Hello! Here's another chapter involving characters that aren't mine! I wish someone would tell me what they think about this story... I feel like I'm talking to myself here... Anyway, enjoy!

IPG

Chapter 3

Itachi was lucky enough to have a while at home in Konoha before he was sent out on another extended mission. He felt strange without Team Ro by his side, but he had done plenty of training with his new team to make him comfortable enough to be able to lead them all properly. This particular mission was a recon mission to Kumo to trade scrolls with valuable information in them and to restore some amount of the amicable relationship that Konoha had had with Kumo before the Second Great Ninja War.

The young Uchiha wasn't much of a fan of the political aspect of ninja work, but a mission was a mission and he wasn't one to fail at his job if he could help it.

The team had hit the border of the Land of Lightning early in the morning so that they would have an easier time passing through with as little trouble as possible. They were to meet the Kumo team at a small village just inside of the border and wanted to get there to scout out as much of this uncharted land as possible. Itachi was really just hoping that they could get in and out of the country without anything bad happening.

When dawn broke on the horizon, a group of Kumo shinobi appeared in the streets of the small village that they had intended to explore.

So much for scoping out the area, thought Itachi and he and one of his teammates walked up to trade with two of the members of the Kumo squad.

"Was your trip very difficult?" asked the captain of the squad as he took the scroll from Itachi and handed over his own.

"Extended missions are all relatively similar, as I'm sure you know," said Itachi, being sure to let the group in front of him make their own assumptions about his team and their journey. One could never be too careful with information.

The captain of the other team nodded in understanding of the types of missions Itachi had been referring to and backed up to align with his other teammates again. Then several other Kumo shinobi appeared on the rooftops above the two teams, each of them bearing weapons and ready for a fight.

"I hope you don't mind, but Kumo really isn't interested in forging new friendships with Konoha just yet," said the captain as the scroll in Itachi's hand was immediately dropped as the exploding tag attached to it went off in a fiery bang.

With the smoke covering their movements, each of the shinobi on Itachi's team had taken the chance to arm themselves and started to pick off as many of the Kumo enemy they could from their positions on the roofs.

When the smoke had cleared, Itachi took the chance to glare at the captain that had betrayed them moments before though the effect was voided due to the animal mask.

"When we found out that a sharingan was walking into our midst willingly, we couldn't allow such a precious kekei genkai just leave. Our plans were changed and now you aren't going anywhere Uchiha-san," said the captain as he ran at the Konoha team and all of the other Kumo shinobi followed his lead.

Itachi chuckled darkly to himself. Ruining a peaceful gathering because of a kekei genkai was stupid, and they were all fools for thinking that they could get his eyes so easily. He was an Uchiha prodigy after all.

When their katana met in a clang of pure ringing metal, Itachi turned on his sharingan to truly assess his team's situation. They were certainly outnumbered at least five to one, but these ninja weren't nearly as skilled as his own, and soon enough, the Kumo forces started piling up in droves.

"It's a pity that you decided to ruin this meeting over my eyes," said Itachi as the other captain's sword barely grazed his left arm. He parried the man with a quick slice across his left thigh that caused the other to falter in his steps. "You clearly didn't know who exactly you were dealing with here."

"It shouldn't matter who you are," said the man as he regained his composure to stab aimlessly at Itachi only to have the raven take advantage of the opening and slice a nice chunk out of the man's side. It was at that moment that the other captain realized that his forces were being annihilated by the Konoha team and that he had overestimated his odds greatly. "W-who are you?"

"I am Itachi Uchiha, your worst nightmare," he said with a sneer to the man who seemed to be debating his own chances if he were to beg for his life. The raven watched another Kumo shinobi fall from the corner of his eye and decided that he had had enough of all of this.

"I'm feeling quite merciful today," he said as he flicked the katana out of the Kumo captain's hand so that it landed in the wall of one of the buildings. "If you surrender now, no more harm will come to you and your team and you will be allowed to collect your fallen and get help to those that need it, but you do not come back here and you do not send anyone after me and my team. Understand?"

