Roll away your stone, I'll roll away mine
Together we can see what we will find
Don't leave me alone at this time
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside
Cause you told me that I would find a hole
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal
And all the while my character it steals-Roll Away Your Stone—Mumford and Sons
For every night it rained, Itachi rotated establishments. Every night, Shisui found him. Two more 'private dinners' happened, where Itachi learned all was not well in the little town and maybe the people themselves would be happy with a different leader. As long as Shishio didn't have a chance to press them into service, the common people shouldn't be a problem. Shisui did like to talk. Itachi learned everything about the town, from who sold the best meat to what Venereal disease the local lord had. Not always things he wanted to know, but Itachi felt he knew the town much better than he had. He had the mental shape of the inhabitants almost set in his head, and it reminded him a bit of home. It was odd Shisui was able to give such objective and truly insightful views of things, though he often hid them in the middle of so much verbal garbage they looked like they happened on accident.
"You need to go meet our contact this afternoon." Kakashi handed Itachi a folded map.
"I thought you were handling the contact?" Itachi carefully unfolded the paper. The keyed message was written out in Kakashi's elegant script. The meeting place was across the island.
"I was invited for supper at the target's manor-fortress," Kakashi waved a hand. "You weren't the only one out making friends this week."
"I'm so happy for you." Had Kakashi followed Itachi's lead, or delayed his planned action to see what Itachi would do? Did it matter? It made Itachi feel a little better about his actions. He wondered if that was why Kakashi was giving him charge of their contact.
Itachi tucked the map into his pocket and wondered who this contact was. He gave no more credence to Kakashi's implications it was an Uchiha than he had before, and while the town was filled with stories of demons and gods, he could find nothing that suggested a missing-nin made his home here or had stayed here for any amount of time. He didn't know how the informant would be able to tell them anything about this place they hadn't already learned.
"You remember his name?" Kakashi didn't seem concerned, but he was still sloppily dressed for sleeping and it helped him exude an aura of total unconcern.
"Hachibana Yosuke," Itachi rattled the name off. "I'm to ask him how the fishing is on the South side of the island." He began to gather his clothes. "How soon should I expect you back?"
"I hope not until late." Meaning Kakashi trusted Itachi to not get knocked off by their contact. Itachi didn't think the trust was unwarranted, but he felt gratified all the same. His clan had stopped treating him as a child when he hit Jounin, but the rest of the world saw his small frame and large eyes before the knife he could shove into their gut. The misconception proved useful in fights, but annoying in comrades.
"Should I be ready to use violence?" Even though it was early, Itachi knew it would take him an hour or more to get across the island to the meeting point. If he was going to make the surveying story believable, he would need to bring back samples for Kakashi, and even a few sketches. Those he could gather before he met the contact. Collecting the samples and the sketches would be tedious. Itachi could see why Kakashi would so neatly avoided the task, but Itachi didn't mind collecting and sketching. He found these parts of the mission more palatable than the killing parts. It should have made him a sub-par ninja. Somehow, instead, he'd become a genius.
"No, the three people who've actually made contact with him said he was suspicious and any coercive violence would just lose him." Kakashi poured himself half a cup of coffee. He cut it the rest of the way with cream and seated himself like a cat in the window seat. Few ninja would ever willingly put their backs to a window, yet Kakashi seemed completely at ease. Perhaps he could be so since Itachi was watching the fog through the window as he listened to his sempai.
"Others?" Itachi pulled out one of his father's favorite looks. The rather disdainful 'what have you been withholding, minion' look. Whatever else he was, Fugaku could make a daimyo feel like a street sweeper. Itachi couldn't do it as well; it came off as snotty and bratty with his age. Kakashi, socially inept as he seemed to be, probably thought it was endearing, like a growling lap dog.
"One from Grass, one from Kumo, one from Konoha." Kakashi took a long sip of his creamed coffee. "The one from Grass after deciding that Kosuke had learned too much helping him, decided to sue for him to be a Grass-nin. Kosuke refused, the Grass-nin tried to use force and woke up without knowing what had happened to him or what Kosuke had known. The one from Kumo tried to...encourage Kosuke to reveal some secrets he held without friendly bargaining. He woke up with five broken ribs and missing three fingers and only vaguely remembered who Kosuke was. The Konoha-nin was trying to make a deal, and lightly let slip a perfectly idle threat as some ninja are wont to do. He also woke up with no idea how he'd been disabled.
