Just like my oneshot "Inkyubasu", this idea popped out of the blue before I woke up, as a simple image of Itachi, and this time deals with his reanimation (a second time around). When he rearises, he takes a journey to find out why he was brought back and WHO did it. Luckily, he won't be alone in this. This fic will be extended, but not sure how long. Either way, I intend to give it devotion and love. :D I have not regretted any of my fics in the past.

Without spoiling, there's some pretty disturbing content, but no rape or sexual violence in the direction. Just thought to give you the heads up.

Disclaimer: should be obvious that Naruto does NOT belong to me, but to the uber awesome Kishimoto. If it DID belong to me, then Itachi would be my husband along with my equally loving boyfriend who is my reason to have gotten into him and the rest of the anime. ;D

Chapter One

Reawakening

Darkness.

Cold.

He blinked and let his eyes roll about, not seeing anything but lines. Where was he? And then he remembered...

I'm supposed to be dead.

The last he remembered was seeing Sasuke, his beloved little brother, one last time when he released the Reanimation Jutsu, freeing his soul and the other Shinobi who unwillingly participated against their loved ones and comrades in the war - was it still going on? Did the Five Great Nations win against Madara? Was the demon still around?

He had so many questions, but how could he get those answers? He knew he had been reanimated - again - and swore. Kabuto...he didn't learn anything, did he? If I ever get out of here, I'll finish him. He shivered, assessing that his nerves, his veins and everything were functioning properly. He felt his blood pumping, his muscles contracting as he stiffened his limbs. He took a few deep breaths, feeling his lungs close in and out, but it wouldn't last if he didn't get out of this...thing, whatever he was entrapped in.

Flexing his fingers, he was satisfied that he could move. Next, he closed them into a fist before raising both arms, then tested his toes and entire feet before lifting one leg and bending slightly at the knee. Sighing with relief, he decided this was all he needed to assure himself he wasn't dreaming - and he wasn't dead any longer.

He frowned when he felt his flesh sizzle with the cold again. Bringing his hands up, he ran them over his hips, then his stomach and chest - he was naked. What is this - a twisted form of rebirth?

Against his bare back was what could not be mistaken for wood. He reached out in every direction, feeling about and tracing. He could not panic, but his rapidly beating heart was in disagreement. He was in a casket.

"Damn it."

He'd found his voice. It was a rasp to his own ears; maybe his vocal cords needed time. But right now, he needed to try and get out of here.

If he were another being, he would have reminded himself to not burn himself, but with one such technique of his, he could do this. He took a deep breath and concentrated his chakra on the target ahead. This one was risky, but he did not need to say so. He braced himself for any pain that could come...

"Amaterasu!"

He saw the black flames begin to leak through the hardened obstacle before his eyes. He made sure to not have it targeted at himself, but his prison which encased him. Wherever he was, he wasn't buried underground, which was a relief - but it baffled him. Why wasn't he buried beneath the earth somewhere? If he had been, who dug him up and why?

It was a matter of time before the lid of his coffin was cleansed away by the divine ebony flames, and light poured before his vision. I can see everything. He blinked, pleased he felt no pain, but how was it he could feel cold while he was inside this thing? With a grimace, he sat up and stretched his bones some more, before sitting up and assessing his surroundings. Hoping there would be someone to give him answers...

...but no one was around him. He frowned again. That was strange; he sensed no other chakra forms around. He was alone.

Itachi Uchiha found himself standing in the middle of a cave. How typical. He sniffed the stale air, but he assessed he wasn't that far away from the nearest entrance. He found he could still use his Sharingan. He tried once more to assess any chakra life-forms, but scowled when he sensed nothing. Whoever had brought him back, they took off so abruptly.

They must not have the patience to wait around and see me come back before their eyes - or they thought to leave me alone and see how well I function.

He couldn't help but allow a small smile to form. If there was one thing Itachi appreciated, it was the fact that someone had common sense to know that the great Uchiha loathed being used as a pawn.

But what was he supposed to do now?

Remembering his nude state made him decide that a hunt for clothes was in order, but after that? He did not know where he was, or if there were any nearby villages, but he decided now that he would not waste any more time speculating. He turned every corner he could, taking off in a flash and wincing once in a while at the rigidity in his bones at the pressure of speed. His bones needed means to replenish. He didn't know if he would die out so quickly, nor did he know if he was able to eat or drink anything like he did when he was alive. Itachi found himself finding the light at the end of the tunnel in no time, breathing fresh air as soon as he was free.

