Disclaimer: I do not own anything Kishimoto created. That's all.

Had it been his choice, Itachi would not have dared involve himself with the affairs of his uncle's conquered nation. It was selfish that he dared think such things, but if the world had been less cruel – and perhaps had he been extended a branch to pursue his own interests – he entertained the thought that he might have been on the exact hilltop he currently occupied. Itachi's preoccupation with his uncle's daily torments didn't allow for many moments under the sun basking in nature's offerings. Instead, much of his time was consumed with shedding the blood of others. Precisely what was expected of him that afternoon. His position was one that typically offered the king's ear and was much sought after, though he could do without it, but who more suitable than the clan's prodigal son to dispatch their enemies? A sentence he'd heard his king and the council elders utter time and again.

His horse shifted beneath him, disarranging patches of grass beneath its hooves.

"Lord Itachi?" Itachi's new and inexperienced shadow called out to him.

He inclined his head to acknowledge the younger man without turning from the sprawling hills before him. His company was merely a formality, a way to ensure that he would not attempt to flee his desolate life in search of greener pastures. After so many years, he'd grown used to the watchful gaze and presence of others. As though His Majesty did not provide him with enough incentive to do his bidding.

"Are we to accompany you to the village?"

Itachi closed his eyes, released a deep breath, and grasped the reigns to coax his steed in the direction of the youth.

"We will intercept the guards at the barracks during their exchange. From then on, we will work their shifts interchangeably, until we have located the person responsible for the riot."

The young man shifted uncomfortably atop his horse. "What happens when we find them?"

Itachi truly felt for the young man. He was obviously not fit for the post he'd been assigned, a recurrent theme among foot soldiers. If Itachi had been any other person, he would have thought his uncle incomprehensibly naive for having placed such an untried youth in the position of spying on his most hated nephew. Itachi knew, though, that the boy's lack of subtlety worked favorably for the king by having his subject's simultaneously fear someone who would put such an obvious tail – and having to do so at all – on the kingdom's most valiant nephew and fool the ones who were being tailed into thinking their sovereign lacking. The boy's lack of qualification made him far more malleable than a seasoned soldier, but Itachi hoped to influence him into using that to his advantage.

"They will be tried before the village and beheaded for their crime of disturbing the king's peace, as it has always been done, Nomura."

Nomura nodded and opened his mouth, seemingly to say something more.

"Is there something else?" Itachi queried.

"No. Well… yes. I was just curious," Nomura scratched his cheek, inflamed with distress. "What is the point of a trial, if they are to be executed either way?"

The young lord's eyes narrowed at his subordinate. Nomura's spine aligned appropriately in response, and he looked past Junichi to study the two guards accompanying them. Upon declaring them sufficiently occupied with their own conversation, he returned his cautious gaze to his now sweating inquisitor.

He lowered his speaking voice to appease the man's curiosity. "The point of a trial, in this case, is to make an example of the offender. By the law of the crown, there is no argument to be made in defense of a person who disrupts the king's peace."

With that, Itachi decided he had taken far too many open risks for one day and pushed his horse forward without word to his other officers. The men scrambled to pack and mount their horses and for the next several moments, Itachi paid no heed to their shouted requests that he soften his speed. Their entourage covered the distance to the village in half of the estimated time, to which he was pleased. The quicker this tedious task was accomplished, the better, he thought. But then, he reconsidered, and while it was always a good thing to complete a task early, it's end would signify an earlier return to the castle and his uncle and his uncle's newest plaything. An emotional loss Itachi aimed to sequester.

Yes, taking his time would not be the wisest course, but it would also delay having to watch whatever the king had planned. Running from his uncle was just as despicable as doing the man's dirty work, but this had been his life for nearly a decade and the shame no longer tore at him in the same way. He bore it all out of love, even at the cost of others' lives.

He dismounted and entered the dwelling of the stationed soldiers. Upon entering, he counted seven men reclining throughout the room, one of which caught his eye and darted to his feet in a salute befitting a castle guard. His hasty reaction startled all but one man into position, the last of which seemed to Itachi to be in a deep sleep. Itachi scrutinized the sweating guard who stood closest to their unconscious comrade and watched as the man's eyes darted fearfully from his superior to the man lying curled on his side.

