Summer was drawing to a close, time was running out, and Shisui still hadn't returned from his mission. Now Itachi doubted whether he was waiting for his return as eagerly as before, and he no longer sent crows. Shisui would never allow him to harm the clan, and if they were to clash in a mortal fight, Itachi would undoubtedly lose. He didn't want to fight his best friend. Itachi knew his choice was a betrayal of Shisui, but still... At the border with the Mist, Shisui was safe. He would survive. At least he would. But if he survived, then why were Sasuke and his daughter the last Uchiha in the future? That meant Shisui would die, or Sarada simply didn't know everything?
Itachi accepted Danzo's offer and took command of a Root team. All these months he had been observing the Uchiha and investigating how far their rebellion plan had progressed. He didn't attend the meetings, but that didn't stop him from gathering the freshest information. The rebellion plan was ready, had long been lying on Itachi's desk, and he had studied it inside and out. A foolish, arrogant plan with no chance of success.
Itachi made one last attempt to stop his clan from taking this reckless step. He took a deep breath, opened the door in the temple basement leading to the meeting hall, and stepped inside. Everyone turned to look at him.
"What are you doing here?" came Yashiro's voice.
He was sitting in the leader's seat. Itachi scanned the hall with his gaze. Izumi was sitting against the far wall. Neither his father nor Sarada were at the meeting. Itachi had forbidden them from appearing at the temple.
"I came to talk."
"You're a bit late to come to your senses," Inabi stood up.
It became very quiet in the basement of the temple's main building. Itachi met Izumi's gaze. She was looking at him as if she was about to burst into tears.
"Stop this recklessness."
"What are you talking about?" Inabi raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"The rebellion."
A terrible noise erupted.
"You don't even attend the meetings. Your words won't change anything."
"The village is not as harmless as you think."
"We know, brat. Unlike you, we're not children anymore."
How arrogant. You can't even imagine how far you are from me.
"You will lose."
"Get out of here," Yashiro ground out through clenched teeth.
Itachi did not obey. He continued to stand in the temple doorway.
"Get out!"
But the hatred and rage didn't touch Itachi at all.
"Do you really believe you can win?" he asked calmly.
"Puppy..." Inabi exhaled. "You have no idea what it's like when your life is empty and you just have to endure. Endure until you die."
Itachi felt a surge of sharp pity.
"If your life is empty, then change that. Find something to fill it with."
"That's exactly what we're trying to do!" Yashiro roared. "We've been oppressed since the founding of Konoha. We have no future, but our generation will change that. We want there to be at least a future for our children and grandchildren!"
"Can't you understand? By relying on this stupid plan, you're taking the future away from your children instead. Any future!"
"How much more do you need, Itachi? When will you finally have enough and stop coming to meetings to try and make us look like idiots?" Tekka asked. "No matter how talented you are, you've gotten too full of yourself. You set up your own father. We're sure you were involved. Who else could have fooled Fugaku-taicho's head if not you?"
"Get out of here," Yashiro spat with disgust.
"Exactly," Inabi chimed in. "Get out."
Voices merged, intertwined... The entire meeting was now shouting at him. Itachi no longer wanted to say anything to them or convince them of anything, he simply left the hall, closing the door behind him, and went outside. Deep down, he understood the rage and discontent of the people holed up in the basement, but he saw much further than they did.
He was from the Uchiha clan too. But Itachi never allowed himself to make excuses, he moved towards his goal, sweeping aside everything in his path: prejudice, distrust of his age and origin. The first Uchiha in the Anbu, Itachi was breaking stereotypes and the village's policies directed against his clan. He was special. What stopped all these people from doing the same? To look for the problem within themselves and develop, to move forward with their heads held high, not to shift the blame onto Konoha and accumulate hatred in their souls?
Pitiful, weak-spirited Uchiha. He pitied their ignorance and blindness, but at the same time they disgusted him. For the past two months, a vision had been before his eyes: a patrolman from the Police Force, roughly grabbing Sarada by the chin as if he had the right; Sasuke, thrown against a wall by a powerful blow from a grown man. So low, so cowardly... To provoke him by threatening a helpless child and a young girl. Could the future of the Leaf and the future of the whole world be entrusted to these spiritually impoverished people?
