Here it comes. It wasn't as if he didn't expect this topic to come up. Not after his mother instantly noted his exhausted state. If she could see it so easily, then so could his father.

Itachi nodded. "I did. I know you forbade me from training with them on my own, but I wanted to test my limits and both you and Kaa-san were too busy to help me the last few days, so I decided to go on my own. I will not do it again."

His father didn't give any outward reaction to that, nor gave he anything away that could tell Itachi what he was thinking. Not that this was a problem, mind you; he had known his father for long enough to guess his thoughts, and even the many years he hadn't seen him hadn't deprived of that ability. 

"And how did it go?"

It was as he had expected. While his mother's first reaction might be worry that he overdid it and hurt himself, his father was more interested in the results of his training. He would only inquire about his health or restrict his freedom when there were signs of serious injuries. Looking exhausted wasn't enough reason for him to do so, even if he ignored a direct order of his.

"Everything went well. I expected the increased chakra consumption and was prepared for it. The only problem I noted is that I am still too slow. My body can't react fast enough to act on the information my eyes show me."

Oh, how it irked him to confess that. He may have never been too proud of his abilities, but he did grow used to them. For him, not being able to use his eyes to their fullest potential was, frankly speaking, a disgrace.

At least his sight was as good as it had been originally when he was a child and not as terrible as shortly before his death.

"Well," his father hummed. "That is not too unexpected. You awakened your Sharingan with all three tomoe in both eyes"—there, Itachi could hear genuine pride in his father's voice—"which means that your enhanced perception is already at its highest. It would be surprising if your timing were not thrown off by it." He paused and looked contemplative for a moment before he continued, "Tomorrow after I finished all my duties, we will train together. You're the heir of the clan, so you need to master our Kekkei Genkai as soon as possible."

Itachi merely nodded. This would be their second training session together in this timeline, and while he might not necessarily look forward to them too much, it would help him master his new—or was it old?—body much faster.

Besides, it was surprisingly nice to spend time with his father before he became so obsessed with his plans to increase the clan's standing in the village.

The conversation stopped there, and soon after, his mother arrived with their meal.

While his parents passed the time by talking with each other, he instead focused on his meal and on feeding Sasuke.

This is what peace feels like. 

This memorial service reminded Hiruzen far too much of all the other funerals he had attended in his long life, and he didn't like it at all.

He would love nothing more than to just turn around and go home to mourn in private. Hell, even the workload waiting in his office seemed a much more enjoyable task than this! But he knew he couldn't do that. No, he needed to do his duty, and right now, that meant showing a strong face to serve as a rock for the grieving populace to lean on. He already held his speech, so everything left to do was for the people to come forward and give their farewells to the deceased.

Hiruzen let his gaze wander over those present as he waited for the service to end and found several people of note:

There was Kakashi to his left, for example. The poor boy had already lost both his teammates years ago, but now, with the death of both his sensei and Kushina, he had no one close to him left. Of course, the memories provided by Itachi showed him that he would get over it eventually, at least as much as was possible, and continue living, so Hiruzen felt hopeful this version of him would eventually be able to do the same.

What to do with him was one of the hardest decisions he had to make. Kakashi's time in the ANBU shaped him and made him the man he had become, and it also made him one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi.

On the other hand, it was also clear that it didn't do anything good for his mental health, no matter that he was able to pull himself out of the abyss of his mind later in life. Hiruzen had to decide now what was more important: the mental health of one of his shinobi, or said shinobi's potential as an asset for their village.

Thinking about Itachi, the boy— no, the young man stood in a front row to the right of him together with the rest of his clan.

Hiruzen couldn't even imagine how he had to feel right now, standing side by side with members of his family he had killed himself. And not just killed, but killed on orders of his village. How he was still able to love Konoha, he truly didn't know. To stay true to the home that caused him so much pain…

He was sure that even his old sensei, the Nidaime Hokage, who had rarely ever anything good to say about the Uchiha and repeatedly warned him about them, would be impressed. Most likely a bit smug too, knowing that his warnings about the Uchiha betraying the village were justified and had come true in the end, but impressed still. 

For all that Itachi deserved to finally be at rest, to have peace, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel glad that he had been given a second chance. Not only did this grant him another chance for happiness, but all the knowledge and memories of his would become very useful in the years to come, too. In fact, today's memorial service was already quite different from the one presented to him by Itachi.

The main difference was that he hadn't brought Naruto with him. Knowing what he did now, he couldn't understand what he had been thinking the last time around. Why would he show off Naruto like this or tell anyone about his identity as Jinchuriki when he knew full-well that people searched for a scapegoat in times of pain and suffering? To think of all the years of hardship the boy must have endured in the other timeline just because of an old man's folly...

Naruto might not have been beaten or continuously bullied by the citizens or anything like that, but being ignored and glared at for all his life was bad enough in its own right.

But not this time around! Hiruzen would not make that mistake a second time!

Another minor difference was an addition he made in his speech.

One of the many reasons for the dissatisfaction of the Uchiha Clan was the attitude of the leadership of their village and the behaviour of the villagers themselves towards them. An example for the former was the "banishment" of their clan to an outer district, while an example for the latter was the constant accusations about them being behind the attack of the Nine-Tails. This accusation was mostly based on two points: their absence on the front line during the attack, and the belief that the Sharingan could control the beast.

In his speech, he had made sure to thank the Uchiha Clan openly for their service to the village in protecting the civilians and leading them to the shelters. This way, there shouldn't be any rumours in the future about what they supposedly did during the attack because everyone already knew that.

That wouldn't be enough for those determined to blame them, of course, but he didn't plan to let the situation escalate to the point where that would become a problem.

This was only one small step, naturally. One of many to come.

One of the most important things Itachi and he agreed on was that they would need to include the Uchiha more in various affairs. Their name shouldn't be only known because of their leadership of the Konoha Military Police Force—the KMPF—or their combat prowess. They needed to connect more with other parts of the village as well.

To do this, Itachi would soon bring him a list of the most easy-going and approachable members of his clan who were also Jōnin. He would then continue by making them instructors for the new Genin teams when the Academy finished its school year.

Noticing that people began to leave, Hiruzen was about to turn around and go himself when he saw a pale-skinned man with long, dark hair standing at the edges of the procession.

Orochimaru.

He was another case he didn't really know how to handle yet. He loved the man as if he was his own son, his own flesh and blood, just as he did with his other students, but the things he had been told about the man's deeds and experiments on humans and even babes…

Hiruzen truly wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt, but he couldn't.

His job wasn't made any easier by the fact that he was currently the only one who could stop him, seeing that Jiraiya and Tsunade were not in the village at the moment.

Tomorrow, he decided. I will decide what to do with him first thing tomorrow.

With that final thought, he turned around and started making his way home. There was still work for him to do, after all. Even on a day like this.

There always was.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

I

Itachi watched a couple of crows fly by the window from where he sat in the last row of the classroom while still listening with one ear to what the instructor was explaining at the front. It wouldn't do for him to not know the answer if the teacher called him because he didn't know the question itself, after all. Not only would his parents undoubtedly hear about that, but his pride wouldn't allow something like that to happen, either.

It would be far too embarrassing to be unable to answer an Academy-level question, no matter how boring he thought the lessons to be.

It was hard to believe that he had already spent six months sitting in this classroom, 'learning' about subjects he had mastered decades ago. Of course, he knew that this was necessary as he couldn't become a shinobi if he didn't finish his schooling first, but it was still boring. He spent most of the time in class musing about the future, how he could train in private after school, or how he should spend his time with Sasuke on that day.

Or, he silently admitted, simply enjoying the peace that came with the knowledge that he didn't have to woke hard to live up to anyone's expectations. 

Whenever he could forget about his boredom or the ramifications of his second life in general, he admittedly did enjoy the calm and peace of his situation. 

Unfortunately, his thoughts often wandered off in much more unpleasant directions. One recent example of that was the memory of when the Sandaime informed him about his failure in apprehending Orochimaru.

The Hokage had decided to gather information about the Sannin's activities before he would act, to see if he was already too far gone or if he could still be saved. Itachi knew that the snake summoner was like a son to the old man and that he was consequently unable to act entirely unbiased regarding him, but he was still somewhat annoyed at this turn of events. It might be hypocritical of him considering he was exactly the same when Sasuke was concerned, but he couldn't help it.

It would have been a great boon for them to stop Orochimaru before he could leave the village, but now he was gone even earlier than in the original timeline and there wasn't anything they could do to about that.

Good things happened as well, of course. For one thing, the Uchiha Clan hadn't been relocated to the outskirts like the last time around. Instead, their new district was pretty much at the centre of the village, right beside the biggest marketplace. Because of the increased traffic there, the clan was forced to interact more with the non-Uchiha population, making them look less aloof and unapproachable as it was still the case with clans like the Hyūga.

Naturally, there were a lot of protests at first as many members of his family didn't want to interact too much with the rest of the village, but all resistance stopped as soon as they realized how the increased number of people from outside the clan travelling through their district multiplied their income.

Once that became clear, people were quick to note how beneficial the new arrangement was and that "they could just go to some of the less commercially focused areas if they wanted some peace from the outsiders." 

The only persons who had been quite outspoken against this change had been Danzo, but when the Hokage argued that this placement would allow the KMPF—which was mainly manned by members of the Uchiha Clan—to be everywhere in the village fast enough to be actually able to do something in case of an emergency and no one else objected, it had been decided anyway.

Another positive change from the previous timeline was that Itachi still hadn't heard any rumours about Naruto, which meant that his status was still very much a secret. He actually heard his parents argue about adopting him once, his mother had been close friends with Kushina after all, but the idea was discarded in the end.

"Itachi-kun, can you tell me for which jutsu the hand seals I just demonstrated are?"

He looked at the expectant face of his instructor, slightly surprised that he had actually been called to answer the question. Most teachers had already accepted that they wouldn't catch him by surprise and that he always played attention even if he didn't look like it.

"The seal is for the Water Release: Water Formation Wall technique, Sensei," he answered without hesitation.

His teacher nodded with a smile, having obviously expected him to know the answer and now feeling smug about having been proven right. 

In Itachi's opinion, he should have called upon someone else if he already knew that Itachi could answer the question, but in the end, it didn't really matter. At least he had been moved up the grades a few months ago, not too long after his enrollment, which meant none of his classmates were either overly offended or in awe of the constant ease with which he tore through the curriculum. 

Interestingly enough, older students seemed, at least for the most part, either resigned or entirely uncaring about the presence of a child prodigy whereas his 'peers' always reacted quite strongly to him. Perhaps the age difference makes it easier for older students to dismiss me as something out of the ordinary out of hand instead of trying to match my pace and subsequently be dissapointed by the results as children my age would be? 

There were naturally always exceptions to the rule, but at the end of the day, sharing classes with the upper grades was a much more omrasant experience than it would have been had he joined his age mates. 

Having correctly answered the question, his teacher continued to explain various techniques and their strengths and weaknesses while Itachi continued to stare out of the window, counting down the hours until school was over so he could get some real training done.

The class had just finished and Itachi was on his way home when he heard a female voice call his name:

"Itachi! Not so fast!"

He knew who had called him even before he had fully turned around, having recognized the voice instantly, so it was no surprise when Izumi came to a stop in front of him.

"Meh, Itachi, I told you to wait for me after school. Do you know how annoying it is to have to run to catch up with you?"

He was pretty sure that she was glaring at him right now, but to Itachi, her expression more closely resembled a pout than anything else.

Since he had woken up in the past, he had tried his best to spend more time with the few people he had been close to, with that being a rather limited group of people consisting of Sasuke, Shisui, and Izumi. His parents as well, of course though his relationship with them had always been another kind of love, one marked by their expectations of him and his duties as their firstborn, than the one connecting him to the first group.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much reason to interact with Shisui yet, and his parents were too busy more often than not, so he spent most of his free time—or at least the time he didn't spend training—with either Izumi or Sasuke. Sometimes with both of them at the same time, too.

One of those days had been yesterday. He had been training with Izumi after school, and Sasuke had watched. Of course, when he said 'training with her', he actually meant 'training her' instead.
That had also been when she told him to wait for her after classes today.

"I apologise. However, caught up with me just fine, so everything turned out alright, didn't it?"

Her pouting—sorry, glaring—intensified at that. "That's no excuse Itachi! You can't just..."

Itachi just smiled as Izumi continued with her rant. He was used to it by now, having spent quite a few hours just listening to her talking. That was how they spent most of their time when they weren't training, actually; she talked, and he listened. He would chime in with some comment from time to time, but not much more. He never was the most talkative person in the first place, and the years after his banishment from Konoha hadn't given him much opportunity to change that habit.

Also, having serious conversations with children was not exactly easy. 

The first time he had met her in this time line was when they had been accepted into the academy. He hadn't known how to react back then. It was rather fortunate that he didn't need to do anything but listen to the Sandaime, because he wasn't sure he would have been able to speak at all.

Izumi's death might be the only one he regretted having a direct hand in as much as his parents', so it was understandably hard to be in her presence.

It helped that they were in the same class, at least before he had been graded up two months into his stay, as this allowed him to get used to her the same way he got used to his parents' presence after living with them again for a while. Now that they were close again, possibly even closer than they had originally been at this age, seeing as he wasn't quite as emotionally stunned as he had been before, he was a bit saddened about the fact that they didn't share classes any longer.

He didn't regret taking the chance to move up in grades, though. After all, being around young children all day was exhausting, even more so than it had been the first time around.

They soon arrived at the dango shop they regularly visited. It was located at the border between the Uchiha district and the greatest shopping street of the market district, with many more streets leading to it. Similar to most clans with their own district, the Uchiha surrounded their lands with a wall. Now, a wall between themselves and the place where all the money was made was obviously not a great marketing strategy, so it was decided that one of the four entrances into their district would open directly into the marketplace. This entrance consisted of a large gate through which, if necessary, more than a dozen people could walk through simultaneously without bumping shoulders. This gate was opened almost all day, meaning the Uchiha restrict was included in the daily affairs of the village.

The two of them didn't need to order anything due to them visiting the place regularly enough to be recognized by the owner, so they only gave a simple greeting before looking for a free place to settle down.

Izumi had calmed down by then and was instead looking down at her lap sullenly.

After a few moments of uncharacteristic silence, with the sole exception of a silent "thank you" to the waitress when she brought their food, he decided to do something about it.

"Are you still angry about me not waiting for you? I'm sorry, my mind was elsewhere. It will not happen again."

That sounded weak, even to him.

Instead of answering right away, she just uttered something incomprehensible under her breath. Itachi raised an eyebrow at that. Was this really bothering her that much?

Seemingly deciding that he deserved an actual answer instead of just muttering some gibberish, Izumi sighed before saying, "It's not that. It's just... you will graduate tomorrow, won't you?"

At the last part, she looked at him with these brown puppy-eyes of hers.

Now it was Itachi's turn to sigh. He now understood what the problem was. Izumi had tried her hardest to catch up to him ever since they started to spend more time with each other, and maybe even before that. Because of his help, her abilities had progressed in leaps and bounds compared to her classmates, even to the point where she had been able to skip one grade entirely herself, but it wasn't enough.

Of course it wasn't enough. 

"I will participate in the exams tomorrow, yes."

Izumi scoffed. "We both know you will not just 'participate', Itachi. You're by far the best student in the entire academy, everyone knows that! If you take the exams, you will finish them at the top of your class, no question about it!"

All fire inside her seemed to die after she finished talking.

Now, Itachi knew that Izumi had a crush on him. It wasn't as if she was hiding it very well, even if she was much less obvious—or annoying—than his usual admirers. In his last life, he had had too many other things to worry about and not quite the capacity to properly develop a crush on someone in the first place as to reciprocate her feelings, at least to the same extent, and now...

Well, he was mentally over twenty years old while she wasn't even ten yet. No matter what he might have felt about her in his youth, he couldn't develop a romantic interest in a child.

Back to the situation at hand.

Izumi's greatest worry at the moment was that they would grow apart if he graduated and she didn't; that they would stop meeting each other more and more as time went on until they were little more than strangers.

He simply had to reassure her that that wasn't the case.

"Izumi," he said before waiting until she looked up at him again to continue. "Even when I leave the academy tomorrow, we will still be friends. We will still spend time with each other, even if I will need to go on missions and have less free time than I have now. We can manage that, can't we?"

Her eyes started to tear up, but she didn't start to cry. It once again reminded him of just how young she actually was, however.

"Really? You promise?"

He smiled at her, making her blush. "Of course. And besides, if I get a Jōnin instructor, I will learn a lot of new things. I can teach you whatever he teaches me, which then will help you graduate early yourself. How does that sound?"

"Yeah," she replied, finally smiling again. "That sounds great."

There was a moment of silence before she began speaking again, enthusiasm having returned in her voice. "So, did I tell you what Hana did today in class? She..."

With that their conversation returned to more light-hearted topics, and Itachi couldn't help but smile as he continued listening to whatever came to Izumi's mind.

It was already dark outside when Itachi's Kage Bunshin—the original being at home and finishing dinner with his family at the moment—noticed the person he was waiting for entering the restaurant.

The person was a young man of average height with a forgettable face and short, brown hair. He gave the waitress a joyful smile before he made his way over to where Itachi was sitting.

"Sōta", the Sandaime greeted him when he arrived. "It's good to see you. It has been far too long."

"Hiroto" he nodded back to his leader. "I'm glad you were able to make it."

Obviously, both the Hokage and Itachi were using a Henge at the moment. There was, after all, no need to confuse people as to why their Hokage was eating dinner with a six-year-old child.

Meeting like this was not an easy feat. With Itachi's current chakra reserves, he wasn't able to maintain more than two clones at any given time, and even that was only possible because of his excellent chakra control. He used the absolute minimum of chakra necessary to create a clone, which resulted in one that was much weaker than it would normally be but in return continued to exist for a longer period of time. Even this version only lasted one hour at most, though. Also, the transformation he was using lessened this time even more, so their time to talk was very limited.

The Sandaime, on the other hand, could easily maintain a clone for a much longer duration, making it theoretically possible to meet at another time with the real Itachi, but he decided not to do so. He probably thought it was a great way of getting him used to the limits of his younger body once more.

Or maybe he simply found it more amusing this way. 

Well, one didn't argue with the Hokage about something trivial as this, so there was nothing Itachi could do about it. 

Unfortunately, the only time of the day they could see each other like this was in the evening, because this was the only time either of them wasn't too busy with other things. This was, in fact, only the fifth meeting they had since he told the older man about his past life.

"Of course I made it. After all, it was me who asked for the meeting, wasn't it?"

"And what is it that you wanted to speak with me about?"

The Sandaime sighed with a downwards glance. "Direct to the point as always, I see. But I suppose our time is limited, so we should indeed get to it." The next time he looked up, all the easy-going mirth in his eyes was gone, leaving only seriousness behind. "What I wanted to talk with you about is your future."

Itachi blinked. While this was one possibility he had considered, that wasn't the first thing he had thought about when musing what this would be about.

He decided to play it safe for now.

"I will graduate from the academy tomorrow."

"Yes, you will. I'm sure of that. But that is exactly my point. You will graduate tomorrow, but the situation is already different from your last life, which means we need to make different decisions."

Itachi didn't quite see where the Hokage was going with this. Of course the situation was different from before, the current location of the Uchiha district was proof of that, but he wasn't sure how that would have any immediate consequences that they would need to discuss right now.

Unless he's talking about... 

"In case you didn't notice yet," the Sandaime continued, "you're only six years old at the moment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were seven when you finished the academy in your last life, weren't you?"

Itachi had made the connection himself just as the older man mentioned it. 

"That is correct, yes"

After the Nine-Tailed Fox attacked the village and killed a great number of shinobi, it had been decided that the current school year of the academy would end early. The graduation class would finish the academy sooner while the class below them, the new graduation class, would graduate on the originally scheduled date. This way, the village would be able to produce twice a many new Genin as they would have had otherwise, thus replacing the shinobi who had fallen in the attack as fast as possible.

With earlier graduation came an earlier, additional enrolment. Originally, he hadn't been part of that earlier class. His mother had put her foot down when his father proposed him join the academy a few months sooner than planned, making sure that this wasn't going to happen. Itachi hadn't been included in that argument back then, but this time, he had interfered and sided with his father. Together, they were able to wear his mother down, which resulted in him joining this earlier grade.

Now he would graduate with the class that would finish their schooling tomorrow instead of the one a few months later.

Naturally, if the Uchiha heir started schooling earlier, the rest of the clan followed suit. It would obviously look bad if their clan head enrolled his child in school and they didn't.

He had honestly not felt the younger age with which he finished the academy worth noting till now, especially with it not even being that impressive considering that Kakashi graduated when he was only five.

But he supposed the Sandaime had a point. It certainly would be impressive to others. 

"Do you think I should postpone my graduation until next term, Hokage-sama?"

Itachi wouldn't like it very much, but he would do so if he was ordered to.

"No, that won't be necessary," he disagreed immediately, actually catching Itachi simehwta by surprise. "In fact, your earlier graduation will be very handy. You see, your graduation age isn't the only thing that changed. There is also my failure in apprehending Orochimaru, as I'm sure you remember." For a moment, the Hokage truly looked his age before he managed to pull himself together once more. "What you might not know, however, is the fact that Orochimaru had a Genin team. He told me that he would nominate them for the next Chūnin Exams, and that he would probably take one of them, Anko Mitarashi, as his apprentice afterwards should they succeed. Does this match with your knowledge?"

As it turned out, Itachi's line of thinking hadn't actually followed the Hokage's at all. But now, knowing that the conversation was all about, he thought he finally knew where this was leading to.

"I don't know anything about the other two members of the team, but I'm aware that Orochimaru took Mitarashi-san with him by manipulating her when he fled the village in the original timeline."

The Sandaime nodded. "The situation is different now. Orochimaru fled earlier, thus leaving his team behind before they were able to participate in the Chūnin Exams. One of his students vanished around the same time as he did, too, but with the knowledge that he manipulated Mitarashi-san in your timeline, it might be possible that this disappearance isn't as voluntary as we assumed till now. Be it as it is, there is now one empty spot in a team where there wasn't one before. I already found a replacement instructor, but I still need one more member to fill the remaining hole, and I want that member to be you."

Itachi didn't have a problem with that. He wasn't very surprised by it either, having been able to predict what was going to happen as soon as the Sandaime started to talk about Orochimaru's former team, but he still needed to gather his thoughts for a second.

He had known for quite some time now that he wouldn't be part of the same Genin team as before—not that he wanted to, he already interacted with way too many ghosts as it was by simply walking through his family's district—and was fine with it.

However, he had to admit that at least a small part of him found the idea of joining Orochimaru's old students irksome. It was entirely irrational, of course, and Itachi had no intention of letting that feeling affect his opinion of the children in question, but having any connection to the rogue Sannin whatsoever, indirect as it may be, was something he would generally prefer to avoid. 

But not to the point where he would argue with the Hokage about his team placement. 

"I understand."

"Furthermore, your team will participate in the next Chūnin Exams."

He frowned. "Isn't that a bit early? The next exams start in... five months? Wouldn't it be strange for me, the Uchiha heir, to participate after being a Genin for less than half a year? People might view this as favouritism."

"It probably will be viewed that way, yes. But if you proved your worth before the nomination—on a mission, for example—there would be much fewer protests than you might think. Most people would see this as a good way of showing off how talented Konoha's newest generation is, especially after the damage we have taken because of the Nine-Tails. Moreover, the people who have the last word in this would be your assigned sensei and I, so there's no need for you to worry about possible protests."

Itachi stopped himself from frowning even harder as the gears in his mind began to turn, thinking about why the Sandaime was so persisted in having him not only rise in rank, but also gain public recognition and, more important, approval.

Deciding to voice his thoughts, he asked, "Why exactly do you want me to become a Chūnin already, Hokage-sama? Why not let me take part in the exams after these, or at an even later date? You are aware that Konoha doesn't need me to show off in front of the other nations. I didn't participate in these exams the last time either, after all. In fact, I only became a Chūnin when I was ten, several years from now."

Itachi had a good idea, of course, but wanted the Hokage to say it to be sure. 

Instead of answering, the Sandaime only smiled. It was obvious that he didn't plan on giving him a straight answer tonight. Not about this topic, at least.

Quite possibly because he knew Itachi knew and didn't saw a point in confirming it—even if not answering his question was an answer in and of itself.

"I have also received a message from Jiraiya," the Sandaime continued, changing the topic. "He has still some business left to finish before he can head back, and as we don't have any immediate need of him, I saw no reason to speed up his return. He will arrive in around two months. We will have another meeting then."

Itachi nodded. That was well within their tentatively agreed upon time frame, so there was indeed no need to hurry.

They spent the next ten minutes talking about some more details before Itachi stood up to take his leave. His chakra was nearly entirely depleted and this Kage Bunshin would not be able to go on for much longer.

Meanwhile, the Sandaime started to enjoy his food, which had just been delivered to him by the friendly waitress he had greeted earlier.

This conversation had been very constructive and evidently left him in a good mood, and as was widely known, there was nothing better to celebrate a constructive strategy meeting than good food.

The exams had been a joke.

Not that Itachi was surprised. It would have been strange if he had had any troubles with it, but it was still disheartening to see how low the standards at the Academy truly were. He hoped the Jōnin instructors would get all the kids into shape soon, because they seriously needed it.

He himself had fared just as well as he had the last time. Both times, he had finished the written and the practical exams with full points, becoming part of the small group of people who had achieved this before. Some examples were Orochimaru, Minato Namikaze, and Kakashi Hatake. The only part that gave him some problems was the one where he needed to work together with other students, a feat made harder by the fact that he wasn't close to anyone in his class, his status as a prodigy—or freak, depending on who you asked—alienating him from his classmates quite a bit. 

Regardless of their feelings, however, they managed to work together well enough, so it didn't really matter in the end.

His parents had been overjoyed, of course. Who wouldn't be if their child's progress was comparable to the likes of the Yellow Flash himself?

Oddly enough, while his mother still appeared to be proud, she also looked somewhat saddened as well, which made him think... 

Did she perhaps grief for his non-existent childhood? Did she hope for him to befriend other children while being at the Academy, just to get her hopes crushed by his early graduation? Did she want him to have as much of a 'normal' childhood as possible? After all, she did try to stop him from entering the academy early.

Honestly, Itachi wasn't sure what to think about all of this. Maybe he just thought too much into it. After all, he couldn't have overlooked this in his last life, could he? Which meant this was a recent development...

Anyway, that had been yesterday.

Right now, he was on his way to the Third Training Ground—and no, the irony wasn't lost on him—where the instructor at the academy had told him he would meet his new team.

Right in front of him was the clearing with its tree stumps lined side by side in the center and three people in front of them.

The first person he noticed was a violet-haired girl lying on the ground, wearing a brown-red shirt with bracelets, white shorts, and fishnet leggings. Logically, as there was only one girl on the team, this must be Anko Mitarashi, and if the way she played with a kunai in her hand was any indication, she was either bored or annoyed. Possibly both. 

The next person was a boy with short, light brown hair and some round glasses on his nose. He wore blue and simple, but comfortable-looking robes, seemingly more interested in feeling at ease than worried about how others viewed him. Right now, he seemed busy glaring at his feet while the last person in the clearing reprimanded him for something. Although from the way the boy had his arms crossed in front of his chest, it was fairly obvious that he was more miffed than ashamed for whatever he had done that incurred the chiding he was getting at the moment.

The last person, the one that was chiding the aforementioned boy, was his instructor-to-be, and the fact that he didn't recognize him meant that he wasn't and would never be one of the more famous Jōnin of Konohagakure. He was taller than average, wore a standard Jōnin uniform, had long, brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and a posture that was basically screaming exhaustion by the way his body was slightly bent forwards. Itachi was actually confident he could see the dark bags under his eyes even from where he stood, which was almost thirty meters away.

The first one who seemed to notice him was Anko, the other two being too busy with each other.

"Sensei" she interrupted the one-sided conversation between her teammates. "I think a little squirt has gotten lost over there. Shouldn't you go and help him or something?"

'A little squirt', huh?

Not the most creative thing he had been called over the years, having being constantly the youngest and smallest member of pretty much every team he joined for missions for most of his life, but also not the worst. 

"Ah, be nice, Anko. This will most likely be your new teammate."

Hearing the man's voice, his first impression about him being exhausted was reinforced even further. He sounded so tired that Itachi was surprised he was able to stand on his feet at all.

Turning to face him now, the man continued, "Well, you must be Itachi Uchiha, correct? My name is Akihito Tanaka. I am the leader of Team 3, and if all goes well, your future sensei."

"Nice to meet you, Tanaka-sensei. My teachers told me to meet you here just fifteen minutes ago, so I hope I'm not too late?"

"Ah, no need to worry, we just—"

Unfortunately, Tanaka was interrupted by Anko's indignant voice. "Wait a second, you want to tell me that this kid will be the replacement for Nakamura? But we are meant to enter the Chūnin Exams in a few months! He will just slow us down!"

Tanaka sighed but didn't reprimand her—if Itachi interpreted things correctly, he would say Tanaka was already used to being interrupted—before answering her:

"It's not my decision to make, Anko, but the Hokage's. But be assured, the Sandaime wouldn't put Uchiha-san into our team if he didn't think he would fit right—"

Once again, he was interrupted, this time by his other student's miffed voice. "Well, Hokage-sama isn't perfect, is he? From my perspective, this is obviously a mistake. How do you suppose we can accomplish any missions when we need to drag him along with us all the time?"

"Yukio, I know—"

"Sensei," this time it was Itachi who interrupted the older man. "If I may propose someth—"

...only to be interrupted himself:

"Nobody asked for your opinion, squirt!" Anko scoffed and promptly threw the kunai, the one Itachi had seen her play around with earlier, at him.

Akihito was tired.

In his defence, he was already thirty-six years old, which was a pretty decent age for a shinobi—especially one who fought at the frontlines of the last war and had been part of the ANBU for nearly a decade. The average shinobi died before they turned thirty-five, after all, which meant he already excelled where most others failed, and he planned to continue to do so.

Right now, all he wanted was to retire and maybe even start a family. To retire as an active shinobi of Konoha who had reached the rank of Jōnin, one had to fulfill two requirements: first, you must have served in active duty for at least twenty years, and second, you must have trained at least one team of Genin. Something about securing the next generation and what's not.

It was a bit easier for lower-ranked shinobi, but Akihito tried not to think about that too much. Getting jealous wouldn't help him, after all. 

So, here he was, taking over Orochimaru's former team after the Sannin had betrayed the village.

It was much worse than he could have ever imagined.

He took over the team a little more than a month ago  and both his students still hated him. Well, maybe not him personally, but what he represented; a mere replacement for their real Sensei. Not that they wanted to continue training under him either, mind you. If there was one person they hated more than him, it was their former teacher.

Needless to say, they didn't take his betrayal too well, and naturally, they took their displeasure out on him.

They always argued with him, didn't listen to him outside of missions—at least they had the good sense to behave themselves there—and generally had always the exact opposite opinion of him.

That was also the reason for why he was berating Yukio right now. As soon as he had told them that they would get a new teammate today, something he had waited for till now because he had anticipated their reaction, the boy had started to argue about how they didn't need another teammate and that he and Anko could win the Chūnin Exams without any additional help.

He stopped doing that, however, when Anko's voice interrupted him to draw his attention to the new person in the clearing. Akihito had already noticed the newcomer's presence closing in on them some time ago, of course. He was a Jōnin and former ANBU, after all, so he wasn't surprised.

Still, he stopped chiding Yukio—for now—and faced his prospective new student, not paying much attention to the conversation even when he took part in it.

The face that looked at him was the same he had seen in the file the Sandaime had given him beforehand, right down to the boy's expression. 

Itachi Uchiha, possibly the greatest prodigy of his generation and probably some previous ones as well, and also one of the youngest members of his clan to ever awaken their inherited Kekkei Genkai. It would be a lie if he claimed he didn't look forward to seeing how good the boy really was. 

There was no hint of him being either nervous, intimidated, or hurt by Anko's and Yukio's comments. He stood perfectly comfortable in front of Akihito, not even looking at his fellow students. And while he didn't show much of any emotion, he didn't look cold either. Only neutral.

He was also smaller than he had imagined, even considering his young age.

Everything came to a head when Anko decided it would be a great idea to throw her kunai at the Uchiha's head.

Akihito could have stopped the weapon easily, obviously, but he decided not to. It was common practice in the ANBU to test new recruits in a trial by fire, and while he knew these kids weren't ANBU, he didn't see why he couldn't do the same as long as it didn't go too out of hand. Not as long as he was close by and could interfere if necessary, at least.

The kunai flew a straight line before the boy caught it just a centimetre from his head. He had caught the weapon without any indication that he was surprised and was still looking at him, never even glancing at the weapon he had just caught.

He suppressed a smile. What a show-off, he thought, already starting to like the brat.

There was a moment of silence on the clearing before it was broken by a short laugh from Anko. "Well," she said with a wide smile, "it seems like the midget has some balls, I'll give him that."

He blinked. Didn't she still dislike him just a second ago? Also, language! 

"As I was saying, Sensei," the Uchiha spoke up again, completely ignoring Anko's comment. "May I propose something?"

Sure, why not? Might be interesting. "Go ahead," he said.

The boy nodded. "I want to propose a sparring match. Obviously, and understandably, my abilities are being doubted because of my age. If the main problem of me joining this team is the fear of me slowing it down, the easiest way of reassuring this fear is showing you where I stand compared to my prospective teammates."

Before he even had the chance to answer Anko chimed in again. "Oh, hell yeah! I like the sound of that! Maybe you aren't too bad, kid."

"Wait Anko!" Yukio suddenly exclaimed. "You can't seriously want to fight him! Don't be stupid! You're just gonna kill him or something, and then there will be a lot of consequences. It's not worth it."

"Ah, shut up, Yukio. I will just have some fun. And maybe he isn't half bad! Besides, it's not as if Sensei here"—her voice dropped in disapproval at that title—"wouldn't interfere if I were to accidentality go too far."

"Alright, alright, calm down, everyone," he decided to take control of the conversation again before turning back towards Itachi. "That's a good idea. It will also be beneficial to witness your fighting style,to see how it will fit with the rest of the team, so there is that as well."

Next, he turned to Yukio. "And Anko is correct, too. I would interfere if things go out of hand, so there is no need for you to be worried."

Yukio scowled but thankfully stayed silent.

"Alright then," he continued when nobody else said something. "Let's get this started, shall we?"

"On my signal," he said, standing between Anko and the Uchiha in the middle of the clearing.

While the former was visibly excited, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet, the latter stood perfectly still, only the tension in his posture and the sharp glint in his eyes belying his apparent calmness.

Surprisingly, he hadn't activated his Sharingan yet.

"Three," he raised his right arm over his head;

"Two," Anko went still, her body slightly bent forward;

"One," he readied himself to back away, not keen to end between these two when the fight started;

"Go!" he yelled before vanishing in a shunshin and reappearing beside Yukio several dozen meters away.

It was obvious from the very start that the two of them had very different fighting styles. While Anko rushed in immediately to attack her opponent head-on, Itachi stayed still till the very last moment before backing away. It was also clear—to Akihito's eyes, at least—that the young Uchiha was unexpectedly a tad faster than Anko. It wasn't very much, but it definitively helped him evade and defend from her attacks. If she had used any other fighting style, it might even have been enough to slip through her guard, a feat even more feasible because of his smaller stature. 

Unfortunately for the boy, she didn't.

Of all of Orochimaru's former students, it was Anko who copied the Sannin's fighting style the most. Her kicks and hits came from strange angles, and she proved time and time again that her agility and flexibility were top-notch. It was almost as if the usual limits of the human body didn't apply to her.

She moved as if there were no bones in her body to restrict her.

She moved like a snake.

A kick to Itachi's right side suddenly changed direction, coming down to his head instead and forcing him to jump to his left. He slipped right under her follow-up attack, only to back down again when Anko bend her body at some weird angle and tried to smash him into the ground with her other leg.

Next, Anko, who apparently had the time of her life, rushed forward once more, only to have her own leg being used as a springboard by Itachi who continued by connecting his knee with her face. The attack, which was also the first move that actually hit its mark in the fight so far, threw Anko a few metres backwards before she recovered in mid-air with a backflip and landed on her feet. She immediately jumped away again, however, just in time to dodge the number of kunai and shuriken that embedded themselves into the ground where she had stood just a moment earlier.

"Hah!" she laughed, ignoring her bloody nose. "You're really a freak, aren't ya?" There wasn't any heat in her words, only approval. "Let's play with weapons, then!"

Anko rushed in again, this time with a kunai in each of her hands. In the following clash, the sound of metal hitting metal joined the already existing sound of colliding limbs. They would meet each other head-on, more often than not initiated by Anko, meeting each other's attacks with their own for a few moments before parting from each other once again. Afterwards, the circle started anew.

After a few rounds of this, Itachi suddenly managed to disarm Anko by ramming the handle of his kunai against the back of her hand and then continued by throwing a kick to her guts that made her fly backwards again. He hurried after her this time, clearly not wanting to give her time to get her balance back, only to be forced to jump into the air to avoid her counter-attack:

"Sen'ei Tajashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

Several snakes shot out from the sleeves of Anko's shirt and rushed towards Itachi, who was still mid-air.

Akihito already prepared himself to jump in and end the fight when he saw Itachi forming hand seals of his own with great speed.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

An average-sized orb of fire flew towards Anko, killing the snakes and filling the area with the smell of burned flesh.

The girl gave a surprised squeak before she jumped away to avoid the flames. She managed to get out of the affected area just in time, too, but didn't get a moment to rest because the next second, she was forced to defend herself from an onslaught of hits and kicks.

Itachi didn't give her a single moment to get her mind straight. Still surprised by the fact that the younger boy could use a wide-ranged Jutsu, as well as having not enough time to fall into the stance of her fighting style, there wasn't much she could do other than defend herself from the worst of the attacks.

Now the boy's greater speed came in handy for him as Anko wasn't able to block or evade all of his attacks any longer. Especially because she was unable to use any techniques of her own and was so far out of her depth, many of his hits connected.

A punch Anko wasn't able to block hit her left cheek. She blocked a kick, only to be thrown to the side when Itachi's other leg struck her waist. After dodging one of Itachi's roundhouse kicks, Anko tried to use this opportunity to start her own offensive, but was quickly taught better when he smashed his knee into her face again.

Clearly frustrated with the situation, Anko reached into her waist pouch in favour of blocking one hit to her side and threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

Akihito grimaced. He couldn't evaluate them if he couldn't see them, so this was rather unfavourable. At least he had a pretty good guess about Anko's skills, having trained with her for over a month now, but he wanted to watch the Uchiha boy a bit more.

The smoke bomb had been a small one, so the smoke was already starting to fade away. It was only a few more seconds before he started to see two silhouettes. One of them—the smaller one, he absently noted—was lying on the ground while the bigger one sat on top of it.

He knew what that meant and already prepared himself to declare Anko the winner when he noticed a third silhouette appearing behind the girl.

The smoke had almost entirely faded away when the situation became clear:

Itachi was lying on his stomach while Anko was sitting on his back with a kunai pointed at the back of his head. However, instead of having a victorious smile on her face, her eyes were wide in shock.

The reason for that was the other Itachi standing behind her with a kunai of his own on her throat.

The Art of Genjutsu: Illusionary Techniques

[…] Its chakra consumption is both the greatest advantage and disadvantage of Genjutsu. While most Genjutsu don't require too much chakra in the sense of using and therefore wasting it, they require the caster to use a certain amount of their chakra to constantly flow through their and their victim's bodies. The amount of chakra that is needed for this can't be used for anything else for as long as the technique is active, with this being the main reason for why only people with a certain amount of chakra are able to use the most powerful techniques.

If the caster releases their technique, the chakra used for this process becomes available once more and can be used as usual. Should the victim break the illusion, on the other hand, all the chakra used for the energy flow will be lost just as if it was used for another technique […]

[…] Genjutsu, just as Ninjutsu, are ranked depending on the difficulty and the skill necessary to perform the technique, as well as its strength. Both types of jutsu share the same ranking system, ranging from D-Rank at its lowest to S-Rank at its highest.

However, shinobi who specialise in Genjutsu more commonly use the terms low-level, mid-level, and high-level when they talk about their techniques. 

Low-level techniques (which are generally jutsu who rank from D-Rank to C-Rank) describe a Genjutsu in which the quality of the illusion isn't good enough to be unnoticeable and who are easier to break than mid-level or high-level techniques. The person that fells victim to such an illusion can break free by simply disrupting their own chakra flow. Illusions of this level are generally used by shinobi who outnumber their enemies, because victims of such illusions stay motionless until they break free. This way, they're easy targets for attacks from one's comrades. Caster of low-level Genjutsu are in general unable to move around themselves for as long as they use the technique, which is why they also need to be defended by comrades while executing them.

This is the most common type of illusion used by shinobi, as most don't have the chakra control to learn the other types or simply never bother to learn more advanced techniques. Genjutsu of this level can be used by forming the hand seal for Ram [...]

[…] Mid-level techniques (which are generally Jutsu who rank from C-Rank to B-Rank) describe a Genjutsu that makes it hard for the victim to notice the technique and consequently often stay captured in the illusion until they get killed. Victims of such illusions move according to what they see inside the Genjutsu, which means the caster can, for example, make the victim attack their comrades without them even realizing it.

They either need someone else to disrupt their chakra flow for them or experience some sort of pain, for example by stabbing themselves with a kunai, to break free. Furthermore, most casters aren't able to move around themselves as they need to concentrate to keep the illusion going. E xperienced users may maintain some mobility.

Every large-scale Genjutsu, which affects an entire area instead of a single person, is at least a mid-level technique.

Only a small number of shinobi ever learn mid-level Genjutsu as they prefer Ninjutsu due to their more visible effects. Techniques of this level can be used without hand seals if the caster's chakra control is good enough. However, diverse hand seals can be used if this control is lacking [...]

[…] High-level techniques (which are generally Jutsu who rank from B-Rank to A-Rank) describe a Genjutsu during which it's nearly impossible for the victim to notice the illusion. To break free from it, the victim does not only need to realize their situation, but also needs to possess excellent chakra control. People with such good control are almost as rare as people who are able to use high-level illusions in the first place. The only other way to escape is being rescued by one's comrades.

One main difference compared to low-level and mid-level techniques is the additional benefit for the wielder of being able to move around freely once their victim is captured inside the illusion.

Whether the victim stays motionless or not while being caught in the Genjutsu depends on the will of the caster [...]

[…] While there is no S-Rank Genjutsu known to the wider public, such a technique may be in the possession of some clans [...]

[…] If you fight against certain Kekkei Genkai users like members of the Uchiha Clan and their famed Sharingan, remember that these rules don't apply to them in the same way as they do to you (for a complete list of all known bloodlines limits with ties to Genjutsu, turn to page 128) […]

Chapter Text

 Let's start this from the beginning 

 Genin Days

II 

The smoke had almost entirely faded away when the situation became clear:

Itachi was lying on his stomach while Anko was sitting on his back with a kunai pointed at the back of his head. However, instead of having a victorious smile on her face, her eyes were wide in shock.

The reason for that was the other Itachi standing behind her with a kunai of his own on her throat.

“The match is over. Uchiha-san has won.”

That had been a surprisingly interesting fight, Itachi thought. He had been confident he would win, yes, but he certainly hasn't expected his opponent to resist as much as she did. No wonder she had become a Chūnin as young as she did; she definitely had the abilities. Until now, he had only sparred with his father, who obviously held back during their fights and pushed him only hard enough to make him struggle without beating him in the ground, and against Izumi, where it was he who had to hold back. This had been his first fight in this timeline during which Itachi fought against someone who fought back with everything they got and wasn't so much weaker than him in Taijutsu that he could win easily if he wanted to.

Of course, things would have been different if he used Genjutsu or even some more Ninjutsu. That would have prevented him from getting a better grasp of the limits of his body, however, not to forget that his reserves were still rather limited and thus making wasting chakra unnecessarily a foolish move.

A user of the Sharingan was able to copy every technique that didn't require a bloodline to use, regardless of its elemental affinity. Unfortunately, an elemental jutsu that was not based on the affinity of one's own chakra nature consumed more energy than the ones that were. This meant that Itachi was currently unable to use any Ninjutsu that wasn't a Fire or Water Release without wasting far more chakra than he was comfortable with.

“You can release her now, Uchiha-san,” his new sensei said.

Itachi nodded and removed his kunai from Anko's throat. He also released his Kage Bunshin, having no use for it any longer.

“That was amazing!” Anko exclaimed, having jumped to her feet the moment his kunai was gone with her face morphed into an expression of excitement and awe. “That was a real clone, wasn't it? It was definitively not a fake one like the clones we learn at the Academy! I thought this was one of these 'super-secret techniques' they only teach Jōnin and the occasional lucky Chūnin. How did you get your hands on that?”

His own expression briefly turned contemplative as he looked at her before he activated his Sharingan. “I saw a member of my clan use it a few weeks ago and it seemed useful, so I copied it.”

Her mouth fell open. “Wait a second,” she said. “Why do you have these eyes? I thought you Uchiha guys didn't awaken it until your teens or something? And why the hell didn't you use them in our fight? Do you think I'm too weak to handle them?!”

Considering you already lost against me when I didn't use them, this assumption isn't too far off, he thought dryly. But I suppose I shouldn't say that out loud.

“Many shinobi who possess a Kekkei Genkai become dependent on it, and the Uchiha are no exception. I didn't use my Sharingan against you because it's important to me to improve myself by training with capable opponents without being reliant on my bloodline.”

She narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, before she finally nodded. “Fine, I will give you the benefit of the doubt—for now. But you're better gonna fight me with these fancy eyes of yours soon or I will get really angry, you hear me?”

“Of course."

“Well then,” their sensei interrupted their conversation. “Now that everything is settled, and nobody can argue Uchiha-san's worth for this team, why don't we proceed by introducing ourselves? After all, we have a new teammate.”

Neither Yukio nor Anko seemed impressed by that idea, probably because it was Tanaka-sensei who proposed it, but they didn't outright argue with him, which Itachi thought was probably as good as the man could get for the time being.

When nobody voluntarily went first, he sighed before beginning to speak once again:

“I guess I will start, then. As I mentioned before your little match, my name is Akihito Tanaka and I'm thirty-six years old. I like long walks through the park as well as cooking. What I don't like are people who ignore other people's privacy and stick their noses into things they have no business in. I hope to retire from active duty one day in the near future and maybe open a restaurant or something like that. Ability wise, well, I'm obviously a Jōnin, which means I'm pretty well-versed in most shinobi arts, but I specialize in Ninjutsu. My elemental affinities are fire and earth, but I also possess a fair share of lightning techniques.”

He was silent for a second, most likely pondering if there was something he wanted to add, before deciding against it. “Yeah, that's it. Your turn.”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds during which everyone waited for someone else to speak first before Anko decided to introduce herself next.

“Alright, I guess I will go next. My name is Anko Mitarashi and I'm thirteen years old. I like everything fun, but there is nothing better than fighting! My own fighting style focuses on Taijutsu, and I like to use poison. I also use Ninjutsu, but mainly as support only. My chakra nature is fire. I don't like vegetables, the stuff is gross. My dream is to one day become the strongest kunoichi of this village, even surpassing Tsunade of the Sannin!”

She stopped talking for a moment and her smile fell from her lips. Somehow, it felt oddly wrong for her not to smile.

Itachi could recognize the emotions that danced across her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it; anger, sorrow, sadness, determination. It somehow reminded him of Sasuke. Not the one of this timeline, though, but the one from the last one.

He knew what she would speak about long before she actually said it:

Revenge.

“And then I'm gonna kill Orochimaru and hang his rotting, traitorous corpse above the village gates for everyone to see!”

Itachi nodded to himself. Just as I had thought.

His last teammate spoke up next, stopping him from dwelling too long on this thought.

“My name is Yukio Kenshin, also thirteen years old. I like spending time with my siblings and I dislike doing chores at home. My dream is the same as Anko's; I want to bring Orochimaru to justice. I mainly use Taijutsu, but I want to specialize in Ninjutsu in the future. My elemental affinity is earth.”

He sounded pretty annoyed, although not as much as before. Itachi wondered if he was the reason for his teammates' bad mood or if it was the argument he had with Tanaka-sensei before he had arrived.

Then it was his turn. 

“My name is Itachi Uchiha and I'm six years old. I like spending time with my brother as well as the rest of my family. I also like to spend my free time reading, especially about history and philosophy. I dislike unnecessary fighting. My dream for the future is to be the best older brother I can possibly be.”

He hesitated a second, remembering what his dream had been when he had been six year old before he added on a whim, “I also want to become as strong as I can possibly be to protect the village”—and end all fighting—“and I prefer using Genjutsu in fights, but I'm also capable at Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. My elemental affinities are fire and water.”

Anko snorted. “Are you kidding me? 'Capable at Ninjutsu and Taijutsu'? You kick ass, boy!”

“Be that as is may,” Tanaka-sensei chimed in. “I'm more surprised about you having a water affinity. I heard that's rather rare for an Uchiha.”

“If my clan's records are correct, which is most likely the case, there have been only a handful of those in the last few generations. My father was surprised as well when we tested my affinities with a Chakra Induction Paper.”

“I see.”

Another awkward silence. They seemed to be somewhat of a regular occurrence.

“Well, how about I explain to you guys how we will proceed from here?” Tanaka-sensei asked. Then, when everyone more or less enthusiastically nodded their consent, he continued, “Normally, the first day is meant for introductions. That, we already finished. The usual procedure would include congratulatting your for passing the Genin exams before telling you that you can only become part of my team if you pass my own, second test, which would happen tomorrow. Not passing would mean that you were forced to return to the academy.

"Now, our situation is a bit different. While Uchiha-san indeed graduated from the academy just today, the other two of you did so a few years ago already. I thus believe it would be unfair to proceed in the usual way, which means I will not hold some test of my own. Instead, we will start training the first thing tomorrow.”

Itachi blinked. There would be no test? As far as he knew, Jōnin had to test their new Genin. There wasn't anything voluntary about that.

Then, something clicked in his head. Ah, he thought. I understand. 

Tanaka-sensei would probably watch how well they could work together and decide if the team could continue to exist or not depending on the results. By not telling them about the test, he also wanted to guarantee that all of them acted as real as possible instead of just faking to get along.

Simple, but clever. 

“You said we will start training tomorrow,” Yukio said. “Why not start now?”

“Haha, you see, I thought we could use the time for some team bonding, or something like that?” Tanaka-sensei said while laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head. “Especially with Uchiha-san just join—”

That was as far as he got before he was interrupted again, this time by Anko:

“Damn, get the stick out of your ass. He's a member of this team now, so just call him Itachi.”

“It's impolite to just call someone by their name without consent, Anko. You should know that.”

Itachi decided to interfere before things could escalate in another argument, if only because he suspected their would be a lot of those in the future for which he better would need all the patience he could get. “I don't mind if all of you just call me Itachi as long as you don't mind me calling you by your names either, though I will naturally still call you 'sensei' , Tanaka-sensei.”

“Hah! You see? He has no problem with it!” Anko exclaimed victoriously.

The Jōnin sighed before proceeding as if nothing had happened. “As I was saying, especially with Itachi just joining the team, it might be a good idea to get to know each other a bit better. Any suggestions for what we could do?”

Surprisingly, it was Yukio who answered first. “There is this tea house I know. It's not very well-known, but the tea is great. You could invite us there?”

“Well, going out together seems like a good enough idea, but I don't see why I should—”

“But Sensei! You're the adult, act like one and pay for us,” Anko said. “Come on, Yukio, show us the way.”

So that's why they so readily agreed for a get-together with Sensei, he thought wryly. They want to get something for free. 

With that, Anko grabbed the other boy's arm and pulled him in the direction of the village, leaving Itachi and their sensei with no other choice than to follow them.

“Oh, and before I forget,” Anko suddenly exclaimed before turning her head around without ever stopping in her walk to throw him a wide grin, “Itachi, call me Nee-chan from now, yeah?”

Itachi only gave her a deadpan look.

That's not going to happen. 

All things considered, Mikoto was happy with her lot in life.

Her career as a kunoichi had been a very successful, if short one, allowing her to rise to the rank of Jōnin before the age of sixteen. While still in active duty, she fell in love with the man she would eventually marry and then went on to give birth to not only one, but two beautiful children. She was even fortunate enough to have her family—not including her extended family, of course, as that would include her entire clan—survive both the last war and the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox relatively unscathed!

And as if that wasn't already enough, the gods also decided to bless her oldest son with abilities far above the norm, making him a once in a lifetime prodigy. What else could she ask for?

Unfortunately, what should be one of the brightest spots in her life was also the thing that brought her enough dismay to make her unable to sleep at night.

Her oldest son, Itachi, was a genius. There was no doubt about that. Sadly, this made it hard for him to connect with other children his age, even back when he was barely more than a toddler. But at least back then, he had still somewhat acted as a child should. Maybe not quite as childish as others, but still more carefree and happy than he did now.

His behaviour had changed drastically for the first time shortly after he had turned four.

This may be the only thing she would never forgive Fugaku for. Back then, her husband had taken Itachi with him to the Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami Shrine at the border to the Land of Earth as it was usual to do for fathers with their sons in their clan. It was a tradition the rest of the clan had decided to postpone until after the war was over, but Fugaku had decided that he, being the clan head, couldn't show fear, and so he went anyway.

When they came back three weeks later, Itachi hadn't just witnessed war and the destruction and death it brought with it, but had his first and second and third kill under his belt as well.

It was on the day they had returned that Mikoto had given up on him ever having a normal life, whatever 'normal' actually meant for a shinobi, and that was her greatest shame. She hadn't tried to talk to him about his experiences, didn't try to help him overcome the trauma he so obviously suffered from, and only watched as he became more and more distant—partly because she couldn't bear acknowledging the matter, and partly because she somewhat hopelessly prayed just ignoring these things would allow Itachi to simply forget about them.

To no one's surprise, that didn't work out well.

And then the Nine-Tails attacked the village and everything changed again, this time because the attack resulted in the awakening of Itachi's Sharingan.

Mikoto remembered the day she got their clan's famed eyes herself on the day her sister had been killed in front of her eyes crystal clear, and it gave her nightmares to this day. Whatever Itachi had seen must have disturbed him even more than everything he had witnessed on the battlefield, though she could scarcely imagine what that might have been.

He was more silent since then, which was a hard thing to do considering he never talked much in the first place, and when he spoke, it was with an air of maturity he didn't possess before. That had been the moment she promised herself that she would make the rest of his childhood, even if it was more physical than everything else at this point, as carefree as she could. This was the reason she had been against his earlier enrollment into the academy; the moment he entered that building, another part of his childhood would end, and that wasn't something she was quite ready for yet.

Until Itachi had gotten involved in the conversation and asked to enter the academy earlier out of his own free will. 

She still didn't want him to do so, but then, how could she say no to him? He never asked for much, only ever wishing to be taught something new. Mikoto didn't have it in her to refuse him, so she ultimately gave her reluctant consent.

She had told herself that it might be for the best, that maybe he would finally find some friends there he so badly lacked no matter how little she actually believed in it.

And then he had befriended Hazuki's daughter, Izumi.

Mikoto wasn't sure how it had happened, but she was glad for it regardless. It might not be the kind of friendship she wished for Itachi, where he went out to play silly games with children his age, but she knew how unrealistic this hope was and was willing to take whatever she could get. No, all the two of them seemed to do was either meet at the dango shop at the edge of their new district to talk or train and study together. For all that this already exceeded her expectations, she couldn't help to think that Itachi acted similarly with Izumi as he did with Sasuke. She couldn't point her finger on what exactly it was as there were still a number of differences, but it seemed as if he somehow felt responsible for her.

She wondered if it might be because of what happened when he saved her life during the attack of the Nine-Tails.

Still, he seemed content, if not outright happy in her presence, so she would be happy too.

This didn't last long, however, as Itachi seemed to tear through the material presented to him in class at an unbelievable speed, finishing the academy in less than a year.

She had been proud of him, of course. She had known Minato quite well even if they had never been as close as she and Kushina, which meant she understood better than most others how much of a genius their Yondaime truly had been. That Itachi matched his score when he graduated from the academy was amazing, even more so if one considered that Minato had been four years older than Itachi was now when he graduated.

The main reason she wasn't happy about him finishing so early was that this would make the distance between him and Izumi, who was his only real friend, grow even further. Still, this time, she didn't say anything, knowing that there was no way Itachi wouldn't want to take the chance to rise in the ranks. Not when he was so obviously bored in class.

All she could do now was to put on a smile and support him to the best of her abilities.

Mikoto had put the groceries in her bag and was already halfway on her way home when she saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her stop. She didn't need long to find what had caught her attention; to her left, she saw Itachi with three people who couldn't be anyone but his new teammates and sensei, sitting in front of a tea house. The only girl in the group was leaning halfway over the table and gestured with her hands in front of her son's face, all the while having a wide, somehow feral-looking smile on her face.

Itachi didn't seem annoyed by it, however, and didn't even have his usual polite expression on his face, but actually smiled. And while it wasn't as wide as the girl's, which would have looked quite funny on his face now that she thought about it, he still looked genuinely amused.

Unconsciously, a small smile wormed its way onto Mikoto's as well.

Perhals the reason Itachi was never able to connect with others was that he only ever interacted with children who were around his age. Maybe he got along better with older kids who were more mature than young Academy students.

Maybe him graduating early wasn't so bad after all.

And now that she thought about it, wasn't there a boy in their clan who was a prodigy in his own right? If she remembered correctly, he was only a few years older than her Itachi. Maybe she could arrange a meeting between these two?

She hummed thoughtfully before turning around and continuing on her way home.

Itachi sat on a bank close to the playground while he watched Sasuke play with some other kids his age. He wasn't completely sure what they were playing—it seemed like some strange mixture of Tag, Capture the Flag, Hopscotch, and Simon Says—but Sasuke had obviously fun, so the details didn't really matter.

The time he spent with his new team at the tea house had been unexpectedly entertaining. Even Anko's attempts at making him call her Nee-chan, as irritating as they might be, had been somewhat amusing. After spending a bit more time with her, he could confidently say that she would have gotten along with Kisame like a house on fire. They had nearly the same sense of humour. Even Yukio had started to warm up to him and come out of his shell a bit, though he didn't talk too much. In fact, Itachi suspected that he was a rather introverted person and didn't talk much in general.

That suited him just fine. After all, he was exactly the same. 

They had spent a bit more than two hours there before paying and departing for their respective homes. At that point it had just been noon, so his mother had asked him to take Sasuke to the playground as soon as he had stepped through the door and he had been only too happy to concur with that wish.

His mother also seemed unusual chipper, which hadn't been the case when he left the house in the morning. Itachi briefly wondered what had caused the change in her mood, but ultimately decided not to ask.

Itachi was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Sasuke hurrying in his direction. One moment he was running as fast as his small legs could carry him, and the next, he was stumbling. Itachi reacted without thinking and appeared in front of his little brother half a second later, just in time to catch him before he could fall and hurt himself. Sasuke wasn't put off by this in the slightest and wiggled in his arms until he could look at his face.

“Nii-san!” he exclaimed happily.

Itachi could hear the parents and grandparents around them swoon at the sight and even caught some words like 'adorable', 'cute', and 'admirable older brother'.

He ignored them in favour of focusing on Sasuke. “Yes, Otouto?”

“Come playin'?”

There were plenty six-year-olds playing around all over the park, and even if his appearance were matching his actual age, it wouldn't have been weird if he played with Sasuke in the sandbox. He was his little brother, after all. It wasn't unusual for older siblings to accompany their younger family members. However, the reason he did choose not to do so till now was that he felt weird doing it. He couldn't remember ever playing like this even when he was a child himself—which didn't mean mean it hadn't happened, if course; just that he couldn't remember it—so how could he do it now when he was a grown man?

But could he really say no to Sasuke?

“Of course,” he said, making sure to keep his doubts off his face. “Show me what you want to do?”

Sasuke squealed and started pulling him to a spot a bit more apart from the other kids where they were as alone as they could be on a public playground.

Sitting on a pile of sand, building a sandcastle with his brother, and generally just enjoying himself... he couldn't count how often he had wished for moments like this in his last life, first when he had been too busy with missions and then later after he had left the village. And while it still felt weird doing something so normal, he couldn't deny that it was also quite nice.

He was stopped from thinking further about this when he felt a painfully familiar chakra signature closing on on him from behind.

“You're Itachi, correct? And this little man must be Sasuke. Nice to meet you!”

Itachi calmly turned around, hiding his inner tumult behind an even expression. “That's correct. And you are 'Shunshin no Shisui', aren't you? How can we help you?”

Shisui gave a surprised laugh and scratched the back of his head in an abashed manner. “C'mon, don't call me by that silly name. Barely anybody does! But yeah, that would be me.”

“People aren't calling you that yet. I'm sure they will in time.”

“Well, I guess it's nice being recognized for one's skills. But couldn't they call me something else? You know, something more flashy?”

He had his usual silly smile on his face which made Itachi fight down all the memories and emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. Shisui had not only been his best friend, but also an older brother figure for him; a person he always wanted to surpass no matter how impossible that goal seemed.

(Shisui had disagreed, always claiming that he had merely the advantage of age and experience and that Itachi would be stronger than him in a few short years.)

In a way, he had been for Itachi what he was to Sasuke.

“Nii-san, who's that?” Sasuke asked, giving him a welcome excuse to stop looking at his former best friend.

“This is Shisui Uchiha, a member of our clan. He came to say hello.”

Sasuke frowned for a second, but then apparently decided that the new person was boring and continued building a 'sandcastle'.

Itachi briefly smiled to himself before turning back to Shisui. “In that case, you probably should start creating a nickname for yourself and spread it to the public. Anyway, I ask again, how can we help you?”

Shisui sighed theatrically. “Did anyone ever tell you that you're terrible at small talk? Honestly, it actually went quite well, but you just needed to get to the point didn't you?” He then continued by looking at him with a long-suffering expression.

Shisui sighed again when it became obvious that Itachi didn't plan on answering him any time soon before continuing the conversation himself. “Fine, be a killjoy, then. I heard you became a Genin even though you're only six. I thought that we could train together. You know, teach each other some stuff. From one prodigy to another and all that.”

Itachi looked at him for several seconds, making him obviously—and amusingly—uncomfortable to the point where he was shifting on his feet before asking dryly:

“My mother sent you, didn't she?”

Shisui's eyes widened a bit before he started to laugh. “Wow, you looked right through me. Amazing! What gave me away?”

He shrugged. “You didn't give anything away. It was just a hunch, nothing more.”

“A very lucky hunch,” Shisui readily went along with his answer. “But, you know, being sent by your mother doesn't change the fact that we really could help each other. So, what do you say? Interested in training with me?”

He thought about it for a moment, but didn't see why he should say no. He had wanted to approach his friend sometime soon anyway, so this was as good of an opportunity as any.

“I would be happy to. Do you—”

“Nii-san! Let's go swing!” Sasuke interrupted him and started to pull at his sleeves without actually waiting for his reply.

Itachi had already halfway turned around to reprimand him gently when he heard Shisui's quiet chuckle. “No need to be jealous, Sasuke. I'm not going to keep your brother from you any longer.” Turning back to Itachi, he continued, “Do you have time today? I plan to train at the private Uchiha training ground for the next five hours.”

He nodded. “I'm not sure how long I will be here, but I should be able to join your for at least an hour or two.”

“Great! See you then!”

With that he disappeared without a trace, making Itachi smile. That's why people call you 'Shunshin no Shisui', idiot. 

“Nii-san!” he heard Sasuke exclaim again, already halfway to the swing and gesturing at him to follow already.

His smile widened a bit. “I'm on my way, Sasuke. Wait for me, would you?”

Just like that, time flew by in the blink of an eye. 

Itachi spent six days a week training with Team 3, first focusing on teamwork as to not stand in each other's way in battle before moving on and actually developing a few combos of their own which could give even more experienced enemies a run for their money. All in all, they more closely resembles a team of Chūnin with an additional Jōnin supervisor than an usual team of Genin.

Itachi spent most of his free time training, wishing to advance to his old strength as fast as possible. Sometimes Izumi would join him, too. At this point, he was pretty sure that she must be the top student of the academy—at least in Taijutsu.

He also made it a point to train with Shisui at least once a week when the other boy wasn't on missions. And while they would probably never have quite the same relationship as they had before, he could confidently say that they were friends once more. 

The rest of his time, he spent with Sasuke. His probably greatest regret when he thought back to this time of his life was that he hadn't paid more attention to his little brother, and he didn't plan on doing that mistake again.

And just like that, after nearly two months of training and the occasional D-Rank mission, it was finally time for Team 3 to go on their first real mission together.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

III

Itachi and Shisui were sitting back to back in the middle of the training ground, both of them trying to stop panting and regain their strength after their last spar.

“Well,” Shisui broke the silence first. “I think it's safe to say that you have mastered the Great Fireball and the Running Fire Technique by now. By the way, did your chakra reserves grow since the last time we met? You couldn't use these two jutsu with remotely as much ease during our last spar, nor as often.”

“You know as well as I do that the body grows used to a technique with time if you use it often enough, and that it consumes much less chakra to use a technique your body is already accustomed to than one you just learned. I spent the last three weeks you were on your mission almost exclusively focused on practising these two jutsu as much as possible.”

Unfortunately, this effect would lessen more and more with time until it stopped entirely. Otherwise, every shinobi would train a few techniques like crazy for a few weeks and be able to spam them endlessly afterwards.

Shisui laughed. “I know, I know. No need to give me a lecture, I just wanted to test you.”

Knowing Shisui couldn't see it, he rolled his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips. “Of course you did.”

“Hey, are you saying you doubt me? I will let you know that I will be promoted to Jōnin soon! Then I will probably be given a Genin team, which means I need to train how to act like a teacher and test my cute little students. And just so you know it, you just took the role of the cute little student!"

My pity to whoever is unfortunate enough to become your student, Itachi thought amused. “Isn't the teacher supposed to be better than his student? I think I won more of our fights than you did so far, didn't I?”

His friend spluttered. “Only as long as we don't include Ninjutsu! The times you won without me being handicapped can be counted on one hand!”

“You're three years older and have bigger reserves than I do. That's hardly fair.”

Honestly, it probably wasn't fair of him to tease Shisui over his losses, either. Itachi knew his friend's fighting style by heart, even after all these years, and his Shisui's current form was far less developed and refined than the one he would have years from now.

Also, Itachi was much faster than he had actually been when he was six years old. So, although still slower than Shisui, he could hold pace with him enough to win their matches with some regularity—assuming they limited themselves to Taijutsu, that was. 

“Many things aren't fair, Itachi. Enemies will always use every chance they get to have an advantage. You need to be prepared to deal with it,” Shisui said, much more serious now.

He nodded, already aware of that and generously enough to not tease him about falling into a teacher role for real.

"Anyway," his friend then continued, his voice carefree once more, "why did you choose to focus on these two jutsu in particular? Any specific reason?"

“Not really,” Itachi shrugged. “They are both rather basic but have enough potential to be used versatilely. Moreover, one of them is more offensive orientated while the other is defensive in nature. It simply seemed like a good balance.”

Shisui nodded, not commenting on it any further.

Then it was Itachi's turn to break the silence, asking the question he had wanted to ask Shisui since he had returned from his mission. “You have been distracted all day now. Did something happen on your mission?”

Shisui didn't answer immediately, instead taking the time to think about it for a few minutes before actually replying:

“There were some unexpected interferences. Some missing-nin got involved and they outnumbered us quite badly. Most of their subordinates were regular bandits, no shinobi, so I'm pretty sure we would have been able to manage them after a while. Not without casualties, though. It was fortunate that we were close enough to the border for some ANBU to notice us, or else at least one of my teammates would not have made it. It was a close thing; had they arrived a minute later, it would have been too late...”

Shisui stopped to took a deep breath. Then, he suddenly balled his fists, an angry look on his face. “And I didn't even notice! He could have been killed and I wouldn't have known until all the fighting was already over! I'm still not strong enough to protect everyone.”

Itachi hesitated for a moment, thinking about the best way to react, before giving his friend a soft nudge with his shoulder. “Hey, you're not even ten yet but are still considered for promotion to Jōnin. You are strong, and you will only grow stronger. That's what we're training for, isn't it? To get stronger and protect everyone.”

Shisui laughed softly but sounded absent when he answered. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

Itachi knew there wasn't anything he could say that would placate the other boy, so he didn't speak at all. Besides, Shisui had always taken any perceived mistake very hard, but with time, he also always found ways to deal with his feelings and overcome what was bothering him. 

Especially when he had others at his side that supported him.

They continued to stay where they were for another hour, enjoying the calm and peace of each other's company, before standing up and making their way home.

“So,” the Hokage said. “You think they're ready for their first C-Rank mission, Akihito?”

Their sensei nodded. “Yes, Hokage-sama. Their teamwork is faultless and Itachi has integrated well with the rest of the team. All of them can defend themselves, and they look out for each other. They're ready.”

“Well then,” the older man replied with a smile. “In that case, I think I have just the right mission for you.”

He needed a minute to search through the documents on his table before handing Tanaka-sensei a scroll. “There is an orphanage located at the coast of the Land of Woods. For a few weeks now, children went missing at irregular intervals. As of right now, twenty-eight children are unaccounted for. Since the Land of Woods doesn't have a hidden village of its own, the caretaker of the aforementioned orphanage sent a request to us instead. We assume that there are no shinobi involved and that regular bandits are the culprits. They most likely kidnapped the children to sell them on the black market. Your mission will be to find and to kill all the bandits, as well as rescue every child that is with them. If you find out where they sold the other children, you're not to interfere. Bring the information back home and I will have an ANBU team take care of it later.”

They nodded, Anko and Yukio looking slightly sick at the casual mention of children being sold like cattle. While Itachi knew that they had their fair share of combat experience, a given with Orochimaru as their sensei, they apparently lacked experience with the other dark parts of the shinobi lifestyle.

They were already half turned when the Hokage spoke up again. “Before you go on your way... Itachi, I have a message for your father concerning some of your clan's dealings with the village. Seeing as you're already here, would you mind taking it with you?”

Nodding, he turned around and walked the short way to the Hokage to receive the message scroll. He took it, not visibly reacting to the hand signs the older man made when his body blocked the view of his teammates, and turned around to join the rest of his team.

Tanaka-sensei spoke up as soon as the door was closed behind them. “We will meet at the village gates in an hour. We will need around two to four days to arrive at the orphanage, depending on where exactly at the coast it's located. Keep that in mind when you guys prepare your equipment.”

“Yes, Sensei,” they intoned simultaneously.

It was amusing for Itachi to watch his teammates interact with their teacher. On one hand, they were immature enough to blame him for something that wasn't his fault—becoming their new sensei after their old one betrayed them and left the village in disgrace—while on the other hand, they were mature enough to hide their disdain and act professional when the situation called for it.

With nothing else to say, they departed, all of them making their way home to prepare for the mission ahead of them.

As soon as his teammates had vanished, Itachi made his way to the closest empty alley and, after subtly making sure no one was watching him, opened the scroll he had received from the Hokage. Just as the Sandaime had said, it was indeed about his clan's dealings as the leading force of the KMPF and how they could possibly work closer together with the ANBU, but that wasn't what interested him.

Much more important was the second, smaller scroll hidden in the bigger one. All it said was one short message:

'Jiraya will be back in three days. We will meet him after you return from your mission.' 

It took Anko about five minutes of jumping from roof to roof to reach her home. 

She didn't bother to use the door or even announce her arrival; not having any living family members and thus living alone meant there wasn't anyone there to greet her when she entered her apartment anyway.

Ignoring the cold feeling in her stomach, she started to collect her stuff. This only lasted a few minutes, however, as she had her equipment already prepared beforehand, having decided years ago to always be ready to depart for a mission on a minute's notice. She hadn't needed it for a few months now, not since...

Do not think about him, she thought to herself. He doesn't deserve it.

Anko was as ready as she could be and very motivated by the thought of saving some poor children from slavery. Having grown up in an orphanage herself, the thought of young children being kidnapped from there was simply disgusting.

Just wait you bastards, she thought with a silent snarl. You will pay for this.

Only a few blocks away, Yukio was currently rather busy with the vital task of soothing his mother and younger sister, promising them that he "would be safe” and that “this wasn't a dangerous mission at all, really” while his father hurried through their apartment to get his backpack ready for him.

Honestly, he thought while trying to suppress a fond smile. This is hardly the first time I'm off on a mission. Shouldn't they be used to it by now?

His gaze wandered to his sister, the seven-year-old clinging to his left arm, which made his thoughts take on a darker tone.

These monsters who kidnapped children like little Yui at his side didn't deserve any mercy. Just the thought of his sister being one of their victims...

Just wait you bastards, he thought. Your little shitshow will be over soon. 

“And you promise me you will be safe, will you? And don't forget to look out for your teammates as well. Protect each other. That's what a team is for, after all.”

“Of course, Kaa-san. This shouldn't be a very hard mission anyway, just some common bandits making trouble. It will be fine,” Itachi replied, enjoying her hug for as long as it lasted. 

Now that he thought about it, it had been a long time since he had been hugged like that.

And oh, what a sad realization that was. 

He had never been very keen on hugs, truth be told, but Sasuke's and his mother's had something soothing about them that he couldn't help but enjoy. In this specific case, it might be because he felt a bit more forgiven for the sins of his last life when he was in her arms, but he tried to ignore that thought for the time being. After all there was no need to ruin the mood.

She ended the hug a few moments later, just when his father spoke up. “Your mother is right, Itachi. A team is there to look out for each other, and there is no shame in accepting help from others when you need it. Misplaced pride will just get you killed.”

This was the father from his earliest memories, the one he had grieved for the most after his death. Itachi so dearly wished that he would stay this way, strict but loving, and not turn into that bitter man he had become in his last life; this was a man he could proudly call his father.

“I don't mind admitting when I need help. Besides, we trained on our teamwork for the last few months, and rather intensively so. We won't have any problems looking out for each other.”

His parents didn't get any chance to answer, as Sasuke decided to include himself in the conversation at last. “Nii-san gonna go? Not playing?”

Smiling he knelt down to be at eye level with his brother. “Sorry Sasuke, not today. I need to go on a mission and will not be home for a few days”—he tapped his forehead for good measure—“but I will be home before you know it.”

I will always return for you. I promise.

They had been on the road for about an hour now, jumping from tree to tree at a comfortable but still rapid pace. Usually, Itachi enjoyed these parts of a mission where he could enjoy the nature around him in silence before the bloody part started the most. Unfortunately, this wasn't an option at the moment.

“You're just annoyed because you couldn't win against him once since he joined our team, so do us all a favour and stop whining,” Yukio interrupted Anko in one of her long-winded monologues.

“Excuse me?! What has this to do with anything I just said?” Anko retorted irritated.

“You were telling us about this 'super strong and amazing jutsu' you want to learn when we return from this mission! Don't act as if you don't want to learn it solely for beating Itachi.”

Anko scoffed. “I don't want to learn it only to beat him with it, idiot. My life doesn't revolve around him. It will be useful to know and it's powerful, so I want to learn it. It's as easy as that. And if it helps me sweep the floor with boy-wonder over there, well, that's just a nice bonus.”

He supposed he was lucky that he was used to Kisame's antics, or else this would have been much more annoying. His sensei wasn't as fortunate, however.

“Alright, alright, that went on for long enough. Calm down, now.” While their sensei had still the same dark bags under his eyes, the ones Itachi had noticed the first time he had met him, there was no tiredness or exhaustion in his voice to be found now. “While we will be in friendly territory for at least another day or two, we still need to be careful. You never know where you might run into a missing-nin. In fact, we could even be close to one right now.”

Anko and Yukio became serious almost instantaneously. It were moments like this that made Itachi happy about having joined an experienced team rather than one with Genin fresh out of the academy. He was much more comfortable going on missions with people who actually understood the dangers of one instead of only thinking about possible glories.

“Yes, Sensei,” they both replied.

The Jōnin nodded. “Good. Does anyone have a suggestion about how we can protect ourselves from being surprised by enemies? Besides the usual methods, that is.”

There was a moment of silence before Itachi raised his voice. “I might be able to get some eyes into the sky to look out for us by using the Summoning Technique."

His sensei raised an eyebrow in silent surprise, and judging by the eyes he could feel burning on the back of his head, his teammates had similar reactions.

“I wasn't aware that you were in possession of a summoning contract. Funnily enough, I didn't even know that there was a summoning contract with animals capable of flight in the village at all.”

“I have a contract with the crows. They are more... unorthodox than other animals in that they don't require someone to sign a contract with them. In fact, they didn't even give me a chance to disagree with them on becoming my summons. One of them just pricked me with its beak to get some blood and that was enough.”

And hadn't that been fun to explain to his parents. And not only once, but twice, seeing as they had done the exact same thing in the other timeline as well. It wasn't as if it was a bad thing, mind you, but it was definitively an unexpected incident. As far as he knew, his 'contract' with the crows was unique in all of the Elemental Nations, though there was the very likely likelihood that there were other cases like his that were kept secret by the various villages.

Not that he was unique in the sense of his crows being the only ones using irregular methods to form contracts either, of course. While he indeed didn't now of anyone else that was being 'forced' into a contract, he knew, for example, that Kisame's shakes had some unique quirks to them as well. 

Official summoning contacts might be the most regular method to make a pact, but there were probably just as many unique contracts as there were regular ones. 

The contract he had with his crows this timeline had, for some reason, happened later than it did in the last. It had, in fact, happened less than a week ago, whereas he had made it months earlier in his last life. Itachi didn't know why they approached him later in this timeline, which was rather frustrating in and of itself, but he was happy it had happened at last. Itachi hadn't even realized how much he had missed them, how lonely he had been without his constant companions, until they were at his side once more.

Finally being reunited with them also allowed Itachi to use a few of the techniques that had been beyond his reach since he had awoken in the past.

That was another point in which his crows differed from many other summons:

Instead of actually physically helping him fight his enemies, they instead amplified his Genjutsu and allowed him to use some unique techniques of his own. Unfortunately, to use these techniques, the summoner and the summon both needed to learn them. So even with him theoretically knowing how to use them, he wasn't actually able to use most of them as of yet.

The one exception was the Crow Clone Technique, for which he was grateful. This version of the clone technique required much less chakra than the Shadow Clone Technique while still creating a solid clone of himself. It also had the benefit of being able to reform should it get destroyed in battle without him having to use nearly as much chakra as creating a new clone would cost.

In his opinion, which he admitted to himself might be slightly biased, it was a superior version of the Nidaime's jutsu. It also solved the chakra problem he had with the aforementioned Hokage's version of the jutsu quite nicely. At least meeting with the Sandaime should be much easier from now on. 

“In that case,” Tanaka-sensei said with a small smile, “please do so. Having eyes watching the area from the sky would be reassuring.”

Itachi nodded. He then continued by biting his thumb to get some blood before he made the necessary hand seals.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

In a swirl of feathers and screeches, a murder of crows appeared before promptly flying into the air to watch the area. 

“Wait, don't you need to tell them what to do?” Yukio asked a moment later.

He shook his head. “There is no need to talk to them. They knew what I summoned them for from the moment they felt my chakra call them here. Besides, these crows are still young and inexperienced, so they don't know how to talk yet.”

“Hey,” Anko uttered thoughtfully. “Would it help if I summoned some snakes to keep watch while we rest? I would call them while we travel as well, but I doubt the weaker ones would be able to keep up with us.”

Tanaka-sensei's smile grew a bit bigger. “Yes, good thinking. Please do so when we stop for the night.” 

They crossed the border to the Land of Woods in the early hours of the third day after their departure from the village. 

“From now on, we need to be even more careful than before,” Tanaka-sensei said calmly. “We don't want the kidnappers to know we're here, just as we planned.”

Itachi couldn't say that he liked their plan. Not that the strategy itself wasn't sound, far from it, but his role in it wasn't something he looked forward to very much.

The plan was for him and Anko to act as siblings who had lost their family and thus were searching for a new home. Considering twenty-two of the twenty-eight missing children were under the age of ten, Itachi was the ideal age to play the role of bait. Anko joined him on this because it was standard procedure to never split Genin teams in a way where a Genin was all by themselve.

The next time the kidnappers would show up to snatch some children away, they would act all weak and defenceless and allow themselves to be 'kidnapped'. Tanaka-sensei and Yukio then would follow them, aided by his crows, to find their hideout and fulfil all the objectives of their mission.

Honestly, he wouldn't even have a problem with his role in this weren't it for one single detail...

“Finally Itachi will be forced to call me Nee-chan! I can't wait!”

He sighed.

Approaching the orphanage and asking for help went as well as could be expected.

With their dirty and in parts torn clothes, they looked just as one would imagine two children would do after they lived several weeks on the streets. The patron of the orphanage had just looked at them for a second before inviting them inside, offering them something to eat, and giving them new clothes.

The facility was actually in much better shape than he had imagined it would be. The building wasn't run-down at all, they had enough resources to feed and clothe every child in their care, there was some arrangement with a number of teachers who would come several times a week to teach the children reading, writing, and simple mathematics, and there was enough in terms of entertainment to keep the children happy.

It was more than most orphanages outside major cities and hidden villages could boast. 

Anko and he gained a lot of attention for the first few days, seeing that they were the new kids and still needed to 'settle down', but that stopped around three or four days into their stay. Since then, they didn't do much more than wait for the inevitable.

It was exactly one week after their arrival during a stormy and rainy night that it finally happened. Midnight had just passed when Itachi's senses woke him up from his sleep, warning him of more than two dozen unknown chakra signatures surrounding the building. He instantly noted that most of them were, as expected, untrained and clearly not belonging to shinobi, but there were exceptions: at least six of them were definitively trained in the use of chakra.

He fought down the urge to jump up and prepare to face the enemy, which was a fight he nearly lost the moment eight people—two of which were shinobi—climbed through the window of the boys' dormitory.

He didn't fight back when someone pressed a hand over his mouth, only struggling as much as would be expected of a child his age.

He didn't fight back when the sound of the struggles of the other kids reached his ears.

He didn't fight back when one of the culprits tied him up with a rope.

He didn't even fight when one of them threw him over their shoulder and climbed out of the window.

Not yet, he thought. Not yet, but soon.

They would regret the day they decided to start kidnapping children, Itachi would make sure of that.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

IV

Itachi needed to endure the, frankly speaking, embarrassing situation of himself being carried on a shoulder like a sack of potatoes for nearly two hours, and being soaking wet from the rain didn't improve his mood either. The only positive thing about this situation was that Anko had been 'kidnapped' as well, which didn't only mean that she didn't have to sneak after them, but that she was carried the same way he was. At least this way, she would be too embarrassed herself to tease him about it later.

Honestly, he couldn't help but think. She and Kisame would be best friends in no time if they ever meet if there weren't the fact he's a missing-nin. They're exactly the same.

Then, finally, they apparently reached their destination; a part of the coast with no trees in sight, making it impossible to sneak up on them. Looking around further, he saw...

Boats. Lots and lots of boats.

Where do they want to bring us? The only location they could reach by boat was... His eyes widened. The Land of Water!

But that couldn't be right. The Land of Water was off-limits for everyone, and while nobody else currently knew why it had closed its borders yet, Itachi had the advantage of future knowledge on his side. In fact, during the years of their partnership, he had even heard some first-hand reports from Kisame about the events happening in the nation.

He didn't know if the country was already fighting a civil war or if the rebels were just starting to organize for one, but he was reasonably sure that neither side should have had either the time or the resources to send a team of their shinobi to kidnap random children from a neighbourhood country.

But if they have the money, which they surely do, they could arrange some mercenaries to do it for them. It might still be a strain on their resources, but as long as the mercenaries in question are on the cheap side, it might be considered a worthwhile endeavour by some...

Itachi had some ideas regarding what one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries could get from kidnapping civilian children, and he didn't like any of them even one bit.

However, he had currently other things to worry about.

Itachi couldn't allow either himself or Anko to be transported into the Land of Water. That would be suicide—not just as shinobi of Konoha, but in his case also as the wielder of a Kekkei Genkai. Judging from the face Anko was making, she realized that as well.

He motioned her not to do anything yet. The kidnappers had already begun shipping the first children away, but nobody of them was too far out yet. He had a plan of how to rescue them, he only needed a bit more time. Tanaka-sensei and Yukio were probably waiting at the edge of the forest, just barely out of sight from where he and Anko were currently waiting to be shipped off, too. As soon as the two of them would start fighting the criminals, they would come to aid them and—

“Hey, Taro! Akito and Daichi found some shinobi sneaking around in the area. They're taking care of them at the moment, but we need to hurry this up a bit. We have no idea if there are any more of them close by.”

The person that had been spoken to, Taro, was, if the way everyone listened to his every command was anything to go by, the leader of this group. There wasn't much about his appearance worth noting because a coat hid most of his body and the bandages he had wrapped around his head hid everything but his eyes. However, Itachi didn't need to see how he looked like to know that he was dangerous; the way he held himself and the fact that his instincts were on high alert around him were more than enough indications for that.

“Well,” Taro said, “that's annoying. But alright, nothing we can do about it. Dai, Akaya, Benjiro; go and help Akito and Daichi. Let's not risk some random shinobi discovering our operation, shall we? Make sure you kill them without leaving too many signs behind that can lead others to us.”

The three addressed person nodded and vanished in a shunshin.

That changed things. With these three gone, Taro was the only enemy shinobi left. All the other kidnappers, of which only ten were still on land and not in one of the boats, were mere bandits. Anko and he should be able to beat them regardless of how uneasy he felt about the leader. It's not like they had much of a choice other than trying, anyway.

They also needed to help their teammates, which required they took care of their side of things quickly. While he had no doubts about Tanaka-sensei's abilities and knew that Yukio was a Chūnin-level fighter, five against two weren't great odds—especially when he didn't know the capabilities of these five particular enemies.

This way, there was no guarantee they would be able to do anything for the other children, but they couldn't allow themselves to be stopped by that.

Itachi freed himself from his bindings but held them in place to make it look as if he was still tied up. No need to give away he was free before he made his move, after all.

He had to wait only a few more seconds before one of the bandits pushed him into the direction of one of the boats, and he went along with it, aware that he would be led straight past Taro.

The moment he stood before him, Itachi began his attack:

He let the ropes fall to the ground while simultaneously giving Anko a hand sign to start her own offensive before looking right into Taro's eyes, Sharingan activated.

He used the most powerful Genjutsu he was currently capable of, which was a pretty decent mid-level technique, to immobilize the man. While he wasn't able to move around as fast as he usually could when part of his attention was focused on keeping the technique up and running, Itachi was still proficient enough in Genjutsu to not be rendered entirely motionless. All he needed to do now was—

The only reasos Itachi was able to raise his arms and block the kick that would have crushed his chest were that the sudden, noticeable drain on his chakra warned him that his illusion had been broken and that his still-activated Sharing an predicted the movement the second Taro tensed his muscles.

However, even so it was still a very close call. 

He flew backwards in a straight line, trying and failing to catch himself in mid-air before landing hard on his back. Itachi then continued to slide for a few more metres before finally coming to a stop in a crouched position, his back aching and his arms pounding. He didn't stay like this for longer than half a second before jumping away, though, just in time to evade a bunch of shuriken that hit the ground where he had stood only a mere moment ago.

“Oh,” Taro commented, sounding amused. “You're clearly not a civilian. Do you belong to these shinobi that are snooping around the area? Why am I even asking, of course you do!” He laughed loudly. “And by the fact that you possess the Sharingan, I can safely assume that you and that lass over there are from Konoha. Well, to be honest, that was the most likely possibility regardless, but it's kind of you to confirm it.”

Itachi didn't say anything to that. Instead, he used the opportunity to catch his breath and try to come up with another plan.

Considering the way his instincts had warned him from his opponent and how he had freed himself from Itachi's comparatively powerful Genjutsu in an instant, this man was at least a Jōnin. Maybe even an elite Jōnin, if Itachi was particularly unlucky.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Anko making short process of the remaining enemies. As no one of them was a shinobi, it was a rather one-sided fight, but even with her help, this fight would be nearly impossible for them to win. He might be forced to use his Mangekyo to beat this opponent and then hope that his sensei and teammates would be able to take out the rest as he would be unconscious for the immediate future.

He was also absently wondering why the man wasn't doing anything. Taro was just standing there, watching his subordinates getting killed one after another with an air of what Itachi thought was amusement until only he was left alive.

“You're probably wondering why I'm not helping these guys killing your little friend over there,” Taro suddenly spoke up as if reading his mind. “Well, you see... they're trash—literally. You find common thugs like that everywhere, so it's much more efficient to hire a few of them for a job and then kill them after everything is said and done instead of letting them live and be forced to actually pay them. It's not like you can't replace them afterwards, anyway. So, you could even say your friend is doing me a favour!” He started laughing again, even more heartily than before.

Anko appeared at his side. “Itachi, are you alright? It looked like you hit the ground pretty hard.”

He nodded. “We have bigger problems right now. This guy is on a completely different level. He's at least as strong as Sensei. Winning against him will be near impossible.”

She didn't argue with him, which meant she knew that as well.

“So,” she continued after a few seconds. “What do you say about going through with Plan G and hoping that Sensei and Yukio will finish their enemies fast enough to save us?”

He gave a humourless smile. “Sounds good to me.”

At least for now, he silently added in his mind. But if they don't come soon, I will use the Mangekyo, consequences be damned. I didn't get this second chance just so I die again on my first mission.

'Plan G' essentially meant nothing more than 'keep the enemy busy with some combos to buy time until Itachi gets the chance to use a Genjutsu on them'. Whoever fought alongside him, which in this case meant Anko, would use the moment the enemy was rendered motionless to go for the kill. And while their opponent had already proven that he possessed excellent chakra control, good enough even to free himself from Itachi's currently strongest illusion in little more than a second, this plan had still some chance of success. After all, for a shinobi, a mere second was more than enough time to kill someone.

Taro unfortunately seemed to know that as well if the way he didn't look directly into Itachi's eyes was any indication.

“So,” Taro spoke up again, sounding entirely too carefree in Itachi's opinion. “Did you finish your little planning session? I think I gave you more than enough time to come up with something interesting, didn't I?”

“And why exactly did you give use that time?” Anko snarled. “Are you so eager to lose?”

Taro snorted. “Hardly. It's just so much more amusing to watch the hope in your enemies' eyes slowly but surely getting crushed. Besides...” He looked right at Itachi, a cruel smile visibly forming underneath his bandages. “It's not every day that you get the chance to kill a bloodline user as famous as an Uchiha! You need to savour the moment, especially when it's so hard to find a bloodline user at all these days.”

If he hunts people with a Kekkei Genkai, he is probably one of the Mizukage's men, Itachi thought grimly.

“Well then,” Taro said. “Shall we begin?”

One moment he was several metres in front of them, and the next, he stood between him and Anko. Itachi, being able to follow his movements with the Sharingan, was able to lean out of the way of Taro's attack just in time, but Anko wasn't so fortunate.

The man rammed his fist into her guts, the impact behind it being strong enough to lift her into the air. He reached out with the other arm for a follow-up attack, but was forced to abandon this plan of action to evade a kunai that flew at him from his right. Itachi hadn't any weapons with him as it would have given away his identity if one of the kidnappers found him armed, so he had picked up the ones Taro had thrown at him earlier.

With a kunai in each hand, he appeared in front of the man and aimed an attack straight at his face. His slash got blocked, but Itachi wasn't deterred. Using his small stature to its fullest potential, he jumped into Taro's guard and tried to break his knee with a precise kick of his own. He was forced to jump back before he could accomplish anything, however, as the man had drawn a kunai himself and used it to swing at him, the extended range making it difficult for Itachi to get close.

He redirected Taro's following palm strike and tried to get some distance from his enemy, but was stopped when he was grabbed by his collar and pulled towards his opponent. Itachi would probably have been done for a moment later if it weren't for Anko appearing in the air beside the man's head and trying to connect a roundhouse kick. Thus, Taro let go of him to raise his arm to block the kick, allowing Itachi to use his momentum to connect a kick of his own with the man's chest.

While obviously not hurt by it, the momentary confusion of being hit allowed Anko to rush in again. However, her attack to his waist was blocked and Anko needed to jump away again to evade his elbow strike to her head.

They then stood facing each other just like they had done a few seconds earlier at the start of the fight, with Anko and him on one side and Taro on the other.

Anko gave him a hand sign and he nodded. This time they would be the ones to attack first.

Anko kicked off as fast as she could, jumping at the waiting form of their opponent while Itachi appeared with a shunshin a bit to his left.

Taro was prepared—and probably even excited—for another Taijutsu bout, so he was understandably surprised when Anko came to a sudden stop just outside of his reach and jumped back while going through hand seals as fast as she could.

“Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)

Taro's eyes widened momentarily before he jumped back to evade the volley of small fireballs that flew at him, only to suddenly threw his head around when he saw movements from his left where Itachi had used a jutsu of his own:

“Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)

Depsite Itachi having throw only one single shuriken, over a hundred weapons were now heading straight Taro's way.

With two different volleys of attacks coming at him from two directions, Taro saw himself forced to use a Jutsu of his own:

“Suiton: Suijinheki!” (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)

He shot a great amount of water out from his mouth which quickly went on to create a wall of water around him that protected him from both their attacks.

Using this opportunity where he was out of sight, Itachi quickly created a Crow Clone and used the Hiding Like A Mole Technique to hide his real self in the underground. While it used more chakra than a Fire Release or a Water Release technique would have, it was still a rather basic technique that didn't require much chakra to begin with, so it should be fine for a short period of time. 

He could feel the fight continue a few seconds later, sensing the magnetic forces of Anko and Taro clashing with each other on the surface. His clone was a bit more removed from the battle, standing almost two dozen metres away. He couldn't risk being exposed as a clone yet, so he limited himself to support Anko from afar by throwing weapons and possibly even some jutsu.

Itachi knew that the only reason Taro hadn't finished the fight yet was that he was enjoying himself far too much by playing with them. He wasn't complaining, of course, as this behaviour was the only reason they had a small chance at winning this fight in the first place.

He patiently waited until he felt Anko back away to insert himself back into the fight.

The moment Taro was nearly upon her again, having carelessly pursued his supposed prey, Itachi's arms shot out of the ground and caught him by his ankles. Having been in mid-motion, this made the man stumble forward and fall to his knees, instinctively reaching out with his hands to catch himself before his face could hit the ground.

Anko, having waited for this opportunity, jumped forward and stabbed her kunai right in the back of his neck.

For a mere second, Itachi thought they had somehow managed to actually beat the Jōnin, but then his hands became wet and he felt how there were suddenly no longer any magnetic force from where the man's body should have hit the ground, and he knew that the plan had failed.

But when had he the time to create a Water Clone? Even with his superior speed, he shouldn't have been able to hide its creation from my Sharingan unless... His eyes widened. Unless he created it after I started to hide in the underground!

That only left the question where the real one could be as Itachi should have been able to feel the real body's magnetic forces as long as his feet touched the ground, so he—

The ocean!

Itachi was basically going blind as long as he stayed beneath the surface, so he promptly decided to emerge back to the surface at once.

He did so just in time to see the real Taro, who was indeed standing on the water surface, finishing hand seals. 

“Suiton: Suiryu Sanrendan no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Water Dragon Triple Step Technique)

Three gigantic liquid dragons rose out of the water behind Taro and wound their way higher and higher into the air before plunging directly at Anko and him at breakneck speed.

The both of them immediately jumped away as far as the could, trying to dodge the attack, but it was hopeless. While they were able to evade the brunt of the attack, they were still hit and thrown away in a volley of water when the dragons crashed into the ground and set shock waves everywhere. They flew in a parallel line to the coast for what felt like an eternity, and Itachi felt his clone being destroyed and his summons vanishing before the two of them finally came to a stop.

His sight was blurry and his body felt like it had been used as a training dummy for Taijutsu practice for a week straight, but he still tried to stand back up the moment he was no longer at the mercy of the water. This endeavour was cut short a second later when a foot pushed down on his chest, holding him securely in place.

Looking up, he saw Taro standing above him, holding Anko up in the air with one hand at her throat.

“I gotta hand it to you,” he stated conversationally. "You brats are more troublesome than you look. Seriously, you have decent teamwork and even had a pretty good strategy. Didn't see it coming that one of you would hide in the underground for a trap. Good thing that I expected something, though, and used a clone as a precautionary measure. Still, this is it for you. I would say I'm sorry, but that would be a lie.”

Itachi was just about to activate his Mangekyo—which wouldn't just make him fall unconscious for a few hours like it had the last time, but considering low on chakra he was running at the moment, at least for a week or more if he didn't outright die—when Anko, in an action that even surprised him, suddenly spat into the man's face.

Then, Taro dropped her to the ground and started screaming! 

Itachi immediately realized what must have happened:

Anko loved using poison and other substances in her attacks, something she hadn't been able to do in the previous fight because they hadn't been able to bring any weapons of their own with them. Or at least, he had thought they hadn't been able to do so. Now it was obvious that Anko had somehow managed to bring something with her while waiting for the right opportunity to use it, and she had just spat it into the man's face.

The effect was quite apparent as the man was still wincing in pain and stumbling backwards.

And then Itachi had an idea.

Their original plan, 'Plan G', wasn't going to work. Whatever substance Anko had into Taro's face was seemingly not a very potent one considering the man was already starting to calm down. He would probably be able to open his eyes in a few seconds. Unfortunately, simply attacking him wouldn't get the job done even now. The man was still a Jōnin, after all, and fighting without one of their senses was mandatory at that level, but they could use his momentary distraction to make him think he was in a Genjutsu.

Using the same jutsu as before, a combination of a crow clone and the Hiding Like A Mole Technique, his real body vanished in the underground once more while his clone took his previous position. However, this time, his clone didn't look like a carbon copy of himself, but was instead only half-formed and had dozens of crows flying all around him.

Just like he liked to present himself to his enemies in his illusions.

He finished just in time for Taro to open his eyes.

“What?” he murmured, pain and irritation still audible in his voice. “A Genjutsu?” He scoffed. “That's not gonna work on me, kid. I proved that earlier, don't ya remember?”

Forming the seal for Ram, he noticeably disrupted his chakra flow, but naturally, seeing as they weren't actually in an illusion, nothing happened.

Taro blinked. “What the hell? Why can't I break free?”

He tried to release the 'Genjutsu' again, and then once more, before looking at him.

“You! There's no way you can use an illusion more powerful than the one you used earlier! What are you playing at?!” he screamed.

“Do you understand it now?” his clone asked, its voice devoid of emotion. “Before my eyes, all your skills become meaningless. I may have underestimated you at the beginning, using only a weak technique to bind you, but I know better now. The moment our eyes met, less than a heartbeat after Anko spat into your face, I was able to use the most powerful Genjutsu in my arsenal. There is no escape from here.”

Hopefully Anko regains her breath soon and kills him, he thought. Also, hopefully she realizes why I'm doing and acts accordingly, too. 

As long as Taro thought this was an illusion, he would probably not act on anything he saw. If Anko attacked him now, he would most likely assume that it was a trick to lead him to a position of Itachi's choosing. Going along with that would be like signing his death sentence.

Also, much more importantly, if he thought nothing here was real anyway, then he had no reason to bother reacting to attacks, right? After all, as far as he was concerned, they weren't real. 

“Are you kidding me? No matter how talented you are, there is simply no way a kid like you can create such a powerful Genjutsu!”

He shrugged, deliberately adding a hint of haughtiness into his body language. “My village calls me a once in a lifetime prodigy for a reason. Such a title needs to come from somewhere, don't you think?”

Taro growled and threw a kunai at him, probably more out of annoyance than because he thought it would actually do something.

Itachi allowed it to hit his clone, and it punctured right through his chest, leaving a hole behind. Not for long, though, as some crows flew to him and 'healed' the injury almost instantly.

His opponent scoffed again, slowly beginning to regain his calm. “Nice trick you got there, I'll give you that. But shall I tell you something funny? This doesn't mean anything! The weakness of illusions like this, where you want to manipulate an enemy in the real world through what you show them inside the Genjutsu, is that your enemies can still use jutsu of their own. And seeing that I don't have any comrades in the area, I can just blow up the entire coast!”

Itachi's eyes, both the clone's and the real one's, widened. He had no weapons left to throw and Ninjutsu would be too slow, so all he could do was break out of the ground and follow his clone in rushing towards Taro as fast as he could despite knowing full well he wouldn't make it in time while the man weaved through hand seals at a breakneck speed. 

“Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)

An absolutely ridiculous amount of water rose from the ocean into the air, just like it had done when Itachi had observed Kisame using that technique from time to time. If this hit them, it would be over. There was no way to survive being hit by this technique, not when it was strong enough to hollow out the ground and devastate the area similar to a natural disaster.

Then, something suddenly flew past him, and a second later, a kunai embedded itself into Taro's throat. The last thing Itachi saw of the man were his wide and unbelieving eyes before the man fell to the ground.

But there was no time to celebrate, as without the man controlling the water that was already in the air, there was nothing that stopped it from falling down again. While this wouldn't be as devastating as the original attack, it would still be enough to potentially kill them.

Without hesitation, he turned back around and rushed to Anko's side, pressed her as close to him as he could while ignoring her surprised exclamation, and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

“Susanoo!”

Itachi had barely enough time to create some skeletal protection before the water hit them and his world went dark.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

V

Just like any good shinobi who didn't know where exactly they were when they woke up, Itachi didn't give any outwardly sign that he was awake when consciousness finally returned to him. Instead, he stretched out his senses to their fullest to scout out his surroundings.

The closest and only presence he could feel was right beside him, and he instantly recognized it as Anko's. Thus, deciding that he was in friendly company, he opened his eyes and sat up.

Anko sat closely to his right, and a small, smokeless fire was to their left. He nodded approvingly at that. As it apparently wasn't night yet (or not anymore? How long had he been unconscious?), the light of the fire didn't give them away, and as Anko had made sure that it was smokeless, they wouldn't be spotted from far away, either.

“Itachi!” Anko exclaimed, cutting his thoughts short. "You're finally awake! I don't have the slightest clue about treating wounds beyond the basics, so I wasn't able to do more than give you a superficial check. I was afraid you might have some internal injuries or something else I missed when you didn't wake up even after your chakra had recovered!”

“I believe—” he begun, only for a coughing fit to force him to stop before he could get a full sentence out.

For one unreasonable moment, Itachi actually forgot where and when he was, long-since installed instincts stemming from painful experience briefly making him think this was his illness acting up again, but he forced himself to calm down quickly, realizing that this was impossible. 

“Hey, take it slowly, you hear me? You just woke up! Here, drink some water. It's from a nearby river and I've already filtered and boiled it, so it should be fine.”

He nodded gratefully as he accepted the water, drinking it directly from the container—a holed out rock, he absently noted; a rock she must have carved into until it could be used like a bowl—Anko pushed into his hands.

After he finished his drink, he tried speaking again, this time with more success than before. “I should I'm fine. I don't feel too bad, at least not considering the situation. How long have I been out?”

Anko nodded, accepting his words at face value for the time being without questioning them. “I'm not sure how long we have been unconscious, but I woke up about twelve hours ago. Seeing as I didn't start to feel hungry until maybe an hour or so ago, I don't think we were out cold for very long. Maybe a handful of hours. And before you ask, no, I don't know where we are for sure, but I have a pretty good guess. You should be able to figure it out pretty easily, too.”

Anko was right. He didn't feel too hungry either. Probably more than her, though, seeing that he had used much more chakra in the fight against Taro. And thinking of the man...

“Congratulations on killing Taro and his subordinates. At least we don't need to worry about them looking for us in addition to everything else.”

Unexpectedly, Anko shook her head. “You're the one who tricked and distracted him with your crows—that half formed crow clone of yours looked badass, by the way—so it was just as much your victory as it was mine.”

She seemed to feel a bit down at that admission, though. If Itachi had to take a guess, he would say that she probably was disappointed with her own performance. 

He should try to lighten her mood. Their situation was dire enough without her being distracted by negative emotions. 

“Only 'just as much'?” he asked in a somewhat teasing tone he usually reserved for Sasuke, one eyebrow raised. 

Anko huffed. “Yes, only 'just as much'. After all, I can't go around and say I was saved by a midget like you, can I now?”

He smiled at that before becoming serious again and looking around the area once more.

They were on a small clearing with their backs to a big tree and with dense fog surrounding them on all sides, making it impossible to look farther than the line of trees that marked the border of the clearing.

Yes, Anko had been right. He was pretty sure he knew where they were, and he didn't like it one bit.

“We're in the Land of Water.”

She grimly nodded back. “Looks like it, yeah.”

That wasn't good at all. Taro's attack had obviously swept them into the sea, and from there, they must have drifted in the water until they reached land. Honestly, they had to have incredible luck they hadn't drowned. It was almost impossible to believe they hadn't, actually. And the fact that he had been so close to dying again... that was terrifying. 

Itachi pushed that thought aside, however, knowing that now wasn't the time to think about things like that, but he would need to address this topic at some later point.

"As you said, at least we don't need to worry about people searching for us," Anko spoke up, pulling him out of his thoughts. "It's not unlikely that the patron of the orphanage asked for shinobi to look into all these kidnappings, so Kirigakure will probably assume that their people got killed by a team sent to deal with it. There will be no manhunt for us. And just in case, I sent some of my snakes into the surrounding area to scout for us and keep watch."

“True,” he agreed. “But that doesn't mean that there will be no search groups at all. It would be careless not to search the area after your shinobi got killed in such close proximity to your border.”

“But we should have a day or two until that happens.”

“That's not wrong, but...” He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should proceed with telling her about the current situation in the Land of Water, before deciding that it was much more important that Anko had all the relevant information concerning their situation so she could prepare accordingly and help keep them alive than it was to conceal that he had information he shouldn't technically be aware of.

“We also need to worry about the internal problems the country is currently facing.”

“'Internal problems'? First of all, what problems, and more importantly, how do you know about them?” Anko asked, her arms crossed in front of her.

“My father is the clan head of one of Konoha's four noble clans, so he had access to more information than most. He decided to inform me of what he knew about the current affairs of the Land of Water as soon as he heard that this mission would bring me so close to its border.”

That was a rather believable lie, as well as one she couldn't easily discover considering Anko could hardly go to his father and ask about its accuracy. The only person she could possibly mention it to was the Hokage, and he would go along with it to protect Itachi's secret.

“And what exactly is it he told you?”

“The country seems to be on the brink of a civil war,” he started to explain. “One in which the Mizukage and the people loyal to him fight against every single person with a Kekkei Genkai and their supporter.”

