Sorrowful Eyes: Konoha's Last Uchiha
By ElwynWanderer
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Summary: On a mission for the Akatsuki, Uchiha Itachi comes to the borders of Konoha, where he encounters something he did not expect…
A/N: This is dedicated to Uchiha Itachi, who has way more character depth and sanity than his insane relatives.
Disclaimer: Let me check my e-mail, in case I received ownership of Naruto in the last ten seconds… Nope, still don't own it.
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Kanashimi: sorrow
Ojisan: uncle
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Uchiha Itachi could not believe it. After all these years, he had accidentally stumbled across her. Admittedly, this wasn't the reunion he'd had in mind when he pictured seeing her again, but even under these circumstances it was refreshing. She had made him feel human those brief few weeks he'd known her, and this opportunity he had to see her again was too good to pass up.
But what was he going to do now? He couldn't just leave the one girl he'd ever…cared for lying wounded and unconscious in the forest. What kind of a man does that?
He almost smiled (although, being who he was, he didn't even twitch a muscle). Yes, and what kind of a man wipes out his clan and leaves his village to join a criminal organization? Certainly not a man with even a shred of honor to his name.
He was close to Konoha; he could theoretically get her to the border and leave before anyone saw him. The tricky part, however, would be getting past his partner…
Kisame, who had been looking over Itachi's shoulder at the woman on the ground, decided to speak up. "Do you know her, Itachi?"
"Yes," he answered, deciding that receiving at least part of the truth might satisfy his partner's curiosity. "She was a member of the ANBU unit I was assigned to before she was sent on a two-year-long reconnaissance mission. When I met her again a few months after I'd left, she didn't know…what I had become."
Kisame grinned in anticipation. "So what happened? Did you have some fun with her?"
"You could say that," Itachi deadpanned. But those small words could never do justice to the part of his humanity she had restored - even after all he had gone through - with a simple, trusting smile…
"We have to get her back to Konoha," Itachi said. Then, at Kisame's incredulous look, he clarified, "If she dies they will look for her, and they will learn of us. Leader-sama wants us to be as far off the radar as possible."
Kisame shrugged. "I'd rather just get rid of her body. But, whatever, you're the boss. Let's go, then."
As he began walking forward Itachi stopped him with an extended arm. "Stay here. You're too conspicuous, and the Konoha shinobi would detect your enormous chakra in seconds. Remember what happened the last time we were in Konoha?"
"That was a fluke," Kisame said defensively. "They had Hatake Kakashi with them."
But Itachi was firm. "Stay here," he repeated. The last thing he needed was his partner snooping around when there was so much of his past, so much of the truth to be discovered through that incident so long ago.
He lifted the unconscious kunoichi and darted through the trees toward the Leaf Village.
Once at the border he carefully set her against a tree and looked out at the houses, the twinkling lights. It had been a long time since he'd been there, not as an Akatsuki member, but as a normal person with a normal family and a normal life.
Well, he supposed that wasn't entirely true - he had never been normal.
"Mother?" a small voice asked from the darkness, and Itachi whirled around to see a little girl peeking out from behind a tree. How unusual for a child to be out here so late, he thought. Perhaps she is lost or in trouble.
"Who are you?" he asked gently. There was no need to alarm the child; she was no threat to him, and he hated harming innocent people.
She squirmed uncomfortably. "Mother says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers…"
The child wasn't fool enough to trust him immediately. Good. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised.
She seemed to be mentally debating, strategically weighing her options. Then she reached her conclusion and looked up at him. "My name is Kanashimi," she said.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for my mother, of course," Kanashimi said matter-of-factly. "That's her."
"What?" he said, certain he'd misheard her. (His eyesight was going anyway. Was it possible he was losing his hearing, too?) She was Kanashimi's mother? The knowledge stung him; had she been in a relationship with another man when he'd met her those years ago, or had she found someone shortly after he had left? Even he, the Uchiha prodigy, could barely contain a wave of jealousy the revelation caused.
