Title – Uchiha Itachi and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Rating – PG-13
Pairings – None
Summary – Just before that fateful time where Itachi slaughters his clan, he receives a mission to guard one Harry Potter for a single year. How much can change for Itachi, Harry, and the History of both worlds, in just one year?
Author – Mistress DragonFlame
Beta – Karin Kinomoto. Thank you so much:heart:
Important Notes – I do not watch the movies—I only read the books. Therefore, everything will be based off the book only, and I have the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book for references as well. However, a few things, like the uniforms, will be based off the movie (it would make more sense to have a full uniform rather then just a robe). Also, I don't watch the anime, only read the manga.

XXXXX

"Hm, what a lovely morning..." The Third said to himself, looking out the large window that showed him his village as he leaning back into his chair. The sky was open and clear, the air was clean and fresh, and a small brown dot was being chased by a chuunin. ...Wait, what?

A frown graced his wrinkled appearance as he followed the flying creature while it circled the building, getting nearer. It was an owl, and one that was not native to his lands, not to mention the fact it was flying during the daytime. It frantically flew through the air, somehow dodging one of his ninja as he tried to snatch it before it reached the tower. But the bird was not to have that, and the last Sarutobi saw of it was it swooping down, out of his line of sight.

The frown still there, he calmly reached into a drawer and pulled out a kunai, then hiding it in his sleeve. While his village was not at war currently, he never could be too careful.

Soon, a slightly dulled squawking could be heard on the other side of the door, along with shouts of 'Get that bird out of here!' and 'I'm trying!'. He could feel his brows bunch as the door suddenly burst open, and a ruffled owl flew over to him to try and land. Now recognizing who it was from because of the vest baring a particular crest on the fowl's chest, he quickly got out a bird stand he had just for this, and set it on his desk, to which the bird gratefully landed on.

"I'm sorry sir!" The chuunin, Uchiha Roku, if he could remember correctly—Roku never could activate his sharingan, so he took up profession in the bird room instead of the police department—apologized to him, clutching a kunai in his hand. "I tried to stop the bird after it flew past the Message Aviary, but I couldn't seem to catch it sir! When I realized it was coming here, I tried to take it out, but something stopped me!" He saluted, his heavily bandaged arm (so birds with mighty talons could land on it without causing him harm) giving him a slightly disproportional look.

"This bird is from a very... special person, and it's trained to come directly to whom its letter is addressed to. There's a unique... skill cast on it to keep it from harm as well. You are dismissed; I will send this bird to the Aviary after I'm done with it. Keep it there—feed it and make sure it's well taken care off—until it departs on its own. Let no one other then yourself touch this bird, understood?" He raised grayed eyebrows at the young man, who nervously swallowed.

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Good. You are dismissed. Please close the door after you've left." He waited until the dark haired man firmly closed the door behind him, hearing the click of the latch, before turning to the bird.

It sat proudly on its little perch, chest fluffed out. Big yellow eyes watched him with almost unnerving awareness. Calmly, as if it just hadn't been chanced by a human bent on killing it and having the skill to do so, the Brown Screech owl—if he remembered its breed correctly—stuck out its leg, showing a letter strapped to it.

It seemed his old acquaintance was in need of something.

Sure enough, as he read the careful kanji written in green ink, he learned why the man contacted him through this method rather then their normal way. They had met years ago, when Sarutobi had just announced the Yondaime, and had gone on vacation around all the countries as a sort of celebration to be finally rid of the paperwork required for a Hokage. It was in a small country on the other side of Fire, past Sand, on a peninsula. Very strange people there, no native ninja, but there seemed to be a couple people who just didn't belong; though only he as a highly trained ninja could tell that. He had met one, a strange man wearing an emerald green cloak and sipping some tea at a small café. They had gotten to talking (more accurately, attempting to talk through the slight gap in their language skills) and after finding out who—and more interestingly, what—the man was, they had set up a sort of long distance letter connection.

