A Perception of Reality

by knightchaser

There is a belief that states for every action taken, the alternative action is played out in another dimension. In one reality Itachi succeeded in killing his clan, in another, he failed. This is the story of what happened when he failed.

4. Chapter 4 Safe Haven

Last week most of the Hyuuga main branch was killed, however Toshiro arrived in time to save Hinata and her sister. Sasuke, Sheeta and Nui escaped from the temple after it was bombed and met up and saved Naruto from a couple ninjas who were trying to kill him. After a fight (in which Sasuke attained his Sharingan) they made their way to the prison and discovered Itachi already ensconced in one of the cells.

Thanks for all the reviews.

To answer some questions: Ami was the apparent ringleader of a group of girls who were picking on Sakura during a flashback in episode 41. Ino saved her by throwing some flowers into Ami's mouth and then teasing her by saying they were poisonous. They are all the same age, so I assume Sasuke would have known Ami too.

About Naruto having been left unguarded by Danzou… the reason why was coming up in chpt 5, but because it was in a review asking why it happened I realized it would fit better in this chapter because it is a very important point after all.

Sorry about the long A/N, please enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: Pein still owns Naruto – Kishimoto sent Hinata in to regain rights but… sniff, sniff… Hinata!

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Chapter 4 – Safe Haven

"Itachi…"

The teen let out a muffled groan as his nose picked up the heavy scent of rain, wet clothes, and the sickly-sweet stench of blood. Opening his ebony eyes, he raised his head slightly to see what was going on. The tranquilizer had finally worn off, but he was still feeling a little fuzzy and "out of sorts".

"Sh….Sheeta." His voice was very faint.

"What happened Itachi?" Sasuke yelled as he grabbed a bar with his left hand. "Ow! What's wrong with the bars?"

"Chakra draining jutsu." Itachi replied hoarsely. He slowly sat up, sighing heavily. "Why are you here?"

"The temple was destroyed and we escaped then we found Naruto and then we were attacked and then we came here." Sasuke said, all in one breath. "Why are you here?"

"I… I'm sorry Sasuke. It's all my fault." He swayed a little and put his head in his hands to try and steady himself. His long black hair had come out of its tie while he had slept and fell forward over his shoulders. It was dull and flat instead of shiny and soft; stringy instead of full.

"Itachi lay down and rest, you look really sick." Sheeta said, worried. "And you two should lay down as well." She glanced at Sasuke and Nui. The sooner she could get them settled, the sooner she could talk to Itachi and find out what was going on.

"These cells are all open," Naruto opened the one to the right of Itachi's cell and waved Sasuke over. He helped him get his coat and the remains of his shirt off. Sasuke could no longer lift his right arm due to the pain and swelling. A huge bruise now covered the upper part of his chest and shoulder. He lay down on the narrow cot and Sheeta came over and washed his wound, covering him with a blanket. While the room did come equipped with a sink and paper towels, there was no medical kit. All she could do was rinse off the wound and cover it with the towels and a ripped up blanket. Not exactly hygienic, but perhaps it was better than nothing; or so she hoped. She then shooed Naruto into another cell and convinced him to lie down as well.

Nui was able to take care of herself, but Sheeta still insisted on checking to make sure she was okay. "I can't believe its only two-o-clock. This has to have been the longest day of my life." Nui said quietly.

"Lie down and try to sleep. You'll feel better later." Sheeta tried to smile, but it came out as a frown.

"We need medication. When someone comes in, wake me up. I can't believe there's no medical kit down here. I should be okay to work on Sasuke in a couple hours." Nui closed her eyes and fell asleep immediately. The loss of blood had taken its toll, draining her chakra and stamina.

Sheeta looked in on Sasuke once more and saw that he was now asleep as well. Naruto was lying on his cot staring at the ceiling and wiping tears out of his eyes. She covered him with a blanket before walking back over to Itachi's cell. She sat down a couple feet from the bars. "Do you… want to talk?"

Itachi was still sitting on his cot with his head in his hands. "Sasuke and Nui were injured." His voice was still quiet.

"Yes. And… Sasuke has his Sharingan now. He saved us."

Itachi gave a short laugh. "I am very proud of him. I always knew his potential was huge."