"Now," Kakashi again paused for an exceedingly long drink of coffee that had to drain half the cup. "All three remember nothing about Kosuke but his name, though the Konoha-nin claimed to see remember red eyes. None of them could ever be persuaded to deal with him again. You see, our Kosuke is quite skittish."
"That's why you think he's an Uchiha? Red eyes and genjutsu and three men who can't even remember a face?" Itachi raised an eyebrow. "It is a shallow pool for such a deep assumption."
Kakashi's eyebrow quirked back. "There are others, very reliable sources that have hinted he might be, also those who have had successful transactions with him agree he has exceptional genjutsu abilities."
Itachi hummed assent, moving about the room now to gather what he would need for the day. Food. He would need a lot of food to stay warm, even though the day was only cool. He hated the cold. He burned energy so much faster on cold days. "I assume some of these people, who tactfully remain nameless, are people Kosuke has worked for?"
"A reliable missing-nin, who would have thought? Far cheaper than hiring from a village." Kakashi's tone was amused. Riskier too. Not all missing-nin were out of control killers. Ninja were exiled for political reasons all the time. Some could seek admittance to another village if they could be "exonerated." Some stopped being ninja all together and moved on to a quieter life. Others lived on the fringes, working a background ninja market where word of mouth meant everything, and high risk missions could be cheaper than the price of a week's bread. Surviving that way was hard, risky, and to do it, one had to be excellent. Most high standard ninja did not get exiled for anything but the greatest of offenses, so most Missing-nin worth hiring were the killers. Usually.
Kosuke seemed an anomaly, both valuable and dangerous without being a branded killer. Reliable enough that word of mouth got him informant jobs from ninja in good standing with a village, but strong enough to keep himself from getting entangled in a place he couldn't escape. Smart too. Itachi would have to keep his guard up for this one. He didn't think it would be a problem.
"Anything else I need to know, Kakashi-san?" Itachi pulled his shirt over his head, grabbing for the fitted turtle neck that made his normal dress. Body shyness had never been an issue for him. The body operated as a tool. Itachi's obviously operated just fine for him, therefor he had nothing to be ashamed of. Also, Kakashi, for all his perversion, had never even made a slight pass at Itachi.
"No...try not to die. My return to Konoha would be unpleasant if you did," Kakashi decided slowly.
"Even the great copy-nin fears the head of the Uchiha clan?" Itachi grabbed up his cloak and his bag.
"No. . ." Kakashi rubbed his nose. "Your little brother. . .Sasuke. He'd stop at nothing to avenge your death, no matter who was at fault." There were times, such as these, where Kakashi's words and actions felt almost friendly—deadpan teasing and the absent confidence that made Itachi instantly feel a sense of belonging. If Itachi could feel it weren't calculated, he'd be able to relax a little more.
Itachi shook his head and pulled his cloak over his shoulders. He checked his hidden weapons one more time and then headed out the door. He stopped by the kitchen to get some food, stopping long enough to talk to the cook. The woman had taken a liking to him, probably because she had children of her own all grown and Itachi, while playing years older than he was, still looked young. She responded wonderfully to smiles, and he did smile for this mission. He was supposed to be congenial and pleasant, and he found being so nice and acting so often was much like meeting people's eyes. The normalcy of the act made him uncomfortable, as he'd been trained to never show his emotions and to distance himself from civilians.
Itachi finally extricated himself from the friendly cook, loaded with enough lunch for two and some sweet cakes—just in case. Itachi began winding his way out of the village, pausing to greet the few people he'd met in the inns and taverns over the rainy week. They all remembered him, and Itachi made certain that all knew what he was going to do, asking advice from some on areas he should survey. The ease with which he could be earnest about this all bothered him a bit—not because he could but because it felt so natural. Certainly he'd been trained in undercover work, but acting as a normal member of society should chafe. It should bother him, or make him feel something other than completely at home in this little village, moreso than he'd felt in his own clan compound.
"Oi, new boy—Inari!"
Itachi turned his head, finding one of the inn keeper's whose place he'd frequented standing in front of his little inn, broom in hand. Itachi smiled pleasantly and walked close. The man's short beard was streaked with white from facial scars people claimed were from fishing and fighting. Evidently the man had been good at both.
