Revised 6/5/2022

The Third Shinobi World War hadn't been kind to Konohagakure, there was damage throughout the entire Land of Fire, and an uncountable number of casualties. Trying to prepare his son for a life as a shinobi, Fugaku had only one idea.

Itachi and his father, Fugaku, had left the village only two days ago, but to Itachi, it had felt like forever. Since he had never been outside the village farther than a half day's travel, he was feeling homesick. Still unsure of where he was going, Itachi didn't even know how long they would be gone. Currently, they were hiking up a hill, although, to young four-year-old Itachi it felt like a mountain. The sun was beginning to set, and yet his father hadn't even mentioned turning in for the night. The air was smoky, almost as if someone had been having a campfire recently, but it also contained another smell that he couldn't quite determine, he didn't like it though.

Arriving at the top of the hill Fugaku stopped. Standing next to his father looking out towards a nearby field Itachi found the source of the smoke. Itachi was shocked at the display of violence. Buildings were collapsed, and others were on fire, yet to be put out by the shinobi who were trying to stop the fire from spreading, and rescue any survivors. From the looks of it, the once small town was now nonexistent. About 100 feet or so from the town ANBU had begun to gather corpses into a pile from the previous battle, they were preparing them for a 'shinobi's burial', a mass cremation. There were bodies of friends and foes, shinobi and civilians, nobody was spared from the slaughter. Not able to tolerate the awful smell of bile and day-old corpses anymore Itachi ran over to a nearby bush and vomited.

Wiping off his mouth with the backside of his hand he stood up, "Father, what happened?"

Looking down at his son, he hated seeing him like this, but it was a necessity to prevent the dreaded curse of hatred from manifesting in his son, "Some Iwa shinobi infiltrated the Land of Fire to try and lay siege to our towns and cities. They were met with a swift and hard resistance; this was the result."

Looking up he didn't see his father, he saw the cold eyes of a man who had seen a lot in his life, and wasn't affected by violent displays, such as this, anymore.

Turning around Fugaku began heading down the hill, "Come son, let's find a place to rest for the night." Taking one last glance at the once battlefield Itachi turned and went with his father.

It had been a few days since Itachi had gone on that trip with his father, but he still couldn't get the memory out of his mind. It was a couple of hours into the night, most of the kids were in their beds sleeping, but not young Itachi. He lay awake, thinking about his encounter earlier this week.

Itachi lay there, thinking to himself, 'Why did people choose to participate in this level of violence? Is there a purpose to this foolishness? There must be, or so many people wouldn't be sacrificing themselves.' No matter how long he thought about it he couldn't come to a conclusion.

Getting out of bed, his little feet hit the floor. Walking over to his bedroom door he slowly opened it, listening to the old-wooden door squeak under its weight. Walking down the stairs, the only noise in the house, was the sound of little feet on a hardwood floor. It wasn't extremely late, and it wasn't uncommon for his father to be out working until two or three in the morning, so only his mother was home. Walking into the common room where his mother was sitting, reading a book he tugged on her dress until she lifted him up to sit beside her.

Tugging on her shirt sleeve to get her attention, "Mother, why?"

Looking down from her book and into her son's-tired eyes, "Why what honey?" It wasn't unusual for him to ask a question without fully explaining it, at the young age of four he still didn't fully understand that people generally weren't focused on the same thoughts as him.

Tears formed in his eyes, "Why do so many people need to suffer? Is there a point to this violence?"

A mother always tries to anticipate her child's thoughts and questions, but she hadn't even contemplated this. Remembering that Fugaku had taken their son to see what he referred to as 'the effects of war', she figured this was what was keeping her son up tonight. Thinking it over for a moment, there wasn't a suitable answer that she could give him. She didn't want to be overly blunt, but this was the world they lived. Deciding upon an approach and pulling him over onto her lap, "Think of someone who means the world to you, someone who you would do anything for."

Sniffling his nose, and deciding to think of his mother, "Like you mother?"

This reply made Mikoto smile, she was happy to see that her son loved her. Sometimes it was difficult to know what was going on inside his mind, and she was glad to know that he thought of her, "Now, what would you do if I was in danger? You would try to help me, right?" Waiting for a nod from her son she continued, "And what if the danger was another person who was trying to cause me harm, would you still want to help me?"

Confusion filled his face, "Why would this person want to harm you mother?" He couldn't think of a situation where somebody would want to cause her harm.