Over the past few months, Itachi had become convinced that the reality from which his niece had come from the future would not have been possible if the Uchiha had remained alive. Their ambitions, their low desire to prove to the village that they were worth something, contradicted the deep compromises that would usher in an era of peace after the coming Fourth Shinobi World War. A breeding ground for hatred. A ticking time bomb. This could be changed, but not in a month or two. It would take years and a strong leader capable of guiding the Uchiha down the right path. And no one, no vile creature, should interfere with that and incite the hot-headed youth.
The shoji panel behind him slid open. Izumi flew out of the temple, caught up with him, and grabbed his shoulders.
"Wait, Itachi-kun, please!"
Tears stood in her beautiful eyes.
"If you don't go back, they'll consider you a traitor too," Itachi said quietly.
Izumi shook her head fiercely.
"I don't care!"
His soul ached again. For all his inner kindness, Itachi understood that if the mission were to eliminate only those who were now in the hall choosing the date of the rebellion, he would accept it without hesitation. The Uchiha were to blame themselves. For years, he had shouted himself hoarse, trying in vain to get through to their minds, and no one listened to him. But Izumi... A pure, innocent girl who didn't want war. She was different and shouldn't die so stupidly because of the clan's hatred—this was the only thing that made him doubt his decision every day, every hour, every moment.
"Itachi-kun..." she sobbed. "Please come back... Talk to them again. Stop them. They'll understand."
"No. It's useless," Itachi replied dryly and removed her hands from his shoulders.
"Itachi..."
He walked away, leaving behind the temple and the girl who loved him tenderly, alone on the empty road.
In the grove by the temple, a subordinate in a monkey mask—a member of Root—was waiting.
"No luck?"
Itachi stared straight ahead and didn't answer.
"I wonder how they plan to capture the Third Hokage, known as 'The Professor'?" said the subordinate and giggled, but then suddenly became serious. "It's time to notify the Council, isn't it, taicho?"
"I know," Itachi said curtly and vanished from the grove.
****
"We can no longer tolerate this lawlessness!" exclaimed Koharu, the old woman with the high hairstyle. "If they intend to stage a coup and seize power, then the government is forced to declare the Uchiha traitors!"
The date of the rebellion had been set. Ten days remained.
"Koharu, stop! Don't rush things," the Third chided her.
"But, Hiruzen," Danzo said calmly. "The Uchiha can no longer be stopped. To preserve peace in the village and prevent chaos—we must strike first. This also includes killing the children who know nothing of the rebellion..."
"Stop saying such things! Itachi can hear you..."
Itachi silently gazed ahead. The fox mask of the Anbu with round eye slits hid his face.
"We need a more humane plan."
Unlike the other Council members, the Third Hokage tried to show mercy, but his words had no foundation. They were just words.
"Time is against us, Hiruzen. We must strike first while the Uchiha suspect nothing, catch them by surprise. If we combine our forces: my Root and your Anbu—it will all end very quickly."
"The Uchiha are our brothers-in-arms. I am categorically against a massacre! Everything must be resolved through negotiations."
Negotiations... Where were you before? You've known about the Uchiha situation for a long time, but you never deigned to talk to my father and the clan. It's too late for negotiations now, Sandaime.
"Itachi, buy us some time. We must think of another plan."
Shisui had bought them almost a whole year, and these old people had wasted the time and hadn't even tried to come up with any plan to prevent a civil war and restore peace in the Leaf peacefully. What was Hiruzen asking for now?
And you, old man, call yourself Hokage? Trying to show feigned kindness now? It's no longer needed. You're too late.
Itachi knew perfectly well that deep down, Hiruzen thought the same as the entire Council: that the Uchiha would be destroyed. He simply shifted the responsibility for this dirty decision from himself to Danzo, and a Hokage shouldn't act that way.
"I understand."
"We're counting on you, Itachi!"
Hiruzen's hoarse voice sounded somehow hollow.
