Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Not me, a poor uni student.

This is a bit of an experiment of mine writing a few fanfic. I have multiple drabble ideas for the Naruto'verse which might one day see light but in the mean time am posting them to get the plot bunnies out of my head.

This story is based primarily in Naruto land but also involves the relatively minor appearance of other series characters, including Bleach and DOA. (Byakuya and Ayane respectivly.) Do not expect the entire cast to make an appearence if this drabble is ever made into a full story. My current plot for this drabble involves detailing the entire kidnapping before moving on to the actual events in the Naruto manga.

As always please read and review.

The Sandaime slowly blew out a smoke ring from his pipe as he looked over at the village from the top of the Hokage Mountain. He wanted the current image of the village as it was, slowly bathing in the light of the sunrise over it's mostly sleeping denizens frozen in his mind. After all the village of Konoha would never be quite the same again after today.

After all, today was the day that one of the founding clans of the hidden village of leaves would be leaving the village, peacefully.

Compared to the rest of the village, the Uchiha Clan enclave would have been considered bustling with activity even if the sun had not fully risen yet.

"Aoshi, carry this to the cart please."

"Togashi, take this to Minato-san."

"Have you seen…"

For many of the clan this day was a joyous one. The majority had lived in Konoha their whole lives and leaving their village, their comrades and friends forever was difficult but there was also the wellspring of hope. They had also witnessed first hand how the village had turned on their clan after the Kyuubi attack, segregating them from the rest of Konoha. They were leaving now to create a new village of their own and hopefully a better life.

Not all in the clan were happy today, some were even saddened which was understandable. Afterall it was difficult to leave family, particularly an older brother whom you loved greatly.

"Do you want some more tea, ni-san? I can get it before they pack the kettle up." Itachi wondered if he should remind Sasuke that he had just asked that question five minutes ago, but decided it against it. The elder brother had rarely been fussed over his entire life and the warm cozy feeling it brought was still stronger then the annoyance.

"No Sasuke, thank you. You can come sit next to me if you would like." Itachi heard his little brother sit beside him and didn't need his eyes to know that he would be twitching with a suppressed desire to do something for his 'ni-san' and soon he would be asking…

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?" Itachi's mouth twitched, unused to expression before becoming a full smile.

"Perhaps you could ask Mother if she has any sweets she hasn't packed away yet? Oh and be sure to ask Ayane if she needs any help." Itachi said giving the eager to please child something to do. He savoured the sound of his of his brother's excited response and the thumping sound of his footsteps as he ran to their mother.

Itachi gave a small sigh as the sound of the footsteps faded. Despite the recent trauma that Sasuke had suffered, he still found it difficult to understand that sometimes someone might just want another to be present or that a hug could be one of the best things an elder brother could receive. Still it was somehow reassuring to see Sasuke behaving as he normally would.

He knew his little brother still felt somehow guilty for Itachi's current condition despite it being Itachi's own choice to confess to his parent's and then the clan of his betrayal and activation of the Mangekyō Sharingan at Shisui's death. While his clan's judgement of him had been harsh it had not been as bad as it could have been Itachi knew and his current circumstances were as nothing as to what he might have had to endure if Danzo had gotten his way.

Itachi had been a part of Danzo's secret organization the Root for a long time and he knew that the old man had a twisted desire for the Sharingan of his clan. Danzo had been appreciative of what their bloodline could do in Konoha's service yet did not trust the clan to actually use it in Konoha's service. Itachi had already guessed that if the order to attack the Uchiha clan came, Danzo would make certain that Itachi would be at the forefront as part of a twisted test of his loyalty to Konoha. Danzo had miscalculated however, Itachi did not love Konoha above his own clan and family and when the chance for a peaceful resolution between the clan and the Hidden Village of Leaves came, Itachi had leapt joyously at it doing everything he could including admitting his own guilt to put pressure on the village council to make certain it had come about.

Itachi's actions had truly surprised Danzo, especially when Itachi had revealed Danzo's possession of Shisui's eye to everyone at the meeting discussing the Uchiha clan's departure. In Itachi's view, the old man should have known better. Danzo had come close to ordering Itachi to massacre his own clan, compared to that the punishment the clan had placed on Itachi had been light.

'Sasuke's still alive, so are my parents and Kitana is still alive as well even though she may hate for killing her cousin.' Itachi thought as the hurt face of his former girlfriend flashed across his mind. 'Father convinced the clan to let me live even though some wanted me dead for possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan if not my betrayal.'

