Let's start this from the beginning

Genin Days

IV

Itachi needed to endure the, frankly speaking, embarrassing situation of himself being carried on a shoulder like a sack of potatoes for nearly two hours, and being soaking wet from the rain didn't improve his mood either. The only positive thing about this situation was that Anko had been 'kidnapped' as well, which didn't only mean that she didn't have to sneak after them, but that she was carried the same way he was. At least this way, she would be too embarrassed herself to tease him about it later.

Honestly, he couldn't help but think. She and Kisame would be best friends in no time if they ever meet if there weren't the fact he's a missing-nin. They're exactly the same.

Then, finally, they apparently reached their destination; a part of the coast with no trees in sight, making it impossible to sneak up on them. Looking around further, he saw...

Boats. Lots and lots of boats.

Where do they want to bring us? The only location they could reach by boat was... His eyes widened. The Land of Water!

But that couldn't be right. The Land of Water was off-limits for everyone, and while nobody else currently knew why it had closed its borders yet, Itachi had the advantage of future knowledge on his side. In fact, during the years of their partnership, he had even heard some first-hand reports from Kisame about the events happening in the nation.

He didn't know if the country was already fighting a civil war or if the rebels were just starting to organize for one, but he was reasonably sure that neither side should have had either the time or the resources to send a team of their shinobi to kidnap random children from a neighbourhood country.

But if they have the money, which they surely do, they could arrange some mercenaries to do it for them. It might still be a strain on their resources, but as long as the mercenaries in question are on the cheap side, it might be considered a worthwhile endeavour by some...

Itachi had some ideas regarding what one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries could get from kidnapping civilian children, and he didn't like any of them even one bit.

However, he had currently other things to worry about.

Itachi couldn't allow either himself or Anko to be transported into the Land of Water. That would be suicide—not just as shinobi of Konoha, but in his case also as the wielder of a Kekkei Genkai. Judging from the face Anko was making, she realized that as well.

He motioned her not to do anything yet. The kidnappers had already begun shipping the first children away, but nobody of them was too far out yet. He had a plan of how to rescue them, he only needed a bit more time. Tanaka-sensei and Yukio were probably waiting at the edge of the forest, just barely out of sight from where he and Anko were currently waiting to be shipped off, too. As soon as the two of them would start fighting the criminals, they would come to aid them and—

"Hey, Taro! Akito and Daichi found some shinobi sneaking around in the area. They're taking care of them at the moment, but we need to hurry this up a bit. We have no idea if there are any more of them close by."

The person that had been spoken to, Taro, was, if the way everyone listened to his every command was anything to go by, the leader of this group. There wasn't much about his appearance worth noting because a coat hid most of his body and the bandages he had wrapped around his head hid everything but his eyes. However, Itachi didn't need to see how he looked like to know that he was dangerous; the way he held himself and the fact that his instincts were on high alert around him were more than enough indications for that.

"Well," Taro said, "that's annoying. But alright, nothing we can do about it. Dai, Akaya, Benjiro; go and help Akito and Daichi. Let's not risk some random shinobi discovering our operation, shall we? Make sure you kill them without leaving too many signs behind that can lead others to us."

The three addressed person nodded and vanished in a shunshin.

That changed things. With these three gone, Taro was the only enemy shinobi left. All the other kidnappers, of which only ten were still on land and not in one of the boats, were mere bandits. Anko and he should be able to beat them regardless of how uneasy he felt about the leader. It's not like they had much of a choice other than trying, anyway.

They also needed to help their teammates, which required they took care of their side of things quickly. While he had no doubts about Tanaka-sensei's abilities and knew that Yukio was a Chūnin-level fighter, five against two weren't great odds—especially when he didn't know the capabilities of these five particular enemies.

This way, there was no guarantee they would be able to do anything for the other children, but they couldn't allow themselves to be stopped by that.

Itachi freed himself from his bindings but held them in place to make it look as if he was still tied up. No need to give away he was free before he made his move, after all.

