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Itachi awoke with a smile on his face. This was the second day in a row that he woke up feeling rather relaxed.

Stretching, he glanced around the room he was in. Itachi lay on the futon and faced the shoji doors where there were gentle rays of sunlight peered through.

Mumbling to himself, he slowly got up and noticed he was alone.

Last night, Sakura had smiled when he asked her to play her shamisen and she had gladly obliged. Itachi was happy, she was no longer afraid. Instead, she had that bold look on her face again as she sat down and let her fingers dance over the three strings of her instrument.
After that, Itachi had thanked her and they had idly spoken about that day. Sakura had brought up the story of the dead bandits on the path and how her friend, Hinata, had fainted seeing the scene. Itachi had grinned and had told her that that was his brother's work so Hinata can blame him.

Sakura had left him a while later saying that she didn't mind if he slept there. She had given Itachi another cup of chamomile tea and then returned to her quarters. Shortly afterwards, Itachi had dozed off to sleep.

The long haired Uchiha walked over to the door leading to the courtyard and slid it open. Naruto sat on the dew covered grass and stared into the pond.

"Naruto-san?"

The blonde looked up and smiled. "Ohayo Itachi-san! You're up early"

Itachi shrugged and slid the door closed behind him. "So are you"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through his messy blonde locks. "Well this little fellow in here seems to like waking me up." He pointed into the pond and a little toad appeared at the surface. It croaked once before slipping under the water again.

Itachi hummed at the scene and looked around. "Where can I freshen up…?"

"Aah, follow me."

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"You're leaving so soon?" asked Sakura with a pout. Said pinkette and Tsunade were standing at the entrance to the geisha house and watched as the two samurai and Naruto did a final check on their belongings.

Itachi gave her an amused look and nodded. "Gomenasai Sakura-san, but we need to go pay the Daimyo a visit."

Sakura's eyes gleamed. "Oh? Whatever for?"

The older Uchiha secured his katana's on either hip and gave her a look. "That's classified"

The pinkette pouted again and walked over to Itachi. "If I may ask, if you two are samurai, why don't you wear the usual armour?"

"It's too heavy, plus bandits would be able to hear us from a mile away," answered Sasuke as he hopped up onto his horse.

Itachi nodded. "That's why we wear this," he pointed to the dark hakama and white haori he wore. "Although, Naruto did a bit of looking around and came up with the idea of making us an undershirt which is made of a single layer of metal plating."

Sakura smiled at Naruto. "It's no wonder Hinata-chan likes you! You're so clever!"

Sasuke scoffed at this and watched as Naruto's cheeks flooded red. "Please, he's a dobe"

Naruto frowned and glared at Sasuke. "Teme…"

"…Anyway, we need to get going," said Itachi with a smirk before they could start arguing. He smiled at Sakura and reached for a sack of coins in his side pouch. He gently placed it in her hands. "Thank you for last night, your playing is exquisite"

Sakura only had a light layer of makeup on and that blush flared right through. "It's only a pleasure Samurai-sama!"

Itachi gave her one last smile before getting on to his horse and heading off.

"Hey Itachi-san?" asked Naruto as they were a good distance from the geisha house.

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you tell Sakura-chan your name?"

"It makes things more amusing... Plus it's an excuse to go back"

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The country was large and was divided into different areas – Fire, Rain, Wind, Lightning and Stone. The Daimyo resided deep within Fire territory which was the area that the Uchiha's and Naruto were in.

It had been about a day that they had been travelling and for once, Itachi had included breaks.

Naruto and Sasuke had shared a look of shock when the oldest had suggested this but had shrugged. They weren't going to complain.

Itachi had ridden off to find a water supply and left Naruto and Sasuke behind in a clearing. There seemed to be nothing close by so the older Uchiha covered a bit more ground until a familiar scent hit his nose.

And it wasn't one he wanted to smell.

