Itachi keeps his eyes low, showing far more emotion than Mori even thought was possible. "My clan is dissatisfied with their position in Konoha," Itachi says quietly.

What the actual fuck?

"I don't want to fight," Itachi says, voice wavering. "But I don't want a war."

I don't want a war.

The new information sends Mori reeling. He leans forward, placing his hands on his chin, and frowns.

Dissatisfied with their position…

Spy on Konoha…

The new information forces him to rearrange everything he'd thought he'd known about the massacre. The Uchiha aren't as loyal as assumed. Itachi doesn't want a war. Itachi is going against his clan to get this information to Mori.

Mori grimaces as he takes in the new pieces, sliding them into place along with everything else in his brain. His mind chases the implications all the way to their treacherous conclusion.

Oh, shit.

Mori feels his mouth dry and his stomach flip. If Itachi is implying what he thinks he's implying, then the Uchiha Massacre takes on a whole new level of meaning that Mori really doesn't like.

"Your clan," Mori says, feeling all his concern and worry for Itachi fall away into a general sense of dread. "... Do you think they'll follow through?"

Itachi looks up and meets Mori's eyes.

Fuck, Mori thinks. Because if this was true, and he didn't think Itachi was lying...

Then Clan-Killer S-ranked missing-nin Itachi killed his family, not because he snapped, but because they were planning some sort of treason against Konoha.

Which means that… Itachi became a missing-nin to keep Konoha safe. To keep his brother safe.

Had word gotten out that the Uchiha clan was planning to defect…

"We have time," Itachi says quietly. "It's not a full plan yet. But if this continues…"

"Then we have a problem on our hands," Mori finishes.

An understatement, to say the least. The Uchiha comprise the majority of the police force and a rather significant portion of the shinobi of the village. With that much power… it's definitely possible that in a fight between the Uchiha and Konoha, the Uchiha might be the ones winning. At the very least, Konoha would be extremely weakened. And though it's peacetime, there are those that would definitely take advantage of this type of opportunity.

His mind is already racing for scenarios, rearranging what he knows and what he doesn't. He feels a headache settle down on him. Of all the bombs he was preparing for Itachi to drop, it definitely wasn't this.

Before him, Itachi sits unnaturally still. His face could be carved out of stone with how motionless it is, but when Mori checks, he can see the panic and emotion welling up in Itachi's eyes.

"I'm sorry for burdening you with this," Itachi says, voice trembling, "but I didn't know who else to go to…"

The normally stoic voice cracks.

Mori places a gentle hand on Itachi's shoulder. The boy stiffens at the touch before relaxing into it.

"Itachi… I'm glad you trusted me with this," Mori says, staring Itachi in the eye, and hoping that he can tell just how much he means it. "You did the right thing. And I swear I'll do everything in my power to fix this."

Itachi nods. His shoulders tremble under Mori's grip, and suddenly Mori wonders when was the last time Itachi's been hugged.

Not now, he thinks, throwing aside the shock and confusion and worry running through his mind. He takes a deep breath. Identify the problem. Analyze the situation. Choose a course of action.

"Have you told the Hokage yet?" Mori asks. This definitely isn't a situation they could handly on their own.

"No," Itachi says, looking away shamefully. "I was going to but… I wanted to tell you first."

"That's alright," Mori reassures him. "Do you want to tell him right now?"

Itachi is still for a moment. Then, after a long pause, he nods his assent.

"Okay," Mori says, checking the time.

His alarm clock reads '6:02'. The sun has already set, and there are stars out in the sky.

Mori gets up, hiding any of his apprehension and fear for Itachi's sake. He turns off his AC but lets the dishwasher continue. Itachi is on his feet, standing slightly behind Mori and walking with silent steps.

During the walk to the Hokage's Tower, Mori takes extra care to steer clear of the Uchiha Police Force patrols.

The Sandaime remains silent as Itachi debriefs them on the full situation.

How the clan was moved into a separate section of Konoha. Isolation from the village. The rumors that it was an Uchiha who summoned the Kyuubi into Konoha. Little things that, over the years, festered under the scrutinizing eye of a 'Senju-influenced government', until even the smallest slight was enough to stoke the flames of a simmering fury.

