Itachi walked silently through the village he called his home. He enjoyed to walk while he thought about things. The village's layout he memorized years ago, so it was like second nature to him. Normally he would have his sharingan active at all times, but it would give him away here easily. Itachi's mind wandered off at that, deep in thought.

What would happen that would cause Sasuke to leave like that? If Itachi drove him to that sort of future, how could he change that? Maybe if he told him the truth... no he couldn't do that. Sasuke wouldn't believe him anyway. Hmm. Well he'll think of something when he confronts him tomorrow.

The Uchiha genius decided to sit down at a different tea shop. The one yesterday was alright, he preferred something a bit more flavourable than hot water. That was when he noticed a commotion coming from a shop next to the tea shop. Three men, dressed in identical outfits, were harrassing the owner. Itachi got up and walked over to them.

"Old man, cough over some of that chocolate sticks too, in addition to the rice balls. It IS after all Morizuha's birthday, right boys." the middle one laughed.

"Yeah, my birthday is pretty important to me hehe." the one on the left that is named Morizuha confirmed.

"Of course, give them up for free, ok?" the right one said in a deep voice.

The old shop owner looked pretty scared at this point. He was fiddling with his torn robe when Itachi walked over to the situation. The bandits didn't notice, but the owner noticed him.

"Get outta here you backwater hooligans." the owner said with a regained confidence.

The bandits looked surprised. The middle one pulled a kunai with a smile. Morizuha crossed his arms with a smirk as he locked eyes with the deep voiced one. Itachi noticed the Rebihaza family crest on the bandits' blue robes.

The Rebihaza family was a crime syndacite based out of the Iwa to disrupt the trade of other ninja villages. Iwa claimes to not have anything to do with it, but the increasing stock of new ninja weapons showed otherwise.

Itachi spoke up, "I'd like it if you quit bothering this man. I don't enjoy resorting to violence when it isn't needed."

"Ebiza almost passed the jonin exams when he was a ninja in Iwa. I'm sure he could take a chump like you." the deep voiced one retorted.

Itachi smirked at that comment. Well, if they wanted a fight he'd give them one. "Fine, if you want a fight I'll give it to you, just remember that I warned you."

"Kyato you open up and distract him. I'll get him then." Ebizu commanded, taking out three shuriken.

Kyato ran forward with a fist raised to smash the Uchiha's face in. Itachi sidestepped, grabbed his fist, and twisted it behind the man's back. The big guy grunted in pain. Ebizu threw his shuriken at Itachi's back and ran forward with a kunai in hand. Itachi twisted the big man right arm more and quickly pushed him in front of the ninja stars. Kyato collapsed with a kick to the back of the knees.

Morihuza charged the Akatsuki member with a tanto. Itachi had two armed foes running at him with a kunai on his left and a tanto on his right. Ebizu lunged forward with the kunai. Itachi countered with another sidestep, grabbing and breaking his kunai hand's wrist. The Iwa chunin doubled over in pain as his friend slashed the crow summoner.

Itachi turned into a bunch of crows. The birthday man looked around, cautious, almost fearful. A roundhouse kick to the temple connected as it knocked him out. Itachi looked over the little mess he made. A fat man with three shuriken embedded into his stomach, another with a broken wrist, and an unconcious birthday boy.

"Thank you, kind sir!" the old man called out to the brunette as he walked away. Itachi nodded.

Jiraiya watched the whole fight unfold from a nearby rooftop. He couldn't tell if it was cause Itachi wanted to be helpful, or he needed to fight something. Luckily, he didn't kill these poor men.

So this really confirms that Itachi Uchiha came back, huh? Or maybe it was really just a coincidence. I mean, this man didn't have the Akatsuki attire on. Just some black clothes on, not even a headband. Although, if I were a criminal in a village that almost all shinobi recognized, I wouldn't wear things to show that either. I hope my clone has a better chance finding out if that is really Kisame Hoshigaki.

Sasuke was walking through the village. He was trying to find Kakashi to train him. He didn't know what the training was about, but hey, it was from one of the strongest ninja in the village. His mind wandered a bit to remember why he wanted to get strong fast. Oh, yes, to avenge his entire clan. Then after to rebuild it. That was his dream. To have a thriving Uchiha clan again.

The last Uchiha's thoughts kept him occupied so much that he didn't notice himself walking past a certain knuckleheaded ninja falling into the water. Nor did he notice the fish man as he walked past Ichiraku ramen. The only time he broke his deep thoughts were for one thing. The thing that broke his mind down to a numbness everytime he thought back to that wretched night.

Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke's eyes flashed red as looked upon the scene before him. A man that looked almost exactly like his brother was harming these lowlifes. Sasuke's eyes narrowed in hard concentration.

Is that Itachi? Only one way to find out.

Sasuke wove through signs quickly. He put his fingers to his mouth as chakra swelled up in them. The Uchiha blew it as it quickly exploded into a ball of flame.

"Fire style: fireball jutsu!"

Fire swept up the entire street.

Itachi barely had time to weave through hand signs to produce another fireball. He shot it out and it collided with the other one. Shuriken shot out of the flames. The crow summoner whipped out a kunai and deflected them all.

Sasuke must have seen me. These are all classic Uchiha strategies. Curses. I face him, not yet. That vision or dream shook me.

Itachi jumped onto the nearest roof. The Akatsuki member ran in the other direction. Sasuke followed him, like a caged animal finally let out. Suddenly a blur of green collided with his face. Itachi burst through a wall, scaring the inhabitants.

Itachi rubbed his cheek where the foot kicked him. He looked up at the roof he was on. It was none other than Konoha's Blue Beast.

