Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Zabuza defected. Dramatically, loudly, exactly as expected from him. Killed a bunch of jonin before getting out and just to annoy everyone took his legendary sword Kubikiribōchō and stole the fourth Mizukage's favorite kid. Mei's too for that matter, missing Haku was something they could bond over. The thought of that was terribly funny to Kisame for some reason. Every team in the village was out to get them, none of them succeeded. So far.

"You should have faked your death instead of walking off, it's very effective." He said from a tree and had to dodge shards of ice aiming for his eyes. Seriously? Zabuza let the kid be the bodyguard? "Hi Haku." The boy held his mouth half open in confusion to see a ghost but quickly pulled himself together waiting for Zabuza's orders.

"You little shit." Zabuza said, the tone of it was lost behind the bandages. "Do you know they are looking for that sword in all ends of the world?"

"And now they are looking for yours." Kisame came down from the tree he was on and saw Haku appear right in front of him, ready to attack. He took the kid by the neck and pushed him away without effort, only hoping to scare him but in a split second Kubikiribōchō was in position to decapitate Kisame. It wasn't the first time Zabuza made that silent threat, but something told him this time he was willing to go through with it. "You know what kind of future waits for you now, right?" He whispered trying to not close the space with the blade.

Zabuza let out a dry laugh.

"Same as always, die fighting."

"Do you want that for the kid too?"

The butcher sword cut his skin. At the same time that Zabuza treated his apprentice as badly as it was traditional for a Swordsman, there were many doubts if Haku was in fact an apprentice, especially when factored that the kid might not have it in him to kill Zabuza and take Kubikiribōchō when his time came. Zabuza seemed to take full advantage of that weakness. Instead of killing Haku himself or setting him free he got himself a loyal squire and flushed the kid's talents down the drain. It was cruel even for him.

"I don't take advice from dead men."

So Kisame turned to Haku instead.

"There's a wave coming.” He started. "No one can stop it. It will wipe out the Bloody Mist, drag it to the sea. What we intend to do is build over the wreckage a village that is worth dying for." When Mei said that to him for the first time he laughed. How did she expect to get support promising them death? But she did touch on an insecurity that was so very Shinobi that rang true better than the promises of an utopia ever could, the fear of dying for nothing. Give a Shinobi something to die for and they will find in it a reason to live.

Haku's eyes widened.

"So it's true?" There it was, the cadency in the voice of someone that was just waiting for something to be hopeful about.

Kisame nodded. The civil unrest had become unbearable, validating Mei calling it a revolution, not a cue. She didn't want to replace Yagura and make reforms, people didn't want reforms, they needed a new village. So she wanted to destroy the Bloody Mist. Kisame always liked destroying things. 

It only surprised him that Haku did what he did without even knowing he would have backing.

"Don't listen to him, kid. He hasn't been in the Mist for over a year, what does he know?"

He kept looking at Haku, future wielder of Kubikiribōchō, if he could live just a little while longer to have her, and if Zabuza didn't succeed in maning him until he was harmless. The kid had a good head between his shoulders, he was the first front runner to walk out of the Graduation Ritual, everyone knew his name by now. Maybe it would be enough.

He bit his lip.

"Zabuza-san…"

"Don't."

"Please."

The swordsman looked back at the boy. They seemed to have an entire conversation in that silence. Zabuza lowered his sword.

"Help us set up camp."

Kisame spent three days with them making the same point over and over again until it was drilled down Zabuza's skull so far that maybe it hit something resembling a brain. But the truth is that he turned when Haku threatened to go back without him. He wasn't sure if the kid would actually go through with it, he hoped he would. Kisame much rather have the boy around than the ugly asshole he trained with since they were infants. He was one move away from taking Haku by force and leaving Zabuza to fend for himself, but the boy wouldn't let him. That kind of loyalty in the Mist was an omen of certain death. If Yagura got to see it, or even Mei to be completely honest, Haku would be discarded like a broken weapon. Zabuza didn't deserve his sacrifice.

"Fine." Zabuza dug his sword on the ground.

Kisame's relief surprised him. Maybe he wasn't as willing to silence them if the answer was no like he thought he was. He was getting soft.

"Let's get you killed."

They staged a fight. Kisame left kunai and shuriken with metal of the Leaf he had collected, Zabuza's and Haku's blood, impact of Samehada on the trees just for kicks, two carbonized bodies on the ground. The Mist wouldn't fall for the same trick twice, but the intention was just to scare them. Either the Leaf claimed another sword or two of their swordsmen were now pretending to be dead. If the news from the village were accurate Yagura would throw a fit either way.

