I noticed something rather interesting when I read chapter 258 of Naruto. On page six or seven, when Naruto and his group are fighting Itachi, his(Itachi's) forehead protector is curiously unslashed. Now, I recall him having a slashed forehead protector, as he did betray Konoha by killing his clan(or however you want to phrase it), but the Konoha band was scratch free. A mistake of Kishmoto's, perhaps, a faulty scan... or maybe something else altogether? Oh well, I guess I'll be looking for this scratch free Itachi again in the next chapter.
first couple of sections are short, but then we get a huge chunk of Naruto and crew, and then a bit of another Uchiha and a slightly different way of looking at the Uchiha massacre.

For the Love of My Friends

Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Blood and Backup Plans

by Foxie

The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the impending migraine. Out of all of his subordinates, Gai was certainly the most energetic.

"Team Seven has been given an assignment that was improperly graded. Where we had thought it was a C class mission, it is really a B or even higher class. We can't spare too many people, so your team will go back them up. You understand?" He regretted having to send another genin team, but with Gai and Kakashi there, it would fit the requirements for a two man team for an A class mission. The genins would simply have to stay on the sidelines.

"Rival Kakashi needs me! And when I save him and his students.. wait.. Kakashi actually passed a team?" Gai broke off his rambling rant, looking rather confused. "That is not like him."

Sarutobi rested his chin on his hands. "Yes, I believe that he was surprised about that too." He remembered Kakashi walking in on the jonin meeting for Kurenai, Asuma, and himself(an hour late), a half dazed, half happy look on his face, announcing that he finally had a team.

Gai looked like he had been told it was Christmas in July. "Then we are to go save the rookies and Kakashi! And then, and then! We'll have our teams spar together! And then, and then-"

"A simple yes or no would work just nicely, thank you."

Gai saluted the Hokage with one of his patented grins. "Yes!" Sarutobi ruffled through some papers then pulled out a file and handed it over to Gai. Gai opened up, frowning when he saw a picture of Zabuza up in the front. Him!

"You have one day to prepare."

"He's late." Tenten stated in a flat tone, looking at her wrist watch. She sat in one of the trees, feet lightly swaying. Lee frowned and stopped practicing.

"Perhaps he's taking a leaf out of Kakashi's book." Neji said in an equally flat tone. He leaned more into the tree he was sitting against.

Tenten shuddered, remembering exactly what Kakashi considered good reading material. "I hope not."

Lee stood up for his mentor. "You truly have no faith in Gai-sensei! We must believe in him!" The genin struck a pose.

A disembodied voice floated around them. "Those who believe in me, believe in the power of youth!" Gai appeared in a cloud of smoke. "My unfaithful students and Lee, I have managed to get you all a mission! A mission where your youthful efforts and strengths will be rewarded-"

"Oh brother." Tenten muttered, tuning out the rest of Gai's speech. After ten minutes of staring at one of the trees blankly, she turned to Neji.

"Recap."

He opened his eyes. "Mission. High leveled C class because there will be two genin teams. Backing up Team Seven. The one with the Uchiha. Wave Country. One day to prepare." he said in a monotone. She thanked him, not having the attention span or patience he had to listen to one of Gai's speeches.

"Yay! I get to save Sakura-san!" Lee's eyes morphed into hearts. Gai grinned, putting a hand on Lee's head.

"Ah, young love!"

Neji walked back to the mansion, deep in thought about their next mission. They knew that there was at least one missing nin involved, who either Kakashi or Gai had to defeat while he and the other genins were merely damage control.

He went through the gate. Half way in, he saw Hinata. She was partly hidden by a screen door. Pausing, Neji watched her silhouette lift something up, then drag it across her outstretched arm. He immediately started to frown. I didn't know she was a cutter. he thought, scoffing. How pathetic.

His stride quickened as he went up the stairs and into the mansion. He turned for his room, hoping that no one would notice him. Luckily, no one did. He would have peace until he had to show up at Gai's house.

They were supposed to sleep at his house the day before a mission. It was to improve the group's dynamic, apparently. He sighed, knowing it would be a sleep less night. Lee talked too damn much! But Tenten had said the last time they had slept over that her father(who owned the only weapons shop in Konoha) had gotten some pretty powerful sleeping poisons that were meant to be used with a special weapon he had in stock and wouldn't it be so nice if she used some of it on Lee?(Did she have to ask?)He had agreed wholeheartedly and hoped she remembered.

