Thanks for all the reviews and favs!

Now that I think about it, in the manga, it does look like Madara is letting Sasuke fight Danzou to be "nice". Can't wait to find out why exactly he needs Sasuke. It has something to do with his plan. I mean, if it's just so he can recreate his failed battle with the First and watch Sasuke fight Naruto I'm going to be a little disappointed. But, it was quite a coincidence with this weeks anime – Sasuke hyperventilates and passes out when he learns the truth about Itachi, and in the Manga Naruto hyperventilates and passes out when he thinks about Sakura and Sasuke. They are a lot alike, despite their attempt to be different from each other, xD I'm probably the only one, but I thought it was kind of cute. o.O

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by the guy who owns him.

Chapter 46 – Written in Blood

"He did what?" Aya grabbed one of the armless sleeves hanging from the black and white man's cloak and pulled on it in a useless attempt to negate the words he had just uttered.

Chuckling came from behind her and she released the sleeve as she turned to stare in shock at her husband. A couple minutes later he wiped a tear from one eye and grinned at the pair. "Boy's got guts, I'll give him that. I had a feeling Itachi would find a way to turn the tables on his father."

White Zetsu seemed concerned, "The boy was quite upset. He was crying."

Black Zetsu laughed mirthlessly, "Wouldn't it be funny if our plans fell through because Orochimaru killed him?"

Aya put her hands together and pleaded desperately, "Madara! You have to go after him! There's no way Sasuke could stand up to Orochimaru! I don't want to loose him!"

Madara bent down slightly and looked her directly in the eyes as he spoke in a kind voice, "Aya, nothing is going to happen to Sasuke. Orochimaru needs him alive and well. Besides, Itachi is no doubt getting ready to go after right as we speak."

"But how can you be so sure of that? Sure, he has Mangekyou Sharingan now, but he can't possibly have learned enough from Itachi yet to protect himself from Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru needs Sasuke's body for an immortality jutsu. He moves his soul from body to body and he can only do it every two or three years. He just did a transfer a few weeks ago. That is why I'm not too worried about Sasuke."

"So…" Aya calmed down slightly as she considered his words.

"So there's nothing for you to worry about either."

"I always worry." Aya countered petulantly. Madara's laid back attitude towards danger seemed to go against every survival instant the woman had, and for the hundredth time she wondered how he had managed to live so long.

Madara sighed and looked at Zetsu who was standing very still and staring straight ahead, as if ignoring the conversation. Of course, there was every possibility that he was retrieving information from the various shoots and vines he had wrapped around the area, looking for trouble.

Things had turned rather nasty after the Daimyou had been killed and even though a substitute had been placed in his seat, several of the man's allies had disagreed with the situation and Water country was now in the beginning phases of a civil war.

To make things worse, some of the former Daimyou's troops had decided that following orders was too much trouble and raiding small villages and deliverymen was much more to their liking. Travel inside the small country had come to a standstill after the first week as news of the raiders spread and concern grew that some of the more remote communities would soon run out of food if things continued.

It was rather suspicious how quickly and efficiently these small groups had been able to turn outlaw. While they were already armed and trained for battle, and had no trouble intimidating civilians, the ease at which they traded lawfulness for lawlessness made a lot of people, including Madara, think that perhaps they were following orders. Perhaps Danzou had designed the resulting chaos in case the Daimyou betrayed him.

Madara shook his head and sighed. He literally had better things to do than chase after a wayward child who was probably not even in any real danger. However, he had to keep Aya happy. Or rather, he wanted to keep her happy.

"Zetsu, what exactly were the circumstances that lead to Sasuke's running away?"

Black Zetsu answered, "Well, I can't get very close to Konoha because of their jutsu shield, but what I can gather from the gossip of those coming and going, he got in an argument with the clan elders."

White Zetsu countered, "They must be very disagreeable people to treat a child that way."

"Hmm. And where was Itachi during this? Wasn't he at the meeting?"

White Zetsu continued, "Ah. Now this isn't gossip. He became sick on the way back and was hospitalized. This time he almost died. Tsunade did something to save him, but if she wasn't there he…"

"Shit." This completely ruined his mood and he threw himself down onto the couch and pounded his fist a couple times against the wooden arm. He glanced at the window directly across from him and growled under his breath. The winter sun was very low on the horizon and invading the small office. Closing his eyes against the bright light he considered his options. "Has he recovered?"

Black Zetsu answered, "Yes, but that is all we know right now. We don't even know if he's out of the hospital, but we'll let you know when we find out more."

