Itachi was lounging beneath a roof's overhang of a multi-storey warehouse on the outskirts of town when Katsuo caught up to him. Itachi activated his Sharingan briefly to study the boy and noted how the chakra held more of the Kyuubi's influence than normal, more of a tinge of orange to the yellow chakra aura than he had come to expect. "Are you loosening the seal?"

Katsuo eyeballed him. "No."

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. An evasion then. Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Where is Jiraiya-sama?"

"Flirting badly with a waitress at a restaurant a few blocks over. If she rolls her eyes one more time after dropping stuff off at our table, they'll fall right out of her head."

More like twenty blocks: this area didn't have restaurants Jiraiya-sama would normally bother with unless he was looking for rumours about shipments moving between warehouses, which admittedly was possible. "And you're supposed to be going to the washroom. He might have noticed your chakra aura disappearing."

Katsuo didn't comment on that.

"I'm sure Sarutobi-sama told you what Kyuubi is."

"A bijuu. Something like a natural disaster, he said. He also said Kyuubi is evil and shouldn't be trusted."

"Hmm. I can confirm the first and second." Itachi tipped his head back to study the light rain as the drops tumbled through the air to hit the metal roof beneath his crossed legs. "Evil, well, evil is harder. Kyuubi is considered evil because he was used against the Shodaime Hokage by Uchiha Madara. He did much damage. Before Madara found him and took control of him, Kyuubi wandered the world, doing as he pleased. Sometimes, he fought with his brethren, reshaping entire regions. There are stories of him destroying entire towns over the ages. I suppose that could be called evil as well, but Kyuubi is not human, which makes things trickier. Was he acting as a wolf, hunting down prey? Or was he instead acting out of wrath? Only he can say."

"He is very angry," Katsuo whispered. "I would be too."

"Yes, it is understandable why he is angry. But what would appease his anger? Can it be appeased? If he is allowed to roam freely, it is likely he will exact revenge for the many years of his imprisonment. He has lived for many ages, but for decades now, he has been caged, his chakra leached away."

Deadpan, Katsuo eyed him. Emotions flickered in his eyes, changing too quickly to place. Itachi was fairly certain Kyuubi was talking to him. After a few moments, Katsuo extended his hand, the Shodaime's crystal dangling from the cord tangled in his clenched fingers. "Here. Better you than me. I feel cursed when I wear it, even if Kurama says curses don't exist."

Itachi took it for a moment before passing it back. "There's a better way to leave it to me."

Katsuo must have caught the implication because he narrowed his eyes as he tucked the necklace in his pocket. "I need information. I'll trade a third favour for it."

"What do you want to know?"

"Sealing masters. Where can I find one? Who are they affiliated with? Who's the best? Who's the best teacher?"

Itachi considered the question and what answers would benefit Konoha the most. There were many Konoha ninja that had studied one aspect of sealing or another. There were only a couple considered masters of the art. It was a rare art, since it wasn't suited specifically to combat; instead, it was more of a general purpose skill that could be applied in a variety of ways. Most specialists focused on how to make it useful in combat. "Jiraiya-sama knows quite a lot. He is not a master, but he has a solid understanding of the basics. Sarutobi-sama is commonly considered a sealing master, but as Hokage, he does not teach any longer. A man called Daichi can be found in Kaijin Village in the south, but he is careful to maintain his cover."

"And outside of Fire?"

"Other villages jealously guard their secrets, just as Konoha does. We collect rumours and peek into some ninja's notebooks, but there is no way to be certain of skill if they aren't even skilled enough to hide their notes.

"Aside from ninja, monks and other holy men study seals extensively. Because they are not solely for combat, it is considered an acceptable crossover into the ninja arts. Because their lives are quite different from a ninja's, it is likely that their mastery is more complete than anything you would find in the ninja ranks." Where was a good place to send the boy if he would not stay? Where could Konoha keep an eye out for him while giving him the illusion of having slipped the net? Most importantly, where was isolated enough to keep the boy safe until they needed him? "Monks in the southern islands are noted for their seal wisdom. Perhaps those in Earth, Iron, or Wind would be their equal, but it is doubtful."