Mei hadn't left the village for a mission in months, anbu squads were failing missions on purpose, entire classes of potential genin stopped attending the Academy. The wave was on the horizon. He loved this feeling of anticipation, the only thing better than it would be going to war.

"Konoha says they will give the sword back. You know what this means?" Ao said rapidly through the noise of the waterfall.

"Means I'm fucked." He mumbled, tighting the knot on the tourniquet on his arm with his teeth. It was good to fight by Zabuza's side like the old days, but the man was the opposite of reliable, he would never trust his back on him again.

"Means you'll have to start negotiations."

Kisame laughed wholeheartedly. No. He was only there as support when they negotiated with the Cloud, and it still was one of the most nerve-wracking missions of his career, he was not going through that again.

"While they are trying to kill me?"

Ao pressed his forehead. He had to recently fake his death as well, the Mizukage was killing every rebellion leader, or alleged rebellion leader, that wasn't as public or beloved as Mei.

"They will attempt a capture. You have to let them." 

A flash of the Sharingan crossed his mind.

"No." 

"We need this, Kisame. Our time is running out."

He knew that. Mei was being tortured, it all needed to start before she was dead or they would fail. It was selfish to resist a mission like that, his insubordination caught him by surprise too. He didn't expect the fear of maybe meeting the Uchiha eyes again to be enough to turn the Monster of the Mist into a coward. He spent only two years without Yagura breathing down his neck and now Kisame was disrespecting the cause he himself chose to fight for.

Ao looked around the cave for something to focus his Byakugan on that wasn't Kisame as a way out of his frustration. 

"If you are not going to do it, give me Samehada and I'll take over the mission." He said once he calmed down.

Kisame stared at him in cold rage. His sword made a sound, equally upset about the insinuation. She was never known to be loyal in the generations before. The theory was that their bond was stronger because Kisame could feed her better. It gave him a weird sense of pride every time someone tried to draw her and she bit their hand or sucked them dry. It might happen to him someday, if Samehada so decided, but not today. Ao might be his boss, and a swordsman himself but for another person to wield Samehada Kisame would have to be buried six feet under. He got up, strapped his sword on his back.

He hated this whole 'free will' thing.

"If I feel threatened I'm going to kill them all." 

Ao nodded, relieved. Something told Kisame he didn't believe his words. He absolutely should. 

They confected a plan together. Ao assured he'd send Haku after him to update them of his progress and if it worked it would tie to the mission that would start the war they've been preparing for.

Kisame stationed himself on a lake right at the border of Fire country. And waited.

"We need him alive."

Itachi closed his eyes. The high of knowing he was allowed to leave the village was wearing off too quickly.

"Hokage-sama, it's not possible."

"I think you are overreacting." His cousin said studying the books in the Hokage's office. She would be captain of their team. Two years ago Itachi outranked her.

"I fought him, Rei. We can't bring him back alive. He won't let us."

"Yeah, but that was two years ago and you were alone." Maki said. He had just joined the anbu at 18, the second in this mission. "And we are ten." Ten genjutsu specialists, like Itachi requested. There was no way to go against Kisame on brute force, that could give them a chance.

"That won't matter." And to be honest Itachi still had a better shot going alone.

"You've only measured him against yourself, your judgement is cloudy." Rei looked at him with disdain. He was used to his clan's distrust since the incident. Doubting his abilities, his status. He could understand it all, but doubting his perception of reality was new. 

His first mission back could not end with nine Shinobi and four Uchiha killed.

"Hokage-sama..." 

"We don't have a choice." Sandaime put down his pipe. "If we deliver Kisame alive, there. We gave them Zabuza's killer. They have someone to torture for answers, if we only give them Samehada the next thing they'll ask for is Kubikiribōchō."

He was losing his patience.

"We could get them Kubikiribōchō…"

"Cousin." Rei said. "This isn't helping. It's already decided."

Itachi held back a sigh. This was pointless. 

"Yes captain." He looked down.

They left at sunset and went to where Zabuza of the Mist was allegedly murdered first. The anbu uniform was more familiar to him than his own skin. It was good to be back, even if it was just for this mission. He tried to memorize the feeling so it could keep him sane in the next three years of his sentence. It was cruel to let him out just to send him back in.

"This is weird." Maki said, their tracker. His Sharingan spun to match his confused look. "The trail is very strong."

They were walking into a trap, Itachi already knew that, but still couldn't figure out why this was being laid out for so long, or what it meant.

"Well, Kisame usually doesn't care about covering his tracks…" Another teammate pointed.

