Yarinaosu

Itachi frowns at the desperation that colors the Kyūbi's voice and he can only wonder at what had happened to make the Bijū this way. Something terrible is his guess. "What all did I miss after I left Naruto and the Hachibi's Jinchūriki?"

The KyÅ«bi looks towards him once more, his ears folding back to flatten against his skull and sighs. In a low voice, the KyÅ«bi fills him in, telling him of the war, of Obito and Madara and Kaguya, of Hagoromo, and finally of the end, of the fight between Naruto and Sasuke and…

Itachi doesn't doubt the truth of what he's being told but it's a hard thing to swallow. Sasuke had still chosen hatred, in the end, had let the curse consume him, and Itachi feels responsible for it—all of it. He can't let things play out the same as they had done before, of this he is certain, and that's the plan, isn't it? This is why they are getting a second chance so that they can make sure things go differently…for everyone.

"Our first obstacle will be to convince the Yondaime and my former host that I am willing to be sealed into Naruto," the Kyūbi states as if sensing the direction Itachi's thoughts on their situation has taken. "My former host will try to force me to return to her in the hopes that I will die with her, a foolhardy endeavor as it would-"

"-simply allow you to reform after some time as you cannot truly be killed," Itachi finishes for the Kyūbi, his frown deepening as a thought suddenly occurs to him. "Isn't it dangerous to seal you into Naruto as you are?" Even reigned in the Kyūbi's chakra is immense and far too much for an infant to handle. Of course, this would be why the Yondaime had used the Shiki Fūjin, meaning that Naruto will still be without a father.

"Not if I give up half of my chakra to my former host, which would heal her from the extraction," the Kyūbi answers nonchalantly, his ears rising slightly. "And allow for her to continue to act as my Jinchūriki until Naruto is old enough to handle all of my chakras."

It sounds too good to be true, the perfect solution to a fucked up situation, but Itachi is willing to give the Kyūbi a chance. He believes that the Kyūbi is truly changed and if he can convince the Yondaime and Kushina-san of it then there is hope. More than just hope. They can change what is to come. "We won't have much time once I drop Tsukuyomi. The Yondaime will be expecting a fight from you when he gets here."

"But he won't expect for you to be here," the Kyūbi points out as if Itachi's mere presence will make all the difference. Maybe it will, along with the fact that Sasuke is with him, but there is still a chance that things could go wrong. He is, after all, still technically five years old right now. The Kyūbi barks out a laugh when Itachi points this out then gives a shake of his massive head. "And you have your Sharingan, earlier than before, yes?"

It's not just the Sharingan that he has, which should be obvious with his use of Tsukuyomi, but then he is certain that the Kyūbi means the Mangekyō Sharingan. "I do, and I had considered attempting to put you under my control with it should I have needed to but that is unnecessary now," Itachi answers softly as he looks down.

"Not that I doubt your capabilities," the Kyūbi begins and waves a forepaw to indicate the Tsukuyomi, "but you barely have the reserves to pull this off as it is. Controlling me in such a manner, which I loathe, by the way, requires even larger reserves or one of Madara's eyes."

Itachi looks back up at the Kyūbi, his brows furrowing slightly, then closes his eyes for a few seconds. The strain of using Tsukuyomi is starting to hit him, his left eye twinging with pain, and then the pain vanishes as an intense warmth surrounds him. He opens his eyes to see that the Kyūbi is reaching out towards him, the dense red chakra of the Bijū extending from it and flowing to him.

"This is only a temporary fix, I'm afraid," the Kyūbi states lowly and cuts off the flow of chakra after a few more seconds.

"I am well aware," Itachi responds quietly, pushing down his surprise at the Kyūbi's generosity. "I will need to refrain from using the Mangekyō as much as possible, at least until I can find someone to trade eyes with." Someone who isn't Sasuke this time around. Maybe Shisui, who already has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan by now. "And someone trustworthy enough to perform the surgery."

"You would need Tsunade for that," the Kyūbi rumbles out, his tails twitching slightly. "Good luck with that one" he adds gravely after a moment.

"I will worry about it when the time comes." For now, they need to focus on the situation at hand—on convincing the Yondaime and Kushina-san that the KyÅ«bi wants to be sealed within Naruto. "I'm going to drop Tsukuyomi, are you ready?"

"Yes," the Kyūbi answers without hesitation and so Itachi releases the Tsukuyomi.