Author's Note: Within this chapter is an ethical debate that I wish I could expound more on, but that's for a blog post or Facebook rant. This time old question has been repackaged by Danzo to choose to kill a man with an infectious disease in order to save others, but you may better know a similar question known as the Trolley Problem.

Would you kill one to save many? The Utilitarian/Consequentialist says kill the one. The Deontologist says don't kill because killing the innocent is absolutely wrong. Akina's position is my position. Read on!

Citations: Itachi's Story: [Daylight] pg. 54-60

Chapter's Song: "A Praise Chorus" by Jimmy Eat World

Chapter 12
Hunted

Danzo tossed the white file onto his desk as he finished reading it and looked at the subordinate standing before him, wearing a white tiger mask. Red shading stretched out to the sides from around the eyeholes, slanted upwards as if expressing anger. "Uchiha Itachi, hm…"

The photo attached to the file showed the face of a still-young boy. The eyes that stared back at Danzo, however, contained a strength that belied their owner's age.

"All involved assert that The Academy has never before witnessed such genius."

His gaze still on the file, Danzo listened to the excessive formality of his subordinate, and a smile crossed his lips. "I can just see the different departments fighting to get him."

"Yes."

Danzo lifted his weary hips from the chair. As the shadow behind the Third

Hokage, he had carried the burden of The Village's darkness, but recently, he had felt bitterly the weight of his own body. He wasn't so old that he knew death was upon him, but he was of an age to start thinking about his own life and the length of it.

Ten years from now, twenty years from now... He would certainly die. And there was something he had to do before that happened. Cutting out the root of the evil that had been growing since the birth of the village of Konohagakure was Danzo's life's work.

"A prodigy not yet colored by anything…"

Danzo turned his gaze to the darkness visible beyond the window. The black void had fallen deathly silent, as if devouring the fleeting peace. For men who lived in times of war, the night, with its swirling air of murder, was something yearned for.

"Well, let's meet him first, hm?"

"Aside from the clone jutsu, which is a requirement for graduating the Academy. Uchiha Itachi has already mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a forbidden jutsu. He excels in all other subjects. There's no purpose in keeping him at the Academy any longer." Daikoku presented before the Hokage, Danzo, and the other elders.

"Isn't he just a freshman?" Lord Third asked straightly.

"Yes."

Danzo looked to Hiruzen. "That doesn't matter. This has happened before."

Lord Third closed his eyes to argue, "That was a different era. This is not the age of war."

Danzo looked back to Daikoku. "The boy is a genius, no?"

"I've never seen a student like him." Daikoku sternly reported.

Lord Third lowered his head. "So it will be better for Itachi to let him graduate?"

"Graduate?" Fugaku asked confounded as he took off his Leaf Vest for Mikoto to take. "After only a year at the Academy?"

"Yeah." Mikoto reported, taking her husband's vest away.

Itachi sat on the floor at the table, as his father stood above him, still confounded. "The teacher said as long as both parents agree. They want to talk to you at school."

Fugaku sat down, smiling. "I see… That's my boy."

Sasuke's hands brushed Itachi's back to get Itachi's attention. He cooed smiling as he brushed Itachi's arm. Itachi smiled at his innocent baby brother.

"Class graduates in a month… I have to do a clone jutsu by then." Akina showed signs of exhaustion and frustration, but she closed her eyes to focus her chakra. Benjiro and Shisui watched squatting above in a tree branch.

Akina manifests five clones, staring at them in front of her before— POOF! "Yes… I did it…" She falls forward, passing out, for Benjiro in a flash of blowing petals, to catch her.

"Daikoku-sensei!" Akina dashed following said man as he went into the Academy's hall.

"What is it, Akina?" He turned back.

"Would it be possible for me to take the graduates exam, as well?"

"Well, your grades are exceptional, Akina, but—"

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu." Akina said as she focused her chakra and eight clones appeared to beg with clasped hands. "Please, sensei!"

"Oh my… M-multi-Shadow Clones…" He pointed as he counted the clones. "I'll discuss with The Hokage, and I would have to talk to your guardian, as well."

High hopes just crashed as her emerald eyes lost their glimmer. "Why?"

"Because she's your guardian." Daikoku blinked and suspiciously grinned.

Benjiro, Akanah, and Akina sat eavesdropping in the next room over in the Mochizuki Manor where Iva and Daikoku knelt discussing.

"I really feel that she's too young. She's our only heir to our clan, and it's only been a year since we lost her father." Iva made crocodile tears.

"I'm very sorry, her grades and skills are excellent, though." Daikoku stretched out his hand to explain.

"And I'm so proud of her, but, she's only seven-years-old, Daikoku-san."

