These Gaidens take place before the Ierokitsune. Pay extremely close attention to these stories because there are plenty of hints to find for the next installment of the series, Rosuto. I WILL not make the hints obvious to you; I will only explain my original jutsu and characters.


This Gaiden takes place six years before the beginning of Ierokitsune.


The black flames swirled around my injured form. I had never felt anything as blisteringly hot as this, and yet, the heat felt strangely familiar, almost as if I had felt it before. I could only look at his silhouetted form through my swollen eyes as his shadow cast itself over me. I succumbed to the sweet melody that the siren named sleep sung to me, wondering where in the hell he got those eyes.

Where in the hell did he get my eyes?


4 Days Ago


It was a normal morning. I awoke as the sun groggily arose over the Hokage Mountains. I prayed to Izanagi, the god of life, and Amaterasu, goddess of the sun, like the priests taught me as a boy [1]. I swear to this day, I hear them speaking to me, guiding me through life and protecting me from harm.

After my prayers, I jog around the village. I prefer to jog at this time of the morning as opposed to later on because the usually crowded streets of Konoha are unnaturally still. Save for a few ANBU patrolling the streets in disguise, there is nary a human soul around.

I then shower, prepare some herbal tea, and talk to Kaa-san as she makes breakfast for our family. Ever since I became a Chuunin, I've lost the time to appreciate these small moments; Kaa-san is filled with all kinds of wisdom and interesting stories from her youth.

Normally, we have a small breakfast before Tou-san heads out to the Keimu Butai (Military Police Force) offices and handled his duties as the police head. But this morning was a little different from all the other mornings we had this year.

Sasuke-kun, my little brother, entered in the kitchen, the aroma of slumber fresh on him. He clumsily sat at the table and mumbled his greetings before Tou-san entered the room.

My father was my hero, and I think in some ways, I was his. He was the first Uchiha to become a Jonin since the establishment of the ninja hierarchy. I might not have been a Jonin, but I was the only Uchiha to be allowed admission into the prestigious Ansastu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Squad), or the ANBU, as their known to most people.

And that's what makes this morning so special; I was to embark on my first mission as an ANBU Black Operative. And it was also my twelfth birthday.

"Itachi, my boy!" Tou-san shouted jovially before pulling me into a big hug. "You're going to write history today! The first Uchiha to ever be in on a Black Ops mission. I'm so proud!"

Sasuke perked up by now and asked, "So what mission are you going on? I bet you're gonna hunt down some big shot criminal, like an S-Rank nuke-nin!"

"Sasuke, be quiet!" shouted my father. The air became tense as Sasuke slumped back into his chair. "Black Ops mission are never to be talked about!"

Hoping to defuse my father's explosive anger, I said to my younger brother, "Tou-san is right. Besides, I don't even know what mission I'm going to get yet."

We then ate our meal in silence, slipping back into the normal rituals of our morning.


I entered the Yondaime's office, in full ANBU dress. Two men and a woman sat in front of the Hokage's desk; the Yondaime stared out of the window, his back toward us. I quickly appraised my teammates. Per rules, whenever we met to discuss missions with the Hokage, we obscured our faces with our battle masks.

The first person I noticed was the girl. She had long purple hair that flowed to the upper part of her buttocks; her skin was a creamy peach color; her face was obscured by her Neko mask. She was kind of thin, which was rather unusual for a combat trained Black Op.

Sitting on either side of her was a relatively tall man with short, messy, brown hair, and a shorter man with spiky, light hair. The taller man was the more muscular of the two, but the shorter man seemed to be more disciplined.

"Please take your seat, operative," the Yondaime said. "I have called you all here because I am sending you on a reconnaissance mission to Mizu no Kuni, specifically Kirigakure no Sato. It has come to my attention that the Sandaime Mizukage has either died or been ousted, and a new Mizukage has been appointed. Normally, this would be of no major concern to me, and I would just wait for Kiri to send out an official proclamation of such, but the rumor is that a nuke-nin by the name of Ebi Yagura has taken control."

The brunette man raised his hand and asked, "Isn't he wanted in all five of the Great Nations for war crimes he committed during the last war?"