"I'll get in contact with Pein and have him send Kisame and Deidara to Konoha. Itachi is going to move against Orochimaru. I have absolutely no doubt about that. But if he is too sick to carry through with whatever plan he has Sasuke could end up getting killed in the crossfire. Also, when it comes right down to it… I suspect Orochimaru would rather have Itachi's body that Sasuke's. Even if he is sick."

Aya was suddenly filled with dread, "In which case…"

"Sasuke would become expendable."

The wind blew in through the cracks in the temple doors, down the opening in the floor and into the underground chamber where shadows flitted about in a macabre dance, swaying to and fro, up and down, filling the dark corning with light and then taking it away just as quickly. The flames of the torches sputtered and crackled with each new gust; that, and the rolling of paper around aged scrolls were the only sounds to be heard in the subterranean room.

Near the altar, at one end of the room Itachi sat motionless on a floor cushion engrossed in his reading. It was cold and at one point the teen had returned the scrolls to their hiding place in order to retrieve a blanket from one of the monks. They also gave him a thermos of hot tea and a portable oil heater. It had helped, and he returned to his studies. His chakra was still a little low from his illness and using it to heat his body would have tired him out too much.

As he continued to read he found that the secret compartment had held about twenty scrolls and after only four hours he sealed the compartment up and stared off into the dark recesses in front of him. The scrolls had been much more than he had dared imagine. "I can't believe such a thing exists." He said to himself.

"Lord Itachi?" A voice echoed down the stairs as the old priest called down to him, "The monks and I are getting ready to have dinner, would you like to join us?"

"No thank-you." Itachi called up, "I'm finished here. I'll be leaving soon."

The man walked away and Itachi shook his head to clear it as he stood up. The scrolls had been a chronicle, written by the chiefs, of the entire history of the clan from the time of Rikudou Sennin. The Rinnegan user's eldest son had been the first Sharingan user and his youngest son the first Senju. It was a shock and contradicted everything he had ever been told. They weren't descended from the Byakugan at all. That was a lie invented several generations later to hide the truth of the Rinnegan – Sharingan connection from the rest of the ninja world. It was, perhaps, one of the best cover-ups Itachi had ever seen.

Through the generations, without fail, each clan chief wrote out a short history of his or her era and the continued fight for supremacy over the Senju. But there was one similarity: life back then had been a constant battle that directly contradicted the deathbed wishes of their forefather. Yet none of the chiefs ever saw it that way. They never even questioned their actions. Nor did the Senju. For a thousand years, both sides fought each other and other clans, living the life of a Shinobi and all the blood and suffering it entailed.

Then came Madara. His great-grandfather's description of his birth was ominous. A cold, winter day, a storm, and a baby who, as he lain for the first time in the arms of his sixteen-year-old father, wasn't afraid of thunder and lightening but seemed to delight in it, gazing upward as the sharp, brilliantly white bolts shot up to the heavens as if daring the gods to come down and get him.

And the most chilling thing about the account was the man's last entry, written mere hours before his death, "When Madara was born, I had an uncontrollable desire to throw him in the river. I have never felt that way before. Even in the midst of battle I never forgot the mission and would leave if the situation required. Why did I feel that way? Why do I continue to regret not having done it? This is the child of my precious grandson. I have tried to compensate for my feelings by showering the child with gifts and trying to include him in the family. Despite being a bastard, he is still my family. But today. Today I learned the full extent of his powers. He is five years old. He was attacked by his grandfather and in the process of defending himself and his uncle, he nearly killed him. He would have killed him if the healers hadn't gotten to him so quickly. His Sharingan has awakened, all three tomoes showed themselves clearly. This has never been seen before in one so young. And now I wonder if this foreshadows the rebirth of the Rinnegan back into the world. But my time is come and my heart is failing me. My final request is that my son, who will pick up my mantel of leadership, search for the Rinnegan and kill whoever carries it for the simple reason that I cannot bring myself to ask that Madara be killed."

"It was one or the other." Itachi said to himself. "If both existed at the same time… the writings of the Rikudou Sennin could be read and the world thrown into war." He had continued reading, but while the next clan chief, Madara's father, did make a cursory search for a Rinnegan, he ran into problems of his own when he was killed a few years later. Madara was able to seize control of the clan at that time through his brother. Izuna had refused the position, opting to give it to his older brother instead. The council, knowing Madara's achievements, had been more than eager to go along with it.

And what did the next chief of the Uchiha clan write in his entry? The ink was black, but Itachi swore, as he continued to read, that it had turned red and he had even stopped a couple times to check. Battle and bloodshed was all he lived for. And after the deaths of his young children, it got twice as bad.