That in its own way had pained Itachi; he knew that for all the responsibility and harsh treatment given to him by Fugaku, that his father truly loved him. It was easy the majority of the time to think of Fugaku as merely the clan head rather then his actual father but unlike Sasuke, Itachi also remembered how his family had been before the Kyuubi attack and the Uchiha clan's segregation. Fugaku had been more able to be a father back then however in the face of Konoha's unjust punishment if not unjust suspicion, Fugaku had changed. It had become easy for Itachi to pretend that he was talking to his clan head rather then his father most of the time but every so often Fugaku would demonstrate his love of Itachi, such as when he let Itachi remain free despite suspecting him of Shisui's death or keeping the clan from killing Itachi for his betrayal. Fugaku's kindness had actually hurt Itachi, it reminded him that he was betraying his clan and family, whom for all the unreasonable responsibility they put on Itachi's shoulders still loved him.

Itachi turned his head towards the breeze gently coming in through his open window. Even though he could not see the sun rise, he felt the day pulse with new hope for his clan and himself as he no longer carried the burden that had suffocated him for so long.

'I was willing to kill my own clan to keep the peace. Husbands, wives, children infants…Danzo wanted everyone dead. Compared to that, being blinded, rendered infertile and exiled to remain in Konoha without my clan is a light price to pay for peace.'

Itachi gave a small chuckle which seemed to be coming surprisingly often to the normally stoic child. 'I still can't believe that after all my efforts in forging peace between my clan and the villager, my little brother is the one who is mostly responsible for giving the clan a chance at a peaceful feature. Honestly Sasuke, he always makes it seem to me that I prefer to do things the hardway.'

Sasuke instead of heading towards the kitchen rushed down the hallway towards his room. Like everyone in his family he knew of his brother's sweet tooth and the little child had prepared for this ever since he had stopped crying at the fact that they were leaving Itachi behind to stay in Konoha. Skidding to a stop as he entered his room, Sasuke began searching, tossing aside bags of fully packed clothes and gear till he found what he was searching for.

'Hear it is.' Sasuke thought as he held up the box filled with Itachi's favourite sweets that he had prepared earlier. Buying gifts for his elder brother was difficult these days. Sweets and ninja tools had been rejected as being to impersonal. Pets particularly a cute cat Sasuke had seen in the pet store had been considered but rejected by his mother as being too difficult for a newly blinded person to care for. Sasuke had finally settled on a small necklace with a picture of their family inside which he had given to Itachi yesterday but he had bought these sweets as a just in case gift as well.

Clutching the big box of sweets, Sasuke rushed out of his room to promptly collide with a small girl with purple hair.

"Sasuke." The girl almost growled from the floor, rubbing her head.

"Ayane-chan" Sasuke exclaimed as he got up. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping Uncle Teyaki?"

"I was, they asked me to drop some stuff here and then your mother asked me to come find you." Ayane responded getting up off the floor. "We're leaving soon and she wants to talk with you."

Sasuke's face fell at the thought of leaving his older brother. "Ok, tell her I'll be there as soon as I give this to Itachi-ni-san."

The boy rushed off but not before giving Ayane a quick hug and saying "Oh and sorry for running into you like that, Ayane."

Ayane could only stare at the blue blur that was Uchiha Sasuke as he ran away, before shaking her head and walking back to Mikoto-San. The young girl had been treated pretty much like an outcast by her former clan when she was young and now being adopted into the Uchiha clan after having been kidnapped then rescued along with Sasuke and a few other children, she was finding it difficult but not exactly unpleasant to fit in.

Shrugging her shoulders, the girl began heading back to where she had seen Mikoto-san last.

Fugaku looked at the large number of his clan members standing in front of him ready to depart. They would be the first batch of Uchiha to leave, scouting and preparing the way for the remainder of the clan. The Uchiha clan leader nodded his head and they moved as one, leaving Konoha permanently to their new home. Besides him stood Kuchiki Soujun, the current head of the Kuchiki house and their new feudal lord.

"Any regrets, Fugaku-san?" The young man asked respectfully. Both Fugaku and Soujun were close to the same age even if with widely different temperament but they had struck up a friendship none the same that reminded Fugaku of his relationship with the former Hokage Namikaze Minato.

"A few, Soujun-sama." Fugaku responded, thinking about his elder son. "But this is still much better then staying in Konoha as we were or many other things that could happen. We will be happy on the Land of Rock."

"Life on that barren island will not be easy." Soujun warned. "Have you discussed my plan with your clansmen?"

Fugaku nodded. "I have and they are accepting for the most part. A few of the younger ones are a bit put out but I planned on them remaining as active ninja's in any case. The elders on the other hand are eager, they do not mind teaching and some are actually looking forward to peacefully turning more of their ninja arts to farming and tilling the land. The rest understand the need and are agreeable."

"Good." Soujun smiled. "I was worried that your clan members would mind becoming part time farmers but it will be necessary if we are to make a future on that bleak land."

