There are a couple of great new anime's out, if you're interested. "Yumeiro Patissiere" (Crunchyroll) is an evil anime about a girl who goes to a school to make cakes. There are lots of beautiful cakes on the show – which is why it's evil. You can't eat them. xD The other one is "Thriller Restaurant" (only on Torrent as far as I can tell) and has 3 ghost stories that revolve around the three main characters. I like ghost stories o.O

Edited: corrected several spelling errors

Thanks for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: Naruto is own by Kishimoto

Chapter 41 – An Unexpected Mission

Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but with the departure of Pein and Konan, the rains that had plagued Mist for the last few days also departed. Of course, the damp fogs that shrouded the village weren't much of an improvement, but at least they were familiar.

Preparations began the day after the wedding. Madara donned his Kage robes and called his council and the heads of the various clans to his office. The meeting was surprisingly short. The Mizukage had called for the clans to reveal themselves to the coming forces – to show the Daimyou once and for all what he was up against. And teach him why attacking a ninja village was not a good idea.

They agreed, of course. Very few people in Mist ever disagreed with Madara. Then again, it was something they had been wanting to do for a very long time. The Kage had laughed when the meeting was over and he was alone. The clans had been hiding their Kekkei Genkais for years. Living in fear they would be discovered and persecuted by the Daimyou's single-minded desire to wipe them all out. Now, they would show themselves. The dogs would finally be let off the leash.

Pulling off his hat he set it down on the floor next to him and glanced at the sliding door before calling out, "Come in, Itachi, Kisame."

The big man grinned as he entered and leaned against the wall near the door. "What are you up to now?"

Itachi followed a moment later, a grim expression on his face and his Sharingan locked firmly on man in front of him.

"Got a mission for you two.

"No problem. Samehada has been feeling a bit hungry lately."

Madara gave a short laugh, "This is right up your alley." He threw a scroll that Kisame caught easily. "Kill all the people on that list."

He opened the scroll and held it so that Itachi could read it also. Kisame looked through the scroll for a few minutes, then grinned, "The Daimyou, his council, his advisors and about fifteen other people. You are being thorough this time. If we had done it this way when I got the last Daimyou…"

"No need to say it, Kisame. I was being nice back then, but it didn't work. This country has fallen onto bad times and is dragging us down with it. This time, we do it right. You have seventy-two hours. I have Sasori, Kakuzu and his new partner… umm… I don't remember his name right now…"

Kisame laughed, "He won't be around much longer anyway, so don't bother."

"True. Kakuzu does have a problem with that. Anyway, I spoke with Deidara a few hours ago and sent him off to join them. The four of them are going to take care of the first and third battle divisions. Those two are the strongest and composed of many ninja and samurai. The Daimyou no doubt has them marching this way right now."

"So are you using Akatsuki for your own personal vendetta or is there an overriding point to this?" Itachi's quiet voice held a hint of annoyance as he crossed his arms across his chest and began to mentally run through various strategies for killing the large number of people on Madara's "shopping list".

Madara smiled, "We are getting rid of a man who could become one of Danzou's most powerful allies if he isn't stopped. The state of this country should give you a hint as to his greed. Any and all uprisings are dealt with immediately. If a rebel is tracked down to a certain village, that entire village is slaughtered and then burned to ground. You came here from the north, when you leave you will go south. On that road you will see three such villages. Look closely, Itachi, twenty-five thousand civilians were murdered."

"That…" Itachi had a flashback that was so vivid he wondered for a second if Madara had shot a Genjutsu at him. However, since that was impossible he knew it was nothing more than his own mind trying to grasp the decimation this country was going through.

The valley he had walked into as a young boy had been full of death. Once again he saw the corpses, smelled the decay, and felt the horror that had squeezed at his heart. And it was still squeezing, Itachi belatedly realized. It would never stop.

Madara continued, "A man with an army that efficient is certainly one to be reckoned with."

Kisame wasn't impressed, "So we kill this Daimyou, who takes his place? He has no heirs. The bastard killed his own son last year, if I remember right. And didn't his wife kill herself after that?"

"Yeah, you remember right." Madara added bitterly, "I have a Kunoichi here who will become the 'acting' Daimyou for a while. She is quite remarkable – she has two Kekkai Genkai."

