Author's Note: Hello, dear reader. This is me again, Prince Arjuna. Sorry for the late update, but this is the second chapter of this fanfiction. I still need to improve a few things, but I hope this one is satisfactory for now. Also, while I'll be putting Itachi as the main character here, I won't make him steal the plot and make him the center of everything. There will be romance as well, so please look forward for it.

Summary: Itachi Uchiha should be dead at this point, but somehow, he found himself not only alive, but also in a completely different world where shinobi never existed. After fighting a group of undead, unintentionally seducing a red-haired merchant girl, he stumbled upon Chrom and his Shepherds, where he came to know a certain enigmatic tactician.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fire Emblem Awakening. Don't be silly.

Enjoy, and if you have time, give me your opinions. May subject to improvement soon.

"Hey, do you have any plan this evening, Itachi?"

It's been a long time since the last time Itachi ever experienced a dream, especially this particular dream. It was back then, when he was still a respectable Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village instead of being an international criminal as a member of Akatsuki. In this dream, he was wearing his ANBU's armor over his high-collared black shirt and his forehead protector, which hadn't been scratched out yet. He was talking to a female Shinobi, who was wearing a stylized Uchiha's getup, which consisted of a black high-collared black shirt and black miniskirt and also a pair of black, tight shorts underneath it.

The female Shinobi was around his age, probably around thirteen to fourteen. She wore her dark hair short and she wore her forehead protector around her neck like a choker. Her facial feature, her black eyes and fan-shaped insignia etched on her back indicated that she was also an Uchiha like Itachi. She also wore forearm protectors on both arms.

"Is there anything you want from me?"

Itachi replied to the girl with another question in his usual cool and detached manner. The Uchiha girl blinked several times before she pouted.

"Mou, didn't I tell you to step acting so formal with me? We're childhood friends, remember?"

The Uchiha girl spoke in slight indignation, causing the prodigious teenager to chuckle a bit.

"Sorry. Well, what is it you want from me?"

The Uchiha girl fidgeted slightly as if in embarrassment. One could clearly see that she was having a crush on this particular genius of a Shinobi.

"W-well, if you don't mind, will you join me for some tea? I heard there is a new teahouse just opened recently. Will you join me, Itachi?"

Itachi looked at the Uchiha girl when she invited him to go to a teahouse. It's been a while since the last time he went to one. On one hand, he would like to visit one to unwind himself after doing many missions these last few weeks, but on the other hand, he still needed to submit reports to the Hokage regarding his missions. Seeing that he still needed to fulfill his responsibility as a Shinobi, he had to make it clear that there was something that he needed to do.

"Umm… I'm sorry, but I can't this evening. I still need to submit my reports to the Hokage."

As if in disappointment, the Uchiha girl looked down. Itachi felt sorry for her.

"I-I see. W-well, it's okay. It's your responsibility, after all."

Without thinking, Itachi reached out to touch her shoulder, causing the girl to let out a cute yelp. Smiling, Itachi spoke to her in reassuring tone.

"How about next time? Let's go to the teahouse next time, okay?"

The girl's expression brightened.

"Promise…?"

"…I promise."

At this point, the dreamscape started to get blurry. Itachi tried to recall the name of the girl, but he found himself unable to remember her name. It felt like there was something preventing him from remembering her name. He got a feeling that it wasn't something that he would rather recall, but not knowing her name made him feel rather uncomfortable. As he struggled to remember her name, the dreamscape collapsed before everything went dark.

And the very first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a sharp knife…

…that was used to peel an apple, followed by the person who was holding the knife to peel that said apple.

"Hello?" said the person who was peeling the apple. "Feeling better now?" the person was a dark-haired young woman clad in a coat with eye-shaped patterns on it. She was sitting beside the bed Itachi was on, and she was currently trying her best to peel an apple. One could see that she had done quite a passable job, providing that one could overlook the fact that she had cut too deep into the apple while peeling the fruit.