****
"No matter what Hiruzen says, when the time comes—he will stand in defense of the village," Danzo said.
Itachi knew that himself. He was smart enough to sense the Hokage's motives and feelings at the Council meeting.
"The moment the rebellion begins, the Uchiha will have only one fate—complete annihilation."
Here we go again. Again he's approaching from afar, weaving his webs. What is he preparing me for this time? Doubting that I'll accept the mission?
Be that as it may, he and Danzo were now in agreement. The old leader of the Anbu Root had surely long nurtured the dream of exterminating his clan. Itachi had come to this decision on his own.
"Your younger brother, who knows nothing, he will also die. Like everyone else. But if the blow is struck before the rebellion... Then he can still be saved."
Danzo clearly wanted to play it safe. He wanted to make sure everything would work and Itachi wouldn't betray him at the crucial moment, and he set the price for loyalty as the life of his younger brother Sasuke.
"If your brother sees the Leaf destroying the Uchiha—he will seek revenge, and there will be no place for him in the village. He will also be executed."
"Is that a threat?"
"No. I'm simply offering you a choice. Join the clan and die during the rebellion along with everyone else. Or side with Konoha and save at least your brother."
So that's it. You still have doubts and decided to throw me a bone... So that's how Sasuke will manage to survive.
"The rebellion must be crushed before chaos reigns in Konoha. Only a double agent of the Uchiha and the Leaf can carry out this mission. That's you, Itachi."
Yes, Itachi knew. If the Uchiha were destroyed by the village—other clans would be outraged, for it would mean the same fate could befall them. Distrust of the government, rebellion would be raised by others, together, and there would be no talk of any peace.
"I understand, this is hard for you. But this way you can at least save your brother."
Danzo repeated this over and over, as if afraid he would slip off the hook. And Itachi, with an impassive face, remained silent. His soul was burning in hell while he lived. The torments tearing at his heart were so strong they constricted his throat and prevented him from uttering a word since the Council meeting.
"You... will you accept this mission?" Danzo uttered, holding his breath.
The man with the bandaged face, for all the darkness reigning in his black soul, understood what a dirty and vile task he was assigning to a teenager. Itachi closed his eyes and lowered his face. It was hardly possible to read a hint of agreement in his behavior, but Danzo surely caught it.
****
It was hard for Itachi to accept the mission, but he knew he could never raise a hand against two people: Sasuke and his daughter. He bargained for his brother's life. Danzo figured out how to arrange it naturally: Sasuke, on the day before the rebellion, would stay late at the academy for training with a teacher who didn't actually exist. This teacher, a member of Root, would appear out of nowhere and vanish into nowhere. No one would remember him, and the little brother would remain alive.
All that occupied Itachi's thoughts in recent days: how to save Sarada. His love for Sasuke knew no bounds, and Sarada was his brother's legacy. He mentally cursed Sasuke, who hadn't kept an eye on his child and allowed her to fall into the past. Sarada had long since resigned herself to having to live out her days in the present time, but Itachi was not satisfied with that. He believed that sooner or later there would be another temporal wave that would return his niece to the future. And until that moment, he was obliged to protect her.
Besides Sasuke, Shisui would survive. This wouldn't arouse suspicion, because the emotionally unstable Uchiha genius physically couldn't kill a jonin who was outside the Leaf on a long-term mission. But another surviving girl could ruin everything. Itachi knew how much he was risking by trying to save Sarada's life. But it was for her future that he had accepted this terrible mission, and the thought that his niece wouldn't see that happy future was killing him completely.
Thinking this way, Itachi sat on a tree branch and watched the doors of the main building of the Naka Shrine. He had been on watch here for several days, and his efforts were about to bear fruit.
The shrine doors opened and gray-haired Yashiro peeked out. After looking around, he hurried away. Itachi jumped from the branch and slipped into the Naka Shrine doors so quickly that the guards on watch wouldn't have had time to notice him on the screens.
'Just be there, please,' Itachi mentally pleaded.
