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

''Will he be okay?'' Itachi came to to the sound of Kagami's voice asking that question while unfamiliar hands were holding his left eye open. Itachi flinched away from the touch and made to instinctively activate his Sharingan, but his eyes still ached from their earlier use so he could only wince as awareness came back to him.

''It would seem so,'' the new, unknown person answered, also in a child's voice and Itachi forced his eyes to focus. The person standing over him was a boy about Kagami's age, blinking at him with large but sharply angled dark, dark grayish brown eyes that seemed so familiar but Itachi's brain was still too foggy to comprehend who he was seeing. The boy had spiky brown hair that stood up a little and tanned skin, probably from spending a lot of time outside. His face was still slightly rounded by baby fat and he had a flat nose. ''He's waking up.''

Kagami's head suddenly popped into his line of vision, face twisted in a mixture of concern and relief. ''Itachi-nii, are you okay?''

Said Uchiha groaned and brought a hand to rub at his head as he sat up, not at all startled when he heard the clinking of chains as he moved his arm. He hadn't really expected to be free but he was startled to see just how much space he had to move his arms around. He could easily place his hands together and weave hand seals, a big mistake if they were going to hold a shinobi. Of course, he instantly realized why their captors were so full of themselves as to not restrain him better. The shackles around his wrists were made with suppression seals embedded in them and there were a dozen or more placed all around the cell he and the two boys were currently in. Any normal shinobi would have been left helpless here with the amount of chakra that would be suppressed with just the shackles, since the other seals simply stopped the use of chakra while the shackles sucked it out.

But Itachi was no ordinary shinobi. He was exceptional, as Shisui liked to say, and his chakra control was above even the average medic ninja's so he could easily escape here. He wasn't surprised though, to feel that a repelling seal had been placed on his hitai-ate to prevent him from taking it off and as such taking off the suppression seal the Senju had placed on him. Of course they had left that one in place. It was made by an Uzumaki and despite him showing signs of being able to use some of his chakra for certain amounts of time, it was still obvious that the seal was doing its job and making him a lot weaker and more vulnerable than he usually would be. It was made by an Uzumaki, after all. It was far stronger than any seal placed here. It was what was really keeping Itachi in place, the rest were simply placed there as backup.

What fools. Itachi could escape out of here with his eyes closed, if he was just given a few more hours to regain his strength.

''Itachi-nii?'' He realized that he hadn't replied to his young friend and smiled tiredly with a sigh to comfort him.

''I am fine, Kagami-kun. Do you know where we are and how long we have been here? Or how long I have been out?''

It was the brunet boy that answered him. ''You were brought at about dusk and it's after midnight now. We are currently in a cell-like room, complete with a metal door with bars for windows and two dozen suppression seals in the walls. We're somewhere to the south of the Fire Country, but that's all that I know.''

''You were right about them not being Senju, Itahci-nii.'' The other Uchiha told him almost eagerly. ''They were talking about how kidnapping one of the Senju's allies and an Uchiha child will make the skirmishes between the two clans even more heated and bitter and that the clans will fight until extinction! I couldn't figure out what clan they were from but they apparently want our territories and the power our clans have over everyone else.''

Itachi turned to look at the other boy and realization dawned on him. ''You are the kidnapped Sarutobi boy.''

The brunet nodded a bit cautiously. ''My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen and they kidnapped me while my aunt was teaching me shurikenjutsu. That was a day ago. I've seen no one and my aunt ... I don't even know if she is alive!'' Itachi almost instinctively reached out to pet the boy's head, a little shaken by the knowledge that he was comforting his future Hokage. He had served under this man for six years before he was forced to leave the village and he had still kept him updated on the Akatsuki for the next five years. Eleven years, this man had held his loyalty. Five years, this man had protected his brother. Itachi owed this man so much that he didn't even know where to begin in repaying him for all that he had done for Itachi, even leaving the same combination for passing through the protective barrier around Konoha to let Itachi check up on Sasuke in a blind bid of trust that anyone else would have taken advantage of. This man had tried to save his clan even when they have been proven to be traitors. The least he could do was offer him some comfort.

''Don't worry, Hiruzen-kun. We will get out of here and you will see your aunt again. And if not, then you will live to cherish her memory.''