The Yondaime nodded. "The problem is that if the Daimyo or the Water Lord gave Ebi-san their consent, he becomes untouchable. The slightest attack against him would bring about a Fourth Ninja War, and the peace in these times is very fragile."

The girl raised her hand and asked, "I understand why it's bad that a nuke-nin gained control of one of the Five Great Nations, but wouldn't us spying on him cause an international incident as well?"

"That is true," responded the Yondaime. "But Ebi-san and I have history. It is because of me and my squad that half of the Kiri Shinobigatana Nananin Shu (Seven Swordsmen of the Mist) is dead, Ebi-san being the leader of the group. No doubt I would be the first person he would come after."

"But Kiri was affected the most by the war," stated the shorter-nin. "They lost about 40% of their troops and half of what remained was severely injured. They wouldn't be able to stand up to even a smaller nation at this point."

"I have reason to believe Kiri is being brought from the brink of financial and political ruin by an organization called Akatsuki. Sadly, I couldn't receive any other information about them, other than the previous Mizukages had supported them during their reign.

"In any case, your mission is to observe what's going on in Kirigakure no Sato. Discover if there is any validity in this fact. Under no circumstances are you to initiate any kid of battle with anyone in Mizu no Kuni; get the information and get out. Do you understand?"

"Hai!" we shouted enthusiastically.


We travelled to Kaikou-shi (Port City), a journey which took about three or four days. During the mission, it became evident to me that the tall brunette man was our leader. On the last day of our journey, when Kaikou-shi came into view on the horizon, he stopped us in the woods and sat us down around the fire.

"Now that we're almost at Kaikou-shi, I think it's time we take these masks off and get to know each other a little better." To make it more comfortable for us, he took his mask off first. His black eyes were large, but there was more white than black. He wasn't what most women in the village would consider attractive, but he had a likeable quality about him. "My name is Tenzo. I am 17-years-old. I love walnuts, and I actually have some architectural talent. This is the first time I've lead a Black Ops mission."

The rest of us slowly took our masks off and the shorter man was next to speak. He had pure white eyes, and it was easy for me to notice that he was a Hyuuga. "My name is Hyuuga Ko. I'm 15. I love to watch comedy movies, and I can play the guitar, drums, and bass. I was just recently promoted to Chuunin."

I decided to go next. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm 12. I like tea, cabbage, and seaweed onigiri. This is my first Black Op mission."

"Got a youngin' with us," remarked Tenzo, much to my chagrin.

The girl spoke next. She had dark, black eyes that seemed to carry no emotion. "My name is Uzuki Yugao. I'm 16. I'd rather keep my thoughts to myself."

Tenzo sniggered and said to Ko and me, "She's got a crush on Masurao Chuuko. He's the only guy in the village that can get an emotion from her!"

Yugao growled and punched Tenzo in the head. "I FUCKING HATE WORKING WITH YOU!" she roared.

"You two know each other?" I asked confusedly.

"Unfortunately," grumbled Yugao. "We used to serve on an assassination squad with other ANBU, but it was disbanded recently. I wasn't entirely sure it was you until now. Our training keeps us from recognizing each other's chakras, and our masks distort our voices."

Tenzo slowly sat up and rubbed his head before pulling four scrolls. "In these scrolls are regular civilian clothing. Because of how tense things are between Kiri and Konoha, we have to pretend we are immigrants from the Umi no Kuni when we enter Mizu. That's what our cover story is."

We all nodded as we summoned the clothes and began to pack them into traveler's bags. We changed into one of the outfits and sealed our ANBU outfits away into one plain-looking, writing scroll to avoid detection.

"We'll sleep here and then catch a boat to Nagi Island," stated Tenzo as he unrolled his sleeping bag. "From there, we'll enter Kiri. For now, it's time to sleep. Night night."

And just like that, Tenzo was asleep.


The next two days were pretty boring. We got into the port with fake passports and a nice little story. Tenzo and Yugao were newlyweds that were honeymooning in Hi when the war broke out. Now that the war was over, they could return to their home, Kiri, and be reunited with their families. Ko used a henge to appear to be an old, blind man. Our story was that we (my "grandfather" and I) were heading to Mizu to get jobs at one of the tea plantations there.