Then the Senju came into his life. Well, nothing he read about that conflict was any different from what he already knew. The founding of the village and Madara's eventual defection were well documented. His last words weren't even very dramatic, given the man's reputation. He had simply turned over governance to his uncle and left.

It had been interesting, reading the history of one's family had been like reading an adventure novel. There had been good leaders as well as bad ones. Some had died quite young, while others, like Madara's great-grandfather, had died quite old. The amount of information they shared varied widely as well. Most wrote yearly summaries of a few paragraphs, while some wrote histories the size of books. Of course, there was no way to read everything, so he had to pick and choose which ones. However, he found himself fascinated by the words of his own grandfather, a man who had gone insane and become a serial killer. Before his execution he had been allowed to write one last entry, and it had been short, "Remember your promise Fugaku."

Kentaro had been the next to document the history of the Uchiha. As Fugaku's guardian he had filled in as clan leader until the boy became old enough to take the position himself. His entries were rather generic, and consisted of reports of his young charge's progress in the ninja arts as well as the goings-on of the clan. Finally, upon reading Fugaku's entry he had learned what the promise was. To not have any children, "…because the experiment had failed. I do not know what experiment he was talking about and he was probably just rambling, as he had just killed my mother and was threatening to kill me."

It was chilling, and Itachi thought back to his own plans to wipe out the clan. His father had already gone through one betrayal, what had it been like to see his own son betray him as well? As it turned out, he had blamed himself instead of Itachi. Or so he had written. Of course, he had also layered a generous portion of guilt upon Madara, and later Danzou.

"I'm not guiltless, father." Itachi complained out loud, "Quit putting me on a pedestal."

But none of it was quite as shocking as the words written by the founder of the clan, in the very first scroll. Rikudou Sennin's own son.

The altar that was sitting in a position of prominence in the underground chamber had been created by that man after splitting the eleven-tailed beast into ten tails and disposing of him by throwing him into the sky and creating the moon. The chakra he had split became the tailed beasts of legend and reality.

Activating his Sharingan Itachi could clearly see the writing that described the event written across one side. He had known that was there for years, but, like everyone else, had only half believed it. The writing was considered nothing more than a decoration by most of the clan. A fairy tale to be told to children before they went to bed. Activating his Mangekyou Sharingan he looked again at the altar and was surprised to see more writing.

"It's true." He spoke into the empty room and the dancing shadows responded by flitting about even faster as a particularly strong wind blew down the stairs and disturbed the torches. Itachi looked behind him, up the stairs, half expecting to see the found of the clan standing there. It made him shudder and he pushed his hands into his pockets for warmth.

He tried to see if he could read anything else, but there was nothing. The only man who could read the final writing was currently in his father's study. Only the Rinnegan could finish the puzzle. The Mangekyou Sharingan and regular Sharingan were needed to read the first to sections. The Byakugan could read nothing. Nor could the handful of other eye jutsus that existed in the world.

A cold feeling of dread settled over the teen as he realized the altar was nothing more than a set of instructions for bringing together the tailed beasts for the purpose of controlling the eleventh tail. Madara's plan suddenly became clear.

But there was another problem. How much of this did Danzou know, or even guess at? Was it possible that he had ordered the demise of the Uchiha clan because he knew he wouldn't be able to kill the Rinnegan user? Itachi deduced that the Root commander probably knew Pein existed back then, maybe a lot longer than that. Pein was a little younger than his father, after all, and Danzou had connections to Rain country through its former ruler. If Pein had been careless in his youth, he would have stood out like a sore thumb.

So Madara, at some time in the past, had befriended Pein. He had linked Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan together to create the most powerful force the world had seen in a thousand years. No doubt, after he had become clan chief and read the words of his great-grandfather and his father, he would have had reason to suspect the Rinnegan had been reborn into the world. But how had he gotten Pein to side with him? What had he promised the man? It was obvious now, or at least strongly implied, that the figurehead of Akatsuki, the red-headed, pierced ninja who stood before the worlds most powerful terrorist organization as it's pretend leader was just as much a pawn as Itachi was.

But there was still one problem. Deducing the plan was one thing, but figuring out what the two men were going to do with it was quite another.

Rule the world? It sounded silly and, quite frankly, neither Pein nor Madara seemed inclined to be bothered with that much responsibility. Although he decided he could be wrong about that. After all, Pein was the ruler of Rain country, even if he did keep his identity a secret from his citizens. But what other reason was there, though? What could that much power be used for?

