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

''Hey, Itachi.'' Said man stopped when his name was called and turned around to see Toka walking over to him, a friendly smile on her face. The weasel returned her smile with one of his own, waiting until she caught up to him before continuing his walk. ''What, not going over to visit Tobirama and beat his sorry behind in another round of Shogi?''

''We're kind of hooked on Sugoroku now.'' The raven haired man replied and the kunoichi snorted.

"You're still whipping his ass, right?" Itachi just smirked, answering her question without saying a word. Toka chortled with laughter, being able just to imagine her younger cousin's annoyance every time he lost where he always used to win. "What's the score so far?"

"Ah, you'll have to ask Tobirama-san about that. I honestly only play for the entertainment value and company." The Uchiha replied casually. Toka snorted again.

"Yeah, Tobi's reactions always are entertaining." Even after a whole week in the hospital since that day Itachi spontaneously came to visit the younger Senju, always bringing some game or the other with snacks and drinks to pass the time, Tobirama has yet to find a game in which he can completely dominate the weasel in. Itachi, of course, blamed his gamer expertise on Shisui, Kakashi and Yamato, as well as the rest of former Team Ro, since they had always insisted that he learned a few board games as it was unhealthy for a child, no matter how mature, not to play at all. Eleven year old Itachi was as such introduced to many of the games he now played with Tobirama. What his supposed gaming teachers hadn't accounted for when they started teaching him these games was that Itachi had incredible luck and an analytical mind that allowed him to quickly grasp the rules and be able to play like an expert after only one or two games. Except for Shogi, which none other than Nara Shikaku had taught him, Team Ro and his best friend were all floored when the preteen Itachi had started owning them in their own favorite games. Later, Kisame taught Itachi to play poker and came to regret it when Kakuzu started sneaking into their room to try and kidnap Itachi so he could run off to the nearest casino so Itachi could earn him some money. That didn't stop until Kakuzu's last mission and death.

"Hn." Was the noncommittal answer he gave her and his companion shook her head.

"So, you will soon be fully discharged as Hashirama's patient. In three days, if I am correct?" Itachi paused before answering, hearing a strange note in her tone and wondering what that might be about. "What do you plan on doing after you get a clean bill of health?"

"I will need to go find my partner and tell them I am still alive. They're a bit protective of me, especially ever since I got sick." Itachi honestly replied but never went into detail what that search will entail. He still hadn't managed to find a way to reverse the effect of whatever had brought him here. Activating his Sharingan and especially his Mangekyo Sharingan left him with a nasty feedback from the suppression seal each and every time and it usually had the aftereffect in the form of a killer headache, too. He hadn't had the opportunity to go into the forest, since he really was having too much fun playing all those games with the younger Senju brother. Not to mention that it had stopped raining only two days ago. It was unusual for Fire Country to have this much rain but Itachi, having lived in Amegakure for a number of years, was dealing with it far better than anyone else in the Senju hideout. "Then, I will check up on my brother and see if anyone else is aware that I am alive still. If not, I will simply travel far away, find a place to settle down and live my life in relative peace."

"Then why not just come back here?" Toka asked cautiously and Itachi looked at her, a curious brow arched. She was decidedly not looking anywhere near his direction. "You could even bring your brother and partner here. I'm sure they'd be accepted in no time if you vouch for them."

Understanding hit Itachi like a ton of bricks and a fluttering warmth filled his chest. How had he not considered this? It was only natural for people to get attached and form bonds with others they spend some significant time with. And he'd been talking almost every day with almost every Senju for the past three and a half weeks! Of course they'd get attached and the such. But he had never expected ... for them to want him to stay. He had always just considered himself to be a new, exotic thing in their compound and that people were mostly just curious about him. Yes, he considered them all close acquaintances, a select few he would even call friends like Hashirama, Tobirama, Mito, Toka and all the children (including young Kagami) that trailed after him like ducklings every time he stepped out of his cabin or returned from the forest. He's visited most of their homes, for Kami-sama-s sake! But he had still ... thought he was not important to them.

Never before had Itachi been so hesitant to do what he knew was right. After all, he couldn't stay here, in this time. He didn't belong. In fact, he should have been dead instead of chatting with these people in the past. He wasn't supposed to be here! Right?

'Then why am I here?' He wondered, not for the first time since he arrived in this time and realized just where he was. He should have never ended up here. He should have either went to hell or to the afterlife. Either way, he should have been in the realm of the dead, not in the past. 'I guess it is time that I finally see what that thing that usually follows me around is. I have been feeling its presence near the edges of the compound for days. It is clearly waiting for me to follow it. I guess it is time to indulge it.'

"I am still not sure of what I will do, Toka-san. The offer is ... more than tempting." Itachi finally answered his companion in whole honesty. "Not even with my own clan and the few friends I had made have I ever felt as welcomed and wanted as I have felt here. But this is far too close to all the things I would like to avoid."

The brunette finally looked at him, a contemplative frown on her face. "You mean the war?" She asked cautiously, carefully keeping all emotion out of her voice.

