Let's start this from the beginning

Implementation

It was on the fifth day after the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox, three days since he arrived in the past, that Itachi finally decided on how to proceed.

First, preventing the Uchiha massacre from ever happening had priority. Maybe there were other matters he should worry about more, maybe he was just egoistic and chose what mattered to him personally above all the else, but just this once, he didn't care.

Once he could be tentatively sure this was taken care of, he would have to make sure that Konoha, as well as the rest of the Elemental Nations, were prepared to deal with the threat of Akatsuki and Madara.

Sasuke would have a much more carefree life than he had the last time around if the organization and its leader could be eliminated before it ever became a real threat, and there wasn't anything that could motivate Itachi more than doing something for the sake of his beloved little brother.

It wasn't as if he genuinely believed he could do so this early into the game, mind you. Not only was he still far too weak, he also lacked information about what the most important members like Pain and Madara were up to at this early point in time. Nevertheless, he could at least begin to prepare for the confrontations that were sure to come in the future.

It was fortunate that his parents weren't in the same room with him when he met his little brother for the first time in this timeline, as he found it impossible not to cry at his sight. Itachi might technically have seen him just a few hours earlier, but the two versions of him couldn't be more different from each other.

After all, one was a young adult, driven and eaten up by hate and anger which was the direct result of his actuins, while the other was a sweet and innocent little babe.

Itachi would do anything in his power to make sure that Sasuke could stay as happy and content as he was now for as long as possible, and to guarantee that, he had to start making differences sooner rather than later.

Decision made, he didn't need much time to conclude that he couldn't do this alone.

The easiest way to change something in Konoha was with the aid of the Hokage. Consequently, Itachi would need to someho share his knowledge with the Sandaime. He only had to find a way to talk with him in private without anyone listening in on their conversation first.

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

While there hadn't been an official announcement yet, everyone knew that the Sandaime had taken up the position of Hokage once again in the aftermath of the Yondaime's death. This meant that he had to do all the regular paperwork a Kage needed to finish as well as all the work that came up during the rebuild efforts made all across the village as damaged buildings were either repaired or built anew from the ground up.

This was naturally extremely time-consuming work, meaning it was rather unlikely for him to receive a child of five in his office.

Even if he was the Uchiha heir.

Itachi vaguely remembered from his last life that the Sandaime used the little free time he had to walk through the village whenever he could arrange it to see the progress of the reconstructions first-hand and to talk with the villagers. Unfortunately, he couldn't approach him there, either. The risk of someone overhearing them was ridiculously high, and he obviously couldn't let anyone but the Hokage know about this second chance of his. At least not yet.

The only solution he had found so far that would make it absolutely impossible to be overheard was through the use of Genjutsu.

This, however, brought its own share of problems. For one thing, the Hokage had his personal bodyguards from the ANBU, and Itachi wasn't sure if he could stay hidden from them considering he was currently limited by his childish body. Not all skills he had learned during his life seamlessly transferred over into this new body, unfortunately. Another problem was the fact that the Hokage would most likely counter any Genjutsu he was currently able to cast immediately. Even if he did not, one of his ANBU guards would notice that something was wrong with the Sandaime and counter the Genjutsu in his stead before Itachi actually had the chance to speak with the man.

He could just wait until the reconstructions were finished and the Hokage had enough free time to receive visitors again, of course, but he needed to talk to him now.

One thing he wanted to change was the treatment of Naruto. It was the least thing he could do for the boy after he had been so persistent in trying to bring his brother back to Konoha.

The general public wasn't informed about his existence until the funeral for all the people who died during the attack of Nine-Tails. Even if he was only introduced as "their saviour" whose sacrifice saved the village instead of as the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, everyone soon knew exactly what he was.

Itachi didn't know when exactly the Hokage told others about Naruto's status, but from the fact that he didn't hear any rumours about a "demon brat" or something along those lines yet, he concluded that he hadn't done so yet. Or if he did, the people in the known hadn't yet made a move and could consequently still be persued to not do anything unwise they might regret in the future.

However, as he couldn't talk with the Sandaime in person, Genjutsu remained his only way to archive a conversation between them soon.

And there was only one Genjutsu he knew, that could avoid all the aforementioned problems:

Tsukuyomi.

The Tsukuyomi was not only impossible for the Hokage to break free from, but it also allowed him to manipulate the time inside the technique in a way where they could talk for hours and even days while less than a second passed in the real world. This also guaranteed that none of the ANBU guards would notice anything suspicious, as there was simply not enough time to do so. Furthermore, there was also the benefit of him being able to show the Sandaime things from the future instead of just telling him about them.

The only problem with using that technique was its high chakra consume. He was confident that he could use it once, but he would need to use all the chakra currently available to him to do so.

He also was pretty sure that he would lose consciousness almost as soon as the technique was finished.

