Konoha's Weasel Prince
Summary: Itachi never got to use his Susanoo in his fight with Sasuke. As soon as the Kirin hit, he was sent back through time to the founder's era and it was up to him to ensure a safer and surer future for Konoha and the world at large. KisaIta TobiMada HashiMito others mentioned
When he woke again, there were four people outside of his room, one of whom's chakra signature he didn't quite recognize but was sure had been there when he had been found by that group. He found that his chakra had been sealed and that his hands were tightly strapped to the table. Nothing that he couldn't get out of, though.
What surprised him was that the chakra seal was wrapped around his eyes and another around his forehead. Of course, it wasn't the first time someone tried sealing his eyes before, to stop his deadly gaze from finishing them off before he could escape whoever was trying to hold him - usually he was in their grasp to begin with because it was needed for a mission - but these people wouldn't have helped him had they known he was the Clan Killer. Which was surprising enough for someone not to know. Even before he killed his family, he had already been in the Bingo Book since he joined the ANBU. His old team, Team Ro lead by Hatake Kakashi, had had a flee-on-sight warrant for two years because of him, Kakashi-san and Tenzou. He was already far too well known even before entering the Bingo Book due to his performance during the Chuunin Exam, too. People usually recognized him on sight.
But the only way these people would have been willing to help him would be if they didn't know who he was. As a member of the Akatsuki - and one of their 'brass', if you could call it that - he was fairly hated even if more than one village was thankful he had eliminated the Uchiha Clan and their dreadful Sharingan and they were relieved that terrible power was all but gone from the world. How these people didn't know about him, Itachi was not sure. He hadn't thought it even possible for him to remain anonymous anymore. Despite him traveling with a shark like man, it was still the Uchiha who had to hide his appearance with genjutsu and henge. He was the one people noticed first, the one they recognized first. Itachi really didn't understand it, but it was the case none the less.
Yet these people obviously didn't recognize him. If they had, they would have either placed him in a dark cell, locking him up so he can never see the light of day again, or they would have just killed him on the spot. They definitely wouldn't have healed him.
And healed he was. The pain he had gotten so used to over the past couple of years was completely gone, not even present in traces. That, if nothing else, was a downright miracle. Itachi had visited a few medics over the course of his illness and they had all recommended for him to either go to Sunagakure's Chiyo-baa-sama or to Konohagakure's Tsunade-hime, since they had diagnosed his illness beyond a normal medic's skills. Itachi took grateful deep breaths of air, filling his lungs to their full capacity for the firs time in a very long while and he found it strange. He would have chuckled at himself - as he was sure only he would find it strange to be healthy again - had he not tuned in on the conversation going on outside his room.
''Is he going to be okay?'' The so far unfamiliar voice asked from in front of his door and Itachi concentrated on listening in to what was being said.
''With the amount of chakra we have all spent to heal him, he should be, but I have never seen an illness like that before.'' The Uchiha frowned, trying to place the voice among his three healers from earlier and deciding this was the voice of the most powerful of the three that had led the operation. It was definitely that warm tone from before, even if it was still as serious as it had been while the person had been fighting for his life. ''It is a miracle he is alive at all.''
''How did you even heal him, then?'' The same female voice from before asked again, sounding both incredulous and curious. ''I mean, I know you are a strong and good healer, cousin, but even you have your limitations.''
''The boy was near death, yes, but he is a strong one.'' The voice of his female healer sounded and Itachi wanted to glare at being called a boy. Why was it that he will be stuck with that title even years after he had exited his childhood. Even as a teen, he had been referred to as 'boy'. Even at twenty one, a few of the older Akatsuki members still called him a 'boy', despite secretly being scared shitless of his power.
''Still, he would have died had it not been for the three of us.'' The first male spoke again, sounding relieved. ''Had it not been for your and mine naturally healing chakra and for brother's help with his amazing chakra control, we wouldn't have managed to save him and heal all the damage that the illness has caused.''
''I still say we might have just wasted all of that energy on an enemy!'' Another male voice snapped and this one Itachi recognized to belong to the person who had kept him alive and mostly calm during his move to the hospital from who knows where.
''Brother-''
''Have you seen him, Anija?! Black hair and pale skin! He's definitely one of them!''
''That's a bit racist, little cousin.'' The new female chided the apparently youngest of the group. ''They're not the only ones with such features.''
''They are with such obvious affinity towards fire in their chakra!'' Itachi frowned at that, not really understanding what was going on yet. Why was this person so much against him? Did he know him? Have they fought before? But, if so, why was Itachi alive, still?
"The Uchiha are not the only ones with an affinity for fire." The female healer pointed out and Itachi's eyes flew open behind the seal covering them. So they knew who he was?! No, only one of them did, or was very suspicious, to be precise. Everyone else seemed more inclined to believe otherwise. But why were they so much against his clan? Where was he, actually? "And while I myself am not as talented and as powerful a sensor as you, I can tell that his chakra is ... different from that of an Uchiha. There is a ... certain feeling about him, a calmness that contradicts the fire. No Uchiha can be that calm a flame."