"Among other things." Itachi admitted after a beat of silence. "Mostly, my old home and my younger brother. They are far too close to here for my comfort."

"Why?"

"Because my brother hates me and the people of my old home have branded me a traitor. I would rather not make trouble for you all after all that you have done for me."

"We wouldn't care!" Toka hurried to reassure him. "We wouldn't care at all! We'd stand by your side and protect and shield you as best as we can until our dying breaths!" She whirled around to face him fully, coming to a stop and bringing the Uchiha to a stop, too, by grabbing his wrists and bringing their hands together at chest level. She gave him a reassuring squeeze like a sister or a mother would and the look in her eyes was earnest. "You have brought peace to this Clan, Itachi. Peace and hope for an end to all these deaths." Her face was set in a determined expression. "Happiness and laughter and contentedness flow through our streets and in our people's hearts. All because of you. Not a single person here would give you up without a fight. You can stay here, Itachi."

Itachi felt his breathing hitch and the desire to stay, even if for a little while, grew larger by the second. He had never been this appreciated before by anyone other than Shisui and Kisame. They were the only ones who had bothered to actually get to know Itachi, to truly know him. In ANBU, you are comrades but you don't talk about dreams and wishes for the future. He, Kakashi and Tenzou stuck out like a sore thumb for getting as close as they had, being cautious friends even when the masks were off and knowing some of each other's past. The Uchiha Clan had never cared for his opinions or wishes. He was an ideal to them, the closest to perfection a human could get and they were smug that he was an Uchiha. To them, to his father most of all, he was nothing but a tool, a weapon. To the village he loved so much, he had been just another tool as well and then nothing more but a criminal and a traitor. To the Akatsuki, he had been one of their greatest assets although Pein-sama had taken somewhat of a liking to him as well as Konan-san. Half the time he was on base, they had treated him as their kid despite being barely fourteen years older than him.

Shisui and Kisame were the only ones who knew the real him. Not even Sasuke, before the massacre, had seen him as anything more but an unreachable goal. Itachi had their father's attention that Sasuke had craved as a youngster and Sasuke had wanted to pull that attention to himself but never could live up to Itachi's levels and so, even before he had a real reason to, Sasuke had detested him. Here, with the Senju who hated the Uchiha most of their existence, Itachi was for the first time accepted for who he was and not just his skill, intellect or origin.

Only a fool would want to leave the one place they were treated like a human and not a tool.

But Itachi had never been good at doing what he wanted and what was good for himself. He was, as Kisame had once told him, annoyingly selfless to maddening levels. Everything he had ever done had been for the greater good or for his brother. He hadn't even trained for himself. He had trained to become such a strong shinobi that people would not dare attack Konoha as long as he lived. He had never been selfish before. He wasn't sure he knew how.

"I need to think, please." He told Toka, not looking at her but rather over her shoulder. The kunoichi looked worried for a second, reluctant to let go of his hands, but she nodded and released him. Itachi bid her a farewell that he didn't even hear himself mutter before he turned towards the forest without thinking.

Before he knew it, he was no longer in the Senju encampment and was instead surrounded by the wast forests that covered almost the entirety of the Fire Country. The forest that usually gave him peace offered no such comfort. This path that he had taken day after day for two weeks before that skirmish with the Uchiha that got Tobirama hospitalized is what he had felt most comfortable with, since it was a part of Konoha's forests. ANBU took that route twice a month to check up on the ancient ruins of this very encampment and it was the closest to Konoha that Itachi could get without Tobirama getting suspicious. After all, Naka was miles away from here and Tobirama would notice, especially now that Hashirama finally allowed him to use his chakra like normal again. It was now only a matter of days before the younger Senju was released from the hospital and Itachi would no doubt get his stalker back. Perhaps now it will be more out of curiosity than suspicion. After all, Itachi had had a week and a couple of days to go wherever he wanted even if it had been raining and instead he had chosen to spend those days in Tobirama's hospital room, playing games with him for days. He had had his chance to do something dastardly and he hadn't taken it. Tobirama might actually believe him now that Itachi wasn't an enemy spy.

That didn't comfort Itachi as he walked down the by now worn forest path. This was the first dilemma Itachi had found himself facing since he was told to kill his clan. It had taken him two days to decide whether or not he will do it. He had thought about all the possible things he could do, trying to find a way to make things right without there being any bloodshed. He had know there was none even before he mulled it over but he had still wanted to believe that there was a way. There hadn't been. Either way, the Uchiha Clan would have been killed and he would have had to flee the village - because let's face it, no one in Konoha had the skill required to capture or kill him, not even Kakashi-san. No one had ever seen Itachi fight at his best, without restraints or reservations. Not even his fight with Sasuke had been serious, since, after all, he had wanted Sasuke to win. No one had seen his speed or his true skill level. The Sannin were not his equal, despite what he had told Kisame once about Jiraiya. Jiraiya was skilled and more experienced but Itachi was faster and he knew all the techniques Jiraiya might use while the frog hermit had known nothing of Itachi himself.

