Inochi with her recently formed, highly unstable squad rushed to Konoha, where things were looking pretty grim, especially for the Uchiha who was left behind.

Itachi was in shock and freaking out, as his only companion to stop the coup just committed suicide in front of him. He spent the night near the waterfall thinking about all he had been through with Shisui, all the memories he had with the person who was not only his friend but a true older brother.

The next day Itachi came back home to a sleeping Sasuke. Finding relief in the quietness, Itachi reclined to his futon and let himself rest for a bit. He was sure he had gone crazy, as he had just moments ago burned down a whole hectare full of trees with his fireball jutsu out of frustration.

-" It's okay, it's fine. I can manage this by myself" The barely 14 year old Uchiha, who had always been reluctant to ask for help, muttered to himself. He was unable to calm himself, as millions of thoughts swirled in his mind about the coup and how to stop it. As he was twitching in vexation, he heard a knock on the door which made him jump up.

- "Itachi, are you home? Open up!!" The knocks started getting aggressive. Itachi realised that it would be the best if he kept his guard up.

Before Itachi could reach them, the people knocking at the door had welcomed themselves into the house. Itachi looked at their faces and could tell that they were not there just for a chit chat.

- "We need to talk to you, come out" One of the guys said in the rudest tone possible. Itachi only walked up to them while glaring at the speaker.

- "There were two people who didn't show up at yesterday's assembly" The guy went straight to his point.

- "Why didn't you come?" Another guy spoke, demanding an answer from Itachi's.

Itachi didn't answer for a second. He knew that any reply could lead to a fight and thus he needed to be careful.

- "I understand. I shall be more careful hereafter" Itachi bowed ever so slightly "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave"

- "Is that so.." The first guy sighed at the polite reply underlined with contempt. "But before that, we'd like to ask you a bit more about something. It's about Shisui Uchiha, who died after throwing himself into the Nakano River last night"

Itachi shot up his eyes to look at the speaker. He was confused as to how the news spread to the villagers so quickly, as no one else had seen Shisui jumping off into the river except himself. It usually took someone's two to three days continuous absence, especially for ANBU shinobi who are habituated with being absent for months in order to carry out a mission, to be reported as missing but Shisui's news was available in a matter of hours.

- "We, the police force have decided to launch an all out investigation" The second guy spoke.

- "Investigation?!" Itachi's question was genuine. "Why an all out investigation if it was a suicide? For a suicide only a medium, if not a basic, range of investigation should be appropriate."

The first guy took out a note and handed it out to Itachi.

- "This is the will Shisui left"

Itachi took the note and read it:

-- I have grown tired of the duty. As it is, the Uchiha clan has no future, Neither do I.... I can no longer follow the "path"--

- "The most talented of our clan, feared as Shisui the Teleporter... He was a man who took on any mission for the sake of the clan. Its hard to believe that someone like that would kill himself, leaving this behind"

Itachi did not reply as he went over the note again and again while trying to remain as calm as possible. Any stray moves could lead to a fight which would harm not only him, but also Sasuke who could wake up due to the ruckus created.

- "We are leaving this will with you. Take it to the ANBU.. And request their co-operation in the investigation!" The second guy ordered in his loudest tone, slowly getting annoyed at the quiet demeanor of Itachi.

- "Understood..." Itachi agreed as meekly as possible while dangling on the edge of insanity.

- "I hope you do your job well" The three guys turned back and headed out. "We will get a lead soon anyways" They mocked Itachi, which made something shift in him.

- "You..." Itachi let out a low growl. "You all doubt me, don't you?" Itachi snapped. His Sharingan activated as he let his emotions take control of him.

- "Of course we do, YOU LITTLE PUNK!" The three guys turned to him in rage with their own Sharingans activated.

However, none of them were able to hold against the child prodigy, or rather, a child prodigy gone crazy. Itachi took them out in seconds, and towered over their lying bodies.

-"You assume that I am very patient and underestimate me" Itachi snarled at the three Uchihas. "That's why you are here now, groveling"

- "It has been two years since you joined the ANBU.." one of they guys retorted back as he tried to pull himself up, "But your recent words and actions have been intolerable..." The guy looked up to face Itachi. "Just WHAT are you THINKING?"

Itachi gritted his teeth as a darkness engulfed his face. He was going for another blow just when he heard someone call him.

- "STOP IT ITACHI!" Itachi's father, Fugaku Uchiha ordered as soon as he entered the scene. "That's enough. What is going on with you?" Fugaku's had the stern voice as always, but this time it also held some concern. Itachi was his first born, as well as the clan's pride. Seeing him going against the clan made him worry not only about Itachi, but also about his position as the clan leader.

- "Itachi..." Fugaku continued as he received no reply. "You haven't been yourself lately"

- "I'm perfectly sane" Itachi answered back to Fugaku, for the first time. He swiftly turned to face Fugaku and revealed his sharingan.

Fugaku was shocked and took a step back at the look of Itachi's bloodshot eyes, just when Itachi took out his Kunai and threw it at the Uchiha emblem on the nearby wall.