"Sometimes people get hurt, I'm not talking about outward pain, but the pain you feel inside when you lose something dear to you. And there is not always somebody to blame, but for some reason when people get hurt, they tend to want to make others feel the same pain. This kind of behavior leads to fights, and more pain, which in turn leads to a spiral of pain that cannot be fixed with the current way of thinking, understand?"

Tilting his head to the side. What she said made a bit of sense, "Kinda, but why don't we stop thinking that way?"

She chuckled at her son's innocence. "Well, it doesn't work that..." Stopping mid-sentence, she thought for a moment, "I don't know the answer to that sweetie." She had gotten caught in that same way of thinking once in her life. Luckily Fugaku managed to knock some sense into her otherwise she probably wouldn't have been here today.

The young Uchiha was surprised that his mother didn't know the answer, after all, she knew everything. He thought for a moment before deciding the right course of action. A huge grin grew on his face, "Then I'll be the one who stops this way of thinking." He didn't know how, or when he'd be able to do it, but he knew what he was going to accomplish. It wasn't until many years later that he found out the sheer number of people who had tried for peace and failed.

Chuckling at her son's enthusiasm, "I have no doubt in that." scooting him off her lap and hugging him, "You're going to need lots of sleep though if you want to accomplish those dreams. Besides, I think I hear your father and you know how these late-night meetings make him grouchy." she said changing from hugging her son to tickling him.

Escaping from his mother's 'attack' he headed towards the steps, "Goodnight mommy, I love you."

"Goodnight Itachi."

Looking out of his window at the empty streets of Konoha he whispered to himself, "I'm going to be the one who puts an end to this spiral of pain."

1 year later

The past year had been busy for Itachi, after that night he borrowed a few books from his father regarding the topics of basic; taijutsu, ninjutsu, and his clan's kekkei genkai, the Sharingan. For the next couple of months, he spent all his spare time learning everything he could from these books, occasionally going to his parents with a few questions. By this point, the war had ended and things were beginning to go back to normal, a new 'normal'. Itachi had been planning for a while to start physical training once it became spring, and since today was the first day of spring, he was downstairs, packing a lunch.

Placing his lunch into a bag with his books he went to leave the house, Mikoto was sitting near the door drinking tea, since she had only just gotten up. About five months ago Itachi found out that his mother was pregnant, and it was really starting to show. She didn't have as much mobility as she did before, and her stomach had begun to grow. It was hard for Itachi to believe that in only a few months a baby could be formed from hardly anything at all.

Peering above the book she was reading, seeing her son's bag, and figuring that he was planning on heading out she asked, "Where are you going this early?"

Turning to face his mother, "I'm heading out to practice some katas." As if it was an everyday occurrence instead of his first time.

Smiling at her son's eagerness, he hadn't even enrolled in the academy yet, and he was already trying to practice his form, "Just stay safe dear, and be home for dinner, we're having Kushina over tonight."

Itachi enjoyed the company of Kushina, she's always kind to him and with her being over at their house so often she was almost like a second mother. He had no doubts that if he had any questions, he could come to her, and she would help him.

Walking outside he felt the crisp breeze blow past him, it was a bit chilly out but Itachi didn't mind, he preferred it over hot summer days in Konohagakure. He glanced around before heading towards a training field located on the outskirts of the Uchiha compound. The streets were crowded today, not how he was used to seeing them. During the war no matter where he went the streets were dead, between the shinobi who were out fighting the war to the citizens who were too afraid to leave their houses barely anyone was ever out on the streets. Even if he's not used to it, this new change was a welcome one because it meant that Konoha was finally at peace.

Arriving at the training field, he looked around before determining it was empty. The field itself wasn't anything special, being an empty field surrounded by some trees with a few wooden posts on the left side. There were a few craters and a couple of knocked-down trees, but mostly it was bland, nothing special. Heading in, he walked over to a nearby tree and sat down his pack with his books and bento in it.

Coming from somewhere in the trees, "Hmmm, I haven't seen you around here before."

Shocked by the sudden new voice, Itachi looked around but didn't see anyone. "I'm up here," Jumping down from the tree a girl, who appeared to be around his age, stumbled in front of him. A little bit of blood filled her cheeks, "I'm still working on the landing." The new girl walked around Itachi examining him. "Yep, definitely new." Sticking out her hand, "I'm Izumi" she smiled.