The only thing that he had thought about doing and had truly been tempted was to just steal Sasuke away and hide for the rest of their lives. It would have spared them the pain they went through but what would have Sasuke thought of his precious Nii-san running away like that, leaving their family to their fate? It would have first and foremost broken their mother's heart. Itachi's reputation would have been possibly in worse tatters than it was now. Sasuke would have hated him for allowing their plan to be killed and he would have developed a genuine hate towards Konoha. And not only that but he would have completely broken his promise to Shisui and not out of the inability to change their clan's minds but rather because he would have left the Uchiha and Konoha to settle things themselves and that would have been worse than the civil war and Amegakure between Hanzo and Pein-sama.

Not to mention that Danzo would have never given up on chasing them. Well, on chasing Itachi. Even to this day, Itachi knew Danzo had no interest in Sasuke beyond killing him and ending the Uchiha bloodline. It was Itachi that he wanted. Uchiha or not, Itachi was the greatest genius and asset Konoha had ever been graced with. Even without his Sharingan, he was a very powerful shinobi. Danzo had been obsessing over him since he became a genin. No, earlier. Danzo's interests in Itachi came from when he was still in the Academy. He would never let Itachi slip through his fingers just like that.

As tempting as taking Sasuke away had been, the back then still ANBU captain had known it would have only put them in more danger. Sasuke would have known of Itachi's protection and he would have refused it and ran away from it. As he had not known Itachi's so called 'deal' with Danzo kept him safe for the past eight years, even as a missing nin, he could not refuse the protection and so he was kept safe.

In the end, it had been the only option and yet it had still ruined their lives. Sasuke still had a chance to make something of his life and it will take Itachi's death for that to happen, which is why Itachi had never hesitated to encourage his brother to get stronger and kill him.

Yet they were robbed of even that by this unexpected twist of fate.

His thought process was interrupted when he sensed that thing there, somewhere around him in the foliage, yet again. He narrowed his eyes at where he thought it to be and mentally called for Kuro Onyx. The crow immediately came down to land on his shoulder and the both of them cautiously looked around the forest. Itachi was surprised to note that he had somehow made it to the end of the path he usually took and had only noticed it now. Just how deep in thought had he been? If he hadn't noticed it when he knew it was always there, just at the edges of his awareness, then he had been dangerously unguarded. Not that Kuro Onyx would have ever let anything come near him. Still, shinobi survived mostly on vigilance and Itachi had allowed himself to let his guard down. That was dangerous and unacceptable.

Still, he was now presented with a choice. He could follow this persistent thing and find out why it had been following him around for almost a month and maybe even - possibly - find out how he ended up here. Or he could ignore it, like he had been doing for the past three and a half weeks, and just return to the Senju Compound. He didn't know how far away it will lead him and there was always the possibility it was a trap.

But there was also the possibility that this thing and whatever it lead him to might finally help him understand everything or help him come to his final decision. He has to decide what to do and he has to decide it now. Tobirama will be in the hospital maybe even just for today and be left off tomorrow. He will never get such a chance again. If it were something important, the fate of the world might depend on it and Itachi couldn't let himself be the cause of any more suffering than he had already caused in his life.

So he followed it. He stepped off of the little path he had made and continued onwards into the forest, allowing his senses more than anything to lead him. He and Kuro Onyx made their way through the woods, weaving in between the trees and going left and right at seemingly random moments but Itachi kept track of where they were going so he could return and he made his way as though the path was familiar. He ignored it when a cold wind picked up. He ignored that an hour was spent just walking through the forest. He ignored even the rustling of leaves. He only focused on the thing as it lead him further and further away from the Senju Compound until it finally stopped, three hours of walking away from the encampment.

That is when it finally came into sight, right as it joined its five identical siblings surrounding a floating old man in the middle of a miniature clearing. Itachi's eyes widened as he took in the tall and pale-skinned man, deep wrinkles and a strong jawline, spiky, shoulder-length, pale brown hair, a chin-length, braided lock hanging in front of his left ear, a goatee tapered down to his waist in his old age and a pair of horn-like protrusions extending from either side of his forehead. The man was dressed in a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar, beneath which, he wore a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. On the back of his kimono was a larger, black Rinnegan marking with a pattern of nine magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it. If none of that didn't identify him, then the Rinnegan eyes and the Rinnegan mark on his forehead sure as hell did.

Not that Itachi needed that to recognize him. Itachi had always been a history geek, wanting to know all about Konoha's past, all the previous wars and conflicts so that he could help avoid them in the future. He had followed Konoha's history to its foundation and, upon finding it, he had followed the history of its two founding clans all the way back to their conception. In fact, Itachi had studied the history of the shinobi world all the way back to the birth of chakra in this dimension. He knew about the, so called, Usagi no Megami and about the Rinne-Sharingan.

So he most definitely knew who he was facing and he wondered if it would be okay to slap himself to check if he wasn't sleeping.

This was just so unreal.

There was simply no way the Rikudō Sennin was standing in front of him.

''Uchiha Itachi, I have been waiting.''

'Damn it. Can't things just for once go right in my life?'

''We have much to discuss.''

'Guess not.'