“Wait, what?!” Anko exclaimed. “Why would they do that? Kekkei Genkai users are one, if not the most powerful addition to a village's fighting power. Killing them off would be making to crippling themselves!”

“Nobody knows exactly why the Mizukage acts as he does,”—of course there were some very few exceptions who knew about Madara's involvement, but he could hardly mention that, now could he?—“but a notable number of his supporters blame people with bloodline limits for all their hardships and even war itself. Others are simply unhappy with how much influence and power old, established clans wield and eager to use this opportunity to get rid of them and step into the power vacuum themselves.

"Obviously, there are quite a lot of people who are not okay with what could essentially be called a senseless genocide or the way the Mizukage leads his village in general, and these rebels are probably planning to overthrow the current government right as we speak. With the country being in such an unstable state, both sides likely have their own people patrol the area. And this is, obviously, bad for us.”

There was also the fact that many different fractions had fought for dominance in the country ever since the foundation of the Hidden Villages system, of course. With the Land of Water being an island nation, it was much harder for Kirigakure to unify the various groups within its borders under its rule than it was for other villages. Many islands regained quite a lot of freedom to this day. That was part of the reason Madara could manipulate the country into a civil war as easily as he had done. 

After all, in addition to the aforementioned reasons, many of the Mizukage's supporters weren't actually all that opposed to bloodline limits as much as they didn't like the population of certain other islands their own homelands had been in a conflict with since times immortal. They were merely out for revenge rather than on a crusade against various bloodlines like they claimed to. 

These details were unnecessary for Anko to understand the situation, though, so Itachi didn't bother explaining them to her as well. 

After being silent for a few minutes, Anko summarized the situation rather accurately:

“Wow, this is so fucking messed up.”

They had been on the ground—jumping from tree to tree didn't seem like a good idea this deep in enemy territory—for about two hours already.

Itachi and Anko had departed from the clearing he had woken up on as soon as the sun had set and then started to head west. No matter where exactly they were, as long as they headed into that direction, they should come to the westernmost coast, and from there, they could run over the water until they reached the shore. From there, it would be easy enough to find their way home.

Unfortunately, it wasn't an option to search for the rest of their team as it was standard procedure to return to the village to get some actual search parties if Genin were lost in active duty, meaning Yukio and their sensei were probably already on their way back to Konoha—if they were still alive, that was.

Explaining to his parents how he had managed to get lost in the Land of Water would be fun, he was sure—especially because they would likely be sick with worry by the time he got home. Shisui and Izumi as well. At least Sasuke was too young to immediately be informed about him being missing or know what that could mean. That wouldn't happen as long as no corpse turned up or the search for them went futile for several weeks.

Both Anko and he had summoned their respective animals to scout the area and warn them if someone was closing up on their position, but due to the dense mist, his hopes of them succeeding in that were slim. The fact that it was night didn't improved their chances, either. The only way they could notice anyone in this environment was if a person wasn't actively hiding.

At least he had some experience with the Soundless Murder Technique through his acquaintance with Kisame, though of how much use that would be to him remained to be seen.

The loud croaking of a crow cut through the silence of the night.

“Anko,” he whispered while his senses sharpened.

“I know.”

They instantly moved closer together, making it look as if he was too weak to walk and like Anko was letting him lean against her for support so they could continue moving forward. They were looking like civilians already due to their short undercover stint at the orphanage, and their clothes appeared pretty shabby from all the things they had to endure in the last twenty-four hours, too, so they probably looked like every other pair of orphaned children currently wandering the country. If the people approaching them were the Mizukage's men, they might possibly try to kidnap them as well. If so, their act would hopefully fool them for long enough to allow them to catch them by surprise and kill them before it came to an actual fight at all. If they weren't part of the Mizukage's party, they would hopefully just ignore them.

Two men wearing ANBU masks appeared a dozen metres in front of them.

“Alright,” the left started to speak almost immediately. “We know you are not from around here, but you are obviously not sent by the Mizukage. I will give you guys one chance to explain yourself right now and one chance only, and what happens to you after dependents completely on your answer. So, start talking: who are you and why are you here?”

That wasn't what Itachi had been expecting, and it made him unsure of how to act. However, knowing that not answering immediately would have negative consequences, he planned to buy himself some more time to think, but before he could do more than open his mouth, Anko beat him to it, having evidently come to the same conclusion he had. 

“We're shinobi of Konohagakure. We stranded here—wherever 'here' actually is, exactly—by accident. In fact, we're currently on our way home.”

He could work with that. Frankly speaking, he would most likely have told them the truth too after some more deliberation as they were obviously already aware of them being foreigners, but he would have preferred to think things through a bit more thoroughly before doing so. Regardless of whether they technically covered the same information of not, even details such as the exact wording was important in situations like this.

Still, with them suspecting them, even a little lie could have terrible consequences, so going with the truth for the time being wasn't too bad. 

Also, given what the 'ANBU' had said, it was very likely that they were rebels, which also explained why they weren't attacked the very moment they met.

Yes, it seemed that this way of proceeding was indeed the best.

The two people opposite of them didn't visibly react, but there was surprise and scepticism in their voice when the same ANBU from before spoke up again. “Shinobi of Konohagakure, you say? And what proof do you have of that? I don't see a forehead protector with the Konoha symbol on it. Or a forehead protector at all, for that matter.”

“We could demonstrate a technique that nobody but a shinobi of Konoha would be able to use,” he decided to join the conversation before things could escalate any further. “I sure you must be aware of Orochimaru?” The way they visibly tensed upon hearing that ostensibly simple name was proof enough to answer that question. “My teammate is his former student, and just like him, she made a contract with the snakes of Ryūchi Cave; a contract that is only found in Konoha. With your consent, she could summon a snake for you?”

It was a bit of a gamble considering that it would be careless of them to allow an unknown shinobi to use a jutsu, but it was currently their best bet.

Furthermore, judging by their vibes, Itachi was starting to believe they might not actually be real ANBU at all. Something about them simply felt too amateurish. This could now come in handy, however. 

“That doesn't seem like a good idea,” the man replied, his hands slowly—and obviously—reaching for a weapon. “Maybe it would be better if we—”

“I should add that I already sent a message home through my own crow summons. If something happens to us, our village will know who is responsible, and I'm sure you know what would happen if Konoha you kill two Genin.”

It was probably not the wisest decision to threaten them in such a manner, but again, the two of them gave him the vibe of being very inexperienced and nervous themselves. Keeping their characters in mind, this approach might actually work, and if not, we'll...

Itachi was confident they could take them in a fight.

“It was the other person who spoke this time, reluctantly agreeing to his proposal. “Alright, then, show us the technique—but I'm warning you! No tricks!"

Anko didn't hesitate, smartly playing along with his plan instead of arguing and consequently showing discord between them, and made the necessary hand seals as slowly as she could manage before summoning a little brown snake.

Both people looked at each other for a few seconds, foolishly ignoring Anko and him, before both nodded at the same time and the man who had spoken first started talking again:

“Fine, I think that's more than enough proof. Under these circumstances, we offer our aid in leading you home, as long as you come with us without resisting.”

They hadn't had a real choice in that matter, so they followed these two back to their camp. Of course they could have fought them and probably even have won, their short conversation having been enough to convince Itachi for good that they weren't real ANBU, but more likely Chūnin-level rebels at most who wanted to protect their identity and perhaps increase their authority in front of strangers by appearing more dangerous than they were, but even a short fight would most likely attract others their way.

That, they couldn't afford.

Anko, who had seemingly noticed the same thing, and he used the opportunity to find out some more about where they were exactly and the current situation in the country in general from their newest companions. It seemed that they were on the most western island, the one closest to the mainland. They were stranded somewhere on the southeastern part of that island, which was fortunate because this was the part of it the rebels controlled.

While the situation hadn't really escalated to an all out war yet, regions all over the Land of Water were already choosing sides. It wouldn't be long now, Itachi concluded, until the real fighting would begin.

While Itachi was thankful for the information, he was also somewhat disgusted by the way the two eagerly told them about the tense situation in their country as well as all kinds of little secrets as if it was mere gossip. They were lucky that neither Anko nor him or even Konoha in general would act on this information to wield war on these lands. If he hadn't been sure of it before, then this would have been the point where it became obvious that they were no real ANBU.

The most interesting information they received were the names of the people in charge of the camp they would reach in a few minutes. One name stood out above all else:

Mei Terumi.

He had been aware that the future Godaime Mizukage was part of the rebellion and that her achievements there would be part of the reason why she was chosen for the position in the first place, but he hadn't expected to actually meet her here and now. And that presented him with a problem:

What should he do now?

The Sandaime and he had made a lot of plans, but most of them focused on strengthening Konoha and maybe its allies. They prepared to face the Akatsuki, which seemed manageable for the most part considering most members had already been killed by the time he himself had died, thought about ways to protect the various Jinchuriki, and tried to improve their relationship with the other villages. It was unfortunate that the last point in particular was hard to archive.

So shortly after the last war had ended, most other villages were still licking their wounds and grieving their losses, after all. The animosity still held strong.

Now, however, he was given the opportunity to improve the image of Konoha in the eyes of the future Mizukage. The best thing about this was that it would look like they helped them only out of the goodness in their hearts. After all, if you looked at it from an outside perspective, it was obvious that the rebels were in a worse position than the Mizukage, so there was no real reason to show goodwill to them. It wasn't even as if they could give them something back in return for the aid they received. Everything they were given by Konoha would be in the spirit of goodwill as far as they were concerned.

Sure, there would be people that were thinking they were playing both sides so that they would win no matter who came out on top of the civil war, but they would have no proof. Besides, how could they possibly know that Mei Terumi would become the Mizukage?

The only thing they needed to pay attention to was that they didn't make it look like Konoha was only helping the rebels to further destabilize the country or to make them indepted to them.

Yes, this was the perfect opportunity to better the relationships between Konoha and Kiri. Now he only needed to find a way to help the future Mizukage and somehow persuade Anko not to stop him.

Itachi wasn't quite sure what would be more difficult. 

“We're here.”

In front of them was the camp, located in the middle of the forest with a huge stone wall in the back.

The 'camp' was pretty much what he had expected; it wasn't very large and he doubted that it held more than fifty people, and the most complex structures were some tents here and there. Honestly, calling it a camp was kind of inappropriate. It was obvious at the first glance that this wasn't meant as a permanent solution, but rather as a temporary location they used for as long they had business in this area.

The two 'ANBU' lead them right to what he assumed to be the centre of the place, ignoring the curious—and sometimes hostile—glances that were thrown their way. Itachi could feel Anko's nervousness and thought about trying to reassure her, but ultimately decided against it. She would most likely just take offence from that.

The two men stopped and they followed suit. In front of them, sitting at a round table of rock—probably created with a jutsu, he thought—were six people; four women and two men, and one of the women was very obviously Mei Terumi.

He had never actually met her face to face before, but he had seen pictures, and the auburn-haired woman, easily the youngest person at the table, was definitively her. She looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old, which now that he thought about it was a big help in creating a timeline. If he remembered correctly, and he was sure he did, then she became Mizukage in her early twenties, which meant that—

“Why did you bring a bunch of children to the camp?” the voice of the oldest looking man who appeared to be in his late fifties interrupted his thoughts. “We don't have the capacity to take in every orphan you find, especially not in this small camp. You should know that.”

“Excuse us, Takahashi-sama, but—” one of the 'ANBU' tried to explain, but he was interrupted by the same old man as before.

“There is no excuse! Now that they know our location, we have no choice but to let them stay here, which means we have two more mouths to feed! We don't have enough resources to—”

“Takahashi-san, there is no need to become so loud. Please calm down. You're embarrassing yourself.”

It was Mei that interrupted the old man who indeed shut up after a murmured "Yes, Mei-san". In fact, every other person at the table looked at her as if they expected her to make the decision.

Interesting, he thought. I didn't expect her to be such a prominent figure of the rebellion already. It's even more impressive when one considers her youth.

“You can leave now," she told the two 'ANBU' with a casual yet graceful wave of her hand, who nodded gratefully and vanished a second later. “You two,” she turned to look at Anko and him now. “Would you be so kind and explain who you are?”

Anko stepped forward first, looking as confident as ever and not showing any of the nervousness he knew she was feeling. “My name is Anko Mitarashi. This is my teammate, Itachi Uchiha. We're shinobi of Konohagakure who landed here after a fight at the coast of the Land of Woods ended with us being swept away into the sea. We woke up at your coast only recently, and when your men offered us their aid in returning home, we went with them. And now we're here.”

Really, it was easy to forget that Anko could remain calm and collected if the situation called for it. It was a shame she only rarely chose to act like this.

He would have preferred if she hadn't given away his clan, though, but seeing as he couldn't change that now, he just had to go with it. 

A surprised murmur broke out after she finished, and even Mei's eyebrows rose in silent surprise. Multiple people opened their mouths to speak, but one raised hand by Mei stopped them in an instant.

“Shinobi from Konoha, you say? You're far away from home, then. Unfortunately, I don't know if we can actually let you go home as easily as that. Our country's situation is very delicate at the moment, you see. We need to discuss this before making a decision, so if you—”

“Wait, what?” Anko exclaimed, taking another step forward. “You can't just—”

“Anko,” he interrupted her calmly before she could worsen the situation while grabbing her by the shoulder to stop her from taking yet another step. “Please calm down. We don't need additional trouble.”

She glared at him. “You can't ask me to stay calm after she said something like that!”

“If you can't stay calm, leave the talking to me. I don't want you to offend our hosts. That would lead to rather... unfortunate consequences we should try to avoid.”

She looked at him for a few moments during which Itachi was actually surprised no one else interrupted them before finally nodding, reluctantly as it might be, and stepping behind him. “Fine, then talk.”

“Well,” Mei said and giggled silently when he turned around to face her. “That was interesting. And intense! I would call it sweet, even, if you were a bit older, you know?”

Not looking at Anko as he was not interested in seeing her reaction to the implications of such a comment, he said, “Please forgive my teammate's rashness. Patience isn't her strongest suit.” He ignored the glare he could feel at the back of his head, too. “If I may, could I please ask a question?”

“Fire away,” she simply answered with a smile and a careless motion of her hand.

“The problem you're facing is that you don't want the other nations to find out about this intern conflict in your country, correct? Because if that is the case, I'm sorry to tell you that it's already too late for that.”

Her easy-going attitude was gone from one moment to the next, and while Itachi had expected such a reaction, the hairs on the back of his neck still instinctively stood up at the intense look she leveled at him. “Explain."

“My father is the head of the Uchiha Clan, one of the four noble clans and founders of Konohagakure. He has access to more information than most, information he often shares with me, so I can confidently say that at least the higher-ups of our village already know about this conflict of yours. I can't say anything certain for the other nations, of course, but at least Kumogakure would likely know about it as well due to its proximity. Forcing us to stay here or even killing us will therefore archive nothing other than offending Konoha.”

There was a moment of silence before Mei started to speak again. “How did they find out? The borders are shut, no information should be able to enter or leave this country.”

“I don't think you're naïve enough to believe that, Terumi-sama. It's impossible to completely shut off an entire country from the rest of the world. There will always be a few people who manage to escape abroad and tell their stories. We encountered a few Kiri-nin on our mission, for example. It's their fault that we even stranded here in the first place.”

“And what exactly was your mission?”

“We received information that many children have been kidnapped from an orphanage at the coast of the Land of Woods during the last few weeks. Probably even longer. We were sent with our team to take care of the people responsible, which we assumed to be common bandits. However, it turned out that the leading force behind these kidnappings were shinobi instead. Shinobi from Kirigakure, to be precise. And by the comments the one who I assume was their leader made about Kekkei Genkais, I'm confident they were not affiliated with you, but the Mizukage instead.”

“Wait, children, you say?” one of the other women at the table exclaimed in surprise and, more surprising, excitement. “We have noted an increasing number of orphan children without clear origin arriving in several villages that support our cause, Mei-sama! And we just talked about the increased number of vanished people under our protection! This has to be connected! We need to—”

“Yes, thank you, Ito-san.” Mei cut the woman short. Then, turning back to them, she continued, “Mitarashi-san, Uchiha-san, I'm sure you noticed that I and my friends here have much to discuss. I will come back to you later. Until then, please enjoy our hospitality.”

When she turned around once more to face the other men and women at the table, an ANBU appeared at their side, and from the way they held themselves, Itachi was sure it was the real deal this time.

With no other choice, both he and Anko followed them when they began leading them away. 

All the while, Itachi could only hope that he wasn't making a grave mistake.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

VI

They had to wait for nearly eight hours, during which Itachi thankful noted that they were indeed treated more like guests than prisoners, before Mei finally came to talk to them.

Unfortunately, he had to spend this time alone with a foul-tempered Anko—as well as their guard, of course—which was anything but comfortable.

“It was a stupid idea to come here!” she was ranting just now. “They have no reason to let us go. And you just went along with it! Are you so eager to die when you're only six years old?”

“Technically,” he said, “I would die as a seven-year-old, seeing that my birthday has passed several days ago.”

Of course, it appeared that hadn't been the right thing to say either.

“What?! When? And why didn't you say anything?”

Well, at least she now sounds more surprised and offended than angry.

“On the second day after we arrived at the orphanage. And I saw no reason to tell anyone because we were on a mission, which takes priority.”

“But you could have told us anyway! We need to celebrate later. You know, if we survive this and all. Oh, what do you say about—”

“As interesting as this conversation seems to be, I'm afraid I must interrupt it,” another voice mercifully stopped Anko before she could go on about what plans she had for his birthday party.

Not that he planned to have one in the first place, mind you, but Anko was the kind of person that didn't understand the meaning of 'no'.

“Terumi-sama,” he said while turning around. “How can we help you?”

“Oh, you already did.” She gave him a kind smile. “The information about your mission was most helpful. We compared the numbers, and it seems there was an increase in assassinations of our supporters in the villages where an increasing number of orphan children were reported the weeks prior as well. While no definite proof, this, put together with the information you provided us with, draws a clear picture. These things must be connected.”

“Should you tell us that?” Anko asked. “I mean, isn't this some kind of secret you should keep away from us so that we can't tell anyone about it?”

Terumi scoffed. “After Ito-san ran her mouth while you were still in our presence, I sincerely doubt you couldn't have come to the same conclusion on your own. Be that as it may be, we need to do something about this. All the children have to be brought somewhere for re-education before they can be forced to obey and spy for the Mizukage, and the most logical choice on this island would be their headquarter located on the south coast. As thanks for your help in exposing this trickery, we will aid you in returning home as soon as we took care of this problem. Tomorrow, our people will gather and destroy the headquarter and, if possible, free the children. If all goes well, you will be in your way home the day after that.”

“That's great! Thank you very—” Anko started, only for Itachi to interrupt her. 

“I want to help.”

“What?!” two surprised exclamations of varying degrees of shock were heard, and Itachi couldn't help but feel a little smug that he had managed to break the till now perfectly calm facade of the future Mizukage.

"I'm not sure this would be appropriate, Uchiha-san," Terumi-sama said a moment later after having regained the grasp on her emotions. Anko wasn't as restrained, though:

“Itachi, you can't be serious! What are you thinking?”

“Our mission was it to save the children that were kidnapped. Under normal circumstances, this would be impossible now. We would be forced to retreat. If we join with you, on the other hand, success is very likely. Furthermore,” he quickly continued when he saw both young women open their mouths, momentarily foregoing politess for the sake of finishing his argument, ”as the carrier of a Kekkei Genkai myself, I find the philosophy of the Mizukage and his followers disgusting and offensive. I would gladly take this chance to harm his cause.”

There was a moment of silence before Mei spoke up. “I can understand your reasoning, especially the second one as I'm a Kekkei Genkai user as well, but I don't think that this is enough to allow you to accompany us. Besides, your presence alone is unlikely to change the course of the battle. ”

“Also,” Anko added, astonishingly calm, “you would need to explain to Hokage-sama why exactly you chose to risk your life to aid some foreign shinobi, regardless of whether their goal is noble or something you personally agree with. No, wait; one could actually argue that aiding rebels in overthrowing their current kage is equal to harming Konoha, actually, as it worsens our relationship with the official government of another Great Nation—and no offence to you, Terumi-sama, but that's just how it looks from the outside. And, just on a side note, I don't necessarily want to be the one who explains to your father—who is the head of the KMPF!—why his son died under my watch.”

Itachi gave them both a small smile that probably did nothing to reassure them he wasn't either insane or an idiot.

“My safety won't be in danger, so you don't need to worry about that. And you're right, Terumi-sama, that my fighting prowess won't be a deciding factor in the battle itself either. However, I can give you something else:

"I can almost certainly guarantee the safety of all the children.”

While not necessarily easy, Itachi had been able to persuade both women to let him help in the end after explaining how exactly he planned to save the children.

That was rather fortunate, as it helped his long-term plans immensely. He was rather confident that Mei Terumi wouldn't forget about this day and its events any time soon, at any rate.

His plan was simple but effective:

First, he would create a crow clone to sneak into their hideout. Considering that the ability to use a summons' contract for a technique like this was almost unheard of and in the case of a clone technique in particular, to the best of Itachi's knowledge, outright impossible impossible to pull off for anyone who didn't have a contract with either the crows or the snakes, no one would bat an eye at a murder of crows. Then, he would sneak to where the children were kept and hide them under a Genjutsu that made everyone who came looking for them think they had vanished.

Sure, a sufficiently powerful or observant shinobi would be able to look right through it, but he doubted such a shinobi would be on guard duty for a bunch of children or come check on them when they were already busy dealing with an attack on their base.

It was during the early hours of dawn that a murder of crows circled overhead the small hideout that had its back on the coast. It was pretty obvious that this base wasn't a very significant one, which wasn't a surprise if one took its location into account. The island it was located on wasn't only one of the smallest islands of the Land of Water, but it also hadn't any notable resources. There had also never been any great population on it, either, be it a shinobi or civilian one. All in all, there were probably less than a thousand inhabitants on this piece of dirt. Its only use was as an early warning system in case some country invaded them from the west, in which case this island would be used to slow the enemy down and buy time for the other islands to prepare for the real fight.

The base was small, only three or four times the size of the rebels' camp had been. Even so, much of the space was nothing but empty ground. There were only three actual buildings:

The first appeared to be a tavern of some kind if the music he could hear from it was anything to go by and was located close to the ocean. The second one was rather indescribable, having no special features whatsoever, and thus gave no outwardly clue as to what its purpose might be. The third building was also the only construction that looked like someone bothered to keep it in decent condition. It was a big tower, being at least five times the height of the 'tavern', and was built from robust-looking grey stone.

The entire area was surrounded by a twenty metres high wall which was built from the same stone as the tower. While he doubted that it could hold against some of the more powerful techniques like the ones that at least Mei should be able to pull off, it looked durable enough to hold of regular shinobi force for a bit. Its main purpose was probably to slow enemies down anyway instead of permanently keeping them out, so there was no need to be almost indestructible like the wall that surrounded Konoha. He could see people patrolling on it at regular intervals, too.

Itachi briefly wondered where all the inhabitants—which couldn't number more than a hundred or two at absolute most—were sleeping and living, but the logical guess would be that the buildings continued underground.

In all honesty, it was kind of insulting to call this base a 'headquarter'. The entire complex wasn't built to resist a siege, but to serve as a lookout for possible invaders. Once they were under attack, they would be little more than pigs in a slaughterhouse.

The Mizukage must have concluded that an invasion from the west was highly unlikely for the time being and consequently stopped properly funding or staffing it to focus his money and manpower instead on the nation's internal problems. 

But alas, that wasn't his problem. Quite the opposite, in fact. 

Itachi thought a moment about where the children might be before deciding that the most likely location would be either the second building itself or, alternatively, the underground beneath it. The fact that this building was one of the two buildings that had guards, the other being the tower that probably was the heart of this base, was more than enough to come to that conclusion. It also helped that both guards looked bored out of their minds, obviously not expecting to do anything interesting any time soon.

Deciding to proceed, he followed up on his plan and flew down. The left guard, who had been enjoying his meal for this evening, gave a surprised shout when his food was stolen out of his hand when he was just about to bite into it. His fellow guard laughed for a second before he realized that other crows were rummaging through his bag in a search for more food, too. 

Neither they nor the amused onlookers from afar noticed the number of crows that flew through the previously closed door, nor that it shut close behind them afterwards. Naturally, with a wall and a door between them, nobody noticed how the aforementioned crows formed a body once they were alone in the room, either.

It seemed that the entire building, at least on this floor, was one single room, filled to the brim with weapons of all kinds. The only other notable detail was the stairs leading downwards.

Huh, he thought. Seems like this is the armoury, then.

Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, he took a fair amount of kunai, shuriken, some wire, a wakizashi, and some other useful-looking equipment. One never knew when such tools would come in handy. Only afterwards did he start to slowly descend downstairs, careful to move cautiously yet swiftly. He was on a schedule, after all.

He needed to follow the stairs for about a minute or two before finally seeing its end. Itachi was just about to descend fully onto this new floor when he suddenly stood still.

There were voices.

“...new bunch didn't arrive yet...”

“...problems?”

“Nah,... Taro... never...”

“But... -sama might...”

Itachi could hear three different voices, two male ones and one female one, which meant that there were at least three people. He had no way of knowing if there were more enemies who just didn't speak up yet because he, for some reason, couldn't sense the exact number of chakra signatures. He assumed that they must have done something to block the senses of invaders. He couldn't even dare to give a peak because if he interpreted the echo of their voices correctly, the corridor appeared to be straight with no turns to hide in. 

They would spot him immediately.

Itachi had only a few options he could take right now, and after a short consideration, he decided to take the easiest, most straightforward one.

He used the Transformation Technique to look like one of the guards from outside the building while simultaneously putting his sword, the wakizashi he had taken only a few minutes earlier, on his back. He then also used a Genjutsu to hide the fact that it was there in the first place.

Disguise in place, right down to the same bored expression he had seen the man wear earlier, he calmly continued walking downstairs, not bothering to silence his steps anymore.

The people, which fortunately numbered only three after all, noticed him a moment after he saw them, but that was enough to give him the chance to determine their threat level.

There were indeed two men and one woman, the latter apparently also being the only fighter of the group while the other two looked more akin to scientists. He obviously couldn't be sure as one didn't need to wear standard shinobi uniforms to be one and it was quite easy for experienced shinobi to hide the typical signs that would give them away, but considering that they had no reason to hide their profession inside their base while surrounded by 'allies', he thought his estimation was most likely correct.

“Shindo? What are you doing down here? You know you can't skip your shift again or you will be punished,” the sole woman of the group said, sounding fond and exasperated at the same time. The way she shook her head, making her brown ponytail shake with her every move, and massaged her brows gave the impression that this wasn't the first time 'Shindo' had skipped his duty, and that she was used to it by now.

Itachi didn't stop walking when he gave a weak smile in response, raising his right hand as if to scratch the back of his head. Only a few more steps...

“I know, I know. But there were these crazy crows, you know! They came down from the sky and—”

He didn't finish the sentence. As soon as he was within range, he grabbed the handle of his sword with his right hand, the one he had put into position when he had started to 'scratch the back of his head', and slashed it downwards at the kunoichi.

The woman hadn't even time to widen her eyes in surprise before she was dead.

Her two companions didn't immediately understand what was happening, and by the time their brains had caught up and they realized the danger they were in, their throats were already slashed, making them drop to the floor with their mouths wide open in futil attempts to call for help.

The entire thing had hardly lasted more than a second.

Itachi looked at the two men, taking in their coats he had already noticed earlier more closely before changing his initial assumption; rather than scientists, they appeared like that of typical medical personal instead. He had some very good ideas about what their work here included and didn't like it at all,

Even less so when he thought about the fact that their patients were children.

Best case, they were there to treat the children after some too violent 'persuasive measures' were taken to make them their spies. Worst case, there were experiments conducted on them. This thought remembered him too much of Orochimaru for his liking.

Itachi could see a door around a hundred metres from his position. Continuing to walk through the corridor, he inspected his surrounding. The walls were built from a different stone than the building above the ground and didn't look like it was battered by age yet, so he assumed that this underground facility didn't exist when the base was first built and was, in fact, a recent addition. There were also no other corridors that were leading away from this one, and neither were there any other rooms other than the one he could see at the end of the floor.

Before long, he had arrived at the door, stretching his senses to feel if he could determine if and how many people were on the other side of it.

Closing his eyes, he thought there was a whole bunch of them in close proximity to the door, though he couldn't determine an exact number. Stretching his senses even farther, he could also feel another groups of people farther back in the room. Whatever they did to disturb his senses still hindered him, but reassured himself that, at the very least, he managed to get a vague idea. Also, unless he was completely off the mark, he thought it fair to assume that, judging by the sheer amount of signatures he believed to sense there, the second group of people must be the kidnapped children. 

Itachi felt a wave of relief flowing through his body, happy that he had chosen correctly when he decided that this must be the building they were held in. He didn't think that there would be enough time to change his mind now and try to infiltrate another building before the attack began had he been wrong.

He opened the door and jumped into action, his Sharingan blazing while instinctively categorising the position of all eight enemies in the room. Then, upon noting that five of the eight wore clothes that identified them as medical personal like the ones earlier, he gave them the lower priority and attacked the other three men—shinobi—first.

The first enemy died by getting his throat cut before he managed to do more than reach out for his weapon. The second one was faster and slashed at him with a sword which he promptly blocked with his wakizashi.

Itachi jumped away from his spot to evade the third enemy's shuriken, all the while defending himself from the sword strikes from the person in front of him.

“How did a damn Uchiha get in here?” one of them shouted angrily.

“I don't— argh!” his partner tried to answer, but stopped talking when one of Itachi's slashes hit his shoulder.

Momentary distracted, Itachi gave him a roundhouse kick to the face before moving to finish the job, only to be stopped by the last enemy who intervened by jumping at him with a drawn kunai in each hand.

Getting some distance from both enemies by jumping back, he started weaving hand seals.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

The shinobi that had just saved his comrade had been in the process of forming hand seals of his own, probably to protect himself and his partner from the attack, but was left standing to gawk at the scene of screaming bodies as the medical personal who had tried to flee the room and had been the actual target of Itachi's attack burned alive.

“Damn you, bastard!” he screamed and rushed at him with new drive, ignoring his partners cries to stop.

Itachi waited until his enemy was almost right in front of him, with only a few feet between them, to simultaneously use a low-level Genjutsu on him and throw his sword.

As he was technically a clone, his reserves were more limited than that of his original self because he couldn't regenerate any chakra of his own. That meant that he couldn't risk wasting chakra by trying to use a Genjutsu on his enemies without being certain that it would result in a kill. The backlash that would follow should he fail wasn't something he could afford. 

Right now was one such situation.

Even if the man had the necessary chakra control to break free, which was honestly a likely possibility, he would probably be too enraged to concentrate enough to do so fast enough to evade the sword that was flying at him right now. The likelihood of him surviving the attack was somewhere around zero.

He never broke free before the sword pierced his throat.

Two down, one left, he thought grimly, ignoring the smell of burned human flesh from the corner where the medical personal had died.

One second later, he had to concentrate on not falling to the ground as the earth began to shake and the sound of explosions could be heard in the distance.

The rebels' attack had begun, then.

Itachi's attention snapped back to his last living enemy when he saw him forming hand seals from the corner of his eye. Realising due to his Sharingan what technique the enemy was preparing for, he quickly decided on a course of action and rushed in his direction.

“Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!” (Water Release: Rising Water Slicer)

A linear wave of water shot out of the man's mouth that aimed straight at Itachi's head, but he didn't dodge. Instead, he let the attack hit his body, piercing him right through his head. His body instantaneously dissolved into dozens of crows, all of them continuing to fly unperturbed in the Kiri-nin's direction. The man hadn't time to utter more than a surprised “What the—” before a half-reformed Itachi pierced his head with a kunai of his own.

The entire fight hadn't even lasted two minutes.

He checked his reserves, just to realize that he had barely a sixth of his chakra left. It would be enough for the Genjutsu he had in mind, but he doubted he could hold it for more than half an hour, if even that long at all.

It just had to be enough, then.

Itachi went over to the corner where the children were locked up in the back of the room behind a row of metal bars. Counting them quickly, he realized that there were over thirty of them; together with the children that were already doing spy work for the Mizukage all around the nation and even just this tiny island alone, the number of children excelled the number of missing children at the orphanage by a large margin. This, at least, proved his suspicion that the shinobi of this hideout also kidnapped children from somewhere other than the orphanage, probably from other spots at the coast of the Land of Wood and from diverse villages of the islands itself.

“Don't worry,” he told them while trying to sound as soothing as he could. “I'm here to help you. I will stay here until my friends come to help me get you out of this place, okay?”

None of the children, all of which were cowering as far away from the bars as possible, replied.

He suppressed a sigh. It made sense that they didn't trust him after they had just witnessed him kill the other people in the room, even if these people were their captors. It would be great if he could use a Genjutsu to make them fall asleep, but he unfortunately wasn't in a position to do so right now with his low reserves as that would only cut off time from how long he would be able to hold the Grnjutsu that was meant to hide them.

Speaking of which...

Itachi concentrated for a moment before making a few hand seals, creating an illusion that would make it look like the metal bars had been destroyed and the children behind it were gone. It wasn't an especially powerful illusion, but it would do. Itachi doubted whoever would be sent to check on the kids would expect a Genjutsu hiding them instead of just assuming they were gone, so they would probably not even check for one. And even if they did, it was still very likely that they weren't very capable in detecting Genjutsu—and certainly not one created by him—as every talented shinobi was needed to defend their base.

Now all he had to do was maintaining the technique until support arrived. 

Around twenty minutes later and a few kilometres away from the fighting, Itachi opened his eyes with a smile, having just received the memories of his dissolved clone. Looking up, he saw Anko and a clone of Terumi Mei looking down at him questioningly from where they stood to his right, waiting for his report.

"The mission was a success." 

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

VII

"Once again, thank you for your help," Mei said. "Who knows if we would have been able to rescue all the children alive without you. Winning the battle, sure, but saving everybody?" She shook her head.

"There is no need to thank me. Saving the orphans was part of our mission. It should be me who thanks you for allowing us to end this mission successfully."

"Speaking about the orphans," Anko chimed in. "What happened to them? Especially the children that weren't from the orphanage, but were kidnapped from elsewhere."

Mei gave her a small smile. "We arranged for all of them to be brought to the orphanage that you told us about, no matter if they were originally kidnapped from there or not. We have regrettably not enough resources to keep all of them under our protection, and the situation in this country will turn much more violent very soon. That's no place for children, especially not orphans." She made it a point not to look at him when she said that part, but Itachi ignored it. After all, it wasn't as if he disagreed with her. 

"We also informed all our people on this island about you, so you should have no problem reaching your destination. You only need to run west until you reach the coast, which you should be able to do within two or three hours, and then continue running over the water for another two to reach land."

Itachi and Anko nodded their thanks at that.

After a moment, he started speaking again. "Regarding what I asked you about..."

"We will try, but I can't give you more than a week. We can't spare even just one man any longer than that."

"I understand."

One week should just about be enough for his plan, so there was no need to worry.

"It was surprisingly nice meeting you, given your background," Mei said then in good humor. "But I'm afraid our time is over now. I have important duties to fulfill, after all. But rest assured, I will not forget what you have done for us."

With that, she vanished with a shunshin.

They had been running for nearly two hours when Itachi finally decided to break the silence.

"You seem to be in a bad mood. Everything went well, didn't it?"

He had expected some sassy comment or at least an annoyed glare in response, but Anko only spared him a glance before returning to look forward with a pensive expression on her face. "It's just... I was pretty useless, wasn't I?"

Itachi eyes involuntarily rose a bit. "Why would you think that? Both of us would be dead if you hadn't killed—"

"I'm not talking about the mission as a whole!" she snapped before he could finish. "From the moment we stranded on this island, I did nothing more than follow you around and accept your decisions. I haven't contributed anything noteworthy while we were here, but you somehow managed to get ourselves in the rebels' good grace. Meanwhile, I... I was useless!"

Itachi hesitated. He could be truthful and risk hurting her feelings, or he could try to soothe her to cheer her up...

"You're right." He decided to go with the first option. "After we arrived on this island and we were put in a situation where your fighting prowess didn't matter, you didn't contribute anything to our continued survival."

Anko didn't explode, but she started clenching her fists.

"However," he continued, catching her attention, "that's not the case because you're useless or dumb. You simply didn't think things through."

"What do you mean?" she demanded.

"I mean are an impulsive person who lets her emotions dictate her actions far too easily—to the point where your evident intelligence doesn't matter, even. While you manage to stay calm and focused in battle, outside of it, you lose your calm all the time. I do not doubt that you would be an amazing kunoichi rather than just one with great potential like you're now if you had better control over your emotions."

Who knows? Perhaps telling her the truth in such a blunt fashion might be enough to make her actually think about it and improve herself.

Anko hadn't time to answer, though, as both of them felt a presence closely in front of them. It didn't feel like a shinobi or even like an adult, but more like...

"A child," Anko hissed out what he was thinking.

Silently agreeing on a plan of action, both of them closed on to the position from where they could feel the child's presence.

A second later, they were crouching on a tree branch, only a few metres above from where they had sensed the child, looking down on it.

It was a girl that couldn't be older than four or five, wearing tattered and dirty clothes. It was obvious at the first glance that she was too thin, a sure sign that she had lived on the streets or at least her own for some time now and had problems in finding enough food.

Nodding to each other, he and Anko appeared a few metres away from the spot under the tree where the girl was sitting and walked in her direction. There was no reason to scare her by just appearing in front of her out of nowhere, after all.

She didn't notice them until they were basically right in front of her, but instead of reacting startled or scared when she did like Itachi had expected, she only looked at them for a moment before giving them a serene smile.

"Hey," Anko said softly, crouching down in front of her to be on her eye level while still keeping enough distance to dodge should she be attacked. "Are you alright? You're not hurt or anything, are you?"

The girl shook her head but didn't speak up.

Itachi hated to see children in such a state. They, more than anyone else, were innocent and didn't deserve to live like this. Children were supposed to live peaceful lives with enough to eat, with friends to play with, and a home with loving parents they could return to in the evening after running around with aforementioned friends all day.

Putting a friendly expression on his face, he crouched down next to Anko. "My name is Itachi, and that"—he pointed at his teammate—"is Anko. What's your name?"

She frowned at him for a moment as if puzzled that he would ask her such a strange thing before her smile returned. "I'm Haku. Nice to meet you, Itachi-nii, Anko-nee." Afterwards, she held out her hand, inviting him to shake it.

He hesitated for only a moment, too brief for her to notice, in which he considered whether this was a trap and if she could be a threat before he decided that this was not the case. Also, it wasn't as if she could hide any weapons in her sleeves as her top didn't even have sleeves.

"Are you two shinobi?" Haku asked once he had shaken her hand, tilting her head to the side in askance.

He and Anko shared a short glance before Anko focused back on the child. "Well," Anko drawled, giving a credible imitation of being amused when in truth both of them tensed up the moment the little girl recognized them for what they were. "Aren't you a clever one? What gave us away?"

"Your eyes. They look like those of a shinobi. You saw death, right? Just like I did."

Itachi deliberately didn't outwardly react to that statement. 

The girl must be pretty attentive to notice something like that. Of course, neither Anko nor him had really tried to hide their profession, seeing that their commoner clothes and non-existent equipment would usually be enough to fool a mere child, but to instantly recognize them was still impressive.

It was also important to note that even the most talented actors often forget to show 'real' emotions with their eyes during their acts. Well, either that or they were just unable to fake them convincingly. This was also one of the most common mistakes Genin made in the beginning that needed to be corrected by their instructors before they could be sent on undercover missions. The only reason that Haku could see something in their eyes was that they hadn't bothered with an innocent expression.

"Ohh~? So you could see right through us? Impressive!" Anko said with a grin that Itachi absently noted did reach her eyes.

Haku reacted to that praise with not more than a simple nod before asking another question. "Are you from Kirigakure?"

"No," he said, seeing no reason to lie about that. "We're from Konoha. We came here by accident and are now on our way home."

Her eyes got wide, marking this as the first time she had any sort of strong reaction since the start of their conversation. "Konoha? That's on the mainland, isn't it? You must be really strong, then!"

Itachi wasn't sure how she came to the conclusion that they were strong solely on the basis that they were from the mainland, but he still smiled and nodded in thanks.

"You bet we are, kid!" Anko exclaimed while flexing the muscles in her arm with exaggerated enthusiasm, though Itachi was pretty sure that this time, the pride in her eyes was actually real. She really liked it when people praised her skills, after all, even if the person praising her was just a homeless child. Before she could say anything else, however, there was some sort of growling noise.

Itachi's senses instinctively sharpened, reaching out in all directions in search for the slightest sign of an animal having managed to somehow sneak up on them, but barely a heartbeat later, he had already calmed down again, recognizing the sound for what it actually was. He gave the now blushing girl an amused half-smile before he grabbed for his supplies and subsequently handed her some bread. Hard and dry it might be, but he doubted the girl was be very picky. "Here, you must be hungry."

She looked at the offered food, visibly unsure if she should accept it, before she finally took it and began to wolf it down. It wasn't healthy to eat so fast, especially as she probably hadn't eaten so much in some time, but he let her do it anyway. He hadn't the heart to interrupt her right now. When she had finished it and looked up, she saw more food, offered by Anko this time, and this time she didn't hesitate before grabbing it.

"Haku," he said softly once she finished eating. "You said you saw death too. What did you mean by that?"

Of course he could make a reasonable guess. After all, bandits weren't an unusual sight in a country on the brink of war. It was also possible that some Kiri-nin or even rebels had some 'fun' in some random village and eliminated the evidence afterwards. He wasn't knowledgeable enough about these lands to know for sure, but if some survivors from a clan with a Kekkei Genkai had felt to this ostensibly unimportant island, she might even be a survivor of one of the Mizukage's purges.

The young girl looked at him indecisively before tilting her head, seemingly having come to some kind of decision. "If you're shinobi, you can do tricks, can't you? Can you show me?"

He saw Anko momentarily furrow her bows in wonder before she smoothed them again and gave the other girl another grin. "Sure thing! Watch me, I'm gonna show you something really cool!" she said before proceeding by walking up a tree until she stood head over on a branch right above the girl. Needless to say, Haku was sufficiently impressed. While the tree climbing practice was one of the most basic techniques for shinobi, it still looked quite amazing for civilians—something Haku seemed to be if her reaction was anything to go by. At least this ruled out the possibility of her being from some ninja clan, seeing as she would be used to this sight already if she were. 

"And you? Can you do something too?" Haku asked him now.

Deciding to follow Anko's example and keep things simple, he looked right into her eyes and activated his Sharingan, resulting in her letting out a surprised yet delighted gasp. "These eyes are something that only my family has," he told the surprised girl. "They're called 'Sharingan'."

"A bloodline...?" Haku whispered to herself before she nodded resolutely. Then, she held out her hands and stopped moving otherwise, only staring at her hands in concentration. She stayed like this for several minutes during which Itachi and Anko only remained silent because they could actually feel the slow but steady stream of chakra flowing into her hands, but then, finally, when he had already begun to wonder if she could pull off whatever it was she was attempting to do in the first place, dozens over dozens of water drops seemed to be pulled from the area and formed a cone-shaped structure above her hands.

And then it froze.

Haku smiled, the expression carrying several emotions that ranged from sadness to wonder to pride. "I have one too."

Well, he thought with slightly widened eyes. It seems I was wrong about her not being from a clan. She might not have grown up in one, but she at least descended from one.

"Why do I need to carry her the entire time..." Anko grumbled to herself, just barely loud enough for Itachi to hear.

"It would be physical more taxing for me, seeing as I'm not much older and thus not much bigger than her," Itachi answered her with a smile that might have been just a tad too amused, making her glare at him.

"We're shinobi! Use your damn chakra to enhance yourself or something!"

He didn't reply to that, pointedly changing the topic instead. "We shouldn't need much longer until we reach the coast. Only about ten more minutes. From there, we should reach the orphanage in less than an hour."

They were currently running across the water that separated the Land of Water from the mainland. It was fortunate that the distance between the Land of Woods and the island they had landed on was quite short, barely two hours of running across the water for a shinobi, and that the sea was relatively calm. It would have been much more complicated to get home were that not the case.

Itachi shot a short glance at his two companions and suppressed the anger he felt at the thought of Haku's fate, just as he had when she told them her story. He had a personal history with a person—him—killing their family, so a father murdering his wife and trying to kill his child only for aforementioned to kill him first hit home closer than he would have liked. Shortly after, Anko and he had decided to take her with them to bring her to the orphanage where their mission had started. Making sure that the young girl had a better future was the least they could do, especially when it wasn't even a bother in the first place.

Haku herself seemed to enjoy the experience, at least. He supposed being carried over the open sea was quite a spectacle for a little girl.

He sighed.

Itachi wished he could enjoy himself as easily as that as well, but his mind was plagued by far too many things right now to even think about relaxing. Just thinking about how he would need to explain his decisions to the Hokage was exhausting, and if he thought what his family must be thinking right now, it made shivers run down his spine. He didn't doubt that his sensei had followed the standard protocol and, after not finding either him or Anko after a day's worth of searching, had returned to Konoha in all haste to inform the Hokage so that he could send a professional search team for them. In view of the dim likelihood of two fresh Genin surviving such an experience, however, his family must assume he was dead. 

It was of course theoretically possible that his sensei and Yukio had been killed by the enemy shinobi and thus had never had the opportunity to return home and report their disappearance, but considering that he and Anko had fought the only high-level opponent their enemies had, he doubted that this was the case.

At least he could look forward to seeing Sasuke again very soon. 

"How did that happen?" Anko asked angrily. "We were told this orphanage was under your protection! You should never have allowed matters to reach this point!"

The shinobi she was talking to, one of the rebels responsible for transporting the children that had been rescued earlier to the orphanage, was visibly not amused at being talked to like this by a girl barely into her teens, but despite that, he didn't lash out in anger. Itachi thought that, judging by the flash of guilt in his eyes, he agreed with her even if he didn't like being spoken to like that.

"The building was already burned to the ground by the time we arrived, there was nothing we could have done. Believe me, kid, I too wish we could have arrived earlier to intervene, but no power in the world allows you to change the past"—Itachi felt like the gods were laughing at him right now—"and it's better to accept the situation for what it is than to cry about the unfairness of it all. We should be grateful that there are as many survivors as there are. If it hadn't been for the caretaker who noticed the fire early on, even more children would be dead."

Itachi nodded. He might not like it, but he agreed with the sentiment. "What will happen to the survivors now?" he asked.

The man turned his eyes upon him. "Some of my men are currently scouring the area to find a place where we can build a new orphanage. We're not many, our leaders need most men for the fights to come, especially now that the war begins for real, but we will use the limited time we have to help the kids as much as we can. It's the least we can do.

"The people of a nearby village already agreed to help with the rebuilding efforts as well and even want to support the survivors with food and water. I think a few might even adopt a child or two—horrible as accidents like this are, the pity that follows often has at least some positive side-effects. Still, it will not be easy for them to go through the next winter, even with the villagers helping them..." The man sighed. "I guess all we can do is to hope for the best

Itachi saw honest determination and no deception in the man's eyes, so he was willing to believe him.

Anko turned to look at him once they had given their farewell to the man. "If food is as difficult to get by as he claims, every additional mouth to feed will cause problems," she said. "And it will also reduce the probability of survival of every child as there will be even less food for each individual."

"Anko," he tried to interrupt her half-heartedly. "What do you—"

"Konoha has orphanages as well," she went on unperturbed, "so we will bring Haku with us and take her there."

He didn't argue.

He, Anko, and an oddly happy Haku had travelled for roughly a day when they were found by one of Konoha's patrols. It was honestly a relief; at this point, he just wanted to return home and see Sasuke and the rest of his family again.

Itachi hadn't argued when Anko told him they would take Haku with them, and he didn't regret this decision. After all, she had been right when she said every additional mouth to feed would cause problems for everyone else. He didn't want to ever be responsible for another child's death again if he could help it.

Still, taking a civilian child—and that's what Haku was regardless of her heritage—slowed them down considerably. So when the team finally found them, his first thought was about how much faster they would reach Konoha now that one of the adults could carry her.

"It's a relief to see both of you alive and well," the Sandaime repeated his initial words after they finished their report. "We feared the worst when Tanaka and Yukio returned without you, but it seems you made the best of your circumstances while split from your team."

Both Itachi and Anko were currently standing in front of the Hokage's desk in silence, having just finished the summarized tale of the events that had happened after they were separated from the rest of their team.

"I expect a written report from both of you, but taking into account that this was the first time for both of you to went missing in enemy territory, and since there doesn't seem to be anything that demands immediate actions, it will suffice if you hand them in two days from now. Use the time to rest and recover."

Accepting the obvious dismissal as what it was, both of them bowed before leaving the room.

Or at least that was what seemed to happen. 

A figure stepped out of the shadows of one of the corners in the room just a second after the door had closed.

"So, Itachi, do you care to elaborate why you offered this Mei Terumi the possible aid of Konoha for their rebellion against their own kage?"

Itachi had created and hid a Kage Bunshin the moment he had stepped inside the office and noticed the missing presence of any ANBU guards, knowing full well this meant that there would be an in-deep discussion about his decision during the mission.

"Mei Terumi will become the Godaime Mizukage at some point within the next few years. She was chosen for her contribution during the rebellion against the Yondaime Mizukage, being considered one of the main reasons for their success, as well as her outstanding prowess in battle. I made the decisions I did because I think an alliance with her, and with Kirigakure through her, would conform with our long-term plans regarding Konoha's future."

The old man looked at him and took the time to puff on his pipe before he finally answered. "You will explain to me every single detail; everything you know about Mei Terumi, the people she surrounds herself with, her leadership style, about Kirigakure and the Land of Water after the end of the rebellion, and whatever else you think is important for me to know to make a decision. You will explain to me why exactly you think allying with her would benefit Konoha and why you think these benefits outweigh the downsides of potentially being discovered as to having meddled with the leadership of one of the Five Great Nations, and finally, you will explain to me how you imagine I should handle this situation and what decisions I should make. Then, after you finished, I will decide what to do."

That will be a long day, Itachi thought.

Itachi was confident in his ability to look through whatever mask his mother put on, in always being able to see her true thoughts and emotions even if she tried to hide them. When he finally arrived home, however, she didn't even try to hide her relief and took him into her arms as soon as he stepped through the door.

If he were forced to take a guess, he would say that, considering he saw no surprise in her expression, someone had already informed his parents about his safe return.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Itachi. When your sensei returned without you, we thought..." she paused for a moment to swallow. "We expected the worst."

She didn't cry as she would never allow herself to cry in front of either him or Sasuke, but it was definitively a close thing.

"Don't worry, Kaa-san. Anko and I just got a little lost, nothing serious happened."

At least if you thought about helping rebels in their attempt to overthrow their legal kage as 'nothing serious', that is.

"You must have strayed far off course to arrive so late, then," a voice other than his mother's replied, and he didn't even need to turn around to know that it was his father. He just wanted to gently pull himself away from his mother's embrace when he was surprised by his father joining them instead.

Despite his father clearly feeling just as awkward at the gesture as Itachi, he didn't make to release him anytime soon.

"Try not to get lost again, you hear me? Not knowing if my son is still alive or not is not a very pleasant feeling, and I would prefer not to experience it again."

Now it was his turn to swallow. He could remember a few times in his early youth where his father hugged him, but it happened less and less over time until it had ultimately stopped altogether, and with it, open admissions such as that. 

"I will try, Otou-san."

This was the best he had to offer. Both his parents were Jōnin in their own right, so they knew what the world of shinobi was like. All he could do was to try his hardest to stay alive.

They stayed like this for only a minute or two before they were interrupted.

"Nii-san?"

Hearing the voice, he finally pulled back to turn around and find his brother standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes with one hand while holding his plush toy in the other. In addition to that, he was also wearing his pyjamas, making it obvious that he had just gotten out of bed.

Itachi couldn't quite suppress the giddy feeling inside his chest at seeing his brother. He had gotten used to seeing Sasuke every day since he woke up in the past, and even a few days without that had felt like an eternity. He knew he would get only busier from now and that he needed to get used to this again, but this knowledge didn't help him right now.

He crouched down and gave his little brother a big, honest smile. "Hello Otouto," he said. "I'm home."

Sasuke didn't need any more encouragement than him spreading out his arms to jump into his embrace.

Itachi wasn't comfortable with how close he had come to dying on this mission.

Sure, he could have used his Mangekyo to kill Taro if the situation had gotten truly out of hand, but if he needed to depend on this to survive every time he encounters a dangerous foe, he would be blind before he turned ten. No, he needed to improve himself, and he needed to do it fast.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any real shortcut he could take to get stronger even faster than he already did. In fact, he was cheating thanks to his memories of the future as it was.

Still, he needed to make sure that he wouldn't die anytime soon.

He didn't want to leave his loved ones behind again, not now after he had been granted a second chance. The odds of there being a third were certainly not in his favour. And there was still so much for him to do, too; things he needed to do to stop Akatsuki and its true leader.

There was only one thing he could do for now to guarantee his survival besides training himself to get stronger.

It was this one thing that had led him to where he was right now, standing in front of the big building in the middle of the night after he had sneaked out of the house when everyone else had long since gone to sleep.

With determined steps, he entered the Naka Shrine.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Two Gatherings

“So, Sensei,” Jiraiya drawled while leisurely leaning back in his seat. “What's so important that you call me back like this? It's unlike you to hurry me so without at least giving me a good reason, and it's pretty hard to do my job when I'm cooped up in the village, you know?”

“Oh?” Hiruzen replied while fussing with his pipe for a moment to ensure it had a good draw. “And here I thought you would enjoy visiting your home and maybe having a drink with your poor, old teacher.”

His former student let out a blusterous laugh in response, making his own lips twitch as well. Jiraiya always had the ability to make people around him happy, often on his own expanse. “Don't misunderstand me, old man. I'm happy to see you. It's just unusual of you to act all secretly like this, that's all. And besides, you wouldn't have called me if it weren't for something important. Or at least I hope it's important, or else I would be rather cross with you for forcing me to stop my research much sooner than expected. I had just found this really impressive spot too...”

He raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps my memories are failing me, I am an old man after all, so correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it you who told me that the hot springs of Konoha are one of the best spots for your, ehm, research?”

This seemed to ease some of Jiraiya's tension as he leaned forward with a big grin and started to giggle. “Well, when you're right, you're right. Konoha's hot springs are special, and I got some very impressive inspirations there in the past.” The man gave a pointed look at a drawer that he knew stored a particular array of books. “But of course you would know all about that already, wouldn't you?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” he said, ignoring the knowing glances the other man threw at him while puffing contently on his pipe.

He had missed his student. The man was like a son to him, just like the other two Sannin, and also the only one of his students still remaining to him. Orochimaru had left the village in disgrace and Tsunade hadn't been in Konoha in quite some time now. He had tried to exchanged letters with her to at least have some sort of contact, but her replies had rarely extended beyond a mere few, short lines. He had given up on that avenue after little more than a year.

Not that he had much more contact with the man in front of him, but at least he saw him from time to time and knew he was fine as he received regular messages with whatever information his spy network had found.

No matter what other people—the man in front of him including—might try to claim, Hiruzen knew that all his students' deeds could be traced back to him, and that was particularly true for the less stellar ones.

Their mistakes and crimes were just as much his fault as they were theirs.

He had been their teacher, he had been the one who watched them grow up, and he had been the one that taught them much of what they knew;  he should have seen their shortcomings and intervened before they could bite them in their ass. It had been his job to aid them when they needed help the most, to console them in their grief. Had he done that, had he done his duty, Orochimaru and Tsunade might very well still be part of the village.

“But for real, Sensei, what's going on? I know you haven't called me back solely because you missed me so much and wanted to catch up.”

Hiruzen stopped a sigh before it could leave his lips. So to business then, hm?

“I'm afraid you need to be a bit more patient. We are still awaiting one more person for this little meeting to arrive.”

Jiraiya grimaced. He could be patient, he just preferred not to be most of the time. “When you say 'a bit more patient', what amount of time are we talking about exactly?

“He should be here just about...”

There was a knock on the door before his secretary called, “Hokage-sama, Genin Itachi Uchiha is here to deliver his mission report. I'm sending him in now.”

“...now.” he finished his sentence as if nothing had happened.

The two of them watched as the man in the body of a child entered the room, walking with far more confidence and composure than was normal for a boy 'his age'. Hiruzen silently wondered if he would have noticed this fact if he hadn't known the truth, but dismissed this thought. That wasn't important right now.

Itachi regarded Jiraiya with only a nod as a greeting before continuing on his way to his desk to deliver the mission report. He could see the gears in his student's head start turning, wondering how this young child could possibly be the person he had talked about and whether his old fool of a teacher had just been mistaken about who was on the other side of the door or gone outright senile. 

It wouldn't be the first time such unflattering thoughts had crossed Jiraiya's mind, he was sure.

“My mission report, Hokage-sama.”

He took the scroll and threw a casual glance over it before storing it in one of his drawers for later consideration. He had heard most of it in their conversation yesterday already, of course, but reading a written report always helped him noticing little things that had managed to slip through the cracks before.

He was still not entirely sure if Itachi had made the right call when he helped the rebels, but he could at least see why he had done it. And to be honest, he might have acted the same way had he been in his situation, but he couldn't think like that. All that mattered was that the likelihood of this decision aiding their final goal was probably higher than it causing problems somewhere down the way.

He had been forced to share the basics of the happenings during the mission with his advisors Homura, Koharu, and Danzō. While he would have preferred not to tell them, especially Danzō, under these circumstances, he had no other choice.

They couldn't know for sure that there had been no survivors of the battles that had taken place in the Land of Water, which meant that there was a theoretical chance that the Mizukage had been informed about Konoha's role in them by now. If the worst came to pass and Kirigakure lashed out in response, the last thing he needed was those who were supposed to be some his closest advisors wondering why he hadn't trusted them with the relevant information. Dealing with infighting while already occupied by an external threat was never fun. 

Even if the Mizukage remained clueless, Hiruzen's advisors would have grown similarly suspicious if he hadn't explained to them his decision to increase patrols on their eastern border. Thus, the point remained and he had informed them about the bare basics of Itachi's mission. 

For what Hiruzen and Itachi had planned, he couldn't afford them to become suspicious about his actions and motivations. 

He was the Hokage. He didn't have to explain himself or his decisions to anyone. However, using this privilege all the time had its own share of problems. In this case, it was simply less problematic to share his information with the others, if only to make sure that Danzō didn't come to his own conclusions.

That was always a dangerous thing.

Given the possible consequences, the three of them had been understandably annoyed about the two Genin's actions, but as no blame had arrived from Kirigakure so far, they had been easy enough to calm down for the time being.

Personally, Hiruzen thought that the girl they had brought with them, Haku, was the main reason his advisors had been so compliant. The girl was the carrier of a Kekkei Genkai, after all. If she survived long enough to marry and have children, Konoha might gain another powerful clan of bloodline users, strengthening the village even more.

He hated to think about people as if they were resources, but his position made it impossible not to think like that from time to time.

“Thank you, Itachi,” he said. “Please, take a seat. This conversation will probably last a while.”

Jiraiya stared at both of them, his expression shifting between incredulity and confusion. “Alright,” he said after a few moments. “I give up. Tell me how a Genin can be useful for whatever you want to talk with me about, because I don't have the slightest clue.”

He took the time to take another puff from his pipe before he replied, admittedly enjoying the inpatient look Jiraiya shot him in return. After all the times the younger man had stolen his last nerve, in his mind, payback was only fair.

“That's a long story, one which we will summarize for you to spare us some time.” Hiruzen looked his student directly into his eyes, trying to make him understand how serious he was. “All I ask of you is to remain silent and keep an open mind.”

Had Jiraiya's face been serious before, now his expression was grave.

“I can't deny that some of this information seems very...convincing, but you must understand that this isn't easy to believe,” he said, obviously still uncertain even after nearly an hour of getting answers to whatever questions he could think of.

“That's understandable,” Hiruzen replied calmly. “I had the benefit of much more time to think about these matters myself—thanks to a technique no mere child should be able to use or even know about, I might add. And even then, it hadn't been an easy thing to accept.”

“Jiraiya-sama, I know—” Itachi started, only to get interrupted by the man before he could say much.

“Cut the honorifics, would ya? Regardless of whether what you say is true or not, I think we can do without standing on ceremony after going through this mess of a conversation.”

Itachi nodded, looking unbothered at being interrupted. “Jiraiya. I know it's not an easy thing to believe, but for the sake of this conversation, it would be best if you were to just act as if you would believe us for the time being regardless of what you really think.”

“He is right,” Hiruzen added. “If you would be so free, we could start talking about what I actually asked you to return for.”

Hadn't he seen the man grow up and trained him himself, he might have missed how he tensed up for a mere second before forcing himself to calm down again.

“And what is that?”

He took a deep breath. “We're going to talk about Danzō.”

That got a visible reaction from the man. “What? Seriously?” He threw a short glance at the boy beside him, probably thinking about Danzō's role in his future, before continuing in the same raised voice as before, “Don't tell me you actually decided to finally do something against the old geezer? I know I tried and failed to make you see reason often enough!”

“And I told you often enough that he is a necessary evil, Jiraiya. Many of the things he had done needed to be done, no matter how much you and I might dislike to admit it.” Jiraiya opened his mouth to object, but he didn't give him the chance to do so. “And I know that you know that, too. You didn't become such a formidable shinobi by being blind to the darker side of the Ninja World.”

“That might be true Sensei, but I'm also formidable enough to realize when someone crosses the line between a necessary evil and plain old paranoia—something Danzō most definitely can't claim for himself.”

“No,” he agreed, feeling more tired than ever. “It seems he can't.”

Like it or not, a shinobi village couldn't survive if it wasn't willing to get its hands dirty. Sometimes this meant breaking other country's sovereignty by sending shinobi into their territory without their knowledge, sometimes it meant killing an innocent bystander if they somehow managed to witness an operation that must remain secret, and sometimes it meant blackmailing others, be it a simple civilian or even an entire nation, to do one's bidding by any means necessary. Danzō had done just that; he had done the jobs that needed to be done to keep Konoha safe, sometimes even without his knowledge. He let it slide because he saw the benefit of having no official record and as such no evidence that could be used against them, but also because he wanted to keep this part that came with the burden of ruling away from himself as much as he could.

That had been a mistake, he knew that now.

Hiruzen had trusted that Danzō would only act in Konoha's best interest, so sure in his love for their home that he couldn't see him harm it under any circumstances.

However, perhaps he had just chosen, no matter how subconscious, to be blind to his old teammate's shortcomings, wishing to see only the best in him. Maybe he only wanted to see the good friend of his youth instead of the bitter man he had become.

Now he knew that he had been right in that Danzō only acted on what he believed was in Konoha's best interest, not seeing all the consequences his actions might have. A village needed people to do the unsightly work that kept it alive, yes, but Danzō had been so focused on the dark that he completely forgot about the light.

He had learned his lesson from Orochimaru; he wouldn't repeat the same mistake he had made with his wayward student. Not again.

“That's why we decided to do something about him now, to stop him before he can make any further mistakes,” Itachi spoke up, catching him a bit off-guard. He hadn't forgotten about the Uchiha's presence per se, but he had faded into the background so much that it had been very easy to ignore him.

“You want to eliminate him,” Jiraiya said confidently. Then he furrowed his brows. “I'm not sure where I come into this. I understand that Danzō isn't weak and that he has his own personal ANBU branch, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I mean, he has... what? Two hundred men? You are more than capable of handling Danzō, and you outnumber his subordinates by a large margining. You should be fine.”

He sighed. “Danzō has officially a little more than two hundred men, yes. However, we can't be sure about the unofficial number. But of course you're still right, we would be fine even without your assistance as we indeed outnumber them quite badly.”

“So,” Jiraiya drawled, the gears inside his head already turning. “You called me back to inform me of his”—he waved his hand vaguely in Itachi's direction—“little stroll through time, something that can reliably only be done in person because of the risk of the message being intercepted, and decided now that I'm here anyway, I can just as well help you, am I right?”

He gave his former student an approving smile. “Very well reasoned, but no, you're not. At least not completely. While you're right in that I would have called you back to inform you of this in private because it's too risky doing it otherwise, you're wrong in assuming that's a coincidence that we planned to convict Danzō just now when you arrive. It was always the plan to include you.”

Jiraiya shrugged. “Close enough.” Then, he got serious again. “So, what's the plan?”

“It's pretty simple,” he said and started to explain. “Tomorrow, I will call Danzō to my office, effectively cutting off the snake's head and rendering ROOT without leadership. He will have naturally set up a chain of command for such situations, but he is too paranoid to give anyone too much power, so their ability to react will likely be limited. I have such meetings with Danzō and my other advisors regularly, so there is no reason for him to get suspicious.

"I have scheduled a special training session for the ANBU on every Wednesday for a few months now in preparation for this operation, so Danzō has no reason to suspect anything on that front, either. As soon as I have ordered Danzō here,  you will head over to their training ground with a written order from me, effectively mobilizing every team that is present at that time. We know the official locations of all ROOT facilities, and thanks to Itachi, we also know at least a few of their unofficial ones. I will give you a list of those unofficial bases we know already exist due to some of my men scouting the area. You will lead this mission to make sure that no one survives while some of my private guards will rescue as many children as we can. Considering that we most likely don't know about all of their bases, there will probably be survivors anyway, but I want to keep that number as low as possible.”

He wasn't surprised that Jiraiya looked at him in silent shock. For him to go from basically letting Danzō do whatever he wants while defending his actions to ordering such drastic measures must be hard to believe, even with all the information he received in advance.

“Alright then,” Jiraiya said while standing up. “If that's everything you wanted to tell me, I will head out now. I need to think about what you told me, especially your story.” He looked at Itachi when he said the last part before turning back to him. “Will it be sufficient if I return at 0700 tomorrow for more details for this mission?”

He nodded.

“Good. If you need me, I'm at the hot springs.” And with that he jumped out of the window, vanishing in a shunshin.

It somehow felt like he was fleeing, but that reaction was understandable. He had a lot to process, after all.

“I think that went well,” Itachi commented dryly.

His lips tugged upwards. “Yes, it did.” As well as we could hope for, at least.

Itachi had spent nearly three hours in the meeting with the Hokage and Jiraiya, but because he had left for the Sandaime's office at eight in the morning, it was still rather early.

The meeting itself had gone better than he had expected. Without using the Tsukuyomi and thus giving him nearly unlimited time to persuade the other person as he had done with the Sandaime, his possibilities had been much more limited this time, especially because there was nothing that he could do to stop the other person from just walking away.

At least when the person was as strong as Jiraiya.

The presence of the Hokage probably helped with that. As long as the Sannin didn't believe the older man had gone completely insane, he would at least consider the possibility of him telling the truth, making the entire conversation much easier.

That was the main reason he had mostly stayed out of the conversation once he had finished explaining his situation. After all, even if the man believed him, he was still a stranger to him whereas the Hokage was his former sensei and the leader of his village. The Sandaime would know better what to say to convince the Sannin than Itachi did. 

And it had worked out well enough. Jiraiya might still be unsure about whether he spoke the truth or not, but he was willing to accept his word at face value for now and had accepted to participate in tomorrow's operation. Itachi honestly wished he could take part in it as well, but he understood why that wasn't possible. He wouldn't be of much help in his current state. Still, after the part Danzō had played in his life, he wasn't above feeling anger or the wish for revenge against the man. He just didn't let himself be controlled by these emotions, or at least he tried not to.

If nothing else, his years as a criminal had improved his already impressive self-control.

Tomorrow's operation would also mark the first major change he made in the past with consequences that could be felt almost immediately, which made him understandable nervous. The chances that this decision would backfire weren't slim, and only the knowledge that this was something that needed to be done could calm him down.

Itachi couldn't continue this trail of thought once he came closer to his home, though, because he could sense more people than usual inside for some reason. In fact, if he didn't miscount, there were currently seven people inside.

And considering he recognized every single chakra signature, he could also tell who their guests were, and his guess was proven right once he entered the house and went to the living room:

“Happy Birthday!”

All over the room, with either smiles or outright grins on their faces, stood his parents, Sasuke, his sensei, Yukio, Anko, Izumi, and Shisui.

They were currently sitting in the garden behind their house, celebrating his birthday. It wasn't what most 'children his age' would do on their birthday party, considering a simple meal in their garden without any games or other entertainment would be considered far too boring for them, but Itachi was quite content with this. Honestly, he was glad his parents seemed to know him well enough to not organize a usual children's party. That would have been utterly humiliating.

Well, to be fair, they hadn't even done such a thing in his last life, so maybe it wasn't that surprising that they wouldn't do so this time either.

Of course, today wasn't actually his birthday. As he had told Anko during their mission, his birthday had been on the second day after their arrival at the orphanage. Still, it seemed his family and friends believed he needed a 'proper party' anyway, so here they were.

And that brought him to his current predicament. 

“Come on Itachi, your mother made all of this just for you!” Shisui said while 'helpfully' handing him another piece of cake. “Well, and for us too, I guess... But mainly for you! It would be rude to waste it!”

He fought down the urge to smash the plate into his friend's face. They might not have been friends for too long in this timeline, but Shisui knew he wasn't a fan of too much sweets. Not that he disliked it, mind you, but he maintained that it was only enjoyable in moderation! Of all the habits he had been used to from his friend in the past, it would naturally be his tendency to irk him all the time that would resurface first. That was just his luck.

Besides, if he forced so much sweet upon him, he could at the very least hand him some dango.

Luckily, he knew how he could get out of this situation.

“You're right,” he agreed easily, making Shisui narrowing his eyes at him as if wondering what he was planing. “But it would be even ruder to steal the last piece of cake away from my guests, and I definitively don't want to be a bad host.”

He turned to his right, looking straight at Yukio who had watched their exchange in slight confusion. ”Here Yukio, the last piece of cake. I insist that you get it.” He didn't give him much choice on that matter and put the plate almost forcefully into his hands before turning away again to stop him from returning the food to him.

“Well, I guess that works as well,” Shisui commented with a barely restrained chuckle.

Itachi did not dignify this with an answer and instead reached out for some fruits to feed the crows he could see gathering on the nearby tree. Just like in his last life, crows had started to flock to him since he made a contract with their kind. Unlike other summonses, like for example snakes, crows had no secret hiding place, but instead freely traveled the world. He assumed that some of the crows that were less enthusiastic to face the hardships that went with the constant traveling choose to instead live near him, their currently only summoner, and enjoy the easy food available in a populated village like Konoha.

“You know, these crows of yours might come in really handy in a fight,” Shisui spoke up again. “I imagine they make for a great distraction, especially if you summon an entire murder of them at once. I can't wait for what you will do with them the next time we spar.”

“They can act as a distraction,” he agreed absently while also glancing in the direction of his other guests. “But they also can help me in other ways.”

His parents were currently talking with Tanaka-sensei, and oddly enough, his father seemed to actually enjoy himself. He usually wasn't the type to openly show his emotions to strangers, so Itachi thought that they either must have found some common ground they could bond over pretty quickly or that they already knew each other. His mother seemed to be pretty amused by it, too, and just when he looked their way, she made his father actually blush with some comment.

Ignoring this oddity—and hopefully erasing his father's embarrassed expression from his memory—he continued to look around and watched Anko and Izumi sitting together with Sasuke. He couldn't suppress a small smile when he saw Izumi trying to talk to Sasuke, only for the little boy to turn his back to her and move closer to Anko. From what he had overheard earlier, the older girl had teased Izumi about something in close proximity to Sasuke, probably endearing himself to the boy in the process.

He turned back to his friend just in time to look at him when he reacted to his statement. “Oh? And what other ways would that be?”

“I spoke with Anko earlier,” Yukio then chimed in into their conversation, “and she told me a few things. She said you can use a clone jutsu with them. Is that true?”

He blinked, a bit surprised by this intrusion, but recovered quickly. “It is. It's a technique that doesn't waste much chakra but still has the advantages of a Kage Bunshin, making it an ideal technique for me to use considering I still have smaller reserves than either of you, for example.”

Shisui whistled impressed. “I never heard of a crow clone before, but I suppose that's understandable as I never heard of a crow contract either. Does that mean that an original technique of yours?”

“Technically the crows taught the technique to me,” he denied. “So I'm not the inventor.”

“So it's also true that you can create a clone that's only halfway formed, with lots of crows flying around it?” Yukio asked with sparkling eyes.

He gave his teammate an amused smile, making him look away in embarrassment for a moment before returning his glance at him once again.

“I see Anko told you more than just 'a few things' when you talked with each other. But yes, I can do that, too. I used this trick during the mission to make an enemy falsely believe I captured him inside a Genjutsu, making him less cautious and thus allowing Anko to go for the kill.”

“Alright, let's stop this here," a simultaneously stern but kind voice interrupted them from behind, making Yukio jump around in surprise before coming face to face with Itachi's mother. “Let's not talk about killing during a celebration, shall we? Especially not while we're eating.”

“Ah, of course! I'm so sorry!” Yukio exclaimed flustered, appearing to be still confused about how his mother had been able to appear behind them without him noticing. “The food is excellent, by the way! It's almost as good as my parents'...” He seemed to realise what he had just said, because he instantly tried to correct his mistake. “With which I don't want to say your cooking is worse than my parents', of course not! I just, ehm, I...” He visibly deflated. “I'm sorry, I'm an idiot.”

His mother simply chuckled.

There was a moment of silence before Yukio hesitantly spoke up again. “...that's usually the moment you say something like 'oh no, don't say that! You're not an idiot at all!', you know?”

His mother just smiled, and a few seconds later the relative silence of their part of the garden was interrupted by Shisui's terrible attempt at suppressing a snort.

“Hey, you think that's funny?” Yukio exclaimed loudly, clearly happy to turn his attention on something else than his own embarrassing behaviour from before.

“Oh yes, it's hilarious!” Shisui agreed shamelessly, which in turn lead to Yukio kick-starting an argument about whether or not his behaviour had been something to laugh at or not.

“Itachi,” his mother said with a soft smile, ignoring the two others bickering in the background. “Here is someone who wanted to sit with you.”

Of course he had already noticed Sasuke hiding behind their mother's legs long before she had said anything.

“Well, Otouto, will you join me, then?” he asked with a warm expression on his face, giving his brother his full attention without a second's hesitation.

And as soon as he sat down beside him, babbling about this and that, Itachi felt at peace.

“Excuse me, everyone, I want to say something!” Tanaka-sensei's voice cut through the garden, silencing everyone else. Then, once the man knew he had the undivided attention of everyone present, he continued, “I think this might be a good time as any to make this announcement: I decided to nominate Team 3 for the incoming Chūnin Exams.”

There was an uproar all around the garden, especially from Anko's direction, but Sensei's raised arm silenced everyone again. “I thought about this decision for while now, ever since Itachi joined the team to be honest, but now I think I can be sure that everyone is ready. I wasn't sure about what to think about getting such a young Genin, but I think we can all agree when I say that he proved that his age is no hindrance for him.”

Itachi wouldn't be surprised if a conversation with the Hokage had him come to this conclusion. After all, the Sandaime had already told him a few months ago that he wanted him to participate in the Chūnin Exams.

“The exams will start in roughly three months, and they will be held in Iwagakure. We will take our leave in roughly two and a half months to arrive in time, and we will use the time before that to spur our training up a bit and take a few more missions.”

The instant he finished, people all around him started to talk excitedly with each other, with only Itachi and his mother not participating. She hid it well, but he could see that she was worried. Given the tense relationship between Konoha and Iwa, that was understandable, and he was sure his father knew that as well behind the act of a proud father he was currently pulling off. His teammates would probably realize this soon as well.

And even if they didn't, their sensei would surely remember them.

“The next time, I will be the one to invite you guys,” Yukio said as a farewell when Itachi walked him to the door an hour after their sensei's announcement. “My parents run a restaurant. Its name is 'Narisawa'. I just know you guys will love it!”

He actually knew of the Narisawa, as did probably everyone else in the village. It was generally regarded as the best place to eat in all of Konoha, after all. It was well-liked by all citizens because it offered dishes that were affordable for both the rich and people with an average wage. “I wasn't aware your family runs such a successful business?”

“Yes, Yukio,” their sensei, who had walked behind them with Anko till then, chimed in. “Why didn't you tell us? Had we know we would have come to visit you much earlier!”

Yukio gave their sensei a dry look. “You are only interested in the free food, aren't you?”

He laughed shamelessly, which somehow even managed to hide the ever-present exhaustion on his face. “Well, I wouldn't say that it's the only thing I'm interested in, even if it's definitively a plus! I'm also somewhat curious. I thought about opening a little shop myself once I retire from active duty, y'know, so a look behind the curtain of such a successful restaurant would be really helpful.”

Itachi silently raised an eyebrow at the sight of their sensei and Yukio walking side by side without bickering. It seemed the last mission forced them to bond with each other, he thought.

“Hey, Itachi,” Anko said, drawing his attention to her. “I will say this only one time, and I will deny having ever said it at all if you tell anyone else about it, so listen closely: you did most of the work during our time in Kiri while I have been next to useless. I owe you.” She sent him a glare as if daring him to argue with that point and nodded satisfied when he didn't. “You might be a genius and be even stronger than I am, at least as I'm right now, but I will catch up to you! And not only that, someday I will save your stupid ass when you're in a situation you can't get out of on your own.”

Having evidently said all she had wanted to say, Anko then turned around with a flourish that made her hair swing wildly from left to right before hurrying to catch up to the rest of their team who was already a fair way ahead of her, not giving him the chance to reply.

All he could do was watch the backs of his three teammates vanish in the distance.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

I

Itachi caught himself in midair, rotated, and managed to land on his feet. Then, the very moment they touched the ground, he kicked off again, rushing at his opponent.

His father avoided the punch to his head with a causal slap before redirecting Itachi's follow-up kick to his chest away from himself and promptly using the opportunity of him being caught off-balance to attack him with a kick of his own.

Jumping into the air and using his father's leg as a springboard, Itachi tried to connect a roundhouse kick with his father's head. However, the man evaded this by simply taking a step back. Not giving up yet, Itachi threw a handful of shuriken at him, hoping to distract him for just a moment so he could rush in again and maybe even actually connect an attack this time, but instead of blocking or evading the missiles, his father let himself hit.

Itachi didn't wait for the body to disperse in a puff of white smoke before jumping into the air. Not even a second after his feet left the ground, two hands shot out from beneath it, grasping into thin air where his ankles had been just a second earlier.

Seeing his chance, he went through the necessary hand seals as fast as he could.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

The orb of fire smashed into the ground with a loud boom, hopefully not only devastating the earth itself but also whatever was underneath it. This hope was squashed, though, when he suddenly felt a presence appear behind him.

Instead of kicking him in the back as his father had meant to, all he managed was to destroy the block of wood that appeared in Itachi's stead in a puff of smoke.

“It seems you're finally fast enough to keep up with your Sharingan,” his father commented, pride shining through his otherwise neutral voice.

“I have been fast enough for a while now,” Itachi said. “You've just been too busy to train with me ever since I returned from Kiri, which is why you haven't noticed this earlier.”

His father chuckled. “I see. Well, while that's a shame, duty always has to come before pleasure.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his started running in his direction, a kunai ready in each hand, but instead of preparing himself for this confrontation, Itachi turned around and slashed with a kunai of his own into the 'thin air' behind him while simultaneity releasing the Genjutsu his father had tried to capture him in. The form of his father that was running at him vanished while there, where before had been nothing but air, another one appeared.

Itachi could not only see the brief surprise in his father's eyes when he turned around to face him instead of the illusion, but also the way he slightly slumped forward when the backlash of having his technique broken set in. This time, Itachi's attack actually managed to cut off some of his father's hair when the man backed away from his slash only at the last possible moment.

Continuing his offensive, Itachi jumped after him with a kick to his chest that his father blocked by crossing his arms in front of him. Not to be deterred, Itachi followed up with an elbow strike to his head, forcing his father to take another step back to evade this attack as well. As soon as he landed on the ground again, he crouched low and tried and failed to sweep his father's legs away before continuing by rushing into his guard immediately after, having noticed that the way his father had avoided his attack had involuntarily put him into an unstable stance.

The next thing Itachi knew was that he was grabbed by his collar of his shirt and thrown away with enough force to make it impossible for him to catch himself before he hit the ground. He slid for several meters before finally coming to a stop in a crotched posture, ready to jump away from a follow-up attack that never came.

His father stood approximately twenty meters away from him at the same position he had when they started their sparring match, his arms crossed in front of his chest and a small smile on his face. Itachi idly noted that his own current position was also the same one he had started from at the very beginning of their spar, so his father must have wanted him to land here specifically. Probably to show him how much control he had over their fight and that he had still some catching up to do before he could hope to beat him.

So, back to zero it is, hm?

Itachi might not be able to fight his father on even ground quite yet, but if nothing else, he would try his hardest to make him at least work for his victories. 

Time for round two, then. 

Itachi was trying to get his breathing back under control while crouching on the ground with one knee.

“You have indeed improved considerably these last few month, Itachi,” his father said, somewhat irritatingly not even being out of breath himself. “I don't think you have any reason to worry about the exams with your current abilities. Even if you don't outright win them, you should at the very least be able to give a good enough demonstration to make the clan proud and be promoted.”

He only nodded, feeling still too much out of breath to answer. That stood in stark contrast to his father not being winded by their fight at all, still standing there nonchalantly surrounded by the numerous craters in the ground that were sprinkled all across their battlefield.

Not that Itachi was surprised. His father wasn't known as Wicked Eye Fugaku for nothing, after all. There wouldn't have been voices that wanted to install him as the fourth Hokage if he hadn't had the abilities to back it up.

“Did you come up with this trick on your own?” his father then asked with a glance at the numerous craters after having crossed the gap between them to help him back to his feet and hand him some water.

He took the time to drink before reading replying, greedily swallowing the cool liquid and enjoying its cooling effect after the exhausting spar. Then, “Shisui used the same thing against me in our last spar. All I did was simply adding some more explosions.”

His father's lips quirked upwards. ”Well, if you use this trick during the exams, make sure not to overdo it. You might end up killing your opponent by accident, and while death is a constant for shinobi, I don't think I have to tell you why it wouldn't be a good idea to anger Iwa by unnecessarily killing one of theirs during an exam in their own village.”

Itachi did indeed already knew this, of course, so he replied with nought but a nod. They had had this very conversation several times already in regards to other techniques as well, just like his team as a whole had similar conversations with Tanaka-sensei. 

“By the way,” his father spoke up once more later during their walk home, “did you master that jutsu you have been talking about? It has been a while since you mentioned it.”

He nodded. “I did. It was simple once I figured out how much chakra is optimal for what amount of water.”

“I suppose the fact that you have a water affinity came in handy for that? How much chakra do you need to use it?”

“A fair amount, but it's manageable. It's only a C-rank technique, after all, and having a water affinity indeed reduces the chakra I need to use it even more.”

His father nodded, satisfied with that answer.

They walked the rest of the way home in silence, content with enjoying each other's company and watching the busy streets of Konoha around them. In fact, this scene reminded him of some near-forgotten memories from his youth. Just like back then, people waved at them, sent them smiles, and called out greetings. With the Uchiha name not being associated with mistrust and the clan having been in much closer contact with the rest of the village these last few months than ever before, they were still held in high regard by almost everyone. Especially his father, the leader of the KMPF, was a person people looked up to, and he tried to live up to their expectations.

It was impressive to see what a difference some years or open mistrust and accusations could make.

Looking around, Itachi could see several other members of the police walking the streets with alert eyes, which was unfortunately a sight he had already gotten used to over the last two months. Ever since Danzō's arrest and the elimination of his organization, the Hokage had most of the ANBU doing clean-up missions all over the country and, in some cases, even beyond its borders. With Konoha's shinobi force already reduced by the Nine-Tails barely two short years earlier, as well as the war shortly before that, there weren't many ANBU left to patrol the village. As a result, the members of the KMPF were forced to work overtime to make up for this shortage.

Of course, that wasn't the only consequence; it seemed that Danzō, in his quest of 'protecting' Konoha, had, amongst other things, blackmailed and eliminated a lot of people. A lot more than Itachi and the Sandaime had already expected, even. Although the man had at least made sure to not leave any direct proof behind that could point at Konoha when he got someone killed, there were more than just a few rumours in certain circles that painted a clear picture. The diplomatic damage was already done and there was nothing that could change that. There were a lot of influential people, inside and outside of the Land of Fire, who were currently not thinking all too well of Konoha, and while every single one of them wasn't a threat on their own, they could still be dangerous if they ever allied themselves or looked for aid from more powerful allies elsewhere on the continent.

All the Hokage could do for the moment was to repair the relationship with as many of them as possible while also continuing the blackmailing to keep those that didn't cooperate in line. In fact, he was aware that the Hokage had been forced to order a handful of assassinations of his own because a number of Danzō's victims found out about his downfall and tried to use this opportunity to harm Konoha in whatever capacity they could in revenge.

Itachi really wanted to do something against that, be out there and help defend Konoha with all his power, but that was currently impossible. No, all he could do for now was to become stronger and prepare for the Chūnin Exams.

Maybe after he was done with that, he could take on a more active role.

“Your stance and your movements are too stiff. You will have trouble hitting an enemy with such predictable attacks.”

Izumi looked at him sullenly. “You know that I'm top of my class, don't you? I hit all the others just fine.”

“Yes,” he said with a small, amused smile. “But at the academy, all your 'enemies' are children without any experience who are still learning, just like you."

She sighed but didn't deny his words before she let herself fall back to the ground with her arms behind her head.

They were both silent for a moment, only listening to the whistling of the wind and the rustling of nearby leaves.

“Thank you.”

Itachi looked at her quizzically. “For what? This is hardly the first time we train together.”

She giggled. “Yes, but you were so busy training with your team, your father, and Shisui to prepare for the Chūnin Exams that we didn't have much time to do so recently. I thought that we might not have the chance to train together at all before you became a Chūnin, so I'm grateful that you somehow found the time for me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You seem quite confident that I will get promoted.”

She rolled her eyes at that before heaving herself up into a sitting position and crossing her arms in front of her chest to give him a dry, unimpressed look. “We already talked about this before you became a Genin, remember? When you do something, you don't just participate—you win.” She sent him a playfully mocking glare. “Or at least you better do, or else I will look like an idiot.”

“In that case, I better up my training in order of not disappointing all the trust you put in me."

She gave him a big smile. “You better!” Then, Izumi became serious again. “What kind of training did you do so far, anyway? I know that the finals consist of one against one fights, but there must be more to it.”

“Well,” Itachi started, “every exam has three stages, of course, and they always differ from the ones of the previous exams. There are cases where a few exams had similar tests, but it's never exactly the same. The only thing that never changes is the third stage that, as you just said, is a tournament where the participants fight one another.

"The first exam is usually designed to test the participants for a certain ability every Chūnin needs to possess. Matters like information gathering skills, deduction skills, or the ability to work under pressure, for example. My team and I looked into the records to read about former tests that were held to get an idea and prepare for similar scenarios, and we also asked some Chūnin and Jōnin about their personal experiences. There is not much more than that we can do to prepare for this stage.

"The second exam is generally a survival test of some sort. Here in Konoha, this test more often than not takes place in the Forest of Death, but there have been occasions where the location has been changed. From what we heard from the different shinobi we asked, we deducted that there is regularly an additional objective that needs to be fulfilled during this exam as well; something that isn't obvious at the first glance because the survival test keeps most of your attention. This is meant to test our abilities to notice hidden details and remain focused even in difficult situations. Unfortunately, no one we asked wanted to give us something more specific than that.”

Of course, Itachi had already absolved the exams once, so all this questioning had been rather boring to him personally. Still, it benefited his teammates, and that was the important thing.

“We naturally have no idea if Iwa's exams are based on the same principles as ours, with the notable exception of the final tournament. This is also the first time that Iwa hosts Chūnin Exams that are open to all shinobi instead of only the ones from their own village and those of their allies, so we have no way of gaining information about previous exams held in Iwa. If the aftermath of the Third Shinobi World War was already subject of discussion at the academy, you know that villages originally held their own, individual exams and only truly opened their gates to outsiders after the end of the war as part of the ongoing efforts to keep the peace.” He looked at her to see her reaction and only continued when he noticed that she didn't seem surprised by this statement, meaning she did already knew this information beforehand. “Anyway, besides the things I already mentioned, we also researched the characteristics of the land, especially nearby the village itself, to prepare for any form of test that could be held there.” He shrugged. “Other than that, there isn't much else we can do.”

Izumi, whose chin had continued to sink the longer he talked, starred at him in clear surprise before she suddenly snorted. “You know, I think this is the longest I have ever heard you speak. Like, ever! I could get used to it.”

Itachi gave her a dry look which only resulted in her laughing even harder.

“Maybe the reason I don't talk more is that the topics you bring up aren't stimulating enough?” he said teasingly once her laughter had ebbed up a bit.

“Hey!” Izumi predictably exclaimed and tried to act insulted, only to be betrayed by her twitching lips. “That's mean, Itachi! How else would you stay up to date if I don't tell you what's happening in the village? You depend on me!”

“I could simply ask Shisui.”

Izumi crossed her arms. “Yeah, right, you mean because he is so much more social than you?"

He chuckled. Well, Itachi thought, she isn't wrong about that.

“Of course,” he agreed easily. “You're right. I shouldn't have doubted you. How can I make it up to you?”

“Teach me a jutsu!” she answered immediately.

He raised a brow in slight surprise. Considering the speed with which she had replied, she must have thought about this request for some time now. Maybe this was even the main reason she had come to his house and ask for a training session this morning. But...

“Do you still have problems with your Sharingan?”

Her posture fell a bit at that. “Yeah...” Izumi looked down dejectedly. “I try to use it a couple of times every week, but I just can't keep it activated for more than a few minutes without fainting!”

“Which means you don't have enough chakra to keep up with the amount your eyes require, which is a very strong indicator that you currently also lack the reserves for anything more than the techniques they teach you at the academy.”

“But you can use jutsu just fine!” she exclaimed in visible frustration. “And so can Shisui! Why do you two have so much more chakra than me? We're the same age, and Shisui is only a little bit older than us!”

“Izumi,” he said calmly. “Can you tell me how shinobi can increase their chakra reserves?”

She looked like she would argue with him for a moment, but then she took a deep breath to calm herself down before replying in a way that indicated she had memorized the textbook word for word, “A person's reserves increase naturally as they grow older, which is also the reason even civilians who were never taught in its use have a certain amount of it. The reason a shinobi has more chakra than a civilian is that they regularly use it since their early childhood, accelerating the natural increase even more similarly to how muscles grow stronger with repeated use...” She stopped, obviously realizing what he wanted her to understand. “But Itachi,” she said, now more confused than frustrated. “You don't use chakra much more often than I do, right? Or a least you didn't when you still went to the academy, and I know you could use several Jutsu that aren't in the curriculum even back then!”

He shook his head. “My father started to teach me early, beginning with easy methods to improve my chakra control at first before then moving on to teaching me the academy techniques before my actual enrollment to improve my reserves. This worked out well, improving them noticeably especially compared to our peers. You shouldn't compare yourself to me—that only gives you a wrong picture of what's normal. You are actually very much above average compared to the other students, I would say, both in talent and in terms of your chakra, but most people don't learn any Ninjutsu before they join a Genin team simply because they're unable to.”

Her gaze turned downcast. “So does that mean I will not be able to use any Jutsu before I graduate?”

“Of course not.” He smiled reassuringly. “Izumi, you know that performing the Great Fireball Technique when you're ten is considered a passing of age rite for the Uchiha Clan. How do you think almost every Uchiha is able to achieve this if it were impossible to learn Ninjutsu until after your graduation?”

She looked confused at him for a moment before she started trying to remember everything she knew about chakra, absently biting her lower lip in concentration. The moment she figured out the solution, it was as if a light bulb went on above her head, and she beamed at him with newfound enthusiasm in her brown eyes. “Using the same technique over and over again allows your body to get used to it, making it require less chakra over time, and because every Uchiha starts learning the Great Fireball Technique a year or two before they need to perform it, our bodies have more than enough time to do so!”

Itachi's own smile widened a bit. “That is right, but let me remind you that this process will stop once you reached a certain point as there is a minimum requirement of chakra for every technique. While I don't think this will be a problem for you, there are cases where an Uchiha has below average reserves and is still unable to perform the technique by the time they're ten.”

“So,” Izumi started, ignoring everything he had just said, “how long do you think I will need until I can perform jutsu if I start my training right now?”

Itachi thought about this question for a few seconds before he nodded to himself, coming to a conclusion. “That's hard to say. This process is very individual and can last from a couple of weeks to one year”—he raised his hand when she tried to interrupt him, effectively silencing her—"depending on the technique in question, but I think I know how to help you. I will write down a few training methods to improve your chakra control that you don't learn at the academy until much later, for once. Better control will make it easier for you to perform all kind tlof techniques later on. I will also give you a scroll that has a drawing of how the chakra is molded inside your body when you wave the hand seals for the Great Fireball Technique, the one we should have back at home is only catching dust anyway. I want you to use the hand seals and concentrate on the flow of chakra inside your body, but without actually performing the technique. This isn't quite as effective as repeatedly using a jutsu, but it still makes your body grow accustomed to it.

"In addition to this, I also want you to activate your Sharingan every evening before you go to sleep and then keep them activated for as long as you can without fainting. Once you feel like you reached this point, deactivate them again, eat something, and then go to bed. The Sharingan is similar to Ninjutsu in the aspect that you need less and less chakra the more often and longer you use it. It's a fact that most adult members of our clan require only a very small amount of chakra to use them, making the drain feel nearly imperceptible. That naturally wouldn't work for someone who stole an eye of an Uchiha, as they don't have our bodies.” He gave her a warm smile. “Who knows, maybe you will be able to use your Sharingan more consistently already by the time I return from Iwa?”

Izumi looked at him for a few seconds before her expression suddenly turned into a sly smile. “I think I need to correct my statement from earlier; this is the longest thing I have ever heard you speak!”

He sighed exaggeratedly. “I hope you at least listen to me rather than just concentrate on that. It's very crucial for your training, after all.” He shook his head. “Well, perhaps you need some more motivation to heed my advice, so how about this: If you can perform the Great Fireball Technique and keep your Sharingan activated for at least thirty minutes straight by the time I come back after the exams, I will teach you another technique. One that is unique to me, even. What do you say?”

She jumped to her feet and pulled him with her, her Sharingan blazing and a challenging smile on her lips. “Let's start right now!”

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

II

“We still have a few hours until we need to continue, so why don't you sleep a bit more? I understand that you must be nervous about the upcoming exams, but not getting enough sleep will not help you in any way.”

The young boy looked at him from the other side of the small campfire. “I don't tend to sleep more than six hours a night, Sensei. Even if I lay down right now, I wouldn't be able to find any sleep. My body just isn't used to it.” He seemed to consider something for a moment before he came to some sort of conclusion. “But you might want to rest for a few hours. You look tired. We can keep watch instead.”

Akihito laughed softly, slightly uncomfortable with the perspective look the Uchiha was sending him. “Thank you, but I already got enough sleep.” And enough nightmares for one night as well.

Honestly, he would like to a few more hours of restful sleep, but he knew that that was a fruitless venture. He had had nightmares for many years now, but ever since the last war, they increased so much that it made it hard to find more than four hours of sleep per night. It didn't affect his work in the field yet, so he was willing to ignore the problem for now. Konoha had few enough shinobi as it was, the last thing the village needed was one of their Jōnin taking absence from active duty for something irrelevant like this. He would retire soon anyway, so the least thing he could do to endure some harmless dreams for a little bit longer.

Itachi tilted his head while tossing some more food to the side to feed the crows that were already waiting. “If you say so, Sensei.”

The crows had joined them -with which he meant not only his team but the other two Konoha teams that had been qualified for the exams and joined them on this journey as well- only a few hours after they took off from Konoha. Under different circumstances, he might have been concerned about his student's chakra being consumed by so many summons and demanded that he released the technique no matter how much of an advantage the additional eyes in the sky might be, but this was different. Itachi hadn't summoned them, they just appeared by themselves.

He had explained to them that his crows had no 'home' like some other summons did and many of them simply chose to stay close to him instead of randomly traveling the world, meaning he didn't need to waste chakra to keep them here. Nobody could argue about their usefulness, but they were still a little bit scary and Akihito could see that the Genins from the other teams were uncomfortable with their presence.

He didn't fault them; it was always disconcerting to see human-like intelligence in the eyes of animals.

“When did you start sleeping for only six hours? A boy your age usually requires more sleep than that, much less one younger than you are now.”

Itachi looked up again. “I think around the time I was four,” he said with only the barest hint of hesitation. “But it might have been even earlier.”

He threw a fast glance around to make sure that no one else was awake and close enough to listen to their conversation. The boy would surely not appreciate being overheard while talking about something as sensible as what he planned to address.

Of course, he would have probably noticed if someone close by was awake anyway, but still.

“Around the time you were four, huh? You know that I've read your file, right?” He didn't wait for a response before continuing. “If I remember correctly, that is around the time when you accidentally landed on a battlefield, isn't it? Does your sleep rhythm have anything to do with that?”

Maybe he was a bit too blunt, but he didn't think the slower, more gentle way would work well with the boy. This way, he wagered his chances of getting through to him were much higher.

Akihito didn't really know what he had expected, but the complete lack of reaction had certainly not been it. He had known that he couldn't expect an overly emotional reaction, Itachi acted way too calm and mature for that, but he thought he would at least see something in his body language that he could interpret. Instead, there was nothing, only a calm, neutral face looking back at him without any sign of anything. Akihito had been in the ANBU and was trained to read people like open books; this either meant that the boy wasn't hiding anything or, more unbelievable, he was able to hide his emotions so well that he couldn't read him. This thought was actually rather terrifying.

“I'm not ashamed to admit that I have nightmares if that's what you're getting at, Sensei,” the boy replied easily with a slight undertone of curiosity.

He stopped himself from raising an eyebrow at that readily given admission, keeping the open and warm expression on his face that he had put on at the start of the conversation. “That is good, but it is obviously still bothering you enough to disturb your sleep. I have an open ear if you're willing to talk with me about them.”

For a split second, he could see something in his eyes, but upon realizing what exactly it was, his confusion grew only bigger. Why was he amused of all things? He didn't say anything funny, did he?

“Thank you for the offer, but I already have people I can talk to about them. I don't think adding you to that list would change anything.” He tilted his head to the side. “What about you, Sensei? You participated in the last war yourself, didn't you? Your age matches. Are it nightmares that keep you awake at night as well?”

He had anticipated that he might end up talking about his own problems, but not like that. Maybe as a way to demonstrate that he could understand what Itachi was going through, to make him open up, but not because of a correct assumption made by the boy in front of him. He didn't feel like talking about them himself, to be honest, but he owed his student the truth after he had been this open to him.

“Indeed. I fought actively in it for a long time and took part in some rather gruesome fights. There are enough ugly pictures in my head to supply my nightmares for a lifetime.”

“I only saw one battle, and I didn't actively fight in it, but it still disturbed me for a long time.” Itachi looked at him with oddly thoughtful eyes. “I assume the usual methods of coping told to veterans didn't help?”

“You know the usual methods they tell veterans?” Akihito asked, ignoring the by now familiar feeling of talking with an adult instead of a child.

Itachi shrugged. “My father told me about them to help me sleep back then.”

Oh, he very much doubted his father had told him all of them. After all, there were a few methods that just weren't fit for children, no matter how mature or what they have seen.

Itachi must have interpreted his silence as a yes because he started speaking again. “I found that it helps me sleep to read before going to bed, especially poetry and philosophy. Sometimes I even write something myself. Maybe you could try this as well?”

Once finished, he turned around to continue feeding the crows, making it clear that their conversation was over. 

Akihito wasn't sure how he should react in that situation, but he felt like laughing; he had started this conversation to potentially help his student overcome his nightmares and ended up getting advice himself. Oh, the irony!

But, well, he might try to use that trick once they arrived in Iwagakure. After all, where was the harm? And wouldn't it be amusing if it turned out that such a simple thing given to him by a seven years old was the solution to his problem?

Yes, laughing was definitively the correct reaction.

“My name is Kitsuchi,” the man who greeted them at the gates introduced himself with a gruff voice. “Welcome to Iwagakure.”

Itachi looked around, taking in the sight of the village. He had been in the Land of Earth before, but that was his first time visiting its hidden village and thus he was interested in seeing it first-hand. After all, it wasn't every day you visited the hidden village of one of the five major powers of the continent, especially not the one village with the strongest contempt towards your own home.

He must confess that the village was a bit of a letdown. The rocky mountain ranges that surrounded the village made the village a natural stronghold and he wasn't above admiring its defensive properties, but otherwise, there wasn't much to look at. The village itself was mostly built from the surrounding rock and stone, giving it a monotonous appearance through its lack of colour, and most buildings were shaped into the same tower-like structures. Even the Hokage Tower with its cone-shaped roof had a similar design. He thought the network of bridges that connected the buildings was somewhat impressive, though. Still, in his eyes, Konoha was much more beautiful and notably more diverse than Iwa. Itachi might just be biased, of course, but he was sure even most outsiders would agree with him.

They followed Kitsuchi to their residence, which turned out to be a small inn that would have no other guests than the three participating Konoha teams. The inn was located at the southernmost end of the village, with enough space between itself and the next buildings that it would have been possible to spar directly in front of it without bothering anybody. Not that they would do so; there were training grounds reserved for them, after all. If he would need to take a guess, he would say their placement was intentional to keep them away from the citizens and make it easier to observe them.

Due to safety reasons, it was normal for the hosting village to observe the Genin teams that visited their village. There was no reason to assume that Iwa was any different from Konoha in that aspect. Itachi could actually feel at least one set of eyes on him already; evidently, the shinobi who watched him falsely assumed that he hadn't the necessary skill to detect him, though to be fair, he would probably have missed them had he truly been seven years old.

“Well then,” Tanaka-sensei said to his team once they finished inspecting their rooms. “The exams will not start for another two days and it's too late to get some training done today, so we can just as well use this opportunity to look around the village and find a place to eat.”

Nobody argued with that, so the four of them headed off.

It became quite clear very soon that they weren't welcome in the village. While nobody outright told them so or insulted them to their faces, it was made apparent by all the glares that were sent their way. It wasn't a surprise, truly, with the conflict between Konoha and Iwa being the bloodiest during the last war.

The Third Shinobi World War started in form of many small skirmishes between the Five Great Shinobi Countries and their smaller neighbour nations that gradually increased with time until the flames of war spread over the entire continent. Alliances changed all the time, with only the fight between Konoha and Iwa being a constant. Kumogakure joined at Konoha's side in this conflict at first, only to betray them and join Iwa against Konoha later on. Then betrayed Iwa as well and for a short while it became a trilateral war before Kirigakure attacked the Land of Lightning and the troops from Kumo withdrew to defend their own lands.

Sunagakure, still weakened by an epidemic that had ended just three years before the official start of the war, didn't partake in it until two years later during the last third of the war when they joined Iwagakure against Konoha. This alliance lasted until three months before the end, which was when they betrayed Iwa and joined in an alliance with Konoha after it became apparent that they would most likely come out victorious. This was also around the time Kiri hatched out a plot to let loose the Three-Tails in Konoha.

Anyway, they walked through the village for some time in search of a relatively empty restaurant where they could eat in peace and not be glared at by a great number of people. At this point, all of them had nearly given up hope and they were on the verge of just turning around and returning to their accommodation to eat there when Anko spotted something.

“Hey, aren't that shinobi from Kumogakure?”

Indeed, when he turned around to look in the direction Anko pointed at, he could see a group of people, all of them wearing a head protector with the symbol of Kumogakure, entering a restaurant. There were twelve of them, nine Genin and three Jōnin instructors. It seemed that instead of spreading out and departing in separate groups as they had done, the teams of the Land of Lightning had decided to stay together.

A short glance inside the building showed that they weren't the only outsiders who had chosen this specific restaurant. Even with only the few seconds he had before the doors closed, he could see Genin teams from Takigakure and Kusagakure, and there were probably even more foreigners further inside.

“So,” Yukio drawled with a lazy smile, his hands deep in his pockets. “I would say we found a good place to eat, don't you think so too?”

All of them nodded. After all, with so many other foreigners present, they wouldn't cause as much of a scene as they would elsewhere. This assumption was proven correct when they entered and, while still glared at, were ignored for the most part.

Itachi idly wondered how long it would take for one of the waiters to come and take their order, and how much longer they would need to wait for their food afterwards.

The best places, those from which you had nobody sitting in your back and from where you could easily keep an eye on the rest of the room, were already taken, but the owner had obviously taken shinobi into consideration when he decided to furnish the room as there was no place that would make a shinobi feel caught or trapped.

He threw a customary glance around the room while following his team, trusting them to choose an acceptable table when all his thoughts came to a stop.

He had been right when he thought that there must be more foreigners inside, and most guests indeed seemed to be from outside of Iwa, but it were the Shinobi from Kumo that truly caught his attention. Or, to be more precise, it was one of their Genin that made his breath hitch.

The kunoichi was about fourteen or fifteen years old, had long, blonde hair that was bound in a ponytail, and dark eyes. She wore a short-sleeved black and purple blouse and black pants, both of which were embroidered with what were obviously meant to be clouds on them, as well as purple, fingerless gloves. In addition to that, she also had bandages strapped around her arms and legs. Now that he saw her face, he instantly recognized her as Yugito Nii, the Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails.

While she had never been his official target during his time at Akatsuki, he had received all the information the organization had on all the different Jinchuriki just like every other member of the organization, so he could recognize her pretty easily even if she was younger now than on every picture he had seen of her.

It was a bold move to send on of their Jinchuriki to a Chūnin Exam so soon after the last war, but Itachi assumed they were betting on the fact that Iwagakure would be foolish to risk another war by attacking their Jinchuriki so soon after the last one.

Especially when Iwa had the most casualties in it compared to Kumo who had the least.

If he had to take a guess, he would say they sent her to get promoted now so that they could send her on more complex and dangerous missions later on, increasing her experience.

Kumo, different from Konoha, hadn't been forced to send young children to the frontlines as they had only one front to worry about during the majority of the war, allowing them to concentrate most of their troops there. From the files he had read on her, he knew that she had solely been on guard duty due to her young age, Jinchuriki or not, for all of the war, thus limiting her experience and as a result of that her worth to the village. Apparently, they wanted to change that now.