He had to wait only a few more seconds before one of the bandits pushed him into the direction of one of the boats, and he went along with it, aware that he would be led straight past Taro.

The moment he stood before him, Itachi began his attack:

He let the ropes fall to the ground while simultaneously giving Anko a hand sign to start her own offensive before looking right into Taro's eyes, Sharingan activated.

He used the most powerful Genjutsu he was currently capable of, which was a pretty decent mid-level technique, to immobilize the man. While he wasn't able to move around as fast as he usually could when part of his attention was focused on keeping the technique up and running, Itachi was still proficient enough in Genjutsu to not be rendered entirely motionless. All he needed to do now was—

The only reasos Itachi was able to raise his arms and block the kick that would have crushed his chest were that the sudden, noticeable drain on his chakra warned him that his illusion had been broken and that his still-activated Sharing an predicted the movement the second Taro tensed his muscles.

However, even so it was still a very close call.

He flew backwards in a straight line, trying and failing to catch himself in mid-air before landing hard on his back. Itachi then continued to slide for a few more metres before finally coming to a stop in a crouched position, his back aching and his arms pounding. He didn't stay like this for longer than half a second before jumping away, though, just in time to evade a bunch of shuriken that hit the ground where he had stood only a mere moment ago.

"Oh," Taro commented, sounding amused. "You're clearly not a civilian. Do you belong to these shinobi that are snooping around the area? Why am I even asking, of course you do!" He laughed loudly. "And by the fact that you possess the Sharingan, I can safely assume that you and that lass over there are from Konoha. Well, to be honest, that was the most likely possibility regardless, but it's kind of you to confirm it."

Itachi didn't say anything to that. Instead, he used the opportunity to catch his breath and try to come up with another plan.

Considering the way his instincts had warned him from his opponent and how he had freed himself from Itachi's comparatively powerful Genjutsu in an instant, this man was at least a Jōnin. Maybe even an elite Jōnin, if Itachi was particularly unlucky.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Anko making short process of the remaining enemies. As no one of them was a shinobi, it was a rather one-sided fight, but even with her help, this fight would be nearly impossible for them to win. He might be forced to use his Mangekyo to beat this opponent and then hope that his sensei and teammates would be able to take out the rest as he would be unconscious for the immediate future.

He was also absently wondering why the man wasn't doing anything. Taro was just standing there, watching his subordinates getting killed one after another with an air of what Itachi thought was amusement until only he was left alive.

"You're probably wondering why I'm not helping these guys killing your little friend over there," Taro suddenly spoke up as if reading his mind. "Well, you see... they're trash—literally. You find common thugs like that everywhere, so it's much more efficient to hire a few of them for a job and then kill them after everything is said and done instead of letting them live and be forced to actually pay them. It's not like you can't replace them afterwards, anyway. So, you could even say your friend is doing me a favour!" He started laughing again, even more heartily than before.

Anko appeared at his side. "Itachi, are you alright? It looked like you hit the ground pretty hard."

He nodded. "We have bigger problems right now. This guy is on a completely different level. He's at least as strong as Sensei. Winning against him will be near impossible."

She didn't argue with him, which meant she knew that as well.

"So," she continued after a few seconds. "What do you say about going through with Plan G and hoping that Sensei and Yukio will finish their enemies fast enough to save us?"

He gave a humourless smile. "Sounds good to me."

At least for now, he silently added in his mind. But if they don't come soon, I will use the Mangekyo, consequences be damned. I didn't get this second chance just so I die again on my first mission.

'Plan G' essentially meant nothing more than 'keep the enemy busy with some combos to buy time until Itachi gets the chance to use a Genjutsu on them'. Whoever fought alongside him, which in this case meant Anko, would use the moment the enemy was rendered motionless to go for the kill. And while their opponent had already proven that he possessed excellent chakra control, good enough even to free himself from Itachi's currently strongest illusion in little more than a second, this plan had still some chance of success. After all, for a shinobi, a mere second was more than enough time to kill someone.

