Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto. But I don't.

The small, raven-haired boy fell down on one knee, struggling to keep himself up. The child was panting heavily, his body bruised and shakingf rom exhaustion, the one made from both kinds of training. Physical and chakra exhaustion, to be precise.

The small boy was wearing a black shirt with long sleeves which had a high collar. The boy was also sporting short blank yellow pants, which were either really old yellow pants or really dirty white pants. He had a pair of small black sandals on his feet. His hair was black, as stated previously, which was formed in a really strange manner, looking like the backside of a duck,or in the small boy's case, duckling.

The kid was, however, holding something which didn't look fitting in his small childish hand. A long kunai knife, the size which was used by the fully fledged ninja in the village. The kunai was bruised to a state it looked more like a war relic, but for some reason the kid was still holding onto it.

Said child was kneeling in a forest clearing, dim light barely making it to the small, tree free space. It was caused by a simple thing. It was already past midnight, which meant the boy was way past his bedtime, if he had one. The small kid was silently whimpering.

"Come on, just a little more..." The child told himself, trying to force his muscles to respond to his brain's commands. The reason his small and fragile body was so bruised and seemingly beaten was visible throughout the clearing.

Kunai knives, lots of them, were stabbing almost every target there was in the clearing. But not only kunai, shurikens, almost as much as the kunai, where sprawled around. They had been aimed at said kunai knives, but were thrown while their user was moving.

There was a big log in the middle of the clearing, slightly behind the small boy, which seemed a wee bit dented on the left side. And there were three training dummies throughout the clearing, which were adapted to spin when hit, to create something like a retaliation.

The kid was bruised and beaten because of those. He had been trying, for the last hour and a half to get twenty consecutive strikes on the dummies without getting hit in retaliation. However, his state proved that the boy had been unable to achieve his self set task.

The boy winced as an old wound on his hand opened, because he was clenching the kunai knife's hilt so hard his knuckles had went white. Because of this, his skin was weakly torn at the old wound, which opened up from the pressure.

"No... I have to get stronger... I must train... Harder..." Said the boy through panths and heavy breath intakes. The kid had determination in his voice, which was evident, but his body was going to be unable to go on, and was probably going to ache in the morning. A lot.

What the child didn't know was the dark figure sitting on a branch, high in the tree crowns. The figure was wearing a robe, black as the boy's hair, maybe even more than it. The only thing which made the robe different from normal robes was the incredibly high neck, as well as the red clouds which dotted the piece of clothing. Those clouds were curious for the eye, as a man could simply look at them and think they were roses, but the dark figure knew better.

There were also a few things which were easily noticeable, because the dark robe didn't cover them. Long, black sandals were holding the man's feet in a deadly grip, the nails colored with purple nail polish. His hands had the same treatment. His organisation had sinister requirements. He was also holding a straw hat, meant for rituals, as well as to hide his identity.

It was, of course, meant for his head, but he was holding in in his hand because he wanted it to stay away from his vision. The face unraveled by the hat was one of great troubles, yet quite attractive. A pair of wrinkles was marked between his small nose and his black, onyx eyes. His hair was long and black, the same color as the small raven haired boy the man was observing. However, the style it was held in was much more different. Two bangs framed the attractive yet tired face, and the rest was tied in a tail at the bottom of his neck, hidden by the long robe's neck.

That man was Itachi Uchiha. Greatest Uchiha since Madara Uchiha, who was, ironically, still alive but way too far from his previous level of power. Itachi was a missing ninja, wanted by the Leaf village, to which he was, ironically, loyal. The Uchiha was now looking at the only survivor from a massacre he performed, killing an entire clan in the Leaf village. That clan was, ironically, his own. He has slain every living Uchiha, except the small boy kneeling in the center of the clearing.

Itachi was silently observing the boy, his thoughts flashing through his head. The missing ninja was acting as a spy in the organisation he now belonged to. He would remain forever loyal to his village. Right now he was trespassing, just so he could look at the last remaining Uchiha, who a pure heart.

