Tsunade sat across from Itachi in the basement room of the prison. They were left alone in the room after Tsunade furiously told the Anbu guards to wait outside. She would call if she needed help. However, calling for help didn't seem likely as Tsunade observed the capture Uchiha.

The fight's out of him…

They sat in silence for quite some time, soaking in the oddities of how they came to be here. Tsunade, a cup of sake in her hand with the bottle right beside her, turned the cup in her hand as she contemplated. Despite Itachi's lax behavior the Hokage took no chances, keeping his hands and feet bound with chakra-restricting ropes. She took a sip of her cup before she began the interrogation.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Her gaze was directly on him, no bullshit written on her face. She'd beat it out of him if that's what it took.

Itachi sat in the wooden chair, hands secured in his lap, head bowed. As they sat in silence, Itachi had been cursing himself with regret. He was stupid for ever leaving the Akatsuki and wanting a new life. How do you join a group of criminal activity and then one day decide you don't want to do it anymore? Itachi scoffed, continuously kicking himself in the ass as the clock ticked by. It didn't matter. Itachi experienced what his life would be like after leaving the organization; it wasn't what he thought it would be. He found a woman who saved his life only so he could give it up again. Way to repay her, eh Itachi?

"I can sit here day and night until you talk," the Hokage said, pouring another cup of sake for herself.

"If I tell you anything you will just call me a liar and throw me in prison until I rot. If I were you I would just kill me. Wouldn't that make your job easier?" Itachi lifted his head, dragging his eyes up from the table to the Hokage's. His hair fell over his masked eyes, giving him a hooded look. Tsunade said nothing, only watched him with interest.

"So then you weren't trying to attack the village?" Tsunade asked with disbelief. The Akatsuki didn't just suddenly show up at the village simply to say "hello."

Itachi shook his head, his eyes falling back down to his lap. Tsunade sighed, rotated her neck.

"If you don't start talking I'm going to have to use force."

Itachi did not care if the Hokage used force. Either way he was stuck here. He would not get his chance to see Hinata and be with her the way they had hoped. It brought heaviness to his chest.

"I came here because I thought I was going to die."

Silence entered the room. Tsunade raised an eyebrow in question but Itachi's gaze remained pointed at the ground. His statement, although giving, was not much help in the way of answers. What the hell did that mean?

"Why did you think you were going to die? And why come here to do it?"

With a sigh he said, "I have left the Akatsuki."

Tsunade gasped silently, sat back in her chair as if she was smacked across the face. She regarded Itachi's hunched over posture, realized he had to be telling the truth.

"That's why your cloak, ring and headband are missing." It was more of a statement than a question but Itachi nodded in response.

"How could you- Why would you leave?" Tsunade only heard of Orochimaru leaving the organization in interest of his own personal motives. Itachi was a lifelong member, joined when he was barely an adult. Tsunade gritted her teeth, keeping herself on guard.

Itachi spoke in a low voice so that Tsunade had to strain to hear him. "I did not wish to bring death and despair to anymore people. I wanted to start fresh. But apparently that is not in the cards for me."

This was surreal. Tsunade felt like she was under a genjutsu but immediately knew that she was not. Across from her sat a defeated former member of the Akatsuki, a man who killed off every member of his clan save his younger brother. How was she supposed to accept his words with such ease? She wouldn't be the Hokage if she just believed the words he spat. Tsunade regained her composure, pushed her cup aside.

"What are the requirements for leaving the Akatsuki?" She had to gain as much information as she could to better understand the organization and their motives.

"Death, normally. But they spared my life, thinking I would change my ways as soon as I recovered. They were wrong."

"Were they not afraid of you leaking their whereabouts and information regarding their plans as soon as you recovered?"

Itachi shook his head, "There is nothing I know that the Leaf village doesn't know. You know they are coming after the nine-tails, you just don't know when. We were not informed of the time in which that would occur. The leader is on other missions currently."

She regarded him, soaked in the information. Her conscience fought against itself in her mind. She wanted to believe him, felt like she could believe him, but then her cautious and Hokage-stricken attitude forced her to doubt his words. She sighed in frustration and downed her cup of sake.

"How am I supposed to believe you?" She said rather irritated.

Itachi looked at her, shrugged. "I do not know. That's why I said this is pointless. Anything I tell you can be seen in either light."

That didn't help. She wanted backup. A reason she could believe him. A sign from someone higher up that this was a gift on her doorstep. After several seconds she sighed. She wasn't going to get a sign. Tsunade poured herself one more cup but she didn't drink it, just stared into the tiny pool of alcohol.

"Let's start from the beginning."

~W~

Itachi had told her everything; from his reasoning for wanting to leave the Akatsuki to his capture that led him here. The only thing he omitted was Hinata. He could not tell the Hokage about their encounter. If Itachi could save a life he would save hers. She didn't ask for this, for him to walk into her life. No, Hinata was innocent.

Tsunade sat back against her chair and slung an arm over the back of it. She regarded Itachi with interest. Itachi had told her everything, now it was up to her to do something with this information. With a silent signal of her hand, the Anbu guards came in. Tsunade instructed them to take him back to his cell. With that, she got up and left without saying another word.

Itachi, feeling like he had nothing left to lose, slunk onto his mattress and closed his eyes. He attempted sleep, but was only bombarded by self-hatred and fantasies of Hinata. Despite his situation, he smiled into the mattress.

~W~

He wasn't sleeping when he sensed someone outside the bars of his cell. Sleep had not come easily for him but it did lend a hand for a few hours. It's okay, though. He wasn't tired, just stiff from the cheap bed.

"Itachi!"

Hearing his name in a rushed whisper made him jump up and see who his visitor was. He was momentarily confused by the Leaf shinobi who stared at him with such anxiety that it made Itachi question if he was dreaming or not. The Leaf shinobi kept glancing over at the prison door as if expecting a barrage of Anbu members to come in and take him away. Itachi sat up, peering at the strange man.

"I do not have a lot of time. I'm sorry I did not come sooner."

Itachi walked over the bars as best he could with his feet bound at the ankles. He hopped more than he walked but he made it. Gripping onto a bar to steady himself he looked closer at the shinobi. He donned a green vest and a Leaf head band. A scar ran vertically down his left eye stopping at the center of his cheek. He did not recognize the shinobi at all, but something familiar itched at his neck.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I will explain later. I cannot get you out right now- too many guards on watch but I have a plan. Be ready tonight, and I will get you out of here. Okay?"

"Why are you helping me?" Itachi saw the shinobi smile as if he just said the sweetest thing a guy could say.

"Because we all deserve a second chance. Here," The shinobi shoved a piece of paper into Itachi's hand and left without another word. Itachi watched the door shut and lock behind the shinobi before hopping back to his bed.

When he was seated, Itachi unfolded the piece of paper the shinobi had given him. Bringing it closer to his face so he could read it, Itachi smirked. Gazing at the words written so neatly on such a tiny piece of paper, Itachi knew the man felt familiar. Something about his aura that didn't say he was simply just a leaf village shinobi had struck Itachi when he looked at him.

'Do not worry, Itachi. You will be free soon and have the life you always wanted.'

"Hinata." Itachi smiled and squeezed the piece of paper in his fist. Who would have guessed that a note from an angel could restore hope to a lost soul like Itachi?