Blue Eyes and Butterflies

by Novus Ars

Naruto is dragged away from everything he knows by the Kyuubi to a new world frightfully similar to his own but major things have changed and, worse, he is forgetting everything he had once known, some of which could be helpful in this new world. femNaru - This will not be finished. I was asked to put this back up as is.

6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Lives We Take

Morning light streamed through the window, highlighting floating dust in the academy room. Students of various ages and backgrounds sat in the rows of desks which were set in a miniature amphitheater style, each row being a step higher than the last. Similarly each row of children seemed to grow in height and age with the rise of steps. The differing ages of children did not change the universal nervousness the first day of school brings to all children, though.

Naoko shrank slightly into her chair. She could feel the eyes of her "peers" on the back of her head. She hadn't thought about what she was doing the other day. Naoko should have played dumb. If she had she would be with Haruko-chan learning to read and write and not with the older students being stared at with curiosity and varying degrees of envy.

Blue eyes flickered to the other, young students in class besides her. She recognized a few from the orphanage but some were new. Funeno-sensei had placed the youngest in front so they could see and so he could keep track of them. The next youngest looked like he was either a really tall five year old, as she hoped, or a really short seven year old, which was more likely. Of course Naoko was assuming that the boy beside her was the next youngest. Funeno-sensei might have not placed them strictly in order by age, maybe it was by height. Either way, she was extremely young compared to the rest of the students. Past experience and knowledge would make many of the older students think her some type of prodigy, a genius, which she most certainly was not.

Funeno Daikoku stepped into the classroom with a warm smile speared across his face. His Hitai-ate was tied as a bandanna covering his short brown hair. Funeno-sensei had a stocky build and was too warm for any other profession within the shinobi arts. He reminded Naoko of Naruto's sensei, Iruku or Iruki or... something like that. Naoko pushed down the rush of pained sorrow at not remembering his name. She would meet the man again one day and obviously he wasn't going to be her sensei this time around. She couldn't change that, not with everything she needed to get fixed and people she needed to save.

"Welcome to the academy and for some, welcome back. First order of business is introductions then we will be going over the first of three basic jutsu you all will know within the next year or so. Now lets start up front, Tano."

Naoko slowly stood up before, swallowing nervously, she spoke "I'm Tano Naoko... ummm..." She could feel the stares intensifying.

"What are your likes, and what do you want to specialize in after graduation." Interrupted Funeno-sensei. Naoko stared at him. The questions reminded her too much of Otou-san and his game of go, and of another sensei she had had once before, a guy with silvery, gravity defying hair. Shaking her head mentally the little girl thought for a second before a memory filtered through her mind.

A brunette was staring at her, at Naruto. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose and he had a amused, almost startled look directed at her. She could smell the ramen. He was treating her to food! Naoko jerked slightly as she felt herself beginning to speak.

...my dream is to be the greatest Hokage! That way, people will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Someone important!

Blue eyes blinked as she found herself standing staring at Funeno-sensei. Was that her dream? To become the Hokage? Or was that Naruto's? Wasn't Naruto and her the same person? Why would she want people to know she was important? She was supposed to be hiding how important she really was! Did that mean she wasn't Naruto?

"Tano-san?"

Naoko looked at her sensei and shook her head. "I don't know. I mean...I don't know what I want to do after graduation. I like gardening." With that Naoko quickly sat back down and made herself as small as possible to try and hide from the stares. Did she want to be Hokage?

AUAU

The Hato ANBU captain called for a halt, his gravity defying, silvery hair fluttered in the wind as they stood on a cliff side. There, below the ANBU hopefuls was Iyo, Claw Country's capital. The city spread out across the sea side, gleaming in the morning light. A breathe of air moved over the ANBU bring with it the salty taste of the sea. They had reached their destination and now the real test began.

"All down." Ordered the ANBU captain. They all settled silently onto the ground, some feet below the cliff face to keep themselves out of the view of the city. "Team Pigeon and Team Pig separate now. Right. Left." Itachi shifted slightly to the right as he watched four other ANBU hopefuls move besides him. He hadn't paid too much attention before but neither had he forgotten the fact that Team Pigeon consisted of a Inuzuka, a traps specialist, Shirakumo-san, and a shinobi set up as a short range fighter, a tank basically since he had no specialty.

"Establish you code names and positions to your teammates now." Ordered Hato.

Shirakumo-san spoke first, "Earthworm, rear guard."