"Hn. Okay. Thanks." Katsuo glanced up at the rain, letting it splatter on his cheeks as he shut his eyelids. "Passwords will be 'Strike the bell' and 'Look out to windward'."

"From a shanty?"

Katsuo nodded curtly. "You gonna be okay with the necklace? Kyuubi can't tell if it's the target of a seal that produces the effects of the curse, though he can see the one that's meant to make him sit. Niichan's attuned to that one."

"I'll be fine."

"Then I'll get it to you before you leave." The boy paused, frowning. He sighed. "Kurama's got something for you. He wants you to come in again." He ducked under the overhang and squatted beside Itachi.

"Is it okay with you?"

"Sure. You didn't break anything last time. Just please do less grovelling. All the sama-ing gets annoying."

Smirking slightly, Itachi used his Sharingan and again found himself wading in Katsuo's subconscious. The boy again wore the form of Yuji and only needed to guide him down two hallways before they stood before the Kyuubi. They are closer, cooperating. It would be miraculous if it wasn't to the detriment of Konoha. There has to be a way to twist them back to cooperating with us.

The kitsune was lounging this time, his forelegs crossed before him as he rested his jaw on them. He watched their approach, at ease. Yuji hung back, poking Itachi in the back to signal he should go closer.

"Uchiha."

"Kurama-san."

The fox smirked. "Interesting. I think you know more than you're saying. You're very subtle. I don't know what the orange-masked man wants. I don't care if he levels your village. I would happily do it myself, disgusting place that it is. But that man worries me for many reasons. If you two destroy each other in the struggle, all the good. It is the best possible outcome for me. I would prefer that if someone had to survive that struggle though, it be you. I can deal with you. But you need a bit more if you are going to even begin to pose a challenge to the masked man.

"I'm going to share something with you. Brace yourself."

And suddenly water tainted orange flowed up Itachi's legs. He fought to stay still and outwardly calm as the trail wriggled up his neck and passed between his lips and over his eyes. Water filled his ears.

And he was suddenly seeing a Sharingan as he floated in a red and yellow sea. It was beguiling. And it held him. Spikes and chains bound him, but they were weak. They wobbled. He pulled himself free.

Then a voice spoke, the eye's voice. "Come out, Kyuubi!"

And real air hit his lungs for the first time in ages. He felt real water, cold with autumn's chill, on his feet. And there was the moon! How he had missed it! He bellowed to it, informing it of his return.

"Good," said a puny man, cloaked in a hooded coat. "Now I'll go straight to Konohagakure." He turned away, but Kyuubi was still his. He could not do anything other than wait in a pleasant haze.

"Wait," whispered a broken, puny woman he hated so much at his feet. Itachi, beneath the overwhelming power of the memory, recognized Kushina-sama.

This was Kyuubi's recollection of the attack on Konoha. Itachi abandoned any thought of struggling free, instead experiencing everything avidly. He could smell the man and the nature of his chakra. Senju and Uchiha, together. He didn't smell altogether human. Itachi branded the voice into his ears as well as the man's height and build into his eyes, though that was a bit difficult given how everyone seemed like mice from Kyuubi's perspective.

Itachi observed until Yondaime-sama disappeared with Kushina-sama and the masked figure vanished in a whirlpool motion shortly afterwards. So, he had some sort of teleportation jutsu as well.

The water retreated, leaving Itachi to blink away the burn of the water's contact with his eyes. Once his vision cleared, he found that Yuji was behind him, a steadying hand on the middle of his back. Kyuubi was watching him with amusement, though resentment lurked just beneath the surface. Itachi knew why: sharing how easily the Sharingan had snared him must have burned the prideful creature.

"Thank you, Kurama-sama," Itachi said, every syllable full of sincerity. "I will find him."

"Kill him twice and I will call us even. Begone."

And Itachi suddenly found himself sitting cross-legged on the roof again. So, Kurama could shake even an Uchiha loose from his host's mind. Interesting.

Stretching after rising, the boy nodded to him. "See you around, Itachi-san." As Katsuo hopped rooftops back towards the restaurant, Itachi wondered if he was doing the right thing. His mother often said that dull men and dull kunai needed sharpening in the same way, just with different whetstones, before they made good tools. Katsuo needed to find his whetstone, and Itachi suspected that Jiraiya-sama was not it. Besides, best to get the serpent out of the nest. He couldn't let Yuji close to Sasuke or Konoha until he was sure it was safe.

