Summary

In which a new plan is formed, and Itachi lets loose on his past...

A/N: Sorry for how long this took. I actually intended for them to explain their pasts to eachother in one chapter, but I thought it would be better to break it up. Oh, and I say Strawberry Pocky cause I like it better! So nyah! -sighs- I wonder if there are other flavors aside from chocolate and strawberry...

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'This is the most important moment of my life, and I can't even begin to form the words to tell her about myself,' he thought, letting himself into her house and leisurely hanging up his cloak. 'I'm doomed. I just know it.'

"Itachi? Is that you?"

"... Yes, and you left the door unlocked. Again," the Uchiha replied, sighing quietly as he turned the lock and padded into the den. Kagome was situated in her window seat, and pencil and a sketch pad in her lap as she worked on yet another picture that he was sure would be turned into a masterpiece of paints and color.

"Sorry. I actually did lock it this morning... but I went out to the market for a while and came back," the priestess admitted sheepishly, her cheeks coloring pink before she continued, "I guess I forgot to turn it back. But, I knew you were coming, so I'd rather leave it unlocked for you than you crawling through the window in broad daylight. Someone might think you were trying to rob me."

She made an excellent point. But that didn't mean he would stop training her to lock her door when he wasn't there.

"Of course," he sighed quietly, running a hand carelessly through his long hair. He needed to trim his bangs up soon again, "I told you before... that I owe you."

"Owe me?"

"... An explanation." When she only gave him a confused look, he added painfully, "About... my past." Her blue eyes widened and she spun to drop her feet on the floor as she sat up. He now had her full undivided attention. "That's why I'm here today."

She nodded, unwilling to break his train of thought with words as he tried to piece together how he wanted to say it. After a few moments of silence, however, she realized that he was struggling to start.

"Just... start at the beginning, Itachi."

"The beginning..." The Sharingan master looked out the window, letting his dark eyes unfocus for a moment as he vividly recalled his childhood. The scenes of bloodshed were still so fresh, even after all these years. "Where is my beginning, I wonder?" He started to pace, wondering how his next words would impact their relationship. Would she really still accept him?

"Umm... How about you tell me about your family?" Kagome asked, uncertainty coloring her tone as she wondered if this was really such a good idea. He stopped moving. It was obvious his past still pained him, if the slight grimace that flickered across his features was any indication.

"My family... One would think that being blood-related, you would be attached to them."

'What... is that supposed to mean?' the time traveler thought, tilting her head to the side in consternation.

He was pacing. Again. And it was really starting to bother her.

"Itachi..."

"This is... one of the most difficult things I've ever done," he responded to her unanswered question, taking a seat on her couch before jumping up again a moment later to start pacing again, "I have never told anyone my story."

Kagome sighed and stood up, setting aside her pencil and paper, "Listen, if you think I'm going to judge you just because of something that happened in your past, well, that'd be really hypocritical of me, wouldn't it? I mean, remember when I told you about my past?"

"Time travel and demon slaying is completely different than what I did," the Uchiha pointed out petulantly, crossing his arms and staring her down, "My crimes are unspeakable, horrendous, punishable by death, and they were waged on humans." The priestess shook her head and disappeared into the kitchen. He waited for her to return, once again resuming pacing. A moment later, the dark haired girl was back, a cup of tea in her hands and glaring quite fiercely at him.

"Itachi... If you don't sit, I will tie you to the couch!" The Sharingan master froze, almost willing to believe that threat. He didn't miss how much she stressed that 'sit' either. He was sure she was imagining him making a crater in the floor with an enchanted rosary around his neck. He had a brief moment where he pitied Inuyasha. A few seconds later, the fire in her eyes skyrocketed. "Now!"

So he sat quickly on the couch, fisting his hands together in his lap and looking the picture of innocence.

Yeah. Right.

The former time traveler plopped down on next to him and held out a box of strawberry flavored pocky. "Eat."

"I really don't like-!" The deadened look she gave him made the words stick in his throat and he reached over tentatively to accept the ridiculously sweet biscuit sticks. Munching quickly on one, he made a noise of gratitude, hoping she'd back off a little. Instead, she pointed at his tea.

"Drink."