In the end, Itachi decided to go through with it regardless. Should he lose his consciousness before he was able to stumble into an empty alley, he would just claim he overdid it with his training. It was not too far-stretched to be true, after all, and he didn't have the time to think of something better anyway.

This led him to where he was right now, standing in a street that was connected to the main road. Itachi just needed to look around the corner to see the Hokage building. He made sure not to be seen by any villagers. The last thing he wanted was catching the eye of a suspicious villager that wondered what he was doing and then ruined his entire ploy.

Itachi had to wait for only about half an hour before he could sense the Sandaime's presence moving in his direction. It was now or never.

Itachi walked around the corner at a leisurely pace just as the Sandaime was about to pass him. Of course, being an experienced shinobi, the Hokage could easily avoid him and prevent them from walking into each other. This didn't really matter to him, however. All he wanted was to be close enough to look into his eyes without anyone else seeing his eyes in turn.

The moment the Hokage took a step to the side, Itachi looked up, stared right into his eyes, and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Tsukuyomi."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was tired.

Never would he have expected that he would be forced to take up the mantle of Hokage again, especially not with a successor like Minato. He was young, powerful, smart, and, maybe most importantly, driven by the desire to do his best for his village.

And now he was dead.

He sighed. All this paperwork only added to his already full workload, consisting of meetings with representatives of the village, his advisors Homura and Koharu, as well as Danzo, and, not to forget, diverse clan heads.

The thought of the latter made his migraine even worse. He just knew that most, if not all of them would try and use the current phase of reconstruction to gain more land for themselves and their clans. Some might have legitimate reasons that justified their wish for more space, but the majority most definitively did not.

When his temporary secretary brought him another stack of papers, he decided that it was a good idea to make his daily walk around the village a bit earlier than usual and stood up.

He did these daily walks not only to escape from his paperwork, but also because it warmed his heart to see the resilience of the people of his home. It had been less than a week since the catastrophe that was the Nine-Tailed Fox, and yet a great deal of the damage was already repaired. Of course, the areas where its attacks directly hit parts of Konoha's outskirts would need much more effort to recover than the centre of the village, but that would be done in due time as well.

Still, the villagers didn't let themselves get dragged down and went on with their lives. Children ran around, people worked together, laughed together, and, in some cases, mourned together before cheering each other up again. He loved this village and he would do his duty if it could help him protect these people a little bit longer even if he wished he wouldn't be forced to do so from the position of Hokage after his predecessor died an untimely death.

First, the Nidaime, who sacrificed his life during the First Shinobi War to save him and his team, and now Minato; both were shinobi who died long before their time and left him behind to clean up the mess in the wake their passing...

Hiruzen would have dwelled in his thoughts for a bit longer if his instincts hadn't suddenly screamed at him to move.

He took a step to the side and turned around, intending in finding out what exactly drew him out of his thoughts like this, but what he saw was nothing but a dark-haired child no older than five who had nearly ran into him.

Before he could decide what to do, the boy looked up.

The last thing Hiruzen saw were two red eyes that he recognized as the Sharingan despite it having some strange pattern he had never seen before instead of the one he was used to.

From one moment to the next, he found himself standing all alone on the same road he was before, with the only difference being that nobody else seemed to be there beside him. A moment later, a fairly tall man of fair complexion with onyx black eyes and long, pronounced tear-troughs, as well as jet-black hair, appeared out of nowhere in front of him. He instantly recognized the man by his features as an Uchiha, but not one he had ever met before.

Before he could even attempt to break out of this Genjutsu, the man began to speak:

"Please excuse me for catching you off-guard in such a rude manner, Hokage-sama, but I didn't see any other way we could talk without being interrupted. I have information I feel are important for you to know, so please hear me out."

It was already dark when Itachi finally arrived home.

After a long talk with the Hokage during which he did not only tell him about the future, but they also started to plan together how certain events should play out this time around, he had indeed been able to stumble in an unused alley before passing out.

It was a relief that he only fainted for about two hours because like this, he was able to return home just in time for dinner. He may have had an excuse prepared if he had missed it, but things were much easier this way. It also helped that he was quite hungry and needed to eat so that his chakra reserves would recover more quickly.

But knowing this didn't help him ignore the unwelcome feeling of anxiety that was starting to build up in his stomach. Even the fact that the Hokage believed him and they already made plans to change the future for the better was barely helpful in calming him down.

And just because he knew how to pretend at normalcy despite whatever he might be feeling in truth didn't mean he enjoyed it very much or even just found it bearable.

He wondered if eating with his family would ever be the same again.

It didn't help that he had recently become the focus of not only his immediate family, but the entire Uchiha Clan as a whole. After all, it wasn't every day that a "five-year-old" activated his Sharingan.

