If you've read my other story Positive Intervention, you know that I've only written more light hearted canon-esque toned stories, with a little bit of darkness/harshness in them. This story will be much more serious, things will not be all sunshine and rainbows. It's also probably going to be long, and probably slow. My initial intention is to write this from Itachi's point of view early, and then switch to Naruto later when he's more grown up. We'll see how that goes.

Also updates for positive intervention are coming soon, sorry for the break.

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Itachi breathed heavily. He was caked in mud, using the cover of the storm to escape. He inhaled deeply as lightning flashed, temporarily blinding his heightened visual prowess.

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

It wasn't supposed to go like this.

It was never supposed to be easy, but it wasn't supposed to be this hard.

Danzo had done this. Danzo.

The weight on his shoulders caused him to slow his racing thoughts. It brought him back to this world. Anchored him. His ANBU training took temporary control of him, as ironic as that was. He took a deep breath and faced the facts, for in times of need, feelings and emotions will get you killed, and facts will save you.

Shisui was dead. He'd shown up with one eye missing, nearly completely paralyzed. Now his body was probably still floating in the river somewhere, eye sockets empty, heart still.

The clan was dead. Not for the first time since he made his mad dash from the village, did he consider how wrong that felt. It's true it had been his intention to slay them all himself. To leave only Sasuke, innocent of it all as he was. Seeing the Root operatives murder his family members with his sharingan put it into a different perspective though.

The burden on his shoulder felt heavy again, like it was weighing him down. Or keeping him from floating away. His anchor.

The Sandaime was dead. He had no means of confirming it, but Root murdering the Uchiha clan would not go over lightly with Lord Third. As practical and cold as the God of Shinobi could be, he would never let that happen. Wouldn't have ever let that happen. Certainly wouldn't have let Danzo get away with it.

Danzo was a cautious man. Careful to the point of having tea he made himself tested for poison. He wasn't the type to do something that rash where he could have his power removed from him. No, Danzo would only do that if there was a guarantee at the end of the bloodshed. Itachi knew in his heart and his mind what that guarantee would be.

Danzo was going to become Hokage. It wasn't set in stone, nothing in this world was, but he could be all but sure. And he would come for them.

The weight on his right shoulder felt heavy again, though this time he also felt the weight on his left. Sasuke and Naruto.

One his little brother, the other the village pariah. Danzo would have had himself and Sasuke executed, perhaps publicly. No doubt he was being framed for the crimes of the faceless men at this very moment.

Naruto was a different story. Danzo wouldn't kill him. He was too young and too pliable. No, Naruto's fate would have been much worse. As the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, he would've been turned from an innocent child into a true monster, perhaps one worse than the demon sealed inside of him. Itachi couldn't let that happen. Couldn't let Danzo have that power. Couldn't let another innocent life be taken. More importantly, he couldn't let that innocent life be turned into another faceless man, one that would take the lives of even more innocents.

Allowing Naruto to fall into Danzo's control would eventually lead to the one thing that Itachi despised the most. War.

It was sick and twisted the way man fought and bled over things as trivial as borders and money. Yet it happened, and Itachi had witnessed it. It had changed him then, and he didn't want it to change others. He wanted to avoid it at all costs.

So, the two halves of Itachi had taken control at the same time. The big brother, who did everything he could to take care of Sasuke, and the shinobi, who did everything he could to preserve peace.

Now they were headed into river country, on the run. No money or food. Just the clothes on their backs, and the ANBU armor on Itachi's limbs. He didn't even have his mask anymore.

It wasn't over for them though. Despite only being thirteen, Itachi was one of the most skilled shinobi in all the Leaf. He had inside knowledge of the ANBU, including the hunter division that was tasked with tracking down rogue shinobi. He knew he could avoid them. He had too. There was no other choice. And when Itachi Uchiha was set to a task, it got done. Failure never had been an option for him. He certainly wasn't going to let it be one now.

Thirteen. Thirteen and on the run. Worse yet, Sasuke and Naruto were only eight. They wouldn't be immediately branded as nuke nin. They weren't even technically nin at all. Itachi knew Danzo's elite would have their orders though. What were they going to do? What was he going to do? He was in over his head.

Breathe.

Deal with the facts. Conjecture wouldn't lead him anywhere but in a hopeless circle.

Breathe.