He lifted the seventh tatami mat from the right and descended the stairs to the basement. It was there, behind the next door, that the clan's secret meetings were held; it was from here that Yashiro had recently driven him out in disgrace. At the far end of the hall stood a stone tablet on which the clan's history was engraved, and before it stood a man in an orange mask.
"Uchiha Itachi."
"Long time no see."
The last time they met was the day Tenma died.
"Four years have passed since then. You've grown."
Those very vile creatures that prevented the Uchiha from resolving the conflict with Konoha peacefully: the first creature was Danzo, and the second creature now stood before him, hiding his face behind an orange mask with a single opening at the right eye.
"You incited them. Right?"
"What are you talking about? I simply told them a little about our clan's history."
"What are you trying to achieve? Uchiha... Madara."
"Hoh!" The man put his fingers to his chin as if pondering something. "You never know who might come down here, and the village guys are watching the block. Perhaps we can find a quieter place for a chat where no one will disturb us?"
"Agreed."
The man's body vanished, rushing into the black hole of the mask, then materialized next to Itachi.
"Follow me," he said, and went up the stairs.
They left the shrine unnoticed. The masked man chose a very interesting route: Itachi mentally noted that they were following exactly the blind spots of the cameras.
He knows everything.
Tenma's killer easily slipped beyond the village limits, leading him along. They went quite far from Konoha and stopped by the road leading towards the Hidden Sand Village.
"How do you know my name?" the man asked.
"You easily passed the sentries. You regularly visit the secret hall with the tablet. I've been watching you."
Uchiha Madara—the former leader of the Uchiha, who opposed Hashirama Senju to fight for the freedom and independence of his clan, already oppressed back then. But no Uchiha supported him. They all betrayed Madara. History said that Uchiha Madara died seventy years ago in a battle with the First Hokage, but nothing was reliably known about his death. Such a man would surely harbor a grudge against both the Leaf and the Uchiha clan that betrayed him. But Itachi couldn't allow him to take revenge on the Hidden Leaf Village.
"I have conditions," Itachi said. "I will help you settle the score with the Uchiha, but in exchange, you leave Konoha alone. And Sasuke too."
Madara chuckled slightly, surprised at how confidently the genius teenager was dictating terms to him.
"And if I refuse?" he asked, tilting his head.
"Then you become my enemy," Itachi replied in an even voice.
"Can you kill me?"
"Whether I can or not is completely unimportant. I will kill you."
He and Madara weren't burning with a thirst for murder and weren't planning to fight. They were just feeling each other out.
"You've misunderstood everything," Madara raised his hands as if to show he was unarmed and his intentions were peaceful. "That guy, Yashiro—he's no comrade of mine. I simply threw a trial stone, and it fell on fertile ground. But, in any case, nothing prevents me from taking your side. You seem much more interesting to me than this petty squabble."
Petty squabble...
This man had destroyed everything dear to Itachi. It was Madara's incitement that nullified Shisui's efforts and their plan with Kotoamatsukami. Yashiro, a weak-willed coward, would never have gone against the leader. But with Madara's appearance, the radicals gained confidence and blindly followed his lead to their own deaths. And now Itachi had formed an alliance with his enemy. All to protect the village and Sasuke.
****
"Hey-hey!"
The kids scattered from the playground with shouts. Itachi climbed the steps to the playground with interest to find out what had caused their panic. His gaze involuntarily slid over the bench where he and Izumi had once sat. Itachi pressed his left palm to his cheek, trying to resurrect the forgotten sensation of her touch. But only Izumi's fingers brought that incredible, unearthly pleasure; his own hand... remained just a hand.
He noticed movement in the corner of the playground. A light-haired, disheveled boy, Sasuke's age, was standing on his feet, swinging on a swing. In the evening twilight, his straw-colored mop of hair and white t-shirt stood out as bright spots.
Uzumaki Naruto.
All the residents of Konoha knew that the Kyuubi was sealed within him—all except Naruto himself. The boy sincerely didn't understand why people hated him.