No matter who else the other villages had sent to these exams, he was completely sure that she would be the hardest competition of them all. After all, she was one of the very rare Jinchuriki that managed to control their Tailed Beasts. As far as he knew, Yugito Nii had undergone intensive training since a young age to allow her this mastery, though he had no idea how much process she had done at this age. He doubted she could control all of its Chakra already, but even a little bit would be more than enough to cause big problems to whoever was unlucky enough to face her. To be completely honest, he didn't think he would be able to do much in such a situation either. Not as he was now.

“Itachi, are you alright?”

He blinked before turning to the rest of his team. While it had been Anko who asked him, all three of them were looking at him questioningly. Probably one of them had asked him something and he hadn't noticed.

He gave them a small, apologetic smile. “I apologize, I must have been thinking too much. What did you say?”

Anko snorted. “Don't hurt yourself, alright? The last thing we need before the start of the exam is you breaking your head.”

And with that, everything returned to normal and they enjoyed a not-so-tasty meal surrounded by people that would be their enemies in two days' time.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

III

The proctor of the first stage was the same man that had greeted them when they had arrived in Iwa; Kitsuchi, the son of the current Tsuchikage.

Currently, every Genin that was to participate in the exams was standing in the centre of one of Iwa's training grounds. Itachi had used this opportunity to count the number of them and compare the result to the number he and the other Genin from Konoha had gathered since their arrival, so he knew that there were altogether 49 teams with a total of 147 people in the exams. There were three teams from Konoha, nine teams from Suna, three teams from Kumo, two teams from Kusa, two teams from Taki, one team from Ame, and a total of twenty-nine teams from Iwa itself.

“Okay, listen closely, because I will not repeat myself,” Kitsuchi started, speaking loud enough to reach even those standing far away from him. “My name is Kitsuchi and I will be your protector for the duration of the first exam. I don't accept questions, so don't even try.

This exam will be held on the training grounds 16 to 42. All of you will be lead to a random position in this area by one of our Chūnin. Every team will get a scroll with a number between 1 and 49 written on it; your task is to return to this clearing with a scroll that has an even number. The rules are as follows:

You're not allowed to open the scroll to look at which number you have. In fact, if you open any scroll, be it your own or the one of another team, you will be disqualified.

If you’re caught exchanging scrolls with another team, you will be disqualified. Also, if you attack another team and are caught by one of the Chūnin patrolling the area, you will be disqualified as well.

You're not allowed to team up with other teams.

You're not allowed to possess more than one scroll at any given time.

You have three hours to finish this exam. If you're not here by the time the exam is over, you will not pass even if you own a scroll with an even number. That's it, now please follow your assigned Chūnin.”

Having finished what he wanted to say, the man turned around and began to walk away from the clearing, ignoring the confused and angry calls of those Genin who found this test too unfair or unfeasible.

Shortly afterwards, an Iwa Chūnin appeared and motioned them to follow him before leading them to their assigned position.

“Well,” Yukio said a few seconds after the foreign shinobi had left them. “That sounds annoying. Any ideas?”

This exam was surprisingly similar to one of the more common first exams they held in Konoha, Itachi thought. The written exam that was supposed to force the participants to cheat without being noticed was meant to bring the Genins to think outside the box, to prove their information gathering and stealth skills. This exam, as far as he could see, had a similar approach; they were supposed to break the rules to solve this exam, and the real obstacle was to do so without being caught. Of course, it also tested their problem-solving abilities by imposing that many rules. There was no way to solve this exam without cheating, but if you were creative, you could come out on top of this.

“You two understand the real purpose of this exam, do you?” Anko asked rhetorically.

Yukio snorted. “Of course; cheat, but don’t get caught while doing so.”

“Good. Itachi, tell your crows to fly around and look for other people. They are to caw when they find an Iwa Chūnin and then circle above them, and only circle above them without making a sound if they find another Genin team.”

He nodded and did as he was told, deciding to let his team take the lead for now. He had already a pretty good idea of how to get through this exam, but it would be good for Anko and Yukio to manage it on their own as well. Not that he thought that would be too hard for them considering how they instantly looked through the rules and started to take measures against them. 

“Alright,” Anko continued. “Now we need to have a plan for how we are gonna find out which scroll has which number. Simply opening them seems a bit too risky.”

“There are probably seals on them that summon an instructor if opened,” Yukio agreed. “I heard from one of my cousins that they do that back in Konoha, so Iwa likely does it as well.”

“I guess we could force other teams to open their scroll,” Anko mused with furrowed brows. “But that’s pretty risky as well. If an instructor is summoned and sees their condition while we're close by, it would become apparent that we cheated. It wouldn't be real proof, but they might decide that it’s enough to disqualify us.”

“If we manage to destroy the ribbon that keeps the scroll together during the fight and then quickly retreat, it might appear as if they opened it themselves,” Yukio said without sounding very convinced.

“Maybe, but then there is the risk that the instructor takes the scroll with him when he disqualifies the team…” Suddenly she brightened up. “Itachi, you can make other teams open their scroll by casting a Genjutsu on them, right?”

He smiled, satisfied with how fast they have come to that conclusion. “That shouldn’t be much of a problem. I doubt there are many participants in this exam that would be able to notice when I catch them in a Genjutsu from some hidden position. As long as we avoid those that are attentive enough to stay alert of their senses even when they’re not in a confrontation, we should be fine.” He certainly planned to avoid Yugito Nii specifically at all costs.

“Great,” Yukio smiled. “Then let’s go!”

While the number of training-grounds that were assigned for this exam was pretty high, the grounds themselves didn’t tend to be very big –a far cry from the Forest of Death for sure. So, while there was more than enough space to avoid people, you could always feel some chakra signatures at the edge of your senses. As it was a fair assumption that many teams would try to hide their presence, it was also very likely that there were always several teams close that they didn’t know about.

Fortunately, his crows did a good job at scouting the area. It wasn’t the same as having a Hyūga or even an Inuzuka or Aburame on your team, but it did the job just fine.

For a while, they simply tried to get away from any instructor that might watch them. That turned out to be harder than they initially thought, however, as every time they got away from one, another appeared. In the end, they needed nearly an entire hour to get away from any watchful eyes, only to find that they were suddenly close to not only one but six teams. None of them seemed to have noticed them yet, or if they did they simply chose to ignore them, but the problem stayed the same; there was the danger that another team would interfere with them if they executed their plan right now. It would be a lot of bad luck if that happened, for the likelihood that they would even notice that something was going on was close to zero, but it was a probability they couldn’t ignore.

Well, at least none of these teams includes the Jinchūriki, he thought. She could still be close if she hid her presence and somehow avoided the eyes of his crows, of course, but the ones he could feel were way too weak to be her.

“Shall we risk it?” Yukio asked.

Anko gave him a wide smile, anticipation clear in her eyes. “Looks like fun,” she said before turning toward him. “As long as you’re ready?”

“We need to do this before another instructor finds us,” he agreed. “So let’s do it now that we have the chance.

“Right,” she nodded. “Who knows how long we need to get away from them the next time? There is still the time limit to think about.”

Yukio opened his mouth to add something, but a loud explosion interrupted him when he was just about to speak. All three of them jumped around and looked towards where the noise had come from, watching a big cloud of smoke rising to the sky.

“Damn,” Anko cursed with a low whistle. “Whatever technique did that must have some real punch behind it. Look at the size of the cloud!”

“How risky to pull something like that off when fighting is prohibited,” Yukio said. “Every instructor in the area will head over to see what’s going on.”

Itachi tilted his head in consideration before addressing his two teammates. “That might actually be their intention; one person attracts the attention of all the instructors while their teammates use the commotion to attack another team undetected.”

“Smart,” Yukio commented with the barest hint of admiration. "But they’re not the only ones who can use this opportunity.”

“The other teams are heading away from the explosion,” Anko said, talking about the six teams that were in their area. “I say we should target the one that was the closest. That way, there will be no other team that accidentally interrupts us as they run away.”

He and Yukio nodded in agreement and a second later, the three of them were rushing towards their target while cautiously making sure not to run into anyone else.

“They will probably be more alert now,” he spoke up. “That means it would be much harder to catch them unaware with a Genjutsu.”

He could still do it, of course, but it would require more chakra to use a sufficient powerful technique from far away, especially from out of sight.

Yukio narrowed his eyes. “They don’t feel especially strong. I would say they’re somewhere in the middle field strength-wise compared to the other teams. We should be able to take them.”

“Rushing in and overwhelming them before they can react,” Anko said with a chuckle. "Just as I like it. Formation six sounds good to you, boys?”

“Hai!”

“Hai!”

They needed only a few minutes before they found a more or less even area with enough boulders and rocks for their plan that laid directly on the path of their targets. Yukio instantly went to the right, hiding in a gap between two big boulders, while Anko went to the left and crotched low to hide in the shadow of a big rock. He, on the other hand, went quickly through the necessary hand seals to perform the Moguragakure no Jutsu (Hiding Like a Mole Technique) and vanished beneath the ground.

It was less than a minute after they had successfully hidden themselves that their prey arrived.

He used the vibrations of her steps to position herself so that they would walk right over him and waited until the first two passed him before pushing his hands through the surface to grab the third one’s ankles, thus inciting his team’s attack.

The Genin whose ankles he had grabbed fell face-first to the ground, the sudden noise making his teammates stop and turn around with surprised squeaks. Not stopping there, he pulled again, pulling his victim –a boy with an Iwa symbol on his forehead protector- into the ground until only his head peered out.

One of the boy’s teammates, a girl, screamed bloody murder at him while raising her hands to use hand seals, but she was interrupted by half a dozen kunai before she could do anything. Neither she nor her last remaining teammate had enough time to do much more than take a few steps back before the smoke bombs attached to the weapons exploded, filling their sight with purple smoke.

The first one who managed to get out of the cloud of smoke was the boy, who then instantly found himself blown away by a flying boulder that came from Yukio’s direction.

The girl, who was the last remaining member of her team that wasn’t taken out yet, walked out a few seconds later, her eyes instantly going wide when she came face to face with Anko.

“If that didn’t work like a charm, then I don’t know either,” she said casually instead of attacking, choosing to just stand there with one hand on her hip and a wide smile on her face. “Damn, I love it when a plan plays out perfectly like this!”

“You-“ the girl started before a coughing fit interrupted her no doubt creative insult.

“Don’t bother,” Anko said, satisfaction thick in her voice. “I mixed some paralytic poison into my smoke bombs, you see. You don’t need to worry, it’s nothing lethal, but don’t expect to do anything other than lying in your bed for the rest of the week. Honestly, how careless of you to breath that stuff in.”

The girl managed to glare at her for a few moments before she finally succumbed to unconsciousness.

“Well,” Yukio said as the two of them appeared besides Anko, “that worked out even better than expected. Can’t say I thought this would go as smoothly as it did, but I’m not complaining.”

Of course, the moment he finished his sentence was exactly the moment the loud cawing of a crow alerted them to the presence of new people.

Neither of them bothered to turn around when their instincts suddenly screamed at them to get away before jumping out of the way of the wave of mud that would have buried them alive had they been a little bit slower.

Fortunately, the three people that arrived on the scene were no instructors, meaning they would not be disqualified. Unfortunately, they were now forced to fight another team. That was bad not only because the additional attention could lead an instructor to them, but also because they hadn’t had the advantage of surprise on their side this time.

He trusted his team, of course, and they were definitively much stronger than the average Genin team, but it was always dangerous to underestimate an enemy. Also, the fact that they managed to get this close to them without being noticed meant that they weren’t average either.

It made sense that they managed to get closer to them unnoticed during the short fight as their attention was elsewhere during that time, but neither he nor his teammates, not even his crows, had known they were close be even before that. They had chosen to attack this team because there hadn’t been any other team close by that could bother them, after all. This meant that these newcomers were either exceptionally fast or somehow managed to successfully hide themselves.

Even so, he was confident that they could handle them. The question was whether or not they could do so quick enough to avoid and incoming instructors, as well as without wasting so much chakra that they would have problems during the second exam that would start as soon as the first one was over.

It would be really annoying if they were forced to retreat without a scroll.

This new team, which considered of Genin from Iwa just like the last one, didn’t give them any time to reform. They had just managed to avoid their last attack as the second, a combination of one water and one earth technique from two of their enemies respectably, was already on its way. Unfortunately, unlike the first time, her team didn’t manage to escape in the same direction, effectively cutting them off from each other as she and Yukio jumped to the right while Itachi jumped to the left.

She cursed under her breath. “We need a plan!”

Her teammate didn’t immediately reply, too busy defending himself from his opponent -a girl with a katana in her hands- to do more than block and dodge her attacks to do anything else. Not that she had any right to complain as she herself had her own enemy to deal with.

Of course it’s I who gets the bulky dude that doesn’t even blink when I hit him, she complained in her mind. While she couldn’t outright overwhelm him, it would be obvious for every observer that she was the superior fighter. The problem was that none of her hits and kicks did more than momentarily slowing him down.

Half the time he didn’t even bother stopping her attack, simply bulldozing forward and thus forcing her to retreat backwards. The only attacks he blocked were the slashes of her kunai, which was a shame because she had doused them in poison as she did with all her weapons and even a persistent enemy like this one would succumb to it in a matter of minutes.

“Anko!” Yukio screamed once he managed to gain some space to breathe. “Combination two!”

A small smirk appeared on her face as she called her agreement while simultaneously dodging another devastating kick that would have broken her neck had it connected with her head as intended.

Their enemies wouldn’t just sit back and wait to be defeated by whatever strategy they came up with, especially not when they were forced to scream at each other to be heard and thus giving away that they had a plan in the first place, so it didn’t come entirely as a surprise when both their attacker suddenly stopped their offensive and jumped back. Even knowing that, she was still unbalanced when her foe, who until that point hadn’t backed down even once, did just disappear. Expecting to hit resistance, she kicked with as much power as she could, so when there was no resistance at all, she barely managed to stop herself from tripping over.

“Anko, look out!”

Alerted by Yukio’s cry, she jerked her head around, just in time to see the Genin she had fought till now opening a scroll and the resulting explosion of white smoke as dozens of shuriken and kunai were summoned.

Scrolls could hold an ungodly number of weapons, which made it all the more surprising that the amount that flew towards her was more or less manageable. Even with the short delay in her reaction, she was more than capable to dodge the knives with relative ease. Unfortunately, busy as she was, she had no time to wonder why there weren’t as many weapons flying towards her as there could be.

The reason became apparent when the Yukio's former foe suddenly threw several kunai of her own into the fray. That wouldn't have been a problem if she threw them directly at her as the few additional weapons wouldn't make such a big difference in the great scheme of things, but she didn't; rather, she aimed her kunai at the already flying projectiles, changing their curse and thus making dodging suddenly almost impossible.

Then she noticed the explosion tags.

She instinctively pulled her arms up to protect herself from the incoming explosion as much as she could, knowing she wouldn't be fast enough to escape it even if she tried, while also ignoring the many small cuts she suffered. The tags were far enough away to not be lethal, she thought, but they would probably still do enough damage to kick her out of the exams. She didn't want it to be true, didn't want to accept that all her hard work until this moment would have been useless if she lost to some slightly above average Genin of all things, only to be pulled out of it when the ground beneath her cracked.

A moment later, an earth pillar pushed her towards the sky and out of reach of the explosion that followed hardly two seconds later.

“Anko, now!”

She didn't allow herself more than a heartbeat to thank Yukio in the privacy of her mind for saving her before she fell back into fighting mode, concentrating fully on the ongoing confrontation rather than on how close that had been.

She went through the necessary hand seals as fast as she could:

“Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)

“Doton: Doro Hōshi!” (Earth Release: Mud Spore)

Her fire technique collided with the mud river which in turn was filled with several small containers of easily flammable oils, setting the entire river of mud on fire. Surprised as they were at suddenly being on the defensive, their two enemies barely managed it to avoid being hit by jumping into the air. They were so focused on avoiding the flames, however, that they didn't notice the two presences that appeared behind them, meaning there was nothing they could do to avoid the two kicks that sent their heads crashing against each other.

A few seconds later, she and Yukio stood above the two limps forms on the ground while trying to catch their breaths.

“We have no time to rest,” she said, still breathing harder than she would like. “We need to see if Itachi-”

“Good job you two.” Anko and Yukio jumped around, already falling into a fighting stance and prepared to defend themselves, only to find their aforementioned teammate calmly standing there with the third Iwa Genin standing at his side, his eyes glazed over. “As you can see, I have managed to cast a Genjutsu on him. Mission success.”

She blinked, still surprised by the turn of events before she realized that he had probably watched them fight for a while now.

Oh, that little piece of shit!

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

IV

Anko walked a bit ahead of their group, throwing their newly obtained scroll with the number 12 up into the air and catching it when it came back down before repeating the process again and again.

Their plan had worked just fine; they had handled the two scrolls of the two teams they have beaten as well as their own to the guy under his Genjutsu and then retreated a fair distance away to observe what was going to happen from a safe spot. Then, he made him take off the ribbon that held the scrolls together before throwing them into the air where the newly opened scrolls were caught by three of his crows who then brought them to him. It had worked out perfectly as the three instructors were summoned midair; by the time they landed on the ground, his crows were nowhere to be seen, giving them no possible target to pursue.

Their own scroll had been the number 7 while one of the other two had been number 49, so it was good fortune that the last one had included an even number. They would reach the clearing from where they had started any minute now with nearly two hours of time left, meaning they had successfully passed the first exam.

“Alright,” their proctor called when the time limit was reached. “This concludes the first exam. Congratulations everyone, you are a little bit better than the rest of the rubbish this year. Now, if you feel up to it, follow Akame-san” -he pointed at the kunoichi at his side whose name he had never heard before- “to the location of the second exam.”

He looked around as he and his team followed the new woman.

Of the 147 people they had started with, only 69 remained, thus leaving 23 teams in the exam. A bit more than half of those were from Iwa, of which 13 teams had managed to pass the test. Aside from them, there were also five teams from Suna left, as well as one from Taki and the one from Ame. There was also one further team from Konoha aside from themselves.

And, of course, there was Yugito Nii's team from Kumo.

If there was one team that he wasn't surprised to see here, it was hers.

“Listen here, kiddos,” their new proctor said loudly once they reached a fence that blocked the way into a vast valley. “This is where the second exam will be held. This training ground is usually used by our shinobi for survival training, which means that the area is filled with traps and wild beasts. Food and water are limited. You are only allowed to participate if you sign this paper in which you agree that you are alone are responsible for your death should you not be able to survive this. I doubt that anyone would refuse to do so, however, as your villages wouldn't have sent you here in the first place if you were such cowards m. So, I expect you to hurry with that after I explained the rules for this exam. We don't have time all day, after all.”

She smirked as she said that before clearing her throat. “It's quite simple; every team will receive either a blue or a red pearl. All you need to do is to reach the building in the centre of the valley with one of each. Other than that, everything goes. You're allowed to kill and maim as much as your heart desires and your team doesn't even need to be complete by the time you arrive with the pearls. As long as you have both, you pass. The time limit for this exam is five days. You should also take note that we will not search for you after the time is up. We just assume that you have died if you don't manage to get to the centre by the end of the exam and leave it like that. You will need to find your own way back then, or die trying. Any questions? No? Good, then you can sign the papers now. You have ten minutes.”

From there on, everything proceeded very fast. They signed their papers, were given a red pearl, and then followed an Iwa shinobi towards one of the gates that would be their entrance into the valley.

He found it interesting that this exam was a survival test just like back in Konoha, especially after the first exams already showed remarkable similarities. It made sense, he guessed, considering all shinobi, no matter from which village they came, needed to fulfill more or less the same requirements to be successful. Still, it was baffling that the exams were basically the same. He had expected something more in favour of the Iwa Genin, if only because their village would want to show strength after their losses in the last war.

Well, to be fair, the natives still had the advantage of being more familiar with the terrain. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if someone had shown them around the area prior to the exams. Konoha had certainly done so when they held their first exam after the war, or so he had been told. It was unfair, of course, but he could understand the motivations behind it. Besides, the life of a shinobi was hardly ever fair. If anything, this disadvantage was good training.

Itachi was pulled from his thoughts when the whistle that signaled the start of the exam could be heard, making him follow his team through the gate and into the valley.

“Anko,” he said after a few minutes when he could be sure that no one was close enough to listen to them. “Can you summon a snake and let it swallow our pearl?”

This way, it would be unlikely that an enemy would be able to get it even in the unlikely case that they were beaten by someone. They could give it to one of his crows as well, but that was a bit riskier. After all, they still used them to scour the area and it wouldn’t be impossible for someone to realize what they were doing. In that case, they would probably kill all crows in sight, and if they just so happened to kill the one with their pearl... Well, needless to say, that would be very bad.

Besides, snakes could hide much more easily in this area with all its cracks and gaps than a bird in the open sky.

“Good idea,” she agreed before summoning an unremarkable, brown snake to feed the pearl to. “Do you think we could let her vanish? I could just summon her shortly before we reach the building in the centre. In that case, there would be absolutely no way that someone could get it!”

Itachi opened his mouth to reply, but Yukio was faster. “I doubt we would be disqualified for that if they even noticed, but it’s still too risky. What if you’re too exhausted and have no chakra left because we got into a fight?”

She grimaced but was forced to concede the point. “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

Yukio nodded. “Alright then, what’s our plan?”

“First, we should try to find a place where we can rest,” he spoke up. “Once we have a relatively safe base, we can decide how we want to continue.”

It was obvious that neither of his teammates liked the idea of that, but they were smart enough to understand that it was safer this way. However, that didn’t mean they didn’t complain about it.

“Great,” Anko sighed dramatically. “Digging through dirt to find some stupid cave that will probably be too small for any of us to lay comfortably.”

“Nah,” Yukio said, “you’re forgetting Itachi. No matter how small whatever cave we find is, he will fit just fine.”

Wonderful, now they were making fun of his age again. Well, better than actually belittling him, he guessed. At least they knew he was capable enough to take care of himself even in face of his supposed age and didn’t cuddle him.

Not that he thought Anko was cable of cuddling anyone, but that wasn't the point.

“Don’t worry, Itachi-chan,” Anko addressed him with exaggerated sweetness and a bright smile. “If the hard ground gets too uncomfortable for you, I will allow you to use your Nee-chan’s thights as a pillow!”

He sighed. That would be a long five days if they continued like that for the entire time.

It made him miss Kisame a bit. For all that he could be quite annoying at times, as well as overly blood-thirsty, at least he understood the value of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, that was something his current team still needed to learn to appreciate.

It was a few hours later, just before sunset, that they saw the first other teams.

The three of them had managed to hide behind a small boulder, cursing their bad luck for meeting others on the one plain field in all of Tsuchi no Kuni that seemed to lack big rock formations, while observing the events that unfold not too far away from them.

They weren't close enough to understand what was being said or to recognize the symbols on their forehead protectors, but the situation itself was easy enough to understand:

There were four teams, three of which wore clothes that were usual for Iwa shinobi and stood over the last team whose origin couldn’t be identified from their position. The former three teams had obviously teamed up with each other and ambushed the other one.

“Itachi, can you-“

“Yes,” he interrupted Anko before she could finish her sentence and activated his Sharingan to read the lips of their targets.

“-more resistance. How disappointing.”

“I wouldn’t talk so big if I were you, not after nearly getting gelded because you got too cocky.”

“Ah, shut up.” There was a short break. “Hey, do you think one of the other teams found some fresh meat? I’m not really in the mood for provisions, they always taste like shit.”

“Who cares? Food is food.”

“Come on, you can’t tell me you enjoy that stuff. It would be much easier if we could simply finish the exam, we even have the damn pearls already…”

“You know why we can’t do that, so do us a favour and stop complaining,” a third person chimed in.

“But-“

“Enough,” a fourth person said, making everyone else visibly tense up. “We have no time for that. Hide the bodies, I don’t want to leave any sign of what happened here behind. Once you finished, we will return to the camp and meet up with the others.”

No one complained, and after one of them used an earth technique to hide the three bodies underground while the rest kept watch, they started to leave to the north.

“So,” Yukio said a few moments after the three teams left their sight. “What exactly did we learn from that?”

“Aside from Itachi’s terrible imitation skills?” Anko asked rhetorically before becoming serious. “It seems like there is a group of at least four Iwa teams, probably even more.”

“Definitively more,” Yukio said. “The one guy said ‘one of the other teams’, meaning there must be more than one.”

“What do you think the odds are that there are only two further teams?” she asked, not sounding convinced at all.

“Well, if those we saw over there are considered one team, it wouldn’t be unlikely that three teams make one unit. And if there are several more teams-“

“Then we need to consider that there might be an alliance of nine teams out there,” Anko interrupted him with a sigh. “Wonderful.”

While his teammates were talking, Itachi thought about what he knew so far.

If nine of the thirteen Iwa teams had really teamed up, the odds were that the other four were also part of that group. That would mean that more than half of the current participants had allied against the rest. Those odds became even worse when you considered the likelihood that several teams could already have been eliminated.

It was a daring move for them to create such a big team, especially because there were only enough pearls for eleven teams. Of course, all they needed to solve this was to draw lots with the losers being the unlucky ones that wouldn’t proceed. They might argue, sure, but there was nothing those two losing teams could do against the other eleven.

Still, for them to manage to team up this quickly…

He had found it weird from the very beginning that Iwa sent that many Genin’s into the exams this year. There were never more than five or six teams that reached the third exam, and just sending as many teams as possible didn’t do much in guaranteeing that one of them would manage it. If they weren’t ready, they would be beaten pretty fast, no question asked.

But what if they weren’t expected to win from the very beginning? What if they have a different task altogether?

His eyes widened minutely as he finally connected all the dots.

“I think we might have a problem.”

The other boy had no time to react before her hands grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the ground, ending the rather one-sided fight.

“Un-fucking-believable,” Kuina, one of her teammates muttered. “They seriously teamed up? All of them?”

Yugito suppressed a grimace at what they had learned a little less than an hour ago. Apparently, the thirteen teams from Iwa decided to form a single group, meaning they now outnumbered everyone else by a wide margin. They had found out about that from the team from Amegakure whose members stood not too far away from them right now.

They had been suspicious of this information when they had been told about it, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry. So, with the possibility in mind that this might be a trap, they agreed to temporarily team up with each other until they could find some proof for that claim.

That proof came in form of three Iwa Genin who, going by the dead animal one of them carried on his shoulder, had just found something to eat for their group. They only needed to listen for a few minutes to verify that they had indeed teamed up with the other teams of their village before deciding to take them out before they could return to their base. Outnumbered and surprised by their attack as they had been, they didn’t stand a chance.

“We told you so, didn’t we?” the leader of the Ame team spoke up, his voice deepened by the mask he wore. “All thirteen of them work together to make sure that no one else aside from shinobi of their own village reaches the finals.”

“Only twelve now,” Kuina corrected half-heartily. “And you surely understand that we needed some proof before we could believe you.”

“Of course,” he agreed easily. “And now that you have it, we might even work together without fearing that we will backstab each other.”

The only reason we can be somewhat sure of that is that we both have the same coloured pearls, she thought sarcastically, just barely stopping herself from saying it aloud. After all, we're that not the case, both they themselves and the Ame-nin would have wanted to take each other's pear and get out of this exam as fast as possible.

“Well then,” her remaining, male teammate joined the conversation. “I say we forgo resting tonight and instead search two other teams to steal a blue pearl from. If we wait too long, we run the risk that there are no other teams left.”

The other boy nodded. “That would be bad. I doubt we would stand a chance if we need to fight them.”

Kuina snorted. “Nonsense, we can’t lose as long as we have Yugito here. Maybe we should just attack their camp, they’re never going to expect that!”

The calculating eyes of the Ame shinobi turned towards her. “Oh, are you really that strong?”

Kuina didn’t give her the chance to reply for herself. “She’s a monster.”

In that context, it sounded almost like a compliment, and that was what the other team doubtlessly thought, but she knew better than that. After growing up with the wary eyes of the people from her village on her back and the whispers that were always just barely too far away to understand, she could read other people’s emotions very well. She knew better than to believe that this was a compliment. No, this was what Kuina truly thought of her. Her other teammate for these exams thought so as well, even if he was less vocal about it.

Yugito wondered if the other team noticed that her team kept their distance from her just like they did from them, or that they eyed her even more suspiciously.

Probably not.

Kumogakure treated their Jinchūriki better than most other villages. There was no outright bad treatment, no neglect. In fact, some treated her with the highest regard, knowing her as one of the most powerful protectors their village had. When she was younger, she had enjoyed the attention, but she didn’t need long to understand how shallow their admiration truly was. In the end, she preferred to be seen as some kind of dangerous element that needed to be avoided rather than being treated like a weapon or a precious tool because that way, they at least left her alone.

That didn’t mean she enjoyed being watched with animosity by her teammates, though.

Nothing I can do about that now, she thought as she went through the mental exercise that Bee-sensei had taught her to stay calm. I wish he was here instead of this second-rated idiot.

While the Raikage had judged the risk of sending her to this exam as small enough to be worth it even with her status as Jinchūriki being known to the other villages, he decided against sending his brother with them. After all, one Jinchūriki might be fine, but no need to tempt Iwagakure with two of them. No, instead she was put on some random Genin team under their instructor who could never hope to live up to her real sensei.

“Alright then, we hurry and get the pearls as fast as possible before-“

“No,” she interrupted her teammate, hiding the surprise she felt at her own action.

He blinked before glaring at her with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“We will not just go for a pair of pearls and flee,” she said with more confidence than she felt. Where did this come from?

“And what do you propose we do then? Fight them?”

That might be a bit risky. After all, even she wasn’t confident that she could win against 36 enemies. It would be a close call, even with the support of her team and the one from Ame. Of course, it kinda depended on their strength. If they were as weak as the team they just beat, well, then they could probably do it on her own. If not though…

She could use the Nibi’s chakra to even the odds, but if there were several strong enemies, she might be forced to use more than she could handle.

Yugito held no doubt that she could beat every Genin in these exams in single combat, and even most groups stood no chance against her. They were only Genin, after all. But if enough above-average talented enemies allied against her and she accidentally used too much of that chakra and lost control…

She didn’t necessarily want to be responsible for the outbreak of another war.

“What about you?” she asked him right back, ignoring his question for now. ”Are you alright with them stealing everyone the show? You can’t possibly believe that this wasn’t their plan from the very beginning. It’s so obvious in hindsight! The reason they entered such a ridiculously big number of Genin was to guarantee that as many as possible reach the second stage! This way, they can team up as they did and then kick out everyone else.”

Kuina opened her mouth to argue with her, probably not even because she disagreed with what she said but because of who –of what she was, but fortunately, one of the Ame Genin was faster.

“Stealing the spotlight like that…,” he said with one hand on his chin. “It would certainly make them appear strong in front of all those daimyos and lords that come of watch the finals. If their shinobi are the only ones there, they will look superior to everyone else.”

“If you think about it, they probably already teamed up with each other during the first exam,” she continued. “They only needed to send a lot of weak teams in there whose only job was it to lose. They give up their scrolls to the strong teams that actually qualify to be here who then pass the exam without needing to fight anyone.” They probably sent a few too many weak teams in, though, allowing other villages to beat their weak teams for an easy win as well. Not that she was complaining, mind you.

“But there was a rule against teaming up with other teams. If what you say is true, they would have been disqualified.”

Yugito looked at Shinji, who was the official leader of her team, as if he was stupid. “As long as there are no witnesses, there is nothing that stops them from acting as if nothing happened. Iwa is already cheating, so what does a bit more even matter?” She blinked as she noticed something else. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had as many of their Genin teams as possible shadowed by instructors all the time. That way, they could simply disqualify other teams that attack them before handing their scroll to their own teams.”

“That would explain why there was always someone close by when we found a team from Iwa,” the Ame Genin said.

“Exactly,” she agreed before straightening up. “This is why I propose we find as many other teams as we can to ally with them against Iwa!”

There was some surprised muttering from everyone present, but Kuina replied first. “Are you crazy?” she exclaimed. “Even if we manage to find every other team and make them agree, we would still be outnumbered! Iwa doubtless eliminated a good number of them already, how the hell do you expect us to win?”

“But you said it yourself,” she replied with a sharp smile. “I am a monster. As long as there are enough allies to stop them from swarming me, I will be more than enough to beat them all up.”

Shinji might be the official team leader, but both he and Kuina knew that they couldn’t do anything once she made a decision. Not only were they weaker than her, meaning they couldn’t forcefully change her mind, but they couldn’t even go complaining to anyone either. Their sensei had no real authority over her and the Raikage, if they actually dared to approach him, would side with her.

“I generally agree with that approach,” the leader of the Ame team said. “However, how are we gonna find the other teams? It’s not as if we have unlimited time. If we need too long, there will be no one left to ally with.”

She opened her mouth to reply even though she didn’t know an answer to that herself when a new voice interrupted her.

“We might be able to help you with that.“

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

V

Considering there were currently five teams in the cave, which brought their number up to eighteen if you counted the sixth team that was guarding the entrance, it was surprisingly silent.

On the other hand, maybe it’s not surprising at all, Yugito silently conceded. After all, they were all from different villages, none of which had close relationships with each other. So, while they might have allied for the duration of this exam, the atmosphere could hardly be called ‘comradely’. They were currently resting while they waited for their last ally, the group from Konoha, to return, hopefully with another team. Though it can hardly be called resting when everyone sits with their backs to the wall and watches everyone else for anything suspicious.

The only group that seemed somewhat at ease was the one consisting of the two teams from Suna, which was also the only village from their group that had more than one team. They probably thought themselves safe because of their numbers.

There was also a tension in the air that hadn’t been there previously. Not surprising considering this were the last few hours before the fighting would begin. Once the team from Konoha came back, with or without reinforcement, they would allow them a break before heading out to the enemy camp to end this exam one way or another.

There were no doubts in her mind that the coming confrontation would be victorious. 

She snorted at that. Before the exam began, she had been so confident that she could pass this exam in a matter of hours at most, so assured that all it would take was beating some random team and then reach the centre of the training ground, but where was she now, two days later? In some stupid cave with a group of people that should be her enemy, that’s where.

A commotion at the entrance made her turn around just in time to see the three shinobi from Konohaw walk inside. 

“We found no one,” the girl of the group said, her face set into a frown for once instead of the wide, fake smile she seemed to wear all the time. It had probably something to do with the fact that they failed to find the other remaining Konoha team. “Seems we will need to do with the numbers we have.”

To be fair, they were more than they initially had hoped for. It seemed like they had been fast enough to contact most teams before they could be picked up, managing to get together seven of the ten teams that weren’t from Iwa.

“We should be enough as we are,” Mezo, the leader of the Ame team who had become something like a spokesperson for their group, said. “Additional support would have been optimal, but we don’t necessarily need it.”

“Right, their group has only fifteen more people than us,” someone called sarcastically. “No big deal, right?”

Mezo momentarily glared in the general direction the exclamation had come from before replying. “We knew from the beginning that we would be outnumbered. As it stands, there are more of us than anyone has expected. As long as we have the element of surprise on our side, we’re more than even with them.”

There was some muttering, but no one openly disagreed.

“Alright,” Mezo continued. “Let us go through the plan one last time.

First, we will split into two teams. The first one, which contains the six of us that claim to be capable of suitable powerful Ninjutsu, will use their techniques to do as much harm from afar as possible before the actual battle begins. The members from team Taki” –he nodded at the three members of the aforementioned team- “have scouted the area and managed to find a passable place north of their camp from which they should manage to stay unnoticed until they attack.

The rest of us will use the commotion to attack from the south. Their attention will be elsewhere by then, allowing us to fall into their back when they're the least prepared. Remember to throw explosion tags into their ranks first; it causes a lot of damage to those close by and disorientates the rest.

As soon as the fighting begins, the first team will descend upon them as well, forcing them to fight on two fronts. Both of our teams will then fight their way through their lines until they meet in the middle. At that point, most of the enemies should have been either beaten or forced to flee.

Also, let me remind you that we’re allies. We all know that that doesn’t mean much, but we will lose if we don’t work together. No one asks you to be the best of friends, but you should help each other if you see someone struggling. Up to eleven teams can reach the finals, so there is no need to worry about not getting the pearl your team is missing.”

The plan was rather simple, but that was an advantage as plans tended to fail as soon as you made contact with the enemy; the more complex the plan, the higher the odds that something would go wrong.

Yugito stopped listening when people started to discuss possible additions or changes to the plan, knowing that nothing would come from it. They had this conversation several times over the last two days and every time it was agreed that the plan was as good as it would get. Everything else they came up with was either too complex to actually work, above their skill level, or depended too much on actually trusting each other.

No, rather than wasting her time by listening to that nonsense, she observed the youngest member of the Konoha team.

Sending such a young Genin into these exams seemed stupid, but he wouldn’t be here if his village didn’t think him ready. They would hardly send an Uchiha to his death just like that. Besides, Konoha was known for plopping up a child prodigy every generation or so, much to the chagrin of everyone else. The likelihood of this boy being one of them was high and the prospect of seeing his skills for herself excited her.

Even now, he was standing in the back of the cave, hidden in the shadows while his teammates did a good job at steering any attention away from him. She was sure she would have fallen for it as well if she hadn't deliberately looked for him.

Yes, there was no way his teammates would act like that if they didn’t trust his abilities. By helping him to vanish from view and trusting him to watch their backs, thus allowing them to appear less attentive and less of a threat to everyone else, they made everyone underestimate them. After all, what could a team of two careless idiots and a little child possible do, right?

She grinned.

Maybe this exam could still be fun.

The location of the Iwa camp wasn't poorly chosen, Itachi thought, although it could have been better as well.

It was located on the border of a relatively plain field with no rock formations or boulders to speak of, allowing them to easily see approaching enemies from far away and thus making sneaking up on them nearly impossible. The group had built their camp with its back to the mountain in the north, giving them a safe front on that side as well.

For civilians, such a camp would have been as secure as it could get; it was impossible to attack from the mountain without the use of chakra to walk on its rocky cliffs and it was impossible to surprise them from any other side. That and their numerical superiority put together made for a good base, no doubt about that.

They had chakra, though, which meant they could attack from the mountains. Their opponents obviously knew that as well, which explained the two outposts on earth platforms above the camp. They were placed very well too, their position making it impossible to easily sneak up on them from any side. Also, as they were in clear sight of each other, you would need to eliminate both guards simultaneously to evade discovery. Under normal circumstances, that would be nought but impossible, at least for Genin or even many Chūnin.

Fortunately, the Genin from Iwa had become too confident in their superiority and eventual victory, so sure in their assumption that no one would dare attack their camp when there were so many of them, that the guards were lax in their duty. That in turn was what made their attack possible in the first place.

Itachi was currently sitting with the majority of their little group far to the south of the camp, just close enough to see the light of the campfires but too far away to hear any voices. He guessed they would need approximately five minutes to reach the camp if they ran at full speed, which was even more reason to pay close attention; they needed to start running the moment their other team started their offensive to support them as fast as possible. Every second mattered, for the longer the enemy had time to react, the more likely it was that they could reorganize.

It would be bad if they arrived and the others were already taken care of, especially because both Anko and Yukio were part of that team. 

He would have joined that group as well if there hadn't been enough others to do so, but when it turned out that there was a sufficient number of Ninjutsu users, he decided against it. His age was already an advantage in that it made others underestimate him and the less of his abilities he revealed, the longer that would stay this way. 

Also, he wanted to stay out of Yugito Nii's as much as possible. She apparently had already picked up on the fact that he was hiding his abilities to some extent if the way she watched him was any indication and he didn't want to give her more chances to do so. Too much attention was never a good thing, especially if it came from an opponent. 

He was pulled out from his thoughts by the sight of fire, earth, water, and lightning descending upon the camp from above, giving them the signal they were waiting for.

There was no need for any command; silent as the night, they started running.

They were running for a little more than three minutes when he noticed that something was off. From their current position, he should be able to hear screams and confused cries, and he did, but there seemed to be too few of them. It could be possible that the first wave of attacks had taken out much more enemies than they had dared to even hope for, but he doubted it. Plans just didn't work that well.

Then the attacks from their other group suddenly stopped and the sound of clashing metal rang through the night.

“Throw your weapons!” Mezo screamed, obviously realizing the same thing he did. “Throw them now, blow them all up!”

They noticed us, he thought. The surprise failed. Thanks to his Sharingan, he could see clearly even during the darkest nights, which meant he was more than capable to see the various bodies of Iwa Genin laying on the ground. The problem was that there seemed to be a dozen of them at most, which meant the majority of the camp wasn't present at the camp at all.

But neither we nor the other group had been ambushed before the attack started, he thought as he threw a kunai with an explosion tag in a random direction away from their group. So they probably didn't know we would come in advance but saw us while we were getting into position. But then why leave so many people behind...?

His face hardened when he realized the answer to that question.

They had been decoys. Whoever was in charge of that camp left them behind to serve as targets. But that wasn't all; going by the lack of any defensive structures, he assumed they hadn't even been told what was going on. No, they had probably been fed some lie as to why the rest of the group left and just went about their day, unaware that they would be sacrificed by their leader.

And as long as they acted normal, there was no reason for us to believe something was wrong. Our scouts probably believed that the rest of them were inside their tents, not thinking anything about their disappearance. If anything, they were probably happy, thinking lesser numbers made for an easier victory and thus making it easier for them to sneak up on us.

Itachi had no more time to think as just at that moment an arm broke through the ground and tried to grab him, telling him exactly where all the vanished enemies must be.

“They're underground!” he exclaimed while simultaneously jumping away from the arm and throwing an explosion tag towards where the rest of its body should be. “Watch your feet!”

He had no idea how effective his warning was, nor could he see how the fight was going.

They had planned to throw their explosion tags into the ranks of their enemy while they were still a good distance away. Instead, they now threw the weapons at enemies below and right in front of them, meaning they needed to not only pay attention to them but also the weapon of their own allies as well.

All the explosions, be they from explosion tags or other techniques, stirred up so much earth and dust that it soon became impossible to see what was going on more than five feet away from you. Not that he could have focused on anything but his next enemy anyway.

Itachi dodged the sword of the kunoichi in front of him, tilting his head so that it swung a mere centimetre above his face before jumping and twisting his body to send a kick at her temple. Then, without stopping in his movement, he snatched the katana from the loose grip of its now unconscious wielder and used it to block a random shuriken that flew in his direction.

He didn't get a break, though, because another form appeared to his right and nearly decapitated him with a cleaver that was the size of Itachi's body. Rather than using his newly acquired weapon to block it, he backed down and dodged every attack by using his small stature to his advantage. Unfortunately, that worked for less than ten seconds before he collided with someone else. Seeing his chance, his foe took another swing at him. However, his time he left himself wide open, so Itachi jumped forwards and plunged his katana right through his chest at the same moment the cleaver plunged into the person he had collided with.

He ignored the sick sensation as the blood of both his enemy and the third, unknown person sprinkled on his face and neck. He also didn't turn around to see whether the unknown person had been an ally or an enemy.

Seeing the trademark uniform of an Iwa shinobi to his right, he rushed towards that direction and used the grip of one of his kunai to knock the boy in the neck before using the falling body as a springboard to jump towards two shadowy silhouettes.

As it turned out, the bent over one belonged to one of the Genin from Suna while the other one belonged to an enemy who was just about to behead the kneeling Genin before him. As he was closer to the Suna-nin, he used his momentum to kick him out of the way of the incoming attack while simultaneously slashing at the Iwa-nin with his kunai in an attempt to end this quickly.

However, while he managed to save the life of his ally, the Iwa-nin managed to evade his attack. 

Not being put off at all by the sudden appearance of another enemy, the other boy swung his sword without any grace and thus allowed Itachi to counter easily. Dodging the slash with a flick-flack, he used his upwards lying feet to kick the sword out of his opponent's hands, throwing it up into the air. Not giving the other boy any time to recover, he next jumped towards him and rammed his elbow against the right side of his ribcage, right where his liver was. Then, finally, he dodged the clumsy counter-attack from the now bend-over enemy before catching the falling sword and using its blunt side to knock the boy out.

He was just about to start running again, looking for his next opponent, when his instincts screamed at him to move. Without thinking about it, he let himself fall to one knee, feeling the breeze of air sweeping through his hair as a leg flew over his head half a second later. He then jumped around to prepare for another fight, but it didn't come to that because as soon as he and his 'enemy' came face to face, they both froze.

“Wait, you aren't-” the Ame-nin started, recognizing that his opponent was actually an ally all along the same moment Itachi did, only to be interrupted as Itachi jumped against his chest. Putting all his strength into his legs, he pushed himself off from the Ame-nin, throwing them in opposite directions. 

A big orb of fire hit the place where they had been standing a moment later.

For a second, the flames filled his entire vision, but then the moment was over and he flew out of the cloud of dust he had been fighting in for the last few minutes. However, rather than crashing into the ground, he managed to land on his hands with which he propelled himself upwards again to make a flip and ultimately land on his feet. 

Itachi stayed tense and alert, looking around in expectation of another attack only to find that the area was relatively calm. Most of the fighting seemed to be where he came from, the sound of crashing metal and the cries of pain still loud and clear in his ears, while only a handful of fights happened out here in the open.

“Itachi!” 

He didn't jump at hearing his name being called, but it was a close thing. A second later, Anko and Yukio landed beside him. Thankfully neither of them seemed hurt aside from a few scratches.

“Anko,” he greeted. “Yukio. Good to see that you're alright.”

“We're the ones who should say that,” the other boy grumbled while still looking him over. “They sent only eight people to our position. Once the surprise wore off, we could handle them without any problems. Only one of our group was taken out while all eight of them are down.”

“What about you?” Anko asked with a glance towards the cloud of dirt. “Who is winning?”

“Impossible to say. It's too chaotic and the sight inside is too bad to do more than to react to close-by enemies.”

“Then let's change that,” a new voice cut in as the three remaining members of his teammate's group appeared, consisting of Yugito Nii and two Genin from Suna.

“And how are you gonna do that?” Yukio asked the Suna-nin that had spoken. 

He laughed before bringing his hands together to weave hand seals. “Why don't you just watch and learn?”

“Fūton: Daitoppa!” (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The gust of wind wasn't especially strong, but it didn't need to be to do its job. Blowing all the dirt and dust away, it revealed what had been going on inside the cloud of dust for everyone to see:

There were only about fifteen or sixteen people left fighting, a bit more than half of it being shinobi from Iwa while about the same amount of people was lying on the ground. Some of those injured were screaming in pain, but most forms were unmoving, though whether because they were unconscious or dead was impossible to say.

The moment their cover was exposed, most fights momentarily stopped. The more experienced Genin overcame their surprise pretty fast, however, and used the moment to end their fights in their favour. Soon enough new screams joined the already existing ones.

“Alright,” the blonde Jinchūriki at his side said with a somewhat feral grin on her face. “Shall we end this?” She didn't wait for a reply before she jumped into the fray, quickly followed by the two Genin from Suna:

“Come on,” Anko whined before following them. “We can't let them have all the fun, guys! Let's go!”

He and Yukio shared a short glance that was similarly amused and long-suffering before they started running as well.

At this point, it was fair to say that the day was won. Not only did they outnumber the Iwa-nins at this point, but they had also superior fighters on the field. In fact, he saw a few figures running away from the fighting, meaning the gap between their two groups became even larger. It wasn't a question of 'if' but of 'when' they would win.

This didn't go quite as planned at all, Itachi thought, but at least everything worked out just fine.

It was around dawn of the fourth day of the exam that a group consisting of one team from Konoha, one team from Suna, one team from Kumo, a two-man team from Ame, and another two-man team from Taki arrived at the circular building at the centre of the training-ground, bringing with them the necessary pearls to pass the exam. No words were spoken when they walked in, nor when they met their instructors and departed to follow them to their rooms.

They might have been temporarily allies, but while there were no bad feelings between them, no one forgot that they were still opponents as well. However, the fact that none of them felt the need to look over the shoulder in anticipation of a possible attack spoke volumes of the trust in their current alliance, no matter how temporarily it was.

(No one noticed the short eye contact between a certain young Uchiha and the Jinchūriki of the two-tailed beast.)

On that day, the instructors of all foreign teams were visited by a crow with a short message that told them the location of the bodies of their Genin, whether they were alive or not.

Just because Iwagakure was willing to risk antagonising other nations by letting their Genin die if they didn't find their way back didn't mean Itachi needed to let it happen. Not after they had allied with each other, even if just briefly.

Besides, who knew what kind of goodwill such a gesture could evoke in the future?

It was just shortly before sunset of the fifth and last day that the last finalist arrived at the building in form of a single team from Iwa, bringing the final number of participants for the third exam up to sixteen.

Shortly afterwards, the second exam was officially declared finished.

The tournament which would serve as the final exam was then set to start in exactly three weeks.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

VI

“Okaa-san, I didn't expect you to come.”

A small, genuine smile sneaked on Mikoto's face at the honest surprise in her son's voice. It wasn't easy to get him by surprise, making her savour the experience whenever it happened.

“Of course I came! How could you think I would miss this? It's a very important moment in your life, after all.”

“I just thought you would be too busy, that's all. I'm sorry.”

She naturally knew the real reason for why he hadn't expected her. As the matriarch of Konoha's strongest and most prominent clan, she would make for a precious hostage, especially because she also had a Kekkei Genkai. Naturally, there were also some darker and more unsavoury reasons for why other villages could have an interest in her, but she preferred not to think too much about that.

“I do have a lot to do,” she agreed, going on with the front they were presenting to anyone that might be listening. “But I convinced your father to take my share during my absence. Let's see if he still thinks them 'easier' and 'less important' than his when we return home, shall we?”

She counted the widening of his smile as a win. “Hopefully he will not be too cross with you for forcing him to do all the accounting.”

“Ah,” a third voice cut in. “If I remember correctly, Fugaku-san always struggled a bit with numbers. How cruel of you to force this upon him, Mikoto-san.”

“It's important to face your weaknesses to overcome them, Hokage-sama,” she replied with a slight bow. “He will come out of this stronger than before, I'm sure.”

She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear her son's female teammate whispering “your mum is so cool!” into his ear, so she just acted as if she hadn't noticed.

The old man chuckled. “Very true. Now that I think about it, I think my wife said the same every time she forced me to help her with the house.” Then he turned towards her son's team. “The Tsuchikage is expecting me, so I have unfortunately no time to talk right now. However, I still would like to hear about your exams so far, so would you mind meeting me later today?”

Although it wasn't formulated as an order, there was no doubt that they would agree. After all, you didn't simply deny a request from your kage.

“Of course, Hokage-sama.”

“Wonderful. I will send someone for you once my meeting is over.” He turned back towards her. “Mikoto-san, take the rest of the day off. It will be enough if you resume your duties tomorrow.”

She bowed again. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

Maybe it would be 'the right thing' to decline and continue doing her job, but the very reason she had accepted to act as one of his bodyguards during the final exam was to talk to and see her son. As he said, it would be enough if she took a break for today. Besides, she was hardly his only guard.

Mikoto was aware of the hostile glances thrown in their direction, so she thought it was probably best to get out of sight. Not that she was afraid anything would actually happen, but such an atmosphere was hardly suitable for a family reunion.

“Why don’t you show me the place you’re staying at?” she asked. “And maybe your assigned trainings-ground as well? I might be able to give you a pointer or two if you don’t mind?”

“Well, we will leave you two-“ her son’s male teammate started, but she didn’t let him finish.

“Nonsense. You’re more than welcome to join us. I’m sure I can help you two as well.”

They were obviously uncomfortable at the thought, but neither of them disagreed.

You couldn’t just deny a simple request from your kage, but denying a mother was almost even harder. Besides, after dealing with stubborn members of her clan all her life, she was more than capable of speaking in a manner that didn’t allow any objection. A trait which motherhood had only enhanced.

“On that note, there is something I have for you,” she continued before fetching something from her pocket. “Before we departed, I went to your parents, Yukio, and asked them if they wanted me to deliver a message for them, seeing as they can’t come in person to watch you fight.” She then handed him the letter.

“Wow,” he replied with a big smile before bowing to her, his previous awkwardness forgotten. “Thank you, Uchiha-san. That really means a lot to me.”

She smiled at him for a moment before turning to Itachi. “I'm also supposed to tell you from your father that he has absolute trust in your success. I tried to make him wish you ‘good luck’ as well, but you know how he is. He insisted you wouldn’t need it.” Which was so typical for her stubborn husband. It was almost adorable at times, really. “Shisui, Izumi, and Sasuke were not so insistence, however. They also want me to let you know that they expect you to return with nothing less than a new flak jacket.”

“They would say that, yes,” Itachi chuckled, genuine amusement shining in his eyes. “I wouldn't expect anything less.”

“Oh, there was also this young girl, Haku, who came to our house just hours after you left. Apparently, she wanted to wish you good luck as well.”

That seemed to surprise him. “She did?”

“She looked rather disappointed that she missed you. You should thank her when we return.”

It had been a little off-putting how well the girl could hide her sadness behind a smile, though. Her mask had been good, even for a child that grew up in a clan. She didn't tell her son that she had invited the girl for dinner that night, or that she went shopping with her the next day.

Mikoto wouldn't exchange her children for anything in the world, but it would be a lie if she said she didn't wish for a daughter when she found out she was pregnant for the second time. Her first child, the heir, should be a boy -a girl could be the heir as well, of course, but the Uchiha Clan traditionally preferred boys above girls- but the gender didn't matter much for the second one.

Maybe she should arrange for another trip with her when they returned home? She could invite Izumi and her mother as well, making a girls' day out of it. When she was already at it, she could ask Anko to come as well.

Speaking of Anko, the dark look in her eyes vanished as soon as it appeared, but not before Mikoto noticed it. It was unfortunate, but in these days, so soon after the last war and the Nine-Tails attack both, there were many orphans in the village, and she thanked all the gods she knew that both she and her husband had survived it. The thought of leaving her children behind chilled her more than she could put into words.

“I hope these two don’t give you too much grief,” she addressed the girl while pointing at her two teammates. “I know how troublesome boys can be, no matter how hard their parents try to educate them. Sometimes they need a strong hand to lead them."

Anko had apparently not expected to be spoken to since they were talking about family, but she recovered quickly. “Nah, they have more common sense than most. A chop to the head or two is usually enough to beat some sense into them.”

“Then you’re luckier than most,” she laughed. “I will still cheer for you during your fight, though. We women need to stick together, don’t we?”

Her eyes went wide for a second before she quickly looked away, cheeks suspiciously red. “Thank you, Uchiha-san.”

“Please, call me Mikoto,” she corrected her gently. “Also, Izumi sends you her best wishes as well. I think she might look up to you a bit since you met at Itachi’s birthday.”

It might not be as good as well-wishes from your family, but it was the best thing she could offer. And anyway, most people considered their teammates as an extension of their family, she had certainly done so with Kushina. They were her son’s teammates and as such, in a manner of speaking, her family as well.

All awkwardness from the beginning was forgotten as they walked towards their lodgings, their conversation turning towards more light-hearted topics.

“I see,” he said as he took another puff from his pipe. “So Oonoki tried to manipulate the results of the exam, huh?"

It was not exactly surprising, unfortunately. Itachi lacked information in that regard, having only participated in a single Chūnin Exam before which also happened to be in Konoha and not having not been involved in the organization of another one, but Hiruzen knew his fellow kage well enough. Such an act of manipulation had been predictable, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it as long as there was no proof. The Genin could have come up with it themselves for all they knew and that would be exactly what Oonoki would claim if confronted about it.

Well, it seemed as if the plan had failed anyway, so it didn’t matter anymore.

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” Anko said. “We overheard some of them talking about it and also talked with other teams who had heard the same.”

So several villages would be annoyed with Iwa for the foreseeable future. Maybe it would be a good idea to use this common ground to begin a conversation or two about alliances? He doubted anything tangible would come out of it, but even something simple as an agreement on better trade deals would be helpful.

“You should have gotten a good look at your competition,” he continued. “What do you think about your chances in this tournament?”

“All of them are pretty good,” Yukio answered for them. “But we’re confident that we could win against most of them without too much struggle. There are only two people that might be a real problem.”

“Only two?” he asked good-naturedly. “That’s very confident of you. And who might these two be?”

“One is the leader of the team from Amegakure,” Anko continued. “His name is Mezo. He’s confident and charismatic. He was also the closest thing to a leader our group had during the exam and no one challenged him on that. We weren’t able to observe many of his fights, but when we did, he was easily dominating his opponents. He was also still uninjured by the time we passed as well.”

“That’s very impressive,” he agreed. Both Yukio and Anko had been injured, even though it had been only small cuts. Itachi had none, though, but that was only fair; he had far more experience than anyone else in these exams. “And the other one?”

“The female member of the team from Kumo,” Itachi said. “Her name is Yugito Nii. Her two teammates aren’t weak either, but she is on a completely different level. Just like Mezo, she has come out of the second exam without as much as a cut. Even her clothes survived without taking any damage. From what we have seen of her abilities, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that she is the greatest threat in this exam.”

Yugito Nii, he thought. I recognize that name. Not only from his conversations with Itachi but also from the general information he as Hokage had access to. The Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, wasn’t it? Yes, that would definitively be a problem.

It would honestly be a surprise if anyone in this tournament could beat her. Itachi was strong, yes, and had more experience, but there was still a limit to what he could do at his current age. He could win if he used some of his most powerful techniques, but not only did they want to keep them a secret, it would also be stupid to permanently damage one of Kumogakure’s Jinchūriki like that.

“I see,” he said again. “So, what do you think your chances are to come out of this victorious?”

There was a short break before Anko answered. “Slim, Hokage-sama,” she said without hiding how unhappy she was about this confession. “We held back our true abilities, of course, but it’s likely that the others did so as well. All of us could probably beat Mezo, but if what we have seen from Yugito was her while holding back, she would probably win a confrontation.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “Remember, you don’t need to win to be promoted. All that matters are the abilities you demonstrate during the exam.” And to admit your own inferiority, to stay objective even when you didn't like it, was an important skill a Chūnin needed to possess.

“Yes, Hokage-sama!”

“Yukio,” he turned towards the boy. “You will face her in your first bout, so that will be your only opportunity to show off. Make the best of it.”

His face darkened as he nodded. “I will not disappoint you, Hokage-sama.”

“I know you will not,” he replied with a warm smile. “Now, I think it’s time for you to return to your quarters for tonight. You need to be rested for tomorrow, after all.”

He couldn’t help but be a little excited about the next day. These exams had always interesting fights between the next generation to offer, and seeing the youth of your village showing off their skills never ceased to be refreshing.

Outwardly, Yukio kept his cool as he walked towards the middle of the arena where his opponent was already waiting. He wouldn’t give her, nor the cheering crowd for that matter, the satisfaction of seeing him fidget like a beginner fresh out of the academy.

Still, even with that in mind, he needed to swallow the lump in his throat when he came closer.

Yugito Nii, he knew, was a formidable opponent and probably the strongest participant in these exams. It had been easy to ignore during the second stage when they had been allies, but now that all her attention was focused on him, things were different. She wasn’t even openly hostile, but that would actually have been easier to handle. instead, she was perfectly calm, observing him with gleaming eyes like a predator did with its prey. He knew he would probably lose, he wouldn’t deny that no matter how much it bothered him, but that didn’t mean he would simply surrender.

No, he would try to force her to show as much of her strength as he could so that Anko and Itachi had a chance to observe her. That way, they might actually be able to come up with a strategy that could ultimately beat her.

He glanced towards the stands; most of it considered of a faceless crowd that meant nothing to him. Their cheering was nice, or at least he guessed it would be if it were directed at him. As it was now, they mainly cheered simply because they were excited that the spectacle was about to begin.

Yukio suppressed a scowl at the thought that they would start cheering for his opponent as soon as they saw her beating him.

To his right was a podium on which the Hokage, the Raikage, the Kazekage, and the Tsuchikage sat side by side. On any other occasion, the sight would have put him in awe, the thought of four of the strongest Shinobi alive being so close sending shivers down his spine, but right now, not even the bulky stature to the Raikage affected him.

He didn’t turn around to look at the other Genin that were still waiting for their turn in a room behind him.

“Are the participants ready?”

He nodded, an action that was mirrored by his opponent in front of him.

“Begin!”

He instantly jumped backwards while also throwing a bunch of kunai with explosion tags towards the blonde girl.

The arena was nothing but a flat plain with two small bodies of water on one side, giving him no cover whatsoever. That was problematic, considering he wanted his opponent to show what kind of techniques she could use; his teammates wouldn't learn anything new if all she needed to do was to rush at him and knock him out.

The tags exploded, momentarily obscuring their view of each other. Deciding to use the time he had, he instantly weaved the hand seals to create a mud clone, but before he could sink into the underground with the Moguragakure no Jutsu (Hiding Like a Mole Technique) to switch places with it as he had intended, Yugito shot out of the dust. Fast.

She wasn’t quite on the level of his sensei, but her speed was still greater than that of both of his teammates and any of his other friends he had ever sparred with. One moment she was still a fair distance away and the next thing he knew was that she was right in front of him.

Yukio raised his arms just in time to block the punch towards his chest, the power behind it nearly knocking all the air out of him, before jumping further back to evade her follow-up attack. She visibly tensed to go after him again, but was forced to abandon that plan when his clone jumped at her from her right; the roundhouse kick at her head failed just like the following swept at her with a kunai, and a moment later, his clone got destroyed when she retaliated with a kick to its torso.

Only, rather than just collapsing back into a bunch of dirt, it exploded.

Not wasting any time, he weaved hand seals once again:

“Doton: Chikyū no hahen!” (Earth Release: Earth Shards)

At his command, hundreds of sharp clumps of earth flew towards the cloud of dust that had been stirred by his exploding clone, hopefully doing some damage to his opponent.

That hope was crushed a second later when a storm of lightning flew out of it and towards him, destroying every earth shard in its path and hitting the place he stood just a moment earlier.

“Smart,” a voice behind him said. “Hiding an explosion tag inside your clone. Smart, but ultimately useless.” He had no time to react before a kick to his back catapulted him through the air, making him fly until he finally hit the wall of the arena that had been almost twenty meters away.

He groaned when he sat up, forcing himself to keep his eyes on his enemy even though his vision was blurry. That will bruise, he thought with a wince, but at least I’m pretty sure that nothing broke. Kami, fortunately I was able to enforce my body with chakra before the impact or I would have already lost. 

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

His eyes went wide as a gigantic ball of fire flew towards him, bigger than anything he had seen Itachi produce with the same technique ever since he joined his team.

“Doton: Doryūheki!” (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)

He put as much chakra as he could without totally exhausting himself into the technique before using the rest to finally vanish into the underground while leaving another clone behind.

Barely a second later, he felt Yugito arrive in front of the remains of his wall, breaking right through it before continuing her attack. Using the opportunity, he broke through the surface the moment she passed above him and took a second to survey the situation:

Yukio's clone had managed to momentarily trap her, just as he had hoped. One of her arms was pushed through its chest, but as the attack didn’t blow it up, it was still able to fight and thus grab her arm to keep her in place. Knowing he couldn’t let that chance go to waste, he rushed towards her with a kick that was aimed right at her head.

The good news was that his attack connected.

The bad news was that the moment he should have blown her away, her body dissolved into electricity and fried him and his clone both.

He opened his mouth to scream, but no tone escaped from his lungs. The pain lasted only a few seconds, but even after it was gone, he couldn’t move as he laid face down on the ground. His entire body felt sore, the smell of burned flesh filled his nose, and he was pretty sure he was smoking. It took everything he got to slowly move his arms until they were angled in a way that would allow him to push himself up, but he felt a weight on his back before he could even attempt such a thing.

“You’re not the only one who can use clones for a trap, you know.”

He had not enough energy to talk, let alone turn around to look at her, so he stayed mute.

“Don’t worry, I put just enough energy into the technique to put you out of commission for a while. There will be no permanent damage, but you will not be able to continue this fight. Honestly, I’m actually impressed that you’re still conscious at all!”

She was right, there was no denying that. There was no way he could continue this fight, even if he somehow managed to get up. No, this match was over.

Yukio would have laughed if he could. So much for making her show what kind of abilities she is hiding, he thought sarcastically. All he could make her do was to use some pretty standard techniques, none of which would be one of her trump cards. At least we now know that she can not only use Fire Release but Lightning Release as well. Somehow, that thought didn’t comfort him at all.

“The winner is Yugito Nii from Kumogakure!”

“Seems like my shinobi won, just like I said.” Hiruzen didn’t need to look at the muscular man to know he must have a very satisfied expression on his face right now. “As I told you before, don’t expect any of your Genin to win against her. Yugito is on a completely different level.”

“Pah,” Oonoki scoffed. “Don’t act as if that means anything. She’s a Jinchūriki, of course she would dominate these fights. Let’s wait and see how her teammates do, that will show us how talented your shinobi really are.”

“You’re fishing for excuses, Tsuchikage-san. She didn’t even use any of her Bijuu’s power, so you have no reason to complain.”

“Irrelevant. Her strength and stamina are still greater than that of every average shinobi, even if she isn’t actively using her Bijuu's chakra.”

“Complaining about such a thing is the same as complaining about someone that uses a Kekkei Genkai. Do you also think your victories are worthless just because you used your famous Jinton (Dust Release)?”

“The one happens naturally while the other is artificial, that are two entirely different things!”

“And both still lose if its wielder faces enough enemies. Talking about that, it’s such a shame that there aren’t more participants from your village in the finals, isn’t it? Especially considering you sent so many of them into the exams this year.”

Hiruzen stopped listening to their squabbles at that point, choosing to instead look with sad eyes down into the arena where Yukio was being carried out right now. He had fought well, but it had been clear that he was outmatched from the very beginning. No even clever traps could change that.

He sighed. The injuries he received weren’t too bad, meaning he would soon be recovered, but the blow to his pride and confidence was another thing entirely.

Only time would tell how this loss would affect him.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

VII

Beating her first opponent had been easy, the poor boy standing no chance against her.

Well, maybe that was a bit unfair. He did use a few interesting traps, after all. Not that it did him much good. In the end, even as distracted as Anko was, worrying about Yukio and suppressing her annoyance at the blonde kunoichi that beat him, she was still more than capable of defeating him without any significant effort. Now, things might have been different if she fought someone like Mezo, who would actually be a challenge and against which she couldn't afford not to concentrate fully on the fight, but she didn't, so there was that.

That brought Anko to where she was now, standing in the middle of the arena and waiting for her second opponent to arrive.

As she had told the Hokage the day before, she didn't believe she could win against Yugito Nii. It scratched at her ego, but there was nothing she could do about it. The thing was, now that she had seen her beat her teammate, she suddenly didn't feel as ready to resign to her inevitable defeat as she had yesterday. Who cared if she was slower, had less chakra, or was simply less skilled than her? She certainly did not. Even if she was inferior to her opponent in all these regards, she could still win as long as she fought smartly. That meant not getting carried away or letting herself get gloated into something stupid. She stood a chance as long as she kept a cool head.

Besides, Anko had a trick or two up her sleeve as well.

Finally, her opponent arrived, coming to a stop just a few meters in front of her.

“This fight will be between Yugito Nii from Kumogakure and Anko Mitarashi from Konohagakure! Are the participants ready?”

“Hai!”

“Hai!”

“Then begin!”

Anko knew she couldn't escape her even if she tried, Yukio's fight had shown very clearly that her opponent was faster than she could ever hope to be, so she chose to do the opposite; the moment their proctor gave the start signal, she pushed herself forwards with as much power as she could, making the ground beneath her crack under the pressure of her feet.

Her opponent's eyes widened slightly in shock, but she recovered quick enough to evade the kunai with which she slashed at her head.

Not letting up in the slightest, Anko pressed forwards. No matter how much she loathed Orochimaru, his fighting style was still very effective; the way its practitioner twisted their bodies in ways that should be impossible even for a shinobi allowed them not only to evade most attacks, it was also very effective in attacking from weird angles that others didn't expect. As long as she could get close enough to the blonde to make it impossible for her to counter her while she herself could still continue her attacks, she could win.

Getting closer again, Anko sent a kick towards her chest that was blocked by two crossed arms. Then, Yugito tried to counter with a kick of her own, only to retreat her leg when she made to slash at the limb with her knife. Using the opportunity where she was slightly unbalanced, Anko tried to sweep her other leg away to throw her to the ground.

Sensing her attack in time, Yugito escaped backwards with a flick-flack before suddenly jumping to the side to avoid the shuriken that were flying towards her. The next moment, Anko was already back in front of her, trying once again to cut her head off with her kunai.

It was such a shame that her opponent knew that she used poison. She would doubtlessly be much less hesitant if that weren't the case.

They exchanged blows and kicks for several minutes during which Anko slowly but surely pushed Yugito back, much to the excitement of the crowd. She knew better than to assume that this meant she was the superior fighter, though; her fighting style required her to come as close to her opponent as possible while Yugito's techniques worked only when there was a bit more distance between them. She wasn't backing away because she was pressured, not exactly, but because she wanted to get into a position from which she could attack herself.

It was a small but important difference.

Still, although she was technically not at an advantage, this kind of fight was what she wanted; superior or not, the longer the fight, lasted the higher the chances her opponent made a mistake. As long as she could cut her just once, her poison would do the rest.

The problem was that the same applied to her as well. Unfortunately, the odds were that she would make a mistake first, meaning she needed to do something. to end this. 

She didn't need to wait for long before an opportunity presented itself.

Just like all the times before, the two of them clashed for a few short attacks before Yugito backed away a bit further to get some more space. Normally, Anko would rush after her, trying not to give her the chance to prepare any technique that could cause her problems, but not this time. Instead, she raised her arms and prepared a Jutsu of her own that didn't require any hand seals. 

“Sen'ei Tajashu!” (Many Hidden Snake Hands) 

Seven snakes rushed from both her sleeves, some heading right towards the Kumo-nin while others cut off possible escape routes.

Unfortunately, even though the delay in her offensive was almost non-existence, it was still enough to allow her opponent to prepare a technique of her own.

“Raiton: Gian!” (Lightning Release: False Darkness)

A sudden stream of lightning emitted from her hand, vaporizing the snakes in its path and striking Anko square in the chest.

A second later, her body was replaced by a pile of rocks in a heap of white smoke.

“Mandara no Jin!” (Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes)

Her opponent's eyes became wide as her head snapped up, only to witness her summon an innumerable amount of snakes from Anko's sleeves and mouth.

Now, it should be mentioned that her technique was nowhere close to the strength of when Orochimaru used it; when he used it, he was indeed able to summon tens of thousands of snakes. Something like that was far out of her reach, however. Even so, the number of snakes she could summon was still more than enough to be a serious threat for anyone that encountered it. That was the reason she had learned it for the exams in the first place. She had planned to use it against Itachi if they fought in the exams, hopefully during the finale, but she wouldn't even reach the finale if she lost here, so she did not hesitate in using it now.

Unfortunately, it also required an immense amount of chakra.

The blonde was smart enough to recognize that just throwing any Jutsu of her own against the waves of snakes would be useless. Sure, it would blow a hole into it, but the killed snakes would be replaced by new ones almost immediately. Her only choices were to escape or use a sufficient powerful technique that wiped all of them out in one single blow while preferable hitting Anko as well. She certainly had the chakra to do so too, but it was still somewhat risky; she had still two fights ahead of her and even her chakra was not infinite. Who knew how strong her next opponent would be, or the one after that? Using such a powerful Jutsu now would not exactly exhaust her, meaning she would still be able to continue, but she would also undoubtedly be weakened. With that in mind, it wasn't much of a surprise when she jumped backwards into the air, landing on the wall that was just ten meters behind Anko and sticking to its surface by channeling chakra to her feet.

Which was also exactly what she had hoped her opponent would do.

Yugito had barely any time to react before Anko appeared almost on top of her, only dodging the strike of her kunai by a hair. By prioritizing that attack, however, there was nothing she could do to stop the kick against her chest that threw her right towards the already waiting snakes on the ground.

Anko didn't stop there, though. Rather than just waiting to see what would happen, she jumped further upwards the wall to bring as much distance between herself and the ground while collecting most of her remaining chakra for one last technique.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

The Kumo-nin did the only thing she could do; when she was just two meters above the ground, she kicked against the wall to push herself out of the way from the trajectory of the medium-sized fireball. However, while that saved her from being burned to ash, it wasn't enough to bring distance between her and the snake pit below.

She and the fireball hit the ground almost simultaneously, but before the crowd had the chance to see how the blonde Kunoichi would deal with the situation, their sight was taken away by a blaze of flames. There was a collective take for breath when the flames, rather than just crashing into the ground set the various snakes on fire, which then resulted in them blowing up. These little explosions set off other explosions as well when they consumed nearby snakes, resulting in a chain of explosions that shook the entire arena.

The commotion lasted almost an entire minute to calm down, and it was only a minute after that that the crowd could see both participants again through all the stirred dust and the smoke from the flames.

On one side was Anko, still kneeling far up the wall of the arena and breathing hard as she glared at her opponent below. On the other side was Yugito, kneeling in a similar position only half a dozen meters away from the big crater that was a result of all the explosions.

For a few moments, amusement and frustration fought for dominance inside her head before the former won out. So not even that is enough to beat her? Dammit, what kind of monster is she?

The blonde in question was mostly uninjured. The majority of her clothes were still intact, only singed here and there, and there were no signs that any of her snakes had managed to get close enough to bite her. The only notable thing was that her left sleeves were burned off up to her shoulders. Even so, the burn of her arm didn't look serious, so they would probably not hinder her much if at all.

“How did you do that? The snakes I know usually don't explode and I'm sure I would have noticed if you put that many explosion tags on them.”

Anko considered whether she should answer or not for a moment before she decided to do so. If anything, it would give her some more time, which might be enough for her to come up with something that could still bring her victory. Anyway, who said that her technique was already over?

“I prepared them in advance by feeding them explosion tags and small containers with flammable substances.” She laughed, making sure that it sounded as bitter as she could. “I invested many hours into preparing that trick, you know, so I'm kinda pissed that you managed to get out of it more or less alright.”

“Impressive,” Yugito said. “It's definitively a powerful technique. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it would have brought you the victory against everyone else in this tournament, I think.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Unfortunately for you, I'm not-” Then, to the surprise of everyone but most of all herself, Yugito suddenly wobbled and fell back to her knees. “What-”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Anko exclaimed while simultaneously pushing herself from the wall and towards her opponent with as much power as she could muster. “But I fed them some containers with poison as well!”

Normal poison would have simply vaporized in the flames of the explosion and she had needed countless hours of experimentation to create something that did not. She doubted she would have managed it if she hadn't had some of her former sensei's old notes to aid her, though. Not that it mattered now, the result was the same; rather than vaporizing, the poison mixed with the smoke of the flames, allowing it to affect everyone that breathed it in.

It was a very powerful poison, enough to put someone down for days at a site, so it should be more than enough to immobilize an enemy for long enough to knock them out. Or, at least it was supposed to.

Suddenly, the way her opponent felt changed as a wave of hostile chakra hit her, completely different than anything she had ever felt before.

No, she thought. That's not right. I felt something like this before, but when...? She hadn't more time to think about it as the Kumo-nin jumped up just before she reached her and sent Anko flying with a single kick that was much more powerful than any of her opponent's attacks so far.

She crashed into the ground with a loud 'boom', her entire body feeling like shit. It was pure spite that brought her up to her feet again, even if the process was slow. Honestly, she was surprised she wasn't attacked during that time considering she was obviously too weak to defend herself as she was now.

“I can't believe you forced me to do this. To think I was pushed to this point by a Genin, it is almost funny.” Contrary to her words, she didn't sound amused. No, 'excited' would be a more fitting term. “This is the first time someone my age has done that. You can be proud of yourself, not many would be able to do the same.”

Looking up, she saw the other girl slowly walking towards her, any weakness or exhaustion from before forgotten. What was even more amazing, to the point that her mouth fell open when she saw it, was that all her injuries were simply gone! Her arm, which previously was consumed by light burns, still lacked its sleeve, but the skin was just fine! Anko wouldn't even know that the other girl had been hurt if she hadn't seen it with her own two eyes.

“You don't have any other trick up your sleeve, do you?” Yugito asked rhetorical, sounding almost disappointed. “No matter. Even if you do have a hidden ace, you obviously lack the chakra to use it. Well then, in gratitude for the good fight, I will allow you to surrender. I urge you to accept that offer, I will give it only once.”

Anko bit her lips. Whatever her opponent had done, it had something to do with this weird chakra. Not only had it healed her, but it had also restored stamina and stocked up her chakra reserves; she was once again in top condition as if she hadn't fought at all. If she could do that several times it wouldn't matter how hard you fought, she could simply restore herself to full health and keep going.

But no, that would be too perfect. No technique came without cost, so there must be some negative side-effect that came with it as well. Even if she could use it several times, there must be a limit to it.

“So, are you gonna do it? I will be forced to knock you out otherwise.”

She discreetly took a pill from her pocket and put it in her mouth as she pretended to wipe off the blood from her lips, suppressing a sigh of relief when her opponent didn't react.

The blonde was right, she couldn't continue to fight. Even if she had any chakra left, which she didn't, her body was still too beaten up, that one kick having been enough to crack several of her ribs. It would be the smart thing to surrender, to end the fight on her terms.

Nevertheless, she had other plans.

Itachi would fight her next, she did not doubt that. Sure, he needed to reach the finale to do so, but he would manage that just as surely as Yugito would. She would rather see one of her teammates win this thing than the girl that had beaten her and Yukio, so she needed to do everything in her power to support him. If that meant letting herself getting beaten up, well, that was fine with her. As long as she could give him an advantage in the long run, she didn't care.

Whatever Yugito had done, it had something to do with this weird chakra. The amount of it had been insane, more than a Genin had any right to have. 'Always keep in mind that your enemies' greatest strength can become their greatest weakness if you're smart about it', one of her teachers at the academy had once said, and she planned to let those words become reality.

She crushed the pill between her teeth, spreading the transparent fluid in her mouth.

A paralyzing poison that became stronger the more chakra the person affected by it used; it was the perfect weapon against this opponent. Of course, if she didn't use this unknown ability again, the effect would be not much more than an annoyance, but even that could give Itachi the advantage he needed.

“Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that,” she said with a crooked grin. “Surrendering is not really my thing, you see.”

“A shame,” the other girl sighed. “Well then, here we go.”

Yugito apparently took her even in the state she currently was in still seriously. She wasn't half-heartedly about her attack at all, rushing at her even faster than she had been during their previous fight and closing the distance between them in little more than a second.

She made sure to appear as if she was trying to defend herself, raising her arms as if she was attempting to block her and twitching her head as if she was trying to put it out of the way. Then the fist connected, breaking through her arms after overpowering her token defense in an instant and connecting straight with her face.

The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the cheering crowd, celebrating the end of another exciting fight.

Yugito didn't notice the little scratch on her knuckles where she had connected with Anko's face for the few seconds it existed before the leftover chakra of the Two-Tails healed the wound, leaving no proof that it ever existed to begin with.

“Did you see that, Kaa-san? You did, didn't you?”

The middle-aged woman laughed quietly into her fist as she watched her five years old son leaning over the wall in front of him to get a better look into the arena, amused about his antics and yet attentive in case he slipped and fell. “Of course, darling. It was very impressive, wasn't it?”

“She blew everything up! BOOM!” He threw his hands up in a theatrical manner to underline his point. “Hehe, that was so cool!”

“So it wasn't a mistake to come, after all, was it? We can go if you still think that it's boring.”

He energetically shook his head. “No! You were right, it's fun!”

“Maybe you should listen to me more often, then.” Not that she believed that would happen. Children, in general, weren't the best at listening to their parents and her son was no exception.

“Mhm,” he agreed unconvincingly. “Hey, Kaa-san, can I do that too? Please?”

“You will join the academy soon enough, Deidara. There they will teach you how to fight like that.”

He didn't seem happy with that but didn't complain.

“So beautiful...”

Your student has come a far way, Orochimaru.

The thought of someone using his fallen student's techniques without any malicious intentions brought something akin to peace to his heart; it was as if a piece of the little boy he had once taken under his wings was still alive. It was good to know that he would leave a legacy behind other than the cruelties and crimes he committed.

Yes, seeing the young girl in the arena using those techniques with such obvious talent to fight a superior foe on even ground, even if only temporarily, was truly wonderful. He felt proud of how far she had come.

“Tell me, Raikage-san,” Oonoki said with a small smile. “What did you say about her not using any of the Bijū's power? Because if my senses didn't betray me, she just did.”

“Which only complements the girl's abilities,” the man replied. “And I still don't see why it matters. You use every weapon at your disposal to win, that's a reality of the world we live in. With how long you're already walking on it, I thought you of all people would have understood that by now.”

“I assume all of you noticed what she did in the end, didn't you?” the Kazekage, Rasa, spoke up before the argument could continue, his voice thoughtful. “She wanted to be hit, wanted the chance to inject whatever substance she took from her pocket. She sacrificed herself to do some lasting damage to the opponent to help to bring her down, even if she wouldn't be the one to do so.”

“Admirable,” A replied with a wave of his hand. "But ultimately useless. The number of poisons that affect a Jinchuriki are very limited, and seeing that Yugito is still walking, she obviously didn't use any of them.” He laughed. “A nice try, though. I will give her that. Very well done indeed!”a

“I agree,” Rasa added. “To lay down your own life, even if only symbolic in this case, to aid your comrades with such a determination is impressive for someone that young. She obviously understands what being a shinobi in the service of her village means.”

“She is a very talented young girl,” Hiruzen agreed. And she certainly deserves a promotion when all this is over, he thought with a genuine smile.

The only one of his shinobi left now was Itachi who had one more fight to go before he would reach the finale. Then he would undoubtedly face against Yugito Nii, for she would certainly reach it as well. It remained to be seen if Anko's little trick at the end would be enough to bring him victory, but if one thing was clear, then that it would be an interesting fight.

He was looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

VIII

Itachi wasn't surprised when he saw Yugito win against his teammates. After all, just like them, he had more or less known that it would happen and he didn't expect different results for his own fight with her either.

What did surprise him, however, was how well Anko had done.

Yukio's fight went just as he had expected, with him trying to trap her in an explosive trap while keeping his distance and relying on Ninjutsu. That did of course not work out, but it was still a decent show. Anko, on the other hand, exceeded all of his expectations. That she somewhat managed to put pressure on her opponent in a Taijutsu battle was still within what he had thought might happen, her fighting style being rather annoying even for superior enemies when they encountered it for the first time, but everything that came afterwards was a surprise.

He definitively didn't expect her to use Orochimaru's Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes technique, even if it was on a smaller scale than the Sannin's. Especially not in combination with so many explosions and poison. Had she used it against him, it wouldn't be a lie to say that he very well might have lost. If he couldn't escape from it in time, his only chance would have been to use his Susano'o which at this point would still exhaust him in a matter of seconds rather than minutes.

Then there was also the thing she did at the end to consider.

Anko might be stubborn at times, but she wasn't stupid. Continuing the fight when she had obviously lost was a useless endeavour that made no sense at that point. It would have been explainable if she had been angry as she tended to let her emotions cloud her judgment from time to time, but she had appeared to be calm. So, knowing her, she must have done -or at least tried to do- something. He had a few ideas of what that could be as well, but unfortunately, he had been unable to see anything happen from his position.

Well, nothing he could do about that now. He had other things to worry about.

Before he reached the finale where he would face Yugito Nii, he had three other fights to win. Fortunately, none of his opponents were one of the other two above-average talented participants aside from the aforementioned blonde, so it was easy to show off his abilities without exhausting himself.

In the end, the one who decided whether or not a Genin would be promoted to become a Chūnin was the representative of their respective village, whether that was the Kage or just a shinobi sent in their stead didn't matter. With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if someone assumed that it was settled from the beginning that every village would promote all of their shinobi that reached the third stage of the exams and that the actual performance didn't matter.

They would be wrong. The low number of promotions per exam showed this just too clearly.

The Chūnin Exams were a substitution for war, intended to show the strength of your village's new generation for everyone to see, whether they be friend or foe. Promoting a Genin that had shown no real promise during the exam would be seen as a cheap and poor decision. Not only that, but it might also give the impression that a village either tried to make themselves appear stronger than they actually are by increasing their official number of Chūnin, meaning they're trying to hide a weakness that could be exploited, or that they have very low standards, which in turn also indicates that the village was weak. At worst, these impressions might be enough to convince another country that it would be worth a try to invade while at best, they might lead to fewer job offers from feudal lords who will go to other villages with them instead.

This meant there were exactly three reasons for a Genin to give it their all:

The first one was obviously the simple desire to win the tournament. The second one was to fulfill the purpose of the exam in demonstrating the new generation's strength to discourage other countries from invading their home. The last one was to impress all the present feudal lords and Kage to make sure that they can be promoted in the first place.

However, this could turn out surprisingly hard if you were much stronger than your competition; after all, if you just stomped your opponents, the viewer could just as easily assume that it was because they were so weak, not because you were especially strong. In that case, a Genin who fulfilled all the requirements for a promotion might find themselves still failing the exams because they didn't give good enough of a show.

Itachi didn't plan on making the same mistake.

Against his first opponent, he used a flashy Genjutsu. It was a relatively weak one, but it was enough to keep his opponent in it when strengthened by his Sharingan even when he made a clumsy attempt of breaking it. For most of the crowd, it looked as if he was running away from imaginary enemies and fighting the air, while inside the illusion the world was shaking and twisting in ways that wouldn't be possible in the real world. The feudal lords, on the other hand, could see the same thing he did as Itachi had made sure to include them in his technique.

It was fortunate that they all sat together. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to do so as it would waste too much chakra to put the entire stadium under his illusion.

Against his second opponent, he used only Taijutsu. During the entire fight, he made sure to appear completely in control, making it look as if the only reason the fight wasn't over yet was that he was cautious in case his foe was hiding his abilities. Finding the middle-ground between being cautious and being a coward wasn't easy, but he thought he managed it just fine. He ended this fight with a fancy shuriken technique -the kind Sasuke always liked to watch him do- that bound his opponent in wire strings that had been attached to his weapon.

Finding a new way to win his third fight was much harder; he didn't want to waste any more chakra -he had been hesitant about even the small amount for his previous Genjutsu- and also didn't really like the idea of repeating himself.

In the end, he simply decided to take his opponent as fast as he could out with Taijutsu. It might be boring to watch, but it was more important to be fit for his fight against the Jinchūriki than it was to impress the crowd. He already gave them two good shows and his last fight would be one as well; that should be enough.

So, here he was; standing in the middle of the arena and waiting for the proctor of this exam to announce the start of his last fight.

Thanks to Yugito's superior physics, he was inferior to her in Taijutsu, just like her enormous chakra reserves gave her a lead against him in Ninjutsu. That left only Genjutsu as a possible field he was better than her in, but there was another problem with that:

He didn't know if it would even work.

Jinchūrikis could control their Biju's chakra either by force or by allying themselves with them, and Itachi had no idea which was the case with his opponent. He knew she learned to control it through strict training since her youth which made the former appear more likely, but there was still the situation with the Jinchūriki of the eight-tailed to consider; he famously befriended his Biju, so who was to say he didn't teach Yugito to do the same? They were from the same village, after all.

Now, if she had indeed befriended it, it would be no problem for the Two-Tails to free her from any illusion he could cast on her, meaning it would be just a waste of chakra. Unfortunately, the only way he could somewhat reliable find out if that was the case was by using a powerful Genjutsu and see what happened. A weaker one just wouldn't do, seeing as her training doubtlessly involved how to free herself from them.

So I guess I will need to try and trap her rather than beat her in open battle.

He would certainly try. Fortunately, he had a plan.

“This fight will be between Itachi Uchiha from Konohagakure and Yugito Nii from Kumogakure! Are the participants ready?”

She had confidence in her son's abilities -how could she not after watching him beat his last three opponents with such ease?- but there was still a lump in her throat that didn't want to vanish.

He might be strong, prodigious even, but was it enough to beat his last opponent? A Jinchūriki who had some measure of control over her Biju, no matter how little? After observing her last three fights, two of which were against her son's teammates, she didn't think so.

She subtly looked to her side when she felt something touch her only to find that the Sandaime had laid a hand on her arm out of sight of the other Kage.

It was a good thing that she currently wore an ANBU mask, hiding her blush. She was an adult and yet here she was, being reassured by the person she was supposed to guard. With a deep breath, Mikoto regained her cool; she had a job to do. She couldn't let herself be distracted, not even by her son.

Good luck, Itachi, she thought before returning her full attention back to the protection of her Kage just when the fight began.

“You first teammate retreated and forced me to rush after him, the other one did the exact opposite, and now you chose to just stand still. You're an interesting bunch, aren't you?”

“If one strategy doesn't work, you obviously try another one until something does.”

Yugito's lips twitched. ”Neither of us will win if we stay like this, though.”

“Maybe I don't want to win,” he said with a tilt of his head. “Just having a draw with you would be pretty good already, don't you think? Both of us would win the tournament in that case, from a certain point of view.”

“Tempting,” she said before suddenly throwing up her arms. “But I think I must decline.”

“Nezumi Kedama!” (Mouse Hairball)

When she spit several small balls of fire towards him, the technique didn't look very special at first. However, the real problem appeared when he tried to dodge them; rather than just flying past him, the now mouse-formed balls of flames changed directions and pursued him, forcing him to continue backing away.

“Don't take your eyes away from your enemy!”

Itachi noticed that his opponent's nails had changed and were now 30 centimetres long when he dodged her slash by a hair, but he didn't have time to think about it before one of the flame balls crashed into him with a small explosion.

A second later, a murder of crows flew towards her, blocking her sight and making her jerk back with wide eyes. Then, before she had the chance to do anything about her situation, she instinctively fell into a crouch to dodge a kunai that came at her from behind. This one was shortly followed by others until she found herself deflecting weapons that came at her from every direction with her claws.

Having experienced the tendency of his team to use explosions whenever possible, she jumped into the air before he had the chance to blow her up while her vision was so limited by all his birds. Her prediction became true just a second later when the place she just came from was consumed by the result of several small explosions.

Yugito had no time to celebrate her foresight, however, for she suddenly found herself under attack from two sides by him and one of his clones.

She tilted her head out of the way of one kick before redirecting the leg with her shoulder to bring the clone out of balance while simultaneously blocking a kunai from the real him with her left claw. Then, she set out to slash the still unbalanced clone into pieces only to stop her movement when she saw a kunai with an explosion tag thrown at her from below. Catching the weapon before it could hit her, she ripped the tag off and threw the weapon at the clone she had just been about to attack. This made Itachi abandon his own attack, giving her the time to block another kunai slash before she put the tag on the still extended arm and kicked him towards the other clone to get them both away from her.

The explosion ripped both of them apart.

The fight didn't stop there, though. She had barely landed on the ground, a good 15 meters away from him, when two hands broke through the ground and grabbed her ankles. Itachi instantly rushed forwards to exploit her momentary confusion, only for him and the clone in the ground to be hit with a stream of electricity when the blonde's body transformed into lightning.

Suddenly it was him who needed to jump back to avoid two hands that came through the ground, shortly followed by their owner that wasted no time in jumping after him.

“You guys are seriously starting to annoy me with all those clones and explosions,” she said with a growl as she slashed at his head.

Itachi had no breath to spare for a reply before he was forced to tilt his head back to avoid being hit by her claws. Afterwards followed a short Taijutsu bout that made him very glad that he had a Sharingan; careful not to cut himself, he redirected her right arm before attempting to use his short stature to sneak through her defense. Not deterred at all, she simply stopped his attack by swinging her knee up to knock him out. He jerked back, barely able to avoid this counter, only to be instantly forced to block several more slashes from her claws while simultaneously backing further away in an attempt to get out of her range.

Yugito was moving faster than when she fought Yukio or Anko and her claws gave her more range than she had before. That might have been to his advantage if he could fight like Anko, where the additional range would have been more of a disadvantage than anything else, but that was unfortunately not the case. For all that he had seen her fight with his Sharingan several times before, his body was just not able to make the same moves as her. The only reason he could keep up at all was that he could predict her movements with his eyes, but even that had its limits.

That became obvious when she suddenly found an opening and sent him flying with a kick to his chest.

Itachi managed to regain in control even when the breath was knocked out of his lungs, changing his position mid-air and landing on his feet instead of crashing into the ground. Even so, he was still dragged for several meters before he came finally to a stop just ten meters away from the two small bodies of water in one corner of the arena.

The entire sequence had lasted little more than three seconds, but it had been enough time for his opponent to create three clones and surround him.

Escaping was not an option, so he started to rush through hand seals instead.

“Katon: Hibashiri!” (Fire Release: Running Fire)

Releasing a stream of fire towards the ground in front of him, the flames instantly started to move on their own to encircle him with a protective barrier. A second later, three of the bodies dissolved into lightning when they came into contact with the fire. The fourth one, the one that must be the real Yugito, ripped a hole into the wall with a slash of her claws that sent knives of compressed air towards it.

Before he could react, she closed the distance between them in less than a heartbeat and stabbed him through his chest with one of her claws.

This time, she wasn't prepared for the explosion. 

When the cloud of dust lifted, they knelt in a similar position just 10 meters from each other. However, the difference was that his breathing was notable harder than to begin of the fight while hers was still calm. Not that he was already exhausted, his stamina was better than that, but he was definitively starting to feel the strain on his chakra and body.

“I know I repeat myself, but you guys are really annoying. First it were all these explosions and clones, and now there are exploding clones. Seriously, enough is enough! ”

He narrowed his eyes a bit. Something was off about the way she said that, but what was it? “You seem to know a thing or two about clones yourself, though.”

“I fight fire with fire,” she said with a shrug that, again, looked a bit weird, although he couldn't say why. “Hey, that right now was not one of these weird crow clones, right? Isn't it wasteful for someone with your reserves to use a shadow clone only to blow it up?”

He suppressed a grimace at that.

She was right; the Bunshin Daibakuha (Great Clone Explosion) was rather chakra-consuming. It was especially annoying for him because the technique had done hardly any damage aside from burning some parts of her clothes. Right now, he didn't have too much his chakra left, which meant his initial plan might not be possible anymore if he didn't do something to change the flow of the battle. As it was now, he was just wasting his energy without having anything to show for it.

“Well,” she said while standing up with a shake of her head. “It's to my advantage, so I'm not complaining.”

With one blow, he suddenly realized what was off about her: although he hadn't injured her, the way she moved and spoke was somewhat lethargic. Not very much, definitively not enough to be obvious, but it was noticeable for someone who looked closely. But when he hadn't injured her, what was causing it...?

Anko!

Did she inject her with some poison? Was that why she hadn't surrendered? But where did she get a poison that affected a Jinchūriki, and why was it only starting to work now?

“Here we go!”

Lethargic or not, she was still fast. Not as fast as in the beginning, he noted, but still fast. Still, if the effect got only stronger with time, he might be able to exploit it if he managed to defend himself long enough. But with his current reserves and the way he burned through them just by keeping up with her, well...

Making a split decision, Itachi quickly took a soldier pill from his pocket and managed to put it in his mouth just in time before he needed both his hand to defend himself. It wasn't one of the stronger ones, but it should be enough for what he intended to do.

“Something like that will not save you,” she exclaimed when her fist, which had once again normal-sized nails, connected with his palm.

In the following confrontation, he allowed himself to be pushed back as subtle as he could as to not give away what he was doing. Ducking under her leg when she tried to kick him, he backed away with a flick-flack before throwing a number of shurikens at her that were connected by wire. That didn't slow her down, however, as she simply threw kunai of her own that hit the holes in the centre of his weapons to direct them back at him, demonstrating that she was just as skilled in this area of combat as she was in all the others. Suddenly having his own weapons, including wires, thrown back at him, he had no other choice than to jump in the air and twist his body to avoid them.

Unfortunately, that gave his opponent the opportunity she needed to close the distance. He had just enough time to raise his arms in front of his face before the kick threw him back downwards, right into the water.

While he hadn't intended to reach the water body in this way, it was still where he had wanted to go, so he didn't complain too much. Ignoring the pain from the crash, he used the moment where the water blocked his opponent's view to create a clone that would hide underwater.

Things got more complicated when emerged from the water, though. 

“Raiton: Gian!” (Lightning Release: False Darkness)

Itachi's eyes went wide as time slowed down around him.

He instantly knew that he wouldn't be able to escape the body of water before the attack hit it, meaning he couldn't dodge that way. The only possible escape route was up, but that would bring him into the waiting arms of the blonde who would doubtlessly throw him back into the water, making the point nought.

Without thinking about it, he created another shadow clone while suppressing his annoyance at not having enough time to form a less chakra-consuming crow clone. The clone didn't even wait until the smoke vanished before he jumped towards the ground, away from the water, already performing hand seals.

The lightning attack hit an upwards flying torrent of water and followed the stream rather than continuing to fly downwards, reaching its source, which was his clone, just when he reached the ground, releasing all its energy harmlessly into the earth after destroying it.

Then Yugito was suddenly in front of him, sending him flying once again with a kick that made him gasp in pain even though it lacked the strength from her previous attack. It was still enough to make him slide over the water for several meters before he came to a stop on his knees, however.

He looked up, expecting and preparing for another attack, only to find that his opponent was still standing where he left her, leaned forward and with her hands on her knees for support.

“What is-” she started, but didn't get the chance to finish as the clone he had hidden underwater took the chance and appeared right behind her. To her credit, she instantly turned around to defend herself, but the effect of whatever substance Anko had used was finally taking effect; rather than sending a kick at his clone, she toppled and fell to her knees, meaning she was unable to stop his clone's technique.

“Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Water Prison Technique)

He released his breath when he saw her fully enclosed by the water.

She would surely be able to escape the prison if she weren't as weakened by Anko's poison as she was, but not like this. This meant that he didn't need to go through with his initial plan, according to which he would have used a lightning technique he had copied with his Sharingan to shock her while she was inside the water. A relief, really, as his chakra was still pretty low, even after taking the pill earlier. After all, they were used to increase your stamina first and foremost, not to refresh your chakra. While that happened as a side product, the amount wasn't that big. He was already pushing his reserves as it was and the chakra-consuming water prison didn't help things in the slightest.

But no matter. This was his victory.

The boy hadn't even scratched her, so how had he injected her with poison? She had even made sure not to breathe in the smoke of any of the explosions in case he would use the same trick as his teammate!

She didn't know if she should snarl in anger or laugh in excitement; on one hand, she had somehow fallen prey to the same trick twice, while on the other hand, she had found not one but two opponents that were actually a challenge!

But that was secondary now. First, she needed to concentrate on not losing.

“Matatabi,” she thought. “I need your help. Give me some of your chakra.”

“Twice in one day? Honestly, Yugi, are you slacking off?”

“Very funny, but now is not the time. I will lose if you don't hurry!”

She heard her comrades booming laugh before she finally lent her some chakra. Her lips tucked upwards, assured that whatever substance was in her body would be gone soon enough, when her vision suddenly became black.

“Hey, Matatabi! What is going on?” she shouted inside her head, ignoring how even her thoughts seemed to be more sluggish now. “Why isn't it working?”

“I don't know,” the beast said, sounding unsure for the first time since she knew her. "My chakra should heal you, but for some reason, it doesn't!”

“Then send some more!”

“You sure? You still can't control it very well, you know.”

“I don't care!” she replied forcefully. “I will not lose like that!”

It was stupid to let herself go like this, but she didn't want to lose here. This hadn't anything to do with the task the Raikage had given her anymore, nor with her desire to be promoted; no, she wanted to win because she had fun!

Her partner complied with a wordless grunt, and a moment later, she felt a new wave of energy surge through her veins.

“And the winner is-”

The proctor was interrupted when an explosion of red chakra ripped through Itachi's prison and the clone besides it, creating shock waves that sent small waves in all directions and made the water below Yugito's feet boil.

The chakra didn't form a tail, which was good, but a thin layer of it wrapped all around her body protectively, shielding her from any harm that could come to her. And it didn't just protect her from outside threats, for obviously the poison had been purged from her system.

This is very bad, he thought, a sentiment that became only stronger when he saw that her iris had been replaced by the heterochromatic eyes of the Two-Tails. There was still something human in them in the way she looked at him, which was a relief as he didn't want an out-of-control Jinchūriki at his throat. Still, by the way the human intellect clashed with the animalistic hunger in them, he could fairly confidently say that she still lacked the control she would have later in life.

Itachi knew exactly what he needed to do.

He had just opened his mouth to surrender as there was no way he would fight a Jinchūriki in such a situation when his body moved on its own to evade an axe kick that would have smashed his head. The same happened with the following attack and the one after that before his mind gained control over his body back just when he dodged another kick.

Then, rather than pursuing him further, she punched into the air in front of her to throw a shock-wave in his direction, prompting him to weave hand seals as fast as he could.

“Suiton: Suijinheki!” (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)

The wall stood for less than a second before the shock-wave broke through it, but it did the job of lessening the impact and for that, he was thankful. It still hurt when it sent him flying after it crashed into him, though.

He was still flying when Yugito appeared beside him, arriving with such a speed that even though he could still predict her movements with his Sharingan, he couldn't react in time. So, rather than trying to block her next attacks outright, he tried to minimize the damage as much as he could.

The first punch was aimed at his left shoulder, so he already twisted his body in advance so that there would be less power behind it when it connected. He was pretty sure the arm in question was still dislocated, though, the pain making him bit on his cheeks to stop himself from screaming.

The second punch aimed at his chest; thankfully, his arms were already there, so he could put them between her and his body, ignoring the intense pain that shot through his left arm and shoulder at that action.

The third attack was a kick, and this time he managed to avoid an injury altogether; Itachi ankled his legs in a manner that made her kick the bottom of his feet, allowing him to use her own power to his advantage as he pushed himself into the air and away from his opponent.

That didn't last for long, for she jumped after him just a moment later, managing to catch up to him in little more than a second. However, she didn't immediately attack him. Instead, he could see her channeling chakra towards her mouth for some kind of Jutsu.

At this point, there was not much he could do. The problem was that he needed to do something as no one seemed inclined to end the battle, so he did the only thing he could think of:

He directed all of his remaining chakra into his Sharingan and glanced directly into her eyes.

One moment she was fighting the haze of bloodlust to keep in control of her body, the next moment she found herself standing inside her inner world. That was not the real surprise, though, and neither was the monstrous, two-tailed cat behind her.

No, the real surprise was the presence of her opponent.

That she didn't immediately attack him was a testament of how shocked she was. “That's my inner world! How did you-”

“It's his eyes,” Matatabi interrupted her, sounding oddly gleeful. “Though I didn't expect someone that young to be capable of such a thing.”

Right, she thought. The Sharingan. I should have thought of that. To be fair, having someone invade your mind like this was rather off-putting.

“Do you plan to control me with them? I heard how one of your ancestors used these eyes of yours to control the Nine-Tails in his fight with your Shodai Hokage, you see, but I never had someone try the same with me! ”

“Don't be ridiculous,” she snapped. “He has barely any chakra left! Besides, there are no records of the Sharingan controlling Biju aside from the Nine-Tails!”

“But that's what makes it so interesting! ”

She opened her mouth to reply, but the boy was faster. “I doubt I would have enough chakra to attempt that even if my reserves were full. Attempting it now would be nothing less than stupid of me.”

“Oh, how disappointing.”

“If that's not why you're here, then what is it?” she said, ignoring Matatabi's whining about how never anything interesting happened to her. Then, before he even had a chance to reply, she noticed something else. “And how do you even know about me? I can't believe they tell children much about the Biju in Konoha.”

“I'm my clan's heir, so I have access to more information than most. At least when it has something to do with our Kekkei Genkai.”

That makes sense, I guess. Besides, there were enough shinobi that didn't care much about their children's innocent and childhood. Such an attitude would also explain how someone so young could be so strong already as she knew from experience that only intense training brought such results. “And you're not scared?”

It was one thing for him not to be scared of her, there were enough people who didn't blame the Jinchūriki for holding a demon inside of them, but even now, standing just a few meters away from Matatabi, he seemed perfectly calm.

“You can't harm me in this world,” he said with a small smile. “The worst thing you can do is throwing me out.”

She narrowed her eyes but accepted the answer. “You still didn't answer my first question; what is your aim by coming here?”

He didn't reply immediacy, making her unintentional tense up in preparation for anything he might try, only to calm down again when he finally opened his mouth. “I wanted to ask you to stop attacking me.”

She blinked, too surprised to answer.

Matatabi didn't have the same problem, though. ”Hah! I take it back, this is actually fun! And say, why would she do that?”

“For one thing, because her control is obviously not perfect yet and running amok in another village would put your Kage into a bad position,” he said. “For another, because I will die if this fight goes on for much longer. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how Konoha would react if the heir of its biggest clan was killed like that, do I? People are expected to die in these exams, of course, but if it happens because of an out-of-control Jinchūriki, people might take offense.” Then he sent her another small smile. “Also, on a more personal note, I would simply prefer not to die.”

“That...makes sense.” And to be completely honest, she didn't want to kill him either. Not after he entertained her as much as he did. Things would be different if they met on a mission, naturally, but right now? Also, winning like this, with only half her senses, wouldn't be satisfying at all.

“He really has a point, who would have thought.”

“Alright,” she agreed with a sigh. “I agree. Now get the fuck out of my head.”

When she came back into the real world, Yugito found herself kneeling only a few meters away from her opponent.

Honestly, how often had she found herself in that situation today? It was starting to get ridiculous.

She felt the backlash of using Matatabi's chakra, her body feeling as if she had spent the last few hours sparring with her sensei. Well, maybe a light sparring, she thought with a soft snort. I can still move, after all. Still, she could feel the strain of the day catching up with her. Not only was her entire body sore, but her chakra was also mostly depleted, another side-effect of using Matatabi's chakra.

Yet she looked much better than her opponent.

She was exhausted, yes, but with some effort, she would be able to move and continue to fight. Not very well, but at least somewhat. Itachi, on the other hand, seemed to only keep himself upwards with willpower alone. Not to forget that she had dislocated his arm, which would have limited him even if he managed to continue the fight.

There was a vague feeling of disappointment in her chest, not only because the fight was over but also because she had let herself go as much as she did. She also felt somewhat bad for injuring him. Not because of the act itself or because she had used the Biju's chakra, it would be stupid to lose because you didn't use everything at your disposal, but because she used it without being truly in control. She was taught since her earliest childhood to never use a technique she hadn't mastered yet, which was especially important for a Jinchūriki like her, and yet she had done just that.

It was dishonorable.

She knew what to do.

“I surrender.”

“I surrender.”

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Chūnin Exams

IX

“Both opponents have yielded. This match is a draw!”

