Itachi Uchiha: Turning Back the Pendulum
Chapter 1
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"I'm still going to destroy Konoha brother. You chose your path, and I have chosen mine." Sasuke said to the zombie that was his elder brother as Itachi prepared to release the Edo Tensei.
"I can't do anything to stop you little brother. If that is your decision so be it." And with that Itachi finished the seals to release the Edo Tensei. As he began to fade, guilt weighed upon him. How could he have let it come to this? How could he have let his brother fall to the darkness? To destroy the very village he had sacrificed everything for? As he felt himself fading a last thought popped up in his mind. There was one thing he could do. He thought about what he had just said.
'Sasuke, maybe if I had put my faith in you. Maybe if I had approached you from the very beginning we could have changed mother and father's minds together.' Itachi had said.
There was one sharingan ability he knew about. No Uchiha but him should have known it. On his journeys as a child, he had discovered it, something the Rikudo Sennin had invented. Something that the God of Shinobi had refused to use under any circumstances do to the despicable nature of the technique. Itachi had discovered an ancient tablet that spoke of its power. Koshin. It was without a doubt the strongest power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, even surpassing the Izanagi in power. This jutsu didn't cause the loss of an eye though. It was however, the most chakra intensive jutsu in existence, one no living being, Jinchuriki or not, could accomplish.
The key word here was living. Itachi was currently a construct of infinite chakra and regeneration. He had one shot at this. He would turn back time to the very beginning of all of this. To the moment of the creation of his Mangekyou Sharingan. It was a one way trip, and there was no guarantee that even with the supposedly infinite chakra that this would work. He didn't even know if this would allow him to keep his mind intact nor if there were any adverse effects.
But for the sake of saving his brother from his darkness, to try and save his clan from their arrogance, to hopefully put an end to the violence before this war even had to begin… Itachi would give anything for that.
In his last moments Itachi made a single hand seal Sasuke had never seen before.
"Forgive me little brother. I am about to do something so abominable that even the Rikudo Sennin refused to use it. Goodbye little brother. Koshin!" Itachi yelled. What occurred next was felt across the entire battlefield. The amount of chakra expelled from his being to fuel this jutsu caused everyone to freeze. Even Madara froze for a moment. Then the effects of the jutsu began. Reality and time itself began to tear apart. People began screaming in fear as the very world around them began to warp.
"What's going on?! What did you do?!" The Raikage shouted.
Madara looked equally shocked.
"This is not my doing… Reality itself is warping. This is without a doubt the strongest space-time ninjutsu ever used. But who? How?" Madara asked as he felt himself begin to tear apart. On the other battlefield similar thoughts were going through Obito's mind.
All of the ninja, everyone in the world, began screaming in agony as the chakra began to overtake them. Then it all stopped. An explosion. Everything went black.
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Itachi screamed. This was one of the first and only times anyone would ever hear this man, no boy, scream. The agony coursed through his body as what felt like fire flowed through his veins. Opening his eyes he felt something warm and sticky running down his face. He wiped his face and saw blood. Looking up he saw he was at the river where his best friend had killed himself for the sake of giving Itachi the power to protect the village from his clan. Itachi was in a state of pure shock.
'It… worked? It worked…' Itachi thought, dumbfounded that his theory was correct. The last thing he remembered was an explosion of pure chakra, agonizing pain, and then darkness.
Itachi washed his face and made his way back to the village. This was the first time Itachi had entered the village in nearly five years. Everything looked the same. Nostalgia filled the young man. As he made his way to the compound a group of kids ran past him. He remembered them… they were Uchiha. He had killed them. He was close to clan's compound then. As he laid his eyes upon the gate to the compound his breath hitched in his throat. He hadn't been here since the massacre almost ten years ago. He reigned his feelings in and calmly entered the compound as he had done a thousand times before.
He entered his home, and guilt rose in his chest. There, sitting at the table, were his mother and father, alive and well. He stared at them trying to hold himself together.
"Itachi… you look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?" His mother, Mikoto, asked. His father, Fugaku, merely looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"Just thinking about what we talked about the other night." Itachi said, his cool façade back on. His expert skills at lying took over. He managed to hide and signs of his previous guilt.
"You're not having second thoughts are you? You remember this is for the good of the clan. Understood?" Fugaku said coldly. He knew Itachi was an Anbu and felt some guilt betraying the village he swore to protect.
"Of course not father. Just worried. What if the plan fails?" Itachi asked calmly.
"It won't. The Uchiha are the mightiest of this village. We cannot lose." Fugaku said with an air of finality, leaving no room for argument. Itachi merely nodded. He heard the door open and Sasuke entered the room. After all of the shocks he had received today, he managed to control himself at seeing his little brother again, the same way he had left him when he killed his family. This time would be different. He would fix his mistakes.