His door slid open behind him. "Neji-nisan?" someone said tentively. "May I come in?" Neji looked over his shoulder at his cousin, remembering what he had seen.

"If that is what you wish." he said in a monotone. Hinata stepped into the threshold of the room, looking out of place.

"Um.. I.. w-well.. I h-heard you have a mission.." she stuttered. Neji kept packing, his face impassive. "N-Neji-nisan! I have something for you!" Finally, he turned around, staring at the small brown jar that was being offered to him.

"Um.. When you wear your bandages.. y-you know.. Your skin get burned and stuff from the friction.." she gulped. "This is for the burns." Neji frowned. It made sense. He did occasionally get burns from wearing the fighting bandages, but usually ignored the pain. He hesitatingly reached out to it.

When he registered the weight of the burn balm in his palm, everything started to click together. The thick smell of herbs around her room. The cutting. All the times she came home late, well after he knew her team practice was over. The books and scrolls she started to cart around. The jar in his hand. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, flipping it over to look at the underside of her arm.

There were no scars or any signs of recent cuts. Neji fixed the suddenly nervous girl a blank stare.

"You should be more careful." he said. Her eyes widened, realizing what he was talking about. "It is not allowed in this clan. Leave my room, if you will." Terrified, Hinata ran out of the room. After a moment, Neji continued packing. He walked over to his closet to retrieve his spare explosion tags, eyes occasionally straying to the brown chest on the top of his closet. Sighing in defeat, he put aside the tags and reached up for the box.

Hyuuga Hizashi. The name on the chest had been carved in by hand. He put the chest down on his desk and undid the latch. Inside, there were pictures and various other trinkets his father had collected, bringing a faint smile to Neji's face.

However, it was not time to mourn the past. He reached under the photographs and pulled out a book. I suppose you'd be happy that someone else is following your footsteps, Father.

Dazed and terrified, Hinata wandered around Konoha without a destination. Will he tell Father? Will I be forbidden to continue, or disowned? She had tripped and stumbled a few times, mumbling quiet apologies, too into her thoughts and fears. Will Father take away my right to be a ninja?

After thirty minutes of wandering(strange, it seemed like it had been a lifetime), she turned around and walked back to the mansion. I might as well face it.. the ground doesn't look like it's going to open up and swallow me anytime soon.. nor is Naruto going to appear magically to save me.

Scurrying up to her room like a mouse who feared that she would be stepped on, Hinata was relieved when no one looked at her like she was some kind of criminal. No half impassive, half 'you're in trouble' looks from anyone.

She closed the door behind her, not wanting to jinx her good fortune. Maybe Neji-nisan didn't tell anyone? she thought hopefully, then stiffened when she saw something on her futon. It appeared to be a book. With trembling hands, she picked it up and opened the cover. Hinata sneezed, correcting herself.

It wasn't just a book, it was a very old book. It was about ancientmedical techinques used by the founders of the village.A thin scrap of paper slipped out of the pages, but before she could thing to retrieve it, her eyes focused on the writing inside the cover.

This belongs to Hyuuga Hizashi. she read. My uncle? Neji's father? She remembered Hizashi quite well. He always gave her treats and smiled at her even when she was failing horribly at something. When in his presence, she had wished that she had been his daughter, even if she would have been in the branch family. Eyes moistening in remembrance of her beloved uncle, she reached for the note.

It was rushed and to the point: Father would have been proud.

Outside the Hyuuga estate, Neji took one last glance at the place he had always hesitated to call home. If that is the road that you wish to take in order to become strong, Hinata-sama, then I will not stand in your way.

Naruto yawned, flashing long canines at his companions over the breakfast table. Only Inari was unsettled by the sight.

Kakashi ate heartily, having woken up from his coma like state a few hours prior, only to get chastised by Sakura, who threw rule after rule in the masked nin's face about chakra depletion and how you're not supposed to do it. Kakashi merely smiled, happy that someone was worrying over him for once.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi. Only Kakashi could eat without showing off the lower portion of his face. He entertained thoughts of knocking the milk carton(which was rudely obscuring his view.) and seeing what his teacher looked like underneath that damn mask once and for all. Of course, he wasn't curious, he assured himself. But when a rice ball went missing and Kakashi looked suspiciously happy, Sasuke relented, admitting the truth. He was curious.