Itachi blinked while trying to make sense of what was going on. When he heard his opponent surrender at the same time as he did, he thought he might have heard something wrong. After all, his sight was already blurry and full of black spots from exhaustion, who was to say that his hearing wasn't compromised as well? Maybe his brain was just starting to imagine things. After such a fight, it wouldn't be a big surprise if he had a concussion in addition to his other injuries.

It didn't make any sense. She was obviously affected by the sudden loss of her power and exhausted from the fight, he could see that even in his current condition, but he didn't doubt that she was in notable better condition than him. If the fight continued, she would win hands down.

Fortunately, she seemed to notice his confusion even though he didn't say anything. He didn't think he would have been able to voice his questions loud enough to be heard over the crowd, so that was very convenient.

“Continuing the fight when you're half-dead on your feet would be boring,” she said with a small smile. “Consider this a sign of my appreciation for such a good fight and also a 'thank you' for helping me avoiding an international incident. Next time, you will not be so lucky.”

Itachi chuckled lightly while he was gently aided to his feet by an arriving medic, ignoring the dull pain in his ribs that this action caused. He would try to avoid this 'next time' if he could. No need to press his luck.

“Remember, you owe me another fight,” her voice echoed from behind him, just when his vision started to get black. “I'm looking forward to it.”

“Come one, smile a bit! You don't want to look like a grumpy old man in the photo, do you?”

Itachi was already smiling, but he reluctantly widened it a bit more. He wasn't the type to widely grin, never had been, and that wouldn't change now. But if it made his teammates and mother happy, he could bring himself to do so. 

Nonetheless, it was a relief when the flash finally appeared.

“Alright,” his mother said while she waved the film she held in her hand before turning it around for them to see. “I think it turned out great, don't you agree?”

The picture showed him lying in bed with Anko and Yukio on either side of him where they have squeezed themselves on the edge, proudly holding their new flak jackets into the camera while the Hokage and Tanaka-sensei stood to each side of it with small smiles on their faces.

Yes, he could already see his mother framing that picture and putting it into their living room right next to their family portrait. His father would doubtlessly approve.

Sasuke would surely swoon over it as well, so at least there was that to look forward to. 

“Damn right!” Anko exclaimed while she jumped up from his bed, her fist thrown into the air. “It was about time that we were promoted after we worked out asses off for so long!”

“Language,” his mother chided, though she didn't bother to hide her smile.

Even now, he could still see some worry on her face. Not surprising if you considered the beating he had taken especially towards the end of the fight, but it made him still feel uncomfortable. In the end, his worst injury had been his shoulder. Other than that, he had only bruises and mild sprains. Nothing that the medic-nins couldn't heal. As it was now, he had been told to rest a few days and not to do any training for a week or two to give his body time to recover but was otherwise completely fine.

She wasn't the only one who wasn't as cheerful as it might appear at first sight, for Yukio seemed somewhat down as well. The difference was that he couldn't hide it as well as Itachi's mother.

“Come on, Yukio,” Anko said, having noticed it as well. “No need to look all gloomy like that. We're Chūnin now! Be a bit happier!”

“Do we really deserve it, though?” he said with a downward smile. “I mean, you and Itachi did great, but I got whipped off the map like a petty little annoyance, without any trouble at all. I didn't really-”

“Ah, shut up. No one of us could beat her, you had just bad luck that you fought her in your first match.”

“Itachi got a draw, though.”

“Only because she decided to forfeit out of some sense of honour,” he said. “I was in much worse condition. Had we continued, I would have lost without question.”

“Your teammates are correct,” the Sandaime spoke up. “Yugito Nii wasn't an enemy any of you could have hoped to defeat, yet all of you -yes, that includes you as well- did a great job in trying to do so anyway. Not just that, you also demonstrated important abilities every shinobi needs to have: Anko showed her willingness to lay down her life to support her comrades and Itachi demonstrated the ability to understand that there are times where fighting to the bitter end is not the right decision, for example.” He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. “You didn't fight to win but to give your team as much insight into the capabilities of an enemy as possible. You saw the greater picture and acted according to that without hesitation.” Taking a step back, he smiled at the three of them. “All of you have proven yourself worthy of being called shinobi of Konohagakure. You deserve these vests and all the responsibilities that come with them, never doubt that.”

“I guess so,” Yukio murmured, still sounding unsure but appearing to feel a bit better than before.

“Well then,” the old man continued. “I have one last meeting with the other Kage before we can leave tomorrow. Are you feeling up to it yet, Itachi?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.” As long as they didn't run the entire way back but took their time, he should easily be able to manage the journey.

“Wonderful. Then I will leave you all to celebrate your victory now. I'm sure your sensei and Mikoto will make sure that you don't overdo it.”

“If you have anything to say, say it. Just stop glaring at me from behind like that all the time, it's getting on my nerves.”

“Well, maybe I wouldn't be glaring at you if you hadn't just thrown away a sure victory like that!”

“Really? Your bad mood has nothing to do with the fact that you lost in the first round, then?”

The way the head of her teammate -former teammate, she reminded herself. The exams are over now- became red as she became even angrier was all the more amusing when combined with the ugly snarl that was on her face.

Yugito thought the other girl must be really angry if she was accusing her that openly. Usually, she limited herself to snide comments and muttered insults, fearing the consequences of actually offending her. A stupid sentiment for she certainly wouldn't hurt another person from her village even if she could get offended by the words of a person she didn't care for at all. Not that Kuina knew that, of course, and Yugito didn't plan to tell her any time soon. Watching her like this was way too amusing.

“Why you-”

“That's enough, from both of you.” The other girl's mouth snapped shut at the words of the Raikage while she instinctively straightened up under his gaze. “The show you provided was sufficient. There is no doubt in anyone's mind about who was the strongest participant and real victor of the tournament.” His eyes locked with hers. “It was easy enough to twist your action in the minds of the present feudal lords as something positive. You had already won and your opponent was beaten, hitting him again would have been dishonorable. While not a sentiment that would hold much worth with any shinobi worth their salt, those civilians ate it easily enough. Still, Yugito, would you mind sharing what really moved you to forfeit the match?”

She swallowed. When he hadn't asked for her reasoning immediately after the match or when they left the village, she had assumed that conversation would wait until they arrived home. Obviously, she had been wrong.

“I really didn't want to beat him into the ground when he was already in such a condition-” she began, only to be interrupted by the other girl.

“Since when are you capable of feeling pity?”

“-after he gave me such a great fight.”

The Raikage stayed silent for a moment before he replied. “Is that all?”

She straightened up when she heard the disapproval in his voice. “No,” she added as calmly as she could. “It was also to pay him back for his help.”

“For what?”

“While I didn't lose control, it was a close thing. Without his intervention, I might have run amok during the fight, which would have had horrible political consequences.” She then explained what happened in her inner world at the end of her fight.

He stayed silent for a long time, making her fear the worst, but when he replied, his voice was calm. “I will let it slide this time,” he said. “But I expect that there will be no repeat of such a thing, is that clear?”

“Yes, Raikage-sama!”

“We will also move up our timetable. Once we return, you will immediately depart with my brother to finally learn how to completely control your Tailed Beast's chakra. We can't afford to let something like this happen again. Next time, there might not be a convenient Uchiha brat close enough to save you.”

“Yes, Raikage-sama!”

“Why aren't you sleeping?”

Yukio flinched at the sudden intrusion but didn't turn around when Anko sat down next to him. “I'm just not tired, I guess...”

She hummed. “So instead you're doing... what exactly? Keeping watch in case Hokage-sama's ANBU guards miss something?”

“Hey, you never know,” he said with a quiet laugh. “You will not find it ridiculous when I save you from being killed in your sleep because you mindlessly trusted others to protect you.”

“If that ever happens, I will apologize for ever doubting you.”

After that, they stayed silent for several minutes, simply enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the sleeping forest around them. It was a starless night with even the moon hidden behind clouds, making the distant campfire the only source of light. However, as far as they were away from it at the moment, it could just as well be non-existent.

“Do you want to tell me what's really keeping you awake?”

He was honestly surprised that she had waited as long as she did before she asked him. While Anko could be patient when she needed to, she preferred to simply dash ahead and worry about the consequences of her actions later.

“Will you do me the same favour if I do?”

“Maybe.”

That was probably the best he could hope for, he thought with a chuckle. “I think... I think I might be a little depressed.”

When Anko answered, her voice was gentler than he had ever heard it before. “Because you lost your first fight during the tournament.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes.”

He was glad she didn't press him to continue, giving him the time to think of the right words.

It had been clear from the beginning that he would lose that fight and he hadn't lied to himself that it would be any different. He had known that it would happen and made his peace with it. Now, in hindsight, he thought that might have been a mistake. After all, if you went into battle convinced you would lose, there was no chance of it ending any other way. Even if your enemy was inferior to you, you would still get defeated because your mind was already set on that outcome. In short, you were your own worst enemy.

“You didn't fight to win but to give your team as much insight into the capabilities of an enemy as possible. You saw the greater picture and acted according to that without hesitation.”

That was what the Sandaime had said. It was the truth, sure, but it didn't make him feel much better. Yes, he had sacrificed himself in an (failed) attempt to give his teammates some information about their enemy, but so what? This wasn't a real battlefield, so even if his plan had worked as intended, his 'sacrifice' wouldn't have been for anything important. He wouldn't have saved his friend's lives, wouldn't have gained important information that would protect his home, wouldn't have done anything impressive at all.

Yukio knew the true purpose of those exams, of course, so it could be argued that he would have aided his teammates in representing Konoha, but he just didn't feel it that way!

“It's just... I thought I could do more than that, you know?” he finally said. “It's not just that I have lost, but also the manner of how I lost! I know I'm not a genius or even overly talented, not like you or Itachi, but to see the difference between her and myself... it's crushing.”

He felt similar every time he trained with Itachi and saw how advanced the other boy was even though he was barely half his age. But at least they were teammates, friends. Training with him, as much as the difference in strength bothered him at times, at least benefited him and made him stronger as well. His last loss, however, only taught him how great the distance to the top truly was.

“I understand.”

His first instinct was to disagree, to remind her how talented she was compared to someone like him, but he kept his mouth shut when he recognized the emotions in her voice. That must be the first time I have ever heard her sound so downcast.

“I knew I would lose the same way you knew it as well. She and I... we were on completely different levels, that much was clear from the beginning. I entered the arena hoping to do as much harm to her as I could to help Itachi and maybe get her to show some of her aces.” She chuckled. “But you know what? When she actually stood in front of me, when I could look into her eyes and saw the absolute confidence of victory in them, I wanted to win. I really, really wanted to win.”

He snorted before he could stop herself.

“What's so funny about that?” She sounded defensive now, maybe even a little bit hurt.

“Nothing, nothing, it's just, well,” He scratched the back of his head. “Only a few minutes ago, I thought how it was a mistake that I went into the fight without any real intention of actually winning, only planning to make her show her strength as much as possible before I get knocked out. I guess I find it fitting that you wouldn't make the same mistake.”

Now it was her turn to snort. “And see what a fat lot of good it did for me.”

“That's not the point, though,” he said. “You went into battle with the intention to win while I went into it with the intention to lose. If that doesn't show the difference between the two of us, then I don't know either.”

Yukio wasn't truly surprised by that. Anko had always been the most energetic person he had ever met, never backing down from a challenge or giving up when she came face to face with insurmountable odds. Even if her words said otherwise, she always rushed into battle with the full intention to win.

There were another few minutes of silence before Anko spoke up once again. “So, what are you going to do when we are back in Konoha?”

He sighed. “I'm not sure yet. I guess I will take it slow for a while, maybe sign up for guard duty until I found an answer.”

His parents, for all that they were fully supportive of his chosen career path, would be happy if he were to take it slow for a bit. They never said it to his face, but he had heard them talk when they thought he was either not there or asleep. Like many other civilians, they looked up to the shinobi as long as they didn't have loved ones who were one. If they did, they would suddenly remember all the dangers associated with that profession and wish for their friends and loved ones to not be a part of that “vile field of work”.

Instead of saying that, however, he turned the question back at her. “What about you? The Anko I know wouldn't just accept her loss like that and then don't do anything about it.”

That brought a genuine laugh out of her. “I have an idea, but I'm not sure about it yet. It would be kind of a big step and I would need Hokage-sama's permission before even attempting it...”

He waited for her to elaborate further but didn't press for more when she didn't. Still, he wondered what it could possibly be that she thought about when she needed the permission of the Sandaime for it. To warrant something like that, it was either very, very dangerous or very, very forbidden. Possibly even both.

It was also typically Anko. He could still remember how she pressed Orochimaru to teach her his snake techniques, no matter how often she was told off by him. Even the threat of being eaten alive by the snakes if they found her to be an unworthy summoner didn't slow her down as much as a single second, quite the opposite actually. If there was one constant thing in the world, then it was that Anko loved dangerous things and wanted them for her own if somehow possible.

“Well, just tell me if I can help you in any way. That's what a team is there for, isn't it?”

Talking with her had definitively helped him get some of the weight off his chest, so doing the same for her was the least he could do.

The smile she gave him wasn't her usual big and feral one, but it was nonetheless bright. “Of course, you will be the first I tell if I go through with it.”

Konoha was generally considered to be the strongest of the Five Great Nations, he knew that. And honestly, he couldn't really deny that there was some truth to it. They had come out on top of every war since the creation of the village system, after all.

Rasa was also familiar with their staggering and ever so annoying trend of producing unnatural talented shinobi.

That being said, this had been the first time that he had actually come face to face with one such prodigious child while they were still young. It was one thing to know what people like Kakashi Hatake or Orochimaru were able to do at a young age, but it was something else entirely to see a seven years old go toe to toe with a Jinchūriki. Yes, he still lost in the end, no matter that the 'official' result was a draw, but to even get that far...

It wasn't just him, but his teammates as well. While the boy was at best slightly above average, the girl showed impressive skills as well. Not on the same level as the Uchiha, but still very impressive.

For all that he hated to admit it, Konoha's youth was superior to Suna's. Not only had they still not recovered from the last war, but they also suffered a drought recently that killed a great number of people. It was not a long drought, meaning the number of deaths were manageable, but it was a blow nonetheless. And then there was Sasori's defection...

It seemed it would be wise to strengthen his ties with Konoha. There were already peace negotiations going on, but until now, he hadn't wanted to develop too close relationships with any village because that could antagonize others. That would change now.

Better to have one close and reliable ally than several unreliable.

Damn Konoha and their stupid wonder children!

It became more and more frustrating the more Oonoki thought about it. Before the exams, he had thought things were proceeding great; his village was rebuilding and regaining its strength unexpectedly fast, there were several very promising youths that would become strong shinobi one day, and the relationship with most of his neighbours was good. And that wasn't even the end of it!

Konoha, his village's greatest and most hated enemy, suffered one blow after another. First, their Yondaime died -hah, serves that bastard right!- during the attack of the Nine-Tails which also killed a good number of the village. Then, Orochimaru, one of their strongest shinobi, defected, which meant that there was only one of the Sannin left to worry about. It was as if Kami decided that Konoha had too much luck over the last few decades and finally stepped in to change that.

As things turned out, that wasn't the case, for there was already a new prodigy, and an Uchiha as well. That damn clan was annoying enough as it was, but now they had another wonder child aside of Shisui no Shunshin! How was it fair that they got another one?

Pah, he thought. Whatever. He's still young, so there will be more than enough opportunities for him to die. And even if not, well, child prodigies tend to burn out quickly enough most of the time.

Even if you had to apply a little push now and then to let it happen.

Well, at least the boy shut that damn Raikage up. Bringing a Jinchūriki that can't even control its powers to the Chūnin Exams, really, I have no idea what went through his head...

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

The Calm Before the Storm

“Izumi, are you ready? We need to leave now.”

Did she forget the time again? She could have sworn she still had time left. “I'm almost finished, give me just one more minute!”

Alright, she could clean up later. No big deal, it’s not like she made too much of a mess anyway. She was still new to pottery, so some accidents were prone to happen, but for the most part, her working space was clean enough. Also, she dared to say that her clay vase had turned out great! Especially if you considered that she practiced pottery for not even two months now.

Well, Izumi thought as she deactivated her Sharingan, these eyes help a lot, to be fair. It was still a struggle for her to keep them active for longer than half an hour, but that was more than enough for this purpose. It wasn’t as if she needed to keep them activated all the time either; Izumi used them only when she wanted to create more complicated patterns or when she noticed that something seemed wrong. Them helping her to avoid accidents that would spray the entire area with clay were the main reason the space was as clean as it was.

That wasn’t the best thing about her newfound control over her Kekkei Genkai, though.

“What do you say, Kokuban?” she asked the crow that was perched on the armrest of her chair. “Do you like it?”

Kokuban couldn’t talk, only a few summons could, but the replying cawing sounded vaguely like an agreement.

“Come on, Izumi,” her mother called again. “We don’t have all day!”

“I know, I know,” she muttered under her breath before carefully putting her vase to her other works and rushing out of her room. “I’m ready, let’s go!”

The best thing about having improved her mastery over her eyes, she mused, was that Itachi kept his promise and taught her a technique that was singular to him. Sure, the summoning technique itself was nothing too special, though it was still rare, but her friend was the only one who had a contract with the crows.

Or at least he had been until he convinced his partners to allow her to form a contract with them as well.

She could honestly not say how she had lived before Kokuban had come into her life even though he was there for only a month now. A crow might be somewhat of a weird pet, but he was so much more than that; he was also a partner, and a friend. Civilians might not understand that, lacking the understanding of how smart a summons could be whether or not they were able to speak, but she didn’t care. All the people that mattered understood and that was the only important thing.

He was also rather useful on missions, which was something regular pets couldn't hope to keep up with.

“Did you have a productive week, sweetheart?” her mother asked while they were walking.

She grimaced. “I didn’t get as much done as I wanted because we got so much homework to do. But I have a vase and a few bowls!”

“You know you don’t need to do that, do you? If you’re so busy, you should use your free time to relax, not to do even more work.”

“It's okay,” she beamed at her. “It’s not like I don’t have fun doing it.”

Although she looked at her scoldingly, her mother couldn’t hide the gratefulness in her gaze. “Even so, your schooling is much more important. If I notice that your grades get worse or that you look too tired, you will take a break from this whether you want or not, you hear me?”

“Of course, Kaa-san.”

She knew that her mother felt bad for accepting her help, but she wouldn’t let herself be stopped by that. They were short of money ever since her father died a few years ago even with the money their clan made available to them. Her mother was already working as much as she could by doing two jobs at the same time to earn enough money to give her a good life, so the least she could do was to support her wherever she could. If people actually liked her pottery, why shouldn’t she sell them on the market? It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. And like she said, it wasn’t as if she didn’t enjoy pottery.

As the Uchiha district was next to the shopping district, they need to walk for only a few minutes before they arrived.

Setting up their stand didn’t take long and shortly after, they started to bring their goods under the man. It wasn’t much, just her pottery and some trinkets and woven clothes from her mother, but it went alright. Their quality didn’t stand up to professionals but was less expensive, so people with less income would go to them rather than one of the fancy shops that lined the street. There were also those people who simply preferred the more ‘personal’ experience of a marketplace to the atmosphere of a shop.

There was something weird, though. She couldn’t put the finger on what gave her the impression, but she believed the people were a bit more tense than usual. Now that she thought about it, weren’t there also fewer people today? It was hard to say because some weeks were busier than others and this could simply be one of the weaker ones, but still…

“Sweetheart, isn’t that Mikoto and Itachi over there?”

Pushing her thoughts away, she turned in the direction her mother was pointing. “I think so,” she agreed. “Do you want to go and say hello?”

Her mother laughed. “No, but why don’t you do that? I’m sure Itachi would be more than happy to see you.”

“Kaa-san!” She felt her cheeks warming up. “I can’t just leave you all-“

“Nonsense,” she interrupted her. “I’m more than capable of running the stand on my own, Izumi. Besides, we haven’t thanked Mikoto for taking us out shopping last week, so why don’t you bring her this?” She put a necklace into her hands. “And once you’re already there, you can just as well accompany them.”

“But what if I intrude?”

“If they have no time, you come back,” she said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “There is no harm in asking, though. Hush now, run along before they’re gone!”

She did as she was told, murmuring about meddlesome parents all the while, but couldn’t suppress the small smile that sneaked upon her face. I hope they’re not busy, she thought. Spending a day with Itachi and his mother sounded like fun.

How bothersome.

It was unbecoming –and unprofessional too, in his opinion- to think like this about an ongoing case, but Fugaku couldn’t help it. He was the captain of Konoha’s police force, meaning he was usually too busy with other things than simple investigations. These days, the only time he got out of his office and away from meetings with the various high-ups of the village was when he managed to go on patrol. That wasn’t something he was required to do, of course, but he needed the break from his other duties to clear his mind from time to time.

Still, in this case, he had no other choice than to handle the case himself because the victim had been not only a distant cousin of the daimyo but also the Head of the Merchant Guild of Konoha. Such high-profile cases required the attention of someone with a suitable rank, even if it wasn’t within his usual responsibilities.

Konoha’s police was divided into two departments:

First, there was the KMPF that consisted of only shinobi, almost three-quarters of which were Uchiha, who were responsible for handling the other shinobi in the village. That didn’t mean they would ignore civilian problems if they encountered such during their patrols, of course, just that it wasn’t their actual task. They also cooperated with the ANBU in case there was a murder committed by a shinobi. The second, less-known part was the Civilian Law Enforcement Department (CLED). It had its own Head who, while still subordinate to him, led the department mostly separated from the KMPF and did basically the same things the KMPF did, just in relation with civilians rather than shinobi.

So, as the preliminary investigations have shown that the victim of his current case hadn’t been killed by a shinobi and neither had he been one himself, the case should go to the CLED.

How annoying.

He wouldn’t complain out loud, he knew his duty and didn’t hesitate to fulfil it, but that didn’t make it any less bothersome. It didn’t help that other high-ranking civilians were making a fuss and breathing down his neck as well because they were suddenly not feeling safe anymore now that one of theirs had been killed. That the currently most likely suspect was a prostitute the man had invited into his bed the night prior to his murder rather than an assassin didn’t calm them down at all.

And honestly, even if it was an assassination, he had not the time to deal with civilian politics. He dealt with enough politics while interacting with other clans and shinobi, dammit. This was just a waste of his time.

The Administrative Collective had basically no power in the village. Some influence, yes, but all of its members were easily replaced if they ever tried anything funny. All they did was taking care of all the small tasks that needed to be done to keep a village running like collecting taxes, handling the zone regulations for homes and businesses, or organizing the trade with other nations.

The collective had five members, which were the Heads of the Departments for Civilian Law Enforcement, of Economic Affairs, of Agriculture, as well the Head Doctor of the Konoha Hospital and the Head of the Merchant Guild.

While these titles might appear powerful at the first glance to the average citizen, they’re really not.

A good example would be the Head of the CLED: for all that he led a big organization that fulfilled an important task for the village, he was still subordinate to him, a shinobi. The same thing was true for the Head Doctor, who, for all that he led the civilian part of the hospital, was still subordinate to the Head Medic-nin there.

Similarly, none of them could make any decisions without the consent of the Hokage. Even as much as a tax raise on certain products needed to be proposed to him first, which was one of the reasons the man had so much paperwork all the time.

With that, as well as the knowledge that every one of them could easily be replaced, it didn’t make sense for other villages to sent assassins after them. It could make sense if all of them and their next few replacements were killed at the same time, paralyzing the bureaucracy until a solution was found to weaken them in preparation for an attack. Killing just one of them, on the other hand, was pretty much useless.

Which meant he was wasting his time right now.

He sighed. The longer I waste time thinking about it, the longer I need to complete this case. Let’s just get this over with.

“What shall we do, Captain?”

Shisui was glad that his current teammates weren’t bothered by his young age. No matter how much they tried to hide it, he could always tell when they disliked him for outranking them while being not even half their age. Understandable as that was, not having to deal with that on this mission was a relief, even if he still made sure to not let his exhaustion be shown on his face. You couldn't show weakness in front of people that were possibly just looking for an excuse to doubt you.

“We’re going to retreat,” he finally said. “We have no idea how many others have infiltrated our borders and going around and trying to kill all of them is too risky. If we miss just a few of them, they will know that we know they’re here.” He turned to one of his teammates, the milky eyes of the Byakugan looking back at him. “Hirate, can you manage to keep an eye on them on your own without being found by anyone?”

He got a curt nod in reply.

“Good.” He turned to his other teammate, an Aburame. “What about you, Akira?”

“Positive.”

“In that case, I will return to Konoha as fast as I can and get some ANBU teams here to let them take over. We will let them believe that we’re unaware of them while simultaneously continue watching them as well. If necessary, split and follow another group if they do the same, and make sure you write down exactly what they do. Hand your notices to the ANBU when they arrive, understood?”

“Hai!”

“Hai!”

With nothing left to say, he vanished in a shunshin. He was by far the fastest member of their team, making him the logical choice for this task, but even he would need almost two days for that distance. The ANBU would probably need a bit longer for the journey, which meant his teammates would need to handle themselves for at least four days.

He trusted them, but he could still worry.

What also worried him was how these intruders had managed to get this far behind the borders in the first place. Having to deal with spies was nothing new, it was a part of how their world worked, but this was the third group they encountered in just as many days. With how tightly guarded the borders were at the moment, not to forget the insane number of ANBU that patrolled the lands since the purge of Root, they shouldn’t have been able to hide that many of their men.

They don’t act like spies, though. It wasn’t just that they were traveling in surprisingly great numbers, each group numbering between three and nine, but also the way they held themselves. It was hard to explain, but his instincts have never led him astray so far.

Hokage-sama will want to hear about that, he thought. Something fishy is going on and we need to know what it is.

“Are you sure about this?”

The young girl- no, the young woman that knelt before his desk nodded. “Yes, Hokage-sama.”

He sighed. It wasn’t as if he didn’t understand the logic behind such a request, because he did, but the risks involved in such a thing…

Still, it was better to hear her reasoning first before coming to any conclusions. “And why do you want to do that?”

Anko obviously tried to hide it, but he had been a shinobi for longer than she was alive, so he easily noticed the way her shoulders tensed for a second.

When she started to speak a moment later, however, her voice was calm and controlled. “Ever since Itachi joined our team, he constantly outshines everyone else. And that’s okay! He’s a prodigy, I get that and it’s not that I’m jealous-“ She stopped and shook her head. “No, I am jealous, but it’s not his fault and I don’t blame him. But… I don’t want him to leave me behind, rising through the ranks too fast for me to do more than look at his back from afar. I think that this way, I will have a chance to keep up with him while also doing my part to protect the village.”

He hid his smile by taking another puff of his pipe. That was pretty much what he thought she would say, although he was a little surprised –and impressed- that she acknowledged her own jealousy as easily as this.

“You’re aware that you might encounter your old sensei if you go through with this, aren’t you?”

Her face grew cold. “I am.”

“And you’re also aware that as you are now, he will kill you?”

“I am.”

“Hmm.”

What to do, what to do...

Anko was right when she said that it would not only allow her to grow stronger but also help to protect the village if she succeeded. The problem was her odds of actually doing so. On the other hand, while he knew from Itachi that his wayward student did indeed succeed when he tried to find the place she was talking about in the other timeline, he never mastered the techniques that were taught there. If Anko actually manages to find it, it would be a great boon not only for the village but for her personally as well. 

“What do you think are the chances that you will reach your goal?”

“Almost zero,” came the instant reply. “Even if I look for it for years, I will probably fail.”

“And yet you’re willing to try it?”

“Yes, Hokage-sama.”

For a moment, he allowed himself to remember what he had been told about the ‘other’ Anko, little as that had been. A person that was eaten alive by her guilt for something that wasn’t her fault, blamed for a foolish decision of her youth by many of her comrades, and held back by a cursed seal on her neck as much as by her own mind. The young girl in front of him couldn’t be further away from being that person even if she tried.

He made his decision.

“I approve of your request.”

“No, Sasuke,” he said, no matter how much he hated to deny his brother anything. “It’s almost time for dinner, you don’t need-“

“Ah, it’s alright,” Teyaki said with a wave of his hand. “Let him have a cracker, it’s hardly enough to spoil his appetite.”

Itachi opened his mouth to reply, but a weak pull at his right sleeve made him look down instead. He instantly knew he made a mistake when he saw Sasuke looking at him with puppy eyes. “C’mon, Nii-san. Only one, please!”

The sound of a gentle chuckle made him look at Uruchi who was Teyaki’s wife and co-owner of their senbai shop. “I see you know how to get what you want, Sasuke-chan. You will make a great ninja one day!”

He sighed, which was enough for Sasuke to know that he would get his wish. “Yeah! You’re the best, Nii-san!”

How was he supposed to say ‘no’ to that?

“He has you firmly in his grip, hasn't he, Itachi-kun,” said Teyaki, who had come to stand at his side while his wife took care of Sasuke.

“It’s not easy to deny him something if he looks at you pleadingly like that,” he agreed.

“Hah, don’t I know? Little rascal does the exact same thing every time he passes by with your mother. Just last week, he even managed to convince Fugaku-sama to get him some!”

That image made him smile. For all that his father loved them, he usually kept up a more neutral, controlled façade while in public. It was nice to see him cave in every time he got the chance to observe it.

“Even Otou-san isn’t immune to Sasuke’s charm.”

He had always liked Teyaki and Uruchi. The two of them had been some of the few people who never told Sasuke to be more like him, never tried to push him into being someone he was not. They were also much more gentle than most of the other members of their clan, but that might just come from them being no shinobi. Unfortunately, he had never had much contact with these parts of his clan. They weren’t treated worse than other clan members nor were they excluded from anything, but his career path never left much time for anything that wasn’t related to his duties.

It didn’t make it any easier when he killed them.

“Here we go,” Uruchi said with a smile when she and Sasuke came back, his brother almost jumping into his arms.”

He reached for his money. “How much is it?”

“Ah, it’s on the house today. Sasuke-chan comes here almost every day, such loyalty must be repaid.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Because I have more than-“

“Let it be,” Teyaki interrupted him. “Once my wife has got something into the thick head of hers, you won't be able to change her mind. It’s easier to just do as she says.”

“In that case, thank you very much.” He gave a small bow in gratitude before gently pushing Sasuke a step forward. “What do we do when someone gives us something, Sasuke?”

The boy's eyes went wide before he bowed as well, lowering his upper body lower than necessary and with so much energy that he almost toppled to the ground. “Thank you very much, Oba-san, Oji-san!”

Teyaki ruffled his hair with another laugh. “It’s no trouble at all. You deserve a little treat from time to time, you know. Now, run along. I’m sure your parents are already waiting for you.”

He took Sasuke at the hand to make sure he didn’t run off, which was a bad habit he had at this age, and said his goodbye to the two adults before starting to walk home.

Today was a good day.

Chapter Text

Let's start this from the beginning

Disturbances

I

Itachi clapped along with everyone else when the Hokage finished his speech and most of the children ran towards their families to say goodbye to them before their first day of school would begin.

However, the object of his attention wasn't part of that group. Instead of running towards someone, she just kept standing where she was while glancing at all the other children her age celebrating the moment with a soft smile as they talked with their families. That was to say, she did that until her eyes fell on him. Then her eyes widened and she started to hurriedly walk towards him, visibly restraining herself not to run.

“Itachi-nii!” Haku said. “And Sasuke-chan too! What are you doing here?”

He smiled at her. “We wanted to congratulate you on your enrollment in the academy. It would be rude to miss your first day of school, wouldn't it?”

Her own smile grew even bigger and he could see something wet glittering in her eyes before she gave them a small bow. “Thank you very much for coming.”

No one should be all alone on this day, he thought but didn't say out loud.

“Our mother also sends her congratulations,” he continued. “She too wanted to come, but she didn't feel well and Otou-san insisted she stayed in bed and rest. She wanted me to tell you that she has the fullest confidence that you will have no trouble in class.”

“I will try my best to not disappoint her.”

“I doubt you could do that even if you tried,” he said with a chuckle. “But you're more than welcome to ask me for help if you struggle with something anyway.”

Over the last two and a half years, Haku had come a lot over to their house. In the beginning, she had been a bit hesitant and unsure, but that behaviour stopped as soon as it became clear that she was welcome. It was clear to anyone that his mother enjoyed having a girl over to spoil, something that he had also noticed in her treatment of Izumi whenever she came over. He was more or less convinced by now that she had wished for a daughter and now expressed some of that onto them. Itachi wasn't complaining, of course; all three of them enjoyed their time together from what he could tell and that was the most important thing.

She had done the same with Anko as well before she had left.

Even his father seemed to have a soft spot for her. That might have something to do with how well-behaved she was, though, as well as the fact that she had a Kekkei Genkai. If she one day revived her clan, it would be a good thing to be on good terms with her, after all.

However, the most adorable thing was her relationship with Sasuke.

“Sasuke,” Itachi said while gently trying -and failing- to push him in front of him from where he was hiding behind his leg. “Wasn't there something you wanted to give Haku?”

The four years old glanced shyly around his body from where he stood behind his legs to look at the girl, only to immediately turn beet red and jerk his head back.

Haku kneeled down. “You have something for me, Sasuke-chan?”

Sasuke tried to back down some more but Itachi's hand held him firmly in place, leaving him no chance to retreat. Thus, his only option was to confront her. “Yes,” he said before he bowing while holding a little box with his outstretched arms. “Congratulations on your enrollment!” He tipped a bit over his words, especially when he tried to say 'congratulations', and spoke a bit too fast, but that only enhanced the cuteness of his action.

“Oh~?” Haku said when she took the box out of his hands. “What is it?”

Seeing that Sasuke wasn't about to answer, he took over for him. “He wanted to make a bento box for you, so we got up extra early today to prepare it.” Personally, he thought the idea behind it was that he wanted to return the favour of her helping their mother making food for them whenever she was over at their house. “He wasn't happy with the first few attempts, though, so this is actually the fourth box we made.”

“Nii-san!” Sasuke exclaimed. “Don't tell her that!”

Instead of replying, he ruffled his hair with a smile.

“Thank you, both of you,” Haku said warmly, her voice making Sasuke jerk back behind Itachi's leg. “I hope you didn't ruin the kitchen, though. Mikoto-san wouldn't be happy with that.”

“We made sure to make not too much of a mess,” he guaranteed her. He didn't mention that he had left a clone behind to clean up.

“That's a relief,” she said while finally rising from her kneeling position. “I need to go now, classes are starting soon.”

She was right. There were only a few families aside of them left, most having already gone home.

“You're invited for dinner at our place tonight,” he told her. “We're looking forward to hearing about your first day at school.”

“Of course. Thank you, Itachi-nii.”

Sasuke left the cover of his body for long enough to give a quick “Have fun” before vanishing again.

The two of them stayed long enough to watch her enter the building before they turned around and left as well.

The village was silent as Fugaku walked through its streets, most of the population being deep asleep already at this late hour. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the cool breeze on his face while thanking Tsukiyomi, the god of the moon and one of the three patron gods of his clan, for the clear night. It was the first time in several weeks that he managed to get out of his office to do some practical work, so he would have been severely annoyed if that just happened to be on a dark and gloomy night.

Fortunately, it was in the middle of the week, meaning there were little to no people outside at this time anymore. That didn’t count for other parts where the nightlife was active even on such days, of course, but as that wasn’t in his assigned district, he didn’t care. Let others be worried about that for now.

It was nice to just walk around without any worry in the world, paying only enough attention to be aware of his surroundings. He hardly got the time to think these days because there was just too much work to do. With the arrival of the delegate from Kumogakure next week for the peace treaty between their villages as well as the daimyo’s representative that would arrive at the same time, he was working with the ANBU almost all day to prepare for them. For some reason, the Hokage had ordered them to take additional measures compared to the last few times such guests had arrived.

At least the ANBU troops that were sent all over the continent in the wake of Danzō’s arrest were returning one after another, meaning the workload of the KMPF would lessen the more time went on. Once that happened, he should finally have the time to train with Itachi again, something he did hardly have the chance to do since the boy’s return from the Chūnin Exams. Now that he thought about it, Sasuke was getting old enough to be trained as well. They had been more relaxed with him than with his brother, with him not being the heir and growing up in times of peace instead of during a war, but he would start at the academy soon enough. He would need to be ready by then.

It felt as if it was just yesterday that Sasuke had been born and yet it was almost time for them to make the traditional trip to the Amaterasu-ō-mi-kami shrine. Time truly flew by.

“Uchiha-san! Uchiha-san!” He turned around to see a well-dressed, middle-aged man running towards him. “Uchiha-san, there is this ninja who causes trouble in the pub! He’s drunk and-“

“Where exactly is that pub?” he interrupted the man with a voice that didn’t leave any room for discussion before stretching out his senses. “No matter,” he said, having felt the nearby source of chakra. “I already found it.”

Appearing in front of the pub in question with a shunshin, he cursed himself for going on patrol alone instead of in a group as it was usually done. Not that he feared he couldn’t handle this alone, he was one of the strongest shinobi in the village, after all, but it was always better to have several pairs of eyes on the scene.

He was just about to open the door when his senses warned him of danger, making him jump into the air before his brain even caught up with what exactly his instincts were telling him. A second later, a fireball burst through the wall where he just stood a mere moment ago.

Fugaku watched with a scowl as the flames exploded against a nearby building –a closed shop instead of a house where people lived, fortunately- before landing on the ground again, kicking off with blazing Sharingan the moment his feet touched the floor to apprehend the culprit while a shadow clone rushed towards the flame to stop it before it could spread further and so even more damage than it already did. 

Inside the pub reigned chaos, but he could immediately make out the centre of it nonetheless; at the other end of the room stood an average-looking man who needed to support himself on the nearby wall to keep upright while another one laid on the ground in front of him. The man on the floor hadn’t any visible injury, but fear was written on his face.

“Stop immediately!” he shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “Everyone-“

The culprit panicked at the sight of him and moved to weave hand seals, obviously not thinking that action over. After all, attacking the police was hardly the smart thing to do, not just in this but in any other situation either.

Fugaku rushed forward, allowing himself a moment to smirk as he saw the man almost tripling to the ground without his arm supporting him before he smashed his fist into the man’s stomach, making him throw up almost immediately. Ignoring that while also dodging the vomit to avoid any of it hitting his clothes, he finished the ‘fight’ by hitting him in the neck.

The man's face landed in his own vomit a moment later.

“Alright, now that everybody is calm” –well, maybe calling it ‘shocked’ was more fitting- “I ask all of you to give me your name and place of residence. For now, I will only interview the owner, but the rest of you needs to come to the police station tomorrow to give your testimonies.” He would prefer to do it right now, of course, but he doubted the people here were sober enough for that.

He threw a quick glance through the hole in the wall to watch his clone extinguish the last flames with a water technique. At least the flames didn’t spread further, he thought. The technique did enough damage as it is. Then he turned towards the devastated looking owner who couldn’t keep his eyes from the hole either.

It was understandable. Having your property and probably only source of income destroyed would be shocking for everyone.

“Alright,” he asked a bit more gently. "What exactly happened?”

“I still don’t understand why you decided to work here instead of accepting the offer from Yukio’s family, Sensei.”

Itachi was currently sitting in a somewhat rundown restaurant on the outskirts of the village, eating a bowl of unagi while talking with the man behind the counter.

“Ah, you know, working for my former student’s family would have been really awkward,” the man laughed while he scratched the back of his head. “Also, I already told you to just call me ‘Tanaka’.”

He shrugged while a small smile formed on his lips. “Force of habit.”

He thought that rejecting a job offer from the most successful restaurant in the village because your employers would be your former student’s parents was stupid. If anything, that should have been even more reason to accept it. Tanaka, however, decided to do just that and instead started working in a small and rather unknown restaurant that had barely enough customers to pay its bills.

Having fulfilled all the necessary requirements to retire after he led his team to become Chūnin, he had hung his flak jacket on the wall and started to do normal civilian work instead. It suited him well, Itachi though. The bags under his eyes were much less prominent and his posture didn’t scream exhaustion for anyone to see anymore.

“That wouldn't be a problem if you came around more often,” Tanaka said. “On that note, bring Yukio with you the next time to decide to visit. I haven’t seen him in almost two months now.”

“From what I know, he threw himself into his work at his family’s restaurant while spending the rest of his time on guard duty at the gate. I don’t think he has enough free time to come to visit you regularly.”

Although he denied it when Itachi had asked, he was convinced by now that this behaviour was a result of his loss during the Chūnin Exams. It had obviously destroyed much of his confidence, making him hesitant to take more challenging missions.

“I guess that means I should go to visit him instead, then," Tanaka sighed. "Anyway, what about you? I haven’t seen you in a while either. Are you busy as well?”

He shrugged. “It’s alright. I take regular missions, of course, but I focus more on my training right now.”

“Intending on rising in rank, I assume?”

“That would be optimal, yes.”

Not that he expected to do so any time soon. While promotions of any kind were common shortly before and after wars, as well as after incidents like the attack of the Nine-Tails, the process slowed down the more time passed. With that in mind, he thought he would probably need to wait another one or two years before he would become a Jōnin.

“Say, Tanaka, did you hear anything from Anko recently?”

Ever since she had set off on her journey, she had irregularly sent messages to him and their teammates. They were always short, though, only telling them that she was fine and improving a lot. He was kind of curious about what kind of place she was looking for because he knew that she wasn’t just aimlessly traveling through the continent, but he hadn't pushed her when she didn’t say anything. And anyway, he could take a good enough guess. Interestingly enough, both Yukio and the Sandaime seemed to know more about that, though neither was willing to tell him anything.

“Not since your last visit, no,” the other man denied with a shake of his head. “I will tell you if I get anything new.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

After that, their conversation shifted to more innocuous topics, ranging from simple gossip to as of why Tanaka hadn’t opened his own shop yet. That had been his dream, after all. It seemed he wanted to get some more experience before he did just that, which made sense to him.

“Well then,” he said almost an hour later. “I will take my leave now. Thank you for the food.”

He had almost reached the door when Tanaka called out again. “Oh, Itachi? I don’t think I need to tell you, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. There had been a lot of tension in these parts of the village recently, something about several shinobi causing trouble to the people that live here. They’re not antagonistic to shinobi per se, but it’s always wise to keep an eye out, you know?”

Itachi had heard about these incidents from his father as well. Just yesterday, a drunk shinobi had used a fire technique that blew a hole into a pub and almost caused a fire while just a few weeks ago, a fight between two young Chūnin injured a few bystanders. Nothing serious, as the police interfered fast enough, but it still left a bad taste in the mouth of many residents.

“I see,” he said. “I will be careful.”

“Yes, take care.”

There were currently seven people present in the conference room deep inside the bowels of the Hokage Building and behind thick walls to guarantee that no one could listen to what was spoken inside. Of course, with the presence of a few additional Hyūga guards, there was almost no chance that anyone could even come close enough to try.

Whether that was enough to stop the black-white being that acted as a spy for Akatsuki was anyone’s guess. Not even Itachi knew how his abilities worked, nor how extensive they were.

But back to the meeting.

Two of the attendees were Konoha’s Jōnin Commander Shikaku Nara and the ANBU Commander who was simply referred to as ‘Cat’. Opposite of them on the other side of the table sat the heads of Konoha’s four noble clans: Fugaku Uchiha, Shibi Aburame, Chouza Akimichi, and Hiashi Hyūga.

Hiruzen himself was the seventh person attending, sitting at the head of the table.

“Alright,” he said. “Let’s begin. Shikaku, if you would?”

The man nodded and rose to his feet. “Of course, Hokage-sama.” He turned towards the other five participants. “I will make this short. We have intel that indicates the daimyo’s representative might have harmful intentions towards Konoha.”

There was no uproar at that revelation, but the surprise on their faces was evident. Not unexpected considering the daimyo was one of the people who were the least likely to wish them any harm.

“What kind of intel is that?” Shibi asked. “Is the source trustworthy?”

“Most of it comes from spies whose identities are only known to Hokage-sama,” Shikaku said with a small bow in his direction. “But one source that can be revealed and that’s known to all of you would be Asuma Sarutobi.”

The part about spies only he knew about was a lie he had told Shikaku to explain where he had his information from. However, the part about Asuma was the truth.

Itachi didn’t know much about his relationship with his son in his timeline aside of what was common knowledge, which basically meant that all he could say was that it hadn't been a good one and that Asuma joined the Twelve Guardian Ninja that protected the daimyo as a result of it. That had been enough to tell him that it would only get worse than it already was at this point, though, so he tried to improve their relationship as much as he could over the last few years.

Unfortunately, he was only partially successful. While he thought that his efforts bore fruit, it was clear that his shadow still hung over his son’s head. Knowing that, it didn’t come as a surprise when he declared his intention to leave for the daimyo’s palace almost one year ago.

However, they kept in contact, which was something he doubted they did in the other timeline. It was through this connection that he ‘officially’ found out about the opinions of one of his son’s comrades, Kazuma.

Hadn’t he already known about the incident where part of the daimyo’s guard plotted to overthrow and destroy Konoha, he would have been shocked when he read about it in the letter.

Fugaku cleared his throat. “And what exactly makes him think the daimyo would conspire against us?”

“You misunderstand, Uchiha-san,” Shikaku said. “It’s not the daimyo that’s conspiring against us but his representative.”

“He would go against the feudal lord?” Hiashi asked, surprise evident in his voice. “The daimyo’s guards are chosen with the utmost care, how could someone like that rise to such a position?”

“It seems that his loyalty is the very thing that’s the problem. It’s because he’s so loyal to the daimyo that he wants Konoha gone so that his lord can rule the Land of Fire unopposed.”

“That’s madness,” Cat said with a shake of her head. “Without Konoha and its forces, there is nothing that would stop other countries from invading. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that.”

Shikaku nodded. “We assume he hopes that after he brought down Konoha, the surviving shinobi will willingly serve the daimyo and unite directly under him. This means he’s either a fanatic who can’t fathom that a shinobi wouldn’t want to serve the daimyo or he has a plan to actually achieve his lofty goal. Obviously, we will assume the latter is the case just to be safe.”

“From the moment he enters the village, at least two ANBU teams will shadow him wherever he goes,” Hiruzen took over, making everyone turn towards him. “Then, as soon as we can be sure who he works with, for such a plan can’t be executed by a single person, he will be taken care of. However, arresting such a high-profile guest in secret might lead to other problems, so as long as nothing unexpected happens, we will need the cooperation of the police.”

“I'm at your disposal, Hokage-sama,” Fukagu immediately agreed.

“Well then,” Skikaku spoke up again. "Now to the second point of order. It’s regarding the delegate from Kumogakure. While our intel is much more vague on this matter, we suspect that they might be up to something. At the request of Hokage-sama, we went through all the reports we have about their activities over the last few years and found that there was an increasing trend of them trying to steal bloodlines from other villages.” Hiashi and Fugaku, the only people present with a Kekkei Genkai, sat a bit straighter at hearing that. “While it’s unlikely that they would risk another war already, we should at least consider the possibility of them trying something in that direction during the visit.”

“The ANBU will dispatch some teams to keep an eye on the delegate and his companions, of course,” Cat said. "But they will probably bring sensors with them if they really try something funny. Most of our Hyūga are currently on missions outside the village, so we would request the aid of your clan for the duration of the visit, Hyūga-sama.”

The Byakugan was one of the most effective tools to observe an enemy, especially in a village. After all, a sensor wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a Hyūga and a random shinobi when they were far enough away. In a village, the only thing a sensor was good for was to say whether or not someone was close by.

Also, while he formulated it as a request, it was clear that Hiashi had no choice in that matter. If he disagreed, he as Hokage would order him to do so anyway, after all. This was more polite, though, and at least kept up the pretense that he had a choice.

“Of course. I will send some of my clansmen your way, Cat-san.”

“Thank you.”

“Also, if you find someone sneaking around your districts, make sure not to kill them,” Shikaku added. “It might be that their very intent is to create a situation where we must appease them in some way. If fighting can’t be avoided, try to take them in with as little harm as possible.”

There were general sounds of agreement.

“I trust that all of you will make subtle preparations to improve our security during the next few weeks,” Hiruzen said while standing up, intend on ending the meeting. “Make sure you’re prepared should fighting break out, but don’t let anything seem amiss. My doors are open should anyone of you require assistance in any way. Now, if no one has anything to add, that concludes today’s meeting.”

There were no further comments, and after everyone had voiced their thanks, they left the room.

This time, there wouldn’t be an incident like the one Itachi had told him about. Trying to kidnap the heir of one of Konoha’s greatest clans, he thought with a scowl. I can’t decide whether that’s daring or just plain stupid.

Then again, considering that they actually did almost get a Byakugan out of it in the end, maybe it was he who was stupid.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Disturbances

II

“I think the conspiracy goes much deeper than we initially suspected, Hokage-sama.”

The old man gave him a long look before gesturing for him to proceed.

“After the meeting last week, I went over the documents in the archives. My thoughts were that if this ‘Kazuma’ truly plans to overthrow Konoha, he would have started his preparations some time ago. Such things take time, after all.”

“And what did you find?”

Fugaku suppressed the unsatisfied grunt that built up in his throat. “Not as much as I would have liked, but enough for it to be suspicious.” He laid the stack of papers in his hands on the table. “The number of conflicts between shinobi and civilians increased steadily over the last three years to the point where there are now almost four times as many incidents as before. None of them are severe, nothing too attention-catching, and it only becomes apparent once you list them up all at once. On the same note, the destruction of private property has increased by almost 60 percent.”

He paused for a few seconds to allow the Sandaime to look over the numbers himself.

“How did this not get noticed before, Fugaku?” he finally asked. “None of these incidents are big, yes, but an increase in incidents such as this is hardly subtle.”

“It was known that there was an increase. The problem, however, is that the dimensions of it were unknown to us.” He got another paper from his pockets. “What I gave you before are the results of my private research. This, on the other hand, are the official numbers.”

The older man needed only one glance to see the vast difference between both lists. “I take it that the Civilian Law Enforcement Department deliberately manipulated the numbers, then?”

“That’s the conclusion I came to as well.”

Conflicts between shinobi and civilians were handled by the KMPF as they were the only ones that could reliably deal with the former, but the ones that managed the paperwork of such encounters were the members of the CLED. After all, it was only fair that they did the bureaucratic part when the KMPF did the practical work.

Encounters between shinobi and civilians were rarely ever exciting, meaning that it wasn’t much of a topic between his subordinates compared to other assignments. Combined with the fact that the number of it increased over a long period of time, it made sense that no one noticed anything strange. Especially when the official numbers you could look up were manipulated.

“It might be that only some low-ranking officials are at fault,” the Hokage continued with a serious expression on his face. “But it’s unlikely that none of their superiors would notice anything if that were the case.”

“I have already ordered some of my men to make discreet background checks on some of the higher-ups, but I don’t have the numbers to dispatch as many of them as I would like without anyone becoming suspicious. I would like to request the aid of the ANBU to help with that.”

The Hokage frowned. “I’m not sure how many I can lend you as most are still on other missions, but I will see what I can do. In the worst case, I will order some Jonin to aid you as well.”

That was probably the best he would get. “Thank you, Hokage-sama.”

“Of course,” he said while taking a puff from his pipe. “Tell me, Fugaku, have you noticed any patterns in these incidents?”

“I did.” He cleared his throat. “Every report states that it was the shinobi that threw the first attack. Some testimonies seem to indicate that they were insulted before that, but nothing outright says so. Around half of those incidents happened in pubs that are located in parts of the city that are mostly populated by civilians as well, which seems a bit weird.” Shinobi generally preferred to drink with other shinobi, especially those that came from clans. The most regular exceptions were those first-generation shinobi that came from civilian families, but they usually knew better than to get drunk in such company. “There is also a surprising number of cases where a Jutsu destroyed some property without any fight happening beforehand. Reports state that bystanders accuse those culprits of trying to show off, but that seems unlikely in my opinion.”

“You believe they were approached by Kazuma’s allies and asked for a demonstration, don’t you?”

“Indeed. It wouldn’t be too hard to manipulate the results to cause an accident and then blame it on the shinobi. That wouldn’t work with experienced ninjas, of course, but all ‘culprits’ are young and inexperienced, mostly Genin and newly appointed Chunin.”

The Sandaime was silent for a minute before he answered. “So someone, probably Kazuma, is attempting to deteriorate the relationship between our shinobi forces and the civilian population.”

Fugaku nodded.

In Konoha, the shinobi were outnumbered one to seven. They would still win should it come to fights between those groups, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t cause a lot of problems. The instability that would follow, as well as the harm to the economy…

Needless to say, such a thing should definitively be avoided at all costs.

“I think,” the Hokage said, “we need another meeting to discuss this with the others. You will be informed of its date and time to present your findings there as well so that we can think of a solution together.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.”

“Thank you for your report, Fugaku. You can leave now.”

He bowed and made to move out of the room, but when he reached the door, he turned around once more. “Hokage-sama, I don’t think I need to ask you this, but you are aware that there is a chance that similar things are happening in the other departments as well, aren’t you?”

The other man chuckled a bit. “I am, but thank you for mentioning it anyway.”

“Then I will take my leave now.”

With a final bow, he opened the door and started to make his way to the police station.

There was still a lot of work to be done.

Shisui jumped aside to dodge one of Izumi’s kicks while throwing some witty comment at her that made her attack anew with even more fervour than before. Shisui, of course, wasn’t deterred at all and simply laughed it off as he continued to dodge her attacks with ease.

The sight made Itachi smile. While Shisui had helped him train with Sasuke from time to time, sometimes even showing his brother some tricks while Itachi himself was out of the village on a mission, the same had never happened with Izumi. That was something singularly to this timeline and he treasured it with all his heart.

“Itachi!” Izumi exclaimed angrily, pointing with her finger at him from where she stood. “Are you just gonna listen to what he says? It affects you just as much as me!”

He blinked. To be honest, he had stopped listening to them a while ago. Shisui had the habit of blabbering unimportant stuff all the time just like it was a habit of his to turn him out once he got started.

They were quite a distance away, but her Sharingan had seemingly picked up on his confusion. “Gah, you didn’t listen? He said-“

She was interrupted when Shisui appeared behind her and put his hand on her mouth. “Ah~, don’t listen to her, Itachi. It’s nothing for you to worry about.” He gave him a wide grin and was about to say something more when he suddenly jumped back with a surprised shout to dodge an incoming crow.

“Hah, good job, Kokuban!”

“Seriously,” Shisui said with a laugh. “Getting her to get a summon contract was the stupidest thing you have ever done, Itachi. No matter where I go, I always need to keep an eye out for crows to avoid their surprise attacks.”

He smiled back at his friend. “Who said that it’s her that sends them after you?”

His eyes widened in an exaggerated manner while Izumi started to laugh in the background. “Now you’re conspiring against me as well?! Come on, that’s not fair!”

“But Shisui-sama,” she answered with an innocent smile. “Isn’t it you who always reminds us that the life of a shinobi isn’t fair?”

“Now she is even turning my own words against me!” He turned towards him. “Itachi, do something!”

He only shook his head while continuing to listen to their squabble. Seeing them act carefree like this made him feel the same satisfaction he felt every time he saw his clansman laugh with each other while their children ran around them in a game of catch, while he ate dinner with his parents, or even just listened to whatever Sasuke was telling him.

It was nice.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen much of either of his friends over the last few weeks. Especially Shisui had been busy with missions for almost a year now. Itachi hadn’t been told any details, but from what his friend let slip, he knew that there were surprisingly big numbers of intruders in their lands at all times these days. Most of them didn’t seem to do anything of note, just loitering around in the forest before leaving again.

They hadn’t managed to take many prisoners yet, partly because they didn’t want to crack down on them too hard. They wouldn’t change their strategies as long as they thought they worked, after all. They only captured enough to make it not too obvious that they were aware of them, but all of these captives turned out to be weak mercenaries whose only task was it to run around the area for a while. They didn’t even know who their client was, so they were more or less useless.

The working theory was that someone sent so many people over the border to serve as a decoy while the true spies inflated the village.

The reason why he himself hadn’t met Izumi was, interestingly enough, quite similar.

She had been promoted to Genin two years ahead of schedule, a feat that was even more impressive if you considered that the post-war phase where early graduations were common was pretty much over already. Unsurprisingly, she had been quite proud of her achievement. However, since her promotion, she and her team had been on D-rank mission after D-rank mission with little free time in between. While not very demanding, many of them lasted several hours, meaning she had not much free time left once everything was said and done.

Itachi was pulled from his thoughts when Izumi let herself fall down beside him, pointedly not looking at Shisui as she did so. There was no real anger in her eyes, though, and her cheeks were rather red, so he assumed Shisui had simply said something to embarrass her.

“Okay then,” Shisui addressed him. “Do you think that’s enough for today or do you want another round?”

He thought about it for a second before he shook his head. They had fought four times already and while he wasn’t exhausted yet, there was no reason to push himself further. A body needed time to rest between training periods, after all. Especially if the said body was still growing.

“Fine with me.” With these words, he let himself fall to the ground in front of him in a similar fashion to Izumi. “So, how is shinobi live treating you so far, Izumi-chan?”

She glared at him for a second before exhaling loudly. “I thought it would be more… adventurous. All we ever do is gardening, repairing fences, babysitting, and catching that stupid cat.”

Shisui chuckled. “Oh, yeah, I heard about that. Seriously, I’m so glad that I skipped that part entirely.”

“Shut up,” she said without any real heat. “Not everyone can be so lucky.”

“We only did a handful of these missions when I was a Genin,” Itachi said. “Tanaka-sensei didn’t like them too much and preferred regular training sessions over watching us doing chores.”

“Great, my sensei is exactly the opposite. He just drops us off and then leaves to do Kami knows what!”

He’s probably testing your patience while giving you and your teammates time to bond, he thought, suppressing a smile.

“Well, at least you already knew one of your teammates,” Shisui said. “That’s not usual for someone that graduates early. I imagine it would have been much more boring if you didn’t.”

She smiled at him. “Yeah, I’m really lucky that Hana graduated with me.” Then she proudly puffed her chest out. “I helped her train because she was always complaining about me beating her during class. I doubt she would have managed it weren’t it for me!”

“Didn’t you only improve so much because you trained with us, though?” Itachi asked with an amused smile.

She blushed. “That’s not the point!”

“What about you, Itachi?” Shisui said before Izumi could start to rant at him. “Any interesting missions lately?”

“Not really,” he denied. “I do mostly C-rank and some B-rank mission. The most exciting that happened to me was when the caravan I was supposed to protect was attacked by some nuke-nins. They weren’t too strong, though, so they lost pretty quickly.”

Shisui sighed. “Hah, I wish I had it that easy. I rush from one end of the country to the other in annoying patrols without encountering anything of note. It’s not just boring but also exhausting!” He let himself fall back with his hand behind his head. “Ah, I envy you two, I really do.”

Neither of them humoured that sentiment.

“So you have nothing interesting going on either, huh?” he asked his friend.

“Not really.” Then he furrowed his brows. “Well, I guess I’m traveling to the daimyo’s palace in two days to bring him a message, but it’s nothing sensitive, so I don’t expect anything exciting to happen then either.”

He blinked. That was new.

Izumi was apparently just as surprised as he, to the point that she even forgot that she was ‘angry’ with Shisui. “Wait, the daimyo’s palace? That sounds so cool! I want to go there as well!”

“Be a bit more patient,” Shisui laughed. “Give it some more time and you will play courier for him too. It’s pretty neat the first time it happens, but after that, it gets real boring real fast.”

She seemed doubtful but didn’t protest.

“Shisui,” he said, “even if the information you carry isn’t important, people might still be after it. You should-“

“I know, I know,” he interrupted him. “It’s still dangerous and I should be careful.” He laughed. “Seriously Itachi, you worry too much. You will go grey if you go on like that. You have those wrinkles already-“

“Tear-troughs.”

“-so you can’t afford to get grey hair as well if you don’t want to look like an old man before you turn twenty!”

“Shisui-“

He didn’t give him time to reply. “Fine, fine, I promise I will be careful. There, happy?”

He sighed. “Very.”

“C’mon, it will be fine! I’m Shunshin no Shisui! What is the worst thing that could happen?”

“I’m terribly sorry, Kazuma-Sama! I tried-“

“Enough.” He had put a lot of work into learning to speak authoritatively without raising his voice, so it was somewhat satisfying to see the man in front of him snapping his mouth shut at his softly spoken command. “I’m not interested in your whining, nor your excuses. Now, would you be so good and explain to me why the prices are still so low when you were ordered to rise them until low-income citizens wouldn't be able to pay them anymore?”

“I tried, Kazuma-sama, I really did, but it just can’t be done that fast! No without the shinobi catching up to it, anyway. We need to rise them slowly over time and make it look natural!” He swallowed. “Also, your commands were a bit unclear, so-“

“Are you implying your failure is my fault?”

“No, no, of course not! It’s just, well, you told us to raise the prices but not on which products, right? We weren’t sure if you meant all products or just stuff like food and essentials, and you haven’t given us a way to communicate with you, so…”

“I see.” Maybe he had indeed been a bit unclear.

The thought made him scoff. Who would have thought that organizing an uprising and the eventual downfall of a Hidden Village was so complicated? It would have been so much easier if he could just march in and conquer it. Unfortunately, the daimyo was still too scared of going against Konoha and thus not ready to offer the support of his troops.

It was a shame, really, for they would have been most helpful. Not enough to win the day, of course, with them being slightly below a regular shinobi in strength and outnumbered by Konoha’s forces, but helpful nonetheless.

How can no one see the problem of Daimyo-dono not having the strongest army in his own country? he thought, getting angry on behave of his lord.

“And such a raise in the price can’t be done any faster?”

“We’re getting there,” the bowing man promised. “Only a few more months and we will have reached the point we’re aiming for.”

He didn’t want to wait for ‘a few more months’, though.

“What about you?” he asked the other two people in the room, one man and one woman, who stood a bit further away. “How did your part progress?”

The man answered first. “It’s just as you have said, Kazuma-sama. The Uchiha haven’t noticed a thing, believing civilian matters to be of no importance and leaving it all to us. The people you sent did a great job in provoking shinobi and causing incidents, none of which are remarkable enough to catch the eye of the police.”

Now, that was much better already. “Well done, well done.” He turned towards the woman. “Itami-san, what do you have to report?”

Going by the way her face was frozen into a polite mask, he wouldn’t like her news as much as the last. “I replaced as many teachers with our allies and sympathizers as I could, but it’s impossible to make any noticeable changes in the curriculum. It might be a civilian matter, but such a thing needs to be brought up for review before a committee. And as there are several families whose members are shinobi, well…”

He spat on the floor. “So you achieved nothing at all?”

“I let several of my people found clubs where they-“

“Nothing at all!” he interrupted her. “That’s what you did! Nothing!”

Unbelievable, why did I even ally with them in the first place? They're useless! 

He took a calming breath. “Nothing we can do about that now. When I officially arrive tomorrow, act as if you don’t know me. It’s unlikely anyone would find it suspicious, but there is no need to risk it.”

“Hai, Kazuma-sama!”

“Hai, Kazuma-sama!”

Even if their aid was less helpful than I hoped, it’s still something, at least, he thought. Still, I doubt they would get anywhere on their own. His lips turned into a victorious smile. Fortunately, I’m here now. It’s time that I move the plan forward a bit, isn’t it?

Akihito sighed when he finally closed the shop for the day.

Dealing with customers was almost as exhausting as any mission he ever had. No matter what he did, it was never enough. Either the food was too hot or too cold, the portion too big or too small, or the price was just too high. Then he needed to explain for the hundredth time that no, they could not negotiate the price. Honestly, go to the market if you wanted to haggle, not a restaurant!

Still, it was much more fulfilling than his old profession had ever been.

He didn’t regret becoming a shinobi and he definitively didn’t regret that he fought to protect his home, but it just wasn’t the same.

Doesn’t makes dealing with annoying customers any easier, though.

It was already late at night, his boss allowing him to do overtime in exchange for higher pay. He had a good amount of money laid to the side, of course, but if he wanted to open his own restaurant one day, he needed as much money as he could get. After all, it was unlikely that he would be a great success from the get-go. There would be a transition period at the beginning where he wouldn’t earn enough and he wanted to be prepared for that.

So, considering the time of the night, it was highly suspicious when he noticed movements on the roofs.

ANBU were usually much more subtle, preferring to stay unnoticed while they watched the area, so it couldn’t be one of them. Besides, Akihito knew that there weren’t many of them in the village right now to begin with.

By the way the person moved, it was also clear that they didn’t use that path regularly, which meant it couldn’t be one of the few shinobi that lived in these parts of the village. And as there wasn’t anything here that would bring another shinobi to this place, especially at this time of the night, well…

It could be just some shinobi that got lost, or maybe one that wanted to visit a friend, but his gut was telling him otherwise. This person was suspicious and even though he was only a former shinobi of Konoha, he couldn’t let them get away that easily.

With another sigh, he moved to subtly follow that person.

I really should have put more effort into keeping my skills sharp.

“Asuma, you coming?”

“Yes, yes, just give me a minute to finish my smoke first, would you?”

Chiriku laughed. “Alright, but you better hurry. It’s going to start raining soon.”

He looked after his friend with a smile on his lips before turning his gaze upwards to look at the dark clouds that were slowly but steadily moving towards them and taking another drag from his cigarette.

The weather was fitting, he thought. Right now, everything was fine, but the storm could already be seen and it was only a matter of time until all hell broke loose, just like he already saw the signs of a future fight in his head. Were things a bit different, were he just a little more bitter, he might have missed them, but they were there for everyone with eyes to see. Asuma would have never agreed with some of Kazuma’s ideals and opinions, but he might have been willing to turn a blind eye to them for as long as he thought it was just all talks. In a different world, he might have done nothing until things went too far and there was no other choice than to confront his friend.

In this world, however, that was not the case.

As far as he could say, only two of his comrades agreed with Kazuma. However, there was no way to say how many others would join him as well if the man got more time to convince them; Asuma wasn’t willing to allow that. For all that he was his friend and, as he believed, a genuinely good person, he couldn’t allow him to threaten his home.

It wasn’t even that his loyalties were split about that. On one hand, his loyalty to Konoha, as well as his family and friends that lived there, urged him to protect the village while his loyalty to the daimyo urged him to stop Kazuma before he could tarnish their liege’s reputation.

He took another drag to calm himself.

It was time to talk to the daimyo. He should have done so earlier, he knew, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so until he had solid evidence to back his claims up. Evidence he now possessed, thank to the search he did of Kazuma’s room. He had waited for months for this opportunity and while he had hoped that nothing would come from it, that it was all just inside his mind, he was also kind of relieved.

At least things would start moving now.

And if the gods were good, it would be over shortly after.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Disturbances

III

Searching through the drawers of politicians and bureaucrats wasn’t part of his usual skill-set, him being more adept at combat and all that, so although it had happened in the past, Kakashi didn’t feel quite as comfortable in this situation as he would on the battlefield.

Besides, this was more of a task for the ANBU, not for a lowly Jōnin like him. Hokage-sama should make his mind whether he wants me to be part of them or not, he thought. What was the use in pulling him out of ANBU but then letting him do their job anyway? I guess it could have something to do with the current shortage of ANBU in the village, though.

At least it was unnecessary to worry about missing important details as he was not only more than capable of finding hidden spaces with secret letters, but also possessed a perfect memory thanks to the Sharingan. Usually, that was more of a curse than a blessing as it also forced him to remember every bloody detail with as much clarity as if it had happened mere seconds ago, but that was not the case this time.

That didn’t mean he liked these kinds of missions, of course. Kakashi preferred to stay as far away from politics as he could, leaving that kind of stuff to people that were better at it like his sensei had been.

Not that that was an option anymore, mind you.

So it was left to him and what he found was… alarming, to say the least.

He was currently standing in the private office of the Head of the Civilian Education Department, using the opportunity of the woman not being home right now to go through her stuff, holding a piece of paper in his hands. On it was a list of every teacher that worked at the seven civilian schools of Konoha and which subject they taught, as well as a note of which extracurricular activities, like for example clubs, they supported.

He didn’t know what it meant, but next to most of the names of those that supported a club, a little cross was drawn. There were a few crosses beside other names too, but not too many. Altogether, somewhat around one-sixth and one-fifth of the names had a cross beside them.

Now, there was no explanation of what that symbol meant, but he could take an educated guess:

Either the cross marked a collaborator of the conspiracy the Hokage had told him about, or it marked those that still needed to be convinced or, if that didn’t work, eliminated. Kakashi would need to compare this list to an older one to see whether the names that had a cross were recent employees or not; that would give him an answer to that question.

But no matter what was ultimately the case, there would be a notable number of teachers that spread anti-ninja propaganda either way. Probably not too obvious, for that would have been noticed by now, but subtly by putting shinobi in a bad light with casual comments thrown in during the lesson. The children would unconsciously pick these comments up and start believing in them, slowly but surely deteriorating their opinion of shinobi in the process.

He would recommend putting a few Chūnin in charge of watching some classes to get proof of that. It would be a boring job, but it was important to find out how far this already went. Maybe we need to continue doing that for a while even after we cleaned house, just to make sure. He allowed himself a moment to pity the poor souls that would be forced to do that.

I wonder what the others have found, he thought, thinking about his comrades who should be looking through the documents of the other members of the Administrate Collective at this very moment. Maybe I should arrive on time to hear their reports just this once. It might actually be worth it.

The moment the silhouette rushed over the wall completely undisturbed – where were the guards? There should be people up there to avoid things like this! - Akihito knew his gut feeling had been right; something was very, very wrong.

He had no chance to go and warn someone. If he left now, his target would escape and probably never be found again. With the small amount of ANBU that were currently in the village, which was something he only knew thank to some old connection from his own time in that organisation, there wouldn’t be enough tracker to guarantee their capture. The Hokage would need to organise another team first, and until they were notified and ready, the person would be long gone.

So, I guess that means I need to do it on my own, huh.

Decision made, he created a shadow clone that instantly turned around and started to rush towards the Hokage building. All he needed to do now was to stop the intruder long enough for help to arrive.

Using a technique had apparently alerted his target – is he a sensor? - as they suddenly increased their speed. Cursing his bad luck, as well as himself for not keeping his skills as sharp as he should have, he hurried to keep up with them.

The chase continued for almost twenty minutes until the other person jumped around without warning, almost cutting him in half with a slash of a triple-bladed hand claw. Akihito managed to stop just in time to lean back, letting the blades harmlessly pass over him, before jumping back to get some distance between them.

“How unexpected,” they said. “You are dressed more like a civilian than a shinobi, so you’re no guard. What were the odds to be seen by you, I wonder…”

He didn’t answer, choosing to observe the person instead.

He was a tall man of tanned complexion. He wore simple dark clothing that matched his brown hair, long pants and a short-sleeved shirt with black shoes, as well as a red sweatband on his head. However, his most prominent feature was the waistcloth with the kanji for “Fire”.

“What I wonder is why one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja is sneaking in and out of the village,” he finally said. “Especially because I’m pretty sure I heard one of you guys would arrive over the next few days.”

“Ah, would you believe me if I said I arrived early but then turned back because I forgot something?”

“If that were the case, why wouldn't you use the gate?”

“Maybe it’s something embarrassing, you know.”

He wanted to keep the man talking to buy as much time as possible, but before he could say something else, he was forced to jump aside to dodge the blades of wind that flew in his direction. Then, without giving him any time to get his bearing, his opponent appeared in front of him and slashed at him with his claw again.

Letting himself fall to the ground to evade that attack, Akihito brought his hands together to weave hand seals only to be thrown into the air by a kick to his stomach. However, rather than paralyzing him, the pain made him only feel more alert than before. It was as if his body suddenly remembered all those countless hours of training he had put it through over the years.

Not letting himself be stopped by a small inconvenience like pain or being defenceless in the air, he continued to make hand seals.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

His fireball hit a new set of wind blades that were thrown at him, resulting in his flames getting even stronger as they devoured the weaker element.

Akihito had barely landed on the ground when a figure jumped at him from the flames. A moment later, his opponent, who was unharmed aside from some small holes in his robes, forced him into a Taijutsu battle.

He sent a kick at the man that was blocked by his biceps, shortly followed by a punch towards his face that was easily dodged. Then, forced to abandon his offensive as soon as it began, Akihito fell back to once again avoid the claw on the man’s arm. These kinds of exchanges, with him starting a handful of attacks before being forced back into defence for twice as long, repeated itself several times before he managed to get enough space to make hand seals once again.

A second later, the ground below his opponent turned into mud, making the man sink into it until only his head stuck out. However, before he could celebrate, the body turned into stone. It were only his instincts that saved him from being ripped apart by an attack from behind, making him jump away before he even understood what was going on.

Or so he thought.

Even though he had definitively dodged those blades, he could feel the burning sensation of deep gashes on his back and the sick feeling of warm blood running down his skin.

He fell to one knee. “What the-“ The man hadn't thrown wind slashes, he was sure of it, so how...

“Oh, you like it?” his foe interrupted him with a laugh. “Chakra Blades are really useful in catching enemies off-guard. You would think experienced shinobi would know better than to just assume they dodged an attack only because the visible weapon didn’t hit them, right?” He raised his claw-blades as he said that to show him how he had almost twice as much range as before thanks to the chakra flowing out from it. “But you’re not too bad. Say, what are you? A Jōnin? ANBU?”

“Retired.”

The other man chuckled. “Oh, good answer. I like people with humour. Don’t you want to abandon Konoha and join the daimyo? I’m sure you would fit right in.”

He narrowed his eyes. The daimyo? Is he conspiring against the village? But that doesn't make any sense…

“Ah, forget that I said that. You seem like the loyal type, no way you’re going to do that.” He sighed as if he was truly disappointed. “A shame, that. You would have made a good comrade.”

Akihito didn’t get the chance to reply as the other man started to attack him again, engaging him in a much more one-sided fight than the one previously. It went so far that he was focused to let himself get hit by some attacks because the alternative was getting killed outright. It preserved his life –for now- but did nothing to improve his condition and fighting power.

He dodged a punch only to be kicked in the chest. I really should have kept training, damn it!

He ducked under a kick only to have his arm slit open from his shoulder to his elbow. I wish I had a damn weapon to block him with something other than my body!

He evaded another slash, only to be punched in the face. How long does it take to get some people out here, damn it!

In a desperate move, he ignored a kick to his waist and rushed forward, ramming his elbow into the other man’s stomach with as much force as he could to throw him back. Now, he thought and went through hand seals as fast as his by now numb fingers allowed him to.

“Doton: Ishi Yoroi no Ude!” (Earth Release: Stone Bracers)

Akihito allowed himself a small smile at the sight of the bracers on his arms. Now he had something to block the damn attacks with while also getting some armour that would compensate for his lowered mobility because of his injury.

The smile faded when he noticed movements out of the corner of his eyes, prompting him to turn around and raise his arms in defence.

A second later, the triple-bladed weapon slashed right through his bracers and cut off both his arms.

He didn’t feel pain as he fell to his knees, eyes widened in surprise. But how-

“A nice try,” the other man said in a voice that sounded almost pitying. “But something like that is not enough to stop my attacks.”

Damn, he thought while his lips tucked upwards in grim amusement. At least I don’t leave-

Akihito didn't have enough time to finish his thought before his head was separated from his body.

We’re way too few people to deal with that kind of shit, the ANBU operative known as ‘Owl’ thought with a frown that was hidden behind his mask. Now we have an intruder who not only managed to infiltrate us unnoticed but also almost escaped with no one the wiser in addition to all the regular stuff we're already dealing with.

“That’s where he went over the wall,” the shadow clone at his side said. “I followed him, but-“

It didn’t get to finish the sentence before puffing out of existence.

Neither he nor his other comrades, all of them experienced shinobi, stopped, even though they all knew what this meant.

Infiltrating the village, successfully escaping, and then even killing one of our own, he mentally updated his list of crimes committed by this unknown enemy with a resignation born of having seen many of his comrades perish in battle.

“Kazuma-san, welcome in Konoha. Did you have a good journey?”

The other man smiled brightly at him. “I did, thank you, Hokage-sama. I hope you’re well? Asuma asked me to make sure you're not working too hard, you see.”

They exchanged mostly meaningless pleasantries while they talked, the irony of it not being lost on him. Kazuma doubtlessly held resentment towards him for representing the village he so despised while Hiruzen himself disliked the man for not only being a danger to his home but also for being the murderer of one of his shinobi. Oh, he had no proof, of course, but it didn’t take a genius to come to that conclusion.

If everything went well, several members of the Administrative Collective would be taken into custody before the day was over. It was unlikely that any of them could withstand even easy interrogation, so they should have sufficient proof to imprison Kazuma without causing a political incident soon enough.

“So, Hokage-sama,” the man finally said. “To get to the topic I came for. Can you please explain the presence of so many rogues in the countryside? Daimyo-dono is most anxious about so many bandits and hostile missing-nins that close to his home, you understand.”

Hiruzen hummed and took a puff from his pipe before he replied in a confused tone. “I do understand, of course, but as far as I know, none of those rogues has made any big moves so far. Certainly nothing that would give us reason to worry. Their number increased, but the number of crimes stayed mostly the same.” Considering they had already concluded that Kazuma most likely let them into the country himself to act as decoys for his real agents, that was no surprise.

“Be that as it may, they’re still dangerous. Just because they didn’t act yet doesn’t mean they will not do so in the future.”

“You're right,” he agreed easily. “But you can assure your liege-“

“Our liege, Hokage-sama.”

“Of course,” he said while hiding his amusement at the very much anticipated correction. “Forgive me. You can assure our liege that the situation is completely under our control and that those rogues pose no threat to him.”

Kazuma narrowed his eyes. “You want me to tell him that dozens of groups of bandits whose members are missing-nin pose no threat? Are you sure you’re taking this seriously enough?”

“I can guarantee you-“

“Empty promises are as useless to me as they are to Daimyo-dono. Maybe you’re not quite aware of how serious-“

“I’m very aware of the situation, Kazuma-san,” he said with a hard voice, making the other man’s mouth snap shut with an audible ‘click’. “We have almost every single group under permanent surveillance and regular patrols all over the country ever since these groups started appearing some years ago. We know what they’re doing and when they’re doing it. If you have any information you would like to share to convince me that I'm missing something essential, however, you’re welcome to do so.” He stayed silent for a moment to allow Kazuma to speak if he wished to and only continued when it became clear he didn’t. “Can I assume that there is nothing you would want to say, then?”

A nod.

“Wonderful.”

After that, their conversation returned once more to one of mere pleasantries, even if it was much stiffer than before.

Ever since the last war had ended, the various villages had taken measures to safeguard the peace. No one was foolish enough to believe it would last forever, of course, but everyone knew that another war at this point in time would not be worth it. So, for as long as it took for them to regain their strength, they would need to keep the status quo.

Konoha and Kumogakure were no exception to that, although these two villages were probably the ones who came out best from the last conflict.

So, to guarantee good relationships between their two villages, they have sent many one ambassador and delegates over the years to talk about treaties both parties knew would be broken in secret by each other. These treaties contained agreements on trade, the number of shinobi that were allowed into the smaller countries between them, information exchanges, and even a mutual protection pact. Still, it was only now, almost six years after the end of the Third Shinobi War, that the final signing would take place. That was why he, the Head Ninja of Kumo, was here.

At least officially. Unofficially, he had another mission.

His village had been interested in the Kekkei Genkai of other villages for quite some time now. It wasn’t easy to steal one as its carriers were rarely willing to change sides and the few missing-nin who had one were ruthlessly hunted down by their former comrades to stop other villages from taking advantage of them. You could kidnap children or even try to kidnap adults and get them to have children, but that wasn’t easy either; children were well-protected and adults that could be kidnapped usually killed themselves before they let something like this happen to them.

Which was why his current position was so precious. Yes, he was under surveillance, but once he managed to get away from his watchers, he had almost unlimited access to the entire village. Being in the very heart of it, all its bloodlines were presented to him on a silver plate. As long as there was no proof, he could kidnap a child of one of the clans without fearing any retaliation. Oh, sure, they would suspect him, but what could they do? He didn’t plan to be in the village anymore by the time they noticed the missing child and they would surely not start a war over it. Not yet, at least.

It was a bit risky, of course. Konoha was known to do things other villages considered crazy all the damn time. But alas, his Kage had ordered him to do so and that was the end of it.

Initially, they had planned to kidnap only the Hyūga heiress. She could be moulded to either be a loyal Kumo kunoichi –she was certainly young enough- or, if that didn’t happen, be of other use later on. Or, in the worst case, they could just take her eyes.

Then two years ago, the Chūnin Exams happened and the Raikage changed the plan. They would still go after the girl, but aside from that, they would also try to get the Sharingan. These eyes were long since known to be powerful, but the demonstration of the Uchiha heir against Yugito had brought that point home once again. By kidnapping the boy -or any other Uchiha brat, really- they would not only take care of someone that would become a problem in the future – damn Konoha and all their bloody prodigies - but also gain a powerful asset.

At least, that had been the plan.

“Good evening, Tee-san.”

He jumped around, ready to defend himself against whoever had managed to sneak up on him and expecting to see the shinobi that had observed him earlier. After all, maybe he hadn’t done as good of a job to get rid of them as he had thought. Instead, he found a black-haired woman smiling at him, wearing casual clothes that would make him mistake her for a civilian were it not for the strong chakra he could feel emitting from her.

“I hope you didn’t get lost. It must be confusing for someone from another village to find his way through all the streets and alleys, especially during the night when it’s dark.”

Now he recognized her; Mikoto Uchiha, mother of his target. The sight made him grit his teeth. That woman was a former Jōnin, meaning he wouldn’t be able to kill her quickly before anyone noticed him. Any fight between them would only attract more enemies, making his mission impossible.

“Uchiha-sama,” he said. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m quite alright. I’m just taking a little stroll, enjoying the night and all that.”

“Ah, I see,” she said with a gentle smile. “That’s understandable. After all, we’re doing the same. Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Naturally,” a voice behind him said, making him jump around again. “It would be a shame to miss the opportunity to watch the starry sky on such a clear night, after all.”

Wicked Eye Fugaku, he thought with a scowl. How did both of them sneak up on me…?

“Say, Tee-san,” Fugaku continued. “The weather in Kumogakure is much colder than it is here, isn't it?”

“Yes?”

It was the man's wife who spoke up next. “We were just wondering why you were wearing a cloak, that’s all. I mean, it’s even hiding your face! That must be horribly hot for you.”

That was when he realized what was going on: they knew. It wasn’t an accident that the Clan Head and his wife, both formidable shinobi in their own right, confronted him when he was just about to infiltrate their district. Konoha knew we would do something and prepared accordingly, he thought. It wasn’t a secret that his village was interested in Kekkei Genkai, so it wasn’t a stretch to assume all the clans had been warned and put on high alert.

“Oh, I see!” Mikoto suddenly exclaimed as she clasped her hands in front of her as if she had just had a revelation. “You don’t want to be recognized, do you? Our villages were at odds not too long ago, so you wanted to avoid problems.”

He just barely stopped his eyes from narrowing as he answered with a smile on his lips after taking off his mask. “Haha, you looked right through me, Uchiha-sama.” Why were they playing along? They knew his intentions, he was sure of it, so why-

Oh, he thought. They play along because they want to keep up appearances. For the sake of peace, they acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Both parties would know about their attempt, and both parties would stay silent about it. The cold war between our villages will probably increase tenfold, though.

“Well,” he finally said. “It was nice to meet you, but I really should go now. I have a meeting with the Hokage early tomorrow and would like to get a few hours of sleep before that.”

He had just turned around when Fugaku spoke up from his right. “Let us accompany you. We don’t want you to get lost, after all.”

“That’s really not-“

“We insist,” Mikoto added from where she appeared on his other side with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “We would hardly be good hosts if we just let you go on your own, now, would we?”

Understanding that he had no choice in that matter, he agreed. It were an uncomfortable 15 minutes until they reached his hotel, filled with polite comments and subtle threats.

For a second, he wondered if his comrades that went after the Hyūga girl had better luck.

He seriously doubted it.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Disturbances

IV

War was an event that made the life of everyone involved worse. Be it because of the death of your loved ones, the shortage of food and other goods, or the destruction of property; nobody was left unaffected.

War had a long history in this world. Before the villages were founded, countless clans fought against each other for dominance in an endless circle of violence while the various daimyos sent their troops to invade other countries in an attempt to become the supreme ruler on the continent. No matter where you lived, war was an eternal, ever-present sensation for the people of that time.

Once the fighting between two clans ended, whether that was because one side ‘won’ or because both sides had simply no one left to fight, they were replaced by new ones, only to be replaced themselves by the samurai of some feudal lord that decided to invade your country once they were done as well. Children were born and lived and died with the shadow of war over their heads, the endless series of bloodshed being the norm rather than an exception.

Then, the villages were founded and the fighting came to an end.

People came together, ninja clans and civilians alike, to create another future where their children could grow up in peace. The daimyos called back their troops and observed this new entity inside their borders that were created with their permission and oversight but yet outside of their control.

People started to rebuild and went on with their lives, the weight of war finally gone from their shoulders.

However, this peace didn’t last forever. It couldn’t, for it was in the very nature of mankind to fight and kill each other. The wars that followed were different from anything that came before, though. 

Instead of small clans whose numbers were few, with even the biggest ones not counting more than a few hundred, now there were armies of thousand that crashed on the battlefield. It weren’t just small towns or clearings that got destroyed anymore; in this new age of warfare, entire landscaped were changed forever, the scars in the ground remaining for generations to come. New strategies, new tactics, and new ways to kill each other were invented daily, and in the end, the casualties were higher than anyone would have believed possible just one generation prior.

But it was a ninja war. In these battles, no samurai were sent to the frontlines. While the newly formed villages sent their children to fight and die next to mountains of corpses, the daimyos held their hands and watched the slaughter, preventing the same fate for the people under their command.

The only non-shinobi that died in these conflicts were civilians that got caught up in the crossfire.

That meant that in the last three major conflicts that shook the continent, the daimyos’ forces had not been reduced in the slightest. They were still too weak to openly challenge their countries’ Hidden Villages, but right now, but he didn't think that the difference wasn’t insurmountable. If the shinobi forces were weakened just a little bit more, and if the civilians within their own walls rebelled against them, the daimyo could order his troops to attack and actually win.

Kazuma would liberate the people from their war-loving overlords and take control of the village’s prowess, adding the surviving shinobi to his liege's army. The clans might object, but if their leaders were killed and their number suitable lowered, they would fall in line easily enough. Within a generation, the shinobi would be the loyal subordinates to the daimyo as they always should have been, and then they could finally start the conquest of the entire continent.

He would see to it that the Fire Lord would rule uncontended, he swore it by his name and honour. His liege might not be open to the possibility yet, but he would come to realize the wisdom of Kazuma's words soon enough. Once he understood that there was no reason to be afraid of Konoha, once he understood his own importance, he would agree with him and elevate him to a rank that befitted him as thanks for his loyal service.

The groundwork for an eventually civilian rebellion was already set, so all that needed yet to be done was to weaken the village enough to make an invasion possible. And, as history had shown, there was nothing better to weaken them than war.

It was truly fortunate that the Head Ninja of Kumogakure was in the village right now as well. It was almost as if Kami himself was shining down on him.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if such an important person was openly killed in the streets during peace negotiations?

From what he had heard about the Raikage, the man was all brawn and no brain. A savage by all standards, even for a shinobi. It wasn’t hard to predict how such a person would react to such an insult. Even if he somehow restrained from retaliating immediately, there were enough ways to infuriate him even further.

And once Konoha and Kumo had worn each other out, it would be his time to strike.

“Place your legs a little further apart.”

“Alright!”

“Not that much. You’re meant to have a firm stance, not struggle with just staying on your feet at all.”

“Okay!”

“Now relax a bit. Be ready, but don’t become too stiff.”

“Understood!”

“And now-“

“Ah, come on, Nii-san! I’m doing it right, don’t I? Just let me throw it already!”

Itachi chuckled softly. “You’re doing great, Sasuke, but it’s important to correct mistakes immediately. Otherwise they become a bad habit that’s hard to get rid of again.”

“I know, I know, but we’re here since forever and I still didn’t throw a single shuriken! It’s stupid!"

His smile became a bit wider. They were here for not even half an hour yet, but he could understand why his silly little brother was so inpatient. The first lessons were unfortunately the most boring ones as well.

“Get back into your stance, Sasuke,” he said gently, not addressing his complaints.

Sasuke scowled a bit but did as he was told, falling back into the stance he had been a minute prior. At least he didn’t forget what I taught him, he thought amused as he watched his brother incorporate all the corrections he had given him with ease.

“Alright, this is my last correction,” he said, making Sasuke’s eyes sparkle with anticipation. “Weaken your grip on the shuriken and make sure that your palms are out of reach of its blades. You throw it with your fingers and nothing else. If you don’t want to get cut, that is.”

Itachi watched as Sasuke wordlessly changed his grip before he checked it one last time to make sure he wouldn’t hurt himself. Seeing nothing wrong with it, he nodded. “Good. You can throw it now.

Sasuke didn’t even wait until he had finished speaking to throw the weapon, making the metal star fly through the air until it connected with the wood.

Unfortunately, rather than the wooden target, it was a nearby tree that had been hit.

“Ow…”

“That wasn’t too bad,” he tried to cheer him up. “Your aim was only a bit off. Most beginners don't even throw in the right direction.”

“I bet you hit it on your first try, though…”

He had, though it hadn't hit the bullseye. “Come on, try it again.”

He needed a little more probing, but after a few minutes, he stood once again with slightly bent knees and prepared to throw another shuriken while biting his lips in concentration.

“Remember, don’t use too-“

He threw it, hitting the edge of the target. “Hah, did you see that, Nii-san? I hit it!”

It wasn’t a big success, but it was enough to make him dance around him while bragging about how good he was. He was just about to open his mouth to congratulate him when another voice spoke up first.

“Well done, Sasuke. Hitting your target on your second attempt is an impressive feat worthy of an Uchiha.”

The young boy jumped around, his eyes wide. “Otou-san!”

Itachi had noticed their father watching them earlier, of course, as he hadn’t even tried to suppress his chakra, but he hadn’t expected him to join yet. It would have been more in-character for him to observe their progress for a little while longer before making his presence known.

Fugaku smiled at his youngest son before ruffling his hair. “Why don’t you try it again? If you hit the target a few times in succession, I will show you how to throw a kunai as well.”

Sasuke was beaming. “Yes, Otou-san!”

“I didn’t though you would join this soon,” he voiced his thoughts once Sasuke was distracted.

His father shrugged. “My son is learning how to throw shuriken for the first time. It seemed appropriate to let him know I was watching.”

He didn’t reply as he stood side by side with his father, watching Sasuke throwing his fist in the air when he hit the target again.

After two hours of training, their father decided to take them to a restaurant for dinner rather than eat at home.

Itachi was sure that had nothing to do with his mother visiting a friend right now, meaning it would have been up to him to cook something. Surely not.

Needless to say, Sasuke was thrilled. Just like in the old timeline, he yearned for their father’s acknowledgement. Having him help him train and then take him to eat out as well? For him, that must be the best day in a while. Even more so because Fugaku had been busy for a while now, often only coming home when Sasuke was already asleep and gone again by the time he woke up.

To be honest, even Itachi was surprised. While it was great that his father found time for Sasuke, he had to wonder what this sudden change meant. After all, the representatives from Kumo and Konoha were still there, so he should have a lot on his plate. He could have delegated some work, of course, but that would be rather unusual for him.

“Otou-san, can you teach me a jutsu?”

At that comment, he turned his attention back towards the conversation to hear his father’s answer.

“I think you’re a bit too young yet-“

“Am not!”

“-but if you continue to work diligently, I would be willing to teach you the Great Fireball Technique before you join the academy.”

Well, at least that should motivate him, Itachi thought with a smile.

“You could try to impress Haku once you learned it,” he commented casually, making his brother turn beet red.

“Nii-san!”

To his surprise, even his father gave one of his rare laughs. “He’s right, Sasuke. Women love being impressed by men. Ask your mother, she will confirm that.”

His father found Sasuke’s little crush on Haku just as adorable as his mother and Itachi himself, though he would never admit it out loud. Personally, he thought a part of it came from the hope that she might return his feelings and thus end up joining the clan one day. To be fair, though, that was probably not a very major reason. After all, Sasuke was still quite young and these feelings were sure to disappear when he got older.

It was amusing to watch his brother squirm under their combined teasing until it was suddenly he that was the aim of their attention. “Then maybe you should show Izumi a new jutsu, Nii-san!”

While he outwardly only raised a single brow, inwardly, he cringed.

There were rumours like that, mostly from his older relatives who loved gossiping with each other, and he found it uncomfortable every time he overheard them. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t see where they came from; he was the Uchiha heir which put a lot of attention on his back from the rest of his clan and she was basically the only person “his age” he interacted with. There was also Shisui, of course, but with both of them being busy most of the time, they met less than he and Izumi.

Also, Shisui wasn’t a girl.

“I did, actually,” he replied, making Sasuke pout at his casual reaction to his attempted teasing. “I regularly train with her, remember?”

“Izumi, huh?” his father said. “She graduated recently, didn’t she? Two years early, if I remember correctly.”

He nodded, hiding how much he would prefer that they change the topic.

“That’s most impressive. Didn’t she also awaken her Sharingan at the same time as you?”

“She did.”

He hummed. “It’s good to see that our clan has so many young talented shinobi. There are you, Shisui, Izumi, and of course Sasuke.” He smiled at his younger son who replied in kind. “It appears that we don’t need to worry about the future of the clan with so many upstanding members.”

Afterwards, to his relief, the conversation turned to more light-hearted topics that didn't involve his circle of friends.

Arranged marriages were becoming more and more of a relic of a bygone era and the Uchiha Clan was no exception to that. However, that didn’t mean that there was no encouragement from their parents to find a partner and have children. Generally speaking, shinobi usually tried to marry early in life, knowing they might die young, and that was especially true for clan heirs. He was still a bit too young to deal with that, but it would become an annoyance soon enough. Even now, he could see some of it in his parents' encouragement of his friendship with Izumi.

Well, at least when it came to his father. Although he doubted his mother would have a problem with her as a daughter in law, for she already treated her like family, she would never push him towards marrying someone he didn’t want to.

In the other timeline, she once told him that she had found love with his father all on her own and that she wished the same for him.

Not that this had worked out well in the end.

“Itachi, would you please stay behind for a moment?”

Slightly surprised, he turned around. Sasuke had already gone to sleep and he was just about to do the same, wanting to be rested for his mission tomorrow. “Yes?”

His father looked at him with a serious expression, his face not betraying a single emotion.

He knew his father long enough to know that he only acted like that if it was about something serious.

“We need to talk,” he said while gesturing at the couch for him to sit down. “It’s about your sensei.”

There were two kinds of ANBU:

On one hand, there were those that were well known. Be it because their appearance was easily recognizable or because their techniques tended to stand out, they were easily recognized by friends and foes alike. They usually didn’t even try to hide their identities, openly walking through the village with their armour on. The reason they were still ANBU rather than Jōnin was that they could help their village way more this way because they were more suited for the kind of missions that came with this position.

Also, they severed as good intimidation against other villages.

On the other hand, there was the majority who consisted of unknown individuals that hid their identities behind masks and wigs and coats. They were officially registered as Chūnin or Jōnin, sometimes even as Genin, and even went regularly on appropriate missions to keep up appearance. Many one shinobi that ‘retired’ was actually one that was transferred into ANBU and used that as a cover. They usually ended working in some civilian business that was in truth run by the village just for this purpose.

Shisui was part of the second category.

That secrecy meant that he needed to lie even to his friends and family -with the sole exception of his clan head- about his profession. He didn’t like that part, though, and would probably ask for permission to tell at least Itachi about it. He was confident that his friend, perceptive as he was, already knew about it anyway, but he would still like to be more open with him.

Maybe he would also ask for permission to tell Izumi as well. He hadn't had many friends besides her and Itachi, so it would only be fair for her to know as well.

Usually, while you needed to ask first, ANBU operatives were allowed to tell their immediate family about it easily enough, especially if they were members of some clan. If a civilian shinobi asked for the same, their families would first need to be checked for how trustworthy they were before the permission was granted.

However, he hadn’t asked for it yet and thus had no other choice than to lie to his friends and family about what he was doing. That was the reason he had told Itachi and Izumi he would travel to the daimyo’s palace to deliver a message when in truth he had been assigned as the squad leader of the ANBU that observed Kazuma.

“Captain,” one of his teammates, a Hyūga, said. “The target just created a shadow clone to take his place while he sneaked out through the underground.”

Gotcha, he thought. He had heard about the man killing one of their comrades, Itachi’s former sensei, and had been afraid he might decide to do nothing further during his stay. It would have been severely disappointing if he were to leave before solid evidence against him was found as it was unlikely that Shisui would be the one sent after him later.

“Where is he heading?”

The Hyūga was silent for a second before he answered. “It seems he heads to the Hokage building- no, wait, he made a turn.” Even with his mask out, Shisui could tell that he had narrowed his eyes. “I think he’s heading towards the accommodation of Kumo’s ambassador. There is nothing else noteworthy in that direction.”

He connected the dots almost immediately. “Move out,” he said while standing up himself. “He’s planning an attack on the ambassador to start a conflict between us and Kumogakure. We need to stop him before he has the chance to do so.”

“Yes, Captain!”

“Yes, Captain!”

Travelling underground was fortunately much slower than travelling over house roofs, so by the time they caught up with him, Kazuma had still half of the way ahead of him.

“Hawk,” he addressed his second teammate. “Go ahead and clear the plaza ahead of us. We will confront him there and I don’t want any civilians present for that.” The man nodded and vanished in a burst of speed. “Dog, you will stand back and block all astray going attacks. Try to limit the damage to the village as much as possible.”

“Understood.”

He was confident that he was more than capable of taking on the traitor on his own, even without any flashy techniques. The Twelve Guardian Ninja were strong, yes, for it wouldn’t do that anything less than an elite shinobi guarded the Daimyo, but so was he.

They arrived at the place less than a minute later, finding it almost empty with the last stragglers just leaving, and went into position to wait for their foe to arrive. “Dog, give us a signal when he reaches the statue in the centre of the plaza,” he said while pointing at the aforementioned object. “Hawk, when Dog gives the sign, you will dig him out with an earth technique, understood?”

“Of course, Captain.”

They didn’t need to wait for long.

“Now!”

Hawk didn’t hesitate, rushing through the necessary hand seals in the blink of an eye.

A second later, a cloaked figure broke through the surface and flew into the air. Not wanting to give him the chance to recover, Shisui jumped after him. He wanted to end it immediately and sent a kick at his foe that could have catapulted him back to the ground with enough force to knock him out, but Kazuma somehow managed to recover in time to twist his body in a way that allowed him to dodge.

They had a short exchange of blows and hits while they fell towards the ground during which neither of them could land a hit. Then they landed, though, and the fight became much more one-sided. Without the limitations of being airborne, Shisui could use his superior speed and agility to sneak attacks through Kazuma's defence more effectively while still staying out of the range of his attacks, and he made full use of that.

“Who are-“ Kazuma started, only to stop when he was forced to do a sudden backflip to evade the blade of Shisui's sword.

He didn’t bother replying, never having been a fan of having conversations in mid-battle, and instantly rushed towards him again to not allow his foe any time to recover.

Kazuma, seeing him approach fast, grabbed something from behind his back before aiming a surprising clumsy slash in his direction. Not being deterred at all, Shisui simply tilted his head a bit to the right and prepared to punch him in the face, only to jump back a heartbeat later to avoid being decapitated.

He was confused for barely a second before he realized what happened. So the reports about him using chakra to enhance the range of his weapons were true after all, he thought as he observed the wakizashi in Kazuma's hands. How dangerous, it’s almost invisible to the normal eye. I guess I’m fortunate to have a Sharingan, huh?

Shisui briefly wondered why the man wasn’t using the triple-bladed hand claw he had read about, but the answer was pretty obvious once you thought about it for a moment. It would have been way too obvious to identify him as the culprit if he used such a unique weapon for the assassination and he can’t have that now, can he?

This time, it was Kazuma who attacked first. With only a slight movement of his wrist, several wind blades flew at him with high speed, quickly followed by the man himself.

But he was ready. Their previous bout was enough to give him an idea of his abilities, so now he could fight serious without the risk of falling into a trap.

Pushing off the ground with all his strength, he appeared almost immediately behind Kazuma, having forgone all the blades that had been thrown at him –and which were blocked by Dog before they could hit a building- and kicked him in the back.

“Wha-“ Kazuma started only to be interrupted again by a punch to his stomach.

Shisui flicked in and out of sight, connecting an attack before vanishing again and continue from a different angle while leaving nothing but an afterimage behind. This continued for almost an entire minute before Kazuma surprisingly let out a scream and stomped on the ground with enough force to create a little crater. The resulting blast of wind pushed him a few meters away; it was not strong enough to harm him, but it forced him to stop his attack.

“Damn you,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, but I will not let myself get beaten by a leaf ninja of all people!”

Kazuma raised his hands to form hand seals, but he didn’t get the chance to do whatever he planned to as a second figure suddenly appeared behind him and lightly tapped him on the neck. Kazuma fell over shortly after.

“I disabled him, Captain,” Hawk said. “Capture complete.”

“Well done,” he said while sighing inwardly. He hadn’t wanted to end it this quickly, no matter how unprofessional it was, but it was probably for the best.

“Y-you bastards,” Kazuma stuttered, struggling to even raise his head from where he laid on the ground. “I will pay you back thousandfold for this!”

Instead of replying, he sent a kick at his face to knock him out.

He probably enjoyed the sound of the cracking nose a little too much, though. But considering the man had not only killed a fellow shinobi from Konoha but also a person dear to his friend, he allowed himself that small pleasure.

“Captain,” Dog said when he appeared at his side. “If you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you catch him in a Genjutsu from the very beginning?”

He turned towards his subordinate. “He’s one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja. It wouldn’t be unlikely for a shinobi of his calibre to be able to break out of my technique and I didn’t want to risk that.”

“I see.”

That was bullshit, of course. While a possibility, none of the records about the man indicated that he was talented enough in that field for that to become a problem, so he could have actually done that. Even if he broke free, it would hardly have mattered with his two comrades as his backup.

The truth was that he just really wanted to kick him in the face.

“You don’t look good, Asuma. You should take some rest, let someone else do this for you.”

He didn’t look away from the shackled form of Kazuma when he answered. “You’re hardly one to talk, Kakashi. Do you ever rest when you’re supposed to?”

“That doesn’t mean you need to follow my example.”

Chiriku beside him snorted softly. “Don’t believe we didn’t try. We were lucky that he stayed long enough in the infirmary to let us treat his wounds, any more than that requires nothing less than a miracle.”

Asuma suppressed a grimace at that comment. He had not wanted them to know that, especially not-“

“Wounds?” a concerned voice asked a moment before he felt a hand on his arm. “What happened? Did someone attack the daimyo?”

He sighed before turning his head to look in the red eyes of his childhood crush. “No,” he said, “but it seems Kazuma wasn’t the only one of our comrades that had radical thoughts and the willingness to act on them.”

The fighting had been intense if rather one-sided. After all, two against nine weren’t exactly great odds. That being said, Asuma had insisted to do this on his own. It was egoistic, he knew, for every one of his friends had just as much right to bring their fallen comrades to justice as he did, but he couldn’t help it. They had fortunately agreed under the condition that they would accompany him in case he would lose.

Well, everyone aside from Chirikiu, that is. He had insisted to fight at his side to make it even.

They won without either of them suffering any serious injury. At least no physical one.

“Wow, that’s really irresponsible of-“

“Didn’t I just told you to stop talking so big? I literally can’t remember a single time you stayed in the hospital for longer than it took for the doctor to leave the room.” If you just heard his voice, you might get the impression that he was annoyed. One glance at his face, however, and you could see the small smile on his lips.

Kurenai hit his shoulder. Hard. He was lucky that none of his injuries were located in that area or the situation might not be so light-hearted. “And he told you rightly so that you shouldn’t take an example from him!” She turned to Chiriku who was watching the spectacle with great amusement. That traitor. “Where was he injured?”

“Only a few cuts on his back and some bruised ribs,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing too serious, otherwise we would have done our best to make him stay in the infirmary by force.”

“Well, we will go there right now anyway.” She then started to push him towards the entrance behind him, standing closer to him than he would have liked. Honestly, he thought flustered. She needs to be more aware of her charm!

“Do you even know where we need to go?”

“No,” she said with a smirk, “but you’re going to tell me.”

He couldn’t help it; he laughed. It was the first time in months that he could freely laugh like that, the weight of his friend’s treacherous words and actions casting a shadow over him ever since he first became aware of them.

Right now, all he could think of was the person at his side.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Uchiha and Uzumaki

His brother had always been there for him, there was no denying it. The same could be said about his parents as well, of course, or at least about his mother. His father had not as much time for him as they did, but Sasuke couldn't blame him for that; his father was an important man with many duties, after all. Still, it was Itachi that he usually came to for help.

To this day, there had never been a problem Itachi couldn’t solve. When he was younger, he thought his brother was perfect, that there was nothing he couldn’t do. Now that he was older, he knew that that couldn’t be the case. After all, nobody was perfect, not even Itachi. However, no matter how long he thought about it, he simply couldn’t find anything that he wasn’t perfect at!

Ninjutsu? Nope. Genjutsu? Nada. Taijutsu? Don’t be stupid. But these were all shinobi arts and he was a bloody prodigy in those, so that wasn’t surprising. Something else, then.

His calligraphy? Nothing less than art. Cooking? He cooked for him whenever their parents weren’t home and while not as good as their mother’s, it was still great. Playing shōgi? The only person he knew who could match him was Shisui.

No matter how hard he thought about it, no matter how long he observed him, Itachi simply didn’t seem to stumble. He moved forward without any trouble in the world, leaving nothing but perfection behind in his wake.

When Sasuke was younger, he looked up to him for it and bragged about it to the other children when the clan came together for one reason or another. Now that he was older, he still looked up to him, but he couldn't deny that there was also a bit of jealously in his heart. Not much, and he would never openly admit it, but it was there.

Nonetheless, no matter how frustrating it was at times to see how Itachi solved every and all problems with ease, he couldn’t hold it against him. After all, he took so much time from his schedule to just play and train with him when he could do other things, even bringing him along when he met his friends. Looking back, it was really embarrassing to know that baby-him must have annoyed them quite a bit even if nobody had ever complained. Not even Izumi whom he had shown nothing but open dislike ever said something. Quite the opposite; she seemed even more determined to talk to him every time they met!

