Eyes of old
This tale begins when I was young and still a mortal being, I think I was born four thousand and six hundred years ago in a small village near the sicilian coast. I have some moemories from that time and place: A little house for our small family, when my little brother Sasuke was born, when I killed my first deer...but thoose things aren´t important now.
First I should explain how I, Itachi Uchiha, became what I am now.
An undying being, an insult for death, a relic that doesn´t break.
An immortal.
Village of Serenio, near sicily, 2000 years B.C.
I remember that my name was another when I was mortal...but it´s a memory that I can´t remember at all...so I will use my actual name. And I don´t remember very well the names of my family and friends so I will use the names of some of my friends from this age of time.
The village was as always normal and boring, there was nothing interesting to do and almost everyone was or hunting or growing crops. A young black haired boy, that was considered an adult now due to his thirteen winters, helped his father to carry some fine olive oil that they grew near their home sp that they could make an interchange with the clever greek merchant: Siklos.
-Are you sure they won´t mind dad?-asked Itachi while he walked at a steady pace, his eyes never leaving the coast.
-The greek promised me that he would gave it to you as your birthday present son-contested Fugaku,his father, while Itachi helped him with a oil vessel that almost fell- After all you have helped him a huge lot with his bussiness.
Itachi fell silent and decided to just continue walking,it was imposible to convince his father when something entered his head. But after walking for half a mile they fnally arrived to the resting place of the merchant´s sea charriot, near the sea, where the clever thirty year old man was interchangeing strange materials and rare foods for the oil and meat of the inhabitants of the place. Siklos spoke the language of the people of the island like he spoke his mother tongue, that made bussiness far more easy.
-I told you that this is the future-said Siklos to a young hunter that carried a cage with some hens as the greek showed him a spear with a strange yellow coloured point-It´s called bronze and it´s far better than stone.It will make your hunting far more easy.
-And what about it´s weight?-asked the hunter with a raised eyebrow.
-Just a little heavier but trust me, it won´t broke easily-said Siklos. Then he noticed the tow black haired males with red eyes carrying the oil vessels- Itachi, Fugaku! Nice to meet you again my friends, what may I do to help you?
-The collar for Itachi-said Fugaku.
-Of course! Wait here, I will return in no time-said the greek smiling as he went to his boat.
Thirty seconds later the greek appeared with a small wodden box on his hands. The design of the box wasn´t very usual and it looke like nothing the greek had ever brought. When he opened it the two uchiha´s moved their heads to see a collar made of an strange silver looking material with a bone made animal in the middle that the two uchihas couldn´t identify(it looke like a lizard but stronger and with two bat like wings).
-I bought this one when I was near Persia-explained Siklos- It was bought by a persian that had bought it from another merchant that also...-seeing that the two uchihas watched him with confused expressions he made the tale shorter- It´s from far beyond the known world. This animal-said Siklos pointing the bone made figure- It is highly revered fron the land it comes from.
Itachi lloked at the figure for some seconds. It was very well crafted and at the same time it was simple...but resistant, when he touched the bone it felt soft and also cold.
-Thankyou Siklos-said Itachi with a bright smile as he hugged the greek merchant.
The greek and Fugaku were very surprised to see Itachi doing that(he didn´t show many emotions)but Siklos know how to react so he hugged him back.
- Ok Itachi calm down a bit-said Siklos with a smile-A simple hand shacking would have been enough.
Itachi stopped his hug and felt a little bad but the reasuring smile of the greek helped him to feel better. After some interchanges and chatting they said farewell to Siklos and went with some new materials towards their home.
Finally they arrived to the small wodden house that was their residence. Sasuke was helping her mother with the recolecting of the crops as good as the little kid could. Their fields were shared with the other members of the village that also shared their own fields, that way everyone could help to make their lives far easier.
-We are back-said Fugaku loud enough so his wife could hear him from her position. The black haired woman waved her han and the kid that was healping her run as fast as his legs could move him towards the two newcomers.
-Daddy, brother!-shouted the kid happily as he hugged his brother and his father- Did you bring something?
-For you?-asked Itachi as he put his hand in the bag-Did you behave?
-Yes!-said Sasuke proudly.
-Did you help your mother while we were out?-asked Itachi as he hid what he had taken out of the bag.
-Yes!-answered Sasuke more impatiently now.
