TH: Lookie lookie, a new chapter! Nothing much to say except please read and review! Muchas gracias, mis amigos.

Perchance to Dream

Chapter Nine—Currents Turn Awry

Itachi woke, once more, suddenly in the night. He knew right away the reason. Madara was back, and he wanted to talk to Itachi. The young Uchiha heir stood, slid some weapons into hidden pockets in his pyjamas, and went out to meet the older Clan member. Madara was in the same spot as he'd been last time; the moon reflected red from the eyehole through which Madara watched the world with his Sharingan.

"Madara-san," Itachi greeted with carefully cultivated deference. The masked head tilted slightly.

"Itachi-kun," Madara said, and Itachi felt a prickle of nervousness at the tone. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked, keeping his voice level. It seemed Madara would continue his general show of over-bearing arrogance; he clearly wasn't here for Itachi's answer on whether he would side with Madara or not. Madara had already assumed the answer would be yes. Well, at least it freed Itachi from the risk of lying to Madara and getting caught.

"You are pulling away from the Clan, fragmenting it. This can't be allowed to happen; if the Clan is seen as conflicted and unhappy within itself, the Village will not view it with any form of trust or respect," Madara said. Itachi imagined that he was less concerned with what the villagers thought and more about how the fragmentation would weaken any potential coup. "Itachi-kun, you need to stop subverting your father. He is the Clan Head, and the Clan looks to him for leadership. Your challenging him damages that."

Here it was. A sign that Madara had his claws firmly embedded in Fugaku. Itachi felt his stomach roil. Damn! That would explain why it was so difficult to argue with his father; the man was being manipulated by Madara. Fugaku's mind was Madara's.

But Itachi was more worried at the present about how to come out of this meeting alive and unharmed. He could reveal his true loyalty to Konoha, or he could continue the charade. Revealing himself would lead to a fight between him and Madara, which wasn't an attractive prospect at the moment. When Itachi faced off with Madara, he wanted it to be more on his terms, and not in his pyjamas with what few weapons he could hide on his person.

Itachi curled his hands into fists, pulling his arms into his sleeves so the cuffs shadowed his hands. The very picture of a child trying to hide his anger and annoyance. He said, putting a subtle waver in his voice, "My father is weak."

He let his Sharingan activate, and snapped his head up to look at Madara. "My father is weak and foolish! I am more qualified to be Clan Head. Why should they follow him, when I could be so much greater…"

Itachi could practically see the dark amusement rise in Madara's masked face at his words. "They look at me, and see what I can do, how powerful I am… and they think 'how great Fugaku-sama is, that his son is such a genius!' He is nothing. My power is my own, not his! You said it yourself: I am stronger than my father!"

There was no reason for Madara to doubt this motivation; power-lust was a language he understood, and one he believed the most in. However much he knew Itachi to be a pacifist, Madara believed to the depths of his heart that the desire for power was one thing nobody was immune to. That this 'younger version' of Itachi was expressing the desire to be in control of the Clan instead of Fugaku wouldn't make him suspicious. He expected to find power-lust in everybody, so it wouldn't surprise him when he did. Indeed, he seemed to accept Itachi's words completely.

"The Clan is more willing to follow someone older; people don't like to be subordinate to others younger than they. Surely you've seen this in your quick ascension in the ninja ranks," Madara said, with only the slightest flavoring of condescension. "So let your father lead them for a while longer, until you are old enough to take the position without dissention."

What he really meant was until he could manufacture Itachi's death and put another puppet into the Clan Head position. There was no way Madara would allow Itachi into a position of such power; Itachi wasn't as easily controlled as others, and might make Madara's behind-the-scenes leadership difficult.

"Very well," Itachi said grudgingly, after a suitable pause. Madara's smirk was almost audible.

"Good, Itachi-kun. If all of the Clan works together, we will soon bring about a peaceful world, where the Uchiha are not looked down upon," the older Uchiha said.

"I look forward to that," Itachi responded. It wasn't a lie, though his idea of a peaceful world was probably not the same as Madara's.

"Listen to your father, Itachi-kun," Madara said in farewell. He vanished, leaving Itachi standing in his backyard in his pyjamas. The twenty-two-turned-eleven-year-old sneered, and went back into the house.

Itachi knew he needed to inform the Hokage that Madara had infiltrated the village once again, and of what the Uchiha nukenin had said. But immediately after Itachi had awoken, he received a missive, unmarked and sealed with chakra. He frowned at it as he opened it, and once he read it, the frown deepened. He had best nip this in the bud.

He went to the location specified in the message. With liberal application of shunshin no jutsu, he arrived quickly. Those on guard must have had orders to let him in, because no questions were asked as he was led inside. They led him to a small room, furnished only with a single chair opposite the door. It was a familiar room to Itachi. He had been in it before, in the other-past. It had been where he'd received the order to kill his clan.

