Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Naruto or Sandman.

A Murder of Crows

Itachi focused his chakra, and the crows that fluttered and swirled around him began to disappear one by one. Jet-black feathers drifted down from the sky, falling around Itachi's feet.

After a few moments, he noticed that one stubborn bird hadn't vanished. It was perched on a nearby stone wall, and it seemed to be looking at him inquisitively. A natural crow, attracted by my jutsu? Or perhaps an animal that some other ninja has summoned to keep an eye on me? Itachi focused his Sharingan on the errant bird, and raised a kunai as he saw that its chakra was that of a human, not an animal. It has to be Henge no Jutsu. The only question is, who is this? The kunai, of course, was a ruse. An opponent's eye would naturally be drawn to the weapon, and thus to Itachi's fingers curled around it--which would promptly put the enemy into a genjutsu.

"Who are you?" Itachi demanded.

The bird shifted from foot to foot. "My name's Matthew," it said in a harsh, croaking voice.

Itachi slowly repeated the unfamiliar name. "Mat-hyu?" It sounded like no shinobi name he'd ever heard of. "What country are you from?"

"Well, that's kind of an interesting question. When I was alive, I lived in America, but now I'm in the Dreaming."

This made no sense at all. Was this unknown ninja trying to confuse him? "What do you mean by, 'when I was alive'? You seem quite alive to me."

Matthew laughed. "Yeah, I guess I would. I have a body and all. I'm just not...alive. And please, no lame zombie jokes. Believe me, I've heard them all."

"Why are you here?"

"Well...I wanted to talk to you, I guess. That's a real nice, what-do-you-call-it, jutsu thingy you've got there. All those crows and stuff. That's how I got here--I know that's the next question you're going to ask. See, illusions are just waking dreams, so they're like doors between the waking world and the Dreaming. I came through your illusion to get here."

"And why do you want to talk to me? You are obviously a ninja, so the most likely conclusion is that you are a hunter-nin who has been assigned to assassinate me. But that does not require talking to me."

"Uh, what? I don't wanna assassinate anybody. And I'm not a ninja. Even when I was human, I sucked at fighting, and now I'm just a raven. What am I gonna do, flap my wings at you?"

"You look like a raven, yet you have the chakra of a human. Clearly, then, you are a ninja using Henge no Jutsu to conceal your true appearance. I will ask you exactly one more time: Who are you? If you don't answer, I will take the knowledge from your mind by force."

"Okay, okay, you don't have to get such a bee in your bonnet about it! I used to be human, but then I died, and Dream changed me into a raven, and I work for him now. Okay? Are you happier now that you know that?"

"Why should I believe you?"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Matthew's wings drooped. Itachi was no expert in avian body language, but he thought the bird looked exasperated. "Look, you're some kinda illusion expert, right? You can go into people's minds and mess around in there, right? Look inside my mind and decide for yourself whether I'm lying or not." With that, his beady black eyes met Itachi's narrowed red ones.

Itachi sifted through Matthew's memories, noting that the bird (man?) made no effort to conceal anything. He saw all the joys and sorrows of Matthew's previous life as a human, the final tragedy of his death, and his acceptance of Morpheus's offer to become his companion.

Itachi withdrew carefully from Matthew's mind. "You are not lying." A slight hint of wonder broke through the normal stoicism of Itachi's voice. He had seen many strange things in his life as a ninja, but this was something new. He noticed that Matthew's feathers were puffed up and he was shaking. "Are you alright? I was not intending to damage you with the genjutsu."

"I'll be okay, it's just..." He trailed off. "I try not to think about my past life much," he finished in a softer voice.

A small, bitter smile crossed Itachi's face. "I know what you mean." A few moments passed in silence, and then Itachi asked, "Earlier, you said you wanted to speak to me. Why?"

Matthew sighed. "There's been some big changes in the Dreaming recently. The boss is...different...Fiddler's Green is gone, things just aren't the same anymore. And my job was never intended to be a permanent one anyway. There were others before me, and they all moved on."

"And you are beginning to wonder if it's time for you to do the same."

Matthew nodded.

"But why did you want to talk to me about that? You don't even know me."

"Actually, I kinda do. I know everyone who dreams."

"So, why?"

"Look, Morpheus has this thing for lost causes. At least, the last one did, and I figure the new one's probably inherited that quality. I was a basket case when I met him the first time. I'd screwed up really badly. I mean, really badly. Not just my own life either. My wife's life, my kids...I pretty well screwed over the people I cared about most. Can't really sink lower than that, y'know?"

"Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, I guess you would. Anyway, Morpheus didn't care about any of that. Didn't patronize me, didn't scold me, didn't judge me. Just said, 'That is in the past, Matthew. I am asking you about your future.' And I figured, what have I got to lose? If I went with his sister, I'd end up running into my wife and kids, and there was no way in hell I was ready to face them. Not so soon after...well, anyway, I accepted his offer, and here I am. I like to think I've been able to do some good. He's a lonely guy, Morpheus, and I think having someone that he can always count on to be by his side helps. I dunno if I can ever make up for what I did when I was alive, but at least I've been trying. And Dream...he gave me a second chance." Matthew tilted his head and looked up at Itachi. "You seem like a guy who could use one of those."

Another bitter smile. "I most certainly could. Is that what you are offerring me, then?"

"It wouldn't be right away," Matthew said hastily. "I mean, someone's gotta help the new guy get his bearings. I can't just go off and leave before he figures everything out. But sooner or later...he'll need someone to take my place when I do leave. And you haven't got much time left, anyway, right? That fancy eye thing you do, it's wrecking your body."

"You saw that in my dreams as well?"

"Yeah. So, what do you say?"

Itachi tilted his head back and looked up at the sky for a long time. What was it Shikaku-sensei used to say? "I wish I could stare up at the clouds forever, but I know I can't. Sooner or later, I'll get called out to a mission and I can't be sure I'll come back. I might never get another chance to look up at the clouds. Everything has to end sometime...but maybe everything that dies can be reborn."

"Everything that lives must die," Itachi said. "But maybe everything that dies can be reborn. And perhaps...perhaps everyone deserves a second chance. Even me."

Matthew nodded. "I'll see you around, then. Uh...could you do that thing with the crows again? I need a way to get back."

Itachi formed a few seals, and a whirlwind of feathers surrounded him. When it disappeared, Itachi was alone.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"We're almost there. You okay, man? You had kind of a faraway look in your eyes. Or were you just trying to tune out Karin?"

"I HEARD THAT!"

Sasuke sighed. "Do you always have to set her off? For your information, I was recalling a dream I had last night."

"Oh? What kind of dream?"

"It was...strange. I was wandering, lost, through this dark landscape. Every so often, monsters would show up and attack me. But then this bird--a raven or crow, maybe, something big and black--flew down and sat on my shoulder. It told me what path to take, and warned me about the monsters so that they couldn't take me by surprise. It was like it was protecting me or something."

"Huh. Weird dream."

"Yeah, yeah it was." But somehow, Sasuke found himself hoping that he would have the same dream again the next night.

A/N: So, the Sandman character in this one isn't one of the Endless, but I hope you'll like the story anyway. AFAIK, Gaiman hasn't specified in canon what Matthew's life as a human was actually like, but I figured it probably wasn't a happy one. He briefly mentioned drunk driving during the arc where Dream and Delirium go looking for Destruction, so I was trying to imply that Matthew died in a car accident that also killed his wife and children.

I hope the little bit at the end came out well--I've never written any dialogue for Team Hebi/Taka before.

Oh, and "murder" is apparently the technical term for a flock of crows, hence the title. It seemed pretty fitting for a story about Itachi...