"Why are you here? Fugaku did this, it's very obvious." Sheeta pressed.

"I made a mistake. I fell under the influence of Danzou and he tricked me. I am here because Fugaku wanted to protect me." Itachi spoke the words he was sure his father would want him to say. He wasn't in a position to argue with him anyway, so it seemed like the best thing to do, at least for now. "It disturbs me that the temple was bombed. It doesn't make any sense."

"Did someone other than an Uchiha know there was a secret chamber there?" Sheeta asked.

Itachi suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. Right after he had joined ROOT the temple had been searched by ANBU because of rumors about a secret chamber that contained stolen scrolls. Itachi had spoken to Danzou and told him that the chamber existed but there were no scrolls in it. He had been the one to betray his family. It was his fault his brother and friends had almost been killed when it was bombed.

"Did… did everyone get out?" Itachi whispered, hoping beyond reason to hear an affirmative answer.

"No. Only us three got out, then it collapsed. At least, I don't think the others got out, anyway." Sheeta said sadly. "All the elders were in there, they risked their lives for us." She started to cry silently and buried her face in her knees.

"I'm sorry." Itachi whispered, "I'm so sorry."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The ANBU were proving to be a difficult opponent. Having disguised themselves as Uchihas by wearing armbands with the clan symbol, they moved in and out of the various neighborhoods killing civilians and shinobi alike without discrimination. It was a campaign to deface the Uchiha clan, to make the villagers turn on them so the ROOT commander could come in afterwards and "mop up".

However, Danzou's "master plan" was creating confusion as comrade turned on comrade, unsure over which side the other was on. As the hours wore on and more and more shinobi heard about the Hokage's disappearance tempers started to flair. No one seemed to know exactly what was going on and rumors ran rampant. The biggest one was that the ANBU had, for some reason, turned on the village and were killing everyone. While the Uchiha were still a target, and seen as the main instigators, ANBU slowly, but surely, became the primary scapegoat as more and more civilian casualties were discovered. Danzou's name wasn't connected to the rumor because very few people actually knew much about him. Even those who had met him and knew his position in ANBU weren't connecting him to the current hostilities. The man had been so low key that he was almost anonymous.

The big problem was that even though everyone was referring to "ANBU", the reality was that most of the ANBU were still loyal to Sarutobi and would never turn on their own village. However, if you knew or even suspected your neighbor or acquaintance was an ANBU and you ran into him on the street, how could you tell which side he was on? Some were attacking first and forgetting to ask questions later.

Reports were also coming in of groups of shinobi who were wandering the village and attacking other ninjas and kunoichis, ripping off their clothing to "see" if they had ANBU tattoos on their arms. Of course, having accomplished that, their next course of action rarely included a polite apology and a new outfit.

Having been a police chief for almost two decades, Fugaku wasn't surprised by the violence. Konoha had always had a high crime rate due to the extreme nature of the shinobi lifestyle. The fact that a few would take advantage of the situation to run amuck was something he had known would happen.

Civilians continued to be evacuated as groups who were previously turned back were found holed up in neighborhoods. Some civilians were so scared after seeing Konoha ninja attacking each other that they refused to be evacuated. A few even turned up at the front gate and begged to be allowed to leave. However, Fugaku saw the tunnels as safer and ordered his clan to evacuate them with the others. Who knew what kinds of traps Danzou had set in the woods? Even so, some civilians and shinobi did manage to escape the village. No one chased after them, though, as resources were already stretched thin.

About mid-afternoon Fugaku was called back to the Hokage tower. Arriving at the tall building he noted that the destruction from that morning was now ten times worse. Half of the buildings in the government district had collapsed and dead bodies were piled up in several locations.

"Lord Fugaku," Toshiro greeted him with a neutral expression, "these people would like to have a discussion with you concerning the current hostilities."

Fugaku nodded to indicate he had heard, then turned to face the men and women gathered. He picked out two members of the Hokage's staff, two women in their fifties named Tsukimi Ohta and Hako Kisaichi, as well as Kakashi Hatake who was standing protectively in front of them.

"Lord Fugaku," Tsukimi said calmly, "as far as we could gather Hako and I are all that remains of the government. I have heard rumors that Sarutobi has been kidnapped. What is the situation?"