''Doubtful.'' A new young voice said and the three inside the cell snapped their heads towards the door, just in time to see a mop of black hair duck out of the little barred window.

''Who's there?'' Itachi demanded, channeling chakra into his limbs if he needed to suddenly protect these two boys from whoever was out there. ''Show yourself.'' Unexpectedly enough, the person did and Itachi wondered if he was seeing who he was seeing. Black hair, mildly tanned skin, brownish eyes and a long face with a relatively short nose. Unlike with young Hiruzen, Itachi almost immediately sore he recognized this boy and the man he will become and he would lie to say he wasn't tempted to erase his existence just to save himself so much grief.

''Who are you?'' Hiruzen also demanded, standing in front of Itachi and Kagami joined the slightly older boy's side so both of them were protecting Itachi from the other boy's eyes as though they could be deadly. Itachi found it rather disturbing that even now, when this boy didn't know his identity and didn't know his skills, he still seemed enraptured with him.

''I am Danzo.'' The boy replied, his head craning to get a better look at Itachi. "Who are you, onii-san?"

"Itachi," came the tense reply. "So we've been captured by the Shimura Clan." He observed and young Danzo stiffened, eyes wide that this stranger knew who held him despite no one ever mentioning their clan. "Tell me, Danzo, why do your clansmen kidnap kids from important clans and blame their enemies?"

Danzo sniffed, sounding irritated. "The adults are being stupid, that's why. They want the Uchihas' eyes and the Senjus' influence but we're not strong enough to get either. Otou-sama seems to think that the best way to get both is if Uchihas and Senjus wiped each other out and then just take whatever is left in their wake, since the Uchihas didn't need to be alive to give their eyes and dead men can't fight for their lands and power." He huffed, more annoyed now that the other boys wouldn't move to let him to see Itachi. "Would you move? I want to see Itachi-san!"

"Why?" Hiruzen asked suspiciously, never stepping away and Kagami was even glaring at the Shimura in true Uchiha fashion, the Uchiha Death Glare Version 2, Version 1 resembling more a pout and being reserved to the ages between two and six. Itachi was rather impressed. Sasuke could still only pout until age eight.

"Because he's the famous Itachi-san of the Senju Clan!" Danzo replied, wiggling around on whatever he was using to reach the window and having to hold on for dear life to the bars when his support almost gave way under his feet. "They say he brought peace! I want to meet him!"

"I'm Itachi of no clan. My family died eight years ago." Itachi told them almost coldly, looking around Kagami's shoulder to face Danzo. "And while it may be true that I live with the Senju, I do not belong to their clan. I was their patient and guest, in the eyes of some, and a prisoner in the eyes of others."

"And the peace?" The Shimura boy demanded, all but pressing his face against the bars, eyes intense. "The Senju had a glimpse of peace is what people are saying these days. They say a stranger came and gave them peace. They say his name was Itachi. I wanted to know if it was you. I wanted to know if you can give that same peace to my clan, too. The kids here are sick of all the fighting. We are a smaller clan and every loss to us is tragic. Please, Itachi-san! Please give peace to our clan, too!" And the Uchiha was surprised to hear Danzo sounding so desperate. He had never thought Danzo to be able to beg. Not like this. "I promise I will protect it no matter what! Just please give us peace!"

"Can you really do that?" Kagami asked in awe as he stared up at Itachi, his eyes and Hiruzen's wide with wonder, hope and the same desperate hunger as Danzo's were. "Can you really give out peace?" The black haired boy in the cell suddenly stepped closer to Itachi and fisted two handfuls of his shirt. "Please, Itachi-nii? Can you give peace to my clan, too?"

"Mine, too!" The future Sandaime Hokage joined in on the practical begging. The young man stared at them all in quite a bit of bafflement. "Please, Itachi-san. Please give my clan peace, too!"

