Let's start this from the beginning

Two Gatherings

"So, Sensei," Jiraiya drawled while leisurely leaning back in his seat. "What's so important that you call me back like this? It's unlike you to hurry me so without at least giving me a good reason, and it's pretty hard to do my job when I'm cooped up in the village, you know?"

"Oh?" Hiruzen replied while fussing with his pipe for a moment to ensure it had a good draw. "And here I thought you would enjoy visiting your home and maybe having a drink with your poor, old teacher."

His former student let out a blusterous laugh in response, making his own lips twitch as well. Jiraiya always had the ability to make people around him happy, often on his own expanse. "Don't misunderstand me, old man. I'm happy to see you. It's just unusual of you to act all secretly like this, that's all. And besides, you wouldn't have called me if it weren't for something important. Or at least I hope it's important, or else I would be rather cross with you for forcing me to stop my research much sooner than expected. I had just found this really impressive spot too..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps my memories are failing me, I am an old man after all, so correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it you who told me that the hot springs of Konoha are one of the best spots for your, ehm, research?"

This seemed to ease some of Jiraiya's tension as he leaned forward with a big grin and started to giggle. "Well, when you're right, you're right. Konoha's hot springs are special, and I got some very impressive inspirations there in the past." The man gave a pointed look at a drawer that he knew stored a particular array of books. "But of course you would know all about that already, wouldn't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, ignoring the knowing glances the other man threw at him while puffing contently on his pipe.

He had missed his student. The man was like a son to him, just like the other two Sannin, and also the only one of his students still remaining to him. Orochimaru had left the village in disgrace and Tsunade hadn't been in Konoha in quite some time now. He had tried to exchanged letters with her to at least have some sort of contact, but her replies had rarely extended beyond a mere few, short lines. He had given up on that avenue after little more than a year.

Not that he had much more contact with the man in front of him, but at least he saw him from time to time and knew he was fine as he received regular messages with whatever information his spy network had found.

No matter what other people—the man in front of him including—might try to claim, Hiruzen knew that all his students' deeds could be traced back to him, and that was particularly true for the less stellar ones.

Their mistakes and crimes were just as much his fault as they were theirs.

He had been their teacher, he had been the one who watched them grow up, and he had been the one that taught them much of what they knew; he should have seen their shortcomings and intervened before they could bite them in their ass. It had been his job to aid them when they needed help the most, to console them in their grief. Had he done that, had he done his duty, Orochimaru and Tsunade might very well still be part of the village.

"But for real, Sensei, what's going on? I know you haven't called me back solely because you missed me so much and wanted to catch up."

Hiruzen stopped a sigh before it could leave his lips. So to business then, hm?

"I'm afraid you need to be a bit more patient. We are still awaiting one more person for this little meeting to arrive."

Jiraiya grimaced. He could be patient, he just preferred not to be most of the time. "When you say 'a bit more patient', what amount of time are we talking about exactly?

"He should be here just about..."

There was a knock on the door before his secretary called, "Hokage-sama, Genin Itachi Uchiha is here to deliver his mission report. I'm sending him in now."

"...now." he finished his sentence as if nothing had happened.

The two of them watched as the man in the body of a child entered the room, walking with far more confidence and composure than was normal for a boy 'his age'. Hiruzen silently wondered if he would have noticed this fact if he hadn't known the truth, but dismissed this thought. That wasn't important right now.

Itachi regarded Jiraiya with only a nod as a greeting before continuing on his way to his desk to deliver the mission report. He could see the gears in his student's head start turning, wondering how this young child could possibly be the person he had talked about and whether his old fool of a teacher had just been mistaken about who was on the other side of the door or gone outright senile.

It wouldn't be the first time such unflattering thoughts had crossed Jiraiya's mind, he was sure.

"My mission report, Hokage-sama."

He took the scroll and threw a casual glance over it before storing it in one of his drawers for later consideration. He had heard most of it in their conversation yesterday already, of course, but reading a written report always helped him noticing little things that had managed to slip through the cracks before.

He was still not entirely sure if Itachi had made the right call when he helped the rebels, but he could at least see why he had done it. And to be honest, he might have acted the same way had he been in his situation, but he couldn't think like that. All that mattered was that the likelihood of this decision aiding their final goal was probably higher than it causing problems somewhere down the way.

