Note: First scenario of the "He was Captain" series. In this world, the Uchiha took over Konoha in a successful coup. Keep in mind that this is just a snapshot for fun. I have no guarantees of continuing this – or rather, I have various scenarios in which Itachi, one way or another, was/is still/becomes an ANBU captain (again) at some point in time while older than thirteen. I am also dissatisfied with fanfic!ANBU-Itachi, but my theory on his character/personality is probably not fun to read, so I'll keep it to myself unless asked. ^_^''
Confused?
TL; DR: Each scenario is a separate alternate universe. Itachi is or was ANBU captain in each at an age greater than thirteen. The Uchiha Clan took over Konoha in this one.
And I toss in Hana Inuzuka because she's just a fun viewpoint character. Plus, it's amusing to try and figure out how to include her.
Hana finished setting the last trap around the copse where the Uchiha had decided they would stop for the night and returned to the low fire in three bounds. The Haimaru brothers slipped into the shadows, watching for intruders. They were as good as half a dozen jounin at guard duty. And most of the time, that was all most anybody who was not an Inuzuka gave them credit for.
Unquestioning. Loyal without reservations. Wasn't that what everyone said about the Inuzuka and their dogs? That, and they could track a scent forty days old, after a mudslide and a hurricane had ripped through the last known location of the target.
It had only been a matter of time.
The Uchiha had found a use for the Inuzuka at last. Never mind that they could have commanded a Hyuuga to search any hidden place with his Byakugan, or an Aburame to send out his kikai bugs, or even order one of their own to track the jinchuuriki. Which they had, in a way, but it was really a test of usefulness and loyalty to the regime. The Uchiha had worked their way through the stronger, flashier clans. It was the Inuzuka's turn.
Hana was only here because she belonged to the generation on the verge of coming into power. Not really because she could track down the Nine-Tails' vessel faster than anyone else – at least, she didn't think so. But who cared what she thought?
Anyway, it wasn't a bad thing to be underestimated. That was how the Inuzuka had survived for so long in a Konoha run by the Uchiha clan, after all. With all the Hyuuga – Branch House, Main House, it didn't matter anymore – forcibly given the Caged Bird Seal, and most of the other families with bloodline limits threatened into submission, there was hardly any resistance possible. It had been a huge triumph for the Uchiha when they unmasked the secretive "Root" organization behind the village council, because that gave them the opportunity to make an example of Danzou and a pretext for tightening their control.
Special family techniques were copied flawlessly with the Sharingan. Fugitives were hunted down by Uchiha-controlled ANBU divisions, which were led by only the strongest of the clan.
That made this one's resignation from ANBU especially odd.
Hana would have stolen an involuntary glance at him, but he was out of sight at the moment. Only a hint of his scent among the pine needles betrayed his presence. Since she had gone to prepare the campsite, he had assumed her previous location – downwind of everything else. Forcing her to take up a position upwind of him. Unless she made a fuss about feeling uncomfortable, this was how it would go. Hana knew she had to pick her battles.
Uchiha Itachi, formerly an ANBU captain who had never failed a mission and never lost a squad member except when the individual in question was being… rebellious, had been poised to inherit both the position of clan leader and the title of commander over all ANBU divisions. It made no real sense to remove him from the ANBU roster.
Unless, of course, his clan was preparing him for a darker, even more terrible career.
No one had heard anything that could remotely explain this. The Uchiha clan discussed strategies in the heart of the Uchiha compound, which non-family relations were barred from entering. And Hana had figured that she'd rather not know. Resistance was a lovely dream, but not something she would do more than contemplate when her brother was still twelve and mostly powerless against the average Uchiha clan member. Not when her brother was an idiot who still hadn't learned to control his mouth, and yet remembered that day, long ago, when their family had handed several puppies over to the care of a masked young man who had promised solemnly to raise them well and return to help free Konoha from the Uchiha. The man's name was Hatake Kakashi, and he had possessed one Sharingan, thanks to a deceased Uchiha Obito.
