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Chapter One: Nostalgia
Disclaimer: "Naruto", and all canon characters and characteristics remain the property and rights of Kishimoto Masashi. All I own is the writing itself, and any original features and / or attributes portrayed within said writing, including the original characters.
A/N: Here she is, the umpteenth rewrite of a long-neglected alternate reality fanfic. Neither the Narutoverse nor my original character deserved the crappy / boring / overused / repetitive storyline I made out for them; this fic series needed some serious canon-deviation, and so that's what I'm trying to do. I really hope I wrote the characters okay for this chapter, though. xD Enjoy!
I--I
He still remembers the day the boy arrived.
It was the kind of day people living in a village of perpetual summer took for granted. Warm sunlight poured in through the forest canopy whilst a slow, graceful breeze swept past the leaves, a soft blue stain dyed the clear skies above. Even so, a certain someone's morning atmosphere was tainted with his inner anxiety, the typical uneasiness which came with the anticipation of a new teammate's arrival.
To be honest, this feeling of cautious enthusiasm was almost nostalgic--like a fresh graduate waiting for his Genin Squad leader to arrive.
The Captain opened a tired eye, remaining still as he kept his arms folded and his back leaning up against a tree. It was quiet in the training grounds, considering the dawn hour. Sharing the sentiments of his subordinate, he was surprised he even managed to arrive at the rendezvous point on time...come to think of it, this was probably one of the few events he wouldn't excuse himself to be late for.
"How are you feeling about this, Senpai?"
He remembered when he used to recoil whenever he heard that title, but those reactions have long since faded with the aid of repetition and time.
(It wasn't something he wanted to get used to. Made him feel old.)
Kakashi tipped his head back to rest against the bark, tilting his neck to lazily look over at his partner, who was sitting cross-legged on a spot across the grass.
Tenzou's expression hardened as their eyes met.
It was more than the new Jounin's presence they felt lying just around the corner.
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The boy doesn't speak.
Cold chills trickle down Kakashi's spine, unsettling him; a sensation he hasn't felt in years. He hadn't been a witness to the Sharingan's activation since his youth, and its sudden appearance had stunned him, in spite of the fact he knew it was coming sooner or later. Kakashi curses himself for feeling overwhelmed, even if the lapse in composure was brief.
The boy's expression is unmoving; his breath never stilts, his hand never wavers. He maintains the same gaze as he swipes his arm in an impossibly swift movement, spraying the enemy's blood across the body of his ANBU uniform. All who were present knew these killings were unnecessary to the success of this mission, but the Uchiha never liked leaving traces of his presence behind. He was the epitome of indifference, unreluctant in the face of ensuring security. The prototype of the perfect Shinobi.
Itachi glances behind himself to see the look in his Captain's eyes.
Kakashi knows the boy means to speak with him.
They wait until Tenzou is out of earshot, an inconsiderate move which, in hindsight, may have done nothing more than contribute to Tenzou's initial distrust in Itachi. At this point, Tenzou could have easily used any number of undetectable eavesdropping techniques, or employed his seniority to approach Kakashi and request full disclosure of the conversation, but he does neither. Tenzou says nothing, for he knows the nature of this discussion is not one he is meant to be a part of.
His tone is much softer than Kakashi expects.
If his calculations were correct, Itachi was around four or five years old at the time of the incident, more than long enough to remember Obito, and all that had happened in Iwagakure. Fearing his subordinate was one of those clan members obsessive about the purity of his bloodline, Kakashi braces himself for the worst.
He finds Itachi's questions are nothing along these lines.
Unlike the other Uchiha, who had always been unsettled by the fact their Sharingan was being used within a body outside of the clan, Itachi appeared to understand the reason behind Obito's decision, and expressed no animosity towards Kakashi because of it. Surprisingly, this didn't seem to be the only thing Itachi disagreed with his family about.
Despite the infrequency of the phenomena, Kakashi soon becomes the only person Itachi ever speaks to, even if the boy's intent never did match the vacant expression on his face.
As the months went on, as the breaks between their conversations shorten to a single week, a few days, every other day, Kakashi realizes Itachi's demeanor never changes. At first it hadn't bothered the ANBU Captain, but as time passed, it made him wonder if Itachi honestly regarded this as trivial. Was he trying to lull his superior into a false sense of trust and security? Did he desire to spite the unspoken expectations of his family by associating with the outsider?
Kakashi once asked if there was a reason why Itachi decided to speak with him.
Itachi hesitates at first, yet delivers his answer without falter.
"Kakashi-sensei is a Hatake, which makes him a stranger to the ideals of the Uchiha clan...yet Kakashi-sensei possesses the Sharingan, which is what makes him family."
The boy gives him a closed smile that seems almost unnatural, if only because Kakashi had never witnessed it before.
"Also...you remind me of him."
Kakashi falls silent.
If you had asked him whether this was out of respect for the dead or overall speechlessness, he would tell you had never really decided.
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The boy wasn't around for long.
Itachi's abilities were once again recognized by the Sandaime when the Uchiha was promoted to Captain soon after he turned thirteen, little more than a year after he was first inducted into ANBU. From the extent of Itachi's skills and abilities, Kakashi knew this advancement could have been granted to Itachi months earlier, but in the back of his mind Kakashi sarcastically imagined the Hokage didn't want to look barbaric by promoting a minor to ANBU Captain.
"Duty and loyalty."
Kakashi and Itachi were standing on a bridge near the Academy during sunset, shortly after the induction ceremony had taken place on the roof of the Hokage's Tower.
One last discussion between makeshift brothers. One final debate between a teacher and his student. It was almost nauseatingly poetic.
"Between duty and loyalty.", Itachi proposed, tonelessly. "Which would you choose as the most honorable virtue to possess?"
Itachi was now on the same level Kakashi was. The latter knows this was no longer a call for advice from a senior, but a request for an opinion from a peer.
"As a Konoha Shinobi, your duty to protect the village is out of your loyalty to the Hokage, while your loyalty to the Hokage is what gives you your sense of duty.", Kakashi replied. "Duty without loyalty is subject to betrayal. Loyalty without duty is blind faith. The two are interchangeable."
"Simply because one cannot exist without the other, that doesn't mean they are the same. What if there is a discrepancy between where one's duty and one's loyalty lies?"
"Treason or baseless confidence. Your choice which to employ."
"And if baseless confidence is the cause of your treason?"
Kakashi glanced askance. Itachi had never allowed himself to sound...uncertain, before.
"...is there something you want to tell me, Itachi-kun?"
Lifting himself from the railing of the bridge, the Uchiha faces his colleague and closes his eyes, smiling that vaguely unfamiliar closed smile.
"It's nothing, Kakashi-sensei."
Before Kakashi raises any further questions, Itachi reaches an arm out in front of him.
Kakashi shakes the boy's hand and the boy shakes back.
Even then, he knew something was wrong.
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What has he done?
It's the first thought in Kakashi's mind when he awakens from the Genjutsu, before he immediately contemplates running to the manor to salvage whatever he could--no no, the Tower was much more closeby.
Of course it was more closeby. He must have planned it this way.
Why didn't I see it?
Kakashi blames himself, damns himself, hates himself as he runs as fast as his numbed legs would take him. He'd taken one look at the note in his hand, and it was only through this message he even found the strength within himself to stand.
For God's sake, he was only a child.
His only thought, as Kakashi evades the security at the front gates and starts banging at the Hokage's office door, an unused kunai in one hand and a wrinkled, blood-stained scrap of paper in the other.
A single line in flawless calligraphy.
Take care of Sasuke.