"Didn't." Itachi added with just a hint of humor. "We are working with data from two years ago." As they liked to remind him.

"So optimistic, aren't you, cousin?" Rei told them to keep running.

It felt a bit unfair that one breakdown that got him house arrested for a few years made people suddenly start treating him like he was sixteen. Which of course he was, but his age didn't seem to matter when he was sent to 'help with the war effort' as an infant.

It took only two days until Itachi felt that chakra. He recognized it only from a memory, he wasn't sure he even managed to catch a good feel of it when they fought, but this time it shone like a lighthouse. Gray, cold, tasted like salt water. It was everywhere , like he was marking territory, setting a perimeter for whatever he needed it for. He wanted to be found.

"There." The other nine raised their heads to face him. Whatever cloaking he used probably worked better in first contact, that's why they couldn't feel it. "There's a lake up north, he'll be there."

Maki looked at him suspiciously and climbed the tree they were on. He then pointed to the dome of mist covering where the lake was supposed to be, confirming his theory.

"I bet he's waiting in the center, that prick."

"He's in complete advantage there, we need to draw him out." Rei said. She had a mangekyo. Itachi felt bad for not noticing before.

"If he's waiting for us does it mean he wants to be found?" One of the young ones took off her mask to ask. She was his age, they said she was very good. He expected her to be, they bended the rules of admission in anbu to put her in while she was still chunin.

"Why would he want us to find him?" Someone asked.

Maki shrugged.

"Maybe not us. Maybe we are interrupting something." He smiled with malice towards Itachi. "If I was a sharkman who's been dead for two years I would want to fight the guy that killed me." They all looked at him.

Turns out he would get the opportunity to settle this alone.

"I'll go test the theory." Itachi got up.

Rei sighed.

"Don't be a hero, draw him out. We will be watching."

He nodded.

"Yes, captain."

Itachi hit the ground without a sound and felt his heartbeat rise as he approached the inevitable battle. He had to handle this alone, he could only kill him if he was alone. He prayed Hoshigaki hadn't felt his team or else he would be in serious trouble having to protect them. And he wasn't sure he could. Kisame wasn't the kind of enemy he could handle fighting half heartedly. 

He took a deep breath before stepping into the lake and he was swallowed by the fog, so solid that if it wasn't for gravity he wouldn't know which way was up or down.

"Itachi-san, I was wondering where you've been." Itachi looked for the voice but couldn't find where it came from. "I heard Konoha put you on time out." Kisame sounded perfectly calm, not an edge to his voice as he mocked him. That forced a smile out of Itachi.

"They let me out just to see you." He played along.

His laugh echoed, causing ripples on the water that came from every angle, hiding its origin.

"I'm flattered."

Then he struck. like a flash of lighting, Itachi could barely keep standing as the familiar weight of Samehada hit his side. He was thrown back and put himself together a second after turning on his Sharingan to its better form. Kisame was gone.

He waited and managed to feel the next attack before it happened. He pulled a sword this time. It wouldn't hold Samehada's weight for long but it would have to work. He felt the blow and slipped away the best he could. It was the first time he actually got to look at Kisame. 

In his memories he had been careless, too much brute strength and less purpose. Not anymore. His teeth were sharp as ever, but his smile was looser, more confident. He carried Samehada with more intention, broad shoulders fully relaxed as if making no effort to fight at all and he was tall enough to easily look right past Itachi's head as a way to avoid coming in contact with the Sharingan. Those two years dead made him very handsome. Itachi was suddenly grateful for the anbu mask.

As he waited for Kisame to face him upfront he felt the shark coming for his feet and jumped right on time. There was water everywhere so anywhere he landed a shark came to meet him. He ran, having nowhere to go. He tried to step out of the lake but it seemed to have no edge anymore. This wasn't a genjutsu, it wasn't the mist either. He was just stuck.

"Is this revenge?" Maybe if he made Kisame talk he could find him. It was freaking him out how indirect of a fight this was, especially for him. If all of this was fear of the Sharingan Itachi was flattered.

"No. This is business." Samehada knocked the air out of his lungs and before he hit the water it was already coming again so, with nowhere to go, Itachi made a stupid decision. He let the lake swallow him. Samehada broke the barrier of water two fingers away from his face and Kisame quickly followed him down the water. The pressure seemed to hold him in place, one moment away from breaking his skull while Hoshigaki moved with no effort at all. There was no way he could outswim a shark, he knew it was over. But instead of killing him right there, Kisame pulled him back to the surface.

He enjoyed breathing for half a second before realizing his neck was stuck in Kisame's arm, legs and arms still trapped underwater.

"I'm disappointed." He said in his ear.