"I am going to retire to my room for now. I won't be eating dinner tonight." Itachi said as he walked away.
"Brother, do you want to train with me." Itachi froze at that, a flood of memories rushing through his head. He would always poke his brother on the head and tell him not this time. He didn't have the courage to train with his brother, knowing he would forever traumatize the boy. Something needed to change.
"Sure Sasuke. Get your equipment." Itachi said shocking everyone. Itachi had never been willing to train with Sasuke, only teaching him sparingly. Fugaku narrowed his eyes. He didn't like the game Itachi was playing.
"I thought you were going to go rest Itachi?" Fugaku asked. Itachi met his gaze.
"I owe Sasuke a training session for all the time I blow him off. Besides, I need to polish up my skills." Itachi said, walking out the door with an excited Sasuke in tow.
Upon reaching the training grounds Itachi stopped abruptly with his back to Sasuke. Sasuke looked at him with concern as he saw his brother tense up.
"Sasuke… there's something I need to tell you. Better yet, let me show you."
Itachi turned suddenly, his sharingan blaring. Then Sasuke felt fear run through his veins. The sharingan transformed into something more. It looked like a three sided shuriken now.
"Tsukuyomi." Itachi spoke. Suddenly Sasuke found himself in a black and white world.
"Brother… what's going on? What are you doing? Why is your sharingan like that?" Sasuke asked his mouth moving a mile a minute.
"Just watch. I will explain in a minute." Suddenly the black and white world turned into a battlefield. Sasuke was terrified, when he suddenly recognized the burning village. It was Konoha. Uchiha and Anbu were fighting in the streets. His father and mother had just cut down a silver haired jonin with a sharingan and were now fighting the Hokage. Death was surrounding him. He saw his classmates, dead on the ground. Their throats stray kunai littering them, some half burned. He watched his mother die. Suddenly his father's eyes transformed and he lit the Hokage on fire with black flames before several Anbu cut him down as well. Sasuke fell to his knees crying.
"Why brother?! Why are you showing me this?!" Sasuke shouted through his tears as he vomited.
"This is what are clan wishes to do. They are planning a coup. Now I will show you one of our village elders wants me to do." And with that the scene changed to the Uchiha compound. Bodies were strewn about, kunai littering the area, throats slit, blood pooling everywhere. In his house Itachi cut down his mother and father. Sasuke walked in and Itachi punched him in the stomach as Sasuke charged him.
"Why… why Itachi?" the other Sasuke said.
"I wanted to test my capacity. You are weak. Hate me. Let your hatred grow for me, and find me when you have the same eyes as me." Itachi said as he disappeared. The other Sasuke chased after him throwing a kunai at him, knocking his headband sideways. He saw a single tear run down his brother's face as they made eye contact. The scene faded and Sasuke looked at his brother terrified.
"Why… Why did you show me that?" Sasuke asked, his voice small.
"Because, these are the choices laid out before me. I can either allow our family to perform a coup of the village government, and allow thousands to die, or I can massacre the clan and end it before it gets to that point."
"… Which are you gonna choose Itachi?" Sasuke asked in the same tone as before.
"I will protect the village at any cost. Even if it costs me my family. However I've come to realize I can't do everything by myself. If I accept help, maybe I can take a third option. If we talk to mother and father, if you help me, we can stop any of this from happening. Will you help me Sasuke?" Itachi asked. Sasuke was silent for a long time.
"I love mother and father. And I love the clan. But when I entered the academy I swore and oath to protect this village. So yeah brother, I'll help you. Hopefully they listen. When should we confront them?" Sasuke asked.
"Tonight. I'm going to tell you how I got these eyes. To get these eyes you need to witness someone close to you dying. Shisui killed himself in front of me for the sake of helping me save the village. They are going to try turning his suicide into me murdering him. They don't trust me." Itachi said shocking Sasuke.
"O… okay brother. Let's do this." Sasuke said, trying to strengthen his resolve.
Night came and Sasuke and Itachi returned home. Sasuke stormed inside first, unable to contain his emotions any longer.
"How could you do this?! How could you turn on the village?! When were you planning on telling me?!" Sasuke shouted at his mother and father. They froze, eyes wide and stared at him.
"How… how did you find out?" Mikoto asked her youngest son. It was at that moment Itachi walked in.
"I told him."
"You bastard! How dare you bring him into this?!" Fugaku said standing up. He made a move to charge Itachi in his anger, but in a flash he was knocked onto the table with a kunai at his throat. He stared with wide eyes, not even having seen Itachi moved. Mikoto already had a kitchen knife in her hand, prepared to fight her son if necessary.