But the story seemed to end with his disappearance. Wonders of wonders, Obito's cenotaph remained despite the disgrace heaped upon him by his surviving relatives. Hana went to check on it every year, at first surprised that it was still there. Maybe it was bait. Just in case Kakashi got sentimental and left flowers or something. It had been a stupid habit of Hana's to look in on it. Oh, it's still there – as if her visits ensured its continued existence.
On one of these visits, she had run into a little Uchiha with the soot-black eyes, dark hair, and pale skin typical of his family, and the conceitedness to match. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, just… walking," she had answered lamely. The boy's eyes narrowed. Hana realized that she had seen him around before. In his natural state, he had spiky, unruly black hair that stuck out from the back of his head, but the rain kept trying to beat it down.
"Why did you wait until it was raining?"
Well, because there would be no one else around. Even as a kid, Hana had sensed that publicly visiting the memorial of a disgraced Uchiha might have some unpleasant ramifications. "What are you doing out here?"
"I'm the one asking questions," the boy said arrogantly. "Why don't you tell me your name and –" His eyes widened as he suddenly heard low growls around his feet. They had come from three ash-grey heads within snapping distance of his calves. The Haimaru brothers stood as tall as his elbow.
"I'm Hana. My dogs wanted to go out." She called the Haimaru brothers to her. Confrontation with this unknown child was probably not the best idea.
The Uchiha's mouth curved into a sneer. "Dogs. I guess you can't stop them when they want to go, huh?"
Hana watched his face for some hint of deeper malice, but so far, it only looked like a childish urge to intimidate. A six-year-old boy asserting his authority over a twelve-year-old girl who towered over him. "May I go home, now?"
He dismissed her with a lordly nod. Instead of loping downhill as they usually did, the Haimaru brothers kept their bodies between Hana and the Uchiha boy. What a joke.
Hana had been so incensed, so disgusted with the incident that she forgot herself and told her younger brother, Kiba, who had also been six at the time. With single-minded determination, Kiba soon found out that the Uchiha boy was none other than Sasuke, the second son of the head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku. Younger brother to Itachi.
Untouchable.
So of course, Kiba vowed eternal vengeance.
Younger brothers were such idiots. Hana wished she was home, keeping an eye on Kiba. If he did something silly in her absence… if he got hurt… if the Uchiha decided he was being too insolent and made an example of him, too…
No point worrying about it now. Hana pulled up the hood of her cloak and tried to focus on something else. Unfortunately, it had begun to drizzle, as it had intermittently for the entire day. Raindrops splashed over leaves and dangled from her eyelashes. She struggled against the urge to scratch her legs where the grass blades prickled her bare skin. Grey mist blurred the trees' shadows. An owl hooted. Insects twitched in the underbrush. It was a forest full of life, yet desolate.
The knowledge that Itachi was somewhere among the branches felt like a collar around her neck. The faster this mission ended, the better. All Hana had to do was to prove herself a competent, but average ninja. Someone who could neither hurt nor help the Uchiha clan's ambitions, except as another body in general conflicts. Maybe when a war started.
A chill rippled over the hairs of her skin. What with the Uchiha's obvious aggression, diplomatic relations between Konoha and any other hidden village were unlikely to last. It was strange how war hadn't happened yet.
Or maybe the clan was keeping the entire village in the dark about that, too.
A sudden, familiar whiff of something metallic and faintly medicinal tickled Hana's nose. Gritting her teeth against the urge to sneeze, she glanced to her left and saw two figures emerge from the grey dimness of the forest. Their medic had returned. He was accompanied by Tekka, who was the fourth member of the squad and, predictably, an Uchiha.
The medic set down a canteen near Hana's foot and crouched by the softly hissing embers. "I took the liberty of refilling yours as well, when I was down by the stream." He shot her a faint smile through his pale bangs. His glasses were flecked with rain.
"Thank you, Kabuto," Hana said stiffly, reclaiming the canteen. She made a mental note not to use it again until she had scoured it twice and checked for hidden jutsu. Prior to the mission, she hadn't thought it possible for her to distrust anyone more than the Uchiha, but as it turned out, the medic gave her even worse vibes.
