A/N: HeY! Here's another part of this lovely timeskip. Again, I've put a few small scenes together that would give glimpses of what is happening. I hope you enjoy it!

1st Year Part 2

-Orochimaru-

Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, savoring the scene before him. "Old friend, I didn't expect to see you here."

"You lies are as atrocious as your garment style." Danzo stepped forward, his cane clicking on the stone floor. Behind him, Kabuto limped, his glasses cracked and askew. "I am returning your rat."

"How awfully kind of you, and quite uncharacteristic. Could it be that you are here, in your current state, for a different reason?"

With a flick of his finger, the Root member holding Kabuto threw the medic to the ground. "I have an assignment for you."

"I'm afraid the times where you gave me orders, and I executed are over, Danzo."

"I was under the impression you valued your little medic. You did after all work so hard to snatch him over from me."

"I can get a new one."

"Orochimaru-sama, please!"

"Hush Kabuto," said Orochimaru, "the adults are speaking." His attention turned toward Orochimaru "Any other offers?"

"How about I allow you to keep your status of…was it Otokage? And of course your freedom and that political immunity you so crave. Does that sound gracious enough?"

Orochimaru leaned forward, his long tongue slipping over sharp fangs. "You forget I can infect all the continents with a disease you have no cure to."

"I have your medic."

"Don't be foolish. I implanted a suicide seal inside Kabuto's brain years ago. Learned from your mistakes. If a Yamanaka even tries to put a tendril of chakra in his mind, his head will pop. And we both know he won't talk, not to you." The room's silence was as thick as the tension within it, suffocating in its intensity. Orochimaru's luminous eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "I see we have reached a stalemate. So why don't you tell me what you want, pay for it and we make a deal, like normal partners. This whole power struggle bores me. Oh no, let me guess! Could it be the scroll I gave you? Was the translation too difficult? Is it the girl? Is she refusing to give you chakra? Or could it rather be the seal my dear old teacher placed on you?"

Danzo's hand tightened on the cane. Orochimaru's serpentine eyes fixed on the movement.

"If that is the case, then I cannot help you. I am of course familiar with the seal, but this is a blood seal which ties the two chakra systems together. Your own energy is used to sustain it, while the whole construction is tied and dependent on the caster's energy. As long as Sarutobi Hiruzen lives, you are powerless."

"In that case, how would you like to take revenge on your old Teacher?"

"Revenge for what? I am now a leader and I have my village to mold as I see fit. Konoha would never have been as… malleable."

"You are the leader of a backwater village with no power to speak of. Do not insult me by trying to convince me you don't crave Konoha."

"We could do this for hours, so let's get to the point. What do you have in mind?"

Danzo's lips twitched in the parody of a smile. "I should ask the same. I hear you've been sniffing around an economically unstable Sunagakure."

"Old news. I still haven't heard what I get from this."

"Is the satisfaction of revenge not sufficient?"

"A fortunate by-product, yet not enough to spark my interest."

Danzo clicked his tongue. On the other side of the room, Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, an air of infinite patience about him. The smirk playing over his thin lips morphed his already serpentine features into something predatory.

"Show me you can bring Suna to heel, and in return, I will annex it to your village. It can be your own testing lab."

"And how will you have the power to do that? Suna is in Wind Country. Other lands, other Daimyo. You have no jurisdiction there."

"Not yet. See that you do your part and I will worry about mine." He pushed Kabuto to the ground, his sandal digging into the medic's neck. "Take your rat with you. I have no need for traitors."

With one final sneer, Danzo left, the click of his cane echoing down the long, empty halls. Orochimaru twirled the conversation in his head, hoping to gauge what other motive the old viper had. Ha, and they called him a snake. People obviously hadn't realized Danzo's true nature and how deep his thirst for power ran. A wheezing sound interrupted his thoughts. Orochimaru spared Kabuto half a glance, satisfied that the boy was already healing himself.