The other captain was cowering at the menace radiating from Itachi's body. Itachi reached into the other captain's uniform and pulled out the Konoha scroll that he had traded earlier before sending another suffocating wave of killing intent in the man's direction to be sure that his point had been made. The other captain nodded meekly, unable to move, before calling off his men so that they could begin collecting their dead.

Itachi called off his own team who were actually pretty well off considering their odds at the start of their battle. When all of the shinobi had been collected by the Kumo that could still function properly, each team turned to go their separate ways in a truce, that was until the distinct ring of a Kunai came flying through the air only to be caught between two fingers right next to Itachi's head.

Itachi whipped around to see the culprit and when their eyes met, it was all over. The man crumpled to the ground with several of the ninja around him jumping back comically as if he had caught a plague. Itachi saw the Kumo captain palm his face at the stupidity of the men he happened to be in charge of before waving a sorry in Itachi's direction and then running off in the direction of Kumogakure followed by his depleted forces.

"Well, that was interesting," said one of the older members of his team, and he nodded in assent.

"We should leave," he said as he turned the scroll in his hand before tucking it into his own ANBU uniform and dashing off towards the border and the safety of the trees.

The report Itachi had for the Hokage was not what he had wanted to give, but Kumo had made their choice and their relationship had to remain the way it was.

Itachi was actually relieved to be back in Konoha and hoped that his missions would keep him closer to home for a while. He decided that it was best to head to the Uchiha District before doing anything else, and despite how much he loathed it, he had promised to check in with his father after every mission. Unlucky for me that I almost failed this past mission, he thought as he jumped from one of the rooftops to land gracefully in the street in front of the police headquarters.

"Hey, Itachi, I wasn't expecting to see you so soon," said one of the officers that was discussing something off to the side with his colleagues.

"Yes, well, missions certainly are unpredictable," he said curtly before walking through the glass doors of the building to find his father.

He had been trying to remember exactly when he had seen that man last when he practically ran straight into Fugaku's broad chest and only the man clearing his throat had saved him from doing so.

"Ah, Father, just who I was looking for," said Itachi as he straightened in Fugaku's presence. He was still as imposing as ever.

"Come to my office quickly and talk. I have a lot on my plate right now," the man growled before walking past his son to take care of something that Itachi didn't care about.

He glanced at his father's fleeting form and headed through the maze of cubicles, down the hall and through the door labeled Fugaku Uchiha.

Itachi figured that his father wouldn't be joining him for at least ten minutes, so he took the opportunity to glance around the small room for any changes that might have occurred since his last visit.

There was still a rather large fern in the corner by the filing cabinet that was always locked. Itachi had tried to open it once, but there had been far too many security measures to bypass in the short amount of time that he had to work, so he had simply left it alone until he would need to get in there for something. The desk was mahogany and very well organized, but there were still some papers that Itachi could glance at for some light reading that sat next to a photo of his family when they were all much younger people. The photo didn't interest him; however, and he moved the small frame to look at the file it had been sitting on.

Itachi turned the manila folder around in his hand and looked at the label once more. Uchiha, and someone had scribbled over the first name. Who could this be, he thought as he let the folder flip open and a photo of him and Shisui sat at the top. What is this?

The muffled voices of his father talking to someone just outside of the door startled him from his snooping, and Itachi quickly replaced the file under his family photo as he had found it before taking a seat at the desk to wait for Fugaku to open the door.

The man eventually made it and seemed distracted when he sat down to face his son.

"Why are you here?" he asked grumpily as he shuffled around some of his papers and partially covered the mysterious file.

"You asked me to come to you after every mission," Itachi said tersely trying not to let the rising tension show in his words.

"Right, well, brief me later. I have things that need to be taken care of, and you can wait," said Fugaku as he dismissed his eldest with a wave of his hand.

Angered and offended, Itachi rose from his seat and headed towards the door. He had no need to stay now, and letting off some steam seemed like an excellent idea. He turned to look at his father one last time and noticed that he had ahold of the file before he closed the door, barring himself from information that he was actually curious about.

Cursing under his breath, he walked through the cubicles not paying attention to anything that was being said around him, before exiting the building and taking to the roofs. He had one focus in the millions of things that were flying around his mind. Where's Shisui, find Shisui. Find him!

