"I'm not telling you not to do this, Itachi. I know that- Naruto. I see you got the Hiraishin down?" I heard Kakashi's voice move from surprise to a mix of pride and approval. I opened my eyes and saw Hinata-chan moving towards me, capturing me in a hug. I hugged her back as I locked eyes with Itachi. His dark eyes were filled with determination but always a deeper sadness.
"I suppose you're going to tell me not to do this, eh, Naruto?" He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I didn't laugh, neither did he.
"No, I'm not. I wasn't lying to you when I told you that this was your decision to make. I couldn't tell you to kill you clan, neither could I ask you to wander blindly into uncharted territory. I and the others may not be happy with it, but this could be the best option."
"So why did you come here? Why tonight?"
"Because I know you. You're going to do it as soon as possible. Tomorrow night, you're going to team up with an old enemy of mine and, in exchange for Sasuke's safety, you will annihilate your family and friends. I came to talk to you what you do next. Follow me, this isn't a secure place to talk."
"Where is a secure place? This entire village is filled with spies and ROOT," Itachi said, trying to push back the bitterness that rose in his throat.
"Just follow me and don't make a noise," I replied, jumping silently out of the window before waving for the Uchiha to follow me. He narrowed his eyes slightly but slid out of the window, moving in the shadows to greet me. I held a finger to my lips and jerked my head towards my secure location. His eyes shone with questions but he nodded and we ran across the rooftops towards the Forest of Death, neither of us making a sound.
At the gates, he turned to me.
"The Forest of Death? What is so important you needed to drag me out here?"
"We aren't even there yet. Follow me," I said, jumping easily over the high fence. "Come on, Itachi. You need everything I'm going to tell you. If you don't get this information, you may as well not follow through with your plan."
"What are you-"
"No questions yet. Just trust me for now. How about that, trust the Rokudaime," I laughed. It was somewhat forced, but Itachi stared at me with defeated eyes. He jumped the fence as easily as I had.
"Lead the way, Hokage."
"Sure thing, Weasel-san," I chuckled, darting into the darkness. Itachi paused before catching up and I remembered how fast I must seem. I made a mental note to up my weights as Itachi caught up to me and studied me with slightly narrowed eyes. "I'm wearing chakra weights. Fifty-five pounds on each leg and arm with another thirty on my vest. I've been wearing these weights and increasing the weight since my fifth birthday. Kakashi guesses I'm about as fast as Gai is, but the Green Beast doesn't seem to want to spar with a seven year old," I explained, rolling my eyes. Itachi looked surprised, a rare expression on his face, before he absorbed the new information and slipped back into his emotionless façade.
"Isn't that a bit young to wear weights?"
"Excuse me, ANBU captain? You're what, thirteen? You were you're clan's prodigy, I'm from the future. We are set to different standards, both of us."
"Were?"
"Sorry, I forgot. Sasuke killed you when we were sixteen. You gave him Amaterasu."
"I had Amaterasu?" Itachi asked, the faintest trace of surprise in his tone.
"Yes. You were one of the most powerful shinobi until Sasuke came after you and even then, you had some deadly disease you caught during your time with Akatsuki. You could put someone on a genjutsu by pointing at them. It was actually really cool. Except that one time you used it on me, but I forgive you. It was a long time ago," I said honestly. Itachi looked a little downcast at news of his future behavior. "If it makes you feel better, I attacked you. You had already joined Akatsuki, as Jiraiya's spy, and you were sent to delay us from rescuing an old friend of mine."
"Who was your friend?"
"Sabaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage. The Akatsuki were after the bijuu and Gaara was Shukaku's jailer. Deidara and his partner, a famous puppeteer named Sasori, infiltrated Suna and brought Gaara down. From what I heard, he put up a hell of a fight, though. He even destroyed Deidara's arm. He lost eventually and they stole the Ichibi, killing him."
"I'm sorry," Itachi murmured, the sound almost absorbed by the trees we were quickly passing.
"It's fine. One of the Suna elders, Lady Chiyo, came to the rescue. She used a forbidden medical ninjutsu; it brought Gaara back at the cost of her own life. Her body was taken back to Suna and she was buried by her brother. Gaara returned to Suna and the position of Kazekage. He got married, had a son. He was there when I became Hokage, one of the first people to congratulate me on achieving my life-long dream. Later, in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, he was my General-in-Chief. If there is anything to be sorry for, it's the fact that that Gaara may never happen now. I changed his present, taking him away from Suna and trying to mend his relationship with Shukaku. All I can do is hope he directs his remaining bitterness at the right people, not all of Suna," I finished, my feet touching the ground in front of my personal training ground. Itachi had a similar reaction to Hina-chan: shock.
"What happened here?"
"Relearning the Rasengan, relearning Sage mode, summoning a very large demon fox- she wasn't very happy about that-, Rasengan again, Rasenshuriken, Hiraishin, Chidori, Rasenshuriken again, a few misplaced taijutsu moves," I said, pointing out individual craters and fallen trees. "Oh, that one is my favorite! That's from a sparring session with Kakashi. Without my medical ninjutsu, he probably would've been in the hospital for a few months. Or dead. I didn't have a scratch," I said, laughing as I pointed to the largest crater in the field. "Actually, that's a lie. I skinned my knee jumping back from a very sharp looking kunai."
