If Itachi wasn't the one to kill the Uchihas, and if Naruto graduated a year early, just how different would Konoha be? Features Itachi in spandex, Cat!Naruto, and Lee with a Mohican.
AN: Woo, this is the first time I have actually had the patience to type up a story. Anyway, enjoy. (Note: This is only rated T for the occasional gruesome scene. I like writing blood!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, now matter how many times I tell my parents that I have Iruka locked up in my cupboard.
CHAPTER ONE
Itachi woke with a start. His head was pounding and his sheets were soaked with sweat. He'd had that dream again, although, it was more of a nightmare than anything else. He'd been having the same nightmare every night for three years. He was 17 now.
He had just returned from a mission as newly promoted ANBU Captain, Weasel, when he stumbled across his otouto practicing with shuriken in the forest. After a few moments helping Sasuke, they both headed towards the Uchiha complex, stopping to buy some celebratory dango on the way.
But when they reached the gates of the complex, all thoughts of celebrating where thrown out of their heads. There were no guards and one of the large gates had a dent in it. There was something wrong.
"Nii-san," Sasuke whimpered, tugging on his shirt sleeve, "What's going on?"
It was quiet. Too quiet.
Itachi quickly pulled Sasuke to the closest wall.
"Sasuke. Something's happened here. It's not safe for you." Sasuke pouted but nodded at the same time. "I need you to get help, understand? Find anybody you can. I need the ANBU in here. Now go!"
With a quick glance at his brother's retreating back, Itachi looked around the corner of the building he was behind. He was grateful he had sent Sasuke away. The younger boy wouldn't have been able to handle all the blood.
At least fifty members of the police squad were lying dead in the middle of the alleyway. Among them were women and children, whom the police had obviously been trying to protect. On second thought, Itachi realised that there were also bodies in the doorways of houses, drowned in their own blood, limbs twisted at gruesome angles. Creating a quick Kage Bunshin for back up, he began to pick his way through the bloodstained complex.
As he advanced through the streets, more and more faces stared up at him, looks of shock and fear carved permanently into their lifeless eyes. Whoever had done this was about to feel the wrath of the Uchiha's latest prodigy as he realised he was yet to see his parents amongst the dead.
Itachi kept a firm grip on the handle of his katana as he raced through the streets towards his home, stumbling through the bodies littered on the ground. The stillness of the air bothered him, so much so that he was tempted to scream just to break the silence. Instead he forced himself to run faster, hoping against hopes that the killer hadn't reached his parents yet.
However, as soon as he noticed the odd angle the door was hanging at he realised he was too late. There was a small flickering light in the room beyond and he was quick enough to get out of the way before the wall exploded.
With a grunt of frustration, Itachi wriggled out from beneath a portion of the charred wooden door and headed into the house. The old tatami mats made no sound as he crept through the deserted rooms.
Please let them be alive. Please let them be alive.
There was a muffled scream from a room at the other end of the corridor, and he once again broke into a sprint. Breaking the door down with a forceful kick, he wished he hadn't as the contents of his stomach, the measly three dango sticks he'd eaten a few hours before, emptied onto the floor.
Once again, he was glad that his otouto had not witnessed this, as even his hard ANBU mind was beginning to shatter. Again he heard the stifled scream, and he realised that what he had originally thought to be the mutilated corpse of his mother was still alive.
"Kaasan!"
He wiped the vomit form his chin and leapt forward. A quick slash with a kunai and the rope around her neck was cut, causing her to fall. Itachi stumbled slightly as he caught her, but he immediately noticed the slashes on her back and the gaping hole in her chest.
"I-Itachi-kun," He could feel tears gathering in his red tinted eyes as she coughed several times, blood staining her lips. "K-Keep Sasuke-kun s-safe." She coughed again, only this time, the blood kept coming, and Itachi knew his mother wouldn't last long.
"Just hold on, Kaasan, I'll get you out of here." He was about to scoop her up into his arms again when he felt her light grip on his wrist.
"Ie. You have t-to stop him, Ita-" As her last breath escaped her, her nimble frame became a dead weight in Itachi's arms. He kissed her forehead gently before laying her on the ground and drawing his katana.
His mother had mentioned a 'him' and the only Uchiha left, other than his father, was Uchiha Shisui. Despite the reports of Shisui committing suicide a few days before, Itachi knew the inner workings of Shisui's mind inside out. He was far too proud to commit such a disgracing act, and he was far too stubborn to be brought down by life.
As if to confirm his thoughts, there was a loud cry of pain from the room beyond. Tousan! Shisui you bastard!
Now with a purpose, he strode forward to the door linking his parent's rooms, and slid it open quietly. The only sound was that of the steady drip of blood on the end of Shisui's katana.
Itachi recognised his silhouette as soon as he entered the room. And it was that figure which he would see every time he closed his eyes for years to come. Uchiha Shisui stood in the centre of the room, katana in one hand, the severed head of Uchiha Fugaku in the other.
Once again Itachi felt compelled to throw up, but when he caught sight of Shisui's Sharingan he jumped forward, katana raised in an attempt to reach the one he had respected as an older brother. Shisui merely laughed and knocked the blade out of his hands. Before he hit the ground, Shisui kicked him in the ribs and sent him flying into the wall opposite.
Gomen, Kaasan. I couldn't save him.
"Why, Shisui? Why would you do this to our clan?"
Shisui dropped Fugaku's head and chuckled. "Why, Itachi-chan? You want to know why?" He tightened the grip on his katana. "You've seen it, haven't you, Itachi? The room under the seventh tatami mat in the Nakano Shrine? I know you've read the scroll. We both know what the Uchiha clan really is."
"That's still no reason to kill everyone!"
"It needed to be done! Who knows what might have happened if the elders were left to continue with their plans?! Don't try to convince yourself that you don't agree with me." Shisui exclaimed. "You and I are the same, Itachi. It's a shame it had to come to this." He raised the katana above his head. "If we ever meet again, you'll thank me for thi-!"
For a few moments, neither Itachi nor Shisui knew what was going on, but when his eyes focused on the blade protruding form Shisui's chest, Itachi almost cried with relief. Shisui, in comparison, paled as he turned from the Itachi on the floor to the Itachi holding the offending katana. A few moments later, the second Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Shisui realised his mistake.
He could feel his own blood pouring out of his chest even as he laughed. "A Kage Bunshin, huh?"
As Shisui fell to the ground, Konoha's top ninja arrived, albeit too late to stop anything. One ANBU member, known to his colleagues as Red Raven, entered Uchiha Fugaku's private rooms only to find said shinobi decapitated, the earlier presumed dead Uchiha Shisui with a katana through his heart, and a nearly unconscious Uchiha Itachi collapsed on the floor, sporting a new development in his Sharingan.
Itachi stared at his reflection in the mirror as he activated his Sharingan. Every day he would walk into the bathroom to stare at his twin in the hopes that everything had been a nasty dream. And every day he was faced with the same eyes, the unmistakable Mangekyou Sharingan.
Shisui, you were right. One day I might thank you.
AN: Okay, first chapter done. Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks. Sparrowhawk