Itachi wondered who he was talking about, then decided it was probably the blonde with the odd hairstyle – a folded over topknot - who had been at the wedding the day before. She had been flirting with about three other guys and picking fights with two others. Mikoto and Sheeta had been quite amused with the odd woman's antics. When he had looked at her with his Sharingan he had noticed that her chakra was rather unusual. The two blood limit inheritances would certainly explain that.

"Her?" Kisame sounded amused, "No one would dare give her any problems. Good choice."

"Plus it gets her out of the village. She's a pain in the ass, quite frankly. Asks too many questions. But she is very loyal, nonetheless. Anyway, you two should leave immediately."

"Yes." Kisame and Itachi responded as they turned around and left the room.

The downcast look on Sasuke's face when Itachi told him he was leaving for a few days and wouldn't see him again until it was time to return home made him feel very guilty. Once again his thoughts strayed unbidden to his own unborn child. How many times would he see that same expression before it tore his heart apart completely?

Or maybe he was just tired and over reacting. He hadn't been able to get much sleep, of course. Worrying about his brother, Danzou, Shisui, Sheeta… the list was too long and he knew that the longer he lived, the longer the list would get.

Itachi smiled and poked his little brother on the forehead, "Even if I'm not here, you know what you are supposed to do for your training. You can have Hinata help you with the Tai Jutsu, of course, but you're on your own with Genjutsu. Although mother might be willing to help with that, she's leaving tomorrow anyway."

"Okay. I'm meeting up with Hinata in a couple hours to train already. She said she's feeling lazy being here and needs a good workout to prepare for the trip back. I wish she was coming with us, though."

"Yeah, well, father feels a bit protective of her after what happened to her parents. Anyway, don't do any training with your Mangekyou Sharingan while I'm gone. You've already learned the basics and if there is an emergency you are more than equipped to deal with it so don't worry about it."

Sasuke's eyes opened wide with surprise, "But I want to get better!"

"You have seen how it weakens me when I use it. If there is an emergency and you are drained from training then it's not going to matter how good you are."

"But the Mist ninja are training hard and they will be fighting in a few days! How is that any different?" Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration, not understanding what his brother was trying to get across.

Itachi sighed, "Look closely at what they are doing. Actually, take Hinata with you. Both of you, watch their chakra and the type of jutsus they are doing. You will see that none of them are high level or chakra-draining. A good ninja goes on a mission with as much of his chakra intact as possible. What they are training for is tactics, speed, and running drills to stay in shape. Like I said, look closely."

Sasuke's shoulders drooped, "Okay. I'll see you when you get back, then."

Itachi turned around to leave, but was stopped when his brother placed a hand on his arm. Turning around he saw that Sasuke was staring at the ground and seemed a little embarrassed about something. "What's wrong?"

"Ummm… well… Shikamaru said that we shouldn't part ways with friends if we are mad at them. Or something like that. So… I'm sorry I was mad at you. I know there was nothing you could do to stop them…" Sasuke's voice disappeared and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

This was a surprise, and Itachi wasn't too sure what to do next. As far as he was concerned, he didn't deserve his brother's forgiveness. "He still misses Choji. Well, things like that… you never get over them. But he's right. Thank-you, Sasuke."

"But…" Sasuke clenched his teeth for a few seconds before continuing, "I can't bring myself to forgive dad. Even though… I guess…"

"Don't worry about it so much. He'll be around for a few more years. And after we teach him our little 'lesson'… well… we'll worry about the consequences then. Not now. And it's okay to be mad at him. Even if dies he knows that what he did to you was unforgiveable. You have nothing to apologize for."

The look of relief on his brother's face was a slightly uplifting and Itachi breathed a sigh of relief after exiting the room. However, a moment later the stress returned. He was about to assassinate a lot of people and not all of them were guilty. But if it save more lives, wasn't it justified? No it wasn't, Itachi decided.

He was mature enough to understand that the leader often wasn't the only person giving the orders, and he also realized that the underlings weren't always "just following orders" but enjoying them as well. However, the rest were either "toeing the line" to keep their jobs or if their leader was particularly despotic, to keep their heads. Was it really fair to lump everyone in the same category?

Itachi's thoughts turned to all the people who had been killed in the last few years, and all the Kekkei Genkai bearers who had been forced underground to protect themselves and their families. He wondered if that woman Madara had selected could really make any kind of a difference, or if she would just carry out some weird agenda of his, resulting in more deaths.