The Sandaime frowns as he listens, holding his pipe but not smoking it. Itachi holds his full attention from beginning to the end, where Itachi finishes with his enrollment into ANBU to play spy.

"I see," he says, when Itachi falls silent.

Mori waits patiently for the Sandaime's decision. He glances over at Itachi, who seems both more relieved and more stressed to have gotten this off his chest.

"Itachi," the Sandaime says, and the boy snaps to attention. "Thank you for coming to me with this. You are dismissed. I will call you back with further instructions."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Itachi says. He bows and turns to leave the room. Mori starts to get to his feet, to follow the young boy.

"Hayakawa," the Hokage says, "Sit."

Mori sits.

Itachi slips out of the Hokage's office; the door closes softly behind him. Mori curls his hands into fists.

Itachi's in an incredibly precarious and vulnerable position right now. He wants more than anything to just erase all the problems, but he doesn't even know where to begin.

"I take it this was news to you," the Hokage says.

"Yes," Mori says. "It's - new."

"You never heard anything about this?"

"No," Mori admits, mind still reeling. "We were told that Itachi had snapped… the idea of a coup never crossed anyone's minds."

A coup. Itachi, forced to choose between his clan and the village, and making his decision in Konoha's favor. Murdering the whole clan to hide the truth and prevent unrest, prevent the violence and bloodshed that comes with rebellion and treason.

By painting his hands red, Itachi quite possibly stopped the Fourth Shinobi World War. But even knowing that, Mori still can't fully comprehend this new development.

That level of loyalty and devotion terrifies Mori.

The Sandaime closes his eyes and puffs on his pipe. The smoke curls through the air, fading into the light.

"...You said the original date of the massacre was three years from now," The Sandaime says.

"Yes."

"There's still time, then. This is still political. No blood has to be shed."

"Yes," Mori says, latching onto the hope. "We can undo the policies, re-integrate the Uchiha -"

"Not quite," the Sandaime laments. "I opposed all of those policies. Those laws have the full support of the entire Council. Undoing them is impossible."

"Impossible?" Mori asked. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama, the lives of an entire clan are on the line -"

"If Itachi tells the truth, then the lives of traitors are on the line," the Sandaime says darkly. "I do not like it either, Hayakawa-san, but I cannot simply undo the work of loyal Konoha ninja for a clan whose loyalty I'm not entirely certain of."

"There has to be a way to reconnect with the Uchiha," Mori says quietly. "I know the idea of pandering to a clan is... well, stupid, but the Uchiha are too large and powerful to simply let go."

"I will try," the Sandaime says quietly. "Though I'm afraid any change will have to run deeper than policy. Since the Kyuubi attack, relations with the Uchiha have been tense."

"Those rumors about the Kyuubi," Mori says, thinking of what Itachi brought up and the whispers he'd heard around the village. "... How can you undo six years of distrust and unrest?"

As soon as the words leave his mouth, the image of the Kyuubi seal flashes through his mind.

He shoves that thought out of the window and shakes his head.

"Keep an eye on Itachi, when you can," the Sandaime says. "I trust the people on his squad; you won't have to worry about him when he's on missions."

Mori's face falls. "You're not going to take him out of ANBU?"

"Taking him out may be perceived as another act against the Uchiha," the Sandaime says, "and if he reports directly to me, then perhaps the Uchiha's spy can go both ways."

That's not any better off than he was before, Mori thinks. If anything, that's worse, forcing a ten-year-old boy to spy on his own clan, his own family.

What's even worse, though, is that he knows Itachi can do it. He knows that Itachi can gather information on the Uchiha, knows that he can fill in the blanks and subtleties in their plans, knows that Itachi can blend in and play his part. He knows that, because he's the one that taught the boy.

Mori bites down a bitter protest. In his anxiety, in his fear, he'd taught Itachi how to be a spy. He'd never thought the kid would actually have to use it.

He has no excuse to argue against his Hokage, no reason to pull Itachi out of his position. He brought this on himself.

"I need to discuss this," the Hokage says.

Mori frowns. "With the Council?" As in, the same Council that alienated the Uchiha in the first place?

"Is that wise?"

"It will be fine," the Sandaime says, and Mori can recognize the dismissal coming on. "I will handle the Uchiha. You have a team to focus on."