But itachi doubted that. He knew that reason the Uchiha clan had to be slaughtered was sitting in front of him. The small child was the only thing Itachi loved, more than his village, in this world. His little brother. The Uchiha could become incredibly powerful because of that. Their love was strongest in the world, second to none. But their hatred, if provoked, could be much greater than this love. This was the reason he killed his clan. Their love was a good thing, but if an Uchiha were to become an avenger, then the village was in danger. Mortal danger.

So Itachi had killed the clan, for they were already in a state of hatred. But he was unable to kill his brother, for the love he felt towards the small boy was to great. Greater than his love to the village.

Now Itachi was thinking, or in his case, looking. This was the last time he'd get to see his small brother in a lot of years. Itachi sighed. He couldn't help but smile when the small boy stood up, and rushed against the training dummies. Sasuke made his brother proud with that stubborn action.

Eight years later

Itachi sighed as the syringe entered his arm, slowly draining him of his blood. Madara was standing above him, slowly extracting the red liquid so he could inspect it, see how much was left. The younger Uchiha hadn't changed a bit, except that his previously black eyes were now dark grey, and it looked as if he was much more tired than before.

Madara on the other hand, was still hiding behind a mask. Unlike the previous time they met, the mask had a small hole in the left side, revealing one Sharingan eyes, with small spirals leading to the small hole. The duo was wearing the Akatsuki robes. But itachi wasn't getting his blood tested because of this.

He was sitting in a room with walls, filled to the brim with small containers which held eyes that possessed the Sharingan. Itachi was relieved when Madara removed the syringe from his arm.

"How long do you suppose it will take until you get results?" Asked itachi, looking at Madara as the masked man gave the syringe to a white man. Zetsu, his name was.

"Two to three minutes. But don't worry, I think you have about an year or two. At least, those are my calculations. I do not know how much time you truly have..." Answered the senior Uchiha, looking at itachi. The younger man just closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His sickness was not going the way he expected it to. It had started shortly after he joined the Akatsuki, draining away at his physical, mental and chakra strength. He was currently seven times weaker than he would have been if his sickness had never appeared. But his body was stll able to do, to work. He was on par with, if not stronger than, Kisame Hoshigaki and Kakashi Hatake. But this was enough to keep him in the Akatsuki. At least, for now.

"Itachi." The younger Uchiha looked at his senior. There was... A distant look to his eye.

"What is it, Madara-sama?" Asked Itachi, looking with an eyebrow raised. Madara, for the first time since itachi had met him, sighed.

"I'm afraid your life is over. According to your blood test, you have no more than twenty hours in this world." Itachi was inwardly shocked. However he didn't show it.

"Well then, I have a few things to do before dying. You can collect my eyes for Sasuke whenever you find me." Said itachi, turning his back to Madara. The older Uchiha sighed again. Itachi was... Useful. But if the younger Uchiha died now, this would ruin some of his plans.

The Uchiha turned his back to Madara and nodded. Then, his body dissolved into crows. Madara sighed again. What would happen now?

Itachi materialised next to his comrade, Kisame Hoshigaki. The tall, blue skinned man lifted his brow but didn't really bother asking. He knew that Itachi had some health problem, that much was obvious.

"Kisame." Said the Uchiha, attracting Kisame's attention. The blue skinned man looked to Itachi, question visible in his eyes. The Uchiha nodded in the other Akatsuki member's direction.

"What is it, Itachi? Is something... Wron-" Kisame made the mistake of looking into Itachi's eyes, and was immediately sent into a Genjutsu, but not just any Genjutsu, it was the Tsukiomi. The ninja from Kirigakure felt his eyes widen, but was now looking at the red world of Itachi's ultimate Genjutsu.

Itachi, was still looked into the Genjutsu, which would take only three seconds to end. But that was enough time for the clone he had made. The double appeared behind Kisame and stabbed him with a kunai knife. In the heart. The blue skinned man didn't even know what hit him. He just died the moment the kunai pierced his heart. Blood dripped from his mouth as the once tall and imposing man fell to the ground, dead.