"You know, Itachi," Kisame was standing at the mansion's gate with his big sword strapped to his back and his cloak slung over one arm, "a famous man once said that the history of revolution is not to free the people from opression but to replace one dictator with another. Or something like that. Can't remember the exact wording. But I can say…" He paused and looked out at the village, still gripped in its usually mid-morning routine of shopping, sweeping sidewalks or running to errands. It was very normal-looking and most of the people appeared to be rather cheerful. "I can say, no matter what, I will never live in this country again."

'Time will tell.' Itachi thought to himself. 'Never' was a very strong word to use, after all.

"There it is, Kisame." Itachi's firm voice directed the tall man to look at the tall castle spread out over the valley before them. Situated on about ten acres it was a typical medieval style eastern castle with a tall central tower and smaller buildings snaking around it in a circular pattern. The early morning light cast a grayish glow over the horizon, even though the floor of the valley was still dark.

Kisame pulled off his kasa hat and ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on and mumbling, "Damn hat has a piece of bamboo sticking out of it. Keeps scratching my head."

"At least it keeps your head dry. This rain is awful."

"Pein is probably hanging around somewhere close, then. On the other hand, we are on an island and it is winter."

"True enough." Itachi pulled his arms through the sleeves of his Akatsuki cloak and wrapped them around his chest. "So what can we expect when we get inside?"

"The council meets in about four hours at the central meeting room. That is easy to find. It's in the government building, over there." He pointed to a long, three story building near the front gate. "The Daimyou rarely attends, opting to send a representative instead. He is also on the list, by the way."

"So the Daimyou?"

"He is usually inside the castle itself. Which, by the way, is very traditional, not just on the outside but on the inside as well."

Itachi sighed, "Meaning the hallways are arranged as a maze to confuse intruders."

"Exactly. However, I know how to navigate that maze, so if you don't mind, I'll do the honor of taking him out myself."

"I have a feeling I'd have trouble stopping you." Itachi gave a short laugh. "I'll get the council, then." He pulled open the list, "We need to divide up the rest of the people."

"I'll get this group." Kisame pointed to about fifteen people at the bottom. "They will be in the castle near the Daimyou. If I make enough noise they'll come running and I can get them all at the same time."

Shaking his head, Itachi snickered, "You are never quiet, Kisame. Anyway, since you are so familiar with the area, where will the last ones be?"

"Those guys…" He looked up from the list and glanced over the royal compound, deep in thought, "Might be at the council meeting… might be hanging about nearby if they weren't allowed in. They are basically lackeys who are hanging around waiting for one of their superiors to kick the bucket so they can take his place."

"You sure know a lot about the Water country government." Itachi knew it was prying, but Kisame's knowledge of the castle was, quite frankly, astounding.

"Yeah… well…" The big man looked as though he was about to say something, but instead shut his mouth and squatted down on the ground.

Itachi knew better than to ask again so he also kept his mouth shut and leaned back against a tall tree. Kisame's past was getting more and more mysterious and the urge to pry was almost overwhelming. But there were more important things to take care of right now.

"We have a four hour wait." Kisame finally said. "I wonder how the others are doing with those battalions? They should be attacking about now."

"Having fun, probably. I think Deidara missed Sasori."

"Yeah. Stupid artists." Kisame teased. "I'll never understand them if I live to be ninety. Which, by the way, won't happen."

Itachi smiled, "You never know."

"True! It would be my luck to live that long! Bad luck, that is!" He gave a loud laugh that reminded Itachi of a certain elderly Senju sailor who was still kicking around the docks of Water and Fire country. He wondered if he would have time to ask after him before they left the country.

"It took a day to get here, even at full speed." Itachi commented, "This place is pretty close to Mist."

"Yeah, that's always been a problem. Not sure why Madara put up with this for so long. If it were me I would have moved the village to the other side of the island. Unlike Fire, Mist has never had a good relationship with any of Water's Daimyous."

"Well, we're making up for that now." Itachi added bitterly.

Soon enough, Itachi found himself inside the Government building striding confidently down its halls under cover of a Genjutsu. It had been easy enough to gain entry. He had used another Genjutsu to convince the two guards that he was someone they knew and not to tell anyone they saw him.

Pulling out a kunai he glanced around at the various faces of the throngs of people milling about in the hallway. Most were civilians, there to conduct business or turn in paperwork. None of them were on his list so he continued on his way. Eventually he came to a set of double doors, and used the same Genjutsu he used on the first guards to pass through.