"You've been hanging with that Shisui, haven't you?" The man (Hama, Itachi remembered. Named for the shore so he would always be able to find it.) asked, leaning forward on his broom. One of his eyes was white, filmed over and blind as it stared ahead at nothing. People claimed Hama could see true with that eyes, but this island was stuffed full of superstitions like that.
"I've spent a few evenings with him," Itachi allowed. He still held it was more Shisui following him around than anything else.
"Evenings, aye? Azami said he's had you up in her private dining room twice in the past week," Hama crossed his arms over his broom, and Itachi wondered if he should be offended.
"He was telling me about the town," Itachi offered slowly.
"She said he bought you dinner both nights."
"With my own money he had won off of me playing a game I didn't know the rules for." Itachi didn't quite understand what the man was getting at. Certainly Shisui was objectionable company, but he wasn't that bad.
"So you know what he is, then," Hama nodded, but as Itachi continued to look blank, he sighed. "The boy's got a bit of Trickster in him. Any traveler who comes through should be wary of ones like him. Tricksters don't care if you're kind or fair."
For a moment, Itachi expected the man was joking, and then he realized he wasn't. He really did think Shisui was a Trickster spirit. Shisui was, perhaps, a conman, and the islanders had labeled him a Trickster than admit a normal human being had deceived them. Shisui was clever enough to make someone think he was something other than human. He might even plat the rumor up to his advantage.
"I appreciate your concern, and I will watch myself and my goods more closely." Itachi pulled out the carefully learned smile he'd been using all week and the man relaxed.
"You're a good sort." Hama decided, or declared, as if this truly confirmed Itachi was a good sort. "I'd hate to see you come to harm over the likes of him."
Itachi smiled and nodded. "I would hate for myself to come to harm as well…" Itachi paused. "Do you…have any suggestions for places I might look? The Western shoreline covers a vast distance, and I think my search would go better if it were guided by someone who knows the island better than I do."
Hama likely knew little about rocks, but he thawed anyway to Itachi's probing. Flattery, no matter how false, could make anyone soften. Itachi studiously wrote notes and marked his map in all the places Hama told him to search. He'd drop by the areas in case he was asked about them later. Just in case, because Itachi had no intention of making any missteps on his first undercover mission. He was also told to visit the seaside shrine and get himself a good charm—just in case.
Armed with Hama's points and advice, Itachi left the village. In this persona, he couldn't use chakra, which made the slow walk down to the shoreline tedious. The sandals still troubled him, and he couldn't decide why boots were not an acceptable source of footwear. He tried to think of it as a balance exercise, though he'd always done those with chakra and still almost slipped into using it every time he wobbled. Thankfully, the fog was lifting, though it still clung to low places in the ground.
As the town receded behind him, the path became rougher. Rocks tumbled into it and Itachi made his way around or over them. The path was ill cared for, as most of the fishermen used the little bay that butted right up against the town, but the waters to enter that bay were treacherous. It was said that each family had to make a pact with the Sasunoo to be allowed to pass through the maze of rocks and difficult currents successfully. Itachi smiled at such quaintness. It did make like more interesting, he thought. He did wonder what it would be like to actually believe those things without any doubt.
He left the black sand path and started up a narrower one of rock. With the map firmly in his mind, Itachi oriented himself with the hazy sun and decided this path would serve him well enough. The clouds still covered the sky, but the sun seemed to be slowly burning them off. Compared to the heat of Konoha, this island was pleasantly cool, though he felt like he was drinking with each breath he pulled in. It gave the air a heavy scent, something tinted by the smell of the sea, but something earthier as well.
Itachi wound his way through the rocks, which got larger and more irregular the farther he went. The path all but vanished, and Itachi gave up, crawling over rocks and beginning to feel like a child. And enjoying himself, he had to admit, but only to himself. He despised fighting, but he liked doing kata and the other less deadly skills. He loved tree jumping, and being able to get so high so quickly. It was a shame people insisted on turning these skills into weapons, and that to learn them meant you would one day kill on command.