He had been forced to share the basics of the happenings during the mission with his advisors Homura, Koharu, and Danzō. While he would have preferred not to tell them, especially Danzō, under these circumstances, he had no other choice.

They couldn't know for sure that there had been no survivors of the battles that had taken place in the Land of Water, which meant that there was a theoretical chance that the Mizukage had been informed about Konoha's role in them by now. If the worst came to pass and Kirigakure lashed out in response, the last thing he needed was those who were supposed to be some his closest advisors wondering why he hadn't trusted them with the relevant information. Dealing with infighting while already occupied by an external threat was never fun.

Even if the Mizukage remained clueless, Hiruzen's advisors would have grown similarly suspicious if he hadn't explained to them his decision to increase patrols on their eastern border. Thus, the point remained and he had informed them about the bare basics of Itachi's mission.

For what Hiruzen and Itachi had planned, he couldn't afford them to become suspicious about his actions and motivations.

He was the Hokage. He didn't have to explain himself or his decisions to anyone. However, using this privilege all the time had its own share of problems. In this case, it was simply less problematic to share his information with the others, if only to make sure that Danzō didn't come to his own conclusions.

That was always a dangerous thing.

Given the possible consequences, the three of them had been understandably annoyed about the two Genin's actions, but as no blame had arrived from Kirigakure so far, they had been easy enough to calm down for the time being.

Personally, Hiruzen thought that the girl they had brought with them, Haku, was the main reason his advisors had been so compliant. The girl was the carrier of a Kekkei Genkai, after all. If she survived long enough to marry and have children, Konoha might gain another powerful clan of bloodline users, strengthening the village even more.

He hated to think about people as if they were resources, but his position made it impossible not to think like that from time to time.

"Thank you, Itachi," he said. "Please, take a seat. This conversation will probably last a while."

Jiraiya stared at both of them, his expression shifting between incredulity and confusion. "Alright," he said after a few moments. "I give up. Tell me how a Genin can be useful for whatever you want to talk with me about, because I don't have the slightest clue."

He took the time to take another puff from his pipe before he replied, admittedly enjoying the inpatient look Jiraiya shot him in return. After all the times the younger man had stolen his last nerve, in his mind, payback was only fair.

"That's a long story, one which we will summarize for you to spare us some time." Hiruzen looked his student directly into his eyes, trying to make him understand how serious he was. "All I ask of you is to remain silent and keep an open mind."

Had Jiraiya's face been serious before, now his expression was grave.

"I can't deny that some of this information seems very...convincing, but you must understand that this isn't easy to believe," he said, obviously still uncertain even after nearly an hour of getting answers to whatever questions he could think of.

"That's understandable," Hiruzen replied calmly. "I had the benefit of much more time to think about these matters myself—thanks to a technique no mere child should be able to use or even know about, I might add. And even then, it hadn't been an easy thing to accept."

"Jiraiya-sama, I know—" Itachi started, only to get interrupted by the man before he could say much.

"Cut the honorifics, would ya? Regardless of whether what you say is true or not, I think we can do without standing on ceremony after going through this mess of a conversation."

Itachi nodded, looking unbothered at being interrupted. "Jiraiya. I know it's not an easy thing to believe, but for the sake of this conversation, it would be best if you were to just act as if you would believe us for the time being regardless of what you really think."

"He is right," Hiruzen added. "If you would be so free, we could start talking about what I actually asked you to return for."

Hadn't he seen the man grow up and trained him himself, he might have missed how he tensed up for a mere second before forcing himself to calm down again.

"And what is that?"

He took a deep breath. "We're going to talk about Danzō."

That got a visible reaction from the man. "What? Seriously?" He threw a short glance at the boy beside him, probably thinking about Danzō's role in his future, before continuing in the same raised voice as before, "Don't tell me you actually decided to finally do something against the old geezer? I know I tried and failed to make you see reason often enough!"

"And I told you often enough that he is a necessary evil, Jiraiya. Many of the things he had done needed to be done, no matter how much you and I might dislike to admit it." Jiraiya opened his mouth to object, but he didn't give him the chance to do so. "And I know that you know that, too. You didn't become such a formidable shinobi by being blind to the darker side of the Ninja World."