Itachi quietly replied in turn. "Jaybird, center."

"Toadstool, rear forward guard." Stated the trap specialist.

"Ferret, forward guard." muttered the tank as the light gleamed a little too brightly off his blank white mask.

The Inuzuka growled out, "We're point," as he scratched behind the ear of his black wolf, emphasizing what he had meant by we.

"Name." Hissed Hato when the Inuzuka gave none. The ANBU hopeful stiffened and seemed to try to start a staring contest which was quiet a feat with the mask on. Itachi internally sighed, animalistic shinobi always had issues with dominance in new squads. The idiot was going to get himself killed with the way he was acting. Pigeon hissed out, again, "Name or you're out before we even begin, subordinate."

The Inuzuka growled out "Pussycat" after a moment more of silence. Itachi frowned behind his mask, all their names were somewhat demeaning but he had forgotten about that particular code name. Though, black eyes flickered over the two ANBU and their masks, having the code name Pigeon and Pig wasn't even close to being better.

Hato rose up and moved to address both teams. "The mission is simple. Tsune no Kuni is allied with Kaminari no Kuni. While this country does not have a shinobi village, they do have five strong shinobi clans under the orders of the DaimyÅ . The country also has strong samurai clans. One of these samurai clans, Oono, has a familial connection with Lightening Country and is the main clan in support of sending their shinobi to help in the Kumo-nins advance into Hi no Kuni. The Oono head's daughter is engaged to Tsune no Kuni's heir. She is to be assassinated. This assassination cannot be traced back to Konohagakure. The wedding is tomorrow so we will move tonight."

Buta stepped forward and continued the debriefing. "Hato and I will be following our specific teams during this mission. We will not get involved unless you all die and leave us to complete the mission for you. If you fail than Claw Country will not think twice about sending their troops and possibly involving their samurai clans in this war. This is not just some test. This is an actual S-ranked mission. Failure is not a option."

The Pigeon captain spoke up again, "Team Buta will determine who and how to incriminate whomever for the woman's assassination. Team Hato will be the ones doing the assassination."

One of the two kunoichi present spoke up, "Why don't we just make it look like a suicide? Wouldn't that be easier?"

Another of Team Pig answered for the two ANBU members, "The point of assassinating her is to keep Claw Country from entering the war. A suicide would be disappointing and possibly unrealistic but more importantly, it would not keep the country from acting. Its our goal to figure out the best way to make Claw stay out of the war. We have to blame someone that will distract Claw from joining."

"Forwards will be the acting captains." Hato finished the debriefing.

"What!" Cried the Inuzuka. "Points are always the captains."

"No. Now shut up and start the mission." Coldly stated Hato.

The two teams sat for a moment in silence, shocked by the fact that they were doing a important S-ranked mission when most had only taken on a couple A-rank missions in their time as shinobi. Some hadn't even gotten a chance to do a A-rank mission yet. They had to complete the mission properly without any aid from the two experienced shinobi. The ANBU hadn't even stated how the teams were going to be evaluated. Was it possible to succeed in the mission but fail the test? Or did they pass the test in succeeding with the mission?

Toadstool finally broke the silence, "Team Buta should work on getting the information we need to incriminate whoever. Team Hato, we should find out where the Oono compound is."

The other team's captain nodded in agreement before adding, "We need to meet back here at 1400 for debriefing and further planning." With that the two teams separated, each moving in their own disguised manner into the capital of Tsune no Kuni. Each team quietly positioning and planning out each members part for the information collecting mission they were now on.

AUAU

The wind blew through the trees. Leaves crinkled in the wind above the little girl's head. A bento sat, balanced precariously on the branch before the girl, forgotten. She hadn't been able to make a proper henge. She hadn't focused properly. Her clenched fists slowly went limp as the little girl tried to focus on meditation. The boys above her in class had shot spit-wads at her the entire time. She had done that to girls back when she had been Naruto. Now she knew why they had been so outraged.

It was so frustrating that she hadn't been able to focus enough to do a proper henge of all things! Hands clenched into fists again. Why did they have to do that to her? Shaking her head, Naoko closed her eyes, took another breath, and forced herself to focus back on meditation. After another breath, she pulled up some chakra, more than she had ever drawn up, and mentally followed it as she let the chakra slowly flow down her arms. As was expected it got stuck a few times.

