Hello!

I am very sorry for the horrible wait on this chapter. Between my dominant hand getting messed up last year (it is better now) and my computer's 'B' key breaking later on (it is still broken, but usable if done a certain way), it's been a bit difficult to get this chapter up.

I will try my best to make sure the next chapter comes sooner and is longer. Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy the story.

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Tobirama had only spoken with Itachi a total of three times now.

Once in the compound.

Once in the office.

Once in the hotel.

Each conversation had been somewhat productive despite Hiruzen's warnings. His student had cautioned him ahead of time - even with Itachi's peace-loving nature, he was by no means one to readily accept a proposed alliance at the flip of a hat as Hashirama once had. The boy was not one to trust in two heads being better than one, seeming to prefer the notion that two couldn't possibly keep a secret unless one of them was dead.

While Hashirama was always quick to share his opinions and views the moment an ear was open to listen, Itachi wasn't so willing to share his guts.

He was a bit more...cynical, as Hiruzen had said.

Rather than speaking with bravo and inspiring words to sway others, he seemed to find it better to keep his remarks forward and to the point. He would keep his thoughts and opinions to himself up until the moment when he no longer felt it was right to do so. At which point the words would leave his lips whether he wanted them to or not, driven by something between righteousness and pride.

That was the key to it all, truthfully. That single moment in a conversation or fight when Itachi's heart made the decision that it was wrong to stay quiet. Those were the rare yet critical moments when it was possible to peer into Itachi Uchiha's intricate mind for only a brief second of understanding.

They were the moments he would have to work with the most in the beginning. If he wanted to convince Itachi that there was a future in store for him, and by extension Sasuke and his clan, they needed to understand each other.

Tobirama needed him to understand that they stood on the same side during these moments. Neither of the two wanted the village and their loved ones lasting legacies to be drenched in the soured blood of nameless martyrs. Whether said sacrifices come in the form of the children snatched away from their clans by a corrupt elder or a boy who had died far too young, bent under the pressure of a decades-old feud.

A feud he himself had helped and encouraged with his own paranoia, too clung to his past losses to realize the bloodied mess of a village before him was brought forward by his very own hands.

Indirectly or not, he had helped bring this great loss to the village. Even in death, he had not been freed from his life of violence - the cycle ever-continuing from birth to death, transcending even upon it.

Despite his oaths and promises of protecting and shielding the village, it would be naive to say he had done all he could. He may not have realized them back then, but now his failings seemed all too vibrant against the walls of Konoha.

Their blood laid not only on Itachi's hands, nor Hiruzens, nor Danzos, nor any other lowlife that had contributed. It laid most vibrantly on his, the crimes of the students laying heavy on the teacher.

He would do what he could, when he could, between the many other ongoing missions he had assigned himself to make sure he rectified his evergrowing stack of misteachings.

If nothing else, at least he had a stable enough starting point from his student to work with the boy. Hiruzen had, over time, mentioned a few things about the boy per Tobirama's own digging.

He had described Itachi as someone with Hashirama's will, Tobirama's mind, and Kagami's attitude.

He had been right, to some degree. The young Uchiha certainly had the same gentle heart as Hashirama, no matter how much he tried to keep it in check. The way the crows seemed to flock towards him spoke volumes in itself - they were smart birds, ones that didn't give their company to just anyone.

While some might see a murder around Itachi as an eerie omen, realistically, it was more of a promising testament than anything. The pre-teen must be treating them right if they were so willing to linger near him.

As for his correlation to Tobirama himself...the silver-haired man supposed he could see where his student was coming from with the connection.

Itachi was also seeking peace, but knew that it was far from an easy road to follow. The boy understood the value words held and used them to their fullest, not being afraid to take advantage of underhanded tactics if it came down to it. Nor did he hesitate to walk through any fire he deemed necessary - the burns left behind merely being seen as a means to an end in his eyes.

Seeing these features reflected back at him on such a small canvas was...well. Tobirama wasn't quite sure how to feel about it just yet, though he would be lying if he claimed it wasn't the least bit unnerving. For Itachi to have this amount of reserve at his age...it was hard not to count it as yet another failing of the village. It wouldn't have been uncommon for his time, but he'd hoped they'd have progressed further than this by now.

Perhaps this was how Hashirama had felt when he watched him all those years ago, seeing said features in him every time they ran to battle. A battle their father had sworn was close to an end years before. One which Hashirama had only been able to end decades after the fact.

The thought left him with a twisting pain in his chest, his elder brother's concern having seemed so obnoxious and unneeded at the time. He had always loved his brother, yes, but he'd never been able to see the brunet's objections from such a clear point of view before.

Now, however, he could see the source of Hashirama's worry clearly displayed in the young boy standing by the water fountain. One he worried deep in his gut would either fall to Tobirama's mistakes or carry them on further to another.