"That might be true Sensei, but I'm also formidable enough to realize when someone crosses the line between a necessary evil and plain old paranoia—something Danzō most definitely can't claim for himself."

"No," he agreed, feeling more tired than ever. "It seems he can't."

Like it or not, a shinobi village couldn't survive if it wasn't willing to get its hands dirty. Sometimes this meant breaking other country's sovereignty by sending shinobi into their territory without their knowledge, sometimes it meant killing an innocent bystander if they somehow managed to witness an operation that must remain secret, and sometimes it meant blackmailing others, be it a simple civilian or even an entire nation, to do one's bidding by any means necessary. Danzō had done just that; he had done the jobs that needed to be done to keep Konoha safe, sometimes even without his knowledge. He let it slide because he saw the benefit of having no official record and as such no evidence that could be used against them, but also because he wanted to keep this part that came with the burden of ruling away from himself as much as he could.

That had been a mistake, he knew that now.

Hiruzen had trusted that Danzō would only act in Konoha's best interest, so sure in his love for their home that he couldn't see him harm it under any circumstances.

However, perhaps he had just chosen, no matter how subconscious, to be blind to his old teammate's shortcomings, wishing to see only the best in him. Maybe he only wanted to see the good friend of his youth instead of the bitter man he had become.

Now he knew that he had been right in that Danzō only acted on what he believed was in Konoha's best interest, not seeing all the consequences his actions might have. A village needed people to do the unsightly work that kept it alive, yes, but Danzō had been so focused on the dark that he completely forgot about the light.

He had learned his lesson from Orochimaru; he wouldn't repeat the same mistake he had made with his wayward student. Not again.

"That's why we decided to do something about him now, to stop him before he can make any further mistakes," Itachi spoke up, catching him a bit off-guard. He hadn't forgotten about the Uchiha's presence per se, but he had faded into the background so much that it had been very easy to ignore him.

"You want to eliminate him," Jiraiya said confidently. Then he furrowed his brows. "I'm not sure where I come into this. I understand that Danzō isn't weak and that he has his own personal ANBU branch, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I mean, he has... what? Two hundred men? You are more than capable of handling Danzō, and you outnumber his subordinates by a large margining. You should be fine."

He sighed. "Danzō has officially a little more than two hundred men, yes. However, we can't be sure about the unofficial number. But of course you're still right, we would be fine even without your assistance as we indeed outnumber them quite badly."

"So," Jiraiya drawled, the gears inside his head already turning. "You called me back to inform me of his"—he waved his hand vaguely in Itachi's direction—"little stroll through time, something that can reliably only be done in person because of the risk of the message being intercepted, and decided now that I'm here anyway, I can just as well help you, am I right?"

He gave his former student an approving smile. "Very well reasoned, but no, you're not. At least not completely. While you're right in that I would have called you back to inform you of this in private because it's too risky doing it otherwise, you're wrong in assuming that's a coincidence that we planned to convict Danzō just now when you arrive. It was always the plan to include you."

Jiraiya shrugged. "Close enough." Then, he got serious again. "So, what's the plan?"

"It's pretty simple," he said and started to explain. "Tomorrow, I will call Danzō to my office, effectively cutting off the snake's head and rendering ROOT without leadership. He will have naturally set up a chain of command for such situations, but he is too paranoid to give anyone too much power, so their ability to react will likely be limited. I have such meetings with Danzō and my other advisors regularly, so there is no reason for him to get suspicious.

"I have scheduled a special training session for the ANBU on every Wednesday for a few months now in preparation for this operation, so Danzō has no reason to suspect anything on that front, either. As soon as I have ordered Danzō here, you will head over to their training ground with a written order from me, effectively mobilizing every team that is present at that time. We know the official locations of all ROOT facilities, and thanks to Itachi, we also know at least a few of their unofficial ones. I will give you a list of those unofficial bases we know already exist due to some of my men scouting the area. You will lead this mission to make sure that no one survives while some of my private guards will rescue as many children as we can. Considering that we most likely don't know about all of their bases, there will probably be survivors anyway, but I want to keep that number as low as possible."