Once it reached her hands the little girl carefully formed the hand seals dog, boar, tiger and then whispered, "henge no jutsu." The quiet displacement of air indicated the completion of the technique. Opening her eyes revealed that Naoko had been able to make a henge, though she knew she had wasted a large amount of chakra. She should have done a kage bunshin instead. Naoko looked down at herself, she looked like a crow siting on a tree. Looking over she blinked. A crow siting in a tree with a bento. How ridiculous.

"Did you see that little twerp?" Naoko jerked her head further down. There on the ground below her were the boys who had been throwing spit-wads at her. "The little baka couldn't even make a henge!"

"Yeah, what she doing in our class?"

"She probably doesn't even know how to read!"

Naoko clenched her fists and felt her henge disperse. How dare they! She'd show them! Blue eyes narrowed onto the group of boys. They chose the wrong three year old to pick on. Naoko pressed her lips together for a moment before pulling out a couple of deflated balloons. Lets see who was the real idiot.

With quick ease, Naoko's fruit juice filled the balloons. Pulling out some string, the balloons were carefully tied to the the branch above the crouching boys. Grabbing her bento, the little girl easily climbed one of the branches away from the boys and flipped off. Looking up at her handy work, she decided it was alright for such short notice. Naoko pulled out one of the kunai Itachi had given her and, making sure she kept her head up and aimed the kunai properly, sent it flying. The screams of the boys filtered back to her. The fools.

Finding a bench to finish her bento on, Naoko sighed. This was going to be painful. Maybe she should conveniently forget how to read properly. She was supposed to get on the same team as Sasuke-teme after all. Blue eyes slid up towards the sky. Sasuke... the little girl frowned as she thought about the boy. Why did she need to get on the same team as him? She couldn't remember...it had something to do with last time. What had she said to Itachi-kun? Sasuke, he left Konoha because of Itachi and the massacre. Blue eyes blinked slowly. The massacre wasn't going to happen, she would make sure of that so why did she need to be on his team again?

Blue eyes closed. He went insane. Shaking her head, the little girl tried to focus on the boy. Sasuke... A blurred image of a boy in a blue shirt filled her mind. "Focus." Breathed Naoko. A older face overlayed the image, Itachi's face. Shaking her head again, she muttered, "Stop, focus." Black eyes began to come into focus. A shy smile filtered across the boys face. He was sort of cute. The boy aged before her minds eye. He became a teen. Innocent eyes turned cold. The distant face twisted with rage. His mouth began to move but Naoko couldn't hear what he was saying. Focusing harder, Naoko felt a headache coming on. She had to remember why she needed to be with Sasuke.

it's too late, nothing...change me! I'm going to kill you...every last person in...village!...Kill me...or die...my victims!

The sounds of a thousand birds chirping filled her head and pain suddenly hit her chest. Naoko jerked up, finding herself staring into light gray eyes. "Are you alright?"

Naoko looked around, rubbing her chest as part of her mind was screaming it hurt though there wasn't any actual pain. She could feel drying sweat on the back of her neck. On the ground around her feet was the upturned bento and most of her lunch. She had fallen asleep. It had only been a dream. Focusing on the person Naoko answered while taking her appearance in, "I think so."

The gray eyes belonged to a tall girl with dark brown hair cut long, reaching just past her shoulders. She was pale, making her hair look even darker, almost black. Yet her black ninja dress made it apparent that her hair was brown. The girl broke Naoko's thoughts as she remarked, "You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Naoko frowned at her, "I'm fine."

"Hn." Gray eyes looked down at her. Naoko could see calculations forming in them. "You pranked those boys under the tree."

Naoko was immediately on guard, "I don't know-"

"I saw you set the trap up. You're interesting."

Naoko frowned and tried to repeat herself. "I don't know what you are talking abo-"

"What's your name?" Interrupted the girl again.

"Aren't you in my class? Shouldn't you know?" Naoko countered, the only children out were from her class.

"Do you know mine?"

Naoko closed her mouth with a click. She hadn't paid any attention to the introductions earlier. She hadn't thought she would need to. Besides she had been a little busy wondering about become Hokage or not. Staring she finally responded, "I'm Naoko."

"Yorimi." The girl looked towards the academy building. "Class will be starting soon." She turned back to Naoko. "You're one of the orphans, correct?"

"Yes."