The person who was so against him grunted in acknowledgment reluctantly and Itachi finally allowed himself to move, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. Taking off the chakra seals would definitely work against him in a situation like this. If there were two sensors right outside his door, then the second he takes off the suppression seals, they will feel his chakra flare and know he is awake and trying to escape. But Itachi didn't need to free his chakra just yet to escape his binds, chakra laden as they were, and he definitely didn't need to rely on his eyes like a normal person would in order to get out of here. Itachi had been wandering around the Great Five Elemental Nations with Kisame blind for three to four years now. He hardly needed his eyes to manage in uncharted territories.
Still, escaping quietly without either using his eyes or his chakra was trickier than it looked but Itachi managed. He was a fully trained ANBU operative and he knew how to escape without much fuss or extended energy. In a matter of a minute or so, Itachi had freed his hands by dislocating his wrist so he can tug his hand free with only the minimal burst of chakra towards the restraints so that the chakra in the restraint would yield. Suppressed chakra or not, Itachi's control was impeccable and nothing and no one so far had been able to keep him locked in place just because they put chakra restraints on him. Most shinobi would be successfully subdued by this method, but not Itachi. His manipulation of his own chakra astounded more than one person over the course of his twenty one years of life. When his hands were free and quickly snapped back into place, Itachi sat up and untied his ankles with even more ease.
Still, with his chakra suppressed, he couldn't move around as freely as he would like. Yes, Itachi could use his other senses to make his way around but not as accurately as he would like. He couldn't feel the disturbances in the natural flow of chakra due to objects or other living beings laying around or moving about. He hated his chakra being restrained or drained to the point that he can't extended from himself further than a few feet. He was pretty sure all ninja hated it, but Itachi hated it more than others as it usually left him more blind than he already was. It left him vulnerable and this time there was no Kisame to watch over him like the shark man usually did.
Still, Itachi knew he couldn't stay here. These people were ninja, that much was obvious, and they already suspected him of being an Uchiha. It puzzled him that someone might mistake him for Sasuke - as that was the only reason why they were referring to him as an Uchiha and not the Uchiha Itachi - since there were rare few similarities between them, no matter what other people said. And these people obviously had something against their clan and Itachi didn't plan on staying to find out. For one, it would be stupid. Secondly, he kind of doubted anyone knew he was alive. If Sasuke thought he has avenged their clan, he should be content, no? Itachi wanted to make sure before he got himself a disguise and hid himself on the other side of the world, if possible, so Sasuke would live a happy life thinking he had fulfilled his goal. It would be a lie but it's not the first or the worst one Itachi told and the world better hope it's not the last one, either. Besides, despite wanting to die at his brother's hands, Itachi wasn't exactly suicidal! Give him another chance at life while it still allowed Sasuke to take his 'revenge' and he'll gladly take it. Anyway, he also had to make sure 'Madara' doesn't succeed in whatever crazy plan that man had tried to drag him into. After that, he will simply disappear from the scene, let his memory fade away from the shinobi world and possibly live a long, happy life as a farmer or something, far, far away from Konoha. That was the plan, at least. Time to execute it.
"He's a shinobi who was on our lands, cousin. As much as you want to treat him as a guest or a patient, Butsuma-sama won't let you. He could be a spy, just not for the Uchiha." He overheard the cousin of two of his healers say and Itachi wanted to snort as he carefully climbed up onto the window sill. They were still distracted so this was the best time for him to escape. But he was intrigued all the same. Yes, he had been the spy for the Uchiha, just as well as for Konoha, but that was almost eight years ago. The Uchiha Clan was gone for that exact amount of time. Only he and Sasuke remained and neither of them had spies. And just where had he stumbled across? Why was getting here such a fuzzy memory?
"Are we even sure he's really a shinobi?" The strongest one questioned as Itachi balanced himself on the window, taking a deep breath of the fresh air outside and taking in the smells. He almost frowned at what he smelled. If he didn't know better, Itachi would swear he's just north east of Konoha. A little further out and he was sure he would have been on the ANBU training ground 42, the Forest of Death. He would know. There were certain trees that grow there that didn't grow anywhere else, in Konoha or otherwise. It had something to do with the soil. The earth there also had a very specific smell. Itachi would never forget it, he was sure of that much. No matter how many years he spent away from his village, Konoha and its surrounding area were practically seared into his brain like a good little ninja. It was the first thing they taught at the Academy, after all. Konoha'd woods are not a place you want to get lost in.
