A/N: Thanks for reaching this point in the story. I plan to redo a few of the beginning chapters, starting with chapter 7. Let me know which other chapters you think need a revamp. I won't be changing the general flow of the chapter, just adding more details and maybe some unimportant sections.


Chapter 9 – To Spare or Kill

Itachi went and retrieved his team, taking a longer time finding them than what was necessary. Currently, his entire team was sitting across from their client. The woman had revealed her name to be Sugio and gave them more details of what they would be guarding. There were seven wagons in total, which seemed excessive for a new Genin team. Itachi didn't doubt his ability, nor did he question his sensei's. However, he didn't think that either Tenma or Shinko could hold their own in a fight. Yuki-sensei chose the most apparent formation, with Yuki leading point so that he could gauge the skill on any enemies charging towards them. With Tenma and Shinko on the left and right, respectively. Finally, Itachi guarded the rear. This seemed like a solid plan. The only problem was that bandits wouldn't charge at them. Bandits would likely try to pick the last wagon off or possibly attack the sides to divide the convoy. Their formation didn't matter much because it was unlikely they would even encounter any violence as it was a C-Rank mission. The only problem was that Itachi's gut was telling him otherwise.

After discussing the details of the convoy, they decided to wait until tomorrow to leave as it was getting late. The inn clerk arranged for rooms for each of them and even made them all tea. Brining his tea into the room, Itachi was waiting for it to cool before tasting it. Bringing the porcelain dish to his lips, Itachi tipped the small cup up and was immediately rewarded with the wonderous taste of green tea. Itachi had drunk tea before. He was pretty fond of a cup before bed, but this wasn't tea. This was the nectar of gods. He didn't know whether it was due to the specific leaves they used or how they prepared it. But for some reason, this tea filled his mouth with indescribable joy. Finishing the cup, Itachi sat it on the stand next to his bed so that he could try a get a good night's rest. Closing his eyes, he drifted away into dreamland.


The smell of ashes burned his nostrils as the sound of a distant battle filled his ears. Opening his eyes, Itachi seen the ground riddled with the bodies of different villagers he had met. Directly in front of him was the body of the baker, from which he frequently bought bread. Across from him was his academy teacher, Iruka-sensei. Leaning down, he felt the pulse of the nearest body. There was no pulse, but Itachi knew that before even leaning over. Whatever had happened here didn't spare any survivors. Man, woman, citizen, or shinobi they all fell before this unseen force. Hearing the sounds of battle in the distance, Itachi decided to check it out. Maybe he could still save some of the villagers.

Itachi had encountered many sights on his way to the ongoing fight, but the most unsettling had to have been the shinobi, who was torn apart into three pieces. The shinobi's hand was still gripping a kunai, and his arm would occasionally twitch, not knowing that it had been disconnected from the head. It seemed as if each body was facing him. In an eerie way, he almost felt like he was being watched. He was arriving at a clearing when he saw a familiar face in the sea of lifeless bodies. Shisui laid there motionless. Running up to his' brother,' he checked for a pulse, knowing what he would find by the already blue skin. Blood flowed down from his eye socket as if he was crying blood. Closing his friend's eyes, Itachi began towards the sound of battle once more. This time with even more conviction.

Off in the distance, Itachi could see two figures fighting. The taller, more prominent one was winning. Sprinting towards the fight, Itachi wanted to see what was happening. Looking over its shoulder, the more towering figure saw Itachi and, as a response, pulled its tanto from out of its sheath, but instead of focusing on him, the figure diagonally sliced its opponent ensure to hit both their chest and stomach. Now that Itachi was closer, he could tell that a girl was fighting against that monster. Pulling out a kunai, he charged at the cloaked figure. Pulling the kunai above his head, Itachi prepared to swing it downwards, striking his unknown enemy. The figure disappeared just before the strike landed. Looking around, it was nowhere to be seen. Hearing a gurgling sound, he looked down at the girl that was struck down only to see yet another familiar face, Izumi. Crouching down, he looked over her wounds, trying to figure out a way to stop the bleeding, but there was no way. Looking up at his friend's face, he cupped her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the blood from her mouth.

