Itachi Uchiha
(Naruto Shippuden OST 2 Track 23 - Senya)
The sliding doors remained shut, not unusual for the late hours. He and his mother sat in the mostly empty room, both on opposite ends of their father. The stern man held his arms crossed, a proud smile on his face. His mother also looked on at him, more modest smile gracing her expression.
"That's my boy. You'll go far in the ANBU ranks, there's no question about it."
Itachi kept his head low, staring at the ground as he remained on the tree branch. He didn't feel like striking up a conversation with anyone. Briefly, he was introduced to each of the members that he would be working with. Quite a scary bunch, he was quite sure he didn't fit in with these guys. His father had such high hopes, and this is where he ended up.
Kakuzu passed on the electric pole lined road without a single glance, probably leaving after the meeting was over. Itachi's eyes followed him, holding in his fear towards the man. Out of them all, the miser was definitely one to take note on, for personal safety. Beyond the road was a simple field, lined with trees in the distance. A hilltop could be seen on the horizon, another robed figure that he came to know as Sasori sat underneath the single tree though quite blurry and dark under the shadows. He was also pretty scary, but didn't speak much. He seemed too grouchy to be able to put up with Deidara. Beyond the hill was another field, though blackened for an unknown reason.
Speaking of the boy, Kakuzu passed him on the path, blue eye sizing up Kisame who stood nearby with his Samehada blade rested on his shoulder. Deidara was a strange one, not an Akatsuki member and yet he didn't seem to fear the others but challenge them. Though he shrugged away occasionally when it was smart to, he didn't face them with a terror, as if he was oblivious to everything they had probably done to earn the title of S-rank.
"You're tall..." Deidara squinted as he gazed up at the shark, trying to protect his eyes from the glare of the sun.
"Hehe, am I?" Kisame grinned, looking down at the little squirt. In attempt to shock him, he brought down his sword, jabbing it into the ground. "You're pretty small."
"Obviously, I'm not an adult!" The little boy exclaimed fearlessly, waving his arms in the air to emphasize his point. Calmed down, the blond posed another question. "Are you Kisame Hoshi...Hoshigenku? Hoshi..."
Amused by the child's tenacity, the blue-skinned man corrected him. "Hoshigaki. Kisame Hoshigaki. I see you know me."
"Danna told me about you!" Deidara bounced energetically. "You're a lot different than I imagined."
No fear at all. Itachi continued to watch, seeing the slight discomfort that came over the shark in response. The two continued to talk, all the same as if it were a normal child and an adult who have met for the first time. If it weren't for their first encounter, he'd have tried to shoo the blond away from here to avoid being seen.
Well, no point in contemplating. He planned to stay here for a bit, and get to know the members a little more; it wasn't like he had a choice. Itachi rose and got down from the height, easily earning a glance from the younger boy. He knew I was there the entire time.
Seeing him leave, Deidara quickly turned, waving briefly towards the other Akatsuki like they were neighbors. "Bye, Kisame-no-danna!"
He rushed over to the Uchiha, face contorting into a more serious look rather than the innocent one he used the majority of the time. His eyes narrowed, glaring slightly at the other.
Itachi stopped. "Why are you following me?"
"Danna told me to play somewhere and have fun. That's what I'm doing, following you."
The raven turned, slightly surprised by the words that came out of the boy's mouth. Sasori had told him that? Surely not, the old man seemed too ill tempered to say something like that. Looks could be deceiving however.
"You don't seem to like me. How could you have fun following me?"
Deidara rolled his eyes. "You see any other kids around here?"
He gazed around, facing the boy once again. "I see one."
That struck a nerve. "I'm not a little kid!"
"You asked me if there were other kids around here. Wouldn't that refer to yourself as a child?"
"Little. Little." Deidara hissed. "I still don't get why you're an Akatsuki and not me."
Itachi blinked. "You really want to...be like us?"
Orochimaru made a sadistic smile, back pressed to a nearby tree trunk. His tongue snaked out of his mouth, licking his lips. All of this waiting, and now it's finally time. His patience had been rewarded at last. Swiftly, he disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
"Why not? Danna's an Akatsuki, but he deserves it more than you."