And hethought it was completely unfair that of all of them at the table, Naruto was the only one who had theopportunity to see Kakashi exposed.. yet the blond wasn't doing a damn thing about it.

Not evenone twitch of the eye towards Kakashi. Hell, the guy didn't even look over at his sensei, either too tired or insanely interested to see what was at the bottom of his ramen bowl.

He wondered if it was the fact that Kakashi knew that Naruto wouldn't be too interested in the morning, or if it was because the jonin trusted Naruto not to make a big deal out of it that he let the blond sit in the best angle to catch a glimpse of his face.

"Well! Whatcha guys planning on doing today? Going to see if you could catch any giant frogs?" Tazuna asked, too cheerfully. At this, Naruto flinched. Kakashi looked interested, in a vaguely bored way.

"No. We're training. Whoever finishes the training first will escort you to the bridge." Kakashi said, securing his mask. Sasuke, and Sakura as well, began to scowl. Naruto brightened.

"Then send me! I don't need to sit in for the tree climbing!" Too busy smiling, he didn't notice the suspicious look Kakashi cast his way.

I don't recall telling him that we were going to do that? the jonin rubbed the back of his head. A good guess? Or something else all together?

"Hm. Nice try, kiddo." Kakashi muttered absently, smiling when Naruto pouted.

They left the house, Tsunami's final 'Be careful!' as well as Inari's cold stare staying with them as they walked. (Naruto retaliated by sticking his tongue out at the boy, who seemed surprised that they knew he was watching)

Kakashi stopped in a clearing he had noted when he had departed(more like was dragged. Stupid Sasuke.) for Tazuna's home. The clearing wasn't really that great of a clearing, a small ten feet gap between trees, but he hardly cared about the space. He was looking at the trees themselves.

They were tall and thin, but not too thin where a strong wind would blow them away. The branches only really started up at the top, which meant his students wouldn't be faced with the temptation to sit down and rest a moment.

Being genins, he knew that their chakra control needed some extra polishing and excluding Naruto(whose stamina was so crazy that it could hardly be described in words), the team was also seriously lacking in endurance. Speaking of the blond, Kakashi realized with a strange sense of amusement that he was bored. Naruto's foot kept on tapping and he kept on sighing, fixing the jonin with an annoyed look that he recognized all too well.

It was Obito's patented 'Why the hell are you wasting my time and why the hell haven't I killed you yet!'. It was enough to make Kakashi grin. Strange how random thoughts of his old deceased team mate didn't hurt as much anymore.

"So.. we're going to climb trees?" Sakura said, looking highly doubtful. "I don't see how that will help us too much.." Actually, it sounds downright boring...

"It's going to help you three because you are only going to use your feet and your chakra. Like so." Kakashi walked up the side of the tree, much to Sakura and Sasuke's surprise. He stopped when he reached the branch and walked out on it, mentally grinning at his student's surprise. He made the mistake of looking down and almost dropped when he realized Naruto was still bored. Keh.. Kakashi thought rather childishly. what a hard to please guy. He pouted, tossing three kunais down in front of their feet.

"You try. And use these to mark your process." he said neutrally, making his way down.

Sasuke grabbed one of the kunais and stared the tree down, as if it was an enemy ninja preparing to strike. Sakura grabbed one too, looking a little confused. Naruto picked up the last one, bored as hell, his eyes flicking from side to side, looking for an opening. Kakashi made it to level ground. "It's best if you give yourself a running start." Some grumbles (all Naruto) met his ears, but his students took several paces back. "Alright.. Start!"

Sasuke's foot immediately shot off of the bark, burning it a little in the shape of his foot. Dammit! The momentum of his run allowed him to go up a little, but he could feel the bark cracking and slipping beneath his feet. He slashed the kunai against the bark, then flipped backwards, landing gracefully on the ground.

Sakura didn't put enough chakra in her feet and ended up slipping. Flushing, she realized she hadn't been paying enough attention, her mind wandering back to review the memories of the last few days. She got up, rubbing the small of her back. Get it together Haruno!

Naruto hadn't moved. He had crossed his arms over his chest and was frowning at the ground. Figuring that he was thinking of the best way to walk up the tree, Kakashi let him be.