Granted, it could also be an Uchiha trick to misdirect her attention. Hana watched both men from the corner of her eye. Tekka was checking his kunai with a dour look on his face. Kabuto stretched a little, peeling off one of his gloves to rub the calluses on his palm.
No, Hana decided; it was just safer to trust no one.
"Hana," said Tekka. He was the oldest member of the team by five or six years, while the rest of them – Kabuto, Hana, Itachi - were consecutively younger by a year starting from nineteen. At that moment, the deep frown made Tekka look even older than his twenty-five years. As they said, make an ugly expression too often, and it'll freeze on your face someday.
"Yes, Uchiha-san?"
"Didn't anyone set traps around here, in case an enemy approached?"
"Yes. I did."
"They're sub-par."
Was it worth explaining that even with the light rain, the Haimaru brothers had known who it was, alerted her, and stood by while the two other members of the team returned? Tekka's exasperated contempt stung.
Or maybe it was for the better, given the role she had decided to play. "I'm sorry. I'll do better next time, Uchiha-san."
"There might not have been a next time," snapped Tekka, and Hana knew she was safe. Just another way for the Uchiha to let off steam on the rank-and-file ninja. "Your carelessness could cost lives. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Hana said, unable to sound entirely contrite. "I understand."
"Where is Itachi?"
Hana's eyebrow rose at the man's disrespectful way of referring to his squad leader, a fellow Uchiha. It seemed to register on Kabuto as well, though the medic never lifted his head.
Itachi dropped soundlessly from his higher perch, answering the question. "What did you learn, Tekka?"
The resentful flicker in Tekka's eyes was unmistakable, but he complied. "In my preliminary sweep of the town, I learned that two guests, one of them a blond boy around twelve years old and with facial markings, are staying in one of the inns. I followed the chakra signatures, one of which was indisputably that of a tailed beast. The other one was faint, either belonging to a weak shinobi or suppressed. Their trail disappeared suddenly within the room. It appears that the vessel and his self-appointed protector have moved using a dimensional-spatial technique."
Hana could now understand some of Tekka's black mood.
"Then we have no lead?" Kabuto asked mildly. Tekka looked ready to bite his head off for daring to speak.
"The vessel's protector may be circumspect, but the vessel himself might not have been so discreet," said Itachi. "It is possible that he inadvertently left some clues through his speech or actions. We'll enter the town in disguise and find out everything we can about the two guests."
"And then?" Tekka demanded. "What if we find nothing?"
Instead of snapping at his older relative, Itachi met his stare. Hana couldn't see either of their eyes very well, but a gleam of crimson surfaced in both. Tekka looked away first. "That is unlikely," Itachi said evenly. "For now, I suggest you take the time to rest, since you are tired."
"I am not –"
"– Although that is still no excuse for speaking to your captain in that tone."
Tekka's belligerent expression froze on his face. A beat passed, then two. "Please excuse my lapse, captain." He sounded as though he was speaking through clenched teeth. "I meant no disrespect. I…I must be more tired than I thought."
Itachi nodded. His gaze swung over to Hana without warning. "Hana, which of the Haimaru brothers is watching the northeast octant?"
He knew she had left it mostly bare to be a trap all on its own, but that wasn't what mystified Hana. Itachi had bothered to learn the brothers' names, even though most people simply referred to them as Hana's dogs. "Chusa."
"Tell Chusa to crouch lower. I could see the tip of his ear."
"Yes, captain." She'd remember, in case she ever needed to lay a similar trap for her current teammates.
"Kabuto."
"I saw no one by the stream, captain. All clear."
Despite the dissatisfying answer – or maybe only Hana found it dissatisfying – Itachi let it go.
They changed their position throughout the night, staying within the loose perimeter of traps that Hana had set around camp. Watch rotations changed every two and a half hours. Hana's watch was second to last that night, right before the captain's. When she went to wake Itachi, he was already up, a lesser shadow among the foliage. She located him only by his stillness and by approaching a half-circle downwind of him.