"…Where am I?" the Shinobi sat up, looking at his surroundings. He was in a room or some sorts, and there were only two of them in the room.

"You're in the sickbay, Itachi," said the young woman, still trying her best to peel the apple. "Oops!" she accidentally cut a large chunk of that apple as she peeled it. "You've been unconscious for almost a week," she helpfully informed him.

"A week?" the Shinobi looked at the young woman bemusedly. "What happened to me?" he asked.

"You passed out," the young woman answered. "There's nothing wrong to you. You probably suffered a migraine, though," she informed. "And… I had introduced myself to you before, but I'm Robin, the tactician of the Shepherd."

Itachi could recall the time when the young woman, Robin introduced herself. He bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Robin," he said in polite tone. "I'm Itachi Uchiha…" he introduced himself.

"I know…" Robin said with a smile. "You already introduced yourself before you passed out. And please drop the formality when you are around me, alright?" she told Itachi that due to him addressing her as 'Miss' earlier. "And you should thank Lissa for watching over you. She's the one who treat you while you're unconscious."

"Lissa?" the Shinobi blinked. He could recall that particular blond and short young lady at that time before he passed out. "Yes, I'll remember that…" then, he heard a growling noise before he realized that it was from his stomach. He remembered that he hadn't eaten anything yet.

"Ah, you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?" Robin asked before she took a plate which had unevenly-sliced pieces of apple on it. "Good thing I prepared this in advance. I'm sorry because this isn't much. I'll tell other people to prepare something for you to eat," she said with a smile.

Itachi looked at the food prepared for him. The pieces of apple didn't seem to be appetizing, but since they were meant to be eaten instead of being pieces of artworks, he thought that it wasn't right to complain before he started eating. Because of the way Robin cut them, they weren't much, but Itachi couldn't exactly complain about it. At least he could fill his stomach with something.

And so, after finishing the apple, Itachi looked at Robin, smiling. Even though he's still feeling hungry, he was glad that he could at least eat something. "Thank you for the food, Miss Robin…"

Robin smiled as well. "You're welcome," then, she frowned. "Didn't I tell you to drop the formality, Itachi?"

"I'm sorry. I did that on reflex," the Shinobi apologized.

The tactician let out a sigh. "Oh well. I guess I can't help it," she said before she got up from her seat. "I'll tell the cook to make something good for you. Once you regain your strength, we'll explain everything to you…" she looked into Itachi's eyes. Unlike before, his eyes were no longer red. It seemed that she had figured out that Itachi could change the color of his eyes. "I do have a feeling that there's something different about you. I can't say what it is, but the feeling is there. I can sense it…" she said before she turned around. "Well, see you later."

And so, Robin left Itachi alone in the room.

"…" Itachi blinked several times in bemusement. "…What a strange lady," he mused to himself. But he was sure of one thing; he knew that he could trust her. There was something strange about that one particular young woman. From what he could tell, she might be around his age, or probably one or two years older than him. Her obsidian-colored hair was short and a little messy, but Itachi found these features of her made her rather charming, in a way. And her bulky-looking coat also seemed to be hiding the fact that she was actually rather tiny for a woman around her age.

In the end, Itachi just sighed. He was still hungry. He had no choice but to wait until someone came in to bring him food.

So far, Itachi Uchiha seemed to understand what kind of world he had been thrown into. Robin's explanation was quite concise and understandable, and she told him about everything he needed to know like the names of places, terms and the names of a few significant people that one needed to know. Itachi was thankful that Robin was there to deliver the explanation to him.

"So, are you saying that Ylisse is currently under threat of war by Plegia?" Itachi asked after Robin was done giving her explanation to him about the current events.

The tactician nodded. "Yes. Plegia is our westerly neighbor, and there is quite a bad history between Ylisse and Plegia. You can ask Chrom about it later, but you can say that Plegia is the reason why there were bandits and ruffians attacking the small towns of Ylisse…" she looked down. "They have been hurting innocent civilians, which is very unforgiveable. That's why the Shepherds have been around, maintaining peace and order in Ylisse."

