Itachi entered the Hokage's office via an open window, kneeling before the Hokage whilst trying to keep his amazement from his talk with Naruto hidden under wraps. It just would not do for him to let the Hokage find out about Naruto's hidden abilities, since the boy seemed to have taken such pains to hide his actual level of intelligence. He hoped that the ANBU mask that he donned was enough to hide his emotions since his usual poker face just refused to hold out. It just failed every time he so much as thought about how Naruto had known about his mission.

"Mission report," Hiruzen barked.

"The mission was successful. All perpetrators were executed, but all the innocents have unfortunately been assassinated by ROOT operatives before I had reached the scene. Unfortunately, I was unable to collect any proof of Danzō's underground activities. I had tortured Uchiha Sasuke mentally, enough to ensure that he will definitely preach about me being the biggest traitor alive," Itachi said monotonously, hiding all is the conflicting emotions that he felt upon speaking of the massacre.

Hiruzen nodded approvingly, though his voice was sad as he said, "I'm sorry to have put you through this. I know that it was your own decision, but a nice boy like you doesn't deserve to be hated for doing such a great service to his village."

"I'm fine. Please give me my orders for my next mission," Itachi said in a detached manner.

"Of course, Itachi-kun. Your next mission is a long-term SS-rank. Mission details are as follows: Infiltrate criminal organisation Akatsuki for an undetermined amount of time. You are going to send back information on this organisation. It had appeared mysteriously several years ago and started taking on missions of A to S in rank. They have not shown to be hostile, but both Jiraiya of the Sannin and myself have suspicions that they are planning something. S-rank missing-nin do not just disappear overnight, after all. Jiraiya believes that they are joining the Akatsuki. However, that only brings more reason to fear as S-rank shinobi tend to only listen to those stronger than themselves. That would mean that the leader, who we have yet to identify, is beyond S-rank. You are to send routine reports of the strength of the organisation and its plans once a year. Is that clear?" Hiruzen stated.

"Crystal clear," Itachi said, his voice not betraying his confusion.

'Did Naruto know about this?' Itachi could not help but wonder.

Naruto had plans of his own, after all. Moreover, it did not seem as though the Hokage had informed Danzō about this particular decision. For all he knew, Naruto had plans for the Akatsuki.

"The date set is twentieth June. The reports are to be sent via summons to one of the Konoha ANBU outposts - any one would do - where an ANBU will deliver the report to me. Secure it with blood seals," Hiruzen explained.

"Understood. I shall be taking my leave. Remember to make it seem like I killed everyone on a whim. I told Sasuke that it was just a test of my power," Itachi said, leaving in a crow shunshin.

Instead of going further away, Itachi chose to make a campsite on the outskirts of Konoha. He locked on Sasuke's chakra signature, relief flooding him when he detected an ANBU that he trusted - Kakashi - pick him up and take him to the hospital. Before that, though, he felt the familiar signature of Naruto go through the things left in the compound. Itachi was confused since he could not sense the boy's chakra. It was more of a gut feeling telling him that Naruto was there.

'What in the world is that?' Itachi wondered, not expecting a reply of any sort.

"It's because of the seals. I made a sort of psychic link between us that I'll further explain in the scroll later. I'm currently busy collecting Sharingan and anything else of value from your compound to prevent them from getting into Danzō's filthy hands," Itachi heard Naruto's voice resound within his mind.

"I... see..." Itachi said back mentally, confused but choosing not to comment upon Naruto's actions.

"Relax. I'll take care of Sasuke. He'll be safe," Naruto reassured Itachi as he left the compound with a bunch of scrolls containing everything he had looted from the Uchiha compound sealed into a storage seal on his wrist.

With that, Naruto cut off their connection.

~♡~

Itachi was preparing to abandon his campsite, having confirmed that Sasuke was safe in the hospital with his door guarded by ANBU and the war hawk as far away from the boy as possible when he suddenly felt Sasuke's chakra signature become more active - meaning that he had awoken. Itachi was going to ignore it and proceed, but he was confused as Sasuke did something inside the room and left through the window. However, the nurses that he could sense outside Sasuke's room were not alarmed by their patient escaping the hospital.