A small leak of information... Itachi knew Danzo was behind this too. The man controlling the darkness of the Leaf. It was he who leaked the information about who the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox was. In Konoha, there were practically no families that hadn't suffered on the day of the Kyuubi tragedy. Hatred and impotent malice accumulated in people's hearts—feelings that undermined the peace and tranquility reigning in the village. Danzo gave them a direction. By venting their anger on Naruto, people calmed down. Exactly what was needed to maintain the residents' calm.
Itachi quietly approached the swings and sat down on the bench. The child, preoccupied with his thoughts, didn't notice him and continued to swing.
"Whoa!" Naruto suddenly noticed Itachi and almost fell off the swing.
He probably thought the older boy had appeared on the bench out of nowhere.
"Don't scare people like that, dattebayo!"
"Sorry."
Naruto stared at him, eyes wide open.
"Uh, who are you?"
"What does it matter?"
"Mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers," Naruto announced importantly.
"You don't have one."
"Ah, so you know?" he smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.
"Yes, Uzumaki Naruto is a famous prankster," Itachi replied calmly.
"So I'm a celebrity?"
"In a sense..."
"Hoho!"
Naruto began swinging more actively, as if he hadn't noticed the sarcasm in his voice.
"Your friends ran away," Itachi said.
"They don't understand my jokes, so they're not my friends, dattebayo!"
There was so much enthusiasm in his childish voice, a bit forced. Naruto was forcing himself to speak in that tone.
Itachi remembered Sarada's story. Here he was—the future hero and symbol of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. A child who, despite all adversity, would keep the light in his heart and unite the countries and hidden villages into one alliance. Right now, he still didn't know what terrible power the Yondaime Hokage had sealed within him. And all those who knew didn't even suspect that one day this boy would subdue the power of the Kyuubi.
"Hey... Is everything okay?"
"Huh?"
"You got quiet."
"Everything's fine."
"Okay. You know, you remind me of my friend."
"You have friends?" Itachi was surprised.
He was sure the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki was lonely. A perfectly reasonable conclusion, considering the awareness of the Leaf's residents.
"Yeah, I have a friend, dattebayo!" Naruto declared with fervor. "Nee-chan, she's a lot like you. She's quiet a lot too. Only she wears glasses."
"W-what?" Itachi was beginning to understand. "What's her name?"
"Sarada nee-chan!" Naruto blurted out.
Frank adoration flared in his sad gaze. Sasuke had always looked at Itachi with such eyes.
"Sarada..." he muttered in astonishment. "You say you're friends?"
"Yeah! She's not like the others, she's kind. Only..."
"Only what?"
Naruto wrinkled his nose angrily:
"Only strict and naggy, dattebayo!"
Itachi snorted with laughter. He hadn't laughed in several months. Terrible spiritual pain suppressed any bright emotions, but this boy managed to make him laugh. That Sarada was very kind, Itachi knew himself. But he saw in her an indecisive, lost girl who relied on him for everything. He never thought Sarada was strict and naggy. Judging by how ruffled Naruto was, she had been lecturing him for a very long time. It was funny, but it only made it hurt more.
Sarada is his only friend. What will become of him if she dies? He won't survive it. And if he does survive, won't he lose his light from grief?
And then it dawned on Itachi.
"So, do you visit each other?"
"I... I don't go to her place. She lives with Sasuke. Sasuke is a baka!"
This child never ceased to surprise him. It turned out he wasn't just friends with Sarada, he also had something against his brother.
"But she comes to my place sometimes, makes miso soup."
"And why don't you invite her over tomorrow evening?"
"Huh? Well... I can. Good idea."
Itachi smiled to himself.
He had bargained for Sasuke's life from Danzo. Shisui was safe at the border with the Mist. The others had no chance of slipping away from Itachi's justice in a way that looked natural. They all lived in the Uchiha district as one community, maintaining no ties with the village. Late in the evening, everyone would be home. They had nowhere to go. And Danzo would be watching closely to ensure no one strayed from the flock. But Sarada... Her connection with Naruto could save her.
Risky, very risky. But I simply can't do otherwise. I feel I'm capable of much, but Sasuke is my weak spot. And that means Sarada too. To watch them die, to kill them with my own hands? Never in my life.