Chapter 1: From the Start
"Ah, Itachi."
Itachi didn't want to wake up. But the sound of his name caused him to slowly blink his eyes open. Normally, he'd have given a faster reaction, but he recognized the chakra signature of the man long before the man found him in the tree enjoying a peaceful nap. And although Itachi knew it was rude to keep the man waiting, he permitted himself a few seconds to allow his eyes to adjust. The sunlight pouring through the gently swaying leaves were stronger now that it was closer to noon. It hurt a bit with his sensitive eyes, but it quickly subsided. The shadows of leaves were so pleasant to look at though. The leaves appeared as shadowy shapes and the juxtaposition of the hot white light formed a jigsaw puzzle in the sky.
But enough dawdling. Breaking himself from his reverie, Itachi pulled himself up to a sitting posture. Leaning his back against the trunk of the tree, Itachi looked down and matched his pair of eyes to the intruder's own single visible eye.
"Kakashi-senpai," he greeted with a polite smile. Always so cordial.
"Sorry to disturb you," Kakashi apologized without sincerity. But fair enough, Itachi shouldn't have been sleeping in a tree to begin with. He really should have been helping his father with clan business, whether it was helping the younger members master the Fire Ball Jutsu or tending to police force paperwork. And he probably will come to do that on a different day. Today Itachi just wanted to nap until it was time to pick up Sasuke from the Academy and so, under the guise of training to his parents, he nestled himself in a tree at least five miles away from the Uchiha compound. He did train, of course—just for far shorter than his parents might have anticipated.
"Not at all," Itachi smiled. He hopped out of the tree in one swift movement, landing silently on the pavement. It looked almost unnatural how not a single leaf in the tree was disturbed—a true testament to Itachi's prowess as a shinobi. He was a child prodigy. The prided son and heir of the Uchiha clan. "How may I help you?"
"It's ANBU business," Kakashi answered in an almost drawl; he didn't sound particularly enthusiastic about whatever it was he was doing. "Not an official mission-just need to deliver a message to someone—an annoyingly elusive ANBU operator. Figured since I saw you, I might as well enlist your eyes to help. Can you track down Touya?"
Itachi's reaction was delayed. He had never heard of this person. That was odd. He knew most of the ANBU members. He was, after all, initiated into the ANBU early. He knew nearly anyone ranked chunin and up, having worked with them for nearly all his life.
"Sorry, I don't believe I know him," Itachi maintained a tone as even as ever.
It was Kakashi's turn to be surprised.
"Her, actually," he corrected. "Huh. Thought you'd know her since you two are around the same age."
His age and an ANBU member at that? Itachi narrowed his eyes, genuinely baffled how this could have escaped his notice. He was on friendly terms with nearly everyone. He wasn't particularly close with any of them aside from Shisui, but he had good relations with most ANBU members.
"Well," Kakashi started, as though giving it some thought for the first time. "She is newly initiated," he admitted.
That might explain it. Itachi decided he probably wasn't going to be much use to Kakashi in finding this Touya. But this was a good opportunity to meet this "elusive" shinobi.
"Allow me to accompany you then," Itachi offered. "As a captain, I'd like to welcome her to our ranks." Kakashi shrugged. It was always good to befriend your colleagues. It helped with mission teamwork.
"Sure," Kakashi accepted. "I guess we'll just walk around until we run into her. Not going to lie though—this might take a while. Touya's specialty is hiding."
"It's not a problem," Itachi insisted. With his Sharingan, Itachi was confident she'd be found in no time. As they started their search, Itachi figured he needed to ask some questions first. "So what does Touya look like? Where is she usually? What is her chakra signature like?"
Kakashi sighed. "You're asking all the important and difficult questions, Itachi."
As it turned out, it was Itachi who found her. She had been sitting outside a cafe, sipping her afternoon tea leisurely. It seemed that part of her had simply been waiting to be found and part of her had gotten hungry. Itachi made a mental note to check out the store's tea snacks on a later date.
"Touya," Kakashi addressed sternly. He took a few authoritative steps towards her as Itachi stood back patiently watching the exchange.
Touya sighed dramatically with overly exaggerated annoyance.
"I know, you found me, you win, though I believe it's a bit unfair to enlist someone else's help. Nonetheless, I'll take the mission scroll," Touya accepted with a smile, acting the part of a graceful loser.
But Kakashi was not amused. "Mission work is not a game."
Itachi silently agreed.
"Fair enough. Forgive me; it's my first mission," Touya replied easily.
And it was precisely because it was her first mission. She had transferred from a different ninja subdivision to the main branch of ANBU. Because the Hokage had not been in direct command of her before, she would not be entrusted with anything of importance for her first mission. Nothing urgent, nothing dangerous, nothing confidential. It would take time for the Hokage to build some trust in her. And this allowed her the confidence to play a game of hide-and-seek with Kakashi, whose timing at the Hokage's office left him the unfortunate assignment of delivering Touya's mission to her.
"I'm accustomed to being told my orders directly in person and from my master himself," Touya explained with a shrug, as she casually opened up the scroll to give it a glance over.
"I know," Kakashi replied. "And that's how it will work in ANBU too. But just because the orders aren't in person doesn't mean you can ignore them."
"I understand," Touya sighed. Really, she did. She wouldn't do this for her second mission or anything after that. "It's just because it was the first mission... and a stupid mission, at that," she added upon finishing looking over the scroll's contents and started rolling it up again.
It was a stupid and immature reason, but Kakashi gave up arguing. It looked like he at least trusted her not to do it again. Itachi, on the other hand, frowned at her words. He could never do that; the village, no matter what, was far too important to him. But her actions were no longer up for discussion; it was time to move on.
"Right. Well, hey, this is Itachi. He's an ANBU captain. You guys might be working together. Thought you should know since you two are around the same age."
The young Uchiha who had been patiently waiting for his turn finally stepped forward.
"A pleasure," Itachi bowed. "I look forward to working with you."
"And this, Itachi, is Touya, a lazy, overconfident and recently inducted ANBU operative who lacks even a quarter of your maturity and skill and doesn't deserve the right to be a ninja."
"That's a little harsh..."
"Hardly," Kakashi said dismissively, "Well, you kids have fun. Don't forget about your mission, Touya."
"Oh, yes, the all-important D-rank mission of going to the Hokage's office to pick up my ANBU uniform," Touya rolled her eyes. "I think I got this. Later, senpai."
Kakashi started to turn away, but giving the two one last look, decided to add, "Itachi, go with her to the Hokage's office."
"What?" Touya protested. "You don't trust me?"
"Let's just say I trust Itachi more. Bye, kids," and with that, Kakashi sped away, leaving Touya gritting her teeth at the space he had occupied.
"Well," Itachi said awkwardly, "Shall we go now?"
A/N: Oops, accidentally started another story. "Accidentally." But I love Itachi too much.
Sorry if this was confusing. Touya's ability will be revealed in the next chapter! Just thought it was a lengthy explanation so I should wait.
Story will mostly follow canon (manga). I might miss a few details since I sort of stopped paying attention after Itachi died for the second time, lol. But hopefully, nothing after Itachi's second death will affect this story.