Disclaimer: Luckily I don't own Naruto – otherwise new manga chapters would only come out once every year.

Note: To anyone who read chapter one of Sensei Blues, this is a prologue. I decided to add one after I reread the first chapter and realized what a boring beginning it was; hopefully this one is more exciting.

And again, thank you to The Darkest wizard, SkywardShadow, coincident and Nanaki Lioness – your reviews were awesome!

Nighttime in the Mist was bitterly cold. The sun had long gone down and the first stars started to wink weakly in the sky. Itachi crouched low on a thick branch, staring shrewdly. A man with long and messy hair, somewhat reminiscent to his younger brother's, was roasting a large fish on a fire. He silently jumped to a nearer tree and stopped, surprised. It was like walking into a sauna. The area was heavy and oppressive, like the air before a storm. As his Sharingan awakened, he realized with a shock it was the man's chakra creating the air pressure. It pulsed around him, hitting his body in hot, angry waves.

Itachi felt his sweat run down his bangs; he needed to figure out how to approach the man. He watched as he ripped a huge hunk of meat off with his teeth; according to his calculations, the man had to be over a hundred years old. The familiar adrenaline rush started to sweep his body and he took a deep breath to ease his muscles.

He would ambush the man. After some simple interrogation to see if his hunch was right, he would propose his offer; the man couldn't refuse. He slowly pulled a kunai out and tensed his legs, ready to jump – but when he looked up, the clearing was empty.

The chakra vanished, and the cold air seemed to pour back into the glade. The abandoned fire hissed as the light wind blew against it. Itachi felt his body trembling in anticipation. He jumped up to one of the higher branches as his heart beat frantically against his rib cage. What was going on? He never reacted like this – even when faced with some the most dangerous criminals ANBU had to offer, his body never betrayed him like this. He gripped a branch next to him, trying to ease the warning signals his body was sending him.

Get out, Get out, Get out NOW

And in between his shallow breaths, the air around him froze. The wind and croaking frogs died and the only sound left was his trapped heart. A heartbeat – the silence pushed almost unbearably on Itachi's eardrums - and his eyes widened as he felt the man's heavy chakra behind him –

"He, he… look what we have here…"

Blinding pain blacked the edges of Itachi's vision as the man's powerful kick made contact with his back and sent him flying out of the trees. His arm snatched at a branch and he flipped onto it, Sharingan blazing as he searched the clearing for the long-haired man. His eyes flitted from tree to tree, kunai ready in his hand - but again, he had disappeared.

"Not quite, brat."

Itachi whirled around in time to see the tall outline before a fist struck him in the chest. He doubled over, just as knee collided with his face. Stumbling to stand up, he felt himself spinning into an almost vomit-inducing twirl before the large hand fisted itself into his hair and pushed his head, smashing it into the tree trunk with a sickening crack. The man laughed.

Itachi felt himself falling. Quickly he started to make some hand seals to shunshin to the forest floor, but before he was on the second hand sign his body exploded with pain as the man slammed his feet into his stomach, pile driving him to the ground. He felt the ANBU armor splitting from his body and gasped when he landed on his wrist.

Twitching, he tried to move his hands only to realize his wrist was crushed. He pushed himself to his feet just as the man stood in front of him.

"Pathetic. Just look what the Uchiha have been reduced to…"

Itachi didn't have time to react. The man backhanded his jaw and he crumpled to the dusty floor, eating a mouthful of dirt. With vision blurred with blood he noticed the man pull out his sheathed sword, eyes locked on his with the bloody red of the Sharingan. He gazed numbly back, trying to sluggishly process what had just happened.

He felt a rush of blood in his throat and his body convulsed. The world vanished around him as his head hit the damp forest floor.

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