Itachi walked into the Anbu headquarters the very next day after Shisui’s funeral.
He wore his full Anbu uniform and every piece of the standard equipment.
The animal mask that hid his face was firmly in place and his steps made almost no sound on the stone floor.
A familiar voice called out to him from the room that he had just entered.
“Weasel.” Itachi turned and saw the silver haired captain of Team Rō.
The man was known to most of the village as Kakashi Hatake yet inside these walls he carried the code name Hound.
Hound walked toward him with his usual lazy posture.
“Captain Hound,” Itachi answered with a small respectful nod.
Kakashi stopped beside him and spoke in a lower voice that the other operatives would not easily hear.
“I heard what happened to Shisui.
You have my condolences.
Losing someone that close is never easy no matter how many times a shinobi tells himself he is prepared for it.” Itachi inclined his head once more.
“Thank you Captain.
Your words are appreciated.” Kakashi gave a short pat on Itachis shoulder and then continued walking toward the briefing room.
As he moved away he gave a reminder.
“The mission briefing will begin in fifteen minutes.
Do not be late.” Itachi watched the captains back for a moment.
He knew that Kakashi himself had lost many comrades over the years.
The silver haired man carried pain that rarely showed on the surface.
As for Kakashi knowing his identity, the anbu captains knew the identity of each of the Anbu in their squad and each of the Anbu knew the identity of their captain.
But the operatives did not know the identity of each other but everyone had guessess or had managed to figure out the identies with enough clue.
For example- His young age, shorter height, his three tomoe sharingan along with crow summons has easily given his identity to others.
Another Anbu operative stood near the wall and offered a silent nod of greeting.
The man always wore his mask and was known only by the code name Suguru.
Officially he had been assigned to Team Ro by Elder Danzo with the stated purpose of protecting the young Uchiha prodigy.
After the events surrounding Shisui’s death Itachi no longer trusted that official story.
He now suspected that Suguru’s true duties included watching him for any sign of the Mangekyo Sharingan and standing ready to take his eyes if the advanced pattern ever appeared.
And it seemed that Danzo was keeping an eye on him from since he was a genin.
Danzo and Suguru had believed their arrangement was clever and hidden.
They were wrong.
Itachi had discovered Suguru’s real identity several months earlier shortly after joining the squad.
Suguru was Aburame Yoji.
He had once been part of Itachi’s genin team.
After the death of Tenma Izumo and the departure of Shinko Inari, his first genin team mates, the team had been reorganised.
Yoji and a girl named Himuka Suzukaze had been added as the new members.
Tenma had been the teammate whose death on a mission had caused the original Itachi to awaken his Sharingan for the first time.
The memories of that day still sat in the shared mind like a scar that never fully faded.
Now the same Aburame stood in Root colours and answered to Danzo while pretending to be nothing more than a loyal squad mate.
A short distance away stood another silent figure who did not bother to offer even a nod of acknowledgement to Itachi.
That man was Kō of the Hyuga clan.
During the Nine Tails attack on Konoha his younger sister had been killed.
Like many others he believed the beast had been controlled by an Uchiha.
Because of that old grief Kō had been openly unhappy when Itachi was assigned to Team Rō.
He worried that Itachi might try to sabotage the teams primary duty which was to monitor the Uchiha clan and give early warning if a coup ever began to move from words into action.
The final member of the squad was the operative known as Tenzo.
He gave Itachi a brief nod of recognition.
Itachi knew very little about the man.
They had never been assigned to the same missions because Tenzo usually served on the personal protection detail of the Hokage.
His presence today suggested that the coming assignment would be a big one.
Itachi looked at the five figures including him gathered in the room and formed a private thought.
‘Since all five members of Team Ro are present this mission must be quite dangerous.
The higher ups would not gather the entire squad for anything simple or routine.’ He had fifteen minutes before the briefing began.
He decided to use that quiet time to speak with the original Itachi who waited inside their shared mind.
He was getting bored anyways.
“You joined the Anbu because you wanted to become the best ninja in the world and eliminate war from the shinobi lands,” he said in a conversational tone.
“Tell me honestly.
Are you truly a genius or are you simply being foolish about the way the world works?” The original Itachi turned his attention toward him and asked calmly in return.
“What do you mean by that?
Becoming strong enough to end wars has always been a clear and worthy goal.” The new Itachi answered with patient logic.
“How exactly would serving as an Anbu operative eliminate war?
In this role you only follow the orders of the Hokage and carry out missions that often involve killing the very people who might start the next conflict.
You remove single threats but you never touch the deeper reasons that create those threats in the first place.
You have become a precise tool rather than a person who can change the system itself.” He continued without waiting for a reply.
“You also joined the Anbu partly to watch your own clan and prevent the coup from destroying the village.
Look at the result.
The village leadership already knows about the growing anger inside the Uchiha no thanks to you.” “That knowledge is probably one of the reasons Danzo felt free to move against Shisui.
If you truly wanted the power to stop this disaster you should have set your goal on becoming Hokage.
Only the person in that seat can change the direction of the entire village.” The original Itachi did not grow angry at the criticism.
But Julian could see his hand curling up into a fist.
It had become Julian’s game to try to rile up the original Itachi and to see if he reacted to his very honest statements.
The original Itachi asked a direct question.
“So you plan to become the Hokage yourself?” The new Itachi gave a small shake of his head.
“Unfortunately no.
We have already passed the point where an Uchiha could be accepted as Hokage in this generation.
The distrust is too deep and the memories of the Nine Tails attack are still too fresh.” “Perhaps the next generation will have a better chance.
Even if the path were open to me I would not take it.
The office of Hokage is too boring for my taste.
That kind of life might have suited the original you but it does not suit me.” He added one clear goal that did matter to him.
“I am still going to become the strongest ninja this world has seen.
That part of the plan remains firm.” The original Itachi pressed further.
“I know that even if you claim you do not care about the village or the clan you are already planning something to deal with the coming coup.
What is that plan?” The new Itachi smiled beneath the porcelain mask.
The expression could not be seen by anyone in the room yet it carried a quiet and confident edge.
“Well you will simply have to watch and learn when the time arrives.
Some things are better shown than explained too early.” ———Author Notes——– All of the members of Team Rō are actually canon along with their stories.
They are all part of Itachi Shinden.