Author's Note: Ok so I forgot to mention that there were other characters etc. etc. and oh by the way this is yaoi. The other characters are important enough to be in the story but not that important that I feel like mentioning them. Sorry if these things ruin your expectations or whatever. My real goal is actually to get some other fic authors to open their eyes to the possibilities- since you are probably a better writer than I am. Itachi is actually a really great character, and not really evil by nature. I want to read more fanfiction with interactions between him and the other ninja in Konoha. I'm kind of disappointed I can't find any like that. Someone please write Itachi as a good guy or something interesting. If you know of some good Itachi yaoi fics let me know and I'll check it out. ^.^
A day in Konoha was worth more than a hundred anywhere else. Itachi was risking life and limb to be there but it was worth it to him. If he could sacrifice everything for a place, then surely, he deserved to live there. He would take that one liberty for his troubles, of which there were many. The heat of summer was beating down on his back again as he battled drought and insects destroying their crops. His eyes were aching again. He had thought he was done with that agony but apparently not.
His vision had improved in some ways, but his eyes would twitch randomly. He seemed to be tapping into the sharingan at random intervals, while he was completely unaware of it. Ryuichi had almost noticed, but Itachi turned away at the last minute. Itachi was trying to learn how to be a civilian, so the loss of control of his eyes was a hindrance. He tried to ice them, to rest them more, and he even tried to wear sunglasses. It didn't help stop the occurrences, it only hid them from other people better.
Itachi began to wander around during the night. Sashi called him crazy, because he should be resting for the next day of back-breaking work. She was right, but Itachi was so restless that he needed to move. The inaction and the routine of his daily life was restrictive for him, and Itachi needed to find some outlet. He had never had peace in his life. When he tried to sleep at night, he was only faced with nightmares so gruesome that he screamed until he woke everybody all the way to the house. The first time it happened Itachi had woke crying and trembling, the memory of the dream already murky. Ryuichi and Sashi had hovered beside him and had even gone back to make him a cup of tea. Their offers to talk about the dream were gently rejected.
So he wandered, and walked through the places where he feared to go during the day. He wore the sunglasses, which were a pair like the Aburame's. Itachi thought they were fashionable, but a bit ridiculous at night. Despite his worries about Anbu and other town watchers, Itachi took to prowling the streets of Konoha, much like his forebears had in the Uchiha police force. It was his birthright to do so, yet he was forced to sneak about while he was at it.
He found himself in the former Uchiha quarter, where the people he had loved had all died by his hands. Itachi stopped at the entrance, knowing Sasuke must have gone inside. Feeling unwelcome, and he pressed his hands together to murmur a respectful prayer, an apology, a plea. He didn't expect forgiveness. He just wanted it.
"That's not a shrine, you know?" A voice called.
It echoed in the silent tomblike place, and Itachi glanced over at the man there. He was ninja. He was armed. He was very threatening. Itachi watched him approach, feeling oddly dazed. It was as if he was submerged in deep water. The pressure from outside forces seemed to make it hard to focus.
"Are you dumb or just deaf?" The ninja said.
"Neither."
"I see. What do you want with them?"
"With whom?"
"With the Uchiha? You clearly have unfinished business with them."
"Yes. That's true. I have to atone."
"Wow. Cryptic. Are you a ninja or a civilian?"
"I'm a farmhand." Itachi said, carefully.
The man looked him over while Itachi did the same, but much more covertly. The man had sandy blond hair, and hazel eyes. His forehead protector rested around his neck, and he kept up a smirk as he overtly looked Itachi up and down. This man was tall, like Kisame. The twin swords he carried on either hip were katana. They seemed to buzz with energy even unsheathed.
"Most farmhands are in bed right now."
"Yes. I couldn't sleep. I wanted to explore the village, since I don't have time during the day."
Itachi broke off awkwardly and glanced back over at the entrance to the Uchiha compound.
"You look familiar. What's your name?"
"Yuki Nakamura."
"I'm Dausuke. Well, got time for a game?"
"I don't play."
"You don't even know what game it is."
