Konoha Year 38.
The wind skimmed across the village rooftops and brushed against the carved faces watching from the mountain. The First, Second, and Third Hokage loomed over Konoha like silent guardians, their stone eyes fixed on a future no one beneath them could yet see.
Below the monument stood the Hokage Tower.
And today, the Academy gates were open.
Uchiha Itsuki adjusted the small collar of his shirt and stared up at the school building. Five years old. In this life, at least.
Five years since memories not his own had surfaced in his mind.
He had not been "sent" here. There had been no dramatic rupture between worlds. Only a quiet awakening, like remembering a dream that refused to fade. A second layer of memory, overlapping the first.
And those memories told him something simple.
The Uchiha clan would fall.
The massacre would come in Konoha Year 54.
He would be twenty-one.
If he lived that long.
That thought alone was enough to make his spine stiffen.
Running would not save him. He was the grandson of one of the clan elders. A branch deeply rooted in the compound. You do not uproot a tree like that and expect it to survive in the wilderness.
Stopping Uchiha Itachi before it began was even more absurd. The timing. The politics. The chain of events. Everything was too entangled.
No system had descended from the heavens to guide him. No mysterious voice offered shortcuts.
Just chakra in his coils.
Just the name Uchiha.
Just time ticking forward.
"Are you sure you don't want us to walk you in?" his mother asked gently.
Uchiha Kaede always looked composed, but her eyes softened when she looked at him.
"I'm fine," Itsuki said.
He slipped his hand free from hers with deliberate calm. Five-year-old fingers, steady. His father, Uchiha Daichi, folded his arms and nodded proudly.
"That's my son."
Itsuki resisted the urge to sigh. His father had never met a mirror he did not admire.
"I'll go in," Itsuki said.
He stepped past the gates without looking back.
The Academy classroom smelled faintly of wood polish and chalk.
Children filled the seats in uneven clusters. Some nervous. Some excited. Some already loud.
Itsuki's gaze swept the room.
Nohara Rin.
Uchiha Obito.
Sarutobi Asuma.
Familiar names. Familiar faces.
Future jonin. Future casualties. Future tragedies.
Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy were absent, as expected. A year younger. Their time would come.
Itsuki chose a seat in the back row by the window. Not for theatrics. For visibility. From here, he could watch the room without being watched too closely.
He rested his chin against his hand and looked outside.
A shadow fell across the desk beside him.
"Hello. I'm Yuhi Kurenai. Let's do our best."
Her voice was polite, steady.
Itsuki glanced at her briefly.
"Uchiha Itsuki."
He inclined his head and returned his gaze to the window.
He did not dislike children.
He simply had no desire to pretend he was one.
Behind him, a chair scraped slightly.
Sarutobi Asuma stared at the back of Itsuki's head with poorly concealed irritation.
Itsuki did not notice.
Or rather, he did not care.
The classroom door slid open.
Takeda Hiroto entered, posture straight, expression firm without being severe.
"I am Takeda Hiroto. I will be your homeroom instructor."
His eyes swept across them, measuring.
"Let's begin with introductions."
One by one, the students stood.
Dreams of becoming Hokage echoed through the room like a chorus rehearsed in advance.
Uchiha Obito declared it loudly.
Sarutobi Asuma followed, confident and proud.
Even some of the quieter students clung to the same ambition.
Itsuki listened.
Ambition was common at five.
Reality would thin the numbers.
Finally, it was his turn.
He stood.
No need for theatrics. No need for humility.
"My name is Uchiha Itsuki."
He met the class without flinching.
"I train because I don't intend to fall behind anyone."
A pause.
"My goal is simple. I will become strong enough that no one in this village can decide my fate for me."
The room stilled.
He did not shout. He did not boast.
He stated it the way one states the weather.
"And for now," he added, "I intend to graduate at the top of this Academy."
Silence lingered a moment too long.
Some students frowned.
Some bristled.
Sarutobi Asuma's jaw tightened.
Takeda Hiroto studied him carefully, but said nothing.
Itsuki sat down.
Inside his chest, something shifted.
Not a voice.
Not numbers.
Just a subtle tightening of chakra, like steel being drawn a fraction tauter across bone.
Resolve settling into place.
The wind outside stirred the trees again.
Far above, the stone Hokage continued watching.