-"I am dismayed at this FOOLISH CLAN!" Itachi growled in frustation while Fugaku stared in horror at his Kunai which just destroyed the Uchiha emblem. "Adhering to this clan....and petty things... makes you lose sight of what's truly important" Itachi rambled about his ideals but in vain as the three formerly beaten Uchiha stood up against Itachi once more.

- "I'VE HAD ENOUGH! Captain, give us the order to arrest him!" One of them said as Itachi atlast made his beliefs clear to the Uchiha which went against their plan for a coup det'at.

Itachi braced himself as he doubted that his father would go against the clan just for him, when he heard another voice.

- "Niisan! Please Stop!" A young Sasuke emerged out of the Uchiha home.

Itachi looked at Sasuke who was scared but was holding up much courage to intervene in the fight. Itachi bit his lip as he thought about his actions and went back into the house. He tousled Sasuke's hair and told him that it was nothing.

Fugaku and the other three Uchiha standing just outside the entrance witnessed this scene. Unknown to Itachi, his actions filled with love and care towards Sasuke helped in diffusing the situation. The four shinobi concluded that as long as Sasuke was around Itachi won't become an enemy to the Uchiha, and thus retreated.

However, Itachi's thoughts were still in clutter. He spent the night training in the grounds to calm down his nerves and refused to go back home. He knew the coup would be delayed due to Shisui's death but doubted if it would even benefit him or the village leaders.

It had been a year, and the plan was in its final stages of completion just when Shisui committed suicide. Itachi knew that even in Shisui's absence and the Uchiha doubting Itachi, they were still the strongest clan in the leaf and could assassinate the village leaders without any extra help. The village leaders were also aware that even if the strongest of shinobi tried to suppress the coup, it would still create a huge destruction and would lead to Konoha's downfall.

Itachi was thus cornered to a position where every plan against the Uchiha seemed to do no good. On the second morning after Shisui's death, Itachi was summoned by the Hokage for a mission, which was asked to be carried out in a discreet manner.

- "I need you to patrol around the village. I have been sensing an unregistered chakra roaming around since the past week" The Hokage said to Itachi who was in his ANBU uniform. "Also, take off the mask. I am assigning this mission, not the ANBU"

- "Yes sir" Itachi took of his mask. His stressed face was a dead giveaway to the Hokage that something bad was coming their way.

- "I heard about Shisui Uchiha" The Hokage turned his back to Itachi as he was too ashamed to have let a young shinobi like Shisui die because of his incompetence to stop the coup. "I am sorry for your loss. The whole village admired Shisui Uchiha and his endeavors. His grandfather was a very trusted friend of mine and just like him Shisui too carried the will of fire" The Hokage let out a sigh and turned to Itachi. "I am really sorry for making you two young shinobi carry out treachery against your clan. I will not be able to bear the responsibility of another life lost due to my misjudgements" The Hokage took a pause. "From now on you have been discharged from the plan against the coup det'at"

Itachi's eyes widened for a moment but he knew that this was bound to happen.

- "Yes sir" Itachi couldn't go against the Hokage, atleast not conspicuously. "I will be taking my leave now"

Itachi went out of the Hokage office just when he was stopped by two ANBU shinobi.

- "Visit the headquarters. Now" The two shinobi went away in a flash after giving the order. Itachi paused for a minute to process the information and headed out to the headquarters.

----------------------------------------

Danzo was sitting in a dim litted room behind a table. It was his own room in the headquarters, and only a few ANBU shinobi had ever been given permission to enter it. It was the first time Itachi had ever set foot into the room and under just a second realised that this was the very room where every diabolical orders were connived by Danzo and issued to the ANBU.

- "You know the coup will continue even without Shisui right?" Danzo said while focusing on preparing his green tea.

- "Yes sir" Itachi said with his head hanging low. He kneeled as he watched Danzo turn to him to give further orders.

-"I have gotten the report that the leaf police force is strengthening their armored lines" Danzo took a sip of his tea and sighed. Itachi clenched his fists as he couldn't find a way to escape the situation. "Seems like we cannot ignore it anymore"

Itachi lifted his gaze to Danzo who was still focusing on his tea. For him this coup was like any other ANBU mission, with no emotions attached. From such a perspective, Danzo was a perfect shinobi, one who didn't let his emotions into the missions. He would have made a great leader if not for his undying greed for power.

- "No sir, we cannot" Itachi firmly agreed with Danzo.

- "From now on, you are an ANBU captain. You will be no longer a part of team Kakashi. You are thus required to always answer to me and no one else. Got it?"

- "Yes sir" Itachi bowed again before taking his leave. Itachi's mind was now made. He decided to go with whatever orders Danzo would give him as he knew the Hokage would no longer include him in his plans against the Uchiha.

Itachi went to the ANBU tower to look over the village in order to carry out his previously assigned mission by the Hokage. As he looked over the village through the tower viewer, he stopped on two familiar faces in between his search. The first was Sasuke, who was enthusiastically running around with a handful of sweets towards his friends, while the other was Izumi. He saw Izumi carefreely talking to her fellow clanmates, unbeknownst to all the convoluted conspiracies going on within the village.