Knowing what I know, how can I focus on anything else? Mori wonders.

"If you obtain new information, come to me," the Sandaime orders. "You are dismissed."

Mori bows low, keeping his face carefully blank. When he turns to leave the Hokage's office, he scowls.

Mori keeps his head down and his hands in his pockets as he makes his way back to his apartment. His mind races, trying to think of ways to help Itachi, to prevent the Massacre.

The Uchiha clan is planning a goddamn rebellion, and his student is caught in the middle. Mori wishes he could just order Itachi to take a nap until this whole thing is over, but no, they have to put a ten-year-old into ANBU . He loves Konoha with his whole heart - he's died for this village - but at the same time, he kind of wishes it weren't a ninja village.

A shinobi must always put the mission first, and right now the mission is to keep Konoha safe, not keep his former student alive and relatively healthy.

Fuck the Kyuubi, he thinks. He storms down the streets, a bitter scowl on his lips. Wasn't this whole time traveling thing hard enough?

He's so focused on pitying himself and being angry at this whole situation that he doesn't notice the rock in his path until he hits his toe on it and falls forward, slamming into an unlucky passerby.

"Whoa, are you okay, Mori?" the person says, and Mori looks up at the familiar voice.

Izo frowns at him, his eyebrows scrunched up in worry.

"Er, don't you have a mission?" Mori asks.

There's a large pack slung over Izo's back and he's dressed loosely and practically. Clearly he's getting ready to leave the village.

"Yeah, but I don't have to leave for another thirty minutes," Izo says. "I'm just heading to the gates. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Mori says.

"Bullshit," Izo replies. "You look like you found dog crap in your fridge. Seriously, dude, what's wrong?"

The Hokage hadn't discussed secrecy or clearance levels with him, but Mori is fairly certain that he can't just say that 'the Uchiha want to overthrow the government and my ex-student is going to be caught in the middle' so he just sighs.

"Is it your students, still?" Izo asks, and Mori remembers their conversation from earlier.

Kami, was that only three hours ago? Mori feels like he's aged another twelve years.

"Yeah," Mori says. It's technically not a lie.

Izo laughs, amused and unconcerned. Part of Mori wants to knee him in the balls for being so casual about impending civil war in Konoha, but most of him ends up relaxing at the sound, releasing the tension.

"Genin team not all it's cracked up to be?"

"Ugh," is all Mori says in response, which makes Izo laugh even harder.

"Listen, Mori," Izo says, a grin on his lips. "I'll get you some better advice in a month, but for now: just keep an eye on them, okay? Pay attention to them, have them bond. You're good with kids, you'd know what to do better than I can."

Have them bond, Mori repeats in his head. Well, there's an idea.

"Thanks, Izo," Mori says, kind of sheepishly. "Sorry for being so negative."

Izo slaps him on the back. "I'll see you in a month."

"Stay safe," Mori says.

Izo only shoots him another grin before jogging off.

Have them bond. Mori walks back to his apartment, wondering how often Itachi will be in the village.

Two days later:

"So this is Itachi," Mori says, gesturing at the young boy with the blank gaze.

Issei narrows his eyes and frowns at Itachi. Itachi frowns back.

Mori grins at his genin team as they study the younger boy in front of him. Issei is clearly suspicious - but then again, he's suspicious of everything. Chie tilts her head and looks back and forth between Mori and Itachi with narrowed eyes, trying to find the connection.

"Oh, is he your cousin or something?" Riku asks, trying for a friendly smile and kneeling down to make eye contact with the boy. "It's nice to meet you, Itachi-kun, I'm Riku."

"I outrank you," Itachi says, staring back at Riku with a cold, dead-eyed gaze. Riku takes a shaky step back and frowns at the boy, disturbed.

Mori squeezes Itachi's shoulder in warning. Itachi flicks his eyes up only for a second, but the annoyed expression in them makes Mori want to laugh.

"You're kidding, right," Chie deadpans, studying Itachi with a suspicious gaze. "You're like, three."

"I'm ten," Itachi intones, "and I'm a chuunin."

Issei gives Mori a disbelieving gaze. Is this kid for real?