"Too much chakra, you'll destroy the tree. Too less of it, you won't even stick." Kakashi said helpfully. "You have to find the middle."

Sasuke frowned, thinking quickly. Maybe I'll use that thing that Naruto showed us. Decreasing the surface area should help with my control. Concentrating, he focused energy into his heel and the ball of his foot. Trying to scale the tree again, he found himself flailing barely two feet away from the ground. Instinctively, more chakra shot out of his foot and wrapped around the trunk. It only slowed his descent slightly and scorched the bark even more.

Wincing at the dull thud of Sasuke hitting the ground, Kakashi said, "Creative, but no. There is a reason why you have toes. It's to help you walk. Using that trick of his won't help. You need chakra in your toes to stick to the trunk." He switched his gaze to Sakura. The genin stood up straight, one foot on the trunk. She was testing how much chakra would make her foot stick to the bark. When her foot suddenly shot off, putting her off balance, he guessed that she put forth too much chakra. He didn't have any objections to her experimentation so he turned to Naruto. Who was suddenly being very loud.

"Hey hey! Why don't we sing a song?" the blond bellowed, bringing everyone in the clearing (and probably everyone in a mile radius) to focus on him. Kakashi sighed, then narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right. His head tilted slightly to look behind him. You really need to work on your stealth, Naruto. he thought, eyeing a small tan blur that was tiptoeing away. "Everyone with me! For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow.."

Sakura twitched, turning a glare of death toward him. He's breaking my concentration! Naruto squeaked when he saw the look in her eyes, but continued singing. Sasuke eyed his kunai rather longingly.

Kakashi frowned and threw a rock at Naruto from his blind spot. Oblivious and still singing, Naruto exploded into a cloud of smoke. Sakura gaped, mouth opening and closing without any noise.

"A kage bunshin?" Sasuke muttered, looking confused. Meanwhile, Kakashi was on the prowl. Silently following the tan creature in front of him, his hand darted out and grabbed the creature by the back of his neck. Immediately whining and whimpering, he tried to break Kakashi's grip. When the jonin kept walking, he went limp, accepting the evitable.

Blinking owlishly, his other two students watched as he held a rather adorable fox by the back of his neck. The fox almost looked like it was pouting.

"Look familiar?" Kakashi said in a bland voice, lightly shaking the fox. The illusion dropped, showing that he actually had Naruto by the back of his vest. He was hanging in the air, his face twisted in a half scowl and half pout expression.

Despite her annoyance, Sakura had to smile. Naruto was such a kid sometimes.

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto.." Kakashi said, tsking. "Here I give you a perfectly good training exercise and you attempt to ditch us? I'm wounded. You're going to make me cry." Naruto turned annoyed eyes toward his teacher.

"I told you already, dammit! I already know how to do this!" Naruto shouted. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, sensei.." Sakura said, sticking up for Naruto, "Isn't water walking similar to tree climbing? Naruto did that just fine."

"Yeah, but the trick he told us didn't work on the trees." Sasuke countered. Naruto made an impatient noise in the back of his throat and wrestled one of his sandals off while still hanging from Kakashi's hand.

"See?" Naruto announced, sticking out his foot. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow.

"No.. but I can smell.." the jonin said humorously. Naruto flailed, hitting Kakashi in the leg with his sandal for the insult.

"I have flat feet, you dumb ass! That trick doesn't work for me!" Kakashi rubbed his chin, contemplating over what Naruto had said.

"So.. the only way you could have walked on water is if you knew the correct way to walk up a tree."

"Yeah."

"You didn't trip, slip, or fall until you were injured."

"Yeah."

"And that was why you wanted to leave, because you thought it would be a waste of time to relearn it."

"Yeah, already. Geez.." Even as Naruto grumbled, Kakashi quickly came up with a plan that would benefit himself greatly.

"Well.. Practice makes perfect." the jonin said too cheerfully, dropping Naruto on his rear. "If you know so much, then you teach them. I will, on the other hand, accompany Tazuna to the bridge." Whistling, Kakashi left them there.

Naruto grumbled. He wanted to go to the bridge that had been named after him a lifetime ago. Turning, he realized that Sasuke and Sakura were looking at him expectantly. Something that would have thrown him off awhile ago, but since he had taught them a thing or two before, it felt more natural.