Yorimi nodded at the answer. "None of the other orphans are interesting. You'll come train with me later." With that Yorimi headed for the door, Funeno-sensei was just coming out to get them. Naoko stared, her mouth hanging open. Blue eyes focused on the retreating girl's back, a red and white fan symbol reflected the early afternoon sun. Maybe she should be asking what was up with her past self and the Uchiha clan instead of Itachi-kun's little brother? Did she just attract them like moths or something?

AUAU

Large stacks of papers were pilled high. Some sat on the desk, most sat on the floor. The old man behind the desk sighed as he signed another paper authorizing the last of the tests for ANBU hopefuls. They didn't have time to make simple, useless tests for them nor did such test really show if they were ready for the position. Sending the ANBU hopefuls out to do missions the ANBU testing them would have been doing instead was the only way he was going to keep the missions from falling behind and Konoha from missing out on important moves in this growing war. They shouldn't be fighting Kumo but, for now, the peace talk was little more than sending proposals and having them returned unopened.

At least the war, if it could truly be called that yet, only involved the ANBU and high ranking JÅ nin troops being out on the front lines. The Chunin were stuck doing all the B and C-rank missions, sometimes even a few of the A-rank missions. A knock on the door pulled the Hokage from his thoughts. "Enter."

A group of Chūnin shinobi, Sarutobi recognized as his academy teachers, filed in. The orphanages had all their children with even the slightest ability tested for the academy yesterday. He had forgotten. There was just too much going on for him to remember something so unimportant as that. "Report."

"Hai Hokage-sama. The orphans are fitting into the classes well so far. It's too early to tell if there is going to be any issues between them and the other children but we expect little as usual. Here's the files of the orphans entering the academy. We have a promising twenty-two new students, some of which may have never been caught by the regular tests." Smiled Funeno Daikoku as he handed over a stack of files.

"Very good." Smiled Sarutobi. He took the stack and set it on top of the one already in front of him. As he began going over the files, glancing at the names, ages, and class levels of the orphans the kage continued speaking. "As we have planned, these students are in the accelerated war time schedule. I expect the higher level classes to be able to graduate within a year and a half, preferably sooner. Anything extremely surprising amongst the orphans or the other students?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, we may have found a genius amongst the orphans. On top of that, some of the clans have insisted on placing some of their children in the classes with the orphans and civilian children. We didn't think it would be a issue."

"I expected as much. The clans are always looking for ways to up the others and the easiest is to get a clan child graduated earlier and proclaimed a 'genius'." The third Hokage looked up from the pile. "Now who's the apparent prodigy? Let me look at the child's file."

"It's one Tano Naoko Hokage-sama." Sarutobi nodded before pulling the file from the pile. Opening it, he stared at the photo of a familiar white haired, blue eyed girl. Now why had he not seen this coming? He should have thought about the possibility of Naoko being pulled into the academy like this, especially since he had witnessed first hand her ability to read. His eyes moved to the academy level she had been placed in. She was in level six, the equivalent of the graduation level for a regular academy class. That should not be possible, she was only three. He could see her being placed in the second or maybe even the third level but the sixth level was ridiculous.

"Exactly why has she been placed in this level?" The Chūnins shifted uncomfortably as they found themselves the target for a rather cold stare.

Funeno gulped as he explained, "She has a high level of intellect, seen by the written test, and has a large chakra pool with evidence of possibly high chakra control because of the abnormally well developed chakra coils. Hyuuga-san wrote it all down. Its in the file, sir."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he looked over the file more throughly. She had gotten a 72/100 on her test, the other three year old had gotten one question correct of the three she had tried. The Hyuuga's notes did indeed state basically exactly what Daikoku-kun had stated, just with more detail. As one of his good friends, subordinates, and advisors would say: troublesome. "How was she in the class today?"

"She was shy but thats expected. Tano-san was having some issues with the henge, I'm not certain on whether or not she actually understands how to draw on her chakra. What the Hyuuga had seen indicates she should but it really could be some abnormality and she may actually have no idea." Explained Funeno.

The curly haired kunoichi instructor spoke up."I believe she is fully capable and has a strong understanding of how to use her chakra. I graded the written test of hers. She gave a extremely detailed explanation about chakra, chakra capacity, the stretching of chakra coils, and so forth. She literally knew everything you need to know about the use of chakra. I mean, as long as you're not a medic-nin."