Itachi decided to stay for a while longer to find out where Sasuke was running off to.

Itachi was baffled when he felt Sasuke's chakra signature enter Naruto's house, where it vanished. Itachi concentrated more and managed to deduce that Naruto had put up a barrier around his home. Itachi locked onto Naruto's position instead and waited until Naruto, who had been quite still, started moving around.

"Sasuke's with me. He's safe and he remembers, not that you would understand what I mean. Danzō wouldn't be able to get to him," Naruto told Itachi reassuringly.

"I noticed him going into your house. When will I receive the scroll?" Itachi asked.

"In a few minutes. Please stay put for a bit longer. None of the ANBU is going after you. Moreover, you still have more time before the sun rises and the word is spread that you had massacred your clan," Naruto replied.

Itachi sighed, finding a reasonably comfortable spot on a tree since he had already erased all of his tracks. Itachi only had to wait for fifteen minutes before a small brown fox appeared before him in a small puff of smoke. He watched the small summon curiously as it stared at him as though waiting for him to do something. That was when he realised that a scroll had been strung onto a rope that was looped around the fox's body.

"Is that for me?" Itachi asked, feeling awkward and slightly dumb for speaking to the small vulpine creature.

"Naruto-sama sends it!" the fox yipped in response, sounding almost excited. It was the first time it got a job, seeing as the fox contract had never had a summoner before Naruto.

Itachi nodded slightly, a small grateful smile on his features as he took the scroll from the fox. The fox nodded its head and vanished in a puff of smoke once the teen made the gesture. Itachi gingerly unsealed the scroll and unrolled it, frowning when he realised that all it had was a sealing array. It puzzled him since he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the seals. Not even S-rank ANBU mission scrolls had bothered with the additional security feature. The seals that kept the scroll sealed were the only ones needed. It seemed like paranoia for Naruto to place another seal within the scroll. Itachi gazed helplessly upon the spot the messenger fox had been before it had returned to the summoning realm. He truly regretted dismissing his only clue so soon.

He glared at the seal, activating his Sharingan offhandedly to examine the scroll for any clues. While turning the paper this way and that, he accidentally brushed his finger against the edge. That caused him to get a paper cut. In his annoyed haze, Itachi smeared the blood over the seals, uncaring towards the fact that doing so might affect the kanji and damage the seals.

In a leap of faith, Itachi sent some chakra through the scroll and was surprised when the paper easily managed to conduct the chakra and send it through the seals.

Thankfully, nothing exploded. Instead, the seal array began to glow and spin. It unravelled on itself, the kanji that made up the seal morphing into tangible hiragana and simpler characters that made up the common written language. The letter was written in dark red, as though the ink of the seal had blended with the blood he had spilt on it to form the words. Itachi began to read the letter addressed to him.

I believe that you have already finished speaking with Hiruzen? He had assigned you a long term mission to infiltrate the criminal organisation Akatsuki, did he not? That is also a part of what I intend for you to do. The leader of Akatsuki is a man who possesses the Rinnegan. Unfortunately, you probably would not have the opportunity of meeting him after you join. The one you will meet is probably his puppet, once a man by the name of Yahiko. The Rinnegan user is Nagato.

I want you to get as close to the Rinnegan user as possible, along with Obito, who has been going by the name of Uchiha Madara. Just keep on the lookout for a man with an orange-swirled mask. Gain their trust and get yourself in the inner workings of Akatsuki but do not report everything to Hiruzen just yet. Tell me first. This is for the sake of eternal peace. They seek the bijū and you should try to figure out when they intend to begin collecting them. I will probably join you at some point, jinchūriki of the Kyūbi be damned. Besides, I'll just take the other half of Kurama from the Shinigami first. Things can be settled after everything plays out and people understand the importance of peace and understanding.

I will give more specific information after I find out how much Sasuke remembers. I am not sure what will happen yet. Read this with your Sharingan to memorise the information and burn it. Other letters shared between us shall be in the same format, so please learn a bit of fūinjutsu. My next set of instructions will contain the method you use to make the seal that hid this letter. It includes multiple layers of security and anyone else (without an activated dōjutsu) would have seen a fake letter from some friend or girlfriend depending on what they expected to see.