"Yes ma'am." He was not about to ignite her explosive temper again. The last time he'd done that, his cheek stung for days. Small as she was, the woman knew how to slap. So he drank his tea, inwardly bemoaning the fact that pocky did not go with green tea. At all.

"Now, just... talk," Kagome murmured, gesturing for him to take another stick. He did so very reluctantly and sighed loudly.

"When I was four, I witnessed my first battlefield. I wasn't a part of the fight. I had actually happened upon it," he started, letting the images slip through his mind's eye quickly. That fight had been bloody; enemy and ally alike had ben brutally slain. "It changed something inside me. I didn't want to fight; to make people hurt. I wanted to solve things without the necessary need for death and destruction. Unfortunately, I had a natural innate talent for killing. Sasuke was born when I was six, and I knew the moment I laid eyes on my little brother that he would always be in my shadow. I still loved him, and I would do anything to keep him safe and happy. I became a full-fledged shinobi when I was seven. Everyone in my family... my clan was thrilled. I was their precious little prodigy." He spat the word 'clan' out like it was a poison. Kagome swallowed the urge to gasp horribly. How could someone's family make them kill people at such a young age!

"I mastered my Sharingan in a year. So many children my age were jealous. None of them liked me, but they were forced to be nice, because I was not only the Uchiha clan's special ace, but the patriarch's eldest son. Time passed, Almost four years, in fact. In that time, I ascended the ranks faster than anyone had ever hoped to accomplish in the village. I was hailed, revered, respected, and feared by the time I was thirteen. What more could someone in my postition ever hope for?" Kagome couldn't understand that. What kind of thirteen year old wanted to be feared? But then, Itachi was raised a lot differently than her.

"Then, I became an ANBU Captain. The youngest ever in the history of Konohagakure. Sasuke, at the time, adored me, but he was also extremely jealous. He wanted the reverence I'd been given. So many people insisted that the pressure would break my mind. In the end, it probably did, but I was determined to be the best. I wanted to stand at the top so that no one could hurt the people I cared about."

It was implied that he meant his precious foolish little brother. Itachi took a deep breath and plowed ahead, determined to finish now that he'd started talking. There was something in him that had burst the moment he made the decision to tell her, and now he couldn't seem to get the words out fast enough.

He continued, his mind twisting back through his past as he let his words flow out.

"During that time, my clan was planning a coup. They were going to wage an outbreak against the villages' elders and their prominent leaders. The reason was, of course, jealousy and hatred for their position in the village. The Uchiha clan was highly respected, but also feared. Twelve years ago, a demon fox called the Kyuubi attacked the village. I later discovered that this was Madara's doing. The clan was blamed, however, because we are almost intimately connected with the Nine-Tailed beast."

"A demon fox? A nine-tailed demon fox?" Kagome choked, eyes wide and dark in shock. She knew what a single-tailed fox was capable of; a nine-tails was exponentially stronger, thereby much more destructive. "How did the village survive?"

"The Fourth Hokage, Yondaime Minato Namikaze, sealed it away in a human vessel. The boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he now resides in the village. I can imagine that his life has been very difficult," Itachi replied, shrugging at the flabbergasted look on the prietess's face. "The village probably hated him. I only saw him a handful of times while I was there, and he was always alone."

"That's terrible! How could they foist their hatred on a child that had nothing to do with it! He's an innocent that was dragged in by their precious Hokage!" the girl hissed, blue eyes flashing in righteous anger. Somehow, the Uchiha knew that if she ever met the boy, she would do everything in her power to protect Naruto Uzumaki from anyone that tried to hurt him.

"He was the Fourth's son. I believe he wished for the people to see Naruto as a hero, rather than a burden. Sadly, not everyone thinks that way."

"... If we ever go to your village, I'm knocking heads together because people are so stupid," she grumbled, flushing at the slightly awed expression on the male's face, "Well I would!"

Itachi cleared his throat awkwardly and got them back on track. "So, my clan planned a coup. Father was the mastermind of the plan, and he ordered me to spy on the village, ANBU in particular. I, however, despised the fact that he was wanting to get so many innocent people involved in a petty power struggle. Their ideals would have led to another Shinobi War, and I wasn't about to let that happen. I was in a position to do so, so I began feeding information to the village instead."

