Chapter 45

The protagonist woke up to birds singing, at first he thought he was dreaming, but when he opened his eyes he realized that it was real, he didn't think long, he immediately got to his feet and threw on his raincoat, he didn't have to get dressed as he decided to sleep with his clothes on, as yesterday was too cloudy, he didn't want to risk getting a cold from the sudden rain, so he slept in a t-shirt and pants, Although there was no rain or chilly wind in the morning, he put on his raincoat and decided to go outside, skipping breakfast and coffee, he knew he could buy anything he wanted on the way, he had plenty of money, especially since he always got a discount from all the vendors, he left the house and went to the main street of Konoha, as he continued walking he met Asuma and Kurenai, three of the ANBU staff were walking behind them, when Asuma noticed me he started:

-Itachi good to see you, good morning-" with a smile he began continuing to smoke his tobacco.

-Asuma I see you just arrived from the missions-" Itachi replied with a slight smile, folding his arms across his chest.

-How did you know?" he asked questioningly.

-By your clothes along with Kurenai and the three ANBU's behind you, I can see that they are stained and you haven't changed them in days, also noticing your tobacco I know that you always smoke it only if you think you deserve a reward, so I guessed Heh.... - Itachi replied in a very confident voice as he continued to smile.

-That's a hunch... I can see why they called you a major genius in the ANBU," Kurenai said, while Asuma continued to smoke tobacco.

-So what exactly was your mission," Itachi questioned.

-We were on a mission for Ranga-B, to scout the Water Country," said the ANBU who was behind Asuma and Kurenai, Itachi recognized his voice, it was Fu Yamanaka, recognizing him Itachi thought, "This must be a serious mission if he was personally involved in it," Fu sighed and continued, "The Water Country, we have heard rumors that the renegade fog man has escaped, Kowaki Kurosuki is on the loose.

When Itachi heard his name he recognized him immediately, in the first timeline he cut off his head with his wakizashi, but in the second timeline he was able to escape, then he was caught by Konoha's ANBU, and when they met Mizukage's squad, and Yagura himself, they took him in and also thanked Konoha for their help, then they took him back to the mist village for interrogation, They were able to find out a lot about his crimes by putting a chakra blocker on his wrist, they kept him in prison for a long time, but according to Fu, Kowaki promised a reward and a lot of money to one guard and he accepted it and helped him escape, now they both count as Nukenin of their village, supposedly Kowaki is heading to the border near Konoha to start a clean slate of business.

-I understand, I think I'll take over this mission," Itachi replied confidently.

-Haha, at least leave the fun to us, too, because you always get the most difficult missions," Asuma said with a chuckle.

-Asuma, we just got back from this assignment, we haven't had time to rest and you're rushing to the next one," Kurenai replied more tiredly and matter-of-factly, then looked at Itachi and asked, "Have you seen Kakashi?

-He's at the main building in the forest of death, since that's where the preliminary third stage exams will be held, he wants to be there to protect them from Orochimaru's likely attack-" Itachi finished, noticing their surprise even the three of the ANBU were on edge.

-Orochimaru is on Konoha, how did you know that Itachi?", Asuma asked in a serious tone at the mention of Orochimaru.

-I guess you're not aware that he was present at the second stage of the exam- Itachi knew that while they were on the missions they had no way of knowing about it, so Itachi brought them up to speed- he also killed three Genin from the grass village, posing as them he quietly infiltrated Konoha.

-Itachi what happened next?" asked Kurenai with interest.

-While I was with Kakashi Yamato came to us and said everything, I took the job personally, going to the forest of death I still tracked down Orochimaru, I almost defeated him but he managed to distract me and still escaped - Itachi finished his speech, but in fact, he could have killed him there, but did not, because he guessed what would be the consequences of it...

-I see that even a Sannin of this level is not a problem for you, so it's true that you were able to defeat the second Hokage," Asuma said confidently as he inhaled the smoke from the tobacco.

-He what?", Fu interjected questioningly, the two beside him had just found out about it too, starting to discuss it.

-Thanks Itachi for going instead of Kakashi, I even doubt he would have handled it- -Kurenai replied gratefully and Itachi nodded with a smile.

-I'm sure your boyfriend has been through more than that, so I have no doubt he could handle Orochimaru-" Asuma replied with a smirk, and Kurenai blushed.

-In that case, I'm off to the Hokage's office to take on this mission to capture the renegade, and you all rest," Itachi commanded confidently, and everyone nodded.