"Very well." Daikoku stood, and when Akina heard this, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and she darted off for her room, Iva noticing with a smile in her eye.

Akanah went after Akina and Benjiro remained listening. "Thank you for seeing me. The offer will remain on the table for when she is ready to become a Genin."

"Thank you so much." Iva bowed her head with a sweet grin, and Daikoku bowed as he left, once he was gone, Benjiro slid the door open for Iva to look at her son.

"Mom… You're an idiot."

"What did you just say?!" Iva growled.

"You can't keep her at The Academy forever. Eventually they will allow her to graduate without your consent at twelve-years-old."

"It still delays her…" Iva looked away.

"She still will only get stronger, despite being held back. That's what she's already been doing."

"Your point?"

"If you let a seven-year-old become a Genin she has a higher chance of dying then a twelve-year-old Genin."

"Hmm." Iva contemplated.

"It's fine, though. She'll become a Genin at twelve, a Chunin at thirteen, Jonin promotion at fourteen, clan head by sixteen. This doesn't change anything." Benjiro thought out loud, casually making each point on a finger, as he then walked away.

Iva stiffened and thought seriously.

"I have a mission…" Shisui leaned on his house's doorframe. "You should train with someone that is your weakness. Fight a water user."

"Akina?"

"Benjiro is training with Akina today. She may not be as fast as me, but she should challenge you enough."

"I'm not allowed to…"

"Well, you need to go tell Benjiro I have a mission. Play nice." Shisui grinned, closing his door.

"Hm?" Benjiro noticed and Akina turned to see, "Itachi-kun…"

"Good," Benjiro plopped to his butt, leaning his back against the tree. "I can take a break."

"But, Nii-san…" Akina complained.

Benjiro wagged his finger between the two seven-year-olds. "You two spar. Three… Two… One…"

Akina and Itachi got into their fighting positions, Akina's hands open and up near her face. She watched as Itachi came at her, throwing a punch for Akina to duck and then get hit by a flying knee. She staggered back to— POOF!

"Huh?" Itachi was surprised, but he regained his composure in a furrow of his brows to keenly look around. "Where is she— There!"

"Fireball: Fire Style Jutsu!" Itachi announced as he breathed fire at the bush.

Akina doing hand signs to counter, "Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu!"

The water met the fire blast to create steam in the surrounding area. Akina doing another hand sign for a vine to come up at Itachi's feet— He jumped back to dodge it, and again when another vine came up at his landing spot. He kept evading the vines to hop back to a tree branch. He looked around, it hard to see with all the steam.

Akina came at him from out of the steam, he punched for that clone to— POOF! And then felt a kick to his back, to knock him off the branch; he kicked the clone as he fell for it to go— POOF! He then landed back to the ground, and as he did, a vine wrapped his whole body quickly. He struggled, and sighed as real Akina came out to face him.

"You can do Shadow Clones… Since when?" Itachi exclaimed.

Akina shrugged. "Release." She ordered while focusing her chakra to have the vines to wither and go back into the ground.

"Will you be taking the graduation exam?" Itachi asked.
Akina sadly looked down, and shook her head.

"Yes, you are!" Benjiro barked from his resting spot.

"She's not going to allow me, Nii-san." Akina spat, glancing back at him.

"She will." Benjiro reassured with a nod.

"I think the valedictorian should be you then..." Itachi voiced.

"How dare you…" Akina glared back at him. "If they make me valedictorian despite your skills and grades being better, then that's blatant prejudice. It's dishonorable to me."

"Did you pre-plan a salutatorian speech?" Itachi smiled gently.

"Yeah…" Akina pouted in an embarrassed flush of her cheeks.

"I'm no good at writing a speech…" Itachi confessed.

Her green eyes softened. "I can help you."

The morning sun shined through Akina's bedroom window— Her lying in her bed. The sunrays made her wince, them hitting her face to wake her sleeping eyes. She'd lean up to her elbows, looking out the window. "What a peaceful morning." She thought it too soon as she then heard Aunt Iva yell from down stairs. "AKINA! IS YOUR BUTT STILL IN BED?"

KER-THUMP! Akanah fell out of her bed on the other side of the room in shock, while Akina rolled out of her bed. Throwing back the mauve covers to stand on the cold morning floor to answer, "No, ma'am!" She'd roll her eyes when she said 'ma'am' but then started dressing herself.

Iva walked away from the bottom of the stairs to turn into the dining room. "Hurry up! You won't be able to make breakfast and make your ceremony at this rate!"

Akina's eyes widened and she dashed down the stairs, seeing Iva's back, "My ceremony?!"