Taro unfortunately seemed to know that as well if the way he didn't look directly into Itachi's eyes was any indication.

"So," Taro spoke up again, sounding entirely too carefree in Itachi's opinion. "Did you finish your little planning session? I think I gave you more than enough time to come up with something interesting, didn't I?"

"And why exactly did you give use that time?" Anko snarled. "Are you so eager to lose?"

Taro snorted. "Hardly. It's just so much more amusing to watch the hope in your enemies' eyes slowly but surely getting crushed. Besides..." He looked right at Itachi, a cruel smile visibly forming underneath his bandages. "It's not every day that you get the chance to kill a bloodline user as famous as an Uchiha! You need to savour the moment, especially when it's so hard to find a bloodline user at all these days."

If he hunts people with a Kekkei Genkai, he is probably one of the Mizukage's men, Itachi thought grimly.

"Well then," Taro said. "Shall we begin?"

One moment he was several metres in front of them, and the next, he stood between him and Anko. Itachi, being able to follow his movements with the Sharingan, was able to lean out of the way of Taro's attack just in time, but Anko wasn't so fortunate.

The man rammed his fist into her guts, the impact behind it being strong enough to lift her into the air. He reached out with the other arm for a follow-up attack, but was forced to abandon this plan of action to evade a kunai that flew at him from his right. Itachi hadn't any weapons with him as it would have given away his identity if one of the kidnappers found him armed, so he had picked up the ones Taro had thrown at him earlier.

With a kunai in each hand, he appeared in front of the man and aimed an attack straight at his face. His slash got blocked, but Itachi wasn't deterred. Using his small stature to its fullest potential, he jumped into Taro's guard and tried to break his knee with a precise kick of his own. He was forced to jump back before he could accomplish anything, however, as the man had drawn a kunai himself and used it to swing at him, the extended range making it difficult for Itachi to get close.

He redirected Taro's following palm strike and tried to get some distance from his enemy, but was stopped when he was grabbed by his collar and pulled towards his opponent. Itachi would probably have been done for a moment later if it weren't for Anko appearing in the air beside the man's head and trying to connect a roundhouse kick. Thus, Taro let go of him to raise his arm to block the kick, allowing Itachi to use his momentum to connect a kick of his own with the man's chest.

While obviously not hurt by it, the momentary confusion of being hit allowed Anko to rush in again. However, her attack to his waist was blocked and Anko needed to jump away again to evade his elbow strike to her head.

They then stood facing each other just like they had done a few seconds earlier at the start of the fight, with Anko and him on one side and Taro on the other.

Anko gave him a hand sign and he nodded. This time they would be the ones to attack first.

Anko kicked off as fast as she could, jumping at the waiting form of their opponent while Itachi appeared with a shunshin a bit to his left.

Taro was prepared—and probably even excited—for another Taijutsu bout, so he was understandably surprised when Anko came to a sudden stop just outside of his reach and jumped back while going through hand seals as fast as she could.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)

Taro's eyes widened momentarily before he jumped back to evade the volley of small fireballs that flew at him, only to suddenly threw his head around when he saw movements from his left where Itachi had used a jutsu of his own:

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)

Depsite Itachi having throw only one single shuriken, over a hundred weapons were now heading straight Taro's way.

With two different volleys of attacks coming at him from two directions, Taro saw himself forced to use a Jutsu of his own:

"Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Formation Wall)

He shot a great amount of water out from his mouth which quickly went on to create a wall of water around him that protected him from both their attacks.

Using this opportunity where he was out of sight, Itachi quickly created a Crow Clone and used the Hiding Like A Mole Technique to hide his real self in the underground. While it used more chakra than a Fire Release or a Water Release technique would have, it was still a rather basic technique that didn't require much chakra to begin with, so it should be fine for a short period of time.

