Last week Itachi and his team took out three of the six teams competing in the second Chuunin exam.
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Disclaimer: Kishimoto is owned by Naruto
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Chapter 37 – The Tower
The early morning forest was still dark as Itachi quietly followed the small monkey through the trees. Several minutes earlier it had appeared to him in a puff of smoke and asked him to follow it. Recognizing the animal as a summons he had awoken Sana and asked her to keep an eye on the camp while he scouted around.
Eventually Itachi was led to a large tree branch where someone was waiting. Approaching the figure cautiously Itachi did a double-take when he realized who it was.
"Lord Hokage, why are you here?" Itachi asked, so surprised he forgot to bow.
"Itachi." The man, who was dressed completely in black, laughed good naturedly, but there seemed to be very little "good nature" in the expression on his face. "You have caused me concern. I knew you were efficient but I admit I should have considered the options more carefully."
"What are you talking about?" Itachi wondered if the Hokage was going to pull him out of the exam.
"Leave the other teams alone and go to the tower." His smile disappeared and his face became deadly serious. "The other villages are accusing us of rigging the exam after you took out the three teams yesterday and managed to get all those teams expelled from the first exam. It could lead to another war. Do you understand?"
Itachi was furious and he activated his sharingan and looked the elderly man directly in the eye. "How dare you! I am not a weak little kid who has to be babysat!"
"Itachi!" Sarutobi yelled at him, causing the boy to back down. "You misunderstand. The end of the last war resulted in a treaty whereby the signers agreed to host a Chuunin exam. The exam would be used as a mini-war in which the winners of the second round would meet for combat in the third round in a public arena. If the only winner of the second round is a team from Konoha it will cause problems. Uchiha is the most powerful clan and they carry Konoha on their backs. Their presence on the battlefield has always caused fear in the hearts of their enemies.
"Stone and Cloud are already accusing us of rigging the exam because I let you compete. However I gave my word to you and your father that you would be in this exam. In order to keep everyone happy I am asking you to take your team to the tower and let the other two teams finish on their own.
"Itachi. I do not ask this lightly. You have seen war. You know what is at stake here."
Itachi suddenly had a flashback to the valley in Water country. Corpses for as far as the eye could see. Dead bodies of mothers holding their children. Husbands and wives. Dead shinobi. And the nightmares that had haunted him ever since.
"Are…are you exaggerating?" Itachi asked in a worried voice.
Sarutobi heard the boys tone and frowned. He had been told by Aki what had happened in Water country, and he felt bad to have to throw it in the boys face like this, but it was necessary. "I am not exaggerating."
"Then…" Itachi voice got even lower as he felt his spirits drop. "are you asking us to throw the match and let them win?" His father would not understand. Itachi silently wondered if he had planned on this happening and was hoping another war would erupt. Why did people keep putting such heavy responsibilities on him? Why couldn't they do this stuff themselves?
"No. After the two remaining teams fight each other for the correct scroll the winner will join you in the tower. The third exam will be a series of one-on-one battles. You may fight as you want and beat everyone you are able to beat. You are not giving up anything, but you are saving the village from another war." The Hokage put his hands behind his back.
"Okay. But we already have three of the same scroll. The other two can't possibly get in the tower now." Itachi gave in. He understood and while he was disappointed at not getting to take out all five teams he would get to go all out in the last exam at least. He also did not want to see another field of corpses again.
"Give me one. I can have an ANBU team deal with that. The other team will never realize their scroll was switched. And Itachi, don't tell anyone I spoke with you. Ever." Sarutobi took the scroll and disappeared.
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Itachi realized that convincing his teammates to go straight to the tower was going to be a problem. They were supposed to be out here for seven days and only one day had passed. Not to mention Sana and Yuri were looking forward to taking out the other two teams. And if they discovered the missing scroll there would be hell to pay, he was sure of it.
However, Itachi was in for a surprise when he returned to camp. Walking close to cave he could see that both Sana and Yuri were asleep. No. Not asleep. Unconscious. His sharingan activated and he scanned the area for anything unusual. The sun was now up, although all the good it did in the thick forest was brighten the area.
Itachi dodged quickly to the left as a long mechanical tentacle-like contraption shot past his face. Pulling out a kunai he parried two more thrusts as more tentacles targeting him. He quickly determined their trajectory and launched a volley of kunai in that direction then ran toward the hidden enemy. Whoever it was, they were masking their chakra so effectively that his sharingan could barely see it.
When he approached close to where he estimated the tentacles had come from he stopped dead in his tracks. Two very strong chakra signatures suddenly appeared. One on either side of him. And one of them felt familiar. He hadn't sensed it since he was four or five or six he wasn't sure exactly when, but he did know who it belonged to.