P.S. Burn this thing.

Itachi raised an eyebrow, using his memory of how Naruto had established the telepathic link before to ask Naruto mentally, "And how in the world do you know all this? I'm very sure that this is the kind of information that even Jiraiya of the Sannin will kill for. His information network does not stretch that far and S-rank shinobi are rather secretive."

"I have connections. I knew the perpetrator before he died," Naruto explained vaguely but truthfully.

"How in the world is that possible? If you're saying that the leader of this organisation-" Itachi started to say, only to be cut off by Naruto.

"Baka. I meant that the leader of Akatsuki is not the mastermind. The one who is currently pulling the strings is the masked guy, Obito. However, even he is just following instructions from his master. What he does not know is that his master was being manipulated by someone else, Zetsu. The whole thing is seriously messed up because this Zetsu is only following his mother's will and wants to revive the crazy lady. The thing is, the crazy lady became one with the Shinju (the god tree) and then formed the Jūbi. Its only goal is to kill everyone to get its chakra back. That will mean that everyone will die. Unfortunately, Obito thinks that going through with the plan will bring peace and resurrect his childhood crush. The whole situation is just one jumbled, seriously messed up tangle of hidden intentions and conspiracies. It took me ages to figure out completely," Naruto said irritatedly.

"Wow. That's messed up," Itachi whistled mentally before agreeing with the blond.

"Yep," Naruto agreed halfheartedly.

"So..." Itachi mused, "How in the world do I get in touch with the Akatsuki?"

"I can sense Obito. He's on his way to find you. I presume he had heard about you 'defecting'. Just shunshin out of Hi no Kuni. Be at the border between Fire and Grass. He would not know that you're that good at shunshin since he does not know anything about Shisui's talents nor your relationship with him. He will assume you were travelling the whole time long," Naruto stated.

"Your sensory range?" Itachi queried, sounding perplexed.

"I can sense all the way to Demon Country," Naruto said blankly, "What do you think?"

Itachi's jaw dropped as he barely managed out, "But how?"

"My natural range goes that far, yes, but it is not that precise. For that reason, I went around placing transmitters and receivers all over the Elemental Nations to act as routers to increase my range. Nothing can escape my radar. Not even fūinjutsu barriers can stop me as the routers negate their effects. There are already fifty of them in Fire Country alone to increase my accuracy, what do you think?" Naruto said dully, removing any false ideas that he was boasting or lying.

"So you are technically able to track down the Akatsuki base?" Itachi said rhetorically.

"Of course. I already know all their hideouts," Naruto stated, sending Itachi a mental image of an eye roll.

"Then-" Itachi started again, only to be cut off by Naruto.

"Scram! Do you seriously want to get caught?" Naruto yelled mentally, "Once you get to the border of Hi no Kuni, end the shunshin and start running at a speed slightly faster than most ANBU and go towards Kusa."

Itachi nodded mentally and cut the connection, quickly using shunshin to get within three kilometres of the border between Hi no Kuni and Kusa no Kuni. He then proceeded to run at the speed he tended to call his cruising pace, which many fellow ANBU operatives seemed to disagree with. It should reach Naruto's standards, anyway. It was not like he was told to sprint over as fast as possible. It would only be suspicious since he was supposed to have been constantly travelling ever since he killed off the Uchiha. Going at top speed was illogical and an unnecessary waste of energy.

"Obito is in Konoha. He is currently checking on 'your' work. He seems impressed," Naruto informed Itachi suddenly, almost causing the teen to lose his balance and fall off the tree branch he was on.

"Don't scare me like that! Make it more obvious when you connect! Besides, you never told me that this telepathy thing was long distance," Itachi complained.

"You never asked," Naruto's tone was nonchalant.

"Anyway, I'm glad you took the important things. I would never want for the clan secrets to end up in the hands of the war hawk and his cronies," Itachi said gratefully.

"I just thought that Sasuke might want them. Anyway, they are equipped with seals that only allow those descended from the Rikudō Sennin to read them, which I do not understand," Naruto said easily, sounding more confused when he mentioned the legend that he had known as his father when he had been Asura.

"Really? I always thought that they were made such that only Uchiha can read them!" Itachi said disbelievingly.

