The moment Itachi snapped was full of sudden clarity. That night he fully intended to take the pills from Daisuke. It had become routine. Daisuke handed him the pills as usual. This time Itachi didn't swallow them, but secretly put them in his sleeve. Then he acted high and sat listening to Daisuke speak to another patron of the restaurant. They were both from Root. Itachi dropped his head onto the dirty table and took in the information. They were both completely open in front of him and it amazed him how much to gleaned just lying there.

Then after Daisuke abandoned Itachi in the room upstairs, Itachi stood up. He was feeling terrible withdrawal symptoms but also incredibly enlightened. He went immediately back to the barn at Sashi's farm and dug through the hay for his rusty sword. It was good enough for his purposes that night.

After cutting his hand on the clean part of the blade he used a transportation jutsu to get into the Hokage tower. The split second before the place went crazy he saw the hokage was speaking to someone already, and that person was Kakashi Hatake. Itachi knelt in the center of the room and presented his sword handle to the hokage, holding the blade in his hands.

"Excuse me for interrupting Hokage-sama!" Itachi cried. "Two things before you arrest me, please!"

Then the anbu were on him. There were three kunai aimed at him, three long katana, and one throwing star. Hatake Kakashi stared at him with one grey eye.

"Who are you?" One masked man asked him.

"Uchiha Itachi!" Itachi announced.

They all examined him in dawning horror. They would not have recognized him without his giving himself up and even Kakashi paled in realization. There were long moments where he honestly didn't expect to survive this. Then Tsunade spoke.

"Why should I hear what you have to say?" Tsunade asked.

"Please hear me, Hokage-sama! I do not lie."

"Murderous bastard!" One man spat at him.

"Akatsuki!" Another muttered.

Tsunade approached after several long moments. She took the sword from his hands by the hilt and held it over his bowed head. It still dripped with his blood.

"Tsunade-sama!" A woman cried, her dark eyes wide and fearful.

"Silence Shizune. Two things you say? What could you possibly have to say that would interest me?" Tsunade asked.

Itachi didn't respond immediately. He had no other weapons and was dressed in farmer's clothes. He knew that he had gambled everything on a momentary whim and a hope.

"First, I come to vow my continuing allegiance to Konoha and swear that my brother's death was my own fault. I do not hold Konoha responsible in this. I always have and always will serve Konoha." Itachi squeezed his bloody hand until blood dropped on the stone floor like a promise.

"Very generous of you. Second?"

"I know you have come into power and have had it for a while. You control everything. Everything except Root. When Danzo died he left them independent and still separate from the Hokage. I can give you Root." Itachi said, speaking quickly.

"Where have you been all this time?" Tsunade asked.

"I worked on a farm within Konoha. I was mourning my brother."

"Likely story. How do we trust this traitor when he has done nothing but kill?" the first anbu cried.

"Tsunade-sama, Root can't be trusted in his hands," another protested.

"He's manipulating us."

"Kakashi?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes?"

"What do you make of this?"

"That is quite an offer, if he can pull it off."

"Are you sure it's possible?" Tsunade asked, looking at the rusty sword.

"I can. I'll infiltrate, dismantle, and gain control of Root. Then give you the leash and total control of Konoha, at long last."

"Yes, that's quite the offer indeed. I wonder what makes you so confident. For now, I want time to think about this. You won't begrudge us that much Uchiha-san? Perhaps you should stay in solitary confinement until then."

Itachi bowed and allowed himself to be led out of the room. It was pretty late at night so nobody was around, but the ones who were there to witness his informal arrest were still very watchful and curious. One face was familiar, Iruka from the previous month. He stared, wide-eyed, as Itachi was led away by anbu. Itachi was slightly amused, since for all Iruka knew Itachi was a farm hand. He was locked into the room, and lay down on the bed there, quietly. He didn't know much about Tsunade but he knew that everything was against him. The only hope was that she would somehow know the truth about him. That was an unlikely possibility.

He sat alone in the small cell waiting. He was aching and couldn't sleep. Then after a few hours, the door suddenly opened and Kakashi came inside.

"You can't use chakra down here," Kakashi warned him.

"I know," Itachi said. "I didn't come for a fight."

"Are you sick?"

"I'm fine," Itachi said.

Kakashi looked doubtful at this but simply lay some food down on the small steel table jutting out from the wall and left. Itachi shifted, feeling the dampening effects of the lower level move over him, zapping his chakra. He ate the fruit and bread, then lay down to rest facing the door. It was hours before anybody came for him, and by then it was afternoon of the next day.

"Get up," an anbu called, opening the door.

They chained his hands and he sighed, thinking perhaps this was it for him. It had been a gamble but he had hoped that they would give him a chance. He had never betrayed Konoha, but it seemed that had all been for naught.

He walked up a back staircase, up to the top floors, through several heavy doors. Then they went through one last heavily guarded door, after someone knocked. A voice called for them to enter.

Inside the room were mostly the same people as before. The female hokage, Hatake, and several anbu. Iruka was there too, and Itachi looked at him with wonder at how high his clearance must be. With a breath, Itachi knelt in the center of the room and bowed low to the Hokage.

"Itachi Uchiha, for many reasons I have made my decision. Some of those reasons are top security clearance and cannot be disclosed. Suffice to say you have an impressive history, but also a tarnished one."