Izumi did activate her Sharingan as well when she witnessed her father's death during the Nine-Tails' attack, Itachi remembered, but most of the clan was happy to ignore her because of her half-blood status. He quickly discarded the thoughts of Izumi, however; this wasn't a topic he was quite comfortable thinking about just yet.

The reason he told his father, and consequently the rest of his family and clan, that he had awakened his Sharingan was quite simple:

He was an adult in the body of a child. He had always been rather mature for his age and had never truly acted quite like the children around him, witnessing the horrors of war at the age of four did that to you, but it was a far cry from the person he became as an adult. No matter how easily he could fool most people who would just shrug and say that such behaviour was to be expected from a prodigy like him, people who knew him well would notice that something was different about him sooner rather than later.

Especially because the change would have occurs so suddenly without any apparent reason.

On the other hand, it was considered normal that the awakening of the Sharingan would change an Uchiha. This was a well-known fact in his clan. His already mature personality, combined with the awakening of his eyes and a bit of acting, should be enough to fool even his parents.

Itachi stepped into the house and put off his shoes. "Otou-san, Kaa-san. I'm home."

Only a few seconds later, his mother stood in the doorframe leading to the living room, smiling down at him. She was a beautiful woman, especially now when she was nearly ten years younger than the last time he had seen her.

"Welcome home, Itachi. You're just in time for dinner." Then, she frowned. "You look exhausted. More so than usual, too. Did you overdo it with your training again? I told you to take it easy, didn't I? In fact, I think your father and I told you to not yet train with your Sharingan all by yourself at all because your body is still getting used to them."

He must look worse than he thought if his mother commented on it, but at least her assumption about him training his Sharingan fitted with the excuse he had prepared.

"I'm sorry, Kaa-san. I won't do it again, I promise."

She looked at him for a moment with narrowed eyes as if to decide if she believed him or not before she sighed and let it go. "Alright, then. Go wash your hands and then head to the table. Your father is already waiting with Sasuke and you know how terrible he is with toddlers. Go rescue him for me, would you?"

Itachi couldn't help but smile at that. It was quite amusing to watch his father when he tried to handle Sasuke as he never seemed quite to know how to hold him. It was actually rather disappointing that Itachi couldn't remember this from his last life. It made him wonder what other details he had forgotten.

Itachi gave her a short nod and went on his way. Shortly after, he sat in front of his father, having taken Sasuke from him and placed him on his laps. It was astonishing to witness Sasuke's effect on him; before arriving home, he was nervous and uncertain, but as soon as he could hold Sasuke, he felt as if everything would be alright.

The stern voice of his father pulled him out of his thoughts. "Itachi, did I hear it right that you trained with your Sharingan without supervision? Such irresponsible behaviour is rather out of character for you."

Well, he thought. Here it comes. It wasn't as if he didn't expect this topic to come up. Not after his mother instantly noted his exhausted state. If she could see it so easily, then so could his father.

Itachi nodded. "I did. I know you forbade me from training with them on my own, but I wanted to test my limits and both you and Kaa-san were too busy to help me the last few days, so I decided to go on my own. I will not do it again."

His father didn't give any outward reaction to that, nor gave he anything away that could tell Itachi what he was thinking. Not that this was a problem, mind you; he had known his father for long enough to guess his thoughts, and even the many years he hadn't seen him hadn't deprived of that ability.

"And how did it go?"

It was as he had expected. While his mother's first reaction might be worry that he overdid it and hurt himself, his father was more interested in the results of his training. He would only inquire about his health or restrict his freedom when there were signs of serious injuries. Looking exhausted wasn't enough reason for him to do so, even if he ignored a direct order of his.

"Everything went well. I expected the increased chakra consumption and was prepared for it. The only problem I noted is that I am still too slow. My body can't react fast enough to act on the information my eyes show me."

Oh, how it irked him to confess that. He may have never been too proud of his abilities, but he did grow used to them. For him, not being able to use his eyes to their fullest potential was, frankly speaking, a disgrace.

At least his sight was as good as it had been originally when he was a child and not as terrible as shortly before his death.

"Well," his father hummed. "That is not too unexpected. You awakened your Sharingan with all three tomoe in both eyes"—there, Itachi could hear genuine pride in his father's voice—"which means that your enhanced perception is already at its highest. It would be surprising if your timing were not thrown off by it." He paused and looked contemplative for a moment before he continued, "Tomorrow after I finished all my duties, we will train together. You're the heir of the clan, so you need to master our Kekkei Genkai as soon as possible."

Itachi merely nodded. This would be their second training session together in this timeline, and while he might not necessarily look forward to them too much, it would help him master his new—or was it old?—body much faster.

Besides, it was surprisingly nice to spend time with his father before he became so obsessed with his plans to increase the clan's standing in the village.

The conversation stopped there, and soon after, his mother arrived with their meal.