With jerky movements he bent low to slap the dozing man's shoulder. "Yamada!"

The man, Yamada, groaned and slapped the hand away. Itachi's eyes trailed back up the arm to the guard whose brow was now furrowed beseechingly and the young lord closed his eyes in contemplation, before unleashing the essence of his magic onto the room. He opened dark eyes to two men in the line openly cowering. Yamada rolled onto the stone floor in a state of panic, his cap snapping off of fair tufts, brandishing a dagger – at which Itachi raised a brow.

The blond seemed to read the room and upon recognizing Itachi, quickly jumped to his feet, bowing low and giving a respectful apology.

"The king has received word that there has taken place an uprising in the village you've been stationed," Itachi remarked to the recently awakened man. He left the statement in the air, clasping his hands behind him as though in serious thought and waited for the man to trip over himself about whether he should speak up or wait for Itachi to speak further on the matter.

Itachi turned his attention to the open window and admired the grassy plains visible from their second-floor vantage point. In the corner of his eye, Itachi noted the man gnawing at his lip simultaneously with the restless shift of the youngest soldier who accompanied him. Instead of addressing Yamada again, he turned to the guard who moved behind him. He stood before Nomura, still waiting for Yamada to speak.

With each passing moment, the youth he faced tried his hardest to resist fidgeting before his lord and he was failing miserably. Itachi noted the need to correct this weakness at a later date. In what he was sure was in an unfounded sense of camaraderie and sympathy to Itachi's visual victim, Yamada cleared his throat.

"There's not been an uprising, sir, just a minor skirmish with a female villager."

Itachi hummed, tilting his head without breaking eye contact with the man before him. "A skirmish. I wonder, then, how the king received this false information."

"I'm not sure, my lord. It was not our intention for this matter to reach the king."

He rotated slowly on his heel. "Then it was your intention to keep this matter from the king."

Yamada sputtered, the scales on his temples crossing the threshold of his cheeks. He was anxious, but Itachi's performance was not quite finished.

"Of course not, my lord!" Yamada exclaimed. "We did not want to bother your royal selves with such a trivial matter."

"You've brought the girl to heel then?"

The man clammed up, his companions eyes looking everywhere Itachi wasn't.

"No," the man confessed. "We've been conducting a search within the village to retrieve the girl to properly punish her, but she seems to have disappeared."

"Disappeared."

"Yes, we've questioned the villagers about her but they all seem to be withholding information of her whereabouts."

"Hm. Have the shifts changed yet?"

"Yes, my lord."

At this, he dismissed all of the guards – save the one he had been speaking to – and had the man recount said skirmish. It was clear to Itachi that the man was an outright liar, as he stuttered through the story with unquestionably inaccurate details of the event that occurred. The fact that he refused to look Itachi in the eye was far from his only tell, and the young lord – although he allowed the man to continue to speak his fables – had already deduced that he would garner the truth of the events from the people.

Posing as a guard within Tsunade's village would be the most arduous task, prompting him to decide that it would be more beneficial to reveal himself to her straight away. While royal soldiers knew Itachi by face, common villagers did not have the displeasure, especially those from Tsunade's village.

As long as he'd known her, through his uncle's occupation of Tsuki, the woman did everything necessary to keep her village and its people out of the king's eye. When she was called to court, she made haste to the castle immediately. The village's taxes were always paid in full and on time, no matter it's constant fluctuations. Likewise, while Itachi had been called to other villages multiple times to quell greater dissent, the Leaf Village – as it was so called – and its leader had done all it needed to stay on the fringes of their society's awareness. All of this indicated that Tsunade was likely hiding something, but he had no desire to discover the truth behind her secret dealings. If his uncle had not yet caught wind of whatever it was there was no need to investigate. Of course, it was also a possibility she was so painstakingly careful simply out of worry for the well-being of her people… but his intuition knew better.

The room had been quiet for many moments before Itachi realized Yamada had ceased speaking and was now squirming under his fixed stare.