There is no time to waste. I must flee this spot before I am found. I need to gather small, important means to survive before I can proceed.

Itachi was prepared to detect hunter-nin in the area, but he had no weapons, which meant genjutsu would have to be in question as there was no other alternative. He could cloak his chakra, but there could always be one Shinobi or more who sensed chakra. He must be on the move - always on the move as he had been half his life. Too short a life, it was. But I lived it, following orders and accepting without question, like a good Shinobi.

But...how much time passed? What has changed?

As soon as he gathered what he needed, he would seek out those answers.

He hoped to do it before the day ended, for the pale, delicate colors of early evening became too familiar before his range of vision. The sight of the sun with its vanishing warmth sent a light tingle over his bare flesh, making him smile a little wider at the steadily rising spark warming his regenerating cells. He felt like a nymph leaping through the forest, his long hair flying out behind him in the breeze. He had no tie to pull it back, but he wasn't concerned at the present.

Suddenly, in midst of a foot stepping on a branch, he let out a harsh yell of pain when said shock erupted at the end of his ankle, coursed throughout his leg and over the lower half of his body. As a consequence, he lost his balance and found himself falling downward, but he managed to land on all fours if still burning with the throbs of his limbs. Grunting and groaning at the consumption, Itachi pulled himself up before dropping to his knees again.

"I moved too soon," he said aloud to no one in particular. Which made him snort, given he was doing so well thus far. Or was it because the cool air was getting to him? He managed to stand enough to slump forward towards a collection of shrubs which would hide him from watchful eyes. He gasped sharply and fell behind them, on his side, facing a collection of rocks. "Oh, Kami, I'm so cold." He wrapped his arms around himself and curled his legs to his chest, wondering if he was going to die again like this...

Darkness claimed him within seconds.

When he found that he could awaken, he was consumed with heated warmth and sensation that left him reeling in pleasure.

Itachi groggily opened one eye. "...hn?" He shifted, slowly sitting up, feeling something along the lines of warm flesh and fur brushing against his naked body. Someone - something - covered me while I slept. Weight moved with him before abandoning him completely, and Itachi sat all the way up only to find himself face to face with a pair of glowing icy blue eyes. A low growling whimper was the greeting along with a bow of the head. He took in brown-gray fur, four legs and a bushy tail as well as a snouted face.

He was in a staring contest with a wolf.

He sat up straighter, putting his hands in his lap, his legs crossed at an odd angle as he continued to observe the animal which also gazed up at him curiously with its snout bowed. The beast had kept him warm for the duration of the...night? He tore his eyes away to look around and see pale golden sunlight streaming in from cracks overhead. He was in yet another cave; how could he not sense that he was hauled in his sleep? He hummed as he continued to gaze into the eyes of his unlikely aid which was now coming up to sniff at him in the face, taking in his odd, stale aroma which he now got a whiff of through his own nostrils. He'd been alive for only a day and was already nearly frozen to death before passing out and waking up to being warmed by a wild animal that didn't attack him on sight.

Upon further examination from his place, Itachi made out that his unlikely savior was male. "You saved me, did you?" he asked, even though the answer had been obvious. He couldn't help but chuckle when the animal took a few steps closer until his snout was in Itachi's face, giving him a lick on the chin. He let another laugh escape him. "I wish I knew a proper way to thank you - if you could even talk." He brought both hands up and scratched the wild dog behind its ears, making it whimper at his touch.

I believe I made a new friend so quickly.

Itachi stood up then, testing his bones and muscles by stretching out and relaxing after hearing the pop in his joints. Sighing, he finally noticed his nude state and remembered his goal. With another sharp breath, he looked back down at his new friend and savior. "Well, my friend, do you know any villages or towns nearby?" In his younger days in ANBU, he and Shisui used to temporarily make wild animal friends before duty called them back. There were times those little friends of theirs were slaughtered mercilessly by enemies. He was not sure he could risk it this time.

The wolf whimpered, then bobbed his head up and down. Chuckling again, Itachi knelt down once more to scratch him behind the ears. "You understand me, eh? That's reassuring. I wonder if I have the ability to naturally understand animals now, in my third life." But why in the name of the gods would I be alive in a third life? Has the world not tormented me and the dead enough?! Have Kabuto or Orochimaru not learned their lessons about disrespecting the living and dead?