Itachi put out the torches and made his way back out into the storm. It was dark, and all hopes of shopping were now thrown out the window. Not only would the stores be closing soon, but when all was said and done, all he wanted to do now was get the list of elders completed for his father, eat dinner, and go to bed. It had been a long day. Unfortunately, it wasn't over yet.

"You understand the link between Mangekyou Sharingan and the Rinnegan." It was a statement and not a question. The red-haired man sat cross legged on the thin mat gazing intently at the Uchiha sitting in front of him.

"Of course."

"And Itachi?"

"You can't guess?"

"I am not psychic." The man wasn't even fazed by Fugaku's jab and continued to watch him closely.

"He is learning right now."

"Ah. I see."

Silence followed, and Pein closed his eyes and concentrated on the rain which was still falling rather heavily throughout the village. The wind had died down somewhat and the simple shoji doors separating the room from the walkway outside had stopped rattling. The only noise now was the kerosene heater that was clicking and humming as it attempted to ward off the winter chill.

"Madara concerns me." Pein finally opened his eyes and as he spoke his words were not only assertive, but delivered in such a way as to leave anyone listening no doubt as to his assertions. "We made our agreement many years ago, and I have always suspected he was less than up-front about his intentions, but lately… or perhaps to be more precise… ever since Itachi's failed attempt to massacre the clan… Madara has been slowly drifting towards some other goal."

"And that is?" Fugaku prompted quietly.

Pein inhaled deeply, letting the breath out as a sigh, "I am often accused of being paranoid. I will not deny the accusation, so you will excuse me if this sounds rather absurd. After the failed attempt to make Sasuke into a Jinchuuriki Madara began to talk about using him in a different way, but would never elaborate. A few years later we captured and sealed two Jinchuurikis. Madara immediately ordered me to back off and not capture any more. It made no sense, and again he refused to elaborate. However, I assure you we could have easily collected all the Jinchuurikis and been done with the formerly agreed upon plan within a year."

"I have already deduced some of this. It's obvious his interest in my son is somehow connected to Akatsuki. However… the rest…" Fugaku let his words trail off into nothing. He remembered Itachi telling him about the sealing, and, months later, his concerns about why they had been ordered to hold off on collecting the demon containers.

Once again, Pein broke the silence, "Are you aware that Madara was badly injured in his battle with the First Hokage and never recovered?"

That was a surprise and Fugaku shook his head, "How badly?"

"That I do not know. However, it's not enough to turn the tide if you or Itachi fought him. His knowledge of battle tactics and his shrewd intelligence more than make up for his deficiencies. What I'm getting at, is after considering these facts I am now under the impression that Madara is waiting for Sasuke to attain a certain level of power before going forward with our plan. If that is true, then the plan has changed."

"He wants to use Sasuke?"

"I believe he needs something of his. Perhaps his eyes? I am unsure of exactly what it could be."

"What was your original plan?"

Pein smirked, "Itachi has not told you?"

"Humor me." Fugaku didn't find the comment very amusing.

Pein, on the other hand, did, and gave a short laugh. He knew Itachi had been passing information to his father, but the plan he had told the Akatsuki about was different than the real plan, "After sealing all the Jinchuurikis into the statue we would then gain control of them, setting them loose to ravage the ninja world with war. The resulting chaos and misfortune that would befall the survivors would teach them pain and the wars would end. There would no longer be a need for ninjas, or ninja villages."

"And a couple generations later war would begin all over again."

"And we would unleash the tailed beasts to teach them the meaning of pain as well."

"Humph. Whatever." Fugaku found the whole idea quite insane, but then again he had never exactly considered neither Pein nor Madara to be in their right minds in the first place. "That is actually quite straight-forward. How do you think Madara is changing it?"

"I have a feeling that Madara is changing it by completely throwing it out the window. As drastic as my plan is… or was… it would leave the majority of humanity alive to revel in their new-found world of peace. What concerns me is what a man like Madara could be up to. You know about the type of information written on your altar by our forefather. My eyes were able to read the final piece of the puzzle."

Fugaku suspected the Rinnegan user had been in Konoha in the past, and this confirmed it. "Please tell me you didn't give him a word by word translation."

"It was, perhaps, the worst mistake I have ever made, Fugaku. I deeply regret it now."

The admission took Fugaku by surprise and he gazed curiously into the man's ringed eyes. They were alert, as always, but now held a slight hint of sorrow. Pein leaned back on his hands and stared up at the beamed ceiling. The fluorescent lights flickered a couple times as a stray gust of wind hit the doors.

"So what's going to happen now?"