Meeting his eyes, the raven-haired girl opened her mouth, trying to speak. It took more effort than it should've, but eventually, her voice could be heard, "W..wh..where w..ere yo..you?" she questioned. "We….we nee…needed y…you. Th..the v…village…", but before she could finish what she was saying, her head fell back, and her breaths stopped. Then Itachi did something he hadn't done in years, he cried.


Itachi woke up in a cold sweat, it wasn't unusual for him to experience nightmares, but this one was especially bad. Moving so that his feet dangled off from his bed, he ran his fingers through his hair. Ever since he left Konohagakure, they had been getting worse and worse nightmare to the point where one night he was only able to get a few hours of sleep, even after traveling the entire day prior. He didn't know if it was due to leaving Konohagakure or because he was nervous about the mission. Either way, he knew that he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep tonight.

Standing up, he walked over to the window, with the moon's light still shining through. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he closed his eyes and began focusing on his breath. Itachi began to meditate, trying to find some balance for his long road trip back home.

Walking down the dirt path, Itachi gazed upon the wagons before him. He knew that there would be seven wagons, but hearing it makes it seem like so much less than seeing it. The convoy stretched nearly as far as he could see. And it moved at an infuriatingly slow pace. At this rate, they'd be lucky to reach Konohagakure in two months, let alone two weeks.

He could see both Tenma and Shinko from where he was walking, but Yuki-Sensei was out of his sight. Itachi had spent a lot of time trying to decipher his dream. The part he had yet to discover the meaning behind was the figure; what did it represent? Did it serve a purpose beyond signifying an unknown attacker? Why did it turn and look at him before killing Izumi? Why was he unable to catch it? Why was he so helpless? Why was he so weak?

No matter how much he thought about it, the answers refused to reveal themselves. Looking again to the road before him, he thought once more to himself, 'This will be a long road trip back home'.

They had been traveling for about five days now and were thankfully back in the land of fire. It had been an uneventful trip up until this point. Tenma raised a couple of false alarms when he had heard some rabbits in the bushes. Overall though, they had yet to encounter any threats. People often believed that merchants hired shinobi due to the risk of being robbed by bandits. However, they were hired to deal with any danger, whether natural order such as a bear or wolves or malicious order such as a group of bandits.

Hearing some activity in a nearby bush, Itachi glanced over. Seeing nothing strange, he returned his sights to the wagons. They were approaching a crossroads. No other activity could be seen, which struck Itachi as odd because it was bristling with life when they passed through here over a week ago. 'Must be the time of day,' he thought to himself. Something felt off to him. Glancing up ahead, he saw Tenma in his usual relaxed position with his hand behind his head, and Shinko walked with her arm by her sides, looking slightly towards the ground. Nothing seemed to be alarming for them. He must still be on edge from his dream.

Seeing movement to the right of him, Itachi looked over to see a bandit in full charge. The bandit seemed to pay little attention to him, probably thinking that he was just some kid. Throwing a kunai, he struck his target. The man fell, unable to walk with a kunai sticking out of his thigh. This must've gained the attention of the other bandits because, looking over, he saw two men running towards him. Getting into a defensive stance, Itachi prepared himself to fight. Swipe kicking the first one legs from underneath him resulted in a thud. The sudden noise alerted the others up ahead. Feeling a sharp pain in his head, Itachi realized that the other bandit had hit him on the side of his head. After recovering from his temporary daze, Itachi saw the bandit helping his friend up.

The two men circled the boy, trying to decide their next move. Deciding to go on the offensive, Itachi leaped towards the first of his foes, kicking him in the diaphragm.

Staggering back, the gruff-looking man tried to regain his balance before being kicked in the back of the knee by the young Uchiha.

Taking advantage of the fallen man Itachi pulled out a kunai and hit the man in the back of the head with the blunt side. Knocking him out. Looking over at the still-standing bandit, he quickly switched his kunai to a backhanded grip. Seeing his other two friends on the ground scared the bigger man, but he wasn't about to give up this easily.