"Orochimaru. What are you doing here? I thought you ran away with your tail between your legs." Itachi turned around and faced the pale man, who was smiling broadly.
"Itachi Uchiha. How nice to meet you again. Only this time you are alone without your guardians." Orochimaru's effeminate voice sounded oddly chilling, but Itachi let no emotion show on his face. He did look the man over and was surprised at his attire. Looking behind him he saw that the man's companion was also dressed the same. A long black cloak with red clouds, blue pants and white leggings that attached the pants to the sandals. They also wore dark polish on their finger and toe nails.
"What's with the fashion statement? Kimonos too expensive now?" Itachi, who was already in a bad mood from speaking to the Hokage was now in an extremely bad mood.
"Very amusing, young man. I could say the same for you, after all, all the Uchiha dress alike. That black jumpsuit you have on with the Uchiha crest on the back is the exact same thing young Sasuke is wearing today." Orochimaru laughed.
Itachi's eyes flared in anger. "What were you doing near my brother! You keep away from him!" He yelled so loud his voice took on a horse edge to it.
"Or what?"
"I'll kill you!" Itachi started to run toward the snake-man when another tentacle shot out at him. He ended up having to turn around in mid-stride and parry with his kunai.
"I don't think you'll be killing anyone today." The man who spoke had a gravelly, low voice and the words were measured and calm.
"Who are you!" Itachi yelled at him.
"Temper, temper. If you don't calm yourself down, now, you will do something you will regret. I was told you were a force to be reckoned with but if this is all you are then we'll be leaving."
Itachi stared at him. The… thing in front of him was not a man but a puppet. The man who spoke must be inside of it. The puppet was long and flat, like a beetle perhaps, and a long scorpion's tail protruded from the back of it. Five mechanical tentacles were still extended and waving around in the air above it.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked, clenching his teeth. He didn't like to be lectured.
"Sasori of the red sands. Lately of Akatsuki. And we are here to see you." Sasori said, clearly irritated. "Although why Leader would be interested in you is beyond my comprehension. "
Something clicked and Itachi forced himself to calm down. Could this "Leader" be the same person he had spoken to a couple years earlier when he was with Dr. Motoi?
"A skinny, short, ten-year-old boy who throws temper tantrums and yells at people. Arrogant as hell, too." Sasori was laying it on thick.
Itachi wasn't listening to the insults anymore. If "Leader" was the same person, the these two people confronting him were working for Madara. Yet Itachi had been specifically told not to mention Madara's name to anyone. Neither Sasori nor Orochimaru seemed to be openly threatening him. The attacks were easy to parry and now they just seemed to want to insult him.
In a much calmer voice Itachi spoke to Sasori, whom he felt he could tolerate slightly better than Orochimaru. "What is going on? I am in the middle of a Chuunin exam and my teammates and I have things to do."
"Not according to what I heard." Sasori answered.
"Sasori…" Itachi suddenly remembered something else. "Kabuto."
"Yes, now you remember." The dry, gravelly laugh that came from the puppet was creepy.
"Where is…" Itachi started to ask for Madara but Sasori quickly cut him off.
"We won't discuss him here. Now. We aren't here to fight. Your abilities are already well known. A place in our organization has been reserved for you." Sasori saw Itachi's puzzled face and explained further. "Akatsuki."
"New Dawn? What's that about? I'm going to become a Chuunin and join ANBU. I haven't any idea what you guys are talking about."
Orochimaru spoke up, "You will find out soon enough. Wait for someone to contact you again."
Itachi had enough and launched himself at the puppet. He hadn't had a good fight yet and he was sure he could take them on. Sasori released several tentacles at the boy, but Itachi was fast and flexible. He dodged every one of Sasori's attacks and landed hard on the top of the puppet, fully expecting it to crack. However there was no damage.
More tentacles came out to grab at the boy and Itachi jumped straight up into the air, pulled out his sword from its scabbard on his back and did a summersault in the air to change his momentum. That accomplished he was now falling toward the scorpion's tale with his sword held up ready to strike. Once again he came down hard but the sword bounced off the tail, leaving only a nick where it had hit.
Itachi immediately jumped back as the tail swung around in an attempt to hit him. He jumped up again, this time targeting the small head that protruded from the front of the puppet. His speed was such that neither Sasori nor Orochimaru could see him move and this time when Itachi brought his sword down it connected and severed the head.
Thinking that the puppet was now blind, he ran back to the tail and swung his sword down again inside of the joint at the base. The tail came off.