The Uchiha stood for a moment, then turned away, returning to the direction he had gone in. Deidara blinked, scoffing before doing the same, keeping up with the other. A few minutes passed, both stepping out onto the familiar setting of the cobblestone path leading uphill to the temple. Itachi began to climb the steps, younger following a good distance behind, back faced to him.
"You should go home."
The little boy looked at him oddly.
"It's dangerous here. Even with your master, he can't protect you forever. Someday, we all have to leave the nest and fend for ourselves. You're not old enough to do that."
"You think I haven't faced death?" Deidara let his gaze fall to the floor. "I've already killed people. There's no going back afterwards. I've nearly died three times. Danna's saved me twice."
The path split in two, a familiar lamppost marking the place where both ends differed in direction. Itachi headed to the right, continuing up the stairs towards the temple.
"You should stop acting so uptight." Deidara advised. "People will be nicer to you that way. I saw what happened with Kisame-no-danna. He's not that bad."
A swishing sound emitted from behind, the edge of the wrapped sword levelled at his shoulder threateningly. "Do you want you know something interesting? Some sharks are ovoviviparous which means that the eggs hatch inside the female's body, then are born. With some kinds of sharks, the number of eggs that hatch are not equal to the number of pups born. Do you know why?"
"I hope your right about that."
The eleven-year old's look intensified, not sure how to take the reply. As they walked, it didn't take him long to realize that a third pair of footfalls had joined both of theirs, someone was approaching from behind. For now, he wouldn't look; it could very well just be another one of their own.
"Deidara."
Orochimaru. The blond paused and turned back, putting on his oblivious face to hide his discomfort. Striking yellow eyes quickly pierced his guise, causing Deidara to falter slightly.
Orochimaru made a deep laugh, earning the attention of the Uchiha just a few steps further up the path.
"Sasori told me he wanted you to head back."
The hush tone sent a shiver down the boy's back. It didn't matter what he preached to his danna, they were just big words. Having spent three years away from the snake, the bomber had long been astray from the Akatsuki's presence. The old feeling returned, isolation mixed in with a sense of doubt.
A wind blew on the area, moving the pale-man's cloak slightly in the breeze. His wide smirk remained, irritation showing in his eyes at the blond. "Well? You don't want to keep your precious master waiting do you?"
The subordinate remained silent. Sasori just told him a short while ago to play and have fun, he'd never tell Orochimaru to come get him, they didn't trust his partner that much. What does he want? What's going on?
"Go on already, didn't you hear me? I have some...business I want to take care of with our new member here. Be a good little boy and go straight home to Sasori, okay?"
Business, what business? Deidara looked back to Itachi, eyeing him for a moment. His sharingan had not activated, staring down at the snake with a different look than before. He bit his lip. Damn, maybe I should have warned him about Orochimaru before we got here. I mean, I hate him but...dealing with this guy does nobody any good.
"Itachi?" He asked.
"...It's fine. It's on your master's orders, you should follow them."
The wind picked up, creating a flurry of green leaves to dance in the air. The little boy's face fell, the tension rising as quickly as the breeze was.
"I don't need you to tell me that, geeze...I already told you: I don't need your help!" With that, Deidara hurried down the steps, disappearing into the wall of trees.
At last, the two were alone.
Orochimaru's blood raced, the very moment he had waited for, all that time, finally for something worth it. His pale hand twitched, a hiss emitting from his sleeve while the cloth jerked back as if something moved underneath.
Continuing up the steps, the snake slithered out of his sleeve, rearing its head back. In a split second, the serpent had wrapped around the raven, coiling several tight circles around its victim. Forced to a stop, Itachi stared passively at the snake, its fangs brandished at him threateningly as it made a loud hiss.
"One who possesses the precious sharingan appears before me. How lucky I am." Orochimaru tilted his head upwards, eyes widening eagerly.
"Danna!"
Sasori lost his concentration, growling slightly as he turned towards his subordinate, putting no effort into hiding his irritation. His puppet was almost finished, just need a little polishing up and it would be ready for testing in the next hour or so, he planned to stay for a while after all.