The comment annoyed Itachi and he tried to fight the grip instead of answering. If his enemy was any other his worst, and he had to admit that it was one of the worst performances of his life, would still be enough. But this wasn't any other enemy. He was embarrassing himself in front of the Monster of the Mist. He desperately needed some time to adjust back to having decent opponents. 

Itachi was hoping for an opportunity to try this in combat anyway. 

The world fell apart. The lake was gone, they were back in the Land of Iron. Kisame got up from the ground trying to center himself just to realize his arms were chained to the earth. 

"I didn't look at you once!" Kisame growled in frustration.

"I don't need you to." Not anymore. He had gotten rid of that weakness after 300 hours locked in the Uchiha archives. "How did you survive the tsukuyomi?"

Kisame ignored the question and tried to break his chains. Itachi let them break. He immediately came for his throat and Itachi just disappeared into a murder of crows, then again and again. Itachi's body could feel the charge of chakra behind him emanating from Kisame, meaning he was trying to get out of the genjutsu in the old fashioned way.

"It won't work." He said unfazed and made a tree fall on him while in pursuit. "How did you survive?" He really needed to test a theory.

Kisame stopped. He smiled at him like he had just figured it all out. It sent a chill down Itachi's spine, solely because there was nothing to figure out. This was his domain, he could not leave unless Itachi let him. If whatever he was thinking worked, that was the only flaw in his technique left to fix. Kisame extended his arm and winked at him. 

The illusion crumbled. Bastard.

Samehada was now dangerously close to his neck and Itachi was still stuck, feeling it drink on his chakra. The stupid sword was the secret, it had Itachi's chakra stored and only the same signature as the caster could break something like the tsukuyomi.

"What is your mission?" Kisame asked, sitting down on the water behind him, suffocating him further. This entire operation was a stain in his resumé. 

"Capture you and the sword."

"And you think you can do it?" Kisame asked with a hint of humor. The words weren't said with arrogance, just amusement at Konoha's poor decision making. And he would agree.

Itachi tried to look up to him but the man was still avoiding his eyes even if now he knew it was pointless.

"I'm only interested in getting the sword."

Kisame laughed.

"Do your cousins agree with you?"

Itachi looked down for the first time to see Rin, Maki and the others underwater desperately trying to break the surface. He was drowning them.

"Let them out." He felt his mangekyo drag into his eyes to spin. Now that he knew the trick there was no getting out, he just had to separate him from the sword in time. Kisame apparently heard his thoughts.

"If you put me in the dream again they die." Samehada whined. Itachi was inclined to believe him. "Do they want to kill me like you?"

He could see the sharks right below them, just waiting for the order.

"No. They think they can capture you."

There was a moment of silence.

"Alright."

His cousins clawed their way back up struggling to breathe. 

"Itachi, what's going on?" His captain asked after seeing his compromising position, ignoring that five seconds ago she was in one much worse.

He looked up again, still unable to meet his eyes.

"Not sure." He felt a sharp pain as one of Samehada's scales sank in his chest. He could feel the large sum of chakra it stole with just one cut. Kisame was preparing to fight four sets of Sharingan and genjutsu specialists, he needed a stock of their chakra to use in case he got stuck. That sword should be destroyed, its creation was a mistake.

An Uchiha pulled him away from Samehada and engaged with Kisame, the rest of the team went right after. Ten to one made the fight more overwhelming for Kisame but he fixed it making them worry about the sharks again. They took two lives, another had already drowned. But something was off, he was completely on the defensive. Itachi looked around trying to check for something he was missing but nothing seemed to. Once he got the attention back to the team, Rei had a seal planted on Kisame's back, paralyzing him.

"Don't just stand there…" She held him in place as the anbu covered the former dead man in similar seals and separated him from the sword.

Itachi knew better than to touch Samehada when it was still hungry so he pulled a scroll and sealed her in with way more effort than he was able to give. That ugly thing was powerful. When he looked back Kisame looked more annoyed than anything about the seals, but kept his eyes down the entire time.

"Should we put him on a genjutsu?" A teammate asked.

"I don't think we can carry an uncooperative man this size without issues." Rei took out the excess water from her hair. "Any ideas, Itachi?"

He looked back at Kisame, who had just offered them a small laugh through the seals in his mouth. He didn't want that genjutsu, that was clear, but he chose to be captured anyway. Itachi was having a hard time understanding what his goal was with this.

"Something tells me he will be cooperative." 

Traveling was harder than expected. He kept breaking the seals they put on him by accident, because he would forget he was supposed to be a prisoner. He was a seals expert, he couldn't help it. But they didn't seem to mind, blaming the amount of chakra he still had stored and fixing it in record time. They were a bunch of idiots.