"Sir, do you plan to do what he asks of you?"

Ah, Kabuto's hate for his old master was a marvelous sight. It was tempting to twist the knife, play a bit with the boy's fears. Oh well, maybe another time.

"Maybe later. Now I have another prey in sight," said Orochimaru, his long fingers playing with a ring. The Void. How peculiarly fitting.

-Naruto-

"You're getting better, but per total, you still suck." Sasuke threw his kunai dead-center, unlike Naruto's askew projectile.

"C'mon, throwing just isn't my thing," whined Naruto, the wide grin contradicting his tone.

"Neither is chakra control, writing, calculus, genjutsu theory or stealth. Really Naruto, why by all the gods do you even want to be a shinobi, you suck at it!"

"Hey hey, what's with all the questions?"

"You are wasting my time. I have to train, get stronger and—"

"Take revenge on the man who brutally murdered your family, yes I know. But… that won't bring them back, you know?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, his fists tightening with rage. He turned around and left, throwing a hateful comment over his shoulder. Naruto sighed, already used with his friend's outbursts. Almost half a year had passed since the massacre and Yahziui's death. Life went on and after a while even Sasuke realized that he too had to move forward. But the more time Naruto spent with the taciturn Uchiha, the more he realized that Sasuke's manner of moving on implied less forgetting and more of a masochistic reminder of what made him suffer.

He scratched the back of his head, wondering how long it will take him until he moved back into the abandoned compound… again.

"Yo, how's it going, kiddo?"

Naruto craned his head up, meeting Tojiro's droopy eyes. By his side, Hakudoshi gave him a nod. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the two boys. Something was different about them. People in Konoha rarely changed stuff about their clothes. Shinobi were like that, strange creatures of habit that remained in the same worn-out patterns. So why did they look different? "AH! You… you!"

"Yeah," smiled Tojiro, "We are now officially chuunin."

Naruto jumped up and down, happiness pouring out of him in waves. "Oh, oh does that mean you know some bad ass jutsu that you can teach me? Or, do you go on super dangerous missions now and get to save the world? Ooooh, I know! Do you get to meet beautiful princesses and rescue them from evil organizations?"

"Well…"

"Until now, all we get is more paperwork," interrupted Hakudoshi. "And being a chuunin doesn't mean you automatically know cool jutsu."

Tojiro scratched his chin, leaning his head back to look at his teammate. "Actually we learned some pretty cool jutsu until now."

"Can you teach me?"

Tojiro looked down at Naruto and sighed. "Tell you what. You graduate from the academy, and then we can teach you something."

"Baaah, you sound like Kaito-sensei. That's just grownup talk for piss off."

"Well then, you're in luck," said Tojiro, his large hand ruffling Naruto's already messy hair, "because we're not adults yet so you can bet we'll keep that promise."

-Itachi-

Sixty-seven missions in six months. Sixty-seven missions completed with Juuzou Biwa, each finished effectively. Until now.

Itachi stood before the bloodied body of his rapidly cooling partner, the beginning of a cough scratching the back of his throat. He dug through his pockets for a soldier pill, then silently swore as he remembered his plan to cut down on them. He coughed once, scratching that persistent itch, then suppressed the next one.

At his feet Juuzou's cloak was drenched in blood. His own blood. Even in the heat of mindless battle, the man remained spotless. Yet this time… they had simply not been prepared for the power of a Bijuu. Itachi considered himself lucky to even be alive, and yet maybe he was the unlucky one. Juuzou laid there with a peaceful expression on his face, as if it had released him from every burden and was now dining with the Gods. Maybe he was. Itachi placed the massive blade in his partner's hands, pulled the ring from his left finger.

Akatsuki had some recruiting to do.

He placed the seal Pein had given him on Juuzou's forehead and left toward their Headquarters. Whoever found Juuzou's body and hoped to get something out of it will find nothing but mush where the man's brain should have been.