"Humph. Let's go inside and talk."

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

The inside of the Hokage tower was uncharacteristically quiet and dark. The normally bright and cheerful ground floor reception area was usually full of people, even on Saturdays, running errands or checking up on missions. Electricity had been cut several hours earlier, and the dark, stormy weather rendered the interior nearly pitch-black.

They found their way to a conference room near the entrance that was usually used for meetings with civilians. Toshiro and five other Uchihas had followed them in, standing directly behind Fugaku as he selected a chair and sat down. Hako pulled a lantern out of a cabinet and lit it. The soft glow illuminated the twenty by forty foot room enough to allow everyone to see each other.

The two women were probably the closest thing to a government Konoha had at the moment. Both were members of the judicial branch and reported directly to the now-missing elders. That meant they were, as far as the chain of command went, in charge. Tsukimi and Hako were both a couple inches over five-feet tall, with black hair streaked with white. Tsukimi was wearing a plain dark yellow kimono while Hako was a little more practical with dark pants and a sweatshirt. Kakashi stood behind the two women and three other jounins stood behind him.

Fugaku began speaking. "Danzou struck sometime last night, grabbing the Hokage and spiriting him off somewhere. I spoke to his shadow clone this morning and he told me that after Konoha killed off all the Uchiha he would step in and place himself in the position of Hokage. In the meantime, his ANBU are running amuck in the village killing villagers and shinobi. They are also wearing armbands with the Uchiha symbol. The evacuation this morning was disrupted by ANBU who told the civilians to return home."

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes as they digested what Fugaku had just told them. The situation was becoming confusing for the Konoha ninjas. They didn't know who to attack and a few shinobi had even given up in frustration and gone into hiding.

"Are we sure these people are ANBU?" Hako asked.

"The chances are high. A few were recognized by acquaintances who knew they were in ANBU and we have been checking corpses for tattoos. Also, given that Danzou was in charge of ROOT and ANBU, it is a logical conclusion. However, it would be presumptuous to assume he didn't pull in followers from the Jounin and Chuunin squads." Fugaku explained. "The fact that no shinobi wearing a mask has been seen at all makes things more difficult. I realize that they are not allowed to wear them without official orders, and no orders have been given, but there were supposedly ANBU on duty at all times watching the village."

"The normal patrols were replaced late last night." Kakashi volunteered. "I was supposed to be on duty in the Northwest quadrant but I received orders via wireless to stand down around eleven o'clock last night and went home. I didn't see who, if anyone, replaced me. I guess he probably pulled back those whom he figured would not be loyal to him and replaced them with his own people."

Hako sighed. "I see no alternative. We must call a truce, albeit temporary, until the Hokage is found. I will not support Danzou under any circumstances if he insists on handling things this way. There is neither hide nor hair of the elders Koharu or Homura or even the rest of the council. I can only assume they are dead or with the Hokage, or perhaps still hiding." She paused and looked at the people seated around the table. "What are your thoughts?"

"To save the village, yeah, I agree." A Jounin in his thirties sighed, then closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, his next words were laced with poison, "Danzou. I remember him from when I was an ANBU ten years ago. Frankly, he was why I quit. Couldn't stand the blood-thirsty bastard."

Kakashi frowned. "I'm just tagging along here, but for whatever its worth, I think we should go along with what Hako said."

Tsukimi gave Fugaku a half smile, "Then we will notify the Hokage's shinobi to cooperate with Uchiha until the Hokage is located. This is temporary, you understand."

"Hmm. It's good enough for now." He paused. "Toshiro, tell the clan to withdraw back to their bases. Kakashi, in thirty minutes begin killing anyone who is wearing an Uchiha symbol. You are one of the premier assassins in Konoha so you should be able to get quite a few of them without any help."

"Yes. That should work." Kakashi nodded his head, "Once the ANBU realize they can no longer pass themselves off as Uchiha they will have to drop the impersonation. We noticed this morning that Uchiha were only attacking shinobi, so when they started attacking civilians a couple hours ago we became suspicious. It didn't make sense, until we realized they weren't really Uchihas."

"It's a temporary fix, at best, but it should reduce their number to an extent." Fugaku said sternly.