Had he ruined their lives? Was it best to leave them at some orphanage? No, Sasuke would never stay, he had the pride of an Uchiha. He could kill them, he supposed. Save them from a life of suffering. It would be the most merciful thing to do. They wouldn't have to deal with life like he had. He could do it while they slept. Right now. They wouldn't feel a thing.

His brother stirred on his shoulder, and that was all that it took. Feeling the weight of his anchor, his hypersensitivity picking up on his heartbeat and breath, was all the motivation he would need. He doubled his resolve, determined to keep him alive, and set off again. He could do this. He had too. No exceptions.

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The following days of his life were the hardest. Harding than ANBU training. Harder than watching his genin team get slaughtered by the masked man. Harder than coming to the decision to massacre his clan. It was even harder than watching Shisui die.

The hardest part was living down all of those experiences. Being constantly reminded of them. He tried to detach himself. To become cold, emotionless. A 'true shinobi' Danzo called it. He couldn't do it though. Every time he tried to drift his feelings away from reality, there was a heavy anchor keeping him weighed down.

It was harder on the two boys. They didn't know this life. They'd barely started the academy. It was tough, but Itachi had made them understand. Genjutsu was the solution. Even amongst his innate genius for the shinobi arts, Genjutsu was always far and away his specialty.

He showed Sasuke his memories. The view from the top of the compound wall as the clan was slaughtered. The dead bodies of his parents. He hadn't expected a genjutsu to invoke strong enough emotions to activate a sharingan for the first time. Then again, his little brother had always been full of surprises.

Naruto was shown the Hokage being assassinated. He hadn't seen it of course, but it didn't matter. He knew it to be true. Danzo wouldn't have made his move otherwise. The Kyuubi's chakra stirred when the boy's emotions ran wild. It had taken some time to coax the red out of the non-Uchiha's eyes.

He had briefly considered going to another village. But the other of the five great nations weren't necessarily better. They would have thirsted after his and Sasuke's eyes, and Naruto's tailed beast. They would use them for the powers and potential that they possessed. No, that wouldn't be the best option for them.

Instead, they stayed on the run. Never staying in a town more than a few days, nor in an isolated campground more than a week. The boys adapted well, though he suspected they were still treating it like some sort of game. It couldn't be farther from the truth. This was reality. This was the real truth. It was harsh. The way that life was, and they were slowly learning.

Training began one they became settled into a routine, and they had all acquired new clothes. The basics came first. How to hunt, how to fish, how to survive in the wild. Then came lessons on how to blend in and not draw attention. After a month, Itachi relented to their requests and began chakra training. After two more, he had acquired a healthy amount of weapons from a hidden Uchiha armory, and so they began training with those too.

Six months in, and they were becoming skilled at the arts they'd been trained in. They weren't powerful, they were still years from that, but they could identify and lose a tail. Misdirect and flee. Work together to overcome obstacles. Itachi had given them the essentials. They ran with it. Turns out tragedy was a strong motivator. They quickly learned through experience what it truly meant to be a shinobi. For a shinobi was, and always will be one who endures.

Naruto and Sasuke had learned to get along. They didn't have a choice. Naruto was always the loud mouth at the academy, Sasuke always prideful and slightly arrogant. They adapted, they evened out. They became more like each other every day, each one mellowing out the more eccentric characteristics of the other. Both were different after the day they fled though. Naruto's bright spark was there, but it wasn't the bright flame it once was. The sadness that Itachi had occasionally seen when the boy thought he was alone, was no longer brought out solely in isolation. Sasuke's near cheery disposition, a relatively rare trait within the clan, turned much more sour.

They both hated the scenario. Sasuke mourned his family. He couldn't believe that they were gone. He kept hoping Itachi would say this was all some elaborate training exercise for the elite of the Uchiha, and take them back. His mom would hug him and say that she loved him. His dad would ruffle his hair and say how proud he was. Each day that little bit of hope slipped further and further away. Itachi said that his father had gotten too arrogant and planned a coup. That's why the clan had been killed. A lesson to be learned.

Naruto couldn't believe the Sandaime was dead. He was the only one who ever talked to him. The only one who ever cared for him. He was the closest thing he had to family. He was the most powerful ninja in the village, and yet he had been assassinated. He was dead. Itachi said that the most powerful shinobi was not always the one that won the fight. A lesson to be learned.

