The foundation of the legend started under the eyes of many:
Itachi Uchiha, Student, Brother, Teacher, Soon to be traitor of the leaf looked out the Tower window into the night. He had just been ordered to slay his family. Peering out into the night, he saw the signal that designated Naruto had reached his goal, A single Light shone out the window of the Weapons shop down the street from the tower. It's illumination coming in 3 10 second flashes and then extinguished.
"Hokage-sama, I require not 1 but 2 signed and sealed sets of orders for this mission, It is my right as ANBU to decline S rank missions. No prefacing statement limited this right."
Danzo, from his seat, rocketed up, "Absolutely Not, this should be a hands mission"
"Your asking me to destroy my clan, I will not do that without reassurance that when the time is right I will get the chance to resurrect the Uchiha. The second copy will go to a trusted friend, safe and sound to provide insurance should accidents happen. Provide me with 2 authentic seals sets of documents or get someone else to do it, non-negotiable. You want to avoid a civil war, refuse me and watch Konoha burn."
With this, Itachi turned to jump out the window, and leave the current powers of Konoha in the lurch. Reaching out to grab him, the Hokage slowly nodded his head and agreed to the terms. "Come back in 48 hours, Your Pardons, Orders, and supporting evidence will be ready."
Nodding, Itachi leapt out the window, A mass of ravens dividing up and going in multiple directions to avoid trackers. Itachi returned to his students favorite thinking spot, The top of the waterfall where his students mother trained the best genin team in a generation, too bad 2 were dead, and the 3rd would be leaving Konoha forever, the Documents to be used as ammunition when needed to embarrass Konoha.
Naruto arrived shortly, his skills while excellent, weren't where Itachi's were at that age. Mostly it was keeping off the radar of his fellow ANBU and the Ne Branch of Danzo's ANBU that caused it. Since his 6th birthday, Naruto had been taught proper reading, writing, observation skills, tracking and stealth. His Ninjutsu was impressive, learning the Kage Bunshin , just 1 year and 2 months after his training started. Basic elemental manipulation was just starting. Taijutsu wasn't a strong point, How could a child fight a man, So Itachi trained him like he was, Know the moves for now, Master the reflexes and response times. Kunai and Shuriken skills escalated exponentially after his Bunshin training. Basic Survival skills in the wild, Jutsu and tactics, all ingrained from the start. Itachi knew it wasn't his job to make Naruto a master ninja, no , his job was to make Naruto capable of learning and excelling. By fulfilling his promise to his Sensei, He knew someday, the future clans would team up to change to the Shinobi world, by fear or worse if needed.
"Thank You Naruto, I assume all is sealed?" as Naruto handed over the 3 new storage scrolls stolen from the weapons store.
"Hai, Clothing for Cold climates, Special camping gear, Extra weapons, Rations, Pills and Medical Kit. I stashed the exact same for me, plus training supplies to keep me going for awhile. When do I need to make an appearance at the tower?"
" I would be there by 3PM in 2 days, Do something outrageous like you mom would do when she felt wronged. ANBU loves the 3 hour tour of Konoha, I would push it a little longer to give me time to get the document set for you up here and hidden, Retrieve it as quickly as you can. Remember, Stay as long as you can stand it here, When you leave, leave quietly and with all the misdirection you have. "
"Hai sensei, Good Luck on your Mission, I'll see you again in this lifetime. Be it in Whirlpool or in the other nations. Hopefully by then we can swap pictures of our children and tell stories over Dango and Sake."
And With that conversation began the story of the Maelstrom, The Silent Killer.
Itachi arrived at the tower at 2 pm. 2 days later. The Hokages secretary, escorting him in. Setting a pile of documents on the Hokage's desk. The 3rd reached over and examined each set, Each was identical, lacking only the official seal and signature on each. Grabbing a writing implement and signing his name and stamping each, He passed each set to Itachi in 2 separate sealing scrolls.
"Itachi, for what it's worth, you are doing Konoha a great service, words can't suffice the gratitude of your village."
"Can we not do the Lies Hokage-sama? You know as well as I do, I do this for one reason only. Everyone meets the losing hand once in life, this time it's the Uchiha clan, for all they've done, this is just justice."