"Lord Fugaku, the clan has been notified and all are withdrawing. The Uchiha who are digging out the temple, however, request permission to continue." Toshiro responded.

"Go ahead and tell them to continue. It would be difficult for any impersonators to infiltrate while they are working in the compound." Fugaku frowned.

Kakashi and the other Jounin and Chuunin checked their watches and synchronized them at twelve minutes after two o'clock.

"You have two hours. At that time, four o'clock, all Konoha shinobi will gather at training ground fifteen for further orders." Fugaku named the largest field. "Now go and spread the word." The shinobi stood up and left the building.

Fugaku turned to the women, "You may stay here; it's probably safe."

"Maybe. But we will stay anyway." Tsukimi said quietly.

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Four o'clock came quickly and Fugaku found himself in a training field facing eight thousand ninjas. About one-hundred Uchihas and three hundred Hyuugas stood behind him. The rest were in the village doing the same thing Kakashi had been doing for the last two hours; only in reverse. They were killing any Konoha ninjas still left in the village on the assumption that they were working for Danzou.

Kaho and Tsukimi were standing off to one side, glaring daggers at Fugaku. They may have initiated the truce, but they had every intention of remaining loyal to Sarutobi. However, necessity required the two sides to combine forces, at least for a little while.

Fugaku looked out over the field and realized that they were short about four-thousand ninjas. Many were in the hospital with injuries or dead, but a lot of them were Danzou's ANBU. In fact, it was safe to assume that his ANBU were also among the group in front of him as well, still under-cover.

"Attention!" Fugaku spoke loudly into the group. They all quieted down. "As you no doubt have heard, the Third Hokage has gone missing, kidnapped by Danzou, who was the head of ANBU. Due to hostilities there has been no attempt to find him. Therefore it is in everyone's interest, no mater whose side you are on, to put down your weapons. Start cleaning up the mess, burying the dead and healing the injured. We can then begin a real, in depth search for the Third and Danzou."

Looking around in the late afternoon gloom he frowned as an image of Sasuke, Sheeta and Nui came to mind. "You also need to look for any civilians that have not evacuated and get them to the tunnels. They may also be trapped in collapsed or burned out buildings. Danzou's people hindered the evacuation, making it impossible for some people to reach safety." There was murmuring over this information and Fugaku patiently waited for it to die down. "Now, assemble in your command formations and Kaho and Tsukimi will give you your assignments. Stay here until six o'clock, at which time you may begin your assignments."

Fugaku walked towards the edge of the clearing as the gathered shinobi looked around the large crowd for their teams. The teams were members of larger formations that generally took similar assignments. Kaho and Tsukimi had been given a list of assignments according to each formation's specialty. Some would search buildings for survivors, others would gather and bury the dead, and others would collect and distribute supplies. There were about twenty different jobs that needed to be done. The search for the Hokage would be accomplished by the Uchiha and Hyuuga shinobi.

There was a lot of grumbling and cursing, not to mention hostility. However, the news that the Hokage was missing and civilians were in danger made most of them want to cooperate. Fugaku had no doubts that it was temporary, though, as he looked over the sea of faces in front of him. Turning hostility into loyalty would take a while. He walked into the coup knowing that and he fully expected that loyalty would be a long time in coming. In its place he would settle for compliance with his authority.

An hour later Fugaku's wireless receiver crackled to life when Kisa called him, "Lord Fugaku, Mikoto just reported that she found the children and they have Naruto Uzumaki with them. They are at the jail. I'm going over there now with some supplies, but I could use some help. Is Toshiro or someone else free? Also, is it okay if I put the other kids in with them?"

Fugaku looked over at Toshiro, who was speaking with a group of Hyuugas. Probably about Hiashi's death. He was still very upset and angry about it, as were most of the Hyuugas. "Yes, I'll send him over. It's probably better if the kids are all kept in one place so go ahead and take them over." He motioned for Toshiro to come over to him.

"What's up?" Toshiro asked.

"What I am about to tell you is to be kept a secret and I want you to pass that on to Kisa as well. Itachi is being restrained in the isolation cells at the jail. When the children escaped from the temple they made their way to the jail and are currently with him. I assume Sheeta was the one who let them in. I need you to go help Kisa take the girls and some supplies down to them."