He gazed over at his brat, who looked less gleeful than he was concerned. Regardless, he still questioned why the boy was wearing less clothing. Had he gone swimming? Kisame put his sharks in that lake didn't he?
"Orochimaru! I think he's after Itachi!"
"What!?"
KRSH
A pale hand fell onto the floor limp, Akatsuki ring still firmly attached to left pinky. The snake cried out in pain, desperately grasping his left wrist and applying fierce pressure onto the severed limb. His body shook, a black expression going over his features as he trembled underneath the Uchiha's gaze.
Itachi held his bloodied kunai in his hand, holding still in the case of another attack. He would not let the other ninja escape his Genjutsu.
Nearby, a familiar blond child raced through the forest, quickly emerging from the wall of trees in haste. His stopped abruptly in the middle of the scene, blue eyes switching between both ninja. Deidara's presence remained ignored in the standoff, giving the boy a chance to back off.
His gaze moved down the floor, eyes widening at the sight of a pale ringed hand lain on the stone floor, a clean slice where it had parted spewed out with fresh blood, dripping down the steps. Droplets remained splattered in Itachi's direction, leading Deidara's sight to settle on the bloodied kunai, now realizing what had just happened.
Deidara dare not blink, holding his breath with lips slightly parted as he slowly backed away from the two, not liking the feeling that plagued the air. His back pressed up against a bark surface, firmly moving himself against the tree. Did he just...he just...
A single eye slowly but surely returned to Itachi. He injured Orochimaru. Orochimaru!
The Uchiha spoke up in a calm voice. "Orochimaru, before my eyes, all of your jutsu become useless."
"Impossible..." Deidara breathed. His mind screamed for him to move, but he couldn't, frozen on the spot before two powerful Shinobi. It didn't matter to his instincts that neither noticed, something told him, if he didn't get away, they would surely notice sometime.
The raven's kunai lowered, a slight bit of security washing over his body. This man was of no threat to him, not while his Sharingan was activated.
More blood spilled onto the steps, the snake having loosened his grip on the open wound. The blond jerked back, knowing immediately when another ninja was about to move in for another strike.
"ITACHI!" Orochimaru moved towards the younger boy, cool facade broken at the humiliation of being beaten by a mere child.
His target immediately tried to jump back, kunai raised again as an attempt to dodge the incoming attack. A single snake emerged from his sleeve, directly aimed at the Uchiha boy. Though Orochimaru could not move due to the Genjutsu, his pet would.
The snake's jaws opened, revealing sharp fangs that curved and extended in his direction. Itachi has not anticipated this, moving too slow a pace to simply move out of its range. His heart skipped a beat, eyes widening as the fangs moved in on him.
SLASH
"Hiss!"
Hiruko remained silent, watching the snake head join the fallen hand on the stone steps. The head laid limp, then began to jerk and move about as if it were still alive. He'd seen this before, no big deal. His large tail hovered over the scene, sharp edge having cut the snake in half before it could reach their newest member.
Itachi landed a few steps further up, knees bent in a crouch to soften the fall. His eyes widened, pinwheel pattern shifting its shape dangerously. A bead of sweat fell down his temple. That was too close.
"D-damn you...Sasori..." Orochimaru managed out, body still struggling against the Genjutsu and the paralyzing pain shooting up his arm. Yellow pupils stared up upon his partner, a dead glare returning the look.
"Danna!" Deidara called out, turned towards his master.
Sasori extended a hand within his puppet, latching chakra threads onto sections of his partner's body, keeping him firmly still. He swung Hiruko's head in Itachi's direction. "Deactivate the genjutsu, I can hold him."
Compliantly, the red pattern in the Uchiha's eyes swirled into their usual black. He let out an exhale of relief, discarding the kunai before letting his arm fall. Shoulders went slack and the boy raised himself, remaining on his spot to observe the snake struggle.
"Hiss-"
CRUNCH
The subordinate scrunched up his face in disgust, averting his eyes from the dead snake head. While his danna was here, he felt he had nothing to fear from his partner.
"Shut up, creepy snake." Deidara muttered and worked his foot into the dead serpents head, making the nerves unusable. If he learned one thing over all these years, even when beheaded, a snake could still bite.