Itachi pushed those thoughts, evermore troubling the older he got and the day he would be asked explicitly to kill came closer, out of his mind. He used no chakra today, simple relied on his own muscle and sense of balance to keep himself from falling on his face or twisting an ankle. Itachi gained the top of a six foot boulder and looked around. He could see the very tops of the village buildings from here, and also the sea barely visibly through the morning fog. He could also hear the sea, but you could hear it anywhere on this small island. It made up the ever present pulse of the place, almost like a heartbeat.
Itachi sat down and pulled out his sketching book. He looked at the landscape around him and decided that he should practice a bit. He'd learned sketching in the Academy, something to give anyone he was working with a clear picture of the location he was speaking of, or any strange symbols or signs he might encounter. In preparation for joining the police force when he was older, Itachi had been drilled in sketching people, usually from simple descriptions. He had never been good at that, but he could now properly, if simply, render what he saw around him on paper.
And it pleased him to no end he could do this without his Sharingan now.
In preparation for this mission, Itachi had begun practicing his sketching again in the week it had taken to get here. He thought it would be logical for someone like him to have a slightly used book, mostly of the greenery from other islands they'd passed on the way here. He did have a few sketches of Kakashi, his face, hand, other random things.
Itachi turned to a new page and smoothed the paper under his hand. He pulled out a graphite pencil and began to sketch. He opened his senses as he sketched, trying to seem absorbed while remaining aware. He still carried the feeling someone was watching him. He could sense nothing but the prickling feeling up and down his spine that someone watched him, tracking his every motion. His father had told him to act as if he were watched at every moment.
Could it be his silent watcher was an ANBU evaluator, here to gauge his performance? Kakashi certainly hadn't seemed very interested in how Itachi spent his time, giving Itachi the very pleasant illusion that they were equals. He must remember that they were not, and he was on trial here. Itachi finished the last strokes of his sketch and looked from what covered two pages of paper to what stretched around him. He nodded to himself and closed the book. It would do.
Itachi stood and descended from his perch. His thrice cursed sandal slipped, and he almost used chakra to catch himself. The eyes kept him from it, and he tumbled down to land painfully on the rocks instead. Itachi winced and rubbed his shoulder as he clambered back to his feet. Stay in character. Stay in character. He must remember he was Inari, not Itachi, not a ninja.
Because someone was watching, and Itachi hadn't spent all his life under the eyes of a clan that saw everything to be unnerved by a silent watcher. It wouldn't be an Uchiha; Itachi could fool them.
Itachi found himself enjoying the next few, very slow hours. His awareness of the eyes faded as the morning went on, and after visiting a few sites, he'd almost forgotten about playing a part. He felt he almost was this bumbling apprentice floundering around among the rocks for the sake of finding something that might not be there at all.
He wasn't good at it. He wasn't actually that sure what he was looking for, and his sketches, the longer he worked on them, struck him as increasingly childish. He wandered from place to place, acting on whim instead of solid plans, twisting his way aimlessly around as he pleased from point to point. He couldn't remember such an unstructured morning, though he did have a task and was technically completing it.
Itachi passed various seaside shrines, some older ones crammed in among the rocks. He paused to right one, and as he straightened, he became aware that the eyes had gone. Itachi glanced around and wondered if the villagers talk of restless spirits and such could have any truth. It didn't, couldn't. Konoha didn't hold so tightly to the old superstitions, and when Itachi had mentioned the villager's antiquated belief, the Kakashi had shrugged and said 'we're in Mist.'
With that thought fresh in his mind, Itachi settled himself down near a stream to sketch the surrounding area after he'd collected some samples of rocks. The quick little stream had eaten away at the stony bed, making an overhang out of it. Itachi wondered if this island had many sea caves, and if there might be some around the manor.
"Busy and boring as usual?"
Itachi flipped his hold on the book without thinking, and whipped around, judging from the noise and sudden sense of presence where he should aim. Itachi froze as he came half around and Shisui skipped quickly back, holding up his hands.
"All right, all right, no need to brain a body. Just trying to start a conversation." Shisui, fishing rod in one hand, waved his hands complacently, a little wild around his eyes and mouth. "But you're a jumpy one tiday."
Itachi slowly forced himself to relax. He remembered Hama's warning, but, really, a con would not work on him. He was a ninja, not the naïve scholar he played. Itachi schooled up a sheepish smile, something easier than the smile he'd given Hama.