"Thank God. I've been so worried." Toshiro gave Fugaku a small smile, although he was suddenly very curious about Itachi.

"Don't say anything to the kids about what is going on up here." Fugaku said quietly.

"No point worrying them." Toshiro replied calmly.

"I'm going to head directly over to the jail." Fugaku used a jutsu to disappear.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

"What? How… how did all of you get in here?" Mikoto walked into the isolation cells and stood gaping as not one but five sets of eyes stared up at her. Four more than she expected; and all looking just as surprised to see her as she was to see them. Before anyone could answer she grabbed a wireless transmitter from her pocket and switched it on.

"Kisa? The children are all at the jail. Tell the others to stop looking. Also, pass on to Fugaku that Naruto is in here too." Mikoto spoke hurriedly. "Also, get a food package put together, enough to last a week."

"Mother!" Sasuke called from his cot and waved his left hand. He tried to sit up but moving was still painful.

Mikoto hurried over and stared at the make-shift bandage over his chest. She picked the transmitter up and turned it back on, "Kisa? We also need a medical kit."

"What happened?" Mikoto knelt down next to Sasuke, but kept her eyes on Nui who was now leaning against the bars and holding onto her side.

"We were attacked, Sasuke saved us. He's… got a surprise for you." Nui gave a half-hearted smile. She was feeling shaky and ill, and she could feel the beginnings of a fever coming on. However, her chakra level had risen considerably during her short nap and everything considered, she was feeling a little better than she had been a few hours earlier.

"Sasuke?" Mikoto asked quietly.

The boy smiled as he activated his Sharingan. At that moment Fugaku walked into the room and stared curiously at the new arrivals.

"Fugaku! Come here!" Mikoto waved him over.

"Sasuke… you're injured…" He looked at the boy's eyes and paused, his own eyes opening wide in shock. A smile appeared and he gave a short chuckle. "That's my boy, Sasuke. It sounds like when all this is over you're going to have quite a story to tell."

"Yes father." Sasuke gave his father a big grin, but winced as a wave of pain throbbed through his shoulder. "Father? What happened to Auntie?"

Fugaku closed his eyes and frowned. "The temple is being excavated now. They have to go slow so it doesn't collapse any further. We'll let you know what we find."

"Oh." Sasuke sighed.

"Toshiro is bringing the girls here now, Mikoto. Might as well put them with the rest. This is probably the safest place in Konoha outside of the tunnels." Fugaku turned his attention to Naruto who was sitting off to the side being uncharacteristically quiet. "Why didn't you go the tunnels with the rest of the civilians?"

"I started to. The guy who checks up on me said to go to the tunnels, but he left to go fight and the mean lady next door told me told me to go back to my apartment. She said the kids would be evacuated later." Naruto frowned. "I… heard screaming and looked outside and this ninja was killing all the people in the street. Then he came up to get me. Then they showed up." He pointed at Sasuke, Nui and Sheeta.

"They… were Konoha ninjas?" Fugaku said quietly.

"Yeah." Naruto wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"This was outside your apartment?"

"Uh-huh."

Fugaku was silent for a minute. He had never liked the fact that Naruto was left to fend for himself with very little supervision. The boy was not well liked by most of the village and apparently even his caretaker had a chip on his shoulder.

"Unfortunate." Fugaku responded bitterly. The man should have taken the Naruto to the tunnels and then stayed with him. In fact, Fugaku had fully expected that Naruto would not be left unguarded and had not made plans to protect him. It was a dreadful oversight that he instantly regretted. Danzou had probably made the same oversight, since Fugaku couldn't imagine the ROOT commander harming the boy either. He made a mental note to make sure Naruto was placed in a real foster home when things settled down. He was too important to be left alone, and not just because he was jinchuuriki. Fugaku also had a lot of respect for the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's father, and had made a promise to protect the boy.

The door opened again and two small girls and a boy, followed by Toshiro and Kisa entered. Both Toshiro and Kisa were carrying boxes, which they set down on the floor. The girls hid behind Kisa when they saw the others in the room. The boy grabbed Toshiro's shirt and buried his face in his stomach. Toshiro lifted him up and the boy wrapped his arms and legs tightly around the man's neck and stomach and hid his face.