"Itachi was my first student," Mori says, deciding to leave out the fact that he was only allowed to teach the kid for two weeks. "He's here to help me out with teaching today. Right?"

"Yes," Itachi says. He has a long-suffering expression on his face that tells Mori's genin team that he would rather be anywhere else.

Not that they're any better; none of them look particularly excited to be taught by a boy two years younger than them.

Have them bond.

If there's nothing he can do directly against the Uchiha uprising, the least he could do is keep Itachi's mind off of it when he's off-duty. It's incredibly stressful to know that one wrong move can set off the Fourth Shinobi World War - far too much stress on a young boy.

Mori won't be able to do this very often: for one, Itachi will be gone on ANBU missions, and then there's also the fact that there are three Uchiha hidden in the clearing just waiting for him to mess up so that Fugaku can kick his ass. But he'll do what he can until he finds a more effective way to protect his student.

"So… what are we learning today, Mori-sensei?" Chie asks.

"You'll see," Mori says. "Warm up, first."

Grumbling, the three genin set off on their routine warm ups. They jog around the grounds, all of them occasionally looking back and stealing curious glances of Uchiha Itachi. Itachi, meanwhile, turns to Mori and stares at him with a betrayed expression.

"Don't look at me like that," Mori says, suppressing a laugh.

"You said you were going to teach me something new today on my day off," Itachi pouts.

"First of all, I'm not your official sensei anymore - I'm their sensei," Mori says, nodding to the three children running around Training Ground Twelve. "I can't just ditch them to teach a former student who doesn't even need the tutelage anyway."

Itachi stares blankly.

"Also, today I'm teaching you how to teach," Mori says.

Itachi waits.

"First rule about being a teacher is making your students respect you," Mori says. "Even if you get nothing else out of today, that'll be a useful skill for you to have."

Itachi nods, resigned.

Mori wonders how he's holding up in ANBU. A lot of the elite ninja tend to base their opinions of ninja on their skill and not on their age, but having a literal child in ANBU is kind of pushing it. He needs power and influence - not just in his ANBU squad, but in his clan as well. Itachi needs to know how to get people to follow him, to sway his clan into restoring their loyalty to Konoha.

"You're going to help them polish up their aim," Mori says. "And afterwards, we'll teach them tree-walking, okay?"

"Okay."

The genin wrap up with their warm ups. Mori points to the targets, and Issei and Chie make their way over. Riku follows his teammates with a groan.

Mori hands Issei an old set of broken, worn-down shuriken. Issei snatches them with a scowl and glares at the target in front of him.

Chie cuts herself on the edge of her shuriken. Mori nudges Itachi forward, who stiffly makes his way closer to the genin.

"Do you need help?" he asks.

The words come out stiff and emotionless. Mori sighs.

"Er, no thanks, um, Itachi…" Chie trails off and frowns, unsure of which honorific to use for the boy. She shakes her head and powers through the rest of her statement. "I'm fine, it's just a small cut."

Itachi nods.

Issei has already started the exercise, performing satisfactory throws and making progress with his aim. Itachi looks dubiously at Chie's throwing before he turns to look at Riku.

Riku glares at the weapon in his hand, as though willing it to fly straight. He looks up, takes a deep breath, and throws.

The shuriken embeds itself into a tree branch three feet above the target. Riku groans in frustration and pulls out another weapon.

"Do you need help?" Itachi asks, with slightly more intonation than when he asked Chie.

Riku looks at Itachi dubiously before glancing back at Mori. Mori waves his hand in a 'go-ahead' gesture.

"Yes," Riku grits out, but he still looks kind of skeptical at the idea of receiving instruction from Itachi.

Mori just leans forward slightly, curious to see what flaws Itachi could pick up when Mori's done everything he could with Riku's form.

Itachi picks up a shuriken. "You have to flick your wrist, and then release it."

Without warning, his arm swings forward. The weapon flies through the air before embedding itself into the center of the target, in so deep that only half of it is left visible. Chie and Issei pause in their practice to stare incredulously at the throw, and Riku's eyes widen.

"Oh," Riku says. Itachi looks up at him expectantly, and Riku flushes in embarrassment. He fingers another shuriken and frowns in concentration as he holds it between his fingers.

And he throws.