It was a half-hour before dawn, and the sky was as dark as a cavern's ceiling, heavy clouds blotting out all the stars. "Captain." Hana's voice was hoarse from disuse.
"Go rest, Hana."
His guard had lowered, for fatigue to creep into his voice like that. "Have you slept at all?" The air was a little cooler and clearer now that the rain had stopped – though there was more to come, if the cloud cover was any indication. She breathed in quietly, trying to read the information in the Uchiha's scent, information he could not hide.
Strong fingers clasped her shoulder, applying a slight pressure. "I told you to go." He sounded startlingly close. In the dark, she hadn't realized that she had crossed into his personal space.
"People make mistakes when they're tired," she said. "They're not as alert." As if concern for the captain's wellbeing had motivated her to investigate.
"Is this relevant?" Uchiha was getting prickly.
"Just a little. Captain."
The pause hadn't been deliberate, but Hana had been distracted by her own attempt to find out the truth, and fawning and scraping over the Uchiha's higher rank were not her default mode of interaction. On the heels of Tekka's rudeness, though, it must have come across as challenging.
The grip on her shoulder tightened… and loosened abruptly. "Then don't be tiresome, Hana."
She flipped under the branch and landed lightly on the forest floor. The possibility that he stayed awake twenty-four seven, the fact that Tekka, an older Uchiha clearly here to supervise the mission, didn't get along with him, the knowledge that Itachi had had some say in who comprised this team sent to find the vessel of the Nine-Tailed Fox… there was a larger picture behind it, and in piecing that together, Hana might see where the heir to the Uchiha clan was weak, and gaps in the armor of the clan's self-professed invulnerability.
Useful things to know, when you wanted to give that daydream about resistance a more realistic edge.
Shukuba was bizarrely vibrant, lively, and not at all what Hana had been expecting. Not until they had arrived in a different town had the lack of an overwhelming Uchiha presence sunk in. It had only been four, almost five years since the Uchiha clan had taken control of Konoha, retaining the Hokage's title as an empty seat. But it had been a long time since Konoha had been anything like this.
A general air of contentment pervaded the town, which was populated by cheerful restaurant owners, a street full of shopkeepers in friendly competition with each other, mothers leading their children by the hand, and old, contented tourists. It seemed faintly magical, especially because Itachi had allowed them all – disguised as uninteresting civilians – to walk in during an unexpected respite from the rain. The sun shone tentatively on a ground gleaming with puddles and on strings of festively colored lanterns, which hung from one building to another. Hana could only imagine how they would look at night.
She'd almost forgotten how it was to turn a corner without confronting a ubiquitous red and white fan symbol. No one in Shukuba had to answer any sudden, "official queries" on the street. No black-clad, somber Uchiha policemen glared at your every move. People went at the pace they wanted to go on wide, generous roads, pausing at store fronts and criticizing the food and the management without looking over their shoulder. They'd recognize the Uchiha clan symbol if they saw it, but they didn't have the whiplash that almost everyone in Konoha old enough to know the name "Danzou" tended to contract. Because they knew what had happened to Danzou.
Hana took a deep breath of air filled with the sweet-salty scent of takoyaki, dried herbs from the pharmacy several blocks down the road – which competed with the fragrant soaps and lotions drifting from the bath houses even further down – and the less pleasant, but familiar scent of dirt, sweat, and all the usual smells that came with travel and rainfall. It was absolutely beautiful, and the grey rain of yesterday was as distant as the last wisps of cloud lingering on the horizon.
So Hana breathed and tried to ignore the thick tension between the males on the team. To be fair, Tekka was generating most of it, although Kabuto's unctuous politeness didn't help matters. Tekka had not shown any obvious signs of insubordination, but he was not the sort to keep bad moods to himself. And it had been clear from the start that he perceived a slight in how Itachi had treated and spoken to all of them so far: equally.
The resort where the Nine-Tails' vessel and his companion had been staying was at the end of the third street that branched off the main road. Normally, no ninja team would waste resources on staying at an establishment that luxurious, but they stopped there mainly for the sake of making inquiries. Their cover story was simple and close to the truth – a group of travelers making a stop on their way to another town. Would they be interested in an overview of the amenities offered to guests? How about a walking tour with a guide to explain the history of the hot springs? No? Then what about a list of recommended restaurants and eateries, reviewed by previous customers?
