The Shopkeeper of Konoha

Arya (present) wanted to learn sword fighting, and Ned got her a good one, the same instructor who had taught her how to dance. She was thrilled to have one, and Sansa was slowly coming to understand how cruel Joffrey was.

Jon wanted to stop her, but Ned let her be, believing that someone like Sansa needed to see the harsh reality without tinted glasses. Their imaginative relationship wouldn't happen anyway, so why bother.

Arya was happy that her dad took that approach, as she needed to learn about the world the hard way. In this manner, one month had gone by, and things were quite different in Konoha. Konoha was in a hot spot right now, with vigilance increasing in just a week or so.

Hiruzen had visited once in this month, looking distraught and almost broken down. In the original story, he was somewhat okay with the idea of the Uchiha being destroyed. But this time, he wasn't ready to give the green signal. He talked with Aoto about feeling like he had lost a considerable amount of power in Konoha, and all of his friends had turned against him.

He was actually drunk when he showed up at Aoto's place. Aoto had to hold him a bit as he let him inside.

"I regret everything," Hiruzen said. Those words surprised Aoto, as he didn't expect one of the strongest men in the current world to express such regret. Aoto provided him with some coffee, as that might help, and also some lemon to alleviate the effects of the alcohol.

"What happened?" Aoto asked.

"The daimyo gave the green signal to eliminate the Uchiha," Hiruzen said, somehow managing to drink a glass of hot water with lemon juice. This made his drunkenness subside a little, but he was still visibly sad. The words struck Aoto, as he didn't expect the daimyo to interfere in this matter.

But he remained silent.

"Aoto, can you save them?" Hiruzen pleaded.

"I am just a regular shopkeeper," Aoto said. Those words made Hiruzen stare into Aoto's eyes, which in turn made Aoto feel a bit embarrassed. He couldn't deny the chaos he had caused.

"I will see what I can do," Aoto replied. Those words made Hiruzen sigh, as if a huge burden had been lifted. He wanted to ask what Aoto planned to do, but he stopped himself. He was already in deep water, and knowing more wouldn't do him any good. Hiruzen stayed at Aoto's place for about an hour, where he complained about his responsibilities, the loss of his son, and his disappointment in Asuma.

He truly regretted everything and wished he had said no to Tobirama that night.

So, in the end, Itachi accepted the deal and pleaded that Sasuke should be left alone and allowed to grow up in Konoha. Itachi would then infiltrate Akatsuki and find out their motivation and destroy them from inside if possible. 

Of course, Itachi by now knew what Akatsuki wanted and the main reason he decided to join Akatsuki was because he needed to find more clues about these aliens and their presence. Joining Akatsuki would give him a wide range of spies which was supposedly bigger than Konoha's. 

Konoha's spy network was more concentrated and was made to destroy the big 4 villages, but Akatsuki was broader and spread out to get information. The reasons he knew all of this was because someone had visited him few days ago. 

Someone that Itachi had been warned about by Aoto. The one who called himself 'Madara'. The day 'Madara' met Itachi, that same night Fugaku and Itachi had shown up. 

"Aoto, we need to know who this masked man is." Fugaku was adamant this time to know the situation. 

"Why are you held up on this?" Aoto asked in return. 

"He killed your parents. Don't you wish to extract revenge?" Fugaku asked. 

"I told you, he is just a pawn for the real Madara, who himself is a pawn for the son of Kaguya. They are inconsequential." 

"But we want to know. We need to know of his background if we want to 1up on him." Itachi said. The words of Itachi surprised Aoto. It seemed that he had been playing quite the games as recently Runescape had been released and it had become quite popular. But of course, the network was only based on Konoha.

"Sigh! The reason why you guys never know of him is because he is supposed to be dead in your books," Aoto said.

"I thought so," Fugaku said as his eyebrows made an arch on his forehead.

"He is the one who was supposed to die in the Kanabi bridge," Aoto continued. Those words struck Fugaku like thunder. Itachi hadn't seen him, but Fugaku knew of him. He was the student of Minato and the one whom the whole Uchiha clan looked down upon.

This guy wore glasses and blamed everything around him, except for himself, for his nonexistent eye powers. He was also someone who dreamt of being the Hokage. Though the Uchiha clan wasn't very happy with him, Fugaku thought he was a bright and sunny kid in the age of war.

He remembered how he came to know about Obito's death from Kakashi and how, before his death, Obito gave away his eye as a gift to Kakashi.

"Impossible. Obito wanted to be the Hokage. He would never create an organization to achieve such a heinous and twisted world. Everyone knew he loved Rin...." Fugaku's voice croaked when he spoke of Rin. Then it struck him why Obito went mad.

Rin had died too. In that war, from what he heard, at the hands of Kakashi himself. Itachi had heard about him in passing once when he came to know that Kakashi had a Sharingan, but knowing that the guy who had given the Sharingan was still alive and now stood against Konoha was wild.

"As I said, it doesn't matter. Obito always had potential because he had too many emotions. Any Uchiha who loves too much is doomed. Not my words but Tobirama's," Aoto said, sensing the glares of Itachi and Fugaku.