Sasuke had long since decided that girls were just weird like that. What his brother liked about her, he couldn’t say, but no matter how often he told him to stop seeing her – why would you want to play with a girl? - he never listened.

Haku and his mother were exceptions, of course. But they were special, so there was that.

Right now, though, he would accept even Izumi's help, for he had no idea how he could help his brother.

They were currently on the graveyard, with Itachi arranging flowers on the grave in front of them –in a beautiful muster of red and white because of course he could do that as well- while Sasuke just stood awkwardly a few feet away from him. He threw a quick glance at the gravestone, the name “Akihito Tanaka” staring back at him, before looking back at his brother.

It wouldn’t be right to say that he looked sad, but there was definitively something about him that made him appear… sober? Was that the right word? No doubt most people wouldn’t even notice, but he had watched Itachi closely for all his life and could see little things like that.

And no, it wasn’t weird that he watched him whenever he could. It was not!

His brother’s sensei had died nearly one and a half years ago, but Itachi still visited the grave regularly. He usually didn’t accompany him because he found it uncomfortable to watch his brother when he was like that, but he was six now. Almost an adult. Itachi helped him all the time, it was only fair he helped him as well.

“Nii-san?” he said, inwardly patting himself on the shoulder for making his voice not sound like a whine. “Are you alright?”

Even his smile didn’t look as bright as usual. “Of course, Sasuke.” He rose from his kneeling position, holding a hand out for him to take. “Shall we go?”

Under different circumstances, he wouldn’t have taken it. He was too old for holding hands like a baby. But this was for Itachi, not for him. He could hold his hand if that made his brother feel better, that was the grown-up thing to do. Besides, there was no one else here that could see them anyway.

Just today, he told himself. And only until Itachi feels better.

Sasuke tried to listen to the speech, he really did, but it took all he had to stay still without fidgeting or appearing too stiff. Hopefully Hokage-sama isn’t saying anything important, he thought. Otou-san would be disappointed if I failed a test because I didn’t pay attention on my first day!

He couldn’t even ask someone else because that would give away that he hadn't listened. There was no way he would confess that to anyone, not in a thousand years. I guess I will just cross my fingers and hope that nothing happens.

Time flew by and suddenly he found himself saying goodbye to his family before his first day at the academy would begin.

His father gave him a smile and a pat on his shoulders before reminding him to live up to the exceptions bestowed upon an Uchiha and telling him that he believed in him. Quick and simple.

His mother was an entirely different matter, however.

She fortunately didn’t fuss as much over him as other parents he could see from the corner if his eyes, but it was still annoying.

“Do you have everything?”

“Your lunch? Shuriken? Kunai?”

“Listen to what your teachers tell you.”

“Make some friends.”

“Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you will do just fine.”

He brushed her hand away from his head where she tried to ‘fix’ his hair. “Kaa-san, stop it!”

She chuckled into her fist. “Are you sure? Because-“

As always, it was Itachi who saved him. “Give him a break, Okaa-san. You worry too much.”

“He’s right, Mikoto,” his father added. “Sasuke will be alright, so give it a rest.”

She sighed before nodding her agreement, even if it appeared somewhat reluctant. “Alright, alright, I will stop.” She turned back towards him with a soft glare. “I better don’t hear about you forgetting anything or causing trouble, though.”

He nodded dutifully. “Of course, Kaa-san.”

“Just be yourself and you will be fine,” Itachi said before chuckling at the face he made. “I know that sounds like something that everyone says, but believe me, it’s true.” Then, before he could react, Itachi poked him on the forehead. “Now run along or you will miss your first class.”

He scowled at him for a second while rubbing his forehead before turning around and running towards where all his classmates were heading, waving goodbye with one hand without turning around as he did so.

He was joining the academy at last. Maybe now will I finally be able to catch up with Nii-san.

Sasuke was one of the last to arrive in the classroom. He would have been embarrassed about that, but this time was an exception as it meant there weren’t many places left to choose from. That might sound like something bad, and usually it would be, but this time was, again, an exception.

Just like Itachi had told him, he could already see some of the girls looking at him with wide eyes. It weren’t the "hordes of fangirls" Shisui had conspiratorially warned him about last week, but even one of them was one too many. Had he arrived earlier, he was sure some of them would have tried to sit next to him. With only a few places being left, though, there was nothing they could do as he sat down in the second row next to the window with the place to his right being already occupied by a blond boy.

“Hey there!” the boy greeted him with what his mother would call a thousand-watt smile. "My name is Naruto. What about you?”

“Sasuke Uchiha,” he said, slightly thrown off by how straightforward the boy was before feeling awkward all of the sudden. The boy had introduced himself with only his first name while he had said both his first and last name. Now, his father had always told him that it was a sign of pride in your clan to introduce yourself like this, but his mother had also told him that it was rude to do so if your counterpart didn’t do it either. It had something to do about how many people didn’t have a family name, he thought. Had he already messed up?

The other boy, clueless to his thoughts, just continued to beam at him. “Uchiha? Wow, that’s so cool! Your family has these crazy red eyes, right? Can you show me?”

Is he trying to be rude because I was rude as well? he wondered. Is it that what he's doing? Sasuke somehow didn’t think so. Maybe he was just overthinking things? “Ehm, no,” he said, sounding unsure even to his own ears. “I don’t have them yet. They’re called Sharingan, by the way.”

“Sharingan,” he repeated to himself before turning back to him. “And when do you get them?”

“I don’t know, that's kinda different from person to person.”

“Oh…” He seemed oddly saddened by that. However, that mood didn’t last long, and hardly a second later he was already back at beaming at him. Honestly, Sasuke was starting to believe that boy didn’t even know how to be anything else than a yellow bundle of happiness. “No matter! Will you show them to me when you got them?”

“…sure?”

“Great!”

“Alright, calm down everyone!” their teacher’s voice sounded through the room, saving him from continuing this weird conversation. “I know the first day is exciting, but we’re about to begin now! You will have enough time to get to know each other later, I promise.”

Their sensei was a man of average height and build. He had brown hair that he kept in a ponytail, dark eyes, and a scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. He also wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, complete with a forehead protector, sandals, and the same flak jacket Itachi and his father had as well.

“My name is Iruka Umino and I will be your homeroom teacher from this day on. You can call me Iruka-sensei. As today is your first day, why don’t we start with a short introduction?”

Sasuke listened closely as his various classmates introduced themselves, intend on remembering all their names by the time the day was over. It would be way too embarrassing if he needed to talk with one and didn’t know how to call them…

A few of his classmates were people he already knew. Even if he hadn’t met all of them, his father insisted that he should know the various clan heirs in Konoha. However, the majority of the classroom consisted of strangers.

They had started with the introduction from the back of the room, so he, who sat in the second row, needed to wait relatively long for his turn. Ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach, he stood up with as much confidence as he could muster and quickly introduced himself. He was proud to say that his voice sounded more bored than nervous, making him stand out compared to most of the people that came before him. However, even he couldn’t compare to the boy that sat next to him.

Rather than just standing up, he jumped to his feet and slammed his hands on the table in front of him. “My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I’m gonna be the strongest ninja in the entire village, dattebayo!” He said the entire thing with what was quickly becoming his trademark smile.

Sasuke's first thought was 'There is no way he can become stronger than Nii-san', shortly followed by 'Wait, so he does have a surname?'

There were some snickers around the room, but Naruto didn’t look bothered by it. Even Sasuke had to smile at the enthusiasm, though he doubted he could ever fulfill that dream.

Iruka-sensei needed a few minutes to calm the room down again, but he was sure the man only needed that long because he was just amused as the rest of them.

“Kaa-san! Otou-san! I’m home!”

Mikoto was at the door within seconds. It wasn’t as if she had waited for him to come home from a chair close to the door or anything, no. It was just a coincidence that she had been close by, that’s all.

“Sasuke,” she greeted him with a warm smile. “Welcome… home?”

Unexpectedly, Sasuke wasn’t alone. Just a step behind him was a blond boy, wearing brown trousers that went to his knees and an orange shirt with a red spiral muster on it, giving her a bright smile.

She felt as if she was looking at a ghost. Every other person that knew about the boy’s parentage would say he looked just like his father, but all she could see was Kushina. Yes, the blond hair and the blue eyes were good at hiding it, but everyone who had known his mother could see her in his face. Whether it was his nose, his lips, or his cheekbones, they were all hers. He even smiled the same when as she did when she tried to hide her uncertainty!

For a mere second, the face of the boy vanished in a blur and was replaced by the one of a girl with long, red hair before she came back to her senses.

“Who is your friend, Sasuke?”

“That's Naruto. We sit together in class, so I thought he could come over for a bit?”

It was honestly so cute when he tried -and failed- so hard to sound casual when he was nervous, but she was too distracted right now to pay much attention to it.

“Nice to meet you, Uchiha-sama,” the boy in question exclaimed with a loud voice before clumsily bowing to her. Going by the way he moved, she doubted he did that regularly. “My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I will be gone before dinner, so-”

“What are you doing, idiot?” Sasuke hissed to him with red cheeks. “Why are you talking like that? Just act normal!”

“I'm being polite!” the boy hissed back while his cheeks turned to a similar shade as her son's. “The old man said you need to act like that to give a good first impression!”

“You're embarrassing yourself!”

“I'm not!”

"You're-"

Mikoto decided to intervene before that argument could get out of hand, no matter how amusing it was to watch. “You're of course welcome, Naruto-kun,” she said. “And there is no need to leave before dinner. Why don't you join us tonight?”

He looked at her with big eyes. “Is that really okay? Because I can just leave-”

“Nonsense,” she interrupted him gently but firmly. “It's no problem at all. In fact, I insist.”

The smile he sent her now was so similar to the one she remembered from her youth that it hurt. “Thank you, Oba-san!”

Oba-san? she thought, blinking in surprise. Going from being super formal to calling her that, he was truly Kushina's son.

Sasuke hurriedly grabbed his arm and started to pull him away. “We're in my room, Kaa-san. Call us when dinner is ready, yes?” They were gone before she could answer.

She needed a few minutes to collect herself before she went back to the kitchen, but the shock didn't quite vanish even by the time she started to prepare the food.

It had been a few years since the last time she had seen the boy. Shortly after the Nine-Tails attacked, she and Fugaku had talked about possibly adopting him, but nothing ever came from that. Afterwards, she had visited him a few times in the hospital and even in the orphanage once he was transferred there, but she stopped after a few months when her regular appearances started to be noticed. There had been several moments over the years where she considered visiting him to tell him about his parents, something she doubted anyone else had ever done.

In the end, she never did.

Partly because the likelihood of him being able to keep it a secret was low and the consequences of his parentage becoming known to the public were not something she wished for him. Not only because of his parent's former enemies coming after him, as that could be dealt with easily enough, but also because of the fame that would come with it. There was no way he could have a 'normal' childhood if he was pampered by everyone for being the Yellow Flash's son.

Furthermore, she was one of the few that knew that Kushina had been the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. To this day, she had no idea what went wrong on that fateful day. Sure, Kushina told her that the seal was weakened when a Jinchūriki was pregnant and especially so during the process of giving birth, but with Minato there to help her along, that shouldn't have been much of a problem.

But no matter what should and what shouldn't have been, it was a fact was that something went wrong anyway and that she lost her best friend without ever having the chance to say goodbye.

Here was the thing, though: she knew that both Minato and Kushina had died side by side, exactly at the place where the Nine-Tails had vanished. Now, a Biju didn't just vanish like that, which didn't leave many possibilities as to what could have happened.

Mikoto knew her friend and there was no way she would have left her newborn child behind to fight the Nine-Tails, which meant Naruto must have been there as well. Although there had never been an official statement, she would be damned if Naruto wasn't the new Jinchūriki.

With that in mind, she didn't want to put more attention on him than absolutely necessary.

Or maybe that were all excuses she made because she was too much of a coward to visit her dead friend's son.

“Are you alright, Okaa-san?”

The pot in her hands would have fallen to the ground had Itachi not caught it just in time, saving her from that embarrassment. What a great kunoichi I am, she thought. Almost ruining the floor because I get surprised by my son in my own home.

“Thank you, Itachi,” she said with a thin smile. “I was just in thoughts, that's all. You don't need to worry.”

Normally she was glad of how perspective he could be, but as he watched her from her side, she wished just this once that he wasn't. “This is about Kushina-san's son, isn't it?”

She was glad she didn't hold anything in her hands this time. “How did you-”

“I remember her visiting us a few times when I was younger,” he interrupted her. “Before Sasuke was born. I think we also went to visit Naruto-san in the hospital after the Nine-Tails attack, didn't we?”

She really shouldn't be surprised he remembered that. “Yes,” she finally said with a small sigh. “You're right. You understand why no one can know, though, do you?”

He nodded. “Of course.” He then continued to take her by her shoulder and gently push her towards the nearby chair.

“Itachi, what-”

“I will make dinner today, Kaa-san. Just sit down and relax, alright?”

Maybe she should have resisted and insisted he let her do it, but she didn't. Instead, she allowed him to lead her to the chair before doing just as he said.

“I will bring you a tea in a minute,” he said. “Otou-san should be home soon. I'm sure he is willing to put aside his work and give you some company until is dinner is ready.”

“Thank you, Itachi.”

No matter how often she saw it, she was always glad to see him smile as he did right now. To see him this much at peace after all he had seen when he was young gave her hope that maybe she hadn't failed him as much as she sometimes feared. “It's no trouble at all, Kaa-san. You too deserve a break sometimes.”

Yes, she thought. And with Kushina's ghost upstairs, I certainly need one right now.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

The Festival

I

“You will have more than enough time to run along with your friends later that evening, but your duties as my son come first.”

“But Otou-san-“

“This is no discussion, Sasuke.” His father’s loud voice almost made him flinch. “You’re old enough to participate in such events now. Your mother and I already gave you more leeway than what is considered normal, but you can’t stay hidden forever. Your brother joined us when he was two years younger than you’re now.” He then continued in a somewhat softer voice. “You’re not expected to stay all night. There will not be much for you to do anyway once everyone sits down to eat and talk, so I’m not averse to you sneaking out after an hour or two, but you will do your duty first.”

Sasuke lowered his head with a muttered agreement and kept it that way until his father had left the kitchen. 

It was almost funny how he had always wanted to join the grown-ups when they came together at his family’s house for a private celebration on this day of the year only to be actually disappointed when he was finally allowed- no, expected to do so. What were the odds of that happening that one time he actually had plans of his own for that day?

Usually, he and the other children of his clan were sent away to “play with each other” and “have fun”, which were just polite ways to make sure they didn’t bother anyone. With that in mind, Sasuke hadn’t expected that it would be a problem when he told his father that he planned to meet some of his friends from the academy to join the public celebrations of the village. He had been excited about that day for weeks now, looking forward to exploring the various stands and join the games, only to be stopped at the last minute.

To think that he had been jealous of Itachi all this time. Oh, how stupid he had been!

Thinking about his brother…

“Don’t be so gloomy. The time will fly by in a wink of an eye and you will be free to go before you know it, you will see.”

“But the others will already have done everything by the time I join them! I will miss all the fun!”

Itachi had actual the gall to chuckle at that, making him glare at his brother in response. “I think you underestimate how much there is to do. You would not be able to take part in as much as half of the available attractions even if you joined your friends from the very beginning. And that’s already excluding the ones you can’t join because you’re too young.”

He frowned, his annoyance momentarily forgotten. “But there wasn’t that much when Kaa-san took me with her…?”

“It might seem this way because you were too young to participate in much,” Itachi said before standing up. “Believe me, there will be more than enough left for you and your friends to do once you’re allowed to leave.”

His brother had no reason to lie to him about that, so it was probably the truth.

Sasuke was just about to stand up himself and thank Itachi for cheering him up when sudden pressure against his forehead made him fall back on his ass.

“You better behave until you’re free to go, though,” Itachi said with an amused smile, his right hand still raised from his previous move. “Otou-san might change his mind otherwise.”

Realizing that Itachi had poked him again brought his scowl back to his face in full force, but he was gone before he could complain about it.

I will stop him from doing that one day, he thought as his scowl morphed into a pout. Or even better, I will be the one that pokes him!

Finally, Izumi thought with a relieved smile. Took me long enough, though.

The object of her attention was the simple necklace with three silver rings in her hand. It wasn’t her first attempt, but it was the first one that Itachi might actually like. All her other pieces had been way too elaborate and embellished. He might have still worn them to be polite, but she knew for a fact that he wouldn’t have liked them very much.

He was more the type for simplistic things.

At first, she had been absolutely clueless about what she could get him. You didn’t become Jōnin every day, after all, so it should be something special, right? Now, a necklace would usually not be called 'special' either, but a self-made one? That would do.

Izumi allowed herself a second to think about what she would get when she finally got promoted as well but couldn’t think of anything. Hana was too random of a person to predict what she would give her and the same could be said about Shisui. Itachi, on the other hand, always managed to surprise her, so she didn’t even try to predict his present. They were her only close friends, so whatever she would get from her more casual acquaintances would be just normal stuff.

Well, not that it mattered much. She became a Chūnin just a few months ago, so the possibility of promotion was still far in the future.

“Oh, is that for Itachi?”

She was proud to say that her first reaction was to jump around and slash at the intruder with a kunai she had quickly summoned to her hand.

“Hey, hey, hey!” the intruder –Shisui- exclaimed while jumping back. “Watch where you point that thing! You could hurt someone with that!”

She huffed but reluctantly put the weapon away before placing her hand on her hips. “Of course it’s sharp, that’s the point!” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And what did I tell you about sneaking into other people’s houses?”

He just rolled his eyes good-naturally. “Yes, yes, it’s rude and I will not do it again.”

“You say that every time, yet it happens time and time again!”

“But this time I’m serious!”

Maybe that would be more believable if you wouldn’t grin like an idiot while saying that.

“Whatever,” she muttered with a sigh. “Why are you here this time? You’re not hiding from Mikoto-san again, are you?”

“Can’t I just visit a friend I haven’t seen in a long time?”

“We saw each other just two days ago,” she said with a deadpan voice. “You know, when you came here to hide from Mikoto-san?”

“Two days are a long time!” he protested while dramatically grasping his chest. Then, before she could reply, he took a step towards her to give the necklace she had abandoned on her table a closer look. “Oh, nicely done! Simple but with a dash of elegance. Itachi will like it.” He gave her a questioning look. “It is for him, right? Because it would suit you as well.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, it’s for Itachi. You know that I’m not a fan of jewellery.”

“Any yet you wore some when you met that boy last week,” he said teasingly. “So, how was your date?”

For a moment, she was too surprised to answer. Then that surprise turned into indignation. “How do you even know about that? You were on a mission at that time!”

Shisui snorted. “There is little that goes on in the village that I don't know about." He apparently wanted to leave it at that, but her glare made him reconsider. "I overheard Mikoto-san talking about it with your mother. Seems both of them think you looked adorable, in case you wondered. Now tell me, how did it go? Do I need to hide a body?”

Of course they would gossip about that, she thought while suppressing a grimace. She had actually tried to keep her date a secret exactly because she knew she wouldn’t hear the end of it for a long, long time.

“I’m more than capable of hiding a body myself, thank you very much.”

That made him chuckle. “Just trying to be chivalrous, you know. Can I assume that it didn’t go well, then?”

“He was an idiot, just like any other twelve years old boy,” she said resigned before letting herself fall into her bed. “Honestly, I don’t know why I expected anything else. You’re all the same.”

“I take offense on behalf of all twelve years old boys,” he replied in mock seriousness. “And why are you including me in this all of the sudden? I'm fifteen, not twelve!”

She shrugged. “Whether you’re twelve or fifteen makes hardly a difference, does it? Not like you matured in that time or anything.”

“You’re breaking my heart, you hear me? My heart! And if even  I am affected by your words, what would Itachi say if he hears you saying something hurtful like that?”

“So you disagree?”

“No.” The answer came without hesitation, making her snort in surprise. “Doesn’t mean it’s a nice thing to hear. Boys have emotions as well, you know.”

“Could have fooled me.” She sat up again. “Anyway, what did you get for Itachi?”

He grinned. “Can’t tell, it’s a secret.” Then, seeing her annoyed frown, he started to laugh.

She tried very hard to keep her face annoyed but failed miserably, feeling her lips tucking upwards against her will. Staying in a bad mood was almost impossible with a person as cheerful as Shisui around.

It’s good to have a friend like him.

In hindsight, Jiraiya should have used a Henge to hide his identity after leaving his sensei's office, but he had been too deep in thoughts to think about it back then. And who could blame him? After such a long and exhausting conversation, everyone would be elsewhere with their mind!

It wasn't as if he didn't understand why he couldn't go after Nagato and Konan yet, he truly did, but that knowledge didn't make it any easier to actually listen to the old man. After all, wasn't he their sensei? Wasn't it his responsibility to look after them? He had already failed Minato and Yahiko, could he do the same to them?

Just like he apparently did in an alternative timeline?

He understood that confronting them too early could end catastrophically. The odds were that he would die fighting them again even though he had a much better grasp on their abilities now. As much as it increased his chances, it was not easy to gauge whether or not he could actually win, especially because he wouldn't accept help from others for this. Not only that, but 'Pain' was also very valuable to Madara and his plans. While it was relatively unlikely that he would interfere in a fight, there was no way to predict how his plans would change if Pain was taken out of the equation this early. Of course, the entire point of using their knowledge about the future was to change it, but that needed to be done carefully. They needed to find the right balance between changing things and preserving enough to still have an idea of what's gonna happen.

And then there was the entire thing concerning his newest intel about Orochimaru...

Needless to say, his mind was elsewhere while he walked through the streets of the village. Unfortunately, even as distracted as he was, he noticed all the fingers that were pointed at him and the eyes that burned into his back. He was used to attention -especially from the female part of the population, of course- but too much was too much. That was one of the reasons he didn't want to come back to Konoha too often. He was a loyal shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and would gladly sacrifice himself for his home, but he preferred to protect it from afar. Much less stressful that way.

However, that wasn't an option any longer. He had a godson that needed to be looked after and while he couldn't just let all his duties fall to the sideline, the least thing he could do for Minato's and Kushina's son was to regularly visit him. Make sure he was alright and all that. Jiraiya hadn't done too good of a job with that 'last time' and he didn't intend to make that mistake twice.

Speaking of which...

“Ero-sennin!”

Distracted as he was, he hadn't even felt Naruto close by. Because of that, he had not much time to react before a yellow flash - hah! What brilliant wordplay! - crashed into him. He instinctively steadied the body when he felt the boy cling to him, putting his two tiny arms around his torso to capture him in a hug.

“Naruto,” he laughed, his gloomy thoughts from before forgotten. “I'm just as happy to see you as you are, but would you let me go? People are already staring.” Not every day one of the Legendary Sannin got jumped at by a child, after all.

Thankfully Naruto did as he was told, a rare enough occurrence in and of itself. He didn't stop beaming at him, though. “I didn't know you were back in the village! Why didn't you come to say hi?”

“I just returned today,” he said while starting to pull him along the street to get away from all those people. “I hoped to be here for your birthday, but I was a bit too late for that. Sorry.”

“Nah, it's alright! Anyway, the old man was there and talked to me some and Senja-chan came too.” Ah, he thought. Senja. I knew there was a reason I liked her best of all the people that work at his orphanage aside from her ample build. “Oh, I also made a new friend!”

“Oh? A 'friend' or a little 'ladyfriend'? Are you finally- Agh!”

“Just a friend! I already told you to not be so pervy all the time, Ero-sennin!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said as he rubbed the spot where Naruto had kicked him, even though it was mostly for show. “I got it. Just a friend and nothing more. So, what's their name?”

Naruto immediately stopped to frown. “It's Sasuke! He's from the Uchiha Clan and his mother and brother are really nice too! His father is a bit strict, I think...”

Sasuke Uchiha? Really? He couldn't help but wonder if Itachi had arranged for that to happen. What were the odds of them befriending each other all on their own again?

“And how is the academy so far? Do you get along with everyone? Anything you struggle with?”

He shook his head. “Everyone is pretty cool. The girls are really annoying, though. They always gather around Sasuke during breaks and make it impossible to talk to him!”

“Hah!” he laughed loud enough to startle several people near them. “That's the curse of good looks, my boy. I had the same problem when I was in the academy myself, you see. Well, not that you would understand something like that.”

“Hey, are you calling me ugly?”

“No need to be sad about that, Naruto. Just give it a few more years and the problem will go away all by itself, I promise.”

“You are calling me ugly, aren't you?” Naruto launched a kick in his direction that he easily side-stepped, ignoring it as if it never even happened. “Don't dodge! I-”

“Oh, would you look at that?” he interrupted the boy. “Isn't that the place you always want to eat at? C'mon, it's my treat today.”

“Do you think you can...” He blinked. “Hey, that's Ichiraku's! Let's go, Ero-sennin! Stop dawdling, we need to hurry before there is no seat left!”

Jiraiya didn't bother suppressing his chuckle at how predictable the boy was. Honestly, how he could inherit something strange like an obsession for ramen from Kushina was a mystery to him, but he didn't mind.

It was kinda adorable to watch, really.

“Stupid old man, daring to order me back like that…”

Shizune forced herself to keep up her smile instead of groaning in frustration, but it became harder and harder with each passing minute. “I’m sure the Sandaime has very good reason to-“

“His reasons be damned!” Only her years-long experience of dealing with her mentor stopped her from flinching at that outburst. “I said I would never return to that place! I can’t believe I’m even considering it when I should just ignore that stupid letter. What is he gonna do? Arrest me?”

“If you remember, that’s exactly what he writes he is going to do if you ignore him.”

Tsunade snorted before she emptied another glass of sake and called a nearby waiter to refill it. “And how does he plan to do that? Send some pesky Jōnin? The ANBU? Please, it’s not like they’re a threat to me.”

“Maybe you should just read the rest of the letter yourself instead of-“

“You read it, didn’t you? Just tell me what else the old man wrote.”

Shizune took a deep breath to stop herself from snapping at her. This was serious, no matter how nonchalant Tsunade was about this, and she wouldn’t be able to continue this conversation if she lost her cool. “It states that he will send Jiraya-sama-“

“Hah! As if that old womanizer has it in him to actually fight me.”

“-and put someone else in charge of Konoha for the time being to come himself as well.”

Fortunately for her sanity, that made her pause. “He will come himself…?” She shook her head. “There is no way he would leave Konoha just to bring me in. No, this must be a bluff.”

“Do you think he would really do something like that?” Because Shizune didn’t. She might not know the Sandaime as well as her mentor, but that seemed seriously out of character.

Apparently Tsunade thought so as well if her silence was any indication.

Even so, she wasn’t sure that would be enough to convince Tsunade to go. Her mentor was unfortunately too stubborn for her own good most of the time. It would be well in character for her to just risk it and ignore the summon only to try to run away once it became clear that this time there would be consequences.

To be completely honest, she was surprised that the Hokage had let her run free for as long as he did. Everyone else would have long since been declared a nuke-nin. However, this letter proved that his patience was finally at an end.

Well, she thought. I guess I need to play dirty if I want to make sure that she doesn’t make the wrong decision.

“I would like to visit Konoha, you know.”

Tsunade threw a sharp glance in her direction, her eyes showing no sign of dizziness that would be present in everyone else that had as much alcohol in her blood as she. “Where does that suddenly come from? You never mentioned something of that sort before.”

Shizune shrugged. “I knew you would have never agreed no matter what I say. Why bother bringing something up when you already know the outcome?”

It was the truth. It had been many years since she had seen her home and she missed it. Not enough to leave Tsunade’s side for a visit –who knew what kind of trouble she would land in without her to reign her in at least a little bit?- but enough to keep her awake from time to time.

“What do you even want there?” Tsunade’s voice was much more subdued now, sounding almost nostalgic as she buried her head in her arms on the table in front of her. It didn’t take a genius to know what, or who, she was thinking about. “There is nothing-“

“It’s still home,” she interrupted her gently while putting a hand on her shoulder. “Of course I miss it. I know you do too, even if you would never admit it out loud. Besides, it had been years since you have spoken to your sensei or even Jiraya-sama. They surely miss you as well. Wouldn’t it be nice to meet them again?”

All she got for a reply was an uninformative humming noise.

“Our visit also overlaps with the anniversary of the Yondaime’s defeat of the Nine-Tails,” she added. “There are yearly festivals and celebrations on that day, remember? Think about all the food, the alcohol… the games.”

Tsunade snorted. “Now you’re just trying to manipulate me.”

“Well, is it working?”

The other woman stayed silent for a few minutes before she finally sighed.

“I guess it does,” she said, sounding something between resigned and amused. “Next destination: Konohagakure.”

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

The Festival

II

Itachi slowly backed away as he blocked Sasuke's attacks with one hand while keeping the other one behind his back.

“You make too many unnecessary movements,” he said. “Don't try to look graceful while you attack and worry more about actually hitting me.”

The only reply he got was a frustrated growl.

Chuckling briefly, he casually tilted his head to the side to avoid a kunai that flew at him from behind. A second later, another figure joined the fray by trying to sweep his legs away. Sasuke apparently saw his chance when Itachi took a step aside to dodge the new attack and chose to jump at him with new elan to take advantage of this supposed distraction.

Needless to say, he continued to block Sasuke's axe kick with one arm while using the other one to redirect another punch from the newcomer.

“Not bad, Haku,” he told the girl with a smile, completely unaffected by their combined attacks. “But if you ambush someone stronger than you, you need to make your first attack count. Otherwise, the attempt is wasted.”

She didn't reply, choosing to continue her attacks rather than waste her breath by talking with him.

“Also," he continued with an amused smile. “If you fight together with an ally, you need to make sure that you complement each other rather than stand in the other's way.” To demonstrate that, he grabbed Haku's leg when she sent another kick at his head and throw her at the incoming form of Sasuke, making them fly into each other before they fell to the ground in a mess of limbs.

The smile on his lips grew a bit wider when he saw the two glares sent in his direction. Well, one glare and one slightly miffed glance. Haku wasn't one to glare at people, after all. “Now, why don't we-”

Surprisingly, he was forced to abandon what he was going to say in favour of jumping away to dodge several shurikens that came flying towards him from three directions, shot by what he assumed must be traps one of them had set up in advance as neither of them was able to use a clone technique yet. It didn't stop there, though; rather than landing on sturdy ground, he needed to adjust his balance to stop himself from falling when his feet made contact with solid ice.

Itachi had not much time to think about that as just a moment later, Sasuke came sliding in his direction, intend on kicking his feet away to throw him to the ground. Reacting on instinct, he spread his legs and allowed Sasuke to slide underneath him before tilting his head to dodge another kunai thrown by the boy when he noticed that his attack had failed.

Now standing with his legs wide apart on a surface of ice, there wasn't much he could do when Haku's silhouette 'swam' through the ice until she was below him before jumping out of it. He just barely avoided the punch to his face by a mere millimetre before he raised his arms to block her incoming legs. However, rather than attacking him, she used his body as a springboard to jump away from him. Furthermore, she also grabbed something from the air and then pulled.

It took him a moment to realize that it was wire -it must have been attached to Sasuke's kunai- and by the time that realization set in, the person at the other end of it came crashing directly into him, catapulted by the force of Haku's pull. The impact sent him flying, throwing them both for several meters before they landed on the ice and skidded for a few more. When they came finally to a stop, Sasuke was lying on top of him with a wide smile.

“Ha! We got you, Nii-san!” he exclaimed happily before turning back to look at his comrade. “Did you see that, Haku? We won!”

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but then the world began to shift and the ground beneath them collapsed, letting the three of them fall into nothingness.

A moment later, Sasuke and Haku found themselves hard breathing on their knees in front of him while he looked down on them with an amused smile and a raised eyebrow. “I believe I remember telling you that this would be a Taijutsu bout,” he said. “That usually implies that Ninjutsu isn't allowed.”

Neither of them answered for a while as they tried to get their breathing under control.

It was Haku who recovered enough to speak first. “W-when did you cast the Genjutsu?”

“The moment we arrived on the clearing, of course.”

Sasuke made an indignant noise. “But that's cheating!”

He sent his little brother a look that could be translated as “are you serious?”, making him blush in embarrassment as he realized what he just said.

“Still,” he continued when he saw their crestfallen faces. “Your strategy was very well thought-out. Making me believe I won before starting a well-coordinated surprise attack that made clever use of the environment is not something most academy students would come up with. Well done, you two.”

That seemed to cheer them up a bit.

“To be honest,” Haku said with a shake of her head. “I was really surprised when it actually worked. We should have noticed something was wrong by then.”

“Ah, whatever,” Sasuke replied confidently. “We will get him next time.”

Itachi chuckled. “Maybe you will. But first, there are two lessons that you can take with you from today. Can you tell me what they are?”

Both mulled about it for a few seconds before Haku spoke up. “Not letting yourself be unknowingly caught in an illusion?”

“Almost,” he said with a smile, “but not quite. It's impossible to avoid something like that all the time. It's much more about being always aware of your own chakra to notice whether you're in a Genjutsu or not. While most shinobi aren't good enough to create very realistic illusions, meaning it's enough to be attentive of your senses and environment to notice if something is amiss, it's never wrong to be a bit paranoid about such things.” He gave them a few seconds to think about that before he continued. “And the second one?”

Both thought about it, their faces set in frowns as they considered and discarded possibilities, but neither could think of anything else. Not that he had expected them to, of course. The thing he was thinking about was only indirectly related to the situation, after all.

“The second lesson,” he said when it became obvious that neither of them would say anything, “is to chose a more private location to plan a strategy than the living room, especially if it's the living room of the person you're targeting.”

Both their eyes went wide at that while their cheeks flushed red, making Itachi chuckle some more.

“You know, your plan might have actually worked if I hadn't known about it beforehand.” He turned towards Haku. “It was clever of you to keep the progress you made mastering your Kekkei Genkai a secret from me. On that note, congratulations on improving your control over ice to such an extend. Did the scrolls you got from Hokage-sama prove helpful?”

Just like every other village, Konoha collected as much information about the bloodlines of the other villages as they could to prepare for them to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, they didn't have too much about the Yuki Clan from which Haku descended, but there were some old reports, mainly from the First and Second Shinobi World Wars. Nothing specific, unfortunately, but even just reading about what was theoretically possible for her to do helped Haku in her ongoing attempts of mastering her abilities.

“They did,” she said. “I'm still far from where I want to be, but I'm getting better.”

“Man,” Sasuke groaned. “I wish I would awaken my Sharingan soon to have a Kekkei Genkai as well. I'm sure then we could beat you!”

Although he didn't let it show on his face, that comment made his good mood evaporate. His brother didn't know about the requirements of awakening their Sharingan, of course, so it was understandable that he would say something like that, but knowing that didn't make it any easier to hear him doing so. Personally, he hoped it would be a long time until that day came.

It was probably too much to hope that it would never come at all.

Zabuza was glad that the revolution went as smoothly as it did and that they even were already in the process of forming an alliance with another village, he would admit that much. However, what he didn’t like was that it was he who was forced to accompany some annoying diplomat to the Hidden Leaf Village. His specialty was killing and maiming, not protecting. Not to forget that he would also need to stay polite all the damn time they were here, which was just a pain in the ass.

Seriously, just because Kisame decided to go rogue barely a few weeks before they finally killed the Yondaime, that woman decided that it would be good for their image if he were the one that went on this mission. Something about "showing the world that Kirigakure still had one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in its ranks" or something. It made him somewhat regret his decision to support her ascent to become Mizukage.

Just a little, though. Mei was still the best choice, no matter how much he disliked the idea of that stupid bitch being able to command him around. He just knew that she would never stop holding that over his head. Never.

At least they were allying themselves with Konoha and not one of the other villages like Kumo. From what he had heard, they were currently trying to get as many bloodlines as possible from other villages, which to him just screamed trouble. The Land of Water had had enough problems related to Kekkei Genkais to last for a lifetime and no need for even more of that sorts, thank you very much.

“Welcome to Konohagakure. If you would please follow us, we will bring to directly to the Hokage. Afterwards, we will accompany you to your accommodations.”

Zabuza almost snorted at that but kept his expression neutral until their guide turned around to lead the way. Figured they wouldn’t let us walk through their village by ourselves.

Tsunade resolutely didn't look in the direction where the pictures of the former Hokage hung. Seeing her grandfather's and granduncle's carved faces had been nostalgic enough as it was. Combined with the general conflict of being in the village again after all these years that she felt even now, she had no desire to make it even worse.

“You have grown old.”

“And you look like you haven't aged a day since you left. Care to tell me your secret?”

She snorted. “I don't think so.” She then looked at her former sensei with a raised eyebrow when he took another puff from his pipe. “A good first step would be to stop smoking, though. Might do your health some good as well.”

“Ah, alas, I can't do that.” Although he said that, he put the pipe aside. “You wouldn't begrudge an old man one of the few pleasures he has left, would you?”

“You're free to do as you please,” she said with a shrug. “I'm not gonna stop you if you want to land yourself into an early grave.”

“At this point, it would hardly be an 'early' grave, Tsunade.”

“That's not the point and you know it.”

He chuckled. “Yes, yes, I know. I guess I should better look for a successor, then.”

She immediately tensed up at that remark. “If you called me back because you think I-”

“No,” he interrupted her gently but firmly. “I didn't do that to ask you to become Hokage, don't worry. You're hardly suitable for the job in the first place, even if we ignore your own opinion of that position.”

He gave her a pointed look as if daring her to disagree, but she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. All modesty aside, she was more than qualified for the position if she ever were to make an effort, regardless of whether she liked it or not. However, that didn't mean she would ever want to become Hokage, or agree to do so if asked.

“Well, it's good that we can agree on that.” She leaned back into her chair, once again relaxed. “With that out of the way, don't you want to offer me something to drink? And where is Jiraya? I would have thought that idiot would be here as well.”

As if he had just waited for her to bring it up, the old man opened a drawer and took out a bottle of sake. “I hope this is still your favourite brand. It was quite expensive and I would hate to have wasted so much money.”

“Money is never wasted on sake, Sensei,” she said with a grin. “But I can reassure you that it's indeed still my favourite.”

“Good, good.” He filled two glasses. “And regarding Jiraya, well, he was supposed to be here, actually. I guess something important must have come up that keeps him away.”

She snorted before drowning her glass in one go, enjoying the burning sensation of the alcohol as it ran down her throat. “We both know exactly what's keeping him. It was probably too much to ask that he had changed over the years.” Though she would never admit it, the thought of him being the same old goofball she knew in her youth was somewhat reassuring.

“Usually, I would agree with you,” her former sensei said with an amused expression while he sipped from his glass. “However, I think this time might be a bit different.”

“Oh?”

“He planned to spend the day with his godson today, you see. Naruto tends to be somewhat clingy, so I wouldn't be surprised if he somehow convinced Jiraya to invite him for dinner or something like that. Maybe even train with him, if he was persistent enough.”

She blinked. “His godson? Since when does he have a godson? No one in their right mind would entrust him with the welfare of a plant, let alone a child.” Then she realized something else. “And isn't 'Naruto' the name of the main-character from Jiraya's book?” Not to forget, isn't it also an ingredient in ramen? Who would name their child after that?

“Minato always looked up to him,” he replied mildly. “It shouldn't come as a surprise that he chose his sensei to be his son's godfather. You would know all that already if you had stayed in contact over the years, of course.”

She ignored the second part of that comment and instead focused on the other half. “Minato...?” She suddenly jerked her head around to look stare at the picture of the Yondaime, only to regret it a moment later when she also saw her two deceased family members. She quickly turned back around. “He had a son?”

He nodded. “Indeed. I don't think I need to explain to you that this secret can't leave this room, do I?”

She nodded, still a bit stunned, even though she found it a bit stupid that Jiraya would openly spend time with the boy if his identity was meant to be a secret. “So I assume he is also-”

“He is.”

“Huh, isn't that something...”

It was probably better that no one knew about either the boy's heritage or his identity as Jinchūriki. Being the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage as well as the grandniece of the Nidaime meant that she knew a little something about all the attention family members of famous shinobi needed to endure. It would be better for him to grow up without that.

Whether being the host of the Nine-Tails would make things better or worse was everyone's guess.

She sighed before deciding to change the topic. “Anyway,” she said, “that's probably not what you want to talk with me about and I doubt you just wanted to catch up. Why don't we get the unpleasant things out of the way first?”

He nodded. “That's fine with me.” He then drowned the rest of his drink before leaning forward, interweaving his fingers with each other as he put them on the table. “However, I think you already know why I ordered you back, don't you?”

“I might have an idea or two,” she agreed. “But I hope that I'm wrong. It would suck for you if I came all the way just to remind you that I will not come back. Ever.”

“And yet here you are.”

She resisted the urge to smash the table into a thousand pieces and instead refilled her glass. “We both know that this is not the same. I don't plan to stay long.” She gave him a stinky look. “Besides, it's not as if you gave me much of a choice in that matter.”

He tilted his head. “I would say that I'm sorry, but that would be a lie.”

“So, what now? Are you gonna do the same again? Threaten me to keep me here against my will?”

Though she didn't outwardly show it, her muscles tensed while she waited for his answer. Depending on what it was, she would not hesitate to jump out of the window and make a run for it. It was doubtful she would actually be able to escape, especially with Shizune in tow, but she stood a chance if she just somehow managed to get away from her former sensei. Even as out of form as she was, she was confident she could take everyone in the village aside of him and Jiraya, so she just needed to get enough distance between them and-

“I will not force you to do anything, Tsunade. Everything is alone your decision.”

She didn't relax at that promise. “So you hope to convince me instead?”

Rather than to reply immediately, he looked at her for a few seconds before he visibly deflated. “There will be another war soon, Tsunade. Not today, not tomorrow, not even in the next few years if luck is on our side, but the day will come sooner than I would like. This war will be different than the last ones, and we will need every little bit of help we can get.”

She snorted. “You did well enough without me during the last one, didn't you? I don't see-”

“Thousands are dead,” he interrupted her. “Countless more are crippled, and everyone has lost someone.”

She put her glass back on the table before she could shatter it in her grip. “Don't you dare to lecture me on lost loved ones.”

“Dan and Nawaki will always be missed,” he said, ignoring how she flinched at the mention of their names. “But there are countless people that are still alive and suffer, either because of their own injuries or because of the ones of their loved ones. The number of medic-nin, especially good medic-nin, has decreased ever since you left the village and-”

“And now you want me to save the day for you.” She chuckled, though the sound was far from joyful. “Unfortunately, my carrier is over. Shizune was my last student and that she will remain.”

She made to take her drink again, but his hand stopped her. “I remember you telling me that you want to cure all sickness in the world when you were younger. That you would find a way to heal all and every ailments and injury one day. Did you truly give up on that?”

“Dreams are foolish,” she said while she felt her chair's handle crack under her left hand. “They will never come true. Thinking otherwise will only end in disappointment.”

“So you're fine with letting people die that would have lived if you just helped them?”

“They wouldn't be dying if they just never became shinobi in the first place.”

“Is that your excuse?” he asked. “Will you tell yourself the same once Konoha and all the other villages lie in ruins, burnt to the ground, and are erased from the map?”

“Who knows, maybe my grandfather was wrong in founding the village. The world might be better without them and their kind.”

For a few seconds, he looked deep into her eyes before he sighed and leaned back, finally letting go of her hand. “In that case, I have nothing else to say.”

So surprised at his sudden turnaround, she even forgot to be angry. “What? That's it? You're giving up just like that?”

“I told you that I would not force you to do anything you don't want,” he said with a shake of his head. “At this point, there is nothing I can say that would make you change your mind, so there is no use in even trying.”

There was no way he would let it go already, she was sure of it. Hesitantly, she reached for her glass and slowly allowed herself to relax while somewhat anxious waiting for what would come next. “So, what now?”

He hummed. “Well, I'm tired. This conversation was more exhausting than I thought, so why don't we continue this tomorrow? You will stay here for the festival, I assume?”

The fact that he didn't look disappointed at all at her answer made her even more suspicious. “I planned to, yes.”

“Then why don't we three get a drink together with Jiraya and catch up for real? It's one of the few days I can get away from work and I would love to spend the time with my students.”

She stopped herself from narrowing her eyes at him when she gave her consent.

There was something else going on, that much was obvious, but she didn't think it was a trap. Not really. At least not a harmful one. Maybe it would be smart to avoid whatever he was scheming, but she would lie if she said she wasn't curious. And, well, Shizune wanted to stay for the festival anyway. She deserved this treat after all the trouble Tsunade had caused her.

Who knew? Maybe she would even meet Jiraya's little godson? See whether the poor boy was already corrupted by that idiot of a teammate or if he could still be rescued.

It would be a lie if she said she wasn't looking forward to it.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

The Festival

III

“You haven’t changed in the slightest, have you?” Her words could easily be misunderstood as criticism considering she said them as a reaction to him staring after the serving girl, but her voice and the smile on her lips proved that she was more amused than anything else.

“Oh, c’mon,” the man in front of her whined in an overly dramatic fashion. “Give me some slack, will you? We’re celebrating our reunion! Allow me to have at least some fun!”

Their sensei chuckled. “That doesn’t excuse that you pay more attention to every woman that walks by than to your team, Jiraiya.” Then he turned towards her. “Though, as you said, he hasn’t changed in all these years, so it’s probably better to just let him be. I doubt you would prefer him gawking at you instead, would you?”

Tsunade snorted before taking a sip from her drink. “Even a thick-headed idiot like he is smart enough to understand the consequences should he dare to do so.”

“Indeed,” Jiraiya added with a big grin, “and as I think you would prefer to leave this fine establishment intact at the end of the night, it’s probably better for me to study the other guests here instead.”

Sitting with her former sensei and teammate like this... She could almost forget that she was in a place she had sworn never to set foot in again. All that was left was Orochimaru, sitting opposite of her and looking at them disapprovingly while hiding his amusement at their antics, and it would feel as if she travelled back in time.

“Well, Tsunade,” Jiraiya said. “I’m sure you must have some stories to tell after travelling all these years. Say, how many debt collectors are after you these days?”

She rolled her eyes at him, but she had apparently already enough alcohol incus to not mind his jibe about her famous losing strike. “Where to begin, where to begin… Oh, I know!” She let out a loud laugh before starting to regal them with her tale.

She might not necessarily be happy to be back in Konoha, but if it allowed her to enjoy evenings like that…

Well, maybe it wasn’t all bad. She might even stay a bit longer than she had initially intended.

Sasuke really didn’t know why he ever thought it would be great to be allowed to these kinds of events.

While his father said that he was old enough to participate, he now knew that what he truly meant was that he was simply too old to stay away. That, in turn, did unfortunately mean that there wasn’t anything interesting to do for him. He couldn’t even listen to some interesting conversations because the adults started to change the topics as soon as he came close! If he needed to listen to one more woman telling him how much he had grown or how much he started to resemble his mother, he could not be held responsible for what would happen!

And the worst? He wasn’t even allowed to go around on his own! Instead, there was always either one of his parents or Itachi around to 'keep an eye on him'. Seriously, he was little more than a piece of decoration.

At least they considered Shisui a responsible enough ‘guardian’ to leave him alone with the older boy without a second thought. It was much more enjoyable to be with him because he wasn’t forced to go around and entertain their guests like the rest of his family.

It was also much more entertaining.

“Do you see the one over there?”

He looked towards the man Shisui was pointing, trying –and probably failing- to be just as subtle as he. What Sasuke saw was a middle-aged man with a big belly at the buffet that his mother had prepared with several other members of their clan. “That is, ehm… Takahashi?”

Shisui chuckled. “Takijami, but close enough. His name doesn’t really matter anyway. You see, a few years ago during your brother’s fifth birthday, he ate a lot and had a little bit too much to drink as well, so he threw up all over the table!”

“Seriously?!” He knew that adults sometimes acted stupidly when they drank too much alcohol –and why did they even do that? That stuff was gross the one time he had sneaked a sip!- but that it made them also throw up was new to him.

“Seriously,” Shisui confirmed with a big smile. “He almost hit your mother, actually. It was fortunate he didn’t, of course. I doubt she would have forgiven him and you really don't want to be on her bad side.”

That thought was similarly amusing as it was terrifying. Even his father avoided her when she was really angry!

“And he still gets invited?” While these celebrations were technically open to all members of the clan, he knew that there were a few people that would not be welcome if they bothered to make an appearance. He didn’t know the reasons, though, because no one was willing to tell him.

“Well, he’s a pretty important figure,” Shisui said as he furrowed his brows in consideration. “On that note, I take back what I said earlier. His name does matter and you should absolutely remember it. He might not be a shinobi, but he has a very high position in Konoha’s Merchant Guild. There are even speculations that he will become its Head very soon.”

They had talked about the structure of Konoha just a few weeks ago at the academy, so he knew that this was a pretty big deal for a civilian.

“Don’t worry,” Shisui said reassuringly. “I’m sure your father will soon start to teach you things like who is important and who is not. You’re getting old enough, after all.”

Now that were finally some good news. Then he would at least do something more than just standing around and look like a good little boy.

Sasuke had a sudden thought. “Hey, Shisui, did Nii-san ever do anything embarrassing?” He found that idea hard to believe because he was always so frustratingly perfect, but there must be something, right? If someone would know –and be willing to tell him- it would be Shisui.

Going by his chuckle and the big grin on the older boy's face, his thoughts were pretty spot-on. “Oh~? Don’t tell me no one ever bothered to tell you about the time-“

“Please refrain from telling my little brother one of your fairy tales, Shisui.”

He almost jumped out of his skin by the sudden sound of his brother’s voice, but Shisui didn’t seem surprised. “What do you mean with ‘fairy tales’? I will let you know that everything I say is the truth and nothing but the truth!”

“You mean like the time you told Izumi that you would go on a year-long mission that turned out to last only two weeks?”

“Oh, c’mon! I was only teasing her a bit, that’s different!”

“Which resulted in her not speaking to you for nearly a month.”

Shisui mumbled something under his breath, but even Sasuke could see that he was only acting annoyed. “I still think she was overreacting. I mean, it wasn’t impossible that something unexpected could happen that would prolong the mission, right?”

His brother chuckled. “I'm afraid that’s not how this works.”

“Still!” Shisui straightened up and he thought he might have made some silly pose if they weren’t still at the party in sight of most of their clan. “Do you think it’s fair to keep the story of when you did you-know-what from your brother? Your own flesh and blood? He deserves to know!”

“Yes!” he instantly chimed up. “Come on, I want to know! Please, Nii-san!” While he hated to act childish, he decided that this was worth it and put extra effort into widening his eyes and pouting his lips.

Itachi grimaced, the gesture so minuscular that it would have been missed by everyone who didn’t pay very close attention to him, though the fact that he even reacted as much as that meant that his strategy was working.

“You don’t need to-“

“Are you seriously going to deny your precious otouto something?” Shisui exclaimed in mock surprise. “Who are you and what have you done to Itachi?”

“It’s for his own good.”

Before he could argue that point, another voice spoke up. “I see the three of you are amusing yourselves, at least.”

Sasuke thought these surprises were getting old even while he jumped around with wide eyes, coming face to face with his father.

“Ah, I was just telling Sasuke some stories, Fugaku-sama,” Shisui said with a smile that was much more polite than everything he had seen from him the entire evening so far. “In fact, I just wanted to-“

“-leave and get something to eat,” Itachi seamlessly chimed in. “I recommend my mother’s casserole, by the way. It’s delicious.”

His father spoke up before Shisui had the chance to reply. “Really? And here I was thinking he was about to tell the story from when you-“

“Otou-san, please don’t encourage him even further.”

Fugaku's lips tucked upwards upon hearing Itachi’s somewhat exasperated tone but –to Sasuke's disappointment- said nothing more about the incident everyone aside of him appeared to know about. Instead, he turned towards him.

“You have behaved exemplary these last few hours, Sasuke,” he said genuinely. “However, I’m sure you’re growing tired from listening to boring grown-up talks, so you’re free to go and meet your friend now.”

“Yes!” He immediately regretted throwing up his arm in such a childish fashion, but no one seemed to mind. In fact, Itachi and Shisui smiled amusedly while his father chuckled and ruffled his hair.

“How many of your friends are going to be there?”

“Ehm, let me think for a second,” he said with furrowed brows. “There is Naruto, of course, and Kiba, Shino, and Chōji said he would convince Shikamaru to come as well.”

His father nodded. “Six altogether, then. In that case, you’re allowed to stay out with them till midnight as long as you’re at least three people. Under no condition are you allowed to walk around on your own, do you understand?”

“Of course, Otou-san,” he said eagerly. It wasn’t as if they planned to split anyway, so he felt it alright to just ignore the last part.

He waved him off. “Then run along now and have some fun.”

Sasuke didn’t need to hear anything else before turning around to walk away as fast as he could without looking hurried, ignoring the chuckles of the three family members he left behind. Who cared if they found his behaviour amusing? He was finally getting away from this boring ‘celebration’, of course he would hurry!

The evening had only just begun, after all.

“I still say it’s unfair!”

While Naruto ignored Chōji’s outburst in favour of admiring his new short-sleeved haori and letting his hands wander over the red flame-like motifs on the edges of the white fabric, Shikamaru didn’t.

“Just let it be,” he said with a tired sigh. “What’s done is done, no need to cry over it.”

Chōji disagreed. “But I would have won! It’s not fair that they didn’t allow me to participate, not fair at all!”

“It would have been even more unfair if they allowed an Akimichi to take part in an eating contest.”

Honestly, Naruto though. It’s not as if they even had an haori in his size, so what is he crying about? Not that he would ever say that out loud, of course. His friend was rather sensitive about his weight and he didn’t want to be chased through the village by an angry Chōji.

“I think we passed a strongman game just a few minutes ago,” Sasuke spoke up, audibly annoyed by the other boy’s whining. “I’m sure that some of the prizes must be sweets, so why don’t we-“

“That’s it!” Chōji exclaimed with fire in his eyes. “Strongman game, here I come!” He instantly turned around and rushed in the direction Sasuke had pointed at moments earlier, either trusting that they would follow him or just forgetting that they were there in the first place.

“Well done,” Shikamaru said dryly with a pained expression on his face. “Now we have no other choice but to follow him. There is no stopping Chōji once he gets motivated.”

Sasuke shrugged with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. “Still better than listening to his complaints. Besides, there was a shuriken stand close by that I wanted to test out, so it’s not like it’s a complete waste of time.”

Seeing his lazy friend still looking like he would prefer to be literally anywhere else than here, he decided to say something that he was sure would brighten his mood. “Hey, wasn’t that the one that had this fancy Shōgi set?”

While he tried to hide it, he knew Sasuke well enough to recognize the glint in his eyes as he realized his plan. “Yeah, you’re right. But I think it was one of the rarest prizes, so you would need to score really high to get it.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. “You will need to be more subtle when you try to manipulate someone. This was just painful to listen to.” However, he started to walk in the direction Chōji had vanished without further complaints and with a straight back rather than his hunched posture from before, so Naruto counted it as a win.

“Hey, what did I miss?”

Turning around, he saw Kiba walking towards them, his arms filled with a wide variety of food while Akamaru followed closely on his heels. He was just about to open his mouth to reply when another voice from beside him made him flinch in surprise.

“Nothing much, just Chōji running off to play a game while Naruto and Sasuke tried to manipulate Shikamaru.”

He shot a glare at the side of Shino’s head, annoyed that the other boy had managed to make him jump like that and angry with himself that he had forgotten about his presence entirely. In his defense, it was easy to forget about him with how little he talked.

“You did what?” Kiba laughed, a wide grin spreading over his face. “You really tried to trick Shikamaru? Are you stupid?”

Akamaru barked in agreement.

“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Naruto crossed his arms. Why did they make fun of them when their plan clearly worked out just as intended?

“I guess,” Kiba said with a shrug, though he still spotted a grin. “So they walked ahead, then?”

He blinked. “What do you mean? Aside from Chōji, all of us are-“ He broke off in the middle of the sentence when he turned around and found everyone aside from him and Shino missing. “What?! Where did everyone go?”

“They went ahead to play the games.”

He jumped around, pointing directly at Shino’s face. “Without us? Why didn’t you say anything?”

The other boy just looked at him, completely unbothered by his accusation. Or at least he thought he was unbothered; it was hard to say with how most of his body was covered up. “Why? Because I thought you knew and just wanted to wait for Kiba. I would have told you had I known you were this inattentive, of course.”

He growled at that, but Kiba spoke up before he had the chance to explode into Shino's face. “Hey, Naruto, where did you get that haori?”

His bad mode evaporated almost immediately. “Hehe, it was the first prize in the eating contest I won.” As if anyone could beat him in something like that when the food in question was ramen. Seriously, people were stupid sometimes. “Here, look what else I got!”

A second later, Kiba let out an amazed ‘wow’ as he saw the three-bladed kunai in his hand. “Damn, this one looks much cooler than all those cheap copies they sell at each corner.”

He wasn't wrong. It wasn’t surprising that there were so many stalls that sold stuff that was inspired by the Yondaime considering the entire festival was held in remembrance of his victory over the Nine-Tails, but most of it was rather bland and cheap. While countless children were running around in a white haori, with blonde wigs, or with kunai similar to the one in his hand, only a few of them could compete with his. He didn’t even need a wig because he was already blond!

“So,” Kiba continued while the three of them walked towards where their friends should be. “I guess you’re not interested in even more noodles if you just came from an eating contest, so-“

Naruto pulled the aforementioned food out of his friend's hands, knowing that he was just teasing him. “In your dreams, idiot!”

Kiba took a step towards him, ready to insult him right back –they both found it fun to fight each other both verbally and physically and started trouble with each other all the time without any hard feelings being involved- but Shino seamlessly stepped between them. “We should hurry to catch up with the others. The play is starting soon and I don't want to miss it because you two started another fight.”

He pouted a bit at that, but a quick glance at Kiba confirmed that he was just as unwilling to risk missing the play as he was, so they silently agreed to postpone their fight for now.

Besides, Shino was creepy.

He had no idea how he was able to make such a terrifying glare when you couldn’t even see his eyes, but it was almost as creepy as Mikoto-oba-san’s smile when she found out that he and Sasuke had accidentally burned down half of the kitchen when they wanted to bake a cake for his brother's birthday!

Yeah, no one liked to disagree with Shino. It just wasn't worth it.

It always amused him to watch this play.

The content itself wasn’t funny, of course, with it being a recollection of the night eight years ago that almost destroyed the village and ended with the death of the Yondaime and his wife. It was a sombre affair, one that brought more than just one person in attendance to tears. After all, everyone had lost somebody that day. 

However, he still found amusement in the fact that over a dozen shinobis, professional killers that didn’t hesitate to commit grievous crimes in the name of their village, used their skills for something banal as this; whether it was a fire technique that sent tightly controlled flames over the heads of the audience, a water technique to create mist for a gloomier atmosphere, or the transformation technique that created an imitation of the Nine-Tails that could have been mistaken for the real deal if it weren't for its smaller size, the shinobi used everything in their arsenal to give the people a good show.

Still, for all that it amused him, he also found happiness in the fact that techniques that usually brought nothing but death and destruction were used in such a harmless way. It gave him hope that shinobi might one day become more than just simple killing machines.

However, in his opinion, it would have been much easier to simply use a Genjutsu to create all of this. However, from what he had heard from his mother, his father had been soundly shut down when he proposed just that a few years before Itachi had even been born. There were quite a lot of shinobi who enjoyed using their abilities for something more harmless than murder, apparently, and they didn’t want that taken from them.

He could understand that sentiment. Besides, it was probably better to do it this way; there was no way many shinobi would be comfortable with letting themselves caught in an illusion like that, even if they knew that it was ultimately harmless. Not being able to notice what was going on around them for a prolonged amount of time while in public just wasn’t something people in their profession liked to experience.

Again, he could understand that sentiment.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Izumi whispered from beside him. “If you weren’t there on that day and just watched this play, you would have no idea how terrible it actually was.”

Itachi wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or just to herself like the absent look in her eyes hinted at, but he decided to reply nonetheless. “They can hardly show how people got killed in masses, now can they? That wouldn’t get over very well.” The most gruesome scenes, if they could even be called that, were the ones where some attack from the ‘Nine-Tails’ swept a number of actors out of sight, probably in an effort to make the show more child-friendly.

She snorted and gave him a small smile before turning around once again to watch the play. “No, probably not.”

He kept looking at her for several more seconds before he nodded to himself and did the same.

Itachi had been a bit worried when she had proposed to come here since she had always avoided it the previous years. Not that he could blame her; she had watched her own father die during the Nine-Tails’ attack and had consequently little interest in watching a play about that day. However, she seemed fine now, which he accepted as the positive sign it was.

They applauded together with the audience when the actor that played the Yondaime ‘killed’ the Nine-Tails by thrusting a kunai through its head –barely anyone knew how exactly he had beaten the Bijū, so the actors let him win differently every single year, making it the most interesting scene by far- and kept their silence when the play ended with the Yondaime’s death.

There was absolute silence as the body crumbled to the floor before vanishing underground by clever usage of the Hiding Like a Mole Technique. Everyone stood like that for a minute, paying their respect to the fallen hero and everyone else that had died in that tragic night with lowered heads, only the occasional sob cutting through the silence.

Then the firework started, signalling the end of the mourning minute.

The change in the mood of the people around him was impossible to miss; there were ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ left and right, laughter from every direction, and cheerful calls as people joked with their friends and families. It was easy to notice that many were still sad and downcast, but everyone did their best to brighten the mood. They celebrated because they were still alive and because it would be rude to the dead to fall into depression when they had given their lives for them.

They celebrated because looking forward was the only thing they could do to repay this debt, and because they owned it to the fallen that they went on with their lives and didn’t lose themselves in grief.

It was truly beautiful.

Once the firework was over, their group, consisting of him, Izumi, Shisui, and Hana, moved on. They simply walked through the streets with no clear goal in mind, the latter three going ahead while he was a few steps behind. While that didn’t let him avoid teasing comments from Hana –“Gosh, Itachi, how do you manage to look prettier in a kimono than Izumi and I?”- entirely, it at least saved him from being pulled into participating in games by Shisui.

He had honestly no idea what he and Izumi enjoyed about goldfish scooping. With their skills, there shouldn’t be any challenge in that. Relaxing and enjoying the simpler things in life was one thing, but this must surely be boring?

At least Izumi had the common sense to give the fishes she won to a small child rather than keeping them. Kokuban might not be a common crow and would understand her if she told him not to eat them, but he might just as well decided to do it anyway.

However, Itachi conceded that he enjoyed watching the others play silly games while he stood at the side, enjoying whatever sweets had caught his eyes. He didn’t allow himself to eat too much unhealthy food aside from the semi-occasional dango, but this night was an exception.

A team effort from all his companions ultimately forced him to participate in a simple game that was targeted at shinobi and required the participants to create certain images with their shuriken. Now, had he played against other children, he might have held back to keep things fair. However, as the only other participants were Hana and Izumi, he paid them back for making him play it in the first place by getting the first place.

He had no regrets.

Itachi had unfortunately no use of the pink necklace he got as his prize as he already wore Izumi’s present for his promotion around his neck, so he gave it to Shisui instead who then wore it with pride in full sight over his blue kimono.

It was not too long after midnight when he finally proposed to find his and Hana’s younger siblings and their friends. They would doubtlessly try to stay out as long as they could no matter how tired they might be, so it was better for them to bring them home rather than risk them falling asleep in some abandoned alley.

Also, there was something else he needed to do before the night was over that he needed one of his brother’s friends for. The appointed time was still a bit away, but it would be bad if he couldn’t meet the deadline because they needed to search for them for too long.

This worry was fortunately discarded when he heard a voice from behind him. “Nii-san?”

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

The Festival

IV

“C’mon, Sasuke. There is really no need to sulk, is there? I don’t think I am such bad company.”

The younger boy at his side threw Shisui a gloomy look. “You are not,” he said. “And I’m not sulking!”

“Could have fooled me,” he chuckled, his amusement growing even more when Sasuke’s reaction to that was turning around to hide his obvious pout. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you dislike being with me.”

“That’s not it…”

Oh, Shisui knew all too well what was bothering the younger boy. It wasn’t that Sasuke disliked being with him, but that he disliked not being with his brother instead. That Itachi decided to accompany Naruto, who was Sasuke’s best friend, home first before joining them made things even worse. It was stupid to be jealous about silly things like this, Shisui thought, but neither of the brothers was ever logical regarding each other.

“I’m sure Itachi will hurry and catch up with us soon,” he consoled the boy. “You understand why he went with Naruto, right? It can be dangerous to be out alone at this time of the night and I don’t think you would want your friend to be hurt, do you?”

“Of course not!” Sasuke exclaimed, clearly offended by that question.

“Well, then you have no reason to be sad about it either.”

Sasuke huffed. “You could have taken him home too, you know. Then Nii-san would be with me now instead.”

Shisui dramatically clutched his chest with an exaggerated gasp. “What? And here I thought you just said you enjoyed my company! How am I to endure the pain of this betrayal?”

“All I said was that you aren’t bad company, not that you’re good company.”

However, while that sounded a bit harsh, the twinkle in his eyes and the small smile on his lips made it clear that he was only joking.

“Oh, now I see how it is,” Shisui said. “Well, in that case, there is no reason for why I should teach you this super awesome technique like I planned to. I guess I will just go and teach it to someone else, then. Maybe Naruto would be happy about it, don’t you think?”

Sasuke snorted before grinning up to him. “You can’t manipulate me that easily, Shisui. Besides, I can just ask Nii-san to teach me something. I bet he knows much cooler Ninjutsu!”

“Ah, yes, he would probably teach you something as well,” Shisui agreed unperturbed. “However, what will it be? A kickass technique like the one I would teach you, or a much less impressive but more safe technique like the one Itachi would show you? After all, he can’t let his little baby brother get hurt, right?”

Sasuke blinked. “That-“

“Furthermore,” he said while throwing one arm over the other boy’s shoulder and pulling him closer before continuing in a conspiratorial tone. “You can’t use only the things he taught you in your spars against him if you ever want to beat him. As long as he knows everything you’re capable of, you will never truly catch him by surprise. With a technique taught by me, on the other hand, you might actually win one of these days!”

This was all it took to make Sasuke completely forget about how much he missed his brother.

However, while he had successfully distracted him from it, Shisui couldn’t help but get curious himself about what his friend was up to. Yes, letting a child wander around on his own was indeed a tad too dangerous, but that didn’t explain why Itachi needed to be the one to accompany the boy. He even declined Izumi’s offer to do it herself! Sure, his whispered argument that he was not actually bringing Naruto to the orphanage but his godfather –and why was the boy even in the orphanage if he had a godfather?!- explained it somewhat as the other children would only get jealous if they found out their friend got to stay outside longer than them, but it didn’t quite satisfy Shisui.

Whatever, he thought. I will just make him tell me later. I bet it’s something interesting.

Although some aspects of this Naruto were quite different from the one that had existed in the previous timeline, others remained still the same. His ability to lighten the mood wherever he went fell into the latter category.

He and Sasuke had been friends for a while now, meaning Itachi had had the chance to observe the boy more closely than he had ever been able to before, and in that time, Itachi didn’t think he had encountered a single person who disliked him. It wasn’t like he was friends with everyone, of course, and there were a few people that were annoyed by his antics for sure, but no one actively disliked him.

This time observing him meant Itachi now understood better than ever why he had been able to trust Naruto with Sasuke’s fate after his own death, and he was glad that his meddling hadn’t changed this aspect of his character.

Tonight’s plan would have been impossible to pull off if it had.

“Hey, Itachi?” Naruto said, sounding more curious than he had previously when he regarded him with a tale of his latest prank. “Why are you even here? Sasuke said you were at your family’s fancy party and didn’t think you would be able to leave.”

He chuckled softly. “Well, technically I never left, you see.”

“What?” Naruto looked at him with wide blue eyes, confusion written all over his face. “But you did! You’re here now, aren’t you?”

“I did,” he agreed. “However, another version of myself did not.” Then, when he realized that Naruto still didn’t understand what he was implying, he continued: “You know the Bunshin no Jutsu, right?”

Now he understood. “So you used a clone to stay back while you sneak out and have fun? That’s so cool!” However, just a moment after the words had left his mouth, he frowned. “Wait, aren’t the clones fake? They’re only illusions, right? How comes that nobody notices that?”

“You’re correct,” Itachi said with an approving nod of his head. “And I’m sure your teacher at the academy will be glad to hear that you actually pay attention to his class from time to time instead of thinking about your next prank. And to answer your question, the technique I used wasn’t the Bunshin no Jutsu but a variant of it called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It creates real copies of yourself instead of fake ones like the former one, making it perfect for situations like this.”

Naruto blinked. “Wait, there is actually a way to create clones? Like, real ones? That’s amazing! Why did no one tell me about that earlier? I want to learn it! Can you teach me please?”

Itachi regarded the boy for a few seconds. While he certainly had the chakra reserves to use it already, he wondered if it would be wise to teach it to him. After all, he was still rather young and could do a lot of damage if he went out of hand with it. Stuff that was nothing but a small, harmless prank now could quickly evolve into something that would be a problem. On the other hand, it might also become quite useful in the future. And then there was also to consider that Naruto still struggled with the normal Bunshin no Jutsu, meaning that teaching him the advanced version would give him an alternative he would need for his graduation at the latest.

Naruto was unfortunately not very talented in terms of chakra control, so the odds of him mastering the basic technique weren’t all that great.

“I have some conditions before I agree to teach it to you.”

“Of course! I will-“

He raised his hand to stop the boy. “You might not like what I have to say, so listen to me first and make your decision afterwards.”

Naruto looked a bit annoyed but grudgingly nodded his consent.

“If I teach you the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, you must promise me to not use it for your pranks.” Naruto immediately opened his mouth to complain, but Itachi just ignored him and went on. “And secondly, you will not use it to skip school by sending one of your clones there in your stead. Do you agree?”

The boy looked a tad annoyed about these limitations, but to his pleasant surprise, he didn’t try to argue with him about them. “Yeah, fine. I agree.”

“You promise?”

“Yes, I promise!”

Itachi narrowed his eyes. “If I find out that you lied and used them for either of these two reasons, I-“

“I said ‘I promise’, didn’t I?” Naruto interrupted him with a frustrated growl. “I never go back on my word, so if I say I will not use it for that, I won’t!”

They kept glaring at each other for a few more seconds before Itachi let the façade fall. “That’s good,” he said with a smile. “In that case, I will teach you.”

Let’s hope I don’t regret it.

It would be a lie to claim that she wasn’t enjoying herself, and while Tsunade was great at lying to herself, she saw no reason to do so right now. Not that she would ever confess that out loud, of course; Jiraiya would never let that go if she did.

However, that didn’t stop her from leaning back in her seat with a drink in her hand and a smile on her lips as she watched her old teammate and sensei banter just like in the good ol’ days.

Coming back to Konoha after all these years had been simultaneously easier and harder than she had expected. On one hand, once she made the decision to return for a short visit, she had surprisingly little hesitation to actually go through with it; on the other hand, seeing countless reminders of the life she had left behind no matter where she went was just as painful as she had thought it would be.

Although in the end, she couldn’t say she regretted coming here.

As much as it pained her to admit, she had missed her childhood home. For every painful memory, there were a dozen good ones. In fact, even some of the things she had dreaded for years turned out to actually be a welcome sight, the Hokage Monument being a prime example. While not the majority, Tsunade had had more than one nightmare that involved her family over the years, and when she arrived at Konoha yesterday, she hadn’t even been able to look at their pictures at the wall on her sensei’s office. Today, however, she spent several hours looking at their stone faces, and honestly? It was a relief. She didn’t think she was ready to look at their pictures yet, but if she was lucky, that too could change before her departure.

It would be really nice to see their faces again to refresh her memories of them. Maybe she should look for some pictures of her parents as well when she was already at it…

However, as much as she enjoyed watching Jiraiya make a fool of himself and no matter how much it eased something inside her chest to see her sensei smile in a way that made him look at least a decade younger than he actually was, she was neither oblivious nor stupid. Jiraiya might think himself subtle, and maybe he was when he really tried, but he couldn’t fool Tsunade that easily.

She freely admitted that he might have succeeded if she hadn’t been suspicious from the very beginning –after all, there was no way that Sarutobi-sensei would simply give up on bringing her back as fast as he did- but as it was, she had noticed several strange things about his behaviour:

For one thing, he didn’t drink quite as much as he should have. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t drink at all or even just a little bit, of course. The amount of alcohol in his blood would surely kill a lesser man. Tsunade was familiar with her former teammate, however, and thus knew that he could drink much more than that. This late in the evening, after several hours of drinking, he should be not only tipsy but  drunk.

And then there was also the fact that she had caught him looking at the clock several times already. Now, that alone wouldn’t be too suspicious in and on itself. Unlikely as it was, he might have had other obligations this evening. The truly strange thing was that every time he checked the time, he would also look out of the window as if he was looking for someone.

Tsunade was neither oblivious nor stupid. She knew when someone was planning something, and in this case, she was clearly the object of whatever was going on.

Sensei doesn’t let anything on, of course. She snorted. No surprise there. Jiraiya was always the idiot of the group, after all.

Maybe that was a bit too cruel, but whatever. She wasn’t known for mincing her words anyway, and as long as she only thought them, nobody would even know.

“Anything funny?”

She blinked, needing a second to realize that it was her Jiraiya had addressed. “You mean something other than your antics?”

“Well,” he said with a silly grin while puffing out his chest. “I am very entertaining if I may say so myself. However, I didn’t say anything that would have made you snort, so there must be something else. Care to share it with the class?”

She casually swirled her glass with one hand while considering that for a few seconds before deciding to just go with it. “I was just wondering who you are waiting for,” she said. “Must be someone really special if not even I can keep your attention.”

“What?” Jiraiya said. “Waiting on someone? Me? What gave you that idea?” He then laughed while scratching the back of his head, obviously trying not to act suspicious.

Sometimes Tsunade seriously wondered how that buffoon could be an excellent actor during missions while failing so spectacular in a more private setting.

Sensei chuckled. “I think she refers to your regular glances at the clock, Jiraiya.”

“… was it that obvious?”

She chuckled. “For everyone that knows you? Yes, it was.”

Both men snorted at that.

“There’s no harm in telling you, I guess,” Jiraiya said after taking a sip from his glass. “I’m meeting my godson after this and I don’t want to disappoint him by being late. I’m doing enough of that already as it is, no need to add to the list.”

“You aren’t doing too bad,” Sensei consoled him while Tsunade blinked in surprise. “You are a very busy man. With that in mind, you’re doing all you can.”

“That’s not always enough, though.”

She felt as if there was more to that, but when he didn’t continue, she didn’t push. If there was someone who knew how it felt not wanting to talk about something, it was her.

“So,” she said. “I guess that’s also the reason you didn’t drink as much as usual?”

“Well, I can’t be completely wasted when dealing with a child, can I? Probably not the best idea if you ask me.”

“I wish you would have been aware of that before I beat it into the thick head of yours.”

Tsunade gasped in disbelieve at the old man’s words before turning an incredulous look at Jiraiya. “Please tell me you weren’t drunk while with that brat.”

He winced. “That was one time! Besides, nothing happened! I-“

“Gods,” she interrupted him before emptying her glass with a single gulp. “The boy doesn’t live with you right?” She turned towards Sarutobi. “If he does, you better change that.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, completely ignoring Jiraiya’s indignant complaints in the background. “The boy lives in the orphanage. Jiraiya only visits him whenever he is in the village.”

The man in question let his head drop onto his arms with a groan. “The two of you are impossible.”

“And you love us anyway.”

“Anyway,” he said as he raised his head again, completely ignoring their sensei’s comment. “It’s almost time, so I should probably get going. Wanna come and meet him?”

She thought about it for a second before she nodded, ignoring the feeling of walking right into a trap. “Sure, why not?”

Tsunade thought there was something liberating about walking through the streets of Konoha at night.

While she had already accepted that returning wasn’t as terrible as she had previously thought, there had still been a lump in her throat when she first came back. Talking to the people who had been unexpectedly excited to see her considering she had been gone for years had helped her avoiding to fall into a darker mood, but she had only so much patience to waste on dealing with crowds, so once she used a Henge to hide herself, nothing stopped her mind from bringing up painful memories.

Now, however, the night helped to mask the familiar building, making them almost look like the ones she had seen in countless other villages and towns over the years. Still familiar enough to be comfortable and yet distinctly different enough to dull the edge of her pain.

Tsunade's current company probably helped as well, silent as they may be.

Just an hour ago, she would have laughed about the image of a silent Jiraiya, but now she didn’t have the energy to be anything but thankful. While she might blame the alcohol for her exhausted state –which was ludicrous considering she hadn’t drunk that much compared to her usual consume- she knew that it was truly the place itself that got to her.

It was just so mentally draining to be back here.

However, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; being here in the heart of her home with the only two people from her childhood that she still had left and watching the starry sky on a cloudless night wasn’t something she had thought she would do ever again.

It was  nice.

If she was honest, this was probably the most peaceful she had been in a very long time.

“Ero-sennin! Jii-chan!”

It was just then that the peace was broken by a child’s voice.

Tsunade had half a mind to punish the brat, a blond-haired boy wearing an orange kimono, for that, but when she saw him throwing himself into Jiraiya’s waiting arms, the little anger she felt melted away.

So that’s his godson, then, she thought with a small smile. I guess that idiot must have done at least something right if the boy likes him that much.

“Well, isn’t that cute?” she chuckled before turning towards the boy that had accompanied the child. “And who might you be?”

“I’m Itachi Uchiha,” he said with a bow, his ponytail falling over his shoulder in the process. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tsunade-sama.”

‘Uchiha’, huh… That was somewhat of a surprise as she couldn’t spot a single Uchiha emblem on his dark blue kimono. Considering that clan loved to put it everywhere, that was rather unusual.

Tsunade didn’t care much about the ancient feud between the Uchiha and Senju. She didn’t even carry that surname anymore anyway. However, the countless triads of her granduncle during her youth had left their mark on her. Not so much in that she distrusted them, though, but in that she relived the annoyance she felt every time her granduncle brought them up all over again whenever she saw one.

“Any what business do you have with that brat?”

“I was merely accompanying Naruto to meet Jiraiya. A child shouldn’t walk around all on their own this late in the night, after all.”

He is calling him just ‘Jiraiya’? With no honorifics? “And-“

“C’mon, Tsunade,” Jiraiya interrupted her as he walked up to her side with one hand on the blond boy’s shoulder. “There’s no need to interrogate Itachi like this. I asked him to bring Naruto to me once his friends went home, that’s all.” A big grin appeared on his face. “On that note, meet my godson! Tsunade, this little rascal is Naruto. Naruto, this is my former teammate Tsunade. I told you about her, remember?”

“Nice to meet ya!” the boy exclaimed with a way too loud voice.

Tsunade hadn’t interacted much with children since she left the village. There had simply been no reason to. After all, she spent much of her time in casinos and bars; children rarely visited these kinds of places. However, when she did interact with them, it was usually because some people recognized her even after all these years and pleaded for her to help their sick children. More often than not, her healing was completely redundant as the children in question rarely had something worse than a fever, but she could never quite bring herself to say ‘no’ to the worried parents. Either she let herself be talked into helping them or, in case the child in question had some kind of injury that involved blood, let Shizune handle the situation.

What she was trying to say was that the few times she interacted with children, they were usually too weak to do much more than lie in their beds. If they spoke to her at all, it was in a tired and hoarse voice.

Maybe it was the fact that being back in Konoha brought back a lot of memories she had suppressed for years now, maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it were both of these things together, but whatever it was, when she looked at the brightly grinning boy, his form was momentarily replaced by the image of Nawaki.

“So Jiraiya told you about me, huh?” she said while trying to dispel the painful image, cursing inwardly at the slight crack in her voice. Not that anyone but Jiraiya or her sensei would notice, of course, but that was already bad enough. “I hope he knew to keep his tongue in check.”

The grin on the boy’s face, which had no business at all looking so similar to her brother’s, became even wider. “He said you’re the best healer there is and the most beautiful woman in the world!” Suddenly, his face shifted into a more thoughtful expression. “Though I guess he hasn’t seen you in a while either. You’re a bit too old for that now, right?”

Whatever spell he had over her broke in an instant. He had said that so casual and innocently, clearly meaning every word of it and only voicing what he thought was a fact…

“Who do you think you are to call a woman old to her face?!”

Before he could react, she flicked her finger against his forehead and made him fly backwards.

Tsunade wasn’t a monster, of course. Insult or not, she wouldn’t actually hurt a child. Because of that, he flew only a few feet before landing on his ass with a surprised yelp, rubbing his forehead with one hand while using the other to steady himself. “What the hell, Granny? Why did you do that?!”

“I wouldn’t have done that if you knew your manners, you brat! I see Jiraiya has been a bad influence on you if that’s how you treat people you have just met!”

“Are you stupid? I thought Ero-sennin was lying when he said you have a temper like a devil, but looks like he was right!”

Her head swung around to glare at the white-haired man who was smart enough to instantly take a step back, knowing full well that he wasn’t under the same protection as the child. “Hey, calm down, yes? It was said in good fun, that’s all! No need to get angry, aye?”

Tsunade narrowed her eyes some more as she considered if it was worth it to punish Jiraiya as well, completely ignoring her sensei and the Uchiha boy who had distanced themselves from the spectacle and now watched it from further away, when she suddenly felt an incoming attack.

All it took was a casual swing of her hand to deflect the punch to her face, which she quickly followed up by another weak flick to her blond assailant’s forehead that this time only made him stumble a few steps back instead of throwing him to the ground like before.

“Naruto,” Jiraiya said with a slight grimace. “Maybe don’t attack her, alright? She’s kinda out of your league.”

That would indeed be the smart thing to do. The boy wouldn’t have any of it, however.

“Shut it, Ero-sennin!” He pointed a finger at her. “I’m gonna beat that witch’s ass, just watch me!”

Unexpectedly, rather than making her even angrier, that proclamation actually made her laugh. “You’re want to beat me? Big words for a little wimp.” Although it was certainly stupid, she had to hand it to him; saying something like that when he clearly knew who she was took some guts. “But do you really think you can back them up? I’m one of the Legendary Sannin, after all, while I assume you haven’t even graduated from the academy yet.”

“So what? I’m gonna become the strongest ninja the village has ever seen, dattebayo! That means I can’t let myself be stopped by an old bully like you!”

Something in her chest squeezed painfully at that while similar words from years past echoed in her ears, but she ignored all of that. “The strongest ninja the village has ever seen?” She snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. Do you even know what that means, or what heights you need to reach for that dream to become true? I’m sure you don’t even know how strong Jiraiya is once he stops goofing around and he is your godfather, not to mention the Hokage. My grandfather and the old man” -she jerked her head in the direction of her sensei- “both are called ‘God of Shinobi’, did you know that? He’s over sixty years old and still could beat your ass in a second straight. That’s what you’re aiming to surpass.” Then, much quieter, she added: “Dreams are foolish, and they never come true.”

Tsunade took great pleasure in seeing the doubt in the boy’s eyes, only to be surprised when it vanished as fast as it appeared. “Well, if the Hokage are really so strong, all I need to do is become the strongest Hokage ever! If I do that, even you will need to acknowledge me, right?”

("Hey! I want to be like grandpa someday… I will be honoured with the name Hokage, because being Hokage is my dream!")

(“For the sake of everyone's safety... Ever since my sister died, that sole thought has sustained me. Becoming the Hokage is my dream.”)

She involuntarily took a step back while all energy seemed to drain out of her. Naruto, on the other hand, continued without even noticing her changed mood. “I will surpass Ero-sennin, Jii-chan, you, and even your grandfather! And once I’m the strongest, I will be able to protect everyone!”

The absolute conviction with which he said that and the complete trust in his own words; it was as if Tsunade had been thrown into the past to relieve Dan’s and Nawaki’s proclamation all over again. Tsunade wanted to hate the boy for that, wanted to be angry with him for reminding her of ghosts that she had tried so long to forget, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. And how could it be any other way? Wouldn’t hating that boy who was so similar to the people she had lost be in a way like betraying their memory?

She couldn’t stay here, so she didn’t.

Just like she had done all her life, she ran.

“Ehm, did I say something wrong?”

In any other situation, Hiruzen would have found it adorable and even admirable that Naruto found it in himself to worry about a person he had just fought with. However, after watching Tsunade getting so upset, he didn’t find the energy to feel anything but sadness.

“Don’t worry,” Jiraiya told the boy as he stepped back to his side. “You didn’t. I think you just remind her of someone that died a long time ago.”

“Oh,” the boy said. “So, should I apologize or…”

His former student chuckled, though it sounded somewhat forced. “No, there’s no need for that. In fact, what you have done might actually help her.”

At least that was the plan. Hiruzen had known that confronting Tsunade with her past through Naruto would wake memories she would probably prefer not to think about, but you couldn’t overcome past trauma by ignoring it. Confronting what had hurt you was the first step towards recovery.

That didn’t make it any easier to watch her being in that state, of course.

“Itachi,” Jiraiya said. “Would you mind accompanying Naruto home? I’m afraid I will be too busy tonight to spent time with him after all.”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” Jiraiya then turned towards his godson. “Listen, Naruto, I’m-“

“It’s alright,” the boy interrupted him. “I understand. You want to help her, right?”

It was always amazing to see how observant children could be.

“I do.”

Naruto grinned. “Good. That’s what friends should do.”

Jiraiya nodded. “That it is.”

He and Hiruzen shared one short glance before his former student vanished in a shunshin.

He sighed. No matter how much he wished to accompany the man and help him console Tsunade, Hiruzen knew that he wasn’t as well suited for that task as Jiraiya. Right now, she needed a friend much more than a teacher. Furthermore, as the Hokage and therefore leader during the conflict that had costed Tsunade her loved ones, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that his presence might actually be counterproductive right now. For all that she had never blamed him, people acted unreasonably and lashed out at others when they were hurt, and if there was one word that described Tsunade right now, it would be just that.

All he could do right now was to hope Jiraiya could help her.

He found Tsunade sitting on the railing of one of Konoha’s highest buildings right in the centre of the village, her head turned upwards to watch the stars.

“You followed me, huh? I should have expected that. You never knew when to leave someone alone.”

Jiraiya hid his worry at her hollow voice and chuckled softly, much different to the usual boisterous laugh he preferred, as he sat down next to her. “With how upset you looked? Of course I followed you. You don’t leave someone alone when they’re like that.”

“Even if I ask you to?”

“Yes, even then.”

Tsunade snorted. “So you know what’s good for me even better than I do myself now?”

“Maybe not,” admitted easily, making her turn towards him in surprise. “But even if I don’t know for sure what’s the best course of action, I can still try to do what I think is right. That’s the only thing all of us can do.”

When Tsunade spoke this time, he was glad to hear that her voice sounded slightly more alive than before. “Look at you, trying to sound all wise like this. Finally trying to live up to the hype?”

“Well, someone has to set a good example for the next generation, right?”

She just shook her head before surprising him by crossing the distance between them and leaning her head against his shoulder. If there was one thing that showed him in how much pain she was, it was this. After all, the last time she had hugged him was when Dan-

Yeah, let’s not think about that right now.

“Don’t think I don’t see what you and Sensei tried there,” Tsunade said, her voice now somewhat muffed. “It’s cruel to bring up bad memories like this, you know.”

He hesitated for a moment as he thought about the right words before deciding to just say whatever felt right. There was probably no perfect way to do this anyway, so he could just as well follow his own words and do what he thought was right.

“And what exactly did we try?”

While she didn’t raise her head from his shoulder, he could feel her tense. “Seriously, Jiraiya? Bringing a kid that’s so similar to-“ Tsunade’s voice trembled and she was forced to take a deep breath before she could continue. “A kid that’s so similar to them in an effort to make me stay. That’s low, even for you.”

A rueful smile crept up his face. “It is, yes.”

“You knew that and did it anyway?”

“Tell me, Tsunade,” he said instead of answering her question. “Do you think we were subtle?”

“What?”

“I asked you if you think Sensei and I were subtle in bringing you into contact with Naruto,” he elaborated. “Did we really manipulate you without you even realizing it?”

She was silent for a few seconds until-

“Don’t play games with me. What are you getting at, Jiraiya?”

“You say we set you up to meet Naruto in an attempt to make you stay in the village by counting on the fact that his similarity to Dan and Nawaki” -he ignored the way she flinched at these names- “would convince you to do so. But tell me, does that work if you’re aware of what we were doing? After all, if you know you’re being manipulated, the trick is over, right?”

“So you’re saying you weren’t trying to manipulate me because you weren't subtle about it? So what, you didn’t try to make me stay here and all that was just in my head.” Her voice was one of disbelief.

“No,” Jiraiya confessed without hesitation. “We want you to stay, and it’s also true that we wanted you to meet Naruto because of his similarity to those two. However, we don’t want to manipulate you into it. In the end, it must be your decision, not ours.”

“I don’t understand,” Tsunade said, clearly lost. “You say you don’t want to manipulate me into staying, but your actions speak otherwise.”

This was the critical moment. So far, Tsunade had been too stuck in her grief to get angry, but Jiraiya could feel that this was about to change. If he said one wrong word, this conversation was over.

“Tsunade,” he said slowly while turning his head to look into her eyes. “Can I be completely honest with you?”

She hesitated for a second, caught off-guard by the seriousness in his expression, before nodding.

“You say that Naruto is similar to Dan and Nawaki, and that’s not wrong, but if such similarity is all we wanted, we could have brought countless other children as well to fulfil the same role.” He raised his hand to make her stop in her tracks when she opened her mouth to disagree, only continuing when he was sure she wouldn’t interrupt him. “It helps that he looks similar to Nawaki, and that his dream is the same as his and Dan’s. However, he isn’t alone with that. There are literally thousands of children in this village who have big dreams as well, hundreds of which include becoming Hokage. Maybe not all of them have the same willpower as Naruto to strive for such a lofty goal in the long run, I will give you that, but they all have one thing in common: they have absolute confidence in their abilities to achieve their dream one day.

They work hard with their dreams before their inner eyes, no matter whether that dream is something big like becoming Hokage or something objectively easier like being the best older sibling they could possibly be. They all sweat and bleed to achieve whatever they set out to do. And while there are doubtlessly many who will ultimately accept defeat, there will also always be those that don’t give up until the very end.

There are hundreds of little Narutos, Dans, and Nawakis dreaming of the future all over the village right now, and the reason we brought Naruto to meet you was to remind you of that. Tsunade, there are so many people with bright hopes for the future, but all you seem to remember when you think of Konoha are the bad things when there is so much more.”

There was a profound silence when he finished, but Jiraiya didn’t push her to reply immediately. He took the fact that her head was still on his shoulder as a good sign, though.

It was almost fifteen minutes later that Tsunade finally replied.

“You’re full of shit, you know that?”

He suppressed a wince. Now that wasn’t the reaction he had been hoping for. “Tsunade-“

“So what if they all share the same conviction and even the same dream? In the end, all of them will be disappointed. Sure, some might claim to be happy, claim that they have fulfilled their dreams, but they’re lying. At best, they simply realized the impossibility of their goals and changed them to something achievable. They pretend to be happy with what they have to the outside world, but on the inside, they know full well that they have failed in what they truly wanted. They understand that choosing the second-best is the most they can ever do because their true goal is forever out of their reach.” She took her head off his shoulder to direct her gaze towards the few ant-like figures of people walking below them in the streets. “Dreams are for fools.”

Jiraiya looked at her for a moment while he fought down the impulse to put an arm around her shoulder. He doubted she would react well to that right now.

“Were Dan and Nawaki fools, then?”

Her head jerked around. “Jiraiya-“

“I asked you if I can be honest with you and you agreed,” he reminded her before she could finish. “So that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. So, let me ask that again: do you think Dan and Nawaki were fools? Were they blind idiots who followed dreams they could never achieve, that they never even stood a chance? Can you really look into my eyes and tell me you believe that?"

Tsunade opened her mouth, but no tone escaped her. She tried several times to say something, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Just like he had thought.

It was after her fifth attempt that she finally gave up and averted her eyes from him with a growl that sounded suspiciously like a sob, but not before he could catch a glimpse of the open anguish in them. “What does it even matter?” she said, her voice once again hollow. “They’re dead, whether they were foolish or not will not change anything about that...”

“That’s true, but letting that loss define the rest of your life will neither.”

She snorted, sounding more bitter than amused. “Oh, you think I don’t know that?”

“Tsunade-“

“Do you think I’m not aware that others have lost their loved ones too? I don’t think I’m special, Jiraiya. Many have lost even more than I but still go on with their lives, I know that just as I know that just running away will solve nothing, but that doesn’t change how I feel. Just because I know that they wouldn’t want me to waste my life like this doesn’t mean that I can change the way I feel!”

He hesitated a moment before slowly putting his arm around her to pull her close, giving her more than enough time to turn the offer of comfort down.

She didn’t.

“I just want to hold them in my arms one more time…”

When it became clear she was done with swallowing all her hurt down and he heard her openly sob into his side, Jiraiya fully realized in just how much pain she really was.

Tsunade only ever cried when she was at an extremely low point. In fact, this was actually only the third time he could remember her crying at all.

When he spoke next, he kept his words slow and steady. “Even when someone dies, they’re never truly gone. Just like we carry the will and dreams and ideals of our sensei and the generations before us, there will always be people who carry on the believes and hopes of the people we have lost. Even if you extinguish their light, there’s no way that their flame will ever burn out. That’s the Will of Fire.”

Tsunade knew that as well, of course, but he thought she needed to hear it nonetheless.

Jiraiya could feel the wetness of his clothes when she pressed her face harder into his shoulder. “That’s not enough for me.”

“And it never will be. When someone dies, they will forever leave a hole in our hearts where they were supposed to be. All we can do is live on to the best of our abilities. If not for ourselves, then at least for them.”

“And how do you do it?” When she raised her head again to look him in the eyes, Jiraiya could see the conflicting emotions in hers. There was the well-expected pain and sorrow, of course, but what gave him hope was the almost desperate wish for an answer.

“There is this one phrase I once read,” he said. “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.” He chuckled softly. “It’s simple, but there is some truth for it. However, what I think the person who wrote this didn't understand is that if the ‘strong men’ try hard enough, they should be able to achieve something akin to permanent peace. There will always be problems and crises, of course, but their extent can be limited. Just think about it: a mere century ago, the entire continent was in a constant state of war. No area was unaffected, no one knew peace. The loss of loved ones wasn’t a heartbreaking tragedy but a reality of everyday life.

Then your grandfather came along and brought that age to an end. Yes, there are still wars, but honestly? Compared to the past, having only three major conflicts in a century is a great improvement! If you were to travel back in time and tell the people of that period about it, they wouldn’t believe you and call you crazy! After all, a world not trying to tear itself apart all the time? Preposterous! However, your grandfather didn’t let himself be stopped by such believes and went on to make peace with the Uchiha, made friends out of enemies, founded this village, and inspired others to do the same.

Today, people live longer than ever before in recorded history, much more children are allowed to have actual childhoods, and families don’t need to constantly be afraid of losing one another. The world we live in isn’t perfect by any means, but it is better than what it was before.

You want to know how I manage to live on? I strive to make the world of tomorrow even better than what it is today. I do my best to clean the messes our generation has made to stop them from becoming a problem in the future, I pass on what I have learned, and I have trust that the people that follow us will do the same.

I have hope that this world will get better bit by bit with every generation until ultimately, there will be peace.”

That was what Jiraiya honestly believed. The Great Toad Sage had foretold that a student of his would be a force of great change in the world, but he knew that this one person alone wouldn’t be enough to bring peace. However, if they could bring others to their side, to open other people’s heart’s to their cause, they could be the source of a revolution that would ultimately bring peace to the ninja world. Such a thing couldn’t be done in one lifetime, but creating the foundation on which future generations could build on? Now that was more than possible.

It was notable to mention that the aforementioned abilities were skills Naruto already possessed.

“You said we tried to manipulate you,” he said, bringing up the topic from the beginning of their conversation. “And in a way, that’s probably true. It might not have been our intention, but a case can be made that it happened anyway. However, what we wanted to do was to give you the chance to choose. Regardless of whether you decide to stay or to leave after this, we want you to make this decision not only in the form of an emotional affect, but as a result of rational consideration. But to do that, you need to know and understand both sides of the argument. That's what this whole thing has been about.

If you now decide to stay here, you will no longer be burdened by the ghosts of your past because they will have become your strength instead. On the other hand, if you choose to leave Konoha, it will not be an escape. You will no longer be running from your past, but instead walking towards a new future. No matter what you ultimately decide, you will be free to look towards tomorrow instead of remaining stuck in yesterday."

That was it. Jiraiya had no more to say, and now it was up to Tsunade to make a decision.

They kept sitting like that for hours, with her leaning against his shoulder and his arm around her waist, as they watched the starry sky slowly give way for the rising sun in the east. He didn’t pressure her and gave her all the time she needed to come to an answer. If necessary, he was ready to sit here for days. As long as Tsunade found comfort in his presence, he wouldn’t leave her alone.

What she had said was true; even if you knew that your emotions were irrational and went against all logic, you couldn’t just change them at will. You did not decide how you felt. Sure, it was possible to put emotions aside for a while, but in the end, they always came back. Tsunade was actually a good example of that: she had wandered the continent for many years, filling her time with gambling and alcohol that helped her forget, but in the end, her emotions caught up with her, leading to this very moment right now.

Jiraiya couldn’t really blame her for running away, though. Not when he had apparently done the same in an alternative timeline and would have done it again in this one hadn’t it been for his sensei and Itachi sharing the latter’s tale with him.

In the end, humans were weak creatures. When a rare strong person appeared, they latched onto them for strength and support, looked at them for advice and leadership, and depended on them for safety.

On the other hand, when this strong person turned out to be malicious in nature and there was no other strong person to protect the people from them, humans banded together to find strength in numbers.

Yes, humans on their own were weak, but when they created bonds with others, they became strong.

If humankind one day truly managed to put its quarrels and disputes aside and allowed peace to settle into the lands, there was nothing they couldn’t do.

It was in the early morning hours that Tsunade finally made her decision.

“I guess I should pay a visit to the hospital first to see how much the standards have fallen in my absence, don't you think?”

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Ryūchi Cave

1 month after leaving Konoha

Anko had no illusions about the odds of her actually finding Ryūchi Cave. In all likelihood, she would either spend the rest of her life searching for it or give up on this endeavour after some years and return to Konoha as a failure. There simply was no in-between.

But she also realized that this was the only way that might save her from being left behind.

She herself had been called talented, prodigious even, since her earliest childhood. That was why Orochimaru, one of Konoha’s most powerful shinobi, had been willing to take her as an apprentice. And while it never came to that because it turned out her sensei was a slimy bastard who fled the village when it came out that he experimented on humans and even babes, the point still stood that someone of his calibre saw enough potential in her to warrant personal interest.

However, whatever talent she possessed paled compared to Itachi’s. Next to him, she was average at best. That wasn’t even an insult; being called average compared to someone who could do what Itachi did when he was just seven years old was in fact a compliment.

That didn’t change the fact that Anko didn’t want to fall behind him, though.

He, Yukio, and she were teammates. They were supposed to have each other’s backs. Especially now after Yukio had confessed to her that he considered giving up on being a shinobi altogether was it important that she got strong enough to cover Itachi for them both. Sure, she knew that the younger boy had other friends as well, members of his clan that would look out for him if she couldn’t, but Anko wasn’t about to give up that easily. No, the only path she accepted for herself was one where she became strong enough to stand at his side.

Teams were like a family, especially those that had been formed between academy graduates, and while Itachi had joined them only later, he was just as much part of it as Yukio, Tanaka-sensei, and she herself. In her case, they were literally the only family she ever had, so there was no way she would become a burden.

Furthermore, Anko still intended to get revenge on Orochimaru for his betrayal. The Sannin was far stronger than any other enemy she had ever fought, and she knew that she didn’t stand a chance against him as she was now. If she were completely honest with herself, she would probably never stand a chance against him either if she didn’t take extraordinary steps to improve herself. The Chūnin Exams demonstrated how strong even enemies her own age could be; if she couldn’t even beat them, how could she ever hope to bring Orochimaru to justice?

The best solution to all her problems was to find Ryūchi Cave and train under the White Snake Sage. That was unfortunately easier said than done, however.

Anko had even tried asking her summons to lead her there, but just as she had expected, they had refused. Apparently finding the way on their own was part of the test anyone who wanted to train under the sage needed to pass.

That meant she had no other choice but to wander through the continent with no clue whatsoever whether she was getting closer or not, basically hoping to just randomly stumble into it.

They’re still snakes, she thought. That means they can’t live just about everywhere. The climate must meet certain conditions to be a potential home to them, so I can exclude at least some places. Not nearly as many as I would like, but it’s a start.

Who knew? Maybe she was lucky and really just ran into it within a few weeks. Now, wouldn’t that be something?

3 months after leaving Konoha

Unfortunately, she was not so lucky.

With no other choice left, Anko decided to begin her search within the borders of the Land of Fire. The idea was that she would at least not need to deal with enemy shinobi this way. If she didn’t find the cave here, however, she would be forced to look elsewhere and therefore enter foreign countries.

She really didn’t look forward to hiding from patrols all the damn time.

The problem with searching for it in the Land of Fire was that there were a lot of places far enough away from any hotspot of civilization to possibly hide the cave. And as the entire country offered great conditions for snakes, Anko couldn’t even limit the area she needed to look by taking that point into consideration.

The best thing she could do was asking in small, local villages and towns whether they had noticed an unusual number of snakes or if there were any folktales about them in the region.

So far, her search hadn’t yielded any results yet. No, the only things Anko had found were countless insects that decided to nest in her sleeping back and hair as well as a newfound appreciation for baths.

9 months after leaving Konoha

She had known from the very beginning that there wouldn’t be much for her to do during her travels, but Anko noticed mere days into her journey that it was even more boring than she could have ever predicted. Thus, with no other choice if she didn’t want to die from boredom, she did the one thing she had always hated to do:

She studied.

Now, don’t understand her wrong. She did study a lot in her life. The expectations that she and later Orochimaru set for herself didn’t allow Anko to slack off. However, she initially was content with just mastering whatever was expected of her and never expanding on that on her own, the only “recent” exception being when she went out of her way to create a poison that wouldn’t easily vaporize in flames for the Chūnin Exams.

This far away from home, with no one to keep her busy and nothing else to do, she burrowed herself once again in her studies.

Fortunately, the Sandaime had allowed her to bring copies of Orochimaru’s notes with her. That, together with various books she brought, she could keep herself at least somewhat busy during her journey. And honestly? Once she actually began to read, she found it quite interesting. Sure, a lot of her former sensei’s experiments described in the notes were disgusting, but there was no denying that the information he got out of them were ground-breaking. If you asked Anko, the least thing they could do was to use this information to do something good with them and maybe give the victims some peace in the knowledge that their suffering wasn’t for nought.

Furthermore, if this information somehow helped Anko in ultimately bringing Orochimaru down, they would also indirectly get their revenge on him through her. She knew that if she were in their position, she would like that idea.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried to take her time going through the various materials, there came a point where there was nothing new left for her to read. Even writing her own notes down and cross-referring between the different sources only slowed her down that much.

I probably should buy some more books, she thought. Let’s hope the next bookstore I find actually has something useful to offer rather than just fictional stories.

Though to be honest, Anko would probably get some of these as well. Not like she had anything better to do anyway, and even a mediocre story was still better than staring holes into the air.

With that in mind, she continued walking westwards until she finally crossed into the Land of Rivers.

1 ½ years after leaving Konoha

The highlight of every day was doubtlessly the training session in the evening. And although it was almost impossible to increase your own Taijutsu skills by training on your own, Anko found a few ways she could improve herself even in face of that.

For one thing, she began to wear weights. She wasn’t so stupid as to overdo it like that weirdo Guy, of course, but she was confident that they would increase her speed and strength over time. If she continued to increase the burden little by little and if her search continued for as long as she feared it would, there should be quite the improvement when she finally returned to Konoha.

Another thing she did was to train with her clones. However, the only thing they were really good for was to test new techniques because in the end, they were exactly as strong, fast, and skilled as she was. Handicapping herself made up for that somewhat, but even that wasn’t enough to truly help her train.

Anko also tried to incorporate new attacks into her katas by looking for inspiration in the various books and notes she had with her. Whenever she stumbled over a weak point in the human body that none of her attacks already targeted, she tried her best to change that.

Concerning the other ninja arts, well…

Genjutsu had never been something she was interested in. Training with Itachi meant she was forced to learn combatting it and it had also allowed her to pick up a thing or two about it as well, but that was it.

The thing she could train best was Ninjutsu.

There were quite a lot of Jutsu she technically knew but had never mastered, including but not limited to techniques she had seen Orochimaru use before he became a traitor. Now that she had so much free time at hand, she spent countless hours trying and eventually mastering as many of them as she could. There were quite a few of them she didn’t get the hang of, unfortunately, and she assumed she would never be able to master them without someone else directly teaching them to her, but those she did master quickly became powerful aces in her arsenal.

Another thing she could also train even as she travelled was the speed with which she weaved hand signs. It didn’t cost her any chakra, kept her hands busy, and was something she could do practically all the time; all in all, she counted this as an absolute win.

At this point, she was quite confident that everyone who didn’t possess the Sharingan would struggle to predict what technique she was to unleash on them. That should give her a little edge even against otherwise superior opponents.

However, no matter how much Anko improved, nothing could distract her from the fact that she had been away from her home for 18 months now and still had nothing to show for it. It was one thing to be prepared to spend years on the road but something entirely different to actually do it.

It might have been easier to endure if she could at least communicate with her friends, but alas, the best thing she could do was sending them letters. Receiving them in return was pretty much impossible, though one of Itachi’s crows had managed to find her once.

With a sigh, Anko cast these dark thoughts aside and continued her journey northwards, forming hand signs all the time.

3 years after leaving Konoha

She was a few miles away from the border to the Land of Wind when she saw a large cloud of black smoke rise into the sky.

Now, this was a foreign land filled with foreign people. Anko had no duty to anyone that lived here, nothing that would force her to intervene in whatever was going on. That being said, she also knew that this region of the Land of Rivers was poor and far away from the nearest city. It was unlikely that any other aid would arrive in time to help the people living here.

Without hesitation, Anko began to run.

It wasn’t before long that she began to hear people screaming, though were it just that, she might have continued to hope that all she was going to find were people trying to extinguish a house that had caught fire or something like that. However, Anko was unfortunately all too familiar with the sound of crashing metal and the crazy laugh of men that enjoyed the slaughter of innocents, so she had no illusions regarding what was happening.