"You'll escort me the chief's dwelling. Following that task, you will return here with my guard," Itachi scrutinized both burly guards that accompanied he and his appointed spy. "You'll return with Whistler and receive your punishment of forty lashes. You have embarrassed yourself and the kingdom with your conduct, and have offended me with your falsehoods."

His tone was matter-of-fact. While it was true that Itachi had no taste for these things, they were necessary to dissuade the constant suspicion to his allegiance. It was clear that whatever situation had taken place had likely been at the hands of the shuddering man before him, and so he felt no regret for his decree. Yamada lifted his cap from his head and ran trembling fingers through his hair. Itachi noticed that although the man's hair was wisp-like in nature it was actually very thick. No words were shared between the two as the fair-haired man easily lead the group through the hidden paths to Tsunade's home at Itachi's behest, something the lord was sure to make note of.

An antsy woman with a neat black bob opened the door to what was evidently the entrance to the kitchens, her eyes darting around at the chests in front of her before raising her head to look up at the men crowding the doorstep and her lips trembled for a moment. The small woman released an exasperated sigh and bowed so abruptly that Itachi nearly stepped back.

"To what do we owe this honor, Lord Uchiha?" Surprised fluttered across his features to which the woman responded with a warm smile. "I'm not surprised you don't remember me, my lord. I am the lady's niece, Shizune."

The lord gave a shallow bow, his mind attempting to conjure a memory of her face in a crowd at court as he and his men followed after her, leaving Yamada behind with his eager guard. In the depths of his mind, whilst he couldn't recall her countenance, Itachi vaguely remembered a report sent to him very long ago that Tsunade was said to have a niece who-

'Yes, my lord, the fae people have diverse power. Mine is of thought transference, telepathy,' Itachi's throat clenched at the new presence reverberating in his mind. Yes, now he remembered. What a useful tool for one to bring along when summoned to court, and one that was difficult to procure in this realm. Her talent was deliberately withheld, and with good reason. Any monarch or average man would abuse the power, as old tales and poems have recounted.

"Very good, my lord. I hope you will not spoil the secret, however, because I have only revealed myself to you to assist in hastening you away from your guards. I know you prefer your solitude."

She halted her procession abruptly and turned with a happy smile, short strands whipping about her cherub-like face. "Here are my lady's quarters, my lord," he stepped forward and his guards made to follow. "Unfortunately, foreign guards are not to enter the chief's rooms. You lot will have to wait out in the hall."

His remaining broad-shouldered guard opened his mouth to protest. Itachi expected nothing less and hoped she would be listening to his thoughts as he considered the harmless accompaniment of his assigned spy. The young man was not Uchiha and obviously known to the other men as the king's eye, so taking him along would quell their suspicion, he would also be more easily led. With that considered, magic could be used to coerce his psyche into the realm of illusion whilst he chatted with the chief.

Shizune eyed him, her expression nothing short of mischievous, and pursed her lips at the soldier's loudness.

"It is obscene of you to even consider requesting such a thing of this land's heir, so you'd best speak to your lady because-"

"Well!" she chirped. "I must apologize profusely, sir, for I have not listened to a word you've said. Your concern for your lord was the bulk of your argument, I presume? Well then, my lady is fair and understanding, I'm sure she would not mind if one guard stepped into her office."

The man drew in a breath and smoothed his hands over his doublet, at last appeased by her words.

Shizune opened the door and welcomed Itachi into its threshold, to which the guard proceeded to step in front of him. A tiny hand slapped against the soldier's chest and stopped him in his path, much to Itachi's amusement.

The small woman tilted her head at the younger man at the back of the two and inquired simply, "What's your name?"

Nomura's eyes flitted between his lord and superior officer, unsure. Itachi narrowed his eyes at him and Nomura took the hint. "Nomura Junichi, my lady."

She smiled and pushed the guard away with a puff of purple sparkles, only enough to set him back a few steps as he sputtered in anger. "Welcome, Junichi, please step in."

Itachi sorely wished to laugh at the scene, but instead maintained his expression and followed after her extended arm.