The man was Albus Dumbledore, and he seemed as amazed by the fact Sarutobi was a ninja as the Sandaime was that Albus was a wizard. Apparently, he was from a world connected by chakra—'magic,' by him—to Sarutobi's world, to keep a balance to another world that was connected to Albus' by physical things. They had a very interesting discussion on it and the rest of the differences between them well into the night and the following few days, but it was a secret relief to note that the connection point was very small, and the few people that even knew about it had no desire to try and attack the ninja countries, or even set up alliances. The hole was too small to send more then one or two people through at a time, so it'd be pointless anyway. And, they also feared that a ninja would come through and wreak havoc on them, as they were not meant for expressly fighting like ninja were.

The way they normally talk to one another was by a mutual post in the country they met at. Albus would send a letter through the connection point to a post office in that town and the post office would then send it on its merry way to him through traders, birds for certain points, and returning ninja, or anything else traveling the two points that would take it. He would send a letter back in the same way, only reversed. All in all, it took a good couple of months for a letter to travel from one of them to the other, but they didn't mind. They were old men and had patience.

But this owl, and the letter attached bearing a mark of Hogwarts—the school Albus ruled over, like a mini Konoha—instead of Dumbledore's own mark, showed that it was not a friendly chat.

'Dear Sarutobi-san,' the letter began. 'I regret to inform you this letter is not a continuous discussion of Quidditch like the last few have been. A highly dangerous convict has escaped one of our supposedly inescapable prisons, and is more then likely going to kill off Harry Potter to bring Voldemort to power again.' He frowned at reading the name. It was amazing at how similar they were, even to the point of having a betraying student who had a preference to snakes and wished to be immortal. 'While the Ministry of Magic has already arranged for some protection, I felt it best that I hire one of your ninja to secretly protect Harry under the guise of being a student. If you wish to take this mission, please scratch off the wax in the corner; it will alert me to come and meet you. If not, burn the letter and I will know. Please only take it off when you are certain you will have ample time to discuss this with me; I will be waiting, and will bring some valuable artifacts as payment. The ninja must be around thirteen years of age, so he or she can be with Harry in his classes throughout the year for which he or she is hired. Everything will be provided for him or her to fit in at school, including wand, books, clothes, and other necessities. -Albus Dumbledore' The abruptness made him frown again, knowing that his friend—like many old people—loved to extend any letter or conversation to it's full length. He was worried indeed about this... Convict, so should Sarutobi be worried as well?

Hm, should he take the mission or not? It would pay highly, for such a long mission; especially considering the tasks whoever would take up the duty had to do. Letter A class, at least, if not an S. Unranked was also a good probability, for the unknowns regarding the strange place Albus called home, as well as the complete secrecy and sensitivity of engaging with the mission.

He had been there once—and his wizard friend had been to Konoha once—and he'd rather not go again, if he could help it. Barely knowing the native language, he had been mostly dependant on Albus as they wandered about the near empty school. There had been many frights at the sheer difference the place held. He could feel altered chakra everywhere, and the moving pictures just made his skin crawl. Don't even get him started on what he did when he saw one of the many ghosts that live in the school. It had been an interesting experience and he was glad he went, but he preferred Konoha. His friend was the same way towards the Leaf village, jumping whenever a ninja appeared out of nowhere before them as they walked through it, which was quite often as the Third had been reinstated only two years prior and the flow of important documents were still in a constant stream.

With a sigh, he let the bird out the window, telling it to go to the Aviary, and put the thought to the back of his mind as his duties to the village forced him to get back to work. As he handed out missions and took reports, he found his mind mainly focused on the singular mission, looking at it over again and again as he automatically did the paperwork due his position. It shocked him slightly, to find himself dismissing the chuunin guards, and the hidden ANBU in the building an hour after the sun had set. He couldn't even remember eating lunch.

Idly, he went about making dinner and setting it out on his newly cleared desk. Picking up the letter, he paused, wondering what he should do. Burn the letter, or scratch off the wax? Decline or accept? The answer was obvious, and he had prepared himself for it through the entire day. He smirked lightly, taking a kunai to the wax; he had already picked out who would go, and what the large sum would be used for.