Ame was far away. Pein wouldn't expect them to be back for another week, and if they were to move at normal speed, he would be right. Itachi dug deep in his weapon pouch, pulling out a soldier pill. The capsule's crunch between his teeth was almost as satisfactory as the euphoria brought by the drug. Now he could flash there in two days and make a slight detour on the way.

He hadn't seen Shisui in too long.

-Shisui-

He knew something was different when the whole house started buzzing with rumors of Kuro-sama returning, but kept his wits about him until Ayame came to him with wide eyes.

"Shisui, you should come."

What he saw was beyond his expectations. Itachi lay on a bed unconscious, his skin a waxy color with beads of cold sweat gathered at his temples. On a chair beside him laid a dark cloak with crimson clouds, the Akatsuki symbol staring at Shisui defiantly.

"What happened?"

Ayame lowered her head. "Not sure. He just came here, gave his codename and... fell. Haruka-sama said he must have used too many soldier pills to artificially boost his chakra."

Of course he did. Of course Itachi had no regard whatsoever for his wellbeing and did that.

"Thanks, Ayame." All he could do was wait and let him sleep it off.

Itachi woke up two days later while Shisui was reading Mara her new favorite story, "The Naughty Rabbit".

"Mara-chan, look who decided to join the living!" His voice was sugary sweet and Mara giggled, unaware of the tension in Shisui's body. "This is Itachi and he's been very naughty."

Mara blinked her large eyes at Itachi, short legs swinging. "Will he get a spanking, like Rabbit?"

"You know what? He might just. Now run along, it's time for your nap."

"I don't wanna nap!" she said, then yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Sure you don't, but go anyway. Someone needs to cuddle with the babies."

Mara nodded, another yawn stretching her chubby cheeks. "Okay, I can cuddle."

Shisui waited until Mara left the room, then turned toward Itachi. Seeing him awake made the knot of emotions inside him resurface. Later, he will deal with it later. Now, he flashed to the bed and pulled Itachi into his arms, a weight lifting from his shoulders.

"You idiot," he chided, but it lacked the bite.

"Hi, Shisui." There were so many emotions in those two words, too many for Shisui to name.

Itachi was different. He was no longer the desperate teen that tried to hold his clan and village together, or the genius boy that had shown so much promise. He seemed hollow, like a moving puppet that didn't quite know ist place. Shisui guessed that life as a missing nin did that to you.

"Stay here, for a while at least." He paused, realizing how stupid his words must be. "If you can."

"I have a week until I'm supposed to report back. I'd like to stay." A small spark appeared in Itachi's eyes, and Shisui hoped that one week was enough to remind his self-sacrificing cousin that he was still human inside.

"Oh, this reminds me, I'll have to seriously maim you. You've made it certain that I will never have children of my own."

Itachi blinked at him, confused. "How come?"

Shisui looked left, then right, then under the bed for good measure. "They are monsters! But hey, you can convince yourself of that when they wake up."

Itachi smiled, a wane crooked thing, as if his facial muscles didn't know how to recreate the movement anymore. "I would take that any day," he whispered.

Shisui's heart clenched. He would switch places if he could. Itachi deserved peace, deserved the chance to make his own choices. Shisui would give anything to have his cousin at peace. To have him smile, and laugh and just live.

"Come now," he said, swallowing the knowt inside his throat. "Let's get you something to eat. You don't want to eat with the kids around you."

"When do they wake up?"

"Sometime within the next hour."

"I'd like to eat with them."

A/N: Orochimaru's ring is called Void. In the Godai five elements philosophy in Japan, Void (Aether) is the highest element of the five (Earth, Water, Fire, Wind) and represents those things beyond and within our everyday comprehension, particularly those things composed of pure energy before they manifest; the emptiness that the energy is made up of. It can also be associated with the potential of power, creativity, spontaneity, and inventiveness.

So Orochimaru, who thinks well of himself and who sees himself as a very creative and powerful person, finds this symbol fitting to him.