"An extra, huh?" Fugaku asked, amused.

"The patrol in the Hokage tower found him this morning hiding under a bed. He's being stubborn and won't tell us his name, but I'm pretty sure this is Konohamaru." Toshiro said as he walked over to where Fugaku was still standing next to Sasuke. "He did say the ninja guard told him to hide and someone would come by for him later."

"I bet that 'someone' was probably up to no good, too." Fugaku explained. He turned his attention to the two girls who were following Kisa as she walked down the aisle. "Hinata, Hanabi, stay here with the other children. No one is going to hurt you here."

"Yes Lord Fugaku." Hinata whispered. Her face was pale and streaked with tears and her eyes were bloodshot and swollen. There was a big bruise on one side of her face and she was limping and holding on to her bandaged right arm.

Sheeta stepped forward and with Kisa's help started to fix up a cell for the two girls to stay in. Toshiro extracted Konohamaru from his neck and passed him to Naruto who carried him to another empty cell, talking cheerfully about ramen.

Fugaku and Toshiro exited Sasuke's cell and stood outside of Itachi's. The whole time the teenager had been sitting quietly with his legs drawn up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He couldn't bring himself to look at his family. Toshiro stared in at him, noting the chakra limiting bracelets and bars.

"Danzou." Fugaku said bitterly.

"No wonder you kept pushing the council off." Toshiro sounded exhausted. "Itachi?"

Itachi lifted his head slowly and looked into the eyes of Shisui's father.

Toshiro spoke in a low voice that only those nearby could hear. "Did you kill Shisui?"

"No!" Itachi said a little louder than he intended. Everyone looked over at him then went back to what they were doing. He spoke again, this time keeping his voice low, "He killed himself. I didn't want him to. I… I didn't know what to do…" He buried his face in his knees again, "Please believe me."

Toshiro gave Itachi a tired smile, "I believe you. Forgive me for asking. Danzou's treachery goes deeper than anyone ever suspected. As it turns out, you weren't his only pawn, Itachi."

Fugaku performed a jutsu and the soft white glow that had covered the bars dissipated. He then opened the cell and pocketed the key. "You are free to move about, but don't leave the isolation block. I'm also going to leave the chakra limiting bracelets on for a little while longer. Until all this is over and I am sure you are once again in your right mind I will consider removing them. For now, help look after the children. Understand?"

Itachi lifted his head and stood up, then sank down to the ground and touched his forehead to the ground. "I thank-you for your leniency. It is more than I deserve. I will guard them with my life." He stood up and kept his eyes on the ground, then swayed a little as a wave of dizziness overtook him. He sat back down on his bunk.

"Mikoto? I'm done here, perhaps you could get Nui to look at him. I think he may be more than just tired." Fugaku turned around and headed back toward the door.

"There are some more boxes upstairs; do you have time to help me bring them down?" Toshiro asked.

"Sure. We need to keep the fact that the kids are down here a secret though, until we have the village completely secured." Fugaku answered as they walked through the door.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Before looking at Itachi, Nui worked on Sasuke and Hinata. She was able to lessen the swelling and close up the rest of the wound. The boy was feeling better and wanted to get up, but she pushed him down and told him to get some sleep. Nui was feeling bad about having waited so long to heal him, but the loss of blood had affected her more than she imagined and controlling her chakra had been difficult for a while.

Hinata, it turned out, was badly bruised and her arm had a hairline fracture. She healed the fracture and formed a sling out of a sheet to keep her from over-using it. She then used chakra to lessen the pain in the bruises. Hanabi, Hinata's three-year-old sister refused to leave her side. Both girls had tears coming out of their eyes and were very skittish.

"What's wrong with the girls?" Nui asked Mikoto when she came over to see how they were doing.

"The side branch attacked and killed most of the main branch members of the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi was badly injured, his wife already dead, and a couple men were kicking Hinata. Toshiro walked in on them and stopped the attack. He then promised Hiashi to care for his daughters and make sure Hinata took her rightful place as clan chief. He died a few minutes later." Mikoto's voice trailed off.

"It didn't bother him that the rescuer was the one that created the havoc?" Nui asked quietly.

