Chapter 4 - Choice
Itachi knelt before the Konoha Council, keeping his eyes downcast. He did not wish to see any of them. The pain caused by Shisui's death still felt raw in his chest.
"Shisui Uchiha was a core member of the Uchiha clan," he said. "His suicide demoralized and lessened their fighting power all at once."
"So the coup d'état has been foiled," Koharu Utatane said.
"Are you saying there was no other way but for Shisui to give his life?" the Hokage asked. "I shouldn't have pushed him…"
Itachi felt Lord Danzo's eyes settle on him. He suppressed a shudder.
"There are a few among the Uchiha who believe that you killed Shisui," he said.
Itachi remembered his angry outburst, the day after Shisui's death, when three members from the Police Force had accused him of murder.
"The ones who believe that didn't know that Shisui and I were working towards the same goal. Shisui did not appear at our rendezvous point." He was getting good at lying.
"He had secrets, so he was suspected," Danzo said. "I will notify the ANBU that it was officially a suicide. Agreed, Hiruzen?"
The Lord Hokage muttered his assent.
They were standing by in the trees, watching as the enemy buried explosive tags on the road and covered them with dirt. They had already buried a great deal, Itachi knew, so they would have to watch their step or risk losing a leg.
At Kakashi's signal, they threw shuriken at them, then jumped down to tackle the remaining enemy shinobi. Itachi used his ANBU blade to kill one and went after another. He thrust the blade into his chest and was just pulling it out when he suddenly felt Akane move behind him, heard a clink and a thud. When he turned around, he saw an enemy falling off Kakashi's Raikiri a few feet away, dropping the kunai he was holding. Beside him, Akane fell on her knees, breathing heavily.
"You need to… watch your back…" she said, pulling out a kunai from her abdomen which had managed to pierce her armor. "Go help the others!"
He backed away, confused and upset. His mind had been somewhere else. He had endangered himself and others. Inwardly cursing himself for his inattention, he returned to the fight. The leader of the Kusa shinobi turned to run, only to come face to face with a Raikiri-wielding Kakashi.
"That's…" the shinobi said, backing away, "You're… the Copy Ninja of Konoha!" he screamed as the Raikiri pierced his chest. "Kaka…shi…"
Kakashi pushed his dead body away. The Raikiri faded, no longer needed.
"You've become quite well known, senpai. Do it long enough and you're bound to become famous," Tenzo said.
Kakashi sounded grim. "Clear the area. Leave no trace of Konoha. Tensai," he told Itachi, "take care of Hime."
Akane had pulled herself against a tree and a green light was glowing in her hand, which was trembling as it hovered over a growing red stain. She had removed her mask to get more oxygen, but Itachi could see that her chakra reserve was nearly depleted.
"It's not very deep and it missed anything important," she said. "I'm going to stop the bleeding, wrap it up and that should be more than enough until we get back to Konoha."
"As a medic-nin, you are not allowed to deliberately put yourself in harm's way. You should have let the kunai fly."
"I'm not a medic-nin yet," she said with a pained smirk. "I won't be taking the final exam for another year, so I am exempt from the rules."
Her healing chakra faded, depleted. Itachi helped her remove her armor and wrap up the wound with clean bandages.
"What about common sense? Are you exempt from that?"
He was more upset with himself than with her, and he realized he had been unnecessarily cruel.
"Forgive me," he said. "I didn't mean to be a jerk."
Akane smiled wanly, shaking her head. "Don't apologize. You've had a lot on your mind lately. I… I was sorry to hear about Shisui-san."
"Thank you, Hime."
They took break near dawn, enjoying a meager, cold meal and a chance to doze off for a little while. Akane had chosen to do the latter, and her head lolled to one side as she slept. It was an ANBU thing, Itachi mused, to become able to fall asleep anytime, anywhere, and to be able to wake up, fully alert, at the smallest unfamiliar sound. He took a sip of water to wet his parched throat.
"You said that a friend gave that sharingan to you," he said to Kakashi, who was sitting beside him, studying a map of the area.
"Along with a wish."
"Do you need to honor that wish?"
"Yes, I intend to." After a couple of moments, he added: "I know about the Uchiha Shisui incident. Is this about that?"
"No, I'm fine," he said, although his friend's death still weighed heavily in his heart. He was more worried about the Uchiha clan's growing hostility toward the village, though.
"I see," Kakashi said. "Anyway… there's not a lot I can do, but let me know if I can do anything."
"Hai."
Itachi leaned against the tree, looking up at the stars shining through the canopy. Shisui… things have gotten much worse since then. I don't think I can protect everyone.
Itachi and Kakashi were summoned before the Konoha Council the following week. The four faces of Konoha's top ranks had become all too familiar to him during his two years as an ANBU member.
"Due to an increasing amount of assignments," Lord Danzo said, "I've decided to add an additional team to the ANBU. Itachi, I'm appointing you captain."
Itachi bowed with carefully concealed surprise.
"Hai."
"I'm not opposed," Koharu Utatane said, "but you are very young. How old are you?"
"I'm thirteen." He had celebrated his birthday only two days before.