"I curse Uchiha Itachi with the task of keeping this crazy necklace out of the hag's hands. Better him than me. Niichan, you leave this thing alone. It's unholy. Itachi's probably the only guy crazy enough to steal it and survive it. If he manages, he had better keep Tenzou and Takashi in ANBU safe."

Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at the note that had been left with the necklace on Yuji's bare mattress—the boy had escaped with his bedsheets and had spilled turpentine (probably diluted with alcohol to dampen the smell to keep it from waking Jiraiya) all over the mattress, the bare pillow, and the necklace to mask any scent trails. The note was sprayed liberally with the hotel's standard cleaner, the ink smeared slightly because of it. The boy had even sprayed the carpet and spots on the walls and switches with the cleaner. Takashi had explained about ninken and Inuzuka apparently.

Objectively, Jiraiya couldn't help but be impressed by the lengths the boy had gone to to escape cleanly.

He turned his attention back to the note. So, Itachi-kun had Naruto's vote for Hokage, huh? He wondered what had prompted that before turning to Tenzou. "Where is he?"

The ANBU agent grimaced. "The seeds I planted on his clothing and got him to ingest over the last two days are all in the Red City. They're scattered about. He knows to abandon everything when he needs to run; Takashi taught him that even skin isn't safe from picking up beacons, but it's beyond the limit of what you can discard. I suspect Kyuubi burnt the others out of him, or he cleaned out his system with laxatives. He is aware of my tracking seeds."

"Scent is all we have then, and not much," Itachi said, eyeing the message and the room with a frown. "We should call in some Dog-masked ANBU if Hokage-sama will clear them."

Jiraiya shook his head, unconcerned. He hadn't had the kid sign the contract scroll just because, though he had only told Naruto about the summoning toads part of the contract. "I'll just get the toads to reverse summon him." He felt very old all of a sudden. Hiruzen-sensei had long ago discovered Naruto's disenchantment with ninja and Konoha in particular: the south was full of strong anti-ninja sentiment. It was probably why Takashi-kun had chosen to hide there—the improbability due to inconvenience. Hiruzen had warned Jiraiya and had given him the task of correcting the boy. He'd done his best, but Jiraiya had suspected the kid would leave when given his mother's location; he had wanted to trust the boy though. It hurt to have that trust betrayed.

He summoned a smaller toad and sent it back with instructions for those skilled in reverse summoning. When he called the toad back, it had interesting news. "Something has broken the contract."

Frowning, Jiraiya unrolled the signature scroll and narrowed his eyes at how Naruto's dried blood was now nothing more than ashen lines. Kyuubi. They had been thorough. Takashi must have taught the boy too well.

"We know where he'll go, at least," said Tenzou, looking sad. "Yuji was always closest to Hiromi. And for scent, I'm sure there are some of his clothes left in our house in Kirigishi. He might have even gone there. He was close to quite a few of the villagers, particularly Tori-kun."

Suddenly, the phone in their suite rang. Exchanging startled looks, the three jounin froze for a moment before Tenzou went to pick it up. "Yes?"

Jiraiya could hear a woman's voice informing him that an office in Konoha had phoned the hotel and was asking to be connected with them. Tenzou gave permission for the call to be put through.

The new voice coming from the phone was male. "Tiger–19."

"Here, passphrase nineteen seven twelve."

"Passphrase accepted. Sixty-seven two fifty-one. Mission to retrieve Tsunade or her apprentice Shizune has become critical. Use of force is permitted. Sarutobi-sama is in dire need of her medical attention. Poison. We suspect it's Chiyo of Suna's work. The Elders have also ordered Jiraiya-sama's return. With the Hokage incapacitated, the risk of invasion is higher."

Itachi walked straight out of the hotel lobby, the necklace strung around his neck. Shizune came right at him, poisoned darts flying. He dodged them effortlessly, his Sharingan giving him the insight necessary. "I need to speak with Tsunade-sama right now. It's an urgent command from Konoha."

Shizune-san made to snap at him, but she held her tongue as Jiraiya-sama and Tenzou followed in his wake, looking equally grim.