Her expectations were met a moment later when she came into sight of the little town:

People in tattered and flicked clothes ran for their lives while brutish looking men hunted after them, swinging their weapons above their heads and hollering jeers and insults towards their prey. There were already countless corpses spotting the area; from old men to mothers with their children, no one had been spared so far and Anko doubted the assailants planned to change that approach any time soon.

Anko had no intention of being any more merciful with them than they were with the townspeople.

She didn’t know how many enemies there were, but it hardly mattered. None of them appeared to be shinobi and thus none of them was a threat to her. So, confident in her own superiority and with anger burning in her stomach, she jumped into the fight.

The first few bandits didn’t even realize what was going on before they died. Two of them were running after a young girl with what must be a younger sibling in her arms when Anko appeared next to him and drove a kunai through his throat. The other one was a few steps behind and too close to stop, so before his brain even caught up with the events, she took the fallen bandit’s rusty sword to end his comrade’s life with it as well. Instead of stopping there, she spun around and threw the weapon, instantly killing a bandit a few dozen meters away that was just about to do the same to an old man that sat on the ground in front of him.

“Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!” (Shadow Clone Technique)

Half a second after making the necessary hand seals, half a dozen versions of her rushed into different directions to save as many people as possible.

One man that had cornered a girl in an alley suddenly found his head bashed against the stone wall to his right before being thrown backwards into one of his comrades. Befuddled as he was by the attack, he didn’t even get to scream before a fireball consumed them both.

Another group of five were running after a family of three when Anko appeared between the two parties; the bandits, not judging her a threat, only laughed harder and rushed at her, making it all the easier for her summoned snakes to kill the first four by sinking their fangs into their throats. The fifth one, being fortunate enough to be a bit behind, managed to come to a stop before the same could happen to him, but he was still too slow to dodge the kunai that sunk into his forehead a second later.

A few smarter ones were realizing what was happening and tried to flee, but all it took to stop them was a simple earth wall to block their path. None of them survived long enough to search for another way out.

However, she and her clones didn’t just target the aggressors but also helped the residents.

An old woman buried under some fallen over cart had already given up hope when Anko appeared and pushed the vehicle off her.

A young couple trapped in a burning building and almost unconscious from all the smoke cried in relief when she broke through the wall, extinguished the flames in their path, and then carried them to safety.

The most challenging thing that happened was when she found a middle-aged man with a slash wound on his chest; he was still alive and the injury wasn’t as bad as it could have, but it was still the worst wound she had ever attempted to heal. Never had she been more thankful for reading the notes Orochimaru had left behind, as for all that many of them contained gruesome content, the information regarding how to keep prisoners alive for as long as possible while experimenting on them could also be used for situations like this.

I should try to get my hands on some real books about healing, though. Who knows when that will become handy.

In the end, Anko couldn’t save everyone. She appeared too late for that. But even if she had arrived earlier, she couldn’t be everywhere at once, so she decided to be grateful for having been able to help as many as she did instead of crying for those that had died. It was thanks to her interference that there were still enough people left to rebuild, so it wasn't as if nothing good came out of this. The people would mourn for the dead, yes, but they would recover and continue to live from these lands as they had done for generations.

None of the bandits survived, of course.

[][][][][]

Anko stayed at the destroyed town for almost a week to help with burying the corpses, rebuilding the houses, and healing the injured. She didn’t need to, but she did it anyway.

She was rewarded for that in the end when it turned out that one of the townspeople, an old man that once travelled the continent as a merchant, knew a housewife’s tale about “a kingdom where gigantic snakes rule supreme” he was more than willing to share with her.

It wasn’t much, but considering it was also the first real clue she got, Anko was unsurprisingly excited to continue her journey.

She departed the very next day.

4 ½ years after leaving Konoha

The Land of Birds wouldn’t have been her first guess regarding the location of Ryūchi Cave. Nonetheless, once she was there, she became more and more convinced that she was getting closer and closer.

The country was located between the Lands of Earth and Wind, but it had much more in common with the former than the latter. The main difference, however, was that instead of being spotted with rocky mountains and bare hills everywhere, the mountains here formed hundreds of valleys with abundant vegetation and dense forests.

Befitting its name, there were also birds everywhere. Day and night, their twitters could be heard no matter where you were, almost driving Anko crazy with their constant noise. It took all the self-control she had to not constantly kill every bird she got across.

The problem was that the area made it extremely hard to effectively search for that stupid cave. Ever since she managed to get here a bit over a year ago, escaping Suna patrols that weren’t happy about an unknown stranger in their lands in the process, she fought her way through almost impassable mountain ranges and all-encompassing forests, but no matter how hard she tried, progress was slow.

Anko was just about to cut her way through some particularly stubborn undergrowth when her body reacted on instinct and jumped aside, saving her of the unpleasant experience of having a snake plunging her fangs into her ankles.

“Hey,” she exclaimed angrily. “What did I do to you, asshole? Leave me alone!”

Initially, she had been happy about the insane number of snakes in the country and took it as confirmation that she was close to her goal, but she quickly grew annoyed at them for constantly attacking her. Were she not afraid of offending the White Snake Sage, she would squash every single one of them.

Fortunately, the snake did what she told it and slithered away after one last hiss.

Unfortunately, it was only then that Anko realized that the snake had been bone white.

“Dammit!” she cursed under her breath before hurrying in the direction the snake had vanished. “Hey, come back! I didn’t mean it like that, I promise!”

For all that she had seen thousands of snakes since entering this country, this was the first time she had seen one with that specific colouring. In fact, this was the first time seeing a white snake since Orochimaru had left the village. Now, that could just be a coincidence, of course. Albinos were after all known to plop up from time to time. However, if what Anko believed was true, this snake might actual lead her to Ryūchi Cave.

Its unique colour had the advantage that it stood out from the rest of the environment and thus allowed Anko to spot it a few seconds into the hunt. That should have been the end of it; after all, there was no way that a small snake like that could escape a shinobi like her. However, to Anko's neverending frustration, the thick vegetation meant she couldn’t move as quickly as she would have liked to while the snake with its smaller body could easily wriggle through obstacles without even slowing down.

Anko let out a frustrated cry as she jumped straight through some brushwood, ignoring the way its branches shredded her clothes and cut through her skin. All that didn’t matter to her as long as she managed to keep her eyes on that annoyingly nimble snake.

She had no idea how long she ran after it, but when she finally broke through the treeline into the open just a dozen metres away from the wall of one of the mountains that encircled the valley, her entire body was covered with scratches. It had been worth it, though, as she had managed to stay close enough to her target to see its white form vanish into a nearby tunnel.

“Gotcha!” She immediately rushed after it, excitement bubbling in her chest at the thought that this was it, only to come to an abrupt halt when she crossed the entrance and came face to face with a veil of darkness and, more notably, a lack of white snakes. “Oh, c’mon! Seriously?”

Seeing no other way, she slowly walked in. Running would have naturally been preferable, but no matter how anxious she might be, Anko wasn’t stupid enough to run when she could barely see her own hands in front of her face. Walking in into what could possibly be the lair of some predator like this was stupid enough, no need to risk falling to her death because she overlooked some hole in the ground.

She wandered through the darkness for what felt like hours, though it were probably only minutes. Anko had no way to know for sure, however; keeping track of time in such an environment was almost impossible. Then, when she finally saw light at the end of the tunnel, she was disappointed to note that what was on the other end was not the fabled home of the White Snake Sage but just another valley.

The white snake she had followed hadn’t made another appearance either.

However, what made this valley at least somewhat interesting was the modest housing that stood barely a hundred metres from her position at the exit of the tunnel.

This wasn’t the first time she had encountered people in this country, of course. For all that it was relatively sparsely inhabited, there were villages and towns, and while she hadn’t been there herself, she knew that the capital was said to be rather impressive. All that being said, most of the lands were firmly in the hands of nature. Anko had spent over one year here and so far only found one single village and half a dozen families living on their own at remote locations.

Decision made, she moved towards the building with deliberate steps. She didn’t have any trouble with the people of this country yet, but in her opinion, no one who lived this far out here on their own could be completely sane. Humans simply needed some contact with other humans if they didn’t want to wilt away.

Her attention snapped to the door when a person stepped out.

“Oh my,” the woman said with a friendly smile. “What a wonderful surprise! It has been a while since we had a visitor. Say, what are you doing here all on your own, my dear? Don’t you know that it’s dangerous to travel all on your own?"

The woman appeared to be in her late fifties, with hair that was more grey than black and a forward bent stance. She wore simple black robes that were stitched at several places and going by the calluses on her hand and the sun-kissed, wrinkled skin, she had spent a lot of her life outside.

All in all, she looked just like every other inhabitant of this country she had met so far.

Furthermore, while she tried to hide it, Anko could see the tension in her limbs and the apprehension in her eyes; everything pointed at her being afraid of Anko and what she would do to her. Not unreasonable considering civilians were pretty much defenceless against a shinobi. There was nothing this woman could do to stop Anko if she had bad intentions.

“I can defend myself just fine,” she replied, making sure to stand as unthreatening as possible while keeping her voice calm. “I’m just exploring the region and stumbled over your home by accident. I mean no trouble.”

The woman relaxed. Anko could be lying, of course, and she obviously did, but she had no need to trick her as she was already superior in every single aspect. To her, that meant that Anko must be telling the truth.

“Exploring the area? That must be so very exhausting! Our country is lovely, but the vegetation and all these steep hillsides…” She shook her head. “These days, we can’t even travel to the nearest village on our own anymore.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Anko said as sincerely as she could. “That sounds very harsh.”

The woman waved her off. “Oh, don’t you worry, my dear. You get used to it. Now, why don’t you come in, clean a bit up, and let us give you something to drink? It’s such a hot day and -forgive us for pointing that out- you look terrible.”

Anko looked down her body to see that running through the underbrush in her pursuit of that white snake had done more damage than she initial thought; while the scratches themselves were harmless in and of themselves, there were a lot of them. None has bled too much, but as she was literally covered in them, her clothes were full of bloodstains.

And anyway, she thought as she looked upwards with a frown. It is very hot today. I must have been too distracted by that snake to notice, I guess.

“I would really appreciate it, ehm…”

“Our name is Tagorihime, but please, call us Obaa-san.”

She gave the woman a warm smile. “Of course, Obaa-san.”

The house was just as modest from the inside as from the outside; there was one large room that seemed to serve as the living space and had one door leading to what Anko assumed would be Tagorihime’s bedroom. As there was no other door, you probably had to do your, eh, business, outside.

Anko moved to the middle of the room and sat down on a cushion the other woman’s pointed at before gratefully accepting the offered cup of water and taking a large gulp.

“Ahh,” Anko sighed in delight. “I really needed that. Thank you, Obaa-san.”

She gave her a grandmotherly smile. “Oh, there’s no need for that. Now, just wait here while we get you something new to wear. You really can’t walk around in such tattered clothes, you know. It’s indecent!”

Anko chuckled. “Of course, of course. You’re right, it would be really embarrassing if someone saw me like this!”

She would honestly find it more hilarious than embarrassing, but there was no need to say that out loud.

Anko watched Tagorihime move into the adjoining room with an amused smile before redirecting her gaze towards the cup in her hands. She then twirled it for a few seconds with a thoughtful look before drinking the rest of it in one go. For the first time in months, Anko felt truly refreshed and comfortable as a pleasant warmth spread through her body. Finding her sitting position too inconvenient, she first stretched her limbs before burrowing her head onto her arms on the table in front of her. After such a long day, it was probably normal to feel tired, and closing her eyes for a few seconds until Tagorihimi came back shouldn’t be a problem, right?

The room stayed silent for several minutes until the owner of the house finally returned. Slowly but steadily, she came closer and closer, the only sound being the quiet creaking of the wooden floor beneath her. Her eyes, previously warm and kind, were now cold and calculating as she lowered her head towards the crumbled form in front of her, mouth wide open and ready to-

Before she had the chance to react, Anko moved and sent a mule kick to her chest.

A second later, a serpentine body crashed against the wall with a ‘boom’.

“Seriously,” Anko said with a smug smile. “You didn’t honestly think I would fall for that, did you?”

Tagorihime, her grandmotherly appearance now replaced by that of a big, black snake with white accents, hissed at her in apparent anger. “You drank the water, I know you did!” Her voice was much higher and shriller than before. “How-”

“Did I?” She took the cup from the table behind her without breaking eye contact and held it in a way that allowed her opponent to see the liquid inside of it. “You really should pay closer attention to your wannabe victims. I hate to break it to you, but it’s really embarrassing to fall for someone else’s Genjutsu when your own trap is based on one.”

The rage the thing's eyes was impossible to miss. “You little-“

“Oh, and by the way,” Anko interrupted her before summoning a kunai into her hand and swing it in one smooth arc to her left, seemingly aiming it at empty air. “You also shouldn’t try something that already failed a second time, nor fall for the same thing twice. Really, such things make you look like an amateur.”

Anko put the cup back on the table before using her now free hand to form a onehanded Ram seal. “Release!”

At her command, her surroundings began to disappear bit by bit while the illusion her opponent had tried to impose on her fell away from her mind like wallpaper peeling off a wall.

The house itself and all the furniture inside it aside from the table behind her with the cup of water faded away, and even the valley it had been located in was replaced by a rocky ground and walls of stone that came together in a roof far above her head. However, maybe the most interesting change was the fact that Anko’s kunai no longer pointed at empty air but straight at the yellow eye of another snake. “Impossible!” the brown reptile hissed, its voice much deeper than Tagorihime’s. “You saw through my Genjutsu as well?”

Anko shrugged casually in false modesty. “It wasn’t that hard. Obaa-san over there referring to herself as ‘us’ all the time made it kind of obvious that she had either an accomplice or was insane. Being a shinobi and all that, I obviously assumed the former just to be safe.” She smirked. “Also, I have a teammate who is much more talented in Genjutsu than either of you two. Compared to his techniques, yours were laughable weak.”

Both snakes were obviously -and audibly- unhappy with her statement, but Anko didn’t care. What she found much more interesting was the fact that where the tails of both snakes should be, they instead connected with each other, meaning it was actually just a single entity rather than two. “You know, I always thought Amphisbaena [1] were just a legend. Who would have thought you actually exist.”

“Not many find their way to us.”

“And even less ever have the chance to tell the tale.”

Alright, Anko though. I gotta admit, it’s kinda creepy if they talk like that.

Outwardly, she chuckled. “Is that so? I take it then that not many pass this little test of yours?” She gave both heads a piercing look. “That’s what this is, right? A test to see who can pass and who can’t?”

The two heads turned to look at each other -does that mean they can’t communicate with their minds?- before simultaneously turning back at her.

“Congratulations, Anko Mitarashi, for you have passed.”

“Congratulations, Anko Mitarashi, for you have passed.”

As if on command, the earth rumbled as the wall not too far away from her gave way to reveal the entrance to another tunnel, and even from her position, she could feel strong chakra pouring from its other end.

Anko’s expression turned into a genuine smile.

At last, she had found Ryūchi Cave.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

I

"I didn't take you for someone interested in learning medical Ninjutsu."

Itachi turned around, a notebook still open in his hands. "In our profession, you never know when you'll run into a situation where knowing how to heal your comrades could come in handy. You might want to give it a try too.”

“Meh,” Kakashi shrugged. “It’s mandatory in the ANBU to get some healing classes before you’re allowed into active duty, so I’m alright.”

He gave the masked man a dry look, knowing full-well that Kakashi would visit one of these classes sooner rather than later. There were many shinobi who thought that the basics they knew were more than enough for small injuries and that the rest could be done by professional medic-nins, believing these new public courses to be entirely unnecessary and useless. However, there were also some like Itachi that saw the value in them, not only because being able to heal your comrades was a valuable skill to have but also because some of the techniques could also be used for other purposes.

No matter what Kakashi might say, he knew that the man was part of the latter group rather than the former.

“It would still be a more worthwhile use of your time than reading these books of yours,” Itachi finally replied with a pointed look at the orange novel in Kakashi’s hand.

“I’m afraid I must disagree with you on that,” he said, sounding much more serious than before. “Mental welfare is essential to keep a shinobi going. That means you need enough downtime to relax and recuperate from your missions, and nothing helps to calm you down more than the Icha Icha series.” He gave him a one-eyed smile. "You might want to give it a try too."

Itachi thought his mother would probably not be amused to find him reading what was essential porn. He didn't think she would try to forbid him from reading it, but it would surely create an awkward atmosphere at home.

Seeing his unimpressed look, Kakashi sighed. “Tsunade-sama is back for little more than a month and already people start losing sight of what’s truly important. It’s really disheartening.”

“Our definitions of ‘important’ seem to be quite different, then.”

Nonetheless, in a way, Kakashi was right that some things were already changing as a result of Tsunade’s return. The aforementioned healing courses were a prime example of that.

The first thing the Sannin had done was surveying the hospital, finding it and its staff severely lacking, and then setting about to change that. While Itachi had little to do with that and didn’t know anyone that did either, some of the stories he heard were rather… extreme. Tsunade certainly didn’t mince her words or felt the need to hold back the volume of her voice, to say the very least. It made him wonder if she had been like that when she became Hokage in the other timeline as well and whether he might actually have dodged a bullet by being a nuke-nin at the time.

However, once she felt that she had set everything in motion that needed to be done in order to improve the conditions in the hospital, Tsunade also organized a refresh and training program for every interested shinobi in Konoha. The idea was that while professional medics would still be the ones who deal with serious injuries, every single shinobi would be able to at the very least provide effective first aid. That would then eventually result in much fewer casualties in the field.

This offer stood for barely two weeks now and yet was already a moderate success. For all that many shinobi mocked the program all the time, just as many were actually interested in it. Especially those who had lost a teammate they were close to in the past appreciated the chance to stop such a thing from happening in the future.

Another thing that was in the process of being implemented was an increased emphasis on healing at the academy. He had heard Sasuke and Naruto complain about it because they found it boring, but Itachi approved of the idea. After all, everything that improved the survival chances of the next generation was a good thing in his book. Not only would this step increase their overall skill in that art, but it might also motivate more students to become healers in the future. There had been fewer and fewer shinobi who wanted to become medic-nins ever since Tsunade left the village to the point where there was a slight lack of them already, so this step would hopefully change that.

Itachi knew that the Sandaime had even thought about letting her hold a lecture at the academy for that, though he hadn’t dared to propose that to her face yet.

However, it was a side-effect of the aforementioned remodelling of the academy’s curriculum that brought the greatest change, for it appeared that the program there hadn’t been as challenging as it should have. In fact, the requirements for graduating were as low as they had ever been!

The reason for that, as it turned out, was quite simple: especially during the last days of the Third Shinobi World War, more and more children were sent to the battlefields. Many skills essential for a shinobi were taught less and less in the academy to focus more on direct combat abilities. Because of that, students graduated at an ever-decreasing age.

This trend continued for a while even after the war had officially ended as people were still waiting whether fighting would break out again or not, but then, when it appeared the peace would hold, things changed.

Just days before his death, the Yondaime approved of a modification of the curriculum that put less focus on combat activity and more on secondary and supportive skills to compensate for the previous favouritism. This measure was meant to be a temporary one, but unfortunately, the Yondaime died just shortly after during the Nine-Tails attack that then resulted in the Sandaime getting back into office.

There was a lot of chaos and uncertainty in the aftermath of the attack, so it was somewhat understandable that this unrelated decision fell under the table. The truly problematic thing was that the Sandaime too, unaware of the Yondaime's previous change, ordered the academy to decrease their combat training for the very same reason. While this change was indeed just temporarily, the status quo that was restored afterwards wasn’t actually the originally intended curriculum but its lesser version that the Yondaime had approved of.

As a result, the training at the academy had been lacking for years now. Itachi could only hope that this had been discovered in the old timeline as well, but he was afraid the odds were that it hadn’t.

It was a shame that so many senior instructers of the academy had died in the attack as well. Had that not been the case, one of them could have informed the Hokage of the situation and avoid the problem entirely.

“Anyway,” Kakashi said, pulling Itachi from his thoughts. “We should really get going. Hokage-sama will be angry if we are too late for the meeting.”

He blinked in surprise before the words registered in his mind, making him narrow his eyes accusingly. “What meeting?”

Kakashi gave him a look of pure innocence. “Oh, I didn’t say? We are supposed to meet Hokage-sama for a mission debriefing.”

“And when exactly was that meeting supposed to be?”

Itachi was proud to say that his voice sounded completely casual. Not an easy feat considering Kakashi’s tendency to arrive late for every and all appointments, especially when Itachi himself followed the mentality to always arrive ten minutes prior to the agreed time.

“Half an hour ago, give or take a few minutes.” Probably seeing something in Itachi’s eyes, he then raised his arms in surrender. “But in my defence, I-”

Itachi didn’t wait for Kakashi to finish his no doubt brilliant excuse before he vanished in a shunshin.

“So you’re interested in these guys, huh? Thinking about making them join as well?”

“You still don't have a partner,” Pain said. “With them, we can fill two teams in one sweep.”

Kisame chuckled. “I don’t think any of them will be too impressed by that idea. They’re not exactly a hospitable bunch, ya know? I’m honestly surprised that they work together as it is.” His former comrades were a funny group; they could work together without a hitch for a time, only to suddenly start trying to kill each other at a second's notice. Without the structure of a village to keep them in check, he thought it likely that this trait had grown only stronger over the years.

“They will not have a choice in that matter.”

It was this attitude that made Kisame like the official leader of Akatsuki. For all that he knew that it was Madara who truly pulled the strings in the background, Pain was still someone he could respect. If not for his character and conviction, then at least for his strength.

“Well, I guess I will pay my old friends a little visit, then.”

Being Hokage came with a lot of work. From the moment the first rays of light brightened the sky until the sun vanished on the horizon, Hiruzen sat in his office doing paperwork. Sometimes even longer. Aside from that, there was also the endless stream of meetings with worried citizens, possible clients, his advisors, diplomats, clan heads, and politicians in general. Add the general weight of being responsible for every single person in the village and you got what he had to endure for way too many decades now.

A thing Hiruzen had learned very early into his reign was that he needed to find enjoyment wherever he could find it. Otherwise, he could just as well kill himself on the spot.

Watching Kakashi’s and Itachi’s faces when they realized that they weren’t actually too late at all because he had intentionally told Kakashi the wrong time, with the former’s falling in dismay while the latter kept his intentionally blank to hide his irritation, was one of these moments.

“I’m glad you managed to get here just in time,” he greeted his two shinobi. “Especially you, Kakashi. It’s great to see you taking my summons seriously for once.”

The man gave him a one-eyed smile. “Of course, Hokage-sama. It sounded urgent, so I deliberately avoided my poor, sick neighbour so she couldn't ask me for help. I would have hated to be late for that."

Hiruzen nodded seriously. “That’s very considerate of you.”

“If I may, Hokage-sama,” Itachi spoke up, the annoyance he must surely feel perfectly hidden behind his usual polite mask. “What is this meeting about?”

Knowing that the time to fool around was over, he got straight to the topic at hand. “I’m sending you two on a mission.” A pause. “An S-rank one.”

Even a Genin would have been able to spot the moment the two Jōnin became serious; Itachi, already standing attention from the very beginning, subtly straightened up even more while Kakashi’s eyes, previously neutral at best and bored at worst, suddenly had a hard glint to them.

When Hiruzen was confident that he had their full attention, he continued.

“As you’re doubtlessly aware, we had representatives from Kirigakure as our guest for over a month now. The negotiations have gone well and the Water Daimyo has already given his consent to the terms, so all that’s left now is for our very own Fire Daimyo to do the same. The diplomat currently present here will soon be escorted to the capital to deal with that. In the meanwhile, you two will set out to fulfil one of the most essential parts of the agreement.” He pulled a stack of papers from one of his drawers. “This is a list of recent raids on villages and towns in the Land of Waterfalls as well as foreign caravans that were travelling through it for trade.” He paused for a second. “According to what little information we have, the culprits behind this are Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinin Akebino, two former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist now turned nuke-nins. Your mission will be to travel to their last known location close to the border between the Lands of Waterfalls and Grass, track them down, and then eliminate them.”

Neither Itachi nor Kakashi overly reacted to that, but he could see that they knew what that meant.

The Swordsmen of the Mist were second only to the Mizukage in strength, and it was said that every one of them was strong enough to conquer a small nation by themselves. Whether that was true or not was questionable, but the point was that people could claim it to be true without other people laughing into their faces. Their strength was simply that impressive.

Itachi probably knew that better than everyone else in this room.

“Will it only be the two of us, Hokage-sama?” Kakashi asked. “While I’m confident in our abilities, it seems rather risky to not bring some more assistance with us.”

Itachi nodded his agreement.

“Kiri’s diplomat brought a guard with him,” Hiruzen said. “Zabuza, another member of the Seven Swordsmen and currently the only one of that group left to Kirigakure. He and some additional aid from Kiri that’s already on its way as we speak will support you on this mission. I wanted to send some more of our people as well, but unfortunately, while both parties agreed that making this a joint mission would be beneficial, the Mizukage wants it to look like it was mainly them who took out two of the most famous nuke-nins from their village. Because of that, you two will be the only shinobi from Konoha that participate in it.”

Not only were the two swordsmen famous, but they also caused a lot of trouble for their former home by openly attacking caravans from their newly acquired trade partners. That obviously made these parties feel uneasy and might even lead to them terminate their contracts with the Land of Water. Eliminating these troublesome elements would not only end the threat that the nuke-nins posed in general but also show their partners that they could protect them while simultaneously demonstrating strength. Especially this soon after the end of its civil war, that was something Kiri desperately wanted to do. However, that would only work if it were they who could be credited with the deed, not Konoha.

Hiruzen himself had good reason to want these criminals brought to justice as well. After all, many of these ‘foreign caravans’ that had been attacked either hailed from the Land of Fire or travelled through it and thus were under his protection.

“Do we have information on their abilities?”

He nodded at Itachi’s question. “We do. In addition to what we already possessed ourselves, the Mizukage saw it fit to share their intel with us.” He pulled two scrolls with both the information about their targets and the general mission details from his drawer before handing them over. “Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinin Akebino wield the unique longsword Nuibari and the weapon Kabutowari, which is basically a giant axe and hammer that are linked end-to-end by a rope, respectively. Kushimaru is known for his exceptional speed and dexterity, as well as his tendency to use traps that cripple his enemies before he finishes them off himself. Jinin, on the other hand, prefers a more direct and brute-force way of fighting. He quite literally hammers and slices his way through his enemies in the most gruesome way possible. Furthermore, they were both noted in the past to be especially cruel even compared to their colleagues. As you two have surely already realized, their abilities complement each other, and they make up for their weaknesses even more by utilizing their famous silent killing technique under the cover of thick mist. I recommend separating them from each other when engaging them before overwhelming them with your numbers.”

While a dangerous mission, Hiruzen was confident that they could do this. Both Kakashi and Itachi were some of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, and while these two fugitive swordsmen were no doubt powerful, he didn’t think they stood a chance against his own shinobi. Especially not when they had additional aid from Kirigakure.

“You will meet Zabuza tomorrow at 0600 in the morning at the gate and then depart from there. There is no time limit set for this mission; you will search for your targets either as long as it takes to find them or until you decided further search is unlikely to yield results. In that case, you will return to the village immediately. In consideration of this mission's nature, you will be granted additional funds to fulfil the mission to the best of your abilities for as long as possible. Also, as usual for S-Rank missions, every secret drop point throughout the continent will be made available for you. An updated list with all their locations is included in the scrolls I already gave you. I don’t think I need to remind you of this, but as this information is on a need-to-know basis, you will destroy the list once you have memorized its content.” He looked them both in their eyes. “Do you have any questions?”

“No, Hokage-sama.”

“No, Hokage-sama.”

“Very well, then,” he said. “In that case, please use the rest of the day to rest and prepare. You are dismissed.”

As he watched both men leave the room, already turned towards each other to discuss their thoughts on the upcoming mission, Hiruzen couldn’t ignore the ominous feeling that was spreading through his chest. S-rank missions were always dangerous and unpredictable, and they had a tendency to get out of hand real quick. He was confident in his men and truly believed that they could overcome whatever stood in their way, but he was also allowed to worry.

Not that this changed anything; Itachi must be on this mission as his presence was specifically requested by the Mizukage and Kakashi was the only suitable powerful shinobi currently in the village that could accompany him. Even if Hiruzen felt uneasy about it, as long as he had no very good reason to call them back, this was the only way of action.

Still…

I have a bad feeling about this.

She had no idea how long she had been here. There was no window in the cell and no candle to dispel the darkness; the only times she saw light was when the squeaky door opened during one of the irregular visits from one of her captors. Unfortunately, rather than being a welcome sight, she dreaded these moments as after all this time in the darkness, even that little light caused her unimaginable pain. Even keeping her eyelids shut wouldn’t stop the burning sensation in her eyes that felt as if someone was gauging them out with iron pincers whenever the door opened.

And that was still the least painful part of these visits…

She had been a farmer’s daughter. All her life, the most exciting thing that ever happened was listening to the gossip in her town’s cavern she wasn’t supposed to visit but did anyway. Other than that, there was no excitement; she rose early with the sun, helped her mother and younger sister in the household, and sometimes even accompanied her father to the fields. She joked with her friends, flirted with the cute boy from the farm next to hers, and occasionally took one of the horses for a right into the nearby woods.

She had complained all her life that nothing interesting ever happened to her boring hometown and told everyone that cared to listen that she would one day leave for one of the big capitals or maybe even one of the hidden villages to find wealth and fame there. Then she would one day return, amazing everyone with her expensive clothes and exquisite food. Her stupid little hometown, now not even worth being drawn onto maps, would be known all over the continent solely because she originated from it.

Now there wasn’t even anything left of it, for her stupid little hometown, the place where nothing ever happened, had been annihilated by them.

She didn’t know why, but on the day they arrived, they had mercilessly slaughtered and destroyed everything as they pleased. She had seen the mutilated corpses before she had been captured, had seen the bodies piled up in the dozens in a sickening display of cruelty, and had seen the people pulled from their houses and other hiding places to join the dead. No one had been spared; from the youngest babe to the sickest eldest, everyone was killed without hesitation.

Only a small group that included her had been taken prisoners.

She wished they had just killed her instead.

The skin where the handcuffs bit into her flesh had long since been rubbed raw, and she almost found herself thankful for the chains that kept her upright hanging from her arms as this at least meant she had no feeling left in them, allowing her to escape the pain from that wound at least. Unfortunately, she had no similar reprise from whatever they had done to her back that made her feel like her spine had been relocated all the wrong way or the pulsating pain in her legs that were more dead tissue, brown bumps, and scales than actual flesh at this point.

She didn’t react when a drop of liquid fell into the little puddle beneath her feet; the only sounds in the cell were her ragged breathing and the ‘plops’ when dops of her blood joined the rest of her lifeforce on the ground, so she had grown used to it ages ago.

That didn’t make the sensation of warm blood running down her body any more comfortable, though.

She was pulled from the thoughts of her own misery by the familiar and very much dreaded squeaking tone of an opening door.

"N-no,” she whispered hoarsely, her fear even overpowering the pain as her eyes burned from the sudden light. “P-please, I beg of you! No more-“

“Hush, my dear,” the young man interrupted her gently with a smile that was as fake as any she had ever seen. “It will be much easier if you don’t fight me. I promise I will hurry, so please just concentrate on not dying this time as well. I grow tired of needing to revive you all the time.”

She tried to move backwards when he pulled out a syringe from one of the two suitcases he had brought with him, but the chains that held her didn’t allow her to do more than slightly wiggle on the spot. “Please!”

His false smile didn’t even waver. “Don’t worry. One way or another, it will all be over soon.”

That, she knew was a lie.

This nightmare would never end.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

II

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were a group of highly violent and cruel individuals who were fortunate enough to have been born with the necessary skill to rise in rank until they were in a position that allowed them to freely live out their proclivities. Had they been anything less than one of the most powerful assets of their country and Kirigakure specifically, their nature would have probably resulted in a death sentence for most of them while the few that were capable of controlling themselves if necessary would have been forced to hide their true selves for the rest of their lives.

Zabuza was part of the second group, and while Kiri’s current policy was to distance themselves from those actions that brought them the nickname ‘Village of the Bloody Mist’, he was satisfied with how things currently were going. As long as he was still sent on missions that allowed him to soil the ground in the blood of his enemies, he was happy enough to pretend he wasn't a cruel monster in the presence of others.

All the better then that his current mission would allow him to do just that.

Considering what kind of people had made up the Seven Swordsmen, it was no surprise to anyone that most members dearly wished to kill each other; companionship between them was rare while rivalries were the norm.

Zabuza was no exception to that, and Kushimaru and Jinin had been the ones from his colleagues he had always hated the most. Needless to say, being given the opportunity to hunt them down end them himself filled him with anticipation and glee.

If this was Mei’s apology for making him play bodyguard to some stupid diplomat, he would gladly accept it.

Two chakra signatures closing in on his position from the direction of Konoha behind him made him stop in his tracks and turn around, waiting for who must surely be the Konoha-nin that would join him on this mission.

To be honest, he disliked the idea of foreign shinobi being part of this. It was already bad enough that he would need to deal with whatever support from his own village would arrive, but having these two with him as well was just too much. The new alliance between their villages notwithstanding, in his mind, dealing with his former colleagues was an internal matter that Konoha had no business sticking its nose in.

Alas, he had no say in that decision and could do nothing but accept it. Zabuza had learned a long time ago that crying about things you couldn’t change wouldn’t help anyone and thus was a big waste of time.

Although at least in the privacy of his mind would Zabuza also confess that he was kind of curious about one of the two Konoha-nin. After all, Mei had been telling stories about this prodigious Uchiha brat that arranged for them to get aid from Konoha for years now. It was high time that he met him.

Two figures appeared in front of him in a twirl of leaves.

“Zabuza-san,” the one that must be the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake spoke up first, his voice sounding bored as if he found it a bother to be here. “We were told to meet at the gate, not several miles away from it. A message telling us that you went ahead would have been highly appreciated.”

He shrugged. “You found me just fine, didn’t you? Besides, I was even forthcoming enough to only walk at a casual pace instead of running ahead, so I don’t see the problem.”

“We are supposed to be a team for the duration of this mission, Zabuza-san,” the person he was more interested in said. “We should use the time we have as efficiently as we can to prepare for the forthcoming confrontations. Acting like this endangers not only the mission itself but all of us as well, so we would be thankful if you could refrain from doing such a thing in the future.”

The brat’s voice was neither cold nor antagonistic, but it also couldn’t be called polite or even emotionless. It was hard to put a name to it, but Zabuza thought that he would probably do well in politics; his poker face was certainly better than most he had ever seen.

It was just too bad that such things didn’t matter to him.

“And why should I care if my actions endanger you? I can handle myself just fine, and if you’re too weak to do the same when there are even two of you, there is no place for you on this mission. Kushimaru and Jinin would eat you alive.”

The brat looked unimpressed. “Nonetheless, we still ask you to coordinate your future moves with us just like we will do with you. I also remind you that part of our” -he pointed at himself and the Copy Nina- “mission is to evaluate the cooperation between our two villages during the mission. Depending on our assessment, the alliance between Kirigakure and Konohagakure might come to an end before it even had the chance to flourish.”

Knowing that the bandages he wore over the lower part of his face would hide it, Zabuza allowed his lips to curve upwards. Going so far as to threaten me to arrange an end to the alliance if I don’t behave… I gotta hand it to him, he has balls.

He seriously doubted the two of them had actually the power to pull such a thing off, no matter that they were both famous or that the brat was the heir to the Uchiha Clan. Furthermore, it was also quite unlikely that the Hokage had given them such a mission in the first place. After all, breaking an alliance because the teamwork on one mission was lacking would be stupid, and while The Professor was many things, Zabuza didn’t think he was that.

All the more reason to respect the brat; lying to his face without hesitation or any sign that what es said wasn’t true was a bold move.

“Yes, that would indeed be troublesome,” he agreed before releasing a small amount of bloodlust. “However, if the two of you don’t survive the mission, there will be no report for you to give, right? Maybe I should end this little problem right here and now!”

Neither Konoha-nin even batted an eye, but Zabuza knew that they were mentally preparing for a fight.

“There are precautionary measures in place should such an unfathomable tragedy happen, of course,” Kakashi said with a bored drawl and one hand casually in his pocket. “Also, it would probably not look too good in a report if both of us died while you were still alive.”

He was just about to reply to that when the Uchiha spoke up again.

“Besides, there are two of us while you’re alone. You should remember that the odds of you dying on this mission are twice as high as the ones of both of us doing so."

This threat was more cleverly hidden than Zabuza's own had been, but it was a threat nonetheless. A reminder that he was outnumbered and more likely to die in a confrontation against them than to come out victorious.

Itachi Uchiha was big for a thirteen years old boy, yes, but he was still by far the smallest one of their group, and not even the flak jacket he wore and the serious expression on his face could hide the underlining youth in his features. However, there was also a darkness in his gaze that made even him feel cold for a moment.

It wasn’t the usual thing you saw in the eyes of experienced and accomplished shinobi, and neither was it the look of a monster in human skin that could be seen in people like Zabuza himself or even his former acquaintance Kisame. There was no cruelty to it, no thirst for blood and no enjoyment in slaughter. It wasn’t even indifference. No, Zabuza couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he understood what it meant:

Something must have happened to the Uchiha, something that went even beyond what a regular shinobi went through in their life. Something personal. Whatever this thing in the boy’s eyes was, it told him that there was literally nothing he wouldn’t do -or hadn’t already done- to achieve some specific goal.

Zabuza also realized that he hadn’t just seen it by accident but had deliberately been shown this thing, and he also understood why.

The grin that spread beneath his mask was big enough that even his bandages couldn’t hide it, but he didn’t care. Apparently these two aren’t just spineless idiots, huh? I guess they might be useful after all.

He reigned his bloodlust in from one moment to the next. “Well then,” he said, silently gesturing for them to join him. “What are you waiting for?”

This was as much a concession as he was willing to make and they thankfully realized that as well.

I didn’t think it possible, but this mission actually just got even more interesting.

Naruto and Haku were already training when Sasuke finally arrived, but he couldn’t find it in him to feel bad for being late. He had other worries at the moment.

“Sasuke!” Naruto called as soon as he saw him, stopping in the middle of his spar to beam at him and immediately regretting it when Haku’s fist collided with his head.

“Don’t take your eyes from your opponent, Naruto-kun. You will never win if you always get distracted this easily.”

Naruto gave Haku a betrayed look as he rubbed the spot where she had hit him. “I don’t get distracted! You only win because you’re older than me!”

Haku chuckled. “I’m afraid most enemies wouldn’t hold back just because they are older than you, though. What are you gonna do? Surrender to every adult enemy shinobi you meet?”

Naruto didn’t reply to that, choosing instead to turn around with a pouty scoff. This action, however, brought him face to face with Sasuke. “Wow, you look like shit!”

“Shut up, idiot.”

It was probably good that for all that Naruto tended to overreact and be overly emotional, he also knew when someone was rude only because they had a bad day. Sasuke was sure most of their friends from the academy would already feed up with him because of such a greeting alone.

“Damn, did something happened? You weren’t in such a bad mood ever since Kiba-“

“We said we would never talk about that again!”

Before Naruto could reply, Haku intervened. “Now, why don’t you two calm down? There is no need to start a fight this early in the morning.” She then turned specifically towards Sasuke. “And why don’t you tell us what’s bothering you? Maybe we can help.”

Sasuke scoffed, but there was no heat behind it. “You can’t.” Without saying anything further, he unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

“Nah, of course we can!” Naruto exclaimed in his usual loud voice as he let himself fall down next to him and threw an arm over his shoulder, ignoring his murmured complaints at that action. “That’s what friends are there for, right Haku?”

The girl nodded as she sat down in front of them, her knees orderly arranged beneath her body. “He’s right. And even if we can’t help directly, we can at least support you.”

He always found these mushy talks stupid and uncomfortable, even when they came from Itachi or his mother. It wasn’t even that he disagreed with the sentiment or anything like that, he just found it weird. Why couldn’t people say these things in a less cringy way? However, right now, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat thankful for it.

“Nii-san went on another mission,” he finally said with a downcast expression. “He didn’t say what it was, though. Not even to Otou-san and Kaa-san.”

There had been a number of occasions in the past where Itachi wouldn’t tell him what his missions were about, no matter how much he begged. Sasuke wasn’t stupid, however, and could guess that these missions were the kinds of which he found too brutal to tell him about, the kinds of which every child at the academy dreamed of going on one day. The thing was, Sasuke also knew that Itachi usually told their parents even if he didn’t tell him. That he didn’t do so this time must mean that it was something top-secret he literally couldn’t talk about.

Probably also something very, very dangerous.

Naruto looked a bit confused at his admission, but Haku immediately understood.

“Itachi-nii is very strong,” she said gently. “You know that. It probably isn’t a solo mission either, so he has strong teammates to have his back with him as well. He will be fine, I promise.”

His mother had told him almost the exact same thing. However, he knew that she was just as worried as he was, even if he couldn’t see any signs of it on her face or in her voice. And while his father at least hadn’t appeared worried, he went straight to his study even though Sasuke knew that he had already finished all his duties for the day; he never did that other than when he tried to hide from the rest of their family.

“I know that, but what if-“

“C’mon, don’t be stupid,” Naruto interrupted him, his smile even wider than usual. “Itachi is, like, super strong! He’s even already a Jōnin, right? Also, isn’t he a prudy- ehm, progy- wait, I got it! A prot-“

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘prodigy’, Naruto-kun,” Haku said gently with a note of amusement in her voice.

“Yes, that! Itachi is this super great prodigy, isn’t he? That’s what everyone in the village says anyway. He will totally kick ass on this mission, you just wait!”

It was clear that Naruto still didn’t completely understand what was bothering Sasuke, but he did realize that he was worried about his brother and immediately jumped to console him.

Sasuke knew that what they said was true; his brother was not only strong but in fact one of the strongest shinobi in the entire village. There were not many who could defeat him, especially when he had backup from other strong shinobi as well. He would probably be just fine.

But wasn’t he allowed to worry anyway?

“Alright,” Haku spoke up when no one else said anything for several seconds. “Sitting around and doing nothing won’t help anyone. Let’s continue with our training. Sasuke, didn’t you mention a technique Shisui has taught you? Why don’t you show it to us and we then think about how we can use it to beat Itachi-nii when he returns?”

He knew what she was trying to do, but he was thankful for the distraction nonetheless.

“Sure, let's do that.”

“Yes!” Naruto exclaimed. “Let’s go! I will totally beat you today, Sasuke!”

A small smirk crept up his face. “Haven’t I won the last two times?”

“So what? I won the time before that!”

“Well, I won-“

Haku interfered once again. “Boys, less talking and more fighting. Big words have yet to win an actual fight, you know.”

The two of them didn’t need any more motivation than that to rush at each other.

Izumi dropped her head onto the table in front of her with an audible thud, for once completely uncaring of what the other guests at the tea house might think of her. "What are the odds that I return from my mission on the very same day he leaves for his..."

Rather than consoling her, Shisui just chuckled. “This is hardly the first time something like this has happened, right? I thought you would be used to it by now.”

Her head snapped back up. “Well, I’m not!” Just because not having as much time to meet her friends as she would have liked had become somewhat of the norm over years didn’t mean she must like it, after all. “Besides, you only say that because you were here to see him off! Were it you who missed him instead of me, you would grumble about it for days!”

“I wouldn’t!”

That ‘argument’ would have probably gotten out of hand as it so often did with the two of them, dragging their conversations regularly out for hours at a time, but fortunately, a waitress chose that moment to arrive with their orders.

“Anyway,” Shisui continued more calmly once the woman had left as he took a sip from his tea. “If you want to stop missing him -and me as well, by the way- this often, you should hurry and try to get promoted. Jōnin don’t necessarily have less missions than Chūnin, but at least you would qualify to join us on more of them than you do now.”

She sighed. “I asked the Sandaime to let me participate in the Jōnin Exams, but he thinks I’m not ready yet. I guess I could try to get enough recommendations from other Jōnin, but considering the Hokage has the final say regardless, that would probably not work either.”

It had honestly been stupid of her to even ask. Izumi was confident enough to call herself fairly talented, sure. She wasn’t a prodigy like Itachi or Shisui, but she was still far above the average skill level of most shinobi. After all, becoming a Chūnin at an age at which people usually just graduated from the academy was an impressive feat, especially during peace times like these. However, Jōnin were the elite of the elite. Even if you were talented, you usually couldn't become one without a lot of experience.

“Well, at least I’m here now, so I don’t see what you have to complain about.”

She good-naturally rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you happy.”

His surprised stuttering that followed was enough to completely jolt herself out of her bad mood.

After that, their conversation continued in a more light-hearted manner as they talked about the most recent gossip -Might Guy had apparent started to cry about his ‘eternal rival’ leaving him behind without even saying goodbye after he had a few too many drinks- and rumours that were swirling around the village like the one that claimed Asuma Sarutobi would return to the village soon.

It was nice and definitively a welcome respite from her last mission. That was the eighth clean-up mission at the northern border in a month; you would think the bandits in the area would have realized by now that they couldn’t expect much success there and move on, but alas, they kept coming back.

It almost made her miss the days when all she ever did was painting fences and hunt a stupid cat. Almost.

However, there was something strange about Shisui. Izumi couldn’t put her finger on it, but he seemed somehow more… agitated than usual. More nervous. It took all the restraint she could muster to not pester him about what was going on in his head, but even then her thoughts continuously returned to his weird behaviour.

Weren’t she worried it could be something serious, she would probably found it kinda adorable.

“By the way,” Shisui said without quite meeting her eyes. “Did you get an invitation to Takijami’s birthday too?”

Izumi blinked at that unexpected topic and needed a second before she could reply. “I actually did, yes. Kaa-san was really surprised. We apparently didn’t even get invitations to it back when my father was still alive.”

Takijami was probably their clan’s most influential non-shinobi. He had held a high position in Konoha’s Merchant Guild for over a decade now, and more recently, in the wake of the purge of the civilian leadership that happened after it came out that many of them had allied with the member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja that had tried to overthrow Konoha, he had risen even higher. In fact, he had become its Head just a few short months ago.

Only the most important and influential members of their clan were invited to that man’s birthday party which obviously meant Izumi’s family had never been there before. That made the fact that she was actually invited this year completely unexpected.

Her mother theorized that it had something to do with the higher-ups finally acknowledging her talent, though her friendship with Itachi and Shisui probably helped as well.

“Great!” Shisui exclaimed maybe a tad too loudly with a wide grin as he briefly met her eye before quickly looking elsewhere once again. “So the old geezer finally realized that you’re really talented, huh? Certainly took him long enough!”

She snorted. “I can’t say I really care about what he thinks about me, but it’s nice to be acknowledged, I guess.”

“Anyway,” Shisui continued, and Izumi thought she could see his cheeks growing red. “I thought we could go there together?”

The question left her completely speechless. Was that what had made him act so strangely all day?

Although she didn’t really know what she was going to say herself quite yet, Izumi opened her mouth to reply only for Shisui to continue without looking at her at an ever-increasing pace.

“These kinds of events are always pretty boring, so I thought it would be more interesting if you went with someone you like, y’know? To have some fun and stuff. And at least we would have someone with whom we could laugh at all the pompous people that are usually there, right? Time flies when you have fun, so the entire thing would at least be over in an instant instead of stretching for-“

“Shisui,” she interrupted him with a small smile, ignoring the heat she could feel creeping up her own face. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“W-well, I guess I do? Though we can go just as friends too if-“

“I would love to!” she blurted out. “Going there with you, I mean.”

Going by the honest surprise on his face, he obviously hadn’t expected her to say yes.

“Really?” He shook his head. “No, I mean- that’s great!”

“Yeah.”

They looked at each other in silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing how to continue from there.

Fortunately, Shisui found his voice first.

“So,” he said slowly. “The party is on Friday at eight in the evening. I guess I will be at your house, ehm, a quarter to eight, then?”

“Maybe make that half past seven instead,” she said a bit uncertainly. “You know, so we don’t need rush or anything.”

“Sure,” he immediately agreed. “That makes sense.”

“Great.”

“Yeah.”

Although the atmosphere was rather awkward, Izumi couldn’t stop the smile that was spreading on her face, and considering Shisui did too, she assumed he felt the same. Honestly, she would have never expected him to ask her on a date. Like, seriously? Shisui? For all that a lot of girls found him handsome and even had approached him in the past, she didn’t think he ever went out with any of them.

And now he had asked her on a date.

Izumi couldn’t help it; she laughed.

Many other guys might have been offended by that, thinking that she laughed about them, but Shisui understood her. She didn’t need to explain what was so funny first for him to get it, and in fact, his laughter soon joined in with hers.

It took Itachi and his team nine days, but now they had almost reached their destination.

After the initial bad start between them and Zabuza, he and Kakashi had been surprised to see that the swordsman was both courteous and cooperative. Or something close to it, at least. That didn’t mean that he agreed with everything they said or that he didn’t argue, of course, but if you ignored his gruff personality and dark humour, he was almost friendly.

As Itachi had dealt with Kisame for many years, he could handle Zabuza’s comments with ease. Kakashi lacked such experience, but he had apparently handled enough eccentric and unpleasant people himself to not be bothered by Zabuza either, meaning there was no problem from his front as well. Thus, the journey was unexpectedly stress-free. Furthermore, Zabuza had also been willing to share some of his insight into his former colleagues, so Itachi could call the last few days even productive!

Itachi wondered if part of the reason he was so cooperative stemmed from his little demonstration right to the beginning of their journey when he and Kakashi had caught up with him.

He had assumed that Zabuza was similar to Kisame in that he only respected strength and had acted accordingly to that. There were no atrocities to his name in this timeline, but he still regained the memories of his past and thus could call upon the emotions he had felt during the time.

Itachi was the first to admit that he hadn’t been in a healthy state of mind during, after, and even shortly before the Uchiha Massacre. His mind and heart had been plunged into darkness, madness even, and only the macabre thought of one day dying at his own brother’s hand had kept him going. There were lots of shinobi who were a bit mad regardless of name or rank. It was almost normal in their profession. However, what truly mattered was how you dealt with it.

Itachi hadn’t dealt with it at all. At least not at first, and certainly not for the first few years after the massacre.

He had once read a line from a famous poet that was said to have lived only shortly after the Sage of Six Paths: 'Whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster in the process. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’

Itachi had become a monster. While his original intentions might arguably have been good, whatever that might mean in this world of theirs, there was no arguing that the acts of kinslaying and mass murder were evil. He had not only looked into the abyss but jumped into it head-first.

He had eventually pulled himself out of it, but the memories remained, and a man like Zabuza could see its signs when they weren’t carefully hidden.

Apparently, it had been enough to convince him of working with rather than against them.

Anyway, back to the present.

While their journey so far had indeed gone unexpectedly well, that wasn’t to say that everything was perfect. In fact, even with the welcome advantage of improved cooperation between the three of them, the situation was actually rather grim.

The problem was that the aid they had been supposed to meet yesterday hadn’t arrived yet.

It wasn’t completely unreasonable to assume that they were simply late. After all, there could be all kinds of delays for a group of shinobi that were travelling all the way from the Land of Water this deep into the continent. What was unreasonable, however, was that neither Itachi’s crows nor Kakashi’s dogs were able to find any trace of them. Even when their team decided to stay at the designated meeting place for a day to wait for them while also giving the summons more time for their search, they weren’t able to find anything.

The only fight their group had so far happened the day after that when Kakashi and he proposed to return in reaction to this development while Zabuza insisted on continuing with just the three of them. Unfortunately, the man stubbornly resisted any logic and even claimed that he would go on by himself if necessary, leaving the two of them no choice but to continue the journey as well.

Unlikable as he might be, he was their comrade for the duration of the mission. Kakashi and Itachi both were unwilling to leave him behind.

Besides, there was also the fact Kirigakure might take badly to them leaving the last of the Seven Swordsmen behind by himself, especially if it got him killed. It didn’t matter that they were theoretically in the right or that Zabuza was the one who acted stupid and reckless; if he died, they would be blamed.

All they could do was to follow him while also sending one of Itachi’s crows back to Konoha with a message to inform the Hokage about this development.

“I smell blood and rotten flesh.”

Pulled back to reality by Kakashi’s voice, Itachi turned towards his fellow Konoha-nin. “From where?”

“North-west,” he said while nodding in the relevant direction before furrowing his brows. “I don’t think it’s fresh, but I can’t be sure.”

Zabuza snorted. “Well, isn’t that a useful ability? Seems like we already got a lead!”

“This might be-“

The swordsman didn’t let him finish. “A trap, I know. I’m not stupid, and that lanky bastard Kushimaru always loved these funny little traps of his. It’s still a lead, though, and if this is really their work, it happened much more recent than anything else we know of. This would be our freshest lead and it would be stupid to ignore it, am I right?”

Itachi and Kakashi looked at each other before the latter decided to speak.

“You are, yes. However, while it’s great that all of us realise the potential danger, it would still be prudent to talk about how we will proceed if this is indeed a trap.”

Zabuza didn’t look as if he agreed, but unexpectedly, he swallowed his complaints down.

“Fair enough,” he said. “I guess it would be pretty embarrassing to die by one of that idiot’s traps.” He crossed his muscular arms in front of his chest. “Alright, what do you suggest?”

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

III

As it turned out, the smell of blood and rotten flesh came from the remains of a nearby town.

At first glance, one might be forgiven for thinking there was nothing wrong with the place; no buildings were destroyed, nothing was burned down, and even some carts were still standing on the street as if their owner had just left them there for a minute to go get something and would be back any moment now. However, once one took a closer look, things started to appear much more sinister.

Caskets at the side of the road were knocked over with their content lying on the ground beside them, doors were not just open but literally kicked out of their hinges, and the dusty ground showed signs of many people hurriedly running into the same direction at the same time.

Much more importantly, it was silent. Even in a small town like this, there should be at least some background noises. Although it probably shouldn't be that surprising considering there were yet to be any people or even animals to be seen.

When even rats and birds kept away from a place where they could find easy food, you knew something was very, very wrong.

Itachi was just as aware as his two companions what sight would almost be guaranteed to await them once they walked deeper into the town, but it was still disheartening when they found the first pool of dried, black blood. From then on, such things became more common, and soon the corpses of various animals, from horses to cats and dogs, joined next to splattered blood at the walls. While that was no definite proof, these things and the fact that a quick check showed that nothing appeared to have been stolen meant the likelihood of their targets being responsible was very high.

After all, bandits raided towns like this to steal their valuables or to take prisoners. Even if they were cruel enough to commit such atrocities, they wouldn’t do it and then leave behind anything valuable.

Things got even worse when they finally reached what probably had once been the marketplace.

“So I guess this explains why there hadn’t been any corpses so far, huh?” Zabuza sounded casual, almost bored, as he pointed at the mountain of corpses that piled up in the centre of the round plaza. “Seems like Kushimaru and Jinin had way too much free time. They might enjoy killing, but I can’t remember them ever bothering to put their prizes to show in such a manner.”

It was necessary to analyse the scene of crimes rationally and calmly, he knew that, but Itachi couldn’t help but think that the swordsman was a bit too unbothered by the scene. It was one thing to not be deterred by such things, but to not even care at all…

The Demon of the Hidden Mist indeed.

However, he didn’t voice any of these thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to sow dissent between them.

“Maybe it’s just me,” Kakashi said as he observed the scene with much more gravity than Zabuza. “But I don’t think the number of corpses is enough to include every inhabitant of this town.”

He’s right, Itachi thought with furrowed brows as he took a closer look at the pile himself. “No, they don’t. However, none of the reports we have indicates that they have taken prisoners.”

“So either some inhabitant could escape, the remaining corpses are elsewhere, our reports are lacking, or someone else is responsible for this.”

Kakashi looked at each other for a moment, both silently realizing that the first possibility was almost impossible.

“Zabuza,” Itachi then said, turning towards the man who had decided to walk towards the pile to take a closer look at it. “What do you-“

Unfortunately, before he could finish his sentence, he was distracted by something sparkling from next to Zabuza’s left foot.

His brain had barely time to realize that it was the reflection of the sun on some wire strings that he saw before his legs pushed off the ground to get as much distance between himself and the plaza.

Half a second later, a powerful explosion tore the pile of corpses apart and shook the ground with such strength that some of the nearby houses collapsed.

Itachi appeared on the roof of a building just outside the radius of the distraction and was almost immediately joined by Kakashi and Zabuza to his right and left respectively. As an injury this early into their mission would have been problematic, he was glad to note that neither was hurt.

“Well,” Zabuza said after a few seconds of silence during which he brushed the dust off his clothes. “I guess I can see at least Kushimaru putting the effort in to arrange all these corpses if it’s to set a trap like this. Might even find it amusing to use the bodies of those he has killed to kill some more, that bastard.”

That doesn’t explain the lack of bodies, though.

As if reading his mind, Kakashi turned towards the Kiri-nin. “And can you also think of a reason for either of them to take prisoners?”

The man shrugged. “One or two, yes, but I doubt it matters. In all likelihood, they just allowed them to run away to then later hunt them down for sports.”

Deciding that they wouldn’t find a better explanation for now, Itachi changed the topic. “No matter their reasoning, it's apparent that they’re getting bolder. If this was truly them, and we have currently no solid evidence either way, then it shows that they feel safe enough to be more open with their attacks.”

Kakashi nodded. “And as nothing we know indicates that they’re foolish to the point of overconfidence…”

“Then we must assume that they have a way to escape any possible pursuer if push comes to shove.”

Zabuza looked at them both for a moment before he suddenly snorted. “Good deduction,” he said sarcastically. “But you seem to overlook a direct consequence of your conclusion.”

Itachi narrowed his eyes. “And what consequence would that be?”

He couldn’t see it, but he was sure that Zabuza was grinning like a madman beneath his bandages. “Tell me, if they’re so confident in their abilities to avoid confrontations if necessary, what’s stopping them from escalating their little attacks more and more?”

He and Kakashi needed a second to realize what the other man was implying, but when they did, their eyes simultaneously widened. “Don’t tell me…“

Zabuza looked almost smug at Kakashi’s shock. “What a funny coincidence that the seat of this nation’s daimyo is just a day’s walk from here, isn’t it?”

It appeared their mission just got a lot more complicated.

Although she was no longer chained, she knew that there was no hope of escaping her captivity. Even if her legs weren’t mostly useless, and even if the pain in her back that brought her to tears when she made as much as a single false move wouldn’t exist, there was just no way of actually running from her captors. No, they would just catch her once again and then punish her for her stupidity.

Besides, where should she run to? There was after all no home she could return to left. And even if she had, would her family even want her back now that she was like this?

Another wave of pain surging through her body made her groan as she put her head deeper into her hands- no, not hands, but claws.

That thought made her sob.

Not only had they killed everyone she ever cared about and tortured her for Kami knew how long, but they had also taken her own body away from her!

Her hands, once small and smooth except for the one scar she got when she was six, were now brown, scaly claws twice as big as her hands had ever been with ten centimetre long nails that were hard as steel; there were two big bumps on her back just out of her reach that made it impossible to lean against the wall or even sit straight due to the way they pushed against her spine; two small, curved horns spun from her forehead like those of the demons she had seen drawings of in fantasy books, and her once straight teeth had become bigger and more pointed to the point where she couldn’t close her mouth anymore without them sinking into her own flesh.

At this point, she was confident that she was more monster than human.

However, these things she could at least ignore somewhat. The pain, on the other hand, was an ever-present companion she just couldn’t turn out.

The various deformations of her body was merely a dull throbbing that occasionally shot a hot wave of agony through her veins, but the other thing was much, much worse. She didn’t know what it was, but it felt like a colony of fire ants that travelled beneath her skin. The itchy sensation seared her flesh without actually burning it and never stayed long at one spot, travelling all over her body instead. It slowly drove her crazy, and her legs proved that no amount of scratching brought her any relief; she had literally ripped them apart with her claws, first in hopes of smoothing the itching and then later in an attempt to get whatever caused the sensation out of her body, but with no avail.

If this wasn’t hell, then she didn’t know what was.

Please, she prayed to all the gods she knew. I beg you, any of you, please save me!

They had no real proof that Kushimaru and Jinin would truly target the daimyo, but the fact that the possibility existed was more than enough for them to rush towards the capital of the Land of Waterfalls. While the distance between that and the town they had found themselves in would usually take a day to cross, they would be able to reach the city in a quarter of that time if they hurried.

However, Zabuza’s reasoning for wanting to reach the capital was quite different from his and Kakashi’s. He just wanted to be there before the other two swordsmen launched their attack because that was the easiest way of getting to fight them while they wanted to do so because the well-being of the daimyo was of actual importance to Konoha.

The Land of Waterfalls had traditionally been more closely affiliated to Konohagakure than to Iwagakure ever since the founding of the villages, though the fact that it had been Iwa who violated their borders first during the last war meant they had grown closer to Konoha than ever before since the end of the war. In fact, they even allowed Konoha-nin to travel through their lands mostly unhindered. That and the small garrison kept in the nation were essential in keeping a close eye on the Land of Earth. It was unclear what consequences the death of the daimyo would have on this alliance, but it was no secret that Takigakure wasn’t happy with Konoha’s presence within their nation; should the next daimyo be swayed by them, Konoha might lose this important foothold. Considering its hidden village had never been conquered before, demonstrating its worth as a buffer between Konoha and Iwa, that would indeed be a hard blow.

As it turned out, however, they wouldn’t even need to travel all the way to the capital to find their targets.

All three of them noticed the chakra signatures simultaneously and stopped as one.

A second later, hundreds of water needles flew at them from every direction.

“Katon: Hibashiri!” (Fire Release: Running Fire)

Itachi was the first one to react, running through hands seals in the blink of an eye and creating a protective flame barrier around himself and his allies, vaporizing the little needles with its heat before they could hit them.

The short reprieve he had given them allowed Kakashi to go through hand seals of his own, and the moment Itachi’s fire extinguished, he jumped into the air and spun around his own axis to throw his attack in every direction as well.

“Raiton: Kanden Haribari!” (Lightning Release: Electric Shock Needles)

Unfortunately, there were no cries of pain or any other indication that the attack had actually hit someone. What it did, however, was giving the three of them the chance to reorganize and prepare themselves, resulting in them jumping to the ground from the tree branch they had been standing on and positioning themselves in a triangle with their backs to each other.

Itachi had just enough time to think that at least they were lucky enough to be fighting in a forest where the trees were far apart and the canopy let in a lot of light before he noticed the thick fog rolling towards them in waves from everywhere.

“Kirigakure no Jutsu,” Kakashi murmured from his left. “That was to be expected, I guess.”

Zabuza snorted, sounding simultaneously amused and annoyed. “It has been a while since I was the one on the other end of this technique. Not sure whether I should look forward to this or be pissed that they think the Silent Killing technique could possibly work against me.”

That was actually their greatest advantage; while their enemies were doubtlessly masters of this fighting style, so was Zabuza. With him and their side, Kushimaru and Jinin would need to be much more careful in their approach. That was obviously a problem as well as this made them even more dangerous as a result, but as it also gave Itachi and his team more opportunities to counter them, he thought it was a good deal.

It was a shame that their opponent knew the danger Zabuza posed as well.

Itachi's own familiarity with the fighting style might help as well. While Kisame preferred a more straightforward way of fighting, he did use it on occasion to amuse himself. Itachi was far from an expert, but thanks to that, he could predict at least some of their moves.

Their only warning of the incoming attack was a roaring ‘whoosh’ that became deafening loud within seconds, making all three of them jump away a mere moment before a gigantic water dragon crashed into the ground where they had stood a heartbeat earlier.

The next thing Itachi knew was that he found himself standing all alone in the middle of the mist with no trace of his teammates to be found.

The very moment his feet touched the ground, Zabuza was already on the move again to dodge the incoming slash of an axe. The weapon swung a centimetre past his face, close enough for him to feel a breeze, but he ignored that and instead swung Kubikiribōchō in the direction he suspected his opponent to be, cursing under his breath when all he hit was empty air.

Then he was forced to jump away again when he felt an incoming attack from above, resulting in the hammer blowing away the ground to his feet rather than smashing his head.

His own counter once again slashed only air.

“It was smart of you to separate us, Jinin,” he said into the void of the mist. “Really clever. Didn’t think you two had it in you. But you don’t really think you can kill me like this, do you?”

As every shinobi, he was prepared to die at any moment. Zabuza had long since realized that his life would take a violent end one day and was at peace with that. However, there was no way he would allow himself to be killed by his own trademark technique.

The next time he felt an incoming attack, he fell into a crouch and waved hand seals instead of swinging his sword again.

“Suiton: Suiben!” (Water Release: Water Whip)

Spinning around his own axis just like the Copy Ninja had done earlier, his water whip twirled around him and expanded into every direction.

Jinin might be just as proficient in sneaking through the mist soundlessly as he was, going even so far as to allow him to stay undetected even by Zabuza, but there were ways to force someone to make a sound whether they liked it or not.

The splashing sound of water when something cut through his whip was all he needed to swing around and jump to his right.

When he brought his sword down the next time, it was the sound of metal clashing on metal that rang through the mist.

“There you are,” he said as his excitement rose. “And now I’m not letting you get away again!”

Jinin possessed immense offensive powers, there was no doubt about that. Zabuza wouldn’t even be surprised if that man could break Kubikiribōchō with one of his attacks. Thus, the best way to proceed was to force him into a defensive position where that strength didn’t matter, and that was exactly what he did.

He swung his sword in a wide arc, forcing Jinin to duck beneath it where he was promptly greeted by a foot to his face. Using his opponent’s momentarily stunned state, he then quickly rushed forward and swung Kubikiribōchō over his head, directing it down towards Jinin with enough power to tear him apart in one attack.

That attack unfortunately missed when his opponent jumped to the side and ended up destroying the ground instead.

Not being deterred in the slightest, he jumped after him, depriving Jinin of the chance to gather himself.

The other man hurriedly threw his axe at him in a fruitless effort to keep him away that Zabuza thwarted with a mere tilt of his head, letting the weapon fly past him without even making him slow down. He then flicked Kubikiribōchō upwards in a straight line before using Jinin’s unstable stance that was a result of his clumsy dodge to drove his elbow into his stomach.

Zabuza intended to decapitate him then and there but was unfortunately forced to back down when Jinin pulled at the leather strap that connected his weapons to bring the axe he had previously thrown back towards him, almost decapitating him instead.

That short break in his offensive was enough to make Jinin regain his stance and swing his hammer at him with a low growl.

Twisting Kubikiribōchō just in time to use it as a shield, Zabuza groaned when the strength of the attack pushed him several feet backwards. However, other than that, the attack did him no harm. No, the true problem that came from this short exchange was that Jinin was now the one on the offence while Zabuza was on the defence.

He dodged the following axe strike with a one-handed flick flack backwards during which he also swung his sword in hopes of regaining his momentum, but Kubikiribōchō was simply pushed aside by the hammer while the axe continued to fly at him from every direction.

This was the one downside of his weapon; while his attacks with it were powerful, it was too unhandy to allow his moving around unhindered. Zabuza had learned to compensate for that, of course, but the problem was that Jinin was there when he had learned many of his tricks. Thus, none of them were effective in once again turning the tides.

All Zabuza could do right now was to wait and dodge until an opportunity presented itself.

The thing was, he didn’t like waiting. Not one bit. He could do it if the situation demanded it but preferred to find a way that made it unnecessary.

Right now, he didn’t see why he should wait and see when there were other possibilities. Sure, his plan was risky, but in his experience, it were those kinds of plans that brought the greatest rewards.

With that in mind, the next time Jinin brought his axe down on him, he held the flat side of his word upwards with one hand at each end to block it. The clash made shockwaves run down his arms and pushed his feet into the ground, but Zabuza knew the true attack was still to come.

Jinin brought his hammer down a second later, striking the back of his axe that was still pushed against Kubikiribōchō and with a loud ‘crack’ breaking it in two.

Just as Zabuza had planned.

Instead of jumping back in panic like his opponent had surely anticipated, he took one step to the left. Ignoring the shallow cut he received on his right shoulder as a result of that, he grabbed with his left hand for the circular cut out of Kubikiribōchō’s top half that was still flying through the air, caught it, and then proceeded to slam it into Jinin’s throat with a satisfying splatting noise.

That satisfaction faded into thin air when the body dissolved into a puddle of water a moment later.

Kakashi had pulled up his forehead protector almost immediately after the first attack had been launched, but in the thick mist, his Sharingan didn’t help him as much as he would have liked it to. It might give him an advantage if his opponent came close, but other than that, it wasn’t any better than a normal eye right now.

Considering he would prefer to keep his enemy at distance or at least be the one that initiated the fight, that was a problem.

His sight severely limited, fighting an opponent that specialised in killing without making a sound, and entirely separated from his team... yes, Kakashi was in a very tricky situation indeed.

And of course they were smart enough to take precautions to eliminate their smell as well, he thought with an inward sigh.

However, the fact that their opponents put so much weight on moving silently also gave him an advantage. After all, if there was no chance of hearing them anyway, there was no reason for Kakashi and his team to remain silent.

“Itachi,” he called just as the sounds of a fight began to ring in the distance. “Can you hear me?”

Unfortunately, there was no reply.

Kakashi was just about to call for Zabuza as well when the whizzing sound of something flying through the air rang from behind him, making him duck reflexively. A second later, an object that looked like an oversized needle flew over his head.

So that’s the legendary sword Nuibari, huh. It wasn’t the weapon itself that caught most of his attention, though, but what was flying behind it. It appears that Zabuza was right when he told us about his comrade’s tendency to use ninja wire.

Then the weapon was flying at him again, now coming straight at him. However, this time, he was prepared; rather than dodging again, Kakashi instead waited until the weapon was close enough for him to see before catching it. Not wasting any time, he immediately pulled on it with all his strength and was shortly afterwards rewarded when a figure fell from a nearby tree.

Kakashi only realized that he had been tricked when the kunai he threw at it hit a wooden trunk rather than a human. Even worse, the noise of his own attack almost drowned out the sound of something flying at him from behind again, resulting in him receiving a gash on his shoulder when he just barely dodged the needle before it could pierce his heart.

Then Kushimaru, for that was obviously his opponent, apparently decided to make serious, for Kakashi suddenly found himself continuously dodging attacks from all directions simultaneously.

Kunai and shuriken flew at him from his right, shortly followed by water needles from his left that stopped him from throwing something back in that direction to block them; Nuibari flew at him from behind, while a hail of senbons came from in front of him.

Kakashi found himself unable to stay at one place for longer than half a second without being under constant attack from all directions.

The most annoying thing was that at some point two needle-like swords began flying towards him at once. While certainly annoying, Kakashi knew that Nuibari didn’t come as a set and thus could at least confirm his suspicion that Kushimaru was using a clone technique to attack him simultaneously from several directions.

However, the longer this cat-and-mouse chase continued, the more insight Kakashi gained into his opponent:

First, Kushimaru was cautious; for all that he was by all accounts a cruel man, he didn’t rush at him without restraint. No, he instead continued to attack Kakashi from a safe distance to wear him down until he would be easy prey.

Second, there was a muster to his attacks. Kushimaru always went first for his head, then for his heart, and finally for his lungs. There were occasional small deviations in that order, of course, and when Kakashi intentionally left an opening in his defence, Kushimaru tried to use that as well. Nonetheless, his attacks started to become predictable to Kakashi.

Third, while there were usually only attacks from two directions at most, there were never more than four either. Even when they came at him from all directions at once, many of the thrown objects showed signs of not having been thrown in a straight line. Thus, Kakashi deduced that there were indeed only three clones in addition to the original.

I see, he thought. In that case, I can-

Kakashi’s eyes widened as he came to a sudden stop, his throat mere millimetres away from a metal wire that would have decapitated him had he continued on his path.

That wasn’t the thing that caught him the most off-guard, though. That honour went to the corpse of a middle-aged man that leaned against a tree to his right whose clothes were mostly burned away and that had dark marks spanning all over his torso. Or more specifically, the man's forehead protector. A shinobi from Takigakure? What-

Kushimaru, obviously taking advantage of the fact that Kakashi was momentarily stumbled, threw Nuibari at him again. The sword missed his head by a hair, and when he wanted to hurry away, he found himself face to face with another wall of wires.

It was then that he realized that the only direction where no wires stopped his path was the one he came from.

Naturally, it was from there that a hail of shuriken flew at him a second later.

It took every ounce of agility he possessed to bent his body in a way that allowed him to dodge all those projectiles, leaning backwards until his hands touched the ground and with one leg twisted over the other.

A moment later, he was helpless to do anything when Nuibari flew down at him from a nearby tree and pierced his heart.

It was half a heartbeat later when the clone puffed out of existence and the real Kakashi that was hiding in the underground gained his memories that he knew it was time to implement his plan.

He and three of his clones ‘swam’ through the ground until they were below the positions he had concluded the various versions of Kushimaru to be before they all at once emerged from it in an explosion of dirt and dust, lightning crackling in their hands.

It was impossible to read their opponents’ mimic as he wore a mask, but going by their body language, all four of them would have found themselves face-to-face with an expression of shock as their hands pierced their hearts similarly to how the man’s weapon had pierced his clone’s shortly before.

Much as Kakashi had expected, three of the bodies immediately dissolved into water. However, he quickly realized the danger he was in when the fourth body too dissolved into nothing more than a puddle.

Dammit, he thought as the muscles in his legs tensed, preparing to carry him away. This is a trap!

Then, before he had a chance to do anything else, the sound of wire being cut rang through the mist, and a second later, everything around him, from trees to rocks, was cut to pieces as the metal wire tore through them.

It was obvious that their opponents wanted to separate them. Not only were they easier picking that way, Kushimaru and Jinin would also want to keep Kakashi and him away from Zabuza as they probably thought he would be the hardest to kill.

Itachi understood that logic, and he also realized that the odds of finding his teammates in this mist were slim to non-existent. Thus, and knowing that his usual techniques and methods wouldn’t work, he decided to do something unexpected; rather than searching for his team or waiting for his opponents to attack him first, he ran.

Unpredictability was always one of the most effective abilities a shinobi could have.

As soon as he began to rush away, weapons began to fly at him. However, while every experienced shinobi would recognize that for all that these projectiles were thrown with great skill and precision, Itachi saw that they were also used hurriedly. Rather than trying to push him into a certain direction or distract him from another, more powerful attack, there was no other intention to them other than to stop Itachi in his tracks.

Therefore, Itachi concluded that he had caught his opponent off-guard just as he had hoped he would.

He ran for only about three minutes or so before stopping. Long enough to hopefully get some distance between himself and his teammates wherever they might be while also remaining close enough to potentially find them later.

Then he waited.

It was barely five seconds later that he felt eyes on the back of his head.

The Seven Swordsmen were masters of the silent killing technique. They could move through the mist without making any noises and still find their enemies with ease, erase their very presence until not even the most talented shinobi could sense them, and kill their opponents so quickly that they didn’t even realize they had died before their bodies collapsed.

However, they were still just humans. They made mistakes.

Unfortunately for them, people were the most likely to make mistakes when they were flustered and caught off-guard.

The sensation lasted only a split second, but it was enough to tell Itachi his opponent’s position. Spinning around in an instant, he formed hand seals faster than the normal eye could track.

A moment later, the man in the tree two dozen metres away from Itachi saw a large fireball fly towards him.

That was only an illusion, however. Rather than a fire release technique, the hand seals were for a mid-level, large scale Genjutsu. It wasn’t as strong as one powered by his Sharingan, but considering he couldn’t even see his opponent through all the mist, it was the best he could do.

He quickly formed hand seals again, and this time, the fireball he shot was very real.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

Itachi appeared on a branch of the burning tree a moment later, only to find a distinctive lack of a corpse. He was confident he had hit a body, though, and his Genjutsu hadn’t been broken, so…

A clone, he thought. Which means the original-

Before he could finish the thought, his instincts screamed at him to move, so he did. Jumping from the tree, he landed on the ground just as the sword he recognized as Nuibari cut off the branch he had stood on. The attack didn’t stop there, however; the moment he touched the ground, he was already on the move again to avoid dozens of projectiles of all kinds.

Not letting that stop him, he formed hand seals for yet another large-scale illusion.

Using the same trick twice was usually ill-advised, but in this case, Itachi betted on the fact that his opponent wouldn’t think him foolish enough to try such a thing. After all, something usually stupid could actually be very effective when it managed to surprise an enemy.

Unfortunately, he felt a backlash from his Genjutsu being broken shortly after. Because of that, he momentarily felt light-headed and didn’t see the needle-like sword flying at him until it was almost too late, leading to him being cut on his cheek when he tilted his head out of the way at the last possible moment.

In the following minutes, Itachi jumped around and twisted his body in a hundred different ways to dodge the onslaught of attacks while making sure to not stay at the same spot for too long, knowing that would result in him being trapped.

Kushimaru was known for his traps, after all, especially in conjuncture with ninja wire.

That wasn’t what he was concentrating on the most, however. Instead, he thought about how his opponent had managed to escape his Genjutsu that quickly. Even when not created with his Sharingan, all his illusions were exceptionally powerful. It shouldn’t be that easy to break them, not even for a shinobi of Kushimaru’s calibre. Furthermore, his first attempt had worked just fine, so why not the second one as well? Even the effect of surprise didn’t make that much of a difference.

The best explanation he could come up with was that Kushimaru must have created a clone that kept out of Itachi’s range and kept an eye on the original's chakra. Then, when it noticed Kushimaru being affected by Genjutsu, it could intervene and release the illusion.

Alternatively, it was even more likely that it was the original that stayed back while a clone did the more dangerous job of staying close and attacking Itachi.

If true, that would certainly be very annoying.

The longer the fight lasted, the more he began to understand his opponent’s movements. However, the same was true the other way as well. In all likelihood, it would be Kushimaru who got the drop on him first and catch him with one of his traps simply because he held the more favourable position. While he could hide in the mist and attack from the distance, Itachi wasn’t doing much more than dodging and jumping around.

He needed to change that.

If he could find out the clone’s location, he could from there predict the original’s as well because he needed to be close enough to be in a position where he could help his clone if needed.

His decision made, Itachi drew several kunai with attached paper bombs from the weapon pouch at his leg and threw them while spinning in a circle. Then, using the short reprieve of attacks as well as the sight and noise barrier the explosions provided, he quickly bit his thumb and went through a new set of hand seals.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” (Summoning Technique)

A murder of crows appeared and immediately flew high into the sky.

The attacks continued shortly afterwards, but this time Itachi wasn’t just trying to merely survive. No, he was waiting for his chance to attack.

This chance came when the cawing of a crow could be heard from his left.

Itachi jumped around without hesitation and created two crow clones, one on each side of him, before rushing in the direction his crow had pointed him as fast as he could while his clones spread out a bit further to the sides. Even if Kushimaru tried to escape, one of them would surely catch him.

The first silhouette appeared quickly, standing at the top of a big tree from which he could coordinate his attacks easily. Seeing him and his clones approaching fast, Kushimaru flew through hand seals and slightly lifted his mast before a powerful water stream shot from his mouth.

Itachi didn’t need to do anything as one of his clones moved in front of him immediately; using him as a springboard, Itachi jumped high into the air where his other clone was already waiting, allowing him to use that one to propel himself directly at his opponent.

Kushimaru didn’t even get the chance to rise his sword before Itachi cut off his head.

Naturally, just as Itachi had predicted, the body dissolved into a puddle of water shortly after and thus proved his previous theory right.

Not stopping there, he rushed on, once again guided by the cawing from one of his crows.

As it turned out, the original Kushimaru had been more focused on getting away than on trying to stop Itachi, so when he appeared in front of him, he was barely able to evade the kunai that would have cut his neck.

Not wanting to give up the initiative, Itachi followed up with a roundhouse kick which Kushimaru ducked beneath. Dodging the following thrust with Nuibari with a tilt of his head, Itachi then closed in on him and drove his knee into his stomach before going for the kill with the kunai in his hand.

Kushimaru avoided that with a flick-flack during which he sent a kick at Itachi chin that missed him only by a hair. The short break this created was enough for his opponent to get his footing back, meaning the next swing of his sword was much more controlled and thus much more dangerous.

He blocked the first slash with his kunai and dodged the second one before he fell into a crouch and tried to sweep Kushimaru’s legs away with one smooth attack. The swordsmen simply jumped a bit into the air, though, and then tried to ram his sword downwards through Itachi's abdomen.

Having expected that, Itachi twisted out of the way and pushed himself into the air with his hands before landing on the handle of Nuibari, ramming it into the ground and consequently rendering the weapon useless for Kushimaru when Itachi tried to slash his throat again.

However, instead of either backing away or trying to regain his weapon as Itachi had thought he would, Kushimaru grabbed both his wrists with one hand each. Furthermore, he didn’t even let him go when Itachi kicked both his legs against his chest!

The reason for that became clear shortly after when his legs broke through the man’s body and rather than broken bones and blood, all that covered his legs was water. It’s another water clone, he realized as his eyes widened in surprise. So I was fighting a clone all this time? Where then is the original?

Anyway, he couldn’t solve more than one problem at a time and first needed to concentrate on escaping the clone that still held his wrists before he could do anything else. The fact that it was still able to fight even with a hole in its chest meant that Kushimaru must have used an enormous amount of chakra, but even such clones were far from indestructible.

It was a second later that he understood why the clone was trying to keep him in place, however.

Before he had a chance to do anything else, a clinging sound rang through the mist, and suddenly metal wire was rushing at him from every direction.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

IV

Itachi knew that he had at most only a few seconds before he would be cut into pieces, so he acted fast:

Pulling his legs upwards, he wrapped them around the water clone’s arms that still held him before twisting his entire body, his chakra enhanced strength ripping the limbs apart with a loud splash. Then, while still falling headfirst towards the ground, he used his newly freed hands to fly through half a dozen hand seals in the blink of an eye.

“Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!” (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)

He disappeared beneath the ground just in time to avoid the deadly trap.

The metal wire was closing in on him fast and Kakashi was more than aware that he would die if he didn’t found a way out.

Jumping high into the air was an option, but if he did that, a lot would depend on luck. After all, once in the air, there wasn’t anything he could do to change his mind or even dodge an incoming attack. Blocking the wire was out of the question as well because the odds of it just cutting through anything he could possibly use to do so were too high.

So, if he couldn’t jump into the air and couldn't stay where he was either, there was only one way to go.

Kakashi rushed through hand seals while falling into a crouch.

“Doton: Tsuchi Kairō!” (Earth Release: Earth Corridor)

This technique usually caused the earth to rise up and trap a target between it, but all it took was a simple adjustment to make the earth below him fall instead, allowing him to escape the incoming attack that way.

Kakashi smashed his hands on the ground to initiate the technique and felt the floor give way beneath him just when the wire arrived, managing to cut open his back before he could entirely vanish into the safety of the underground.

The closer she came to Konoha, the more excited Anko got.

It had been a bit over six years since the last time she had laid eyes upon her home, six years since she had last talked with her friends. Or anyone else who wasn’t a snake, for that matter. However, after all this time, she was now finally on her way back. Before the end of the week, she would be able to walk the streets of her youth once again.

Wow, that made her sound old. Scratch that, she thought. How about ‘walking half-forgotten paths once again’ instead? Damn, that even sounds poetic! Yeah, let’s go with that.

Anyway, it was late already and no matter how much she wanted to arrive at her destination, she didn’t see the point in missing out on a good night’s rest.

Going through the necessary hand seals with ease, she summoned Aoda. As usual, the dark blue snake appeared in a puff of smoke, his large body forming a protective barrier around her entire camp. “It’s dinner time, boy,” she said while getting a fire started on which she could cook some food. “I hope you have already eaten because there is no way I’m gonna be able to-“ That was the moment she turned around and actually looked at her companion. “Hey, what’s up with that stupid face?”

Most people would naturally struggle to recognize emotions in a snake’s expression, but for Anko who had lived in Ryūchi Cave with nothing but snakes for over a year, that wasn’t much of a problem.

Aoda was probably the most well-mannered and mild-tempered snake she had ever met. However, if that were all that was to him, she wouldn’t have taken such a liking to him. No, while these traits made it indeed easier to cooperate with him, it was his dry humour that drew her towards him. It reminded her a bit of Itachi, honestly.

She had spent a lot of time with him during her training and even summoned him every single evening ever since she set off from Ryūchi Cave, which meant she knew him and his expressions very well by now.

Right now, he was looking really uncomfortable. Dammit, he couldn't even look straight at her!

“Nothing, Anko-sama,” he said, trying and failing to sound casual. “I’m-“

“Yeah,” she interrupted him. “Let me stop you right there. First of all, how often did I tell you to not call me –sama already? Just call me Anko.” Not that she generally minded being addressed respectfully like that, mind you. Anko liked it just fine when lesser snakes spoke to her like that. Aoda was her friend, though, so he should call her by her name! “But that’s beside the point. Now cut the crap and tell me what’s going on.”

His light green eyes met hers for a second before he turned away again with a low hiss as his entire body twitched uneasily. “It’s really nothing-“

“There is,” she interrupted him again while crossing her arms in front of her and starting to tap the ground with one foot. “And you’re going to tell me what it is. Right now.”

Anko could see in the way he lowered his head that she had won this confrontation.

“One of the snakes that recently returned spoke of dark tales,” he said hesitantly. “Of evildoings and wicked acts, and attacks carried out during the middle of the night.”

Evildoings and wicked acts, Anko repeated in her mind, brows furrowed. What does that mean? Then her eyes widened. No way, could it be…

She felt her heartbeat quickening. “You said that these tales come from a snake that recently returned. Do you mean ‘physically’ returned as in ‘it slithered all the way herself’, or do you mean returned as in ‘coming back from being summoned’?”

If possible, Aoda now looked even more uncomfortable than before. “The latter, Anko-sama.”

For one moment, the entire world became silent. She didn’t even care that Aoda had addressed her as-sama again; all that mattered was that this must be Orochimaru. It had to be! After all, there was nobody else who could summon snakes other than the two of them.

The only being who could track both the snakes that were summoned outside of Ryūchi Cave as well as their summoners was the White Snake Sage, but she had denied every one of Anko’s requests to tell her Orochimaru’s location. The only other way to find him through the snakes was finding one who was recently summoned by him and willing to tell her where. Unfortunately, the ones she found that fulfilled these criteria either denied her as well or simply lacked the intelligence to be of any help.

Because of that, she had ultimately given up on this approach.

Who would have thought that all she needed to do was to have some patience?

“Where did these attacks happen?” she asked urgently. “You know, don’t you? Tell me!”

“I don’t think-“

“Dammit, Aoda! You know what that bastard did, and you know that I vowed to bring him to justice! If you know something, please help me!”

Anko could see his mental struggle as clear as day; he didn’t want her to fight Orochimaru, but he could also understand her motives. His desire to keep her safe and his willingness to help her achieve her goal were at odds with each other and it was unclear which side would win.

As it turned out, it happened to be the latter.

Snakes were predators first and foremost, after all. It wasn’t in their nature to just sit back and do nothing when their prey was within reach.

Itachi waited for several minutes in the underground before he created a clone to check out the situation. He could have gone himself, of course, but why do that and risk being killed? Sticking his head out of the ground to look around left someone way too open and defenceless for his liking.

It was such a shame that this technique only allowed its user to feel the magnetic forces of people that actually stood on the floor; those that were in trees or on a body of water were unfortunately invisible.

His clone returned a few moments later and signalled that it was safe to come out, but even with that, Itachi couldn’t help but be surprised when he broke through the surface and found himself in a sunlit clearing with a distinct lack of mist.

He and his clone shared a quick glance, but neither had an answer for why this was the case. Surely Kushimaru and Jinin weren’t dead yet, were they?

This could be another trap. Maybe they were trying to lull them into a false sense of safety before trying to kill them when their guard was down. However, no matter whether that was the case or not, there was no reason not to go find his teammates in the meantime as long as he was careful. With that in mind, he began running towards where he could feel Kakashi’s presence in the distance, his clone running a fair distance ahead of him in case there was a trap.

There was none.

He reached Kakashi in less than five minutes, his eyes instantly checking him up to evaluate his state and-

“You’re injured.”

He had apparently already felt his presence –not surprising considering Itachi hadn’t tried to stay undetected- and now turned around with a lazy wave, Sharingan once again hidden behind his forehead protector.

“Yo,” Kakashi greeted him, completely ignoring his comment. “It’s good to see that you’re alright. I was afraid of what would happen if I told Shisui-san that you died under my watch.”

While the sight of the older man standing casually with one hand in his pocket and once again one-eyed calmed him down somewhat, that did little to minder his annoyance at the man ignoring his statement. Well, he thought. At least I can be pretty sure our opponents are gone now. Kakashi wouldn’t have hidden his Sharingan away if he thought there was even the slightest danger, after all.

“I can’t say the same for you,” he replied evenly as he stepped closer to get a better look at the gashes on his left shoulder and back. “Can I expect Guy-san to come and complain to me about letting his eternal rival getting hurt?”

“It’s more likely I who he will seek out to help me ‘regain my power of youth’,” Kakashi chuckled with just a pinch of desperation. Then, when Itachi stepped behind him to heal his injuries, he turned his head around as much as he could to watch him work. “Hey, do you even know what you’re doing? It would be troublesome if you made it even worse.”

However, contrary to his words, he didn’t move away or tried to stop him and let Itachi patch him up without putting up a fight.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I do, yes. You saw me walking out from one of Tsunade-sama’s seminars a little more than a week ago, didn't you?”

“I did, but I also remember that these seminars were held for only two weeks at that point. There are two classes per week, if I remember correctly, so you had only four classes at most.”

“Which was fortunately enough to have learned a few basics.”

And some basics were truly all he knew. In the other timeline, he had participated in the medic classes for ANBU and even looked a bit into healing when his illness got worse, but the former really only covered the absolute backbones while the latter had been focused on medicine rather than actual medical techniques. It was enough to form a good foundation for the aforementioned seminars, but that was it.

So far, Itachi could use only one medical Ninjutsu, which was also the most basic one. It required little skill and did little more than pump chakra into a body to stimulate regeneration, and it only healed minor wounds because the ratio of chakra to healing progress was so poor.

A person with sufficient chakra could theoretically use this technique to heal every and all wound, but that wasn't recommended; serious wounds that were treated this way usually didn't heal correctly in that the bones got more brittle and the muscles grew weaker. Generally speaking, the basic technique was used to stabilize a patient until someone with more expertise could use a more specialized technique to heal them correctly.

Fortunately, as Kakashi’s were only superficial, it was the perfect fit for this situation.

Let’s hope Zabuza isn’t in a worse state, he thought. It would be a problem if I were forced to use a technique I have only read about and never actually practized.

As if on command, the Kiri-nin appeared a few seconds later mostly uninjured aside from one shallow cut on his right shoulder that had already stopped bleeding.

“So you two are still alive, huh?” He then gave Kakashi an appraising look. “You already need healing? Sure you can handle this mission, Copy Ninja?”

Much to Zabuza’s visible annoyance, Kakashi’s only reaction was a nondescript, one-eyed smile. “Just some scratches, I assure you. Itachi here was merely a bit too eager to test his newfound healer abilities.”

“Zabuza-san,” Itachi spoke up before the man could give a no doubt snarky reply. “Shall I look over your injury as well? I-“

The swordsman spat on the ground. “I don’t need a healer for a little scratch like this, so keep your hands to yourself.”

Itachi nodded. While he thought he should at least offer his services, he had expected nothing less.

“Well then,” Kakashi said when it became clear that no one else felt like continuing this conversation. “Now that we’re all here, why don’t we compare what happened after we got separated? I assume it’s probably too much to hope for that one of you was successful in killing your opponent?”

“I agree,” Itachi spoke up first to avoid giving Zabuza the chance to complain. “Sharing intel is essential in case we will fight another opponent than today in our next confrontation with them.”

Zabuza still didn’t seem very keen on the idea but at least didn’t disagree. If Itachi would be forced to take a guess, he would say that he was just in a terrible mood because their targets had managed to escape them with such ease.

As they shared their stories with each other, a few similarities could be spotted immediately.

For one thing, their strategies had been too simple. Yes, they utilised the silent killing technique with great skill, but in the end, there had been few variations. While definitively still very dangerous and very effective, especially for someone who was confronted with it for the first time, Kakashi and Itachi both have shown that these odds could be overcome relatively quickly by being observant.

Zabuza, who had managed to force his opponent into direct combat almost from the very beginning, also added that in hindsight, Jinin’s moves had been rather lacking compared to what he remembered from the past.

These things put together created a clear picture:

This had been nothing more than a test.

Furthermore, every single opponent each of them had fought had been a water clone. While that didn’t make it impossible that the originals had been close by as well, the three of them found it rather unlikely; either they had been close enough to hear the explosion in the village or were otherwise informed by it and then sent clones to check up on the scene, or they had kept clones in the area from the beginning. The former was the much more realistic possibility, but if the latter was true, it might indicate that they had been expecting strong opponents to eventually trigger their trap.

Based on the clone Itachi had fought, Kushimaru and Jinin had put a lot of chakra into their clones to make sure that they weren’t as easily destroyed as normal water clones. Wasting so much energy only to potentially kill some random people that might accidentally find the village seemed overkill.

Of course, the trap might also have been for Taki-nins. This was their nation, after all. But even then, the likelihood of especially strong shinobi being sent to investigate the village was slim, so why bother leaving so powerful clones behind?

“I still say that it’s more likely the originals were in the area during the fight,” Zabuza said with crossed arms. “Not only are these two not the types to stay away from a confrontation, but they would also need to observe our fight if this was actually a test. After all, water clones don’t transfer memories.”

“Considering how much chakra they already invested into this, it wouldn’t make much of a difference if they created a shadow clone with the sole purpose of observing us as well.”

Zabuza scoffed at Itachi’s remark. “The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is a secret Jutsu from Konoha. Where should they have learned it?”

Itachi wanted to retort that think such as something being a ‘secret Jutsu’ rarely ever stopped other nations from learning them somehow as well, but he stopped himself. No need to irritate the man even further.

“Anyway,” Kakashi fortunately brought the attention back to him. “There is something else you need to know.”

He then proceeded by taking out a scroll and releasing its content with a little puff of smoke.

Itachi’s eyes widened at the sight of a corpse with a forehead protector from Takigakure.

Kakashi’s voice was sombre when he continued. “It appears we weren’t the first ones on the scene.”

A thousand thoughts went through Itachi’s head as he dismissed old theories and came up with new ones; if they had already eliminated the Taki-nins, then why were there still the clones present? Were they just supposed to stay at the scene as long as they could to kill as many people as possible or had they actually been waiting for Itachi and his team and only killed the shinobi from Taki because they just so happened to arrive before them? Was this proof that the originals had been close the entire time?

Then another thought came to his head. Will this situation deteriorate into an actual political incident? Itachi wouldn’t put it past Taki to blame Konoha for the death of their shinobi. The reasoning that they only died because his team couldn’t kill their targets before it came to this tragedy was weak, but with how bad the relationship between their two villages was, it was possible that Takigakure would try to convince their daimyo that this was the case.

He was pulled from his thought when Zabuza plunged his broken sword into the corpse’s body.

Itachi's head jerked towards the man at the same time as Kakashi shouted, “What do you think you’re doing?!”

The swordsman ignored them both and instead held his sword above his head, watching with a strange gleam in his eye as it began to repair itself.

There was a tense silence when the process was over, with him and Kakashi looking at Zabuza with a mixture to disgust and anger while Zabuza appeared completely unbothered by that. Only when he had finished inspecting his weapon, which was now complete again, did he turn to her with something akin to amusement on his face. “Well, we should hurry. It would be a shame if we arrive at the daimyo’s place only to find him already dead, right?”

He then vanished in a shunshin without waiting for them to answer.

Itachi and Kakashi shared a long glance with each other before the latter sighed and sealed the body back into the scroll. “If every single shinobi from Kirigakure is like this, I’m not sure if this alliance of ours has a future.”

Itachi was suddenly reminded that his teammate had made bad experiences with Kiri-nins in the past. In fact, if he remembered correctly, he had even been forced to kill one of his original teammates because of them.

However, instead of mentioning that, he said, “The ones I have met a few years ago during my stay in the Land of Water were decent.”

Kakashi only gave a nondescript huff before going after Zabuza, shortly followed by Itachi himself.

What is my name?

She paced around her cell completely uncaring of the pain that every yet so little movement brought her, alternating between bipedal and quadrupedal walking with no real system behind it.

What is my name?

After all, her entire existence had been nothing but pain and suffering for a long time now. When all you had in a world of eternal darkness and silence was pain, when your only companion was pain, when the only thing that never lied to you was pain, you became pain. It was all she had left, the only thing that was still hers, so she didn’t shy away from it; no, she embraced it!

What is my name?

It was only now that she truly realized how small her cell truly was. During all the time she had spent chained to the wall or sitting in one corner, it had appeared so unbelievable big. In the darkness, it had looked endless. But now that she was actually moving, she realized that it was barely big enough to take five steps in any direction before running into a wall.

What is my name?

There were so many things inside her head that made no sense. Images from people she felt she should know but didn’t, buildings she must have seen somewhere but couldn’t say where, and names without faces to put them to...

What. Is. My. Name?

The one and only thing she could remember clear as day was them. A pale skinned man with long, silky hair, and this boy with brown hair and a pair of glasses that followed him behind like a loyal dog. They were the ones that made her what she was now, who unmade her, and they were the ones that brought all the misery into her life.

My name… Why can’t I remember? WHY?!

She couldn’t remember a thing from before this hell. She couldn’t remember what friends she might have had, who her parents were, not even how she herself looked like or, or...

WhAt iS mY nAmE?

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

V

“So we have do deal with a number of Konoha-nin, huh?”

The other person snorted. “Who cares about them? Zabuza is with them!” He then threw the masked man in front of him a hard glare. “And don’t even think about attacking him. He’s mine.”

Although he knew that Jinin couldn’t see it behind his mask, Kushimaru rolled his eyes. “I’m much more interested in that Uchiha boy myself anyway. Remember, he’s the one who supposedly got the stone rolling to get Konoha involved in Kiri’s affairs.”

“You still care about that shithole of a place?”

“I care about the fact that it was much easier to have some fun before we were hunted down by everyone on the damn continent.”

Jinin’s lips curved upwards. “Fair enough.” Then he suddenly grew more serious. “I guess it’s good that you’re more interested in him. Our host might be displeased if these tree huggers find his base.”

Let him be annoyed, Kushimaru thought with a scowl. As far as he was concerned, they have relied on that person for way too long now. However, he knew better than to say that out loud when there were several pairs of ears listening in to their conversation.

“Well,” Jinin continued. “This means you take the Uchiha boy while I play a bit with Zabuza.” He chuckled. “That leaves only the Copy Ninja for that bitch, then.”

That thought brightened his mood. “At least she will be much easier to deal with as long as she has a good fight to look forward to.” And who knew? Maybe she and the Copy Ninja would kill each other, getting rid of two annoyances for them at the same time.

And once we dealt with these troublemakers, we will leave. Jinin might be comfortable with their current situation, but he wasn’t. If push comes to shove, I will just leave on my own.

Itachi hadn’t been to any of the capitals in this timeline yet, but he could remember doing so in the previous one.

Take the Land of Fire, for example; while Konohagakure had by far the largest shinobi population -almost 95 per cent of it in fact- and the strongest military force in the country, the village was only its second largest population hub. The first place in that respect went hands-down to the capital where the daimyo resided and which had nearly twice as many inhabitants as Konoha. The city had wide, clean streets, magnificent buildings, gorgeous parks dotted with masterfully crafted statues and fountains, and in the city’s centre stood the daimyo’s great palace.

Dozens of buildings of which even the smallest could easily house over a hundred people at a time and often spanned several floors were scattered over the area, white and light grey walls framed by a mixture of red and black roof tiles with golden accents, and sprawling gardens with ponds and small streams were everywhere; the imperial palace of the Land of Fire was a testament to pure wealth and luxury that extended even to the interior where hundreds of priceless paintings hung alongside artefacts that had been looted over centuries in one war or another.

The capital of the Land of Waterfalls was much smaller than that, and the palace much less impressive. Still a place where wealth could be found, of course, but lacking compared to its neighbours.

Still, when their team finally reached the city, it was a sight for sore eyes. No matter whether their reason was worry about the daimyo himself or the desire to be here when their targets tried to assassinate him, all three of them were relieved to have finally arrived. Regardless of what they would find, at least they would have an answer at all.

The good news was that the daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls was in the best of health when they arrived at his palace.

Unfortunately, the bad news was that he didn’t take their warnings of a possible threat seriously at all.

The man had black eyes and grey hair most prominently shown from his moustache that fell down his grim and serious face. He wore a long-sleeved shirt under a yellow, sleeveless jacket with red trimmings, and he also carried a fan and wore a headdress with his nation's symbol on it. Contrary to his grim appearance, however, he was a rather… relaxed individual. No, even calling him laid-back wouldn’t do him justice; he was a prime example of a person who enjoyed all the advantages of being born into a royal family and ended up squandering all the wealth of his ancestors on parties and the likes.

He was the kind of person that couldn’t understand that his status alone wasn’t enough to keep him safe. Even the dead shinobi they showed him -to his great disgust, of course- wasn’t enough proof to convince him.

To use his words, ‘shinobi die all the time, so what does one more or less even matter’?

Thus, while he was more than happy to play host to “his good friends from Konoha”, he ignored every and all attempts to convince him of the danger he was in. They were given luxurious rooms in the main wing of the palace, had the permission to walk around freely through the entire complex, and even were invited to dine with him every single evening, but having a real conversation with him was impossible.

They had arrived here three days ago and Itachi had almost reached the point where he actually considered going behind the daimyo’s back to talk with his security staff regardless of the risk of accidentally offending their host. The only thing that still held him back from doing just that was that they were unlikely to take him any more serious. Furthermore, by the hidden glares he could feel on the back of his head almost all the time, the hidden watchers weren’t well disposed towards them either.

Although the entire situation was exhausting, he probably would have felt more patience towards it if he weren’t the only one in his team to regularly interact with the daimyo, but alas…

Kakashi had told him early on that he found himself unsuited for prolonged exposure to a such ‘esteemed person’ as the daimyo and that Itachi was much better suited for the job, citing that as the Uchiha heir, he was the closest thing Konoha had to royalty aside from Tsunade. Then, before Itachi had the chance to tell him how ridiculous that notion was, the daimyo in question appeared and Kakashi used the opportunity to escape.

His appearances since then were far and wide in between, limiting themselves to the absolute minimum required to be polite while spending the rest of the time searching for their Kushimaru and Jinin in the area surrounding the city.

Zabuza, on the other hand, hadn’t even tried to be subtle and used the first opportunity that presented itself to vanish in the name of looking for traces of their targets as well. For that, Itachi was actually a little bit thankful as he doubted that the swordsman would contribute anything useful in a polite discussion anyway. In fact, it was much more likely that his character would only result in another incident Itachi and possible Kakashi were forced to clean up afterwards.

Needless to say, Itachi was tired of dealing with this situation.

“You’re one of the shinobi from Konoha, aren’t you?” a deep voice from behind him said. “The Uchiha brat?”

Turning around, he saw a middle-aged man with a powerful stature standing in the doorway to the building Itachi had just left on his way to the nearest garden.

“I am,” he said. “I don’t think we have had the pleasure to meet yet. In Konoha, it’s polite to introduce yourself first before speaking to someone.”

The other man scoffed. “I don’t care what you tree huggers think is polite or not. However, what I do care about is whether you guys were the ones who killed Tani.”

The forehead protector around his arm easily identified him as a shinobi from Takigakure, so the person he must be referring to was…

“If you’re talking about the man we brought with us as proof of the danger your daimyo is in, I must disappoint you. Although you should already know that, considering you were listening in on that conversation.”

That was actually just a fair guess, but going by the grimace on the man’s face, it was true.

“As the ones in charge of Daimyo-dono’s safety, it’s only right that we’re close in case anyone like you tries something funny. We’re always by his side to protect him with our lives.”

You’re not supposed to be noticed, though. However, saying that would escalate the situation even further and no matter how bad his mood was, Itachi didn’t want to start a fight in the daiymo’s gardens. “If you’re so worried about his safety, maybe you should consider if we’re telling the truth and prepare for-“

“I don’t want to hear that ludicrous tale about those former Swordsmen of the Mist again,” the man interrupted him with an angry glare as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “As far as I’m concerned, the only one of that cursed group currently in our country is the man with you who’s known as the ‘Demon of the Hidden Mist’. If you’re asking me, he’s probably the most likely suspect right now.”

Inwardly, Itachi cursed Zabuza for having plunged his weapon into the corpse’s body. It was fortunate that nobody had thought about how much the wound on its chest matched Kubikiribōchō, but when they did, it would be hard to explain away.

“And why would we bring him here if we were the culprits, then?” Itachi said, appealing to the man’s sense of logic.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t very effective.

“You tell me that,” he spat, saliva flying out of his mouth. “What are Konoha and Kiri planning that makes you play such a double game? Is it a ploy to take over the Land of Waterfalls? Especially you murderers from the Hidden Leaf got it in for us for a long time now! What, do you plan to outright annex us now that you already have the daimyo’s favour and-“

“Akame!” a joyous voice came from behind the man, cutting him off. “Why, what are you doing here? Aren’t you usually visiting your sister at this time of the day and- oh, is that you, Uchiha-san? What a pleasant surprise!”

The person that appeared and whom both Itachi and the man that was apparently called Akame greeted with a bow was none other than the daimyo himself.

“I was just on my way there, Daimyo-sama,” Akame said, his voice now perfectly polite. “I merely ran into one of our guests and got a bit delayed. In all our chatting, we must have lost track of time.”

That is definitively one way to put it.

Unlike Itachi, the daimyo was easily fooled. “Is that so? I’m glad you’re getting along so well! Our nations are allies, so we all should strive to become good friends!”

Akame bowed again. “As you say, Daimyo-dono. Now, if you would excuse me…?”

“Of course, of course. And please, give my regards to your sister. Also tell her that she's always welcome in my halls.”

“Thank you, Daimyo-dono. I will.” He then vanished, but not before Itachi saw him throwing a dark look at his liege. It seems the daimyo is as unpopular with his native shinobi as I have heard.

That unfortunately meant that the other man’s attention was now fully on him. “Say, Uchiha-san, I was just about to have a late brunch in the gardens. Would you like to join me? I’m sure you must have many more interesting stories to tell!”

