IMPORTANT: This story is not strictly canon. It was begun in 2009, and people who were in the fandom back then will recall that the Fourth Shinobi War had not begun then, so in this story it has not happened, meaning that some characters are still alive despite dying in canon. I would advise you to think of this as going AU after Pein's attack in the main storyline, and Itachi's death in Sasuke's storyline.

A note on the pairings: I know that some of these are not, and will not, be canon. Again, I wrote this a long time ago, before certain characters died, and others, like ShikamaruXIno, are not necessarily my prefered pairing for these characters (I prefer ShikamaruXTemari and SaiXIno), but they were easier to fit into this story. They are also pairings I do support to some extent.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1 – The Mission

I'm not going to start this diary with the usual, stereotypical, 'Dear Diary'. I'm just going to write in this when I'm bored, but I may as well introduce myself. My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm sixteen years old. I have an older sister, Uchiha Mikoto, eighteen, and a younger sister, Uchiha Tani, twelve. My parents are Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Sakura. I have a big family (loads of uncles and aunts) though none of them are actually related to me, but still. My best friend is Nara Hiroshi. Like me, he's sixteen, but his birthday's six months before mine – 12th February whilst mine's 3rd August. The majority of my other friends are girls. But I have loads of fan girls as, like my father was, I was the academy heart throb. Apparently it's because of my raven hair and emerald eyes... But I digress. It's Naruto's birthday soon and I don't know what to get him. I mean, what could I get him that he doesn't already have? I could always resort to ramen tickets I suppose... Oh well, that's the least of my worries. Compared with the hoards of girls that dog my every step. Basically, that's scary. I can't escape unless I'm in my home. Dad's no help – he just laughs at me. Mum doesn't understand so she can't sympathise.

My sisters are so annoying! The amount of times I've caught Tani playing with my special kunai! I've lost count! And all the times Mikoto's asked me if I look good in various colours of makeup and in different outfits before she goes out with her boyfriend, Isas. I'm her brother for goodness sake! How am I supposed to know what boys like to see her wearing? And I've never had a girlfriend so I don't know what boys like to see in a girl! All I know is that I haven't found the one for me yet... if there is one. Perhaps I'm doomed to be forever single and chased after by girls. I'm waffling, I know, but it's my diary so there!

I don't know what to write...

Finally, my Sharingan has reached three tomoe – full development. I beat Mikoto on that account! She's still on two. Tani's still on one tomoe, nut she is the youngest. Dad did tell me once that the male's Sharingan develops quicker than females', but it's nice to see the theory in practise. Mikoto's jealous – it's quite funny actually... If only she hadn't inherited Mum's inhuman strength! Oww... Why did I decline Mum's offer to heal me? Damn pride. I really hate my ego sometimes. I must get it from Dad. Time to train, I guess. Suigetsu demanded that my squad mates and I meet him at the bridge at midday today... I just hope that that pervert's not late because he's got his head in that book again. It won't take the girls long to find me. Huff...

Uchiha Itachi put his pen down and sighed. He hated those annoying girls that followed him around everywhere he went. Hell, he could even sense them below his bedroom window. So much for trying to sneak out of there to avoid them. His perverted sensei had better not be late or he'd have hell to pay. He grinned. There was one exit that none of those girls watched... Mikoto's bedroom window. He'd just to hope that she a) wasn't in there or b) she was in a good mood. Damn it. He could sense her in there. Swallowing that damn pride of his, he knocked on her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" she demanded. He winced. She was in a really bad mood.

"It's me, Itachi," he called back.

"What do you want?"

"Can I slip out your window, sis?" he asked. "It's the only place that girls aren't lurking." There was silence.

"Fine." She opened the door. Looking at his white face, she laughed. "Those fan girls really scare you, don't they?" she asked, bad mood gone at the sight of her only brother looking scared of some girls.

"Fan girls? They're stalkers!" he responded, walking past his older sister. She grinned.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "I'll keep them away from you today. Well, I'll try." Itachi grinned at her.

"The bridge," he replied. OK, sometimes (ahem virtually all of the time) Mikoto wasn't that bad. In fact, contrary to appearances, they got on quite well, whatever the two of them said. They got on with Tani very well, too. A perfect family relationship, unlike the two Uzumaki sisters, who fought at every opportunity.

Itachi made one last scan of the area around his sister's window before jumping out and waving at his sister before running to meet his teammates at the bridge where, ironically, his parent's sensei had met them every day while they were Genin, and even Chuunin. A Chuunin himself, Itachi just couldn't be bothered to apply for Jounin before – but he was finally going to start the exam the following week. Despite being an Uchiha with a reputation to uphold, Itachi was actually quite nervous. Of course, only Mikoto had been told, but he had a feeling that his parents could tell – they knew him so well. He hadn't even told Hiroshi about the nerves gnawing at his gut.