"I'm sorry I. . ." Itachi pounced for the truth. "I've felt like someone was watching me all day. It's made me a little nervous." Shisui watched warily a moment longer, then he smiled and padded forward, sinking down to sit a bit of stream from Itachi.
"The oni getting after you? You should carry a charm." Shisui flipped the collar of his gi over to show Itachi the charm bag pinned to the inside, close to his heart. "Keep the spirits and demons from munching on your yummy little soul." Itachi couldn't tell if Shisui was serious or not, so he simply nodded. Shisui's grin broke wider, and he settled himself heavier on the rocks, pulling his hook around to bait it with little dead minnows. Itachi watched Shisui cast and decided that, yes, the man had just decided to take up where Itachi was again, without asking.
"What important boring things are you doing today?" Shisui asked. Everything else went oddly still, his eyes concentrated on the thin string trailing into the water. Shisui had always been kinetic before, and it was odd to see him go motionless.
"Collecting samples and making sketches," Itachi explained. When Shisui glanced over, Itachi tipped the book in his lap so Shisui could see the sketch. Itachi felt suddenly self-conscious of his sketches as Shisui leaned over to get a better look and stayed bent over for the better part of a minute before he sat back and looked at his line.
"Issat part of being of scholarly," Shisui pulled what he probably thought was a very proper accent. "Learning to draw the local flora and fauna, which in this location happens to be rocks. What's the fancy name for rocks?"
"It depends on the kid," Itachi evaded. "Should I leave you to fish?"
Shisui scoffed and shook his head. "No. Fishing's boring. You can stay and doodle while I try to catch my supper." Shisui paused then added: "And talk to me, because there's no point in sitting here if you're not going to be entertaining." Shisui cast Itachi a quick, sharp look. "And you like to listen too much."
Itachi shook his head. "I prefer to listen."
"As much as I'd love to spin you sugar lace tales of oni devouring maiden virgins so save their true loves, it would distract me, and then I'd go hungry," Shisui explained calmly. "I think you'd have guilt over that, but I could be wrong. Maybe you'd just philosophize it away and tell me that hunger builds character, which is only ever said by men who had never missed more than one meal in a row."
"This is how you catch fish? You talk them from the water?" Itachi propped his elbow on his knee, and chin on his hand. "I've been doing it wrong all these years, it seems."
Shisui laughed. "So you can make jokes. I was beginning to wonder." Shisui cast Itachi a delighted look, his crooked, fanged grin much too wide across his rough face. "I thought you were going to be no fun at all. Now, come on, you talk, I'll listen, and we'll be all companionable."
"What should I talk about?" Itachi pressed. He truly had no idea. Idle chatter had never been encouraged in his household, and he'd never had any close friends to converse with. Sasuke was more interested in talking than in listening, unless he wanted a story to be told to him.
"Anything. Your family, your life, your lovers," Shisui waggled his eyebrows for the last then shrugged. His hands didn't move a twitch. "Anything."
Itachi turned his eyes back to the book. Perhaps he should try to draw Shisui into revealing more about the village. Perhaps he should say something about himself. In any case, Itachi didn't think that he should prattle on. With his lack of experience, he might let something slip he didn't intend. He envied Shisui's free flowing chatter, which seemed so natural for him and it never revealed anything but the inane or what he wanted it to.
Itachi twisted the pencil in his fingers at stared out across the water as the silence stretched longer. Everything that tumbled through his head seemed far too important to tell Shisui, lest he divine something of Itachi's true purpose.
Shisui heaved a huge sigh. "So. What do you think of the weather."
Itachi felt his cheeks heat, but he cleared his throat and worked up an answer. "It's too wet. And different." Itachi felt a sudden pang of homesickness. Was Sasuke missing him? What was his brother up to today? This would be the longest mission Itachi had ever been on, in part because he was being so methodical about it. Kakashi had agreed to a longer time, since the rain would delay everything. Itachi wondered if that would count against him, but could he sacrifice civilian's lives just to make himself look better?
Did he really want to get into ANBU anyway?
Itachi realized Shisui was waiting for him to say something else. Itachi breathed out and shifted himself into a more comfortable position. He pushed his bangs back behind his ear, realizing the damp had made his hair frizzy. "Is it always thi—"
"AP!" Shisui's sharp rebuke had Itachi jumping. "No asking me questions. How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
"Fish innards, you're thirteen if you're a tide turn," Shisui countered, his smirking grin creeping up his face. "Did you run away from home or something?"