"Please make sure Sasuke survives, the village will welcome a resurgence of the Uchiha, a Founding clan of the Leaf."
"Hai Hokage-sama. You may use the agreed upon intelligence contact starting in 6 months. Till then, Am I dismissed?"
"Good Luck and Good Hunting"
Naruto, standing outside the tower, watched his sensei, leap out the window. That was his cue. Looking up at the Hokage mountain, a sly smile came over his has as Chakra storage scrolls released their bounty, Chakra based paint changing the 4 Hokages to look like clowns, Red noses and all. Kami love timer seals. More importantly, Kami bless his mother, wherever she may be in the afterlife, After reading the basic training materials provided, the first thing he leapt into whole-heartedly was the book on sealing theory, decades of notes and ideas, marked in the margins. Even better was the documents describing with absolute precision the 20 seals a Uzamaki had to know to be considered a Ninja, Timer seals being number 7 of 20.
He slowly slid into the shadows, starting the arming process of traps and sealed Kage Bunshin to be released when the Bait Bunshin led ANBU past them. When that was done, he calmly left to the waterfalls and the hidden cove where behind his security seals, he could hide for days while his sealed timer released clones would lead ANBU for however long Naruto wanted.
"Well Sensei, your diversion is ready, Be strong, Good Hunting"
3 days later, he came out of the cove, Henged into a drunken civilian and heard the announcement that the Uchiha Clan was dead, each and every last one. No survivors . The announcement made, he walked with a slight hitch, occasionally singing a well known bar tune, cursing when he forgot a lyric, which made it all the more real. The gates, open once more at the civilian side appeared in the distance, He made his way through using the stolen credentials of a drunk he rolled weeks ago and left to his freedom. It would be 8 years before anyone from Konoha whom could recognize him would see him, except for Itachi.
Itachi had left the tower, and while Naruto was plotting chaos and mayhem of a scale he couldn't imagine, placed the scroll in the special storage space in the cove, Being his Sensei's student, Kushina had keyed him into the cove as well. Kami love sensei, she always thought ahead. Her son would surpass her and his father, With a sly smile of a challenge accepted, he shunshin'ed away, going to prep himself for the fight and flight to come.
At the arranged time of 5 o'clock, while the ANBU shift change was being cancelled due to the worst or best Naruto prank ever, Itachi slid into the Uchiha clan compound. Madara had volunteered to assist, But Itachi declined, Several of Naruto's Hyper charged Clones were in the final present Naruto gave to his sensei, Opening the scroll, he wiped a bloody finger over the seal markings for 2 of them.
"Naruto, Henge into me, Use the clone explosion technique on the wall with 1 of you and the other use it at the exit to the clan meeting going on now. Wait till optimum effect. Whatever you do, don't watch, You're far too young to deal with this. You will sense the chakra's coming at you. When it is done, I will be exiting through the hole in the Destroyed barrier wall. Thank You for these, I will see you in the future. Good Luck on your trip to Whirlpool. "
With that, the 2 clones slid into the afternoon shadows and made their way to their assigned positions. Itachi sat, meditated, and focused his chakra, Now 16 almost 17, being the currently strongest ANBU captain on the roster, He know he could wipe out the clan. The question was what to do with the eyes, does he gather a set or four, or does he burn the bodies in their spot, eyes never to be recovered. Chakra swirling around him, he opened his eyes, sharingan blazing. Mind made up, he made sure he had a clean storage case out of the medical kit Naruto had stolen.
Charging in, Kodachi withdrawn, a kage bunshin firing Katon after Katon, he ripped through the clan, In all, 54 out of 55 members of the clan were in the meeting room of the main clan house. The last being his parents, he turned to them, Nodded his head, and squared off against the two remaining Uchiha, when it became obvious to them they couldn't beat Itachi, they fired off Katon's of their own. Naruto's clone sensed the chakra coming his way, waited till they were 3 feet away and whispered "Boom" and with that the back half of the hall collapsed. The explosion tearing bone and muscle apart.
Itachi shook his head in amusement, "Now that's going out with a bang." Opened his container and salvaged the 2 sets of eyes of his parents. Sealing them in the medical stasis scroll in the kit, he went off to rest and wait for his brother, Spoiled little shit he was.
