chapter seven. the mission that changes everything.

Itachi stopped for a second, trying to see through the pounding rain that was obscuring his vision. He looked around, came to a decision, and pointed towards the direction his squad would go in.

This mission was an important one. They had even been permitted the use of horses, though right now they were useless in the thick mud that caked the ground. The Anbu found themselves walking, with the additional burden of having to lead the beasts.

Grass country was now under the control of a highly irrational and aggressive leader. Lately he had been acting out towards the five Great Shinobi Countries, believing that they held an unfair dominion over countries without shinobi forces. He was particularly aggressive towards Fire, the country he believed to be most powerful. His hatred of the shinobi countries, however, didn't stop him from meeting with the kazekage of Wind Country. The treaty between Wind and Fire was already tenuous, and Fire Country did not want Wind to make an ally out of Fire's enemy. The decision was swift; the leader of Grass had to be assassinated. Of course, the mission was highly sensitive, and it was important that Fire Country was in no way implicated with the man's death for obvious political reasons. All witnesses had to be eliminated.

As it turned out, the leader's eccentricity gave them the perfect opportunity to carry out the mission. Right now he was vacationing in a secluded part of the mountains. On his vacations, he insisted on being alone, so he was there with only one bodyguard. An easy enough obstacle for four Anbu led by Uchiha Itachi himself.

Itachi made a signal. They were one day's time from the vacation resort, but night was about to fall. They would make camp here and set out again in the morning.

The men set up a tent as the rain continued to pour down of them. Itachi, on the other hand, walked into the nearby forest to see if he could find any wood that had managed to stay dry in the storm. He ran through the forest, his sharp eyesight checking to see if there were and niches or enclaves where dry wood to be found. After a moment though, he stopped, and looked around.

The forest seemed normal, with its usual cacophony of sharp animal noises. But he could sense it. That chakra... he hadn't felt it since he was eight.

Itachi moved forward into the forest, stopping when he finally saw the familiar figure.

"Orochimaru." Itachi stated. "That's your name. Akatsuki is the name of your organization."

"I'm impressed that you managed to learn so much about me since our last meeting." The pale man came out of the shadows, leaping to land in front of the young Anbu. "And becoming Anbu captain at such a young age. That is also very impressive."

"Why are you here?"

"I think you've figured it out already, Itachi-kun. The Akatsuki would like for you to join them."

"And why would I want to fight among that group of criminals?"

Orochimaru smiled. "The Akatsuki are among the most powerful ninjas in the world, criminals or not. You would be fighting among the greatest."

"That doesn't interest me. I fight for Kohona."

A laugh echoed through the forest. "Are you saying that because it's what you were taught or because you really believe it?"

Itachi clenched his fists, angered.

"Kohona doesn't care about you, Itachi-kun. You are just a tool to them. So why do you fight for them? You will see... it is your destiny to become great. The Akatsuki can give you that greatness. We can give you that power."

"Urusei!" Itachi closed his eyes, his mind closing off Orochimaru's words. When he opened them again his sharingan was active. "Don't trifle with me, Orochimaru."

Before he could prepare, Orochimaru was caught in the glare of the sharingan... he couldn't close his eyes.

"For the next twenty-four hours," Itachi started, sharingan completely focused on Orochimaru, "you will be beaten with whips of glass and stone."

Orochimaru screamed as suddenly he felt glass cutting into his skin and harsh strips of leather biting into his flesh. He could feel his body being ripped apart, no able to do anything about it... and the onslaught continued... hour after hour.... never ending. His body grew weaker as he felt flesh and blood drip out of him... and after a day passed, his eyes opened to look up at Itachi. He had collapsed, on his knees on the ground, incapable of moving, and he realized that even though he had suffered for a full day, only a moment had passed.

"That was the Tsukiyomi," Itachi whispered. "A true power of the sharingan."

For the first time, Orochimaru felt something skin to fear towards this thirteen-year-old boy. Blood dribbled from his mouth, from his skin. That attack... it was unreal. Gathering his last remaining chakra, he fled.

As soon as Orochimaru left, Itachi himself collapsed onto the ground. The Tsukiyomi... it drained him as well, consuming vast amounts of chakra. If he overused it, it could very well kill him.

Two Anbu officers came running towards Itachi, surprised to find their captain in such a weakened state on the ground.

"Sempai, are you all right? We heard screaming."

"Hai. There's nothing to worry about."

The captain of the anbu stood up and moved past his men, returning to the camp site. "Let's get some rest."

The next day the storm had cleared, and the Anbu troupe left the forest and made there way through the plains towards Grass country. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the day after that they were poised to attack the Grass country leader's mountain resort. Itachi rode in, followed by two of his men, and they quickly struck down the leader and his bodyguard with large kunai-style weapons.

"That was too easy," said one of Itachi's men. He kicked the dead president in the stomach. "Trash."

"Hey, look over there."

Itachi turned to where his man was pointing... there, among the grass and wildflowers, a mother was having a picnic with her son. They were frozen in fear at the sight of the shinobi. "I thought this area was isolated."

"Sometimes these things can't be avoided. You better go take care of them, Itachi. You are the captain after all."

Itachi started. "You want me to kill them."

"Of course. It's part of the mission. Leave no witnesses. You, out of any one, can understand the importance of the mission. We will take care of these bodies while you attend to the civilians."

Itachi clenched his teeth, drawing out his kunai as he sped towards the woman and the little boy. They were civilians.... innocents... in all his missions, he had never had to kill an innocent. All the people he had killed were at least aware that they courted death in their professions... politicians, ninjas, criminals. Never a mother. Never a child. Yet it was Kohona's will. It was the mission.

Itachi's body acted of on automatic, going through movements he had gone through countless times before, striking down the woman. Blood splattered every where on him as she screamed in pain, even though he had tried to make the death as painless as possible. The little boy could only watch in horror as his mother was slaughtered, tears streaking down his cheeks.

I'm sorry. Itachi turned to the boy, who cowered away from him. Soon the boy, too, was dead.

Itachi stood over the two freshly killed bodies. Blood dripped from his kunai, from his hands. He stood there for countless minutes before another Anbu came to jolt him from his shock.

"Itachi. Why haven't you disposed of the bodies?"

Itachi shook his head. "They didn't deserve to die."

But the mission... the mission had said to kill them.

"Was this... was this really for the good of Kohona?"

The older Anbu shrugged, picking up the bloody stump that used to be a living boy. "I don't know about the good of Kohona. If you ask me, there's no such thing as good or bad. There's only power."

Itachi watched as the other man walked away, thinking over his offhand comment. There was only power. He left the bloody woman on the grass, knowing the other Anbu would take care of it, and walked into the late leader's vacation home.

He wanted to wash all this blood off.