The boat ride was crowded and very rocky. Much to my surprise, Yugao, who I had pegged to be a tough girl, was leaning over the edge of the boat, puking her life away.

"Aw, it's ok baby!" Tenzo cooed as he gently rubbed Yugao's back. "We'll be at Nagi Island by sunset. Do you want me to get you anything for your tummy?"

"When we get off of this boat, I'm gonna fuck you up," mouthed Yugao.

"I'll go get you some tea, my love!" shouted Tenzo, really milking this whole act.

Just like Tenzo said, we arrived on the western coast of Nagi Island by sunset. We raced across the island so that we could catch the boat to Kiri. The ride was pretty much the same, except we took turns sleeping through the day and a half long voyage.

We arrived at a Mizu port city several miles west of Kirigakure and decided to sleep in a cheap motel for the rest of the day. We traveled at night and arrived at Kiri's western gate just before sunrise.

"We should split up," Tenzo suggested. "We each cover a cardinal direction and see what we can uncover. I'll take the north; Ko-kun will take the west; Yugao will take the east; and Itachi-kun, you take the south."

"Hai!" we quietly shouted before heading off to search for information.


I had combed the entire southern half of Kiri with little to no success. I didn't think I would find anything here; it seemed that Southern Kirigakure was nothing but slums and dilapidated buildings. It seemed like only the old, sick, and the homeless lived here. I saw elders with heavy wrinkles cut into their faces and lots of liver spots and freckles; other people of varying ages covered in sores, lesions, and bile; and people who seemed to be too dirty to ever be clean again. It made my heart sink to see these people suffering so.

As I continued down the street, a group of five men (no older than 18 or 19, I presume) stopped me and surrounded me. They seemed to be some form of gang, and seeing as how I was a stranger, they were most likely about to rob me.

"'Ey!" the oldest of the men shouted. "What do ya think yer doin' in our part o' town?"

"I became lost," I quietly replied. "I was only searching for the market. I'm new in town."

The leader began to chuckle and his cohorts followed. "Ya 'ere that mates! 'E's just a lost little puppy!

"Listen pal, you seem like a well-off guy; I would 'ate for one o' these wolves that live in these parts ta do somethin' to ya for a piece of change. How about you pay my boys an' I some…'protection fees' an' we'll make sure you get back to the east safely."

I inwardly growled, resigning myself to fact that I would have to use my Sharingan to manipulate these thick necks and possibly blow my cover. The leader suddenly became nervous and dropped to his knees.

"What's going on here?"

I turned around to see a feeble old man leaning on a polished, wooden cane. He had shoulder-length, spiky black hair; a long, pale face; and a thin body covered by rich, black robes.

"N-N-Nothin' Shodaime-sama!" the leader shouted. By now, his goons had dropped to the ground, bowing so far that their faces touched the ground.

'How the hell is the Shodaime still alive?' I quietly thought to myself as I decided to see how this would play out.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," observed the Mizukage. He pointed at the men and in seconds, they all burst into orange flames. "The punishment for any crime committed in Kirigakure no Sato is death, regardless of what crime has been committed," he shouted to the bystanders. They all began to run into their broken down homes, in fear that their very presence would elicit the rage of this old Kage. Turning to me as I watched with shock as the goons writhed on the floor and screamed in agony, he asked, "Are you ok, my boy?"

I nodded, never taking my eyes off of the now dead men around me. "H-How did you do that?" I murmured.

The old man gave me a wheezy chuckle before answering, "The ninja of Kirigakure are capable of many great things.

"I've never seen you around these parts before. Are you from one of the Island Colonies?"

Trying to regain my composure, I quickly replied, "Uh, yes. Nagi Island to be specific. My name is Abe."

The old man looked at me and then said, "Nice to meet you Abe. I'm Tobi." He paused for a minute and then said, "Tell you what. How about I invite you to my house for a nice home cooked meal? You must be famished from your long journey."

"That would be wonderful," I quickly said. I knew I had to go; this was my only chance to find the information we so desperately needed.


"Slow down, squirt," quipped Tenzo as I frantically relayed the story to him. "Are you trying to tell me that the Shodaime Mizukage is alive, he set five guys on fire just by pointing at them, and he invited you to dinner?"