He wasn't surprised that Jiraiya looked at him in silent shock. For him to go from basically letting Danzō do whatever he wants while defending his actions to ordering such drastic measures must be hard to believe, even with all the information he received in advance.

"Alright then," Jiraiya said while standing up. "If that's everything you wanted to tell me, I will head out now. I need to think about what you told me, especially your story." He looked at Itachi when he said the last part before turning back to him. "Will it be sufficient if I return at 0700 tomorrow for more details for this mission?"

He nodded.

"Good. If you need me, I'm at the hot springs." And with that he jumped out of the window, vanishing in a shunshin.

It somehow felt like he was fleeing, but that reaction was understandable. He had a lot to process, after all.

"I think that went well," Itachi commented dryly.

His lips tugged upwards. "Yes, it did." As well as we could hope for, at least.

Itachi had spent nearly three hours in the meeting with the Hokage and Jiraiya, but because he had left for the Sandaime's office at eight in the morning, it was still rather early.

The meeting itself had gone better than he had expected. Without using the Tsukuyomi and thus giving him nearly unlimited time to persuade the other person as he had done with the Sandaime, his possibilities had been much more limited this time, especially because there was nothing that he could do to stop the other person from just walking away.

At least when the person was as strong as Jiraiya.

The presence of the Hokage probably helped with that. As long as the Sannin didn't believe the older man had gone completely insane, he would at least consider the possibility of him telling the truth, making the entire conversation much easier.

That was the main reason he had mostly stayed out of the conversation once he had finished explaining his situation. After all, even if the man believed him, he was still a stranger to him whereas the Hokage was his former sensei and the leader of his village. The Sandaime would know better what to say to convince the Sannin than Itachi did.

And it had worked out well enough. Jiraiya might still be unsure about whether he spoke the truth or not, but he was willing to accept his word at face value for now and had accepted to participate in tomorrow's operation. Itachi honestly wished he could take part in it as well, but he understood why that wasn't possible. He wouldn't be of much help in his current state. Still, after the part Danzō had played in his life, he wasn't above feeling anger or the wish for revenge against the man. He just didn't let himself be controlled by these emotions, or at least he tried not to.

If nothing else, his years as a criminal had improved his already impressive self-control.

Tomorrow's operation would also mark the first major change he made in the past with consequences that could be felt almost immediately, which made him understandable nervous. The chances that this decision would backfire weren't slim, and only the knowledge that this was something that needed to be done could calm him down.

Itachi couldn't continue this trail of thought once he came closer to his home, though, because he could sense more people than usual inside for some reason. In fact, if he didn't miscount, there were currently seven people inside.

And considering he recognized every single chakra signature, he could also tell who their guests were, and his guess was proven right once he entered the house and went to the living room:

"Happy Birthday!"

All over the room, with either smiles or outright grins on their faces, stood his parents, Sasuke, his sensei, Yukio, Anko, Izumi, and Shisui.

They were currently sitting in the garden behind their house, celebrating his birthday. It wasn't what most 'children his age' would do on their birthday party, considering a simple meal in their garden without any games or other entertainment would be considered far too boring for them, but Itachi was quite content with this. Honestly, he was glad his parents seemed to know him well enough to not organize a usual children's party. That would have been utterly humiliating.

Well, to be fair, they hadn't even done such a thing in his last life, so maybe it wasn't that surprising that they wouldn't do so this time either.

Of course, today wasn't actually his birthday. As he had told Anko during their mission, his birthday had been on the second day after their arrival at the orphanage. Still, it seemed his family and friends believed he needed a 'proper party' anyway, so here they were.

And that brought him to his current predicament.

"Come on Itachi, your mother made all of this just for you!" Shisui said while 'helpfully' handing him another piece of cake. "Well, and for us too, I guess... But mainly for you! It would be rude to waste it!"

He fought down the urge to smash the plate into his friend's face. They might not have been friends for too long in this timeline, but Shisui knew he wasn't a fan of too much sweets. Not that he disliked it, mind you, but he maintained that it was only enjoyable in moderation! Of all the habits he had been used to from his friend in the past, it would naturally be his tendency to irk him all the time that would resurface first. That was just his luck.