Izumi was aware of the coup too, but wasn't made a part of the plan unlike Itachi as she was still a genin. Her role was to just look after the Uchihas who were not active shinobis while the coup would be carried out by the leaf police force. Shisui and her were the only ones in the Uchiha clan who agreed with Itachi's thoughts against the coup but never defended him during clan meetings. Izumi's place in the clan was negligible because of her heritage, and thus her judgements held no value in such meetings.

Itachi acknowledged that Izumi's decision of not outing herself to the Uchiha was a good one as being a half blood bearing a mature sharingan, her disobedience would lead to bad outcomes, the worst being her eyes getting stolen by the clan.

Itachi left his seat and went over to the files that contained information about each and every Uchiha. He picked the file on Izumi and skimmed through the pages. She was good with her Sharingan and had an overall good set of skills, specializing in Taijutsu. Itachi stroked Izumi's profile photo while reminiscing the time spent with her when they were younger.

- "Will an apology suffice for the pain I am going to put you through?" Itachi whispered to himself as his vision got blurry with tears. "The worst part is... I know you will forgive me. Just like always, you will say it is not my fault. Just like always you will try to console me even if I get the blood of our clan on my hands"

Itachi fell on his knees and stuffed his face into the paper to hide his tears.

-" Just like before I will disappoint you... and just like always I will fail to protect what I love" Itachi scrunched the paper in his hands and he tried to control his emotions. He clenched his teeth and bit his lip to not let out any voice as he tried to collect himself from lashing out.

Time passed as Itachi tried to calm himself down. However, with every passing second Itachi got shivers down his spine as he knew what was in store for the future of the Uchiha clan. He slowly rose up to his feet, tore the introduction page of Izumi from the file, stuffed it in his pocket and headed out to patrol the village.

Itachi slowly recovered as he went around the village, inspecting each corner for the unknown intruder. He picked up stray chakra from here and there, but mostly in front of the Uchiha compound. Itachi did not have any means to ask around the Uchiha compound about any intruder after the kurfuffle he had the other day, so he just waited around the entrance for the intruder to show up.

Around midnight, Itachi heard some rustling around the bushes. As he investigated the noise, he found a man with spiky long hair and a mask sneaking around the Uchiha compound.

- "This is it" Itachi kept his eyes on that individual like a hawk, for the next 48 hours in order to find out his motives. To his surprise, the individual would sneak around the Nakano shrine, which held the Uchiha tablet. This was enough to ensure Itachi of two things, the man was an Uchiha as only Uchihas knew about the location of the tablet and that the man was not an ally to the Uchiha or the coup. He also witnessed the man disappear whenever in danger of getting caught with a special jutsu, which Itachi deduced, was probably the reason why he never got caught by the barrier police of Konoha.

Fortunately, unlike Shisui's body flicker technique, the man's jutsu did leave traces of chakra at the places he transported, which helped Itachi to connect the dots and figure out the man's hideout. As the man came out of his secret den, Itachi walked up to him in the most calm demeanor. Seeing Itachi's darkened eyes, it was pretty clear that he wished to ask something from him. The individual, who was himself aware of Itachi tracking him sighed as he put his hands on his waist.

- "So.. what did you learn about me in these few hours? Beware of your answers kid, based on those you may get yourself killed" The man put forward his not-so-nice thoughts in the most monotone way possible, as if it was something pretty normal to him.

-"You slipped through extra tight konoha security and went to examine the Uchiha tablet in the Nakano shrine. Only Uchihas know its location. However, the more I followed you and observed you, I came to realise that you are a foe to Konoha and the Uchiha" Itachi stated with a determined stare. "Are you here for some kind of revenge?"

-"Well it looks like you have deduced a lot of stuff" The masked man sighed. "What will you do if I say yes? Are you going to try to stop me?" He mocked Itachi, thus implying that Itachi was no way near as powerful as him.

- "I will help you take revenge....... upon the Uchiha clan"

- "Hmm?" The man's ears perked up. He wasn't expecting the sudden camaraderie. "But I assume you have some terms?"

- " Yes." Itachi took a pause before placing his demands. "You are not to harm the rest of the village..." Itachi breathed "nor Uchiha Sasuke"

The man thought for a second before retreating back to his hideout. Before disappearing into the cave, he stopped and replied

- "Ok. I agree to your terms"

Itachi's frown deepened as he realised that he was now deep into the plan. There was no return from that point on. He nodded his head and turned back to return to the compound. Next morning Itachi visited the hideout to relay his plans to the intruder.

- "We move tonight. Be ready"

- "Fine" The man crossed his arms and inspected Itachi's face. "I will take care of the jonins and police force. So for them, I want you to keep your eyes closed"

- "Do you think that that supposed to reassure me?" Itachi scoffed.

- "If you need refuge after this, join my organisation" The man ignored Itachi's words as he put forward his own proposal.

- "Your organisation?" Itachi raised his eyebrow.

- "Yes. The Akatsuki"

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Note: I edited this chapter and the previous one a bit. I exchanged some parts and also changed the chronology of the two chapters.

This chapter now contains only Itachi's view and prev one contains Inochi's view.