"I said, she is my mother. She was supposed to be back from her mission several hours ago. I got worried, so I came to look for her."
"I hope you are aware of how dangerous that is," Itachi cautioned sternly.
Kanashimi did not seem concerned in the slightest. "I can handle anything. It is expected of me, as an Uchiha."
Then she bit her lip in evident mortification.
Despite his notoriety as a prodigy Itachi took a long while to process this new information. He was her father? Was it possible? He took a deep breath to steady himself. "You are an Uchiha?" he asked carefully. "But I heard the clan was wiped out."
The girl shrugged. "I'm one of the only ones left. Mother says the only other members of Uchiha are Sasuke-ojisan and my father."
There was no doubt about it now. She was his daughter. He was amazed; he'd never expected his encounter with her mother many years ago to have this result. "Your father…what do you know about him?"
"Mother only told me a little. She doesn't like to talk about him, because it makes her sad. She said that my father was Sasuke-ojisan's big brother, and he had to leave the Leaf Village before I was born. But I did some research, and I know what she was trying to hide from me."
Itachi raised an eyebrow. This kid was pretty bright, even though she could only be about…six? Well, that wasn't too unexpected; after all, her parents had both been child prodigies in the ANBU.
"My father's name was Uchiha Itachi, and he was the one who wiped out my clan and made Sasuke-ojisan leave," Kanashimi said, and her voice was suddenly filled with bitterness and anger. "I hope Sasuke-ojisan gets him for it!"
For a brief moment her eyes flashed red, and Itachi felt a jolt of amazement as he recognized the Sharingan. But then her eyes returned to normal and her face fell. "No, I don't mean that. It would make Mother even sadder if my father died."
Itachi's insides twisted with guilt, but at the same time he swelled with pride. She was only six, yet she could already access her Sharingan. She was truly his daughter. "Maybe…" He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Maybe your father regrets what he did. Maybe he wishes he could be back home…with your mother…with his family."
She frowned. "Maybe…but probably not. He doesn't care about Mother or me."
Inside he winced at the assumption, but he kept my face carefully controlled like always, even though she couldn't see his expression in the dark. "What makes you think so?"
"Well," she said slowly, "if he really cared about us he would've tried to sneak back home to visit. Good fathers are supposed to love mothers and children." She paused. "But speaking of Mother, why are you here? I've never seen you before, but you carried Mother to the village, and she's wounded."
Itachi pondered her question for a moment before he carefully answered. "I just happened to be passing by Konoha when I saw your mother was wounded, so I brought her here. This was the closest populated area."
"Who are you?"
"My name is It-...Ichiro," he managed.
"Where are you from?"
"That," he said, "is only for me to know."
"Oh."
He exhaled in what he hoped didn't look too much like relief. "But tell me," he said, anxious to turn the conversation from him, "it's obvious your mother is a shinobi; are you training to be one?"
Her eyes shone with eagerness. "I just passed the exam yesterday. See?" She pulled a Konoha headband from a pocket and held it up for him.
"Congratulations," he said, and his lips parted into a smile before he could stop them. His daughter was only half the age of the other students and she was already a genin. "But why aren't you wearing it?"
She looked at the ground. "I wanted Mother to be the first to see me wear my headband, but...I guess I don't mind that you saw it before she did." She looked up at him. "I like you a lot, Ichiro-san."
He might have stayed frozen for an eternity, but behind them she shifted slightly, groaning, and the noise reminded him of where and when he was. "I have to go now," he said regretfully.
Kanashimi looked disappointed. "Why?" The childlike question fit her age so much better than the mature things she had said until now.
"I can't be seen here," he admitted. "But I'll try to come back if I can."
"I hope so. I like you a lot, Ichiro-san," she repeated.
He knelt down so that he was level with her and gently poked her forehead with two fingers. "I like you a lot, too, Kanashimi."