Mori sees it now, the release that Itachi had mentioned. Riku lets go too soon, which is what causes his aim to go wide. It's subtle, just slightly off timing, which is why Mori hadn't caught it before, but even a tiny tilt can drastically affect a projectile.

The boy makes another god-awful throw - it skims the top of the target before being lost to the forest. Riku groans again as he looks down at the rapidly dwindling pile of shuriken next to him.

Mori resists the urge to groan himself. He'd been so focused on perfecting Riku's form that he'd forgotten about the throwing aspect of this whole exercise. Itachi had seen one throw and spotted the problem in an instant.

Itachi turns to look at Mori. There's a glint in the boy's eyes - you know what he did wrong, tell him - but Mori only shrugs, curious to see how Itachi will handle it.

"Do you know what you're doing wrong?" Itachi asks.

Riku shrugs.

Itachi turns back helplessly towards Mori, an exasperated look in his eye. Itachi is a genius, a prodigy. He can instinctively grasp both the practical and the theoretical; to him, it's impossible not to. He doesn't comprehend Riku's confusion. There's a reason why geniuses rarely take on students, and even then, their students are those with natural brilliance themselves.

Mori sighs and moves in to take over.

"Riku," he says, taking a position slightly behind the genin. "How does your family's taijutsu work?"

Riku blinks at the sudden change of subject.

"Er, redirection," Riku recited. "We force our opponents' attacks to move where we want them to go."

"Right," Mori praises him, remembering the short spar against the kid. "You have to time it right, though. Too soon, and they'll hit you. Too late, and -"

"And they'll hit you, I already know that, sensei," Riku whines.

Itachi frowns, unsure of where Mori is going with the change in subject. He watches as Mori bends over to pick up a rock.

Riku frowns. Out of the corner of his eye, Mori spots Chie and Issei pausing in their own practice to watch him.

"What's the rock forrr aaAAH!"

Riku's arms move on their own, palming the rock midair and changing its trajectory towards the target in front of him. It sails through the air before hitting the bottom of the target and dropping harmlessly to the floor. He whips his head around to stare at his teacher, who shrugs sheepishly.

Issei's eyes widen in realization.

"Whoa, sensei," Chie says, a little horrified. "What was that for?"

"It hit the target," Issei speaks up. "The rock hit the target."

Riku turns to look at the target, eyes narrowed and frowning in thought.

"It's like redirection," he says, understanding. "I have to time it right!"

He picks up another shuriken and throws it without any hesitation. His aim still sucks, but it's visibly better - it actually hits the target, though it doesn't stick. His next throw manages to land on the outer ring of the target.

A beaming Riku turns to his teacher. "Thanks, sensei!"

Mori gives him a thumbs up and an encouraging smile gesture. Issei looks at Riku's target once more before returning to his own practice.

Chie looks thoughtful as she turns her attention away.

Itachi draws up next to Mori. He's still frowning at Riku, and he looks up at Mori with a confused expression. "How did you know that would work?"

"Second rule of teaching is to understand your student," Mori says.

"Understanding," Itachi repeats.

"Teaching is a type of relationship," Mori says. "Respect. Awareness. If you have to think of it in a different way, it's basically presenting the facts in a way that you know will relate to your student."

"Like comparing the act of throwing a shuriken to taijutsu," Itachi muses. He turns and Itachi meets Mori's eyes. "Does everything come back to gathering information?"

"For me, at least," Mori says. "Some people instinctively understand others," he says, thinking of Aya's blunt charisma and likeable atmosphere. "For me, though, it's helpful to gather information before making a move."

Itachi falls silent at that, thinking over Mori's words. Mori wonders what exactly is running through the boy's mind.

"Well," Mori says, after a few more minutes of silence.

Since he'd started them on shuriken, Issei and Chie have polished up their aim quite nicely. Riku's no longer a hopeless case; all he needs is more practice, which he can do on how own time. Mori glances over to the edge of the forest. Itachi follows his gaze.

"Tree walking?" Mori suggests.

Itachi sighs as Mori calls out to the genin, redirecting their attention to the trees.

"Will Itachi be returning to help out again?" Issei asks.

It's late in the afternoon, now. Team Four is standing in Training Ground Twelve, ready to be dismissed for the day.