Naruto and Sasuke taught Itachi that harsh and horrible circumstances didn't have to ruin your life. That you didn't have to take what life dished you with a sad melancholy or apathy. You could fight back, even if that just meant wearing a smile while you did something mundane. A lesson learned.

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It had been two years since they had left the village. Itachi had his sights set on one location where they could potentially stay out of the public eye long enough to train the boys properly. They were ten, and were starting to develop techniques that could be sensed from miles away. Granted it would take an extreme sensor, but two years on the run had not lessened Itachi's caution.

They were on a boat headed there right now. It had been a dangerous journey. Cutting through the land of fire was treacherous. Two sharingan users and one Jinchuuriki with hair like a highlighter would be recognized by just about any ninja chunin or higher in the Land of Fire. Nearly a day's journey by boat, from sun up to near sun down, and they could see their destination. Uzushiogakure. The Village Hidden in the Whirlpools.

He only had rumors to work on. It wasn't something that was taught in Konoha. No doubt it was covered up to hide their wounded pride. The failure to protect their allies. He knew the area was abandoned though. It was said that the island was cursed, that anybody who goes there would meet the same fate as the once great village. He hoped that was the case. He could deal with a curse, he just couldn't deal with the largest of the five great nations sending their shinobi after him. Not while protecting two children at least.

Children was a strong word for the two. They were shinobi now, though they would never get a chance to graduate. Never be given a shiny new forehead protector. Two years of nothing but learning to survive and train did wonders for their skill sets. Motivation of dead loved ones propelled them to heights that would have been impossible had they gone about their lives normally. Itachi wasn't worried about their skills though. He was worried about their psychology. What would this do to their minds later on? They were becoming child soldiers, just like he had. That hadn't turned out well. What kind of life could they live having shouldered this burden?

The answer lay in their strength. If they became strong enough, so strong that nobody could oppose them, they could live any life they wanted too. Certainly it would be hell to get to that point. The alternative though, was to live a merry life and pretend everything was fine, and then live in hell for the rest of their lives when it caught up to them. Itachi chose the former for them. They didn't seem to mind too much.

There was a different kind of strength that began to shine through the darkness of their situation though. One not determined by their techniques or physical abilities. Not even one determined by their mental or visual prowess. This strength was the strength of their will. The two boys were determined. They wouldn't let the situation change who they were at their core. Sure it would mold them, it would beat down and shave off unnecessary aspects, but Naruto would be Naruto, and Sasuke would be

Sasuke, come hell or high water.

They were both avengers now. Naruto wanted to avenge his grandfather figure, the Third Hokage. Sasuke wanted to avenge his family. Both childr— shinobi, were after the same thing. The same man. The one that had caused them so much harm in pursuit of strengthening his village. Danzo.

Itachi had told them. He didn't feel like he could keep anything from them. They were his family now, and so he shared everything with them. He told them of Shisui, and the eye that he gave right before he died. Told them of his plan to massacre the clan to stop the coup 'for the good of the village'. It had taken three days for Sasuke to even speak to him again after that. He wasn't sure if he'd forgiven him yet.

The two ten year olds were determined. More so than Itachi had seen in anybody their age back in the Leaf. Maybe in anybody at all. Determination of this sort was only brought about by intense pain and grief. They worked all day, worked themselves to the bone in order to become strong enough.

They would have been geniuses back in Konoha. Two sides of the same coin. Sasuke, analytical and sharp as a tack, intelligence to rival most Nara. Naruto, instincts like an apex predator, and creativity and unpredictability that was unrivaled. One was yin, and one was yang.

The longer they spent together, the more they bled into each other. Sasuke's instincts sharpened, and he didn't restrict himself so much. He became less consistent, and less precise, and gained all the more for it.

Naruto learned to think and analyze, he learned how to break down jutsu, and ways to counter them. He stopped to think more often, and lost a little bit of his shoot first, ask questions later mentality, and gained all the more for it.

Yin and Yang. Balance. The two boys had brought some semblance of it to Itachi. Back in the village, he had one role. Shinobi. Spy on the higher ups for the clan, spy on the clan for the higher ups. There was no balance, only work. Only the game.

Sasuke and Naruto brought a different perspective to him. There was serious training and teaching. Pushing themselves and each other all out, as hard as possible. Blood, sweat, and tears spilled forth from them constantly. Straining to become as strong as possible. Strong enough. He himself had renewed his training several fold since he became a rogue nin. Before he had been training for the village. Now he was training for something much more important to him. Family.