He stared only at the fire every time they stopped. None of the Uchiha ever turned their eyes off, so he made the effort to never look at any of the shinobi’s faces, he wasn't sure which ones were Uchiha and which ones weren't, it was best to be safe. He remembered Itachi saying that was useless against him, but maybe not for the others. Which was a shame because they were chatty and he was bored. He now knew more about Maki's love life than he did about the guy that killed him a few years back. 

Nothing ever infuriated him more than a Sharingan, especially when he could feel the threat of a certain pair on the back of his head at all times. Itachi had kept his eyes trained on him without a break for two days now, that was commitment.

The other anbu convinced Rei to set camp. She was drained from carrying the scroll with Samehada on it, but holding it really well. Kisame sometimes forgot the effect his sword had on normal people.

"How does he do it?" One of them whispered, remaking the seals in it.

"The Mist is like that." Rei sat down to rest and sighed. "If they need a monster to do the impossible they just go ahead and… make one."

No Village had ever worried about the ethics of manufacturing humans through breeding inside their clans, the Mist was simply honest enough to make it State practice. Kisame didn't understand why they thought this was such a big deal, for him it all depended on the execution. But he was a lab baby after all, one of the ones that made it. He was biased by nature.

Rei fell asleep fairly quickly and Itachi convinced some of the others to do the same. It was a while having to bear the weight of those eyes before Itachi sat down in front of him.

"Why do you still use your village's sigil?" Kisame didn't answer, his lips were supposed to be sealed by the writings in his cheeks. "I know it's not working. No one is paying attention, you can talk."

He wished he could glare at him for 'letting' him talk.

"Why wouldn't I use it?" His voice came out rough after two days of quiet. Mei would say it was a record.

"You defected." He shrugged. "You should at least cross it off."

Kisame smiled, missing a time when it was that simple.

"I don't remember defecting."

Itachi moved in his place.

"You faked your death for two years and didn't go back to the Mist." He said it like it was a winning argument. "That is defecting."

Kisame liked to see him annoyed.

"I disagree."

"So you are coming to Konoha on Kiri's orders?" Of course, Itachi didn't seem the type to do small talk.

"Not exactly." A wrong word now could kill him before finishing the mission.

Itachi moved his head a centimeter to the left.

"How so?" 

Kisame didn't answer. 

"I know you fear the eyes." He whispered. "I don't have to use them."

This must have bothered him in some very proud corner of his soul, because it made him look up and stare red as a challenge. He felt his own discomfort, the memories of a frozen sea and blood pouring still fresh on his mind, but he fought against it. Held his gaze. Since it probably wouldn't happen again he took the opportunity to study the Uchiha's features. His cheeks were not chubby anymore, the stress marks under his eyes were way deeper. Kisame wondered what Konoha did to him these last two years to make them so. His small mouth was the only thing revealing his surprise at Kisame's stupid display of pride. Itachi looked like something carved out of stone, every random cut piecing together a picture, and it was a beautiful picture, he had to admit. He would be a fine man one day. The only thing he couldn't admire were the spinning commas threatening to burn him alive.

"Go ahead." He smiled at the boy. It threw him off, a blush running through his face. Itachi was more surprised than anything before his Sharingan changed into the shape of a shuriken.

"If you insist." He mumbled.

And there they were again, Land of Iron, in the exact conditions of their first encounter, fire and smoke. After what he saw in his almost death, the feeling of being cooked alive and the poisonous smoke in his lungs was like a warm hug.

He was pulled down to the ground by chains and itachi came to meet him. 

"Is Konoha in danger?"

"No." He answered truthfully.

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying." The entitlement of this kid. "I'll just have a conversation with your boss." 

"About?"

He looked at him, not hiding his annoyance.

"You don't rank high enough to know, Itachi-san."

Kisame felt his arms being pulled off. It was just pain, only real in his head, he could handle it. Itachi only stopped pulling at the ripping point.

"If I’m bringing a trojan horse home I need to know."

Sweet of him to think Kirigakure would trust his abilities enough to send him alone to take down the entirety of Konoha.

"I'm not a trojan horse. Can't those eyes of yours know if I'm lying?"

There was a long pause. Kisame could feel his lungs failing. How long would they have lasted in these conditions if their original fight had gone only a few minutes longer?

"What will you discuss with the Hokage?"

"New beginnings."

"Konoha is not interested."

Kisame laughed.

"Does the Hokage know you now dictate your village's foreign policy?" 