"I am fifteen, and no, I did not," Itachi retorted. He tapped his pencil on the book and decided that talking would be better than letting Shisui ask him questions. "I've just lead a…rather secluded life with my studies. I didn't expect to travel and find myself dealing with people like you."
"So you talk like someone shoved a book down your throat," Shisui nodded to himself. "You need more experience before you're ready to face the real world. How have you managed so far without getting robbed blind?"
"I don't know. You're the Trickster, why haven't you robbed me blind?" Ashes, that was not what he'd planned to say.
Much to Itachi's surprise, Shisui dipped his head back and laughed. It wasn't like the chuckle or the brash laugh, but louder and cleaner. Itachi found it discomfiting, but in an oddly pleasant manner. No, no, Itachi found the noise pleasing, but not in a comfortable and usual manner making Sasuke laugh did.
"You've found me out," Shisui smothered the laugh into a giggle. "Who ratted on me? Ayame? Kisuke? Sora?"
"Hama," Itachi conceded after he decided that Shisui's laughing was truly goodwill.
"Tides turning, you sleep with a guy's daughter once and he never forgives you," Shisui sighed. "He would have gone on thinking she was virtuous enough for a shrine offering if he hadn't decided to wake her up an hour early. If he'd started that practice a few years earlier, he might have caught the original culprit."
"Surely that's not the only thing you've done." And Shisui's grin said no, it certainly wasn't. He shifted back and forth, hand motionless.
"Perhaps not, but that's the only thing I ever did to him. The cook at the Dolphin's Spout will say about the same stuff about me, but Kisuke will tell you to watch your wallet 'cause I'm a cheat at cards," Shisui explained with a wry shake of his head. "I don't con people, I just do things that they don't want me to or think I shouldn't be able to." Itachi thought Hama probably had the right of it, actually, but he nodded. He wanted to get as much information out of Shisui as possible, and he could be useful in other ways. It would be better not to alienate him by calling him a cheat.
Itachi expected Shisui to begin prattling, but he fell into silence and didn't prompt Itachi to speak again. Itachi continued sketching, though he already had one view of the area. He glanced at Shisui. There was something familiar about the set of his nose and his cheekbones. He didn't look like the other villagers, or anyone else Itachi could call to mind.
Itachi finally felt he could make no more delays. He closed his book, three more pages filled and slowly pulled himself up off the rocky ground. "I should be going."
Shisui flicked his line from the stream. "Finally. I thought you'd never finish drawing your rocks." Shisui started winding his line around the pole.
Itachi paused and gave the man a bewildered look. "But…you were fishing for your supper." He bit off the 'you said so' as it would make him sound like the child he wasn't. Or that he was pretending not to be. He knew Shisui would tease him about it.
"Course I was, or trying to, but this time of year you have better luck with traps on the coast then fishing in the stream," Shisui shrugged. "Thought I'd give it a try, but I didn't expect to catch anything." Shisui smiled. Except, maybe he'd meant to catch Itachi, to lure him in another inch or so for whatever Shisui had planned. Itachi was becoming more and more aware that Shisui's attentions were more than casual. He expected something to happen, or to get something out of their interactions. Perhaps it was money, perhaps he was simply bored with this town and amusing himself with the newest addition.
Fine. Itachi would play that game and draw his own benefits from it.
"Ah, come on, Inari, don't give me that suspicious look. You can't really believe what they say about me, not after everything I've told you? Aren't you supposed to be a good judge of people?" Shisui dropped his shoulders and looked morose. "You don't actually believe all this superstitious nonsense, do you?"
"No, but you have a reputation. Why would they lie to me?" Itachi asked as he started walking. He oriented himself with the sun and started for his next spot.
"Because, if I were someone who belonged, they wouldn't say things like that. They'd say I'd had some bad habits, but since I'm not them, I'm bad. I'm something dangerous they need to warn people about. The monster in the shallows…" Shisui glanced at Itachi. Of course, he was following the boy. "Haven't you ever been outside of something? Haven't you heard the way they talked about you?"