"Why you little brat!" Sasori roared at him. "Do you know how long it's going to take me to fix that?" The puppet lifted its arms and started to form some signs. Three human shaped puppets appeared and rushed at the boy simultaneously.
Itachi jumped straight up into the air and quickly formed the seals for a fire ball jutsu and sent it straight at the puppets. He landed on a thick branch above the scene. After the flames passed he saw that only one of the puppets had been destroyed, the other two were unaffected. A volley of senbon were launched up at Itachi and he dodged them all.
"Watch out there, Itachi. Sasori's fangs are poisoned." Orochimaru called up to the boy. "And so are mine, Sasori, if you kill the boy."
"Mind your own business." Sasori's voice was angry. The boy was so fast that he was avoiding all of his attacks. He briefly considered bringing out some of his more powerful puppets, but realized that it would either be pointless or if it did kill Itachi, Leader would rip him into a million pieces. Calming down Sasori realized that none of this was worth the trouble.
"We will call this a draw, Itachi. You are indeed powerful. You may consider yourself a member of Akatsuki." Sasori reached out with his tentacles and picked up the severed head, tail and broken puppet and stored them inside the larger puppet body. "You will be contacted for your first mission, at which point you will be given more information."
"I never said I wanted to join!" Itachi said, jumping back down to the ground.
"It was never an option with you boy. You were chosen. That is all there is to it." Sasori spoke as he turned around and disappeared into the forest, Orochimaru followed closely behind.
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Itachi didn't say anything about either of his meetings to his teammates. They woke up about an hour after the two Akatsuki had left. Itachi looked at them and realized they had been knocked out with poison. The two girls were listless and Sana had even thrown up.
"Let's stay here longer." Itachi said quietly. It was a good spot to rest, the small cave was easily defensible and while he was sure he could carry one of the girls, there was no way he could carry both. For one thing they were three and four years older than him and about a foot taller.
The two girls agreed and laid back down without comment. Using the medical guide he got for his birthday he mixed up a generic antidote and gave it to them. They felt a little better afterward, but still sleepy.
A few hours later an ANBU came by and asked Itachi about the health of his comrades.
"They are resting and should be well in a few hours." He answered quietly. The ANBU had then entered the cave and checked them himself.
"Okay. They are fine. Just checking. We aren't supposed to leave you guys out here if you are ill." The ANBU disappeared in a swirl of smoke.
Itachi knew the man wasn't checking on the health of the girls. He was checking to see why they weren't at the tower yet. The Hokage probably blew a blood vessel when they didn't turn up on time. Sighing, Itachi laid down on the exposed root outside the cave and closed his eyes to meditate. There was no sun to assist his concentration so he imagined one. It worked just as well.
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The trio approached the tower on the third day of the exam. Yuri and Sana hadn't felt like arguing when Itachi had told them he was bored and wanted to end the exam. They had to agree. They had their fun, been poisoned somehow, and now felt like they were recovering from the flu. It was time to go home.
They found the door that had the same number as the gate they had entered through and stood looked at it for a couple minutes. Itachi really didn't feel like sitting inside a building for four days, but waiting outside would probably be even worse.
"Maybe if the other team is here already or comes shortly they will end the exam soon and we won't have to wait around." Itachi said hopefully.
"That would be too much to hope for, I think, but I will anyway." Yuri said, smiling.
Sana grasped the door handle and opened it. They entered into a large rectangular shaped room that looked like it was probably used for training. There was a mural in front of them on the far end of the room and they quickly gathered that they needed to open a heaven and earth scroll.
Itachi dug through his pack for the scrolls, not wanting the girls to see that one was missing, and handed them over. Sana and Yuri opened them up and threw them on the ground. A swirl of smoke appeared and when it cleared Yurina was standing in front of them.
"Congratulations! You finished! I never knew you had it in you! What a surprise! NOT!" She laughed at the looks of hate her three charges were giving her. "Cheer up, guys, you're done. When the other two teams are accounted for the exam will end and after a short meeting with the Hokage you are free to go until the third exam starts."
"When will that be?" Yuri asked.
"He'll tell you. I'm not supposed to say too much right now." Yurina smiled in apology.
"That's okay." Sana said, returning her smile.
"There are showers, bathrooms, and cots but you need to provide your own food. You are not allowed to leave to leave the building so if you don't have enough food you're screwed."
"We're fine. We packed well." Itachi said emotionlessly.
"Good. Well, I have to be going. Good luck, and I'll see you again after the Hokage's speech." Yurina disappeared in a swirl of smoke.
"I say we go find those showers." Yuri said with feeling. "I don't even care if they're not heated. I just want some water on me." The other two had to agree with her idea.