"I heard something was going here so I decided to check it out." Sasori explained himself. "Leader went through all the trouble to get us a new member, so I won't allow for him to get killed on his first day, not by another member at least."
Hiruko shuffled towards the center of the road, wedging its bulky body between the two children and his partner, facing him squarely. Orochimaru scowled, growling at the three. Two little boys were one thing, but Sasori was whole other. With all those puppets at hand, he would suffer more than just a severed arm, especially if the puppeteer was crazy bent on protecting the duo behind him.
The binds on his body faded out, giving him freedom.
"This attack won't go unreported."
Orochimaru made a wary gaze at the three, spitting on the steps before turning around and descending the steps. "Tch! Do what you like."
They waited until the snake disappeared around a corner. Deidara finally let out his breath, face paling at the lack of oxygen. He wasn't even aware that he was holding it, but he was pretty sure only Orochimaru could cause him to do that. Maybe leader too...
Sasori stood there for a moment, then turned to Itachi. "I saw you injure him so I assumed you had things under control. Had I not decided to step in anyway, you would have been in a lot more trouble. It was a good thing my subordinate came to warn me."
"Ah, thank you, Sasori." Itachi bowed, only to hear an irritated cough from beside him. He looked up, face to face with a rather crossed looking eleven-year old. Deidara stared at him expectantly, tapping his foot rather loudly.
"Thank you, Deidara."
The blond made an approving look, nodding with a smile before snidely turning away from them both. "That's it, you should be speaking more like that. It's way nicer."
"You're the one to talk." Sasori grumbled.
Itachi stared for a moment, a warm fuzzy feeling quickly breaking his stone-cold guise. A smile made its way onto his face, allowing a small chuckle past his lips at the scene.
"My partner's a bit more dangerous than most, my advice to avoid him."
Itachi heeded his word, noticing a green hill up ahead with a single tree growing up top. Next to the tree laid a scroll with a menagerie of tools and wooden parts. A single wooden body was set on the scroll, right leg having yet to be attached. The bulky puppet moved up the hill, stopping underneath the light shadow.
"Danna's right." Deidara agreed with a sure nod that looked a bit too sure to the Uchiha.
The little subordinate joined his master on the hill, seating himself and leaning against the trunk of the tree, making sure to keep out of the puppet master's work area. His attitude seemed to vastly improve after he thanked him. Perhaps that was what the blond was waiting for.
Itachi scaled the hill, going a little further than both to take a gander out at the blackened field on the other side, contrasting heavily from the flowery green grass of which they came. A thick burning smell emitted from the field, though it didn't seem to bother both the child or the other Akatsuki.
"Danna?"
He heard the two begin to talk behind his back, onyx eyes continuing to scan over the scarred earth. With no bird sounds to listen to, he began to eavesdrop.
"Hm?"
"Did he have the eye jutsu that Orochimaru wanted?"
"Probably. Considering the attack, he might have waited for him to join just to do that very thing."
The thirteen year old turned to them both, momentarily halting the conversation as the boy realized he was being watched. He gave the bulky puppet a look before leaning back against the tree trunk, facing Itachi casually.
"Is it really that special?" Deidara seemed to groan.
"The Sharingan, a dojutsu utilized mainly in the Uchiha clan. Itachi Uchiha..." Hiruko's eyes moved up to the other boy. "As I've heard, you murdered your clan in as single night, making you the only Sharingan user left."
"Big deal. I bombed my village before I went." Deidara snorted.
"Not on purpose, you were scared according to you. You haven't changed that story."
"I still did it!"
They seem to be fairly friendly towards each other. Itachi made himself comfortable and sat down. So this was Sasori? A bit different from before, but then again, the two only made brief introductions before the old man decided to leave the temple. Never in his life had he imagined such a scene to unfold in the Akatsuki, a group known for its crimes.
The puppet made a low growl. "I just hope Kisame doesn't dump his own little brat on me in the future. I already have one, two is a hassle."
Deidara crawled over to the hulking puppet, knocking a few times on its body. The Uchiha noted a hollow sound. Surprisingly, the elder didn't retaliate from the touch, like he imagined most would.