He didn’t. In fact, he could think of few things he wanted less. However, he also had no good reason to decline, and if there was even the slightest chance he could finally bring him to understand his current position…

“You honour me with your invitation, Daimyo-dono. I would love to join you.”

Kakashi threw a look up the sky from where he sat on the balcony of his quarters, frowning when the first rays of light of the just rising sun hit his face. So it’s already this late, huh? I guess I should prepare to continue the search soon…

It was still early in the morning, of course, but every bit of daylight was important. While he, Pakkun, and the rest of their pack had already searched through vast stretches of land -while they didn’t have anything with their targets’ smell to look out for, there shouldn’t be many other people in the area who ran around with traces of blood- with little success, there was still a lot of it left.

And if they were wrong and the two missing-nin weren’t after the daimyo’s life, well, then they would probably continue to fruitlessly search for a trail for a long time to come. There was a reason the Hokage hadn’t put a time limit on this mission, after all.

That didn’t mean he enjoyed getting up early to continue the search right now. And just when the book was starting to get interesting too…

However, he was a shinobi through and through. Like it or not, he would do his job, and he would do it right. This wasn’t some meaningless task of little importance, but an elimination mission; Kakashi didn’t allow himself to slack on those.

As soon as Zabuza returned from his shift, it would be Kakashi’s turn to be back out there.

For a moment, he felt pity for his poor teammate who was forced to spend most of his time in the daimyo’s presence and thus had no time to actively contribute to their mission. Kakashi didn’t think he could do what Itachi was doing; dealing with an ignorant, pompous fool and a noble court must be so much more frustrating than merely returning without anything new from a search. Ultimately, none of them expected this to be a short mission, so not finding anything this early into it was hardly bothersome.

Thinking of the devil…

“Well, Itachi, is there anything new you want to share with me or why do you search me out this early in the morning? Shouldn't you be with our gracious host right now?”

The slight irritation he could see in Itachi’s eyes when the younger boy gave him a narrow-eyed look spoke volumes over how annoyed he must be. He was usually much more composed than that.

Although to be fair, Kakashi didn’t think he would show even that little if there were anyone else present. The both of them had gone on many missions in the past and consequently knew each other rather well while Zabuza, for example, was not only a stranger but a stranger from another nation.

But still…

Yeah, I definitely got the better deal in this. Searching for our targets all day long seems much less troublesome.

“Daimyo-dono decided that he felt in the mood for a celebration, so he feasted the entire night and went to bed just a few minutes ago.” Although Itachi used the proper honorific, there was no respect whatsoever in his voice when he said it. “I doubt he will have the need of any company for the foreseeable future aside from maybe one of his mistresses.”

Aside from maybe the latter part, Kakashi actually knew that already. He had just wanted to tease the boy a little bit. “Is that so? And can I assume that your attempts at persuasion were no more effective in his no doubt intoxicated state than usual?”

Itachi didn’t even bother replying, his dry expression being all the answer needed.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, our own efforts weren’t any more successful than yours.”

“It isn’t.”

Kakashi shrugged as if to say ‘well, what can you do?’ as he leaned back against the balcony’s wall with both his hands in his pockets.

“However,” Itachi continued after a few seconds, “I did have an engaging conversation with one of the daimyo’s guards in the afternoon.”

“Oh?” Now things were getting more interesting. “And what did this guard have to say?”

“It appears that he and probably his comrades as well think that we were the ones to kill the shinobi you found and that we did this in name of some sinister plot to conquer the Land of Waterfalls for Konoha.”

Now that was unexpected. “And why would we bring the corpse here if we were the culprits behind his death?”

"I'm afraid his reasoning wasn't entirely cogent," Itachi said with a slight upturn of his lips. “However, he seemed quite confident that it was part of our aforementioned ploy.”

“And he had no further arguments to back this theory up?”

“It didn’t seem like it, no.”

Kakashi just barely resisted the urge to make a face. He understood that Takigakure didn’t like Konoha very much, but one of them actually confronting Itachi with such half-baked accusations spoke of a level of anger that went above mere dislike.

“He also referred to us as ‘murderers of the Hidden Leaf’.”

His eyes widened at Itachi’s words. “Then this is really still about that incident?”

Itachi nodded. “That's what I think, too.”

“That’s a long time to hold a grudge over such a small thing…”

The Third Great Ninja War was a result of countless smaller conflicts between the various smaller nations on the continent in which the Great Nations intervened and that ultimately got out of hand. One of these small conflicts had been between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Iron that was the result of Taki-nins crossing the border for scouting missions and killing a number of samurai in the process.

Konoha, who was present at the time in form of a team that was there on a diplomatic mission, intervened to curry some favour with the local ruler by tracking down and eliminating the intruders.

However, one of them managed to escape and tell his tale.

Konoha had the more powerful military and even was in the position of actually having had a legitimate reason to act as they did, meaning Taki couldn’t do much about this incident. Furthermore, having your shinobi die on secret missions in enemy territory was a common enough thing, so this entire event shouldn’t have had any meaningful impact at all to begin with. Unfortunately, the fact that one of the killed Taki-nins was not only the village leader’s son but also the carrier of a rare Kekkei Genkai meant that people were much more emotional about it than they usually would have been.

Kakashi pulled himself from his thoughts. “You would think that after all the bloodshed of the last war, such a small event that happened before it would be long forgotten.”

Surprisingly, Itachi shook his head. “While much smaller in scale, this event was also much more personal. The team that died wasn’t part of any big battles where their killers were faceless entities but victims of a small group of Konoha-nin specifically.”

“Which then makes it easier to blame us,” Kakashi finished, realizing where his teammate was going.

That didn’t mean they had any hard feelings towards their other enemies as well, of course, but considering this incident happened even before the war meant the emotions had already existed by the time armies finally crashed against one another. The outbreak of fighting had probably only deepened the already existing wounds even further.

He was about to open his mouth to continue the conversation when a sudden cawing interrupted him, and a crow landed on Itachi's shoulder shortly afterwards.

The Uchiha instantly grew serious while Kakashi tensed as well.

"I sent that crow after you and Zabuza whenever you went outside the city," Itachi explained, looking him straight in the eye. “It had the order to return to me immediately when one of you was in trouble.”

This revelation didn’t come as much of a surprise; Kakashi had noticed the crow following him, and while Zabuza hadn’t said anything, he was sure that the man had noticed it as well. They both understood what it was doing, so Kakashi would have been able to guess what its sudden appearance meant even without Itachi explaining it to him.

He would have liked to be wrong, though.

There was no need for any further conversations after that.

On a silent command, the crow took off Itachi’s shoulder to lead the way while the two of them ran after it without speaking as much as a single word.

Zabuza had never really thought about the possibility of signing a contract with an animal clan. Aside from the fact that those contracts were exceptionally rare and thus almost impossible to get your hands on, he also hadn’t seen a good reason to actually go after one. Sure, he had heard stories of the likes of Hanzō of the Salamander or the Legendary Sannin and the strength of the summon that had given them their reputation just like everyone else, but honestly? He had always assumed they were little more than pets that were mostly useless. Intelligent pets to be sure, but pets nonetheless.

Now, however, he realised that he might have been a little too hasty with his judgment. While Zabuza was still not entirely convinced of the idea that they could be helpful in a fight, there were definitely some uses for them if the dog at his feet was anything to go by.

After all, it was only thanks to it that he might have finally found his dear old friends.

“You’re sure they’re there?” he asked the brown dog that was crouching behind a bush to his right.

“The smell of blood comes from that cave, no doubt about it.” It then tilted its head. “There is also a yucky smell of sickness, though.”

Zabuza snorted. “So one of them got sick? Sounds good to me.”

“No, no. I don’t think it’s them… there seem to be a lot of sick people, I think. Or at least there used to be many sick people. Most of the scents are quite old, so either some got better and left or-“

“Or they died, huh?”

While Kushimaru and Jinin never went so far as to actually kidnap and torture their victims, they did like to drag out the agony of their beaten foes. Now that they were missing-nins and thus had less opportunity to fight to their hearts’ content, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to assume that they would resort to torture to amuse themselves.

The dog still seemed to be thoughtful. “If they did, the corpses were either destroyed immediately or aren’t anywhere close.” It took a few deep sniffs. “I can’t smell any scent of decay anywhere close by.”

“Of course you can’t,” he said dryly. “Who would like to have their base filled with the smell of corpses?” As soon as he finished talking, he cautiously stepped out of the woods onto the open plain that lied between it and the cave around a hundred metres in front of him.

The dog naturally panicked immediately. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? We need to go back and get-“

“We can get them after we confirmed whether they’re actually here or not,” he interrupted with a sideways smirk. “We don’t want them to come all this way for nothing, do we? Though if you really insist, I don’t mind if you go ahead and get them while I check this out on my own.”

It whined and complained, but in the end, it followed him just as he had thought it would.

Whether they were dogs or humans, inhabitants of Konoha were all the same.

The two of them slowly but surely crossed the open plain, prepared to jump away in case they walked straight into a trap. However, much to Zabuza’s surprise, they reached the entrance to the cave without anyone or anything trying to stop them. If this is really Kushimaru’s and Jinin’s hideout, they have grown really careless.

“There are probably traps inside,” the dog said as if it had read his mind. "Traps on the outside run the risk of attracting unwanted attention while on the inside there is not only much less space to dodge attacks but also the advantage of the whole complex collapsing and burying intruders alive."

“I know that,” he growled, annoyed at being lectured by a dog.

Seeing as the cave was empty, he took a few careful steps inside, paying close attention to the ground as to not accidentally trigger a trap and proof that furry little shit right.

A single glance revealed that the cave itself was a rather small, circular room with a downwards leading pathway as its only feature worth mentioning. Or to be more precise, it wasn’t the path itself that was noteworthy but the big rock that had obviously been pushed aside to open it.

He smirked. “Got ya.”

“Wonderful,” the dog said impatiently. “Now that we confirmed that they’re probably here, we really should go back to get Kakashi and Itachi-san.“

Zabuza rolled his eyes but conceded the point. It was probably a bad idea to fight both his former comrades on his own.

Of course, it was just when he turned around that he could sense the flare of a chakra signature.

A moment later, an explosion blew up the cave’s entrance.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

VI

While Kakashi and Itachi were fortunate enough that Zabuza wasn’t all that far away from the city, meaning they wouldn’t need to run for too long to reach him, even the half an hour they ultimately required at their top speed was much more than either of them was comfortable with.

What wasn’t quite so fortunate, on the other hand, was that they encountered one little problem just before they were about to actually reach their destination.

It happened while they were running through the woods; just when they could feel the trembling ground that must be the result of a nearby explosion, thick mist started to roll towards them, encasing them from all sides. It wasn’t an unexpected occurrence, quite the opposite, but it was still rather annoying.

“It seems they want to keep us separated just like last time.”

Kakashi, who had come to a stop beside him, nodded. “Obviously.” He then pushed his forehead protector up to reveal his blazing Sharingan to match Itachi’s already activated ones. “I hate it to play right into their hands, but I’m afraid we don’t have much of a choice about this.”

He was unfortunately right. In all likelihood, the one who had created the mist was just another water clone that was sent to slow them down while the originals took care of Zabuza. Itachi and Kakashi wouldn’t be able to pass here without a fight, but they also couldn’t afford it to leave their third teammate on his own for much longer; it was a fair guess to say that the previous explosion was a result of Zabuza’s fight, meaning he was still alive, but he would have been forced to fight on his own against two enemies for a while now.

He was in much more danger than either Itachi or Kakashi, so one of them would need to take care of the clone to allow the other to pass.

“Do you-“

“You go,” Kakashi interrupted him. “You’re faster than I am and Zabuza probably needs help as soon as possible. I have thought of a way to deal with this bothersome technique, so I will join you soon.”

Even if Itachi had thought of arguing the point instead of just accepting it, the shuriken flying towards them would have forced them to put an end to it.

Without any further hesitation, Itachi jumped aside to dodge the attack before continuing to run in the direction his crow had been leading them. 

Zabuza didn’t know exactly how long he ran through the underground complex, avoiding traps and collapsing ceilings as good as he could while growing angrier by the minute, but fact was that his patience had run out quite a while ago. I came here to fight, not to run through empty corridors!

He finally reached his boiling point when he outran yet another attempt at having him buried alive by breaking through a wooden door to escape into the room behind it.

“Kushimaru!” he yelled. “Jinin! I know you bastards can hear me! Stop hiding and face me!”

It was one thing for them to use the Hiding in Mist Technique against him, but this? Trying to kill him by having the ceiling collapse on top of him? That was just insulting! At least the former actually required the user to kill their opponents themselves by using one’s skill, but cowardly traps like this were just plain beneath him.

It wasn’t that didn’t understand that shinobi fought dirty wherever possible. If he were in a position where he could kill his enemies without even getting close to them, he would use it without hesitation as well. However, this wasn’t just a fight between random opponents but between Swordsmen of the Mist! If they were to kill each other, then they would do so with their very own hands. Everything else wouldn’t be satisfying.

Zabuza knew that his former comrades thought the same, so it made no sense for them to act like this.

As if to confirm these thoughts, slow steps could be heard through the room that Zabuza only now realized was an arena.

“You actually dare to face me for real. Colour me surprised.”

“Forgive me, my old friend,” Jinin said with a nasty smirk on his face. “I merely wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t be disturbed during our fight before we start, and what better way to do so than to destroy every single path that leads to us?”

“So you didn’t forget how to speak after all,” Zabuza scoffed as he jumped from the gallery he had found himself in into the arena itself. “Say, what would you have done if you actually killed me with that little trick of yours?”

“I don’t usually talk with my opponents through one of my clones,” Jinin said, realizing that Zabuza was referring to their confrontation a few days ago. “That’s just so impersonal, don’t you think so too? And regarding your second question, well, I guess then you wouldn’t have been worth my time to begin with. Seriously, which good shinobi is crushed by some rocks in a cave!”

He didn’t dignify that with a reply. Instead, he looked around the arena. “It has been a while since we were together, hasn't it?" he said. "Where is Kushimaru? I don’t think he would be happy to miss this little reunion out.”

Jinin snorted. “He was much more interested in your new friends and didn’t put much of a fight when I told him I would take care of you on my own. I think he said he wanted to play a bit with that Uchiha brat before finally doing him in." He then shrugged as if to say 'what can you do'. "You know how he gets when Kekkei Genkai are involved."

Zabuza narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “These two have no way to know that I have found you and they will not start to miss me for several hours yet. And even when they do start to miss me, they will still need to actually find us. Are you seriously trying to tell me that Kushimaru plans to sit this out for… what? Perching in a tree for the rest of the day and hope that they somehow find me?”

“Don’t act stupid, Zabuza. We know about that crow that has been following both you and the Copy Ninja whenever you left the capital, and that Uchiha brat is famous for using these birds. Do you think we can’t put one and one together? We let the bird live and return to its master, so your two new friends will surely arrive here soon.”

“Well,” he said slowly while hiding just how annoyed he was at them knowing about this little security measure his team had taken. “I guess I should give you guys a little bit more credit. You might be stupid, but there must be a brain somewhere hidden in these thick heads of yours considering you managed to survive for this long.”

Rather than offended, Jinin only looked amused. “I went through all the troubles to not only make this an actual one against one battle but also arrange such a nice place for you to die, and yet you still insult me. It seems your manners haven’t improved at all since the last time we saw each other.”

“Since when did you care about manners? And besides, how can I not insult you when you should know better than this?”

“Know better than what exactly?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Zabuza said with a wide grin while grabbing Kubikiribōchō’s hilt. “You should have known better than to challenge me alone and expect to live!”

With that exclamation, he attacked.

Kakashi blocked the shuriken that flew at Itachi’s back as he continued forwards with some kunai of his own while simultaneously jumping towards where the projectiles were coming from.

Unlike last time, however, Kushimaru wasn’t giving his location away that easily, and what Kakashi found wasn’t the man himself but merely a shuriken launcher.

A second after he found it, more shuriken flew at him that were probably fired by similar apparatus.

He continued to dodge these attacks for several minutes with a calm mind while trying to do what Itachi had told him was his plan during his last confrontation with this man and stay on the move. As long as Kakashi didn’t stay in one place for too long and didn’t let Kushimaru dictate the direction he ran in, his opponent wouldn’t be able to use any of his bothersome traps.

However, for some reason, the attacks stayed relatively harmless. Even in this thick mist, it wasn’t hard to dodge shuriken and kunai as long as there were only small numbers of them flying at you at once, and as Kushimaru took his time to attack him after each failed attempt, Kakashi hadn’t even started to sweat yet. There must be a reason for this, he thought. What is he waiting for?

His question was answered a moment later when he felt murderous intent directed at him from behind, the opposite direction from which the last shuriken had come from.

Kakashi swirled around just in time to block the legendary sword Nuibari that was just about to pierce his abdomen.

Kushimaru -and he was surprised that the man actually attacked him frontal instead of continuing to hide in the mist- didn’t let up and continued to attack him:

He ducked beneath the attack to his head and slashed his kunai towards his opponent’s torso. Kushimaru dodged it by a hair and sent Kakashi flying with a kick before jumping after him, trying to pierce his heart and almost succeeded hadn’t Kakashi been able to redirect the attack upwards just in time to save himself.

Fainting to fall further back, Kakashi then surprised Kushimaru by actually jumping straight at him at the last possible moment; Nuibari, being formed like a needle, could only truly injure an opponent by piercing them, so as soon as Kakashi was within Kushimaru’s guard, the weapon became mostly useless.

However, the man was not only aware of this weakness but also an experienced shinobi, so he managed to grab Kakashi’s right wrist before the kunai in it could hurt him with his free hand.

Just as Kakashi had expected.

Instead of pushing onward with his attack, he backed away again while simultaneously pulling a small vial with yellowish liquid inside of it from one of his pockets.

A second later, Kakashi escaped once again outside of Kushimaru’s reach, the vile in his hand empty now and its content smeared over Nuibari. To no one’s surprise, its wielder was once again hiding himself in the mist.

Did he really think I would lower my guard enough after a few moments of harmless attacks for such a weak surprise attack to actually work? Kakashi understood that his opponent was in all likelihood only a clone that was sent to buy the original more time and to keep Kakashi’s team separated, but this offence had been much weaker than the one during their last confrontation. Well, I guess this clone does have much less chakra than the last one, so it must be more frugal with it.

However, in the end, it hardly mattered. If anything, his opponent being more limited in its options was a good thing for him. The only thing that truly mattered was that he had successfully managed to complete the first step of his plan.

Kakashi ignored the shuriken flying towards him from his left in favour of turning around and jumping into a seemingly random direction.

A second later, he found himself standing on a tree branch in front of a surprised Kushimaru.

The clone could just so dodge the kunai to its throat but was unable to do anything against the kick against his chest that sent it flying away.

Kakashi didn’t bother to follow behind him, though. He could find his opponent with ease now anyway, so keeping track of his location with his other senses was unnecessary. No, all he wanted were a few seconds in which his opponent wasn’t watching him. Caught off-guard by his attack as he was, Kushimaru should be distracted enough right now to give Kakashi just that.

Jumping from the tree branch, he went through the necessary hand seals during the short duration of the fall and slammed his hand on the ground as soon as he landed.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!” (Summoning Technique)

There was no visible sign that the technique had succeeded, but he knew it did.

He didn’t stay where he was for long. His hands had barely touched the ground before he was already on the move again, hurrying westwards towards where he knew his opponent to be.

True enough, he found Kushimaru hiding behind a bush; not giving him any time to react, he instantly went for an attack, for the first time actually pushing his opponent rather than being pressured himself.

Their limbs slammed against crashed against each other, the metallic ring of connecting weapons filled the area, and attacks missed their targets by mere millimetres while Kakashi was steadily pushing his opponent backwards and gaining more and more control over the fight.

Kushimaru’s movements became more hectic as the fight went on, and with every passing second, his defence continued to crumble.

Then, Kakashi suddenly stopped.

“What-“

It was a testament to its surprise that the water clone actually spoke when it had remained silent all the time until now, but it never got the chance to finish the sentence because it was at that moment that the ground around his feet broke open, revealing a pack of dogs that fell upon the swordsman and tore him apart.

The clone dissolved shortly after.

Kakashi remained on guard for several more seconds, but when not only the mist began to disperse but also no new attacks were sent his way, he slowly calmed down.

“Good job, buds,” he said to the dogs that now sat in front of him with satisfied expressions on their faces. “Seems like our plan worked out just like we hoped it would.”

While Kakashi wasn’t an Inuzuka, the fact that he used ninja dogs just like they did meant that there were some of their techniques he could use even without being trained in them. Dynamic Marking, being the rather simple but effective trick it was, was one of them.

Kushimaru might have had the foresight to eliminate his smell before facing him, but by using some urine from one of his dogs to mark Nuibari with it, both he and his pack could track the weapon and consequently its wielder with ease wherever he went. It was a shame that he needed to use this technique against a clone instead of the original, but there was no time to lose.

At least the odds were that there hadn’t been anyone watching the fight this time, meaning his tactic should still be a surprise if he encountered the real Kushimaru later on.

“Alright,” Kakashi continued. “Why don’t you guys-“

His eyes widened when he unexpectedly felt the flare of a chakra signature near him, but there was nothing he could do to stop the new figure that appeared in front of him and sliced him open from his navel to his shoulder with a single arc of their sword.

Itachi could hear the clash of weapons when the fight behind him began, but he didn’t turn around. He trusted that Kakashi would take care of his opponent and join him soon, and he had his own job to do anyway.

It took less than five minutes to reach the location -a small elevation on an open plain not too far away from the woods he came from- his crow was leading him to. At first glance, there was nothing special about the place, but once he got closer, Itachi realized that the spot where his summon was waiting for him was a little bit different.

“Was here an entrance that has collapsed?”

The crow gave an affirmative croak, confirming his theory.

He couldn’t be completely sure, but Itachi would bet that Zabuza had for some reason decided to enter the cave when he suspected their targets to be here instead of first returning to get him and Kakashi and then triggered a trap that collapsed the entrance. That thought made Itachi sigh; while that was definitely in character for the swordsman, he couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed about such reckless behaviour.

Well, nothing he could do about that now. It was much more important to get to him than it was to think about what was and what could have been.

“Doton: Dochū Senkō!” (Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage)

While the entrance had obviously been destroyed, the fact that Zabuza was still alive when he had evidently not been able to escape outside after triggering the trap meant that there must be some kind of underground complex. Thus, all Itachi needed to do to follow his teammate was to ‘swim’ through the rubble that blocked his way.

Itachi needed a few minutes of searching around until he finally found a corridor; being able to travel through solid rock might be a useful ability, but it had the disadvantage that the only way its users could orientate themselves was through the semantic forces of their opponents. Without that, they were basically blind while in the underground, so as long as there was no one walking through the aforementioned pathway, there was no way for Itachi to be aware of its location. His only choice was to randomly travel through the earth until he found something.

However, his problems unfortunately didn’t stop there. Barely five minutes after he had found the corridor, Itachi reached a crossroad with three different paths he could take.

With no sign of which of these paths Zabuza might have taken if he had even been here at all, Itachi decided to create two crow clones to cover all three of them.

He had no idea how long he ran, but he quickly realized that finding Zabuza would be even harder than he had anticipated. Not only was the entire complex absolutely gigantic with new doors and corridors constantly popping up, but there were a lot of recently collapsed ones as well. Itachi had taken that as a good sign at first, but it became soon apparent that many of the collapsed paths were only collateral damage from the few ones that were actually intended to be destroyed, meaning they did not help him find his missing teammate at all. Furthermore, although the subterranean voyage technique wasn’t very chakra expensive, using it constantly every time he found a collapsed path would drain his reserves slowly but surely and he couldn’t let that happen.

Consequently, all he could do was to search for the slightest signs of Zabuza passing by while stretching his senses in hope of feeling the swordsman’s chakra in the distance.

It would be really helpful if there could be another explosion like the one he and Kakashi had heard before they had been separated, but alas, he had no such luck.

Itachi's thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he entered a room that looked like a horror version of an operating theatre; the walls were lined with glass jars containing everything from body parts to dead animals, the floor was covered with dried blood and vomit, the operating table in the centre of the room had straps which were obviously designed to immobilise the 'patient', and the counter next to it held countless tools that looked more suitable for torture than for healing.

Misery and pain were thick in the air and had burned themselves into the room’s very walls. Even a blind person who had no idea what was in there would instantly know that something terrible had happened in it and that it had happened for a long time.

The sight gave him a very bad feeling, and a theory began to form in his mind.

For a moment, he considered whether he should go back and try another path. There were no traces that Zabuza had come through here, so he had no reason to continue this way. However, it wasn’t like he had a better lead right now, so whether he went back and tried another turn or walked through this room and continued through the door he could at its other end didn’t really matter.

Deciding that there wasn’t a good reason to backtrack when he could just as well continue onwards, he ultimately chose the latter option.

To Itachi’s silent relief, on the other side of that door wasn't anything gruesome to be seen. Just another corridor with even more doors on each side. With how it was connected to that operation theatre, he had expected the worst.

However, three things stood out:

First, the doors here weren’t the same wooden constructs he had seen in the rest of the complex so far but strong, heavy-looking metal frames.

Second, this was the first corridor that showed signs of destruction without actually having collapsed completely in that it missed nearly a third of the wall on the right side while debris piled up on the floor in front of the hole.

Third, there was a strange sensation in the air. It almost felt like chakra, but not quite. It was also somewhat familiar, though Itachi couldn’t place where he had felt it before. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was something sinister to it, something dark, and that he had to be wary of it.

That conclusion was confirmed a second later when a figure slowly crawled out of the hole in the wall.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

VII

Kakashi crouched heavily breathing with one knee on the ground as he studied the new person that had appeared in front of him, ignoring the pain in his chest and the uncomfortable feeling of having hot blood running down his chest.

The woman had black eyes and long, red hair that, together with a Kiri forehead protector, was tied at both sides by a piece of cloth in such a way that both ends of the material protrude upwards while the remainder of the hair was allowed to flow downwards. She also wore a loose, pin-striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist, black pants which got much looser near the ends similar to a hakama, and striped leg-warmers.

Most striking, however, were the two slender, double-edged swords in her hands, both of which had an upward-curving prong near the tip of one side of the blade and another near the base of the other side of it.

He knew who this kunoichi was.

“You’re ‘The Lightning Blade’ Ameyuri Ringo,” he said with a croaking voice. “Wielder of the legendary twin swords Kiba.”

Ringo laughed, sounding genuinely delighted. “Oh~? ‘The Copy Ninja’ Kakashi Hatake knows my name? I’m honoured!” The grin on her face became even wider, revealing two rows of sharp teeth that seemed to be a trademark of the Seven Swordsmen. “And impressed as well. I really thought I got you with my attack, and yet you survived!”

“I remember reading about your death in a report several years ago,” he said, ignoring the latter part of her reply. “There weren’t any rumours of your survival ever since or I would have heard of them. Would you mind explaining to me how you're still alive?”

“Is that truly so hard to understand? I mean, all I need to do to stay hidden is to not leave any survivors behind, right?” She then chuckled. “It’s quite funny how many of my kills were credited to Kushimaru and Jinin, actually. They don’t even use lightning techniques! Seriously, don't you guys do your homework?”

Kakashi remembered reading the reports of the various incidents their two targets were accused of and discarding the mentions of people being killed by what was thought to be lightning strikes. After all, just because it wasn’t their natural affinity didn’t mean that they couldn’t have mastered such attacks. It was actually normal for Jōnin to do so.

Now he wished he hadn’t been that dismissive.

He also suddenly realized that the Taki corpse he had found a few days ago had spotted burn marks that couldn't have come from a fire technique, suggesting the woman in front of him had been responsible for that as well. Maybe the reason Kushimaru and Jinin were so overzealous about fighting us was at least partly to stop us from spotting her...?

“I have heard a lot of stories about you,” Ringo said. “A prodigy who has copied over a thousand jutsu. I hope you can live up to your fame; it would be so boring if you died too easily!”

She raised both her swords over her head.

“Raitō Jutsu: Rakurai!” (Thunderswords Technique: Thunderbolt)

Kakashi, who had already prepared himself to dodge an attack, frowned in confusion when the lightning that shot from her weapons didn’t fly towards him but the open sky. However, his confusion quickly passed and transformed into horror when he saw the energy spread out before coming back down much stronger and in much greater number than the lightning that had originally flown upwards.

Ignoring the pain in his chest, Kakashi jumped back and forth to avoid the lightning bolts, thankful that such artificially created lightning was much slower than natural one. That would have been impossible to dodge.

Unfortunately, evading these lightning bolts distracted him enough to almost allow Ringo to catch him by surprise again.

He tilted his head away, barely dodging the blade that would have decapitated him had he been any slower, before sending a hasty kick towards his opponent. It didn’t even slow Ringo down, though, and so he found himself faced with another sword slash half a second later that he blocked just barely with a quickly drawn kunai

Kakashi had no time to ponder on the widening of Ringo’s grin as a sudden bolt of electricity discharged from her swords, passed through his kunai, and finally hit his body.

Then, in a small puff of smoke, his body was replaced by a block of wood.

“Suiton: Mizurappa!” (Water Release: Wild Water Wave)

There was no surprise on her face when Ringo turned around and threw another charge of lightning towards the water technique that shot out from Kakashi’s mouth. This time far from being caught off-guard himself, however, he simply twisted his body and 'threw' the liquid like a whip before stopping the process of infusing the technique with more chakra and consequently breaking the water's connection with his body. As a result, his opponent suddenly found herself faced with an incoming wall of water that had been charged with her own electricity.

Ringo let out a deafening scream as the attack hit her, but the sound quickly died away as her body was enveloped by the waters.

There was an almost eerie silence afterwards as the fight came to a halt during which Kakashi cautiously moved towards where his opponent’s body should be.

The emphasis was on ‘should be’, for all he found was more water.

“Raiton: Gian!” (Lightning Release: False Darkness)

He didn’t even bother to turn around when he felt the build-up of chakra behind him and instead fell to his knees while forming hand seals of his own.

“Doton: Doryūheki!” (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)

Kakashi knew that using an earth technique to defend against a lightning style attack would be mostly useless, but in this case, its main purpose wasn't to block him from his opponent's attack but her gaze.

Just as he had hoped for, he could finish his second set of hand seals before the lightning bolt broke through the wall, shortly followed by Ringo herself.

He dodged the lightning by a hair and managed to duck under the sword slash, but he instantly found himself on the defence once more as he let himself be pushed further back with every second.

Not that he could have done much to begin with; not only couldn’t he outright block her weapons with his kunai out of fear of being hit by lightning and thus was forced to merely redirect or dodge them, but the wound on his chest also still hurt and constantly sapped his energy reserves. While he had hit some pressure points to lessen the bleeding just like he had learned in the ANBU, Kakashi was pretty sure he would still bleed out if he couldn’t do at least some basic treatment within the next fifteen minutes.

“You shouldn’t get distracted while fighting someone like me!”

Kakashi was pulled back into the present by a powerful kick to his chest that sent bolts of pain through his body while knocking the breath out of him. There was no time to pity himself, though, as Ringo chose that moment to throw one of her swords at him.

He managed to avoid it at the last possible moment, fortunately ending with only a small cut on his cheek rather than half a missing head. However, his last-second evasion meant that he was now in an unbalanced stance that made it impossible for him to prevent Ringo from closing the distance between them and thrusting her one remaining sword right through his lungs.

Ringo gave a self-satisfied smirk and was just about to say a few parting words when Kakashi's body dissolved into water.

“What the-“

Before she could finish her sentence and even before the water from his dissolved clone hit the ground, the earth cracked beneath her feet and the real Kakashi emerged with a kunai in one hand. Ringo, her eyes wide with shock, instinctively tried to jump away, but she was too slow to completely avoid the attack and ended up with a wound that cut her open from her left knee all the way up to her navel.

Ignoring the way his body screamed in pain at the strain of his movements while also blending out the almost deafening rush of blood in his ears, Kakashi pushed forward and continued with his attacks now that it was finally he who had the advantage. Still surprised by the sudden turn of events and slowed down by the injury to her leg, Ringo could do nothing but clumsily back away while focusing on defending herself from his most lethal attacks only, resulting in dozens of small cuts appearing all over her body.

Then she stumbled and fell to the ground.

Kakashi, not someone to look a gift horse in the mouth, immediately rushed forward to finish the job, only to jump into the air instead when his instincts screamed at him to get away from there.

Unfortunately, that didn’t help him avoid the sword that flew at him from behind entirely, resulting in a deep gash at his left hip.

When he landed back on the ground a few moments later, Kakashi couldn’t keep on his feet and fell to his knees.

Ringo was in a similar position a dozen metres in front of him, at least, obviously in no condition to immediately exploit his weakened condition.

“You are as impressive as I thought you would be,” Ringo said, and although her breath was now noticeably more laboured than to begin of their fight, her face still adorned a wide grin. “I think I’m a bit disappointed anyway, though. I expected a little more variety in your techniques, you see.”

“I’m pretty sure I used more techniques than you, so I don’t think you have any ground to stand on with such complaints.”

She chuckled. “Ah, but it isn’t me who is famous for supposedly having copied over a thousand techniques, is it? After all the stories I’ve heard, I thought I would come face to face with an endless number of different attacks. Instead, all I see are clones, a mud wall, and a basic water technique. Where are all your copied jutsu, I wonder?”

She ripped a piece of fabric from her top and began to bind it around her wound as she spoke, and while Kakashi would have liked to stop her from doing so, he decided that it was more productive to use the laps in their fight to treat his own wounds as well.

“Just throwing techniques around for the sake of variety would be foolish,” he replied after a few seconds. “The advantage of knowing so many techniques is that it allows me to choose the one that is best suited for any given situation. I wouldn’t be here right now if I always wasted my chakra on random attacks without a care in the world regardless of whether they make sense or not.”

Oddly enough, Ringo looked disappointed by that answer. “And here I looked forward to a challenge,” she sighed, her grin fading for once. “How dull.”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “That’s a rather dismissive attitude for someone who barely avoided defeat just a minute ago.”

“Whether it was close or not doesn’t matter,” she said while her lips curved upwards again. “The important thing is that I did survive it. Furthermore, wouldn’t you agree that you came out of this bout worse than I did?”

There was unfortunately something true about that claim. While the injury to her leg would slow her down and thus theoretically give him more opportunities to connect an attack as a result, his own injuries slowed him down as well, so the advantage was basically non-existent. In fact, considering his injuries were worse than hers, it was really he who was in an unfavourable position.

Kakashi had at best ten more minutes before he would lose his consciousness from blood loss.

“I’m still wondering about that,” he finally said. “I don’t see a clone in that direction, so how did your sword suddenly come back to you?”

Kakashi actually didn’t expect an answer to that, of course. Not that he needed one in the first place as he had a pretty good idea anyway. However, Ringo unexpectedly seemed to think about it for a few seconds before shrugging and explaining it to him.

“It’s one of my swords special abilities,” she said with a fond look that he thought wouldn’t be out of place on the face of a mother talking about her child. “I can control them from afar even without touching them. As you found out for yourself, that's a great way to catch an opponent by surprise. “Ringo then chuckled. “I guess the fact that you survived not only one but two of my surprise attacks means that there must be a grain of truth to the stories I heard about you.”

Swords that can be controlled by one’s mind, huh, he thought, having his suspicion confirmed. That could actually become a problem.

One of the most effective ways to win against a swordsman was to separate them from their weapon, so if she could just summon them back to her, this strategy wouldn’t work on her.

I guess I need to think of something else.

“Well then,” Ringo said as she slowly stood up. “Shall we continue? You’re not dying already, are you? The fun part has just begun!”

Suppressing a groan at the resulting pain, he followed suit.

Zabuza was thankful that Jinin had chosen this rather spacious underground arena for their fight. Had he been forced to confront the man in the comparable narrow corridors, he might have had more of a problem swinging his gigantic sword. Here, however, there were no such troubles, allowing him to fight to his heart’s content.

“You should have tried to assassinate me again instead of fighting me heads-on,” he shouted while swinging Kubikiribōchō in a wide arc towards Jinin’s head. “Not that you would have succeeded, of course, but at least you wouldn’t die quite as quickly!”

Jinin ducked below his attack and retaliated with a powerful blow from Kabutowari's hammer, flying past Zabuza’s face close enough for him to feel a breeze before making the floor crack when it hit the ground.

“Killing you without you even realizing it wouldn’t be satisfying at all! I want to watch the despair in your eyes when I crush your bones and the fear when I finally cut off your head!”

Zabuza laughed while deflecting the following axe strike to his stomach with nought a thought. “Big words for someone who could barely even cut me at all during our last fight.”

“Considering all you managed to do was to destroy a mere clone of mine, I don’t think you have any ground to stand on!”

He wanted to give a snide reply in exchange, but an uncomfortably close attack cut him off.

Deciding that the time for talking was over, Zabuza began to concentrate on the fight in earnest. He waited for the perfect moment to strike as he momentarily allowed himself to be pushed back while dodging most attacks and deflecting those he couldn’t avoid to lull Jinin into a false sense of security until he saw his chance.

The next time his opponent brought down his hammer with admittedly frightening force, Zabuza held Kubikiribōchō up with one hand on each end and blocked it.

The power behind the attack almost made his knees buckle and shot painful tremors down his arms while his shoulder groaned under the pressure, but he stubbornly held his ground. Then, with an angry scream, he pushed back, throwing a surprised Jinin several metres backwards.

Caught off-guard as he was, Jinin could barely dodge Zabuza’s follow up attack.

While both of them were much more comfortable in the offence than in the defence, Zabuza could at least effectively use his weapon as a shield of sorts. Jinin, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky; both his fighting style and his weapon were ideal for swift and powerful attacks, but they offered little in terms of defensive abilities.

That became obvious less than a minute into Zabuza’s attacks as Jinin was forced more and more to take blunt hits in favour of avoiding Kubikiribōchō’s edge; he crossed his weapons above his head to block Zabuza’s strike only to get kicked in the stomach, took an elbow to the face in favour of deflected an attack that would have cut him in half, and was reduced to swinging his axe in a hurried, uncoordinated manner just to give himself some more space to breath.

“What were you saying about crushing my bones and cutting off my head, Jinin?” he laughed when one of his attacks finally drew blood. “Maybe you should just surrender. I promise to make your death quick if you do!”

The wound on his opponent’s hip was small, but just the fact that he had been wounded at all was a great victory. After all, the party that was injured first often experience a loss of morale while the exact opposite was true for the one whose attack had succeeded.

Jinin grunted with an angry expression on his face, but instead of replying, he did something unexpected:

He jumped away from him.

Now, for all that defence was an undesirable position for Jinin, Zabuza knew the man long enough to be confident when he said that he didn’t let that weakness make him run away from an opponent and especially not another swordsman. Jinin didn’t even like to use the Silent Killing technique more than absolutely necessary, dammit! Making such a move was completely out of character for him and thus made Zabuza’s alarm bells ring.

It was thanks to that that he didn’t immediately follow after him, giving him enough time to react and jump away when Jinin began to make a hand seal.

A second later, the ground between the two of them exploded.

So he prepared our fighting ground in advance, he thought with a huff as he watched the stirred up dirt and dust in front of him with keen eyes, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It’s not his usual style, but I really shouldn’t be surprised. In the end, he had always been a coward.

The sudden build-up of chakra on the other side of the dirt cloud made his eyes go wide.

It was the only warning he got before the maw of a dragon made from water broke through the dust.

“Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)

Zabuza was jumping backwards and forming hand seals even before the dragon’s head had entirely left the cloud.

“Suiton: Suijinheki!” (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)

As there was no already existing water source close by, he was forced to use his own chakra to create some. And while that was technically not a problem in and of itself, it was unfortunately a little bit slower than it would have been otherwise, meaning his shield wasn’t nearly as strong as he would have preferred it to be when the water dragon crashed into it.

The technique softened the impact, but it still made him groan in pain when his shield was broken and his opponent’s attack blew him through the arena.

He first flew through the air and then skidded across the ground before finally coming to a halt in a crouched position at the other end of the room, leaning on his sword -there was no way he would let go of his weapon even if he was hit by an opponent’s technique- for support.

There was not much time for him to gather himself, though, as he was forced to block an axe slash from the suddenly appearing Jinin a moment later, leaving him wide open for Jinin’s follow-up attack to Zabuza’s chest.

He was sure that his ribcage would have been shattered hadn’t he managed to get his left arm between the hammer and his chest just in time.

However, even the fact that he avoided a lethal wound didn’t distract him from the seething pain that shot through his arm when probably every bone in it broke in the same instant.

“Suirō no Jutsu!” (Water Prison Technique)

Zabuza’s head spun around, his sight somewhat fuzzy from the onslaught of pain, while his eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of a second Jinin, but he was unable to do anything to stop the sphere of unnatural heavy water from forming around him.

Kubikiribōchō fell clattering to the ground to his right a second before he was completely enveloped by the water.

“How the mighty have fallen,” Jinin said with a nasty drawl as he stepped closer to him. “You seemed so confident just a minute ago, but look at you now!” He laughed. “Say, wasn’t this one of your favourite techniques? You always enjoyed the hopelessness in your opponent’s eyes after you captured them, didn't you? I never understood that, to be honest, but I think I can see the appeal now.”

Zabuza sent him a glare instead of foolishly attempting to speak and consequently wasting precious oxygen, but Jinin clearly understood what he was thinking.

“Now don’t look at me like this, old friend. You can’t blame me for fighting dirty, can you? If anything, you should feel honoured that I was forced to resort to something like this instead of killing you the good old-fashioned way!”

In hindsight, it had truly been naïve of him to overlook the possibility of Jinin doing something like this. Furthermore, such short-sightedness was completely out of character for him! The only explanation Zabuza could come up with for his behaviour was that he must have been blinded by his eagerness to kill his former colleague.

Fortunately, he still had an ace up his sleeve just for situations like this.

“You know,” Jinin continued, completely unaware of Zabuza’s thoughts. “I never liked you. I’m sure that doesn’t come as much of a surprise, of course. All of us hated each other to some degree. However, in my opinion, you were the most irksome of us all. A little poser kid who thinks too highly of themselves, that’s what you are. Did you really think that murdering your classmates made you in any way special? Don’t make me laugh! I always wanted to kill you, and now I finally have the chance to do just that.”

He couldn’t suppress a snort at that stupid monologue, not even caring about the wasted breath.

What had Jinin done to deserve his spot in their group? Zabuza had sweat and bled to be where he was today while Jinin had merely been chosen as Kabutowari's successor by its previous owner, or so he claimed. For all they knew, that could have been a bald-faced lie. The only reason nobody complained was that he was actually somewhat talented in the weapon’s usage.

Also, look at where the both of them were now: while Jinin was a wanted criminal with no place to call home and no true agenda to keep him going, Zabuza was the last member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist still loyal to Kirigakure and one of the Godaime Mizukage’s closest confidants!

So, who was the true ‘poser kid’ between them, huh?

There was no way a single snort could give all of these thoughts away, but going by the furious expression on his face, Jinin got the gist of it anyway.

“You still think you’re better than me, don’t you?” he growled. “Well, let me prove you wrong, you bastard!”

Zabuza waited until Jinin was almost upon him, his axe raised to cut him apart while he was sitting seemingly helpless in the water sphere, before he made a single hand seal.

The explosion tags he had hidden beneath the bandages around Kubikiribōchō’s hilt exploded.

The explosion immediately ripped the water prison apart, destroyed Jinin’s water clone, and threw the original away all at once.

Jinin managed to regain his composure a few seconds later, but by then, it was too late to do anything but widen his eyes at the sight of the huge sword flying towards him before it pierced his chest and swept him along its trajectory until it embedded both of them in the wall at the far end of the arena, pinning Jinin against it a meter above the ground.

Zabuza limbed slowly towards his former colleague who was trying to speak only to fail due to the blood that quelled from his mouth.

“Please don’t be angry at me for fighting dirty,” he said with an exhausted chuckle. “To use your own words, you should be honoured that I resorted to such measures to beat you!”

While the water prison had actually protected him from the explosion for the most part, it had been impossible to get away from it completely unharmed. Considering its strength, however, he should probably count himself lucky that all he got were some mediocre burns on his right arm and leg.

It was rather annoying that both his arms were now as impaired as they were, though.

Jinin tried to speak again, but it ended in just another chortle. Furthermore, he was visibly growing weaker by the second.

“Spare you energy, old friend,” Zabuza continued. “For someone in your current position, every second is very, very precious. Also, I didn’t go through the annoyance of getting hit by my own attack to see you die so soon! I want to watch you struggle, watch you try to get out of this only to realize that it is impossible.”

He sent Jinin a nasty grin, revealing his sharpened teeth now that the bandages around his face had been burnt off. “You were right, you see. I do enjoy the hopelessness in my opponent’s eyes when they realize that their death is inevitable.”

Jinin tried to retort once more, but he barely managed to open his mouth while the light in his eyes steadily grew weaker.

“You see, your greatest mistake was to not kill me when you had the chance. You should have known by now to only play with your prey when there is absolutely no way for it to break free.” He chuckled. “I would tell you to take an example from me, but alas, it's unlikely that you have enough time left to take advantage of this lesson.”

There was still anger in Jinin’s brown eyes as he glared at him, but that quickly transformed into fear and ultimately desperation as he grew weaker and weaker.

Then, he finally closed his eyes for the last time, deprived of the opportunity to say some last words by the blood that filled his lungs.

“Idiot,” he muttered as he pulled Kubikiribōchō out of the wall with a grunt, uncaring of Jinin’s lifeless body that fell to the ground as a result. “If you want to gloat, make at least sure that your enemy is already dying.”

Most fights between shinobi of roughly the same strength usually lasted for a comparatively long time, but other than that, most confrontations ended rather quickly. However, there was a surprising number of shinobi who acted like Jinin and got overconfident as soon as things progressed even a little bit in their favour which then regularly cut their lives short when their opponents used this lapse in judgment against them.

For all the disdain he felt towards Jinin, the man should seriously have known better.

“Who’s the poser now, bastard?”

With these words and the knowledge that there was no one close by to observe his moment of weakness, he collapsed to the ground with a heavy breath.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

VIII

While Ringo’s injuries fortunately slowed her down enough for Kakashi to keep pace, he knew it wouldn’t stay like this for too long. They might be more or less evenly matched for now, but with how much worse his state was than hers, his strength would leave him long before hers did. In fact, Kakashi could already feel his limbs growing numb while he grew more light-headed by the minute.

Yes, he definitively needed to do something soon if he wanted to not only win but also survive this confrontation.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly easy to come up with a plan when some crazy woman continued to relentlessly rush and swing swords at you.

It was good that he already had something in mind, then.

“C’mon, Kakashi Hatake!” she screamed in glee when he dodged another slash that would have decapitated him on the spot. “Stop running away and face me!”

Not bothering to reply, he instead reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai with an explosion tag.

Not deterred by that in the slightest, Ringo merely laughed before throwing herself at him again. However, her expression quickly changed when instead of preparing himself to block or back further away, he jumped straight at her.

She had no time to do more than let out a surprised gasp before they both were enveloped in an explosion as the tag that was still in his hand went off.

Her figure jumped out of the resulting dust cloud a few moments later, an angry snarl on her face as she glanced at the light burns on her right arm. “So now you’re trying to be sneaky, Hatake?” she asked into thin air. “Stop fooling around and come out! I don’t know when you switched with a clone, but-“

Before Ringo could finish, Kakashi jumped at her from behind. However, having evidently expected such an attack, she jerked around with one smooth step and rammed one of her swords through his chest.

His body transformed into hardened earth almost immediatly, keeping her sword locked in place.

Ringo’s eyes widened. “A rock clone…?”

Then, the clone exploded.

When she came out of the dust cloud this time, there weren’t any new injuries to be seen. However, that had never been the real intention of his attacks; the fact that they had successfully achieved their true purpose became clear once one realized that Ringo currently carried only one sword.

She opened her mouth again only to find herself under attack before she had the chance to utter as much as a single word.

“Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)

It looked for a moment as if Ringo would use a lightning technique to defend herself again, but then she remembered what happened the last time she did that and instead jumped away to avoid getting hit by the huge water dragon that crashed into the ground where she stood just a moment earlier with a loud explosion.

Even after dodging that attack, she had still been close enough for the resulting shockwave to knock her back, making her bounce across the ground several times before finally coming to a stop in a crouch with several new small cuts to show for it.

Ringo cautiously looked around and waited for another attack to follow the last one, but when nothing happened for several seconds, she slowly rose back up to her feet while analysing the new battleground; because the previous water technique had not only ripped through many trees to get to her but also uprooted several more when it crashed into the ground, she now stood in the middle of a small clearing, allowing her to observe her surrounding unhindered by any obstacles.

Deciding that she was safe for now, Ringo held her free hand out as if to grab something from thin air.

However, nothing happened.

She scoffed. “So that was your plan?” she called out, probably guessing that he would be close enough to hear her. “You went through all this trouble just to part me from one of my swords?” She laughed. “Weren’t you saying something about not wasting chakra by stupidly throwing techniques around just a minute ago?”

Kakashi’s response to that was to push his hands through the earth surface from beneath her, grab her ankles, and pull her into the ground until only her head stuck out before emerging in front of her.

“It’s not wasted if it gets you right where I want you.”

Even when he was saying that, Kakashi mentally prepared himself for what would surely happen any moment now. After all, even if his Sharingan hadn’t caught Ringo’s hand seals earlier, the smug expression on her face would have been more than enough to give away that something wasn’t quite right.

He was proven right a second later when her body vanished in a puddle of water that sank into the ground.

“Raitō Jutsu: Rakurai!” (Thunderswords Technique: Thunderbolt)

A stream of lightning shot into the air from a few dozen meters to his left, making him inwardly sigh even when he was simultaneously waving hand seals of his own. Only once, I would like to be wrong about such a thing.

His own water technique had flooded the surrounding area with liquid, making it the perfect target for a lightning technique as it would conduct the electricity everywhere and consequently hit him no matter where he tried to escape to. Well, at least that was what he wanted Ringo to believe. After all, Kakashi wouldn’t have used his chakra in such a wasteful manner if all it did was give his opponent such a perfect target.

“Suiton Dan: Oruka!” (Water Release Bullet: Orca)

All the liquid in the area instantly shot into the air and formed a ceiling of sorts that absorbed the incoming lightning and protected Kakashi from the deadly attack before beginning to crash through the trees towards where he had seen the lightning come from just a few short moments earlier.

Knowing that he hadn’t had much time left, he ignored the exhaustion he felt from using most of his remaining chakra and immediately rushed after it.

It took him scarcely five seconds to find her, just in time to see the protective water dome around her that she must have used to block his attack vanish and thus giving him the perfect opportunity to take her by surprise.

Ringo clumsily took a step back to avoid having her throat cut by his kunai, her face for once spotting an angry grimace instead of the giddy grin it had before when she reflexively brought her remaining sword up in an upwards slash. Sidestepping that, Kakashi closed in on her in an attempt to limit her movement and consequently the usage of her weapon before ramming his knee into her stomach.

She gasped in pain but still had the presence of mind to catch his wrist with the kunai before he could stab her. However, this meant that she couldn’t back further away for the moment and thus allowed Kakashi to do what he had planned to from the beginning:

Using the brief respite of their fight, he grabbed her shoulder with his free hand and used it to push himself over her while also keeping a hold on her wrist in his hand, resulting in him landing behind her back half a second later while Ringo stumbled due to the unexpected move. He then let go of her, not caring that he lost his kunai in the process, before throwing his leg out in a roundhouse kick.

Eyes wide, Ringo jerked back to avoid the attack only to gasp in surprise when it went way past her head and instead connected with her hand that still clutched her single remaining sword.

The weapon immediate flew out of her hand, vanishing in the distance.

While certainly surprised by that, his opponent reacted quickly and used the short time when he was more focused on her weapon than on her to jump back and race through hand seals, well aware that she wouldn’t have enough time to summon her weapon back before he was on her again.

“Raiton: Gian!” (Lightning Release: False Darkness)

Unfortunately for her, this was exactly the reaction Kakashi had been hoping for.

Not hesitating in the slightest, he jumped forward, ready to face the attack head-on.

To Itachi’s silent relief, there wasn’t anything special on the other side of that door. Just another corridor with even more doors on each side. With how it was connected to that operation theatre, he had expected the worst.

However, there were three things that stood out:

First, the doors here weren’t the same wooden constructs he had seen in the rest of the complex so far but strong, heavy looking metal frames.

Second, this was the first corridor that showed signs of destruction without actually having collapsed completely in that it missed nearly a third of the wall on the right side while debris piled up on the floor in front of the hole.

Third, there was a strange sensation in the air. It almost felt like chakra, but not quite. It was also somewhat familiar, though Itachi couldn’t put where he had felt it before. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was something sinister to it, something dark, and that he had to be wary of it.

That conclusion was confirmed a second later when a figure slowly crawled out of the hole in the wall.

He actually needed half a second to recognize it as a human. Or, well, as something that had certainly been a human at some point. With how deformed and distorted the figure's body appeared to be now, it was hard to say if that term could really still be used to describe it.

Crawling on all fours, the woman -for that’s what the figure was- slowly looked around before her gaze landed on Itachi, revealing golden eyes in midst of a black sclera. Two curled horns like those of a ram emerged from her head that otherwise only spotted a few batches of blonde hair that once must have been bright and shining but now was nothing but a dirty mess. Her body, clad only in some torn gowns that did little to cover her body, was littered with scars and black blood strains while at least half of her visible skin had a brown colouring and scaly appearance. Only her arms retained most of their natural look, but even that ended once one glanced at her hands and spotted the claws that looked like they could cut steel. Her legs, on the other hand, were by far the worst; they didn’t resemble anything human anymore, consisting of only scaly, leathery skin and deep cuts that Itachi thought went all the way to her bones. Other than that, what first caught one’s eyes were the two big bulges on her back that were almost the same size as her head.

If all of this wouldn’t have been enough to make Itachi realize what he was dealing with, the black, flame-like markings that spread out all over her body from her throat would have given it away.

This is one of Orochimaru’s hideouts, he realized. That means-

However, before he could finish the thought, the figure let out a loud, inhuman howl before suddenly jumping straight at him, the force of it shattering the ground below her.

There were over thirty meters between them, but even with his Sharingan predicting her movements, he was almost too slow to dodge. Even then, he felt a breeze hit his face when the claws slashed through the air in front of him, and he could smell the rotten stench of decay that hang around the figure like a cloak.

Not disheartened by that miss at all, his opponent let out another shrill howl before jumping after him when he tried to retreat further back.

She’s fast, he thought while raising his arms to perform a jutsu. Faster than Kushimaru, even. However, as long as she doesn’t catch me by surprise, I should be able to evade her.

As if to prove him wrong, it was then that steam-like chakra shot out from a hole in her elbow, propelling her arm forward and consequently transforming an attack he would have been able to dodge into one impossible to avoid. All he could do was to use his already raised arms to block the incoming fist.

While that indeed softened the blow, it didn’t mean that the impact wasn’t devastating.

Although Itachi was by no means weak and had even reinforced his arms with chakra, the blow not only knocked all the air from his lungs but also immediately catapulted him backwards, making him cross the entirely of the corridor in less than a second, crash through the wall back into the operation theatre, and then continue to fly until he finally came to a stop when he slammed against the wall at the other end of the room.

However, even such a blow didn’t stop him from keeping an eye on his opponent. After all, one of the most important rules for a shinobi was to be aware of what your enemy was doing at all times if somehow possible. No matter how much pain a shinobi was in, they needed to stay alert if they didn’t want to be surprised by a fatal attack.

It was this mentality that allowed him to spot the female figure jumping after him through the hole in the wall the very moment it came out of the dust cloud. This, combined with the facts she was obviously not capable of rational thinking and looking straight into his eyes, meant that he could cast a Genjutsu on her while she was still far away.

The recoil of his illusion being broken happened almost at the exact same time he cast it. In fact, it happened so fast that Itachi didn’t think the technique had even taken hold of her mind in the first place.

He didn’t need long to understand why; a Genjutsu worked by controlling the chakra flow of a target's cerebral nervous system, meaning a disorderly and erratic chakra network would make it impossible for illusions to work. That was usually not a problem, of course, as such a network would make it impossible for a person to cast any sort of technique or even mould chakra effectively at all.

It was just too bad that his current opponent wasn’t a regular person but the result of human experiments.

It seems I can’t depend on Genjutsu in this fight.

Even with the recoil of his failed technique, he still managed to duck under the punch that destroyed the wall behind him without too much trouble before he jumped back into the now open corridor while weaving hand seals.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

As he had predicted, the figure continued to rush straight at him, meaning that his attack would probably have connected even if he hadn’t fled into the narrow corridor where dodging such a big technique would have been impossible anyway.

Going by the high-pitched screams, he assumed the attack had been a full success.

Unfortunately, just when he thought that, the figure jumped out of the flames, the burns that marked her skin -her normal one, not the scaly parts- not even slowing it down.

Itachi once again couldn’t do anything but raise his arms to soften the blow before he was thrown backwards by the force of the punch and consider himself lucky that at least she hadn’t slashed at him with her claws instead.

It was fortunate that the corridor they were in now was much longer than the previous one, meaning there weren’t any walls for him to crash through. Instead, Itachi flew through the air for a bit until his feet touched the ground again, making him slid over the floor some more before he finally came to a stop.

Still, he thought with a short glance at his throbbing arms. From now on, I should avoid her punches rather than try to block them. He wasn’t sure what would happen if his arms took two or three more of these punches, and he didn’t plan on finding out. Redirecting and dodging it is, then.

Itachi was forced to put these plans into reality a second later when his opponent appeared in front of him, claws extended and ready to cut him into pieces.

Letting himself fall backwards, he dodged the crude attack with a flick-flack during which he used his upwards swinging legs to kick both her arms into the air, leaving her entire body open for attack. Then, not waiting for her to recover, he drew a kunai and tried to pierce her heart, intending to end this fight in an instant.

The emphasis was on ‘tried’, however.

Itachi hadn’t much time to be surprised by the fact that his weapon couldn’t pierce her skin before his opponent brought both her arms down in an attempt to crush him into the ground, forcing him to abandon his position and jump aside before twisting his body to connect a roundhouse-kick with her head to throw her backwards and buy himself some more time.

His attack might have failed, but this short confrontation hadn’t been completely useless. The modifications are definitive results of Orochimaru’s Curse Mark, but it’s still quite different from Sasuke’s version. Aside from the obvious fact that Sasuke had been in complete control until Orochimaru took over his body instead of being basically a mindless beast, the chakra of his current opponent felt completely different from his brother’s during their fight. There was simply something primal and vicious about hers that he had lacked. It’s probably safe to assume that this is an earlier and less successful version. However, that doesn’t explain why she has more raw power than Sasuke. If anything, it should be the other way around…

As much as he would like to look more into this mystery, and as much as he knew that this could very well prove useful in future confrontations with the rogue Sannin, there just wasn’t any time for any of that right now. If his suspicion was true, Orochimaru was much closer than he was comfortable with considering they already had two of the Seven Swordsmen as opponents; he would prefer to meet up with his team now instead of potentially facing two enemies of such calibre at once all by himself.

Consequently, he would need to take care of his current opponent quickly. Preferable without wasting any more chakra than absolutely necessary. He pitied the poor girl -and that was what she was. While all the deformations made it impossible to tell her exact age, he didn’t think she was all that much older than fifteen or sixteen. It was not her fault that she fell into the Sannin’s clutches, but he couldn’t let that stop him.

It was at least a small relief that a quick death would probably be a mercy at this point.

Itachi was pulled back into the present by another high-pitched howl, spurring him on to fly through hand seals before his incoming opponent could reach him.

A second later, his body was torn into two pieces when her claws went straight through his torso.

His body devolved into a murder of crows just a heartbeat later.

The disfigured girl shrieked in surprise and began to lash out at the birds around her, trying to swap them away with clumsy and uncoordinated slashes of her claws not too different to how a small child would swing their hands at a bee. That was exactly what Itachi had hoped for, though, as he wanted her to be distracted for the moment.

While his crows continued to swarm around her to block her sigh and keep her attention away from him, Itachi quickly drew several shuriken with attached steel wire.

That wasn’t the most notable thing, however. What truly mattered were the explosion tags that were fastened to it in periodic intervals.

Itachi had always been talented with shurikenjutsu, and he hadn’t slacked off in this life either. The weapons barely touched his hands before he threw them, letting them fly great arcs through the air before colliding with each other and changing their trajectory to reach whatever target he had in mind for them. When all was said and done just about three seconds later, all of his opponent’s limbs were wrapped in steel wire and explosion tags. Similarly, there were even more explosion tags now pinned to the wall and the ceiling around her as well.

Were her previous shriek one of surprise, the howl she let out now expressed nothing but furious rage.

Itachi wasn’t foolish enough to believe that his wires would hold her for long. With how much physical strength she had already demonstrated, she could probably tear them apart with the same ease with which he could destroy grass helms. This was another reason for why he wouldn’t try to capture her; the efforts he would need to put into that were too great as to be worth it.

Without any further delay, he jumped as far away from his opponent as he could before making a single hand seal.

A moment later, the corridor was engulfed in an explosion.

Kakashi watched as Ringo coughed out some blood from where she lied to his feet. “H-how did you-“ Another cough forced her to stop midsentence. “How did you do that?”

Just speaking that much visibly exhausted her already, but he could hardly blame her. While she had somehow managed to avoid having either her heart or her lungs pierced by his attack, the hole in her torso was clearly a lethal wound. Not enough to kill someone as strong as her immediately, no, but still very much deadly. Kakashi gave her a minute or two at most.

“You were saying you heard a lot of stories about me,” he reminded her while trying to get his own breathing under control. His sight was already getting blurry from blood loss and his legs felt like jelly; the last thing he needed right now was to collapse next to her and give Rango the chance to take him with her. “Can’t you figure it out yourself?”

He thought he saw a flash of confusion behind the painfilled haze that had lied itself over her eyes before it was replaced by understanding. “Y-you cut through it…”

“I did.”

Kakashi had concluded that if pressed without her two swords and with no way to run away, Ringo would naturally fall back on using a lightning technique in her defence. If he could overcome that, the odds were in his favour that he could finish her with one single strike.

As it turned out, he had been correct.

“T-the Copy Ninja,” Ringo chuckled before quickly falling into another coughing fit. “A-and the man who cut through lightning. Should have thought of that…”

“You should,” he agreed. “But I’m grateful you did not.”

He thought she wanted to chuckle again, but in the end, all she could muster was a bloody smile. “Good fight…” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “H-had… fun.”

Kakashi looked at her for several more seconds even after Ringo had closed her eyes for the last time before allowing himself to collapse against a nearby tree with an exhausted sigh.

“This could have gone better,” he muttered to himself while pushing his forehead protector back down to cover his Sharingan. “Let’s hope that Itachi and Zabuza had more luck than I…”

Right now, he would have loved nothing more than to give in to the blackness that currently tried to envelop his mind, but he couldn’t let that happen. First, he needed to patch himself up somewhat to avoid bleeding out on the spot, and then he would need to look for his teammates -primarily Itachi- to see if they were alright or needed help. Only after that could he allow himself to rest.

That being said, a glance down his body made him grimace. I really shouldn’t have postponed attending some of Tsunade-sama’s lessons until after this mission, should I?

Some medical Ninjutsu would have been pretty useful just about now.

Preoccupied with his thoughts and the treatment of his wounds, as well as impaired by the numbness that still seized his senses, Kakashi did not notice the rumbling in the distance that grew louder and louder by the second.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

IX

Itachi slowly emerged from the ground at the foot of a rocky slope, first only with his head and then ultimately with the rest of his body as well.

An unfortunate side-effect of him blowing up the corridor was that he had been forced to use the Hiding in Surface Technique to escape it unharmed himself. However, considering his revelation about Orochimaru, that was an acceptable consequence. The situation had changed and so had his approach; instead of prioritising the search for Zabuza, he now had every intention of returning to Kakashi first. After all, Itachi had no idea where exactly the swordsman was while his other teammate’s location should be rather easy to find.

He didn’t want to abandon one teammate for another, but he was also realistic enough to understand that there were times where one had no other choice but to prioritize one above another.

Furthermore, Kakashi’s summons probably had a better chance of finding the man anyway.

Itachi was just about to turn around and run in the direction he suspected Kakashi to be when an explosion not too far from him blew up the ground and threw dirt and dust into the air, creating a great cloud that limited his view on the area.

Naturally, Itachi immediately jumped onto a nearby branch high above the ground to put some more distance between himself and what he figured was his clearly not-so-dead opponent. This assumption was confirmed a moment later when a shrill howl filled the air, the unnatural sound making his hair stand on end.

Itachi pursed his lips when the dust cloud began to fade away and revealed the deformed figure of what once used to be a young woman.

He wasn’t one to curse, but that didn’t stop him from feeling rather frustrated by the sight of her almost unharmed body. Yes, there were a few cuts and burns on what remained of her human skin, but most of her body seemed completely fine. In fact, some parts of her dark, leathery skin actually appeared to be even thicker and healthier -if that word could even be used to describe such an abnormal perversion of nature- than before, making him suspect that she also possessed some sort of regenerative ability.

If all these explosions and the rocks from the collapsing corridor didn’t bother her, none of his standard techniques would either, and considering there were at least two S-Rank enemies left unaccounted for, he didn’t want to waste his chakra and use one of his more powerful techniques against this opponent…

Maybe the best thing to do would be to flee before she notices me.

That idea unfortunately flew out of the window as soon as it crossed his mind as it was at that exact moment his body moved on its own and jumped high into the air to avoid the fist that would have smashed his head into a gory mess.

A second later, his opponent jumped after him, a wild and inhuman look in her eyes.

Itachi had realized earlier that outright blocking her attacks would be detrimental in the long run due to her immense strength, and as dodging wasn’t easy not that they were both in the air, all he could do in this situation was to redirect her limbs away from himself.

She caught up with him fast and immediately swept at his face in a wide sideways arc with her claws, making Itachi lean back while also carefully slam his fist against her wrist to make the attack go wide. What followed was another swing with her other hand which he neutralised in the same way, followed by a third that came at Itachi from above and which he let fly by harmlessly with a simple twist of his body.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe a part of her realized that these kinds of attacks wouldn’t work, but her next attack was a well-aimed punch at his chest that might actually have connected if Itachi hadn’t had the Sharingan to predict her movements. Consequently, rather than blowing a hole into his chest, Itachi twisted his body once more and grabbed onto the limp to pull himself closer to his surprised opponent before kicking off her body to not only break them up again but also propel her to the ground.

That strategy seemed to work just fine at first, but before he had time to use this short window to think of a new plan, everything went wrong again.

Just like when chakra had steamed out of her arms earlier to increase the speed and power of her punch, the same happened now, the only difference being that it didn’t emerge from any of her limbs but the two bulges on her back he hadn’t paid much attention to until now.

As a result of that, instead of continuing to fall to the ground, she suddenly shot up again, flying straight at him.

Itachi managed just so to avoid her clumsy strike but couldn’t do anything to stop the collision.

The impact of it knocked the air out of his lungs and disoriented him for a little more than a heartbeat, but at least the latter was the case for his opponent as well considering there wasn’t any follow-up attack from her that he needed to worry about.

Their bodies were tangled together for only two or three seconds before departing from each other again, giving Itachi more than enough time to collect himself and adjust his body in a way that allowed him to land softly on his feet while his opponent crashed much less gracefully into the ground, stirring up another cloud of dust in the process.

Using that opportunity, he quickly created a Crow Clone to fight in his stead while he hid in the background to give himself some time to think.

He had just positioned himself behind a thick tree when his opponent jumped out of the dust cloud again, no worse to wear by the crash that would have broken several bones in a normal human body.

Not that Itachi was surprised, mind you.

From his position behind the tree, Itachi observed the resulting fight between his opponent and his clone while he thought about what he should do. On one hand, this was the perfect opportunity for him to escape and find Kakashi. As long as his clone continued to fight -which would be quite a while considering it could reform even if it got destroyed until it ran out of chakra- and distract the poor victim of one of Orochimaru’s experiments, Itachi would be able to get away without being noticed quite easily.

On the other hand, leaving a possible enemy behind didn’t sit well with him. He had enough experience to know that such things came back to bite you, and having to deal with her on top of Orochimaru if they truly encountered the Sannin would be a serious problem. Even more so when there were still the two rogue swordsmen to consider.

Yes, it would be for the best if he took care of this right now instead of letting it become a problem later on.

As strong as she might be, in the end, she was still little more than a beast. With her mind so obviously broken as it was, all her apparent power was pretty much wasted on her. After all, if you couldn’t use your abilities smartly, you could just as well not have them to begin with.

That being said, her durability might be a problem. Itachi really didn’t want to waste much chakra on this, so he needed to find a way to kill her as efficiently as possible.

The best approach would probably be to finish her off with one single, lethal attack, he thought. Judging from the way she doesn’t bother much with guarding her vital spots or defence in general, piercing her heart or even decapitating her shouldn’t be impossible. However, that was only true if he could actually go through her skin; he hadn’t forgotten how his kunai had failed to pierce her skin earlier.

Coating his weapons with chakra could do the trick, and he thought it might be even more efficient to specifically enhance them with either wind or lightning chakra as well. Neither element was his speciality, but he could manipulate them enough to get by. Although if my attack fails and she survives, it would ultimately have been useless and a waste of both my time and chakra. She had proven to possess regenerative abilities, after all. She would most likely shrug off every non-lethal attack without a second thought, and if that happened, he would be directly in front of her. As much as he was confident that he could get away from her again without getting injured, the odds of something going wrong wasn’t zero and he saw no reason to risk that.

He could use long-range techniques, of course, but that brought him back to his problem of using more chakra than absolutely necessary. Just two or three wouldn’t even be a problem, but the likelihood of that being enough was slim.

Then, suddenly, Itachi’s eyes widened when he got an idea. It was a little bit risky but not more so than his plan of coating weapons in chakra, and the kind of attack he had in mind would also conveniently bypass his opponent’s ridiculous high defence. He had never actually attempted to use it outside of the classroom and even then not in a combat situation, but he knew that he could pull it off.

As much as he disliked people gushing about his supposed status as a genius, he was in fact a prodigy. Mastering new techniques always came easy to him, even without the help of his Sharingan.

Also, if things went perfectly, he might even be able to capture her instead of being forced to kill her. While he certainly couldn’t make that a priority considering the situation, it would be rather beneficial if he could pull that off. It wasn’t worth it to take unnecessary risks, of course, but if the opportunity presented itself, he would take it.

It took him little more than a minute for an opportunity to present itself. His clone got hit in the chest and immediately dissolved into a murder of crows that swarmed around its opponent, giving Itachi the opening he needed to close in on them without being noticed until it was already too late.

He was in front of the grotesque figure in the blink of an eye and dodged its reflexive swept with ease before spinning around his own axis and throwing a kick up against his opponent’s chin. 

Although it felt like kicking a wall and sent vibrations through his body that made him clench his teeth, the attack did its job in that it lifted her off the ground and thus limited her mobility.

It was then that he could execute the rest of his plan:

While still in mid-air, his opponent gave a frustrated growl as she threw out her leg to kick him away. Having hoped for just that reaction, Itachi focused his chakra into his hands and compacted it as much as he could before forming it into small, sharp blades just like he had learned in Tsunade’s lessons.

Her left leg flew mere millimetres over his head as he ducked beneath it, close enough for him to feel a breeze of air whirling through his hair, and he used that opportunity to gently tap her upper leg before quickly falling back again to get some distance between them.

When she landed on the ground a few moments later, she let out something that sounded like a surprised squeak when the leg Itachi had just tapped immediately gave away beneath her.

His clone immediately realized what he had done and rushed towards her with chakra coated hands as well. Seeing that, their opponent howled again and lashed out with her right arm. His clone didn’t care about that, however, and didn’t even bother trying to dodge the attack.

It managed to tap her arm less than a heartbeat before the claws tore it apart, dissolving it once more into a murder of crows.

Itachi took a moment to watch them fly away and note that his chakra must have run out as the clone didn’t reform again, but it didn’t really matter. With two limbs down, his opponent’s movements became even easier to predict and consequently easier to dodge.

Even more so because he couldn’t now identify the build-up of chakra in the bulges on her back for what it was instead of being caught by surprise as he had been previously.

Chakra once again steamed out from her back and propelled her forwards, right towards Itachi’s waiting form. She first roared in triumph, but that sound quickly turned into confusion when his body was replaced by a wooden log in a puff of white smoke. Then, with nothing sturdy enough to stop her momentum in her path, she continued to fly forwards in a parallel line to the rocky slope to their right, leaving a trail of destruction and uprooted trees in her wake before finally coming to a halt.

Itachi was on top of her half a second later and used his chakra scalpels to immobilize her remaining two limbs as well. Then, just to be safe, he did the same to destroy all the nerves, muscles, and chakra pathways that led to the bulges on her back just as he had done with her limbs as well.

After all, there was no need to risk her using that method again to possibly catch him off-guard.

The end of the fight felt almost anticlimactic. That was obviously a stupid thought, however; fights rarely had a big and dramatic climax. In fact, most fights didn’t last any longer than this one had, only ever scratching the five minutes mark when either both opponents were very close in skill and experience or when one was stronger than their opponent and deliberately stalled the fight.

Still, even as he observed the lying figure in front of him, he couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was off.

However, because he couldn’t pinpoint anything specific that would explain this sensation, Itachi decided to keep that in mind but for now focus on what was in front of him. His instincts were rarely wrong, so whatever was subconsciously bothering him would make itself known sooner rather than later anyway.

Thus, rather than worrying about things he couldn’t change, he instead observed in wonder as his fallen opponent’s vile chakra slowly but surely began to repair the damage he had inflicted on her.

He had cut through her pathways and injected his own chakra into it to disturb her internal system, but even that turned out to be not enough to keep her down for long. In fact, if he were to take a guess, he would say that it would take only about ten to fifteen minutes for her to be back on her feet. No wonder my earlier attacks didn’t work on her, he thought. If she can heal internal wounds like that this fast even after I utilized my chakra scalpels, external wounds naturally don’t pose much of a threat. It would take a truly devastating technique to overcome such a powerful healing ability.

A cold shudder ran down his back when he remembered that Orochimaru also possessed almost unbelievable regenerative abilities. While it didn’t come as much of a surprise that they were at least partially the result of experiments instead of merely an advantage gained from a forbidden technique, this was the first time he had confirmation of that. Just thinking about how many innocents must have landed on his operation table, how many must have died slow and painful deaths to reach this point, made him sick.

It also made him wonder which other abilities the Sannin gained this way he didn’t know about, or how the fact that he had left Konoha earlier in this timeline had affected things.

Itachi forcefully discarded these grim thoughts. There was nothing he could do about any of that right now and he needed to find Kakashi as soon as possible so that they could go after Zabuza together. There was no time to waste with useless thoughts.

Unfortunately, due to her healing abilities, it was impossible to take his opponent prisoner. Things might be different if there were no other enemies left to worry about, but alas, that was not the case.

Hopefully examining her corpse would be enough to find out why her Cure Mark abilities were so much stronger than those he had observed in Sasuke.

He felt sorry for that young woman, the victim of crimes that went against nature itself, but it couldn’t be helped. This was hardly the first time he killed someone that didn’t deserve their fate and it was unlikely to be the last time either, but at least it could be considered mercy in this case. After what she had gone through, death would surely be a welcome reprise.

Itachi could confidentially say that there was no pain or suffering in the afterlife, after all.

Decision made, he once again channelled chakra into his hands, intend of giving her a quick and painless death.

He felt the ominous presence a moment before its owner made itself known.

“Kukuku, would you look at that? It appears even my creations are no match for the great Uchiha Clan!”

There, standing on top of the rocky slope and looking down on him with a nasty grin on his face, was Orochimaru.

Kakashi was just about to gather his strength and stand up after finally having his wounds patched up enough to at least avoid bleeding out on the spot when a distant rumbling caught his attention. At first, he thought it might be the result of a nearby fight, but he quickly realized that not only did it come from the wrong direction but also was a constant sound that got louder and louder while closing in on his approximate position.

Then he noticed the column of smoke rising up in the distance and vanishing into the horizon beyond what he could see, confirming that it was indeed someone -or something- approaching instead of the result of some technique.

Is it too much to ask that this is backup? Itachi had sent a crow back to Konoha when their promised support from Kiri hadn’t arrived at the agreed meeting place, after all.

Unfortunately, considering their distance from their home, it was highly unlikely that any possible backup would already be here. Sure, some random patrol that was close enough to the border to react quickly might have gotten the message first and came to help them, but what were the odds of that? Kakashi was rarely so lucky.

That also wouldn’t explain why their arrival was accompanied by such a ruckus.

This is better not another enemy, he thought with a sigh even while he prepared for the worst. We have enough on our hands as it is. The last thing we need is another opponent.

Itachi had hoped to reunite with at least Kakashi if not his entire team before possibly encountering the rogue Sannin, but it appeared that wasn’t to be. Facing him alone like this was truly the worst-case scenario, but now that it had happened, Itachi had no other choice but to deal with it.

However, it wasn’t only Orochimaru that caught his eyes but also the motionless figure at his feet.

“Oh?” Orochimaru said, his grin impossibly growing even wider. “Are you wondering about that ugly thing? It’s nothing worth mentioning, really. Just something that got in my way that I got rid of.” With that, he gave the body a hard kick that made it thunder down the slope.

A few seconds later, Kushimaru’s lifeless body came crashing to the ground just a dozen metres away from him, and a quick glance with his Sharingan confirmed that it was indeed the real deal and not just a convincing fake body. After all, there was no way to fake the fading chakra signature his eyes could clearly make out.

Or at least there shouldn’t be a way, he conceded in the privacy of his mind. Who knew what kinds of tricks he had come up with over the years?

Itachi still didn’t think it was a fake, but it was better to be safe than to be sorry.

“Orochimaru,” he finally greeted the man with a calm demeanour while his head came up with and decarded idea after idea about how to deal with this situation. “Can I assume you didn’t come to turn yourself in?”

The Sannin chuckled. “Oh my, who would have thought a member of such a prestigious, stuck-up clan as yours would make a joke in such a situation? Maybe I need to revise my opinion of your lot after all.”

“If it’s not that, then is it merely to insult my family?”

“As amusing as that might be, I’m afraid that isn’t the reason either.” Orochimaru slowly licked his lips. “No, rather, I long since thought about which ability I would like to acquire next, and the Sharingan is always on top of the list.” He then threw his arms out in a dramatic fashion that made Itachi momentarily focus on the familiar ring on his left pinkie before continuing in a noticeably excited tone. “How could I possibly resist when none other than the famed Itachi Uchiha went through all this trouble just to come to me all by himself?”

He wasn’t surprised by that admission at all. While he had expected the man to try luring him to his side first, there had been no doubt in his mind about his true intentions. It was a shame, though, as playing along with such a scheme would have given him a better shot at taking him out.

Not that this turn of events was surprising either, mind you. Orochimaru had always been an arrogant individual, regularly to the point where it came to bite him later on, and he probably thought that prodigy or not, he could take Itachi by force without too much trouble.

Itachi was confident that he could take him, however. Even more so because they hadn’t fought in this timeline yet.

In his last life, Orochimaru had once tried to take his body by force as well, and just like now, he had been rather overconfident in that confrontation. Once he thought himself in a superior situation, he let his guard down and allowed Itachi to not only free himself but paralyse the man with a Genjutsu of his in turn.

He was confident that he could have beaten the Sannin in a straight fight as well, but it wouldn’t have been easy nor even a guaranteed victory at all. Without taking him by surprise as he had done, he would have been forced to use some of his most dangerous techniques, and with the man’s tendency to somehow always escape when things get tough, there was still the possibility that he would have gotten away before Itachi would have had the chance to finish him off for good.

What he was getting at was that after that first confrontation, every future fight against this opponent would have been much harder.

This was an entirely new timeline, though. Here, the two of them never crossed blades with each other, meaning Orochimaru wasn’t as cautious of him yet as he was in Itachi’s previous life. This, in turn, meant he could still be taken by surprise.

Although no matter how confident he might be, Orochimaru was unfortunately still clever enough to avoid looking directly into his eyes. Doing so wouldn’t be just arrogant but positively stupid, after all. Still, Itachi wouldn’t let that stop him. In fact, Orochimaru probably believed that every Genjutsu not cast directly through his Sharingan would be useless and thus didn’t expect any such technique to be of any danger to him.

Itachi could use that against him. After all, whatever illusion he used only needed to paralyse him for about a second, if even that. As long as that happened, he could finish this with one attack.

He didn’t plan to give his opponent the chance to recover and either fight back or flee.

“Well then,” Orochimaru continued. “Why don’t we-“

Itachi didn’t wait for him to finish before casting his strongest Genjutsu that didn’t require eye contact on the man without as much as a single hand seal, making the Sannin freeze on the spot.

A moment later, he appeared in the air next to him, his eyes spinning and transforming into the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Orochimaru might have amazing regenerative abilities that allowed him to come back from almost any injury, but even he would be finished if pierced by the Totsuka Blade and pulled into its eternal realm of drunken stupor.

However, before he had the chance to even form his Susanoo, a figure that had previously been out of sight and hidden beneath Orochimaru's chakra that blanketed the area jumped towards him with a kick to his chest.

Itachi managed to raise his arms in time to block the attack. The power behind it wasn’t particularly strong -he didn’t feel any pain in his arms even though they were still battered from his previous fight- or overwhelming, but because he was still in mid-air, there was nothing he could do to stop himself from being thrown back towards where he came from.

He felt the backlash of his Genjutsu being broken even before his feet touched the ground.

This is bad, he thought. With that attack having failed, any fight that broke out from here would undoubtedly be a hard one, especially if the newcomer proved himself to be even just a somewhat decent opponent as well. I can’t have him intervene whenever I’m about to beat Orochimaru, so taking him out first will take priority.

“That was quite rude, wasn’t it?” the Sannin said, his surprise at being caught off-guard like that already forgotten. “Hasn’t anyone told you not to attack someone in the middle of a conversation? Things would have turned ugly if not for Nakamura’s timely interference.”

The brown-haired young man bowed in acknowledgement before turning his gaze back towards Itachi, his eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses.

While he had never met that person before, he recognized that name from Anko’s and Yukio’s stories easily enough. So that’s their teammate that went with Orochimaru, then.

“Now that I think about it,” Orochimaru continued with a contemplative expression on his face. “You took his place on my former team, did you not? In a way, that makes all three of us part of the same lineage, doesn’t it? How unfortunate that the other two aren’t with you. Now that would have been an interesting reunion!”

“I’m sure they wouldn't be quite as happy about it as you.”

The other man shrugged. “It’s only my opinion that matters, so why should I care about what they think?”

“It’s exactly that mentality that will ultimately result in your defeat.”

Orochimaru only laughed. “Is that so? Well, I guess we will see about that soon enough.” While he still made sure to avoid his gaze, Itachi could see the glee in his yellow eyes clear as day. “You know, when I made this little arrangement with these two swordsmen about offering them shelter in this hideout in return for them bringing me new subject to experiment on, I never dreamed that one of them would be the bearer of a Mangekyo Sharingan! I'd love to know how you awakened it when the last thing I heard was that Shisui Uchiha was its sole user...?"

When Itachi stayed silent, Orochimaru simply shrugged again, apparently having expected that reaction. “No matter. You will tell me all your secrets soon enough anyway.”

Itachi didn’t plan to let it come to that. He might have preferred to fight the Sannin under different circumstances and having two opponents was far from ideal as well, but in the end, he was still confident that he could do it.

Especially because he was more than just a little motivated to do so. After all, Orochimaru had taken an interest in his brother before and there was no way to be sure he wouldn’t do so again. If the Sannin died here and now, however, that danger would be taken care of before it could become an actual problem.

“In my experience, those that talk big usually fall on their faces shortly after.”

Orochimaru chuckled, not intimidated in the slightest. “Aren’t you doing the exact same thing just now, Itachi-kun?”

“Possibly, but I’m not the one that already needed to be rescued once because they got caught off-guard.”

While he would never admit it out loud, Itachi felt a surge of satisfaction when he saw the arrogant smirk on Orochimaru’s face momentarily turn into an annoyed scowl before he caught himself and forced his face back into a confident expression.

Neither of them said another word, but there was a noticeable shift in the air around them as both prepared for a fight; the weight of each other’s full attention set upon their shoulders, killing intend filled the area, and leaves rustled while cracks appeared in nearby stones under the pressure of their combined chakra.

Muscles tense, Itachi was just about to jump into action when a loud rumbling reached his ears. Then, before he could attempt to identify its source, a gigantic blue snake broke through the trees a dozen metres to his right.

However, as much as that sight shocked him, it wasn’t as much the snake that caught his attention but the person riding on its head. She had grown over the years, of course, and the dark violet dress that reached down her legs and the red sash around her waist were new to him as well, but he would recognize that person everywhere.

“Well,” Anko said, her playful tone belying the hard look in her eyes. “Seems like I got here just in time for a dramatic entrance, didn’t I?”

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

X

Anko knew that six years was a long time, but it still caught her off-guard when Itachi appeared next to her on Aoda’s head and she saw just how much he had changed since she last saw him. Gone was the weenie little seven years old she had said goodbye to when she left Konoha to go on her journey, replaced by the teenager she saw now.

However, no matter how much he might have changed, she instantly realized he was still very much the Itachi she remembered. Sure, the lines on his face were deeper than a few years ago, he now wore a Jōnin uniform instead of his simple back top and beige pants, and he was taller than before, but the look in his eyes -weird Sharingan muster aside- hadn’t changed one bit.

(Although she wouldn’t admit it out loud, Anko was glad that he wasn’t quite as tall as she yet. The idea of him towering over her instead of the other way around annoyed her more than she would like to admit.)

Someone who hadn’t changed in all that time she hadn’t seen him, on the other hand, was Orochimaru.

Anko felt the anger in the pit of her stomach stir at the sight of him and only grow stronger by the presence of her former teammate at his side, but she swallowed it down. Now wasn’t the time to let her emotions get the better of her. Besides, there was something else she needed to take care of first before she could devote herself to taking care of the two traitors in front of her. It wasn’t easy, but after waiting for several years already, she could be patient for a few more minutes.

“Anko, what are you doing here?”

Although it didn’t show on his face aside from a slight widening of his eyes, the genuine surprise in Itachi’s voice made her grin. Weren’t the situation so grim right now, she would thoroughly enjoy the rare occasion of having caught him completely by surprise.

“Well,” she drawled, just a little bit smug. “A helpful little snake told me that a certain Sannin was causing trouble in this area, so I thought I give it a look. I didn’t expect to run into any old friends, though.”

“So you decided to seek out Orochimaru the first chance you got without telling anyone?”

“You could at least try to act a little bit more thankful that I’m here now to save your ass, you know.”

Contrary to her words, her grin grew only wider; of course the first thing he would do was reprimanding her.

“I am thankful for your aid, but that doesn’t make your decision any less reckless.”

Anko rolled her eyes in an extravagant manner to not only express her thoughts on that matter but also to subtly check the area for more enemies. “It’s not like I planned to actually confront him once I found him.” She then tilted her head in mock consideration. “You know, now that I think about it, the only reason I do so now is that you were obviously in trouble, so one could claim that me being here right now is your fault.”

To be fair, when she first got her lead onto her former sensei, she did plan to fight -and kill- him. However, once her emotions had cooled down somewhat, she realized what a terrible idea that was. As much as she had improved over the last six years, she wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she could take him on by herself quite yet. Still, that didn’t mean she couldn’t find out his location, bring the information back to Konoha, and then join the team that would doubtlessly send to deal with him, right?

Never would she have expected to find a team already present, even less so one that included her teammate.

Itachi opened his mouth to reply but was cut short by the silky voice of Orochimaru. “Well, if that isn’t Anko-chan. What a nice surprise! I just mentioned how sad it is that the rest of our linage wasn’t here. Say, you didn't happen to bring Yukio as well, did you?”

Although they had been talking, both she and Itachi had kept most of their attention on him in case he used the opportunity to attack them. After all, if he attacked them with the expectation of catching them by surprise, they might turn the table on him instead; no matter how small this advantage might be, it was still better than nothing and they needed to take whatever edge they could get their hands on.

The knowledge that the two of them could still silently communicate and agree on a plan like this even now sent a surge of elation through her veins before she concentrated back on their current situation and sent a glare right at the Sannin.

“Unfortunately, I did not,” she said, her voice dark. “I’m sure he will be disappointed when he hears that we took care of you without him.”

Orochimaru chuckled, but it was Nakamura who replied. “It seems you’re still as arrogant as ever, Anko,” he said while adjusting his glasses. “You can’t possibly think the two of you will be enough to beat not only Orochimaru-sama but me as well, can you?”

“To be honest, I didn’t really consider you as enough of a threat to include you in any of my thoughts. It’s not like your presence will change anything about the outcome, after all.”

While Anko presented a tough appearance, inwardly she didn’t know what to feel. She had always hoped that Nakamura didn’t run away with Orochimaru willingly, that he had been kidnapped and pulled along without his consent, so him being so openly antagonistic now felt like a slap to her face while also making her feel both angry and sad. On the other hand, a part of her was relieved that he wasn’t just another victim of their sensei’s crimes. At least this way, things were straightforward; he was their enemy and needed to be treated as such, nothing more and nothing less.

Nakamura took an angry step towards the edge of the slope. “If you think you’re still stronger than I am, you’re wrong. I-“

“’I trained a lot and became much more powerful than you could ever imagine’," Anko said with an intentionally terrible imitation of his voice. "Is that what you’re going to say? Because if it is, don’t bother.”

“You-“

“Don’t let her rile you up, Nakamura,” Orochimaru interrupted him, the hard look in his eyes belying the softness of his voice. “I don’t have any use of you if you’re distracted.”

He sent one more heated look her way before visibly collecting himself. “Yes, Orochimaru-sama.”

The Sannin nodded with a satisfied smirk on his face before turning his gaze back towards them. “Now that this is settled, why don’t we discuss your terms of surrender?”

Now it was she who took an angry step forward, but before she could get very far, Itachi’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. “Don’t do anything rash, Anko.”

“I know that!” She was aware that she acted without thinking sometimes, but the White Snake Sage had made very sure to beat some patience into her head. “I’m not stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trick!”

Anko thought he would fight her on that, but to her surprise, he took one look into her eyes before releasing her shoulder. “It seems the last six years have been good to you.”

Much to her embarrassment, she felt herself flush at that. “H-hey, what are you saying? You’re not Tanaka-sensei, so stop acting-“

The whistling sound of a thrown weapon made her stop mid-sentence and turn around to catch the kunai before it could hit her head, coincidentally distracting her enough to let the short darkening in Itachi’s eyes at the mention of their sensei go unnoticed.

“Oh, are you feeling impatient now, Sensei?”

Orochimaru’s face had turned from a mostly amused smirk to a more annoyed expression. “You know me too well, Anko-chan. I just don’t like being ignored.”

She smirked a bit at that, but instead of replying to him, she once again turned towards her teammate while keeping the Sannin at the edge of her sight. “Itachi,” she said. “I found Kakashi on my way here. He has been injured and needs medical care. I did some first aid, but I don’t know any healing techniques and didn’t have the means to do more than that.”

He obviously understood what she was implying immediately. “You want to fight them on their own?”

“Only until you got him fixed up.” While saying that, she used her body to hide her right hand while secretly flashing him the hand signs for ‘distraction’, ‘regroup’, and ‘retreat’. “I would prefer it if you could hurry with that, though. It would look bad on your resume if you only got back here after I already beat them up.”

Maybe the two of them could actually win this fight, but the odds weren’t exactly in their favour. Especially considering Itachi had clearly already exhausted about a third of his chakra and suffered at least some minor injuries if the way he held his arms were anything to go by. No, as much as she hated to admit it, now wasn’t the right time to take care of her traitorous former teammates.

However, Kakashi’s condition needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. His injuries weren't life-threatening but still very bad. According to him, Itachi knew some medical Ninjutsu, so the best course of action right now was for him to fix Kakashi up enough so that he wouldn’t be a burden and then find a way to flee from here.

They didn’t have much time to discuss, so it was fortunate that Itachi only needed a second or two to come to a decision. “I trust that you can survive until I get back here.”

It was formulated as a statement, but she heard the underlining concern for what it was.

“Of course I can!” she said with her best confident grin. “I didn’t spend the last six years just sitting idly and twiddling my thumbs, you know!”

There was no need for any more words between them. Trusting her decision, Itachi nodded before vanishing in a shunshin. Curiously, the deformed body that laid on the ground a few metres to Aoda’s right vanished a second later as well.

Anko returned her full attention back towards the two men on the slope above while also beginning to make the necessary preparations for the fight to come, making note specifically of Orochimaru’s confident smile.

“Oh?” she said, raising a single eyebrow. “Not gonna run after him? I don’t remember you being someone who let their 'prey' escape.”

Unfortunately, rather than being riled up by her words, he only appeared amused. “You Konoha-nin are so very predictable. You’re always trying to play the hero and save your teammates. As long as you’re here, Anko-chan, I don’t need to worry about him getting away.” His grin then widened to a degree that made even her uncomfortable. “Trust me, my dear. At the end of the day, his eyes will be mine.”

Yeah, she thought. I don’t think so.

“However,” Orochimaru continued. “I agree that it’s somewhat bothersome that he took my test subject with him.” He turned his head. “Nakamura…”

His back immediately straightened under his master’s attention. “I understand,” he said. “I will take care of that immediately.”

“Hey, what-“

Without as much as a glance at her, he rushed into the direction Itachi had vanished earlier.

Anko wanted to jump after him or at least follow him with her eyes, but she didn’t dare to move around. Even just turning her head was no option. It was dangerous enough to just speak while doing what she was doing; any more than that, however, and failure would be guaranteed.

“Oh?” Orochimaru asked in a mocking imitation of her voice. “Are you not going to run after him? I didn’t think you would allow either of us to escape our righteous punishment at your hands.”

She scoffed. “I can just as well go after him once I took care of you.”

“Is that so?” he chuckled. “Then let us hope that your comrades will still be alive by then.”

“You should know better than to think he can beat any of them, Sensei.”

Surprisingly, he agreed. “Fair enough, but as long as he stops them from doing anything to that girl, his death won’t be meaningless. Everything else is secondary.”

Anko actually felt bad for Nakamura after hearing Orochimaru dismiss his life so easily, but then she remembered that he, too, was a traitor and discarded that stupid sentiment.

“What’s so special about her anyway?” she asked. “Don’t you have enough prisoners to torture?”

He tilted his head and adopted an expression of sorrow that was so fake that it made Anko grit her teeth. “I do, of course, but not all of them provide such magnificent results as she does. It’s also important to get out as much information as possible from those subjects that survive the initial procedure, you see, and with how little time this one has left, it’s all the more essential to get her back and continue my research before it’s too late.”

Her eyes narrowed, but Orochimaru continued before she could do as much as open her mouth, apparently predicting her question.

“The human body is host to so much energy, Anko-chan. Energy that rests patiently in every cell of our bodies, content with being inactive until it’s needed to keep us alive instead of being available at our beck and call. And once it runs out, we die.” His face momentarily deterred into one of disgust before returning to its default state. “Wouldn’t you agree that this is such a waste? Every day, countless people’s lives are cut short long before they can fully exploit the full extent of their bodies, and even those that are still alive can’t reach their full potential as long as they can’t access what lies hidden in their cells. Just imagine what humans could do with that kind of power!”

The realization of what he had done made her blood run cold. “You transformed her life force into chakra?”

“Isn’t it amazing? A civilian girl with no talent to become a shinobi managed to gain the power to face the much-celebrated prodigy of the Uchiha and not only stay alive but actually push him back for a time!” He chuckled in a mixture of amusement over her disgust and glee over his successful experiment. “The exchange ratio is not yet as effective as it could be and the unfortunate side effect of losing one’s mind is regrettable, but such things can be solved with time. Now, finding a way to stop the life force from continuously escaping once the metaphorical plug has been taken out on the other hand…”

Anko knew what crimes Orochimaru had been accused of, knew of his cruel and vile experiments on innocents and even babes he had carried out, but there was a difference between theoretically knowing about such things and listening to him talking about them similar to how you would talk about an academy assignment. To listen to him now, knowing that she could have continued to study under him for who-knew-how-long had things gone just a little bit different, made her sick.

Not only that, but it also made her furious.

She knew better than to let her emotions control her actions these days, but dammit was it tempting to just let her anger take over.

“Hey, Aoda,” she said, her bland voice standing in vivid contrast to the turmoil she felt on the inside. “I’m ready.”

“Please don’t do anything stupid, Anko-sama.”

It was clear to her that he wasn’t any less worried than he had been when she first convinced him to tell her what was wrong with him, but at least he understood that now wasn’t the time for long arguments. She was thankful for that.

“Of course not, idiot. And what did I tell you about not calling me -sama?”

Aoda hissed in what was the equivalent of a nervous chuckle for a human. “I will stop to do so if you survive this confrontation, Anko-sama.”

She gave him a vicious grin, knowing that he could hear it in her voice even if he couldn’t see it. “Deal.”

“Are you quite done?” Orochimaru spoke up, his arms crossed and his mouth curved up in a mocking smirk. “For your sake, I hope whatever plan you have come up with will be worth it. I would hate to have been as patient as I was only to be disappointed.” His grin gained an edge to it. “And you know how much I hate to be disappointed.”

“Don’t worry, Sensei. I promise this will blow your mind!”

On her unspoken command, Aoda vanished in a gigantic puff of white smoke that instantly swallowed her in it, hiding her from Orochimaru’s eyes.

“Katon: Karyū Endan!” (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)

Barely a second after she had vanished in the smoke, a high-pressure stream of fire shot out from it that quickly formed the body of a long, serpentine dragon while its flames became white in colour as its heat increased.

The attack smashed right through the ground where he stood, melting earth and stone alike as everything in its path was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

“A powerful technique indeed, but useless all the same if it doesn’t actually hit its target.”

Orochimaru, however, had evaded it by simply jumping high into the air.

The smug grin on his face didn’t waver as he observed the destruction her technique had brought, and at first, that didn’t change even when she suddenly appeared behind him, but the moment he turned around and caught sight of her, his smirk faltered and his eyes widened in surprise. “You-“

His reaction was understandable. After all, her appearance would catch almost everyone by surprise, especially when one knew what it meant.

With two small horns growing from each side of her head, parts of her skin becoming more scalelike, dark markings forming around her eyes that had black veins twisting away from them, and green chakra flicking in and out of existence around her, she certainly made quite the curious sight.

Also, in her personal opinion, she looked pretty badass. Sure, her fingernails growing sharper and more claw-like kinda sucked, but other than that, this form was pretty amazing.

However, the thing that she thought probably threw Orochimaru off the most was the fact that her eyes were now exact matches of his.

Most of these changes would cease to exist once her mastery over the natural chakra increased, but for now, they were to stay, and Anko wasn’t too mad about that. After all, they were proof that she had indeed learned how to use Sage Mode.

Furthermore, they had just proven their worth by catching her opponent off-guard enough to allow her to break through his guard and connect a kick with his chest before he could raise his arms in defence, catapulting him straight to the ground where his impact caused a loud explosion that stirred up dirt and rock and created a big crater.

Anko wasn’t done yet, though.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

An orb of flames much bigger than anything she could have ever imagined producing a few years ago crashed into her former sensei’s motionless body barely a second after he had crashed to the ground, instantaneously filling the area with the smell of burned flesh.

Anko wasn’t fooled by that, however, as her increased sensory abilities warned her about the presence moving through the underground, meaning she was well-prepared when the ground broke open and Orochimaru emerged, his lower body replaced by that of a snake and his mouth unnaturally wide open. A second later, a snake shot out from it that then opened its maw as well to summon a sword that aimed right at her.

Instead of foolishly trying to dodge it when she was still mid-air, she instead twisted around and caught the weapon between the soles of her feet before putting all her power into throwing it back towards the ground, the force behind that move pulling first the snake and then Orochimaru himself with it.

By the time her feet touched the ground, Orochimaru had already used his own brand of substitution technique and stood once more on his own two legs, no worse to wear from their previous bout.

The only change from before was that now, his face spotted an excited and -probably more importantly- downright greedy expression.

“Sage Mode,” he muttered barely loud enough for Anko to hear before raising his voice to address her directly. “Never would I have imagined that you were strong enough to master that technique. Had I known you held such potential, I would have taken you with me when I left the village.”

Anko didn’t have any time to waste considering she could keep this up for only seven minutes at a time, so she pushed off the ground. “Then I will count myself fortunate that you didn’t!”

She reached him in an instant and threw a fist at his face that he blocked almost absentmindedly before bringing his knee upwards to knock the wind out of her. However, instead of just letting that happen, Anko jumped into the air and twisted with no regard to the arm that was still in Orochimaru’s grip, catching him by surprise once more when her arm twisted with her as if there were no bones in it. The kick she then followed up with while still in mid-air missed his head but forced him to let go of her fist and back away a bit.

“Oh, but think of all the strength you could have gained had you continued to study under my tutelage.”

Not wanting to give him time to rest, she rushed after him before smoothly falling into a crouch and trying to sweep his legs away. He simply dodged that by taking another step back before bringing a heel down to where her head would have been had she not jumped away just in time, smashing the ground into pieces.

“I only grew this strong because you left, and because I came into contact with people I would have never met had I stayed your student!”

It was he who rushed at her and threw a punch to her head this time. Anko didn’t catch it like he did before, however, and instead redirected it to the side before sending a roundhouse kick to his chest that he blocked by crossing his arms in front of him. Then it was his turn to throw a kick at her, but she evaded it by ducking under it and breaking into his guard that that way, only for him to avoid her follow-up punch by flipping over her and landing behind her back where he immediately avoided her mule kick with a mere tilt of his head.

“Then maybe you should join me now and combine what you have learnt so far with what I have to offer.”

Jumping around in one fluid motion, she aimed a slash with the edge of her hand at his throat that he redirected away from himself with a simple slap. Unfortunately, that unbalanced her enough to make it impossible to dodge his following kick to her chest, forcing her to raise her other arm to block it. He had evidently not put too much power into that attack, though, allowing Anko to stop herself from being pushed away more than a metre or so, but the force behind her still made her teeth clench.

“You have nothing to offer that I could be interested in!”

“Maybe I should just bring you with me without your consent, then.”

When he rushed at her this time, he was notably faster than before, and it were only her enhanced senses and instincts rather than any conscious decision that made her duck her head under his fist and back away from the blow of his elbow. However, there wasn’t anything she could do when he grabbed the hem of her top and threw her away, making her bounce off the ground several times before finally coming to a stop on all fours with several scratches to show for it.

Orochimaru was already rushing at her again when she looked up, one arm raised in preparation for some kind of technique.

Desperate to not allow him to take control over their fight, she did the first thing that came to her mind.

“Sen'ei Jashu!” (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

“Sen'ei Jashu!” (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

Eight white snakes shot out from his sleeves and headed straight for her, mirroring the three that shot from hers. 

One couldn’t be blamed for thinking that she was at a disadvantage because of these numbers alone, but there was one glaring difference: while Orochimaru’s snakes were normal specimen aside from their colour, hers were constructs of pure, poisonous green chakra. Consequently, when the two techniques met, her snakes tore through his like a knife through butter before moving on to pierce right through Orochimaru’s chest.

A second later, his body dissolved into mud.

She jumped around a moment before he spoke up again from where he stood a dozen metres away from her.

“I never quite understood the pride many teachers take in the successes of their students,” he said, his breathing calm and no hair out of place. “However, watching you now, I can’t help but think that I get it now. At least to some degree, that is.”

“Don’t try to take credit for my achievements when the only thing you have contributed to them was running away with your tail between your legs.”

“Yes,” he chuckled, completely ignoring the second part of her reply. “If someone deserves credit, then it’s the White Snake Sage. You did well in seeking her out and convincing her to teach you. Sage Mode is a powerful asset, after all.”

Anko snorted. “Is that jealously I hear in your voice, Sensei? It must be frustrating to have searched for Ryūchi Cave for ages only to find that you’re unable to master its technique because of all the changes you made to your body that you were oh so proud of.”

For all that these modifications doubtlessly made him stronger, they were at its core a perversion of nature. It was only logical that such a body wouldn’t be able to use a technique that required the moulding of natural chakra as Sage Mode did.

Unfortunately, rather than being angered by her comment like she hoped he would, Orochimaru just shrugged. “A temporary setback, I guarantee you. Nothing that can’t be overcome with time.”

“Well, too bad that your time is up, then!”

The respite had been short, but it was enough for her to regain her breath and come up with another plan now that the straightforward approach had proven to be ineffective. With that in mind, she quickly formed three hand seals.

“Senpō: Hakugeki no Jutsu!” (Sage Art: White Rage Technique)

Anko took one deep breath before expelling a red dragon-like entity with an orb in its front claws that rushed towards Orochimaru who didn’t waste any time and retreated backwards. However, that quickly proved useless when the dragon didn’t actually follow him but coiled around itself and released both a blinding light and a deafening sound that made the air in the area oscillate.

One advantage of her current form was that she could close her cornea and thus negate the effect of the bright light, but that was something she suspected her opponent could do as well. What he most definitively couldn’t do, on the other hand, was coating her body in a protective layer of natural energy that at least partially protected her from the vibrations in the air. Together with the earplugs she had made specifically for this technique, Anko was as well protected from the effects of her own technique as humanly possible.

The same couldn’t be said for Orochimaru.

While even the lesser effect the vibrations had on her body were extremely painful and made her feel as if she was walking through quicksand when she moved, she at least still could move. He, however, was very much paralyzed, and judging from the combination of pain and surprise on his face, he hadn’t expected anything like that to happen at all.

Ignoring the agony that shot through her veins with every yet so small movement she did, Anko rushed towards him and drove a fist into his stomach with enough power to make him gasp. Not stopping there, she then sent him flying into the air with a kick to his chin before jumping after him and continuing to rain blows down on him while he was defenceless.

One could think that it would be smarter to try cutting off his head or something like that, but that assumption would be wrong. Anko knew of his ability to just shrug off most if not any physical damage and thus didn’t even try such an approach.

With that logic, dealing blunt trauma didn’t appear any smarter, but that was only the case when one ignored a very important detail:

She didn’t just hit him but also tried to infuse natural chakra into her fists and insert it into his body with every punch. That wasn’t a technique she had mastered yet, but she hoped that even the less than stellar result of her attempt would be enough if she hit him often enough.

After all, just like with poison, there was a certain amount from which on even a relatively harmless substance became absolutely lethal.