He arrived at the meeting point and grinned. True to her word, he could see Mikoto in the distance, distracting a huge group (or should that be hoard?) of girls. As he watched, she pointed in the direction of the house and the girls all ran in that direction. He grinned. 'Note to self: don't go home for a while,' he thought to himself. A cough got his attention and he looked to see his teammate Hisuke standing in front of him. They were friends, but not good ones.

"Ita-kun!" a girl shouted and hugged him.

"Get off me, Hotaru," he said tiredly. The only annoying girl that he couldn't avoid was her – his only female teammate. True, she did her fair share of hard work on missions and was a talented kunoichi, but she did fancy him... which was annoying. Then again, her mother, Karin, had been like that with his father, so it must run in the family, like her chakra sensing and unusual healing abilities. She was no doubt a valuable asset to their squad, she just happened to be annoying at times like this. But if she was here then that meant that her father probably was too. Neither she nor their sensei were overjoyed at being on the same team, but it was non-negotiable. At least Suigetsu didn't favour her because she was his daughter; if anything, she got all the dirty work like cooking and washing up. Maybe it was just their sensei being sexist, what with all those Icha Icha books he read. He was as bad as their old family friend, Kakashi, when it came to those books. tachi got a shiver just thinking about the number of times he'd had to persuade that pervert not to give him one for his birthday or Christmas. He doubted that Kakashi had listened to him; it was probably only because both his parents had stepped in with disapproving views every time the subject was brought up. His mum said that there was no way that anyone in her house was going to own one of those books and his Dad said that he had once been forced to read them by some creep called Orochimaru and that they were rubbish and he'd find it boring, not to mention the fact that he was sick to death at the mere sight of one of those books. Itachi thought that that was probably what had saved him.

Despite thinking deeply about those arguments, Itachi was fully aware of his sensei trying to sneak up on him. Just as Suigetsu was about to tickle him, Itachi twisted and grabbed his arm. He glared at the prankster that was his sensei, who laughed.

"Sasuke told me that your Sharingan is fully developed now," he said. Itachi nodded. His father was an old friend of Suigetsu's, he knew. Something about some random snake guy and them both being his subordinates – or something. He didn't quite get it... but hey. That was all ancient history as far as he was concerned. He did know that Orochimaru was dead, killed by his father, so he wasn't worried.

"Ahem," Hisuke said, waving his hand in front of Itachi's face. "Earth to Itachi!" Itachi blinked and gave his teammate the famous Uchiha glare. Hisuke just grinned – that glare never had any effect on him, he often attempted to return it. And failed because he wasn't an Uchiha. Suigetsu grinned.

"Like father, like son; Sasuke had a habit of spacing out a lot, too. Must be an Uchiha thing," he joked. Itachi gave him a death glare. "And then he glare at me just like that when I disturbed him," he added.

"Whatever. Let's just move," Itachi said, glancing over to where his sister stood directing those pesky girls elsewhere. His sensei chuckled as he followed Itachi's gaze.

"I see that Mikoto's distracting your fan girls," he commented. "You're not scared of them, are you, Itachi?" he taunted. The Uchiha shrugged.

"Can we just move?" he asked irritably. Suigetsu laughed before leading his platoon to their secret training spot that the girls had yet to find.

"Why did you summon us, sensei?" Hotaru asked. Suigetsu looked at his daughter.

"I know that you've only got a week until your Jounin exams, but I've decided to accept a mission from the Hokage," he said. Itachi sighed. He'd much rather have been training than going on a mission.

"I think you, especially, will find this mission interesting, Itachi," Suigetsu said, glancing at his annoyed disciple. Itachi looked at him disbelievingly. "We've been asked to retrieve a missing-nin. He's highly skilled, until recently he was thought dead, killed by Uchiha Sasuke, but the Hokage's just found out that he is, in fact, still alive. He's an S-Classed criminal formerly of this village." Itachi had a sinking feeling. The only S-Classed missing-nin formerly of Konohagakure killed by his father that he knew of was Orochimaru...

"Who is it?" Hisuke asked. Itachi could have sworn that he heard a quiver of fear in his teammate's voice. Suigetsu grinned and looked directly into Itachi's eyes.

"It's a good thing that your Sharingan's fully developed, Itachi," he said. "His name is Uchiha Itachi." Itachi's eyes widened slightly and his teammates started in surprise.

"Uchiha... Itachi..." Itachi murmured. "How come he's got the same name as me? And what do you mean, it's a good thing that my Sharingan's fully developed?" he demanded. Suigetsu glanced at him.

"I've never met him, but I was nearby when Sasuke supposedly killed him. What did I mean? Like you, he's a Sharingan user – and a very adept one at that. Even you father's was easily overpowered when they fought. That's how talented he is." Itachi stared at him and could feel his teammates' gazes on him.

"How come he's got the same name as me?" Itachi repeated. Suigetsu looked uncomfortable.

"You were named after him," he said simply.

Thanks for reading!

Tsari