That was one word for it. She had summed up his family's massacre and subsequent betrayal of Konoha in one word; it was quite an understatement in his opinion. He was guilty of so many crimes in the name of service to Konoha, that he couldn't even find the line between where his own guilt stood anymore. He was what they had made him into. Now he didn't even have Sasuke as an excuse anymore. His brother had gone to a better place.

Itachi slumped a little as he waited in the long silence. The tension in the room was thick, and everyone staring from Itachi to the Hokage.

"I have decided to grant you a chance to prove yourself. Your mission has been granted. Do not fail me."

Itachi was too professional to gape in shock so he bowed low again, and backed up toward the door, eyes down. Then he turned and walked out. Nobody stopped him, and nobody approached him. He felt like he was contagious. Nobody wanted to come near him. Apparently, what he had was catching.

Now that Itachi had his official mission he walked out with the knowledge that he was once again on the payroll. Not that he cared about the money. It was clearing Sasuke's name and his own that mattered to him. He sighed and thought seriously. He didn't know that he'd be so relieved to have his position in Konoha become official.

He had a mission though, and he had to get serious. Daisuke wouldn't be that easy to deal with, despite Itachi's bravado in the Hokage tower. It would take more reconnaissance before he could act. Itachi went back to the farm. The hokage had kept his sword; it was a symbolic act that kept him at a disadvantage. He would have to earn back her trust. Itachi knew he'd have to borrow a sword. He knew who could lend him one.

Daisuke lived alone. He had no pets, no plants, nothing to show any kind of personality. His only vice as far as Itachi could see was drug dealing, and even that he did sparingly. Itachi wondered if he should feel special. Daisuke specialized in espionage, and luring people into traps. He was at the top of the heap with Root. Daisuke knew who came to profit from Danzo's death, and he knew how to get that person into his pocket. Itachi, in his vulnerable state, had fallen into Daisuke's trap. He'd gone from a peaceful life of regret, to a life hooked on drugs. It had been so easy for Daisuke to hook him, and Itachi had wanted it.

He was the last of the Uchiha, and an early death was not acceptable.

Daisuke was a late riser, since most of his missions were at night. He took a long time grooming himself and was a finicky dresser. Itachi watched his routine and the obsessive way the man checked the mirror. The man was different from Itachi's impression of him. Itachi watched as he went to meet his teammates and the informal replacement of Danzo.

There were eight of them. They all ranged in height and weight and seemed to range in age as well. They all stood very still, kept silent, and seemed to know the unspoken rules by rote. They were off on different missions apparently, and Itachi watched them exit the village from different directions. Then he returned to Daisuke's apartment. He crawled up the side of the building and broke in through the window. The traps and seals on the apartment were advanced, but not enough to stop Itachi.

He got into the apartment and donned some gloves. Then he discovered a locked box which he made quick work of. He hurried, making sure to leave the lock intact. Inside the box were photographs of him. Itachi hissed in irritation. Someone had done their homework. Daisuke had shots of his face from every angle, and almost every time of day. It didn't seem to matter that Itachi's hair had been long. This was enough for the man to recognize him anywhere.

Itachi also found some lists, a scroll with some family jutsu, and some documents signed by Danzo. He left them behind, but not before memorizing the contents. Daisuke was not as paranoid as he should be, if he didn't seal the documents as well. Itachi replaced everything and locked up behind him.

Itachi went back to the farm and worked in the sun for the rest of the day. He made his excuses for being late, claiming he was sick, which he was. Sashi fussed over him and gave him extra rice for lunch. Then it was back to work and then dinner. He felt eyes on him, now. He was pretty sure the anbu were checking up on him now and then. They wanted to make sure his story was true and that he wasn't going to disappear.

Itachi had no visitors. He was grateful for that because not only would it interfere with his mission, it would interrupt his day job which he took seriously.

At night he went to visit the Uchiha compound and then went to the restaurant. Daisuke was there as usual, and he offered the drugs as usual. Itachi took them without hesitation, but stored them in his pocket. Daisuke turned to brag to his friend about how easy it was to drug Itachi. He used Itachi's real name. It was a shock to hear his own name on the man's lips.

"This guy used to be a genius, you should have seen it." Daisuke went on.

"What happened to him?"

"His brother died, and he lost his mind," Daisuke said.

Itachi put his fury on the backburner and listened while seething.

"When are you going to turn him in to the Hokage? He's worth a lot," the other Root member asked.

"Next week. I can't keep shelling out free pills, you know? This isn't a charity."

"You should do it right away, he's trouble," the man said.

"He's pathetic."

"Is Jiro still angling to be the next Danzo?"

"Maybe so, but I am the one who will get the job done." Daisuke said.

"True, he hasn't got a chance against you, Daisuke," the man agreed.

Itachi pretended to moan, and made a show of trying to sit up.

"You're in Root Daisuke-san?" Itachi asked in a dazed voice.

The tension instantly went up and the two men stared at him with grave eyes.

"How can I join up?" Itachi asked.

"You want to join Root?" Daisuke asked slowly.

"Yes, it's my only hope, you know? Ever since Sasuke… I haven't belonged anywhere…"

Itachi rested his head, trying to hide his face. He peered up at the two men who were clearly unhappy with this turn of events.

"Well, I suppose we could try you out," Daisuke said, with deeper meaning in his words that held some threat.

"Great. Do you have a test or something?"

"Yes, something like that," the other Root member said.

TBC…