-Well Siklos didn´t forget about you, and you have behaved well so...-Itachi took a wodden horse fro the leather bag and put it on Sasuke´s expecting hands-This is for you.
After getting another hug from his brother, and helping his father to unpack, Itachi went to Sarenzo´s house and together they went to hunt again.
Three ours later, near the river Akragas(named Girgenti in modern times).
-He can´t be too far away..-said Sarenzo as Itachi and him were tracking a fleeing wounded adult male deer that they had wounded earlier with a throwing spear.
-He will stop near the river to drink...that will be our chance-said Itachi- I will take the rear, you can take the right.
And so the two hunters aproached to the river, moving as shadows with their spears ready. The forests helped them to remain undetected as they aproached to the clean waters of the river and followed the tracks. The sound of the waterfall came to their ears as they saw the deer near the river, drinking the water...and without the wound.
The two hunters noticed this and they were very, vey...impressed. Normally a spear wound was difficult to heal using medicines from plants and rest, for an animal that is running for it´s life it should be fatal with time. But there was the deer, as fresh and unwounded as a healthy one.
-This shouldn´t be possible-said Sarenzo glaring at the deer as if he tried to wound him with his eyes-Are you sure it´s...?
-The same deer, but it seems that his previous wounds are also healed and he seems to be younger...-said Itachi-This time we will kill him instantly. As far as I know a spear into the head isn´t easly healed.
And so the two hunters aproached silently to the drinking deer that was far too concentrated drinking to notice them. When they were ready Sarenzo went out of his position near the bushes and run towards the deer shouting like a mdaman. The poor animal raised his head and when he saw the hunter he fleed towards the opposite direction. But when he was about to jump some bushes Itachi appeared and with one strike his spear went through the animal´s skull, killing it instantly.
-At last...-said Sarenzo while he sat down on the ground near the deer´s corpse. He took one of his bone knifes to cut and they began to take out all the unnecesary organs, meanwhile Itachi mind was worried...
There was a reason why thoose wounds had been regenerated so fast, there should be a logical one...and he would find it.
-Would you carry the deer by yourself Sarenzo?-asked Itachi as he stood up, his spear grabbed with both hands- I have some things that I must see first.
The other hunter just looked at his frined for some seconds, then he shrugged and took the deer with both of his hands. Itachi then gave him a nod and he went to the river again to inspect the zone. "It could be something of the environment" thought Itachi as he inspected some plants and animals nearby. "The plants and animals here look far too healthy, maybe they feed better" but looking all around the place he saw the same food they had near the village´s borders. "Ok, maybe it´s not the food" he then sat down and rested for some minutes there, but after that he woke sighing "The climate and the ground is also normal, well they have a river nearby but it´s the same one we have near our village" Itachi decided to give the waters a try so he kneeled and drank some of the cristaline water.
At first he felt nothing but after drinking some more his limbs were less tyred his muscles felt lighter...even some of the small scratches began to heal. "The same water...different results" thought Itachi as he stood up again. "A spear is more efective when it´s objective is closer, so the closer I get to the beggining..." and so he decided to walk towards the beggining of the waterfall.
He scaled the rocks slowly near the falling waters and after almost ten minutes of exhausting and slow movements he reached the top, to found a cave where the water appeared. "This mistery will soon be revealed" thought Itachi as he entered the cave walking through the shadows. He didn´t need to see, just to hear the water nearby and feel the solid wet wall nearby. He also made annotation of every step, jump or any kind of movement that he made so that he could find the way out of there later.
Then he saw it, some bright strange looking red stones layed near the way out of a subterrain water fountain, nearby there was a young man in his middle twenty´s, his hair brown and his eyes green. He didn´t wear any clothing and he seemed distracted with nothing in particular.
Then he saw the man standing up and looking at him with a scary smile on his face. Itachi didn´t even blink, he would not show fear, that would make him an easy prey.
-Greetings young one to my sanctuary!-said the man loudly with a strong voice as he aproached Itachi.
-Your sanctuary?-asked Itachi with a monotone voice that didn´t show up any emotion.
-Yes, but I must say that you waited far too longer dont you think?-asked the man still smiling-I haven´t recieved someone to play since...well, I can´t remember actually! But I think you would my 219th sacrifice offering, congratulations!
Itachi grabbed his spear with more force now, this would be nasty...
