Chapter 7: 4 years down the road
Itachi and his squad consisting of Saigichi, Inoko, and Mimono had just finished their latest mission. They had been assigned to escort a large caravan from the coastline of the Land of Fire to the border of Takigature. It had been a long assignment. Due to several convoy wagons, it had been slow going. They had been away from the village for several weeks.
Mimino stretched her arms high over her head. "Boy, am I glad that's over! I've never seen animals move that slow! And the smell!" She wrinkled her nose prettily.
Inoko laughed, "Yeah this mission definitely was a long one!" She gave a sidelong view over to Saigichi who was a little bit ahead of her as she walked. They always started to bicker when they spent too much time together. This mission had been no exception.
Saigichi swaggered in front of the squad. He liked to appear like he was in charge. He surveyed the small village that they were in with mild distaste. "This is definitely not like home. Although those waterfalls that we passed along the way were quite impressive."
Itachi said nothing. He enjoyed the freedom of being out of the village. He liked Konoha but to him he felt stifled. There were too many people, too many memories, and well…Sasuke. He sighed unhappily at the thought of seeing his brother again after so many days gone.
Mimino looked over at him. "Missing Sasuke, huh? I know how you feel." Mimino had mistaken his sigh. She had married her butcher boy last year. They were essentially still honeymooners. The two were inseparable when they were in the village. This mission had been a bit longer than expected. Her husband would probably be getting a bit worried.
Itachi's sigh had been more of frustration. He was not a good parent. Sasuke was a troubled kid and Itachi did not have the wherewithal to handle him. He had all this pent up anger that he would usually send Itachi's way. Itachi didn't know what to do to appease the boy. One moment he would complain that Itachi was never there when he needed him and then the next he would tell him that he hated him and wanted him to go away. Itachi just didn't know how to deal with his mercurial moods. He tried to be patient. He loved his brother but he could not bear the constant verbal abuse or sullen looks.
His team was about to cross the border to return back into the Land of Fire when Itachi called out to them.
"I need to make a side trip. You all go ahead. I will catch up as soon as I'm finished."
Inoko looked back at her sensei, "Did you get a tip?" It was no secret that every time that they were on a mission, Itachi would look for Intel on the whereabouts of Danzo, the murderer of his clan. "We should go with you."
"No, it won't take me long. Besides it's probably another dead end." He saw Mimino looked relieved. She really wanted to get home as soon as possible.
Saigichi took charge as we was wont to do whenever he was given half a chance, "Come on team if we push it then Itachi sensei will have to work harder to catch up with us!" He gave Itachi a thumbs up sign and started away. Itachi's lips twitched and he thought, Saigichi has been spending too much time with Guy lately.
"Hey wait up! You aren't the boss of us, you know!" Inoko yelled after his retreating back and then turned back to Itachi and begged, "Please don't leave us with him for long!"
Itachi smiled and nodded. With that assurance she took off after Saigichi still screaming at him to slow down.
Mimino looked over at her sensei and smiled, "Be careful sensei! See you soon!" Then she followed her teammates.
Itachi turned to go check out the border town that they had come across yesterday. He hadn't finished his cursory observation of the place. It seemed a bit seedy which seemed to be Danzo's style. He turned to go investigate.
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Another dead end, he thought in disgust. The guy could not have disappeared so completely. Everywhere he looked there was no sign of Danzo. No one had seen a man matching his description. It was like he never existed. Maybe he's dead, he thought. Then shook his head. Somehow he knew that he would know if Danzo was dead. No he was very much alive. Itachi was traveling at shimmer speed, it was a combination of teleportation and running. It made him appear as a blur. He actually felt himself start to smile. He should be catching up with his team soon.
He teleported out in mid stride and kept up his pace. He was about to teleport again when he heard a scream. It was unmistakably that of Mimino. Itachi stopped in his tracks and got his bearings. Where had the scream come from? He activated his Sharingan and spied his team about 20 meters to the east of him. He saw that Mimino was on the ground and that Inoko was in a fighting stance guarding her. Where was Saigichi? Itachi scanned the area as he silently approached. He spied a large blue figure bearing a massive sword. The sword had pinned Saigichi to a tree. He looked to be unconscious. Itachi recognized the man as Kisame Hoshigaki.
