A/N: this story will cover Itachi's thoughts and experiences from the time of the Uchiha slaughter until sometime midway through his Akatsuki career. My memory for details during this time is a little fuzzy, so I apologize in advance for small discrepancies that may occur between this story and the canon.

Chapter One: Voices

"Nisan! Nisan!" His voice is small and squeaky, and his seven-year-old body a fitting size to match it as he clambers over my knees, squealing as I pick him up by the ankles and hang him upside down.

"What is it, Sasuke?" I ask while Sasuke swings himself in all directions, giggling with all the innocence of one who hasn't a care in the world.

"Nisan!" His face is turning red from the blood rushing to his head, so I turn him right side up again and he grins at me hopefully. "You promised you would teach me shuriken jutsu, remember!"

"I can't today, silly." I laugh, poking him lightly on the forehead. "You're getting ready to take the Academy Entrance Exam!"

His eyes light up. "You're coming to my induction ceremony, right?!" Sasuke asks for about the tenth time this morning, shuriken jutsu forgotten. "It's on –"

"The fourteenth of August, I know." I finish for him, "Of course I'm coming. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Unless," A new voice intrudes. It is my father's, deep and ever so much like roiling water, sometimes soft and calm, and other times angry and powerful. "You receive a mission."

"There are plenty of Anbu available, Father." I remind him quietly, respectfully. "I am sure that they would be able to afford sending someone else so that I could go to the ceremony."

Although Father's mouth is naturally drawn down at the edges, you can tell when he's frowning because his brow furrows and the corners of his mouth fall even farther. He frowns at me now and says sternly, "Duty comes first, Itachi. Always remember that."

"Yes, Father."

Later that night I am passing by my parents' room on feet more silent than a cat's. I don't want to wake Sasuke on my journey to the kitchen for a glass of water, and I know exactly which creaky floorboards to avoid. Through the thin walls and the crack underneath the door, I hear that deep and roiling voice again speaking in low tones.

"It's becoming a threat, Mikoto. And they're not going to stop at just confining us to a corner of the village. Uchiha Madara was right, I can feel it. The Senju will conspire to drive us out of the village – I wouldn't bet on the Hokage stopping them either."

I pause to hear my mother's reply, a whisper in her soft lilt that I can barely make out. "Perhaps if you give it a while, everything will settle down."

"We've tried giving it a while." Father reminds her, "And things have only gotten worse. Something must be done. And as the head of this clan, by god I'll get it done or die trying."

"Shh," Mother whispers gently, "Rest now, get some sleep."

"A plague on those Senju bastards." Father curses as he settles down, grumbling. "What has this village come to?"

….

"Do your parents talk about it too?" Shisui asks, "When they think they're alone?"

I nod uneasily, watching several leaves float to the ground. Some trees are starting to lose their leaves, though it's not autumn yet and the days are still hot in Konoha. "Late at night, when Sasuke's asleep." I sigh through my nose and shake my head slightly. "He's too young to get caught up in this."

It's been a two weeks since I overheard Mother and Father talking that night, and since then, Father's made up his mind. He's gotten most of the clan to make up their minds as well – believing the Senju must rule Konoha no longer. They want a coup d'état.

In other words, destruction.

Shisui catches one of the leaves mid-flight, twirls it around once between his fingers, and lets it go. We both watch it flutter away like a small green butterfly, as though the breeze is breathing life into that small piece of oak. "You know, I've been thinking." He says thoughtfully when the leaf completes its journey and glides into the grass.

"Do you have a plan?" My stomach leaps with excitement. We've been racking our brains for a way to stop the coup, fruitlessly so far. I've tried talking to father about this, tried to dissuade him from such a dangerous course, but he won't hear of it. Even Mother, my sweet, gentle mother hesitates to put in a word on my behalf; she too has had enough of the cold hatred and distrust we have put up with for years. Every Uchiha knows that our clan had nothing to do with the Kyuubi attack except to fight against the monster, but the other villagers are bound and determined to believe every shred of bad gossip they hear about us, and the Uchiha have reached their breaking point.

"Well I was thinking," Shisui replied slowly, "If I could . . . if I could use Kotoamatsukami on everyone, maybe I could convince them to negotiate with the Hokage instead of overthrowing him."

"You're serious?" I ask incredulously, probably louder than I meant to. "Shisui, if you use Kotoamatsukami on the entire clan . . . the amount of chakra that would take, and the long-term effects . . . you could go blind!" I can't believe he'd be physically able to do that, to use such a powerful jutsu on so many people at once.

"I don't know if I can get everyone." He acknowledges seriously, "But I've got to try. Unless you have a better idea?"

"You don't have to genjutsu everyone." I realize, beginning to accept this plan since I don't have a better idea, "Only the important people. Look, Father's calling a meeting on Thursday – they're going to set the date of the attack, and all the Uchiha officials will be there. Convince the officials that it's all a bad idea, and the rest of the clan will follow soon enough."

"Can you get me within the range of them to enable Kotoamatsukami?" He wonders aloud, "They're going to be suspicious if two teenagers show up in the middle of an important meeting."

"They trust us." I remind him, "And as far as they know, we've no reason to be . . . disloyal."

Because as much as I try to tell myself that I have everyone's best interests at heart, the fact remains that conspiring against your entire clan is disloyalty, no matter how you look at it. Shisui and I have an unspoken agreement that we'll come to terms with this, and if saving the village from internal war makes us unworthy shinobi scum . . . then so be it.

A/N: hope you enjoyed this first chapter. feedback and constructive criticism always appreciated - please review!