Itachi looked at his ex-comrade and sighed. The blue skinned shark man was no longer smirking, a look of genuine surprise was slapped across his face. His small eyes were wide open. His mouth was ready for a wince. Itachi groaned as he was forced out of his own Genjutsu, but swiftly did what he had. Samehada was growling dangerously, but itachi just ignored the sword.

The Uchiha kneeled next to the corpse and took off the ring on Kisame's hand. He knew the leader of the Akatsuki, well, the known leader, wanted those rings. So he couldn't let him have it. Itachi looked back to the sword, and groaned the damned thing was not going to shhut up, and he also knew about the strange ability the weapon had, to absorb chakra and merge with Kisame. But the weapon was no longer needed.

So Itachi's Sharingan spun until it gained the form of his Mangekyou Sharingan. Then, the Uchiha closed his left eye and counted for a few times. Then black flames dashed out at the sword, and Samehada started squirming, trying to absorb the chakra of the flames, but it was futile. No one could extinguish the flames of Amaterasu, except the will of the person who had used them. However, itachi wanted the sword gone. After the sword has been reduced to nothing, itachi sighed. He had lost no more than five minutes, killing one Akatsuki member. Of course, he succeeded only because Kisame trusted him and thought they w ere friends. Itachi, however, was not planning on keeping anyone alive. At least, nobody from the Akatsuki.

Itachi sighed. His body slowly dissolved into crows, and soon said crows flew off.

Deidara was an artist. As such, he had to practice his art daily, if not hourly. He had already tried to blow Tobi to oblivion two times, but the little fucker was just too good at evading attacks. Deidara was getting annoyed. At least, a little bit.

Then Tobi said he had to go to the toilet and ran off into the bushes. Deidara didn't even bother following him, the annoying masked man/boy was always able to return to him at any time. So he wasn't surprised when Tobi showed up, coming out of the ground.

"Sempaai! I'm back!" Announced Tobi, splitting Deidara's head and ears with his squeaky voice. Said Akatsuki member was about to blow Tobi in the air, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't bother. You cannot hit him unless he wants you to hit him." Said itachi, calmly taking his hand off Deidara's shoulder. The ninja from Iwagakure seemed to go tense, but he didn't really show it.

"Yeah, and what do you want, hm? You got a problem with me practising my art?" Asked Deidara. How dares he? How dared the Uchiha talk to him like this? It was insulting!

"You can practise your 'art', but try making less noise." Itachi replied, blinking. His eyes were simply asking: 'isn't it obvious?'. Deidara was pissed off now.

"Oi, teme-" The kunai went in as fast as it went out. Deidara's body fell to the ground, and he wasn't going to stand up anytime soon. Tobi was looking at him, but Tobi was gone. Madara couldn't believe what he was seeing. What was happening. Itachi just came, and killed Deidara, a fellow Akatsuki member. Madara quickly looked back to itachi, who kept his icy expression. What was going on?

"Itachi, what is the meaning of this?" Asked Madara, wondering if he would get an answer. He didn't. Itachi just dissipated into crows, and as this was happening, Madara sighed. Why had the Uchiha betrayed him? Want itachi an Uchiha, didn't he hate the Leaf? They had forced him kill all of his clan. The air around Madara rippled. He'd have to look into this.

Itachi reappeared in a secluded area of a forest. He fell to one knee and coughed. Using this jutsu to travel such distances was... Taxing. After getting his rest, itachi stood up and started looking around, as if searching for something. The Uchiha wanted to see if he was right or wrong about something.

As itachi started moving to find the man he was looking for, he realised he was just in time. A group of chakra signatures were moving towards him swiftly. He simply sat down in the middle of the clearing, knowing very

well that they would find him, sooner or later, so why not now? After a few seconds, itachi was pleasantly surprised as a blond haired boy,

wearing orange appeared from the woods. After him came a pink haired girl, wearing red. They were followed by a pale black haired boy, wearing black.

The fourth member didn't come out in the clearing, as he had noticed itachi. "I want all of you in front of me, so... Be swift about it." Said itachi,

looking in the direction he knew the fourth member team was. He came out, but itachi felt disappointed. It wasn't Kakashi of the Sharingan, no, it was another man. He was wearing jounin attire and had brown hair.