"I thought there was no protection at first since I assumed that that would be the case if your clan bothered to conceal all the information in the databases, which is part of the reason why I took them, but I discovered several seals placed on all of them and it was set to allow all from Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's line to be able to access the info. Moreover, the older ones that were perfectly maintained by the seals placed on the shelves - definitely Uzumaki work - had invisible seals that hid information on how Senju and Uzumaki (who are also descendants of the sage) can use the supposed clan-only techniques. There were no newer scrolls about supposed Uchiha-only abilities, so I am actually able to use them too. The jutsu detailed were vast since Uchiha were equipped with the Sharingan since the beginning of the time of shinobi. I did not need them since I can do without the hand seals, but they give me quite a large range of ideas on how to manipulate chakra for attacks. However, I'll still memorise the hand seal sequence to keep up my act. Deception is the number one shinobi skill, after all," Naruto explained, slipping in a bit of information about his capabilities.

"You can use chakra-based attacks without hand seals naturally?! That is convenient. People normally need to train for decades before they can even start trying to do that, though mastering jutsu enough to instinctively know how to mould chakra to do them without the aid of hand seals is possible. Even I had only mastered ten just to that degree!" Itachi said disbelievingly.

"I can teach you. It's easier than it seems and is way more flexible than those with hand seals since hand seals only serve to limit the possible ways to mould the chakra. I made a seal that will allow me to project myself into a selected target's mindscape. You should be able to enter yours, being a holder of the Mangekyō and whatnot," Naruto said.

"Thanks," Itachi said, feeling awkward to need the tutelage of someone younger than himself.

"While I'm on the topic of the Mangekyō Sharingan, I will help with the implantation of Shisui's Mangekyō into your eyes if you want," Naruto suggested.

"Of course. But I only have one of them," Itachi informed Naruto.

"Don't worry about that. I stole the other back from Danzō. I also made a teleport seal which I had based on the hiraishin, which will make it easy for me to go to you. Just tell me when," Naruto explained.

When Naruto's words finally sank in, Itachi exclaimed, "Wait. How do you know that the prolonged use of the Mangekyō leads to blindness? Other than me, only Shisui knew! Moreover, you're eight! The same age as Sasuke. Why do you know how to do an eye implantation surgery, which is a very delicate operation that only one field medic had dared to attempt?! Even then, the medic, a chūnin by the name of Nohara Rin, was not completely successful. She was able to connect the chakra pathways such that Hatake Kakashi could use the Sharingan and the optical nerves such that he could see, but Kakashi ended up unable to deactivate it. A Mizugakure jōnin, Ao was more successful in implanting himself with a byakugan. However, it continually drained his reserves even when it was deactivated. It just increased the drain when he activated it. Those were the successful implants. Unsuccessful implantations exist in large numbers too, even though they are not documented."

"Uchiha Madara's Eien no Mangekyō Sharingan was also gained through implantation. Senju Hashirama did the operation. I can do it for you," Naruto said without sounding that offended, though he had to remind himself not to tell Itachi that he was Hashirama.

"I'll let you do it if you manage to learn medical ninjutsu," Itachi conceded.

"I know medical ninjutsu, as you put it. I know how to heal people," Naruto stated, annoyance beginning to creep into his tone for two reasons (the first was that his skill had been underestimated, the second was the reminder that his father's ninshu had been perverted into ninjutsu), "I know what to do. Anatomy is easy."

"Since when? I don't recall you having any form of training. You don't even learn anything at the academy because of sabotage and it's not like the current syllabus covers anything to deal with that kind of thing," Itachi asked.

"Since forever. I had been given free access to the shinobi and Hokage libraries. It is obvious that I would end up learning things like that," Naruto elucidated.

"Oh," Itachi muttered sheepishly, "I forgot all about that."

"Alert. Zetsu, who looks like a venus flytrap, is watching you. He had just alerted Obito to your position. If you did not notice, you had already crossed into Kusa five minutes ago," Naruto reported.

"I'm cutting the connection," Naruto warned.

"You don't need to inform me," Itachi replied indignantly.

"Obito is waiting for you one kilometre ahead. I will not disrupt your focus any further. Good luck and don't mess up," Naruto stated, ending the connection and ignoring Itachi's proclamation.