The former ANBU captain looked at the desperate faces of the three peace-starved boys. The hope in their eyes made his heart ache. He had never thought that Konoha's creation had actually affected these smaller clans so much. History never really mentioned just how bad things were for the smaller clans. The Uchiha and the Senju and their war had completely blinded the writers of history to the suffering of the smaller clans. Even those smaller clans themselves didn't write much of their own history without first mentioning how the bigger clashes between the two bitter enemies affected them all. Fire Country had been a giant battlefield but only the Uchiha-Senju skirmishes became well known. Who cared about a duel between the heirs of the Inuzuka Clan and the Aburame Clan about their territory which was good for both dog and bug breeding if Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had once again forced everyone to rewrite their maps because of the consequences of their own clash? Who cared if the Nara and the Sarutobi were trying desperately to separate which parts of the forest was theirs and which was the Akamichi's for the harvest of the plants needed for their medicine and soldier pills and weapons development if the Uchiha had killed two of the Senju's Main Family's son's and the Senju had killed three of the Uchiha's? Who cared if the Yamanaka snd the Shimura were fighting for missions with the Daimyo that just weren't available because no one wanted to settle for anything less than an Uchiha or a Senju?

Their problems were considered minor in comparison to these two huge clans and no one cared for their struggles. Itachi guessed he should have guessed that what Pein was fighting against wasn't a new development. The Five Great Elemental Nations always gave more missions to the bigger villages such as Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo and Kiri just because they were bigger and getting all those missions, they were the more financially stable ones and could afford to have greater gear and better influence outside of their territory and throughout the continents which in turn got them more missions. The smaller villages all struggled to get even one mission every day while the Five more often than not didn't have enough shinobi to fulfill the missions they got. The same would apply to clans. The bigger clans got most of the attention and what was left of it was then divided among the smaller ones.

No wonder the Shimura were willing to resort to such tactics to kill off the two biggest clans in Fire Country. It would make them one if the big players and get rid of the biggest threat to their position. If they were to somehow really get the Uchihas' Sharingan eyes and implant even one into each person in their clan ... Well, taking the Senjus' lands or not, they'd still be the most influential clan around, if not everywhere. Not all Uchiha awaken their Sharingan and rarer few still manage to activate the Mangekyo Sharingan. Still, having just one Sharingan eye is usually a great advantage, no matter the strain the eye will have on the body of the user who is not an Uchiha. It would be a dangerous weapon in the hands of any clan. Besides, it is unknown if any other clan can withstand the eyes fully. Can anyone else but an Uchiha truly live with the images forever ingrained into the eyes of the Sharingan? Sure, the Mangekyo had a tendency to drive people a tiny bit insane if they are not centered enough to withstand the pain of loss, but the Uchiha were always a tightly knit group which is why such things were rather rare. They had each other and unless the loss is too painful to bear, they can ground each other from the path of insanity. Other clans are not as close and would not know how to help each other.

And the Uchiha's strong emotions is actually what is their saving grace in the end. The Uchiha don't do things halfway. If they love, they love completely. If they hate, it has no bounds. If they are loyal to someone, then not even the Shinigami itself would be able to make them leave that person's side. As such, even if they lose someone so precious your world is an empty void without them, the Uchiha's loyalty to at least their own will keep them from crossing the edge of insanity and they will keep them like that firmly. Kakashi-san was, perhaps, the only non-Uchiha Sharingan wielder who seems to have realized this as he allowed Maito Gai and Tenzou to ground him from his pain of his many losses. Danzo, however, only had his love/loyalty for Konoha to ground him and that had actually taken him to the extreme that had started this whole mess.

Perhaps it is up to Itachi to change that now.

"I would be happy to give all the clans peace," he finally told the boys as he gathered his thoughts. "However, to do that, we must first stop this endless fighting and making the Uchiha, the Senju and their respective allies believe the other side is kidnapping their children will not help us in doing so. It will only make matters worse." He took a deep breath and started concentrating on his chakra. This was going to be painful as all hell and Itachi had been there many times in his nightmares. "To stop the big scale fight both sides must be planning, though, we need to get out of here."

"I can only pick the lock on your door," Danzo said regrettably but when Itachi nodded for him to do so, the future founder of ROOT immediately disappeared from their line of sight and they could hear him getting down to work. "It'll only take just a few seconds." He promised before some clanking was heard as he worked on the lock.

"What can we do?" Hiruzen asked seriously of the only adult and Kagami soon mirrored his expression. Itachi looked from one to the other before shaking his head.

"The best you can do is take off some of those suppression seals. I'm no seal master but I am pretty sure they deactivate as soon as they are separated from the place they had been activated on." The two boys nodded uncertainly, both looking at the repelling seal on Itachi's hitai-ate.

"Are you sure you don't want us to simply take off your seals or pick the lock of your handcuffs?" Kagami asked while bitting his lip and Itachi shook his head again.