The hall he entered was more of a waiting room. Elaborately carved wooden benches lined the wall on both side and three black lacquered tables with elaborate floral arrangements sat in the middle. It was very gaudy and, Itachi thought, ugly.

At the end of the hall was another set of double doors. This set was round, painted red, and lined with gold paint. No doubt about it, beyond it lie the conference room and if the voices that escaped its confines were any indication, the council was in session. Which meant the people seated around him were probably the "lackeys" Kisame had mentioned.

He had already recognized a few and as he glanced around he saw the rest. Everyone was there. It was too easy.

Slipping off his glasses he pocketed them inside his cloak before pulling out a second kunai. Still hidden by his Genjutsu he made his way to the only exit – the doors he had entered through only moments earlier and crouched down.

Fifteen seconds there were only three people left. Standing up he gazed at the two men and one woman who were cringing in fear. They were so shell-shocked they hadn't even cried out. After all, to them it had looked like a blur had just materialized before them and wiped out their colleagues – then turned into a man.

Itachi raised his kunai again and had dropped into a crouch when one of the men dropped to ground and kowtowed, "Please don't kill me! My wife is pregnant! Who will take care of her? The Daimyou will call me a traitor for dying and banish her or…"

"Kill her?" Itachi's cold voice echoed ominously in the nearly empty hall. "And this is the man you keep in power. A man who would do this to your family? A man who placed you in this situation?"

"But you can let me go. All of us! We'll leave! We'll… leave Water country and never come back!"

The other two dropped to the ground as well, "Please spare us!"

Itachi knew he had the power of life or death over the three stragglers. His orders had been clear. But his conscious was screaming, as was the imagined child of the soon-to-be dead father. He knew the man was telling the truth. He was experienced enough with his Sharingan to see that. The other two were also being truthful. They were serious about leaving the country. But in an hour, would that still be the case?

Human beings had a habit of changing their minds, sometimes on a whim. However, Itachi had a way to ensure their intentions.

Dropping his Kunai he stood straight and pulled his kasa far enough up to reveal his red eyes. "Stand up. All of you."

They quickly stood up, but kept their eyes averted to show respect. All were trembling badly and had tears streaming down their faces.

"You have not called out for help. Why not?"

The first man spoke up in a shaky voice, "We… would be called traitors. And if we lived we would be executed anyway. And… it would be… he uses torture to execute his enemies. The Daimyou does."

"Look at me." Itachi said sternly. The stragglers looked cautiously at their would-be assasin and were instantly caught in a red and black world as his eyes morphed into a different, more ominous shape. "This world, I am its master. You can neither escape nor deny my bidding."

"What… what is this?" The woman was wringing her hands and breathing heavily. Itachi noticed that she was probably the same age as his mother, and even wore her hair the same – loose and down to the middle of her back.

"You will return to your homes, collect your families and a few treasured belongings, then leave the country. Upon arriving in Fire country you will settle down as merchants and live the rest of your days as such. You will change your names and never return to Water country. Should you attempt to interfere with my orders you will suffer debilitating migraines and if you actually ever step on the shores of Water country again your brain will explode. Is that understood?"

"Yes!" The trio spoke in unison.

Itachi broke the jutsu and resisted the urge to rub his aching eyes. He couldn't actually explode their brains, but the suggestion he had placed in their subconscious would produce the desired migraine. Or rather, the person would do it to themselves. Which meant, of course, that the suggestion could be overcome with enough willpower, but the chances that these three actually had that ability seemed slim.

"Go now. Don't tell anyone what you saw here. I can still find you if you do."

They immediately started running to the exit, "Thank-you!"

When they were out of sight Itachi finally rubbed a hand across his eyes and smiled. He wasn't sure that one good deed was enough to make up for all his sins, but it did make him feel a little better. Hopefully no one would ever find out that he had let them go.

Kisame didn't bother disguising himself as he made his way through the castle. If he saw someone, he knocked them out. It was simple. Too simple.

"The guards around this guy are incredibly weak." The big man mumbled to himself as he dropped another uniformed sentry to the ground. "He really has gone insane." For all intents and purposes, it looked like the Daimyou had decided that fifty incompetent guards were better than three or four good ones. There wasn't even any point to killing to them.