"You... really cared about Konoha, didn't you?"

"Yes. I loved my village, but I cared about Sasuke even more. When things really started getting out of hand, the elders and the leader of a separate division of ANBU, called ROOT, decided that something needed to be done. I was given a top secret mission." He stopped, painfully remembering the details of that mission. The one that would tae him down his current path. "In all fairness, there was no one else that couod have succeeded the way I did."

Kagome held her breath, somehow knowing that everything hinged on Itachi's next words. So far, she hadn't really sided with the clan or the village. She thought that both were in the wrong, and they should have tried to settle their differences in another way.

"The Third Hokage tried to extend the hand of peace; he wanted the clan to give up. Hoped that there wouldn't be a need for bloodshed. My father was stubborn, and completely unwilling to negotiate. Time ran out, and I had to make a decision. It was easy really, to cut ties with the clan. They were traitors to the village. They wanted to sacrifice innocent lives for their own personal gain. I'd been working against them for months now. I'd stopped going to clan meetings, I argued with my father, the Police Force, even closed myself off from all of them. All in preparation for the night of my mission."

"Itachi... What was the mission?" the priestess whispered, fear shivering in her heart. Her friend looked outwardly calm, even serene, but inside, she could sense that his emotions were absolute chaos. And that somewhere in his heart, he'd killed a part of himself in order to do this secret mission. He resolutely met her blue eyes and refused to flinch away from the truth any longer.

"My mission... was to annihilate my entire clan. To snuff out the conspirators. To kill them. All of them."

Kagome stared in stunned silence as she let his words sink in. It... wasn't possible! There was no way he had to be forced to make that kind of a decision! Slowly, Itachi rose to his feet and exited the room. She watched him go for a moment, wondering vaguely where he was going. When the front door slammed shut, though, it shook her out of her daze and she scrambled to her feet.

'Where... Why is he leaving?' Skidding to a halt in the front hall, she deduced that, yes, his cloak was gone, and yes, she couldn't sense him anywhere in the house. He'd truly left. Uncaring of the fact that she didn't take the time to throw on her shoes, she ripped the door open and followed his erratic aura in the direction of the village gates.

'All this time, he's been suffering so badly, and here I am stuck in my own little world. Why didn't I ask him sooner? Why didn't I see it? How... How long has he hated himself? For killing his whole clan? For abandoning his brother? For all the horrible things he had to do? I said I'd be there for him, and now I've let him down!' She raced out the gates, ignoring the loud guard's annoyed shouts. Her mind was completely focused on one thing.

Finding Itachi.

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He should have known better. He shouldn't have told her. Her face said it all. She was stunned. She was horrified. She'd touched him. Her pure hands had held his bloodstained ones. He couldn't stay there; not when he could already see the blood starting to rub off on her. He was tainting her! He was destroying her!

He wanted to keep her!

"ITACHI!" A blur of black and grey hit him full force when he turned, sending them both tumbling to the ground. How had she caught up to him? How had she moved that quickly?

'When did she get so fast?' he thought faintly, staring down at the bundle curled up in his lap. She was gasping in air, trying to make words come out as she breathed.

"How did you do that?"

"You... Can't... Leave... You... Promised!" she managed to get out, rolling off him and coughing harshly, "I... Hate... Tele... porta... tion... Jutsu..." Ah. That was how she caught up. Her words hit him a second later and he was goggling at her in shock. He'd tried several times to get her to use a Teleportation Jutsu and she'd barely made any progress. Now, however, it sounded like she'd come from a long ways. He was already half-way back to the base!

'The only person I can remember moving that quickly in that kind of distance was the Yellow Flash!' He was reaching over and rubbing her back soothingly before he could stop himself. Was she the kind of person that performed better under pressure?

"Take a few moments to breathe normally. The nausea will pass," he murmured, his mind already whirling with possibilities. If trained properly, Kagome could be an excellent ninja! Wait! Wasn't he just trying to walk away from her? "Why did you follow me?"

"... Because that couldn't have just been the end. There's more that you're not telling me," she looked up at him, tears tracing her cheeks as she held on tightly to his cloak to keep him from escaping again, "So stop making yourself out to be the bad guy and tell me the rest!"