"With how refined his chakra is, there is no doubt." The grumpy male of the quartet replied with a huff. "Another thing that sets him apart from the Uchiha, which is why I fell back to his looks. He feels like an Uchiha yet he doesn't. I know it probably makes very little sense to you, since you can't feel his chakra like I do, but I can't explain it better than that."
Itachi took this as his cue to leave. If the conversation was coming to an end, it was only a matter of time before they decided to come in and see him awake and free. He needed to leave, now, while he still had a chance so Itachi took a deep breathe and tried activating his Sharingan from underneath the two suppression seals. His eyes burned under the strain and the attack of the suppression seals, but it was only for a moment as he immediately let it fade away. In that one instance of sight, he had seen enough of the layout to escape the hospital and without needing further aid, he jumped off of the window sill with the grace of a feline, easily pushing chakra into his feet so his jump will allow him to land on what appeared to be a thick wooden pole of some sort, landing without stumbling one bit.
The familiar cawing of his crow both relaxed him and threw him off balance, metaphorically speaking. Hadn't he left it with Naruto-kun, knowing there was a good chance that Sasuke will try to transplant his eyes as his own to avoid going blind? Why wasn't it with him? Not that Itachi minded. This was his precious crow who had stayed with him since the age of five, when he took a dive from that cliff to understand the meaning of life, only to realize he wanted to live. They had never parted before and it had received the honor of being the bearer of Shisui's remaining eye, becoming Itachi's eyes from the skies. They had a certain connection, stronger than his connection to any other of his crows despite them all being his spies and eyes everywhere, a trust that cannot be repeated elsewhere. Despite Itachi never signing a blood contract with his crows, they had a pact stronger than any other. His crows served him out of respect and loyalty. This crow, who Itachi had even named, Kuro Onyx, had saved his life. Their connection was unbreakable.
And so, Itachi relaxed, despite knowing that his plan to guide Sasuke onto the right path had completely failed. Well, if Sasuke couldn't get his eyes, it would have failed anyway. If it was like so, then Itachi was glad that at least his crow had found him and now, thanks to Kuro Onyx, as he opened up their connection, Itachi could see without taking off the seals.
What greeted him was a shock. He knows this forest! Yes, it is slightly different, both wilder and more tended to - as though humans took care of the soil and the trees - but it was most definitely the area Itachi had recognized through his sense of smell. No, he didn't have as strong a sense of smell as Kakashi-san or an Inuzuka, but every shinobi was trained to use their senses at least three times better than a civilian and that was supposed to be Academy level. He shouldn't have doubted his sense of smell. But this area ... If his memory serves him right - which it does; he has an edict memory even without the Sharingan and he's stared at Konoha's maps all of his life so he pretty much knows to draw its terrain in sleep - then this part of the forest has been abandoned for some hundred and something year already! Just like the old Uchiha Hideout on the other side of the forest, the old Senju Hideout has not been visited in just as many years. Ever since Konoha was founded, the two founding clans had moved out of their old homes and had settled within the compounds they have chosen for themselves. No one was allowed to return here. He had been quite a bit off in his guess earlier. He was way out of the village and closer to the edges of Konoha's territory. The Forest of Death was at the very least twenty miles back.
But no one was supposed to live here, so who are these people? While Itachi had been in ANBU, he had done rounds in this area to make sure no one went here, so he knows it is abandoned. Have things changed so much in the past eight years? He doubted it. The Uchiha Hideout would have been a much more interesting find, what with the possibility of finding out the secret of the Sharingan. The Senju were known as a Clan of a Thousand Skills but the only Kekkei Genkai among them is Mokuton and only Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage, could do it naturally.
Still, what were these people doing here? Did they know that if a Konoha ANBU squad ever found them here, they would be executed on sight, no questions asked? There were children here, for Kami's sake! It would be a pointless massacre.
But the place didn't look to be in ruins. In fact, it looked completely new, as though people have been living here for decades. Itachi frowned under the suppression seal over his eyes, only for his lips to pull into a thin line due to irritation. Fuck, that thing was annoying. Itachi figured that there would be very little change if one seal is taken off as long as he keeps his chakra low and tightly wrapped within himself. So he just tugged the annoying wrappers off of his eyes, only to find another surprise. He can see! Even without activating his Sharingan, he can see! Itachi had all but forgotten what the world looked like without the influence of his Kekkei Genkai on his sight. The Uchiha gladly, greedily took in every color, every shape and every sight. A small smile tugged on his lips as he turned in the direction his village should be, only for it to completely fall off of his face when he faced the right direction.
It was gone. Konoha was gone. Itachi knows perfectly well that he should be able to see the village's protective walls from here in the distance, but there was nothing. Just forest. And trees. Lots and lots of trees. It was a wonderfully scenic sight, no doubt, with the greens of countless trees merging with the endlessness of the blue skies on the horizon, but all that could register to Itachi, all that he could think was that his precious home village, the one he had sacrificed so much for, was gone.