"I... Itachi?" Gulped the blonde boy in front of the Uchiha. He simply nodded.

"Naruto, do not speak with the enemy so openly. Plus, we also do not know if he is Itachi." Said the older man, who obviously acted as a replacement for Kakashi. He looked and sounded familiar, as if itachi had met him somewhere, but the ANBU all wore masks, he couldn't be sure.

"Oh, it's Itachi alright! I can tell you it's that bastard every time I look at him!" Growled the blonde, almost startling the crown on the tree above itachi. The missing ninja extended his arm in the crow's direction, and the animal flew to it.

"I see you have only improved in... Everything, Naruto-kun. I wonder if you are still going to end in a tie with my brother, or are you... Going to beat him?" Assked itachi, ignoring the burning stare Naruto send his way. The Uchiha pet the crow slowly.

"Let me tell you something, Itachi-sama." That was the captain, Kakashi's replacement, talking. Itachi's eyebrow just slowly raised. "We are on a very important mission, and we would ask that you leave us pa-"

"I know the mission. I will let you pass, but first... I need to have a chat with Naruto... Alone..." Said Itachi, looking at the blonde. Naruto was already walking towards him, but the Uchiha could see the unease in his eyes. As Naruto was about to look him in the eye, Itachi swiftly added: "In a Genjutsu." Then they entered the Tsukiomi. Naruto looked around the red forest, with red trees, red water, red ground, red sky and red Sun. Itachi just looked at him.

"You know, Naruto, I would've liked for Sasuke to have been more like... You." Said Itachi, the strange message reaching Naruto and hitting him like a truck. Sasuke's brother wanted him to be more like Naruto. This made no sense, Sasuke was good as he was... Well he wasn't. Naruto looked at Itachi, who kept inspecting the blonde with an absent look in his eye.

"Naruto... Take care of him." Asked Itachi, and then a swarm of crows surrownded Naruto. He tried to get them off, but some started scratching him, others poked him with their beaks, third bit his toes. One of them even got in Naruto's mouth and somehow went all the way in Naruto started choking but then his eyes snapped open, and he was once again looking at Itachi, who was sitting calmly at the forest floor.

"Naruto, are you alright?" The pink haired girl, Sakura ran to checked on him. The black haired boy was looking at itachi with interest in the eye.

"You can now pass. Also, be careful. There are... Snakes in the grass." He started slowly dissipating into crows, while the captain looked at him with an understanding look. Sakura however, jumped up and whimpered something about snakes. Itachi completely dissapeared.

It was already getting dark. Itachi was looking down at his hands, and a weak smile spread on his lips. He had killed two of the Akatsuki, implanted Shisui's eyes in Naruto and had warned them of Orochimaru. Right now, he was slowly walking towards the gates of Konoha, without any visible change in his attire. Except that he was now wearing a headband on his forehead. It also had a leaf on it, and it wasn't scratched.

Itachi was still walking, slowly, surely, as if he wasn't in a hurry. The Leaf village's gate was already visible in front of him, and was getting bigger and bigger with every step he made. He couldn't help but smile. He was going home for the first time in eight years. The guards looked at him, at his goofy smile, as he was slowly walking towards the village. They noticed his headband, the fact it was on his forehead, the fact he was walking so confidently towards them.

"S... Stop!" Shouted the first guard. Itachi had seen him somewhere, but couldn't remember where. Was it in the academy? Or somewhere else? More importantly, he wanted him to stop. So Itachi stopped. He was going home. He didn't want to make a bad impression.

"But... Why? I'm just hoping to gain permission to enter. I've been away for so long, and I wanted to come and see how everyone's doing." Asked Itachi, feeling completely naive. As if he was Naruto. Yes... He would like being Naruto the kid was always happy. His life was filled with joy, and Itachi had almost never smiled or laughed.