"No." He was a Konha-nin. He was inside. No, he was an Uchiha. He was part of Konoha, but held at arm's length by many, wasn't he?
Shisui's laugh mocked him. "You have. You don't really belong anywhere, do you? You just think you do because no one actually knows what you really think." Itachi sensed Shisui was just trying to needle him into a reaction. Or he thought, because there was no way Shisui could know about Itachi's thoughts and doubts of his current life. Simply no way. Shisui continued, his hands, pole included, gesturing and flicking to encompass the subject.
"That's why you act so proper around your partner. Kaika. Like you're walking on eggs, and he doesn't care one way or another about you. He just watches you flounder around and do all the work while he drinks it up in the high-class brothels."
Itachi's hands gripped his bag. "I have a family."
"Do you belong with them? Your father who got so far into debt that he sold you off to pay for it? Some kind of loving family," Shisui scoffed.
"I'm here to uphold my families honor. There is nothing wrong with that," Itachi protested softly, struggling to keep his control. He could do this. Shisui had no idea what he was talking about. He was just…playing-weaving words and thoughts in and out of Itachi's skull like he was embroidering some fanciful masterpiece. Itachi closed his eyes and he could see the pattern Shisui's quick tongue, even his flashing fingers, tried to stitch into Itachi's brain.
"Nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't mean you belong. I mean, they sent you away to help them. What does that say? Did your mother kiss you cheek when you left? Did your father clap you on the arm and thank you? Or did they just send you away with nothing, because you know your duty to your family, and you do it like a right and proper little son?" Shisui slashed a jagged red string through his tapestry.
"Stop."
Shisui stopped and looked back at Itachi, that cocky look on his face, challenging Itachi to deny him. To do anything, maybe to lose his temper. If you could rattle a target, you could learn more from them. Itachi forced his body relaxed, strained his voice to be calm.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd stop misaligning my family." Itachi managed to keep his voice level, and Shisui looked serious as well right before he burst into laughter.
"They don't really love you, do they?"
Itachi looked at Shisui, feeling like he'd been punched in the gut. He should laugh and say of course they did. He should laugh it off, but it was true, wasn't it? He was just their genius. Their ticket to success and fame, it didn't matter that it was true, he still needed to shake it off and act as if everything were normal. He needed to stay in character.
Maybe Inari's family didn't love him either.
Itachi smiled, but he had no idea how it looked. "I have a little brother."
"And he loves you?" Shisui cocked an eyebrow, and Itachi realized how desperate that sounded, but Shisui didn't know Sasuke. Itachi could live if Sasuke loved him. It was all he needed. All he would ever need.
"He does." Itachi nodded, and his smile shifted into something he could control. Itachi started walking again. In a few moments, Shisui's footsteps followed him down the path. Shisui didn't speak for a while, then he gained Itachi's side, hopping competently from rock to rock beside the path.
"So, why are you looking at rocks today?" Shisui asked slowly.
"Mining prospects."
"I see..." Shisui's tone said that was possibly the most boring reason to look for rock, but he then began to pry Itachi with inane questions, such as his favorite food, why he kept his hair so long, and the color of his underwear. Itachi, still unsteady from Shisui's earlier attack, answered slowly or not at all, but Shisui kept walking beside him. Oddly, so very oddly, that was all right with Itachi.
They parted ways after sharing Itachi's lunch, Itachi feeling much firmer in his façade of Inari after playing off of Shisui all day. Itachi headed back for the town, Shisui went to check his nets and go wherever he went. Itachi went as far up the path to the village as was convenient, and then he cut back down towards the beach. He checked his map and set out for the meeting place.
Itachi used chakra now, slithering between rocks and over them to get to the impossible little cove. He realized why it had been chosen. It was almost impossible for a ninja to get here by land, and, as he caught a glimpse of the cove below, it wasn't big enough to risk bringing a boat into it, not far, at least.
Itachi dropped down into the black rock and walked out under a small overhang. It offered perfect cover from the wider water outside the cover, which was so rock strewn it had to be useless. Itachi tightened his cloak over his shoulders as he felt the cool wind blow in from the ocean. He smelled the brine and salt and fish. He didn't know if he disliked the smell, or if he were getting used to it.