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The last team wandered in the next day and the exam was promptly ended. It was the team from the Village Hidden in the Stones. It consisted of two boys and a girl, all of whom looked to be about thirteen years old. All three wore their long hair in top-knots and Itachi was reminded of the young boy he had met on his first mission. He wondered what the kid was up to now. He also was a student of Madara, albeit an indirect student, but a student nonetheless. Was he also a member of Akatsuki?
Itachi looked at the Stone ninja's, trying to gauge their abilities. In order to be here they would have had to have fought against the Cloud ninja's yet none of them were bruised or scratched and their clothes weren't overly dirty. He hoped that meant they had some skill. As for size, they were average height for their age and weren't overly muscular. None of them carried swords. He remembered noting that they were unprepared when they had gone through their packs at the beginning of the test, yet they didn't seem to be suffering in any way. Could that have been a trick? If it was it certainly fooled him. He made a mental note to not rely on appearances.
The Hokage walked up and called everyone to attention. He then gave them the same speech he had given Itachi, about the exams being created to replace war. He then went on to explain the third exam.
"A hierarchically structured one-on-one fight will occur in one month's time. This will give you time to train." He handed a chart to one of the proctors who walked over to the six Genin and held it up. Itachi saw that each of his teammates was fighting against a Stone ninja. He was fighting a boy named Genya Watanabi in the first round. He would have to research the boy to find out his fighting methods as well as his strengths and weaknesses. Luckily he had a month to do so.
The Hokage continued speaking. "There will also be a festival going on for three days during the fights to entertain the visitors. Any questions?"
One of the Stone ninja's spoke. "So if we are fighting this way, does that mean there will be only one winner? I mean, only one Chuunin selected?"
"Good question. Chuunin will be selected not on whether you win or loose a fight, but on how well you conduct yourself during the battle. The Kage's present will all discuss the battles and make the decisions after the last battle has taken place. The selections will be announced during the festival on the last day."
"So all of us or none of us could pass." Yuri said matter-of-factly.
"Correct." The Hokage confirmed, then smiled as he saw relief pass over the faces of the six children. He realized that in a lot of ways they were asking the impossible of such young children, but on the other hand being a Chuunin carried such a heavy weight of responsibility it was important that they chose the correct people for the position. Lives depended on it.
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Itachi walked to the police station and hoped his father was in his office. He wanted to make his report then go home and plan for the next month of training. Yurina had met up with them after the meeting and said that she would train Sana, Yuri would be trained by her uncle and Itachi would be trained by his father. It was the usual arrangement, although Yurina wanted updates on their progress occasionally.
Stepping into the station he saw Shisui half asleep behind the reception desk.
"Wake up, cousin." Itachi threw a kunai and Shisui expertly caught it, then laughed at him.
"I wasn't that far gone. So you passed? What was it like?" Shisui was excited to hear the news.
"I passed and it was boring. We took out three teams within the first few hours then vacationed in a cave for a couple days." He yawned, then blinked his eyes. He hadn't realized he was tired. Although he had stayed awake while the girls slept off the poison and he hadn't been able to sleep much in the tower.
"Kabuto was by a couple days ago. He wanted to see you when you got back."
"Hn." Itachi had never really been sure if he liked the boy or not. Sometimes he was tolerable, but something was just off about him. And after meeting his master he was not looking forward to seeing Kabuto again.
"If I happen to run into him that will be sufficient." Itachi said with an air of finality.
Shisui narrowed his gaze in suspicion but dropped the subject. Fugaku walked into the lobby and gazed at his son, silently.
Itachi bowed, then formally addressed his father. "Lord Fugaku I have successfully completed the second of three exams. The third exam will take place in thirty days. Does this meet with your approval?"
Something about the way Itachi was speaking sent a chill up Fugaku's spine. He wondered what had happened during the test. He could see dark circles under the boy's eyes and the lines that were formed by the shape of his cheeks against his small nose were longer and deeper. He almost looked like an old man. Fugaku felt a twinge of pity for his son. He knew he was pushing him hard. Too hard. But he had no other choice. There was no one else who could do it. Too much was at stake.
"Itachi. You have performed well, as expected of my son. Now go home and get some sleep for a couple days, then begin your training. We will speak more later." He turned around and left the lobby. The statement was said without warmth and Itachi felt empty inside. His father wasn't all that emotional but for some reason Itachi had expected more. Without saying anything he turned around and left the building.