The maze took a good thirty minutes to navigate. It was straight-forward enough for Kisame, he knew it like the back of his hand, but the fact that it continually ran in circles and double-backed to the other end of the castle several times made it time-consuming. And using a transportation jutsu inside the building was out of the question. In order for that jutsu to work you needed to be reasonably sure that your destination would be "unoccupied". Materializing inside of a couch or even another person would kill you. The place was far too cluttered to take that kind of a risk.

Without even stopping Kisame kicked the double-doors open and swung his sword forward, crashing it down onto the floor. Long cracks spread out across the highly polished white marble. Scanning the room, he saw his target immediately.

A thin man, way too pale to be healthy, was reclining on a low couch in front of a table set with several sweet snacks. Kisame smirked. His partner would be salivating if he saw a spread like that.

"I've come for you, Your Highness." Kisame mocked. "Do you have any last words?"

"Who are you?" The Daimyou sputtered. Crumbs flew out of his mouth and Kisame could see that the man's shirt had several food stains.

"What do you mean 'who am I'? You know me! I killed your father!"

"Ummm…" The man sat up and scratched his head, "Don't think we ever found out who did that… or… I guess we did. I don't remember who it was. You could just be saying that."

Kisame blinked, shocked at the realization that the Daimyou truly didn't know who he was. He finally growled and lifted Samehada off the ground, pointing it at the man. "I am Kisame Hoshigake. The man who has come to take your life."

"You'll never make it past my guards!"

Kisame glanced behind him. The corridor was in full view – the doors had fallen off their hinges – and several unconscious guards were sprawled out on the floor. "Wow. I don't know whether you're and idiot or… I don't know what… But I think you will be the dumbest person I have ever killed."

"Humph." The man stood up confidently and yelled, "Guards! Kill this intruder!"

No one came.

He tried again, "If you aren't here in five seconds I'll have you flayed alive!"

Still, no one came.

"What was your name again?" The Daimyou had a confused expression on his face and Kisame dropped his sword again and stared. There was something seriously wrong with the man and it wasn't stupity. Obviously, it was a jutsu of some kind, designed to control the Daimyou's mind. However, because he had a good amount of chakra and a small amount of training on how to use it he was subconsciously fighting it. But it was a battle he was losing. Badly.

"Great." Kisame grumbled. "How many years has he been under Danzou's influence? I'm going to have to have Itachi take a look at him before I kill him." He was silent for a couple minutes when another, more menacing thought crossed his mind, 'What about the other Daimyous?'

Sighing, he pulled out a wireless radio and tapped it a couple times to let Itachi know he wanted to talk to him. Itachi's voice came through a minute later, "Are you finished?"

"Ran into a problem."

"What?"

"The Daimyou is under some kind of mind-control jutsu. I'm going to bring him outside so you can probe his mind and find out more about what's going on."

"I'll see you at the rendezvous point in a few minutes." The radio snapped off.

"Are we going for a walk?" The Daimyou was smiling cheerfully as he tipped his face up, letting the rain fall across it. "It's such good weather today. The sun is so warm. My wife and son should come join us. They've been cooped up for so long. I haven't seen them in days."

Both Itachi and Kisame felt a chill run up their spines at the man's words. Neither moved or made any attempt to interrupt the man who continued to ramble on about his son's first steps, first words, his wife's new kimono, her beautiful hair, how the three of them would have breakfast together every day… it was very creepy. Especially since the man was rumored to have killed his son and turned a blind eye to his wife's depression and eventual suicide.

Finally, Itachi took a deep breath and stepped forward, instantly catching the man's eye. He used a jutsu designed to ease the mind and make the subject talk without inhibition. In certain cases it could even override mind-control jutsus.

"What is your relationship with Danzou?" Itachi asked in a kind voice.

The Daimyou's face turned into an emotionless mask as he stood stock still and answered the question, "I hate him. I kicked him out when he came. Two, maybe three years ago. I haven't seen him since."

Itachi considered his words. The jutsu could have been placed back then and poor man wouldn't have known. It would allow him to be controlled without him realizing anything was wrong. "What… did your wife think of him?"

"She slapped him and told him she hated him. She was a kunoichi, you know, very talented. Good thing father's dead. He would never have approved of her."

That was a surprise and Itachi turned his head slightly when he heard Kisame fidgeting. The woman had obviously paid the ultimate price for insulting Danzou. He wondered if she had seen through his tricks and had tried to protect her family.