It was striking, what a subtle mix of Hashirama and Tobirama the boy was. He supposed it could be attributed to him being raised in the village they'd created, alongside the influence he was sure came with being of the Uchiha clan.

Hiruzen had suggested that he had traces of Kagami within him, ones which were learned from another boy. The teen that was no longer among the living - Shisui Uchiha.

Based on what Hiruzen had told him, Shisui had been a direct descendent of Kagami. He'd inherited more than just the man's curled hair, his heart filled with the very same devotion to the clan and village that Tobirama had once praised so highly.

Both were gone now, though traces of each lingered within Itachi.

The boy was peace-seeking, realistic, loyal, and brave. It was a blessed combination to have in the ranks of the village, but a terribly tormenting one to exist as.

Each of these features had served as the basis of pain for the ones who had held them before Itachi, some even leading the holders on to their deaths.

All four of them had died through self-sacrifice, and now here Itachi was preparing to do the same.

Tobirama wouldn't allow it.

His comrades and he had died so that the children of the village wouldn't have to. Shisui, too, had given up his life far too early near the end of his long endeavour for peace.

He'd been too late to save Shisui. The same mistake would not be made with Itachi.

After all, for all his intelligence and perseverance, the boy was simply that in the end. A boy.

This was his resolve, he decided, to push forward despite the aches of his own resurrected body. The last few days had been painfully busy, but the list of things to correct only grew longer and longer each day.

It didn't help his frustrations that the majority of the items on said list were a direct result of his students.

From the internal disgrace that was ROOT to the messy results of his outer military expeditions, there seemed to be disaster after disaster to clean up all the while keeping him locked away under as tight supervision as he could without including too many people. After all, the more that were included the more chances there were for one of them to be in on his shady exploits.

Really, his ability to create such strong ties of loyalty would be impressive if they weren't so disturbing. It was almost unreal, from what he'd seen thus far. His reach was far too widespread into Konoha's unfortunately large underbelly for Tobirama's liking. It, too, would take quite a long time to sort out.

For now, he needed to focus on gathering his allies to set things straight. So far he at least had Hiruzen's voice backing him, and Shikaku had certainly found himself on the short list of people he could see himself possibly trusting in the long run. Now, he hoped to add his grandniece to the list of available allies.

He could only hope she would be more cooperative than the stories he'd heard suggested. It left a lingering pain in his heart that he wasn't quite ready to admit to - imagining the little girl that had been so enthralled to visit her grandfather reject the village he had worked so hard to create.

What could have happened after their passing for her to have such negative feelings towards her home? He needed to find these answers, for better or for worse if it meant convincing his grandniece to come home.

Perhaps she, too, was disappointed in the turn the village had taken?

There was only one way to find out, he resolved on telling himself as he eyed the boy ahead of him.

He steadied himself, taking an easy breath in and out as he held their bag of food firmly in his hand. The sooner they were on the move, the sooner he would find his answers to both the predicament of Tsunade and Itachi.

As such, he moved forward, towards the fountain. It didn't take long for the dark eyes that had moved from one of the passing children to the floor to lift back up again, meeting Tobirama's gaze for only a moment before drifting slightly to the side. Tobirama gave a light bow in greeting, Itachi returning the gesture to the silver-haired shinobi.

"I've brought us some kabobs for lunch. We can eat here I figure - presuming you're ready to go?" Tobirama spoke, tone low and casual as if he were talking to a travelling partner rather than an ally on a mission. It may have been a few years since his body had been through its last covert mission, but his mind was ever-used to it. After all, he had to have a decent enough amount of skill to make up for his painfully recognisable face.

Though, luckily, that wasn't much of an issue anymore between him being gone for decades and his disguise.

Itachi merely nodded, carefully accepting the food as Tobirama passed over one of the bags. Slender fingers wrapped around the bag as it was accepted, a nod and "Thank you - yes, I am." being the pre-teen's only response as the elder moved to sit on the water fountain.

It was nice enough outside, the fresh water around them keeping the air clean feeling and comfortable as Tobirama reached into his bag. Out came two kabobs, one filled with chicken and a rainbow of crisp vegetables while the other was made predominantly out of well-seasoned grilled fish.

Neither were particularly horrible or well-made, the quick meal doing its job as he ate. Mildly, he noticed Itachi sitting to his left, the young Uchiha reaching into his bag and bringing one of the kabobs to his mouth. The large hat obstructed the upper half of his face, Tobirama seeing only the lower half as the boy picked at the meal bit by bit until it was gone.

Seeing him eat, hidden away by the large hat and the uniform a few sizes smaller than he'd seen at the meeting with the rest of the Akatsuki, it began to really dawn on Tobirama.

Itachi seemed quite small, even for his age, didn't he?

Tobirama made a mental note to get the boy something a bit more...substantial, when they next got the chance.