Itachi gulped, steeling his nerves and continuing on. He cursed himself for zoning out on his surroundings. He did not even notice how far he had travelled, for Kami's sake! He focused on his surroundings, his Sharingan analysing every detail as he passed a creature that matched Naruto's earlier description of Zetsu. Zetsu's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to get caught by the young Uchiha.

Itachi soon found an orange masked individual blocking his path and had to apply chakra to his feet to slow down in time to stop on the branch opposite the man.

"Greetings, Uchiha Itachi," the masked man spoke, activating his Sharingan to meet Itachi's gaze.

"And you are?" Itachi asked despite already knowing the answer he would be given.

"Uchiha Madara," Itachi could practically hear Obito's smirk as the older male replied.

"How are you alive? You died at the Valley of the End," Itachi said sharply, secretly enjoying how Obito fumbled for an answer.

"I never did die. Hashirama just failed to deal a killing blow, assuming that I would die from blood loss," Obito lied, guessing that it was how Madara had survived to be able to train him.

"Why are you not dead because of old age, then?" Itachi asked, watching Obito squirm in his skin with sadistic glee.

"I have many abilities," Obito said slowly, finally recalling that Madara had an ability that allowed him to manipulate time to an extent.

"If so, why hide your face? Madara was never one to shy away from people's eyes. He was a proud Uchiha who did not care for the opinions of other shinobi," Itachi questioned further, grinning mentally as he strained to maintain his lack of facial expression.

"No, I just feel that it is not yet time to reveal my identity to the general populace," Obito lied, beginning to sweat with trepidation and fear that he had been found out.

"Oh really?" Itachi said slowly, sounding unconvinced despite his monotone.

"Of course. Call me Tobi. I'll take you to Nagato, who prefers to be known as Pain. He will test you," Obito said, trying to change the subject.

"Who is that and why do I have to be tested?" Itachi asked, unimpressed with the pitiful attempt to change the topic but letting it go.

"He's the leader of the Akatsuki and you have caught his eye. You are going to be part of our organisation whether you want to or not," Obito said, sounding rather smug and proud of himself.

"Why would I want to join your pitiful association?" Itachi questioned coolly, hiding his amusement at how the idiotic male seemed to think that he was able to successfully change the topic.

"It consists of S-rank shinobi," Obito said evenly, "They will not take well to being called weak."

"Why would you want me, an A-rank shinobi formerly of Konoha, in a select group of S-rank shinobi?" Itachi questioned, almost losing his composure and laughing out loud when Obito let out an indignant sound.

"You slaughtered your clan overnight within minutes! That warrants an S-rank! Besides, you're young. You have potential to become much stronger," Obito screeched, completely forgetting about his cool-and-composed Uchiha Madara act.

Itachi recalled Naruto's agreement to train him and suddenly remembered that he was supposed to gain the trust of the Uchiha before him.

'If only you knew, senpai-san,' Itachi thought with amusement, already knowing that he was going to become much stronger than Obito would even be able to imagine.

"Whatever you say. I'll never quite get to your level, though. You are Uchiha Madara after all. The greatest Uchiha to ever live," Itachi spoke, the smallest hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Obito did not catch it, but he was proud to have "fooled" the young prodigy.

"You will not," he agreed, "But you'll come very close."

"If the Uchiha Madara thinks so, I think I stand a chance," Itachi said easily, following behind Obito who had begun to walk in the direction of Amegakure.

"Yes, yes," Obito said impatiently, though a small smile tugged at his lips as he said one of his sensei's - as in Madara, not Minato - favourite lines, "Now come. Don't keep me waiting."

"Of course," Itachi spoke, following behind the older shinobi.

Obito glanced back at his younger cousin, suddenly smirking and breaking into a dead sprint as he called back, "Keep up, Uchiha Itachi!"

Itachi blinked only once before following his example, overtaking the older Uchiha as he mocked, "Really? Why don't you try to keep up?"

"Jerk," Obito mumbled under his breath, glaring weakly at Itachi's back.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" Itachi managed to tease while maintaining his cool, continuing to run ahead of Obito.