He didn't have to wait long after the red wax chipped and peeled off, and a man wearing a Green Cloak appeared in his office with a pop! "Ah, my dear friend, it's good to see you again. Would you like something to eat?" He said, gesturing to the small display of edible goods. The Third wasn't shocked to the sudden appearance—ninja did it all the time—and it only confirmed how dangerous Dumbledore thought of this mission. Of course, dangerous to a wizard was extremely different to what a ninja considered dangerous, but that wasn't what mattered.

"Ah yes, I have not had breakfast yet. Thank you for waiting until morning in my country." The wizard said in his wispy voice splashed with accent, but easily understandable, as he sat down in one of the plush chairs sitting in front of the Sandaime.

"No problem. I had to work in the day time here anyway. If there was one thing I dislike about my job, it has to be the paperwork."

They chatted lightly as they ate, asking 'how have you beens' and the like, but soon the food was consumed, and Sarutobi leaned back in his chair. "Now, you wished to request a ninja from one of mine?"

Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle to his eye behind his half moon glasses. "I did. How much would it cost, in reference to jewels? I am afraid you would not accept Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, even if there was a conversion rate to Ryou."

Stroking his beard with one hand—feeling slightly jealous at the one his friend had, long enough to tuck into his belt—he thought about it for a moment. "At least five rubies, six emeralds, two sapphire and three diamonds all the size of a Knut, and at most eight rubies, ten emeralds, four sapphires, and six diamonds of the same size. But it would heavily play on exactly what you want."

Nodding to himself, the older man reached in his jacket, tugging out a small sack. "Whoever you choose will be placed in the same house as Harry, and he or she—"

"It would be a boy, so they could be together at all points." He cut him off gently, beginning to write in a scroll with smooth, easy strokes of his ink brush.

"Alright, he will not tell anyone why he really is there. Every member of the faculty will know, but no one else will, including the Ministry of Magic and Harry himself. While respecting the staff, he will answer only to me. He will live under the disguise as being a foreign exchange student this year, starting the day after tomorrow—a test to see if a program can be implemented. Naturally, it won't be, but we won't tell them that. To keep up with his cover, he will have to actively participate in the classes, taking the tests and such when needed. He will have to follow the school rules as a whole, but there will be a few exemptions if something were to occur.

"While there, he is to be expected to protect the student body from any threat, but he will only follow Harry around, not patrol the school. If there is a break in—which I expect, due to the chosen Ministry guards and the convict himself—he is to try and find the assailant to the best of his ability, and he would have to capture, not kill, them. His parent or guardian will also be needed for—"

"Any ninja in my village is recognized as a full adult in every single aspect, Albus. He can give his own permission to anything needed."

Raised eye brows looked over in amazement, not at all offended to be cut off again. "But he is to be thirteen. I can understand a thirteen year old to be a 'genin' as you call them, but to be considered an adult?"

A smile made its way across his face, pride rising in his chest. "Some of my ninja became adults at the age of eight, sometimes younger. It is not measured in age when ninja become adults, but when they have graduated from our academy. Our school makes it certain that no one who isn't mature enough to handle the responsibilities of an adult in this village can become a genin. Besides, whoever would take this mission would be at least chuunin—a journeyman ninja more skilled then a genin." He filled in, seeing the confused glint to the older mans' eye.

"Ah, I see. Tell me, besides payment, what would you require of me?"

"Every so often I will need to send another ninja out there, to collect the report the shinobi hired for this is required to make. An emergency line will be available to him, but it is not safe for him to transport sensitive mission information over which is why I cannot accept reports over it. Other then that, my men can handle themselves."

"Very well. The ninja can come on these days," He reached into his cloak again, and with drew a calendar, quickly showing the dates he meant. "During the two holiday breaks. It's when the school is emptier then normal, so it will avoid unnecessary questions."