Itachi approached silently but otherwise didn't try to mask his chakra. He knew that Kisame's sword, Samehada, had probably already detected him and informed his master. Kisame turned at Itachi's arrival.
"Ah, come to join the fun?" Kisame inquired of Itachi. "Long time no see, my friend"
Itachi approached the big man slowly, "Yes it has been a while." He concurred still refusing to drop eye contact with Kisame, despite hearing Inoko's exclaimed, "sensei".
Kisame turned to shoot a glance Inoko's way, "Sensei? What, these pups belong to you?"
Itachi inclined his head but otherwise gave no indication. Kisame though carelessly removed Samehada from Saigichi. The latter slid down the tree trunk with a moan of pain.
Kisame started to approach Itachi while he admonished Samehada, "Yeah yeah I know. It wasn't enough." Then he gave Itachi a wink, "Samehada likes to play with his food" and then he gave a hearty laugh, "He's a lot like you!" And then continued to laugh some more.
He glanced over at Inoko and gave his head a nod back to Saigichi, "It's ok. Go get your teammate. I have some business with your sensei here."
Inoko glanced at Itachi. He could read that Kisame's chakra seemed cool and collected. He didn't appear fired up for battle. Itachi gave a slight nod to Inoko who rushed over to Saigichi.
"I hadn't gotten around to vital points yet so you should be able to heal him enough to get back to Konoha. That is where you are going, right Itachi?" He inquired looking at Itachi with a shark like smile and raised eyebrow. During the exchange, Inoko had healed Saigichi enough to where he was able to stand.
Itachi kept one eye on Kisame while he walked over to Mimino. He put his hand on the top of her head and she instantly came to. She looked up at him suddenly and startled exclaimed, "Sensei!"
Itachi took his gaze off Kisame and looked down at his student. She had a huge bruise forming along the side of her face. Mimino was a genjutsu type. She probably tried to engage Kisame in a trance not realizing that Samehada was sentient and could easily break the trance before Kisame even felt it.
"Sorry I may have been a bit rough with that one. I really hate genjutsu. It's really annoying. I prefer a straight up one on one fight." Then he laughed again, "Or rather on two. Didn't mean to forget you my friend." He amended stroking the barbed edges of his sword. His sword seemed to even purr.
"Mimino, are you well enough to give aid to Inoko? I need you both to get Saigichi to the village."
Inoko made a choked sound, "Sensei we are not leaving you!" She announced. Itachi looked at her suddenly with his Sharigan and she involuntarily took a step back.
"You will take Saigichi straight to the village. I will meet you there."
Mimino and Inoko looked at him and said, "Hai" then they were gone.
Itachi turned his attention back to Kisame who had sheathed his sword and had sat down awaiting Itachi's attention.
He didn't say anything as he approached the man sitting nonchalantly on the ground. Itachi came up to him and stood about a meter away, eyeing the big man. Kisame gestured for Itachi to sit down. Itachi complied.
"What business did you want to discuss?" Asked Itachi. He was used to getting straight to the point. He really had no interest in pointless chit chat.
Kisame, however, was not so inclined, "What's it been four years since we last fought together?" Kisame made it sound as if they were allies instead of him being a S ranked criminal found in every one of the five nations' bingo books.
Itachi raised an eyebrow but declined to argue semantics. Instead he replied, "Something like that". He was starting to get bored. He really hated small talk.
Kisame seemed to read his mind and he grinned suddenly showing all his sharp double rowed teeth, "A birdie told me that you were looking for an old wind bag named Danzo."
This got Itachi's attention as Kisame knew it would. Kisame laughed at the darkness that came over Itachi's expression, "Now that's the face I remember so well"
Itachi quickly schooled his face back into his expressionless mask. His facial expression had not changed too much yet this man seemed to read him like an open book.
"Before I relay what I know of the old geezer, I need you to answer a question for me." Kisame eyed Itachi speculatively.
Itachi looked at Kisame coldly and then put his hands out, "Ask what you like." He said simply. He did not know if this man was toying with him, however he could tell that Kisame seemed genuine, for what that was worth.
"I want to know why someone with your talents and abilities would waste them on a village that massacred his entire clan?" Kisame put up his hands to wave off any potential retaliation that his question might have aroused. "Don't get me wrong! I get it if you hated your family but I didn't get that feel the last time we met."