"But a small band of warriors isn't enough to watch over the whole country," Itachi said. From Robin's explanation earlier, Ylisse didn't have a great military prowess as it had to rely on its neighbor for assistance.

Robin nodded. "That's why we asked for Regna Ferox's assistance. Unlike Ylisse, Ferox is a militant nation which can provide us with enough manpower in case war erupts between Ylisse and Plegia…" then, she muttered softly. "But it'll be better if we don't have to fight."

Itachi could understand her well. Being someone who had grown up during war, he knew quite well the horror that wars could bring. Experiencing the horror in such a young age, he gained an understanding that helped him to overcome the curse of his bloodline in order to seek peace. He desired peace more than anyone else, but he was too young and too naïve to realize that he was too misguided in his attempt to keep order and peace. He could find other ways for himself to avoid bloodshed, but instead, in order to prevent a civil war within Konoha, he was forced to annihilate his fellow clansmen. Deep inside, such action tore him apart, but he knew that someone had to do it, or else everyone might have to suffer the consequences. He had yet to forgive himself for committing such atrocity, but there was nothing else he could do, and as a Shinobi, there was no time for hesitation.

"Itachi…?" Robin's voice snapped him back into reality. "Itachi, what is the matter? Is something bothering you?" there was concern in her tone as she asked him that question. Currently, both of them were walking side-by-side down the corridor in the castle which was located in Ylisstol.

"It is nothing," Itachi replied with a smile. "It's just that… wherever I go, there will be always conflicts. It's the same like my place," he sighed as he looked up.

"Your place?" the tactician recalled that time when Itachi introduced himself as Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf Village. "Do you mean the Leaf Village? Is there where you came from?" she didn't remember any Leaf Village, or at least not from any maps or books that she had read before. This part of Itachi made Robin rather curious about this particular Shinobi.

"Yes. Many things happened and I don't know where to start," Itachi sighed softly. "And I don't even know how and why I ended up being here…" he admitted. He didn't know why, but everything just came out naturally as he spoke to her. He couldn't explain it well, but he just knew that he could trust Robin, which was saying something, considering that he was a Shinobi who was trained to not trust anyone, even comrades. Sure, he would trust anyone if he could help it, but only if he had prepared for everything beforehand. Everything would include potential betrayal or such.

"It seems you're having it rough, Itachi. I'm sorry to hear that," Robin gave Itachi a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. I'll sort things out with you. I promise."

"Miss Robin…" Itachi looked at Robin, and for a while, their eyes met. He immediately looked away and then coughed into his fist. "What I want to say is… thank you. I'm glad to have someone I can rely on here…" he said.

Robin chuckled. "I'm glad to help."

And so, these two started chatting while walking alongside each other. Their main topic seemed to be about Frederick's particular dislike towards venison. She told Itachi about the prank she pulled on him about feeding him bear meat. Itachi found it to be quite funny.

But their conversation was disrupted by the incoming sight of a certain young Cleric. She almost bumped into Itachi as she ran.

"Lissa…?" Robin said. "Lissa, what's the matter?" she asked the young Cleric, Lissa, who seemed to be quite distraught about something. She was holding her staff tightly and she was on verge of tears as Robin tried to calm her down. "Lissa, is something wrong?"

"R-Robin… M-Maribelle… s-she… she's…" Lissa was unable to come up with anything coherent.

"What's wrong with Maribelle?" Robin asked, starting to worry. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her around. What happened to her?" she asked.

"M-Maribelle… s-she's been captured by Plegians!" Lissa cried.

"What?" Robin gasped. "I-it can't be…"

As for Itachi, he didn't understand what's going on here, but from what he could tell, someone was in trouble. Being a person he was, now that he had no more reason to hide it, he would like to do anything in order to help that someone.

And then, people would be able to see why he was the genius among the Shinobi.

TO BE CONTINUED