-Litsen I only came here to know why this water...-started Itachi but he was cut off by the man again.
-The sacred water of the spirit world?-asked the man- This water is the fountain that made me a god, a creature of divine light! I never get old, i never feel sick and my wounds are always healed...
"That must be the water propierties..." thought Itachi as he stared at the brown haired man´s eyes. "Eyes of a madman".
Then the man charged agains Itachi laughing and with a stone on his hand, his teeth were showing: they were sharp and pointy...canibalism. "That´s why he wants sacrifices, there must be few food down here".
Itachi was a good hunter and an excellent warrior with every weapon or without them so he waited there, with his spear ready. When the man was about to hit him with the rock Itachi made a quick movement that blocked the hit and then he gave the cannibal a kick to his left knee trying to brake it. And it worked at first but the man just laughed and Itachi could just stare at the knee again with wide eyes...it was regenerating again!
-Come on I know you can do it a lot better!-said the man almost laughing as he tried to attack Itachi again with the stone, but he blocked the strike again before the black haired boy made some cuts with his spear that the man didn´t block or parry, the wounds would just regenarate...
It didn´t matter how many kicks, cuts or blows he rcieved...the male just came back again and again. "He must be so used to drink the water that..." his thoughts were silenced when the man walked away from him towards the beguining of the subterrain fountain and he started drinking "He needs to drink because of the sweat like all of us" thought Itachi. This would be very difficult so he only found one way to solve this...mutilation at a huge level.
Itachi charged against the man, his spear ready and his left hand opened. The man tried to turn towards the boy but Itachi was faster. The spear went through the man´s stomach with such violence that it broke in a half and blood started to flow out of the huge wound, but when it was going to regenerate Itachi grabbed the man´s neck with his free left hand to start chocking him and making the head crush with the fountain again and again making the strange rock jump because of the impact and land near the water. Meanwhile Itachi was making the hole caused by the spear larger, making the amount of blood flowing out larger and doing it as fast as he could so he couldn´t heal. Itachi´s hands and face were covered in blood but he still continued attacking.
The madman then realized something, his wounds weren´t healing as fast as they used to and strenght was beguining to go away..., the water was falling on him and he was drinking most of it...but it didn´t work. He tried to flee, puch, anything to stop the feeling of ...being mortal again.
-What have you done mortal scum, you will perish in the flames of Freghlghlglh!-the last part couldn´t be understandable because his mouth was full of his own red blood.
The man was slowly dying, his heartbeats were slower and slower and he couldn´t breath because he only lost more blood and oxygen because of the enormous wounds and the blood loose. The last thing he saw before darkness came was the face of the black haired boy and his red eyes...
Itachi looked at the man´s corpse for some more seconds, his left hand still grabbing the man´s neck just in case. To be safe he looked for a place to throw the corpse and when he did it he sat down trying to not faint because of the exhaustion. "Breathe and release, breathe and release..." repeated Itachi in his brain.
After doing it ten times he looked at the water again. Why the water did not heal the man at all? If the cannibal told the truth it should have worked. A change in the water? The environment? The spirits didn´t help him? Far too many questions without any answer, and he needed healing for the wounds he had recieved. "That strange rock looks a lot like the one that Beril uses...except for the color" But what could go wrong?
It worked, I broke the rocks that had been on top of the fountain for centuries, I mixed them with the liquid and I started putting the substance on my wounds so it entered in my body. Making my flesh heal and relaxing my muscles. But while I was having my adventure, the village where I was born had it´s own problems.
An invasion to be more precise.
I don´t remember much of it, some corpses, houses on fire, I think my family died there too. After that I couldn´t think properly, madness took overas I followed the track of the murderers and I was able to face them. It was a massacre, it didn´t matter what they did or what they used, the effect of that damn rock installed itself in my body forever and my wounds were healed so fast that they had to make an effort to take their weapons out of my flesh. I didn´t understand that until they were all dead under my feet. I felt strange, the last one of my tribe, so I decided that start again would be necesary.
And when Siklos came two weeks later, he adopted me. And my journey through time began.
Next part will be Itachi´s journey to Greece, where he sees and even plays a decisive part in many of the wonders and legends of that time. The strange rock also makes skin and flesh regenerate and diseases are easily wiped out so Itachi´s life as an immortal starts now.