Tsunade's office was a mixture of grand and shabby. The walls, he could tell, had taken the brunt of her rumored anger many times. Some spots had been patched up, but the repairs were no match for his superior vision. The door shut behind him and Itachi glanced back at Shizune to be sure that she'd entered the room as well. His thoughts wandered to his young guard, who also examined the walls, and how an illusion should be cast on Itachi to maintain the color of his eyes.

"How very diligent of you, my lord." She patted his back and, in his mind, he heard echoes of chime-like laughter. "There you are."

Tsunade turned around with pursed lips and a furrowed brow, almost exactly identical to one of Shizune's earlier expressions.

He turned to Nomura, the motion startling the young man and dropped like a swatted fly the moment he looked into Itachi's eyes. He caught him and carefully sat him on the lounge in the corner of the blonde's office, turning on his heel to face the woman once again.

"To what do I owe this visit, your princeliness?" His eyes held her fierce ones but he did not speak. "Oh, please. Of course no sound escapes my office, you buffoon."

He nodded at her insult. This was the Tsunade he'd heard about, not the docile sleeve she transformed into on castle grounds. Shizune stifled a laugh behind him and the blonde woman shot a glare in her direction, as though she too could hear his thoughts. He assumed it was probably the case that Shizune was feeding them to her aunt.

"Now. Just what are you doing on my lands, Uchiha? I make it my business to keep your ilk from having a reason to step foot in my leafy paradise."

"Officially, I've been sent by His Majesty to survey an apparent uprising in your quaint homelands," he responded.

She snorted. "And unofficially?"

He shut his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a movement that would have been considered undignified at court.

"Look, it's not that I'm not happy that your here. Although, I'm not. It's just that whenever an Uchiha shows up anywhere, the mess follows. Dead people, burned cottages, theft of resources - you know what I'm talking about," Tsunade drawled.

Itachi stared at her blankly before replying, "A break."

She blinked. "A break."

"Yes."

"And the so-called rebellion? You can't expect me to believe the charming beast you have outside my door and any other guards you've surely brought along are happy to play holiday with you. This one here," she observed, wagging a finger at Nomura. "For sure. The rest? I'm not convinced. I know your uncle, and unlike many a blind fool in the kingdom, I know how much he truly hates and fears you."

Itachi gave her a true smile then. He gestured at the chair facing her and she nodded her permission to sit.

"Of course, I would make a good show of investigating this girl's whereabouts. You have her hidden away, I hope?" Tsunade inclined her head. "Then there's nowhere my guard's will find her. I'll take my leave after a full seven days. When I return to my dearest uncle, I'll inform him that the girl was hunted until the northern border, the Hyuuga lands, and dared not venture any further."

"And you just… trust that I won't send word of this to your uncle." Tsunade grinned at him menacingly, gesturing along with her words.

His smile remained, indifferent to her threat. "Yes. I know that I can trust your confidence in this matter, Tsunade." Her smile dropped at the slight shift in his tone. He was almost surprised she picked up on it, but then, of course he knew that she was a legendary force in these lands for a reason. "Because, if you did happen to betray me, word would reach me before the king. You see, I command the fear and respect of his armies, as I'm sure you are aware. Because of this, I would be required to do my duty of informing him of the insurrection being orchestrated by you that I had been investigating for however long.

"He would then praise me for my diligence, much like your niece did earlier." His expression cooled into its usual stoic mask and caught Shizune's disbelieving gaze in the window behind her aunt, whose breath was heavy with rage. "As such, he would have to send me to extinguish your forces and your village, and I would do so under my king's orders, like the good pet that I am. Of course, my men would want to be rewarded for a job well done, and so they would be rewarded with looting the homes still viable. I would do all of that and kill you last – just to be certain you witness the destruction you have wrought upon yourself...

"So, yes, I do know what you're referring to."

Hello there, fair folk, I've returned! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I definitely enjoyed writing it. In it's original form, it's about nineteen pages long. SO. Here's eight pages for your pleasure. I'm cutting it kind of in half (I know this is less than half), because I felt that that was a great place to end and also because in the second half our two leads finally, FINALLY, meet. I just wanted to establish them a bit before I brought them together.

On that note, enjoy this chapter, and prepare yourself for some ItaSaku time in the next chapter.