That was the new side of him that his little brothers brought out. Cooking meals for each other and laughing around the campfire. Comforting each other after nightmares of what happened, and dark thoughts of what would come. Smiles and tears. Family.

His original life, as he was calling it, had a full family. A full clan, both parents, Shisui, and there had even been a girl. He was taught to become apathetic towards it all though. His father asked him to spy on the village, and so he became emotionless towards the rest of the village. The village asked him to spy on his clan, and so he became emotionless towards his clan.

Sasuke had always been different though. He had always loved his brother. His anchor. The one thing he couldn't push out of his mind. He had tried to do the next best thing, and push his brother out all together. Spending as little time as possible as he could with him, so he wouldn't be reminded of what could be. He only had time to focus on what was. Now he didn't have that option. The two ten year olds forced him to… feel. Both the good and the bad. Sasuke dragged out his deepest emotions and feelings, and Naruto… Naruto amplified them.

Naruto was more of a family to them than any Uchiha, save their parents and maybe Shisui. Even then, he was more compassionate and present than their father, more in tune to their goals than their mother, and well… more alive than Shisui. That was a morbid thought, but a truthful one. Shisui was gone.

His best friend had sacrificed himself for the village and the Uchiha name and what had Itachi done? Run away. Like a coward. The Leaf lost it's Hokage, and a few other prominent ninja if the rumor wheel was to be believed. The Uchiha clan all but died out. The last of them were headed to an extinct village. The jinchuuriki was out of the villages control. Itachi had failed.

There was hope though. He saw it in their eyes. His brother's sharingan, his other brother's bright, sky blue eyes. They believed this could be rectified, that it wasn't too late to fix, and so he did too. He didn't have a choice. He had too. They made sure of it. No exceptions.

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Hope didn't last long for Itachi. They'd been in the ruins of the long lost village for all of six months when the sickness came. First it started with a light cough, but it soon spiraled to a heavy cough. He began hacking up blood, and feeling fatigue. So much fatigue. Itachi had almost never been fatigued, not even in training. He was so skilled, so efficient, that it was simply beneath him.

About a year on the island though, and things were beginning to get bad. At first, he learned to be more efficient. He used his precise chakra control to amplify his muscles, carrying him through the day. He didn't waste even a millimeter of movement, for he didn't know how much more he had left. It got so bad that he was nearly happy to lay in bed and let his soul leave the Earth.

He had failed at so much, and suffered so much. He wasn't sure this life was worth living anymore, and he was content to die.

He lay on the floor of the dirt hut he constructed as their home, Earth Release being a newly acquired skill for him. He had gotten up to retrieve water and check on his brothers training, and lacked the strength to crawl back into his makeshift bed. He was truly beginning to believe that this was it for him. Maybe this would be his last day, maybe the suffering would finally end.

It was his brothers who saved him. Yin and Yang. They brought him food and water, and promised that everything would be okay. He didn't want to make them liars.

Sasuke and Naruto.

Yin and Yang.

Balance.

So Itachi set out to the mainland, leaving the boys in the village. They were good, but too recognizable and inexperienced. They were strong, but he wasn't looking for a fight. They weren't ready to venture to the mainland like this. Not when he wasn't at full force. He couldn't protect them properly right now.

He needed to find a doctor. A regular doctor likely wouldn't cut it, but he would start there. If nothing positive came from it, he would work on finding a shinobi trained medic. He had a few thoughts as to who to try and locate.

The civilian doctor had predictably not had any answers. He said it was chakra related, and all he could do was give him pills to help manage the symptoms. He gratefully accepted and was on his way.

Now he was in an extravagant city in the land of Hot Springs, searching for a medic. One medic in particular, as this city was particularly well known for its casinos.

Daikoku was the unofficial capital of Hot Springs country, mostly due to the large amount of money it brought in. Casinos and hot springs were unsurprisingly the main attraction, and it was the most popular tourist destination in the known world. That's what the brochure had said anyway.

Itachi began making his way around the city, keeping his ear to the ground for talk of a medic, a drunk gambler, or a woman with a large bust. The last thought embarrassed him, true as it was. Of course this was ultimately what he overheard from a couple of drunken gamblers taking a break in the afternoon shade. A tall blonde with a large bust losing all her money as if it were on purpose? It was a good place to start.