"Yes, that works very well. I accept the mission, and it will come to... six rubies, eight emeralds, three sapphires, and five diamonds. Half the payment now and the other half will be handed to the chosen ninja once the mission is completed." The Third muttered absently, finishing off his scroll and handing it over to Dumbledore to sign.

As if it was a purchase of a simple book, the wizard calmly retrieved and counted out half of the precious stones from the brown bag he had earlier, and placed them on the table. He signed the parchment with a quill that appeared out of nowhere, in green ink, as his usual.

"Would you like to meet your ninja?" The Sandaime said, rolling up the scroll and placing it on a pile to his right.

"You've decided already?"

"Of course; this mission fits as unranked, therefore only the best of the best can be sent to it. I have one ANBU captain who has just turned thirteen. I also believe being in such a country will be good for him. Let me get him." Fluidly lifting himself out of his seat, Sarutobi walked to the cabinet against the wall. He easily slid open a drawer, and did something that Dumbledore couldn't see. But whatever it was, he closed it again and went back to his seat. "He will be here shortly."

"How skilled is he?"

"He's ANBU captain."

But the silver eyebrows remained raised.

"ANBU are the elite, hidden protection of Konoha as well as the ones assigned the most dangerous missions like an assassination of a Lord. They are the ones who go after Jounin—the highest rank ninja besides myself—when they rebel against their village and are directly under my command, and mine only. A captain is the one who is the strongest, wisest out of each four man cell. Ah, there you are, Itachi."

Dumbledore jumped as he heard a young voice speak right behind him, having not heard him approach. "You called for me, Hokage-sama? I was training with my team." He turned and saw a figure wearing slightly dirty bone white armor over skin tight black cloth. Black elbow length gloves had additional armor across the forearm, but the bicep was left bare, exposing a black, swirl tattoo on his pale right arm. A porcelain mask hid his features, but black hair long enough to be in a pony tail was tied at the name of the figures' neck. He stood from his crouch, and placed both hands behind his back with sharp bends at his elbows, feet lightly apart, in an undoubtedly military stance.

"I was wondering why you appeared so quickly. Itachi, please meet Dumbledore Albus, your new employer if you choose to accept it. Albus please met Itachi Uchiha."

Smiling at the slightly disturbing painted mask as it turned to face him with its bottomless eyes; he dipped his head towards the boy. "Pleasure to meet you, Uchiha-san."

"Greetings," The boy replied neutrally, bowing slightly before turning back to his leader. "Why is he told of my name?"

"Because where I come from, young man, we do not use codenames." Albus said innocently, but definitely telling Itachi that he didn't appreciate being ignored.

The wicked face of a weasel again faced the still smiling old man, but Sarutobi spoke before something happened. "Itachi, your mission will be an undercover one where you will play yourself, lasting a year at this man's school."

His soldier turned back to him, giving a slight confused note to his voice. "A year, sir?"

"Yes, necessary circumstances require a prolonged mission. You are to be enrolled in his school, located far, far away from Konoha as a 'foreign exchange student.' You will be there an entire school year, starting from three days from now. The country you will go to is over a days travel by train—but two days will have passed—and has no connection to any Hidden Village, so you may freely give the name of yourself, and anyone you wish to of your friends or family with no fear of someone coming back and killing them. The reason you have been selected so shortly after your promotion is because Dumbledore-san here needs a thirteen year old—preferably a boy—to guard one Potter Harry. You are to learn of a very secure secret, and no one outside of this room is to be told of, including your father, despite what that man wishes. For this mission, you will had to adapt to a whole new place—I've been there once, didn't like it—and learn a new language. While there, you are to participate in the school's curriculum as if you really were a student, giving no indication the reason you're really there, but you will have two breaks off of your schooling lasting a week each, and that is when your correspondent will take your reports. This mission will pay very handsomely, and it is of the unranked variety. If you choose to accept it, we will discuss all the matters you need to know and to get that cannot be discussed unless you accept. I request that you please accept it, as you fit perfectly into the role." The Sandaime had taken and lit his pipe during his briefing, and now puffed lightly on it as he looked at his subordinate. "We do not have much time to work with, so I am afraid you'll have to decide now."