"The best you can do is promise me you won't come any closer until I say you can, okay?" Hiruzen and Kagami exchanged uncertain looks and looked hesitant to agree bit Itachi would not relent on this. If they rushed to him before he was done, then they could get seriously hurt. "Promise me, Kagami-kun, Hiruzen-kun."

"Okay." The two boys said together and slumped before Itachi shooed them away to start taking off the suppression seals. The less that were active by the time he's done, the better for him. What he was about to do many would already consider suicidal but Itachi was a stubborn man. And he must take Kagami and Hiruzen as far away from here as possible. The future of Konohagakure quite literally depends on it. This are its future Hokage and the ancestor of the shinobi who would sacrifice his life for the village and the Uchiha Clan. He is the grandfather of Itachi's best friend and Itachi swears on his little brother's life that he will not let anything happen to Uchiha Kagami.

Itachi lowered his head so his bangs will fall into his face, hiding a good portion of it from the line of sight of his three companions. He let the chakra he had gathered enter his eyes and bit down on his cheek until he felt blood when the cuffs started trying to drain it all away and the chakra suppression seal tried to backlash him again. It was like a tug of war with two different ropes on two different sides. Itachi had to tug twice as hard on both ends if he wanted to win and keep his chakra to himself all the while focusing his gaze through the pain at the two cuffs holding his wrists. It was painful and hellish for a long minute, the longest it had ever taken him to preform this technique, before he tugged harder on those proverbial ropes and won the tug of war against the outside suppressions.

In a flash, he felt his eyes sting and he knew by the familiar feeling that he had successfully activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Without wasting a second, for he knew not how long he can hold this up, Itachi glared down at the metal cuffs on his wrists and allowed one of the deadliest Uchiha doujutsu to engulf the restraints. "Amaterasu." He said to himself as the all consuming, infinitely hot and endlessly burning black flames easily burned right through the metal without ever harming their master. The remains fell to the floor of the dungeon with a metallic clink and fast as a striking snake, Itachi curled down so he can touch the repelling seal on his hitai-ate. A single touch of his chakra infused fingertips all but burned the seal and he tugged off his hitai-ate off of his forehead before tearing the suppression seal off just as the backlash was about to attack him. At that same moment, the doors to their cell opened and Hiruzen and Kagami took off one of the last remaining seals in the cell. The three boys all were looking on in awe as Amaterasu's flames swallowed up the chakra draining cuffs and Itachi didn't bother to stop the flames, revealed to be able to use them again.

Still, the ache in his still recovering eyes is not something he welcomed any more than he usually did. He was just glad that his chakra was flowing right again. It felt a little like flying. Too bad he couldn't see anymore due to overusing his eyes. A good this was that Kuro Onyx was just outside, awaiting his master's return. At least he will have some form of sight until his eyes properly recover.

"Are you okay, Itachi-san?" He heard Danzo inquire and he shook off his weakness, allowing his chakra to rebuild itself for a moment before letting his senses spread out. It had at times been his only other form of 'seeing' the world and he had trained himself as best as he could to learn to live with it. It will come in extremely handy now, like it always does.

"Yes, I am fine." The weasel replied, carefully standing to his feet and sidestepping the infinite heat of the Amaterasu. "We must get out of here, however. As soon as possible." He had to guess that the three boys nodded because none of them said anything to disagree. "What is the fastest way out of here?"

"Unfortunately, through the dungeon and the prison then across the field surrounding it." Danzo replied immediately. "However, there is a secret tunnel for emergencies that exits into the forest. We still need to go through the prison, though."

"Which is quicker?"

"Field, but it's also the more dangerous route. There's no where to hide. There's not even grass!"

"We don't have any time to waste." Itachi grunted and took the lead out of the cell. "Will you lead us across the field?" He asked even as he put his hitai-ate back on and searched into the folds of his sash. He easily took out one of the soldier pills he always carried around on his person and popped it into his mouth. He needed all the extra energy he could get. He was lucky to be walking at all with how little chakra he had and how unstable its flow was after being suppressed for so long. It was a wonder he hadn't backed out again. He was just glad that the Senju had returned to him his hip weapons pouch even if they took away all of his shuriken and kunai and explosion tags. And wire. And his scrolls with more weapons. Good thing he had a summoning seal on his arm that he hid with a genjutsu so he was never truly weaponless. He even had his katana from his ANBU days stored there! People were idiots if they thought Itachi could be disarmed. He has another storage seal on his left calf and even one on his right shoulder. And lets not talk about most of his usual clothing having at least one storage seal. His Akatsuki cloak had dozens. He wondered what happened to it.

