Prologue: Dream Ichi
Started On: September 21st, 2017 at 3:18 PM
Rustling and chattering could be heard throughout all of Konohagakure (Village Hidden In The Leaves); or known as just Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village). Vendors shouted out promising offers to people walking about on the streets, while children ran amuck, laughing and chasing each other happily. In the shadows of the civilians, shinobis and kunoichis leapt amongst the rooftops, either heading to a training ground, one of the four gates for a mission, the Hokage (Fire Shadow) Tower, or to their empty or family filled homes.
One child, a pale olive skinned boy was walking through a dirt path towards a training ground private to only one of the founding clans, known as the Uchiha (Uchiwa; Paper Fan) Clan. His black hair swayed with each step he took, framing his face with bangs to his cheeks and the rest of his hair reaching the bottom of his nape. As the Uchiha child walked, his onyx eyes stayed glued to a soft green book, the title "History of Konohagakure" written on the spine with bold and black letters.
The child sighed softly, closing the book after remembering the page number. His head tilted upright, showing his baby-like face and wide eyes that shined with small amounts of innocence and curiosity. A warm breeze breathed down the dirt path, throwing the light particles up in the air and making the small child's hair and clothes to dance in the breeze's arms.
A soft smile tugged at the child's lips, his eyes sparkling with awe at the nature in front of him. Hearing thumping footsteps a few moments later, annoyance slipped past his eyes as he glanced back and saw an older male running towards him.
This boy looked to be about 2-3 years older than the child, having curly black hair and onyx-brown eyes with tan-olive skin. The boy grinned at the child, throwing his arms out and catching the other in a squeezing hug.
"Itachi! Why did you leave without me!?" The elder boy whined. The child; now named Itachi, just sighed, his right eye twitching as the elder boy snuggled his face against his cheek.
"Because you take too long, Shisui.." Itachi muttered out. Shisui let out a whine at the comment, about to speak only to let out a silent 'oomph' as Itachi pushed himself out of the elder boy's arms.
"Now that you are finally here, we can train." Itachi pointed out, eyes glimmering with silent resentment before covering it with fake excitement. Shisui, noticing the resentment, let out a tired sigh and shook his head at the other boy before wrapping his arm around Itachi's shoulder and started to lead the way back down the path.
"I still don't get why you are becoming a shinobi even if you don't want to become one." Shisui said bluntly. Itachi glanced up at the other male, a frown becoming apparent on his face.
"Because Otou-sama wants me to be the heir." Itachi answered back, making Shisui let out a snort. Itachi, hearing the snort, rolled his eyes and pulled away from Shisui once they reached the relatively silent training ground. Trees covered the area with small clearings, branches having been tangled together after many years.
"I shall start first." Itachi said, stopping in front of the forest line and tensing himself up. Shisui crossed his arms and nodded in agreement, waiting for about three seconds before letting out a sharp whistle sound to come from his lips. Immediately, Itachi leapt from the ground, causing the grass to sway from the movement.
Itachi leapt through the branches, dodging under low-hanging branches and concentrating to keep his chakra hidden as he rushed through the foliage. Within five seconds, Shisui moved as well, quickly following Itachi's path with narrowed eyes.
Sensing Shisui's chakra slowly getting closer, Itachi brought his hands into hand seal, his chakra letting out an unnoticeable burst as a kage bunshin (shadow clone) formed beside him. His doppelgänger nodded at him, continuing the path that Itachi was taking while said boy went in a different direction.
Shisui grinned, stopping in front of tree where two trails went off. Bending down, Shisui breathed in deeply and smirked, smelling smoke in the right. Pushing himself up, Shisui turned and rushed right, following the slightly engraved footsteps and fallen leaves.
Itachi stopped, his body tense and ears alert. Not hearing a single footstep, Itachi slowly started to relax until a startled yelp left his lips, arms wrapped around his midsection which lifted him off his feet.
"Gotcha!" Shisui said triumphantly. Itachi let out a small pout in disappointment, letting his cousin take him back to where they started at. Once there, Shisui set Itachi down and gave the child a small smile. "Don't be disappointed Itachi, you lasted 5 minutes more than yesterday. You are improving rapidly." Shisui said softly. Itachi let out a soft sigh and nodded in agreement.
"Shall you go this time?" Itachi asked. Shisui was about to nod until he paused, sensing chakra coming towards them. Looking over, Shisui let out a big smile at the woman who was walking over, her hand rubbing on top of her popping stomach.
"Mikoto-obaa!" Shisui cheered, rushing over to the pregnant woman.
Mikoto let out a gentle laugh, opening her arms and hugging Shisui lovingly. "Good morning Shisui-chan." Mikoto said softly. Itachi walked over silently, giving his mother a small smile. Mikoto have a motherly smile back at her son, pulling away from Shisui and hugging Itachi against her. "You forgot something important when you left this morning, Ita-kun." Mikoto whispered, pulling away from the hug.
Itachi furrowed his eyebrows, looking slightly confused. Mikoto, seeing the adorable confusion etched on her child's face, let out a giggle. "Ita-kun, you forgot to eat." Itachi let out a silent 'o', a faint pink tint covering his cheeks. That was quite stupid of me. Shinobis should always eat so they can have energy for fighting.. Itachi thought, his blush deepening when he heard the loud laughter of his elder cousin. Letting out another giggle, Mikoto intertwined her fingers with Itachi's, leading her son back down the trail towards their house with a soft smile. Shisui, quickly realizing they were leaving, rushed to follow them.