"Thank you Suzume-kun. I will look over her answers later. Now she had issues with the henge? I believe that you need to watch and reconsider. If she is not able to make a proper henge by the end of the month she should be moved down to the third level where she can learn how to properly use her chakra. I would remind you all of the other genius students you have had or seen the results of. The two I'm thinking of are somewhat anti-social. Watch her and try to get her to interact with the other children if you see any issues. There is also the possibility of bullying, she is only three and the first female that would be given the title of genius. The other students may not take kindly to a female three year old orphan beating them at everything." Sarutobi paused, "Do not speak about her to anyone. I will not have the clans coming to me demanding to adopt her simply because they heard she is a genius. Anything else?"

After they indicated no, Sarutobi dismissed them. The old man looked down at the file before him. It wasn't all that terrible for her being placed in the academy so early. She would be able to learn how to defend herself sooner and, If he could make it work, longer than most children. All he had to do is make the graduation test set up to fail her until she was reasonably old enough to be a genin. Of course that all depended on his ability to get this war finished before it really began. If he did, then the children would be placed into a less accelerated training schedule. Any child who could graduate by normal standards would but Naoko would not be one of them, even if she learned all three academy jutsu and taijutsu. The war time schedule excluded the entire kunoichi arts, history, etiquette, and other less war important skills. If the war ended the children would have to take the normal test that would include those areas of study. The third Hokage smiled as he leaned back in his chair and pulled out his pipe.

This was actually perfect. Once she was no longer in the war time schedule, and a little older, she would be moved out of the orphanage and no longer available for adoption in a easy manner. Naoko would be trained under everyone's noses. As long as he could keep the information about her as a genius from spreading, that is. He wouldn't put it past his advisors and Danzo to try and interfere, even if they don't make the connection of who she was.

AUAU

Naoko peaked out from behind the crate. Where had she gone? Blue eyes slid over the area, cataloging the people she could see. Old Man. Man. Woman. Boy. Old Man. Drunk. Drunk. Girl. Ma-. Blue eyes swerved back to the girl but she was gone. Crap. Naoko turned around to flee only to jump back in shock, barely dodging the outstretched hand. Yorimi remarked to her with a disturbingly familiar smirk. "Nice dodge."

The little three year old stuck her tongue out and fled. Yorimi wasn't going to get her! Never, ever! "You're pretty fast." Blue eyes jerked to her right, the tall girl was just behind her.

"I don't want to play!" Cried Naoko as she dodge another hand. Sliding back on her feet, she crouched. "Its silly! I thought you wanted to train!"

"We are training." Naoko's eyes widened. The voice came from behind. She jumped forward, into the brunette. Displaced air whooshed out around her. A Bunshin. They haven't been taught that yet. The blue eyed girl used the smoke cover to get away. This was crazy! Why did she always attract the crazy ones? Why were all Uchiha crazy?

Naoko ran around the street corner. She could see the orphanage up ahead. She couldn't believe that she wanted to get there after all these months of trying to get out. The little girl ran as fast as she could. She was almost safe. Almost.

"Tag!" Naoko stumbled as a hand slapped her back. "You're it."

Naoko spun around to find the street empty of any brown haired girl. Where had she gone? Blue eyes moved over the street for any clue. Nothing. How was she supposed to find her?

Naoko slowly moved down the street, eyes moving over each intersecting street. Nothing. The little girl stopped in front of the street she had gone threw earlier. Clearly Naoko needed to learn how to track.

Annoyance flickered across her face. Naruto had always been the tank in the team. But she couldn't be a tank this time. Girls weren't built to be tanks. So maybe she should learn to track instead? Naoko doubted her ability with genjutsu and similarly with medical jutsu so tracking was what was left. At least she couldn't think of any other specialties kunoichi were trained for. Of course Naruto never asked so maybe there were other options.

"What are you doing here?" Naoko squeaked in surprise as she was lifted up by the back of her shirt. "I believe you're supposed to be at the orphanage right now."

Naoko glared over at the jerk. Blue eyes widened. "Toshi-san! I haven't seen you in ages!"

The monkey ANBU grinned amusedly at the little girl. "It hasn't been that long. What you doing out here anyway?"

"I'm training with Yorimi-san. We just got out of the academy!"

Toshi's smile faded. "You got in the academy, eh? On the war time schedule I bet."

Naoko grinned widely. "Yep! I learned the henge and we started learning taijutsu today."

"Oh? You doing good in your classes? Where's your friend?"

Naoko shrugged, blushing at the reminder of her failure with the henge. "She tagged me and ran off before I could see where she went."

Toshi set Naoko back onto the ground. "Go find her then."