Running towards the man, Itachi ducked below his first swing and then once more before slicing the man's achilleas, dropping him to the ground. These bandits had come woefully underprepared. Looking up to where his teammates stood, he saw three bodies surrounded by forming puddles of blood. Above two bodies stood an alert Yuki, cleaning off his kunai on the fallen bandit's clothes. Over the other body stood a shaking Tenma and Shinko. Both of which had probably witnessed their first death, and one of which killed their first enemy.

Itachi had tied up and bandaged the three bandits' wounds, one of which was still unconscious. Noticing that everything had died down, Sugio peeked out of her wagon. Satisfied with what she saw, she began talking with Yuki, as he was the group leader. Walking over to Itachi, she was surprised to see the three bandits alive.

"Why are they still breathing?" She hissed, "Kill them like their friends."

Stepping in front of the bandits, "No, they're harmless to you now."

Sugio couldn't believe what she was hearing. They worked for her, and she wanted the bandits dead, "I wasn't asking." She exclaimed. Noticing the Itachi wasn't moving to follow her order, she sighed, "Fine, if you don't have the guts, then give me one of your knives, and I'll do it myself."

Itachi just closed his eyes, "I said no, they won't be harming you or this convoy."

The only thing that infuriated Sugio more than being disobeyed was being ignored. "Bruat" she screamed.

The big man he had seen earlier perked up. Walking over to where they were standing, he looked at Sugio, "Yes, Ma'am?"

"Kill these foolish bandits who tried to rob me." She ordered the goliath of a man.

He seemed to debate it for a moment before deciding to obey her orders. Stepping forwards, he pulled a knife from a pouch on his side. "I said no," stated the raven-haired boy, not backing down from where he was standing.

"Don't forget who you work for, you big idiot!" She yelled at Bruat.

"He can't hear you." The boy calmly said. Seeing the confused look on her face, "I placed him under a Genjutsu." Realizing that she probably didn't have any experience talking with shinobi, the boy continued, "Think of it sort of like a trance. I control what he sees, hears, and feels."

Realizing that she wasn't going to win this argument, she turned away, "Your Hokakge will hear about this!"

Releasing his grip from the bigger man, the man fell out of his genjutsu. Looking a bit confused, he looked around. Seeing that Sugio was no longer there, he proceeded to follow her.

Turning to face the bandits, he looked down, "Somebody should come down this path in the next few days. They'll release you." Leaking as much killing intent as he could, he glared at them, "I suggest you straighten up; the next group you encounter might not be as merciful." Turning back towards the convoy, he ran to catch up with them. He might have a small mess to deal with back at the village, but at least he could prevent the deaths of three individuals.


Seeing the village gates, Itachi was filled with both excitement and dread. He didn't know how the Hokage was going to react to his refusal to kill. He knew that he would be forced to kill as a shinobi, but he would choose to spare a life rather than kill any opportunity he got. If the Hokage couldn't accept that Itachi was willing to turn in his Hitai-ate.

He was stepping up to the gates as he watched Yuki-Sensei give his identification number and the mission scroll. After a couple of further questions, the Chunin allowed them access into the village. Walking through the streets, Itachi felt the breeze flow through his hair. It was getting dark, and as a result, the temperature had cooled down significantly. They were headed for the Hokage's tower to report in and collect their pay. Sugio was with them as she still wished to report his misdeeds to the Hokage.

The privacy seals in the Hokage's office must be efficient, Itachi thought to himself. Sugio had gone into the office only moments prior, and he still hadn't heard a peep. If those seals could block out the noise of that woman, then they could block out anything. Itachi was relieved to be back home. Initially, he had been excited to get a C-Rank mission, but it wasn't as great as he initially thought. Itachi didn't know how much Yuki-sensei knew about what happened back with the bandits, but he figured that he must've known at least a bit about it. Waiting for the Hokage to call them in Itachi closed his eyes; he was tired. Not only had he been on the road the past three weeks, but he had also been getting nightmare almost every night, that made it impossible for him to sleep.

Fifteen minutes or so later, a frustrated-looking Sugio left the office, and from inside, he could hear the Hokage call for his team. One by one, they entered his office, beginning with Yuki and ending with Shinko.