The masked boy didn't move or speak for a long time, the eyeless gaze fixated on the Hokage as the silence in the room dragged on. "...When the correspondent comes," He finally spoke in a slightly reluctant voice, "I wish for my little brother to come as well and spend the time off with me. If he can, then I will accept this mission."

The Third turned to the mission requester. "Albus?"

"If... That is what it takes for you to accept this mission, then yes, by all means. However, your brother will be under your responsibility at all points he is there."

"It's agreed then. Itachi will be assigned to this mission. Now let us discuss—"

"Oh! Before we get into that lengthy discussion," Dumbledore's voice caused both Itachi and Hokage to watch with slight curiosity as the elder man took out a seemingly harmless stick. "I'm going to give you some books. One is a dictionary of the English Language, another is a basic English to Japanese writing learning book—you can use the second one as a base, and then read the dictionary for pronunciations and the rest of the language—a book on the culture and recent historical events, and I'll even throw in a book about the many creatures that live exclusively in the Wizarding world." And before Itachi could ask about what 'Wizarding' meant, Dumbledore swished the stick around while saying a weird word, causing a few blue sparks to shoot out the tip and a stack of books to appear on the desk.

Sarutobi flinched himself, never one for magic, but Itachi's reaction was oddly funny to him. The boy had jumped away and attached himself to the wall next to the window, his short sword out and a half ram seal in front of his face in a blink of an eye, like some sort of terrified bat.

"Oh my, how can you do that?" The wizard said, completely awed by the way the ninja defied gravity.

"What are you?" Itachi hissed, backing away every so slightly, farther up the wall.

"I'm a wizard," He said simply, "And soon you'll be surrounded by them, so you might want to come down here and listen to us tell you all about it." Albus smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily.

XXXXX

"Itachi!" A voice broke the boy from his thoughts, and he looked up to see an older boy running towards him on the dark, deserted street. "Where have you been, man? I've been waiting for you for hours! Your training was supposed to have ended a while go." He was wearing common Uchiha clothes—like Itachi himself was as he had changed after leaving the Hokage—and his black hair was done up in a high topknot, giving himself a slightly odd look, but that didn't matter. He was Itachi's best friend, a fellow prodigy from a young age.

"Shisui." Itachi acknowledged, nodding. "I was with the Hokage."

"Oh, what about?"

"Classified."

Scowling, he said, "Man, it sucks that you're all ANBU now. You can never tell me anything anymore." The young man shrugged, placing an arm lazily on the shorter boy's shoulder. "We use to talk for hours—"

"You use to talk for hours."

"—and now nothing!" He went on as if he didn't hear Itachi, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You're always gone either training—classified—or on a mission—classified. There's only so much I alone can do for our conversations when you can't say anything about yourself anymore, when we do even get to see each other! Hey," He said, then turned his face to peer at the brown sack hanging from Itachi's shoulder. "What's in the bag?"

"Classified."

"That just proves my point! Arg!" Giving a large huff, he sped up his walking and turned around, so he effectively blocked Itachi's path, his hands behind his head. "But that's all going to change, right? Once we get our plan in motion, we will be free." He leaned forward, closer to Itachi's face, his voice dropping into a low whisper, his smile growing warped with maniacal glee. "Free, dude. Powerful Mangekyou Sharingan users and with no one able to stop us. Because as they say, only an Uchiha can kill an Uchiha."

Itachi smirked, sharing in the twisted smile the man across from him held.

"Oh! I just remembered the reason I wanted to talk with you. I made my note, what do you think? Have you made yours yet?" Shisui, face no longer was showing how twisted the owner was, again fell in step next to the other Uchiha on the empty, moon lit streets, and handed him a crisply folded paper.

'My dearest family,

I regret to inform you I can't take life anymore. I'm tired of being forced to do things I want no part of. The Uchiha clan is hopeless, and in only death can I be free of them. Y'all suck.