Looking up to the sky, Itachi saw a thick black cloud forming not too far from where he was. He pulled on his horse rein and contemplated about going back to get Sasuke… but whatever was burning was so close! There could be people hurt! Plus, Madara or Tobi could be there…

Mind made up, Itachi rode on forward.

Trees blurred by and soon a burning village could be seen. Thick clouds of black billowed out of houses and filled the streets. Flames licked the splintering wood and spread to the foliage nearby. Screams filled the air and Itachi shut his eyes.

This looked all too familiar.

With a growl, he made sure he was a good distance away from the fire and tied his horse up. Itachi ran towards the burning mass and drew Mikoto's katana as a man ran out with a wide grin on his face. The man had a bag or two in his hands that were filled with valuables. Behind him were two other men who were laughing and carrying goods as well. But what caught Itachi's eye, was the samurai helmet in one of their hands.

"The plan worked!" exclaimed one of the three as he secured a bag around his waist.

The man with the helmet grinned. "I can't believe they actually came! Madara's plan is actually working!"

That was all Itachi needed to hear, he drew Minato's blade as well and ran towards the three. Not pausing in his stride, Itachi ran forward and sliced in an 'X' at the first bandit and heard him collapse shortly behind him.

The long haired Uchiha sneered as the other two halted and stared wide eyed at him. The one made a wild dash to the side but Itachi had not stopped running, charged at him head on and had easily disposed of him.

Slowly, Itachi turned around and saw the bandit with the helmet staring at him. His eyes narrowed and he stalked towards the man who seemed to have lost the ability to move. The long haired Uchiha extended Mikoto's katana so it was placed against the man's jugular.

"Where did you get that," sneered Itachi as he glared at the man.

A building behind them collapsed in a swirl of black smoke and the man began to cough.

"Speak!"

"There were several samurai of the Daimyo!" said the man quickly. "If we caused a big scene, they were bound to show up! If the samurai are eliminated there's no one else to protect the Daimyo!"

Itachi stared at the man and remembered what the bandit Sasuke had encountered two days before had said.
'But I think they want us to cause enough havoc in order to lure the Daimyo's samurai out'

Hissing, Itachi finished off the bandit and ran towards the flames in search of any samurai who might still be alive.

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"Aniki's been gone for far too long"

Naruto stared at Sasuke. "Time to go?"

Sasuke nodded, quickly got onto his horse and urged it forward. As they covered a bit of ground, the air began to get thick and smoggy. Sasuke inhaled and started to cough.

"Shit! Naruto he must've gone by himself!" exclaimed Sasuke as he saw Itachi's horse tied to a tree.

Naruto frowned and went to go get it. "I'll take the horses to a safer spot."

Sasuke nodded and ran through the foliage and towards the inferno. It seemed the bandits had targeted a small community and he stared at the three bandits lying on the ground. The younger Uchiha frowned. Where was Itachi?

He ran forward and heard coughing.

"ANIKI?!"

Sasuke ran into a burning house from where he heard the coughing and froze when he saw his brother trying to pull a man out of the building. He quickly ran up to them and helped Itachi.

As they got out the doorway collapsed and the building was consumed by flames.

"The hell Aniki?!" screamed Sasuke as they tried to drag the man away from the burning town.

Itachi merely coughed in reply.

As soon as they were safe, Sasuke and Itachi let the man go and all three of them collapsed to the forest floor.

The younger Uchiha looked at Itachi. "Why did you go in by yourself?"

Itachi panted for air and stared down at his burnt haori. "They're after the samurai…"

Sasuke frowned and looked at the man that they had brought and checked for his pulse. It was slow, but it wasn't going to give up anytime soon. "So who is this…?"

Itachi coughed and stared at the man. "One of the Daimyo's samurai. He's the only one who survived this raid. He fell unconscious not too long ago"

Sasuke stared at the man and his strange silver hair. "So you think they're after the samurai?"