"I intend to surprise the Fire-Daimyo by making sure his reward is truly a reward." Soujun continued, saying something that Fugaku already knew. The Kuchiki clan were regarded as being the first among the noble families of the Fire country. Originally a samurai clan from the Land of Iron they had settled and remained in the Land of Fire from before Konoha was founded. While their power and status had grown to such an extent that they frequently eclipsed the Fire Daimyo. The current Fire Daimyo a young but very forward thinking man had frequently clashed with the Kuchiki family's strict code of honour when he was still a prince and now that he was a Daimyo had given them the 'reward' of ownership of the Land of Rock, a large island south of the coast of the Fire country. Formed from the eruption of a volcano centuries ago, the island was technically part of the Fire country and had been colonised many times and each time the settlement had failed, due to the harsh climate and the difficulty in growing anything.

By making the Kuchiki clan independent lords of that place, the Fire Daimyo would get rid of what he saw as a trouble some family along with a chance to seize their wealth and lands that they would have to leave behind, while publically claiming it was a reward for the clan's years of service. When the life on that island broke them as the Daimyo was counting it would, they would have to come back and plead with him for his generosity to return their lands.

Soujun however intended to not just survive but actually prosper on his clan's new found domain. He along with his grand-father had cleverly gotten a number of concessions from the Daimyo on the guise of helping them move to their new land, such as paying for the actual moving, along with a yearly tribute of money and food for five years to make sure they had a chance to succeed there. Another concession they had received was the Daimyo's backing in looking for a ninja clan willing to move along with them to their new domain. The Daimyo had never believed that the famed Uchiha Clan would be willing to leave the village they had helped found and as his pledge had been made in public, had to aid the Kuchiki clan in putting pressure on the Konoha Village council to let the Uchiha Clan depart.

The village council might have prevented the move despite the Daimyo but Sarutobi and Itachi had both seized the chance for a peaceful solution to the conflict between the Clan and Konoha. Itachi's confession to his father of his betrayal followed by his confession at the meeting between the Daimyo, Village council, Uchiha and Kuchiki Clans of Danzo's plans and possession of Shisui's eye had turned the tide. Danzo had been forced to give up the possession of not just Shisui's but a number of other Uchiha eyes he had gathered over the years while the council had given its permission to the clan to depart. Something no major village had ever done to any of its clans.

The need for a large and powerful ninja clan had been crucial in Soujun's eyes. While the Kuchiki family already had a small ninja clan already serving it as bodyguards, the Shihouin family were small with only ten active ninjas. A larger number of ninja's would be needed both for their new country's protection and for Soujun's plans. While a number of people had settled on that land, none of them had been ninjas or even brought ninjas along with them as the wars and fighting on the main land had claimed their presence.

Soujun had hoped to find a ninja clan that while not teaching all their techniques of fighting and combat would not mind passing on knowledge of chakra as well as teach jutsu that could be used to bring water and farm the barren land. Ideally the retired ninjas of the clan would be willing to take part in such farming as well. He had nearly given up hope before meeting Fugaku when they had both been reunited with their respected sons.

Fugaku on his side had been desperate to find a solution for his clan that did not involve warfare which he was slowly being pushed towards. If it had just been Sarutobi, he was sure they could have worked out a peaceful settlement. However the village council headed by Danzo had not come to any of their negotiations with peace as a goal but rather the subjugation of the Uchiha. Their last idea at the negotiation table had been the Uchiha clan copying the Hyuuga clan's practice of using curse seals with the council being able to activate them at will. It had taken all of Fugaku's self-control not to attack them for suggesting such a barbaric idea and he could see Sarutobi's own displeasure at the idea.

Meeting Soujun had been a blessing for Fugaku. While Soujun was far from a born warrior the young man had received some training in the samurai arts as did all his family and more importantly within Soujun he had recognised the same honour and dedication towards caring for those under his care that he himself possessed. Their negotiations over the rights and privleges of the Uchiha clan under the Kuchiki's leadership had demonstrated both men's forthrightness and desire to reach a fair accord. While the Uchiha clan might face a harder life on their new home, they would defiantly be happier under the Kuchiki clan then they were under the village council.

"Fugaku-sama, Kuchiki-sama, the rest of the clan is almost ready to depart." said Uchiha Tenzou, coming up to the two clan heads.

"If you would excuse me, Soujun-sama." Fugaku said respectfully to his new feudal lord. "I would like to say some last minute farewells."

"Certainly Fugaku-san."

Mikoto waved farewell to her younger son as he rode strapped on the back of a giant bird to their new home. A number of goods were being sent by land along with a ninja escort but the clan had decided that it would be safer to send their children and most valued possessions by air, making them less likely to attack.