"Now, Shizune," said Jiraiya-sama. "Council orders, since the Hokage isn't conscious to give them anymore."

Shizune gasped and turned on her heel, leaping towards the rooftops, leading the way.

Yuji tied the last strip of his favourite shirt to a fox's leg and released it. As he watched it bound away, leaving yet another scent trail, he drew the folds of his new robe tighter and tilted his traditional-style umbrella back to peer up at the rain. His long grey hair bunched on his frail shoulders.

An old woman would not travel quickly, but travel she would. Konoha would be expecting him at Port Mure. Hopefully they wouldn't mind if he was a few weeks late. After all, old bones simply didn't make for quick travels, and she was in no great hurry at her age.

You're enjoying this far too much, obaasan.

Oh hush. Kumiko-san sighed gustily as she hobbled back to the west road with the help of her cane and picked up her carpet bag, which smelled very strongly of sandalwood and lilac. She was ever so fond of perfume after all.

Are you sure you want me to? There's not going to be anyone else to talk to for a long time.

Fine then. Have you got any good stories? I'm sure you've heard a lot over the centuries.

Kurama sighed. After ten minutes of listening to the patter of the rain though, words came. Ages ago, there was a beast known as Juubi. More powerful than any being ever seen before or any that will ever be, Juubi ruled the world with his whims. Until he met his match, the best man to ever draw breath, grow old, and die.

Jiraiya searched Tsunade's hard eyes for any sign that she would relent, but they were stony and cold.

"The old fool can suffer on his own."

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune looked appalled.

"I watched my grandfather and great uncle die for that village. I watched my parents follow suit. Then my brother. Then… If that geezer wants to sit on high, he should pay the price." Every word out of his teammate's mouth was chock-full of bitterness.

Jiraiya could sense that Tenzou was repelled, but Itachi was less so. His dark eyes were blank, taking everything in without obvious judgement from the corner he kept out of Tsunade's attention in.

Shizune was the most upset though. "Shishou! My uncle, he loved the village! He promised me so many times that he would become Hokage and make the village a better place! You spit on his dreams with what you say!"

Tsunade shut her eyes and turned away slightly. "And where's that punk kid you had with you?"

Betrayal stabbed Jiraiya in the chest. Oh, he was so used to that feeling. It was a constant companion any time he got news of Orochimaru. "Gone."

Tsunade's smirk widened. "So, he thinks the same way I do. The village isn't worth throwing your life away for."

"Then why are you about to let Hiruzen-sensei do it?"

"His choice. He's been clinging to his throne for ages. Besides, you turned down the Hokage title too. Oh, but I forgot. You did that because of failure."

"Shishou!" Shizune looked to be on the edge of tears. "If you won't go, permit me! I will go. You have taught me much about your antidotes. I don't want to hear it anymore, the slander the ninja messengers whisper after they hand over Sandaime-sama's messages. They say you are a shame! They say you are a coward. They say you are useless, luckless, and a hundred other things I would put their eyes out for, but I cannot because you will not do anything. Tsunade-sama, you loved my uncle. You took me as your ward, and for that, you have my loyalty. Let me go and defend your image because I care about it, even if you don't anymore."

Tsunade regarded her crying apprentice with narrowed eyes. "You want to go?"

"Uncle Dan told me many times that even though he sometimes made mistakes, Sarutobi-sama truly loved the village and that he admired him for it and hoped he would make half as good a Hokage. He told me about the meetings and planning sessions that went late into the night as Sandaime-sama sacrificed time with his family to figure out the best way to protect the village. If I can repay him by saving him from Suna's poison now, I will do it with your permission."

Tsunade frowned. "He's the one that ordered your uncle out on that mission."

"But I do not blame him. Uncle Dan wanted to go out where he was the most use to Konoha. He wanted to protect the village, me, and you."

"A fool," Tsunade whispered.

"It was my uncle's will. He decided it wasn't foolish. He wanted to defend his family."

Jiraiya watched Tsunade's angry facade crack into raw grief. She pressed her forehead to her clasped hands to hide her grimace and the tears leaking from her eyes. She breathed raggedly a couple times before she whispered, "Okay."

"Tsunade-sama?"

"Okay."

"I… I have your permission to go?"