"My deal with Madara is off. I have considered this long and hard, and I see no way to execute my plan. He never intended for me to have the statue. Oh, perhaps the first stages of his plan called for me to use it, I don't doubt that, but in the end, it would not result in my peaceful world. It will be his. Whatever that is. Therefore, I am here to form a treaty with Konoha. A secret treaty, since it would be impossible to break all ties with him at this point. We will work together to gain information about Madara and what his plans could be."

Fugaku added his condition, "In return you will disassemble the statue and not use it."

Pein frowned, obviously unhappy, "Agreed. I have no choice. However, there are two demons sealed in it at the moment. They will have to be re-sealed into humans."

"Infants."

"Anyone else would likely die. We have many orphans in Rain, I will have my angel pick two and see that they are raised appropriately."

"Angel?" Fugaku was confused.

Pein smirked, "In Rain, I am a god, and the people call Konan my angel. She… can use her paper jutsu to form wings and fly short distances."

"Oh." He had to admit, that was one jutsu he wouldn't mind seeing. And with Konan, who was not only beautiful, but had a rather regal air about her, it would probably actually look like an angel, too. "Well, it has to be done, so do it. As for 'appropriate', I would like to see them in actual homes instead of tossed out to their own devices like Naruto was."

"You are a noble man." Pein added, smiling.

"Don't mock me. We both know what happens to orphans living on their own. You, in the middle of a war and me in a rich mansion in a village. It didn't do either of us any good."

"It did, Fugaku. It taught us pain."

Sensing that Pein and Konan had departed, Itachi made a u-turn at the porch steps of his house so he could retrieve Naruto. The rain was still falling, indicating that the Rain leader and his companion were probably still in the area, but he was fairly positive they would not be returning to Konoha.

The dark, winter gloominess of early evening was barely cheered by the lights of windows and streetlamps. He shuddered once as a cold breeze gusted past him and realized the temperature had dropped considerably since noon and the air smelled different. Less musty and more ionized. It smelled "fresh".

"It's going to snow." Itachi muttered distastefully. He wasn't looking forward to trudging through the countryside with two other people during a snow storm. Hopefully, in a couple days it would be back to rain. Or better yet, sunshine.

Toshiro met him at the door, having sensed his arrival, "Ready to reclaim your wayward brother?"

"Which one?" Itachi replied sarcastically. "They're both pretty wayward."

The older man laughed, "True enough. He can stay for dinner, though, and we'll send him home later. We have Konohamaru staying with us for a couple days while Asuma sorts out that Neji situation."

"Hmm. That's fine then. I'll pass that on to mother. So what's the problem with Neji? I spoke with him yesterday and I thought…"

Toshiro interrupted, "He tried to take on four A-class shinobi from Danzou's recruiting squad by himself instead of asking for help. Asuma happened to be nearby and was able to step in and help, but… during interrogation the four revealed the presence of several Hyuugas still acting under Danzou's orders. They were able to directly link them to the massacre of the main branch. It was quite a breakthrough."

"Hinata must be pleased."

"Yes. She spent the whole day with her cousin, even though he's still unconscious and likely will be for a couple more days." He changed the subject, "Would you like to stay for dinner as well?"

Itachi smiled, "No, yesterday Fugaku asked me to help him with something so I need to get back."

Sheeta was napping peacefully when Itachi entered their bedroom. The overhead light was still on and a book was still gripped loosely between her fingers. He glanced at the calendar she had tacked to the wall and stared suspiciously at the kittens who were looking a little too cute for the own good as they also slept peacefully in a red and green Christmas themed bed.

"Probably dreaming up new ways to shred the furniture." He muttered to himself. He turned around, half expecting to see Tama behind him before he remembered that the cat had departed with his brother. A feeling of remorse washed over him as he thought of Sasuke, far from home and without his family, sleeping in a strange room. At least Tama was with him, so perhaps that would give him some comfort.

"What did you get me for Christmas?" The sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts and he turned to look at its source. Sheeta slowly sat back up and yawned widely.

"I wasn't able to go shopping today." He glanced back at the calendar and noted the date. "Christmas is tomorrow."

"But the stores will be closed." Sheeta smirked.

Itachi rolled his eyes up into his head and sighed, "You do remember that we live in Konoha, right?"

Sheeta laughed, "You promised to get me a Christmas present."

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten. I heard you had an appointment today." He easily changed the subject as he sat down on the bed across from her. He noticed that the bedspread was different, a floral pattern of red roses, bright green leaves and fat, happy robins now decorated his bed instead of his red one. Matching pillows, curtains, and a painting with more robins completed the ensemble. He wondered why he hadn't noticed the day before or even that morning. The oversight was disturbing.