Itachi regarded Kisame coldly and replied, "What does this have to do with you?" Itachi was a bit confused. This was not the type of question that he had anticipated. He expected to lie about village defenses, etc. He didn't understand the personal inquest.
Kisame smiled and started to pet Samehada which seemed to produce the expected purr of pleasure from the sword. "You see, normally we Akatsuki travel in pairs" He shrugged his massive shoulders nonchalantly and continued, "My last partner was from Konoha. Perhaps you know him, Orochimaru." Again Itachi's face showed disgust for a millisecond which Kisame seemed to catch.
He roared with laughter, "Ah yes, you've heard of him, I see. I have that same reaction when I see him too." His massive shoulders shivered. "Even Samehada doesn't want the taint of that chakra. Anyway as I was saying, the boss likes for us to travel in pairs. I've gotten away with being on my own up until now but now he's trying to pawn this annoying brat, Tobi, on me and I just can't …" He noticed the bored look on Itachi's face and got to the point, "I told the boss that I have an idea for a new recruit." He looked at Itachi meaningfully.
"Me?" Itachi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The thought was almost ludicrous.
"Yes!" Kisame said excitedly, "We fight together well. Samehada seems to like you, you make me laugh.."
Itachi couldn't help himself as he cut in, "I make you laugh?" he said tonelessly.
Kisame started laughing again, "Yeah like that! I love when you talk like that!"
Itachi started to get up. He brushed the dirt and grass from his clothes.
"Wait!" Said Kisame still sitting, "You haven't answered my question. Why do you give your allegiance to a village that betrayed you and your clan?"
Itachi looked down at Kisame and shrugged, "It's my home." He said simply. Kisame still looked at him expectingly. Itachi sighed. The guy did spare his squad and he did say that he had info regarding the whereabouts of Danzo.
"There are people that I care about there and who care about me." Kisame gave a suddenly carnivorous smile. It seemed like he was waiting for Itachi to say just that. Itachi couldn't escape the feeling that he had just sprung a trap of some kind.
"Well" Kisame said almost too happily, "You might be interested in knowing that the man you seek is right in front of your face. Ask your precious Hokage or those two old village elders of yours. They will know what I mean." With that bombshell dropped, Kisame stood up. I guess that I should leave you to get back to that squad of pups. Make sure to tell that hot headed kid to next time investigate his opponent a bit more before jumping into battle. He might not meet up with someone as nice as me next time."
Itachi only heard half of Kisame's diatribe. His ears were filled with a roaring that seemed to overcome his normally cool senses.
Kisame stared at Itachi a moment longer, "If you decide to join me, I want you to know that you can meet me at the border of Amekagure in one month's time. Think seriously, Itachi, the next time we meet may not be on such amicable terms." With that Kisame left in a whirl, leaving Itachi alone with his thoughts.
::
Itachi caught up to his team as they were entering the village gates.
Inoko looked at Itachi with relief, "I'm so glad that you caught up with us! What did that man want?" She peered closely at her sensei. She could tell that something had really upset him. You couldn't tell by his face, of course, but there was something different in his gaze. A coldness that she made her frightened. She had felt that in battle and was glad that he was on her side. Now she wasn't so sure.
"Itachi sensei?" She questioned again.
"It was nothing. Come, let's get Saigichi to the hospital."
::
Itachi sat at his dining table, sipping his tea, and thinking on what Kisame had alluded to and the events of the day. He had given his report omitting his conversation with Kisame. He had just ended the report by saying that Kisame had inquired on border patrols and that he had given him some standard misdirection. He said that he then teleported to meet up with his team.
Saigichi was staying the night at the hospital. He was severely chakra drained. He had apologized profusely to the whole team for getting them embroiled in the mess to begin with. He had recognized Kisame from the bingo book and thought that he looked like an easy mark since it was 3 on 1. He hadn't known anything about him though other than his name. He apologized profusely to Mimino whose face was puffed up terribly and turning a very unattractive blue and purple. When her husband showed up to escort her home, he threw a vicious look Itachi's way. As team leader, it was his responsibility to take care of everyone. He sighed, he shouldn't have left Saigichi in charge. The kid was a jonin but not a leader.