Kabuto suggested that they split up and visit some of the recommended eateries and bath houses.
"What possible interest would a twelve-year-old boy have in bath houses?" Tekka said scathingly.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. Whether it was on purpose or accidental, the new angle caused the lenses to reflect more light, hiding Kabuto's eyes. "I only meant that his protector may not share the same disinterest, being – as we might assume – an adult. The baths would also have offered many conversational opportunities and chances for guests to … notice each other."
Tekka sneered and offered his succinct opinion. "Pervert."
Sadly, Hana had been thinking the same thing.
"We'll split up to cover more locations," said Itachi. "Kabuto, you and Tekka will check this list."
Hana had braced for the worst – Kabuto and Tekka were horrible in their own ways – having concluded that those two needed to be separated to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. The two men's reactions, however, showed that Itachi's decision was right. Tekka would ultimately do his duty with characteristic arrogance, while Kabuto – though annoying – would more or less bow to the Uchiha's dictates. Tekka's foul mood was only exacerbated by proximity to Itachi, without whom he would be able to ignore his resentment. Itachi had assigned them the list of recommended eateries, forestalling further argument about perversion. Hana could very well be working with Tekka, in actuality, but she wasn't complaining.
It would work out fine. It was just that, now that she thought about it, it stuck her with the other Uchiha. Not exactly the lesser of three evils, and in fact, possibly worse, because it was the most unpredictable one of the three.
She tore her eyes from Kabuto and Tekka, whom she had been absently watching as they receded into the crowd. "And we're inquiring at the bath houses?" She suppressed a wince. Stating the obvious – a transparent attempt to pretend she had been listening.
But he didn't call her on it. He was looking at the façade of the inn they had just exited. In profile, with the intense focus of his gaze directed at another object, Itachi's face was easier to study in a detached manner. If not for the deep lines that began near his tear ducts – one of many unfortunate traits he had inherited – Itachi was actually rather handsome. Hana could privately concede that, even as she reminded herself that his type of handsomeness perfectly epitomized the intangible ideal that the Uchiha clan seemed to strive for. Nothing brilliant was prized unless it was deadly. Itachi's face might be easy on the eyes, but few could meet his stare without flinching. If it pleased Itachi, his eyes – just standard, Uchiha grey, not even with activated Sharingan – could cut through you like a honed blade.
"Begin with that list. I'll join you later." He was going to personally investigate the mysteriously disappearing chakra signatures himself, apparently. Hana accepted the list of bath houses, remembering that the Sharingan gave him better than photographic memory. It made sense – they could split up in the bath houses and gather information from the men and women separately. Convenient as well, if the vessel's protector turned out to be a woman. Or a pervert who spied on women. Either way.
And for maybe up to a half-hour at a time, Hana would not have to be around a single Uchiha. "Thank you, captain," she said aloud.
Too loudly. Uchiha Itachi paused at the inn entrance, his pointed stare compelling her to step closer. "Civilians," he reminded her quietly.
Right. "I'm sorry." Had that cheerfully implied "good riddance" been enough to change his mind? She hoped not.
"You seem excited." He had tilted his head, as if looking at her from another angle would unravel some kind of mystery.
"It's an exciting mission?" she tried.
"Try not to get too excited while you're there." Itachi's face was so deadpan – and the possibility of him making a joke was so remote – that Hana had no idea if he was serious.
He had left her standing by herself in the street. Nonplussed and mildly irritated, she turned on her heel and aimed for the nearest bath house on the list. What did he think she was going to do, bounce around the bath house and ogle at people in various states of undress? It wasn't like she had no idea what naked people looked like. Although some people probably looked better naked than others. She could think of a couple examples where that might be the case… and no, she wasn't thinking about them. No matter what the great and terrible Uchiha insinuated, she was not a closet pervert.
to be, or not to be continued. :) Feedback is always welcome and appreciated, though!