"How dare I? How dare you?" Itachi hissed.
"Itachi, what is the meaning of this?" Mikoto shouted.
"I told you he couldn't be trusted! He's the Hokage's lap dog!" Fugaku yelled.
"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted silencing everyone. He was breathing heavily, adrenaline rushing through his system.
"How could you…?" Sasuke asked. Itachi stepped back allowing his father to stand. Mikoto lowered the knife in her hand and everyone stopped for a moment. Fugaku and Itachi refused to break eye contact, their Sharingan's blazing.
"The village has abused our clan enough. They take away our say, they lock us off in a compound on the outskirts of the village, which was once a prison. We were the co-founders of this village, and they refuse to trust us. They think we are traitors. Enough! We are going to take back what's rightfully ours!" Fugaku yelled. Itachi fixed a glare on him.
"Father… that doesn't make any sense. You are just proving their point that we are traitors by turning on the village. We just need to prove our loyalty and we will get the recognition we deserve! Look at Itachi, he never once showed a sign of betrayal and they made him captain of the Anbu!" Sasuke yelled back. Fugaku and Mikoto froze at that. They couldn't argue that. They didn't want to agree though.
"Father. Mother. Understand this, I am stronger than both of you together. If you turn on this village I will end you." Itachi spoke with an edge to his voice.
"You would betray your family? Your own blood? You're no Uchiha then you traitorous bastard!" Fugaku yelled, though Mikoto had a contemplative look on her face.
"Fugaku… what if Sasuke's right? Are we truly doing the right thing? By proving them right about us being traitors? Shouldn't we keep our pride and not betray the village?" Mikoto said slowly, barely believing the words herself.
"You too…?" Fugaku asked, his voice broken.
"We won't lose though! We are the Uchiha! The strongest! We are- urgh!" Fugaku was cut off as Itachi punched him across the face knocking him through the table. Mikoto was on Itachi in a second, but she too was defeated as Itachi kicked her across the room into a wall. A small trail of blood leaked out of her mouth. Fugaku rolled up and charged at blinding speeds. What ensued was a vicious taijutsu fight between the clan head and his heir.
"Stop it! Stop!" Sasuke yelled. Both men froze again, still in their stances.
"You both really are going to stick to this belief? The belief that we can regain our honor without fighting?" Fugaku asked, still not breaking eye contact with Itachi.
"It is the clan's arrogance that is its downfall. If you all realized you weren't infallible then the village would acknowledge you instead of punish you." Itachi spoke. Fugaku looked torn before sighing.
"I will not strike down my own children. Very well. I will call off the coup. If we don't begin to get the recognition we have earned, then I will take over this village." Fugaku said defeated. Mikoto stared at the two as Sasuke helped her up.
"You've grown strong Itachi. And wise." Fugaku spoke. Itachi nodded.
"And you as well father." And with that no one spoke for the rest of the night.
Two nights later Itachi was woken by screams. Instantly he was out of bed and threw on his Anbu armor and his weapons. The screams were coming from in the compound. Suddenly realization came across his face. He had already made the deal with Madara to destroy his clan.
"No… Itachi whispered as he entered the center of the compound. He saw his father fighting with the masked man, and losing miserably. Behind him was a terrified Sasuke and an injured Mikoto. Bodies were strewn about. That's when Itachi saw it. His girlfriend, the girl he had loved as a child. The girl he had killed years ago. She was dead on the ground. He froze in fury.
This proved to be a bad decision, as his father was cut down. Madara moved to kill his mother next.
"Father!" Sasuke shouted. He charged the man but was quickly batted away.
"No!" Itachi was on the man in an instant, kicking him. Madara hadn't expected it and didn't phase in time and was sent careening through the air. Landing on his feet he looked at Itachi in shock as he appeared in front of him, swinging his blade down upon his head. He managed to phase just in time for the blade to flow through him. Jumping back he fixed a glare on the young Uchiha.
"You dare betray me? You will regret this." The man's eyes widened when Itachi's eye morphed. Suddenly he was in the world of Tsukuyomi.
"You think you're clever boy? I'll be out of this in an instant." Madara said.
"I know that. I just wanted to let you know. If you come near my village. If you come near my brother or mother ever again, I will kill you. I know that you're not really Madara. I don't know who you are, but know this. I will kill you. Now run. Run and hide." Itachi said as the masked man growled at him. He disappeared without another word and Itachi was back in the real world again. Mikoto was coughing up blood from a stomach wound while Sasuke was shaking in fear next to her.
