Chapter 3: The Good Samaritans

Itachi leaped from tree branch to tree branch, stumbling and nearly falling to the forest floor in exhaustion. The battle against his clan had been a long one, and although none of the blood that dripped from his hands and katana was his, his chakra was almost depleted. He had even been forced to turn off his Sharingan a couple of miles back, despite the threat of ANBU pursuers, because it was the only way he could conserve enough energy to keep moving.

There was a clearing up ahead, and Itachi recognized it as the place where two of the Fire Country's major roads crossed. Itachi knew he would have to cross one of the roads to get out of the Fire Country. The problem was, it was the road that led to the capital city, and many people would be traveling along it to reach the festival that would start in a few days. Taking a deep breath, he activated a genjutsu to make himself invisible and silent so that no one on the road would notice him.

The genjutsu drained what little chakra he had left, and he felt himself swaying on a tree branch. His fatigue was taking its toll, and a sense of light-headedness overcame him. He had just enough time to think wryly, It looks like I overestimated the height of my capacity, before he blacked out.

Itachi woke up an unspecified amount of time later to see four people leaning over him. He reached for his kunai pouch, then realized that all four were wearing civilian clothing. One was a middle-aged woman with long black hair that was starting to turn gray, one was a boy about his age, and the other two were a man and woman in their twenties. Looking around, Itachi found that he was a short distance away from the road he had been intending to cross. He was laying on the ground between two large covered wagons. Lanterns were hung on the outside of the wagons, and a couple of horses were tethered nearby.

"He looks like he's been in a terrible battle," said the younger of the two men.

"He's been badly hurt. Michi-chan, grab the first aid kit out of the wagon. Yukaro-kun, bring one of those lanterns closer so I can get a better look at him." This was the middle-aged woman, whose brow was wrinkled with concern.

The young boy brought over one of the lanterns, and held it up over Itachi's prone body. The light glinted off his forehead protector, and the older woman said, "He's a ninja of the Leaf." Seeing that Itachi's eyes were open, she asked, "What's your name?"

Itachi hesitated. If news of the massacre had begun to spread, giving his real name might be dangerous. On the other hand, his clan symbol was embroidered onto the back of his shirt, so these people would find out who he was soon enough anyway. "Uchiha Itachi," he answered.

"My name is Nishikawa Sumiko," said the older woman gently. "Don't worry, you're among friends. How badly are you injured?"

Itachi frowned. Why would these people think he was injured? Oh right, the fact that he was covered in blood. "I'm not."

The younger woman, Michi, had returned with a first-aid kit. "But…there's so much blood. Whose is it, if not yours?"

"I…defeated most of my enemies, but some escaped. I was pursuing them when I collapsed."

"What happened? Has Konoha been attacked?" The older man was clearly worried.

Itachi remembered one of the many shinobi sayings he had learned during his childhood. "To make a lie convincing, keep it as close to the truth as possible." He scrunched up his face, trying to look like he was wracked with grief. "Yes…a group of missing-nin attacked the Uchiha clan compound. Most of the clan…has been wiped out."

All four of the people surrounding him gasped in shock. "That's…that's terrible," exclaimed Sumiko. "That will be a great blow to the strength of Konoha. And you…" She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, as though trying to keep his emotions under control. "I have no physical injuries, but my chakra is almost completely drained. I need…to rest for a day or two. Please," he said, looking as plaintive as he could, "all I want is to avenge my clan."

Sumiko nodded in sympathy. "We're heading to the capital city to attend the festival. We'll take you with us until you're well enough to leave. And we'll send a message to Konoha so they'll know that you're alive."

"No!" Itachi grabbed Sumiko's wrist. "The attack was specifically targeted at my clan. If anyone knows that I'm with you…" He trailed off, letting them draw their own conclusions.

"All right. We'll wait until you're gone to send a message to Konoha. For now, let's get you some clean clothes and something to eat."

Itachi soon found out that Sumiko was the owner of a large clothing shop in one of the Fire Country's major cities. She and her three employees were traveling to the capital in order to sell their wares at the festival. The fourth member of their group, the older man, was named Aburame Akamatsu—no relation to Konoha's bug user clan. Eating a bowl of stew Akamatsu had given him, Itachi contemplated what to do. Sumiko and company probably would not hear the true story of the massacre until they reached their destination, but he was fairly certain that he did not want to travel all the way to the capital. The smartest thing to do was to stay away from all the large cities with many guards. He estimated that they would reach the capital in three days, which gave him that long to recover. He could slip away in the middle of the night without anyone knowing.