The illusion went through with the promise of ripping his arms off. He tried to breathe through it, desperate, but it still wasn't the worst pain he ever felt. The Uchiha really needed to up his game.

Itachi made the tiniest frustrated sound and it all fell apart. He was sitting again with his back to a tree, Itachi in front of him. He watched as the Sharingan went back from shuriken to the commas, then turned black. Kisame didn't know what he expected to be under the red but it wasn't the shining black that matched his hair. They made him look kinder. Odd thing to think about someone that just tortured him in a genjutsu.

"If I suspect this is a trap…"

"You'll kill me?" He let his head fall back and smiled at him.

Itachi's distaste was much more evident in his regular eyes, it was a breath of fresh air to see him emote like a normal person. He redid the seal in Kisame's mouth out of spite and woke up Maki to stand guard.

He was blindfolded, but if he had to guess, he was snuck into Konoha from a gate on the east and brought to a facility underground. His mission was simple: not offend the Hokage, ask if he would recognize the new government's claim when Mei finally did it. If he said yes, ask if he's willing to help. If he said no, kill him before he could tell Mizukage Yagura. Easy.

Kisame really wished this mission had fallen to anyone but him. He didn't know how to negotiate without threats, and it would be extremely damaging for the rebellion if the Hokage was in fact murdered by him. He knew the fourth Hokage was fond of Yagura, but they had nothing on the third. Kisame could be walking to a death trap at the moment.

He felt a different chakra in the room. Old, smelled like wood, powerful. 

"Hoshigaki-san." The Hokage announced his presence.

The seal on his mouth and eyes burned off. Adjusting to the light he saw the tiny old man looking at him from the outside of his cell, and right behind him ten jonin keeping guard on anbu masks. One of them he recognized by signature as being Itachi.

"Hokage-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled without his teeth trying to look less threatening, failing at it probably.

"I wish I could say the same." He crossed his arms. "But your sword just killed two of my men."

Kisame fought back an honest smile.

"She does that sometimes."

The Hokage didn't find it funny.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I do." He had a mission. "But do we agree on what that is?"

Hiruzen brought a pipe to his lips.

"Why don't you tell me what you think it is first."

"I will." He sat down properly on the seal holding him captive. "If we can speak in private."

The Hokage stared at him for a long second before gesturing to all the anbu.

"Pick one."

He blinked. 

"What?"

"To stay." He frowned. "I can't be unprotected with the Monster of the Mist, that would be nonsense."

Kisame liked him very much.

"Itachi Uchiha." Easy. If Itachi wanted to know everything at all cost it was better to give him what he wanted than to put another stranger into this.

The Hokage scoffed as if the choice surprised him. He gestured for the others.

"Leave us."

The other nine were out the door. Itachi then came closer, standing at the wall to his leader's right. He moved so unsure of himself Kisame wanted to ask what was wrong.

"Itachi was just telling me about those new beginnings of yours." His eyes weighed on him more than the Sharingan ever could. "Why won't you tell me about it?"

Kisame sighed. He didn't want to do this.

"I'm here only as a messenger, Hokage-sama. And I'm here to tell you the age of the Bloody Mist is about to end." 

He went through all of it. From the defection of now three swordsmen to the selective assassinations in the village carried by the Mizukage, the civilian support they so proudly had, Mei's leadership and why they kept choosing her even now that she was arrested. The last three semesters of the Academy that refused to partake in the graduation ceremony and never became genin. All he could.

If Konoha's intelligence was well informed they should know most of this. Mizukage Yagura was very talented at keeping things from the continent, but it was impossible to do so when his own people weren't helping.

"And what do you need from me?" He asked after a sigh.

At the moment, for them to stop trying to hold Samehada. Kisame could feel her chakra reserves getting larger every time she took a life.

"A claim will be made. We want Konoha to support it." 

He was silent for a second. He could almost feel Itachi's eyes running from him to his kage frantically.

"When?"

"Will you support it?" Kisame pushed. Maybe too hard because now the old man was walking around the room in deep thought.

"I met Mei Terumi when she was a little girl. Charismatic, smart. Unbelievably powerful. I can see her as a leader but I am still surprised she got the loyalty of people like you, Kisame. Comrade killer. What happened?"

What happened? He tried to piece it together many times before. It wasn't one moment, one big gesture, it seemed like a sequence of nothings that out of simple coincidence amounted into a something.

Kisame stared at the wall.