Unfortunately, it was just when she began to think that maybe she could actually win this fight when Orochimaru somehow twisted out of the way of one of her punches, grabbed her, rotated them both until it was he who was on top and her who was with her back to the ground, and sent her downwards with a kick to her chest that knocked all the air out of her lungs.

That effect was intensified tenfold when she crashed into the hard earth and every part of her body cried out in pain. She didn’t even feel it when her own technique stopped, the new pain that replaced its effect on her being too omnipresent in her mind to notice.

Still, even when every fibre in her body protested, she fought herself back to her feet in just about five seconds without even intentionally thinking about it, her instincts telling her that staying down would mean certain death.

Her blurry sight immediately fell upon Orochimaru who watched her from a safe distance with an appraising look in his eyes, quickly followed by the empty hull that lied next to him on the ground, indicating that he had used his substitution technique once more.

Interestingly enough, there were still some light bruises to be seen on his skin that should have healed immediately when he shed his skin. They were already healing, of course, and doing so quickly, but the fact alone that they were still there at all meant that her technique had done something. Now if she could just master it completely, she might actually stand a chance.

“That was quite the interesting technique. I never had the chance to study Sage Art attacks, so I’m thankful for the opportunity to observe them first-hand.”

Anko scowled, ignoring the taste of blood in her mouth. Just how had he escaped her attack?

Her eyes widened when her eyes fell on the empty hull again and noticed the trails of blood trickling from its ears. No way, she thought. Don’t tell me… “Did you direct your chakra into your ears to burst your eardrums?”

He gave her a smile that almost appeared to be proud of all things. “Well deducted, Anko-chan. I’m glad to see that it’s not only your fighting prowess that has improved but your mind as well.”

She ignored him, however. Such a simple trick and yet so effective. Of all the ways I imagined that technique could be countered, that wasn’t one of them. In fact, she had come up with not much at all; the White Rage Technique had seemed like one of these overpowered jutsu that were almost unbeatable to her when she first learned about it. To have it beaten the very first time she used it was honestly rather disheartening.

What was worse, she now had only a little bit more than two minutes left during which she could use Sage Mode. If she couldn’t create an opening to flee in that time, this would be it for her.

Anko had no time to continue that line of thinking because her instincts suddenly screamed for her to move, and when her brain caught up with her body a second later, she found herself crouching flat on the ground after having just dodged Orochimaru’s slash with a sword that he got from somewhere.

“You shouldn’t get distracted during a fight,” he purred. “That was one of the first things I taught you, remember?”

Not bothering with a reply, Anko tried to use the opportunity to throw another chakra coated fist into his stomach only to find herself thrown into the air when he brought up his knee and connected it with her chin.

Before she could even fully understand what had happened, another kick made her fly away until she came to an abrupt stop against a tree.

She barely avoided the blade that would have decapitated her but was helpless against the sweep of his leg that sent her flying once more.

This time, she managed to twist herself while still in mid-air and land on her feet which then allowed her to jump into the air and flash through hand seals a second before her opponent’s heel crashed into the ground where she stood mere moments ago.

“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

The fireball had barely engulfed Orochimaru before he broke straight through it and appeared right in front of her, the only sign that he had just jumped through flames being the melted skin on his face that she knew would be gone the next time he substituted himself.

All she could do was to raise her arms to lessen the blow when he sent her back to the ground with another kick.

He was just playing with me, Anko realized grimly while he continued to throw her around as he pleased. He could have ended this fight the entire time and only didn’t do it because he was curious about what I can do. Even now he’s not taking me seriously at all. She had known that he was stronger than her, of course. She had held no illusions about that fact. However, she now understood that the gap between them was much larger than she could have ever predicted.

If she wanted to come out of this alive, she needed to act now, and she needed to do it in a way he didn’t expect.

The next time he stabbed at her with his sword, she didn’t try to avoid it completely and instead pushed it aside while staying where she was, ignoring the burning pain when it cut her at her hip. Furthermore, she then jumped straight at him without even bothering to do anything against the fist that slammed into her stomach.

While the force behind it almost made her throw up, she willed through it and kept her concentration. After all, she hadn’t gone through all of that to get close to him only to waste the opportunity because of a little pain.

“Sen'ei Jashu!” (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

Two snakes made of chakra emerged from her sleeves and immediately tried to wrap around Orochimaru, and while he barely managed to avoid that, he was momentarily forced to back away. That, on the other hand, allowed her to from hand seals freely.

“Senpō: Muki Tensei!” (Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation)

That wasn’t an easy technique, nor was it one that Anko had fully mastered yet, but she could use it relatively reliable as long as she didn’t move around and concentrated on it entirely.

Natural chakra filled the area while she breathed life into the ground, and a second later, it rose up and began following Orochimaru around while moving more like a liquid than actual earth.

His only mildly surprised expression quickly changed into genuine shock when more and more earth began to come alive and tried to catch him. Anko couldn’t fault him for that; the way that this technique allowed her to control her environment was strange and unique, manipulating the elements beyond what was considered advanced for even Ninjutsu experts.

It was probably this unexpected extend of her ability that managed to surprise Orochimaru enough to capture him in a ball of hardened earth several metres above the ground.

She wasn’t done yet, however.

“Let’s see how you dodge this, Sensei!”

Anko summoned every last bit of natural energy left to her as she rushed through hand seals one last time.

“Senpō: Orochi Ikazuchi!” (Sage Art: Great Snake Lightning)

Lightning wasn’t a chakra nature she was very proficient in, but she had painstakingly practised this one technique for ages to access as much of its potential as she could. Consequently, when two cyan lightning-shaped snakes shot from her arms, they were gigantic in size and destroyed everything in its path with laughable ease.

The explosion that engulfed the ball Orochimaru was imprisoned in was a sight to behold, and Anko actually forgot to run away for a few seconds as she watched it from afar. However, she caught herself quickly and instantly turned around to run away.

Her legs felt like jelly and the exhaustion that came after losing the energy that Sage Mode provided made every step feel like an ordeal, but she couldn’t let that stop her. As much as she would like to believe her attack had killed Orochimaru, she wasn’t foolish enough to truly think so or even wait and find out.

Hopefully it was at least enough to give me plenty of time to get away, though. That had been her strongest offensive technique, so it should have done at least some damage, right? Now I need to catch up with Itachi and his team before getting away from here as fast as possible.

As if in reaction to these thoughts, a head suddenly burst out of the ground a few metres ahead of her.

Anko couldn’t do anything but widen her eyes before Orochimaru sank his teeth into her neck.

Cursed Seals

At some point, Orochimaru discovered that the body of one of his subjects has an innate ability to passively absorb natural energy. Furthermore, it apparently also secretes special bodily fluids that react to contact with senjutsu chakra, causing immediate physical alternations with further controlled shape-shifting quality to the user's body, along with greatly enhanced physical capabilities (see Itachi’s report of his confrontation with one of Orochimaru’s test subjects for more information). By isolating an enzyme from that subject’s special fluids and mixing it with his own senjutsu chakra, Orochimaru created a set of cursed seals he can brand others with.

One is the Cursed Seal of Earth, which seems to be the variant Itachi’s opponent had been burdened with. While strengthening its carrier’s body and increasing their charka immensely, it seems to have much stronger side-effects than its counterpart (see attached list of observed side-effects and weaknesses for reference), most notably the continuous decrease of life energy that ultimately and unavoidably results in death.

The other Juinjutsu, the one I have been branded with, is the Cursed Seal of Heaven. Fortunately, this one lacks the aforementioned loss of life energy, meaning I don’t run danger of dying any time soon. However, some of my tests seem to indicate that there is the possibility of it being in some way connected to Orochimaru himself (see attached test results for reference). Apart from the pain and temporary inability to mould chakra in the immediate aftermath of my confrontation with Orochimaru, there seem to be no other side-effects to this seal, but only further tests will show whether this is actually true or not.

It’s impossible to say with absolute certainty why he created these seals, but my understanding of Orochimaru’s character and the results of the primary tests make me believe that…

- Excerpt from Anko Mitarashi’s first monthly report to the Hokage regarding the ongoing research into Orochimaru’s Junijutsu

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

XI

A bit earlier…

However, his problems unfortunately didn’t stop there. Barely five minutes after he had found the corridor, Itachi reached a crossroad with three different paths he could take.

With no sign of which of these paths Zabuza might have taken if he had even been here at all, Itachi decided to create two crow clones to cover all three of them.

- Chapter 36

While the original and the other clone took the left and the middle corridor respectively, he took the right one without a second's hesitation. With how things were at the moment, they couldn’t afford any delay.

Unfortunately –or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it- he didn’t find anything of note. No matter how long he ran and in how many rooms he looked, there wasn’t a sign of Zabuza to be found anywhere. Furthermore, were it not for the fact that there was no dust on any of the sparse furniture, he would have believed that the hideout was deserted completely.

He wondered if the other two were more successful but somehow doubted it. With how maze-like the entire complex was, it was doubtful that either of them would find anything in any reasonable amount of time.

It was only a few minutes after thinking this that he ran past a particularly conspicuous piece of wall.

On second thought, calling it ‘conspicuous’ was probably not quite right. After all, nothing about it stood out in any way. On the surface, it looked just like every other part of the wall he had run past for who knew how long now. Nothing appeared out of ordinary.

That was only true if one didn’t possess the Sharingan, though. If one did possess its ocular powers, however, the lines of chakra that rippled inside of it behind a thin layer of stone were impossible to overlook, and while Itachi wasn’t an expert by any means of the world, he clearly recognized Fuinjutsu when he saw it. It was probably fortunate that the wall that hid it wasn’t thicker than this because then he might actually have missed it.

Now, this put him in a rather difficult position. While his primary mission was to find Zabuza, Itachi couldn’t just leave this alone. Not when someone went through great lengths to make sure nobody would find whatever these seals hid.

It was also important to note that nothing he knew about Kushimaru and Jinin indicated that either of them had any skill in Fuinjutsu whatsoever, meaning they must have an ally who created these seals for them.

Ultimately, he decided to further investigate his fund rather than continue his search. This decision was one of practicality above all else; the corridor he currently found himself was a dead end and he had already checked every single room on the way here, so he would need to backtrack quite a lot to find a corridor he hadn’t searched yet. That would be several minutes that would be wasted and could be used instead to investigate something that might give him clues about a potential third enemy they had no idea even existed until now.

He also briefly considered creating a clone of his own before discarding that idea. While crow clones used notable less chakra than other clone techniques, he was just a clone himself and thus had considerably less chakra available than his original. Wasting the little he had would be foolish, especially when he would need every drop of it for this endeavour.

Decision made, he began working on bypassing the protective seals.

The part of the seal he could see was obviously only a fraction of the entire thing. If it protected something like a hidden room, it must encircle it completely, after all. Itachi needed to see the entire seal if he wanted to possibly break through it, though, so he had no other choice than to use the Hiding in Surface Technique to phase through the earth and observe the seal from every side.

What he found wasn’t very promising.

Itachi was no expert in Fuinjutsu, but he recognized enough to realize that this was a powerful barrier. It wasn’t the strongest he had ever seen –it didn’t even come close to the one Kabuto had created during the Fourth Great Ninja War to hide himself, for example- and clearly focused more on staying hidden than actually keeping someone out, but still very powerful and well-crafted.

And he had no idea how to circumvent it.

The only option that left him with was breaking through it with brute force. Unfortunately, considering his aforementioned limited amount of chakra, that was easier said than done. He was sure he could do it if he used most of his reserves and aimed at one of the slightly weaker points he had found, but that would not only leave him defenceless in case of an attack but probably alert its creator as well.

Even more unfortunate, Itachi hadn’t much of a choice. It was either this or giving up on getting through entirely.

Thus, once he found the weakest spot in the barrier, he concentrated almost all of his chakra into his right hand not too different to how one would create a chakra scalpel and slammed it into it.

There was a short moment of resistance before the entire barrier and the wall it protected crumbled into a thousand tiny pieces before vanishing altogether.

The room that revealed itself didn’t look special at all. If anything, it looked just like any other study he had ever seen; the walls –including the one he had just blown a hole into- were packed with shelves full of books and scrolls, there was a big desk crammed with writing utensils, and a big comfy chair in front of it.

It took only a short look into one of the nearby scrolls to realize that this wasn’t a normal study at all, however.

After all, how many studies had writings about human experiments and forbidden techniques stuffed into it?

It didn’t take a genius to realize whom this study belonged to.

Itachi didn’t let that revelation distract him for long, though. Instead, he went right to work and skimmed over as many manuscripts as he could in as little time as possible. After all, if his theory was correct, someone –probably Orochimaru himself- would already be on their way here to see who had broken into the room and dispose of the intruder.

What he found quickly confirmed what he already suspected; while this was indeed a study of the Sannin, it wasn’t his main working space. The works here might describe vile experiments and theories, and even include some insight into techniques he worked on, but none of them was in much detail or about truly important things. There were probably dozens of such rooms hidden all over the hideout to make sure that not too much information fell into an enemy’s hands if they found one of them, all only keeping small pieces that wouldn’t be too helpful on their own without the rest.

But it was still better than nothing. With that in mind, Itachi hurriedly took an empty scroll and began sealing everything he found into it, not even bothering anymore so look at its content. There was no time to be selective now; someone else could sort this all out at a later point.

After all, there wasn’t a thing as too much information.

Once he was done with that, he would need to search out his original immediately and handle the scroll to him to make sure that it didn’t get lost when he himself ran out of chakra and dissolved. It wouldn’t be easy to find him in this maze of corridors, but if he-

The memories of another clone being dissolved by the claws of some deformed figure hit him like a punch to the face. So the original found out about whom this base belongs to as well, he thought. That would explain why nobody came for me yet. Someone breaking out a test subject surely bothers Orochimaru more than someone breaking into a mostly meaningless study.

However, it was all the more reason to hurry and get back to the original.

With that in mind, he sealed away the last book before running out of the room without a look back, rushing back to where he came from and hoping that this was the right way.

This was not the time to walk around cluelessly.

Anko had been hurt many times throughout her career. Whether it was cuts, broken bones, or even poisoning, she had endured it all. Not always in grace, sure, but endured nonetheless. At the end of the day, she had gotten over it, recovered, and moved on.

And yet the pain that shot through her veins at this very moment was like nothing she had ever experienced before.

She wasn’t the kind of person to give up in the face of hardship, but as things were now, she couldn’t do anything but wiggle on the ground in agony and hope for the sweet release of unconsciousness. Not death, she wasn’t that far gone yet, but the black numbness that engulfed one’s mind when their minds shut themselves down.

Spreading from her neck, flames spread through her body, destroying and remaking everything in their path as they reached further and further into the innermost parts of herself. Her muscles spasmed, her bones ached, and her skin felt too tight on her body. And as if that wasn't already enough, it also grew so sensible that even the softest breeze felt like being stabbed by a thousand knives.

“Kukuku, I wonder how someone who mastered Sage Mode will handle the process.”

Anko heard him even with the all-consuming pain that lay over her senses like a dark blanket, and she even managed to throw a heated glare at him before once more succumbing to the pain and burying her head in her arms while grinding her teeth to avoid a scream when a particularly strong wave of anguish shot through her.

“Rejoice, Anko-chan. I suspect that your experience with senjutsu chakra will significantly increase your likelihood to survive.”

She growled. “Go to hell you-“ However, she didn’t manage to finish that sentence before a new surge made her gasp.

“Now, that isn’t very nice of you, is it? I went out of my way to grant you such an amazing power and you’re not even appreciative of it! How rude.”

Anko wanted to scream "It doesn’t feel amazing in the slightest", but she knew better than to try speaking again when she probably wouldn’t be able to finish the sentence anyway.

“I look forward to what you will be able to do with this gift of mine,” he continued, apparently uncaring whether she could reply or not. “Until now, I didn’t even think it possible that I would one day be able to observe my Cursed Seal interact with a true Sage. Will you be able to stay in Sage Mode indefinitely? Will you get even more raw power than with either technique alone or will they cancel each other out? Will these two opposites flourish or will they wither away?” He chuckled. “Oh, my dear, there is so much the two of us will learn from this, I promise you.”

Anko had stopped listening to him halfway through his monologue and instead tried to focus on what was going on inside her body.

Needless to say, she was confused.

At first glance, what he had injected in her felt like a small, concentrated amount of his own chakra, and that was definitively part of it. However, aside from that, there was also another chakra signature she didn’t recognize but that seemed to be the adhesive element between Orochimaru’s chakra and the third component:

Natural energy.

She had almost not recognized it at first with how different it felt from what she was used to, but once she concentrated exclusively on it whenever the pain somewhat ebbed away, she realized that it couldn’t be anything else. There was something unnatural about it, yes, and it felt much more sinister than natural energy had any right to be, but considering who Orochimaru was and what he had done in the past, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to conclude that he had experimented with it in order to become a Sage after the usual method didn’t work out for him.

Unfortunately, this knowledge did not help her in any meaningful way. She might be skilled in shaping natural chakra, but this was far too different for her to be able to apply her knowledge to it.

I’m sorry, she thought as the faces of Itachi, Aoda, Yukio, and Tanaka-sensei flashes before her eyes. I don’t think I will get out of this. Her only hope was that Itachi’s team would launch a rescue mission for her, and Anko couldn’t let that happen. Not when it could result in all their deaths.

No, the risk of that was simply too high.

However, that didn’t mean she would let herself be captured either. Not only had she no interest in becoming a test subject for whatever vile experiments Orochimaru would come up with, but she was also too proud to let that happen. It was a shame that she didn’t have the energy to stand up and use the Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique for a last-ditch effort in taking him with her, but alas, you couldn’t have everything. As long as she could kill herself and destroy the syringe in her pouch to avoid letting it fall into Orochimaru’s hands, she would be happy.

Anko was just about to put her plan into action when a whizzing sound reached her ears.

A second later, the probably biggest blade she had ever seen cut right through Orochimaru’s torso before continuing its trajectory until it embedded itself into a nearby tree, serving as a platform for the person that appeared on it a heartbeat later.

Anko, however, focused her blurry sight solely on Orochimaru. The Sannin had made no peep when cut in half, and it quickly showed why; before his upper body could even hit the ground, both halves sprouted dozens of snakes that quickly entwined with each other and then pulled the two parts together again. The entire process lasted less than three seconds, and at the end of it, Orochimaru stood there as if nothing had happened.

“Ah,” he said, his grin never even faltering. “Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. I take it your presence here means that Jinin is dead, then?”

“Orochimaru,” the other man replied in a mocking imitation of Orochimaru’s voice. “So you’re their ally, then?”

“I offered them shelter and they brought me new subjects for my experiment in return. If you want to call us allies because of just that, you’re free to do so.”

She stopped listening after that as an idea began to take shape inside her head. It was crazy, but with Orochimaru momentarily distracted by the new arrival as he was, she might actually be able to pull it off.

And if she did, she might even get out of this with her life intact.

Verifying that he was indeed not looking at her, she carefully slipped her hand into her pouch while trying her very best to stop the shaking that had engulfed her entire body at this point and pulled a small syringe out of it.

At Ryūchi Cave, the first thing someone who wanted to learn Sage Mode needed to do was to let themselves be injected with the venom of the White Snake Sage as it contained a large amount of natural energy. Only those that manage to not only survive but also avoid transforming into a snake when injected with it were allowed to study there.

Before she left, Anko had asked permission to take some of it with her, and the Sage had agreed.

Who would have thought that I would use it so soon already?

Without any hesitation, she took the syringe and injected herself with the venom.

If the pain earlier had been intense, then Anko didn’t know what she should call this. It felt as if her body was torn apart while two different forces fought inside of her, clashing like fire and water and destroying everything around them in the process. She felt her body squirm and cramp while it changed as it always did when she used Sage Mode, though it felt worse than usual, and she felt her chakra skyrocket with an intensity that brought tears to her eyes.

Anko didn’t really notice the two currently present men jerking around to look at her with similar expressions of surprise and confusion on their faces, nor did she even really notice herself standing up. All she knew was that she needed to move now before her body gave up on her.

She kicked off with enough force to make the ground explode beneath her, barely even feeling when the bones in her foot broke and the muscles in her leg tore under the pressure, and almost instantaneously appeared in front of Orochimaru.

The Sannin didn’t have time to do as much as widen his eyes before her in green chakra coated fist smashed into his guts, making him throw up blood while her own fist was pretty much annihilated by the impact of it as well.

His body curled around her first for a moment before he was sent flying with a sonic boom, tearing through trees and rocks without even slowing down and vanishing from sight in an instant.

A loud explosion several seconds later announced that he must have hit an obstacle that didn’t just give way and instead served as a hard stop for Orochimaru’s flight.

By the time Anko’s head hit the ground, she had already drifted into the welcome numbness of unconsciousness.

“You let her face Orochimaru on her own?”

“She seemed confident that she would be able to stand up against him for at least a while.”

“And what if she’s wrong about that?”

Itachi didn’t bother with a reply. They both knew what would happen if he had judged the situation wrong and he saw no reason to speak out the obvious.

Furthermore, he still believed that he had made the right decision. While he and Anko together would most certainly be able to best Orochimaru, the Sannin’s ability to wriggle his way out of even the most desperate situation remained the same and would probably result in him fleeing once the table turned against him. Without the element of surprise on their side, trying to take Orochimaru was almost destined to fail. No, it was wiser to retreat for now and confront him at a later point when Itachi and his teammates were in better condition.

Speaking of his teammates' condition…

“You have been lucky, Kakashi,” he said while channelling some more chakra into to wound on his chest to make the flesh slowly snitch back together. “These wounds might be deep, but they wouldn’t have killed you even without my aid.”

Kakashi gave a humourless chuckle, thankfully not mentioning the obvious change of topic. “I guess, but forgive me if I don’t feel particularly lucky right now.”

Itachi nodded. As nonlethal as the wounds might be, they were certainly still very uncomfortable, and things weren’t improved by the fact that Itachi couldn’t do much to lessen the pain. In fact, even if he actually knew how, he wouldn’t be able to do it under these circumstances because he wouldn’t dare to numb his teammate’s sense when there were still enemies around.

Still, Kakashi really had been lucky. The cuts didn’t actually go deep enough to have harmed any organs, for one thing, and also cut cleanly through flesh and muscles instead of messily tearing them apart like it regularly happened when one got hit by a clumsy attack. If there’s one advantage in fighting one of the Seven Swordsmen, Itachi thought, then it’s that all their attacks are very precise. As long as they only graze you, the odds are that the wound won’t be too bad.

The fact that there was a third Swordsmen present, however, was very concerning. It made one wonder what else they had overlooked. There couldn’t be any other of them lurking around considering Ringo’s corpse had been the only one of the group’s dead members that had been unaccounted for and the only other surviving member was Kisame who never liked Orochimaru and would rather let him die than help him even if he was in the area, but that didn’t mean that there couldn’t be any other opponents left.

Any other opponents aside from Nakamura, that is, Itachi silently conceded in the privacy of his mind.

The nuke-nin was sneaking around the edges of Itachi’s awareness, clearly just waiting for his chance to rush in and kidnap the unconscious girl that lay a few metres to his right. Itachi had actually hoped that he would have tried something by now simply because that would have given him the opportunity to take him out and possibly even take him prisoner, but unfortunately, he seemed smart enough to realize that he was completely outclassed.

And yet he doesn’t seem to understand what it means that Orochimaru sent him after me even though there is little to no chance for him to succeed or even survive the attempt.

“Do you still have Ration Pills left?”

Kakashi raised a brow at that question. “One, yeah” he said. “What about you?”

“I lost my pouch when I fought her,” Itachi said with a tilt of his head towards the motionless form of the girl to their side. “There was not enough time to go look for it before I retreated, so I don’t have any with me anymore.”

“Do you want me to give it to you?”

“You are the one who will need them when we retreat from here,” Itachi said. “I might be able to heal your wounds for the most part, but you still won’t have much energy and we can’t let you fall behind."

Kakashi grimaced at that -aware of not only their taste but also their side effects as he was, Itachi couldn’t say he blamed him- but didn’t disagree with him.

Both of them suddenly tensed while their heads jerked around when they felt a chakra signature quickly heading straight for them, only to relax a moment later when they recognised who it was.

“This entire mission is a complete shitshow.”

Usually, Itachi might have been amused by such an entrance, but right now, both that sentiment and his relief at seeing Zabuza alive and mostly well became meaningless in favour of what he saw who the Swordsman carried in his arms.

“Lay her down,” he said, and for the first time since he knew the man, he didn’t resist something that could be interpreted as a direct order.

Itachi immediately raised to his feet and rushed over to Anko's side. His treatment of Kakashi was pretty much finished anyway and she was clearly in much more need of medical assistance.

Kakashi was right next to him. After all, even if he did barely know Anko, he still cared about every inhabitant of Konoha. “What happened to her?” he asked while Itachi kneeled down to check on her. “And what about Orochimaru?”

Zabuza shrugged. “Fuck if I know. She was already lying on the ground and writhing in pain by the time I found her after I killed Jinin, though it must have been a hell of a fight before that judging from the destruction all around. Next thing I know that girl stands up and punches that snake with enough power to make him fly away faster than I could follow. I sent a clone after him before I took her here, so we will know soon enough if he’s still alive or not.”

All three of them noticed the presence of their silent watcher -Nakamura- vanishing at these words, most likely to check on his master, but none cared enough to go after him of even mention it.

“Her left leg and foot are heavily damaged,” Itachi said. “Her right fist as well. She must have put a lot of power into her attack if the backlash is-“

He abruptly stopped when his eyes fell upon the dark markings on her neck, his mouth going dry. He knew what it was, of course, and thus understood exactly what it meant. This is bad, he thought, whatever idea he might have had about confronting Orochimaru later all but forgotten. Even if she survives this, she will not take that well.

“Itachi, what-“

“You know the Evil Sealing Method, don’t you?” he interrupted Kakashi while pushing the fabric of Anko’s clothes a bit away to reveal the Cursed Seal on her neck.

Kakashi’s demeanour instantly became even more serious. “I do.”

“Good.” Itachi quickly created a Crow Clone before channelling chakra into his hands for his medical Ninjutsu. “I will heal the worst of her injuries to make sure they don’t become permanent and then you will suppress that seal Orochimaru put on her.” He turned towards Zabuza. “In the meanwhile, my clone will heal your wounds as much as time allows.”

While none of his injuries appeared to be too threatening, they would still slow him down, especially the burns on his leg. Considering they needed to move as quickly as possible, that couldn’t be allowed.

Fortunately, Zabuza seemed to think along the same lines and didn’t resist.

As much as Itachi would have liked to check Orochimaru’s status personally, there simply wasn’t any time for that. Sending a clone would need to do for now. However, the most important thing right now was to make sure that everyone in their group survived, and considering both their targets were dead, they had already successfully finished their mission and thus had no reason to stay here any longer.

Distracted as they were, none of them noticed the other pair of eyes that watched them with great interest from a safe distance away. Although to be fair, it was unlikely that any of them would have noticed this figure even if they paid closer attention to their surroundings.

“Huh, so did that little girly really beat Orochimaru? I told you we should watch that fight instead of following that Uchiha!”

“Unlikely. He probably just let himself hit to get away.”

“She has his Curse Mark, though. Wouldn’t he want to take her with him?”

“Who knows. Maybe he wants to observe her from afar first.”

The first person chuckled. “Oh, yes, he always liked to play his little games, didn’t he?”

The other person didn’t reply, and a few seconds later, the plant-like extensions that emerged from their sides enveloped them once more before they sank into the ground.

Healing Anko completely was way beyond Itachi's current abilities. As it was, he could do barely enough to stabilize her enough to make sure that none of her injuries would become permanent before some more proficient healer could look her over -or at least that's what he hoped. With how severe her arm and leg were harmed, there was no way to be sure.

Still, once he had done everything he could, he could finally concentrate on the uneasy feeling in his stomach. Shinobi generally had a sixth sense for when they were in danger that developed more and more the longer they lived, and right now, his instincts told him that there was something very dangerous and oddly familiar close by. In fact, it wasn’t as much the fact that he felt something directly that made him sure about that but the fact that he didn’t feel anything specific at all.

If something could put him on edge as much as this while still being almost imperceptible, it was definitively a threat.

“Kakashi-“

“The wind is blowing in the wrong direction,” he interrupted him, predicting what he was going to ask. “I’m reasonably sure that no one is behind us, but it’s impossible to say whether someone is in front of us or not.”

That wasn’t reassuring at all. Not only because there could appear someone right on top of them without any notice, but also because the fact that Kakashi had felt something as well ruled out that Itachi was just imagining things. Not that he really thought that was the case, of course, but it would have been nice to be the case.

“I can’t feel anything,” Zabuza added, his voice sounding marginally more serious than before. “I can usually feel when someone dangerous is close because I'm good at hiding myself and know all the tricks, so that I can’t do so now must mean someone is hiding really well.”

So it was all three of them that felt something was off, then. While Zabuza’s way to conclude whether someone was close was certainly a bit unusual considering the situation, it wasn’t unheard of. In fact, it was a good strategy to think like something was off when everything appeared to be just fine. Itachi himself preferred to have actual clues instead, but working with Kisame for years meant that he had come to appreciate that line of thinking. Furthermore, he-

Itachi suddenly stopped in his tracks when his brain made some very important connections:

There’s someone very dangerous close by, he thought. Someone very dangerous that can stay hidden from not just Kakashi and me but Zabuza as well. Someone whose presence I can sense only subconsciously but still feels familiar…

The number of people to whim this applied wasn’t very big, and it grew even smaller when one took into consideration whom of them might have a reason to be here.

It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Nagato made them team up for a mission in this area. After all, Kisame might not want to help Orochimaru, but they’re still both Akatsuki. And while he certainly wouldn’t go out of his way to help him, Kisame would most likely be interested in fighting someone strong enough to fight Orochimaur and come out of it alive.

A short “stay here” was all the warning he gave his teammates when Kakashi was about to ask him what he was thinking before vanishing in a shunshin and reappearing on the tallest tree in the area.

The sight that presented itself to him was anything but reassuring:

While they were a good bit away from the capital, Itachi could see it in the distance. However, much more importantly, he could also see the plumes of smoke that rose to the sky as well as the flickering of yellow and red light that indicated that several places there were on fire.

He was sure he would hear terrified screams and anguished cries too if they were any closer.

None of this was evidence for Kisame being the one responsible, of course, but it at the very least was proof that their senses hadn’t deceived them.

It also meant that the city was not a suitable place to go to. Furthermore, if he interpreted the growing feeling of tension in the pit of his stomach correctly, the source of all this chaos was steadily coming closer and would reach them sooner rather than later. Kakashi wasn’t in any condition to fight, however, and while Zabuza’s condition was marginally better, he too wouldn’t be of much help against a powerful opponent even if he didn’t need to carry Anko, and they both wouldn’t be able to escape any pursuer as they were now.

There was only one way to go from here and Itachi didn’t like it one bit.

His teammates would probably like it even less, though.

“P-please, just let me-“

The dead body hit the ground before the man could even finish his plea.

“Man,” Kisame said, his voice a mixture of amusement and disappointment. “I thought the people that guard a daimyo would be a bit stronger than that. How are you guys supposed to protect that bastard when you’re this weak?”

Not that there was anyone to answer him considering all the guards were either already dead or had fled when they realized how outclassed they were.

He honestly couldn’t say which group he found more disappointing.

“And all this trouble just because you wouldn’t leave me alone…”

All he had done was trying to find Kushimaru, Ringo, and Jinin to ‘offer’ them a position in Akatsuki just like Pain had told him to, though calling it that was probably not quite right. After all, it wasn’t as if they actually had a say in that matter. Not that Kisame would care if they tried to decline anyway, mind you; he had long since wanted to kill these three and welcomed any opportunity to do just that. Pain might be unhappy with him, but what could he possibly do? It’s not like Kisame was as easily replaced as some other members.

All the poor sods Kakuzu regularly killed off came to mind, for example.

Besides, there was no way he didn’t expect Kisame to act like that. It was certainly no secret how the various Swordsmen stood to each other.

Unfortunately, finding them was easier said than done. He knew their approximate position, sure, but he hit a wall after that. When he first heard that some shinobi from Kiri and Konoha were here for a joint mission that had the same targets as he did, he thought it would be easy to just wait for them to find his former colleagues and then follow them before eliminating all of them at once.

It was just his luck that none of them were in the city anymore when he arrived there, or that some of the guards instantly discovered his presence and attacked.

Although to be fair, it wasn’t as if he had tried very hard to stay hidden.

Hey, he didn’t have a good fight in ages! Sue him for wanting to have some fun.

Not that it had truly been worth it. Fighting a bunch of weaklings just wasn’t enjoyable, and even killing that moron that called himself daimyo hadn’t made up for that. Furthermore, now he also had to deal with all the noises from the panicking people in the city.

“Maybe I should just have kept my head low,” he mused with a casual glance over the roofs, watching with interest as the flames spread from building to building and the people in the streets tried to get away from them as fast as possible. “Or at least held back a bit more.”

Well, nothing he could do about that now. Besides, there were much more important things to think about right now like when these shinobi would finally return and whether or not they would bring Kushimaru, Ringo, and Jinin with them.

It certainly would make his job a lot easier if they did.

It would also be pretty boring, though...

Maybe I should just go and search for them rather than further waste my time here?

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

XII

Although he knew what -and who- to look for, Itachi could not sense Kisame until he stepped out of the trees into the small clearing where he had been waiting for him. It spoke volumes of his skills that he could hide his enormous amount of chakra even from someone who knew his presence as well as he did, though Itachi obviously already knew that. It was impossible to travel and fight side by side with someone for years without getting familiar with their skillset.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here? A little kid playing hero? I heard you Konoha-nin love sacrificing yourselves for your comrades, but I thought the stories were just exaggerated.”

Seeing Kisame again was different from when he saw his family again for the first time in this life. There was simply much less emotional baggage between them, much less anguish as there had been when he looked into the faces of people he had killed with his own two hands. However, it was still disheartening to stand in front of him as an enemy now.

“Giving your life so that your comrades might live is far from the worst way to die.”

“Ah, spoken like a real patriot,” Kisame chuckled. “I like it. But do you know what I like even more?” Then, in one swift stroke, he drew Samehada from his back and sent it crashing to the ground. "Seeing the look on my opponents' faces when they realize what they have gotten themselves into!"

Itachi wouldn’t have described Kisame and himself as friends, but they were comrades. Aside from Nagato and Konan, they had probably been the only ones in the Akatsuki to consider themselves as such. He had found it almost amusing at times how differently they both handled their situation when their backgrounds shared quite a number of similarities and had even come to respect the other man.

“Kisame Hoshigaki,” he said. “’The Monster of the Hidden Mist’ and wielder of the legendary sword Samehada. I think I know quite well what I got myself into.”

“And yet you decided to face me directly? I can’t say whether you’re brave or stupid.”

“I prefer the term confident.”

Kisame laughed, and Itachi detected genuine amusement hidden beneath the mocking tone he usually adopted to rile his opponents up. “Very good answer, kid. But can you live up to these words?”

Itachi had no illusions that the reason why he and Kisame had initially been put on the same team was to have the other man keep an eye on him. After all, Kisame was completely loyal to Akatsuki, and considering Madara knew about Itachi’s true loyalties, it made sense to put someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill their teammates for the mission on a team with him.

Not that any of the other Akatsuki members would have hesitated, mind you. It was probably just more likely that Kisame could actually succeed in taking him out.

Still, while they had begun their partnership on anything but good terms, they had grown on each other with time. Towards the end, Kisame had not only kept the secret of his sickness to himself but also went out of his way to let him take it easy during their missions together, and then he even helped him confront Sasuke without his friends to interfere well-knowing that Itachi planned to die in that fight.

Yes, ultimately, they had been true comrades.

It truly said a lot about Itachi’s life at this point that he was familiar enough with the painful clench in his chest that came from being forced to fight someone that by all rights should be his ally to easily be able to push it aside and focus on the confrontation ahead of him.

“There’s only one way for you to find out, isn’t there?”

“Heh, you’re eager. Maybe it hadn’t been a waste to come here after all.”

Kisame didn’t leave him and time to answer before raising his hands to fly through hand seals.

“Suiton: Ameshikō!” (Water Release: Four Sharks Rain)

Half a second later, he spat an enormous amount of water into the air that quickly transformed into four bloodthirsty sharks that headed directly towards him.

Itachi had seen that technique often enough in action to know that both destroying them and dodging them wouldn’t be wise. If he did the former, the water would just reform into countless droplet-sized sharks while the latter could easily be countered by Kisame controlling them to follow after him.

Thus, Itachi waited for the last possible moment before they would hit him to jump into the air, not giving them enough time to readjust their trajectory and thus colliding with the ground in four small explosions.

“Smart,” a chipper voice spoke up from behind him. “But you can’t dodge while in mid-air!”

Samehada tore right through his torso, but instead of blood and gore, all that spilt out were dozens of crows whose number increased even more when the rest of his body followed suit.

“I stand corrected.”

Kisame wanted to say something else, but just when he opened his mouth once more, a kunai with an attached explosion tag flew right at him through the cover of Itachi’s crows.

His body was engulfed in an explosion a moment later.

Itachi couldn’t celebrate yet, however, for he was already forced to jump away to avoid the sword strike that aimed at him from behind and instead cut right through the tree behind which he had been hidden, felling it in an instant.

Barely five seconds after the first technique had been used, they once more faced off from opposite ends of the now noticeably more damaged clearing, silently evaluating each other.

Many people underestimated Kisame because of the way he looked. Oh, his opponents were terrified of him, sure, but they still underestimated him because of it. In their eyes, he was a monster they had to watch out for only due to his monstrous appearance and immense strength. Dangerous but ultimately little more than a mindless beast.

Kisame knew this and regularly played right into these believes to give himself an advantage. Itachi, on the other hand, knew exactly how clever his former teammate could be. Although he preferred a more straightforward fight, he could use underhand tactics just as well if not even better than most everyone else, and he quickly saw right through his enemies’ strategies and found ways to counter them.

No, he might play the part of a monster, but he was not stupid. His next words demonstrated that very well.

“You’re trying to stall me.”

“I thought we had already established that.” Itachi saw no reason to lie. Furthermore, Kisame had always appreciated the truth, and keeping him happy and interested was key in keeping him here.

“There is a noticeable difference between fighting someone to keep them away from your comrades and avoiding a direct confrontation through traps.”

"I would be foolish to engage in a direct contest of strength where I'm at a distinct disadvantage, wouldn't I?"

He hadn’t come close to Kisame’s strength even as an adult and could only keep somewhat up when he enhanced his body with chakra, and while he could do that now as well, he also needed to be a bit more careful to not overdo it. After all, he was still not fully grown up and thus more vulnerable to accidentally tearing his muscles if he enhanced himself too much.

Furthermore, while he had done some healing to his arms, they weren’t yet in perfect condition either. He had little enough chakra as it was, and as healing yourself was more costly than healing someone else, he couldn’t afford to do more than the absolute minimum.

“After everything I have heard about the Uchiha, I didn’t expect you to be this cowardly, ya know.”

“You must have never crossed paths with one of my clansmen, then,” he said, his lips curving up slightly. “Many of them prefer to catch their opponents off-guard any finish them with a Genjutsu.”

Kisame chuckled, his stance deceptively relaxed. “Is that so? And it’s alright to tell me that just like this?”

“Is there any harm in telling you something you already know?” After all, why else would he avoid direct eye contact as much as he did?

“Fair enough,” he shrugged before his grin turned into something more predatory. “Well, I always wanted to fight an Uchiha. See whether that Sharingan of yours is really so special and all that, heh?”

Itachi was more than aware of that. It had been a constant hassle to avoid fighting him during the early days of their partnership and had only gotten marginally better with time.

“Well then,” Kisame continued, Samehada’s handle gripped tight in his hand as he leaned forwards. “I looked forward to meeting Zabuza again when I heard he was with you, but it might actually be more interesting this way. I hope you’re happy, kid, because you have my full attention now!”

Happy was probably not the word he would have used, but he was definitively satisfied. Itachi might not like the idea of fighting Kisame, but he had been prepared for this from the moment he had accepted that he had travelled back in time, and if it was necessary to do so to protect his comrades, he would fight him without hesitation.

He would never look back fondly on his time spent in the Akatsuki, but he couldn’t say he regretted his partnership with Kisame either. Not only had they saved each other’s lives countless times, but they also unexpectedly helped each other grow as a person and learn things about themselves they might never have realized on their own.

In all honestly, Kisame had been the only person after he left the village that he had been somewhat comfortable to be around.

Considering the cruel world they lived in, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that their relationship would end in bloodshed.

With that morbid thought in mind, Itachi summoned a kunai into his hand and rushed towards the approaching swordsman in front of him.

“Well, at least this time there is no questioning whether it was a mistake to follow the Uchiha or not!”

“Silence. We don’t want him to notice us, do we?”

“But he’s too busy fighting Kisame anyway!”

“You of all people should know never to underestimate an Uchiha.”

That wasn’t wrong, he admitted to himself, but he still thought his other half was overreacting a bit. Still, he knew better than to argue with his other half, especially when they were as intense as they were no.

Honestly, White Zetzu thought while suppressing an exasperated sigh. Why can’t he relax from time to time?

Itachi had known that fighting Kisame wouldn’t be easy. He had been prepared for that. However, knowing that didn’t make it any less troublesome when he only barely avoided Samehada cutting him to ribbons on several occasions.

In many ways, Kisame was one of the worst possible opponents he could possibly encounter:

For one thing, his enormous chakra reserves and stamina meant that there was no way Itachi with his slightly below average reserves could outfight him regardless of how sparingly he used it or how immaculate his control was. This was especially true now as he had only about half of it left after using the rest during his prior confrontation and to heal his teammates.

Furthermore, Kisame wielded Samehada, a sword that could not only absorb chakra and thus make almost every kind of Ninjutsu useless but also enhanced Kisame’s offensive abilities in close combat. He was dangerous enough in that as it was, so this additional edge was more than just a little inconvenient for Itachi. While he might be faster than his opponent, it wasn’t to the point where he could just blitz him, and he had a definitive disadvantage in terms of raw strength.

Oh, and then there was of course also the distant annoyance of Samehada being able to disturb Kisame’s chakra flow by injecting some of its own into his system, meaning Genjutsu wouldn’t work as easily on him as they would on others.

His only consolation was that this went only so far. Kisame had Samehada in his possession for long enough at this point for their signatures to have become similar, consequently limiting the effect their chakra could have on each other. After all, it would be impossible for them to merge if they rejected each other. Thanks to that, he would probably not be able to throw off a Genjutsu cast through direct eye contact. At least not quickly enough for it to matter.

However, just to be sure, Itachi planned to cast it not only with his Sharingan but rather his Mangekyō. And while he would prefer not to be forced to resolve to use Tsukuyomi, Itachi knew that it would be foolish not to if the chance presented itself. Even if a normal illusion created by his Mangekyō should be enough to give him an opening, there was no absolute guarantee that it actually would. He didn’t want to underestimate Kisame and risk missing his chance just because he wanted to spare his eyes- especially because he knew him better than most and thus was well-aware of just how dangerous he was.

No, it would certainly be wiser to accept the damage his eyes would suffer from this one use when it guaranteed his victory in return. As much as he might dislike both the harm to his sight and the idea of killing Kisame, it was a necessary evil as taking out the swordsmen would be an immense blow to Akatsuki.

Itachi had in all honestly been unbelievable lucky so far in that he had barely been in situations where he needed to use his Mangekyō. In fact, the only times he did use it were when he first informed the Sandaime about the future and when he protected Anko and himself during their first mission together. He had also activated it for a short time during his brief confrontation with Orochimaru, but considering he hadn’t used any techniques with it, the harm from that should be almost non-existent.

Because of all that, his vision had barely diminished since his return to the past even though he possessed the Mangekyō for over seven years already. The only times he noticed any difference at all was when he needed to squint to see some details on things that were far away, and even that was only the case when he didn’t have his Sharingan activated. With it, even that stopped being a problem.

While the Mangekyō constantly harmed his eyes from the moment of its awakening, the damage didn’t accumulate linearly. It depended on how regularly and how much he used it, so when first awakened, there was almost no harm whatsoever.

Activating it without using any techniques was harmful but didn’t accelerate the speed with which his sight deteriorated. Almost the same was true when he used it to cast ‘normal’ Genjutsu with it, though that did harm his eyes a bit more.

True damage only occurred when he used one of his eyes' three techniques. It was almost negligible the first few times one used them, but each subsequent use of them did a little bit more damage than the last one, resulting in an exponential increase of damage. And as if that wasn’t already enough, these techniques also increased the general speed with which his eyes got worse outside of active use.

As long as one used the Mangekyō not only sparingly but smartly as well, one could avoid blindness for quite some time. Itachi had proven that in the other timeline when he managed to keep his sight at least somewhat intact for eight years even though he was semi-regularly put into situations where it was impossible not to use his Mangekyō altogether.

He grimly thought this situation was one of those while he dodged another swords strike.

Itachi leaned back as far as he dared to without losing his balance to let Samehada soar harmlessly above him before letting himself fall to the ground completely and roll backwards to escape Kisame’s follow-up attack. However, while that saved him from being mauled into countless little pieces, it left Itachi in a position where he was forced to block his next punch instead of dodging it like he would have preferred.

His arms, still not entirely healed from his last fight, throbbed painfully at the impact, but as Kisame had apparently not hit him with full power, it resulted in no damage. Besides, it also gave him the excuse he needed to let himself be pushed further back without arousing suspicion from his opponent.

Just a little bit more, he thought. We’re almost there.

It was the slight widening of Kisame’s grin that told him that something was wrong. Most people probably wouldn't have even noticed it, but after working with him for as long as he did, Itachi was more than capable to see even the most subtle signs on his face and read the smug anticipation in that little gesture.

It was only thanks to that advantage that he was able to jump into the air to dodge Samehada when its hilt suddenly extended, allowing Kisame to use it more like a whip than a sword.

Even so, it still came close enough to tear his flak jacket apart, leaving Itachi with only his black shirt for protection. Although considering how often he had watched Kisame kill his opponents with this trick, he really couldn’t complain. At least he wasn’t injured.

“Well done, brat,” the swordsman congratulated him sarcastically when he suddenly appeared right in front of him. “However, you really shouldn’t get distracted this easily. Even a little prodigy like you can’t dodge an attack without paying attention.”

Samehada ripped straight through his body.

Half a second later, Itachi dissolved into a croaking murder of crows.

“And I stand corrected once more.” There was no disappointment in his voice when he said that. If anything, he sounded vaguely amused. “Though I have the feeling that I will grow annoyed at these pesky little birds sooner rather than later.”

Itachi stepped into the open from where he had hidden behind a tree a dozen metres away from his opponent, careful to keep a safe distance between them. “You can always leave if they irritate you that much.”

“Heh, already trying to get rid of me? Quite a difference to the confident spiel you put on earlier. Are you already regretting your decision to fight me?”

“Not at all,” he said, keeping his voice intentionally calm. “It’s not I who is bothered by mere birds, after all.”

Itachi saw the mixture of anger and excitement that lit up in Kisame’s eyes just a moment before he let Samehada crash to the ground next to him. “You certainly know how to pull off a front, don’t you?” The anticipation in his voice mirrored the look on his face. “Still, I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in. While these crows of yours are annoying, they’re nothing but little pests. Bothersome but ultimately harmless.” His grin widened, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. “Sharks, on the other hand, are apex predators. They kill and maim however they please, ripping off big chunks of flesh with a single attack and swallowing their prey whole, and you will soon learn why they’re so successful in what they do.”

Well, he always loved his shark metaphors. Not that Itachi could really fault him for that, of course. Not only were they quite effective as an intimidation tactic in combination with his appearance, but they actually did fit whatever narrative Kisame wanted to spin. At least objectively. Itachi vividly remembered the story the other man told him during their first meeting about how sharks killed each other in their mother’s womb as a way to prove that it was natural that people couldn’t trust each other and that only violence was true.

“In the end, it’s always the crows that feast on the corpses of those that have died who are the true victors of any given conflict.”

Kisame chuckled, genuinely amused by his reply. “And yet being depended on others to get their food can hardly be called a victory.”

“That doesn’t change that regardless of who of us dies, it will be their stomachs where we ultimately end.”

‘Might is Right’ and ‘All Are Equal in Death’; neither of them addressed each other’s silent message but both understood what they were trying to say.

Itachi found it somewhat eerie how similar and yet different this was to their first conversation in the old timeline, but maybe he shouldn’t be too surprised.

“Well,” Kisame said after a few seconds of unexpectedly comfortable silence. “Why don’t we test whether you can throw your fists as well as you can your words?”

With that, Kisame rushed forwards once more, ready to resume their fight.

Itachi had been waiting for just that, however. After all, it would have been stupid not to use the time he spent waiting for him to arrive to prepare some traps.

Kisame managed to make only a few steps before he reached the point where he wanted him, and the moment he did, Itachi immediately threw a kunai at him.

He didn’t expect it to hit, of course, so he wasn’t surprised in the slightest when Kisame dodged it without even slowing down by merely tilting his head out of the way, letting the weapon fly past him harmlessly. However, hitting him had never been his goal to begin with. In fact, it would have been disastrous if Kisame had decided to block it.

He didn’t, though, and thus the kunai accurately cut through the wire Itachi had prepared in advance.

He could see the moment Kisame realized that something was wrong by the slight shift of his expression, but by then it was already too late and dozens of kunai flew at him from every direction.

Half a second later, the explosion tags attached to all of them went off.

Itachi wasn’t naïve enough to think that this attack would have done any damage worth mentioning, so he didn’t hesitate and instantly flew through hand seals.

“Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!” (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)

Just like it had been before with his kunai, he didn’t expect this attack to do any worthwhile damage. After all, even if they actually hit Kisame, he would be able to just heal himself with Samehada.

No, the reason he chose to attack him with such a relatively harmless attack was to give away his position, and like a shark that has smelt blood, Kisame came rushing out of the cloud of dirt Itachi’s explosions had stirred up straight at him.

Itachi didn’t dodge or try to fall this time back and instead drew a kunai to block the descending sword a few centimetres above his head regardless of the pain that shot through his arms as a result.

At the same time, the ground beneath Kisame’s feet broke open and revealed two in green chakra coated hands.

Now, Itachi had planned to use Chakra Scalpels to cut first the muscles in his opponent’s legs and then do the same with his arms afterwards to disarm him. Then, once he managed to part Kisame from Samehada, he would go for the killing blow.

That plan unfortunately fell apart the moment his clone’s hands touched Kisame’s legs as the body immediately dissolved into water.

“Suiton: Suikōsandan no Jutsu!” (Water Release: Water Shark Shot Technique)

Things became only worse from there because the clone that had dissolved right in front of him provided a perfect source of water for Kisame’s technique. Due to that, even Itachi couldn’t fully evade the shark that had formed from the liquid before it even hit the ground. The only reason he could avoid a direct hit at all was that his clone hadn’t been idle either and threw itself between him and the attack.

Even so, the explosion was still powerful enough to inflict many small cuts all over his body as the shockwave hurled him across the clearing.

The pain was manageable, however, allowing Itachi to remain aware enough to notice the approaching figure to his right in time to push himself off his hands and out of Kisame’s trajectory just in time to avoid the sword slash that split the ground where his head had been less than a second ago.

“I didn’t take you for someone who would send a clone ahead.” In all the years Itachi had known him, Kisame had rarely ever used a clone for such a purpose. Creating a lot of them to overwhelm an opponent or to use them in combination with the Water Prison Technique was one thing, but to use them like this was entirely out of character for him.

The swordsman chuckled while continuing to rush after him, not bothering to pause their battle again just to talk. “Well, I took you for someone that favours clever little tricks over direct combat,” he said as he swung Samehada once more towards his head. “I had to prepare for that somehow, didn't I?”

Itachi didn’t waste time with a reply and instead made a single hand seal that set off all the paper bombs he had prepared in advance beneath the ground.

After all, he would have been foolish to set everything on one plan only.

Kisame would probably expect him to use this opportunity to fall back again, so he did the exact opposite and rushed towards him, allowing Itachi to surprise his opponent. Furthermore, while Itachi’s sight in the whirled up dirt wasn’t perfect either, it was still miles ahead of Kisame’s whose proficiency in the Silent Killing technique would be useless in the aftermath of all the noises the explosions had made as well.

This assumption was proven correct a second later when Itachi found him amidst the dust cloud and managed to come close enough with his kunai to nick his cheek.

Using his smaller stature to his advantage, he successfully first duck under Kisame’s reflexive counter-attack with Samehada and then roll beneath the following kick to position himself behind him before trying to destroy his spine with one precise stab that even Kisame wouldn’t be able to heal himself quickly enough from to avoid a subsequent attack.

Kisame managed to move slightly to the side, however, transforming an attack that would have been lethal into one that might be painful but ultimately useless in even slowing him down.

Knowing that he would be prepared for him trying to use his size to get into his guard this time, Itachi instead created another Crow Clone faster than normal eyes could follow and attacked him from left and right at the same time.

His kunai thrust was easily blocked by Samehada while his clone’s attack failed when Kisame grabbed its wrist before it could harm him. That didn’t discourage him, though, as it didn’t interfere with what he had planned.

Rather than following up with another attack, his clone twisted in their opponent’s grip until it was head-over with one leg extended towards Itachi who reached for it as soon as it was in range. Kisame obviously noticed that something was wrong as well and went to throw the clone away, but by then, Itachi had already caught his clone’s limb. Consequently, Itachi was catapulted with it.

And this suddenly brought him into a position where there was nothing between him and Kisame to stop an attack, with his opponent’s body itself being a barrier to keep Samehada away.

Or at least that would have been the case if Samehada hadn’t decided to act on its own and follow after Itachi the very moment he got away from it.

He had seen the sword in action often enough to know how dangerous it was, especially when it tore the bandages that normally kept it in form apart and revealed its true shape as it had done now.

Although he managed to twist out of the way before Samehada could bite him in half, Itachi could feel the skin on his left shoulder ripped open when its shark-like scales grazed him, and he didn’t even need to see it destroying his clone to recognize the sound of tearing flesh and cawing crows for what it was.

The wound was only a superficial one, fortunately enough, but he really could have done without the burning sensation of it.

He didn’t waste any time and immediately jumped away as soon as his feet touched the ground.

Kisame didn’t follow after him, however. Instead, he began waving hand seals of his own.

“Suiton: Bakusui Shōha!” (Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave)

There was an enormous build-up of chakra that he would have been easily able to feel even if he couldn’t already see it with his Sharingan, and Itachi had seen the results of what it could do if given the chance often enough to know that the entire area would soon be flooded with water. The danger of being hit by the shockwave aside, the advantage it would give Kisame to fight in such an environment was a complete game changer and not something Itachi could allow to let pass.

He had hoped to avoid giving him the chance to use such a technique by keeping him constantly occupied with attacks and traps, but that had obviously failed.

It was fortunate that he had never truly expected that to work anyway.

Three things happened during the short time in which Kisame prepared his technique:

First, the clone that Samehada had destroyed reformed right in front of him. Kisame, obviously expecting it to try to stop his technique, immediately backed away, and that was his mistake. While Kisame was indeed fast enough to get out of its reach, Samehada wasn’t, and as the swordsman needed both hands to form hand seals, the sword was forced to try and get away on its own. Consequently, while Itachi’s clone missed Kisame, it was more than capable of kicking Samehada hard enough to throw it far away regardless of the damage its leg took in the process.

Second, three more Crow Clones that he had created before the fight had even begun and that had kept themselves hidden until now appeared around Kisame, and together with Itachi himself, they formed a square around their opponent.

Third, they used a technique of their own.

“Uchiha Kaenjin!” (Uchiha Flame Formation)

The four of them slammed their palms on the ground at the same time as Kisame began spatting out an unbelievable amount of water, creating a blood-red barrier all around him before the water could reach them.

The area inside the barrier was filled to the brink within mere moments, destroying the clone that had kicked Samehada away in an instant.

It was true that Itachi had hoped to stop Kisame from using any of his big techniques at all, but he had never truly expected to be able to accomplish that. Consequently, this was what he had come up with: a barrier that was strong enough to keep him and whatever amount of water he might summon imprisoned but wasn't too chakra expensive as to exhaust him.

It still took a considerable amount of chakra, of course. As things were now, Itachi had maybe one-fifth of his reserves left, though it was probably even less than that.

However, his plan didn’t stop here. While it was nice and all that he had ‘captured’ him, this didn’t actually end their fight. Not only did this nothing to actually finish him off as Kisame could breathe underwater, but it also wasn’t as if he could hold him there indefinitely.

And judging from the shit-eating grin on Kisame’s face, he knew that as well.

With that in mind, Itachi didn’t waste any time and continued with the next part of his plan.

Slowly but surely, he and his three clones began walking towards Kisame, continuously shrinking the space within the barrier with every step they took.

At the same time, the amount of water inside of it obviously remained the same.

Now, while members of the Hoshigaki clan could certainly endure much more pressure than any normal human being, there was still a limit to that ability, and they were rapidly approaching that limit right now if the way Kisame’s grin transformed into a startled gasp was anything to go by.

Considering the water in question wasn’t just normal but heavy, chakra infused one instead, it was no wonder that the pressure was increasing at such a quick rate.

Itachi couldn't be entirely sure, but it probably wasn’t a scratch to claim that Kisame was the strongest water user in generations, maybe only surpassed by the likes of the Nidaime Hokage. In fact, he was so talented in the use of his element that he could manipulate it in such a way that it wasn’t just normal water he summoned but distilled water instead. Considering this meant it didn’t conduct lightning which was usually one of its biggest weaknesses, this talent was usually one of Kisame’s greatest strengths and something that no one had ever used against him.

Which was exactly why Itachi had designed this very strategy many years ago just shortly after they had first teamed up with one another in case he would ever need to fight him. After all, people rarely expected their trump cards to be used against them, leaving them wide open to attacks whenever it actually happened.

He could feel the moment Kisame began fighting back by the increasing difficulty it took him to continue to walk forwards as his opponent began pushing the water outwards away from himself. This, Itachi knew, would ultimately be successful; no matter how strong his barrier might be, he simply lacked the chakra to keep it up long enough, especially when his reserves hadn’t even been full at the start of the fight. With his monstrous reserves, Kisame would overpower him sooner rather than later.

However, that didn’t matter to him. While it would have been nice to finish him off with this, that had never been his goal to begin with. Much more, he had captured him only to keep him in a place where he could see him. The entire act of slowly increasing the pressure was only a pretext to keep him occupied and stop him from noticing that Itachi was preparing his true attack.

Or, to be more precise, stop him from noticing that the tomoes in Itachi’s eyes had spun around to form his Mangekyō and that he had closed his right eye while simultaneously channelling chakra into it.

After all, the Amaterasu hit everything within his vision, so having Kisame trapped right in front of him with no way to escape left him all but defenceless against it.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to actually take advantage of that because it was then that Samehada reappeared.

Itachi’s lips thinned. I hoped it would have flown away too far away to intervene, he thought, his mind racing. My clone either didn’t kick it hard enough or it was fortunate and got caught in some unusual high reaching tree branches. Regardless of what was ultimately the case, the crux of the matter was that this rendered his entire plan useless. Samehada could easily break through his barrier due to its ability to consume chakra and consequently not only weaken him but also free Kisame without breaking a sweat.

And as there was no way he would be able to use Amaterasu before that happened, his plan had effectively already failed.

Time for Plan B, then.

Rather than waiting for Samehada to break through his barrier and steal his chakra, Itachi and his clones all simultaneously stopped their technique before jumping towards their opponent.

Kisame, who could not notice the reappearance of his sword because it had approached him from behind, had no way of preparing for the sudden collapse of the barrier, not when he could clearly sense that Itachi wasn’t out of chakra yet and that the barrier itself was not yet close to breaking, and was therefore caught off-guard. That lasted only for a fraction of a second, of course, but that was enough to close the distance between them.

One of his clones was intercepted by Samehada, but his other two and he himself didn’t have any such problems. Kisame managed to block his punch to his guts by catching his fist in his hand and avoided the kick to his head from one of Itachi's clones by ducking beneath it, but he was unable to do anything about the second one hitting the back of his left knee.

Considering his clones had created a chakra scalpel beforehand, this meant that all the muscles at that spot were cut without any resistance, forcing Kisame to his knees.

Immediately spotting his chance, Itachi rammed his own knee into his face to the accompanying sound of shattering teeth.

He didn’t have the chance to exploit that moment and further, however, for rather than letting him go, this action only tightened Kisame’s grip on his hand, and half a second later, he threw him right towards where his two clones were preparing for another attack of their own with enough force to dislocate his shoulder.

Itachi clenched his teeth at the sudden surge of pain that shot through him, but he didn’t let that distract him from the fight.

It was because of this that he saw what his third clone, the one that had been trying to go past Samehada, was doing even with the crows of the two clones that had dissolved when he smashed into them impairing his vision.

Grabbing the outstretched hand with his good arm, he let himself be flung back into the direction he had come from.

The clone was destroyed by Samehada just a moment later.

It had already fulfilled its purpose, though, so that mattered little to him.

Twisting in mid-air, Itachi arrived at his opponent with a flying kick. Kisame blocked it just in time, but due to having only one good leg at the moment, it was powerful enough to make him stumble backwards and thus leave him open for his follow-up punch to his liver.

After all, while he might be able to withstand physical attacks better than most, being hit there hurt everyone regardless of how tough they were.

The painful gasp Kisame let out was proof of that.

Not stopping there, Itachi formed a chakra scalpel with one hand and thrust it forward, only barely missing Kisame’s throat when the swordsman tilted his head out of the way while simultaneously throwing a punch of his own.

Itachi saw the attack coming in time to be able to dodge it, but he didn’t. Instead, he forced his dislocated arm between his body and Kisame’s fist and took the attack head-on.

The power behind the punch was enough to not only break his already battered arm but also crack some of his ribs, knocking all the wind out of him and bringing involuntary tears to his eyes.

However, it also gave him just the opportunity he had been hoping for.

The attack had lifted him into the air and into the perfect position to send a kick to Kisame’s chin, making his head snap upwards and crushing some more teeth in the process. But it was not the damage he did with the attack itself that he was after. Rather, it was the fact that thanks to this, their eyes met for the first time since their fight began.

His plan to use Amaterasu might have failed, but that wasn’t the only technique Itachi could use with his Mangekyō.

A part of him felt bad for it, but it was already far too late for regrets.

“Tsukuyomi!”

“Heh, what a terrifying technique…”

Itachi didn’t bother with a reply, choosing instead to spare his breath and collect his strength while thinking about how to progress from here.

He was currently crouching on one knee about a dozen metres away from Kisame, his left eye closed to help it recover from the aftereffect of his technique and his injured arm nestled in front of his chest. Furthermore, he was painfully reminded that his rips, too, were in anything but good condition with every breath he took. It didn’t make him look forward to moving any time soon considering that would make things only worse.

And then there was also the matter of his completely depleted chakra reserves…

The only good thing about the situation was that Kisame was just as battered as he was. Not physically, of course. Samehada had naturally already healed his injuries. However, no matter how much chakra the sword provided him, even Kisame couldn’t heal mental damage with it.

The effects of that were quite visible: although he appeared to be fine at first glance, the fatigued on his face was clear for everyone to see. His usual grin was absent for once, his eyes were bloodshot, and his shoulders slouched. Even his words came across as exhausted, and he knew the swordsman good enough to realize that he wouldn’t show such weakness if he could help it.

Unfortunately, Itachi was also quite confident that Kisame was still in better condition than he himself.

It appears that even several weeks of torture aren’t enough to keep him down, he thought grimly.

He didn’t have enough chakra to use Tsukuyomi to its fullest potential and imprison him for what would have felt like years, but he had hoped that what he had would be enough to at least incapacitate him. That was clearly not the case, though.

Not that he was too surprised by that, of course, but it was still troublesome.

Now all I can do is hope that my escape plan works out as intended.

Itachi had prepared something just in case something like this happened, but there was no guarantee that it would be enough. In fact, it was just as likely to backfire and kill him as it was to actually save him. He still had another ace up the sleeves that would guarantee his safety and bring him victory in this fight as well, but considering the cost of that technique was quite severe, he would prefer not to be forced to use it.

“You know, I wanted to fight someone with those eyes for a while now,” Kisame continued when Itachi didn’t reply, repeating what he had said at the start of their fight with a hoarse and laboured voice. “I really looked forward to it as well, actually. Who would have thought that it would result in something like this…”

“Being able to regret is a privilege of the living,” he said while trying to suppress a wince at how much worse his voice sounded compared to Kisame’s. “Only the dead can truly be content.”

“Who said anything about regrets? This is the most fun I had in a long time. There is nothing to regret!”

Itachi hesitated for a moment before he replied, pondering whether it would be wise to say what he was really thinking or whether he would be better off remaining silent, but he ultimately decided on the former. “Most people wouldn’t consider being tortured as having a good time.” He paused. “Although I guess someone who finds themselves deserving of punishment might disagree.”

He knew that Kisame perceived the world in black and white; in good and bad people. Oh, he was capable of understanding that bad people could do good things just as easily as good people could do bad things, but he still clung to that worldview.

Itachi also knew that he quite firmly placed himself into the former category. Embraced that role, even.

Their conversation during their first encounter on the pier all these years ago demonstrated that clearly.

Rather than getting angry, Kisame began to laugh, though that quickly turned into a coughing fit. It would have been the perfect opening for an attack weren’t it for Samehada at his side; while Itachi was confident that he could connect an attack even in his weakened state when Kisame was occupied with coughing, he doubted he would be able to do so with the sword ready to defend its master.

Unfortunately, Kisame never got the chance to reply, for it was just when he opened his mouth that a piercing cry rang through the air.

Kisame’s eyes widened in surprise, and while it was hard to say whether that was because of the sound or because of the sudden presence of another chakra signature that quickly closed in on them, the answer to that didn’t really matter.

So, while Kisame’s attention was still focused on what was coming towards them from behind him, Itachi gritted his teeth to suppress a wince before he forced himself to his feet, turned around, and began to run away as fast as his condition allowed.

After all, while he might not like it, he wasn’t too prideful to retreat when a fight was clearly lost.

“Hey, where do you think-“

Kisame’s words were cut off when a disfigured girl jumped out of the trees and threw a punch at his head. He was able to turn around and raise Samehada in time to block it, but with how battered he was, the force behind it still pushed him back when he should by all right be the more powerful one. Furthermore, judging from the surprised gasp Itachi could hear, the girl’s fist was probably not torn apart by Samehada’s scales like it usually happened to those unfortunate enough to make direct contact with it.

Considering Itachi had experienced her strong defensive powers himself, he couldn’t say he was too surprised by that.

In fact, it was his belief that this would happen that had prompted him to use her in such a manner.

Even when injured by his chakra scalpels, she still healed at an impressive speed, forcing him to redo the damage again and again before she had a chance to fully heal. However, that was obviously not an option during the fight, meaning there was nothing stopping her from recovering and beginning to attack again.

It was for that reason that he had left her alone not too far from where he had waited for Kisame after sending his team away. After all, she would surely rush towards the source of all the disturbances in the area as soon as she was able to. Itachi had known that his fight with Kisame wouldn’t last for too long because his own reserves had been so low from the beginning, so it stood for reason that she wouldn’t make an appearance before it was over regardless of which one of them had won by then.

It would have been troublesome if he had won and she appeared to attack him afterwards, of course, but he judged that the pros far outweighed the cons and went through with this plan anyway.

And considering she now allowed him to flee by keeping Kisame occupied, that had turned out to be the right decision.

He was under no illusion that she could possibly kill him. Weakened as he was, Kisame wouldn’t allow himself to be beaten by what was little more than a rampaging beast. However, that mattered little as long as she kept him busy for long enough to allow Itachi to get away.

It irked him that he had to use the girl like this when she had already suffered so much, but when it was a decision between that on one side and his life on the other, the answer was clear. Also, as much as it would have been beneficial to examine her body back in Konoha to find out more about Orochimaru’s experiments and his Curse Mark, getting out of here alive was more important than that.

There was truly no other way.

The only other thing he regretted was to end his fight with Kisame like this. Itachi was tired of fighting people he considered comrades, and deciding to fight Kisame with the intent to kill hadn’t been easy. He could force himself to do it again as many times as it took, yes, but he seriously would have preferred to finish things here and now.

But that didn’t work out, so they would most likely be forced to fight again in the future.

Sure, Kisame had been killed in the last timeline as well, the fact that the Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails carried Samehada during the Fourth Great Ninja War was proof of that, but Itachi had a feeling in his gut that he wouldn’t be fortunate enough to have someone else take this burden away from him in this timeline.

Anyway, this wasn’t the time to worry about things like that. He could do that later. For now, he needed to put all his attention on running away without fainting.

He had a team to catch up with, after all.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

XIII

The first thing that clued Anko in on the fact that they weren’t on the route anymore was that she was lying on something soft. She had been unconscious for most of the time, yes, and her awareness had been rather limited even when awake, but whenever she did manage to get a grip on herself for a short amount of time, she had either been carried by someone or lay wrapped in blankets on the hard ground.

She had never been able to stay conscious for long, though. The pain and her exhaustion always drove her back into a restless sleep no matter how hard she fought against it.

However, that wasn’t the case now. Not only did she feel fine aside from some stiffness in her neck area, but she also lay in some comfy bed in a perfectly climatised room, leading her to the conclusion that they must finally be back in Konoha. It bothered her a bit that this was how she returned to her home after all these years, but considering she could count herself lucky for being alive at all, Anko decided to ignore that feeling.

Alright, she thought. Let's find out if I'm right and this really is Konoha.

With that in mind, she finally opened her eyes.

Her vision was blurred and her eyes hurt from the bright light, but she forced herself to keep them open to get them used to it. Nonetheless, the little bit she could see was enough to make her realize that this was indeed Konoha. Or, more specifically, a hospital room in Konoha. The white walls, machinery, and the Konoha emblem on the wall were kind of a clear giveaway. Furthermore, there was also the typical hospital smell in the air that made her mentally scold herself for not noticing it earlier.

All of this could theoretically be faked, of course. So, what truly convinced her that she was home was none of that but the woman sitting next to her bed that gave her a beaming smile when she noticed that she was awake.

“Mikoto-san?” Anko didn’t even care about how weak and raspy her voice sounded, caught off-guard as she was. She then tried to sit up but was immediately stopped by two hands that gently pushed her back down before she could get far.

“Welcome home,” Mikoto said, her voice just as soft and melodic as Anko remembered. “You shouldn’t overexert yourself yet. Just keep lying like that and relax, yes?”

Anko couldn’t say she liked that very much, but she didn’t have the energy to resist her anyway, so she reluctantly did as she was told. “What are you doing here?”

“Why, I couldn’t let you be all alone when you wake up, could I? No one should be left on their own when they wake up in a hospital bed. Having someone at your side is much nicer, don’t you agree?”

Something in her chest clenched painfully at that, and unsure whether she even could utter a sound, she just nodded.

“Besides,” Mikoto continued. "You're practically family, so of course I wanted to be by your side when you wake up."

Anko blamed it on the drugs which had doubtlessly been pumped into her body that she reacted so emotional, but she couldn’t help it and teared up a little bit. While she hadn’t woken up in a hospital all that often, it did happen from time to time as Orochimaru had never been one of those teachers that take it easy or show much consideration for their students. However, he certainly never bothered to wait at her bedside for her to wake up, and because she was an orphan she also had no family to visit her either, so she had always been alone. Sure, Yukio visited her sometimes when she stayed there for more than a day, but other than that, the only people she saw were nurses and doctors.

She had known that Mikoto took an interest in her son’s life, the fact that she regularly invited not only her but Haku and Izumi -another one of Itachi’s friends- as well for “girls’ days” was proof of that, and Anko had even been sure that the other woman genuinely liked her, but never would she have ever imagined that she considered her family.

Anko had never had something like that, so regardless of whether Mikoto truly meant that or just said it to be nice, it meant a lot to her. After all, she was an Uchiha; family was important to clans such as hers, so she surely wouldn’t say something like that lightly.

“Thank you.”

There really wasn’t anything else she could say, though she was glad that she managed to suppress a sob before she embarrassed herself.

Mikoto, kind as she was, didn’t mention it even though she surely must have noticed. After all, retired or not, she was an experienced Jōnin. Instead, she just gave her a warm smile and let her take all the time she needed to collect herself.

It was then that a question suddenly popped up in her head.

“Is everyone else alright?” Itachi must be fine when Mikoto could sit so calmly at her bedside, but Kakashi had been injured if she remembered things correctly, and then there was also their third teammate whose name she didn’t know but who she thought had made an appearance and distracted Orochimaru long enough for her to score a hit on him. “No one else got hurt, right?”

Mikoto’s expression didn’t change, but Anko thought she could hear a note of sorrow when she replied. “I don’t know any details, but there seems to have been some complications when you were unconscious.” Anko eye’s widened and she opened her mouth to demand what she meant with that, but Mikoto continued soothingly before she had the chance to do so. “However, everyone is fine now. No one died and none of them suffered permanent injuries.”

Well, that was great and all that, but Anko still wanted to know what kind of complications had happened exactly! Even if Mikoto didn’t know any details, she surely knew something. With that in mind, she opened her mouth again to ask for more information only to be interrupted again, this time by a loud bang when the door to the room was thrown open.

Usually, Anko would give anyone who barged into her room like that quite an earful, but in this case, her words got stuck in her throat at the sight of just who had entered the room with a foul expression on their face. Just like probably every other kunoichi not only in Konoha but all over the world as well, she recognized the person immediately. How could she not when this was the person praised as the strongest woman in the world?

“You are-“

“-damn tired and done with this shit? Hell yeah, I am, so let's get this over with quickly so that I can have a drink and take a nap, shall we?"

Mikoto gave the woman a reprimanding look that bounced off her ineffectively. “She woke up just a few minutes ago, Tsunade-sama. Please show her a little more consideration.”

“I would think rushing over here as soon as she woke up would be consideration enough.”

“Most would say that rushing to their patient’s side is a doctor’s job and thus a given.”

“Well, most people-“

Anko had never seen Mikoto being so antagonistic towards someone before, and frankly, it scared her quite a lot. Although now that she thought about it, that might simply be a reaction to having two terrifying women that could easily kill her glare at each other over her prone body. Consequently, she said the first thing she could think of to redirect their attention away from each other.

“How did you know that I have woken up?”

… she regretted that decision as soon as both their attentions focused solely on her, though.

Thankfully, Mikoto decided to take pity on her and actually answer her.

“In addition to the regular doctors, there are various medic-nins in charge of different sections of the hospital,” she said. “It’s common practice that one of them casts a Genjutsu on every patient that needs to be closely observed because their condition is particularly delicate, although in your case it was merely because we need to talk with you as soon as possible. These Genjutsu are extremely weak, just strong enough to guarantee that the patient has a calm and restful sleep but fragile enough to be broken just from waking up. The backlash of the broken technique then alerts the medic-nin in charge that the patient has woken up or, in cases in which the patient’s life is in danger, that they might have died, allowing them to act quickly enough to potentially still save them.”

That… was actually really clever. Who would have thought that Genjutsu could be used in such a way?

“Yes,” Tsunade drawled as if reading her mind while also pulling out a notepad and a pen. “Pretty ingenious, isn't it? People laughed at me when I first proposed this method, but seeing how many lives it had saved so far, it’s me who had the last laugh, don’t you think? Well, be that as it may, I don’t have time all day, so let us start with what I actually came here for.” Anko swallowed when Tsunade threw her a stern look. “What the hell did you do to wreck your body like that?”

She blinked. “I… what? I don’t know-“

However, Tsunade ignored her.

“Twenty-four of the twenty-seven bones in your right hand were broken, eight of which to the point where ‘shattered’ would honestly be a better term to describe it. Both forearm bones on the same side were broken in five and six places respectively while most of the muscles attached to them were torn as well. Your left leg wasn’t quite that bad, but there, too, most muscles were torn and your ankle bone broken to the point where it was hardly recognisable for what it was.

And as if all of that wasn’t already enough, your entire chakra network is littered with fissures. Whatever you have done with it almost ripped it apart. Just a little more damage would have been enough to destroy it completely, resulting in your death at worst and the end of your career as a shinobi at best.

You can count yourself lucky that your teammate knew medical Ninjutsu. Rudimentary as it might have been, without it, the damage your body suffered would have been irreversible even for me by the time you arrived here. You better thank him later.”

Anko honestly didn’t know what to say. She had known that she had been injured, sure, but she would never have guessed that it was that bad. Though I guess that explains why my arm is still in a cast, she thought with a sideways glance at the limb in question. After all, such things were hardly ever necessary after a medic-nin had treated already treated an injury. If even Tsunade's treatment couldn't completely heal her arm by now, it must be a serious wound.

“Tsunade-sama-“

“It’s alright,” she interrupted Mikoto before she could reprimand Tsunade once more, her voice weak even to her own ears. “I prefer it this way over having everything sugar-coated.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t do that even if you asked.”

She nodded before steeling herself. After all, depending on how Tsunade answered her next question, her life might forever change.

“Will I fully recover?”

Contradictory to her previous words, Tsunade’s expression grew a bit softer, though her voice remained as stern as before. “Your leg is mostly alright now. The operation was a pain, but as long as you take it easy for three to four weeks and don’t put more weight on it than absolutely necessary, you shouldn’t have any long-term problems with it. Your chakra network is fine as well. Just don’t use any chakra if you can help it for the same amount of time and it will recover by itself. Now, regarding your arm…”

Tsunade paused for a moment, suddenly looking very, very tired.

“I was able to repair most of the damage and put everything back where it is supposed to be, but the damage was quite extensive. You will require regular treatment for at least another four months, though I suspect it will be more akin to six. You are obviously not allowed to strain it during that time either, so you better don’t even think about training. However, even with all that, there will be at least some lasting damage.”

Anko could feel her blood run cold. “And with ‘some’, you mean…”

“I suspect you will regain ninety percent functionality at the end of it.”

Ninety percent.

Ninety percent!

It was probably a miracle in and on itself that she would regain even this much, but Anko couldn’t help and feel terror at the idea of losing ten percent of her arm’s functionality. That wasn’t enough to immediately make her unsuitable for a life as shinobi, but she wasn’t stupid enough to believe it wouldn’t affect her at all. Even such a small handicap could make all the difference on a battlefield, after all. It would take an enormous amount of training to compensate for that, and even more to adapt her fighting style to work around any and all problems that would undoubtedly arise from it.

Her career might not be over, but it certainly felt like it…

No, she thought while forcefully pushing her doubts aside. I can’t let this bring me down. I won’t! So what if I need to train a lot? How’s that different from what I have done all this time anyway?

She wouldn’t let this be the end. That just wasn’t an option.

“There is one more thing.”

Tsunade’s voice pulled her back into the present, and if there was one thing that could bring across the severity of the situation, it was that her voice actually sounded almost gentle now.

Anko tried -and probably failed- to give them a crooked grin. “It can’t get much worse than this, can it?”

Neither Tsunade nor Mikoto replied to that, but they didn’t need to for her to understand what they were thinking. The fact that the latter suddenly took Anko’s uninjured hand into hers made that very clear.

The answer was ‘yes, it could get worse’.

Oh, it could get so much worse.

Anko wouldn’t have come up with something like Curse Marks in even her worst nightmares, but now they were reality. Her reality.

Of all the things Orochimaru could have done to her, marking her with such a thing was probably one of the worst.

And according to Tsunade, the greatest healer in the world, and even Jiraiya, the greatest Fūinjutsu specialist in the world who looked at the seal when his fellow Sannin informed him about her situation, there was no way to get rid of it.

After all this time she had spent on becoming stronger on her own to not only overcome but also distance herself from Orochimaru, she was now irreversibly bound to him.

Itachi was more than aware of all the glances he attracted while he waited in the foyer of the hospital. While he wouldn’t go as far as to say that he was famous, he was definitively well-known. After all, regular citizens loved to gossip about everything shinobi related and his fellow shinobi always kept a close eye on every talented member of the next generation, so a ‘child prodigy' like himself obviously caught peoples’ eyes.

Contrary to what Itachi had heard both Kakashi and Shisui complain about in the past, it was only a minor annoyance at worst and something he was well-accustomed to ignore by now, but he could still do without it.

This is worse than usual, though.

It probably couldn’t be helped. After all, it wasn’t every day that he found himself in the hospital, even less so as a patient.

And unfortunately, his current gowns meant that he couldn’t even pretend to be just a visitor.

The gossip will be horrible, he thought while suppressing a tired sigh before glancing at his arm. At least my injuries could be treated without complications.

Itachi had done what he could to treat them himself during the journey back to Konoha, but that had been only the absolute minimum necessary to make sure his condition didn’t get worse and could still be treated later. First, he had to concentrate on catching up with the rest of his team after his successful escape from Kisame which didn't leave much time for treatment even if he had any chakra left at that point, and then he had to spend almost all of it on helping Anko once he had somewhat recovered.

Consequently, it was only three days into the journey that he was able to focus on his own injuries when, just minutes after crossing the border into the Land of Fire, they encountered another squad from Konoha that had been sent by the Hokage in response to Itachi's message from the beginning of the mission that the allies from Kiri they were supposed to meet hadn’t shown up.

It was already too late to do anything meaningful with his meagre skill at that point, however, so all he could do even then was to stop his condition from getting worse.

A big part of the reason for that was that treating one’s own wounds was more chakra expensive than treating someone else’s. The human body recognizes its own energy, so when a person tried to use medical Ninjutsu on themselves, their body would automatically try to absorb it back into its system rather than let it do its intended job. Consequently, one would be forced to either use more chakra than the body could absorb to let it have its intended effect or use a second technique in tandem with the first one to suppress the body’s automatic response.

That was not only extremely hard to do, however, but also almost as expensive as the first method.

Tsunade was revered as the greatest medic-nin of all time not only because of her ability to heal others but also because she could heal herself from even the most grave of injuries without noticeably weakening at all. That should demonstrate just how hard it was.

It was truly fortunate that one of the shinobi that came to their aid knew some basic medic Ninjutsu as well, though. Itachi wasn’t sure how much longer he would have been able to continue treating Anko with his declining stamina if they hadn’t shown up when they did.

Then, upon their arrival at Konoha two days later, they had immediately been brought to the hospital to get their wounds treated. Kakashi and Zabuza, both of which weren’t injured, had been patched up within an hour and immediately sent to the Hokage to make a report while Anko was taken into surgery without any further delays. Apparently Tsunade herself would perform the operation.

Itachi himself wasn’t too far behind, though his admission was treated with much less urgency once it was clear that his injuries were neither critical nor required emergency treatment. That wasn’t to say he was put on wait, of course. He was still a patient in need of aid and the Uchiha heir to boot, after all. However, it meant that he wasn’t immediately rushed into the operation theatre with all haste, and he couldn’t say he was too unhappy about that. After what he had seen in Orochimaru’s lair, he had no particular desire to be in a similar –if much less sinister- version of it.

All of this had happened six hours ago, and his operation had ended just over an hour ago.

The first thing he had done once the drugs in his system had worn off –the staff was thankfully accustomed enough to treating shinobi to know that they disliked not being in full control of their senses and thus never used more than the absolute minimum of anaesthetics on them- was to send a messenger crow to his friends and family.

His mother had appeared in his room not even ten minutes later.

In his last life and this one both, the times Itachi could look right through his mother’s mask and see what she was truly thinking could be counted on both hands. He actually liked to think that he had inherited his own skills in masking his thoughts and feelings from her. However, it was easy to read her when she suddenly barged into his room through the window –she was a shinobi born and bred regardless of how long she had been out of active duty, after all- as she was barely even trying to hide her worry.

Telling her what he could about what had happened unfortunately didn’t calm very much considering he couldn’t tell her a lot to begin with. He would need to talk with the Hokage first to see how much of it was confidential. Until then, all he could give away was that he fought a powerful opponent and was injured in the process- things she could probably conclude herself from just looking at him.

Although just hearing him speak seemed to help somewhat, at least.

It was probably for the best that his mother was the only one who came to visit him. The crows he sent for Izumi and Shisui returned with their messages still attached to their legs, meaning they were both currently not in the village, and his father was too busy to drop everything and come visit him at once when his condition wasn’t even critical. Then there were also Sasuke and Haku whom he hadn’t bothered sending a message to in the first place because they would be at the Academy at this time of the day anyway.

There was only one other person he had notified, and that was the one he was waiting and enduring all the glances in the foyer for.

Fortunately, his waiting had finally come to an end.

“Itachi!” a voice called out to him. “What happened? Are you alright?”

A small smile fought its way onto his face. It was a sad fact that he and Yukio hadn’t stayed in contact as much as they probably should have ever since the latter had mostly dropped out of the shinobi program after his loss during the Chūnin Exams and limited himself to simple guard duty at the gate and helping out in his family’s restaurant, but it was still good to see him.

"There is no need to worry. None of my injuries were permanent and they have even been treated already."

“’No need to worry’? This is the first time I have ever seen you in hospital gowns, so of course there’s something to worry about!”

He chuckled. “It was unavoidable that this would happen someday. Still, my treatment is already finished and I will be allowed to go home at the end of the day. After that, all I need to do is take it easy for a week or two before I can go back to training.”

Technically, Itachi had been told to take it easy for three to four weeks, but while he was usually the kind of person to do as his doctor told him, he really didn’t see the problem with some light exercises before that as long as he didn’t strain his arm or ribs.

Although he should probably make sure not to mention that sentiment in front of his mother. Knowing her, she would not appreciate it very much.

“That’s not as reassuring as you might think, you know. The fact that you met an opponent that could mess you up enough to make you take a break for several weeks is actually kinda terrifying.”

“There is always a bigger fish in the ocean.”

Yukio gave him a confused look when he noticed the genuine amusement in his voice, but he could hardly tell him whom he had fought, so there was no way to explain what he found so funny about that claim. It seemed to calm him down to just speak normally with him like this, though, so there was that.

“Sure, I guess,” he said with a crooked grin. "Whatever you say. And what about the rest of your team? Is everyone okay?"

That one question pretty much evaporated his good mood all at once. Itachi had called him here not primarily to inform him about his own condition but to tell him about Anko. Even if he couldn’t tell him much or even let him see her as she was still in surgery, he thought Yukio deserved to at least know that she was back.

He had certainly not looked forward to having that conversation, though.

“Technically, yes. However, there have been some… complications.”

“Complications?” Yukio’s voice instantly turned wary. “What kind of complications?”

Itachi had led them subtly away from the other people during their conversation, but he made sure one last time that there was no one around to eavesdrop on them before turning his full attention to him.

“It’s about Anko.”

“All of them have been killed?”

“I’m afraid so, yes.”

“And you have no idea who is responsible for that?”

“I don’t, but the investigation is still ongoing, so that might change yet.”

“Well, isn’t that just great…”

Hiruzen wasn’t easily offended, but if it were one of his shinobi, he would have chided them for their behaviour by now. That being said, doing so with Zabuza might result in even more complicated relationships between Konoha and Kiri if the swordsmen went back home and reported that Hiruzen tried to patronise him or something like that. As the situation was already troublesome enough as it was, he saw no reason to risk that.

And besides, he could probably give the man some slack considering he had just found out that over a dozen of his comrades were confirmed dead. Even if he seemed to care more about the implications of that than about the lives lost, such a revelation was never nice.

“The Mizukage will not be happy about that.”

“I didn’t assume she would be, although I would think that the successful completion of the mission might brighten her mood somewhat.”

“Considering the involvement of a certain nuke-nin, it’s a wonder things worked out a well as they did,” Zabuza snorted before giving him a dark look that was entirely inappropriate to direct at a Kage regardless of whether it was your own or not. “A nuke-nin from this village, even. Also, wasn’t he your student too?”

He really puts me into a difficult position, doesn't he? If it wouldn’t be a sign of weakness, Hiruzen would let out a weary sigh just about now. Not reacting to that provocation at all will make me appear weak while reacting too strongly will make me look unreasonable and might even annoy him enough to negatively influence his report to the Mizukage. How troublesome.

However, he hadn’t survived in this world for as long as he did not only due to raw strength. One couldn’t wear the Hokage hat for decades and not learn how to play the game.

He released a sniff of killing intent for a little less than a second, intense enough to make the other man instinctively –and visibly- straighten up while still keeping it weak enough to make sure it wasn’t misinterpreted as an actual threat. Finding the golden middle ground wasn’t easy, but Hiruzen had mastered the art of doing just that many years ago.

“He was,” he agreed after a few seconds of tense silence, deliberately ignoring the way the other man’s hand twitched towards the handle of his sword at the sound of his voice. “And his interference was most unfortunate. Regardless, I think it’s reasonable to claim that the interference of not only one but two more of your fellow Swordsmen of the Mist was a much bigger problem than Orochimaru’s appearance.”

This joint mission had been based on information provided by Kirigakure. Thus, the fact that two more rogue shinobi from their village appeared during it was much more problematic than the appearance of his former student. A village was not responsible for the deeds of their nuke-nin, of course, but it still looked bad on paper.

Zabuza and he stared at each other for several seconds before the former suddenly let out a dry chuckle. “Fair enough.” His posture relaxed to the point where it was clear that it was an intentional effort to show his willingness to cooperate without causing any further problems from here on now. “So, can I assume that you’re willing to cooperate with Kiri in the investigation regarding our people’s killers?”

Apparently, his subtly demonstration of power had been enough to pass some sort of test. Good.

“Of course,” he said. “I will send a delegate with you when you return home to discuss the precise terms with the Mizukage. Furthermore, I will also let you be accompanied by an ANBU squad till you reach the border in case the culprits are still out there.”

It probably said a lot about what kind of impression he had made on the swordsman that he didn’t even argue about not needing an escort for his protection.

Funnily enough, he would even have been correct if he claimed such a thing. After all, Hiruzen could say with confidence that the people responsible were long since gone. He couldn’t share this information, though, as the details behind it cast a bad light on Konoha.

After all, explaining that there had been signs of someone breaking into the Hokage building and stealing the details for this joint mission wasn’t something one could share with other nations, not even allied ones. This, combined with the fact that the number of illegal transgressions increased sharply all across the north-western border shortly before and after the time when the Kiri-nins were thought to have been killed, greatly narrowed down the list of suspects who could be behind it.

Again, that weren’t details one shared with even allied nations if one didn't want to lose face.

In the end, a village couldn’t afford to appear weak. No matter how battered it was, no matter how dire the situation, they always needed to show a strong front to the rest of the world.

It was because of that sentiment that Suna attacked Konoha in the original timeline, and it was because of this that he had tried not to steal too many missions from the Land of Wind in this one.

“With that out of the way, there’s another thing I wanted to address,” Hiruzen continued after Zabuza gave his reluctant consent to the escort party. “Hm, you could almost call it a sign of good faith.”

Understandably, Zabuza threw him a suspicious look. “And what would that be?”

“The reason this mission was initially intended to consist of mainly shinobi from Kiri and only a small percentage of Konoha-nin was to make it clear to the rest of the world that bringing back these rogue swordsmen was mostly your village’s doing, wasn’t it?” Well, it was actually that and the hope that such an action would dispense all the whispers about how weakened Kirigakure still was after its civil war, but it wouldn’t be polite to say that out loud now. “No matter how the mission actually turned out, I think we can still achieve that goal.”

As expected, Zabuza quickly understood what he was implying. “You’re willing to give up the credit for taking three of the Swordsman of the Mist?”

His mistrust was just as expected, of course. After all, with the aforementioned aim to always appear strong in mind, it would seem suspicious for anyone to give up something that could so easily bring so much prestige.

“I’m willing to hush the deaths of your people up and publicly claim that they were fundamentally involved on the mission, yes.” Hiruzen leaned forward, his hands folded under his chin. “In return, I hope you can relay my most sincere wish to have a strong and long-lasting alliance with your village to the Mizukage when you make your report.”

The main reason why he had agreed to this joint mission was to solidify the budding alliance between their villages. If he needed to give up on some prestige to reach that goal, it was well worth it.

Ultimately, both parties would get something from this arrangement. Zabuza seemed to understand that as well.

“I’m sure she will appreciate that.”

“I certainly hope so.”

It was a shame that the relatives and friends of those Kiri-nin that had died would never find out about the true circumstances of their loved ones’ deaths when inevitably another, false reason would be named to explain their disappearance, but that was just how this world worked.

Regardless, Hiruzen needed to think about his own people first, and this alliance would go a long way in securing their safety.

Looking at it from that perspective, this mission had actually been quite a success. None of his own shinobi had died, three Swordsmen were dead even though they had started out with only two targets, he had gained important details regarding what Orochimaru was up to, and the alliance between Konoha and Kiri was all but set in stone at this point.

All in all, the only bad thing that came out of this was the fate of poor Anko, but he was confident that she would overcome this challenge in time. Other than that, everything worked out just fine.

Or at least that was what he would have said if it weren’t for one thing:

All we can do now is hope that the destruction of the capital of the Land of the Waterfalls will not cause too many problems...

He wasn’t a vain man, but right now, he couldn’t help but admire his chest in the mirror. The way the green and blue bruises curled all over his ribcage while slowly fading away was a spectacular sight, and one he hadn’t been able to observe on his own body in quite a while. Even the dull pain he felt in the back of his mind couldn’t dull his curiosity about the phenomenon.

“Orochimaru-sama, are you alright?”

Of course, he thought with an annoyed curl of his lips. Leave it to this fool to manage what the pain could not.

Nakamura had his uses, but they were quickly outshined by his flaws.

“Oh? Do you really think that a mere punch would be enough to truly harm me, Nakamura-kun?”

“N-no, of course not!” Nakamura stammered while quickly averting his gaze from the bruises on his chest. “That’s not what I wanted to-“

“I don’t care about what you want,” he interrupted him, well-aware of how terrified his underlings always became when he kept his voice friendly and sweet even when they knew that he was clearly in a bad mood. “What I do care about, however, is that my commands are followed to the letter. So, tell me, how is it that my precious test subject has been lost to me when I clearly remember ordering you to retrieve it?”

The boy kept his eyes stubbornly on the floor before him from where he knelt. “B-because I failed you, Orochimaru-sama.”

“Yes,” he purred, enjoying the terror that went through his body at the sound of it. “Because you failed me.”

Not that this had been too surprising. It wasn’t as if he had expected the boy to somehow overcome Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, after all. However, he had hoped he would at least keep them busy long enough for him to take care of Anko and go after them himself.

However, in the end, he hadn’t even tried to stop them!

“And tell me, Nakamura-kun,” he continued after several seconds during which the boy clearly tried his hardest not to fidget. “How do you plan to make up for your failure?”

“In any way I can, Orochimaru-sama.”

The reply came without hesitation, just as he liked it.

“As always, your dedication is simply... awe-inspiring! I’m honestly impressed.” It was always amusing to watch his subjects light up when he complimented them even when they were scared to death. “And I even already know just how you can help me.”

As much as he didn’t like to make mistakes, Orochimaru wasn’t the kind of person to lie to himself and make excuses for his own shortcomings. The only reason Anko could hit him and subsequently escape was that he had judged her as incapacitated and thus no longer paid attention to her. If he had been just a little bit more careful, that wouldn’t have happened.

And because of that, he now couldn’t study the effect of his cursed seal on a true Sage anymore.

Furthermore, he had even been injured! Not in any meaningful manner, naturally, but still enough that even his very own substitute technique couldn’t repair the damage immediately. It was only now, two hours later, that the bruises started to vanish.

Anko had demonstrated this ability earlier during their fight, but then, her chakra-coated fists were barely worth mentioning. Sure, the damage needed a few seconds even after he had substituted to heal, but while that was certainly impressive and caught his attention, it hadn’t been anything to worry about.

Her last attack was on an entirely different level, though. I wonder if that was already because of my seal or because of something else…

Be that as it may, now that she had escaped, he had no way to find out more for the time being, so he would have to do with what he had.

Also, while he might not be able to study Anko herself, his fight with her had given him quite a few ideas for new experiments, so there was at least one positive thing that came out of this entire debacle.

And I even already have the perfect test subject, he thought, not even bothering to suppress his chuckle. That should keep me busy until I get a chance to get my hand on Anko, too.

After all, she couldn’t stay holed up in Konoha forever. She was ought to leave the village for a mission or another at some point, and when that time came, he would have his chance.

No one could escape him forever, especially not when he took such a vested interest in someone. That’s just how he was.

Sooner or later, Anko would be his.

Until then, all he needed to do was to be patient and wait.

Chapter Text

Let’s start this from the beginning

Swordsmen of the Mist

XIV

Izumi had gone on a number of dates over the last few years. Not too many, mind you, but enough to have an idea of what to expect. Because of that, she hadn’t even been too nervous about them anymore after the second or third time, allowing her to concentrate fully on just having a good time.

Not that this was what usually happened. Honestly, she was already happy when they weren’t a complete flop.

Maybe she had just too high standards –the two boys she usually hung out with were unnaturally mature for their ages, after all- and just expected too much from them, but all her dates tended to be… well, annoying and immature. Her mother guaranteed her that this was completely normal and that they would grow up in time, but she found that rather hard to believe.

Anyway, what she wanted to say with all of that was that she had long since outgrown being nervous about such things. After all, the worst thing that could happen was that she grew bored of her date and went home early. There simply was nothing to worry about.

Or, that was what she had thought.

Going on a date with a person you actually liked was apparently quite a bit different from just accepting the invitation from someone she barely knew and merely thought was cute. Who would have thought, right?

Izumi had this realization when Shisui appeared at her door at half-past seven to pick her up for Takijami’s birthday party and she barely managed to stutter out a greeting before transforming into a blushing mess. Her mother fortunately rescued her before she could embarrass herself even further by talking his ear off about how handsome and similar to his late father he looked.

While Izumi had never met that man and thus couldn’t say whether that was true, she could definitively confirm the former part.

Shisui wore a blue kimono so dark that it almost appeared black with a blood-red obi around his waist to hold it together and a kimono jacket with the Uchiha emblem prominently on the back over his shoulders, and in the fading daylight of the setting sun, he looked almost like a character right out from a fairy tale.

She had always been aware that Shisui was handsome, of course, but she hadn’t really realized it until now.

That didn’t excuse that she acted like a lovesick idiot that couldn’t even speak without stuttering, though. The only reason she didn’t die from embarrassment right there and then was that he, judging from his own stuttering and his burning face, didn’t handle the situation any better than she did.

Naturally, her mother had a field day teasing the both of them by complicating how well their outfits matched each other and insisting on taking photos of all things.

Although, to be fair, she wasn’t exactly wrong. Izumi wore a snow-white kimono with bright gold floral patterns and accents that became more prominent the further down her body you looked as well as an obi in a much richer shade of gold around her waist and the obligatory Uchiha emblem on her back, so the contrast between Shisui's outfit and hers was quite eye-catching.

With that in mind, she was suddenly very happy that Mikoto had ignored her complaints and insisted on giving them to her. Izumi hadn’t wanted to accept it –she and her mother might not have much money, but they could afford some nice clothes for an event like this dammit!- and tried to politely turn the offer down, but in the end, she had given in.

In her defence, it was really hard to tell her ‘no’ when she explained that she had no daughters of her own to give her old clothes to and would rather see them being worn than rot away in a chest in the attic.

I should thank her later, she thought as she and Shisui walked towards the streets towards where the celebration was to take place.

“Do you go to this party every year?”

The question sounded banal even to her own ears, but Izumi was honestly tired of the awkward and tense silence that had persisted ever since they left her home.

“Gods, no!” Shisui exclaimed while nervously rubbing the back of his head. “I’m usually lucky enough to be on a mission at this time of the year. I went only… twice, I think? I know it was before I even made Chūnin because only Jōnin and ANBU missions are important enough to count as a polite excuse to decline Takijami’s invitation.”

She blinked, her own embarrassment momentarily forgotten at the absurdity of that claim. “Wait, but what if you’re a Chūnin and need to leave for an escort mission to let's say the capitol? Takijami can’t think of himself as more important than the daimyo, right?”

“Well, I don’t think so. I guess he might let it go if you explain that to him, though you better don’t expect to be invited to his birthday again afterwards anyway.”

I shouldn’t be surprised, she thought as she and Shisui chuckled about that. That’s pretty much in line with what else I have heard about him.

“I better make Jōnin soon, then, because I have no intention of going there next year again.”

Shisui gave her an amused look. “Why not? You haven’t even been there yet. Maybe you will like it.”

“Sure, because rubbing shoulders with pompous idiots who think money is the most important thing in the world and know nothing about what it means to be a shinobi sounds so interesting, right?”

“You know that at least half of the people there are shinobi, don’t you?”

“The most well-connected members of the KMPF, maybe. Say, how many of them do you think left the village for a mission within the last year?”

“Ah, the disrespect! I’m sure Fugaku-san will be so disappointed to hear you talk about him and his subordinate like that.”

Izumi playfully shoved him away, not even bothering to suppress her grin at his giddy laugh in response.

She wasn't serious, of course. Most people there –civilians and shinobi alike- probably weren’t that bad at all, but it was amusing poking fun at them.

Shisui opened his mouth to add something else, most likely intending to tease her in some way or another, but it was then that they walked around a corner and came within view of their destination, making him snap his mouth shut again.

The Narisawa was the arguably most successful restaurant in all of Konoha. Not only was it located favourably in the greatest commercial area right in the centre of the village, but it was also run by people who found a way to successfully attract both the wealthy and the average citizens, consequently giving it the largest number of customers possible.

While it was impossible to see from the outside, the building was split into two on the inside in a way that made it basically impossible for any customers to walk or even look into the other half, and both sides had their very own entrance.

The northern entrance was located in a town square with normal shops in an average-income area and was held much more casual. In many ways, it wasn’t any different from all the other restaurants one could find all over the village, though it still attracted a lot of customers due to its location.

The southern entrance, on the other hand, was in a high-class area where only the more affluent customers shopped and thus led into an interior that was set up in a way that those kinds of people usually preferred. In fact, one of the previous owners a few generations back had been a retired shinobi who had earned a lot of money by saving the daimyo’s life and then invested almost all of it into expanding and redecorating the entire building. As a result, the southern half was one if not the most luxurious restaurant in all of Konoha.

Naturally, this meant that many rich people wanted to dine there which in turn meant that it was virtually impossible to get a seat without a reservation - which of course was also impossible if you didn't have a lot of money to spare.

Considering Takijami was one of the richest people in the village thanks to his position as Head of Konoha’s Merchant Guild, money was obviously not a problem. Quite the opposite, actually; no other place would be good enough for a person of his standing.

If Izumi remembered the invitation letter correctly, he had even rented one of the private banquet halls! She had no idea how many of them the restaurant had but doubted that it could be very many.

“Shisui, Izumi, welcome to the Narisawa. I was already wondering where you were.”

All this was very impressive, of course, but what interested Izumi much more was the identity of the restaurant’s owners.

Shisui snorted. “Eh, what are you saying, Yukio? We aren’t late, are we? I’m pretty sure we still have plenty of time left before we’re expected.”

One wouldn’t have guessed it from his behaviour alone, but Yukio’s family was actually one of the wealthiest in the village due to their family’s business. It was actually kind of a surprise that he had even become a shinobi in the first place considering he would have had a pretty easy life if he just concentrated on helping out in the restaurant in preparation of inheriting it one day, but then again, many children had quite the romanticized expectation of shinobi life and consequently wanted to become one themselves.

Although since he has started to pull back from active duty more and more to focus on just that for a few years now, things worked out that way anyway, she thought. While Izumi didn’t know him all that well, she had heard that much from Itachi and Shisui. The latter was actually kind of a surprise as he had no good reason to stay in contact with Yukio, but apparently, the two of them hit off right away during Itachi’s birthday party just prior to their Chūnin Exams and they stayed friends ever since.

Izumi personally suspected it had something to do with Shisui wanting to keep an eye on Itachi through Yukio, but as she had no proof of that, she never voiced that thought out loud.

“That might be the case,” Yukio said with a grin. “However, it’s usually polite to be five minutes early.”

“Really? I thought it’s fashionable to be a bit too late, actually.”

“Maybe for the top dogs, yes, but you hardly count to that group.”

Shisui let out an exaggerated gasp. “Don’t you know who I am? I-“

Before this spiel could continue for much longer, Izumi rammed her heel onto his foot, making him stop mid-sentence with a surprised squeak that she just knew was fake- after all, there was no way he didn’t see her ‘attack’ coming. Still, she appreciated that he didn’t even try to dodge, so she didn’t berate him for his over-the-top reaction.

“If you two keep this up for much longer, we really will be late,” she said with a pointed look at Shisui before smoothing her face into a smile and turning towards the other boy. “It’s good to see you, Yukio-kun, but would you mind leading us to the banquet now?”

The reason that he had been waiting for them at the entrance was probably that he had seen their names on the guest list and wanted to accompany them personally rather than let any of the other employees do it. Perks of being the son of the owner, I guess.

“Of course,” he immediately agreed. “Also, don’t worry, I was just kidding. You’re neither too late nor too early, so nobody should say anything.” He was about to turn around and lead the way when he abruptly stopped and gave them both a critical once-over. Then, before Izumi could ask what was wrong, his face transformed into a teasing grin and he gave them two thumbs-up. “By the way, you two look really good together! I was wondering when Shisui was finally going to ask you out, so it's nice to see that he's finally got his act together!"

And with just that, the easy-going atmosphere was once more replaced by one of embarrassment as both she and Shisui simultaneously turned bright red.

Yukio’s very unprofessional sniggers accompanied them all the way to the banquet hall.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to smile a bit, you know.”

Fugaku didn’t even bother to reply to that, and she suspected the only reason he didn’t roll his eyes at her was that they were in public and he wouldn’t do something he consider unsightly when in presence of so many people.

“Come one,” Mikoto said teasingly while gently nudging her shoulder against his. “They’re cute together, aren’t they? Even you can’t deny that.”

“I guess…”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at her husband’s grumpy reply.

They were obviously talking about Izumi and Shisui. Usually, Fugaku and her were some of the last people to arrive at such events, but this time, she had urged him to arrive early simply because she had wanted to be there when her son’s friends arrived. And oh, had it been worth it! The two looked beautiful together, their clothes making for a perfect contrast to each other, and the blush on both their cheeks was simply adorable!

Mikoto had always told herself that she would never become the kind of meddling old woman that played matchmaker and then gushed over the results, but watching the two of them now, she suddenly felt a bit more understanding for her mother and aunts who she had been so annoyed with in her youth.

That wasn’t to say that she thought she was old, of course. It was merely a manner of speaking, nothing more.