Itachi buried his feelings deeply, and stepped into the middle of the room. He kept his eyes trained on the figure seated in the chair, though he remained intensely aware of the five hidden ninja about the room.

"Danzo-sama," Itachi murmured respectfully. It may have been false respect, but Danzo would not be able to tell the difference. And Itachi was aware of how men such as he responded favorably to respect.

"Uchiha Itachi," Danzo said. "Do you know why you are here?"

The question was unnecessary. It was merely an attempt to unbalance Itachi and give Danzo the certainty of the upper-hand in the conversation. Itachi allowed himself a small mental smirk. He had never liked Danzo, even though the man was (or tried to be) a loyal Konoha shinobi. Danzo's attempts to act 'for the good of the Village' were, more often than not, borderline immoral, and occasionally treasonous. He didn't wish ill on Konoha, certainly, but his vision of what Konoha should be was very different than most. He was underhanded, militant, used his subordinates like pawns, and played power games much like the one he'd just started with Itachi.

So Itachi didn't feel too bad for deciding to spike the ball Danzo had just tossed him right back at the Elder's face. Meeting Danzo's gaze, he replied: "I would guess that it has something to do with the fact that the Uchiha are unstable."

Itachi had to give credit to Danzo; the man didn't even blink as Itachi stole his thunder with that blasé statement. But the Elder's momentary silence after it was telling. Itachi waited patiently as Danzo recalibrated and thought of what to say next.

"You are aware of the whispers of a coup d'etat, then?" Danzo asked finally, tone smoothly insinuating.

"I am," Itachi responded calmly, not rising to the provocation. Danzo waited for him to continue, but Itachi let the silence stretch. Finally, Danzo was forced to break it.

"Konoha does not suffer traitors." It was said with the hidden threat that, were Itachi a traitor, he would not make it out of the room alive. The presence of the Root agents became slightly more defined.

Itachi tilted his head just so, communicating so subtly his contempt for the threat that Danzo could not take offense without losing ground to him. Itachi said: "The Hokage is aware of the situation and, with him, I am addressing the problem."

Danzo's visible eyebrow quirked. "And this is supposed to be reassuring?"

"The Hokage knows that I am loyal to the Village, though my Clan might believe differently. There is no question where I stand."

Danzo settled back in his chair. :He has established what he wanted to, and now he will cut to the heart of why he called me here,: Itachi noted.

"Then you will understand when I tell you that we must have a fail-safe in place to ensure the Uchiha Clan does not bring Konoha down," Danzo said. He paused slightly for Itachi to remark upon this, and when the Uchiha heir did not, continued smoothly: "Since you are a loyal Konoha shinobi, and ANBU ranked, you have been placed aside for a possible mission of proactive defense."

Another pause, and another silence from Itachi. :Stop dancing around the matter, and say it, old man,: he thought sharply, knowing what was coming. :Say it!:

Danzo did.

"A possible mission to take out the Uchiha Clan before it can pull its coup." Danzo watched Itachi carefully, and Itachi carefully shielded his disgust and anger from his expression. Again. Again the 'solution' Danzo reached was for murder. To force Itachi to familicide.

"That will hardly be necessary," Itachi said. Danzo's face pinched in an expression of annoyance and anger.

"If the Clan rises up against the Village, war will follow. Konoha will be crippled. If you are as loyal as you say, you know that it can't be allowed to happen," Root's leader said, voice chilly. Itachi lifted his chin slightly.

"Your plan would call for the deaths of all clanmembers, even those innocent of treason. Not all Uchiha are supporters of the coup; I am proof of that," Itachi told Danzo. "The Hokage's actions and my own will not fail; there is no need for your 'proactive defense.'"

"You're still a child," Danzo said, clearly dismissive, "so it's understandable that you believe just saying a thing will make it true. However, the truth is your actions might—"

"I don't think you understood me," Itachi broke in. "I will not fail."

As he spoke, he let his Sharingan flicker, and knew by the way the man suddenly—though subtly—tensed that Danzo had seen the crimson ripple briefly across the dark slate of his eyes.

"It may be that some of the Clan are irremediable. However, as members of a ninja clan, they are under the jurisdiction of the Hokage. Whether they live or die is his decision. And as a loyal Leaf shinobi, I will follow his orders, be they to arrest my kinsmen or kill them," Itachi continued. "Your orders, however, I am not compelled to follow. ANBU are the Hokage's elite forces. Not your playthings."

Danzo was a different creature than the Hokage, Madara, or Fugaku. Itachi could address him in a different manner than the others; the manner he seemed to have decided on was one of cool contempt, unhidden. It might cause problems for Itachi later, but right now, he couldn't bring himself to care much. His primary concern now was to prevent the coup and the massacre. Danzo wasn't going to foul things up this time.

Danzo's face showed a shadow of outrage, but the old man hid most of it. Perhaps briefly he also considered setting the Root agents on Itachi in anger, but wisely held off.