"Nothing," Obito said more loudly, flushing in embarrassment for going out of character.

Obito cheated by using Kamui to get a hundred metres ahead of Itachi, shouting back, "Look who's ahead of who now!"

Itachi noticed that Obito was beginning to loosen up around him, thinking smugly, 'I'm already gaining his trust. Either he's too easy to play or I'm good at manipulating people by changing my demeanour around them.'

Itachi shouted back, increasing his speed to decrease the distance between them, internally wincing at his behaviour, "That's cheating!"

"There are no rules! Jutsu are allowed," Obito called back, using Kamui again to increase the distance between them.

"Hmm? If you say so," Itachi said, using a seamless shunshin to get next to the older male.

Obito pouted, though it was not visible to Itachi.

"Hmph!" Obito huffed, warping himself five hundred metres ahead.

Itachi smirked, following right behind the man using shunshin.

~♡~

The race ended with Obito's win when the man warped himself right through the gates of Amegakure while Itachi was barely a centimetre behind.

"Too bad. I win!" Obito boasted before he collected himself and said coldly, "Let's go. Pain-sama awaits your presence."

"Of course," Itachi mimicked the man's tone, following him into the village with long strides.

Obito was, truthfully, disappointed when Itachi returned to his cold, collected and painfully polite self. He was delighted when he finally managed to get the teen to show some semblance of emotion on his face other than disdain. A smirk was not that much better, but it was still an expression. The fact that he had managed to get a rise out of the teen and make Itachi glare at him almost made him cackle joyously, though he had stopped himself to avoid sounding either demented or like a paedophile. He knew that Itachi was simply following his example, but it was not like Obito can act as he had before where Nagato could see him. Itachi was family, unlike Nagato. He was using Nagato as his pawn, manipulating him for his plans. Itachi was just an ally for both Nagato and himself, a way for him to proceed with the plans with more ease. It did not matter if he showed more to Itachi so long as the teen kept quiet about it.

"Off with the hood. I'll be taking us to him now," Obito stated, placing a hand on Itachi's shoulder.

Itachi complied, nodding curtly and flicking off the hood. He ignored the rain that immediately soaked his hair and got in his eyes, his expression unchanged despite the sudden cold. He did not show any outward reaction when Obito warped both Uchiha onto a roof. Despite that, he still felt disoriented and slightly nauseous. It was, after all, but a natural reaction for those who experience space-time techniques for the first time.

"Uchiha Madara-sama," the orange-haired male seated at the edge of the roof greeted through gritted teeth, acknowledging the Uchiha with obvious reluctance.

"Pain," Obito drawled, his tone mocking.

"What brings you here today with Uchiha Itachi?" Nagato turned Yahiko's body to face the two Uchiha that had intruded into his peaceful respite, staring pointedly at the masked man.

"I bring Itachi as a potential recruit. I thought that you might want to have him," Obito said coolly, ignoring the Uzumaki's reaction.

"Hmm... He is the one responsible for the Uchiha Massacre, yes? Information about it has spread throughout Hi no Kuni. He's quite the renegade..." Nagato mused aloud, raking his eyes over the cloaked figure that stood half a step behind the masked nin.

"I was told that I would need to be tested? To enter an organisation by the name of... Akatsuki?" Itachi spoke up, faking hesitation and confusion.

"You pass," Nagato said instantly, not seeming to give it much thought.

"Do you not wish to see his fighting capabilities?" Obito questioned, frowning in confusion (which was hidden by his orange mask).

"He made genin at eight, after only one year in the academy, chūnin at ten, jōnin at eleven. He managed to assassinate an entire clan right in their home ground without alerting anyone and escape without leaving any trace of his intentions or his next destination. No one would have known it was him if not for the fact that he was the only Uchiha left unaccounted for. He then left the village and managed to get out of Hi no Kuni in such a short amount of time. He is still young. He is promising," Pain said simply, "Besides, he must be quite something to catch your eye."

Itachi could tell that Obito was dubious and that Nagato was leaving something else unsaid, but he was just glad that his infiltration of the Akatsuki had been moving smoothly. A small part of him had been convinced that he would be found out and thrown out before he would even meet Pain but had been proved wrong when he was immediately taken to the leader. Itachi did not understand why Obito opened up to him so quickly, but he was not complaining.