Naoko turned with a huff. "I don't know how to find her."

"well...you'll figure it out someday. I got to go and report in. Don't do anything stupid!" The young man smiled at her before running up the wall, heading for the Hokage tower. Naoko frowned as she looked around again. She'll have to go bug Toshi-san another time.

There standing at the entrance of one of the streets was Yorimi. Her gray eyes regarded her calculatingly. Naoko walked over and poked her in the shoulder. "Tag."

"I have to go home now." Naoko looked up at her. "We'll train more tomorrow. Figure out how to find me."

Blue eyes followed the older girl's retreating back. She was a odd one. "Bye." Naoko called out after watching for a moment. Yorimi turned around and waved back. "I have a friend?" Naoko wrinkled her nose in thought. A friend? A number of faces flashed through her head. The faces were of people she didn't know. She vaguely remembered some of them but they hadn't become friends with her until after the academy. Naruto had been alone till that point.

...the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling, I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I'll never give up...

Naoko closed her eyes. I'll never give up. I'll save everyone. Blue eyes opened. Yorimi was a Uchiha, meaning she was killed with all the rest of them during the massacre. She would save Itachi from having to kill them all and she would save Yorimi from being killed. They were her friends and she would protect them with everything she had.

AUAU

The moon was high in the night sky, but a sliver amongst the endless black. Itachi stared up at it as his team shifted impatiently, sharingan eyes spun lazily. Team Buta had returned with information on another clan of Claw. A shinobi clan who didn't agree with the actions of the Oono clan, nor of the up coming marriage. Pussycat was thrilled at the idea of blaming the clan. Apparently their clans were rivals, and not the friendly type. Itachi glanced over at the Inuzuka. He could see the adrenalin vibrating off his teammate.

Soft rustling tensed Team Hato. Team Buta's point landed a few feet away. "The Moon is whole on nights of snow."

Pussycat growled out, "The Sun is young at mornings glow."

Itachi rolled his eyes. Poems, why did so many people insist on using poems for their passwords? Popular ones at that? The ANBU from Team Buta tossed a set of neko-te to Pussycat. The clan they were framing was famous for the use of these knuckle claw hand weapons. They had a very distinct zigzagg pattern when used to cut something.

Ferret spoke up, "Alright lets get this done with."

The team nodded before heading towards the Oono clan compound. Scaling the wall and entering the compound was easy. The samurai were powerful and dangerous fighters but few had the knowledge or skill to guard their homes well enough against shinobi. The team ducked behind a building as a squad of claw shinobi ran over the rooftops. That was the dangerous part. The samurai protected the city during the day and the shinobi did so during the night. The squads helped guard against other shinobi like right now. It was most likely the main point of their nightly guard duties.

It took twenty minutes of hiding from squads and silently traveling over rooftops before Team Hato reached the building directly across from the woman's chambers. Her windows were open. This would not be difficult at all. Crouching on the rooftop, Ferret spoke up, giving orders, "Pussycat and Earthworm, you're guarding our backs. Jaybird, Toadtool, and myself will head in to do the assassination. Jaybird do you have a genjutsu that will help hide ourselves in case a squad comes by?"

"Hai." Muttered Itachi after a moment of thought. He couldn't recall if he had know the jutsu last time but using it now would not affect the outcome of the mission. "The genjutsu will make people unable to see us as long as we do not do any sudden movements. They will still be able to hear and smell us, though. The farther away I get the more likely the genjutsu will fall at simply moving, so Pussycat and Earthworm need to stay still after we head out."

"Good. Let do this."

Itachi nodded before pulling on his chakra reserves. It took but a second before he had the right amount and, flashing through a few hand seals, the sharingan user whispered out, " Sentaku Shitsumei." Itachi felt his chakra disperse over the team before settling on them like a thin film of water. "The jutsu will continuously drain my chakra while active but it should last a good thirty minutes."

Ferret nodded before leading the way into the woman's room. It was only a slight hop from the rooftop to the windowsill. Once they entered the three ANBU hopefuls stilled in shock. The room was full of sleeping girls. Little children. It was like a large sleepover.

"Did we get the wrong room?" Whispered Toadstool. Itachi said nothing as his mouth went dry. Here it was. The twist to the mission. Itachi silently pointed across the room. Hanging delicately on a child sized mannequin was a child sized wedding kimono.

"No." Hissed Toadstool. "I-I.. We can't kill a bunch of children! They can't be more than five!"