While his parents passed the time by talking with each other, he instead focused on his meal and on feeding Sasuke.

This is what peace feels like.

This memorial service reminded Hiruzen far too much of all the other funerals he had attended in his long life, and he didn't like it at all.

He would love nothing more than to just turn around and go home to mourn in private. Hell, even the workload waiting in his office seemed a much more enjoyable task than this! But he knew he couldn't do that. No, he needed to do his duty, and right now, that meant showing a strong face to serve as a rock for the grieving populace to lean on. He already held his speech, so everything left to do was for the people to come forward and give their farewells to the deceased.

Hiruzen let his gaze wander over those present as he waited for the service to end and found several people of note:

There was Kakashi to his left, for example. The poor boy had already lost both his teammates years ago, but now, with the death of both his sensei and Kushina, he had no one close to him left. Of course, the memories provided by Itachi showed him that he would get over it eventually, at least as much as was possible, and continue living, so Hiruzen felt hopeful this version of him would eventually be able to do the same.

What to do with him was one of the hardest decisions he had to make. Kakashi's time in the ANBU shaped him and made him the man he had become, and it also made him one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi.

On the other hand, it was also clear that it didn't do anything good for his mental health, no matter that he was able to pull himself out of the abyss of his mind later in life. Hiruzen had to decide now what was more important: the mental health of one of his shinobi, or said shinobi's potential as an asset for their village.

Thinking about Itachi, the boy— no, the young man stood in a front row to the right of him together with the rest of his clan.

Hiruzen couldn't even imagine how he had to feel right now, standing side by side with members of his family he had killed himself. And not just killed, but killed on orders of his village. How he was still able to love Konoha, he truly didn't know. To stay true to the home that caused him so much pain…

He was sure that even his old sensei, the Nidaime Hokage, who had rarely ever anything good to say about the Uchiha and repeatedly warned him about them, would be impressed. Most likely a bit smug too, knowing that his warnings about the Uchiha betraying the village were justified and had come true in the end, but impressed still.

For all that Itachi deserved to finally be at rest, to have peace, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel glad that he had been given a second chance. Not only did this grant him another chance for happiness, but all the knowledge and memories of his would become very useful in the years to come, too. In fact, today's memorial service was already quite different from the one presented to him by Itachi.

The main difference was that he hadn't brought Naruto with him. Knowing what he did now, he couldn't understand what he had been thinking the last time around. Why would he show off Naruto like this or tell anyone about his identity as Jinchuriki when he knew full-well that people searched for a scapegoat in times of pain and suffering? To think of all the years of hardship the boy must have endured in the other timeline just because of an old man's folly...

Naruto might not have been beaten or continuously bullied by the citizens or anything like that, but being ignored and glared at for all his life was bad enough in its own right.

But not this time around! Hiruzen would not make that mistake a second time!

Another minor difference was an addition he made in his speech.

One of the many reasons for the dissatisfaction of the Uchiha Clan was the attitude of the leadership of their village and the behaviour of the villagers themselves towards them. An example for the former was the "banishment" of their clan to an outer district, while an example for the latter was the constant accusations about them being behind the attack of the Nine-Tails. This accusation was mostly based on two points: their absence on the front line during the attack, and the belief that the Sharingan could control the beast.

In his speech, he had made sure to thank the Uchiha Clan openly for their service to the village in protecting the civilians and leading them to the shelters. This way, there shouldn't be any rumours in the future about what they supposedly did during the attack because everyone already knew that.

That wouldn't be enough for those determined to blame them, of course, but he didn't plan to let the situation escalate to the point where that would become a problem.

This was only one small step, naturally. One of many to come.

One of the most important things Itachi and he agreed on was that they would need to include the Uchiha more in various affairs. Their name shouldn't be only known because of their leadership of the Konoha Military Police Force—the KMPF—or their combat prowess. They needed to connect more with other parts of the village as well.

To do this, Itachi would soon bring him a list of the most easy-going and approachable members of his clan who were also Jōnin. He would then continue by making them instructors for the new Genin teams when the Academy finished its school year.

Noticing that people began to leave, Hiruzen was about to turn around and go himself when he saw a pale-skinned man with long, dark hair standing at the edges of the procession.

Orochimaru.

He was another case he didn't really know how to handle yet. He loved the man as if he was his own son, his own flesh and blood, just as he did with his other students, but the things he had been told about the man's deeds and experiments on humans and even babes…

Hiruzen truly wanted to give him the benefit of a doubt, but he couldn't.

His job wasn't made any easier by the fact that he was currently the only one who could stop him, seeing that Jiraiya and Tsunade were not in the village at the moment.

Tomorrow, he decided. I will decide what to do with him first thing tomorrow.

With that final thought, he turned around and started making his way home. There was still work for him to do, after all. Even on a day like this.

There always was.