Itachi's sharingan eyes spun wildly as he searched through the streets and their usual places. Not at the teahouse. Not at his house. Not at my house. Not training. Where is he?

It then dawned on Itachi where exactly Shisui was, and he quickly took to the forest in attempt to reach him before he left.

Itachi made the journey through the forest and landed on the moist earth next to the waterfall. Shisui was there meditating and was barely phased by Itachi's arrival as he had sensed him coming.

"To what do I owe the pleasure," said Shisui as he continued his zen. He then felt his friend's irritation and turned to glance at the dark clad figure behind him.

"Shisui," said Itachi in greeting trying to calm his heart rate and breathing.

"Yes, Itachi, what is it? You seem troubled," said Shisui as he adjusted his positioning and gestured for his friend to join him on the ground.

Itachi gladly sat despite the wet ground making his clothes wet as he did so. He had spent enough time in this place to have grown use to it already.

"So, what is it that you wanted to speak about?" Shisui asked once Itachi was situated comfortably.

"Well, actually, I just finished speaking with my father, and I came across something interesting that I thought I should share."

"Snooping in the police headquarters again? What have you found this time?" asked Shisui as Itachi seemed unable to help himself when it came to snooping in his father's office.

"Well, I was looking over the desk when a folder caught me attention. It was sitting underneath the frame with my family photo in it and the name on it was crossed out," said Itachi as a frown started to form on his brow.

"Hmm, that is interesting," said Shisui as he tapped his chin with his own pondering expression on his face.

"That isn't even the most interesting part about it," continued Itachi as he turned his attention back to his friend. "I opened the file for a moment and the first thing that I saw was a photo of you and me in the Academy days. I wa-."

"A photo of us? Why would our photo be in an unlabeled folder on the Police Chief's desk?" asked Shisui with his own puzzled frown.

"Well, I was unable to look any farther as my father almost walked in on me, but it was enough for me to want the rest of the information there." said Itachi and Shisui echoed his assent.

They decided that they would break into the office the next night to search the file and possibly see if there were any other secrets being hidden in that file cabinet that he had never been able to get into. They could leave tonight as a chance for Itachi to catch up with his family and get some rest.

Despite his recent mission, there were games afoot and and Itachi hadn't been able to sleep. Thankfully, one of his teammates had asked him to teach him some of his taijutsu moves, so he was able to distract himself and time passed without much notice.

When the sun had finally started to set, he sighed in relief and made his way home for dinner and to prepare for their infiltration mission later that night. When he had arrived at the mansion the night before, his father hadn't said a word to him, and Itachi was just as happy to forget about talking with his father as Fugaku seemed to be, but that was unlike the Uchiha patriarch who prided over Itachi his entire life. This forgetfulness was certainly unusual.

Of course, Itachi just assumed that all of his father's distractions could be linked to the file he had seen earlier, but that only made Itachi wish to see it even more.

As Itachi neared the kitchen, he could hear his mother and Sasuke talking about his day. He had gone to help their aunt and uncle run the flower shop next door and had brought her home a bouquet. Sasuke was adorable.

He knocked on the door frame before stepping out of the hall and into the lightness of the kitchen.

"Nii-san!" exclaimed the youngest Uchiha from his seat at the table, papers from the Academy strewn about him.

"Evening, Itachi Dear," Mikoto singsonged as she placed her flowers in a vase and turned to face her eldest son. "How was your day?"

"It was productive," said Itachi as he pecked his mother on the cheek and took his place at the table across from Sasuke.

"Well, that's wonderful to hear," she said as she moved her vase from beside the sink to the windowsill and went to join her boys. "Sasuke was just telling me about his day at the flower shop. Right, Sasuke?"

"Yeah, but now I'm doing my homework because Mother said so," he pouted and Itachi couldn't help smiling at his darling little face.

"Homework is important, Sasuke," he chuckled. "Even I had to do it in my Academy days."

"You're right!" he gasped before furiously scribbling in answers to the questions on the paper.