Itachi hadn't ever seen her before, but from the looks of her clothing, she was an Uchiha. Hesitating for a moment, Itachi took her hand and shook it. Letting go of her hand he responded coldly with, "Itachi" Even at a young age he was rather anti-social with people he was not familiar with.

"Wait" the newly named Izumi squinted her eyes, "You're Fugaku's son."

Getting caught off guard by hearing his father address in such a casual way, he froze for a moment. Deciding that he was already done with the conversation Itachi nodded and opened one of the books hoping that she would see he was busy and leave.

"It must be sooo cool to have a father who's held in such high regard," she sighed. Her father was hated by lots of people, and her mother was even disowned by her own family. Looking over his shoulder at the page he's reading, "Basics of... geekoo booei." Tilting her head to the side, "What's that?"

"Jiko bōei is a taijutsu style that's been used for ages as a means to self-defense, instead of initiating the fight."

Furrowing her brow, "But don't Uchiha's usually practice Aitorakkingu style?" Doing her best to imitate a punch.

A bit surprised by her knowledge on the subject, "Yeah, but after reading through a couple different styles I felt this one suited me better. Besides, if every Uchiha practiced a single style wouldn't that make us a bit predictable in battle?"

She thought about it for a moment before accepting his answer. She went over to a stump a little way away and sat down. Looking over at her, "What are you doing now?"

"I want to watch." She said with more courage than she felt. A bit of blush crept up her cheeks as she looked down at the grass, "Besides it's not like this is your personal training field or anything."

Rolling his eyes, he turned back to his book. Itachi was a bit nervous since he had never even performed these katas before, let alone with an audience. Reviewing the instructions, and stances once more Itachi placed his feet about shoulder length apart and began to perform the first kata. He repeated this kata until he felt comfortable with it. Even though it was just a basic form he needed to be sure that he started off with a strong foundation or else everything past that would be performed poorly as well.

A couple hours pass by with Itachi attempting to perform the katas, with varying levels of success. Looking over at Izumi he noticed that she had found something better to pay attention to, a butterfly that was collecting some nectar out of a flower. Deciding that now was as good of a time as any for lunch he walked back over to his bag, sat down against the tree, and grabbed his bento box out of his bag. It was a simple wrap. A tortilla, spread with some hummus, with some roasted chicken and vegetables on it, nothing too extraordinary.

Noticing that the lack of noise had once again gotten Izumi's attention, and she was glancing at the food in his hands he decided to offer her the other half, "Would you like half? He asked as he held up half a wrap to her.

Not wanting to take half but forgetting to pack a lunch for herself she reluctantly agreed with a nod. Grabbing the half of the wrap, "Thank you", she said as she sat across from him. Taking a bite out of it, "This is delicious, who made this?"

Shocked that she enjoyed it, "I did, but it's not difficult as long as you have the right ingredients."

They finished their meal in relative silence, afterward, Izumi thanked Itachi once more before leaving to head back home. Itachi spent the remainder of the day practicing a few of the basic katas and forming basic seals with his hands.

Seeing that the sun was getting close to setting he decided to finish his training with a quick meditation session. He had read in his ninjutsu book that the easiest way for a beginner to access their chakra was through multiple meditation sessions. The first session he had didn't go as planned. He only managed to stay concentrated for a few minutes before his restlessness got the better of him. However, today's session was much better, having exhausted himself today he wasn't in the mood to do much of anything except sit.

Up until this point, he had no luck in accessing his chakra, each time he asked his mother about it she just told him 'He'd know once he found it.' He wasn't particularly in a rush, but he also was quite eager to know what it felt like. A couple minutes in he noticed a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach, 'was that always there?' if so he had never noticed it before. By thinking alone he managed to get the warm feeling to flow into his chest and then his arms. It felt new, but at the same time familiar. Tugging on it a bit more he could feel it travel down to his legs before returning to the pool in his gut. Satisfied with his training for the day he stood up content with going home.

Chapters Words: 2944

Story Words: 2944

ORIGINAL A/N: Excluding this chapter, and a portion of the next one I am changing the age of the characters when certain events happen. I've never liked that students were being released from the academy at age 12, and I'll be changing that to closer to 15 or so, with the exceptions of characters who graduated early, they will still graduate early, but closer to the age range of 10-12. Also, in this fic, Itachi isn't going to be some ninja god who can defeat any foe, but he will still be a prodigy.