"I guess, at that point, it didn't. All he wanted was his children to be safe." Mikoto said sadly.

"I think I can understand that." Nui replied. "I guess Kisa and Toshiro now have a houseful of children. That should make them happy."

Mikoto sighed, "Yeah, it probably will. Although I imagine Hinata and Hanabi will be pretty traumatized by all this. It will be difficult." The girls looked up at Mikoto as she spoke, but didn't react. "Well, Hinata, why don't you help us do some interior decorating? I'll be right back, I'm going to go upstairs to retrieve some sheets from the main jail area and then we can build some 'walls' for privacy."

Nui stood up and walked over to Itachi. "Your turn. Now take off your shirt, turn your head and cough. I'll be with you in a minute after I stick my stethoscope in some ice water."

One side of Itachi's mouth moved upward then returned to its previous frown.

Nui smirked. "Well that was almost a smile." She applied chakra to her hands and moved them slowly over Itachi's body. "It seems you're going to live. You have a severe vitamin deficiency including an iron deficiency. Ever hear of something called rickets? It's a bad thing, Itachi, and if you don't start taking vitamins and eating better its only one of the many disfiguring and crippling diseases you can come down with."

"You have such a good bedside demeanor." Itachi replied calmly.

"Humph. Well, if it gets you start taking better care of yourself then I won't apologize." She smiled and then put her mouth next to Itachi's ear and whispered, "This can also speed up the onset of your disease and make it difficult for your body to respond to treatment. If you die and make Sheeta sad I'll dig up your body, bring you back to life and kill you myself. Slowly and painfully." She sat back up and laughed, "I'll write out a list of things for Mikoto to pick up and we can start your treatment right away. You are also very underweight and suffering the effects of extreme stress. I think we could sum this up with one word – 'malnutrition'. This means you are very susceptible to viruses right now, although for some reason you haven't caught one…" The sound of a little boy coughing and sneezing was heard, "yet."

Itachi was a little taken aback at Nui's admission. He had to admit the teenager was very perceptive. He didn't think she had known he had inherited the lung ailment that killed her older brother a few years earlier. It usually didn't manifest until the mid- to late-teens and would cause simple colds to turn into pneumonia or bronchitis if not treated. Fumitake had died in his early twenties, but he had not received treatment until he was nineteen, four years after the onset of symptoms. Dr. Yakushi had assured Itachi that if he started treatment when the disease started to show itself he could either cure it, or at least lessen the symptoms enough to allow him to live a near normal life for another twenty or thirty years.

"Have you ever considered a career in blackmail?" Itachi asked quietly.

"Strange, but you aren't the first person to ask me that." Nui stood up carefully so as to not jar the wound in her side, gave a short laugh and walked away.

It took a couple hours, but in the end a "girls" area and a "boys" area were fashioned using sheets to provide a small measure of privacy. Also a small make-shift kitchen was put together using a plug-in double burner, a rice cooker and a folding table; all confiscated form the break room upstairs. The foodstuffs were sorted and bottled water was provided in case the water tap was shut off. The police station itself was running on a generator that provided light and power to three outlets. When the two older women left, the children were set up to spend the next week on their own with no outside intervention if necessary.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Time passed slowly and eventually Itachi found himself awake in the early morning hours listening to the various sounds of sleeping children. He welcomed the noise, as little as it was, over the unbearable quiet that had presided mere hours ago. He moved the hanging sheet a little bit so he could see Sheeta, who was sitting at the table reading one of the books Mikoto had left in his cell. The book was flat on the table, held open with a second book placed at the top. Her black hair was pulled back in a bun and her chin was resting in her hands. She looked sleepy, but the far away look in her eyes told him that sleep was not something she would be falling into with any ease in the near future. She had offered to stay up and keep watch. While the chances of being discovered were slim, no one felt safe enough to leave the only door unguarded.

Itachi quickly discovered, though, that he wished he was still alone. Being this close to the people he had planned on killing was… what? He wasn't sure what, exactly, he was feeling. Was it guilt because he had failed or because he had looked into the eyes of the people he was planning to kill? Or perhaps it was heartbreak because he knew thousands of innocent people were dying in the coup? Maybe it was relief because his father had stopped him? Really, it was all of that. He cycled through one emotion to the next, without really understanding what he was feeling. The pain was too fresh, or perhaps too close to his heart.