"But... You are not allowed in the village! You are Itachi Uchiha!" Exclaimed the guard. The other one had left immediately after they saw him coming, probably to call in help. Itachi didn't care. He looked at the guard and smiled. A genuine smile. The guard's eyes went wide.

"But I want to come in! I'm a shinobi of the Leaf, and I will do a lot to be allowed back into my village. So what do I do to be allowed in?" Asked Itachi, his hand going up to his chin, holding it in a thinking manner. The guard hiccuped. And then realised Itachi was serious.

"Well... For a start, give me all your weapons! And don't hide any of them!" Started the ninja. Itachi nodded and removed his robe, then turned it upside down and started shaking it. Kunai and shuriken immediately started falling off. A tanto also fell down. After a little bit, Itachi was done. He looked at the guard, and saw that people had came and were looking.

"Well... There is a problem. My eyes and my hands are also my weapons, do I have to remove them?" Asked Itachi, looking at the astonished look in the guard's eyes, as well as a few of the onlookers. The guard composed himself and coughed.

"Well... No you don't! But I will have to put that tag on your neck to make chakra useless for you now. Ok?" Itachi just nodded. He knew the restriction with the seal was used for prisoners, but didn't even bother. When the guard was about to walk behind him, Itachi extended a hand.

"Let me put it on. I know how!" Asked Itachi, still smiling to the guard.

The ninja, who was a Chuunin, or a least it looked like this, handed him th seal and watched as itach slammed it on the back of his head, just on his neck. He felt the tingle at his chakra system and how it left him. It didn't bother him though. He then dtook his robe from the ground, dusted it off and put it on, but didn't get his right hand in the sleeve. Instead, he let it hang from the area where the zipper stopped. It was comfortable for him that way.

When he turned to look at the guard, he was looking at a very beautiful, blonde woman with Amber eyes staring him down. Next to her was standing Kakashi, who didn't look very well. He also saw Guy, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi. They were all looking at him with confused looks. He also noticed that a big portion of the village was now standing at the from gate, staring at him.

"Uhm... Hello?" He tried, waving his other hand with a small smile. Sweat dropped and villager and ninja alike felt as if they were looking at a ten year old kid. Maybe even younger. The Amber eyed woman sighed as she realised he was serious.

"Well then again, I didn't expect so many people to come and greet me... I thought only Kakashi, the Hokage and a bunch of ANBU would come to tell me welcome back but... I guess I was wrong." Said Itachi, raising his shoulders.

The blonde woman that was standing in front of him groaned. She looked stupefied, which somehow was expected with the way the S-ranked criminal was acting.

"Itachi... Uchiha." She said, coughing as she started her sentence. Itachi nodded, as if to confirm his identity and smiled when some of the people around the gate winced and hiccuped. His eyes fell on the blonde woman in front of him and recognized her at last.

It was Tsunade Senju, the last living Senju, student of Sarutobi Hiruzen, The legendary Sucker, the slug Sanin, the best medic ninja in the world, strongest kunoichi ever, granddaughter of the First Hokage... And also fifth Hokage. Itachi slowly bowed upon recognition, whispering 'Hokage-sama' while doing so.

This startled the villagers and some of the ninjas. The Hokage was looking at Itachi, wide eyed and pretty surprised. After a few seconds, Tsunade coughed and a few ANBU appeared. She whispered something to them and the group of elites took Itachi thorough the village, leading him to the Hokage tower.

Itachi remembered the tower, it was one of the few places he liked to think was what he held dear to himself. He always came to the Hokage tower when he wanted a place to think. He didn't really enter or do anything else than to look at it, but he still stood and thought whenever he looked at it, deep in the night.

A great calm usually washed over him win he watched, looking at one of the greatest monuments of the Leaf village's strength. Itachi couldn't help but feel excited for it, he was coming back home. Of course, the childish demeanour he pulled out he believed he'd make the Leaf avoid attacking him on sight. And he managed to pull it off.

Right now, the ANBU was leading him towards the tower, not too gently. Itachi just complied and kept going with them.