While the Uchiha's walked back to the main house, somewhere else outside of Konohagakure, laid a tiny village known as the Tamashī Village, home to the Tamashī clan. In a large house with boarded windows, a sudden grunt escaped from a tall young man with silky black hair that spiked in all directions and narrowed, almond brown eyes. His muscular and thick arms were crossed against his broad chest, watching as a child around the age of 4-5 practiced punches and kicks against a wooden dummy, sweat and blood covering the floor around him.
The tall man, named Isamu Tamashī, let out another grunt and grabbed a small metal ball and tossed it harshly. The child let out a whimper of pain as the metal ball collided against his leg, causing it to go limp and make the child collapse on the floor.
"So weak. Again." Isamu said, voice sharp with a cold clip. The small male shakily pushed himself up, showing bruises covering the skin that were visible.
"Hai, Isamu-sama." The child murmured out, brushing his dark brown hair away from his amber colored eyes. Weakly, the child got into a fighting stance, one that was relaxed with arms hanging by his side and legs stretched out slightly for balance. Breathing in deeply, the small male started to throw punches at the wooden dummy once more, his arms blurring from the speed they were going at.
"Ita-kun, it's time to sleep!" Mikoto called out from downstairs, making Itachi jump slightly. Blushing a bit from embarrassment, Itachi got down off the soft gray chair and walked over to a bookcase, reaching up to his tippy toes to put back a scroll. Once it was back on the shelf, Itachi turned and left the room, turning off the lights along the way.
Entering his room at the end of the hall, Itachi crawled on top of his bed and laid down on his back, grabbing his blanket as he did so and tugging it over him. Relaxing his breathing, Itachi closed his eyes and started to slowly doze off, soft snores escaping his lips once he was fully asleep.
Itachi slowly opened his eyes, instantly tensing when his surroundings weren't his bedroom. It was a boarded up room, Itachi locked inside a metal cell. Furrowing his eyebrows, Itachi got to his feet, stumbling slightly when his height shocked him. He was taller? Now confused, Itachi glanced around and spotted a cracked mirror hanging on the wall.
Walking towards it, Itachi stiffened in shock at his reflection. Instead of his pale olive skin, onyx eyes and medium length black hair, Itachi had messy, dark brown hair that reached down to his shoulders, and slightly round, amber colored eyes.
Suddenly, the wooden door the small, cramped room slammed open, harshly slamming against the wall. The loud 'boom' caused Itachi to jump in shock, quickly turning around and feeling his –someone else's?- body start to tremble. In the doorway stood a towering male with spiky black hair and narrowed almond brown eyes, his entire presence making Itachi feel very intimidated.
Itachi tried to force the body he was in to relax, but it didn't listen. Itachi just felt himself back away into a small corner of the room as the man walked towards the cell and open it. Once the cell door clang opened, Itachi eyes widen when he noticed a glistening blade in his hand. Move! Move! Itachi screamed at himself, intense fear racing throughout his body without permission as the man walked closer and closer to him.
Without any warning at all, the man threw the knife, the blade sinking into Itachi's stomach. Itachi's body convulsed with pain, blood spilling from his lips while his eyes widen with shock. He could only watch as the male kneeled down and tugged the knife out, causing blood to rapidly coat the white shirt he had on.
Feeling fear like no other when the man positioned the knife above his right eye, Itachi let out a bloodcurdling scream, desperately trying to force his body to move.
Fearful screams erupted in the Uchiha household, quickly awakening Mikoto and Fugaku from the light slumber. Instantly, the two were up, with Fugaku helping Mikoto out of the bed and down the hall towards Itachi's bedroom. Throwing the door open, their eyes widen as they saw their son writhe around on his bed, blankets and pillows scattered across the room. Tears were streaming down his face, raw screams still escaping his lips.
Mikoto quickly rushed towards the young child, her arms scooping around Itachi and holding him against her chest. She rocked back and forth, tears gathering in her own eyes as her son continued to sob and cry, sounding like he was intense pain. Fugaku walked over and tried his best to wake Itachi, watching with pain filled eyes the longer Itachi stayed asleep.
After a couple of minutes while felt like hours to the parents, Itachi woke up, his eyes snapping open to show wide fearful onyx.
"Itachi, it's okay. You're safe. It was just a nightmare." Mikoto murmured softly. Itachi's eyes snapped towards Mikoto, eyes wide with intense fear before relaxing once he saw his mother. Letting out quiet sobs, Itachi hugged Mikoto back, burying his face into her shoulder as tears escaped his eyes and soak through her shirt.
Fugaku kneeled down and hugged the two against his chest, trying his best to comfort them with just his action.
"Oka-san..!" Itachi sobbed out, hugging his mother even tighter as the events from his dream rushed through his head. Mikoto frowned worriedly and sadly, brushing her gentle hand through Itachi's hair, "It'll be okay love..it was just a nightmare, I promise." Mikoto whispered softly. Itachi just shook his head, clinging closer to her chest.
It wasn't a nightmare or dream. Itachi was conscious throughout the whole time, and most dreams he forgot. Itachi didn't know what it was, but he knew that these 'dreams' will continue.
Finished On: October 12th, 2017 at 9:44 AM