-Shisui'

The note read, including a chibi anime face of Shisui at the bottom, pulling on a lower eyelid and sticking out its tongue.

Itachi gave a small sigh. "And this is one of the reasons you've not been accepted to ANBU despite numerous attempts."

"Hey!" Frowning Shisui snatched back the paper, reading it again himself. "What's wrong with it? I like my note..."

"That is not a suicide note. It's so false it's pathetic, and what is with the last bit? Don't be stupid."

"Oh? And what exactly is your note going to be, Know-It-All-san?"

"I'm sick of living. -Itachi."

"Real poetic, I'm so moved." Shisui replayed blandly, a hand over his chest as he gave him a dead stare. "You know, if you ever wanted to, you could be a writer in, like, a second. Plot? Drama? Character? Ha! Who needs it with you, because you're Uchiha Itachi!"

The aforementioned Uchiha shook his head. "Short and gets the point across. Besides, I don't plan on losing to you, so it won't be necessary." He shot a glance out of the corner of his eye, an amuse air growing about him.

His reply was a challenging grin, "Don't think I'm going to roll over and die, either. I'll fight to the bitter end, and I expect the same in return."

"Hn," Itachi nodded his agreement, focusing on walking again, but feeling slightly disheartened as he did. Another year the date they had made with a blood pack would be pushed back. Shisui would be stuck with the clan for another year, waiting for Itachi to come back so the plan could be put into affect.

And the worst was he couldn't tell him. He thought that, since it was going to be a year, and the perfect time to start implementing the plan was very near, he could tell his almost older brother about it, so he'd be informed as why they couldn't. But... Shisui could never seem to be able to keep a secret when in regards to one of Itachi's missions. Itachi was going to betray his village by killing his family (a sad aspect, as he'd rather live here, but Konoha wouldn't take kindly to it), but he couldn't give up his farce just yet, which is why he accepted the mission. If he didn't, then the old man would have gotten suspicious. What did Itachi have to offer up for an excuse? He had no life outside his missions. 'I'm sorry my brother has the flu for the next few months and I can't go because we can't get a caretaker'?

So with an unnoticeable sigh, he allowed himself to enjoy listening to Shisui chat aimlessly about something or other, as if he hadn't just been talking about killing his family off, while he could. Which was odd about him; he was so chipper, even Itachi was fooled sometimes into believing he was happy. But he had been the one to approach him with the knowledge of how to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan, and the resulting plan. Fight to the death, the winner carrying the embodiment of the looser in the form of the ultimate sharingan, and killing off the wretched, bothersome clan; every last one of them.

When they finally departed from each other at Itachi's house, it was past midnight. Being a good host, he offered his distant cousin a place to sleep for the night, but the seventeen year old waved it off with a smile, saying he wanted to eat some of the leftover steak he had claimed, stashed away in his fridge.

Now the ANBU captain walked silently down the halls of his house, heading towards his room. He was to pack tonight, and then leave tomorrow morning on foot at around eight to get to the train station by eleven, leaving little time for anyone of his family to even say good bye. With that thought, he abruptly changed courses, walked to a different door, slighting it open without a single noise, and looked into the dark room. Sasuke, newly eight, lay clutching at his pillow, deeply asleep. Seeing him, safely slumbering, made something in Itachi's chest loosen, letting slight relief flow through him. Out of everyone in the Uchiha, including Shisui, Itachi would dislike killing him the most. Sasuke was his little brother, who always thought he could do no wrong, that he was perfect.

But he made a blood pact, and he'd follow through with it. Even if it mean killing his Otouto.

Just as silently as before, he slid shut the door, and went to his room to get some much needed sleep. Tomorrow would be a very long day.

XXXXX

MDF: How was it? As this is my first Harry Potter-touch on (I'm more of an Anime girl, which is why I have this is focused on Itachi), and I've only even read a single HP touch-on before, so you can't say I'm copying anyone.

I hope it's believable...