"Yagura called me into his office. He told me my master was a traitor to the village and sent me to claim my sword. I didn't know if it was true, I didn't care, I just wanted Samehada. So I got her. It could be true, it could also just be to motivate me for the fight. But I didn't need motivation, I hated Fuguki more than enough." He endured all the cruelty someone having to care for the life of the person destined to kill them could have. He couldn't wait to fulfill his expectations since he understood what they were. Kisame didn't know at the time why him being a traitor or not was heavy on him.

The Hokage winced at the mention of the ritual. Kisame despised the little act. Konoha, always thinking they are more civilized than everyone else, believing they had less blood on their hands.

"I went on a mission with Mei a while later. She congratulated me for the sword, called Fuguki a filthy traitor, and asked me if I knew what he did. I said no. And she told me everything. Everything ." He was selling information from the Science Division to foreigners, years and years of work. She told him about the documents, research, DNA samples, all that was lost, the lives he affected. His own life. Projects K. Hoshigaki and A. Hoshigaki were completely compromised, his mother's body was missing because of him.

"Knowing was good for me." He shrugged. Realizing that was hard for him. "Then she thought I had taken the bait and said the magic words." He laughed, practically hearing her voice saying "' It doesn't have to be this way.' I was supposed to report back to the Mizukage that there was a traitor trying to enlist me, but I didn't. She gave me the truth, I could give her time in return. Then I was sent to protect a defector from Iron Country and Itachi Uchiha put me in hell for 18 months." 

He spared a glance at the boy just to see his reaction. He was still as a statue.

"I came back from the dead by a miracle, all I wanted was to go home and then I realized that if I did, Yagura wouldn't care what happened, he would just punish me for failing the fucking mission." He sighed. "I was very tired, Hokage-sama. So I went to Mei." And she had the silly instinct to comfort him.

He liked that about her, that the Mei on the other end of Mizukage's sword right now was the exact same Mei that gave him his class on how chakra worked when he was seven and she was a chunin. Sane, reliable, safe. Things Kisame desperately needed, and so did the Mist.

The Hokage nodded slowly 

"Are you sure the rebellion will win?"

"Yes." He answered without hesitation. He wished he was being truthful, but in reality it did not matter to him. If the revolution was set to fail he would still lay down his life for it. Too late to turn back now.

"I'll be back soon, Kisame." He turned away heading to the door.

The anbu he left behind turned to him, mask concealing whatever was on his mind. He left as well. Kisame could feel the presence of his own chakra two floors above him, where Samehada was being kept. It would be an easy escape if it came to it.

Itachi could feel the blood rushing to his ears as he heard Kisame talk, knowing what was coming. He put an infinite tsukuyomi on a dead man and the dead man lived to tell the story. If a regular tsukuyomi was supposed to fry someone's mind until they are not themselves anymore, how was Kisame standing, talking, laughing after 18 months inside the genjutsu? And why did the man that survived made him feel worse than any of the ones that didn't?

"Are you okay, Itachi?" The Hokage offered him a glass of water in the meeting room.

He nodded and took out his mask to drink. He hated that room with all his heart. His more mild nightmares started there, the ones where he was in the meeting but couldn't speak.

Insecurity wasn't a common emotion for Itachi. Neither was the recklessness that made him put Kisame in a genjutsu on their way there. He did not like who he was when Hoshigaki was around, he seemed to always bring out the worst in him.

"What will be your answer?" Itachi asked, barely a whisper. He wouldn't know what to do if he was the one having to decide.

Sandaime took a long drag from his pipe and stared at the ground.

"If they fail, the Mist is officially our enemy."

Everyone was afraid of the Bloody Mist, the only reason that the Shinobi world hadn't banded together to destroy it was because the Shinobi world would never band together for anything. Some villages hid their disdain better than others, but Konoha was the one with more history of diplomatic tensions. This was a good era, and yet  they were extorting Konoha for a sword they didn't have, would it really make a difference to have them as declared enemies?

"And if they succeed?" He surprised himself by asking.

The Hokage stared at him with a tiny smile.

"We become friends of the new Mist, something Konoha always wanted." Something passed his eyes, Itachi didn't understand what. "Do you think it's worth the risk?"

It didn't have to be a risk.

"We could make sure they win." Terrible idea, messing with other countries' politics was wrong.

Sandaime raised his chin.

"How so?"

"I don't know." But Kisame already asked them for support on behalf of the rebellion, entertaining a thought was no war crime. "Weapons? People?"

"Are you willing to send Leaf ninjas to fight another village's war?" The question seemed to be a test by the way that his eyes weighed on Itachi.

"No." Was his immediate response. He felt himself regretting what he was about to say the second it came out of his mouth. "But I'm under house arrest, I wouldn't be missed in the village ranks at all." And maybe this was his way out.