ANBU had soon arrived to find disaster at the clan house, beginning to search the ruins and bodies. A hour later, while the Hokage and the council was at the clan house, pondering if Itachi kept his word and left some alive trapped, Itachi had begun his search for his brother in the vast portion of the forest that was Uchiha property. Having changed clothes, walked into a clearing where his brother was practicing Jutsu.
"Hello Sasuke, Doing well?"
"Hai, I have the Great Fireball down and I'm working on the dragon."
"Show me," Getting behind Sasuke, slid his Kodachi out, and as Sasuke fired the fireball out, he ran him through. Sasuke fell quietly, A look of shock and pain on his face, But Itachi had his eyes closed, Preventing the sharingan from seeing his brother dying. Thus preventing the next evolution of the sharingan. Cleaning his blade, He extracted Sasuke's now 1 tomoe eyes into the storage case. 2 hours later he killed the Hyuga bastard's guarding the hole in the wall and left Konoha, once and for all.
Danzo, the elders and the 3rd sat in the Hokage tower the next day, piecing together the things the knew from the people involved and reports and evidence from the scenes. It wasn't pretty. Konoha no longer had the sharingan. Itachi broke his word, but the documents provided gave a full pardon as clan business. Worse. Naruto was missing. Was he with Itachi? Was it willing or forced accompaniment?
Was Naruto's Massive, yet to be cleaned prank a message to them, that they were to be laughed at, made clowns of? Too many questions, no answers, but lots of problems to solve.
As fortune would have it, Naruto had planned even farther that Itachi, He had to get the last jab in. We walked up the wall, listening to the conversation. Almost splitting a gut in held in laughter, the 3rd turned and asked him in.
"I assume you are a clone Naruto?"
"Hai, I couldn't let a prank be ignored."
"Did you do it to help Itachi? Where are you? I was worried about you?
Waving a finger in a negative wave at the gathered group. He started his final words to the 3rd he would ever speak.
"Listen well, In all my life 1 person alive treated me as a Person of value. Where were you the first 6 years of my life? Where was the healthy, fresh food? Warm clean clothes, a roof over my head?
Nowhere. Itachi cleaned me up helped me get a spot to stay(cove, but he wasn't sharing, it may be useful in the future). Your great academy rejected me, a 6 year old with Jounin chakra supply. Stealth better than ½ your ANBU. So if I could pull a prank that coincided with your planned murder of the Uchiha, so be it. I don't know why you sent Itachi to do it, and I don't care. You don't kill Loyal Shinobi. Itachi broke down and told me his mission. The least I could do is make him laugh before he cried his eyes out because of you. Itachi warned me you would murder me as well for even knowing this. As an apology for getting me killed, he told me about my parents, his Sensei and the furball in my stomach. Know this, if you come to kill me, I'll find a way to free him. Let's see someone else here sacrifice their entire family for your dumb asses after I'm gone."
Naruto's Clone thought the all time Best actor award should go to him forever for that act. As he looked at the shocked, scared faces of the 4 there. His clone dispelled.
The 3rd had dropped his pipe, ashes starting a burn hole in the Hokage robes. Danzo broke the handle on his cane. Knowing Itachi had given that second set to Naruto. Koharu and Homaru literally passed out from heart attacks. The village on the edge of destruction, all it would take is 1 mistake and they were all dead. The Uchiha, while plotting, had broken not a single law by action. The 'Murder' tag by Naruto would apply. The threat of the Kyuubi being freed was even more a potential death sentence to every man, woman and child of Konoha.
The 3rd turned to Danzo, "Leave them be, They've both left. If they move against Konoha, fine. Otherwise we're asking for death. Do not try to even track them, the risk is too big. If you do, Every person you've ever known in your life will be killed, Am I Clear?
Danzo nodded in acknowledgement.
"ANBU" the 3rd screamed, "Get the elders to the hospital, Escort Danzo-san to his home.:
After they left, the 3rd raged. Naruto, you were supposed to be your fathers greatest gift to the village, the ultimate weapon for us, Where did we fail?
On the wall, the picture of the Yondaime held a look of confusion and disbelief.
Author's Notes:
Next Chapter is a Time skip. Flashbacks are likely. I really debated keeping Sasuke alive, but almost all fics seem to get sucked into the rivalry, and that's not what this fic is about.