Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Friendly Vengeance

Prologue

A Point of Contention

Though the ones standing before him couldn't see it, Itachi Uchiha was dying.

He had started dying exactly three minutes ago, when he'd read the scroll that Homura Mitokado had pressed into his hand.

He honestly felt as though he should be more surprised, but the contents of the scroll didn't come as a shock. It was written rather plainly, he thought, almost amused at the dark irony. What they had assigned for him to do would not be taken lightly.

Itachi looked up at their faces. It seemed they had grown impatient.

"Well?" said Danzō. Itachi thought it was ironic the way he acted as though he had a choice in the matter. He was tempted to say "Well?" right back at him, for he wasn't sure what he was expecting. It was difficult to feign any respect when looking at him, though Itachi was well-disciplined.

Still, did they actually expect him to be capable of massacring the entire Uchiha clan by himself in one night?

He looked back down at the scroll in his hand.

"I apologize greatly," he said.

"Are you refusing the mission?" Koharu asked before he could continue.

"Patience, please, Utatane," he responded. "I understand the motivations behind assigning this mission to me, but this task is far too great for anyone to accomplish on his own."

"We have discussed this already," Koharu said. "And it is highly unlikely that anyone will be willing to assist you. You understand that undertaking this mission will require you to wear the guise of a missing-nin and traitor, and that returning to Konoha will never be a viable option."

"Indeed."

"There isn't a ninja in Konohagakure who will take that risk."

"Further," Homura continued. "With the advantage of the Sharingan, we cannot be assured that sending someone who is not a member of the Uchiha clan would be without complication."

"I fully agree," Itachi said.

"You must, then, find a way to do it alone," said Koharu, cutting him short for the second time.

"I understand why you believe I should carry this out alone," he said. "However, with my current abilities, I will not be able to defeat every member of the Uchiha clan."

"There is a reason that this mission was assigned to you, Itachi," Koharu argued. He was beginning to grow impatient with her. Danzō merely looked on in silence.

"Please," he said. "Allow me to request more time."

"Tch," Koharu said.

"We believe that any attempt made to convince the Uchiha not to follow through with the coup d'état would be unwise," Homura stepped in. "Doing so could arouse suspicions of treason."

"I agree," Itachi said. "I do not have any intention of attempting to change their planned course of action. However, the probability of this mission succeeding would increase greatly if I were given more time to prepare."

"We have already taken this into consideration," Danzō finally spoke. "We believe that the highest probability of success would be achieved if you were to awaken your Mangekyō Sharingan."

Itachi fell silent.

"Despite your aloof demeanor," he continued. "There must be some person whose death would cause this to occur."

He was dying, Itachi was certain of it. He could suddenly feel all the heat in the room, pressed against his skin.

"I will not be able to kill Shisui Uchiha," he said at last.

"You mustn't allow your emotions to hinder your capabilities," Koharu warned. "You will not refuse a mission simply because you do not wish to do what must be done to attain the means to complete it."

Itachi looked down at the scroll in his hands again, almost unable to believe the Hokage's seal on it was real. He briefly wondered if Danzō had stolen the Third's ring.

"My concern is not in regards to my emotional endurance," he said, his patience beginning to wear thin. "Currently, I lack the physical capabilities necessary to defeat him."

He was sure they were aware of that. Moments ago they had said he would require the Mangekyō Sharingan to defeat the rest of the Uchiha, and he would need to kill Shisui to obtain it.

Koharu sighed.

"This mission cannot be delayed," Homura said. "Lest the plans for the coup strengthen. We currently have the advantage, as the details of that are still undecided."

Sasuke, he thought suddenly. Sasuke did not yet know of the plans. If he waited, he would not be able to convince them to allow him to be spared.

Still, he couldn't carry out a hopeless mission! Then protecting his brother would be absolutely impossible.

"If I go through with this mission and fail," Itachi finally said. "The Uchiha will know that you were using me as a spy. They will know that you are a threat to the planned coup, and they will know what you had planned to do in retaliation. They will move quicker with their plan, I will be dead, and you will no longer have any means to defeat them. I am not refusing my assignment, I am asking for time to assure its completion. If you do not grant me this, I will not make any more requests. I will put my strongest effort into its completion and still be killed, whether by Shisui Uchiha or by how little of a match I currently am by myself against the three hundred and eighty one people the Uchiha clan consists of. The entire village will face the wrath of the Uchiha, and everything will be for naught."

Silence befell the room.

"Very well," said Danzō at last. "We understand your point of contention."

Itachi nodded.

"You will be granted more time to prepare for the completion of this mission. How long do you think you will require?"

"A few years, at the very least," Itachi answered.

"Years?" Koharu said indignantly. Itachi opened his mouth to give the justification he would have given a moment ago if Koharu had waited rather than interrupting him.

"Very well," Danzō said. "However, in the meantime, you must not rouse any suspicion that you are spying for the ANBU."

"Of course."

"And you must guarantee that the coup d'état does not occur before you can execute the massacre."

"Of course."

"We will check in with you regularly for reports. You must deliver these reports without argument, and answer all questions. Dishonesty will not be tolerated."

"Understood."

"You are dismissed."

Itachi felt like he could breathe again.

That Fateful Night

Oh no, I'm so late, Sasuke thought as he ran home from training. Usually, he tried hard to keep himself from panting when he did any kind of training. He hated the noise, and he thought it made him look like he was too weak to endure a little running. Now, though, that he ran the risk of his mom having worried about him or his dad reprimanding him about how Itachi was never late for anything, Sasuke let the shallow breaths take free rein.

The fact that lights were still on reassured him that he couldn't possibly be as late as he was punishing himself for being, but he didn't like to give himself a break. He could hear faint laughter through the open windows in one of the houses as he rushed past it.

"Oof!" he grunted as he smacked into someone. "I'm sorry-"

"Watch where you're going, Sasuke," said his aunt.

"Sorry, I'm really late getting home so, um," he said, gasping for breath. She laughed.

"I understand. You should be getting home now, Mother and Father are probably worried about you."

He nodded. "Thanks, Auntie Masako," he said, then broke into a run once again.

Sasuke caught something about training and Itachi as he went.

His biggest concern that night was that his parents would be angry with him.

(Or that there wasn't any dinner left.)

As he threw open the door to his house and kicked off his sandals, it never once occurred to him how significant this night might have been if events had gone differently. It was just like any other ordinary night, and his only resentment toward his older brother regarded how annoying his perfect attendance was.

A/N: Hello, world. This is the first multi-chapter Fanfiction I have ever started with an actual plan in mind. Yes, I really do intend to finish this one. It's going to consist of eleven arcs and an epilogue, so I'm just going to warn anyone who doesn't want a long Fanfiction that this is going to be one, and I'm not going to be offended if that puts you off, hahaha. ItaTema is going to have a presence in the Fanfiction. I'm not going to say whether or not it'll actually work out or whatever but don't be alarmed when you get to that because it wasn't in the prologue. Don't worry, she's in chapter one. I'm definitely looking forward to writing this and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it. Thank you, and welcome to the ride.