The next day, Itachi woke up to the sensation of movement. The sunlight filtering through the curtain that covered the opening at the back of the wagon was strong, and he guessed that it was around mid-day. He felt much better—his chakra was recovering, and his muscles no longer ached. Someone from Sumiko's group had left a rice ball and some dango on a napkin next to him, and he ate. As he swallowed the last bite of the dango, he felt the wagon lurch to a sudden halt. There were angry voices from outside, followed by shouts. An unfamiliar man burst into the wagon. He wore dark clothes and a mask over his face, but he moved with none of the grace of a shinobi. A bandit.

Itachi jumped to his feet and grabbed a kunai. The bandit drew a knife of his own and lunged at Itachi. Itachi easily sidestepped—he didn't even have to turn his Sharingan on to fight a thug like this—and plunged his kunai into the man's back. The shouting from outside had not ceased, and Itachi stuck his head out of the wagon to see what was going on.

Three more bandits were standing in the road, blocking the group's way. Sumiko, Akamatsu, and Michi stood facing them, each holding a short blade that looked like it was used to cut cloth. Yukaro was hiding behind one of the wagons. Suddenly, one of the bandits noticed Itachi.

The thug's eyes widened in shock. "You…you're…"

Determined not to let him finish that sentence, Itachi grabbed his katana and jumped from the wagon, running to where the three civilians stood. Sprinting past them, he killed all three of the bandits before any of them had a chance to react. Sumiko and Akamatsu were staring at him with stunned looks, while Michi covered Yukaro's eyes so he wouldn't see the bloody corpses.

"Thank…thank you," Sumiko said. "We would have hired a shinobi guard, but bandits usually only attack lone travelers."

"Some of them have been getting bolder recently. You should hire a guard for the way back."

Sumiko nodded mutely.

That night, Itachi judged himself recovered enough to leave. He planned to head west, into the River Country. That country had no shinobi of its own, and so was a haven for missing-nin from other nations. Silently, Itachi slipped out of the wagon and started walking away.

"Aren't you even going to say goodbye?"

Itachi whirled around; he hadn't thought anyone was awake. Sumiko sat on the driver's bench of the other wagon, reading by the light of a single dim lantern. "I've decided to start keeping watches at night, because of the bandits," she explained.

"I have to go. The people who killed my clan will have fled, and I can't afford to lose their trail."

"You saved our lives today. Again, thank you."

Itachi remained silent.

"You're a shinobi; we should pay you the standard fee for a C-rank mission."

Itachi shook his head. "That isn't necessary."

"At least take something. Here." Sumiko reached into a pack by her side, rummaged in it for a few seconds, then pulled out something and held it up to the light. It was a delicate necklace, with small rings linked together by a silver chain. The rings were made of a shining black stone. "If you're going to be running all over the continent chasing these people, you'll need money. You should be able to get a decent amount for this. The stones are hematite; it's pretty rare." She tossed the necklace to Itachi, and he caught it. She had a good point; he would need money.

Itachi turned and began walking away. "Itachi-san!" Sumiko called after him. "I know…how greatly you must be suffering. Yukaro-kun lost his parents a few years ago too…Just remember, your friends will always be there for you. You're never truly alone." Itachi paused for a moment and looked back over his shoulder, inclining his head slightly—it was as close as he would get to saying farewell. Then he leaped to a tree branch and was gone.

Hurrying through the trees, Itachi reached up and fastened the necklace around his neck. When he reached the River Country, he didn't sell it. He couldn't quite say why—perhaps because it was associated with memories of compassion and kindness, emotions that he had ripped out of his own heart. Maybe it was because of the words Sumiko had said to him: "Your friends will always be there for you. You're never truly alone." What she didn't know was that he was truly alone. He had severed every bond, killed or pushed away every person who might have cared about him. That was the price he had paid to reach the height of his capacity. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing to be reminded of what he had given up in his quest for power. Perhaps one should be reminded that the cost of power is great.

A/N: This story came from the merging of three different ideas I had. First, Itachi seems to always wear that necklace—where did he get it from, and why does he keep it? He doesn't really seem like the type of person who would normally bother with something frivolous like jewelry. Second, the Naruto world is full of ninjas, but what about the regular people? There must be many more civilians than there are shinobi, but we hardly ever see them. What are the people who keep the society running and provide for the basic needs of the shinobi (food, clothing, etc) like? And third, after fighting his entire clan, Itachi must have been exhausted and drained of chakra. How did he escape from Konoha without the ANBU catching him? I'd had a story idea in the back of my mind for a while about some random person finding him collapsed by a roadside after the Uchiha massacre and nursing him back to health, having no idea what he'd done. So that became the basis for this story, and I incorporated the thing with the necklace into it.

The next chapter is going to be about the mysterious unknown Akatsuki member. The tentative order I have in mind for the chapters after that is: Zetsu, Tobi, Hidan, Kakuzu, Kisame, Sasori. That might change, though.