The Hokage crossed his arms at that.

"Well, you are worth an army." 

Itachi beat himself up for the warmth in his chest.

"Thank you, sir."

When the advisors came in they all took a second to look at Itachi and make him feel like he did not belong. He was used to the natural distrust they had for Uchihas, but since he came back to action it became personal. He was Danzou's killer after all. What made him a hero to some young ninjas made him a dangerous liability for the elders. In a twisted way he fed on their discomfort. His presence inconveniencing them was an immense honor, one he would gladly make use of as long as Hokage-sama let him.

"It's a great risk." The old woman said.

"With a very high reward." The old man added.

She crossed her arms on her lap.

"If Itachi goes as emissary we risk losing his body to the Mist." She gave him a knowing look. "You know how they are."

"That would be a problem for the Uchiha clan, not us." He answered. Because the Uchiha were not part of the village, sure.

"He won't die." The Hokage said and the woman scoffed.

"You can't guarantee that."

The Hokage turned to him.

"Itachi, you'll come back alive no matter the cost and no matter the outcome, was I clear?"

He held a smile.

"Yes sir."

The old man looked down at him with something like disgust.

"Unstable ninjas like the boy are not very good at following orders, Hiruzen." 

Itachi felt his Sharingan change with the surge of emotions those words caused him. That man had no idea... He looked down trying to hide it. 

"I thought you'd jump at the opportunity to get rid of him." Sandaime said, sharply.

"We didn't say no."

They indeed didn't say no.

The second the board agreed, the reality of it all came crashing down on him. As much as he needed to get out of that house he couldn't be gone for six months to two years, he had a family to protect. What a stupid decision. What if he died? How much of his clan's trust on the village relied on his relationship with the Hokage? What would happen if that was gone? 

"Dad." Fugaku Uchiha looked up from his notes.

"Yes?" His face didn't change when he saw him.

"I'm leaving on a mission." He only hummed. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Does it have anything to do with the nukenin on village headquarters?"

He smiled.

"It does."

Fugaku hummed, happy for guessing it right, in a rare moment where he wasn't stoic.

"What favor, son?"

Itachi prepared himself.

"Don't compromise Sasuke's future for this clan's pride."

His father stopped and his black irises met Itachi's. Cold, but in his own way, telling.

"How long will you be away?" He got the picture.

"Six months to two years." Fugaku looked away. Itachi could almost hear his thoughts. He couldn't process missing his son now that he got used to his presence around all the time and instead of dealing with it he would blame Konoha for taking him away. "I volunteered." He added to cut the thought.

He looked back, half shocked, half angry.

"Why?" Disdain, that's how he showed he couldn't understand something.

"Because I destroyed my reputation and got myself a five year criminal sentence." He let out. "To seek… higher things I need to free myself from that incident and a better opportunity than this won't come."

Fugaku frowned at the wall.

"You are still so young, son."

His heart tightened.

"That's not enough anymore." The truth in his words hurt more than he was willing to admit. He was officially too old to be a prodigy. "I'm just like any other Shinobi now. I need to prove myself again." 

"Not to me." His father stared back, stern, full of intention.

Itachi swallowed that wave of emotions.

The Uchiha were an emotional bloodline. That never translated into being good with emotions. It was by design, in a certain way. A confused mind is more susceptible to bad emotions and bad emotions were the main source of evolution for their eyes. It showed in their parenting style, in the way that they could love their children with the strength of gods but never understand them. For Itachi it didn't matter. The burden of understanding him should be his and his alone. His father's love was enough. And that he could trust he had.

"I know." He put a hand on his shoulder.

"Be sure to come back, Itachi." Fugaku went back to his work. "Your brother will miss you." 

That made him smile.

His mother was supportive of his decision, maybe because she knew better than anyone that staying at home was not doing him any good. He let her believe it was a spying mission and not a war. Mikoto was a clan cultivator, not a Shinobi, she had a hard time understanding why he was so tied to the village's orders. All that was left to do was, of course, say goodbye to Sasuke.

"Can't they send anyone else?" His voice cracked as Sasuke avoided his brother's eyes on the roof of their house.

"I volunteered."

"Why?" The hurt in that question was enough to make Itachi reconsider. Fugaku asked him the same but the two of them had completely different tones to it.

"It's complicated." He would never tell. One generation of resentful Uchiha was more than enough. "I'll be back before you graduate."

"Promise?" Itachi could see the tears in his eyes. So he pulled his brother a little closer and kissed his head, Sasuke didn't fight the affection for once in his life.

"I promise."

And now he wasn't allowed to die.