After their chakra control exercise, which went fairly well - all the kids were at around the level he'd expected them to be - Itachi had flitted away. Mori had his team break for lunch, after which they did a quick D-rank involving digging holes and replanting the trees in a training ground not too far from their own.

The question that Issei had asked was on everyone's minds, though.

Issei had seen Itachi demonstrate both the shuriken and the tree walking exercise, which firmly erased any doubts he'd had. Despite his young age, Itachi was skilled, and that's the only thing that matters to Issei.

The kid, for all his smug, tactless arrogance, respected Itachi. He didn't hesitate when asking the boy for help, and when Itachi said something, he listened. Itachi didn't mind him, either: Issei was smart enough to understand what the prodigy was saying, and it didn't take many analogies or 'dumbing down' for Itachi to get through to him.

Mori's glad that Itachi connected with at least one of his students; he knew that Itachi wasn't fond of them at first. Bonding was the whole reason he suggested it in the first place - god knows that Itachi needs more friends.

Riku was thankful for Itachi's help, but at the same time, Itachi wasn't quite helpful enough. More often than not, Riku didn't understand what he was saying, and Itachi didn't really care enough to try and explain it more than once.

Mori's eyes flicker over to his third student, and he frowns.

Chie didn't seem to want Itachi's help at all. She was polite about it, but was adamant in her refusal to accept his help. On the one hand, she was heavily determined to do everything on her own, but on the other… Mori wasn't sure what the source of that desire was.

"He might help out from time to time," Mori says, returning to the question. "But not often. He's a chuunin, he's busy."

More like an ANBU, he thinks bitterly. Mori hasn't forgiven the Hokage for that stupid decision yet.

"Chuunin," Chie murmurs, a fire in her eyes.

"Okay," Riku says with a nonchalant shrug. "Was he really your former student?"

"Yeah," Mori answers. "My first student, actually."

"I thought you failed all your previous teams," Issei says, frowning.

"I did," Mori says. "I taught him solo."

"You can do that?" Chie asks. "That's so cool!"

"It's uncommon," Mori says in reply. "Most ninja work in teams anyway, so it's common practice to train them as one."

"Why was Itachi on a team by himself?" Riku asks, curious.

Mori looks off in the direction of the Uchiha compound. He thinks of Fugaku, and he thinks of the Massacre, which, in one evening, had become far more complicated than he'd ever thought it would. "...Special circumstances."

It still irks him that the Hokage had ordered him to ignore the impending doom hanging over their heads. Mori's more than involved. The Massacre never quite leaves the back of his mind, and it's been distracting him this whole time when he should be training his team. His fingers twitch, restless. He wants to do something about it, even if the Sandaime disagrees.

Chie grins, drawing Mori back to reality. "Itachi's cool, just like you, sensei!" she says, her voice slightly rushed. She glances up at the darkening sky and blinks. "Oh, I gotta go," she says quickly, her eyes widening a bit. "Bye!"

Before anyone can react, the twelve-year-old girl had darted out of the training grounds. The dust is still in the air when she disappears out of sight.

"What was that about?" Riku frowns at the abrupt disappearance.

"Another loudmouth-fangirl oddity," Issei drawls, rolling his eyes. "Well, I'm out. Goodbye sensei, Riku."

Issei pushes up his glasses and strolls out of the grounds, disinterested once more.

"I guess I'm going, too," Riku says. "Same thing tomorrow?"

"We're probably ready to switch to kunai," Mori muses. "It should be easier. Shuriken are tricky."

Riku frowns at the mention of more projectile practice.

"You'll be fine," Mori encourages him. "You improved a lot, today."

"Thanks, sensei," Riku beams, near glowing with pride. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Mori raises up a hand to wave to the boy, and then blinks when Riku pulls out book from his bag. The boy usually had a book on him to read during the mornings before practice, but it's a different one than it was yesterday.

Mori catches sight of the title. Regulations on Weapon Creation and Distribution Among Civilian Sectors.

Just the title makes Mori want to gag - it sounds like the type of book T&I read to their prisioners as a form of torture - but he knows that Rikuto enjoys reading boring stuff like that, and…

And finding loopholes.

Oh, Mori thinks. Maybe there is a way he can actually help combat the Massacre.