"Well.. um. Okay! Believe it or not, this stupid exercise is actually very good. It not only fine tunes your chakra control, but it also increases your stamina. To walk up a tree, it actually takes a very small amount of chakra, but that chakra has to be all throughout the foot and very precise." Naruto said. He couldn't remember a time he had been away for one of Iruka's chakra lectures, but he had been retaught the basics during his time with Jiraiya. "The foot's supposed to be the hardest place to gather chakra(I dunno about that, for me, it's always been my left pinky). So if a guy-" he glanced at Sakura. "or girl, you know, gets a good handle on this, they are supposed to be able to learn more difficult jutsus."

Sakura's eyes lit up. Maybe I will finally be able to perform that diagnostic jutsu for poisons! Sasuke looked intrigued, but only slightly. His back was still sore and his ego was bruised from his clumsy slide down the tree.

Naruto shrugged, pointing at their kunai. "Just keep trying it."

Completely focused now, Sakura got all the way to the top on her second try. She sat in one of the upper branches and stuck out her tongue, forming the sign for victory with her two fingers. Naruto clapped. Sasuke frowned, looking at the gash in the tree. It was barely two inches above the first.

"Okay, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled up to her, "Try building up your chakra by running up and down the tree!" She nodded, lifting herself off the branch and began her descent, which she found was a little harder. A soft scratching noise met Naruto's ears, making him turn his attention to Sasuke.

Five marks marred the tree, all several inches away from each other. Hmm.. He's improving pretty quickly. Naruto thought. I guess it's the shame of being the last one in the group to finish something is what spurs him on.

The hours went by quickly, which Naruto spent giving out advice, making jokes, and catching Sakura when she exhausted all of her chakra.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said, helping her stand on her feet. He wisely kept his mouth shut about her fall. "You're tired. Walk around to cool down, then go back to Tazuna's." She nodded, barely conscious. The girl exchanged brief good byes with her team mates, getting a hearty return from Naruto and a grunt from Sasuke. Once Sakura had left, what had been a very noisy exercise suddenly became very quiet.

The sun dipped below the horizon. Naruto leaned against the tree he was supposed to be climbing, looking serene even as the increasing darkness threw shadows over his face. He titled his head to the side, watching Sasuke continue to labor.

There were many more scratches on the tree reaching up to a good twenty feet, but that was barely half of the tree. Sasuke paused, trying to breathe. He has better control than I do and more stamina than Sakura-chan. Naruto observed. The only reason why I never have any problems with this sort of thing is because I'm used to it. It's like riding a bike, once you learn it, you never forget how to do it.

"Hey." Naruto said, his voice loud and piercing in the silence, although it was meant to be softer. "I gotta trick that helps you get into the rhythm of it." Sasuke gave him a half hearted scowl.

"Another trick?" Naruto nodded, a mischievous smile on his face. Foxes are full of pranks and tricks. Kyuubi rumbled absently. He should know that by now. Naruto smiled even more.

Wary of the strange, giddy look on his friend's face, Sasuke stood straighter. "Alright. Show me." he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Naruto gave him a mock bow.

"As you wish.." Sasuke blinked, and suddenly Naruto was in front of him. The breath was knocked right out of him when Naruto nailed him in the stomach with his hardshoulder, proceeding to pick the slightly taller boy up.

"Naruto!" Sasuke protested, not liking being carried around like a sack of potatoes. He was ignored, as Naruto was too occupied with climbing up the tree with such speed and carelessness that it made Sasuke's head spin. Naruto didn't bend to gravity, slide down the tree and land hard on the unforgiving ground, instead, he kept going up the tree until they reached the highest branches.

Carefully, Naruto let Sasuke down on the thickest branch. Sasuke, finding his legs, smacked Naruto in the back of the head for not warning him in advance, then had to grab the back of Naruto's vest to keep him from flying off the branch.

"Hey! Watch it, asshole." Naruto said in a cranky voice. "I can get down from here. Can you?" Sasuke put his hands up in defense at the thinly veiled threat.

"Alright..." Naruto said, accepting Sasuke's retreat. "Now, back to business. The reason why tree climbing so damn hard for you is 'cause your trying to get your damn foot to become attracted to the damn tree so you'll stick, and let's be blunt here: There's no chemistry between the two." Sasuke smiled involuntarily. Naruto had an odd way of saying things "So, not only are you tryin' to force a relationship that is in the dumps, you're also tryin' to fight the big daddy, gravity. But but but!"