But if it was neither of them, then who?

He grimaced when he felt his stomach clench and registered his drying throat, coughing a little. He was hungry and thirsty. The wolf seemed to notice and turned his back to the living dead human, but turned his face back around to make sure Itachi would follow him. He began to trot in the opposite direction, and the former Akatsuki and Leaf Shinobi followed him. Might as well live wild for awhile. Take one step at a time.

There happened to be a spring nearby that his companion led him to, and today was a warm breeze that made him sigh. Throwing his head back, Itachi let the warmth cover him with its richness. He felt his entire body vibrate with the pleasure before he pulled out of it and remembered his thirst and hunger. He knelt by the stream, scooping a handful into both hands and bringing it to his lips.

Cleansing bliss washed over him and his very soul. He might be dead, but he felt alive with this feeling.

Itachi decided he could take a bath in here. He took one more look at the wolf who glanced at him again with a curious eye as he continued to drink. He shivered when his body was consumed by the small pool that the stream led into. His hands roamed over his body as he splashed himself from his face to his neck and shoulders, then down over the front...

...and it was then that he saw, for the first time, the dramatic change to his body in that particular place.

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO ME?!

Itachi could not recall the last time he lost control of his emotions like this, but when he looked over his body with a really good glance, he leaped out of the spring, deciding he was clean enough - but when he looked down at this part of himself, he felt filthy and impure, wondering what he'd done in life to deserve this. He'd committed crimes on orders, for the good of the Hidden Leaf Village - and for his baby brother's life - and joined the rogue organization because Madara had offered him. Damn that monster for turning Sasuke into a criminal. He bared his teeth in a snarl, but the past was the least of his worries.

If you could look at the well-honed body, lean and not brawny with finely sculpted muscles, you would see that the Uchiha was a fine man - but one such morbid oddity stood out. The V-shape between his pelvis descended into a soft curve between his legs. What had happened to his length? His pubic hairs? And upon further investigation with his fingers, his balls were missing, as well. It was an utter humiliation and insult to his manhood!

He found himself looking at his reflection in the water now. His skin was pale, olive-tinted, and more angular than he remembered. His loose hair was over his shoulders, but it had lost the rich raven shine and was now a dull charcoal gray. Sasuke now had his eyes; if you could call his current pair eyes, they were pools of black swimming forever with the blood-red Sharingan in place.

He looked like a ghost, or a demon.

A specter doomed to walk the earth.

A freak of nature.

Itachi closed his eyes and bowed forward in the manner in which you would fall to your knees and beg for forgiveness. But what would he beg for? Why was this done to him? His body wracked with the abnormalities that his lower body presented, and his eyes. He needed to find something to cover up soon, or else he would be seen as a monster and shunned like in the tales of old. He might be dead, but he was still a human being. He deserved to be treated like one as long as he was walking in the world he no longer belonged in...

A wet bud of a nose prodded on his arm, making him jolt back up to his sitting position. The wolf looked at him and whimpered, making his beating heart crack in a place. It was then that Itachi decided this fellow deserved to be named, for the Uchiha owed him that much. With a burdened being and the need for contact, he wrapped his arms around the beast's neck and leaned into the coarse but warm fur, burying his face into the back of the neck.

"What am I to do now...Shiranui?" His new friend seemed to like the name he was christened with - after the god himself - for he licked the back of Itachi's hand, making the young, undead man chuckle and struggle to keep his sobs in.

The wolf who saved Itachi is actually named after Shiranui (the father of Amaterasu). :)

Two stories that inspired me that come to mind are "Edo tensei" by Cabriolean, and "Resurrection" by Virtute et Armis. The first is a short which deals with Sasuke bringing his brother back after the war (has incestuous undertones), and the latter is during and AU of canon when Itachi and the other reanimated Shinobi are brought in the war - but he himself is caught in the possession of Madara and is reconnecting with his brother...but we know it will end badly.

This story will be told overall in Itachi's voice, and I am sure of it, if not in first person narrative. Stay tuned for how he continues on. Reviews are ABSOLUTELY loved to be had - but if anyone flames me, face my temper. Hope no one took that last part the wrong way.