"This has 'trap' written all over it," grunted Yugao.

"It might be a trap, but what if I can discover something important about Yagura-san?" I shouted back. "Tenzo-taichou, you have to let me go!"

"I agree with Itachi-kun," Ko added. "We can be close by for back-up if need be."

"You do realize that if this guy is really the Shodaime Mizukage, he'll have enough power, even in his feeble state to destroy us before we could even touch him, right?" Yugao bluntly stated.

"It's a risk we have to take," Tenzo finally said. "We'll be on standby to extract Itachi and get the hell out of dodge. I'll have an escape plan ready for us." Tenzo turned to me and asked, "Do you think you can handle a task of this magnitude?"

I didn't hesitate to say, "I'm ready."


I walked up to an opulent mansion on the northern side of town. It was actually kind of creepy; the building was made of obsidian and had a Gothic architectural feel to it. Several leafless trees surrounded the estate. As I walked up to the front gates, they slowly opened with a high whine, only magnifying the creepiness.

I reached the front door, which also opened on its own accord. With a bit of trepidation, I entered the house, praying to Izanagi that my comrades would be able to get us out of here if things went south.

Welcome to my humble abode. Follow the hallway to the dining room. I await your presence.

Well, that wasn't creepy at all. I followed the Shodaime Mizukage's instruction and sure enough came up to two massive mahogany wood doors. I pushed them open slowly and sure enough, Tobi-san sat at the end of a long table. The spread on said table was more mouthwatering then anything I had ever seen in my life, even better than the feasts my clan had for holidays.

"You seem hungry, Abe-kun," Tobi-san said, motioning for me to sit down. "I'm sure you are; you must not have eaten a lot of good food on during your journey."

I scooped some cabbage and fish onto an empty china dish in front of me and tentatively put a small bit of cabbage into my mouth. I made a small hand seal under the table to use Suiton: Doku no Dizorubu (Water Release: Dissolving Poison)[2]. Tobi smiled to himself.

"You don't have to use jutsu to see if I've poisoned you," Tobi remarked as he ingested a spoonful of calamari. "And to answer your next question, no I have not poisoned you."

True to his word, my jutsu didn't detect any poison. I nervously swallowed my food, hoping that my squad was preparing to break me out of here. "H-H-How did you know?"

"I'm a master of predicting the future," answered Tobi. "By the way, your comrades should be dead right about…now."

Sure enough, multiple explosions went off at the same time. I ran to the nearest window to see fire spreading in the areas Tenzo, Ko, and Yugao were stationed. I spun around only to have Tobi's hand placed upon my throat. He began to squeeze the life out of me. I activated my Sharingan, hoping vainly to use Genjutsu on him to free myself and escape. I looked Tobi-sama in the eye and received the shock of my life.

He too had the Sharingan!

"Kamui (Might of the Gods)!"

Reality began to spin until nothing remained but bleakness. The bleakness then began to spin until a mountain began to come into view. A mist thicker than any I had ever seen settled around us as Tobi flung me a few meters away from me.

"You're a disgrace to the Uchiha race, just like that weak father of yours!" he shouted at me as he slammed his foot into my chest, cracking my sternum.

"What do you *cough* mean? You know my *cough* father?" I weakly asked as Tobi kicked me in the head.

"Of course I know Fugaku!" laughed Tobi as he kneeled over me. "If it wasn't for him, my associates and I never would have crushed Konoha all those years ago when we controlled the Kyuubi no Kitsune! I told him that if we succeeded, I'd give him the Mangekyou Sharingan without the nasty down payment it requires." My head was spinning as I tried to let this information sink in. My dad was a traitor, and now there's this Mangekyou Sharingan. I never felt more confused in my life. Tobi saw the confused look on my face and punched me in my nose, breaking it.

"You don't deserve those eyes, boy!" Tobi shouted as he pulled my head up. "The Mangekyou grants a Uchiha all of the Sharingan's power! It doesn't come without sacrifice; in order to unlock it, your most valued relationship must be severed for all eternity. Your father valued your life more than any life he had ever come across, but he was too weak to kill you for the power he so desperately lusted for. So he sought me out, hoping for a shortcut to absolute power. And do you want to know the best part about Fugaku's betrayal?" Not waiting for my response, he said, "He would have helped us burn it to the ground only for me to rip his new Mangekyou out right out of his skull!"