Tsunade sucked in a breath and flattened her grimace. "Go pack our bags, Shizune."

The younger woman beamed through her tears. "Of course!"

Itachi watched Tsunade-sama head towards Konoha's hospital with her apprentice scurrying in her wake. The journey back to Konoha's gates had only taken a few hours, but with poison time was never on the victim's side. Still, Itachi discovered he wasn't worried despite how unreliable Tsunade-sama seemed. She moved with purpose now that he hadn't seen in her in the Red City.

Jiraiya-sama was headed for Admin, probably off to request ANBU trackers. Tenzou was going with him.

That left Itachi alone.

He stared up at the Monument, visible clearly above the main thoroughfare that connected Admin with the main gates. The Shodaime's necklace was a weight against his chest, the metal beads warmed by his flesh, but the crystal was still chilly. It resisted. He pressed his palm over the shirt and chuunin vest covering it.

When he got out of the bath an hour later, he let it bang against his sternum over top of his thin shirt. His mother's eyes widened as she turned from the daikon she was dicing to inspect him. A smile touched her lips. "I imagine you stole it?"

"I did originally, but I got it as a gift in the end."

"From Tsunade-sama?" Mikoto looked incredulous.

"From a boy. I'll see if I can tell you about him after Sandaime-sama wakes up and debriefs me. How did it happen?"

Mikoto sighed and set aside her knife. "One of his ANBU guards, well, she stopped the assassin, but not before the assassin's needle pierced the Hokage's arm."

"She didn't commit ritual suicide for her mistake, did she?" Itachi asked with a frown. The way his mother had said that had been strange.

"Oh, no… If anything, she's celebrating."

Itachi blinked. "Is she a traitor? Won't she be executed?"

His mother's expression twisted into an odd combination of a fond, wry grin and a frown. "She's not so much a traitor as she hates Sarutobi-sama for reasons she can't actually remember. Don't worry about her. They've dealt with her. Tsunade-sama is here to heal Sarutobi-sama, then?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "Then I guess she is the heir apparent?"

"She's unwilling."

"Of course she is." Mikoto grimaced as she studied the view out the window.

"Is it a bad thing? Will she be worse for the Uchiha? Will she be bad for Konoha?"

"I'm not sure anymore. It could go either way. The Nidaime was her great uncle; if he left a greater impression on her than her grandfather, then the Uchiha will be in trouble. The Nidaime did not trust us as a clan. As for Konoha, I don't know. She is a superior medical ninja, but a Hokage needs more than that. I heard that she lost sight of all of her dreams over the years. What did you see in her?"

"Bitterness. Lots of it. But there is mercy in her too."

"Time will tell then. I won't vote for her when it comes time for the jounin election though." His mother retrieved her knife. "Make sure you get back in her good graces. Make sure she lets you keep that pendant around your neck. It's going to shine so brightly there."

Six Dog agents, some with multiple canine partners, exited the briefing room, most bound south for the Red City while a pair headed to Kirigishi to find scent examples since Yuji had even burnt the hotel room's trash in his quest to leave nothing for Konoha to use to trace him. Jiraiya glanced at Dragon–1, who rolled up the mission scroll and made it disappear in a puff of smoke.

"You angry I lost him?" Jiraiya asked the old agent.

Dragon shrugged. "Rat–67 trained him to be an expert in escaping. You are good at many things, Jiraiya-sama. If I may be frank though, tracking is not something you are adept at. We have our experts on the task. They will find him. One man may not master all things. If he does, what does he need a village for?"

Jiraiya smirked. "Quite a mouth you've got on you. So you are mad. Relax. Tsunade will heal him."

Dragon stiffened. "He should not have been poisoned in the first place."

"Snake–28, was it?"

Dragon nodded curtly. "The two other guards were hit, so it fell to her. It was probably legitimately an accident like she claims—she is slowing down in her old age—but her lack of remorse…"

Jiraiya sighed. "Send her on guarding missions for the next few months instead of letting her go assassinate targets. She'll hate it. That'll be punishment enough."

"I sent her on retrieval missions. If I assigned her to protecting someone, she'd end up killing them out of spite."

"Look on the bright side: maybe this time Sarutobi-sensei will decide that he's let her use his guilt to stay alive for too long."