He made his way into the casino they were loitering outside of, hoping that he hadn't missed her. As his eyes searched the casino floor, he cursed his situation. He couldn't risk activating the sharingan, despite the benefits that it would have. He would likely be found out in an instant. Everybody knew who the Uchiha were.

His thoughts were interrupted as he caught the tail end of twin ponytails leaving through the back door. He pursued with the grace of a cat. Weaving in and out of foot traffic without disturbing a soul, the teenager made it to the door. Before he could make it out of the door, his pursuit was put on hold by a strong coughing fit. Blood on the handkerchief he used, as was the norm these days. His lungs ached, hell, his whole body ached, but he pushed on. His brothers still needed him.

Just before he could make it through the door, he felt a small chakra spike. It wouldn't be enough to alert any but the most skilled in the area, which was likely just him.

As he pushed through the door, he saw the reason for the chakra spike. There was a destroyed retaining wall down the alley. Apparently she didn't like losing. Nevertheless, he stayed on guard. She was one of the Sannin after all.

He caught sight of her entering a bar, not a big surprise from what he'd heard. So much for the three prohibitions, she was knocking them out like it was her job. He entered the bar shortly after her, careful not to draw attention.

She was sitting in a corner booth, with a younger dark haired companion, and a pig with a pearl necklace on it. Itachi flowed through the small amount of foot traffic like a ghost, making his way over to the pair. He slid into the booth soundlessly, though with much more effort than he cared to admit.

"Tsunade-sama." He gave a short bow with his head. "Greetings, I am—"

"I know who you are, Kid. What are you doing here?" Her voice was slightly slurred. She was drunk already. Or maybe before she even made it into the bar. Her eyes betrayed her inebriation though. They were sharp, despite her outward appearance.

"Very well," He inclined his head politely, ever the heir to a major clan. " I came to ask for your assistance."

"And why should I help you?"

Itachi sat on that question for several seconds, staring at nothing in particular. He only had one answer for it.

"Because I wish to live."

He felt a kunai press against his throat. "Well then," a deep, gruff voice said, "you better be real careful with what you say next." The voice no doubt belonged to a man, and a large one at that. He rotated his head just far enough to see who his assailant was, though he had his suspicions. The kunai pressed almost imperceptibly tighter to his skin, and a drop of blood began its slow descent down his neck.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama, I did not expect to find you here. Are you on the run also?" Itachi questioned. The blood finally reached his shirt line.

"We're not on the run, Kid. We just don't run missions for the bastard who murdered our sensei. We stay close so that we won't have to fight alone if it comes to that."

Itachi nodded. Jiraiya provided just enough information to satisfy his curiosity, but not enough to reveal any important information. At least important information that Itachi couldn't figure out on his own. Jiraiya was good. It was obvious he had been in information gathering for a long while.

"What are your questions?" Itachi asked, as calm as if he was addressing one of his students, and not about to have his throat slit.

"What are you doing here? B) What have you been up to? Three - why shouldn't I kill you?"

"I am in need of Tsunade-sama's skills." His eyes flickered towards the blonde. "I have been on the run the last three and a half years with my little brothers, taking care of and training them. You shouldn't kill me because one of them has very blond hair and very blue eyes."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. He had spent the better part of the last three and a half years trying to drink away his sorrows. He heard reports from his spies. Never mind the fact that he had spies in his own village, and they told him that Naruto was no longer there. He figured Danzo had gotten his filthy hands on him and relegated him to some underground training area to be 'emotionally conditioned' which would be the death of who the boy was. Now, the Leaf's most recent missing nin was saying that he had him all along.

Jiraiya felt a waterfall of emotions crash into him all at once. Happiness, anger, grief, all different flavors, all hitting him at the same time. He removed the kunai from Itachi's neck, and pushed him into the booth, sitting down where the Uchiha had just been.

"Naruto's okay?" He questioned. His even tone was betrayed by him downing two quick shots of Tsunade's sake.

Itachi nodded. "I've been training him. He's quite upset about Sarutobi-sama's death. He wishes to exact revenge. I've been giving him and Sasuke the tools to do it, though I'm hoping they'll change their mind."