The older man began the conversation, "Yuki, I'm glad to see your team made it back unharmed."

Bowing his head, Yuki said, "Thank you, Hokage, we were blessed with a safe travel."

"I heard you ran into a bit of trouble," Their leader said, looking at Itachi, causing him to stiffen under his watchful gaze.

Looking a bit cocky, "It was nothing more than a few minor bandits, nothing my team and I couldn't handle." The jonin said with a grin.

"So, I heard," The older man said, crossing his fingers in front of his mouth. "I want a report from each of filed by tomorrow morning. If that is all you need from me, you're dismissed." As they began to exit, the Hokage looked up from his hat, "Except for you Itachi, I need to see you for a moment."

Turning around, the young boy faced his leader, "Yes, Hokage?" he questioned.

A slight grin formed on his face, "I heard there was a bit of an argument over a group of the bandits. Sit, tell me about it."


Leaving the Hokage's tower, the sun had finally set, and the moon was beginning to rise in the sky. Itachi had imagined that the conversation would go entirely differently. Not only had the Third encouraged him to keep this trait, and he also told him that he respected him, not many people would've been able to make that decision at this young of an age. He decided that he should head back and get some rest to be back up nice and early to catch up on his training.

Seeing a bolt of black moving towards him, he barely had enough time to turn towards it before he was struck to the ground. Looking up, he saw the familiar face of his friend, except she wasn't smiling, and there were tears in her eyes.

Leaning down, Izumi hugged her friend, "I'm so sorry." She whispered to him, but what was she sorry about? What happened?

After Izumi stood up, she helped Itachi up as well, looking at his friend. "Do you want to talk over something to eat? I'm starving." The boy asked. Truthfully, he wasn't hungry at all; he had more than enough at their last stop to fill him for the night. But his friend looked distressed, and he thought maybe getting her mind off from it might help.

Receiving a nod from his friend, he was glad to see the makings of a smile on her lips. Whatever had happened, she was upset by it, and before Itachi could help her, he needed to figure out what was wrong.


Izumi had heard that he'd be arriving today, but he had already arrived based on the women gossiping in the marketplace. Running to the gate to meet him, she was disappointed to see that he had already left. Running up to the Chunin guarding the gate she asked, "Has team 2 already arrived?"

Looking down at the sign-in sheet in his hands, he nodded, "Yes, they're heading for the Hokage's tower right now."

"Thank you," she yelled back at him, since she began running once, she heard the word 'Hokage'. Maybe if she was fast enough, she could meet up with him there. Arriving at the Hokage's Tower, she was excited to see Yuki-Sensei exiting the tower. Slowly, she saw Tenma, followed by Shinko, exit the building, but Itachi had yet to leave. Pacing back and forth, she almost didn't notice once he finally did exit. Running towards him, he began turning around until she collided with him, knocking him to the ground. She hadn't even noticed the tears rolling down he face until she saw one land on Itachi.

Wrapping him in a hug, she whispered into his ear, "I'm so sorry." He'd have to accept her apology. It was all just a misunderstanding anyway. She could've sworn she felt Itachi briefly wrap his arms around her before releasing. It may have been brief, but it was there. Noticing their awkward position, she stood up, a bit of red filling her cheeks.

Helping her friend up, he seemed to think for a moment before opening his mouth, "Do you want to talk over something to eat? I'm starving."

He must've forgiven her. Why else would he invite her to go with him? The tears had stopped, and she felt something that she hadn't felt in the past couple of weeks, happiness.


A/N: Thanks for reading another chapter of this tale. Sorry guys, I'm not great on fight scenes, but I'm working on them. I know I'm not even close to the end of this story, but another idea popped into my head. Tell me what you think about it;

Minato Namikaze is the definition of genius. He began using his chakra at five and excelled from there. Everything changed for him once he rescued the red-haired angel, but what if he hadn't? What if Kushina had never moved to Konohagakure? Would he still be the same ninja he was today?

The description needs lots of work, but basically, it's a story about what if Minato and Kushina never got together, how would things be different, how different would they become?