"How are you gonna do any work in there anyway?"
"Give me a minute, I'm getting out, back up already."
As soon as his subordinate shuffled away, the body erupted in a white smoke. This didn't surprise the blond, who simply yawned and dropped his head onto the grass floor sleepily.
The cloud cleared, revealing a different form than before. Sasori was now a much younger looking man, about in his teens with short bright red hair. His face was certainly more youthful, though definitely a ways older than his fellow Akatsuki. Itachi caught his glance, slightly curious towards this entirely new introduction. So that old man was a puppet? Or shell?
Deidara looked up nonchalantly. "Don't be fooled, Danna's twenty-seven."
"Oh." Itachi blinked. Despite all the questions, he chose to keep them unspoken. If Orochimaru wasn't about to challenge the redhead, neither was he. Regardless of how strong he was, he couldn't underestimate the wrath of a far more experienced rogue.
The puppeteer looked over his shoulder, a bored look on his face as he paid some attention to their newest member. "It may a bit out of date to do this, but I'll thank you again for taking out those Iwagakure ninja back at the port village."
He shook his head. "No need. Leader ordered me to do it."
"Huh?" Deidara quickly shot up from his lain position as if an electric shock struck him. "What are you guys talking about? What Iwagakure ninja?"
"Remember the first village I took you to after we met? Not the one you woke up in, but the one after that."
The blond squinted. "The Ink village?"
"Yeah. When I came to get you, I was surrounded by a squad of Iwagakure ninja. I was going to deal with this swiftly but Itachi got them out of the way for me. Of course, he was probably just being tested for his skills by Leader before officially allowed to join."
"Really?" The eleven-year old dropped his head, thinking back, his voice becoming soft. "So you were around even then..."
Itachi thought for a moment. "Back then, I was told Deidara wasn't your subordinate. That's changed now?"
Click
Sasori slowly put down the leg, having finally re-attached it to the joint. The raven-haired boy spied a red logo on printed onto the neck of the puppet, a stylistic scorpion encased in a red diamond. "After the whole fiasco was dealt with, then he was arranged to be my subordinate. I have a long-term assignment to raise him as my student."
He propped the puppet up against the tree, a faint blue line extended from his finger to the marionette's arm, lifting it slowly before letting it drop, testing the durability of the joints.
"Afterwards, we got sent to Iwagakure to retrieve a scroll containing the brat's jutsu. The reason being that if the Akatsuki were to ever need it in the future, we could use the forbidden Kinjutsu. It also serves as a backup just in case Deidara somehow loses his hands or the jutsu fails one day." Considering the duds recently though, it could be possible that time is coming soon.
Itachi glanced over to the rather downtrodden child, eyeing his hands. They didn't possess any special seals and he hadn't seen anything written on his palm. What kind of Kinjutsu? Ridding his mind of a question he didn't want to ask, he dragged another one out of the back of his brain. The redhead seemed somewhat trustworthy, seemingly friendly towards the blond so perhaps, he was less of a grouch than his first impression perceived.
"Sasori?" The raven paused, realizing that the tone of voice he used was tad bit more high-pitched and innocent than he had anticipated.
"What?"
He seemed harmless enough right now. "Do you know...Kisame very well?"
"Sort of. The Akatsuki don't meet a lot, so I don't know him personally. Why do you ask?"
His twiddled his fingers nervously inside his long sleeves, weighing his words. Itachi felt like a child all over again on his first day of the academy, and Sasori was his new teacher. Another feeling he didn't expect to experience here. Otherwise, he kept a straight face, hoping to stay strong. The redhead looked to be willing to give answers.
"He's my partner. Our first meeting was a bit...uh..."
"Not surprising. We don't tend to exactly become best friends with our partners. I don't like my own partner very much, so I'm in no place to advise you on how to befriend Kisame."
"I see. It's okay, I'll manage." Itachi sighed before feeling a glare directed towards him.
Currently, Deidara was staring daggers at the Uchiha, mouth set in a deep frown. "You're lucky to even see what danna really looks like. He doesn't like showing people his true form."
"Brat, be quiet."
"It's not fair!"