"Yeah. It was weird. Tsunade herself asked me to come in. She took some blood samples and ordered me to drink bottled water for the rest of my pregnancy. She also said to eat only food prepared with bottled water."

"That's… weird. You didn't buy any though, when I saw you earlier you weren't carrying any bags."

"Mikoto ordered it to be delivered a couple times a week. Nui got in the habit of drinking bottled water when she became a medic, so she brought some of her stash over until we get our delivery tomorrow."

"So she thinks something is wrong with our water." Itachi muttered again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"She said she was doing some tests and wanted me to come in every week for a while. It sounds like she wants to create a collection of blood samples so she can compare them to each other. She asked several other pregnant women to come in for the same tests and she pulled the toxicology samples from Rumiko's autopsy to study those as well. Remember, she got that infection after giving birth? She was really sick."

"This situation is making me sick." Itachi stated distastefully. Even though he had been very young when his mother was pregnant with Sasuke, he remembered how ill she had been, and how close both she and the baby had come to dying. It was not something he wanted to repeat with his own wife and child. Or anyone else's family when it came right down to it.

"It… it'll be okay." Sheeta muttered unconvincingly. "I'll drink the bottled water or other bottled juices…"

Itachi interrupted, "That isn't good enough."

"What?"

"Where is the water being bottled at? If there is something wrong with our water supply, then why assume the bottled water that comes from a factory outside of Konoha, and within Danzou's jurisdiction could be any healthier?"

"But… no one's had any problems giving birth in the last few years. The clan is calling it a mini baby boom."

"Okay. I know that. It's just…"

"Go talk to Tsunade then. I'll do whatever she tells me to do, as long as it helps our baby."

"I'll do that, Sheeta. Thank-you."

Fugaku was still in his study when Itachi sought him out an hour later. The brightly lit room smelled pleasantly of green tea and rice and the teen realized he was very hungry. The elder Uchiha took the list and glanced at it for a few minutes.

"Most of these names do not surprise me. A couple may get you into trouble, though, as they are members of the side-branch."

Itachi's evenly measured voice quickly explained his reasoning, "That was purposely done to give them a voice in the governing process. I decided to take a hint from the problems the Hyuugas were having and try to prevent the same thing from happening to us. When I am named chief I will make it a rule of law that at least two members of the side-branch be present on the council of elders at all times."

"Humph." Fugaku nodded once in approval, "Always six steps ahead of everyone else. Good job, Itachi."

"Is the change in the elder council the only thing you will be doing at tonight's meeting?" Itachi asked calmly.

Fugaku sighed, but didn't say anything.

"I don't have time right now to take over the duties of chief. I will be running after Sasuke to bring him back, and we both know that will take a while since we have no idea where Orochimaru is." Itachi lied easily and Fugaku, who had no reason to believe otherwise, went along with it. "I also have Akatsuki…"

"Akatsuki is no longer a concern of yours."

"What?" Itachi was a little put off by the suddenness of the news.

"Pein suspects Madara of betraying their agreement. He and I have formed an alliance to stop Madara. You are right, you will be too busy to take over my duties for a while."

"Madara will not allow Pein to back out of Akatsuki. No one leaves alive."

"That's why the agreement is a secret." Fugaku went on to explain the events of that afternoon.

However, Itachi wasn't convinced, "I can't believe a man who would agree to use a jutsu to extract demons would back out a plan that easily. He must have something else up his sleeve. He's very powerful, and very one-sided in his beliefs. He may want peace, but it's obvious he doesn't care what the cost is. Madara also wants peace, and he doesn't care what the cost is either. This agreement may be nothing more than a ruse."

"That is entirely possible." Fugaku admitted, "However, lying to me is the same as lying to you. He is smart enough to realize this without me explaining it to him. Any information we share, given our individual resources, could be verified and acted upon rather quickly. Therefore, his veracity is above board. However, you are right about suspecting his underlying maneuverings. If it weren't for my desire to uproot Madara I would never combine forces with him, and I certainly won't be turning my back to him."

Itachi smiled, "Then I will be leaving in a couple days. You can reach me with your cats, of course."

"Are you turning into a cat-hater, Itachi?" Fugaku smirked. He wondered if his son had noticed the slight annoyance that had crept into his voice when he has uttered the word "cat".

"Huh? No. Just a… little suspicious of the little monsters."

Fugaku laughed for the first time in weeks, causing his son to look at him as if he had lost him mind, "I guess they did tease you quite a bit when you were growing up. Don't worry about it, if they didn't like you they wouldn't give you the time of day."