Itachi's POV

I went up to the roof and started walking towards the Hokage's residence office, on the way I thought that in the first timeline I killed you Kowaki, but this time there were side effects, I think it will continue as long as you are alive, I think I should finish what I started, in the second timeline a lot of things happened, but I know one thing, I may have sealed the other one when he was an edo-tensei, but Orochimaru will resurrect him one day, since I only sealed his body and not his soul, but at least it's good to know that my susanoo is able to resist edo-tensei, and I always knew that every technique has a weakness, I think I've already reached the Hokage's residence.

I knocked on the door, I suggested to the third Hokage that he himself should join the Rank-A mission, I also explained to him the reason that if he was alive it could be a threat to the timeline, he said that he agreed with it completely, he also suggested that I should choose a partner, I naturally chose Kisame, because he was one of the few who was busy, Even with all of them together, Kisame and I are still considered the strongest Shinobi of Konoha rank-S, the third summoned an ANBU to send for Kisame, while we waited for him I decided to tell the third something.

-I have something I haven't told you much about," I began, and he listened attentively.

-And what is it Itachi, I'm listening-" he replied as he prepared for his answer.

-Orochimaru, during the final stage of the Chuunin exam, will attack Konoha disguised as the fourth Kazekage, thus he will take you by surprise on the roof, also he will summon the first and second Hokage, you will seal them and also his hand too, but also you will die..." he said. - He wasn't surprised as he was expecting such an answer, on the contrary he added a smile.

-Heh, I'm glad that I'll die a hero, possible after my death will come Hokage who is much stronger than me, - with a smile he began to inhale smoke from tobacco, I in turn realized that he had been preparing for this for a long time, especially after my words that the soul is the original creation, my knowledge that I brought from heaven, he was fully confident that he will already be watching from heaven for the next generation of Hokage, even perhaps reincarnate himself.

-I wanted to say that I have a plan to prevent your death-I've calculated how not to change the timeline-I said a possible alternative story about his death, but later he added with a sigh.

-Itachi, it's best not to take any chances, my end should come at this point, I myself want to find out who the next Hokage will be, have you thought about becoming the fifth?" he looked at me questioningly interested, and I only added a slight smile.

-Heh, the fifth Hokage should be Tsunade Senju, she was a great Hokage, also ran Konoha well, even scolded Naruto for calling her by her first name.

The third laughed a little as he tried to imagine this picture, he was also glad that Tsunade would be the fifth, because he always considered her understanding of the world to be higher than the meaningless lives of Jiraiya or Orochimaru, while he tried to imagine what kind of Hokage Tsunade would be, His thoughts were interrupted by Kisame, who had just walked through the door, I realized it was him without even turning around, because only he could open the door so abruptly, but that wasn't the only reason I realized it was him, he came in wearing the same black cloak as me and started:

-Did you call the Hokage?" he smiled at the fact that we'd be on a mission together again.

-Yes Kisame, we recently sent a reconnaissance team to the Water Country, they found that the renegade fog man has escaped, your mission is to find him and kill him on the spot, because according to Itachi he can damage the time line or something like that" said the third, seeing Kisame's nod, he realized that he took it seriously.

When we left his office, we began to discuss about Kowaki Kurosuki, when we left Konoha, I told him the full story, about the first and second timelines about him, Kisame continued to listen, as he was interested in learning every detail in time....

***

It had been two days since I and Kisame had left Konoha, we were in the Water Country, asking many people about the green-haired Nukenin, but many didn't know who we were, I didn't even activate my sharingan to question them personally, everyone in the villages, in the houses or even across the border didn't know who we were, After knocking on the door with Kisame, a peasant who worked for the rich opened the door, after asking us a question, he replied that he had seen a similar person and even told us in detail where he had gone, I thought it was strange that he revealed it so quickly., so I activated the sharingan anyway to understand the reason, I found out that he was basically a very nice guy, he didn't know who this Nukenin was, even that he was a Nukenin at all, so he took him in his master's barn, even though the owner of the manor and the barn, I also found out that he thought we were his friends so he just gave away the secret, I wiped his memory of our conversation and we continued on our way back to Konoha, since he was around there we found out his exact location.

Kisame and I started walking towards the Fire Nation, I thought about the fact that if that worker knew who Kowaki was, he might have tried to tell someone, if Kowaki found out, he would have killed him, because that's his nature, he doesn't care about people's kindness, He even takes negatives as a challenge rather than punishment, but his end would come from me personally, as in the first timeline, Kisame and I left that village and went into the forest while continuing on our way to Konoha, jumping from one tree to another.

The end of Itachi's POV

They were very close to their goal with not much left....