"Brother… who was that?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't know Sasuke. But whoever he is knows if he comes near you again, he will die." Itachi lied.
"I'll get revenge for our clan brother, I swear it!"
"No… not revenge. Justice. That man is evil. He is destruction incarnate. He is the cause for the Kyuubi attacking the village seven years ago. And you won't do it alone. Remember what I said, no one can shoulder all the responsibility themselves. We will all work together to defeat that man when the time comes." Itachi spoke with conviction. Anbu showed up seconds later asking what had happened. Mikoto explained the situation and they brought her to the hospital. Itachi, paranoid of losing the last of his family went to another man.
Itachi entered a secret bunker on the outskirts of the village. A man masked man in all black approached him with a hand up.
"You cannot be here Itachi Uchi-" A second later the man passed out after looking Itachi in the eye. This happened several more times as Itachi made his way through the bunker. As he entered the final chamber he saw an old man covered in bandages missing an arm with a cane.
"Itachi Uchiha. I take it you have finished taking care of your clan?" the man, Danzo, asked calmly.
"No. As I informed the Hokage the other day the situation was taking care of without bloodshed. Another man appeared and massacred my clan. I am here to inform you, if you so much as touch a hair on my mother or brother's head, I will personally kill you." Itachi spoke before turning and leaving. Danzo stared after him calmly, taking in his threat. He signaled one of his Root to come appear. The Root member kneeled before him.
"Call off the assassination of the remainder of the Uchiha. It's not worth the loss to our Shinobi to anger Itachi." Danzo spoke, anger evident in his voice.
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It was almost a year after the Uchiha Massacre. Itachi had been contemplating how to take care of all of the events of the future. He hadn't managed to stop the massacre of his clan, but he did stop his brother's decent to darkness. He looked at his calendar on the wall. October 10th. Curious. Why did that date seem familiar?
'Right, the day the Kyuubi attacked. There's a festival going on right now… wait. Why do I feel like I should be remembering something… Naruto!' The time traveling Uchiha thought. The Uchiha entered the living room of his home. Sasuke was sitting on the couch reading a book while his mother was cooking.
"Sasuke. Do you know a boy named Naruto Uzumaki?" Itachi asked. Sasuke looked confused.
"Yeah I know him. He's a pretty nice kid, not the best ninja though. He's the bottom of the class. Why?" Sasuke asked.
"Today is his birthday. I figured you don't have many friends, so why not pay him a visit? He's an orphan as I recall and doesn't have many friends himself." Itachi spoke hoping Sasuke would take the bait. One, he needed to protect Naruto and help him grow strong. Two, he needed to give Sasuke as many ties to the village as he could, in case he died before he could convince Sasuke to remain completely loyal.
"I guess. How do you know him Itachi?" Sasuke asked. His mother too was staring at him from the kitchen.
"One of my colleagues knows the boy well and speaks of him occasionally." Itachi lied expertly. Sasuke seemed to buy it and got dressed.
"Do you think he wants to go to the festival?" Sasuke asked hopefully.
"I doubt that, but if he decides to come with us, he might enjoy it." Itachi said with a small smile.
The two ventured through the festival when they heard a commotion close by. Itachi knew exactly what was going on and quickly approached it. Upon arriving the elder Uchiha saw a small, malnourished blonde boy being harassed by a crowd of drunks. Sasuke showed up right behind him and was shocked to see his classmate being harassed. That's when one of the drunks threw a bottle at him. In a second Itachi intercepted it, his sharingan eyes burning holes in the man who threw it, nearly making the man release his bowels.
Sasuke ran through the crowd and stood next to his brother in front of Naruto and shouted at the crowd.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? He's just a kid leave him alone!"
Naruto looked up at the two Uchiha in awe. The mob began to whisper amongst themselves.
"What do you Uchiha want with the demon brat?" One of the drunks asked.
"What do you mean demon brat?" Sasuke asked. He knew Naruto played pranks a lot but how was he a demon.
"You Uchiha should know, it's your fault he exists." Itachi's eyes narrowed at this. They were getting a bit too close to saying something they shouldn't.
"He's the fucking Kyuubi incarnate!" that was it, Itachi disappeared and snapped the man's neck.
"What the fuck?!" several of the crowd shouted. Sasuke and Naruto were in shock at what the man had said.
"The punishment for breaking the thirds law is death." Itachi spoke calmly though inside he felt anger boiling up. The crowd went silent, realizing the truth in his words.
"Anyone who speaks of this day again will be placed under arrest and receive proper trial. I recommend you dispersing. Now." Itachi said.