She had already said her farewells to Itachi and had made certain that his new residence was adequate for his needs. Although the jounin kunoichi realised that her son would not remain blind for long, the medical ninjas likely replacing his eyes with non-sharingan eyes as soon as the Uchiha clan left, she could not help but worry over son. The mother had honestly been torn by her clan's punishment of her eldest child. Although she had loved Shisui almost like a son, the thought of leaving behind her son for ever was difficult enough, the clan members' insistence on having him rendered infertile so as not to allow their bloodline to continue in Konoha had seemed excessive to her.

'I have to remember to send a message to Kakashi and Anko and remind them of their responsibilities before I leave.' Mikoto reminded herself with a small smile. Both of them had been very surprised at the black mail material the normally soft spoken jounin had on them and both had been eager in their promise to look after Itachi for a time in return for Mikoto to keep such information herself. There were certain deeds that even Kakashi and Anko would find embarrassing if they were made public.

As she walked through the village to do just that, she came across a sight that almost melted her heart. Her friend Kushina's son being treated to a cup of ramen by Jiraiya. The memory of the friendship that had sprung up between not just her son and Kushina's but also Ayane and Kuchiki Byakuya had been heartwarming for the mother. Together the four had plotted not just their escape but that of all the other children from their captors while they had been kidnapped. The sight of the four of them fighting side by side against their would-be captors when the rescue party had come upon them was still etched in Mikoto's mind.

It had pained her to tell Naruto that he would be the only one of the four to be left behind in Konoha while the other three went on to Land of Rock, almost as much as when Sarutobi had denied allowing her and Fugaku to adopt Naruto years ago when they first learned that Jiraiya would not. Despite refusing her request to adopt Naruto for the same reasons as he had last time, Sarutobi had been somewhat more amenable and had agreed to her second request.

Feeling her gaze, Jiraiya turned around and despite the smile on her face that made most of the men and some of the women in Konoha regard her as 'The MILF' of the whole village, the Legendary Pervert still shuddered at the look in her eyes and turned back to order another bowl of ramen for his god-son.

Jiraiya had been somewhat puzzled at Old man Sarutobi's request for a mere five minutes of his time and more puzzled when he had simply sent him to a small room whose only occupant had been Uchiha Mikoto. While the Legendary Pervert of the Sannin had faced many foes in his time ranging from enemy ninjas, jealous husbands, furious women to even his own team-mates, it had perhaps been the first time he had ever faced an angry mother. The five minutes had turned to five hours during which the woman never laid a hand on Jiraiya and merely talked.

Uchiha Mikoto talked, she talked about Kushina and Mikoto, how kind and loving both had been and how they happy they were when Jiraiya had accepted being Naruto's god father. She talked of their hopes and dreams for their son and how they might have felt while they were dying, she talked of her love and feelings for her own sons and how she had carefully chosen their god parents along with Fugaku. She then talked of Naruto and the treatment he had received as he grew up, She talked of Sasuke's friendship with him and how the child was surprised at even the smallest gestures of kindness that he had received, how sad Naruto was that the first friends that he had made in his life were now leaving him. The five minutes turned in to five hours and the thought of leaving after the first few never once crossed Jiraiya's mind. By the end of it he had long past hoping that the earth would swallow him up, regarding that as too good a fate for one such as himself.

Uchiha Mikoto had somehow managed to do what any number of other women had never managed. She had made Jiraiya feel completely and totally ashamed for perhaps the first time in his life. When he left that room, Jiraiya had made a bee-line towards Naruto and had promptly dragged the astonished young boy out of school to treat him to a bowl of Ramen that Mikoto had said he liked before introducing himself as the boy's grandfather. The pervert of the Sannin had been totally astonished at Naruto's lack of questions and happiness at having someone else apart from a very limited number of people treat him like a person. When Naruto had proudly introduced Jiraiya as his god-father to Sasuke and Ayane after school, Jiraiya had been surprised to almost felt his heart burst with joy.

Mikoto stared at Jiraiya's back for a moment before turning to continue on her way. She would have to hurry as Kakashi would likely be at the memorial stone and Anko would probably still be in bed sleeping and she needed to speak with both of them before she left.

Itachi slowly sipped from the cup of tea in his hand as he sat in his new home. The day had been long and the teen was already missing his family even though they had left not a few hours ago. However his thoughts were not on his family right now or to be more precise they were not on his family leaving Konoha.

'Why is it that just when I think I have everything figured out, people end up surprising me?' In this case it had been his father. Fugaku's visit had been awkward although the two had managed to say good bye properly, however it had been what Fugaku had left behind that bothered Itachi. Keeping his father's last gift inside his belt pouch, the blind ninja prodigy tried hard to completely forget about the small tube and the fact that inside floating in preservative liquid were a pair of eyes, which had once belonged to Itachi.

Suddenly the air in the small room changed and Itachi was not surprised to hear Madara's voice in front of him.

"Greetings, Itachi."