They passed by a trio of women, who seemed to be shinobi. Itachi noticed that the one supposedly leading the trio was a blonde girl wearing purple clothes, with a long ponytail. She had beautiful, light blue eyes. The whole group was attractive, as were a lot of women their age. However, the purple clad girl was quite likely the most attractive of the trio.

Next to her was walking another girl wearing mainly purple, but she had white added to it. She was much more conservative when it came to her body, which Itachi didn't find bad at all. However, her curves were more than easy to see from underneath her jacket. She had long, dark blue hair which was flowing a little under her shoulders. She had a pretty face with eyes which looked like pearls. She was also quite attractive, but her clothing and uneasy smile spoke of a shy demeanor.

On the other side of the blonde girl was walking a white and dark red wearing girl, with brown hair tied in four buns. She had a big scroll on her back. She could be considered the least attractive of the three, for her curves were almost nonexistent and she looked like a tomboy. However, she had a pleasant smile on her face and warm, brown eyes.

The trio of girls was visibly having fun untill the ANBU passed by with Itachi, who was just inspecting everything in his way. His eyes were looking at everything. However, when they saw him, their fun suddenly ended and they started moving slowly after the ANBU and the Uchiha.

As they finally entered the Hokage tower, a trail of ninja was following after him, along with the Hokage herself. When they all assembled, Itachi noticed that Asuma, Guy and Kurenai had a bunch of younglings with them. Only Kakashi didn't, but Itachi knew that his bunch of younglings was out on a mission.

The Hokage finally came and sat behind her desk and looked at Itachi, who in turn looked at her in return. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. Before, Itachi didn't have time to look at people with an inspection in mind. He held up his emotionless mask, ignoring everything. But now that he had less than ten hours to live, Itachi felt that he could appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex.

"Tell me what are you doing here, Itachi. Why did you come back to Konoha all of a sudden?" Asked the fifth Hokage, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You want me to be hones with your?" Asked Itachi, looking at the Hokage, then turning his eyes and looking around the room, stopping his eyes on every one of them for a second. "First let me sit on the desk so I do not get neck pains from spinning around like an owl." Exclaimed Itachi, not waiting a reply. Everyone was surprised at his demeanour, and those who knew him thought he was drugged or something.

"Ok... Sit there... But just tell us in detail. Everything, please." Answered to him the Hokage. The Uchiha nodded, turning to face all of the ninja in the room, including Tsunade who was now joining them.

"Well... This morning, I learned from none other but Madara Uchiha that I had less than twenty hours of life remaining." People's eyes were bulging when they realised, and some were about to ask questions but he raised his hand in the air, silencing them.

"Then I decided that it was time to strike, so I went and killed two of my subordinates in the Akatsuki, whom you know of. The blond haired brat, Deidara and Kisame Hoshigaki." There was a lot of bulging eyes in the room, some people were whispering. His hand flew up and they stopped immediately. "Questions later. After killing them, I went and told Naruto 'hi'. Then I decided to come back to Konoha and look at my village. I noticed that women look much more attractive and interesting than before. I think it is connected with the fact that I know I am dying. Just so you know, I never betrayed the village. As of a by the way... That is the end of the story."

Everyone was looking at Itachi, eyes bulging. The girl with pearly eyes was wide eyed, Kakashi's one eye was pretty big compared to everyone else's. Tsunade was just staring. Then, a small, effeminate hand was raised. It was the blond girl, who wore purple.

"So you are Sasuke's brother right?" Itachi nodded, feeling as if it was obvious. "Why did you go tell Naruto 'hi' instead of Sasuke?" The question actually made sense.

"Well... I don't know where he is. also, bed be with Orochimaru who is a pain. And is in the mood to kill me. At least, he was like this last time." Itachi replied. The blonde girl nodded... Then raised her hand again. Someone said something, but it was pretty faint.

"Can you tell me why are you talking as if you have done nothing to deserve his wrath? Is it connected with the fact that you said you have not betrayed Konoha?" Asked the blonde haired girl, causing Itachi to chuckle.