Itachi glanced over to the side, Hato stood silently watching them. He had always wondered if his captain had known about the missing detail of the child's age. It wasn't surprising for her to have other people in the room with her on the night before the wedding. That was somewhat traditional. The bridal party sometimes had one last party. Their age was shocking for anyone who wasn't used to nobility marrying off their young children. It had been horrifying the first time he had done this mission.

Ferret finally spoke up. "We have to finish the mission. Do either of you know who the bride is?"

Itachi glanced over the children. How he wished there was a way to determine that. Maybe there was something he had missed last time? The ten year old boy slowly moved over the sleeping girls, the sharingan spinning in his eyes as he searched for any indication. But like last time, he found nothing.

"No." Whispered Itachi. Looking up at his teammates as they also searched. "We can't look forever, one is bound to wake."

"You don't mean?" Toadstool shook his head, "I cannot kill them. I can't."

Itachi and Ferret looked over at each other. "We wouldn't make you do this Toadstool, guard the door." Ferret tossed one of the two neko-te to Itachi. Toadstool crouched by the door, his back firmly facing the room so he couldn't see. Itachi and Ferret slowly pull the hand claws on. Both their hands trembled slightly. It had to be done. He had done it once, he would do it again. For Konoha.

Stepping forward, the two ANBU hopefuls quickly and silently cut each child's throat, killing them instantly. Itachi tried to ignore the memories surfacing. He tried to ignore the girls' appearances changing to that of his clan members. He had to do this so that he would be in the position to kill his clan. He had to. He had to. He had to.

His chakra shifted. The draining of the genjutsu stopped. Itachi stumbled slightly as he finished the last child in his area. The genjutsu of his had just been disrupted. Itachi looked up sharply, "Somethings not rig-"

A muffled shout of "TSŪGA!" followed by a loud crash filtered through the window.

"Damn Inuzuka." Cursed Ferret as he rushed out, "Make sure their dead Jaybird!"

Itachi quickly moved over the children, checking each for a pulse before moving to the next. After confirming them all dead, Itachi waved at Toadstool and the two rushed quietly outside. Sharingan eyes swept over the area quickly to find Pussycat laying, unmoving to the side. His black wolf was near by fighting off a large lioness. Earthworm was fighting a cat like shinobi while Ferret was taking on two Samurai. Two other samurai and three shinobi were already down.

"Help Earthworm, I'll help Ferret." Itachi ordered Toadstool who nodded. Itachi took note that Ferret was fighting the samurai off with the neko-te he had. Itachi checked the straps of his own. If someone looked at their wounds it would point to the claw shinobi clan and not Konoha. It helped that Earthworm was a kenjutsu specialist and was using a katana against the shinobi. This could work out perfectly if they got out quickly enough.

Itachi rolled under a swinging katana as he reached the samurai. He flicked his hands through seals. Dodging another swipe of the sword, he ran under the samurai's guard. Whispering "Memai", he slapped his hand onto the enemy. Itachi caught the sword with the neko-te's blades. The samurai swayed as the genjutsu took affect. The enemy stumbled back. Itachi took advantage of the genjutsu created vertigo and rushed forward. The samurai swing wide, no longer able to keep balanced. Itachi slammed his fist into the samurai's head. The neko-te's blades sheathed itself with a sharp slink as metal met bone. Itachi yanked the weapon free. Blood splattered over him, staining the white mask red.

Looking up, Itachi noted quickly that the enemy were down. Sounds of running feet could be heard. They needed to leave now. Itachi and Ferret quickly made sure the samurai were dead while Earthworm did the same with the shinobi. Itachi could see Hato kneeling besides Pussycat. Toadstool had grabbed one of the samurai's blades and was carefully sliding it over the dead lioness' wounds. Itachi unstrapped the neko-te and tossed it to Ferret. Ferret quickly traded their neko-te with the dead cat like shinobi's own. If anyone checked they would find the dead girls blood on those.

"Give me those." Order Hato. Ferret tossed the extra neko-te to him and they all watched as the body of Pussycat and the pair of neko-te were sealed. "Lead us out, Ferret."

Itachi quickly moved into his center position. Toadstool took over the forward position. The mission had occurred just as Itachi remembered it. His sharingan faded to his gray-black eyes as they met up with Team Buta. The mission had been successful. He was that much closer to the future. Itachi tried to ignore the desire to throw up. That much closer to killing his clan.