As Itachi entered the Uchiha compound he was congratulated by several clansmen who passed him. Itachi smiled appropriately and thanked them. But he felt hollow inside. He was bothered by Yuri's outburst, the knowledge that Madara was running an organization called "Akatsuki", his father's cold shoulder back at the station and the Hokage's insistence that he back off attacking the other teams in the test to save the village. He couldn't believe he had actually looked forward to the test. How fake it had been. How disappointing.
"Itachi! Itachi!" Sheeta and Aya ran up to him. "Did you pass?"
"I passed. I now have one more test to go through in thirty days." Itachi tried to smile, but he found himself unable to show a fake smile to his two friends and frowned instead.
Sheeta looked at her sister who shrugged. "What's wrong? Isn't that good? No one can beat you."
"Maybe that's the problem." Itachi said quietly to himself.
"You want someone to beat you?" Aya said, shocked.
"Yes. A competitor worthy of me. I am bored with having to hold back. I want a fight." Itachi was still speaking quietly.
"Who? Lord Fugaku?" Sheeta asked curiously.
"No."
"Itachi, why don't you go home and sleep. I don't want to make you mad, but you look awful. You might not be thinking clearly either." Aya put her hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. They were in the regular black pupil form, but the whites were streaked so badly with red that it looked like he had almost no white at all.
Itachi nodded his head and walked away without saying anything.
That evening when Fugaku headed toward Itachi's room to wake him up for a discussion Mikoto blocked his way.
"Something was wrong with him when he came home. He was mumbling something about no one being good enough to fight him. Even Sasuke was scared to get near him. I think we'd better let him sleep." She was wringing her hands and looking at the floor as she spoke. She hated to admit it, but the boy had scared her badly, and she knew Sasuke had been frightened because he had gone to his room and sat on his bed, silently crying.
Fugaku felt his heart tighten. It had been a long time since he had thought of his own father, but the memories suddenly flooded back. As well as the misgivings and fears. Itachi was mentally unstable. The extent of that instability had been difficult to measure because, as Dr. Yakushi had explained, classifying children was nearly impossible.
If Itachi was too unstable ANBU would never take him. On the other hand, would the Uchiha want to train a killer who was too unstable for ANBU? It was a bad situation no matter how he looked at it.
"I won't wake him, Mikoto. Let him sleep. Did he take his pills?" Fugaku spoke in a low voice.
"Yes. His regular dose is two pills, or three if he is stressed out. I gave him three and he swallowed them. He fell asleep almost immediately."
Fugaku felt something tugging at his shirt and looked down. Sasuke was looking up at his father with big, teary eyes. "Daddy! Is Itachi going to be okay?"
He bent down and picked the boy up. "Yes, he'll be fine. He's just very tired, and when people get tired they don't think straight." He was a little put out about being called "daddy" instead of the more formal "father" but he could see that Sasuke wasn't being disobedient and decided not to correct him. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"
"I was worried."
Fugaku put the boy back down and let Mikoto take him back to bed. He quietly entered Itachi's room and sat down on a chair. He stayed there for the next four hours, watching his son sleep. The boy woke up frequently, jerking violently and once sitting straight up. He would then lay back down and immediately go back to sleep without acknowledging that there was another person in the room.
What was going through the boy's mind as he slept? What nightmares could scare a boy who was raised to be a killer? Fugaku had nightmares of monsters or ghosts or of being chased. They were normal and never scared him after he was awake. But Itachi's dreams seemed to scare him and perhaps were responsible in part for some of his actions.
Fugaku finally gave up and left the room, making sure he didn't wake his son as he exited. Slipping into bed he had a sudden urge to hold Mikoto in his arms and as she rested her head against his chest, sighing, he smiled.
"Sasuke's getting big, isn't he?" Fugaku said quietly.
"Yes he is. He'll be five in a month and a half. Time to go to school." Mikoto replied, smiling.
"Doesn't seem like it's been that long."
"A lot has happened and time runs quickly." Mikoto looked up at her husband and stroked his face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Worried about Itachi, about what he'll be like when he comes out of all of this. If he remains unstable I may have to name Sasuke as my heir. That could send Itachi over the edge. He doesn't want Sasuke to go through everything he has. However, it is very obvious that Sasuke has a much more stable personality."
Mikoto sighed again and rested her head back on Fugaku's chest. His heart was beating fast, but she found it comforting. Even so it was a long time before she could go back to sleep.
Sasuke idolized his brother. If Itachi was disgraced and pushed out of the line of succession Sasuke would probably not take it well. And Sasuke was a very, very stubborn little boy who refused to back down. Mikoto often wondered, as she argued with the toddler over clothes, food, bath-time and chores, what kinds of trouble she was going to have with him when he got older.
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Next week Itachi begins his training and the third exam begins.
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