"Your graduation?" Iva dully explained, looking over he shoulder.

"Told you." Benjiro crossed his arms, sitting at the dining table on the floor.

Akina was breathless as she dropped to her knees and bowed. "Thank you!"

"Just get breakfast on the table." Iva grumbled.

There had apparently been all kinds of quarreling among the teachers about Itachi reading the formal reply as the valedictorian.

The majority of the graduates were twelve years old. There were some who, like Itachi, had managed excellent grades and were younger graduates, but at seven, Itachi was indeed far too young.

Even if he did have the grades, the thinking, and the ninja skills far beyond his seven years, there was concern that he was simply too immature to hold up before the other graduates.

And there was one more thing... There were complaints about the fact that Itachi had been born into the Uchiha Clan, mainly from the teachers with lineages connected to the Senju clan.

In the end, however, they bowed before his overwhelming abilities and grades, and the way he excelled in all things, despite the issue of his age and the prejudice toward the Uchiha. There could be no other valedictorian.

"Although the Great War is over, we cannot yet say that the world is now totally at peace. Even now, there are those who struggle through difficult days because of the sad incident of two years past. So how do we break this down? As young ninja, this isn't someone else's problem. Today, we take our first step on the path of the ninja. In this chaotic world, it is most certainly not a peaceful path. But despite this, we vow it here. Ninja are precisely those who dare to advance down a difficult path. Ninja are those who push forward and endure. Using everything we have learned at the academy, we will fulfill our duties as ninja of Konoha." Itachi read the scroll in a sonorous voice before slowly rolling it back up.

And then he turned his gaze out over the sea of graduates and current students, guardians and teachers, below him.

"Valedictorian, Uchiha Itachi." Daikoku announced in appreciation as Itachi left the podium.

Itachi's mother, Mikoto, smiling gently to greet him from the other side of his father, and his baby brother, whose recent mastery of his ability to walk delighted him to no end. His family.

Spotting his big brother in the throngs of people coming and going, Sasuke opened his adorable round eyes wide. "Itaaa!" he cried in a clear voice.

Their mother told him to call his big brother "Itachi," but he still couldn't talk properly, so that turned into "Ita."

And seeing his little brother calling out so happily and tottering toward him, Itachi felt something overwhelming.

"He adores me unconditionally…" Itachi thought. He had to protect Sasuke unconditionally.

His mother followed along behind the baby and his tottering steps and bright smile; hands outstretched to catch him

"Be careful, Sasuke," he called, calmly. And then Sasuke disappeared from his field of view. Someone stood between them, blocking his view. "Huh?"

A man… A man, with a dark aura, Itachi couldn't exactly put into words just what was dark about this man. Basically, everything about him was dark.

"Are you Uchiha Itachi?" The man asked, looking down on him. The right side of his face covered by bandages. He was clad in black, but his arm from his left shoulder was exposed, revealing the white robe he wore underneath. His left eye alone glared at Itachi. "I see…"

Unflinchingly, Itachi met the gaze of the man clouded in a sinister aura. Behind Danzo, his mother grabbed the shoulders of Sasuke, as the baby attempted to continue his stroll.

"You are the bearer of bad luck."

"Bad luck?"

"They call chaos, those lines," The man said, pointing at the lines running from

Itachi's eyes down his cheeks. "Chaos will follow you throughout your life."

"This man had to ruin such a good day?" Itachi thought.

"I have a question for the most talented genius ever to grace the halls of the academy."

Itachi silently waited for the man to continue.

"Ten of our brethren have been shipwrecked. One of them has caught a nasty, infectious disease. If he is allowed to live, the other nine will also get sick and die.

If you were the captain of that ship, what judgment would you hand down?"

"Why ask me such a thing when we're just meeting?" Itachi scoffed in his mind and then opened his mouth to reply, "No matter what happens, the one who is sick is destined to die. If I were the captain, I would think that my first priority would be to save the lives of the other nine. I would choose to kill the one and save the nine."

A bold smile crossed the man's face. "A very unambiguous response."

Danzo moved toward Itachi. "I look forward to the day we meet again," He almost whispered as he passed the boy.

Itachi felt the malicious echo sully his heart with darkness.

"Itachi…" His mother came racing over, Sasuke in her arms.

"What did he say?" His father asked, chasing after his mother at some point.

"Nothing important." Itachi reported, blankly.

"Oh, really," His father said, turning his eyes on the man's departing back.

"Who is he?" Itachi asked his father.

"Shimura Danzo. He's a close aide of Lord Third." A dark shadow lurked in Fugaku's voice as he answered Itachi.