"What did you do?"
"Chidori in one hand, Rasengan in the other. Demon eyes. It was fun. He barely dodged it."
"You could've killed him!"
"Probably. I just remember something he told me one the second day I knew him. He told me that, if I wanted to win that I'd need to come at him with the intent to kill. He's regretted saying that ever since, believe me." I laughed before groaning, I realized how close I'd been to saying 'believe it'.
"What?"
"Old catchphrase. It's coming back. But that's not important. You need to know what happened to you and Sasuke. I'm going to tell you everything I know of what you did after you left Konoha. If you follow it closely, the timeline should stay intact on your end and I'll be able to predict most, if not all, of what happens over here."
"You were seven when I left the last time; how much could you know about the first few years after that?"
"You were Jiraiya's spy. Some time before he died, he told me the truth about you. In that timeline, you and Danzo led everyone to believe that you killed the Uchihas as a test of your strength, leaving Sasuke alive because he wasn't even worth killing. Ero-Sennin told me why you did what you did, as well as every speck of information you sent to him, via weasel. You were very thorough, sending him updates on your whereabouts and assignments every week."
"That sounds like something I'd do," Itachi smiled tightly. "So how are you going to do this?"
"First, you are going to cast Tsukuyomi. I know you can do it, don't bother lying to me. You're smart, I'm sure the first thing you did after gaining the Mangekyou was going into the Uchiha records and learning all the jutsu."
"I checked the records, but I only know the theories! I don't know what could happen if-"
"You aren't going to get it wrong. This jutsu was almost made for you. With it, you completely controlled space and time, at least to the target. If I remember correctly, you put Kakashi in the hospital for weeks."
"I did what?"
"Don't worry about. He forgives you too. You are going to need Tsukuyomi in the future, why not practice without Madara poking his nose into your life? Scratch that, I almost forgot. He trains you for a while. Do the training but- Never mind, I'll just show you all in one go…Well? Go for it!" Itachi sighed at my enthusiasm but activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and staring into my eyes. I stared back, emotionlessly as the world was bathed in red by a scarlet moon. I glanced around myself, seeing only grey shapes.
"Is this-"
"Good job, Itachi! See, I told you. This jutsu was made for you. And, unlike some people *cough cough, Danzo and Madara cough cough* this jutsu doesn't need to be completely offensive. You could use it like I use Kage Bunshin, to cut down the time it takes to learn a new technique. Or use it to gather information without inflicting actual damage."
"Okay, I did it. Now what?"
"Now we take a walk," I joked lightly. "Never mind, that was a horrible joke. Just be careful to control the time. This might take a while; Omoide o aruku no jutsu!"
The forest, bathed in red, disappeared, replaced by my memories. In a blur, I showed Itachi every second of his life I had known him. Scenes of Itachi and Sasuke as children: sitting at the pier and laughing together, Itachi promising to help Sasuke train, Itachi poking Sasuke in the forehead before leaving to do his ANBU work. I brought out Sasuke's figure after the Uchiha Massacre, the brooding look on his stoic face; our Team Seven introductions in which Sasuke stated that he had no dreams, only an ambition and future to kill his brother as vengeance for his slaughtered family. I showed the fight in the hospital that Jiraiya was forced to stop, trying to prevent Kisame's involvement.. Itachi calling his brother worthless and weak, unfit to call himself an Uchiha.
Fighting Itachi alongside Kakashi and Sakura; Sasuke, already breaking his ties with us. My own encounter with Itachi, where he gave me some of his power. The eight-man squad's mission to find Itachi in order to lure Sasuke back home. Zetsu announcing that the duel between Sasuke and Itachi had ended, Sasuke as the victor. I showed Sasuke standing beside Madara after his battle with Danzo, yelling about the crimes Konoha had committed in sentencing Itachi to a life of banishment and treatment as if he were a criminal instead of completing his mission, assigned to him by Danzo.
The memories began to become slower, more normal. Scenes from my training venture with Ero-Sennin, learning all about Itachi's life. Later, watching Ero-Sennin jump out of Tsunade-obaachan's office window and running to meet me, saying we needed to talk. Later that night, he told me everything he knew of Itachi's life, every single report was repeated and drilled into my memory for future reference.
When the stream ended, Itachi was on his knees, gasping as he realized everything he did in my past, in his possible future. I gave him a moment of silence, knowing how hard it would be for this Uchiha Itachi to take in.
"You weren't evil," I said, cutting the silence. "Everything you did, every word you said or battle you fought in, was all to protect Sasuke. You treasured his life and safety over the village and left him in its care. If it helps, in my opinion, it was the village that abandoned you. Danzo and the others were too afraid of repercussions against the Leaf. They declared you a missing-nin so that you could help defeat Akatsuki and let Sasuke grow stronger so that he could take his revenge."
"It- It doesn't look like that worked out so well." Itachi coughed, getting to his feet shakily.