Jiraiya nodded back, processing the information. He flexed and straightened his hands as adrenaline pumped through his veins, he had thought that all was lost. "What do you need from Tsunade-hime?" Jiraiya asked.

"I am ill." That seemed to sufficiently satisfy everybody's curiosity.

"She'll heal you if you take me to him." Jiraiya said.

"Ji-rai-ya! You can't negotiate for me." Tsunade said.

"Here. Pay off your debts." Jiriaya handed her his checkbook without taking his eyes off of Itachi. There was hope. He'd pay any price to see that hope through.

"There's no guarantee that I can heal him. I don't even know what's wrong with him yet." Tsunade said. Her eyes had dollar signs in them though. The pervert had given her blank checks, and she knew he was loaded from his book sales.

"All I ask is that you try your best. I do not expect a miracle." Itachi said. He was wracked with coughs that showed blood. Tsunade saw it, and decided to get this over with.

Green medical chakra hummed in her hands, flashing over her temples. Within a second she looked completely sober. "Alright, Kid. Let's go back to our hotel room. Shizune and I will do our best to treat you." She said, gesturing to her companion, who sheepishly offered a small wave.

Itachi stood, and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much Tsunade-sama, Shizune-sama, Jiraiya-sama." Shizune blushed slightly at the title the Uchiha bestowed upon her, before remembering that he was a missing nin.

The three made their way back to the hotel room quickly, as it wasn't far from the bar.

"Hmm... yep…" She mumbled. "All signs point to Chakratic MPA. It's… not a pleasant disease. If caught early, much like where yours is at, it is treatable, although a pain to do so." She said. Shizune nodded and took notes. "You'll have to receive daily treatment for six months, and weekly ones after that. You'll have to take some medication on a daily basis for the rest of your life, but you should survive without much worry."

Itachi nodded. This was better than expected. "May I still use chakra?" He asked.

"I don't see why not, though not during the initial six months of treatment."

Itachi nodded again. He turned to Jiraiya. "I have another request. I wish for you both to come with me. Tsunade-sama, you know I am a rogue ninja. If you could teach my brother the basics of medical ninjutsu, I would not keep having to seek you out in secret for treatment every week."

Tsunade shook her head. "That would take multiple years at best. Probably five if I had to guess. I don't want to be on the run with you for that long! And I already have a student." She nodded to Shizune.

"I think you will find that my brother is quite exceptional, and will be able to shorten that time greatly. Please allow him the six months to learn. No more, no less."

Tsunade pondered his request, tapping a finger against her lips. Drinking and gambling were fun, but she loved medical ninjutsu, and she wouldn't have to go back to the village. Going with a rogue nin, despite her current inactive status, was risky though. She looked at Jiraiya, and saw his pleading eyes behind his stoic face. It seemed like the kid meant a lot to him. She had never seen him so lost.

"On two conditions." She said. Itachi brightened up. He wasn't really expecting a yes, despite his willingness to argue. "One." She held up a finger. "Answer my questions." Itachi nodded, so she continued. "Tell me why you killed your clan." Right to the thick of it. Being a Senju, there wasn't any love lost on the Uchiha dying, but if she was going to be near him, she wanted to know. She put a hand to his pulse, and medical chakra hummed once again.

Itachi's eyes showed sadness, something she recognized quite easily. She had seen it in the mirror on the days that she could bear to look at herself. He shook his head. "I didn't. Danzo ordered me too… and I was going too. Then he killed my best friend, and stole his sharingan." This seemed to shock the sannin. "When I returned to my clan compound, Root operatives were already massacring my family. Sasuke hadn't returned from the academy yet, so I grabbed him, and went for Naruto too and got out of there as fast as I could. I never even knew Lord Third had been assassinated for sure. It had only been an assumption. Sarutobi-sama never would have let it happen like that." A tear streaked down Itachi's left cheek. He gave away more information than was strictly necessary. It seemed Sasuke wasn't the only one that Naruto was rubbing off on.

Tsunade nodded. His vitals hadn't changed from the expected. He was telling the truth. "You were going to kill them yourself?"

Itachi's turn to nod. "They were planning a coup. It was the only path I could foresee that would avoid a civil war." He replied.

"You sound hesitant. Regret that decision?" She probed.