Itachi bit hte inside of his cheek and nodded a moment later. He told her about how he couldn't bring himself to hurt his little brother, about meeting Madara for the first time before everything happened, about the deal they made where he would help the older Uchiha exact his revenge on his clan as long as he didn't lay a hand on the citizens of Konoha. He continued, appearing before the Hokage to plead for Sasuke's life and safety, going to Danzou to ensure that if anything happened to his younger sibling, he would leak every bit of information about Konohagakure to anyone that was her enemy.

"I fled after that, my reputation in tatters and my brother hospitalized for mental trauma. I tortured him, so that he would one day walk the path of revenge. So that I would die by his hands, turning him into a hero of the Leaf. I traded everything for him. He hates me; more than you can possibly imagine. I spent a year roaming the lands, gathering information, playing a willing puppet to Madara's whims. I had to make him see that I could be trusted. And then, I joined the Akatsuki."

Kagome swallowed. She'd heard of the imfamous criminal organization, and their horrendous acts against the entire ninja world. Itachi was a part of this group? It hit her suddenly; all the people she'd met through him were also members of the crime syndicate. The Uchiha tilted his head at her and nodded.

"I see you've put the pieces together. Was it really wise to come after me now? You're away from the village. No one would hear you if I snapped; if I killed you," he murmured, leaning in and staring her down with bright Sharingan eyes. He wasn't sure when they activated, but everything was sharper, and he knew that he made an intimidating picture.

"I... I still stand by my words. I still know that you're a good person, Itachi, that had to make some really really difficult decisions," The priestess broke eye contact with him, letting her blue eyes slide shut as tears started gathering again, "I can't imagine how hard it was for you; how much it hurt you to have to do those things. But you did them for your brother. You love him more than anyone else in the world. You did it for the family you wanted to protect with everything you had." Kagome let her head raise up and she smiled softly at him, "That is something I can understand. Love, family, peace. They all go hand in hand. You say you're bad, that you're evil and heartless," she set her hand against his chest. He didn't realize it was beating so fast until the pressure of her fingers settled there. "But I can feel it, and I can sense it in everything you just said. So, stop trying to be such a badass and be yourself for once."

Kisame's voice suddenly echoed back in his mind. "You'll be fine. You heard what she just said. The whole judging thing; she'll definitely see your side."

He was right. The shark was right. She did see his side of it. And she was still here. Itachi hung his head, letting it rest against her shoulder as she blinked in confusion.

"Itachi?"

"I think... I understand you a little more. I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?" he sighed, letting her wrap her arms around his back; letting himself enjoy the feeling of being protected, being cared about. How many years had it been since he'd been trusted so unconditionally?

'I understand now. I can't run from you, can I? I'm stuck with you, and I don't really mind,' the former heir thought, shakily raising his arms to return the embrace, 'No more running. I'll stay this time. For good.'

"Did you... ever grieve for them? Your clan?"

"Ninja don't grieve, and even if they did, they don't do so for traitors," he replied automatically, years of those words being drilled into his brain by his father surfacing again. Those words had always held a foreign taste on his tongue, the thought that the man still had some form of control over him grating even now. Kagome jerked back and glared up at him.

"There's nothing wrong with mourning for family, Itachi. Even if they were traitors, they were still blood." He merely shook his head slowly and refused to meet her sharp gaze. Finally, after a few moments of silence, she sighed and pulled away. Standing up, she dusted herself off and held out a hand to him. For a moment, he'd been sure she would be the one to walk away this time, but when she turned back to him to hold out her hand, his heart settled and that warm feeling inside that had been growing so rapidly shivered in anticipation. As he took the offer, he had to wonder what was going to happen in the future. He certainly couldn't go through with his original plans now.

He needed a new plan. One that would involve the young woman dragging him back to her home.

"I had a plan, by the way. But I believe it's time for an updated version." Kagome turned to him in question, ready to hear what he had to say.

"Originally, because I am technically dying right now, I intended to survive until Sasuke grew strong enough to match me. I would have at least died in his presence-!"

"You're not dying!" she interrupted harshly, the hand holding his tightening to an almost painful extent, "No one is dying... Unless it's Madara. He's bad news. Like, Naraku bad news."