"'Chaos will follow you throughout your life,'?" The words Danzo left lingering in the air became sharp thorns and pierced Itachi's heart, placing a hand on his aching chest, Itachi stared at the man's back as he walked away, until he disappeared

"I have to get inside now, for the assigning of our squads." Itachi turned away.

"Okay." Fugaku nodded. "We'll see you at home."

"Ita! Ita!" Sasuke whined, for Itachi to turn back and place a hand on his head.

"I'll see you later, Sasuke." The big brother smiled.

"I'm not going to make it!" Akina was running as fast as she could. "This is the first time I've hated living so far!"

An old man came around the corner as Akina skidded to a stop to look up at the man, half his face covered with bandages. "This man… Is scary…"

"I'm sorry," Akina bowed.

"You're in a hurry…" Danzo looked down on her. "You must be… Mochizuki Akina?"

"Uh, yes, and you are—" Akina questioned.

He leaned down face to face. "Family… Since you have none, come to me when you need a home. I am the head of a place for those with no past or future, such as yourself."

"No future?" Akina asked out loud, confused, shaking her head. "Thank you, my apologies, but I must be going. I do have a future."

Danzo looked over his shoulder as she took off running. "For now… We'll meet again when your heart has been hardened."

"Hardened?" Akina stopped, turning back.

"Ten of our brethren have been shipwrecked. One of them has caught a nasty, infectious disease. If he is allowed to live, the other nine will also get sick and die.

If you were the captain of that ship, what judgment would you hand down?"

"…Quarantine the one from the rest. If he dies, he dies, but if he recovers, then all the better. I do not believe that it is ever okay to harm someone whose innocent to save another… All life is has equal value."

"He's sick and dying, his value is no more." Danzo hissed.

"A human doesn't lose their value… If we believe that, then we only justify our own prejudice and superiority complex. Choosing who, or even groups of people to die for the greater good of the majority." Akina backed away slowly and bowed her head, to turn and dart off.

In a classroom of The Academy, Itachi sat the leftmost back seat. At the front of the class, a banner read, "Graduates Information Cession."

"Graduates!" A square-faced man with spiked black hair addressed. "You will now be assigned missions from The Village."

Tenma glared at Itachi in the upper leftmost seat, passed a Hyuga boy. Everyone was about twelve to fourteen.

"We'll be forming three-man teams led by one Jonin and you will be undertaking your mission under their guidance." He smiled. "And now, I will announce the teams!"

Right behind Itachi's desk was the door, Akina entered quietly, trying not to be noticed.

"Ah! Mochizuki-chan," The man addressed. "Are you going to be late on missions?"

"No, sir." Akina stood at the top of the stairs, her hands clasped in front of her as she bowed.

"Do you have an excuse?" He rose his hand asking.

"No, sir." Akina closed her eyes.

"Let's hear it anyway."

"My approval was delayed, but I have it stamped by The Hokage and Daikoku-sensei."

"Okay, I'll collect it from you later. Just take your seat. Uchiha Itachi has your headband."

"Ooh!" The entire room mocked.

Akina just glanced to her left to see Itachi, wearing his headband. He smiled, holding out her headband in his loose hand. Akina was breathless and blushed. "Thank you, Itachi-kun."

Itachi blushed in response to her blush, and looked away to scoot in further to the booth to give Akina room to sit down next to him. Akina leaned forward and closer to try and look at him, he glanced, still blushing. "I-I hope we're on the same team."

"Me, too." He smiled in his whisper, and then became serious. "Though they'll probably pair us with two upperclassmen considering our age."

"Okay!" The man got their attention. "Team One! Uzuki Yūgao, Mochizuki Akina, Hyuga Hisoka led by Mimura Hamaki."

Hisoka, sitting in the next desk in front of Akina, at her far left turned back to look at Akina, he was directly diangle from where she was sitting. They made eye contact. His white eyes, and he smiled. Akina smiled back, making Itachi pout.

"Team Two! Uchiha Itachi, Inari Shinko, Izumo Tenma led by Minazuki Yūki."

"What?!" Tenma shouted, standing in protest.

"Seriously…?" Akina mumbled.

"Is there a problem?" The man asked. "Would you prefer to go back to The Academy?"

Tenma clenched his teeth and sat down.

"Moving on then… Hm—" The sliding door opened. A man with a black beard, short dark hair, covered by his forehead protector like a bandana.

"I'm here for Team One?" He asked, looking to the man at the front.

"He must be Mimura Hamaki…" Akina assessed.

"Ah, yes…" The man raised his hand for all three Genin to stand.

"See you!" Akina smiled at Itachi, and darted off with Hisoka who waited for her, and another girl with purple hair.