Itachi nodded. "I don't think that, I know it. One of the bandits told me. If there are no samurai, the Daimyo will have no one to protect him. He focused too much on economy… and there was only a handful of samurai that joined him. Madara and Tobi are exploiting this weakness"

The younger Uchiha hissed and stared into the distance which was illuminated in an orange. "Well it's a good thing we don't work for the Daimyo then"

Itachi hummed in response. "I was planning on telling him what that bandit told you days ago. Now my facts are certain. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Sasuke looked down at the silver haired samurai. "What about him?"

"Well he needs to come too. He needs to protect the Daimyo"

Footsteps were heard and the Uchiha's looked up to see Naruto standing there and panting. "Guys! I found water!"

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Naruto sighed as he stared at the reflection of the moon in the small body of water he had located.

The Uchiha's and the unknown samurai were asleep and he was put on watch for the night.

'I mean what can I do…?' he mused to himself. 'I can't even wield a weapon and I'm tasked to guard three samurai'

Naruto was from the Namikaze clan. They were not like the Uchiha's; they were not born wielding weapons.

His father was next in line to become the Daimyo but someone had rigged the election and the current Daimyo was put into power. Minato was a wise man, his brain was his weapon. He wanted to fight for the country in a different way. Sure, he could wield a katana but that was only to protect his family.

The blonde stared over at his father's katana which lay next to Itachi and he sighed. He slowly got up and crept over to it. Naruto picked up the sheathed weapon and walked away from the sleeping samurai.

It felt heavy in his grip. Naruto sighed and slowly pulled it out from its sheath and stared as it shone in the moonlight.

"Can you use that?"

Naruto jumped at the voice and turned around, gripping the katana.

The silver haired samurai stood there looking at him with a smile. "Sorry about that," the samurai was wearing a mask that only exposed one eye and that lone eye crinkled. "I'm Kakashi"

The blonde exhaled and nodded. "Naruto"

"Well Naruto, can you use that?"

Naruto looked down and frowned. "No…"

Kakashi's lone eye crinkled again and he walked over to Naruto and unsheathed his own katana. "You look like a man I used to know. So Naruto, let me show you how to fight."

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It had taken a day and a half until they had reached the Capital.

This was the main area where the Daimyo resided. It was a big community that was different from the other villages and communities - the Capital radiated life. People filled the streets with large smiles on their faces, as if they were not afraid of bandit raids. They seemed happy and carefree.

Naruto walked towards the back of their group and eyed his father's katana from Itachi's hip. The Uchiha's did not know of Kakashi's little lesson the other night. It was a secret only the silver haired samurai and himself would know.

"So, what's your plans now Kakashi-san?" asked Itachi as they approached the Daimyo's Tower.

"I'll come in with you and give my side of the story as well. That man can be quite annoying…" he muttered softly as they passed the guards on duty. "Afterwards I'm probably going to have to protect the man with my life"

Itachi nodded at the older man and began to ascend up a flight of stairs.

"I'm going to wait here…" said Naruto.

Itachi turned around and nodded in understanding. Naruto didn't quite like the Daimyo, after all the man did steal his fathers' title.

There were guards outside the shoji door and eyed Itachi, Sasuke and Kakashi.

"May we help you?" asked the one.

"We need to see the Daimyo," said Kakashi. "I'm one of his Samurai"

The guards eyed Kakashi and the silver haired man flashed them a tattoo on his arm. The guards nodded and looked at the Uchiha. "And them?"

"They're with me," said Kakashi with a slight glare. "It's urgent"

The guards reluctantly let them in and Itachi sighed. He had been here last when he was eighteen. The Daimyo had somehow heard about them and wanted Sasuke and himself to join his ranks. Itachi had flat out refused saying that they had a goal of their own to fulfil and once it was done, they would give up their swords.

Needless to say the Daimyo was not pleased.