"There are a number of shinobi who were younger and have become jonin," Lord Danzo interjected.
"Just two years in the ANBU and already a captain. He must be the youngest captain the ANBU has ever had."
"I will assign my ANBU agents to this new team," Lord Danzo said, ignoring the old kunoichi.
Itachi did not like that part one bit, but all he could do was obey, so he bowed and left the room, together with Kakashi.
"So does that mean you're going to be transferred to Danzo-sama's ANBU?" Kakashi asked him once they had stepped outside.
"It seems like it."
"Try not to get caught in between the political wrangling of the higher-ups." He was about to walk away when Itachi stopped him.
"Captain Kakashi… thank you for the past two years," he said and bowed.
"Come on, now. You're only changing sections. You're still a Konoha shinobi. It's not like you're going far away."
As he was leaving the building, he noticed a crow standing on a fence with a note in its beak. As soon as it set its beady eyes on him, it flew toward him and set the note in his hand before vanishing with a puff of smoke.
Itachi dropped by the ANBU headquarters to change into his civilian clothes, then set out toward the tea house where Akane's note asked him to come. She was already there when he stepped inside, sipping from a steaming cup of green tea. He caught a hint of jasmine floating in the air as he sat at her table.
"I didn't know they let you out of the hospital," he said, pausing to order something for himself. The old woman who ran the place tottered away to make his tea and Akane smiled.
"It's been a week already, Itachi. I've been out for four days and I even had an assignment with Kakashi-senpai."
"I see. I'm glad you're well."
She pulled out something from the pouch strapped to her leg and handed it to him. "Happy belated birthday, Itachi. I'm sorry I missed it this year."
He took the box and in it he found a necklace which had three silver rings on it.
"You don't have to wear it if you don't like it."
Itachi smiled. "You're the only girl I know who would give a boy jewelry as a present. I like it. Thank you."
"And you're the only person I know who would open a present in front of the person who gave it to them."
He chuckled, putting the box in his pouch. The old woman brought his tea. He waited for it to cool before taking a sip, but he misjudged its temperature and it burned the tip of his tongue.
"I've been made captain," he told her. Akane seemed surprised, but she wholeheartedly congratulated him nonetheless.
"You'll make a great team captain."
It was the last he saw of her that month, as their different assignments kept them both busy over their heads and out of each other's path. The Police Force began strengthening their armament, and dissatisfaction toward Konoha ran higher than ever among the Uchiha. The clan was beginning to convene more often than before. Itachi had the feeling this situation was getting out of hand and he hated feeling so powerless. He could not stop it alone, and it could no longer be ignored.
"The Uchiha clan intends to revolt against Konoha," he told the Council at long last.
Koharu was the first to react, though they were all visibly surprised by the tidings. "What?!" she said. "We can't allow it anymore! They call it revolution, but if their real intention is to take back political power, we'll have to treat them as rebels!"
"Koharu, wait!" the Hokage intervened. "Don't jump to conclusions!"
"However, Hiruzen," Lord Danzo said, his face a mask of calm once more, "the Uchiha aren't going to stop. We must make our move against them right away to avoid confusion… that includes the unknowing children."
Itachi tensed.
"Don't say this in front of Itachi!" the Hokage told Lord Danzo. "Besides, if a civil war starts, it will be hard to fight against the Uchiha. We must think of a strategy."
"It's a race against time…" Koharu said. "We must act before they do anything."
Lord Danzo pushed his own idea forward. "If we and our ANBU team up, together we can just make a surprise attack on them and end it right away."
"The Uchiha used to be our comrades in arms," the Hokage insisted. "I want to use words, not weapons, against them. I'll think of a strategy. Itachi, try to gain as much time as you can."
Lord Danzo did not look pleased with the Hokage's stalling. It seemed to Itachi he had not yet said his final word on the matter and he was proven right, when Lord Danzo summoned him to meet that night.
"The Third Hokage talked like that," he said, "but he will act if Konoha needs to be protected. That's the way it is. If that happens, even he will have to take drastic measures. Whether the war happens or not, once they've attempted the coup d'état, the Uchiha will necessarily be annihilated… your innocent little brother included."
Lord Danzo had made that clear before, yet Itachi had the feeling the old man was trying to make a different point altogether, so he forced himself to remain calm and listen.
"However, by acting before it happens, he can still be saved. If the coup happens, your little brother will see everything, too. He will see his whole clan be destroyed by the shinobi of Konoha, and will undoubtedly want to get revenge on the village… and in that case, he will have to be killed too."
Itachi bristled at that. "Are you threatening?"
"No. I want you to choose. You can either stand on the Uchiha clan's side, participate in the coup d'état and be destroyed together with your clan… or stand on Konoha's side, save your brother before the coup happens and help destroy the Uchiha clan. To protect the village we must absolutely stop the coup before everything falls into chaos, and the only one who can do this job is a double agent working for both the Uchiha and Konoha. In other words, you, Itachi."
Lord Danzo paused, letting the words sink in. Itachi felt sick.
"Itachi… it will be a hard mission for you, but in exchange for that, I can let your little brother live. I'm sure you, too, want to protect the village. Do you accept this mission?"
Sasuke…