"Your partner shall be Biwa Jūzō, formerly of Kirigakure. He will be informed of this in time. For now, familiarise yourself with the main hideout. We have more bases but you can learn where they are later," Pain stated before turning to Obito and saying, "Please ensure that he is at the hideout within the next three days. He is expected to meet his partner in a week."

Obito spoke mockingly in reply, "Of course, Pain-sama."

With that, Obito whisked Itachi away. Obito was glad that he was given time to find out more about the younger Uchiha. He also knew that the three days were meant for him to take Itachi there by foot so that he can test Itachi further, but he was too lazy to make such a long trip.

The two Uchiha materialised in the cave that made up Madara's hideout, Zetsu following soon after.

"Why did you take the brat here?" black Zetsu asked, his voice both mocking and malicious as he sneered at the teenager whom Obito and Pain had taken interest in.

"I want to tell him about our plan. He deserves to know. He is an Uchiha and I believe that he will agree with sensei's ideals as well," Obito said, narrowing his eyes at the strange creature as though to dare him to disagree.

"But he might have other allegiances," Zetsu hissed, "He noticed us earlier!"

"Then it's either that you've lost your touch or that your skills are not as advanced as you thought. Kami, for all we know, it might just have been a coincidence that he turned in that direction and saw you," Obito hissed back, glaring at the plant-like creature.

"Whatever. Don't blame me when the master finds out and kills you," Zetsu growled, leaving the same way he came.

Obito rolled his eyes, turning back to face Itachi as he began to explain.

"That was Zetsu. He's weird, so don't mind him. Anyway, our plan goes like this. Nagato, who moves dead bodies around like puppets while calling them Pain, acts as leader of the Akatsuki..."

~♡~

"When do you intend to leave Konoha?" Sasuke, surprisingly, asked.

"Hmm...? A while after graduation. After chūnin exams, perhaps. Then we leave, leaving clones behind. We probably throw in several twists and such to make it believable and end with one of us turning traitor though the clone will probably end up helping them later on. The real us will use seals to change our appearances and join Akatsuki or something and steer them towards our goals. We have to get rid of Zetsu early on, though. Once we get the Akatsuki wrapped around our fingers, we once again leave clones to settle things and just manipulate things from afar since that will make it easier to control the playing field. There will be sacrifices, but we should be able to keep it to the minimum necessary to ensure that people understand the horrors of war. The clones that we leave in Konoha will then settle the part where we have to make the shinobi join forces and whatnot," Naruto said simply, not making the plans overly detailed since it would be easier to improvise along the way.

"Wouldn't it be easier to start our work with the Akatsuki first? It's not like anything important is going to happen unless we just choose to take the exam early. We might as well temporarily leave our clones here if you want to play around in Konoha and go do whatever with the Akatsuki first," Sasuke said, raising an eyebrow.

"But I already sent someone to infiltrate Akatsuki and get close to the leaders... The person has been quite successful so far and I expect them to make it easier for us to manipulate the organisation. For now, we can just wait until the spy sends the signal," Naruto explained, not telling Sasuke about the identity of the spy he had sent yet.

"Do we need any allies?" Sasuke asked.

"No, but I want to find Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei and Gyūki... That will mean that I will have to seek out the jinchūriki, though," Naruto admitted.

"What a mess..." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto ignored him, saying instead, "I'll be back. The tanuki's a fruitcake because of the damned seal he's been locked up with and I need to fix the problem. I will be out until I finish with my visits. Rumour has also stated that the Yondaime Mizukage is a jinchūriki. I need to go find out what is wrong with him, seeing as no jinchūriki will be a tyrant considering our upbringing. I'll be gone for the weekend, so don't worry if you only see me on Monday. If anyone asks, I'm sick. That goes for Hiruzen too."

Naruto grabbed a cloak and vanished, teleporting to whichever location he had decided to go to first with the help of a seal based on the hiraishin. It was not nearly as specific in the location the user ended up at, but it was convenient since you only needed to know either the geographical location or just visualise the place to get there. Sasuke could only sigh in exasperation as he was left behind, staring at empty space.

"I wanted to go too..."