Naruto pointed a finger down to the earth below them. Sasuke looked down at the ground, so far away from where he was right then. Feeling woozy, he backed away from the edge of the branch and toward the trunk.

"Now we're up here, instead of down there." Naruto said slyly. Sasuke's eyes widened, knowing exactly what Naruto was going to pull. "The tree and your feet won't have such a hard time being friends if you don't have to fight gravity, right?"
Sasuke turned to Naruto, instinctively clinging to the trunk. "No no no.." he protested. Naruto grinned, peeling Velcro Sasuke from the trunk and pushing him off the branch.

"Bon voyage, mon ami!" Naruto said gleefully. He faintly heard Sasuke cursing him to hell, then realized that Sasuke wasn't as resilient as he himself was to taking damage. Sighing, he jumped off the branch on the trunk of the other tree and zoomed down, prepared to heal wounds, or scrap any remains off the ground.

The first thing Sasuke did when he felt the surface beneath his feet disappear was try to cling to the tree with feet charged with chakra. He slowed down, but was still was going pretty fast. The first impact of his foot against the trunk made him wince, but the second was easier. Adrenaline and blood rushing in his ears, all he could hear was his quickened breaths and his own heart beat. For a second, running down the tree, the wind blowing through his hair, he realized he loved it.

The speed, the rush, the slight fear, the knowing that if he tripped, he could die. It was over too quickly. He found himself crouching on the ground after skidding on his knees, panting and trying to disguise the slight shuddering of his shoulders.

"See!" Naruto said proudly. "You ran down the entire tree! Isn't it better to go with gravity than to fight against it?" His response was a clump of dirt thrown in his face. "Hey!"

Sasuke stood slowly, which was when Naruto realized that Sasuke was pretty shaken up about being tossed off a branch nearly fifty feet away from the ground(which was nothing to Naruto, having been thrown into a seemingly endless ravine in a last ditch effort for his youki to emerge and finally be able to summon a mature frog summon.). For a moment, Naruto felt bad. Worse than he had felt for a very long time. Sasuke wasn't like Naruto. Just because Naruto thought it was fun didn't mean that others would find it as enjoyable. He had a hard time remembering that he was much different than anyone else he had ever met, save Gaara.

Then it disappeared in the uttering of one simple sentence from his rival/friend/brother figure. Sasuke looked over his shoulder, a faint smile on his lips. His knees were bloody from skidding on the ground at the end of his run. His face was dirty, sweaty, and a faintly flushed from all the exercise. His normally guarded eyes were open and filled with something Naruto would have described as enjoyment if he wasn't talking about Sasuke.

"Lets do that again."

Around that same time, another Uchiha was walking the streets of his old neighborhood. The abandoned section made others terrified and scared at the heavy presence of pain and fear that lingered after death, but Itachi felt as if he was being welcomed back home.

Features hidden beneath a henge just in case someone else was in the sector, he paused outside of what had once been his uncle and aunt's home. Closing his eyes, he remembered his aunt's initial warm welcome, then the rapid paling of her face when she noticed his bloody katana. He had killed his uncle only minutes before.

"Why?" he had asked her, making her the first of four Uchihas to see him at all that fateful night. "Why did you let him go on with it?" She had opened her mouth, then closed it, tears running down her face.

"I.. I don't know, Itachi-chan." she had whispered.

Feeling bitter, he kicked in the door. He had held his father's sister as her breathing slowed and finally stopped that night. All doubts and pangs of guilt disappeared after her death. He had went on to the next house, taunted his father with the knowledge of all the deaths he had been responsible for. His father became angered. His father disowned him, saying coldly that Sasuke would be the one to carry on the dream of the clan. Then he attacked Itachi with a deadly blow, which was countered when his mother threw herself in between them.

She dropped to the ground, bleeding from her husband's attack. Itachi, feeling returning to him once more, reached out to her, his hand shaking. He had planned to spare her and Sasuke, the only two oblivious to the darker dealings of the clan. She smiled, whispering that she loved all of her children, no matter what they did.

Instead of getting a doctor, which Itachi would have allowed him to do, his father ignored the wounded woman at his feet.