"That was when you kicked him out?" Itachi asked.

"Of course. Youko meant everything to me. I would… never…" His face fell, as if remembering something unpleasant.

"Have you ever seen anyone with eyes like mine?" The teen noticed how intently the thin, sickly looking man stared at him.

"Danzou had one eye like yours. An evil eye. Kekkei Genkai. The evil that threatens to lay my nation to waste and steal my family away from me."

"He stole it." The words were out before Itachi could stop them and he snapped his mouth shut after they had escaped.

"If it didn't exist, it wouldn't have been there for him to steal." The Daimyou's voice had gotten stronger.

Kisame had finally had enough, "Circular arguments are easily resolved by cutting the circle in half."

Itachi closed his eyes and stepped away from the Daimyou, "I think we've learned enough from him. I was almost feeling sorry for him, but he was already rotten to the core before Danzou got his hands on him."

"I'm glad you see it that way." Kisame raised Samehada and in one strike, reduced the once-powerful leader to a corpse. The sword had sucked out all his chakra, as well as dealt him a fatal blow.

"Is that everyone?" Itachi sighed.

"No. I need to go back inside and get the rest of the people on the list. It should only take an hour." Kisame took off at a run, leaving Itachi in the company of the dead Daimyou. Oddly enough, his corpse was smiling.

Itachi returned to Mist alone. Mission accomplished, Kisame had taken off on his own. It was late when he entered his bedroom. The last two weeks had been hard and because of that, this room he shared with Sheeta had taken on a slightly menacing feel.

Sheeta was sitting at the table reading a math book and working out problems. Her face was set in such concentration that she jumped in surprise when she saw Itachi enter.

"Still studying. You're going to ace that cryptology exam in the spring."

"That's the idea. Can't let you do all the work in this family, after all." She smiled as she stood up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I miss you when you're gone."

Itachi pulled her closer and planted a kiss on her forehead, "I'm back now."

"Forehead? You can do better than that." She teased.

"Hmm. Don't start something you can't finish." Itachi said seriously, referring to his girlfriend's refusal to allow him to do anything more than kiss her since she became pregnant. He pulled away and walked toward the adjoining room where the futons were.

"True." Sheeta wasn't one to be blackmailed.

"So why aren't you with Aya? We leave in the morning."

"Oh, we spent all day together. I actually only got back about… I guess forty-five minutes ago. It is almost midnight, you know. Did you want to go tell Sasuke you're back?"

"He'll figure it out in the morning. Right now I just want to sleep. I've been living on soldier pills for two days. Oh… did Fugaku and the others get off okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. They left yesterday, of course. Mikoto was upset about leaving you and Sasuke and me behind to fend for ourselves. I guess we'll just have to show up in Konoha alive so she can see how silly it is to worry about us."

"She's our mother. It's her job to worry." Itachi laughed.

Sheeta grinned widely, "I know. I'm teasing of course. My baby isn't even born yet and I worry constantly about her."

"Him."

She smirked, "What if it's both?"

"Hermaphrodite?"

"You idiot! Twins!" Sheeta was laughing.

"Oh. I guess. As long as they're both boys."

"You know, if you say things like that you curse yourself to be surrounded by girls."

Itachi shrugged, "I'll just dress them in pants and tell them their boys."

"Usually you accuse me of watching too much TV, but it sounds like you're the one who been doing it this time.

A few minutes later Itachi was freshly showered, wearing clean pajamas and resting comfortably in a clean futon. Drifting off to sleep he imagined a household of daughters, all of whom were clones of their mother. A laugh escaped his lips. "At least I would never be bored."

A cold moon shone down on the riverbank as Itachi walked along its shores. The sound of the gently lapping water as it hit the rocky bank was soothing and the teen found himself thinking of nothing in particular and he continued his midnight stroll.

Soon enough he came to a bend in the river where several small boulders had been deposited. There was a boy sitting on one. Alone, illuminated by the moon, his dark hair blew in the wind and his shoulders sagged. Moving closer, Itachi saw that the child had his back to him.

"What are you doing here?" He called out, suddenly worried. It was cold out and the boy wasn't wearing a jacket.

"I was waiting for you. You're mind is hard to talk to. I'm… glad you finally came."

"Do you get lonely?" Itachi realized it was Shisui who was sitting in front of him. "If you tell me how to clear my mind… I can come see you more often."