Besides, if he forced so much sweet upon him, he could at the very least hand him some dango.

Luckily, he knew how he could get out of this situation.

"You're right," he agreed easily, making Shisui narrowing his eyes at him as if wondering what he was planing. "But it would be even ruder to steal the last piece of cake away from my guests, and I definitively don't want to be a bad host."

He turned to his right, looking straight at Yukio who had watched their exchange in slight confusion. "Here Yukio, the last piece of cake. I insist that you get it." He didn't give him much choice on that matter and put the plate almost forcefully into his hands before turning away again to stop him from returning the food to him.

"Well, I guess that works as well," Shisui commented with a barely restrained chuckle.

Itachi did not dignify this with an answer and instead reached out for some fruits to feed the crows he could see gathering on the nearby tree. Just like in his last life, crows had started to flock to him since he made a contract with their kind. Unlike other summonses, like for example snakes, crows had no secret hiding place, but instead freely traveled the world. He assumed that some of the crows that were less enthusiastic to face the hardships that went with the constant traveling choose to instead live near him, their currently only summoner, and enjoy the easy food available in a populated village like Konoha.

"You know, these crows of yours might come in really handy in a fight," Shisui spoke up again. "I imagine they make for a great distraction, especially if you summon an entire murder of them at once. I can't wait for what you will do with them the next time we spar."

"They can act as a distraction," he agreed absently while also glancing in the direction of his other guests. "But they also can help me in other ways."

His parents were currently talking with Tanaka-sensei, and oddly enough, his father seemed to actually enjoy himself. He usually wasn't the type to openly show his emotions to strangers, so Itachi thought that they either must have found some common ground they could bond over pretty quickly or that they already knew each other. His mother seemed to be pretty amused by it, too, and just when he looked their way, she made his father actually blush with some comment.

Ignoring this oddity—and hopefully erasing his father's embarrassed expression from his memory—he continued to look around and watched Anko and Izumi sitting together with Sasuke. He couldn't suppress a small smile when he saw Izumi trying to talk to Sasuke, only for the little boy to turn his back to her and move closer to Anko. From what he had overheard earlier, the older girl had teased Izumi about something in close proximity to Sasuke, probably endearing himself to the boy in the process.

He turned back to his friend just in time to look at him when he reacted to his statement. "Oh? And what other ways would that be?"

"I spoke with Anko earlier," Yukio then chimed in into their conversation, "and she told me a few things. She said you can use a clone jutsu with them. Is that true?"

He blinked, a bit surprised by this intrusion, but recovered quickly. "It is. It's a technique that doesn't waste much chakra but still has the advantages of a Kage Bunshin, making it an ideal technique for me to use considering I still have smaller reserves than either of you, for example."

Shisui whistled impressed. "I never heard of a crow clone before, but I suppose that's understandable as I never heard of a crow contract either. Does that mean that an original technique of yours?"

"Technically the crows taught the technique to me," he denied. "So I'm not the inventor."

"So it's also true that you can create a clone that's only halfway formed, with lots of crows flying around it?" Yukio asked with sparkling eyes.

He gave his teammate an amused smile, making him look away in embarrassment for a moment before returning his glance at him once again.

"I see Anko told you more than just 'a few things' when you talked with each other. But yes, I can do that, too. I used this trick during the mission to make an enemy falsely believe I captured him inside a Genjutsu, making him less cautious and thus allowing Anko to go for the kill."

"Alright, let's stop this here," a simultaneously stern but kind voice interrupted them from behind, making Yukio jump around in surprise before coming face to face with Itachi's mother. "Let's not talk about killing during a celebration, shall we? Especially not while we're eating."

"Ah, of course! I'm so sorry!" Yukio exclaimed flustered, appearing to be still confused about how his mother had been able to appear behind them without him noticing. "The food is excellent, by the way! It's almost as good as my parents'..." He seemed to realise what he had just said, because he instantly tried to correct his mistake. "With which I don't want to say your cooking is worse than my parents', of course not! I just, ehm, I..." He visibly deflated. "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot."

His mother simply chuckled.

There was a moment of silence before Yukio hesitantly spoke up again. "...that's usually the moment you say something like 'oh no, don't say that! You're not an idiot at all!', you know?"