He hesitated before answering firmly. "It was a dark time for me, one clouded by orders from two opposing forces. My time away from being a shinobi, and with my little brothers, has changed me. They have shown me many things in our time together, but the most important is to never give up hope. I am still working on it, though they seem to have it mastered." Itachi said, eyes staring off into an abyss. Or perhaps a day dream.

"He's telling the truth." Tsunade said. She thought long and hard about her next condition, which was always going to depend on his answers. She and Jiraiya seemed to have a silent conversation with only their eyes, before she spoke again. "Condition number 2." Her voice became barely more than a whisper. "We need allies…" She paused as Itachi hacked up more blood. "... We don't intend to let Danzo destroy what our ancestors worked so hard to build."

Just because she hadn't been in the village didn't mean that she didn't love it. Didn't mean that her will of fire had died out completely. Itachi was briefly inspired by the quiet passion that burned in her eyes. Treason it was then. That didn't bother him, he'd already committed treason, several times over in fact.

"You may find an ally in my former ANBU captain. Kakashi Hatake. He's quite the shinobi, and has lost his will for the darker side of things. He won't be enjoying Danzo's reign."

"Sakumo's brat is already in." Jiraiya said.

Itachi inclined his head towards Jiraiya in acknowledgement, then turned back to Tsunade. "Needless to say you will have my alliance, and by extension, my brothers. They're already quite the team, give them a few years and they will be extremely powerful allies."

Jiraiya perked up at this. He was excited to meet Minato's son. Really meet him, not check up on the jinchuuriki from a distance.

"Last I was allowed to check on him, he was failing in the academy." Jiraiya said.

Itachi nodded. The hardest barrier to break with Naruto was the lack of confidence the system instilled in him early. "He has challenges to overcome, just as any shinobi does. He has learned to endure though, and most importantly, adapt. His instincts are sharper than any I've seen before. He learns through trial and error as if the method was built for him." Itachi explained, pride leaking into his voice. "Chakra control is hard for him. The seal on his stomach seems to make it much more difficult for him than any other shinobi, paired with the sheer amount he has. He's really struggled to learn genjutsu."

Jiraiya nodded, that all made sense.

"It doesn't matter to him though, he is determined, and a very hard worker. Not to mention his enormous chakra pool allows him more trial and error than anyone would think possible. He refuses to quit, and by extension, always finds a way to succeed. He never seems to run low on chakra or guts." Itachi said. "Of course, his shadow clones don't hurt either." A smirk curved onto the Uchiha's lips.

Jiraiya took time to process this, and Itachi's onyx eyes picked up on all the emotions that ran across his face. Joy, sadness, calm, then surprise. And pride. Lots of pride. He needn't activate his bloodline to see that.

"He's using shadow clones? To train?" Jiraiya questioned. "What about the backlash?"

Itachi nodded, it was a good question. "We've tested it somewhat extensively. It appears that there are absolutely no ill effects if he keeps the number to one or two. I suspect his natural healing abilities as an Uzumaki and Jinchuuriki help greatly. Despite his sharp instincts, he still learns quite slowly, no matter how good he is at trial and error, it is an inefficient method. With a clone though, he can learn in half the time." Itachi explained. "Just fast enough to keep him up with Sasuke." The smirk was now a smile. Perfectly white teeth glinting in the room.

Jiraiya was shocked. The rogue ninja was implying that he had two geniuses under his wing. He, a prodigy in his own right, was developing two more prodigies, of different varieties. Two Uchiha and the Jinchuuriki of the strongest tailed beast. Powerful allies they had just made.

"Where is he?" Jiraiya asked.

Itachi pondered for nearly thirty seconds, weighing the pros and cons of revealing their semi permanent base.

"Uzushiogakure." He responded. If they weren't trustworthy, Tsunade would just kill him during treatment anyway.

Jiraiya facepalmed. It was obvious, at least in hindsight. The one place that ninja didn't go to run missions, because the civilians were too afraid to try and live or travel there.

"Yes." The Uchiha smiled again. "Rumors of it's haunting have been greatly exaggerated, though the wind does howl at night."

Jiraiya skipped straight to the point. "When can we go?"

"Tomorrow morning. The seas are too dangerous to travel at night." Realistically, three extremely powerful shinobi would be just fine. He didn't want his boat to get destroyed though. He had built it with Naruto and Sasuke. Practical, but nostalgic. Yin and Yang.

Jiraiya nodded, as did Tsunade. They were in.