As he lay awake on his cot staring at the bright white ceiling he thought back to his earlier discussion with his father and Toshiro. Inexplicably, he had felt like a little kid when the two powerful ninja were standing outside the bars speaking to him. He wasn't sure why… perhaps the after-effects of the tranquilizer or the chakra-suppressing bracelets were affecting his thinking. And he had actually thanked his father for his leniency. What in the world had possessed him to do that? And then the clan lord had opened his cell; allowing him to mingle with the people he had planned on killing not twenty-four hours earlier.

Sighing, Itachi rolled over onto his side and stared at the white sheets that had been hung up over the bars to partition the cells off from each other. He wondered if Fugaku had told the rest of the clan what he had planned on doing. How would they handle it? Was he going to be executed when it was safe for the children to leave the prison? Or would they chalk it up to "misguidance" and give him a second chance?

'I have to live. Even if I have to run away. Madara's plans… I have to stop him.' Itachi's mind moved into overdrive as he considered his options. 'If I support father, then perhaps we can train Konoha to fight Akatsuki.' But the issue about what he would do about his own membership in the criminal organization came into question. Pein would certainly accuse him of being a traitor if he supported his father. Then again, Madara had to know that he had been passing Akatsuki secrets to Fugaku. But… did Pein know? The man was an enigma he needed to investigate. Madara had chosen him to lead Akatsuki, therefore he must be powerful. Perhaps close to or surpassing Madara himself. Which meant Itachi couldn't take him on. At least not right now. He couldn't afford to have both Pein and Madara mad at him, not if he was going to live long enough to help Konoha.

'And the Cloud Kage said he would support me if I became Hokage… I wonder if that would carry over to Fugaku. He did say he wanted someone other than Sarutobi leading Konoha.' A few months earlier Itachi had run into the Raikage during a mission in Lightening country. They had sparred, but the powerful ninja had apparently set the incident up to have a discussion with him.

The Raikage dropped his voice and Itachi looked intently at the man. "My intelligence says you are to be named the next Hokage."

Itachi fought hard not to react, but the Raikage noticed and gave a short laugh.

"I would not mind forming an alliance with you at helm. Anyone but the Senju or Hyuuga. So, what do you think, would you reciprocate?"

Itachi was struck with the man's apparent honesty and openness. He wasn't treating him like a kid, but an equal. But how was he to answer the question? He had been told by Danzou that he was Hokage material, but he had taken it as nothing more than a compliment. However, it was possible The Raikage was digging for information about the Uchiha coup. Although, if that was the case why would he mention Itachi's name and not Fugaku's?

"I am not aware of such an honor, but alliances are much better than war and I would be grateful to form as many as possible." Itachi hoped his statement wasn't too generic and would satisfy the Raikage. He was curious, though, about the current alliance that he thought existed between Cloud and Konoha. Did the Hokage lie, and there was no alliance? Or perhaps the alliance was on paper only and the Raikage wished to have a true peaceful relationship with his enemies?

"Glad to hear it, Itachi. You five better get moving it's a long trek to the border." He smiled.

Itachi stood up and looked the man in the eye again, sizing him up. 'He really thinks I'm going to be the next Hokage. That's what all this was about. Did he know my team would be sent out after the rogues? Was this meeting a set-up?' Itachi's thoughts were full of questions, but instead of asking them he thanked the Raikage for the sparring session and returned to his team. Twenty hours later they crossed the border into Fire country.

'Maybe… maybe they could also be used against Akatsuki.' Itachi ground his teeth together in frustration. Even though his initial plans had failed, this one was sure to succeed. It had to. This time, failure wouldn't result in the deaths of a few tens of thousands, but millions of people and entire nations.

"Shisui… things sure didn't turn out the way we planned. I wish you were here." Itachi whispered as he pushed a tranquilizer into his mouth and closed his eyes. Before he could do anything, he had to recover his health.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Next week, Danzou does the unthinkable and Konoha realizes that safety doesn't always come in numbers.

The conversation between the Raikage and Itachi was in Chpt 59 of "Itachi the Early Years".

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