Of course, he would take to his homework like that, he wanted to be like me after all, thought Itachi as he shook his head in contempt of Sasuke's brother worship. When would he ever learn?

"Hmm, maybe I should get you to do that more often," teased Mikoto, and Itachi rolled his eyes at her. She moved to get up just as the timer to their meal went off, and Itachi had to wonder if there was even a need for a timer since his mother seemed to know without one.

She quickly pulled the pork out of the oven and set it on the stove. It smelled wonderful, and both Itachi and Sasuke paused in their work to inhale deeply.

"Well, that's done. I wonder when your father will be home," she mumbled as she pulled bits off to taste her creation.

As if she had summoned him, Fugaku appeared in the door to the hall with the same agitated aura Itachi could feel when he had visited him at the office.

"Uchiha," he said as he walked into the kitchen and pecked his wife on the lips. He sat at the head of the table as Sasuke quickly cleared away all of his papers so that Mikoto could set the table.

As per usual, their meal was carried out in relative silence as Fugaku's mood suffocated all of the once happy kitchen atmosphere, and Itachi couldn't help but refocus all of his energies into making the time pass more quickly so that he could meet up with Shisui to begin their night.

When they were finally excused, Itachi did everything in his power to prevent him from sprinting up the stairs to gather his gear and dash into the night. He decided that it was best to give himself at least an hour at home before going to the waterfall to meet with his friend. Sometimes, Itachi was quite envious of Shisui's lack of parentage to keep tabs on him, but he was startled out of his thoughts by a soft knock at his door.

"Yes," he said as the door slid to the side to reveal Sasuke as his visitor. Who else would it be?

"Aniki, can I stay in here with you for a while?" asked Sasuke timidly from the door.

"Sure, come in and close the door," he said before the spiky-haired raven bounded into his room to sit on his bed.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he peered over Itachi's shoulder to watch him tie some kunai on a ninja wire.

"I'm preparing my equipment for training and missions," said Itachi as he began wrapping the wire into a manageable coil to pack away and use later.

"Oh, we haven't learned anything like that in the Academy," said Sasuke as he leaned back against the wall.

"Well, I learned most of these skill in training with my teams. I'm sure you'll cover a little bit of it sometime soon," he said throwing a rare smile in Sasuke's direction.

"Or you could teach me," said the youngest Uchiha hoping that for once Itachi might train him.

"Hmm, well, I suppose this is something you could learn from me," that won't maim or kill you. So, Itachi cut off a piece of ninja wire for Sasuke and one for himself to demonstrate with.

Brimming with excitement, Sasuke quickly wriggled off the bed and onto the floor to take the piece of wire from his brother before he changed his mind. Itachi couldn't help but pat the spiky head before directing his attention to his mini-lesson.

"Well, I suppose for tonight we'll start by teaching you one of the basic knots that almost every shinobi uses when setting traps. I'll show you how to make one and then you try, okay?"

"Alright," said Sasuke as he watched his brother intently. Itachi made the easiest knot he knew and when he had finished Sasuke had already begun, but was failing miserably in his task.

"Did you even watch me?" asked Itachi as he poked Sasuke in the head to get his attention. He began pulling the mess of wire off of Sasuke's hands for him to start again. "Here, I'll show you once more time, but that's it. Then it's time for bed."

"Okay," he said with a pout before putting all of his energy into focusing on Itachi's knot tying skills. Sasuke stood up once Itachi had finished and moved toward the door with his wire in hand. "Do I really have to go?"

"Yes, Sasuke. Even great ninja need their sleep" said Itachi before shooing Sasuke out the door. He watched him trudge down the hall and into his own room before both of their doors slid shut and Itachi gathered the rest of his supplies. He slid out of his window after turning off the bedroom light and allowed himself the chance to check on Sasuke before slipping into the night to meet with his friend.

There were things that needed to be done, and Itachi had been waiting all day to do them.

So completely off the topic of this story, is anyone else feeling that adulthood should come with a warning label that says 'What are you doing?! This isn't fun!' and they can turn it into stickers to give to children at fairs and doctors' appointments and stuff. Well, anyway, I hope you liked this and that someone might tell me something, anything! please... Or not is cool too.

IPG