"No. Sasuke was too much like you; he treasured your life more than Konoha. When he discovered what you had done for him, he felt betrayed by the village and swore to defeat us by any means necessary. When he overused his Mangekyou, he took your eyes."
"So you want me to repeat everything that happened? Won't that give us the same result?"
"Not at all. In the other timeline, Sasuke wasn't my friend, now he is. After you leave, I'm pretty sure he'll turn to Hina-chan and I. We'll help him get stronger but give him a better reason for training. When you left that night, you told Sasuke to hate you, to want to kill you in order to get stronger. This time I'm going to knock some sense into him before he can get his mind set on that. He needs to understand that, if you have people to protect, you grow stronger than focusing on a single target. Kind of like Haku told me."
"Haku?"
"A girl I met when I was genin. In the middle of the Bloodline Purge, she escaped and was found by the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momochi Zabuza. He took her in and trained her," I explained. Itachi nodded before staring into the trees.
"Do you see-"
"It's only Kakashi. He's been there for a while." When I was finished, Kakashi walked out of the treeline, pocketing his Icha Icha Paradise book. "That really is trash, you know."
"Hey, your master wrote it!" Kakashi said, indignant.
"Yes, my master, the self proclaimed 'super-pervert'," I said sarcastically. "Don't you remember how many time Tsunade-obaachan punched him through a wall for that?"
"Lost count around two hundred and forty. A lot of genin had missions to repair the office," Kakashi laughed, remembering.
"Anyway, I was just thinking about Haku. Do you think we could switch that up this time around? Zabuza and Haku would be good additions to the Leaf, and it's not like anyone's going to miss them."
"Good idea. I heard about Gaara, what are you going to do with him and Shukaku?"
"What I said: train him for a year then give him the option to return to Suna or come back with me to Konoha."
"Do you think the council will approve? I know the Kazekage won't be happy."
"The Kazekage doesn't have a say in this. He sent Gaara's uncle, the man who raised him, after his head. He is six years old, I couldn't leave him there."
"You are so much like your father," Kakashi said, shaking his head.
"As well as the higher ranking ninja. Need I remind you of that spar?" I said, pointing to the large crater. Kakashi winced. "I know what I'm doing, Kakashi-sensei."
"I thought I told you not to call me that, Hokage-sama. Titles are different in this time, I'm not your sensei- at least not yet. I'm going to try and get Team Seven back together."
"I didn't think holding an empty title would do anyone any good. No more Konoha, no more Hokage. Simple as that," I said before thinking about Team Seven. "If you remake Team Seven, you're going to have to push me harder. Or at least make it look like it. We need to make Sakura and Sasuke think I'm strong this early from being 'raised' by you."
"I don't think that's an option," Itachi cut in. "To be able to do a simultaneous Chidori and Rasengan is inhuman even for the son of the Yondaime."
"Hmm, what do I have sealed into my stomach that's inhuman? I wonder," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Even with the Kyuubi, Itachi has a point. At this point, Kyuubi should only be giving you chakra, not instruction. Only the council and Hiruzen knows you can talk to him. For you to know such high level jutsu…"
"I guess they can wait till the Chuunin exam…No promises on the Hiraishin though, I'm going to need it in Wave."
"Deal," Kakashi said, holding out his hand. I shook it once before turning to Itachi.
"You'll be met by Uchiha Madara. Tell him your plans, he wants revenge on the clan for something that happened decades ago."
"Uchiha Madara as in the co-founder of Konoha?"
"The very same. He wanted to be Shodaime, trying to guarantee equality for the Uchiha and the Senju. His clan thought he was power-hungry and shunned him. He's held a grudge against the Uchiha ever since. History aside, he's going to find you tomorrow night. Tell him what you're doing and he'll help you then train you, promising not to harm Sasuke. Madara knows his politics; he doesn't want to destroy the Uchiha, he wants to get rid of corruption and rebuild. If you don't do this, Madara probably will, leaving Sasuke and you alive to rebuild the clan. I'm sure he's been watching the clan for a while, judging who's worth saving and who's not."
"Did you know from the start? That if I don't do this, this Madara is going to do it anyway?" Itachi's voice was slow. I expected anger, but there wasn't a trace, only sadness.
"It was a possibility. If I know Madara, he's going to use this mission, this massacre, as a way to judge your potential. He's going to leave Sasuke alive so he can use you, working off of your care for your brother,"
"And you want me to go along with this?" He asked, his voice emotionless. It was Kakashi who answered this question.
"Both yes and no. Yes because we want you to pretend to be a tool as long as it fits the timeline. No because we have a request of sorts. We want you to get Tori out of there." Itachi paled at the sound of his girlfriend's name.
"In the other time… Did I-"
"There was only one survivor. Sasuke was more important," I said, my usual smile long gone. Itachi stared at the ground for a moment before meeting my eyes, his grey shining with determination.
"She said she liked foxes. When we were young, she was sad when they were kicked out of Konoha," he said. I stood confused for a moment before understanding his plan.
"I've got it covered. Where is her house?"
We sat in the Forest of Death, unbothered by the predatory creatures as we planned the biggest massacre ever to take place in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. It left a bad taste in my mouth, but even the Rokudaime can change so much without destroying everything.