"I've never played. Not even as a child." Itachi bit his lip, since he had let that information out, it was a big clue that he wasn't a normal civilian.
"No time like the present to start. Let's go."
Itachi couldn't have escaped without taijutsu so he followed along reluctantly. He had two options, and neither was any good. He wasn't Akatsuki anymore, so that reaction was out. He was who he might have been, if he hadn't become a ninja.
He didn't like this man and he didn't want to go with him.
This situation scared him, but upon reflection he was curious. That was more dangerous than what might happen, because he was in fact interested in finding out what the game was. He wanted the mystery and the unknown and the experience. He wanted to know that any moment he might die, and in doing so he would live life to the fullest.
Upon reflection Itachi knew who this Daisuke was. He was from Root. The Foundation, the underground. Those men were not of Konoha, they were the depths below it. This was evident in Daisuke's darkness, his otherness. It wasn't quite obvious until it was, in the way Daisuke spoke to the way he moved, to the tattoo on his tongue. He was the wrong within Konoha. Itachi smiled because once he had been in the wrong too.
Itachi was still depressed and his own darkness rose up in him. He needed to be reckless. It was a rush. To forget Sasuke for just one moment would be a bittersweet pain, a loss within his loss.
The man brought him to a building. It looked like a house upon first glance, and up the stairs they went. Inside there were tables, a sort of private restaurant. Itachi looked around, letting his face express his interest and his nervousness. This was likely an illegal establishment, and unregulated by Konoha. The man put something on the table, and Itachi glanced at it. There were two small tablets on a napkin, and Itachi wasn't familiar with them. He knew of most mainstream medicines and drugs but these were new.
Itachi realized that Daisuke wanted him to ingest the pill a moment later and frowned. That would not be a tactically safe decision. He'd be at the mercy of this man and would have no control over his actions.
"I- have to work tomorrow."
"So? It will wear off by then."
"What is it?"
"It's a game. Are you in or out?"
"What do I get if I'm in?"
Daisuke laughed, deep and low. His eyes were dark but amused. He seemed so relaxed, that Itachi envied him.
"You'll have to take your chances and find out," Daisuke said.
"What do you get out of it?" Itachi asked.
"Entertainment, and plus you seemed like you needed it. I'm very generous, aren't I? Take the pills and say thanks," Daisuke said.
For a long moment Itachi waffled, his mind going down the likely avenues that would come from every action he could make. He was going to regret this that much was clear, but how much? He wanted to forget, and for a moment he felt his pain envelop him, take over his mind, and on its own his hand reached for the pills. He took both at once and drank the water from the glass on the table.
"Thanks," Itachi rasped.
His only memory of the night included some intense pain and insane amounts of pleasure. Though he was murky on the details he had gotten a card in his pocket by the end of the night with some information on it. He wasn't inclined to read it in his hung-over state. He had a dry mouth and irritable mood; he chugged water from the nearby well before lurching off after Ryuichi. The sun was brutal, but he had his new freedom and his hat on. Itachi was still depressed but at least he'd gotten a slight reprieve from it. He was coming down off a high so exquisite that he was crashing pretty hard. The memories hit him once again and left him struggling for balance.
"It's not free, but you can trade for it. I can see that you're good for it," Daisuke had said after Itachi had downed the pills.
"Can you?" Itachi asked.
Daisuke had given him a smirk like an evil villain in Akatsuki and Itachi had lost focus. His brain offered no further flashbacks. Itachi had woken at dawn in a filthy room above the restaurant. It had been full of others, who were also strung out. He'd slipped out, walked quickly to the farm keeping his head down and his mouth shut. He passed nobody.
Itachi began worrying after a brief lunch of cheese and bread later that afternoon. Had the Daisuke found out who he was? Had Daisuke seen the old Anbu tattoo on his arm or recognized his face?
Itachi worked despite feeling feverish and shaky. He couldn't wait to sleep. Work was the same as always. The rice and the water smelled the same. Finally, Itachi went back to the barn at the end of the day and collapsed onto his makeshift bed. Quietly, he sobbed into the small hay pillow.