He then had made it home to find a sullen Sasuke. Sasuke still after all this time didn't like living in such proximity to Naruto.
"Well at least you made it in time for my graduation!" He had said huffily when Itachi had entered the apartment tied both emotionally and physically. Then Sasuke had given a sinister little smile, "Looks like our idiot neighbor didn't make the cut!"
Itachi noted that his little brother was a little too happy about the other boy's failure. He didn't understand Sasuke's obsessive dislike for the boy.
When he had left on his mission, Sasuke had coldly told him that he was glad that he was leaving. When he returned, he was scorned for his lateness. Lately, he couldn't appease Sasuke at all. Normally he just took what ever Sasuke dished out and just rode the tides of his emotions without uttering a single word. However today, Itachi felt different. He felt combative. When Sasuke had lashed out on him. He lashed back saying, "So now you want me to go to your school?"
Sasuke looked at him and shrugged, "Everyone else will have their parents and such there, so yeah you need to be there." It wasn't that he wanted him there, it was simply for appearances.
Itachi had snapped back, "You want me there so that you do not appear different, alone, like our neighbor kid."
Sasuke snapped his head back as if he had been struck, his eyes turned a deep red showing his Sharigan, "I'm nothing like that loser!" He snarled. Then he continued, "You know what? It's best if you don't come! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!" With that he went into his bedroom and slammed the door shut.
He was still in his room. He had refused to come out for dinner. Itachi sighed. He was tired but before he went to bed, he knew that he had least had to try to make things right between the two.
He went to Sasuke's door and knocked. When there was no answer he went in. He saw Sasuke sitting on the window ledge looking out over the village. Itachi went over and leaned up against the wall next to him so that he look at his face. Sasuke didn't even look over. Instead he put his head down into his folded arms and looked away.
Itachi stood there looking at his younger brother. He felt something inside him soften, "Of course I'll be there tomorrow, Sasuke."
Sasuke turned his head to look at his brother. Itachi could see the streaks of tears on his brother's face, "I'm not good enough. Even though I'm top of the class all any of them can do is compare me to you."
Itachi looked at his brother, "Is that how you feel?" He asked. He was tired of this same argument. Sasuke was Sasuke and he was who he was. Why couldn't his brother see that it didn't matter what anyone else thought?
However it did matter to Sasuke. He wanted his peers to recognize him, not his accomplished older brother. Sasuke sighed unhappily, "Everyone was asking me if you would be there. They all want to meet you. Even some of my classmates can't stop talking about how great it must be to be your little brother!"
His eyes teared and then he suddenly straightened up. He looked at his brother and his Sharigan activated since he obviously was upset, "But it's not! You are never here! My accomplishments are mine alone and have nothing to do with you! However whenever I do something right, I hear how you must have trained me or taught me! You are never there when I need you! Not that night and not now! So no, I don't want you there! Just go away. That's what you are good at!"
Itachi felt like he had been slammed with a chakra ladened fist. Yes he left on missions. That was his job as a shinobi of the village. Sasuke seemed to want him to go. When Itachi was home he made him feel like he was in his way. Itachi had offered to help Sasuke several times in the early days but Sasuke had always gotten upset when he couldn't grasp an ability right away. He would then get obstinate and tell Itachi that he could learn better on his own. Itachi respected his brother and let him have his space. Now that was being thrown back into his face.
And then for his brother to mention that night to him, that was the real kicker. There was nothing he could say. He wasn't there for him that night. If not for Kakashi being there, he would have lost his little brother that night. He had absolutely no rebuttal.
Itachi didn't know what to do. He stared at his brother one last time and then left. He grabbed his jacket and left the apartment. He was fighting that stifling, drowning feeling again. He needed to be outside.
He walked towards the Konoha training grounds. He found the tallest tree and climbed up to the top. As usual when he reached the apex he was met by the crow that contained Shisui's eye.
"Hello, my friend" Itachi murmured as he made himself comfortable and the crow did the same on his perch. "I really wish I had your council right now."
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Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. If so, then please send me a line or two. I'm at a fork in the story. I know where I want it to go but there's 2 potential options in my mind and I haven't quite made up my mind yet. So please forgive this cliff hanger ending. I will try to update soon once my quandary is rectified. As always thank you for those who follow/ faved. You are the main reason I keep writing.