Itachi had no idea how to take that and decided that nodding and saying nothing was probably the best course of action. He changed the subject, "Tsunade examined Sheeta this morning. What is she looking for?"

"Many things." Fugaku turned serious again, "She came to my office this morning and told me about how you were poisoned and her suspicions about the low birth-rate and infant survival rate in our clan. She had several water samples pulled and found trace amounts of the same poison in the water supply heading straight into the Uchiha district."

"That's… " For a couple minutes he couldn't think of anything else to say, however another questions soon popped into his head. "So if there are trace amounts now, and the number of babies born has gone up does that mean there used to be more poison in the water before the coup?"

"That is the assumption. She's collection blood samples now to see what she discover. She thinks the amounts are small enough now that it isn't a danger anymore."

"Bullshit!" Itachi clenched his fists tightly and instinctively activated his Sharingan. "I was infected! I had a large quantity of that poison in me and I impregnated Sheeta! It could be in our baby right now as we speak, in quantities much more lethal than what was in the water!"

"Yes, that's what she is afraid of." Fugaku spoke quietly. The idea that his son could loose his first child was horrifying. "Sheeta hasn't been told any of this. If you want to, tell her yourself. Or wait until we find out what the results of the tests are and if it can be treated."

"I'll wait." Itachi calmed down. There was no use worrying her before they had the facts. "But I will be gone…"

"If there is any danger, Tsunade will speak with Sheeta. She will have to arrange treatment anyway and that's a little hard to do if the person doesn't know they're sick."

Itachi sighed as he stood up. Only a few weeks into life, and his child was already fighting for his life because of a man who didn't even know he (or she as Sheeta would have added, had she been present) existed. It wasn't fair.

As predicted, most of the elders were rather bitter after being removed from their positions. The rest were rather pleased with Fugaku's decision and praised his actions. The list of new elders wasn't much of a surprise when they heard that it was Itachi who had drawn it up. Of course, Toshiro was on it. And when Itachi announced his intention to require the side-branch to become a permanent part of the elder council he was met with a fifty-fifty split as to whether it was a good idea or not. Of course, as Fugaku reminded them, it would be a few years before that happened. In the meantime, the two side-branch members who had been chosen could consider themselves in a "trial-run" of sorts, to convince any nay-sayers to change their minds.

As far as meetings went, it was very different from any Itachi had ever attended before, and more like the way he had always wanted them to be. Short and to the point. Thirty minutes after it began, it was over.

However, he couldn't help but wonder what the now deposed elders would do. Would they stand aside and let things go, or try to get back at his father or himself? Three of them were particularly distasteful, and he knew that Sasuke wasn't the only kid who had problems with them. Itachi clearly remembered being called in front of them as a child so they could threaten him if he didn't achieve some goal of theirs. He had never run away, but he had to admit he had thought about it a few times.

"We'll have to watch our backs." Fugaku gave voice to Itachi's thoughts.

"I know."

"Too many secrets, too many dark corners. If they start digging…"

When Fugaku's voice trailed off, Itachi had to steel himself for what was coming next, because he knew what his father would do to protect those secrets.

"I'll have to kill them."

Sasuke shivered once as he pulled off his black t-shirt and set it on the examination table he was now sitting on. The underground "hospital" Kabuto had set up was lit with several bright spotlights, powered by a generator that sat humming in a corner, but it was still rather dark and, the boy thought, spooky.

Kabuto smiled warmly, "I'm just going to do a cursory exam so I can baseline your current physical condition. It won't be anything invasive so don't worry."

"I'm not worried." Sasuke replied truthfully. Even though his brother had warned him about Kabuto's abilities, telling him that he was likely on par with Kakashi, or perhaps even exceeding him, for some reason he wasn't afraid of him. There certainly was non way the teen could escape if he use his Mangekyou Sharingan on him, no matter how skilled he was. Or at least he hoped so.

He still wasn't so sure about his new-found ability, but it did give him a bit more confidence knowing that if it came down to it he could defend himself. What happened after that… well, Sasuke knew he wasn't as good as his brother. He hadn't had the experience or even the same upbringing as the older boy and he didn't want any of that.

What he did want was to survive this mission and get away as soon as possible.

As far away from Konoha as possible. The other continent sounded like a good bet. Having picked up some Korean from Ji, Sasuke had been considering going off in that direction. But then again, he had also studied Mandarin. Then there was English and German. Too many choices. But all good choices if they got him away from all that chaos.