I was fading in and out as Tobi took one of my hidden kunai and slashed my face on either side of my nose, from just under my cornea to the upper corners of my mouth. "I can feel the power welling inside of you, Uchiha Itachi," Tobi said proudly as he stomped on my eyes, causing them to swell shut. "If you make it off of this mountain alive, use this to find me and I will show you power beyond your wildest dreams."

Tobi slipped a blank piece of paper into my kimono pocket. As he kneeled downed to do such, I spat the senbon I kept hidden in my mouth at his left eye. The sickening sound of the needle passing through his iris pleased me, as did his roars of pain. I watched weakly as black flames began to materialize around us.

The black flames swirled around my injured form. I had never felt anything as blisteringly hot as this, and yet, the heat felt strangely familiar, almost as if I had felt it before. I could only look at his silhouetted form through my swollen eyes as his shadow cast itself over me. I succumbed to the sweet melody that the siren named sleep sung to me, wondering where in the hell he got those eyes.

Where in the hell did he get my eyes?


"Finally awake, eh?"

My eyes slowly fluttered open, and then shut quickly to protect themselves from the blinding light. I attempted (more successfully) to open my eyes again. I was back in Konoha, the hospital to be more precise. In my room were Tenzo and Fugaku [3].

"I-I-I thought you were dead?" I weakly muttered, not looking at either men.

"We almost did kick the bucket, but Ko's Byakugan saved us. And you saved our mission."

"How?"

"Yugao and her cat summons were able to secure very important scrolls from the Shodaime Mizukage's house confirming the appointment of Ebi Yagura as the Yondaime Mizukage. It was a legal appointment, so there's nothing we can do about it."

"What happened to Tobi-sama?" I quickly asked as I began to remember the mission.

"You killed him," Tenzo said slowly, as if I was mentally retarded. "When we reached you guys, his body was covered in black flames. You almost were too. What technique was that, by the way?"

"The Amaterasu," Fugaku answered proudly. "It is one of the Uchiha Clan's greatest techniques; even I have yet to master it."

Tenzo nodded before saying, "I'll leave you two alone. I just wanted to tell Itachi-kun we completed the mission."

I watched Tenzo walk out with little interest. Fugaku walked over to me and tried to touch me, but I smacked his hand away. "I know all about your secret, Fugaku," I cryptically said.

The look of indignation on his face did not scare me at all. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Fugaku angrily barked at me.

"You, the traitor." Fugaku's entire face stiffened as I continued, "Tobi told me all about how you led them to the Kyuubi's lair and helped them destroy Konoha seven years ago."

"I did what I did for you," Fugaku weakly replied.

"Don't fucking lie to me!" I shouted. "You did this for you! Not me! I idolized you, and you turned out to be the biggest disgrace in our clan! How could you do this?"

Fear spread across Fugaku's face as his eyes never left mine. I glanced at a nearby mirror and was shocked to see my Sharingan had activated. What was so shocking was how it looked. Two black windmills had replaced my tomoe. I felt strength like never before as my father cowered in fear before my eyes.

"Is this what you betrayed the village for?" I said darkly as my new Mangekyou began spinning.


Inspiration for Itachi Gaiden: I gained the inspiration for this chapter from Sasuke's recounting of the events that led up to Itachi's betrayal during the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Itachi began acting weird and his relationship with his father had been severely strained. I used this as a springboard to introduce how Itachi's defection began, and why Fugaku and Itachi were no longer on speaking terms.


1- I always imagined Itachi as a religious person (maybe because he's a pacifist).

2- Suiton: Doku no Dizorubu (Water Release: Dissolving Poison): The user mixes their chakras in with their saliva, creating a solution that would dissolve any poison in food.

3- Notice that Itachi refers to Fugaku by his name instead of Tou-san?


A/N: I will be alternating between Gaiden and Ierokitsune for the next few weeks so that hopefully by the end of July, I can begin with Rosuto. I've finally graduated from high school! So you know what that means: more updates! OH YEAH!