His mother just smiled, and a few seconds later the relative silence of their part of the garden was interrupted by Shisui's terrible attempt at suppressing a snort.

"Hey, you think that's funny?" Yukio exclaimed loudly, clearly happy to turn his attention on something else than his own embarrassing behaviour from before.

"Oh yes, it's hilarious!" Shisui agreed shamelessly, which in turn lead to Yukio kick-starting an argument about whether or not his behaviour had been something to laugh at or not.

"Itachi," his mother said with a soft smile, ignoring the two others bickering in the background. "Here is someone who wanted to sit with you."

Of course he had already noticed Sasuke hiding behind their mother's legs long before she had said anything.

"Well, Otouto, will you join me, then?" he asked with a warm expression on his face, giving his brother his full attention without a second's hesitation.

And as soon as he sat down beside him, babbling about this and that, Itachi felt at peace.

"Excuse me, everyone, I want to say something!" Tanaka-sensei's voice cut through the garden, silencing everyone else. Then, once the man knew he had the undivided attention of everyone present, he continued, "I think this might be a good time as any to make this announcement: I decided to nominate Team 3 for the incoming Chūnin Exams."

There was an uproar all around the garden, especially from Anko's direction, but Sensei's raised arm silenced everyone again. "I thought about this decision for while now, ever since Itachi joined the team to be honest, but now I think I can be sure that everyone is ready. I wasn't sure about what to think about getting such a young Genin, but I think we can all agree when I say that he proved that his age is no hindrance for him."

Itachi wouldn't be surprised if a conversation with the Hokage had him come to this conclusion. After all, the Sandaime had already told him a few months ago that he wanted him to participate in the Chūnin Exams.

"The exams will start in roughly three months, and they will be held in Iwagakure. We will take our leave in roughly two and a half months to arrive in time, and we will use the time before that to spur our training up a bit and take a few more missions."

The instant he finished, people all around him started to talk excitedly with each other, with only Itachi and his mother not participating. She hid it well, but he could see that she was worried. Given the tense relationship between Konoha and Iwa, that was understandable, and he was sure his father knew that as well behind the act of a proud father he was currently pulling off. His teammates would probably realize this soon as well.

And even if they didn't, their sensei would surely remember them.

"The next time, I will be the one to invite you guys," Yukio said as a farewell when Itachi walked him to the door an hour after their sensei's announcement. "My parents run a restaurant. Its name is 'Narisawa'. I just know you guys will love it!"

He actually knew of the Narisawa, as did probably everyone else in the village. It was generally regarded as the best place to eat in all of Konoha, after all. It was well-liked by all citizens because it offered dishes that were affordable for both the rich and people with an average wage. "I wasn't aware your family runs such a successful business?"

"Yes, Yukio," their sensei, who had walked behind them with Anko till then, chimed in. "Why didn't you tell us? Had we know we would have come to visit you much earlier!"

Yukio gave their sensei a dry look. "You are only interested in the free food, aren't you?"

He laughed shamelessly, which somehow even managed to hide the ever-present exhaustion on his face. "Well, I wouldn't say that it's the only thing I'm interested in, even if it's definitively a plus! I'm also somewhat curious. I thought about opening a little shop myself once I retire from active duty, y'know, so a look behind the curtain of such a successful restaurant would be really helpful."

Itachi silently raised an eyebrow at the sight of their sensei and Yukio walking side by side without bickering. It seemed the last mission forced them to bond with each other, he thought.

"Hey, Itachi," Anko said, drawing his attention to her. "I will say this only one time, and I will deny having ever said it at all if you tell anyone else about it, so listen closely: you did most of the work during our time in Kiri while I have been next to useless. I owe you." She sent him a glare as if daring him to argue with that point and nodded satisfied when he didn't. "You might be a genius and be even stronger than I am, at least as I'm right now, but I will catch up to you! And not only that, someday I will save your stupid ass when you're in a situation you can't get out of on your own."

Having evidently said all she had wanted to say, Anko then turned around with a flourish that made her hair swing wildly from left to right before hurrying to catch up to the rest of their team who was already a fair way ahead of her, not giving him the chance to reply.

All he could do was watch the backs of his three teammates vanish in the distance.