Chasing Shadows

A Transposed Interlude

The darkness uncovers
All of the pain and lies...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Knowing the truth... Even now, I remain conflicted. I want— I need— something. Not answers. A chance to grow something new from the ashes, perhaps. Or a reason to wash them away.

The flutter of wings and a tapping against my window wakes me.

Bleary-eyed, I roll over, staring at the bird sitting on my windowsill, pecking insistently. "What the actual hell?" Who sends a messenger this time of night? A few minutes later, when it becomes apparent the bird won't leave until I open the window and relieve it of the scroll secured to its ankle, I sit up with a groan, covers pooling around my waist.

Bare feet, soundless on the floor— I stride over to the window, yanking it open. I eye the bird skeptically; it stares back, picking at the string tied to its left leg with its beak. Some sort of corvid... A crow, maybe?

Untying the string, I retrieve the missive. "Hn." I don't sense a genjutsu, and a lethal contact poison would affect the bird. Unless it was inert without a second compound, an activator... I release an exasperated sigh at my own paranoia, and seeing that the bird has flown off, shut the window with a quiet thump, lowering and shutting the blinds.

"Couldn't it have waited until morning?"

Now I'm too curious to go back to sleep.

Breaking the seal reveals an empty sheet of paper. A nagging, half-formed thought at the back of my mind— I activate the sharingan and take a closer look.

Words bleed into existence, black ink stark on the cream background.

The writing— small, meticulously formed kana, seems vaguely familiar. And the words put to paper..?

Little Bird,

I immediately glance down to check the signature. There is none. It's unneeded; only one person besides me should know that nickname. And there are very, very few people that may know the tricky little genjutsu-fuuinjutsu hybrid technique that hides ink from all eyes not carrying the sharingan.

I snort at the audacity of Itachi sending me a letter, but read it in full, committing the words to memory before setting it ablaze with a minor Katon jutsu.

Little Bird,

Be careful.

You have learned, despite my efforts to the contrary, that things are seldom what they seem at first glance. Considering your jounin sensei's favorite saying, perhaps I should not be so surprised.

Do not look too deeply into the abyss that surrounds that night, and do not trust in the integrity of those that surround the Sandaime. Some of them have long been lost to darkness.

Congratulations on the promotion.

Stay safe and grow strong.

The short letter contains nothing I didn't already know, or at least suspect:

Danzou is dangerous. The Hokage's advisors are not to be trusted. And my older brother knows altogether too much about my life considering he is a missing-nin.

Still— a missive from Itachi? Sending any message is a massive risk, not only for him, but for me. I didn't expect to hear from him until we crossed paths again, if ever. And that he keeps so close an eye on me that he has already heard of my promotion to chuunin rank? It's not as if I yell out my name and rank to every opponent while out of the village.

Unnerving.

I don't know how to feel about any of it; another annoying, recurring mantra in my life.

I'll just... think about it later.

With a sigh, I crawl back under my comforter, cocooning myself in the safety of my warm, plush bed.

Much later.

... maybe, never?

Sending that letter...

Although he'd been the one to initiate contact, he hadn't expected an answer at all. Especially after several months of silence.

The missive arrives while he is away from Kisame, scouting for their next mission. Luck or skill, he mulls over this thought. Skill. He decides. Sasuke is intelligent enough to instruct the messenger to arrive when I am alone.

He gazes at the salamander, curiosity hidden behind an immovable apathetic mask. The creature stares back, unblinking, trepidation in its large, green eyes. The tense silence stretches for a minute— then two. "Oi. So are you going to take the letter or not?"

So, these are the summons Sasuke-kun formed a contract with. Curious— I wonder what they will think when they find out. He resolves to be present for the revelation if at all possible. It would be interesting to see if this will unsettle 'Leader-sama' and his blue-haired shadow or not. Unless those two are especially petty or paranoid, it is unlikely this will make Sasuke-kun a target. Well, no more than being a close friend with the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko will.

"Hn."

Uchiha Itachi extends a hand, and the child-sized being passes the scroll over. Its task completed, it promptly disappears in a puff of grey smoke, muttering under its breath— "Creepy guy... I'd wondered why he went out of his way to warn me."

Itachi feels a flash of amusement at its words. Deft hands quickly open the scroll— Good. Sasuke-kun took the same precautions— and a three-tomoe sharingan flares to life in his eyes.

Did you know that the collective term for ravens is as an "unkindness" or "conspiracy"? Perhaps not when I first named you Raven-Bird. Of course, crows are even more unlucky: "a murder of crows." ...What interesting messengers you have.

Though it was unnecessary, thank you for the warning nevertheless.

And at the bottom, in a shakier, more hesitant script—

Stay safe, onii-san.

A smile, just the slightest twitch of his lips.

Cheeky little brother.

He is both relieved and terrified.

Relieved— his brother does not hate him despite the immense amount of effort he's expended trying to inspire exactly that emotion. Terrified, because Sasuke could not, should not, know what he does. His plans have been completely shattered, burned away until not even ash remains, and there is little hope of recovery. Because, if he cannot find redemption in death, if the Uchiha Clan cannot find redemption with Sasuke... What will happen then?

Perhaps this changes nothing, in the long run.

Though not at Sasuke's hands, I will likely die a traitor's death, regardless...

He is both relieved and terrified, in equal measure, but none of this shows on his face as flames devour the letter. Perhaps he would send a response... or perhaps not.

Time return to work. His partner is waiting.

This little snippet is set between chapters 17 and 18 of Transposed. It just didn't quite fit into the main story. More to follow.