As the shoji door was slid open, a rather big sized man in a royal blue kimono was revealed. The man was staring at a scroll on his desk while sipping on something that looked a lot like sake.

"Daimyo-sama," said Kakashi with a bow. The silver haired man then looked at Itachi and Sasuke and expected them to do the same but they just stared at the Daimyo.

The Daimyo slowly lifted his head and showed slightly crooked teeth as he grinned. "Well, what do we have here?" he eyed the Uchiha's.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the Daimyo.

"What do I owe the surprise of being graced with your presence Itachi?" asked the Daimyo with a smirk. "Finally changed your mind?"

"Like I'd want to work for you," sneered Itachi. "I actually came here to warn you of something."

"Warn me?"

The long haired Uchiha stared at the scroll on the Daimyo's desk. "Have you noticed a drop in the number of your samurai as of late?"

The Daimyo looked at the scroll as well. "I've been busy with more important matters, like this." He waved the scroll in the air. "This is a trade agreement between Japan and a land known as India." The Daimyo placed the scroll back down and entwined his fingers on his desk. "This little scroll here will bring quite a bit of wealth to Japan."

Itachi frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you even care about anything but that? Like what's going on in your own land?"

The Daimyo gave Itachi a smirk. "Money rules the world Itachi. Anyway I'm sure everything is running perfectly fine. After all I've boosted the people's standard of living by bringing in money and trade."

Kakashi stared at the man. "Daimyo-sama, of the one hundred samurai that you control, over thirty were killed within the last month. Bandit numbers have escalated in the past few years and they're targeting areas with this new wealth that you've brought to them. Four of these new large trading villages were burned down. If anything, you've degraded their standard of living"

Itachi nodded. "There are only so many bandits my brother and I can eliminate. And with recent information, I have learned that Madara and Tobi are also targeting the samurai" he paused to look at the Daimyo who still had that smirk on his face. "If there are no samurai, there will be no one to protect you and thus Madara and Tobi will pay you a little visit and take your title."

The Daimyo lifted his hand and waved Itachi off. "Please Itachi, they can try"

Sasuke twitched from alongside his brother and chose to stare down at the ground.

"Oh, but they are trying. Did you not hear what Kakashi just said?" sneered Itachi

"What are four villages? There are many more out there you know"

Kakashi's lone eye began to twitch. "The four were of the larger ones. We lost count of the other smaller villages. Point is that there are innocent people losing their lives!"

The long haired Uchiha closed his eyes. "Look, just put your economics on hold-"

The Daimyo suddenly stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "Put it on hold?! Who do you think you are-"

"If you let me finish," hissed Itachi. "Put it on hold for a short time. Madara and Tobi know that you focus more on wealth and trading and not enough on the military so they are exploiting this weakness. All we are asking is that perhaps reintroduce samurai. Or even stop sending the remaining samurai out to the villages while they're under attack. Rather have them patrol like us, so they can kill any bandits they come across before they burn down villages and become a problem. Like Kakashi has said, the numbers of samurai are dropping rapidly and soon there will be none left."

"Itachi," the Daimyo let out a guttural laugh and sipped his sake. "I'm not sure if you've noticed but you're not the Daimyo, I am." He put down his sake and crossed his arms over his chest while sneering at the long haired Uchiha. "I make the rules, okay? I don't like it when people I despise just barge in here and tell me what to do." He paused, picked up his drink and finished it off. "Anyway, no one else has come to complain to me before. You three are probably just over exaggerating"

Sasuke looked over at his brother and swore that Itachi's eyes flashed red.

"Look here you-" Itachi stopped and exhaled sharply. "I am only trying to help. If you're too thick to understand, then do tell Madara and Tobi when they come to visit you, that I send my regards."

And with that, Itachi turned around, drew one of his katana's, slashed through the shoji door and left.

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chappie!

Thank you all for reading and to everyone who reviewed, alerted or favourited! Your support makes me write faster :)