"You know what? I like the way you are thinking. Tell me your name after I answer your question." She nodded, a really faint shade of red running up her cheeks. "I am innocent, incorrectly blamed for you know what. If you want more details about this... Well, ask Danzo, or Koharu, or Hhh... Whatever his face was. They know. If the Third was here, he'd tell you all." Everyone, once again, winced and hiccuped.

"Danzo, as of that creepy, old, ragged, scary, pervertedly strange guy who walks around with a stick, and his face is hidden even more than Kakashi's?" Asked the same blond girl. Kakashi's eyebrow was raised, and someone groaned. It turned out that was Asuma.

"Ino, you cannot talk like this about someone like Danzo-sama... Even though I do agree with the perverted part..." Said Kakashi, a smile evident on his hidden face. Itachi nodded, so the blonde girl's name was Ino.

"Danzo is not going to share with us, Itachi. You know that well enough. So tell us." Ordered Tsunade, silently cursing as she realised the old war-hawk has screwed up.

Itachi sighed. So it was he who had to share.

"Well then, cast a jutsu that should isolate all sounds which leave this room. I do not want anyone eavesdropping. Including you, Jiraya-sama." A loud shout was heard as everyone looked at a window, where a white haired man, on about fifty years. He was wearing strange clothes,with red and damp green being the main colors.

"Jiraya, how can you eavesdrop on your own fellow ninja!" Shouted Tsunade, outraged. Jiraya knew there was no running and he slowly entered the room, closing the window.

"Be happy it was me, not some foreign ninja. By the way, Itachi, I noticed you had developed an interest for women. So, do you mind if I give you a few books of mine, which will help you in seducing a lady... In the afterlife, sadly." Asked Jiraya, losing his smug tone and smile. He now seemed sad and pretty much was serious.

"The room is sound proof, no one outside can hear what we say here." Said Kakashi, looking at Jiraya with a gleam in the eye, but knew he had to be serious now. He couldn't go and ask for an autograph right now.

"Ok... What I am about to tell you is, as you know, an S-rank secret. The Uchiha clan massacre was my last mission as official leaf shinobi. The Third Hokage, Koharu, Homaru or whatever his name was, and Danzo knew. And let me tell you, only Sarutobi-sama was not willing to do anything of the sort, but the other three were insistent. I went, I killed, and I was done as a leaf shinobi forever. Oficialy. I went back to the Hokage after the deed was done and asked him o take care of Sasuke. He told me he was sorry about what had happened. And asked me to go to the Akatsuki and keep an eye on them. As I am going to die in less than nine hours I am not go-" His speech was interrupted by violent coughing, as he doubled over and fell on his knees.

Everyone looked in shock as he puked, but the only thing which came out was about ten pounds of blood. Tsunade went over to him as he kept coughing, blood oozing out of his mouth slowly. It looked, and was, incredibly painful. Everyone was looking at Itachi with wide eyes as he finally stopped coughing and managed to stand up, sitting on the desk with Tsunade's help. There was still blood on his chin and mouth, but he ran his sleeve over it.

"Itachi... What is going on?" Asked Tsunade, her eyes containing a bit of worry. Itachi looked at her and smiled.

"Told you. So, as I was saying, Danzo, Homura or whatever his face is and Koharu forced the Third Hokage into ordering me to kill the clan. I left Sasuke alive because my brother was innocent at the time... However... He is no longer innocent." Itachi was about to say something when femur same pale hand shot up. He smiled and nodded, allowing Ino to ask her question.

"Itachi-sama... I believe that you were not going to be able to... To kill the whole Uchiha clan in the time you did. You were not alone, am I right? You had help from the outside and with that help you killed the clan."

Itachi's smile grew.

"Ino... You astonish me. I thought it would be your Aburame subordinate who would figure it out. But I have the feeling your logic is much stronger than his. I also believe your brain is as capable as a Nara's. Keep going in the same direction, and you will become a great shinobi. Yes, it is true that I got outside help. I am, however, quite surprised that none of you have asked about Madara Uchiha. But now I will tell you. Madara Uchiha is alive and kicking. It was he who helped me kill the clan, and it was he ho taught me how to use my Sharingan to its fullest." A cryptic silence fell over the room.