"Itachi… what did he mean by saying Naruto was the Kyuubi incarnate? And it was our fault for him existing?" Sasuke asked carefully. Naruto was still in shock.
"Both of you, come with me to the Hokage's office." Itachi said in a serious tone. The two nodded slowly and followed him. After arriving at the tower the three were granted audience with the Hokage.
"What brings you here today Itachi?" Hiruzen asked the Uchiha.
"Ask him Sasuke." Itachi spoke.
"Um... Hokage-sama… why did the villager call Naruto Kyuubi incarnate?" Sasuke asked, nervous in the presence of the most powerful ninja in the village. Hiruzen went silent as killing intent radiated off of him. Naruto and Sasuke were terrified naturally while Itachi's neutral expression remained.
"Yeah old man, why did he call me Kyuubi incarnate? I know that a lot of the villagers call me a demon brat but… am I really the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked. Hiruzen walked around his desk and got to eye level with Naruto.
"Don't listen to what that villager said. He was foolish and loose with his tongue. What I'm about to tell you is an S class secret. None of you are to speak of this with anyone, on threat of death. Understood?" the Hokage said with authority. The three boys in the room nodded.
"I didn't want you to find out until you were much older Naruto, but… the night the Yondaime fought the Kyuubi, it couldn't be killed. His only choice was to seal it into a newborn baby. That baby was you." Hiruzen spoke. Naruto began to breathe heavily and started to panic while Sasuke looked at him in shock.
"So I really am the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked as he panicked.
"No of course not. You are just its jailer." Hiruzen said looking the boy in the eyes. Sasuke tentatively placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Hey… Naruto… it's actually pretty cool. It's like you're a hero or something. You keep the demon from destroying the village. That's awesome!" Sasuke said shocking Naruto and making Hiruzen and Itachi smile.
"I'm… a hero? I'm a hero. I'm a hero! Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted excited now. Sasuke sweat dropped at Naruto's sudden mood change.
"Hey, my names Naruto Uzumaki. You're Sasuke right? And who's that guy?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Yeah, my names Sasuke Uchiha, and that's my older brother Itachi Uchiha." Sasuke said proudly. Naruto looked sad for a second.
"What's it like to have a family?" Naruto asked. Sasuke went silent for a second.
"It's really nice. Family is just people you really love and care about. They don't have to be blood. Maybe we could be brother's one day!" Sasuke said with a grin. Naruto perked up at this.
"Really?!" Naruto asked excitedly. Itachi walked over to Naruto and put a hand on his shoulder.
"From now on, you have the protection of the Uchiha clan. We may not be very large anymore, but I swear we will protect you as if you were our own." Itachi said with conviction. Naruto smiled and looked up at Itachi then down to Sasuke.
"So I'm kind of like family now…?" Naruto asked. Itachi and Sasuke shared a look before smiling and nodding.
"Dattebayo!" Naruto shouted, making them all cringe.
"Sasuke, go to the lobby with Naruto. I need to talk to Hokage-sama about something." Itachi said. The boys nodded and left the room. Hiruzen moved back to his desk and looked at Itachi expectantly.
"What do you wish to speak to me about Itachi?" Hiruzen asked already having an idea where this was going.
"I have no intention of becoming a jonin sensei, so know that before I tell you this. I would like it if you put Sasuke and Naruto on the same team, no matter their grades in school. I fully intend for Naruto to live with us, and I will be training them. The man I fought. The one who massacred my clan, caught him in a genjutsu and he told me that he is leading a group called Akatsuki, and that they are after the Jinchuriki. Also, he claimed to be responsible for the Yondaime's and Kushina Uzumaki's deaths." Itachi lied yet again. Hiruzen got a dark look on his face.
"This is troubling news indeed. Very well, I will put them on a team together when the time comes. I expect you to prepare them thoroughly." Hiruzen said. Itachi kneeled and bowed his head.
"Understood Hokage-sama." It felt good to be saying that again.
"You may leave now. Oh, and thank you for reminding Danzo of his place." Hiruzen said with a wry smile. Itachi wasn't surprised the old war hawk complained to the Hokage.
"Thank you Hokage-sama." And with that Itachi met up with the two boys outside in the lobby.
"Let's go." Itachi said. It felt good not being hunted and hated. He would make the most of this second chance. This was round two, and he wouldn't fail this time. After all, he wasn't fighting alone again.
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Authors Note: So my last story was kind of a bomb. I realized that I suck at making balanced oc's. I will attempt to keep righting it, and fix the mess I made, but this was just an idea I wanted to experiment with. This one will contain no original characters except minor cannon fodder. Hopefully my writing skills will carry me through this story better than the last one. Read and Review viewers.