Dragon sighed wearily. "No, Sarutobi-sama is too good a man for that. Unfortunately, even Snake remembers that much."

Jiraiya nodded. "Suna coming?"

"No reports from the western border yet. We sent some scouts into River. We should get advance warning from them. They might be satisfied with nearly killing Sarutobi-sama so long as the news gets out."

"Will word get out?"

"Probably. I apologize, Lord Jiraiya, but word is impossible to stop completely. We quashed all known leaks to Suna, but it will get out somehow. With Lady Tsunade back in the village, rumours will abound."

"Let's hope Suna is happy with their publicity stunt then." Jiraiya shut his eyes. "Any indication of Orochimaru's involvement?"

"Not yet, but we did confirm that he had contact with Suna recently."

Yet another stab of betrayal, but Jiraiya was beginning to go numb. Days like today did that to him. He nodded to Dragon–1 as he headed out the door. Once he reached the edge of the Hokage Monument, he peered down at Minato's carved head, which was a horribly inaccurate likeness of his best student. It lacked Minato's shy grin. "Sorry, kid. I kind of lost your son. I'll find him though. Don't you worry."

Tenzou stared with wide eyes at the waitress that came to take his order as his father's—no, Takashi-san's—eyes twinkled with the only traces of a smirk that he would let on his face. Tenzou stuttered out his order and blanched as this Eiko-san winked at him.

"You're a little young for me, ninja-san," she whispered to him after she finished repeating his order back at him.

Tenzou managed to pull his jaw closed after she disappeared into the kitchen. He whipped his head around to stare at Takashi. "Tha— That's—!"

"Uh-huh."

"Shit." Yuji is going to be so pissed off when he figures out she's not in Port Mure.

Takashi frowned and flicked his forehead exactly the way Mamoru had in Kirigishi Village for all those years. "None of that." He leaned back on his cushion to rest his shoulders against the wall of their booth. "So, he ran away."

His father sounded so sad. Tenzou was positive that Takashi-san wasn't actually his father (Orochimaru had aimed for Senju, not Shimura, children), but for thirteen years he had been, even as he had been his squad leader. "Yes. We think he's going to Port Mure. Jiraiya-sama told him that was where she went."

"But you're not sure."

"Well, no. You did teach him not to be predictable."

Takashi ran fingers through his short hair and sighed. "I did. It was one of the few lessons he picked up right away. I know I shouldn't be proud of him, but…"

Tenzou's eyes widened. "But…!"

"Yes, I know. I'm furious at the same time. It's odd. If she remembered, I'm sure she would be laughing wickedly at how Yuji finally managed to give us the slip after stalking him without letting up for thirteen years."

As Tenzou spotted Eiko-san carrying two steaming platters out of the kitchen, laughing at whatever the chef had said, he agreed. "So, Hokage-sama made you a sensei?"

Takashi-san grimaced. "Not just yet. There's a group that should be part of the next graduating class he wants me to take on, so I've got a bit of a grace period. We'll find you an apartment in that time. I'll show you the ins and outs of lease contracts."

Even as Tenzou grinned at his father, he felt horribly guilty. By leaving Jiraiya-sama's side, Yuji had committed himself to a very lonely path. "I think it's the beast. I think they've been talking."

Takashi frowned. "Then he's in trouble. That beast probably has him convinced they're friends. A creature doesn't live that long without becoming crafty. Kitsune are always described as manipulative in the tales." He whispered the last bit after making certain no one would overhear and fell silent, likely brooding over things he couldn't say in public. He glared at his food as Eiko set it in front of him.

Tenzou smiled apologetically at her and nodded thanks as she set his own meal before him. He couldn't help but note how Eiko kept glancing at his father. So, loss of memory and an appearance change on both their parts hadn't changed that. "If the beast is lying to him, I don't know that we'll ever get him to come back."

Takashi squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a breath through his teeth before opening them. "We'll have to believe that you and I taught him enough about guile to recognize it in the beast. And we'll have to hope that Mae taught him enough about being an individual that the beast comes to regret what he's doing. If not, then the fox has neatly gotten his revenge on us. His father left him to us for a reason; Sarutobi-sama believes that. Yuji has to come back."