"If Madara is alive... Then I fear for the safety of the village. Itachi, what can you tell us about Madara?" Asked Jiraya. He was dead serious, a really rare thing to occur whenever Tsunade was around. Itachi nodded.

"Madara only has... A fraction of his power. So far I have not seen him use any technique of his, other than a teleportation jutsu of sorts. He is the one responsible for the creation of the Akatsuki, not the man who leads us and claims to be the leader of the organisation. One more thing... That man, the leader... Has a doujutsu. I think Jiraya sama will 've able to recognize it. Purple eyes, rippled pattern. Not nice to look at." Jiraya winced when he remembered. He whispered something that only he heard.

Itachi felt a pain in his chest, but tried to ignore it. Then he started coughing again.

"What is wrong with you Itachi?" Asked Kakashi, who looked concerned. It was kind of understandable, Itachi had once been his comrade in the ANBU. Tsunade was standing next to Itachi, who was still coughing. Her hands were hovering over his back, green chakra surrounding them.

"I think he has a problem with his lungs. I don't know what it is, but it is just getting worse every moment." She said. After a few minutes, Itachi stopped coughing. He looked up and nodded in Tsunade's direction.

"I have been sick for seven years. My body is weak, and I am dying because of that sickness. One of the things which this sickness causes is the fusion of the blood streams and the chakra network. It weakens the body greatly. My calculations showed me, that if this sickness was not present in my life, I would've been seven times stronger." A silence filled the room.

Itachi, who was able to defeat Orochimaru, who was able to go on par with Kakashi, who was able to fight Jiraya and maybe win, was sick, and was seven times weaker than he was probably meant to be.

"This is... It is impossible! If you were not sick, you'd be able to go alone against the whole of the Akatsuki and kill half of them, if not more!" Exclaimed a boy with chuunin attire and a pony tail. Itachi realised it was true. He would be almost unbeatable in one on one duels, and hardly beatable in two on one fights. He sighed.

"Well... I told you what I could. The Akatsuki will understand that I killed two members. They will understand I went back to Konoha. My advice. Protect Naruto. And be wary of a man with an orange mask." Said Itachi, as he swiftly removed the seal from his neck and disappeared in a flock of crows.

The crows broke through a window and left, leaving a bunch of shocked Konoha ninja in their wake. Only Ino noticed that one of the crows threw two rings in her direction. The girl swiftly caught them, and wondered what were they for.

Itachi fell down, not far from Konoha. He felt his body hurting. His hands were covered in blue veins. He couldn't grasp his chakra well enough, and was feeling as if his eyes were going to pop out. He cried out in pain as one of his veins popped, blood flying everywhere.

Itachi tried to rip some of the cloth from his robe, but found himself too weak to. But the pressure on his hand caused another vein to pop, even more blood escaping his body. The Uchiha fell to the ground, feeling eeK and unable to move. His knees broke as they fell to the ground. He was going to scream, but a vein on his neck popped, shocking him to such an extent that he only managed to cry out. Itachi's body fell to the ground, his eyes locking on his blood. It was bluishly red, as if it was so infused with chakra that it had become blue.

He felt more veins popping over his whole body, but he could cry out. He hardly felt the pain, he was loosing so much blood it was amazingly painless.

He sighed. At least he had managed to complete his task. The only thing he wanted to know was, why didn't he last eight more hours, as Madara said he would?

Itachi then saw his mother and his father, in the distance, looking at him. They looked... Ethereal. He knew well that they were not there. But maybe... Maybe he'd get to see them. One last time. Itachi Uchiha felt how something touched his shoulder. He couldn't see whatit was, but he felt a bony hand was clutching tightly.

"Think of good things." Said a deep, ethereal voice as Itachi followed its order.

He thought of Sasuke, and the time they had spent together before he was forced to kill the clan.

Itachi woke up in his dark room, sweating like a pig.

A/N: Well people, how was this? Tell me what you think of it in the reviews, also, be sure to try and guess why didn't he last eight more hours. Be sure to follow and favourite the fic if you liked it!

- Chicken