Then maybe in a few years he would go back home. Itachi would get healthy again, so he didn't have to worry about protecting him or have the burden of being named his heir. But a feeling of regret was still eating away at him. He wanted to see his first niece or nephew. He would miss that. And his betrothal would be cancelled. How would those girls feel? They seemed to like him, but at least he wouldn't have choose one.

That was also annoying him. He didn't like being pulled around between three girls who were, themselves, being used by their parents and clan to get closer to Konoha. The more he thought about it, the more it bothered him, until now it made him angry to even consider the betrothal.

Kabuto rapped the boy lightly on the head, "Sasuke? Are you awake?"

"Oh." He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I was spacing out."

"That's okay. You're probably homesick. Mikoto's a great cook, huh? Much better than what Karin threw together last night." He glanced over to where a young red-head, the same age as Sasuke, was changing the IV bottles of a teen-age boy who was sleeping in some kind of life-support pod.

She looked up at him and glared, "If I remember right, I told you I couldn't cook, so don't blame me if you were running to the bathroom five times last night."

"I thought all girls could cook." Another boy, a little older than Sasuke and very tall, was sitting in the shadows near the pod.

"Juugo! You're a jerk! Girls aren't born knowing how to cook. They have to have someone teach them."

"Why didn't you study then?" It was a kind voice, and the question was honestly curious.

Karin's anger turned to sorrow and she clenched her hands in front of her tightly, as if trying desperately to hold onto something, "Because everyone who could teach me died."

That got Sasuke's attention, "They died?"

Kabuto interrupted, "Karin is a sensory type. She can sense chakra over large distances and her abilities are very powerful."

Karin continued, "I sensed enemies coming to my town and tried to warn everyone, but they didn't believe me. No one else in my family or the town had ninjutsu skills. I was something beyond their understanding. Needless to say, I was able to escape and they weren't."

"That's terrible." Juugo responded quietly, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier."

"Oh." Karin blushed slightly, "That's… okay… I guess… you wouldn't really know much about girls anyway."

Sasuke gasped slightly as Kabuto stuck an ice-cold stethoscope against his back, "Geeze, did you stick that in freezer before using it?"

"How'd you guess?" Kabuto teased, "Actually it was sitting on this tray over here, and it's kind of cold in here."

Karin had been staring at Sasuke after finishing her story and moved closer until she was standing directly in front of him. "I can finish up, Kabuto. I know you wanted to begin that treatment on Kimimaru."

"Sounds good. Here's the list of tests that need to be run. It's quite short, actually." He turned to face Sasuke, "Just so you don't find it odd that a twelve-year-old girl who is ogling your bare chest wants to examine you… she's my student. In addition to her sensory abilities, she was also born with a quite unusual medical ability. Like you, she's a new-comer, only been here a couple months."

Karin blushed again at Kabuto's teasing, "If you need anything I know where everything is by now, and I would be more than happy to show you around when we're done here." She bent closer to him so that she was next to his, "I know some even better places where we can be alone."

Sasuke's eyes opened wide and he quickly pulled away from the red-head, "No, that's okay. I think I'll go see Suigetsu."

"Suigetsu? Who's that?"

"Why don't you go with him, Karin? He's going to be one of your patients anyway, might as well meet him." Kabuto spoke while leaning over the unconscious teen.

"Fine." Sasuke sighed. At least he wouldn't be alone with her. "Just… don't touch me."

For some reason, that made Karin very happy and she smiled brightly at him as she picked up a small silver hammer and tapped him lightly underneath the knee, causing his leg to jerk up reflexively, "We'll see about that."

Next week: Kisame and Deidara arrive in Konoha, Sheeta gets her Christmas gift, and everyone sets out to "rescue" Sasuke. Who isn't really in any danger. Yet, anyway.

You're probably wondering why Madara didn't call Itachi on his ring to see how he was doing. Remember, Itachi keeps his ring hidden and only checks it occasionally and if he's in the hospital, as Madara believes, contact would be impossible.

Almost forgot to add the Sasuke part. Karin isn't a jailer yet since she's only been with Orochimaru a few weeks longer than Sasuke, and I'm pretty sure it was implied that she worked with Kabuto at one point so I decided to make her his student. As for Juugo and Kimimaru… well, Kimimaru is getting a treatment but because this happens one year earlier than the manga, he isn't as far gone. And Juugo is supposed to be in a different hideout, but basically because Kimimaru is still alive Juugo hasn't been stuck in solitary confinement. Hopefully that's all somewhat believable.

Oh, and Orochimaru couldn't use Kimimaru's body to regenerate because even though it's a year or so before he dies, he's still too sick for the jutsu to work.

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