Might Guy.

The jumpsuit-clad man turned to face Itachi's brother, giving him a grin and a thumbs-up. He then turned and faced his opponent. Itachi activated his sharingan. He then locked eyes with his opponent.

Time to see if he was still up to par on taijutsu.

Might Guy wasn't the smartest ninja, but he had his determination and youth. He was a master at dedication, and facing his rival in the competitions they had has given him a great chance against Konoha's second most infamous criminal.

Guy charged toward the edge of the roof. Once he reached it, he jumped off into a dynamic kick. Itachi's sharingan spun quickly. He caught Guy's foot, and tried to spin his body into the wall next to him. Guy's other foot came up to try and assault his face again. Itachi ducked and brought a fist up to Guy's stomach. It knocked the breath out of the Konoha-nin, but he used that contact to his advantage. Guy grabbed the Uchiha's hand and used it for momentum as he kicked his foot out of his hand. The Blue Beast then spun with that leg using that earlier momentum to spin around.

Itachi blocked the kick with his left forearm. He then pushed the taijutsu master out of the little hole. Guy fell onto the street below. Itachi locked eyes with his little brother. He noticed the sharingan active. Two tomoe in each of his eyes.

Sasuke jumped across, a kunai in hand. Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head. Didn't he ever learn? Did his hate not give him enough strength? Wait, foolish me, I came here to stop the hate. Stop the... future from happening.

Sasuke flew through the air, grabbing shuriken in his other hand. Itachi took out a kunai and threw it, getting each one in the process. Sasuke's look of anger and bloodlust deepened into a frown. Itachi grabbed the young Uchiha by his hands. Sasuke tore out, trying to kick him with his left leg. The crow summoner's thigh put a stop to that sort of thought.

"Itachi. I have let my hate grow, I am much stronger than before!" Sasuke exclaimed, a crazy grin forming on his face.

To stop that alternate future from happening, I might have to use that. It will work, I'm sure of it.

Itachi kicked the black-haired Uchiha onto the other roof. He jumped onto the roof, then formed signs for the summoning jutsu. The traitor then bit his thumb and slammed his hand down on the ground. A crow with one mangekyo sharingan appeared. He sent it towards Sasuke with one command.

Defend Konoha.

Jiraiya evacuated civilians out of harm's way. Sasuke and Itachi's fireball battle left thirteen people injured with major degree burns. Another twenty-seven had minor burns. He couldn't exactly blame Itachi, as Sasuke started the fight by launching one at him. He is in the village though, so that's Itachi's own fault.

He ran back in time to watch Sasuke get flung back to the roof. A crow flew up to him. Jiraiya decided it was his turn to fight the Uchiha. He started dashing towards the roof where Itachi was. The toad sage started to form a rasengan in his hand, jumping up into the sky. The ball spun in a mesermic rhythm as he flew threw the air. He glanced at his opponent. Itachi's eyes spun sporadically. Suddenly, the tomoe switched into a more solid shape.

"Tsukyomi."

Jiraiya's world was replaced with a solid darkness. An outline of a figure filled his attention. Its eyes opened to reveal blood red.

"Why have you all attacked me? I came here on a mission. I have to save Sasuke." Itachi said, his sharingan spinning idly.

Jiraiya smirked at this. "You really think Konoha will believe you after what you did, you traitor?"

The genjutsu master chuckled at this remark. Suddenly the world was starting to fill with light because crows started to fly everywhere. The scene after was pitch white, with the Toad Sage locked in a cross.

"This genjutsu is something extraoridnary. I control everything for seventy-two hours. Or three days, if you want to be simple about it. It will damage you physically, as in I can put you into a genjutsu-induced coma. Few people could cure it, and by that I mean only legendary medical ninja. You were doomed from the moment we locked eyes." Itachi explained.

"If that's so, then my allies outside will just kill you. Quite the risky move to be in here for three days, but I think I can manage." Jiraiya boasted.

"You didn't let me finish. It only lasts a second in the outside world. Though, it takes a lot of chakra to use, so I suppose its quite risky." Itachi smirked as the white-haired man paled.

Jiraiya gulped. How hadn't he known about this power before? Itachi definitely didn't have this power when he was in Konoha.

"Anyway, I did this to explain why I came back. I had a vision... or maybe it was a just a nightmare and I'm overreacting," Itachi said, unsure of himself, "but I thought Sasuke wouldn't turn out like I wanted after my death. I want him to be a hero, and what I saw horrified me. He was a power hungry monster, using me as a scapegoat to attack people of Konoha. Like Kakashi Hatake, his teacher. I implanted him with the strongest genjutsu in existance. The Kotoamatsukami. Shisui Uchiha's mangekyo ability. He gave me his eye when Danzou stole his other."

Jiraiya stared at the young man in disbelief. Danzou Shimura stole Shisui of the Body Flicker's eye?

"Not only that, but I was acting on orders. I wanted to look like a bad guy to give Sasuke reasons for being strong and to stay with his friends. I wanted him to look like a hero when he killed me. Instead, in my dream, he ended up a traitor." Itachi said as he looked down, his auburn hair falling down.

Jiraiya suddenly felt a sharp pain jab into his back. He looked behind him with the limited vision he had. Itachi was stabbing him in the back with a katana.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot have you messing up my plan. You wasted enough of my chakra as is. Jiraiya of the Sannin, forgive me once you awaken."

The world was swept up with cawing and claws.

A/N

Whew! That was good. I sort of think I'm rushing things a bit, but I have big things planned. As always relax and review. I will be posting a new chapter hopefully every week.