"I have to agree with you there. Madara is the epitome of evil."

"And this new plan better not have you or your brother dying!"

"... That was the point. I do intend to live as long as possible now. In fact, this is what I had in mind."

"I'm listening..."

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It was time to make his choice. Stay and allow his association with the Akatsuki to possibly kill her? Or cut ties with the criminal organization and flee with the woman he loved?

'In reality, it is a simple choice,' the Uchiha thought, sneaking down the hall and picking the lock to Madara's personal office. The older man was out on surveillance and reconnisance, and everyone else was currently not in the building, so there was no way he'd be caught tonight. 'I've already gone over the plans with Kagome, and she's agreed that this is the best-case scenario.'

Rifling through the contents of Madara's personal records and plans gave him a sense of elated glee, but he forced himself to remain calm and gather everything incriminating against the older Uchiha and the Akatsuki in general. He would warn Kisame to tell the others to get out, while they still had the chance, before he let the hunter nins have at the organization. He was sure, though, that despite Konan's support in all this, she would never abandon the Akatsuki. Not as long as Pein was still in it. It was a painful to think about the woman that had taken him in like an almost younger sibling.

Several storage scrolls later, the Sharingan master carefully started putting all the information back in their filing cabinets. As he shoved some files back in the last drawer, though, an irregularity in the bottom caught his eye, and he set his work aside to reach down in it. A few inches before he made contact, though, he froze, activating his dojutsu and scanning the bottom. It was a good thing he had. The spider-silk of a nasty trap was weaved along the bottom, one that he was sure would have trigger Madara's immediate return to the hideout. Disabling the trap took a few precious minutes, but he wasn't a genius for nothing. Now, free of obsticales, he pushed the false bottom up and pulled out the thick book that lay underneath.

It was an intricate history of the Uchiha clan and the Sage of Seven Paths. Eyebrows raised in curiosity, he tucked the book into his cloak and quickly reset the trap before putting the correct files back in and closing the drawer.

'Do I have time to go through that book shelf?' Itachi thought, glancing at all the volumes that he was sure hadn't been available in his clan's prestigious library. Gliding over on silent feet, he scanned the titles and dismissed most of them. The ones that caught his eye were books he'd seen here and there in his travels; ones he could easily get a hold of. One he pulled out and set to the side, and another he glanced through the first few pages before discarding and setting back on the shelf. Turning away, he picked up his chosen book and prepared to drop it in his sleeve.

A small book hidden in it tumbled out, landing on the floor with a soft "sploosh". Picking the book up, he glanced at it and almost put it back on the shelf. Madara's scrawl in one of the pages caught his eye, though, and he flipped it open to that page. What he read had his eyes widening in fear and his breath catching in his throat. If what was written in this book was true, then the older Uchiha had an almost surefire way of gathering the Jichuuriki without any hassle.

All he needed was a powerful priestess.

'Does he know that Kagome is one? Did she show him her powers when he tried to kill her? This is bad! She's in so much more danger than I could have possibly imagined!' Stuffing the books in his cloak, he gathered his scrolls and tiptoed out of the office, locking it behind him as he made his way quickly to his next destination. Skidding to a halt in the main meeting room, Itachi pulled out the lump of explosive clay he'd 'borrowed' from Deidara back when the blonde went through his things looking for information about Kagome, and set it on the center of the table. He was sure the resulting explosion would set off Madara's personal alarms and have him running back in a matter of heartbeats.

He needed to time this perfectly. Tacking several delayed exploding tags to the C-2 bomb, he fled as quickly as possible. Half-way to the village, the resounding boom shook the forest and sent birds flying in terror. He wanted to stop and gloat in victory, but he was more concerned about Kagome's safety at this point. Their plan would have to be carried out fully tonight.

They needed to leave. Now.

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A/N: Annnnnnd cliffhanger of sorts! Not as bad as the other one I did, but, yeah, in a sense, CLIFFYYYYYY! I hope you guys enjoyed this, because it was the devil to get everything put on paper. I knew exactly how I wanted it to go, and it still did its' own thing! Especially Itachi's confession. I think it turned out fine, though. But, let me know! Got it out a little faster too, didn't I? I always like to hear feedback!