Itachi let his dark, steady stare bore into Danzo for a time, while the older man glared back. At last, Danzo said, bitingly: "Hope that you are right, Uchiha Itachi. But know also that you are not the only one who could carry out my plan."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Should you attack the Clan before any actual treasonous move is made, I will take it as an attack on Konoha itself, and will move to defend the Village."

Danzo's lip twitched as if he wanted to sneer. "And you claim to be loyal?"

"I am loyal," Itachi returned. "I am loyal to the heart of Konoha, and her Hokage, past and present. Are you?"

With that, Itachi turned and stalked out of the room and the building. They did not quite dare to stop him.

The Hokage was in a meeting with an ambassador from Nami no Kuni by the time Itachi made it to the Tower. Scowling mentally, he gave in to circumstance and went to ANBU's Training Ground Zero to meet his Team for the day's workout.

"We're working on jutsu accuracy today," Kakashi told them when they'd all arrived. "I've requisitioned a few of ANBU's special targets for the exercise. If you have an element affinity, work on those jutsu against the correct target. We don't want to waste time replacing targets every time you score a hit."

The special targets were warded against specific elemental attacks. The water one could withstand strong water jutsu, the fire one fire jutsu, and so on. It was more efficient for ninja of ANBU caliber to use such targets, since if they practiced against normal targets, the targets would break far too frequently.

Itachi had been doing Katon jutsu since he could walk, essentially, and so was already highly skilled and accurate with them. His Suiton, however, needed more work, so he set up the water target and began. If he happened to go at it with a particular ferocity, his Teammates tactfully withheld comment.

The rest of the training session progressed without incident. Itachi cooled down as usual and headed out of Training Ground Zero. As he passed the boundary, he became aware that one of the ANBU who guarded the area—to ensure no one could wander into ANBU's personal training ground who wasn't meant to be there—had broken cover and was standing openly at the edge of the grounds. There was somebody standing with him.

Itachi could tell his little brother was nervous and impatient, and trying to hide it, wanting to impress the elite ninja who waited with him. But the truth came out in the way the younger Uchiha fidgeted with the cuffs of his sleeves, and stared at the trees hemming Training Ground Zero. Itachi landed by them, nodding to the ANBU, who nodded back once and vanished back to his hidden post. Sasuke ran toward Itachi, stopping himself by grabbing fistfuls of his older brother's pants.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here? Were you waiting for me long?"

Sasuke shook his head, and peered up at Itachi, a sort of worried look on his round child's face. "Okaa-san just sent me. She wants you to come back home right away."

Concern knotted Itachi's stomach. "Alright, Otouto. We're going the fast way. Climb on."

Sasuke obediently scrambled onto Itachi's back, and the older Uchiha boy kicked off the earth, using shunshin no jutsu to dart quickly back toward the Uchiha Compound. He came to a sudden, perfect, silent stop on the back porch and let Sasuke down.

"I'll tell Okaa-san how well you did to come get me," he promised the six-year-old. "They taught you the hand-seal exercise at the Academy, yes? Why don't you go practice it, and later you can show me how well you can do it."

Buoyed by both promises, Sasuke shot one last adoring glance at Itachi and ran off toward his room. Itachi watched him go briefly, then turned and went into the house, where he sensed his mother anxiously pacing.

"Itachi," she said, turning to him immediately as he entered the room. Her face was ashen. She went to clutch his shoulders. He wrapped his hands around her elbows to help steady her. "I was just told, they just sent a messenger… Your father, the Clan… they've…"

She struggled visibly to find the words, to speak them. Itachi felt the cold hand of fear clench tighter around his insides. "Your father has sent an edict to all members of the Clan. It's a coup, Itachi! We're going to overthrow the Hokage, take Konoha for our own."

Itachi hissed his breath out from between his teeth. "When?"

Mikoto shook her head, her dark eyes creased and worried. "They didn't say exactly when. Only that we should all be ready when the time comes. It will be soon, though."

"You don't support it," Itachi noted, scanning her twisted expression. She shook her head again.

"It's wrong. Itachi, it would lead to war," she bit her lip. "I said I wasn't going to just sit by and watch my children be broken to the warrior mold, and I wasn't lying."

Itachi nodded. "Good."

"What do we do?" she whispered.

"The Hokage knows of the danger," Itachi said. Mikoto blinked.

"He…" comprehension rose in her eyes "Itachi, you've…"

"I serve peace," he told his mother firmly. "And the Hokage is my comrade in that army. I won't let my family or my village be destroyed by this."

Mikoto searched his eyes, and then nodded slowly, serenity beginning to leak back into her demeanor. "Alright. I trust you, Itachi."

"Thank you, Okaa-san," he said, and then he did something he hadn't done for years. He embraced his mother. She gave a tiny gasp, her surprise further underlining how long it had been since he'd allowed himself to be affectionate with his family, and then returned the hug. Itachi felt a few suspicious drops of liquid land on his neck, but when they drew back, his mother's eyes were dry.