"I get lonely… but there is nothing you can do. It was my choice to be here… to walk along side you…"

"It was not!" Itachi yelled. "You were goaded into it! As far as I'm concerned, you were the first casualty of the coup, which was all completely planned out by Danzou!"

Shisui turned his head and stared over his shoulder at his friend. Itachi gasped when he saw the empty eye socket. "He took more than my life, Itachi. He… he took the one thing that could be used to kill you… to kill all of you."

"How? How could he have gotten it? Your… corpse… was never left alone."

"Until after I was buried. The village crematorium had broken. I had to be buried whole. Despite their Buddhist teachings my parents allowed it. Danzou was the one that sabotaged the crematorium. Then… a few hours after I was buried… he entered a tunnel underneath the graveyard and opened my coffin."

"He… took your body?" The thought of his friend laying in pieces outside of sacred ground was very disturbing.

"No… he put me back. He didn't want to arouse suspicion."

Itachi took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "Of course. But why didn't you tell me before?"

"Like I said, your mind is hard to talk to. Even staying this long… it's difficult. I couldn't tell you before, but once you learned the truth you started to open a path to me and tonight it finally reached me and I could say something."

"I'm sorry. I'm going to get him and I promise I'll retrieve your eye and return it to you."

"Itachi, I have a better idea."

"What?"

"You and I, we are like brothers. Therefore… you can use my eye. Transplant it."

That was certainly not what he expected to hear from Shisui and it made him cringe, "I can't do that. It would make me like Madara."

"Do it Itachi. I want to be closer to you. If you us my eye we can talk more often and your vision will be restored in that one eye and never again fade. As it is… you will go blind in four or five years."

Itachi wondered if he could really bring himself to implant his dead friends eye, especially after it had been in Danzou's head for so long. Itachi clenched his fists, "Can you talk to Danzou? Can you see his thoughts? I mean, hear them?"

"No. I do not have an emotional link to him. Nor is he an Uchiha. I keep trying… I know it would help you… but I fear it's impossible."

"Oh. It was worth a try. Thank-you, Shisui. I will consider your offer. But I also have to think of your parents feelings. If you don't mind, I would like to talk to them about this."

"Please do. And tell them…" The river suddenly disappeared, leaving Itachi in a cold, black world with no illumination, "that I miss them." His voice was fading, as if he was moving away, "And I miss Aya."

Their departure from the village was a tearful one. Aya, Sheeta, Nui, the twins and even Sasuke were wiping tears from their eyes. There was no knowing when – or god forbid – if they would ever see each other again. The world was changing and there a lot of battles ahead of them.

While the impending invasion by the Daimyou was no longer imminent, word had come back to the village that Fugaku's group had been attacked. Luckily, no one had been injured severely. They had interrogated a few of their attackers and discovered that there were more soldiers lying in wait along the road Itachi was planning to take, and taking the road Fugaku was passed down was out of the question since it was now blocked by even more soldiers. No matter what, the group was in for a hard time.

"Let's go." Itachi finally said. He glanced over at Madara. The man was saying his good-byes to the twins. Both toddlers had become very fond of him and were trying very hard to make him promise to visit them.

'I was like that when I was four.' Itachi thought to himself. Madara had seemed like the greatest adult in the world back then. Helpful, kind, and powerful, he was just what he had needed at that stage of his life. Toddlers needed an adult to guide them, Itachi decided. They wanted to be protected.

"Are you going to daydream all day, or are we really leaving?" Nui wrapped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed.

"Oh. Yeah." He slapped the ox on the rump and the wagon lurched forward. Glancing inside he saw that Sheeta and the twins were busy getting comfortable. Tama was already comfortable, having staked out his own spot a couple hours earlier – in the exact dead center of the wagon.

"I can hardly wait to get back and find out what Naruto's new jutsu is." Sasuke said a few minutes later. "But I don't want to show him mine."

"Good idea. Let's keep it a secret for now. I think for our plan to work, he'll have to be kept in the dark. You know how bad of an actor he is. Besides, after we get Orochimaru and Danzou, you'll never have to use it again."

"I really hope you're right."

'So do I.' Itachi thought to himself.

Next week, the group is attacked! Will they survive? Will they ever make it back to Konoha? Will Sheeta find that hairball Tama hid under her pillow? Only time will tell…

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