Itachi glanced around the little cove and saw no trace of the informant. Perhaps Itachi had missed him, but Itachi had arrived earlier than the sunset meeting. He'd wanted to part ways with Shisui and leave himself plenty of time to get here. Itachi decided he would map the area while he waited, just in case things went wrong.
As he stepped out of the little overhang, he could see the open water better. Itachi saw an odd splash raised, felt an odd flicker. He paced slowly forward, his Sharingan activating as he looked.
What he saw took his breath away.
Faster than thought, than lightning, than anything, someone was flickering over the water. Shunshin. Each turn and pause kicked up a small rooster tail of water that caught the sun. The water was already aflame, and these flickers—explosions of water looked like stars crashing down. Itachi could not make out the figure, but this had to be their informant. He could barely make out the afterimages of the active chakra, the stress of trying to track the movement causing pain in his eyes. He couldn't follow it. He, the Uchiha genius, could not.
Itachi shivered, and it had nothing to do with the cold.
As his feet crunched on the smaller rocks by the water line, Itachi was spotted. The flicker shifted, and Itachi cut his Sharingan off quickly. The informant landed on the beach, damp to the knee and slowly straightened to look at Itachi, knife in one hand. Shock raced evident across his face as he saw Itachi, but Itachi couldn't help a smile as he took the young man in.
Hachibana Yosuke was in his mid to late teens. He was gangly and stringy rather than broad, though his shoulders were much wider than Itachi's. The hands curled half defensively at his sides were broad and scarred. His wide eyes were brown, his hair a shocking riot of curls. His chapped lips struggled for a moment to speak.
"Inari…hell and devils, Inari, how did you even get here? You can't tell anyone, all right? Please, don't tell anyone," Shisui begged, approaching Itachi with the hostility in his body language dropping, dread replacing it. Of course, if Shisui were Hachibana Yosuke, then having anyone tell his secret around town would ruin his chances for meeting up with his Konoha informants.
"How's the fishing on the southern side?" Itachi repeated the message he'd been given by Kakashi.
Shisui froze. "What? I-I haven't been to check my nets…" That wasn't the response he was supposed to give.
"How's the fishing on the southern side?" Itachi repeated with impatience. This was…wonderful. Shisui was Hachibana Yosuke. He was the informant, and Itachi already knew he was useful. He knew they could work together. And how fast Shisui had moved!
Itachi saw Shisui's face shift after the second repetition. Shisui looked like Itachi had just offered him a child's corpse. He recognized the words, as the color drained from his face. Tension curled his body almost in on itself, and Itachi felt only a slight alarm.
"You're Hachibana Yosuke." Itachi forged on without the proper response. The name caused Shisui to pale further. He was their informant. Itachi's lips twitched a little more.
"No, no, you weren't supposed to be…" Shisui's desperate plea seemed so at odds with the situation, Itachi stopped. He looked at Shisui, his form dropping, wondering what was going wrong. Itachi took a step forward, and Shisui took one back. Ashes, was he going to run? As fast as Shisui had just been, he might out distance Itachi. He could lose him in the rocks, and that was not acceptable.
Itachi lunged forward and grabbed Shisui's arm, fully prepared for an assault. His eyes burned red to catch any flicker of movement, and Shisui swore. Low, guttural, strained and desperate.
"Amateresu's tits." Shisui hissed. His hand suddenly clamped on Itachi's chin, and Itachi found himself looking into red eyes. His heartbeat doubled. Shisui was an Uchiha. The red of Shisui's eyes burned and tore into Itachi's, and the world burst black.
I didn't want you to forget.
"You didn't meet our informant yesterday?" Kakashi asked over breakfast.
"No," Itachi brushed his hair and fussed over a tangle.
"Are you sure you didn't just miss him?" Kakashi pressed. He was giving Itachi that vague look that meant he was intensely interested in Itachi, which wasn't good. Would Itachi's failure to meet with the informant count too hard against him? He didn't see how it was his fault the nin had failed to show.
Itachi shook his head. "I waited for three hours in the cove and didn't see him. We'll have to do this on our own." Kakashi didn't ask if it had been the right cove, if it had been the right time. He just nodded and went back to drinking his tea and reading his erotic books.
Itachi stood and walked to the bathroom, still picking on the knots in his hair. He looked up at himself in the mirror. His eyes bled from grey to red.
He hit the door five minutes later, hair down, throwing on his cloak as he left.