He could feel the fight continue a few seconds later, sensing the magnetic forces of Anko and Taro clashing with each other on the surface. His clone was a bit more removed from the battle, standing almost two dozen metres away. He couldn't risk being exposed as a clone yet, so he limited himself to support Anko from afar by throwing weapons and possibly even some jutsu.

Itachi knew that the only reason Taro hadn't finished the fight yet was that he was enjoying himself far too much by playing with them. He wasn't complaining, of course, as this behaviour was the only reason they had a small chance at winning this fight in the first place.

He patiently waited until he felt Anko back away to insert himself back into the fight.

The moment Taro was nearly upon her again, having carelessly pursued his supposed prey, Itachi's arms shot out of the ground and caught him by his ankles. Having been in mid-motion, this made the man stumble forward and fall to his knees, instinctively reaching out with his hands to catch himself before his face could hit the ground.

Anko, having waited for this opportunity, jumped forward and stabbed her kunai right in the back of his neck.

For a mere second, Itachi thought they had somehow managed to actually beat the Jōnin, but then his hands became wet and he felt how there were suddenly no longer any magnetic force from where the man's body should have hit the ground, and he knew that the plan had failed.

But when had he the time to create a Water Clone? Even with his superior speed, he shouldn't have been able to hide its creation from my Sharingan unless... His eyes widened. Unless he created it after I started to hide in the underground!

That only left the question where the real one could be as Itachi should have been able to feel the real body's magnetic forces as long as his feet touched the ground, so he—

The ocean!

Itachi was basically going blind as long as he stayed beneath the surface, so he promptly decided to emerge back to the surface at once.

He did so just in time to see the real Taro, who was indeed standing on the water surface, finishing hand seals.

"Suiton: Suiryu Sanrendan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Triple Step Technique)

Three gigantic liquid dragons rose out of the water behind Taro and wound their way higher and higher into the air before plunging directly at Anko and him at breakneck speed.

The both of them immediately jumped away as far as the could, trying to dodge the attack, but it was hopeless. While they were able to evade the brunt of the attack, they were still hit and thrown away in a volley of water when the dragons crashed into the ground and set shock waves everywhere. They flew in a parallel line to the coast for what felt like an eternity, and Itachi felt his clone being destroyed and his summons vanishing before the two of them finally came to a stop.

His sight was blurry and his body felt like it had been used as a training dummy for Taijutsu practice for a week straight, but he still tried to stand back up the moment he was no longer at the mercy of the water. This endeavour was cut short a second later when a foot pushed down on his chest, holding him securely in place.

Looking up, he saw Taro standing above him, holding Anko up in the air with one hand at her throat.

"I gotta hand it to you," he stated conversationally. "You brats are more troublesome than you look. Seriously, you have decent teamwork and even had a pretty good strategy. Didn't see it coming that one of you would hide in the underground for a trap. Good thing that I expected something, though, and used a clone as a precautionary measure. Still, this is it for you. I would say I'm sorry, but that would be a lie."

Itachi was just about to activate his Mangekyo—which wouldn't just make him fall unconscious for a few hours like it had the last time, but considering low on chakra he was running at the moment, at least for a week or more if he didn't outright die—when Anko, in an action that even surprised him, suddenly spat into the man's face.

Then, Taro dropped her to the ground and started screaming!

Itachi immediately realized what must have happened:

Anko loved using poison and other substances in her attacks, something she hadn't been able to do in the previous fight because they hadn't been able to bring any weapons of their own with them. Or at least, he had thought they hadn't been able to do so. Now it was obvious that Anko had somehow managed to bring something with her while waiting for the right opportunity to use it, and she had just spat it into the man's face.

The effect was quite apparent as the man was still wincing in pain and stumbling backwards.

And then Itachi had an idea.

Their original plan, 'Plan G', wasn't going to work. Whatever substance Anko had into Taro's face was seemingly not a very potent one considering the man was already starting to calm down. He would probably be able to open his eyes in a few seconds. Unfortunately, simply attacking him wouldn't get the job done even now. The man was still a Jōnin, after all, and fighting without one of their senses was mandatory at that level, but they could use his momentary distraction to make him think he was in a Genjutsu.