"You bring dishonor to the clan." he said, gaze not straying from Itachi's angry red eyes. "Because of you, your mother dies."

"She doesn't have to! Go get a doctor, now!" Itachi snapped. He hated his father with all of his heart, but Itachi would risk getting caught by the other Anbus and charged for treason for his bloody acts to get his mother to safety. He reached out for her again, but then withdrew when a kunai was thrown at him.

"And have you escape with all the knowledge of our plans? I think not. What I do is what's best for the clan." his father said coldly.

"But she's your wife!"

"Merely a vessel for my heirs. Easily replaceable." Itachi watched his mother stiffen slightly, but that was all he saw through the red haze of anger. He leapt at his father, the advance form of sharingan taking over. The older man didn't stand a chance. Itachi slit his stomach open, then slammed his blade to the hilt in the clan leader's heart.

Heart still pounding, he watched coldly when his father fell to the floor on his mother. Blinking, he started to pull him off her when she gently pushed his hands away.

"Mother.." Itachi whispered.

"No. I wish to stay.. with him." his mother said quietly, in her last few breaths. Angry that she stillloved him although his father had clearly stated that she meant nothing to him, but respectful of her wishes, he watched her die. His face was hidden in shadow, his katana still loosely held in his hand.

The door in front of him was pushed in and his brother ran in, pale and shaken, calling out for his mother and father.

The dream of the clan had been simple. To take over the village. Itachi had been used as a spy, having a very influential position in Konoha as an Anbu.

Itachi didn't know when he changed from being his father's tool in their secret rebellion to actively destroying it with his bare hands, but it must have had something to do with Shishi's ordered assassination. His father wanted someone in their clan to have the advanced blood limit, and he wanted that someone to be his heir.

Shishi's blood had coated his fingers, and then Itachi knew without a doubt that he hated his father. The pain that came with the emerging sharingan had nothing to do with the pain of losing his friend. And then his father had to look so proud, saying that it was what he had expected of his son.

For him, that fateful night had never ended. His goal was to kill every last Uchiha that had dipped even a pinky into their sinister plot to take over Konoha, and it extended to the spawn of those traitors. Only his mother and his brother were pure in his eyes.

But Itachi was involved in the plot, meaning that his goal was never achieved. Let his little brother think that Itachi killed everyone to measure his strength, but Sasuke.. his little brother, so full of hate, wanting to hurt him so badly, would actually save him, be his salvation, the justice that he himself had started serving out, the salve to the pain that the advanced sharingan gave him day after day until all of the cells in his eyes were killed off.

Itachi drifted out of memory lane when he heard the not so disguised clanking behind him. He looked, seeing a rather plain face villager looking back.

"So?" Itachi asked.

"The brat ain't here." the villager's voice was rough, but it was no doubt Kisame under that illusion. "But I did find two of the three legendary old farts."

Itachi's eyebrow quirked. "Is that so.."

"Yeah, and the Chuunin Exam is comin' up soon." Kisame said, his eyes straying to the brown mark on the wall that had not faded away from the rain. "Comin' back to the scene of the crime?"

Itachi ignored his question and posed one of his own. "Why would I care about the Chuunin Exam?" he asked, his dry tone clearly stating what he thought about watching children kick the crap out of each other.

"That sand youkai kid.. heard that they were gonna send him. And there's a good chance your fox brat will be there too."

Itachi looked impassive, carefully running through what his partner had said. "Then.. we will return for this exam." He turned around and started walking away, fully expecting Kisame to follow.

Silly, foolish little brother.. Itachi thought, knowing that if the Kyuubi host went to the Chuunin Exam, his brother would too. Even after all these years, we're slaves and tools of our father. I'm killing and giving the Uchiha name a powerful reputation, and you are going to kill me to avenge his death. It couldn't have played out better to his wishes even if he wrote the script himself. But brother, you were always the soft one, so much like Mother while I took after our father. That's why I have a backup plan. a small dark smile curved his lips. If you cannot kill me, I'll make sure the Kyuubi boy will.

Bon voyage, mon ami- Something in french along the lines of "Good travels, my (male) friend."
Next Chapter: Team Seven supervises Tazuna, Team Gai runs into a bit of trouble, and the final battle between Kakashi's team and the mist duo starts to rear its head.