But now was not the time to wonder about such things. The food pill had already started working and he could feel his chakra returning to his average levels. He reached for the summoning seal on his arm and just touched it, waiting for Danzo's answer.

"I can, but that's suicide!" The above mentioned boy protested indignantly. "We'd never make it twenty feet before we were spotted, hunted down and possibly killed like a rabid beast!"

"You leave the matter of our safety and survival to me." Itachi replied, finally deciding on his katana and summoning it into his hand. The three boys gawked at the magically seeming appeared weapon as Itachi summoned up some of his shield scrolls. His preferred method of shielding is not to be used lightly, since it could easily uncover his identity as an Uchiha. Uchiha Madara was both famous and infamous for the use of this technique. He didn't know just how spread the knowledge was so he would rather not risk it. "Just lead us there and let me handle any opposition."

"You can't kill my clansmen and expect me to do nothing but watch!" Danzo snapped, hurrying ahead so he can come to a stop right in Itachi's path, blocking his way. "I won't let you!"

"I'm a pacifist. I resort to killing only if it is absolutely necessary." The Uchiha told Danzo while easily sidestepping him without breaking stride. "Rarely do I ever feel that it is necessary." It was as much as he could give the boy and Danzo understood and reluctantly continued walking, tension obvious in every line of his body. Itachi had no comforting words to give and Hiruzen and Kagami were still wary of the son of their jailer.

It took almost no time at all to reach the upper levels of the prison and with Itachi's use of genjutsu, they were able to subtly leave the building without ever being noticed. However, just as Danzo had said,.the field was wide and long with barely any vegetation beyond moss and they were spotted less than twenty feet after they started their run towards freedom. Knowing that even weighted down he was at least three times faster than all three boys combined, Itachi slung Danzo and Hiruzen onto his back and told them to hold on tight while he lifted Kagami effortlessly off of the ground and started running, holding his best friend's ancestor with one arm, the other free to use his katana should he need to defend them.

The Shimura were quick to attack them and the sound of three blades meeting rang in the air as two shinobi jumped at Itachi in an attempt to catch him off guard or overwhelm him by numbers and brute force. However, Itachi's partners had both been overly tall Swordsmen of the Mist with huge swords and lots and lots of rippling, strong muscles and he could easily meet them head on in a sword fight, so holding these two off even without channeling chakra into his arm was a piece of cake. He easily pushed them back and knocked them out with a carefully placed roundhouse kick to the head before continuing his run, occasionally having to fight more and more of the Shimura shinobi. They weren't as fast as him even when he was weighted down but there was a good chance they might outlast him if the chase were to draw on, especially with his three passengers. He thought about letting Danzo off - this was his family, after all - but decided against it. Not only would it slow him down and he would need some time to develop this speed again, but Danzo might also be branded a traitor for letting them escape. And as much as Danzo's death would save him a lot of trouble and heartache, Itachi knew how much it hurt to be called a traitor by the very people that should forever offer you support as one of their own. Not to mention he might get killed for treason. Itachi wasn't going to allow a child to die if he can help it.

His biggest problem from the Shimura came when they took out their archers. The rain of arrows was bad enough but when spears, kunai, ordinary knives and shuriken if all shapes and sizes were added to the mix, along with explosives, fire-arrows and only Kami-sama knows what else, dodging became too hard with his three burdens. Manueverabilty was what he had to sacrifice for carrying three people. He couldn't jump snd twist the way he would want to and when giant shuriken and Fuma Shuriken joined in on the fun, Itachi knew he had to risk it. Especially as there were over three dozen men rushing at him from the trees, a dozen from each of his sides and two dozen from his back. If he didn't do something and fast, then his passengers will be the ones to take the damage of the incoming attacks.

Knowing he had no other choice, Itachi drew a deep breath and allowed the world to bleed red.

The sun rose behind the trees, red as blood.

The behemoth that towered over the field a second later left no opposition.