Using the same jutsu as before, a combination of a crow clone and the Hiding Like A Mole Technique, his real body vanished in the underground once more while his clone took his previous position. However, this time, his clone didn't look like a carbon copy of himself, but was instead only half-formed and had dozens of crows flying all around him.

Just like he liked to present himself to his enemies in his illusions.

He finished just in time for Taro to open his eyes.

"What?" he murmured, pain and irritation still audible in his voice. "A Genjutsu?" He scoffed. "That's not gonna work on me, kid. I proved that earlier, don't ya remember?"

Forming the seal for Ram, he noticeably disrupted his chakra flow, but naturally, seeing as they weren't actually in an illusion, nothing happened.

Taro blinked. "What the hell? Why can't I break free?"

He tried to release the 'Genjutsu' again, and then once more, before looking at him.

"You! There's no way you can use an illusion more powerful than the one you used earlier! What are you playing at?!" he screamed.

"Do you understand it now?" his clone asked, its voice devoid of emotion. "Before my eyes, all your skills become meaningless. I may have underestimated you at the beginning, using only a weak technique to bind you, but I know better now. The moment our eyes met, less than a heartbeat after Anko spat into your face, I was able to use the most powerful Genjutsu in my arsenal. There is no escape from here."

Hopefully Anko regains her breath soon and kills him, he thought. Also, hopefully she realizes why I'm doing and acts accordingly, too.

As long as Taro thought this was an illusion, he would probably not act on anything he saw. If Anko attacked him now, he would most likely assume that it was a trick to lead him to a position of Itachi's choosing. Going along with that would be like signing his death sentence.

Also, much more importantly, if he thought nothing here was real anyway, then he had no reason to bother reacting to attacks, right? After all, as far as he was concerned, they weren't real.

"Are you kidding me? No matter how talented you are, there is simply no way a kid like you can create such a powerful Genjutsu!"

He shrugged, deliberately adding a hint of haughtiness into his body language. "My village calls me a once in a lifetime prodigy for a reason. Such a title needs to come from somewhere, don't you think?"

Taro growled and threw a kunai at him, probably more out of annoyance than because he thought it would actually do something.

Itachi allowed it to hit his clone, and it punctured right through his chest, leaving a hole behind. Not for long, though, as some crows flew to him and 'healed' the injury almost instantly.

His opponent scoffed again, slowly beginning to regain his calm. "Nice trick you got there, I'll give you that. But shall I tell you something funny? This doesn't mean anything! The weakness of illusions like this, where you want to manipulate an enemy in the real world through what you show them inside the Genjutsu, is that your enemies can still use jutsu of their own. And seeing that I don't have any comrades in the area, I can just blow up the entire coast!"

Itachi's eyes, both the clone's and the real one's, widened. He had no weapons left to throw and Ninjutsu would be too slow, so all he could do was break out of the ground and follow his clone in rushing towards Taro as fast as he could despite knowing full well he wouldn't make it in time while the man weaved through hand seals at a breakneck speed.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)

An absolutely ridiculous amount of water rose from the ocean into the air, just like it had done when Itachi had observed Kisame using that technique from time to time. If this hit them, it would be over. There was no way to survive being hit by this technique, not when it was strong enough to hollow out the ground and devastate the area similar to a natural disaster.

Then, something suddenly flew past him, and a second later, a kunai embedded itself into Taro's throat. The last thing Itachi saw of the man were his wide and unbelieving eyes before the man fell to the ground.

But there was no time to celebrate, as without the man controlling the water that was already in the air, there was nothing that stopped it from falling down again. While this wouldn't be as devastating as the original attack, it would still be enough to potentially kill them.

Without hesitation, he turned back around and rushed to Anko's side, pressed her as close to him as he could while ignoring her surprised exclamation, and activated his Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Susanoo!"

Itachi had barely enough time to create some skeletal protection before the water hit them and his world went dark.